I'm enjoying this drama so very much. Perhaps too much. Magical love-drug spells and potions don't bug me, nor do two-timing/cheating situations. I truly get why they bother others, they just don't bother me to see on screen. For me, this drama is about what it means to "be swayed" in the context of a pretty-low-stakes forbidden love.

Here's my issue, though. I've started to really care for Hong-jo, and when I start really caring for the FL (*cough* HeartBeat *cough*), I know that I'm in (too) deep. Yes, that's right, this show now has the delightful opportunity to punch me in the gut as bad as HB did. I'm invested.

Now that it’s got me where it wants me, I have some questions for the show:

1. Where'd the Red Hand go, and when will it be back? It will be very disappointing if it doesn't come back, but I bet it will, what with the past life stuff coming.
2. Tell me more about Jae-Kyung's crappy relationship with his father. Do we already know his father?? Are he and Shin-yu half-brothers or something? That'd be creepy and wonderful. I doubt it, but still.
3. Does Na-yeon actually care for that chaebol jerk? If so, why? If not, what is she trying to work out by keeping him? The show still has a shot at not making her a caricature. I'd like to see it do so.
4. I do wish to know what forces are keeping Shin-yu from breaking it off (again) with Na-yeon. I'm assuming they center around his father--which would make a nice parallel, perhaps to Jae-kyung's situation if they ever delve into it--but whatever it is, I bet all of us would like to know more about why Shin-yu is behaving like he needs to stay committed to her (so far as he is).

PS: When Jae-kyung laughed so adorably at his own "I'm disappointed my magic spell/poem didn't actually turn you into a flower" joke, well, let's just say it confirmed my suspicion that this show has my whole heart. It melted an unsympathetic me like it melted an unsympathetic Hong-jo.

PPS: I'm also not sure who broke character more, Rowoon in the scene with that dog last week, or Ha Joon in the scenes this week at “FL/2ML House” (in the garden and then in Hong-jo's apartment—kicking that stool away from Rowoon, ha!). Both of them seemed to be unable to stop themselves from cracking up, and I loved every minute of it.

@unit Thanks for the perfect guide to how to enjoy this drama. I am following your playbook here and watching while continuously telling the characters what not to do and what they should be doing instead.

Never thought an episode 8 kiss will make me drop a drama. This is it for me.

The drama plot is meandering and so far I have no idea about what to make of the spells and curses. Did he get cured of red hand, if so, why are they doubting the spells. It’s almost like everyone forgot about red hand, writers included. Characters are not likable and are inconsistent. The whole 2FL affair was just terrible writing.

I am ok with messy situations and even flawed leads but atleast give us something in the plot to make us continue. The show had a chance to undo the spell and make Shin Yu realize his love for Hong Jo and suffer. There is nothing wrong in a male lead falling in love with another woman or realizing what love is. It’s how he handles it that matters. In this show he is not suffering but just two timing or unwilling to break up unless he is sure Hong Jo has feelings.

Also, better written second leads and side characters could have elevated this show. The 2ML is boring and entitled who won’t ask the FL out but will act like her boyfriend. The 2FL for random reason is sleeping with someone. The office ladies are caricatures.

It doesn’t help we have this random parentless boy appearing out of nowhere every few episodes. It’s good and funny in parts but the moment I hit the stop button, it’s all forgotten.
My only take away these episodes was that Ro-woon has pretty fingers.

Until the next rom com.

The Park Maintenance Team prepares for an upcoming festival, and of all times to check out the location, Hong-jo chooses to go at night. The lights suddenly go out, and an unknown number calls her phone. A hooded shadowy figure trails after her as she hastily makes to leave, and as the shadow grows closer, ominous music plays… sigh. I have no words. I absolutely refuse to be worried about an OTP that has zero regard for their safety! *Panics*

@Unit, why didn't put the word cliffhanger? I was not afraid that Destined with You might turned into unexpected genre horror soon after this cliffhanger (and that ends of first half). Also, for the second half (eps 9-16), I need the sageuk scenes, I don't want to have a disappoint ending and I need to stop preempting/not airing this Kdrama for the Chuseok period, show!

As for TV ratings, I saw the ratings on this Kdrama's Wikipedia page that it was a highest rating (2.9%) for episode 8 and I prayed for 3% and above... promise me.

