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Drinking Solo: Episode 15

While I wish that some of the conversations that happen in this episode had happened several weeks ago, so that we could have taken more time with the fallout and rebuilding, at least they’re happening now, and that’s a good thing. The truth can be painful, especially coming from those you love, but at some point we all have to take a good hard look at how our actions may be hurting others. Love isn’t something you earn or deserve, it’s a gift freely given, and it’s well past time for both Gong-myung and Jung-seok to learn this difficult life lesson.

EPISODE 15 RECAP

Jung-seok and Gong-myung put aside their animosity for a while, to honor their father’s memorial day. As the brothers bow, their mother sadly asks her husband’s photograph why he had to leave them so soon, and miss seeing their sons grow to be men.

Gong-myung leaves as soon as the ceremony is over, rolling his eyes when Mom asks him to go back to school with Jung-seok tomorrow. Jung-seok doesn’t interfere, remembering how Gong-myung had been furious when he found out he was dating Hana. Jung-seok scoffs, wondering how Gong-myung intends to hold onto her, but he seems more worried than angry.

Jin-woong shows up for work in full makeup as a female celebrity chef, complete with aegyo shoulder-wiggles, hee. As usual, Director Kim is less than amused, and calls the instructors in for a staff meeting.

It’s time for student-teacher conferences, and Director Kim impresses upon everyone how important it is that they really listen to the students’ concerns. Jung-seok thinks it’s a waste of time, since delivering high-quality lectures should be all they need to keep students coming back, but he agrees to stay for one hour, no more.

When Jung-seok leaves, Director Kim grumbles that he feels bad for the woman who’s dating him, and Hana chokes on her coffee. Surprisingly, it’s Jin-yi who comes to Jung-seok’s defense, saying that he’s a good catch.

She pulls Hana into a private room to give her an envelope, with tickets to a gallery showing, so she can take Jung-seok somewhere nice. Hana is touched, and Jin-yi says that she plans to help their relationship however she can.

Hana is horrified when a condom falls out of the envelope, but Jin-yi says that they can go see some nice art than have an erotic afternoon afterward, rawr. Hana prissily tries to give the condom back, but Jin-yi says that her ex left tons of them in her apartment, so she’ll resupply Hana whenever she needs them.

The school has little tents set up for the conferences, and students line up to talk to their teachers. Jung-seok’s line is naturally quite long, and Jin-yi’s line is all male students, while poor Jin-woong sits in his tent all alone.

Jin-woong is surprised when his first student turns out to be a former school sunbae of his, who’s going back to school to be a civil servant. He’s a bit sheepish to be here, but he was laid off and he has a family to support.

Sunbae says he hasn’t looked up Jin-woong before now because he was a bit embarrassed to be seen as an older student. But now, he says that he’s got a lot of worries, and he needs someone to talk with. Jin-woong urges him not to be ashamed, because there are lots of older people studying in Noryangjin these days.

Jin-woong even offers to let Sunbae take his class for free, but Sunbae says he’s only taking top-level instructors’ classes. Well, ouch. He also asks why Jin-woong’s impressions are so bad — turns out they were in an impressions club in school, and they end up in a hilarious impression war.

Jung-seok finds Dong-young and Ki-bum in his tent, here to use this opportunity to talk to him about Gong-myung. They’re worried about their friend, who’s been staying with Ki-bum and annoying them both with his moping.

Jung-seok says that Gong-myung’s behavior has nothing to do with him, so Dong-young tells him how Gong-myung’s one-sided crush got a boyfriend, and now he’s really upset. Jung-seok shifts uncomfortably and blusters that students shouldn’t have time for one-sided loves, but Ki-bum says that Gong-myung is stubbornly determined to keep carrying this torch.

Gong-myung studies harder than ever, but his friends are distracted by a happy couple nearby, reminded of their own love woes. Ki-bum waxes nostalgic about their college days when they used to date a lot, and recalls one group date with a trio of dancers.

It was five years ago, and HAHA, Ki-bum’s sparkly tracksuit sure looks familiar. He remembers making the girls laugh with his dorky pop culture jokes, and they’d applauded when he footed the bill for the night.

Dong-young remembers it fondly too, as he’d been the girl’s white knight and drank for them when they lost the drinking games. One of the girls had compared him to “Nations’s MC” Yoo Jae-suk, and he’d done a pretty funny impression of the famous TV personality.

Gong-myung thinks they’re both pathetic, as his recollection of the evening in question is much different, though he keeps his reason to himself. We see that the girls had talked about the boys in the restroom, calling Dong-young rude and Ki-bum ugly (pfft).

But since Ki-bum was paying, they’d pretended to be interested in him, and had fought over who got to pursue Gong-myung. Of course, they ran right into him on their way out of the restroom. He’d never told his friends the truth, and to this day they thought he’d complained about wanting to go home because he was jealous.

Chae-yeon summons Gong-myung to the roof to talk, unable to get Dong-young’s outburst out of her mind, when he’d said that Gong-myung likes Hana. She confronts Gong-myung, asking if he’s really only studying so he can pass the test and date Hana. He confirms it, and Chae-yeon tells him to knock it off.

She says that Hana is dating someone, so Gong-myung should stop wasting his time on her. She reminds him that he said he’d do whatever she told him to do as his Master, but Gong-myung says that’s the one command he can’t obey. He shuts down any further discussion, so Chae-yeon blurts out that she won’t study with him anymore. Gong-myung says that he’s been feeling bad for holding her back anyway, thanks her for her help so far, and leaves.

Chae-yeon goes straight to Hana’s conference tent, and tells her that there’s a guy she likes, who likes someone else. She says that the other woman doesn’t like him back but won’t draw a clear line, asking rhetorically why Hana thinks that is.

Hana doesn’t follow what Chae-yeon is getting at, but she guesses that maybe the other woman doesn’t want to disrupt the guy’s studies by hurting him. But Chae-yeon says that if she cared, she would be honest with him, because it’s wrong to give him false hope.

Chae-yeon says that she understands now that the woman is rude, and rushes out, leaving Hana confused. Hana may not know that Chae-yeon was talking about her, but she does wonder if she should cut Gong-myung off for the same reason.

Jin-yi finds her outside, and when Hana thanks her again for the gallery tickets, she teases that Hana should have been honest with her from the beginning. She honestly tells Hana that she was upset that she lied to her, and says to just be honest from now on.

Once she’s alone, Hana realizes that her dishonesty was what hurt her friend the most, and asks her phone if she should be honest with Gong-myung. Her phone says that she should.

With Ki-bum’s words about Gong-myung ringing in his ears, Jung-seok watches his brother studying almost frantically. He moves on down the hall when Gong-myung steps out to take a call from Hana.

Director Kim offers to set up Jin-yi on a blind date, making Jin-woong sigh heavily and ask why he’d want to ruin the guy’s life like that. He complains about how much he suffered after taking Jin-yi home the day of the hike, and Director Kim decides to think a bit more about setting her up.

