Here you go, @nrllee and @snowflower.
Discuss away!
(I’ll transfer your comments here so you don’t have to dig up that old thread on kdramas to watch.)
Gifs from Haengoon’s tumblr.
What do you call his hairstyle? The “comma” or “apostrophe” bangs?
credit: haengoon’s tumblr.
I’ll try to join you when I can.
reposting for nrllee
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Okay I just watched the first 10 minutes of Do You Like Brahms? I like what I am seeing. I am in. I like the female lead. MinJae to come. Looks like your usual fare. Nothing really mind blowing. But it’s pretty. 😂. And it looks fluffy but not so brainless that I fall asleep. A cultured version of Fame?
reposting for nrllee
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@SnowFlower the first episode of Do you like Brahms spells out the the love triangle of the 3 you mentioned above. Schumann and Clara his wife and Brahms who obsessed over Clara… MinJae is in a similar situation with his “Clara”. The scene is set. It looks cliche but I am up for some fluff.
reposting @snow flower’s comment
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@nrllee, I have not watched it yet, because my subscription tier does not include it. I am thinking about upgrading the subscription so I can watch Do You Like Brahms and Alice too. It is still unclear what kind of relationship existed between Clara and Brahms, because she destroyed his letters before her death. She was 14 years older than Brahms and happily married to Robert Schumann, until Robert’s mental health deteriorated, he attempted suicide, and had to spend the last 2 years of his life in a mental asylum. The love story of Robert and Clara is also worthy of a drama.
Howdy! I was going to do a shout of where are you but I was going to leave it for another day, good your here now. 😊
I’m watching this too. I’ll start tonight.
Having Yumcha with my parents because Appa has his follow up check up woth cardiologist.
That’s good you’re watching it too.
Cardiologist? Are you thinking of Tendo? lol. I hope your dad’s check up will go well.
Hehehe Tendo is 💕 I wish it was him 😁 There’s a video of Takeru for his birthday with Mone as his guest. But I think it’s not subbed yet. My friend in Japan has been converted to be his fan by me. 😂
Thanks you Queen. ☺️ I hope you’ll be able to get over the law and order so you can relax with the dramas. 😊
Thanks for this new thread. I may or may not watch. Will see how shows go. 😉
Thanks @packmule3. The FL’s name is Chae SongAh…so when she gets asked what her name is…and she adds the bits in the end (it-mi-da)…she sounds like she’s saying sorry in Korean… makes me wonder why her parents chose that name for her… every time someone asks her what her name is…it’s like an apology? As if to condemn her to a lifetime of apologizing for her mere existence? 🤔. I know for most parents naming a child is huge. It could result in them being the laughing stock in class if you pick the wrong one? The world is cruel enough? But thus far she does come across as rather self conscious and I would say living apologetically. Although I do like that she stood up for herself and tried to stand her ground with the mean conductor. So far it looks like it’s a convoluted love triangle (for both leads). MinJae’s voice… is still as dreamy. 😍
I liked the first 2 episodes. But I kinda feel cheated. The story is about the FL who started late her music studies but tries her best. But we barely saw her playing violin for now… She couldn’t play during the concert and now she works for the Foundation and is not studying violin. When the ML has really a story about music, the FL it’s more about her age when she started music than really about violin.
@nrllee. I felt the same way about the FL’s name. What were her parents thinking? However the ML understood and purposely defused the situation. He also misled her friend about her performance, but in a supportive way. She was an interesting combination of bravery and shyness and he was intrigued by that.
@Sayaris, I hope that there will be more emphasis on her playing later.
That little girl keeps cropping up in dramas I’ve seen. She must be the ‘go- to’ for little girls.
We have decided we may give brahms a try this weekend, the only time we are having drama group watch 🤭 Will join your discussion next week! 😊
I started this drama & I really liked it. Like someone said, it’s just the right amount of fluff. I feel very impatient that we get only 2 episodes per week so I’d really like recommendations of dramas like this that have finished airing (Music +romance)
I’ve seen Heartstrings, Shut up Flower boy band & Dream high. Thank you
@Fern I haven’t seen her (the little girl) in any of the ones I have watched.
@Feyi welcome.
I liked the first ep and then the second ep introduced a whole lot more. Frankly I only like the interactions between the main leads so far (JoonYoung and SongAh) – sweet, awkward and fluffy. I like the voice overs which make it very clear to us as to why certain characters acted a certain way (eg when JungKyung kisses JoonYoung out of the blue). It saves us the effort of second guessing them? At the moment I am just worried that with the love triangles happening, it may end up in MakJang territory. I don’t mind a little bit of it (I mean it’s KDrama after all) but I am not sure if I am in the mood to endure an excessive amount of it. The episodes have music related titles which reflect the overall mood.
