The Beauty Inside

⭐Face Value✈️ °6° °goodish°

Meet Han Se “Gye.” 🏃💨 Say ta-tah! Why did she run? She won! The 🏆 is waiting for her, 60 ft away, right on the stage. Gye looks ✨/perfect/✨. Limited edition shoes encase her feet. ✨She’s sparkling✨ head-to-toe. Just as she sets that glittering foot on the stage, she ST🛑PS as if frozen. Suddenly, she pivots & hightails it outta there. At 6 minutes and 20 seconds into ep1 we'll find out why: Gye randomly transforms into a rotund middle aged man! Once a month, she gets a few moments warning and then transforms into another person - another body. She's still /her/. She just doesn't look like her.

Seo Hyun Jin (Another Miss Oh, Black Dog-8.2, Why Her?-8, Dr. Romantic) portrays Gye. Film star Gye has lots of fans. Therefore, she has lots of haters, too. After she flees the award show, the comments start, and they won't stop. Contracts and commercials evaporate💨. The rumor that she has a son just won't go away, either! (It was her. She transformed into a boy that day).

Lee Min Ki (Because This Is My First Life-7.7, My Liberation Diary-8.9) plays our ML, Seo Do “Jae”. He's the son of a chaebol. (For a change🙄). His family holds some of Gye's contracts and he's decided to cancel most of them. BUT, there's one or two that he wants to maintain. He'll need her cooperation. He presents her with a choice: Take a business trip with him and rescue the deal or pay the price of broken contract fees + a ruined reputation. They hint at it in eps1&2, but in ep3 we find out officially that he has prosopagnosia - face blindness. Around midshow, Mr. Lee starts to look pale and unhealthy with red-rimmed eyes. He seemed to be going through something, physically. I've seen other Kdramas in which many of the actors have irritated and red looking eyes. It's probably from the fine dust pollution.

So: He can't see faces and her face changes every month for a week. Yep, it's goofy like that. TBI is a 2018 release that is rated 95 on AWiki, because Awiki users are kind and very enthusiastic. It is 1 season consisting of 16 simple-headed 70-minute episodes. Here we go again: The content is sufficient for 10, maybe 12 episodes, yet they stretched it into 16, as they are wont to do. My name for that unfortunate repeating error is Malcontent. The letters “T-B-I” can refer to “traumatic brain injury,” which is an interesting metaphor, but the show is mostly cute and fun to watch. It simply could have been better. What makes it tolerable is the leads; they’re truly darling. The secondary couple is also appealing, and that makes all the difference. Ep16 is sweet. On the fun side, the wardrobe and jewelry are spectacular - The best I've ever seen.

Lee Da Hee (Search: WWW Harmony) is the breathtakingly beautiful Kang SaRa, Jae's stepsister and rival. Not only is she utterly stunning, but her wardrobe is gorgeous. It's truly one of the highlights of the show. She sports eclectic, non-matching earrings with stack necklaces and it looks fantastic. She's one of the most beautiful women Korea has to offer. Ahn Jae Hyun (Love with Flaws, Cinderella and the Four Knights-5.6) plays Ryu Eun Ho. He has the round face of a cherub, so the women go nuts for him. That isn't necessarily making his life easier. He has about a dozen odd jobs: Fawning just women get in the way, and they do not bring in the dough. Lately, he runs into SaRa at every odd job: Deliveries, coffee creations, laundering, and housecleaning are examples.

Lee Chul Min plays Director Kim, an executive at Jae’s company. His first credit is from 1991 and he has over 💯 credits. He started out as comic relief but has been getting more serious roles lately. He was really funny in the excellent comedies My Only Love Song-8.7 and Mr. Queen-9. I also enjoyed him in Black-9, the K2-8, and others. The director is Song Hyun Wook (Another Miss Oh-7.5, The King's Affection-8.3, The Golden Spoon-8.1, Introverted Boss-6.5, Revolutionary Love-5.7). He's been around. Screenwriter, Im Me A Ri, also penned the popular Doom at Your Service.

