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Hajimemashite minna san....welcome to my site on my fave Japanese Pop Culture likes such as dramas, movies, magazine scans, promo events etc. Mainly concentrate on my faves...Risa Watanabe... Kyoko Saito... Yui Kobayashi....Nana Owada.... Nene Shida.... if you're a fan at all of any of them then you've come to the right place(!) but many others are featured here besides them. Do mainly quick reviews on things I've watched, try to make the reviews brief, quick to read through with not too many spoilers, just whether they're good or bad and why I thought so plus whether you may find them enjoyable. Many, many screenshots are included from everything I've watched plus any video trailers if they're available. Hope you find something that interests you, don't hesitate to comment, arigato gozaimasu!

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Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Korean drama "The Secret Life of My Secretary": Recaps for episode's eleven and twelve





 Air Dates: May 6th to June 25, 2019 on SBS, two episodes Monday and Tuesdays at 10:00 pm
Ratings, episode eleven 2.7%, episode twelve 3.6%

Main Cast:

Jin Ki-Joo as Jung Gal-Hee.... 27 year old secretary to Min-Ik, she's the only person he can see
Kim Young-Kwang as Do Min-Ik.... President of TnT Media, has mysterious vision problem
Koo Ja-Sung as Ki Dae-Joo.... Min-Ik's best friend and a director at TnT
Kim Jae-Kyung as Veronica Park.... major character but hasn't been seen in four episodes
Jang So-Yeon as Yi Yul-Wang.... executive secretary to Dae-Joo
Kim Min-Sang as Sim Hae-Yung.... Min-Ik's uncle who wants the role of president back
Jung Ae-Ri as Sim Hae-Ra.... Min-Ik's mother though not his biological one
Seo Dong-Won as Jung Joong-Hee.... Gal-Hee's younger blind brother
Kim Ji-Min as Jung Nam-Hee.... Gal-Hee's younger sister who wants to attend college 
Kim Byung-Choon as Dr. Gu.... Min-Ik's long time doctor
Han Ji-Sun as Mo Ha-Ni.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Son San as Koo Myung-Jung.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Choi Yoon-Ra as Boo Se-Young.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Kwon So-Hyun as Ha Ri-Ra.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Choi Tae-Hwan as Eun Jung-Soo.... Min-Ik's new driver

 Whew, big cast and there are more characters whose names will be added if their roles get bigger. As is my norm with 32 episode dramas will be recapping four shows at a time with two in each recap. Keep saying that rom-com's aren't my cup of tea yet seems I've been watching more in that genre lately than any other Korean drama. It's been a hit or miss with them but so far my hit rate is much higher than the failures. To date will count this one as a big hit as I really enjoyed the first four episodes but it is hard to keep things interesting for 32 shows, wish they would decrease the number to twenty for some series. There's quite a few videos on YT for this series such as ones with interviews, behind the scenes and trailers, will have a different one for every post. Today's is behind the scenes segment for the next two episodes and there are so many more videos of the last twenty shows versus the first twelve.





 We ended off with a mini cliffhanger as Min-Ik's life as TnT Media's main director was at stake as there was going to be a vote to end that position at a special stockholder's meeting. But that's not where episode eleven began off with as there was a long flashback from the previous day which was actually quite useful as we did learn about a few events which may prove essential to the meeting. One was of Min-Ik's adopted mother meeting with his best friend Dae-Joo. At the director's meeting two weeks prior he had voted to oust Min-Ik from his director's position, the mother was at the meeting and was furious at the backstabbing Dae-Joo had done.
 It was no backstabbing in the least and after Dae-Joo had explained why he voted for Min-Ik's expulsion his best friend for 27 years understood why. Best to have read the previous recap as too much took place to rehash what events have taken place. Min-Ik's mother Sim knew nothing of the plan and wanted Dae-Joo as far away as possible. That's her above in the second screenshot where she had offered Dae-Joo a large sum of money to leave the company and Min-Ik's life. He accepted the bribe but had no plans on deserting his best friend and had eventually given Min-Ik the money back to return to his mother who really isn't a nice person in the least.
 More still needs to come out about her and why she adopted Min-Ik. Also when and how her husband died plus why did he pay for Dae-Joo's schooling after his own parents had passed away? Lot of Dae-Joo early on as he had also met up once again with the head of Cinepark, Veronica. To date he's been able to thwart her advances but for how long will she be able to put up with that?
Dae-Joo had asked her not to attend next day's special stockholder's meeting and was even able to convince Veronica to sign over her voting rights to him. However as we'll soon see she did attend the meeting plus reneged on allowing Dae-Joo to have power of attorney rights for her votes.
 One last thing from that long flashback scene was with Min-Ik and Gal-Hee. She had stayed at the hotel suite he had rented for two weeks to prepare his presentation for the meeting, we had no idea what Min-Ik's plans were going to be. She had left the suite to finally return home, Min-Ik remained there for that final night but was unable to sleep. Think this is supposed to be a romantic show but up until now there's really been zero of that in the story. But it really seems Min-Ik is slowly being drawn in by Gal-Hee as he can't even sleep these nights without thinking of her. It's had nothing to do with Gal-Hee as she hasn't been trying to get closer to her boss but there are signs of that changing by the end of this recap.