Jin-woong gives Jin-yi a triumphant glare, made all the funnier by his (frankly gorgeous) cat’s-eye eyeliner. She threatens him not to interfere with her love life anymore, and he yells at her retreating back that he was just telling the truth. Okay, what happened between these two?

Gong-myung meets with Hana, looking nervous just to be sitting near her. She says that she wants to be honest and not hurt him further, and tells him that she’s dating someone. She acknowledges that he’s been studying hard, and apologizes for not being able to return his feelings.

Hana tells Gong-myung not to stop studying, and he asks if she really likes that person that much. She says she does, and Gong-myung tries not to cry in front of her.

Chae-yeon throws herself at her studies extra-hard, determined to forget about everything but passing the test. Ki-bum notices and wonders if she’d be able to focus like that if she knew Gong-myung likes Hana, and Dong-young doesn’t confess that he already spilled the beans to her. Ki-bum takes the conversation to text, and warns Dong-young not to dare tell her about Gong-myung’s crush on Hana.

Hana takes Jung-seok to the gallery after work, but they’re both preoccupied with thoughts of Gong-myung. They each notice the other seems down, but both deny that there’s anything wrong.

Gong-myung starts to text Hana saying that he can accept her dating anyone but Jung-seok, then immediately erases the text. He starts another saying he can’t give her up, then erases that one, too.

Hana and Jung-seok are having coffee when she gets a text from Gong-myung, simply asking her to meet with him later. It unnerves her and she spills her coffee, so she goes to clean up. Jung-seok sees the text on her phone, and he can’t resist looking at her and Gong-myung’s text history.

Through his texts to Hana, Jung-seok realizes exactly how deep Gong-myung’s feelings for her run. He seems to understand for the first time that this isn’t just some crush, but that Gong-myung sincerely loves Hana. He remembers how long Gong-myung has been speaking highly of Hana, and knows that even when he himself still looked down on her, Gong-myung already respected and cared about her.

We go back to the night of their father’s memorial, after Gong-myung left. Their mother had mentioned how Gong-myung is always studying whenever she tries to call him, and had asked Jung-seok why he was trying to move out of Jung-seok’s place into a gosiwon.

She’d worried that the brothers are having problems getting along, but Jung-seok had denied it. Mom had known he wasn’t being truthful, and begged him to take care of Gong-myung, as head of the family. As Jung-seok had looked at a family photo from when Gong-myung was just a little boy, Mom said that she always felt bad for him, growing up in his brother’s long shadow.

Dong-young’s stomach growls loud enough to startle Ki-bum from his nap, so they decide to go eat. Still texting their conversation, Ki-bum asks if Chae-yeon ate anything while he was sleeping, and Dong-young says she didn’t. On their way out, Ki-bum stops to text Chae-yeon, asking her to eat lunch with them. She refuses, and he wonders why she’s studying so hard.

At the gallery, Hana asks about a particular artist, and Jung-seok suddenly looks disgusted. He berates her for not knowing the artist, and blurts out, “Let’s break up.” He cruelly says that she just doesn’t measure up to his standards, and he doesn’t want to waste his time anymore.

When Hana reaches out to touch his sleeve, Jung-seok jerks away sharply. Without looking her in the eye, he leaves her standing alone and confused.

Gong-myung also refuses to meet his friends for dinner, and Dong-young says they must both be going through a lot. Ki-bum asks what he means by “both,” and Dong-young’s fake-innocent expression gives him away.

Ki-bum yells at him for telling Chae-yeon that Gong-myung likes Hana, and poor Dong-young gets smacked for his loose lips. He hollers that he did it because he felt bad for Ki-bum, but Ki-bum is more concerned about Chae-yeon’s hurt feelings.

Director Kim, Jin-yi, and Jin-woong go out after work, and Director Kim says that the guy he wanted to set Jin-yi up with saw her photo and wants to meet her. Jin-woong laughs that her picture is photoshopped and she looks nothing like that in real life.

Director Kim waves him off and tells Jin-yi that the guy’s family is super-rich, but again Jin-woong snarks that Jin-yi will spend all that money in no time. Jin-yi tells him to shut it and agrees to meet the guy, but Jin-woong snatches Director Kim’s phone before he can send over Jin-yi’s number.

Jin-yi loses her temper and smacks him upside the head with her purse, and storms out. Jin-woong follows her and gets to the root of the problem, asking how she can go on a blind date after what happened between them. Oh. Ooooh, did they… ? She says she has no idea what he’s talking about, and runs off.

Ki-bum pulls Chae-yeon outside and hands her some dinner, but she tells him not to worry about her and just study. He gripes that she’s rude, then softly asks if she’s having a hard time, knowing that Gong-myung likes Hana. Chae-yeon says she’s too busy to think about such things, but Ki-bum tells her she doesn’t have to suffer alone.

Chae-yeon insists that she’s just fine, but Ki-bum can tell that she really wants to cry. He tells her to go ahead and cry her heart out, then let it go. Awww, he’s such a good friend.

Chae-yeon grabs the food but fumbles with it, so Ki-bum opens the package for her. He sits with her while she eats and cries, allowing her to lie that she’s only crying because she bit her tongue.

Jin-yi is still angry when she gets home, but a beer doesn’t help her feel better. She remembers Jin-woong bringing her home the night after the hiking trip, and he’d stayed when she started sobbing again.

She’s cried that nobody would ever love someone like her, and he’d told her that of course she deserves love. He’d given some helpful, if ill-timed, advice to stop losing her temper, work on keeping her promises, and not spend so much money, and poor Jin-yi had just bursts into tears again.

She’d woken up in bed later that night, and turned over to find Jin-woong in bed with her. I knew it! They were both naked as jaybirds, making it pretty obvious what happened, and Jin-yi had shrieked and kicked Jin-woong out of bed.

He’d been confused when she made him get dressed and get out as fast as possible. She’d screamed after him that nothing happened, but Jin-woong had left her place with a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin on his face. HEE.

After he’d left, Jin-yi had been scandalized all over again to find his underwear tangled in her sheets. Now she tries to drink the memory from her mind, but she finds his undies in the trash can and freaks out again.

Heartbroken and dazed, Hana walks past the restaurant Jung-seok once took her. She remembers saying that she can’t drink alone in restaurants, since she worries about what others will think, and she decides to change that right now.

She goes in to eat and drink, and for once she doesn’t worry about what others may be thinking. She says to herself that this is no big deal, wondering why Jung-seok bragged about it so much.

Jung-seok also sits at his favorite bar, drinking alone. He tells himself that this is best for everyone, and thinks about how Hana said she talks to her phone when there’s no one else to talk to. He tries it out, asking his phone if breaking up with Hana was the right thing to do.

Siri says that breaking up is sad, and Jung-seok agrees, but says that once he learned how sincere Gong-myung is about Hana, he had no choice. He does wonder if he was too harsh to Hana, and his phone tells him to be nice. Heh.

But Jung-seok has to keep telling himself that he did the right thing, and that Hana knows how selfish he is. If he’s going to break up with her, he needs her not to think he’s a good person.

