Lie To Me

Foreword
Kong Ya Zhen, a Ministry of Culture official, gets entangled in a web of lies when she mistakenly lies that she's married to Xuan Ji Jun, a hotel CEO from an affluent family. Their relationship is further complicated when his ex-fiancée and his brother reappear in his life.

Story/Introduction on characters
1.Yoon Eun Hye as Kong Ya Zhen She works in the tourism board and is brought up by her father when her mother passes away when young. Due to this, she is quite messy with her things. She loves food, is stubborn and has great strength. She tries her very best to pass the civil servant exam to become an employee for 3 years. After being ditched, she loses confidence in herself as she reaches 30 now.

She has strong pride and thus lies that she is married when she is drunk. After knowing that she has commited a big mistake, she can’t redeem it. She even pretends to faint in front of Ji Jun. Ji Jun is amused when he carries her away from the café and even demands an explanation to look for her at her workplace. But soon, she notices that he isn’t as unapproachable as he seems to be.

Through this saga of lying, she realizes who she really is as this is affecting Ji Jun’s career. She decides to break up with him under Min Jing’s advice. He is offended when she treats him like a stranger as she brings guests over for an international meeting. Both have a heated argument and she gets lost in the hills. Ji Jun joins the search anxiously and is with her when she sprains her ankle and he keeps her warm. Both decide that they can’t part anymore.

Many have suspected that she gains profits by involving Ji Jun’s hotel for most tourist groups. She has to resign to protest against her innocence when Ji Jun is away in China for business. Knowing the big sacrifice that she has done, Ji Jun has to set things right. He declares in front of a crowd that he loves her. In the end, both have to hide from the others when they date. She is quite natural in her acting as the boorish, thick skinned and careless role although it is a reprise from her ‘coffee shop prince’ character.

2. Kang Ji Hwan as Xuan Ji Jun He is a perfectionist who has a dashing appearance, wealth, education, good dress sense and also the common conceited nature that most pampered wealthy rich people possess. He is forever polite, responsible and well-mannered at all times.
He loses his parents in his teenage years and is brought up by his strong-willed aunt. Due to him as the elder son, he has to mature early to work hard. He is World Hotel CEO and manages it well with an iron hand. He breaks off his engagement with Yun Zhu after knowing that Shang Xi is in love with her.
His supposedly good will hurts both Yun Zhu and Shang Xi so both leave home. Yun Zhu goes to Paris while Shang Xi goes to New York. Ya Zhen’s interference messes up his life. All think that he gets married secretly without their knowledge. At first, a miserable Ji Jun wants to announce the scam by getting Cai Fan to sue Ya Zhen as all his friends and business partners chide him for keeping under wraps.

After Min Jing adds pressure on him for matchmaking sessions, he changes his mind and plays along with Ya Zhen. They both agree that pretending to be married for a short while would be mutually beneficial

He says no to whatever she suggests at first to keep the truth from the rest. She resorts to rent a hotel room to make complaints in order to see him. You will simply crack up upon seeing how accommodating he is towards her later. He can ‘loan out’ his home as their love nest to let her friends visit their ‘married’ home. Even her friends are captivated by his appearance, forgetting that he is ‘married’. When he is ill, she comes over to cook porridge for him and he is touched and walks out of his own world.

A potential investor, Chairman Quan comes to Korea and he tries his best to win him over. Ya Zhen plays an important part in caring for Mrs Quan when her mother passes away. When Ya Zhen is only in Jiju island for a few days, he misses her so much that he quickly flies his private jet to follow her. He is transformed to a romantic to dance with her and provides clothes for her for their date. How this man changes so much because of her!
Ji Jun finds himself questioning his commitment to his former fiance Yun Zhu. Eventually, he makes the decision to be with Ya Zhen despite the heartache he is sure to cause his Yun Zhu. Ji Hwan is definitely a verstatile actor – his expressions change so fast and he is definitely good in delivering love lines.

3. Sung Joon as Xuan Shang Xi He is Ji Jun’s younger brother. He is cheerful and gets along well with anyone within 10 minutes. He has the freedom that Ji Jun longs to have and always gets what he wants. Ji Jun is more like a father to him. He is rebellious and doesn’t return home as he doesn’t know how to face Ji Jun over Yun Zhu’s case. He is jobless for 3 years and wants to find his own way out.