 Just prior to the start of the meeting Dae-Joo had been stopped by the pair of detectives investigating the attack on Min-Ik which took place in the second episode. That incident was a bit forgotten by us but it appears the detectives have remained on the case and at one time Dae-Joo was suspected of helping the attacker but no more is heard of the incident by the end of episode twelve. At the special meeting Min-Ik's uncle Hae-Yung, who is dying to be the next company president, has brought up the subject of voting for Min-Ik's dismissal. But immediately after that announcement Gal-Hee had jumped out of her seat and wanted to hear Min-Ik's side of the story. Though she just owned ten shares of stock she was eligible to attend the meeting and it was part of the plan the two had devised.
 As you can see Veronica also made an appearance at the meeting and her votes are quite important. That's because she owns 100,000 shares which could be the difference in Min-Ik retaining or losing his main director's position. She had a fun time at the meeting but can't say the same for Gal-Hee as Veronica had sat down next to her. Gal-Hee had once been Veronica's secretary and couldn't stand the sight of her. As readers will know Gal-Hee had also been impersonating Veronica when she was supposed to have been meeting Min-Ik, Gal-Hee cannot allow her boss to know Veronica is there.
 Finally Min-Ik took the stage for his presentation to save his job and it was crafted perfectly. But just before he began his speech something very strange happened for about twenty seconds. Min-Ik was able to see the audience's faces clearly and was of course thrilled by being able to see normally again. However that ability only lasted for about twenty seconds but it has given him hope that his condition of having Propognasia can eventually be cured.
 On with his presentation and Min-Ik didn't back away from his mis-actions of attacking his new driver Jung-Soo. He apologized to the board and stockholders but had a surprise for everyone. That was of some videos that Min-Ik had prepared for the meeting, in them they showed a pair of board members doing trashy acts in public that were much worse than his but had been covered up. The stockholders had been unaware of the incidents and there five to be shown but Min-Ik could only get to two before the plug was drawn. But he had done his bit and now it appears Min-Ik has a chance to grab a victory after a certain death by the stockholders.





 Second screenshot shows Min-Ik's evil uncle Hae-Yung as he was talking to Veronica. Seems the pair had been working behind the scenes together as he had set up her dates with Dae-Joo. He was reminding her of how she should vote as he also reminded Veronica that he owns quite a bit of stock in Cinepark and with an important vote coming up in that company Veronica should know how she should vote, that's naturally for Min-Ik's dismissal. Her total of 100,000 votes was definitely important but how she voted wouldn't have mattered as you can see above. That's because Min-Ik retained his main director's position by five million votes and surprised he didn't win by more.
 As mentioned there was no way Gal-Hee could allow Veronica to meet up with Min-Ik. He's never met Veronica but he thinks he has as Gal-Hee had stood in for her in their two encounters and still can't believe Min-Ik fell for the deceptions. Keeping the two apart wasn't difficult as after the meeting ended and before the voting took place Min-Ik just wanted to leave the building, he grabbed Gal-Hee and whisked her away from the meeting much to her amazement.
 'Don't you want to remain to find out the results of the voting?' was what Gal-Hee naturally asked her boss who never gave his secretary an answer to the question even though she asked it numerous times. Perhaps the tension became a bit too much for Min-Ik and there really was nothing to be gained by staying at the meeting waiting for the voting tally. So he drove Gal-Hee out to a beach as he had heard her once saying how much she enjoyed fresh clams and soju.
 That mini trip could have been his way of thanking Gal-Hee but also think Min-Ik wanted to get a bit closer to her, slowly it seems he's having caring feelings for her. Would think Gal-Hee is too but to her a secretary and boss should never do certain things such as dating or doing activities together outside of work. The pair were enjoying their time together at the beach but more so Gal-Hee as the combo of clams and soju were her favorite though Min-Ik didn't have any alcohol and up until now can't recall him ever drinking.






