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Introverted Boss: Episode 16 (Final)

Kisses, internal monologues, and the shenanigans of the Silent Monster team — the final episode of Introverted Boss brings back a lot of what worked while hoping that we forget about all the things that didn’t. Hwan-ki and Ro-woon discover the reality of loving someone very different from themselves, but they also learn that adapting to each other makes them stronger. Deserved or undeserved, everyone finds their happily ever after.

 
EPISODE 16: “It’s Okay to Be Shy”

Hwan-ki’s father proposes that they blame the cover-up of Ji-hye’s suicide on Woo-il’s overactive loyalty, and this pushes Hwan-ki over the edge. He yells at his father to stop and asks why he can’t hear any voice but his own.

The assemblyman shouts that you can’t survive in the world by being quiet. Hwan-ki agrees and says that he’s lived with shame for being the way he is, but he also wonders how his father can be so shameless. Wiping away the tears from his eyes, he walks out, leaving his father looking shaken.

Back in his office, Hwan-ki is staring out of the window when Woo-il walks in. The press is waiting for their official position, he says. Hwan-ki tells him that they should stop dissembling information and just take responsibility for what happened. He says that he’ll step down for the good of the company and hand over the reins to Woo-il.

Woo-il doesn’t think he has any right to run the company and asks why Hwan-ki would take the fall for his father. Hwan-ki smiles and hugs his friend. “I trust you,” he tells Woo-il. “You’re the only one who can save this company.” (I feel nauseous.)

Ro-woon’s dad picks up his older daughter’s heels and calls her a fool while crying over them. Meanwhile, Ro-woon sits in her room holding her necklace when her dad enters. He tells her to go, reminding her that he hid away his wife and daughter’s pictures so she could start fresh.

Ro-woon points out that even her name is inseparable from Ji-hye’s (together they form the word “wise”), which prompts her dad to tell her why he really named her Ro-woon: “So you’ll live an interesting life.” At his encouragement, Ro-woon finally starts smiling through her tears.

Hwan-ki packs up his bags and takes one last look around the Silent Monster office. Memories of the time he spent with Ro-woon and all his staff come back to him, and he leaves the penthouse with a smile. Outside, Yoo-hee, Sun-bong, Kyo-ri, and Se-jong stop him.

They ask why he has to leave, because who else will show them trust and help them grow the way he has? He looks at their teary-eyed faces and tells them that it’s the “red light,” and that they shouldn’t say another word. He begins to shake their hands, but the team converges upon him in a warm group hug.

Hwan-ki drives by the orphanage (where he’d danced as a panda once) and stops on the empty road, overcome by memories. Just then, a car rams into him from behind, making him check his rearview mirror. In it, he sees Ro-woon getting out and walking toward him.

She knocks on his window, like on the day they first met in person, while Hwan-ki sits silently behind the darkened glass. Unlike before, Hwan-ki comes out of the car instead of running away and stares at her shyly smiling face.

Ro-woon tells him that no matter how much she tries to keep a safe distance between them, she can’t seem to keep herself away from him. Hwan-ki gives in to his feelings and hugs her. They smile and kiss, their painful separation at an end.

Some time passes, and we see Hwan-ki jog down a path by himself. Ro-woon’s voice narrates that Hwan-ki had become alone once more. He stops to take a break by the sea, and Ro-woon comes up to pull his hood down again. She asks why he didn’t wake her up, and he retorts that he would if she didn’t kick him when he tried. Heh. Ro-woon says in voice over that he was alone, even when they were together.

They seem to be vacationing at a sea resort. Ro-woon comes running up the path to his room and bangs on his window, shouting that they have a big problem. He comes out, worried, and she declares that the problem is that she might die of boredom. It’s apparently been a few days, and Hwan-ki has stayed shut inside his hotel room the entire time.

Defeated in her mission to get him to go out, she spends the day eating and reading in bed. Hwan-ki walks into the bedroom and cringes to see Ro-woon lying on crumbs of chips in her outside clothes. He imagines having to sleep in that bed at night and wants to tell her to go take a shower.

But then he worries such pettiness will ruin the sweetness of their relationship. His inner monologue also points out that mentioning a shower will prompt Ro-woon to go into seduction mode, since she’d assume that he’s having dirty thoughts. (Ah, I missed these!)

He decides that the best course of action is to say nothing, and instead lure her outside and shake the blanket full of crumbs while she’s busy. Sadly, his lethargy has rubbed off on Ro-woon, and she’s unwilling to leave the bed now. He strikes upon a pack of jenga and tells her that if she plays with him, the loser will grant the winner a wish.

This gets her interested enough to move off the bed. Hwan-ki gets pretty competitive at the game, trying to startle her into making wrong moves, and finally, Ro-woon pulls out a peg that topples the structure. He gives a whoop of victory and asks for his wish: to paint her face.

He takes a picture to show her, smiling at her moan of embarrassment. He then tells her to go wash up, silently congratulating himself on landing on the perfect plan to make her take a shower. Unfortunately, Ro-woon starts liking his artwork and decides to wear it to bed that night.

By the end of the game, Hwan-ki sports a similar design on his face, but with Ro-woon asleep, he can finally take the blanket and shake the crumbs off outside. As he beats the blanket into submission — er, cleanliness — he thinks about Ro-woon’s other wish: that they sleep with their face paint on and go out as soon as they wake up the next morning.

