Scent Of A Woman 여인의 향기 [spoilers ahead!]

It's been a while since I wrote about Korean dramas.

It's not that I didn't watch, it's just that I have been re-watching older ones.

So anyway,

this drama caught my attention before,

but the screenshot showed online didn't tempt me enough.

I mean the photo above was in thumbnail, and you have to admit the female lead (in specs) didn't look particularly attractive in thumbnails. 

Actually, the female lead acted in My Lovely Sam Soon, alongside with Hyun Bin in 2005 and actually grew fat for the sake of that drama. 

Still quite amazed by how she slimmed down after that.

and how was I supposed to know that Lee Dong Wook was the main actor from the small picture lol. 

Should have showed something like this mah!!

The story plot is very simple.

"A woman, Lee Yeon Jae, is given the grim prognosis that she only has a short time left to live. She decides to quit her job at a travel agency and live her life to the fullest."

ok yes it is just as simple as this. 

When she knew that she had cancer I think in ep 2,3 or 4

I personally thought it was a joke. 

I mean the 'you die, I cry' type of Korean dramas were a thing of the past, possibly in the 1st K-wave. 

So I thought, nah, it will be a good show, the doctor misdiagnosed and everyone lived happily ever after. 

Of course it didn't turn out that way and the joke wasn't a joke

and I was too into the show to stop watching. 

Damn it. 

But before you decide not to watch it, I shall just make it easier for you. 

It is still a happy ending (sort of). Oh, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't cry ok :)

The show is... dramatic

In a sense that, how convenient it was that the female actress found a rich chaebol son and actually got him to fall in love with her?

This 'love conquers all' thing wouldn't have worked if Lee Dong Wook is a poor chap.

I mean it could have, but come on, let's be realistic.

If he is not rich, we wouldn't be able to see many scenic scenes of Jeju-do and his huge-ass house already.

Also, she has cancer but no, not a single hair dropped. The writers fobbed it off with an excuse that she is consuming new drugs. Ok you win. 

The show basically over-idealised cancer, it is really more than just a few scenes of pain. I would say there was 70% love 15% friendship 10% family-ship  5% pain in the show, but in reality, pain would have a higher percentage. 

The show is... at the same time realistic. 

If you need a perspective of how life is like for a person with cancer

this is probably one of the better shows to watch (I say better because not all cancer patients have rich families or boyfriends). 

Many times when we met with people suffering from cancer, we don't really know what to say.

Ok I don't really know what to say. 

I think they are the only people who can reduce my IQ and EQ down to the negative region. 

Everything I wanted to say usually sounded stupid in my head because the person in front of me is no longer healthy. 

I learnt subsequently that asking the patient to jiayou!! is a futile attempt. 

It's like... when you know you are in deep shit and someone came up to you and say 'it's ok'...

ya I bet you feel like slapping the person too. 

Worrying about the person's health actually made things worse because really who wants to be reminded that he/she will be dying soon. 

Which is why sometimes there's a bubble of optimism around these people. It feels pretentious sometimes, but I think that's the next best thing they can look forward to. 

When you are sick, it is not the number of toys you have or the amount of money you can spend. 

Even for family members or friends, all you can think about after each chemo session is how healthy the patient was before all these and you wonder why of all people it has to be him/her and really just how much time will you have left to spend with him/her.

The show teaches you how to deal with situations like this

so if you have an unfortunate friend or family member busy fighting the demons, watch the show!

There's a 'moral' of the story at the end, let's hope you can catch it!

Oh oh, bonus too for JYJ fans too (don't say I no say).

Xiah Junsu guest starred in the show (that scene was quite funny) 

and sang one of the song for the show too which was really really beautiful.

No pun intended, but the song was "You are so beautiful"

Would I watch the show again?

No, I doubt it.

Sure, it is meaningful, but to revisit pain again.. I must be crazy before I will do that lol.

Listen to the song :)