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Cinderella and the Four Knights: Episode 4

Ha-won certainly has her work cut out for her with her first mission – who knew it’d be so hard to get boys to eat food? Luckily, Ha-won has never been one to let a little adversity stop her, though she’s starting to realize that there’s more going on than just sibling rivalry. The bigger issue is, how do you turn strangers into relatives when they’ve never known what it is to be a family?

 
EPISODE 4 RECAP

Ha-won makes a grab for her school outfit and finds herself in Hyun-min’s arms. Holding her close, Hyun-min murmurs that she’s becoming more and more interesting, and slowly leans in for a knee-melting kiss. AHHH!

The camera fades as the two smooch… and Hyun-min wakes up making kissy faces at the ceiling. HAH, that was all Hyun-min’s dream?! To make matters worse, he finds Ha-won standing over his bed, telling him to rise and shine.

Ha-won invites Hyun-min to eat breakfast, but he answers that he doesn’t eat meals at home. When she persists, he tries to pull her into bed for some cuddles (yes please!), but she flings off his arm and commands him to come eat, emphasizing her “Hurry it up!” with firm finger point.

Hyun-min falls back into bed and remembers last night, when he went in for that kiss. (Oh, so that did happen.) Except in reality, he got maybe an inch away before Ha-won kneed his shin pretty hard and scampered out.

At her workstation, Hye-ji recalls last night as well, when Ji-woon had gotten up close and personal outside Sky House. From her point of view, all she saw was Ji-woon and not Hyun-min with Ha-won. Hye-ji had asked Ji-woon if he would answer her question instead of Hyun-min, and Ji-woon had agreed, pulling her away.

Ji-woon also thinks about seeing his cousin and Ha-won last night while working off his frustration on a treadmill. Not sure if the shirt stripping was necessary, but it’s definitely appreciated…

Ha-won looks for Ji-woon, remembering that her first assignment from Grandpa Kang is to get the cousins to eat a meal together. Bemoaning that it’s harder to find these boys than it is to get them to eat together, Ha-won searches the grounds, eventually making her way to the indoor pool.

As Ha-won pokes around, Ji-woon suddenly pops up from the water. Ignoring his trademark “Get lost,” Ha-won asks Ji-woon to come out and eat together. Ji-woon nonchalantly answers that he’s not wearing a swimsuit right now, so does she still want him to get out? Rawr!

His question has the intended effect, and Ha-won flees. Ji-woon (who is in fact wearing a suit) climbs out to dry off, except Ha-won comes back, hiding her face behind a pool paddle and clutching Ji-woon’s phone. She’s written on the paddle, “If you want your phone back, come and eat!”

Still thinking Ji-woon’s naked, Ha-won holds his phone over the water to prevent him from coming closer. Shouting for him to come eat, she runs out, leaving behind an exasperated Ji-woon.

Tracking down the third cousin, Ha-won finds Seo-woo in his personal recording studio, and sweetly flails her arms to get his attention. She invites him to eat with her and he seems open to the idea.

Ha-won charms the housekeeper into letting her help make breakfast and sits down at a table set for four, waiting for the Kang cousins. Hyun-min joins her first and uses the opportunity to try for some hand-holding which, of course, gets shot down.

Seo-woo arrives next, asking why Ha-won invited him when she knew Hyun-min would be here – a sentiment Hyun-min agrees with. Ha-won says she wanted everyone to eat together, since they are family after all. Ji-woon, entering the room last, interrupts her, “Who are you calling family?”

Ji-woon demands his phone back, but Ha-won answers that she’ll give it back after they eat, not understanding why everyone is refusing to share a meal. She asks what’s so tough about a family eating together.

Ji-woon agrees that sure, eating with family is nice. However, the only thing the three of them have in common is their address. Other than that, they might as well be strangers.

Hyun-min leaves saying he’ll do anything she asks, but draws the line here: It’s no fun eating when it’s not just the two of them. Seo-woo also departs, advising her not to worry about it too much, since none of them are that close.

Ha-won is left with Ji-woon, who holds out his hand for his phone. Fed up, Ha-won asks how he can value a phone more than his family. In response, Ji-woon wraps an arm around her and pulls her in suuuper close. Ha-won stares up at him, but Ji-woon just grabs his phone out of her hand, telling her not to mess around. He walks off, and a baffled Ha-won plops down in her seat, wondering why this is so difficult.

Bodyguard Lee reports Ha-won’s progress (or rather lack of progress) to Grandpa Kang. Grandpa merely laughs, saying she’s getting quite an introduction to Sky House. Lee worries that the one week deadline is asking too much of Ha-won, but Grandpa Kang has faith in her, curious as to how she’s going to accomplish her mission.

Ha-won visits her barista friend, seeking advice about how to get the cousins to share a meal. Ha-won’s friend informs her that her mission might as well be mission impossible, since it’s well known that the Kang cousins have never gotten along. She encourages Ha-won though, saying that the boys are no match for her indomitable will power.

Getting down to business, Ha-won writes out her plan to get the boys to eat together, starting with Step One: catch them off guard. Heh, this leads to Ha-won literally springing a game of dibi dibi dip (Korean version of rock paper scissors) on Hyun-min. She wins, and requests that they eat together.

Ha-won plays another game with Seo-woo and wins as well, but when she tries a similar tactic with Ji-woon, he just blows straight past her with yet another “Get lost.” I’m starting to think there’s a drinking game in here somewhere.

Sadly, in spite of her wins, no one shows up for dinner. Bodyguard Lee remarks that her plan was unsuccessful, but Ha-won is undeterred, deciding that she’ll just have to move on to Step Two.

Cut to a makeshift dinner table set out in front of the cousin’s doors. Ha-won did her homework, finding out each of the cousin’s favorite foods and setting them up where she can waft the smell towards their rooms.

Sure enough, boys will be boys, and it doesn’t take long for all three to follow their noses out into the hall. Stomachs growling, they stare plaintively at the smorgasbord of food as Ha-won innocently asks if they want some. Hee, Bodyguard Lee is stuffing his face while the cousins watch. That is just mean.

After a few longing stares, both Seo-woo and Hyun-min are able to turn away with great difficulty, though Hyun-min does whack Bodyguard Lee as he munches on his favorite lamb chops. Ji-woon is left transfixed by the food and unable to stop himself from walking over to the table.

Ha-won eagerly prepares a lettuce wrap for Ji-woon and almost gets it into his mouth, but he comes to his senses at the last moment and mutters a weak “Get lost,” before sadly turning away.

Ha-won laments her failure with the housekeeper, at a loss for how to get the boys to eat together. The housekeeper shares her knowledge of the cousins’ history, revealing that Hyun-min’s father passed away early and his mother was out all the time, so Grandpa Kang sent Hyun-min to study abroad when he was just ten years old. She muses that he grew up eating alone, so he probably finds it uncomfortable to eat with others.

The woman also notes that the artistic Seo-woo is constantly concerned about his celebrity image, so he doesn’t eat very much, worried that he’ll get bloated. Intrigued, Ha-won asks about Ji-woon, but the housekeeper says she doesn’t know much since Ji-woon only started living here a year ago. She points out that the boys have a lot of material wealth, but they’re still quite pitiful.

Ha-won goes in search of Ji-woon, slipping into his secret garage. She accidentally knocks his box of mementos and Ji-woon arrives to find her straightening it. Grabbing the box away, he again tells her to “Get lost.” Ha-won asks if he’s so upset that she moved into Sky House, and Ji-woon responds that it was her choice to move here, but she should stay away from him.

Ha-won wonders if that was a threat, saying that kind of thing doesn’t work on her — and since she’s determined do her job, she won’t leave him alone. Ji-woon snaps at her to play at making a family somewhere else.

Ha-won: “Have you ever once considered this place your home? Have you ever once considered accepting the people living here as your family? All you care about are you own feelings, so you don’t care if you end up hurting other people, right? You won’t get a family just by staying in this dark place by yourself.”

Her words seem to hit their mark, and she leaves after thanking him for retrieving her fallen bouquet from the river the other day.

Ha-won finds Hyun-min playing a “game,” which is actually a complicated looking math formula. He imperiously asks if she thought all there was to him was chasing girls, to which she replies yes, she sure did. Heh.

Ha-won finds a Rubik’s Cube and challenges him that if she completes it in under two minutes, Hyun-min will grant her a wish. She fails, and when she complains, Hyun-min snatches it from her and completes it in 8 seconds flat. Wow.

Elsewhere on the grounds, Ji-woon mulls over Ha-won words, thinking back on the multiple times he’d said hurtful things to her, only worrying about his own problems. His brooding is interrupted by a call from Hye-ji, and he leaves to go meet her.

Ha-won’s stepmom and stepsister are moping at home, wracking their brains over how Ha-won could have gotten herself invited into the coveted Sky House. Stepmom suggests that she’s probably just there as a dishwasher or something, but Stepsister whines that a simple dishwasher wouldn’t get invited to work by the Chairman himself.

Hyun-min is out at lunch with this week’s girlfriend, but he can’t enjoy himself as all the girl’s mannerisms start to annoy him. Clearly thinking about Ha-won, he tells his date to eat her food with more gusto and asks if she can throw a punch.

Bored by the girl’s answers, he breaks up with her and leaves to call Ha-won out to play. He entices her by saying he knows how to get his cousins to eat a meal together.

Determined to find out what’s going on, Stepsister heads over to Sky House (wearing a… disguise?), just in time to see Hyun-min arrive and pick up Ha-won in his fancy sports car.

Hyun-min takes Ha-won out to a clothes store so she can dress up pretty. Ha-won asks if all rich guys like pretending that they’re in Pretty Woman. Pfft. He assures her that looking nice will help, and she reluctantly heads into the dressing room to start Plan Three: make their hearts race.

We get a pretty montage of Ha-won trying on different outfits with Hyun-min judging her selections. She finally finds a dress that he approves of, and when her stomach growls, he grabs her hand to take her for food, promising to tell her how to convince his cousins to eat together.

After they leave the store, Stepsister, who had been following them, “sneaks” up to the saleswoman and asks for the same dress that Hyun-min just bought Ha-won. Her jaw drops to see that it cost over $5,000.

Ji-woon arrives at Hye-ji’s workshop and smiles tenderly to see that she’s fallen asleep at her desk. He drapes his jacket over her and flashes back to when he’d first moved to Sky House. He’d been hiding on the grounds, head in his arms when someone draped a jacket over him. Ji-woon had raised his head in time to see Hye-ji’s retreating figure.

