Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 14
by Saya
There’s a sweet, lingering wistfulness about this episode, as Hwa-shin plunges deeper into his feelings. It’s a lovely examination of one-sided love, where we explore the happiness of just being able to be near someone, even when they don’t return your feelings. But the real happiness, I think, is making peace with your own heart, as our friends struggle to do this hour.
EPISODE 14 RECAP
Hwa-shin grips Na-ri’s hand and rushes her to the helicopter. We flash back to the conversation they had in the elevator earlier, where Na-ri told him not to like her. Silently, he replied, “I love you.” Out loud, he asked what would have happened if he’d said those words three years ago, adding, “I’m sorry, for realizing too late.”
In the present, Na-ri tells him he’s lost his mind. Over the helicopter’s beating, he yells that it’ll take just three minutes like this. She tells him not to do anything else for her: These three minutes will make up for the last three years.
They reach the station fast. Before she hops out, she gives Hwa-shin a subdued thanks and he shouts after her to do well. Eyes now alight, he tells the pilot to head for Busan.
With no time to waste, Na-ri flies down the stairs. The time is 7:52 a.m. and in the waiting room, Dong-gi hands out the audition scripts to the candidates. Na-ri is meant to be up first, and Joo-hee looks smugly over at her still-empty seat.
Just as Na-ri finally reaches her floor, we see Hwa-shin following right behind. Catching her arm, he sits her down and tells her to listen carefully. He says that the audition will most likely be conducted as it would happen on a real news-day, and warns her that the script can change in a moment due to the large amount of breaking news coming in. She may also have to improvise to fill time.
He drops down and, holding her face between his hands, instructs her that she must look into the camera for her first and last lines. He tests her pronunciation, and coaches her on the correct tone to use, impressed by how quickly she masters it. Lee Hwa-shin, you have never been so attractive as at this moment.
Finally, he warns her never to reveal that she came by ‘copter, and leans down to cup her face again. To confirm her breathing is even. Suuure. Taking her hand, he sees her through the door.
Two minutes before eight, and Madam Kim has yet to show up at the judges’ panel, where everyone’s waiting for her. In an empty corridor, Na-ri clutches her chest. “Why am I trembling?” she asks herself.
Madam Kim finally reaches the station, as does Jung-won, who follows her inside. Furious, she rages at him for undermining her suitability as a judge by making her late. When she curses him out for picking a girl over his own mother, he only replies, “Please don’t be any more disappointing, Mom.” Lip curling, she tells him to just watch what she does now, and storms away.
Joo-hee wonders why they still haven’t started, and glares at Na-ri. Getting in some last-second practice, Na-ri tells herself that her trembling is from nerves. Ohh, her scarf has little rainclouds on it!
She gets a phonecall from Jung-won. Quietly, she tells him she’s arrived, but hangs up before he can wish her good luck. Jung-won blinks for a second, but then smiles, and Secretary Cha sags in relief. Cha suggests they find a screen to watch her on the live in-house broadcast. “Watch?” asks Jung-won. “Cheer on?” Cha corrects, and both men grin. Aww, you’re bros now.
Back in the helicopter, Hwa-shin checks with the pilot that he reported the detour as instructed, namely, that Na-ri was never there. He asks it as a favor, and explaining that Na-ri would be penalized if found out.
Dong-gi announces the test process over the intercom, telling the candidates to proceed to the test studio with their scripts, and starts by calling in first candidate, Na-ri. As Na-ri gets wired up, Dong-gi chuckles to himself that she got lucky with a judge being late.
Throughout the station, people tune in. In the weathercasters’ lounge, the girls gather around the screen and Mi-young gives a fierce cheer when Na-ri appears. Aww. You’re a good egg.
Almost immediately, Na-ri’s script is swapped out for a new one, just as Hwa-shin predicted. We’re treated to a flash-forward montage of how the other candidates fare: Most of them fight viciously to keep hold of the original script, and all of them panic.
When Na-ri looks up for the camera, Hwa-shin is right beside it. He tells her to think like she owns the newsroom, and advises her to keep things natural. He’s got to be a figment of her imagination.
Flashforward again, and Joo-hee makes a mess of her pronunciation and delivery, and trips up on the numbers. In the judges’ room, Madam Kim tears her apart, and it looks like she’s already been written off.
Imaginary Hwa-shin repeats Real Hwa-shin’s earlier instructions to Na-ri, and she scans the script for numbers as per his warning. She begins a smooth reading, to everyone’s surprise. Ja-young observes that Na-ri must have taken in the beginning and ending lines, since she delivered them looking at the camera.
Next is a crisis management test. Candidates report a foiled snake-smuggling where one snake remains missing, when suddenly, a snake drops right in front of them…! What! Ha! Oh, it’s fake! Pretty much everyone fails that; they scream, fall off their chairs, and Joo-hee curses on camera.
But Na-ri picks it up with a smile, saying she’s found the last one. The judges quietly approve, and even Madam Kim is grudgingly admiring. Grinning at her sheer nerve, Imaginary Hwa-shin sends her a thumbs-up. She recalls the last thing he said to her before he left—that if she did well, he’d be an anchor beside her one day. “You should feel honored, you know” he had smiled. Ever himself, eh?
It’s pronunciation next, and the candidates are given a script full of tongue-twisters and difficult names. Needless to say, they all suck and even Na-ri has a few stumbles, which Madam Kim is smug about. But Ja-young really seems to be rooting for Na-ri, bless her.
For the closing test, Na-ri reads a report on a scam on the elderly. But juuuust as she’s about to deliver the closing line, Dong-gi pipes into her ear to keep things rolling for another forty seconds, exactly as Hwa-shin warned. She continues seamlessly, augmenting the report by adding on-the-fly commentary, all while looking straight at the camera and keeping time. Dong-gi gives her a whoop as she wraps up.
Finished, Na-ri looks around for Imaginary Hwa-shin, who is now Tinkerbell-sized as he waves from his perch on a camera. He winks, and she winks back, smiling.
The judges unanimously agree that Na-ri nailed it—apart from Madam Kim, who proposes that Na-ri is too pretty for news. I swear those judges are embarrassed by drivel she spouts about how it’s not skill that counts, but how you look on camera, and goes on to pick out mistakes Na-ri didn’t actually make.
Na-ri heads out to the stairwell and starts to cry, thanking the absent Hwa-shin.
Real Hwa-shin hurries back to the station, and tries to phone Na-ri. She answers…Jung-won, who’s been waiting for her, and they exchange warm smiles. Across the foyer, Hwa-shin sees them, and puts his phone away.
Na-ri tells Jung-won that she flew there, which he takes metaphorically. She adds that one of the judges was late, and Jung-won grins. They head out hand in hand, and Hwa-shin turns back before they can spot him.
Jung-won hands Na-ri into the backseat of his car, where Beom’s lone surviving drawing still lies. Her eyes widen, and she quickly secretes it in her bag while Jung-won sends Secretary Cha off to appease his mother. He gets into the driver’s seat and calls a distracted Na-ri up front.
He tells her they can go anywhere and eat anything, as long as it doesn’t involve her being alone. She confesses that her mind’s been blank since the test finished. “Just stay with me,” she says to him.
Hwa-shin replays Na-ri’s cozy departure with Jung-won and grumbles that she should have told him if she was finished. Poor Hwa-shin, not even letting himself be sad.
Catching Hye-won, Hwa-shin asks her how Na-ri’s audition went. She swears at him, and then relents and tells him that Na-ri nailed it—her only mistakes were the same as everyone else’s. That’s enough for Hwa-shin, who strides off.
“Damn, he’s hot,” Hye-won says to herself, although not quite in those words, lol.
At Jung-won’s office, Na-ri tries to get him to eat with her, but his work has piled up and he can’t join her. She takes their sandwiches to his desk, and is full of questions when she sees him working on Chinese documents. He’s pleased that she’s finally curious about him, and she says she always was, but didn’t ask.
Smiling, he sits her down on the desk beside him. Sharing the sandwich, she tells Jung-won that she always wanted to split a sub with her boyfriend. Jung-won realizes, now he thinks about it, that he’s always the one initiating things with her, and wonders if that means he likes her more than she likes him. She pointedly doesn’t answer and he laugh-sighs that girls usually like him more.
Na-ri believes that, and confides that she fell for him at first sight, too. He marvels at her fearlessness, and recalls the snake. She reveals that she had a friend in props who told her that Dong-gi had asked for it, so she somewhat expected it. Real snakes are scary, she laughs. Taking her hand, Jung-won says she worked hard today.
Chef Rak comes hunting for his ladies at the SBC building. He finds Ja-young immediately, since she’s about to head out, and she tells him she has definitely already eaten, but why doesn’t he eat with Sung-sook, who definitely hasn’t? Sung-sook spots him just in time, too, and hides behind some other guy.
Chef asks Ja-young directly why she’s avoiding him, and she looks caught—made worse when Hye-won comes by, wondering why she hasn’t gone to eat yet. Meanwhile, the guy Sung-sook’s hiding behind whirls her around into his trench coat, but Chef calls out that he can see her. Ha.
Hwa-shin is working late when PD Oh tracks him down. He rages at Hwa-shin for changing the helicopter’s course and says he’ll have to face disciplinary action for it. As if he didn’t hear him, Hwa-shin happily shows him the dolphin footage he got from Busan instead.
Na-ri arrives home that night and finds Hwa-shin’s windows dark. She returns to the station and overhears PD Oh telling Hwa-shin that he could lose the chance to even audition for the 9 o’clock anchor. Smiling like a dopey, Hwa-shin insists that the reason they turned back was because he had to pee. Oh doesn’t believe it, and smacks him in frustration.
Na-ri jumps when Sung-sook catches her eavesdropping. She checks that Na-ri’s still doing the weather tomorrow, and making a backhanded compliment of it, regrets that she wants to leave.
Home again, Na-ri lies on her roof a while. She unfolds the drawing from Jung-won’s car, and remembering Hwa-shin telling her to be honored, she smiles a little.
“Who are you thinking of that you’re grinning like that?” Hwa-shin calls out, just returned himself. He asks if she did well today, and she nods. He looks like he wants to say more, but instead, just wishes her a good night. But then he turns back to her and says, “Hey, buy me an ice cream.”
They sit at separate tables outside Stepmom’s store (which is confusingly called “Grandma’s”), and Na-ri is surprised to discover Hwa-shin is attending his treatment properly. She thanks him for his help, and wonders if the day will really come when they’ll be anchors together.
While she looks up at the stars, Hwa-shin asks, “Is it okay if I like you?” Just a one-sided love, like hers had been, he says. He tells her to treat him as he used to treat her, and do well with Jung-won. “Don’t ever waver because of me,” he warns her, and walks off into the night.
The next morning, the whole family is gathered around Pal-gang’s table—her two moms, Grandma, Hwa-shin. Everyone is shocked by Grandma coddling Hwa-shin and calling him her baby. Pal-gang can’t stand it and goes back to her room, and Grandma follows.
Hwa-shin positively beams even as Sung-sook and Ja-young make fun of him by calling him “baby.” Now there’s a love-starved kid.
Meanwhile, Grandma asks Pal-gang to be kinder to her uncle, and reveals that he has breast cancer. She says she can’t bear to lose another son, and says they should forgive him now, after everything he’s put himself through. Pal-gang is stricken.
At work, Na-ri spends all day hiding from Hwa-shin. He notices her avoidance with some satisfaction. At lunch, he sits opposite her and she immediately moves tables.
