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Wednesday, July 17, 2019

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





 Air Dates: May 6th to June 25, 2019 on SBS, two episodes Monday and Tuesdays at 10:00 pm
Ratings, episode fifteen 3.0%, episode sixteen 3.0%

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.





 Let's get right to the action as I don't know if this is going to be a long recap or not as so much took place. But sure you read the above post which left off with the impending third encounter between
Min-Ik and Veronica. Of course it's not actually her but Min-Ik's secretary Gal-Hee who for the third time is impersonating her. But this could be the final time though likely not as there's still sixteen episodes to go. But before this 'date' Veronica had met up with Gal-Hee and told her to end things once and for all with Min-Ik. There is no relationship between the two but their mothers think there is and Veronica wants to end the charade, she tells Gal-Hee to say she's seeing another man.
 Min-Ik still has his condition of Prosopagnasia which doesn't allow him to see the faces of people as they look just like a blob to him. But Min-Ik has been told by his doctor Gu that if he could raise his blood pressure to 140 then he would be able to see faces clearly, for now Min-Ik can just see the face of Gal-Hee. Gu has given Min-Ik a Manometer to keep track of his blood pressure but so far he's been unable to reach that figure of 140, that's explained more in the previous recap.
 That is until he was close to Gal-Hee and was able to see her even without her red cardigan. That and Gal-Hee's glasses are the two main reasons Min-Ik can see her face as those images are imprinted in his mind. But in the previous recap Min-Ik was able to see her clearly when she took her red cardigan off as the manometer went crazy and zoomed past 140. Because of that Min-Ik wanted to see Veronica immediately, for the first time will he be able to see her? Gal-Hee surely hopes not and surprised she didn't realize why the manometer finally hit the mark of 140 for Min-Ik.
 That's because when it did hit that figure and he was able to see a face clearly it was when he was standing close to Gal-Hee. He may not realize it yet but he's really fallen for her but of course can't admit such a thing could possibly happen, he still has his hopes set on dating and finally seeing Veronica. As you can see at the top the pair did meet for the third time and that encounter was a short lived one as Veronica told Min-Ik she was seeing another man and wanted to stop before things got a bit too serious. But as she was departing Min-Ik called her back and what was set up was a twelve hour date which takes up the rest of the two episodes.






 So before we get into that marathon date will explain what else took place in these two shows though really not all that much. For instance we didn't see Min-Ik's uncle Hae-Yung who wants nothing more than to boot him from the company and be in line for the presidency whose election is coming up soon. But his henchman Jung-Soo, who is Min-Ik's new driver, was able to break into Gal-Hee's house for a second time and it appears he finally was able to steal the correct USB. But the uncle did play a minor part in a scene as a group of three secretaries broke into his office at TnT Media and were able to steal a large painting from his wall.
 The trio delivered the painting to Dae-Joo's secretary Eul-Wang and for now there's no explanation on why she wanted the object, that incident took place at night. Eul-Wang seems to be an interesting character with many secrets and hope her role expands in the second half of this series. Speaking of Dae-Joo Veronica is still trying valiantly on getting him to be her steady boyfriend. For over ten episodes he's been rebuffing her and wonder if it's now come down to where Veronica doesn't really care about dating him but that no man has ever refused her and she won't let Dae-Joo become the first. Gal-Hee's sister Nam-Hee is still in Veronica's hair as she's promised her that she'll be working with her to make Nam-Hee a star. So far that storyline has gone nowhere but have a feeling it will soon and it does have the makings of a few hilarious situations.
 Finally back to the pair of Min-Ik and Veronica, will be calling her that most of the time though of course it's Gal-Hee impersonating her. After being dumped by Veronica because she already has a boyfriend Min-Ik asks for one last chance, perhaps he can change her mind to see he's the better man. What Min-Ik proposed was the pair going on a twelve hour date starting right then, no time was given but it's early evening so we'll say it's 7:00 pm. Gal-Hee was naturally a bit leery about that proposal, she's been able to fool Min-Ik into thinking she was Veronica for short stretches of time but could she keep the act up for twelve hours? She was about to say no when MIn-Ik's driver came upon the scene, she couldn't let him see she was impersonating Veronica so Gal-Hee said yes to Min-Ik's date so as to hide from the driver and the encounter begins.