The next day, Hwan-ki and Ro-woon venture out (thankfully after taking a shower), and Ro-woon decides to eat chips in the car. She manages to rip the packet in half, spilling the contents on the seat, then she proceeds to pick a chip up from the floor and put it in her mouth.

This is too much for Hwan-ki, who cribs to himself about Ro-woon turning their bed into a party house for ticks and mites, then for doing the same to his car. He wonders if he should tell her not to eat in the car, then feels bad because she’s so excited about their trip.

Ro-woon senses his foul mood and asks what’s bothering him. When he keeps silent, she tries to get him to eat chips. Ignoring his protests, she forces him to eat the snacks, telling him that junk food relieves stress. The crumbs on his own shirt just seem to increase his stress, until he’s forced to park the car and stomp out.

Ro-woon figures he’s finally ready to talk and follows him to the sidewalk, which looks over the sea. Hwan-ki first tells her to stop distracting him when he’s driving, since it’s dangerous even for the best of drivers. Realizing that that that felt good, he tells her to take a shower and stops eating in bed. Ro-woon gasps at the volley coming at her before asking if there’s anything more.

So, Hwan-ki tells her to stop interrupting when they’re watching TV. If she can’t pay attention, then she should stop being curious, he says. (Amen!) Ro-woon yells that there are things that she’s kept quiet about too, but then she can’t come up with anything. Hwan-ki scoffs that there’s nothing, since she always speaks before she thinks.

This gets to Ro-woon, who declares that she won’t sit in his car anymore before walking away from him. She soon slows down, hoping he’ll come after her, but she turns around to see him drive away. (Not cool, man!) But, oh, he’d just driven off to park it away from the traffic before running back to find her. Ro-woon starts crying as he nears her, until he hugs her in apology.

She tells him that she didn’t know he’d bottled up so much, since there isn’t anything about him that she doesn’t like. She worries that she’s the only one happy right now, but Hwan-ki assures her that he’s so happy that he feels guilty. He tells her that they’re different kinds of people, but they can start adjusting to each other now.

They sit on the beach, and Ro-woon remarks that this was the first time they fought on a trivial issue just like other couples do. Hwan-ki admits that while he tolerates everything in silence, the pettiness inside him stays hidden, but he claims that Ro-woon has brought out and seen all of the real him.

She rues that he still doesn’t say everything he wants to, and now he’s isolated himself from the people he cares about. Hwan-ki says that he’s with the only person he wants to be with, but Ro-woon points out that he just left that person in the middle of the road because he didn’t want to inconvenience others by parking his car in the wrong place. Heh.

They laugh, and Ro-woon says that they’re different people, so she wants the doors of communication to be wide open between them. Then she says that she’s getting him into trouble again and points down the beach. Hwan-ki turns around to see Woo-il and Yi-soo walking towards them. Ro-woon pouts that she got bored, so she invited some more people to play with. Hwan-ki smiles softly.

Commence the most awkward lunch ever as everyone silently eats around a table. Yi-soo tries to talk to Ro-woon, prompting Ro-woon to nearly choke on her food. Trying to be solicitous, Yi-soo keeps offering Ro-woon food before getting up to get more soup. As Woo-il leaves the table to go help Yi-soo, Ro-woon remarks on the similarity between Hwan-ki and his sister. She realizes that the difference is only that Yi-soo learned to change.

Later, the two women sit in a large hot bath, and Yi-soo admits that she was nervous on her way to the resort. Ro-woon says that it was hard for her too, but she asked them to come here for Hwan-ki. Yi-soo apologizes, expecting that it’s too little too late, but Ro-woon says that that’s what she’d wanted to hear for the last three years.

Yi-soo asks her to remain by Hwan-ki’s side, promising to stay away from them so Ro-woon won’t be uncomfortable. Ro-woon acknowledges that it’ll take some time for them to get close before asking Yi-soo to scrub her back, calling her “Unni.” This surprises Yi-soo, but she happily complies, and they bond over washing off Ro-woon’s dead skin. (Facepalm.)

Alone with Hwan-ki, Woo-il tells him that he and Yi-soo are starting over. Hwan-ki doesn’t seem too surprised, but he does tell him that he should be focusing more on running the company. Woo-il glibly says that since they’ve lost most of their clients, Brain has little to do these days. This gets Hwan-ki riled up, but when Woo-il asks him to come back, he falls silent. Woo-il also tells him that Assemblyman Eun has withdrawn his candidacy.

That night, Hwan-ki lies awake in bed until Ro-woon turns to him and asks if he wants to watch porn with her. She gets up and opens her laptop in bed while he feigns disinterest. Finally, when he peeks up with curiosity to see what kind of porn she watches, he’s faced with an image of himself on screen.

It’s a video titled: “Unveiling Eun Hwan-ki.” A series of pictures flashes on screen of moments captured when Hwan-ki was glowering, smiling, or generally being goofy. Then the Silent Monster team appears one by one to explain who Hwan-ki is. They say that he can be unapproachable and intimidating, but he’s also warmhearted and willing to help them out whenever they are in trouble.

After heartwarming testimonials from all four, they come on screen together and ask him to come back to the company. While Brain has become the place he wanted it to be, they still miss him. Ro-woon turns to Hwan-ki and tells him to end his boredom tonight and go back.

Then she puts away the laptop and gets a glint in her eyes. It would be too bad, she says, if he was bored on the last night here. Leaning back on the pillow, she throws out the ultimate seductive lure: “I took a shower today.” (Muahaha.)