He stays with Shi Feng and secretly loves Ya Zhen. He now treats Yun Zhu as a friend and urges her to give up on Ji Jun. He helps to deceive Ya Zhen’s friends by dressing her up and filling up Ji Jun’s cabinet with her clothes at his home. Ji Jun is taken aback by her preparation but has to hide her when Ming Jing suddenly drops over. He cries over his unrequited love but picks himself up again.

4. Jo Yoon Hee as Wu Yun Zhu She is Shang Xi’classmate and is pampered since young like a piece of glass. She gives others warmth and doesn’t fawn over her wealth. She is attractive and pretty to let Ya Zhen jealous and feel inferior over her. She returns and invites Ji Jun over to her place for a meal. Ji Jun chooses to help Ya Zhen to deceive her friends instead and to get Shang Xi to go over to her place.

When Xiao Lan informs Ya Zhen that Yun Zhu is Ji Jun’s girlfriend and Yun Zhu flashes her previous wedding ring to her, she gets so sad that she cuts her hair short. Yun Zhu finds that she doesn’t stand a chance when she is back and has to resort to this. Ji Jun has to console Ya Zhen and then tells Yun Zhu that they can’t be together again even though Yun Zhu gets hospitalized over this.

5. Hong Soo Hyun as Yin Xiao Lan She is Ya Zhen’s high school classmate who has ruined her life since then. She snatches Cai Fan from her to marry him. She is the main cause of her lie. She pretends to be Ya Zhen’s friend but is her true enemy. That is why Ya Zhen has to push Ji Jun forward to show her that she has gotten a good catch – In fact a better catch than Cai Fan.

Xiao Lan sees Ji Jun and Yun Zhu together and raises suspicious of infidelity to Ya Zhen. This leaves Ya Zhen embarrassed and she forces Ji Jun to promise that he will not be caught with any women for the duration of their sham marriage. They grow closer and fonder of each other through this.

Xiao Lan has thought that Ya Zhen’s flaws brings out her merits. She isn’t happily married to Cai Fan as he keeps having different women. She is jealous when Ya Zhen is more successful than her and tries to find fault with them. Finally, she becomes a real friend when Xiao Lan is down due to Cai Fan’s infidelity to fly to Jiju to look for her. She gets pregnant and tries to attempt to convince Ya Zhen to get married too.

6. Ryu Seung Soo as Qian Cai Fan She is Xiao Lan’s husband and Ya Zhen’s ex-boyfriend. He works in a big law firm and is eloquent. He wants to be a responsible man but is sick of Xiao Lan projecting him to be a rich guy. He keeps making mistakes to seduce different women as Xiao Lan is a tyrant at home. He is Jun Hao’s student and has helped Ya Zhen in her civil servant exam. His infidelity is discovered by Ya Zhen. He begs her not to tell Xiao Lan but Xiao Lan knows it all along. Ya Zhen helps them to reconcile and both patch up.

7.Oh Mi Hee as Xuan Ming Jing She is Ji Jun’s aunt. She has been fond of Yun Zhu all along because of her family status. Thus, she is bothered when Ji Jun suddenly turns soft. She is afraid that he might be affected in the way he does business so she wants Ya Zhen to leave him. Ji Jun gets mad with Ming Jing and is even willing to step down as CEO if the business deal with Chairman Quan fails. Luckily, it doesn’t as the old man is impressed on how frank he is to reveal to him that Ya Zhen isn’t his wife as yet but he is wooing her.

8.Kwon Se In as Piao Xun He is not Zhi Yan’s younger brother although both work for Ji Jun. He is Ji Jun’s personal secretary. He finds Ji Jun too lonely and is very eager to be the cupid. He is very daring to make decisions for him to woo Ya Zhen but Ji Jun listens to his advice.

9.Park Ji Yoon as Piao Zhi Yan She is Ji Jun’s manager. She can chair a meeting on his behalf as long as he provides her the figures. She does excellent planning for him at work. She also finds the change in Ji Jun to be more considerate. She is sad when she does not stand a chance to be his girlfriend as she loves him all along. Still, she tries to bring him and Ya Zhen together.
Knowing that Ya Zhen is facing a lot of opposition after revealing to the public that she lies being married to Ji Jun, she protects her when Ji Jun is away. She also tells Yun Zhu to give up on Ji Jun as he no longer belongs to any of them.

