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Monstar: Episode 11

It’s an episode where we finally learn almost everything we’ve been waiting for, and yet still leaves us wanting more before the finale. Or is it wondering more? Maybe it’s because we continue to move at a snail’s pace to get to the answers that seem like we’re getting somewhere, only they’re still very much shrouded in mystery.

EPISODE 11: “I loved my friend’s friend…”

In the restored courtyard, Se-yi confides in Ajusshi with how she’s been distracting herself with other thoughts ever since her mother’s return. When he asks if she’s confused about Seol-chan again, she sheepishly replies that that’s taken care of.

She wonders if her mother felt the same butterflies in stomach feeling when she first met her father. “But why… why did [her feelings] change?” He doesn’t answer.

She asks if there’s ever been a moment in his life he would want to turn back to. For her, it would be when she overheard her mother confess that she once loved someone else at her father’s memorial. If only she hadn’t hid in the corner to hear those words…

Just then, their conversation is cut short and Se-yi heads down to the basement with the others. A brief mention of a high school music battle program excites them, and they laugh while sharing dessert together.

The ajusshi contemplates Se-yi’s question outside. A flashback shows us the night he drove a young woman home and left Se-yi’s mother behind. From the look he sends her before getting into the car, it seems like he deliberately did so for her to see.

He thinks to himself how if he had to redo that night, he wouldn’t have driven that woman home. When Sun-woo shows up, the ajusshi stops to ask where he might be able to find the Thai musician Nawin.

We get a serene musical interlude in the basement as a few band members practice in the basement. It’s a nice callback to their earlier imaginative setups with Kyu-dong at the keyboard and Do-nam on the drums.

Also, they’re both surprisingly good at their respective instruments despite the short time they’ve spent to learn them. But we’ll just run with it, eh?

Se-yi hums along to the tune of Lee Ji-yeon’s “Wind, Please Stop Blowing” as she studies outside with Sun-woo. She starts singing when the band starts over again, and Sun-woo joins in to a soft duet.

In the car, Seol-chan thinks of his childhood memories with Sun-woo, and loses his manager in his own musings about how he feels sorry about something he shouldn’t have to feel sorry about.

They pull up at Ajusshi’s place just as he’s leaving, and Seol-chan stops him to ask if he knows how to play the guitar. He does, and then Seol-chan mutters under his breath: “She really does like every guy who plays guitar.” Hee, I love his petty jealousy.

He asks if Ajusshi is willing to teach him, but gets gruffly shut down. “I don’t teach just anyone.”

Seol-chan heads inside to join the others and smiles to see Se-yi, but then awkwardly stiffens at the sight of Sun-woo.

Then it’s like we’re introduced to an entirely new Eun-ha, who now speaks to Seol-chan like any other guy friend and pegs him with questions about his fellow idol group member, Arnold, instead. (The same one from the fanfics). Well, look who found herself a new Oppa.

Seol-chan follows Sun-woo outside, and starts to speak before he thinks better of it. Then Sun-woo asks if something happened with Se-yi, having picked up on the awkward tension between them. Seol-chan denies it.

Seol-chan heads back inside where a refreshingly frank Eun-ha asks point-blank what he’s doing here. She coolly adds that he may as well help out with practice by singing for them. The song? Lee Seung-cheol’s “I Loved My Friend’s Friend.

Seol-chan freezes at the title, and the air grows noticeably tense. He tries to wriggle out of the favor but that’s a no go since Eun-ha clearly remembers when he performed that very song onstage about a year ago.

Her smirk when she realizes she’s got him cornered suggests that the song was a deliberate choice. He hesitates at first, but then sings into the mic: I couldn’t love my friend’s friend / Should I say that I want you / Or should I close my eyes, turn my back to you and confess my feelings for you.

His voice carries as we get a brooding montage which includes Se-yi’s mother. Then we see Ajusshi walk up to where Nawin is performing, only to run away a moment later.

Back at the company, Seol-chan isn’t happy to hear that he’s been handpicked to feature in Ari’s new song for a goodwill project.

He doesn’t seem at all convinced about the details, to which Manager Hong adds in a whisper that it’s a collaborative project by the company presidents. So basically a publicity stunt to show the public that the two companies are chummy with each other.

He asks if he really has to go through with it later in the car, only to be reminded that he has a star image to uphold. He returns to his room in a dejected mood.

Se-yi talks with Eun-ha over the phone as she walks home. She listens as her friend rambles on what it means to be an anti-fan (while she replaces Seol-chan’s photos with her new celebrity crush, ha) and that her fangirl love for Seol-chan is no more.

Eun-ha tells her that she did feel sorry for making Seol-chan sing today, but thinks that Sun-woo’s a better person in comparison. Surely Se-yi knows that the class president likes her, right?

She interprets Se-yi’s silence as surprise, though I’d say Se-yi’s more shocked that everyone else knew of that fact before she did. Eun-ha calls her friend dense for not clueing in sooner.

Se-yi quickly hangs up when her mother appears by the steps, and she remains distant and cold when speaking to her. However, she does turn to ask why her mother did it.

Meanwhile, Sun-woo is still in the basement. He picks up a guitar and starts playing Kim Yeon-woo’s “Wind, Where Are You Blowing From?

As he sings, the lyrics speak of how the wind blows to heal the scarred memories of his confession: Sometimes being alone is like a stigma that can’t be erased / Living is making me into a sinner. By the end, we see his eyes glazed with tears.

Just then, Nana arrives for her bass lesson. Sun-woo compliments her on how fast she’s learning, and they hold two different conversations as he teaches her something new. He tells her that she’ll be able to pick it up right away since it’s not that difficult.

Nana replies, “It looks hard.” By that she means that it looks like he’s having a hard time, and wonders if she should continue to ignore what’s going on.

They both know they’re not talking about the bass anymore, and Nana says the situation is even apparent to her: “It’s not easy getting your first love stolen from you.”

Nana asks what’s going on in his head because it’ll really be the end if he keeps holding back on his feelings like he is now. As he slowly strums, he wonders if he’s making the right “sound.”

Nana answers that that’s his problem—he needs to be willing to be childish sometimes. As she takes back the bass, she replies that he is making the right sound, it’s just that it doesn’t suit his intended listener’s preferences. “You can’t do anything about a person’s tastes. It’s not something you can force.”

She stands up in order to show him something… and starts rocking the bass like a boss. Mind = blown. Seriously, what can this girl not do?

Sun-woo can only stare in shock, and he asks why she wanted to take bass lessons from him then. She wants to learn a different music genre from the one she already knows, Nana explains, in case her style didn’t suit her intended listener’s tastes. Plus, she’s seen plenty of people who end up in limbo trying too hard to match everyone else’s preferences.

Sun-woo takes her words in, but he tells her that his present issue isn’t about tastes. He smiles instead, saying how Nana always manages to surprise him time and time again.

The students take their exams at school, and Seol-chan engages Se-yi in some light-hearted teasing about whether she’ll end up in last place since it’s her first round of exams in Korea and all. She glares at him, heh.

Eun-ha runs over to tell Se-yi that she has two admirers who regard her as “a goddess.” Then she nods towards the two worst students in class who are hoping that she’ll end up as the class dunce this time around.

I get a kick out of watching how much it irks Seol-chan to see that Eun-ha isn’t one of his adoring fangirls anymore, even calling her “chic” behavior as “cynical.” Her response: “Love is constantly moving.” Pfft.

Se-yi runs into Joon-hee on her way out, ignoring his attempts to be somewhat friendly. He gets annoyed over how she keeps referring to him as “school president” versus his name.

But Se-yi replies that calling someone by name implies that they’ll be friends and she has no intentions to be one to him. She turns the question back on him, but Joon-hee remains silent. Then Sun-woo steps in before the situation escalates any further.

They return to the classroom to collect their things when Sun-woo gets a call from little Hye-rim, who asks that they both come by to see her.

The rest of the Color Bar members are waiting outside when Hyo-rin walks up to them and demands that Eun-ha return the journal she found. Oh, so that wasn’t a part of the dream sequence?

