ItsAMe

Well, it is a Korean drama made by Koreans for Koreans. In this respect, it makes no sense for the Koreans to take the cultural ignorance of the rest of the world into consideration. Africans in the southern part of Africa might not understand the explanations for US-Americans in the USA, and you will also have to explain certain things for the Arabic world, and so on. At some point, you cannot tell a story anymore because you spend most of the time explaining things. The alternative would be to tell some dull story that has been told a million times. In that case, everything that makes a drama Korean would be lost. Asian people speaking Korean is not what makes a drama Korean.

If you watch European content or US-American content, you'll also notice that you are expected to know about certain cultural things. For this reason, when consumating foreign media, it is usually a good idea to learn at least a bit about the respective culture. It makes it easier to interpret the story in the "correct" way. If you only apply your knowledge about your own culture, many things simply do not make sense because they do not make any sense in your own culture.

The word "blackmailing" makes it look as if he did that the whole time. That's not the case, though. In my opinion, it is very understandable that he is shocked and angry because his brother (and Ah-jeong) did this romance thing behind his back. Both Ah-jeong and Ji-han know what marriage means.

It's basically gaslighting to deny people expressing negative emotions making it look as if their negative emotions were invalid and behaviour inappropriate despite having been betrayed.

I also watch this drama for the scenario. I find the conflict still very intriguing despite the poor execution. :)

I would agree with you if the story was different.

We have to keep in mind that the writers try to sell Ji-han and Ah-jeong as a sweet couple. However, unlike the MLs in other romance dramas, Ji-han does some questionable stuff people usually would not forget so easily: He chases after his brother's financée behind his brother's back. If Do-han was straight, I doubt that "♥♥♥Ji-han&Ah-jeong♥♥♥" would ever work.

It would also be a problem if Do-han was more charismatic because if he was, and if he was portrayed as a really good friend for Ah-jeong, most people would probably hope that Ah-jeong stays with her best friend instead of starting a relationship with a toxic guy.

Do-han lacking charisma makes it easy to dispose him. And since there are no alternatives left, people are happy to accept Ji-han.

The actor does not seem to have any charisma at all. At least in my opinion. To me, your initial comment sounds as if he played the gay character with little charisma on purpose to push some agenda or because he doesn't like to portray a gay character while all other actors portrayed gay characters with much more enthusiasm.

Do-han is obviously supposed to have "little charisma" because, while being the ML, he is not supposed to be mistaken for FL's potential love interest. It would be difficult to sell the straight couple if there was a charismatic gay guy right next to FL because the other ML does some questionable things people usually would not ignore so happily if there were some better alternative.

A brief reminder: Ji-han chased after Do-han's fiancée behind Do-han's back because he didn't agree that Do-han marries a woman he didn't approve/select.

This started before Ji-han learnt that his brother is gay, so we can assume that Ji-han thought that Do-han and Ah-jeong were in love with each other. If not for love, it would not have made any sense for a straight Do-han to marry Ah-jeong who is poor and a struggling actress.

If Do-han were more charismatic, most people probably would have felt that FL should rather stay with Do-han instead of starting a relationship with his shady brother.

It is absolutely not hard for gay characters to lack charisma. To put it simply, "gay" means that a naked penis prefers to be near a naked penis. I have yet to meet a man who increases his charisma with cockfights. Real life is not a video game.

The negative comments don't have anything to do with Do-han being gay. You can see comments like that in basically all dramas. If another hot guy shows up, you always have lots of people complaining if the first guy does not step back and applaud if FL and the new guy start a relationship. They call the first guy, who usually happens to be (a bit) uglier than the new guy, selfish for not becoming an NPC.

