Beanie level: Chaebol’s poor doppelganger

So what have been the ‘it’ dramas of the past 2-3 months? I saw some initial positive responses to Run On. Is it still good? I may binge that next. Anything else been catching the beanie eye? How did Uncanny Encounter fair? I saw something about the writer leaving mid-drama. Does the Ji Chang Wook curse persist, or was Lovestruck in the City palatable? I has questions.

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    Can both be true? Many things about Lovestruck are annoying and for the first few episodes I was just watching because it was there but now I find myself waiting for it.

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      Ah that’s how it goes sometimes.

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      Agree with @beffels. IMO, the JCW curse persists, in that I still find him pretty mediocre in this and the first few episodes would be pure drudgery but for the top notch side characters. However, even the main couple become entertaining as the show goes. The FL, whom I initially despised, is also now pretty okay in my books.

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    Going into the last episodes this week and it’s excellent. I can’t imagine how they would falter.

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    My favorite drama of the last 3 months was the Chinese drama Love is Sweet which finished airing back in October. Of the currently airing dramas Mr Queen is my favorite but I’m also enjoying Run On.

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      I don’t spend much time in the c-drama realm, so I hadn’t heard of Love is Sweet. I will make a note to investigate that later. Thanks!

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        After years of K-drama watching I was getting burned out such that all of the dramas I was watching started to feel formulaic. It helped to switched over and start watching C-dramas (and a few Thai-dramas). There have been some really good Chinese dramas over the past few years. The bonus of watching Chinese dramas is that all of them are pre-recorded such that they may air anywhere from 5 to 7 days a weeks and some dramas may even air 2 episodes a day (unlike k-dramas that only air 2 episodes a week). The downside is that the government censorship which can sometimes results in content being cut.

        Here’s a MV of the drama Love is Sweet.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5jcRbnZLmg

        Another good 2020 Chinese drama was Skate Into Love
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZRHPJsKKME

        The MDL writeup on the dramas
        https://mydramalist.com/49871-love-is-sweet
        https://mydramalist.com/34030-skate-into-love

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          That’s understandable. I’m just coming up on my third kdramaversery, so I’m not tired of them yet. Even so, I still enjoy switching countries every once in a while to shake things up a bit. So far I’ve seen 2 J-dramas and 1 1/2 C-dramas (Put Your Head on My Shoulder and half of When We Were Young 2018 [which I will definitely finish at some point]).
          Skate Into Love is already on my to-watch list! I’m saving it up for when I’m in the mood for something cute and fluffy.

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    Ji Chang-wook curse persists, although Lovestruck is actually okay.

    Run On is definitely the “it” drama IMO. It’s really good.

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    Run On is really good. Its my next fave after Mr Queen. While Uncanny Counter is also good but it lost the momentum with the writer swap debacle.

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    Run On is a delight and I doubt it messes up in the last two episodes (at least I hope so).
    I’m enjoying a lot Lovestruck. Not the best drama ever, and I probably won’t end as I want, but still lots of interesting things about it.
    I enjoyed The Uncanny Counter a lot until episode 10, more or less. I mainly FF the last four episodes and I won’t be there for a second season, but it’s the biggest OCN success ever and I’ve even seen somewhere there would be a third season, so…

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      Oh interesting. I didn’t realize Uncanny Counter (I am just now realizing it’s counter, not encounter. It’s been encounter in my head all this time lol) was that much of a ratings success.

      I have yet to find the motivation to click play on a multi season drama. Hospital Playlist is really the only one I can think of that I definitely plan to watch.

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Hello my lovely bean peeps! 잘 지냈어? I’ve been on an unintentional DB hiatus the past couple of months (what’d I miss?), but I’m jumping back in for Love, February (to at least read if not contribute). ‘Tis good to see all of you 💛.

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Sic, I found you a friend. @sicarius

https://kprofiles.com/demian-profile/

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If you were to make a list of best Korean actors/actresses based solely on acting talent, who would be on your list?

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    Ko Hyun-Jung
    Kim So-hyun

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      I haven’t seen Ko Hyun-jung yet. Dear My Friends is on my list though.

      I’ve also seen very little of Kim So-hyun. It’s about time I check some of her stuff out. I’ve only heard good things!

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        For Ko Hyun-jung, I suggest Queen’s Classroom, or if you have a LOT of time and like sageuks, watch her totally upstage the queen in Great Queen Seondeok.

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    Won Bin
    Kang Dong Won
    Kim Hye Ja
    Kim Soo Hyun
    Lee Ji Eun
    Yoo Ah In

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      More names for me to check out! I’m really only familiar with Kim Soo Hyun and IU 🙂

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      Totally agree!!

