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Nice Guy: Episode 2

Who doesn’t like a heroine who can eat fried chicken and still do her job all from a hospital bed? Eun-ki’s really winning me over with her sass, even though little hints reveal that she’s not just the workaholic ice princess she tries to be. It makes for some really lively scenes whenever she comes into contact with Possibly-Evil Stepmother Jae-hee, and I’m just hoping that even with the future promise of amnesia, Eun-ki won’t lose her spark. Rock on, Eun-ki.

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EPISODE 2 RECAP

If looks could kill, the one Maru sends Jae-hee’s way would be the end of her. He continues on until Eun-ki is stabilized, and leaves Jae-hee flustered and staring as he returns to coach class.

Only when he’s out of her sight does he stumble and struggle to catch his breath.

Once the plane lands, Jae-hee accompanies Eun-ki on her way to the hospital, still looking as though she’s seen a ghost.

Maru drives silently while Jae-gil chatters from the backseat, revealing that he knew the woman in first class was Jae-hee. He’d apparently tried to tell Maru that there’d been rumors of her marrying a businessman, but Maru went into such a rage that it was never mentioned again.

Jae-gil clucks his tongue at the fact that Jae-hee used to visit Maru in prison constantly, but her visits became less and less frequent over time until she finally stopped altogether.

However, he does seem to suspect Jae-hee as the perpetrator of the murder, once he considers Choco’s story that Maru went out to meet Jae-hee that fateful night. Plus, murder just doesn’t fit Maru’s character.

Maru finally slams on the breaks, and snaps back to Jae-gil that he’s not his personal chauffeur (since Jae-gil has been sitting in the back). I love that Jae-gil’s reaction is so innocent, since he just grew up so privileged, and is left totally bereft when Maru leaves the car because he doesn’t know how to drive. Hah.

Cue flashback of childhood Maru and Choco, and his first meeting with Jae-hee as she comes running, beaten and bruised, from a boy chasing her. Maru Lite tends to her wounds since his lifetime dream is to become a doctor, and they share introductions and smiles.

We fast forward a bit to their college years, with Jae-hee failing to hold in her envy over a rich girl with her eyes on Maru. That girl would be lucky to get a catch like him, which has Maru saying as casually as you please, “That catch. Can’t Noona grab hold of that catch?”

Taken by pleasant surprise, Jae-hee is practically giddy as she says yes, and makes him pinky promise never to betray her so that they’ll be together for a thousand years.

Back in the present, Maru sees a street stall and remembers the happy times he used to spend there with Jae-hee. He mentally kicks himself to snap out of it, reminding himself that there’s no returning to the past, and even then, he’s not the same Maru he once was.

He tells himself that from this moment on, it’s over. Now is the time to move on. He lets the past image of himself and Jae-hee walk away, and struggles not to look back.

It’s sort of funny when Joon-ha finds Eun-ki scarfing down some fried chicken while she digs into her workload, all from her hospital bed. Even though Maru saved her life, she harps on the fact that he wasn’t an actual doctor, and she could have died.

However, it seems that the reason she’s so upset about it is because she’s done her research and knows that her doctor impostor and Jae-hee have some sort of history.

She takes a call from one of her spies, reporting that Jae-hee took something close to one million dollars from the bank, and orders the man to see what Jae-hee uses that money for.

So Eun-ki’s spy follows Jae-hee as she heads back to her old neighborhood dressed to the nines and loaded down with gifts. She stops when she sees an image of her childhood self in front of Maru’s house, until her attention is drawn to the commotion happening outside.

He’s got an angry husband demanding to know Maru’s whereabouts, and Jae-gil calmly explains that it just isn’t possible that Maru would sleep with a married woman, since even gigolos have principles. The wife finally confesses that it was all a misunderstanding, and that she only had pictures of Maru on her phone. Unsurprisingly, Maru has a pretty large ajumma fan base.

No, I don’t quite know why Jae-gil breaks a plank of wood on his head, other than to seem more intimidating(?). In a funny turnabout, the wife wonders if she’ll be more available to Maru if she gets a divorce, which sends both her and her husband running out the gate. Good riddance.

Jae-hee asks Jae-gil if the cause of the fight was Maru, and seems almost indignant as she asks, “What is he doing with his life right now?”

Turns out he’s accompanying Choco to a doctor’s visit, and even though the doctor says she’s much better than before, she still mouths to Maru: “I’m still sick.”

She keeps making this point as they leave the hospital, and Maru seems used to this “I’m sick” song and dance. Once he tells her that she’s not allowed to go drinking or clubbing she bursts out that she should have just died back then.

Choco: “Oppa, you abandoned me back then! You were crazy for Jae-hee Unni and ruthlessly abandoned your sister who was sick. It’s your fault that I’m suffering such pain now. If I die, then it’s all your fault too!”

Even though she does have a point, something about her words makes this conversation seem oddly manipulative. Especially when she turns right back around and tells Oppa to give her a piggyback ride, since she’s tired from yelling at him.

Meanwhile, Jae-gil explains the whole gigolo thing to Jae-hee as being born out of necessity, especially with his father’s debt looming over him and Choco’s constant medical bills. Also, no one hires former convicts.

As Maru carries Choco home, Jae-gil explains that the only reason Maru is alive is because of Choco. But even so, he’s still dead inside. Interestingly enough, Jae-gil asks why God is so cruel to Maru, which is the same question she’d once posed to him.

She asks him why they haven’t moved out of the same old dump, and Jae-gil says that it’s because of her. Because Maru was worried that if he moved, Jae-hee might not be able to find him, so he waited every day. Oof. Do you feel like a boob, Jae-hee? You should be.

She’s gone by the time Maru gets home, and once Choco’s in bed Jae-gil hands him an envelope of money from Jae-hee, and that she said she was repaying her debt to him. Oof, times ten. It would have been less terrible if she’d given him nothing at all, but money? Harsh. Really, really harsh.

Maru grabs the envelope and goes running to try and catch up to Jae-hee, who’s broken one of her fancy heels (and the one-shoe deal is reminiscent of her first meeting with Maru).

When he doesn’t find her, he crushes the money in his fist.

Jae-hee’s already driving away, but she remembers the moment in the motel as well as a new part of the scene we haven’t seen, where Maru gave her his shirt and she’d hugged him as she swore that she’d repay the debt for the rest of her life.

And in the present, she sits hunched over the steering wheel in her parked car, just taking it all in.

Eun-ki is in the yard to greet Jae-hee when she arrives home, and explains that she snuck out of the hospital. Her tone is icy even through her forced smile, as she asks Jae-hee what gave her the right to let a med school dropout take care of her.

Her tone turns even icier when she asks why Jae-hee gave almost a million dollars to that same dropout, which has Jae-hee surprised. I like that Eun-ki doesn’t mince words and explains upfront that she’s had spies tailing Jae-hee ever since her own mother was pushed out of the house which, presumably, caused her premature death.

“I’m going to get revenge,” Eun-ki informs her. “I’m going to find your weakness and kick you out just as my mom was kicked out.”

Jae-hee tries to counter that her words are harsh, and I love that Eun-ki’s defense is that she’s the one playing fair by revealing her strategy, compared to Jae-hee, who she pretty much calls a deceptive snake. I’m likin’ Eun-ki’s metaphorical balls of steel.

When Eun-ki talks about releasing the photos of Jae-hee delivering money to Maru, Jae-hee tries to cover her tracks by saying she gave him the money out of gratitude for saving Eun-ki’s life, a thought which makes Eun-ki burst out in laughter. She doesn’t believe one word of it.

She beats Jae-hee at her own game by poking holes in her story, and easily shows how she could turn the situation around by claiming that Jae-hee paid Maru to kill her. Eun-ki: “There’s no need for you to get so worked up. I just think this rationale is more convincing.”

But Jae-hee brings out her claws and shows that she’s no wilting flower by lying to Eun-ki that Maru threatened her with the scandalous secret of Eun-ki getting slapped with a drug possession charge seven years ago.

Whoa. This is a side of Jae-hee we haven’t seen, and she’s just as icy as Eun-ki as she turns the tables and not-so-subtly threatens her with outing that possibly damning secret. It’s a regular blackmail-a-palooza up in here.

We get a peek into the drug incident in question, where it turns out that Eun-ki took the fall for a friend (or boyfriend) who promised to use his dad’s influence to help her company’s financial situation. Iiinteresting.

Back in the present, she gives that same man a call, and can hear the sound of his wife and baby on the other end. That knowledge seems to hurt her, but she tamps it down to retain her cool facade.

