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Bottom of the 9th with 2 Outs: Series review

There’s a fondness that I’ve had my entire life for best friend rom-coms. That is, dramas where the main couple consists of two best friends who circle each other their whole lives, not realizing that they’re destined to be together. It’s the kind of drama where everyone except for the two best friends knows that they’re in love, and we get a sick sense of pleasure in ranting, “Are you stupid? Don’t you know you love her? Kiss her already!”

One of my favorite old-school dramas was 1997’s Propose, which I’m mentioning twice this week, strangely enough. It had a similar premise, and I’ve always had a soft spot for dramas in this vein ever since. I hadn’t watched 2007’s Bottom of the 9th with 2 Outs when it aired because it just passed under my radar for whatever reason.

Friends had always recommended this drama because they know about my penchant for BFF-rom-coms, so it was on my to-watch list for some time. But then this past year, I saw Lee Jung-jin being all hot and badass in Runaway, and then I saw Su Ae being all hot and badass in Athena, and the thought of them being together just blew my mind.

The fact that it also starred Playful Kiss‘s resident Ducky, Lee Tae-sung was just icing on the cake. So off I went, and sixteen episodes later, I’m happy to report that this drama is totally in my wheelhouse, and worth sharing with the rest of the class.

Note: If you’re searching for this drama to give it a watch, sometimes it’s listed as 9 End 2 Outs, which is just how the title was translated (badly) at the time.

SERIES REVIEW

So judging from the title, the thing is about baseball, yeah? Nope. Not about baseball at all. It’s just a series-long metaphor for love, work, and the dating game, coupled with that major turn in your life, when you wake up north of 30 and face the fact that things didn’t exactly turn out the way you had imagined when you were young.

The heroine (played by Su Ae) begins the series on her 30th birthday, living in her mom’s house, and still struggling with her dream of becoming a writer. The only things coming out of Mom’s mouth daily are to give up her pipedream and get married already. Never heard that before. Nope. So faced with the harsh reality of folding her dream and getting married off to someone that her mom picks out, she decides to head out on her own.

Her best friend of thirty years (played by Lee Jung-jin) is a charming, playful playboy, who works at an advertising agency. What’s great about his character is that he isn’t the typical cold proud hero. He might occasionally be that guy to other women, but with the heroine, he’s warm, goofy, and childlike because they’ve been this close since they were kids.

Through a series of k-drama machinations, she ends up moving into his apartment, and they become one of the best roommate pairings in all of kdramaland. What’s great about these two is that they aren’t a pair of strangers who end up having to share an uncomfortably close living space (which has its perks in many dramas, don’t get me wrong).

But they’re best friends, who know WAY too much about each other to begin with…and then when coupled with having to live together, they essentially become a hilarious old married couple, mixed with the strange distance of being fully aware of being a grown man and woman who share a sexual attraction.

In short, it’s drama heaven. Sexual tension, adorable friendship, hilarious things they discover about each other as roommates…coupled with a grounded relationship with the one person in the world who tells it like it is, and holds your hand through all your breakups.

Seriously, if I think about it, I’m never jealous of relationships in k-dramas. I might want that kind of guy in my life, or I might want to be this kind of heroine, but usually k-drama relationships are quite…dysfunctional and, well, unrealistic, to say the least. I mean, how many people do you know who sign into contract marriages or fall in love with their abusive bosses?

But this drama actually made me want that kind of relationship (the friendship, not the abusive boss). I love their comfort level, and their realistic discussions about dating, sex, and love. It’s a refreshing kind of honesty that actually reflects the way real friends talk to each other. They have some hilariously frank conversations about the things men and women do, and why they are such different creatures when it comes to dating.

The main couple is surrounded by a group of college friends who’ve spent their twenties in a variety of ways, and then get back in touch. They form a nice context which informs the main couple’s friendship, but also provide another realistic setting of a group of thirtysomethings who knew each other when they were at their most idealistic and youthful.

But the biggest impetus for reflecting on age is the relationship that the heroine begins the drama with: her romance with a 22-year old baseball pitcher who’s still in college, played by Lee Tae-sung. It’s a wonderfully mismatched romance between a writer who’s entering a critical point in her dating life (as in, thinking about marriage and her future) and a kid who has never read an entire book, and is just starting to dream.