She adds that Yi-soo scrubbed her back and it’s super soft right now. Hwan-ki grins and asks to see how soft her back is. They laugh, kiss, and snuggle close together.

Hwan-ki enters Ro-woon’s dad’s barbershop nervously, bowing formally when Dad notices him. Then he calls out to someone to come out, and Assemblyman Eun enters the room. He introduces himself gruffly to the startled barber, then tells Hwan-ki to leave. After clasping his father’s arm in a plea to behave himself, Hwan-ki leaves the shop, and the assemblyman breathes a sigh of relief.

He admits to Dad that he was embarrassed to do this in front of his son, then apologizes to him. He says that he’s ashamed of the way he’s brought up his children, but Dad assures him that he has nothing to apologize for in Hwan-ki. Some time later, Hwan-ki ducks back into the shop to see Dad giving the politician a shave.

The Silent Monster team prepares a cake and firecrackers for Hwan-ki’s return, then hides as he comes in. Hwan-ki enters with Ro-woon, who wants a kiss in return for sharing him with the world now. The team starts creeping out of their hiding place, intending to surprise their boss, but they see the busy couple and silently backtrack into the kitchen. Half-cringing, they watch from the kitchen, wondering how far they intend to go. Answer: far. (Guys! Announce yourselves at least!)

Another Christmas passes by, and Hwan-ki still needs the aid of signals to guard his personal space. As he works intently on something, Ro-woon gets up from her seat and wonders what’s on his mind. Yoo-hee tells her that he’s working on letters to clients, the press, and his staff, which he started around Christmas and will likely finish in spring.

Yoo-hee is pregnant, and Ro-woon muses that they have one new member of Silent Monster while an old one has left. Se-jong has moved on to start his career in movies, while Sun-bong has come into his own as an idea guy in their firm. As he finishes explaining a new concept to the team, Kyo-ri rues that he lands on ideas with such ease.

Sun-bong assures her that finding the job hard is part of the process of developing her intuition. Then, having impressed the ladies with his depth, Sun-bong excuses himself to go to the bathroom and hyperventilate about asking Kyo-ri to a concert.

In the meantime, Se-jong comes on TV to give an interview about his upcoming movie (titled My Shy Brother, heh) and starts talking about his crush, who inspired him to follow his dreams. As he turns to the camera to send a message to her, Ro-woon clasps her hands over her ears in mortification. Then, he says what he couldn’t in the last year: “I like you, Kyo-ri.” Ha.

As Ro-woon (again) writhes in embarrassment, Kyo-ri looks shocked (and relatively unmoved) at Se-jong’s confession. Just then, the real life Se-jong walks into the office with a bouquet in his hands. He apologizes for taking so long, but before he can hand Kyo-ri the flowers, the bouquet is plucked from his hands and thrust at Kyo-ri by Sun-bong. He declares his own crush on Kyo-ri, surprising everyone.

Then a big tussle begins between the two boys as they scramble to be the one to confess to her properly. Finally, Kyo-ri puts a stop to the fight by thanking them for liking her, but she says that she wants to focus on work right now. Yoo-hee points out that it’s the most common way of declining a proposal, and Ro-woon pipes in: “She doesn’t like either of you!”

Hwan-ki comes out of his letter-writing seclusion to welcome Se-jong and remind everyone what day it is: sports day! And Silent Monster is playing against Woo-il’s team… and losing badly. With Yoo-hee pregnant, Se-jong is the only serious player on the field.

At a crucial moment when Hwan-ki can score a goal, he starts playing the different scenarios in his head, and the scariest of them all is the one where he scores the goal and everyone looks at him. Wound up from all the analyzing, he ends up catching the ball and doing none of it. The only one to find this cute is Ro-woon, while everyone else just sighs in frustration.

After several more games — one of which includes Sun-bong and Se-jong wrestling in the dirt — prizes are given out. Woo-il predictably gets the first place prize, which he modestly accepts before offering to treat everyone for dinner. When Yi-soo hands him the gift, he kisses her on the cheek in thanks, which gets everyone chanting, “Kiss! Kiss!” So Woo-il and Yi-soo kiss, to much applause.

It’s Hwan-ki’s turn to say something to his employees. He stands before them with a box in his hands and says that he’s not very good at public speaking and has different things to say to each of them, so instead of a speech, he has cards that he wants to give them. As he calls out their names, everyone collects their own cards (while Sun-bong gives Hwan-ki a kiss in return) until the box is empty. Ro-woon realizes that she’s the only one who didn’t get anything. As she points this out, it begins to rain, and everyone runs to find shelter.

Ro-woon finds Hwan-ki taking shade behind a building and asks for her own card, assuming that he was too embarrassed to give it to her in front of others. But after searching his pockets, she’s disappointed to realize that he didn’t write one for her. She says that she’s been understanding about him spending all his time and energy on the company in the past year, but she wants to know if she’s always going to come second to his employees.

When Hwan-ki says that there was a card that he’d taken special care to write, she doesn’t believe him. She says that he doesn’t love her, since he can’t even be openly affectionate towards her in front of his employees like Woo-il and Yi-soo can. Hwan-ki says that this is the kind of person he is, and Ro-woon walks away, willing to get wet in the rain, because that’s the kind of person she is.

