Reviews

Pleasantly Surprised

I was concerned by the bad reviews and as the show went on, I became more confused about people's complaints. This drama is one of the few I haven't had to drag myself through to finish. It was genuinely fun to watch every scene, no parts where I wished it would just hurry up (which I usually find myself doing a lot).
I really enjoyed the humor and the show's ability to slip in between heavy, serious moments and hilarious slapstick-esque comedy (one actor in particular was just BUILT for physical comedy and he DELIVERS). I read reviews about the genre seeming inconsistent and jarringly so, so I kept anticipating a shift in tone, but it was rather consistent to me.
I also read complaints about the leads' relationship, some people saying they didn't have chemistry. I'm VERY confused about this one. I don't know if the meaning of the word chemistry has changed recently (as some words DO change over time), but the leads had very good, very real vibes. I suppose a lot of it may require reading into, but it's a pretty natural amount of interpretation. This couple reminds me a lot of one of my favorite couples: Se Gye and Do Jae from The Beauty Inside. I think if you liked that drama, this one is also great (though I will say the writing is not quite as good here).
My overall favorite aspect of the show is all of the characters. They all appeared to be necessary and were on screen for an appropriate amount of time (I didn't get tired of seeing them). There were so many interesting relationships between main and supporting characters. If anyone is bothered by any actor's shorter screen time, consider if they NEEDED to be in the show more, or if you just wanted to see them more because you liked them/thought they were attractive.
There are downsides, mainly being some plot points that aren't fully fleshed out. I don't care too much about how they wrote the serial killer. Actual serial killers tend to be pretty shallow and dumb so I think they did a good job making one this interesting. I was able to predict most of what happened, but it was more based on pattern recognition in writing style rather than actual plot clues (not in a bad way at all; I was still surprised, in a way).
The plot points that aren't fully explored are generally the ones that, in real life, often have unsatisfying outcomes, so I can excuse it by saying the writers were being realistic. There were, of course, moments that felt very shoe-horned, but not horribly, just plot aspects meant to help wrap up the story. Honestly, my biggest pet peeve about legal dramas nowadays, and that this one unfortunately falls prey to, is outdated law practices. There's a factor of the case that irks me because it doesn't actually have plot consequences, but they insist on inserting it for no effect. Korean law reversed this statute in 2015, long before this show, and so it shouldn't have even been mentioned. It doesn't change the outcome in any way. It's just kind of there to annoy people who KNOW it isn't in place anymore.
I'm an avid rewatcher, and I think this show has great rewatch ability just for the comedy. I found myself often taking screenshots to send to people because the scenes were just too funny, and they don't lose value after the show is over. I highly recommend watching.

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All for being the Sexiest Man

I do love that they've somehow managed to make an eleven episode plot out of probably the most insignificant award ever, and what I love even more is that fact that it worked.

It worked very well. Is the plot a thinly veiled excuse to have Boom cry almost every episode? SURE! But did I also eat it up like it was no one's business? You bet.
Because by all means the plot was the most scattered and random thing ever, the entire series was based on the fact that one lead absolutely loved and adored the other and thus decided to become exactly like him. What followed that was a bunch of unprompted jealousy, weird entertainment company politics and just a whole lot of crime. I don't even know what happened there, it was the most random stuff ever and that was the way you could always tell that this was actually based on a manga. None of it individually, or together for that fact, should make sense, but boy does it.
But the plot was absolutely the most random thing ever, no doubt about that.

The glue was Akin and Jun. Jin.
Their love story was the entire point of watching and making this series, it carries the plot and was actually very, very nice. They had a complicated dynamic right from the beginning, teetering between attraction and pure detest, but it worked. You never have to ask yourself why they're attracted to each other or like each other, I guarantee that.

And with the romance comes chemistry. SO MUCH CHEMISTRY.
Boom and Smart, I mean.
The honey scene?! Come on.
And they had all kinds of chemistry, not just the intense kind, they had cute chemistry, the 'I'm dating my best friend' kind of chemistry and of course, they had the 'I want to kiss you with the force of a thousand waterfalls' kind of chemistry in spades.
Just so good together.

But.. but.. this review would be amiss if I didn't mention one person..
BOOM
What-
Akin was written for him. I think that quite a bit about a lot of characters, but that statement has never held more true in any other case. The nuance with which Boom played Akin.. I mean.. it was perfect. No words would be enough to describe just how perfect he was, hats off. Just brilliant.

