Three years ago, on Dec 29, 2015, I wrote this post on soompi kdrama thread. There were two factions in the thread: the majority of the shippers were rooting for JH and Deuksun and only a minority were shipping for Taec and DS.

As usual, the mods at soompi (whom I shall not SHAME here by calling out their names lol) TOLERATED the bullying of the minority shippers. I watched their incompetence from the sidelines and when I couldn’t stand it anymore, I popped out and posted WHY I thought the END GUY was going to be Taek.

Of course, subtlety of a sledgehammer (ha!) was needed. I FIRST posted all the arguments posted by the majority team and THEN upended all of them with the ONE argument that they couldn’t beat.

I’ll re-post my comment there over here as a reminder to all of us bitches that it’s okay to be the underdog and see things differently from the mainstream.

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@minibunny, I believe it was you who asked eons ago – with a bit of frustration, if I remember correctly your post correctly – why do people presume that the OTP is JH and DS. I’m going to give you the reasons, bluntly, as I understood them.

Again, I don’t ship drama couples; I ship scriptwriters and their scripts. It doesn’t matter to me with whom DS ends up, as long as

1) the scriptwriter has demonstrated a logical progression and resolution of plot ideas [i.e., No amnesia for DS, no coma for JH, no mental breakdown for TK) and

2) the characters’ actions, words and thoughts are CONSISTENT with what we know of their personalities. Shippers who have a weak constitution or an intolerant mindset will have to avert their eyes now.

The main arguments for JH:

1. The actor who plays JH receives top billing. The actor Ryu Jun-Yeol doesn’t have the name recognition and the clout to be able to negotiate top billing if he’s only playing a secondary role here. If Tom Cruise was to appear in a cameo in this show for 2 nanoseconds in this show or Won Bin was to act as DS’ oppa crush, then sure these men would get top billing because their names are enough to draw people in. But RYJ? No.

He gets top billing because he’s NOT playing the supporting role here. He’s the lead, even if his screen-time ebbs and flows throughout the series, and he’s been stuck in secret admirer mode since Episode 3 when he had that sexual epiphany scene.

2. The writer has shown a predilection for bickering couples in the past two series. And in this show, the bickering couple would be JH and DS. Most people think it’s highly unlikely that the writer would ditch a plot format that had worked for them in the past two series. Moreover, the fact that the same actors were casted as father and mother here reinforce the impression that the production team do NOT mind at all repeating a winning formula.

I must admit that I tried to watch Reply 1994 after the series ended so I knew about Chilbong disaster. The early episodes absolutely turned me off, especially Ep 1. It was nauseating to watch a 20-yr-old girl and 25-yr-old guy involved in physical tousles. There was something incestuous about Oppa Trash freely touching her underwear, and Na Jung ordering him to take off his clothes and then proceeding to take off his boxers herself. Ugh! Thank goodness we’re spared that. When JH and DS tumbled on the floor as she wrestled him for the smut book, they didn’t look like siblings. Nor did TK and DS look like Trash/Najung when DS ordered TK to take off his shoes and wrestled him on the sand to remove them.

3. JH’s traits fit the mold set by Yoon-Jae and Trash so well that we should all be able to recognize the HERO TROPE of the Reply franchise. What’s the trope? One: The male hero ISN’T merely the boy-next-door; the boy actually lives in the same house as the girl at some point. Two: He’s top of the class as opposed to being a PRODIGY. (Yoon-Jae’s hyung was a computer prodigy, Chilbong was a baseball prodigy, and TK is a baduk prodigy.) Three: He’s quiet and brooding. Four: He worships the girl anonymously and from afar.

For me, however, the one Hero trope thing noticeably missing with JH is his affinity for DS’ father. In the other series, the male leads (hmm…as well as the secondary male leads, for that matter) have a special rapport with their future fathers-in-law already established early in the show. They’ve forged a male bonding, like the father recognizes an equal in the young man, and he can safely “give away” his daughter to him (sexist, I know). But we’re only in episode 16, and a relationship between DS’ father and JH can still develop in the next episodes.