She tells him that she didn’t take the fall for him in order to save her father’s company, but because she loved him. And we can totally see that flash of vulnerability on her face, which makes it all the more tragic. Obviously her former boyfriend was/is a tool, and she says as much before she hangs up.

When he calls her back, Eun-ki drops her phone into an aquarium. Good for her.

It’s raining out, and Maru picks up a call from Jae-gil, who’s happy as a clam with a girl under his arm. He claims he’ll be gone for a week, which Maru just shrugs off.

Am I the only one who finds it a little weird that Eun-ki’s family dinner includes two lawyers? After her father gets carted off in a wheelchair, Eun-ki shares an almost mischievous glance with Joon-ha before she drops the bomb: she’s reported Maru to the police, for threatening Jae-hee, thus trapping her in her lie.

Oooh, I love this odd couple and their clever game of one-upmanship. I love that Joon-ha is totally on Eun-ki’s side, and that they coordinated this together. Heck, I just love that Eun-ki won this round, which means I’m firmly in her corner.

Maru finally works up the nerve to return Jae-hee’s money, but he can’t bring himself to ring the doorbell and plops it in the mailbox instead, with a note.

A call from a frantic Choco sends him running home – the police have arrived. They inform him that Han Jae-hee has brought blackmail charges against him and place him under arrest, which has got to be like a kick to the family jewels.

Choco runs after them in the rain, begging the police not to take her Oppa. Maru tries to calm her hysterics, but she pulls out the tried-and-true “So what if I die?” card, which finally brings Maru to a breaking point.

“Then die,” Maru says coldly, catching Choco by surprise. I wonder what it’d take to have him really lose his cool.

Jae-hee has to go to the police station to confirm her statement with Maru, an idea that has her wringing her hands. When Maru’s brought into the room he just levels this look at her – a mixture of hurt and resignation – that says volumes more than words.

The policeman present asks her if her claim was true, and after a looong pause, Jae-hee steels herself. “The man sitting in front of me has threatened my family.” Ouch. I know where she’s coming from, having been trapped in her lie and all, but she had a long time to think about whether she should throw Maru under the bus. And then she did. That makes this all even crueler.

As this hits home, we hear Maru in voiceover: “I was planning on understanding you. I know that I no longer have the right to have Noona anymore. That Noona and I now belong to entirely different worlds. Because I knew that more than anything else in this world, even if you didn’t go this far, I was planning to forget you, Noona. Even if you didn’t go this far, I was planning on sending you, Han Jae-hee, to the person you wanted to go to.”

Someone needs to knock some sense into this boy. Regardless, he remains completely silent, which the police take as a confession to his crime.

And of course, once Jae-hee gets home, she’s handed the envelope of money Maru returned to her. Upstairs, Dad is tearing Eun-ki a new one, not for sending her stepmother to the police station, but over business matters.

They both have pretty different opinions on unions, with Dad being 100% against them and Eun-ki willing to cooperate, provided the result is mutually beneficial. Dad even shatters a glass in a rage, cutting Eun-ki’s cheek in the process. Which she takes like a boss. No surprise there.

He tells Eun-ki that he won’t give his precious company to someone who can’t protect it, and voices her worst fears – that Jae-hee and Eun-suk can fill her spot if needed. “If you can’t handle it, run away,” Dad yells. “Run away like your mother.” Wait, what? Dad thinks Mom just… left?

Later, Jae-hee checks in on Eun-ki, now sporting a cheek bandage. Eun-ki already knows all about the mini hearing, and says that due to the lack of evidence or confession, Maru could get out scot-free.

However, Eun-ki doesn’t plan on letting him go that easy. We see Jae-hee’s inner word-that-rhymes-with-witch come out as she tells Eun-ki that the money was returned to her – after all, Maru failed to kill Eun-ki. (In this super complicated hypothetical situation/lie.)

Jae-hee thinks she’s putting Eun-ki in her place by threatening her with the drug scandal, and knows that one-third of the board opposes Eun-ki’s succession, because they think she’s weak. Which, really? Have they met her?

Eun-ki’s smile stays frosty as she lets Jae-hee get in a few more parting jabs. I’m guessing the payback will be on a scorched earth level.

Maru gets to cool his heels in jail for the night while Jae-hee gets to read bedtime stories to her son. As for Eun-ki, she burns the midnight oil at work and drinks alcohol straight from the bottle. That’s just plain impressive. (Don’t do this in real life, folks.)

He’s released the next morning, only Choco is nowhere to be found. A local ajumma tells him that Choco fainted in the rain and was taken to the hospital.

Maru is by her bedside in no time, but he can’t stop thinking about the harsh words he said to her. When he takes her hand, he also remembers her blaming her sickness on him abandoning her. A different, harsher look crosses his features, like he’s found new resolve.

Eun-ki’s cool enough to go on a dirt-biking excursion, though she’s soon joined by another rider. It’s a pretty cool action/scenic jaunt, even though the other faceless rider crashes, and Eun-ki’s breaks stop working as she veers dangerously close to the edge of a cliff.

She tries and fails to skid to a halt, and the dirt bike falls over the edge while she hangs from a jutting branch. She starts losing her grip…

And strangely enough, the other rider is revealed to be Maru, and he arrives just in time to grab hold of her hand.

 
COMMENTS

I have no idea what was happening in that last scene, but I’m pretty excited to find out. At least, I doubt a “Whoops, I just happened to be dirt-biking on the same scenic route as you” will suffice.

This episode was a little light on the Maru and heavy on the Eun-ki, but you won’t find me complaining. I like that our two main characters are getting enough time to be fleshed out as individuals before we end up seeing them collide, which is a rare thing in the whole Fated To Be aspect of the dramaverse. Sure, some freaky coincidences put Jae-hee back in Maru’s orbit, but all their decisions from the end of the plane ride have come from choice, and not Fate, which is refreshingly nice to see.

I’m guessing that we’re either in for a dramatic reveal later that will somehow try to justify Jae-hee’s behavior, or that she’s just lost her humanity. Because while I believed her wide-eyed innocence, it just took that one moment of her going stone cold to Eun-ki in order to shake up my entire perception of her.

Granted, Eun-ki is capable of turning her bitchiness off and on too, but she seems much more honest about her actions as opposed to Jae-hee, who made that jump from wide-eyed and wondering to cold and calculating like she was flipping on a light switch. That takes a different kind of character, and a different level of deceptiveness, than someone like Eun-ki.

I started out with a somewhat mild level of understanding for Jae-hee, just waiting to see a justification for her actions, but the confession scene pretty much killed that hope. Deliberating over her decision to damn Maru further for the longest time didn’t do much to help her cause, since that just means that even with careful thought, Jae-hee will do wrong.

Maru is no knight in shining armor either, which makes for some rich (if not sometimes frustrating) character conflict. I wasn’t really annoyed with him doing the whole “I’ll take the fall for Noona” bit, but his inner monologue about how he was going to forgive and forget nearly had me climbing up the walls. Is there a limit to how much this boy can be stepped on before he fights back, or is he destined to remain a beautiful doormat?

If Eun-ki does get to stay the way she is, I hope she teaches Maru a thing or two about toughing it up. Then again, she also has a painful history of self-sacrifice-gone-awry along with a healthy dose of daddy issues, so maybe the two of them aren’t so different after all.

But really, Maru, I’m just trying to get on your level. You have to help me help you.

 
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Thank you for the recap!, I need to correct some thing. the money Jae-hee gave to Maru was roughly 1 million dollars.

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Yeah. i kept seeing it translated to 10 million won, on viki, which would only roughly be around 10k us dollars, so i was like, why are they making a big deal out of that? it must be something like 100k or even a million.
So a billion won! cray.

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It was 1 billion won. Ten 100 million won bills.

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in the US, it is about 800,00-900,000 .

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i cry so much..its only ep 2

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Stock up on tissues, it looks like it's going to be a hell of a ride.

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yep was one million not 10,000

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Oooh, this looks like it's already getting good! And it seems like MCW has also gotten better at acting.

Am hoping on good stuff! Am currently addicted to Answer Me 1997 after seeing all the hype here. I'm only on episode 3, but I can see a lot of drama watching nights in my future...

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I'm digging this show!

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IKR!
The good writing, the good directing and editing, respecting the viewer who even in dramaland DO happen to have brains, the upbeat pace, that beautiful and really suggestive tango from the OST, the grown up Moon Chae-won, the smart and fierce leads (yes, how refreshing to have a smart and tough lead lady!) - and some pretty visuals, too - so many, many reasons to look forward for the next episodes.
I notice a trend in dramaland "the awakening of leading ladies" and this gets me really excited and makes me renew my vows with drama. (The " flowers and rainbows" kind of women all over, shy and weak and looking for knights in shiny armour almost made me cheat drama back with some old loves, but, well, when you have "at home" all that you need, why look elsewhere?)