JoonYoung’s infatuation (?) with JungKyung…to me it’s not “love” (or the healthy variety anyway). It has the scandalous (?) overture that is Schumann/Clara/Brahms playing in the background. I think even JY acknowledges this (in his voiceover). It’s a longing that is a mishmash of childhood fantasy, gratitude, grief, empathy? It’s very melancholic. Melodramatic. It’s 2 sad people who connect over their sadness/shared plight. Supportive but at the same time unhealthy because neither moves from that plight because it’s the gel that binds them together? She kissed him out of jealousy? That he had “made it” but she didn’t? She resents that he seems to have pulled himself out of that pit of sadness but she hasn’t? So she throws a curve ball at him (to be the 3rd party in her existing relationship with his good friend) to drag him back down into the mire with her? That’s not a healthy relationship? 🤔
SongAh’s crush on DongYun is less of an issue with beginnings. But they do have the issue of SongAh’s bestie (MinSeong) who is obviously not quite over DongYun (he’s the ex). DY obviously prefers SongAh now. Question is why did he opt to date her bestie MS in the first place? Is his current fervor over SongAh only recent? Sidebar – I find the actress who plays her bestie MS disingenuous.
So both SA and JY have love triangles and besties who are caught in the middle to contend with. I do like however that their friendship started under less dramatic circumstances.
I watched episode 1 last night and Min Jae is still 😍 and yeah his voice, oooohhhh 🥰
I liked that he was conscious of SongAh right from that practice and even said good job just in front of MS just so she won’t feel embarrassed at not making it. Maybe he saw his similarities with her when he was just starting out too? I don’t know but I like their interactions already.
So our title do you like Brahms was asked already and the answer is no. 😊 Hopefully it won’t be too much triangle but all about moving on towards the right one with the help of music. ☺️
I watched ep. 1 last night and am waiting for Viki to complete the English subs on ep. 2. It is still only at 70%, so I may not be able to watch until Thursday. I apologize in advance for my ignorance if things I am commenting on here are revealed in ep. 2.
I notice that the FL’s voiceovers are as if she’s speaking from the future. She’s looking back on the events of ep. 1 and reflecting on them, knowing what is significant to her story. So at least our FL, Chae Song Ah, has survived whatever is thrown at her by the plotline…unless she’s speaking from the Great Beyond. And I’m going to hang my hat on the folk wisdom “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”; my prediction is that SA gets an ending with a measure of victory, if not a fully happy one.
We see that SA is not supported in her musical aspirations by her family; they also are accusatory, rather than offering praise, when she lands a summer internship that can draw on both her business and music education. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t…!
It looks like the ML, Park Joon Yeong, has family problems of his own. His parents appear to be financially dependent on his concert earnings. His mom, who doesn’t stay to see JY’S performance, declines his invitation to attend his reception, saying she knows better than to go where she’s not wanted. Huh? Doesn’t JY want her there, since he invited her? Who else’s preferences in this regard should matter beyond his and hers? Does she believe that her son prefers she not be around despite his outward display of filial respect? And what does it mean when she says JY’s dad is getting better? Is that in regard to health, or attitude? From the brief encounter between mother and son in the parking garage, it seems that JY’s family is needy rather than supportive.
JY’s metronome makes multiple appearances in ep. 1. My interpretation is that it symbolizes JY marking time in his life. Although we see him having a mild disposition, he is not a happy person. He’s going through the motions. We overhear the conductor’s opinion, while he’s on the phone in the parking garage, that JY is no longer at the level he used to be.
The conductor’s treatment of SA, dismissing her from the rehearsal and performance, was caustic. He was also behaving badly toward JY, interrupting him twice at the very moment he was to start playing, no apparent concern for what that would do to JY’s train of thought. JY’s knocking his music from the stand and his hand striking the keyboard could have been an accident because he was flustered by the bad vibes, or it could have been a veiled protest of the conductor’s rude behavior. Whichever the case, JY came to the conclusion that he didn’t want to work with that conductor again, and declined an invitation for a future collaboration.
I look forward to learning more in ep. 2. Waiting impatiently…!
I like the complexities of the characters.
JoonYoung – got into music with a scholarship (Courtesy of JungKyung’s mother’s death). Did it as a means to support his poverty stricken family. My guess is his dad has problems supporting the family…potentially due to alcoholism or gambling? Maybe mom feels out of place with high society? Which is why she distanced herself from the concert? Pure speculation. He didn’t take up the piano out of love. But out of necessity. Has decided to take a year long Sabbatical. Risky business taking a year off. He’s already in danger of being surpassed by another budding pianist.
JungKyung – child prodigy. Born to a musical family. Probably with high expectations (from everyone) of her making a name for herself. She hasn’t live up to those expectations. And I guess is living with the shame of it now. She projects this dissatisfaction and jealousy onto JY who seems to have leapfrogged her in the music arena. So much of who she is is tied to her music. Who is she apart from it?
