Amen 🙏, sister! Though I never got past episode 6 because the exact reasons stated above, I feel your pain.

I honestly disliked Anna so much I had to drop this show. Even the way Yoona ran made me irritated - the way her legs were weirdly throwing in the air while running.

As you said - I could have been one of the kind drama if they were brave enough to take that path, but in the end it’s just another show that gone bad.

ooooooooh, i like!!

Thanks for revealing the truth. That's the reason I had difficulty watching K2. Just like you, I like Je Ha and Yoo Jin's chemistry better. It would have been a great drama if she was the female lead. Anna's character never worked for me.

I liked your ending although to be fair I never finished the show despite how much I wanted to like it. I started to disengage about the time Dances-with-Ramyun was being stalked by her body guard/love interest, I wanted to think it was cute but I guess it's telling that I dropped the show when Anna left the prison she knew for the one she didn't and they started to really push the romance (?) I've seen Ji chang wook be romantic but this felt forced and awkward to me. Question should I have finished it?

Amen 🙏🏾

This.

You nailed it. Couldn’t agree with you more. What a waste of potential.

yes, this would've been so much better! I thought I was the only one rooting for the "antagonist" by the end. Yoo jin had so much more chemistry and was so much more compatible with Je ha. Although, I'm not sure I would've find a full-blown noona romance very believable. Maybe just leave it at flirting and some (hinting that they would eventually fall for each other). I didn't like Go Anna at all, and never understood why je ha liked her either...

Oh, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!!
That would be a show I would follow till the end.

Seriously, Ji Chang-wook's and Song Yoon-ah's chemistry was off the charts. I was glued to the screen whenever the two shared a scene...

I would loved if the show went Yoo-jin was the main lead, because I thought those scenes with him saving her were super romantic anyway in the drama. But, I was also perfectly fine with him falling in love with Go Anna, and I thought the ramyun scene (don't kill me) was cute and adorable. I guess most of the time for me, the writers can get me to believe or like anything, this is why I do not fall into second lead syndrome very often. I saw the potential noona romance throughout the show and though I totally wanted it at some point, the Go Anna grew on me.

I love your version of K2. I dropped it at around ep 8 as I kept wanting it to be a noona romance and it just didn't work for me. Anna and her daddy issues were irritating. On the other hand, I loved loved loved Yoo-Jin. A woman who was powerful, charismatic, trying to navigate life with a cheating husband and a toxic family. Can we blame her if her hearts flutters at the sight of an honest and strong young man? <3 I loved both the sight you mentioned (the car and the umbrella scene).

Thank you again for this great ending!

This was exactly what I had in mind when the show started. every scene between jeha and yoojin oozed chemistry. your version is daebak and of course the abs :D

Oh my gosh, this version is much better and satisfying! Yoon-Ah should have been the lead instead of Anna. I found Anna just meh, not because just the way she was portrayed but the way the character was written. They don't even have to force the romance out if the chemistry is just not working out. Let Ji Chang Wook do his thing in being badass hero, with or without a girl in the picture.

Even without shipping goggles this all make infinitely more sense than the "canon" plot they tried to force-feed us, and is all that the k2 could've been and so much more! the sheer potential the k2 writting team squandered has been a sore spot in my heart ever since I dropped it close to the end. I could tell they where gonna just kill Yoo-Jin and I couldn't bare to watch it --they'd already ruined it for me especially with the way they reacted to any notions of a Yoo-Jin/K2 romance. ...If only you had been in that writing room and knocked some sense into those blind and unoriginal numbskulls.

omg yessssss from the moment they were on screen together their chemistry was explosive. I seriously thought they were going to be the main couple because I watched the drama without having seen any previews. So when Anna came on the scene I was like wtf?! Yoo Jin and Je Ha were it for me though.

your version of the story would have really been better. this show needed to be a bit more dark, gritty and the forbidden romance would push it further.

I kept hoping Yoo-jin and Je-ha would end up together. They sizzled whenever they were on screen together. This would have been a killer noona romance! Oh what could have been, and wasn't. *SIGH*

This is totally the same drama that was going on in my head. I stuck around for k2 till the end because I love Ji Changwook and discovered Song Yoonah. They were crackling together. Loved the sexy, antagonistic tension and wish the show could have made good use of that.

What a drama k2 could have been!

