My Thoughts So Far...On When A Man Loves
This is the original synopsis of When A Man Loves: A drama about a man who falls in love with the dead boss' woman, comes to meet another young woman. Han Tae Sang is the trusty under-man and gets caught up in a whirlwind of love. --HanCinema
This is the synopsis that I found on koreandrama.org: Han Tae Sang is a former gangster, but now a successful business man. He has a cold-blooded decisiveness and incredible drive. This helped him to attain his current status, as he started with nothing. He then meets a younger woman named Seo Mi Do. Her personality reminds him of himself when he was that age. Han Tae-Sang begins to feel love for the first time in his life. Seo Mi Do is full of ambition and she is also bright and lovely. Seo Mi Do isn’t afraid of anything, because she went through so many difficult times when growing up. A man named Lee Jae Hee then confronts Han Tae Sang over Seo Mi Do.
Synopsis #1 is what was released before the drama even aired and then we saw that something was off about what was initially released. What we saw wasn't what the synopsis had originally said. What we see is somewhere along the lines of Synopsis #2, Tae Sang becomes attracted to Mi Do and it says nothing about him being in love with his dead boss's girlfriend. So I will go off of the second synopsis, but there are still some things off about it. I'll tell you why you shouldn't trust any actual character description and synopsis. WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS.
There are pretty good actors in this drama, though some may say the leads only have one expression I don't have too much of a problem with them. First there's Song Seung Hun(My Princess, Dr. Jin), Shin Se Kyung(High Kick: Through the Roof, Fashion King; though I like to think FK didn't happen), Chae Jung An(Hot Blood, Queen of Reversals), and Yeon Woo Jin(Arang and the Magistrate) who all make up the main cast. Tae Sang(Song Seung Hun) is a former gangster turned business man who falls in love with Seo Mi Do(Shin Se Kyung), the daughter of a bookstore owner who once owed Tae Sang's boss some money. Baek Seung Ju(Chae Jung An) is the former girlfriend of Tae Sang's dead boss(cameo by Lee Sung Min) and who is also in love with Tae Sang. Lee Jae Hee(Yeon Woo Jin) is the younger brother of Tae Sang's friend/former gangster Lee Chang Hee(Kim Sung Oh,Man of Honor) who is also in love with Mi Do. Then there is also President Kim's former friend Gu Yong Gab(Lee Chang Hoon, While You Were Sleeping) who has an infatuation with Seung Ju.
Tae Sang originally came in contact with Mi Do when she had come home to seeing her father being beat up Tae Sang's lackies which included Chang Hee. Her father, Seo Kyung Wook(played by Kang Shin Il) begged for more time and to not be beaten up in front of his daughter. They left, but gave him only a few days to pay up. He tried to kill himself, but his suicide attempt was thwarted by the thugs and was beaten up...again. In order to save her father, Mi Do offered herself in exchange for her father's debt. Tae Sang didn't use her, but sent her away with some food and a warning. Seven years later they run into each other again, we find out that Tae Sang wiped out all the interested Mi Do's dad owed & even gave her money for college, but she used it for her father's hospital bills. Needless to say he helped her out with all of the bills and even put him in his own room, Mi Do's mom became Tae Sang's biggest fan. Eventually Tae Sang gave her a job at his company, The Golden Tree, and sent her on her first job assignment to Guam to scout resort locations. There she meets Jae Hee who shows her around the local spots and we see she's having fun. Tae Sang comes to visit her and runs into Jae Hee who both invited a date to dinner with them..yes you guessed it: It's Mi Do. She tells Tae Sang she had plans, but then cancels on Jae Hee when she gets sick. Tae Sang sends her tea and gets up to go see him. Long story short(I'm really going off topic here) Mi Do leaves Guam at the same time as Tae Sang leaving Jae Hee with a text message saying goodbye. They run into each other again, this time at work. Tae Sang has hired Jae Hee and he is now Mi Do's boss. Oooh! So much drama! Ha!
Okay, now I will give my thoughts based on each character & their actions:
Han Tae Sang: Former gangster who was abandoned at 17 by his mother when she ran away with his younger brother, Tae Min, to follow a married man. His father died soon after and the house was taken away by loan sharks(whom his mom owed money to). For 21 years, he's lived a cold, lonely, dark life only to be awakened when he meets Seo Mi Do. Once they start dating, you can see his inner child come out. He's almost 40 and has to Google how to date and what do on a date. Naive much? Gahh! But he's so darn cute when he's clueless. You can tell he's head over heels in love with her and only wants to give her the best, that's why the viewers love him so much. He has his flaws, but his sweet actions make up for the wrong he's done in the past to survive. He's definitely NOT in love with Seung Ju, but he's still too nice to her.