Elsewhere, Jung-won searches for the drawing that was in his car, and Secretary Cha tells him he saw Na-ri with it.
That night, Na-ri passes Stepmom’s store where Hwa-shin’s chilling with Beom. He badmouths Na-ri to her baby bro, and Na-ri marches back to them in a temper. She rants at Beom to stop with those drawings, and yells, “Don’t love me, okay? Don’t love Pyo Na-ri!”
Smiling slightly, Hwa-shin wonders how he can miss her when she’s right there. “You understand, huh?” Na-ri snaps, stepping up to him with a glare, before sweeping away.
Hwa-shin is called into PD Oh’s office where Sung-sook breaks it to him that been he’s suspended for a month. The PD says he should be glad he didn’t get fired outright. Thrown, Hwa-shin asks if that means he can’t audition, and PD Oh yells that of course he can’t, he’s disqualified.
After a long breath, Hwa-shin accepts it quietly and leaves the room. Sung-sook speculates to the PD that the shock silenced him. “He’ll come back,” she predicts.
Hwa-shin gets stopped by Dong-gi, who heard about the suspension. But Hwa-shin notices Na-ri listening, and denies it. If he’s suspended, he won’t be able to audition, Dong-gi flails. Hwa-shin just walks away, and Na-ri looks after him in shock.
In an elevator with Ja-young, the older woman tells her with a smile to expect a call from Human Resources tomorrow. Na-ri asks if she’s failed. Amused, Ja-young replies that she’d hardly tell her bad news in advance. Once alone, Na-ri starts sniffling again.
Madam Kim complains to Jung-won that his little girlfriend is going to be an announcer, and he tells her that Na-ri made it because she was qualified. Putting his arms around his mom, he tells her that he feels alive these days because of Na-ri. He cajoles her to let him date, and she sighs in resignation.
Na-ri hunts through the station for Hwa-shin. Looking at the time, she realizes that it’s nearly 5, when his hospital appointments are. She runs outside into the pouring rain, to the corner she used to meet him.
She tries calling Hwa-shin, but he purposely doesn’t answer. But then he sees her on the corner, getting drenched. Just as it looks like he’s about to drive past, he U-turns back for her. She gets in, intent on going with him to the hospital. He doesn’t object, only remarking on the irony of a weathercaster getting rained on.
While Na-ri waits for Hwa-shin at the hospital, Jung-won texts her to say that whether she gets good news or bad, he wants to be the first to hear it. Hwa-shin’s warning not to waver plays in her mind, and coming to some kind of decision, she stands up.
Hwa-shin’s changing into his hospital pyjamas when Na-ri’s voice rolls in. Standing outside the door, she tells him she absolutely won’t waver for him, “I will never like you again.” He takes it, but when she finally asks if she’s crazy, he tells her that’s enough.
But the curtain sweeps open and Na-ri comes inside. She unfolds Beom’s drawing and says she wouldn’t come back if he drew her a thousand of these. She tears the drawing into shreds (that’s his heart you’re tearing up!) and Hwa-shin moves to pick them up, but stops himself. “I understand, so go,” he tells her, and draws the curtain against her.
But she comes back in, this time telling him how much better his friend is than him, in every possible way: He’s warm and gentle, manly, handsome, rich, and she even throws in that he has a nice, even chest. She says she likes Jung-won more than he likes her (liar), and tells Hwa-shin that he’s the exact opposite of his friend.
Increasingly agitated, Hwa-shin finally smacks his head against the locker. Yes, everything she said is true, he agrees, is that what she came here to say? Close to tears, she says he can’t audition because of her, but he doesn’t want to hear it and pushes her out.
She comes back in again. “I’m really a terrible woman,” she says. Eyes darkening with emotion, he warns her that it will be dangerous if she doesn’t go now. “I passed,” she tells him, “I wanted to tell you first.”
He warns her again, but Na-ri carries on. Jung-won is a good person, she says, Hwa-shin is a bad one. “Acknowledged,” he says, now coming closer. “You’re a bad friend,” she says, their faces inches apart. After a tense pause, he says, “Also acknowledged,” and…kisses her. Nooo! She kisses right back.
They finally come apart. “Are you crazy?” Hwa-shin breathes. She nods and says, “For now at least,” and they kiss again, longer, while the sky cries outside.
COMMENTS
I’ve been so furipus, YES FURIPUS, for the last two days, but I figure that I need to break down coolly exactly why this ending made me so angry. Firstly, I can appreciate the intellectual validity of the argument that every story should be told, but I disagree that this served that. It’s a climax that’s inconsistent with who these characters have been all this time, the choices they’ve made and the way they’ve developed. I also think it’s important not to conflate telling the story with selling it as a good thing. And that is what this ending does, and I hate it all the more because everything preceding it was so very nearly perfect. Everything about the longing, the conflict, the tension, it was so well done, but the actual kissing crossed a line that the show itself drew.
The more I think about it, the more random the kissing seems—practically shoehorned in. It’s as if the showrunners realized that they’d reached episode 14 and panicked that the endgame couple wasn’t together yet. But hey, did you forget this is (unnecessarily) a 24-episode show? Yes, of course the tension is building, that’s the name of the damn game. It’s not called Affairs Incarnate, you know. How much more could you have played with that tension or drawn it out or just done it some other way that didn’t break the story? The chemistry was insane, of course it was, but kissing was not the answer. And even if it were, don’t sell this to me as romantic, Show. It’s not. I don’t care how cute or right for each other they are, whichever way you cut it, it’s cheating, and infidelity is something I’m incapable of finding romantic value in. And they didn’t kiss once, but twice. With the first, you could say it was a mistake. But the second time, they made an actual, active decision.
At the most basic level, I feel betrayed by the show—the same way I felt betrayed by Who Are You—School 2015 or God’s Gift—14 Days. The show went back on its premise, and its implicit promise to see Na-ri’s relationship with Jung-won through. It’s true the shine’s come off Jung-won in the last couple of weeks, but how much better would it have been to see that relationship reach the end of its natural life? I was so stoked to see a show that was finally going to let the heroine be with someone else properly, but now I think about it, they’ve treated the Jung-won/Na-ri relationship in a half-assed way for a while.
The character derailment was strong this hour, especially in Na-ri’s face-heel turn, as she goes back on the promises she’s made to herself all this time. They erode a little more each time she goes back into Hwa-shin’s dressing room, each time pushing him a little further past his limit. But at the same time, looking back on the last few weeks, I think I have to acknowledge, as many of you have noted over the weeks, the way Na-ri really has often flagrantly disregarded boundaries. There were always other ways to explain it then, and I liked her so much, but this changes it all, because it crosses a line—one that Hwa-shin never crossed.
I’d like to blame Hwa-shin more, but it really is all Na-ri. She knew what she was doing, and she pushed him on purpose and took advantage of him. She went there knowing—I’m sure she knew—that she had only to crook her finger and she had him. It wasn’t even Hwa-shin, in the end, who broke faith. She’s playing mindgames with herself, and therefore with both men, too, and that’s pretty close to unforgivable for me. There’s a difference between genuinely not knowing your own mind (Hwa-shin), and knowing your mind but lying to yourself.
I think she wants to prove to herself that she’s not a flake, but maybe it’s a sign of her emotional immaturity that she thinks she can force her feelings to do what she wants. Where Hwa-shin has been painfully earning his self-awareness, it seems now like Na-ri completely lacks insight into her own character. In this last quarter-hour, she’s been like an earlier version of him, saying one thing while meaning the opposite, but crucially, she lets that opposite hang unspoken in the air.
On the other hand, there’s a kind of raw sincerity in Hwa-shin that was always there even when he was a jerk, like how he’d be mean as sin to her and hate himself afterwards. I think it’s telling that he’s had the chance, over and over, to try to take her away from Jung-won (especially after she finds out his real feelings) but he resists acting on it, one-sided love notwithstanding. Hwa-shin was manipulated into kissing her—he begged her to leave because he knew he’d be helpless. As much as we can argue that he wanted to do it, it would also be true that he really didn’t.
But let me end by going back over the best scene this episode, which made me jump ship to Hwa-shin. Although both men adorably do their part to help Na-ri, how lovely is the way Hwa-shin instructs her in the stairwell? With the exception of the last few minutes, Hwa-shin’s interactions with her all episode have been just…everything. That’s the Hwa-shin I want to see more, bravado stripped away and heart is in his eyes every time he looks at her. There’s something about his steady presence that makes you forgive every time he was ever a jerk. So show, if you want me to swoon, give me that. And also undo the last five minutes.
RELATED POSTS
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 13
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 12
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 11
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 10
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 9
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 8
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 7
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 6
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 5
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 4
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 3
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 2
- Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 1
Tags: featured, Go Kyung-pyo, Gong Hyo-jin, Jealousy Incarnate, Jo Jung-seok
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51 byeol
October 9, 2016 at 6:59 PM
I quite agree with the kiss. Cuz it done b4 marriage, imagine if nari-hwasin kiss behind jungwon back, at that time jungwon is nari husband. God no i dont want to imagine jungwon heart break. So what jungwon have to do is move on from these two. the show so much how they did not deserve your love and friendship.
Newa atleast jungwon got permission to married woman he wantby not breaking his relationship with his mom. He is winne too =)
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byeol
October 9, 2016 at 7:01 PM
theY show so much how they did not deserve your love and friendship.
NewaY atleast jungwon got permission to married woman he want by not breaking his relationship with his mom. He is winneR too =)
*Pardon the typos. =(
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52 dani2000
October 9, 2016 at 7:07 PM
That kiss was perfect in every way (and hot too). It's cheating but I'm sure neither of them will be let off the hook. With the writing and directing that kiss was bound to happen regardless. Loads of people dislike the scene and I understand why but in terms of narrative, they couldn't have done a better job. That kiss unravels tension and creates more tension, I honestly can't blame either of them for doing what they did. I can't blame Hwasin for catching feelings for Nari (and holding back on them too) and I can't blame Nari for reacting the way she did. Ignoring someone you've loved for 3 years is no easy feat and for him to confess his love, risk his career to pave a chance for hers, you must have crazy self-control to shun that. They both tried really hard not to be crazy but in the end temptation won. I'm not saying that what they did was right but it makes sense for the story to go that way. It allows Nari to seriously think about what she wants. A lot of people forget that this show isn't about candy characters. It's a show showing the flaws and faults in the lives of everyday people, all of these characters are flawed and you know, sometimes, flawed people make terrible decisions but that doesn't make them unlikable. I'm excited to see the next episodes.
Also really surprised by some of the reactions here, it seems everyone is half and half.
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MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 10:31 PM
Me too. Quite surprised by how many people felt about episode 14.
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dani2000
October 9, 2016 at 10:34 PM
Yeah, but it's interesting and I keep coming back to read new comments 'cause that's just how hyped everyone is about this episode. XD
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imbuk
October 10, 2016 at 5:23 AM
Me too! I think this is the first time jealousy incarnate has got more than 200 comments!
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junny
October 10, 2016 at 2:17 PM
And now it's gone over 300! The debate has been really fascinating to track, with so many different perspectives and all being discussed.
53 Cody
October 9, 2016 at 7:13 PM
Wow I'm amused about the excuses made here from underplaying with 'she didn't really love Jung Won and it's not marriage (as if a relationship is not serious commitment)', ignoring it (it was sexy and passionate) to demoralizing it (happens in real life but drama is different). It's just embarrassing. Better just admit to liking/shipping them and just say that's why you liked the kiss. All those defensive pretenses just make some viewers look like desperate love crazed romance lovers who have lost grip with reality.