Ro-woon walks over to Yoo-hee and the gang, who are all standing under a canvas shelter. As they fuss over Ro-woon and wrap a towel around her, they hear music blaring across the field. Then shouts go out as everyone stares ahead at the figure dancing in the rain.

Ro-woon’s jaw drops at the sight of Hwan-ki busting out his moves in front of all Brain employees. Then he ends the routine by shouting, “I love you, Chae Ro-woon!”

Pushed out by her team, Ro-woon smiles broadly as Hwan-ki stands with his arms wide open. She runs to him, and Hwan-ki swings her in the air. He covers her face with kisses as everyone claps and smiles for them.

Then, in a quieter voice, he tells her again that he loves her and kisses her on the lips.

 
COMMENTS

I held out hope that they would somehow redeem the storyline until this final week. In the last episode, I realized I was never getting the story I wanted, so I girded my loins before venturing into the finale. On the upside, it was full of all the things we loved about Introverted Boss. (Except Yeon-jung! I missed her so much here!)

On the downside, my upchuck reflex was sorely tested whenever Woo-il and Yi-soo came on screen. Their stories had been so bizarrely twisted to fit the redemption box that their presence only managed to anger and confuse me. I was uninterested in anything to do with them and only wanted the two to disappear so that Hwan-ki and Ro-woon could make me feel better with their flirting and kisses.

The show finally touched upon the differences in our central characters, and it killed me to see this interesting source of relationship-building fodder be barely used in the final episode. For a show that based its conceit on the inner world of an introvert and how an extrovert might affect it, they seemed to forget about all these differences while dealing with issues that quickly became mired in bad plotting. It was a hugely wasted opportunity.

I enjoyed the little spat between Ro-woon and Hwan-ki, but they could have gone so much deeper with these inherent differences between the two. As we saw in the last scene — contrived as it was — Ro-woon will spend her days trying to understand what Hwan-ki is really thinking, while Hwan-ki will try and solve everything through grand gestures. At some point, the grand gestures are going to stop working.

The Hwan-ki we loved was complex, repressed, brimming with ideas and enthusiasm, and generous with his time and heart. There was so much to love about the hero and so much more to understand about his life. While the schizophrenic plot robbed us of the closure we wanted, Introverted Boss did give us some amazing characters amongst the Silent Monster team, some hilarious shenanigans, and some heart-melting kisses. I’m determined to hold on to those memories fondly while scrubbing my brain clean of everything else.

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Not perfect I know, but it was a really cute series and a really cute ending.

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The Good:
1. OST
One More Step by Sandeul
2. Yeon Jung and Hwan Gi
It should hv been them. Well, maybe in the future. RoWoon and HwanGi will eventually break up. I know so..
3. Yeon Jung's ninja moves with that kiss. That really made me flutter. Compared to all those kisses between HwanGi and Rowoon, that one kiss had a heart.
The Bad:
Everything else. Nuff said.

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Awww, I mostly agree with you, but what about Yeon-Jung? I don't think I've ever liked a second female lead this much. I think she may top my list pushing out the second female lead from protect the boss (who is also hilarious).
I feel that it was worth watching just to see a female character like Yeon-Jung, she made me smile every time she was on the screen.

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The boss in that one has a fear of public speaking, but otherwise isn't a timid person at all. It also has a great second female lead. She seems like the typical hateful second lead at first. Then slowly ends up being one of the heroine's friends. Choi Kang Hee is a mixed bag for a lot of people, but she's great as the heroine of this series.

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While I also enjoyed Yeon-Jung I don't think she replaces the second female lead in Protect the Boss who was my all time favorite. It might be because we unfortunately saw so little of Yeon-Jung but what we saw was great.

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Me too. Me too.

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This show made me feel like I finally got away from a bad relationship. You have the good moments and the bad, but ultimately you are just relieved to get away.

I didn't feel any strong attachment to this show. I had high hopes that were dashed and crushed under boots. Sigh.

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Festerfaste's comments , your comment and La Plume's above make me really glad i dropped this show way back in episode 1, when Roo Won barged into Hwan-ki's room. Crazy.

I came here to check out final comments and see if the show improved. But it doesn't look like I'm ever going to turn to this

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Lawl, I thought I was the only one checking in on a a finale recap of a show that I'm not even watching just to read the comments. I think I dropped it after episode 2, when it took them 8 years to run to each other and there was a murderous scooter driver on the loose. Did she get hit? Did Hwan-ki successfully tackle her down to safety? Did they have that awkward moment of closeness where they momentarily realize how attractive the other person is? I may never know... and I think I'm okay with that.

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Hahahaha! :D

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I dropped the show when they took the week off to regroup. I knew it would be a bad idea to change course like that suddenly. They should have stuck with their original vision of the drama and let the chips fall where they may.

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I really think this show would have been better without the sister suicide plot line. Frankly, that was one of the weakest and most pointless things I've ever seen. Really, that's why you kill yourself?

If nothing else this show points out the fact that most people have mental health problems, can't communicate or be themselves.

However, the cute was good and overall I enjoyed it when the team would solve the marketing problems.

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This is me possibly being insensitive: I don't know of anyone who commits suicide because of the reasons they gave. Yeah, it sucks, you go home, you gripe, you change jobs, whatever... but, no one offs themselves because you can't face your crush anymore.

Perhaps in the original script it would have been darker where she couldn't deal with the date rape and things go south fast from there. Or she found out Woo Il and Hwan Gi are actually her brothers?

I'm grasping at straws here. I know.

