This review may contain spoilers
Made Me Unbelievably Mad
Overall: I'm a sucker (haha) for vampire BL. I was willing to overlook too many characters and a totally unneeded love triangle, but episode 8 made me start screaming at my computer in rage. Watched on Viki.Content Warnings: hypnotizing someone against their will and biting their lips, murders/death, gore/blood
What I Liked
- the premise of a vampire wanting to become human instead of the other way around (a la Twilight)
- I liked that the college student didn't just ghost/run away, but he's really pretty dumb to be alone with vampires...
- good production value
Room For Improvement
- this was some really awful writing, the ending was absolutely abysmal. They could have had some smart plot twists but did not. I need another vampire BL that is done well to destroy my memory of this one.
- they needed to cut characters and really build the relationship between the vampire and college student, they spend like 2 hours together and are soulmates...
- the explanation 10 years ago was disappointing, I thought there was more too it but basically the main vampire was just stupid
- the treatment of his friend (for hundreds of years!!!) at the end was awful. Jun Ho was actually worse when you think about it.
- I'm not even going to get into the just odd/unexplained/poorly thought out world building
- some odd camera shots, too many close ups
- way too many flashbacks that were used as filler
- the extreme blur filter that made the vampire look like a ghost
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It was okey I guess...
So let me say a few words about this series.It´s pretty short but I don´t mind it but what I really don´t like about this series is how dumb all of the characters are. Aspecially the main characters. It was killing my brain cells lmao. I don´t want to write any spoilers here so if you already watched it or you don´t mind then the spoilers will be at the end of this review.
STORY: Meh...like nothing original. It was kinda boring and nothing much happend. In every episode you´ll see almost the same thing. The main characters falling for each other, the vampire regreting and crying over his past, another weird vampire and the one woman i don´t understand at all. Like who was she??
ACTING: Not the wors, but could have been much more better. It was kinda cringe especially in the last episode. It felt weird.
MUSIC: I wasn´t paying attention to the music so I can´t say much abt it, but it wasn ´t bothering me so i guess good.
REWATCH VALUE: 2...I will propably never watch it again but like just for chilling it´s alright and cute
OVERALL: 5 stars. It was right in the middle. It wasn´t good, but it wasn´t so bad either.
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( WHY WERE ALL SO DUMB?? )
Like what? I was dying lmao. Why didn´t he simply just drink his blood when he offered him? Like i get it, he was scared that he will hurt him, just like he did hurt the other guy, but he didn´t need to drink from his neck....? Like the human could have just cut his hand or somethnig, pour the blood to a glass and the vampire could have drink from a glass without hurting the human. And yes, you can say: "but if he tasted the blood, he could go crazy and kill the human even though he drank from a glass". I mean yeah...this could also happen but he could have lock himself somewere so he can´t go near to any human or something. Or they could at least try it.
I think they just wanted the series to have sad ending so they ended it like this.
Anyway i did enjoy it but the last two episodes were pretty cringe lol
have a good day :))))
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1The sucking here, isn't from drinking blood or that other thing. (Dirty thoughts much?!)
Kissable Lips is a an exercise of childish daydreams. The plot makes no sense. The characters are hardly sketched beyond their purpose (I Vampire you Pureblood Argh). The time-frame it all takes place is unknowable (It seemed maybe a week or two). And there is enough glossy over-lit melodrama to say, hey Hallmark Channel we coming for you.The budget is small, but fine, the acting is the strongest aspect of the entire affair, not that it saves much. Some side characters over-act with the best of them. There is even a sequence that requires an actor to maniacally laugh because they are trying to be invited into the league of supervillains. (Illuminati...whaaat!) However, our two main actors do a decent enough job, though for the first few episodes are mostly flat and lifeless. (Ha ha, vampires...lifeless...ugh)
You will be treated to a dose of Romeo/Juliet style old school romance. Ya know, where two characters meet, have love at first sight, and within a week are ready to die for each other and want the other next to them for all eternity. That sort of romance. If you like that, then maybe go for this, maybe. The actors are cute, and you will get some good kissing (Which for a Korean BL is RARE so lap this shit up! But this year does seem to be the year of progress in that department.) But be prepared for everything and I do mean everything to be underdeveloped, unbelievable, and empty.
