Both episodes this week had such wonderful endings. I was crying and smiling at the same time.

Thanks for the recap @missvictrix. You highlighted what I think this drama has done more effectively than any I've seen, and that is use flashbacks to childhood to bring meaning to the adult scenes. Usually I am averse to such flashbacks, partly because their lack of realism, as 30 year olds are supposedly recalling in vivid detail many elementary school interactions. But in this one, especially for Baek-du, its clear that his childhood relationship with Du-sik has remained the defining moment of his small town life. Also, I find both child actors very good in this one. That's not unusual for kdramas, but its remarkable how they seem child versions of the adults.
The other thing I liked was how these episodes handled small town gossip--not as a lovable chattering of old ladies that is played only for laughs, but as something that can be as vicious as posting a video on the internet. And yet, the show pulled back from being meanly critical, because it showed how guilty Baek-du's parents felt for even playing a tacit role in their expulsion.

One thing I did not like was the introduction of a mild love triangle with Du-shik's partner and Baek-du. First, its way too late for that kind of plot device, and second, the drinking contest between lightweights just wasn't that funny, and felt way too much like filler that wasn't necessary in a 12 episode drama.

Finally, I really hope that Du-shik (and the show) can somehow see a way to get her together with Baek-du. I am actually worried as I said last week that his childishness would just get too frustrating. But his confession was pretty charming, and she certainly knows now how devoted he is to her, so that has to count for something.

1. I just want our girls to find closure. I want them to be happy.

2. Du Sik was my main character of the week. Watching her vulnerable side, watching her act all softy with Mi Ran, watching her act shy in front of the guy she likes, and watching her reaction to everything Seok Hee was saying... LOL. Her flashback almost made cry. She wasn't alone before, and she isn't alone now. The final scene of the week was the best.

3. The piggyback ride! Awwww. And then Baek Du's mom waking up and getting scared because her kids were staring at her the exact same way she stares at Baek Du when he drinks. Awwwwwwww. I love this family so much.

4. Baek Du's confession was so cute, but Du Sik's reaction was so sunny. DuDu couple is THE BEST.

5. When is Du Sik's roommate going to confess his feelings for Mi Ran?

6. I love how Jin Su just minds his own business. He rocks.

7. I love Snowball and "detective" Seok Hee's scenes.

This show continues to be extraordinary in so many ways. The show is so thoughtfully constructed--little details that are sown in earlier episodes come back to have such a big impact. For example, the markings on the wall at Du Sik's house. It turns out that they were the height measurements of Baek Du and Du Sik when they were young. Yet, even after Du Sik moved away, Baek Du kept measuring himself there and imagining how tall she would be, which was always taller than him. (It took him until age 17 to realize that at some point, boys usually are taller than girls.). His telling of the story of how he kept putting her measurement and how he kept looking up to her height was a bittersweet representation of his hopes and his guidepost. There have also been some fun details too: Baek Du's family likes to stare the drunk member awake in the morning--this time it is the brothers staring mom awake.

And we finally learn what crushed his love for sirreum--it wasn't the overwhelming weight of being the son and younger brother of champions or the pressure of living up to the promise of.being a sirreum prodigy. Instead, it was the regret and hurt of losing the soulmate and friend who made sirreum and life fun. The childhood scenes and actors have made those times and connections so vivid that it is believable why losing that had such an impact on Baek Du and Du Sik.

JDY continues to deliver in his performance of Baek Du. These couple of episodes delivered so many great Baek Du moments: his search for and then clear declaration of what he had lost; his calling out of the town gossips for the harm that casual gossip can cause; his attempts to hide (but he. can't because he's Baek Du). who Du Sik is and his feelings for her. And his telling of how he replayed over and over what he should have done differently to prevent her from leaving even though was powerless as child to stop it was heartbreaking.

But I must say the moments that hit the hardest for me this week were the scenes with Baek Du's parents. His parents are great parents, not. because they are perfect parents, but instead like real parents, they realized that even trying their best they sometimes got things wrong. The talks that Baek Du had with his father about Du Sik were so moving--his father stating that he made the best decision under the circumstances at the time, but.then saying looking back on it, the decision may not have been right. His mother's anguish after Baek Du's outburst at the gossip when she realized she overlooked how hurt he had been when Du Sik left is one a parent can relate to. Kudos to Choi Moo Sung and Jang Young Nam, they were magnificent this week. When Baek Du's father was piggybacking his drunk wife home after her devastation at not recognizing how hurt Baek Du had been and their conversation about how awful adults were, the physical acting was just as powerful as their words--it showed his care for her and their deep sorrow and...

