Lilli_

Exactly. I love the debate here and have literally become addicted to it haha. It's so much fun to discover all those cues in the drama, to interpret them and to read and discuss different takes on it.
There are some people who seem to be blind to everything and very biased, but those are very very few.
I'd also like to point out that some users here like to use sarcasm and it's possible that not everyone understands it, especially if they only look at a single comment and thus can't recognize that it's a personal writing style. Those comments are not at all intended to be toxic, on the very contrary, but I can imagine that they could be misunderstood.

Indeed. Besides the tree passing Do San and landing in Ji Pyung's hands, I didn't notice those things before. It's simply amazing how much one can read into this drama. I'm getting more and more addicted to reading and thinking about all those cues haha. I didn't expect it to be so much fun, I'm really glad that I joined the comments section here.

Oh, this thread perfectly sums up some of the things we've discussed here and even adds some more! Thanks for sharing!

Just wanted to let you know that I wasn't bored at all by your story. On the contrary, I love hearing stories from industry insiders since I'm super interested in the broadcasting field in general . And even if I weren't, it's always interesting to hear from insiders since you learn so many new things (this goes for all kinds of industries).

On a side note, even though my studies aren't going into this direction, I'd love to work in broadcasting as well later on, but it's just wishful thinking since I don't have the right background and I wouldn't even know what kind of job I could do there. Furthermore, I'm not a native speaker so I have another huge disadvantage. It's just that I'm really interested in this field and thus I'm dreaming haha. The profession I'm currently working towards is my passion but it's not something that earns you much money and can thus only be done on the side (if at all), that's why I need to find another job later and I have no idea what. But I'd be most interested in broadcasting. Anyway, sorry for telling you my personal story haha. I'd love to hear from you how you got into broadcasting if you feel that it's okay to share it online.

I agree with everything you said besides that Ji Pyung wouldn't have agreed to Dal Mi being CEO if he didn't knew her. She was picked as a CEO among hundreds of people during the hackathon since she has personal skills that are advantageous for CEOs. Of course this wouldn't make sense in real life, but since the drama has defined Sandbox as a playground that picks the people who are most apt for the role without considering their background, her being CEO is perfectly justifiable in the world of this drama. Though, it obviously takes a lot more to be a good CEO and Dal Mi should have realized sooner that she still has a lot to learn.

Very well said. There's also the fact that Alex was solely interested in recruiting engineers and not staff for marketing or whatever in the first place, but I believe if he had seen outstanding talent in Dal Mi, he'd still have taken her with him as well. And just as you said, if the same had happened to In Jae Company, he'd have hired In Jae since she has that outstanding talent. But she wouldn't have agreed to Alex' offer anyway.

I completely agree with you that Do San has obviously brainwashed Dal Mi into believing that she's more than she really is. She has personal skills that would make her a good CEO (otherwise she wouldn't have been picked as CEO during the hackathon) but she forgot that she completely lacks the field expertise and has to learn everything from scratch. Having personal traits that are beneficial to making a good CEO is by far not enough. I believe she came to realize this after the bombshell that Alex dropped since she is now ready to work under In Jae. This is great character growth here but I'd actually have loved to see more of her thougths process on screen. As always, the important things seems to happen behind the scenes.

Actually, we can't be 100% sure yet that In Jae will hire Dal Mi and I hope it won't happen since it indeed doesn't make sense. But it's highly likely that it will happen as it's convenient for having Dal Mi and In Jae rekindle their sisterly bond and for showing how Dal Mi has turned into a successfull business woman after the time skip.

I agree. Lee Do Hyun was definitely a revelation! Looking forward to his future projects. Btw, he has such a funny personality in RL. Have you seen some of his variety show appearances? He's basically born for this type of shows and I'm waiting for him to be cast as a permanent member in some show (hopefully a good one of course, haha).

The female lead never once considered the second male lead in a romantic way and also makes this clear to him. The confession scene of him to her and the way she immediately rejected him was very refreshing to see. Furthermore, the second ML later reflects on the feelings he has for the FL and comes to the conclusion that he misinterpreted them and they weren't even romantic. He was just thankful because she helped him out of a personally very dark time (burn-out) and made him find his lost smile again.

Haven't seen Dr. Romantic 2 yet, but I completely agree with the other two dramas, those are gems! But if she's in the mood for a fluffy happy drama, then I wouldn't recommend them since they also made me sob a lot.

