Lovestruck in the City: Episodes 10-11 Open Thread
by SailorJumun
The big secret’s out, but none of our lovestruck — or rather, lovesick — characters know what to do about it. Should they move on with their lives, or should they try to restore what was lost? As always, our heroine leans toward the former, while our hero leans toward the latter.
EPISODES 10-11 WEECAP
So, after our couple’s messy reunion, we only now see how much Jae-won meant to Eun-oh. Not only did she love him, but she was grateful to him for bringing out her real self. She beautifully states, “He built a house in [my heart] and became the owner.”
Having found Jae-won’s ring, she also wants her surfboard back. The man she gave it to is unwilling to return it, until she starts crying and rambling about why it’s important to her. Honestly, she should be saying all of this to Jae-won and not some stranger.
Director-nim asks Jae-won about Eun-oh, and Jae-won coldly says that he doesn’t want to hear her out. If she’d just embraced him out in the street, instead of trying to return his cameras, he would’ve accepted her. Which makes sense; for him, actions speak louder than words.
Director-nim sure likes toying with our characters — he eventually tells the others that Jae-won found his camera thief, and they’re all super curious to know what happened. Hearing her friends badmouth the thief, Eun-oh feels downright awful. But when she hears Jae-won’s video message (apologizing for yelling at her), she feels even worse.
The next few days are hard on Eun-oh, subsequently making them hard on her roomie Geon. She dances to loud music, she cries out of nowhere, and she curses herself in the mirror. Worried, Geon gives Eun-oh’s marketing proposals to Kyung-joon, thinking she just needs work. Oh boy, I see where this is going…
What I don’t see coming is the big blowup at Jae-won’s company. Jae-won and Kyung-joon have customers, with Rin-yi stopping by for lunch. But Kyung-joon and Rin-yi recognize the client as Eun-oh’s two-timing ex-fiance. They tear him apart, Rin-yi screaming that he made Eun-oh disappear for three months. Pfft, Jae-won’s face.
I’m glad we finally get some info about Eun-oh’s past, about why she was so desperate to leave her old self/life behind. It doesn’t excuse what she did to Jae-won, but it greatly explains her behavior throughout their relationship and breakup. We also get a breakthrough for Jae-won, who sees Eun-oh’s marketing business card and starts to put the pieces together. He calls her number, stunned to actually hear her voice, and then disappointed to hear a guy’s voice (Geon) in the background.
Even so, Jae-won can’t seem to let this go. He sits Kyung-joon down to ask about his friend that disappeared. And Kyung-joon tells him, and us, that Eun-oh and her fiance were supposed to move to Busan together, but that they mysteriously broke up. Eun-oh lost her Busan job, had nowhere to live, so she just up and left. But seeing Jae-won’s client with his wife and nine-month-old baby, Kyung-joon and Rin-yi realized he had to have gotten his now-wife pregnant while he was still engaged to Eun-oh.
We see Eun-oh pitching her marketing plan at another company, and the sight of all the interviewees reminds her of when she applied to her Busan job. She’d noticed a laidback girl sporting flowy clothes and highlights in her hair — and the nametag Yoon Sun-ah. So that explains where she got her inspiration for her alter ego.
Kyung-joon invites Jae-won to Eun-oh’s place, saying they’ll be camping on the roof. And hearing that Eun-oh lives with a friend and not a boyfriend, Jae-won gets this hopeful smile on his face. I don’t really understand what he’s trying to do, because when he arrives at the house, he acts as if he’s meeting Eun-oh for the first time.
When the couple shake hands, Kyung-joon notes that Jae-won isn’t wearing his wedding ring anymore. Looking at Eun-oh, Jae-won says he threw it away because everything about that woman was fake. Oof.
I’m torn because the devil on my shoulder wants Jae-won to totally mess with Eun-oh, while the angel (and much more logical one) just wants the damn truth out. I like Eun-oh and sympathize with her enough that I don’t want her friends or Jae-won to see her as a bad person.
