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@daydreamologist you're one of the few HJP fan who make alot of sense. A lot of HJP fans glorify HJP at the expense of NDS, saying he is not lead-worthy etc.

 Kristances:

@daydreamologist you're one of the few HJP fan who make alot of sense. A lot of HJP fans glorify HJP at the expense of NDS, saying he is not lead-worthy etc.

Wow, those fans are losers.  Anyone with eyes knew that HJP never had a shot with Dalmi.  Dosan was tailor made for Dalmi.  Who gives a crap if HJP is rich or wiser?!  Dosan friggen created a company for Dalmi’s gma!!!!  Like, hello people.  Of course Dalmi’s  gonna choose the guy that built nongil for blind gramma. Duh.  

The only characters that have gotten consistent development are Dalmi.  Then Dosan.  Of course they’re gonna end up together.  

My two cents based on events up to episode 14:

- HJP is logically the stronger lead who "deserves" SDM, but I prefer SDM and NDS's chemistry and still think they should end up together. Logically, I should be preferring HJP, but I still do think NDS is nice and thoughtful in his own ways (the entire inspiration for NoonGil being Won Deok is a big plus). He does drop off a lot for me during that forced fistfight with HJP. That was kinda cringe-worthy. But I actually liked the crying scenes despite what others say and found them well-done; there's nothing wrong with a dude crying. I find his "underdog" genius story refreshing and want to see him succeed. Him being seen as a genius back then, but still not being the most successful due to lacking ambition, having to work his way back up with imposter syndrome, and also being a coder is very relatable, personally. I guess I'm also naturally inclined to root for the main lead because I like the feeling of it being the "canon" happy ending. But I do agree his development is a bit lacking in comparison to HJP, and I hope HJP is able to find his own happiness. Judging from how things are going it doesn't seem like there is anything good coming for him which is a shame.

- SDM's attraction to NDS needs to be better justified for sure, but some people put too much importance on the letters, and if HJP gets with SDM, it shouldn't be because of that, but because of what he's done for her and SST in real life. People can act so much differently than what you would expect based on their writing style in a letter. Won Deok also helped with the letters, so they're not entirely HJP's thoughts. Yes, they help create a connection, but at the end of the day, real-life interactions with obvious romantic intent matter so much more. HJP straddling the fence in his interactions with SDM and letting NDS take charge hurt his chances early on when they were still trying to keep the secret. I also think SDM is flawed in initially breaking up with NDS just because he wasn't the guy who wrote the letters, but she did hint that she didn't truly mean everything she said. HJP not capitalizing on the three-year gap to fully win over SDM also makes me feel like he friend-zoned himself. If next ep's preview is anything to go by, we'll finally see why SDM truly likes NDS other than the "big hands" thing, though it is a little late. My point being that if SDM likes NDS for his personality, it would help justify their relationship more.

- Liking what they're doing with WIJ and how she handles her father and brother, and how she and SDM seem to be on better terms instead of dragging on the weird "my choice was better" plot point. Though it does seem to undermine the "underdog" story for SDM as she's now working under her.

I understand I'm in the minority preferring NDS but I wouldn't have any strong feelings whatever the result becomes. I don't really care for ratings and still enjoy the drama for what it is. The business/tech focus is intriguing for me seeing all the references to tech terms and coding tools. It keeps me interested and makes up for the shows flaws even if the love triangle aspect could be better executed.

And yesss I’m a fellow NDS supporter too haha you’re not in the minority.
I would agree that the punching scene was cringe-worthy too, and the many times where he did everything for Dal Mi was also kinda cringe (like the run home to take suit and stalking her to the bar scene ewwww) 

but overall as a character he’s so wholesome and dorky and so honest about his own feelings. 🥺🥺 hope the writer will see this part of the discussion. We love NDS!,! NOT just bcs we love nam Joo hyuk or Do Dal!!

