missdaisy

Same here!!! I've prayed too hard for a well-deserved confession of love (I thoroughly enjoyed how you used that phrase of 'unravel those feelings', both to the teaching and especially to her). I wish to be swept away by the overwhelming and heart-aching affection, the way that long scene of their free lecture made me feel... : fingers crossed :

yes, this is so evident in the scene of the free lecture, did you notice that when Jun Ho started his nostalgic memories of them together as tutor-student back then, the song "Now and Then" by The Restless Age was played too. The song was an OST, tailor-made for the drama, so I think its lyrics perfectly portray his feelings for her all these years: No one but you could be her/ You were the first and the only one... You walked in my door, and the love I had for you before/ Came shining though just like a star above the clouds....
Kudos to the crew for the perfection in OST creating and curating, the more I revel in those lyrics and music, the more I feel related and connected to the leads, their budding romance and their mutual adoration, affection and pure respect. Love this drama and its meaningful layers <333

Ikr? If this is not insane chemistry, then what is???

Here's my two cents: It seems that both FL and ML had feelings for each other long time ago, when they were a tutor and a student. But if this was true, the FL would be put in a tougher situation compared to the ML. She's (pretty much) older, she was in trouble (that led her to temporarily quit her studing and started her teaching), she has been a private person (it has been shown clearly in first 2 eps), and he's carrying the hope and pride of his parents, who are very concerned of social position and prosperity. The tutor-student relationship has been in a state of stability and balance for these all 10 years, and FL seems to be happy with just knowing that ML's around, he would show up once in a while and they would have some casual happy conversation. But if he becomes a fellow tutor (in her very academy), they will be put into a very dangerous small space, and she can no longer keep her indifferent attitude toward him. This might mean chaos to her, especially when remaining the position of "super star academy tutor" and staying calm amidst high-demanding superiors, vulgar (and sometimes outrageously rude) parents and students are hard enough for her. That's why she's against his decision and resolution as if she's holding on to her dear life. Again, it's just my speculation, I was just caught off guard as you (and many other fellow viewers) by this detail too, and hope to get a satisfying justifcation from the drama as it goes on... Fingers-crossed!

Exactly what I felt too. While I like the overall tone of the series (slice of life, but not too dark), but every interaction between most of the characters seems to be so forced. Everytime I watch this movie, I feel a little bit guilty, something like: If I don't like these oh-so-nice people, I must be a very very bad person and don't deserve love in my life. The brothers seem to grow up and naturally become good men, without any shadow from their traumatic childhood (their parents passed away in the most tragic way possbile, and the young older-sister had to be a young mom to raise them). The big sister is too sweet sometimes I just found it a little bit too... creepy and unnatural. I prefer Manato's portrayal (and his mother's always anxious expressions), the leading female's best friend's character too, at least they are more 'real' people and more relatable.

awww, your point really makes sense. Maybe during chasing for love (interested in being in love), they were blind and missed out on critical moments. This is beautiful. Thank you <3

Your comment actually brought a giant smile to my face. Same here, I was a little bit lost after watching the final ep for the first time (I actually skipped parts of 2FL and 2ML, still don't like them whatsoever), but then I gave myself sometime to relax, reflect, let the dots connect, and rewatch the episode to have a better perspective. I found out many nice details that I missed out on the first viewing, along the way, my confidence about the happy ending for the main couple grew more and more, and I like it. This drama, I feel, is something like a deep and thoughtful person that we're lucky enough to be friend with (or more romantically, to be in love with), the more we look at them, the closer we get to them, the more interesting things we can find in them, and those little renewed observations could make the relationship grow fonder. Not many dramas/movies possess that magic, and we're lucky to have one here, don't you think?

"Open" as the ending may seem, but I can see it strongly hints a "happy ending" for our MCP, at long last. In the last episode, look at their facial expressions and listen to their open and casual, uplifting conversations, we don't have that damned feeling that haunted us for previous 15 episodes, that "She will surely run away, again (and again, and again)...".
Now she stays, she leans toward him more, she ignites the conversations, she wants him to explain more, that's when you know a woman is really interested in a man.
I notice a nice little detail toward the end of ep 16. Before the tonkatsu date, SS encountered a problem at the bank, the very same issue that made him late for their critical date more than 4 years ago (ep 1, the point from which everything between them simply went off-track): the end-of-day balance was incorrect. Last time, he tried his best to make it right, and he was late for the date, this time, he paused for a brief moment, took his wallet out, put his own money into the bank safety box to make the balance right, so that he could go and see her on time. He's learned his lesson. He cares for her truly and he shows it in an ordinary yet very delicate way. He won't make her wait any longer.
Ep 16 presented us with a nice metaphor too. SY went to the bank to request a loan to cover her down payment. Now she has to pay the INTEREST. Before, she always showed that she trusted no-one, that no-one can help her, she tried to handle every problem by herself, she seemed strong but actually unbearably artificial. She tried to be happy but on the contrary, she was a mess, she tried to destroy every good thing due to the fear of losing them one day. But now she's changed. She's asked for help (a loan?), and she pays her due. She admits to him that she kept wondering "what if", that means she regretted about her past decisions. And let's not forget it's him who comes from the bank and helps her to handle the loan process. Now he's in charge, and she pays the interest. That's a nice and interesting metaphor to me. Life is fair, eventually, at least in a drama :)
Overall, I like this movie in terms of how it portrays love and life as it is. Yes, love is actually a mundane thing, two people stay together, try their best to make things work. They might fight sometimes, but in the end, they want to stay together and fix the differences. But it takes a whole lot of courage to make a start, to fight the urge to run away when the going gets tough, when your fear and complexes get in the way, especially with people with heavy baggage like SY (and SS, though it's not so obvious in him), they tend to turn inward, to ruminate about their problems and try to fix them alone, instead of openly sharing and asking for a shoulder to lean on.
Many viewers say that if our couple didn't have that small issue in ep 1 (he was late she was mad for nothing), the story wouldn't have been that exhausting and dragging. But I beg to differ. This drama is so realistic in its development. Yes, they could have been dating long time ago (at various points on their timeline of what-ifs), but I don't think the relationship could last. Each one of them, especially SY, had their own lessons that need to be learnt, about themselves, about what to keep and what to let go, what kind of life they personally wish to lead. When they're able to give the priority and love to their own selves, then they can love each other with more ease. And now's the time for that love to truly blossom. They can date right away, or they can just be together as much as they want, without giving that relationship an official label. I don't mind. As long as they feel comfortable around each other. Don't we, as the lonely souls in this dark and lonely universe, always wish to have that kind of soulmate?
Last but not least, thank you all for this so exciting and soul-enriching comment section. You guys, with inventive and thoughtful takes on love and life, make this drama 1,000,000,...00x more interesting for me. Love you all <3

