Profile: Hyun Jin-heon - Part 1
- Asian Drama Observer
- Apr 10, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 9, 2024
Within minutes of being introduced to Jin-heon in the drama My Lovely Kim Sam Soon,[1] it is clear that he is a complicated man. The fact he is on a blind date arranged by his mother tells us he is a traditional guy who has great respect for his mother. It appears, sadly, that respect does not extend to other women. He treats his blind dates dismally, going out of his way to embarrass, even humiliate them. Is Jin-heon simply ignoring the rules and traditions of his culture or does he have a problem with women.
At his introduction to Kim Sam-soon, we see that this man is over-confident and exceptionally arrogant. Yet, looking closer at the scene, it is also clear that he actually does care about how others treat people -- just not how he, himself, treats them. So his advice to Sam-soon, who is locked in a cubicle in the men’s washroom crying over being publicly dumped by the man she’d been dating for three years, can be seen as genuine and considerate. Except, serving it with such a haughty attitude means that the message intended gets lost. His personality is complicated.
That word, ‘complicated’, fully captures who and what Jin-heon is. He’s impatient, bad tempered, rude and dismissive of others. Interestingly, he appears not to hold grudges. His bad temper appears to be fleeting. His rudeness is a consequence of a fast mind and sharp tongue. His clashes with Sam-soon, then, are no surprise. He’s met his match. It’s also noted very early in the drama that as well as all the negatives about him, Jin-heon is a stubborn man -- in the best possible way. Thus, until Sam-soon opens that cubicle door, he will keep knocking. She’s in distress and he must communicate with her. Why not talk to her through the door, Jin-heon? Because he is a physical man and needs eye-to-eye contact in his interactions.
Jin-heon is also a man one can trust, indicating he is, further, a loyal person. Without doubt that he recognises Sam-soon when they meet up again outside the kitchen of his mother’s hotel. He subsequently admits it. Sam-soon is not someone easily forgotten due to her wild hair and ‘above average size’. She remembers him because of his good looks and his rude manner. Not bad, considering they literally faced one another for mere seconds. Whilst Sam-soon’s expression indicates recognition of him, nothing in Jin-heon’s face or manner suggests that he knows her. To do so would bring up her humiliation on Christmas Eve, and that’s not something he feels it necessary to remind her of or to introduce to others. You can trust Jin-heon with your secrets. As secrets go, he clearly has some of his own, starting with the name Hee-jin. His reaction to the name is so visceral that it puts you on alert. Where is this going to lead? It also puts Sam-soon on alert. However, she dismisses the cue and moves beyond it without registering this exposed vulnerability.
We learn that Jin-heon does have a sense of humour, yet none of the staff, with whom he claims to have an easy, casual relationship, have ever heard him laugh. He spends no social time with them outside of work and, except one, they know nothing about his life outside the restaurant. He’s an introvert and a very private person. What was it about Sam-soon, then, that caused him to go against his very nature and break all his own rules?
We know that at her interview for the job of pastry chef at his restaurant, Bon Appétit, Jin-heon was mesmerised by Sam-soon’s words, and likely her voice, and definitely her self-confidence in her craft as a baker. But what could possibly cause this cautious man to abandon reason, good manners, and social protocol to use Sam-soon to crash his unwanted blind date as well as hers? It was total madness. Yet, his intention did not seem to include malice. Something about her gave him confidence that she would forgive him afterwards. The slap from his date meant nothing to him; it’s what he expected to happen. Her embarrassment did not bother him; he habitually treats dates badly to get them to lose interest in him. Sam-soon’s reaction, on the other hand, clearly affected him. We see it in his expression when she storms off in tears, and in the fact that he chases after Sam-soon rather than his date. Incredibly, Jin-heon was spot on in his calculation that Sam-soon would forgive his transgression against good manners.
For all his rudeness, we know Jin-heon understands both the conventions of his culture and how to adhere to them. Following behind Sam-soon at a distance tells us he knows his place in the relationship at that point. It’s also what one does whilst awaiting forgiveness: be present but invisible. He asks her to have dinner with him. He gets a kick to the shin. He tries to make conversation. She’s dismissive. He pays for her drink. She accepts it without a thank you. What she does not do is ask him why he’s following her. Neither does she try to change the situation. Sam-soon does asks Jin-heon, “do I look easily managed to you?” Well, yes, for him she does. And she is. Forgiveness, then, will come.
We also see that his bad boy attitude masks other, better qualities. He’s attentive, patient, easy-going, and aware. He’s absorbing things about Sam-soon in her social environment the way he absorbed her words during the interview. Calling her a ‘unique character’ could only apply from observing and registering different facets of her personality. Jin-heon likes Sam-soon, whose quick wit, sharp tongue, and fiery temper mirrors his own. They are well matched in both speed and content when it comes to throwing barbs, and they seem to take enjoyment from it. Sam-soon, then, is the total opposite to the women who fawn over him, jump to his tune, and chase him romantically. These women lose his interest within minutes. There’s no doubt he likes Sam-soon, but already, if you asked him why, he would say he didn’t know the reason.