In the present, Hye-ji wakes up to find Ji-woon standing guard while she slept. She asks him to answer her question about Hyun-min now, but he cajoles her into getting food first, promising to tell her after.

Ji-woon takes Hye-ji out to an expensive restaurant, the two of them bantering comfortably over who will pay. Hye-ji comments that she’s glad Ji-woon is her friend and not her oppa, so she can talk to him comfortably. Ouch, friend zoning at its finest.

Looks like the cousins at least share a similar taste in restaurants, because Hyun-min arrives with Ha-won in tow, having picked this spot as well. Hyun-min immediately wants to leave, but Ha-won encourages him to stay, wanting the two couples to get along.

Cue the most awkward dinner ever as the four sit around the table in silence. Hye-ji tries to make small talk with Ha-won, but Hyun-min turns everything she says into a rub against Hye-ji, reinforcing that Ha-won is his fiancée, and making Hye-ji out to be the jealous ex.

Dinner arrives, and when Ha-won reaches across the table, her arm gets too close to an open skillet where meat is grilling. Hyun-min pushes her hand away from the heat, but in the process knocks over her glass, spilling the orange drink all over her dress.

Ha-won laments over the expensive clothes, and Hyun-min argues back that he can just buy her more, much more concerned that she didn’t hurt herself. Awww. His obvious care for her is apparent to the others, and Hye-ji clenches her fist in pain/anger, something that Ji-woon notices.

Ha-won excuses herself to the restroom where she tries in vain to clean her dress. She’s interrupted by Ji-woon who let’s himself into the ladies restroom, asking her if it makes her so happy to have Hyun-min buy things for her.

Ha-won sighs, asking if he’s starting with that again. Ji-woon says that he can do that for her too, calling her pathetic if this was her only purpose in coming to Sky House. Ha-won just smiles, saying that she doesn’t have such shallow objectives. This gives Ji-woon pause, and he admits that maybe he did underestimate her, appreciating her honesty.

Ha-won agrees, asserting that she has much higher goals: She’s going to turn the three cousins into a family.

Ji-woon take issue with the word “family,” warning her against using it again. Undaunted, Ha-won insists that she’ll make them a fam—…

Ji-woon interrupts her mid-sentence, pushing her up against the bathroom wall and leaning close. Oh damn, that was hot.

Inches from her face, Ji-woon tells Ha-won that there’s only so much of her messing around that he can take, then walks off, his bad boy coat flapping behind him. After he leaves, Ha-won remembers to breathe and moans that this is the part-time job from hell.

Walking down the hall, Ji-woon recalls the first time Grandpa Kang had brought him to Sky House. He’d told him to sever all ties with his old life, saying that Ji-woon will just become someone for his friends to mooch off. Ji-woon refused to cut off his family, but Grandpa told him that this is his family now; Han Ji-woon is dead.

Still in the flashback, Ji-woon had left Grandpa’s office and overheard Hyun-min and his mother discussing the arrival of the new cousin (Ji-woon). Hyun-min’s mother had warned that even if Grandpa brought that kid in, it doesn’t make him family, telling Hyun-min to protect his place as heir. Hyun-min had answered that he has no family, and added that Ji-woon wouldn’t even last a day in this world. Well, that’s just sad for both of you.

Back in the present, Hye-ji and Hyun-min are alone at the table. Hye-ji finally gets a chance to ask Hyun-min her question, wanting to know if he was the one who brought Ha-won into Sky House. Hyun-min affirms it, saying of course he would bring his own fiancée to live with him, and that Ha-won is different from all the other girls. Unable to take anymore, Hye-ji leaves the table.

Hyun-min is not unaffected by her exit, but he puts his mask back on when Ji-woon returns to the table. Demanding to know what Hyun-min said to Hye-ji, Ji-woon accuses him of being an expert at causing her pain. Hyun-min fires back that Ji-woon is an expert in healing that pain. Touché.

Ji-woon notes that Hyun-min seems to still think of Hye-ji as his woman, but Hyun-min states that he never has. When Ji-woon asks if he sincerely means that, Hyun-min just sighs that he doesn’t care for sincerity; once you start caring about something, you obsess over it, so why would he do that to himself?

Ji-woon sees Ha-won returning from the bathroom and asks Hyun-min if he really doesn’t care about anything. Hyun-min retorts that it just takes the fun out of life.

Having left the restaurant, Ji-woon searches for Hye-ji, who is currently walking listlessly across a street, ignoring the Don’t Walk signal. Ji-woon finds her just in time to see a truck of doom bearing down on her. Running into the street, Ji-woon whips her out of the way just in time.

Safe on the sidewalk, Ji-woon yells at Hye-ji that if she keeps going on like this, then the only one who’ll be hurt is her. Hye-ji responds that she doesn’t want much, she just wants that girl gone from Hyun-min’s side. Ugh.

Ha-won and Hyun-min leave the restaurant, and Ha-won asks if Hyun-min truly does like Hye-ji, guessing that he probably took Ha-won to the wedding because of Hye-ji, not Grandpa Kang. Hyun-min deflects with a little flirting, and Ha-won drops the subject.

Hyun-min drives Ha-won to a house, telling her that it’s hers. He says that she has no chance of succeeding and she can live here when she inevitably gets kicked out of Sky House. Ha-won takes offense to the fact that he’s already decided her fate, but Hyun-min answers that since he’s going to date her soon, he has a right to be involved in her life. I’m sure that logic works somewhere in the world.

They exit the car and Hyun-min gushes about what a great provider he is, putting his arm around Ha-won. Rolling her eyes, she twists his arm back and pushes him up against the car. As Hyun-min winces, Ha-won reminds him that she has no intention of dating him, and warns him against pulling anther stunt like this. She gets back in the car and Hyun-min whines that nothing seems to work with this girl.

Back at the house, Ha-won is at her wit’s end as to how to get the boys to eat together. As a last ditch attempt, she sends out a group message for them to meet her in the courtyard in an hour, saying this will be her last attempt to get them to share a meal. In response, the boys all leave the chatroom one by one.

Taking a break from composing, Seo-woo sees a drying line outside Ha-won’s room. It looks like she’s hung up all her belongings that fell into the water a few days ago. Curious, Seo-woo snoops a bit and, looking at a drying calendar page, realizes that today is her birthday.

Bodyguard Lee finds Seo-woo riffling through some cupboards looking for party supplies. Seo-woo shares his discovery and Lee’s face falls when he admits that he didn’t know about Ha-won’s birthday either.

Ji-woon does some more brooding, thinking about the times that Hyun-min told him he would never be a threat in the family, and Hye-ji’s wish that Ha-won would leave Hyun-min’s side.

Coming to a decision, Ji-woon finds Hyun-min in the kitchen as he’s getting a drink out of the fridge. Symbolically taking the drink out of Hyun-min’s hand and saying that he wants it, Ji-woon continues snatching Hyun-min’s beverages until Hyun-min confronts him.

Ji-woon asks if Hyun-min is sure that he doesn’t care about anything, inviting his cousin to come to the courtyard if he wants to see something interesting.

Seo-woo and Bodyguard Lee finish setting up a spread on the table in the courtyard. Seo-woo is about to text his cousins to come join when he sees Ha-won coming. The two quickly cover the table with a sheet and skedaddle.

Ha-won enters and pauses when she sees the sheet. As she looks at it, someone comes up behind her and wraps her in a half back hug. Ha-won snaps at Hyun-min, reminding him not to touch her, but then she turns and realizes it’s not Hyun-min with his arm around her, but Ji-woon.

Ji-woon asks softly why she belongs to Kang Hyun-min of all people. Ha-won is frozen in shock, and Ji-woon turns her around to see Hyun-min staring at the two of them.

Hyun-min forces a smile and inquires whatever the heck Ji-woon is doing. Ji-woon answers that he’s going to try and steal his fiancée. This finally gets a reaction out of Hyun-min, who angrily grabs Ji-woon by his shirt, yanking him away from Ha-won.

Ha-won pushes the two boys apart, yelling at them to stop. Ji-woon and Hyun-min square off, and Ha-won stares at both of them while fireworks go off in the background.

 
COMMENTS

Well, the gauntlet has been thrown. No more circling around each other, Ji-woon has issued his challenge: protect your stuff or I’m going to steal it. Granted, this pretty much makes Ha-won the prize in a battle of wills, which is not cool, but I can appreciate the different take on the stereotypical “two guys fighting over a girl” routine. So many times it’s the two guys who fall for the girl and become enemies that I kind of like the switch that this time, it’s two enemies who will use the girl as an excuse to fight. They needed something to finally spark their confrontation and Ha-won is the perfect trophy. If you can get over the objectification, it’s rather clever plot-wise.

Unfortunately, this scenario really does not bode well for Ha-won, as she’s essentially just become the shiny toy in Ji-woon and Hyun-min’s game of tug-of-war. Combine that with Grandpa’s “no dating” commandment and these boys’ determination to include her in their love lives spells nothing but trouble. Not to mention the hurt she’ll feel if she does fall for one of them when they’re just using her to stick it to each other. On the bright side, I think there are some serious feelings already starting to emerge for both cousins towards Ha-won. Clearly Hyun-min is already wavering since he’s now dreaming about smoochin’ her, and for all Ji-woon’s “get lost” lines, her words have gotten some very emotional reactions out of him (both good and bad). I think it’s definitely interesting that while Hye-ji was already there between the cousins, it was Ha-won’s arrival that finally pushed their rivalry into the open.

I know that everyone has really disliked Hye-ji for the first few episodes, but I have to say I didn’t have a problem with her… until now. Before today’s episode, I saw her as being a bit clingy to Hyun-min, but I wasn’t ready to condemn her without more backstory since there was obviously quite some history there. I could easily imagine a scenario where Hye-ji wasn’t pursuing Hyun-min just for her own benefit, but also to keep reminding Hyun-min of who he used to be. However, that possibility flew out the window when Hye-ji said that her one wish was for Ha-won to leave Hyun-min’s side. That was not being supportive, that was pure jealousy without considering Ha-won’s feelings, or even Hyun-min’s. She’s drifting over into the typical “If I can’t have him, no one can” territory. Right now, Hye-ji is ranking just above Stepmom and Stepsis, but she certainly has the potential to become worse than both of them if she keeps going down the selfish obsession path.