In voiceover, Jung-seok says that today, he’s drinking solo to forget. Hana’s voice joins him, and they say that they want to forget both the happy memories, and the sad moments they’ll regret. They drink to forget this moment when they realize they’re alone, when what they most want is to be together.

Gong-myung heads to Hana’s place to talk to her, and he spots her sitting in the restaurant alone, head on the table. He runs in and rouses her, and she asks if he’s heard of that artist Na Yoon-chan. He hasn’t, and she smiles wryly, a tiny bit cheered not to be the only one who doesn’t know him.

When Gong-myung asks what’s wrong, Hana can barely get the words out, “I’ve… been dumped… because I didn’t know Na Yoon-chan.” She sobs that Jung-seok said she didn’t measure up, then tries her best to stop crying and asks what Gong-myung wanted to talk to her about. He says he’ll tell her later, and Hana starts crying again.

Gong-myung arrives at Jung-seok’s place just as Jung-seok’s taxi pulls up, and he bravely confronts his hyung, asking if he broke up with Hana because of him. Jung-seok scoffs, but he pauses for a bit too long before denying that he would do such a selfless thing.

Gong-myung grows angry, so Jung-seok gives him the same excuse he gave Hana, that she’s too low-quality for him. He says he was embarrassed to be with her, and Gong-myung grabs his shirt and demands to know if he’s even human.

Jung-seok shakes him off, then he spots someone standing behind Gong-myung and freezes. Oh no, it’s Hana, and she’s heard everything. She’s stunned to learn that they’re brothers, and both men just stand there looking guilty.

Jung-seok tries to go inside but Gong-myung yanks him back, guessing that Hana came here to see him. But Jung-seok looks right at Hana and says he has nothing to say to her, and nothing he wants to hear. Oh, you ass. He goes inside, and Hana leaves, with Gong-myung watching her sadly.

He follows her to apologize for not telling her sooner that he and Jung-seok are brothers, but Hana says he has nothing to be sorry for. On the contrary, she says she feels guilty for coming between brothers, and she asks him in a shaky voice to let her go.

Gong-myung lets himself into Jung-seok’s house and finds his brother working, and asks accusingly if he’s not worried about Hana. Jung-seok intones that they broke up, so she has nothing to do with him, and it looks like it takes real physical effort for Gong-myung not to punch his lights out.

He controls himself and says that Jung-seok should never have started dating her if he wasn’t serious. Gong-myung says that Hana is too good for Jung-seok, so now he’ll protect her so that she won’t be hurt again.

Jung-seok just looks at his brother dismissively, and asks if he’s finished. Disgusted, Gong-myung leaves, and Jung-seok tries to get back to work.

But once he’s alone he can’t hold back anymore, and tears spring to his eyes. Jung-seok tries to fight it, but his broken heart gets the better of him, and he cries pitifully.

COMMENTS

While I do understand why Jung-seok broke up with Hana (more on that later), I’m just frankly furious with him about the way he went about it, because where in all his sudden sacrificial selflessness did he take Hana’s feelings and choices into account? Setting aside the fact that he gave such a big decision approximately ten minutes of thought, if he did it because he can’t take the guilt over being with the woman his brother loves, then that’s all about Jung-seok’s feelings, and a fair reason to break up.

But if he’s doing it because he thinks Gong-myung has a prior claim on Hana since he had feelings for her first, then that’s just stupid. Liking someone first or second has exactly nothing to do with who they should be with. The person should be allowed to choose who they want to love, regardless of who “got there first,” end of story. So if that’s Jung-seok’s reasoning, then he’s done all three people involved a disservice — himself for not trusting Gong-myung enough to deal with heartbreak maturely, Hana for not allowing her to make her own choices, and himself for shutting the relationship down without even discussing it with either Hana or his brother. Does he not feel that Hana is worth fighting for, even a little bit?

But as angry as I am at Jung-seok for not giving Hana the opportunity to make her own decisions, there’s a huge part of me that’s so proud of him for the way he’s finally respecting Gong-myung’s feelings. I may disagree with the way he’s decided to respect them, but it’s a big step for Jung-seok to realize that Gong-myung’s attraction to Hana isn’t just a schoolboy crush. Little Brother is a grown man, and he loves Hana in the same adult way that Jung-seok loves her. It could even be argued (and this is what I think Jung-seok is so upset about) that Gong-myung loves Hana better. Not more, just better — as I’ve been saying for weeks, Gong-myung treats Hana with respect, supports and cheers her when she’s down, and is always there when she needs someone. At times, yes, he’s been a bit relentless with his feelings, but it’s not entirely his fault, because it’s true that Hana let him think he had a chance with her in order to get him to keep studying.

So in that sense I do understand why Jung-seok broke up with Hana, because it has to be a real blow to see those texts from his brother and realize that he’s treated Hana better than Jung-seok ever has. Jung-seok knows that he’s an ass, but he’s always told himself it was okay because those other people are beneath him anyway. Now he’s had it hammered home to him that, far from being a bratty little kid, Gong-myung is now an adult who loves the woman that Jung-seok loves, and loves her in a more respectful way. It’s no wonder Jung-seok had the knee-jerk reaction to break up with her, thinking that she’d be better off with someone who loves her better. But it was arrogant and disrespectful of him (again) to not discuss it with her, or give himself time to think about this new development. He just lashed out in his own pain, and hurt Hana in the process.

I’ve had my issues with Hana as a character throughout the course of the show (I love her, but damn I wish she’d stick up for herself more) but one thing I can say for her is that she has one of the most tender hearts I’ve ever seen. It was really great to see her talk to Gong-myung as an adult — having already completed his Army service then spent a year lazing around, he’s at least 23 years old — about his feelings, giving them the respect they deserve. It’s nice to see that at least, if she can’t return his feelings, she honors them as something precious. It’s the very thing he’s wanted from Jung-seok and not received, just to have his feelings acknowledged as the man he is, not the child Jung-seok treats him as. So even though Hana wasn’t telling Gong-myung what he wanted to hear, I love that she didn’t talk down to him or diminish his feelings for her.

With only one episode left, I just don’t see how they’ll be able to resolve this in a way that doesn’t leave me still angry with Jung-seok. He’d just barely earned my approval for him to be with Hana by being able to admit when he was wrong, and laugh at himself in the process, but now he’s behaving like his old arrogant self on purpose to push Hana away. With Gong-myung stepping up and showing his newfound maturity, his willingness to change and become the man Hana needs, I just don’t see how the show can flip things in the space of one hour to make me believe that Jung-seok is the right man for Hana. Even though I think she should be with the one she loves, regardless of reasons, the show does have an obligation to give the audience a reason to accept it, and at this point I just can’t think of anything Jung-seok can do to prove that he’s worthy. I hope I’m wrong, and that the show has a big ace up its sleeve. I’ve loved Drinking Solo from the beginning, and I really want things to end in a way that leaves us all feeling that our Noryangjin friends will have happy futures.

