Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 4
by javabeans
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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Tags: featured, Flower Boy Next Door, Kim Ji-hoon, Park Shin-hye, Yoon Shi-yoon
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51 Alvina
January 16, 2013 at 6:37 AM
I've been wibbly woobly about my love for Kim JiHoon versus how to adapt that love for his character in the drama overall and it seems that this episode finally hit the nail on the coffin for me...
He reminds me, on a larger scale, of many Asian boys in general.
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52 owl
January 16, 2013 at 9:30 AM
i just have to say that Do Hwi's line "I saved a little cat' was genius BS (ep 3). Although she is annoying to the max, I may have to borrow that line sometime, if the occasion calls for it, that is. You never know...
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jubilantia
January 19, 2013 at 2:32 AM
Do Hwi is annoying, but she's so over the top that the character deconstructs that kind of character, so I don't mind her too much. But that may change when she starts (probably) being evil after realizing Jin-rak likes Dok-mi.
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53 Angelalala
January 16, 2013 at 10:07 AM
where did you find the english subs for this episode?
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dany
January 17, 2013 at 9:58 AM
http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/flower-boy-next-door-episode-4/
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54 SuziQ
January 16, 2013 at 10:53 AM
I am enjoying YSY as Enrique. We still don't know why he ended up in Spain and why his older bother, Tae Joon, were separated or their long love relationship for Seo Young. Enrique reminds me of an undisciplined rumbustious puppy. Didn't like him in Me Too, Flower role, but he's really great in this drama.
Dok mi is uncomfortable with close contact with people, so it's hilarious about the trip, fall, almost kiss scene. How do you go back and pretend you don't know each other after that as Dok mi requested?
Do hwi's romantic antics are borderline psycho stalking and cringe worthy. Jin rak should throw her out and get a retraining order.
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Geurae
January 16, 2013 at 4:49 PM
If I remember correctly, Taejoon is not Enrique's real brother, but his cousin. That's how it was in the webtoon also. They don't have the same surname (Geum/Han).
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55 SuziQ
January 16, 2013 at 10:54 AM
Oops, typo ...restraining order
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56 Momopeach
January 16, 2013 at 3:27 PM
I haven't found subs yet for this episode so thanks for the recap.
Park Soo Jin, who plays Do Hwi, is an actress I found out about in Boys Over Flowers. Must say I absolutely love her character there more, to the point it's weird seeing her act that mean girl part in here. Also, her and Uie kind of look similar to me.
And I continue to love Ryu.
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57 mang2day
January 16, 2013 at 4:54 PM
Hm. I think the translations for Jin-rak's description of the ideal woman should be....rather than compromise, yield, and rather than ambitions, greed. :) but thanks for that delightful review!
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58 Cafe du Monde
January 16, 2013 at 5:01 PM
some of these are lifted from You're Beautiful. examples:
Go Dok Mi: "when we're in Seoul pretend that you don't know me..." (Go Min Nam said almost similar lines in episode 14 while talking to Hwang Tae Kyung in the balcony.)
Enrique's reply too: "... we don't know each other..." (Almost similar response from Hwang Tae Kyung)
and the kiss...almost similar as in episode 1 of YAB, with GMN and HTK.
I wonder whether JKS is one of the script writers of FBND? He has this talent too.
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a fan
January 16, 2013 at 5:14 PM
u must be a shipper ? LOL
and no this is nothing like YB
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ys
January 17, 2013 at 11:28 AM
But the accidental kiss btn GMN and HTK involved vomit. Ew. :p
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59 Sajen
January 16, 2013 at 5:21 PM
I meant to say this three episodes ago but for the most part I am the male version of Dok Mi, and as such find her awesome. Also we, people like Dok Mi, or me we usually hate people like Enrique at first but as time goes by we realize how much we desperately need people like him. As such where's my female Enrique to pull me out of my cocoon?
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60 meanrice
January 16, 2013 at 5:56 PM
I like this drama. But I have a few bones, I'm not ready to pick them yet, but I want to lay them on the table. Enrique, I love him. I would be friends with him for realsies. I am not feeling the chemistry b/t Yoon Shi Yoon and Park Shin Hye, at all. Maybe it is just me, and they are catching me on an off week.
Aah youth. Only in youth would someone put up with someone with obvious demons to battle and chalk it up as helping them. If I met Go Dok Mi now, I would more than likely say to myself "I have my own problems, aint nobody got time for that." Again, totally just me and where I am in my life, so maybe that is why the chemistry b/t the leads are not aligned yet for me?
Also Jin Rak, stop projecting the rich chaebol persona onto Dong Hoon, we know it's you. The misdirect is a fail.
And I agree, he was never going to get the girl, nor does he deserve the girl. At this point the only person who deserves the girl is Watanabe (he looks like a mini Park Ki Woong to me).
Finally, writers of this potentially awesome drama, start revealing the source of the bullying before i scream. What is the incident? Why in today's flashback was annoying Do Hwi hesitating in the mob scene? Need some answers to keep me vested in Dok Mi - the passive wallflower scarred girl who needs rescuing/saving trope does not lead to character development without better context.
