Kelekat

Just read the updated bio above and you'll see what I'm referring to:

"On July 30, 2019, police stated that they are investigating Park Yoo Chun over bribery allegation in his sexual assault investigation which resulted in all charges against him were dropped by the police back in 2016."

I'm very aware that people are constantly making false accusations against stars to bring them down. It's a huge problem. However, it's not always false. At some at some point you start realizing there are too many issues popping up repeatedly for some stars, which makes you realize there may be some merit to the accusations. If you read that bio again, his agency even stuck through it and fought it with him - at first. Then, they too dropped him. That's a major red flag. It's one thing if the agency had dropped him in the middle all of the other mess but for them to drop him even after fighting alongside him before, to me, that says a lot. Plus he comes around and later acknowledges things he previously denied.

Quite frankly, his specific situation sounds very bad to me. Like Burning Man bad. I, personally, tend to NOT believe most of the scandals. I also feel like many things that become scandals in Korea are just ridiculous. It has nothing to do with entertainer's ability to perform so stay the hell away from their personal lives. BUT, when it comes to the heavy hitters like sexual assault and bribery and all that, we're talking a whole different level of entertainers who should be dropped and banned.

Still, I don't know much about this guys particular case other than the few articles I read and the bio above.

I just felt like his story here is VERY different from some of the other big ones in the news where people are being shamed, banned and even incarcerated for taking prescribed antidepressants or for simple marijuana use. Those stories and this one ring very differently to me, which is why I felt the need to point out that it's more than just the drug use that's a concern here.

YESSS! So true!

Wow. That other person's last response was pretty rude. I reread it a few times to be sure I wasn't misinterpreting but my final impression is - what an ass.

Your explanation was appreciated by others. Just so you know. I haven't watched the drama yet and your breakdown helped curb some hesitancy I was having about getting started.

Bear with me here. I tried not to comment but that other person's comments just didn't sit well with me.

I agree with your comments wholeheartedly. There are some lines of friendship that you should never cross and some people are simply off limits. Period. Had he met her first and maybe gotten close to her and developed feelings but never gotten to the point of dating or something, but then the ML met her and they fell in love, then I could understand it. That was NOT the case at all though.

Also, the SML may seem to have a more appealing personality to some but to others, like myself, he's just drab and boring and flavorless in comparison to the ML. Just because someone seems to be a better fit on paper doesn't make them the right person for another in real life. THAT is where the phrase "the heart wants what the heart wants" comes into play. What draws and connects us to someone isn't their specs. But that doesn't mean we can't immediately put someone in a place of being untouchable immediately upon meeting them. That's how mature, respectable adults behave. For example, if a man meets his sister-in-law for the first time, it's not okay for him to start pining after her, is it? Does it happen? Yes. Does that make it okay? Hell no!

Additionally, it's not just a K-drama thing that people always remember their first loves. That's a pretty common belief amongst pretty much all cultures. That doesn't mean you're still harboring feelings for and hoping to be with your first love for the rest of your life, but that they will always hold a special place in your heart. It's because they were the first ones to make you experience many feelings. First loves are also often viewed as the hardest to let go of. Just wanted to clarify that point.

To say you were self-inserting yourself into the role of the ML was bs. THAT is what drove me to respond, in depth. You simply have your preferences just like that other commenter had theirs. Ironically, THEY were projecting THEIR OWN preferences in their defense of the SML's behavior. Unlike that other commenter I particularly HATE love triangles, with a passion. That's not to say I haven't come across some that I enjoyed and appreciated but, for the most part, I try to avoid them or they just frustrated and irritate me. To make it seem like that are more common that not in real life too is also a fallacy. Someone being attracted to another person who may already be in a relationship? Yes, of course! That's hella common. But actual love triangles, where there is more than one person fighting to be with another, is NOT. Normally, when someone sees two people vibing on one another they back off or make it known they're interested too and both play fair. To continue pursuing someone you see is interested in someone else, who's also interested in them in return makes you an asshole. Seriously. I'm not talking about dramaland storylines here. I'm talking about reality. Of course, if the other 2 people are an actual couple and you continue trying to steal that person away you are simply an exceptional asshole. Love triangles, in real life, are nowhere near as common as they are depicted in dramas because that shit isn't as cute and bubbly as it's depicted in dramas. People who don't understand boundaries are the ones who become cheaters.

