Purple Orchids

I think it really should focus on Dalmi as this is still about her journey to success. It's kind of like Itaewon Class and the kind dad essentially passed the entrepreneur baton to his kid. And it's the kid that will achieve the success that the dad didn't get to see. My theory on it is that Jipyeong will invest in Noongil after finding out about Grandma's eyes. He and Dalmi's mom will help take care of grandma. Dalmi may go to America with SST, not to follow NDS but to achieve their dreams. Dalmi may go with with Injae to work on something. Maybe go back to school and get her degree. But either way, she needs to achieve something in terms of success. Otherwise this drama lost everything to the messy love triangle.

That was wildly entertaining to read. It somehow makes sense since Dosan is such a man child. I wonder if Sigmund Freud would have a field day watching this drama if he were alive. But then he's sexualize anything and everything lol.

Speaking of psychology, this actually reminds me of the four main styles of attachment in adults. Secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant. Probably why I keep saying this drama is normalizing and romanticizing toxic behaviors and relationships.

I totally agree Startup was not what I thought the drama would be about. I didn't expect it to be a messy triangle. END UP sounds pretty good. Another name to call it would be LIES/DECEPTION. I started watching WWW and it's what I thought Startup would be like but wasn't.

That's an interesting point about her word choice in the letter and her possible doubt if her penpal is real. Wonder if she doubted if he exists since they haven't exchanged anymore letters in the last 15 years. Yeah I also don't think she's naive and completely clueless but just wanted to believe Dosan so much that she cast away any doubts.

It seems she noticed for the most part. Maybe not everything but she definitely noticed and even asked him why he's helping so much. She brought up Jipyeong saving Dosan from embarrassment in front of Injae at the networking party. He would appear to be a total stranger to her at that time. And she wondered why he was helping them so much that she even wondered if he was interested in her as a woman. Which Dosan told her no.

I agree. I find it interesting how she keeps noticing him while he initially tried to stay in the background. She fell asleep in his car after she said she never sleeps in anyone's car. At least it shows she's comfortable around him.

That's an interesting one. Thanks for sharing.

Same here. I initially was hoping grandma would tell her since she created this lie that spiraled out of control. Grandma can explain the reason why this lie even happened and she could tell Dalmi about "good boy". But I actually like this way better.

Oh yeah, I totally agree. I just think it's part of the fun to guess if this intentional or coincidental. And if the writer or director actually made an effort to put in these types of details, we can appreciate them.

Although I thought that Dosan and Dalmi being endgame was cemented with the rooftop kiss (I find it weird how the kiss happened), and I was ready to just forget the Dalmi Jipyeong possibility, this drama keeps making me wonder. Beneath the surface tells a different story. Not trying to get anyone’s hopes up but just thought I’d mention some things I’ve noticed. Sure, it could be coincidental but it could also be intentional.

The birdhouse scene doesn’t look like something for the SL but it looks like something for the ML:

Leading up to it, Jipyeong finally admitted that he has feelings for Dalmi to grandma. Grandma asked him to please keep it to himself. He felt hurt and angry because he felt it is equivalent to kicking him to the curb. Thunder came rolling around and then rain started pouring down and grandma gives him an umbrella as he’s walking away. There is a zoom in on his white shoes. He is then in his car underground in the parking lot. Dosan is on the subway, also underground. Both want to tell Dalmi the truth but neither has yet to do it. Being underground is their current situation. They are both hidden and haven’t fully revealed themselves. Jipyeong is the one who wrote the letters but he is not the person Dosan. Dosan is not the person who wrote the letters but he is the person Dosan. Dalmi is initially standing in front of the subway station exit waiting for Dosan. But what happens? Dalmi took the wrong phone that morning so she has grandma’s phone. She sees the weird text and goes to the birdhouse instead. Jipyeong is finally above ground (truth to be revealed) as he’s reading the letter and the rain has stopped. And here is the thing about the letter that I thought was interesting. It really could’ve ended with something like thank you for being there during such a hard time in my life. I will cherish the memories of us exchanging letters. But instead, what does it say? I miss you. I think it’s time for me to find you. And Jipyeong looks up to find Dalmi standing in front of him. Dosan tried calling Dalmi but grandma is the one who picked up. And when he finally came out of the subway station, above ground, he’s alone. There is no Dalmi.

- Shoes: This drama loves shoes. Grandma gave a pair of new shoes to young Jipyeong while he was at the train station. Adult Dalmi can be found in the bathroom covering the imperfections of her shoes in the beginning. Jipyeong kept the shoes grandma gave him. Jipyeong sees grandma trying to tie her shoelaces and he goes to tie it for her. Dalmi’s shoe stepping on cow poo and Jipyeong got her a new pair of white shoes. The zoom in on Jipyeong’s white shoes as he’s walking away in the rain. It’s weird, I haven’t noticed much of shoes relating to Dosan yet. Maybe it’ll come or I missed something.