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THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE RECAP!!

song joong-ki & moon chae-won<33

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Officially now coined ChaeKi. Their chemistry is just off the charts, and I'm still waiting for my ChaeKi to actually talk to each other. *sigh* How am I going to survive till Wednesday?

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My goodness, ChaeKi is the cutest name ever!! Hahaha. I approve.

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Isnt it awesome how we still find ourselves rooting for eunki despite knowing she's a bitch?

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I'm going to root for expressly because she's a bitch. I think it's a refreshing change from the usual Mary Sue k-drama heroine who is completely forgiving and a doormat. Rock on Eun Ki!

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HAHA, yeaaah, I was actually wondering when we were going to get a jaded heroine in the k-dramaland instead of the "Yeah, some awful shit happened to me, but GOSH I am sooooo optimistic about life" type, which is just so false to me. A jaded hero and a jaded heroine? Cool.

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Heroines who get trampled on and still believe life is full of rainbows and unicorns. Real people just does not react that way in real life. (or maybe i just havent met any legit nice people irl) still, i do not buy that act. Which is why i find it extra difficult to feel for characters despite knowing i should.

I LOVE alpha females who can stand up for themselves and all hell breaks loose. l

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Actually, I do know people who really have shit going on in their lives, and who are, because of that shit, the kindest people I've ever seen. And somehow some of them are still optimistic too. But none of them are naive, with the rainbows and unicorns like in dramaland...

Actually, I am conflicted about Eun-ki. As for now, I've been swaying between loving her and hating her. So I'm waiting to see more of her.

I agree it's very nice to have strong female leads, but I wonder why these kind of heroines are always hard-hearted?

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@Waca -- Yes, that's what I mean, too. Not everyone comes out jaded but the rainbows & unicorns way some of those heroines are portrayed is the false part. I know you have to be a little mad about something!

And I don't think Eun Ki is really hard-hearted. Just tough on the outside, since I guess people see her as "weak" like she said. And maybe really stubborn? hhaha.

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i'm rooting for her because she's really rock here...hahaa
Chaiyok Eun Gi...

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Any show that fleshes out both character's in equally layered/interesting qualities is a keeper for me.
the first and last time i've ever seen where the hero and heroine were both EQUALLY important, interesting to watch, and needed one another to really keep going was K2H.
Which will remain my favorite show despite its flaws.
I'm seeing that both Eun Gi and Maru will (hopefully) remain characters that are both in-depth, 3-dimensional and a hoot to watch.

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I was on the fence about whether or not to watch this because I'm not really into melodramas...but given how much you're loving it, I think I may have to cross over to the dark side, haha.

I have seriously been struggling to find another drama addiction that I don't drop halfway through after the magic that was K2H. Maybe this will carry me through?

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my heartie!!
I can't garantee you won't be disappointed, cause god knows i know how it feels to watch shows and drop them midway.
right now, i'm in a very curious stage -- and it also could be that it's been a while since i've seen a melo that didn't repulse me through its makjang-y.
there are moments where you question the character's actions, but it's definitely a sit back and see stage for me now. :) it's nice to see you, though, my heartie!

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I just watched the first episode and it's very interesting so far! As long as they continue with the character development and the relationships evolve, I think this has a lot of potential. The acting is phenomenal and the directing is very restrained & moody. Also, I LOVE Eun Gi. Not surprising that I adore strong, complicated female characters, eh? Chae Won is knocking it out of the park.

It's so hard to know what a drama will become from the first episode/couple of episodes, but I agree that this definitely has potential. Come on, drama gods, give us another meaty show to obsess over!

And while you're at it, give Ha Ji Won and Lee Seung Gi another drama to star in! Hehe :)

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yay! this means i get to see you in future posts.
still miss everyone from the k2h thread.
and i think my favorite part of this show is definitely our badass heroine -- we do seem to be having a weakness for that. heh
i'm not sure if ha ji won is doing a drama this year, but i heard seung gi wants to start a drama before this year ends, that busybody!

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Yeah, I just watched episode 2 and loved it. I'll definitely be around :)

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Omonaaaaaa~ squealling over this clip of joongki and chaewon's kiss. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dRNfcglk6I&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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OMG O__O
Well, that scene might be in Episode 3 or 4 for sure!!
Which means he's going really quick xD
But that's so sad...T_T I'm all for Chaeki but look at "THE" look of Maru while kissing her. Just like "I'm just using her".
So what I'm asking is: When Eun Ki is going to be amnesic? Will it lead Maru to love her?

And in general, when Maru's feelings towards Eun Ki will developp, since he will actually play with her feelings for some time...:(

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I remember seeing a bit of eun-ki's amnesiac stage and she seems very nice.
i don't know if i like that.
i like her as is now. HAH.
can she just, not lose her memory? And then they BOTH in their normal states just plot revenge. i say NO to amnesia.

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Im really selfish and k want her to stay as fierce as she is. But im trying to be open to the idea of her amnesia because im sur ethe writers feel its "neccessary" of plot development. I just hope we dont spend too much dragging hours of the drama with her in that stage, and that the amnesia will be a short period. Im really hoping joongki falls in love with her during her amnesia, then eunki finds out she was used. She gets made and plots some sort if revenge, but then she realizes she's equally in love with him too. Happily ever after. I just need someone to bite joongki in the ass, payback is a bitch! So he'll realize what he did was wrong.

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That whole dirt bike riding scene was seriously a big WTF moment for me. I at first thought it was separate from the show like a commercial or something.

But they just both happen to know how to ride dirt bikes and they both happen to run into each other? This is seriously some lazy and contrived writing if its just coincidence.

I seriously hope more of things like this don't pop up later on.

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I was like, whut? Why the music video all of a sudden?

The editing was kind of abrupt.

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Im thinking it wasnt coincidental. And that maru plotted the whole thing.

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And i also think the editting was purposely done that way. Then we'll get the reasons on the third ep. like maru wanted to get close to eunki. So he made a situation where he could be with her and make it look like faith brought them together where in fact he just orchestrated the whole situatiin, of course eunki falling could not have been part of the plan. But it just happened that way. And now he got to be her hero TWICE. He's bound to get on her good side, or atleast get her to notice her,

I could be wrong, buuuuut, i like it this way,

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I just realized so many typos and errors on my post. So many feels for this drama clearly getting the best of me.

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I get that and I think he planned it that way too. But I feel like there must have been a passage of time from the previous scene and they should have showed that. It wouldn't have been so WTF that way.

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I actually LOVE how this show is being directed and edited. The black and white of past memories to ground viewers to characters' complex emotions, and the fast breaks between time jumps.

This show doesn't beat around the bush, nor does it assume it's audience lack deduction skills. It was obvious that Ma Ru had finally gotten the resolve to take revenge, why the need to elaborate when everyone knew he was going down this path? He'd rather see him do something right away rather than think things over.

I just love how the directing is sedated and so subtle, the acting powerful and chemistry-filled, and most importantly, I love the writing so far with it's layered and complex characters that still needs unraveling.

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Consider it an incentive to tune in next week. That "passage of time" will be included at the beginning of episode 3, when they replay the accident. (That is, assuming they didn't make any changes to the script at the last minute.)

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Thanks for the spoiler I was also thinking that part didn't fit in with the rest of the ep. It was like your sister is in the hospital and you go for a joy ride? Yes I think he planed the meeting but he doesn't know that Eun Ki thinks he is an assassin that has tried to kill her before. I can't wait to see how that scene plays out.

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I thought the transition to the bike scene was bizarre too. Seriously thought I'd skip a scene. But now I'm looking more forward to episode 3, whether or not Maru did plan everything and what's to follow.

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I kind of loved it. But that's because we see Maru have his click into ultimate vengeance moment in the hospital room, and then we get the bike scene. It's like the birth of the plan slamming into plan-in-action. Made for a good cliff-hanger and showed us the exciting bit of Maru all in.

Of course, I'm fully anticipating fill in later where we get a bit more of the buildup. But I really liked that they took us where we knew we were going anyway: Maru's game is on and Eun-ki is his prime piece.

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Yes, but EG is not some wilting flower girl. She suspects everyone. Initially, it should be difficult for MR to penetrate her hard exterior.

