I love your recaps @missvictrix - thank you so much!

Episode 11 first - so much to love!

I liked their conversation in the coffee shop at the beginning, where they discussed SA changing from playing Franck’s sonata. JY was giving his opinion on difficult pieces of music, but SA was hearing it as a reflection on his relationships. Do you think she more heard it as a) his commitment to keep hanging on to a possible relationship with JK, or b) JK’s commitment to keep fighting until she won JY back? I just really (x100) wish she could have heard it as a message for herself – he’ll keep pursuing you until you finally realise how much you mean to him.

I loved the way he didn’t disagree with her about the lack of hours playing the violin seriously hampering her chances. So many people would have rushed in to comfort by saying it wasn’t true. He dignified her by simply listening, and then taking her hand: I hear you, I care about you and I will walk with you in this. But I will not diminish you by pretending that’s not the truth.

I adored the way JY dropped so many hints to SA in this episode that he’s fully sold on her. The way he beamed at her on the bus when he had caught up! The way he admitted it was the first time he’d brought a friend home! The way he admitted it was his first time feeling so smitten in the restaurant! The way he opened up to her about his dad’s financial problems and the burden piano-playing has become! The way he couldn’t stop himself smiling with delight at her falling asleep on her shoulder and grabbing her hand so tightly! Yes, SA, that’s how much you mean to him – please wake up and smell the coffee soon! And, seriously, that smile could light up not just a room but a city…

Episode 12 - totally agree that it needs to happen although it was not fun to watch. But I like the way the writer handled it by giving us a heads up in the title (back to the beginning) to make the point that things *haven't* been closed properly and although there's been a lot of surface change in our character's lives, there's not been any real deep change. Facing their original issues head on needs to happen!

Your PS. It's not just you @missvictrix! I thought the same, too! Noona, saranghe it is! LOL.

Again, my emotions took a beating this week with all of these highs and lows, and this is not even a makjang drama! Again, Song Ah-ssi needs to use her words, making JY understand why she's hesitant letting him play for her, how she feels about Jung Kyung (and what she said in the car!), and what she's going through music-wise. JY, poor boy has his own struggles too, needs her support and care now more than ever and this is not the time to distance herself from him.

I hope they sort this out. Writer-nim! Only 4 episodes left. Please don't disappoint us! 🥺

Did last week just repeat itself?

I was feeling overwhelming joyful on Monday and then my heart sort of shattered watching the following episode :'( In fact, I haven't actually watched the subbed episodes yet because I can't get myself to ;-; (I normally livestream first and rewatch with subs the next day) Honestly speaking, I don't know if I can watch much longer seeing SA and JY suffer in so much pain in their overly toxic surroundings.

In the last 4 episodes, all I want is progress. That's what everyone wants. We keep being pushed and pulled, taking one step forward then way too many steps back. It's really exhausting and frustrating, even as viewers :( I still have hope in DYLB because I have so much love for SA and JY, but if next week is just another repeat of all this with nothing more solved, I don't think I can keep on watching sadly.

Sorry for this rant :/

The fluttery feels I got from ep 11 couldn’t compensate the aghast of ep 12 😢.. i feel for SongAh. Can’t wait for next episode to see what happen next

Thank you for the weecap @missvictrix!

This week’s episodes were an emotional ride. Joonyoung has turned out to be a wonderful boyfriend! His smile every time he sees Songah has me in puddles. The Daejeon date was pure magic. I can totally see the two of them moving out somewhere quieter and just living happily and being in love, far away from all the toxic people in their lives. Joonyoung’s genuine desire to be Songah’s accompanist was also so nice to see. He’s so patient and kind, it’s so swoony.

But he can’t protect Songah from everything. It was so hard to watch all those people talk down to her this week. Professor Lee is a nasty piece of work, and I really hope she gets her just desserts because there’s no one who deserves it more. Everything Simon said (heh) to Songah may be true, yes. But it’s also the delivery that matters. He’s trying to build up a business and get these people onto his side. Why on earth would anybody work for someone who talks to them like than on regular, unless they had no other choice? There’s a certain lack of EQ there I feel.

