[Drama 2014] Secret Love Affair 밀회

[telzey]

I did not want to watch episodes 16 again. The first time I watched it I was quite upset and kind of in shock that she ended up going to jail. All the stress with the chairman's family and the prosecutors and the trial and then the jail. I went around for a few days feeling like the time Mr. Spock got killed off in one of the Star Trek movies. How can you do that to a main character? I could not accept it as a happy ending. It was at least a week before I got over being angry at the show. My husband thought it was an appropriate ending and was surprised I hated it. After a while when I read everybody's comments I decided it was okay but not the best. So I quit thinking about it but I do not want to watch it again

[Guest dualnon]

Even though I think the Buddhist perspective is the best possible ending because HW is free of the "Demon", I'm not enlightened so my head and my heart are not one.  

[mdj101]

Should I admit to forgetting that today was Sunday? or not?  I'm reasonably certain that I am not crazy  (of course, that's just MY opinion!), but had so much happening  recently (visitors, plumbing problems,  etc....).....Plus, I  have been telling myself it is all because I'm retired.  No more alarm clocks, work weeks, days off, etc.  And I prefer that excuse to almost all of the other possibilities
I am really sorry I missed the Sunday Re-Watch, but I was in an SLA  state of mind, reading many articles from previously written reviews.  :-<
Edited:... @dualnon,.....I did the same things as you described for those last episodes:...  watched the raw videos, watched Viki at various partially subbed stages, followed the Forum for updates from folks who posted from the on-air episodes, was sad when it ended, and returned to the Forum frequently during the following days for ongoing comments and support.                 Also, @shamrockmom's comment about Kang knocking all of HW's beauty products onto the floor reminded me of the way it mimics a common kdrama "trope".  Just this week in  "Endless Love"  a great older actor has a MAJOR "breakdown", a turning point full of rage...major display! swipes everything off the desk to the floor, saves ONE lamp to toss moments later.......demonstrating the "trope" as it SHOULD be done  with great  old-style dramatic effect!   Kang's little display was just so unworthy of a real manly display of power and righteous anger.   A gesture as petty and ineffectual as he was himself.     And, I did not remember that roll of toilet paper!
PS:....... @shamrockmom,  could you share the short version of the Buddhist perspective as it applies to the ending and to Hye Won and Seon Jae when you get a chance to read and think more about it?  I do not really understand it very well myself, only in a very general sort of way.

[shamrockmom]

dualnon said: Even though I think the Buddhist perspective is the best possible ending because HW is free of the "Demon", I'm not enlightened so my head and my heart are not one.  

[africandramalover]

Hello from Nairobi, Kenya.

I've been lurking on this forum trying to get through 684 pages of comments. (200 more to go)

First things first. SECRET LOVE AFFAIR is the best drama EVER. I was excited to hear that Kim Hee Ae was doing a new drama. I have liked her since My Husband's Woman. ( together with Bae Jong Ok who's been a favourite since More Beautiful Than A Flower in 2004). Unlike most people, I had no issues with the age gap because I'm addicted to noona romances. Drama imitates my life. Therefore you can imagine my excitement at this drama.

Unlike most of the fans here, I cannot watch a drama two episodes a week. It's torture! ! I must marathon the drama. So I had a hard time seeing the rave reviews and trying not to cave in to watch it. But I hung on.......

Immediately the drama ended screening I marathoned it and only slept 8 hours in 3 days....... During that period I went through the emotional wringer. So many emotions! Fear when our OTP was being trailed, tension when the corruption was about to blow up, anticipation for the bed scene, actual physical relief after episode 8, anger at OHW's husband, annoyance........ Afterwards, I almost felt sickly because of what this drama did to me.

I must salute the writer and PDnim. Genius doesn't begin to describe SLA!! As someone interested in writing and production, I must acknowledge the awesomeness of what they did. This was the perfect example of technical perfection!

As for the actors, they were so on point! Like a needle! I appreciate that even with the initial apprehension about the age gap, they were able to get on set and drown out the noise and deliver a great performance.

