Faket54

yes that's exactly it. Big break in a sense he is more known to a wider audience which should bring him plum roles in great productions/projects.

I don't know about the acting better part but NJH is doing great as well as Suzy. As far KSH goes he is a trained theater actor for many years and successful in that sector. From what I see, he will continue acting in theater while establishing his tv/film career which is amazing. The start up character is easy to love but most people started truly stanning him when they started to get to know the man behind the character. I highly doubt if he didn't have such a great personality so many would flock to him this way.

i see a few comments about people feeling bad for NJH? why? career wise he is on another level than KSH. At the end of the day, this is just another project (of many) for him and Suzy, while this is KSH big break (as a tv/film actor) to what I hope to be an amazing career that matches his talent. Believe me, KSH might be taking most of the attention from NJH for his role in Start-up, but between many endorsements and projects this yr, NJH is beyond good.

I did reply 1988 so dirty at first lol. I watched a few eps then dropped it but decided to pick it back up a few months later after I kept hearing so much about it. Now it's one of my fav k drama of all times lol

it's not about making a girl feel weak in the knees etc though. He was aloof a bit bc he didn't want her to feel pressured. Letting her know he likes her in a more heartfelt earnest way would not have helped the situation, probably would have made it worse to the point of her leaving the restaurant instead of staying to have lunch with him. He said it matter factly, explaining to her the reason they did it while not putting blame on dosan. He left it up to her without making her feel she had to choose or made her uncomfortable where she no longer felt she can seek him out for help.

I wonder if writer/director knew JP/KSH popularity would be this much lol. KSH said he was afraid he might be hated bc of his character personality, but obviously complete opposite occurred. It's really tough to get the same level of attention ( to some overshadow) as Suzy/NJH on a project but somehow he manage to do it. He is on the top 10 list of most talked about actor and he is the least unknown and I think the only 2nd lead. Regardless how start-up goes, I am so happy for him, he deserves it all. Im so grateful to my friend who sent me the 2 second clip of him smiling laughing in the car looking at dal mi at the bus stop acting cutely crazy, i was hooked then and decided to watch the series.

One thing I want to add about DoSan, he is going to change a lot after the time jump up, they've hinted at that especially in interviews. So I think we will soon get a more mature, confident and rich version of DoSan..I am looking forward to it and the dynamics it will bring.

I loved Sae-ro-yi story so much and was so invested in him getting revenge that I pushed through the series. I didn't like the female leads, It made me very uncomfortable Da mi character kissing passed out Sae-ro-yi without his knowledge/permission. I don't understand how that was ok. Im sure if it were the other way around, all hell would have broken loose. Overall the series was very good and Park Seo Joon as always was perfection.

I think nam joo-hyuk fans are a bit too insecure which I really don't understand why. Joo hyuk is so popular and is in such demand, to feel insecure (to the point of speaking badly about him) about SeonHo getting popular and attention for his role as ji Pyeong, is very immature. We all know who is the male lead here, but JP is such a great character it makes sense for him to get the same amount of attention as DoSan. Add to that the hotness of SeonHo and his great personality, the popularity was unavoidable. I didn't expect it to come so fast and so much, but it is so well deserved and he is so gracious about everything. I would say something similar about KSH fans too but I've mostly seen them criticise the character not the actor.

Exactly. Sometimes crying and saying sorry is not enough. While DoSan result to begging for forgiveness. JiPyeong matter of factly told her what happened while also uplifting DoSan to her.

so many keep saying this is like Reply 1988 which I think is completely false. Firstly, Reply 1988 we really didn't know who was the male lead, I thought it was Sunwoo for practically the duration of the series. Secondly, both taek and jung hwan were equally leveled in so many ways. At the end who Deok Sun ended up with though some might not have liked, you can understand and see the reason. Whereas start-up there's really no reason for her to end with dosan at this point - if she does it's bc they are simply leads. However, we do still have 6 episodes to go so I hope by then, if she ends with dosan it would make sense based on his actions. But as of right now, his woes-is-me act, needy ways, not focusing on why they are at sandbox in the first place, and unwarranted competition with jipyeong really makes it difficult for me to want him to be end game. I am rooting for Jipyeong to get happiness, if not with dal mi hopefully some other meaningful way.

yes, but his response is still in essence of who he is as a person. He would have responded the same if she was a friend. DoSan as the developer of the app response was more about keeping dalmi from being upset than actually fixing/updating the app.

I have to say, sml syndrome is brutal on this one. Giving JP such a great back story that is connected to DalMi and casting such a talent with unbeatable charisma like SeonHo...how do they expect one to not want him to get the girl? Anyways how I see it -DoSan needs dal mi for confidence, support and to be strong willed. But he is too much of a people pleaser and crumbles easily. DalMi is a survivor and makes do/take on whatever comes her way. She loves hard and want to help the people she cares about the most. I don't think she will leave Dosan, she knows his heart plus he is very fragile, I think she loves that aspect of someone needing/relying on her. JP not being open with his feeling while also being her mentor, sophisticated, very straight forward and appears strong/put together to her, I don't think does him any favors at all. Dalmi likes being needed, dosan offers her that.
One last thing - DoSan/JP reaction to dalmi responding to all negative comments about their app stood out to me and basically describe their essence in a nutshell.

Amateur's react 2 VoC emotionally whereas pros respond 2 it based on data- JP
If there other comments that makes u angry, just tell me, I'll take care of it -DS

ah come on he was a kid, thinking he is awful for what he did doesn't make sense. Also, the other kid must have had other answers wrong if he didn't win a prize or it wasn't tie. Dosan copied 1 answer that's it. What JP did as a teen was wrong it may not have had ramification but to do that to someone who showed him some affection finally was disheartening. I'm still rooting for him though and he is the main reason why I tune in but outside of dal mi all the main characters including grandma have flaws.

He really got me ...I'm obsess with him. The more I learn a and watch his interviews, the more in love I become. Imagine doing theater for most of your adult career to then decide to take on TV acting in your 30s having a bunch of seniors as leads still in their 20s etc..must have been tough for him but glad he stuck it through. Such talent and charisma is needed on TV.