The problem is, she’s trying to make herself the bad person and, frankly, succeeding. Despite her guilt and her obviously lingering love, she hasn’t done a single thing to fix her mistakes. She retrieved the ring and the surfboard, only to run and hide again. At least now, with the whole group (minus Sun-young) together, there’s nowhere to hide.
Time to face the music and put the “lovestruck” back in Lovestruck in the City.
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Tags: Han Ji-eun, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Ji-won, Kim Min-seok, Lovestruck in the City, Ryu Kyung-soo, So Joo-yeon
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1 wandering spot
January 27, 2021 at 11:59 PM
I agree with Eun oh for the first time, when she asked "Do I look sane to you?. I look crazy right". Can't agree with you more girl. You are crazy. I guess the show want viewers to empathize with Eun oh and her reasons. Does it work? No..atleast not for me. In fact I find it now harder to empathize with her because she tasted how painful it is when your loved one cheats you only to end up doing the same thing to another person. I can understand her need to be someone else but that doesn't give her the right to give the same pain to someone else. At this point I guess I realized that I might never warm up to this character no matter what. Another thing I do not get is why is it always Jae Won chasing her directly or indirectly? It's always him who is making his way to her. Why can't it be the other way around? More than anything else it's the fact that she is still not explaining anything to him thats infuriating me. And it's hard to even imagine how he might have felt when he finally discovered that she is a friend of Rin I and his cousin. And what will happen when he realize that she does knew all along that he is KJ's cousin. It's really cruel.
Also I didn't get Rin-i at particular scene. Why did she try to sell that night stand ?. I felt bad seeing KJ's expression. I mean why will she sell something her boyfriend bought for her? I even went back and watched the scene but still didn't get it. 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
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2 iamjustdanny
January 28, 2021 at 12:04 AM
I'm actually glad I picked this show back up. Stopped watching after episode 2, then waited a while until I got the itch to give it another try.
I'm caught up now and man, this is fun!
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3 iamjustdanny
January 28, 2021 at 12:06 AM
I loved the "He barged in my heart and just won't leave" and "he built a house in here and became the owner" lines!
I enjoyed it so much, I took a screen capture of it and showed it to a few of my buddies!
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4 shichybot
January 28, 2021 at 12:22 AM
Show is bad at writing female characters. Can’t seem to like any of them at all:
Eun Oh steals cameras and now an identity, too? I said it on twitter: this just screams single white female serial killer to me. Can’t understand the girl’s thought processes at all, and frankly I still don’t know what true self she has now that she was babbling about. (I’m gonna stop because I foresee @ltung23 laughing at me 😅)
Soon-young is just plain mean, making her exes strip on the street, getting mad jealous of boyfriend’s ex, etc.
Rini I used to like because she seemed to be the calm, rational one but the spraying cola for revenge scene soured me. There should have been a better way to deal with a friend’s cheating ex than that.
I can’t stop watching this drama for its ridiculousness at this point haha. I’m just wondering if show will really make Jae Won a martyr for taking back Eun Oh, and will she ever own up to the mistakes she made? All she does is run away and at that rooftop scene, I really expected her to jump off the roof (to safety ofc) or make a dash for it. 😂
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5 gem28
January 28, 2021 at 12:41 AM
All of the female characters took a nose dive this week and by that I mean Rin-yi mostly, the other two were horrible from the get go. Eun Oh has issues and her backstory made me even more livid at her selfish, thoughtless behavior. She needs a therapist, love can't help her.
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6 CustardHopia
January 28, 2021 at 12:55 AM
Dropping by to say that Geon is precious and must be protected at all costs ❤️
Also, Rin-yi does not want to get married because they never discussed it while Kyung-joon..? Uh oh.
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7 Eazal
January 28, 2021 at 12:57 AM
I just don't want Jae Won and EunOh to end up together. It would be so toxic. I do hope they can learn from what happened and move on.
I can get the reasons why EunOh did what she did in the beginning, but as I've said so many times, my empathy with her ends the minute she abused JaeWon's love, knowing for sure how hurt he was.