There's not a whole lot to say. The positives are the eye candy and the leads. The primary couple's interactions are quite cute, therefore, the acting and the romance are not the problem. The plot is. The writing is bog-standard average and the director stretched that lackluster writing too thin. As a result, this show requires little mental or emotional investment, so some might find it their perfect wind-down poison.

The vanilla script leads to discordant scenes like Gye's weird interactions with a director. The way they arrive at a contract doesn't seem plausible, either. Early on it caused me to have serious doubts about the writing, and possibly the directing and those doubts only deepened. Then there's the “mandatory” break-up, which is less than convincing (though it's understandable that the truth is a tough pill). The breakup only compounds their misery rather than alleviating it, which makes it frustrating for the viewer. Emotions often make no sense, I suppose. It's another example of MSS, or mandatory separation syndrome, an overdone Kdrama device where they separate a couple for a time. Here, wasn't necessary and it didn't enhance the show. Another unfortunate habit of Kdramas is “going rogue,” in which they abandon all the fantasy rules and templates they laid down early on, usually with zero justification. TBI is guilty of some mild rogue violations, which doesn't bother everyone, but such unforced errors bother me.

TBI does manage to be humorous. The obsessed public never has her relationship status correct. The internet gets ahead of the game: They are spotted out together and the viewing public assumes they're an item, but they've only just met. Later, they date in secret, so the public assumes they've broken up. The pattern repeats, and it's pretty funny.

TBI is the type of show that forces me to ask myself: Was this worth watching once? The fact that I ask says enough, perhaps. The answer for me is ☑yes, because the fashion show is insanely good, and the couple is adorable together, as is the secondary couple. There's a comfy warmth to it. I came out of this not being very impressed with the show but liking the leads even more. Now /that's/ some trick! For those of you who aren't romance junkies, don't bother. It will be The Boredom Inside.


IMHO〰🖍


RATINGS 🎬6.2 🖊6 🎭8 💓7 🦋5 🎨8.8 🎶7.6 🔚8 🤗5

LEVELS 🌞5.5 ⚡3.5 😅3 😭3 😱2 😬1 🤢2 🤔4 💤3

Shazams: Beautiful Moment, by K.Will

Age 13+

Re-📺? Naw



Fateful Magic Brought Us Together~~>>>

My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9,
Mad For Each Other-7.7 ~ silly fun,
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Playful kiss-7.3,
Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo 7.8,
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (But for eps 20 &21 it's an 8+)
Boys Over Flowers-8 ~ melodrama to the max,
My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9,
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2,
Live Up To Your Name-7.6;
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion-8.4,
Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Because This Is My First Life-7.7,
7th Time Loop-7.9,
Kiss Sixth Sense-6.8,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
While you were sleeping-7.3,
Marry My Husband-7.5,
Hotel del Luna-8.4,
A Korean Odyssey-7.2,
Tomorrow with you-7,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
The King: Eternal Monarch-8.3,
Love and Redemption 10

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Like a car crash I couldn’t look away from...

The contradictions in the fantasies being sold to young girls have never been as in-your-face as they are in this K-drama. But the mesmerizing acting of Seo Hyun-jin somehow holds this hot mess together.

Her love interest is a robotic, poker-faced, rich dude who suffers from the “disease” of face blindness or prosopagnosia. Not to worry. He’s found his perfect mate in the FL, who suffers from a condition that changes her into some random-looking specimen of humanity every so often–be it a child of 10 or a sore-encrusted old bald guy.

Whatever the case, folks, True Love conquers all. The most ludicrous scene in this series is the pledge of eternal love between the ML and the aforementioned bald guy. Not that bald guys aren’t lovable! But even Lee Min-ki, the ML, who has serious acting chops (see his performance in BECAUSE THIS IS MY FIRST LIFE), can’t bring himself to gaze enthusiastically at his newly transformed sweetheart. There’s a Japanese proverb that says: “If there is love smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples.” Ah! If only it were true.

The other over-the-top romance--like an impending car crash you can’t look away from--is between an actor who could pass for an sweet-faced 14-year-old boy and a troubled, but fabulously rich older woman. To be fair, it’s not clear how old these two are supposed to be. (In real life, they’re almost the same age.)

