Sunbae, Don't Put On That Lipstick (2021)

An enjoyable drama

First: Other than Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) I have rarely come across an OST that catches my attention. But during this drama, I was surprised to find myself thinking, "That's a great song to put there" or similar thoughts. I mention this first, because it's so rare that the music impresses me.

Second: Rowoon. He's a good actor, and I am fascinated by how good looking he is. I hate the scenes where they put too much makeup on him....maybe the makeup didn't change but the lighting did. Idk. But he didn't need as much as they put on him most of the time.

Third: I enjoy Asian dramas, whether they be Korean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, etc. I like the good ones and the bad ones. I can confidently say that this was a good drama, because I've seen so many. It had a high production value, good acting, and decent chemistry among the cast. It had enough drama in it to be dramatic, but not so much that it was cringey. It was, over all, a feel-good drama, which is nice because dramas are an escape, and it's nice to fantasize that there are happy endings. I teared up a time or two, but I never had to break down sobbing for the characters, so that was nice. There's enough reason to sob irl.

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A well written plot with really good character development.

This is a drama where I felt like I understood where all the characters were coming from and I couldn't hate them for the decisions they made, despite how stupid these decisions may be. This was a really well written drama and focused really well on several very different, somewhat out there (for a Kdrama) couples:
- A married couple consisting of a queer potentially gay or bi man and a heterosexual woman.
- A really unexpectedly adorable couple where a man who seemed like a player turned out to be the most down to earth and also faithful character.
- A really toxic engaged couple consisting of an obsessed woman and a cheating man.
- The main couple which was sort of a slow burn office romance that grew from the ML's long time crush and genuine admiration of the FL.

There were some characters that I really disliked, like the FL's mother or the SML, but everyone had really good character development. By the end, I actually liked all the characters. There was a time jump towards the end of the drama, and though I didn't really like it, it was needed in order to conclude all the storylines. Everyone had their own happy ending, and you can say some of the characters had an open ending. Not all the happy endings went "and they lived happily ever after", they were real endings where everyone was happy with where they were and where they were headed.

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Sunbae

This is one of my favorite kdrama I have ever watched. I love the story plot. Because of this kdrama I fell in love with Won Jin Ah. This is my first time watching a kdrama that Won Jin Ah leads and right now I'm becoming crazy and lying in my bed thinking of Won Jin Ah (HAHAHAHAH so awkward). The love story speaks in a reality where as we grow older we kinda think practically on the things that are around us. This kdrama gives me post-series depression right now I still cannot accept that I have finished watching it I even felt loneliness and emptiness in my heart after watching this.

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You can watch it but you don't need to

It's interesting to see how a makeup company works. The story itself is pretty simple and I think what could have been a great drama ended just being ok. Don't get me wrong I think if you like a really good pretty boy chasing the girl that he likes and protecting her this drama it's made for you. To be honest I really enjoyed the side stories of the ML sisters and their acting than the main couple. It's watchable but doesn't expect great things out of it.

The first drama I watched of both Rowoon and Won Jin Ah. Both have decent acting but I found it hard to connect with both characters.

I can relate to what ML wants and his reasoning and actions and I like how the FL is portrayed on the situation that she's in.
But I felt SML was completely plain and bland, I can't understand his background and story and on top of that, I think it drowns the best acting in the show which is from Lee Joo Bin. I think she nailed that character and how it should be played but when both are in the same scene it was like she was all alone.

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Worth revisiting for Rowoon and Romance...

"She Would Never Know" is a drama I had to revisit after putting it on hold. I enjoyed watching this when it aired, but the slower pace made it easy to forget about, and more fast-paced and addictive dramas stole my attention. This is ultimately an office romance story with a realistic feel. If you like to have more time to get to know and feel invested in a drama romance, then this pace may be perfect for you. If you like mature and imperfect love stories then this drama has some interesting couples and non-idealistic relationships. If you don't like the leads together, then this drama is pretty much a waste of time since the plot revolves around relationships more than events or particular storylines.

