It's been almost a month since this ended so I can finally rate this without bias.

The series started out very great--- with a strong plot, very compelling characters (especially the child actors! ???), nice cinematography, and a realistic portrayal of the 90s. The wealthy truly looked affluent, and the middle class appeared like one.

Despite it being just 12 eps, however, it still felt draggy and long. The pacing in the first half was really good but the middle towards the end were filled with scenes with almost zero dialogue, just the character feeling the moment. The scoring didn't help too (although their OSTs still haunt me till this day).
It felt like the director focused on the start and end of the series but didn't pay much attention from the middle part leading to the finale.

Yes, I found the chemistry of the leads very good (in contrast to some who found it unappealing), but perhaps the screenwriter/webtoon writer wanted to prepare an onion-like of drama, with several layers to be peeled, only to have underwhelming parts as they kept peeling.

The drama had its greatest moments, but also meh moments. Nonetheless, I loved it. I appreciated all the efforts made to create it. And for that I'm grateful. ?
I'll always remember this as that drama whose younger version made me cry a lot (like Missing You in 2012!), and whose older versions taught me how to become a better adult.

To anyone hesitating on watching this, this is your sign to go start that first ep. I hope you also have tissues within reach, just in case. ?

P.S. Grief and loss tags are proper. It's a huge part of the story, so better prepare