When the question was asked on episode 11 of how breakups must be, I agreed with those who said that people should be clear about the reason even if it hurts both of them, and of course it should be done face to face. You don't have to make the other understand why you leave him, but you have to explain why: I don't love you, I can't be in a relationship with you, I need to focus on myself. Something JaeWon didn't get.
I have to say I'm liking more and more JCW and KJW's acting in these last episode (I didn't connect with any of them at the beginning), and I'm glad because I find both characters quite unlikable.
And a final comment about Run-I and KyeongJun... why do I have the feeling they won't end up together? It's not the fact that Run-I has said that she doesn't want to get married (you don't have to be married to live a long and happy life with your partner), it's just that I feel it's KJ the one who's making all the efforts in the relation, and not the other way round.
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8 Kurama
January 28, 2021 at 2:11 AM
Aaaaaaaah (me screaming of the frustration)
I knew that Park Jae-Won will be nice and it's so frustrating. I didn't want him to scream or anything like that. I wanted him to have a honest conversation with her. But the fact he made like he didn't know each other shows that he doesn't want to hurt her in front of her friends.
What happened to Lee Eun-O was painful and I understand she wanted to be someone new. But she didn't have to involve someone else in this big lie. She got plenty occasions to tell him the truth, to apologize, to explain herself, etc. But she didn't because she's a coward who thinks only about herself.
I think they will make them dating at the end and it will be the worse decision, I don't think she can make me forget what she did in the past.
I don't like her with Kang Geon neither, he's kinda her punching ball more than her friend.
Suh Rin-I's decision to not marry is not an issue but the fact she didn't talk about it to her boyfriend is kinda weird. He has " I want to marry and to have the perfect family" written on his face...
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9 LookieLooWho
January 28, 2021 at 5:49 AM
Isn't this drama supposed to be multi-seasons? Have we moved into another season yet?
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10 junah
January 28, 2021 at 6:01 AM
Finally the story went to right direction. I like the show kind of returning to usual kdrama story. And in a glimpse, I found Kim Ji Won as Choi Aera (!) when she in her craziness advertising the drink, out nowhere shout out to applicant at job interview. Honestly, I like this version of Eun-oh, not before holiday, not at holiday, but exactly this version. Eun-oh at holiday seemed to hard to be cool girl, but Eun-oh who's going back from holiday and broke out a guy's heart is not trying to be anyone but herself, a her damage version, a her stronger version, a her weak version, and her vulnerable version. Now she seems a lot more real character to me. I kind of understand where Eun-oh came from. Some people creates their alter ego to liberate themselves. She was heartbroken, and every aspect in her life was falling apart. She took time to break from her real self, an unsatisfying version of her. She didn't expect to fall in love when she was playing a role, but she did. She was still in her second act when she met him but she couldn't break her scene. by the time she finished her own play, the damage has been done. Was she a bitch? maybe. But many people come to new relationship with package and far from perfect self. It is unfortunate for him, but I won't go as far as he's being deceived or how Eun-oh being unfair to him. Jae won is a collateral damage of Eun-oh self healing journey. She didn't plan it, it just happened. Is it necessary for her to explain it to him and give him closure ? of course, but Eun-oh is not perfect also. With her past, she's also a broken person that need to be fix first. She needs to do it in her own pace, because it's not only about jae won heart, but also her heart. maybe not many realized, but sometime it is also hard for people who lie, there is always cry behind the lie. Eun oh also got her heart broken. Jaewon fall in love with her fake self. it is same like he fall in love with someone else. eon oh might as well have unrequited love for him. their relationship is doomed anyway since it based on false pretenses. it's a good thing they finally broke it; now they are ready for the real one. I am glad the writing went to Jaewon to take first step to really know Eun Oh again. although, I doubt whether he will fall with Eun Oh on the same way he fall for the free spirited girl on the beach (which in my personal opinion, is so eye-roll-emoji. why man always think cool girl exist ? they are not. )
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11 Kafiyah Bello
January 28, 2021 at 6:36 AM
I actually don't mind any of the female leads. I think they all need to work through their issues, but I like them generally. They are all scared of love even when it is right in front of them, so they try to sabotage it ahead of time. They are all also girl's girls. So often in kdramas the boys are boy's boys, but now it is the girls that are different. They have all supported each other in one way or another. The fact that they are bad in relationships doesn't make them terrible people, just human. I like that the writer shows both their good and terrible sides. That being said
Rini: She is doing KJ dirty. She doesn't seem to discuss fundamental life decisions with him. He obviously earnestly loves her so much so that he lies about the nice things he does for her. KJ doesn't deserve any of that. That fact that even her closest friends of years don't know she doesn't want to be married is a red flag. KJ needs a break from her and Rini needs therapy to work through why she thinks the way she does. Not necessarily because she doesn't want to be married but because she hasn't told KJ.