Denial, we come to see, is part of Jin-heon’s emotional repository. As are jealousy, possessiveness, impulsiveness, and passion. His treatment of Sam-soon as they become better acquainted is so contradictory one needs to peel the layers one by one in order to really work out what’s going on. As example, he casually insults her and does not hesitate to humiliate her with words:
Her: “Where will I get the money [to pay you back]? I’ll sell my organs”.
Him: “[Sneering] Is there an organ that’s that expensive on that body? Oh, I guess you’ll probably be good at bearing children [laughs]”.
Why, then, does that same man spend hours trailing behind Sam-soon in silence? He expresses to strangers a romantic attraction to her, albeit laced with lies (he wants to propose to her; she is his girlfriend; they even locked lips earlier). He tells Sam-soon that the thought of hugging her or being intimate with her hasn’t crossed his mind. (Liar!) Let’s add that he carries her on his back when she is so drunk she can’t walk, and accepts the physical punishment she metes out to him in place of her ex-boyfriend without complaint. Aye, what’s going on here!? It’s confusing.
Jin-heon, then, is a man with a conscience, a strong sense of responsibility, and of duty. He not only takes Sam-soon to a place of safety (his home), but cleans up after her, and also sends her soiled clothes for dry cleaning overnight. The guest accuses the Samaritan of taking advantage of her in her drunken state. Jin-heon doesn’t dignify the accusation with a response but does ambiguously indicate that they did, indeed, sleep in the same bed that night, asking her who would try to seduce someone who made them feel dirty all night (because of poor drunken hygiene). He’s over it now, closing the conversation with the instruction that she (still) smells and should have a shower. Sam-soon is in her underwear but makes no attempt to find additional clothes to wear. He’s just come out of the shower and is wearing just a bathrobe. The scene is intimate, but more than that, it shows how comfortable they are together. They appear like a long-standing couple, familiar with one another in a domestic setting. Sam-soon’s aggressive, up-in-your-face attitude when arguing with Jin-heon does not faze him. Indeed, he does not back away, but actually comes closer, until they are almost nose-to-nose. He’s just there to press the buzzer of the service intercom, however. His actions rattle her. This is the first of many times that Jin-heon ‘teases’ Sam-soon with the potential for intimacy. Rather than his intention to do so or not, it is her reaction that really counts. Clearly Sam-soon’s heart rate has elevated in line with the volume of her criticisms of Jin-heon.
Those layers just keep peeling off as we learn more about Jin-heon. Example, again: the appearance of his mother, who enters the apartment without an announcement, seems normal to him. A quick glance at Sam-soon shows he’s aware that she will come under scrutiny, but he’s also checking to see she’s okay. Jin-heon appears confident that Sam-soon will handle herself well. He’s correct. Her quick mind helps her sail through what for others might have been an exercise in mortification. As a young woman, unmarried to Jin-heon, acquainted with him for only weeks, her half-naked state suggests loose morals. President Na, Jin-heon’s mother, has certainly reached that conclusion. Sam-soon doesn’t seem too worried. However, his mother’s rough attitude towards and treatment of Jin-heon raises her heckles, and one feels that her answers to President Na’s questions are subtly sarcastic and specifically designed to protect Jin-heon. A match for both mother and son, Sam-soon’s demeanour is, nonetheless, an unassuming one, which misleads President Na into miscalculating the full capabilities of the young lady whom she describes as a dumpling, an expired one at that!
In response, Jin-heon champions his ‘girlfriend’s’ qualities. Sam-soon, he advises, “has very healthy and upright living standards. [She is a] very lucid person”.
High praise indeed for someone he has no interest in. The viewer needn’t have worried. Sam-soon defends herself admirably with a mix of seeming naivety, innocence, and sharpness that makes President Na pay attention. Jin-heon rubberstamps it all. Together, they are batting two for two, only President Na is too prejudiced towards Sam-soon’s looks and lack of wealth to see that she has lost this particular battle.
In trying to manipulate the situation, President Na compounds her loss. She binds her precious son and the disapproved of baker together by giving them permission to date.
The unexpected blessing from Jin-heon’s mother making him and Sam-soon a couple is quickly acted upon. One notes that Jin-heon politely enquires about Sam-soon’s relationship status first. No boyfriend? With this second blessing, Jin-heon proposes a fake relationship to Sam-soon. He even offers her money to take part in the spoof against his mother. If they are going to date, it might as well be to their respective benefits. This is an opportunity to avoid blind dates and he can’t pass it up. In terms of truth, living in the grey is Jin-heon’s specialty. Less so Sam-soon. His suggestion is instantly rejected. Repeatedly asking Sam-soon to justify her outright dismissal of the fake dating scheme, Jin-heon is being honest in his assertion that he does not understand her reasoning. When she tells him that the suggestion is both dishonest and not to her benefit, Sam-soon is showing her awareness of how easily things could go wrong. For instance, how will she find a husband if she is pretending to date Jin-heon? Oh, yes, no two-timing allowed is one of Jin-heon’s conditions. No blind dates either, is another. It may be a fake relationship, but the love contract they eventually agree upon makes real Sam-soon’s pronouncement to his mother about mutual ownership. Except, only one of them has the key to the chain they bind themselves together with.
Leonora
[1] Ji Soo-hyun, My Lovely Kim Sam Soon. Kim Sa-hyun MBC, 2005. Rakuten Viki, https://www.viki.com//tv/1476c-my-lovely-sam-soon