@Kefkiroth

I agree, I do think that HJP in part friendzoned himself ( he didn't go to the networking party, and frankly, he decided to never own up to being the letter writer, except he was caught red handed with the letters).  The nice thing about HJP's strong character is that he's capable of finding he's own happiness, even if Dal Mi never reciprocated his feelings. He's not desperate for Dal Mi the way Do San is. So I'm hoping that no matter the outcome, he'll get to be happy in some way or other. 

What was he doing in those three years, though? SDM and NDS only had a few months together, and there relationship in them progressed so much. I hope they'll show us what exactly happened between SDM and HJP in those years in the next episode. I'd get it if it was a year, but three is too much. How did SDM reply to his confession? Did she even reply to it? Did he confess again? So many questions. 

 Kristances:

@Kefkiroth

UWU I love the discussion here so much more... the discussion in the comments section is crazily dominated by HJP fans haha. I’m glad that they’re not Twitter-level crazy though, to the point where they trash Nam Joo Hyuk’s acting skills....

but ya, I like what you said here, the show is definitely flawed and not as great as it started off.. but it’s not like terrible where I would skip scenes (I do that for quite a lot of dramas, even dramas I really liked like Goblin - but so far I haven’t done so for start up, bcs I genuinely enjoy the characters. :) )

Agreed haha.  I admittedly respect the MDL community's opinion a little more than say Twitter and other places where much younger viewers might flock to, so that's why I was interested in sharing my thoughts to see if I was crazy for preferring NDS. If anything, this has got to be one of the most controversial dramas in recent years with the number of comments (17k+!) which I find fascinating.

Yeah, even if it isn't objectively perfect, I'm still usually engaged every episode and excited to see what happens next, which made this really binge-able for me while I was still catching up.

 Kristances:

And yesss I’m a fellow NDS supporter too haha you’re not in the minority.
I would agree that the punching scene was cringe-worthy too, and the many times where he did everything for Dal Mi was also kinda cringe (like the run home to take suit and stalking her to the bar scene ewwww) 

but overall as a character he’s so wholesome and dorky and so honest about his own feelings. ?? hope the writer will see this part of the discussion. We love NDS!,! NOT just bcs we love nam Joo hyuk or Do Dal!!

Absolutely. The suit thing was also inappropriate because it's really not safe to leave a girl alone at night, especially when she's drunk. 

I say we are in the minority based on the vast majority of comments I see on MDL as well as some Korean sources (look at this poll with a whopping 80-20 lead for HJP, even I was surprised). I'm not entirely familiar with kdrama filming schedules, but I would hope that the writer puts out whatever message she wants to send out with the last couple of episodes without caving in to appeal to whatever the masses think should happen.

So this is where all the NDS fans hang out :)

I think you'll be surprised to know that most HJP fans actually don't want SDM and HJP to end up together. Most would be ok if HJP got a decent happy ending, a believable one anyway.

The disconnect between NDS fans and HJP fans is that, most of the things NDS fans find sweet with NDS, HJP fans would not want to experience in real life. 

Like for example, NDS smashing the nameplate of Chairman Won. In the movies/tv show, it's cool, it shows the love and everything. But in real life, if my boyfriend did that, I would not be smitten, I would be embarrassed and be a little wary. 

In general people who are quiet and reserve, and suddenly do aggressive things are people we should worry about, especially in a conservative country like South Korea. It's a lot of pent up emotions that is being stifled, and there's always the danger of those emotions manifesting itself in negative ways.

What most HJP fans actually liked in NDS was his portrayal in ep. 2-4, where he was indeed that goofy, dorky, ML that everyone can root for. But unfortunately, the writers misconstrued maturity with a more darker personality. You can mature and still retain your core identity.

NDS was not the typical male lead at first, but with the many revisions and inconsistencies in his character in the middle and later episodes, he has pretty much everything your traditional male lead has, which includes toxic masculinity and noble idiocy. 

Maybe if the writers had left NDS dorky, geeky identity alone, and instead worked on a slow burning maturity, there would be less HJP fans and more NDS fans. 

Just wanted to put my .02 here in your discussion :)