The dialog between these two is beyond idiotic. “I’m bad, but you’re good.” “I love you because you’re so pretty.” Not since Scrooge McDuck have the rich been such an easy target. As in most K-dramas, they’re all greedy and offensive. But there’s hope for those who recognize True Beauty.

More than once, my suspension of disbelief was hanging by a thread over the Grand Canyon. When the FL transforms from one body to another, do her clothes change with her? The 10-year-old’s duds conveniently enlarged when s/he changed back into adulthood. Not so with some of the other transformations.

The schmaltzy song that played over and over and OVER in the background getting louder and louder and LOUDER was enough to drive me screaming into the night.

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Solid Romance with surprises along the way -

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 South Korean Fantasy, Romance Drama with 16, 60 minute episodes.

Han Se-gye (Seo Hyun-jin) is known as someone who is flightly, literally, she runs out of important engagements and it has given her the reputation of an irresponsible troublemaker. Despite that she is a Hallyu A-list actress but struggles keeping her career moving forward with all the bad publicity she receives. What people do not know, and she cannot tell them, is she transforms once a month into someone else. She could be an old man or woman, a child or any gender and age in between. When it happens, it lasts about a week and she disappears from the public eye. It happens somewhat unpredictably although she can feel it coming on which is why she runs. Her friend and manager, Yoo Woo-mi (Moon Ji-in) has her work cut out for her trying to keep Se-gye out of trouble. Seo Do-jae (Lee Min-ki) is the Managing Director of his family's airline company and Se-gye is their top model/spokesperson. Things take an intersting turn when Do-jae decides to become personally involved in getting Se-gye to re-sign as he knows of her flight risk. He seems to have everything going for him being a Chaboel heir who is very intelligent and handsome. However, a tragic accident left him with prosopagnosia, which he must hide to keep competitors, such as his step sister, Kang Sa-ra from taking the top spot in the family business. Sa-ra is fiercly competitive but meets her match when she encounters Ryu Eun-ho, Se-gyes friend whom she enlists to distract Sa-ra at a critical moment. Eun-ho dreams of being a priest and his calm and peaceful nature seem well suited but there is something about Sa-ra that makes him rethink his plans. Can Do-jae and Se-gye find love in each other and trust each other with their secrets?

Spoiler alert* Most notable for me in this one is just how much I liked all the characters. Se-gye is a beautiful actress who is the perfect blend of sassy, she speaks her mind, and just incredibly kind. Some of the things she did both as herself and when she would become someone else was incredibly heart warming. I decided early on that she most likely became others to do something in that role. And in the end they indicated a bit that was the reason but they did not expand or highlight it. That is the one minor fail I thought was to not fully explain why she shifted. Her best friend and manager, Yoo Woo-mi (Moon Ji-in) is her number 1 nagger (as you would expect from a South Korean talent manager) and biggest advocate. She is one of the few that I think looks amazing with short hair because she has such a delicate face. I wanted to see her get with the male lead's secretary/best friend/jack of everything, Jung Joo Hwan (Lee Tae-ri), as they were so alike in so many ways. They looked adorable together. Woo-mi's boyfriend story was a story unfinished - you were left wondering what was real and what was not. The male lead character, Seo Do-jae (Lee Min-ki) underwent a huge transformation. He was a rather flat character when he needed to be but started to change and flourish when he encountered Se-gye. Very quickly he spotted the beauty inside of Se-gye and became her biggest advocate. His step sister and biggest rival, Kang Sa-ra, underwent huge character development. She went form an Ice Princess whose only goal was to replace Do-jae as the lead heir in the congolmerate to a caring friend, girlfriend and sister. I loved Se-gye's friend/brother of her heart, Ryu Eun-ho (Ahn Jae-hyun), and how he had plans to go into Catholic ministry but the beautiful and complex Sa-ra changed his dream. He said she became his new dream. And the big surprise that he wasn't who exactly you/she thought he was was a great plot twist. I also loved Se-gae's mother, Han sook-he (Kim Hee-jung), and was disappointed when she died so suddenly. I loved seeing her "mother" Do-jae as she was so protective of Se-gye yet could see he was the perfect person for her and quickly gave her blessing. Do-jae's mother, Im Jung-yeon (Na Young-hee), I loved how she went from Se-gye not being good enough for her son to she is the only girl for my son when challenged with an alternate reality. I just loved all the characters and thought they were so well developed and went through great character development. Slight detractor was the death of Se-gae's mom, I did not feel it was necessary and introdoced a sad element to an otherwise heart warming series. There is an absolute cringe scene where Se-gye has transformed into the body of an old man and Do-jae indicates he could love her even in that body. I was afraid of what type of affection they might show each other. I get the point they were trying to make but man, it was cringy.