 Hope this isn't sounding too drab, am writing today's two recaps up in a row which I rarely do and my mind is becoming a bit mushy but we are halfway through this one. Min-Ik has said whatever Veronica wants to do is what they'll do but adds in to pick things she's never done before. But of course it's Gal-Hee he's talking to and she often makes the mistake of doing things she's never done which Veronica already probably has. Such as stopping at a convenience store and having Min-Ik prepare her cup of coffee. Being a secretary meant that Gal-Hee had always made others coffee but Min-Ik couldn't understand why she wanted to do that, didn't she have servants prepare her coffee every day?
 The pair also stopped at Min-Ik's office to get a new set of clothes for him. When he couldn't find them Veronica told him where to look, once again Min-Ik looked at her oddly as how could Veronica know where his things are kept? Of course she wouldn't but it was Gal-Hee speaking and as she had thought keeping up the act for twelve hours is going to be extremely difficult. Plus the pair barely missed the trio of secretaries stealing the painting but the small group did see Gal-Hee with her boss, what's she doing with him at this time of night dressed so elegantly?
 That was the last we saw of that group and Gal-Hee knew they better depart the office soon before she's recognized. But she did enjoy herself a bit in Min-Ik's office though she had been there thousands of times before. She got the chance to sit at his desk while he pampered Veronica to an extent plus he did reveal a bit about his past. Min-Ik confessed to Veronica that he's actually an adopted child and the details of what truly happened still haven't been told yet. Of course this was the first time Gal-Hee had learned of it but it was only because Min-Ik thought he was opening his heart to Veronica.
 As mentioned Gal-Hee knew they couldn't stay at their office too long, next destination was an overnight sauna. The pair didn't arrive until 2:00 am but the place was packed. one requirement of the sauna was that everyone had to wear the same robes. To Min-Ik that could be a problem as how will be be able to tell Veronica apart from the others, luckily the patrons were given keys with numbers with Veronica's being 99. It's getting harder for Gal-Hee to keep the impersonation up, twice she was almost spotted by people who knew her plus she needs to talk in a high pitch like Veronica.






 Twice at the sauna it looked like the game was up for Gal-Hee. First she went to buy them some drinks, at the counter who should be there but Min-Ik's doctor Gu. At first he didn't recognize her but soon recalled her as Min-Ik's secretary, a moment after that he ran into him and said what was his secretary doing at a sauna at that hour? Min-Ik happened to track Gal-Hee down and asked the same thong, of all excuses Gal-Hee said she was here with her boyfriend and pointed to a covered up man sleeping. Another question from Min-Ik though was what are you doing with Veronica's #99 key? One of these times Gal-Hee won't know what to do but she replied she borrowed it from her as they were a bit close for at one time Gal-Hee was once Veronica's secretary.
 Gal-Hee jumped up and said she saw Veronica entering a room, she better dash off to return the key to her. Min-Ik is a smart guy so you have to wonder how he keeps believing these flimsy explanations, he also went to the room where he saw Veronica waiting for him. There was another incident where Gal-Hee was almost caught with her impersonation but once again wiggled out of it. But the pair are getting a bit closer and Min-Ik's strategy for Veronica to like him even more seems to be working but what's going to happen first.... Min-Ik being able to see faces clearly or discovering the deception of Gal-Hee as Veronica.
 It's quite late now but the pair do have another three hours to spend together, how about a movie
Gal-Hee suggested as a cinema at 4:00 am should be deserted. It was and the pair were the only two in the theater for most of the movie. But of all people to show up it was Veronica who was the president of the chain and had just left Gal-Hee's sister. It was of course dark in the theater and she couldn't be sure it was Min-Ik sitting a few rows before her. But before she could get up to ask a person sat down next to her and to Veronica's surprise it was Dae-Joo.
 How he knew Veronica would be there was a mystery but she wasn't complaining in the least. As a matter of fact this was the first time he was truly kind to her and receptive to talking. When Veronica began to nod off a bit he even allowed her to use his shoulder as a pillow. But of course the movie will have to end sometime, when it does the lights will be coming back on and will Gal-Hee's act finally be discovered? The answer to that is a huge YES as the pair left their seats and passed by the pair of Dae-Joo and Veronica who was sleeping though.
 With Min-Ik's blurry vision he couldn't recognize his close friend and Dae-Joo demanded to know what was going on. Gal-Hee secretly brought him aside, she couldn't explain things now but will to him and Min-Ik the next day at work. She pleaded with Dae-Joo to let her finish their twelve hour date which he agreed to but was certainly perplexed on what the situation was. It hadn't been shown up until now but of course Min-Ik can't see his best friend's face, he's never told Dae-Joo about his medical condition. As the show comes to a close so isn't the date and Min-Ik has one last request which is that he wants a kiss. Gal-Hee was very reluctant at first but eventually agreed as this could be her last time with Min-Ik as she expects to be fired the next day at work. So this post ends with the pair about to smooch and that scene will have it's ending in the next recap.





 Usually recaps get shorter as a series goes on but that hasn't been the case with this one as they seem to be getting longer. So much keeps happening in this show and really can't complain as it does keep things interesting. Bit of silliness was added in, especially the long sauna scene but for the most part these four shows for today were all quite enjoyable. We've now hit the halfway point in this series, bet the ending will be fine but wouldn't doubt if the pace slows down for a few upcoming episodes. Should be back about this time next week with the next pair of recaps.









































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