I really enjoyed this episode’s focus on food and how it ties in with the most basic of family moments: sharing a meal. Eating with family is a warm and safe feeling, something that we grow up with, which forms the basis for a lot of childhood memories. Personally, I know the toughest waves of homesickness in my life have arisen from missing my mom’s cooking, or a smell that brought back memories of the kitchen. Watching this episode, it really hit me that these guys don’t have any of it, and that must feel so lonely. Especially Hyun-min, who grew up eating alone and now isn’t even comfortable sharing a meal with others. It reminded me a lot of Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and how everyone kept saying that Chi-soo had no smell, because he didn’t have experience with a home cooked meal. I think Grandpa Kang made a great call in assigning this as Ha-won’s first mission, since eating together is the perfect base point to start a family. I just hope that Ha-won has a few more tricks up her sleeve besides rock-paper-scissors. I’m open to any suggestions that involve more Hyun-min kisses, Ji-woon stripping, and invasion of personal space…

 
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Jiwoon seems like coming from another drama. The only time he is in the drama was when he stares at the food longingly. I'm so fed up with all 'get lost' coming from him. Does he only knows that word or what?

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At least when Joo Joong Won said "kojo" in Master's Sun, he looked funny. Ji Woon appears progressively more a*holy with every instance of him saying it.

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Oh yes! Joo Joong Won said that with the best combinations of facial expression and hand movement. Now I miss him.

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Ha-won should've slapped him when she tried to play cham, cham, cham.

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Hear, hear!

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I agree

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Lmao

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To be fair I would be quite anoyed with her too, if she was doing that to me. The thing is that his grandfather is an a** who wants someone to creat his "family" instead of doing it himself. If he spent some time with them instead of using them like dolls, they would have become a family.

As for the main girl, so far she is doing superficial things to make them a "family". Instead of thinking them as some spoiled brats who don't care about family, she could have started knowing the guys and especially the problems they have with each other. However, that is not happening. She called selfcentered but at the moment that is exacly what she does.

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it's normal for them to be annoyed because of hawon, since she is a stranger suddenly coming home playing family. But jiwoon knows part of her circumstance and he keeps telling her to get lost whatever the occasion is, part of his ignorance. Well, she should've trying to know kang brothers first before telling them to eat together but he also shouldnt judge her that way.

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If he says 'Get Lost' one more time this week, I'll go full on W and reach through the screen and hit over the head with a pan.

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I really do not care about Jung Il-woo but we should not forget that he is playing an orphan that no even finished high school, so a wide vocabulary and good communication (verbal and non-verbal) skills are not exactly part of character profile (have you seen MTV's current reality shows? arghhh). Besides that, I assume that character knows that his lack of sophistication is more notorious against the other two , so he is pushed to a more lacking behavior. (my apologies for errors, english is not my native language).

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Can't believe I'm shipping Ahn Jae-hyun's Hyun-min character to Cinderella. Second lead syndrome goes to Bodyguard Lee.

I get that it may be the writing of Ji-woon's character that's mostly wrong, but a little bit of why I dislike the character is because of Jung Il-woo. I like him better with Hye-ji.

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Yes to both ships. lol. Although I want the secretary for myself. Lol!

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Kang Hyun-Min, you had me at dibi-dibi-dibi-dip.

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Hahahaha! That was totally unexpected. XD

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Yoyo, I've noticed your comments in W also, thanks for always making me laugh out loud!

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Aw. You made me blush! ?

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Hyun Min should be endgame.

And I'm determined to post that for every episode recap of C4. lol.

Now that's out of the way, how good does that kiss look? O.O Darn it, why did it have to happen in Hyun Min's dream? Man, his flirty overtures toward Ha Won never fails to crack me up.

Also, dang it, Ji Woon is even less likable after this episode. At least Hyun Min already likes her, and he's downplaying how much because of his rep. Ji Woon's intentions were malicious. Because of the spare girl. #-o

I hope this will become another Dream High 2. I totally thought Kang Sora would end up with Jin Woon because of the posters. lol.

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And I will agree with you for every recap!

I stopped watching after the first two episodes, but that was enough for me to fall in love with Ahn Jae-hyun's character. I've never seen him in anything before, but he is great here. (And I'm a Jung Il-woo fan!)

I agree that Ji-woon is even less likable in this episode. How dare he, seriously. And he has a lot of faith in his own attractiveness, if he thinks his attentions are all it takes for Ha-won to leave Hyun-min's side.

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I'm torn between suggesting that you see his previous projects so you could see how his acting has improved by leaps and bounds and dissuading you from doing so because of the possible bias the projects could induce against AJH. lol.

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tbh, i dont ship hyun min and ha won in the crazy invested way like i do for some other ships, i came into this drama hoping to ship ha won and ji woon but damn even im just like director/writer what are you doing, no wonder people are shipping ha won with hyun mi

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Hyun Min said what he thinks to Ha Won, make himself easier to understand but still difficult to compromise while Jiwon want to be mysterious for the sake of aaaangst....

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I officially hate the second female lead. Arrrrggggg.

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truck of doom completely failed it's mission to ram hye-ji in episode 3. #repeat

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LOL I'm picturing this huge, bad ass truck with decaled jagged teeth and evil squinting decaled eyes playing Flight of the Valkyries as it barrels its way toward the clueless, whiny, annoying characters. That image will get me through the rest of this week with a smile. Thank you.

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it's very weird timing, the road is empty and she just walks with sadness...
she did resemble many 1st lead candy type of heroine, I hope she stayed as 2 nd lead, and I hope she didn't get in with hyun min, that ill wish shouldn't become reality

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Dear Truck of Doom,

You can still redeem yourself. There are 10 more episodes left; Please complete your mission before then. The sooner the better.

Regards,
Yoyo

P.S.

We are still amazed by your impeccable timing. #fighting

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Bloodthirsty, Yoyo. XD

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OMG! You have officially made me LOL in real life. #TruckOfDoomFighting

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I officially dislike Hye Ji's character too, that a bratty thing to say ....

Does that make Ji Woon a noble idiot? For the sake of his crush he is going after a girl he has no feelings for (not yet anyway).

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No, he's just an idiot with dead hair.

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And dead eyes. He's so soulless, especially at the dinner of favorites attempt.

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I completely agree with CandidClown. I had no problem with Hye-ji until this episode. I was SO hopeful that a friendship would blossom between her and Ha-Won. How awesome would have that been! They would have been able to complete Ha-Won's "missions", the guys would have to get over themselves and grow as people as the women got things done, Ha-Won and Hye-ji end up being the ones who actually inherit everything...ahh dreams.

Somewhat okay with watching the episodes this weekend, not sure if I'm staying in the audience after that.

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I am with you on this. At first I pitied her but with this episode, it's over. I didn't understand why I was so bothered but when Hyun-min talked about obsession, it was clear. What's up with her obsession over him? I can understand that she loves him and yes we don't know what happened between them but sister if the man says no and doesn't give a damn about you, move on !

As a girl, it makes me mad to see her turning black and acting like Hyun-min is hers. It also makes me mad that there are people to act like it's normal when Hyun-min is clearly being a jerk and doesn't want to deal with her. Yeah, I am looking at you Ji-woon; if you like the girl, no if you are really her friend, you should slap her out of this...

I am sorry I got a little carried away here :P

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soooo agree with you !
i really hate the way Hye-ji uses Ji-woon to appropriate Hyun-min, and im sorry for Ji-woon bcz of his crush on her. I HOPE HYUN-MIN AND HYE-JI NEVER EVER END UP TOGETHER

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Yeah she uses him but Ji-woon also goes crazy at the end of this episode. Is he seriously going to try to seduce Ha-won to get her away from Hyun-min just to please the lady who has a one-sided obsession? That just blows my mind ! Is it the only way they found to get him closer to Ha-won ? This is just so wrong and takes away all my sympathies that were left... I am so on Hyun-min ship or Secretary Lee haha That's the first time I am so against a main couple !

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I totally agree with you the obsession is kinda freaking me out i hope they end up together and not with Ha-won and Hyun-min but seriously doubt that the show will go on that way

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There's definitely some psycho hidden inside those hamster cheeks

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I just let out an evil laugh at that comment. Hahaha.

Hamster Cheeks. Bwahahaha. So fitting.

It's bad enough that she can't act, but hamster cheeks? I will never take this actress seriously.

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Best comment.
Made my feking day.

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That food scene, Ji-woon's face made me lol....i could imagine how hungry he was but for the sake of his pride he could only utter his trade mark "Get Lost".

The Secretary eating made me feel hungry...i just love that guy...
Hyun Min, your imagination was sooooo Hyun Min like....

I think i feel the same way Candidclown feels towards Hye Ji cos before now i just saw her as a kid with probably an unrequitted crush but now naaaahhhh she's like an overgrown kid acting out just because you couldn't get sth that wasn't fully yours in the first place.

Now i'm waiting for genuine jealousy hijinks to begin erupting from both Hyun min and Ji-woon

Thanks a lot for the recap Candidclown

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Btw, is the Sky House really a house that humans live or is it a museum? I remember seeing it in another drama but couldn't recall the name of the drama.

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Looks like the house in Blade Man.

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the house in can you hear my heart
I think it was a bar called south bar or somethinh

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it's a clubhouse. south cape owners club.

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I watched the scene of Bodyguard Lee eating more than once. In slow motion.

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Someone gif this, please.

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Yes, please.

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Can we also one where ha-won sticks her tongue out when she was by the pool searching for ji-woon, the guy with dead hair.

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Haha! Now that you mentioned "Ji-woon, the guy with the dead hair", I imagine him as Groot. "I am Groot!" kk

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Groot is cute and adorable. Ji-woon needs a trip to the salon.

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That explains it. Too much chlorine.

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I already apologize for the wall-of-text. I don't even know what's wrong with me.

Ha Won is my favorite character, but Hyun Min is, by far, the most interesting character for me in this drama. Part of it is because Hyun Min may legitimately be the only well-written character in the drama, but I’m honestly surprised by how genuinely impressed I am by Ahn Jae Hyun in this. I fast-forwarded my way through Blood and then left it somewhere around the halfway mark. I can well imagine him as the puppy character (ala YFAS), and also, for some reason, as the male equivalent of the high school mean girl because he just has that kind of face, but it was clear that he wasn't particularly good at the tsundere role, and couldn’t, for instance, have played Jung Il Woo’s character. (Not that Jung Il Woo is doing a great job of playing Jung Il Woo’s character but, well.)

