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Love Next Door: Episodes 7-8

Our hero finally works up his courage to share his feelings, but it comes during a bad time. There’s an old face back in our heroine’s life — and some secrets coming out in the open, too.

 
EPISODES 7-8

We pick up right during the moment the show rudely broke last week, and as Seung-hyo stares at Seok-ryu, it looks like he’s about to tell her what he means, and how he feels. But no, this beautiful moment is shattered by… Seok-ryu’s ex-fiancé SONG HYUN-JOON (Han Joon-woo). That’s right, Beanies, he turns up right on the street at that exact moment, and this rude punk pretty much continues to ruin our OTP’s vibe for the entire week’s episodes. I knew he was coming back (because K-drama), but I really didn’t expect him to be injected so forcefully into the story. I’m not a fan of this development.

And guess what? Neither is Seung-hyo. He’s all “Why on earth did you turn up here?” and “Why now of all times?” These are good questions, but the plot has no valid answer. To make the night even more chaotic, Seok-ryu’s parents also turn up then and there, and they are livid. How dare Hyun-joon approach their daughter! Both Mom and Dad are ready to tear him to bits the whole night for what he did to Seok-ryu. Wait, what? Do they know he cheated on her? It’s here that I actually paused the show and had to check that I didn’t miss an episode, because last I remember, Seok-ryu told everyone she cheated on him and called off the wedding. I’m confused, but we’ll just go with it for now.

In her defense, Seok-ryu is pretty consistent in being uninterested in Hyun-joon. It’s over for her, and she wants to keep it being over. But Mom (who’s suddenly changed her tune in the space of a night) is now playing match-maker again, and it’s in this episode that my dislike of both these parents has been cemented.

If Seok-ryu is trying to escape Hyun-joon’s omnipresence in her neighborhood, Seung-hyo is also trying to aid that, and he’s consistently telling the guy off, acting like he also knows Hyun-joon cheated (??), and even whisking Seok-ryu away on his bicycle one morning for a cherry-blossom-infused ride to work/school.

In truth, this whole turn of the plot with the return of the ex is quite disjointed. Hyun-joon is there to add tension to the Seung-hyo and Seok-ryu love line, but really, the story doesn’t need this. There’s enough drama already between their families and their history — and the internal emotions of this story are more worth investing in than the cheap plot arcs, but maybe that’s just me.

Outside of being overly protective of Seok-ryu (which I don’t mind but I think others will find him a little overbearing and territorial), I liked what we saw of Seung-hyo this week. Rather than hiding and burying, he’s much more open, and even points out the relationship pattern that he and Seok-ryu have of not being honest with each other and always squabbling and misunderstanding instead. Well, Seung-hyo plans to change that.

In one of several butterflies-filled scenes between Seung-hyo and Seok-ru this week, Seung-hyo tries to answer the question that he was unable to the other night. But Seok-ryu is starting to catch on, and she stops him, asking him to hold his answer. Though this isn’t The Confession Scene we are all waiting for, I think this midnight street-lamp-lit scene was one of my favorites between them on the mere merit of the emotions the actors are able to project into the night air. It brings out Seung-hyo’s honesty, too — he asks Seok-ryu if she intends to go back to Hyun-joon, to which she replies a firm no.

So, imagine his surprise when he’s going to a fancy lunch with “I want my old boyfriend back” Tae-hee, only to see Hyun-joon and Seok-ryu a table away. And damn that Hyun-joon, he eats Seok-ryu’s japchae when Seung-hyo never got to eat the dish she made for him the other day. We don’t learn anything we didn’t already know from this scene, but it’s still fun — Hyun-joon is laying it on, Seok-ryu is not into it, Seung-hyo is jealous, and Tae-hee is soaking in being in “her first love square” lol.

Thankfully, Seung-hyo finally hits the point where he can’t hold his feelings in anymore, and he rushes to Seok-ryu late at night at her father’s tteokbokki shop (where she’s secretly practicing cooking). Here we get the breathless, heartfelt clarification of his “you’re driving me crazy” statement — which was summed up beautifully with his confession, out of the bag at last: “I like you.”

Seok-ryu burns herself at her cooking she’s so startled (but is she really?), and Seung-hyo rushes over to help her run water over her hand. Oh drama, you shouldn’t have, but thank you for this moment.

Because this will-they-won’t-they is the meat and potatoes of our story, Seok-ryu can’t reply to his confession yet, and they both endure a sleepless night peeking out at the other’s room but always missing each other. The next day, they hilariously decide the “expiration” of Seung-hyo’s confession by choosing a perishable item on the shelf at their local convenience store. But the 3-year date on the canned goods is too far off, and Seung-hyo picks some milk and then teases Seok-ryu the rest of the episode, counting down the 11 days until she has to reply. They’re cute. They could get together next week and end the drama and I’d be okay with that.

As if dealing with Hyun-joon’s persistence and Seung-hyo’s ill-timed confession weren’t enough emotional load, Seok-ryu’s mom sees her coming out of her cooking class one day and is furious. At home, she upends Seok-ryu’s bag in the middle of the living room and confronts her when she sees the evil cookbook on the floor. Seok-ryu’s dad is equally horrified. They’re both about ready to disown her and a big brawl starts. I was over this scene before it even started. I know we’re neck-deep in a story where Mom and Dad are so buried in their insecurity and self-pity they can’t see past their own noses, but really, it this necessary? Seok-ryu launched right back at them about how Dong-jin can do no wrong, but she’s always held to impossible standards.

Like most of the high-emotion argument scenes in this drama, it’s a bit over-written, but the takeaways are clear. Mom and Dad want what they want for Seok-ryu. Seok-ryu wants what she wants, now that she finally found it. And Seung-hyo — who’s of course been in the middle of this scene the whole time — follows Seok-ryu out and comforts her, winning more hero points from me.

