Beanie level: Errand boy

They have the best chemistry!

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Oh God. To All the Guys Who Loved Me has some previous life lore as well. I\’m getting a rash just thinking about Tale of Fairy.

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Childish and petty Seo Ji-hoon is the best kind of Seo Ji-hoon LOL. I love him as Do-gyum. It shows his acting range.

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Thoughts about episode 1 of Was It Love? in the comments below:

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    1.) Song Ji-hyo isn’t the greatest actress. She’s okay in this so far, but nothing exceptional. That being said, her ability to portray sincerity is pretty admirable. She’s also really good with crying scenes.

    2.) I really like the premise of this show, but it’s liable to stray into troubled waters. That wont transpire as long as they let Ae-jeong remain a strong character. If she devolves into weakness, indecision, excessive reliance on the men in the show, etc., I feel like this show could very quickly become stale. It’s already trope-y enough; let’s have Ae-jeong be believable as an single-mom who’s raised an adored daughter single-handedly please.

    3.) Cheon Ok-man is definitely Ha-ni’s dad. I’m calling it now (although it really doesn’t need to be called, since it’s sort of obvious).

    4.) My guess is Ae-jeong will end up with Cheon Ok-man. It’s a shame. I’m already on Team Yeon-woo.

    5.) Koo Ja-sung has an amazing smile. It’s really infectious. I hope his acting is better in this than it was in The Secret Life of My Secretary.

    6.) Kim Mi-kyung is in this! Yay! She always does a great job in maternal roles.

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      Agree with mostly everything. Overall, I thought this was a weak premiere. I haven’t seen any of the actors/actress in anything, so it was all very new in that sense. The number of sidekicks Ryu Jin (the actor) has makes me feel that he might be an important role too. Yeon-woo will be sidelined, like the mafia guy. OTP is set up from the get go. Oh, and I love Kim Mi-kyung. So happy see her on the screen – she transforms every show she’s in!

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        I thought it was an okay premiere. Not the best, not the worst. It was interesting enough to keep me watching without pausing/FF the episode very much or scrolling through my phone, which I do with a lot of other shows.

        I hope Yeon-woo wont be sidelined! He’s so purty! And he looks like he’ll have a lot of aegyo and will constantly be a sweetheart to Ae-jeong. A small part of me still hopes he’s actually Ha-ni’s dad, in which case he and Ae-jeong might have a chance!

        The loan shark looks cool as well. Ryu Jin and the other guy are less interesting IMO. I don’t like Son Ho-joon too much for some reason, although he’s a pretty decent actor. The guy who plays Ryu Jin seems like a bad actor as well (I found him very cringey, although that might have been intentional).

        We’re so blessed right now. Kim Mi-kyung is in this show and she’s also in It’s Okay to Not be Okay.

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          Yes, Yeon-woo looks like he’ll watch out for Ae-jeong and Ha-ni, wherever he is. I think probability of him being Ha-ni’s dad is nil. I go with your original #3 – you called it right.

          That said, the guy playing Ryu Jin was in Reply 1997, if I am not mistaken (I was clearly wrong when I said I hadn’t seen any of the actors’ previous work). I did not like him in that AT ALL. Actually, I didn’t particularly enjoy that show (R88 was so much better).

          Agreed about KMK – we can never have enough of her!

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          Also, this has been said before in the comments section on the premiere watch, I think, but it sinks in when on screen – 1+4 is a bit TOO much, IMO!! I can barely handle 1+2 without wanting to throw things at the screen. Just keeping track of the characters is going to take up half my mind space when watching this show, I feel.

          (sorry for spamming your wall on this, btw!)

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            Not spam at all! I love talking to people about shows on DB!

            Agree, 1+4 is sort of ridiculous. Inevitably, most of the men are not going to get very much development or screen time. They’ll serve some discrete purposes but will probably just be ornaments for the most part. It’s a shame if you ask me. I’m holding out that they might find a way to balance screen time and developmental focus equitably, but I’ll be the first to admit it’s not likely.

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I don’t know why, but Koo Ja-sung reminds me of Ahn Bo-hyun. I feel like they look similar? Maybe I’m just on something.
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    Agreed!

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    Yup! I nearly got confused until I went and checked the cast.

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      They’re nice to look at, which is a major plus (I realize over time that I’m a pretty superficial person). Ahn Bo-hyun is a decent actor in my humble opinion. I hope Koo Ja-sung is as well, although it’s probably an unrealistic hope (he was pretty terrible in the only other show I’ve seen him in).

