I dropped this drama. The male lead doesn’t have a prayer of winning my heart when I can easily cite a litany of reasons why he’s unappealing to me.

I find that he’s guilty of countless hesitations. He can’t muster up the courage to admit his feelings. It’s been frustrating to watch his constant denial. He’s a slow poke when I prefer heroes with mojo, confidence, and vigor. Compare him to the Hong sisters’ thesis on vigor in “Alchemy of Souls”. Link: On Vigor

I don’t find his unblinking gaze sexy. I don’t find his childlike inexperience sexy. I don’t find his bland personality sexy. I don’t find his robotic responses sexy.

And it’s a stretch that a judge in family court can be so lacking in interpersonal skills – not to mention, common sense – like JiHo.

Sorry, Go Kyung Pyo. You peaked as Sunwoo in “Reply 1988,” in my opinion.

However, I picked up Episode 14 because I’m curious to know what happened to the side characters. Here’s my update.

1. Yoo MiHo

In this episode, JiHo had Madam Yoo investigated after their encounter with a truck of doom, and he discovered that she’s SangEun’s birth mother.

I called it in My First Impressions, so I can’t believe that this writer dragged out the big reveal for 12 more episodes. But what annoyed me more than this late disclosure is this scene when JiHo consulted his staff on what to do.

JiHo: A woman abandoned her baby soon after labor and retrieved her and raised her when she was six. She took care of everything, but she didn’t say she was her mother.
Female Staff: Gosh. How heartbreaking!
JiHo: Huh? Heartbreaking?

Female Staff: You know. She brought her back because she couldn’t forget her. But she couldn’t say she was her mother because of the guilt.
JiHo: It seems like she grew up in a very oppressive environment and was forced to acquire a lot of things for the elites of the society.
Female Staff: (incorrectly assumes JiHo was talking about HaeJin) HaeJin probably couldn’t call his father “father” either, right?
JiHo: I’m not talking about Kang HaeJin.
Female Staff: He must’ve suffered so much.
Male Staff: But…she probably kept up with that because she was intelligent enough. An ordinary child would’ve run away. Maybe she was pushed into it more because of her character.
JiHo: Don’t you think the child might’ve found it painful?
Male Staff: It’s not that…. I think it might be difficult to assess that as a third party. That’s why I brought up a different perspective. What if the child victim enjoyed it?
Female Staff2: I think the victim should decide whether it was abuse or love.
JiHo: The victim? Yes. The victim’s point of view matters the most.

This is JiHo’s face.

Do you see why I’m annoyed by this scene?

He looked as it has never dawned on him to consider the victim’s perspective. How is he competent in his day job if he’s never considered the victim’s POV in his adjudications?

2. HaeJin, the second male lead

As expected of this noble fool, he’s sacrificed his career to join his family’s corporation in order to block any attempts from his Hyung to harm SangEun. He’s playing the white knight.

That said, my Spidey-Sense says there’s another reason he joined the company. But since I didn’t watch Episodes 8 to 13, I don’t have many scenes or dialogues to back me up…except for his conversation with GwangNam in this episode. Oh well.

I’m glad that he isn’t the selfish monster as those silly fangirls painted him to be. They would have known better if they paid attention to the way he over-indulged his diva of a cat. It was obvious to any critical viewer that he’s a pushover, and a solid good guy.

Five things that I like about him in this episode:

a. He rocked his three-piece suit.

Pic

b. He was a thoughtful leader to his former management company.

c. He agreed to go on a blind date to please his anxious mom (and to check something about himself??)

d. He exuded competence in his new role as director in his father’s conglomerate. I like that he isn’t just a pretty face; he’s a self-made man, too.

e. He gave SangEun the brush-off.

SE: What are you doing all of a sudden? You said you didn’t go back to your family.
HaeJin: I changed my mind.
SE: What’s the problem? Tell me if it’s something I can help with.
HaeJin: Why would you help me?
SE: (speechless)
HaeJin: If that’s everything… (moves to close the door on her)
SE: (holds the door open) Something happened, right?
HaeJin: Your concern for me…for any reason…you really shouldn’t do that to me. I just went back to where I came from. Well then. (closes the door)

I always thought that he deserved better than SangEun.

I also thought that from the beginning, HaeJin was the one to draw the line between them, but SangEun presumed too much.

Remember when HaeJin rescued her from the attacker and brought her home to his apartment? SangEun presumed that he wouldn’t be bothered seeing a naked body as he’s an actor, so she bared her shoulder to him. Though he was momentarily flustered, he dealt with her brazenness calmly.

In this scene, she did it again. The fact that he avoided answering her calls should have clued her in. But she simply didn’t know when to back off.

That’s why I like the finality of his goodbye. He was putting a wall up. He didn’t want her to display concern or any degree of familiarity with him, especially when she had decided to move on with JiHo. It was all about tact and delicacy which SangEun lacked.