How much will it all just kinda happen and be ridiculous well, here is an imaginary conversation:
Me: Before, I can go any further, I just gotta ask what is a Pureblood?
The series: It is a person that can cure vampirism if a vampire drinks their blood.
Me again: Ok, so what distinguishes a Pureblood from a normal blooded? How do Purebloods come to be? Why do they exist to begin with? And why is our main character one, when even his own brother is not?
The series:Um, it's Pureblood...just ya know it's Pureblood.
Me: Is it Virgin Blood? (And his brother has already done the nasty?) Korean Blood only with no other bloods from the rest of the worlds races? (But then wouldn't his whole family be this? And hello racism!) Is it blood without something in it, like a hemophiliac or medichlorians (Looked that one up..I giggle). Or blood that has something in it...like mystic magic...yay (Or liquid sunshine!!!)
The Series: Look...it's just Pureblood kay. It is Pureblood. Just accept it.
Me: I think Hermione would have some issues here. Well lets switch and talk about the vampires.
The series: The vampires are sexy and non-threatening. If a vampire kills their snack, they too will die, just not right away, like over time, like a lot of time, until in like a matter of days they fade away sometime in the future.
Me: So like they are in agonizing pain until they die right?
The series: No, they just ya know take this long drawn-out march towards death, and in the meantime they still need to eat, and fall in love, have sex, and have a normal life knowing that eventually they will die.
ME (With side eye): Uuummmmm...isn't that called being human? I mean, isn't that what we call living life? So these are just humans with icky eating habits now?
The series: No, no, cause if they go and drink a Pureblood, killing that Pureblood, then they can become HUMAn. Just as long as it is before they ya know fade away.
Me: Wait, so if the vampires drink a person's blood and that person dies, then they too will die unless they go and...KILL...another person and become human which means they will eventually still die. Really....So kill 1 bad eww cursed with eventual death. Kill 2 good yay humanity and still death..as long as it is a Pureblood. (Which can't be defined, they just exist and this guy is just one). What if the first person they killed was already a Pureblood, then would it cancel out the original curse and it would be like nothing happened, just instant human?
The series: ...um....well...well...that isn't the point of the series. There are just ya know vampires and Purebloods and stuff. There are shirtless guys kissing too. Everyone likes that right? Oh and the vampires also have blue glowing eyes. So yay, that's fun right?
ME: Well that came out of left field and didn't answer any of my questions. But all the vampires have blue eyes that also glow?
The series: No, no, they have normal color eyes that just sometimes glow blue and well, not just blue, sometimes red too.
Me: Oh why red and blue when those aren't their eye colors?
The series: Well ya know the good ones glow blue...the bad ones glow red.
Me: Wait what, like Twilight's Golden eyes versus Red eyes? Are their "vegetarian" vampires that eat animals completely obliterating the term vegetarian and meaning they are on the side of humans?
The sereis: No ours just glow those colors they don't actually become those colors. They just glow Blue and Red depending on if the vampire is a good guy or bad guy, nothing else.
Me: Like light sabers? (2nd SW reference and I don't even like SW)
The series: That's green and red.
Me: No that is Christmas colors...Wait, the vampires are Christmas vampires, this takes place over Christmas?
The series: (Silence)
5.0 = D+, 2 1/2-Stars. Lacking and filled with flaws. Die Hards will likely still love it.
It is fun for a good laugh and a nice sexy scene and that is about it.
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Everything happened so quickly
The story was okay, not that great but it is watchable. The acting was not so good though, it could have been better but it is okay because in my opinin it didn't affect the story much.They production again could have been done better.
The episodes were short, everything happened so quickly. I wish BLs in korea have longer episodes. But the ending was beautiful and satisfying for me.
Now for their chemistry, I didn't think there would be much chemistry since the episodes were so short, but they did satisfy me towards the end. Tbh, I continued watching the series just to see their chemistry.
It's a good series but don't expect much.