Eun-ha puts a hand to Hyo-rin’s mouth to shush her, but she pushes Eun-ha away, and then launches into a full-on blue blood rant, screaming at the top of her lungs, calling them lowlifes and spitting on the ground. Whoa, that’s totally uncalled for.

What else is that even Jae-rok looks surprised by her bratty tirade. Does this mean that Cymbals Boy has a heart?

Joon-hee puts a stop to his sister’s volcanic eruption, and glares at Seol-chan and Company before he leaves with the others. Sun-woo and Se-yi appear just after the dust settles, and he pointedly mentions that they’ll haveto visit Hye-rim today.

Seol-chan doesn’t miss the intentional jab to rile his jealousy, and leaves wondering about the name.

The All for One crew gets stopped by Byun PD, who has witnessed their standoff at a distance. Joon-hee dismisses the PD’s attempts to wrangle them into participating in the previously mentioned music battle program entitled “Goddess’s Kiss,” but stops when he’s told that it’s their duty as real winners to stomp out the fake ones.

It turns out that despite Ajusshi’s gruff no, he gives Seol-chan guitar lessons anyway. Though he wonders what’s distracting Seol-chan more than usual today, he praises the idol boy for being a quick study.

He asks if Seol-chan finds his busy idol schedule tiring. Seol-chan confirms it, but he likes it because his fans are thankful that he was born. To that, Ajusshi reminds him that the world’s cheers never last forever.

The song that Ajusshi strums on the guitar is the same one playing at a local convenience store. Manager Hong recognizes the oldie and looks up the songwriter… who just happens to be Ajusshi.

After his lesson, Seol-chan is shocked to hear that Ajusshi is the famed songwriter J. Han, and Manager Hong tsks how someone so great can hit rock bottom, all thanks to an incident about six years ago.

Then a flashback takes us to that fateful night, and now the jarred pieces finally fall into place. It was Christmas, and Se-yi’s mother came to see Ajusshi after he won an award. But he chose to speed down the road and got into a car accident with a young woman who died, who was a company trainee.

Not only that, the victim was a minor, so Ajusshi was charged with drunk driving and statutory rape. It was an absolute legal mess, and although Ajusshi was found non-guilty, his life had spiraled into ruin.

Sun-woo and Se-yi visit little Hye-rim at the hospital. How cute is it that she’s also wearing a wig to look like Se-yi? Unfortunately, Se-yi’s deadpan jokes only result in Hye-rim’s tears. Haha.

As they walk back later that evening, we finally learn of Sun-woo’s backstory: He had a younger sister around Hye-rim’s age who died of leukemia. Meeting Se-yi when they were kids reminded him of his sister, and he wonders if he had acted too much like an older brother to Se-yi.

Losing a loved one like that was difficult, Sun-woo explains, but it was nothing compared to the pain his mother felt, who lived in fear of losing her other child. Ah, so that explains why Sun-woo volunteers at the hospital, and why he checks in with his mother so often.

Sun-woo drops Se-yi off afterwards, and he thanks her. Then we see Seol-chan scowl from above them, bothered by the thought of the two spending time together.

It seems a part of Sun-woo’s words about his mother sticks with Se-yi as she slips out of her room and silently joins her mother to fold laundry together. They start to playfully bicker over socks which turns to how Se-yi’s father had teased her mother for not being good with her hands.

Se-yi falls silent at that, and when her mother presses her to say what’s wrong, she asks if the reason why her mother loved someone else was because Se-yi took her place next to her father.

She says that she’s not mad if that’s the case—she was just curious if it was her fault. But Mom says that it isn’t Se-yi’s fault at all, and sends her daughter back to her room.

Mom sits outside to get some air when a familiar voice calls out to her. It’s Se-yi’s father (well, an imaginative manifestation of him. But we knew that.) who offers to sing to her.

The tears start to fall as imaginary Dad sings “Leaving” (by Kim Young-ho, who also plays Dad) as the lyrics speak of the one who leaves them: You, who used to be my everything / You are leaving far away.

Mom cuts him off to say that this song angers her every time she hears it. Imaginary Dad doesn’t know why, and it kinda cracks me up that she orders him around, all, Stay put!

She reminds him how he used the song to get back into her good graces… only for him to use it for one of his albums. And it didn’t even sell because the song was so out-of-date. Hahaha, wait—this is supposed to be a reflective, moving moment, but it’s still funny.

Then imaginary Dad if she intends to hold it all in. She nods. He tells her, “I’m sorry.”

Mom: “I know.” Wait, is there something that Mom isn’t telling us? Then Dad tells her to take care of Se-yi for the both of them. Crying, she replies, “I know that, too.”

Then she breaks down in tears, and Se-yi hears her mother’s sobs at a distance.

At school, Teacher Dokko is up in arms at the news that the school has agreed to film a Goddess’s Kiss episode. Word travel fast among the students, who grow excited at the possibility of seeing a rematch between All for One vs. Color Bar.

Most of the Color Bar members are excited themselves, and Eun-ha gives Seol-chan full rein on producing their next track. Unfortunately, Seol-chan isn’t as thrilled, and tells the others that he has to sit this one out. He walks off.

Se-yi follows him to apologize on behalf of the group, who didn’t realize that a comeback stage with the Color Bar band could have a negative effect on his idol image.

Seol-chan tells her not worry about it, but he notices that Sun-woo is within earshot and adds, “Is that the only thing that concerns you? Don’t you know what concerns me the most?” He makes a fuss about it just long enough until Sun-woo leaves.

Meanwhile, the remaining Color Bar members contemplate what to do now, and Do-nam suggests that the three of them try out on their own.

Sun-woo follows Seol-chan’s car after school, and pulls him over to talk. Seol-chan starts to explain that he has legitimate reasons as to why he can’t participate in the battle.

But that isn’t what Sun-woo wants to talk to him about, and he asks how long Seol-chan intends to avoid him. When Seol-chan averts his gaze, he asks, “Is there something you’re sorry to me about?”

Seol-chan says there isn’t, and Sun-woo replies that he isn’t finished yet. With what, trying to woo the girl?

Sun-woo gets a text from Nana, who takes him out shopping. He jokes that he doesn’t need anything, and Nana deadpans that it isn’t for him. However, the shirt she picks out just also happens to be in his size, so she chooses that one.

Afterward, Nana explains that her goal is to use the coupons before they expire. She asks when his “hangout coupons” does, but Sun-woo replies that he hasn’t thought about it.

She asks if he figured out his issue yet, and he shares that his problem is in order to “not make her cry” because if he pushes too hard according to how he likes things, then she’ll end up crying.

Nana knows that he means Se-yi, so she calls after him, yelling: “You idiot! What does it matter if you make her laugh? She’s going to go to the guy who makes her cry anyway! That’s why you don’t amount to Seol-chan!”

She runs off in tears.

Eun-ha notices how Se-yi is distracted during practice, and sighs in sympathy over Sun-woo and Seol-chan’s complicated relationship. She still feels that Sun-woo is the better guy overall, but understands where Seol-chan can feel like he falls short in comparison.

She advises Se-yi that she ought to explain who the mysterious “Hye-rim” is to Seol-chan since his curiosity about it is probably driving him nuts.

He doesn’t pick up when she calls (and he hilariously gets peeved when Arnold looks better on a magazine cover than he does, ha), and though Eun-ha says that he’s probably busy, Se-yi’s face falls anyway.

But she’s surprised when Seol-chan shows up by the steps later that night. She says that she thought he was busy working, which he was, but the thought of her possibly spending time with someone else bothered him. She reels a little, to which he adds playfully, “Is that what you thought?’

They relocate to the park bench, and Seol-chan admits that thoughts of Sun-woo does weigh on his mind. He knows a lot more about Sun-woo than Se-yi may think, and there’s something that he can never beat Sun-woo in: “Time.”

That answer confuses her, and Seol-chan tells her that though a part of him wants him to back off already, he’s known about Sun-woo’s feelings for her for a while now, so he feels that he owes it to Sun-woo to give him that extra time. “Because he’s a friend. And I don’t hate him that much.”

