This review may contain spoilers
Toxicity Disguised as Depth
What I am going to say is completely my opinion, and I am not going to sugarcoat anything.
I have watched a large number of dramas—not just Korean, but also Thai, Chinese, and Japanese dramas—and this is genuinely one of the worst dramas I have ever endured. Not “disappointing.” Not “overhyped.” Bad. You cannot watch this drama in peace even for a single episode. The writers seem obsessed with injecting negativity, chaos, emotional manipulation, and frustration every few minutes, as if silence or stability would kill them.
The story is unnecessarily overcomplicated, poorly paced, and filled with pointless misery. Worse, it does not justify the premise written on MDL at all. What is promised in the summary and what is delivered on screen are two completely different things. Any initial intrigue fades quickly and is replaced by emotional torture disguised as “depth.”
The real reason this drama collapses—and I mean completely collapses—is the second lead storyline, more specifically the Second Female Lead (SFL).
Because of this character, the entire drama becomes unbearable. I have seen toxic characters before, but this one stands out because of how shamelessly the narrative protects her. She is dysfunctional, selfish, insecure, manipulative, emotionally irresponsible, morally hollow, confused, and relentlessly bitchy. And no, this is not “complexity.” This is a badly written character constantly excused by the script.
This character proves something important: a bitchy character does not always need to be loud, scheming, or flamboyant. Sometimes, bitchiness is simply a series of selfish choices made over and over again, with zero accountability.
Let’s start from the beginning.
She was first with the Male Lead (ML). Then she moved on to the Second Male Lead (SML). But even while dating the SML, she kept lingering around the ML whenever it suited her ego. She never respected boundaries. She never made clean breaks. When she returned, she went straight to the ML first—not because he approached her, but because she needed reassurance that she was still wanted.
That already tells you everything about her.
She is not “conflicted.” She is emotionally greedy.
She cheated on the SML for more than an entire year. Let that sink in. Not a moment of weakness. Not an impulsive mistake. A full year of betrayal. And after that? She breaks up with him and runs to New York for work, chasing career, status, validation—whatever suits her at the time. The behavior is textbook: when stability feels boring, she chases excitement; when excitement feels unstable, she crawls back to safety.
She dates the DK guy, benefits from him, and once she gains fame and realizes she needs emotional security again, she casually dumps him and returns—as if she didn’t destroy someone in the process.
And what does the drama do with this year-long betrayal?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
A man gets cheated on for over a year, and the emotional impact is treated like a minor inconvenience. The SML barely gets space to feel anger, betrayal, humiliation, or grief. The drama robs him of dignity and hands it to her instead. It is insulting—not just to the character, but to anyone who understands what betrayal actually does to a person.
She comes back, sheds a few crocodile tears, and suddenly everything is fine. Forgiveness is instant. No accountability. No effort. No consequences. Then she resumes the exact same behavior—continuing contact with the DK guy, meeting him, taking favors from him—fully aware that the SML is deeply insecure and emotionally scarred because of her actions.
And the show still expects us to believe she “cares.”
She doesn’t care.
She uses.
she is a bitch.
She is the one who shattered the trust, yet she constantly plays the victim. She weaponizes her tears, her confusion, her “career struggles,” and the narrative bends over backwards to excuse her behavior.
The moment the Female Lead (FL) appears, her insecurity explodes. Instead of standing firm or earning back the relationship she destroyed, she runs. This is the most revealing part of her character. After a year of cheating, the moment she feels even a hint of threat ( just like what she has done over a year) , she panics and escapes. She expects unconditional loyalty from a man she betrayed without remorse.
Then she has the audacity—the absolute audacity—to accuse the SML of being “swayed.”
That accusation alone is revolting.
In reality, she is just an insecure woman who cannot accept the fact that she is no longer the center of attention. The FL is not the problem. The problem is that this woman cannot tolerate losing control over someone she already damaged.