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Jennifer Calabrese
October 9, 2016 at 8:46 PM
I really like your comments but I don't think it's "either or" ...in fact all of those statements are true but their not excuses to me. A kiss can be passionate and wrong. NaRi was cheating and it's true she doesn't love JungWon. It's not one or the other, black or white, the characters have flaws and we can still like them for it and hope they end up together while also love JungWon and hoping he gets a happy ending too!
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Jennifer Calabrese
October 9, 2016 at 8:47 PM
Darn typo - "they are" not their
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aweebit
October 10, 2016 at 5:38 PM
Hear hear!
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Mommai
October 9, 2016 at 10:24 PM
Nari isn't really viewing her relationship with Jungwon as a serious commitment. I wonder how many of us are having cultural clashes over this. To me (and many I know) dating is a lot more flexible at first, and even for a while after a relationship starts. I don't see being boyfriend and girlfriend as being super serious, but I also keep physical intimacy for marriage, and place a much higher importance on marriage than others. Boyfriend and girlfriend are lighter terms for me, unlike for people who date and live together for years and still use those terms.
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MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 10:38 PM
Good point you brought up about the cultural clashes Mommai.
And all through the show I never once felt that NaRi JW relnship evolved into a serious commitment type level. She can't even bring herself to say it out aloud that she likes JW more than HwaShin. Does that sound like commitment to anyone?
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Livii
October 10, 2016 at 8:16 AM
Goodness really, I agree! Those two can get out and do all the shenanigans they want, but atleast have the decency and break up with Jung Won first.
Theres no point in delaying their pair up and amping the angst with JW(10 more eps??) Shes been sticking to hwa shin like gum since the beginning. Shes fooling no one, not even herself. I cant even bring myself to watch these episodes. The only redemption would be if she breaks up with JW asap next ep and if he has any dignity he does not hang on.
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damianna
October 11, 2016 at 12:55 AM
The kiss to me feels like Na ri's way to confirm her feelings so she could figure out what's next.
Would people feel better if in between going in and out of the changing room, she somehow squeezed a phone call to JW and break up with him before kissing HS? Imagine that.
People makes mistakes and by the look of the preview, looks like she's regretting it.
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Joe
October 10, 2016 at 1:21 PM
...As a guy i get confused on JW's true interpretation of love... He does what i will do to get a girl not because i love her but because i want her,,, no wonder some fans(mostly females) jumped into teamJW... *Words move millions *. I dont even like HS.. ?
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54 imbuk
October 9, 2016 at 7:28 PM
More than anything, I think the kiss brought the conflict to a breaking point. I am really curious as to know how na ri is going to deal with the situation. So far we have seen her as a mostly good person, now people may start to doubt her goodness. As saya said, the scene where she kept saying jung won is better, she behaved like hwa shin in the previous episodes. And During those times, hwa shin wasn't really the particular favourite of majority of the people. am glad about this because for once we have a female lead who is not pure, she has did something bad, now how will she react? This may make it hard to root for her, but it makes her more human. Also we all didn't like the ppal gang's mother in the starting but now we feel they are ok. I think the show did the opposite with na ri. This is what I like about this show. It shows the different aspects of every character. So, now i think the focus has shifted from hwa shin to na ri, let us how see na ri redeems herself.
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Selaine
October 10, 2016 at 7:13 AM
Well, by making Nari act like Hwashin, the writer is also redeeming some of Hwashin's "jerk" qualities. Hwashin was portrayed to be a jerk in his rejection of Nari's crush earlier on, but then we see that Nari is also equally hurtful in her rejection of Hwashin's crush. It makes you understand that no one is really a jerk here and that their actions are understandably logical, driven by circumstances.
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Amelyia
October 10, 2016 at 5:19 PM
It was my interest too. Unconsciously NR just did everything that HS told her except being shaken. It made cute moments how they were portrayed similar in some aspects..
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55 Sailor Neptune
October 9, 2016 at 7:29 PM
Sorry they didn't even manage to make their male lead consistent first (behaving like an asshole only one great gesture) and they already dared to jump into cheating territory. And they don't even try to explain it nicely at all but go telenovela style with tears, longing looks and 'overwhelmed passion' to gloss over it as if there wasn't Jung Won and a commited relationship already but just 'conveniently' two confused people finally realizing their feelings and kiss. Only that we still have 10 episodes to go and your main pairing isn't supposed to be the wrecking assholes in their own drama.
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MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 10:59 PM
Sorry Sailor Neptune, but the argument that HwaShin is an a**hole has been ripped to shreds by some clever beanies out there. (In previous recaps I think) Where basically they are saying that the fact that he didn’t respond to Na Ri’s feelings 3 yrs ago doesn't make him a jerk. He made it amply clear that he wasn’t interested in her, never strung her along.
I admit HS could have used kinder words I think in ep 2 where he tells her off, but (apart from the chopper scene), I can also point out many many instances in the drama where he shows care and concern for Na Ri as human being - telling colleague off for asking weather forecasters to stand in a particular way, the way he stepped up to sing a duet with NaRi when he realized colleagues were ignoring her solo during staff dinner, taking her back safely to station after drinking at staff dinner. And how he showed concern for his frnd JW by agreeing that NaRi would never know of his feelings from him. And that's just the starting.
Nowhere does he come across as a man that lacks integrity. A big baby? Yes. Self centered? Yes, may be. Egoistic, petty fool? I’m with you. But an a**hole? No, I really don’t see that.
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Selaine
October 10, 2016 at 7:23 AM
Yes, I commented a similar idea in 54.1 that no one is being a jerk actually. It's all a matter of circumstances. Hwashin, to his discredit, prefers putting up a gruff and rude front but I really think that is just his way of protecting his sensitive self.
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Aigoooo
October 10, 2016 at 8:30 AM
Don't forget the bar scene. That couple was minding their own business and he started picking a fight out of nowhere. If that wasn't an asshole move then I don't know what is. lol
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Paul
October 10, 2016 at 1:31 PM
@aigoooo,, the bar scene is much more funnier dan him been an asshole...
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MyGirl2016
October 17, 2016 at 9:13 AM
Episode 1 was... well.. uh.. episode 1!
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56 merry
October 9, 2016 at 7:29 PM
Just lost my earlier comment due to internet cut-off. Anyway, I support all those who view the ending scene as game changer. Now, we're in for the next 10 episodes. It will be a wonderful ride I am sure. Just as the tension and steady build up of the story culminated in this kiss, I am excited to see what the writer and our actors have in store for us in the next episodes unravelling that kiss, hopefully still preserving all the love. There is so much love in this drama: eros, friendship, agape, mother-son, first love. this week, may we get all the love we need, beanies. wheww, can't wait.
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57 laurie
October 9, 2016 at 7:36 PM
I don't think I can agree with your sentiments on the last five minutes of the episode. I'm not someone who condones cheating, but that scene was something I've been waiting for. And not just because I love Na Ri/Hwa Sin, but ever since Na Ri found out about Hwa Sin's feelings she's obviously been scared about what that might mean with what she feels for Jung Won. Because it's true, that it's hard to just throw away a three year long crush as Hwa Sin said.
I think with this kiss Na Ri will be forced back to think about what and who she wants. And I don't believe the show doesn't know what it's doing. I think you can see it in the conversation leading up to the kiss. They both KNOW something is going to happen and they're terrible for it. Of course, the scene is set up as romantic but I think the conversation also has the viewers think twice about what's happening.
I don't know, I think I'm talking without sense right now because I just love the scene and what the show did and what I know the show will do (well hopefully do) which is show that this kiss was wrong. They'll both feel guilty, I'm sure Na Ri more than Hwa Sin. And I don't think the show really condones the kiss and wants Na Ri and Hwa Sin to go behind Jung Won's back like that. But we all know that scene was so full of tension and their relationship has just been full of this restraint for a while and the kiss was expected.
Anyway, thank you for the recap. I'm looking forward to what happens next week.
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58 None percent of anything
October 9, 2016 at 7:37 PM
I think people need to see the difference between being a 'flawed' character and simply being a ignorant selfish one. When you're flawed you have your minor faults but you would never hurt another person intentionally. Which doesn't apply to Na Ri and Hwa Shin since both went in for a second kiss despite Jung Won being there. Stop using 'flawed' as a shield for bad actions and hide the fact that you ship the pairing no matter what comes around.
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TPear
October 9, 2016 at 8:51 PM
AGREE. Moreover, HS has had multiple episodes worth of time to understand that he would be betraying his friend if he ever did anything with NR. Forget the fact that NR cheated on JW (and even though they are only dating and this is a drama, cheating is infidelity and is absolutely wrong) - I think for me, what's arguably more upsetting is HS's betrayal toward his friend. His actions were most certainly selfish and beyond what would be considered a flaw in character. Flawed is endearing - that kiss was not.
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imbuk
October 10, 2016 at 1:12 AM
I agree, jung won doesn't deserve any of this. But is jung won a better friend to hwa shin? He knows hwa shin likes na ri and that she had crush on him for 3 years. After the mud fight, why didn't he talk to hwa shin about his feelings? Why did he assume that hwa shin will naturally keep quiet about his feelings towards na ri? Why should he be the one to hold it in, why couldn't have jung won broke up with her? Wasn't that selfish of him to think that way? Or they both should have let her go and put their friendship first. Hwa shin did repress his feelings until na ri got to know herself.
Its not that I don't like jung won. But, nobody seems to have seen this point. I like all the main leads here and I don't think anybody's at fault now. Sometimes, we do stuff that we are ashamed of later but we wouldn't have been able to prevent it from happening at that moment.
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azzo
October 10, 2016 at 1:57 AM
I don't think the blame here should be on Jung-won!
Na-ri's with him, yes, she had a crush on Hwa-shin for three years but in the mean time she's with him, he assumed Hwa-shin will keep quiet because he is his best friend and Na-ri is HIS girlfriend, who to him is long over her crush for Hwa-shin! How would he know that she still has feeling for Hwa-shin and why should he be the one to break up with her when she's telling him she likes him and that she fell for him at the first sight!!
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imbuk
October 10, 2016 at 2:42 AM
I am sorry if I had hurt your feelings, azzo, as I see I might have from what I read In your comment below. I am not blaming jung won. Jung won is the victim. I am just telling if we consider hwa shin as selfish (that is, he doesn't care about his friend's feelings), then I think jung won was also selfish. Because they both want to be in a relationship with na ri but also wanted to keep their friendship intact. But, I am not sure how that friendship is going to hold after this.
azzo
October 10, 2016 at 3:01 AM
LOL!
why do you think you hurt my feelings? I like reading all the different opinions, it's fun, no need to apologize dear, no hurt feelings believe me.
I don't know what to make of Hwa-shin, there are a lot of things I like about him and then there are a lot more I hate! He cares for his friend and their friendship but then why did he have to tell Na-ri that he'll just like her and have this one sided crush on her, and ask her to not be swayed, maybe he wasn't trying to but it just felt like he's using reverse psychology on her and it worked!
For them to keep their friendship intact the best solution would've been if both guys stepped back, too late now!
imbuk
October 10, 2016 at 5:40 AM
Well, you had written you were crushed for jung won and here I was questioning jung won's intentions strongly. So, I thought maybe I might have hurt you. Glad I didn't.
