nolatoo

I think he was just as shocked as she was. He was probably tricked into this meeting with the young woman. Probably thought he was simply coming to have a meal with his dad. I have a tough believing he’d willingly accept such a meeting if he knew its real purpose.

I love her too. So cute.

Mr. Gu could teach that Weightlifting Fairy guy a thing or two about holding an umbrella for a girl, lol.

This writing has some really stupid bits. Who play-plays with a serious legal document like a marriage registration? Who signs something like that just for kicks and a gag? What level of idiocy is that? Woww, this writer.

You make a valid point. There are many different types of kdramas. The second male lead of “Just Between Lovers” had that perfect sort of attractiveness but the ML (our very same Lee Jun Ho) was just a plain, regular Joe. The other two you mentioned had more down-to-earth qualities, as well.

So true. I hope they work out their issues, learn to get along, and heal. I hope you’re right about there being good deep inside her. She’s been mean to him every since he was little and she was a teen. Meanness and jealousy and elitism seems to be in her bones, to me.

@GiseleK True, you’re right, unappealing toxic personalities of tsundere ML characters is often a part of that kdrama trope. I meant “perfect” physically speaking and “perfect” in the superficial sense—wealthy, family status, capableness. To onlookers he seems “perfect.” But, as his personality and weaknesses are revealed, we see he isn’t so perfect after all.

The physical “perfection,” however, that extreme attractiveness, the almost plastic flawlessness, is what makes a kdrama a kdrama. The perfect set lighting, the perfect camera angles, the perfect skin, the style, the aesthetics—that’s the whole appeal of a kdrama. If the ML looks more down-to-earth and like a regular Joe, then it’s a whole other thing. It’s just a regular show then, not a kdrama (at least not a traditional kdrama) in my opinion.

That’s what makes it a kdrama. The over-the-topness. The unreal, next-level prettiness of the ML, a prettiness and a too-good-to-be-true perfection that sometimes even outshines the FL. It’s metrosexualism on steroids. It’s a different sort of masculinity that most Westerners don’t associate with masculinity at all—flawless pale skin, thin physique, perfectly coifed hair, extreme fastidiousness and attention to style.

Also, the tsundere ML is a classic archetype used over and over and over again. So, yes, we do kinda see the same character across many kdramas. (But, other countries do this too. Many Golden Age of Hollywood’s leading men had extremely handsome “pretty” looks similar to their peers and played similar characters in similar dramas —Cary Grant, Tyrone Powers, Gregory Peck, Rock Hudson, Glenn Ford, just to name a few. That brand of “prettiness” is just more traditionally masculine to Western audiences.)

Old-school kdrama male leads, say 20 yrs ago, weren’t like they are now and had a more traditionally masculine, tan-skinned aesthetic (Song Seung-heon, for example, “Autumn in My Heart,” or Lee Byung-hun “Iris”). For some reason, with the popularity of kpop idols, the “flower-boy” masculine aesthetic for ML actors changed and mirrored K-pop influences.

I personally don’t care for the flower-boy aesthetic either, but after watching many, many kdramas, I barely even notice it anymore. I just notice the chemistry between the leads. If the actor is good and talented, he’s heartfluttering and swoonworthy regardless his appearance. His masculine appeal shines through as he becomes warm and attentive to the leading lady (e.g. Park Hyungsik in “Strong Woman Bong Soon”—an extremely pretty man but also extremely charming and swoonworthy. He had my brain shook for a good long while because I couldn’t understand what I was looking at when I first saw him.)

Honoring the unsung heroes—beautiful episode. I love young Mr. Gu’s egalitarian sentimentality. The hotel wouldn’t be the hotel without its dedicated staff, for sure! Looking forward to seeing ML’s business prowess though in the next episode because a successful businessman must balance sentimentality and idealism with pragmatism and realism, aka profits.

Nice people

“Out of the frying pan into the fryer,” lol. It’s “fire” not “fryer.”

This needs a spoiler tag.

I like that too.

🔥🔥🔥🦋🦋🦋

Nice theory. Maybe they are related. I don’t think the writer put TKIAR characters in for no reason. Will be interesting to see what the writer has in store for us.

@taeyong_bubu No, not chill. Infected humans are running around like vampires scaring the living daylights out of folks. Authorities are trying to solve this situation.

I thought of her too. Angelababy definitely has that head-turning, top-tier beauty. But, yeah, she’s a bit too old for role, in my opinion. I also like Xu Lu. She’s very beautiful and a good actress.

I like Xu Lu (Love Scenery). I’d enjoy seeing her in the role. She’s beautiful enough to match the character description and she’s a good actress. She creates good chemistry with her MLs.

Yayyyy! MDL finally credited this awesome screenwriter. Please do the same on the pages of “Provoked,” “A Familiar Stranger,” “Destined to Meet You,” and “The Killer is Also Romantic,” also written by this talented person. This writer/director team really knows their stuff. I look forward to all their upcoming projects. They’ve got this mini-series, short-episode genre on lock. 👍🏽

Pure speculation as I have no idea, but gonna throw my theories out there:
1. Mr. Ha was a priest in the 1st life and was not allowed to fall in love and get married, but Cho Won fell in love with him anyway
2. Min-Ki, a nobleman, was also in love with Cho Won. He was hurt and angry that she didn’t return his love. They were likely in an arranged marriage that she was trying to escape.
3. Seo-Ha was a priest (or guardsman?) in the same shrine as Mr. Ha and exacted vengeance against Cho Won for breaking temple rules and pursuing Mr. Ha. In the heat of the moment, he killed Cho Won because he got angry at Ju Won’s defense of her sister and irreverence about temple rules.
4. Bai Ji-uem (Ju Won) and Min-Ki are angry with Seo-Ha for killing Cho Won.
5. Mr. Ha stands by powerless and ashamed that he couldn’t love Cho Won nor protect her, even though he wanted to.