[Hey, that’s me] Different name, same story
by Guest Beanie
By ohhaeyoung
As you can tell by my username there is definitively one K-drama where I saw myself so much in the heroine that I chose my username in her honor. Yes, the spunky, emotional, vulnerable Oh Hae-young from the K-drama Oh Hae-young Again is my favorite of all the K-dramas I’ve watched. She is so special to me and I know she left a big impact in South Korea too, as both times I’ve been to Korea (in 2017 and again this summer in 2019) I happened to catch the show playing on the tv screen in my hotel room. I’ve rewatched this drama and I still enjoyed it immensely the second time around.
One interesting tidbit I found endearing is that the drama’s writer is also named Hae-young. Her name is one of the big plot points of the drama and it’s apparently a very common one in Korea. I relate to this because my name is pretty common in the country I live in. Heck, there was a girl in my high school with exact same first and last name who was constantly getting in trouble so the teachers would always ask if it was me.
One of the reasons I fiercely connected with the heroine of the drama on this point is because other girls who have had the same name have been real-life frenemies of mine. They were girls and later women who made my life difficult in different ways. This drama has our Oh Hae-young and then a “pretty, popular” Oh Hae-young who is her rival in so many ways that she is even–unintentionally–the cause of our heroine’s misery when we first meet her at the beginning of the drama.
Her name woes were just the first point in which I related to her. I also saw a real person in the way that Seo Hyun-jin played the lead role. She embodied Oh Hae-young with such intensity in her voice that I can still hear her pain, heartbreak, and desperation as she tried to hold onto the man she was falling in love with.
She said things and acted in ways that I could see myself saying or doing if I were to find myself in similar situations. She was hot-tempered and wore her emotions so clearly on her face, whether it was anguish, hurt, anger, or vulnerability. I am the kind of person who is an open book and whose face shows every emotion that my heart feels.
Oh Hae-young’s insecurities were so relatable, despite how awkward and painful it was to see them on screen. I was grateful that she worried that she loved a person more than they loved her back. And that she was bold enough to verbalize it! Hae-young was also passionate in a way that I wish I could be. I am one of those people who is very open, loud, and brash when I’m comfortable around people that I love but am otherwise reserved and collected amongst my coworkers and strangers.
The parts that deviated from my life was her interesting relationship with her mother. While I have a very strong and close friendship with my mother, it looks a lot different from Oh Hae-young’s. Interestingly enough I felt like her relationship with her mother looked like real mother-daughter relationships I’ve seen amongst some of my close friends. Also, I never have had the luck of being in a love triangle where two very attractive men are vying for my affections, but then again I haven’t had the misfortunes that Oh Hae-young went through.
While I’m not outwardly as bold as Oh Hae-young, at least not yet, I am learning what it means to pick myself up away from my insecurities in order to trust and resolve to be bold and passionate and to be loved 100% for who I am. Oh Hae-young turned out to be the perfect drama for me as it includes a slight fantastical element, sizzling OTP chemistry, laugh out loud humor, amazing OSTs, and a heroine whose heart looks a lot like mine.
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1 Currently Living On Planet Earth
September 6, 2019 at 11:35 PM
Aww, this post was amazing and heartwarming to read! Thank you for sharing. ❤️
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 9:27 PM
aww thank you for reading and commenting, it was straight from my heart <3
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2 SW unnie
September 7, 2019 at 12:30 AM
I was thinking about writing a very similar post about Oh Hae Young 😄 Thank you for sharing this 💕💕💕
The scene in the last picture made me fall in love with her. When she was dancing like a crazy person it felt like this was the only way she could cope at least a little bit with her pain. To me, all of her movements were screaming "I'm hurt, I can't live anymore!"
Oh Hae Young is still one of my favourite person in a drama, because I could relate so much to her pain. I was also bullied for a really long time and had bad and hurting experiences with boys. The later one was mostly because of my l severely lack of self-confidence, I wouldn't stand for myself even if someone was hurting me because I thought I didn't deserve it another way.