I loved the chemistry between the leads, but they were more cute together than exciting and more real than sexy. Won Jin Ah plays Yoon Song Ah, an ambitious cosmetics marketer with a poker face when it comes to her personal life. She is matched with Rowoon who plays adorable Chae Hyun Seung. He can't hide his crush on his work mentor Song Ah. The alternative title of the show (and apparently webtoon) "Don't Put That Lipstick On" speaks to an office drama that ends up connecting the two leads, but this drama doesn't really rely on love triangles too much. It's more about the dynamics between the characters. From pure love to truly toxic love, the couples throughout this story have a range and the cast plays all aspects of these relationships well. Overall this is a great and believable ensemble cast but there are no major breakout performances besides the Swoon-worthy Rowoon who is charming in every single scene he is in. He was enough to keep me watching, but there are no weak actors in this cast.

The story however is not always as strong as the cast. I think along with the slower pace a lot of the things that happen start to feel repetitive. Some of the surprises in the story are pretty obvious, and some of the ways things are resolved seem a little too neat, especially toward the end. As I started to care about the characters more the pace started to bother me less. Some of the characters are extra frustrating, almost to the point of being nonsensical, but at least there's some character growth that becomes what drives the story. There also aren't too many tropes in this story (besides a major time jump) even though the plot does often seem pretty generic. This drama also isn't a romcom, even if there are a few funny moments, this isn't a very emotional story either, which may be why it falls flat at times.

Would I watch this again? Maybe. Some of the best moments are flirting scenes between the leads, and there are a lot of rewatchable flirting moments fueled by Rowoon's cuteness. The other stories were fine to watch once but I wouldn't have any interest in watching them again. Did I mention how cute Rowoon is in this? lol! That explains my 'higher than it probably deserves' rewatch score.

Overall, "She Would Never Know" is a drama for people who like traditional romance but don't want heavy emotions spoiling the mood. If you like a love story with a satisfyingly clear beginning, middle, and end, this drama delivers. All of the character relationships have a statisfying resolution, even if I didn't agree with some of the character's choices. This drama explores how love can empower and break us. Included in that is self-love, and although every story isn't happy, this drama felt inspiring in how it showed the way both good and bad relationships can impact our lives for the better. Binging also helps with this drama's pacing, and although It's far from a favorite, I'm glad I gave this one a second chance.

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Tumbleweed fest

The catchcry for this is a woman rebuffing the advances of younger men. This isn't true. It's not about the age difference. It's the fact that she doesn't want to date with another colleague again as this age issue is resolved within the first couple of minutes in the series where we discover she's only a year older than him. That's right. A YEAR. Shows some insecurity issues for the ppl who actually promote and produce this webtoon and series if they think a year's diff between a woman and a man is a huge deal.

That aside, this show is a huge WTF for Rowoon. It doesn't showcase his full abilities at all and as a character Hyun Seung was flat and without personality. What does he like? Whatever Soon Ah likes. What makes him happy? Whatever makes Soon Ah happy. What's his favourite food? Whatever is Soon Ah's favourite food. *facepalm* It's quite a change watching him play a doormat in this whole series where nothing really happens. I stayed with it till the end because the cosmetics industry insides was interesting to watch and I love series where you get a good idea of an occupation from the characters' lives and She Would Never Know delivers on this at least. But the unlikely pair of older sisters that Hyun Seung has, and the going-ons of their love life was just a whole bunch of fantastical BS on display. Ji Seung, the older sister who is a successful entrepreneur and gorgeous is single. She is courted by Soon Ah's big boss, Jae Woon, who is a chaebol heir and single and is interested in her to the point of stalking her. He says the most weirdest things to her and she is all submissive and accepting of his behaviours because Korea and women apparently *rolls eyes*. Yun Seung, the oldest sister I think, is the "successful" woman and person of them all because she's married with a kid. She tries to match her siblings off asap and has trained her daughter to be focused on only appearances and boyfriends. Excellent. No need to educate the little girl, just prance her off to some escort service since men and skin beauty is prioritised highly in her metaphorical books. Those industries like the girls young and vacuous anyway.

The whole Jae Shin and Hyo Joo arc is weird AF. If he was really interested in Soon Ah and not Hyo Joo his behaviours and actions would not have been as it was in the series. The Jae Shin character behaved that way solely because the execs wanted to drive through the point about him being a cheater but the implausibility of how he treats her and keeps her in the dark stretched the suspension of disbelief too much that I just dumped this whole character. I couldn't take him seriously at all. He was just a pawn to act in whatever way fitted the plot and not a real organic character that was believable. It's quite a common trait anyway in Korean writing to have things be plot oriented rather than character oriented, which makes for implausible characters behaving in implausible ways.