Ep.10 was a blast! Loved the gang and I wish the drama had brought them together sooner and spent more time on them because they are all endearing as individuals, so they surely would be terrific as a inseparable group. I am now eager to see how these people would react to Mi Ran's identity.

@hacja keeps saying Baek Du is childish, but despite his shortcomings I can feel and see his devotion and earnestness to Du Shik. On the other hand, Du Shik advices and supports him, but everything feels like from the angle of a friend. This is where I think their relationship seems unbalanced because the drama needs to show us, even if to a small extent that Du Shik is romantically inclined towards Baek Du.

Also, Seok Hui seems a much better detective than Du Shik/Hyeon Uk and the Seoul cops. He is observant, curious, has good hunches and is single-handedly sniffing for more info on the reservoir murder. The Seoul cops should join hands with him and solve it, because at this point it has been mostly Mi Ran and Baek Du who have been giving them curcial information/findings.

Lastly, are they going for a false angst with Baek Du's dad? I would throw a fit if Baek Du's adorable medium sized family has to suffer.

Ok, so this week's episodes were AMAZING. Some of my favorite moments:

1. The drinking competition between the police partner and Baekdu. For one, it's just super cute that the partner also can't hold his liquor. Also, I just like the dynamic there - I don't get any vibes that the detective hubae likes Du-sik (if anything I think he's sweet on Mi-Ran), but I do get the sense especially after that scene that he's a bit protective/possessive? of Du-Sik. Possessive isn't the right word, really. It just feels kind of like he's used to working with her and being the close detective guy in her life, and now here's this random dude that he doesn't know who's getting all close to her and acting like they're just so close (and they are) and is just a little protective? Not massively so, but that scene gave me those vibes.

2. The scene at the end of ep. 10 when Jin-Su is like "yeah.. I think she's Du-Sik". I just laughed so hard that that was what he was thinking about. Not that Baekdu might actually be cheating. He was actually also thinking about who the lady was.

3. the way Du-Sik reacted to the confession. It actually seemed like she was getting ready to give an answer the next day, but Baek-Du isn't the one who wants to hear. I thiiiink I got some vibes like she's going to accept, but it's just fun to watch it all play out, like asking him when he fell for her. That was so cute. 31 years.

I haven't been invested in the murder mystery, but it's important for our characters to get that closure. Now that they know it is someone still in their small town, I'm slightly worried about the fallout. The fact that someone had a hand in at least 2 deaths will be a blow to the people because the town has not connected the past tragedy with the present crime. On the other hand, Doo Shik and Mi Ran are both strong and brave so they will be able to handle the truth.

And I'm fairly confident about the writing. It has been SO good. It was a joy to see Baek Du realizing what he had lost. Well, he already knew it in his mind, but he never analyzed it or spoke out loud about it until he was confronted. His love confession to Doo Shik was wonderful. Once he clearly figured it out, he said he liked her so earnestly and vehemently. No holding back.

Loved seeing more of Baek Du's mother this week! Her tough and protective love for her children. <3 Another piggyback ride that made me squee! LOL

Baek Du's fierce speech in the market was the second breathtaking performance after his love confession. Made me hurt for Doo Shik even more and I'm glad he called out the gossipers and their painful actions.

We need more Jin Su! I loveeeeed his expressions during his conversation with Seok Hee about Doo Shik's childhood photo.

Can't believe this show is ending soon. T__T

I really liked the childhood scenes but sometimes I wonder what happened between them and now, it's like they didn't live anything.

I like the idea the leads are soulmate but as friend because I can't still see romance between them. Jang Dong-Yoon did so well to sell the innocence of his character, I can't picture him in romance now. He can be very slow, it was pretty obvious what he lost. It's interesting when he was missing her, she was missing her chilhood and became obsessed with the truth. Both her and Mi-Ran needs closure with the truth.

I loved so much the last scene of their reunion, that I was sad they waited for so long to reunite the childhood gang. They all have informations for the investigation. I would have liked to see more of Lee Jae-Joon, his character doesn't have a lot of scenes. I wonder if the actor gained weigth for this role (I don't think he's fat!) because he looks like he was a ssireum athlete and not a ballet dancer like he was.

I’m just not happy that LFIS is finishing next week. And, I’m still not used to the one season format and when there is a much loved drama such as this, I keenly feel the limitations of such a format. I also feel somewhat exhausted chasing the next high as there have been so many duds that I wanted to immerse myself in this story for a lot longer. But it won’t happen so a premature goodby to LFIS. What a breath of fresh air you’ve been so far.

