Comedian Kim Young-hee surprised viewers by revealing that she once loved Im Woo-il intensely.
On the 23rd episode of KBS2's Malja Show, Im Woo-il and Love after Divorce 2 alumnus Yoon Nam-gi and Lee Da-eun appeared as panelists, drawing attention.
Meanwhile, Kim Young-hee, after hearing the concern, "He makes my heart flutter every day with sweet words and actions but never confesses. Is this a fling? Is he stringing me along?", said, "I've experienced these things a lot too. When I have an unrequited love, I'm almost number one. Because I tend to have long unrequited loves. There was a man I loved unrequitedly for four years," and added, "That man was Im Woo-il," in a surprising confession that drew attention.
Afterward, evidence photos were shown on the screen. They were affectionate two-shots of Kim Young-hee and Im Woo-il taken in the 'Gag Concert' practice room and at a ski resort. Kim Young-hee explained, "Don't think we only went to the ski resort. We went everywhere. He was junior but like an older brother to me. I was captivated by his shabby appearance and how, in the middle hallway of the meeting room, juniors often can't fill their stomachs. Having just joined, they're busy following seniors and working. But he would stubbornly make sure to eat. When I saw him picking up and eating things, my protective instinct kicked in. I think maternal feelings surged. At the same time, he was very straightforward. With no frills. I fell for that."
She said, "At first I was confused too. I wondered if this was love or just liking him as a person, but he appeared in my dreams and I realized this was love. From then on, the love continued to grow. Actually, I wanted to buy him gifts on special occasions, but there was no justification to do so. Worried about making him feel burdened, I lied that I got sponsorships and bought things for him. On stick candy day I wanted to give something special to oppa, but I worried that giving it too seriously would push him away, so he rode a motorcycle. I taped a stick candy to the motorcycle seat to make it seem half-joking," she revealed.
A 'couple jumper' photo was also revealed. Kim Young-hee said, "I lied that it was sponsored and gave it to him. It's embarrassing that it's the same color. When he asked, 'Why are they the same color?' I said nothing else was left. In that way, I slowly kept giving to oppa. I thought I had to confess because it was eating me up inside. So I decided I couldn't go on and had to confess. It was a snowy winter. I drove my car to a gamjatang restaurant. We went to a gamjatang place that was open late, ate gamjatang, and before the seasoning was wiped from my mouth, I got into the car. I had to take him home and mentioned the snow. I said, 'Oppa, I have something bothering me. I have someone I like, and I'm starting to see you as more than a person. I don't know what to do.' Then he said, 'Don't joke around,'" she recalled of the moment she confessed.
She continued, "I said, 'I'm not joking. Do you see me as a woman?' and he said he didn't. But I didn't back down. I said, 'Then I'll try, so try to see me as a woman.' He agreed. From then on, in everyday life we would lightly ask each other weekly, 'Do you see me as a woman today?' or 'Still lacking,' repeating it like a weekly woman inspection. I already had some recognition, but he was unknown, and I wanted to make him a big star. So we stayed up all night crafting a segment where he would be the lead. Then I felt I had to confess again. I said, 'Oppa, don't joke. Let's secretly meet. I'm confident I can really take good care of you.' In the meeting room, comedians' ID photos are posted. He snapped his photo and then mine, and said, 'If we date and break up, won't we never be able to see each other again? I want to see my senior for a long time.' That was his second rejection," she said.
Kim Young-hee said, "I asked, 'Why would you think about breaking up first?' and burst into tears. Then oppa brought a tissue, but if it had been an ordinary tissue he would have folded it. He wet the tissue so my eyes wouldn't swell and handed it to me. After I put that to my eyes, love sprouted again. To me, I was special to him. He didn't care whether my eyes swelled or not, but the wet tissue made me love him more. It was confusing because we talked until 3 or 4 a.m., sitting in a cafe 24 hours, and when we left he'd text to ask if I got home safely, which made me feel warm," she revealed.
She said she made her final confession on the day the two of them were at Im Woo-il's house alone. Kim Young-hee said, "The colleague who lived with oppos didn't come in because he said he had a meeting. I said, 'Let's really meet once. Even if we break up, I can treat you the same. Let's meet just once. There's really no woman like me. I'm confident.' I was sitting on a wheeled chair. Oppa pulled the wheeled chair close and said, 'I'll tell you for the last time. Stop it. If you keep this up, we won't be able to keep our old relationship.' Realizing that it was really the last time, tears kept flowing. My eyes swelled and it was a mess. At the time I was a novice driver. I thought it would be dangerous to drive home, so he told me, 'Stop crying, sleep here and go home later,'" she said, drawing a strong reaction.
