Mine (2021): Beyond Jung Seo-hyun and Choi Su-ji’s Closed Doors, a Reinterpretation of Repressed Desire

Love is sometimes proven more by absence than by presence itself. The narrative of a woman who possessed everything yet could not possess ‘herself’ paints a picture of profound solitude against the backdrop of a glittering chaebol landscape.

The drama Mine does not merely settle for depicting the power struggles of a conglomerate family; it tenaciously tracks the innate human desires hidden behind social masks and how those desires are redeemed through solidarity with others. In particular, the relationship between Jung Seo-hyun and Choi Su-ji is the sharpest, yet most beautiful, fissure running through this play.

🌿 Moments When This Drama Deeply Permeates

• When you are living a ‘correct’ life as defined by the world, yet suddenly feel a hollow void in a corner of your heart.
• For those who have felt the most devastating loneliness at their most glamorous moments.
• For the adults who have let go of their true selves because they had too many things to protect.
• The reason to read to the end: Because it proves that the ‘Mine’ chosen by Jung Seo-hyun is not mere power, but a process of reclaiming the self that was once lost.

🎞 Note Before Watching

This work densely handles emotions that are taboo within the strict hierarchy and order of a chaebol family. Rather than physical exposure or provocative depictions, it possesses the character of a psychological drama that expresses the depth of relationships through sophisticated gaze processing and the use of negative space between characters.

🎬 Drama Information

• Title: Mine (2021)
• Director: Lee Na-jeong
• Screenwriter: Baek Mi-kyeong
• Country: South Korea
• Genre: Drama, Mystery
• Running Time: 16 Episodes (Approx. 70 mins per episode)
• Platforms: tvN, Netflix, TVING
• Cast: Lee Bo-young, Kim Seo-hyung, Ok Ja-yeon, Kim Jung-hwa

📖 Mine: Confronting the Past and Facing the Present That Breaks Jung Seo-hyun’s Rigid Walls [No Spoilers]

Jung Seo-hyun, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Hyowon Group, is a figure who maintains the order of the household with perfect rationality and elegance. Into her life, lived under strict emotional control, a crack begins to form one day when her past lover, Choi Su-ji, reappears as a painter. Having fulfilled the role-play of ‘Hyowon’s Mistress’ while erasing her sexual identity within the closed structure of a chaebol family, Seo-hyun faces the true desires she had long ignored through her reunion with Su-ji. Amidst the massive whirlwind of a murder case, Seo-hyun makes the decision to escape the prison of prejudice that has confined her for a lifetime while simultaneously protecting her family.

🖼️ Jung Seo-hyun and Choi Su-ji, a Portrait of Sad Desire Preserved Through the Medium of Art

In the drama Mine, art for Jung Seo-hyun is not a simple hobby but a record of loss. In her youth, the communion she shared with the painter Choi Su-ji was the only moment Seo-hyun could truly breathe, but the wall of reality—the chaebol world—placed a crown on her head instead of love. The reason Seo-hyun stopped painting was not because she lost Su-ji, but because she realized that in a world without Su-ji, art was merely an empty shell.

The reunion of the two is also treated with great importance in terms of mise-en-scène. Their meetings in narrow galleries or inside closed cars visually demonstrate that their relationship is still trapped in isolation from the social gaze. However, the act of Seo-hyun taking out Su-ji’s painting, which she had hidden in her study, is an expression of her will to no longer turn away from her suppressed essence.

🚪 Courage to Open Closed Doors: Interpretation of Social Masks and Identity

Jung Seo-hyun is a character who constantly closes doors until the middle of the series: her study door, the door to her heart, and even the secret room harboring mysteries. However, through solidarity with Seo Hi-soo and the advice of Mother Emma, she realizes that ‘my truth’ is more precious than ‘the world’s prejudice.’ In particular, the scene where Seo-hyun confesses to Su-ji, “It wasn’t that I loved painting; I loved the memories I shared with you,” marks the point where she declares love as a subjective human being, moving beyond objectified art.