Argh, guess I did start picking at the bones.
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Geurae
January 16, 2013 at 6:29 PM
Maybe Do Hwi was hesitant because she used to be good friends with Dok Mi. I think I read that in her character description somewhere.
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Nanaki
January 16, 2013 at 10:52 PM
I was wondering if they were/are sisters of some sort (step, half--first names sound similar, last name isn't the same...)? It might be a mistake in the subs but in the flashback where Dok-mi was surrounded by her female classmates, I think they asked her 'what she did at home' as if they were asking 'what did you do TO HER at home' --ergo, they lived together.
It'd also explain why Do-hwi genuinely seems to think she has a right to barge in on the girl and have a place in her life. Her attitude towards Do-mi isn't proprietary or overly superior like she seems to be with men or her friends, she just assumes that she's in Do-mi's life. I feel like if they'd been friends and she'd bullied her (or been the reason), she'd have either more shame or more vitriol.
Or I could just be complicating a difficult translation and my own inability to comprehend Do-hwi's self-absorption.
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rhiaa
January 17, 2013 at 5:32 PM
I was thinking about this, too. Were the subs correct? Because if they were, then that would be a whole new different relationship angle between them, which would mean that Dok-mi is estranged from her own parent (if they hadn't divorced yet). And in my opinion that's her greater reason for attempting suicide (if that's what she was doing in episode 3 flashback), and being cut off from everyone, including family, as compared to plain bullying in school. (Caveat: I'm not saying that plain bullying is just meh, but that having no one else to sympathize with you, especially at home, would mean a greater degree of loneliness.)
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librarianerin
January 21, 2013 at 5:33 PM
I am getting the impression that the bullying stemmed from/intensified the actual traumatic experience, actually.
61 Shellybean
January 16, 2013 at 5:59 PM
That you for the great recap, JB, but I can't believe there was no mention of the enormous sand castle Enrique just summoned into existence while Dok Mi stared at the ocean. Hilarious. I realize a lot of time could have passed, but I loved how it was cut, and the way he finished it with the flair of an artist. Just another example of how funny and lovely and refreshing he is!
(lost my s*** when he did his little ahjumma fashion show in the doorway. I <3 Enrique!)
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62 'dalia
January 16, 2013 at 7:10 PM
i don't think i'll EVER get sick of Enrique's hyperactive puppy mode. :D
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63 goldeng
January 16, 2013 at 7:46 PM
I havent had this pabo smile from ear to ear on my face since YAB's Jeremy days... I just couldnt stop smiling looking at Enrique and suddenly understood he's got that playfulness Jeremy -i almost expected him to propose dok mi a "chukha party" instead of a trip xD- had but unlike Jeremy, you can tell he knows whats happening around him very well but plays dumb sometimes... you can tell he got hurt before too... i cant wait to know what happened...
and oh my poor jin rak... I'd like to tell him he still got time to win dok mi's heart but I dont know if thats true... he's got these "i know everything about dok mi" act that worries me a lot... I feel he wanted to be the one to bring her out of her shell but didnt want to at the same time because she might lose those traits he loves so much about her or thinks are hers. Right now, im really curious to know why he changed his name... i can sense hes the real chaebol runaway... that might explain why do hwi is all over him.
Everytime do Hwi appears i wanna slap her... to see her all blatantly calling dok mi like theyre BFFs when she's the cause of her condition -think its called Anthropophobia- is unnerving... and the cruel truth is all those people are like that.. they think others should forget it because they did and never apologize for what they did.
PS: IM LOVING WATANABE AND DONG HOON!! im looking forward to their bromance :)
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64 idnscte
January 16, 2013 at 7:57 PM
It's been a long time since I've been drawn to korean dramas. I only watch Running Man now,however; this drama has me hooked! I find Do-Hwi's seduction techniques absolutely hilarious.
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65 Phangrl
January 16, 2013 at 8:07 PM
I'VE GOT IT. Enrique is a male MPDG, or Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I love it!
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ManicPixieDreamGirl
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Shellybean
January 17, 2013 at 6:37 AM
Haha he SO is. So can we call him our MPDB?
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alua
January 17, 2013 at 8:12 AM
I like it! Hyperactive Puppy Manic Pixie Dream Boy... Or maybe Hyperactive Puppy Manic Pixie Dream Flower Boy.
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66 Yon Yih
January 16, 2013 at 8:08 PM
i just hope they give Jin-rak's editor noona more screen time, i adore her, she's just soo funny
also hope dat the show will give TaeJoon some depth, since he's the 1 dat really ever touched the heroine lonely heart, it'll b nice to show us more 'bout him
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67 canda
January 16, 2013 at 8:20 PM
does anyone know the instrumental song that is playing when they are at the beach? it's soo nice !
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Phangrl
January 16, 2013 at 8:37 PM
Lol, it sounds just like the opening theme to Star Trek Voyager!