Se-yi asks what drove the two friends apart since Sun-woo’s explanation was rather vague. Seol-chan ponders on it, and then answers: “I’m… I’m adopted.”

At Se-yi’s initial shock, he explains that his adoption at the age of five was a secret only he and Sun-woo knew about. But something had happened, and as a good friend, Sun-woo had went ahead to inform his mother, who then in turn told his own adopted mother.

That was why he was angry at Sun-woo, because he hates his mother worrying about him: “Because then I become a burden.”

Se-yi reflects on his words in her room and thinks back to the time when the boys played the Canon in D duet together. Then she calls Sun-woo to suggest they go see a movie together tomorrow.

Which leaves the rest of the Color Bar members to practice by themselves, and from the way both Kyu-dong and Do-nam jump to cater to Nana, it’s pretty apparent that they both harbor a budding crush towards her.

Meanwhile, Se-yi greets Sun-woo for their movie date with a warm smile. They decide to hang out at the lounge, and as Sun-woo goes to buy snacks (she rattles off the same litany of street foods again, heh), Se-yi picks up a book to read.

Sun-woo recognizes the title, and when she reads an excerpt, he finishes it from memory: “Be it when I was a child, or adolescence, or last year / the name of what penetrated my heart was love.”

But then Se-yi’s smile fades away as she looks at Sun-woo during the movie. Oh no, you’re about to break his heart, aren’t you?

They go for a walk afterwards, and Se-yi points out how Sun-woo always replies with the same, monotonous murmur of agreement: “Mmm.” He stops in his tracks.

As she steps away, she sincerely thanks him for always listening to her and agreeing with her. “Then you can do that for this too, right?”

Then she turns towards him to confess, “I think I like Seol-chan a lot.”

As they stand there in silence, the scene overlaps with Nana singing Park Hyo-shin’s “Scattered Days” at band practice.

Se-yi turns to leave, and she stops when Sun-woo calls out her name. She looks back at him. Then it’s as if time stands still as they look at each other, their eyes welling up with tears.

COMMENTS

What a loooooong episode. On one hand, the show still carries the same delectable dream-like quality that I’ve come to love, but on the other hand, these eighty minutes felt like a trailer reminding us of all the major mysteries we have yet to fully unravel for the finale.

But before we dig too much into that, I appreciate that we finally closed the chapter on Sun-woo’s one-sided love for Se-yi. His heartbreak is a long time coming, but it’s still a sad moment when your first love doesn’t reciprocate your feelings and moreso to hear those words in person. I dearly hope we won’t dedicate too much time to the repercussions of Se-yi’s rejection in Sun-woo’s behavior in the finale, partly because we don’t have the time for its setup and resolution, but also because I’d hate to see their friendship dissolve into the wasteland of teenage angst when they have such a supportive rapport for one another.

With so many interwoven narrative threads, the show did what I feared most by exploring ALL of the major backstories at once in the eleventh hour. It feels like information overload to juggle Ajusshi’s past to his ruin because of the fatal car accident on Christmas night that ties in with Nawin’s appearance along with Mom’s silent suffering and Sun-woo’s younger sister and Seol-chan’s adoption and what led to their broken bromance. Phew, did I miss anything? And that’s just the past.

Moreover, although it feels like we were finally privy to this information, it also feels like we were hoodwinked into thinking that we learned quite a lot while still withholding certain key pieces to the puzzle. It certainly leaves me unsettled that we’ll rush into a resolution, which would be a stark contrast to the show’s mostly contemplative, wistful pacing. But still, I’m hopeful for a finale that will leave me satisfied with a song that resonates until the last note.

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Nana is rocking it so hard the second half of the series. Love her!

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This episode felt so long that I ended up dropping it after the first 20 minutes. I don't think I'm gonna watch the finale either. It's kinda sad because I really liked the show in the beginning but somehow it lost the comedic timing and raw moments of emotion that attracted me in the first place. Things like Se-yi defending Kyu-dong by her singing, or Sun-woo and Seol-chan playing the piano together. Moments that resonated. I felt the conflicts of the past could have been brought up earlier and dealt with one by one instead of lumping them all together and giving one hour to deal with everything. I mean if you're gonna resolve everything in the end, then give time for the resolutions to mean something. *sigh*

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I totally dropped the show too.I just couldn't feel it. Everything was soo slow and the conflicts were kinda sorta EXACTLY the same -___-

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I couldn't bring myself to drop the show, though it felt more like a chore to finish it...thank goodness for the awesome music score they bring in. But really, why, oh why so many dramas fail in their last stretch to the hour?

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Same here. I procrastinated so hard before watching this EP.

There were only 2 episodes left so I wanted to finish it and have closure.

But there were parts in each EP that I thoroughly enjoyed. ^^

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This episode brings a lot of information about each character's past, but I don't know why it feels a little slow for me. While Sun-woo's story is believable, Seol-chan's secret (adopted child) seems... un-natural for me. I can understand his disappointment at Sun-woo, but being adopted doesn't explain why he acts so politely (thus distant) to his mom.

I like that Se-yi finally steps up and talks about her affection towards Seol-chan with Sun-woo. The scene between Sun-woo and Se-yi is so beautiful and sad. Even though I'm a Se-yi and Seol-chan shipper, the way Sun-woo looks at Se-yi in that scene is just killing me. It's not like Sun-woo doesn't recognize (at least I don't think so), but he has realized and still managed to hold on to his crush.

Also, I'm addicted to the song that Nana sang at the end of this episode. Can't stop repeating this since last Friday!

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There is more to the boys' conflict. Seol-chan did not say what happened exactly. Whether it will be brought to light or left hanging is another story.

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If it's left hanging, that is indeed going to be a disappointment. I'm probably more interested in SC and SW's mysterious past friendship than I am in the love story trying to happen between SY and SC. Of course, my mindset could still be stuck in the good ol' days of School 2013 epic-bromance. :)

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The good old days, in deed! I miss Nam-soon and Heung-soo, too :)

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Adoption in Korea is a recent phenomenon. Before now, orphaned Koreans were only adopted by Westerners, because of the high importance of family and family status in Korea. If you watch a lot of dramas, you can see that adoptions in Korea are still kept secret, there is still a stigma attached. Also, Seolchan was old enough when he was left at the orphanage to beg his birth mom not to leave him, but not old enough to reason that it wasn't his fault. So he was careful to always be extremely polite and honoring to his adoptive mom (still calling her "omoni") and never give her a reason to worry or be burdened so that she wouldn't abandon him too.

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Ah, interesting.

So, there IS a stigma to being an adopted child in Korea? I guess being in the US where it's very common, there's no sense of anyone feeling that different about an adoptee vs. a normal child.

I guess I can understand it from the theoretical point of view. So, is it kind of like being in the closet for homosexuality? Or is it significantly less of an issue?

If it were similar to the stigma for homosexuality, I can see where if SC confessed it only to SW and SW broke the trust and not only did it break the trust, but got back to his adopted mom and potentially worry her in a way that SC obviously did NOT want her to worry about, then, I can see the conflict being actually pretty significant. Especially, the way that SW treats it so cavalierly as a "misunderstanding."

Thank you for your take and any additional insight you might be able to provide.

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Hmm. I would say it just has to do with the underlying importance in the Korean culture of family status. With the westernization of Korea these days, if I was adopted, I wouldn't be ashamed of it per se, but then again I wouldn't tell anyone about it. Sort of like how Nana keeps her family secret, and for the same reason why Hyorin calls the poorer students dirty filthy garbage. Most of the younger generation are past attitudes like this these days, but it still exists on a deeper level in the culture.

In any case, I think Seolchan's fight with Sunwoo came more from his abandonment issues than from being angry that Sunwoo told someone his secret.

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You'd hope that some celebrities, like Jaejoong, would help change the attitude towards this.