Oh Hae Young was brave to open her heart again and this was something that healed her. This is also an experience I made and one of the reasons I loved the whole drama until the end.
Sending much hugs and love to you, it's great to see you again 😉😘
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 9:34 PM
@swunnie aww thank you Unnie, it is great to see you again too! Miss you so much, much love to you! <3
and oh really? you should still write it and submit it ;) and yes I need to watch Another Oh Hae Young for a 3rd time, it's something I've been meaning to do. Her crazy dancing scene was so memorable and showed exactly that, her pain. And oh man I remember all the terrible comments I heard from boys about my appearance and body as a teenager...opening up your heart one more time after experiences like that is scary but as you said in this story it is what healed her, love how you put it that way! thank you for your sweet comment, sending hugs your way as well :D
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3 javinne
September 7, 2019 at 7:36 AM
I watched it due to a drama- suggestion-exchange with @swunnie, because she is crazy about Oh Hae young (see comment number 2, and by the way she is exceptional pretty and never deserved to be bullied, but I am happy she overcame it), and I have to tell you: the drama is good in many ways. I loved the humor, most of side characters, second couple (the lawyer and the "French" noona)... But personally I could never relate with both Oh Hae youngs for different reasons, but for the rest, it was worth watching. I loved Oh Hae young's parents madly.
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 9:41 PM
ah yes i love @swunnie so much! she's one of my favorite beanies :D *waves to my Unnie* but yes she has good taste ;)
and yes I pretty much love the entire cast of characters as well and I'm glad to hear you watched it and enjoyed it! Oh Hae Young's dad is one of my favorite kdrama dad characters for sure (he's so patient and a good balance for his wife) and the mother/daughter relationship was just so memorable :)
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SW unnie
September 7, 2019 at 11:46 PM
You are both too sweet @javinne and @ohhaeyoung! Thanks a lot for your lovely comments!! 💞💞
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4 marina
September 7, 2019 at 10:54 AM
Aww, thank you, thank you, thank you..
Oh Hae-young Again is among my five favorite dramas and god knows how much laughed and cried wile watching it because I could see myself in her! The moment I recommended it to my sister I told her “ watch your sister in a drama”!
Nothing with the names and misfortunes but her love story and how crazy she was acting when it was about the man she loved! I had always been openly proud of how deep my feelings were for the man I loved. I was bold and ready to fight when it was about him. Never felt ashamed screaming his name to the world and expressing my love in front of others. Her behavior made me remember how I was..
I didn’t end up being with the man I wanted like Oh Hae-young did but I never regret those days and years.
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 9:46 PM
aww yes her boldness and passion, it's what bubbles inside of me but yay glad to hear that you were able to enjoy and relate to this drama in other ways...she just felt like such a real character and i made my brother watch this drama too LOL but i should've told him it was to "watch sister in a drama" as well :P
thank YOU for sharing such a great comment <3
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5 Beverly
September 7, 2019 at 11:40 AM
I really liked this show. I admire Oh Hae Young for being her self at all times......well not physically attacking her nemesis. She had that unique ability of making herself vulnerable.
I know his character and portrayal of it isn't as well liked but I identified more with Eric's role. I recognized the self contained quiet introvert that has really high walls and well maintained boundaries, lol. His is the first character I came across like this in a drama.
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Midnight
September 7, 2019 at 12:04 PM
True! Eric's character was SO rare for a kdrama, and SO well-acted. I loved it, and identified with it much more than with any of the female characters in the show lol!
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 9:59 PM
I personally felt like Eric did a great job acting out his role as well :D I'm glad you could identify with his character as he also did have an interesting role!
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 9:58 PM
Hehe yes I know this show gets a lot of criticism for how far OHY sometimes went...but as I wrote it is what makes it awkwardly painful to see her hot temper on screen like that which as you bring up is a good contrast for the cool reserved male lead who balances out the fiery heroine.