But, in my opinion, he is almost incredibly charming in this role. He has the kind of micro-expressions in creating his flirtatious vibe that I’ve only ever associated with Hyun Bin and Yoo Yeon Seok, both of whom are also exceptional at it— a sort of half-amused, knowing reaction, like they know what their reception is going to be. He’s clearly ridiculous, totally impressed by himself, always waiting to be appreciated and trying to act cool, definitely a part of a ‘type’, and good at it. Yet, that’s not the best thing about the character for me. What I really love is that the role is an oft-repeated, archetype, so I’ve build up certain expectations of it, and every time they’re upended, it makes me take note. I feel like he’d almost too easy to fit into the ridiculous-and-full-of-himself-but-oh-so-adorkable slot, and yet, the drama goes on to undercut that narrative several times.

Hyun Min is essentially unreadable. Even knowing a lot about him, and seeing that he doesn’t particularly try hard to hide himself, is rather flamboyant, has the most public lifestyle, his motivations are unknown. It’s difficult to tell how he feels in a particular moment. Which makes him unpredictable. What I find fascinating about Hyun Min is that instead of the over-the-top, full-of-himself, but essentially harmless, amusing player-type, he seems more ennui-laden. He apparently eats alone and feels awkward eating with people, his idea of playing is actually solving puzzles alone. He has that particular characteristic that so attracted me to Cindy in The Producers; he’s lonely, and he doesn’t even know it.

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His sole motivation, if any, actually seems to be to set stages and invoke reactions. He’s the heir apparent, so to speak, but he’s still the one who acts up the most at his grandfather’s wedding— and yet, it never seems like that’s because he actually feels deeply about it either way (he makes it seem- as he often does- that it’s about him not losing his inheritance, but if that was his real motive, he’d have been more concerned about the fact that his grandfather was still going through with the wedding rather than chasing after Hawon to semi-apologize for his stunt), but just because it’s something to do. It’s amusing, he’s always bored. He seems to constantly try and touch Ha Won, not because he’s interested in her (yet), but because he seems to like reactions, whomever they may come from. And in the same vein, he likes playing the hero, has his moments of “did you see how cool I was??” but he also doesn’t seem to make too much of an effort to keep up his image (he didn’t care about his public humiliation at the wedding, which you’d imagine would be important to someone trying to maintain an image), and yet invokes it whenever he needs to—in his break-ups, with his friends, with Hawon, a kind of lazy “everyone already knows what I’m like, so why don’t we take this scenario to its logical conclusion.”

But one of the most telling character moments for me was during his quiz-solving, rubik's cube scene. It was fairly clear that that was something Ha Won would be- and was- genuinely impressed by, unlike his attempts at showing off his wealth or looks, and he knew it. But it’s something that he was dismissive about almost immediately. “You thought I was only interested in women, right. Look at you underestimating people,” could just as easily be a statement for the audience because obviously, it wasn’t just Hawon, but everyone watching who’d be surprised. Yet he doesn’t follow through, he doesn’t use it- in the way he uses his money and looks- to try and win favour with her. He’s amused that she’s baffled, but doesn’t make it a weapon to get her interested in him, to intrigue her, as he well could. And though he mocked Ha Won for her stereotyping of him, in that itself he showcased that he prefers sticking to type, and doesn’t want to let anyone in beyond the surface. Which is why while we’ve known Ji Woon’s back-story since ages, Hyun Min’s- with his father’s death, with his mother and years spent abroad- was revealed almost casually, in the same off-hand manner that he himself would have. The one time things get deeper than the surface, with Hawon asking about Hye Ji, he (nicely) tells her to mind her own business and then deflects by hitting on her.

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What I also find interesting is that his level of emotional detachment is extremely high. One of the characteristics of the bumbling playboy archetypes is often a ridiculous attachment to ridiculous things, their cars for instance. But he hasn’t shown any real material attachments or any attachments at all. He sends off his cars with ex-girlfriends with just a long-suffering “another one gone.” His detachment stretches to the extent that he’s almost cold, he doesn’t seem to know how to show any kind of genuine emotion; he kisses Hye Ji knowing how she feels about him (which is actually sort-of cruel, and there’s nothing else about his characterization that yet suggests he has a deliberately cruel streak), he stands and watches as Ha Won collects her belongings from the stream as the other boys rush to help in their own way. He’s known her the longest but he’s the only one who knows nothing of her family situation, never wondered why she’s in their house unlike Seo Woo who guessed she’s been kicked out and Ji Woon who thinks it’s probably for money and knows at least that someone important to her is dead. Hyun Min only tried a half-hearted “so you fell for me right,” as to her reason and was far more interested in keeping up the fiancé façade than situational explanations. The only time we’ve seen him show any genuine emotion has been with Ji Woon and Hye Ji. Is he jealous of Ji Woon re: Hye Ji? Ji Woon clearly thinks so, but Hyun Min never actively does anything to “keep” Hye Ji’s interest, he doesn’t seem to do much of anything in any situation if he can’t use money or the threat of money unlike Seo Woo who helps openly, or Ji Woon who does it covertly. And yet it never seems like it’s entirely because he’s spoiled, but as if he’s almost socially challenged. As if, for all his playboy antics, normal social interactions and niceties and emotions are completely foreign to him.

On the other hand, despite this emotional lack, his interest in Ha Won is clearly increasing, not just in that she amuses him, and challenges him, and rejects him, but in that he doesn’t understand her, she’s unpredidctable and he likes puzzles. He constantly wants to know where she is, he wants to talk to her and text her and hang out with her (it’s amusing how much he’s always angling for ‘dates’ even though that is fairly unnecessary since they live together and he already gets to see her quite a lot.) With her, he has this curious mixture of sincerity and insincerity, where, oddly enough, he can make the most insincere lines sound sincere.

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This is something I’m completely intrigued by, because I don’t know if this is a deliberate directorial choice or it’s Ahn Jae Hyun playing it a certain way. There’s one scene in particular- one of my favorites, I’ve rewatched it multiple times- when Hawon and Hyun Min are in his car and he says that he’s figured out that one thing that money can’t buy, and at Hawon’s “what” says “your smile”. In writing, that’s a cheesy pick up line, but the execution of the scene doesn’t match that reading. It’s almost bizarre how utterly sincere, almost sad that particular exchange looks. How I’d ordinarily imagine that scene to go is the ‘player’ male lead deliberately saying that line in a way where, either it flusters the female lead if she’s the kind to get flustered even though she knows it’s a line, or alternatively in a way where everyone knows it’s not meant to be taken seriously, and it’s deliberately cringe-inducing and ridiculous, and the female lead rolls her eyes or laughs and lets it go.

But in that particular scene, Hyun Min’s expression comes across as strangely resigned. He’s not using a pick-up line, he’s stating a fact. And, in a weird, inexplicable way, it’s sad because if he can’t use money to get it, he can’t have it at all, because he hasn’t ever known any other way of getting anything he wants. Her reaction too is understated, she doesn’t roll her eyes or ignore him, like she’d been doing at his self-aggrandizing behaviour (“I was so cool, right?” “you totally fell for me, right?”), she just lets out a small sound of disbelief, and follows it up with “that’s none of your business,” an odd response again (though it makes sense that making her smile is none of his business, but it’s not a response you see as naturally following.) After a mostly comedic sequence of Hyun Min being impressed by himself and Hawon equally unimpressed, the entire exchange just changes tonality, and is extremely low-key and quiet. This happens in multiple scenes with them. And yet they’ve never really been vulnerable with each other yet (unlike Seo Woo who read through her texts and passbook or Ji Woon who saw her at the funeral house and so know more about her than she’s told them). It’s an interesting progression to vulnerability.

Damn, I didn’t mean to write a thesis on him when I started, but here we are, alas. Maybe I just read way too much into it, and Hyun Min really is as shallow as he seems, but he’s definitely still the character I’m most invested in narrative-wise, and I’m honestly hoping they keep the characterization this stable, and this unexpected.

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Love your point of view regarding Hyun Min. My shipping him and Ha Won is all because of the pretty and the fact that Hyun Min's character is the most interesting among the three Kang cousins, but you managed to crystallize why perfectly.

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Daebak! A full essay on Hyun Min... I think I'll continue watching this show just because of his character. Definitely rooting for him to get the girl but he is the second lead and I know it will just be futile. But really, I can watch him flirt with Hawon all day and never get bored.

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Zoe! you did an entire thesis on HM. Amazing !!!!

Honestly, i love so so many of your points. HM truly is the most interesting character - he is the ultimate playboy but doesn't have a mean streak and like you said, he is so so lonely.

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I love everything you wrote, Zoe! Thanks!

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@ Zoe

Your analysis is fascinating.

A lot more fascinating than the drama is, honestly.

Thanks for your insight.

I just watch this drama because it's one more show on Fridays and Saturdays. Not particularly intrigued by the directing and what I see as lapses in editing (cue in slow mo and cat walks). But your comments is causing me to take a deeper look.

I still can't stand the way JIW portrays his role. It's still too cardboard to me. But AJH's and the actor playing the butler performances are layered and textured and keep the show interesting.

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@Zoe, I thoroughly enjoyed your Hyun-Min thesis. Can you post one for every episode?? A lot of us are totally invested in Hyun Min so I really enjoyed reading your post/s.

I have to say that your observations are spot on. I talked about this a bit in my blog (onigirilove.com) about how Hyun Min was actually just operating as per his playboy image but not his real real self (that he shows with Hye Ji... or maybe Ji Woo). But you said it so well with the insincerity/sincerity dichotomy.

And that truly is why I love their interactions. Glossy on the surface but there is still something there that's weirdly real and mystifying. I felt that too about their car convo.

I'm going to hate being led to the Ji-Woo + Ha Won pairing. Dammit. Commenter above should have God tongue as she said Hyun Min should be end game.

Looking forward to your future posts Zoe!

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Wow, Zoe, that was an awesome analysis of Hyun-min!! Just had to applaud you. I really have nothing to add to the conversation. Hyun-min is my favorite character so far, and surprisingly he's the main reason I'm sticking with this show.

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Dear Zoe,

May all the single guys in the world read your thesis so they can all wake up and be the ideal men for all single ladies.

Love,
Yoyo

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i agree with you, i to am impressed my AJH acting here, it has improved,though he still has a long way to go in the dramatic/emotional acting area, the romance area and the micro expression for me personally (compared against some of my fav like ji sing, matsumoto jun etc and the what if hyun min was played this person)but i'll give him here credit is due, its fun watching him. i think hyun min off the wall characters benefits him a lot but im not sure how he will be in other roles in the future when the character isnt so off the wall. however i do agree with you character analysis and it feels like he is lead material character then ji woon, i feel like they dropped the ball on ji woons characterization and made him to extremely somber,mean and no fun. hyun min's characterization is exactly what you want to follow and do the romance arc with cause its just so much more fun to watch it unfold. im glad AJH is getting love though

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ooh what an observation...
thank you for the time to write this,
I hope you have a nice day and a nice weekend...seriously it's very well written observation about hyun min and make me like him even more

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@Zoe,

Shall I say, you're thesis is a great read!! I thoroughly enjoyed them, and thank you for the great insight!!