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Very true. Which should make the game that much more exciting! And she knows who he is, so he can't just approach her as random sexy dude.

Those are reasons I'm expecting we'll get filled in on how Maru went from deciding to play to dirt-bike racing with Eun-ki.

(Hmmm.... Totally guessing, but maybe this is his approach? Using the shield of the helmet to get under her guard with explanation to follow after the reveal?)

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They're going to explain that at the beginning of episode 3. Whether you buy the explanation is up to you, but there's an extended sequence in ep. 3. They just wanted/needed to end episode 2 with that cliffhanger (literally in this case).

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I like this. Really. I used to avoid shows like this, but the temptation of a dangling Song Joong-ki plus Moon Chae-won acting like a modern version of TPM's Se-ryeong (without Kim Seung-yoo).

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Even though the title is "Nice Guy", I don't think Maru was really a nice guy even before all the sh*t went down. More like Obsessed Guy. I don't think a super nice guy would leave his sick sister - especially when she's actually go a chronic condition and not just, say, a cold - for his girlfriend who simply "needs" him. I feel like his love for her goes beyond to a kind of obsession, because otherwise why would he take the fall for her, knowing his punishment would be worse? As we find out in this episode, his dream to be a doctor is no less than hers to be an anchor. (Also, WOW she ended up not being worth the sacrifice.)

Then you have the fact that he never moved away from his old neighbourhood. Even in the scene at teh police station, more than thinking he was a doormat, I just felt how overwhelming her hold is on him, even after all these years.

His actions toward others, honestly, don't paint him as a nice guy - I think that description better fits Jae-gil. He's working as a gigolo to pay his sister's bills, yes, but it seems like a kind of atonement out of guilt, though I'm sure he loves her as well. Choco is a bit annoying with her "I'm just ganna die" refrain, but I can see that she feels it's the only leverage she has on him. Because she feels he abandoned her before and she is kind of desperate to hold on to him. Not really a healthy relationship, but it kinda breaks my heart.

Eun-ki is pretty badass, but what I see more than anything is that she is a very lonely person. She's built up those unscalable walls of ice because the ones she did let in betrayed her so badly. Ouch.

And yes, weird to have lawyers at the family dinner, I thought that too.

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I think so too. I mean, Grade A crazy just does not creep out of no where.

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After watching prison break, i'm certain that prison changes you. be it 5 or 20 years. lol
So much shit goes down.
Maybe i'm thinking of america's prisons. those are scary.

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I like your views on Choco.

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“Nice Guy” isn't the actual title - it's supposed to be "There's No Such Thing as Nice Guys" but got compressed for length.

I guess we're meant to understand the current "Nice Guy" usage as ironic. Character-wise, I'm hoping you're right and we'll find out that Maru was never a 100% nice guy even in his fresh-faced med student days and he did what he did out of some darker motivation than Nobly Idiotic self-sacrifice.

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I agree with Farpavilions that the title is meant to be ironic. I don't speak Korean, but I read on dramawiki that "Nice Guy" is actually purposely misspelt to further undercut the phrase. I'm only partway through the first episode, but already I find it really interesting how the show is exploring (and challenging) the notion of selflessness and "noble" behavior. Nobody in the show is selfless, and even Maru's "great sacrifice" was ultimately done for very selfish reasons (to keep Jae-hee alive and to gain her love and admiration) and at great cost to his sister.

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Not knowing the writer's other works, I actually think the boy is JH/MR's son and not the chairman's. (EG only started tailing her comings and goings after her father openly revealed his relationship with her so JH had ample time without her plan being noticed.)

In some twisted sense of loyalty to MR to keep her promise, she conceived his child to love and care for and get back at the chairman for ruining his life. There's more to her than meets the eye methinks....

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I thought that too but many are saying that the timing doesn't work out for the kid. I don't know, but if the boy IS Maru's son, that is FUCKED. UP. on so many levels. Not only that she would keep the info from him, but that she'd send her son's father to jail AND frame him. Yikes.

I actually really hope the boy is not his, because I honestly don't want another thing tying Maru to Jae Hee. I want him to get his revenge on in peace! Or, you know, tumultuous revenge-angst!

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I know the timing is questionable, but I think she conceived the boy while he was in prison and not before....

Don't ask me how they did it, but this is something that remains to be seen in FBs. By all accounts, JH is loyal, and loves MR. And yes, that would be a FU situation if the kid is their offspring since she has not told him about him yet.

When MR first laid eyes on the kid, it was though an invisible thread was there. She probably could not tell him because he would ruin her plans for revenge against the five star people in the world....He would claim the child and snap her back to poverty. His ability to make a good living and care for the kid is out so she is doing it for them.

I think her actions are convoluted and clever in a wicked sort of way.

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I think he will get his revenge on but regret it once the cat is out of the bag about the boy.

This is all one big misunderstanding between them but they are all so similar. They all perceived each other correctly initially, but life has a tendency to warp that perception. JH will think MR will spill the beans on her secret and so ruin her plans so she has to advance her scheme sooner vs later since he's involving himself in her life; MR thinks JH betrayed him; EG will think MR and JH planned his relationship with her when JH had nothting to do with it directly.....And around and around we go.

This is all speculation of course. :)

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Oooooooh, I think I see why everyone hates Jae Hee now. Iiiiinteresting. And yes Maru and Eun Ki seem to be very much alike.

I'm pretty interested in Maru's relationship with his sister. It seems like she hasn't forgiven him yet for abandoning her that day (I don't think I would either) and it kind of seems like they hate each other....hmmm.

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No one can cause you as much pain as your family. Because you love them and hate them equally sometimes. I feel like that's how their relationship is now. She idolizes him, yet she still hasn't forgiven him. He's doing the most repugnant things for her sake, and yet he probably resents her a little for being a burden on him, while still loving her and protecting her.

So complicated. :S

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Yes, I agree with this. That's what it seems like to me too. He probably also senses that she is still mad at him for that even though he is trying to make up for it and that gets him upset. I wonder if he ever apologized. Like, not in action, but actually saying it? Did they show a part like that or mention it in the show?

Verbal apologies can go a long way. Maybe not in this particular situation, but it could be a start.

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Not sure where you're getting the "hate" btw the siblings. All I see is a young sister who's been sick her whole life, is pretty d@mn tired of being sick but can't help herself, is extremely dependent on Maru, is traumatized by her brother leaving her that night (thus her hysterical reactions when the police show up), still resents him for that but can't stay mad with him for long (eg. her asking him to carry her is her way of saying sorry), and believes in him ("tell them!! tell them that's not who you are!! you're not a blackmailer, why are they saying that?!!"). And a brother who's taken care of her his whole life (except for that huge mistake), went to med school b/c he wanted to treat her, will carry to his grave the guilt that he abandoned her, and is pretty much living for his sister and his sister alone these days. That's why the only time he truly gets angry with her is when she's screaming she'd rather die than see him go to jail again.

If that's "hating each other", then I don't know what "love" is.

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I'm wondering how Choco and Eun Gi will meet... and how they will get along with eachother. After all in Choco's eyes women seem to be not good for her brother, right!? O.o

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You'll get some answers next week. :)

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Argh, you are teasing! :D

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kristi: so, they're going along fine, yes?

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Watch next week. :) That they meet is spoilery enough, IMO.

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amen sistuh

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Well, I haven't actually watched it yet, so I'm just going on what I've read. When I watch it, I'm sure I'll be able to pick up on their feelings more.

And by hate each other, I meant something more along the lines of what Laica was talking about. I have an older brother (and sister) so I know that feeling when you "hate" them and you argue a lot because you don't quite understand each other as much as you would like. I was thinking like that...

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Yeah, Jae-hee, what a great character.

OK, maybe she didn't ask Maru to take the murder rap for her, maybe her threatening to blackmail EG could be defended because she wants to protect her son's interests, and maybe being dragged down to the police station frightened her enough to lie, but
SHE FALSELY ACCUSED THE BOY SHE CLAIMED SHE LOVED WHOSE LIFE WAS ALREADY DESTROYED without blinking an eye.

I know she had to do that in order for there to be 18 more episodes, but still, I don't like her.

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I also think because she left him a million dollars that this latest frame-up should ease the tension a little. This kind of "relationship" worked between her and the chairman, but not everyone is so easily persuaded with cold-hard cash to let bygones be bygones....

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maru will probably just think she did it in order to get back at him.
Give the million dollars. and then call police on him so it looks like he really did threaten her for the money.
There was a voice over in his head where he said he'd let her go and forget her, and she didn't even need to do this.
I think he really felt betrayal, like she planned everything in order to send him a message that he needs to stay away or something.
Oh wow. and this was all because of Eun-Gi.
lol, i have a love-hate relationship with her. Mostly love. otherwise we wouldn't get conflicts.