What’s nice is that it plays both sides of the coin. One the one hand, their relationship is doomed because the age difference is played realistically, which means that their expectations, their experiences, their futures—are all out of alignment. But on the other hand, because he’s a bleeding-heart 22-year old, and earnest to within an inch of his life, he chases her with utter abandon (which totally makes me swoon, a la The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry and Biscuit Teacher Star Candy).

So we’re with her every step of the way, when she’s completely taken with him, and when she comes up against a wall, and then when she’s reeled back in, and then forced to face another harsh reality. And through it all, her best friend talks her through it with lots and lots of beer, and then holds her hair back when she has to puke.

I love his initial teasing and relentless kid-jokes, all the while being the supportive best friend, and yet…still with that male posturing of I-could-take-that-kid-but-I’m-gonna-be-the-adult…which is equally childish, and hilarious to watch.

As we watch them date other people and struggle to figure out how to do right by their hearts, they grow closer by the day, until eventually their lives become incomplete without each other. It’s a progression that feels organic to the story, but also manages to do that crack-laced number on the audience, as we pick up on the signs faster than they do, and end up wringing our hands in anticipation.

We see through a series of short flashbacks sprinkled throughout the show that they had always loved each other, since they were young, but their timing had always been off. Towards the end of the series, when the six friends reflect on what love is, our heroine answers: “Love is: Timing.”

And that’s just something I believe—that love isn’t just the having of feelings, but two people who make choices to act on them, and in the end it all comes down to timing. Anyone who’s experienced losing that window knows what I mean. And I love a story that shows a realistic friendship between a man and woman that treads those murky waters.

It’s not just about denying feelings either, since they acknowledge the fact that feelings are there, but get scared of what they’ll lose—a potentially lifelong friendship that isn’t so easily disposed of, like other romantic relationships. And it’s a realistic fear, since, let’s be honest…how many of us actually stay friends with our exes?

What I like about this drama is more than just the tone or the story, but its point of view, about life and love. I love that the heroine struggles with the fear that this might be the last chance she’ll get at love, or that she has to face the fact that while her dream is to write, she may not be very good at it. Growing up means facing those fears, and coming to terms with who you are in spite of them.

I love that she doesn’t succeed as a writer in one fell swoop, but that she adjusts her expectations, and learns to become a better editor in the meantime. In facing her biggest fear—the possibility of losing her best friend and the love of her life—she gains the courage to keep working at her dream.

This drama isn’t particularly snazzy, and it doesn’t have a hook that sounds zippy as a one-liner. But it captures something fantastically rare. It shows that becoming an adult is actually a painful process, and one that we only begin to unfold at the quarter-life crisis. But the struggle that we go through is worth the reward on the other side: self-awareness, a broader sense of the world around you, and an appreciation for the people in your life who make you who you are. And if that just so happens to be your uber-hot BFF, then well, YOU WIN.

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I SO SAD THAT MY FAVORITE ACTOR TO GO TO THE ARMY!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU Hyeon Bin

BE CARE OF YOURSELF

WE WAIT FOY YOU

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This is one of my favourites, and I'm glad that you felt the same way about it as I do!

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Thank you for your review about this wonderful drama. after reading your review, i decided to give this a chance and i'm glad that i did. the story is very touching and sweet. it doesn't have any annoying, selfish characters like in other dramas. it also gives us a look at our friendship, our life in the past. though the drama is a little bit drag but i actually like the slow process because if it's fast then the story would make no sense at all when 2 mail lead turn away 180 degrees and start loving each other. instead, it's the process, the pace of life for each chacracters gradually discorver about themself, there true relationship, and how to over situations. it's not a drama with fantasy love but it's realistic and cute that indeed capture my heart. i think this drama is fresh and suitable to all ages.
Again, thanks for your hard work.

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Thanks so much for the review! Like several others, I too thought it was a sports drama and would never have watched it otherwise. Blissfully marathoned the gem this weekend, thanks! Now I need to go find me some more LJJ. :D

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GF - thanks for bringing this drama to my attention! I started watching it based on your recommendation and totally enjoyed it!

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This is a Korean version of "When Harry Met Sally." Doesn't mean it isn't good, and it isn't exactly like WHMS, but it is based on the same premise.

Am currently watching Midas, which is a Korean version of The Firm.

Does this mean that there are no original ideas and that is why these are remakes and most dramas use the same cliche devices?

Drama writers... fire-up your imaginations!

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I started watching this drama and I got so frusterated at how her relationship with her best friend wasn't becoming anything more half way through the show. haaha

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I didn't really knew about this drama before seeing this review...

Thanks for sharing about this drama, it's really great and totally underrated!!