My only real complaint is the scattered plot, if it had been a bit more solid, would've been great but like I said, this worked, so I'm not complaining much.
Oh, I have one more complaint. The amount of times they made Akin cry. Why?

This is actually a very good series, it captured my attention and kept it until the very last scene, and might I say they set up a sequel? I don't know, if you know let me know.

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Who was this made for?

That's what I'm wondering after watching this.
Was it made for the manga readers? NO.
Was it made for the general public? I don't think so, since it's a collection of scenes without any reason or sense whatsoever and unless you have read the manga you won't be able to link things and fill in the gaps.

I was watching some random show days ago and the plot made me remember Parfait Tic the manga because it shared a couple of similarities and I fancied rereading it. I found out in the process that there was a live action version of the manga. I decided to watch it after rereading the manga, what shouldn't have done.

I need to point out that the manga is not great despite its popularity, and I hadn't reread it since I did first back in the 00s as it came out. My expectations were already very low with this adaptation before starting it because it's a trend with adapted mangas, I think I've only seen a couple of good ones ever. Alas, what made me reread the manga was mostly remembering Daiya as a character because I liked him and because it's one of those rare occasions where the main character chooses the secondary male interest instead of the obvious more main one.

I feel I need to sum up a bit the manga to point out at the same time why this adaptation is so pointless and bad.
For starters, they have, I guess, tried to fit in 10 episodes of around 20 minutes (and they repeat scenes what it's the cherry on top of insulting if you ask me) a total of 22 volumes of the manga. Sure, the manga, especially in the second half slows down and goes melodramatic and dragging but the funny and ironic part is that they have focused here on the more drama and melodramatic moments of the whole series than anything, it's a whiplash of melodrama scene after another. This show, like it has happened with many other shōjo manga adaptations, has gone for a dramatic take on the plot instead of the romcom it should be. Most of the manga, taking those dramatic moments, are more pure romcom, with a clear comedy inclination.
I was trying to think what they have done right in here but it's pretty much nothing. I guess they deserve some praise for not including homophobic and fatphobic comments as well as keeping the gender stereotypes a bit on hold (barely). I thought they would avoid them completely being 2018 and considering everything they cut from the show but hey! there is always space for some gender stereotypes in the mix! I guess they also made Ichi surprisingly more bearable (what might come as a surprise to people but he's one of the worst romantic interests in a manga ever for me).
This show is like it all happened in about a couple of weeks, it's very cheaply made and acting is pretty bad too. I thought the timeline was already fast enough in the manga (about a year and a couple of months or so) but here they said "hold my beer".
Now, a simple sum up of the plot of the manga will already highlight the many things that this adaptation gets wrong (and sorry it's so long but it's 22 volumes!!):