Seo Mi Do: She grew up poor and obviously had to deal with her father's terrible money habits, so it's understandable why she's usually so focused on making money. You can tell she hates hand outs, biggest clue was in episode one when she didn't want to be interviewed about picking up free rice. She knows she doesn't have any money, but she doesn't care to show or act like it all the time. When Tae Sang initially proposed to her, she flat out rejected him citing that she can't marry without love. People say she's selfish and only wants money, well of course she does! She said so herself when she returned from Guam and agreed to give Tae Sang a chance. When her father rejected the idea of them two dating on the grounds that he was too old, she spoke up and said the age difference didn't matter to her. She know she can be materialistic and selfish, Tae Sang has never mentioned this again. So, it's not like she's never said anything about her flaws because she has. We see that she's accepted his heart and is trying to get to know him and she has helped him open up to her. While she does show concern for Jae Hee many times, she's already attempted to put him out of her heart and mind, but she can't be too mean because he's her boss. She asked to be transferred to a different department so she wouldn't have to see Jae Hee, but Tae Sang rejected the idea because she makes more in the area she's working in. More recently, she's smiled more and seems more at ease when she's with Tae Sang.
Lee Jae Hee: Chang Hee's dongsaeng and love rival to Tae Sang. He's not particularly a bad person at all and he has a loving brother who will do anything to protect and help him. He's around Mi Do's age so he's young and impulsive, so he makes rash decisions. He appeared totally heartbroken when Mi Do left Guam, but had new hopes when he saw her at work. He pretended not to know her first prompting her to go along with it out of panic. He doesn't take no for an answer no matter how many times she rejects him(and reminds him of the rejection) even buying her shoes when it appears her current ones are worn out. When he goes to give them to her, he sees her and Tae Sang kissing which immediately tells him that she's the other ring holder(he even saw her necklace before her shoe fell off) and that's the boyfriend she always ran off to see. Now he's heartbroken and is colder towards her.
Baek Seung Ju: She had her inheritance stolen from her by her stepmother & step-siblings and started dating President Kim to rebel against her father. She's known Tae Sang for years and has always had a crush on him even though he's constantly rejected her. After her boyfriend died, he didn't want to have any more contact with her(I'm guessing as a way for him to completely cut ties with his former self), but she begged to at least stay friends. He agreed and she used this in hopes that he'd return her feelings someday. She's an investor and a huge part of his success, which makes it almost impossible for him to cut ties now. She's tough and is very independent with a strong character who takes care of her friends. She's shown to grow more jealous and even buys an identical ring to Tae Sang's thinking Mi Do didn't accept him. She loves him and will do anything to stay by his side, even as just a friend.
My thoughts: It's well written and you will enjoy if you have no real expectations due to not really knowing the synopsis. Tae Sang is suppose to be betrayed by Mi Do, which has many fans upset and curious as to how this is going to happen. Shin Se Kyung has said she took on this role knowing she'd possibly be hated by fans and that is very true. She's not very liked due to her caring nature towards Jae Hee knowing he likes her & her possible feelings towards him. Even if she does have some deep feelings there, she has rejected him and is trying with Tae Sang which she should praised for in the very least. So far, she's not a two-timer or manipulator. We all know she doesn't love Tae Sang, he even knows it but she's trying to get there. She's not ready for marriage yet because she hasn't had time to come up with these feelings just yet. Tae Sang has had 7 whole years for these feelings to come to fruition, can't fault her for not feeling that yet. I like Seung Ju's character, I dislike the things she's doing lately. Becoming the stereotypical second female lead seems to be her fate and she's showing it. To me, she's just like Yong-gab, just like a lesser evil version. Both are not above manipulation and have been somewhat humiliated by their loves. She says she's the only girl who can handle Tae Sang and says he's cold, lonely, and dangerous which he is not. She only knows his outer shell, which is like a mask he's donned everyday for 21 long years and it eventually took over. Once he met Mi Do and they began dating, his hard shell began to crack and he's been able to show who he really is. Mi Do said that he never matured after 17 years old, he's still a kid and a big baby. Jae Hee is only likable when he's with Chang Hee. I don't like how he's been trying to make Mi Do responsible for his hurt feelings. Yes he was rejected, but when the woman says she has a boyfriend and even made it known she visited him during work hours he showed no signs of giving up. I have a feeling it will be him that will turn dark, he's already shown it & will do anything to sway Mi Do his way.
I honestly think that the writer is having us question and even dislike Mi Do for what's to come later during the darker story arc in the drama. I think it's only giving us one side of her reactions and actions, not giving us everything. Since Tae Sang is so loved, I think we will dislike him later on depending on some of his actions. While we can already look at each character and try to understand their actions, the writers are purposefully letting us think all of these wild thing of Mi Do to turn around show us the parts/sides we might have missed in the past. My only wish is for a happy ending for our OTP.
The OST for this drama includes former K-Pop Star contestant Baek Ah Yeon and Jeong Dong Ha.
Baek Ah Yeon - Introduction To Love
Jeong Dong Ha - First Button
Now my question is, what do you think of this drama? Do you like the leads or is this just a waste of time? All opinions are welcome and no one is wrong for feeling a certain way.*Note: This is based on my opinion and views of the show alone, not trying to present it as fact(Unless it's a scene I discussed that actually happened)
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