I love everything about this show so far. I love Dani. I love Eun-ho. I love that publishing house. I love the bookshelves. I love --you get it :) Thanks for the awesome recap, @sunny! Basically, the recap captures a lot of my specific likes and fears, from the realistic-ness of the workplace to the depth given to the side characters--and the hope (fear) that Hae-rin doesn't end up as the antagonist. I'm torn between keeping up with this live and saving it to binge in a few big batches later. We'll see I guess!

I am really enjoying this drama. I love love Dan-Yi, what a fabulous character. To be honest I kind of don't want this to be a Rom-Com, another beanie said this in previous comments, but just a drama about watching her grow into her own woman once again would be amazing. Lee Na-Young is killing it, I had only seen her in that tragic dram Runaway Plan B, but she is giving me my whole life in this drama.

Eun-Ho is growing on me, but he doesn't do anything for me yet. He is far less of a jerk in this episode than last episode.

I like Seo-Joon. I like Seo-Joon and Dan-yi's interactions. They have good chemistry, not necessarily romantic chemistry, but good chemistry.

Ji-Yul makes me laugh. I liked her character in third Charm and I like her character here.

Hae-Rin had a real come-to-Jesus moment with Dan-Yi and it was beautiful. Compassion goes a long way and Dan-Yi taught her that. Also I find it interesting that Hae-Rin and Eun-Ho both have the same drinking quirk of going to their crushes homes after too much alcohol.

As for Hoon, he seems eager and just very sweet.

"Enchanted." That's the word. I too, am utterly Enchanted with this drama. Thank you for the review, Sunny.

I'm still very much on the fence about this show but I'll just make two comments about things that struck me while watching this.

The first is that this show really needs the reality of her daughter in it. It feels like the daughter is just an offscreen reason for so many things to happen but not a reality that she and Eun-ho have to deal with. If the writers think a romance isn't possible without the vacuum left by the absence of her child then... maybe it isn't? If she's a 37-year-old single Mum then make her a single Mum. This is the show's biggest problem for me.

Secondly, what struck me in this episode is how she never feels as though she can truly talk to Eun-ho or ask his help. I can't imagine how awful her relationship with her husband must have been that her first instinct in any situation is to manipulate, sneak around, or abuse. This is a woman who has clearly never had a person to rely on for a very long time. I know some people don't like her for it - especially the alcohol scene - but her thinking that he'll only help her if he pities her and that he will pull the rug from underneath her at any time says more about there marriage than anything else that's happened.

As an aspiring author and artist, and current librarian, who one day wants to design and illustrate her OWN book covers, this episode was really interesting to me.
I appreciate Eun Ho's sentiment about it's what's inside the book that counts, but I think everyone knows at this point, the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" when taken literally is hogwash. People DO judge books by their cover. All the time. How do you think people choose a new book of unknown topic and unknown author at the library? By the cover!
If the cover isn't interesting, and the blurb not engaging, people will not read the book. Many people like to read the first page or chapter instead because of this, or of course, word of mouth, topical interest, or previously known, but even then people browse and judge by cover and blurb. If you're a big name author you don't really need a good blurb or cover, because people buy you for the name alone.
However this episode also highlighted why I want to self or indie publish. These days publishing houses are large machines. The marketing makes the blurb, the designer the cover, and often in a big publishing company the writer will have very little say at all.
Not only that but the kind of mainstream covers and blurbs that come out from big houses are… well they’re kind of horrible.
I judge book designs on a regular basis. Poor font choice, campy model photography, colours that won't age well, or how there's just a specific kind of cover and blurb for every genre and they're all carbon copies and it's boring, and so you HAVE to be the aforementioned well-known name to sell that kind of book, because by the blurb and cover, they’re all the same. It’s shocking really. The cover and blurb are so important from a marketing POV and yet apparently book cover designers can't design and blurb writers can’t blurb... (Free the unconventional book cover designs! People like pretty engaging covers! We’re magpies!)