Omg Amen again, sister! I stayed through til the (confusing, utterly unsatisfying end) purely out of love and devotion (haha) to Ji Chang Wook but got increasingly annoyed at Anna. I may very well be biased, but JCW typically has enough charisma to have chemistry with a tree stump, but methinks the writing (too grandiose, skating on Yong-Pal's legacy) and YoonA's non-dimensional acting completely failed here.

Is there a petition we could start to get your version made? Since JCW-peu-nim won't be available until May 2019, we have time, yes? Lol.

The Anna character was miscast. She had NO chemistry with Je-ha. I don't remember if this was pre produced but if it wasn't the writer should have seen how much chemistry Yoo-jin and Je-ha had on the screen and rewrote the narrative. Him falling for Yoo-jin would have been epic. Two jaded people who could not trust anyone but starved for understanding and closeness that would have been a great show

i thought K2 fell in love with Anna because ramyun was his favorite food? (The quickest way to a man’s heart is through the stomach) 🤣🤣😂😂
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just kidding. i totally agreee w/ u tho. i dropped this series sometime when Anna left the safehouse. For almost the same reasons.

Choi Yoo Jin is my favorite character in the whole show! And at least thanks to The K2 I become Song Yoon Ah's fan, went stalking her dramas and movies after it ended. Though it didn't alleviate the pain caused by the ending any less 'cause she tends to choose dramatic characters over sunny, warm characters.

I agree with everything you put Lily. I wish Anna would just go dark and plan for revenge against her step-mother/father/family. Or at least like KTH's character in Yongpal. But well I guess an idol as the female lead would never get evil, morally ambiguous character and they'll stick to the pure, innocent soul image. And for Yoo Jin & Je Ha, well in some alternate universe I believe they'll start falling into each other, protect each other and live happily ever after!

This show.. Despite of all flaws, we still were emotionally attached to this one character - Choi Yeo-jin. Still bitter she didn't got any award for her stellar perfomance in this drama.

How I view K2 - Choi Yeo-jin is always the female lead, this story is mainly about her and Jae-ha (even the synopsis said so). But you know, when you put Ji Chang-wook and Im Yoo-na in one drama, it is impossible not to get them romancing each other, at least to satisfy fans' heart. So I'm fine with it. But.. I didn't buy their chemistry and how they fell in love. That's a loss. Anna was just a stupid and meaningless character until the end. Damsel in distress heroine is acceptable although it is least favourite, because if it is written right, we can love her. She can be naive and inexperience about the world but still hold on to her principles for example. Well, putting non-favourite actress as Anna also wasn't helping, at the end I didn't care at all about her.

They should have use same formula like Yong-pal - it was also noona romance because Kim Tae-hee's character was older than Joo-won's (although Yong-pal was also had many flaws, but I found in certain area it was better).

Seriously this writer should learn how to write properly.. Not that he is the only one with this problem. But his drama always had potentials to be a great drama if he can be sure what he wants in his drama, and not to be overly ambitious.

Thanks Lily. A far better ending.

If I wanted to re-write, I'd take your ending with a bit extra, but first, I'd totally ditch the daughter and just have Yeo Jin hiring her own bodyguard in Je Ha, and winning Je Ha over to her camp to fight her husband and her family and all who are out to manipulate her, not only on the physical safety front, but emotionally and intellectually as well.

I'd have that husband die in some most embarrassing way, (like being blown up by the bomb he personally dragged into the vault), that also showcased Yeo JIn's epic-ness, and have her up for President. Since people in government office 'usually' need to be married as well as protected, what better union than her marrying her bodyguard who'd take care of her day and night! Win-win!!! Heh! 💋

I just had this overwhelming sense of loss come over me of what could have been. I never watched K2 but I would watch it now if it was exactly what you wrote.

K2 made me so so mad... JcW first show after healer and he is busy with the stupid ramyun dances... Which is when i checked out... I was so relieved when suspicious partner came along and restored my wookie love

anna was annoying, cringy and childish and made me want to throw something on the screen.. Badly written.. I wont say badly acted bec i have never seen yoona in anything else

What didn't help was the scorching chemistry between the other two.. Any scene they had was so sexually charged that I was like - make out already!...

Thank you Lily for submitting this! I've yet to watch The K2 for many of the exact same reasons mentioned in this thread. Your alternate ending for this drama is the version I would have tuned in to watch.