But that’s not all that Seok-ryu has on her very heavy heroine plate. Now that she can’t practice making meatballs at her dad’s shop, Seung-hyo offers up the swanky office kitchen after hours. She can’t not take him up on that, but their plans are interrupted by, yes, Hyun-joon, who suddenly wants Seung-hyo to design a retirement home for his parents. Ugh, can this guy just go away. He won’t let Seok-ryu make her meatballs in peace lol. Actually, both him and Seung-hyo sit on the sidelines waiting to test her dish. When she finally delivers it to the table, they barely get a sip of the broth in when she’s collapsed to the ground in agony clutching her stomach. Both men rush to her, but it’s Hyun-joon she asks to bring her to the hospital. Our little Seung-hyo is crushed, but it feels more like muscle memory on Seok-ryu’s behalf.

Annnnnd remember that convenient breadcrumb from a few weeks ago when Seok-ryu took a leave of absence from Greip? She tells the doctor three years ago she had stomach cancer and had 70% of her stomach removed plus chemotherapy. What the Queen of Tears is going on with this show!? And why the heck does Seok-ryu’s ex-fiancé walk around with a packet of her medical records. Oi.

Our episode leaves us there, and because that is too much makjang for any normal person, let’s talk about Mo-eum and Mudflat Man. One day when Dan-ho is out with Yeon-du, they run into Mo-eum. She has to spring into action when there’s a car accident in front of them, and both father and daughter have hearts in their eyes after she heroically saves a man’s life.

When Dan-ho later drives her home, they’re chatting and she mentions the guy that helped the ambulance get through the traffic jam a few weeks ago. Mo-eum openly fangirls and says he was her ideal man. Meanwhile, Dan-ho is sweating in the car and asks permission to take off his jacket… only to reveal the very same mudflat t-shirt. LOL! This scene was timed so hilariously, and they were both so awkward realizing what was going on at the same moment. It turns into a running gag between them, because later on when Dan-ho tags along on her paramedic team for a story, the two are embarrassed again over Mudflat Man. Now, Mo-eum isn’t the most engaging character for me, but I am all about this cute romance (and Yoon Ji-on in Clark Kent mode). We need a drama-free, feel-good relationship in this show.

 
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Queen of Tears PTSD has wrecked me for unexpected melo "twists" in seemingly normal/rom-com dramas. This show could have been all fluff with some will-they-won't-they spice and I would be content. Now I'm worried that the bid to be dramatic and serious will wreck the chemistry of the leads and potential of the story.

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I was also quite upset with this cancer angle- felt too heavy and unnecessary. If they wanted to show that much has happened since the main lead were best friends and that ML has a lot of catching up to do if he wants a romantic relationship, they could have used other avenues. A full-on health issue making the FL head to her cheating ex does not make sense.

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@hallyucinations I 100% agree that the cancer introduction was a cop-out. Why not tackle the burn-out she's probably feeling from giving everything 1000% constantly while her brother coasts and bench-presses below his weight? Also, the characters are giving me whiplash with their changing attitudes, for example Seung Hyo has switched from ignoring Seok Ryu to declaring his undying love? From treating her coldly to demanding a response ASAP? Why, do this? Whereas the mom has blinders and can't see beyond herself to what her daughter needs, it's about fulfilling her dreams, not Seok Ryu's. The tone needs work. I hope this is resolved quickly because I'm tired of seeing their exes, even though I love Seo Ji Hye from CLOY and "Kiss Sixth Sense".

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So interesting that you bring up the sudden and dramatic shift in Seung Hyo- its very opposite of slow burn. Makes it look unnatural also, even though I understand that he may be going for "I do not want to make the mistakes I made earlier" approach. Did the mom not imply that the brother was unwell in some sense? Not too sure about this but she said something like you will understand when you have a sick child. I feel like that might be the reason why they go easy on him but they overcompensate with pressuring Seok Ryu.

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@hallyucinations I wish he had continued to be nice or at least cordial before confessing his feelings to her. I get that the fear of rejection is amplified with the very real possibility of losing a long-treasured friendship, but by that same measure, you should value your so-called friend by being kind and open to them. I think her brother was born with a hole in his heart that later closed, but that earlier health scare has translated into their parents giving him permission to be babied for all eternity. It's not right that they don't care what he does, but want to harp at Seok Ryu that she has to be perfect. As an oldest child myself, these scenes definitely make my eye twitch in annoyance.

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I am out. The characters are so inconsistent, there is no respite from anyone. I hate them all. Why is no one acting like an adult???
It ended up being a hate watch for me. And that’s not how I want to watch my dramas. I would rather rewatch shows that make me happy.

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Thanks for the recap, @missvictrix

Side Character Syndrome

Forget SLS (second lead syndrome) I have SCS - side character syndrome! Oh Eun Seo (the child actress who plays Seok-Ryu as a kid) is so compelling. She has such SPUNK, I could watch and re-watch her without getting bored.

I think the problem with this drama at the moment is that Mo-eum is a much more compelling character than our leads….. HAHAHA! What is not to love about her? She’s capable, no hang ups, clever, a bit mischievous, but has a heart of gold! I love that she won over Dan-Ho’s daughter so quickly. Let’s get to some good daughter-sets-up-dad-with-superwoman-paramedics!

Ugly male rival for male lead wanted - not
I’m sorry, but is Jung Hae In so unattractive that they feared finding a non-ugly actor to play Seok-Ryu’s ex would be a real threat to the romantic narrative?? Like, WHO in their right mind would return to an ex-fiancé played by Han Joon Woo when you have Jung Hae In right next door?!

Sometimes I feel like the cheating is just another form of the Truck of Doom.

That aside, I agree with @missvictrix that introducing the ex-fiancé was some jarring introduction, and the reaction of the parents (being all angry at him) didn’t make sense. But, I actually liked the last scenes where Seiko-Ryu reached out to Hyun-joon for help when her stomach was giving her problems. Given her medical history, it sounds like he was there for her in the U.S. when she had no one.

I think this would be a great “threat” to Seung-Hyo’s childhood love advantage - because he wasn’t / couldn’t be there for her when she was in the U.S., but Hyun-joon was. It doesn’t make him a hero or excuse his cheating - but it makes sense that she may be more emotionally attached to him even if she isn’t in love with him - because they have history too, and history where she depended on him. I like this as the foil to Seung-Hyo’s “Toy Story” memory - because both are forces to be reckoned with. Seung-Hyo knows so many intimate details about Seok-Ryu by virtue of growing up together, but Hyun-Joon knows her as an adult, and an independent adult fighting the world for her place in it. I find this sort of contest between two different men much more compelling.