Because I want to be both- illustrator and author- the restriction of large corporations, and the subsequent churning out of less than quality work, both written and design- has always frustrated me.
Why can't I design my own covers? Write my own blurbs? I look up to people like Tolkien and Terry Pratchett because Tolkien DID paint his own book covers (the original editions are all his water colours), and if you tell me Terry didn't write his own blurbs, when they're some of the best, and most misleading but brilliant blurbs I've ever read, well, I'll eat my hat.

My dream, my goal, unrealistic though it may seem, and hard though it may be, for my work is to make the ENTIRE book, cover to cover, a work of art that I am happy with. Where it is not just the reading material that is the important part of the book, but everything, from the cover design, to the blurb, to the acknowledgements, even the publishing details page, to make the entire book a piece of art, a project, something that...

Everyone else: *talks about Dan Yi and Eun Ho and characterizations and on a scale of one through magpie on the fence to pleasant frolicking how much they love the show *
Sic: SO BOOKS! and ART!
Excuse me fellow book wyrms, where are thee?

I continue to like this show more and more with each episode. I almost wish the writer had laid some of this groundwork earlier on, because there is all this tension and backstory we're just getting into this week that might have drawn me in in the first week.

In some ways Eun Ho and Dan Yi are so wonderful. They clearly care for each other and have a deep bond. I actually loved how nonchalant he was about her basically squatting in his apt for a week and pretending to be her housekeeper--he seems used to her shenanigans and was more concerned about her situation. They seem to have no problem being blunt with each other about issues, and often wear their heart on their sleeves about how much they care for each other.

But in other really important ways they are so closed off. They struggle to show intimacy and weakness in two different ways--her with needing help and him with expressing love. Rather than see that as some reason they are unhealthy or will never work, I see it as something for them to work together to help each overcome. Or at least I hope the writer goes there. If not, then I'll just keep staring at all those lovely black turtlenecks.

So far so good- I am loving this show. And it is nice to see that we will indeed have a love quadrangle with proper second female who is not just a cardboard cutout nasty lady. Hae-rin is clearly head over heals for Eun-Ho. She also seems to be a decent, even likeable, lady. She will lose out not for any bad character reasons but simply because she waited too long- and she cannot possibly compete against Dan-i's long history with Eun-ho. Hae-rin is no loser- she is simply up against an impossible situation.

Hae-rin is destined to be an antagonist to Dan-I but if the writers are smart she will also be her fiend- and this fact will be the basis for some very good internal conflict. But, if the writers want, they could make that conflicted friendship the path that puts her together with our second male lead (and his lovely dog). Hae-rin will hopefully realize that she had a crush on the wrong guy, and now has found the right one. Just a suggestion. One that shows that I like my rom-coms extra fluffy.

For once, we have a heroine with A Past. Drama Land's female leads are usually clean and have made no mistakes. And then the male lead comes in and they live happily ever after. To me, dramaland usually reinforces the idea that you have to be "pure" to find that perfect, handsome, chaebol fella. But here is a rare drama where we're finally presented with something different.

Note: I'm not saying this is the first, only that it's a rare one.

I also appreciate that Dan-yi is not perfect. Very often I feel like I have no friends to talk to (and so I come and pour my feelings on the fanwall 😅) and rely upon in real life, so her sneaking around and doing things entirely on her own kind of makes sense. It seems to me like Eun Ho has never given Dan-yi any reason to believe he thinks of her as more than a noona anyway.

It's a given Dan-yi and Eun-ho became very, very good friends early on. However, I'm curious about the development of other feelings between them earlier in their relationship. Eun-ho has clearly been head over heels about Dan-yi for years but ..... did he simply never let her know? or did she simply never pick up on this fact? or did they both realize they liked each other more than friends but fell into the classic situation of "not wanting to mess up our friendship?"

On a different note, President Kim cracks me up.

Eun-ho speaks like a man who has never had to worry about money or what it takes to earn it. He truly sounded like a trust fund kid.

And I really enjoyed the interaction between Hoon and Ji-yul. Hoon could have been written as creepy, bumbling idiot and Ji-yul as a spoiled young lady with not much else going on. I really see growth with them as the series goes on.

