Dayanknite

독수리 5 형제 Eagle Five Brothers, also know as Gatchaman (Japan), Battle of the Planets, G-Force, and Eagle Riders (US, etc.) 😅, is too dated and obscure a reference for most of the western audience, Power Rangers makes more sense even if it's not what's actually being said.

I saw in another comment that you're on episode 9. Don't worry, by episode 12 you'll know who to root for. The SML will disabuse you of the notion that he's worth rooting for.

Ah, yes. The masculine need to insist that any drama where the male lead isn’t some aloof d!ckhead knee deep in gash while the female lead cries that he’s not knee deep in her gash is badly written. Yup, makes total sense.
I also don’t know why you’re insisting this male lead, and apparently every other male lead in k-dramas are virgins. The male lead definitely slept with the female lead when they were together, you just didn’t see it because there precisely as much sex depicted in Asian dramas as there are in western mainstream dramas, i.e. none if it’s for a pg-13 audience.
If every episode of this and every other romance k-drama is making you this mad, why the hell are you still watching?

"Cuckiest"? You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.
I won't defend Sangdo he's a jealous entitled loser. Men like him absolutely exist.
A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife. The leads were never married, nor were they together, when FL tried dating other guys.
People who use cuck unironically are a serious red flag. Just go back to your Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson podcasts.

FL and ML's mom did not have the same amount of agency in their decisions, the mom just decided "I'll join you in the dive", ML's dad threatened to cut his son out of his life if FL didn't break up with him. To describe both as being "nudged" by other people is disingenuous at best.

FL was clearly shown to be upset at the break up, and has stated she never came back because she couldn't face him. Her sisters said the 4 guys she dated in 8 years were a string of losers, and it's clearly because it was a vain attempt to move on, but her heart wasn't in it. Despite career success, she had no real personal life in Seoul.

ML wasn't "waiting" for her to come back, he just chose to not move on, those are not the same thing. SML is definitely pathetic .

ML and his dad were not the only ones grieving the mom's death. The two moms were best friends, who agreed to co-parent each others kids. ML's mom was like a second mom to FL, don't pretend like FL's family weren't also grieving then loss given how close the families were.

As a result of that loss ML chose to put everything into protecting his loved ones, his dad chose to wallow in his grief and pain for 18 years. Even in the 8 years the couple were broken up it doesn't seem like ML and his dad have much of a relationship, because his dad is living in the past. He won't let go of the pain, because he's afraid that means letting go of his wife.

"The drama puts the FL's suffering at the center, which makes no sense to me. She is not the one with most trauma or one who suffered most." It's not a competition, this is not the Trauma Olympics, trauma is not an excuse for abusive behavior. FL's younger sister lost her husband and had to raise her daughter alone, you don't see her spitting at people and holding on to never-ending grief. Instead she chose to live for her daughter, she chose the now and the future. The dad is living in the painful past and dragging other people into his grief.

To the people complaining about Sam-Dal's response to the false allegations, I don't think you understand the power of public perception and online outrage in Korea. Just look at the cases of Park Hye Soo and Lee Sun Kyun.

In 2021, at the height of the school bullying scandals, Hye Soo was accused by a former classmate of bullying and assault. She denied it immediately, people didn't believe her, called her shameless. Soon after a report came out that Hye Soo had been the one bullied in school, and her accuser had been her friend during school. It's only going to court now. Her show, which was about to release at the time, was shelved for over a year. She's had 1 project since.

Lee Sun Kyun was being investigated for drug use based on a tip off, and that's use, not dealing. I first heard about this case from a Korean girl, and it was clear she had decided he was guilty. Without an arrest ever being made, just an investigation, the stress and public shame drove him to suicide.

Koreans have very little tolerance for even a hint of injustice, or rule breaking.

Sam-Dal will make her glorious comeback, under her own name, after Eun-Ju crashes and burns under the weight of her own ego, insecurities, and lack of talent.

I was in/on Jeju 2 months ago, it has 2 large cities, some smaller towns, and lot's of little villages and neighbourhoods like the ones in this show dotted around the coast. If you can afford the time and money to get there, it's definitely worth a visit, absolutely beautiful, delicious food, and if you like hiking, so many great trails. Set aside a whole day if you want to hike Hallasan.

It's genuinely mind boggling. Multiple people complaining about 40 virgin men. The characters aren't quite 40 yet. And the ML and FL were definitely knocking boots in Seoul before their breakup.
Just wait until the younger sister starts dating dolphin guy, they'll complain that he's been cucked because he's raising some other dude's kid.

The amount of projection in this reply is insane. ML and FL were in their 20s when they dated in Seoul, they absolutely forked before they broke up. I've seen elsewhere that the story is loosely based on an old Jeju legend, which is the basis for FL and her entourage of male friends.
Only 2 of the guys have feelings for her, and I'm not convinced ML wants her back yet. SML is definitely a spineless simp. 1 of the other guys in their group is married and has a kid of his own.
We're 6 episodes into a 16 episode series, there's plenty of time for lots of character development. ML seems to take care of everyone, he got one of his friends a job, and looks after the village dog. He's always looked out for her, so he's not technically chasing her yet. She'll likely realise she pushed everyone away, and will be the one to pursue him.
Neither of them will likely stay in Jeju, she'll get her career back but learn not to exclude her personal life, they'll get back together, and he'll take the job in Seoul.

He didn't dump her because she moved to the city, he lived in Seoul too. From context in the last couple of episodes, it's clear she prioritised work above all else, probably more than him too, when she wanted to study abroad he likely decided that was enough, why be in a relationship with someone who has 0 time for you.
He dumps her, moves back to Jeju. He wasn't waiting for or expecting for her to return. The reason he wouldn't take the Seoul job is because he didn't want to run into her. While he clearly isn't over it, and didn't date, I don't know where you're getting the impression that he was "keeping pure".
The break up clearly hurt him a lot more than it did her, he probably just gave up on dating because he didn't want to be hurt like that again. FL returning is the catalyst for him to open himself up again. The recent events will remind FL that prioritising work to the exclusion of everything else is going to result in shallow transactional relationships and nothing real.