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68 Peridot
January 16, 2013 at 9:04 PM
Whille the false ending of episode three could be a bit disappointing, I must say that Jin-Rak's coughing "Stop!" was epic :) I am loving both the actor and his portrayal of his character but as I wrote earlier (and as Girlfriday and Javabeans have noted), his perception of Dok-mi is an idealized one. While watching her from a distance and acting as her protector, he has not actually done anything to peal away at Dok-mi's many layers. While I love his quirks and awkwardness, I hope that as the story progresses his character grows to understand that Dok-mi is not some delicate flower but a fully-developed woman with complicated emotions and a complicated web of insecurities. It would be great if instead of seeing Enrique as a misguided intruder he would also band together with him to help Dok-mi see the good in people.
As for Enrique, while his method is the extreme opposite of Jin-rak's (and can perhaps be seen as too invasive), I am loving his character. He is adorable! I want him to help Dok-mi, but I would also like Dok-mi to be able to help him. Perhaps as she begins to emerge from her shell, she can take a greater interest in his life and help him conquer his own insecurities.
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69 Musewb
January 16, 2013 at 10:10 PM
I find the comments discussing about this drama really insightful. In fact, it's one of those dramas that gets everyone to speculate and weigh out all the details here and there in the drama. It's the kind that gets everyone into active conversations. <3 everyone made great points and everyone seem to root for the male leads for particular reasons...
And (apart from being a Yoon Shi Yoon bias) I do find Enrique less annoying than some people may feel so because it is starkly obvious that the whole cheerful upfront is merely a conscious-turned-sub-conscious act that he slaps on in front of others. He makes himself likeable in ways like that of a young child (and that baby face of his does give him a plus)
But we all know that this facade is a disguise to his true self which he unconsciously puts down because he feels that he is allowed to let his guard down in front of Dok Mi. For example, when he was by himself, he had this quiet side to himself and he's not just the loud, mindless kid. I bet he will tone down that loudness when time comes where he doesn't need to put on the happy and carefree act to cover up Something he feels that he has to hide
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70 Musewb
January 16, 2013 at 10:15 PM
I find the comments discussing about this drama really insightful. In fact, it's one of those dramas that gets everyone to speculate and weigh out all the details here and there in the drama. It's the kind that gets everyone into active conversations. <3 everyone made great points and everyone seem to root for the male leads for particular reasons...
And (apart from being a Yoon Shi Yoon bias) I do find Enrique less annoying than some people may feel so because it is starkly obvious that the whole cheerful upfront is merely a conscious-turned-sub-conscious act that he slaps on in front of others. He makes himself likeable in ways like that of a young child (and that baby face of his does give him a plus)
But we all know that this facade is a disguise to his true self which he unconsciously puts down because he feels that he is allowed to let his guard down in front of Dok Mi. For example, when he was by himself, he had this quiet side to himself and he's not just the loud, mindless kid. I bet he will tone down that loudness when time comes where he doesn't need to put on the happy and carefree act to cover up Something he feels that he has to hide
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71 sewbabz
January 17, 2013 at 2:36 AM
Hi:)
i have been searching for the full episode of flower boy next door with eng sub, but it seems that i have been unlucky:( so if you guys can help me with find the rest og the ep. i will be very happy.... i have only watched to ep 4 and i can not find the rest.
plz help!!!!...
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seara
January 17, 2013 at 4:06 AM
this drama is still airing, and episode 4 is the last episode airing in korea
I bet if you ask TVN, they don't have till episode 16 too ^^
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Shellybean
January 17, 2013 at 6:38 AM
Ditto, as King of Dramas so helpfully illustrated to us.
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dany
January 17, 2013 at 10:04 AM
We will ALL watch ep 5 next Monday and ep 6 on Tuesday! :)
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72 Peridot
January 17, 2013 at 4:18 AM
I just had two other thoughts about this drama :)
If Jin-rak is indeed a chaebol heir, then could it be that his idealized characterization of Dok-mi is the product of his disgust with the own world in which he was raised? The idealized Dok-mi represents all that his world was not. What Enrique is threatening (from Jin-rak's perspective) is the own little world that Jin-rak has created for himself through Dok-mi (and his webtoon).
My second thought regards the speculation as to who is sending Dok-mi the post-it notes (I wondering if we fans are really over-analyzing this part of the story or if it is truly meant to be a mystery until the big reveal? Who knows!). The fact that the post-it notes show a girl on a park bench staring at a man could be an indication that Tae-joon is indeed the creator of them, but what if Jin-rak had been observing the two of them at that moment? He has been silently observing Dok-mi for years...perhaps that could have been the beginning of his fantasy creation.
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73 acha
January 17, 2013 at 6:01 AM
From this episode, I began to ship the main couple. Enrique is more suitable for Do Mik than Jin Rak. Jin Rak just only wants her stay in her shell, and always thinks that he understands her so well. Do Mik needs the ones like Enrique to help her get over from the painful past.
Thanks your recap so much, looking forward to knowing the whole story about Do Mik. :D
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Wendilynn
January 17, 2013 at 3:44 PM
You need to re watch the bit where he describes his webtoon if you think Jin Rak wants her to stay in her shell.
