Secret Relationships (2025)

A 2025 Korean BL adapted from the webtoon is about the nuances of suppressing yourself or your desires, the selfish nature of “love,” and self-esteem tied to being worthy of love. It’s directed by Yang Kyung Hee, the notable director of Kissable Lips, The Director Who Buys Me Dinner, and a favorite of mine, The Time of Fever.

Adapted from the Korean Manhwa Secret Relationship (비밀 사이) by McQueen Studio, available on Tapas.

First-time actor Kim JunSeo, an idol from WEi, a K-Pop band and former member of 1THE9, plays Jung Daon, our main protagonist. Kim Hoyoung is Sin Jaemin, Cha Sunhyung is Ju Seonghyeon, and Cha Jungwoo is Kim Suhyeon. Don’t worry; I will explain some of their complex relationship dynamics in a bit.

Synopsis:

Daon, a bright and handsome salaryman, often clashes with his colleague Seonghyeon. Their relationship becomes increasingly ambiguous as time progresses, while other figures like Jaemin, a former tutor and company heir, and Suhyeon make their way into his life. What shape will this love square end up turning into?

Source – mydramalist.com

Cast:

Kim Jun Seo – Jung Da On

Cha Sun Hyung – Ju Seong Hyeon

Kim Ho Young – Sin Jae Min

Cha Jung Woo – Kim Su Hyeon

Thoughts:

We are introduced to our main character, Jung Daon, through the first episode, showing a varied timeline of three distinct periods in his life. The present-day Daon is a hard worker working as a project planner for a construction company. He is successful, wears tailored clothes, has a good job, and appears to be liked by everyone. We have the struggling high school student from 11 years ago who was sickly and struggling due to his home life situation. There is also a 7-year-old version of himself, a university student with two close friends. These three versions and timelines cross each other during each of the eight episodes.

The second person we meet is Jaemin, Daon’s hyung (a Korean term for older brother type). He is a teacher/professor at a local school/college – can’t quite tell which. He’s known Daon for 11 years. He offered to tutor Daon to get into an architecture program at college while they were both in high school. This person is by Daon’s side every day. It appears as though Jaemin is his unrequited love. Daon buys a gift while thinking about Jaemin and treasures the expensive watch given as a gift by him.

On a day when Daon is late, he is preoccupied with thoughts of the gift prepared to give Jaemin and whether to confess his feelings. He almost walks in front of a scooter, being rescued by a man who pulls him around and cradles his fall. In the midst of this, his watch face gets broken, and Daon is furious with the man who saved him. The two get into a fight of words with Daon snipping at his saviour instead of being grateful.

When Daon is working that day, he’s introduced to a new employee, Seonghyeon, the man who saved him from the scooter that morning. The two are oil and water, but have to work together on an important project because Daon doesn’t want to admit he has a conflict with Seonghyeon. When Seonghyeon attends the office welcome party, he asks about Daon, expecting others to say how grumpy or hard to work with he is, but all the co-workers like him and sing his praises.

Meanwhile, Daon is at a fancy dinner with Jaemin, about to confess his feelings, when Jaemin mentions that Suhyeon is back in Korea. This is highly upsetting to Daon, who urges Jaemin not to see him. Later, it’s explained that Jaemin and Suhyeon were once lovers. Trauma is involved, but you don’t know yet the extent of Daon’s wariness of Suhyeon. The timeline of the three men is 7 years before the current day.

I’ve set all this up to tell you this: Nothing is what it seems here.

Nobody is who you think they are, except perhaps Seonghyeon. He is an honest, earnest man who isn’t afraid of saying what he thinks or chasing what he desires. He is the odd man out in this strange love square. But you find yourself rooting for him because the dynamics between the other three men are toxic and dysfunctional.

Daon is fighting to break free of his past self. Have you ever felt trapped knowing that you from the past can’t escape the image and also the patterns of behaviour you fall into with certain people? Maybe you knew someone during a difficult period in your life, and for them and you, these feelings define your interactions no matter how much time has passed. This is Daon and his relationship and interactions with both Jaemin and Suhyeon. He does grow a spine, but some internal struggles and fears make the cycle hard to break.

Suhyeon is a wealthy bully used to getting whatever he desires. And what he desires most is Daon and his undivided attention. He is the child on the playground holding court because he holds the toys everyone wants, but is unsatisfied because there is a kid who isn’t interested in him or his toys. He also has a history of violent behaviour. He also shows up as Daon and Seonghyeon’s new director, using his power to try to get what he wants. Seonghyeon appears & reads the situation correctly. He does his best to protect Daon, whisking him away. He doesn’t push Daon to talk, just provides his support by telling Daon it is ok to cry when you feel sad or lost, and sometimes it helps. These words begin to heal some of his pain.

The two begin to form a friendship and maybe more as Seonghyeon does his best to be the person that Daon can talk to or turn to. And Daon sees himself in Seonghyeon’s earnest nature. It’s not until the fourth episode, I think Daon begins to see Seonghyeon as the person he is, not a mirror of his past self.

Jaemin and Suhyeon also play a game of cat and mouse with each other, using Daon like a pawn on the chessboard. These men have money and the means to get whatever they want. Things take a dark turn as we see to what extent they will go to win. I won’t spoil it or the ending, but every time you think you know what’s going on, you are shocked by the next set of twists and turns.

It was a good show, but ‘jumped the shark’ in the final episode – I really hated it. They pulled out over-dramatic tropes, and the characters behaved in a way that had me yelling at the screen or rolling my eyes. Is it worth a watch? I’d say so, but know that the last episode can be dissatisfying. I think it was more frustrating because my expectations were high, given the quality of previous episodes and the other series the director had worked on. The Time of Fever is one of my favourite Korean BLs. I hope that their next BL will put more thought into the consistency of tone, not falling back on easy tropes to wrap things up too neatly and quickly.

If you’ve watched it, I’d love to know your thoughts. If you watch it, please drop a comment, letting me know how you found it.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. [See our Review Guide]