You also see that in dramas where some "unlikeable" female dares to make the hot ML's life difficult instead of supporting him without scrutinising anything. The good looking female police officer who was praised in the first episodes is suddenly "a selfish bitch" despite not having changed at all and despite doing her damn job as a police officer. The ML is a criminal, by the way, but people on the internet excuse his behaviour because he's so hot. See the comment section of a random thriller/mystery/action drama with a hot ML. In romance dramas, it's the same but with the male characters.

If you read the negative comments regarding Do-han carefully instead of skimming them and filling the gaps with your own experience and stories, you'll notice that many people hate him because he's blocking the latest hot couple on screen, and that those people want simple solutions for complex problems, and to see some cheesy romance even if it does not make much sense.

I neither blame Do-han nor Ah-jeong. Do-han could not have known about Ah-jeong's feelings regarding his brother because she never told him. They had a contract, and both of them are not ignorant but know what society expects of married couples (no cheating), and they are also "good people", so they know about each other's expectations.

Ah-jeong's mistake was that she didn't tell him that she was interested in Ji-han after she agreed to marry him. Do-han had no chance to discuss the problem with her, and to find a solution. It is understandable that Do-han is angry.

You are right, though. Nobody is the perfect innocent victim here as they all made some morally questionable decisions.

The worst character is clearly Ji-han, in my opinion, because he decided to chase after his brother's fiancée behind his brother's back just because he didn't want him to marry Ah-jeong. He not only betrayed his brother but also had bad intentions in the beginning.

Who cares if Do-han is selfish? He's at least honest about the whole fake marriage. He discussed that with Ah-jung, and Ah-jung will get compensated. He is as selfish as Ah-jung who wants to have the money. I don't see any problem here.

As you wrote, Ji-han is the worst character here because he acts as if he was morally superior, flawless and honest. The funniest part was when he complained that FL did not tell him that Do-han was gay. Pinching his brother's fiancée, especially behind his brother's back instead of telling him, but expecting that his brother or, worse, his brother's financée reveals all secrets about his brother. He's such a hypocrite.

Well, it does matter if Ji-han dates a married woman, especially his brother's wife. It is already difficult to be part of the family who either hate them or denies their existence. Only the grandfather accepts Do-han and his brother as grandchildren. There are many angry people around him because he "dared" to not just accept them as grandchildren but to also give them a good position in his company. If the double life was revealed, the situation would be even worse because people would say: "See? The cheater's offspring are cheaters themselves. They cannot be trusted." As powerful as the grandfather might be, nobody would accept a boss who cannot be trusted.

The other thing is jealousy/envy. Do-han might not love Ah-jung like a straight man would but he also does not want to share her, especially not with his brother. If you had a husband and you broke off because you don't love each other anymore but didn't divorce for some reason, how would you feel if your ex-boyfriend suddenly ended up with your sister, brother, single mother or father? (Of course, this is a fictional "you", not the actual you.)

If Do-han and Ji-han were not brother but friends, your idea could have worked. In fact, that kind of fake life is still a typical life for gay people in many parts of this world.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got confused after episode 8. I checked multiple times whether I accidentally skipped an episode because of the conflicts that did not make much sense, and the sudden romance as if Ji-han and Ah-jung had always been a couple, none of them questioned that she was actually his brother's fiancée but then Ji-han started to act morally superior?

Personally, I enjoy the gay characters. It's refreshing compared to the typical clichés in Western media where characters including actors are supposed to be perfect and morally impeccable representatives of large groups nowadays. In this drama, Do-han and his ex are obviously individuals, not representatives of "the gays" acting like "the gays" to promote that "the gays are very good people who are now on TV" which encourages the mentally ill creeps to harass the actors, writers and the society in general even more because it is easier to find a flaw/mistake when somebody claims to be the ambassador of a whole group on screen.

Do-han and his ex have at least an interesting and somewhat meaningful conflict going on. Unlike the straight couple.

lol, what's "acting gay"? I actually enjoy that K-dramas show normal gay people, not "gay performers". In real life, you cannot tell if somebody is gay unless they act gay on purpose. Only a subset of gay people's personality is "being gay".