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74 kookicookie
January 17, 2013 at 8:48 AM
Face pressing isn't kissing! I'll be disappointed if they don't really kiss. Btw why do I see so many dramas do the face press thing?
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Wendilynn
January 17, 2013 at 3:43 PM
I find the level of kissing to be an indicator of what age group they think is watching the drama. when they expect more kids, they keep kisses, especially if its a first kiss, very chaste. Half the time you don't even see lips pucker.
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75 Julia
January 17, 2013 at 10:13 AM
I find dramas that can show a person's character flaws and give us humor to be satisfying. For example, CDDA has the manic-depressive. FBND has the agoraphobic. These are serious conditions, but the flawed characters are so much more relatable and 3D.
The lonely beauty DokMi is clearly in full defensive mode - retreating in her home as the only place she feels safe, maybe PTSD. Her world is quiet, slow, low energy. Grocery shopping is a difficult task because she has to go out into the world and interact and she clearly feels vulnerable.
By comparison, Enrique is a steamroller who is intruding in DokMi's life. Maybe that is what DokMi needs to be reached ... someone who won't take no for an answer ... but I don't understand what Enrique's motives are. Right now I think he hasn't thought about how his intrusion in her life is like being hit by a tornado leaving a path of destruction. Enrique isn't looking to start a romance with her or anything long term, he is just leaning on her because he is going thru his own loss and pain with his first love and DokMi happens to be conveniently close.
Sure, Enrique is charming and funny, but I don't look at him as the perfect fit for a damaged girl like DokMi. DokMi is an introvert and Enrique is an extrovert. DokMi is the type of person to have only a few close friends she knows very well while Enrique makes shallow aquaintences whereever he goes.
DokMi is hardly ready to let someone close, and Enriqiue just doesn't seem to care much what DokMi's desires are. Or perhaps Enrique is projecting what he thinks is best on DokMi (to be social like him) just like her 3 year stalker/neighbor is doing (to be kept safe and alone).
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CaroleMcDonnell
January 17, 2013 at 10:27 AM
Wow!!! I loved your comment!!! So insightful and so true. Thanks
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ladida
January 20, 2013 at 5:44 PM
Well, Enrique apologizes to her for overreacting and kicking at her door, and when she says she doesn't want to interact with him anymore he agrees, so he isn't someone who won't take no for an answer. In fact the show has made it explicit that he is someone who will take no for an answer, hence his telling Seo Young that she shouldn't apologize for not reciprocating his feelings for her and then taking the initiative to let go of his love for her instead of wallowing in his rejection. He realizes he's responsible for his own emotions. (In fact, I think this makes him very similar to Dok Mi. She wanted to keep her unrequited crush a secret--for privacy, for her own preference for imagination to reality--but also because she's very independent and wants to keep her feelings to herself. Enrique is an extrovert, yes, maybe even an exhibitionist, but he also keeps a lot of his feelings to himself.)
I don't think he has ulterior motives, except maybe that he sees a kindred soul in Dok Mi--someone who is as lonely as he is. But he acts with Dok Mi as he acts with everyone, and doesn't hide anything from her. He clearly tells her what his intentions are: to spend his time in Korea bringing her out into the world. And Dok Mi firmly tells him that she doesn't want to do that and he agrees.
I think you're totally right--he hasn't thought about his intrusion into her life as something that would devastate her. He doesn't think of himself or his actions as destructive, especially since he actively tries to be a good person. He doesn't do things lightly; he thinks them through and does them with a purpose, and those purposes, so far as we've seen, have never been to wreck another's life. They have such fundamentally different understandings of the world and its dangers that he would never think that he is doing something harmful to her. This doesn't excuse his aggressive actions, of course (intent doesn't mitigate outcome), but once she tells him to go away he goes away. I don't think he understands the depth of her aversion to human interaction. But he does ask her about it. He asks her why she lives the way she does, and suggests how she could start to engage more with the world. Yes, he isn't looking to start a romance with her, but he is looking to be her friend. He even says, multiple times, that she is his friend. And even if her were looking for a romance with her, that wouldn't justify his hurting her, so...
He does care what Dok Mi's desires are. So much so that when she says that him knowing so much about her makes her feel uncomfortable, he wonders himself whether he should feel as she does. And, again, he agrees to the boundaries she sets for their relationship. He goes out to sleep in the car. I mean, he literally says, "I will do whatever you ask of me." And then he does.
I agree: Dok Mi is suffering from past trauma, and is in defensive mode. But I don't see her as someone helpless. She's vulnerable, she's even weak. But she is in control of her life. She decides her own boundaries. She decides who she interacts with and how. In this world that has done so much to damage her she's managed to build a life for herself, carve a safe space for herself. That takes guts. That takes nerves. That takes planning and maneuvering and energy, constant, constant energy. In her relationship with Enrique she has taken a number of measures to keep him at bay--running away from him, lying to him, and, finally, telling him point blank to stay out of her life. All of these are survival tools. But at the end of that conversation in episode 4 when Enrique abruptly leaves, turning the tables on her and making her realize that she's not the only one who gets to determine the condition of their relationship, she starts to think: Is this how I want to survive? Is there another way? So it's not Enrique who is brining her out into the world and saving her, as a lot of the discussion for the narrative arch of the show seems to suggest, it's her who is once again determining how she wants to live her life.