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fated mates, paranormal, vampire, codified chase/stalker/ seme
AKA I Wanna Bite It, from Moving Picture Company (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, The Tasty Florida, Tinted With Love) so we all expected a classic modern Korean BL.The leads were perfectly cast, the ideal seme vampire and the ideal uke prey. I like it when a vampire is actually deadly and facing up to the moral quandary of living a very long life. I found the uke actor particularly endearing in this limited role, he was quite soft and appealing without being weak or inactive. I enjoyed most of it but near the end I did start to feel the sparseness and the limited cast, like it was a one act play of a fairytale.
I suppose if you name your BL kissable lips you better end with a good kiss, even if you are Korea. But even a great kiss doesn’t mitigate killing the gay in a BL. Sorry. Not my thing. I’m aware of the history of BL, and I know dark is part of the tradition (even from Korea) but I HATE IT. These days a sad ending isn’t really Korea’s bailiwick (with the possible exception of Peach of Time), and they didn't set Kissable up properly. Right until the last episode I thought they might pull it out and save the couple in some supernatural way. Not that death came entirely out of nowhere, like H3:MODC, but still, it wasn't what I wanted in a vampire BL and I have been waiting for this trope so long for one. *this is my disappointed face*
I also I hate that the sad ending explains why the kiss was so good. It’s the vintage trope of: Sexualize those gays and one of them MUST DIE. How old school of you, Korea. Anyhoozle, if they kill one half of the couple it gets a 2/10 (or lower) from me. Sorry not sorry.
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I just wanna praise the actors
The story is fine, but could've been better if it had more time to develop the romance. The relationship between the main characters is believable because the actors do a fantastic job and have great chemistry. However, on paper it doesn't make much sense for their feelings to be so strong as we don't see them interact enough for them to not just start falling in love, but actually love each other. Still, I want to reiterate that the actors absolutely sell the characters' strong emotions towards each other, both the romantic and dramatic scenes are upgraded from good to amazing because of these two. I hope both of them find success, would love to see them do another project together, though I don't know how likely that is.Was this review helpful to you?
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This Could've Been So Cool
I'm so frustrated to see such a unique BL (Korean BL at that) go to such waste. Kissable Lips had so much potential to be THAT BL, and yet it falls off the wagon so fast and so brutally. I can't even really say I didn't like this, I more so am just so disappointed for the way it was executed and how anybody on the crew of KL could think this was okay.Let's Dive In.
Kissable Lips is a K-BL about a vampire who finds a pure-blooded who can potentially save his life and turn him human as long as the mortal falls in love with him. When the mortal does, incidentally, the vampire reciprocates those feelings, and because of that, he's too scared to take the human's blood in the fear that he'll kill him. Great plot right? Just with this small synopsis, you can get a feel for how incredibly wonderful this story could be, and I remember reading it and being stoked to watch. But sadly, this series suffers from the common, "Korean gays get no time" -- the new phrase I'm calling it.
What needs serious help: With less than 12 minutes for only 8 episodes, this series chokes on its own plot. While I can believe the stakes Junho has to make in order to get Minhyun to fall in love with him, the romance is so hard to believe -- cause it seems to happen in the span of a few minutes -- in the series' world, maybe a couple of days. And while I too fell in love with Jiwoong at first sight, it's hard to believe MInhyun is so ready to potentially die for him at the drop of a hat. It's so important to build chemistry cause without it, you have no series, especially a BL series where the romance is the most important part. If anything, I would've liked them to take the majority of the time they had to build this relationship rather than anything else. Even showing a montage of maybe a few days/weeks going by while they connect would've been a better choice to show than what we got. And Jiwoong and Seobin didn't do a bad job with what they had to work with (they didn't even have a chaste kiss, it was spot on), but when it's not much, you have to look past the parched romance to really not mind the rest of the story.
Speaking of the rest of the story, it was a lot to add for a series that had no time for outside commentary. Like how Junho and Dohyun's story was scattered all over the place, and if you weren't paying attention with the right focus, you would be completely lost. It wasn't developed enough, there were so many flashbacks with little to no meaning, and you make connections, but I'd rather it just be outright explained. Not to mention that Dohyun's actor looked like he didn't want to be there. The delivery of his lines were so bland and uninteresting. They could've cut his parts and I still would've enjoyed the story.