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this has be one of the best character writes up i have ever seen. your analysis is so nuanced just like hyun min. full points across the board!

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Wow, I just have to reply to this. Thank you Zoe for such fantastic read into Hyunmin. I thoroughly enjoy AJH's performance here and have been re-watching Hyunmin's cuts again and again since last week without feeling bored at all. I could not put a finger onto why but reading your post really helps explain the intrigue. I truly enjoyed it! Thanks and hope to read more of your takes.

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@Erratic: Haha, same. I'm fairly sure I would have loved them just for the pretty, even if AJH's character did not intrigue me. But I think we all feel reassured in our assessment of Hyun Min because I think (mostly) none of us are such huge AJH fans or so impressed by his face that we'd be willing to defend his character above and beyond were he NOT doing a good job with it or it wasn't well-written, heh.

@indie24: I am so sick of second lead syndromes now! I actually get them in pretty much every single drama, but it's always worse when I'm live-watching because regardless of how much I don't want there to be, there's always the niggling hope that maybe this time it might actually work out, even when, logically, I know a 101% that it won't, ugh. And it's even worse when the 2nd lead is so impossibly charismatic in his role.

@bips99: I've realized I have a huge soft spot for characters who don't even realize they're lonely. We always have loner characters who are either alone because they want to be (most surly drama male leads) or shunned and outcasts (most drama female leads) and their loneliness is emphasized and you can tell they know they feel it, like Ji Woon reflecting on Hawon's words about family. But with characters like Cindy and Hyun Min, they're so surrounded by people and so convinced they have it all, that they're okay, that all social interactions are their choice and they don't need friends, that it's almost sad watching them.

@Dol: Thanks so much, I had a moment of questioning my life choices, hehe.

@Adal: Haha, the drama by itself is pretty clichéd and low key, I'm pretty much only watching because it's kind of cute, but in the same drama, my investment in Hyun Min and Hawon- together and separately- is pretty high, which just sort of increases my watching-investment by a lot. Although, ngl, it is probably going to fall heavily once the OTP romance starts. It's not that I dislike them or Ji Woon, but I don't care about them either way, and if theirs becomes the lead story, I’m going to lose most of my interest. Ji Woon’s character is pretty typical, but the problem is that it also has no layers. Hyun Min is a typical character too in many ways, but the characterization is interestingly nuanced and AJH is doing a great job of portraying that. Hawon doesn’t seem particularly nuanced, but Park Sodam’s portrayal is so natural, that it elevates the character. Ji Woon is let down by both the script and actor currently, which is sad.

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@Maru: LOL, I wish I could! I was embarrassed about even this wall of text xD Although I do hope that the show maintains this characterization, so that it makes me want to analyse it, I would absolutely be down for that. And I completely agree with you re: Hyun Min using his player image to live an easy life where he doesn’t have to be anything more than a cardboard cut-out. Which makes the level of sincerity between Hawon and Hyun Min even more intriguing. What I like is that usually the so-called player character falls for the girl who sees beyond his surface, that’s a pretty common trope— but Hawon, as yet, does NOT see beyond Hyun Min’s surface. She TOO takes him at face-value and sees him exactly as the image he presents of himself. But because of that, his interest in her is an interest in her as she is, not an interest in her as a medium to a deeper understanding of himself (unlike, say, Ji Woon, whose growing interest in her is obviously set to be a result of the fact that she’s making him “realize” things about himself.) I like it when the female lead is an individual in her own right and not a means of realizations for the male lead.

@Mal: Same here! I had no intentions of watching this show at all and only started it because I was through with everything else I’d been watching and then got ridiculously hooked because of Hawon, Hyun Min and their dynamic!

@Yoyo: Hahaha. Although I do think that the single men of the world following this advice aren’t going to have as spectacular a result as Hyun Min does, unless they also somehow have that face xD I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t have been invested enough in Hyun Min to rewatch his scenes multiple times if I didn’t also find him very attractive lol.

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@bila: I think you’re absolutely right, in that Hyun Min is a rare combination of good writing and a good portrayal (for instance Hawon is average writing and a good portrayal, while Ji Woon is average writing and an average portrayal), so I’m not entirely sure that Ahn Jae Hyun is going to be able to replicate this character and its success again, unless he improved by a lot and becomes extremely versatile. There are some actors so good at playing a particular character that it’s almost a shame that they can’t play that character in every drama lol. The problem is Ji Woon is partly bad writing though, it’s even possible for a tsundre character to be extremely charismatic, and right now he’s not. I’m sure that’ll change eventually, but I’m going to find it v. hard to get invested in his character now even if that happens.

@Sancheezy: Thank you, and I hope you have a great weekend too! And that Cinderella is good this weekend’s episodes hehe.

@4drama: Haha, I’m surprised that anyone even bothered reading this, I felt embarrassed taking up so much space, but thank you!

@Ellie: I am currently (clearly) in love with Hyun Min so I am deeply :DDD at your choice of comparison, lol, thank you!!

@Ct: It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like rewatching any scenes in any drama, so I’m totally surprised that that drama for me is Cinderella! But I too have gone back and rewatched so many of Hyunmin’s scenes and each time they’re equally pleasing and make me feel like my investment is not just me reading way too much into his scenes or anything, but something that the narrative is actively creating. Thank you!

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Beautiful analysis Zoe. I enjoyed reading this a lot. I hope the writer/director has actually given so much depth to the character like you have.

I started watching this drama only for Park so dam. I love her too much i guess or i really dont think i would continue watching this.

Her character sketch started out so cool but as the drama progresses its getting disappointing. She was such badass in the first episode. Taking no shit from any of the boys and now suddenly with ji won shes a coy loser just coz he's the main lead. Hyun min treats her way better than ji won even with his playboy flirting image.

Now if i continue it's all for hyun min, he deserves much better than everything so far that this drama is leading to. I would be feeling sad im sure because he's not going to be treated as well as i expect coz he's the second lead.

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@zoe - stumbled on here because just confused by how intriguing I was finding Hyun Min's character versus other romantic leads in this drama and so relieved to see others reacting same way. Great fun to read your write up

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Hyun Min is clearly an INTP. There are layers behind that cool exterior. Im shipping him and Hye Ji! I love Jung Il Woo but yes his character here doesnt do anything for me. Hes too predictable and I think hes being a hypocrite for not wanting the money but not being able to love on his own without it.

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At this point, I wouldn't wish for anyone to be paired up with Hye Ji. Even Jin Woon, who has been disagreeable for the most part in these last four episodes. -.-'

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At this point I think Hye jin can do better than Ji woon who is nothing but surly to everyone other than herself.

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That's a really interesting observation, I didn't think of it that way, but I think you're right. Which is intriguing because that is definitely not the personality-type he'd be classified under, were we only to go by his personality on the surface.

I find him and Hye Ji interesting, I want to know more of their back-story, because he's clearly affected by her, but I don't know to what extent. They have a fraught relationship, but it didn't seem to me at all like he bought Hawon to the wedding because he wanted to affect Hye Ji (as Hawon suggested), or that he's ever tried to actively engage her emotions in his romantic liaisons, so I don't know yet if the narrative supports that view.

I have a particular dislike for characters that judge other people for wanting money- even when they're working for it (as male leads often do in dramas). Like there's nothing wrong with wanting to make money, even if the job is strange, like this one.

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I'm terribly curious about that incident that both he and Hye Ji were tiptoeing about, the one that seemed to cleave Hyun Min into "before" and "after."

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I'm thinking Hye Ji is someone that Hyun min cares about, she is from his before time. When he became the heir he basically became a new person. I'm fairly certain he got a similar speech from his mom about Hye ji that he got about his cousins. that could also be why he dates the way he does. Since most likely his marriage will be company based why worry about feelings. He probably does everything he does as a way to make Hye ji leave him alone since they can't have a future together.

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I seem to have an impression that an actual incident happened.

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Agree! and he's gonna fight for Hawon because he regretted not fighting for Hyeji. That's also a reason why Hyeji can't easily let go of Hyunmin because she knows he loved her.

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I'm guessing something happened that hurt Hye Ji. She most likely got hurt through something that wasn't actually Hyun Min's fault but seemed like it was at the time (ala their grandfather separating Ji Woon from his friends and possibly Hawon from her dad) and Hyun Min realized that it would continue to happen were he to have feelings for her and actively tried to end it. Ji Woon, ofc, probably 100% had the misunderstanding that whatever happened was Hyun Min's fault and tried to console Hye Ji, which pissed Hyun Min off, but it's not like he could do anything about it since he was the one pretending he'd ended things and he probably also thought that Ji Woon was better for her anyway and thus the passive-aggressive "you're an expert at hurting her"/"you're an expert at consoling her" exchange. And what's more, it probably happened on the day she covered Ji Woon with her jacket in the rain.

Just a speculation lmao, I hope the show is more innovative and this isn't the actual back-story.

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Hyun-min is ❤️? ....

as long as he doesn't fall for Hye-ji ?

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I feel like he already may be in love with Hye Ji /sigh. I just hope we don't get too much drama with them and that it's still mostly Hawon/Hyun Min interactions!!

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Thank you for this wall of text. This is just the amount of stuff I want to read about Ahn Jae-hyun's character. In fact, keep it coming!

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Hahaha, I'm genuinely surprised people actually read through all that! I've never yet written meta about a fandom favorite character like Hyun Min, usually I only get this analytical about characters that I love whom everyone hates, or when opinion is very divided, or about something good that I feel is overlooked.

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Yesssssssss, Hyunmin is a secret chaebol geeeeeenius. Plus a backhug and an almost truck of doom. At this rate my kdrama Bingo card will be blacked out by episode 7. Does the pool scene count as a shower scene?

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LOL

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So far, we've got following crossed out from the trope list:

- birth secret
- chaebols
- truck of doom
- contracts
- candy girl
- love triangle, er, square for this show?
- love trap plot: food, makeover, contract
- family issues

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and the tracksuit! Thou shalt not forget to cross off the tracksuit from thy trope checklist! And the One Restaurant to rule them all. And oh, the fact that a non-guest (aka evil stepsis) was able to sneak in the Mighty Sky House without being caught!

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also check off

- cohabitation
- scheming step mother (two)
- second lead girl with fixation that borders on psychotic

At least the makeovers had her commenting more or less "do you rich guys all want to act out Pretty Woman?"

