The return of a cheating ex-girlfriend is enough to infuriate me but cheating on the male lead with his longtime friend is insane.

I love the slow-burn relationship between our leads. They are the opposite faces on a coin but somehow being together will fill the void in their lives and make them become better people. Woo-joo has to tone it down a bit and Dong-jin needs to speak up for himself.

I just skip all the scenes with the step-mother/mother. If WooJoo is already going to recount the encounter verbally in the following scenes, I would prefer to save myself from some trouble, time wasted and OTT acting.

I keep watching this on 2x, which is not at all an insult to the drama because that's what I usually do. But for this one, I wanna slow down and feel the melo but I just don't have time. So, 2x and fragmented watching it is, for me.

There were 2 moments this week that stood out for me:
When D-J shared the reason he holds back - I interpreted that as ‘his hurt and anger are simmering and will boil over and hurt others if he doesn’t manage his tongue’.
The second moment was W-J saying she hated looking at his back. She wants to loathe and scapegoat him, but the belief he’s living the good life at her & her siblings expense (which she needs to believe to continue wanting to hurt him) is continually exposed as a lie by the slow despair she sees seeping out of D-J’s slumped shoulders, rounded back and hanging head.
I admired how KYK is letting his body - esp his posture pre and post betrayal - tell so much of his ‘story’

I watch for the pretties. And Kim Young-kwang has such long legs
I mean several actors have the same height as him, but his legs are different, okay I should stop here

I hate that I discovered this drama early. I wish it was over so I could binge it. It's just the kind of drama I've been needing. Slow burn, broken people, healing, Kim Young kwang's beautiful eyes (was he always this good of an actor ?), it's all perfect. I just want to hug the two and make everything okay but I guess they'll do that for each other soon.
I hate that Hani is playing the GF to loathe chatacter, but I'll get over it

The fact that Woo Joo jumped in front of a car to get her father's attention and he still left them with nothing is actually wild. Your daughter was so heartbroken she almost killed herself in front of you and you were still like nope, I'm sticking with my mistress. Also Dong Jin's mother is a real piece of work, how does she not recognize her, how?. I too am loving the slow burn in their relationship. It fits their personalities and attitudes at this point in their lives. Woo Joo realizing he isn't this terrible human and Dong Jin realizing maybe he can love again.

I am really enjoying the show. I especially love the camera angles and direction. If only they reduced the pink filter.

I also like KYK in this role. He truly walks around like a lost sad puppy. As much as Woo Joo wants to hurt him she can’t! It’s like she is trying to kill a lost hurt kitten. Her protective instincts just come out.

I really hope it wasn’t Sun Woo. What’s worse would be if Dong Jin knows it and he is just pretending not to know? Like for years. Gosh! That would just be cruel. And his life seems to be all about being betrayed by the people close to him. Please don’t Sun Woo to that list.

In contrast we have the Sun siblings and Joon just fiercely staying loyal to each other. She might have lost her house but she got her people.

Despite this being outside my usual drama preference genre-wise I'm really into this. Still not in love with the pink filter. It's a shame because the color grading is really taking away from some otherwise gorgeous cinematography.

I didn't get the impression Sun-Woo and Min-Young were romantically involved at some point, unless I missed something? They seemed more like old friends catching up vs. reunited lovers on their dinner 'date,' but maybe that's naïve of me? At any rate, I don't think he was her fiancé-to-be (even if he is shady in other ways, and not as good a friend as I'm sure we all want him to be). Earlier in the drama he was questioning why they broke up, and I'd assume his name would've been on the wedding invitation. Speaking of, how COLD. Girl cheats on her BF for a year, blatantly lies the entire time, breaks up with him only when she's about to marry the guy, then sends him a damn invitation. Yikes. And now she has the nerve to make herself his neighbor and sadly pine over him. Ugh. Though my biggest worry is that our ML is just broken and lonely enough to entertain taking her back. Hope our FL can figuratively slap some sense (and self worth) into him first!