Eun Oh: Girl, apologize fully in all the forms you know how. Write him a letter, leave him a voicemail, shout from the rooftops. He deserves better than the way she has treated him.
As for Seon Young she makes me laugh. She is so petty. She needs to work on that. She is clearly insecure about Geon having his best friends be girls and living with one of them. Is it possible for guys/girls to be friends? Absolutely. Is it also possible for them to be more than friends? Absolutely. That being said she needs to learn how to trust her partner and understand that in this case Geon is the former and not that latter. So her insecurity is unwarranted because Geon is honestly a treasure of a character and I am sad we got to know so little of him.
Sorry for the long post, lol.
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12 OldLawyer
January 28, 2021 at 8:59 AM
First of all, three cheers for Rin-i. I mean it. Yes, it was irresponsible- and damaging to Jae-won's company- and if she had consulted with me as a lawyer beforehand (not possible in this scenario) I would have definitely told her not to do it. And yet it was so much the right thing to do- because Eun-oh's ex had it coming. His thoughtless cruelty to Eun-oh cried out for retribution.
Meanwhile, there is the simple truth that two wrongs do not make a right. What happened the ex did to Eun-oh did not justify what Eun-oh did to Jae-won. While she did not set on in the beginning to hurt someone when she changed her name and disappeared to Jejudo there should have come a moment when she realized that her fling had turned serious- like maybe the moment when Jae-won proposed.
That is when she should have 'come clean'. If she had explained at that moment why she had assumed a new name it would probably not have caused a problem at all. Jae-won would probably have simply been sympathetic- and even amused (that would have been my reaction if I were in his shoes).
I am not sure that the writer gets the psychology of this situation right. We actually warn people against the dangers of a "rebound" relationship- where someone rushes into a new relationship blindly and regrets it later. But these two people actually spent a lot of time together (in total hours) and actually got to know each other. You could say that the heavens had stepped in and put Eun-oh with someone she really could marry (and did- even if it was not registered and legalized). So what she did- which was running away- made no sense.
The fact that Jae-won found out the truth after an entire year was simply ugly. The roots of love are trust. How can he trust this woman in the future? So his reaction at the rooftop party makes total sense. As much as she still means to him he is trying hard to stick to his decision that this is over. I am glad that he has made that decision, and is trying to stick to it even as his fishing for the ring he threw away tells us that his heart is not in it. I am not that anxious to see Eun-oh suffer but maybe that very suffering will lead her to value him and be truthful with him. It is a way of showing her how important he is to her, even as his suffering over the past year has proven her importance to him. In any case Eun-oh has some serious work to do if she wants to get her husband back. Rebuilding trust is hard.
So, it looks like this show will have enough episodes for Eun-oh to redeem herself. I have enough sympathy for her to hope she can do it. At the same time, she deserves to have a tough time of it, yet I also hope that Jae-won can be a big enough man to acknowledge that this is the woman he wants to be with- and not just give in but listen and try to understand. Just as he had built a home in her heart so she has built a home in his. She is imperfect- but we are all imperfect. We would not need someone to...