What I liked: I liked the plot since it was unique and not something I'd ever seen. Vampire boy falls in love with human boy. Please, I would take that any day. But I just hate that it doesn't work due to the insignificant time frame. I didn't even mind the ending in which I would've complained about any other day, but seeing as this is a fantasy BL with vampires, I was understanding of why it ended as it did. But because of the stupidly rushed plot, I wasn't even all that sad when he died. I sighed a little and went awe, but it didn't provoke any real emotion. Just imagine how significant this series could've been if we got a fully fleshed out, complex-plot, character-driven, 40 minute 12 episode series. God, It would've been so good.
The title sequence was mesmerizing. The way the lighting cascades over his face and then changes to cast a gloom over him is so addicting. Jiwoong is seriously the prettiest human being ever.
Rating:
Story: 6.5 - So much potential wasted. And for whatever reason Korea doesn't let the gays shine on screen is beyond me. It fell short and left me unattached. I'll give it somewhat of a decent rating since they did what they could.
Acting: 7.5 - Good. The leads were pretty good. Spectacular? Meh, but good enough to keep the story going. The supporting characters were also pretty much in the same category. Dohyun's actor is the only one I wasn't all that impressed with.
OST: 5 - I really don't remember the music. Like at all. Oh well.
Rewatch Value: 1 - this just made me sad and not in a good way. No chance I'm rewatching.
If someone were to ask me for a recommendation solely based on the hotness of the actor, I would then shove this show in their face. Other than that, there are way better K-BLs.
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Storyline needs more story
Tbh, the storyline has GREAT POTENTIAL! A vampire BL where the ML falls in love with the boy he's supposed to kill. It could've been amazing, and it sounded extremely interesting when you read about it.The problem is, it didn't quite live up to the expectations most of us had set for it. The story was a little fast paced. with 20min ep they could be able to pull it out a little, explain more of their lives. Maybe more about the fact that he was an orphan and was once kidnapped?? They just brought it up and completely forgot about it, it seems. They could also tell more about the story between the ML and his old bf that he killed.
They just met, fell in love, slept together and then he died.
Another thing that kinda ruined the show for me was the awkward acting. The villain doesn't need an underbite, and everyone is allowed to blink, are they not? The ML is hot, yes, but his acting isn't top tier just yet. It kinda reminds me of Color Rush and Hwalls acting back then. Just that these two seem to have a bit more chemistry.
Send the ML to a few more workshops and teach him to blink.
Also... the way he killed the other vampire... it looked like he was grazing his neck, and who tf dies sitting like that??!
Great idea, poorly made. It seemed like the budget was relatively small, as the production wasn't at the same level as we're used to seeing with K-dramas.
Hopefully we get to see them redeem this plot with a new vampire BL soon, cause this storyline just needs more....story?
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.....?
I agree that anything is possible and acceptable in drama and delulu world, but what in the ultra pro max delusional plot is this? Many things made no sense and the bare minimum rating which I am giving rn is just for the leads especially seo bin. He is nice. Rest, many things are just for the namesake. I didn't like the series from the beginning but kept watching it in a hope to have a happy ending. But the drama said not today. They could have atleast made it a happier end. TBH TO BE REALLY HONEST, the ending is the only sensible thing in the series. So yeah, it's okay to not have a happy ending afterall, I guess.Was this review helpful to you?
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Suspended disbelief for the sake of a kiss
In film theory there is a term called “the willful suspension of disbelief”…it is required of the audience so you can believe that the actors you are seeing on screen are believable and their story is real.. Just like a 300 year-old vampire (Kim Jun Ho) is willing to forego life as a human because he has instantly fallen in love with a high-school boy (Choi Min Hyun) and refuses to suck his pure blood for the sake of immortality. Thus is the plot line of Kissable Lips, the latest Korean BL offering.The plot is simple enough and the boys are lovely to look at with just the right amount of yearning and angst (a requirement for a good BL). However there are some very odd aspects to this drama, the logic around killing humans (isn’t that what vampires do?), a principal who really serves no real purpose and why does the “bad vampire” have red eyes as opposed to the protagonists blue eyes? And the ending…..
