💐🌸💐 @packmule3, thank you for taking time on Easter to open new threads for us. I would emoji you one of those Easter Lamb cakes – the sort that my grandmother used to make, except that 1. there isn’t one and 2. she was finally told that everyone preferred her home made lemon meringue pies. But I digress. I hope that you are having a fabulous Easter day.

Ohhh yey! It’s better in gifs! 😍 Those are great to start my week especially because they only had that one kiss. I actually felt deprived. 😂

Thank you! 🤩

I think we’ll spend a good portion of this ep in AJ looking for JH. My curiosity is, what when she does find him ?

Hi @Fern, @Janey, @ Arihsi, @agdr03!!

I second the wish for more kisses. We have been baited time and again each time our OTP are together, but they don’t kiss!

I’m waiting impatiently for tonight’s episode. I’ll have to stay up late in order to catch it.

Sidenote: actor Moon Sang Min will be in another romance but I wonder how many of us will watch it, because he’s playing opposite the actress who was panned here on the Hospital Playlist2 threads LOL. None other than Shin Hyun Been (who played Jang Gyeo Wool).

I am relatively unscathed by HP because I dropped it early enough. I’ve also seen SHB in bit roles in a couple of other shows. She was ok. I may give this noona romance a shot to get more Moon Sang Min.

https://mydramalist.com/article/shin-hyun-been-and-moon-sang-min-are-confirmed-to-work-together-in-a-new-coupang-play-k-drama

Hmmm. Growl. Me is not happy. Me wants to SEE not HEAR long dialogues. Me wants more resolution, more realisation of deep love and maybe more tears? Show me the love. Show me how grandpa reached this point. Show me what everyone was doing for freaking one year.

When I’m sad, my tears roll down my cheeks a la QoT ML. Properly. They do not pool around my lower lids and have anti-gravity properties.

Me is upset at this very long and pointless episode. I’ll be sulking in a corner of you need me.

Blimey, @GB. Long weekend. I forgot it was Monday!!!

Hi Ladies!

I’ll try to watch it after lunch.

@GB, I don’t think I can watch MSM’s next drama because I’m not into the FL. 🙁

@agdr03, I know what you mean about not being into some actors. I have avoided Jung Woo Sung works for that reason. Then would you believe it, the actress you cannot get into worked with him on Tell Me That You Love Me. I tested myself by watching a bit, since both leads are not the ones I’d choose.

Show-wise, I like the premise of the deaf guy getting around to stop separating himself from connecting with others, … but the show is too slow moving. I like the side characters. The FL is adequate and JWS looks much older than his 50 years. It’s a far from youthful romance and rather low-key. I don’t know. I may or may not continue depending on the emotions the show elicits from me. So far I’m not irritated but I’m getting impatient and am using the FFD button quite a bit.

@GB, agree on your post about “lame” grandpa! It’s so on point. That’s the thing with lying and keeping secrets for the sake of xx – it’s not really for them but for the person who is lying. So I am not surprised DH and JH both “ran away” after their big reveals, too. I, too was so disheartened when Grandpa asked AJ to still marry DH. This is like her conversation with DH all over again. I will have to rewatch the order, but I think this is the last straw for AJ to take control of her narrative and put an end to her relationship with JH.

That period of reflection (don’t they say this after doing a formal apology – reflect on their actions, blah blah) or “resting period” is an interesting concept. And you’re right, it’s used a lot in kdrama. Growth and maturity happens after a time jump. I hoe that includes grandpa!

AJ is so forgiving though – friendship with DH went unscathed by all this turmoil and breaking of contract. TBH, I was waiting for compensation conversation- for her dad’s hair implants! Hahaha!
See, she was even the one who visited their mom’s resting place? JH, DH, grandpa need to grovel hard!

@Janey, good catch about the umbrella! The umbrella disappeared and re-appeared, and just after that AJ appeared with a red umbrella of her own. I would love for AJ to have come there with Grandfather, too. It would be like a gift to JH.

@Growing Beautifully, I agree that Grandfather was lame. He was trying to unbend, to make amends for his relationship to JH. Whatever he says now, it doesn’t ring true to me. It doesn’t make up for how JH was treated, so for me, saying that he would still save JH first is a new thing because if it were so all along, JH would have been treated better. I think Grandfather knows this which is why he said he would understand if JH wanted to cut ties with him, as he believes DH did.

(BTW, where was DH when all of the accident drama happened? JH once said to AJ that DH saved him, so now I don’t know what he means. I assumed he meant at the accident site somehow.)