3. GwangNam, the gay roommate

Frankly, I don’t understand where the writer is going with this character.

I like his platonic relationship with SangEun. I like his quiet dignity when he resigned from his taekwondo job after coming out of the closet. I like that he’s SangEun’s agony aunt, relationship guru, and life coach all in one. But I heartily dislike when he all of a sudden acts boy-crazy for HaeJin because I suspect that it’s either done blithely for laughs or for virtue-signaling, rather than his true character arc.

Take for instance when he dropped in on HaeJin to say goodbye.

HaeJin: It’s nice to have you here.
GwangNam: Do you eat regularly?
HaeJin: Of course, I eat well.
GwangNam: You look skinny!
HaeJin: Come on, I don’t.
GwangNam: I have a confession to make just to you.
HaeJin: (jokingly) Are you getting married or something?
GwangNam: (not answering)
HaeJin: Really? Are you?
GwangNam: No. I decided to follow my dream, thanks to you. But I don’t think you’re doing that. That’s been bothering me. The reason you joined the company…does it have something to do with SangEun by chance?
HaeJin: (looks away)

As I said, I didn’t watch a big chunk of this drama, so I don’t know the context of his joining his father’s company. But it wouldn’t surprise me if HaeJin had ditched his acting career because of GwangNam himself (i.e., he’s running away from GwangNam himself). It would make a great plot twist, eh?

GwangNam: No matter how much I think about it, you wouldn’t have done that for her. It’s like you’re taking revenge.
HaeJin: It’s not because of her.
GwangNam: I think it is. What is it, then? Am I not supposed to know?
HaeJin: Can’t you just be by SangEun’s side?
GwangNam: I want to but I can’t anymore. That’s my confession for the day.
HaeJin: Why? Right. I heard you didn’t give Jung Hwan the answer when he offered to make you a singer.
GwangNam: I’m leaving, Hyung. I wanted to know how you felt before I left. I thought you might feel better if I knew, at least.

My intuition tells me that the writer has another great reveal in store for HaeJin. I wouldn’t be surprised if the writer intended him to be gay, too.

You see if I read between the lines, GwangNam showed up at his apartment to force or persuade HaeJin to face his real issue. GwangNam thinks that he was in denial, so his last act of mercy (or service, if you wish) before he leaves for Canada is to listen to HaeJin and be there for him when he decides to open up about his sexuality.

A HaeJin-GwangNam endgame, however, would annoy me because it’s too artificial and calculated.

4. JiHo, again

Technically, he isn’t a side character; he’s the main lead. But I want to go over the last scene.

SE: Do you have something to say?
JH: Do you remember the first Monday you came to my house?
SE: (thinking)
JH: That day, I was going to tell you to forget about the contract. When I came home after making the contract with you, I thought maybe I rushed it or overdid it. I was waiting for you while thinking that. But you came and you said that you were starving. You said you haven’t eaten anything and suggested having dinner together. You said, “What should we eat?” You asked that so innocently, I was kind of caught off guard.

Is this the reason why in the beginning episode(s), she fantasized about JiHo telling her “Honey, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat”? Because they bonded over the meals? Pffft.

SE: (smiling at him)
JH: The dinner we shared that day was very delicious. I was sure that I’d feel uncomfortable and awkward, but strangely, I felt very much at ease. So I couldn’t ask you to cancel the contract. I kept thinking, “One more time.” “I’ll really tell her next time.” One more day. One more day. That’s how I spent five years. (holding her hands) Don’t go. I don’t want to stay apart from you. Could you stay with me tonight?

My Comments:

a. While the idea that he spent five years THINKING “One more time. One more time. One more time…” may appeal to many viewers, I personally think it’s dumb. I can’t believe that he wasted those five years when he could have talked to her, explored their likes and dislikes, connected with her, and truly gotten to know each other.

Remember too what SangEun said in the beginning. “He’s terribly quiet. If you add up everything he said for the last five years, it may be about 50 words in total.”

b. I think he’s feeling the “halo effect.” He perceives her as a likeable person because his first impression of her (e.g., she was “innocent” and “sweet”) has tainted how he views other aspects of her personality. It’s his cognitive bias. He believes that she’s nice so everything she does is cast in a similar light.

To have a true and correct assessment of her character, he should see how coldly she can manipulate others (e.g., the clients she discarded) or condescendingly she talks to Madam Yoo.

c. He sounds so naïve in this scene I want to kick his ass. The way he hesitantly asked her, “Could you stay with me tonight?” was a real turn off. I could imagine him asking her, “Could I kiss you on the lips?” “Could I unzip your blouse?” “Could I take off your underpants?” Ugh!

It’s going to be a long night if he has to ask permission for all the 1001 things people naturally do when making love.

d. But what gets me is that the reason he’s doing this is because he was coached by his mentor. Oh gosh.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

All in all, I don’t regret dropping this drama.