songfalcon

The lack of Seokryu's pov is seriously getting to me 😭 As much as I love Seunghyo, I'm in desperate need of seeing more of Seokryu's internal thoughts and feelings. We've caught glimpses of it spread throughout the episodes and a good chunk of it in episodes 9 and 10 (which were my favorites). But that was it! I love her character and wish we could see more of how she had felt growing up and seeing her parents prioritizing Dongjin over her to then seeing Seunghyo making his way into her family. It would be no surprise that she would hate Seunghyo as he is now another person who is taking up her parents' attention and love away from her, yet she had grown to love and care for this boy more than she does herself. I also would've loved to see more of her life in the U.S. and how she had dealt with her depression. The same thing had happened to Haein's character in Queen of Tears as well and it just makes me upset how beautifully layered these two characters are but are not explored enough. I would also be lying if I said I wasn't bothered by the reveal that Danho is not actually Yeon Du's father. Having his character remain as a widowed single father would've held much more weight and sent a more meaningful message of being able to start anew and finding love again. But it is Korea after all so I guess I was hoping for too much.

And alas we only have two episodes left and I'm not gonna let this ruin my love for this show. Needless to say I have enjoyed and loved it through the entirety of its airing flaws and all. At the end of the day, I stand by what I had said about this drama before. The portrayal of familial love, friendships, and life's hardships were really well done. The simplicity and realness of it all was what had drawn me to it as well as the impeccable chemistry and synergy of the entire cast. I'm sad to be saying goodbye to these lovable characters and its cast once it's over. Hopefully Somin and Haein could reunite in another drama in the future with a more heavier and angstier plot since I am a sucker for those lol.

Dude he was so fine during the first few episodes with his hair up!! His hair in the recent episodes were not giving at all 😭😭 like that bowl cut is not it 😀 the way that they’ve done this to ahn hyo seop in business proposal, kim soo hyun in qot, and jun ho in king the land too!

It's getting tiring to read those comment honestly 😭 But personally, I don't even think the details shown were that little. Like how much more clearer can they be? Since when was it normal as friends to dress up nice just to see each other and gushing over the other's messages??

Hi, it seems as though you had skipped over the entirety of the first part of my post. I was saying that she has clearly always love Seunghyo as a friend, but because of her emotional baggage, it was difficult for her to realize herself that she had started to love him more than just a friend. And I also mentioned above the hints that have been shown within the show times where it was shown that her behavior towards Seunghyo is not what a normal friend would do. Loving or liking someone doesn't always have to be grand gestures, it's about the small and sometimes insignificant details that build up into something more.

I agree with you that I don't like how he completely cut her off. However, I do understand his rationale behind that. He has been trapped in this one sided love for so long that he even took a 6 hour flight from New York to Los Angelos just to see her. In order to get over his feelings for her, he needed his distance. Although cutting her off and even ghosting her was taking it too far considering they were friends first and foremost, this was what he was used to. He grew up in a family that was uncommunicative and distant, and is even more emphasized by how quick his dad was to judge his mom without ever confronting her. Because of the way he was raised, he didn't have the emotional capability to deal with his emotions in a more mature way and instead had turned to what he knows best which is to cut off communication and distance himself.

As for his comment to Hyeonjun I think it was just supposed to be taken in a more lighthearted manner. Hyeonjun is fully aware that Seunghyo has feelings for Seokryu and that he is also her closest friend so of course there is always gonna be a part of him that is protective and possessive of her. The fact that he had voluntarily taken Seokryu to the airport so that she could say goodbye to Hyeonjun and get proper closure was enough to show that what he said isn't what he actually meant. If he was controlling, he would've just let Hyeonjun leave without even bothering to drive Seokryu there or physically hovered next to them as they were having their conversation. And of course there is a hint of jealousy there too because at the end of the day crush or girlfriend, when the person you're interested in is interacting with someone else and not you, there is gonna be some sort of uneasiness especially if that person is or has been a love interest.