I wish I could do something to help Songah, but I’m also at a loss. There’s not much she can do in this situation, except maybe knock it out of the park for her graduate showcase? But even then, I’m not sure if that’s even the right thing to do because it would just get her stuck with Prof Lee for another couple of years. I think she needs to regroup and reflect not just on what she wants, but on whether getting what she wants now is really what’s going to be happy and healthy for her in the long run. Walking away is not always a bad thing, and if she needs to move to the countryside with Joonyoung for her own mental health, then who am I to stop her, right? 😁

As always, music roundup for this week and the link to the DYLB classical music playlist is on my fanwall!

This week tore at my heart, but I once again have to hand it to the writer. The challenges and miscommunications feel genuine to the characters that she has built. Yes, I want JY to be clear with JK (uhem, just who were you with in Daejeon), but he is always treading lightly and people pleasing. SA is sensitive towards others and without ego, but a little confidence would really balance her out. I know that some are looking for more character development, but I'm ok with taking a bit more time. I still am enjoying the ride, but I am looking a little side-eyed toward the fear of the magic time skip.... let's get this story and character growth moving on screen!

Wow...just wow. I cannot believe how brutal it is watching our two puppies get stomped on over and over again. I realize this is the gentle kind of drama where comeuppance for the bad guys means losing their jobs or some personal humiliation but I would love to see more than a few sessions with an experienced torturer.

There was no misunderstanding! Prof Lee baited Song Ah with the 'promise' of graduate program, thus it is natural to assume that she will be joining the chamber.

Someone must report Prof. Lee for abuse of power, unfair treatment, and the least of her crime is unprofessional treatment of students. Who dusts office while teaching! Maybe they can just spread it on the bulletin board or something.
I feel the fellow intern can be instrumental for this! She is super fed up with the nonsense and her dad is powerful enough so people wont touch her even if she causes problem.

Seeing Song-ah alone on the sidewalk, crushed, as Joon-young rode away with Jung-kyung, was really hard. One consolation for me is that this has to be rock bottom, so she should be starting on an upward arc toward the finale. The preview had two other consolations: JY cutting ties with JK and wedding rumors. The writer must know that we also want our villains to get their comeuppance.

One scene I would have liked to see: Song-ah's mother and sister's reaction to her dating JY.

In the end, I want a Song-ah who has found peace with her level of violin playing and has found a professional environment where she can flourish. I want a Joon-young who plays his own way and plays for love of music, and who is appreciated for his unique interpretations. I want them to have confidence in their love for each other, and I want to see them go home together at the end of a satisfying day and shyly close the door in our face.

I love this drama but I didn't love the ending of Ep.12.
Song-ah spotting Joon-young and Jung-kyung in the back of a taxi together... Ugh.
Another repeat and too much coincidence, Seoul is a big city, you know...
I'm sure he has a reasonable reason why he was with Jung-kyung.

There are only 4 episodes left.
I want this drama to be a happy ending story.

Oh man, this was rough. I don't want the show to end but I am so ready to put these misunderstandings behind our love birds. As much as I loved the handholding bus scene, my favorite scenes this week revolved around the umbrella gift. JY was so touched. His child like joy when he opened it in his apartment. Poor puppy hasn't had many people to think about his comfort over the years. I loved when he unabashedly told Song Ah that he carried it with him every day! ♥️ She really has no idea how special she is. My least favorite scene was watching Song Ah internalize all the crap her weaselly former coworker threw at her. Grrrrr. He's going to get it soon, and I can't wait.
Some of my favorite moments this week came from Jung Lying. She's going to be a great teacher and I love that she put Prof. Lee in her place.

Yes, Min Jae is definitely smitten! Hahaha! Those smiles, so genuine, are just for Song Ah! Or should I say for Eun Bin!

I really am hoping that we all recover from the messy ending of ep 12, just please! 🙏🏻🙅🏻‍♀️🙈

For the next episodes, I just want Song-Ah to act out of her character by chewing those people who are so mean to her: her classmate Kim Hye-na, Professor Lee, and Simon... To be honest, I was so impatient with her character in episode 12, like "Hey girl, just speak up... Because you have mouth for a reason...." and this poor girl keeps everything bottling up inside.... :(

I thought I was the only one who was shipping Kim Min Jae and Park Eun Bin in real life !! OMG SO TRUE they’re magic, even in real life.

I SOOOOO WANT THEM TO DATE IRL

@missvictrix giving me the giggles with that noona crush comment lol.

