WinterGerda

You misunderstand my post, the “do-gooder” in this context means someone who tries to do good but in a misguided way so Seok ryo, despite her good intentions, completely misjudged her friend’s feelings or even more likely she projected on him her own insecurities. And yes, she failed to understand or subconsciously ignored all the gently signals he gave her for a long time (Seung hyo rightly pointed out this in the ending scene of episode 6), but he wasn’t perfectly honest with her either. They both have serious problems with communication and having different personalities also doesn’t help.

I’m always open to discuss but if someone judges the show negatively without arguments, the discussion simply won’t be long.

That’s really nice of you, I didn’t write any longer text for a while, but this show def deserves in-depth analysis.

Someone here mentioned that would like to listen to the songs describing the relationship between protagonists. I did a playlist describing their journey from “friends to lovers”, tbh I did it only for myself and I’m struggling to share it, but if someone is still interested in, here it is: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5OTfO1DNrAMYQ2SsQkk50E?si=LYwl8xAeQl6tfCNmkrYH8w

The attention to the details in this series is on another level. I will give just a few examples.

Seok ryu, when she was in relationship with her former fiance, dreamed of traveling to distant, exotic places. But when she emphatically declared her love for Seung hyo, she let him know that simple, everyday activities could become special and unique cos she shares these moments with him. That reminds me of Arctic Monkeys song “I Wanna Be Yours” with “the poetic spoken lyrics recount the love of one person for another, using metaphors around various domestic equipment”.

The heartbreaking scene between Seung hyo and his mother, in the same episode, not only shows the negative consequences of mother’s absence in his life but shows Seok ryo that her concerns (“You don’t like me. You imprinted on me. A duckling mistakes the first thing it sees for its mother and follows them around. I’m just like a mother duck to you.”) are unjustifiable. She could never replace his mother and it was never the case.

And referring once again to “rejection scene”, as much as Seung hyo resembles his father (quite obviously), Seok ryo is just like her mother, especially as a “do-gooder” knowing better what the other person thinks, feels or needs. And when she bought him an ice cream before she broke his heart like in one of my favorite scene “He never does anything quite right. He came here to hurt me and he brought me a box of biscuits”.

So, if someone proudly skips half of the scenes and then struggles with understanding the plot, the nuances, the character's motivations... Anyway, enjoy watching the last episode .

I’m very late, but I'm still processing the last episode, I guess. The Notebook is such a classic, but I just realized that Allie broke off the engagement at the last moment just like Seok ryu did. Back to the point, I was quite confident in my speculation but I'm not sure any more. The makers of this show try to convince us that FL relationship with her fiance was so important to her but you don’t end your engagement with your beloved over one argument in his moment of weakness. It seems selfish and immature. But thinking about her rejection of Seung hyo I had the impression that she projects on him her own insecurities, she used to be like protective sister to him. If he confessed sooner it could change the direction of their relationship, on the other hand she ignored all the signals he gave her so 🤷‍♀️ She ended up with depression and longing anyway. We need more of her pov maybe.
And as we still waiting for the kiss: https://youtu.be/CC_WUNYux_A?si=sdtF9OaK2MLeYZPC

THIS 💔 She’s clearly in denial right now, but even back then...

Oh, she said something, she said to Seung hyo that she's considering returning to her ex (which was a lie), that she knows better what he feels (which was nonsense). So where does the true lie. Why she wanted to call her friend first (not her fiance) when she received her diagnosis? She’s clearly in denial right now, but even back then… She may share nice moments together with her ex, he may provide her a sense of safeness, she may be grateful to him, but was her feeling deep. Deep enough to decide rather to suffer alone that to see a suffering in his eyes.

But wasn't it just an excuse, wasn't she lie to herself about her feelings. Even back then, her ex-fiancé has done probably everything possible to make her happier. Maybe it simply wasn't the right man, not the one who turned her ceiling into the starry sky, not the one she always needed the most… to the point it scared her.

I would say it was a dark humor (the tie thing), he tried to overtalk his embarrassment mostly talking nonsense but I can’t be harsh on him. The confession was very difficult on the emotional level and it’s not the end of suffering as we've seen.

Most likely her ex-fiance didn’t cheat on her, he was completely surprised when this accusation came up in conversation with her mother.
And how exactly is the female lead weak? As I wrote before she’s hidden the truth from her friend cause in her eyes Seung Hyo was too fragile, too sensitive to handle her illness (he was staying in his room for a month after his injury), so she decided to protect him the way she always did. At that time he probably got back on track with successes in study/work, she put his well-being above her own cause she cared about him deeply. Now she’s facing the consequences of that decision. She was always a strong willed, strong minded person; her feelings for him were always “the cracks in her armor”.

