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Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 4

I’m amazed at how much character depth these Flower Boy dramas are packing into their light-rom-com outer shells, because they contain a surprising level of development and thoughtfulness. This drama has a refreshing tone, not just because it makes me laugh out loud but also because the strain of melancholy grounds its emotions in something real and stark. The drama is particularly good at balancing its light and dark halves, which we don’t see a lot in dramaland these days—we either get things that are extremes on either end, or things that start out light and then overboard on the dark. I wish more dramas could juggle the two this effectively.

SONG OF THE DAY

Serengeti – “바다로 가는 길” (On the way to the sea) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 4: “No such things as kind lies or white lies?”

Jin-rak has his hero moment where he makes the decision to stop being a passive bystander while his girl gets stolen away by that interloper, and chases down Enrique’s (hyung’s) car. He’s all blazing determination with dramatic finale-episode music spurring him on, and he yells, “STOOOOOP!”

The car screeches to a halt. To avoid hitting a bicyclist, ha. They haven’t heard Jin-rak at all, who ekes out one last “Stooooo~”*cough* *hack* *wheeze* Aw, so it’s not a hero move so much as it’s his Baxter moment.

Dok-mi notices that Enrique’s hand, thrown up to keep her from slamming forward, is hovering perilously near her chest. I love that she gives Enrique the pointed eye-jerk, and he whips his hand back. On they go.

Dong-hoon comes up while Jin-rak’s hacking up his lungs and thinks he’s freaking out about being evicted. Jin-rak just mutters, “But I was first. I saw her value first.” Unable to contain his frustration, he demands, “Who the hell is that guy?! Why is it all so easy for him?!”

Dong-hoon asks what put Jin-rak in such a temper, trying to figure out what Jin-rak had before Enrique came along. He chatters on, wondering whether Enrique and Dok-mi are dating, and Jin-rak warns him to shut up.

Dong-hoon realizes that Jin-rak’s really angry, and hesitantly asks why. Poor boy, he can’t know the real reason but it hurts his feelings to be the venting source. Too bad he’s too dense to figure it out himself.

Dok-mi tries again to get Enrique to drop her off somewhere, or better yet, take her back home because she left home without her wallet or bag. Enrique has totally swallowed her lie, though, and tells her when the elderly ask for help, it means they need it quickly. “Time waits for no one,” he advises sagely. He’s determined to deliver her to her sick granny, and nothing will deter him.

Man-hunting Dok-mi and her posse of copycats head over to the apartment lobby, where she rifles through everyone’s mail, trying to figure out who her hottie is. She spies a letter with Dok-mi’s name on it and realizes that she does live here after all, just as Dong-hoon emerges from the elevator.

Do-hwi turns on the sweet act instantly and says her friend lives in Apartment 402. Dong-hoon brightens, saying he’s in 401, and calls this Fate. What’s hilarious about this is that Do-hwi’s affectations are wasted on her target but land on his sidekick, while Dong-hoon’s charms are in turn wasted on Do-hwi but have all her friends swooning. Either Cupid’s got crappy aim or a sick sense of humor.

Do-hwi introduces herself, angling for the hottie’s name. Yet once she hears it, her smile immediately turns to a frown. She recognizes it, but it doesn’t appear to be what she wanted to hear…

At a rest stop, Dok-mi practices a new lie to try out on Enrique, about how she just got a phone call from Grandma telling her she’s recovered and gone to the hot springs with her neighborhood friends. No need to go after all!

But then Dok-mi overhears the girl nearby wheedling her boyfriend on the phone… then taking a second call with her other boyfriend… and then working the oppa-pout-wiggle on the boyfriend she’s here with. Message sent: Don’t be a lying liar who lies.

Dok-mi cringes as Enrique joins her, and screws up her courage to blurt her confession all at once: Grandma’s not sick she’s really okay Dok-mi lied because she didn’t want to go but the lie keeps on growing she’s really sorry if he’s mad she understands she’s really sorry again.

Enrique just shrugs it off, saying they can go home then. But he has a confession of his own: He came out in such a rush he forgot his own wallet. “I’m hungry, and the car’s hungry too…” Dok-mi hangs her head and apologizes again, to which he says (his voice briefly turning serious for a moment) that one more sorry will really get him upset.

Then he turns up his brightness meter again and proposes figuring out a solution. That entails borrowing a few bucks here and there by flirting with girls or using aegyo with adults. Dok-mi starts out hiding her face in embarrassment at his antics, but by the time Enrique’s charming a little girl she looks a little charmed too.

The spell is broken when a surly teenager knocks into her, and Dok-mi is surrounded by a whole swarm of high school girls stomping by. They snidely complain that she’s standing in their way, and this transports her to her own hellish days of bullying. She has to get away.

Enrique finds her sitting in the cold alone and suggests they eat something to warm up. Dok-mi bursts out, “I want to go home! Right now!” He registers her alarm.

Dong-hoon sends Jin-rak new drawings for the webtoon. First Jin-rak is grumpy that he doesn’t like the drawings, and then he gets a batch he does like and is just as grumpy: “This punk—how can he spend all night playing and draw so well?!” Ha. Also, I can’t wait to find out what Dong-hoon’s actually doing with his nighttime hours; something tells me there’s a story there.

All in all, even though Jin-rak is Captain Grumpypants on a good day, today he’s extra cranky. The one thing that gets him to smile is a glance at Dok-mi’s note (on guidelines for saving energy); he sighs that her handwriting is just like her.

Enrique ushers Dok-mi to the car, and now that she’s calmer she apologizes for leaving when he’s still hungry. He exasperatedly tells her not to say sorry so much, and then makes her freeze nervously when he gets all up in her personal space to fasten her seatbelt. And again to lean her chair back. Gulp.

She falls asleep clutching her hands together, and as he drives Enrique thinks back to earlier encounters with Dok-mi that hint at the trauma in her past. Coming to some kind of decision, he swerves the wheel to take the next exit.

Ding-dong. Do-hwi rings the apartment doorbell, then hurriedly assumes a casual pose as Jin-rak opens his door. With her affected demureness she apologizes for getting the wrong apartment, and disinterested Jin-rak doesn’t even bat an eye as he swings his door shut.

Panicking, Do-hwi JAMS her foot into the open space, then hilariously resumes acting the modest lady. She pretends she only now recognizes him, disappointed at his lack of response. But when she heads to to knock on Apartment 402, Jin-rak grabs her hand. Score!

Or so she thinks. I’m sure he’s thinking of Dok-mi’s peace of mind, but as he pulls Do-hwi away from that door she whirls gracefully into his arms like a swooning princess, and purses her lips for a kiss. Jin-rak actually recoils.