Do-han's ex looks hurt, maybe jealous. The actor does a good job portraying this shady(?) character who seems to be taking vengeance for having been deserted by Do-han in a moment when he needed Do-han. The main problem with him is that he only appears once in a while for a few seconds, and does not have any storyline fleshed out. There is no progress.

I agree with you regarding the barista storyline, though. It feels very forced because those characters have no personal life. We know basically nothing about them. They are just there performing some cheesy romance story but it is not clear why we should care about them. This is indeed annoying.

The drama was made by Koreans for Koreans. In Korea, to keep face is very important. Also, being homosexual is still a big stigma in Korea.

Do-han knows exactly that he cannot live as a gay grandson of a chaebol. He knows that his position as a grandson is at risk because the grandfather seems to be the only one who recognises him and his brother as a member of the family. The other family members constantly look for reasons to get rid of him and his brother. He could probably accept the consequences if it were not for his brother. Without a brother, he could simply go back to New York where nobody cares about him being gay.

Marrying somebody of the opposite sex has been a solution for gay people for millenia. If they were lucky, they could at least live a gay life in secret. This is what Do-han tries to do. If he marries his best female friend, the grandfather not just gets a "straight marriage" but he also cannot impose some other woman on him. Do-han's best friend knows his secret and won't be a burden. Also, if he is married, he instantly gets more freedom and could, for example, go to New York where he could continue his gay life.

Him wanting to get married for his own sake is not a secret. He told that Ah-jung, who was single at that point, and she accepted. The fake marriage is not just for his own sake, she will get a lot of money. It's business.

The grandpa knows exactly that the rest of the family will have a reason to get rid of Do-han. They would be able to hurt Do-han. Furthermore, the grandson's already have flaws being the children of a cheater, which makes it difficult for the grandfather to establish them not just within the family but also within his company. He also knows that nobody will accept a gay boss, let alone a gay boss who happens to be the child of a cheater, so Do-han will never be able to work for grandpa's company. As the grandson of a chaebol, Do-han cannot be a in a lesser position because that would make the family look bad, so it's all or nothing. The grandfather's personal feelings aside, he obviously tries to help Do-han. Given that's correct, it explains why he suddenly agreed to let Do-han and Ah-jung marry instead of insisting on Chae-won(?).

In this respect, the drama makes sense to me.

I don't get why Ji-han acts as if he was morally superior while it was actually him trying to pinch his brother's girlfriend who his brother is about to marry. Then he gets upset because Ah-jung didn't tell him about Do-han being gay and about the fake marriage. I find it confusing that nobody disagrees with him except for Do-han who briefly complained.

They do have the budget but it is easier not to pay the nobodies than pay the rich superstar less. It's one of those industries where people can easily be exploited because being an actor or writer is a dream for many people, and many people are willing to do everything to live their dream. The strikes are successful only because the good writers and good actors join. Otherwise, the studios could easily replace everybody if it was just about "some writer" and "some actor". There are probably lots of fans who would happily work for free just to be near their favourite actor.

I'm sure we will get the answers to our questions. If not, that would be bad writing because, as you wrote, the ambiguous scenes were obviously done on purpose and require a dramaturgical denouement.

I think the last scene implied that the romantic relationship between them is about to start.

Personally, I don't care if women are looked down upon. I also (secretly) look down upon men who get into a relationship with a new woman right after their beloved(?) wife died. I know two men in real life who did that, and basically all people around them found that at least "suspicious". The own family is irrelevant in this case because most parents support their children no matter what.

While I don't condemn anybody (given they didn't cheat), I just don't find it romantic if they get into a new relationship "too early". A sudden time skip in the drama would not be the same as a romance growing for multiple episodes. A rushed start for a new love thanks to a time skip would rather feel awkward, in my opinion.