And despite all of this, the SML humiliates himself by chasing her to the airport and begging her not to leave. Begging. After a year of cheating. And what does she do? She disappears without explanation, cuts contact, and even instructs the DK guy not to give her contact information to the SML.
This is not confusion.
This is emotional cruelty.
Then comes one of the most absurd developments: she proposes marriage while still being unsure about commitment. The entire marriage feels hollow, rushed, and unearned. It happens not because of love, growth, or redemption—but because she gets pregnant.
And pregnancy changes nothing.
She continues working late nights, drinking wine, hanging out with male artist friends, and showing zero emotional awareness. Then she delivers the most tone-deaf line imaginable: “Baby and career are equally important.”
No.
After everything she has done—after prioritizing career and selfish desires over loyalty, honesty, and responsibility—the baby should have been the priority. This line doesn’t show strength. It confirms that she never learned anything. Given another chance, she would make the same choices again.
Such a bitch.
Because of her actions, they lose the baby. And even after a miscarriage, At the last scenes also she forces a vacation the very next day because she wants to go—completely ignoring the SML’s work. Her needs always come first. Always.
This character is emotional poison.
Now, let’s address the bigger issue.
Yes, such messy situations can happen in real life—but the way this drama treats them is deeply irresponsible. A year-long affair is brushed off like a misunderstanding. Forgiveness is immediate. Accountability is nonexistent. The message is clear: if a woman cheats, it’s healing; if a man gets hurt, he should understand.
Love does not work like this.
When betrayal happens at this level, there should be consequences. There should be guilt, remorse, effort, and growth. None of that exists here. She walks around as if she did nothing wrong, while the narrative twists itself to justify her behavior.
Worse, the drama constantly portrays everything as the SML’s fault. He apologizes endlessly. He bends. He breaks. He loses his pride. And the drama calls this love.
It isn’t love.
It’s emotional submission.
The show wants to have it both ways. She wants freedom and security. Independence and unconditional loyalty. Forgiveness without earning it. This isn’t complexity—it’s cowardly writing disguised as empowerment.
What truly ruins the drama is that she is portrayed as a “strong, important character.” This is not strength. This is entitlement rewarded by bad writing.
I mean forget everything , every allegation so far I pointed out. They showed us that SFL are in deeply in love with the SML as per the show concern but at the same time they shows us that she had been cheating on him for more than a year point this "more than a year" not a mistake of one day or not that she suddenly got an opportunity to go to NY and she left him for that opportunity this is not the case she cheated on him for more than year and lied to him till the last day of break up about where she was ( she told she was in work but she was with DK guy) and then break up and go to the NY this cant happen when you are in love with someone (as they wanna see). this happens when you don't love the previous guy anymore. Now for what ground they are portraying her so called "deep love" here this is the most frustrating part of this show and I can not justify this in any sense.
From the SML’s perspective, the writing is equally frustrating. He should have walked away. He should have protected his dignity. Instead, he is turned into a doormat, and the audience is told this is romance.
As for the ML and FL, their storyline is painfully predictable. The entire plot revolves around a stretched-out gender reveal that barely justifies 17 episodes. There is no meaningful character development. Even the coffee shop storyline—promised in the summary—disappears halfway through.
The second leads hijack the narrative, dragging everyone into their mess. The past relationship between the SFL and ML adds nothing except unnecessary complications. Side characters exist purely to fill screen time and contribute absolutely nothing. Remove them, and nothing changes.
By the end, no relationship feels trustworthy. Everyone is involved with everyone, and nothing feels stable or earned.
In conclusion, I am not a relationship expert, but this drama normalizes betrayal, excuses emotional abuse, and punishes the wrong people. Choices should have consequences. This character deserved accountability, not validation.
Even though this drama is 17 years old, this problem still exists today. When male characters cheat, they are punished. When female characters cheat, it’s reframed as healing or self-discovery. Either they disappear quietly or the man forgives them. That double standard is exhausting and dishonest.
This issue poisoned the entire viewing experience for me and made it impossible to enjoy the drama at any level.