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i know the jung seok could have handled the breakup in a MUCH better way without being so harsh to hana, but i just want to say, when he started tearing up and tried to hold back the tears, it seriously broke my heart... maybe it's the ha seok-jin effect hah

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*that jung seok

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Yes, god that scene. :(

What Jung Seok did was soo stupid that I wanted to shake some sense into him, but when he cried at the end...my heart broke.

Jung Seok is a frustrating character, but I still find myself wanting him to improve as a person and earn some happiness. Huge props to Ha Suk Jin for playing his character very well. I don't think that I would have this much empathy for a frustrating character otherwise.

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I wanted to punch Jung Seok few minutes earlier and then that scene happened.

30 seconds of scene was enough to make me emotional and I was about to cry. Thankfully i successfully faced that emotional moment. No need to waste tears on a such a foolish event.

I just watched episode 16 and The end is Surprising and Predictable both.

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Totally feeling this! Ha Suk-jin effect, or maybe Ha Suk-jin paradox: the absolute jerk that melts your heart...

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If it isn't Ha Suk Jin as Jung Seok, I wouldn't have watched this drama or simply ignore JS's existence.

Every time I get angry with Jung Seok, I find myself laughing at the same time because Ha Suk Jin makes it clear that JS is more of a laughing stock than someone cool.

I was less confident of how he can off gut wrenching scenes where he has to cry. Well, as much as I hated JS in this episode, my heart did ache for him at the ending scene. Props to Ha Suk Jin :)

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But his action is predictable. I know that he will break up with HaNa that way coz if not, that's not him anymore, the High Quality trash that we know

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Maybe the name is a self-fullfilling prophecy? Haha.

See parents, this is what happens when you give your kids weird names.

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What is the meaning of jin sang.....just asking as I am not korean....

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ouch...that break up was very harsh :( damn noble idiocy when you hit us in the heart :'(

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That's really high quality noble idiocy...

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I kind of disagree with Lollypips assessment of Gongmyung as the mature man for Hana. Like all the characters on this show, he is also very flawed. To qoute a K-netizen on this point:
"[+435, -31] Gong Myung only showed willingness to study for a few days. His hyung gave up his dream to become a professor due to his family's situation, his sunbae backstabbed him and he had no choice but be rough to survive in a jungle-like industry. Gong Myung attended a third rate university with his hyung's hard earned money, his mom entrusted him to his hyung while studying to become a civil servant. Who is he to diss his brother, he thinks studying hard for a few days makes him so amazing. He reminds me of a tween who's desperate for attention"
Essentially, Gongmyung is an immature guy in his mid-twenties with no job, no sense of responsibility, and a huge inferiority complex. And the only reason he wanted to change was because he naively latched onto someone he likes without due consideration for her feelings. And as bad as Jungseok is with his selfish behavior, i think Gongmyung's childish mentality, reflected clearly by how he acted like a kid-who-lost-his-toy after knowing about Jungseok's relationship with Hana, towards life is even worse.

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Do you want someone who has a big ego but has lots of money and who may treat you like a low quality attendant once the love wanes? Or o you want someone with a big heart but with no future and who are more likely to treat you with respect like a princess?

If we could have all the good qualities of JS and GM combined, that would be perfect. But unfortunately, everyone is flawed in one way or another in the real world, so we will make tough choices and just live with all the imperfection.

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tbh all people need to treat people with respect, it's not a privilege and I think JS did pretty good to Hana after they date, and he is in the process of changing, relationship is about change and stay, if you can't stay for someone in their lowest place, do you really can live with them?

but to choose someone you don't love just because he seems nice also not a better relationship, that is friendship,

both guys have flaws but in term of relationship,
hana doesn't knew many things about GM and GM too, they just interacted a lot,
with JS, they understand each other until JS doesn't want to do it (initiated a break up), will it more believable to stay with someone you love and told them the right path until your love can't hold it up anymore?

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I agree with you @Sancheezy. People don't always choose the nicer person to fall in love with. That's why often you can see a heartbreak coming and yet you just can't stop yourself from falling further.

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All illusions of Gong-myung being mature should've been shattered this episode. I don't see how anyone can make that claim.

Hana calls Gong-myung out and tells him she's seeing someone. Gong-myung asks her if she likes the man. Hana tells him she likes him a lot.

That should be the end of it.

After much thought, here's what Gong-myung decides. He writes out a text telling Hana that he's fine with her dating anyone except the guy she's dating right now. Because that guy really isn't right for her. He then deletes the text because he wants to speak to her directly, but it's very telling that this is his thought process after Hana has told him she's dating and likes the man she's dating. How does anyone think this is mature or okay in any way?

He's a child. And an idiotic one at that.

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Absolutely agree. Let's just say that if someone funded my education like that I would at least be on his side and wouldn't automatically assume he's bad for Hana because more than anyone else he has to know that his hyung is good to those he loves. But the way he's acting is more alongside a love rival trope or second lead rather than a doongsaeng who knows his own brother.

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Well, I think the whole point of their relationship is that they don't know each other. They were forced to co-habitate, which is probably the closest they've been their whole lives. They have always had this rivalry, partly forced upon them by their parents who always compare them to each other. Gong-myung was never one to assume the best of his brother and vice versa.

I agree that Gong-myung is as immature as his brother, but his immaturity comes with age. He's at that age to be too brash but with experience that will calm down. With Jung-seok, he's too old to be this immature and rude. He never learned how to be humble and respectful. Hana has slowly taught him to be, but he still has a long way to go.

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Remember, GM knows his brother all too well. He knows exactly how thoughtlessly cruel and vain he is. GM would've probably backed off without protest if he found Ha-na was dating a decent guy (I think he said as much). But he sees his brother as a worst scenario nightmare match for her.

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Yeah, I'm with you guys. While Jung Seok has some very visible flaws, I can see why Hana was attracted to him, and why she never even considered Gong Myung. He's a cute kid, but very much a kid. (Also, for me personally, being able to hold down a job is non-negotiable.)

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I agree on one thing GM never respected hana's decision.. "I'll never give up if it's you" crap was like a child tantrums but still he treats people better

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Hi, I've been lurking at Dramabeans for years and this is my first post. ^^ I've really been enjoying watching this show and also reading your recaps. Thank you very much!

I would agree with you that I liked the way Jung Seok aknowledged his brother's feelings but am totally exasperated at what he did after that. I think a big step for him would be realizing that she actually has a name and to start using it.

I loved the students as usual, although I was a bit annoyed with Chaeyeon. Getting Hana out of the picture doesn't automatically mean the Gongmyung will like her.

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere but the boys did a live V Live broadcast last week as a reward for getting 3% ratings and I thought it was adorable. You can watch it on your computer, too, but I don't know how to post links here. ^^;;

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Re: Chaeyeon, her reasons for passive-aggressively confronting Hana were annoying but the effect was surprisingly good. Hana finally comes clean to Gong-myung. As usual, this show has me feeling conflicted about everyone (which is good, because real life, yo!)

PS Congrats on unlurking!

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Thank you! Yes, I was a bit annoyed but it had a good result. :)

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Now, who's the real Noryiangjin idiot?