Dok-mi awakens in the car, which is parked in an unfamiliar location. Enrique gives her a sheepish grin and says he’s sorry—he must’ve entered the address wrong in the GPS. Pull back to reveal that he’s parked at a beach, and as Dok-mi looks at it her eyes fill with tears.

She gets out to walk on the sand, toward the water. Enrique wonders why she’s acting like she hasn’t seen the sea in 500 years, which might just be how she feels.

Enrique keeps his eye on Dok-mi but lets her have her space, though he does whip out his camera to take photos of her. (And backs himself right into the waves, soaking himself. Heh.)

Sitting in Jin-rak’s apartment, Do-hwi pretends to dial a number and hangs up right away, feigning confusion at why Dok-mi isn’t answering. Jin-rak points out that she barely let it ring, and that annoys her into dropping her sweet facade for a second.

Dok-mi and Enrique stop by a small market, where he asks the proprietor for something to dry his camera with. Dok-mi worries that he’ll catch cold, but he’s more bummed about potentially losing all his photos. The owner turns a blind ear to their questions until Dok-mi clocks the flower-print shoes and mutters to Enrique, “Grandma.”

Cutely, the minute Enrique calls her pretty grandma, she turns into helpfulness and light, offering dryers and clothing and dinner to boot.

Enrique wears the hell out of his temporary ajumma fashions, doing his dorky best to wring a smile out of Dok-mi. They sit down to feast on sweet potatoes and kimchi, but when he reaches for the makgulli bottle she sternly shakes her head—he has to drive. He deflates… and then pulls the What’s that over there? trick to get her to look away. *Pour* *Chug* *Innocent smile*

Dok-mi takes away the bottle and he looks at her with puppy-dog eyes until she reluctantly gives it back. Glug-glug-glug. Agh, hold on, gimme a minute. Gotta put some sweet potatoes in the oven and get out the kimchi.

Enrique says that his hyung Tae-joon may have his killer appeal, but he’s also got big downsides—he’s just another person, even if he is her one-sided love. Dok-mi bristles and tells him not to use that term with her, one-sided love, saying that she had intended to start it and end it all on her own, secretly, with nobody ever finding out.

Enrique points out that he figured it out. What tipped him off was the similarity between them—she looked at Tae-joon the way he looked at Seo-young: “You can’t hide things like that.”

Enrique works his way through two bottles of makgulli and is happily tipsy by the time he figures they should get ready to head back. She suggests a walk on the beach to sober him up, which he misinterprets as a demand to hurry up and get home already. Doesn’t she feel cooped up in her apartment all the time?

She replies that it doesn’t feel stifling to her, that she finds her space peaceful.

Jin-rak asks if Do-hwi’s really friends with Dok-mi, having seen nothing of her in the three years he’s been her neighbor. Wouldn’t a friend be in regular contact? Do-hwi fumbles for an excuse, saying that she’s been abroad and drifted from her friends, and was excited to run into Dok-mi again yesterday.

She looks around with her apprising eyes, trying to figure out if he’s a manhwa writer or maybe got a better (read: richer) profession. They’re having tangential conversations because Jin-rak’s so fixated on the Dok-mi angle of their friendship that he all but ignores her, working out their relationship in a way that makes sense to him.

After her dinner invitation goes unheeded, Do-hwi gets miffed at his inattention and heads out. But he grabs her hand again and asks her to stay for tea—again, more out of curiosity about Dok-mi than anything, but Do-hwi’s happy to take this as a sign of interest.

Out on the beach again, Enrique runs in circles around the sand castle like a drunk little boy, and declares that he’ll take back what he said yesterday about love being broken and therefore over. He figures that you can’t just decide something’s done and start the next one right away: “All you have to do is leave things as they are, and they’ll come back around to where they should be.”

She gets a call and stares at the phone for a long moment, so Enrique pokes the button for her. With deep reluctance, Dok-mi answers Do-hwi’s call. Asked when she’s coming home, Dok-mi tells her she’s far away and not to wait for her, then hangs up. Just this contact is enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Jin-rak, on the other hand, is alarmed to hear that Dok-mi might not come home tonight and barks at Do-hwi to call back and find out where she is. He worries that she might be in trouble.

With no reason to keep her here anymore, Jin-rak ushers her out. They’re just in time to meet Dong-hoon at the door, who’s talking to the courier, who’s delivering some legal papers for an Oh Jae-won. Dong-hoon tells him there’s nobody here by that name, but Jin-rak speaks up—that’s him.

Do-hwi’s eyes widen at the name. So do Dong-hoon’s. Hm, so was our runaway chaebol storyline directed at the wrong roommate?

Jin-rak opens his letter, which turns out to be a confirmation of his name change. Dong-hoon is busy pouting about being left out of the loop on this, so Jin-rak shows him the paper and declares that it’s official, and now there’s no other name to mistake him for. He just says, “I’m not a criminal so don’t worry. And even if you’re dying of curiosity, don’t ask questions.”

It’s night by the time Grandma closes up her shop and tells Enrique and Dok-mi that the buses to Seoul have stopped running, but she has a room she can put them up in for the night since she runs a bed-and-breakfast type deal on the side. HA, did Grandma hustle them to score a customer?

Enrique adds that he checked online and he still has to wait five hours till he can drive again. Dok-mi heaves a sigh.

Jin-rak gets online to search for “reasons a woman might spend the night out.” None of the answers is comforting, ranging from “running from debts” to “a scam” to “she just doesn’t like you.”

Dong-hoon suggests that he start dating, since he’s never even kissed a girl before. Jin-rak bristles: “Who said that?!” Dong-hoon figures that he was just taking a stab at a hunch, which he just confirmed. Lol. Not so dim when he tries, is he?

He points out that Do-hwi is “not totally my type, but close” but that she only has eyes for Jin-rak. Conclusion: “Her taste in men is perfectly rotten.” Hee.

Our (kinda-)stranded couple huddles in front of the fire as Enrique asks what kind of work she does (copy editing) and confesses that his written skills aren’t so hot. Dok-mi starts to ask whether her lie caused a lot of trouble, but he waves it aside: “I lied too. So don’t be sorry.”

She asks what his lie was. He asks why she was sitting alone out in the cold—is she so afraid of people that shivering alone is better than being amongst them?

She doesn’t answer. He adds, “You were sleeping in the car, and I just didn’t want to take you home. If I did, you’d hide yourself away for sure.” He tells her that if she gets to know people, her fears will gradually go away and things will be better. “Until I go back to Spain, I’ll drag you out and show you the whole world.”