I will take away a few things from this drama that are basics. Write about what you know and love and RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! ! I finally understand what I was told in writing class.

The writer picked her interest (classical music) and was able to incorporate it so brilliantly into the script. This happens when you write about what you love because it is almost a labour of love, sharing what you love with the world in the best way you know how. Through writing drama. I am not a classical music fan. I still am not after the drama. But I will never look at classical music the same way again!!

They say that if you have writer's block you haven't researched enough. I'm not sure she had writer's block because the depth of knowledge about the classical music was astounding. I have learned so much from reading the posts here!! I am constantly amazed at what she did. The PDnim too had to have read a whole lot and done his own research to be able to translate it so well to the viewer.

I will not write about the drama watching experience. We fans have flogged that topic senseless :-) And I am constantly talking about SLA here at home that I have gotten a few friends hooked on dramas, both in the country and outside. It's always Secret Love Affair this, Secret Love Affair that. I'm like the de facto drama fan in Kenya ( and I would like to think in Africa too :-) )

I must mention that I didn't have a problem with the drama ending. The speech that OHW gave in court was like a summary of the show, a woman who living a soulless and corrupt life and experiences her defining moment (through SJ) when she must choose whether to go on as she was or leave her life and enter into her new life of freedom from corruption etc.

And so I was ready to accept that their relationship may end with jail, but OHW was free and had gone through the "arc" ( moved from one state to her new state as a character in a program) . I was still happy that SJ said that they cannot end like this, without living together. This signalled that they'd meet out there in 1.5 years. If they tried the relationship amd it ended, so be it. As long as they tried.

I have seen comments that OHW gave it all up for SJ who gave up nothing. I beg to differ. I think that she would have had a defining moment with SJ or any other circumstance. We all have these moments that make us rethink what we are doing here. Some may have accidents, or sickness, or job loss, a conversation with a friend...... and we have to think deeply about things we always assumed. In the drama, SJ was the vehicle for this. And there's nothing like their steamy affair to provide "clarity".... lol!!!

Now to the actual affair. I know it was an affair. And it was just a drama. But I felt actual physical relief when they finally went to bed. The tension they'd built up in the production was CRAZY!! Walala!! I have never wanted two people to get into bed so BAD!! If you have watched My Husband's Woman, you know how good she is at pulling off an affair. This is the reason why I was happy with her acting this part when I heard about it. I had the confidence that she could pull it of, but now she's set a new standard. My favourite kdrama kiss is what I call the "stumbling kiss". Reference episode 10 behind the curtains and episode 9 when they enter the house and can barely stand..... I need me one of those!!

Another funny thing was the script references for their passion which the writer phrases as "eating one another". In kenyan slang, having sex can be roughly translated as eating each other. Some of our languages also use the same phrase to define sex. Who knew Kenya and Korea have that connection? :-D

Kudos to everyone here who shared all their insights and helped us learn more about the drama. I had to rewatch it again while taking notes!

BTW, I think the writer has a thing for kicking men in the nuts. There was a similar scene in A Wife's Credentials. What is she telling us? :-) lol.

I have go to stop there. My addiction has gotten the best of me and I cannot recover from SLA.

[mdj101]

@africandramalover,
Welcome!  I am so happy I came back to check the Forum  for late comments from the last  Sunday of the First  formally scheduled group SLA  Re-Watch  ( Episodes 15 & 16), because I had the unexpected pleasure of reading your thoughts about SLA  and about  all the people who created that drama.  Of course, I believe your are totally right to call SLA  "the best drama ever".  Like most classic works of art SLA  is a beautiful experience each time you view it and there are always new aspects to be discovered.  
Thank you for sharing that you live in Nairobi, Kenya.  I love knowing where everyone lives and like to check  Profiles  for locations.  I am in New Jersey, U.S.A., directly across the river from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2:00 A.M. here now, so I will say GOOD NIGHT for now.  Too tired to say more, but I loved all your comments .... Insightful & Awesome!. 
PS:.... Liked your note about the language similarity, too.  Just remembered how much I enjoyed a drama from Africa due to a feeling that there was some similarity of family obligations and relationships, cultural expectations,  and almost Confucian patriarchal underpinnings in the society plus a certain warmth, "old-fashion values",  etc. as I have liked in kdramas, Taiwan dramas.  Do not remember the name of the drama nor  where in Africa it  was broadcast.  

