CoNeTrIC

It bothers me when people say So Hee is evil or worthless. (sigh)

I was a little surprised to see how serious and confrontational both SW and DO were with each other. Yikes!

So Hee is intelligent and she is very attentive to Da On. She doesn't lie, but she was wrong when she said she knows everything about Da On. She doesn't know about his family issues. (I think DO was truthful when he told TK he'd never spoken about that with anyone.) She's upset because she realizes how little she understood DO and that TK knows him better. So Hee told TK exactly this. (I love how straightforward SH and TK are with each other!)

You said SH was "content" with her relationship with DO going nowhere until TK came on the scene? That seems highly implausible. She's been consistently wanting more from DO and patiently working all the angles for years. She's been very straightforward about that from the first episode.

You think Shin Woo is coming out of nowhere. Really? I don't think so. I believe this show has pretty good character development, along with good story pacing. SW and TK have had an up and down relationship from the beginning. That's how the enemies-to-lovers trope works. They have been struggling to understand themselves and each other, mainly through conflict. (Conflict is not necessarily counterproductive BTW. My 2 cents.)

Interestingly, DO's character is developing too. In the first several episodes, DO gently and successfully pushed TK and SW to be closer (for whatever reason). More recently, he's become a little possessive. None of this is coming out of nowhere.

I appreciate your comments, and I'm sorry I didn't agree with you much. It is great to arrive at the halfway point! 😉

TK is cute and refreshing. That's enough.

A sequel with with Chae Rok and Ho Beom as leads? From friends to enemies to famous celebrity couple. Maybe a few more lucid moments for Mr. Shim to help to bring them closer together.

I almost dropped this a few times. When a rom-com's main plot and subplots rely so much on binge drinking, acting drunk and disorderly, and losing memory due to blackouts, that's a sign the writing isn't great.

I probably kept watching because the lead actors and their chemistry were interesting enough, and the characters became more likable as they developed.

Also, this show provoked thoughts about mortality and the meaning of life, which was nice. I'll try to be more patient and self-sacrificing, maybe. I'd given up on becoming human, but now I think I still have a chance.

Technically, Da On didn't lie. They aren't more than "just friends" at this point, even if they privately like each other. More importantly, he said that only after So Hee put him on the spot and made him feel like being gay or bisexual is bad. She selfishly reminded him that his popularity will suffer because homophobia.

Assholery is in the eye of the beholder, perhaps

Nam Goong, this you?

Wow. Sounds like a 20-episode K-drama with no filler. 😂😭 Thanks for sharing with us. I hope you'll reconsider writing, just for fun.

He communicates everything just by slowly blinking his eyes. Not the most effective communication, but I love it!

Please tell me you have posted some version of your story on Wattpad or somewhere. I'd read it. 😃

Back to So Hee, the worst part of her character is the way she manipulates Da On by exploiting the rampant homophobia and his overwhelming need for popularity. This is extremely toxic behavior and yet so common, as you noted.

I understand why everyone here is annoyed by So Hee. Most assume she is incredibly dense, but I don't think she is. It's not unusual to believe that unrelenting persistence and a little meddling is a good strategy to 'get the guy' in the end. So Hee is not entirely wrong to think this way. In my personal experience, this approach actually does work sometimes.

Even so, wearing someone down or hanging around in the hope your crush will "see the light" is not the best way to build a foundation for a successful relationship. She should move on to someone else for her own sake.

Let's not read too much into Tae Kyung refusing the karaoke invitation. Tae Kyung is the only one aware of Da On's hardship, right? He knows Da On can't share his secret with anyone else yet. Da On needed a listening ear right away, so how could Tae Kyung have ignored that?

That thread started with someone saying they didn't want to be disappointed because Korean BL series "tend to straight-wash." You and someone else responded, saying this is not like that. I thought about commenting too. Unusual to see a meet-cute involving a dildo and (near) anal penetration, right? 😂

Nam Goong could get any of the other boys or girls if that's what he wanted. That's just how powerful his charm and perceptiveness are. 🤩

I thought about this first episode dildo scene several days ago when someone asked whether this show is straight-washed. You were part of that discussion, I think.

It's not that people are "so dramatic." This is a drama, so people want to understand and appreciate the characters. If Da On had no motive or reason for his actions as you suggested, the character would be boring, and no one would care. Anyway, I am not seeing people hating on Da On, regardless of their ship.

I've been having fun with character descriptions/motivations in my comments on this page. But I don't think Da On is seriously creepy or sinister or a sociopath. I do think he is emotionally manipulative. Emotional manipulation is fairly normal human behavior. Da On just does it a lot more often than normal. It's his M.O. or his defining characteristic.

Da On has an affectation. When he smiles, it's the opposite of spontaneous or natural. If you're familiar with anime, you've seen that forced smile a thousand times with all kinds of characters because that's just how anime is. In live-action, you usually only see that affected behavior when a villainous or suspicious character is trying to appear normal.

Another of Da On's emotional manipulation tactics is to create new and provocative situations as a way of drawing Tae Kyung out without taking too much risk. The cafe scene with Da On inviting Tae Kyung to eat cake might be a good example of this. Da On surprised TK by reaching across the table to wipe TK's mouth suggestively. Then Da On immediately took a messy bite himself, expecting TK would do the same to him. But TK realized that would be crossing a line, so he just pointed at the frosting on Da On's face, leaving Da On disappointed that his ploy didn't work.

Tae Kyung is the opposite of Da On, and that perhaps makes him Da On's greatest challenge. TK hardly ever does anything for effect. On the few occasions when he has tried (with Shin Woo), he comes off as incredibly obvious and awkward. That's a big part of TK's charm (and the show's humor).

Shin Woo and Tae Kyung, forever. They may be not long for this world, but their love will never die.