Also, the expiry date for milk - HAHAHAHA!

When you’re your own worst enemy
Also, I kind of felt sorry for Seung-Hyo’s mom. She’s not my favorite character by any means, but I found it sad that she didn’t know how loved she is, that she is complicit in her own loneliness, and she’s certainly guilty of the brokenness in her marriage. I’m looking forward to seeing how they resolve this because it sure sounds like they discussed divorce and Seung-Hyo’s dad is up for it. It’s just such a pity that he has his own communication issues, and that is also in part to blame for the breakdown of the marriage.

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I actually felt so frustrated with the dad. If that's how he deals with everything, then it's definitely better for them to get divorced.
If he thinks she's stupid enough to call her "affair" to the front door of their home in a neighborhood were everyone knows them... I mean.
Same happened with Seung Hyo's flashback a few episodes ago.

I'm pretty sure that's the man she works with, but they just assumed she's cheating? Without asking or saying anything?

I don't think the ex-fiance cheated either. Tbh, I don't trust in anything this drama shows, and the editing/writing is a mess so, I wouldn't be surprised if they even forgot they showed that memory with the fiance kissing someone else. LMAO

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@enriquequierecagar: Yeah, that's fair. I mean, sure, Choi Kyung Jong (Seung-Hyo's father) has communication issues - but, that is what makes him human. It also shows in part where Seung-Hyo gets it from. Frustrating, yes, but realistic....also, yes.

I'm not sure if it is better for them to get divorced. Call me a hopeless romantic but what I would prefer is that the father pushes through the discomfort to communicate with his wife properly (character growth arc) and Hye-sook (Seung-Hyo's mom) learns to commit to her family and her community (and not just her job and her longings of being abroad).

Yeah, the show seems to hint that there is cheating, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a misunderstanding. I'd be all for her not really cheating, but just being extremely selfish and self-centered, and learning how to repent of that.

Seok-Ryu's memory seems to imply it was cheating. But, your comment about the show forgetting that they showed that memory - LOL!!! I'd be all for him not actually cheating and it also being a misunderstanding - and that their real incompatibility were something else. It certainly would make it more interesting (to me).

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I think my feelings are mixed with the fact that I don't trust the writer of this show. 😆

I would enjoy watching dad and mom work things out, but I feel like they'll just blame all to mom's work and a misunderstanding.
I already see the "oh, she wasn't cheating, she was working. But she's always away so it was difficult to communicate with her" type of resolution.
It would be nice to be proved wrong, tho. I'll keep track with the recaps.

About the ex. I think the "memory" of him kissing the other girl was there just to make us hate him while he was away. That way it's easier to side with the guy who couldn't confess for decades.

I don't think Seok Ryu would treat the guy who cheated on her like that. No way. She was too calm. Zero resentment in her eyes.

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If a ride from a non-relative guy and a touch on the shoulder = clutch-my-pearls-it's-an-affair, it makes me think about overly traditionalist attitudes, which makes me feel tired.

I don't think the fiance cheated (and I would be glad to get rid of the cheating ex trope). Why I suppose is that maybe Seok-ryu thought she saw another woman kiss her fiance and then felt nothing because while she may have cared for him, she didn't love him in that way enough to spend the rest of her precious life with him.

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Yes. And it also highlights how little this couple knows about each other.
One of mom's friends/colleague passed by to tell her happy birthday (which seems like that ahjussi and Lavanders were the only ones who did that to her face), and he thinks he's her lover LMAO.
And for some reason, mom thinks she needs to pretend she likes a simple breakfast? But her husband already knows she doesn't, so what's that about.
And not even to mention that they NEVER seem to know when they're both home.

Like, how and why are they still married? 😂 Seung Hyo's 34 and was living alone before moving back, so he's no excuse.

If the dad really thought she was having an affair because of the simple fact that he saw her with a talk with a human being who happens to be a man, then yikes.

After these two episodes I feel like it would be weirder if the fiance actually cheated.

I like your theory. It goes well with everything Seok Ryu has expressed about her life in the US and her feeling lost.

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The way the editing keeps showing half-truths, only for full exposition later, I wouldn't be surprised if the fiance was just blowing dirt out of the girl's eye or something, and SR only saw his back and assumed the worst😂😂 Same with SHs dad having a fit just seeing his wife shake someone's hand!
False assumptions and not clearing them up are the meat and potatoes of all dramas, else how will they stretch to 16 hour-long-+ episodes?!!

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"I wouldn't be surprised if the fiance was just blowing dirt out of the girl's eye or something" LMFAO 🤣😂😂

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Re: "I wouldn't be surprised if they even forgot they showed that memory with the fiance kissing someone else"
-- yeah, cos they have a rain-cloud brain tumor too! One of the side effects is memory loss, and maybe our FL also has misrecognition of people too (ya know, they always say your gut is your 3rd brain!)
--Ok all the worst parts of QoT are coming back to haunt us here 🤣🤣🤣

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Yo! Steady there. In which world is Han Joon Woo considered ‘ugly’…

… even if the ex-fiancée was ‘ugly’, I’d like to think that smart FLs - and women, more generally - look for more than -ahem - looks.

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I don’t understand the comments about Han Joon Woo ugly either LOL. I actually like his previous performances - though all minor roles including being a serial killer in Through The Darkness.

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@vongole @epyc2010 - LOL, sorry sorry! It's just a matter of personal taste. I've actually never seen Han Joon Woo in any other drama before. But, I'm just not sure if I agree with the hair and clothing choices of the production. It doesn't put him at his best (IMO).

And the ugly ex-fiancé comment is just tongue-in-cheek. :)

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♥️to each their own! ☺️

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@pineapplegongzhu - I like your take on the latest development.

Firstly, the Toy Story vs the cancer story. That is exactly the focal point that wedges the main couple. It could be a gap too wide for SH to bridge in what had been the most challenging times for SR who thought unnecessary to share even with those closest to her (because it’s painful to talk about and would bring about nothing, in her view?). I like this plot concept but unfortunately the writer and director didn’t have the skills to deliver.

