K-DRAMA FIRST LOOK: “Queen Of Tears”

March 11, 2024
FEATURES/K-DRAMA RECAPS

In fairytales, Cinderella marries Prince Charming and lives happily ever after. But this might not be the case here when our Cinderella man marries his chaebol queen. Instead of living happily together, our male lead is shedding tears and begging to get a divorce.

Their relationship isn’t completely hopeless, though. There is still some undying love beneath the surface that could be reignited again, with some honesty and better communication.

Bunny S. watches Queen of Tears on Netflix

Opening Week Rating:

Queen of Tears

Queen Of Tears Opening Week Story

“My heart jumps every time your superior scolds you.”

It has been three years since our Cinderella man, Baek Hyun-woo, married into the Queens Group household. His wife is Hong Hae-in, the group’s heiress and CEO of the department store, where Hyun-woo works as the head of the legal team.

Five years ago, Hyun-woo, a new recruit back then, first met Hae-in while she was working undercover as an intern to learn about business management. After worrying about the photocopier Hae-in continuously kicked when malfunctioned, Hyun-woo started to grow interested in Hae-in and worried about how she would survive at work with her temper.

“Even if you get fired and can’t get a new job, I can take care of you”

Wholly oblivious to her family’s background, Hyun-woo confesses his love for Hae-in. He wants to have a wife who has a career. But if it is Hae-in, Hyun-woo doesn’t mind being the sole breadwinner. It is hilarious how Hyun-woo shyly tells Hae-in he graduated from law school at SNU lest she gets burdened and brags about signing a two-year lease and his family owning 35 cows to assure Hae-in he can provide for her.

Having learned the truth, a shocked Hyun-woo hands in his resignation letter and ghosts Hae-in. Taking matters into her own hands, Hae-in goes against her parents and heads to see him in a private jet, promising to not make him cry ever if he holds her hand.

“I ruined my own life. We wouldn’t have gotten married had I not been so cute.”

Our lovely couple marries in a fancy wedding with everyone wishing for their happily ever after. But when we meet them in the present day, it seems like Hae-in hasn’t kept her promise. One might think Hyun-woo is the luckiest man on earth. But his life is pure torture.

To start with, Hyun-woo lives with Hae-in’s whole family in the same house. Thus, having to attend all the family meetings, clean after their messes, and run errands for them. Worse, Hyun-woo misses out on his father’s 60th birthday as he has to prepare memorial service food. What tops it all was Hae-in’s family pretty much ordering them to have a child.

Hyun-woo’s distress extends to work as well, as Hae-in and Hyun-woo’s business approaches can’t be different. While Hyun-woo cares about people and loyalty, Hae-in has no problems cutting off anyone who doesn’t earn their keep. Her only focus is how to reach a trillion won in sales and earn her grandfather’s favor.

“It is true that I dislike my in-laws. However, I despise my wife even more.”

Since even visiting a psychiatrist doesn’t help improve his condition (an epic reunion of our Tae brothers from It Is Okay Not To Be Okay), Hyun-woo considers getting a divorce. The final straw is hearing a rumor that Hae-in signed a will before marriage, stating Hyun-woo won’t get a penny after she dies. I don’t think it is money but the feeling of betrayal that drives Hyun-woo mad. (Or so we thought at first.)

Having made up his mind, Hyun-woo approaches Hae-in with the divorce papers only to get too shocked to utter a word after Hae-in tells him she only has 3 months left to live. It isn’t a prank. Hae-in was indeed diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. And unfortunately, surgery is risky and there are no effective medications for her condition.

“To be honest, her chance of survival is very low. But miracles do happen.”

The next day, Hyun-woo tags along to Hae-in’s appointment with the doctor. You know, what if this is a misdiagnosis, and he calls off the divorce for nothing? But seeing how Hae-in keeps forgetting things and zoning out, it is safe to say she is indeed ill.

Since Hae-in has only a little time left, Hyun-woo feels relieved to have a way out of this torturing marriage without having to go through trials. But the catch is: that he won’t inherit anything after Hae-in dies because of the supposed will. Still, he can shower Hae-in with love and get her to change her mind, right? Cue: Hyun-woo buying Hae-in flowers, making a scene when she chokes on water, peeling shrimp for her, and covering her with his jacket to not catch a cold.

“Don’t worry. I will live no matter what.”

In another situation, Hae-in might have been moved by Hyun-woo’s actions. But he is so dramatic that people will start to notice Hae-in’s condition soon. The last thing Hae-in wants is for her family to find out about her illness since they only care about money and assets.

Still, when Hae-in spots Hyun-woo’s research on similar cases to her condition, she gets touched and decides to fight her disease and get better. This might not have been Hyun-woo’s intention when searching, but he gets moved by Hae-in’s words as well.

“Don’t fool yourself. This isn’t real. Snap out of it.”

What does the trick is Hyun-woo spotting Hae-in together with her college friend, Yoon Eun-seong. It is as clear as day he is jealous and eating his words about wishing Hae-in got married to Eun-seong and spared him the trouble.

We end the week with Hae-in’s family going on their usual hunt trip, inviting Eun-seong over. Hyun-woo looks like the black sheep. But who cares about this? Hae-in still stands by her decision to choose him over Eun-seong, though the latter seems to be still interested in her. While experiencing another zoning-out seizure, Hae-in almost gets attacked by a wild boar. but Hyun-woo shows up like a knight, shooting the boar, and saving Hae-in.

Queen Of Tears Opening Week Musings

The drama is a feast to the eyes. Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won are shining in their respective roles and their chemistry is on fire. It takes two to tango. And the meat of this story for me is how misunderstandings and seeing things from different perspectives without proper communication can drift a couple apart even though they are still in love.

Hae-in might come across as cold and ruthless. But she yearns for affection. All she wants is some assurance from Hyun-woo that he is still in love with her and didn’t marry her for money like the annoying people around Hae-in keep saying.

It is a pity Hyun-woo mistakenly believes she doesn’t care about her family mistreating him, though Hae-in teaches her brother, Hong Soo-cheol, a lesson for disrespecting Hyun-woo. But since Hae-in does this behind Hyun-woo’s back, he has no idea about it.

It isn’t that Hae-in bailed on Hyun-woo when he asked to meet. But she got into a haze and couldn’t go. Choosing Hyun-woo as the only one to disclose her condition to says a lot about how much Hae-in loves and trusts him.

On the other hand, Hyun-woo seems to be still in love with Hae-in. Money and jealousy aside, he was genuinely worried about Hae-in when he learned about her condition. He might have been taken aback when she jokingly suggested they die together. But Hyun-woo was shocked at the news.

That being said, I hope we can cut down on the screen time Hae-in’s family is taking. Not only do they bring nothing new but they are also irritating. If anything, this family is a hot mess. From the aunt who goes around causing trouble to Hae-in’s mother who seems to hold a grudge against her because of a past incident, to Soo-cheol, who only cares about beating his sister and inheriting the business. More about our OTP and fewer chaebol antics, please, writer-nim.

Will Hae-in and Hyun-woo rediscover the genuine romance that initially bind them in Queen of Tears? Find out on weekends on tvN! International fans can watch it on Netflix!

Photos and Videos: tvN Drama

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Bunny Sonaki

I am Bunny. Just like you, I am smitten with Kdramas and look forward to watching every Kdrama out there, but is that dream ever possible since they keep showering us with new dramas every day? For me, Kdramas are my comfort zone and a warm hug that makes it possible to face up to whatever life throws my way.

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