I think the actors did what they could with the script they were given. They don't have control over that, so I can't blame them.

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Unfortunately some do. In my experience sometimes it can be for 'less' than this. One thing it's taught me is that we can never understand how devastating something that seems so small to one person can be to another.

I agree that it is the weakest plot line (and didn't really help the drama) but I actually kind of appreciated that the suicide wasn't driven by a big 'understandable' reason, because sometimes it's just not.

I liked the show too it was just a bit inconsistent for me.

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Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the show was that it had the opportunity to make a real statement about mental illness that could have had a positive impact, but just ended up in a muddled mess that made no sense.

Hwan Ki had crippling social anxiety and the attempts to "fix" him could have showed both how he could overcome the negative aspects of his condition while teaching those around him to accept him for himself ( the show did this for the most part, but never really confronted it as a mental illness). Ji Soo self-harmed and attempted suicide, which could have been a way to illustrate depression and the importance of seeking treatment. Perhaps most important, Ji Hye seemed strong on the outside and revealing her deeper struggles could have highlighted realities about suicide since many people seem "normal" even while battling suicidal thoughts.

Instead, these characters' struggles with mental illness stayed one-dimensional, or, even worse, were twisted to reinforce some negative stereotypes about these issues. For example, Ji Soo just got better after letting go of her obsession with Woo Il. So, shouldn't all people who self-harm just be able to get over it? NO! That is exactly the wrong message. Ji Soo needed professional help. Making it seem as if her problems were easy to solve perpetuates the idea that mental illness is just "in the head".

Even the notion that Ji Hye's suicide was unexpected and uncharacteristic could have been used to demonstrate that suicide does not conform to stereotypes. Not every family who experiences suicide finds out "why" - sometimes there is no "why" that makes sense. The show missed the opportunity to explore the impact of suicide (though they did touch on it) in a way that could have had a positive impact, especially since suicide is a difficult topic in Korea.

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I think the writer probably wanted to touch some serious subject matter, but felt she had to keep it light and breezy so as not to rock the boat after the negative criticism, dismal ratings, and the rewrite.

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I agree.

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"I really think this show would have been better without the sister suicide plot line. "

I already said this before, and yes I was right.

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Not a very engaging drama... Yet i kept through to the last hoping for a change... Which I couldn't get....

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Awful ending, especially when she gets all upset at the end, what's the point? To drag some minutes?

I don't think Park Hye-Soo should be a female lead for awhile

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The thing is, I liked her in some scenes, and in others, not so much. So I don't know if it was solely because of the actress or the way her character was written - perhaps it was a case of both. I've definitely seen worse though, so I don't blame her too much. Perhaps she just wasn't cut out for the role.

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She will still be the main casts of Age of Youth season 2, if she confirms?

What I observed with her acting style, based on her cute appearance, we will think she will act cutesy and ageyo naturally, but it is not the case. I will say she is not suited with romcom that much, especially with a role like Ro Woon. She nailed her role in Age of Youth and Yong Pal (she was also quite good as young Lee Young Ae in Saimdang).

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I haven't watched her in other shows, but she is not ready to be a lead. Enough said.

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I alsk dont think she is perfectly lead material yet, she still need few more years of experiences. I have watched all of her projects so far, with the right roles she can perform. Enough said?

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there are only two things i liked about this drama:
1) yeon-jung
2) normalizing adult couples sleeping in the same bed without making it super weird (minus the one time hwan-ki slept in a tent...)

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Yes to both. But next time let Yeon-jung be one of the couple :)

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Gbam!!! I concur!

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I think I'm one of the few that enjoyed this drama, but I can't help but wonder what could've been. It wasn't great but it kept me entertained for the most part. I would've liked to know what the original plan was before the rewrite.

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I am also among the few enjoyed this drama. I have seen elsewhere, many viewers also enjoying this drama.

I am also curious what is the original writing.

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I enjoyed it too. Could have been better but eh, no hard feelings.

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Sigh. That's another drama I can write-off. Show gave me some fun moments for about 6 episodes, but then spiralled out of control in the latter eps. Chaotic, is what I would call it. Ah well, it tried, if only to fail miserably in the end. Better luck next time writers!

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As much as a mess this show was I think we all have to admit that it had once of the BEST SOUNDTRACKS of all time.
I literally could not get through an episode without singing SARANGHANDAGO JOHAHANDAGO!

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Ok, this I have to agree with. The one by Sandeul - one more time, is my jam!

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I only watch this when my mom watches it since I haven't been all that into this drama. And one of the reasons why I semi-watch it with her is because of the OST. I am lukewarm about the memory song by itself, but overlay it on top of the Introverted Boss scenes, then I'm all eyes and ears.

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ooooh I love the theme song. But my fave is def isn't she lovely. Such a beautiful OST, it reminds me of the Oh Hae Young OST

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Deliberately ramming someone's car is a good way to show you love them now? Hope it doesn't become a thing, but it makes about as much sense as the rest of the show.

And Hwan-ki is bothered by chips on the bed? Let's just say he and I would not be a good match.

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Was anyone else half hoping/ expecting RoWoon'so dad to just go all Sweeney Todd in the barber's chair with Hwang Ki's trash bag of a father? That would have really sealed the deal for me.

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Maybe in the darker version that got scrapped? We never know?

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Ha, I don't condone violence ( *whispers* I do) but, that would have been perfect!