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    They have the same facial structure band upper body build I think

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OH FFS! I KNEW DINNER MATES WOULD HAVE A TRUCK OF DOOM! 😠😠😠😠😠

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    Exactly! We have the car of doom, but none of our targets was a hit.
    The fact that there are only two episodes left is the only reason I’m watching.
    My love for our OTP is not enough.

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      Eh, I’m still happy with the show overall and with the OTP. I just loathe this plot turn.

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        I love our OTP but I’m so tired of saying I’m tired of the exes.
        And LJH is doing an amazing job making me hate JH, but SNE? OMG I feel real pain every single time she’s onscreen.

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          Same, Jin No-eul is a horrible character and not at all interesting or well-acted. JJH could’ve been horrible as well if not for LJH.

          Still, I credit this show a lot with helping me get through the last month. It’s sort of weird to say, but my feelings for this drama are very similar to my feelings for Hospital Playlist. Both have helped me a lot with distracting me while I’ve been dealing with some difficult mental health stuff. Tbh, I suspect all of the shows I’ll watch this summer will have a special place in my heart for exactly this reason.

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            Then we all love this show!
            Any drama that makes you feel happy is good!!

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I want to learn how to do Keanu\’s laugh. It\’s amazing.

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No Dinner Mates subs today? =(

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I love Heechul\’s eomoni. She\’s my favourite mom on My Little Old Boy (close second is Soo-hong\’s mom, who is jokes but can also be a pure savage).

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    I love the eommas in MLOB. Their comments/reactions are so funny 😆

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    It’s such a great show because of the moms!

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      I love them. They are so great and there’s something very comforting about watching them. I think they sort of remind me of my late grandma (especially Heechul, Jong Kook, and Soo-hong’s moms). This show is honestly the only reason I think I’ve kept Kocowa for all this time.

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THE MOTEL GUY IS LITERALLY ALL OF US WHO ARE WATCHING

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LJH has done such a good job qua JJH. The character is so compelling, even if he\’s loathsome and reprehensible.

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    Yes! I was about to post the same thing. LJH really amazed me with his talent. Definitely keeping him on my radar after this.

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👏NO👏MORE👏NOBLE👏IDIOCY👏FROM👏DO-HEE👏PLEASE👏

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    Well, I give it that there is some noble idiocy, but this time I really get her. She’s a mess, and she’s not doing this because she thinks HK is better without him, but because she can’t find her place. And I don’t blame her: her last ex proposed to other woman the day she thought she was getting the proposal, and her first ex is a psycho that returned suddenly after disappearing 5 years ago and wants her back, then she meets an attractive and no-nonsense man and likes him and he likes her back, but it’s all a mess because it all has happened in… one month?? I would be a mess myself.
    Even so, she should have talked to HK and explained she needed time.

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      So I agree, but I also think part of her problem is she doesn’t know where she stands in her relationship with Hae-kyeong, she feels guilty to him for entangling him in all the drama surrounding her past, and she doesn’t know if she can escape her past and still be with Hae-kyeong. I think she could at least try to talk things out with Hae-kyeong. It would help to clear up some of the miscommunication between them and it could help her gain perspective about where she stands with Hae-kyeong.

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GEON-WOO GOING OFF ON THIS DUMB B**** NO-EUL. I was so angry with him last week but he\’s on fiyah today.

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Do-hee making bad choices with her life. TALK TO YOUR BOYFRIEND GODDAMIT!

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Honestly, July is, as far as I’m concerned, the month of the two Seos, Seo Ye-ji and Seo Ji-hye.

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    Have you watched today’s episode?
    How was it?
    I’m scared to play it because I don’t want to be disappointed in it again.

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      Watching it now. Were you disappointed last week? I thought last week’s episodes were really good, although I was unhappy with what happened.

      Do-hee’s making bad life choices btw.

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        I was disappointed in Do hee and the preview for this week’s episodes didn’t help either.
        She really is!
        I’ll come back for your review and then watch it😆.

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    Love them both.

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    I LOVE THEM BOTH! AND BOTH ARE DOING AMAZINGLY IN THEIR DRAMAS! *inserts werk werk gif from Schuyler Sisters*

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I agree with Ga-hee: The guy who plays Hyo-shin in Once Again really does have a magnificent build.

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    I think I like them together but the age difference is so stark. Idk. I just like how sweet he is to her son and how supportive he is of her. She deserves someone like that.

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      Ehh, I think I’m much more relaxed with age gaps than other people tbh. I think the age gap becomes a problem if there’s an imbalanced dynamic in the relationship. That doesn’t seem to be the case here, so I’m okay with the difference, even though it really does seem to be quite large.

      He is really sweet. Idk, Ga-hee is also my favourite of the siblings, so I’m happy.

