Currently Watching: Secret Love Affair

Secret Love Affair is a JTBC drama about a piano teacher’s secret love affair with her student. Yeah. So if you’re put off by the whole student-teacher relationship, don’t quit yet. It is much more than what it seems. I found out about this drama when I was looking for something to watch as my dramas from the winter ended. I usually love Noona dramas, or dramas where the lead woman is older, because the women tend to be more independent and successful than in other dramas. So when I heard about this drama, I knew I was going to watch it. But when I watched the first episode, I was not ready for how good it ended up being. It completely sucks you in and captivates your attention. This is not a drama you have to get through by staring at the male lead the entire time. 





Kim Hee Ae plays Oh Hye Won who is a director of an Arts foundation who basically does more than her job description. This lady takes care of the personal matters of the chairwoman, helps pick the applicants for the foundation’s music college, as well as manages to be everyone’s friend as she does her job. I can’t help feeling bad for her when I see all the things she puts up with in her quest to be successful. But no matter what she always seems to carry herself with grace and elegance that masks her true emotions and fears. 


Oh Hye Won is married to Kang Joon Hyeong played by Park Hyeok Kwon. Her husband is a character. Joong Hyeong is a music professor at the university, but is struggling to gain acclaim by himself. He wants to be a renowned professor like Jo In Seo (Played by Park Jong Hoon), but cannot seem to find a talented enough pupil to help him do so. So then he basically relies on his wife to help spot talent for him, but becomes quickly frustrated when she doesn’t do all that she can to help him. This dilemma is solved when our lead man comes in.


Yoo Ah In plays Lee Seon Jae who is a piano prodigy. He is a delivery boy who happens to hear a student and In Seo practicing for a recital when he delivering a package at the university. He slips in after they leave and plays, attracting the attention of Joon Hyeong and his wife. Yo Ah In does a wonderful acting job here as the subtle shaking of his voice and the fluttering of his eyes breezily gives off a constant sense of nervousness. He isn’t confident or cocky at all, more a normal young guy trying to find praise for his talents. 

What makes this drama the must-see drama this season:


I wish I could spoil this drama and tell you just how crazy the chemistry is between the two leads gets, but then you’d miss out on the suspense of those scenes. Their attraction to each other is not conventional, obviously, but it’s so intense that you don’t care about conventions. You might still be peeved about the student-teacher thing, but it might help to know that he picked her as his piano teacher and he is 20 years old in this drama. He is definitely not a child, but still young nonetheless when compared to the teacher who is 40. But instead of being creepy, Lee Seon Jae balances off his (superbly-acted) nervous youth with his amazing piano skills that instantly bonded the two leads from the moment Oh Hye Won heard him play. The piano is a tool of the drama to show you what the characters are feeling, even before they really acknowledge it themselves. The leads excellently portray their characters fighting for a relationship and love that their peers would condemn them for.


 
In this drama, there is very little background music. But when there is, it’s stunning classical music. And not only is the music lovely, but it adds onto the intensity of the drama. It highlights the highs and lows of the drama carefully and beautifully. It musically reveals the hidden emotions and personalities of the characters before they are revealed verbally. And when either of the leads play the piano, they completely grab your attention with the passion of their playing. There is a piano scene in this drama that will make you sweat with how intense it is. Trust me, the music in this drama is everything.



There is no evil girl in this drama. No crazy step-mothers or the usual irrational drama personality tropes. Everyone in this drama has multiple sides to them that make it hard for a viewer to grasp who anyone is in an episode or two like you usually can. They are very human characters that make very human decisions and have very human struggles. Also, all of the characters are more than what they seem and are developed with such care that I regard this drama as one big movie. You will understand why all the character act the way they do and what they do it for.


If you’re looking for a light, spring drama about schoolhouse love or about a young career woman looking for love, this drama is not it. But I still encourage you to try out the first two episodes, you will be amazed. Trust me.