The premiere is tomorrow, Wednesday, March 22. It stars Park Hyung Sik (“Happiness”) and Han So Hee (“Nevertheless”).
This is kdrama has a weird concept. There are four episodes in total. 30 minutes each episode; one episode to be shown a week.
I’ll binge-watch all four episodes on the last Wednesday, April 13. But if you want to want to watch it tomorrow and discuss it, then here’s the open thread.
Synopsis of the drama from soompi
Described as a “music drama,” the series is about a man and a woman who have been best friends for 20 years but learn each other’s true feelings when they have to stay in the same house for two weeks. It stars Park Hyung Sik as Han Sun Woo, a rising photographer who is a man of few words but has a warm and caring personality, and Han So Hee as Lee Eun Soo, a fun and honest lyricist who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind.
source: soompi
Hmmm… Did Park Hyung Sik lose weight?
I dunno. I think I still like the vibes of this one, but I’ll give “Soundtrack #1” a chance.
Let’s enjoy the show!
Thanks for the reminder @Pm3. i’d definitely watch this. wonder why they just didn’t make it into a movie? hmmm. I would like to binge watch too. but i may not be able to help myself coz i miss PHS. He does look good and skinnier here.
Thanks @pkml3. I’m not keeping up with remembering what show starts when. I’ll have to ‘steal’ time to watch. If it keeps to half an hour, I’ll feel less guilty!!
*SPOILERS*
I caught the first episode. It was about art in music and photography, about being true to one’s feelings and authentic as an artist. While there’s the ‘story’ of clueless Eun Soo (an unsuccessful lyricist) and the one sided love of Sun Woo (a successful photographer), I found it more like an arty sort of show with an undertone of seriousness, although not overly leaden.
Although things happened, it felt like there were many scenes of nothing much, just mood, and thought and the showcase of the friends’ relationship amidst emotive or reflective music. I must thank Disney for telling us what kind of music we are listening to, since this is supposed to be a music drama.
It likened a photo being able to strike the heart with emotion to be received as art to lyrics of a song that could do the same within 3 minutes of it being played. Eun Soo herself knows that one must follow one’s heart, in order to make genuine art, but is unaware how to ‘suffer a one-sided love’ so that she can write sad enough lyrics.
I suppose we are to see the dawning realisation of Eun Soo about her relationship with Sun Woo which will then be reflected in her lyrics and, Sun Woo being able to follow his heart, so that they both become better, more authentic artists by the end of this short show.
Sidenote: There is an obvious PPL for Jeju Mandarins/Tangerines… both bottled and in the skin. LOL.
I expect it to be mostly a relaxing, pleasant watch, with just a bit of angst when the couple have their struggle with being true to their hearts.
I planned to wait for them to all be released and then binge watch but I had nothing else to watch today so I decided to try it. Ehh…whatever. Very coffee shop vibey. Had I not seen Our Beloved Summer maybe I would’ve found this more interesting. I love a friends to lovers trope but this just doesn’t feel authentic. I just feel like a different actor would’ve been better suited for this role. Or maybe I still pine for SeoBom for him
I’m laughing because the subtitles include a description of all sounds – crockery, car horns, sucking teeth, all a part of the soundtrack, I guess. I’m not watching it on Disney – is it supposed to be like that?
The show doesn’t seem to have much of an edge yet – it sort of drifts along in a predictable way. They aren’t even having fun as friends – just drinking. Or rather Eun-soo keeps getting drunk.
I kept looking at the composer, Woo-il. He sounded like Kim Joo-hun, but didn’t exactly look like him somehow. I had to look up the cast.
Although hardly anyone is watching this, I’ll just add this here for the record.
Eun Soo seems to have lived under a rock. She’s ignorant not only about unrequited love but also about how to buy the right quantity of food for 2 persons. She’s unable to interpret the childish, bad behaviour of Sun Woo as jealousy while the producer Woo Il caught it immediately.
Other than the fact that Sun Woo has deceived her into thinking there is a Jennifer in his life, and because they’ve been friends since childhood, there seems no excuse for her to be so clueless.
Thanks, GB. I’ll watch this when it’s all over. 🙂
Like, why are they even friends? What was the point of the shopping trip? To show him buying her PPL chocolates? At least she wasn’t drunk this whole time.
I’m glad I get to start my week with ABP and end it with Legally Romance. Those are considered fluff but have actually been way more rewarding to watch
Birdie007, my review of Legally Romance is on queue. It should come out later today. 🙂
🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 @pm3 I’m so happy as I expected you to avoid it because of the whole legal thing 😉 have you watched all 24 episodes? Nevermind, I’ll wait for your post.
No. I watched till Ep 2 in full. I skimmed some episodes, and checked out the Ep 22 or was it 24. I see where this story is going and I like it.