With regard to SH’s mom, I don’t think it’s a material cheating but more like her and the vice-minister crushing on each other at one point. Even the hubby thought ‘it was over’. At the moment, you can see she cares about both her husband and her son in her own way. She’s however one woman who has no idea what she actually wants, living in her own fancy world. This is one dysfunctional family that needs a lot of mending.

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My husband’s habitual critique of kdramas is that he thinks they are always trying to do one too many things. Sometimes I totally disagree with him (Like Flowers in Sand) and sometimes, like now, I get what he means. I knew we would have to meet the ex-fiance eventually, but I was really hoping he would show up for two episodes, we could kick him to the curb, and Seok-ryu would realize how much she had checked out of that relationship even before it was entirely over. Path cleared, closure attained, moving on. So I’m disappointed that he’s still around, and possibly making headway. It also makes me nervous for a romance developing between our leads, because it doesn’t usually seem healthy to me to jump out of one long-term relationship and into another, and I want to find this believable.

Still, I am enjoying lots about this show, it just seems like it has plenty going on without ex-fiance overstaying his welcome. For example, I really like the conflict with how Seok-ryu and Dong-jin were raised. She never felt like she could mess up and thinks it’s unfair that he gets to fail constantly. He feels like it’s unfair that he was always compared to her (and probably quit things as soon as they were hard so that he wouldn’t fail at them). I like that Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo are jealous of each others’ families because she doesn’t realize how cold and lifeless his house is and he doesn’t realize how complicated money can make things and how difficult it is to have a sibling sometimes. I like the parallel stories of Seung-hyo trying to make his passion profitable, and Seok-ryu trying to figure out her dream and act on it. I like the little hints that we’ve gotten that Seok-ryu’s dad actually should not be running a snack shop (he has so much other experience and his standards are too high). And I *loved* the scene where our leads are in the convenience store trying to find a reasonable “expiration date” for Seung-hyo’s confession!

And I have no complaints about our second couple this week! I’m so glad that Mo-eum got off her high horse and is acting like a better version of her character again. I love that she already discovered who her “ideal man” is and the whole interaction between them in the car was adorable. Also enjoying how flustered Dan-ho gets whenever anyone brings up Mudflat Man and interested to see where his new story idea takes him. It’s been forever since Yoon Ji-on got to play a fun, sweet, interesting character (who is also not a murderer) and I’m so here for it!

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"who is also not a murder" knock on wood, pls.

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Yikes! Please no, dramaverse! 😬🫣🤞

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Something that I noticed about the families is that the moms and the leads are pretty much the same. And it may be just me, but both friendships feel a little lonely.

They all have known each other for a very long time, are besties, and Seung Hyo was pretty much raised in Seok Ryu's house, but Seok Ryu doesn't know anything about his family situation. And SR's mom (or the other Lavanders) doesn't know anything about SH's mom failed marriage.

I feel like the leads are the spitting image of their mothers. Especially, Seok Ryu.

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I attributed a lot of this to them being out of the country quite a bit. Seok-ryu has been living abroad and I’m sure they weren’t in as much contact for those 12 or so years, so if it happened during that time it’s very plausible she didn’t know. Even before that I think it would be easy to see what you wanted to in a family “his parents are busy because they are important people” rather than the truth that they just had other priorities and their relationship was in trouble. The affair I can understand not spreading around because it holds a lot of stigma. Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo have been good friends their whole lives, but not on the level of her friendship with Mo-eun, and I assume they know more of each others’ embarrassing secrets.

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Yeah, that makes sense.
It's just something that I find kind of odd given how close we're supposed to believe they all are. Like one big family or something.

Even if SH's mom is not the type to tell people her stuff because of embarrassment, I feel like she would have at least one confidant, her best friend. I don't know, I just think it's a bit sad she can't rely on anyone. And it makes me feel like they don't really know each other which is odd.

For SH and SR it does feel like the distance could be the answer. But I think his problem with mom has been a thing since he was a kid? Because of that flashback of him crying after her mom leaving for work.
I feel like this is the exact type of things they would discuss while growing up. "My mom left again" "my mom and dad don't talk to each other". Idk, it does feel a bit strange.

Maybe I'm too used to the "knowing everything of everyone all the time" type of families around here.

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Yeah, I’m all about whining to my friends about all the things that go wrong in my life so it does seem a bit weird 😂

But if Seok-ryu didn’t even tell a lot of people that she had cancer - something that was fully not her fault and shouldn’t have been shameful - then I trust that these people just have a different threshold for talking about personal stuff.

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LOL same. But I guess that's their style.

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I feel like it's hard to share some of the more emotional/mental anguish. I have trouble sharing stuff like that, though I will can tell my close friends to their faces that it's been over a week since my last poop and I'm afraid if I don't take a ducolax, I may have to be hospitalized for impacted bowels.

I am reminded me Jung So-min's character in Because This is My First Life. I think it may have been after the sexual assault attempt in the first episode - there are some things that you can't bring yourself to tell your best friends.

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Hahahaha! This is amazing. I think there are so many times that telling people close to you about the hard things in your life is so much better than not, and even if these characters had to go through some shame or embarrassment, I bet they’d be better off. Plus, that’s often how you become close with people in the first place - being vulnerable invites other people to do the same. But I wonder if these characters have just gotten out of the habit after years away from their friends and neighbors.

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You hit on all the scenes I loved. Seok-ryu feelings about how Dong-jin gets coddled while she is put to higher standards resonated a bit. My brother and I have a similarly close age gap too, and I'm the elder sis. My parents aren't as strict and my brother 10 times more responsible than Dong-jin at that age, but throughout my life, I felt like I had to be the leader and advisor. I have to be the one to show the way and be the example and better person (which is why I like to be petty every now and then). My mom worries about him more, even though I am usually the sick one. At least, I get to be the fun one to talk to.

