bedofroses

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT WATCH

This is a hilarious, engaging and amazing piece of work and so highly underrated. I can't believe I'm coming across this gem after so so long. I actually don't dislike anything in this show so I'm just going to keep it short by focusing on the things I like:

1. First show where I see such strong female friendship and bonding irrespective of the strata of society the women come from. I absolutely love how these are three women from absolutely different backgrounds having almost nothing in common other than their interconnected male counterparts (whether husbands or school principals) and they come together and support one another. I absolutely love how throughout the show they try to teach you the value of human relationships irrespective of the money, great!

2. The strong female companionship. I like how these women support one another, and create such great friendships which leads them to having a fantastic time together. Not only for the sake of revenge, but it provides them with a safe space in their regular lives where they can just be in the comfort of loved ones and ENJOY. Drink endlessly. have a good laugh, have quality almost-family time (without the older men) and create a community amongst themselves that will always be there for one another. As is rightly said by Jung Hye, this show depicts bonds closer than family so nicely, you'll love it!

3. Good division of time across the episodes on all four characters and their revenge stories. It does not seem like one story is more important than the other and they give equal time to all the characters to build a better story.

4. A coherent story with great characters that are not shallow. Even if it's the villain, there's some sort of story to back up the entire plot.

5. The perfect number of episodes. I'm so glad they did not stretch this unnecessarily for 16 episodes or more. 12 was perfect, they've aptly covered the different storylines and depicted the revenge masterfully without any second of the show being dull or a skippable moment.

6. THE STELLAR ACTING BY ALL THE CHARACTERS. Like I don't even need to say anything more. Their work speaks for itself. All of them have worked brilliantly and truthfully in their roles. Jung Hye has become one of my favourite characters. Such character development we see for most of the characters. I'm all for it.

7. I am quite happy with the end. Sometimes you have to let it go to be at peace, which is why I understand why Soo Gyum is not averse to a more positive relationship with his parents. We get enough sense towards the middle of the show that he is going to stay with the grandfather. So, it's not surprising that he tries to at least act civil with both his birth parents. So, for me, even the end is quite amazing. Plus, I'm all for Jung Hye rediscovering herself and Do Hee's relationship. So, that's great as well!

Now, something I think is important to highlight after looking at quite a few comments here. I saw a couple of comments saying this is not revenge-y enough. But how do we determine what is enough? We’ve been so accustomed to those over-the-top masculine revenge plots that are in your face that we don’t even give this a chance. I absolutely love the feminine aspect of everything they do here. This is just like my international law and relations class where we study feminist approaches. We just assume revenge to be revenge when it pains and has a dramatic outcome. Don’t let those comments stop you at all. This is a beautifully written and brilliantly acted-out plot and the revenge while subdued (in terms of achieving it and not the final result) is quite impactful, very hilarious and fun to watch!

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An actual rollercoaster ride.

I've been mad at and in love with this show at the same time. First thing first, if you wanna skip 11-20, go ahead. It was such a waste of my time. But oh my god, Episode 22ish and beyond is fantastic. The story which was otherwise monotonous and stuck, finally starts moving - and I'm not talking only about the romance. Even otherwise, we finally see movement in various plots. Episode 22 onwards is a big redemption curve and I have loved this show for that.

For the show to be so heavily involved in work, I'm rather disappointed with how the mystery ends. It is so abrupt and out of nowhere. They could've come to the point a little earlier and started this plot earlier instead of wasting some 15 episodes on utter nonsense and 'over the top bro-zone'. The story was solid around the work aspect, but the execution was pretty bad.

I also liked the unconventional approach taken on the two relationships. I liked the sweet story for Cheng Hui and Sheng Nina and I loved how different the wedding and relationship (as a whole) was for our leads. It's very well-written once they actually get together. I'm not even going to bother wasting my precious words on the before because it's just so ridiculous. My problem is not with the wait but with the fact that while we're waiting there's no progression in the story. It's so so so repetitive with nothing new happening for at least 15 episodes. BORING!