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76 CaroleMcDonnell
January 17, 2013 at 10:20 AM
Thanks for the recap.
It's weird. Generally, I hate dramas where the OTP is obvious and set in stone. I just hate feeling forced to like a couple, especially if i'm not really feeling them. And sometimes the leading man or the leading woman just feels so crammed down one's throat. But if the screenwriters dare join Dok Mi to anyone other than Enrique, I will NOT be pleased.
Gotta say Dol UHHH-wi's aegyo is so over the top. Everytime she pronounces her name I get the giggles. I suspect she could be dangerous to Dok Mi even now...but I can't see her really having that much power to hurt Dok Mi.
Am hoping the screenwriters do more with Ryu Watanabe than make him grin like "innocent abroad" all through the episodes. Liking Dong Hoon, who is a very interesting mixture of insightful wisdom and cluelessness. Liking security guard as well but am shipping Ahjumma and Ryu for some reason.
Really loving Enrique. There is something so wonderfully intoxicating about a communicative understanding gleeful type. He reminds me of Cha Seung Jo in Alice but I'm thinking he wears manic joy-hiding-sorrow way better.
Totally loving Dok Mi. I'll admit that when one watches a lot of shounem/shoujo that the shy girl who doesn't believe in herself --or who is wary of the world-- can get way annoying and repetitive to watch. The last two anime I watched (Tonari wo kaibutson and Sukittye Iinayo) had two such characters and there wre moments when I wanted to say "Puhleeeeze! Why this continual looping back to step one?" And several times I skipped and fast forwarded through episodes. But Dok Mi feels so real.
I am totally trusting the screenwriters -- well, with the wary exception of Ryu, whom they have to start using better. I think this drama will be one of my faves.
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Peridot
January 20, 2013 at 10:40 AM
I agree with your opinion on Ryu. I truly hope that the writers do something else with his character. He may not take up the main storyline but he can still have more layers to him.
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77 jademwong
January 17, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Episode five preview looks amazing! Can't wait :D On another note, Thanks for the recaps!
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78 Lilian
January 17, 2013 at 10:58 AM
I couldn't help but smile too when I saw Enrique in the ajumma pants! Haha....reminded me of the time they wore that in Running Man too =D Anyway, I hope that when the more serious stuff are revealed, like how she became the Go Dok Mi she is now, that we will still have the more light hearted scenes as well!
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79 Lori
January 17, 2013 at 1:15 PM
Didn't Enrique say he was going to act as Cupid while he was in Korea before he returns to Spain? I hope he is Cupid for Jin Rak and Dok Mi
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80 PChun
January 17, 2013 at 2:06 PM
Jin Rak's perfect girl is someone who apologizes first whereas Enrique tells Dok Mi to stop apologizing. In private Dok Mi is very insightful, honest and unapologetic about her thoughts and situation.
Unless Jin Rak does a complete turnaround on his perfect girl trait list he definitely is not going to get the girl. I do think there is time for him to wake up to who Dok Mi really is for isn't KDrama all about the reveal?
Enrique is definitely the lead male in this show but somehow I don't think he may be the one to end up with Dok Mi. He understands her because he's doing the same thing but in an opposite way. He hides his loneliness by surrounding himself with a never ending supply of social whirl. She protects her loneliness by shutting herself away from any social contact. They will become close friends and even in a romantic way might start a relationship. I feel Enrique is in the story to help Dok Mi over come her fears so that she can open her heart to live and love again, but not so much to be her partner in life.
I do like Enrique and his over the top happy moments, but it is those quiet, puppy dog sad eyes that flash by in an instant that really tug at the heartstrings. This character has so much depth as does Dok Mi that I am anticipating the layers to be revealed in the future.
Its funny that Jin Rak only likes people who are "clear" when he himself is obviously anything but.
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Wendilynn
January 17, 2013 at 3:30 PM
Yeah, the moment he wanted "clear" it was obvious he had sustained some serious hurt somewhere.
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Geurae
January 17, 2013 at 5:41 PM
If Enrique doesn't end up with Dok Mi at the end of the drama, it will piss off a lot of the original webtoon readers/fans. For changing the ending.
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PChun
January 18, 2013 at 10:57 AM
Thanks for letting me know about the original webtoon ending. That definitely changes my view on what might happen. I doubt the writers would change that...it would be like changing the ending of Rapunzel not ending up with the Prince who saves her.
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jubilantia
January 19, 2013 at 2:04 AM
See, I feel like Enrique will definitely end up with Dok-mi, but that it will be the how that is interesting, which is a treat to watch in a drama like this. Even though the characters are exaggerated, they still feel real and multi-dimensional, and we'll see at the end all the ways they are perfect for each other. And it's why many romantic comedies are not ultimately satisfying: we know who's going to end up together, even before the drama starts, but the leads are simply stock sets of characteristics where the How of things is overplayed, or not really explored (Jerk Chaebol with a Heart of Gold, Poor But Plucky Heroine) rather than living, breathing people.