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Cheerios Girlfriday. I would give you a chest bump if I could, can't get enough of BFF romcoms now! Does anyone has other drama recs revolving the same premise (BFF turn lovers)??

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Thanks GF! I just marathoned this drama and LOVED it!! It was sooo amazing to see the leads get along so nicely without fighting constantly!! The chemistry was really nice! !It was also very realistic!! Definitely my favorite!!

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You know, I really enjoyed this one, too.

Lovely.

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The year 2007 was the year of great dramas. I never finished this drama but I enjoyed it too. Like others have said , life got too busy esp with my end of high school exams at the time. I can't believed I survived my exams with this drama, my girl, goong, time b/w dog and wolf and many more.

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I read this post and I decided to go ahead and watch it. I watched it all in one weekend! I have to say that it's been one of my favorite dramas so far. I love the chemistry the protagonist had and how their relationship is portrayed in this drama, is more realistic than most Asian dramas in general. I liked the internal conflict they faced when they were deciding whether act on their feelings--I know that I would faced the same struggle. A really good drama and, unfortunately, very underrated. It is definitely a must-see. Thank you, and I look forward to more reviews.

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Decided to give this a shot when I read your review. I was totally hooked. Couldn't focus on other things and had to finish this =P

I love how realistically the relationships, fears, and lives of the characters were portrayed. Usually with dramas the romance is never really explored beyond the attraction process, but this... it felt real. LOVED IT.

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I don't know if it was the best-friends-in-love premise of the drama that caught me, or the way you wrote your review. It's very interesting. After reading this all I could think of was to look for the first episode right away. Happy to say my friend, who just happened to Read your review too, downloaded the first five episodes. Heaven. I'm a fan of Lee Jung Jin naaao.

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So, I marathoned it thanks to you GF. Thank God, I'm on spring break or that would have been bad. Anyway, I LOVED IT! I'm officially a fan of Lee Jung-jin! So hot, he's so hot. I'm tempted to watch Runaway now.

I loved the premise so much as I've always been a fan of best friend rom-coms too. And back when I wanted to be a writer, I totally wrote these (horrible) stories of my own. I just realized that I haven't watched many best friend k dramas.

Any best friend relationship kdrama recommendations?

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- We Are Dating Now (Kinda old but So Ji-Sub in it)
- Attic Cat (maybe, not exactly)
-Smile Again (I would say this one since they are friends from high school but is not exactly what you had from 9 ends 2 out)

you'll have a better shot with We Are Dating Now, love that one.

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Thank you for this series review. Definitely triggered me to watch the drama...and I have seriously fallen in love with it!

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this is my all time favourite drama.. not just one of my all time favs, but THE best! & thats simply because its one i can rewatch however many times i want & it still makes me feel good...
it doesn't feed on dramatic twists or cliched hijinks the way other dramas do & which you can tire of in one watching.. this one has something REAL which doesnt lose its lustre however many times u revisit it.. this one's one for keeps \m/
:]

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THANK YOOOUUUUU for the review! I am entirely in-tune with your thoughts on love being all about timing (so been there before), so I wanted to check out this drama since you thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched this drama in less than a week and oh goodness, besides a few of the middle episodes being a bit boring, the drama was perfect in its tone and execution of the two characters' lives. Loved it.

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Best kiss scene ever... still think about it.

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Watched this over the last few days and it was brilliant! I love the relationship. So honest. So mature. Lee Jung-jin, you may not be the best looking man in kdrama-land but you sure are charismatic! And the body is to die for! YUMMY! :P

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thank you for recommending this drama. i went and watched it--SOOOO GOOD. like you said, the tone, the themes are what make this drama. this is definitely a rainy day drama!

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Your review's a great read, and basically lists the reasons why I love the show too :) I like the way the relationship between the two best friends are fun yet mature at the same time. I especially love how even when they are stuggling to keep things status quo (and have to deal with the awkwardness), still they can't lie and they have to be frank with one another. To be able to find someone you trust so much, is incredible and yes it did make me kinda envious throughout the show!

I'm also a sucker for BFF turned lovers storylines. The shame is that they are comparatively rare, and when they do appear they are seldom handled as well. Sometimes it's one big contrived moment in which something dramatic occurs, sometimes the friends get together and it just feels weird.

But what I love about this show is that it showed a slow and natural progression, and the character's can't pinpoint a particular point which made them fall in love with each other. This is the way I imagine such a love to form.