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I grew up in an Asian country, and had friends who were adopted, so I understand the situation of adopted kids to some extend (well, to sum up, it's mostly like in the idiom "Blood is thicker than water"). That's why I think the fact that Sun-woo talked about Seol-chan's secret with his mom is a disappointment, and can be the break deal for their friendship. I just don't really buy that Seol-chan is so distant with his Mom after more than 10 years living with her. Like you said, Seol-chan probably has some abandonment issues. Maybe it's the way he uses to not burden his Mom, or keeping his distance is also the way to not get hurt later (if there is anymore hurt that may come to him).

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Thanks for the explanation. I was thinking something similar but I'd forgotten about the scene where Seolchan begs his birth mother not to leave him. Seolchan seems to have abandonment issues. This also explains why he says his fans are happy he was born.

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I haven't watched this yet, but from the recap, I find Eun-ha's switch from fan to non-fan a bit sad / lame.

I get she needs to let go for Seol-chan, but now she is just subbing in Arnold in place? I don't see that as much of a growth... because if she's going to be dedicated to Arnold in the same way as she was to Seol-chan (writing fan fiction, 'loving' him as if she were loving a real person she actually knows etc.), then that's... just sad.

Any fan that doesn't understand stars are people and that stars have a right to have a relationship with the person they choose worries me.
Any fan that can't be happy for the star they like (or support him/her in tough times) is also not much a fan.

I get that Eun-ha is young and personally crushed (because she did in fact know Seol-chan in person and has the complication of her closest friend liking and being liked by Seol-chan)... but, still, there's something a wee bit off here. Shouldn't she have learned a lesson that stars shouldn't be objectified and projected into unrealistic fantasies? Replacing one idol with another just doesn't feel like the right message, not with a drama that probably has a significant teen audience and with worrisome state of fandom (netizens!) in Korea.

I may be judging it too harshly and maybe Eun-ha's admiration for Arnold won't be as unhealthy as her fixation on Seolchan was, but I'm not sure... As I said, I'm going by the recap here only.... (Or maybe I have just lost touch with my teenage self.)

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I agree with you wholeheartedly on this. She just switched her object of affection. And while I appreciate that she didn't leave the notebook to Hyorin or try to sabotage Seol-chan on the interwebz, I feel that she'll have the same heartbreak/reaction again if Arnold ends up getting an ordinary girlfriend. Which isn't growth at all.

I'm not too past my teenage years but I've never fully understood the obsession people have with their favorite idols/stars. At some point, you have to realize they are also human beings that deserve to live their life in peace and they most likely will not date/marry you regardless of how much you want it. I get that fame has a cost, but fantasy is not reality, and idols are not possessions to be followed/insulted/claimed.

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Yes, I was disappointed in Eun-ha's loyalty switch too, for the same reasons. Thematically this could work if the show was a little darker or more cynical (like how The Office and Arrested Development are all about people getting stuck in the same cycles forever), but this show is ... not that.

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I saw it as a self preservation method and a way to maintain her relationship with Se-yi. She let go of Seol-chan in all ways. She chose Se-yi over Seol-chan. In doing this, she's focus on another idol. I took her new "obsession" as a way to distract herself and also as the "get back on the horse" or other fish in the sea" method of moving on. I also see it as a typical teenage thing, fangurling can sometimes be mercurial and fickle, lol.

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Also, Eun-ha is behaving like the best friend (in dramas) now. Pointing out the good and bad in the guys, and acting as a meddling friend/catalyst by pushing Seol Chan's buttons. That is also a reason for the attitude change with Seol-chan, it's committing to the best friend role for Se-yi and letting go of her crush on SC. I criticized Se-yi episodes ago for not confiding in Eun-ha and treating her like an afterthought, but in retrospect, it made sense- Eun-ha's loyalties were to Seol Chan at the time, and NOT to Se-yi. I was able to see that when the girls had their conflict.

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And I get the feeling that Eun-ha doesn't think she deserves the real romantic attention from an idol (as opposed to fantasized), but she thinks that Se-yi naturally does. She also sees the dual admiration for Se-yi from Seol Chan and Sun woo and isn't mad at Se-yi for it or doesn't hate her for it because Se-yi doesn't have to try, and Eun-ha doesn't hold that against her. The loyal friend role remains intact. So, shifting to Arnold is fanservice that can be as big as she wants it to be because it's fantasizing. She can't fantasize about Seol Chan anymore because it's reality.

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@ Mar

i love how you put this in writing.. i got to the same conclusion as well, it's purely for self preservation and in a way im glad she's not being bitter yet steadfast & loyal to SY. i do find some comments towards EH's very harsh

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@D, owl's comment has merit-that Seol Chan is a real person to her now, he's not an unreachable star in the sky now.

Some people see it as she is being unloyal to SC. That is true. She cannot idolize and side with SC AND be Se-yi's best friend. She is choosing to align herself with Se-yi, which is what a best friend should do. And in that alignment, she is thinking about his faults and if he is good for Se-yi. Not only that, she will have to compete with him for Se-yi's time and attention. As far as I am concerned she is exhibiting classic teenage/young adult best friend behavior.

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She definitely appeared to have swung too far in the other direction but we do that, sometimes, don't we? When we've been hurt, to protect ourselves from further hurt?

By the end of the episode she seemed to have toned it down a bit - even going so far as to tell Se Yi to cut him a break about Hye Rim - but I guess we'll see this week, in the end.

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I think, more than anything, that it shows that Eunha's issues are not over. She's still being abused at home, so she needs another oppa to be her escape. But I'm even more disturbed at how quickly and harshly she turned AGAINST SC, making him uncomfortable regarding his relationship with Seyi, and basically trash-talking him behind his back to his own object of affection... she's grade-A certified nuts. I don't find this surprising at all, because I knew the "happy ending" of the previous episode did absolutely nothing to resolve her core issues. Perhaps the writers were fully aware of that... but doing a 180 from super-fan to super-anti, THAT is even beyond the pale to me.

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Good point about her issues not being over – that's very true and true to how it is in reality (such issues don't instantly disappear). I wonder if they will resolves this though – and if she'll get over creating fantasy worlds.

It would be a rather depressing conclusion to leave us with, i.e. no change in home life but only a change in the focus of her fantasy world. That's not a very hopeful message, especially if there are teens watching that experiencing the same ("There's no way out from your home life. You'll always be abused. But feel free to switch your idol loyalties and take out your anger on the idol you no longer like." --> not very constructive and, for this kind of show, it feels wrong).

If it's only her immediate reaction that's a 180 degree turnaround, then I think that's to a certain degree understandable (she's a teenager after all) BUT I'd like to see her move to a better place, something that at least gives me an indication that things will change for her in the future. Swapping idols doesn't do that. A time jump (which we might get) won't do it either, not if it doesn't come with some sort indication of how that change happened. Indeed, I care less about seeing her happy-ever-after than her taking the emotional and mental steps towards that happy-ever-after as it's that journey to get there that would be the most significant for viewers in similar situations.

But maybe I'm just being too demanding...

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There's no time to sort out Eun Ha's family problems. I think the main problem is that they should never have introduced them in the first place. Being beaten at home is quite a serious issue in a show that is already dealing with enough serious storylines with its lead characters, let alone properly dealing with a secondary character.

I think her reaction to Seol Chan, and her rapid switch to Arnold, is entirely realistic. She's a teenage fangirl, that's exactly what teenage fangirls do. So I didn't have a problem with how she was acting. Having said that, i've never been an Eun Ha fan so maybe I just never expected anything of her anyway.

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I took it as her just striking out against seol chan for her hurt and disappointment in him. immature but believable.

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The Sun-woo stuff should have been taken care of an episode or two ago. I really, really hope this is the end of that. That said, there's a lot to pack into this next episode: the Seol-chan/Se-yi resolution, the Goddess Kiss episode/contest, and (hopefully) at least a nod toward the Sun-woo/Na-na story. I mean, I'm not aiming for anything radical like a kiss (lol), just an acknowledgement of something possible in the future. It's possible they'll put an end to Na-na's one-sided crush with a "life goes on" message, but I think they've spent too much time showing his developing interest in her life.

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Oh, duh, and Se-yi's final confrontation with her mom, and Ji Woong's we-think-it's-his-son-from-Thailand (we do, right?), and ... there are a lot of threads hanging right now. Good thing this show is 80min long, but I think it's still going to be rushed.