I think Introverted Boss should have been a black comedy, then it would have gotten to keep its dark elements: delve deeper into mental illness, really show the dark consequences of that fateful night, the suicide and all its implications and also get to keep the romcom elements.

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Thanks for all the recaps. I never feel like I've really 'watched' an episode until I read the recap.

Now I'm gonna go watch a couple eps of goblin to cleanse my palate

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I am glad it is over. Horrible train wreck.

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i felt at some point in ep 16, the writers say... theres nothing much left to say, lets have them kissing more.
I still do like HK-RW together- the second couple is too far off redemption to have that kind of ending- so the plot actually overshadows the actors ability to convince us of their love.
This drama require us to heavily drop our brain processes. I like the lead actor- and hope he comes back with a good drama soon

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Sadly, a final miss for me. I gave it till the last episode but after everything Hwang Ki's family did, I hate that they got redemption and forgiveness for everything. The worst for me (other than Woo Il) was the Dad. After not caring about Ji Hye, to trying to blame Woo Il for everything, he's finally embarrassed? Ugh. The whole thing bothers me. I wanted it to make me feel good. But it just sits wrong.

Did really like Hwang Ki to the end. But even extroverted people would balk at dancing in public for their partner. Sorry I just don't buy such a drastic change. The whole thing is kind of like that.

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He did it before, don't see why he can do it again with determination and strong motivation ( Ro Woon).

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I had high expectations for this drama since news of it came out last year.
Was disappointed at the start, then it got better with the rewrite, but things went downhill again with the last few eps.
I really cannot understand how the characters could have changed so abruptly.
1. Eun Hwan Ki
Towards the end, something about his personality and actions dont match. Knowing how Hwan Ki is from all the previous eps, its obvious that he takes things deeply into his heart and is very mindful of himself/considerate of others. I dont understand how he could have just approached Rowoon immediately after knowing that Jihye liked him. His personality would have been to stay quiet, cry (lol) and maintain some distance between Rowoon at least for a while in consideration for Jihye. But he just followed Rowoon quietly soon after receiving the drawing. Maybe he wanted to look after Rowoon for Jihye but I cant accept the fact that the power of love could change his personality this much. It could have been better if there was some distance for a while, or to see Hwan Ki break down a little imo like he would before. Its literally like "i love your sister so much, pls forgive me Jihye" (a little selfish unlike usual Hwan Ki). Anyone who has a different opinion can refute me. I would wish to listen to another viewpoint.
2. Hwan Ki's Dad
His character is so ridiculous? He has always been that selfish Dad who puts himself over his children in an extreme way. Like why did you even get them in the first place. Ok. I accepted his character after some time, hes mean and everyone knows it.
Then all of a sudden, after Hwan Ki yelled at him, he became so shy and started to treat others as a human?? Whatever was that when he went to Rowoon's Dad barber shop. Even after knowing that his daughter self harmed, he didnt even waver a bit and remained that meanie that took advantage of the weak. Wow. Hwan Ki must have fed him some magic potion.
3. Rowoon
Her sole purpose of joining Brain was to seek revenge. This shows how much hatred she has as a person. I know she started to understand the people there and her vengeful heart disappeared, but her reaction after knowing the truth was so ..... neutral? She couldnt even eat kimchi after Jihye's death. Her life got affected in so many ways. And her reaction was ?????
4. Woo Il
His change was abrupt, like really abrupt, but I can't find much fault in the writers for making him this way. He had to. And maybe he really could have changed so much bcos the guilt built up for 3 years overflowed. NONETHELESS, it doesnt seem to me that Woo Il really felt sorry for Jihye. Quitting his job then and apologising to the family felt like he took responsibility... but half-assed it. At the end, Hwan Ki appeared to be the one to be at fault for Jihye's death when Woo Il started the fire first.
5. Yisoo
Hmm... idk what to say here, maybe someone can tell me.

Talked about most of my disappointments in the characters. Another...

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Talked about most of my disappointments in the characters. Another disappointment: I hate how it seemed as tho the main story of the drama was about discovering Jihye's death and not how the introverted boss opened up. Sigh. The development of Hwan Ki seemed like a side story.

Ofc this drama wasnt just disappointments, bcos I thoroughly enjoyed the romantic and cute moments. My favourite character goes to ...... *drum rolls*
YEON JUNG!!!! Hwan Ki's first love. Her character was plain sassy yet considerate to Hwan Ki. My fav line from her, "Sorry but you are not my type". She said this to Hwan Ki's dad. BURN. I believe most viewers loved Yeon Jung too.
Other favourites are the Silent Monster staffs!! They really made this drama much more entertaining.

All in all, I conclude that IB was an average drama. I give more leeway by not saying that its an utter fail bcos the kisses in this drama were all so good! The kiss under the shower head, bed and couch kisses, and the final kiss in the rain. I got used to Park Hyesoo's mediocre acting after some time but I wanna at least compliment her for her kiss scenes. Shes still a rookie but she kissed really well!!! At least she aint a statue. Gonna anticipate AOY S2 so so much. And Yeon Woojin. Thanks for your great acting and your portrayal of a shy boss. I have a crush on Hwan Ki hehe. Ofc on Yeon Woojin too. ❤️ Please choose a hit drama next time!
Great job to all the other actors and actresses, Gong Seungyeon, Yoon Park, Ye Jiwon, Heo Jungmin, Jun Hyosung etc etc! Will be looking forward to 'Circle' with GSY and I hope Yoon Park reappears in AOY S2! Ye Jiwon and Heo Jungmin should continue to appear in tvn dramas, I love their characters every time. As for Hyosung, she did a great job in her acting. Good luck to all the cast!
Thank you dramabeans for recapping thru all the episodes. We have come far!
P.s. This is my first comment, I never commented yet it happened to be so long lol.

