Ye Meng (Zhang Yu Xi) is a spunky and confident career woman. However, after facing constant setbacks in her professional life, she decides to leave the city and her job behind. She returns to her hometown, a quaint and laid-back fishing village. It is there that she encounters the aloof and brooding Li Jin Yu (Bi Wen Jun). Despite his cold demeanor and his efforts to keep his distance, Ye Meng finds herself irresistibly drawn to him.
Unbeknownst to her, Jin Yu carries the weight of a painful and traumatic past. To protect himself, he has built walls around himself, refusing to get close to others. Ye Meng also has her own scars, and despite her sunny personality, she still struggles to move forward after her mother died by suicide.
Jin Yu eventually finds himself unable to resist Ye Meng’s warmth, reciprocating her feelings. But just as love begins to bloom, an unexpected twist puts their relationship to the test. For their love to endure, both must confront their painful pasts and the person at the center of their deepest wounds: Jin Yu’s mother.
“Deep Affectionate Eyes” begins as a seemingly ordinary romance drama but quickly takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster with its unexpected turns. And the fiery chemistry between Zhang Yu Xi and Bi Wen Jun only heightens the tension and allure of the story.
Here are three reasons why “Deep Affectionate Eyes” deserves a spot on your watchlist.
Fierce and fabulous Zhang Yu Xi
Ye Meng (Zhang Yu Xi) is the kind of heroine who makes you sit up and pay attention. Cool, sassy, and unflappable even in the messiest of situations, she isn’t the type to quietly endure being sidelined. When her business partner starts playing favorites with her rival who also happens to be her old schoolmate, Ye Meng doesn’t hesitate to hand in her resignation. But she makes sure their client list gets a little “shake-up.” After all, she reminds us that revenge doesn’t always have to be bitter; sometimes, it’s best served with a shot of spice.
What makes Ye Meng so compelling is how unapologetically she lives life on her own terms. At home, while her family tries setting her up with the perfect bachelor, Ye Meng’s checklist is cheeky yet firm: younger, handsome, and willing to take her surname. Her self-assurance is as refreshing as it is unconventional.
But behind her breezy exterior lies a deeper, more complicated past. Haunted by her mother’s suicide during her senior year, Ye Meng quietly battles guilt, unable to reconcile the memory of a mother who always said happiness mattered more than grades with the tragedy that followed. It’s this vulnerability beneath her boldness that makes her feel real. She’s layered, flawed, and relatable.
Enter Li Jin Yu, the younger man-next-door who checks every box on her playful criteria list. Their push-pull dynamic is instantly magnetic. While she’s intrigued by his mystery and smoldering eyes, he brushes her off, convinced he isn’t good enough. A college dropout, with a dark family background, Jin Yu believes he has nothing to offer. Yet, Ye Meng’s impulsive heart doesn’t wait around. She proposes to him first, determined to love and protect him on her terms.
Of course, this romance doesn’t come without twists. Ye Meng stumbles upon her late mother’s ring at a pawn broker. Investigating it, she uncovers a trail of secrets that tie back not only to her mother’s death but also to Jin Yu, who, it turns out, is hiding an identity far more powerful (and connected to her past) than she ever imagined.
This is where Ye Meng truly stands apart from your typical female lead. She is outlandish in her decisions and the way she operates. She’s someone who chooses love and life on her own terms and embraces the messiness in her life unapologetically. And she doesn’t collapse under betrayal and heartbreak but shows remarkable poise and maturity.
Zhang Yu Xi’s strikingly good looks and well-attired ensembles are a bit distracting at first, but as the show progresses, you come to understand that it’s one aspect of the put-together Ye Meng. She gives a nuanced performance as the bold and beautiful Ye Meng.
Mysterious and brooding Bi Wen Jun
Li Jin Yu (Bi Wen Jun) is one of those characters who quietly creeps into your heart. Reserved and withdrawn, he keeps to himself, working odd jobs around town or singing at his friend’s bar. He also finds solace in the company of his pet dog. Despite being immensely popular with women, he remains detached. Love is the last thing on his mind.