Your last comment is spot on 😭😭 It's easy to judge others when you're not the one in their position. It's so difficult to talk to people who fail to step out of their own shoes and examine a situation from someone else's perspective. It's easy to judge someone or in this case a character when we as viewers have the whole story and everyone's perspectives laid out for us. So of course we would know how to react in that situation. The characters however, don't. Why is that so difficult for people to comprehend??

I see it as that before, she had so much emotional baggage that she could not entirely comprehend her own feelings. Love especially love for a best friend is a confusing and unconscious thing. It's difficult to go from loving this person as a friend to then loving them in a romantic sense because it's so closely intertwined. It's clear that she's always loved Seunghyo, but because she had just gotten out of a long term serious relationship and recovering from her illness and depression, it's hard to relax and reflect on her own emotions and feelings. But yet there have been subtle clues that show that she does find a physical attraction for Seunghyo that transcends that of regular friendship. Instances where she would look at him while he was doing pottery, dressing up nicely for him, and even gushing over his antics and use of emojis when texting. It's these little things along with the feeling of his absence in next week's episodes that will push her to realize that she has fallen for him and had started to view him as more of a friend. It also helps that she has now let go of her trauma and baggage and is now more at peace with herself which allows her to have the emotional capability to reflect on her feelings compared to before.

Unfortunately this is one of the cons of the Kdrama world. Most male leads are portrayed so perfectly and unrealistically that these viewers let it overshadow their empathy and compassion. Love Next Door portrays a male lead who is rightfully confused and emotionally avoidant as a result of the environment he was raised in and the trauma he had suffered. But to them these are flaws that override literally so many other good things Seunghyo has done. And because he is not perfect and a whole green forest, he does not deserve to be the male lead.

Exactly!! If only those who say that there has been no effort or signs from Seokryu's side indicating that she has feelings for Seunghyo could see just how much he means to her. 😭😭 Our girl is in love, she just doesn't know it yet because of everything that has been going on in her life. But now that she has let out all her trauma, she can finally start healing without any burdens and have the peace to reflect on her feelings next week.

The realness and rawness of this drama just hits so deeply for me. Contrary to what some may say, I fall in love with this drama more and more by each episode and I absolutely love that it is not just a simple romcom. It portrays every character so deeply and realistically with flaws and imperfections that make them feel relatable. I remember reading someone's post in the comments below that in real life, no matter how bad or good a person is, they can never truly be a perfect green flag that reacts and acts exactly like they should in every situation. There are good people who have flaws and there are bad people who have some good in them. Not everything is black and white and not every situation is going to turn out the way we want it to. I've grown to love every character in this series, although it does not mean that I have not hated or disagreed with their actions at some point or another. But that's the reality of life. You can't like everyone and even if you do, there are going to be some points where you disagree with them and hate them at the same time.

One thing that I love so much that many might disagree with is the ambiguity surrounding certain characters and scenes that are later circled back to reveal the whole picture. For example with the exes and how they were initially portrayed. We were led to think that because their engagement broke off there had to have been something bad about Hyeonjun. It was then revealed that he was just not the right person for Seokryu and had also suffered and sacrificed for their relationship. He was good to her and loved her, but he in the end he couldn't handle the pressure of being with her at her lowest and said things that had hurt her. Similar to how we were led to believe that Tae Hui was gonna come between Seokryu and Seunghyo by scheming and trying to win him back. Yet she was shown with so much more depth and is actually a kind and mature person who never overstepped any boundaries. It reflects how we judge people in real life before we get to know them and teaches us to never look at things on a superficial level. At the end of the day we are all human, and we are bound to make mistakes. No one is perfect and no one is the same. Our experiences shape us and we all behave differently and have differing viewpoints in every situation. What's important is whether we can grow from our mistakes and reflect upon our actions so that we can be a better version of ourselves.

