leadtheprotection

So u r saying just coz the ml now has feelings for the fl, she should just throw away everything and magically start reciprocating while she's had a long time crush on her senior this whole time, is still grieving, became a guardian to a toddler overnight, and is still working a contract job trying to get a permanent role? Meanwhile the ml is alrewdy established in his career and has the liberty to give more (which btw he doesn't *have* to but he chooses to and thats on him, not her)? ls it right to expect hyun jin to magically reciprocate feelings she needs time to understand herself just coz the ml likes her? The ml is *choosing* to like her, he isn’t forcing himself on her and that's healthy. Likewise she never said she reciprocated and is therefore doing nothing outwardly to lead him on. Whether he gets "his feelings crapped on" is for him to deal with, let's pls stop trying to hold women responsible for everyone else's feelings even when it's not their fault. It's 2026 for gods sake😑

The ml is not tho? Hyun jin informs him every time she needs to work overtime which was anyway part of their contract which everyone seems to forget (that he takes care of woojoo when she's at work?) She's responsible for him on weekends, after work, every morning, literally every other time? Name one actual instance other than the time he got hospitalized when hyun jin *alone* neglected the child?

Y'all r just upset she isn't throwing herself at the "green flag" ml and is actually behaving like a normal woman in her 20s for once. Also she isn't giving sparkly eyes to the sml? This feels like something a man would say before taking advantage of a woman who verbally never said "yes"? He literally asks his coworker why she looked uncomfortable when he confessed which means even someone as clueless as he recognized her discomfort and awkwardness around him, yet the viewers can only see her "sparkly" eyes?? This feels like the usual bias against women for literally doing nothing wrong but still needing to emotionally carry the feelings of everyone else in her life coz they showed them first. And im sorry this isn't Victorian england, it doesnt work that way anymore. Hyun jin is fulfilling her duties she signed up for having to work twice as hard coz she's still a contract employee and not permanent (until ep 8 that is) while living her life. She didn't commit to either of them. Like her friend said, she needs to understand her own feelings first before she can make up her mind like everyone is rushing her to do. And if that takes 3 dates with the sml, then she has every right to do it.

This is one of those dramas u have to look beyond the surface to appreciate the character work. Ofc the writing is far from perfect and sloppy especially wrt the fl but there r sooo many subtle moments between the fl and ml right from the beginning that set up their relationship to the point where their eventual coming toegther romantically will feel earned and natural rather than out of the blue. They have a solid foundation of friendship after starting out as complete strangers and both r obviosuly attracted to each other. The sml is a nostalgic memory as far as the fl is concerned and refusing him outright without giving him a fair chance probably feels difficult for hyun jin because he was such a big part of her life for a while and especially when she's already admitted to wanting to be his "suzy" 😅

Idk maybe this is a difference in what counts as "romance" but i would rather take scenes with an actual friendship and natural camaraderie building up (like they do with taehyung and hyunjin especially in the second half of ep8) than two lousy "romantic" dates that seem so comically artificial (like they do with the sml). I also like that they're giving the fl agency to make her own decision regarding who she spends time with rather than policing her coz she decided to raise her nephew and has a housemate who admitted to liking her but she never said she reciprocated so then how is she leading him on?

Likewise, love how they're subtly setting up the ml's own agency in his feelings for hyun jin and him outgrowing his own abandoment wound and perpetual need to keep waiting when he goes to bed with woojoo before hyun jin even returns showing that he's slowly healing his own trauma too. He never forces his feelings on hyun jin and even tells her he doesn't expect her to reciprocate. Doesn't guilt her for spending time with another man coz he recognizes he doesn't own her or have any more right to her time than anyone else does. He's simply choosing to still like her on his own and that's beautiful.

Regarding parenting, I'd say both taehyung and hyun jin r doing what they can but both keep messing up from time to time which is expected and realistic. Again i fail to see how only hyun jin gets called out when taehyung has his moments of "neglect" too. Like when he dumps a crying woojoo onto the neighbors and goes to work, or when he wants to spend time alone with hyun jin so he dumps woojoo onto his father who is basically a stranger, etc etc. Again the show is setting up the fl poorly by giving a lot more screen space to the ml and woojoo together but if u actually watch the show and read between the lines, hyun jin is still holding up her part of the contract too. Every time she's working over time she makes sure to inform taehyung too. That scene in ep 7 where he's calling her and she doesn't pick up again feels deliberately done to set her up lol coz taehyung literally says in the same scene how hyun jin informed him that she'd left work and was coming home and *he* was only calling her to check up 🤦‍♀️

🙄

Pfft this is nothing like love next door. I love jung somin but even i couldn't sit through that snoozefest...u would be better off forming ur own opinion after giving this show a chance coz i myself usually hate most of these tropes, ml falling first and harder, love triangles etc etc. I mean who knows? Maybe u might enjoy it too, or not...but at least that decision will be ur own 🤷‍♀️

Am i the only one still enjoying this show lol? I loved ep 8! What an improvement from that last episode that felt like a filler...