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13 ahjussi clown
January 28, 2021 at 9:29 AM
after liking show last week 'cause of the sherlockian mystery "why did eunoh ghost?" and the rare chance that show can be an elaborate allegory to modern online dating ...... i hate the show again haha. seriously, has there been a show that has been more up-and-down roller coaster and infuriating than this one?
so like a few on DB, i actually started the show sympathizing for eunoh 'cause it felt like she was struggling with something, jaewon didn't bother to learn more about her before dropping the L-word, she was almost pressured to marry him, and breaking up is her right (although the way she ghosted was wrong, no argument for her from me there). but as show has gone on and started explaining her motivations, it's become worse and more illogical, at least for me. so she followed her ex to busan but found out he knocked up another woman, she lost her hotel job, she went to the beach and fell in love with a pushy but still loving, loyal man, she STILL LOVES HIM in seoul treasuring the cameras and rings, but she chooses to ghost him 'cause ... she stole someone's identity? is jobless? is living with a man? i'm trying to understand her insecurities or whatnot, but it's proving difficult cause it's all sounding like the ultimate form of CRAZY noble idiocy. with show's explanation, shouldn't eunoh appreciate jaewon more, not less? did they not even talk about themselves for 2 months and just made surfboards and make out all day? the explanation even feels makjang, e.g., did she really have to randomly lose her hotel job too, writer-nim!?
i like all the "eunosh is a serial killer or a north korean spy" theories of fellow beanies more hehe.
but i keep watching 'cause of 2 reasons:
1) the directing, format (only 30 minutes!) and docu style are still top notch. they add a lot of intentional and unintentional humor to show. @shichybot and i have (you're gonna hate me for revealing this haha) likened this to a "guy with a hot bod," like JCW. you can't help but look and admire, but in the long run, one needs more (60 minutes? good writing? actual love? substance? hehe) to be satisified.
2) this is the first kdrama that feels like its having the characters intentionally make me angry to capture my attention/rating. there are a lot of angry guys like jaewon and insecure gals like eunoh in kdrama land, but by ep4, we love them 'cause of x, y and z. this show is inspiring me to hate watch with every reveal ("wait, cute rini doesn't want to get married like tami in search:www?")! so i now call LitC the "donald trump of kdrama" (or whatever anger-for-ratings president resides in your country), the ultimate troll to make me press that Netflix play button haha.
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14 tabong says what the fat
January 28, 2021 at 1:45 PM
A question: why all the hate to ONLY the female characters?
There's no saint in this drama: the male lead also has a bad personality and his cousin is lying to the girlfriend he stalked in the past. Nobody's perfect.
So why all the comments treating the female characters like the monsters from Sweet Home? Chill people.
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15 NewFan
January 28, 2021 at 2:19 PM
A lot of people who call Eun-oh crazy may be unaware about the psychology behind escapism and self-detrimental behavior. By what little we have gathered about her original self, I'm assuming she had a weak personality and low self-esteem and felt like a failure despite all the planning and seemingly perfect life after her ex-fiance cheated. Such personalities don't face reality but become detrimental and find temporary pleasure as a coping mechanism. That's exactly what she did - she ran away from everything that would remind her of herself - the city, her friends, her personality. Usually, people would cry, talk to friends, seek help and move on. But she was messed up and when that happens we are slaves to our mind and emotions. She sought refuge in a stranger's love and affection - something she may have not got in her previous relationship. She said that she isn't saying no anymore or isn't making plans anymore, it shows that this vacation affair was a part of her unhealthy coping mechanism without her realizing that she is damaging another person. Her behavior after the vacation was again a life of denial that she actually loved him. She ran away again instead of confronting him. Why she doesn't get back? Because running away is easier, she knows he loves the personality he met on the beach who was level-headed, confident, and free-spirited. She firmly believes he will hate her let alone love her for her real self - a messed up, confused person picking up pieces to rebuild her life and who has added guilt to her problems by lying and ditching JW leaving him to suffer in the most horrible way. She may not have got back to him because she now fears being in a relationship, especially one that was built on a vacation on pretense when she wasn't emotionally or mentally stable. If she couldn't disclose her breakup to her closest friends, I don't think she would reveal to a man whom she wronged. She might confuse him further by confessing her feelings to him. Right now, I think she believes she doesn't deserve him and doesn't want to make him a part of her mess so she's pushing him away. All JW is right now is curious and angry. None of this is an excuse for hurting JW and he didn't deserve to be a rebound option. The truth would have given him a closure and he wouldn't have to had to suffer so much. As of now, JW can move on - all he has to do is blame her and rightly so. But Eun-oh's only option is to blame herself, keep her feelings to herself, and live in guilt which is too harsh a punishment for someone who made a mess because of her psychological issues.