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I hope they have enough time to explore those complicated relationships and feelings more - they have so many other things going on that it makes me worried we’ll just forget about it at some point! But the guy playing Dong-jin has had bigger roles, so I’m hoping we’re in for more with his storylines too. Something that I love about kdramas is how relatable they are, even in the midst of the giant tropefests they can be, because when they do it justice they really have a knack for depicting these kinds of relationships.

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"Get thee behind us, serial murderer trope!"
stage direction: generous dousing of holy water

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Your husband is spot on - too many plot points here.

Nonetheless, I enjoy watching everything as you mentioned. I still think the original drama title “Mom’s Friend’s Son” set up all the wrong expectation. This is certainly not a cute-meet romance but more about two very different persons find their way to be together again.

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I actually enjoyed these episodes much better than last weeks. However, the writer is officially doing TOO much. Cancer too, goodness. However, we were warned in episode 7 that this would be a slow burn and take time. So I will let it be.

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someone on tumblr even suspected Yeon-du's bio mom would come back and cause drama between Mo-eum and Mudkipper Man. wouldn't even surprise me with this writer.

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Lol, no it wouldn't surprise me either. Throwing the baby in with the bathwater, that is this writer's motto.

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"And damn that Hyun-joon, he eats Seok-ryu’s japchae when Seung-hyo never got to eat the dish she made for him the other day..."

In Hyun-joon's defense -- and I hate that I have to defend him -- Seung-hyo was the one who refused to eat Seok-ryu's dish because his unconfessed feelings were eating him up inside. 😋

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I'm a Hyun Joon defender and I'm not ashamed of saying it. 🙈

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I thought it's also kind of interesting the 2nd dish she made is japchae (and that her ex tasted and said was good)

Cos when I was learning to make japchae in class years ago, the one thing I remember most about this dish is how it's one of those rare dishes that can taste good even at room temperature - making it an ideal party potluck dish cos it can sit out on the table for hours. ergo, japchae is ok lukewarm.

Coming fresh from all that *cough* heavy-handed *cough* exposition from Tae-hui about the temperature of love and how you need to wait for it to come "to a boil" you can kinda guess how Show is signposting ex as japchae (and nothing wrong with that). I think he was a shoulder to lean on when she was going through her cancer crisis. But it wasn't fireworks and falling cherry blossoms

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@joanna I love this allusion! It also signifies, by the ex returning and munching happily on the japchae, how he's content with their lukewarm relationship, but she wants more (hopefully). Their love just hasn’t reached the optimal temperature with one being hot while the other is cold/oblivious. I found this exemplified in their peeking through the blinds, yet somehow missing each other. The temperature needs to be just right for passionate romance to blossom.

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@Unit I completely agree with you. Hyun-joon took the initiative to taste Seok-Ryu's dish, whereas Seung-Hyo completely rejected it even though she gave it to him! Mom's friend's son is totally his own worst enemy here.

But, I also think it holds well to that same theme of second chances since Seung-Hyo messed up SO MANY chances that he could have confessed; the jijim nureumjeok is just another example of this.

This also reminds me of Mo-eum commenting that Seung-Hyo always says 'no' but then he shows up to their little neighborhood friendship group outings. His first reaction is to close himself off, but then he changes his mind and goes for it.

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You've worked hard, missvictrix. Thank you and sorry.

I don't like Seung Hyo one bit.
I wouldn't want that guy as my son, because unless you hate your mom (which is valid but not the impression I got here), why would you make zero effort to spend even one minute of the day with her?
If you can run to give such a lame confession to your "friend", you can run to say happy birthday to your mom.
And a text, not even a phone call? And the empty card... Let's say she deserves it (I wouldn't really know because the drama only shows his parents eating alone at home and doing literally nothing else). So he isn't a bad son, she's the problem.

But I don't want him to be my business partner either. This guy keeps putting his useless personal feelings in the middle of everything. I feel bad for his partner. They're going to end up broke by the end of the show.

If you're going to let SK use your water, electricity, and a bunch of other stuff that cost money, at least let her fiance pay for it, dumb dumb. Like, why would you say no to this project? Because the fiance could have hidden intentions? OK. Let's say that.

But I no matter what, I don't want this guy pretending to be my friend for my entire lifetime just to later think he has the right to mess with my life and feelings.

I HATE the way he talked to the fiance as if Seok Ryu wasn't there. I hateeeee the way he knew nothing about that man and he treated him like trash only because he likes Seok Ryu.
And I hate that he thinks he can tell Seok Ryu to not meet him or do wtv she wants.

And all the "I'll give you time" bs just to go and give that lame confession and later give her a deadline to respond. Like, my girl is trying to figure out her life? Hello? Do you even care?

The contrast of the ex-fiance asking Seok Ryu to let him taste her food, asking her what are her plans, if he can help her, and then telling her that he will give her constructive criticism... Wow! And then there's Seung Hyo, the annoying son of her mom's friend who only cared about making her feel bad for meeting her ex-boyfriend and spent the whole time competing with him... No excuse for this BS.

And he's only 1 of the million problems I have with this show, so sayonara.

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Not my logical brain nodding along with Tabong but also knowing my stupid heart will probably watch the next episode cos i like JHI n JSM the actors. Errgghh.. this feels like my early drama watching days y’all.

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The heart wants what it wants. Maybe it'll get better with time...? Fighting!!

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You are very right that Seung Hyo behaviour is not correct. I didn't register because he's Jung Hae In and I'm not able to dissociate the actors from the characters here with such a weak story. He is childish and we are supposed to find it endearing because he is the ML. That's an oldshoold drama way.

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Honestly I'm more interested in the second leads and their romance. They started off weird, but they're so cute now. I love how she's nice to his kid and he's so respectful of her. Gotta love a found family in the making.

