Kate

I have not watched LBC soI guess I am not biased about his acting and can judge it as it is? For me his acting here is good :) So if you are hesitant to watch it coz of his previous work and performance, I'd say there is no reason.

they should just only focus on Zon/Saifah and Tutor/Fighter and just not introduce any more couples. They obviously don't have time to manage more than two and make their stories well developed...

Zee is one of a few BL actors who is acting with his eyes and I appreciate SO much! I will definitely check out his future projects.

The chemistry is just amazing. I also love how just looking at them one would assume Saint will be the passive one and Zee the more domineering, when it;s another way around.

I just spend a lot of time (over)thinking hahahaha

YES TO ALL THAT! It was truly amazingly done scene, that explore so many topic and let us see so much of internal conflicts and struggles of the characters. I just appreciate it. But, it just shows how you can make a good scene like that IF you take your time with it. It was a LONG scene compared to "similar" scenes in other BL drama. They took their time with the set up, included the conversation, it was not rushed. It was not just "make out session", there was story behind it and they made sure to convey it.

They are doing amazing job with Tutor and Fighter so if they will keep it up as it is, we will get one amazing story, and 4 mediocre ones at best. Other couple suffer a lot with how much focus is placed on Tutor/Fighter...

because of their stories being so different in style I kind of wished Tutor and Figher and Saifah and Zon had two separate series. Tutor/Fighter story is a bit more on a serious note with some deeper underlying issues, while Saifah/Zon are cute rom com we can watch to laugh, chill and enjoy. It's sometimes hard to make a transition from scenes of one couple to another, when the tone is so different.
Since Tutor/Fighter story is a bit more complex, other characters suffer. Which in unfair. But if we don't want to have the same problem we had with TharnType, where a character had serious mental struggles and problems that were out of a blue cured and absent, we need to explore dynamics between Tutor and Fighter more, and give Fighter time to show the gradual change. BUT as I said, other characters suffer because of that and it's not quite fair.

He will, sooner or later lol It's obvious Fighter was emotionally abused by his dad quite a lot and had to control his feelings and fide them since young age. That's what I got from watching him talk with his dad. You don't just get over it quickly like that. I actually appreciate a lot how this drama does not just make the problem disappear but it keeps coming back every time Tutor and Fighter get close to each other. It makes it that much better and more realistic hahaha

The dynamic is amazing. They truly have great chemistry. Truth to be told, I am so in love with Zee's acting, I can rewatch all his scene just to focus on these micro expressions he makes that speak so much about his character.

that's fair lol

yes... me, straight female, I fully understand the feelings of teenage gay boys hahaha I guess 5 years of studying psychology helped hahahaha

I have no idea why I wrote this essay long comment, but I felt the need to share my views lol

This is "essay long" so feel free to not read that lol
Okay guys, let's talk about "the couch scene", coz for me, it was way more than just two cute guys making out. I cannot be sure if it was truly that well written, planned, directed and acted or if it;s just pure accidental genius, but oh boi, I love this scene.

I think it's important to briefly talk about the set up for the characters. It's obvious Tutor and Fighter were attracted to each other since day one and while Tutor kind of accepted his feelings, Fighter is in a huge denial, rationalizing every action he takes, trying to excuse his behavior, more to himself than to others. It does not matter how amazingly ridiculous his explanations are, they keep him sane and safe. And we can clearly see how they stand on their own feelings with this scene.

The "accidental kiss" was nothing special, but what followed shocked me. In a good way.

Tutor kind of has close to no reaction to it, he slowly is backing off, being aware how uncomfortable this is. Fighter tho: confusion and being unsure of the situation. The way his eyes flutter (flutter is a weird word here, but it is what he does) and how he quickly swallows, both indicating how nervous he is. He is literally frozen not moving at all, even after Tutor moved away. And it is the Tutor that takes the initiative to actually kiss Fighter. And then he back off again. Why? Because, while he is sure of his own feelings, he is not sure what is Fighter thinking and what can come out of this situation. He does not want to be used. That said, we as a viewers see, that Fighter does not want the kiss to end, as he follows Tutor when he backs off, trying to prolong the kiss.

As I see it, Tutor is angry at himself for pushing for that kiss, coz at the end, he is the one being hurt. Fighter: clueless, no idea how to react since he does not even fully understand his feelings for Tutor. That's when the short conversation happens. Tutor is trying to be serious about it. He honestly asks Fighter is he is aware of what he is doing, aka if he is aware of his feelings. But Fighter is oh so not ready to admit it, so he keeps denying his feelings, excusing his behavior as a "teasing". Like it's not about his feelings and what he wants and how he is attracted to Tutor, it's about Tutor's reaction, about making him flutter or angry. He moves the focus of the conversation from himself to Tutor. At the same time, he does not want, whatever they just had, to end, he cannot take the first step, so he tries to provoke Tutor to take the lead, to take away the responsibility from him. He searches for confirmation. He cannot answer the question himself so he asks Tutor for the answer: do I like you? (why did I think of The Heirs here lol). So Tutor finally confronts him, calling him out on his action and how much of denial is going on on Fighter side. And that's when the whole "prove to me" enters: Do I like you? Do I like guys? Am I gay? What am I suppose to do? How am I suppose to act? There is whole identity crisis hidden in this one line: Prove to me, what kind of person I am?. And Tutor, the man he is, goes for it.