[Guest dualnon]

@africandramalover hello!  So good to hear your thoughts on SLA.  You brought a big smile to my face.  You can tell from the 484 pages you've already read that your addiction is safe with us.  I hope you'll have a lot more to say. 

[africandramalover]

n‌

@mdj101‌ , I'm not too sure which programme it is...... Africa has 55 countries and 3000 communities but we share the values of utmost respect for our elders with Asians. This is one of the things that made me fall in love with dramas. However, ours are not based on confucianism but our traditions and culture.

I remember a scene in cunning single Lady at the funeral when the lead female is on the lawn, bent over a basin of dishes that she's cleaning. I had an "OMG I LOVE LOVE KOREA RIGHT NOW" moment because if you painted the cast black, that was a scene that is just right out of anywhere on the continent. I was moved like nothing before. The points of convergence are so many when I watch dramas. However, we could teach korea a thing or two about partying at weddings. On the Korean channel we have in Kenya, the Korean presenter said how overwhelmed she was by the party and celebratory atmosphere of the weddings she attended while in Kenya. :-D. But that's Africans for you, any time is party time.

@dualnon‌ , I could talk about Secret Love Affair all day. However, I will go and pull up my notes and give my analysis over the next few days. :-)

[telzey]

Welcome, @africandramalover ! We are happy to have new friends here. Several of us, including me, were pulled into Soompi by SLA. Our first place to post. I have branched out to comment on other dramas, but always come back here because it's home. You make friends with people you interact with, even if it's on the web and not real life. How fun to find cultural similarities in countries you thought were very different! I guess that is one reason we all watch the dramas, we connect somehow. Thanks for sharing!

[Guest dualnon]

What does it say?!!!!  I know it talks about if/when PDnim and KHA will work on a project together again.
http://joynews.inews24.com/php/news_view.php?g_menu=701100&g_serial=854011

[shamrockmom]

Another trope that wasn't used in SLA--the male 2nd lead vying for the main female lead's affections.  I am glad that I didn't have to watch any extended scenes of jealous behavior between say, Min Woo and SJ.  SJ was touchy about knowing MW had also been his Teacher's student, and also he seemed quite curious of any friend-relationship HW may have had when she was younger with Professor Jo.Or what if the writer had made HW's husband a 2nd lead sympathetic character--instead of merely pathetic?  Another disaster, avoided.  
@africandramalover, your post referencing  the "stumbling kiss" made me think of how many other K-dramas have the main female character as clumsy or always falling...but in SLA, at first it was SJ who seemed to be stumbling and running into things, then of course, their kiss in the backstage curtains at Seohan...where it seemed they both were having trouble staying on their feet...an interesting twist on that trope for sure

[lisafransisca]

Kim Hee Ae Wants to Travel With Yoo Ah In in Noonas Over Flowers Season 2.
just like HW & SJ without piano

[lisafransisca]

@dualnon this is cool!
The main title says "Kim Hee Ae: "Yoo Ah In & SLA. When shall we meet again with the same combination"
The small title says "Big age difference romance, scared at first"

Basically she wants to work together with SLA team again (PD, Writer, YAI) in the future

[africandramalover]

@shamrockmom‌ thanks for the welcome. That stumbling kiss is the reason for my existence. You could feel the passion between the two who want each other so bad their legs give way under the passion. Definitely turned me on.

And this is how dramas ruin us. I want a passionate kiss like that!! So hot I can barely stand! Panting and breathing heavily in the middle of a hug. SLA, look what you did to me!!

