CoNeTrIC

Every time I see ZYG with that dumb himbo expression on his face, I get annoyed. But I think I've found enough in him to see his potential. What strikes me most is his willingness and ability to challenge the conventions of his family and society. It's an unusual and underappreciated type of leadership.

I see this most clearly in the way he interacts with women. The other characters call him soft-hearted and weak when it comes to women. He just believes more in gender equality and isn't paternalistic.
— He empathizes and understands the injustice of the bird cage (even before he knew the details of his mother's situation). He repeatedly offers women their freedom unconditionally. (Compare and contrast this with SJG and his lil bro.)
— He insisted on wearing the good luck bracelet meant for girls. (Seems he rejects the idea of masculinity being defined by the myth of men having control over destiny.)
— He interacts with all the staff sincerely, knows all their names, and is their favorite.
—Most importantly, he's willing to expose his weaknesses and be vulnerable with women and to trust them based on his feelings and instinct.

I could go on. ZYG is a period costume drama character who behaves like a modern man. Like most real modern men (especially young men), he's ambivalent, angsty, and cringey. I can see how that rubs many viewers the wrong way.

I assumed these opportunities to find a marriage partner are rare. They are a reclusive sect and super cautious. Local women have fertility problems because of poison in the environment, so child-bearing women have to be imported. Also, Shangjue was not interested in women or in trusting anyone except his little bro.

I think GZY knew he wouldn't earn GSJ's respect and the right to be sword wielder based only on that agreement. That will happen only after the three trials. GZY was only concerned with keeping the pressure on GSJ to discover the identity of Anonymous. You could say GZY was being magnanimous and the "better man" in that situation. He's maturing.

That's not correct. The agreement in ep 8 was 10 days for the first trial (not all three).

My understanding of GSJ is that he resents GZY for being indulged all his life and coddled by the council of elders. I assume this resentment is what you meant by "heavily hinted" "villain origin". If GZY passes the trials, GSJ should respect that and see GZY as an equal at least. I can see only one thing that would undermine GSJ's loyalty — if he is made to seriously suffer from the Gong family's corruption and hypocrisy. In that case, his anger would be righteous and a serious threat to them. As you said, we will have to wait and see what happens.

Because he's a softie and not that good at talking

"Your comments about Lee Jun are very similar to the lines of dialogue that made that character so obnoxious and unsympathetic." Perhaps this rephrasing is more clear. I hope you have a nice life too.

I said that intern was jealous. I didn't say you were.

You sound like that jealous intern who got dismissed from the company, lol. The other interns worked at the level of an intern. Lee Jun rose above his position and contributed more to the project's success than anyone on the staff. He's the reason the project succeeded. l

3 out of the 4 interns got permanent positions. Did they all have sex with their supervisors? Second season to focus on the lesbian couple in the office, lol

There have been a lot of complaints in the comments about the amount of time spent showing the main couple doing work in the office. I don't blame anyone for finding that boring. However, the office work storyline was central and necessary to Lee Jun's character development. In the beginning, he was a failed former scrub idol without confidence and transferrable skills. I don't see how he and Choi Jun could have ever gotten together if he hadn't been able to overcome that. Everyone, including Choi Jun, needed Lee Jun to prove that he deserved his job. This show did a decent job of making the newbie's character development plausible. Better than Step By Step did, for example.

OK, about the second couple. I don't think I'm taking a leap in believing they had sex at Hyunjae's place after drinkin that bottle of wine. Then on Simeon's birthday, the real romance between them started (more than sex). It would have been nice if we could have seen what happened off-screen with these two, but then it probably would have seemed rushed and a distraction from the main couple. So I can understand why the production team did it this way.

You're right about how Simeon is different with Hyunjae (ex-manager). With Lee Jun, Simeon is like a cat playing with its prey.

I'm not sure through about Hyunjae. He doesn't seem like the type to "use" or manipulate people he's close to. His confession to Lee Jun would have been sincere.

Hyunjae's issue with Simeon is that he thinks Simeon is a fuckboi. I guess it would be rude to say that directly, lol.

I didn't think much about it, but I did start to wonder whether our three favorite BL gangsters are actually undercover police. That's the only way the school's cooperation made any sense to me.

I'm not interested in a debate either. You asked a question and I offered an answer. That's all. Carry on.

Flashbacks of the past show Maru had feelings for a very long time.

In the early episodes, was Maru thinking about how his actions affected Min Woo? Yes, I think he was. Maru thought Min Woo was enjoying the intimacy of their friendship. Whenever Maru asked if something was wrong, Min Woo had nothing to say. Min Woo never told anyone he wanted a boyfriend, so how was Maru to know?

I love it! Very creative. Thanks for the explanation. Fascinating insight!

Maru was never selfish. He just wants to be a free spirit and he wants to be liked by everybody. Also, he was scared and clueless about his feelings.

ChatGPT, tell me how to be as funny, ridiculous, and adorable as Maru. I can't figure it out by myself.

Your translation is funny. Please tell us more about that Taiwanese phrase (snip-snap).