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Yes, the voice-over. "He would let her go and forget her...." so he has not. And it actually looked like he finally felt betrayed by this woman. Ding.Ding.Ding.

I'm beginning to think JH did not want MR to save EG at all. They had 30 minutes before touching down and EG did not have that amount of time before medical intervention was required.

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Well, let's see, EG came home from the hospital after barely surviving on the plane. She cheerfully accuses JH in scheming a murder plot by timing precisely her fainting on the plane and then producing MR to kill her. That's very rational given that she is still alive and saved by MR.

Then she promptly puts a stranger whose kindness and skill saved her in jail. Why? Because it helps her to trap JH.

Such. A. Nice. Girl.

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Lol, yes everyone seems to be a little messed up. So maybe the drama should be titled "There's No Such Thing as Nice Guys...or Girls" ahaha.

But, I wonder about Jae Hee too. Is she really eeeevil or is she just bad with making decisions? Is there some bigger secret she is trying to protect?

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After I listened and watched JH's interactions with EG when she brings her that drink, I came to the conclusion that the woman is a "master" manipulator. She's been at a long, long time.

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While Maru in prison, don't you think JH should help him taking care of Choco? where was she then? surely she wasn't around and look after the sick girl..

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@mskololia

Ooooh, I see. Iiiiinteresting. I wonder if we'll get a story behind that or if they'll just chalk it up to "she had a rough life",lol, which seems more like an excuse than a solid reason.

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@shms

I guess not. But, even if she wanted to, I don't think Choco would have accepted help from her anyway. Her older brother abandoned her when she was sick to go to JH and then went to jail for JH for five years. I don't think anyone would accept help from that person, not even out of spite,lol.

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canxi: yes, but she could silently helped Choco from behind without her knowing. At least, monetary help since Choco has no one to depend on at that time.

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@shms -- well, I don't think that's true. Someone had to be helping her since she's alive right now and survived that day. But, who knows? It's only the second episode and I'm just reading re-caps. I just don't feel Jae Hee is coming off as "evil" to me yet. Maybe a little manipulative and probably sneaky but not really anything to make me hate her.

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When Maru was in Jail, Jae Gil was the one who looked after Choco :)

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@canxi,
It looks like JH can get some guys to do her bidding and others not as seen by her intro and the motel and EG father's scenes. She realizes that one "cannot win them all" but she gauges her responses/actions with that in mind it seems....

JH is a player too MR.

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What an intense show this is. I love it. Jae-hee is a total witch with a capital "B". Eun-ki has got some serious balls of steel. And Maru is...well...Maru. I don't know what to make of him, yet. I really think that Choco's "illness" or whatever is what really decides him to go after Jae-hee. The fact that he left his sister behind for Jae-hee has probably been eating away at him secretly for years. And finally she faints as Jae-hee interrupts their lives once again by placing charges against him, and that, plus all her past doctor visits, has finally been enough for him to handle. He can't take anymore, so he decides on revenge. I think after confronting Jae-hee in the police station, he had come to a tentative decision regarding it, but at the hospital with Choco is where he finds resolve. So. Awesome. And yet I worry about him.

Also, am I the only one who thinks of chocolate when I hear the name, Choco? And, that girl seriously needs to stop guilt-tripping her brother. It annoys the hell out of me when people do that. She and Jae-hee make quite a pair.

Thanks for the recap, HeadsNo2!

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In Choco's character description. it said that when she's young she like chocolate so much and she will stop crying if they give her chocolate so her father call her choco.

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thank you for recapping headno2. i love and at the same time pity all three characters. hope they have happy ending.

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I hate to think this way but the only way MR will toughen up seems to be if something bad happens to Choco (in a permanent sense) and it's because of his compounded poor decisions where JH is concerned. If that's the catalyst of choice to bring this man out of this black hole existence that he's trapped himself into...so be it.

MR, the zombie like existence does not suit you. I hope your good name is cleared in the end and you can practice medicine because you are a good physician.

Nice recap Heads!

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Thank you HeadsNo2, you're awesome! Been looking forward to this episode 2 recap, so happy to see it up.

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I love these complicated, not easily defined characters!

I love the complex relationship between the siblings: They adore each other, but also have some rage-issues (which, I understand on both their parts).

I love that Maru's love for Jae-hee is painted as at least a little toxic from the get-go, just because it makes his slide into darkness that much more interesting. It's a beast unleashed rather than created. Which makes it much more personal, I think.

I love Eun-ki's relationship with... well, the world I suppose. She's like in constant battle-mode, which can't be good for her and I totally get why her lawyer (who is totally awesome, and I hope actually is gay, because it gives a nice shape to their relationship - something more sibling than romantic, maybe?) worries.

And I'm totally looking forward to the interaction between Maru and Eun-ki. Should be epic.

And Jae-hee... Don't like her, but love that she's not simply evil. I look forward to seeing what exactly makes her tick.

Thanks for the recap HeadsNo2! :)

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I am seriously loving this show!!!
None of the characters are 'nice' in my opinion. This show is full of intense emotions, it's giving me goosebumps. brrr it's cold in here...
Thank you for the wonderful recap HeadsNo2!!

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Wooow! Thank you sooo much headsNo2:-) i'm so happy that you've decided recap nice guy,i like it!;-)

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Wooow! Thank you sooo much headsNo2:-) i'm so happy that you've decided recap nice guy,you're awesome!;-)

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I actually really liked that inner monologue he had about how he had planned on forgiving her thing.

I think that when he found out about the suing and seeing/hearing her accuse him of something he didn't do really finally shattered his image of hers.

I understood why he was planning on forgiving her. First of all, it wasn't actually her idea to make him take the fall. He volunteered all on his own after she had resigned her fate and decided to tell the cops. He can't blame her for taking the fall. He simply thought she married a person that she really loved. And who was he to judge her or condemn her?

So with that belief I totally understood why he would forgive and forget. It was only after he realized that she provoked him even when he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize her life that he finally got to his senses.

And then that scene at the hospital when he held his sister's hand and his eyes... *shudder*
I would not want to be on the receiving end of that.

I'm SOOO looking forward on how he's going about this whole revenge thing.

This is definitely not my sort of drama. I hate melos. But I'm willing to tune in for these quite awesome characters and especially my joongki as a lead actor of his own drama *cheers* well deserved break.

BUT that one scene about the married couple and how she has his picture on her phone. That got me laughing out loud. I wasn't expecting this drama to have humor (and I'm not sure if that scene was intended to be humorous) but I have a feeling that Kwang Soo's character is to provide that comedic relief. And if so, the I'M relieved. I can't deal with straight melo.... even if it is for Joongki

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It’s so reminiscent to see both kim young chul & moon chae won play father-daughter again. This was one of the relationships that I found so interesting to watch in the princess’s man. So weird though. It’s like, they’re a modern, reincarnated version of what used to be King Sejo&his princess daughter.
But dang, no wonder Eun gi has that cold persona. She works so hard to make sure everything’s in order and yet it’s never good enough. She barely gets rest and always has to clean up the problems in the company. And to top it off, the one person she needs, (mom) was driven away by another younger woman. Tough cookie. She’ll crack one day.

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I think the amnesia will be her body's way of cracking underneath the pressure....

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I know! I hated him so much in The Princess's Man; this time he has to pay for his douchebaggery!

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he seems worse here, to be honest. ha.
in the princesses man, no matter what, he still loved his daughter and favored her. we always knew she was his favorite. well of course, towards the end it was a bit patchy.
But here, he is just downright EVIIIIIL. let's hope that as we progress he begins to change.

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Now I am thinking, that the title There is No Such Thing as Nice Guy could be a pun to the past drama series that keeps on making heroes and heroines nice but downright stupid...

Or an irony to the hero of this very series as well.

I love the analogy that Heads said on her 1st epi recap. That this series presents a blurry line between love and obsession. Are these nice looking heroes in love or obsess with love?

Hmmm. I am not yet sympathetic with any of the characters yet but I am starting to invest some to Eun Ki. I think it's because her coldness and iciness are justifiable given the fact she has been emotionally abused ever since she was a child. She was taught to be cold to be able to survive. That's the only thing she knows she can protect herself now that she doesn't have anyone - no man to trust, no mother around.