If you like happy dramas, then I'd definitely go for Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. It's been a long time since I saw a drama with so many happy vibes. I haven't seen the latest episodes yet though (since I'm too invested in Start-Up and this comments section to watch other stuff haha) and it seems like people are a little bit frustrated with the recent turn of events from what I've gathered, but I think it's still very worth watching and most episodes just make you smile.

Edit: Oh and I wouldn't even consider the so-called love triangle a real love triangle. Spoiler below.

I just took a look at the relationship chart (here's the link if anyone else wants to do that too: https://www.soompi.com/article/1431388wpp/suzy-and-nam-joo-hyuks-drama-start-up-increases-the-intrigue-with-relationship-chart) and in romance dramas there's usually an arrow that goes from the second male lead to the female lead. But here we only have a line with a heart between Dal Mi and Ji Pyung. Furthermore, this line is right at the center of the poster. Can we interpret this as another positive sign?

Yes, you're right! At least Do San's name is obviously written with different Chinese characters than "bankruptcy" but let's still hope that this was the intended hidden meaning behind their names hahahaha. We know who wins in this case lol.

Hahaha, why listen to boring classes when all the fun is here lol.

Yeah, I'm in the middle of doing my assignments but I can't stop myself from coming back here every few minutes. This is a serious problem haha.

Guys, I just realized that the SST guys are talking about having a long vacation in the preview. So does this mean they haven't stopped working for 2STO after those three years and they'll eventually return to the US?

That would actually be my dream ending lol. I think we're all pretty sure that Dal Mi will still be hung up on Do San during those three years (while probably becoming closer to Ji Pyung in a friendship-like relationship). So let's start from there. To be fair to Dal Mi, she hasn't seen many of the sides of true Do San that we viewers got to see. So, after returning from the US, Do San will still be his old self but has learned to not be swayed by others' expectations and to show his real self to others (character growth check). While interacting with this Do San, Dal Mi realizes that she was hung up on a fantasy and she actually doesn't really like him for who he is. At the same time, since she got to know the real Ji Pyung during those three years, she realizes that she has feelings for him and they slowly start to build up a romantic relationship (we might only get to see the start of this blossoming relationship). Dal Mi told Do San the harsh truth about her true feelings, and after crying another river, he eventually returns to the US. Then comes in a cameo of a bubbly female version of Do San who's also an engineering nerd and perfectly understands his way of thinking. She starts working as Do San's assistant and we as viewers can imagine that they'll eventually fall for each other.

Another time skip during the last minutes of the drama (remember we were in 2016? 2016 + 3 years makes 2019, so there's still one year left). We get to see Dal Mi and Ji Pyung's wedding that has been foreshadowed all this time through the noodles they always eat together. Maybe we also get to hear news about Dal Mi being pregnant and thus can be happy for Ji Pyung for finally getting the family he never had. THE END

I completely left out the business side and In Jae in this wishful thinking but we'll obviously also get to see how Dal Mi becomes a successful career woman and rekindles her relationship with her sister. Just throw this in somewhere along my lines lol.

Btw, I thought about a theory that would make the most sense to me given everything that happened in the drama until now (including the preview). I'll go search for it (it's somewhere below) and repost it here.

I don't think you're the only one. I believe we're all still holding on to that hope but some suppress it and some not haha.
Have you seen this thread yet: https://kisskh.at/discussions/sandbox/57149-short-episode-analysis
If not, you should definitely read it. There are so many cues speaking for Ji Pyung and Dal Mi as endgame.

Hahaha true, just that I'm still in university but it amounts to the same lol. All my classes are online now so I can just camp here during the boring classes (if I don't need to actively participate) haha .

See my comment above with the quote.

"Men’s strong backlash against feminism is, as confirmed in American journalist Susan Faludi’s book Backlash, a serious global problem and will remain one until patriarchy’s dying breath. "

I just stumbled upon this quote from an article while working on an assignment and just thought that it fits so well into some of the discussions we had here haha. I believe you know what I mean, if not, I'll elaborate on it later. Going back to work now.

I really wonder if the Korean version will take the same route as the original and make the two leads (whose souls are both men) fall in love with each other, because in that case it would basically be a (hidden) BL haha.