In K-drama She Would Never Know, toxic masculinity overlays regressive office romance despite bright, colourful set-up

She Would Never Know, the first new Monday-Tuesday Korean drama of 2021, is an office-set romance from cable network JTBC between a new recruit at a make-up company and his senior. Or at least that’s what the marketing had us believe in the lead up to the launch.

In reality, the age gap between rookie Chae Hyun-seung (Rowoon) and manager Yoon Song-a (Won Jin-a) is only a year, something we learn very quickly. Sadly, this turns out to be a case of start as you mean to go on, as this ridiculous premise is followed by equally baffling behaviour and revelations over the course of the first four episodes. Even more unfortunate is that none of it is played for laughs – this is a dead-serious and deathly dull affair.

Based on the popular web novel Sunbae (Senior), Don’t Put on that Lipstick by Elise, She Would Never Know ticks many of the requisite Korean romantic drama boxes. Won once again plays a serious career woman – just as she did in the recent films Money (as an investment broker) and Long Live the King (as a human rights lawyer) – who has been working as a marketer for the cosmetics brand KLAR for two years.

Played by SF9 boy band member Rowoon, Hyun-seung is a handsome and rich young man living in a swanky bachelor pad who met Song-a at a college career forum, where she represented KLAR. He has just started at the company and his whole world revolves around his love for Song-a, which he doesn’t keep to himself for very long. However, his romantic intentions hit a snag when he discovers that she has been involved in a secret office romance with the rather grim team leader Lee Jae-shin (Lee Hyun-wook).

Hyun-seung’s sister Ji-seung (Wang Bit-na) runs a high-end wedding planning business, and while visiting her one afternoon, Jae-shin just happens to walk through the doors, arm in arm with his bride-to-be, fashion photographer Lee Hyo-joo (Lee Joo-bin).

As K-drama premises go, this one is fairly limp and hampered by lazier contrivances than usual, but more troubling is the behaviour of the male lead towards the apple of his eye. Hyun-seung is a hopeless romantic but his love is possessive and quickly proves to be very selfish.