Totally underrated!

I really don't get how this masterpiece could be rated at 7.9. This is a hidden gem. The story got me crying for one third of the drama, whereas the comedy was super witty as the dialogues have insinuating meaning lol. The misunderstanding was so freaking hilarious with the implied meaning behind it (ep25).

Characters were multi-dimensional and fleshed out with outstanding acting from the talented cast. Although i don't like ML when he's being insensitive under the guise of his emotional incompetence, but he has other redeemable qualities to make up for it. FL was not my favorite at first because she was a crybaby on ep1, but she grew on me immensely later because of her maturity and depth, her equanimity in the face of hardship and injustice, not to mention her talent and resilience. I also love the side couple, especially FL's sis, for her mature perspective, bravado, and proactivity in her romantic pursuit. I also friggin love FL's dad cuz he's the coolest dad in the cdramaland.

In terms of plot and chemistry, although it was slow-paced, it doesn't feel draggy to me. And that's the reason why the emotions in this drama were thoroughly and masterfully underscored, which shook me profoundly to my core. The progress of how the leads fell in love feels super natural, convincing, and thoroughly fleshed out with sufficient buildup, in addition to their sizzling chemistry, insanely hot kisses, and swoon-worthy lines. The plot were layered and novel in a non-cliched way, despite some moments that really vexes me as ML was being a total insensitively ignorant jerk (ep21-23). The ending was hasty and should've been further elaborated to make amends for what FL had to go through. That said, this drama is totally worth watching and rewatching.

TL;DR: this drama is an angsty ballad that got me crying so bad (ಠ_ಥ ). Totally should be rated at least more than 8.1. It's a solid 8.5 for me.

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Absurd plot, rage-inducing characters, and toxic masculinity under the guise of romance

At first when i saw the bad review I thought it was an overreaction, but turns out it hits the nail on the head. The script is written by a hormonal teenager to fulfil her absurd fantasy that would never happen irl. Aside from the draggy, cliched, and far-fetched plot, their chemistry is super forced, flimsy, unconvincing, and poorly developed. The misunderstanding makes zero sense and can be easily avoided with communication. I don't understand FL's need to keep her identity a secret from ML when all she needed to do is to sit down and explain her situation. Gosh the decisions those characters made are just mind-boggling to me.

What's more vexing is how rage-inducing and one-dimensional the characters were written, especially the males, who are the epitome of toxic masculinity and noble idiocy. ML is shallow, immature, jealous in a very unreasonable and possessive fashion, and quick to jump to conclusion. His character is also inconsistent. One moment he's perceptive and overly fussy about her needs, and would take her side and trust her unconditionally; the next he's cluelessly insensitive and doesn't recognize why she's angry, then he refused to listen to her reason nor have any shred of trust in her and thus neglected her. The amount of ignorance and inconsistency is just too much. Apart from that, both 2FL and 2ML are revolting scums who rationalize their toxicity under the guise of love; but nothing compared to FL's despicable twin, who's driven by self-entitlement, pure greed, unjustifiable malice, and mindless jealousy. Most infuriatingly, all those evil deeds would be absolved with a mere apology and no redemption.

Both leads give me so much secondhand embarrassment *cringe*. I was willing to overlook the forced chemistry and wait until it becomes natural, but after ep18 it still feels forced af. I came here for the steamy kiss but realized it's just not worth it. Save yourself the emotional distress and take a hard pass on this.

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Overrated drama with incredulous plot and poor character writing that worths dropping.

I started watching this drama because of Wei Zhe Ming, but couldn't find a single upside, thus i ended up dropping it.

***In terms of characters, both leads are and intolerable in their own ways and inconsistently written.

- ML is a thankless ungentlemanly insensitive robotic control freak who doesn't care about FL's happiness. I truly feel sorry for FL for getting entangled with him. I don't find it romantic when FL is forced to do something against her will and has her freedom to pursue her hobby, career, diet, lifestyle, and other things restricted or judged by ML. It feels as if she was imprisoned in ML's house, and he doesn't feel a shred of guilt or has no qualm watching her being unhappy. He doesn't even want to take care of her when she was crippled. Her entire career, reputation, and freedom was upended because of him. Yet this insensitive ignorant guy doesn't even notice, and only knew that because his friend told him. Once he knew, he doesn't even show concern over it. He doesn't care about her freedom and privacy. He doesn't know emotional support is needed for a child's development, and doesn't allow his kid to attend the school FL chose, which is very beneficial for the kid's growth, because of his stupid jealousy (which baffles the hell out of me because of the inconsistencies in his character. He's a calculating and rational person who would take into account the pros and cons of everything before taking action, now he suddenly turns dumb and doesn't even realize it). On top of it, he prevented FL from spending quality time with the kid. He doubts and criticises FL's decisions and professional opinions. He threw a wet blanket on every joy of life. I don't think this tyrant deserves FL right now. Really hope his nasty personality could improve later on, cuz right now i don't think there's any romance.