Their narrative does not stop at merely consuming a queer trope; it deeply analyzes how the identity of a minority is suppressed and then liberated within the power structures held by the ruling class. By meeting Su-ji again, Seo-hyun is finally completed as a human being rather than a ‘decorative object’ of the Hyowon family.

🔎 Reinterpretation of the Ending — The Final Step Toward Complete Independence

In the ending of Mine, Jung Seo-hyun ascends to the position of Chairperson of the Hyowon Group. In a typical drama, one might have chosen to throw everything away for love, but Seo-hyun does not give up either power or love. Her appearance as she sends Su-ji abroad, saying “Please wait just a little longer,” implies a strategic judgment: to protect her love, she must first become the master who governs this rigid fortress.

Seo-hyun’s life after the conclusion is no longer a life swayed by others. She becomes a subject who integrates two worlds, without separating her public responsibility as Chairperson from her private feelings for Su-ji. Su-ji’s departure is not a permanent farewell, but a consideration that gives Seo-hyun time to establish what is truly ‘hers.’ Jung Seo-hyun finally earns the right to love by breaking the chains of oppression and building her own kingdom.

❓ Inquiries Regarding the Ending of <Mine> and the Representation of Women’s Narratives

Q1. Is Jung Seo-hyun’s acceptance of the Chairperson position instead of following Su-ji immediately a renunciation of true love?

From the perspective of a conventional melodrama, but it is different in the context of this work. For Seo-hyun, becoming the Chairperson of Hyowon Group is a declaration that she will stand at the apex of the system that oppressed her and change its rules herself. While some might view this as a ‘capitalist compromise’ from a critical perspective, it is more valid to interpret it as an aesthetic choice reflecting a social structure where it is difficult to protect a minority’s love without realistic power.

Q2. What are your thoughts on the criticism that Choi Su-ji was consumed only as a ‘tool’ for Seo-hyun’s awakening?

Admittedly, Su-ji’s screen time is significantly less than Seo-hyun’s, and the focus is weighted toward her role in stimulating Seo-hyun’s emotions rather than her own personal narrative. However, Su-ji symbolizes the ‘artistic soul’ that Seo-hyun had lost. Her appearance serves as a mirror reflecting Seo-hyun’s inner self, and her choice to leave at the end can be seen as an active exit that helps Seo-hyun reshape her life autonomously. While the judgment is up to the viewers, the weight of the relationship between the two leaves a resonance that far exceeds their screen time.

✨ Mine: The True ‘Self’ Possessed Only by Those Who Have Opened All the Doors

This drama begins with a question asking what is ‘mine’ and concludes with the answer of becoming ‘myself.’ The narrative of Jung Seo-hyun and Choi Su-ji asks us: Will you die comfortably within a fortress built by others, or will you head out into the rough wilderness and call out your true name? True independence is a territory of the soul that is completed only when one becomes perfectly free from the gaze of others.

🗝️ The Strength to Endure Absence Ultimately Comes from the Belief That We Will Meet Again

Has there been a moment when you had to choose a temporary farewell to protect what was most precious to you? Please pause for a moment and reflect on whether what you were trying to protect was the expectations of others or your own true heart.

🌌 Violet Screen Curation: In Search of Another Aesthetic of Relationships

• Drama <Kill Heel> (2022): A desperate battle of desires among three women in the jungle of home shopping. You can feel a sharper power dynamic and more complex, subtle tensions between women than in Mine.
• Film <Moonlit Winter> (2019): If you appreciated the emotional lines of Seo-hyun and Su-ji, this is a must-watch. Through the journey of seeking a long-buried letter from a first love, it delves quietly and deeply into the essence of identity and longing.

Are you curious about other Korean GL works? Check out the full list in our [Korean GL Drama & Movie Recommendation Guide]!