I think EunOh can do whatever she wants with her life and she doesn’t need to give any explanations about why she did what she did. But... I would support her if I didn’t see her struggles or if she didn’t know from the beginning how sincere JaeWon was about her. The fact that she’s not apologising (a real apologise) and not explaining when she knows the other person is in such pain (and she’s known for a long time) and even so, she stubbornly refuses to give him what he needs, it’s what makes me dislike her.
She’s suffering as much as JaeWon is as a punishment to herself (keeping the rings, keeping the photos, not ya liking about her feelings). She need help. She can never heal until she’s dealt with it.

The writer really wants to create drama, that's why Eun-oh is a messy character. She loved Jae-won (and it seems she still does), yet, she lied, disappeared, stole his cameras. Yet she never forgot him. Now that they met again, she still avoids him, but has his number with hearts and carries the rings. And yet again, she always rejects him during their conversations. Never apologizes, and never explains her reasons/her feelings. Why drag this stuff??? If she spoke to him from the beginning and explained everything, he would not have been so hurt and she would be able to move on too. Well, this is dramaland, so lets add a bit of drama to spicy things up....

It's almost like this writer is taking relationship advice from a teenager who has never been in a relationship but sneaks & reads their older sister's journal.

I think they already have ending written since beginning and they sticks to 16 episodes. Extra 1 episodes probably just added last minute. I guess it is related with SHINEE comeback, so the episode some sort of promo for Mino. this is just my best guess, though.

@evan85 I'm pretty sure that 17th episode is going to be pretty unsatisfying. Nothing about the story lines so far has lead me to believe that we're going to get much of a story in that single 1/2 hour.

Puh, please don't put people into boxes. I can be a kdrama veteran and can still enjoy a drama despite its downfalls. I think we shouldn't belittle the reason things are popular because there's always a valid reason why they are watchable, even if we don't agree. Everyone has their own reason to watch or not watch something. And if only JCW's face makes a drama watchable for a lot of people then that alone is pretty powerful in the industry.

Also I am not that sure krama was ever perceived or described as 'realistic'. If I see 'poor' people in kdramas they seem to be still pretty well off - especially in romcoms - compared to what i've seen in real life. I never expect my korean romcoms to be realistic though. If anything the lovestory is usually the most unrealistic thing about it. The only 'realistic' drama I have seen was Misaeng and even that got a bit cheesy at the end...

I take that back. Misaeng is obviously not a romcom. Maybe Flower Boys Next Door can be considered as semi-realistic...? Or One Spring Night? Although that's not really a romcom. Run On is passable. Soulmate could be considered 'realistic'. I don't think we run into realistic korean romcoms very often though.

Anyways I think there has to be a certain amount of things that make a drama work for me to watch it till the end. Those variables can be different for everyone. I personally never finished a bunch of highly popular dramas because I couldn't stand to watch them anymore (like Moonlovers, or Heirs). But I still think we should respect that it was very fun for a lot of people, whatever the reason may be.

JCW, imo, has done really well in this drama. He's really stretched himself and I can see his evolution here. I would say the same thing for KJW as well. And that's with the writer's not giving her much to work with in terms of dialogue. The ensemble has been great too.

@moko1 I was not judging anyone taste, that's not even the point. I was talking about typical reviewer who would likely give this drama 5/5 and compare to reviewer who give this drama lower rating , and all based on observation on reviewers in several drama forum (the list can be longer). Don't like the fact, it is okay.

Any Kdrama veteran can enjoy whatever they want, but kdrama veteran who are looking more into story and character development would likely give this drama low rating.

Realistic in kdrama should not blindly perceived as complete portraying of real life. While the whole plot line still can be unrealistic, kdrama can still have a fair share of its realistic aspect, such as by making characters react to situation in a way people react in real life, by making character showing various human trait that flawed, complex, and often contradictory, by putting characters in life experience that viewer can easily relate to, by highlighting social issue (like my Id is gangnam beauty), etc.
Many kdramas lately are adapting these aspects and offering more option in slice-of-life story department compare to old rich guy-poor girl story. At least for the last couple years you can see rom-com kdramas move towards everyday life story, and the characters also become more relatable (many come from working to middle class, and less chaebols).

