In Her Private Life, Park Min-young stars as Seong Deok-mi, curator at the Chum Art Gallery and secret fangirl of Cha Shi-an, member of the kpop group, White Ocean. Ryan Gold (Kim Jae-wook), the man who outbid Deok-mi at a US art auction, arrives as the new director of the Art Gallery. Through a series of misunderstandings, he clashes with Deok-mi. Former Olympian turned jujitsu studio owner, Nam Eun-gi (Ahn Bo-Hyn from See You in My 19th Life) grew up with Deok-mi and hides the feelings he has developed for her. Deok-me’s best friend and fellow fangirl, Lee Seon-joo (Park Jin-joo), is a coffee-shop owner with a cute son and husband troubles.
When Deok-mi is spotted in Shi-an’s building wearing Ryan’s jacket, one identical to the “one-of-a-kind” jacket given to Shi-an by rival fangirl, Sindy (Kim Bo-ra), Deok-me agrees to be in a fake relationship with Ryan to protect reputations. To complicate matters, Sindy is revealed to be the new intern at the art gallery and is determined to find proof that Deok-me and Ryan’s relationship is fake.
- Series Title: Her Private Life (Korean: 그녀의 사생활)
- Starring: Kim Jae-wook, Park Min-young, Ahn Bo-hyun, Park Jin-joo, Kim Bo-ra
- Written by: Kim Hye-young
- Directed by: Hong Jong-chan
- Network: tvN
- Where to watch in the US: Hulu
- Year Released: 2019
- # of episodes: 16
- KafeNook Rating: 4.7 sips
Her Private Life Review – – !!Spoilers Ahead!!
Her Private Life is filled with many things that I couldn’t get enough of – Park Min-young, for one. In What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, she played the beautiful and capable, Secretary Kim, so I looked forward to seeing her in another role. Park Min-young is even more charming and adorable in this drama. Here, she expertly conveys both sides of her character, Deok-me: curator and fan-girl. As a curator, Deok-me aptly deals with all aspects of the museum and shows a keen eye and appreciation for art. In fan-girl mode, she is a super-cool spy/creative genius who expertly creates content for and manages her Road to Shi-an website.
Stoic museum director, Ryan Gold is more than meets the eye. Spying on Doek-me’s fan girl life to spite her, he soon comes to appreciate her creativity and passion. This only makes him fall for her even more. The drama cleverly foreshadows that Ryan and Shi-an are related when Doek-me see’s Ryan at the airport for the first time. Having spent hundreds of hours photographing and studying Shi-an, she notices the similarity between Ryan and Shi-an’s bone structure. It’s touches like that that makes dramas so fun.
Doek-me’s fan-girl scenes lessen in later episodes but her budding relationship with Ryan more than makes up for it. Every scene between Deok-me and Ryan kept me glued to the screen. Their initial antagonism gives way to explosive chemistry even when they aren’t officially dating yet. One of the steamiest moments in the drama takes place in the tunnel outside of the art gallery where Deok-me and Ryan stage an intimate scene as proof of their fake relationship. The two manage to look cagey toward each other and blazing hot as a couple all at the same time. When they finally realize that they both want a real relationship – the sparks ignite! As Doek-me and Ryan grow closer, the use of art to propel Ryan’s journey to remember his past, and Doek-me’s care and compassion in helping him recapture his art, beautifully reflect the heart of the story.
Supporting Storylines
Each time Ahn Bo-hyun, as Nam Eun-gi, appears, he fills the screen. Not just because he’s so tall – but due to the reflection of his heart in his eyes. I ached for him as he confesses his feelings for Deok-me and hoped for his own happy ending. Intern Sindy grows as a character from a crazed fangirl to someone who learns to stand up to her overbearing mother. Along the way, she discovers her passion working at the art museum. Eun-gi and Sindy are so cute together at the end as they film a lesson at the dojuo. Their adorable antics definitely express budding feelings.
Deok-me’s best friend, Seon-Joo, has a great arc as she turns her fangirling passion into becoming a manager for her aspiring coffee-shop minion. Meanwhile, her husband’s attempts to get back in her good graces are charming. I especially loved seeing the two of them dote on their adorable son. Speaking of which, the scenes of the children taking class at the dojo are filled with cuteness overload. I could watch those little guys practicing their falls all day long!
The Laughs
Some of the most hilarious scenes in Her Private Life involve Ryan masquerading as a fangirl on the Road to Shi-an’s website. Depicting the website as members walking into a room with their user identify above them is genius. This set up the moment when Ryan, disguised as fangirl “Latte”, walks in. As he lowers his sunglasses, there is a wonderful look of mischief in his eyes.
Best Tear-jerker Moments
With so many significant reveals of secrets and pasts, tears were a given (mine included!). In one of the most stirring scenes, Ryan learns about his mother and falls against the wall crying alone in his apartment. Later, Deok-mi’s reaction when her father, a man a few words, reveals to her a big secret from her past broke my heart. This led to her father’s reveals as to why he collects rocks. Sob!!
Unanswered Questions
Her Private Life contains glimpses that Shi-an suspects Doek-me of being one of his fans, possible even his biggest. Unfortunately, the series doesn’t show the big reveal of Doek-me’s secret identify to Shi-an. Boo. That would have been fun to watch.
Her Private Life Soundtrack
My favorite song from the Her Private Life soundtrack is Boom Boom sung by Hong Dae-kwong. The song is happy and light and Hong Dae-kwong’s singing voice is beautiful. I also enjoyed the love song, Maybe sung by Lee Hae-ri and Thinking of You, sung by Ha Sung-woon. The soundtrack overall is really nice – and fun to listen to while getting ready in the morning!
