IM YourOnlyOne

Well, "once a cheater always a cheater" pretty much sums up your view of life and people who make mistakes.

I hope when you realise that when you made mistakes yourself, other people did not dismissed you as "once a cheater always a cheater" or "once a liar always a liar" or, let's just put it in simple terms "you'll never change".

Since that's your view of life and of people, there's no point in rebutting your other statements, like this statement, "No normal person gets over such humilation and hurt that quickly or ever."

I'll tell the 4 people I know they are not "normal" according to you. ^_^ Oh wait, that includes me … but I already know I'm not "normal" and proud to be "not normal".

Of course it is rare to happen "instantly" but they don't have to make that one accurate unless we want the story to jump 5 years later or something.

Yeah. I think it goes both ways. Remember the couple who almost divorced? He eventually resigned and even dug his own grave. Then his wife came and saved him. She was right, he kept saying "sorry" when he could've said "thank you".

Exactly.

Exactly.

They hinted Min Chae's father is abroad? I missed that one.

I've always assumed he died or they divorced.

As for the showing the 2021 narrative, the purpose of it is for the audience. They want to send a message that the present generation shouldn't be this and that because back in our time this and that were our lives.

"That, hey, present generation, life is hard, there is a pandemic, and wars. But you know what? Back in our days, life was already hard. There were already wars. Economies collapsed. Terrorism went to a whole new level."

This was noticeable when 2021 Hee Do explained how she's fully aware Min Chae is reading her diaries because she wants her to understand. It was a message not just for Min Chae but to all the young generation of today.

And as someone who was born in the early 80s, I can totally relate to 2021 Hee Do sending that message to Min Chae … and to the writer who wants to send a message to today's young generation.

Because everyone is throwing negatives, as if the writer was a total fool.

Baek Yi Jin's username has the number 1015 (byj1015)

His birthday?
The day they met in episode 1?
Their anniversary when they started to officially date?

Also, by saying she was born in 2006/2007 … it still doesn't mean Baek Yi Jin was the father, they broke up in 2002.

Where did they say she's 15? I've been searching the episodes she appeared but there was nothing.

Note #1: All ages are in Korean age
Note #2: The competitions depicted are not real (fencing, ballet)

* 2000
-- Na Hee Do 20 years old
-- Baek Yi Jin 24 years old

* 2001
-- Na Hee Do 21 years old
-- Baek Yi Jin 25 years old
-- Show title: Twenty-Five Twenty-One
-- Madrid, Spain competition - Na Hee Do won Gold
-- 9/11 (US timezone) attack
-- 9/13 (Asian timezone) Yi Jin went to the US
-- probably December Yi Jin got the New York appointment

* 2002
-- Grand Prix and World Championship tournaments in Europe probably January
-- (sometime early to mid March) Ko Yu Rim returned earlier after the tournaments
-- The previous item has to have happened in March because when Hee Do was crying after they met again, there was a light snow. Snow usually ends mid-March in South Korea.
-- sometime between early and mid March, Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin broke up
-- April 2002, Baek Yi Jin went back to New York

* 2005
-- Na Hee Do 25 years old
-- Baek Yi Jin 29 years old
-- Prague, Czech Republic competition - Na Hee Do won Gold -- (time period is just a guess)

* 2007
-- Na Hee Do 27 years old
-- Ko Yu Rim retired

* 2009
-- Na Hee Do 29 years old
-- Baek Yi Jin 33 years old
-- sometime 1Q of 2009 Na Hee Do got married to a Kim
-- 2Q of 2009, intense training
-- July 10, 2009: San Francisco, USA competition - Na Hee Do won Gold and UBS live interview
-- July 2009, Na Hee Do announced her retirement.

* 2010
-- Na Hee Do 30 years old
-- sometime this year Kim Min Chae was born (1 year old Korean age)

* 2016
-- Na Hee Do 36 years old
-- Kim Min Chae 7 years old (the actress was 4 years old if they filmed it in 2021; 5 years old if filmed in 2022)
-- Kim Min Chae started ballet; and recital

* 2021
-- Present time
-- Na Hee Do 41 years old
-- Baek Yi Jin 45 years old
-- Kim Min Chae had been doing ballet for 5 years (ep 1)
-- Kim Min Chae is 12 years old (the actress is 13 years old if was filmed 2021; 14 in 2022)

Again: all ages in Korean age.
1. When they are born, they are 1 year old automatically.
2. By January 1 every year, ALL Koreans add +1 to their age. They do NOT add +1 to their age on their birthdays.

TIMELINE of events (key events only)

Nope. They went their separate ways after that shoelace scene.