Continuing to love Woo-joo. She can be a bit mean at times, but has a genuinely good heart beneath her tough exterior. She wants to lash out and hurt, but it winds up being at her own expense because of her guilt, and the compassion she's unsuccessfully trying to suppress. On the flip side, we have Dong-jin trying to not hurt others like he's been hurt, but then he's doing it unintentionally by blocking himself off and not letting anyone in. And hurting himself further because his conflict avoidance makes him a doormat. They're both very relatable, though it's frustrating to watch, and I'm very much rooting for both of them.

I haven't yet finished the second episode so will have more to say later, but for now wanted to chime in that I am loving this show so much. It's exactly what I was hoping for based on the synopsis, and it's doing all the things I like about this genre well, and avoiding the pitfalls that I thought might trip it up.

First, I was worried that Dong-jin would be a male Mary Sue, a too-good-to-be-true, perfect guy who falls victim to the scheming FL's machinations but inspires and attracts her with his righteous moral authority. Thankfully, that isn't the case at all. Dong-jin clearly has a good heart, but most of his purportedly unselfish acts (staying with his gf even though he knew she was cheating, giving his mother back the money she lent him, letting the company spy stay on, even apologizing to Woo-joo and letting her in little by little) all stem from his desire to punish himself. The level of self-loathing he's experiencing is profound, and profoundly sad. He's also got a martyr complex. In other words, he's an interesting character who I can root for and enjoy getting to know.

Woo-joo is equally intriguing. She's so prickly that in a lesser drama this type of character would be hard to tolerate, much less like. But with LSK's assured performance and the careful, deliberate direction and writing, she seems so likeably human to me. I've known women like her: determined to be seen as jaded, cynical, and self-contained, but deeply caring, vulnerable, and basically bleeding emotional pain everywhere. I can completely see why Dong-jin is pulled towards her despite how mean she can be to him, especially since she tempers that meanness with protective moments that likely make him feel seen and safe in a way he never really has.

I also see why Woo-joo would be drawn to Dongjin--first, because he surprised her by not being the man she imagined at all and second, because he does seem to be see her actions for the self-protective artifice that they are and is endlessly patient with her.

I'm also thankful that Joon is a wonderful friend to Woo-joo but not harboring a secret crush on her. I'm not sure yet about him and the sister, but open to it.

The only little complaint I have is that I wish Hee-ja was less awful in such a cartoonish way. I was assuming that she'd be more nuanced, but so far, she's like Cruella de Ville but with men instead of dogs. I did like the twist, though, that she didn't recognize Woo-joo in the office.

I did not expect to love a drama about two troubled, lonely people so much, but I do! The writing and the way the actors are portraying their characters through their body language and the way they deliver the dialogue — it’s so good. FL is shrapnel personified, and ML doesn’t think he deserves to take cover. I’m looking forward to watching them help each other heal (at least I hope that’s what happens).

I just binged all four available episodes and like what I’ve seen so far. KYK’s performance is particularly on point - that lonely back and the soul-less eyes. Been doubting if he could deliver in this role but he proves himself. And so is Sung Joon who finally brings a character alive - the hiatus seems to have done him good.

The two script writers seem to be newbies with no prior credits. Just wondering if they are inspired by My Ajusshi and My Liberation Notes. There are so many scenes reminding me of those two dramas.

Will certainly continue watching.

Thanks for the recap. I have so many questions but now I'm beginning to wonder which side characters - and their relationship - are important and which ones are not.

The man that tried to attack Dong Jin - he was angry at DJ for something, but I couldn't understand why - and does it matter? (At first, I thought he might have been one of the previous step-dads)

The friend at the car repair shop - a discussion about a "father". A half-brother? Just a friend? And just where is Dad - still alive or dead?