As with just about all South Korean series, this turned out to be much different than I expected from the description and the clips. I thought the focus would be on her transformations and it was more of a side aspect, the main focus was on the chracters and their relationships. This is one of the more "steady" romances I have seen where the romance is kept front and center and does not get lost in side plots. I loved this series and highly recommend to anyone that wants an, on balance, heart warming romance.

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Story
In my opinion, the story itself is very rich, unique, and straightforward. The thing i noticed very much is there's no boring experience in the middle episodes like we usually do when the producers need to prolong the story just to fulfill 16 episodes. What i loved specially in this drama comes from how they package the proper ending. Hundreds of Korean dramas have amazing early episodes, very tense and rich middle episodes, but they have compressed the ending into one poor episode. In this drama you will feel absolutely different, the way they tell the ending is superb. There is nothing to complain from the story side.
Acting/Cast
It is no doubt what makes this drama 10/10 is Seo Hyun Jin. She has very natural acting in contrast to other actresses e.g. Jun Ji Hyun. The way she deliver the emotion, condition, and romance is absolutely top class. She is truly queen of melo-drama and you will know very best why she has that title in this drama. In addition to that, Lee Min Ki also suits the very role he needs to play. In this drama he is typical of cool and ignorant man that will change overtime. There is surely lots of drama using this plot, but he successfully role that to the viewer. For side casts, they also bringing their top class performance and i rarely see any flaw in the acting.
Music
This drama does not has lot of OST, but they all top rated. All the musics are very good, compatible, unique,a and rich. however i need to add another honor to Wendy Red Velvet, which has very developed singing technique combined with great song composition. The song she contribute in this drama named Goodbye, it is heart-touching sad song which suits really well in many situations in the drama. I absolutely love this drama's OST.
For the various instrumentals and backing song, i also enjoy them very much and hardly experienced bad things caused by the song. The songs really bring you deeper and deeper to the drama.
Rewatch Value
There is no doubt that this drama has all the potentials to be top drama in it's era. The characteristic of the drama itself, very light yet rich, makes it potentially high to be watched again sometimes. I myself gotten really high urge to watch it back just after the drama ended, signify the capability of this drama to bring people back watching it. High score is well earned in this category for this film.
Conclusion
Score of 10 is big thing. it Has such high of responsibility in giving both the score and review. the reason for that is i am definitely sure with all the odds, people will love this drama. That's all review from me, enjoy watching the film.

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What a year 2018 has been for kdrama, we had What's Wrong With Secretary Kim & 30 but 17 and now The Beauty Inside. TBI doesn't quite match up with the other 2, but it represents the same trend, doing away with tedious love triangles & instead using other tools to generate tension and I do love a good mystery... (even if everything is obvious about it on day2)

I felt that Lee Minky's acting was a bit off in this series, it was nowhere near as good, as it has been in This is my 1st Life. Still very decent ofc, just that he felt off here and there. I really liked the rest of the cast, especially Lee Dahee, she was really awesome here. Na Younghee is an "ajumma" actress I never liked before in any of the dramas I've seen her appearing in, but this time she was a good fit. The OST was fairly pleasant too, but not very memorable.