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Love this drama.. 9E2O is a very nice drama.. love the couple a lot too.. I wish LJJ and SA would date in real life, they are so good for each other.. nice couple..

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Thanks for the review!

With so many K-dramas around and limited time, really appreciate your write-up before I decide which one to watch.

:)

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I watched this way back in 2007 and I totally loved it! It ranks up there with My Lovely Samsoon and Fullhouse, and current favorite, Scent of a Woman.

And just to show that I loved this drama over everything else...it is the only drama I have downloaded to my hard drive ever!

Like you, I'm a sucker for BFF rom-com series/movies but the more mature kind, not the teenage/teenybopper kind. There's a filipino movie with a similar premise, entitled Kung Ako Na Lang Sana which I also loved. I'm from the Philippines, by the way.

They say that there is a fine line between lovers and friends and once you crossed that line, it will never be the same again!

So to those who haven't seen this drama, you should really watch it!

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OK ,it seems am the last person to watch this drama , but I just finished it , I admit I looked at it so many times but every time the synopsis dragged me out , which I think it really needs to be changed cuz am sure it did the same with too many others ............now , the drama is just awesome , I didnt know Su Ae and Lee Jung Jin when I watched this but I’ve loved them so much that I will stalk them for more projects , their friendship seriously blew my mind , I soooooooooooooooooooo want BFF like LJJ , please , heaven , I will be a good girl ............they need to make more dramas like this instead of usual plots , its waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more attractive and very realistic , OMG , I really wish to have a warm friendship that last forever like those six people.........9 end 2 outs , how much I love you , it needs to be more appreciated and acknowledged cuz I hardly found it , and am sorry it took me four years to watch you.............

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Just ended this drama... and i like it so much!!!
sometimes i grew desperated... but the moment they both accept their feelings and took the risk (kisses included) of having a relationship was so perfect and i was so happy!!!
thanks girlfriday for inducing me to watch this drama
plus it make me wish for a uber-hot BFF!!!

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,I am watching 9E20 at the moment and I am specially amused with the scene where Ducky met with Soo Ae's friends at a noraebang..the scene totally encapsulates ICOMYM..Soo Ae's friends were practically "drooling" over Ducky..

This show is really a hoot!..I was hooked from the get go..

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hi everyone I love this drama too .who knows the name of the songs that nan hee and her friends singing at the end of the series?

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서른즈음에 by kim kwang seok, which means 'when i'm around 30 '

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really2 love these drama and love the actors. so inspiring.

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Ooh, was checking out the recap section for new dramas to watch and can't wait to start on this (late to the game, I know)

For any one else who's a sucker for BFF turned romance dramas, I'm plugging the twdrama In Time With You ... it's a very grown up drama about single life upon hitting 30, with an introspective and carefully crafted script that strikes a good balance between romcom and melo anguish. OTP have been BFFs since high school which is half a lifetime in the story.

I'm biased because I helped Viki sub it but it was so good it made me join a subbing team for the one and only time in my life.

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Ok, that was seriously like the best review I have ever read of a drama I love! Thank you so much for posting!! This quickly became one of my favorite dramas, for the very reasons already listed. I hope everyone who likes something other than the typical rich guy mistreats then falls in love with poor girl, or the more recent older woman deals with loving a younger kid plots, will give this drama a chance. You won't regret it!!

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I'm so glad this drama got listed (even if it's just as an afterthought :P)
It's my absolute fav kdrama (& i've watched the whole gamut) because it manages to encapsulate the subtleties of real life that almost every other drama fails to portray. The story and genres and characters can be realistic as hell but it's their interactions that have to ring true, and very few dramas in my opinion manage to incorporate that.
So yeah definitely recommend this brilliant brilliant drama, it's right there on top of my list along with coffee prince and reply 1997 but it's definitely the one I can rewatch the most number of times.

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definetly one of my fav korean drama! nice-simple stories, warm friendship, and touching love story!

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Tq for the reviews. This series absolutely become one of my korean series ever. Simple, warm, and nice story. Good chemistry between Lee Jung Jin and Park Soo Ae. Still not bored watching this series over and over again... :)

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Dramas likes these make me wish that I'd lived in one place long enough to have a childhood best friend... ^_^

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what is wrong with these drama i cannot watch full drama Episode 1 work until Episode 6 any idea please??

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This show dragged on & on. Too much use of staring off into angst, flashbacks & general nothing. I couldnt watch the last 5minutes of the series, my only regret is waiting for the buffering when I fast forwarded thru so many scenes.