Lastly, this relationship shows two contrasts: a healthy relationship at its peak (our leads) and toxic as well, lol. Unlike many people here, I found the friends' relationship to be very toxic. The guy had literally no say in anything and looked like he was just following whatever she said. I also feel they had poor communication skills (considering they were literally forced to resolve their issue). I don't feel kicking someone out of their own house just because of a fight is healthy as well. Or making major financial decisions without discussion is healthy. Plus, they were being a nuisance to literally everyone around them (including their minor child) because of their personal issues. While people would say all relationships have problems, I feel like these are very big issues to be taken so lightly. But then it's just a drama, so who cares, lol. Other than the fact that by some miracle they suddenly made up (literally out of nowhere after a random talk that we didn't see in full so we don't really know), I didn't find anything healthy about their relationship whatsoever. It genuinely seemed to me like they were only in love because they don't talk about anything important, lol. I don't like the screen time given to them tbh. It could've easily gone to Nina and Cheng Hui. They deserved more!

I liked the bond between the friends, it was hilarious. Wish to be with my friends just like this till the end. Overall, it's only a decent watch. So, proceed with caution.

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Cute Highschool Love Story; overused concept but nice acting and not very draggy

Okay, so the start of this show was pretty confusing and also put me off just because of how forceful the FL came across. However, it was her impactful acting that actually led me to believe that there is some catch involving her brother right from the beginning.

But the FL's character had such major redemption that I can't even begin to explain. I'm talking solely about her character and not the plot overall. The plot is nothing new tbh, just your average high school Chinese drama with a couple of couples including the support roles. I love how the FL grows to value and respect herself. I love how she does not back away from her friendship with the SML just because of his feelings, they grow as friends together and support one another. I have really liked her growth.

It is quite an easy and enjoyable watch. No unnecessary drama, a few cliches are there but they are not stretched which makes it easy to watch instead of the need to go on a skipping spree. The acting is quite well done by everyone. The music is quite average but not bad.

All in all it's worth a one-time watch. It's a cute story between two childhood sweethearts and very heartwarming to watch. Nothing spectacular or over and above but interesting and cute nonetheless.

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Great chemistry between all the actors, nice story with few not needed subplots.

I quite like this drama because of the amazing storyline, good pace and brilliant chemistry between all the characters.

First thing first, there is unequal screen time shared by the characters and as much as I dislike that notion, I can't fault it much because you know that when you're getting into the show. This is essentially Mi Joo's story about her life, her struggle with her identity as an adopted child, and her friendships and relationships with different people in her life. And I'm not just saying that, it is quite literally her character narrating everything so it's kinda obvious that it is from her perspective which means more focus on her. Therefore, once I acknowledge that fact, I'm unable to understand the inequity between the presence of the characters.

My favourite aspect of the show is the friendship between the three leads and how they tackle the various curveballs life throws at them. These are three vulnerable women who have stood together through thick and thin and we can see that in the bond they share. I also quite appreciate how we see a very "woke" bond in the sense that the women call each other out when one messes it up. For instance, they call out Chan Young's affair for what it is instead of the stupidity we see where friends would support each other's disasters as well. I love when your friends keep you in check and this show is a beautiful amalgamation of that. I also like how they share such a good bond with each other's families and significant others. This is the kind of friendship I aspire for and so I'm really happy to see that on screen.

The show gets quite emotional with its main storyline revolving around the loss of a near one and I like how they show people coping with it in different mechanisms. I've seen another show with a similar trope and cried buckets there. While I did shed a tear or two in this one, I like how it was not overly emotional and sad. Like obviously death is sad, but they handled it well and portrayed it less depressingly. They showed the struggle of people connected in a real sense and that was nice to watch.

Lastly, I also quite liked the way they handled the other tropes like the whole idea behind adoption, however, I feel like that subplot is a little overdone and not very well handled. Like it was fine till it was Mi Joo mentoring Seon Woo's sister but it got too much with the whole involvement of the father and all of that crazy politics. It got a little boring, annoying and unwanted at that point. I also did not quite enjoy the entire idea behind the new subplot of the birth mother and her horrible attitude. The story was strong enough without these tropes and would've done better without such unnecessary subplots.