[Guest dualnon]

africandramalover said: @shamrockmom‌ thanks for the welcome. That stumbling kiss is the reason for my existence. You could feel the passion between the two who want each other so bad their legs give way under the passion. Definitely turned me on. And this is how dramas ruin us. I want a passionate kiss like that!! So hot I can barely stand! Panting and breathing heavily in the middle of a hug. SLA, look what you did to me!!

[lisafransisca]

africandramalover said: Hello from Nairobi, Kenya. I've been lurking on this forum trying to get through 684 pages of comments. (200 more to go) First things first. SECRET LOVE AFFAIR is the best drama EVER. I was excited to hear that Kim Hee Ae was doing a new drama. I have liked her since My Husband's Woman. ( together with Bae Jong Ok who's been a favourite since More Beautiful Than A Flower in 2004). Unlike most people, I had no issues with the age gap because I'm addicted to noona romances. Drama imitates my life. Therefore you can imagine my excitement at this drama. Unlike most of the fans here, I cannot watch a drama two episodes a week. It's torture! ! I must marathon the drama. So I had a hard time seeing the rave reviews and trying not to cave in to watch it. But I hung on....... Immediately the drama ended screening I marathoned it and only slept 8 hours in 3 days....... During that period I went through the emotional wringer. So many emotions! Fear when our OTP was being trailed, tension when the corruption was about to blow up, anticipation for the bed scene, actual physical relief after episode 8, anger at OHW's husband, annoyance........ Afterwards, I almost felt sickly because of what this drama did to me. I must salute the writer and PDnim. Genius doesn't begin to describe SLA!! As someone interested in writing and production, I must acknowledge the awesomeness of what they did. This was the perfect example of technical perfection! As for the actors, they were so on point! Like a needle! I appreciate that even with the initial apprehension about the age gap, they were able to get on set and drown out the noise and deliver a great performance. I will take away a few things from this drama that are basics. Write about what you know and love and RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! ! I finally understand what I was told in writing class. The writer picked her interest (classical music) and was able to incorporate it so brilliantly into the script. This happens when you write about what you love because it is almost a labour of love, sharing what you love with the world in the best way you know how. Through writing drama. I am not a classical music fan. I still am not after the drama. But I will never look at classical music the same way again!! They say that if you have writer's block you haven't researched enough. I'm not sure she had writer's block because the depth of knowledge about the classical music was astounding. I have learned so much from reading the posts here!! I am constantly amazed at what she did. The PDnim too had to have read a whole lot and done his own research to be able to translate it so well to the viewer. I will not write about the drama watching experience. We fans have flogged that topic senseless :-) And I am constantly talking about SLA here at home that I have gotten a few friends hooked on dramas, both in the country and outside. It's always Secret Love Affair this, Secret Love Affair that. I'm like the de facto drama fan in Kenya ( and I would like to think in Africa too :-) ) I must mention that I didn't have a problem with the drama ending. The speech that OHW gave in court was like a summary of the show, a woman who living a soulless and corrupt life and experiences her defining moment (through SJ) when she must choose whether to go on as she was or leave her life and enter into her new life of freedom from corruption etc. And so I was ready to accept that their relationship may end with jail, but OHW was free and had gone through the "arc" ( moved from one state to her new state as a character in a program) . I was still happy that SJ said that they cannot end like this, without living together. This signalled that they'd meet out there in 1.5 years. If they tried the relationship amd it ended, so be it. As long as they tried. I have seen comments that OHW gave it all up for SJ who gave up nothing. I beg to differ. I think that she would have had a defining moment with SJ or any other circumstance. We all have these moments that make us rethink what we are doing here. Some may have accidents, or sickness, or job loss, a conversation with a friend...... and we have to think deeply about things we always assumed. In the drama, SJ was the vehicle for this. And there's nothing like their steamy affair to provide "clarity".... lol!!! Now to the actual affair. I know it was an affair. And it was just a drama. But I felt actual physical relief when they finally went to bed. The tension they'd built up in the production was CRAZY!! Walala!! I have never wanted two people to get into bed so BAD!! If you have watched My Husband's Woman, you know how good she is at pulling off an affair. This is the reason why I was happy with her acting this part when I heard about it. I had the confidence that she could pull it of, but now she's set a new standard. My favourite kdrama kiss is what I call the "stumbling kiss". Reference episode 10 behind the curtains and episode 9 when they enter the house and can barely stand..... I need me one of those!! Another funny thing was the script references for their passion which the writer phrases as "eating one another". In kenyan slang, having sex can be roughly translated as eating each other. Some of our languages also use the same phrase to define sex. Who knew Kenya and Korea have that connection? :-D Kudos to everyone here who shared all their insights and helped us learn more about the drama. I had to rewatch it again while taking notes! BTW, I think the writer has a thing for kicking men in the nuts. There was a similar scene in A Wife's Credentials. What is she telling us? :-) lol. I have go to stop there. My addiction has gotten the best of me and I cannot recover from SLA.