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This is one of the best dramas in all of kdramaland. It's so realistic on so many counts and gets things that most tv series in general, even if focused on the same topic, seem to miss about friendships. About the no-barriers, no-holds-barred comfort levels, instead of the necessary selective projection that love in general requires. The comedy! the tension! the angst! Everything about this drama is so well done, it's insane. I never picked it up because the title and the promo pictures made me think it was about baseball, but I'm so glad I eventually got round to it. I'm kind of disappointed because I feel like rarely will any drama ever match up to this for me, whether tonally or in terms of an OTP.

This drama isn't for everyone; it's introspective, it focuses on many characters and gives them space to grow or shows you how they HAVE grown through the years, it doesn't, as GF said, have that snazzy one-line description that will make people flock to watch it. And yet, it gets its characters like shows rarely ever do. It gets their insecurities and fears and jealousies, but also their everyday joys and habits.

Also, the lead couple has such fantastic chemistry, it's nearly impossible to imagine that they're not actually best friends. I LOVE that it's not all romantic-interest-central from the beginning itself- as it is with so many bff romances, which START with one person being interested in the other except the latter doesn't notice them- that they, albeit subduedly, support each others' romantic relationships. I love how little they actually interfere in each others' lives, I love that they realize that living with someone teaches you things about them that you may not even learn in a 30-year-long friendship. I love that they realize that you have to adjust and compromise, but also that it's okay to not compromise on the things you really believe in, REALLY want. I adore that they have this whole group of friends and that there is a different vibe, a different dynamic that every person in that group shares with every other person in that group. I love that the nude photoshoot was a thing that happened, that it was a moment of freedom for the girls, a moment to appreciate themselves, and that they went in all giggly and teenage and scared. And I even love that Hyung Tae finding about it was handled semi-comically, because the entire POINT of the photoshoot hadn't been that he should find out about it, because it really WAS about the girls.

God, I love it, basically. It's that rare breed of kdramas that makes you stop for a while, instead of racing to get to the next one.

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When I saw it it was beautiful: endearing characters with a caring and mature writing. I highly recommend it and Flowers for my Life.

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what's the episode where they shared a bathroom together? i mean that'd be really awkward gosh

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I have to say I went out of my way to find this drama after girlfriday's recommendation, and I'm SO GLAD I did. : )

Bottom of the 9th reminds me so much of my favorite Japanese dramas: Long Vacation and Overtime... Both are cohabitation dramas, but story-wise, it's more similar to Overtime. If you haven't watched either, and you loved this one, please watch!

Loved the chemistry between the two leads, and the unexpected warmth of Hyung-Tae...whoever wrote his character did such a great job of giving him a refreshing generosity and sensitivity that wasn't restricted to just his best friend, Lan Hee, but to other characters as well...

Of course I wanted them to figure out that they were meant for each other a lot sooner than they did, and I wouldn't have minded more skinship, but it was overall a great, heartwarming take on friendship, and on love that grows on you...so that when Lan Hee finally speaks her love, you know she really really REALLY loves him...as a friend, as a man, as someone essential to her life and her feeling of wholeness.. What a great drama! Again, thank you girlfriday for your recommendation!

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This is one of my fave drama ever.. watched it more than 5 years ago.. cute and sexy! Makes my heart swooned for hundred times hahaha.. ahh reminded me how i loved k-drama :)

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Ha... I guess i'm very late in watching this drama... Just finished watching it... One of my fav kdrama ever... Very well written, simple and very human daily life, and of course wonderful casts (soo ae and lee jung jin)...
Thanks for the review that i think really brings the major notes of the drama...
Wish could find another drama with this kinda plot and story in the future...
This drama made me officially a big fan of soo ae and lee jung jin... Both of them are really great actress and actor... ?

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I'm going voting crazy!

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Thanks tou your recommendation, I've picked up this drama. And I'm adicted to it. It's... interesting. Not the slap-in-your face rom-com, not a melo, but still touches your heart. Sometimes the pace is kinda slow, that I fast-forwarded it. But it is still nice.

And I agree with you, the characters act like adult about their relationship. I can't count how many dramas I loathe because of the immaturity of the characters. I mean, how could you not speak up for yourself? Cinderella? Just wake up. There's nothing like it.

A nice and interesting drama.

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I cherish this drama so much, always having a soft spot in my heart plus always envying them for their amazing friendship and dreaming if I'll ever have one

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