SongAh – took up violin very late in life. Does it out of pure love for the art. But technically she is lacking because she’s never had the years of training. Is the love of it sufficient to get her to where she wants to be? Are her expectations set too high? And she needs to dial it down (like her family thinks) and just “play for fun”?
DongYun – he plays (ed) the violin. He was the one who taught SA to play and encouraged her to pursue her dreams. He seems to have taken the usual route of a musician (? To be confirmed). But then departs from it. He decided to leave the active music scene and build/repair string instruments instead (a luthier). He seems to be getting accolades for it and for the most part, he looks to be the most content of the lot of them?
Thanks for doing the character write-ups, nrllee.
Watching this because I like both leads – Park Eun Bin since Operation Proposal & Kim Min Jae from Romantic Doctor, of course. Pilot ep gave me A Piece Of Your Mind feels, which I actually liked despite the poor ratings (love both leads here, too). But from Soompi they actually kicked off to a solid start so that sounds promising. And absolutely love Minjae’s voice. Mon-Tue will be exciting in the next 8 weeks with Record Of Youth premiering next week.
I’m not being drawn to the FL. Compare her to the FLs of LLF and CYLS: she’s not bubbly, but is withdrawn. She does seem to be liked by a group of longtime friends, is certainly not alpha.
I recently learned that the hormone oxytocin is key in humans forming attachments. Some people naturally generate more oxytocin than others, and thus bond with other people more readily than average. I’d wager that if she were a real person, Nanase would have higher than normal oxytocin levels. In contrast, if Song Ah were a real person, she might benefit from a boost in her oxytocin levels.
I must say the writer is certainly throwing the 2 leads together on multiple “unsolicited” occasions. I thought one or two would be enough but it seems almost an overkill? And I wonder how long she can sustain this for… it’s as if she’s revealed all her cards in the first 2 episodes? And the only mystery that is left is really if the 2 leads will end up together in the end.
@Welmaris oxytocin reminds me of labour (birth) induction. 😂.
@nrllee, I agree it seems overboard. The flashbacks as well. It almost seems like it’s happening every other scene.
@Say08 I know. She’s even given us the reason why she (JK) kissed him (JY) out of the blue with the voiceover? I thought she would at least keep us guessing there? Then it was just “fated” meetups over and over… it almost feels like if they don’t get together, something’s very wrong 😂. Just first impressions, hopefully the story will settle into a groove that will keep me watching to the end.
Okay MinJae gets bonus points for being chivalrous 😍 Aww. Taking off his jacket to protect her modesty…
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEswQvvpRaz/?igshid=1552gomw59ukf
Awww 🥰 that’s what a good descent guy does!
Thanks @nrllee! I have yet to finish episode 2. I’ve been busy with household chores among other things. 😁
I think it’s definitely called a comma hairstyle. 😂
@Welmaris, I understand what you mean about the metronome symbolising marking time. I took it more as a symbol of outside regulatory force. When he played Traumerei for his friends, the timing seemed all over the place, but it affected the FL deeply. Also the maestro told him not to play for everyone, but to work to impress one or two judges with something that they would never forget.
Damn out of battery.😖
I thought that Joon Yung dropped the music book on purpose to distract the conductor from his rant. There was a flashback.
I like Song Ah. She may not have as much charisma as Nanase or XY and she seems to be unaware of some of the learnt politics of the classic music scene, but I feel that she has integrity and intelligence. She is quiet, but observes others closely. Especially the interactions between Joon Yung and Jung Kyung. I can feel her thinking, ‘What are you playing at?’ in regards to the possessive moves of Jung Kyung. She may be something different than the usual outwardly feisty or clumsy heroine. There is that saying, ‘The quieter you become the more you can hear’. I think she is meant to be that sort of character.
Ref the end of episode 2, I was curious about why she returned to sit with Joon Yung after he didn’t invite her to eat with him. When she was in the subway, I think she looked at his CD that she was asked to buy to give to the conductor (the same one at the beginning?). Did it make her recall the manager’s words that even a superstar (Joon Yung) needs a friend, or something else? They seemed to be enjoying their conversation at the end.
Yes, this looks to be largely about multiple convoluted relationships, which is a pity. I’m hoping for more about music and the musical scene. I saw the relationship chart on Soompi and it made my head ache.
Yes to Kim Min-jae’s voice. I thought he was good in Tempted but I don’t remember his voice being so low. (maybe he was just that much younger?) I believe the little girl was one of the twins in TKEM and was in Eccentric Chef Moon which I dropped.
@Fern I thought she came back to the restaurant to show she didn’t share the opinion of her snak-ish colleague. She never had the occasion to talk about it and she felt bad.
@Sayaris, do you mean the one Joon Young overheard gossiping at the record store? Yes, thanks, that must be it. It was nice of Song Ah to do that and set it straight.
