With the SBS Friday-Saturday drama ‘My Perfect Secretary’ (directed by Ham Jun-ho and Kim Jae-hong, written by Ji-eun) coming to a successful conclusion, writer Ji-eun shared her thoughts on the ending of the drama and the behind-the-scenes stories of the writing.


● The following is a Q&A with writer Ji-eun


- I‘m curious about how you feel about the ending of ‘My Perfect Secretary’.

I’m just grateful for the unexpected and overwhelming love I received. Each and every one of the actors, production crew, and staff who participated in the drama were truly perfect. It was a drama that was beautifully created through the process of everyone involved thinking hard and pouring their love into it. I‘m happy that we were able to wrap it up beautifully with the love of the viewers. I sincerely thank you for all the love you sent me. That warmth gave me great courage. The drama has ended, but I don’t think I‘ll be able to send ‘My Perfect Secretary’ off for a long time. I will cherish the warm support and love you sent me for the drama. I hope that every day of our viewers will be happy.


- I’m curious about the inspiration for ‘My Perfect Secretary’. What did you focus on while writing it?

‘I need to talk about care’ was the beginning of this story. I thought that in an increasingly harsh world, we need to watch over each other warmly, wait for each other generously, and look after each other. So I thought that through the romance and growth of a single dad secretary who knows the value of care and is optimized for it, and the CEO of a search firm who denies the value of care and lives in a quantified world, I hoped that viewers would think about care and the value of goodwill that moves the world. I also hoped that this warm story would make viewers forget reality for a moment and be comforted. That‘s why I tried hard not to lose that message and its conclusion until the very end. I’m grateful to the director and production staff who supported me so that I could maintain this conclusion until the end. Thanks to that, I was able to convey the warm message I wanted to convey when I first wrote this drama without wavering.


- I‘m curious about how you felt about working with actors Han Ji-min and Lee Joon-hyuk for your first solo writing project.

I’m a very lucky person. It took me a long time to write solo, but it was an honor to be able to work with you both, to the point where I felt like it was a gift for all your hard work. I gained and learned a lot from working with these two veteran actors. They filled in the parts I couldn‘t express in the script through their research on the script and their concerns about the characters. Ji-yoon and Eun-ho were completed after meeting Han Ji-min and Lee Joon-hyuk. Thank you for making these two characters so wonderful. Thanks to you, it became a good drama.


- Ji-yoon’s reverse cliche romance scene with “Cool Sister” was a hot topic.

I think that scene was born naturally because of our social positions as a CEO and a secretary. It‘s also a natural reflection of the changing times. When I set Ji-yoon as a female representative, I didn’t think it was special. In fact, there were women among the search firm CEOs I met for reporting, and there are many female CEOs around me who are doing great work. Above all, Ji-yoon, who doesn‘t run away and honestly goes straight to love according to her feelings, is not only my wannabe, but also many women’s. I wanted Ji-yoon to be a lovable female lead in a romance drama, and a cool woman to women, and I‘m so grateful that actress Han Ji-min expressed and created exactly that point.


- I’m also curious about the background of the character Eun-ho, a realistic fantasy man.

The character Eun-ho started from my fantasy of ‘I wish I had someone like this by my side.’ What made him the perfect man is actually things that are considered unimportant in everyday life: affection, consideration, humor, respect for others, the ability to organize, and empathy. As I get older, I think I realize that these are really important values, and that it‘s really hard to find someone like this in reality. I wanted to tell people who live by these values through Eun-ho how wonderful it is.

More than anything, the important thing was that Eun-ho’s strengths weren‘t innate. Eun-ho wasn’t a perfect person from the beginning, but a character who was created through his own efforts. He didn‘t receive proper care as a child, and after receiving kindness from someone for the first time, he started to take care of his own life, and while raising his daughter Byeol-i, he was finally completed into the current Eun-ho. I think he’s more special and valuable because he‘s a character who became a good person through his own efforts, not because of the environment he was born into. The casting of actor Lee Joon-hyuk completed how wonderful this Eun-ho is. Thanks to that, I was able to freely draw the Eun-ho that I wanted to express.


- The performances of unrequited love comrades Kim Do-hoon and Kim Yoon-hye, ‘Career Way’ Park Bo-kyung, ‘People’ staff members Lee Sang-hee, Heo Dong-won, Go Gun-han, Seo Hye-won, and Yoon Ga-i were also dazzling.