I think it was hard for him to keep hiding his feelings towards her especially now she knows. Also, he believed that she likes jung won now. Hence, maybe he thought she wouldn't be swayed by him.
Somehow, I want this show to repair all the relationships by the end so that they all are on good terms with each other. If not, I would be disappointed.
CZ
October 10, 2016 at 9:02 AM
The mudfight with Jungwon WAS his settling out his feelings. When Hwashin first admitted to Hyewon on the roof, Jungwon could have ignored it completely, yet they met afterwards and talked about it. Working through their thoughts, Jung-won came to the station and and they fought (spoke) some more. THEN they met up at the mudflats and their conversation was summed up like this: "don't ever tell Pyo Nari that you like her. She likes me better. Are we still friends? [yes] I'll show you that she likes me more than you" (these are all statements that Jungwon said over the few days, ending with the mudfight).
So Jungwon addressed it and thought they were on the same page.
Yes, there is stuff he doesn't know, like the breast cancer and Na-ri's concern regarding that. But it was made so clear that Hwashin would value their friendship more than confessing his love for Na-ri.
Then he goes around, doing swoony stuff like Helicopter and asking her to buy ice cream. Come on Hwashin, you should have settled it already! instead of "Succumbing to passion/past years/feeeeelings".
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Selaine
October 10, 2016 at 7:38 AM
By "flawed", it means that you make bad decisions and act wrongly on those decisions. You may or may not hurt someone else intentionally but you will most definitely hurt someone. Ignorance and selfishness are traits of a flawed character. What redeems a flawed character is regret because regret will bring about reflection and change.
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aweebit
October 10, 2016 at 5:58 PM
DISAGREE. What you described as 'flawed' above is actually being human. Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect. Flawed characters however make bad choices (often with noble intent or despite it) that have consistent detrimental effects for themselves or others.
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aweebit
October 10, 2016 at 6:00 PM
To be clear I am disagreeing with @none percent of anything and @Tpear.
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59 Vequest
October 9, 2016 at 7:43 PM
It took one dramatic helicopter ride to 'redeem' Hwa Shin's actions and make him the more 'suitable' man. In a totally 'unexpected' twist the show will reveal his cancer to Jung Won to give him a free ride towards Na Ri and gloss over the cheating.
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Rizinh
October 9, 2016 at 7:48 PM
Redemption equals ̶d̶̶e̶̶a̶̶t̶̶h̶ breast cancer
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Selaine
October 10, 2016 at 7:59 AM
Oh yes, I can't wait for that! Right now, only Jungwon still has yet to know about Hwashin's breast cancer secret (among those closest to him). Nari was kind of right when she said Hwashin knew more about Jungwon than Jungwon knew about Hwashin. In this sense, you can already tell their friendship is unbalanced. Match this to: Jungwon loving Nari more, Nari loving Hwashin more (not sure if this will still be the same in future), Soo Jung liking Jungwon more, Announcer Hong liking Hwashin more... Not sure if i'm reading too much into this, but even in real life, relationships are never truly 100% balanced between 2 parties.
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60 T
October 9, 2016 at 8:20 PM
In the end it seems that Na-Ri was trying to convince herself that she loves Jung Won. She was saying all these things about him because she felt guilty for having feelings for Hwa Shin and that she felt an obligation to stay with Jung Won. Though, it's clear she is still has feelings for Hwa Shin.
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61 MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 8:27 PM
I’ve been waiting eagerly for this recap since last week’s blessed Friday morning and I’ve never been so crushed, so disheartened reading a recap before. :(
Hell, no. I wasn’t even this heart broken when I found out Javabeans has put King of High School (my all time favourite) on her list of dramas with a bad ending. (I have been googling on how to do black magic on you Javabeans, by the way).
But WAE @Saya, WAE?! Why so much hate for the kiss? Hasn’t the show sold Hwa-Shin to you by now?
I am going to go on record and say I LOVED IT. Narrative wise, it made perfect sense and and in terms of making us feel all the feels - the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
And the thought of cheating was NO WHERE in my mind when I watched this initially. And then I go online to squee, and I am astounded to find that some people didn’t enjoy the ending because they thought the characters were ‘cheaters’. I was like , ‘Wah, yorobun, all so quick to judge! Haven’t you heard of grey areas, people?’ In addition to NaRi and HwaShin’s history, there’s also the fact that NaRi and JW are not engaged/ married? Like someone said Nari is still testing the waters. Heck, she has trouble answering Jung Won on who she loves more, him or HwaShin. Also, we haven’t been shown yet what happens after the kiss and how the characters respond - so how can anybody accuse the show of ‘glorifying’ cheating?
I watch so many rom-coms and I occasionally wonder if I am desensitized to kisses because many of the Kdrama kisses are just on a meh level for me. Like if the actors are good kissers, the story isn’t convincing, there’s no tension and I can’t buy their passion. Or if the story is convincing, the actors turn out to be bad kissers and meh . But THIS KISS - literally made me lose my mind. So the show must have done something right!
I love it because underneath all the complexity, the show has convinced me of the lead characters’ sincerity, the genuinity of their feelings towards each other. Kudos to the drama team and yes you bet I’m going to rewatch ep 14’s ending right now. Hwa-Nari, fighting!
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dani2000
October 9, 2016 at 8:46 PM
I feel, this kiss is a breaking point for all of them and their actions afterwards will judge their character. It adds so much substance to the story and to be honest, if a new conflict wasn't introduced the angst between all the characters would've become grating at some point. But with this plot point, everyone is forced to reevaluate and be straight forward with themselves and others. Everything leading up to that kiss was so perfect, it felt like ticking time bomb that defused seconds before it blew up. Not sure if that's the right to express it but that's what I felt.
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MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 11:49 PM
100% agree. This is a new conflict introduced to the plot and I can't wait to see where the writer is going to take us.
Why isn't every day of the week a Wednesday-Thursday, Dani? WHY?!!
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dani2000
October 10, 2016 at 12:41 AM
I KNOW DON'T THROW ME A HOT KISS AND THEN MAKE ME WAIT A WEEK TO SEE IT'S RESOLUTION!! ?
straight up that kiss was 15/10 good job guys ??
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MyGirl2016
October 10, 2016 at 2:14 AM
?
candyjkt
October 10, 2016 at 12:16 AM
this show is not for kids/ teenagers..
and the lead actors are not portraying angel characters..
this is angst, romance, comedy..
this is why only senior actors can do this type of role.. brave enough to play characters...
this is a show, not a lecture on moral...
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Gomie
October 10, 2016 at 12:59 AM
OH MY GOD... You are my hero.. you said exactly what I thought and even better at expressing it.. I like your style when you said ‘Wah, yorobun, all so quick to judge! Haven’t you heard of grey areas, people?’, I felt like I can totally imagining myself say something like this, too, to myfriend when we have a disagreement
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MyGirl2016
October 10, 2016 at 2:12 AM
?? @Gomie
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62 143
October 9, 2016 at 8:32 PM
Jung Won, my heart aches for you. I am on your side. Your only flaw is that you are the second lead. :(
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63 Anke
October 9, 2016 at 8:42 PM
I watched this episode with my sister. And I scream really hard when Hwasin and Nari kisses. Even my sister said "I hope he die from cancer and Nari knows that Jungwoon help her too later on and she got cancer because of the shock!" I laughed because though I know she is really mean but this is her first korean drama after coffee prince. And she swore she will never continue to watch this drama again. Hahaha
Though it is easy to get swayed by a man that you had a crush for 3 years still it is not right for Nari to do that. She really asking for the kiss to happen!
I am dissapointed big time, because I thought it's going to be in different direction. Everything up until now, this drama never failed to surprised me.
Why a perfect, kind, handsome, rich man cannot have the girl? Why it have to be the same stereotype who got the girl. Likes her and never tell her the truth. Is there a general rule to this, that 98% of the male lead always have to get the girls, like it is his right though he gave her enough humilition and suffering and he realized it too late and boom he gives one big help and that's it, all forgotten and forgiven. Hoorah you are worth it to be with her.
I am not team Hwasin or joowon but I want to emphaaized how dissapointed I am when the drama seems, more likely, turn into a typical drama. Sigh.
As much as Hwasin gave her help and lost his audition there are soooo many ways to repay the debt. One. Is being a friend to Hwasin and tell her bf that Hwasin got cancer and she knows that hwasin likes her but she likes her bf more so why don't we give our support to Hwasin for life and be a match for Hwasin and that pretty annoucer that I love but I forgot her name.
Hwa sin is too late and he needs to deal with his consequences. It's like watching reply 1988 but jung hwan got the girl in spite he is too late and never explain himself clearly.
I am not team Hwasin or joowon but I want to emphasized how dissapointed I am when the drama seems, more likely, turn into a typical drama. Sigh
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64 lunatic4kd
October 9, 2016 at 8:59 PM
Ha ha HA!!! I am rocking from joy reading all of these comments because, Beanies, we are all SO moved by a K-drama that we throw our hearts and souls into eloquently arguing our points of view about a fantasy made up of excellent actors filming an outstanding script in front of thirty sweaty people holding microphones, cameras, make-up equipment, scripts. The food truck is off to the side just out of view. The props people are rushing around to make sure that the continuation between scenes is correct (is he holding the cigarette exactly the same way from this view as from the last?), the lead actors' manager has just retrieved a phone call from his girlfriend, the costume manager is cursing because there will be armpit sweat stains to wash out overnight...and meanwhile calls are coming in from headquarters about the great ratings. THIS IS DRAMALAND and it is all given to us with love from those hard-working people. We are rewarding their hard and very believable work with loads of comments and arguments...and ratings. This is our joy from dramas and it is why I am so in love with them. I love imagining Jo Jung Seok going home to Gummy and both of them pulling out their guitars and a bottle of Soju to share their day. And Gummy says to JJS, "aren't you glad we practiced that up-against-the-wall kiss last night before you had to film that scene?" He laughs and says, "Yeah, isn't it wonderful we get to live this life?"
This, ladies and gentlemen, is ART.
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dani2000
October 9, 2016 at 9:17 PM
I actually love your comment. xD
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newgirl
October 9, 2016 at 11:44 PM
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1!
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candyjkt
October 10, 2016 at 12:12 AM
Yup !! love this show much because the actors !!
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Gomie
October 10, 2016 at 1:10 AM
LMAOO love your comment
especially the last one with Gomie oopps... Gummy haha
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Dahlia
October 10, 2016 at 2:57 AM
+1000
Beautiful art with great actors.
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Sa_Rang
October 10, 2016 at 4:10 AM
+1000
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65 meowingme
October 9, 2016 at 9:08 PM
I love the kiss scene, damn they sizzled like crazy I was expecting the rain to evaporate! I think what swayed Na-ri was the way Hwa-shin accepted the loss of his audition by helping her, when she knows how he values his job as an announcer. Character-wise, it makes sense to me.
But whether we like it or not, these two people will definitely suffer for hurting Jung Won...
The baby conversation on the breakfast table is so cute, love how they are getting more and more like a family over the meals.
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66 azzo
October 9, 2016 at 9:46 PM
I'm crushed, I'm really crushed for Jung-won, that kiss should've not happened, it was wrong, it was so wrong. They both betrayed Jung-won and I don't know how they're ever going to face him.
