MBC / 2014 / 20 episodes
Genre: drama
Written by Jo Jin-gook, Joo Chan-ok
Directed by Kim Hee-won, Lee Dong-yoon
More information: Wikipedia / HanCinema
You Are My Destiny:
The Unvarnished Truth of a Post-it Girl
In truth, I would like to write that this is one of the best Korean dramas I have seen to date, but that would only be a partial truth in several respects. Firstly, because it is an adaptation of the Taiwanese series Fated to Love You, and thus not an "authentic" Korean creation. Secondly, because this claim would only hold true until the end of episode 12—but until that point, it is absolutely one of the best.
While the title You Are My Destiny might promise a typical romantic comedy, the series deals with much more and far more serious matters than conventional love stories, and it does not treat them lightly. Therefore—though it is not devoid of humor—I would call it a drama rather than a rom-com.
Our protagonist, Kim Mi-yeong (Jang Nara), wins a luxury vacation for two at a company party and takes along a colleague with whom she hopes to share her first intimate relationship. However, the duplicitous fellow cheats on her cruelly, humiliating the already insecure Mi-yeong, whom her coworkers treat as a "post-it girl"—a convenient errand-runner.
Our male lead, the cool CEO Lee Gun (Jang Hyuk), is at the same hotel planning to propose to his love. However, the ballerina abandons him yet again for a new role, insolently confident that the man's feelings will endure until the next proposal. Two shady-looking figures are tailing Lee Gun, planning to blackmail him with compromising photos to force him not to close a subcontractor's factory on a small Korean island, which is the sole livelihood of the locals.
They succeed in drugging the man, and the girl accidentally drinks from the same potion; thus, they unexpectedly end up in bed together, where the photos recording their liaison are taken. However, beyond the one-night stand, they both help each other forget their failed experiences, parting as friends.
Their love story begins from here, albeit in an unusual, inverse way. The girl is shocked to discover she is pregnant, but she intends to handle it as a private matter, believing the man to be blameless in what happened.
What follows is a sequence of scenes that would put a Kusturica film to shame, in which the girl, returning home to her family on the island, meets the man who has also arrived there due to the internet blackmail. Upon facing the facts, while the usual forceful interventions of the families occur, the more dominant force in the story is the internal struggle of Mi-yeong and Lee Gun with a situation that will impact their entire lives. Both want to act with integrity, without harming the child conceived unintentionally.
Lee Gun suffers in solitude, frequently visiting the doctor because he is terrified of the danger of developing Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition that runs in his family. Beside Mi-yeong, however, an unexpected helper appears: Daniel (Choi Jin-hyuk), who, after some misunderstanding, turns out to be a famous designer. The writers did not allow this handsome young man much room to develop, as Mi-yeong’s feelings for Lee Gun remain too strong even in the worst moments for poor Daniel to step beyond the role of spiritual supporter, no matter how obvious he makes his feelings.
The first phase of the drama is nevertheless fast-paced, because the emotional journey of the man and the woman is a roller coaster, filled with scenes of intimate beauty as much as attempts to break free from their confinement. No true decision is made because fate intervenes with a cruel twist. The disease catches up with the man, and the girl suffers a car accident. The ballerina, Kang Se-ra (Wang Ji-won), arrives, wanting to reclaim Lee Gun. Everything collapses around the couple; for Mi-yeong, no option remains but to flee the wreckage, with Daniel once again rushing to her aid.
Although this is not yet the true end of the story, this first phase is a perfect dramatic whole that leaves a much deeper impression than the complete series supplemented by further episodes. This is due to the fact that there is no trace of the stiffness and artificial behavioral patterns that permeate the vast majority of Korean series. It could perhaps be seen as an experiment: by adopting the unvarnished problem-setting and more natural approaches of the Taiwanese drama, this series openly addresses questions such as premarital physical relationships, deciding the fate of a conceived fetus, preparing for childbirth, deciding which life to save in a life-threatening situation, and the loss of a pregnancy—topics that are not at all common in traditionally prudish Korean romantic dramas.
As we have come to expect, the continuation shows a reversed setup: three years later, Daniel appears as Mi-yeong’s partner. But their relationship is treading water, and Lee Gun’s reappearance interferes with this emotional uncertainty, though he himself does not know what he truly wants. The developments occur through twists more reminiscent of drama clichés, but thanks to the actors, the drama does not become shallow, although it loses significant power compared to the first phase. Through long struggles, we reach the finale, which also answers the fundamental question of the second part: even if we sense a somber end, can we make someone our partner by embracing the beauties offered by the road leading there?
Jang Nara matures into a woman before our eyes in the role of the girl. Initially, she seems so fragile that one would not suspect the immense strength with which she faces increasingly difficult challenges. A thousand feelings alternate within her as a woman in love and as a mother awaiting her child, and she is heart-wrenching even in the tragic moments. She can be both a "gray mouse" and a beautiful woman, capable of dazzling the man sometimes with the warmth of her love, sometimes with her radiance. She is such a strong individual that even a man with a truly difficult, tormented personality can cling to her. Her clumsy words during the prayer scene are among the most moving things a woman could ever say for an unchosen child.
However, the even more amazing character of the drama is Lee Gun, who could hardly be imagined without Jang Hyuk’s performance, which exceeds all imagination. One never knows quite where they stand with this man. His loud outbursts and devilish laughter are often alarming; he uses them liberally, drawing his mannerisms like a curtain before his true feelings. He is a very masculine character, remaining so even in his most emotional minutes as he must battle his own demons. He is fundamentally emotional and well-intentioned, a deeply moral personality who takes responsibility for his actions. His emotional development, his openings and withdrawals, constitute the true engine of the drama, which revs at a high speed throughout. His bombastic opening scene in the shampoo commercial is an outright masterpiece.
It is a bit of a pity that as Daniel, Choi Jin-hyuk is not given sufficient opportunity for fulfillment. The handsome and sympathetic young man never enters a serious rival situation with Lee Gun; nevertheless, I must write that Choi Jin-hyuk shows more of this character than was actually written for him, and he does it all through the radiance of his personality.
Kang Se-ra is an even more sketchily drawn character; Wang Ji-won cannot truly make it believable why she possesses such a fatal influence over Lee Gun as we are led to believe.
Among the supporting figures, the character of the girl's terribly loud and aggressive mother is the most interesting; Song Ok-sook is able to transform her from an initially repulsive personality into a mother figure whose love provides plenty even for the prodigal son, and her relationship with Lee Gun is truly moving. In the role of Chairwoman Wang, who guides the man's fate, Park Won-sook is exactly the kind-hearted noblewoman we have seen her play in her period roles.
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