PS: These are my opinions after watching the drama. Feel free to disagree—but this drama earned every word of this criticism.
I have watched a large number of dramas—not just Korean, but also Thai, Chinese, and Japanese dramas—and this is genuinely one of the worst dramas I have ever endured. Not “disappointing.” Not “overhyped.” Bad. You cannot watch this drama in peace even for a single episode. The writers seem obsessed with injecting negativity, chaos, emotional manipulation, and frustration every few minutes, as if silence or stability would kill them.
The story is unnecessarily overcomplicated, poorly paced, and filled with pointless misery. Worse, it does not justify the premise written on MDL at all. What is promised in the summary and what is delivered on screen are two completely different things. Any initial intrigue fades quickly and is replaced by emotional torture disguised as “depth.”
The real reason this drama collapses—and I mean completely collapses—is the second lead storyline, more specifically the Second Female Lead (SFL).
Because of this character, the entire drama becomes unbearable. I have seen toxic characters before, but this one stands out because of how shamelessly the narrative protects her. She is dysfunctional, selfish, insecure, manipulative, emotionally irresponsible, morally hollow, confused, and relentlessly bitchy. And no, this is not “complexity.” This is a badly written character constantly excused by the script.
This character proves something important: a bitchy character does not always need to be loud, scheming, or flamboyant. Sometimes, bitchiness is simply a series of selfish choices made over and over again, with zero accountability.
Let’s start from the beginning.
She was first with the Male Lead (ML). Then she moved on to the Second Male Lead (SML). But even while dating the SML, she kept lingering around the ML whenever it suited her ego. She never respected boundaries. She never made clean breaks. When she returned, she went straight to the ML first—not because he approached her, but because she needed reassurance that she was still wanted.
That already tells you everything about her.
She is not “conflicted.” She is emotionally greedy.
She cheated on the SML for more than an entire year. Let that sink in. Not a moment of weakness. Not an impulsive mistake. A full year of betrayal. And after that? She breaks up with him and runs to New York for work, chasing career, status, validation—whatever suits her at the time. The behavior is textbook: when stability feels boring, she chases excitement; when excitement feels unstable, she crawls back to safety.
She dates the DK guy, benefits from him, and once she gains fame and realizes she needs emotional security again, she casually dumps him and returns—as if she didn’t destroy someone in the process.
And what does the drama do with this year-long betrayal?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
A man gets cheated on for over a year, and the emotional impact is treated like a minor inconvenience. The SML barely gets space to feel anger, betrayal, humiliation, or grief. The drama robs him of dignity and hands it to her instead. It is insulting—not just to the character, but to anyone who understands what betrayal actually does to a person.
She comes back, sheds a few crocodile tears, and suddenly everything is fine. Forgiveness is instant. No accountability. No effort. No consequences. Then she resumes the exact same behavior—continuing contact with the DK guy, meeting him, taking favors from him—fully aware that the SML is deeply insecure and emotionally scarred because of her actions.
And the show still expects us to believe she “cares.”
She doesn’t care.
She uses.
she is a bitch.
She is the one who shattered the trust, yet she constantly plays the victim. She weaponizes her tears, her confusion, her “career struggles,” and the narrative bends over backwards to excuse her behavior.
The moment the Female Lead (FL) appears, her insecurity explodes. Instead of standing firm or earning back the relationship she destroyed, she runs. This is the most revealing part of her character. After a year of cheating, the moment she feels even a hint of threat ( just like what she has done over a year) , she panics and escapes. She expects unconditional loyalty from a man she betrayed without remorse.
Then she has the audacity—the absolute audacity—to accuse the SML of being “swayed.”
That accusation alone is revolting.
In reality, she is just an insecure woman who cannot accept the fact that she is no longer the center of attention. The FL is not the problem. The problem is that this woman cannot tolerate losing control over someone she already damaged.
And despite all of this, the SML humiliates himself by chasing her to the airport and begging her not to leave. Begging. After a year of cheating. And what does she do? She disappears without explanation, cuts contact, and even instructs the DK guy not to give her contact information to the SML.