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Also, check off a character using a bright coloured scarf and shades to be a disguise. Lol.
They always have a bright coloured scarf and shades and look So Darn Obvious while trying to be hidden.

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and the stoic douche bag male lead!

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Unfortunately, the pool scene does not count as a shower scene because of the absence of the actual shower. *kdrama bingo rule book*

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You can cross out, attempted makeover from a chaebol. (Attempted because, why opt for old lady dresses?? PPL or not, the choices weren't far off from the dreaded tracksuit.)

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Come to think of it, I believe the write is attempting to string all the typical k-drama troupes in one drama must be paying respects to the classics ....

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I just wish none of the boys end up with Hye-ji. I tried to like her when she helps Ha-won, but her jealousy just.. ughh. Idk but I think better actress could make Hye-ji a 'lil bit more endearing. So far I can't relate to Hye-ji at all. That's why I'm glad that her screen time so far isn't that much.

No matter how much I shipped Ha-won with Hyun-min, I'm still afraid that Hyun-min is toying her just because she's different. I see no chemistry between him and Hye-ji but the writer could take the route that Hyun-min will end up with her. Poor him hahaha.

I'll give Jung Ilwoo more times and chances. Waiting for Ji-woon to warm up his feelings for Ha-woon. Be happy, Ha-won aah :'D

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Jin soon is a difficult character for me, I understand his motivations. He feels like an outsider in that house and in the family. the only person who showed him kindness was Hye Ji, so naturally he latched onto her. Even though he clearly likes her ( and she totally uses that ) he also wants her to be happy , even if its with Hyun min. Which I think speak volumes about his character. He does not like Hyun min but he is willing to help Hye ji with her love to be with a guy he dislikes just to make her happy. Clearly he is not a bad guy. He is just very loyal to the people he cares about and right now that person is Hye Ji. Ji woon didn't treat Ha won badly when he first met her, he only started acting like a jerk when she "dated" hyun min which hurt Hye Ji. He actually felt sorry for her during the urn scene. He obviously didn't like the idea of Hawon dating someone for money , since it one is wrong but two it meant nothing to her but caused Hye Ji pain. Once he gets attached to Ha won I think he will prove to be just as loyal to her.

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Dammit, I was hoping the kiss in the beginning was real... But a kiss this early would never be possible in kdramaland!

I'm loving the bodyguard as well, though. Him stuffing his face in front of the cousins had me laughing so hard. With the rivalry going on between Ji Woon and Hyun Min I'd be down for her going all "Screw you rich guys, I'm going for the bodyguard!"

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Impressive character analysis of Kang Hyun Min @Zoe. Like you and surely most of us here, I could not agree with you more of how you spot-on you have analyzed Kang Hyun Min's character and not to mention how well he is being played by Ahn Jae Hyun. He really brought his A game to this drama.

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Ep 4:

- still don't like Ji woon... I starts to wonder if I'd be able to like him at all??!!
- Hyun Min.... My heart goes to you.. (Sigh). Writer-nim, are you bloody sure he is the second lead???
- seo woo and bodyguard Lee... Love them!
- Hye Ji - this ep officially sealed my hate to her. Why are you so obssesed, stalker girl???
- Ha Won... Good lucK!!

Anw I love Cinderella, this drama is like a sweet guilty pleasure. You know it is unrealistic and cheesy, but you can't get enough of it. Cinderella, hwaiting!!

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No one likes Jiwoon! His hair disliked him so much, they all died.

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Why doesn't HW do her martial arts moves on JW ? He keeps getting in her face and she just gets flustered and ramble - what are you doing? If HM had tried it, he would be face down on the floor with a broken arm

I guess part of it is that we can't have the heroine smacking the hero every episode and partly to show romantic tension b/w the OTP but i don't see any basis for this tension. Yet.

This irritates me. She becomes one of those helpless candy. I prefer her more brazen and gangster like :)

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I think she is still trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and does not want to get too feisty until she figures that out. She is in an awkward position - supposed to be riding herds on a bunch of misfits, but those same misfits are used to getting their way by tossing money around and being jerks. I think that so far she has not figured out just how hard to push back.

At least that is my taker on it - if she does end up the typical Candy Girl, I will be very disappointed.

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I noticed that too. The only thing I can make of it is she probably likes him and gets caught off guard by him.

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I think she is soften up because she knew they aren't a threat to her physically,
they don't realy seems want to hurt her, just a threat here and there, no follow up, words is enough,
like the last scene, she didn't instantly react after guessing it's hyun min who hugs her (she used to it).

or maybe the writer want to play the badass and charming prince with the weaker cinderella only for ji won and ha won which clearly not a good idea for me too, she needs to be fearlesa against ji won too

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I think it's just cause he's not flirting with her. So she literally has to ask him what he's doing so she knows how to react. XD

Hopefully she will start hitting him now that he is trying to "steal" her. Otherwise I will be very disappointed.

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Anyone feeling Atashinchi no Danshi vibes? With a definite k-drama twist, but the missions really make me feel like I'm watching Atashinchi no Danshi again, in a good way :)

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yes, i totally do, i actually just finished it and boy did it remind me of C4K almost to the point where i was like, "did the novel writer borrow way too many ideas from atashinchi no danshi? cause there is a lot of similarities. although so far i prefer atashinchi to C4K, also note how Atashinchi has a bad boy character along with all these other good looking dudes but the drama does a great job of showing so much chemistry between them and making you root for them. i was hoping ji woon would be like sho, i think that would be better

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Me, too! This show kind of gives me Atashinchi no Danshi vibes.

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definitely,
it also seems like this drama follow Jdrama style but can't really showed it properly,

the lead (assumed ji won) who is short with words and hurt deeply inside from a mysterious incident, love someone who didn't loves him

second lead (assumed hyun min) who is an easy going in the outside, have many girl but also has issued regarding past love, family etc. But still didn't break him down.

We see more of the unsupportive / uninterested male lead from Jdrama than Kdrama, especially the highschool trope until the OTP had to have the interaction (fighting for her).
Also the intrigued 2nd lead who is amused by her but yet not in love with her,

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It makes me think of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. A few reversals of missions and such. That's why I was hoping Hye Ji would be like Takenaga's want to be girlfriend Noi and help out with the boys. But nope.

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Inspite of there being 4 knights in this drama I'm most impressed by park so dam. She is so cute !!! I keep admiring her face !!! Especially with this haircut. She's the first person whom I've seen that rocks this haircut so well.

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She rocks the short hair so well. And that last screencap of her is adorable.

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She is pretty adorable all the way around - one of my favorite actresses.

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she is super cute and I really like her tone, it seems normaly cute...

and I like that she is adding the diversity of female lead,

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Best second lead ever. That is all.

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Hear Hear ??
The chemistry BTW Hyunmin and Hawon Is so awesome. You can see the fireworks from your screen. I can feel my heart breaking already.
Hyunmin-nie, if Hawon can't see you for the great guy you are(apart from his playboyish ways), I'm here honey. ❤❤

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Does anyone not wonder where all the uneaten food go?

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Same place all that food and drink in all the last 400 dramas with uneaten food goes - into the W universe.

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Yes, but Yeonjoo is not allowed to eat it.

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She lives off ramyun and kimchi. Poor thing.

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At least it's ramyun that Kang Chul cooked for her.

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I wonder of Hye Ji is a missing Kang......if im not mistaken, the dad seems to be looking for a "Kang" who used to teach in a martial arts school. That will be weird.

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Don't you mean Ha Won?

Argh. Imagine that angst.

Automatic winner of the shipping lottery: the secretary dude who smiles adorably and cooks like a dream. Woohoo!

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and eat adorably....

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I can see that Ji Woon's character is being written as a closed off, hardened guy who lost his friends a year ago due to his sudden change of status to chaebol heir. He's dealing with losses, refusing to adapt/accept his new status AND being friend-zoned by his crush. I suppose this would turn anyone's heart to stone. With Ha Won, it looks like what initially is a plan to separate Ha Won and Hyun Min in an attempt to give Hye Ji a chance with Hyun Min, may turn into Ji Woon falling for Ha Won. I, for one, would like to see how Ha Won is going to melt this iceberg and how the hero is going to deny his feelings.

Hyun Min on the other hand is going to get a rude awakening at losing his girl to Ji Woon although at this point, it looks like he's more amused with Ha Won who is the first woman to reject him. The unfinished business with Hye Ji is also on the table, so there's lots to deal with.

Even if Ha Won ends up with Hyun Min, it's OK. Win-win all round? Here's hoping this week will show our guys' soft, gooey insides and kick it up a notch.

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Regardless of whether Ji-woon is endgame, I want to see him fall for Ha-won first and work really, really hard to win her over since he's been pretty crappy to her. It'd be funny if he becomes completely smitten with her but she ends up with Mr Bodyguard.

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I demand to see good hair before he ends up with ha-won. His hair died and someone should do something about it.

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Maybe a bird of doom shat on his hair and killed it, so he is in need of a hair transplant. But Grandpa would not allow it until Ji-woon behaves like a member of the family, so Ji-woon has been sulky ever since.

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I tell you, it's the unwashed chlorine.

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Here lies Ji-woon's hair ...

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Heol! Hair transplant being held hostage ???

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tbh I also think that your scenario will applied here but ji won has a long way to be likable, ha won maybe a good girl who don't have many resentment but he needs to take a good care to wins her.
He is being weird and he start the "war" with hyun min in a childish way.
maybe I just didn't impress by his "I am above everyone cause I had to leave my identity unwillingly" reason without proving if he is worth the attention or not.
Hyun Min is the smart and social one (yet lonely inside), seo woo is the singer and have a real job, ha won is the nice and hardworker, goal oriented girl but ji won is....

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Too much slo-mo haha!

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Park Bo Dam looks so good with short hair
I think she'll be a good actress for gender bender roles
If she wasn't in Cinderella, I think she would've been a perfect fit for KYJ's role in Moonlight. I adore KYJ though so I'm happy either way

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she also in because it's the first time, I find that drama is good for the friendship message...

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Same here. I really like her hairstyle.

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Ahn Jae-hyun's doing all the cheesy, cringeworthy stuff and yet I find him charming. Meanwhile, I'm doing all the actual cringing at Jung Il-woo. Ji-woon feels more like the second lead and Hyun-min feels more and more like the main character.