And it is not because of psychopathy I'd say how she acts towards her half-brother. It has been studied in Psychology that anyone who's undergone emotional and physical abuse as children have all the tendency to become abusers themselves. They are not mentally retarded. Their sense of reality has been tampered with violence.

I love how series like this enable us to dig deeper to the psychology of other people around us. We can't always say "She should have done this. She should have done that." "What she did was morally wrong." Or whatever. Even that very essence of morality is questionable because we have diverse experiences and different ways in absorbing and processing our environment. We can't out-rightly say she's evil or immoral just because she doesn't pass in our own book of right and wrong.

O well. I'll wait for the next epi.

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@ Jushi I like your thoughts

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Even when she was being a total witch with her little brother, I found it coherent. I only hope that sometime of the drama we will get flashbacks of her childhood, to see her interactions with her parents.
The company is the only thing that she really desire to possess and is also the only thing that could affect her dad and her stepmother, in a kind of way to make up for her mother's death. She also doesn't care about love anymore, because she moved on from a pretty screwed one. The guy you love asking you to be arrested for his own good? Harsh.

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Yes, but to see these very intelligent adults make poor life choices is mind-boggling.

Why take the fall for a competitor company whose heir is a screw-up and think your father, who you know all-to-well, will let you forget that fatal flaw in her character? I think she was counting on dad to see things from her perspective but it was a really foolish business strategy on her part. If that "road bump" is revisited with her former flame, I hope she has something on him and uses it to take his company over [while giving him the option to keep his position or quit] because they are probably enemies in the business arena.

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Well, it seems they aren't intelligent at all. It is not always true that someone who's good with books is good with life choices.

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They are intelligent and very capable in their chosen professions. The emotional bubbles that were created for them offered a chance for EG/MR to solve the problem presented to them in a vary sane manner.

MR convinced JH to turn herself in, which it looked like she was willing to do, but then he stops her.???? One minute we see that MR has wanted to be a doctor since he was a child and the next he's trying to convince JH and us that it means nothing because JH's career means more than his own. Just no. Especially when we see that he basically abandoned his sickly little sister who was dependent upon him.

EG's bf came to her asking for her help with a drug-related criminal charge. The business proposition was in exchange for his father's company helping her father's. Why take responsibility or face criminal prosecution for the wrong doing of another person without expecting to gain something in the end? One does not.

To expect to get nothing in return is not realistic.

If MR was going to prison in exchange of his love, JH would have to agree to take responsibility for Choco while he's gone. No, she gets to live her life--scot-free of any recrimination or responsibility to his household now that the sole breadwinner is gone.... And since MR is the gift that keeps on giving, she gets to trample on him again for her own personal gains. Stop the madness.

If EG took the arrest for her ex [because clearly they were together], there should have been a written or recorded agreement from the heir with some actionable items once the exchange is done. His offer should have been recorded instead of her just foolishly going along with his half-baked plan...and it was an offer. At least she was thinking of her father since he mentioned him. MR, idk.

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It's all about knowledge v. wisdom.
The smartest person in the world could know everything in the world, but does that mean that they have wisdom, too?
I feel like through experiences you can achieve wisdom.
Someone with not much book smarts can still be very smart with life choices.

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Wow. Cried my eyes out when Maru was walking and reminiscing about the past. The initial meet and continued connection they had. And he gave up family and career, his entire future for her. And for her to have visited him in prison and then eventually stopped was bad. I liked the fact that yes, Maru has changed but he still had that soft core in him where he was willing to let it all go and separate himself from Jaehee. But then to be stabbed in the back was enough. I though Maru was already in the dead zone but man the boiling anger and conviction at the hospital showed he didn't reach the ultimate dead zone.

Eunki showed her humanity with the memory of taking the fall for her boyfriend only to be replaced and abandoned not only by him but from her parents as well. Wow, two souls that were turned to the dark side by their loved ones! I can totally see them being soul mates in revenge and badassness! It's going to be interesting to see how they egg on or change each other as they continue to interact. Can't wait.

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... then there's Jae-hee. I'm waiting for the final part of the triangle to develope.

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I’m so glad lee kwang soo is here to help provide some comic relief, ‘cause god knows we’ll need it. It’s nice though that he’s not your typical k-drama chaebol. They’re usually in suits, cold&impolite / friendly&polite. But I’m happy they decided to go with dorky and funny.

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Why do I want to bump my head on the desk when Maru says that he was going to forget about Jae Hee? After all she has done to ruin his life, he is a total idiot wuss doormat.You hear his voice over, but he refuses to say anything even after she accuses him of blackmailing her!
How many times can you kick a dog before it bites you back?

Jae Hee is devoid of any conscience. Eun Ki is no better, so it makes you wonder who is the bigger bitch? So far,I think it's Jae Hee. She can make up lies without feeling an remorse just so she can get the upper hand on Eun Ki. Jae Hee's the classic step mother from HELL, and Eun Ki's dad's the typical unscrupulous, tough as nails business man. No wonder Eun Ki has to watch her back!

It is so hard ,and I really want to root for someone in this drama. Everyone is a manipulator including Choco. The characters are so bereft of humanity or human kindness. You want to shake some sense into Maru and hope that he will get some guts.

I'm sticking it out because I'm a fan of Song Joong Ki.

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They really are painting him as a doormat (for JH). Even if he plots revenge against her, his life will continue to revolve around thoughts of her.

I liked the symbolism in the flashback of JH and MR in front of the motel door before she left.
He literally took the shirt off his back and put in on her.

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I am expecting him to be doormat here, have something really big happen, like maybe choco passing away ( i know, sad.) and then going on a revenge rampage.
lol. that'll satisfy me enough.

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She didn't force him to take the fall for him and as far as we know she never promised to love him forever. From his perspective he brought the jail time on himself and after 5 years they were in completely different worlds and couldnt be together anymore.

Of course he resented her for letting him do all that but that would not be a cause to go out and seek revenge. I would actually be upset with him if that was his logic behind getting revenge in the way he's going to.

Her accusing him of a crime he didn't commit after all he's done for her, showing her true colors there, is a proper call to action. And his sister being sick because she popped up in his life again and this time her directly ruining(or trying to) his life is a bigger kick to the balls. If he's logically deducing things based on what he knows he probably thinks that she gave him the money JUST so she could later accuse him of blackmail, which is even worse.

I'd call him less of a doormat and more of a boy who was in love/obsessed with this girl. She had a pretty tight hold on him, and whether she got there through manipulation or not is to be seen. A doormat does not abandon his sister and go to jail to cover his gf mistakes without her prompting. An obsessively in love boy does.

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This episode was a little light on the Maru and heavy on the Eun-ki

It was? :) Maru's scenes were so all d@mn good and angst-heavy, didn't occur to me it was a Maru-lite episode. And I'm very glad Maru, Eun-Gi and Jae-Hee all got a chance to be fleshed out. There were so many scenes where we were given insight into different facets of the characters, and the transitions btw them were beautiful, like when Jae-Hee's reading a bedtime story to her toddler son, while Eun-Gi's burned the midnight oil (first with work, then alcohol) and Maru was reliving his nightmares in jail. PD Kim Jin-Won's doing some seriously good work with the direction and editing.

And FINALLY, THEY'RE GOING TO MEET FACE TO FACE!! I'll be counting the hours till next Wed (and your recaps).

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"FINALLY, THEY’RE GOING TO MEET FACE TO FACE!!"
I can't wait for the triangle! All 3 super glued forever by hate and obsessive love. I trust Lee Kyeong Hee that the triangle will NOT be simple

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Wah Joongki. From a cheeky historical drama playboy to this. Since when have you been so awesome.

Also, did the first part of episode 1 remind anyone of Lies - BIGBANG? Or is it just me ...

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My favorite scene on this epi btw is when Eun Ki threw her phone on the fish tank. That's the very first time we saw her show a bit of what's hiding behind her hard mask and the song was very fitting. I was thinking that time "Is that Eun Ki's theme song?" The vocals were hushed, symbolizing the silent agony and loneliness she's been feeling all this time. It's as if she's lullaby-ing all by herself. And man! That last facial expression was just heartbreaking to look at.

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Haven't had the chance to watch this show, so I'm just reading the recaps. Been a fan of Moon Chae Won since Brilliant Legacy. She looks totally boss in this =)

Also wanted to add....EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY!!!! Great song of the day.