Hyun jin crying about the insurance broke my heart 💔 the dialogues were perfect and the way they were delivered took it to a whole other level. Like "even if i forget everything about this drama, i will remember that one scene and dialogue" kinda level. I will also never understand how people keep dismissing roh jeong eui's performance, especially in this drama...*sigh*

The father really had me fooled there for a bit even tho i was skeptical of him in the last episode.

I loved that this episode had more of taehyung, hyun jin and woojoo together, navigating life and grief. Hyun jin supporting taehyung as he grapples with his father's return, the little things she does for him like getting him milk at midnight and staying awake conversing about mbtis together coz they both can't sleep...aaah these r the moments this drama does so well and when this show shines the most! I literally forgot that the sml had two dates with her in the same episode, that's how forgettable those scenes were compared to the complete family vibe with taehyung, woojoo and hyunjin. I really dont see how people r only choosing to focus on the two scenes the sml got with hyun jin when literally the entire second half is about hyunjin, taehyung and woojoo? Y'all simply choose to see what u choose to see huh?

Looks like taehyung will be moving out in the next episode. Things r definitely picking up and i'm really excited to find out what happens next!

Ooh lucky I'll be watching it with others 😭

Yess

Will u guys be bingeing this or watching it with other shows??

Ooh this is a super cool theory !

Thats true and i wish they didnt add those moments with the sml, but i still dont think shes not prioritizing the ml over the sml simply because with the sml, hes always the one initiating and she doesn't even reciprocate beyond the usual drama heroine deer caught in headlights look. But with taehyung she is shown to make an active effort to see him as a person and reciprocate beyond just being a fantasy so im still staying positive. I feel like today's episode might also have a confused hyunjin but i think she will finally have a reckoning next week🤞

But she isnt suddenly switching tho? R we watching the same show haha...after they "sleep" together in the earlier episode and taehyung starts seeing hyun jin differently, the drama shows hyun jin seeing him differently too which means they both start becoming attracted to eo at the same time. Taehyung might be more forthcoming in his feelings because of his core abandonment wound and perpetual want to belong somewhere, but hyun jin is clearly very affectionate and caring to him too? She roots for him to succeed in his work, celebrates his big moments, trusts him the most with woojoo and even her own secrets, cares about when he's hurt etc etc. And everyone seems to be overlooking the biggest difference in her interactions with taehyung and literally everone else in her life: Taehyung is the only person she allows to take care of her and take care of things for her! From her sister to the sml, she's always been about proving herself to everyone and needing to present herself as being perfectly okay always, but taehung is the only person she shares her actual worries with and constantly asks for help from. Ironically while we're all hating on her for seeming so dependent on him, he is the only person she's actually asked help from for the first time ever.
Likewise, there's so many subtle signs that hyun jin is falling too but is in a very emotionally overwhelming situation with the sml triggering her nostalgia and grief attached to the nostalgia, not to mention juggling a whole new job trying to become a permanent worker (her biggest dream), being a guradian to woojoo, losing her only family etc etc?

Meanwhile all the sml is getting r nostalgic memories of their college years together, him always initiating driving her home, work meetings he initiates where she's redirecting every flirtation with talk of woojoo and taehyung...

I agree we should be getting more obvious signs from the fl and her character writing isn't perfect, but I personally think considering they decided to go with the usual love triangle here, the show is handling the triangle and the fl's feelings more realistically than is usually the case with this trope. It would be unrealistic for her to suddenly jump track to a whole new person considering her circumstances but the fact that the show has been subtly setting up these moments where she feels the same for taehyung is obvious if u watch closely and with an open mind.

I think we're all underestimating how difficult it must be for someone like hyunjin to finally accept help and her doing that and showing vulnerability is the biggest sign that she's in deep with taehyung even if she doesn't realize it fully yet

While i agree the love triangle is annoying and unnecessary and that taehyung deserves a fully reciprocal relationship, i dont see how this falls solely on the fl (other than the obvious lack of depth in her character writing). Purely objectively, the fl/anyone for that matter doesn't owe anyone her feelings just because they happen to have feelings for her. It's for taehyung to realize what he truly deserves and choose to walk away if he feels consistently let down. I don't think hyun jin should be bearing the responsibilty for taehyung's feelings along with all the other things she needs to juggle now she needs to be someone's personal therapist too? That's just a double standard.