And Ji-yul's boyfriend, I mean, I wanna hate him, but dude looked broken. Between that and calling her daughter's boss. Wow. Just...wow

Thanks Sunny.
I find this to be a sweet, charming show, and I'm quite charmed by it, notwithstanding some negative view on characters. I believe that I a certain familiarity and closeness makes it understandable and acceptable even, for friends to be both sneaky and impose on each other without malice and yet deep down caring, and that this is known and understood by both without rancour. In the complexity of being human persons, it's real that the same one who can be self-serving can also be other-centred, and in the realms of deep friendship, there is trust that over-stepping the boundaries will be generously forgiven.

Eun Ho and Dan-I's friendship reflects this wonderfully.

I'm amused that the older person here is the one who is childishly thoughtless and rash (but not in anyway mean) and probably brought on upon herself some of her troubles. She obviously flies with her feelings and not always with wisdom. Her very act of saving Eun Ho as a teen and her marriage/or attempts to get out of her wedding demonstrate that. She is more a menace to herself. I was heartily amused many times but how she let fly verbally, any thoughts that came to mind, and how Eun Ho's micro-expressions changed as he reacted by turning red with embarrassment over and over again.

One theme of interest in this show is the questions of names and identity. Dan-I's reveling in being called by name. After 7 years being called by her role, she is slowly coming back into herself. I found it revealing that her past flashbacks of the roles/titles she'd been called by were only in audia, but that we had video flashbacks of her recent times of being called by name.

Pseudonyms: It's cute that Seo Joon and Dan-I do not know each other's names (and have not asked!!) and that the dog has not been named. They are only Mr Umbrella and Ms Green Onions to each other and that's enough (for now?). What does it mean if they know each other's names? Will their relationship need to make a change? What does it mean that Seo Joon wants Dan-I to help name the dog for him? For one thing, the dog will be forever linked in Seo Joon's memory to Dan-I.

Book Covers: Does how the book look on the outside reflect it's contents? It may not, but should it? We so often say, we cannot judge a book by its cover, but people when likened to books, actually are judged by how they look, until they open themselves to us, or allow us to open them.

This brought to mind how Dan-I was judged to be an experienced office worker by the newbies and to be boring/out-of-date because she looked dowdy. As a sign of how difficult it is to judge from the cover, in the first case, appearances were wrong but in the second case, they were right. How a person presents himself is how he wants to be judged. Dan-I never let on about her true circumstances until she had no choice.

Seo Joon's identity - Eun Ho and wacky boss Jae Min meet Ji Seo Joon but they do not know that he is the...

I'm so in love with this drama. I love Dan-yi. She's so strong, fragile, and relatable to a woman in her age... Looking at Dan-yi's struggle while listening to Jannabi's song even made this drama more relatable.

I love how she's the happiest when people call her by her name... As in most Korean drama, when a woman married, she becomes someone's wife, someone's mother, someone's daughter-in-law, etc. Well, I guess that happened in most Asian countries when a woman usually "lost" her identity (name) once she got married.

In "Sky Castle", every woman character was called by her oldest child name.. even other characters' saved their phones number as the oldest child's mom: Yesuh's mom, Woo-joo's mom, etc.

This is totally superficial and just one of things like when characters wear a different coat every day but only has a small wardrobe in their room or packs one bag to move. I wish they would stop with the elaborate hairstyles on men. I just don't see Eun Ho getting up extra early to style his hair like that. It requires clips for goodness sake. 😂😂😂

I loved both our leads

Dan-Yi & Eun-ho are love.. I love their friendship, the ease they have, how Frank they are with each other but still they are not that open.

Isn't it how we are with our best friends? We tell them mostly everything but there are always many things that we hide..Those secrets become our comfort..

I am surprised how can anyone call Eun-Ho selfish, rude or jerk? His reaction was understandable..He was angry that his Noona didn't trust him to tell her the truth, then he was angry at himself for not learning about Dan-Yi situation early on..So his reaction was fine..