 Dae-Joo and Veronica met up briefly after the meeting but once again it didn't go anywhere for Veronica. Hope something begins happening with the pair as them knowing each other has been going on for eight episodes and it's getting tiring watching Veronica put up with him. Usually what Veronica wants Veronica gets so why does she continue to put up with Dae-Joo's refusals? Didn't mention him in the recap bu Min-Ik's new driver Jung-Soo had eventually found the secret USB drive he was looking for.
 He had broken into Gal-Hee's residence as that's where it was hidden but after that what's become of the flash drive is a mystery but would think the uncle Hae-Yung now has it. Also not mentioned was Gal-Hee's younger sister Nam-Hee who had a very entertaining encounter with Veronica in the previous recap. Nam-Hee is supposed to be in America attending a university but never left Korea and was staying at a run down apartment building. Seems she wants to be an actress but perhaps she was passed over as the meeting took up the majority of these two episodes.
 On to the conclusion and after their meal was finished Min-Ik along with Gal-Hee took a stroll along the boardwalk. She's going crazy awaiting the results of the voting but Min-Ik seemed quite calm. Finally he received a call from Dae-Joo, as he expected Min-Ik won the voting and will remain as TnT's main director. Of course he was excited but not as much as Gal-Hee was, even if he lost the vote Min-Ik would have remained at the company and Gal-Hee still would have had her job.
 As a thanks for everything she had done Min-Ik had prepared a gift for Gal-Hee. To her shock or should I say disappointment it was just an envelope as she was hoping for jewels or such. Min-Ik told her to wait until she returned home to open the gift but she was bursting with curiosity and needed to see what was inside well before then. Min-Ik told her to go ahead and in the envelope were just a few sheets of paper, Gal-Hee was a bit perplexed at them and secretly had been hoping for some cash.
 Those papers were a new contract for Gal-Hee and there was one main condition changed from her current contract. That new provision is that Gal-Hee can decide when she wants to leave the company so it was actually a promotion to being a permanent employee. You would have thought Gal-Hee would have been jumping for joy but that wasn't the case as she was so let down by the contract. To Min-Ik it was such a nice act but Gal-Hee had also been falling for her boss and was hoping for a something a bit more personable, now she was truly disappointed. While Gal-Hee had been reading the contract Min-Ik was contacted by his mother who said Veronica wants to see him again.
 When Gal-Hee heard that conversation her feelings went from being to disappointed at Min-Ik to having them towards herself. Min-Ik had been so nice and honest to her which led Gal-Hee to begin thinking of the deceiving she's been doing to Min-Ik. That was of impersonating Veronica and she told Min-Ik that she hadn't been entirely truthful with him but naturally couldn't tell him of her deceptions. Gal-Hee felt so distraught that when Min-Ik said it's time for the pair to head back home Gal-Hee turned him down. Her lame excuse was that she had too much to drink and wanted to stay at the beach a while longer. While Min-Ik stood at his car perplexed at his secretary Gal-Hee slowly walked away from him with this recap ending on that note.





 Once again a bit of a long recap but there was no way around it as just so much took place in these two shows. Usually this is the point in a series when recaps tend to get shorter as not as much takes place, it's actually a good sign then that so many new things are being added into the plot(s). Will be watching the next four episodes in the next few days but won't be doing the recaps for them until next week, that'll bring us to the halfway point of this fine drama.









































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