She asks for a favor. Her voice grows chilly: “Once we’re back in Seoul, will you act like we don’t know each other? Even if we run into each other, just pass by pretending you don’t know me.”

He tries the cheery approach, saying that they’ve already revealed a lot about themselves to each other. She replies that that’s why she feels uncomfortable with him.

Enrique wonders if he’s supposed to find her uncomfortable too, having revealed a lot about himself to her. He’s bummed by her request, but he slaps on his happy face and agrees to it, with a revision: “Rather than pretending that we don’t know each other, let’s decide we never knew each other from the start.”

Dong-hoon asks for Jin-rak’s ideal woman, and gets the description: “A woman who knows how to compromise first. A woman who knows how to say sorry first. A woman who doesn’t have big ambitions. A woman who’s sincere even when she’s someplace the world can’t see her.”

Dong-hoon calls his ideal type a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, but also connects the dots: “Do you really like Apartment 402?”

Enrique sits in his car flipping through photos of Dok-mi taken today, while she sits in the rented room, tapping out another segment of her story on her phone:

What is your truth? Answer honestly. Whenever someone asked her that, she kept her mouth shut. When unwrapped from its wrapping paper of lies, the truth is not a sweet candy or a chocolate that appears with a flourish. In the way that skin is needed to protect blood and flesh, she needed lies to cover her truth. More than being honest and exposing her scars, that woman found it safer to lie with a brilliant smile.”

She finishes her passage, and the lights start to flicker. Dok-mi starts to panic, remembering Eccentric Grandma’s mention of the inconsistent lights and how it’s because of a ghost. She screams.

The sound wakes Enrique, who’s fallen asleep in the car, and he dashes over to the darkened room. He rushes in just as Dok-mi’s heading out, and knocks her down.

The lights flicker back on, and they slowly open their eyes to realize their lips are locked. Whoopsie. Naughty ghost.

 
COMMENTS

Ha, I have to laugh at the whoops-I-fell-on-your-lips trick, because it’s such a cliche of these kinds of shoujo-manga-esque stories. Or I should call it soonjung-manhwa, like this drama’s source material, though they’re really the same thing. I’m expecting the moment to subvert in the next episode, much in the way that Jin-rak’s dash of glory fell comically flat in this episode’s opening, and I hope it’s a good one.

The thing about Jin-rak is, he’s drawn to tug at your heart as the nice guy who loves from afar, but I have to say I’m all Enrique, all the way. My love for Kim Ji-hoon is vast (nobody does wry and deadpan quite like him—not to mention his knack of making crankiness sexy), but the drama’s showing us very clearly why he doesn’t have snowball’s chance in hell, and it’s not because he happened to miss his timing or be overshadowed by Enrique.

Jin-rak would never have gotten the girl, Enrique or no, for more than one simple reason. First, there’s his misguided passivity—although that can be fixed, as he attempted in this episode. He waited way too long until he was paralyzed, but that’s not his main failing.

What his greater downfall is that he has convinced himself that he’s the only person who truly sees Dok-mi—hence his indignation that Enrique is swooping in, since Enrique can’t possibly see her like he does—and yet he’s really only seeing the version he’s created. It’s the girl in his webtoon, not the real girl. And what better proof of that than his list of “ideal woman” traits? How far from Dok-mi could he possibly get?

Enrique’s hyperactive puppy mode can be a bit much at times, and truth be told I’m half-expecting a moment to come when it turns me off of him out of annoyance. But it actually makes him more sympathetic, since it’s a part of his act as well, and Dok-mi seems to see that. I love the little cracks in his armor, the sides of him that he doesn’t allow anyone to see (except Dok-mi), and I’m so glad that Yoon Shi-yoon is here to bring all that to life with his vibrancy. It takes a lot of energy and innate timing to make a guy like Enrique feel real, but he’s doing it.

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Thanks!

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Thank you for the recap, JB!

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I just love the idea of the OTP together!! I mean Dok mi will make Enrique to become more mature and he'll take her out of her apartment and make her forget her past (whatever it is)! I am totally shipping for dok mi and enrique instead of jin rak. Love you drama!!! Thanks for the recap!

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woow thank you so much! love this drama. lot of cuteness here!

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Yay!!!! It's not that I've been waiting for this all day long XD

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Thank you!

Yuck at Do-hwi's antics. I was cringing everytime.

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me too!! :O

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I'm getting tired of her already.

And Jin-rok's dimwit friend is pushing it too (though no where near as much as Do-hwi).

I can't believe people like Do-hwi exist and think their fake way of acting will actually convince anyone. And Dong-hoon says that's his ideal woman. Ughhh.

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While the character is annoying, you have to hand the actress props for doing such a great job in this role. She's so over the top, I imagine there was a lot of laughter on set, especially for that pucker up scene at the front door.

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If only Do-hwi could be so over the top that she was endearing, like Lee Shi-young's character in "Birth of a Rich Man." LSH played the second female lead. In the beginning I thought she was annoying, but by episode 6 she was the best character in that drama. That woman can shriek. But she was a good person... I have my doubts about Do-hwi.

I've only seen this actress before when she was the second lead in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, but she seems so over the top here, that I kind of want to like her. Mostly because it's so not going anywhere for her with Jin-rak, and it's not going anywhere hilariously.

Sidenote: I don't recommend Birth of a Rich Man. I like Ji Hyun-woo, but I couldn't finish it. There are too many other awesome dramas out these days to waste time watching it.

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yeh me too i love this actress since my girlfirend is gomihu and she has sweet voice becouse she was singer i hope to see her in main role,but when i see her i think of no min woo

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thanks....

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thanks......

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I'm not sure if I can stomach any more Do Hwi... I just want to watch Kim Ji Hoon in peace ;_;

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Second!

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that woman ... sooooo terrible >.<

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Me too... sigh...

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lighten up guys :p
i was seriously lmao at her scene with Kim Ji Hoon!
specially the way she said "Hwi" with all her lips puckered up LOOL
I am loving the drama....YSY is an adorable bunny, PSH is the perfect wallflower and KJH is just UNF!
Oh the guy, the side kick one..he is hilarious too heheh so self centered and pretty sharp!
And the Wantanabe guy, he really reminds me of Lee Min Ho in some scenes...i guess its the get up :)
Flower boy next door hwaiting~~

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The Japanese guy reminds me of Lee Min Ho too! I thought it was just me.

