‘Cinderella And Four Knights’ K-Drama: Is General Secretary Lee Yoon Sung The Son Of Chairman Kang’s Fifth Wife? [Spoilers]

Cinderella and Four Knights is turning out to be a diamond in the rough for this season’s crop of K-dramas. It is possible one of the biggest reasons for its sudden success is its similarities to one of the most popular K-dramas in Hallyu history, Boys Over Flowers. First airing back in 2009, Boys Over Flowers was so important to Hallyu that it further launched the acting careers of Lee Min Ho, Ku Hye Sun, and Kim Hyun Joong. Also, it was instrumental in making Hallyu popular outside of East Asia.

The magic that made Boys Over Flowers so popular, especially among the female demographic of K-drama fans, is starting to work its magic with Cinderella and Four Knights. As a matter of fact, among the older female K-drama fans, they are experiencing major second lead syndrome in which they hope to see the female lead character Eun Ha Won end up with the Sky Group’s general secretary, Lee Yoon Sung, after the third and fourth episodes aired..

Apparently, there seems to be a lot of interesting foreshadows pertaining to Lee Yoon Sung after the fifth and sixth episodes aired that brings up the question, is Lee Yoon Sung the son of Chairman Kang’s fifth wife?

Before continuing on to the theory that Sky Group’s general secretary, Lee Yoon Sung, is the son of Chairman Kang’s fifth wife, readers should be warned that there are some spoilers for Episodes 5 and 6 in this article. For those who are fans of Cinderella and Four Knights and don’t want spoilers, it is suggested to skip ahead to the second to the last paragraph.

The first foreshadow pointing to the possibility Chairman Kang’s fifth wife Ji Hwa Ja (played by Kim Hye Ri) and Sky Group’s General Secretary Lee Yoon Sung (played by Choi Min) are mother and son happened in the fifth episode. After running into each other in a hallway, the mood between Hwa Ja and Yoon Sung quickly turns awkward. Being a professional, Yoon Sung is the first to compose himself. He recognizes Hwa Ja with a bow before continuing on with his duties. Hwa Ja attempts to call out to Yoon Sung but only gets the cold shoulder. It is possible Lee Yoon Sung did not hear Ji Hwa Ja calling out to him, but it is probable he chose to ignore her.

Other moments in which Ji Hwa Ja and Lee Yoon Sung are in close proximity of each other in the latest episodes, even with Chairman Kang close by, continue to show the awkward uneasiness between them. Such an emotional tension between characters is often associated to the characters having a relationship of some kind, possibly romantic. However, a particular scene near the end of the fifth episode foreshadows what relationship Ji Hwa Ja and Lee Yoon Sung might have.

The scene in question is when Chairman Kang and Ji Hwa Ja are having dinner together. Chairman Kang is unable to eat his dinner after reflecting on his deceased sons and preparing to show his respects at the temple on the anniversary of their deaths. Hwa Ja inquires if Chairman Kang’s grandsons will be attending to which he reveals his sons never showed paternal love to his grandsons before they died. This suggests Chairman Kang’s grandsons will most likely not attend the anniversary. Hwa Ja responds to Chairman Kang with a very peculiar statement.

“What you need right now isn’t your grandsons, but a son that you can depend on.”

Given Ji Hwa Ja’s statement and the atmosphere around her and Lee Yoon Sung, she might have married Chairman Kang as a means to make Yoon Sung the successor of Sky Group if he is in fact Hwa Ja’s son. To be frank, he’ll be the most fitting person to take over after Chairman Kang given his role in Sky Group already.

It is amazing the aforementioned foreshadows pertaining to Lee Yoon Sung being Ji Hwa Ja’s son were passed over, but the Second Lead Syndrome argument among younger K-drama fans who can’t decide if Eun Ha Won (played by Park So Dam) should end up with Kang Hyun Min (played by Ahn Jae Hyun) or Kang Ji Woon (played by Jung Il Woo) probably pushed it to the back of most viewers’ minds. Nevertheless, the anticipation to see who ends up with whom is causing gradual increases in viewership ratings as recorded by TNS Media Korea and AGB Nielsen Korea.

TNS Media Korea recorded 3.8 percent for the fifth episode and 4.0 percent for the sixth episode for the nation. That is a 1.2 percent increase from the fourth episode. AGB Nielsen Korea recorded 2.585 percent for the fifth episode and 4.169 percent for the sixth episode for the Seoul National Capital Area and 2.967 percent for the fifth episode and 3.903 percent for the sixth episode for the nation. That is an increase of 2.256 percent for the Seoul National Capital Area and an increase of 1.673 percent for the nation. Overall, the numbers are satisfying for a K-drama airing on a Korean cable or pay television channel.

Cinderella and Four Knights is six episodes into its 16-episode run. It airs on tvN on Fridays and Saturdays at 11 p.m. KST. For those who do not have access to the Korean cable or pay channel, the series can be viewed for free, with ads, on DramaFever depending on your region. Take note the latest two episodes will be exclusive to DramaFever premium members for one week after the air date.

[Image via Total Variety Network (tvN)]