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?

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I Like The Way Js Broke Up With Hana, It Was The Most Belivable Manner Possible; That Is In His No Reason Highassness Even His Brother Would Not Suspect. And On The Topic Of Gm I Think Js Is Just Trying Or Making An Effort To Make Gm Happy By His Own Doing Trying To Not An Obstacle Between What Makes Him Happy.Despite I Belive Sitting Down And Having A Sensible Conversation Will Do

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As I read this comment all I was so distracted by the way you capitalised the first letter in every word that all I could hope was that you used MS word 'sentence case'.

On your comment though - I'm not pleased with either of the brothers actually. But if I were HaNa there is no way I would forgive JeonSeok for talking to me like that even if he explained why.

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I agree with you on how Jin Sang broke up with HaNa. It may be rude, yes, but that's his attitude. that's him. On Gong Myung, while everybody else is defending him, I really wanna punch him!
He's been only thinking for himself and not thinking of Hana's feelings. Cmmon' your love is one sided. Why does other one sided lover feel that they are entitled to someone they like?

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Urgh, I wanted to kick something (or someone, e.g. Jung-seok) while watching this episode, my most dreaded and hated kdrama trope happened...the damn NI card, why writer-nim, why??? Is there no other way to show Jung-seok's growth...after getting through so much assholery we the viewers deserved cuteness and happiness in the final two episodes!
Now, where's our voice of reason, Dong-young?

On another note... to me it really looked like Jin-yi had no idea why Jin-woong was acting like that until they showed the flashback and I was like, hold on, did she really pretend the whole day that nothing happened? Ok, she should change her job and become an actress. Lol

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I feel like there should be a big "NOPE" card that can be played to negate this NI card when it's put on the table.

*Character starts up the noble idiocy*
*I come over and stamp their forehead with a big NOPE; action countermanded! Please try again.*

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Show, why did you hit us with this kind of angst on episode 15? With only one episode left? Huhu

I think I would have been fine with this plot point had it occurred earlier or if they had more episodes left to tackle it. But we don't. There were many ways to address the issue, but we got stuck with noble idiocy instead.

The show is ending, and I don't know if a happy ending is even possible now. Gah, I need a beer.

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I'm sorry LollyPip, but I completely disagree with your interpretation here. I'm not even sure how you came to some of your conclusions.

These comments are just completely wrong:

"It could even be argued (and this is what I think Jung-seok is so upset about) that Gong-myung loves Hana better."

That's not what Jung-seok is upset about at all. We ended EP14 with Gong-myung telling Jung-seok that he's not giving up on Hana. That's his one declaration and he says it with meaning. In EP15, we see Jung-seok think that he'll give up eventually, and it won't be an issue. Except Gong-myung's friends make it clear to him that he's very serious about Hana. Then his mother tells him that he's changed. These are indications to him that it's serious. Then he sees the texts on Hana's phone and realizes that his brother might not actually get over these feelings, and he is indeed very serious about her.

Then consider that declaration from Gong-myung at EP14. Gong-myung tells him he will not give up on Hana. He clearly doesn't care what Hana thinks here. We have an entire confrontation in this episode where Gong-myung writes out a text that Jung-seok is not right for Hana, but decides he'll speak to her in person instead. Not because of anything else, but because he doesn't think Jung-seok is right for her.

Jung-seok is not giving up on on Hana because Gong-myung loves Hana better. That's just asinine. He's giving up because he realizes his brother is too serious, and clearly as we can see, a bit of an idiot. He's literally trying to break up their relationship.

This is not Jung-seok being an ass. This is Gong-myung being a moron, and Jung-seok deciding to be a noble idiot because he doesn't want to cause an issue with his family. Because despite how Jung-seok acts towards his younger brother, it's clear he does care for him.

"At times, yes, he’s been a bit relentless with his feelings, but it’s not entirely his fault, because it’s true that Hana let him think he had a chance with her in order to get him to keep studying."

This is completely wrong. Hana implies pretty strongly to Gong-myung that she doesn't have feelings for him, and that she doesn't like the fact that he may be studying just because he thinks he has a chance with her. This happened just recently. Gong-myung isn't an idiot. He clearly got her implication and reassured her that it's not the only reason he's studying.

"So in that sense I do understand why Jung-seok broke up with Hana, because it has to be a real blow to see those texts from his brother and realize that he’s treated Hana better than Jung-seok ever has. Jung-seok knows that he’s an ass, but he’s always told himself it was okay because those other people are beneath him anyway."

Again, no idea how you came to this conclusion. This feels like you're seeing what you want to rather than what the show is portraying. He's not realizing that Gong-myung has treated Hana better...

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...he's realizing that his feelings are serious, and considering how Gong-myung has told him he's not giving up, he's realized that this could be a very serious problem.

"It’s no wonder Jung-seok had the knee-jerk reaction to break up with her, thinking that she’d be better off with someone who loves her better."

This has nothing to do with the situation. Jung-seok already knows Hana is not going to be with Gong-myung. He's not backing away to give Gong-myung a chance. Hana already made it clear to him she doesn't see him as a man.

Jung-seok is backing away because Gong-myung is his brother. And while he may love Hana, she's still not family, and their relationship was just beginning. He backed out before things became more serious, and far too complicated, because despite his love for Hana, at this moment in time, he does not want his family unit destroyed. It's that typical Korean drama sense of responsibility.

With all due respect, wow do you even come to these conclusions? It's just not at all what the drama is portraying.

The only issue is Gong-myung's feelings. That's why EP16 will likely involve Gong-myung backing out from acting like a child, which will allow Jung-seok and Hana to get together. Even though the real course of action should have been Hana telling Gong-myung to mind his own business, Jung-seok coming clean that his younger brother is Gong-myung and he's worried how he'll be affected by their relationship, and Gong-myung growing up because he's not a damn child and not sticking his nose into someone else's relationship to break it up despite how wrong he may think that person is for another.

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With all due respect, you can agree to disagree. Before reading this recap, I already got the same conclusions with the recapper, so doesn't it stand that people's different experiences would shape how they see the situation? Whatever the show is portraying is up for interpretation. A different reasoning is not entirely wrong...
Gong Myung's argument from day 1 about their relationship was that Jung Seok was going to hurt her. Jung Seok himself compared how he had treated Hana to how Gong Myung did right from the start, and then decided to break up with her. If he really wanted to be responsible all he had to do was tell his brother that he will treat her well. It's that simple.

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It really doesn't have anything to do with experiences. Interpretations can indeed be wrong. And that interpretation is inconsistent with what was demonstrated by the story itself. You have to look at the greater picture to understand what the drama is saying, and that's not really hard to do here considering how hard it was hammered in. Not to mention, this kind of thing is pretty typical in dramas. Now that I've seen EP16, it's even more obvious that this interpretation is flat out wrong.

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I agree with literally everything you've written

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I really like your interpretation. For me, it clarifies so much of this episode.

