Failing in Love (2019)

Jumping straight to it, spoilers ahead. Don't read if you don't want spoilers.

Major moments of the drama;
- KP's first relationship was a sham bc the girl only wanted to get close to SE
- SE kissing SW for the first time, I thought it was funny that she actually indeed did kiss KP before (but as kids, so does it really count? LOL)
- KP realizing his feelings for SW was real. Either romantic or platonic, he does have deep feelings for SW
- SW finally realizing that her feelings towards KP was not romantic. but platonic (TY bestie for opening up her eyes)
- KP putting aside his own feelings and realizing that SE needed a shoulder to lean on more than him.. like FINALLY. He acted like a child the whole drama when they're all the same age. Nothing is more annoying than being a parent to someone the SAME age.

Thoughts:
- High school being high school, there's always going to be talk. But it was getting boring and annoying that everyone kept assuming SE was gay. Not everyone is thinking about romance and dating every second of the day. He could have been busy studying for CSAT since they are in fact, seniors preparing for college. Also.. he's ranked #1, lots of pressure. AND EVEN IF HE WAS GAY, WHO CARES??
- Which brings me to.. The whole SE's older brother being gay made no sense to me. I only say this bc nothing really comes from this plot line. You can say that it caused his mom depression since she tried to kill herself (ep 10), but then the writers could have just given her depression. It added nothing to the storyline besides the point where he was being confronted by his brother's lover. But good to know SE is an ally ?
- KP might be autistic. The way he acts and everything, he could be on the spectrum. The whole picking his nose and not understanding social cues... just points to it. Abandonment issues def isn't the only thing he has.
- I like the SFL. She was painted as an annoying girl who wouldn't take no for an answer but I think she was in it for the chase. She wasn't as annoying as SE might see her to be. She never overstepped (tooooo much) and when SE told her to leave him alone, she left. But I like her bc when she realized that SE was also in a one sided love, she basically stepped back. She realized that she's been rejected for good.
- SFL and the other friend's storyline could have been expanded. I like how they found comfort in each other bc they were clearly being ignored by the 3. KP wasn't a good friend at all.. lol

Now.. the ending. The whole open ended-ness... I liked it.
Like the title says, FAILing in love.. I don't think anyone ended up with anyone.
- KP learns to be alone. Though he does call to see if SE is free, he isn't stuck to someone. He's walking down the street alone when he couldn't do that throughout the whole drama.
- SE and SW aren't officially together yet, but I think they were both able to purse their relationship without having any outside worries.
And if we don't want to see it through romantic lenses.. SW and SE both befriended KP with hidden motives. The both of them were never alone with each other and never got to know one another. When KP "grew up", they were able to go to college and worry about themselves and finally become friends with each other.

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My Review (Essentially A Break Down of the Series)

First of all, it was a great web drama and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a more or so slice of life drama.

Obviously, our two main leads are Kang Pa Rang and Lee Shi Won, the whole love concept I believe is the misunderstanding each character has about their feelings. Shi Won, believes since she was in elementary school, that she has been in love with Kang Pa Rang. While Kang Pa Rang never truly showed any interest in girls but is obsessed with the concept of falling in love. Our second main lead Lee Shi Eon is convinced of his feelings for Shi Won but can't bring himself to express his feelings for her for she is convinced of her own feelings for Pa Rang, thus forming a love triangle. These 3 contradicting characters with completely opposite personalities have somehow remained friends for over 10 years all because of Kang Pa Rang. Eventually, it becomes clear towards the ending that Kang Pa Rang seemed more so as a buffer between the relationship of Shi Won and Shi Eon, it seemed that their friendship with him was a way to slow down their inevitability of eventually coming together as this is emphasised through their many shared commonalities of "fate". At the beginning of the series, both Shi Won and Shi Eon stated their friendship with Kang Pa Rang was an act to hide their feelings toward their love interest, while for Kang Pa Rang his friendship with both of them was genuine. As the story develops Shi Won starts to come to terms with the fact that she is either confused about her feelings for Kang Pa Rang and starts to show that she may truly have feelings for Shi Eon after their friendship takes a blow when all of their true feelings for each other are exposed. This is aided by Shi Won's realisation that she had made the assumption that Kang Pa Rang needed both her and Shi Eon as friends since he suffered from separation anxiety, but eventually comes to learn that her immature and innocent love interest Kang Pa Rang, never really needed them but rather both her and Shi Eon were the ones who needed him the most. Shi Eon on the other hand begins to develop a true friendship bond with Kang Pa Rang when he starts to realise how much he needed Kang Pa Rang as a friend when he goes through a difficult stage in his life. The bonding process wasn't exactly smooth sailing but the friendship eventually become genuine.

The reason all these were explained was to draw upon the meaning of the final scene:
In the final scene, Shi Eon and Shi Won are seen attending the same university. Shi Won asked if Shi Eon also had a 10am morning class but Shi Eon states that his class is at 2pm but he felt the need to come early. Shi Eon then proceeded to reach out his hand smiling and says "Let's go" as Shi Won reaches out to hold his hand smiling, Shi Eon quickly retracts his hands then turned and starts walking and Shi Won follows along and starts beating him in a bubbly and friendly way. The scene changes to Kang Pa Rang walking along a crowded street alone in a tracksuit eating a cup of rice, he then makes a call to whom we presume to be Shi Eon and after a brief conversation ends the call and states "why do I feel like an outcast". I believe this was an indication of two possible endings.

1 - Shi Won and Shi Eon no longer needed the company of Kang Pa Rang to act as a buffer in their relationship as their feelings have finally become clear. Now that both are attending the same university it's most likely that their romance would blossom. As Shi Eon stated that the next time he holds Shi Won's hands would not be as a friend. Retracting his hands could be interpreted as him teasing her finally realising their feelings are mutual. As for Kang Pa Rang despite stating feeling like an outcast and finally realising his feelings for Shi Won he has finally been able to overcome the feeling of loneliness as he is seen walking alone in this final scene showing that he is maybe able to now pursue his own choice of career in art as he no longer feels that need to tag along with the plans of others and can now make his own plans.

Or

2- Shi Eon now acknowledging Kang Pa Rang as a true friend and wanting to respect his feelings for Shi Won decided to end his continuous advances toward Shi Won and stay as friends with her after one final playful act, which was the reason behind his decision to retract his hands despite Shi Won reaching for it as a sign of acknowledging his feelings and willing to accept it. Shi Won has now come to terms with the fact that she has feelings for Shi Eon which was why she happily reached out to hold his hands despite his statement of not holding her hands again as friends. As for Kang Pa Rang, he has finally realised his feelings for Shi Won but by this point it is already too late and so what started as a group of 3 different people acting as friends ended as a close group of true friends with an additional 3 side characters added into the mix. Further emphasising the title of the series "FAILing In love".

Both endings are of course very plausible and in their own way deliver a satisfying lesson about life. But it's clear that the writer of this beautiful web drama wanted to leave an open ending free to interpretations but I just wanted to give the two interpretations I came up with when watching this drama.

P.S I fully recommend this web drama to those who aren't romancing fanatics and like the idea and concept of realism portrayed within this story.

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