This is not confusion.
This is emotional cruelty.
Then comes one of the most absurd developments: she proposes marriage while still being unsure about commitment. The entire marriage feels hollow, rushed, and unearned. It happens not because of love, growth, or redemption—but because she gets pregnant.
And pregnancy changes nothing.
She continues working late nights, drinking wine, hanging out with male artist friends, and showing zero emotional awareness. Then she delivers the most tone-deaf line imaginable: “Baby and career are equally important.”
No.
After everything she has done—after prioritizing career and selfish desires over loyalty, honesty, and responsibility—the baby should have been the priority. This line doesn’t show strength. It confirms that she never learned anything. Given another chance, she would make the same choices again.
Such a bitch.
Because of her actions, they lose the baby. And even after a miscarriage, At the last scenes also she forces a vacation the very next day because she wants to go—completely ignoring the SML’s work. Her needs always come first. Always.
This character is emotional poison.
Now, let’s address the bigger issue.
Yes, such messy situations can happen in real life—but the way this drama treats them is deeply irresponsible. A year-long affair is brushed off like a misunderstanding. Forgiveness is immediate. Accountability is nonexistent. The message is clear: if a woman cheats, it’s healing; if a man gets hurt, he should understand.
Love does not work like this.
When betrayal happens at this level, there should be consequences. There should be guilt, remorse, effort, and growth. None of that exists here. She walks around as if she did nothing wrong, while the narrative twists itself to justify her behavior.
Worse, the drama constantly portrays everything as the SML’s fault. He apologizes endlessly. He bends. He breaks. He loses his pride. And the drama calls this love.
It isn’t love.
It’s emotional submission.
The show wants to have it both ways. She wants freedom and security. Independence and unconditional loyalty. Forgiveness without earning it. This isn’t complexity—it’s cowardly writing disguised as empowerment.
What truly ruins the drama is that she is portrayed as a “strong, important character.” This is not strength. This is entitlement rewarded by bad writing.
I mean forget everything , every allegation so far I pointed out. They showed us that SFL are in deeply in love with the SML as per the show concern but at the same time they shows us that she had been cheating on him for more than a year point this "more than a year" not a mistake of one day or not that she suddenly got an opportunity to go to NY and she left him for that opportunity this is not the case she cheated on him for more than year and lied to him till the last day of break up about where she was ( she told she was in work but she was with DK guy) and then break up and go to the NY this cant happen when you are in love with someone (as they wanna see). this happens when you don't love the previous guy anymore. Now for what ground they are portraying her so called "deep love" here this is the most frustrating part of this show and I can not justify this in any sense.
From the SML’s perspective, the writing is equally frustrating. He should have walked away. He should have protected his dignity. Instead, he is turned into a doormat, and the audience is told this is romance.
As for the ML and FL, their storyline is painfully predictable. The entire plot revolves around a stretched-out gender reveal that barely justifies 17 episodes. There is no meaningful character development. Even the coffee shop storyline—promised in the summary—disappears halfway through.
The second leads hijack the narrative, dragging everyone into their mess. The past relationship between the SFL and ML adds nothing except unnecessary complications. Side characters exist purely to fill screen time and contribute absolutely nothing. Remove them, and nothing changes.
By the end, no relationship feels trustworthy. Everyone is involved with everyone, and nothing feels stable or earned.
In conclusion, I am not a relationship expert, but this drama normalizes betrayal, excuses emotional abuse, and punishes the wrong people. Choices should have consequences. This character deserved accountability, not validation.
Even though this drama is 17 years old, this problem still exists today. When male characters cheat, they are punished. When female characters cheat, it’s reframed as healing or self-discovery. Either they disappear quietly or the man forgives them. That double standard is exhausting and dishonest.
This issue poisoned the entire viewing experience for me and made it impossible to enjoy the drama at any level.
PS: These are my opinions after watching the drama. Feel free to disagree—but this drama earned every word of this criticism.
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