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This is me - my mind wanders when the main families are on screen; straight back to focus when the ambulance appears :) :)

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Best fun fact I learnt from Show this week:

That they change the Code Alert alarm for paramedics to classical music (Mozart) in order to lessen the stress, and the unexpected tragic-comic side-effect of them having a similar Pavlovian stress reaction to classical music now everywhere they go, even in a bookshop toilet! LOL

These are the moments where the script shines. Alas, too few and far apart

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I understand why people are fed up with this show. The writing seems disjointed, the rom is frustrating, the com has left the buliding for cancer, and the characters are flawed. However, this show is working for me because it is exploring something different, interesting and real. (FYI: I liked The Interest of Love so let that inform you about my varying kdrama tastes.) This show is not working on a swoony romance level; missing are the butterflies and thrill of getting to know someone new. There is no courtship or trying to impress because they know each other, warts and all. (In fact, they each show more of themselves including the less “attractive” sides to each other that they didn’t show to their exes.) Instead, it is exploring the real relationship between two people who have known each other for a long time. Seok Ryu and Seung Hyo have been friends, even best friends without ever expressly saying so, since childhood so they have a well established pattern of interaction based on knowledge, experience, and trust. They fight and bicker with each other often, but they also know how to move on because there is an inherent understanding that each has the best interest of the other at heart. They have seen the other get into crushes and relationships with other people, achieve success, setbacks, and resets in new directions, and know each other’s familiy and the background of their upbringing. While Seung Hyo may not be a “green flag” or a “loser in love” like the recently crowned MLs in Lovely Runner or Perfect Marriage Revenge, he has always been attentiive to Seok Ryo’s needs and supportive in important, even if not flashy ways, like offering his kitchen to practice, decorating her bedroom to be homey, and encouraing her to take a moment to find her dream instead of working to help his company just because she is good at it. Similarly. Seok Ryu is supportive of Seung Hyo in ways that only someone who really knows him can be. She encourages and roots for him to do the rehab of the high school swimming pool even though it’s not as flashy or prestigious as other projects because she knows it has great meaning to him. Her first cooking project was made with him in mind because it brought back such a cherished memory.

Watching their relationship doesn’t provide vacarious swoons or giggles. What it does provide and is the reason the show still works for me is a view of how two people navigate the evolution of a long term relationship and the risk of advancing to a new level. It is possible to get a new boyfriend/girlfriend if the relationship blows up—it is not possible to get a new lifelong friend. In some ways, we are watching what happens after the OTP get together in most romances and the show ends. It’s the relationship and often its less “romantic” moments after the courtship phase. These moments often reveal patterns that are reflections and reactions to relationships they have seen, mostly often their parents. Here, there is...

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an interesting contrast between the ML’s seemingly perfect parents, family and home versus the FL’s loud, bickering, physically abusive, financially struggling family. However, it is shown how still waters of silence that present as peaceful, dignified, and cultured can be as violently corrosive on relationships as the hitting and yelling of FL’s family. How both Seung Hyo and Seok Ryo remain silent about certain things and yell at the other about other things show the patterns at play. Seok Ryo’s family is envious of Seung Hyo’s family’s career and financial success and seeming peace, while Seung Hyo’s family is envious Seok Ryo’s family’s sense of home created by home cooking and sense of concern for one another, even if it is often through yelling and misguided expectations. (Even if it was a bit heavy handed, I was happy to see Seok Ryu express frustration at her parents demands on her to be successful while it seeemed her brother got a pass after seeing many dramas where that dynamic was just a given and neverl called out. It was also realistic how Seok Ryu realized that calling that out was not as satisfying as she had long hoped that it would be.)

The show has a lot of flaws. I really dislike the ex-fiancee. While Seok Ryu’s parents reaction to finding out her dream seemed heartless, as a parent, I understand the myopia of wanting to spare your child the pain of mistakes or perceived failures you had—one of the hardest things to do is let your children make “mistakes” that you made, even if it is really an important part of them living life, being resilient and finding their own way. Still, the mom could do a lot less hitting; it isn’t cute. And the brother remains as 2D as a poster on his door. However, I still remain on board with this show, even if it wasn’t the rom-com I thought it would be, as the two mains are managing explore this long-term relationship thing in a way that isn’t often seen. And Jung Hae-In advises us to hang in there until Episode 11, so I will.

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@pynyc Hey, fellow "Interest of Love" watcher! Just wanted to say that I love your insight! I didn't love the show because it felt like untapped potential, but hopefully "Love Next Door" lives up to its hype soon.

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@pynyc: "What it does provide and is the reason the show still works for me is a view of how two people navigate the evolution of a long term relationship and the risk of advancing to a new level. It is possible to get a new boyfriend/girlfriend if the relationship blows up—it is not possible to get a new lifelong friend."

I love this! What you said was so true. I could never articulate it, but this is also why I'm invested in the show. I think the writer, even if the writing is uneven and jarring, is trying to do something new. There are some typical Korean tropes, but I think she is turning them on their head: like the Namsan Tower, like the typical K-drama villains (moms or exes) who become more 3D, etc etc.

I'm willing to stick around to see where she goes with this.

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I loved everything you said, and I wish this is how the drama felt for me too. 🥺
I think what lost me is that (1) even though their relationship isn't supposed to be swoony, the show is trying too hard too make it feel like that, and (2) the fact that they know each other for a long time and are comfortable showing all the unattractive parts, shouldn't mean that they don't have you try to show a more attractive side and that it makes okay to be disrespectful with each other and ignore each other's feelings or needs.
I actually believe that because of their history and the fact that they know they will keep seeing each other for the rest of their lives, they should address all the toxic aspects of their relationship instead of putting a dateline for confessions and answers. But they don't, instead, they get worse and that makes it more frustrating to watch and it makes their future as a couple look bleak, imo.

But I totally get you since this is a trope that I've enjoyed in other shows like Fight For My Way or Like Flowers in Sand.

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I do think that in many, but granted not all, they do actually do the important things for one another, like listening to each other (they talk about a lot of things they don't tell others) and noticing and doing things like making his favorite foods and providing the kitchen for practice. There is a lot of bristling, bickering and denial of feelings--however, this is a long standing pattern that cannot be corrected so quickly and in many long relationships, these deeply grooved patterns can recur at any time. However, there is forward progress like Seung Hyo realizing how they fight, which is one way patterns can change. He also is taking the initiative by confessing first, which is a change in the dynamic of Seok Ryu often being the one in charge. A good contrast is Seung Hyo's parents--what his mom wanted the day of the toast/banchan breakfast was for her husband to welcome her and set the table for her to join. On her birthday, he spent the evening running around for the big gesture of lilies, which she probably would have liked, but she loved when the next morning he noticed her eating out of containers and made a lovely breakfast tray for her. In the long run, it's the things that are done for the other after noticing what they like or need instead of the big gestures (unless that is what they want).
As to their future, I actually think it looks promising. Long relationships are a long-term project in progress with problems and recurring patterns that are inevitable; however, if you trust the other person truly has your back, you are willing to reflect and work on things when you notice a pattern, and you actually like as well as love them, chances are good for staying together.