Fuuko is in many ways the typical shōjo manga main character, she's clumsy, bad at studies and yada yada. One of her characteristics is that she's very passionate about her hairstyle, hair in general. It's the reason she has it long and wears a different hairstyle every day (shoutout the day she wore it in a poo shape) . She's also very fond of children and keeps the local kids entertained and plays with them constantly, she's almost like a part time volunteer nanny. I guess that this alone can already explain why she chooses that career path in the end, she specifically wants to work with hair and with children. The show made a terrible job at showing this. Her age at the start of the manga is 15, 16 at the end before the 2 years time jump.
Now, although the series did show the key points of the manga, the more melodramatic moments that is, it misses way too much for the timeline to make sense. Fuuko gets a crush on Daiya first (no, they don't go to the snow, they actually make their way to where they were supposed to go, the zoo, and find their classmates there). It's a crush!!! not a deep love or anything. Fuuko kinda gets pressured by people around her to confess to Daiya even though she was not feeling ready. Daiya rejects her saying, like in the show although in a different way, that he doesn't know what love is and doesn't seem interested to know, he has fun messing around with different girls. I can't even start to illustrate what a womanizer this guy is, he's constantly flirting and getting attention of girls, and it's something that in shōjo makes of him quite interesting as a romantic interest since it's not (or wasn't at the time) very common. Fuuko cries for a few days and feels down about being rejected, but since it was a crush it's not more than that. Soon enough she's able to get back her relationship with Daiya to friend level and it develops from there. This is important, their friendship, to understand the development of the plot later on. Point here that the show managed to give a few of the actions and lines of Fuuko to other characters, especially Daiya, what is kind of annoying as development of the main character. Sure, she's the kind of damsel in distress more often than not, but she's also stubborn and is able to stand her ground and show a lot of initiative. The dog situation in the show is not like in the manga, what would be fine if it wasn't because they tried so hard to make it so much more melodramatic and give points to Daiya that should go to Fuuko. In the manga the dog is abandoned, it's not anyone's. Daiya helps Fuuko the same way, but also she's aware the poster was made by Ichi (after Daiya pushed him to do it btw) and it's Fuuko who receives a call from someone interested and tells the other two that she achieved it (and no sad daddy issues story here, Fuuko's father is present in the manga). This is important because Ichi would until that point heavily underestimate Fuuko's willpower.
From that point the friendship of the three develops and slowly Fuuko starts to develop more feelings for Ichi (who was already having a crush for her when she had feelings for Daiya). With Daiya there is a development of deep friendship, they're like best friends, always hanging together and playful. They see each other pretty much every single day. Fuuko's feelings for Ichi develop deep for quite a few months, I'm theorising here because there is no a clear timeline in the manga of this, but I would say it's probably at least 4-5 months or so? Anyway, at the same time, Daiya is starting to fall in love with Fuuko too but he's overall still very clueless about what he's feeling and ultimately he's not acting on it nor feeling like he has any right to intervene on Fuuko's or Ichi's feelings, it's around this time he also stops being interested in flirting and going out with other girls. The point where the manga introduces the character of Iori is when it starts going quite messy and weird and not sure what the author was thinking to be honest and that can also be seen in the series, only that the time this happens is way reduced. Ichi and Fuuko have mutual feelings but they're not officially a couple or going out when Iori appears. Ichi completely drops Fuuko, I can't fully explain the level of ice water bucket that whole ordeal is. Obviously Fuuko is heartbroken, we're talking like love level feelings, it wasn't a crush like with Daiya and the guy just drops her like nothing and starts ignoring her for Iori as soon as she appears, he skips class to be with her, stays out until super late, etc (pointing out here once again they're 16, Iori is 21 and because Ichi's family knows what happened is also the reason Iori lost her job in the company). During this time Daiya is there for Fuuko picking the pieces and being with her every single moment and trying to make her feel better for weeks. He's obviously inexperienced and probably his main flaw as a person is that he goes way too strong, and so he confesses to Fuuko and asks her out when she's still mourning her feelings for Ichi, and Fuuko agrees later (not immediately) because ultimately is not like all the feelings she had for Daiya had disappeared anyway, she still found him appealing. So they start dating. Daiya is super attentive, always there (the bracelet was the White Day present for her from him, the "snowflake" is a heart in the manga, he says is "his heart" giving it to her, what highlights a lot more the importance and the symbology she applies to losing it later and she spends so many days looking for it too btw). He's basically like perfect boyfriend material. Fuuko starts forgetting Ichi, who by that point has realised Iori doesn't see him in the same way, like in the show. He was expecting during his peak Iori phase that Fuuko would be there waiting for him or something? Seriously Ichi character is so much worse in the manga than in here. Anyway, Daiya and Fuuko have a really good relationship, they're best friends and a couple, really good if you ask me. But author made Fuuko still have feelings for Ichi and care for him even after all the ordeal and everything and the drama in the last few volumes is so unnecessary of her basically not committing to the relationship with Daiya fully, probably just to create drama. In here not sure what they did with the ending and why Daiya breaks up with her. It's confusing because they haven't explained properly the why since they made Fuuko say things that she doesn't say in the manga, if she had in the manga said those things then the breakup wouldn't have happened, and that's the problem. Basically the whole drama at the end in the manga is based on miscommunication as usual, since Fuuko hadn't said to Daiya she actually loved him, so from Daiya perspective and considering they started the relationship with him fully aware that she still had feelings for Ichi, he still thinks the situation hasn't changed, he can't take being with Fuuko anymore thinking she's still in love with Ichi and not him and that's the reason, as well as the reason he is the one to decide to go to China (in the manga they have to decide among the two of them, there isn't a pressure from the parents other than them having to decide who of the two will go). The scene with the taxi at the end is so ridiculous and not sure why they didn't keep it like the manga, it was in the train station and Ichi getting on is actually a funny moment, especially when the other two say something in the lines of "where is he going, he doesn't have a passport or anything anyway" lol

Now, Ichi, not that we learn much of him here anyway, but I feel the need to point out why he's so problematic, as in his character. From day one he's the incarnation of the trope "boys that make your life hell is because they like you". He spends his days insulting Fuuko quite badly, from calling her ugly, dumb, fat, etc, to being there to provoke her at any given moment. Even after he's already confessed to her he continues this behaviour of berating her, how endearing! Then he pulls the Iori thing what is one the lowest moves ever to then consistently openly trying to sabotage and meddle in Daiya and Fuuko's relationship, telling them directly he's doing so btw. He's a piece of crap to me and I'll always be angry that nor the manga nor this adaptation called him out on his shenanigans and that Fuuko still cared so much about him even after all the ordeal he put her through, made no sense.