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>> He backed out before things became more serious, and far too complicated, because despite his love for Hana, at this moment in time, he does not want his family unit destroyed<<

Ooh I really see your point... I get what JS did and it doesn't seem that bad except if you are a shipper that needs the ships to sail, (imo)
I knew he did it badly but I completely see how he thought about it, it's all about Gong Myeong and he just started dating,

that just them and even if I want them to react differently but I understand how they come to this stage,
I also agree that GM is immature,
it seems like many things is wrong and he is right by his way of telling something but he doesn't listen to anyone,
one thing about being mature is listening to someone before making a remark and gong myung just go with "I am right cause I always the nice person" every time I saw him,

Jin Sang is scared personality, too afraid for the better things,
I've talked about my private tendency and this is mostly true,
I can find myself afraid to hurt people and just disengage when every thing becomes complicated cause I am a shitty person and don't deserves it, or I just disengage because the problem is me and I can work fine like before, I don't need to sacrifice my family relation but when it happen
"I knew I am fd up and I don't know what to said"
well that was a bad time and still is,

this is JS breaking point and I honestly understand it, but it probably work different in drama than real life,
drama need to speed up something or give a time stamp to make people realised how long this kind of feels happen cause I find this is hard to explain,
it need to be shown with scene and time stamp

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I'm absolutely furious that the show has pulled this trope at the 11th hour. First, why resort to this? Secondly, it doesn't fit with the rest of the drama at all. The show has tackled serious issues well but not this one. Lastly, it's impossible to resolved all this in the last episode satisfactorily and logically.

Let me get this out first. I hated the way Jung Seok broke up with Ha Na. Perhaps it's beyond his ability to understand how words can devastate a person especially some like Ha Na. I know that he meant well but it doesn't make his action any less deplorable. Jung Seok thought that by being as nasty as possible, Ha Na will find it easier to get over him. However, he trampled on Ha Na's growing bud of self-confidence. She was lacking in the area but showed signs of improvement. With this blow, I wonder if she'll regress or become even worse. Of course, Ha Na's self esteem should not depend on Jung Seok or any guy. Still, it's a bummer that this had to happen.

I don't know if Jung Seok was being an noble idiot. Before this episode, I had no doubts about it. However, after watching, I think it's not so much a case of giving up Ha Na to Gong Myung but rather he's putting family ties and harmony above himself.

I agree with @Jolly assessment of why Jung Seok broke up with Ha Na. Jung Seok and Ha Na's relationship right now is best described as the initial stage of falling in love. They barely even started dating. Jung Seok thought it's best to give up his interest now for the sake of family. I guess it's an Asian thing where family comes first before self. In the past, many even held the belief that one's parents and family comes before one's spouse.

It wasn't because Jung Seok thought Gong Myung loves Ha Na better or that GM is the better man for Ha Na. It just hit him real hard that GM is dead serious about Ha Na. Hence if Jung Seok continues to be with Ha Na, he fears that Gong Myung and him will forever be estranged. Already, his mother was affected when she saw the brothers not talking to each other. It will be worst if they totally fall out.

What I don't understand though is why Jung Seok wants to appear to be such a bad guy to Gong Myung? Is he playing the same game with GM as he did with Ha Na? I can only reason thus - JS doesn't want GM to think he gave up Ha Na for GM. He wants GM to think he's a jerk and therefore he dumped Ha Na. That will supposedly give Gong Myung the chance to pursue Ha Na without guilt. Lest I be misunderstood, JS isn't trying to get GM and Ha Na together since he knows Ha Na's feelings towards GM. It's more of JS pulling himself out of the picture and letting things be.

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I would like to think that all the hurt Jung Seok is feeling now is knowledge that he has inflicted the most cruel blow to his new love. It doesn't make him a better person or cut him a better excuse. But he's feeling devastated from letting go someone he truly likes and from hurting her badly. That he has to continue to do so in order to keep up the pretense is even more agonizing.

I am in middle ground when it comes to Gong Myung. I don't think he's the better man for Ha Na or that his love is better. I just see him as a naive youngster who has a lot of growing up to do. I don't belittle his love or the way he loves because that's totally in line with his character right now.

I think both brothers are equally to be blamed for their state of relationship even before Ha Na came into the picture. JS should started to treat GM like an adult even if GM doesn't demonstrate all the traits yet. Treating GM like a child will actually make him stay longer as one. I know that JS acted more like a reproachful father to GM's antics but his style is seriously outdated in today's parenting even if he's really more like a father than brother to GM.

Gong Myung has grown up in the shadow of his brother. While his mother put all the family's hopes and responsibilities on JS, GM became the baby of the family who never grew up. At same point GM should have appreciated what JS has done for the family. But just like a child who takes for granted what his parents have given up for him, GM did too. It didn't help that JS probably spent more time berating and scolding him instead of nurturing. Or maybe he was so busy trying to make it in the real world that whatever little time he had for his brother was more to correct his faults than some genuine heart to heart talk.

Coming back to Jung Seok and Ha Na's break up...I was scratching my head at how JS could have broken up with Ha Na properly? Can't he just tell her the truth? That he chose family over her? Would that make it so much harder for Ha Na to get over JS than what actually happened?

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I think you're on the money with many things you've said here.

I didn't even consider that Jung-seok's heartache could be partly due to him realizing just how much he's hurt Hana, but it makes sense since Gong-myung kept on mentioning to him how hurt she is, and whether he doesn't care at all. He's putting on an act, but he's probably aware he's hurt her pretty badly and does have some regret. Hence why he was asking himself whether he was too harsh when he was drinking solo (oh look what I did there).

As for why he felt the need to be so harsh, I think it'll be because he probably thinks he'll cave in otherwise. It's clear he loves Hana, so maybe if he tried being sensible about it, she could still try to persuade him otherwise, which would lead to him being back at square one.

I still dislike that this whole thing happened frankly, because it's too late in the series. It would've been better to focus on their character growth now as we finish off the series. No one wants to see noble idiocy as it is, let alone when we're one episode away from the end.

I do agree with your comments about the brother's relationship. I think my problem with this relationship is that the conflict does not feel earned at all. It seems like the typical stern older brother, and all we really have to go off is that Gong-myung does not like his older brother. (Although it's clear he cares since he didn't like learning about his nickname.)

This leave us with an issue, because it's not been demonstrated enough that Jung-seok really treats Gong-myung poorly, or always has. The only problematic instance is when he was poking him in the head, which was way too far. Aside from that, he's a bit of an ass, but he's also allowed him to stay with him, is apparently responsible for the finances of his household which allows Gong-myung to be as lazy as he is, and even didn't react as harshly as I thought he would to Gong-myung taking his car. And considering Gong-myung is brave enough to do that in the first place, he clearly doesn't feel any fear from his brother, which means we can cross any potential abuse.

So we're left with a conflict which is silly. It wouldn't even exist if Jung-seok was just a little nicer to his brother.

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And you were doing so well~

Well I don't understand how someone so self-reflective and logical couldn't figure out a way to mutually break up. The only way I can see this ending is with everybody single and getting their priorities straight because to be honest, a lot them need to work on themselves and their personal relationships before they get into romantic relationships.