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I feel like the marketing makes it look like a cute traditional rom-com of besties-turn-lovers, but I feel like it falls partially into the drama part as it's dealing with some tricky emotions. I don't think I can be attracted to Seung-hyo is real life - he seems like a chore and a bore- , but I like seeing the evolution of his relationship with Seok-ryu and of the various relationships in the drama.

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I would add "clingy" to your description of SH's behavior.

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There are so much things happening!

SR and SH: I liked how they pushed the confession, bad timing, she wasn't ready but finally, it was great! I liked they continue the scene too. Usually, they would skip to the next scene or it will be the end of the episode. But we got all the awkwardness after two people knowing each other since they're kids making the first to change theire relationship. They're so unique with their banter, choosing milk expiration date to get an answer.

The exes : For once, I'm happy that the woman is the nice one and not the bitter, mean, etc ex-girlfriend. They gave us such a great woman! I wish she finds love too! For the man... I don't like how he got back so confidently. I don't like how her past sickness gives him power. He should be ashamed because clearly, he didn't give her the care she needed.

SR's family : The mother is a weather vane. She changed her mind so fast not in a good way... SR's anger was justified but I wonder how the fact she was very sucessful burden her brother too. He's very immature and his parents let him be. But maybe he gave up a little bit because he wasn't as good as her too. I understood her father's anger because it came from his own experience but he never talked about it, so he could help her instead to stop her.

SH's family : SH's face when SR was saying she wanted his family because he didn't have any siblings made me feel there is something behind it. There is some love but nobody is brave enough to talk. It's so sad.

For the sickness part, I think it will be more about how she kept it secret from her family and friends, trying to do things alone (again) than about the fact she's still sick.

I think I prefer the exes coming in the story when the couple is still not formed than after.

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I’m really hoping you’re right about the sickness part! That was what I thought would be most logical too - people close to her will be hurt that she kept it from them. And that would fit with what the show has already done to explore her complicated relationships with her family and friends. Really hoping her stomach pain is a false alarm and we don’t add recurring cancer to our long list of plot points.

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I'm hoping that cancer is not the reason she went back to the fiancee--she can't face hurting her life-long best friend SH. She can use the fiancee to get her through the disease instead of "using" SH as her "nurse"/just-a-childhood friend, so she is honoring a romantic relationship with SH by rejecting him. Sort of a "noble idiocy" type reaction.

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I love the ex-gf. She's flirty, but isn't possessive. I love her moment of saying something profound and was then impressed with herself - "oh wow, I just said this profound thing!" I also love how she just gives Seung-hyo a hard time sometimes.

I also agree with you about her being sick. It's more about how that will change her dynamic with her family, as it likely contributed to her ultimate dissatisfaction with being the gaslit worker ant to her trashy coworkers.

Her mom was saying she was coddling Dong-jin because he was a sick child. It would be nice if the mom came around to respect Seok-ryu's choices without the sickness, but some parents need a kick in the butt, especially if the drama is supposed to only cover like 3-4 months of these people's lives.

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Thank you ! I was starting to feel that I was mistaken because I heard that the brother was sick "and why is been sick such an excuse" that SR blurted during her rant.
She did not want to burden her parents, and that's part of the reason she kept her cancer secret.

Also, best ex-gf ever ! Just clingy enough to activate jealousy, but turning wingwoman as soon as she registered the situation. Did you see how she made SR explicitely say "he is not my boyfriend" at the restaurant, after SR failed to correct the server and it disheated SH?

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Re: "For the sickness part, I think it will be more about how she kept it secret from her family and friends, trying to do things alone (again) than about the fact she's still sick."

I second that.

I think it gets dealt with this coming week with SH weeping about how she kept him in the dark etc

I actually welcome this foray into the whole territory of "what exactly is a friendship?" (which Show has signposted when SH was self-deprecating about his position as "just her friend" and Mo-eum protested that friends are so much more than what he thinks.)

Mo-eum:
"I am one who would put my civil servant job on the line to take revenge for my friend."

"Friends are great. One of the definitions of friends is one who carries my sorrow on their back." (cancer ToD coming in the distance! siren sounds 🚨)

#sheaintheavyshesmybestfriend

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As for the sickness part, I read a few reviews of the episode that point out to the foreshadowing in an early episode of SH wanting to design a memorial park as an omen for a sad ending.

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I think it was related to his past more than his future, like the ceiling in his office that reminds a tomb.

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I saw that as the drama trying to make SH special. Oh look, he's an architect doing out of the box things, like a memorial park. Must more special than your usual building! Eat that, other kdrama architects!! Oh look, he was so into this project for the dearly departed that he almost missed an award ceremonial where he was the recipient of an award! He's THAT mom's friend's son - mr.perfect!

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I don't think M. Perfect but more very passionate at doing his job.

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I hate how they portray the ML’s mom as inept and cold in her personal life with her family due to her work. Female diplomats already face so many challenges socially, including difficulty in committing to relationships due to the constant nature of travel and posting (especially since it’s more accepted that women leave their jobs to be with their spouse abroad rather than men doing the same). So let’s stop with these depictions!

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I know on DB we often complain that a writer seems to be making things up as they go along, but this show is utterly random and haphazard at this point. So much so that I absolutely believe the writer was still drafting after shooting began. “Home-cha” may have not been the best drama ever, but it was way better and more cohesive than this, so I know the writer can do better. Here, it seems like they had an outline, then a cast, and suddenly realized there’s no real story. So everyone’s frantically scrambling to throw a bunch of stuff at the audience to see if anything sticks.