Anyway, the only blimp that happens in Soon Ah and Hyun Seung's r/ship was her having some attack of doubts in Paris when he visits her. All that is resolved when she returns to Korea after her Parisian assignment and decides she wants him after all. And like the doormat that he is, of course he returns to her. Predictable. Then there's a wedding in the end and that's it.

A lot of blahs in between but not a lot of real substance to this series. All the characters are dull, boring and flat. I felt like I was watching ppl going through the throes of life post-lobotomies, tbh. You could replace druggies with the actors and you'd get the same spaced out results playing surreal situations that go through a predictable trajectory.

Rewatch value is -10.

I really wouldn't even recommend anyone watching this unless they were interested in marketing, esp retail marketing, as this is portrayed well in the series. The characters are shallow and dull and the story is just a bunch of nothing. Watching grass grow would have a better rewatch value.

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Went on too long

I thought the cast was great and the leads fit well together. Rowoon is an actor who's really growing on me. He is very good at playing gentle, thoughtful, yet no characters, but they aren't pushovers.
The friends, family and colleagues surrounding the MC were a diverse bunch with only a few stereotypes.
I loved Kwon Sung-yeon (played by Ahn Se-ha), a member of the Klar cosmetics team. I also liked Chae Ji-sung, 1 of 2 sisters of the ML, who was intelligent, considerate and pretty independent ~ also very classy.
I did feel for the FL, Song-ah. A strong and capable character who was deceived and messed about, but, after taking ages to make a decision, she then backtracked... she didn't seem to think anything through, or know what she wanted. My sympathy evaporated.
Characters I honestly had a major problem with, but were so well portrayed...
• The company director's sister, Lee Hyo-joo ~ utterly delusional. What she puts another character through and then complains to about their attitude, is eye rolling, to say the least. She totally needs professional help!
• Whilst I felt a little sorry for her partner, it was hard because although he is used and abused, he did also deceive others.
• FL's mother ~ The way this character was developed and handled, I found really weak and annoying too; it so played down the affects of her condition and personalities like that, on those closest to them and almost made it seem like that's just how it is, so put up with it.
• ML's other sister, Chae Yun-seung ~ married with a precocious daughter (fabulously played by a great child actress, Park So-yi), who spends all her time making snide, hurtful remarks and berating her siblings, telling them they need to marry EVERY TIME she's with them. She gets loud and petulant or plays hurt and childish, if she finds out they meet without her. She has a blunt, thoughtlessly nasty mouth with everyone, but is annoyingly enabled by those around her, as they just take it. How her character is developed, is just weird. It was like by making her acceptance of a situation, as though she was some open-minded saint, would make all the other stuff ok... nope. It did feel like divine retribution to be honest. I really like the actress who played her so convincingly, however (she's just been in See You In My 19th Life).
It was an OK watch. I wasn't blown away by it. Sometimes I just got so bored though and it took me ages to get through it.
The later story arc around the FL, felt a lot like it was just to pad out the drama.
I guess it's mostly about relationships (not just romantic ones, but familial, work and personal as well), following instinct, not being dictated to by society's 'norms'.
I didn't hate it and was happy to dip in and out as the mood took, but was so glad to finish it.

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A Beautiful Story.

I've always been a fan of older female/younger male kinda dramas. This drama especially made me fall in love with Ro Woon.
It might seem boring at the beginning with the whole work place stuff, and female lead was a bit slow to realize the fault in her relationship which was all a lie. Then came in Ro Woon, his boldness and expression got me through this whole drama, a man that knows what he wants and didn't give up till the end, even when female lead withdrew due to work situation. His feelings didn't waiver. The way he looks at her and wants to be around her really made me fall in love with the drama.
It's a perfect drama when looking for, workplace drama, slow but beautiful romance.

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What to watch when viewing this show.

What to watch when viewing this show because this show can be a gem depending on how you view or it can be a regular watch.

Let's start with the negative first because I have a glowing repose later down.