I am liking the female lead, Song Ah, better after finishing ep. 3. She was polite, but forthright in reprimanding Joon Young for interfering in her matters. He looked a bit like a deer caught in the headlights, but I think she made him realize she wasn’t just an object of pity.
So the long-term friendships-of-three are both in peril. No surprise there, as we must have drama in our Kdrama. Much as I dislike Section Chief Park Sung Jae, he is right that three-way friendships are doomed to fail if a romance goes wrong with two of the members.
Hyeon Ho now knows that his girlfriend, Jung Kyung, did go to Joon Young’s concert in New York City and both she and JY misrepresented that fact. Neither one flat-out lied, but neither did they correct HH when he voiced his assumption that she hadn’t gone due to a migraine. From the behavior we have seen, it appears JK feels some comfort in her relationship with HH, but doesn’t love him. She has probably been harboring a crush on JY since they met in middle school, but acquiesced to the relationship with HH because he was so besotted with her and wasn’t afraid to let her know. JY’s crush on JK started at the same time, but he, being more withdrawn, didn’t act on it and missed his opportunity once his friend had staked a claim. Being a loyal friend, he kept his true feelings to himself. Being an unfaithful girlfriend, JK tested JY with a kiss. JY made it clear to her that he would not welcome any repeat of such behavior, but he felt guilty enough to want to hide the episode from HH.
JK is not heeding JY’s request to maintain emotional distance: she needles him in front of friends, trying to provoke a reaction; she also seeks him out in the foundation’s practice room, probably hoping to be alone with him; her posture as she stands outside the room shows signs of disappointment or jealousy when she realizes he’s not alone in the room, but with Song Ah and playing music for her. I think the Kdrama description of what JK is trying to do is stay a couple with HH but keep JY in the fish pond.
We don’t know how long Song Ah has carried a torch for Yoon Dong Yoon. His short dating relationship with her friend Kang Min Seong ended long in the past, although MS still entertains feelings for him. DY was alone in supporting SA’s dream of attending music school, and he became her violin teacher through the four years it took her to finally be accepted into the program. (My guess is that she’d been playing the violin since youth, but her prior training and experience had been unremarkable.) My impression is that SA is the lynch pin holding together the three-way friendship of DY, MS, and herself. Without her being the connection between them, I doubt MS and DY would have had reason to maintain contact after they ended their dating relationship, as DY has a music-related career and MS is pursuing graduate studies in chemistry. MS being good friends with SA, and DY being SA’s violin teacher, kept them in the same social circle. We learn that DY contacted SA after he went to Italy on a business trip, but he didn’t contact MS. DY asked SA, not MS, to meet him at the airport on his return.
When DY and SA were in DY’s shop discussing the repair of SA’s violin, DY said the words “I love you,” but when SA hesitated to respond, he explained that she should say those words to her violin. Yeah, right. He’s a player: especially if he does have special feelings for SA, yet spent the night (I’m sure a euphemism for having had sex) with MS despite regretting having dated her. DY’s asking MS to not speak of their liaison to SA may be motivated by his wanting to keep open the potential of a romance with SA.
When MS did break down and tell SA what had transpired between DY and herself, there’s a moment when SA withdraws her comforting hand from her friend. She’s hurt because what they did, and how they handled it, damages her relationship with both of them. I think if her two friends had wished to openly restart a relationship–for the right reasons–she would have chosen out of loyalty to support them. After all, she had well hidden from MS and DY that she harbored a one-sided love for DY, so they were not being disloyal to her. But DY’s wanting to keep it a secret from SA, and MS’s dragging SA into the middle of a messy affair, is thoroughly unkind to SA. DY wants to pretend his actions are of no consequence to SA and carry on like nothing happened, as if causing her friend pain will not also cause SA pain. MS wants SA to choose where her loyalty lies: with her or with DY. SA pauses before placing her hand back on MS as a comforting gesture, then at MS’s urging agrees that DY is being mean. This triangle of friendship has come apart.
Yes, @Welmaris, I agree. DY is a player, too, and wants to keep SA nearby. I thought that scene with him saying I love you and acting like it’s about the violin was telling. Great analysis.
So in ep. 4 we learn that the deceased mom of Jung Kyung spoke to people with venom, and had a contentious relationship with her own mother. After her accidental death, the creation of the foundation in her memory must’ve burnished her image, making her appear more saintly in death than in life. Jung Kyung believes her contrariness comes from her mother, and embraces that legacy. So as more of Jung Kyung’s personality is revealed outside her relationship with Hyun Ho, I hear Elton John singing, “I’m a bitch, I’m a bitch; oh, the bitch is back…”
I’m disappointed in, and angry at, JK for stringing along HH if she doesn’t love him. And does she honestly believe that when she kicks HH to the curb, Joon Young will happily step in as her lover? If so, she doesn’t know JY well enough to recognize that he’s got strong principles. That’s why he’s never acted on his one-sided crush, keeping it pushed down inside himself. He values HH as a friend and chooses loyalty over love. The only time JY has slipped in that loyalty is by not revealing to HH what happened in New York City. Because of what HH said, JY got the impression JK lied to HH about not attending the concert, and perpetuated that lie by not contradicting it. Part of the reason JY committed a falsehood by omission could be that he was confused by JK’s behavior, didn’t welcome it, and thought he’d addressed the issue by telling JK to never cross that line again.