The premise of LSITC, claimed itself to portray realistic people struggling in the city while dealing with their love life. it is fair enough to say some viewers might expect to see more story in their work life, but later on find that none of the characters to be seen have any struggle for living in most expensive city like Seoul; not with rent, not with minimum wage, not with career insecurity (these 3 are the most likely real life issue at 30s something man/women). When most viewers fail to relate themselves with the characters, the aspect of realism also disappear. although, the love story of the MC for me quite realistic, only the problem is their action toward their problem it is not like many people I know in life would be (and you can see how many beanies feel frustrated here).

@evan85 It is not even about JCW act, but the fact that there is difference between saying the drama is good and the actor is good.

He did not continually pursue her. He could not find her until the recent couple of episodes. "I stole $10K worth of your cameras" is not a 'I don't want to see you'. It is an invitation to be found. I would be immediately worried what else she stole (credit card #s, identity, etc). His reaction to report her to the police was the right one. (When he caught her, and it turned out that she was not a "hardened criminal" - i.e., no criminal record, he allowed her to go). Then he learned from the photo developer place that she developed their photographs. (I can totally see this being realistic -- in the age of digital photography, how many places still develop film?) Why did she do that? She could've just called him and said: "Look, I don't want to see you anymore, pick up your cameras, I want to get a picture or two of us for memories" (the last part sounds weird) and be done with it. The show was explicit why he pursued her: she did not break up with him properly, and she did not, and that was a giveaway that she was not sure she wanted to break up (which the show made explicit from the beginning).

In the case of rape, 'no' means 'no', but human relationships are much more complex, people change their mind all the time, people make hasty decisions and regret. There was a chance that she changed her mind once they met. And when they met at her apartment (Seoul contact #2, the police box is #1), he lost interest in her. I think he was honest when he said he does not want to work with her. But then she starts leading him on by getting drunk and texting him in the middle of the night, he gets her when she is all blacked-out (contact #3), she sobers up and tells him, let's end it!? Finally, when her male friend tells her to work on the proposal for JW's company because she will not have money to pay for their apartment, she meekly obliges. If anyone has mental issues in this show, it would be Eun-oh. JW needs to seriously consider whether all that romance is worth being with someone who easily falls under the influence of others and makes poor decisions.

He did not continually pursue her. He could not find her until the recent couple of episodes. "I stole $10K worth of your cameras" is not a 'I don't want to see you'. It is an invitation to be found. I would be immediately worried what else she stole (credit card #s, identity, etc). His reaction to report her to the police was the right one. (When he caught her, and it turned out that she was not a "hardened criminal" - i.e., no criminal record, he allowed her to go). Then he learned from the photo developer place that she developed their photographs. (I can totally see this being realistic -- in the age of digital photography, how many places still develop film?) Why did she do that? She could've just called him and said: "Look, I don't want to see you anymore, pick up your cameras, I want to get a picture or two of us for memories" (the last part sounds weird) and be done with it. The show was explicit why he pursued her: she did not break up with him properly, and she did not, and that was a giveaway that she was not sure she wanted to break up (which the show made explicit from the beginning).

Human relationships are very complex, people change their mind all the time, people make hasty decisions and regret. There was a chance that she changed her mind once they met. And when they met at her apartment (Seoul contact #2, the police box is #1), he lost interest in her. I think he was honest when he said he does not want to work with her. But then she starts leading him on by getting drunk and texting him in the middle of the night, he gets her when she is all blacked-out (contact #3), she sobers up and tells him, let's end it!? Finally, when her male friend tells her to work on the proposal for JW's company because she will not have money to pay for their apartment, she meekly obliges. If anyone has mental issues in this show, it would be Eun-oh. JW needs to seriously consider whether all that romance is worth being with someone who easily falls under the influence of others and makes poor decisions.

@nicholas In case you think I'm defending Eun-ho because I like the character or approve of her conduct, I should make it clear that I think she is selfish, thoughtless and not terribly bright. But no matter how true and wonderful their relationship was in Yangyang, she does have the right to break up with him back in Seoul. There's no doubt that she did it very badly - abruptly and hurtfully - but she did it unequivocally. But even after all the repeated "no's", he kept pursuing her - not directly of course, since he didn't know where she was, but by haunting Cheonggyecheon, reporting her to the police repeatedly, and demanding a response via the reality show interviewer. She should have taken much more care with his feelings, but he should have taken no for an answer earlier. After all, according to many comments here and elsewhere, he's better off without her.

