Four Men Light Up Song Ji Hyo’s Life in “What Is Love?”

By addy July 9, 2020

After a two-year hiatus from acting, Song Ji Hyo is finally back in business.

The Running Man star recently made a comeback through the television drama What Is Love?, which premiered on South Korea’s JTBC on July 8, 2020 and is available worldwide via Netflix.

The first episode introduces Song Ji Hyo as a budding film producer Noh Ae Jeong, who had to put her career on hold after giving birth to her daughter on her last year of college. As a single mother for fourteen years, Ae Jung had to temporarily give up her dreams on being a film producer to raise her daughter, namely working as an accountant and a theater staff member. Meanwhile, her teenager daughter Ha Nee gets in a fight at school, and the school notifies the parents. When the classmate’s mother points out that Ha Nee’s poor upbringing could be due to having an incomplete family, Ae Jeong said, “[My daughter] has a dad. I’m her dad and her mom. My kid has never been raised with only half the love. You can charge me for the hospital bill. I’m fully compensate your son for the pain he suffered. But how will you compensate for my child’s heartache?”

The style of What Is Love is heavily inspired by the golden age of Hong Kong cinema during the 80’s and 90’s. A Korean version of Faye Wong’s (王菲) “Dream Lover” <夢中人>, itself a cover of Cranberries’ “Dreams”, was played in the drama. Kim Min Joon, who plays film investor Goo Pa Do in the drama, spoke Cantonese.

Throughout the series, Ae Jung meets four men, all who inspire and appeal her in different ways: Oh Dae Oh (Son Ho Jun), a best-selling novelist and snobby Hollywood screenwriter; Ryu Jin (Song Jong Ho), a famous actor; Goo Pa Do (Kim Min Joon), the CEO of a successful financial company; and Oh Yeon Woo (Koo Ja Sung), a younger PE teacher and Ae Jeong’s former housemate who has a crush on her.