First I had an issue with the casting. I had an issue with Won Jin Ah. She was like a square peg in a round hole and I felt like she struggled the entire drama. At first it felt as though the leads didn't have great chemistry and it was an off pairing but the further the show went the more her interactions with her co-stars felt more strained. I also didn't like the height difference between the main couple except for the part where she stood up on the bench to hug him. That part was pretty cute, I must admit but outside of that, they looked weird which made all the kiss scenes sitting down. This is one of the reasons I believe that I wasn't sold 100% on the romance of this drama. It felt very one-sided. Ro Woon really made me fall in love with him but not so much Won Jin Ah.

Second issue was Lee Hyo Joo character arc. I'm really over the desperate unrequited suicidal love of the rich girl who can't get everything she wants. As much as I loved the writing of this show, I sighed deeply every time she came on the screen.

The Raving part.

What really makes this show shine is writing. I am officially a fan of Chae Yoon and as far as my research shows this is a debut drama for the writer. I think this is great work for a debut because the lines, the soliloquies had me swooning. Imagine if these lines were relayed with an epic couple chemistry. This would have been a romance for the ages.

The storyline and plot was a basic romance with the mandatory break up and make up, time skip, away trip, crazy parents, etc. But I don't mind this in most cases as long as the drama is done well and in this case it was almost a slam dunk.

There were so many scene stealers with Hyun Seung and what I loved about his character the most is that he always allowed Song Ah to make the choice, set the pace and draw the boundaries and he respected all of her rules, even when he doesn't like them. When she said it makes her the bad person to change her mind I went crazy because it acknowledges that although men can be crass, women can take advantage of a situation as well.

Some other favourite moments: Song Ah saying she could never understand her mom because she is so determined not to become like her. Hyun Seung saying that love can burden the refuser (Episode 8 Hyun Seung soliloquy).

There are so many moments when the writing of this show moved me and I felt the talent of the script. I look forward to more from this writer hopefully with a more compatible cast.

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Sweet Sunbae Noona Romance

There are certain k-dramas that are meant to stay in your heart forever and can be rewatched to the fullest joy again and again. This is one of them for me. The storyline is simple yet so extra for your heart to take. I'm Awestruck with how beautiful and warm this drama is. Anyone who wants to witness the sweet Sunbae noona romance that will stay in your heart forever just can't miss this beautiful drama!. I am head over heels for Rowoon after watching this drama. He has outdone himself in every aspect. The way he portrayed Chae Hyung Seung makes it impossible not to fall in love with him. He is such a treat to watch! I've never felt so attached to the characters in any of the dramas till now. I haven't watched it, I LIVED THIS DRAMA...!!! It is a complete package with just the right amount of everything which makes an excellent romance drama. It was my comfy place for the last few months and now that it's over I don't know how to overcome the hangover and take Chae Hyung Seung out of my mind. DAMN you Rowoon! I wish I could forget the plot and rewatch it so I can experience those ecstatic feelings all over again. This drama is a must-watch! One of the best-underrated k-drama gems. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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Out of the 16 episodes I wholeheartedly enjoyed 8 episodes. There were also 4 episodes which I really hated & 4 average mildly frustrating ones.
There is not a whole a whole lot of originality here. The only particularly unusual thing is how front loaded the show is with love triangle makjang. In the first 4 episodes all the bad stereotypical triangle things end up happening, like fist fighting, the 3way hand grab and a lot of possessiveness. The second ML is like a bloodhound for quite a while & the ML is not much better up until like ep6. (without Covid boredom I would've just dropped this at ep2-3)
The rest of the drama offers decent romance, but it has the most stereotypical and over-foreshadowed separation plot. (except it's even worse, because it's longer than the usual 2 years tenure) Anyhow the leads had good chemistry and plenty of sweet scenes together, so that was nice.
I can be considered a fan of Won Jin Ah, I don't see why people are bashing her. Her acting was great in this drama, the script, or her ridiculous hair/lipstick combination was not her fault. This is the second time I saw Rowoon in a drama. Based on his performance in Extraordinary You, I thought that he is a typical idol actor with no acting range. His acting may not have blown my mind, but he has improved a lot and largely succeeded at playing a completely different character, good job!

The one thing the production team really succeeded at is setting the mood. The unassuming, but surprisingly tasteful OST probably helped a lot with that too. I like dramas that have a slightly melodramatic mood, without going into an angsty direction. I guess this is one of the main reasons why I managed to somewhat enjoy this objectively bad drama.