You're not alone chingu. I have been confused all long about this critical phrase too. It would be great if some fellow viewer can help to explain how it originally means in Korean :((((

Relax chingu, I believe many fellow viewers got your point, I agree with you too. I love the look and the positive vibe exuding from JDY, and she really nailed this role of NHS so far, I'm just concerned when people in the movie kept saying that she's younger than her age (doesn't look like she had a high-school daughter, urg...), this is totally unnecessary.

Actually if you scroll down a bit, many fellow reviewers did mention that MGY's upbringing was a major factor that made her who she is, and that's why her relationships never worked out (especially with Sang-su).
To be honest, I don't despise her, for I (or we) understand that she acted like a woman in love yet couldn't get the love she wanted (that hurts like hell, yes). But the way she said good-bye doesn't impress me either :) She acted like the whole problem was caused by Sang-su, she even 'attacked' SY, but did she, for once, admit that she mistreated the ones she seemed to try to care for?

Yes, I think we should give more credit to SY. She DID try her best to make this relationship work. She agreed to be his girlfriend, and she acted accordingly. She was patient enough (too much actually) to find out why he disappeared without a word after the exam, she went out of her way to find him in his hometown and helped him with literally everything. Until she had to admit with herself that this wouldn't work. (Like some fellow reviewer here, I was impressed with that detail when she had to give up her beloved piano and plants just to give him and his stuffs more space, by giving out her love to him, she gave up on herself, which was already painfully scarce). Just like you, I'm still so confused about the way she made a scene and never tried to explain to SML about that 'one night stand" affair. But I guess it's so SY too, when she doesn't care anymore, she just destroys her own castle. And I won't say that's a bad thing though. Sometimes enough is just enough :)

I felt bad for her because she fell out of love twice (once was with Kyeong Pil when they were students, and now with Sangsu). But that doesn't make her innocent with her wrong-doings and manipulation over many people, including 'her man' (aka Sangsu). In terms of the capability of creating the most awkward moments in this drama, Mi-geyong, with no doubt, is the queen. Let's not forget that she organized the birthday party for SY (without SY's consent, I won't forget how SY felt when she found out that her favorite painting was purchased and displayed in the service bathroom by MGY), and her own birthday party was definitely the bitter medicine that she must taste, but it was terrible for those other 3 people involved. One can hate SY for her bizarre decisions, but it's not the legit reason for rooting for MGY's behavior.

Totally agree, this drama hits home for many viewers, including me myself, as I can see my somehow 'innocent' side as well as my 'evil-go-to-hell' moments in every character. There are undeniable facts that show how we act and react, both in daily life and especially when we fall in love.
I was shocked with the realization that if I were in SY's shoes, I would also try my best to find someone like SS to encourage and comfort my bruised ego (due to a past with too many losses and traumas), but at the same time, I would find ways to escape this love of his, because of my inferior complexes.
As a fellow reviewer's so wise comment: we are viewers, so it's easy for us to see where our characters are heading, how they miscommunicate, we get angry because 'with just a tiny amount of communication, everything might have been solved from the very first moment'. But our characters are built as 'mortals', just like anyone of us, so they make mistakes, again and again and again, and they right a wrong by doing more wrongs, just like us.
I guess this is the reason why I keep watching this drama. I feel for ML, FL, and still pray for their eventual happy ending, because just like a blind mortal, I live for the hope that 'tomorrow would be better, no matter how bad today might be'.

beautiful written with various logical interpretations, thanks <3

Hi guys newbie here, as much as I hate this drama for driving me nuts (gosh just say what you need to say and stay together for God's sake FL and ML), but I have to admit it's really captivating, I can't help but keep waiting for weekly Wed and Thurs. Just want to share a random observation and warmly welcome you guys' ideas.
I've rewatched Ep12 and found out that: In the steamy hot scene (beginning of Ep.12): FL actually wore the same outfits (the brown blazer + white shirt + white heels) as when she came to have a drink with her father (near the end of Ep.12) and then stopped on her way to make a call ("Meet me right now!"). This was also her outfit at the office the next morning (when she was met by ML and he asked her 'Why did you suddenly leave?". I don't know if he asked about her leaving the beach or leaving the hotel after their night together, because to me it's highly possible so.
From this tiny observation, I really hope:
1) They really had a night together (my evil mode soooo switched on).
2) SML really knew that FL would leave him for good (I hate SML so much can't even describe in words).
3) The writers/director would give us a convincing explanation for the misunderstanding/ cliffhanger planted by the end of Ep.12.
4) FL and ML would be together at last. Call me hopelessly romantic but gosh I really need that :(((