Eleison

So you want me to spoil it or just tell you if you're on the right track or not? 😅

He's always a favorite! He seems to excel at super annoying or incredibly endearing supporting characters. 😅

Only up through Episode 5, but questions I have are, why HAVE these two (the main leads) kept secrets from each other? Why did Baek Sa Eon have to pretend to dislike her (until now)? Why can't Hee Joo tell him her secret and talk to him now? They obviously care about each other despite both not being super aware of it yet (he realizes it more than she does at this point, I think?). They just pretend to be so uncaring IN person, and I'm still a bit confused by the pretense.

And I'm still quite confused by the dynamic between the step sister and the FL, and the timeline around their childhood. The sister is apparently deaf but how does she seem to know what's going on still/well-adjusted (I'm not saying as someone deaf she shouldn't be well-adjusted, I'm saying this because she never learned sign language, or lip-reading, so how did she learn to read? How could someone have taught her, and how could her family let her grow up dependent on Jee Joo?) when she shouldn't be able to? Is she maybe not deaf?

It did/does annoy me that Sa Eon hasn't learned learned sign language up to this point, but it IS kind of adorable seeing him learn it here, ESPECIALLY after he now knows she COULD technically speak. Instead of forcing or demanding her to do it, he's taking a step towards "learning her language" even with knowing that it's technically no longer necessary. Cute. His interactions with her until Episode 5 had all been some spectrum of aggressive, so it was nice to see him tone things down.

I thought the heart eye emoji was great, and the response he settled on was perfect. Just what she needed to see. 😏

I had some of the novel spoiled for me so I already know the answers to your questions! But don't worry, I won't spoil you. 😏 Enjoy trying to figure it out. Even for me, the drama still has SO many questions marks surrounding aspects of the plot for me.

It's also called Sassy Go Go? And the Cheer Up! needs to be followed by 2015 because there's also one from recently.

This feels very much like the sort of Kdrama that will not stop at pecks... 😅

She's also great in the 2015 Cheer Up! I'm mean, she plays a terrible person in the first half but she does a great job and has a nice character arc. She's also lovely in Rebel: Thief Who Stole The People. :)

Agreed!!

Yes, this detail bothers me, too. My biggest issue with him so far. Why not learn sign language? And even secretly would be better than not at all!

It's just that the way it was used in your original comment doesn't seem to be describing men in any of these ways, since I think being a bringer of peace, being wonderful, caring, gentle, kind, and nurturing would also be attributes of good men, or even just good people; instead, I was picturing you meant things like "weepy," "whiny," "petty," "shallow," "sentimental," "emotional/volatile," or "pushover/doormat," etc. which is usually what people mean when they describe men as "feminine." Though I wouldn't consider any of these to be positive aspects of women at all either, which is why I find the word "feminine" when describing a man's behavior to be a negative descriptor of females, too. So, then, in my mind a negative use of feminine would really just be negative HUMAN traits, not femininity specifically. Anyway, I know I'm being nitpicky and splitting hairs, but I just thought the use of "feminine" above was not very accurate or edifying, and said in a way that reinforces negative stereotypes of women. But thanks for dialoguing as I realize I'm kind of pulling your comment apart! 😬 I appreciate your respectful responses.

Also, did you watch the entire drama? The characters all have arcs, and all of them (men and women) improve vastly by the end.

Yeah, that makes sense! I don't think it makes sense for him to know until recently that she can talk, let alone know she was 406. :)

I wonder if they're referring to the dashcam footage from the car she was kidnapped in?

In theory I get what you mean, but when you say the men are feminine in this drama, what is the specific quality of "femininity" you're saying they're showing? That looks good in a female but bad in a male?

Interesting, I don't disagree with you about Hollywood portraying people this way, but as far as Kdramas go, I feel like I've seen these tropes galore in older Kdramas, too? It doesn't seem like a trend they're moving more towards, at any rate (in my opinion and from what I've seen). I see these caricatures and cliches as purposely written lamely so the main characters of a story have to rise above their toxicity or stupidity, etc. or who become a foil to their thriving that they have to overcome. So, more for storytelling purposes than social commentary (though I'm sure that can't be removed entirely).

I also find the use of "feminine" here, sandwiched between "weak" and "irritating," to be a bit demeaning. Are you saying women are, by their very nature, pathetic? You use it as a derogatory word, which is why I ask. I mean, if the quality you describe as "feminine" in the male characters was removed from the man and assigned to a woman, would it suddenly not make it a negative connotation? I can't help but wonder that it wouldn't... 🤔

Yes, someone on this thread shared that this is from the novel.

But Squid Game also has a lot to live up to.... and won't it be released all at once like the last season?

I wonder if they'll show that he noticed the "kidnapper" stopped stuttering (or as that something the kidnapper pretended to do? 🤔). Maybe the ML has suspected but has also been intrigued and confused? And Kdramas like to circle back and reveal things characters knew or noticed that led up to a reveal. 🤷‍♀️

Knight Flower, for instance, got in the high teens, I think? But yes, that makes sense!

But I already did! 😅 So now I hope it ends well, haha!

That's good to hear! :)