@knewbie
"she does have the right to break up with him back in Seoul."
Yes, I agree.

"but she did it unequivocally ... But even after all the repeated "no's"
I disagree. She did not clearly end it. It was a clumsy and stupid attempt at ending it, because she was embarrassed that her previous fiancé dumped her and worried that once Jae-won finds out about it, he will break up with her. She lied that she wanted to end it and why she wanted to end it, and it was easy for him to figure out that she lied. In the last episode, he was laughing at the whole idea of "finding herself" and said that Eun-oh and Seon-a are the same person to him, in other words she did not create a completely new personality (except for the name) at the beach (and how could she? -- she is not that capable). And they did have issues already at the beach, like when she hesitated to meet him when he asked her, etc. I take it he figured out that she is a liar and a coward, so what?, he can live with it (unlike her previous boyfriend) and she is lucky. This is his right, although I have my reservations as to whether he will be completely happy. My view was that someone like Yoo-mi would be better for him, but he did not meet her - it is a different drama.

In the latest episodes, when JW told her he did not care about her previous engagement, she changed her tune, Then he started ignoring her, and she did not like that altogether.

"he kept pursuing her"
How about this, her psychological state demanded that she end the relationship and his psychological state demanded that he at least finds out why she ended the relationship.

"he should have taken no for an answer earlier."
No, he had no obligation of this sort and broke no rules. There was no clear 'no' -- for every 'no', there was big 'yes'.

Drunk people are honest.

@ NN registered: agreed! Eun-oh had every right to break up with Jae-won, had she done it with sincerity and decency. Jae-won deserved that much.

@nicholas "It was a clumsy and stupid attempt at ending it, because she was embarrassed that her previous fiancé dumped her and worried that once Jae-won finds out about it, he will break up with her. She lied that she wanted to end it and why she wanted to end it…"

Where did you get the stuff about EO being worried about JW finding out she was dumped? AFAIK that was not one of her reasons for dumping JW. If she was embarrassed about anything, she was embarrassed about JW discovering she was different from Sun-ah.

If you attempt X badly, and you give false reasons for X, you might still be serious about X. E.g. someone who wants to leave their partner but is afraid of hurting them too much might give a false reason (“it’s not you, it’s me” or something like that) and end up sounding very unconvincing. But that doesn’t mean they don’t really want to break up.

Just because you don’t buy EO’s reason for breaking up doesn’t mean she wasn’t serious about it. I’m not the biggest fan of the “finding yourself” stuff either, but after all the crap she’d gone through, why is it so hard to believe that she needed time to sort out her life and her feelings? Also, finding oneself isn’t necessarily “creating a new personality” - EO found herself by discovering that the Sun-ah persona is as much a part of her true self as the old EO.

"Drunk people are honest.”

Perhaps, but more importantly they lack control. Drunk EO told JW stuff that she wouldn’t have told him had she been sober.

But how is EO supposed to pretend to have an important project when she obviously had no work and was desperate for some? That was precisely why Geon tried to fix her up with JW via KJ in the first place. Also, as someone else on this thread has said, there is no indication that Geon is freeloading. Why on earth would EO support him financially? This isn't a soap opera and she isn't secretly in love with him or whatever.

I repeat: EO loves JW, and JW is right to suspect that she loves him, but even then she still has the right to reject him.

@knewbie
"But how is EO supposed to pretend to have an important project when she obviously had no work and was desperate for some? "

The same way she pretended moments earlier that she and Jae-won had an early morning meeting or the way she claimed in the police box that Jae-won gave her the cameras or the way she pretended to steal his cameras. Here's a scenario - Geon: "landlord just called, rent up 20%"; Eun-oh: "just received an e-mail about a swell project, can't do work with Jae-won; BTW, Geon, your rent is up 20%". I mean she had to increase Geon's rent in line with the increase in the overall rent, right?

"Why on earth would EO support him financially?" Because they are friends from the kindergarten and because he was her first love (per the final episode). But, Ok, he pays for a room (let's hope at a real market rate), so what, this does not change much. Why can't he get his own place and start dating? There was always something creepy about the guy, and by taunting Sun-young in the final episode, he revealed himself to be a complete jerk.