I did check that this review was a SPOILER … why Jun Ho have to die with no real reason or purpose? the death scene was agonizing to watch not because it was sad, but because it was dumb. He could have force fed him instead of whimpering like a baby. I did not get it. There seemed to be no reason for the death or even the relationship. I felt frustrated. It was unsatisfying.
I also disliked the music, it seemed to be really loud and took away from the death scene making it even more clichéd.
Kissing? Yes! Even more than you would expect from a Korean BL. There is a positive trend occurring in this regard which is nice to see. Korean BLs use to be about lingering looks and tight closed mouth kisses lol. They are are finally becoming somewhat more realistic.
Overall…not bad a bad series but not great. I cannot wait until the day when Korea will produce a truly epic 16 episode BL series. Until then Kissable Lips, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Semantic Error, Tinted With You….it is. Enjoy!
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A good story with potential but not enough time to utilize it
The potential was there, but this KBL has the typical issues you know from other KBLs. It's too short and therefore lacks depth and feels rushed. The story itself wasn't that bad, but the love between the two characters developed too quickly (which wouldn't be a problem if the couple had insane chemistry to make up for it). The central conflict fell flat. The acting was also lacking. There was no noticeable/outstanding chemistry between the two leads. Many scenes felt stiff and awkward. For a BL to be enjoyable (IMO), it has to fulfill at least two of the following things:1) captivating/interesting story
2) chemistry between the characters (platonic and romantic)
3) good acting
The premise was that Jun Ho was trying to make Min Hyun fall in love with him so he could drink his blood and not die from the curse (?). But I didn't feel the tension or the heaviness of the situation when Min Hyun fell for Jun Ho. I didn't feel the inner turmoil of Jun Ho when he fell for Min Hyun and had to decide whether he should kill the boy he likes to survive or let him live and give up on life. The worldbuilding was very shallow. Nothing is explained (like the whole pureblood thing) or the curse. It's all very shallow, and I guess you could argue that this show has less than 90 minutes of runtime, but so do many movies, and even they manage to make the most out of it.
You could say that the CGI-vampire-eyes aren't done well, and I guess I'd have to agree. Still, just like in Color Rush, I think it has a certain charm (even though I don't understand why they decided to make the vampire eyes red and green without any information or explanation - surface-level worldbuilding, hello).
Another point that made me lower my rating was the ending. It wasn't satisfying or a reasonable conclusion for the story. It felt empty (to me). BUT not everything was awful. I think that there are probably many people who will enjoy this show. I thought it was an easy and quick watch; it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Min Hyun found out the truth about Jun Ho pretty quickly and was just okay with it. Also, the guy he fell for wanted to use and then kill him was not a deal-breaker for him. Therefore, I didn't care either. Min Hyun kept begging Jun Ho to drink his blood; Jun Ho refused, Jun Ho died. The brother who was supposed to be an obstacle was never brought up again. The principal lady, who was apparently Jun Ho's friend (?), didn't do anything significant either.
I'm not super opposed to sad endings or major character deaths if they are done well. Ending your show with one of your main characters dead and just leaving the whole show on a sad note should be handled carefully. In this case, Jun Ho's death wasn't impacting me the way it should have. If that was because I wasn't super invested in the characters and the story anymore or because of the acting or directing, I don't know. One thing that played into my apathy towards the ending was that Jun Ho seemed like he accepted his fate and was not afraid of dying or fighting to stay alive. Therefore, I wasn't feeling sad that he had lost his life. Like yeah, it's unfortunate that he and his love were separated, but they knew each other for like what? Ten days? Three weeks? Six months? (the time span is also very vague, and one can only guess) I didn't expect this show to have a Twilightesque scene where Jun Ho ultimately decides to suck Min Hyun's blood and has to stop himself before he kills him, but I guess that I would've expected... more.