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And that's the sad truth because most likely the one everyne likes won't get the girl...can't even remember when was the last time when a second lead was so fun to watch and loved by the majority

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I'll recommend moonlight drawn by clouds, we are all friendly cheering for Park Bo Gum

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That happened with School 2015. Since that was live shooting, i felt that the writers played with the viewers to get ratings.... in this case, chances will be slim for that to happen.

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Ikr, he's so unlikeable! Every single thing he does makes me cringe so hard. I wish Ha-won end up with Hyun-min/Mr. Bodyguard instead.

Lol, I wish.

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Wow, I seem to be having the totally different reaction to these characters from everyone else. To me, Hyun-Min is the usual chaebol jerk, a geeeenius who focuses his energies on being a player. Everyone is giving him a bye because the writing is careful to show that every girl he dates is venal and shallow and therefore "deserves" his horrible treatment...but regardless of whether the girls he dates "deserve" his behavior or not, he's still a privileged jerk with his 'all women are mine' statement. What trials has he had in his life? None that I can see. He's got both parents, tons of money, he's allowed to lead the life he chooses, and he chooses to be the usual jerk instead of using his talents. I don't see much depth from him or much charm in his manipulative behavior.

Ji Woon, on the other hand, is definitely a damaged person with a ton of issues. He's struggling to maintain an identity when his name, his old life, and even his job and friends have been stripped away from him. The family that rejected him from birth is now completely taking over his life, determining what his name is, who he is, and what he will do with his life. The way he clings to Hye Ji, the only person who has been kind to him, while she is obsessed with someone else, is truly pitiful. I see him as lost and floundering and distrustful, and here is yet someone else in his life, Ha Won, pushing him into a role that someone else determined was best for him. I think his anger is justified - I would be seriously annoyed about a perky do-gooder if my life had fallen apart. I am intrigued by his problem: his identity has been stripped away, but he does not want to take on the new identity forced upon him, so he does not know who or what he is. I actually think Jung Il Woo is doing a pretty good job here. When you look in his eyes you see someone with miles of anger and hurt yet underneath it all still a decent human being.

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Mostly off the radar the past couple of episodes is her step family and the chairman's 5th wife. I am expecting her to cause chaos in those areas soon also :P

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Getting Twilight vibes from these drama....Edward n Jake figting for Bella

.that was a hell of a cliffhanger ...and the fireworks exploding in the background nailed it...The tension was sky high..emotions in their 90s rising to 100...

And for the rather happy-go Hyu min to go full Hulk mode on Ji woon for a.. ``Dont touch my woman you lame ass`` I was in giddy all over for that.
...alas! The swords have been drawn.

Last time I was rooting for a character this hard was Taek in REPLY 1988.....I hope/wish/pray that Hyu min get the girl..

Getting major SECRET GARDEN throwbacks from Ha Won`s tracksuits....KIM TRACKSUIT FREAK..haha wont ever forget that nick name.

That kiss** tho it's acting and all i bet AJH had a heck of a time tryna brush it of from his real wifey ...

More a Hyu min Ha won scenes please!! ....

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Favorite part of the episode was when Ha Won came out in a sweater and jeans. Seriously I cheered to myself seeing she does indeed have some normal clothes.

Dear wardrobe department, did UF monopolize all the poor heroine character clothing available these days? Did you have to bargain/borrow the tracksuit?

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Hahaha, I agree with this sentiment so much! I didn't realize how many tracksuits Ha Won was willing to wear.

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I still entertaint by this drama for all the right cheese,
but I also hope Hyun Min can end up with Ha Won, I knew that Hyun Min needs someone who stayed like what Hye Ji kinda showing this past 4 episode but that traits also possess by Ha Won, who also sincerelly showed that the real him ( the rubic and puzzle) can moves her heart than his facade (the swoonworthy playboy).
and hye jin ill wish is one of the unlikeable sentence in my dictionary,
just said you wants him rather than lowkey said that no one can't have hin, he isn't your posession.
wait why hye ji also give me the 1st lead jerk vibe

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I feel like I'm definitely in the minority here ... but Ha-won is really annoying me this episode.

I don't like her "Just force it" attitude towards the mission. Asking nicely in the beginning was cool - she didn't know any better, and she asked them to join for breakfast. Then afterwards... it all feels superficial. Playing games and "granting a wish" to get them to a meal. Isn't she curious as to WHY there is so much animosity? Even after the Ahjumma told her a snippet about each cousin, she didn't do much to learn the root of the problems.

She became this annoying, naive puppy. Which makes totally no sense, considering her own past. She is aware that animosity within family exists, and she is aware that sometimes, it's not something that can be overcome by pure persistence. She got kicked out of her house despite her endurance and efforts. I don't mean to say she should become pessimistic, but she should be more compassionate towards their situation.

Most of us don't like Ji-woon, and I'm sorta on that train, just because his character is so one-dimensional right now. But realistically, his reaction is totally normal. Who wants to have someone (a stranger, no less) up in your face at all times telling you to share a meal with people who rejects your existence.

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Yes, you just described my feelings perfectly! I like Ha-Won, but in this episode I didn't understand her actions all that well and found myself getting super exasperated with her--she seems like an intuitive person, so it didn't make sense that she kept trying to use the same "but you're family!" line as her argument when it clearly wasn't working. And with the double date, I was kind of surprised that she insisted they stay and eat since she seemed aware of Hye-Ji's crush--how she expected that dinner to be anything other than wildly uncomfortable, I will never understand.

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I absolutely adore Ha-won and I think Park So Dam is incredibly natural in this role, but I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the "I'll make you a family, whether you like it or not" narrative. I feel like family is always such a complicated thing, the dynamics so individual, and so deeply emotionally affecting that it's nearly impossible for a stranger to come in and say, "if only you were kinder to each other, spent more time with each other, this would work out."

It also kind of ties into that very prevalent narrative that family is family and thus you have to accept whatever they may do to you, no matter how emotionally/physically taxing. In the scene where Ji Woon confronts her in the bathroom, I was kind of disappointed that she said that her objectives from this job are greater than all its perks (which he seemed to imply were her sole reason for taking it up) because despite the fact that they've never eaten together, [she'll] make them a real family. It just comes across as emotionally dishonest, because- while I don't disagree she'd probably like them to be a family- I just don't believe it's something she's particularly invested in (and there's no reason for her to be) beyond her own situation. Sure, she'd like it if they got along, but I can't imagine she cares too much about it beyond the mission. The narrative seems to be elevating that, which doesn't quite fit right now.

First off, the premise is that the controlling grandfather is kind of forcing the issue when there seems to be a lot of messed up history on all sides so his attempt at making a family is already suspect. Second, she's doing her job, but I feel like the show might be trying to appropriate a high ground re: her desire to make them a real family, which comes across as a little forced. That Hye Ji- as much as I don't care about her either way- might want them to be a real family would be understandable because she's known them since a while, and it's more believable that she'd care about their emotional well-being (not that she does, but it would be more realistic if SHE did), than Ha Won, who has no emotional stake in any of them, and doesn't come from a place of understanding about their issues with each other.

Besides, as you mentioned, being rejected by her own family, she already should know how impossible it is for pieces of paper like marriage certificates to "make" a family. Which renders this exercise even more disingenuous. I would believe it more if she were the one who wanted a real family and was this sort-of trying to create that fantasy existence, but the narrative isn't playing it that way. What I'm hoping is that they undercut this later, that this is just a set-up, but the narrative isn't actually about Ha Won making them a family. The more honest narrative would be the one where, like right now she initially forces the issue, but later realizes she can't, and comes to know more of their history, and...

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...then becomes emotionally invested. For me it's more believable if she's just doing this right now because she can't understand why they don't get along and doesn't particularly care either way apart from the sole purpose of completing her missions, but as she keeps failing, is forced to confront their individual traumas, understand them more, in order to succeed, but then in the process, comes to know them and their loneliness too deeply, and then actually starts wanting them to be a family for their sake, but maybe even starts succeeding, but doesn't force the issue. The actual will has to come from them.

I think this drama has ample time to go in that direction, since we're still at the set-up stage, so, for now, I'm just going to trust it and hope it doesn't disappoint!

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Right on the money! Especially the sentiment that the drama is trying to elevate Ha-won's mission to higher ground. It's not believable.

I'm also hoping the drama will go the way you're describing. I was hoping it would've happened after Ahjumma shed a bit of light regarding the boys... but aside from backing off with Seo-woo, she hasn't done anything to show that she understood that pure force isn't going to work. Her tactics continued to be superficial.

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I think from her perspective, she's trying to get them to give it a thought/chance, because from her perspective, none of them have ever even tried to consider the others as a family. Essentially, none of them have really done each other truly wrong, they've just never let down their walls and let themselves be part of a family because they never knew how to.

I think it's different from Ha Won's experience and is consistent with her character because even though her step-family never treated her like a family, she always saw them as a family and she always tried to be part of the family of her own effort and will, so perhaps to her, that was enough.

I think from Ha Won's characterisation, you can tell that she cherishes the concept of family a lot and I think that's why she is going along with the set up/missions, because she chooses to see the good in people and she believes the brothers are good-natured and wants them to be a family. I can buy into her motivations, even though they are somewhat self-righteous and oblivious.

I feel like this drama is not only going to focus on the love triangles/squares but is aiming to teach us about the concept of family, so I don't mind seeing how they try to bring the boys together, I'm just keen to see some reluctant bromance.

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Yeah, this part bothered me a bit, hope it does not signal a spiral down into candy land " annoying, naive puppy...".

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I think it's part of her learning process. She needs to learn the boundaries set by each of the 3 chaebol brats. To force it upon them is true to her nature of just getting the job the done. She's no push over but she tends to go over-the-top at times, though not intentionally. So there's growth for character and hopefully we get to see the transition soon.

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Same initial plot same first mission than in Atashinchi no Danshi. But it was settled in just one episode. The shorter the better.

I hope this "let's eat together" mission will not last more than 3 episodes. We have still many hurdles to overcome. Next!

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One one hand, a cute show. On another hand, many of the characters are extremely annoying. The "ex that won't let go" trope needs to be retired from the KDrama world. It's extremely pathetic, especially when the ex is a girl that has been badly treated by a guy.

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Thank you for recap!!! This is such a fun/guilty pleasure show. It really reminds me of BoF, especially with its overuse of music - but at least the music is decent (whereas "Almost Paradise" made my ears bleed). I am very impressed with all of the actors, who probably know they're making a corny drama, but are all acting their hearts out - Park So-dam makes such a great candy, and so far, her acting is so unaffected.

In terms of the lovelines, alpha cousins need to bro-hug it out, and Bodyguard Lee and Seo-woo should run off into the sunset with Ha-won. They are too cute. It is possible to have third and fourth lead syndrome?!