I suppose the lie began because Grandfather felt he must preserve order in the company and also for the sake of all of the grandchildren. But at that point, I think he should have put a ‘leash’ on the son-in-law somehow to prevent him from gaining more power. That would have made more sense to me. As it happened, lacking transparency, the younger boys were blamed for the death of their mother. Their step-father, thinking that his deed was un-witnessed could act as he wished and so inform the actions of his own children.

(Gosh, I didn’t know the mother was conscious when the car exploded! 😫😭)

I noticed immediately that AJ and JH avoided any physical contact the whole time they were in the seaside town up until the last scene when they shook hands. It seemed to me that they didn’t trust themselves to stay emotionally detached while they talked things through. I know what you mean about the period of reflection, @Janey. I think if they had gone straight back into their relationship too much would have been un-resolved.

Yes, I want to learn how the others are doing. What CW and the Taeyang Company did about LJ; what Do Han is doing; whether there’s a new baby at the Na house; how the proposed Shopping Centre is doing; how AJ’s career is going. Hopefully we will get this information tonight. Min Woong was prescient when he told his ambitious wife, ‘…if Seung Ah and her father are still on the same side’ – or something like that.

@agdr03, I think we will have to wait until tonight for those kisses.

I sort-of didn’t mind that the brothers disappeared after the press conference. If they had hung around, they and those around them would have been hounded by the press. It seems the internet was buzzing anyway, so going away would help stifle interest. DH goes back to NY, probably, to his happy place and I don’t mind that because he can live well there. I wonder if JH stayed at his position in LJ Group or if he got a job elsewhere (Taeyang perhaps?). From the last scenes, it doesn’t look like he was in contact with his grandfather during that period.

Thanks for clarifying about the cctv video, @agdr03. I wasn’t sure if the meeting was a flashback or if the events proceeded as shown.

I think it would be OK if Seung Ah was in a good place in the company as well. But she will need to do decades worth of apologies to her half-siblings.

Now that we know SA’s father kept his wife’s shares, wouldn’t divorce her and was guilty of vehicular homicide, it makes his place in the firm even more untenable and mysterious to me. The grandfather should have threatened him at least for the boys’ portion of his wife’s shares.

I loved that AJ stayed true to DH even with her family, stating that their fake marriage was to help him with his ‘situation’. She kept his secret, as did Dae Hyun, come to think of it.

@Fern and @Agdr03 – thanks for the discussion on cctv video timing and SA’s dinner with journalist, I was confused at first as well. What infuriated me the most on the accident scenes was that nobody even called 119 (or they didn’t show it).

@hana, those breakup scenes were painful. The dying sparks of the fireworks was an apt representation of their relationship. When she said “I really liked you” then extended her hand out to shake and then goodbye, so sad. I was actually more worried that she will not get a ride back to Seoul because it was late. Me doing reality check! LOL!

Ok, I’m ready do the last episode! I hope the wedding in the preview is theirs and not one of her roles.

@Janey, @Hana, @Fern, @agdr03, @Arihsi
EPISODE 12
I guess most of our questions are answered. It was a roundabout way to flesh out the ending. A lack of oomph somehow?

I loved who turned out to be the CEO.

I was wondering about those handwritten coupons of JH’s and whether he had passed them on to Sec Kim as he promised. And I was surprised where one of them turned up.

I thought the parallel with AJ originally talking to the umbrella that JH passed her and this episode JH sort of mentally debating with himself in front of the umbrella that AJ passed to him, was cute.

More later!

https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/koreans-turn-to-nutritional-extracts-made-from-carp-eel-and-chicken-feet-for-extra

I was curious about carp juice! What the???

Hello chinggus!

I tempered my expectations for the finale because of ep11. Ep12 was ok, it rounded up all the characters’ ending and answered our questions. There’s still some growing to do though and the show put that dose of reality into it, I guess.

In pure grandpa fashion, he bought the forgiveness card from Sec Kim – he said it cost a lot, insinuating the presidency of LJ to Sec Kim! I wish grandpa to do more but this is the dose of reality I was saying, it may be so fantastical if he did a total 180 on his personality especially that he is already old and set in his ways.But at least he was specific of what he is asking forgiveness for, giving basically an approval for JH and AJ relationship. Ok, grandpa, I forgive you, too. 😁

JH and Taek established their own company. There’s still time for JH to get the experience in managing a company and he can still lead LJ especially with Pres Kim at the helm. JH was right to bet on Sec Kim when he was 8 years old. This is another reality check to not give the company immediately to JH. SA continues to be a director of LJ like her older brother. But she seemed to have curbed her “greediness”. I’m glad their father got his comeuppance and got kicked out of LJ. And his secret will remain with SA but she should have destroyed that thumb drive vs just throwing in the trash. just saying!

