This 2012 one episode Korean drama special Don't Worry - I'm A Ghost was created as a vehicle for the country's currently most famous leading lady actress, Park Shin Hye (Tree Of Heaven, Heartstrings, Pinocchio, You're Beautiful, Heirs, Flower Boys Next Door) whom I simply adore, and I thought she was outstanding in this short drama special, displaying a wide range of emotions from coquettish humor to sadness and grief, then acceptance. She also looked at her MOST beautiful to me in this drama; she was always pretty, but here she is downright beautiful.

I grabbed some screen captures for you to see what I mean. About 1/3rd of the drama she played a live girl in flashbacks, and the remaining 2/3rds a ghost who wants to discover exactly how she died because she has no memories of the events surrounding her demise, which police are classifying as a murder. Or perhaps could she simply be an illusion of the person most affected by her death?

The Story: A car rapidly approaches a young man named Moon Ki (Bong Tae Gyu from Personal Taste) who is running into the road without looking for traffic first, hits him, and he goes flying and lands on the street pavement with a thud. An ambulance takes him to the hospital but he has lost his memory from the blunt force of the collision. As police take down his information and attempt to ID him, he at first doesn't remember anything, not even his name or address, and suddenly a beautiful girl named Yeon Hwa (Park Shin Hye) arrives in his field of vision and tells him his name and address, which he repeats back to the officers. He is shocked that the girl seems to know more about him than he knows about himself.

 

He returns to his bachelor pad apartment and suddenly she is there, hovering over him as he tries to rest. "Don't worry, I'm a ghost". He is shocked and then little by little his memories return: he had known her before -- she owned a floral shop near where he worked as a food delivery man. They begin to feel close to each other again and visit old haunts. At one point a shadowy young man seems to be following them, named Jin Soo (Lee Ha Yeul). Could he be the killer of Yeon Hwa who has never been found?

It turns out Moon Ki and Jin Soo had grown up together and were at one time in cahoots to steal petty cash from people to make ends meet. In flashback we see Yeon Hwa inviting Moon Ki to her birthday party after work, which will take place in her apartment. She walks in to her home and is grabbed behind by Jin Soo and screams. Moon Ki looks traumatized as Yeon Hwa cries out "Why didn't you wait and come alone?" The confrontation gets out of hand and Yeon Hwa pays the price. Who killed her, how, and why? Will Moon Ki never see her again since she now knows how she died and will soon leave for heaven? Or will she return now and again to haunt his dreams?

I enjoyed it very much although the ending was sad. You can't beat Park Shin Hye in a simple haunting charmer like this one. Her exuberance is contagious, even when playing a ghost! (or did she?).

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