- As for FL, i decided to drop when FL started to act jealous and nosy. She's a psychologist who understands how emotions work and how to control them, yet she easily manifest her jealousy in such an obvious manner, without even trying to hide it. She started working for ML for professional reason, how could she easily forget it and mix her work with feelings? It made me feel like she became self-entitled and even clingy and immature after just a little bond time with ML, as opposed to her previous mature demeanours. Their relationship has not grown to the friendship level yet, and there's not enough trust or bond between them, yet the FL abruptly got jealous out of nowhere, thereby making the romance unnatural and forced, as a result of a rushed plot development and poor character writing. Feels like the playwright just skipped a few stages.

***Another thing that puts me off is FL's stiff and unnatural way of acting. I like her in the first few episodes because she seems to be a strong and independent female character, but then her expressions kept getting recycled, and she has that same grin for several different emotions, whether she's being embarrassed or happy or gentle or awkward or angry and whatnot. But for the clunky dialogues, i wouldn't know she fell in love, more like she's reciting lines instead of acting, cause i don't see any chemistry. So many thick-skinned, unrealistic, one-dimensional characters as well.

***Plot-wise, it's so tacky i cringe, especially with with the monologue and overhearing tropes. Idk what went on in the playwright's head, probably they ran out of ideas. Btw why turn this into a musical?? I don't mind tropes or clichés, but they need to be executed properly, which they weren't and turned out to be so cringey and tacky.

By and large, the drama started off pretty promising but then went downhill with all the corny scenes, cringey unnatural romance, and unrealistic behaviours stemming from jealousy, which i felt so uncomfortable watching. What a shame i have of drop this. *sigh*

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Horrible character writing and plot that make your blood boil

If you detest the damsel-in-distress, incompetent typa FL who is a burden to others and doesn't know how to clean up after her ass, or the controlling, condescending typa ML who bullies and bosses FL around, take a hard pass on this one. Or you would be fuming with rage and cringing with secondhand embarrassment. This is the epitome of feel-bad trashy drama that i would give less than 1 star if i could.

3 episodes in and there's nothing that i like about FL. I wouldn't call her a fashion professional, considering her wardrobe choice. Her overlength dress on the 1st ep looks like it's designed to mop the floor. That's not to mention she's messy, inconsiderate, and doesn't have the habit of cleaning up after herself, messes up his house, and lets ML do the cleaning, until he pointed that out in details, much to her unjustified disgruntlement. My gosh the secondhand embarrassment 🤦‍♀️. She's like a spoiled, self-entitled damsel in distress. Also, i don't get how she failed to notice ML's obvious power. I mean she noticed it when she first met him, but somehow when it happened right in front of her face again she didn't lol.

I don't like ML either. He is extremely talented at getting on my nerves for using his power and leverage to boss FL around, bully her, and patronize her, which she could do nothing but endure and comply. He's such a condescending, controlling jerk that i can only enjoy the scenes in which he suffered and skips those that are romantic. 6 eps in and I guess i won't get that satisfaction before their first kiss, since FL was still at his mercy being a complete emotional bag. I'm the type who would skip the parts that revolt and annoy me, but i'm afraid i'd have to skip almost the entire drama. I wholeheartedly pray that Aaron Deng picks better script in the future.

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Do yourself a favor and don't watch this.

on ep11 and gosh the plot is so lame and super dragggggggy. I skipped a bunch of scenes and watch 11 eps in 3 hours. I really don't get the purpose of the virtual romance scenes in this drama. Those make their interaction superficial and their so-called romance so fake, forced, incredulous, and utterly ridiculous. I find virtual skinship with a stranger online thoroughly unbelievable, much less romantic.

On top of that, FL's character is more like that of a 13 years old, not 30. Dunno why she keeps embarrassing herself and acting all shy in front of ML. She's 30 and he's 21 for god's sake. She gave me severe secondhand embarrassment (¬_¬). I really dont like ML's cocky behavior and his hard-to-get play. What's even more unacceptable is that he snickered and smirked while looking amused after FL tripped and fell on her back, instead of showing concerns. I absolutely love Lin Yi as Gu Wei Yi in PYHOMS, but here he's in my list of the most despicable ML cuz he makes my blood boil.

TL;DR, this drama is overrated and overhyped with ridiculous plot and horrible character writing. Undoubtedly dropped.

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