So I came back, my fellows beanies wore me down. I am still not sure why he likes her. They haven't fully explained it, but I am a FULL on sucker for a ML saying he is swayed. There is something about this phrasing that gets me all in, so I am rooting for the OTP. That being said I love 2ML, I find him insanely delightful. He is so earnest in his bad jokes, so it fully endears me to him. Now I also don't understand why Na Yeon isn't just with the weirdo Chaebol psycho out in the open. What does it accomplish to just have him for sexy times. Maybe the show will answer that, but it seems unlikely. SIGH.

I don’t like 2M1F love triangles as it seems that inevitably they devolve into a dick measuring contest. Here it has been slowly but surely occurring and consequentially Hongjo’s agency has been undermined in a number of ways. I would tolerate it if the writing was better and wasn’t so sloppy. Drama, stick to your strength which is the pay-dirt you’ve struck: The inexplicably great chemistry between Hongjo and Shinyu. Almost everything else is bad to mediocre except Jaekyung’s occasional self-consciously delivered jokes.
One more thing: Hongjo, seriously uncool to violate the privacy of Shinyu by revealing his illness. Not on.

I'm still enjoying this drama for what it is inside my head : my weekly shut off my brain and serve unrealistic story with romance sprinkled in as I relax with dinner. And so far its serving its intended purpose. Hence why I don't mind (too much) the iffy two-timing situation as much as I would in other dramas or reality (where this would be a dealbreaker I realise). For now I too continue to be swayed by the story and the characters. Hong Joo more than everyone else but Rowoon's eyes do be beckoning at times.

I'll sum up my thoughts in bullet points so I don't go raving on about some secondary characters who are doing a perfect job of pissing me off.

•I don't know how you guys didn't laugh unless your fanwall reactions were for another Destined With You but, I had a swell time watching episode 7. I choked on my food while watching.

• Na-yeon just gives me more reasons to solidify my dislike for her. Her slapping Hong-joo... unacceptable.

• I wasn't exactly giving a thumbs down reaction to Sin-yu's father's regard for his wife in the past few weeks. I saw it, didn't like it and moved past it. This week got me really pissed. And it wasn't because he ghosted their outing. It was his slap on the wrist reaction to his wife's emotions and voice when she returned home and found him sleeping... sleeping 🤯🤯? I thought he ghosting would be the height of it that I never expected him to top it up with something more appalling. There's no way I'm moving last this one.

• I hope there's no romance cooking between Sin-yu's mom and the young lawyer. I like the fountain of youth he's making Sin-yu omma feel but that's it for me.

• That episode 7 ending kiss should have been followed with a strong reaction, not a flustered one. Especially when it clearly wasn't consensual at the beginning. I wasn't expecting that Hong-joo would be replaying the event in the privacy of her apartment and thoughts and not be pissed at the invasion. She freaking just got slapped, by your fiance, and one of the things on your mind was to pull in for a kiss? Dunno, it got me giving the 😒 and 🙄.

• I'm already on the SL ship waiting to be burnt but I'd really like Jae-kyung to not be protective when Hong-joo is involved, especially when Sin-yu is in the situation. It's not it. Let's not appear as what we are trying not to be.
Is Bong-sil a popular dog name in South Korea. I betted my next spoon of food that she'll name the dog Bong-sil and she did just so few secs later.

• And, I want to see them interact outside of Hong-joo. Sin-yu is a lawyer and Jae-kyung is the City Hall's PR amongst his other work capacities. Let us see the result of the reason why Jae-kyung went to such lengths to scout/hire/poach Sin-yu out of his previous employment. They're two men who are well established professionals in their craft and already have enough things to cause interactions between themselves so it's really absurd that the only thing that happens to cause them to have a constant conversation is Hong-joo.

• Did I put up Eun-young and Mr. Gong in the last beanie rec for platonic relationships? I'm willing to take their names out of that list and watch them morph into a different kind of friendship.

• I've not been a fan of how defeated Hong-joo presents herself to Na-yeon. I was really glad to see Na-yeon flinch at Hong-joo picking up that glass of water. I wanted it splattered on her...