"she still has the right to reject him"
Of course, she has the right to dump him, I have never argued otherwise, but this needs to be done 'like normal people do it" (for a lack of a better phrase) with conviction and finality. And until she did that, he had the right to pursue her. Her attempt at dumping him was not normal (she was living with him like a husband and wife for a month at the beach to steal his cameras??? -- does this even make sense?), convincing or final. The fact that she happily went back to him (the roof scene) is the most obvious proof that her decision was not final.

@nicholas "The same way she pretended moments earlier that she and Jae-won had an early morning meeting or the way she claimed in the police box that Jae-won gave her the cameras or the way she pretended to steal his camera"

Geon couldn’t have double-checked her lie about the morning meeting; the cops couldn’t have proved that she had stolen the cameras, especially with JW suddenly withdrawing the accusation. But Geon lives with EO and knows for a fact that she didn’t have work. Unless she had gone to the trouble of faking a new project, he’d eventually have found out that she had lied about it.

@knewbie
" But Geon lives with EO and knows for a fact that she didn’t have work."

He only knows what she tells him. And she was getting meetings and competed in project all the time. Note, at that time, Jae-won's company did not offer her a contract, she was going to compete for the contract at his company. She could I am competing for something else and compete, because she has to, may be she would even get it.

@nicholas My point is precisely that, being her flatmate, he is privy even to stuff that she doesn't tell him. Also, it looks like you need to be picked even to just compete for a project. Before JW's company evaluated all the applicants, JW asked the female employee whether O3 was worth putting into the pool for consideration. So it isn't that easy to get one's foot in the door; without the intercession of someone like Kyung-joon, EO might not be able to compete for projects elsewhere that easily. According to Geon, she had prepared a lot of materials but didn't get many opportunities to use them (hence his request for KJ's help).

@knewbie
"being her flatmate, he is privy even to stuff that she doesn't tell him"

He did not know that she was Seon-a until she told him. She has her room. Geon saw those papers only because she left them in the common room.

"So it isn't that easy to get one's foot in the door;" without a benefactor.
I have never said that it was easy. It is very hard, and especially when no one helps you. And it will get much worse before it gets better. The difference between Rin-i and Eun-oh is that Rin-i is just struggling, while Eun-oh is struggling toward something. If you don't try, you will never know if it could work out.

@nicholas I didn’t say he was privy to everything, I just meant that your statement that he only knows what she tells him is not always true. As you pointed out, he saw the materials because they share space, so he is privy to some stuff that she doesn’t tell him.

I didn’t say you said it was easy. I was refuting your claim that she could just compete in any project in lieu of the one at JW’s company

I agree that EO changing her mind so quickly at the end is a clear indication that she wanted to be with him eventually. But that doesn’t negate the fact that she was genuinely unable to face him earlier, because he said if she was a different person she wouldn’t be Sun-ah.

Two months of happiness is nothing – I know two women who dated their respective men for over a decade, got married, then got unceremoniously dumped after 1-2 years. They believed that getting married – legally married – meant that their husbands loved them, and couldn’t understand why they had been dumped.

But does that mean they should hang on to the men for dear life? It’s true that the husbands did something pretty final – filed for divorce. But just as JW kept pursuing EO, the women could have refused to accede to divorce because they were not convinced that their husbands really wanted to leave them.

Well, actually lots of people hang on to their departing partners for dear life (like JW hung on to his idea of EO) and no one can stop them. But if we allow that person X has no right to break up with person Y because X can’t do it properly/ graciously / convincingly, we end up with two questions:

(1) Who gets to judge what is a convincing breakup? X or Y or their friends or…? EO believed she broke up with JW decisively, cos what could be more decisive than presenting yourself as a cold-hearted opportunistic floozy who got surfing lessons, a surfboard and great sex from the guy then nicked his cameras at the end of it all? We know she still loved him, but until the night he went to the rooftop party even JW didn’t know for sure whether she loved him or was just a horrible person.

(2) What exactly does “no right to break up with Y” mean? if you can’t do it properly, then you are not allowed to do it and MUST remain in the relationship? Cowards like EO aren’t allowed to end relationships? I’m not EO’s biggest fan, but I'm pretty disturbed that so many viewers believe that her earlier rejection of JW carries no weight.

@knewbie
"something pretty final – filed for divorce."
Filing for divorce is not final. It could be just a way for a spouse to alert the other spouse to the seriousness of the situation. I am pretty sure it is not uncommon for divorce filing to be reversed.

" Who gets to judge what is a convincing breakup?"

