Zara

My main issue with the writing is that Sua and Tae-seong were supposed to be mere catalysts for Ho and Mi-do's self-reflection, but the writer turned them into replacements. A catalyst should help a character realize their own flaws and grow, but instead, the show made Sua and Tae-seong do the exact things that Mi-do and Ho used to do for each other.

By doing this, the writer completely erased the uniqueness of the 10-year relationship. It made it look like anyone could just step in and fill their shoes in a matter of weeks. If they were just catalysts, Ho and Mi-do should have found their resolution through their own introspection, not by 'upgrading' to new partners who magically fulfill the roles the original couple played for a decade. That's not character development; that's just swapping out the actors in the same dynamic

You are giving the writer a lot of credit for 'psychological threads' that were never actually shown on screen. You say Ho was coming to this realization on his own, but the show didn't portray an internal struggle; it just used Sua as a lazy plot device to trigger his 'actualization'. If he really lacked the courage to leave, why did he magically find his worth in the arms of another woman after just one month? That doesn't invalidate 10 years of history; it just makes the writing look cheap.

Furthermore, what about Mi-do's growth? She was the female lead, yet she was completely sidelined. The writer didn't show her healing or finding her own independence. Instead, the final episode just handed her Tae-seong and gave Ho Sua, as if they were 'winning' new partners to balance a broken equation. That isn't a psychological resolution or realistic growth; that's just sloppy writing trying to force a 'happy ending' for everyone while completely ignoring the characters' logic and the damage they went through

Exactly. They 'confronted' their feelings, but did we actually see the psychological process? A resolution without proper development is just bad writing. Making Sua the catalyst for him to realize his worth completely undermines the 10 years he built with Mi-do. We're not mad because they didn't end up together; we're frustrated because the writer destroyed the characters' logic just to force a shocking ending

It's hilarious how they made Sua look like the savior who made Ho realize his worth, completely ignoring the 30 years Mi-do and his family supported him. Such lazy writing

Exactly. The problem is that the writer left too many important things unexplained. When a drama doesn't properly develop its characters' motivations or show the emotional process behind their decisions, viewers are naturally going to interpret things differently. But that doesn't mean every interpretation is equally supported by what we actually saw on screen. Mido's ten years with Ho shouldn't be dismissed as fake love simply because the writer failed to explain their relationship properly. The story needed more depth and clarity, especially in its final episodes.

I respectfully disagree. Mido’s love was not fake or merely an act of protection. She spent ten years with Ho, shared her life with him, and genuinely loved him. Her guilt over her father’s death may have influenced their relationship, but it doesn’t erase the love she had for him.

And if Ho’s emotional barriers were so strong, shouldn’t we ask why he never made a genuine effort to work through them with the person who had been by his side for ten years? Sua’s warmth and affection may have helped him feel better, but that doesn’t automatically make her love more genuine or Mido’s love less real.

Also, being protective of someone doesn’t mean you don’t love them. Sometimes protection comes precisely from loving someone deeply.

The biggest issue is that the drama never properly showed Ho and Mido confronting and resolving the problems that damaged their relationship. Calling Mido’s love fake and Sua’s love genuine oversimplifies a much more complicated story.

The problem with this drama was that it failed to portray a logical and realistic progression of events. It showed neither a genuine way to resolve the problems in a long-term relationship nor gave the characters enough time to grieve and heal after losing someone they had spent ten years with.

Jumping straight into new relationships felt more like running away from the past than personal growth. After a decade together, people don't simply move on as if those years meant nothing. Of course, everyone heals differently, but the drama didn't give us a believable emotional journey.

The story could have delivered a much more meaningful message by showing how couples can overcome difficult periods through honest communication, patience, self-reflection, and a willingness to work on their problems. Instead, it seemed to suggest that when a long-term relationship becomes difficult, the answer is to walk away and find someone new.

That's not necessarily growth. If people don't understand and address the problems they brought into their previous relationship, those same patterns can follow them into their next one. Ho and Mido could end up repeating the same mistakes all over again, creating an endless cycle.

I didn't necessarily need them to end up together. I just wanted the drama to show a more realistic and meaningful process of healing, self-awareness, and growth. **Moving on to someone new doesn't automatically mean you've moved on from your past.**

My problem isn't the characters — it's the writing. At some point, the story just stopped making sense

I get why you see it as 'toxic,' but here's my issue: the show spent 10 episodes showing me their history, their memories, their promises. It made me believe there was something real there. If it was really just 'toxic,' then why did the writer spend so much time making me root for them?
And even if the relationship was toxic — the show didn't show them trying to fix it. It didn't show them having one real conversation about their guilt. It just showed them giving up and jumping into new relationships. That's not 'the best choice.' That's running away without ever dealing with the actual problem.

You can call it 'toxic' if you want. But the writer didn't earn that ending. He just skipped the hard part and called it 'growth.'

My problem isn't the breakup itself — it's the writing. Instead of writing a story where they actually work through their problems, the writer just kept piling more problems on top of them. The one-month contract, the new love interests, the guilt — it was all just added drama instead of resolution. That's not storytelling. That's stalling. And then when they finally ran out of time, they just hit the 'break up and move on' button and called it an ending.

And honestly, the message it sends is just bad. It basically says: if your relationship gets hard, don't talk about it — just leave and find someone easier. That's not 'growth.' That's running away. And calling it 'mature' doesn't make it any less damaging

I see your point about Mi-do needing a fresh start, and I agree both of them built that relationship together. But my issue isn't that they broke up — it's how the show handled it. It spent 10 episodes showing their history, their memories, their promises. Then it threw all of that away in 2 episodes without letting them actually talk or fight for each other. That's not 'a fresh start.' That's running away from the guilt that was poisoning them. And Ho didn't just lose a girlfriend — he lost his family, his home, and the person he spent 30 years knowing. The show didn't give him time to grieve any of that. It just gave him a rebound and called it 'growth.' But that's just my opinion.

It's unfair to call the family he spent 30 years with 'nothing.' They raised him, they supported him, they helped him grow. Yes, there was guilt and pain, but there was also real care from both sides. Ho wasn't just 'wasting days' — he was part of a family that did a lot for him too.

And Mi-do wasn't just a 'toxic partner.' If you set aside the cheating, she helped Ho a lot. Their relationship wasn't one-sided. Both of them gave and both of them hurt. That's what makes it complicated — and that's why the ending felt so hollow. It didn't honor any of that

They just... gave up? No real talk, no fighting for each other. Just a breakup and then two years later they're kissing other people like the last decade meant nothing.

The show spent 10 episodes showing me their memories, their promises, their 30-year history. Then threw it all away in 2 episodes. That's not 'realistic.' That's a cop-out.

Soo-ah and Tae-seung had zero depth. They were just convenient. The show used them to make the breakup look 'mature' but it just made the 10 years feel worthless.

Ho lost everything — Mi-do, his family, his home — and got a rebound relationship in return. That's not growth. That's just sad.