Happy for CW and Kim Bum. Happy that AJ’s dad got his hair implants (thanks to SIL). Happy that DH is happy, more confident and had closure with his ex. His paintings – face heads camouflaged with colors like masks – now have eyes, ready to face whatever is in front of him.

I didn’t like the ending wedding (not in the mood for plot twist!), I wish they just showed they got married which I think they will eventually. Sigh…

I think the forgiveness card was my favourite part. I wish I could have seen it being passed around a bit.

The more I think about it, the more I think those sparklers on the beach were akin to the last episode: not awful but lost spark and wilted.

@Fern, how right you are! Those sparklers were the only spark left in these last 2 episodes. Their dying down was the perfect analogy to what we get in the finale… rather burnt-out sticks of characters left on the sand. They continued to play their roles but there was no spark.

Lee Soo Hyuk and Kim Bum amused me. Together with Jung Kyung Ho and Song Joong Ki, there were at least 4 cameos from biggish name actors!!

I wanted to see Sec Kim make use of the other coupons too, but I’m glad that Show did not forget the forgiveness card. Yes, indeed, the price of it was probably the CEO position, but it was the right move.

SA loses the Board of Directors but still gets some role and her brother only gets a hotel. It sounded like it was SA who got her father into trouble so that he is in prison. I wondered if she had reported him as the one who brought about her mother’s death. Or what bit of whistle blowing she did. She might still have had to pacify Reporter Kang if she didn’t clear his name.

Eun Taek and Ji Ae were ridiculously over-the-top, but played with gusto by the actors. The PPLs reared their heads with gusto too… @Janey yikes, carp juice!!! Thanks for the link. There was the snack, the car, previously Kopiko? I don’t recall what else, but I felt them when they eased their way into scenes.

@Arihsi… at least the opening credits animation ending with the umbrella over JH made sense all the way through to the end!

Gotta run for a bit… I’m still thinking I will be back.

@Growing Beautifully, I don’t think that SA reported her father for the accident because she threw away the drive stick and didn’t tell the reporter that she found it. There must have been some more intel on her father’s embezzlement or whatever it was and she found a way to present it to the authorities anonymously.

I liked that Secretary/CEO Kim could hold his own against Min Woong and his wife. Likewise, I liked that Eun Tak could ask JH to speak respectfully to him now, as a co-founder of the new company and someone who was slightly older.

Hmmm. Do you think the carp juice is a type of fish broth? I’m hoping that is the case. I can’t imagine drinking it cold.

@Janey, if Lee Soo Hyuk and JJS have a drama together that should be delicious. I love his voice. He was my favourite part of Doom At Your Service, tbh. So this is perhaps a preview of them together in the same frame?

You are right that Moon Sang Min did very well for a newbie.

Yes, the PPL loomed large in the last 2 eps. The Audi, the stick snacks, AJ’s new little car, probably the soju and certainly that carp juice. 😝

@Fern, yes, I made a mistake. I was trying to do a rewatch and found out that she’d got him imprisoned for embezzlement.

I wonder in what way she was said to have gotten rid of the Board of Directors. She’s in charge of a Department Store and her brother has a hotel under him. Yes, I liked that CEO Kim was not taking nonsense and casual speech from Min Woong.

@Growing Beautifully, I re-watched the conversation between the older siblings. You are right and I was wrong above. My subs have SIL Se Jin saying that the Board was shattered and Grandfather resigned to take responsibility. So perhaps the board needed to be reformed in order for the company to continue to trade in good faith.

Hi Ladies. I just finished watching the last episode. It did feel a bit flat but I still enjoyed it especially with JH being so cute when he’s jealous. 🙂 I liked his impromptu proposal with him saying he will be a consistent husband.

We really needed Grandpa’s approval, I agree with that. I liked the forgiveness card too and how he used it to give JH and AJ his blessing.

I loved Kim Bum’s cameo and oh I got goosebumps with Lee Soo Hyuk’s voice when he said yes at the wedding. Where did it come from? LOL.