Singing with Enya.
"Sail away, sail away, sail away"...

i'm whipped for this show like JY is whipped for SA. so everytime i see this show in my kocowa, i smile with dimples (covered by fat unfortunately), look down awkwardly, and gently wave, "hello dear show ... ssi." :)

3 observations from another up-and-down week:

1) the cinematography in this show is top-notch. it was always great, but this week i realized that it may be next level. the opening cafe paying homage to surrealism, the bright blue/orange colors of the daejeon OTP day trip, and most importantly, the way the camera made SA feel small and lonely in the chamber dinner, with her sadistically painful polite bowing … if you want to take a deep dive with me, please feel free to stop by @ltung23 on twitter. stanning hours: open indefinitely.

2) i find it SUPER INTERESTING that people find ep12 so painful to watch that they are thinking of dropping the show! as kdrama fans, we’ve seen pain via being an orphan, losing one’s memory, being forced to twist a chicken’s neck, being run over by multiple cars at multiple times (or the same time) … yet everyone is so worked up ‘cause SA has to be a business woman instead of a musician?

but yet, i totally understand because the pain of this show is more relatable. we ALL (and i do mean all, even the successful beanies) have experienced the frustrations of career, feeling like the only loser in our field, the competition, the bishy power plays, the jealousy and envy. meanwhile, most of us are not orphans (sorry if you are; i love IOTNBO!). so, it’s utterly fascinating to see the reax to ep12!!! some shows have career struggles, but most shows, it’s almost a default that the male and/or female lead is like an underappreciated badass in their careers.

3) i also find it SUPER INTERESTING how we (myself included) are reacting to SA’s “lack of fight.” we fawn over these introverted, shy, kyoot characters while they’re in love and slurping ice cream, yet when we see them be the same against their enemies, we balk, want some sass and some weightlifting fairy kim bok-joo. as a sassy argumentative a-hole in real life, one side of me obviously yearns for SA to “stand up for herself” and “slap deese bishes,” but another side of me sort of marvels, wants to be like her. how she calmly collects herself before proceeding ... CALMLY, and confides in JY and reveals her quiet resolve. of course, the chamber dinner is the final straw, so it’s time to fight. but still, part of me wonders, if SA never fights, will i be okay with it? and is the problem SA … or me and my kdrama sassy biases?

ok, fine, i'm a biased stan haha. if everyone jumps off, i’m fine with it too, cause then PEB can be all mine! *maniacal laughter :)

The drama does such a great job of creating SA's dilemma. The writers put her in a corner and she need to make a decision.
She is not a good violinist but she struggles to accept this truth and she struggles to give up her dreams.

This is more than being insecure about Joon-Young and Jung-Kyung in the romantic field. She is insecure because she know that she couldn't connecting playing music with JY in the same level than JK and that hurts a lot.
That’s why she’s so reluctant to accept JY’s proposal to play with her.

And it's so interesting because SA lacks talent while JY lacks passion. One have what the other need but how could they help each other? Or its even possible they help each other?

I squealed a lot during episode 11 and banged my head a lot during episode 12. I will comment on Song Ah. Girl, you were shown to be perceptive person who is not fooled easily...where did all that go? You are soft spoken but you gotta stop letting people treat you like crap. Simon's a weasel who knows how to read people hence he is so fucking nasty to Song Ah on her face. She is being treated like a push over and ain't nobody gonna change if she doesn't start becoming stronger and starts to defend herself, stand her ground and demands decency and respect. She may not become a part of orchestra but that doesn't mean they get to treat her so abysmally. It was hard to watch. And why on earth is she hung up on still being under Professor Lee. There is nothing in that dynamic that benefits her either as a violinist or financially. She always kinda knew why Professor Lee wanted her, hoping for an outcome while reality points to an exact different direction will not change outcome itself. Fact remains that you audition for orchestral position, fact remains she is still not accepted into graduate school...so why on earth was she hoping for a place in the orchestra when she was never promised the place. She was subconsciously hoping for it, she didn't talk the ins and out with Lee, I mean seriously....this made me angry at her more than at professor Lee who I hope gets fired soon. Girl, earth to Song Ah, act realistic, act responsibly towards yourself, you deserve more. You are skilled with admin work hence even Simon wants you. That's a leverage so use it. It was killing me and I wanted to give her a shake up. Sometimes, you have talent, expertise in some other field than where you want it to be. It happens, use it as a strength to counter act your shortcoming. You are 27 years old, you should know this by now.