Though I still think there was no need for Hwa-shin to go all grand with his helicopter gesture for Na-ri, I did appreciate the stairs-talk, the helpful instructions he gave her, the things he told her, that was very sweet of him but I hated it when he asked her if it was okay to like her, it isn't or just keep it to yourself, it burdensome and it gets really awkward to be around someone who likes you while you don't return the same feelings.
Of course, it's different here, Na-ri never really got over him, she tried to convince herself that she did but she didn't and it just feels like she used Jung-won. She wanted to feel that she too is loved by someone, she liked the feel of being in a relationship but was never actually committed to it. I hate Hwa-shin for giving in and going for the kiss but I blame Na-ri for it. Why did she have to go after him? Why did she have to go into the locker room? Her emotions were all over the place and she knew that, she should've kept away, she should've avoided him.
What breaks my heart even more is Jung-won called her right before she goes looking for Hwa-shin, that was just sad!
Thanks saya for the recap.
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67 redsonola
October 9, 2016 at 9:57 PM
Hwa Shin has equal responsibility for the kiss. Ultimately, he decided to take those actions. She reciprocated. They share responsibility. She is not responsible for his actions. She is only responsible for hers. To suggest otherwise confuses issues of sexual consent in, I believe, very, very dangerous ways.
If she had done the same things, and then pushed him away she would then not have any responsibility, instead of sharing in it. You might say: 'It was unwise of her to do that when she did not want to be kissed'. But you could not say: 'It is her fault that he took the actions to kiss her.' If he had forced himself on her, would that be then her fault and not his? Because he told her to go away? Because he said, 'this is dangerous?' I would say, very strongly, no. No. He is always responsible for his actions at all times. ALWAYS.
I strongly disagree that she was manipulative, but even if she was, he would STILL share in that responsibility. Women do NOT bear responsibility for men's actions towards them. Full stop. Women are only responsible for the actions they, THEMSELVES, take.
I mean, regardless of the morality of the kiss and how bad it was or who is shipping whom blah blah... if it was romantic or sexy or not... we can argue that forever, ok. But I was really disturbed by the placing of blame only/mainly on Na Ri and the implications thereof.
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MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 11:08 PM
With you on the equal responsibility lies on BOTH of them bit.
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junny
October 10, 2016 at 3:48 AM
Excellent post. They must share equal responsibility for the kiss. I never felt Na-ri was manipulative and I do not think Hwa-shin is the sort to allow himself to be thus manipulated.
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Saya
October 10, 2016 at 4:00 PM
I phrased myself poorly in the recap, unfortunately, so I'm dropping in to apologise and to clarify, because I don't at all mean that they didn't both equally partake in the kissing or that Hwa-shin is blame-free. I'm horrified that it came off that way, because the foul 'boys will be boys' argument is the last one I ever want to invoke. What I meant to express is that having cornered Hwa-shin, Na-ri didn't want to take responsibility for making the choice to cross that line, and put it into his hands. Hwa-shin was right when he said she can't have both things at the same time -- she has to choose just one...but she doesn't want to, and that makes her capricious with both men, in a way that takes advantage of their feelings for her.
Now that I've slept on it (or just make that 'now that I've slept') and cooled off, and I've been following the discussion, I've come around to the narrative argument. I agree that their emotions are messy and real, and it gives the story a really interesting new direction, but it took me by complete surprise - which isn't a bad thing at all, the more I think about it.
From a behaviour point of view, I don't like that they did it, and I think they *could* help it. So was the kiss wrong? Yes. Was it unrealistic? Perhaps not. Was it necessary? I'm not sure. Was it passionate? Yes. Was it beautiful? Not to me. I was disappointed in them, because I felt the characters and therefore the show had gone to great lengths to prove over and again that they were people of their word, particularly Na-ri, and I believed in that...and then it just got chucked by the wayside. I also felt it acted to *undermine* how complex and messy their relationship is. Although the kissing has tapped the complexity in a different way, it feels like a certain amount of superfluity that the relationship didn't need, at least not yet.
I appreciate that many people really enjoy that it went physical, and find it more realistic, but I really loved the subtlety their relationship has been laced with so far, which I think the kissing overshadowed. A nearly-kiss or a single kiss would have been the story I was expecting, but the second kiss made the moment into something else; you could say I got hamstrung by my own expectations. The timing and the way it was framed didn't work for me, but at this point, I also understand other people's points that that very messiness is what makes it exciting. Now that I've got over my initial dismay, I can see how this makes for a really great game-changer for the coming episodes.
(...)
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Saya
October 10, 2016 at 4:02 PM
(contd.)
I loved the episode as a whole, and I could spend another several thousand words taking this apart and agreeing and disagreeing with myself -- you guys are right, it's a truly rich setup in how it leaves us so many ways to read it, look at it, take it apart and put it back together again. But this floor is yours, so I'll bow out just saying that I'm really glad we're having such a strong, interesting discussion. I'm always open to having my mind changed, and as I read these, it's changing over a lot of things. I'm looking forward to next week with a fresh eye (if a little more emotional caution!).
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Amelyia
October 10, 2016 at 5:49 PM
Thank you Saya...
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Amelyia
October 10, 2016 at 5:51 PM
Yeah, the show is more than hilarious
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aweebit
October 10, 2016 at 7:12 PM
@Saya I'm just curious, what's your evidence of this:
"the characters and therefore the show had gone to great lengths to prove over and again that they were people of their word, particularly Na-ri, and I believed in that."
Evidence isn't a great word, but I'm wondering where you got that feeling, and what I missed.
When first discussing his feelings with Hye-won, Hwa-shin says he can be a bastard (referring to his ability to betray his friend). He doesn't do it right away, but it's in the realm of possibility for him because his feelings for Na-ri are so strong. As for Na-ri, the clearest part of her character the I've gleaned is her overwhelming ambition to be an announcer. She is willing to put up with boorish behavior, pad her bottom, take any extra job just for brownie points, put up with her coworkers ire, and risk her life via speeding on a delivery mo-ped to become an announcer. She's not a bad person, but this is her driving force. The only other thing she has spent nearly as much energy on was crushing on HS. She also knows that HS wants an announcer spot almost as bad as her (to the point of risking his life to keep his cancer a secret).
So when NR is met with the realization that the man she has had so much feeling for gave up his dream for her ultimate dream, she gives in to the emotion of that (and I suspect u resolved feelings for him) in a moment of betrayal. (Which I believe happens before through kiss btw. More on that later.) As a viewer I don't like it. I feel so bad for Jung-won, whose contributions to her dream are unknown so far. But as far as NR and where she is coming from as a character, I understand it, it makes sense to me.
I guess I never saw her as bastion of moral behavior and more of a girl whose specialness, in part, derived from her single-minded, whole-heartedly pursuit of her dream.
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imbuk
October 10, 2016 at 8:26 PM
Its Ok, saya. Everybody is entitled to react their own way. There is no right or wrong way to react to something, is there? But, thank you for clarifying your thoughts here.
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68 Dahlia
October 9, 2016 at 10:45 PM
I really love this episode.
1. Hwa Shin coaching Na Ri at the stairway. HW face expressions makes me love him more. I thought he going to kiss her then.
2. The audition process. NR really glows with her talent confidently. The imaginary HS was fun too.
3. So many cute moments - Mother calls HS baby, HS & Beom pouts and HS smile when he mentioned he had to pee.
4. The kiss. It was full of emotions. But we just have to wait how both NR and HS deal with it next week.
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69 believed
October 9, 2016 at 11:18 PM
Are people making this much of a fuss over On the Way to the Airport?
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MyGirl2016
October 9, 2016 at 11:52 PM
@m Fuss as you mean over the 'cheating' bit or just generally about the drama?
I dunno tbh.
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Dahlia
October 10, 2016 at 12:35 AM
It shows that viewers enjoy JI.
Tbh, I couldn't watch On the way to the airport just because they are both still married.
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mary
October 10, 2016 at 7:42 AM
No, not yet. Though there are rumblings, I think the commenters are holding off for now until something huge happens like this episode. But the arguments both for and against cheating are as eloquent as the ones in this thread. (And my morals are pulled right and left reading them all.)
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70 S. R.
October 9, 2016 at 11:31 PM
HS and NR kissed, and that was when NR finally started to face her true feelings towards HS. NR couldn't hide her feelings anymore, and the very thing led to her kiss. In someone's inner world, 'just to know who is a better person to date with' and 'to feel love for somebody' might be totally different matters. I love these kinds of things in the show―capturing the complexity of a human being.
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71 laladaisical
October 9, 2016 at 11:51 PM
Like a majority of people, I too am surprised by the reaction to the kiss and this debate on morality and responsibility and, stranger still, on narrative consistency. One cannot separate the act from the context, the cause from the effect. This kiss was the result of so many things coming to bear, and the way it was executed was romantic, because romance isn't perfect, it isn't heavily plotted and devoid of Sturm und Drang. The narrative drive for any romance is to see how these two lovers will resolve and/or live with this tension.
This feeling of inconsistency probably comes from dramas inculcating the romance-to-episode formula, where we are left expecting this kind of scene closer to the end, after episodes upon episodes of pining and long looks and stolen glances. I'm glad the writer flipped the board and gave us a pyramid instead of a triangle. We're not living in the Age of Innocence. To say it's out of character for two tempestuous individuals to finally confront each other and give in to the tempest is to fail at reading not just the situation, but the story to this point.
More than that, it's disconcerting how quickly Na Ri is made to be Eve tempting Adam in this, and how, for some reason, her character has been 'derailed'. I am at a loss as to how that has happened. She has been consistently tenacious in her attachment to Hwa Shin; she has been equally cowed by Jung Won's attraction to her; she might go off and cry when asked to keep herself small, but she'd rather risk grievous bodily injury getting to that announcer test than give up; she stood before Hwa Shin and made a decision in the moment, and so did he. The woman is flawed and idealistic, but she is also practical and audacious.
Not every romance heroine must be a wilting flower with perpetually wet eyes and no spine, or a hardworking Candy, heart of gold but no sense. Not every romance heroine must be a paragon of virtue. People make promises to themselves and break them. We say we're over it but we far from it. We think we've moved on and then this guy goes ahead and just tears down all those walls simply by writing, in marker, 'I Love You' on a drawing never supposed to be seen by anyone but him. Na Ri is a wonderful character in a wonderfully fresh story. This is why Kdrama is great, because we get these new perspectives, these new renderings of females as fully-formed, fleshed out, mercurial, human beings, in stories that demand more than what we're comfortable with.
Anyway, episode 14 threw everything up into the air in a great way. Now we get to see how everyone grows from this. Can't wait.
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MyGirl2016
October 10, 2016 at 12:02 AM
More than that, it’s disconcerting how quickly Na Ri is made to be Eve tempting Adam in this, and how, for some reason, her character has been ‘derailed’. I am at a loss as to how that has happened. She has been consistently tenacious in her attachment to Hwa Shin; she has been equally cowed by Jung Won’s attraction to her; she might go off and cry when asked to keep herself small, but she’d rather risk grievous bodily injury getting to that announcer test than give up; she stood before Hwa Shin and made a decision in the moment, and so did he. The woman is flawed and idealistic, but she is also practical and audacious.
Not every romance heroine must be a wilting flower with perpetually wet eyes and no spine, or a hardworking Candy, heart of gold but no sense. Not every romance heroine must be a paragon of virtue.
NaRi is a one of a kind, well-written heroine. Like you said, not subscribing to the Eve tempting Adam view. (Had enough of that sexist rubbish drilled into me in Catechism classes as a kid. 'Woman was the reason of man's downfall.' Don't need that from my kdramas too.)