I loved Eric's role as he was definitely a one of a kind male lead character!
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6 Ally
September 7, 2019 at 1:18 PM
I really liked this show too and picked it up after Romantic Doctor... to see Seo Hyun-Jin in another role. I love her as an actress. She plays these characters so well. And probably one of the best kisses ever is in this show!
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 10:01 PM
Hehe yes that kiss scene, it's kinda what pulled my attention to want to check the show out as I started it right around the halfway mark when it was airing back in 2016 ;)
I need to watch Romantic Doctor...haven't seen that one yet
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7 SailorJumun
September 7, 2019 at 4:11 PM
Ohhh, this drama. 😍😍😍 Your post is making all the feels come floodin' back.
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 10:03 PM
there were so many intense feels for this drama for sure! <3
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8 another woodalchi nicole recruit
September 7, 2019 at 7:20 PM
I enjoyed this so much! I, too, love this drama and am always happy to read anything about it on here---and I love that you identify with OHY -- what a great character to see yourself in!! truly-- thanks for sharing this ❤️
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ohhaeyoung
September 7, 2019 at 10:07 PM
aw yes I can't get enough of this drama, I need to watch it for a third time!
thank you for your lovely comment! :)
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9 Tizzy
September 8, 2019 at 12:44 AM
Good write up. Thanks for writing about this drama. I really like it and both leads were pretty good. Loved Eric Mun here.
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ohhaeyoung
September 8, 2019 at 2:36 PM
Thank you for your comment, I really loved Eric Mun in this drama too ;)
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10 DHMRS
September 8, 2019 at 2:54 PM
I liked this drama a lot, too.
My name isn't all that common, which makes it funny that when I was a kid we moved and ended up on a street where there was another girl who had the same name, middle name and family name, - except there was one letter difference in our family name- and that letter difference was subtle and not always heard. It would be kind of like Oh Hae Young vs Noh Hae Young. Obvious when spelled, but people don't always hear that first consonant.
She was about four or five years older than me, which is a huge difference when you're young. I knew we shared the same name, but I didn't know we shared about having the same names for the rest of our names because she was a step-child with a different surname from her family, and I learned about that through a funny incident.
I was around 11 years old and, three kind of slouching, not the most respectable looking teen-aged boys came to the door and asked for me. My dad answered the door and asked why they wanted me, and they said just to hang out with them and we'd all already made plans and I was waiting for them. My poor shocked dad repeated my name and asked if that's who they meant. They said yes. My dad kept saying 'YOU want to hang out with MY DAUGHTER...!' and he'd repeat my name and they'd insist that yeah, they did and they were also getting kind of frustrated, and he was getting angrier and angrier- fortunately, before he almost started hitting people, he calmed down just enough to ask, "And is the girl you want to hang out with eleven years old? Because that's my child's age, and she's in elementary school and you are not allowed to even speak to her."
They left in a hurry, very confused and really embarrassed, but I guess they asked around the neighbourhood and found her. Later the girl's younger sister came over and explained they were looking for her step-sister, and explained how similar our names were. That happened two or three more times, but after that, of course, we always knew who they were looking for and could send her friends to the right house.
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WishfulToki
September 8, 2019 at 11:17 PM
Your poor father must have had quite a shock! 😂
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ohhaeyoung
September 9, 2019 at 10:17 AM
Haha this story made me laugh out loud, thanks for sharing! That's crazy that it was same full name!
For me even girls with same last name as me but different yet similar first name also gave me a hard time in school, ugh
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11 OhSoEnthusiastic
September 18, 2019 at 4:01 PM
I think all of us can relate to being compared to someone else and always coming up lacking in some way. I really loved how Another Oh Hae Young tackled that in such a thoughtful and honest way.
This was a beautiful write up. Thank you for sharing it with us.
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