The only way I think JW and Eun-Oh can get together in a healthy relationship is if they behave like mature adults and understand each other and get to know each other instead of being impulsive teenagers. He needs to realize that people like Yoon Seon-a DON'T EXIST just like prince charmings and perfect princesses. He met a fantasy and fell in love with it. Eun-Oh is...
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16 FanNew
January 28, 2021 at 2:47 PM
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17 FanNew
January 28, 2021 at 2:57 PM
A lot of people who call Eun-oh crazy may be unaware about the psychology behind escapism and self-detrimental behavior. People with weak personality and low self-esteem don't confront the problem but become detrimental and find temporary pleasure as a coping mechanism. She ran away from everything that would remind her of herself. She was messed up and when that happens we are slaves to our mind and emotions. She sought refuge in a stranger's love - something she may have not got earlier. The vacation affair was an unhealthy coping mechanism without realizing she is damaging another person. Her behavior after the vacation was again a runaway instead of confronting him. she doesn't get back because running away is easier, she knows he loves the personality he met on the beach who was level-headed, confident, and free-spirited. She firmly believes he will not love her real self - a messed up, confused person picking up pieces to rebuild her life and who has added guilt to her problems and lied and ditched JW leaving him to suffer in the most horrible way. If she couldn't disclose her breakup to her closest friends, I don't think she would reveal to a man whom she wronged. She might confuse him further by confessing her feelings to him. I think she believes she doesn't deserve him and doesn't want to give excuses so she's pushing him away. All JW is right now is curious and angry. None of this is an excuse for hurting JW and using him as a rebound. The truth would have given him a closure. JW can now move on - all he has to do is blame her and rightly so. But Eun-oh's only option is to blame herself, keep her feelings to herself, and live in guilt which is too harsh a punishment for someone who made a mess because of her psychological issues.
The only way I think JW and Eun-Oh can get together in a healthy relationship is if they behave like mature adults and understand each other and get to know each other instead of being impulsive teenagers. He needs to realize that people like Yoon Seon-a DON'T EXIST just like prince charmings and perfect princesses. He met a fantasy and fell in love with it. Every woman JW finds will be more like Eun-Oh than YS - confused, battling personally and professionally, learning from mistakes. Eun-Oh is accepting reality and is figuring out how to clear up this mess. I really hope she puts in effort to help him love and trust again.
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18 beffels
January 28, 2021 at 4:25 PM
I like this show so much more now things are happening and it’s not just “look at us frolic lovingly on the beach”.
It’s interesting that the manic pixie dream girl-ness at the start felt (to me) overdone and fake, and then it turns out that it was in fact fake, and she was pretending to be like that. So maybe not just bad acting/directing? 😅
In real life I would want them to all just leave each other alone for their mental health, but because it’s a kdrama I will allow them to reconcile 😄
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19 Wordless
January 29, 2021 at 8:50 AM
I sincerely hope Eun-oh and Jae-won don't get back together though I reckon that's the direction the show is going. I just don't find her sympathetic at all. Sure she got her heart broken before but she essentially catfished Jae-won and hasn't had the decency to offer him an explanation. I think I'm just watching this now because I wanna know how everyone else will react when they find out that Eun-oh is Yeon-a.
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20 Caro92150
January 20, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Just watching this now - a bit late and having a REALLY hard time empathising with Eun-oh.... not too sure if I can watch the rest of this series... she seems to be SO insecure in every way - even basic communication with supposedly good friends... definitely struggling with this one! Saw the ML in "Welcome to Sandahl" which definitely had a more mature main couple..
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