And it’s not hard to see why. Jin Yu’s childhood is marked by relentless trauma. His mother, a powerful businesswoman, subjected him to years of physical and emotional abuse, branding him as a “mentally disturbed” child. The only source of affection in his life was his stepfather, whose death his mother cruelly blamed on him. It’s no wonder Jin Yu grew up believing he was unworthy of love, carrying scars that run deep beneath his quiet exterior.
Enter Ye Meng, a woman who is everything he is not. Confident, sassy, and unapologetically forward, she doesn’t hide her interest in him. While Jin Yu repeatedly resists her advances, it’s clear that his hesitation comes from fear, not disinterest. All his life he’s been told he’s not enough, so when someone like Ye Meng pursues him with such persistence, he can’t help but question whether it’s too good to be true.
Yet, it’s Ye Meng’s persistence and warmth that finally get through to him. Their relationship isn’t just about romance—it’s about healing. She becomes the first person to make him smile again, even teasing him for his inexperience and passivity in the cutest ways. But just as he starts to let his guard down, his past resurfaces in the most unexpected way: Ye Meng’s quest to uncover her mother’s fate entwines with his own history, pulling his abusive mother into the picture.
Jin Yu’s instinct is to shoulder the burden alone and to protect Ye Meng by keeping her in the dark. But love, as he painfully learns, is also about trust. For the first time, he must allow someone else to see his brokenness and share his burden.
Bi Wen Jun brings a quiet intensity to the role, balancing Jin Yu’s fragility with moments of strength. You can’t help but ache for a man who was never loved by the one person meant to nurture him, and yet he finds hope in the way Ye Meng becomes his anchor and the family he has never had.
Gaslighting, secrets, and betrayal
Jin Yu has always lived under the shadow of his mother, Li Ling Bai, a woman who has perfected the art of gaslighting. From stripping him of his shares in the family company to cutting him off from her and her younger son (from her second marriage), she ensured that Jin Yu never found a way back into her world.
But when Jin Yu begins helping Ye Meng uncover the truth behind her mother’s death, he unknowingly opens a Pandora’s box of secrets. He is shocked to find out that his own mother is tied to the very man Ye Meng is investigating. Armed with proof, Jin Yu reclaims his shares and his rightful place in the company, yet he struggles to reveal the full extent of Li Ling Bai’s manipulations to Ye Meng. His silence, though born out of a desire to protect her, threatens their marriage.
The stakes rise higher when Li Ling Bai tries to have Jin Yu arrested on false charges, only for Ye Meng to come to his rescue. In doing so, she not only clears his name but also shows that her son, whom she cruelly labels as “mentally unstable,” is someone who is deeply loved and supported.
Just when the couple thinks they’ve weathered the storm, another devastating truth surfaces: Jin Yu’s mother and Ye Meng’s mother were once childhood friends who grew up in the same orphanage. It was Li Ling Bai who betrayed her best friend, dragging her into a land scam and embezzlement scandal that ultimately led to her tragic death. For both Jin Yu and Ye Meng, this revelation could have been the end of their relationship, but instead, it solidifies their resolve. They finally see they both have been pawns in Li Ling Bai’s cruel game.
“Deep Affectionate Eyes” does take its sweet time getting to this point. Some moments feel stretched and a few scenarios veer into OTT territory. But once the truth starts unraveling, it’s impossible to look away. What makes it even more compelling is the unapologetic way the show portrays Li Ling Bai: she’s not redeemed, softened, or explained away. She remains the cold, calculating villainess through and through.
And through it all, Jin Yu and Ye Meng stand as foils to their mothers’ choices. Shaped by very different upbringings, they still find strength in each other. Their chemistry is electric, and those passionate kisses deserve a mention. They are beautifully shot, well-lit, and enough to raise the temperature every single time.
For viewers who love a heady mix of family betrayal, simmering romance, and a battle against generational scars, this drama gives you plenty to chew on. It’s messy, it’s dramatic, and it’s a little outrageous, but it works!
Start watching “Deep Affectionate Eyes”:
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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