JK has become jealous that JY may no longer be languishing for her and is showing interest in Song Ah. Her words to JY are barbed, meant to hurt him and spur him into action. She wants him to reveal his love for her. It would be such a boost to her ego, even if it isn’t a realistic love. Remember, JY isn’t sure if his long-held feelings for JK are truly love: they could be a combination of friendship, pity, gratitude, obligation, habit formed in childhood, etc. Before meeting Song Ah, he has had no other relationship with a woman with which to compare it and sort out his feelings. During the trio rehearsal in ep. 4, JK tries to provoke JY by saying, “Of course…Because you never have an opinion. Have you ever done anything the way you wanted? Even once?” Of course he knows she’s not talking about tempo or anything related to music, which is why he packs up and leaves the rehearsal.
I liked the development of the relationship between JY and SA shown before, during, and after SA’s birthday dinner. SA could share her honest feelings with JY, knowing he’d understand the source of her discomfort about the dinner because he knew the love triangle backstory. When SA mouthed a thank you to JY across the table, that was a special communication between the two of them, and JY’s smile indicated he understood the deeper message. His coming to her birthday dinner rescued her from an emotionally fraught situation. And SA’s fears about going to the dinner were realized when Dong Yoon made an effort to get SA alone with him under the guise of sharing a cab. The conversation SA and JY shared after the dinner was beautiful, almost poetic. Because both SA and JY had experienced the same feelings of suppressed love, choosing to cherish friendship, they understood one another.
SA: In some way, I already knew how it would end. But…Now that I’m facing that end, some thoughts come to mind. (Puts her hand over her heart.) Those times that are resting in here, where will they go now? They’ve filled up this space here, in a neat pile. Where should this go now?
JY: There’s the phrase “too much.” It’s used when something has gone far beyond a certain limit. I think that could be why some types of love can feel difficult. We should love within reason, but we end up loving too much. So next time, instead of too much, give in appropriate and sufficient amounts. Don’t be excessive with it, love. If you don’t…it becomes too difficult. (And just to make sure we don’t mistake the theme of this drama, Director shows us all the participants in ill-fated loves: Jung Kyung brooding and sighing while looking at the piano JY plays; Hyun Ho staring at two male students, obviously friends, departing the convenience store; Joon Young staring at his phone contacts highlighting JK and SA having the same birthday, having helped only SA celebrate hers this year; Min Sung alone at a bus stop on her university campus; Dong Yoon alone in his shop, being distracted by his thoughts while working on a violin. We get it, Director, we get it…)
Thanks for this, Welmaris!!!
Yes, thank you @Welmaris. It occurs to me, reading your transcription of the post-party conversation, that Jung Kyung very much underestimated JY’s verbal communication skills when she said he can only communicate through music. Do you think it’s a side he hasn’t chosen to show her?
I thought that the ‘talk concert’ was interesting. Alternating with the actual interview questions and JY’s PC answers , was SA’s flashback of their interview preparation. SA was asking the questions and taking notes. After JY’s very frank response that eventually he wanted to die rather than compete in a competition, he laughed and told SA not to write it down.
SA simply closed her tablet and told him that she would listen to what he has to say. The contrast between his answers to SA and the answers to the public shocked SA.
I wasn’t sure what happened right at the end. Apparently JY agreed to play something after all. The interviewer announced that he would play Traumerei. But SA and JY looked disconcerted with the choice. I can guess it was because he had shown his hand, before realising that Jung Kyung had appeared? He did say that he would never play it again, so why?
@Fern, I think the answer to your question is hinted at in the previews for the next episode. JY didn’t expect JK to attend the event: that piece would not be loaded with meaning if she weren’t in the audience. Träumerei was JK’s special song, and the two of them had shared it since middle school when JY promised to play it for her since her mother no longer could. Every year for her birthday, JY mailed JK a CD/DVD of him playing that piece for her. This year for JK’s birthday, for the first time he didn’t do that; he’d already announced that he would never again play Träumerei. When SA requested Träumerei that time she first met SK & HH, she had no idea of JY’s and JK’s history with that song. Neither had SA come to fully understand the emotional currents that ran between JY and JK. Now, she’s wiser to it. She overheard part of a conversation between JY and JK, giving her a hint about the significance of that piece between them. Also, SA is aware that JY used her as an excuse to get away from JK. JA is observant. She listens well. SA may not know the details, but she sees there’s unhealthy tension between JY and JK. When JY agreed to add the performance of a piano piece to his talk concert, I imagine he was in control of which piece he’d play. He may have chosen to play Träumerei for SA’s benefit, remembering that she’d previously asked for it. He might have done that so he could connect new meaning to that piece, associating it with someone positive in his life. But with JK making an unexpected appearance, the meaning was muddied. JK was shocked to discover that JY would play HER song, behind her back, after saying he’d never play it again; JY was shocked JK showed up and caught him playing the piece for others when he wouldn’t play it for her; and SA felt bad for JY because he was put into an uncomfortable position.