My thoughts on the show so far: Never seen Kim Ji Hoon in anything but dayum, he is so fine! I love his character and the way he's playing him -- although I agree with JB that Enrique is the better match for Dok Mi, simply because if not for him she'd STILL be cooped up in her apartment. Enrique/YSY is kind of already verging on annoying for me though... he's too cartoonish. I wish the direction of the romance weren't so blatantly obvious, or that they switch it up somewhere down the line and surprise us. Knowing who's going to end up with who from the outset and never second-guessing that is kind of boring.

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oh yeah? I did think Watanabe was cute, but now I'll have to get a better look!
Loving this drama :D

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Yup... I've had my fill of Do Hwi already.

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Thanks for the recap!!!

LOVE this drama. =)

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Can't count how many times I've refreshed to see your thoughts on this gem. Thank youuuu!! Dok Mi isn't so invisible after all, eh?

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I love Jin rak and it's so hard to continue to watch knowing he will not get the girl in the end.

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Maybe you could keep on watching to find out what his mysterious past is? I really want to know!

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Same here - I love Jin-Rak, too.

I like Enrique, too - he's cute and fun and sincere and very nice and sweet. But he also annoys me a bit, specifically in his interactions with the heroine. I mean - I'm not nearly as sociophobic as she is, and even I would never want to see Enrique again after the shenanigans of this ep. She went on a trip she didn't want to go on, merely because she couldn't find a way to refuse properly... and suddenly it's an overnight thing because he refuses to take her home and goes to the beach instead, and then gets drunk on purpose so he can't drive...? Yikes.

I have moments of just wanting to go home rather than spend time in uncomfortable social situations, and I know how I would feel in that situation. I would not be charmed. I would not be happy to have been coaxed out of my shell.

I know it's meant to be a funny thing, and that he's just trying to get her out of her appartment for her own good. I'm not even angry at him for it, he's so puppyish about it and it's so clearly all comedy. But even so, I would never ever get into a car with this guy again in her shoes. Or do anything else with him, for that matter.

And I didn't think that Jin-rak's list of traits of an ideal woman was so much about an unrealistic fiction of the heroine that he's built up in his head. I thought it was more that he's been hurt by a woman / women throwing himself at him and being the opposite of all those things. Which is why he is, in his own way, very much like the heroine, and actually does understand her fairly well.

He's been trying to approach her for years, and is attracted because she is like him, and he identifies with her. Maybe it's also because she doesn't bear any resemblance to women who've been chasing him for money, before. And she really doesn't resemble those women, that's not unrealistic at all.

I think it's adorable that he's been trying to help her in little ways, do little things to cheer her up like leave the post-it notes. He's understanding of her foibles, doesn't push (like in the elevator scene, where he doesn't even tell her to get in because he knows she's uncomfortable and doesn't want to push her).

Enrique pushes too hard, Jin-rak doesn't push at all - neither is ideal. :-) But in the end the change has to come from the heroine herself, no man can do it for her anyway. So it all depends on how she develops, really.

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I know we expect Jin-rak to be mysterious post-it man ( with his crush and being a artist it would make perfect sense) but it would be an interesting twist and kindia unexpected if it was actually Tae-joon.

or not.

I really like Enrique and Dok-mi together. At 1st i thought it was a case of opposites attract but now i think its more about the things they have in common.

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Or it would be a funny twist if it turns out to be Dong-hoon... :D

I also like Enrique and Dok-mi together, mostly because he seems to be the one who gets her. When he says things that answers her the questions, it's just adorable..

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it's definitely not tae joon leaving the notes--even though that would be interesting. tae joon likes seo young, but he's not admitting it b/c he knows that enrique likes seo young and he does not want to hurt his dongsang.

dong hoon would be an interesting twist to the story too, but i doubt it's him either. there are a lot of post it notes so it appears dok mi was receiving the notes before dong hoon moved in with jin rak. also, in an earlier episode dong hoon mentioned he'd been there for a month(?) or so and did not know there was an girl living next door so it does not look like it's him.

perhaps we're creating mysterious aspects of the story that do not exist!?

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If we add jin rak shoes model, makes it extra obvious is him. But about a third part we don't know huhu (It's me daydreaming).
I think they made it in this mistery way just for call our attention.

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ahh!! we have the same thought!! i saw the drawings at the post it.. it's look like the scene when Dok Mi found Tae Joon at the park.. the doctor is drop dead gorgeous!!

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I'd like to think that Tae-joon found Dok-mi in the park to get her attention. ;) Why am I more excited by that thought than the current Dm-E loveline? I do like Enrique and Jin-rak (KJH is so yummy!) and I'm shipping them too but I 'm squealing more at Tae-joon leaving the posts-it for Dok-mi.

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I think Jin rak was the one who drew the drawings

- first he IS a webtoon artist so he clearly know how to animate stuff...

-2nd where better to lie in wait to know exactly when the milk man goes by to hop right over and stick the sticky note to her carton before she opens her door?

Lastly I compared the sneakers close up with the ones he was wearing down the stairs... hahahah

Poor jin rak... I wonder if he will ever 'get the girl' but if he is really the real runaway chaebol that will so SO RICH (pun pun) hahahah a foul-mouthed artsy fellow who dol-hwi is trying to seduce becos she clearly has some inside scoop on his real identity... I do think he will have more character development too, because to be honest he is also a person with stunted growth because he did kind of fixate on her and ''stalked/cared'' for her this past three years ( kinda creepy if he wasn't so scruffily delicious XD )

I am also warming up to Enrique haha I found his blabbering annoying earlier on, but I think he is very sweet... still don't see him as a love match though... too much like a cute little brother...

Hoping the writer will circumvent tv trope and make leading man help to fix up the 2nd lead chaebol with the girl * a girl can dream * ♥

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I'll be dreaming along with you! :-) And it can happen. It happened in Coffee House, when I was so sure the main guy would end up with the wrong girl, but he didn't in the end. :-))

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Jin rak VS Taejoon ( as post-it man)

it's Jin rak - we heard a door opening before the hand reaching out
- the absence of the rings
- the shoes
- hi is an illustrator
it's Taejoon- he appears to just have arrived from outside when Enrique was texting Dok mi
- the scene drawn on the post it is the scene when Dok mi first noticed Taejoon in the park last fall
- his expression when he saw Dok mi in his apt. tells me that he knows Dok mi / has seen her before and I woudn't be surprised if he is aware that she is watching him from her apt. window (reason why he does things all at a fixed time everyday)

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The idea of him doing everything at a fixated time just for her is so ADORABLE \\\<

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Interresting....

