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Since I am a big fan of the leading lady in My Dearest Nemesis (2025) Moon Ga Young (Mimi, Find Me In Your Memory, Jealousy Incarnate, Heartstrings, Live Up To Your Name, film Salut d'Amour) I was very pleased to check into watching her latest rom com on Viki HERE. It was an easy, enjoyable watch, and she had very nice chemistry with her younger leading man, Choi Hyun Wook (Twinkling Watermelon, Jirisan, DP2) who did an excellent job playing his multi-dimensional character: at one point even acting as a young kid who loved video games, and in the next part of the story as a college graduate and ambitious corporate executive. Usually a drama production team would hire a child actor to play a leading character when young, but in this case they didn't, and you could immediately see Choi Hyun Wook's versatile acting chops in his transition from child character to adult character. Very impressive work.

Direction by Lee Soo Hyun (Sh**ting Stars, Find Me In Your Memory) had to have been just what these two twenty-somethings needed to turn out such sweet, realistic performances. The cinematography was also lovely, especially outdoor shots and close-ups, plus bold CGI embeds in episode one. At only twelve episodes the series breezes by and is very relaxing to watch. I actually watched the second half of it on my cellphone VIKI app before going to sleep for the night; in some ways it's actually easier to read subtitles holding a cellphone close up to your face, especially as you get older. ;)  

I was also very impressed by the second male lead actor Kwak Si Yang (Alice, Chicago Typewriter, Second To Last Love) and the second female lead actress Lim Se Mi (I'll Go To You When The Weather Is Nice, Two Weeks, That Winter The Wind Blows) -- they played their characters in a very dynamic, volatile way which in some aspects was quite unusual for a typical romantic comedy K-drama.

The only character you loved to hate in this drama was the domineering Grandmother character of the leading man character, played chillingly well by veteran actress Ban Hyo Jung (acting since 1973! in dramas like Shining Inheritance, We Are Dating Now, 49 Days, Rooftop Prince, Dear Hyeri, Fix You). The comments' sections of K-drama trivia sites were filled with "I hate her!" posts. It was actually quite hilarious! It proved what an exceptional actress she is, to get everyone to hate her with such a passion. :)

 

The Story

My Dearest Nemesis (2025) tells the story of the strange relationship that develops between Baek Su Jeong (Moon Ga Young) and Ban Ju Yeon (Choi Hyun Wook) who first met as teenagers and then again years later in a workplace environment. Originally they had met online playing video games together, with the usernames "Strawberry" (for her) and "Black Dragon" (for him). A silly mutual crush had developed between them. When they eventually met in person, with other video game players at a cafe, an explosion resulted. Su Jeong was shocked at the immature, flamboyant personality of Ju Yeon, who was a few years younger than her. He didn't seem at all the way he had posed himself online as the serious "Black Dragon"! Ju Yeon developed immediate romantic feelings for Su Jeong, but partly because he was younger and seemed immature, his love for her ultimately went unrequited and they separated, both in person and online.

Now, over a decade later, they meet again in a work environment at the Yongsung Department Store in Seoul and are placed in a very different, precarious situation. Su Jeong had become a respected planning team leader at the department store, while Ju Yeon, who is the heir apparent to the company, thanks to his stern Grandmother Jung Hyo Sun (Ban Hyo Jung), now is a new hire as the Director of the top Strategic Division. Their unresolved past relationship as teenagers causes their reunion as adults to be full of tension and conflict.

Su Jeong is known as a hard worker who is not afraid to express her opinions. Her nickname by co-workers as the "Division Director Killer" indicates her bravery in confronting any superiors in the company, including Ju Yeon and his Grandmother, when she thinks they are wrong in their decisions about how to run the company. The presence of Ju Yeon as her new boss shakes up Su Jeong's life. Even more surprisingly, she discovers that Ju Yeon is still living a double life as "Black Dragon" online, although he is much more serious now as a young man in his twenties. How can she ever respect a person enough who is living a double life? Su Jeong does receive emotional support from a male co-worker named Kim Sin Won (Kwak Si Yang) and his off again - on again divorced girlfriend named Seo Ha Jin (Lim Se Mi) who runs a bar, although these two have their own relationship issues to work out so they can't always be counted on to be around to stop fights between Su Jeong and Ju Yeon.

Eventually Su Jeong develops more sympathy for Ju Yeon when she learns how he grew up without the love and support of his parents who had died when he was a child. He had been raised by the harsh Grandmother who never smiled, never expressed warmth for him. No wonder why growing up he had tried to find that love and support online, pretending to be somebody he was not, some magical "Black Dragon" who fought to win every video game available. Su Jeong and Ju Yeon eventually fall in love for real as she understands and helps him more, but will that increase his Grandmother's wrath against them both, causing them both to be fired from their well-paying jobs at the Yongsung Department Store?

There really was not much original in this script for this webtoon-related story of a developing office romance between two opposite personalities, but the genuinely outstanding acting of the major cast members kept me watching till the end. They seemed like real people to me and not just characters in a fictional story. Sometimes in K-Dramaland the acting elevates an otherwise predictable office romance story into something quite unforgettable. I will not soon forget these characters and might even re-watch My Dearest Nemesis again in the future. Probably Moon Ga Young's "Mimi" will always be my favorite character she has played in her career, but this sweet character of hers was just as enjoyable in its own way. Enjoy!

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