This review may contain spoilers
['The Best Thing'] Life is made by choices
"The Best Thing" is a lovely and cute romance between two well-matched actor and actress.[UNIT 1]
Shen Si-pan, who grew up among a harmonious family, is a cute girl. She's curious enough to analyze the prescription just because she wants to avoid bitter drugs. Even though she's such a lively person, she's kind of overshadowed. It's because of Yen, her boyfriend of 7 years. In addition to the stress at work, she was gradually losing herself after forcing herself to endure a bad relationship with him. But to put up with it, she ignores digging deeper into it and block the signal. The frustration in return manifests itself as insomnia.
He Su-ye, who met with insomnia, is originally a medical doctor of oncology. He's a person who relieves the aftereffects of tumor patients, so he's bound to be exposed to the boundary between life and death. Therefore, I think emotion control would have been essential. Because in order to keep someone alive, no matter what the outcome, he can't allow himself to be up and down. Anyway he relieves such internal tension by riding a skateboard. Like this, he's quite used to predicting needs, and as a result, the rest of the space became thin and inevitably lonely.
In such a static life, the lively and dynamic woman named Si-pan whom Su-ye meets makes waves in him.
Shen Si-pan has a clear goal and will to insist on the highest level if she goes to study abroad. However, this is not the case only with regard to Yen, probably because other people are involved in their relationship. Relationships are a whole world, so there were her parents who were checking on dates of long-term lovers. "I don't want to worry my parents. I want to solve the problem and then tell them."
To make matters worse, Yen tended to control the display in a direction familiar to him in order to maintain a sense of stability in their relationship. People feel more secure when they are with someone who is similar to them, so they want to adjust other people's behaviors, preferences, and values to what they are familiar with. Not only this, but he wants to constantly change her in front of him because of his abnormality and expectation in his heart.
In response, Shen Si-pan does not bother to reveal the things she persevered with for a smooth relationship with Yen. But as the conflict repeated often, burnout was gradually coming. She was just patient with her fight quietly and constantly, but self-consciousness prepared to hide deep inside whenever she became anxious by the reaction. Insomnia, or like hiding alone on a bench in the middle of the night.
This image of her caught He Su-ye's eye a lot. It was partly because he liked her, but on the other hand, there was also a part of his memory that was stimulated by her.
Su-ye's father said he loved his mother and eventually made her lonely. His father didn't know how to express it, and his mother still knew how to express it, and in the end, his mother died after struggling, and her son watched it from beginning to end.
"When I was depressed or frustrated, I came here alone and sat idly on a walk. It gets really quiet at night, so it's the perfect place to organize my emotions by myself. But when the sun comes up, it becomes noisy again. It's like everything went back to what it was." In fact, Su-ye grows up without much dependence on his father.
That's why Su-ye may have been even more attached to Si-pan. To calm her anxiety, he prepared a sachet of herbs, and because she hated bitter tastes, he gave her peppermint and licorice as gifts, showing his consideration without showing it. On that day, when even a formal farewell was rejected, and even the seven years of time were denied, Si-pan was saddened by her feelings, and unconsciously pursued the natural scent that Su-ye always gave her. She walked naturally in search of a familiar feeling.
The phrase “good timing” is often used, but perhaps good timing is when two people are on the same page. When they are willing to compromise for each other and grow together.
Si-pan works as a room manager at the hotel. She takes pride in her work, but sometimes it happens. There are days when she feels choked up for no reason. She does her work as usual, deals with people, but she feels alienated as if her life is not hers, just a part of the place, and the tears she has been holding back come out.
Time is fair, helping both men and women to slowly reveal their bare faces. As if Su-ye, who couldn't hold on to someone, was hugging someone. As if the chrysanthemums spilled out through the burst gap of the incense pouch, the petals poured out onto Si-pan. Sleepless nights, struggling to gauge the distance while pressing the like button and choosing words on the phone. Hearts that go through time to get used to each other like that. And the language of emotions that fill the blank spaces of the screen. Home-cooked meals, alcohol, cold fronts, and even the excitement that seems to notice the dishes on the table.
The way a man and a woman with different spectrums fall for each other like this gives the comfort of a simple and comfortable relationship. Their emotions are heightened, they breathe together, talk to each other, steal each other's gaze, show their will to steal their hearts, and the story quickly becomes sweet. The soft, strong, and uncomplicated agarwood scent that resembles Su-ye attracts Si-pan, and Si-pan, who approaches like that, notices Su-ye's ring and lies.
So Su-ye tries to appeal to her carefully but definitely, but Si-pan hesitates and cannot make up her mind. She thinks a lot because she wants to make a choice that she will never regret again. Si-pan is afraid that she will not be able to meet Su-ye's expectations, and that he will be disappointed in himself and leave her. Even if she thinks in her head that he is not that kind of person, the emotions that her body summons are different in color and clash with each other. Su-ye reads this frustration and tries to open Si-pan's heart again by going back to her daily life.
