Lol, I just tumbled into this drama. Came here to say pretty much all this. Saw your post and decided I don't want to spend more time trying to say the exact same things when you put it more aptly and eloquently. 100% agree. And that was a crap ending-they could have gone so, so many other ways.
Funnily enough even though I had to force myself to sit through 2 episodes of "When the weather is Fine", I am left intrigued by APOYM. No clue why. I love both leads in both the dramas. And while both dramas have a slightly slow pace, I found myself charmed by one but bored by the other.
This is what guilty does to a person. It eats you alive, while looking completely whole on the outside.
I am just thankful that Kang Pioh found a kernel of hope at the end of it.
9 years is enough time to carry the misery and guilt for a crime you didn't commit.
Also, what exactly is a 16/17 year old boy supposed to do when a friend goes missing in a foreign country?
It doesn't make him an accomplice. It makes him a vulnerable child who feels responsible for his friends disappearance.