Overall, I absolutely loved the acting and it is the great chemistry between the three women that make this show super close to my heart. Definitely recommended!

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Good start but a let down in the second half; seemed forced romance

This is only my third or fourth ever Japanese drama and maybe that's why my rating is affected but I'm just not able to get into Jdramas.

The entire drama felt rushed to me, but I don't know how to explain it because, at the same time, it also felt quite repetitive to me. Both of these are opposite ends which is what confuses me. I felt the FL's job scenes were so overdone, extra and not needed in that frequency given the length of the show which is why I call it repetitive. The show could've easily done without them. But at the same time, the story between them was so rushed as if they just had to somehow wrap it up and end it because they have a limit on episodes.

I actually quite enjoyed the beginning where the story was building and the FL's transition to love was quite smooth. But the ML's transition to leave seemed rather forced to me. I also did not enjoy the entire sequence with the SIL look-alike.

Safe to say my favourite character has been Yuito. He's been a good friend to Akiha throughout and also somewhat to Momose. He was a hilarious and well-thought-out character. Other than him, I did not see depth in any character, not even the leads to that extent.

As good as the first half was (probably an 8), the second half was just a letdown. The entire relationship seemed forced and then suddenly the remarriage to which she was so opposed, I don't know, does not make any sense to me.

Maybe I just don't understand the format of Jdramas or maybe this was just not a good one. I don't know. I would say this is easily skippable.

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Started strong but what an annoying and stupid ending, can't even

This was a show that was going pretty strong for me - both in terms of the story and the acting and then suddenly the story did a whole 180-degree turn in the last 30 minutes and fucked the entire thing up.

1. The story while nice and engaging, did have many loopholes. However, the engaging aspects of it were good enough to keep me fascinated throughout that I could easily overlook the irregularities. There were many issues of consistency like Hwi’s brother often mentioned but nobody really knows what happened to him and then you suddenly see him for like 2 minutes without any context whatsoever. Similarly, in the entire arc of Hwi’s parents, god knows what happened to them.

2. I quite enjoyed the acting of everyone. Have always liked Ong Seong Wu and he totally did not disappoint. I have not seen the FL much and hence was not expecting much going into it, but even she was good. But my favourite people have to be Kang Ki Young, Moon Bin (miss him so much, so many feelings while watching this show, I definitely cried watching him) and Lee Seung Min. This show has some stellar acting and the actors have done justice to the script. What is lacking is the story, not the acting.

3. What I did like was that other than the last episode, we saw stories for all the characters and it was fun. There were lots of cliches, just like you would expect from a school romance, but the overarching subplot of cheating and the teacher was enthralling. I have to say that Oh has been my favourite character in the entire show and I absolutely loved Kang Ki Young’s acting. He is absolutely brilliant and that seems to be a theme for most of his work. He is such a stellar actor.

4. I loved the bond between Oh and Jun Woo but come on, I was expecting him to be more involved with the other students too. In that sense, when he supported Hwi in his own way, that was some redemption for me, which is why this is one character I loved to absolute bits.

5. My frustration lies with just how SHITTY OF AN ENDING the show has. First of all, however emotional the character arc of Jun Woo’s mother is, it was unnecessary, the move was not needed and the ending does not make any sense whatsoever. Did he not take the bus? Did he eventually leave? Did he stay? Do the leads end up together? Like, you need to give me some sense of closure. There are open endings, but this seemed incomplete to me, not even open. In open endings, there is still some closure where things are clear but here all I’m left with is confusion. It is all imagination, which is where I have major issues. This has affected most of my viewing experience greatly.

Good one-time watch, though!

