This is an 1800-word excerpt of a Reply 1988 post I wrote in another forum. (I know, right? An excerpt with *only* 1800 words? How long was the original piece? Was I drinking-and-writing?)

I’m calling our attention to it because I think the writer shared her outlook on love.

Young Deoksun was feeling down-in-dumps.

First, she was persuaded by her girlfriends that Sunwoo liked her. Although she didn’t have any feelings for him in the beginning (go replay that scene when she was nervously jiggling her leg when Sunwoo visited), she deluded herself into thinking that she also liked Sunwoo. When she realized that Sunwoo was being nice to her only because she was the sister of Bora (the object of his REAL affection), she was devastated.

Next came JungHwan. He was the last person she’d consider romantically because their personalities clashed. But because her friends constantly teased her, she began wondering if there was any truth to their suspicions. But once bitten, twice shy. She didn’t want to repeat the mistake of falling for him when he had somebody else in heart so this time, she set up little “tests” or “checkpoints” to ascertain his feelings for her. However, her
last test failed, and that was why she was looking dejected when DongRyong met her at the stairs.

The excerpt is my explanation of DR’s conversation with Deoksun. He told her, “You can like someone, instead of someone liking you, right?”

In effect, DR was telling her that her approach to love was the wrong way.

She was falling in love with the guys ONLY because she thought they liked her. She chased first, Sunwoo and then, JungHwan, not because she was in love with them, but because she wanted to be loved by them. She was focused on whether the guy liked her or not, instead of concentrating on her own feelings and whether SHE liked the guy or not.

Do you see it?

Her girlfriends told her that Sunwoo liked her, so she convinced herself that she liked him in return. Her girlfriends again told her that JungHwan liked her, so she sought confirmation that he liked her before she liked him back. In both cases, she pursued romance only because she was told that the guy liked her.

DongRyong’s pearl of wisdom here was that it’s okay to like a person JUST BECAUSE. Without any expectations of reciprocity, reward, happily-ever-after, or anything whatsoever, Deoksun could love someone. And that person she openly and unabashedly acknowledged to like best of all was Taek.

There! That’s the summary of this excerpt. I guess you can skip it reading the rest of my post. But I’m still posting it here for people who are awaiting “Hospital Playlist.”

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Second commentary:

The whole DongRyong and DS conversation in Episode 14 may be viewed from a perspective different from that explored in dramabeans. I’ll type the subtitles from dramafever and intersperse my own remarks as I go along. BTW, I’m neither a DS/TK nor DS/JH fangirl. I don’t watch these shows for love-lines. But I do ship scripts, as some old-timer Soompi posters here know. The scriptwriter’s approach to this drama is intriguing but, unfortunately, some points may have been overlooked in the rush to establish and defend coupledoms,

DS: [sighing] DR: What’s up with you? Are you shooting a movie? [DR immediately picked up on the mood: DS was acting like a long-suffering drama queen from a makjang.] DS: Ancestor, there’s something I’m curious about. [The translator most likely meant “O wise and ancient sage!” because DS recognized DR as the group counselor.] DR: Tell me. [lol. He was already playing up his role as Father Confessor. He’s been effectively eliminated as Future Husband.] DS: Why doesn’t anyone like me? [DR gave her the side-eye and muttered something in contempt. Of course, he knew of ONE person who liked her but he couldn’t outright tell her. Instead, he did the next best thing: he trolled her.] DR: Oh! It’s Taek…. Nope, never mind. [Nice move! He covertly disclosed who liked DS by pretending to play a game of “I spy Taek.” He grinned at how clever he was.] DS: [Notice how DS looked up expectantly?] I’m serious. [Meaning she was having a serious conversation here, so stop it for a second with the childish games.] DR: I know, I’m serious, too.
DS: [Looks downcast again.] Why isn’t there anyone? Hmm? I guess I’m a woman who has no right to be loved. [Watch at slight movement of DR’s shoulders. He was restraining himself from laughing at her pity-party.] DR: Duk Seon.
DS: Yeah?
DR: Do you like boiled sweet potatoes or baked sweet potatoes?
DS: Boiled sweet potatoes.
DR: Do you like Lee Man Sae or Park Nam Jung?
DS: Park Nam Jung.
DR: Do you like me or Taek?
DS: [without hesitation] Taekie. [Grinning]

DR: How annoying. [It probably pricked his ego that she didn’t equivocate.] You hate me?
DS: No, but I still like Taek more [Smiles again.]

DR: If that’s the case, do you like Jung Hwang or Sung Woo?
DS: Don’t ask questions like that. [Observe DR smile again.]

Let’s pause here and discuss this a bit.

Why did DR smile here at her response? Why didn’t he call her out for evading the question? Why didn’t he insist on her giving an honest answer? I think it’s because he was SATISFIED with her response. Her non-answer was, in itself, an answer he wanted, and he smiled because he received confirmation that DS liked TK. TK was ranked one.

You see, DR forced her to choose one. Boiled or baked sweet potato? This entertainer or that one? Him or Taek? Without hesitation, she gave her responses. Moreover, when he clarified whether she chose Taek because she disliked him, she readily answered that she liked Taek MORE… which revealed to DR that she was unabashed in her preference for TK. But if she had so candidly chosen TK over him, why couldn’t she do the same when the choice was either SW or JH?

Really now! If I were DS, my only logical answer was SW. Look: if I truly liked JH, there was no way I’d reveal my crush to that blabbermouth DR. The safe answer was SW to deflect my real feelings. On the other hand, if I felt nothing for JH, then my answer should also have been SW, because SW is a much “likeable” person than JH whom everybody regards as “prickly”. Remember what the ghost-father of SW asked him earlier in this episode? The ghost-father asked whether JH was still prickly. So even back then, his reputation was known.