I'm fine with gay supporting characters in dramas, but this drama had the blandest, most generic and overtold gay side story I have ever seen. Oh yes, there is one original thing in the drama after all. Song Ah's mother wanting her daughter to die alone is something I have not seen in a drama before, but personally I don't think that story was worth being told.

The office setting had some of the usual cliches, but it was bearable. They did not end up overdoing the workplace scheming/intrigue BS.

I can see why people taking the drama way too seriously wouldn't like the ending, but personally I think it was a well executed happy ending.

Overall 7/10 is probably too high, but against all odds the drama did end up entertaining me quite a bit, so I'll just roll with it.

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Loved the acting of the main leads however, the characters themselves, not so much

All the acting was good. Rowoon as Chae Hyun Seung and Won Jin Ah as Yoon Song Ah were both excellent, given what they had to work with. I liked their chemistry in the brief amount of time that they were actually together. Lots of cute interactions and good kisses. I also loved Park So Yi as Kang Ha Eun, Hyun Seung's young niece. She was precocious without being obnoxious, and I loved their scenes together especially.

Costuming was good, with generally classy outfits worn in the workplace and out and about. I tend to like office romance stories, and it's a bonus when the office workers are tolerable. I would have liked to have worked with these people. Hardworking and supporting of each other.

Here's where my problems came in: Yoon Song Ah has been in a secret relationship with her boss for two years. She finds out (because Chae Hyun Seung sets her up) that her boss is getting married in a couple of months. I'll address the set-up later. So, she's brokenhearted and mad, yet she tells the boyfriend that she wants to end their relationship, not mentioning that she's found out that he's a two-timing slime ball. He is constantly in her face, wanting to get back together, to the point that he should have had a restraining order out against him. You feel sorry for Song because she's supposedly so in love, but then suddenly decides she liked Hyun Seung - I was never able to see the transition. THEN she decides to go work in Europe for five years and they are going to try the long-distance thing. She never has time for him, so she breaks up with him by trampling all over his feelings. THEN she comes back and wants to get back together with him. This woman was so self-absorbed I had a hard time sympathizing with her. Weak woman.

Chae Hyun Seung had his own issues. In the first episode I thought he was so sweet, pining for Song Ah, but when he set her up for her to find out the truth, that really bothered me. Plus, the fact that he sounded like he was threatening her by saying things like, "You'd better show up" and especially when he wiped the lipstick from her lips and told her not to wear it. Once she knew the truth of the deadbeat boyfriend, Hyun Seung kept after her and after her, one minute saying he'd wait for her, and in the next minute wanting to know if she liked him yet. There were times that he was supposed to look like he was protecting her, but I thought his actions were very high-handed.

As for the side couples: I LOVED the storyline for Lee Jae Woon and Chae Ji Seung. He was immediately smitten, and the things he would do to be in her presence were precious.

Lee Jae Shin and Lee Hyo Joo - rat bastard cheating man that is marrying her because he feels he owes his friend a debt? Wants to get up in the world? I don't know and I don't care. But he stayed with her so she wouldn't kill herself? Weak woman.

Kang Woo Hyeon and Chae Yung Seung - You could tell at the outset that he didn't love her in a romantic way. And they stated that he spends ALL his free time with his friend from school. Once they started to address the possibility of him being gay, he blamed everything on the friend. She said she'd stay with him until he figured out who he was. Weak woman. So, she wasted years on this guy, living with him while he tried to find himself. Once he figured out what he wanted and they divorced, all I could think of was the years she wasted. The scenes with their young daughter when she found out they were getting divorced broke my heart.

The storyline with Song Ah and her mother I absolutely hated. Her mother was a complete and total mess and irritated me to pieces. What this storyline just reinforced to me was the Song Ah saw what her father did and so she was never going to make herself vulnerable to a man. That showed why she kept herself slightly apart from men, but on the other hand she seemed to always need to have a man in her life.

I do have to say that I enjoyed the last couple of episodes, though I couldn't quite forgive her for what she put him through. It's very shallow of me to say, but I was able to forgive quite a bit, just because I had the opportunity to watch Rowoon.

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