[galpianist]

gretac said: Like @dualnon with her piano props, grids, and bars, I've been amazed at how, once I started paying attention and looking for it, the musical themes gave us so much information!
I think you give me too much credit - I often don't even notice the background music in dramas, films, etc. with the front of my brain - and I'm not sure quite when I started paying attention to it in this show, apart from appreciating how incredibly gorgeous it was. Used to be I wouldn't notice the music for paying attention to the action and dialogue; now when I go through these rewatch episodes, I often find I've missed the dialogue for paying attention to the music!

And this particular drama, with its contemplative, evocative style, left space for the music to be appreciated more. And used the music as so much more integral a part of the artistry of the whole work - unlike a ballad screaming in our ears to fill in any silences that happen to occur in other kdramas! As an aside, I loved how much silence there was in this drama, too. Every moment didn't have to be filled with background music. Lots of auditory space. So that also allows more 'presence' for the background music when it does show up.
Because we were all so focused on the diegetic music (music that is actually part of the story, part of the characters' reality, i.e., that the characters are producing or hearing), it brought the non-diegetic, or background music to our attention too.
I think it particularly piqued my interest when we started getting previews of the OST with their names for those pieces, which were so evocative they made me sit up and pay attention to the themes the different pieces were communicating - figuring that out not just from their names, but from what scenes they were used in. I want to play a lot more with that still - I'm finding it fascinating.

I also love that you brought up the musical form/s of the drama itself - I've been thinking about that, too, though not very systematically. This drama definitely has a symphonic feel to me, and I do think in terms of preludes, codas, movements, counterpoint, fugues, fantasies (taking a cue from SJ's performance pieces!) and variations on a theme. But I haven't pulled it all together into any one overarching concept yet!
I think we should get @galpianist to weigh in on this one, too!

[africandramalover]

Thanks for the welcome @lisafransisca‌

Lol!! @dualnon‌ ........ I write. Mostly about my travels. My trips provide enough drama to write about, missed flights, visa problems, being the only African in a place and everyone is looking at you and asking "how come your English is so good?" :-O he he he.

However, I have now decided to take my writing seriously. My friends are always pushing me to write a book, and I promise I will! One day! Soon! Like Chincha!! After watching dramas, I have been inspired to combine my addiction to tv and my writing to get into production and directing. There are massive opportunities opening up in Africa for local content. Kenya requires at least 40% local content by law. We have a pan African satellite company (DSTV) investing heavily in Kenya with production studios, and another Chinese digital TV company also building their Africa headquarters and big studios in Nairobi. There are also local cable companies pouring big money into local productions. The opportunities are enormous and the money is flowing!! I'm positioning myself for the windfall :-D.

Just last weekend I was shooting a short film/ pilot as an understudy to the director. It was such a great learning experience, dealing with the "artistic temperament" of the cast, being the boom swinger, working so hard till my body ached, having to reshoot a scene because the camera memory decided to corrupt itself....... experience is the best teacher.