Side characters? To me, some of the best characters in the manga, apart from Daiya, are secondary, like Akio and Isobe and their cute relationship. Fuuko's friends also have a much bigger role in the manga. I get they didn't have time/money, but almost they could have skipped it all if they were just going to do it this way. If they had gone the romcom like they should there would have been many funny moments, like Daiya and Isobe singing in the festival? or Daiya singing a love confession for Fuuko in front of everyone? the couple's camping? Characters that were also interesting that don't appear here, like Fuuko's sister fully, Ichi's sister, Ichi and Daiya's mothers, the grandparents (the grandfather is like an old version of Daiya, he's a womanizer too, and they're the ones hosting the Christmas party for the whole class! what I found very funny).
I feel the main problem with shōjo manga adaptations is that they don't want to commit to the natural behaviour the characters should have, maybe that's the reason they go drama instead, but it completely loses the charm and they shouldn't bother in doing the series altogether.
I think that bit of banter at the end of the series after the two years jump was more in line of the spirit of the manga than the whole of the series.

I can understand some of the changes that worked better for filming and whatnot (they played tennis, didn't do dancing) but others I simply can't understand and for such a short series they shouldn't even have done it. It's like they wanted to refer to the manga but not fully and the result is a sped up mess.

They shouldn't have bothered, can't recommend. If you like the sum up of the story go read the manga instead.

P.S: As a knitter I have to give a shoutout to the knitting scene, what the hell. I know it's a detail but the manga also did this better. The hat she makes was amateur as it should and the point is that she put way so much effort into doing it and Daiya liked it anyway even though it was roughly made. Here the girl was shown how to knit and two seconds later did a hat with cables and all? Had my eyes rolling.

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That's how an manga adaption should always be...

Once bitten, twice shy - I thought "please let it be at least decent", but compared to GMMTV this show blowed any other thai manga adaptation out of the water. Of course this show is also not perfect with some characters less developed then they should be, but: SmartBoom saved the day. There acting is far ahead of what we often get served nowadays, because the script was good. Their chemistry is excellent and once I wish they end up together 🤣. One show which does not play at an university, one show which is not absurdly cringe or stupid or childish and one show that tells a meaningful story. I have not read the manga, because I don't like spoilers at all, but everything in the story makes sense for me, so I have no need to do so now.

If your are sensitive like me, you need a tissue-box for sure, it's an emotional rollercoaster between dreadful sad to happy to enthusiastically overjoyed. And don't forget the honey NC scene, which got even artsy. So even the fangirls get served (I mean the fangirls not caring about a story of course).

Production quality, cinematography was perfect as well. All the other reviews will depict the story for sure, but the only thing which is important is, I hope we get season 2 and season 3 asap. This is also a novum at least in the thai industry, to plan a series for 3 seasons and not compromise on the story-telling.

Overall, this thai series is highly recommanded!

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standard thai college fluff

this is not a very good written review because it's late but oh well.

I definitely did not expect to enjoy this standard thai college drama so much but I do! And I am pleased to say that pond's acting is much improved this time! I just kept watching because it's sosososo fluffy!

I seriously am in love with phuwin's character, although boy if you don't get your shit together with 'oh idk if i like him but i kissed him 4 times already so idk'.

I liked that this time the actual university work seems to have an impact on the character's lives and philosophy, and is not just an accessory as is often the case for thai bl university dramas. I'm also very happy that this is a relatively long drama. It's definitely worth watching if you love thai college settings with a lot of fluff and if you love the pondphuwin pairing (i know i do now), but don't expect anything original or new. It's all the faces you know and love in a familiar setting.

There's not a lot of depth to it, but not every series needs to! Some plot points were a bit repetitive and overused (sing your love: please stop) so that also brings the score down but they compensated for that by making the couples very sweet.
I enjoyed the whole friend group dynamics, it really felt like just a bunch of dumb college students messing around. I wish we had more scenes with Matt and Toey though, they underutilised JJ's talents!