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dani2000
October 10, 2016 at 12:17 AM
I think many of us were surprised by the reactions to this episode. This is probably the best episode right now (imo) just because of how raw it is and how far it goes to show human complexity. I completely agree with you on the candy characters, I think most of people are just shocked that main characters are doing something unlikeable. Whenever a main character does something bad, it's usually backed up with an excuses to make their decisions looks less bad. So to see something like this can shake up people. This show has literally stripped all their characters bare and laid out all their flaws (with the exception of Jungwon but even then I would say his flaws are more subtle than others) and put them in situations where those flaws are the driving force of their actions (ex. this scene). I was surprised Nari got most of the blame, I mean give the girl a break. To hear a confession 3 years too late and then have him lose his chance to audition, its hard not to feel frustrated by that. Ugh, there's so much I want to write but I'm gonna run of characters. There's so much depth and complexity to all these characters, that it can't even be fully explained in writing. All I can say is that this writer really nailed and I hope to see this kind of development in later episodes and in later projects.
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72 newbie
October 9, 2016 at 11:58 PM
I totally loved this episode and esp. the ending. This wrong and passionate kiss. Because that's life and not some sugar coated dream.
Such things happen, they are morally wrong, but still they happen.
And we, the audience, shouldn't be surprised. Hwa Shin and Na Ri are in their own word after all. They know each other better than family or best friends, including farts and handing back used tissue.
The change within the relationship after three long years started with her finding and knowing of his cancer. Dynamics changed.
How important this knowledge is is even shown in the kiss scene. We see her touching his chest in close-up! And where does it happen? In the locker room of a ward of all places. That's it. That is the reason for everything that happened between them and why Jong Won never stood a chance although he would have been the obvious choice in pretty much every other standard kdrama.
I love how this show is so different. The perfect male lead material, a chaebol, handsome, tall, meddling mother and so on is not going to get the girl.
Actions are questionable and so much is on stake, and that makes it REAL. I hope their bromance survives this messy situation.
(Besides - is Na Ri really the only one for Jung Won? He lives in an artifical world with tons of manipulating people around him. She and Hwa Shin are the only 'real' persons he seems to know. I think, that's why he likes her so much. But Hwa Shin knows her so much better, he truly gets her and vice versa. She really is the only one for him.)
Also JJS's performance is so skilled I doubt any other actor could have acted this ambiguous character as good as he does.
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candyjkt
October 10, 2016 at 12:09 AM
YESS !!
JJS is soo impressive... yes, I doubt any other actor can feel the character like he does...
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73 candyjkt
October 10, 2016 at 12:05 AM
kudos to GHY and JJS who brave enough to act the scene and do the story !!
this is what the show so enjoyable!!
cant wait for the next epi...
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74 vivnns
October 10, 2016 at 12:15 AM
I am not sure why some people are not happy with Hwashin telling Nari that he likes her during the ice cream scene. I remember an episode where Nari wanted the rumour of Hwashin having a crush on her to happen (when she wore the blue dress at the makeup store). I think by confessing, Hwashin is fulfilling Nari's wish.
Feelings are so complicated and most of the time, we don't even understand our emotions ourselves. Even if someone treats you x1000 better, the heart just wants what it wants, even if that one is a jerk to you. That's why love is never easy. If it was, I doubt we would see breakups and divorces.
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CZ
October 10, 2016 at 9:09 AM
The rumor at the station is general though: she had a reputation of being rejected, and the rumor that Hwa-shin likes her or that they are dating redeems her self esteem and worth. That's what made her happy. She didn't need to do anything, but bask in the "wanted/loved" feeling of the rumor until another rumor/news took the attention away.
His personal confession needs an answer/response from her: and she doesn't want to do that because of her budding relationship WITH HIS FRIEND. So I think those two are completely different things.
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75 Small Birdy
October 10, 2016 at 12:27 AM
I commented over on On the Way to the Airport that this is akin to that, in that people's emotions sometimes get stretched to the limit and just snaps. You just reach a point where you can't hang on and just leap off the ledge because really, you can't or won't listen to the rational thoughts in your head anymore. And you know it's the point of no return too.
I appreciate how the whole kiss scene was setup and the two actors were amazing in it. Hwa Shin's (or rather JJS's) body language was incredible especially when Na Ri pushed her way through the curtains for the last time and he stepped up into her face like a caged animal, ready to pounce. His eyes were a mix of desperation and raw sexual tension, darting from her eyes to her lips continuously (not the first time either). She had deliberately pushed his buttons and cranked it all the way up. She knew, and probably hoped, that he would snap and he did and she along with him. It's hard to tell if Na Ri did it on purpose because their relationship has always been really in-your-face with both really going at it until one or both of them breaks. In this case, the dam really broke because both are going to face the music from their actions. If the show sticks to its guns, the fall out won't be a walk in the park for them - remember HS's 3-year Thailand self-exile.
Jung Won and Na Ri are not exactly in an official, official relationship and there are problems with her uncertainty and his real intent going into their relationship. Na Ri is definitely unsure about her feelings toward Jung Won and he knows it, yet he just plods along assuming that she'll eventually come round while dealing with his mommy issues. Na Ri's problem is not having the conviction to stick to her guns when it comes to the relationship in contrast to how sure-footed she is at work. Still, it doesn't justify what Na Ri did to Hwa Shin. As for Hwa Shin, the bro code is definitely broken and I'm not sure if he'll be able to salvage it this time.
Hopefully, the show avoids the usual drama histrionics to give us something intelligent and realistic instead. Looking forward to the next episode.
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Small Birdy
October 10, 2016 at 3:54 AM
Oops meant to say what Na RI did to Jung Won, not Hwa Shin.
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MyGirl2016
October 12, 2016 at 10:34 PM
I LOVE how you have described the physical aspects leading to the kiss. Goosebumps!
❤?
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76 Lilium
October 10, 2016 at 12:48 AM
While I agree that it takes two to tango, the thing that bothers me about NR is that she doesn't want to make the actual hard choice about which guy she really wants to be with. I'll probably be stoned for saying this but it seemed like she was pushing HS buttons so that he would make the decision for her.
She didn't want to have to make the choice between the weather spot and the audition. In Ep. 14 it just felt like she didn't want to have to choose between "the perfect guy" and the emotionally dysfunctional guy that she is actually drawn to like a moth to the flame.
There's so much of that going in this show. It's as if nobody wants to make choices... they seem to all want to have their cakes and eat them too. The chef, Pal Gang, even JW.
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Rose
October 10, 2016 at 1:54 AM
The problem is that she herself didnt even realize she have a choice. She is too loyal to consider breaking with JW because she unwilling to admit she still harbour feeling for HS. How do you expect the girl to make a choice when she is still so confuse about what is happening with the sudden revelation? Do you just expect her to risk hurting JW and run to him and say *i just found out HS still love me and I'm confuse,i need a break!* she herself thought she can control it and will not waver, but as everyone say, this ep have push her limit and the kiss happen unplanned. Just like how JW and HS is keeping the problem to themselve after the confession and keep NR in the dark in ep 11/12. She done 1 thing wrong but dont makes it sound like she manipulative and string the 2 guys around.
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Lilium
October 10, 2016 at 2:17 AM
Did I imply that she was stringing two guys along? ;) Perhaps I did except she hasn't had time to really do anything like stringing anyone.
Do you really think she didn't know she had a choice? I think she did. The fact that she was rattling off all of JW's good qualities and comparing him to HS tells me she absolutely knew she had a choice. Not only that, she also knew that the choice was hers.
Narratively I don't have any great issues with what happened at the end of the episode. From a storytelling point of view, the build up was very well done and one could follow's NR's line of thought all too clearly. I don't condone the action but it feels like a logical progression of what's been transpiring. I see it largely as a necessary evil to bring things out to the open and shake things up a bit.
I will be fair and say that they both have to take responsibility for what took place but if she was really confused as you put it, then confronting HS head on in that confused state was probably not the wisest course of action.
Yes, yes... I know... it was NR and she's human. But I'm trying to look at the event objectively as much as I can despite still firmly very much on the NR-HS bandwagon.
On a certain level they both knew what they did was wrong but once they gave in to those impulses, there was no holding back.
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Tara
October 10, 2016 at 4:17 AM
I agree with your analysis entirely. Definitely no stones coming from me. I think I tried to comment something sort of similar in another post, but you've put it much much better here. I didn't even think about Chef and Ppal Ggang, and Jung Won didn't even cross my mind, but you are absolutely correct about all three. To me the act of not choosing equals not willing to make a sacrifice. And that's why Hwa Shin really shone this episode. He was selfless. People have already disagreed here...but to me it was selfless, he consciously made a sacrifice. He knew there'll be disciplinary action for his helicopter stunt, and I'm sure he knew the high probably of his anchor job being at risk, but he still chose to help Na Ri. And lastly, that kiss scene, he chose to be a bad friend. Na Ri gave him that choice to back out, but he didn't. He's willing to be a bad friend, and that kiss, definitely selfish, still shows he was willing to sacrifice friendship. And that I like a lot. Even is it's just spur of the moment (I personally think not on his part), it's so great that there's some conviction, some decisiveness.
I'm not sure all that made any sense, probably others who sort of get the idea can put it more eloquently.
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laladaisical
October 10, 2016 at 11:35 AM
Great point about conviction or lack thereof exhibited by the characters. Hwa Shin is the only person who has made decisive, painful decisions. As of 14, he has is the person with the most agency, in that he's really bound by nothing, because he's been unbelievably true to himself.
Everyone else exists in a state of limbo, especially Na Ri. That's what makes her equally intriguing, because she wants it all, but she's not willing to expose herself to injury.
Since Hwa Shin is the kind to commit, no matter what, he will suffer because this will hurt Jung Won, and Na Ri will try to remove herself from the situation because it hurts them both. I think Na Ri will end up being the one to take decisive action to keep Hwa Shin and repair the relationship with Jung Won. She just needs to face the pain and get through it.
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77 dani2000
October 10, 2016 at 1:10 AM
Everyone got me riled (in a good way)and I still have so much more to say so you're probably gonna see a lot of comments by me. ?
Human emotions aren't 2D and are intertwined in a tangled mess that can't be isolated and left on its own. For Nari to have shrugged off Hwasin's confession would've been hella out of character and a lot of people are taking her actions at face value rather than reading the underlying tension that's been brewing this entire time. And if the word blame is going to be thrown around, Hwasin should be held accountable too. Why is Nari the manipulative one? That argument can easily be flipped to Hwasin too. That scene was full of layers; sensual, frustration, sadness, relief, shame and it was completely in character. Regret is gonna come pouring in and it's gonna affect Nari bad. This show is all about putting characters in controversial settings and seeing how they weave their way through it and the payoff for this scenario is gonna be great. I also hope Hwasin gets to tell Jungwon about his cancer and not so we get the romance moving but just to see a heartfelt scene where Jungwon is genuinely devestated 'cause lemme tell you, I had a friend who told me she had breast cancer and the feeling I had at the moment was just shock and devastation. I was the only person she ever told and she didn't want anyone else knowing unless she wanted to tell them. Having breast cancer is heartbreaking news in itself and I want that kind revelation to come from Hwasin himself and I don't want it so Jungwon can give up his romance, I want it so Jungwon is there for him as a friend. Lol that's enough soapboxing today it's 4 four am why am I arguing about kdramas.