Now why am I not giving this 10/10? Well there are some issues. Probably this wasn't pre-produced, the way how they dealt with the rival actress's character was super strange, like the writers wanted to use her as a tool to mess everything up, but changed their minds half way. Episode 14, well this was really just a plain bad episode. I realize that they felt that a work labeled as "drama" needs to have drama in it, but oh man this was pretty badly executed in my opinion. For reference, Oh My Venus had an episode with the same writer intent, but it was SOO MUCH better in every way. Let's not even mention the time-skip part.. The assistant writers(interns?) responsible for product placements were definitely not very good, too obvious boys and girls..
There were some missed opportunities too. They could have done so much more with Segye's alter egos. I mean sure I liked it when she turned into a kid spending time with mom, but there could have been so much more. Remember how memorable Goblin's ghost stories were?

So yes, overall I was entertained, will watch it again someday. I hope that in 2019 we will have more dramas like this one.

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This drama will be on my "all time favorite" list, which means I could watch this drama many times over and not be tired of it. It was not a typical love story due to the fact of the unusual difficult challenges that both leads had to overcome but the drama really drove home the question to the audience of "Do we really love people for who they are on the inside or would we not love them if their outside appearance changed or if they had a disability? I loved the character of Seo Do Jae, who overcame his own fears and became an unstoppable, relentless love to Han Se Gye despite her unusual issues. Episode 11 was a scenic and demonstrative exposition of the most romantic gestures that I have ever seen in a Korean drama by a male lead character toward the female lead. You also have to understand the things that happened prior to episode 11 to understand how powerful this romantic rendezvous was including the things that he said and did for Han Se Gye.

Special recognition needs to be given to Seo Hyun Jin's ability to portray a woman who had multi-faceted sides and her ability to portray vulnerability on one hand and confidence (with great sassiness) on the other hand. It was quite a sight to see on screen and it made you fall in love with her character more and more.

I would recommend anyone who is thinking about watching this to take the plunge. Please do not try to compare this drama to the movie with the same title (also on Vicki). The story elements between the drama and the movie had some similarities but the narratives told were very different from each other. I liked the drama a little better than the movie because the story was different and the writers had more time to develop a deep and enduring love story between the two lead characters.

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One of the best Kdramas on Netflix USA

The Beauty Inside is a must-watch Kdrama on Netflix. I highly recommend it because it is not just a feel-good movie, but one with heart and empathy.

The director and scriptwriter were brilliant in making the 1st and 2nd episode so entertaining that I wanted to watch the next episode as soon as I get off work. Lee Min-Ki is indeed a versatile actor. I hope JTBC will give him more TV projects. I would love to see him again in another rom-com Kdrama with Seo Hyun-jin. They played their characters so well that it's hard not to be emphatic with these two. These two characters made me laugh for days. Who didn't laugh when Han Se-Gye and Seo Do-Jae were sharing their unsuccessful and fake dates? Who didn't cry when Seo Do-Jae revealed his fears to Han Se-Gye at the hospital? Who didn't laugh when Seo Do-Jae took Han Se-Gye's mom shopping?

I hope this Kdrama will be watched by more Netflix subscribers so it will stay on Netflix forever.


+

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It is better than my expectation for a romcom

Just completed this on xmas 2023, and it is better than my expectations for a romcom.
Consider this if you are looking for a drama to watch this year end - easy watch that has happy endings!

While the FL's disease/spell is far-fetched (the fantasy part), the cameos of her new identities convey meaningful messages on loving someone beyond outer appearance, dealing with unexpected happenings/ lemons in life, and embracing new identities to help others. There are heart-felt reflective moments in this romcom with a dash of fantasy.

Love the FL's performance and the exceptional friendship she have with her two buddies, and the romance of the second couple is predictably good - I kinda know and hope the second couple will get together and indeed they did.

Actually watched this drama for the ML Lee Min Ki, but was kinda disappointed. His deadpan look from Because This is My First Life (2017) seemed to have followed him in this drama. He was funny with that deadpan look in Behind Your Touch (2023), and while it was still convincing in First Life, it backfired in this drama, even though he is suffering from Prosopagnosia.