Sir, could you please respect yourself and show some common decency for the two females you are toying with and desist your behaviour. 
The FL has repeatedly told you to stop but you do not listen.
 Fix your own house before making any pledges of love.
 If this was just an everyday, run of the mill guy who was behaving in this manner to a close friend we would have no hesitation to tell them to stay the h@ll away from this dude. 
If the show expects this behaviour to be viewed as romantic, cast an actor who is capable of delivering a nuanced portrayal of a man torn, in love. The perfect example of this would be Namkoong Min from My Dearest. His character is pretty shady and has treated the female lead appalling at times but he still has all of us behind him hoping he gets a happily ever after.
 Each episode is repetitive, follows the same formula and the characters remain static (except the 2FL who is now having an affair)- ML tells FL he doesn't want to but he likes/ loves her, FL tells him to leave her alone. He/she goes away to think. They then get put in a situation where they have to spend time together. Insert office colleagues, weird family dynamics of the ML's and a sprinkling of 2nd leads. 
This is a drop for me. 
Thanks for the recaps unit. 

I am loving this drama more with each episode …I was so excited to see that we have black magic now…and cliffhanger of what happened to both leads

having watched many dramas, there is still element of freshness along with old soul of my fav dramas…there is no goody shoes characters and that makes drama real for me…

yes, I am frustrated why ML isn’t running to FL , but listening to his thoughts in ep 8 confirmed my notion that it’s not simple to break up a long relationship when in confusion…my heart broke during their conversation under that skywalk..I literally got butterflies when Shin-yu fixed HongJo hair, such details and fighting to hold their feelings together is more romantic for me…the angst is worthy!

yes few characters are blueprint, like SFL , but I am hoping that they utilize in a way that makes sense in the prev life…

I can’t wait for next week, I am so waiting for Wednesday every Thursday morning after I finish watching second ep of week…lol…

So I am going to give this drama 2 more episodes…it was going well until episode 8 which was all over the place.

I am beyond officially over the love square and it’s reading ick even though the fiancé is not a good person and a two timer to boot. Now they’ve added a stalker and coma storyline…this story is looking to go off the rails. I don’t understand why k drama producers can’t tell a tight romantic story (in about 10 to 12 episodes) without introducing all kinds of unnecessary storylines that exactly no one asked for.

Okay alright so lol a lot happened but here’s the overall sentiment from me; although I was frustrated and yelling at a number of plot points - most specifically at Jang Shin-yu just looking forlorn like he couldn’t do anything - when the dust settled I realised that I wasn’t frustrated in a really angry, ‘urgh I’m going to drop this’ sense but more like in a passionate, ‘omg what are you guys DOING but also what’s the next scene going to be 👀’ kind of way. I’d compare it to watching Gossip Girl or something, strangely addictive despite the plot throwing everything including the kitchen sink as @indyfan put it. The mess and sheer unpredictable-ness is strangely addictive, and I think I’d credit the cast for being a major reason as to why. They’re doing something and it’s working for me.

SO some thoughts:

- This was the first time I was fully, wholeheartedly able to understand, empathise and be on Hong-jo’s side. I really felt for her, especially because Shin-yu is being a jerk with his whiplash-y actions and words
- Jae-kyung was really cute this week!! He loosened up a little and I started liking him a whole lot more, even his jokes were funny - I was surprised when I laughed! He also took the spell thing far better than I would’ve in his situation, he didn’t even look at them like they were truly insane even after it was ‘proven’ it didn’t work
- Na-yeon thing is annoying as from a plot point of view, the reason why they decided to do that is so glaringly obvious but whatever, I hope we do away with her character now and not have her cause unnecessary trouble
- Shin-yu’s dad is really annoying me with his lack of care or attention towards his wife 😡
- I hate that Shin-yu is still with Na-yeon and the fake date idea was dumb BUT BUT BUT there were lots of cute moments for the OTP this week. I was angry watching with love hearts in my eyes hahaha
- I have no idea what to say about the doll (or many other plot points to be honest lol

If the show wanted to vilify Na-yeon and victimize Shin-yu, then it ought to have revealed her affair earlier because when she kissed Sleazy CEO, I cheered. Her boyfriend's cheating on her too, so why not cheat on him back (even though I know she was cheating on him first)?

Hong-jo deserved that slap for closing her eyes during their kiss. Shin-yu is such a coward. How hard is it to break up with your girlfriend?Then he can pine over Hong-jo all he wants.

Timing is everything. Beanies had said that Hong-jo turns into a fangirl around Jae-kyung, while she acts like herself with Shin-yu, but now she even feels comfortable with Jae-kyung from drinking beer together on their rooftop to sharing things about themselves, but that ship has sailed. When he said, "I want to give you butterflies," I yelled, "You had your chance! She's already moved on to going on fake dates with a man with a girlfriend."

Every character in this drama is a walking red flag, but the biggest immorality has got to be Wook and Mom. Who dates their best friend's mom?! Where are your boundaries?