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Hmm. I just assumed it was Jin-rak from the start, but you're last point about Tae-joon was interesting. I really can't comprehend how he doesn't know he's being watched. Enrique was in his apartment for 5 minutes and knew it. And your point about him doing things at a fixed time is good. I mean, does anyone actually do the same things in the exact same order every day?

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Eeeeehh but I think Tae-joon is not the most perceptive bulb in the box, judging from the possibility that he missed or ignored the come-ons from the childhood friend. It's possible, but I think Jin-rak's soft expression in this episode clinches it in his favor: he's in on the secret, and if he didn't know who it was, he would assume it was a guy and get pissed off that someone else was horning in on his girl, as we see with his reactions to Enrique.

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It makes no sense for it to be anyone other than Jin Rak. From the shoes to the post it note art. He cares for her deeply and while I agree with Java that he's nearly paralyzed, he is also going at the slow pace he thinks he needs to go to approach her and let her know that she is thought of.

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I'm wondering if Post-It Boy isn't actually Dong-hoon, really - it fits with his apparent night-own life to come back and leave her the drawings, and my suspicions were fired once Ji-hoon said how well he draws....

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Thanks for the recap!!!! I feel like I'm going to spontaneously combust everytime I see Yoon Shi Yoon. Did you guys read the article where Park Shin Hye announced that YSY and KJH are going to kiss if the ratings reach 5 %. lol

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Seriously? OMG, I would pay a lot of money to see that. :-)

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ohmygoodness!!! with School 2013 and this drama, I have never looked forward to mondays and tuesdays this much ever. I love almost everybody in this show (Dok-hwi- I hate already, just by the actress alone, no need to dig deeper
to her character). I fear this is gonna be a long road of pain for Kim Ji-hoon but sorry to say, I'm Enrique all the way. I don't usually say this, but I'm excited for next monday!! how crazy is that??

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quite like a cure for monday sickness right?lol.

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Been refreshing all day waiting for this! Thank you!!!! ^_^

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I dont think i'll ever get annoyed with enrique(unless im having a bad day. even then he'll probably just bring me out of it), because I feel like majority of this hyperactivity comes from the act he puts on. There are moments that dok-mi and enrique share(the more subtle ones) where I feel like that's the real him underneath. He's quite perceptive, and I think that down the road once dok-mi comes out of her shell, they'll tone down his character a bit and focus more on the sweet and subtle moments.
I definitely see signs of enrique putting down his guard when he's with dok-mi -- perhaps he feels a connection with her already?

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So good. Love this drama so much already.

The ending made me laugh. I just think about all the possibilities that could follow that scene, and I crack up.

Dok-mi is still great, but I found myself losing patience with her when she told Enrique to pretend they don't know each other when they get back, even though I fully understand why she would say that. She's afraid of making connections with people, so when she does, she tries to make the other person not want to be with her. She's just afraid. I get that. But really? Why? Enrique is just trying to be her friend.

I love Enrique's adorable boyish behavior. For now. I hope he gets serious why still being cute so I don't grow tired of him.

Jin-rak. Poor Jin-rak. My heart went out to him at the beginning, but he just doesn't get Dok-mi at all. I feel bad for him. I'm really interested in the fact that he got his name changed. I want to know why. Is he really a chaebol?

Dong-hoon is still cute, Ryu is still cute, but Do-hwi is still annoying. I don't like her, and doubt I ever will.

Thanks for the recap, Javabeans!

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it's only the start and they only met a few times yet you expected her to change already?
This story is ab her changing. It's not that easy. But please take note that she has already opened up and talked to him more than the 3 previous eps combined

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I totally love Enrique but he is totally invading Dok Mi's personal space. I find that until now she have been really patient with him (probably because she was too affraid/ uncomfortable to speak her mind).

For somebody scared of people (phobia) like Dok Mi and who have been living a reclusive life for several years it's no wonder that somebody hyperactive, talkative, always touching her, like Enrique would scare her and thus her telling him to leave her alone makes perfect sense. She knows the guy since only a few days and they have been interacting a looot... also I think that in her state of mind Enrique feels more like an intruder than a friend even if she finds him cute/nice at times...

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He is definitely invading her personal space, but to me that's exactly what somebody needs to do in order for her to open up and overcome her fears...and i think enrique realizes this. If she's left alone she will never get better - she has completely given in to her fears and has for a while now. I disagree that dok mi asked enrique to act like he doesn't know her because she's afraid of him and his talkative, hyperactive and invasive personality...she asked him to act like he doesn't know her because she is afraid of making connections with people and revealing herself to them. I don't think that she's afraid of him necessarily (atleast not after this eisode), and i think that she realizes that he's a good guy that's trying to help her...in fact for much of their time together during episode 4 she looked fairly comfortable with him and talked more than she had in the previous 3 episodes combined. She just found it easier to push him away than to face her fears, even though i think a part of her really wants his help - she's just afraid to accept the help he's offering. It's a difficult step for her to take.

I say this as a person who has suffered from social anxiety more most of my life, so i can relate to what she is going through more than most.

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I agree with what you said. I didn't mean she was afraid of him in the sense that she is scared of him but more like you explained. Also I am sure at some point she will look back and she will thank Enrique for the change that will happen to her.

I wanted to say more but my english is escaping from me today so I'll stop here before starting to talk gibberich :P

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Thanks for the recap, can't wait till the next episode..

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Thanks for recaps!

I think Enrique has sugar rush from eating too many candies.. xD

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may I shamelessly promote my sugar rush gifs here? Since it's proof for latteholic's statement: http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.ch/2013/01/flower-boy-next-door-kim-ji-hoon.html

I must say, he is adorable ... but also quite unbearable. I'd most likely kick or kill him within a few minutes of close proximity.

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Yikes! Can't wait for this drama to be finished! I'm the type who needs to watch the whole drama in one seating since I can't handle the anticipation psychologically..especially when dramas have breath holding cliffhangers, I die a little inside.

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Whew! Finally picking up from ep 3 and 4. Yoon Shi-yoon is also getting more comfortable in his role. Now there's finally something for me to look forward to.

Yoon Shi-yoon +1, Kim Ji-hoon +2 (But knowing Yoon, it's easy for him to turn the table around any time).

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Loving Enrique.

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Enrique could not be any more genuinely ah-dor-ah-bley!

btw - are those cartoons painted on the walls of Jin rak and roomie's apartment walls? At first glance I thought, "cool," but as a female, it screams "Infantile Man Cave. Enter At Own Risk." Manboys in their cartoon world- uh, not romantic.

This fb kdrama is so much funness!