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What a beautiful piece of work that just feels like a warm hug

This show is such a positive breeze of tranquillity and calmness that is reflected in the setting, story and acting. First things first, the story is well written, keeps you hooked and engaged and does not get boring or stretched out at any point. So while some people feel like there could've been more, I feel it is the perfect length and I'm happy that it is not stretched to include unnecessarily old and boring tropes. They have nicely depicted the calmness of a rather rural setting, the kind of bonds you find there which are rather difficult to find in your average city life and I have loved the entire concept of a rather simple living and enjoying your life, the harsh reality our female lead faces after facing certain setbacks in life. I also quite enjoyed the storyline with the boss and the brother, for once I did not see the female lead being stepped upon left right and centre by all the possible characters. She stood her ground. Hence, the story has been well written in these aspects. I also quite enjoyed how the whole thriller aspect of it was not overdone and was easily hashed out. Sometimes, shows get so entangled in it that you fall short on everything else in the show, in this case, the simplicity of life in general. So, the balance between the genres was perfect, for me.

Secondly, I quite enjoyed the acting of all the people involved. There was no one I found overbearing or expressionless. I've thoroughly enjoyed the journey of these 12 episodes with these brilliant actors who have wonderfully portrayed these characters, some of whom, I've grown to absolutely love. I also quite like the character development of some of the people like Kim Bom and Ji Young. These were slightly different characters, very well written and nicely portrayed. Though, special mention to a.mond and Kim Yo Han for their stellar acting, I've become a fan!

Overall, I'm quite happy with the show and I've already watched it twice without skipping. I like such shows that provide me a respite from the otherwise overdone and usual tropes and hence this is a very peaceful watch for me. I wish more people find solace in this show and come across this quite underrated gem of work. A must-watch as per me!

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Lots of medical drama, slow beautiful romance and brilliant character development

Medical dramas are my kryptonite so much that I think most of my favourite shows are medical shows. Similarly, I did not find much to fault in this show as well. Having watched this over ten times, I like various aspects of this show and find quite little to crib about.

Some of my favourite aspects are:
1. The brilliant acting by almost the entire crew. There were very few characters that irritated me, tbh. Ha Ji Won has always impressed me with her works and I was so happy to see her, but oh my god, I was so surprised with Min Hyuk. As a BOICE, I was so happy to see him deliver so well. I have heard of him so much but this was the first show where I saw him and he has done complete justice to his character.
2. I like how the romance was subtle but there. The emotional support provided and companionship portrayed here is brilliant while giving personal space to each other. Found many green flags in their relationship and that is what makes me happy.
3. The amount of medical drama I get to watch, I love it.
4. Character development of most characters, but especially Jae Gul and Eun Jae. You see them grow so much into better and more understanding human beings who can overcome the darkness and look to a brighter future, I love it.
5. The bond that you see between all the colleagues of the hospital ship. Working in corporate, it is not easy to relate but when you work in such a small space with limited supplies and the same people all the time, it is bound to feel like family. And that was portrayed very well here.

Now what I don't like
1. While I really like Jae Gul's character and the acting, I'm so annoyed with the unnecessary love triangle. That storyline was not needed at all. Well, at least we get some redemption in the form of his easy acceptance of his fate and his immense help to the lead characters and couple. But nonetheless, even the two episodes of his baseless love (I mean there is quite literally no basis to it, however cute it might be) annoyed me a bit.
2. The ending of Yeong Eun - she deserved to be outed as a liar who has been unnecessarily gaining sympathy and acting as a lame and horrible human being.
3. Quite a lot of tropes are introduced. The show could've done with a little less drama.

If you like slow romance, then this is a great watch for you. But if you don't like watching medical things, then it would be better to avoid it as there's lots of it and barely anything else here. All the beautiful individual stories are also built around medicine so I would say that is quite intrinsic to the show.

One of my favs, forever a gem for me!

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An easy, hilarious and beautiful watch through and through

I was quite apprehensive of this show because I do not watch fantasy elements at all like time travel or body swapping or whatever. But I'm glad I saw this (mainly because of Steven Zhang) and this will probably go down as the ONLY body-swapping show I will ever have had the courage to watch but it was just so peaceful and good. No extra unnecessary drama, a sweet and hilarious story, absolutely stellar acting and chemistry and just a brilliant fun mood-uplifting vibe throughout.