As far as Se-yi and her mom, it would be unusual to have the mom actually having had (lol, how convoluted) an affair. But that invites the question of why Mom would keep quiet if there's some kind of misunderstanding on Se-yi's part. My guess is that it was actually the dad having an affair and Mom wants to keep it from Se-yi. Or would they not go there either? I kinda got the impression from Mom's conversation with Dad-hallucination--and his apology--that he's played some as-yet-unspoken role in this messy business.

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I agree with everything you have touched on. I had the same thought about the parental stuff from the start.

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I don't think it's a son from Thailand - it appears to be a younger brother of the girl that he killed in the drunk driving incident six years earlier.

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That's right - he flashed back to the car accident afterwards, didn't he? But Nawin didn't seem angry or upset, as far as I could tell. That seems strange to me.

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do we really still think it's his son? as soon as seol-chan's manager said that the girl in the car was a minor at the time of her death, i figured that if nawin is somehow related to her, he's too close to her in age to be her son. i'm pretty sure nawin i like, her brother or something.

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Yeah, someone above corrected me. I forgot about that recent development ... the earlier theory just stuck with me, I guess. ;) Guess it shows how important I think this plot line is?

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I was onboard with this show 110% until this episode. Now I'm left wondering if something hasn't happened to the writer... because I can't imagine the very last episode becoming a classic love-triangle showdown (as hinted at by Ep 12's preview). At this point, I can't even imagine the last episode filling all the gaps that need to be filled! :/

Maybe it's worth noting here the things I did like:
1. Nana. Always Nana. I fangirl her just like Kyu-dong and Do-nam fanboy her. And I loved, loved, loved that she seemed to be more realistic concerning SW's feelings - or should I say non-existent feelings? - for her. When the resident tough girl is the voice of reason... that's just awesome.
2. Do-nam rocking the drums and his repaired friendship with Kyu-dong
3. Realizing for the first time just how freakishly tall Student President is (and his angry face - whoa, his angry face!)
4. Enjoyable song choices
5. Identity/backstory reveal for Ajusshi! Long time in coming.
6. Backstory for SW that made me actually sympathize with him
7. The entire park-bench-spirit-of-deceased-guitar-playing scene. Oh, my feels for SY's mother!
8. Also, SY coming around a little to realize her mother is as traumatized as she is.

But sadly, there were many disappointing moments too. I've been on the cusp of losing patience with SY, and she pushed me over that edge this episode. Maybe it was because of the repeat offense of her absolutely blank-helpless expressions, or maybe it was because she went on a date with SW only to break his heart immediately afterwards. I thought the latter was a little cruel, even though I know it was her emotional floundering which led to it. And despite how I feel like I am only ever SW's fan when he is with Nana, I still think he deserved more compassion than he got. I can't convince myself that giving him the memory of that one date even bordered on okay.

Eun-ha. What can I say? I get the point about her disillusionment with SC and, more so, I get that it's supposed to be a lesson for SC that he won't be adored forever by his fans. But - her rude behavior? Her just blithely switching obsessions? That brought a thoughtless side to the character I didn't want her to have. She's hurting, I know, but as of the previous episode I thought she had learned hurting other people only makes the situation more unbearable. Instead it seems like she jumped from being unfair to SY to doing the same thing to SC.

Such brief mention of SC's family issues! Because of the brief mention, I haven't quite figured out if he doesn't want to do the promotion for international adoption because he is adopted or because it might upset his parents. Way to leave me baffled, Show.

The second battle. The ploy to get that going - and at such late notice, too! - seemed rushed, not to mention more like fanservice than actual plot. Do I want to see Color Bar play together again? Of course! Do I feel like the storyline is simply removing All For One from the arch-rivals shelf and dusting them off for one last plot point? Yeah, I do. I don't know why, but I don't think I can be quite as excited about this face-off...

All the above said, how is the show going to wrap up all the loose plot threads in the finale? What if it doesn't? What IF we get more runaround between SC, SW, and SY? I thought the romance was cute at first but now it's starting to wear thin and seems to be dragging down the awesomeness that is Monstar. And what happened to the SC-SW reconciliation/return of the bromance? I'm worried, y'all. Very, very worried. I want this show to end on the highest note possible! :(

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I don't think she went on the date because she was floundering emotionally - at least not if you mean flopping back and forth between the boys.

I think she planned it specifically to have a good memory with Sun Woo - for both of them to remember - and that she always planned to tell him what the situation was at the end of the day.

Now, I can argue that this is a stupid plan - and I do think it was a stupid plan - but I can't agree that she did it because she couldn't make up her mind between the two boys.

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Making up her mind wasn't what I meant. I meant she couldn't get up the courage to tell him about her feelings for SC up until that point (and the floundering is what occurred in between her realizing she liked SC and her not giving SW a gentle let-down). But by leaving SW in limbo for so long, he continued to hope. IMO, she gave him a last surge of unnecessary hope and then basically took it from him altogether. That's what I don't like.

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As much as I LOVE this show, I agree with most of the criticisms about this episode. I stopped partway into the episode, but did finish it later. I don't see how they'll pull off a cohesive final episode, but I'll watch it anyway. I guess this episode kinda lowered my expectations for that, but better now than later?

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I love that in the space of a week, both Donam and Eunha have become better percussionists than Jaerok.

I'm one of the ones that still loves this drama to death and had no problems with this episode, but that's neither here nor there. What's important is that this episode has cemented my everlasting love for Yong Junhyung, with his singing and his acting in the adoption scene. I'm a 40-something-year-old classical musician with no prior interest in k-pop who now owns 11 (and counting) Beast/Junhyung tracks. I may be the oldest b2uty yet... :-) I'm sure that the number of Glam fans has multiplied as well.

Mnet gambled and won with Monstar, at least judging by my credit card bill.

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umm it's not that I'm proud of my age or anything but I may beat you in at least that category. I've never been interested in kpop either but checked out beast on account of jun hyung and officially went into fangirl territory yesterday with purchases from yesasia yesterday. I am completely surprising myself with this obsession! I am happy though that I actually like a LOT of their songs so am happy to buy their albums.

I LOVED his rendition of that song fell in love with a friend's friend. I just hope the drama it will be included in the osts.

glad to hear so many new b2uties out there :)

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oh lordy. I was incoherent in bits. sorry. hope you can still make out what I was trying to say! :p.

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Haha, I got what you said, Junhyung scrambles my brain cells as well. We should start our own ahjumma b2uty fanclub. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I looked up the fanchants yesterday, *just in case* I ever accidentally end up at a Beast concert. I need to be prepared!

Here's a clip of a surprise birthday celebration for Junhyung, where he cries (and totally denies it) -- such a sweetheart!
youtube.com/watch?v=HTbYKonekYs

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argh I just saw that yesterday and posted on fb!! haha. binmom, I actually DID get to a beast concert 27th june in malaysia but it was a week before my madness EXPLODED!!

I can't believe I worry so much about boys too. ahhh it's so embarrassing. I hope they come again before my obsession dies. am going to get a batoost t shirt from eat your kimchi and wear that!

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Thanks for sharing the link!!! He's so cute!!!

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count me in..i would never regret watching monstar, no matter the ending is i will still love this drama.
and i agree with you, junyung's acting in the adoption scene is great..he nailed it perpectly..
and thanks to monstar , cuz this drama introduced me with an idol who has so many talents yong junyung. i never knew him before, and i'm not into k-pop either.
at first i surprised with his actings, ..he can portrayed a boy who was falling in love for the first time so natural, with his adorable jealousy, the way he looked at seyi, i love it all.
and i'm a little bit shy to admit cuz i'm too old enough to become one of b2uties out there, cuz of him.

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thanks to Monstar, im now a fan of Glam. i was never into k-pop and my favourite idols list are so outdated cos i never bother to follow the rookies... i never had a real list to begin with cos i usually like maybe 2 or 3 (at most) of their songs..

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ONE OF US! ONE OF US! We might not even have an official fanclub name, but by SeeU we are going to send GLAM into the Billboard stratosphere!