I feel like there's so often a second lead who is portrayed as a ~*soul mate*~ but not The One the heroine is attracted to that it's confusing for us when we see a character who's actually both. Although I am looking forward to the many ways the Jin-rak/Dok-mi relationship will develop.
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ladida
January 20, 2013 at 5:53 PM
You know, I would totally be ok if this drama were about friendship, real, deep, life affirming friendship. Like if it were a combination of the fluffyness of FBRS and the camaraderie of SUFBB, I would love that! I love that we are being shown how they work to build a friendship before any romance comes in. Actually, I feel like the fake kiss was kind of a cheap shot, and undermined all the interactions these two have had so far.
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81 Wendilynn
January 17, 2013 at 3:27 PM
While Enrique is adorable, to me he's like a little puppy. Someone to adore but not the man of my dreams. In real life, I'd be falling for Jin Rak myself.
This drama could go in any direction with the way they are building this story with the depth they are giving these characters, and I hope that we get some twists in this.
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82 minhoswife
January 17, 2013 at 5:38 PM
Oh my, glad to know I'm not the only one who finds Enrique too jumpy and energetic...it already is bordering annoyance!
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83 Mar
January 17, 2013 at 6:08 PM
My favorite part of this drama so far was last episode - that little smile Enrique gives Jin Rak while they are standing in the hall. I like the small stuff.
And I love the dumb ass pretty boy that has the flashes of brilliant insight that crack me up.
Ah, this drama despite incorporating some of the normal k drama tropes has still managed to be fresh. I love the different approach to the leads.
Right up to the moment of the 'accidental' kiss.
Which really really pissed me off.
Especially with Yoon Si Yoon in this, who delivered such a great performance and memorable kissing scene in Me Too Flower. Shame on whomever made THAT silly falling lips scene decision. I mean seriously, I pucker up when I fall down so I completely understand how that could sound like a good idea. Not. Shame. Shame! Go sit in the corner and think about what you did! You could perhaps cajole me into letting you out of time out with another panda hat and boxers angry face scene because that didn't suck. And make the next kiss friggin rock some lonely girl socks. Be forewarned, if I see bug eyes I'm breaking out the paddle.
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jubilantia
January 19, 2013 at 1:48 AM
That smile was brilliant. Yoon Shi-yoon is so brilliantly cast that it's kind of scary. The way you can tell the bubblyness is kind of hitched in place is wonderful to see, and also heartbreaking.
Re: the Accidental Falling Kiss®: I think you should have faith in the writers- if the work on Flower Boy Ramyun Shop is any indication, these guys went to the Hong Sisters School of Shenanigans, which means a pretty satisfying jab at that trope in the near future.
Because seriously- if that happened to me, I'd end up with a chipped tooth or a broken nose or a bitten-off tongue instead of a chaste, plot-relevant lip touch.
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Mar
January 19, 2013 at 6:04 PM
I was really hoping for a little more heat than cuteness. I don't mind both really but I'm kinda of at my limit with the pre-teen treatment with fully functioning grown up actors.
Haha- I hear you, oh, definitely would involve medical treatment and probable scarring for life if I were involved.
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ladida
January 20, 2013 at 5:58 PM
SO TRUE. Have you watched MTF? His character there has the same thing where he puts on a hapy act to get through the world, only in that show he is much darker, much more damaged. And the leading lady is similar to Dok Mi, too: depressed, moody, sardonic. It is really satisfying to watch.
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ladida
January 20, 2013 at 5:55 PM
"Go sit in the corner and think about what you did!"
Hahahahaha!
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84 Rachel
January 17, 2013 at 7:38 PM
I have second lead syndrome. Yoon Shi Yoon is too metrosexual for me. I don't get the appeal of men who wear makeup and do the aegyo thing. Not for me. :P That said, I love the storytelling, and I like the way Enrique is slowly drawing her out of her shell.
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85 Viki
January 17, 2013 at 7:53 PM
I'm loving how this drama is developing...I wanna know all the "Why's"!!
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86 peaches
January 17, 2013 at 10:10 PM
I saw a post on Tumblr where this girl was saying how she had a theory that it wasn't actually Jin-Rak that was leaving her the post-it notes on her milk, because he was shown sleeping in the next scene. She thinks it's Tae-Joon, but I don't really buy that part of the theory because he seems fully into SeoYoung. But I think she's onto something here...I wonder who it could be?
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87 Cath
January 17, 2013 at 10:23 PM
I'm going to forgive the whoops-I-fell-on-your-lips trick because I so uber adore Park Shin Hye. She needs to be knocked out of her current mental state. :)
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Cath
January 17, 2013 at 10:35 PM
Me again, Where do I find free online streaming? I don't mind waiting but I feel so left out!
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lilys
January 18, 2013 at 6:37 AM
Go to Shinhye.org,they have link for free online streaming.
I used to watch streaming from there.