I loved Jung-kyung this week. Her telling Professor Lee off was so satisfying, and she was such a great teacher to Ji-won. I want to see more flashbacks of Jung-kyung happy and laughing.

In a drama filled with hateable characters, Joon-young's father is my most hated character. He is the sole reason for Joon-young's depression. His character is unredeemable. I don't even feel sorry for Joon-young's mom.

I just think they're not fair with SA. We need to get some things straight. She had have only one decent violin teacher in her life and everything other was respectively her own practice. The short 20 minutes lesson from JK gave her much more and improved her playing as all of those years under professor Lee's "teaching". Professor Lee needs really only talented students with private classes from someone competent and send them away like she was doing it because she is not a teacher. She wouldn't get through admission to the university in the first place if she didn't have a chance to improve and be good. Everyone is talking only about a talent but like JY told it on his interview recital with students, you can have a talent but practice is more than that. I've heard many pianists on radio here in France who won famous competition but their performance was only following the sheet and was lucking the "psyché", feelings and soul as if a robot was playing it.

The German school of music is known for this kind of approach to teaching music - you have to follow what's written on the sheet, don't think and don't interpret! But for me music is something magical which needs porting a personal touch, message to it's listeners otherwise it's just like a mechanical bird in a cage singing while the real bird's singing we can't reproduce only register it.

Those people criticising SA's performance didn't even listen to her yet. They managed to damage her little confidence she has had and now is scared to even play with the person she has deep feelings for. I would love to see that JK would offer some help to her and a proper guidance and she could show everyone what a student in the hands of a good teacher looks like.

This drama!! It hits all the feels buttons, and I just cannot. stop. watching.
I agree with you, it felt like one big step forward, and then two staggering steps backwards. I knew it was coming, but was in denial until it actually happened. We can only hope our precious music couple comes out the other side stronger. Someone give our precious SA a hug!
And the way that JY looks at her...*swooooooooon*...

hello beanies, thank you for the recap, @missvictrix...
After watching these two episodes, I need to rant a little bit...
At the beginning I thought only JY was miserable and half of the cast in this drama was meant to be totally mean, because it is a competitive worldwould, I know....
But here we are, on ep. 12 to 13 and everybody is mean and miserable. Except for the manager Cha lady.

I am honestly resigned SA and JY are meant to suffer.
And I know it sounds exaggerated, but man... they are so trapped in a nest of serpents... very toxic environment... trapped with no ways out.

JY's father is such a trash person! His mother is such a loser...

SA's destiny in the classical music's world so cursed, simply because she started later than the others.

The reasoning everybody is giving you is: you can only be this and in this time. Anything else and you are worthless.

And the sad part is... I would believe it is true, exactly like that in real life. In such an industry, nobody helps you, unless it is convenient for them in their original agenda. Nobody cares if you succeed... But they will care in order to criticize you and if possible, destroy you, so that they can be first.

It is a world where people will step on you without hesitation, if that helps them to be ahead of you and others...

It makes me so sick!!!

I love classical music, but then again... if that's the way classical musicians treat one another, I am so disappointed!

Now the music is not guilty... I loved the scene of SA just hugging her violin, as to say, "poor baby instrument, he only wants to play, but I am a mother that cannot protect him"... It was so sad that it almost made me cry. 😭😭😭😭

I am done expecting anything better about anybody in this show... And poor Song ah and poor Joon young are victims who possibly would be happier away from the classical music environment of that university and its adults, but also few family members and ex friends...

Poor OTP... I came into this party, in order to suffer with them.

I need more than yoga to survive.
Tai chi, maybe...

I will simply resign.

The writers are really mean 😡😢😡

i just can't wrap my head around kim min jae being the flamboyant playboy in Tempted and now the piano playing good boy here. i just can't!!!!!!

Seeing how ep 11 and 12 ended, I hope the writer will not pull the opening ending card for ep 16 :/ The kind of ending where JY and SA broke up in ep 15 to pursue their dreams and then closing ep 16 with both of them smiling at each other, standing 1m apart. I think I will really stab myself in the heart if the writer does that lol