Cast
Ko Hyun Jung as Ko Byeong Hee
Chun Jung Myung as Park Cheol Su
Cho Chong Wook as Bae Hee Myeong

Synopsis
Ko Byeong Hee is a 33-year-old single woman working as a reporter in a pornographic magazine. Despite her age, she still holds a torch for her senior in high school and was shocked to learn that he is gay. To add to her misfortune, she found that she has cysts and require further examination to determine whether it's cancer. Thinking for the worst, she became depressed and went for a drinking spree in a suburban area outside of Seoul. Having missed the last train, she called her best friend, Park Seung Hye to come and fetch her back. Seung Hye in turn tasked her brother Cheol Su to fetch Byeong Hee back, but as events turn out, they had a 1-night stand there.

Byeong Hee was embarrased and devastated and blamed Cheol Su, a 24-year-old mechanic. However, both decided to keep this matter under wraps and move on with their lives. In the course of work, Byeong Hee met Bae Hee Myeong, a 34-year-old doctor, and Hee Myeong fell for her. Byeong Hee agreed to be his girlfriend and they started their courtship. But Cheol Su was not happy with Byeong Hee's new relationship and he started to woo her too. Byeong Hee kept rejecting him, but Cheol Su was still persistent. Hee Myeong then decided to proposed to Byeong Hee and she accepted.

Coincidentally, Byeong Hee had violent cramps at a bookstore and she contacted Seung Hye to come and fetch her. But Seung Hye was not around, and as luck would have it, Cheol Su picked up the phone and raced to Byeong Hee. Byeong Hee had the operation, and the first person she called out to after the operation is Cheol Su. This is when she realised that she has always been in love with Cheol Su, and hence she broke off with Hee Myeong. However, the couple still has to face many hurdles with family because of the 9 years age gap

My Take
This is a lighthearted comedy. Glad that I chose this show for a good laugh, after 2 very intense shows. However, I found this show not realistic because Byeong Hee has been rejecting Cheol Su all along and suddenly it just took a crisis for her to realise her love for him ?

Other than that, some scenes are pretty touching, like how Cheol Su converted a van to a campervan all by himself, just because Byeong Hee once mentioned that her dream is to tour the world with her beloved.

The love story between Byeong Hee's sister and the sister's employer is pretty comical too. It's the other extreme, a young woman with a middle-aged man. I pretty much enjoy the scenes which featuer both of them.

Period Aired
20 Sep 2006 - 9 Nov 2006

Cast
Lee Joon Ki as Lee Soo Hyun
Nam Sang Mi as Seo Ji Woo
Jung Kyung Ho as Kang Min Ki

Synopsis
The drama starts with a fast action car chase which ended with Lee Soo Hyun’s car falling into the sea. While Soo Hyun sinks into the sea, the drama brings us back to his childhood….As a child, Soo Hyun lived in Thailand with his CID-mother, who specialises in investigation of “Green Clan”, a secret society which killed her husband. Soo Hyun had a carefree childhood and had a good friend, Ah Li. Unknown to Soo Hyun, Ah Li’s father is one of the senior members of Green Clan. Soo Hyun then witnessed the murder of his mother at the hands of Ah Li’s father (he didn’t know because the murderer was wearing a mask, he only remembered the tattoo on his hand), then he became adopted by Kang Joong Ho (his mother’s good friend) and brought to Korea. On the other hand, Ah Li’s mother eloped with Suh Young Kil because the latter leaked Green Clan’s secrets to the police, and was given a new identity, Suh Ji Woo.

Fast forwarded, both Soo Hyun and Kang Min Ki (his adoptive father’s son) grew up to become NIS (Intelligence unit in Korea) agents. Through playboy Min Ki, Soo Hyun and Ji Woo are accidentally reunited and fell in love. However, their love is shortlived when Soo Hyun met his mother’s murderer (Ji Woo’s real father) during one of NIS mission and was sacked by NIS when he attempted to kill him. Soo Hyun was then secretly re-employed by NIS to become an undercover in Green Clan, and NIS staged an accident to fake his death.

Soo Hyun assumed the identity of Kay in Green Clan and gained the trust of Ji Woo’s real father. Unfortunately, he lost his memory in the car crash (which was shown at the start of the drama) and became a real gangster. Joong Ho attempted to revive Soo Hyun’s memory but to no avail and he died instead. Soo Hyun regained his memory with the help of Jung Hak Soo, senior NIS agent and only other person in the world who knew about his undercover status. Soo Hyun then slowly planned to seek revenge on his mother’s murderer and Ji Woo tried to stop him.

My Take
This is a very intense show, although it’s pretty fun to see the NIS missions where they use tracking devices and other high tech stuff. I didn’t mention an important character in the synopsis above…He is Soo Hyun’s mother’s friend, an ex-NIS agent specialised in snooping around. He is the catalyst of the show and also guardian angel to Soo Hyun and Min Ki. Not only did he provide important reports to both of them, gives them guidance, he also goes all out to protect both of them. In the end, he sacrificed his life to save Soo Hyun. Hmm....I'm still trying to find his name :P

I’ve been watching lots of intense shows, cannot take it anymore….The next show I watch must be a funny one !

