Kasia Patrick

perfect example of a good story messed up by the ending.

This drama had so much potential, and for the most part, it delivered — until the last few episodes completely derailed the story. The premise of a girl going back in time to fix her past mistakes and change her future isn’t exactly new, but it was still engaging and handled well in the beginning.

For most of the show, I was invested. I loved seeing the female lead work hard to improve herself, mend her family relationships, and support her friends. The writers went into such great detail about her career journey, her growth as a person, her college friendships, and even her family dynamics. Watching her succeed through hard work and perseverance was so satisfying — and seeing how she inspired her friends to reach their own goals made it even better.

And then… the ending happened.
Everything we watched — all of her progress, all of her friends’ growth, her brother finally believing in himself — turned out to be meaningless because it was all just a dream. Her family went back to being poor, her brother was back to his insecure self, and none of the hard work we witnessed mattered. It made the entire journey feel pointless and incredibly frustrating.

The male lead’s storyline wasn’t much better. His whole goal in going back was to save his best friend’s life, which felt like such an emotional and meaningful mission. And he succeeded — for a while. But when he returned to the present, his friend was dead again. So, all that effort and emotional investment were for nothing. The male lead also ended up in a completely different career path because of his friend’s death, which might have been interesting… except it didn’t matter either, because nothing truly changed. It was just heartbreaking and hollow. The only “consolation” we got was that both leads remember what happened. Honestly, who cares if they remember, if nothing actually happened?

To make matters worse, the second male lead’s character was completely butchered at the end. He started out as a happy-go-lucky, slightly lazy guy who gradually became more focused and driven, while still staying true to his personality. Instead of continuing that growth, they suddenly turned him into a bitter, doom-and-gloom businessman obsessed with the female lead, throwing away his own happiness for a love that was never reciprocated.

This felt so unnecessary and out of character. His arc should have been about letting go, moving on, and maybe finally pursuing his dream of becoming a basketball player. Instead, we got a scene of him crying about how she was “all he had,” as if he didn’t have a loving, supportive father and a best friend who had always been there for him. It didn’t make sense, and rather than feeling empathy for his situation, I just felt frustrated and sad that the writers did him so dirty.

Final Thoughts:
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this drama for most of its run. The first half was solid, and even up until the proposal, it was still really good. But the last two to three episodes completely undid everything that came before.

If you decide to watch, I honestly recommend stopping after the proposal or skipping the final few episodes. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartbreak and frustration.

It’s worth the watch for the journey — just don’t expect a satisfying destination.

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my god does this drag

I went into this drama really excited — the leads had amazing chemistry, and the clips I saw on TikTok were super cute. Plus, I’ve loved the male lead in other dramas, so I had high hopes. Unfortunately, this ended up being such a frustrating watch, and honestly, I regret sticking with it as long as I did.

The beginning was so good. The main couple’s chemistry was off the charts — she was openly going after him, and he kept gently rebuffing her at first. Then they went to her family’s hostel, and that whole stretch of the show was adorable. Watching him slowly warm up to her as he learned more about her past felt natural and sweet.

Her initial goal for pursuing him was actually to dump him as revenge for something that happened in the past. Back when they were younger, she gave him a love letter, but he stood her up. She later found out he had received a ton of similar letters and never even read hers. It was a misunderstanding, because when she overheard him talking about it years later, he wasn’t even talking about her at all — just a random conversation that she took the wrong way. Honestly, it was kind of a dumb plot point, but the show actually pulled it off well, and it led to some really cute moments between them.

A big chunk of the show takes place at the hostel, so I assumed that when they returned to the university, we’d finally see their romance progress to a mutual acknowledgment of feelings. At that point, they were in a good place, and even his little brother liked her — it felt like the perfect setup for their relationship to grow.

But as soon as he left to do research, all that progress completely disappeared. He didn’t even tell her he was leaving, she got upset and blocked him, and he couldn’t explain himself. Then came several episodes of her being miserable. When he finally came back, she wouldn’t hear him out, and we were stuck in this endless cycle of miscommunication and stubbornness. All that wonderful build-up and romantic tension just evaporated.

I didn’t need them to instantly become a couple, but at least some intentional romance or forward momentum would’ve been nice. Instead, it felt like the writers kept throwing in random obstacles just to keep them apart — and at a certain point, it stopped feeling meaningful and just felt like filler. By the second half of the show, the second couple actually had more screen time and romantic moments than the main couple, which was so irritating.

I’m used to slow-burn romances, especially in K-dramas, where the leads might not officially get together until the very end. But usually, there’s still progress — sweet moments, kisses, dating, actual payoff. Here, it was just endless build-up with no reward. With 35 episodes, this pacing was painful.

Overall:

Acting: Great — both leads and supporting cast did well.

Chemistry: Really strong, especially in the first half.

Plot: Started promising, then got messy and frustrating.

Pacing: Awful, especially after the hostel arc.

This drama had so much potential with a good cast, strong acting, and great early chemistry, but it completely fumbled the execution. If you love extremely slow-burn romances and don’t mind a lot of pointless obstacles, you might enjoy it. But for me, it was a total waste of time — and by the end, I was just fast-forwarding, waiting for a payoff that never really came.

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