maple

ep19 lazy writing. i'm not against "makeover trope", but at least do it well. instead, just for the sake of this cliche, they are acting as if FL has never worn short skirts or can't even walk in heels... in ep10 FL has already shown she can dress business smart, suit/skirt/high heels, etc and own the look perfectly.

more importantly, business suit + pants is also professionally appropriate and looks super good on FL. plus outward appearance is only half the equation, how it makes wearer feel is equally important. if FL isn't comfortable, it's moot. it's kinda eye rolling to see guys think their own preferences dictate everything.

thanks for sharing. i've known this since wongfu production Ted reveal he stopped dying hair black. (meaning since ages ago) as you said and as the other commenter said. "started" not the same thing as "turned"
(read reply below. glad you can enjoy knowing drama limitations/suspending belief in some parts. usually i'm fine too, but sometimes it still irks me)

Canities subita, also called Marie Antoinette syndrome or Thomas More syndrome, is an alleged condition of hair turning white in a short span due to extreme stress or trauma. emphasis alleged. aka. further scientific evidence needed

bruh, scriptwriters.... that's not how grey hair works *facepalm

no cdrama will ever convince me ancient china used to be able to accurately identify people through those paintings akin to watercolor, with limited palette, and artistic style far far from realism.

the acting result of director, producer, actors, everyone's input is pretty flat in terms of emoting and natural dialogue. also, ML is super petty. "i forbid you to do this." "i forbid you to do that"... rolls eyes. the pace of overall mysteries and reveal is done very very well imo, biggest strength of this drama. however, last couple eps (26,27) totally tanked this few of it's pros. how one of the antagonists plot succeeded, how the victims failed to defend/prevent, how the govt didn't even bother to put 0,01 effort into investigation, and how it ultimately resolved 1 scene later TRIVIALLY. was an extreme let down to the generally well constructed intrigues so far. with how things are going, it doesn't seem like the writers intend for empress to get retribution either smh

oh, if it's from subtitles, then it's voice to text transcription > then machine translated. it should be Shanlifang, the name of hotel conglomerate. 杉立方。 instead of 3^3 (三立方 3-cubed Sanlifang. no h, but auto transcription isn't that good yet)

yea that annoyed me way too much... they try to portray him as cute but it's just creepy stalkery

i like how when FL almost trips, ML holds FL in like a princessy / dance end pose and they stay like that for way too long so FL is like *cough* "that's enough, i think you've watched too much dramas" XD lol~

also, interesting how you said 3-cube. finally clicked for me after re-reading. 三方 = three parties. lol~ never seen someone say 3 cube before XD

FL works at an investment firm as "backend" (internal) analyst. Fang Yun is the bigshot "frontend" (client facing) manager/vp whatever it's called at that investment firm. ML is a very competent upcoming investment banker at a smaller rival company. FL's ex bf used to work at a regular stable bank, but decided to suck up to a hotel conglomerate owner's daughter so that he could climb the corporate ladder. Fang Yun's firm and ML's firm won the bid to jointly take this hotel conglomerate public, manage its IPO. so basically, FangYun and ML are competitors working in partnership atm, but would love to eat the pie by themselves. FL wants to focus on her own life & career by challenging herself to rise from the comfortable easy "backend" internal analyst position to a "frontend" client facing position, and since her role model is FangYun, wants to do it at her old company.

a lot of people are saying "low budget". i guess many are actually referring to the lack of DOF bokeh in the cinematography (Sharp HD subjects and blurry background bokeh)

Growing up watching dramas transition from not to have, i've also thought dramas with DOF looked higher quality. However, now that every drama has this as standard for a decade already, Love Has Fireworks lacking DOF is a stylistic choice. maybe as nod to the past, or fan service to old drama watchers. whatever it is, it's refreshing and i love this nostalgia

anyone else feel like this drama could have been produced in the 2000's? lol XD feels like a blast from the past haha

thanks, it sounds perfect for me. i watch dramas to stay depressed =)

you need to watch your language

- Former prosecutor and now fired law professor Seo Joon Myung is probably in cahoots with antagonist trio & helped them prosecute ML until a scapegoat could be found 1 year later & wrap up loose ends.

- ML's sister went missing from her convenience store job. She was found unconscious by ML at a construction site & shoes right outside. Criminals then moved both ML and sister's clothes to a different location to be found.
- I think sister died due to criminal negligence at the construction site. The site would become Hansu Bio & the start of the antagonist trio's fraud & money laundering scheme.
- OR one of the trio hit & run killed ML's sister.
- So instead of having their people, the site, Hansu Bio & everyone implicated, they moved the body & made up the claims that ML raped & killed step sister.
- Maybe they disposed sister's body using a "cruise" or something.
- Then 1 year later, they fabricated & coordinated with police a more airtight conviction, make it seem like they caught the "real rapist murderer", so that ML's full of holes ruling wouldn't get revisited & overturned.

My guess, is that FL is trying to uncover everything by getting close to the antagonist trio. at the expense of herself.
basically, she's not cruel or mean or morally grey character. she's full send protagonist good guy. lawful neutral if anything.

- FL removes TK partner so she can handle Hansu Bio sales herself.
- FL gets Hansu documents from their legal dept for unknown reasons.
- FL has former Hansu Bio employees help find evidence from obtained documents
- TK CEO pretends to promote FL to managing partner but sets up the "suicide" to discredit her in case Hansu info gets released by FL.
- Park So Young was a weakness or plant that Assemblyman Lee had on presidential hopeful An Kang Won. But instead of using it on him, they are using it to discredit FL.
- Side effect of "suicide" = disqualifies FL from promotion & sends her to law school as professor.
- Park So Young being so upset at FL probably isn't due to rape but unhappiness of where she herself is in life. being a hostess & used as pawn by people in politics & power. and/or she could be under duress to play the part.
- FL is super distressed that Park So Young died because she thinks it's her fault that PSY got caught between her power struggle & jousting against the antagonist trio.
anyway continuing on
- FL provokes the antagonist trio so TK CEO lets her back into Hansu Bio sales. FL wants this case to get more info & well as accomplishment to climb higher & be trusted by trio.
- FL baits law professor to harass her & capture on camera cuz he was the prosecutor that handled Kim Dong Gu case (Gong Chan) 10 years ago.
- She was probably going to use it against him for her investigation into trio. but uses it to help her student instead.

these are my guesses and predictions based on ep 1 & 2.

it could be victim protection program. he did get convicted of rape and murder. even if wrongfully & overturned. it seems like ksociety is still super stigmatizing against these people. hence he was able to change name.

probably not released yet. but here's a rip from ep1 & 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDyP5puRG1E