I am not a fan of this cheesy, fairy-tale-like kind of dramas but I do love some dose of romance. This is why at episode 3, while trying to understand what propelled me to continue watching this drama, I also started thinking what did I want to change in order for it to actually be a drama that I would enjoy watching because of the characters and not because of the stupid reverse harem kind of fresh storyline. First of all, Eun HaWon is a pretty okay character. I felt bad for her and at the same time cheered for me, and was proud of her and she let me feel ashamed of how actually a person can be so greedy, while she just enjoying the little she had and never put her head down. Eun HaWon, in another setting wouldn't have worked. She is confident, nice and feisty, but especially strong. I liked Eun HaWon and honestly she was a refreshing sight in terms of female leads. On the other hand, the rest, just kind of passes by. So much potential wasted, it's crazy. But, the thing that makes me go crazy is definitely the treatment the writers had for SeoWoo. Honestly, nice guy, has a knack for music, knows how to cook, has a little perfectionist side and a cute smile? But no, we just make him dirty, because well, we need a character to be in love with the female lead but that could never have her because she is of course in love with someone else.
And the way he humiliated himself just for her not to take the toll? Girl, if you don't want him, I'll take him. SeoWoo was a surprise, and I honestly thought that maybe, they could have something else for him, but apparently not.
Onto other matters, Lee YoonSung. Please, he was the cutest guy in the whole drama, and just didn't fit into the drama whatsoever. I wish we could see him being a male lead in a better drama next time. Getting to the REAL triangle in this whole mess. I must admit that I cheered for HyunMin since the beginning. HyunMin is just lost in his own little world, where he blames himself for everything and where everyone just leaves him, and then suddenly he meets someone he genuinely likes a person, for the first time in a while, just for her being a person and this whole thing, which could have been more developed if only they didn't want HyunMin to be a fake second lead for a while, just goes by with a confession and them kinda being friends, and then ignoring each other most of the time. I don't understand why did they did not show how HyunMin grows, a growth that is due to HaWon, in terms of person. HyunMin seems to snap out of his habits and just return to be warm after HaWon, but all of this gets trashed for Parl HyeJi, and him toying with her. As for Park HyeJi, I am so angry with the writers. She is a passive person, in love with someone, or more obsessed, for more than 10 years, she literally just cries. She has no backbone and her character just feels fake and forces. God, do you have any dignity left girl? Please, I hate to see her just throwing herself to a guy that clearly does not want her and then just adjusting this whole non sense into him being actually in-love with her for years but blaming himself for the death of her brother. Wow, never saw so much trashed piled up altogether and ruining a character. I am so sorry, HyunMin. I am sorry as well for JiWoon. JiWoon,was not a disappointment, but a bit more. His passion for cars/motors? Absolutely useless (same as HyeJi being a designer). His friends? Never saw them again. The overprotective older brother character to HyeJi was overbearing and cliche, tiring and forced. Did he have actual feelings for her? And why the whole I-am-tired-of-you-so-lemme-switch-to-your-cousin trope? Absolutely daunting. JiWoon could have been the treasure of the show, but he was just the typical tsundere that has cute moments. Very, very sad.
The romance was okay, I guess. They were cute, cringey and romantic. But I gueas that's what you can expect of this kind of drama. I did like some episodes, the way characters reacted, but in the end, the whole plot just feels fake, with fixed cliches that have no window of expiration in this drama, and a few forced scenes. YoonSung and SeoWoo, you deserved better.

Read More

From what I saw, and read, I understood that this is a drama that you either love, or you hate. No in between.
I do understand why: characters are messed up, there is no silver lining and the episodes get so tense that is hard to actually pinpoint the moment you fall for this scheme.
For all those who hate it, but watched it until the end: congrats, you just wasted your time! For everyone who actually, even without enjoying it, liked the drama: hi, I'm one of you.
I was really excited to see this drama, and I've watched it fairly quickly, because I couldn't look away from my laptop.
The plotline, I admit was not of my favourites: everything was fine, until Gyuri just pushes her way in Jisoo's life and chaos ensues. The drama probably would haven't had that push to it, without Bae Gyuri : thank you for being the actual plotholder, the bad guy and the saviour all in one!
It's not hard to dislike Gyuri, let's be honest, but at the same time I related to her on so many levels: her internalized hatred for everyone and everything, her sociopathic side being full on display, and her just being a badass in a noir way. What changed Gyuri, and made her less obsessed with her own personal dilemmas was Jisoo. I think these two dysfunctional characters work so well with and for each other that it's hard to separate them. I loved the scene in which Jisoo and his father are drinking and just insulting each other while laughing. It was intensely sad, but also sarcastic.
I think all about this drama was doublefaced: Mr. Lee being a veteran with wars in his head, trying to fight them while protecting someone, Minhee who found a parental figure in Mr. Lee and just went berserk because she was lost, and Kitae, who hid his feelings that deep they came out too late and ended up being just a burden, for both him and Minhee. These characters are real, they are scarred, pitiful and rotten on the inside. But not everything is gone: the homeroom teacher, the detective (which paradoxically are adults, and instead try to fight for their gone kids, instead of kids trying to fight the rotten adult world) still believe there is something in them that it's worth looking at, fighting for.
If you don't see it this way, I'm sorry for you because you lost the biggest lesson of this drama: it's hard to keep a dream, and life does not help, so don't take short ways to achieve it, because it's probably gonna end bad. This drama is a massive warning about the bad sides of things and how quickly we are to judge everything around us.

Read More