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aww, that's awesome!

I doubt I'll be checking Beast out but thanks to Monstar I absolutely adore JunHyung.

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Good episode. But I agree that there are WAY too many plot bunnies loose for a cohesive resolution in the final.

If Sun-woo dressed like Kim Nana would dress him, maybe Se-yi would have looked at him twice. Tight blue t-shirt. Pecs and biceps. Not ugly. Just saying.

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Not sure. She might be just more inclined to alpha-male type.

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That was just a light-hearted comment on how attractive Sun-woo looked in the t shirt not actual character analysis.

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:)

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Oh, that tee-shirt. That tee shirt was amazing. That was the most beeyoooootiful tee shirt ever. I swear that tee shirt could cure cancer with it's amazing and restorative properties.

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LOL! You just made me wake up my geriatric cat (hard to do, she's sorta deaf) by laughing too loud.

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Nana probably went home and listened to the Divinyls.

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sorry to but in so randomly but wow.. Divinyls.. i totally get that..

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;)

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Joanne, saranghae :)

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You should've seen him shirtless on multiple occasions in To the Beautiful You. Loved his character, too. My priorities are obviously straight.

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Yes that tight blue shirt almost killed me. Who knew he was hiding that under those school uniforms.

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Thank you for the recap! I, for one, look forward to the last ep. True, not w/as much anticipation as before, but still wanting a nice resolution to the story. I think it really says something about the quality of the show when I can be so invested in the characters even after the last two "slow" episodes. I really enjoy the small, quiet moments best. Like how SC & SY are now able to communicate beyond childish teasing and SC can be supportive and show growth.
I have to say, something this show has gotten right everytime is it's use of songs. When the characters sing, it feels organic to the moment, unlike the majority of musicals where everyone suddenly breaks out into song & dance. Its really nice that the music actually enhances the scene instead if taking you out of the moment.
Long story short, still enjoying this drama. Thanks again. ^-^

otally agree w/ Alua

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Thanks for the recapping, gummimochi!

I've really liked a lot of the music that they have on Monstar, so I decided to try my hand at splicing and editing some of the music to sound more like a complete song. There are still some artifacts in the songs as, unfortunately, I don't have access to the original sound tracks. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy them as much as I do.

These are specifically songs NOT on the OST, but ones which were just in the episodes that I found catchy.

To play the mp3s on the website, you need to load the 4shared website twice. I'm not really sure why.

If there are other segments that you'd like the music to, let me know, and I'll see if I can do something with it.

Ep 2: Seol-Chan/Se-yi/Sun-woo
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/x3guqoZR/Trouble_Maker.html?

Ep 2: Men In Black
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/j3PWMwAX/_online.html?

Ep 6: SW
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/IGhu7r6M/__online.html?

Ep 1: Se-yi/Kyu-Dong
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/cj5QD6iV/_online.html?

Ep 8: SC/SY (w/ talking)
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/Vtv4ErCF/__online.html?

Ep 8: SC/SY (w/o beginning talking - not sure if this sounds better than the original, so I put them both up. I'd really appreciate if people could say which they prefer)
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/IpiunodR/_2_online.html?

Ep 5: Do-nam/Kyu-Dong
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/2AXIA8To/_online.html?

Ep 9: MIB
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/QHhnBEHU/__online.html?

Ep 10: Eun ha/Seol-Chan/Se-yi/Sun-woo
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/uBPu4wZ1/_online.html?

Ep 7: Sun-woo/Nana
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/6Brsv0zn/_online.html?

Enjoy!

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hi Requiem! Thank you so much for these links. please also post once you already have the SeolChan's version of Loving a Friend's Friend. Kamsahamnida. ^^

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Here you go:

www . 4shared . com/mp3/AlxicHAy/___online.html

Just remove spaces

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THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :)

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thanks so much for your efforts. love listening to the songs again. esp sun woo singing to seyi song and the eun ha song. thank you

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I said to my daughter, "this is my least favorite of all the episodes, but second to last ones are like that a lot of times."

It dragged on and on.

We will watch next week. But as far as every week being good, you just lost that distinction, drama!

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So, I didn't get the feeling like others did that the episode was slow.

I think the issue was more that there wasn't a whole lot more to the conflicts than we were told earlier in the series, which I guess is why the director/writer thought they could wrap things up in these 2 episodes.

I was hoping there'd be more to the SC/SW conflict than "hey he told his mom about my being adopted and his mom told my adopted mom, so therefore I'm mad at him" or more exploration into SC's abandonment worries.

But alas with things wrapping up, it looks like I was expecting a lot more depth to the story than they were planning to put out....

I still appreciate what they did in the previous episodes especially how they integrated those songs fairly seemlessly into the flow of the story. And I definitely liked the emotional impact and music choice of quite a few of the songs like 바람이분다 in Ep1, 사람,사랑 and 날 울리지마 in Ep 7, 나의 절망을 바라는 당신에게 in Ep 8, and 나의노래 in Ep 10.

I do feel that the feeling has been diluted a little with the lack of depth in the plot, but I still appreciate a lot of the little moments and the impact song moments.

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Oh, I do have to get this off my chest.

Kang Ha-neul has this really annoying habit of thinking that "singing to yourself" means literally singing to yourself so that other people can't hear you or feel anything from your music. He also does this when he harmonizes.

So, with all the good singers on the show, of course, they have to spend so much time having the weakest singer of the bunch doing not 1 song, but TWO songs in his worst singing mode.

I'd much, much rather hear Nana, Kyudong, Eunha sing and Donam beat-box. And at least with Seyi and Seolchan, they don't completely disappear when they sing a song.

Sing out, dude! You've got a decent enough voice when you actually project, but you really sound like crap when you muffle it in your throat and direct it toward yourself.

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So, let's see what they've done and still have left to do in Ep 12.

- SC’s abandonment (started in ep 11, possibly some more resolution in ep 12)
- SC/SW broken bromance (started in ep 11, resolving)
- Ajussi’s nightmare/Nawin’s mother (started in ep 11, resolved)
- Eun-ha’s bruises and self-worth issues (started in ep 10, DONE)
- SC/SY romance dealing w/ fame and fans, likely explored through Eunha (still needs some resolution but mainly DONE)
- SC familial issues (unknown)
- SY resolution with her mother (resolving)
- SW/NN romance (likely expanded more)
- NN familial issues and fashion dreams (DONE)
- Gyu Dong/Do Nam’s healing (DONE)
- Ajussi/SY mother’s friendship (unresolved)
- Dokko Sensei finding herself (unresolved)
- Colorbar reunion… (resolving)

So, it looks like most things will resolve. As I stated earlier, I'd wish some of these issues had more depth, but it is what it is.

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- Eun-ha’s bruises and self-worth issues (started in ep 10, DONE)

HAHA NO. Her behavior in this episode demonstrated completely the contrary. It's more like "haphazardly brought up, clumsily patched over, and carelessly thrown aside". It's not going to see a resolution, barring Eunha going to therapy.

Too many long-standing threads unresolved, too many threads brought up at the last moment... this can mean nothing but a rushed ending. Let's hope at least that it's a two-hour special or something.

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My personal feeling is that they left it until very late to bring out Eunha's issue to begin with (ep 10) and that now indeed they are doing a patchy job with resolving them.

Maybe at the beginning they weren't planning on exploring the individual stories of all Colorbar members?

Who knows?

I think this drama has its heart in the right place, does a lot of things well (including integrating musical numbers into the story, which 99% of musical dramas are terrible at), but is, particularly in later episodes, somewhat off in terms of narrative pacing and how much time it dedicates to certain issues (not enough depth with some, or a background story that just doesn't push the emotional buttons quite the way it could have).

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I think people need to remember that she is a 16-17 years old girl, Eunha so her issues are not going to end just like that so I don't really understand what everyone's so upset about.
All of them are teenagers, their issues are not going to be resolved in an episode and I personally think it's more realistic this way.
Although I have to say they could have handled in a different way.

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I agree, but that's exactly why I think they should have brought out Eunha's issues much earlier.