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      I see that Kang Dong Won is primarily a movie actor. I’ve only seen a few Korean movies. Which of his would you recommend?

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        I love him in Kundo, Golden Slumber, Vanishing Time, My Brilliant Life (with Song Hye Kyo), Violent Prosecutor, Master, The Haunters and 1987 (special participation). I wanna watch The Priests (horror ) but I’m a scaredy-cat so I’m still mustering up courage to see it 😂

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    Shin Sung Rok will definitely be on my list 😉

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    That’s kinda hard, but I’ll try to make this as objective as possible and not repeat what was already said

    Lee Je Hoon
    Ong Seong Wu
    Jo Jung Suk
    Yang Se Jong
    Go Kyung Pyo
    Kim Jung Hyun
    Lee Dong Wook

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    Yoo Ah In, Seo In Guk, Park Eun Bin, Park Se Wan, Kim Jae Wook, Kim Sun Young, Kim Mi Kyung…

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    I’m bad at remembering names *leaves unnoticed x)*
    I’m sure other great Beanies will help you better than me =P

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      Lol, gwaenchanha! It takes me a while to learn names too.

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    I challenged myself to type this without googling and thinking too hard.
    Actresses: Go Ah Sung, Bae Doo Na, Park Eun Bin, Jung So Min, Jang Nara
    Actors: Jung Kyung Ho, Yoo Ah In, Kim Soo Hyun, Seo In Guk, Kwak Dong Yeon

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    Wow. This is hard. Here’s my list, based on how I thought they immersed themselves in the roles that I’ve seen them in and how moved I was in those performances.

    Ko Hyun Jung
    Won Bin
    Yoon Sang Hyun
    Kim Jung Hyun
    Kim Soo Hyun
    Seo In Guk
    Kim So Hyun
    Seo Ye Ji
    Chae Soo Bin
    Jang Dong Yoon

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    Bae Doona, Go Ah Sung, Han Yeri, Jisung, Seo In Guk.

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    I’m gonna say Lee Min-ki just because I can and NO ONE CAN STOP ME

    Versatile king

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    @hades @ndlessjoie @purplesheesh @doublefault @missh
    Thanks for the lists!!! You’ve given me several names to add to my “Actors to look out for” list!

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So after Brahms finishes, I’m thinking about taking a break from live watching to binge some stuff. I went through my MDL and made a list of titles that catch my eye at the moment:

Tree with deep roots
Reply 1988
Life on Mars
Gaksital
Prison Playbook
Tunnel
Chicago typewriter
Shopping king
My girlfriend is a gumiho
King2hearts
Misaeng
Someday or one day
Lookout
Nokdu flower
Come and hug me
Pegasus market
Romantic doctor teacher Kim
The bad kids
The fiery priest
Police unit 38
Children of nobody
Eun joo’s room
You’re beautiful
Flower boy next door
Go ho’s starry night
I remember you
Liar game
Marriage contract
Mr. Fighting
My unfamiliar family
My holo love
Perfume
Radiant office
Special labor inspector Jo
The package
Just Dance
A piece of your mind
Mystic pop-up bar

Over halfway done airing:
18 Again
Zombie detective

….Ha haha hahaha it would probably take me at least 3 years to watch all of these. Stay tuned to see which one I pick, or if I abandon list and choose something completely different (would not be the first time), or if I just keep live watching against my better judgement.
Feel free to attempt to sway me in the comments below 😄.

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    My top picks from your list:
    Marriage Contract, Reply 1988

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    I really liked Chicago Typewriter and Someday or One Day, watched those a while ago and they’re still fresh in my memory. And Mystic pop-up bar is a easy breezy watch!
    Some of yours are on my list too! I don’t know if I’ll ever come around to watch Gaksital or TWDR (too many episodes), but I’ll definitely end up watching Just Dance and Radiant Office, because Beanies say those are so much fun

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    Haha! Totally can relate to this, I have a list too! I would recommend Prison Playbook, Romantic Dr Teacher Kim and if you dont mind something abit throwback, my gf is a gumiho is a classic!! Haha!

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    My top picks (not solely based on lead actor although he is very good in both of these😅) are My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho and King2hearts. I’ve watched them both recently and really enjoyed – My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho in particular is a regular rewatch. It’s lovely.

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    Go Ho n Just Dance (if i remember right) isn’t long and can be binged in a jiff.