Or they can resolve things in season 2 perhaps?

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When Jin-yi gave Hana tickets to an art exhibit, I thought: Didn't they just went to a museum?

Then I remember, its from a different drama.

Minus the rubber of course.

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Uhhmm. So nobody is actually bothered that Jin Yi was utterly drunk and in no mentally acceptable state to give consent. And then she gets into her most vulnerable state crying about her fear of never to be loved. Yet the guy slept with her anyway and even dismissed her irritation/anger after she woke up by basically saying that she seduced him and 'wasn't like that earlier' as some moody tsundere behavior. Sorry that's fucking rape.

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So we hate wrist grabbing but the reviewer is chuckling HEE at this scene like it's some cheeky cute comedic scene?

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The law differs in most places, but drunk sex =/= rape if the parties involved expressly gave consent. If two drunk people give their consent then they can sleep together. They had been drinking together, so it's not like she was drunk and he wasn't. Canadian law says "You actually have to be able to give consent. That means you have to be awake, conscious, and sober enough to make a clear decision". (http://www.consented.ca/consent/consent-and-canadian-law/). If she said yes before they did it and she actively participated, then I don't see it as rape.

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Um no he was pretty much sober to her blackout drunk. Hence why he remembered everything and was capable of actually taking her home. 1 drink doesn't equal drunk. Like dude had unprotected sex with a drunk woman while he was sober and she ended up getting pregnant. I know it's a comedy and all but that was kinda dark

It's not like I do I do where both characters where blackout drunk and had sex

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I think we were supposed to think it was funny but it came off as a bit too much. She was at her most vulnerable and he wasn't drunk. It just escalated all too quickly.

Overall Ki Bum and Dong Yong were the most mature characters this episode, in spite of the Smurfs song. That friendship can withstand anything.

And my favourite tracksuit made an appearance! Almost redeemed the fact that we got to see Noble Idiocy rear its ugly head...

Off to watch the finale now.

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So it was wrong for Jin-yi to have read through Hana's texts (which it absolutely was) but when Jung-seok does it, it's okay because he learned how much Gong-myung loved her?

Those be some mad double standards.

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Kinda figure out what'll happen in this episode from the preview; thank God there's DB & LollyPip, will go straight to watching 16...

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I really don't think the scriptwriter should pull this breakup at the second last episode because honestly speaking, there is no way to salvage the relationship in the last episode. Professor Jin would remain as a jerk even though the scriptwriter would try his/her best to make him seem like he never forgets her and still loves her deeply.

HE WAS FAR TOO HARSH IN HIS WORDS!!!

He was so selfish. Yes, he has the responsibility to keep his family together (I'm more convinced by @Jolly explanation because it sounded more probable than giving Hana up because Gong Myung treats her better) and he should not worsen the relationship with his brother. However, his relationship with his brother will not improve even if Professor Jin gives Park Hana up!!! Professor Jin has always been a uncaring brother who doesn't even flinch when he heard that his brother is in the hospital. Their relationship has always been bad because he is a bad brother, not because of Park Hana. Professor Jin SHOULD talk to Gong Myung and improves their relationship instead of pulling such an ass move.

Omg. Why did the scriptwriter want to write something like this at the very last moment? The male lead has been completely ruined and there is seriously, NO WAY OF SALVAGE.

(I came here after watching the last episode and the scriptwriter tried her best to salvage but I wasn't convinced).

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Just everyone hurting each other on a normal day, folks. But ugh, Jung-seok. Ugh Gong-myung. You two need to TALK. Not do stupid stuff that you'll come to regret.

As for Jin-yi and Jin-woong, I wish they'd showed a bit more of their one night stand, if only to expressly make it clear that she consented and so did he. Because you can now only tell from the next episode, it's sort of misleading.

Ki-bum and Dong-young, still the bestest friends ever.

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This drama is funny.

It started off and continued as a slice of life drama (okay, maybe the teachers were sometimes a tad bit too cartoony) exploring people's reasons, feelings and motivations but ends off like a fairytale what with the sudden plots (deux ex machina style) to tie everything up that fall from the sky, lol.

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Why is noble idiocy such a popular trope in kdramas? Why do writers find it so compelling? Or is it just an easy cop out, a quick way to create angst?

I really don't get why it's used so much. I can think of few ways that can more ruin a drama for me than pulling the noble idiot card in the eleventh hour.

Maybe noble idiocy is more common out in the real world than I'm aware of. Anyone met a noble idiot before?

Please, someone explain.

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If you are talking about noble idiocy as in giving up a girl for a friend, then the answer is no. However, it's not uncommon for couples to part ways because of family's objections or an issue like Jung Seok & Gong Myung's. I'll say as many as there are couples who stay together despite family issues, there are couples who break up because of them. I'm Asian, maybe it's got to do with our culture. It could be different elsewhere. That said, the parties involved are clear about the reason for breaking up. This actually brings up a good point. I have not watched ep 16 but it seems like Ha Na knew why Jung Seok broke up with her after she found out that JS and GM are brothers. I may be wrong.

Another noble idiocy trope is where one has a serious illness or is dying of a terminal illness. In the couple of cases I've seen, the patient talk about it instead of hiding the illness from the other party. None of those convoluted stuff that dramas like to portray.

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Thanks! This was helpful.

Also for the illness situation, I think in real life it's really difficult to keep a serious, terminal illness a secret from a spouse or significant other. In cases like that, the physical toll on the body is just too obvious. Not to mention all the hospital visits and medication.

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No ... this family opinion actually matter imo,
many couples break up for family and that's real because as much as you see how people said to someone, you have to see what they did too,

Idk if this a lot, but in Asian family, it often hard to heard a praise from your parents but they'll always told you to study,
then little you realised, they already pay all your tuition and the only thing they said is to asked you to study...

they bear the same hardness but many people doesn't like to talks because the sacrifices is what they have to do, it's the common sense that parents will do anything for their children no matter what they said (this is the Asian Descendant talk from my blood)

so I don't think this is a noble idiocy,
if there's bro code, this is how it play, one feel guilty to date the guy others love and initiated a break up with the girl and told the reason,
stupid but heart can't bear what it can't and it gets talk

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westerners have a bit of different concept of family than asians. I completely agree with Jolly's comments. Family matters a lot. That's why Mothers aka future mother-in-laws have significant role in dramas.

But we have to admit it was a bit of Cheap and Lazy writing by the writer.

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Its not terribly different though from tropes like engagements that can never be broken because of a gentleman's word in Western period dramas.

Doing the decent thing aka being noble has different connotations in different cultures. And romantic love as the highest from of love - for which anything may be thrown under the bus - is not always as pre-eminent in the world as it is in Western cultures.

tbh if it ruins your viewing you are better off not watching certain kinds of Asian dramas. Because well it is not "idiocy" for them but a cherished value. That is why it recurs, albeit in a modern form. Just like improbable everlasting romances - dunno may be it can be called romantic idiocy - recur in dramas from some parts of the West irrespective of the actual state of society.