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Not sure that's infantile.

It's his work! Obviously he's going to like comics.

P.S. I've got some manga images on my wall and I'm a girl. Although I'm rooting for Enrique here, I would have good fun looking at all the drawings in Jin-rak's place!

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I'd think of it as Infantile Man-Cave myself if Jin-ran did anything else for a living but he is an illustrator after all, it makes sense for him to have his work/things that inspire his work around.

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Wow, Jin Rak's understanding of Dok Mi is totally different from her understanding of herself. And that's something I love about her. She knows who she is; even if she lies to everyone else, she never lies to herself.

The only thing that's made me a bit uncomfortable with Enrique has been his tendency to push Dok Mi into doing things she's made clear she doesn't want to do, so I'm glad that he's agreed to her request to act like they don't know each other. I wonder how the show's gonna get around that. AND, ahem, I've seen other tvN dramas *cough-queeninhyunsman-cough* and one of Yoon Shi Yoon's other dramas *couch-meetooflower-cough* so I fully expect some real kissing in the future, yeah? Sooner rather than later, hopefully? Although I do love how they're becoming friends before anything romantic crops up.

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HAHAHAHAHA. I was thinking the same thing. The most anticipated lock-lips scene. ;)

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I knoowwwwwwwww, I want a proper kiss too! I just hope this baby accident of a kiss here doesn't mean they put off the real kiss to the very end because I am looking forward to seeing it!

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I've been reading and appreciating javabeans' recaps since 2007, and I've got to say, these recaps for FBND have raised the bar yet again. Brilliant commentary! Thanks again for adding so much to the kdrama-watching experience. My love for "Mr Sexy Bedroom Eyes" grows ever fonder.

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I know! Such great reflections on this drama, from both javabeans and girlfriday! I'm so glad, and it's even more fun because it's for these flower boy shows, which market themselves as light fare.

Speaking of, thanks so much for the recaps!

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Question: if you start to like Yoon Shi Yoon due to FBND, is it a good idea to pick up Baker King?

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Baker king was kind of a sobfest if you're into that kind of thing.I loved it anyway. It always broke my heart everytime Tak-gu cried in that drama.

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I'm sorta okay with sobfests... dramas are more "makjang" here in the Philippines. :)

Just not Missing You level, I hope. (No offense to MY fans.)

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LOL I'm from the Philippines too. Talk about teleseryes, clearly all the makjang elements you could imagine in one show.
Anyway watch Baker King it's way better than the shows we have on TV.

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I loved Baker King - even if it was 30 episodes. YSY's naturally endearing smile wins every time :)

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You can try "Me Too, Flower!". I loved him there. Together with Lee Ji Ah. He plays there much older character than here though (and pretty sexy)... I was quite shocked how young he looks when I watched Ep1 of FBND...

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"Me too, flower" is great, I really love it, I highly recommend it.

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Me too! (no pun intended :-) )

I know it's not perfect, but I love it anyway!

YSY's character there is more "manly" (well, except for the 'strip scene', i guess - haha) but loses none of that adorable cuteness!

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It's really good idea ! and i'm also the one who watched baker king after watched FBND. kekeke.

And now, I reaaaaaally looooove YSY !!!!!!!!!!!! omg, baker king was the best kdrama i've ever seen after Princess man. It's a very good drama you should watch !!!!!!!!!!

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Moar Dong Hoon!!!! Even though it kind of have the remnants from Kyung Pyo in Standby.

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Geez Louise do I love this drama! I hope it manages to maintain the strengths that make it so refreshing. I'm really struck by how achingly tender it can be in the midst of all that guffaw-out-loud funny---a balance that's really hard to strike and keep. I also love the way it's being filmed, the way the camera is being used, and the film edited to convey it all so well.

I LOVE Yoon Shin Yoon. He's such an amazing actor. He possesses such an ability for nuance in delivering even the smallest lines. I'm fairly new to K-drama, so his role as Kim Tak-goo was the first time I'd seen him act. I fell in love with his talent from that moment on. And he's just so darn cute!

Just as someone conjectured in an earlier thread on FBND, I don't think Jin Rak is the one responsible for the notes on the milk cartons. If he was the one, he'd have Dok Mi's expression of appreciation for the daily Milk notes in his possession, and instead of the list of energy saving tips, it would be that note upon which he'd be gazing with such longing instead. But, I have a hard time imagining that it's Enrique's hyung who's leaving the milk carton missives. When does a doctor have the clockwork schedule that would permit such a thing?

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I wonder why this drama gives me a refreshing feeling.. I really like the recap because you have given justice to the drama.

I would like to go deeper into Dok Mi's past.. there's something sinister about it.. can't wait for the next episode! :D

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Am I the only one who thinks Jinrak's description of dokmi is accurate? She doesn't really have any goals for herself than just to existing day after day in her room. She does compromise first cuz she doesn't want to face the inconveniences that may come with not compromising. She is also obviously honest when she is by herself. I'm confused why jv and others have been saying Jinrak's got Dokmi figured out all wrong. I agree that kegeum's approach is better suited as a future love interest, but that doesn't make Jinrak's description of dokmi wrong.

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I think it's 'cause he idealizes her? Like when he didn't believe that she could be a peeping tom because she was too good and kind for that? Hmmm...I think it also has something to do with that he doesn't differentiate between the public persona Dok Mi presents (quiet, deferential) and her private personality (easily annoyed, opinionated). Also there's that whole thing where he's creating a story about her life, (which I'm guessing is going to be sold and he's gonna make money off of it) without telling her?

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Don't you think the "private personnality" fit the "she is honest when she is by herself?". But I agree jin Rak just know the public persona mostly

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Yeah, I think she's most honest with herself. (Is that the same as being honest when by yourself? Idk, probably.)

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About her not having ambition, it's hard to say at this point if that's true or not. It could be that deep down she does have ambition and goals that she wanted to achieve but ended up giving up on them due to her fears. But at the very least it's clear that she does want more out of life but she just can't conquer/face her fears. If she does overcome them then who knows how that might affect how she lives her life.

About knowing how to compromise first...yeah she would compromise if compromising meant not having to face people or other uncomfortable situations. But in other situations she might be unwilling to compromise if to compromise meant having to face people - an example being enrique wanting to go on a farewell trip and dok mi constantly trying to get out of it, though she was ultimately forced into it..but i wouldn't call what she did "knowing how to compromise first" but more-so her being unable to beat his persistence. What i'm trying to say is that her compromises having to do with avoiding people probably wouldn't be an accurate reflection of person that she is deep down...they wouldn't necessarily be made out of respect for the other person or because she isn't selfish and is kind (common reasons for compromises)...it would likely just be an expression of her fears. I don't think that him seeing her this way is him seeing her for who she really is.