I, personally, rarely ever root for second leads. I want to see the story of the romance between the leads - how it develops and grows and how they overcome hurdles together. I do not like seeing messiness involving outsiders. I feel like it's just taking me away from what I really want to see. Good healthy relationships don't have other people on the sidelines. Many people find those kinds of dramas boring but I find all the other melodrama to be just messy. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it when I'm in the mood for it, but for the most part I can do without it. However, I also don't harp on people who DO enjoy that kind of stuff. Those who like all the messiness and melodrama. They like the excitement of it all AND THAT'S FINE! BUT IT'S JUST AS FINE NOT TOO!

Here's some more irony for you. A lot of the times you'll find that the people who love that stuff haven't ever been in those situations themselves so they don't get how stressful, frustrating and even agonizing they can be. They like it in dramas because they want that excitement in their lives in the only way they can get it. It's the ones who HAVE been through all that stuff that tend to watch less of it or even avoid it. LOL!

Anyway, I'm rambling now too. LOL! My point is, I agree with you. I dislike the way the other person made it seem like your viewpoint was flawed just because it differed from their personal preferences. It has nothing to you being new to Kdramas or any of that. It's simply that you both like different things which is perfectly okay. It's also that you have very strong and positive morals and values about friendship and, quite frankly, I wouldn't want friends with no boundaries on dating those around them like they seem to be okay with. That's some high school crap.

Happy

OMG how could I forget the smacking. The ML took smacking while he ate to a whole other level. I wanted to slap the shit out of him by the time I made it halfway through the drama!

AND THE SMACKING! LORD HELP ME! The ML's smacking got to the point I wanted to slap him! Close your damn mouth when you chew!

I'm the complete opposite. Here's why - **I'm sharing because you mention the ratings don't make sense, but I AM happy for you that you do NOT agree! It means you enjoyed yourself and that's a good thing!***

The humor was horrible. Didn't laugh once. I'm not even being facetious. I really didn't find any of it to be humorous.
I've spent most of the drama annoyed, especially by the FL. She is dumb as rocks, naive, immature, stubborn and childish.
The good aspect (singular) of the drama was the serial killer plot, which actually could have had great pacing had they not tried to draw the story out and throw in all the extra fluff surrounding it just to stretch out the drama. I usually love my romance mixed in but, again, the FL irked me so much with her stupidity and very childish behavior that I had no interest in watching the lackluster romance budding between the leads. Their chemistry sucked too.

BUT it's not that those aspects of the story are terrible! Not at all. They are just minorly below standard. So it's not those factors themselves that are frustrating me, it the dichotomy between the good and the bad.

I watched this before, years ago, and liked the serial killer aspect of the story enough to rate it a high 8.5, also because the things I didn't like (mentioned above) weren't as terrible as I've seen in other dramas. They weren't terrible but they were below average. But I'm watching it again now and finding that it makes it even more frustrating to watch. The aspects I like, I REALLY like, but the aspects I don't like just fall short. They are BAD but they are below average. So it's like this constant minor irritation that I keep wishing would just go away so I could really just enjoy the drama, but just wouldn't. I could be so engrossed in this thing if it didn't keep falling short in so many areas. Like I start flying high with the story only for it to sputter and dwindle then take off again. It's very frigging annoying.

Maybe it's because I binge? I dunno.

It could be so good but I keep trying to figure out if it's the writing or the casting or whatever it is that's off, but it keeps falling short. The only one delivering consistently is the villain, which he does in all his roles.