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What you think makes you unloveable is the very thing I love about you…

A love story between an airline director & a top actress who are each doing their best to live with & conceal unusual phenomena. He suffers from prosopagnosia, while every month she transforms into someone else for a week.

I love these Leads. Truly. The way they both handle their individual struggles without allowing it to control their lives is inspiring. They’re both at the top of their respective fields & nobody has any idea about what they’re living with each moment (except for those they’ve allowed to know.) Remarkable.

They start off on shaky ground with their feelings closer to hatred for one another, but even so, they automatically protect the other’s secrets (even before they realize there are secrets to be kept). I laughed at their antics, wanted to slap them for their missteps, & rooted for them with each scene they drew me into.

Once their truths are revealed to each other, their protection of one another becomes that much more intense. The ML had me swooning over his love for his woman so much! And the FL had so many “you go, girl!” moments that made me cheer for her so hard. Seriously, as individuals & as a couple, these two rock! And it really makes you ponder the depths of love - would you stay with your partner if they couldn’t recognize your face? would you still love your partner, no matter their outward appearance?

The ending beach scene with her walking towards him in so many different forms = perfection *chef’ kiss*. Seriously one of the greatest moments of the drama & such a perfect ending.

Major bonus: the friends in both Leads’ lives rock! 💖

_________\\__________//________

-S P O I L E R S B E L O W-


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The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.6💋
- Together : ep.8 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻
- BreakUp : ep.14 💔
- BackTogether : ep.15 💍

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Routine Bingeable RomCom

Story: A famous actress who has a condition that she changes faces for a week, once a month. The story revolves around her struggles and ‘purpose’ of her condition. Although it was never explained how she got it but it gave us a meaningful metaphor of why she has it. It was an interesting concept and shown in a manner that can be believable.

Acting: This is my first drama of Seo Hyun Jin and I’m quite impressed with her acting especially during the first few episodes, however, it faltered during her emotional scenes with Lee Min Ki and their ‘separation’ scenes. She definitely did great as an actress in the drama and her other scenes with her mom and friends but I don’t know why I wasn’t moved with her acting when she was crying with or for LMK. Lee Min Ki, on the other hand, had the same robotic acting in ‘Because this is my first life’. It can be awkward and unimpressive at first but then you get used to it after. The rest of the cast did well and convincing enough but my favorite character is Lee Da Hee’s Kang Sara. Apart from being gorgeous, I just love how she developed in this drama and most of her outfits. I felt like kang sa ra and Han se gye were always in a paris fashion runway.

Music: Every song is catchy and appropriate to the scenes. There was this song which is quite similar to the goblin’s ost, maybe it’s the same singer? I’m not sure but I’ll find out later. The English songs used were cute too.

Rewatch Value: Definitely a rewatchable drama because it has many cute and funny scenes. The type of romcom that you could watch any day and still feel giddy and cheesy in a good way.

Overall: It was almost a perfect RomCom but I had some issues along the way, although not so serious. The timeline of her face change was quite confusing as it feels like it hadn’t been a month or close to her changing days, though the characters mention it but the events didn’t look it had been a month. The chemistry between the main leads was definitely fire but then there were a few unconvincing times, mostly with Kang Sa Ra and Eun Ho. The meeting the parents(of Eun Ho)scene was my least favorite of her because it was so unlike her character to introduce herself as a ‘chaebol’. It came out unimpressive instead. I was also curious with U-mi’s boyfriend, I wish they had shown us in the last episode. Although the sequence is considered the generic kdrama romcom, I think it was still recommendable and watchable for those who are in need of something light and a touch of melodrama. I quite like how the relationship of Se Gye and Do Jae evolved despite them being immature in love and yet grown individually. Two broken souls met and found their anchors but eventually learned to step back and process all that happened and conveniently worked it out. Not a bad ending but it wasn’t a great ending as well. The last two episodes were quite cute but it was a bit uneventful that changed my overall feeling for the drama. Anyway, I’m just glad for a happy ending.

Gist: Sometimes, we may not know why bad things happen to us or why it feels like we suffer in life nonstop but one day, we will realize, things happen for a reason and why it has to be us and no one else’s.

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