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Na Yun Chan "Already memories" so beautiful and so meaningful!

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Pulling in the noble idiot card at the last minute is a drama move I hate the mostest. Like Jung-suk choosing this second to the last episode to actually think about his brother's feelings when he has ignored and dismissed him for the last 14 episodes is so absurd I had my eyes rolling to the back of my head 'til the credits ended.

Still, I would watch this again for the Noryangjin Trio of Idiots and Min Jin-woong's wacky impersonations.

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I know right? I'm with you on this. I hate when writers do this and ruined the characters (especially the main lead) that were improving and doing so good to do a last minute stupid move when they don't have time to fix the mess they created with one episode left. I still love this series (mainly for the awesome ensemble cast, the cute and adorable Hana & JS moments, and the great balance of comedy and dramatic moments as it kept me watching and entertained), but these last two episodes were just disappointing and left me unsatisfied. To think this drama was consistently my top favorite from the top 3 (with FantastiC and 1% of Anything remake at #2 and 3) I'm currently watching. But I think the order has changed now with FantastiC moving up on top (because that drama never disappointed me and it never failed to impressed me. I just loved that series and fantastic cast. Loved the ending too!) and 1% of Something/Anything moving to the second spot as I'm loving and enjoying HSJ more on it as I am with him in DS. And now DS with the last two episodes just moved it down to the bottom of the top 3, lol. Oh, well...like I said I still love this drama for the most part and will marathon it (well, mostly the episodes I loved and enjoyed watching the most) next Monday/Tuesday as I don't have any dramas to watch on those days with MDBC and this series done. Also, most of the dramas I've been watching have just ended or already ended. I only have one left that is my priority watch, which is One Percent of Something on Wednesdays and Thursdays because I'm loving and enjoying watching it. Not too mention, the episodes are short and it's light and breezy. :-)

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well they talks the breaks up,

I probably watch this on very limited focused yesterday so pardon of this comment just on the surface,
as the big sibling, I can see how make a strain in your own life for your younger sibling can be an option,

GM needs to study and focuses, give him another reason to give up feels like a bad idea as bad as breaks up,

but I think JS always think about his brother, he let him leave at his lair, he lets him use his car and that comes to a person as private as JS,

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Wow, both brothers Jung-Seok and Gong-Myung really disappointed me in this episode, most especially at Jung-Seok for breaking up with Hana (and harshly too...poor girl, she was lost and confused and had no idea that JS and GM were even brothers to begin with...until after she was dumped). I think I'm even more disappointed with the writer(s) for the way these brothers were written and portrayed (not the actors because they were just doing their job). As others have mentioned here, they should've resolved the brothers' issues and told Hana they were brothers in previous episodes prior to this. Why bring angst on this episode when there's just one more episode left? To think I was loving and enjoying this series because it mostly kept me watching and entertained on Mondays/Tuesdays and it also kept on the light and funny with the heavy/emotional scenes. But the writers had to ruin their wonderful drama with this noble idiocy that JS did to Hana at the last hour in resolving his brotherly issues. They should've done this in episode 13 or 14 and not in this episode that it's getting closer to the end. His character was improving and changing only for it to get back to being a complete jerk. I know he wasn't going to change overnight, but he was slowly to and becoming likable. I did feel for him (more so on HSJ's wonderful acting...that's what made me root for JS in previous episodes and ship his relationship with Hana...only for the character to harshly break up with the woman who did nothing wrong to him, which he supposedly love and worked hard to start a relationship with her only to dumped her because his younger brother has serious (one-sided feelings for her, which she made it clear to GM that she has no romantic feelings for him and that she liked his older brother a lot) when his heartache and he was crying at the end. But only a little and I don't feel sorry or feel bad for him because he did it to himself. Like that 80s Wilson Phillips song (Hold On), JS got no one to blame, but himself, for his unhappiness, he got himself onto his own mess, lol. So, yeah...I didn't like and was disappointed with this episode. I've seen the last one last night (still raw...waiting for full Eng subs...it's taking so long and making me lost interest in re-watching it, lol) and it didn't feel like it was the end at all nor did it left me satisfied with the ending. Oh, well, that's for another recap discussion...

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I am not sure whether someone commented on it previously before or not, but this is the deal breaker and something that I value highly as a tool of measurement of someone's respect towards me. What I mean is: THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE, YOU DO NOT READ SOMEONE'S TEXTS WITH IMPUNITY. Especially if that someone is your friend/boyfriend. I consider it absolute breach of trust and I would not trust such a person ever again, that friend would instantly stop being my friend at the very moment they dared to accuse me of anything they spied on me. I might feel bad about not telling them of my personal life, but that would be covered quickly by me being absolutely furious over their apparent and clear lack of respect towards me. You do not accuse someone of lying to you while doing such a thing to them. I am extremely sensitive about such matters, I have no troubles whatsoever ignoring things not shown specifically to me, even if they're available at easy glance. I do not accept anyone not having such restrictions, and it upsets me a great deal, this lack of trust.

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Ha-na is NOT a toy you fight over. The hyung does not just "let" his dongseung "have" the woman.

That was the WORST part of the writing and the break up. Shows that BOTH JS and GM are still just BOYS.

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Except that's not what Jung-seok did at all. He didn't let his brother have the woman. LollyPip's interpretation is completely off the mark.

He backs off because he doesn't want to cause a serious problem with Gong-myung because Gong-myung simply wasn't going to give up. And rather than destroy his family unit, he felt it was better to just end the relationship. He already knows Gong-myung has no chance with Hana. That's the only reason.

The only boy is Gong-myung who clearly doesn't know when to respect someone's feelings.

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I just want to clarify, because I realize now that my statement is unclear:

"It’s no wonder Jung-seok had the knee-jerk reaction to break up with her, thinking that she’d be better off with someone who loves her better."

I didn't intend to imply that Jung-seok broke up with Hana so that Gong-myung could have her. What I meant was that he saw how respectful and honest Gong-myung's feelings for Hana were, and in comparison, he felt that his own treatment of her fell far short of what she deserved. So when I said he broke up so she could find someone who loves her better, I meant ANY man who could love her better than Jung-seok felt he'd done. Not Gong-myung in particular.

Hope that clears that up :)

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Another good episode. Can't believe it's almost over. I'll be sad to see this show end.

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Can we just appreciate for a while the college flashback scene of our 3 students? I was laughing so hard when KiBum was imitating Hyun Bin in SECRET GARDEN. I wanna watch it again like nowwwww ...
And Prof. Min and Wang one night stand was so funny! at least this otp ended up :) I'm so happy for them.
Clearly we have so many disappointments on the last episodes. I hope Season 2 will give a clearer view. (crossing fingers for season 2 to happen)

All casts will be in Vietnam for their vacation trip this November!

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It pissed me so much that he broke with her because he felt bad for the brother...are her feeling not relevants??

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This is so funny 🤣 , the fact that she said she was dumped because she did not know Na Yoon Cha the artist 😂😂

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