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    Reply88
    My girlfriend us a Gumiho
    King 2 Hearts
    Lookout
    Nokdu Flower
    Special Labour Inspector Jo

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    Oh thank you for this post!
    I was about to ask Beanies for help because as I was looking at MDL I realized I’ve watched 199 dramas and I want a good one to watch and make it 200.
    Now I can come here again and again to check what Beanies like and recommend^^
    I also like your list. I haven’t watched some of these dramas n I feel excited to check them out.

    My fav among them:
    Prison Playbook

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      Haha glad I could be of use! I hope you find a satisfying drama to round out that number!

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    Join us on the 18 Again train, you won’t regret it 🙂

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    Radiant Office, Just Dance and Prison Playbook for a stress-free watch! You’ve got a long list!

    Marriage Contract, Someday One day for heart breaking yet satisfying dramas.

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    the three below got perfect score 10/10 for different reasons
    Misaeng : office drama that is so relatable it hurts
    Someday or one day : time travel + poignant love story , but also friendship, very good , it hurt a bit too
    Pegasus market : blatant humor I like, might not be everyone cup of tea

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Brahms Ep 13 & 14

Well that was just a ball of sunshine wasn’t it?

If you need me I’ll be over here laughing through the pain Kim Min Jae style (see 10:40 below)

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Oh I leveled up. When did this happen?

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Gaho 💛

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Last night, after waiting for what felt like forever for new Brahms episodes, I decided that the reasonable thing to do (instead of watching said new episode) would be to binge clips of Tempted on YT because Woo Do Hwan is pretty.

This actually looks like a decent drama if you only watch the cute scenes. I was almost tempted (heh) to watch the thing and had to go read reviews to talk myself out of it 😆.

Ok, now I’m going to go watch Brahms. For real.

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    IDK, I found the show super cliche and I thought it was a huge let down to KMJ! I also thought Joy was a complete mismatch in this.

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      From what I’ve read, it sounds like a big soapy mess. But watching clips of WDH and Joy without context was enjoyable enough. I actively avoided clips of KMJ because his character does not seem likable.

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        His character is okay. I think he did the best he could do with it. His chemistry with Moon Ga-young is really great, for whatever that’s worth.

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        Steer clear of the whole mess.

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    Everything and everyone was fine in the show with the exception of Joy, and the characters of Kim Min Jae x Moon Ga Young deserve their own show– they were sooooo underutilized

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    Comment was deleted

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    *Ops, had a tag accident that made me delete previous comment

    YT videos probably condensed all the good stuff in this drama. It starts with a bunch of annoying chaebol characters making up lies – it takes a while for the viewer to warm up to them and realize that the true idiots are the adults around them. And then uri not-so-bad chaebols are hit over the head with makjang twists of fate OVER and OVER again, all the way to the bland end of the ordeal… By the last episode, it felt like the whole cast – and it is a really good cast! – was just going through the motions and secretly wondering how much longer would they need to keep squeezing tears out.

    Can’t really justify why I watched the whole thing, it’s the power of WDH

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      Hahaha yeah I think I’ll save myself from that experience and just keep watching WDH being pretty in my clips without context.

      (by pretty I mean stunningly gorgeous handsome man)

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      For me, KMJ was real star in this show tbh. I thought he did an amazing job, especially with the shitty character he was given. However, WDH and MGY did pretty swell too.

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    Trust me, Tempted is terrible, horrible, not good at all (except that three of the young actors are irresistible but this was a bad use of their talent).

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Hong Jin-ho, cellist for band Hoppipolla, sounds like he could be a character in Brahms. Link below ⬇️

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Hoppipolla 😩

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    I stumbled upon another version of the One Million Roses song @jorobertson

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    My Ajusshi!

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    Hoppipolla! I’ve been their fan since Superband show!! Please give them some love 🙂

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      Oohh another Superband fan! Hi!

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        Hiii! Im still mad with JTBC for deleting other vids (in youtube) during the show though it could be due to copyrights? Anyway, Im happy some saved them and made it into a playlist, I still listen to it 😀

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          Ugh I was so sad when those videos disappeared! I believe most of them are still available on Naver if you search 슈퍼밴드 though. And if all else fails, the full show is still available to watch as well.

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            Right?? Its just that show where I watched with no subs! From start to finish! Haha! Music really speaks no language 🙂

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            I would kill for another season of it. Not sure if that would actually happen though.

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            Im with you @kat23! So proud of those babies, almost all of them in the music scene now. Praying they’d be happy creating more music! 🙂

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    4 cellos!!! It’s beautiful, but Ko Woo-rim’s version has my heart, firstly because of My Ajussi and then you clinched it with Forestella. That did it

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    wow thanks for sharing 💓

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Last weekend I discovered Forestella. They’re kinda good.