I am liking this Kdrama so far. Many of the supporting actors I’ve seen in previous dramas, and I want to see what they do here with their roles. I love the character played by Seo Jung Yeon, the foundation’s Performance Development Team Leader, Cha Young In, who very efficiently knocked back down to size that pompous person from the card company. I was not familiar with the female lead of this drama, and it took me awhile to warm up to the character played by Park Eun Bin because at first she came across as too hesitant given her age and educational background. Now I appreciate that underneath her quiet exterior she’s empathetic, able to articulate deep thoughts and feelings, and is unassuming without being self-effacing. I haven’t seen Kim Min Jae in a lead role prior to this, and am liking what he’s doing with this character. I was afraid he’d spend the drama suffering silently and interminably in his one-sided love, but I’m glad to see that by episode 4 JY is resisting JK’s attempts to control him and disliking her temperament and behavior.
In the conversations SA and JY have together, both are revealing more and more of themselves, and it is wonderful to see that those revelations are met with respect. They don’t try to correct one another. When JY talks about how difficult he finds his life as a professional pianist, SA welcomes his story without judging him. What relief JY must have felt to be able to talk with someone like that, laying bare his true feelings! No wonder he now seeks her out when he wants to feel better. I’m so glad he told her that she makes him smile like no one else. And when JY and SA are smiling at each other, I smile too.
Please, writer, I beg you: no noble idiocy for these two. Let all the others around them wallow in their dysfunction, but I’d hate to see a relationship that has as healthy a foundation as theirs become unnecessarily fraught with difficulties.
And I wish I knew more about how debt is handled in Korea, because I just don’t understand why JY is expected to always bail out his father. If his father is gambling away money, he should go to jail because gambling is illegal in Korea. Let him suffer the consequences of his actions. If his father consistently loses money through bad investments, or is easily conned, his access to money should be curtailed. The father needs professional counseling, and JY needs a good lawyer to help him protect his assets and reputation. Nothing will be solved if JY keeps doling out money every time his mom begs for it.
@Welmaris et al.,
I’ll pin this thread to the top so you may continue discussing this kdrama. Otherwise it’ll sink as more threads come up.
Thanks Queen. ☺️
@Welmaris, thanks for clarifying that for me. When I saw @Fern asked the question I thought I had the answer but I got confused because JK showed up.
But yes, I thought JY wanted to play it because SA likes it and because he wanted to give it new meaning.
I really feel bad for JY too about his Dad’s situation. The thing that I thought too at the beginning of the drama was where is JY’s home? You know home where he’ll feel loved and happy. 🙁
Thank you, @Welmaris. That confirms some of what I guessed might be happening. The pre-concert flashback ended just as JY asked SA which piece he should play. I like your idea that he was hoping to attach new memories to it.
JY’s dad’s losing money reminds me of Kang Shin-jae’s mother in TKEM. Money was deducted from his wages to cover her debt , so perhaps that’s a legal way of repaying, like a settlement to drop charges. On Soompi I’ve seen mention of celebrities covering or not covering gambling debt or bad investments. You are very right, though. The dad needs help but I suspect that the potential negative publicity would damage JY. I think children might feel they need to cover the debt out of family obligations, at least for a while. It has poisoned the joy JY might otherwise feel about competing and performing.
@agdr03, you are right about JY’s home. He clearly doesn’t feel attached to his former place in Europe, nor to his parents’s house, or where he stays currently. He even meets his mother outside the house to discuss personal matters. 😕
I’m so happy to see Min Jae’s dimples and to see him actually smiling a lot. Just like HJ and JA in ROY, I like seeing SA and JY get to know each other too. ☺️
I think in this drama I couldn’t care less about the other characters, I’m fine with just JY and SA. 😊 I loved that JY was able to give back to SA that belief of following your dream, her dream is to be a violinist so JY signed his CD with ‘to violinist Ms Chae Song Ah’. 😍
@Fern, I just realised that we’re watching two guys with dimples. 😉 I did check if PBG has dimples too but his is not really a dot dimple, it’s like a comma dimple, it’s long. 😁
@agdr03, then there’s HB the dimple king, but I’ll say no more lest I get banned. 😉
I’m happy to watch this drama. Even if I don’t play any musical instrument but can just enjoy music, I could feel the challenges of the character who’re striving to achieve their dreams.
