[Best Friends Forever] Timeless friendship of ladies and the city

by Guest Beanie

By @fatcat007

When I read the theme of this month, I had to get my lazy self off my bed and start typing asap because:

1. I instantly knew what my favorite BFF gang was going to be, and
2. Since this is literally the theme of my life, I had to write something dedicated to my own besties and to my favorite drama theme.

So I present my favorite girl gang from K-drama world: The awesome BFF trio from The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry.

I have to admit, I started this show for Kim Bum. I was still fangirling over him after Boys Before Flowers and wanted to see him in a solo role. He was supposed to be a noona-killer in this show so I was all hyped. But one episode in and I found myself invested in something entirely different than the baby-faced lead. Three single, successful, and fabulous women in their thirties, each with their own unique take on love? Count me in!

A quick introduction to the trio of best friends:

Lee Shin-young, the 34-year-old successful TV reporter whose love life isn’t so successful. She’s pretty smart and career-oriented, which just makes me love her. Oh, and she also happens to chase her crazy, delusional ex with a movie prop sword when he bothers her too much. I mean, that’s only natural.

Shin-young’s BFF is Kim Bu-Ki, and let me just tell you how awesome and classy her character is throughout the show. She’s a successful restaurant consultant, she has great fashion sense, AND a super great no-nonsense attitude, which just makes me worship her. A single and cynical and fabulous woman who also happens to practice martial arts because cool ladies do that, didn’t you know?

The final of the trio is Jung Da-Jung, a successful interpreter who’s very good and composed at her job but she’s also an optimistic love-hunting lady who’s looking for a factory-made perfect husband.

Oh and did I mention they all had successful careers? The reason why I liked the show was particularly because of this; we had skipped past the tumultuous phase of a person in their twenties, which includes unsteady jobs but great ambition, a lot of heartbreaks, and lots and lots of growing up.

It’s not that people don’t grow up later too, but I really liked the lifestyle of these ladies, and knew that if I were to march into my thirties along with my besties looking as fabulous as them, I’d be very happy. It’s a really ideal setting. This show also reminded me of Sex and the City minus the sex, and Bridget Jones’ Diary too (the book).

It was interesting to see that all three were complete opposites and yet got along so well. Bu-ki was dead-set against marriage and was single because, as she said, “I just like my life right now. That’s why I’m single.” (Because why not?) Da-jung was desperate to get married asap and was husband-hunting, and Shin-young was somewhere in between trying to handle her career and love life.

And yet the ladies supported each other no matter what, from giving some much-needed advice to late-night drinks and talks, to getting involved in crazy schemes for the happiness of one friend. You should realize you’ve found your soulmates if they’re willing to get embarrassed in a sham exorcism for your sake, or willing to go undercover as cosplayers to give you a good scoop for your broadcast.

Seriously, the number of things these girls did for each other throughout the drama just shows how great and loyal friends can be.

One of my favorite parts of the show was how they lounged around in loose pajamas and funny hair only when they were around each other. But they didn’t always have to get along either. With such a stark contrast in their outlooks in life, they were bound to have differences too.

There are so many reasons I liked this trio, but it’s difficult for me to put it into words. One of the reasons is, despite so much humor, I got to see some sincere and thoughtful moments in their relationship, which made it seem very real and earnest.

These moments were small and subtle, which just kept the friendship even more realistic. Whether it was looking out for their friend’s pride or choosing to remain silent at times so as not to distress their friend even more, or just being a great listener (and throwing out some great advice in Bu-ki’s case, because whatever she says can be turned into a bestselling philosophy book, honestly).

Another great moment was when Shin-young and Da-jung were jealous of each other—not the spiteful kind, but more like the “wish my life was like yours” type. When Da-jung’s mirage of a perfect marriage was broken, she wanted to be like Shin-young. And when Shin-young faced so much opposition from her much younger boyfriend’s mother, she wished she were like Da-jung.

Looking at them, I was reminded of my BFFs: the childhood friend I’ve known since day one of my life, with whom I fight at least once a month and then make up with a hug and say how we’ll grow old together. That friend who’s a hopeless romantic and falls in love every second, so the rest of us are put through the six stages of joy AND grief along with her quite often. That know-it-all friend who gives out sermons like a pro but then loses her cool and says we should just ditch everything and travel the world together.

I was reminded of all my friends and how terribly I miss them. We are still in our twenties, far from each other in different cities, and completely immersed in our hectic jobs and lives. We can barely make time to see each other even once a year.

Maybe that’s why I liked this particular friendship so much. The fact that they were doing well in their lives, (mostly) unaffected by their age and still rocking their friendship after their “youth” phase has passed seemed as much of a fairytale setting to me as that of a handsome, well-mannered CEO falling in love with a plain girl. In my life and with my girlfriends I could only wish for such an ideal setting.

Wouldn’t it be so nice to age as gracefully as these ladies did? To be a lot wiser and better (and richer) than we are now? Just like Bu-ki said, “We understand, grow wise, and grow old.” Wouldn’t it be nice if along with that we could be strong, independent women, all settled in one city so that we can be only one call away from our friends?

It’s great to have a group of close-knit friends, but it’s even better if we get to march into the next phases of our lives together. Just as the girls say in one of their sleepovers, the future never turns out according to our well-calculated plans, and chasing happiness can be a mere illusion. It’d be great to always have reliable friends like Bu-ki and Shin-young to tell you to find happiness within yourself, and to just value yourself more because you are worth it. (And to also dump that jerk of a guy because you deserve so much better. Just sayin’.)

As Shin-young said, “When it rains, seek out friends. You’re not alone. When love comes, love. And when love leaves, let it go.”

In the end they’re toasting to life, love, and success together because timeless friendship is, just like Carrie said in Sex and the City, “The one label that never goes out of style.”

 
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