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88 peaches
January 17, 2013 at 10:23 PM
..lol i should have read the comments before posting my own. it seems that neither the girl on tumblr nor i were unique in our thoughts about the mystery post-it man. but i think that its donghoon if it isn't jin-rak, rather than taejoon.
also, i agree that enrique is much better for her than jinrak, who strikes me as being a tad bit creepy. not that go dok mi's peeping wouldn't be creepy either in real life, but you know what i mean. as an introverted person myself, i often feel gratified when people approach me first. i think it'd be much easier to open up to someone who's a little pushy because i'd feel like he's really interested in trying to get to know me, and i'd appreciate that. plus, it wouldn't hurt if he's as good looking and charismatic as enrique is either;)
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jubilantia
January 19, 2013 at 1:55 AM
Wait, I thought we established pretty definitively that it's Jin-rak? I mean, the way he smiled at her note seemed like he was in on the secret, rather than being unsure what it pertained to. Judging by him being in on it, and if it was Dong-hoon, than he'd either be 1) more sympathetic to DH, or 2) frothing at the mouth that DH is horning in on his girl.
Anyhoodle, I totally get you on the introverted stuff- if two people are too introverted, they will simply never find each other. However, I take issue with the fact that Ji-hoon, or even Jin-rak the character, isn't good-looking (see picture above :)) although he could definitely use some excess charisma.
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89 Radhika
January 18, 2013 at 8:56 PM
Im rooting for Enrique all the wayy!!!!!
in love with the characters!
and i love the telepathy convos btw Enrique and Dok mi :D
cant wait for the next week episodes!!
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90 Radhika
January 18, 2013 at 9:03 PM
And just to add -- one of the above comments by emee --
the discussion about how the post-it man could be taejoon ::---
wow im taken by surprise..
i totally agree with you!! I actually never thought of that possibility before. This drama will be so amazing if they add something so unexpected like that.
ahhh how much i wish my life was like a korean drama.....
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91 jubilantia
January 19, 2013 at 1:32 AM
I agree that Enrique and Dok-mi are all but destined (and also that rumpled scruffy Ji-hoon is HOT with a capital sexy), but it's great to see those interactions set up so deftly with the characters and their motivations, and even the personalities. I mean, can I just say how refreshing it is to see a stoic, gloriously sarcastic heroine contrasted directly with a bubbly hero? It's so often the can-do, optimistic heroine against a surly chaebol, and some of those are great, but there are SO. MANY. of them. Not to mention that the relationship already goes deeper than "oh look! She's quiet and he's loud, they're totally getting together!!!1!! lol" but reflects the complexity in each character? ...I love it.
Also, Jin-rak is similar to Dok-mi on the surface, but I think their motivations for isolation, and maybe even their reasons for idealizing people, will turn out to be very different. As in, Jin-rak seems like a noble exile, while Dok-mi is shutting out the world from necessity. And she shuts away her true, rather sardonic personality.
I think the main three are very relatable, too. How many of us have had crushes on idealized versions of the people we know, that just don't exist? I'm 'onna go out on a limb and say everyone.
Even better, while that Big Three comedy of manners is at the center, all the side character connections are just as compelling, while still exploring the same themes. They are well-portrayed explorations of how actual people mis-communicate. It makes for excellent storytelling, since you care about everyone, and all the themes weave together intricately. (Why can't regular dramas do this consistently, but the oh! Boy people can apparently conjure such things with their eyes closed?)
From the apartment leader, all the way down to the vapid high school enemy-notfriend, there are unrequited loves and misunderstandings. (Speaking of which: I think Cha Do Hwi's actress is doing a great job so far, even if it's pretty much a more extreme version of her past bratty second lead characters. That might be because the character is almost endearingly obvious about things, so that it circles right back around to deconstructing such characters. Even she probably has a sympathetic backstory, and it's hysterical the degree to which Jin-rak is sooooo not pickin' up what she's puttin' down.)
Anyway, I can't wait for Monday, to find out if Enrique sees right through Dok-mi's desperate facade (my money's on "oh yeah", but will she let him in? well, probably, but hoooooow??), and to see her interact more with Jin-rak. Because you just KNOW their relationship will evolve until we're not sure who we're rooting for anymore, and I can't wait :)
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ladida
January 20, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Omg, the person playing Do Hwi is hilaaaaarious. Her face. Her clothes. She always leaves me laughing.
And speaking of how awesome our leads are together, I just read this fabulous post: http://radio-palava.tumblr.com/post/40903163120/myers-briggs-dichotomies-in-flower-boy-next-door
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jubilantia
January 21, 2013 at 12:09 AM
Thanks for the post! It perfectly dissected what I was feeling about the lead characters- and it's great when the writers seem to have a handle on how people work in real life.
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92 Kae
January 19, 2013 at 2:00 AM
"Either Cupid’s got crappy aim or a sick sense of humor."
I'm back to drama land after seeing the first episode. I'm in love :)
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93 Maris
January 19, 2013 at 12:25 PM
The background music is so touchingly lovely whenever something important or serious is being exchanged .....really adds to the beauty of the moment.