Like any other GMM series they overused the OST. At first i hated it, then i loved it and then i hated it again once they used it for every freaking second that seemed to be kind of hinting at romance like c'mon. Use anything else, PLEASE!

I absolutely need aou + boom to have a leading role in their next series because OH MY GOD!!! THEY ARE SO NARAK TOGETHER!!! I CAN'T DESCRIBE IT ANY OTHER WAY,,,PLEASE GMMTV LET THEM HAVE THEIR OWN SERIES. They carried this series so hard!

I hope GMM will try to expand their stories more and let their actors grow as creatives as well!

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overly beautiful and emotional, deserves to be watched.

have to admit, this drama was on a whole new level! the idea of the story was so good, loved the adorable moments mhok and day had together.

there are so many scenes i loved on a whole new level, i’m an isfp and if you are well documented you know well this type finds beauty in everything, and i can only admit EVEN MORE that this was like therapy for me. episode 9 made me felt as if i were the one becoming blind…

however, i have a small complain. why mhok’s story was so forgotten? i wanted to know more about his past, his prison life, his trauma, and more. i think we deserved a little bit more into his character. another thing i’m noting out are the last two eps, where the separation really felt unnecessary… if the director wanted a “last minute plot twist” i think he could’ve put something else instead, like mhok maybe getting into prison again or something.

nevertheless, this was beautiful. the aesthetic, everything. a 9.2/10 for me <3

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Watching it because the plot. The plot : Kwon Soohyun

Oh, the hype has passed, huh? But it's still okay to catch up. Watching it because I wanted to see Prosecutor Cha Dowon a.k.a. Kwon Soohyun. But the premise is good—about a shaman who’s actually a profiler, falsely accused of killing his own friend. While trying to find the real killer, he accidentally ends up becoming a shaman.

The characters here are all unique with different backgrounds. They all support the story, making it flow well. Maybe the romance isn’t really needed, but it’s okay since it’s not dominant. Although, it’s kinda cringe in the last episode where they start being all lovey-dovey while they’re supposed to be chasing a psychopath.

Many people say the female lead's character isn’t that strong. She’s strong in fighting but weak in terms of character development. It's a shame because her acting is great. Maybe if she wasn’t so lovestruck, it would’ve been better.

And the twist wasn’t that twisty. We’ve graduated from dramas with more explosive plot twists. But Kwon Soohyun’s acting—well done. Turns out you’re a psychopath, but I feel bad because you were brainwashed. A villain I couldn’t hate. That’s it. But I kept watching until episode 18 because of Kwon Soohyun.

Overall, it’s good. I liked it. It’s my favorite genre even though the romance was a bit disruptive. Seriously, I watched the romantic scenes at 2x speed.

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WTF

Maybe the BL takes place in part 2? Cuz what the hell!!!! I'm mad they used BL to bait us to watch this😭. I binged watch this series waiting for the BL aspect only to find out it doesn't exist. How great this would have been if Qin Pei allowed all this abuse because he was a masochist who silently took this job to be closer to his crush or if Yuang changed because he started crushing on Qin? We'd be ok with the toxic.

I couldn't stand the step mom, nothing happened to her 👀. And the dad, really?? What a waste of great acting, great cinematography, gorgeous actors for this non BL rubbish. Very disappointed. It hurts because the development was there. Please do a part 2 to redeem this.

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please let’s normalize communication in Korea

wtf? the actors are incredible handsome and talented, but wtf was going on with that script?
omg, is it really illegal to communicate in Korea? guys, this kdrama could be a lot shorter (and enjoyable) if they would have talk sincerely from the beginning. there are even unnecessary characters. this really had a lot of potential, but it got wasted.
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Decent at best and not for their reasons