Because either now they are going to speed-resolve them or leave them more or less unresolved, which in this teen drama leaves the wrong kind of message (IMO).

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It's not just that her issues are unresolved. I have the impression (and others might or might not agree) that the show wants us to see this as an improvement, when it's not. If it was darker and more cynical that would be one thing.

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First off, with Cymbols reaction to Hyo Rin's rant. I don't think it's because it was directed towards Colorbar members that he looked taken aback (hurt?) but the content. He doesn't strike me as uppercrust like her and her brother. It probably hurt to hear that coming from a "friend."

I'm still just wondering why mom is refusing to talk to Seyi about her conversation she had with the uncle. It would solve everything. I am starting to wonder whether the father did something bad, cheating maybe?

Feel bad for Ahjusshi. He got a raw deal.

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I think Jae Rok was a bit shocked that she had that extreme of a reaction, that's how I interpreted it.
I honestly wanted to slap her, ugh such a stuck up little...

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I think All for One has always taken (or thought they'd taken) the classy (read: snooty) route in looking down on Color Bar. Hyo-rin's reaction, however, was over-the-top and embarrassing, I suspect.

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Great episode. I'm glad that Se-yi finally told Sun-woo how she feels about Seol-chan. I'm glad a lot of things are coming into the open, and some things are being resolved. I love this show so much.

But I'm a bit confused. How exactly did Sun-woo and Seol-chan stop being friends? That part was confusing. How did Seol-chan find out, or did he always know? Did he tell Sun-woo, who told his mom, who told Seol-chan's mom? Is that what happened? And even then, why should it matter if he was adopted? Lots of kids are adopted. Lee Soon-shin was adopted!

And what exactly happened to the ahjusshi? How would an underage girl dying in a car accident constitute rape? Was she in the car with him? How does Nawin tie into this? Is he the ahjusshi's son? Those last two parts didn't get answered, did they?

And what the hell is Hyo-rin's problem? The journal Eun-ha took belonged to Eun-ha right? So why is Hyo-rin asking for it back? And spitting was just uncalled for. That's an insult no matter what country you're in. She's a real bitch.

I hope things are resolved nicely in the finale. Or we get a season 2, with the same cast.

Thanks for the recap, Gummimochi!

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Adoption as an issue: I am no expert, but historically family identity and genealogy is really important in Korea. Korea is one of the most homogenous populations in the world. 50 percent of the population has one of five last names, it gets complex, the clan histories that go back to at least the 6th century, off the top of my head. Don't quote me on that lol. There were/are rules/laws about people marrying with the same last name. That's why who you marry is given such high scrutiny. Also, there could be the perception adopted=orphan="beggar"=social stigma. Not saying it's right, but it happens.

Also see comment 3.2.

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When you put it that way, it kinda makes sense. If someone were to marry someone with the same last name, there could be a good chance their related, right? But sometimes that happens. In England, cousins used to marry cousins. Like in Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy was engaged to his cousin, Anne de Bourgh. They were first cousins, and probably would have married if Mr. Darcy hadn't met Elizabeth Bennet. While that's weird, it was what was done at the time.

So in Korea, two people could have the same last name, and if you go back far enough could share an ancestor, but should that really determine if they should or shouldn't get married? I don't think so. And if you think about it, all humans are related to some degree. I have a bit of Native American blood in me (I think it's Cherokee) although I don't look like I do. Native Americans came to America from Asia, so I could have some really, really distant relatives in Asia.

As for the social stigma attached to being adopted, I think it's stupid. Being an orphan doesn't make you a begger. And Seol-chan is not a beggar. I get him not wanting to be a burden, but do his parents see him as one? They wanted him, that's why they adopted him. And he's become an idol, because his parents let him pursue his dreams. I'm sure they're proud of him. Indeed, his mother seems to really love him. He's the one who's pushing her away.

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I assumed he felt bad about being a burden on his adoptive mother since he was abandoned by his bio mom.

Hyo-rin's thing ... I'm not sure, but my guess is she's hoping to humiliate someone, likely Se-yi. But wouldn't that backfire on SC-oppa's reputation? Maybe it's an "if I can't have him no one can" type of deal. But yeah, not clear.

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Even though I understand that this is a musical drama, this is the first episode where the constant musical breaks annoyed me. I didn't need a song to explain every one of their feelings. I skipped a lot of the musical interludes.

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Please cast Sungha Jung in season 2! ;)

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ohhh, that'd be awesome!

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Nana! Rock it, girl!

I feel like I know the least about our OTP Se-yi and Seol chan.

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Can I just say how much I love the crushes KD and DN have on Nana? It's so absolutely adorable. Especially since they are trying to one up each other in catering to her. It's so cute I love it.

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I actually would have liked a potential romance between either of those two with Nana, as IMO, SW doesn't really deserve her love, plus I like both KD and DN a lot :).

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They can't!

If one gets the girl, and the other doesn't... wouldn't that be a risk to their still fragile, newly reformed friendship?

As much as it would be nice to see either one matched up with Nana. I mean, just imagine Kyu-dong, the kid that everyone bullied with that one girl that no one even dared to say hello to?

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I'd love to see Kyu-dong with Nana although I doubt that will happen. I hope they at least get to sing a duet. Kyu-dong's voice is really under used in Color Bar.

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True! With SW STILL moping after SY, he doesn't deserve her.

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Thanks for the recap.
I like it a lot during earlier episodes but the pace start to slow down too much, especially this episode. There are still a lot of issues to be addressed and we only have 1 last episode.

I was hoping that more time is given to addressed SW&SC fall out but after SC's confession, I think that is it. That broken friendship is present in every episode so at least they should give it more time.

I know Eun Ha was crushed about SC& SY but now she is acting so snarky towards SC, it kinda irked me a bit. I'm okay-ish with her changing affection to Arnold, cause let face it, fangirl heart is so damn fickle anyway but no need to act like that.

I hope that with SY rejection and Nana's word, SW will finally wake up to present day.. And they should just wrap up this triangle love in earlier episode. Feels like everything centered around it and we had less and less time giving the other Color Bar members time to shine. Loving how Nana try to tell SW about her feeling but girl, he is still living in the past, so it is not your fault he didn't see you. And I no longer ship NN&SW.

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Nana is the show. The mains are annoying. Would be great to see KD + Nana dance together.

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i have stop watch this drama
only read on db recaps

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I still like the show, and I'm anticipating the last episode. I'm interested to see how they're gonna finish it off. Too bad for Nana though with the whole Seon Woo thing.

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Gummi:
Thanks for the recap. Before I do any analysis -- I noticed you had both Se Yi and Joon Hee LEERING at someone. To leer at someone means to stare at them in a sexual manner -- or at least size them up sexually. I think the word that would be more appropriate would be glare, unless those two characters really are leering at their targets but I don't think so, at least not in that context.

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Duly noted! I'll make that change. :) Thanks!

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That explains it, then. I was looking at the scene repeatedly trying to figure out who was leering at who, and it never seemed to happen.

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I agree with most of the people here. This drama has become like a chore for me. I honestly only watch for the few Nana moments, because she and KD and DN are honestly the only reasons I am tuning in every week. The love triangle got old 2 episodes ago and I am just hoping SW can get over SY and maybe pay more attention to Nana. But who am I kidding? I guess I'll just have to settle with SC and the indecisive SY.

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I agree, this episode was sloooow, And I didn't mind all that much, but it did drag in a couple of places, even if we finally have the answers to some things we should have had at least 2 episodes ago. (and a couple of unexpected things, as well - that scene with Joon-hee and Se-yi had a crazy amount of chemistry, even if it was of the angry kind)

I love Kyu-dong and D-nam's continuing crush on Nana, too. And I've not always liked Sun-woo, but that look on his face at the end.....OUCH.

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can i just say .. i took me more than a minute to collect my jaw on the floor when Sun Woo went out of the fitting room with that black shirt on that Nana made him to try.. that chest augghhhh

ahh,. it took a smack on my forehead from my boyfriend i mean .. lol i was watching the episode last with him .. he's a fan of Nana btw ..