My all time favourite Wong Kar-Wai’s movie is “In the mood for love” (not surprising), but Chungking Express has so many hilarious, iconic scenes ❤

You’re right, thanks for correcting me. It’s cause I can’t really say how good is someone’s Korean and I completely forgot that she refers him as Brian. Anyway, the essence stays the same. I think she had the same problem with her next relationship. Seung hyo wouldn’t give up so easily if he simply better “reads the room”.

4. Referring to the ex-fince, he’s not a “villain” in any shape or form, he’s a genuinely good guy, who’s main problem is that Seok ryu cares of him as much as we saw in the first scene he’s been mentioned, when she forgot about the meeting with him and focused on his incorrect pronunciation.

A few reflections…

1. The scene when the main protagonists are trying to figure out how much time to think Seok Ryu needs and they’re checking the expiration date of different products, reminds me of Chungking Express “pineapples” scene. There is a reflection of someone dealing with heartbreak. Cop 223 buys pineapples that expire on May 1 (date of his birthday); once they go bad, he'll officially give up on getting his girlfriend back. He proceeds to eat all 30 cans in one sitting which obviously doesn’t end well for him. And I just realised he had “Love you for 10 thousand years” as a password, poor guy...

2. I like how Seung hyo, despite being so strikingly good looking, is such complex and well-written character that it’s clear for viewers that female lead didn’t fall for him due to his appearance only.

3. Our sensitive main lead is a man who likes peace and quiet, he will always try to make peace in tense situations, except... someone or something is threatening to the woman who’s “driving him crazy”. In these situations he’s loosing control, rushes to physical confrontation, risks losing his business and simply is able to find all the assertiveness he never knew he has. When he refused to even shake hands with her ex-fiance, it was obvious who is the “one and only” priority in his life.

Probably it was a bit too much. For me it's just to show the difference between her relation with her ex-fiance and her friend. In her eyes Seung Hyo was too fragile, too sensitive to handle her illness, she decided to protect him the way she always did. Her boyfriend on the other hand was a safer, less complicated choice and he was there for her. Maybe she had to come back home to see that her friend is perfectly capable of standing by her side for better or (more important) for worse.

Thanks for such a meaningful reply. The only thing, I might add, is that Seok Ryu has better "protective mechanisms" – she's an extrovert, she's focused on action and solving the problem, she doesn't tend to overanalyze or overthink situations. But when it applies to her closest friend she's making an extra effort to understand his struggles cus he means a lot to her. I love the scene when she climbed through his window with all her chaotic energy, being so unserious and suddenly her voice broke a little (the only sign of her pain) when she said: "It's my first time hearing your voice in a month".

I noticed a lot of criticism towards the main protagonist. You know, Shin Ha-eun, the screenwriter, received a special award of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism for her work cus she is capable of creating complex characters. Choi Seung Hyo is no exception, his anger and frustration were understandable and psychologically well founded. Samantha Stein in her article for Psychology Today described a primary- and secondary emotion: "When people feel hurt, they sometimes aren't aware of it because the secondary emotion of anger kicks in quickly - so they feel angry. This is because feeling hurt is vulnerable, and vulnerability can often feel scary or unsafe because of the situation or because of past history. Instead of staying with the feeling of hurt, the secondary emotion of anger will kick in. The upside of feeling anger instead is feeling more powerful and safe. The downside is that the original feelings, the hurt, often don't end up getting addressed".

For Seung Hyo the situation was extremely difficult for many reasons, for example because he has high emotional intelligence (we've got first sight of it in the scene when Seok Ryu had a tooth removed), cus he's an introvert who prefers holding his feeling inside, cus as a man he's dealing with gender stereotypes (not showing vulnerability or weakness). Even if the situation of "suspension" (and holding onto, most likely, false hopes) was tearing him apart, he couldn't express his feelings…

Sorry for such a long comment but if you're looking only for pure entertainment, almost certainly this drama is not for you.

Kim Seon-ho was not the person who first considered termination of pregnancy as a solution to the problem, it was his girlfriend of the time who brought this to the table during their conversation. He asked her to merry him right away, he also declared his full support and care. In the end it was "her body and her decision", that's what all women are fighting for, or am I wrong? But most importantly, this is a legal procedure in Korea contrary to using or possession of drugs.

And if you're really claiming that his ex-girlfriend lies didn't affect his carrier, maybe you're living in an alternate reality.

He is my daily reminder how to make life meaningful.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1585602wpp/kim-seon-ho-makes-birthday-donation-to-support-children-leaving-the-foster-care-system

Best wishes on your birthday Kim Seon Ho 💙 Always feel free to be yourself.