“The Affair Was Just the Beginning”—the title itself sounds ominous. While K-dramas often end with a happily-ever-after as the lead couple and their families fight against the odds, this dark comedy begins where most stories would end, reminding us that there are no perfect families, just as there are no perfect couples.
We first meet influencer Kyung Hee (Kim Hye Soo), a self-made interior design influencer, and her small-time actor husband Jae Hong (Kim Ji Hun). After having gone viral, Kyung Hee has built a successful business, and together with their daughter Ye Ji (Jeon Si Hyun), the family appears to have it all. But their move to an upscale neighborhood introduces them to their new neighbor, Soo Jung (Cho Yeo Jeong), a reserved yet prickly dermatologist locked in a bitter custody battle with her husband Bo Sung (Kim Jae Chul).
The facade soon begins to crack as an affair and an unexpected accident sets off a chain of events that turn both families upside down. Blending dark comedy with dysfunctional family drama, the series finds humor in morally ambiguous characters desperately trying to protect their secrets and their own skin at the expense of one another. Here are two things we enjoyed and one thing we didn’t about the premiere episodes of “The Affair Was Just the Beginning.”
Warning: spoilers for the premiere episodes below.
Liked: the surprisingly relatable quirky premise
At first glance, “The Affair Was Just the Beginning” appears to be another story about infidelity, revenge, and the drama around it. But the premiere episodes reveal something far more layered. Using the seemingly perfect lives of two neighboring families, the drama explores the gap between image and reality, reminding us that what we see is rarely the whole truth.
Kyung Hee’s rise from humble beginnings to becoming the viral “Captain Park” has earned her social currency, allowing her family to move into an affluent neighborhood. Yet she is also painfully aware that popularity doesn’t necessarily buy acceptance. Surrounded by old-money families with cultural capital, she finds herself constantly trying to prove that she belongs.
The contrast between Kyung Hee’s seemingly picture-perfect life and Soo Jung’s visibly strained marriage and custody battle makes it easy to assume that one family has everything while the other is falling apart. But “The Affair Was Just the Beginning” quickly turns that assumption on its head.
The illusion begins to crack when a prospective investor tells Kyung Hee that her husband has been having an affair. The revelation shatters not only her carefully curated world but also the blind trust she has had in her husband, whose compliant nature is just an eye wash.
What makes the premise so interesting isn’t the affair itself but everything it exposes. The affair merely serves as the catalyst that peels back the layers of two families trying to maintain appearances. At a time when social media constantly sells us perfect homes, perfect marriages, and perfect parenting, the series reminds us that behind every polished post and smiling family portrait are insecurities, compromises, and secrets. It is this blend of satire, dark comedy, and uncomfortable truth that makes the premise feel both quirky and surprisingly relatable.
In recent years, K-dramas have become far more willing to dismantle the idea of the “perfect family,” and “The Affair Was Just the Beginning” embraces that shift wholeheartedly. Rather than romanticizing marriage or parenthood, it examines the cracks beneath carefully curated lives through sometimes stretched situations, proving that even the happiest-looking families can be hiding the deepest secrets.
Liked: Kim Hye Soo as the feisty Kyung Hee
Kim Hye Soo once again proves why she remains one of Korea’s finest actors. She effortlessly slips into the role of Kyung Hee, making her more than just a successful influencer. Beneath the confidence, ambition, and carefully curated image is a woman who has worked tirelessly to give her family a better life and genuinely believes they are not only benefiting from her success but are also happy basking in her spotlight.
Kim Hye Soo’s performance stands out in the layers that she brings to Kyung Hee. She is a woman who has single-handedly transformed her family’s fortune. It is her popularity that has given them the financial security and material comforts they once craved. Yet she also knows she cannot afford to be complacent. In the ever-evolving world of social media, she is constantly innovating, reinventing herself, and staying one step ahead.
She also understands that success alone doesn’t guarantee acceptance. Aware that Soo Jung’s family name carries influence and clout, Kyung Hee reaches out to help revive her struggling clinic by introducing celebrity clients and leveraging her own network. While her actions may appear strategic, they stem from genuine goodwill. In her mind, everyone stands to benefit.
What she doesn’t realize, however, is that her own seemingly perfect world rests on shaky foundations. Completely unaware of the betrayal unfolding around her, she continues to place her faith in both her family and those around her, believing the life she has worked so hard to build is secure.
It is this vulnerability that makes Kyung Hee such an easy character to root for. Kim Hye Soo captures every nuance of a woman who is confident yet trusting and ambitious yet deeply devoted to her family. Watching that confidence slowly begin to unravel is heartbreaking, thanks to another effortlessly layered performance from the veteran actor.
Disliked: Dual nature of Cho Yeo Jeong’s character
Cho Yeo Jeong’s Soo Jung is unfathomable. When we first meet her, she comes across as a harried woman dealing with a teenage daughter’s tantrums, a divorce from a husband who has been cheating on her, and a failing clinic.
Kyung Hee and her family’s attempts at friendship are unwelcome, as Soo Jung comes across as someone who prefers to keep things private. But you soon realize that beneath her composed exterior is a woman who likes being in control and doesn’t take kindly to being defied.
She is overbearing towards her daughter, forcing her to pursue medicine and manipulating her from a young age, something her husband has resented. She tears up her drawings, forbidding her from taking up art. Her husband has walked away from the marriage and is fighting for custody of their daughter, believing she is being stifled, but Soo Jeong refuses to let go. She even hires a private detective to dig up dirt on her husband’s lawyer. There is no judgement here—she is, after all, a woman who has been deeply hurt.
Though she is wary of Kyung Hee and her loud, flashy ways, she is more than happy to accept the favors that come her way as Kyung Hee helps popularize her clinic. But when she begins a torrid affair with Jae Hong, another facet of her personality emerges. She becomes so consumed by the relationship that she throws caution to the wind, betraying the trust of the one person who has shown her nothing but kindness. Jae Hong, too, betrays the woman who has stood by him, making them equally culpable.
There’s also the freak accident involving their daughters, which is bound to raise the stakes considerably. Who would have thought the two teens would steal the car and run over the very detective who is investigating the lawyer of Soo Jung’s husband? It’s the very man she has paid to investigate. The absurdity and the coincidence seem uncanny. Will Soo Jung and Jae Hong’s carefully guarded relationship get exposed? The question is no longer about the affair itself but about how far Soo Jung is willing to go to protect herself.
Soo Jung is cleverly manipulative in her own way as she clings to her fragile life. Maintaining deadpan composure, one can understand there is something far more calculating at play. It is this moral ambiguity, so convincingly portrayed by Cho Yeo Jeong, that makes Soo Jung such a compelling yet unlikeable character.
However, it will be interesting to see the individual dynamics unfold, given the fiercely protective Kyung Hee who is bound to step in for her family. And what lengths will Soo Jung and Jae Hong go to protect themselves? Only the next episodes will tell.
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Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram.