Sung Hoon lands leading role in pre-produced rom-com drama

by javabeans

Sung Hoon has landed a lead role in an upcoming pre-produced drama, capitalizing on his recent and growing wave of popularity (thanks in large part to his crowd-pleasing loveline with Shin Hye-sun in Five Kids; he was also a cute sidekick in last year’s Oh My Venus). He’ll be the leading man in a rom-com that appears to be going by the English title My Secret Romance, although the Korean title means more along the lines of “frustrating romance” or “you-drive-me-crazy romance.” (I can see why they opted against a literal translation; the term gets a bit lost in translation.)

The plot sounds cute: In a dating world fully of busy people who tend to flirt and chase “some” relationships rather than having meaningful connections that allow them to show their true feelings, our main couple has a one-night stand. They meet again three years later, whereupon they kick off a shaky push-pull romance that’ll keep them on their toes as they fall in love.

Sung Hoon plays Jin-wook, a second-generation chaebol who only dates casually until he meets the heroine, and starts to change. He’s the type of guy all the woman are crazy about, but he doesn’t particularly feel anything for them and enjoys partying and going to clubs, always finding himself in the spotlight wherever he goes. He and the heroine, a perpetually single 25-year-old named Yumi, meet at a Jeju resort and get caught up in a series of misunderstandings and accidents. She’s a bit prim and doesn’t bother to wear makeup or do her hair, but somehow they get caught up in the mood of the night; she’s initially charmed by his sly, playful personality and they spend the night together.

But in the morning, she’s gone: “She disappears like the wind like Cinderella, leaving behind one shoe, and after that night, he becomes romantically handicapped, like he’s been caught up in a spell.” He’s irrationally angry with her for leaving without a word, or even telling him her last name, though he tells himself it’s because she’s insulted him.

Three years later, the couple runs into each other again: He’s completely changed, turning into a prickly workaholic corporate director who no longer parties or even enjoys his life, focusing solely on his job. Although thinking of Yumi still angers him, he’s been unable to throw away the shoe she left behind. One day she suddenly turns up as the new nutritionist at the company cafeteria, and although they pretend not to remember each other, as they dance around their physical attraction (and memories of that one night), they begin to wonder if this could turn into anything more, or if it’ll just end up hurting them.

My Secret Romance was selected in the 2015 Top Creator Audition held by KOCCA, the Korea Creative Content Agency, and is being produced by Godin Media, which produced the currently airing remake drama 1% of Anything. Directing will be PD Kang Chul-woo, who is also directing 1% of Anything, as well as both seasons of Ghost-Seeing Detective Cheo-yong. The drama will be 100 percent pre-produced, and while there’s no broadcast information yet, it’s calling itself a “global romance” project that is aiming for a multinational and multi-platform release, online as well as on television. That seems rather ambitious in scope to me, but I’d be satisfied if it turns out to be another cute, sweet romance on a small cable outlet, like 1% of Anything, which is my favorite currently airing show of the moment.

I’m not sure if it’s just that the descriptions provided were more thorough than usual, or because they were well-written to cater to my romance-loving heart, but this kind of story premise is exactly my kind of catnip, so I’ll be keeping a close watch on updates. My Secret Romance is aiming for a release sometime in the first half 2017.

Via Sports Chosun

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