AKH

What a coincidence, as soon as you sent this reply I was just coming back after seeing him call her a crybaby at the end of ep 3. I did like that line, I do find it slightly more believable if characters within the drama acknowledge the fact she seemingly cries really easily and that's at a complete contrast to how strong you'd assume she is based on her work.

I really really want to love this but I'm starting the 3rd ep still not quite sure. Suspension of disbelief around plot aside (I'm happy to chalk things up to cdramaland rules) I think my first hesitation is that they're overusing slowmotion + soundtrack music in a way that makes it so I can never quite get immersed and forget I'm watching a tv show. I have loved shows where two strangers seem to immediately have a spark of interest for eachother but start off awkwardly bumping into eachother and having missed connections until they gradually get close -- like One Spring Night or Amidst a Snowstorm of Love. I think this drama was strongly going for an AASOL vibe but for me they're not getting the development and pacing quite right.

Her crying at the dinner in episode 2 felt way too premature for me? I think some S+ tier romance cdramas with great pacing like AASOL or something like HL would have let us sit in the scene with the FL microexpressions delicately showing the audience how uncomfortable she is -- and for this FL (a grown woman reporter who just got back from a warzone, who grew up with messily divorced parents) I would have felt it more believable that her dissapointment would act as like a wake up call to get a hold of herself and try cut off any burgeoning feelings-- definitely a shock but not public tears worthy. I'm neither calm under pressure nor emotionally jaded from my parents and yet I know that even if I felt crushed / so stupid in that moment literally every womanly instinct in me would be yelling "Omg hold it together and act normal" and you would not catch me tearing up at the dip station!! I have also loved this ML in other roles but I'm not really getting a sense of any real personality in him here so far which makes it harder to feel a connection between our leads. I'll definitely keep watching cause I've been desperate for a modern c-romance lately, hopefully I'll get more immersed a few more episodes in...

Okay I've only watched the first ep but I really like the tone of this drama so far! It feels like an old romance movie

Also damn the assistant being an enemy is such a predictable trope and not only that they've shown a matching sleeve in our FLs flashback which makes it extra extra predictable so I'm really hoping it's a red herring cause I like him as a loyal agent for our ML.

Okay for episode 5 and half of episode 6 I was like "hmm don't love the direction the show is going in tonally because we've lost all the tension and angst but oh well" and then in the second half of episode 6 I was like "NOW THIS IS TELEVISION". I'm here for the jeapordy and the danger, it's reminded me that they will find new ways to create it so not to lose hope 😂

Her wedding gift to him being her unveiling her "wall of crazy" so they can strategize together is so so perfect to this character that I have to applaud the writers/ director. Actually brilliant.

Oh damn, I'm in the UK and they don't work for me!

Yes, honestly I normally prefer the chase part to the couple part but with these two characters I've been mentally chanting "kiss kiss kiss" every interaction even even when they barely knew eachother.

Give me moooooooore, I haven't been distracted by a cdrama like this in a while.

Me at episode 9: What a messed up situation, also I don't like any of these characters, I don't think I like this drama.

Me at episode 19: What a complex situation, what flawed characters, I think I actually like this drama.

Honestly when I watched the first few episodes and saw the drama as a surface level romantic c-drama I just couldn't imagine coming around to the storyline or the characters-- I truly believe our FL had deep love for the SML that can't easily be pushed aside, not to mention 2 decades of resentment for our ML , and I thought the ML's ease with the whole situation was crazy. As the episodes go by I really appreciate that the writers are unpacking our (three) leads personalities and motivations and I tbh really relate to our FL and the walls she's got up against the world. I also think it's a very interesting departure from "You are my one soulmate in every lifetime" to suggest our FL can (and indeed did) love Su Ronqing deeply in another life. The angst of that idea is entertaining if you're in the right mood for it.

Just binged eps 1-4 and I'm definitely enjoying this so far- it's kind of campy / tropey in the way 2014 kdramas were but with a 2024 budget and I'm here for it. If they keep up the pace and don't do anything crazy in the later episodes this could end up being a good one.

I just started this today and I'm sad that Kiss.Kh seems only to have it in 536p quality cause it's distracting from my immersion...

A few things about the editting of this show have thrown me off so far (I'm on ep 5) but I have a question- did they show Gu Yi interview that other man, the one who has now started working at her company and mentioned he was worried her boss was giving her too much work? Did I somehow miss that whole scene?

I'm loving this so much! I just caught up with the drama, now I'm sad I have to wait for episodes...

aaaaah my heart, this was so beautiful!

I love slow-burn and slice of life so it isn't the pace that's disappointing me as much as... the direction these few episodes have taken. I understand ML wanting to create distance so things like not saying yes to plans etc makes sense but I don't know why they've decided he needs to be kind of cruel to her face? Especially as he's predicted to some extent how she's been living the last few years causing her to comeback to korea so lost. He's been playing around with her and hanging out like old times and suddenly after overhearing a conversation she had with moeum has decided to pull the rug out from under her and suddenly act distant and tell her to act like an adult and leave him alone... ? He spent years successfully swallowing his unresolved crush the first time and it's been a decade since then, and yet NOW when she's at the lowest of the low he's going to act so harsh with her based on no fault of her own?

EDIT: I'm sorry the more I think about it the more frustrating it seems- imagine seeing your guy BFF for the first time in years and you're close just like old times and hanging out for weeks. And then he over hears you saying you still have love for the guy you just ended an engagement with last month and the guy BFF does an entire personality 180 and avoids you and tells you to leave him alone and to grow up and that you're driving him mad.... dude... how shitty of him

This is highly rated but I'm hesitating to watch cause of what people have said about the ending. Do people feel like it was worth it and satisfying to watch this even with the ending as it was?

I liked how good this drama was at showing us the two leads actually flirting. So many dramas either go heavy with the enemies to sudden lovers with a forced kiss, or a cold (usually male) lead who just stares longingly at the FL and shows interest through protecting her etc- which is great, I love a trope as much as anyone. But it felt like the way these two couldn't help giving eyes to eachother when they were supposed to be talking about other stuff, the slightly playful teasing quality behind their conversations, how Duke Su couldn't help but smile at her sometimes -- I totally believed these were two adults who were attracted to eachother. Honestly not that much physical contact in this but the chemistry was great.

This is one of those dramas that it's going to take me a while to recover from-- I have no idea what drama could possibly fill the void! (If anyone has any suggestions with an epic romance and a happy ending please feel free to suggest) I've only watched a handful of costume cdramas and have never really connected with them but I loved how this was slice of life, how even if people tried to take advantage of our FL she would get revenge quickly on her terms so it didn't drag out, how none of the characters were perfect but so many of them showed so much growth by the end of the show.

Thank you for the recs, I'll check these out!