- Food: Dalmi’s father used to bring home fried chicken to the girls. It’s one of his ways of showing love. It’s the fried chicken that Injae and Dalmi fought over because Injae hated it and Dalmi defended it. It’s the fried chicken his dad was bringing home before passing away on the bus. I would not be surprised if Dalmi connects giving food as a way to show love and care. She did show favoritism towards Dosan with the belt fish when the four of them were eating around beginning of episode 6 I think. But then we see her bring Jipyeong food as a thank you and late birthday present. They eat together during Jipyeong’s confession. And she’s going to bring him porridge in the next episode. Regardless if it’s platonic or romantic, she cares.

- Hands: So Dosan asked Dalmi before what she likes about him. Dalmi brought up things that was really about Jipyeong and there was one thing that was about Dosan, his hands. But what does that mean? Did she just like those hands because she thought he wrote the letters? Or did she particularly just like Dosan’s hands? And later on what do we see? Emphasis on Jipyeong’s hands. She grabbed it to give him the incombustible bag. She grabbed it to put the mood detector on his finger. And there was that close up of it when he was setting the table during his confession and mixing the noodles. Coincidence? Maybe. Intentional? Also maybe.

It's all just interesting and the drama, despite being a mess, does keep one guessing. It could just be coincidental. But then, grandma's eyesight issue was hinted since episode 2 and it was a few times.

Me too. I thought he was so adorable initially. The haircut gave him a new personality. Disappointing.

Nice to know it's so appreciated. It was such a great confession. Simple, honest, and impactful. And he was so thoughtful and considerate.

I would be curious to see KHN's interpretation of the character Dosan. Dosan would be difficult for any actor to make likeable but it'll be interesting to see. The idea of KHN and KSH in the same drama busting out their acting chops would be interesting to watch since both actors have a background in theater. Plus, KHN has played a nerd before in Night Runners.

Yong Shik in When the Camellia Blooms is a character that needs the actor to handle very carefully. Taking any of his characteristics a little too far and he will come off as ridiculous. But KHN did it brilliantly and that's why the character is so endearing.

Yes! Actually, I find the San Trio to be pretty unprofessional.

I think dealing with both the misunderstanding about the suicide and grandma's eyes will bring out Jipyeong's vulnerable side. And that conversation they had isn't for nothing so I do think it's an opportunity for Dalmi to be there for him.

Wow that's pretty ridiculous. I think it's all just a misunderstanding. The drama did hint at it that hopefully the family didn't misunderstand about the suicide. I think this misunderstanding is an opportunity to show more of HJP's vulnerable side and Dalmi did say in like episode 6 that she would be the first person to show up if he needed help. In what scenarios could he need help? Maybe something like this? And finding out about grandma's eyes.

Same here! I've seen the writer and director's previous works but this one is so messy it actually got under my skin and I really want to know what happens next and what it all means lol. I hope they don't disappoint.

Have you heard of schizophrenia? Maybe that's something to look into if you are hearing voices...especially from a fictional character.

I was initially intending to respond to you but the response ended up being too long so I posted it as a new comment. I think the drama is all about deception and deception in all forms. That's a way this all makes sense to me and why the drama went this direction.

I find that this drama is actually all about deception and all forms of deception. Yes, we feel bad for Dalmi for being deceived by Dosan, Jipyeong, and Grandma. But if you think about it, Dalmi brought this whole thing into motion by feeling a need to deceive Injae. Essentially all of them lied and deceived each other. Grandma and Jipyeong deceived Dalmi into thinking that the letters were written by a boy named Dosan when it was actually written by Jipyeong. Dalmi felt the need to deceive Injae into believing she is doing well and working on a startup with Dosan. Dosan liked the attention and validation from a pretty girl and wanted to maintain the lie that he wrote the letters even when Jipyeong said Grandma is going to come clean about the lie. To keep her attention, he began to create his own lies. Injae lied about being the girl in the sandbox. Even her stepfather lied about what he really intended to hire SST for.

Jipyeong deceived himself by initially denying his feelings for Dalmi. Dosan deceived his parents due to the pressures of being a child prodigy. Even the parent and grandparent talks about what deception means. Dosan's mom sat down next to him in front of their home after he revealed he cheated when he was little. His mom said what hurts it not that you lied, its that I had to hear it from someone else. Grandma realized her lie was also wrong even though it was well intentioned and meant to make her happy but ended up hurting Dalmi more.

And I can't help but to sometimes think that viewers are also being deceived. Dosan is the ML but has the character and behaviors of a second lead. Jipyeong is the SL but has the story and character of the ML. Dosan initially in the first few episodes appear to be innocent, selfless, and tame. But in the following episodes, that initial impression began to crack as we see his petty, selfish, and even violent side. Jipyeong started out as the character who is all business minded and blunt. But as we see that his words don't always match his feelings nor his actions. He may appear harsh but is actually sentimental and selfless.

And even though it seems fairly obvious who will end up together in the end, I can't help it but to think that Jipyeong is our real ML and perhaps the deception extended to the viewers as well. The amount of care and thought put into his character by the writer, how much he's the center of the story, and the way some scenes were shot by the director just screams ML to me. Seriously, does that birdhouse scene look like a scene for a SL? Sure it could be coincidental but with so much of it, it looks intentional. That's a way I can make sense of this drama. Otherwise, so much of it doesn't make sense.