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Kissable Kink Will Make You Think About Blood Drink
Look, this drama is a web cheapie so I give it points for being focused on the main plot - no 1000 subplots and extraneous characters that dramas tend to suffer from - and moving at brisk pace despite uninspired directing and meat axe editing. I also really liked that kissing was hot for a change - no stiff fish kiss foolishness - and there's strongly implied sex which is great and realistic, unlike having 30somethings contemplate whether they should hold hands in public (another tired drama trope). And the leads, especially the vampire, are easy on the eyes. I have seen two Viki vampire dramas with Kim Ji Woong so far, and this one is way better than The Sweet Blood. For one, he is the lead here which is a huge plus since he was the most charismatic and good looking actor on The Sweet Blood yet stuck in a secondary role. Two, where Kissable Lips is focused, The Sweet Blood was all over the place weighted down by dull subplots and too many characters that didn't add up. Three, Kissable Lips has better mythology, that's easier to follow, and is much more appealing.That said, I would have rated this higher - I shredded some big budget big name dramas precisely because they could have done much better with all the money at their disposal unlike web cheapies - had it not been for the last 2-3 episodes. So now we are diving into a spoiler territory. Avert your eyes if you haven't finished the drama or have no desire to pick it up but want to see how it ended anyway.
I liked the romance between Jun Ho (vampire) and Min Hyun (human) and the set up where Jun Ho was dying because he (accidently) killed his human lover and could only save himself by becoming a human from drinking blood of a pureblood human who fell in love with him. It's pretty interesting take on vampire lore, not entirely unique but more in line with fairytales than vampires. Love conquers all and all that. It works within this context. So Jun Ho is of course beautiful so it isn't hard for adorable teenager Min Hyun to fall in love with him. And vice versa. So far so good. Up until episode 6, the drama was squarely focused on the two falling in love with each other, with some minor side complications coming from Min Hyun's overly protective older brother and Jun Ho's overly concerned human guardian/surrogate mom/whatever. But episode 6 introduced a love triangle - arrival of another vampire who was Jun Ho's BFF secretly in love with him - that didn't add up to anything. What it did give us was absolutely bizarre murder in episode 7 where Jun Ho strangled his vampire friend for threatening Min Hyun. This scene was very uncomfortable to watch because BFF passively kneeled with tears running down his cheeks while Jun Ho was squeezing his neck for what felt like hours. All the while Min Hyun watched without trying to do something, I dunno, save his boyfriend from becoming a friendicidal maniac? And after it was over, they went home to have sex! Min Hyun was, like, I've heard you killed your human lover and I've just watched you strangle your BFF to death, that's so hot, man! You made me so horny! Drink my blood, bang me, I'm yours! OK who am I to judge other people's kinks? So if Min Hyun is turned on by snuff than I guess he should knock himself out. I just thought it was pretty strange to take this turn so late in the drama because it left no room for actual drama to come from a) hearing that your boyfriend snuffed his previous lover during unrestrained blood drinking and b) watching him snuff his BFF even if was for your safety. And then came the utterly unsatisfying finale (ep 8) which ended with a flashback from the same episode so there's only one conclusion: sponsor's cheque bounced! Quick, we need some recycled footage to end the drama!
I honestly think that they had to cut the chitchat because they ran out of money. After Jun Ho died in the finale, they teased us a potential twist involving the dropped promise ring. That went nowhere. I thought that Jun Ho would appear as a full human for basically sacrificing himself for love - he refused to drink from Min Hyun because it could have killed him like it did his other lover. Like I said already, this vampire lore has more in common with fairytales where love and sacrifice bring a happy ending. Heck, Min Hyun was crying buckets while holding the dying Jun Ho and one of most popular fairytale tropes is Healing Tears (see Rapuntzel and Beauty and the Beast). Or even better - Kiss of True Love/Kiss of Life (see Snow White and Sleeping Beauty). Hello, Kissable Lips! This trope should write itself with the title like this! Alas.
I would have given this drama a higher rating had it not been for last episodes ruination that even cheap production and bounced cheques cannot excuse. I'm happy to see Kim Ji Woong become Viki star so I'll check out more dramas with him. Just fix the writing. My man deserves better.
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