The highlight of the show is the superb acting of all the actors, especially Steven Zhang. I've been a fan for such a long time and he totally did not disappoint. The way he enacted when he changed bodies was also superb. I'm more in love with this man. As for the show, this is such an easy, pleasant, cute and uplifting watch. They tackle certain themes nicely without making a super huge deal out of them, so, kudos for that.

I'd seen the comments here because of my averseness to the fantasy element and hence I was prepared for the ending and hence even that did not bother me much, tbh. I was laughing, crying, and swooning with our actors throughout the show. Yes, I literally cried towards the last few episodes and skipped some parts just because I didn't want to hold onto the sadness. What a ride this has been.

My only complaint remains that for the fantastic chemistry we saw throughout the show, the ending was such a letdown and like so mellow. I wanted it to be fun! Also, I'm super annoyed with the mother angle and the importance she gets but I think everyone finds their closure in their own way so if our character found his closure by some magic, who am I to complain?

Also, just FYI and TMI, my favourite character has to be Le Yi without a doubt. What a hilarious and thoughtful character. Loved him!

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I found this to be the most boring show I've seen in the last month or two

I actually love watching business plots but this show had nothing more to it than a boring and way too dragged-out business plot. I have literally fast-forwarded more than 25 episodes of this show. That's how boring it was for me, personally. I'm so angry at the unnecessary 32 episodes, that just adds to one's misery.

There is barely any depth to the characters. More and more side characters keep getting introduced without any proper story or need. Even the love triangle seems to be so forced. It was not at all needed to be extended for 20 long and boring episodes.

The only thing going for this show that allowed me to finish all the 32 not-needed episodes is the beautiful female comradeship shown in the show. I love how women support one another throughout the show whether it be in friendship or work. Very nice to see! Another saviour was the brilliant acting by all the actors. I can't fault them at all. They had great chemistry and skill but the script and direction was just too faulty and did them really bad. I hope I get to see them in a better drama soon!

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A must watch with a brilliant story and first-class acting by all the characters

There are so many things to love in this show.
1. It's an almost perfect watch. A well-written story with great acting from the actors. I did not feel disconnected with any of the characters which goes to show that all of them did a great job.
2. The story in itself is pretty good. For someone who does not know baseball other than the fact that Moneyball was an amazing movie, I did not feel lost even once. Yes, there were terms thrown here and there like ERA (or something) but you don't need to understand them to understand the story. I love that I did not have to learn about the sport to enjoy the drama. It was a perfect depiction of sports management, and I loved it.
3. It is one of my favourite genres: politics (internal politics) and business. I loved watching how they did not bring in fancy tropes, try to unnecessarily bring in some romance or just try to throw off the show using some cliche drama. The focus was clear since the first episode: the show was about a sports team that will be disbanded and how will we prevent that. While sticking to their concept and plot, they depicted various beautiful stories through the different characters and it was a very pleasant and easy watch.
4. I actually enjoyed watching the individual stories of most of these people. This show has made me laugh, cry and be in awe - all at the same time. There was no over-the-top reliance on any one character and equal importance was given to all of them to depict how a team works together and what goes on behind the scenes. It was fun watching that.

While all of this was good, I have two problems with the show which made me deduct some points from the rating:
1. I do not like the demonisation of Kyung Min. If it was my team that was causing me only losses and had such grave mismanagement for multiple years, I would pull out my investment as well. I'm running a business, not a charity. If he was unable to sell the team, he is TOTALLY justified in disbanding the team. His only fault was that he was so muddled up in his own prejudice that he employed the wrong means of achieving his goals. So, this entire comments section seems pretty harsh and unrealistic to me where he is being vilified.
2. Towards the end, it got caught up in so much politics that I did not enjoy the last two episodes much. In fact the end was so underwhelming that I was wondering if it had been conceptualised by the same person who wrote the other 14 episodes. I was also thinking about how childish it seems.