I'll forgive Hong-jo for not turning on her phone's flashlight as long as she maces the shadow next week. I loled when Hong-jo found the typo in their festival pamphlet, and Team Leader Gong said, "Maybe because her eyes are big."

As for this week, it has become official that this show is a TOTAL mess all around.

Acting wise, while I've made peace with Rowoon' acting, I still couldn't shake this feeling that his character could've played better. I watched I am Not a Robot last night, and Yoo Seung Hoo was believable at portraying a conflicted about his feelings toward the FL.

Off-topic but I just noticed that my region’s Viki has listed the “Matchmaker” with Cho Yihyun and Rowoon under “the Coming Soon” section. I hope this will be good. And, another chance to hopefully see Rowoon in beautiful hanboks!

I thought too many unnecessary things happened in these two episodes. First was that cheating 2FL storyline. Did they insert it so that we don’t feel SY is a cheater? Yes. Then the sudden change of the dad from being a supportive funny guy to a quintessential ‘chaebol’ dad who arranges weddings for their adult children without notifying them. And don’t you even start with that mum/wookie road! What is happening there? Stop!

And then there was that kiss. I know he has the habit of contradicting himself so saying I won’t take a step towards you to forcing a kiss on her the next moment was perhaps characteristic but that doesn’t mean I support it. I also understand why he is not breaking up with the 2FL and again just because I know doesn’t mean I understand.

Worst is this stalker/stealer of nightgowns extravaganza! Completely unnecessary except to give SY the chance to fake stick around with HJ.

2ML is boring to me. He has his charms but fizzling out in my eyes.

And wow the neural coupling. Where is that red hand? No spell more red hand correct? No?

I love this drama but the romance can't properly progress until Sin-yu dumps his gf and I'm getting frustrated waiting for it

I wake up early every morning just to be a Jae-kyung hater. I have, like, the opposite of SLS. I really wish they’d stop trying to make Jae-kyung x Hongjoo happen, no amount of sappy music or cute moments is gonna sway *me*.

How did they not break down laughing when filming? The run up the stairs, getting stuck at the door, the pettiness 💀💀had me dying

I just know the creepy ajusshi is the one who sent the photos to Nayeon too, who else be stalking Hong-jo other than him... and Sinyu ig. Someone should send that ajusshi to jail ASAP, esp since he’s taking screen time away from more important things. Like our missing queen, Ms. Red Hand.

Also, Sinyu, I can't keep defending you... If you like her so much, why get married to another woman? On the other hand, every time I try to like Hongjoo, she does something like... leak someone else's terminal illness just bc she has a crush? ma'am, what? Is there a likeable person in this entire show?

They should call this drama In Vino Veritas, bc the only time these people are upfront with their feelings is when they're drunk as the proverbial skunk.

I feel like SFL got caught and exposed their relationship on purpose. It would track with her character. Like, the gall of this woman... slapping Hong-jo... WHILE CHEATING ON SINYU WITH THE WORST POSSIBLE PERSON EVER??? THE SEXUAL PREDATOR... THE CAPITALIST PIG?? 🤢 Hongjo 100% should have hurled that water on her, but you know what, we stan a sustainability queen. ♻️
anyways, Nayeon’s actress seems kinda typecast, how did she get the same plotline in two separate dramas??

I assumed he would get slapped for the kiss. And you know what, good for Hongjo, she's doing the opposite of everyone else and not willing to be an affair partner. Bc everyone in this show is either engaging in some light infidelity or about to. In his mom’s case, I don’t even mind. Like, ma'am, he may be your son's friend but pls divorce this nerd and hook up with that hot young lawyer. How do you get married to a kind, beautiful wife and fumble the bag that hard?

We all know that evil spell book will become relevant soon 😭 more chaos on the way

I thought the date was all a dream sequence but good for Sinyu. I also related so hard with him - those are the most terrifying stairs I've ever seen.
Not her casually holding his arm like it's a real date 🥺
the whole convo was intense, he acted his heart out frfr... and the way he just turned completely red 🍎.

This week’s episodes… were def episodes; I feel like nothing much really happened except more angst bc they keep pushing each other away as usual. Oh and occasional detours into sheer horror movie moments.

Ig either she's gonna accept his love BC of past life flashbacks next week - which feels like a copout to me tbh - or they really are gonna get together in EP. 15 or something.

P.S. Who named one of the OST songs "Permeating on Me"? 💀💀