Ik, I just like thinking of painful scenarios lol 🤡

Completely agree. As much as I love KSHm the main reason I ha d started this drama was for KJW. She brought a vulnerability and rawness to Haein that I don’t think any other actress could’ve. She acts with nuance and doesn’t overdo anything which is perfectly in tune with her character. One of most memorable scenes of her for me in QOT was during the flashback of her following Hyunwoo. The innocence of first love was portrayed so well by her paired with beautiful cinematography and ost was just perfect.

What if there was a flashback of Hyunwoo singing to their baby when Haein was still pregnant 🥲🥲

The best drama I can recommend you is Mr. Sunshine. Everything from characters, plotline, soundtrack, cinematography is top tier. To sum the drama up in 3 words: “gun, sad ending, glory.” (Direct quote from the drama itself)

Yup. She's so misunderstood that it pains me. She loves Hyunwoo so much but because of her trauma she's unable to express it. Now that she's nearing death she's finally receiving the love she's been missing all these years which is unfortunately too little too late. Unless we get a happy ending.

I knowww. With only 4 episodes left I really hope they wrap up this Eunseong storyline and just focus on Hyunwoo and Haein's relationship as well as the rest of the family and how they deal with her illness.

Haein's relationship with her mom actually reflects a lot of how her marriage with Hyunwoo had failed. Just like Haein and her mom, she and Hyunwoo both had a good relationship until they were dealt with the loss of Haein's brother and their child. And in both scenarios, Haein's mom and Hyunwoo had been the ones to pull away from her because they were grieving. In the past, it showed that Haein has tried to reach out to her mom multiple times, but it only made her mom pull away further. Now in her marriage with Hyunwoo, she doesn't have the courage to reach out to him first in fear of rejection once again. Rather, she decides to wait for him to make the first move and open up to her again. That, coupled along with the guilt she must've felt thinking that she was the cause of both her brother and her baby's death caused her to suffer alone to the point of not allowing herself to mourn.

And no, I am not pinning the blame on Hyunwoo as we all can clearly see his reasons as to why he refuses to take the first step. He was grieving, and dealing with a loss like that clouds a lot of people's judgement especially if they weren't given the proper support. Hyunwoo appears to not have known about Haein's trauma with her brother, so when seeing her cold demeanor, he pulled away. From there, Hyunwoo was on his own in the Hong household. They were both suffering alone and grieving by themselves with no one to support them. it's sad to think that this could've been avoided if Haein didn't have such a trashy mother. And it also makes me wish we were able to get more of Haein's perspective on her trauma and childhood so that people would stop misunderstanding her character. Yes, she's flawed, but we're all a product of our environment. Haein's actions and feelings are totally understandable once you examine her relationships with those around her and the home in which she was raised in. She can't healthily communicate and openly express herself if that was something she was never exposed to.

I’ve also come across this theory and it seems to be the most popular one. But I also don’t see it happening in a logical sense. If Haein had some other illness then it could be a great theory. But the treatment she’s getting is geared towards cancer patients. And that would not be an ideal situation to be pregnant in because it would affect the baby and could raise complications later on in her treatment.

The only question is how??? lol Like I have strong faith in this theory, but I have trouble thinking of how he will save her this time especially from a terminal illness. Theories of him dying and sacrificing himself to save her or whatever don’t make sense to me because they all suggest he dies by Eunseong’s hands which has nothing to do with Haein’s illness. The only thing I can think of is that he’s the one who finds her a cure but then that’s kinda anticlimactic and unbelievable.

Woah woah woah, I never shifted the blame to Hyunwoo lol. I was trying to explain things from Haein’s perspective because it seems like you’ve misinterpreted her intentions as selfish when all she is trying to do is spare Hyunwoo from suffering at the expense of her own which is a completely selfless act. I only said Hyunwoo needs to tell her how he feels because it would help Haein understand that he doesn’t mind staying by her side even if it would be painful for him. By mentioning his silence, I am not saying he is not doing enough, but that it could be interpreted in many ways. Whenever Haein has told him to let her go and not do anything, he does not say anything in retaliation. And I am not blaming him for not saying anything. But from Haein’s perspective, it may appear as if he is agreeing to her terms.