My only gripe right now leaving the plot as it exists is hyun jin not setting clear boundaries with either of the guys in her life who r obviously interested in her. She does it subtly, like removing her hands from his when taehyung touches her or redirecting conversations back to safe territory (woojoo and taehyung) when the sml starts flirting. But she needs to be more straightforward with where she's at emotionally with both of them (which will obviously happen in the subsequent episodes). Coz rn it's certain that she has affection for both of them, but most likely, neither is romantic in nature other than her being obviously attracted to taehyung while i dont think she even has that with the sml anymore. She only seems to see the sml as a wonderful nostalgic memory attached to her life when it was still good, someone she can't hurt or disappoint.

Also taehyung might have a more obvious growth arc but internally he's also still very underdeveloped as a character. The writing should be focusing on him overcoming his perpetual core wound of abandonment and waiting but instead it just feels like he's fallen back into the same pattern of latching onto the next person he will continue waiting for. Meaning, i dont think he's in love with hyun jin as a person yet either, instead he's in love with the fantasy of finally feeling like he belongs in a place with a family like he tells his friend.

So ya i said this before too, but both characters have immense individual growth left to do before they can meet as equals to have a healthy mutually reciprocal relationship.

This episode felt a bit like a filler even with the dad's entry...im still suspicious of him tho...didn’t the brother receive a text saying the dad was out of jail in the first ep? I wonder what his deal really is?

As always, hyun jin, girlie, take ur time. I know everyone and their grandma is rushing u to choose between three guys (third being woojoo), but u r what mid 20s? Lost ur only family, overnight became a guardian, still stuck in a contract job trying to keep ur head afloat? Of course u have better things to think about than choosing between guys. At least u show up when it matters. And if it takes one or two dates with either of the two guys to settle on one or the other or none even, I'm with u girl!

Life as u know it!

Yaa for sure, i also feel like he's totally into her and enjoys her teasing him lol...and the grandma mentions how he should stop taking care of her and even her granddaughters like he used to when he was her secretary now that he's the coo so maybe he still feels stuck in that role and feels uncomfortable seeing the sister differently but then he notices that she pretends to be alright when she's not etc and that will change their relationship slowly 🤔

So i just rewatched it and omg my bad it wasn't anyone else's face it was seonu chan himself lol...ig i got confused when the camera cut to him for some reason...my apologies again 😅

And woah these r all interesting points. I dont recall the trailer pic of him and his mom and the grandma's books actually. But now that u say it it's looking like they're going to pull a tragic ending for the grandma and maybe even grandpa coz he was already shown being ill :(( oh noo that makes me really sad coz the grandma is my fav character in the drama so far haha...

The animation switch makes sense true...he might have a difficult relationship with his mom or something along those lines and that must be related to why he studied engineering like u said...

But im still kinda confused about him running to the lab coz wasn't the bf already dead by then coz haran gets the call the same moment maybe minutes apart informing his death? Also why would he still keep using the bf's laptop if the bf wasn't still on vacation? So it feels like there might be someone else in the lab who he was trying to meet? Since like u said he hesitated, maybe there's someone he's fearing? Also seonu chan tells the bf they arent even that close for him to keep asking him favors so im wondering if he's being bullied or threatened somehow 🤔

Lots of questions haha and that keeps it interesting!

Same omg 😭

Yess agreed. But i do hope they dont drag out the secret too much, hopefully it will be revealed before the half way point at least. Coz haran will definitely be hurt and shocked to find out the truth, even about how indifferent her real bf was to her, so she will need time to process all that. And i totally agree with the second sister. Clearly she had to take up the role of peacekeeper in their family and it's obvious that could be burdening her too so it will be nice to see it explored well. Plus im excited about her pairing with the tsundere COO 🤣

That's interesting! Also did u notice a woman's face as he's opening the door to the lab right before the explosion in ep2?? I watched it like thrice that specific scene and i think it's a face we haven't been introduced to yet! So there should be something here too? Seonu chan looked like he'd been in a fight/bruised prior to attempting the jump and in some other scenes so there might be something really important with someone in that lab?

As for the bf, u r right that call informing his death was way too fast so the timing could've been coincidence but he still passed in some other way around then too.

Also totally random but how does he go from engineering and working in labs to being an animator?? That's interesting to me too...