I was moved with that conversation of SA and JY about having/lacking talent. After the concert talk, while walking, SA mentioned that having talent is a blessing. JY on the other hand believed that it’s more of a blessing to not be talented (these subs from dramacool). SA became vocal to disagree with JY’s opinion. I agree with both of their opinions coz when talent is inborn, that person hasn’t feel the struggle to achieve that particular thing. When somebody feels at the bottom trying to achieve some talent, it’s like life and death to get to the top. Just like XY in CYLS, she would even fake documents just to be a designer.
Hi All! Happy to be back here to gush about my new fave show. I love this one(also love that it airs on Mondays-Tuesdays. It means I’m actually pretty happy to see the weekend end, lol).
On paper this is absolutely not my show at all, but I think I know why I like it now. Because our leads are reserved, incredibly polite people, they superimpose an Austen-esque quality on the show (see that super stiff, all-subtext conversation at the concert in Ep. 5. And when he runs back home to get the CD and comes back, with all this breathless composure!) And we’ll see even more Austen-esque stuff in the coming episodes with the school setting. By making the characters operate in the concentric circles of the musical elite, you have a good substitute for that class divide that permeated Austen. Our Darcey here is musical nobility (but really hates it), our Lizzie barely at the fringes of this society (goes to a prestigious school, but has a bad ranking within it). But instead of pride versus prejudice, it seems like honesty and understanding are the main issues here. JY’s personal life is a MINEFIELD. He has huge problems with every person close to him except for the Team Leader, and the problems almost all tie to his talent somehow. His talent also hurts SA (he gets flack for not opening up to her in Eps 5-6, but that time that he did at the school, she responded badly because it was about talent and it touched a raw nerve – that’s what JY sees at least). He doesn’t want to lose the magic that makes SA special to him, but by being too reticent he absolutely will lose her. To JY, it probably seems that all his problems get aggravated with talking, not resolved. But that’s because he’s so shoddy at saying what he feels when it comes to bad emotions (he can talk well enough, but he lets issues fester for YEARS).
The veritable conga line of coincidences that keep the plot going aside, I’m liking the pacing and story structure. I was a little confused about the Ep 6 fight, though. I felt like their reactions were inconsistent with what they had come to mean to each other even in a small amount of time? If I told my friend he needed to open up more or I wouldn’t be his friend, and he said “I’m sorry” (a thing which has happened to me in the past, almost beat for beat like SA-JY!) I’d have thought our friendship was over (which it was, for me). But it seems both parties thought the I’m sorry was more of a “I’ll do better next time,” even though JY’s face was pretty cryptic in that scene (his POV was definitely missing in this set of episodes). Otherwise, I think both of them would have reacted more in the moment?
But maybe there were delayed reactions involved (like in life, you sometimes don’t really know what you are doing while you do it). SA reacted so strongly to JY’s closed-offness because she had developed feelings (which she understands better later on when she goes to his apartment). I think she would have let him off easier if she didn’t like him. JY was crazy overwhelmed that day – he couldn’t even emote when SA mentioned graduate school. I’m guessing that after some time to realize that he was going to lose SA, he sprung to action (literally when he ran after her in school). If SA had known all the crap JY had seen the last couple of days before waiting for her at the office, she probably would have been touched that he thought to see her in spite of it all, rather than feeling like he was treating her carelessly. But I can totally see how honesty that night was too much to ask of him.
I think they’re dating in Ep. 7. A girl that had tears welling up when she confessed wouldn’t have bounced back like in the preview unless he’d said something like Let’s try it. That’s why she gets angry when he denies it (for what he thinks is her sake).
I was shocked when SA honestly said to JY that she likes him at the end of episode 6. That takes guts so good for her. It’s probably not the best time for him with all his issues but I think it might be good for him too. I want to see him smile often and it’s only SA that can make him do that.
I’m getting tired of toxic JK and what’s with the dodgy professors, both SA’s and JY’s? They’re worrying me, especially SA’s who already thinks the worst about SA’s talent. Why is she trying to get SA back into Graduate school to study under her?
From the preview, it looks like we will be treated to a full course of ‘What it’s like to date a Korean celebrity.’
JY has been pretty obvious in his rejection of JK but less transparent with SA. As others have said, he needs to explain what is happening a bit better. If he said, JK’s gran collapsed and I’m at the hospital; my mother is in the hospital; I’m trying to earn money because my family needs it, etc; he would have had SA at his side the whole time. I think she was right to say that withholding that information is not something a friend does. Eg, when HH didn’t tell JY about the breakup, JY was very upset.
I’m trying to remember where I’ve seen JY’s mother previously. It will come to me.
@Fern, that actress, Kim Jung Young, played Prime Minister Koo’s mother in TKEM.