It is a brilliant watch and I believe it is quite underrated looking at its rating here. It is a fresh break from usual rom-com kdramas and is very well acted and narrated. Loved almost every second of watching this one!

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Short, cute and very engaging

First things first, I absolutely like how to the point and straight forward this drama is without having unnecessary cliche plots to extend the episode count.

This feels like a warm hearted hug that envelops you in the cuteness of it all. The actors have all done justice to their roles. I'm new to all of these actors and it was very refreshing to see their work, all have been good. It's cute how all the three love stories are nice, not overdramatic or unreal and have no third party tropes like second leads. As for the third couple, the story itself revolves around her meeting many men, so I don't count that as second lead. It's multiple leads. xD

I also quite enjoyed the friendship between all the people and how their characters developed over time. It is very heartwarming to watch. I also enjoyed the true friendship between the three women and how you see them supporting one another at different times. Though my fav friendship has to be the one between Yoo Shin and Ho Rang. It is hilariously cute.

For a change, we see a cold and aloof female lead as compared to the usual male leads and I quite enjoyed it. They have nicely developed the story and shown her diversity and range. I liked her chemistry with the ML although I would've preferred more hands-on romantic scenes but with her being underage (apparently) at the time of shooting, I'm glad they didn't.

Lastly, I'm at crossroads whether I liked the way they handled the bullying plot or not. At times I feel like it was well handled because it was shown as real as possible with showing the difficult choices victims make when speaking about their experiences. It throws light on how it is not easy to open up and come clean, all of which people think is very easy when they keep asking people to report such issues. However, at the same time, I do not think the FL's attitude and behaviour at most times was justified because of her experiences. She might not be a bully but she definitely comes across as one which is not a good place to be in specially when you've experienced it yourself. There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance and this one leaned very heavily on arrogance for me which is why this does not get the perfect score from me.

Overall it's a very pleasant and enjoyable watch, 100% recommended. Very underrated. :)

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A medical drama giving Grey's Anatomy vibe with balanced fun, angst, romance and chaebol-ness ?

Growing up in a family of doctors, I have immense fascination and affection for the profession, for which reason I have a slight bias for medical dramas. Not bias in judging, but bias in the priority for watching the show.

I have watched most Chinese, Korean, English and Hindi medical dramas, and there's something about this show here that has brought me back to it several times for a rewatch. This show has now become therapeutic for me, wherein it would play in the background on a hectic day and I would relax to the beautiful melody of "It's Love" by Jungyup. Just the starting beats of the OST have me smiling and I can see every single moment between Hye Jung and Ji Hong flash before my eyes.

I like the character development of Hye Jung, and to be fair, PSH is one of the biggest reasons for me to keep watching this show. That coupled with excellent acting by some characters like Yoon Do, Seo Woo, Soon Hee, and Kang Soo keep me going. Soon Hee plays the role of Hye Jung's best friend beautifully and it is so amazing to see their bond traverse over the years. Similarly, LSK has delivered a powerful performance, like always, to the extent where she made me hate her character the first few times. You see her develop from this aloof personality to this strong woman who learns to prioritise herself, which is commendable. I also quite enjoy the cute and hilarious banter between Ji Hong and Yoon Do, kudos to both KRW and YKS for the amazing bromance!

In terms of the story, I like the swift shift we see in terms of the time period from Hye Jung's high school days to her life as a doctor. I also thoroughly enjoyed the storyline revolving around the grandmother and malpractice issue. What lifts it even more for me is LSK's brilliant portrayal of a person involved in the entire issue in some capacity. I also like how they keep it real by not giving it a fairy tale ending by putting the people behind bars for the main issue (not side issues like embezzlement). Hye Jung's acceptance of the issue and how her character derives peace at the end is very beautiful to watch over the span of the show and makes me happy for her. Totally love the grandmother, granddaughter bond. Though, I believe the show could've done without the unnecessary storyline of the stepmother and stepsister. Maybe even water down the story with the father to some extent. They seem like irrelevant characters to me and hence wasting so much time describing feelings related to them seems like unnecessarily stretching the show to me.

However, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. I am all for "age is just a number" and "age is no bar for love" but I'm just not able to understand the development of romantic feelings between the main leads here. He is a qualified and practicing doctor when he is teaching Hye Jung in high school. Which means she's a minor (if I'm not wrong) and it just gives me quite "pedophile vibes". Although it is not a huge age difference per se, it's just the timing of when it seems to begin that makes me uncomfortable because she was just so young. Although nothing happens, and it doesn't actually begin, so it's all okay. It's just uncomfortable in my head.

Another problem I face is the constant neglect of Ji Hong's feelings by Hye Jun. She seems to be walking all over him for most part of the show which really puts me off. Her aloof character begins to annoy but PSH's beautiful expressions make up for it and do not let me dwell too much into it. However, the shift we see in her character and the growth is commendable, which saves this show from going all downhill for me.

All in all, this is definitely worth a one time watch if you're into dramas with conspiracy, medicine and rom-com. It is not the slow burn or way too fluffy kinda romance, so, please keep that in mind when you go ahead with this wonderful piece of work!

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What nonsense; Super cringe, horrible plot and even more horrible is the acting!

Dropped it at Episode 13, so this review is based on that.

First, I seriously do not understand how this drama is rated anything above 7 considering how some literal masterpieces out there get half the attention than this. Also, I see this listed on no-cliches and healthy romance a lot but I would 100% (politely) disagree. This is as trope-y as any average C/K drama. There is an unnecessarily rude and annoying second female lead who does not take no for an answer and harasses the FL. There is also the overdone trope of age which leads to the FL treating the ML like a doormat. Then you have the brooding SML and this unnamed relationship between him and the FL. If that is not trope-y, I don't know what is.

My biggest problem is with the way the FL acts (in general) and treats the ML. The way the FL just keeps on humiliating him, shouting at him, letting her insecurities get the better of her and lashing out at him is too much and no one should tolerate that, especially under the garb of love. Just because you can't deal with your feelings (coherent or incoherent) you do not get the right to take it out on anyone else, which she does again and again. That's just plain abuse.

Also, I've not seen other works of the actress, but I find her acting here to be extremely horrible. In the sequence where she acts drunk early on, I was getting second-hand embarrassment with her poor acting and how she seemed more paedophile trying to attack the guy than drunk.

I regret wasting even a single minute of my time on this show. It is not worth it and I would not recommend this to anyone. I was willing to drop it at Ep 1 but all these positive comments had me thinking maybe it gets better. Almost halfway through, it DID NOT get even 1% better and was such a painful watch throughout.

I'm giving this a 2 only because I enjoyed He Yu's acting quite a lot. He was quite fit for the role, I only wish the role was better. Whenever he was on screen, it became a little bearable.

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An engaging plot developed alongside a healthy, beautiful romance

Full Disclosure: I watched this show as the new episodes were released and dropped this at Episode 10. It took me over 3 weeks to muster the courage to watch thereafter and completely hated Episode 11. But the redemption thereafter was enough to bring this show back into my list of favourites for various reasons. :)

1. The Aspect of Romance
This show is not for everyone. As a person who absolutely loves slice-of-life dramas and slow-burn romance, this show was absolutely perfect. Furthermore, there were certain aspects I was expecting, knowing the history of this team with shows like One Spring Night (my absolute favourite) and Something in the Rain (a show I eventually put on indefinite hold). I actually never thought that the romance was too little or started only at a particular time because for me even the start had enough romance to build the impactful storyline. Romance for me does not mean only passionate scenes. Supporting one another, respecting one another and having a healthy relationship classify more as romance for me, which is why I loved this one. This is one of those rare East Asian shows where however much I prepared myself for a break-up, it didn't come. No unnecessary fights, ugly breakups, bad second leads or mean in-laws. Just a very healthy, communicative and modern/mature relationship and I'm all for it. Having said that, if you do not like slow-burn romance with stories that have a topic other than the clueless romance, you WILL 100% NOT LIKE this show.