Back to SLA...the one scene that blew me away was in episode 2 when the 3 friends, ( make that 2 friends and 1 backstabber) go out for dinner. Yes, I have replayed that scene countless times. I was so taken by how natural it was that for a moment I forgot it was a drama. I actually paused the media player to catch my breath. I felt like it was me and the girls enjoying a dinner and improper conversation in a restaurant in downtown Nairobi. Do you think the three (OHW, piano professor's wife and backstabber) are friends in real life? Or was that just amazing acting?

I also loved the interaction between prof and his wife. That indirect kiss... OMG!! And how she was fawning over him with ajumma aegyo!! (She says "Eat, eat and I'll take care of you tonight. *giggles*) That's another reason I like korean dramas. The adults in dramas are not just props but have problems, emotions and a functioning love life outside of their children's storyline (refer to kang Tae Bong's parents in Dal Ja's spring). Suffice it to say that I am the writernim's number 1 fan girl!!

I think I'm rambling. .......... damn you SLA!!!

[galpianist]

So happy to see a new friend (a fellow KHA fan as well! I love her acting in A Husband's Woman as well!) joining us here!! Welcome @africandramalover, another SLA lover with plenty of SLA+ blood to keep this forum going! I think it's really cool like what @telzey said that we're able to connect through our favourite dramas and it'll be interesting to hear your thoughts about the drama with influences from a different culture! I think that the Korean and African cultures have some similarities in terms of traditional gender values, where men hold higher statuses, are the heads of the household and the provider for the family from my observations when watching K dramas and when I studied Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe back during my secondary school days. 
And yes I have the same question as @dualnon about writing fictions!! 
Edit: I take very long to type a post as always! Seeing that you write, may I greedily hope that you'll write a SLA fiction as well too? 

[Guest dualnon]

africandramalover said: Thanks for the welcome @lisafransisca‌ Lol!! @dualnon‌ ........ I write. Mostly about my travels. My trips provide enough drama to write about, missed flights, visa problems, being the only African in a place and everyone is looking at you and asking "how come your English is so good?" :-O he he he. However, I have now decided to take my writing seriously. My friends are always pushing me to write a book, and I promise I will! One day! Soon! Like Chincha!! After watching dramas, I have been inspired to combine my addiction to tv and my writing to get into production and directing. There are massive opportunities opening up in Africa for local content. Kenya requires at least 40% local content by law. We have a pan African satellite company (DSTV) investing heavily in Kenya with production studios, and another Chinese digital TV company also building their Africa headquarters and big studios in Nairobi. There are also local cable companies pouring big money into local productions. The opportunities are enormous and the money is flowing!! I'm positioning myself for the windfall :-D. Just last weekend I was shooting a short film/ pilot as an understudy to the director. It was such a great learning experience, dealing with the "artistic temperament" of the cast, being the boom swinger, working so hard till my body ached, having to reshoot a scene because the camera memory decided to corrupt itself....... experience is the best teacher. Back to SLA...the one scene that blew me away was in episode 2 when the 3 friends, ( make that 2 friends and 1 backstabber) go out for dinner. Yes, I have replayed that scene countless times. I was so taken by how natural it was that for a moment I forgot it was a drama. I actually paused the media player to catch my breath. I felt like it was me and the girls enjoying a dinner and improper conversation in a restaurant in downtown Nairobi. Do you think the three (OHW, piano professor's wife and backstabber) are friends in real life? Or was that just amazing acting? I also loved the interaction between prof and his wife. That indirect kiss... OMG!! And how she was fawning over him with ajumma aegyo!! (She says "Eat, eat and I'll take care of you tonight. *giggles*) That's another reason I like korean dramas. The adults in dramas are not just props but have problems, emotions and a functioning love life outside of their children's storyline (refer to kang Tae Bong's parents in Dal Ja's spring). Suffice it to say that I am the writernim's number 1 fan girl!! I think I'm rambling. .......... damn you SLA!!!