And yes, she is sincere when she is alone and the world can't see her... but that seems to be, for the most part, the only time that she's honest (though she is opening up a bit to enrique) He said "sincere even when she’s someplace the world can’t see her”, meaning that he values sincerity in general too...but as her story entry in today's episode says - she lies to other people to protect herself. She finds it difficult to open up to others and obviously to therefore be sincere to them

He might be more accurate on the knows how to apologize first since dok mi does seem to be caring - demonstrated by her concern for enrique - but part of her overly apologetic behavior might be due to her fears...she wants to avoid conflict and difficult situations.

In the end, though, he definitely doesn't know the real dok mi...i mean he thought that she was too kind to peep and that she only stopped enrique from being sent to jail because she is kind. Also, from what we've seen he's never even had a real conversation with her before, so of course he doesn't know the real person underneath the image he's created of her.

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Looks like Jin-rak is the runaway chaebol after all. I love the fact that everyone got a secret and Im excited for the unraveling of all these mysteries.

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its like watching desperate housewife
everybody got their own secret ^^

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Right right, I used to watch that show too before it became really desperate.

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Yeah, I think Jin-Rak's description of Dok-Mi is pretty accurate as well.

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tq JBS.

It could be dong hoon sending the milk, remember he always give ideas to jin rak for the webtoon.

I don't think I can see dok mi living with a man having the same situation as her in their love relationship -
kind of boring too if she go for enrique.

As for jin rak we wiil see lots of painful and pent up make belief of what he thinks of dokmi, poor man !

unless the writer gave it another twist for jin rak's character then it would also be an interesting character to watch like with enrique's character.

But I don't think it will happen !.

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omg! i can't wait for the next episode ^^ Thanks for the recap! Lucky you! ^^

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Thanks for the recap!

Enrique Geuk FTW!!!

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I really like it , but I have a feeling Taejoon knows about her (you know watching him everyday ), I'm Enrique all the way but I just love Kim Ji-Hoon. Me and my second lead syndrome (T.T)!!

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As much as I like Jin Rak, I'm in no danger of having second lead syndrome with him. He's incredibly sweet with his crush on Dok Mi but also just not right for her. Enrique, who on the surface seems completely wrong for her, is shown time and time again to be the only one who really gets her. Also, his personality won't let him just sit back and let her continue her ways. Enrique has completely won me over with his childlike ways. It's so refreshing to see a non Mr. Darcy like character actually get the lead role and eventually get the girl. When I first heard about his character I worried that they would keep at a one dimensional level. So, it's a relief that they are giving him depth and I can't wait to see more.

I have a question for anyone familiar with SS501. Does anyone see a similarity in personalities of Enrique and Kim Hyung Jun? Every time I watch Enrique, I can't help but think of Hyung Jun.

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Yes! enrique is like our baby hyung joon as in he's always happy but also insightful. but enrique is also loud and flamboyant like the resident horse, jung min! :D

going on with the comparisons, tae joon is kind of like kyu jong (at least from what we saw of tae joon). he's sweet and kind just like the center kyu.

hopefully you are a fellow triple s and get the nicknames i just sprouted and are not getting confused/freaked out by my blatant fangirling~ it's just that it's so rare these days to meet someone else who even knows about SS501. /sigh/

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I don't know if I can call myself a triple s since I really only follow Hyung Jun but I know enough about the group to understand everything you said. I'm just glad that I'm not the only one who sees this. Though, I'll freely admit that I'm probably letting my love for my bias color my vision of Enrique.

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You're not alone! I love SS501! Want to see them in more projects!

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Argh, I've been trying to wean myself off Park Jung Min by focusing on Kim Ji Hoon and Yoon Shi Yoon. All this talk of oh-gong-il is not helping me! /sigh/ indeed.

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I agree completely - Jin-ran is cute and so on, but a bit delusional - it's hard to really like and feel for him... Haha, I feel sorry for him about Do-hwi though :)

And Enrique - words fail me - he's amazing :D Generally, yes, I fall for the mr. Darcy type guys with big romantic gestures and loads of angst and noble love, but Enrique is really capturing me with his easy ways and his innocence...

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I like the show A LOT, but I was not a fan of the forced trip and accidental kissing, even though it kind of makes sense, given their characters. A very cute watch with a world that seems so real, but I'm not completely captured. At least not yet.

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Agree on the accidental kissing.

I just never find it convincing. I mean, this sort of thing just doesn't happen in real life. It be more like you'd hit your nose one someone's chin or their elbow ends up on your cheekbone or something stupid (and painful) like that.

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khamsahamnida!

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Do you find it as obvious as I do that JinRak is the chaebol who ran away from home and has fallen in love with Dokmi because he is sick of the shallow life around him and that Dokmi is the key catalys later on that will make him face his issues? Also... don't you think they'll end this with a book published by Dokmi or something? umm... yes..

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It's surprising how I can watch this drama without subs and still understand what's going on. The characters' actions speak to the heart and words/language are just there to affirm those feelings.

This drama is really a beautiful experience and I just love how it builds its charm slowly yet with surety. There's no way it can fail me in any way. I'm just so sure of it.

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oh that is good about enrique and dok mi, i love it

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I loved this drama from the first episode but I'm so sad because I already have a feeling that Jin Rak will not get the girl. I like Enrique but I feel like his character is childish, and to be paired with Dok Mi, well maybe that's what she needs, since her childhood years weren't that great. But I'm really having second-lead syndrome and it breaks my heart!! Wahhhh!!! I think Jin Rak is post-it guy though, because I swear they emphasized his shoes when he was running after Dok Mi and Enrique, and also it could be that on the autumn day that Dok Mi fell in love with Tae Joon, Jin Rak fell in love with Dok Mi. It's just going to be so sad watching his heart break. T___________________T

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thanks for the recap jb. thanks also for the nice and heartwarming interaction among the viewers. i love this drama and can't wait for monday and tuesday to come. this drama is like a puzzle, it keeps us guessing who the post-it man and who jin rak really is. until next time jb and gf, tnx for the nice recaps again.

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thanks jb

I woder if koreans have this habit of opening people's

letter boxes for info ?.

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I agree with you so much about Jin-rak! Honestly, I was sympathetic toward him until I heard his kind of creepy list of traits he associates with Dok-mi — particularly the part about wanting a woman who always apologizes first… W T F?