But I must admit, I had to some mental gymnastics of my own to avoid the legal commentary.
Okay. Gotta go. ✈️
This episode it became a little clearer why this is called a music drama. The music speaks, coming and going, fading or leaving off abruptly and we have to know what it’s saying based on the kind of melody and the context of the action, (of which there is little).
I believe that this would have been acceptable (more acceptable?) as a 2 hour movie rather than a 4 episode ‘series’.
@Growing Beautifully, are you watching this on Disney? I found the written description of every little background noise very strange and wondered if it was just the site I used for streaming.
Hi @Fern, I’m watching on Dramacool, but I also get all the written descriptions of sounds. I thought it was the ‘usual’ thing nowadays to cater to the needs of the hearing impaired.
I found them ‘informative’. At each stage there is a description such as pensive/relaxed/exciting/suspenseful music so we are to recognise what the characters are feeling etc. Whether the music stops abruptly or fades etc. It was funny but informative.
I think you mentioned before that it distracted you? I thought them ‘useful’ especially for those who cannot hear.
@GB and @Fern,
Yes, GB is right that the sound descriptions are included bec Disney isnt doing straight-up subbing like Netflix does, but “close captioning” for the hearing-impaired.
I don’t mind because I’m used to watching my news with CC. But this will bug my husband.
Thank you both. I thought there might be another option elsewhere.
Episode 3 – I read what @Birdie said about it (on the ‘What we are watching thread’, and I agree. Of the 3 episodes, it’s the best and the FL inspires neither our admiration, nor our censure, …or maybe it does. Anyway she does not excite me. Her decision to ‘run’ from receiving a possible confession also makes her a frustrating character.
Show would have been better served as a movie (a 1.5 hour movie not a 2 hour movie) and the 3 episodes so far could happily have been compressed into 45 minutes. For all the time given to the characters to think (amidst the background of music), not much in the way of developments take place.
I can’t think of much to say about the ML either. He wants to be authentic towards his own feelings and in his photography, but he delays so much that of course the time becomes ‘wrong’.
Maybe this couple will be more interesting apart than together. 😉
I’ve seen it too and yeah, after admitting individually to the married couple of their feelings, they still both decided not to say it in the end.
It’s still a circle. I was like what? She had feelings for him too? 😱
What will it take for them to say it? I guess we’ll find out soon enough. 😁
@agdr03, Yes… it’s one of those frustrating (and yawn-inducing) shows where everything is kept hidden, and the right times come and go and nothing gets said. Then it’s too late again.
I compare the Music Director’s straightforward ‘confession’ (actually I dropped off for a moment and missed it!). He was, I think, so clear and so quick because he had no fear. With the OTP, they are beset with fears of losing friendship, of hurting each other, etc, etc. But still, it’s so frustrating.
We’ll only have one short half hour left and maybe of that time, only 10 minutes of seeing them happily as a couple.
🤗 🤨 😣 🥱 😴 😑
Frustrating indeed. 😬
Hi! I ended reset (an ok watch but I couldn’t rewatch pfeww!).
So I start this, as it’s quick…
… and with my darling Han So Hee. 😍
I’m at episode 1, 13:30, and we get the situation.
The poor ML seems to live this non-shared love for her, while she don’t care about this kind of thing. Ahahaha, I will enjoy this drama in the shoes of the ML. 🙂
A bit masochist I know. 🤪
Ep1 – 27:00, flashback scene 4 years before.
Hilarious, she really says all that can make the guy mad!!
This kind of crazy inverted logic…
It looks so true, yeah it’s possible to meet girls like that in real life. 😅
I only got to watch one episode before I got busy with other things, but it’s nice to know about this drama from a man’s perspective. How do you feel about the timing? I found it to go slowly. But I found the captions strange as well, since I hadn’t requested to know details about background noises. I wondered if it’s part of the ‘Soundtrack’ experience? 😉
@Fern, it’s not the kind of drama that could be fast paced. It’s about many intimates moments. Here I look more about the density. And everything is fine about that. There is so many details, small moves, dialogs lines that hit. I mean, when we are in the shoes of the guy, it’s just an endless series of crazy little annoying things the FL does constantly. It’s almost a perpetual torture for him. And we can catch every of his emotions and disappointment. It’s very well made about that. Captivating, I’m not bored one second. It work even more because I find the actress very pretty.
It capture very well all these little things you are attentive at when you are in this kind of situation. Like the situation on the floor when they sleep and she glue to him, like there is no importance for her, but for him there is. He says “it’s mad”. Oh yeah it is. ^^
Episode 1 ending : the shared gaze scene, wow!!
Fun fact: their favorite restaurant is “the maried couple”, another little detail that presses on the wound. 🙂
I enjoy the work of the writer and looks any details like that, about how it makes things hard for the ML. I guess there could be more annoying things later. Like this producer/composer for example.