10. Kang Shin Il as Kong Jun Hao He is a university lecturer who cares a lot for his daughter. Knowing that Ya Zhen doesn’t want him to remarry when she is still a little girl, he remains single. When she gorws older, she urges him to woo Ai Qing. He does and is successful. He knows that Ya Zhen is in low spirits over Ji Jun and consoles her.
Like a jealous father, he watches him over like a hawk and is amused to know that he gets drunk easily. Ji Jun wants to please him but gets knocked out just by a small cup of wine. He also gets married and also urges Ya Zhen to get married too.

11.Lee Kyung Jin as Shen Ai Qing She owns a café and has good taste in choosing the best coffee beans. She is disappointed when Jun Hao is often busy with his work. Have a good laugh when the old couple goes to the traditional spa house and they also see the young couple there. They have never dreamed that Ji Jun will lower himself to go to such a place even though there are plenty of spas in his hotel.

12.Kwon Hae Hyo as Huang Shi Feng He works in the café and carries a torch for Ai Qing. Too bad it is only one-sided love on his side and he pours his woes to Shang Xi. Both guys will paint when free. He notices that Shang Xi also loves Ya Zhen secretly and pities him.

13. Jang Woo Young as Chairman Quan He is an investor and is curious how Ji Jun can be the CEO at such a young age. After seeing his capability, he is also impressed that he gets a good ‘wife’ as his personal assistant. He is touched when both reveal the truth to him and he forgives both of them as he can see that they are sincere to him. Ji Jun still secures his position when he signs the contract with him.

14. Ahn Jung Hoon as Manager An Ya Zhen works under him and he gets many ideas from her. Thus, he also feels that she should not give up her job due to the scandal.

15.Han In Soo as Cultural, Sports and Tourism Minister He admires Ya Zhen’s talents so he gives Ya Zhen a chance to explain herself over the lie. When she can’t, he is disappointed but is glad that she doesn’t take bribes.

Most favourite character Ji Jun, he has changed from an insensitive person to a caring person. He now knows what he needs and wants. Even though Shang Xi is also in love with Ya Zhen, he can’t give her up to him now. His love for her is now deep. The close second is Zhi Yan, she is not only Ji Jun’s assistant but also his friend to settle problems for him. The third will be Ya Zhen - she is very forgiving to others.

Most hated character Yun Zhu, she keeps dwelling on the past but no one else stays in the past like her. She has to move on.

Conclusion
This is a simple romantic story between a rich man and a common white-collar worker. Like ‘All about Eve’, Ji Jun really gives a boost in her career to increase tourism although she doesn’t gain benefit from it as her ideas are accepted by her bosses. It’s repetitive so the ratings did not soar over 12% in Korea.

I wish the plot and characters are written in more depth. I still can’t understand how and why Ji Jun falls for Ya Zhen. Is it through singing a duet at his home in front of others? Or he has a special feel for her to look at her tenderly after knowing that the dishes are prepared by her and she relates how she is brought up by her father to fend for herself? It is simply unexplained and it comes too sudden as Ji Jun is indifferent to Ya Zhen from the very beginning.

Ji Jun is also as a very strict, hard to please and not easily convinced/deal with person. To win him oer is amn uphill task. There is not enough emotion build-up from him before he starts any move on Ah Jung. The kiss attempt on a bench under cherry blossom too because she is drunk is unconvincing. Let’s remember before that she nearly vomits then!
I also don’t understand why she spends a whole month to find herself after rejecting Ji Jun’s the wedding proposal. Is she under stress? The poor chap has no idea what he has down wrong and he has to wait for her anxiously. Ji Jun is defeated that Jun Hao gets married before him and Ya Zhen keeps pushing him away although he has to think of plenty of excuses to see her.

She misses the date with Min Jing due to work although he prepares an engagement necklace for her. he asks her for an explanation and she adds a letter in the box with the necklace. He mistakes it as a no and tosses the box aside sadly. Luckily, Xun opens it and he reads her note that she finds her heart to run to him. He runs to her and they finally proclaim that they are getting married. So much for the agony and waiting time caused for one solid hour.

Nevertheless, Ji Huan and Eun Hye sparkle with chemistry in the show. I really have fun seeing them having fun together. If only they meet again in another sequel. The story is weak but they save the drama.

Sukting’s ratings :
On acting : **1/2 (Scale of 5)
On story : **1/2 (Scale of 5)
On song : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)