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yesss, yeeess, jushi, that is my favorite scene too since she's so beautiful in that scene. a bitch with bitchy hair, bitchy character, but with pretty sad face. i love everything

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Omo.im really intrigue with the plot that is being shown to us.and the layers of each characters. im feeling them!! i guess im on for angsty melodrama..as much as i avoid it, it cannot be helped. -____- ............ ugh! im setting my self for a heartbreak... im hoping that the ending will be about redemption (not maybe a happy ending atleast) and not tragedy...anyway as girlfriday said.
" i will your tears for breakfast"

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* i will have your tears for breakfast* soory bout that _____

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LOL! Re: "... soory bout that___"

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I've watch few of Lee Kyeong Hee's dramas and I get the impression she hates those cliche endings where everyone is happy including all the evil and mean bad guys.

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I'm familiar with both Will It Snow and A Love To Kill but haven't watched both completely. But you know what? What I am feeling over these characters of Nice Guy is moving towards pity. You know that feeling of wanting these people to be happy at the end of the day because they have suffered so much in life? Like you want to tap their shoulders that things will be okay soon? You've made mistakes, but there is never too late in making things right. Hahaha. I am really wishing that there will be redemption at the end of all these.

O well. We're just in episode 2. My god! Too advance. Too advance. Erase. Erase! :D

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so you guys saying that the ending might be a tragedy?!! pfftt O_O

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I think JH and MR will suffer greatly in the end.

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oh yeah. Lee kyeong hee is known for making her characters very pitiful.
You feel for the character's pain, and you just hope to god they get a good ending. I didn't watch a love to kill, so i don't know if it was a happy ending or not. But in will it snow for christmas (which was one of the few melos i enjoyed despite it getting a bit complicated towards the end) it was suggested that the main couple do end up getting together. So i consider that better than a sad ending/someone dying.

But i think this director might be good with the combo of this writer because it seems he doesn't have the characters over-do any of the emotional scenes, or drag em out. it's very subtle. i like it.

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So that was the end oh Will it snow for Chistmas, eh? I didn't finish it, because the characters just kept sinking into sorrows. But it was good.

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Not sure why but I'm really not warming up to Eun-ki. I'm probably on the minority here but I'm totally on Jae-Hee's side and can't wait til she turns into an evil step moter! Thanks so much for the recap as I don't plan on watching it since you will be recapping it!!

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I watched this ep live (tho i mostly watch AATM), then raw. with melo usually it's not necessary for subs to emotionally be invested with the characters.. currently im in JH's corner. i know MCW's very good so far but as you said, im not warming up to her..

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Just wait. Lee Kyeong-Hee creates emotionally complex characters. The 3 will be super glued together by obsessive love, hate and REVENGE.

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I adore Eun Ki, but I don't hate Jae Hee. There's something strange going on between her and Eun Ki's father, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was some coercion involved in their relationship. I mean, look at how calm Jae Hee was when she came in to give Eun Ki that drink after having been berated by her father; it seems that violence is a common thing in that household. And, of course, we've been shown that Jae Hee has had a troubled history with men, which should probably be taken into account in her relationship with Ma Ru. Anyway, the only person I definitely dislike is the father, and his being played by the actor from TPM certainly doesn't help. Every time i see him I have to hold back from chanting, "You should have died! You should have died!"

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LOL.
ladida, actually, i hope the white hair helps deviate from the memory of evil King Sejo for you as it does for me.
I almost couldn't even recognize him!

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This drama is killing it!

Of course we can't forget Song Joong Ki who is nailing it in each and every scene he has. GOD I love him!!

And of course we have Eun Gi who is basically Maru's female counterpart. I think they will need eachother to heal from their past wounds.

CAN'T WAIT FOR EPISODE 3 and 4 NEXT WEEK!!

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So here's my theory so far from just watching two episodes.

I think Dad must have ask Jae-hee to go met the man in the motel room and steal the file because of Eun-ki. The files that Jae-hee stole might have something to do with Eun-ki's drug case (although we know that she was just taking the fall for her then-boyfriend). Eunki took the fall for her boyfriend because of love. Maru also took the fall for Jae-hee because of love. If you think about it, they're not that much different from each other. They both sacrifice themselves for their love ones, just in different shades.

I think Eunki's drug case might have been the cause for this domino effects that happened between the characters. If it wasn't for the drug case, then dad would not have ask jaehee to stole the files from the man. Jaehee might have not killed the man (although she probably did due to self-defense because he was going to rape her), and Maru might have not take the blame.

Later on, if Eunki falls in love with Maru and learn about all this, I think she would fell bad somewhat.

If these assumptions are proven to be somewhat true in future episodes, I think Eunki will cry a river.

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They 'will all cry a river' and me too.

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That actually would make sense! I was wondering how Jae-hee got to learn the drug case....

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Joong Ki/Maru has such a pretty face that I don't think I can ever come to dislike him... T.T

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Is it not obvious why Maru was there with Eun Ki at the end ?XD he's gonna save her and get on to her good side. Its his plan to get revenge on Jae Hee.

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Yup! He's been stalking her and Jae Hee to find a way to get revenge. I think some peeps missed that part. Lee Kyeong Hee makes you watch and notice everything and pick up on the characters emotions.
Like it took Ep2 to remember Jae Hee tried desperately to stop MaRu from saving Eun Ki's life with her verbal assualts. Her face showed admiration/love and anger. Crazy emotions.

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o.m.g. so his plan has been in session since the moment he met them!?
i don't know... i want that to happen cause then i'd be freaking mind blown and just appreciate the writer even more, if she crops all this up. i doubt many would already know he was in on it from the get-go.
i dont knoww! ahhh

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HELP. to those who watched GAKSITAL, can somebody tell me the title of this soundtrack? i dnt have an mp3 but i'l describe it. it has a patriotic feel, and in the later parts of the song it has some thrilling sounds. it's instrumental, so it's not judgement day. i've looked at all the instrumentals, but most are slow. it's not gaksital theme, against you, destiny, guardian, tae guk flag, it's NONE of those.

maybe it's unreleased yet, but it's not a new song since it was played on episode 2 already. i heard that music during the part when kang to escaped from jail and he went to konno's house. kang to was wearing blue. if you know this song, pls reply here. no one reads the gaksital thread anymore so i wrote it here. thanks

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That drama's thread at Soompi will have what info you need and more.

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Ok i don't understand why people r so mad at Maru saying he was going to forget JH and move on. What would u have him do? Revenge? I mean he's got waay too many serious issues to deal with that moving on would just be the obvious choice. Plus as already pointed out he offered to take the fall for her its not like she asked him to. I think forgetting her was a good idea, of cuz hed hate her for life for leaving him but its not like its a crime to leave ur incarcerated lover for another man (morally yes but not legally) But now that she's pushed him to breaking point am ready for whatever hell hes planning for her, 100% justified!

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ummm all Lee Kyeong-Hee's main characters are hopelessly locked into their fate by their obsessive love.

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Well i know everyone seems to think thats all this writer is capable of but i interpret it like its not obsession just common sense and (maturity?) that leads him to just say whatevs i'll live my life u live urs...

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Yep. I agree. I think that was the most intelligent decision he could come up with. Forgive and forget. When he learned that Jae Hee already moved on by marrying some other men, he's ready to move on himself. Because for the past 6 years, he's been waiting for her.

I think that's a better way of framing the 'revenge' of Maru as well. He did not plan to revenge on Jae Hee because of the sacrifice he made. He's gonna take the revenge now because after all he did to her, she still had the courage to frame him.

Plus. Based on Joong Ki's interview, he's going to use Eun Ki to be able to come close to Jae hee. Not to take revenge but to "save her from self-destructing." I don't know when that angle will be used in the story but I just want to point that out. I think that's an important element to look at, especially, in a few episodes or more, the vengeful Maru will soon take center stage.

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In Lee Kyeong-Hee's 'A Love to Kill' the triangle is glued by their obsessive love for the other 2 and the guilt of causing jealousy pains on the others. It seems the NG triangle will be glued by hate and revenge.
Waiting in agony for next episodes when the triangle is closed.
Waiting for the story of Jae Hee and her husband
Waiting for MaRu and Eun Ki to fall obsessivly in love.
Waiting for Jae Hee's love of MaRu to equal her money obession.
Add MaRu's guilt over leaving her to go to Jae Hee.
Add Jae Hee's obsesive love for her son to develope. Will it be like SangDoo's?
I'm soooo eagerly waiting for the emotional chaos to explode! After only 2 episodes, NG has enough material to make the love-hate triangle into a hexagonal one.

Lee Kyeong-Hee's drama can be really awesome!

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Moon Chae Won had always have this subtle icy quality, and this enables her to handle a wider range of versatile roles.