Another thing which really enriches the watching for me are DM's thoughts/monologues. They make her character to be so uniquely different from any that I have watched. In fact , this is one of the attractions for me.....the gradual unfolding of each characters personalities and past. There is nothing that can be taken on face value.
PSHs acting has been an eye opener even for me who has always recognized her various talents. She has matured and has really been able to express the emotions well in such a subtle manner that one feels dragged into wishing that DM is able to overcome her fears and be the person she was meant to be. Can totally understand Jin Rak's protective attitude towards her.
There is so much fodder for thoughts with each episode that one can safely say that this drama is definitely not one of the typical "romantic comedy" as labelled.
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94 Margie
January 20, 2013 at 4:31 AM
Sadly, I'm really not a fan of Enrique. He really annoys me, and I'm honestly cringing at the thought of him being Dok-mi's love interest. He seems so very immature compared to her. Their interactions together can be cute, but I can't help but see them more as an older sister & younger brother pairing than as a romantic couple. They do have chemistry together, but to me it's of the platonic variety.
I don't know...perhaps it's my personal bias getting in the way since I tend to prefer love interest who are manly & sexy. And Enrique is just way too boyish in my eyes.
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Maris
January 20, 2013 at 4:51 AM
Agreed.......but we do get glimpses of him that leave me with the impression that there is much more to him. I like the trait in him that Enrique loves life and people. I am sure that as with all the others, his character too will unfold gradually with each episode. This is one of the many things that hold my interest in this drama.
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Geurae
January 20, 2013 at 5:36 AM
Don't fret. It's only the beginning. Enrique has a pretty serious side too. Underneath all that bubbly cheerful exterior is a person who is deep in his thoughts, wanting to to make things right.
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95 IBkaytee
January 20, 2013 at 10:08 AM
As Dok Mi and Enrique drove away Jin Rak complained "i was first" but as Enrique said in an earlier ep just because someone's first doesn't mean they can calls dibs on them.
Although I'm still team Jin Rak the little detail make me think that Enrique is the more mature one (although it may not seem like it).
Do Hwi is simply annoying. Not only in the way she acts but the fact that she's quite ignorant to the fact that she clearly hurt Dok Mi in the past.
And anyone else notice that in the promo for EP 4 both Dok Mi and Enrique looked back when Jin Rak yelled stop yet in the actual episode they don't at all? That annoyed me because it gave me false hope..
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96 Sharie Wang
January 20, 2013 at 5:09 PM
THIS DRAMA. <3
THE FEELS. I've come to love to watch GDM's little narration things on her computer. And her personality is quite admirable, although she we can get annoyed sometimes. Especially the door scenes, JUST OPEN THE DAMN DOOR ALREADY! Haha.
The smitten guy next door really needs to get his head in the game. I don't like him all that much though, I mean if he's muttering to himself "I noticed her first." and stuff, OBVIOUSLY he should do something about it!? Why didn't he do anything? LOL Ugh Enrique <3 GDM forever. And Enrique's first love is being awfully clingy.. I mean, face it girl. He doesn't like you all that much and you're so smart to not have noticed Enrique's undying love (actually, it sort of died now).
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97 ladida
January 20, 2013 at 6:07 PM
It's so interesting to read these discussions about who people ship in FBND and how much it has to do with perceived "manliness" and masculinity...Meanwhile the show gives us this fabulous lead of a guy who goes around wearing ajumma pants, and the show doesn't make a joke out of it! Like he isn't embarrassed and surly about it at all! It has absolutely no reflection on who he is as a person, or "as a man." I love that.
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jubilantia
January 21, 2013 at 12:02 AM
AMEN. I don't really get the manly vs. not manly stuff anyway, and it is interesting to see the different ways people respond to sexuality. Enrique still looks good, and I have a feeling the actor is going to be able to pour on the heat when it's called for. Sort of like Jung Il-Woo has a somewhat boyish face, but when he turned it on in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop? Hoooo boy.
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98 lil na
January 20, 2013 at 11:52 PM
although Enrique's overeacting makes me cringe a little i cant hate this guy especially when he smiles! he looks so AH DORABLE!
however when i watch korean dramas i always end up siding the friendzoned guy(who else is in this?! :D) in this case its most prob be jin rak i dont know if its sympathy or wad hehe..and the friendzoned guys always have this dark mysterious look ! so hawt!
btw i love shin hye's acting in this drama ! she is rly portraying her character well!
I just hope the story gets more interesting though coz im swaying a lil over here !haha but the HOT GUYS IN THIS drama is enuff to keep me on ma toes!
ps I prefer ysy's look as kim tak gu ..i think they over made him up here my mom thought he was a girl! and sitting beside shin hye he looks prettier sometimes!
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99 lil na
January 20, 2013 at 11:57 PM
there is something about do hwi's eyes that scares me....
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100 Jennie
February 20, 2013 at 1:38 PM
I am watching this as well right now, and I am finding it soooo funny! I read your recap to see what you are thinking of the series so far and I'm glad we are on the same page. Your opinion is almost always the same as mine. I'm really scared that it's going to lose it's way towards the end though:( It is staying pretty strong right now though, so hopefully they will be able to keep it up :)
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