She said, "He said he'd sleep in a friend's room, so I went into oppa's room crying. But I couldn't sleep. I had been dumped and wanted to talk more. He seemed to sleep well. I opened the door to talk a bit more, calling his name, and he wrapped himself in a blanket and said, 'What's wrong with you! Get out!' I said, 'I just wanted to talk.' That day I was basically rejected twice. After that, I completely gave up my feelings. But even now I'm puzzled. Was this really my one-sided unrequited love, or did he give me some leeway? I'm still confused," she honestly confessed.
Then Im Woo-il in the audience reacted, "First of all, the statute of limitations has long passed. And I didn't expect she'd talk this much. If I'd known, I would have come with a lawyer. Hearing this in front of so many people is driving me crazy. Send it to me by e-mail when you get home," he said, drawing laughter.
In response, Kim Young-hee verified a barrage of gifts that 'stingy' Im Woo-il had bought for her, and among the audience the overwhelming reaction was, "Isn't this flirting?" Im Woo-il tried to avoid the topic by saying, "I'll tell the story later. I'll leave now," but Kim Young-hee said, "I stopped him from leaving," maintaining tight security.
Im Woo-il candidly said, "If you swear to the sky, wasn't it a fling?" and added, "By today's standards it was almost like a common-law relationship. We were together almost every day, but friends nowadays might call that a fling. What mattered was the feeling then. I relied a lot on that senior and colleague. It felt like a soulmate." He also said he felt wronged, "At first her confessions were sincere. As they happened once, twice, three, four, five times, it became like a hobby to her. Suddenly she'd call and say, 'Oppa, let's date. No? Okay.' From then on I started to take it as a joke," he explained his position.
Kim Young-hee said, "I approached that way to avoid making him feel burdened. Since I had been serious once, I acted playfully afterward because I feared he'd run away if I were serious again. Above all, I wanted his success. For three days straight if his name rose on search rankings, I'd worry all night it would drop, and if it dropped a bit I thought, 'I'm not famous enough yet to keep him up there.' I had a CEO-like mindset. When he succeeded, I applauded him more than anyone else," she said sincerely.
Asked why he gave gifts, Im Woo-il said, "Because she kept nagging me until I bought them. You know her personality. I knew what would happen if I didn't buy them, so as a way to shut her up. Also, shoes have meaning. I bought them so she could run away wearing them." Regarding telling her to 'sleep over,' he said, "That day it was snowing or raining. She cried a lot. Kim Young-hee's eyes were so swollen that if she had driven home in that condition she might have had an accident. So I told her to rest at my house briefly and then leave, but she suddenly appeared like a ghost and surprised me."
In particular, a video was shown in which Im Woo-il walked into Kim Young-hee's wedding hall with her, drawing attention. In the video, Im Woo-il took Kim Young-hee's hand on behalf of her father and walked down the virgin road to hand her to her husband, Yoon Seung-yeol. He said, "I sat in the family seat," and Kim Young-hee said, "To me, the person Im Woo-il was like a father. I thought it was really love, but later I realized he was the kind of father I wanted to see for a lifetime," adding, "I thought I'd walk in and that would be the end. When I turned around he was sitting, but it turned out my mother had told him to sit, saying he might as well sit, and the whole family made it difficult like he was my mother's remarriage partner," she said, adding shock.
Im Woo-il said, "The plan up to the bride's entrance was premeditated. I took her hand and walked in. I greeted the husband and left. At that time, because of COVID there were assigned seats. I looked and my seat wasn't prepared. When I went to sit there was no seat. Then Kim Young-hee's mother told me, 'Sit here,' so I went, and it was the family seat. It's awkward to leave. She said, 'It's okay, sit,' so I sat in the family seat. I received a deep bow with Kim Young-hee and her husband. When I handed her hand to her husband and they said 'Thank you,' Yoon Seung-yeol said, 'I'm more grateful, brother,' and I said, 'No, I'm more grateful to you, my wife.' Even after sitting in the family seat and receiving the deep bow, I said, 'Thank you very much,'" he said, causing uproarious laughter.
Kim Young-hee said, "My husband later told me he was grateful to Woo-il after the wedding. He thanked him for not choosing me," and Im Woo-il said, "And I thanked my husband for choosing Kim Young-hee," adding, "It's so strange that my husband and I are a decade apart but share the same birthday. I didn't know either, but on my birthday my husband contacted me and said, 'It's my birthday today, too.' I got chills then," he said, sharing the surprising coincidence.
Meanwhile, when asked, "If a woman like Kim Young-hee confessed to you now, would you consider dating her?", Im Woo-il answered, "I would consider it," drawing attention. Kim Young-hee said, "That friend must regret it a lot," and Im Woo-il said, "Because she raised Ha-seo so prettily, it was very lovable," he revealed. Kim Young-hee then jokingly recommended her mother, who has been living alone since her father's passing, drawing more laughter.
Meanwhile, Kim Young-hee married baseball player Yoon Seung-yeol in 2021 and has a daughter.
[Photo] KBS2
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