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The contract thing is super manipulative, even for Moon-young.

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    MY wouldn’t shy away from a bit of old-school manipulation 😁 (at least not right now).
    Still on episode 5, but my hunch is that if KT and MY get together soon in the drama, they’ll have lots of problems arising from the issues they both have individually. So, ideally – for me – this drama would be mainly about them finding a way of being together that doesn’t devolve into destructive madness…

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    From what I read, people with ASPD are not above manipulating others to get what they want so it is in character but yeah, it’s pretty bad.

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Five minutes into episode 6.

I feel the problem with both Moon-young and Kang-tae is that they both have distorted notions about what human relationships are.

Moon-young views other people as things she can possess, things she can own and use. She doesn\’t acknowledge that people have their own personality – that they have thoughts and feelings. Even worse, she doesn\’t realize that what she wants isn\’t ownership. What she wants is genuine care and concern, and that cannot come from a relationship predicated on inequality, manipulation, or disregard of another\’s individuality. She wants to be with Kang-tae, but she doesn’t realize this (or, if she does, she dismisses it) and instead thinks she wants to have Kang-tae.

On the other hand, Kang-tae views close relationship as burdens. He thinks every relationship is, at core, like his relationship with his brother. He thinks that forming a relationship means taking responsibility for another person and caring for them at the expense of himself. Every relationship means further self-abnegation, further suppression of his own desires, emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. That’s why he shies away from closeness from others and that’s also why he consistently says such harsh things to Moon-young whenever he responds to her advances. He doesn’t realize that (1) not all people are autistic like his brother but also (2) even his relationship with his brother is not healthy.

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    Great observations of both characters

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    I think for KT it’s not so much that another person would be a burden but that he doesn’t want to feel guilty toward this person or his brother. Even more guilty. If we go by drama standards, which girlfriend would be understanding about being second place? His brother always comes first. He can’t get married, buy a house, live with her or have children. Not even Ju-Ri would agree with his choices.

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      I think this is mostly an excuse though. I think this is the fiction KT has told himself to justify the distance he maintains – that any other relationship will either create strain on his relationship with his brother or his relationship with his brother will create strain on his relationship with this third-party. Either way, implicit in this fiction is a belief about what he believes he needs to sacrifice for his brother (things which he objectively doesn’t need to sacrifice but which he’s somehow convinced himself he needs to sacrifice) and a belief that any new relationship will impose additional responsibilities which will make it difficult for him to be the kind of brother he thinks he has to be.

      I also think he does believe new relationships will impose independent burdens which don’t have to do with his brother. That comes out, for instance, in his confrontation at the beginning of episode 6, when he admits that he pretended not to know who Moon-young was to avoid having to deal with whatever feelings he had towards her. He had that very evocative line, shouted in anger and frustration, that he doesn’t want more people in his life who need him.

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Do all Korean celebrities have youtube accounts now? Ji Chang-wook, Park Min-young, Ahn Bo-young, etc. Is this the new trend?

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    It might be the new trend with the self-quarantine situation

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    so, one thing about korean entertainment is that they don’t distinguish or look down upon the medium/platform..

    aka movies vs drama vs theatre

    Youtube has become popular in last couple of years in korea and is a money making channel, so everyone is doing it

    and it is interesting because these folks are making eveyrhting professional instead of how even some of the biggest early influencers channels are or have been globally

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    Basucally, yes. I believe they take all the earnings for this one especially if they do everything themselves (filming, editing, etc.).

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I\’m half-way through episode 5 of IOTNBO. One of the fascinating things about this show is how Kang-tae, the person who doesn\’t have ASPD, is the one who consistently tramples on the feelings of Moon-young, the person who does have ASPD. Between the two of them, it seems to me Moon-young has been more honest about her own feelings and, despite some clumsiness, been more careful to avoid hurting Kang-tae (especially not gratuitously).

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    I think he has only politely refused her romantic advances? Meanwhile he has also helped her a great deal and I don’t mean that rescue from the rain kk, I’m talking about stopping her from stabbing a mental patient and trying to stop her from attacking the other guy, he wasn’t as fast there but he tried.

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      I think he’s done more than refuse her romantic advances though. He’s gone out of his way to hurt her in his rejections (at the hospital, for example, or after Moon-young’s tiff with Joo-ri).

      I don’t mean to say he’s been totally rude or clueless towards her. They’re cute together and he’s definitely helped her a lot! My only point is that, between the two of them, he’s gone out of his way to hurt her more than she has him.

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        It’s more about his words than his actions. I understand, she becomes so pushy that he answers with harsh words sometimes.

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