ltspada
This review may contain spoilers
Feelings change
8/10 iis my rating. This is a 2019 South Korean romantic drama with 26, 70 minute, episodes.
After four years with Kwon Gi-seok (Kim Jun-han), Lee Jeong-in (Han Ji-Min) is wondering why her feelings toward her boyfriend have become lukewarm. Still, with family pressuring marriage, that would have been the likely result if a surprise romantic interest did not unexpectedly come into Jeong-in's life. Jeon-in is a librarian and Gi-seol is a banker who has family wealth and would be considered a "catch" by most. One spring night Jeong-in has a drinking party with her close friend and stops by the pharmacy where Yoo Ji-ho (Jung Hae-in) works to get a hangover remedy. What could have been a inconsequential meeting develops into sparks of interest when Jeon-in discovers she forgot her wallet and Ji-ho, immediately attracted to the vivacious Jeong-in, offers to let her pay later. After a series of missed texts, Ji-ho finally revisits the pharmacy to pay back Ji-ho and he expresses interest in her but she firmly tells him she is in a relationship so they can only be friends. Admitting interest in someone is not a frequent or easy thing for Ji-ho as he is a single parent who went through many years after heart break after his girlfriend left him and his son. In South Korea a long term relationship is a form of commitment and with both families in agreement for Jeon-in and Gi-seol to marry, it is taboo to break up, particularly to immediately enter another relationship with none other than a single dad. Single parenthood in South Korea still carries a lot of social stigma and Ji-ho has suffered derogatory comments since his son was born. So, while their situation makes it nearly impossible to be together, they find they actually run in the same social circles and repeat encounters lead to undeniable feelings developing between the two.
Jeon-in finally decides to end her relationship with Gi-seol and follow her heart with Ji-ho. However, not only has Gi-seol, who had been slow to propose marriage, suddenly decided he can't live without her, he also does not want to lose her to Ji-ho who he considers beneath him. With all the obstacles in their way, Ji-ho and Jeong-in have to constantly evaluate if their relationship is worthy and their feelings strong enough for each other to sustain their love for the long term.
*spoiler alert. I liked the overall theme of this which is which was love can conquer just about anything. Jeong-in did not feel the fact that Ji-ho was a single dad to be a detriment to having a relationship with him. It wasn't that she did not realize it made things hard for them, because she did, she just did not personally care that he was a single dad. In fact, as someone that loved kids, she grew to like Ji-ho's young son almost immediately. The ex-boyfriend became extremely obsessed with getting Jeong-in back and it felt irritating at times because it seemed that he was fairly lukewarm about their relationship until he realized he had competition. Jeon-in's dad was very frustrating because he seemed to be more concerned about social status and appearances than the welfare of his daughters. It was very satisfying when Jeon-in stood up to him about not wanting to marry Gi-seol to help advance her father's career, and later when she stood up to him about her right to love Ji-ho. The music in this one was very antnoying. They played the main song loud and so frequently hat it became irritating. I understand the cultural stigma on single parenthood as we like to think in the United States that there is no stigma but, having been a single parent myself for awhile, I can tell you there is. Many people do not want to take on a ready made family and, for the single parent, you have to be very selective about who you would be willing to interact with your children. It did not suprise me that the main character was so accepting of Jeong-in's son as she mentioned she loved children and, since that is the way I feel about children, I understand it. I lreally like children so I know if I were in the position the fact that the person I loved had a child or even children would not deter. It also explored domestic violence and the feelings of shame and denial. It ended and wrapped up well. Recommend for those that like mature themes.
After four years with Kwon Gi-seok (Kim Jun-han), Lee Jeong-in (Han Ji-Min) is wondering why her feelings toward her boyfriend have become lukewarm. Still, with family pressuring marriage, that would have been the likely result if a surprise romantic interest did not unexpectedly come into Jeong-in's life. Jeon-in is a librarian and Gi-seol is a banker who has family wealth and would be considered a "catch" by most. One spring night Jeong-in has a drinking party with her close friend and stops by the pharmacy where Yoo Ji-ho (Jung Hae-in) works to get a hangover remedy. What could have been a inconsequential meeting develops into sparks of interest when Jeon-in discovers she forgot her wallet and Ji-ho, immediately attracted to the vivacious Jeong-in, offers to let her pay later. After a series of missed texts, Ji-ho finally revisits the pharmacy to pay back Ji-ho and he expresses interest in her but she firmly tells him she is in a relationship so they can only be friends. Admitting interest in someone is not a frequent or easy thing for Ji-ho as he is a single parent who went through many years after heart break after his girlfriend left him and his son. In South Korea a long term relationship is a form of commitment and with both families in agreement for Jeon-in and Gi-seol to marry, it is taboo to break up, particularly to immediately enter another relationship with none other than a single dad. Single parenthood in South Korea still carries a lot of social stigma and Ji-ho has suffered derogatory comments since his son was born. So, while their situation makes it nearly impossible to be together, they find they actually run in the same social circles and repeat encounters lead to undeniable feelings developing between the two.
Jeon-in finally decides to end her relationship with Gi-seol and follow her heart with Ji-ho. However, not only has Gi-seol, who had been slow to propose marriage, suddenly decided he can't live without her, he also does not want to lose her to Ji-ho who he considers beneath him. With all the obstacles in their way, Ji-ho and Jeong-in have to constantly evaluate if their relationship is worthy and their feelings strong enough for each other to sustain their love for the long term.
*spoiler alert. I liked the overall theme of this which is which was love can conquer just about anything. Jeong-in did not feel the fact that Ji-ho was a single dad to be a detriment to having a relationship with him. It wasn't that she did not realize it made things hard for them, because she did, she just did not personally care that he was a single dad. In fact, as someone that loved kids, she grew to like Ji-ho's young son almost immediately. The ex-boyfriend became extremely obsessed with getting Jeong-in back and it felt irritating at times because it seemed that he was fairly lukewarm about their relationship until he realized he had competition. Jeon-in's dad was very frustrating because he seemed to be more concerned about social status and appearances than the welfare of his daughters. It was very satisfying when Jeon-in stood up to him about not wanting to marry Gi-seol to help advance her father's career, and later when she stood up to him about her right to love Ji-ho. The music in this one was very antnoying. They played the main song loud and so frequently hat it became irritating. I understand the cultural stigma on single parenthood as we like to think in the United States that there is no stigma but, having been a single parent myself for awhile, I can tell you there is. Many people do not want to take on a ready made family and, for the single parent, you have to be very selective about who you would be willing to interact with your children. It did not suprise me that the main character was so accepting of Jeong-in's son as she mentioned she loved children and, since that is the way I feel about children, I understand it. I lreally like children so I know if I were in the position the fact that the person I loved had a child or even children would not deter. It also explored domestic violence and the feelings of shame and denial. It ended and wrapped up well. Recommend for those that like mature themes.
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