I think the break up is final when everyone involved agrees that it is final. Everyone would be the couple + parents, friends, etc. So, when we break up, we need to make all involved to accept the break-up, otherwise those who do not accept it (the former romantic interest, parents, friends) will try to get the couple back together. We can try to argue that Eun-oh sent enough signals to stop Jae-won from pursing her, but this argument amounts to a mere attempt at making a social norm and then forcing Jae-won to follow this social norm. In other words, we will argue that Jae-won must accept the finality of the break-up because in his situation it is socially prescribed or ethically proper or some such to do so. Jae-won, as the smart guy that he is, will tell us to take a hike, rightly so. The writer of this show tells us through Seon-Yeong: "Relationship are easy to start and difficult to end".

BTW, Eun-oh may be herself guilty of not recognizing and accepting break up signals from her former fiancé Kang Min-Soo. That's why she may have ended up finding him with the other woman. Kang Min-Soo said something about signals, and Eun-oh not recognizing them.

@nicholas I’m amazed that you believe that a proper breakup requires so many people to believe in it, because I know of many that weren’t even mutually agreed upon. Your idea of a breakup sounds like a logistical nightmare. I’d hate to have to announce my breakup to all the people who might have an emotional stake in my relationship, let alone getting their permission to do so. Joking aside, why on earth should my friend’s or even my parent’s disapproval matter if I really wanted to leave my partner? And if anyone thinks they can get us to reconcile they can go ahead and try, or – better still – mind their own business.

I’m happy to accept that divorce can be overridden: that would mean that divorce is just one of the “social norms” that you mention. So according to your definition of a proper breakup, no one can ever leave their partner as long as the partner refuses to adhere to the “social norm” invoked, even if the social norm happens to be divorce. But that is simply not true. For a start, divorce exists and does what it sets out to do most of the time – i.e. allows people to leave their partners, whether or not their partners agree to it. In fact, countless people have been very successfully dumped without having agreed to it (hence the existence of words like ‘dump’ or ‘jilt’). More worryingly, your definition would be extremely popular with, say, abusive spouses who refuse to grant divorces to their partners.

@knewbie
"Your idea of a breakup sounds like a logistical nightmare. "

And it could be. People have ways to mitigate this (e.g., couples take time before announcing themselves as a couple and introducing each other to their families and close friends), but once in a while, things go wrong (personal example, my paternal grandmother had someone else in mind for my father and never truly accepted my mother - I heard about this from both my mother and my grandmother - lots of bitterness). Normally, parents and friends defer to the couple to decide, and, in most cases, people have no strong feelings one way or the other and accept what the couple decides. If there are parents or friends who object, then the couple can still go ahead with their decision, but they would need to manage the dissenters.

"no one can ever leave their partner as long as the partner refuses to adhere to the “social norm” invoked, even if the social norm happens to be divorce."

So, in the cases of exceptional importance, such as divorce, the collective wisdom of the people decided to codify social norms in the form of the law that would guide dissolution of this arrangement. My understanding of the S Korea divorce law is that if one of the parties does not want a divorce and this party did not do anything to offend marriage, there is no way to obtain divorce. If the party that offended the marriage (e.g., had an affair) files for divorce, it would be immediately dismissed. I am watching now Marriage Lyrics and Divorce Music. This gives some idea how these things take place in S. Korea. In the West, the so-called no fault divorce allows the spouse that wants out to get out. The law also stipulates that the marital property is divided equally. In reality, however, wealthy men and also now women in the West require their women and men to sign prenuptial and postnuptial agreements that can stipulate EVERYTHING: how many children the couple will have, how much weight the spouse can gain, spousal allowance, etc, and how much money the poorer spouse will get should the couple divorce. I guess it is easy to say that the West now considers the marriage to be a business contract that exchanges cohabitation, companionship, sex and childbearing for payment, but maybe there is more to it.

@nicholas Your father’s case is not a breakup (heaven forbid). Marriage is a slightly more simple matter. You yourself quoted Sunyoung’s declaration that getting together is easy.

Re: divorce. Again, you’re preaching to the converted. Of course in many less enlightened situations, especially in the past, getting a divorce is a tricky thing, and in many cases much more advantageous for the man. I’m only interested in situations where divorce is a relatively easier process. According to you, even someone who has managed to separate legally from their partner might still be stuck in the relationship simply because their partner refuses to let go. I repeat: that is simply untrue.