What's wrong with Secretary Kim review

Drama name: What's wrong with Secretary Kim
Country: South Korea
Year: June- July 2018

This show was heavily promoted by my local cable tv and I saw many of the kdrama fans were talking about it as well. Park Seo Joon was starring in it and I was happy to see him again in a drama just right after he completed the reality series Youn's Kitchen where he worked as a part time waiter in Garachico. I managed to catch the repeat of the first episode on tv and started watching from there. 

So, what's this show about?

Aside the drama title, the show starts off with the male lead's life instead. Lee Young Joon is the most eligible bachelor as he is the vice-president of his family owned group of businesses. He exudes aura and is a narcissistic person. He thinks he is the best, most perfect person who will not lose at anything. 

Kim Mi-So is Young Joon's personal assistant or secretary of nine years. She had to start work young to pay off her father's debts and her sister's education. She was selected out of many applicants who had better education or experience. Young Joon made her his personal secretary and she struggled at her job as she did not know many things such as languages and corporate life. 

Slowly but surely Mi So improved herself with Young Joon's powerful work drive. He pushed her to the limits as he believed that was the only way to succeed in life. One day, Mi So had enough and decided to quit. She wanted to find herself as she felt she had been living someone else's life for the past nine years. 

This is where the story actually begins, Young Joon tries to figure out what's wrong with secretary kim, why she wanted to resign and does everything to keep her by his side. While in the process of doing so, Mi So discovers Young Joon's hidden childhood secret which ultimately involves her as well. 

Overall thoughts

I was expecting some office power struggle kind of drama with romance thrown in. But I was so so wrong, it was totally a romance drama with very little substance. It almost doesn't make any sense, that being in close proximity for nine years... Nine freaking years and no chemistry??! Oh come on... It's not like Mi So is ugly or anything, she even ties his tie everyday... Unbelievable. Smh. It had too much cheesy love scenes, from dating to proposal and finally marriage. In fact, the drama title should be re-named as How Secretary Kim got married instead. 

Best parts of the drama

The architecture and interiors of this drama is really nice. Very minimalist and modern, I like it very much. Starting with Young Joon's house, which I believe is actually not a house but an art gallery or some sort... 

The night view of his house is really beautiful when it is all lit up... 

Besides his house, his office suite and office building is really cool too... 

There was a library featured in this drama as well and the design is worth a mention here... 

Other than interiors, my favourite is cars! :D Especially Maserati... Love, love, love! <333 

The storyline was really flat, in fact there was little story at all to be honest. I actually found the side characters more interesting than the two leads story. At least there was some comedic relief...

Notable scenes

There are several scenes from this drama which were memorable. The first goes to the amusement park night where Young Joon booked the whole place for a date with Mi So, complete with fireworks, boat ride and all... 

The love making scene which took like thirteen episodes to happen... XD 

Yes, yes I know girls are screaming at Park Seo Joon's body there... but if you remember he was already shirtless earlier... ;D 

And of course not forgetting the marriage proposal.... Who can forget his singing with the piano and beautiful cascading waterfall behind there?! 

Conclusion

As I have mentioned earlier, the storyline is really lacking. The backstory of their childhood experience was that Young Joon and Mi So were kidnapped by a mentally unstable lady. She had wanted to kill both of them but because of Young Joon's reasoning with the woman, she changed her mind. She hung herself to death at that abandoned house. 

That was how Young Joon had his fear of twist ties as he was bound up tightly with it that night. It left a scar on his ankles. He also had a fear of kissing women as each time he tries to kiss the memories of the dead woman will appear in his mind. Mi So had the fear of spiders because Young Joon did not want her to see the dead woman hanging from the ceiling so he bluffed her it was a giant spider. 

How Young Joon's brother was involved in all of this was that he had massive guilt which made his memory shut down and swap identities. I'm not sure about this maybe those in psychology or psychiatry can explain this behaviour. 

Nevertheless, we all know it is a happy ending... Young Joon and Mi So got married and lived happily ever after...(Well, not sure about their real life dating rumours if they really are then kdrama fans dream comes true for a Park- Park couple! ;D) As for Mi So finding herself, she realised that her dream is to be Young Joon's secretary because that's what she does best. What??!! *Flips table* ... XD 

Would I recommend this drama? Hell no! Hahah!! Sorry not sorry, this is one drama which I dislike. But if you are into fluffy romance dramas then this would a drama you might like. A lot of kissing scenes to keep those fans happy... 

Alright then, until the next drama I'll leave you with Mr. Aura Park Seo Joon! ;D 

*Image credits Dramabeans, Saint Google and my own screenshots*