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Loved your summation and you ended on a positive note too.

Yeon Jung being portrayed by an actress I already loved was icing along with chocolate covered strawberries. And she didn't have any baggage this time.. or didn't show any. at least.

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This drama is not the biggest disapppointment for me honestly. If only the last 4 episodes were done better. sigh.

I am not regretting spent 16 hours with this drama. But I will say the last 4 hours kinda ruined it for me.

Whatever it is, I still have some love for this drama despite its flaws. I hope Kim Eun Sook will cast Yeon Woo Jin in her next drama. Not saying KES's drama much better, but YWJ needs a drama and role that can boost his popularity. Even second lead in KES drama is a big deal.

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YESSS TO THIS!!!! I love Yeon Woojin to death and really hoping he can lead or second lead in bigger projects!
He's definitely one of the best actors out there, and his portrayal of Hwan Gi is beautiful, complex & just crazy good. The guy needs recognition he deserves!

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I totally agree. I think about he can paired with strong woman lead like Seo Hyun-jin. The melodrama would be good. I saw the BTS they have met, Seo Hyun-jin has visited the crew.

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Thank you for the recap. Even the cute ending couldn't make up for the lacklustre storyline. What a disappointment.

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The storyline was realy bad, but I apreciated Yeon Woo jin, I fell in love with him as HG, I hope he will be casted in a great drama because he seems to me an underrated actor. He laughed, cried, whispered, yelled, acted shy and introverted, acted extroverted ( at the end), played smart, played dumb. Totally loved the actor here!

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I normally would drop this kind of drama after the first or second episode but I really did stuck through it till the end solely because of Yeon Woojin!!

Can't believe Introverted Boss is my first YWJ drama! He is soooooo good. I happened to binge watch Marriage Not Dating (what happened to the writer with IB?) and all the cameos he was in (he was in my love from the star omfg) in between IB, and boy how could I not know this guy before!? Planning to watch Arang and perhaps continue Ojakgyo Brothers for him :) will definitely look forward for his next projects and hopefully a well-deserving hit!

And I loveeee all the soundtracks! (My fave is Ryu Jihyun's). I think the PD really has an ear for music, Marriage Not Dating & Oh Hae Young music are also as dope!

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YWJ was cute and charm in Ojakgyo Brothers. That's show his youth looks and very funny as the Magne in the family.

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1. Yeon Woojin was so incredibly good! Near perfection. I regret nothing. Can't wait to see him in the next project.

2. Why should I cry buckets, watching A love to kill?
Tell me somebody, please! Everything and even more went wrong then, and what do we have here? Alles ist gut?!
Not fair!

Thanks for the recaps!

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Honestly, I just finished this and feel the need to do a heavy write up and analysis but I kinda can't be bothered right now, partly because I'm still laughing at the absurdity of the last episode. Like... what. Why did those last two episodes even happen the way they did? What exactly was achieved in writing/directing them like that? What happened to anybody's character consistency? Why was THAT the final conflict? Help...

Can I just pretend they don't exist, shove the kisses into another episode, and just have my heartbreaking, warm and fuzzy Hwan Ki, with his back up dancers come office employees?

Sigh, such a waste of good character potential.
Oh well. At least I laughed? I'm not sure if it counts if it was sarcastic laughter though.

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I feel so let down by the last minute nonsensical wrap-ups of storylines. It's the same feeling of being let down like I had after watching 2016's "Lucky Romance". Great actors/actresses - but totally let down by awful plots and writing. I was rooting for the show all the way, even hoping that this would be the team to show that an early-term rewrite could work out well!

Alas, no. :(

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“You’re the only one who can save this company.” (I feel nauseous.)"

Probably from rolling your eyes too hard, festerfaster!

So everyone gets to eat their cake and have it too. Woo Il leaves the company but gets reinstated, manipulate his friend but clear up misunderstandings, they get to keep the bromance too. No image soiled, no. Hwan Ki can do that. Don't worry about him, his a rich man's son( he won't starve), best of all, he has good ole cheery, chirpy, loyal excitable Ro Woon by his side. He'll be fine, kuku.

Yi Soo suddenly up and healed herself. How that happened, the good Lord knows. AND she gets back Woo Il, receives Ro Woon's forgiveness and friendship offer. They're even all kissey faces in front of everyone, never mind that a horror movie soundtrack should be playing every time they breathe in each other's way.

Hwan Ki's mother, the frivolous shallow twat, was forgotten in the resolution. All the better because she was so inconsequential.

Horrible Dad, no comment ( there is). Now lemme start: This man stormed his son's office and hit his grown ass son( a boss btw) like he was an errant child. His daughter was found to be suicidal but the 'maga' could barely twitch and was looking for who to blame just to save his neck. He had no respect, not to talk of affection ( unless you count contempt, anger and disappointment as one) for his son, was suddenly led by the hand to apologize to Ro Woon's dad. The man had tried to kick them out of business. He now had enough regard for his son enough to cast aside his pride and apologize to Ro Woon's dad, a PEASANT!!
With everyone back and settled, ahhll iz well. We can all come together and sing the Barney's theme song.