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MyGirl2016
October 10, 2016 at 2:07 AM
Ha ha.. Dani ..on the ‘probably gonna see a lot of comments by me’ bit. You are as invested in this as I am. Loving it! ? ❤?
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78 Anne
October 10, 2016 at 1:59 AM
I love this show, I love this couple, kissing is always the answer when you burn with desire and love for the other person. There's this moment that you just want to forget about the rest of the world cause nothing else matters apart from that person right in front of you.
I legit believe there's this thing, that you start watching a drama having made this pact with yourself that you'll ship the girl with the 2nd male lead. Yes, I'll do so, I'll ship her with the 2nd lead (like I've done very few times in the past "My lovely girl", "Reply 1988") when her moments with the said guy are enough for me to do so. When the body language and the emotions are shown to be stronger compared to those with the first lead.
This drama is about Hwashin and Nari accomplishing the right timing to be together and become ancors together too possibly. As much as I like Jungwon, he's the trigger for the emotions to get heightened, he likes her but he doesn't helplessly love her like Hwashin. He also deserves a girl to like him equally as much as he likes her. And Nari got excited and happy a nice guy returned her feeling after the one guy she loved so much showed that he doesn't see her that way. She doesn't share the bond that she shares with Hwashin with him. She doesn't wanna protect his chest/heart like she does with Hwashin since day one.
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79 Sa_Rang
October 10, 2016 at 3:32 AM
I'm staying faaar away from the Kiss Saga BUT someone pointed out that Na Ri was wearing a scarf with rain-clouds on it...and the rain (and that little cartoon character that controls the rain/lightening) has always been associated with Hwa-Shin
Something was bound to happen between the two of them this episode and I think the scarf is already indicating who Na-Ri has chosen all along...
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CZ
October 10, 2016 at 9:12 AM
ALso re: costuming.... Hwashin told her that Jungwon likes blue, and the dress he made for her was blue. But Nari has never worn blue again after that dress. Understandably, she may need to wear different things for her weathercaster spots, but she could have worn blue earrings or something to meet with Jung-won.
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80 CrimeFighter
October 10, 2016 at 3:39 AM
Complicated relationship for the whole show....I surrendered *wave white flag* and give up....need more time to sleep than this....haha
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81 LuLu
October 10, 2016 at 4:14 AM
I just want more screen time for Hye Won and her sassiness. How can you just give her about 2 minutes of screen time when she's a delight everytime she's on screen.
Na Ri is not resonating with me as the female lead at all and I find her rather tiresome and annoying in her overall undecidedness and emotional dishonesty.
Hye Won is adult and knows what she wants very clearly. No mind games just pure honesty it what she gives to you. I think when she will be paired with Jung Won it will be that straight forwardness and boldness that will heal him from the betrayal of Hwa Shin/Na Ri.
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byeol
October 10, 2016 at 8:00 AM
Agree 100%
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82 Avid
October 10, 2016 at 4:22 AM
I'd like to point out in PNR's defense that her lack of experience in love (that's reciprocated between able men and women) or should I say 'dating game' has been repeatedly mentioned in the show. Sure she's loved. A lot. Dearly. Her mother who was sick (maybe this is why her experience lacks in THAT department), her brother who is dependent on her, and lastly but least Hwa Shin diligently for three bungling years. And now there's a guy, a sweet, rich, considerate guy who shows up in every romantic dreamy aspect telling her he loves her. This would be Hwa Shin's friend. But this guy doesn't risk his princely status for her. He doesn't risk his job -he takes her to his office during their date so he can DO his job- nor does he touch her heart with sweet drawings he kept hidden so PNR could be happy with his friend. When Hwa Shin's mom told him to do whatever he wanted to do with his life, he chose to lay it at her feet so she could realize her dream. He is focusing on purely 'loving' her and who wouldn't be moved by the tremendous honesty and weight of that love that is given freely without asking for any return. To which I might add Jung Won asking her in a message to tell him the first of everything seems a contrast to Hwa Shin's love. Any such powerful love is bound to have an impact on a soul that's sympathetic like PNR is.
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Selaine
October 10, 2016 at 8:07 AM
Interesting perspective! Gave me food for thought. Thanks!:)
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laladaisical
October 10, 2016 at 11:39 AM
+ 1 billion.
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Amelyia
October 10, 2016 at 7:10 PM
I agree with you that in this ep he was motivated to do what he wanted to do. He used to be someone who did things all he wants. Related with NR feeling, I think he believed that NR was over him. All she had for him simply pity. He just found out in the end of the eps right?
Thus we saw he told NR that night that her wish on having someone on one sided love with her would be fulfilled. He said for a little while long. I believe he meant it.
Then, he was about to make a call to JW but cancelled it. Perhaps he was thinking to let him know but also acknowledged it would burden JW. And then, we all knew where the story went.
Like you said it above, he threw himself into loving her unconditionally. Thus he helped to make her ways to her dream which this time obvious to be seen by her eyes. And she was in an intense struggle defense mode till we saw the ending.
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MyGirl2016
October 12, 2016 at 10:48 PM
“When Hwashin’s mum told him to do whatever he wanted with his life, he chose to lay it at her feet so she could realize her dream” “Any such powerful love is bound to have an impact on a soul that’s sympathetic as PNR is”
- Love reading such beautiful thoughts. So well put. Wow! @ Avid
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83 Nik
October 10, 2016 at 4:30 AM
The Jung Won/Na Ri pairing sank deep down for good now. It was never actually on to begin with. Na Ri was never that really into Jung Won and was more attracted by his 'perfect knight' surface and didn't even bother or dared to dig deeper. I believe because she never thought this relationship as serious and would be 'endgame' anyway. She was reserved and dishonest with him all the time. Even when she said she 'fell for him at first sight' it sounded insincere and forced. She lied to herself the whole time because she enjoyed having a handsome man by her side and being desired. She used Jung Won as a rebound.
Jung Won was way to over his head and tried to force the relationship in his direction and speed. He always wanted Na Ri to drop the formality and even pushed forward even when she was uncomfortable like that shower scene. He couldn't tell her the truth and was always trying to be polite. With him I also got the feeling that he was more in love with the thought of the 'close and forward' relationship that Hwa Shin/Na Ri than actually in love with Na Ri. He knew it could have become messy the moment Hwa Shin confessed to him yet he still selfishly demanded both friendship and love from him pushing Hwa Shin into a corner alone not caring about his feelings.
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84 rabbityrant
October 10, 2016 at 8:18 AM
Hey, no worries, Saya. Next episode you might be watching them imagining that kiss scene while eating Subway or Quiznos! Take heart and keep your fingers crossed.
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85 bbbbbbbbbbbb
October 10, 2016 at 8:50 AM
The prblem with the kiss is not the writing are the acting, but the production choices. The way it was filmed, the post-production, all of this created a clash between the emotions being conveyed by the writing/acting and the final product. Just because it's a kiss doesn't mean you need to take out your soft glow, pinkish hues and soft romantic music. I feel the biggest problem with the drama so far has been with the production itself. It keeps missing the mark in terms of the emotions being conveyed by a scene.
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86 Melinda
October 10, 2016 at 9:09 AM
Thanks Saya. I wholly agree with you.
Cest la vie mantras creates irresponsible individuals and while I applaud JJS and GHJ to be fine actors, I agree with some of the perspectives laid out to seperate the actors from the protagonists.
The whole defence of she didnt even like him enough. Theyre not really bf/gf anyways was shocking to me. They are in an exclusive relationship the day she said the words of I like you to him knowing it was something he was waiting for.
They cheated. Full stop. Period. Damage done, people hurt, messiness will ensue. No wonder GHJ made a disclaimer before the show to her fans that the character is not very likeable and will be two timing both guys. She used the world two timing in korean too fully acknowleging the character's wrongdoing so the arguments on exclusivity and justification can stop since her own interpretation is that her character is bad.
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Melinda
October 10, 2016 at 9:11 AM
*bad* - more equating to her actions raising a red flag
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87 LizC
October 10, 2016 at 11:02 AM
Two comments:
1) The whole segment with the anchor auditions was so fantastic. I really do love when KDramas geek out on the specifics the workplace or setting they've chosen.
2) Jung-Won.
He is such an appealing character. He's emotionally honest and available to the heroine, he's committed to his friendship. Go Gyung Pyo is doing a great job with the role, and he looks fantastic.
That said, this character has done several things that IRL, are to me, just as bad, if not worse than kissing someone else, and have been presented as somewhat romantic.
-dragging Hwa-shin across the mudflats. One of those K-Drama tropes that seems cute, but is not. He basically beat up his best friend, with the goal of humiliating said friend in front of the girlfriend. Just because he didn't succeed, doesn't mean he was not fully committed to forcing Na Ri to be part of humiliating HS.
-Jung Won's mother is actively trying to harm NaRi's job, and he hasn't told Na Ri. Again, "cute K-Drama trope" but we submitted this to Dear Prudie or r/relationships:"my boyfriend told me 'oh by the way, one of my family members is going to sabotage you at work because we are dating. I will try to mitigate some of the effects, but I still want maintain a relationship with this family member'", all of the responses would be "break up now, if he is ok with you being harmed, he doesn't love you."
And Jung Won hasn't even given NaRi that option. He's lying to keep her in a relationship in which people are trying to harm her. I don't think JW delaying his mother in traffic is equivalent to HS getting the helicopter, because the whole situation exists because JW won't truly take a stand with his mother, or give NaRi the choice of her career.
(And I feel really so sad for Jung-Won and his screwed up family dynamic, but I don't think he's going to get a romantic happy ending until that situation is sorted out.)
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moose
October 10, 2016 at 12:04 PM
Agreed that JW is dishonest with NR and HS about a lot of things but most gloss over this fact. JW should have let HS confess to NR and let the winner take all and dealt with it as a good friend. I think he knew in his heart who she would choose if she knew HS liked her. He's seen their closeness and chemistry and knows that others have seen it too.
Also he wasn't as decisive about his marriage issue whereas HS doesn't sit on the fence on major issues and is willing to deal with the fallout.
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Zizou
October 10, 2016 at 1:53 PM
I don't see how all of these actions are painted as romantic by the show and the actor.
1.) Dragging Hwa-shin across the mudflats
Before he begins dragging him Jung Won has a violent outburst about jealousy and being a man. You can see that the dragging is about his insecurity. They film Jung Won's angry face. Then the camera zooms to Hwa Shin and his desperate cries about wanting to be let go. It's clearly that the show wants you to dislike Jung Won right then and be feeling for Hwa Shin being exposed and dragged in the mud like that. There's not one glitch of Jung Won being a romantic hero in that scene
2.) Not telling Na Ri about his mother
Again the show has never proclaimed this behavior as romantic and even in the form of Secretary Cho has called him out on his wishy washy stance of wanting to both be nice to his mom and be in a relationship with Na Ri.
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88 Jaegerjaques
October 10, 2016 at 2:09 PM
This backfired very much on the show. It was clear what the road was supposed to be. They made Jung Won jealous and possesive in the last few episodes while Hwa Shin got to make the big sacrifice with the helicopter.
It's an old rule when depicting cheating. The nice partner suddenly becomes an asshole while the male lead changes into the understanding/caring puppy.
They just didn't expect that a part of the viewers believes that being insecure and angry is not a good enough reason for the female lead to cheat on him. So naturally they are angry at her and the male lead.