I also think, with the time skip solution, other people would have complained that women were always obliged to accept if some hot guy offers a relationship. Or that women were not allowed to mourn or be single mother for a while but that they had to be ready to resume their role as a "some guy's happy darling" as soon as possible.

No, my arguments are not that it should be mandate for tv shows to promote "healthy eating" or "healthy drinking habits". I wrote that they should show "excessive drinking habits" less. That's a difference.

If you don't understand what I tried to express, here is an analogy: Back in the days, it was relatively normal to rape and hit women in movies/tv shows. It was not a big deal in the media. See, for example, Marnie. If your interpretation of what I wrote was correct, I would have said that all tv shows should now be obliged to show boobs, petting and lovely vanilla sex with all details to teach people a lesson. What I actually wrote was (applied to the analogy) that MLs should hit and rape less.

I usually drink less than 100 ml of alcohol per year. That's about 3.3814 oz but certainly not nothing. I don't care if other people drink more than I but I would if my country suddenly decided that it was fine to shit on a church pew or to run over people as long as you are drunk. I've just found an article from 1998. Back then, if you killed people while DUI, you got 5 years in prison in the WORST case.

In my country, it is encouraged to "do the maths" to legally drive under the influence. I know lots of people who are relatively bad drivers in general and who also drive after 2+ bottles of beer. They often cannot understand that I will not drink any alcohol if I drive, and that I also don't take a ride with a driver who drank. We discuss that every single time.

A few decades ago, it was also normal to see people drinking, then driving or even drinking while driving on TV. Old people still jokingly say that beer was no alcoholic beverage, and they often drink multiple bottles per day from 12 p.m. until they go to bed. Until recently, this typical drinking habit has not been considered a problem, and people thought that alcoholism meant that you are violent, unemployed, homeless, sick and/or disabled due to alcohol.

In Korea, being drunk has been/was a welcome excuse for all types of crimes (rape, killing people, running people over with your car, and so on).

I watched quite a few dramas in which (rich) people drank alcohol, then ordered a substitute driver. This is a good example of what I meant. There is a problem (being drunk, need to go home), and there is a solution (taxi or a substitute driver for one's own car).

For the problem with the excessive drinking with your superiors and/or collegues, you rarely see a solution. When people drink in dramas, the drunkest among them (who often happen to be said superiors) always suggest to go to the next pub, then the scene fades out.

I'm not an US-American, so I usually don't do anything about anything. I also don't feel strong about product placement. US-Americans really need to learn that complaining/discussing on the internet does not mean that people feel the urge to join the infamous cancel culture. If I felt that I could change something, I would priorise more important problems such illegal immigration in my country. If people die early due to alcoholism, alcoholism could be a solution for another important problem that has been known for decades: the pension system. As you can see, I'm not generally against product placement, not even alcohol. ;)

I agree with you. If the ex is indeed innocent, reconciliation would be great.

However, by "stalker ex", I don't mean that the ex entered DH's studio. I meant that he seems to be roaming about in the environment of said studio, and that he approaches DH's family to tell them about DH's secrets. Especially the latter is creepy, in my opinion. If my ex did that after our relationship ended, I wouldn't even want to be friends with him anymore because he could not be trusted.

You are right. The ex very likely suffered as well, and Do-han left him in a vulnerable moment, so I understand his feelings.

However, I don't see that Do-han and his ex can be in a healthy relationship again. At least, it would be unlikely in real life because people tend to be resentful for a very long time. I do hope, though, that they can sort out any misunderstandings and remain friends (or something like that).

I'm looking forward to the remaining episodes to see if you are right regarding the grandfather. :)

No, not the petty stalker ex, please. Do-han seems to be a sweet guy. He deserves happiness, not a toxic relationship. The ex is not the only gay man in Korea.

Why does poor Do-han have to be with the ex-stalker to perform some BL action? He deserves someone better, not some toxic relationship. It's not like the ex-stalker is the only available man in Korea. ^^