Eleison

He ran off with my heart! Eun Gyeol's pretty darling, too, if we're comparing. 😏

I loved how Eun Gyeol cried over his young parents' suffering and struggles. Such a lovely character (one of my favorite MLs of all time!).

It ends happily, but Episode 16 packs an emotional gut punch. 😅

So... the drama is not pretending to show realistic solutions to real-world problems; it's leaning into satire which goes too far to shock the audience and make a point (like in Jonathan's Swift's "Modest Proposal" from the 1700's, he proposed they "make bags out of Irish baby skin since they're already dying of starvation anyway--at least the dying babies/corpses can be put to productive use"... to help shock the British into seeing how they were exploiting the Irish, etc.).

This drama does something similar by giving back to bullies what they dished out to their victims in extreme ways. It's trying to show the harm of what the bullies did, to teach, to bring awareness, to entertain, AND help people see that whatever strategies are being used currently in Korea (and the bureaucracy involved) are not working (I believe all or most of the cases are based on actual scenarios victims suffered in school settings).

He doesn't play ML roles for big dramas, from what I've seen. The biggest role he had in a really big drama was While You Were Sleeping, and he was the villain in that one. 😅

I thought he must be awful due to the comments, too, but I'm not quite sure why everyone's getting into such a tizzy about him. I think he made some mistakes (as does she, but in different ways), so while I thought he could have done better, I don't think he was dreadful or anything. There are some parts where it feels a bit like they leave an unexplained gap in HOW things end up happening the way they do, but so far it's alright. Of course, your safest bet is to wait until it finishes to find out since it's at this point dramas usually take a nosedive.

He's the 3rd ML, and not a villain.

I felt that way about her in Crash Landing On You, too. It's the only drama I ever saw her in besides this one.

I also like that he didn't let her off the hook after the one night. "Nah, you can't just jump into bed with me and then expect to dip." 😅 And it's a very playful way that he's not letting her get away with it.

I got a kick out of Lee Sang Yeob's acting when the 3FL confesses desperately to her coworker (to get him off the show), "I slept with him." And then he mouths silently (in English) in response, "Wooowww." 😅

He's shocked at her just laying it all bare (in more ways than one, I guess!).

The way this couple is going about things is not my cup of tea, but LSY is just a great actor. He's also not afraid to take on nonstereotypical, un-ML-like roles. While I'd love to see him in more ML roles, I respect his versatility.

The writer and director don't have any notable dramas or a great track record... so, probably a pass unless people say it's good after it's done airing. I get more and more skeptical of dramas landing these days. Only some writers/directors are able to nail it, and they usually are the ones with successful, well-liked dramas under their belt. I find myself sticking to those writers or directors more because I'm not as worried I'll waste my time.

It was a good one. Unexpected, pleasant surprises that were bit different than the typical formula.

Might want to put this into a spoiler?

What a relief he didn't die!

How did they handle the ML's terminal illness (at least it seemed terminal for a while?).

The three couples reminds me of Shootijg Stars.

Friends to lovers rather quickly? 😉😅

That would be defying the Kdrama formula, but I think it'd be interesting if they tried it! I just think Kdrama writers have always struggled with how to write couples once they're dating. All the tension and buildup is gone, which is why they throw in all the angst in the last 1/3 of the drama. 😪

I thought he acted up a storm in both of SSS and JOL, so I have to disagree that anyone could act as well as him. But the characters are indeed similar (same writer for both dramas).

Might want to mark this as a spoiler! 😬