No. However, we can assume some things:

- Na Hee Do was married sometime 1Q of 2009.
- Na Hee Do was no doubt in intense training in 2Q of 2009 - so there's no way she would plan marriage around this time, so it happened before.
- July 2009 is the San Francisco tournament
- July 2009, after the match, Na Hee Do announced her retirement
- Newborns have a very high success of living if they were born in either 7th month or 9th month of pregnancy. Any other month, the newborn is likely to die.
- Na Hee Do was not pregnant yet during the July 2009 San Francisco Match. If she got pregnant in March, July is her 4th month. If Feb, July is 5th month. Jan, then July is her 6th month. She probably won't make it in the tournament if she was pregnant. It's possible if it was within the first 3 months.
- This only leaves the possibility that she got pregnant after she returned to Korea in July 11/12 onwards.
- Assuming she got pregnant late July: 7th month pregnancy would be on Feb, probably gave birth late Feb or early March 2010. If 9th month, then she probably gave birth late April or early May 2010.
- Lastly, in 2009 Na Hee Do was already 29. It is generally advisable to give birth no later than 30 years old, for the health of the mother and baby. Giving birth after 30 years old, the risk gets higher and higher. It's not impossible, the risk just higher as the mother gets older.

So … Kim Min Chae was probably born 2010, or 2011 the latest. Let's just assume 2010, so in 2021 Kim Min Chae is 12 years old. Not that far from the actress' real age which is 13 years old in 2021.

-- note: all ages in Korean age.

I hope it helps.

Your first true love will forever be the most meaningful part of your life. That's all there is to it. It doesn't mean she did not move on.

Secondly, it shapes you forever. All the pain and joy you experienced with your first true love, no matter how short or long it may have been, will always become your standard in love and relationships.

This is especially true if you parted ways amicably because it means it was a decision you both agreed upon. That last immense pain will forever mark the both of you.

Oh gawd. It's so sad you haven't experienced this kind of love and relationship. I've been there too. It changes you for the good, you learn a thousand lessons from it. IT IS VERY PAINFUL and VERY MEMORABLE.

People who've been through this, most assume they've forgotten about it. But that is a big fat lie. It will always be a part of you and you'll eventually get tired trying to forget it.

Whichever successful relationship we are today, it was all possible because of the PAIN and JOY we experienced with our first true love.

That's what Twenty-Five Twenty-One is all about.

Finally, someone who understood it is a happy ending. A perfect happy ending.

"no proper explanation"

It was properly explained all throughout the series, even repeatedly explained in episode 16.

The problem is people want to live in their fantasies. If it doesn't happen the way their fantasies pictured the story to be, they throw all the negatives.

Like it or not, the writer chose not fantasies but true-to-life stories.

Your are misunderstanding "regret" here.

Yes, they want to change their decision back in 2002 when they broke up but they do not regret it, they were thankful for it because they never will be who they are in 2021 if they did not go through that.

How did I know? Because I've experienced it first hand. Me and my ex, we were both first love to each other. We dated for 3 years and parted ways similarly to how Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin parted ways. We dated from 1997 to 2000.

Like Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin, our first break up was nasty. Then we met again and we broke up properly and bid our farewells. Heck, she even told me the exact same thing Na Hee Do said in her what-if: "this time you go first".

Years later, when we look back at it all, we both (yes, "we" because we're friends), we do not regret it at all. Yes, we do want to bring back time to change things so we can be together, but it is NOT because of regret, it is wishful thinking. The what-if moments.

Instead of regret, we both feel thankful because we wouldn't be who we are today if not for the decision we both made together in 2000 -- break up.

WHAT A PERFECT ENDING!

It is as expected. I'm glad they did not give in to public demand to have the "they lived happily ever after" closure because that would've wasted the whole story, the message, and lessons they painstakingly told in each and every scene.

However, there is one question left: what did Hee Do mean when she said, "I'll take care of everything?" They never explained that even in episode 16. They probably changed their mind about something but they already filmed the scenes.

P.S.
The identity of Kim Min Chae's father is not important. The only thing important is, right from Episode 1 they already set the mood that Na Hee Do married a Kim and not a Baek.

Yes to all.

Every single scenario and decisions they portrayed were all based on true-to-life experiences. So saying "this is so unrealistic" is a total disrespect to people who've experienced it and made a decisions similar to what were depicted in this series.

YOU just haven't been blessed enough to have experienced the beauty of life and relationships the way the rest of us did.

Or maybe, you are just too young to have gone through any of it. Or, maybe you haven't been in any relationship at all.

What is "realistic" to you? They had a perfect relationship, butterfly-in-the-stomach, go to dates in beautiful places, and eat romantic dinners, and lived happily ever after? LOLs, if that is what "realistic" for you, that is actually NOT realistic, not even 0.0001%. That is called FANTASY.

Realistic is when a story shows what people actually experiences in real life. Realistic is when a story depicts how people actually make decisions in real life.

It is also called being a mature adult.

People make mistakes. People make wrong decisions. That is a FACT of life and relationships. It is how to handle it afterwards that defines if you are a mature individual.

All of the characters in this series showed how imperfect they are and how they learn from their mistakes and grow. Is that not realistic enough for you?

Don't tell us you haven't experienced making mistakes, learning from it, and growing because of those mistakes--that's why this show is "unrealistic"? I wish we are all perfect like you then.

Define "normal ending"?