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Favourite One

Cast:
Gong Hyo Jin as Lee Young Shin
Jang Hyuk as Min Ki Seo
Seo Shin Ae as Lee Bom
Shin Sung Rok as Choi Suk Hyun

Synopsis
Min Ki Seo was an outstanding but arrogant doctor in Seoul. Contrastingly, his girlfriend is a nice doctor in the countryside, but she has terminal cancer and had a last wish to apologise to a little girl whom was infected by HIV due to her carelessness. Unfortunately, she died before she can say sorry, but she managed to give the big bear to the little girl. Min Ki Seo was devastated and quite his job and joined his mother's company. His mother put him under Choi Suk Hyun's mentorship, and together their first task is to find a good place on Blue Island (Suk Hyun's hometown) to develop a resort. On Blue Island, Ki Seo coincidentally met Lee Young Shin and stayed at her home.

Young Shin, is a single mother caring for her daughter Lee Bom, the girl who had HIV, and her grandfather who has Alzheimer's. Although in hardship, she is warm, positive and taught Lee Bom well. She taught her to refuse help from anyone when Lee Bom is hurt, to prevent anyone from coming into contact with her blood. The worst moment was when the whole village knew Lee Bom has HIV and wanted to throw them out. Lee Bom was initially bewildered on why her friends shunned her, but after she knew she has HIV, she closed herself to the outside world, afraid of passing the disease to her family and friends. She even ran away from home, but luckily was found by Suk Hyun, her real father.

Ki Seo grew closer to the family while experiencing the hardships with them. Slowly he fell in love with Young Shin and was converted to a warm and caring person.

My Take
It's a pretty heartwarming story. I was crying when I watched a few episodes, especially the part when Lee Bom fell down and Young Shin instructed her to clean her own blood. Having a child of my own, I can imagine Young Shin's anguish, but admire her determination to live well while she can.

Personally, I feel that this story centers more on family and social issues, rather than on the romance between Young Shin and Ki Seo. Their romance seems to be "by-the-way" developed. This is an excellent drama with a refreshing perspective, with great acting even from the extended cast, especially Seo Shin Ae (Lee Bom) and Shin Goo (Young Shin's grandfather).

According to PopSeoul, this drama unexpectedly clinched the highest viewership during the period it was aired, as compared to Witch Amusement and The Devil. See the report here.

Period Aired
21 Mar 2007 - 10 May 2007

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Favourite OST

Cast
Lee Seo Jin as Ha Kang Jae
Kim Jung Eun as Yoon Mi Joo
Jung Chan as Kang Sae Yeon
Kim Kyu Ri as Park Yu Jin

Synopsis
Yoon Mi Joo, daughter of a village pastor in one of the islands of Korea, worked her way to become a plastic surgeon. Although successful, she needs to support 6 adopted brothers and sisters back home, so she leads a frugal life in Seoul. Kang Jae, adopted by the boss of a secret society since teenage years, is a senior member of the same secret society. He has a long-time girlfriend, Yu Jin, whom he loves but refused to marry. Sae Yeon is the playboy son of Kang Jae's boss.

Kang Jae met Mi Joo when she mistook him for her pregnant sister's boyfriend. Mi Joo had wanted to confront her sister's boyfriend for dumping her sister, but Kang Jae and his gang helped her to beat him up and Mi Joo was impressed. Their paths crossed again when Mi Joo found that Kang Jae's girlfriend, Yu Jin, is her neighbour. At the same time, Sae Yeon was being matchmaked with Mi Joo by his mother, and he began to take a liking with Mi Joo.

Later, Mi Joo found that Kang Jae is the person who wanted to buy the land that her father's house is on. She met him and his right-hand man for a talk, but was being attacked by Kang Jae's enemies. Kang Jae, in order to protect her, was stabbed. Mi Joo, despite having sweared not to be involved in people's life and death, saved Kang Jae's life and nursed him back to health in the village. Their paths crossed again in China's Hainan Island, when Mi Joo accepted Sae Yeon's invitation to have "Cha Jiang" noodles there, and Kang Jae was there to bring Sae Yeon back to Korea.

As the story developed, Mi Joo and Kang Jae found themselves falling in love with each other despite finding out that Yu Jin is pregnant with Kang Jae's child, and despite Sae Yeon declaring his love for Mi Joo and Mi Joo accepted his short courtship. Fortunately or unfortunately, Yu Jin miscarriaged and Sae Yeon gave them his blessings. However, life has more in store for Kang Jae when he found out that his boss is actually and his father, and Sae Yeon was actually not his boss's son. After that a violent power struggle broke out in the gang, resulting in the death of his father. In a bid to seek revenge, Kang Jae hurt his enemy and was jailed.

Kang Jae and Mi Joo finally got together after his release.

My Take
This is one of the rare shows which has a strong sub-plot, as in the power struggle in the secret society. It is also not as slow paced as most korean drama, as you'll find new "issues" and happenings every episode to keep you glued to the TV ! I think the actors' are superb too! Especially the expressive eyes of Lee Seo Jin and Kim Jung Eun. There was one scene when Sae Yeon went to look for Mi Joo, and I saw that his eyes were all red ! Not sure whether it's a makeup effect, but Jung Chan's eyes were really red !

It's quite an enjoyable show with a handsome pair: Lee Seo Jin and Kim Jung Eun. I found that they are actual lovers in real life ! They got together after shooting this drama. Very happy for them.

Period Aired
8/11/2006 - 11/1/2007

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