See that?

To me, DS halted DR with “Don’t ask questions like that” in order to avoid having divided loyalties/friendships and belaboring the point any further. Besides, as far as she was concerned, those two men “rejected” her — SW liked her sister, and JH gave the pink shirt to his Hyung – so what was the point of picking one? The way she was feeling at that time, it would have been akin to choosing the lesser “evil.” lol.

To DongRyong, however, the fact TK was DK’s unequivocal choice was all that he needed to know. Although she couldn’t be more explicit in her reasons for liking him, it was sufficient for DR that she had set TK apart from the rest of the gang. It’s in THIS context that he doled out his next advice —

DR: Duk-Seong, how do you feel? Instead of other people liking you, who is it that you like?

[She was already grossly mistaken in thinking that NOBODY liked her because there was still Taekie. Instead of worrying needlessly about who liked her, her time would be better spent getting to know the person she does like.]

DR: You’re so clear about the way you like to eat sweet potatoes. [And also about liking Taek, let’s not forget.] But you don’t know what type of person you like?

[Meaning, how was it possible that she had no understanding and no awareness of her preferences? Here, DR forgot that the boys had each other to discuss the criteria they found attractive in girls — for example, aggressive girls like Bora. lol – but DS was excluded from this kind of conversation.]

DR: Duk-Seong…I mean, Soo-Yeon. You can like someone, instead of someone liking you, right?

[He was telling her that it was alright to be proactive. She could go ahead and like someone, without worrying or waiting for someone to like her or even to reciprocate her feelings.]

…which brings me to explain a flaw in the DS-JH interaction or loveline as fans called it.

It seems like many viewers miss seeing this because they consider the swoon-y interactions between the couple as ample evidence of DS’ feelings for JH. On the contrary, I don’t think that DS had fallen in love with JH – as of Episode 14. DR astutely observed that DS was more worried about being liked than about liking someone. After getting her heart broken by SW, it was natural for her to be wary of falling for somebody without first getting assurance that her affection will be reciprocated. Since Episode 10, she had been TESTING JH to determine if he liked her. She’d been making him jump through the hoops, similar to that very first test that she did in Episode 10 when she asked him whether he minded her going on a blind date.

Do you recognize the pattern here?

1. asking him if he minded her going out on a blind date. According to her friends, if he tried to stop her, that meant he really liked her. (ep 10)
2. bugging him to go to the Lee Man-Se concert, even in her sleep (ep 11). I think, in her mind, if she was able to convince him to go with her, then that was another sign that he liked her. This would explain why there was curiously NO scene showing her excitement or her preparations for the concert after all the fuss she made to get him to change his mind; that scene would have been moot.
3. dressing up prettily and “accidentally” joining him on the bus. She wanted him to notice her new and improved image. (ep 12)
4. glancing to see if he was jealous when her middle school friend talked with her after the concert (ep 13)
5. pretending to have an injured ankle to see what he’d do [in kdrama, she would have been given a piggy-back, instead she got a hand and nagging.] (ep 13)
6. using her aegyo to make him agree to a rewatch of Top Gun (ep 14)
7. making him wear a PINK shirt [I’m sorry, ladies, but this was clearly a set-up. Remember, the shirt was chosen by Mi-Ok. It wasn’t a “personal” gift because she DIDN’T pick it out herself. Nor was this a “couple” gift to match the pink gloves she received for Christmas. This shirt was a test. She wanted to see if he liked her enough to wear the shirt to his birthday party. That was why she told her friends, “I guess I was wrong again this time.” When she mistakenly thought that JH gave the shirt to the Hyung, she determined that JH didn’t like her because he failed the test.] (ep 14)

lol. Our young DS had an agenda or an ulterior motive. She wanted to make sure that JH liked her BEFORE she would fall for him. This was understandable precaution after the SW fiasco. She wanted reassurance that she was liked. Had she really loved JH to begin with, all these tests and petty games would have been unnecessary. She would have simply followed her heart and spontaneously showed her affections.

That’s why I find DR’s advice to focus on getting to know who she likes very interesting. DR hadn’t a clue about the on-going dynamics between JH and DS so he couldn’t possibly foresee the repercussion of his advice on DS/TK/JH’s relationships. The upcoming episodes should sail or moor the respective couple ships temporarily until the next twist in the drama.

Anyway, to continue with the rest of their conversation.

DR: (sighing) Kids nowadays only know about the here and the now. They don’t know about life. But you know don’t know about any of these [Meaning, she has neither an understanding of what’s right under her nose nor a grasp of the big picture.] so what is it that you do know. What’s up with you? I swear…[Stop to see TK]. Hurry, get up!
DS: Are we going somewhere?
DR: Pizza’s here [Speaking of the devil…] DS: [Smiles]

DR: How many pizzas did you order?
TK: Five.
DR: You’re definitely rich.
TK: I figured you wouldn’t be able to eat with us since you got out late. So I bought each one of you a pizza to eat home. [This is interesting. TK was now mindful of other people’s schedules and he was planning things.] DR: Taek, let’s get married.

[Troll! This was an inside joke between the guys because the girl Taek liked was right beside them, and they knew that she wouldn’t get it. DR was saying that TK was a husband material because of his earning potential.]

TK: No, thank you.
DS: Go home, he needs to sleep. [Acting wife-y here] DR: Okay, see you later. I’m going to eat this by myself.
DS: I’m going to go home, too.
TK: [grabbing hold of her sleeve] Go later.

source: soompi: answer-me-1988, comment p. 316

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Note the “Let’s get married” joke.