And again, lets talk about how they approach it, or rather how Tutor is the only one approaching, aka moving. The moment Tutor gets closer, Fighter just closes his eyes and is waiting, not able to commit and make the move himself. During the kiss itself, he is not moving, while we have all the Tutor's wandering hands. Because Tutor knows what he wants, while Fighter has no idea. And when Tutor touches the D, that's when we see first proper reaction from Fighter, and it's shock, like he was electrocuted. We can see Fighter is searching for something on Tutor's face, maybe confirmation? And when Tutor kisses him again, that's when his self-control breaks down, and he is the one pushing Tutor down. But we can still see he is not sure, his eyes are shaky and he just looks at Tutor.

Yet again Tutor is the one initiating the kiss, bringing Fighter closer. And when Fighter tries to do what Tutor were doing earlier (oh the wander hands lol), he again freaks out. It hits him: this is a guy, I am making out with a guy, I am attracted to a guy. But can I be? Right before we get the flashback, the small shake of the head, turning away his eyes from Tutor, it looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't know what. So when Tutor tries to kiss him again, he backs away. Tutor is visibly hurt by it, probably feel used. Fighter is in daze. Panic mode on, no idea how to react or what to say, so the best idea that comes to his mind is: run. Get out of this situation as quickly as possible. "Don't forget to ask yourself how you feel about me", again moving the responsibility away from himself. He wants Tutor to make the decision, to take action. It's not me, it's you. And tutor is left being angry, sad, frustrated (that's the most lol).

The whole scene, Tutor was the one leading, acting, taking responsibility and initiative. Fighter was "passive", getting himself be led by Tutor, not making any decisions himself, not answering any questions, but asking so many. How I love this scene. I feel like it truly speaks volume about the characters and their internal struggles concerning their feelings and building relationship and the attraction they have towards each other. Was it brilliant planning or accidental genius, will never know. What I know is, Zee is playing extremely hard character. He is suppose to make it look like he is concealing his true feelings for Tutor while making sure it's actually visible for the viewers that they exist. His posture and act must be of a confident guy (since that's how Fighter wants to present himself, as the leading, domineering person) while in fact he is unsure, scared, confused. We need to see them both, in many scenes at the same time, and it must create cohesive portray of a character, who was shielding himself from his emotions for so long, he is totally confused and lost and have no idea who he is and what he wants, if he can want it and how to react when he finally gets it. Yeah, you can see I am just amazed with Zee's acting.

So, thank you for listening to my TED Talk.
I might have read way too much in this scene, but as I said, it might have been accidental genius on the production team side, that I got to appreciate by mistake.

The Nokdu Flower is amazing. Hwang Myung Sim gives "similar" vibe to Han Ji Eun, she seems extremely pointless, boring and stereotypical female character that is obsessed with male lead, but oh boy what a character development she gets it's crazy. There is overall a lot of awesome complex characters. It also has my favorite villain in it. Of all time. Truly... I was so frustrated watching him, I cried... from being so frustrated lol
As for Different Dreams, it;s a good drama but not crazy good. I was not obsessed with FL, but Miki was amazing.
Chicago Typewriter is in my top5 dramas for sure, that said the past story is was made me so obsessed with it :)

how many times can we watch mysterious dude with amazing fighting skills that is some spy or other bullshit, that risks his life to protect female lead? So many times the only characterization the ML gets is the fact he loves female lead and will do anything for her. Boring.
Many times when I see someone complain about FL in a drama, the ML was just as badly written if not worse. In dramas like that the writing is just bad, for all the characters....

also the "oppa attack" was one of my favorite scenes from the drama and I truly cried I was laughing so bad hahahaha

not towards you, but I actually agree that many people are way more critical towards female leads than male leads. I saw people complaining how all female characters are the same but when I checked their profile or custom lists with some of their favorite male characters, there were literally copies of the same character played by different actors. Which annoyed me, coz apparently they did not have a problem with the male characters being boringly the same but the female characters being similar is the worse. In many cases it;s not like male characters are better written than female ones, but the stereotypical male characters seem less annoying to many people, but truth is both male and female characters are often painfully shitty and boring. The years I've been watching dramas, I have noticed that usually when the FL is badly written, so is the ML. I cannot think of any drama where FL and ML were equally important and one was significantly better written than the other.
That said, YES TO ALL THE LADIES YOU NAMED! I have not seen some of the dramas, but from the ones I have seen, I loved them all! Some I appreciated a lot are: Miki (Different Dreams), Song Ja In (The Nokdu Flower), Hwang Myung Sim (The Nokdu Flower) < she was probably even better and stronger character for me than the FL tbh, Song Ga Ryeong (Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People), Im Sang Mi (Save Me), Ryu Su Hyeon (Chicago Typewriter), Noh Seung Hye (SKY Castle).

I can already tell that my review will be long essay on the amazing acting we've got to see from Zee

My biggest complain about Eun Jae was the fact they "cured" her problem with placebo. It was such an easy way out and it stripped her from overcoming it herself and making her a stronger character that way.
Also, I liked Park Min Gook the most too, coz he was the most complex character of them all... well until the last two episodes. I have no idea what happened there. He went full villain for a second, then he got sad coz Master Kim scold him (lol) and then he turn good? It was such a mess...
I was questioning it I should give it 7 and not 6.5 but 7 is "I liked it" and I feel like "It's okay" fits more how I feel about this drama...
Anyway, great review :)