They wanted to use an old trope to justify the OTP only that it turned on them and made them their own villains in their supposed love story. It didn't work because some viewers love the second lead too much.
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Scout
October 10, 2016 at 5:08 PM
I really don't think the JI team is ignorant to the popularity of the second lead. I think they know full well, which makes that kiss an even ballsier move, narratively. I'm excited to see what the coming weeks hold for us.
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89 Janecole
October 10, 2016 at 5:15 PM
Tq Saya for your after thought views.
I am glad that JW used his own car and rented cars to block the traffic which is insignificant ,
where else HS using company property to ferry PNR back to the station and asking the pilot to keep his mouth shut - my understanding that is daylight corruption.
Why is it wrong loving JW commenters ? For many mostly justified the kiss and the OTP is the ultimate endgame.
Everything JW did is insignificant and undecisive but whatever HS did is great even leaving his mother and his brother a bankrupt and died, and also would like to bring PNR together with him if he dies and treating her badly for 3 years also great character ?
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Janecole
October 10, 2016 at 5:36 PM
I would also like to know how the writer will script about his cancer sickness. She has to address that issue or sweep it off as ok!
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90 Leslie z
October 10, 2016 at 5:38 PM
I find it a joke that ppl are pointing to JW minor faults while condoning the cheating as messy but meant to come and it was beautiful. There are no clever beanies also - just ppl choosing to see HS with rose tinted glasses. He is painted as one of those guys whose ego is larger than life and is nice only to ppl he chooses to be nice to. I do like that hes 100% professional and he really only shines to me when he is doing his job.
1. Wrist grabbing hated by viewers performed by HS several times in drama. Because its JJS, overlooked - check
2. Hitting someone on the head not once but twice after JW reminded him not to do it again while in a friendly match. JJS! overlooked - check
3. Hitting on someones girl in a random bar with a rude response better still being sober. JJS! overlooked. - check
4. Tells his best friend - i wanna hug, kiss and sleep with your gf and Im going to let her know, flip than i wont, then i did, then i kissed her anyways. JJS! overlooked - check
Stop finding faults with JW and im damn super frustrated on the writers making his character so real and close to flawless.
1. He didnt tell her about his mum? All that defence about NR and JW just beginning so its fine for her to still taste and decide what she wants? Hello the mom episode happened BEFORE she even accepted him. Nonetheless she chanced on it, slept on the fact that he could still be part of an arranged marriage and decided to reciprocate his feelings anyways.
2. The mud sling. Who threw the first punch? Our hero did. Also the reason why JW dragged him through the mud was so that he could end the duscussion once and for all. He did it so that HS dun run and NR could just choose and end the confusions in his mind also. What HS did to him was literally brain f**k, after all that accumulated frustration and anger over friendship and love, did everyone expect him to stay robotic in his emotions. That fight was his breaking point. He basically exploded.
3. If the tables were reversed. JW' s character will most likely pick HS over the girl and drawn the line clean. From start to now, its shown to us hes matured, responsible and thinks things through. I.e discussion with hyewon in car, withholds physical altercation with HS despite the crap he heard, advice to secretary cha on how to stop his mum on approaching NR, breaking his mum down through his affection in accepting Nari.
Like a poster above said... the writer should have written the 2nd lead less deserving, less pitiful and less great. Maybe have him two time as well the arranged marriage prospect so as to maintain his family while still sacrificing his time and effort wooing NR. If it was that, i would so happily kick him to a corner and said "the two timer gets two timed" but the writing made it that a love story gets developed at a good man's expense. Hey... thats life, it happens so JW should suck it up. I wonder if in real life and it happens to everyone here, would you say same?
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Leslie z
October 10, 2016 at 5:47 PM
I truly believe a big part of his anger to the situation is a result in his disappointment with HS as a friend. In his mind he would NOT have done the same since he values the friendship too much. But HS through his words and actions have shown to JW that their love and value of each other is not on the same levels and thats why it shatters him completely.
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byeol
October 10, 2016 at 7:05 PM
1st, thank you
2nd, i like your comments/analysis/ whatever it call but i love like it. =)
3rd, With that, I think their friendship will not last. JW will lost hope in HS.
4th, it is better, I want he far far away from HS and NR.
=)
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dani2000
October 10, 2016 at 9:51 PM
I see where you're coming from and Jungwon is gonna be hurt by this but by making Jungwon seem less deserving it cheapens the story. With this twist, it 'causes so much pain because they both know that Jungwon deserves better, they both know that what they're doing now is terrible that's why the backlash is gonna cut so deep. Nobody sees Hwasin through rose-coloured glasses, it's just that there's more to him than a jerk with a soft spot and frankly speaking Hwasin tried his best not to do anything but there's a breaking point for everyone. They're definitely not gonna get away with this and they'll be put through the wringer but how they regret and reflect will tell you of their character. I wouldn't say that Jungwon would pick friendship over love. If he was put through the wringer like Hwasin was he'd reach his breaking point too and like most beanies have mentioned, he straddles between love and friendship and isn't willing to let go of either. Hwasin literally told him imma go after your girl and was ready to cut ties so it wouldn't hurt as bad but Jungwon wasn't even willing to do that. Nobody is saying that Jungwon should suck it up but these things do happen in real life and those mistakes don't happen without reason and they're not made with the intention to hurt (most of the time). It's just messy all over the place and unfortunately it hurt someone. I don't know how else to say other than it's just that decision making in real life isn't as simple and clean and sometimes they're not made with other people's feelings and intentions in mind. It's really easy to take the higher ground when you're not pushed to the limit like Nari and Hwasin (not condoning cheating, it's wrong and hurtful). Cheating isn't always done with malicious intent though that doesn't mean you freed from all consequences. But otherwise I understand your perspective.
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91 adriana
October 10, 2016 at 5:43 PM
i still think that kiss was pretty hot!
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Reia
October 10, 2016 at 5:51 PM
Wow- Thought provoking insight.
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MyGirl2016
October 15, 2016 at 10:18 PM
Really @ Reia? I believe dramabeans is a space for squeeing as much as it is for insightful comments. If @adriana wants to squee, let her squee. Your sarcasm was uncalled-for. There's plenty of 'thought provoking insights' elsewhere on this page for you to read and enjoy.
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92 Fuujin
October 10, 2016 at 5:57 PM
To echo a lot of other people here, a big part of what is so appealing about this show is that the characters seem real. And that is because they are nuanced, like people are in real life. JW is not flawless and HS is not just a jackass. The show has demonstrated that about both men over and over again. Likewise, Na-ri is human--she is caring and bold (often out of necessity), yet she is also inexperienced and confused. And like many people have in real life, she has feelings for two men at the same time and has to sort out those feelings.
Her relationship with JW is new, and his feelings will be hurt. And of course he'll be mad at HS. (But was it his right to forbid his friend from confessing his feelings?). Anyway, that's life; it can be a bummer. But many people have multiple relationships before finding the right partner. Should HS and NR be with people they don't love simply to avoid hurting someone's feelings?
And I know many people will say it's the kiss that's the issue. But in real life it's not always easy to control passion. And people do things they regret or that they are not proud of. They make mistakes. (I'm not condoning cheating at all; I just find it hard to consider this cheating, as JW and NR barely even know each other.)
If I wrote off all of my friends who had had a somewhat similar experience in life, there would be almost no one left. And that's not because they have loose morals, but because they have human hearts. Just because someone screws up or acts selfishly once does not make him or her a bad person.
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93 Selaine
October 10, 2016 at 7:05 PM
Actually Hwashin getting disqualified from the anchor auditions may be an inevitable thing. With his breast cancer, he wouldn't have passed the medical exam anyway, unless he fakes his medical report. Since he was so embarrassed by his breast cancer, getting disqualified for helping PyoNari clearly looks better than getting disqualified because of medical reasons.
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94 aweebit
October 10, 2016 at 7:43 PM
I am wading in so late, but it took awhile to read all the comments and I really thought someone else would say this by now. Since they didn't...
I don't get all the debate about 'the kiss' because for me that wasn't even the moment of betrayal. It was the aftermath, and it was portrayed in a way that showcased what those characters were feeling at that moment. The part where I said "oh no! don't do it!" was really the moment where Na-ri chose Hwa-shin over Jung-won. That moment for me has to be when she receives the text from Jung-won asking her to tell him first about the audition results and ignores it. Instead she goes directly in to Hwa-shin saying that she passed and she's telling him first.
She had been moving that direction already: Getting into the car and going to the doctor with him, hiding the drawing from Hwa-shin's apartment, not telling Jung-won about Hwa-shin and the helicopter. All these mini-deceptions were signs of the way her heart was turning. I said earlier in reply to Saya about why I think she did it, so I won't repeat myself here, but while I don't like it much, I think her character had sufficient motivation.
I have loved the character of Jung-won, who has been an upfront refreshing second-lead, and so good for Na-ri, but I've always known that Hwa-shin was endgame. So while I didn't want it to happen yet, I was at least resigned to the kiss and definitely thought the path they took there was clear enough. I could even appreciate the swoony-ness of it, because at that point she had already turned a corner. The kiss was the outcome of her decision to betray her relationship with Jung-won by choosing Hwa-shin, and not the decision itself.
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95 yayabean
October 10, 2016 at 8:47 PM
Bravo to all Beanies for such insightful comments.
A penny for your thoughts...
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96 zrphyrs
October 10, 2016 at 11:22 PM
This drama is supposed to be a romantic comedy, instead of a melodrama. Now its plot more like a melodrama with pain and angst. I am not saying that in a romantic comedy, the characters are not facing with moral dilemmas, but the plot of this drama is not been written wise enough to dealing with the issue, which make the drama more awkward and dysfunctional.
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97 Jaegerjaques
October 11, 2016 at 2:19 AM
Also no going back from this and it shouldn't be just Na Ri's imagination or dream. I hate fake outs like this even more than actually daring to go there and dealing with the consequences.
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98 Ensirelle
October 11, 2016 at 11:02 AM
Hwa Shin's helicopter ride and his disqualification from the audition look all grande and martyr like when all Jung Won did was stopping a car. Some comments even said that he risked and was willing to give up his biggest dream for Na Ri which I call bullshit.
He saw an opportunity to help and impress Na Ri. Took it without second thoughts and wanted to look like the cool man in front of the woman he likes. He was clearly cocky enough to believe he would get away with it only little punishment. When they told him 9pm spot was off for him you could see the shock and "What have I done" on his face. If given the same situation again would he really do it again?
While with Jung Won yes Hwa Shin is questionable. So spare me the narrative that Hwa Shin is the 100% guy and Jung Won always hesitating.
Jung Won may not be a grand gesture guy but he always tries his best within his possibilities. The glorification of Hwa Shin needs to stop and Jung Won's fault made bigger than they are.
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99 potatodrama
October 11, 2016 at 6:08 PM
AND, as far as I'm concerned Jeong Won is the one who is technically ENGAGED with someone else.
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100 Tammie
October 11, 2016 at 8:57 PM
Ya'll are caught up in the kiss and I am over here saying, "24 episodes? What are they gonna do for 24 episodes?" I suppose she could make out with JJS. I am not opposed.
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Azlin
October 12, 2016 at 8:06 AM
Hahaahaha me neither !
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Chandler
October 13, 2016 at 10:21 PM
Oh, just you wait and see. I thought the same as you, but after watching this weeks episodes, it's clear we have a loooooong way to go. And honestly? I don't mind :P
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