Not casting Song Yoon-Ah as the female lead opposite Ji Chang-Wook and instead choosing the same old same old by relying on the casting of a popular idol with acting limitations (in this case Yoona) was truly an opportunity lost to step outside the norm to deliver something bold, fresh, and memorable. Coasting on mediocrity especially when it comes to the acting/performance of the male or female lead in a drama is a major deal-breaker for me.

Actually I liked Anna and Je-ha together. They had this pureness and innocence to them. That made them seem like kids when they are together. For me, I can't imagine where Je Ha and Yoojin are a couple. It'll just be a bodyguard with his agasshi. But I rather have a story about Anna using Je Ha to get Yoojin. While Yoojin have genuine feelings for Je Ha. And Je Ha is in the middle of all of this and sympathizes with both women. I envisioned this drama to be about power, and not romance.

I would totally watch and enjoy this show if it did end up as JeHa and YooJin as leads. Your take on what the alternate story is more interesting and modern in its romance.
I have nothing against Yoona. I liked her in Prime Minister and I. But I didnt like the character Anna. Too damsel in distress for me.
I did attempt to watch this show and got so far as the first 3 or 4 episodes. YooJin was compelling from the start and I was more invested in her character. But the flaws and criticisms hampered my enjoyment thus I dropped the show and just kept up to date on recaps until it just fell of the radar for me.

Yesss I would've love this show a million times more. Even if everything was still mediocre, if choi yoo jin was the main lead I would happily watch the show til the end. I just love that woman and she is so frickin gorgeous and so strong. And in the end she could get her revenge on her trash husband then run off into the sunset with her nice handsome bodyguard.

Since the start, I always found Anna as useless character. And the child mind didn't really help.

I didn't need a love story, a sexy dog-cat relationship between the villain Choi Yoo Jin and the nice guy K2 would be enough for me. It was not a show where I was excepted cuteness and pure and innocent love. I wanted badass characters and action.

I had to log in to say I agree wholeheartedly. Jeha and Yoojin had so much chemistry! I also stopped watching after the ramyun-dancing stalking scene because it was clear where the romance was going. I’m going to imagine this article as canon.

I quit after the ramyun. The "first romance" with the innocent girl-child character didn't suit Je ha's character, and it certainly didn't serve the drama at all. This should have been a spicy noona/action drama.

This is where the show should have gone. The writer needs to stay away from writing dramas after the mess both yongpal and the k2 were.
I was so excited after waiting for JCW to come back to kdramas after Healer and then when I started watching the first episode and anna’s over dramatic barefoot running in Spain, I already knew it was gonna be a mess. The ramyun scene was ridiculous and the ending infuriating. Even JCW shaded the writer in post drama interviews.

i love this one!

I wish I wrote this piece! Totally agree 100%! We need justice for Madam Choi's character. She deserved to be the female lead who Je-Ha falls in love with. Their chemistry is intense. I don't think anybody will notice if the other female character just disappears. What a waste.

It is true that Je ha had more convincing chemistry with Yoo jin than Anna but still I wanted their relation ship be more dynamic than a romantic one, somewhere the Yoon ah and Chang wook looked forced but since they both are beautiful so they made beautiful couple, but I must admit Anna and Subway ad made the series hard to watch at some point, too much endorsement.

I need a devoted fan to make K2 cuts so I can watch this version of the drama. I had to read this again just to reimagine it. I have a feeling I will often come back to read this post.

The drama that it could have been....

I would have totally watched this version!! 😫 Instead, i dropped it after the 2nd episode 😢

really, i don't get jeha and anna romance at all. I always skipped their part cuz its cringeworthy too. how i wish yoojin would end up with jeha instead.

Completed the series during the Great Quarantine of 2020. I don't necessarily agree that Jeha and Yoo-jin should live happily ever after, but I do agree that it was such a waste of excellent chemistry. Indeed it could have been a badass noona romance, even if one bound to end in tragedy.

I guess we get this vibe because the Jeha-Anna connection was not established convincingly. It had nothing compelling to support it but a few cute scenes. Also, as Kdrama fans, we're quite jaded ourselves. The deer-in-the-headlight innocence Kdramas have been selling us is no longer cute but annoying. And Anna's character, TBH, was a little too bland. Show tried to make her out as the Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately, her beauty and cute antics were not enough to carry her through. She paled next to Yoo-Jin's Wicked Step Mother.