2. Acting by the Actors
I have to say, the acting by everyone was really great here. The villains made me hate them to the core, we saw character development for some really great characters like Mr. Pyo, Ms Nam and Jun Ho. And the chemistry between the main leads was absolutely phenomenal. I am in love with this pairing and I'm so happy with how nicely they've delivered. I was never out of touch with them, even when I was absolutely frustrated with them. I have laughed, cried and enjoyed with these actors and I cannot fault any of them, to be honest, in their acting.

3. OST
One thing I was looking forward to with this show was the tranquil English OST - something this team is well-known for. And my god, did they absolutely deliver. Right out of the park. What a stunning, soothing and peaceful OST collection. I absolutely loved it. I mean, I love Korean/Chinese OSTs so much, but it's so much better when I can actually understand the song and get double the feels in that perfect melody at the time of watching itself instead of googling the translation later.

4. The Storyline
I actually quite enjoyed the story of the show and I believe it was quite decently written and narrated. One, it was a somewhat fresh concept that provides good insights into the education system of Korea - a topic that although covered before, is not mainstream. So, I appreciated the use of a new concept instead of rehashing those same old cliches. Second, I liked how other than the politics, there were no unnecessary tropes in the show like cunning second leads, memory loss, or even mean in-laws. It was a very non-problematic show in that sense and nothing seemed like not needed to me. I also quite liked how all the characters have been written, I enjoyed most of them other than the FL. I also liked how everyone had their individuality and how all the individual stories tied in together. As someone who does not appreciate romance without good plots, I was very very satisfied with the plot here which was strong enough to keep me going and enjoying the romance, I often drop shows with stellar chemistry if the plot is lame af. So clearly, I have a preference for a stronger plot, and this show had just that!

5. Insufferable FL at times
If everything is so nice, then why a lower score? Because of the FL's character. In many instances, I found the FL to be manipulative, cunning and also downright demeaning when it came to the other characters like the ML and Mr Pyo. She was quite narcissistic in her behaviour and as I've said in the comments before came off as insecure about her job. The last part was further corroborated by how she talked about her job in the last episode, and her dissatisfaction with her work was leading her to be hypocritical to others like Mr Pyo, who honestly has been shown to be a great teacher. As for the ML, she has been downright insulting towards him multiple times. And while I call this relationship healthy and mature, it's only because, in reality, such issues do emerge in a relationship. It's how they tackled it together and did not give each other up for their own egos that stood out for me. But that does not mean that how the FL was acting was acceptable in any sense. She was the reason I dropped this show for a while.

6. Ending
Another aspect that leads me to deduct points is the ending. While it was really great and sensible for the main leads, I just do not see how it is a complete ending in any sense for all the other parties involved. As I recently noticed in another show, an open ending is a very different concept from what we see here, which is much more incomplete than open. An open ending is what we had in Marriage Contract where you know all the facts and then leave things to the imagination. But here, so many plot holes remain at the ending that you would be left to imagine so many possibilities on your own to come up with an ending for yourself. That is never a sign of an open ending or a good ending. It just seems super rushed, not well thought out and leaves me with a deep feeling of being robbed of a great drama. You do not know what happened to the two ladies in terms of business since that was the main plot (other than the possible lawsuit part), if the instructors stayed or left, how the academies were impacted, where Jun Ho stands, and so much more. All we know is that the leads are together and she is pursuing her goals. NOT ENOUGH!

All in all, it is a great and entertaining watch that will make you love and hate parts of it at the same time, that is, keep you engaged throughout. My favourite character is Jun Ho (who is so mature and did I say hot) and Mr Pyo (who had the best character development tbh). I have enjoyed both of them thoroughly. The show while had its flaws, is one of the better ones that I've watched. It is a must-watch for everyone who enjoys this genre! Love it!

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