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it's definitely the combo of her gentle/soothing voice and her icy tone. Wooo.
she's great. and this is kind of random, but i always thought her lips were so pretty.

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Thanks for the recaps!
I've just finished watching the episodes, and all I can say for now is OMG Song Joong Ki is such a freakin' good actor!!! Well, I already knew it, but still, it shocked me again!
And Jae-hee had me, seriously, I really thought she was almost innocent with her sad eyes and remorseful glance until the moment she turned into ice and retorted evil stuff to Eun-ki and called her a bitch, all this with a incredible calmness. I don't really like Eun-ki as for now, but at least Eun-ki is kind of honest, while Jae-hee freaks me out, 'cause I have no idea if she really has some good stuff in her; for all we know, she could very well act it all and be real evil...

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Thanks for the recap!
So many good gooey and delicious mind snacks to enjoy.
The characters have so many angles, motivations, fears and faults. You wonder how we can go even deeper, but we will.

Reminds me of these lyrics:
"There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong"

I am trying not to get ahead of the story and guess where we are headed because the writer will do a much better job than me.

The most revealing moment for me was the scene where EG's father humiliates and threatens her. That showed me enough to understand how EG became the person she is.
It's kinda cool that this is a daughter, not a son, and that she is physically weak to boot. What kind of man overlooks the fact that his child almost died in the past week, and screams at her because they don't see eye to eye on a business strategy?

Yes, I was also mystified that the family dinner included lawyers. Happy, though, since they are handsome. :)

I haven't mentioned SJK because it would be too messy gushing all over the place. I adore him and his pouty mouth and his little lisp, his pale, almost ethereal, face constantly framed by sweaty hair and set off by the wardrobe of black shirts, his solid, confident stance that even form fitting jeans don't make less manly, his expressive eyes that defy, adore, accuse, measure with the tiniest blink or side movement. Mostly I love his voice, and the control he has over it. **sigh**

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Ha ha! Ur last paragraph made me lol so hard! As far as SJK goes u my dear r beyond help ; )

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Jomo wrote, "Mostly I love his voice, and the control he has over it."
SJK's vioce alone cn show MaRu's emotions. I'm so impressed by SJK's talent. He sounds like he is doing a radio drama, where the voice has to show what the character is feeling.

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i feel in love with joong ki when i first saw him in Sungkyunkwan Scandal..i was so excited when i first heard that he will star on a drama..

i love the chemistry between joongki and chae-won..i'm curious on what will happen after chae-won will have an amnesia..yay!

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I simply like Jae Hee.. and felt sympathy for Maru.. And i'm desperately looking forward to flashback why Jae Hee sacrifice Maru. Just felt that Jae Hee's character is more interesting afterall. Welcome back to dramaland, Park Shi Yeon shi~

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PSY! I went back to ep1 to see her desperately trying to stop SJK from saving MCW's life. Her face and voice rapidly going from love-desperation-admiration-anger and I got confused until ep2 explained what happened.
Lee Kyeong Hee requires a wide awake brain and heart.
I love MCW but she has yet to show she me that she can carry her side of their triangle at their level.

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We don't get to see that side of Eun Gi yet because unlike the other two, she doesn't show her inner feelings. She close that up very tightly.

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I have some sympathy on for Eun Ki, but only due to her Dad being a 1st class douche. I think the characters are more similar than they know, they all have been wronged in some way and are seeking revenge, I just kinda want to skip to the revelations, also I can't wait for the shit storm that is going to hit Jae Hee because she has wronged Ma Ru one too many times. I also feel that the a major puzzle piece is why Eun Ki's Mum left, hoping for a old friend of her Mum's to come along and be the exposition fairy at one point in the drama.

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I think JH lied and schemed her way into that household along with threatening the mom to ruin her daughter if she did not leave....

JH is not a very nice character to me. :)

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Actually, seeing how much of a jackass the father is, I wouldn't be surprised if Eun-gi's mom left because she couldn't stand him anymore. To me in this house it seems there's a very suffocating atmosphere. As the father is powerful, he got to keep Eun-gi.

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Na....JH knew what kind of man he was when she dropped off the envelope filled with whatever.

She communicated that he "ordered" her to get the info at any supposed great cost to her life or circumstance. If he can be cruel, so can she. Her's is just framed in smiles and niceties. It's self-serving to be sure. No one can take away from her what she has claimed as her own...

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Oops...*Hers

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OK, I know this is a ridiculous comment and is totally dragging down the excellence of this comment thread (so many theories! so many great insights!), but Song Joong Ki and Moon Chae Won are so cute together in the NGs for this show! Ohhh, my shipping feels!

Oh! But let me talk about the romance in this show for a second, specifically the way Eun Ki and Ma Ru are being drawn together thematically and in terms of direction. I love it! First, I think they have the same ring tone. After Eun Ki dumps her phone in the fish tank we pan over to Ma Ru outside in his car; when his phone rings it's the same as hers, and he's in the rain, so for her it's artificial water and for him it's natural water (fish tank vs. rain). Then we have the other moments when we go from her portion of the story to his, like when she was laying on the table in her office to when Ma Ru was walking out of jail. And, of course, we've got the narrative elements, like how both have eerily similar occurrences of taking the fall for a loved one's crime, and how Jae Hee uses that information respective of each of them.

Oh, wow. That's a lot of exclamation marks. But this show!

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Where are you seeing the NGs?! i can't find them anywhere on youtube. not even the osts!

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I was just referring to this : http://media.daum.net/entertain/enews/view?newsid=20120915231006074

And a description of Entertainment Relay someone put up on tumblr. It's from the video link you put up. They're tooooo cuuuuute.

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viki.com. It usually takes about 3 hours after the show ends in K. It's RAW until the subbers go to work.

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I love your comments on the show and the parallels between Maru and Eun Ki.

I also noticed a recurring visual motif of prison bars and cages in their scenes. Obviously Maru is jailed in this episode, but there are plenty of camera shots of him through windows and doorways, which add to the sense that he's trapped/imprisoned. Similarly, Eun Ki's room is walled off by these wooden beams that make it look like she's in a big bird cage.

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Oh yeah! I love the scene transitions in this drama. Like the directing actually has some authorship behind it. I can't wait for the new episodes to see more of this stuff.

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What I noticed though is Eun Ki has huuuuuuuggeee room. It looks like a house within a house.

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Luved SJK in RMan and luvin "Same-Age BF's"....together again in "Nice Guy".

Also very strong cast....especially enjoying Moon Chae-won's cold/bit*hy Eun-ki (I approve of her reasons) and looking 4ward 2 the wonderfully soul-less Maru going viciously Dark. SJK!

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Wow, this drama's atmosphere is kind of unexcpected. I like how this drama just set apart from the others. The tango music and the black world the characters are living in reminds me the Korean thriller movies a lot.
I like Eun Ki very much. She may be rough at some times, but her innocent/pure side is just obvious, especially in this episode.
About Jaehee, I just hated her the minute I've seen her on screen kkk. She reminds me of Seo Woo in "The Housemaid" and "Cinderella Sister". Angel Face, Devilish Mind.
I also liked this episode because we could see Maru still had a soul (and a heart) after all. But sadly I think he's still too accepting towards Jae Hee. Well, he was until the police scene.

But I'm kind of sad his revenge against this wench is leading him to make Eun Ki suffer. I actually hope he begins to use her, but she eventually have an accident who makes her lose his memory (as in the synopsis).
Then, his feelings towards Eun Ki could grow up.

I like this kind of drama, but seriously. I want romance.
I mean, after watching Ghost, I can't watch another whole drama with only few romantic scenes between the couple I ship! XD

Anyways, thanks for the recap ;)

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Wow, I think I love Eun-ki.
That one scene with her father spoke mountains of her insecurities, her pain, her desires, and more importantly, her worst fears.
It's no wonder she's become such a bitter and angry child when her father treats her like a business employee rather than a daughter.
Since she knows that Maru used to be involved with Jae Hee it wouldn't surprise me if she was secretly using Maru to get back at Jae Hee the way Maru will use her for the same purpose.
Oh well, can't wait to find out what happens next week!

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aww. if you scroll down towards the middle, you'll see how cute joong ki is to chae won. that hand on head thing? priceless.

http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/comment/25217983/#Comment_25217983

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woops. meant to be a seperate comment!

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I <3 it THNX

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EunKi reminds me of HyeRin from sandglass after the student revolution changes her. I really really really like EunKi.

And about Maru, I think they show him look like a doormat becuase he's being setup to do some really awful stuff in the near future. So when we cringe at his ruthlessness, we can still feel sympathetic.

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