I am loving the fun Dan-Yi & caring Eun-Ho..

Oh! How I love LJS heart melting stares..The way he looks at his leading lady & that last scene of Eun-ho going to Dan-Yi house whenever he is drunk is heart breaking. This scene just makes you realise that Dan-Yi is Eun-ho's home.. That's where he belongs..

Loving the show so far..

Also, I love the President/CEO..He is one wacko character in a good way..

I find something off about second male lead..Not liking him that much

This show reminds me so much of BTIMFL. I can understand why some people don't like Eunho and others don't like Danyi, but I like them both. All people are flawed...these two are no different. And their flaws play off of each other. But their strengths do as well, and I think this drama is going to be about learning to overcome those flaws to be a unit, which they clearly are not right now (even though they obviously love and care for one another). In BTIMFL, every single character was flawed...in some cases, rather deeply, but that drama (for me) was all about how they came together anyway and were stronger in the end for it (though I have to pretend that several events that take place in the last episode largely didn't happen...I go to my happy place when I think about that!). I'm hoping this one continues down that same path. I think these are characters with exactly the kinds of human failings that make them seem cold and hard right now, but will warm up and become relatable by the end.

If Eun Ho had been secretly going to Dan Yi's house whenever he was drunk, how did he not know that she had been homeless for a year?

I said after Episode 2 I haven’t seen evidence of Eun Ho’s love yet, well we saw plenty in this episode. Him ending up in her house every time he was drunk made his feelings pretty clear.

I don’t know what happened but after week 2 my excitement about the romance line started to wane a bit. I don’t know what’s missing. It just feels like the same old noona romance where the noona is clueless, donsaeng has been in love with her forever and he will try to persuade her. For once I would like to see the noona fall in love first, not know her feelings are returned and struggle to come to terms without knowing she is loved back.

This doesn’t mean I don’t like the relationship between Dan Yi and Eun Ho or find either of them lacking. I do like their relationship in a brother-sister way. I like how Dan Yi tries to trick Eun Ho into pitying her to let her stay by drinking the whole bottle of alcohol or blames him for her father’s death when she thinks he is turning her out but Eun Ho knows her so well, sees right through all her efforts and knows her anger and accusations aren’t real so he doesn’t get affected. Maybe they act too much like siblings?

However, once Dan Yi shared her troubles Eun Ho became the swoony younger man, he decorated a very nice room for her and had no problem with her staying for as long as she needed. Some people pay pure lip service, ready to offer things they are not willing to deliver. Others may grumble and complain but are secretly happy to help. Eun Ho is in the latter group. He complained he was losing his privacy but was happy for Dan Yi to stay with him for as long as she needs. He told her not to expect help from him at work but kept looking out for and helping her.

I don’t know what to make of the postscripts. Usually this kind of thing gives you a fresh perspective or more information. In this drama it is giving us explicit thoughts and feelings of the leads but because of the format (writings on screen) they don’t seem to integrate with the story or carry a punch.

One aspect of this noona romance I am looking forward to is Eun Ho’s relationship with Dan Yi’s daughter. So I hope she comes back at least by halfway point of the drama. When one part of the couple has a child that relationship becomes critically important for the fate of the relationship. Yes the father seems to have completely abandoned his daughter as well so there is no love lost between father and daughter, but how will Dan Yi’s daughter react to a potential romance with a younger man? A man she presumably knows and might even have a crush on.

I share your anxiety about second leads Sunny and I also would rather see a female friendship not marred by jealousy.

I like the both characters and I like their friendship. So I think I would prefer to see Dani and Eun Ho to fall in love with a new person. I can't picture them as couple for now.

There's something about this drama, Dan Yi in particular, that made me sob like an idiot for unknown reasons in the first 2 episodes.

After reading this recap, it just struck me why - Dan Yi as a character resonates so strongly with me because she reminds me of the shit my mum went through as a single mum trying to raise 3 kids. I did not realise at the time how tough it must have been for her, but now that I'm also in my mid-30s, the strength required to go through that astounds me.