The FL say many things that’s look rational for her, but her whole attitude is irrational. She simulate the girl sure of herself, but in fact, it seem she don’t know what love is. Most of what she say or do is often superficial, like an escape. And she really drink too much, there is a problem. Her deep thruth is she’s not happy.
There is no way she don’t know the guy have a crush for her. But she hides that in herself because probably it could put her out of a kind of confort zone, or anything else she don’t want to face (doesn’t even need to know what, I think it’s a pretty realistic character).
I agree with your words. Yes, she is comfortable sleeping as if glued to him like a kitten or child, but he is feeling just the opposite. 🤦♀️ It would be a humorous situation if he didn’t have such love for her. How can she not know when she wakes?
I applaud his efforts to be subtle when trying to gauge her feelings for him. He wants to keep her close to keep the possibilities open, but is frustrated again and again.
Episode 2 ending. She maybe have some doubts…
The scene with the producer.. aaah so annoying.
+ That’s guy guess what is really the situation I think.
Something a bit too dreamy in the drama: how can they live? They don’t really work. It’s crazy. They have nothing to do all day. By what magic the money falls from the sky?
You are so right. Perhaps we’re not shown that either they work in a fried chicken/sandwich/pizza delivery during the day or the contrary: that they are chaebols who live on investment dividends. I think that they dress rather too well for the first option.
I summarize what I know at the end of episode 2.
******************************
FL has affairs with men, but they always have a beginning and an end. She doesn’t seem to think that it could be otherwise. A relationship always has an end for her. That’s why she wouldn’t want to make the ML anything other than a friend, by fear of a breakup. At the same time, this friendship gives her the emotional stability equivalent to what she would have if she were married.
Strangely, it seems she hadn’t detected until now that he had a crush on her. She seriously lacks a radar sense when it comes to genuine feeling. No wonder she’s so easily mistaken in her other affairs.
Overall, she is comfortable with this situation although it can be seen as cheating. It causes damage to her life, and to the life of the ML. I find it hard to believe that she could stay completely blind for so long.
******************************
The ML sits there helplessly for years. That’s not likely to fix the situation. And if he does manage to unblock it, there’s a good chance it will fail. Too much has been swept under the rug for years. And the FL might feel guilty about the situation.
He’s stuck because on the one hand, the FL makes it clear to him “only friendship is possible between us”, but when she talks about unshared love, she casually says “that’s stupid, just take each other’s hand, it’s that simple”.
I don’t know if a flashback will show us the scene, but it must have been horribly difficult for the ML the first time he saw her with a boyfriend. Then with time and boyfriends always breaking up with her, he must have realized that it would always be like that. And takes his lumps. Hard on the pride!!! With the feeling that he is the only one who really cares about her. For him: why doesn’t she get unstuck, for fuck’s sake (in French; putain de merde!).
Here a very annoying scene, when Lee Eun Soo learns that she is loved by Han Sun Woo.
“I spent two-thirds of my life with a guy like that.
And that…
…makes me so upset
and scared.
I’m afraid I might hurt him.
I can’t risk hurting Sunwoo…”
Of course, this reaction is exactly what can hurt him!
Rotten excuse.
In a previous scene we learn that he taught Lee Eun Soo to ride a bike. Here is another scene where the writer is cruel, using an analogy between Han Sun Woo and the bike.
LES – What were you up to?
HSW – Fixing your bike.
LES – It’s so old.
LES – Leave it, I’ll throw it away later.
HSW – Throw it away?
HSW – You loved this bike.
LES – I did, but what can I do when it’s broken?
LES – I don’t ride it anyway.
LES – I should get going.
SPOILER ************
Last episode, just when she stop being annoying and want to go with him…
… it’s him being annoying. AAYYAAAHHH. He was traumatized by her past lines.
But how could he believe that!!! Or it’s a kind of trap?!
I ended this short drama. It was a very good one!!!
The ending was perfect.
As an actress, Han So Hee can make believable love stories.
Park Hyung Sik was ok for that too.
@WEnchanteur, your translation of FFS reminded me of a friend who used to say “Purée!!!” Purée of what?, I asked. Merde, she replied. Then we both had a laughing fit. That seemed even funnier to me for some reason, because who, why, and mostly how?
@WEnchanteur, I still have to finish the last episode, but it’s good to know that she gets a dose of her own medicine.
How you described the bike scene, it’s the way many people think of relationships. Even if they have potential, even if they have been very excellent, if there is a problem throw it away instead of working on it.
@Fern, yeah, it’s a way to say she’s not ready for this relationship, even when she know the truth now. She’s a mulehead!! It needs something else, and that’s happens in the scene of the bus for airport. A very good scene that makes real a feeling of void and sadness at the end. + we have a flashback of another scene like that.