He’s fetishized her insecurity and inability to voice her more assertive thoughts to an alarming degree. He likes that she's trapped inside her own mind and he wants her to not be able to get out and ruin his idealized image of her. It's worrying. In contrast, Enrique’s response to her constant apologizing is to say, hey, it’s okay so there’s no need to apologize and actually it upsets him for her to do that so much. And he’s trying to get her out into the world, not encouraging her to be a perfect introvert princess in a tower like Jin-rak.

Okay, sure, Enrique can be pushy. But there’s a lot more life and air and potential for healthiness with him than with Jin-rak.

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Thanks for the recap! :)

I'm liking this drama a lot because of Dok Mi. Her mannerisms and personality are a lot like mine...and I really love how Park Shin Hye is portraying this character. I also really enjoy her voiceovers, especially this episode's, about lying with a brilliant smile and feeling safer this way.

Enrique Geum. Oh, why so adorable... :) Yoon Shi Yoon seems to be perfect for this role. I want to see more of his true self under that cheerful exterior! It's great that he and Dok Mi can connect in some ways.

I haven't liked Jin Rak yet. It is true that he is sensitive and nice to Dok Mi but he has barely spoken to Dok Mi/ever had a real conversation with her, yet he is acting like he knows everything about her personality. Observing from afar does not equal to understanding her...but anyway it seems like he has something to hide about his past, which I find quite interesting.

About Do Hwi. I'd say her seduction techniques were pretty cringe-worthy...and I still don't like her. But she does provide some comic relief for now. I hope she doesn't give Dok Mi trouble and more trauma, but I think she possibly will.

Lastly, Dong Hoon and Ryu are cute! :)

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enrique's 10 years plus love relationship is also his weakness and questionable, such a long long "intimate" love which didn't work out well.

compared to jin rak's three years one side crush with dok mi which is yet to be revealed to her.

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Enrique's one sided love was for his best friend, a person that he talks to, a person that he has years of shared experiences with. He has a much healthier foundation for his love, a foundation that is probably grounded in reality - he loves her for who she really is, she isn't just somebody that he has been watching from afar, claiming to know, understand, and love. Their one sided loves are very different in nature.

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And enrique also seems to have a much healthier view of love in general. He understands that love is a 2 way street and that he can't claim her love just because he loved her first. Jin rak to me seems to believe that he has dibs on her or something just because he has been watching her from afar for a few years. And obviously, a person has much more to them than what you can see and understand by watching them from afar for a few years - especially when that person rarely even leaves her house to be watched. He hasn't made any real effort to get to know the real her.

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You spoke my thoughts. In the first two episodes, I really DID think that I might have trouble maintaining my OTP ship (like I did for Flower Boy Ramyun Shop), but something about Jin Rak just didn't settle well with me. You've named a good many things that I completely agree with, especially that love is indeed a two-way street. Just because you fall in love with someone first doesn't mean that no one else is allowed to fall in love with that same person; and if she doesn't return those feelings, then you have no claim on her. When Jin Rak lashed out that he noticed Dok Mi first and feels like Enrique swooped in and stole "his girl", I flashed back to something that Enrique had said about Seo Young and how he knew Seo Young first, but that doesn't mean she has to love him (and I don't remember what was said exactly or when this dialogue occurred though, but I remember it somewhere).

So I'm also in the same boat with the whole, Enrique or no Enrique, Jin Rak would have not been the one to get the girl. While he's sweet and kind and Dok Mi, he's created this idealized version of her with some traits that may be true and some traits that are not true. And without even having had a full conversation nor even trying to get to know her as a person, he thinks he knows what kind of a person she is. Which makes me wonder what kind of a reaction and what kind of a relationship they would have when and if he finally gets to meet the true Dok Mi and she's not that ideal woman he's been fantasizing about.

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Team Enriqueeeee <3

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thanks!!!

isnt it quite funny that they forgot their wallet but they have a camera? XD

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they can forget many things but not handphones and

camera, that's is kdramas everyday toys !!

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In the first episode Enrique forgot to put on his pants, although the coat and panda hat were on him :)

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:D

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Lovely, lovely show! your recap is so useful, thank you!

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I like Kim Ji hoon here better than Yoon Si Yoon. The latter sometimes looks plastic and he overacts at times.I don't like Jin Rak passivity and how he thinks he is the only one who understand Dok Mi -thus he has never took actions when he could have the girl- but I like him better than Enrique -they might have picked a better name than this cliché spanish name -_- because physically I have hard time to take Yoon seriously and his overacting -look at my energy!- doesn't help also.
I am pleasantly surprised by Park Shin Hye here. Her acting didn't convinced me in the trailer but gosh in the actual drama she shows so much subtlety -after a loooong time ! :o. So far well done ! she doesn't talk too much but she manages to show the psyche of her character very well ! She leads the drama really well so far. Keep improving girl :)

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Its kinda hard not to overreact when you have a role as chipper and hyper as Enrique's though, don't you think?
I actually think Yoon Shi Yoon is doing a fine job portraying both sides of Enrique. Speaking of the name Enrique, if it makes you cringe so much, just call him by KkaeGeum. That's what he mostly goes by anyways. And that's what Koreans call him, rather than Enrique.
A few had mentioned that they think YSY has got some work done on his face, but I really don't see it. He looks the same as he did in his old pics. Or am I missing something?
But plastic or no plastic, does that really matter in terms of acting skills? It's just weird IMO when people say they don't like someone because they look plastic.

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Ah, I agree with you on the plastic surgery issue--really, why go on clanging pots about it? They're actors, and granted that their face is a part of their job, in the end what really matters is how effectively they can convey their character, and his or her emotions, to the audience.

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whaat? I don't think YSY overacting in here O.o his character is cheerful, hyper, and always smile ! he's just do his job so well. YSY already into Enrique geum <3 I love his acting more than anything.
Kim Tak Goo, Me Too Flower, and now Fkower Boy Next Door, his acting always superb !

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I do think Ji-hoon comes off as a bit hotter (RAWR) because he is older and more mature.

As for Shi-yoon, I think the point of his character is that Enrique himself is overacting, all the time, in direct foil to Dok-mi's bottled emotions. When you perceive it as overacting, he's actually doing his job. And I think the moments where you see through Enrique's facade, like in the gaming cafe, or when his expressions are inter-cut with his recent memories of Dok-mi, are wonderfully subtle pieces of acting. It's a neat way to show that both characters are compensating for their own insecurities in completely different ways.

Then too, judging acting is super subjective, so to each their own.

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"thus he has never taken actions..."

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