I can see JH and AJ going straight to register their marriage. I got a bit scared with AJ’s wedding dress though while she was running. I wish they showed their 2 kids but it’s ok. 🙂

Thank you drama! 🙂

PS. The carp juice. Ani!

(continued…)
At home, AJ says to herself that she’s glad JH is doing well, that she should have done this at the start and that it was the right thing to do. I wonder if by this she means that she should have kept herself separate from JH from the beginning.

JH gets home with the dripping red umbrella and watches AJ’s scene on TV on repeat, knowing her lines by heart. He admits to himself that he’s not doing well at all and that thinking of her now and then added up to thinking of her all day. He falls asleep watching AJ on TV.

AJ is ecstatic to have DH back and they speak of going out for a drink, but AJ does not wish to include JH. She wants to keep the status quo of how she’s been okay for the past year. We find that no one is against AJ dating JH except mainly AJ herself, with JH being conflicted.

Fishing with Grandpa
JH is sitting with Grandpa who is fishing.
G: “You’re the strange one, coming along on your grandpa’s fishing trip. Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
JH: “No.”
G: “What about AJ?”
JH: “I can’t date her.”
G: “Why not?” (As if he does not know.)

Grandpa gives JH the ‘Forgiving a Mistake’ Coupon.
JH: “Why do you have this? I gave this to Mr Kim when I was little.”
G: “I bought it.”
JH: “What?”
G: “I bought it from Mr Kim.”
JH: “How could he sell this? And how could you buy this?”
G: “It was really expensive.

(I’ve a funny feeling that this could also mean that Mr Kim had pointed out to Grandpa his wrongdoing and had offered him the coupon to use, in exchange for agreeing to take on the care of LJ [for the youngsters]. I’m guessing that ultimately Kim will pass back the leadership role to one of the grandchildren).

G: “Anyway I use that so that you should forget everything I did to you and AJ. Understand?”
JH: “What’s gotten into you?”
G: “When I went to see your mother, I saw you two together. She seems like a good kid. Even after what happened, she still came to see your mother. I felt grateful and sorry. Anyway, I used that coupon, so we’re even. So don’t use me as an excuse and start seeing her and stuff. All right?”
JH: “It’s not like that. I just feel too sorry. Plus, it’s been a year …”

Grandpa says something unexpected… in contrast to what AJ and JH had been saying to each other: “AJ didn’t seem to be doing so well. You too.” (Grandpa was perceptive and right. He was referring to their emotional health or happiness whereas when they spoke about themselves, they had referred only to their getting on in work and not about how they felt.)

(continued…)

(continued…)
Kim Bum Cameo
42:50 Bin Tae Hwan drives up to give Chae Won a ride. He’s had a crush on her since her wedding. She thinks it’s wrong of him to have had a crush on someone else’s bride. He says the opposite of what AJ had said to DH.
Bin: “Love comes before friendship. Is that immoral? Is that bad too?”

CW: “Yes. Critical again.” (CW uses this term around 3 times in different conversations. The sequence and the meaning of what is said is critical so that she knows to accept or dismiss the speaker).

Bin: “But I didn’t act. Why don’t you focus on my self-control?” (Is this the message of this episode? JH and AJ should be praised for exercising self-control, and now they are to be rewarded since almost everyone wants them to get back together.)

Bin: “O how the bride was much too pretty.”
Chae Won laughs. She’s charmed despite herself, and we find out later that he succeeds with CW.

JH and AJ’s Family
A drunk JH tells AJ to break up with her ‘boyfriend’.

Next morning he surprises AJ by telling her family that he is pursuing her again.
JH to AJ’s family: “I don’t know about AJ, but I like her. No, I love her. (The background music was a hoot… giving us anticipation and then bursting our bubbles of excitement.)

“I know it would seem weird for me to say this after a whole year. You can curse at me or hit me all you want. But even if I’m beaten to death, I can’t give up my feelings. I can’t live without AJ.”
Mother: “Then why did you cause such a huge scandal with that press conference and abandon her for a year?”
JH: “Back then, I thought it would be best for us to keep a distance. That we’d forget each other and time would heal everything. But now I know how arrogant and foolish that decision was. So I won’t make that mistake again. It’s late, but I’ll do my best.”

Su Jung and husband think JH is going to ask for AJ’s hand in marriage, but he asks to be taken in, instead!!! LOL. Dad says they already took in one son-in-law and didn’t want to take in another.

JH asks for a chance to prove himself so that in time they will accept him. Su Jung and husband are happy to ‘take him in’ to do the housework and the parents stop protesting.