It's like the pacing is off too. Like they keep having to add all this filler stuff to get the episode count but then the serial killer aspect of the story is going too fast. Wildly enough though it feels like if they slow down the serial killer aspect it would ruin that portion of the story too. That just tells me the other aspects of the story aren't developed well enough to support and maintain the standard of the thriller storyline. They aren't up to par.

So I'm leaning towards the issue being mainly with the casting and directing, and also some of the writing. It could have been sooooo much better had it been done right!

OMG she kills me! Drives me nuts!

OMG YESSSSSS! I watched this years ago and didn't give it a very high score but did make a note that I should watch it again because there were aspects of the story itself that I enjoyed. I've finally gotten around to watching this again and...I've slept through a whole lot of the first 7 episodes, been annoyed by what I did see, and fast forwarded the rest. I'm only nearing the end of ep 8 now and for the life of me the only reason I'm still watching is because I want to see how they catch the killer, because I cannot remember it. But they keep adding all this extra dumb storyline and fluff and stupid crap that I'm very frustrated while trying to get to what I actually WANT to see! For once it's NOT the romance! The FL annoys the bejesus out of me with her stupidity and naivety and childishness. The lack of chemistry between her and the ML is just ridiculous. He's just dead weight in the romance aspect. Like he didn't even bother trying properly. The cheap and ridiculous methods they use to draw out the story are super annoying too. The humor is NOT funny, not in the least! WHYYYY AM I WATCHING THIS! If I could just ff straight to what I want to see that would be perfect but NO! I have to keep torturing myself because it's sooo sparsely intermingled amongst all the dumb shit that it's like sifting through weeds to find it. UGH!

Can you tell I'm aggravated?! LOL! I even have to laugh at myself at this point.

There's a whole lot more than drug charges with this guy. There's sexual assault charges, bribery charges and more and more over the years.

Then later it comes out that there was bribery involved in the original case where his charges were dropped and the accusers punished. His agency dropped him completely after that. He's next level scum.

Y'all are ignoring the sexual charges and allegations as well. On top of bribery charges for getting the sexual assault charges dropped. This isn't one of those where it's just some light marijuana use or someone who was self-medicating. Dude sounds like he was absolute trash.

You can barely consider him a SML. It's only from the romance aspect of the drama that he'd be considered a SML. All 3 leads are equally integral to the main storyline. It's very different from what you commonly see.

This is a well-balanced drama that isn't driven purely by the romance though. It's drama, thriller, romance, mystery, comedy and everything else rolled all together so you can't apply the usual romantic drama rules when drawing your comparisons. He's not one of those SML's they make look bad or make you feel sorry for or any of that. He wasn't pining away for her or hoping to steal her away. He's definitely NOT a simp at all. They are all 3 very close friends. He and the ML even acknowledged that they both knew he had feelings for the FL and they both accepted and moved past it.

I'll admit though, the more times I've watched it the more I find myself getting irritated at some of the writing. In very minor ways though. Things like thinking that had someone opened their mouths and said something in certain situation, aspects of the story could have been avoided or wouldn't have played out in the ways they did. Or like finding glaring issues with some of the logical aspects of how some cases and situations were handled. BUT, I emphasize these feelings last like split seconds unlike with other dramas where it actually gets irritating or even frustrating.

It's not a perfect drama but it's EXTREMELY entertaining, in so many ways. Still one of my favorites.

I agree! It's completely pointless. There was no actual story development from the first season. None. 6 episodes that went nowhere. I feel like I just wasted a bunch of time for nothing.

This was completely pointless. Like someone else said, it should have just been a special episode. A sequel would have been better had it told their story of what happened after she graduated. I feel like I just wasted my time watching this.

OMG this has been one of my favorite dramas for years! I can't believe you haven't seen this one yet. You're going to love it!

This has been one of my all-time favorite series for a few years now so it's pretty wild to suddenly see all these comments from new viewers who've now found this gem and fallen in love with it too.

Let me tell you guys. I first watched it more than 4 years ago. Then I watched it again about 2 years later and loved it all over again. It's a phenomenal drama.

I've also watched it a few times on Dramanice myself.