Jeong-hoon and Soo-hyun are healthy characters who have wounds, but do not eat away at themselves. Long-term unrequited love can lead to self-reproach, but they did not avoid it, faced their wounds, and made courageous choices. Raising their sister’s child, choosing a different life from their brother, and starting a new love after a failed love all showed their strength. I wanted to show them moving forward without hating themselves no matter what loss or failure they experience, and thanks to actors Kim Do-hoon and Kim Yoon-hye, I was able to express it in an even more lovable way.

The ‘People’ staff members were the best combination that enhanced the perfection of the drama. In a drama where the balance between romance and work is important, each character was brought to life to make the drama even more enjoyable. It was natural and perfect acting, as if they were employees working at a real ‘People’. Thanks to actors Lee Sang-hee, Heo Dong-won, Go Gun-han, Seo Hye-won, and Yoon Ga-i, viewers fell in love with ‘People’, and I also fell for them while watching the show. Actress Park Bo-kyung was the only villain, but she held the center of the character with her strong presence. In particular, the scene in episode 11 where she expresses her inferiority complex to Ji-yoon by saying “I hate you” was powerful. Although we couldn‘t devote a lot of screen time, actress Park Bo-kyung’s acting was able to deeply convey Hye-jin‘s emotions and story.


- How was the preliminary research on headhunting conducted, and why did you set Ji-yoon’s company as a search firm?

I interviewed many headhunters and read a lot of related books and columns. I would like to express my gratitude especially to the headhunters who advised me on the script. The reason I set Ji-yoon‘s company as a search firm was to create a contrast with the human values that the drama was trying to convey through a world where people are judged by objective numbers (specs and annual salary). Also, I thought that since it deals with job changes and the various occupations of candidates that are closely related to the lives of viewers, they would be able to empathize with the concerns that any office worker has.


- Is there a scene that you were particularly excited about or that you put a lot of effort into writing?

There are so many scenes that I was excited about, but I like the restaurant scene in Part 2 and the dojo scene in Part 5 because they explain the story of the two people and show why they have to be together. In the restaurant scene, Ji-yoon instinctively pushed Eun-ho away, but in the stamp scene, she comforted him, and Eun-ho responded warmly by stamping the stamp, which I think was expressed warmly and excitingly.

I thought that the ending scene of Episode 6, which you loved with the ‘Eye Kiss’, had to be accompanied by bright light from the beginning. The moment Eun-ho poured into Ji-yoon like warm sunlight, I wanted Ji-yoon to no longer be able to reject him and realize her feelings, and I felt that on the screen. Eun-ho walking toward Ji-yoon in the crowd with warm sunlight, and Ji-yoon’s expression changing in real time as she looked at him, falling in love. I was amazed that the two actors perfectly embodied that feeling even without a single line.

And I personally cherish the ending sequence of Episode 12. After showing the daily lives of all the characters a year later, it ends with Ji-yoon and Eun-ho hugging at the crosswalk, and I really wanted to show that the characters in the drama are still living their daily lives well. The drama ends here, but I think Ji-yoon and Eun-ho, Jung-hoon and Soo-hyun, Byul-i and Seo-jun, and the ‘People’ family are still fiercely loving, working, and living somewhere. I think I often miss those friends.


- Was there a reaction that was the most memorable?

I was so grateful for all the nice comments, from the enthusiastic responses of being thrilled to the warm comments of being comforted. My acquaintances sent me screenshots and I looked them up myself, but among them, the comment that stuck with me was, “‘My Perfect Secretary’ is a drama that doesn‘t forget people.”. I was grateful that the story I wanted to convey through this drama was conveyed to the viewers as well. I was also moved to tears by the thought that my sincerity got through. I was also excited and comforted by that warm response.


- How do you want ‘My Perfect Secretary’ to be remembered?

I remember being comforted by someone’s insignificant and affectionate greeting during a tiring day. I hope ‘My Perfect Secretary’ will be remembered as a warm drama that visited your tired daily lives and greeted you affectionately. I hope you were comforted by that greeting, even if only for a moment, and I hope you think of ‘My Perfect Secretary’ sometimes when life gets tough and tiring for no reason.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com Reporter projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.