littleberry09

It's not really a romance. It was obvious as it neared the end of the first half and there was nothing between them before the imperial marriage decree. Her real identity and their past is also a huge barrier in their relationship on her side.

Exactly all this. Frankly I'm surprised why anyone who watched past the first episode finds her cold behaviour towards him to be surprising or off putting. This was so obviously predictable due to her circumstances. Why is she just expected to just roll over and accept him? It seems rather like viewers want to force this to be something it's not, which is to be a romance eventhough it's clear it's not strongly a romance drama.

Fr thanks for saying all this. It's a great drama for it's heavy themes, but not for romance if that's what ppl want

Sure, he didn't know how she felt, but he definitely knew how he himself felt? He was aware how upset and annoyed he was that she didn't want to go public. And this secrecy carried on right until their 6th year of their relationship (when Flora was surprised everyone already knew lol). Yet Luke still stayed with her all that time even if it bugged him and was obviously a red flag to him. He and his friend briefly had the idea of firing her so they could go public, but again this would not have suited the type of drama this was.

And to be frank, the way you know their workplace was only a plot device is when you see how their relationship or whatever it was completely lacked any personal aspect. Luke and Flora never truly knew each other even after being together 4 years, and this was obvious in Episode 19 when they talk as if they're on a first date (and in the literal sense it likely was their first date). And it's not that they saw each other at work so that was enough, they were still allowed to see each other Monday-Friday OUTSIDE of work....but they didn't do that. Even when they were meant to be 'dating' they still only had a co-workers with benefits arrangement.

So no, even if they worked in different companies I think they would have still had this arrangement or called it off altogether. Again, plot device and story technique. A big reason why they had to work at the same company and their secret underground arrangement went on for so long was to keep it more exciting for the viewer.

You didn't understand what I was saying. Her working *under* him, and her also dating him, were not compatible with each other. Their work life and power imbalance directly impacted on their relationship. Yes lots of people date and also work together, but that's NOT what happened here. He was in a much more superior position above her, and she was unable to seperate his boss position from him being her boyfriend. She was also so insecure as to keep their relationship hidden. In this case it would have made MORE sense for one of them to have left the job, or they shouldn't have dated at all.

So yes, the workplace was used as a plot device. It's what keeps their situationship together. They see each other at work, on Friday night leave together to f*ck over the weekend. Come back to work Monday. If they didn't work in the same company, they would never have seen each other during the week at all. They had no strong enough relationship or connection for that.

With Jing Boran and Sun Qian? Yeah I agree it wouldn't. People are getting their hopes up for no reason, when the likelihood of this happening is close to nil. They won't be recast in another drama where they are not the leads. Their story is also finished with The Early Spring, a new drama will be solely about another couple.

Same I think they were utterly exhausting,especially because it doesn't feel like they outgrow their problems at the end. Won't Luke still get heavily possessive and jealous? Won't Flora continue with her non-communicative behaviour?

That's not technically a S2 or a sequel, TFF was not a sequel to HL, they were set in the same universe but you could watch them independently of each other. Which is what I hope another drama set in this universe would be

It would have made more sense for either one to have left the company earlier in the drama. But then of course there is no plot device to keep their relationship running. Outside of their weekend sex sessions they only see each other at work.

Maybe? A lot of unrequited love, but ML and FL still end up loving each other.

(there's a girl obsessed with ML and FL was engaged to someone else who broke up with her iirc)

It stays focused on both as far as I know, I took a break from it so haven't seen the last 3 episodes yet. They probably get a happy ending though so she likely has a successful career whilst ending up married to him

Had potential, but the second half just falls off. The editing is also so bad, whoever did so should be fired IMO

Happy birthday Bai Meng Yan AKA Bai Lu 🎉🎉🎉

These weird time jumps happen in The Early Spring too. Am frustrated with dramas never stating how much time has passed but still having the same environment several years later.

I think it's also that she feels she looses her agency and independence. She formed her company from the ground up, she didn't want Han Ting to intervene with whatever he was going to do with it management wise. But actually when she goes to Germany during their split, she understands more and doesn't blame Han Ting.

But yeah Han Ting could have also explained and prepared her more.

I agree with this! A lot of dramas have such huge time jumps for their break up period, when it isn't necessary. 3-5 year time skip would have been perfect and more realistic.

@tintin92 are you by chance the gatekeeper or admin of this page?

FYI this is a *public* forum, all kinds of viewers are welcome, whether they loved it, are neutral or disliked it. You seem to behave massively triggered by people who disliked it and as if you have a personal vendetta against them. This is the kind of toxic fandom that should be avoided, when they can't take critics against their fave drama.

Equaling child marriage to ADULT nudity is f*cking NUTS!!! If you are the kind of audience that is freaked out by this then just don't watch it. Didn't you see the sex, nudity, suicide, sex tags ratings by Netflix BEFORE you started watching it? It's your own fault in this scenario.

Also just shows you're not mature enough for a series rated 15+. Please grow up first! 🙄🙄🙄

But it was up to her whether to stay in that company or not. He never even let her choose. He attempted to control her life by arranging for her to stay working at Lime and win the award the next year. All without even asking her if that's what she wanted.

I'm also glad she left both Luke and the job. She developed her own independence and was free of toxic Luke (until she accepted him back again)

Several other dramas have toxic relationships, the difference is they are written well, have good pacing and believable plotline. Eventhough I wasn't fond of Lighter and Princess (just can't watch it again 😬) , it was still very well written in terms of everything. I couldn't even give it that low of a rating even if I wanted to.Whereas TES doesn't have that. The characters and the development of their relationship makes no sense at all. The plot is also all over the place from Ep 18.