In fact, Su-ye also had painful memories, so he must have thought about it. A man who received birthday congratulations through a bank SMS, family meant that to him. However, time for a father flows differently than it does for a son. A father who was not affectionate to his mother in the past is now kind to others. Even though they came first. So if Su-ye is the only one who lingers in those memories, then who will fill the past?
The moment when the unhealed wound was torn open again, a birthday present from Si-pan arrived. A small and simple but sincere favor. That much is the one who cherishes him. At that moment, Su-ye regains hope that he will be able to create his own world in the future, not a universe created by someone else. So tomorrow will be better, and he just needs to prepare well for today. Enjoying this moment to the fullest with the excitement of imagining a happy future. In reality, it was almost like the time Su-ye had spent protecting Si-pan had returned. In that way, relationships are like mirrors, and when life hits rock bottom, they come to ones side as light.
[UNIT 2]
Those simple but happy days seemed to remain the same, until Yen reappeared and invaded Si-pan’s daily life. With his appearance, the anxiety that had been vague until then materialized within Si-pan, and the feeling of being overwhelmed by the cracks constrained her actions and thoughts, making her obsessed with helplessness and emptiness. That's why the desire to go out and hide more intensely collides with Si-pan.
The more this happens, Su-ye constantly reminds her of her daily life. If she is sick, he treats her, if she doesn’t like it, he blocks her, he checks on her well-being and updates her, but he doesn’t arbitrarily step inside the line. Since how that moment passes is subjective to each person, the only thing he can do is wave a light from outside, telling her not to stop. So that she won’t be caught up in artificial scents anymore.
"Yen, it's not because of any conditions. I'm just happy and glad. Happiness is something that is given and received." It's not that Si-pan regrets everything in the past. However, if the heart has cooled down, it can't bear even a little dissatisfaction, and if it's still the same, it helps it to endure. Since love is a question of whether or not there is a will, rather than whether it is worthy, she runs outward. And time flows again.
"If you ever give me a hard time, I won't hold on to you. We share it together. We share happiness and joy together." Su-ye made a promise as he hugged the running Si-pan. Lotus seed soup. The past that has passed sometimes stings painfully. Whenever it's hard, he tries to paint it with other happiness. It means that time has passed as the number of his members and the number of photos taken together has increased.
"I didn't know until you came. I mean, it can be fun to examine." Such a son must have been worried for his father. His father feels like he’s going back to a rough road because of his antipathy against himself. However, it's up to each one to choose and how to live. So the father and son begin to recognize each other separately. Next, just focus on the present when they want to get along well.
Therefore, this drama is a healing journey. "There are two emotions in the world that can be called romantic. One is the feeling of loving each other and the other is the feeling of forgetting each other. All we have to do is try to be with the person we love most, and forget each other with the person we love less." The spectrum of the story unfolds in a way that explores extremes.
People move steadily so that they don't stop somewhere in the middle. Laugh, cry, get angry, make up, fall in love, hate, forgive, and heartbreak. In the drama, Shen Si-pan and He Su-ye, who built a wall out of their own needs, recognized themselves, opened their hearts, loved, and made gentle reconciliation with themselves. Through those times when they gained the courage to be with others, they were able to learn about love and growth.
Since then, the drama no longer deals with each problem in a way that delves into it. Instead, the drama tries to show warm sincerity. For example, it focuses on the cute couple getting closer and becoming more precious to each other. They were a couple who understood each other and laughed at the little things that only they could laugh at. Their relationship was natural, comfortable, and full of energy, making even the simplest moments feel special. When they looked at each other without saying anything, the couple seemed to communicate only with subtle changes in facial expressions. They were a dopamine-boosting couple.
"To me, you are the most beautiful scenery in the world (= loving you is the best thing I have ever done)." Romance, like everything else, is a dream. So love stories also walk along the path like a dream. In dramas, you will see characters who have tried hard for love lose it, and you will also learn that love sometimes chooses people. That is the way the world works. No outcome is completely guaranteed, and life does not promise that you owe anything and that you will get what you want or be happy. Even in the midst of that burden, time goes by.
All love, emotions, and friendships have various aspects, so sometimes they have their own reasons to be hurt. However, life is too short to dive deep into, so it would be better to focus on the present as much as possible. It is also tight to love each other and find peace and happiness together. Dreams and love are not given by themselves and may not be permanent. But it's okay. It's enough to know your worth, to resist meaningless anxiety to the fullest, to know how to be happy with the precious things. Joy and happiness hurt just as much as sadness and pain. But while loss continues, neither love nor growth can stop.
"I've come this far, just chasing happiness." Despite its subtlety, the work "The Best Thing" is strong in proportion to its clear orientation. At the end, the pieces of emotion take their place, leaving an intimate aftertaste like a warm scent. Don't we need something light that makes us all laugh sometimes? Then you'll like this warmth.
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