I'll try and keep it short. A barely decent k-drama (without the last episodes), but not for the reasons they wanted it to be.
The story is a bit Korean-like, aka everything is related, aka fate. It doesn't make it bad but it does make you roll your eyes, cause you can predict some plot points. The script is decent, or mostly not bad. Yet, weird. Some cringe moments. I wont talk about the last episodes, those are pure sht. They wanted something to happen so the writing was done poorly and forced things to go how they wanted, no matter if it made sense or not.
The production wants to make the headhunting a legit, good-hearted business and you can see it in every episode. If you agree or not with it, thats a subjective matter. So I wont mention it again.
The acting is decent. Nothing mind-blowing, but still very enjoyable. The chemistry between leads is not there. Not in the conventional way. The FL is not the greatest actress or charming, but I'd say she was good for this role. The script made all the heavy-lifting. Also, the script has a lot of plotholes exactly because of that. Although its not that bad as per the usual k-drama, the script for this one is plain, linear, and because of that all the bad stuff tends to be noticed more easily. Lots of questions or weird decisions. A simple example, what about his ex-wife? I wont spoil more, but if you'll watch this drama, you'll understand what I mean.
Anyway, back to the main stuff. The chemistry is not there. ML and FL make it work, barely, but there's no chemistry. I'll even say that the second FL has more chemistry with everyone around, or the chemistry (not romantic) between colleagues, or the kids. Anyone but those two :))) The character development is ok for some of the cast and very non-existent. yet heavy-pushed forward for others. And by that I mean they tell/show us: "look, she got better, don't ask, get over it". The story presses a lot of "social injustice" (dunno how else to name it) upon us, a cheap trick to make the viewer sympathetic. yet, I've felt more in some other scenes. Like I said, a weird script. Good, but not for their reasons. The supporting cast did ok. The soundtrack is meh at best. Forgettable. Lots and lots of whispered, soft-breath mumbling. Sorry, I meant singing. The production value is mid. The cinematography is mid, with some few moments of "good". And lastly, dunno about the pacing. A bit slower, sure, but thats the right way for this script. It helps with the development. And yet, it goes too slow sometimes, and next it gets to a normal (our normal) pacing for no real reason. And yes, every episode will feel like it took forever, so be patient.
And I guess I'll stop here. You could give it a try, but don't mind the synopsis, because what makes it decent is not it. It gets a rating of 6, barely. Mostly because some character arcs, some nice acting from the supporting cast and things like that. Return value? No, not really.

PS: Oh, I just remembered another thing that makes no sense. I'll write it here. In the first episodes she is shown like a "klutz", always bumping into stuff, forgetting stuff. Guess what? She gets magically cured. Nice char development. Yeey. *sigh* Yeah, definitely not a 10 rating :)))

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Boring

Love Never Fails is another stylized xianxia with no new ideas - a stoic ML, a childish FL, immortals - good, demons - bad, and so on. I didn't expect much from it, but in the very least, I expected to be entertained. That wasn't the case here.

Hong Ning is a flower demon. Jin Xiu is an immortal who must restrain his feelings. She wants to be his queen and seeks immortality while he struggles with his growing feelings for her. It sounds like a promising start to an epic love story that will transcend time. Instead, I had to sit through episodes of immortal beings acting like two awkward teenagers running circles around each other with nothing much happening otherwise. The writers spent too much time trying to create a not-so-funny comedy, instead of writing an interesting plot with compelling characters. I really liked Liu Xue Yi in other dramas, like In Blossom, but here his character fell completely flat. FL was pretty forgettable too. I found nothing interesting about this drama to continue watching past episode 6. Pass.

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DO NOT LET THE COMEDY TAG FOOL YOU!

I watched Boys Be Brave thinking I’d get a cute, lighthearted BL story, but what I got was something far more tender, truthful, and transformative. This little 8-episode gem, barely 30 minutes per ep, managed to say what some longer series struggle to express: the beauty of choosing yourself, and then choosing love.

✨ Ki Sub’s growth arc was everything.
From being someone who kept chasing external definitions of success and identity, to someone who stood still and said, “This is what I want. And I’m allowed to want it.” He became an anchor—not just to Jin Woo, but to himself. He made me believe that stillness is not stagnation. It’s strength.

🧸 Jin Woo was the quiet light of the show.
He didn’t need to be loud or perfect—just genuine. Every time he said something simple like “I want to laugh every day” or “I hope Ki Sub stays healthy,” it hit deeper than any grand declaration. Because it was real. And isn’t that the kind of love we all crave?

💔 And don’t get me started on Balgeum and In Ho—the slow-burn second leads who nearly stole the spotlight. Their pain, their awkwardness, their yearning… it all felt so honest. That one final conversation? No dramatics. Just respect, space, and a promise for the future. I was FLOORED.

🎇 The ending didn’t go for a dramatic twist.
It went for peace.
A kiss at midnight. A whispered wish. A snowfall promise. And honestly, that’s perfect. It leaves you full, yet wanting just a little more. Because life’s like that too.

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