I became intrigued by this drama because of LJS - and while he's been doing a stellar job as always with his own character but also the way he somehow manages to improve the performances of the cast he works with - Danyi is what has me hooked!

This was so sweet and cute! My eyes were little hearts when I saw were he went when drunk. It is so sweet and sad at the same time to think that he always went there and that he could hear them laugh or see her cry unable to do anything for her.
For me this is the first rom com after Fight my way that makes me smile so much.
I love the romantic part but at the same time I love all the little things DY is learning. Step by step she is learning so many things about herself and about the people around her. When she said she likes that people call her by her name after so many years of being only a mom/housewife/noona. She is getting back her identity as DY.
By the way...how old if the kid? I am a little bit confused about that. 12?

I completely love this drama. It is enchanting. Lol
My favourite part was when Dan Yi took the alcohol I thought she was going to drink it all only for her to throw it outside the windows. I am enjoying this drama. Can't wait for next episodes.

This show improves episode after episode.

I felt really sad for Dan-yi when she found out that time passed and things changed and she is now a sort of newbie, as if the past doesn't count.

And I'm finding that the relationship between the two is sweet, as Eun-ho's feelings and the fact that, when drunk, he considers "home" the place where Dan-y is.

First off, I am blaming the uninspired blurb I read during promotions ("a new romantic comedy drama about the employees of a publishing company"??? ) for it not getting the ratings I think it deserves! 😭

Kidding aside, I am sooooo happy the drama is getting lots of love here. 😍

LNY and LJS are no doubt the stars of the drama! I am amazed at LNY's portrayal of a struggling divorcee but a playful Noona to LJS, and LJS's portrayal of a mature and successful editor but still a supportive Dongsaeng to LNY.

Looking forward to the next episodes and will, undoubtedly, "squeal like pig 🐷" as well. 😁

sigh, Eun-ho. you're just sweet and sweet and sweet >.<

also, that copy 'stealing' scene got me in the feels because... as an RL copywriter (yes, i am), i know what it's like to have other people claim credit for my work/idea =\ at the same time though, ghost writing is also something that's part of my scope, but that's pretty clear and i won't take offence. it's when it's *not* supposed to be ghostwritten...

anyways :) we've got a few ep 3 locations lined up on KDL! in the meantime, other locations can be found here: https://koreandramaland.com/jobs/?search_keywords=%22romance+is+a+bonus+book%22&submit=

Dan-yi is simply amazing. Her quick recovery after her ideas were stolen is astounding (maybe just because I’d have blown my top if I’d been in that position). But experience has made her a wise person, and the things she does, the words she says (especially her conversation with Hae-rin in the elevator) just make me want to root for her again and again. I have to say, I was disappointed in Eun-ho this episode. He loves her enough to show up drunk at her house numerous times but not enough to put in a word for Dan-yi when her ideas were stolen? It’s not like he’s holding a low position in the company, and it’s clear he has lots of influence and power (perhaps more so than Director Ko). Then why did he not say anything? It irked me to no end, especially his nonsense about her ideas not being equivalent to her competency. That speech in no way justifies the fact that she lost credit for something she wholeheartedly deserved to get praise for. I’m more than a little annoyed at Eun-ho for that, but his little speech at the end about being able to be near Dan-yi now didn’t fail to touch me.
I love watching this romance play out, but I am a little concerned about Jae-hui. Dan-yi has said that her number one priority is her daughter (something I adore about her), and I worry about her relationship with her daughter will fit in with her relationship with Eun-ho. Is he ready to be a father? And the father of his first love’s ex-husband’s daughter? I feel like he will, but I really want to see that interaction and hope the writers don’t forget about Jae-hui.

One of the best things about this drama is the little ways they get so much meaning across. Dan-yi’s statement of how she’s never been called by her name didn’t make much sense at first. But when they had that little montage of all the different names she’s been called over the years from “Honey” to “Mom”, I sympathised so deeply with her. It’s these little moments that just make this show click for me.

Can someone explain the attic joke to me?