Catching up with the comments now that I finally finished ep.6. I am looking forward to JY’s character development in the show. For now he is so passive, not brave enough, not outspoken…so I am hoping for a change in him.
I love SA even though she is not talkative but when she speaks it is thoughtful, honest, kind. I was a lil frustrated by her seeming passiveness and shyness but like what her supervisor says, she is smart and capable.
I am engaged by this drama’s characters, the good and the bad, but find the scriptwriting less than stellar. In my opinion, there’s over-reliance on voiceovers and flashbacks to make sure the audience gets the important plot points. Also, too often the audience is told rather than shown the characters’ backstories. For instance, two of the people who work at the foundation are mostly used for exposition–a small Greek chorus, if you will–through their conversations.
@Fern, I think your discomfort with the dodgy professors partly comes from how awkward the setup is in the script. I think the verbal sparring in the bathroom between the two violin professors was manufactured so there’d be a reason for SA to continue at the university after she’s done with her undergraduate degree. We hear that Professor Lee’s assistant is leaving to pursue further studies, and Professor Song taunts that there’s advantage to having a good assistant. Writer is convincing us that Professor Lee needs another worker bee. Her conversation with Team Leader Cha leads Professor Lee to rethink SA’s skill set. I think Professor Lee recognizes that what she needs in a graduate teaching assistant is someone with administrative competence rather than a brilliant performer.
@Welmaris I agree. I found the flashbacks and voiceovers overdone? It dumbs the audience down? It also takes away all guesswork and mystery behind events which would’ve been better revealed by the by? To tease it out somewhat? Instead we are “told” straightaway why JK kissed JY out of the blue? Rather than concealing her true intent till later? It feels like the audience is near nigh omniscient because we have all these insights into everyone and the characters on the other hand are none the wiser or trying to figure it out (they didn’t get the benefit of hearing the motives and intentions behind certain acts?).
@ Welmaris, thanks for the information on the actress playing JY’s mother being in TKEM. She was so good there.
So all of the machinations are simply to keep SA on site?! Still, it doesn’t seem like a great match, when the professor already despises her. The screen writer made sure we know in advance that this professor is a bad character rather than having it play out. Soapy stuff. SA accepted so quickly without thinking it through and that doesn’t make sense to me. SA is supposed to be a very perceptive person. Didn’t she perceive the professor’s feelings towards her in the past? The advantages look pretty one-sided and grim for SA’s future graduate student career.
If SA is tempted by graduate school, shouldn’t she find a different professor; one who might help her improve? SA was given the information that JY’s teacher took him from a lower middling ranking to the top, so you would think that she would want such a person to support her, too. Harrumph.
@Fern, there’s another actor in DYLB from TKEM: Seo Jung Yeon, who is Team Leader Cha at the foundation, was Ji Hun’s mom and LL’s captive in ROK.
I was smiling with the interaction of JY and SA in episode 6 especially with the ‘who are you? scene in the college cafeteria but I really liked that she’s honest with JY about waiting for him to come to her.
What a closure for HH! 👏🏻 Good for you! I hurt for him and what a breakdown scene him. 😭
I loved what Dad said to SA, ‘I’ll wait for you to find your happiness’. 😍
Yes@agdr03 that’s a humor that not anybody can do and looking at SA’s personality I didn’t know she could threw that joke.
Father and daughter’s serious talk always fascinates me, I find it so sweet.
Even if the scenes seem simple and slow in this drama, it makes me savor different emotions.
@agdr03 It was the episode of the fathers. I liked when the father said when we’re older we remember more the people we hurt than the ones who hurt us.
Otherwise, it was clearly not the episode for good teachers…
@Eureka, SA was cute there and they laughed together too. 🥰 So I’m hoping that it will be JY that will be her pianist. ☺️
@Sayaris, yes! I liked what JK’s dad said too. So true about the teachers. ☹️ SA’s one was just dusting while she was playing. 😔
Ok I’ll have to compare the kiss from here and ROY but I’ll do it tomorrow because I haven’t watched ROY.
BUT I just wanted to say to Kim Min Jae, I like you. I like you. I like you. I like you. 🥰
Kyeopta MinBin couple! I think the 4x he said joahaeyo mirrored Song Ah’s confession.
Her professor though. Initially, I pitied her when she was being bullied in the bathroom by the older professor but now clearly she’s none the better.
And I’m loving all the OSTs!!!
@agdr03 I’d say both kisses were really good!
@Say08, I agree, the OST in this series is really good ☺️
After watching episode 9 and 10, SA is still feeling insecure to JK. Isn’t JY’s dimples enough? 😂 I enjoyed seeing him smiling a lot especially because SA was with him.
I’ll try to catch up with this drama.
I hope you’re ok BBQ! 🙇🏻♀️🤞🏻 Work must be keeping you from us. Take care! ☺️