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It just dawned on me yesterday where I saw the actor who played Sun Woo before -- and he shows lots of muscles in that show too -- To The Beautiful You -- as the athletic challenger to the male lead.

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now that you told me that i think i'd now have another reason to fish out scenes from that show.. i wanna see Ji-won and now Kang Ha Nuel with those muscles..

ottojke .. i really cant watch the leads in there

or should i just wait for heirs and wish that he'd also show those muscles there..??

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Can anyone tell me the title of the song produced by ahjussi because i've heard it several times but cannot put my fingers on the details of it and it has been driving me nuts. I know i should probably check the comments here but I'm sneaking up at work and I don't really have the time. Appreciate your kind help :)

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Which ahjussi? You mean Se-yi's father? And are you talking about the one that he composed for Se-yi?

If so, it's Snooze (I Will Be Your Love) (선잠 (나 그대의 사랑이 되리)). It's on the Monstar OST Part 4.

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requiem, is the monstar ost out? can it be purchased ? thanks in advance :)

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I have no clue.

I've just been following on the w-addicts.com page when I was figuring out what music was what and what was unavailable on the OST.

You can also easily view most of the music numbers on youtube as Mnet posts them on their channel, which is where I pulled the music to generate full songs out of.

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Ok thanks requiem :)

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No, no J-Han ahjusshi. The song that was played on the background when SC manager calling his friend to check on the ahjusshi's background and at the same time the ahjusshi was mentoring SC on his guitar lesson. Ahjusshi played the instrumental guitar to the song and if I hear it right, the title is I am Nothing Without You but I can't find it anywhere....

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i love this show...but i think this was the first episode that really dragged on. i'll still watch the finale and while i'm hoping that it will return to its original tone, i sort of doubt that will happen seeing as the show is revealing everything at once. meh.

but still, nana has an awesome voice <3

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I find the show keeping to it's direction and tone very well. I like that the stories are being told as the writer and director must have wanted it to be told. we know that the ending of the story cannot be changed to suit the audience or the ratings coz the drama completed filming some
time back. for me, the drama has been consistent in it's story telling and the music choices and the way it gets woven into the stories in the drama is prob the best thing about it. the song choices, for me, has truly enhanced the emotional content of the show

I am really looking forward to the finale but at the same time will really miss it. at least I can follow
jun hyung via beast :)

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Agree with you about its direction and tone. :)

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so that's why Sunwoo is a bit wary of SC because he's the one at fault on the fall out of their friendship.

I think Se-yi finally confessed to Sunwoo because she's doesn't want to be a burden to SC. She doesn't want to worry him anymore about their relationship and become a burden to him.

thanks for the recap G =)

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I didn't expect for episode 11 to be the this slow. I was preparing for a slight bang till the full bang on Friday. I like how Se-yi made things clear for Sun-woo, but its also heartbreaking because she did it after a good "date". Let me hug you, Sun-woo...

Things that I don't buy:
- Nawin's story. There's already enough back story for ajusshi why insert that person? They could have cast him as another transfer student.

- Eunha's being physically abused. Her being a super fangirl, writes fanfics and bestie are enough for her character to be colorful.

- Seolchan's reason for hating Sun-woo is kinda bland. I don't know what to hope, that there's more so that I can buy why he detest Sunwoo, or nothing more so that reconciliation is easier.

I still like the show though, its just a little disappointing that I waited for a week only to see those things. Music is still superb and what can Nana can't do?

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I won't really write about my evaluation of this episode overall, as I would run the risk of echoing my previous comments and, therefore, becoming repetitive. I just wish that everything wouldn't have been saved for the last episode. It makes the show seem less organic. It's a shame that my initial enthusiasm and love for this show have faded. Maybe Eunha is right about the fickleness of love! Lol! Although, I think my dwindling affections have genuine merit :)

I think that the most interesting parts of this episode were the verbal confrontation between All-for-One and Colorbar (and seriously, is Hyorin insane?) and Joonhee's interaction with Seyi. I did pay attention to Jaerok's facial expressions as Hyorin was going off hysterically. Cymbals Boys seems like the member of All-for-One who is merely tolerated without being fully integrated into the group. He is not exceptionally talented. He is like someone who has to do all the grunt work and the member who must 'babysit' the leader's sister. I've always thought that there was more to him but I doubt that an exploration of his character will be feasible with only one episode left (unless, like almost everything else, his issue is discussed in the eleventh hour!).

Regarding Joonhee's interaction with Seyi...I think that it is more than a suggestion that he may have feelings for Seyi. It's almost like he is seeking validation in asking Seyi to say his name. He is someone who is so used to being praised (so much so that such praise is taken for granted by him) that it is inconceivable that he would be considered as nothing by someone. He was seriously disturbed that Seyi would call him nothing more than "School President," that she would almost deny (or ignore) his person-hood, his individuality. What else can I say about this? I'm probably not articulating my thoughts as clearly as I would like to.

These two scenes were what really stood out to me. For the most part, this episode felt like a waste of both time and plot advancement.

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Thank you gummimochi for the recap of this episode.

As with the previous episode I feel as if this episode left much to be desired. This being said, there were two moments that truly stood out in my mind: 1. The School President's interaction with Seyi and 2. Jaerock's apparent lobotomy (or at least that is what I've been led to conclude. I mean, how else can one explain his behavior?).

The SP's behavior is strange at best. Throughout the show the viewers weren't given any indication that he showed the least bit of interest in Seyi. Now it appears as if he has a crush on her? Or have I misinterpreted his anger at Seyi's refusal to acknowledge him or even recall his name?

Lastly, Jaerock's discomfort with Hyorin's mad ravings. I mean, I kept expecting him to join in or at least give us his trademark sneer. Has Jaerock been replaced with a changeling?

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I keep opening this show up intending to skip through it, but the characters are so fun to watch I wind up following it. I agree that we should have grim forbodings about the last episode--there were enough plotlines going here to keep a normal kdrama going for fifty episodes.

Whatever else happens, Da Hee is going to find work again after this series. She has awesome skills and a convincing delivery. The other actors have done well, but with fewer surprises highlighted.

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I agree with most of the comments here. ( I was nodding for both sets of arguments about Eun Ha) Yes the ending is rushed. But I don't care cos I've become too attached to the characters and will keep watching for them. At this point there are exactly two things that bug me though,
1) Seon Woo. His detached air is practically making me go bonkers. And I hate it when he plays the pity card. (Hye-Rim)
2) Se Yi. I hate it when she is playing ignorant that it gets on my nerves. ( I adore badass Se Yi though...)

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need more than 1 episode!

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Thinking about Hyorin's bizarre temper tantrum, I think we have missed yet another plotline that will not be addressed: she is obviously a time-traveling princess from the Joseon era. I mean, how would any human born in the developed world in the last half-century react like that to being TOUCHED by a fellow student.

A sequel, possibly: "Rooftop Princess's Man"

. . . And, given the way she acted towards Seol Chan, don't forget the possibility of Hyorin being a Joseon era immortal undead leading to the sequel "Vampire High School Idol."

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I'm looking for the female version of "Scattered Days" Park Hyo-shin I found this piece on youtube this is the direction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImGYegD3LaI
I need to know who sings it please really appreciate Thanks

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Sort of feel cheated. We all knew Seol Chan was adopted. Still, don't feel his relationship with this mum is fully explored! But glad that we can move on from the love triangle. Nana has a chance now?? =D

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hi? as to nana playing bass.. do you know the title ? the rocknroll like music.. ooh so dying to hear that music in my phone's playlist.. Bmb.. :(

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hi? as to nana playing bass guitar .. do you know the title ? the rocknroll like music.. ooh so dying to hear that music in my phone's playlist.. Bmb.. :(

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Argh how did this show not make it to the second lead syndrome list? 2nd lead is hot, rich, musically-talented, has empathy, stands up to his so-called friends, hangs out and helps the underdog, is crazy smart, has compassion on cancer kids and volunteers at the hospital, is class president, has huge love for family - sister and mom -, and harbours twin taumas of having a beloved sister die, and losing a beloved friend...

SeYi is a fool!

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