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My favorite Suga song and also just one of my favorite BTS songs in general. The emotion, the lyrics, the use of metaphor, how it builds in intensity.

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Rewatching this while waiting for subs. Nostalgic and even cuter than I remembered. This was my introduction to Min Jae.

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Park Joon Young out here pulling a Choi Jun Woo


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    OMG I didn’t anyone would bring this up!!! This is where my mind went too 😂 Junwoo’s power!!!

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      Haha at first I thought he one-upped Junwoo, but when I rewatched the scene I realized JW said it 4 times as well!

      (I’ve always loved your username btw)

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I have this weird thing with variety shows where I watch the first 1-3 episodes, thoroughly enjoy it, and then abandon it for no reason.

Coffee Friends, Little Forest, Roommate, and Traveler 2 are all just hanging out in my on hold list. The farthest I’ve gotten with one was It’s Dangerous Beyond the Blankets. That was the first variety I really sat down and watched, and I had such a blast with it. I watched the pilot and ep 1-7, but those last 3 eps are just left dangling. 🤷‍♀️

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    ha ha ha..
    while i concur that coffee friends, little forest did start to go stale very quickly..

    but (personally) beyond the blankets is literally the most boring reality show ever, except they had all these famous idols.. some exo guy, daniel etc..

    😀 .. but overall, yeah.. not finding anything worth sticking too.. only 1n2d s4 going strong for now (and initial episodes of sask3)

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    🥺🥺🥺 as someone often watching variety shows , I feel for you : it ‘s such a pity you can’t enjoy them as a whole.
    maybe change your pace, just one ep per week ? variety ep are 1h30 usually so not as “binge-able” as drama.
    I really enjoyed Coffee Friends, Little forest was nice and I grew fond of the children.
    It’s Dangerous Beyond the Blankets was a nice ride, relate to a lot since I am a homebody ^^’.
    Hoping you’ll find a variety show suiting your taste 🙂 !

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      I have thought about trying the one ep a week thing! Maybe a Sunday afternoon watch?
      I do eventually want work my way through the ones I’ve started. Like I said, I really enjoyed the little bit that I did see of them. I think their ep length does hold me back a bit, and I just keep getting distracted by dramas :).

      I also found It’s Dangerous really relatable. I just loved how awkward they were with each other at first. Sometimes it’s just nice to be reminded that there are people out there who are capable of being just as awkward as I am 😂. I found the first half of the first episode of the pilot particularly hilarious because they were literally trying to hide from each other there for a while 😆.

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        “they were literally trying to hide from each other there for a while ” …might have done that in the past, so I laughed at them and myself ^^’
        I watch 1n2d and I live alone , have to wait a little for subs, but it’s a weekly dose and rendez-vous 1n2d for Monday evening (if I don’t have time to watch the entire ep, I resume on Tuesday evening), for I live alone it’s available during the weekend, either watching the whole ep or in 2 or 3 parts ^^. On other days, I usually watch dramas (or sometimes other variety shows x)).

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@ally-le @azzo1

Ok, last one! Thought I’d end with a bit of crazy fun 😄

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@ally-le @azzo1

Weightlifting Fairy OST! I gave up trying to choose between these, so I’ll just list them.

1. I’ll Pick You Up by Standing Egg

2. From Now On by Kim Min Seung

3. Dreaming by Han Hee Jung

4. You & I by Kim Jong Wan ⬇️

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    I’m glad you chose this ost! I was thinking of adding the standing egg one as well!

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      Does SNG like kpop??

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        I don’t think he knows what it is, honestly. Does he, @azzo1?

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          He doesn’t yet.. too soon!
          First, I need to get him into Kdrama and then introduce him to Kpop.. I’ve planned it like that!

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            That’s a good order of introduction. Probably how I would do it.

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            WhAT show are you introducing first? It should be something that reminds him of you or your love story, I think.

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            @ally-le, I don’t know! I want to do this right, what show would you suggest?

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            You definitely need a nice guy falling for a nice girl drama. Or a nice guy falling for a mean girl, but falling for him makes her better. (Not that it’s you, but you want him to personify himself with the lead.) Think of dramas you like that for that mold. When he sees you enjoying it, he’ll like it more too!

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      One of my favorite OSTs!

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@ally-le @azzo1

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    Another good group that I don’t hear nearly enough!

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@ally-le @azzo1

It’s a real shame that I can’t find any songs with “I’m your pervert and I’m your freak” in the lyrics.

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    😂
    Lyricists missed some golden lines.

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    No kidding! I’m thinking if anyone would, it would be Lady Gaga though!

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    You didn’t 😂

    Also, I’ll tell him to go get a copyright for that line!

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