At one point, there was an uncle of Dong Jin - or was he an uncle of Min Young? I think "uncle" was trying to notify Dong Jin that Min Young was back in town - or did I totally misunderstand that brief moment?

i should go back and re-watch carefully and take notes, but if anyone has answers, it would save me some time. 😊😊

Finally, I don't believe that Hee Ja legally owned the home, especially if the Shim's were never divorced. She's a snake - a snake who would have no problem committing fraud.

And I'm afraid we will find out they were childhood acquaintances - balloons, children running at the campground. I really wish they wouldn't go there.

I hate the pink filter

Haven't commented on DB in ages, but I had to log in just to say that I'm enjoying this show lots! maybe I'm in a Melo sort of mood right now. I must say that the acting isn't wonderful or anything, and the filter is goshdarnedawful (I think next time I watch, I'll have some cans of paint by my side), but the story has a lot of promise. I also sense a lot of callbacks, deliberate or otherwise, to My Ajusshi, which of course this show cannot match, but I'll take it. I'm hoping it holds up!

So, didn’t his best friend and partner (Sun-woo) set Dong-jin up with the ex-girlfriend? I’m thinking that she dated him prior to Dong-jin, which is also weird, but not as crazy as him marrying her. Also, wouldn’t there be another name on the wedding invitation besides for hers? Dong-Jin would definitely know who she married. There is absolutely NO WAY that they’d still be friends if Sun-woo did that.

I’m really liking the musical choices in this. It adds to the ethereal feeling, the loneliness, but also gives a glimmer of hope.

Man, his mom is a piece of work. But so was her dad.

The siblings and their interactions are perfect. And Joon is awesome. I love his friendship with the FL and would be relationship with her sister.

I haven’t gushed about KYK, but he’s so good in this. I can’t even when he cries; I just want to wrap him up and comfort him. And cry with him. I’ve always liked him…

Looks like this one’s a keeper.

The part where our FL says that if her mom had gotten angry at DJ's mom when she got to know about the affair she wouldn't have gotten cancer really resonated with me. My mom had to endure a lot from my grandma and our aunt growing up and now she has health problems (hyperacididty and other stomach issues along with knee pain). It really seemed to me that the stress of keeping peace really took a toll on her. The writer seems to have gotten that feeling bang on

I hate the ex so much.

I think I’m going to be quite 🤬🤬🤬 if we find out Dong Jin knew who Sun Woo was all along. That he’d seen her at the funeral (and in true kdrama style, probably at different times ever since his ma ‘stole’ 😏 her pa). And so, just like he let his client run at him and didn’t defend himself, he doing the same for her. Of course S-W’s letting him know how little she thinks of his dumb strategy. Even so, I will feel 🤬🤬🤬 ripped off if that’s where the pink drama god takes this script…

Well here I am again chatting to myself, having left a comment on eps 1 and 2 a couple of days ago. This drama has either become marginally more interesting or I'm just becoming more used to the snail's pace, but I've survived eps 3 and 4 and will continue on in hope.

My problem with it is the sheer passivity of just about everyone. The only dynamism we see comes from the wreckers, while the ML is just so downtrodden, if he could walk all over himself I'm sure he would.

If there's one thing I find hard to deal with in life it's the relentless moping around of people like him. I mean, surely they must get sick of themselves? I'm definitely a 'glass half full' type of person, a natural optimist, cheerful pretty much all of the time, though not to an annoying degree. I almost never feel sorry for myself whatever happens, so characters like this literally make me want to scream.

As a consequence, I am suffering through this just as I suffered through large parts of My Liberation Notes, which had the same effect on me for much of the time. I avoid sullen, resentful people like the PLAGUE in real life, and it was only the intriguing Mr Gu in MLN and the FL's sister (played by Lee El) who was valiantly trying to escape the sticky net of despair, that kept me watching.

I hope for something similar here to save me from the doldrums. So many beanies loved this depressing drama, there must be a reason.