The Substitute with Your Name Episode 1

Series details

Julian is the president of Sinclair Holdings, and Chloe—an ordinary young woman fresh out of school—is the assistant by his side who draws the most scrutiny. Within the company’s rigid hierarchy, Julian is aloof and imperious; he subjects Chloe to relentless demands and harsh criticism, even warning her repeatedly not to "dream of crossing class lines" as he forcibly keeps her tethered to the role of his personal assistant. Yet, beneath this oppressive torment, both harbor secrets they have never shared: Julian, unbeknownst to himself, is merely seeking a surrogate in Chloe—someone whose mannerisms mirror those of his late first love—to heal his own emotional wounds. Meanwhile, Chloe keeps her own silence, quietly playing along with this arrangement of mutual convenience solely to fund the exorbitant medical bills of her comatose first love, who resides in a suburban care facility. The situation erupts into chaos when the competition for "Global Chief Jewelry Designer" begins. Julian’s ambitious half-brother, seeking to seize control of the contest, plants a young woman in the company who bears a striking resemblance to Julian's late love. Pressured by family reputation and peer expectations, Julian coldly strips Chloe of her position as his special assistant and banishes her from their elite social circle. Chloe resigns without a backward glance; leveraging the academic connections she has cultivated over the years, she teams up with a charismatic, athletic student—a "sunny" quarterback—to vie for the title of Global Chief Designer. Julian, who had previously watched from the sidelines with cool detachment, completely loses his composure. Watching the girl who was once so submissive now laughing and chatting alongside another young man on the Ivy League campus, he is consumed by a toxic possessiveness and a jealousy he fails to recognize in himself. He uses every ounce of his power to sabotage Chloe’s new partnership, only to uncover a devastating truth during his investigation: the boy with the distinctive red mole on his neck—the one Chloe depicts with such deep love in her sketches—was never him. He was the one being used as a stand-in all along.

The Substitute with Your Name

Now playing

Episode 1