I absolutely loved these two episodes. The way it all tied back to the past was so beautiful!
So many things touched me.. It’s hard to express it in words.

Du-Shik’s Loss- All along Du-Shik was acting strong, doing her thing but was always a loner. It was Back-Du who always went to her.
But to actually see what she feels about what she went through was heartbreaking. As a child, she had to leave behind everything she loved - her home, her friends. And though she lived in Seoul, I don’t think she ever made friends. She was stuck. Unlike many village/City dramas, here is a drama that convinced me that she belongs in GeoSan. This is her home.

Baek-Du’s realization: Baek-Du was spending as much time as he could with Du-Shik ever since she returned. He was just happy to be with her. But this moment of realization, that she went through something that hurt her, the magnitude of that hurt and the pain of living with it was completely lost on him until now. His realization, him feeling her pain in that moment was just a beautiful moment captured on screen. And his speech in Market was perfect.

Baek-Du’s Loss: I really liked how he knew he lost something when she left, but couldn’t verbalize it. But the moment he said ‘I lost you’, you could feel what it meant to him. And instead of forgetting her, he continued to keep her in his memory. To talk to her, imagine her and somehow be connected to her in his thoughts. It was such a Baek-Du thing to do.
And the reason why he failed to recognize Mi Ran.
As time passes by memories of Mi Ran slipped away.

And Du Shik needed to hear that. That she wasn’t forgotten. That she was still needed.

Over these two episodes, I could totally see why they both belonged together. They needed each other. They are each other ‘soulmate’. They lost and found each other.

There is so much more. Ah the friends. The humor. The wonderful writing of a second lead without a love triangle.
And best parents of kdramaland- who thought a piggy back ride would make me so warm and fuzzy. Adults owning up to their mistakes. I just love this family.

That last scene of them bickering in the cafe and running had me grinning and my heart was full. This is my happy ending.

One of the highlights of these episodes for me was watching the gossip train at work. This felt so real. How quickly people passed along snippets, how these got embellished, how people started to draw inaccurate conclusions by combining "facts", how they endlessly re-told their conclusions and sat in judgement on the objects of the gossip. It was brilliantly done - and brilliantly paced, taking over a good chunk of our time so that it could "settle" and feel authentic (rather than being over in 20 dramaland minutes). And the aftermath of Baek-du's explosion felt so true-to-life too: no-one stood up and apologised, but in their own quiet ways, people admitted to one another that they had made errors and misjudgements (or had the decency to not respond verbally when they were accused of being the fan who flamed the gossip). These people know each other so deeply. The drama has created a community which is so real and believable that is is a privilege to enter their world each week. Love it.

Heartwarming--that's how this drama affects me. JDY is just rocking his portrayal of Baek-Du. I worked with a "wrestling nerd" and he used to think with his arms just like JDY's Baek-Du.

Waiting for: Hyeon-Uk to confess to Mi-Ran, JDY's Dad to tell us more about what knows about match-fixing, Snowball to solve the mystery and our leads to acknowledge and commit to their romance....

I am currently sick with a bad cold, and all I want to do is lay on the couch and think about these episodes over and over again. Baek-du's declaration in the marketplace was so satisfying; he may not be an intellectual giant, but when he decides to speak truth to power, he does not disappoint. I did not expect a tough lesson about the perniciousness of lies and gossip, but that's what I got, and the show is all the better for it.

I also loved Baek-du's confession, his extreme self satisfaction at declaring to his teammates that he has a crush on "Du-shik" (and their response "Is he not straight?"), and drunken mom showing exactly from whom Baek-du gets his low alcohol tolerance.

Speaking of that, I'm not sure we needed another scene of men who can't hold their liquor making fools of themselves in the presence of a woman they both, at minimum, respect. It was cute in parts, but not really necessary.

But that's a minor nitpick in an otherwise excellent set of episodes.

It's clear that Du-shik is as drawn to Baek-du as he is to her, although I'm surprised that such a clever woman was so oblivious both to his attraction and her own. I see that they're not obviously compatible in the way we might expect--yes, she's much more aware, cynical, and worldly than he is--but you can see how effortlessly he meets all her emotional needs. His love for her is so pure, uncomplicated, and rock solid that I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be happy with him forever and ever. Well, except for that pesky job in Seoul which she clearly loves.

Now I'm going to lay back down on the couch with my dogs and go over that perfect ending scene in my head a thousand times.

The last scene when EVERYONE in the room knows she is Du Shik except Seok Hui. Their faces as they waited for Yu Gyeon to explode had me rolling.