After the stress of meeting the family and starting to pursue AJ whom he thinks has a boyfriend, JH sits outside with another tummy ache. AJ tells him that she does not have a boyfriend and comes clean about her feelings.

AJ: “I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. I missed you so much, and I wanted to hug you so much. I wondered how I lived without you. Seeing you next to me made me feel like I could finally breathe.”

JH covers his face and makes a decision that he does not seem to be too excited about, because it’s not according to his meticulous plan for a unique proposal of marriage.
(continued…)

Aw, thanks, @Growing Beautifully, for the summary and quotes.

On Viki, JH mentioned being the type of husband who “cleans the floor all day with a lint-roller because of that hair.” It made me laugh to visualise him on his hands and knees rolling a lint-roller over the floor daily. Really, what sort of husband is that? I know that vacuums are in use in Korea because we used to get PP from Dyson in k-dramas, so he’s exaggerating to show his devotion.

I agree! Thanks @GB

@Fern I recently learnt about floor lint rollers while I’ve been travelling and observed hotel staff cleaning. They make it look easy! Once over with floor lint roller followed by flat microfibre mops (dry then wet). I’m tempted to get one (a JH would do too!).

I think AJ lied about her manager being sick to get a ride from JH as her sister asked why AJ wouldn’t come out of the house when her manager tried to pick her up that morning.

Me too👵

Good article on how Wedding Impossible drama came about, the casting, difference with the webtoon and other behind-the-scenes tidbits.

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/k-drama-wedding-impossible-chang-shinae-interview

Cheers!

@GB, IKR? I would have loved to see them
actually married, then with 2 kids in their seaside vacation home – even as epilogue in pictures or snapshots. Hahaha! It was fun watching this with you and the BOD folks! Will try Lovely Runner next.

I’m just going to put this out there. While I was watching the show, I was thinking what a great twist. It would be if it turned out that the older brother was bisexual and actually had been in love with the female lead, but did not want to Complicate her life because of his sexual preferences. Or she could have been bisexual. What was her interest in a gay man? I am just putting this out there as an interesting thought that might have added some spice to the show, Especially toward the end. That would really have been subverting the tropes up until the end.

I just watched 11 and 12. I saw some of the BODers’ comments regarding episode 11 so my expectations were tempered. While I didn’t love the ending episodes as much as I liked the rest of the series, I thought it was a sweet conclusion that tidied up the loose ends (except who beat up DH’s boyfriend – which is still a mystery unless I missed it). There was so much plot to sort through – they could have edited the focus on AJ’s career in the final episode to more patiently work through some of the other loose ends. Instead much of it was told in narrative.

I really enjoyed watching this show with all of you. It was a fun watch. Now I will go and read everyone’s comments about the final episode.

@Fern they’re a very cute couple irl. I enjoyed reading the Teen Vogue article as well. The executive producer was so positive about the ML and FL.

@Janey @Fern when I heard she was dating a director – I immediately thought older/middle aged man. Stereotypes I guess! They’re cute and age appropriate – although honestly once you’re in your 20s it’s up to the individual to decide who they want to date. Thinking of this – you really don’t see the age spread in Korean dramas like you do in western movies where the men are costarred in romantic relationships with women quite a bit younger like Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson. If anything the women in Korean dramas are often older than their costars. Something to ponder

Thanks @Good Twin! That was a good read. I agree with the 5 Noble Idiocies used (never knew that they could be categorised!!! I must save this to refer to!) I also agree that this would not have been as much fun if not for all our shared thoughts. Loved putting down my nonsense just for the heck of it! LOL.

🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕🍪🍪☕

Yes @Growing Beautifully, it was a fun ride and I so enjoyed all of the comments on the WI threads. Many thanks to @packmule3 for indulging us.

I wonder if we will get any fan re-writes of the last 2 episodes. I know there were some for Vincenzo and others.

Great Soompi article. Thanks for sharing @goodtwin! And for @Gb and @fern keeping this convo alive. ☺️

Is there a kdrama without any noble idiocy? It’s the mother of all tropes! LOL! But I agree, this is a major reason why the last 2 episodes feel flat. The feisty FL and gutsy plan to the last detail ML kinda just gave up. Until the forgiveness card was released (I like that one!). Now I’m thinking how should the story have ended?

We are happy you visited us in this post @pm3 and that you are well and safe! Thanks for letting rant and rave on this show! 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