237. You Are the Best, Lee Soon-Shin

Title: 최고다 이순신/ Choegoda Yi Sun-sin

English Title: You're the Best Lee Soon Shin / You Are The Best!

Genre: Family, Romance, Melodrama, Comedy

Episodes: 50

Summary: Kim Jung-ae raised Lee Soon-shin with love as her own daughter when she was left at their doorstep as a baby. Soon-shin is a member of the "880,000 won generation," or college graduates who can't find a job and instead work in low-paying temp jobs. She becomes targeted by a swindler who claims he is Shin Joon-ho, head of a talent agency, and say he believes she has the potential to become an actress. After quickly signing a contract, Soon-shin finds out she has been conned and ends up being charged the amount of money he stole. Shortly after, Soon-shin's father, Chang-hoon dies in a car accident in which the suspect is unknown, and no witnesses have come forward. Meanwhile, Soon-shin begins working at Black Smith, the restaurant below the Gabi Entertainment office, in order to pay off her debt. After making a bet with actress and ex-girlfriend Choi Yeon-ah (Kim Yoon-seo), the real Joon-ho, over-confident and arrogant, is determined to transform Soon-shin into a star. But this time Jung-ae isn't supportive of Soon-shin taking the offer after finding out that her late husband may have had an affair with another woman, who then gave birth to Soon-shin. She later discovers that Soon-shin's birth mother is the famous actress Song Mi-ryung.

Middle daughter Lee Yoo-shin has lived next door to Park Chan-woo since childhood. Despite their constant squabbles, Chan-woo (now a dermatologist) still loves her confidence and prickly demeanor. Yoo-shin delays thinking about marriage and childbirth, instead prioritizing success at work. But when Joon-ho's younger sister Shin Yi-jung develops a crush on Chan-woo, it makes Yoo-shin realize her true feelings for him.

Eldest daughter Lee Hye-shin is beautiful and competent, but feels like a failure when her marriage ends. As a divorced single mother, she has difficulties re-entering the workforce. She later meets Seo Jin-wook, a neighborhood baker who shows her consideration and gentleness, helping heal her wounds.

Meanwhile, Soon-shin has no idea that she was adopted, she continues to take acting lessons from Mi-ryung, which upsets her family, who have difficulty understanding why Chang-hoon would be unfaithful. Watching Soon-shin do everything to realize her dream of becoming an actress, Joon-ho looks back on his career and finds himself changing as he discovers the true meaning of success. But when Mi-ryung later discovers that Soon-shin is Chang-hoon's daughter, she immediately tries to destroy her career. Mi-ryung also informs her that she was merely a pawn in Joon-ho's bet, upsetting Soon-shin who decides to quit. Unwilling to admit his romantic feelings for her but genuinely concerned for her welfare, Joon-ho is determined make Soon-shin return to acting, which she once said made her happiest. After she rejoins Gabi Entertainment, Soon-shin also realizes that she likes Joon-ho, and they begin dating.

After breaking off their mentoring relationship, Soon-shin eventually finds out that Mi-ryung is her birth mother. She refuses to live with her, despite facing difficulty with her adoptive family. She only agrees to stay at Mi-ryung's house to keep the reporters away from her adoptive family. Upset at Soon-shin's coldness, Mi-ryung tells Soon-shin that Chang-hoon isn't her birth father, so she has no reason to go back to her adoptive family. Soon-shin keeps her paternity a secret from her adoptive family, and in the meantime lives with Mi-ryung while she and Joon-ho work on her acting debut.

After witnessing firsthand Mi-ryung's pitiful and lonely life, Soon-shin starts becoming kind to her birth mother. Mi-ryung values the relationship she's building with Soon-shin and is determined that nothing will ruin it. But after Soon-shin overhears in a conversation that her father Chang-hoon died while saving Mi-ryung, she runs away and Jung-ae takes her home. Soon-shin tells Mi-ryung that if she wants Soon-shin's forgiveness, she must beg her family for it and help find the suspect by coming forward as a witness. Mi-ryung refuses to do it, saying that fame is all she has. After a change of heart, Mi-ryung tells Shin Dong-hyuk, Joon-ho's father, to take his car's black box to the police since it recorded what happened on that night's accident. Both Mi-ryung and Soon-shin's careers become jeopardized after the news goes public.

Eventually Mi-ryung tells the press the truth as an act of taking responsibility, and retires from acting. The hit and run driver is arrested and jailed. As the drama closes, Mi-ryung is living a peaceful life in a remote area, and after she watches Soon-shin's new stage play, Soon-shin makes a tentative gesture of reconciliation by thanking her and calling her "Mom" for the first time. Hye-shin is dating Jin-wook with Woo-joo's blessing, Yoo-shin and Chan-woo are preparing for the birth of their first child, and Soon-shin films her first movie with Joon-ho behind the scenes, planning to propose to her. Jung-ae narrates these last few minutes and says goodbye to her late husband. After their father's death, the three sisters have grown as individuals through enduring hardships as a family. They come to realize that the most precious things in life can be found within oneself, and happiness is a blessing that comes to the courageous few who have high self-esteem and take charge of their own lives. Being poor is okay, not being first is okay, and not being in the spotlight is okay. It's okay to be happy with just the way you are