I keep forgetting to not take this show too seriously. But for some reason, I'm more forgiving of the show than for, say Cinderella & The Four Knights. I suspect it has to do with Hwan Ki's character and by extension, Yeon Woo Jin. Just keep chanting, "don't think too hard, don't think too hard". When I do that, I enjoy everything else. The kisses are definitely A++++++. Love how forward Ro Woon is in this instance.
What is it about these shy peeps, suddenly turning all sexy and manly? Hmmmmn, the 'Spiritual Konji' can turn every one into a man o. lol.

Yeon Jung saw what a train wreck it was becoming and bailed, bless her heart. Still love the way she cooly took down Horrible Dad. I want to be her when I grow up!!

The last scene would have been a perfect ended to a better show. Still, I found it heartwarming! I was cringing and covering my eyes on his behalf, but it was a sweet, grand gesture.
Don't regret watching the show, more love for Yeon Woo Jin!!

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Cute moments. Loved the Silent monster team an HG.
The main storyline was a train-wreck. The reason why the sister killed herself made 0 sense from the beginning and from there it just went downhill. It was a pity since the premises of the plot was good (minus the suicide storyline). It could have been way better if they just showed the team's attempts to get HG out of his bubble and WI could have been a fake friend who was just taking credit of HG's genius ideas...but no, he is an orphan so we all need to pity him, no matter what he does.

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Ah this drama! Well, well, well..after almost 5 years of watching Korean dramas, It's my first time after watching a drama series where i still don't fully know or understand the hero/ principal character which was Hwan Ki!I undertsand the complexity of being an introvert and being shy also because i'am a little bit, but it's as if i watched this drama through the perspective of people in Hwan ki's life instead of having the opportunity to watch it as a viewer: getting to know Hwan ki for who he really is, in his house, ..or maybe the truth is he is just a very simple sort of guy which i would also understand? :)
Anyway, interesting drama, not one i would rewatch but powerful performances from Yeon woojin and the rest:)

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I wonder if anyone noticed that 3 of their characters apppeared on episode 268 of running man: Stephanie, yoon park, and gong seung yeon.

Marriage, not dating and introverted boss both ended with yeon woojin kissing in the rain.....?

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Bravado .love the ending♥♡

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hmm, i actually really enjoyed the ending and thought it was wrapped up nicely. hwan ki dancing and yelling his love for rae won was also a nice touch imo.

overall though i really enjoyed this drama. hwan ki's character was written extremely way and yeon woo jin's performance was phenomenal. this is the first drama i've seen him in but he's definitely up there with seo in guk and ji chang wook in terms of acting skillz.

apparently i'm the only one who didn't abhor park hye soo in this lol. her character was definitely irritating in the first few episodes but i believe that was more a reflection of the writing rather than her acting abilities. by episode 6 she mellowed out and became more likable in my opinion.

yoon park who was also in age of youth was enjoyable to watch as well but i believe that his character got brushed off in the last episodes.

special shout outs to jang hee-jin who played yeong jung, hwan ki's college sweetheart. her character was a joy to watch and one of the most refreshing female 2nd lead/love interest i've ever seen in a drama. if the story somehow ended with her and hwan ki together, i wouldn't have been mad. you cant hate her!

nevertheless, i believe there could've been major improvements with the script, as things got a little convoluted towards the end, but the acting was spot on and the characters were lovable. while i like the new 16 episode trend of dramas i think that this one would would've worked with 18 episodes just to flesh out the recovery and redemption chapters of these characters lives. i would have liked to see more of yi soo and kang woo il and how they dealt with letting go, being honest etc. i also felt like the hwan ki's father's apology was rather strange because there was little to no indication that he was going to go there, nor did we get a chance to see/hear hwan ki talk with his father about apologizing. we got to see ro woon's father take responsibility and be accountable towards his actions towards his family and apologize to his daughter but we never see that with hwan ki's father.

all, in all i appreciate the themes of anxiety, isolation, depression, self harm etc. and i think this drama handled isolation and keeping things to oneself pretty well but everything else was a little superficial in my opinion. they tip toed around diagnosis's and therapy/psychiatry to the point where anxiety, depression and self harm just seemed like character flaws. idk that didn't sit too well with me. otherwise i had a lot of fun with drama and it still managed to be pretty progressive and refreshing.

7/10!

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I think that one of the main problems I had was this show is that it is not at all what was promised by the teaser trailers. I don't think that I'd even call it a rom-com. There were definitely good things about it that made me WANT to like it, but it was so different from what I anticipated it being that I just couldn't bring myself to struggle through to the end.

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Does anyone know that song that plays during the soccer match?

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Drama had potential. Male lead did a great job. Female lead was one dimensional and cringe-worthy. Each character had issues and I only wished they went deeper into it - but it all ended as cliched as a relationship with a woman who could regress 20 years and become a kid whining and crying over candy. I wished she became a real girlfriend and went back to becoming the actress she so aspired to be. The supporting cast did very well though. Suicide scene could have gone further instead of being a "whodunnit" and "it's all my fault". The whole drama was about what happens when people don't communicate and suicide. An important topic.

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Sooooo these two pretty much killed Roon's sisters (one by forcing into her and then lying about her being the one who started everything) and the other guilty tripping her into suicide...but get forgiven like nothing happened? the actual f*ck?!. Never been so infuriated for a finale, first Goblin (though the ending was better) and now this, damn you 2017

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