Amberose

Life saver tysm

It's stunning, from the music to the lighting, the colour grading 10/10

I agree with this 100%. To me this also reads as him acting out of being desperately in love, just unable to express it. He’s also conflicted as he wants to stay with Chengyu but he knows that he has a duty. Not sure if this is a reach or not, but I his method of being so harsh can also be a defence mechanism. He’s pushing her away because he cares but also doesn’t want to get hurt, however he ends up hurting her instead. They’re both hurting but unable to admit this honestly.

Another point to add is that people often say that sadness is disguised as anger or that it's easier to be angry than sad and I think that's also the case here. Xie Zheng has lived a life where emotions are not needed and probably seen as a hindrance. His parents have both passed yet, I doubt that he was able to truly ever grieve for them. He's expected to level headed and rational, but when it comes to matters of the heart it isn't that simple. He reacts by putting on this cold front but in fact he's devestated. As for Chengyu, we've seen how she's suffered from her parents's death to the nasty, gossiping villagers. She also has to be brave and protect herself since no one else (besides the ml) is going to do it for her. So she also responds in a similar manner, from a place of anger that's really just masking the pain.

Also I love that this internal conflict is so well represented visually with warm, orange cast from the fire and the cool, blue cast from the moonlight on the snow. It can also indicate how he’s alone now and back to his old life filled with knotty schemes, where it’s cold.

Yeah, they should've spent like the first 10-15 minutes establishing her character and background first so that we can better relate to her. While we understand her motives, we've seen several other backstories just like this, so they needed to establish some kind of emotional connection first with the audience so that we can actually care about her and her relations. Showing rather than telling.

1) Family background: Instead of just mentioning her family, I think that it would've been better if we'd seen them first. Show her father as an upright and well-loved official who's praised by the people. Then cut to the fl and her mom having sweet interactions that highlight their bond. The dad can come home, and they all have dinner together. Wonderful in like 10 minutes, we know their dynamic so now when they reveal the tragedy, the juxtaposition between the two scenes provides impact. When they claim that it was the fl's father who caused it, now we have ocular proof that that's not his character and can root for the fl on her quest to find the truth.

2) Relationship with sister and fl's personality: Give us a quick montage of them growing up and their closeness. Showcase the fl's astuteness and other character traits. Again, so that when the sister dies, we, the audience, can actually be impacted by her death rather than seeing someone we met 2 minutes ago die.


Sry for my reply being so long, I'm a yapper at heart

Yup she goes after any guy who shows her attention and guys who already kinda have someone that they're interesting in just to prove to herself that she's better since she 'won' them over or something. Subeen humiliated her so now she needs to pick another guy. She can't play with Sung-hun or else she'd lose the person she vents to, and she isn't into Hyun-Jae. She would go for Seung-il but knows that minji isn't gonna put up with her nonsense and dotishness. So now the next best option is hyunwoo especially since Go-eun isn't here

Same here

Also he should've been establishing boundaries with that other girl. As a married man he needed to clearly draw the lines and keep things professional as to not give her any hope. Not saying that he's 100% to blame for the kiss because I'm pretty sure the girl knew that he was married yet still went for it.

Ohhh I like this theory. My friend also guessed that the Pei's dad is responsible for it, but I din’t consider the whole silencing and control part

See I'm so conflicted. I called it from the start that he had someone else and was cheating and that Xiaorou would eventually end up with Mr. Gong. Now, idk. I think really this is an amalgamation of all the times he didn't tell her the truth and kept things from her (about the company and quitting his job) and her seeing the text messages and the kiss. I feel bad for him because I do think that he genuinely loves her, but her trust in him has been shaken and a relationship without trust won't last. He should've trusted her enough to tell her the truth when he quit his job and was starting the company. He should've clearly told her that he was working with that girl and meeting her to discuss work matters. Instead, he withheld that information which will naturally arouse suspicion because if it's just a casual meeting and nothing is going on why didn't you tell Xiaorou? Also, why is he meeting with the other girl at such late hours and lying about his whereabouts to his wife? All of his actions would plant seeds of doubt in someone else's mind. I mean I've never been in a relationship or married, but I think it's possible to forgive and stay in the relationship, and it's possible to forgive but choose not to stay in it. So all in all, I do feel for him but to an extent as his lies and shifty actions contributed to the situation that they're in now

This summarises honestly how I feel as well

Yea but I want to see both of them being calculated and powerful together. Like they would be such a power couple and they are, but I need them to communicate and work together

Honestly like okay you like her, however he needs to be realistic especially considering the time period and his status. She doesn’t like you like that and he needs to make peace with that fact.

Fr but maybe you should tag this as a spoiler

You're so right they keep falling like dominoes

Real he loves when Sunny and Namnung are interacting but is so uncomfortable when it comes to the guys-it's kinda icky (Just saw the part with him wanting the water to be clearer and stuff-ugh)

I tried to get past episode one, but it didn't connect for me. Skimmed through a few episodes and the plot and nay logic just collapses. Also I'm not not sure if it's just me or maybe it's just this drama, but the ml wasn't emoting enough for me, to an extent neither was the fl. His eyebrows were drawn in a way that they're always furrowed and stiff looking so he just looks like he's mogging half of the time. Idk how to describe the fl's acting, but it just didn't connect with me at all.

Same here, I have no idea what's really going on. A non-linear narrative is fine but it has to be done well and I don't think it was

Honestly. If it's not about the military, it has to be that the main character or one of them suffered some major injustice and is seeking revenge, to uncover the truth and clear their family name or something. They always end teaming up with the person they least expected. Like if it's done well, I'm happy, but I feel like I've seen the same story 100 times already.

Thank you so much for saying this. I honestly can't believe that people don't understand this

Yup I agree. She still loves him and she knows that he wouldn't blame her for having the Infant's core inside of her body, but she can't bear to break his heart with the fact that her mortal body is going to break down soon. (sidenote: I really wanna see how they're gonna solve this issue with her body and if there's another way to become a full demon, because wzs's way is really immoral and twisted. I just need them to find out that he's also a villain.)