Secret Love Affair

I've watched over a hundred kdramas, and this is in my top 5. The story is about the relationship between a young piano prodigy and his mentor, and the piano playing is the best of any cinematic portrayal I know of. Their relationship is based on a shared love for music and his fascination with his very sophisticated mentor. She is in a loveless marriage, and gradually succumbs to his emotional directness and honesty. Those who are put off by the idea of a younger man/older woman relationship won't like this series for that reason, but anyone open to an unusual relationship should love the combination of sophisticated realism, romance, and great music.

This drama or simply beautiful even in its most rugged moments it was deep and gritty and lovely and warm and romantic you felt all the emotions with the top class acting especially from the Main characters.. the music tied the whole drama together it matched the energy and the emotions and I'm going to go and find the OST because it was that good.. This drama may not be for everyone but it's definitely one to watch there's just something about it and if you've seen it and loved it you would know what I'm talking about.

This is one of KDrama's best series with two fine actors in the leads. Yoo Ah-In was actually several years older than the age of the character he plays, so his capturing of the gawkiness and hesitancy of the youth is particularly noteworthy, as is the character's gradual maturing and literally taking the lead in the relationship. We also must compliment the actors' memorizing the piano pieces. They and the professional OST are amazing. I could have done without the side plots as I just wanted the love story because it is so touching.

This drama has so many slow scenes, but there's something magical about them, there's always something important expressed through everything song played and wordless conversations.

Brilliant acting from the male lead, Yoo Ah In, his emotions manage to get you through the screen, you can feel him hesitating, suffering, craving and bursting with passion and desire, even when he plays the piano, you understand everything he is feeling just by looking at his gestures and facial expressions.

I enjoyed watching this.

Anyone who watches this series, hoping for a depiction of a torrid, passionate love affair will be disappointed.

This series is handled with a certain delicacy; a restraint that doesn't prevent or hold back, but depicts the tender beauty of two people in love. I submit that a viewer may find it very difficult to pass judgment, for how does one justify judging love? Can love be judged?

To the naive viewer, Sunjae Lee is a young man, barely 20, who thinks and feels with his hormones. This is a gross misinterpretation and understanding of who he is. Sunjae Lee is a simple young man who knows how to do things in only one way: with love and passion. A gifted pianist, Sunjae is able to captivate his audiences, whether they be a concert hall or a few listeners, not with just the beauty of his play, but with the heart and passion he puts into it. Several viewers are so captivated by his play, that he moves them to tears. It is a bit ironic that a young man of 20 already knows the secret to love and living simply.

Oh Hyewon is a middle-aged woman, approximately twenty years older than Sunjae. A renowned pianist when she was Sunjae's age, she has now found herself pulled into the world of wealth and power. She works for a Seohan Art Institute as an executive/accountant. She loves the life that her money buys for her, and she has long forgotten the passion and her own love for music. She is married to a university professor, who also works for the institute. They share a house and a life that is more like those of roommates than of spouses. There is little tenderness or warmth in their relationship or in their house, which looks like a cold bastille atop the street. It is somewhat ironic that the only room in the house that has any warmth at all, is the music room.

Sunjae's talent is soon discovered, and he's asked to come over to the professor's house to play. Hyewon is asked to listen, given her musical background. Immediately, she is taken back to a time when she used to share the same love and passion for music that Sunjae has. Hyewon can't help but be enamored by the young man, unable to realize that she has already captivated him.

There is a certain degree of irony in their relationship, in which Hyewon attempts to teach Sunjae about her world; the world of power and treachery. It is a world that is completely foreign to Sunjae, and he already realizes that he wants no part of it. He is not interested in money or acquiring things. And yet, it is his simple and complete way of loving, that makes him Hyewon's teacher in that regard.

The acting performances are all first-rate, especially those of Ah-in Yoo (Sunjae) and Hui-ai Kim (Hyewon). The relationship between these two characters is handled deftly, like a piano piece...full of love, beauty, and grace. Viewers may find themselves longing for their own "Sunjae"...someone who can love so unequivocally and unconditionally as Sunjae can. His love is all the more profound in the little things that he does to ensure her comfort.

One cannot mention this series without the incredible musical performances. Nearly every episode has a piano piece that seems to perfectly coincide with the feelings of Sunjae and Hyewon. Watching this series is like listening to a long concert, and by the end, you feel all the better for it!