4. The writer is a professional; she’s adept at making the 2nd lead male look extremely appealing, and viable as a romantic lead. That’s her job: to create a CREDIBLE rival to compete with the male lead for the girl’s heart. No matter how tempting she’ll make TK to be, she’s only using a secondary character as foil to highlight the admirable traits of lead character who’s been predetermined at the very start of the drama.

5. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” People are wary of being Chilbong-ed again so even if they can see connections between TK and DS; they aren’t willing to suspend their sanity and go through the heartache again.

Do you know what makes Charlie Brown of the Peanuts cartoon strip so pathetic? It’s because he always falls for Lucy’s football pranks. Lucy will persuade him to trust her to hold the football so he can kick it. At first, Charlie Brown will resist, but eventually he’ll go for it, believing that perhaps this time, Lucy will keep her word. So Charlie Brown ends up flying in the air and hurting himself. Quite a number of viewers of Reply 1988 are afraid to punt the scriptwriter’s football here for fear of falling flat on their faces.

6. The hints re. the Future Husband point to JH. Although the scriptwriter may have intended the “clues” as misdirection or red herrings to distract the viewers from the real husband, the fact remains that there are details that match only JH, and JH alone. To wit:

a. the chocolate in Episode 2. Footage from the camcorder suggested that DS slid a chocolate bar somewhere between the school jacket and the schoolbag on the floor. TK is eliminated from the suspect line-up because he doesn’t attend school. Moreover, based on the conversation between DS and her father, she had met up with TK prior to going over to the party. Her father had asked her “How come TK didn’t come with you?” And DS replied that he was on his way but she told him to borrow some comic books.

Note: DS might have had a memory lapse here because she didn’t plan to give it to JH either. There were three bags on the floor, and she chose the bag partially hidden under the school jacket. JH had an animal-print jacket on, and he wouldn’t leave his school uniform lying on the floor of his house. He would hang it up.

b. the future husband knew of SW’s rejection of DS, and the postcards she wrote in Episode 6. JH was the only person who saw the postcard and overheard the conversation between SW and DS. Note: It’s possible that DR, the neighborhood eavesdropper, also heard the rejection and figured out the identity of “Sunny” on the radio.

c. the confusion about 1988 college musical festivals (Episode 6). TK was in Busan, playing baduk (he missed his father’s birthday) so he wouldn’t have remembered anything about the college musical festival. Also, from Ep 2, SW said that TK only listened to the band Deulgukhwa, thus the group-gift of the solo album of the band’s lead singer for TK birthday. Between the JH and TK, JH was more likely to know pop culture and song hits than TK, whose only source of pop music was SW.

As interesting it is to hunt for the husband based on the hints, it wouldn’t surprise me if the scriptwriter does a plot twist like she did in Reply 1994. In Episode 2, it was implied that the husband was Chilbongie because he had free use of the rooms; it was later revealed that the apartment belonged to him, and he was renting it out to NaJung and Trash.

7. Last December 15, an article appeared here on soompi, supposedly with spoilers. An unidentified staff member of Reply 1988 production team shared a personal experience with the actor who’s portraying TK (sorry, I forgot his name, something gummybear). The staff member compared Taek to Chilbong, writing, “Just like Chil Bong was Kim Jae Joon in ‘Reply 1994’ in my heart, I believe Taek shall always be Deok Sun’s husband to me.” The implication was TK would have the same fate as CB.

In most cases, I would only give credence to news reports if the sources have been verified. Consider the source. For all we know, the person quoted in this article could have been a hairdresser or a wardrobe coordi expressing her shipper’s heart. Unless it comes directly from the scriptwriter or the director, it’s safe to ignore media play like this.

8. First love. Many viewers think that the male character who loved the girl first or longest should get the girl in the end and that’s why they root for JH.

Personally, I think this is the weakest argument for JH for three reasons.

First, the definition of FIRST love can be vague, and kdrama writers have been known to play around with this concept. In the conventional definition, first love means the male character has never felt this way before towards any girl; he’s love-struck for the FIRST TIME. Infatuation and puppy love fall under this category of first love.

However, in terms of significance and impact, first love can also mean that encounter when he was MOST affected and MOST changed by his feelings for the girl. It goes beyond puppy love. Even if the guy suffers from a heartbreak, the first love will always be remembered. Finally, in terms endurance and strength, first love can mean the GREATEST love. It might not be first, earliest, most memorable and most painful love, but it’s the love that lasts forever. It’s “first love” because the guy, for the first time in his life, is willing to endure all things for this love of his for all time.