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AAALMOOST PAAAAAARAAAADISEEE-- *sparkles everywhere*

Ahem. Yes, I agree that the actors must certainly know how cheezy this drama is - like, a very awkward kind of knowing amongst eachother that they never speak of. All I can do is hope they had heaps of fun behind the scenes... ●▽●

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I mentioned a certain japanese drama before that had a like theme before, Atashinchi no Danshi, but there no doubt now that the idea of this drama came from it, now they entered the contract and more money or get kicked out reward system and I pretty sure in the japanese drama the first task she had was also getting the 'family' to eat together as well. Of course the drama has more than enough of the Korean stable themes to make it stand out on its own.

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Thanks for the recap, CandidClown!

Hahaha... HM already dreaming of smooches!! Can't deny the attraction!! I love how he's so bored with other girls now that HW intrigues him so. He's so full of himself, yet I gotta admit I'm quite impressed with his intelligence. I love the dinner scene when he showed concern for HW's wrist being hurt. In fact, in that moment, they seemed like a real couple.

How awesome is Bodyguard Lee to eat up all that delicious food by helping with HW's Plan B!! SW gets points as well for noticing HW's birthday and wanting to do something special for her. I really like the housekeeper as well.

Urgh!!! HJ!!! Just feel liking cutting her out of the drama because she just irritates me. What right does she have to want HW gone from HM's side?! Even if that was to happen, does she think HM would come running to her in a heartbeat?! Delusional...

Didn't like HW being reduced to a prize at the end scene, but I guess it was inevitable to pit one cousin against another. Looking forward to the next ep!

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With its plot and its characters this show is a big pile of K-drama cliche yet i am hooked on to the show . i really love Park So Dam she is so natural and sweet and she is the reason why i started watching the drama in the first place but now i am hooked on not because of her character which is sweet and all but nothing that we haven't seen before ( this is not park so dam's fault by the way it is because of the way the character is written ) and the minor characters like Bodyguard Lee or the musician cousin who is such a sweetheart are sweet and all but not enough to carry the story because of the cliche story and the annoying male lead. It is Hyun Min that makes this show so interesting for me. He has such good chemistry with Ha-won and he seems more than just a spoiled play boy cliche i hope the show won't ruin him to make Ji-woon more likable . I think Ji-woon and ha won is the end game but i want show to make me wrong and make Hyun Min and Ha won happen.

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Thank you for the recap! I agree with the comments that JW comes across as a malicious person, while the other Knights may be flawed, but overall seem good natured. Stating his intentions to steal HM's fiancée just to check HM's sincerity or for HJ is very low! It's a direct attack and HM may be bad but he, at least as far as we know, has not done anything mean towards JW. He may not accept him but is not purposely trying to hurt JW. I just don't know where JW is going. Is he just playing? Being sincere?! That is why I just can't stand his character and the way JIW is portraying him so haughty! I think I've realized I don't like JIW's nose, it is just too much up in the air in this drama! I just can't believe this is our hero! This may be the first show where I really don't care for the lead. Please show, either do something with JW soon or give us HM as our hero! I'll even accept Mr Bodyguard even though he doesn't do much to me! Anyone but JW! And I really want HJ to end up with JW! They deserve each other, I don't think HJ should be rewarded with HM! Can our voices be heard??? Since it is preproduced can they still somehow edit the end? Ok, I'll try very hard to be patient and wait for JW to win us over... But if he doesn't .. I just don't know...

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I swear the premise of this show is almost as similar to Atashinchi no Danshi. Even the heroine's first mission is the same....

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I noticed that as well.
At this rate our Cinderella will end up being the long lost daughter of the chairman. And we will watch the most ridiculous (and entertaining) attempt of takeover by the secretary.

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May I venture a theory as to why Ji Won might be such a jerk? I think that, in his own dark-and-twisty-Meredith-Grey way, he's trying to protect Hyun Min. There was that line during the "against the wall" scene in episode two that gave me pause. He did say: "Stay away from Hyun Min" and his irritation towards her seems to always flare up whenever she is around Hyun Min. They bickered pleasantly in the convenience store and he was never quite as awful with her when it was just the two of them before she moved in. For all of his "I don't have a family" mindset, I actually do think he considers Hyun Min blood and it bugs Ji Won that somebody might be trying to use him to get money. It would explain why he always brings up money when he sees Ha-Won and why he seems to be helping Hye-Ji gets closer to Hyun-Min, because he KNOWS her feelings for him are genuine (if a little stalker-ish) and even though he would gladly help her move on, the idea of seeing two people he cares about happy together is more important to him than getting the girl to himself.

Though of course, I'm not sure he is at all conscious of all of that and all his good feelings might be so far buried under innumerable layers of asshattery that he can't find them anymore.

Or maybe I just want Jung Il-Woo to be his charming self SO BAD that I'm reading too much into it.

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Bring Cha Chi Soo back and i just might end up liking him.

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Yess Cha Chi Soo was perfection.

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I'm with you on that one. Cha Chi Soo was something else.

I feel like Jung Il-Woo's tragedy is that he's actually a comedic genius and he keeps getting cast in broody roles and I just don't think he's that good at the brooding.

I kinda weirdly love him in this though. Not for any smart dramaturgical reason because there definitely are problems with the writing of his character but I don't know, there's a weight in his performance that I haven't seen from him yet. A maturity, a certain adult aura that I swear, wasn't there before, and he just... I don't know, he seems more like a man? I know he was a man before and he will be a man after, and he definitely hit puberty a while ago but... I feel like something's different.

Though what's more probably happening is that I'm falling in love with the actor and my objectivity took that opportunity to go on vacation. Hopefully it'll be back. Ha!

But the truth is that really, I'm in love with the actor and it's hurting my objectivity.

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I wonder if there is even a slightest chance that Hyun-Min and Ha- won can be the end game ? Please please please show make it happen it seems like most of the audience ( when i say most i mean %80 of it seems to like Hyun-min and his relationship with Ha-won more ) so maybe our vocice will reach them and they will do something about it

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As I previously mentioned, I hope this series ends like Dream High 2 in terms of shipping wars. I thought Kang Sora's character would end up with the dude who appears to headline the series according to the poster. She ended up with the JB dude.

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I knew from before I started watching DH 2 what the endgame was since I saw it very late, but I was one of the few people who found Kang Sora and JB incredibly cute and was so glad they were endgame. Most people seemed to prefer Jiyeon/JB and Sora/Jinwoon.

But that's the worst of pre-produced dramas though, they can't take audience reaction into account, more's the pity. Besides Il Woo is a far bigger star than Jae Hyun so I don't see him NOT being endgame. Maybe in a Japanese drama, but in Korean dramas, all the dramas where second lead-esque characters end up being endgame are those where the first and second leads don't have much of a difference in star power, unlike this one.

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Gotta say, after episode, even though I like the character of Hyun-min, I'm kinda rooting for Bodyguard Lee. He's awesome! I love him, and Seo-woo.

And Hey-ji, ugh! I felt bad for her for the first three episodes, but now! Ugh! I think she's worse than step-mom and step-sister. I hate her.

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Thanks for the recap. I didn't really get the Ji-woon challenge toward the end (and that beverage-snatching symbolism) when I watched this episode, but that's what DB recaps are for. :)

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She should've taken out the Subway. Mission accomplished!

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I'm a little confused with naeun. I don't want to be that person... but I've watched her in 20 again and in WGM and she's really pretty, but it seems like she has mumps right now..? it sometimes distracts me because I really wonder if she's ill...

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Yes, one of her cheeks is swollen. She didn't used to look that way, right? Maybe she had a dental procedure before filming. Let's see if it goes away in later episodes.

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I am distracted from the story every time she speaks. I am into the simple and cliché plot but for Hye Ji.

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Only one thing I wish for this drama, only ONE! I don't care whoever gets Hawon, just Hyunmin please don't fall for Hyeji.

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I will flip a truck if Hyunmin ends up with Hyeji. Like damn, she seems nice enough, but I'll be pissed if this drama goes the route of "Hey girls, if you obsessively love a dude for years while repeatedly ignoring the fact that he's just not that into you, eventually the universe shall reward your efforts!"

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" I kissed a girl and i liked it" - Hyun min
" I twirled a girl and i (didn't really) liked it" - Ji woon

" I cooked a girl and i liked it (pretty much)" - Hannibal about Hye ji and i don't care that he's from another drama universe, if "truck of doom" can't do his job Hannibal will!!

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I think unlike most reactions that I can make out from this thread, I don't not like Ji Woon because he's mean, I just don't like him because he's boring. I'm okay with mean characters, I like all kinds of jackass tsundere characters, who are just randomly mean for no deeper reason at all, but being boring is something I never forgive a character for.

I don't even think he's particularly mean and, in fact, most of his reactions make sense to me, especially in being controlled by his grandfather, isolated from his friends, and being forced to be a "family". And he's clearly also done a lot of nice things, and wasn't awful to Hawon till her presence started affecting Hye Ji's feelings. But this also means that no matter how much nicer he gets, or how he actually falls for Hawon, it's not going to make me particularly like him better, unless he also simultaneously becomes interesting, which doesn't seem likely.

Hyun Min isn't particularly nice to the girls he dates (and if we concede that he has the right to not be nice because those dates are probably in it for their own benefit or his money, then we'd have to concede that Ji Woon too has a right to treat Hawon that way because he thinks she's in it for her own benefit and their money), but he's interesting. In a fictional universe I always choose the character I find more interesting whether that be the "nice" guy or the "bad" one. (There's plenty of "nice" guy male characters that I've preferred over their player/bad-boy counterparts, but that's still because I found them more interesting.)

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i agree with you, i like jung ilwoo and i was expecting to fall in love with ji woon and be rooting for ha won and ji woon but im not. im not even into hyun min and ha won either. but im dissapointed in the way they have made ji woon's character. he is quite boring to watch.i have no issues with jerky characters, lord knows how many main leads are like that that i end up loving *cough* domyouji but at the same time its fun to watch them cause they have this charisma to them and the character is layered. you like watching them grow and change and fall in love. but i dont what it is with ji woon that isnt working, he has it all, good looking actor who can act, layered characterization and potential for growth etc but watching him is kind of a bore.

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I seriously don't want Hyun Min to end up with Hye Ji.

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i wonder if i the only one who want ha won and hyun min end up together. sumhow i love the idea that he need to working hard to get this girl and after he grab on to her, he just cannot let go of her. like forever.
what? he's not the leading man? that make it even better!

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