Hong Hae-In is one of the main protagonists in the rom-com drama, Queen of Tears. Kim Ji-Won plays the character in the series.
Hong Hae-In is the chaebol heiress of the Queens conglomerate. She’s also the CEO of the Queens’ Department Store, which she is trying to get into the trillion-won group.
Hae-In rarely has time for pleasantries or gentle small talk. She is a cold, stern individual who makes sure to let the intrusive ones be reminded of their place.
Tense Family ties
She treats her mother and father with courtesy but only as long as they deserve it. She has a long-time enmity with her mother, who dotes over her brother but has no affection for her.
There’s a history behind it and Hae-In knows of it, which breaks her heart. This is because she is very much capable of being heartbroken, or having a heart that flutters in romance, or one that cares and aches for her loved ones.
This stands in direct contrast to how others perceive her, which is a cold cold person. Certainly, that’s how she wants to be perceived herself, as she has a whole web of wealthy familial politics to navigate.
She also has foes in the form of family, ruthless rivals in the business, and a once-loving husband who now wants to divorce her.
Husband & work
She has given her husband Hyun-Woo all the reasons to do that, but unbeknownst to him, she always does defend him against her family members and others who want to belittle him, when he’s not around.
She cares for him deeply but her cold treatment towards him whenever they’re alone or even among others, is heartbreaking to him. He finds himself alien in an extended family such as hers.
She has been trying to get a coveted brand into her store, which would increase its revenue and help it propel to the trillion club.
For that, she has to contend with her ex who she broke up with in the past because he was problematically clingy.
Meanwhile, she has also become a target of many people’s nefarious plans, as she stands to inherit the family wealth should she succeed in achieving the goal set for her by her grandfather, the chairman of Queens Group.
The disease
However, apart from the familial and romantic troubles, she’s got another one lined up, which might be her biggest challenge yet.
She has Cloud Cytoma, a rare form of brain tumor which has spread all over her nerves and because it’s incurable, stands to end her life in just three months.
As a result of her disease, she has begun suffering from glitches in her perception of reality, which sometimes seems to her as if it’s unfolding in unreal time.
She would find herself amid a situation or place that she has no idea how she happened upon. She can’t keep track of time and has also missed important meetings.
As it worsens, she also begins suffering from hallucinations, which have already caused a near-death incident for her once.
A new hope
However, this disease has unexpectedly changed one thing for the better for her, and that is her husband’s behavior towards her.
Where he was previously going to divorce her and had no love left for her, Baek Hyun-Woo now finds himself caring for her and worrying sick for her, like he used to early on in the marriage.
At first, he sees her disease as a way out of this marriage where he won’t have to risk handing out any divorce papers. Gradually, though, he begins genuinely worrying for his Hong Hae-In, for whom he still harbors a lot of love.
As for Hong Hae-In, even though she continues to keep up the facade of bravery in the face of this new challenge, she has found herself struggling many times.
She has even come close to dying before Hyun-Woo saves her from the imminent eventuality, which marks a trend of improvement for her because she has also started feeling romantic towards him once again.
Also Read: Hong Hae-In’s disease in Queen of Tears explained