As you can see then, first love isn’t so cut-and-dried so I personally wouldn’t use this as a yardstick to determine the leading male.

However, in this show, the person who loved DS first, that is, earliest and longest, was the person who didn’t speak much in the first couple of episodes. lol.

Didn’t anybody else *see* that?

It was Taek. 

It’s been so easy to overlook him. The viewers have to be more discerning and to follow his gaze to know where his attention rested. And the viewers need to review Episode 2: One Thing You Misunderstood About Me again. (In more ways than one, the title is very apt.)

This was how the guys reacted to DS that morning in Episode 2 upon meeting her for the “first” time.

JH: “I’m late. Bug off.”
SW: “Doesn’t that jean jacket belong to your sister?”
TK: He briefly conversed with DS. He answered her question that he returned home yesterday, then asked her if she was going to school. She teased him to drink milk and hurry up and grow so he could marry her. He looked pensive after she and DR ran away. [He should have been grinning because of the joke and the cheeky pat on his bum, but instead he dribbled milk, like he was startled.] DR: “Hurry. We only have a minute left!” He tugged her hair and she chased him.

(**note: JH was rude, SW noticed her sister’s outfit, DR treated her like a buddy and only Taek looked pensive as she teased him to marry her.)

At his surprise party, he glanced at DS first.  

Then, note their differing opinions when they casually discussed DS’s growing aegyo.

DR: “Deok-sun is kinda cute lately, no?”
SW: “Yeah, a little.”
TK: smiles and nods “Mmm.” [His shyness masked the honest truth.] JH: “You’ve gone crazy, haven’t you? You’re crazy! Are you drunk?”

In Episode 3, when DS and JH asked for ramen, his eyes gravitated towards DS first before looking down at JH who was lounging by DS.

His questions re. the field trip looked innocent, too. On the surface, it appeared like he was feeling envious of their school trip. But he pointedly asked DS if she was going too and he stared at her afterwards. When they discovered that his next tournament was to be in Tokyo, their trip to the country sounded…well… provincial in comparison. The following day, his father saw him staring at field trip info sheet.

Now, look at this whole scene through the eyes of an infatuated guy, like this: he discovered that DS was going on a school trip with guys and it bothered him. Suddenly, JH’s remark that he was “jealous” took on a totally different meaning. [And the choice of camera angle was brilliant here]. lol.

And as we all know, this school trip in Episode 3 is when JH became first sexually aware of DS, and couldn’t sleep at night.

In the next episode (aptly titled as “Can’t help ~ing”), observe the differences in how people treated DS’ academic struggles.

Bora: is totally exasperated with her sister’s incompetence [can’t help berating] DS’ father: thinks it’s a joke [can’t help treating it like a joke] DR: is happy to find a partner in his scholastic struggles, and they both opt to focus their energy on something do-able and having fun [can’t help laughing].
JH: knows that DS struggles, but instead of helping her, he shows off his Engllish skills which ticks off DS. [can’t help being superior] SW: hears DS’ wrong grammar, and corrects her English [can’t help correcting her] TK: is pressured to help her improve her concentration by teaching baduk and they both quickly realize that the situation is hopeless. [simply cannot HELP, lol] But she sticks around, and he lets her disturb his preparation for the tournament and indulges her rubik’s cube requests. [can’t help loving you the way you are]

See all those examples? As SW said in Episode 15, eyes don’t lie.

And if the viewers heeded SW and truly paid attention to TK, it was obvious from the beginning that TK was “only ever looking at her” even when they were together as a group. [clever meta-joke there, scriptwriter].

My last and final reason for disputing this “first love” is this: in real life, it doesn’t matter if the person is the first, second or third love as long as he/she is the LAST love. That’s the important one here; let’s not lose sight of that even if kdramas insist on the romance of “first love”.

All the other proposed reasons why JH is the leading man have merits, though, @minibunny.

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But the greatest argument of all, the “first love” argument belongs to Taek. You have to follow the director’s camera and the writer’s words to see this clearly.