When we reach the end, all dots connects. And we understand well how was her state of mind and feeling all along the story. We guess also why the ML couldn’t say yes at the end (thanks to another flashback of the same scene when he goes to the army but comes back with an umbrella).
There is some funny scenes in last episode, when she’s jaleous of the assistant. Or when she hides behind the car. I like the details in this drama. The annoying assistant “don’t touch this cam”.
The directing was good to takes time on many scenes about delivering the feeling. It’s slow but effective. Well, for me it was, I was glued and watching. Maybe for some people it could looks boring. But with the story and the actors I liked a lot their expressions in these scenes. A lot of tension. And it helps also a lot when the actress isn’t only pretty but also feminine and skilled in my eyes.
Yes, the jealousy scenes were funny. I almost expected her to drop the camera – she was too professional to do it. But after the assistant left, the FL lost her nerve and couldn’t do as her card (Tarot?) suggested – have a determined heart.
I loved the last lyrics she wrote because they fit the situation so well.
I have a lot of admiration for both Park Hyung-sik and Han So Hee. They have been in some really good productions lately and both have shone. Han So Hee in particular takes a lot of risks and stretches her experience.
Are you watching My Liberation Notes? I would like to know your take on the pacing and camera work.
@Fern. Are you able to to translate her entire lyrics? I feel like I’m missing something when the subs only translate her last line before he writes his. Overall I felt this was a sweet short show (maybe better as a movie although my favorites scenes tend to be the bonus tracks as they reveal something from earlier so not sure if it would have worked in a movie with flashbacks). Nothing earth shattering plot wise but felt like a nice weekend snuggling with a good book and cup of coffee while it’s snowing outside kind of contentment.
Dear @Koalatown, I agree with you that there was nothing striking about the plot. The producers hired some big names to go into this drama. Why did they agree when the plot was rather mundane? I can’t read Korean so can’t say about the lyrics or the dialog, but there must have been something special to attract the actors besides the short filming period. I can’t help thinking that this was one time when knowing Korean would have been especially helpful.
@Fern, no idea, I didn’t watch “liberation notes”.
Annyeong 🍂
I am behind. just finished watching it this weekend. didn’t see it in my Disney+ til this week. so i was all too excited to see PSH again 💗 but very disappointed that this was dubbed. waaaah. i really don’t mind reading the subtitles because i love the korean language even though i only understand a few words. and i love to hear their own voices, not some americanized asian voice. augh.
loved reading your comments here. i liked Han Sohee in Nevertheless. and i LOVE PHS since “strong girl bong soon”
even tho Eunsoo acted coldly to Sunwoo, she felt the same- what a reveal when he saw her crying when he left for the military. he was drench holding an umbrella. ironic. shouldn’t that have solidified that she felt the same? so idk – he doesn’t like to see her cry? they both fell in love while being friends. and the dilemma is trying to get beyond the friendship to love. she didn’t know unrequited love until she realized it when sunwoo left the country for the 2nd time? i liked that they showed her struggling as sunwoo did with that producer. i was like wow, sunwoo is pretty direct and shameless. so how come he had a hard time confessing? but yea, obviously he knows his BFF so well. Poor director. so high end. i’m glad the producer was mature enough to accept her no. glad she summoned her courage to turn him down gently.
i love the feel of the show – sublime. i love that he’s into photography and she gave him his first camera coz he’s been using his phone. i love that she was his supporter… and that’s why the lyric line “i’ll be by your side” is really the bottom line of their friendship and love relationship.
i love the role of the mom barging into her house. so funny. all that clementine. and Sunwoo a good cook. yummm. anyhoo, the tarot card reading is funny. love the connection though. that even the mom knew that he has feelings for her daughter. anyhoo, in the end, she’s the one that really confessed. but maybe because Sunwoo doesn’t need to. he already made an effort. Eunsoo was just thick headed. so clueless haha.
i love the role of the married BFF’s as well – that serenade. coz the wife was like – don’t get married! i tell that to my single BFF altho she already has chosen singlehood. sigh. until God provides, of course.
that assistant of sunwoo – so brazen. like sunwoo should get rid of her. yuck! like take No for an answer girl. stop it! i’m glad Sunwoo pretended he didn’t see Eunsoo hiding behind the car haha. even she was annoyed with the assistant.
what is the necklace they focused on at the end of the ep 4? i know it’s the necklace that came with the stuffed animal. i can’t figure out what it is. it must be significant.
i haven’t listened to the soundtrack yet. i’m sure i’ll download it to my iphone music. 🎶
over all – short and sweet. love it! @ WEnchanteur – love the resto name – the married couple. i’m glad the show ended in this resto. such a warm and cozy place.