This drama has become a makjang-y, tropey mess, and I could point to several examples that suggest the writer is/was making it up as they went along, but the one that stands out to me is this: when Seok-ryu’s mother starts talking about the brother’s hole in his heart. If I somehow missed an earlier mention of this I apologize, but this seemed to be the first time we heard about his former medical condition, and it clearly only existed to set up Seok-ryu’s line about illness and the ultimate reveal that she’s the real sick one.

I can see that the actors are doing their best to muddle through and find some way to connect with their characters and the audience, but because the plot is so haphazard and meandering, the characterization is completely inconsistent. Take, for example, the awful scenes where Soek-ryu’s parents attack her for her perfectly reasonable and happy plan to become a cook. They’d already lost credibility points with me for their bizarrely vacillating reactions to the ex-fiance’s return (Hate him! Love him! Blame him! Love him again!), but their incomprehensible nastiness over her career plans was both bewildering and painful to watch. I guess mom’s reaction was sortof in keeping with her earlier overbearing and self-centered reaction to finding out Seok-ryu had left Greip, but Dad’s criticisms were not only over-the-top but extremely confusing coming from a character who has been passive and genial up to this point; he has also never seemed miserable at his job to me. Certainly not enough to warrant that kind of immediate and intense display of complete disregard for his (adult!) daughter’s desires and feelings.

And what about Seung-hyo’s parents? All we’ve seen from them is estrangement, but suddenly, Dad’s running around town trying desperately to find his wife’s favorite flowers? But of course, it quickly became clear that these scenes only existed to set up him coming upon his wife interacting with a man she may or may not had an affair with. Again, clunky, plot-driven, and seemingly invented on-the-fly to build drama.

I can’t even talk about the weird romance. Why should I believe these two people belong together? They have a halfway decent friendship at best. There’s no unconditional love, support, understanding, or chemistry between them whatsoever. This kills me because I saw promise in the first two episodes, but the spark fizzled...

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out before it even had a moment to catch.

The only things I like are that Seung-hyo’s ex is surprisingly endearing and very well played by the actress, and Dan-ho is super dorky cute no matter what he’s doing.

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"but this seemed to be the first time we heard about his former medical condition, and it clearly only existed to set up Seok-ryu’s line about illness and the ultimate reveal that she’s the real sick one."

Yep. That was super weird and random. I was like "why is she screaming at her mom?" "Wait, her brother is sick? Should she be hitting him like that?"
But with the final scene everything made sense.

The same happened before when Seung Hyo followed Seok Ryu and started screaming at her about having dreams and she told him that he didn't understand. Then they suddenly inserted his past trauma to make a point.

They keep doing the "I scream my feelings, you scream back, and then I make you feel bad about it with a sudden sad reveal."

Seung Hyo's parents... I don't understand why the show is trying so hard to makes us feel bad for the dad. They keep talking about the mom not being there but he's at the hospital literally all the time. Mom has been at home the entire show. LOL

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I actually got Seok Ryu's dad not wanting her to become a cook because he feels it just leads to be looked down. First off, it's manual labor (which is apparently looked down on especially compared to the corporate job she had), it's a service job that is easily swayed by its customers, and it's financially unstable (apparently). He keeps talking about not having money or being inadequate or being not enough for prospective in laws. I figured that is why he reacted that way. It's probably like a nightmare come to life for him that his daughter wants to potentially follow in his footsteps.

As I write this, it's so sad haha

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Yes. SO REAL.
I wish Show would hit these notes more
It's pathos. And quietly tragic.

Someone once said this to me years ago: one of the most painful things for a parent is not being able to give their kids the opportunities in life they never had themselves.

Every generation wants the next to do better than themselves. And it's painful to fall short. Very much so.

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OMG, I absolutely feel the same about this show. I was totally fooled by the first two episodes. I can't make sense of the reactions of various characters. And everyone is making things that are happening to others about themselves! The mother just wants to have a succesful daughter because she feel bad about herself, the father too. And who cares if the daughter has been miserable all that time? And now cancer will be the same. Who cares if she had an horrible experience. The problem will be that she didn't tell anyone and hurt their feelings. GAH!

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In two episodes, it went from a middle school awkward dating confession to slam-on-the-breaks medical secret that upends everything. It went in an instant from a rom-com to a non-com. Quite the jolt. This week’s lesson: secrets, whether unrequited love, health issues, affairs or guilt, can be a literal gut punch.

Hyeon-Jun and Seok-Ryu’s relationship was a lot deeper and emotional than we were led to believe. When she chose him over Seung-Hyo to go to the hospital we thought that was his answer to his burning kiln question . . . but it was re-living what they had experienced together in in the US.

The set up was clear: her younger brother had an infant heart condition (since healed) but his mother felt so guilty that she babies him to this day while Seok-Ryu is angry about the different treatment (even though she kept her cancer a deep secret). Her father was against her from following her dream because he is well aware of the grueling hardship of being a cook. But again, he does not know that her dream may be a short-lived attempt at personal happiness and peace of mind.

The ending took the wind out of the sails of the second leads more realistic and optimistic romantic road. Tae-Hui is the only breath of fresh air when discussing relationship issues. She is upfront, sincere and introspective on how her time with Seung-Hyo led to her growth and maturity. He still looks like a deer-in-the-headlights anytime anyone talks to him about feelings. But what really set off Korean viewers was the creepy night stalking of Seok-Ryu . . . it really triggered Korean women who in real life are constantly afraid of such a situation.

At the halfway point, I still don’t see the romantic connection between the two leads. Unless the writing is like a spaghetti LA expressway interchange, the series will probably run down the path of a bummer melodrama.

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the writing is all over the place and I’m so sad because the cast of Jung Somin and Jung Haein were a dream come true…I’m still going to watch because I look forward to the behind the scene clips of them more but the story is all over the place 😫

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There are many romance tropes I like. Even the ones that pop up out nowhere can bring a smile to my face (Why hello, Mr. White Truck!) But the shows that I like the best are clever in their use of these tropes. As @laurensophie says, the tropes here aren't put together well.
The three main ones here have just not been developed beyond their tropiness.

For example, the friends since childhood (and yet not so friendly that the one friend bothers to stay in touch with the other, or call him when she has cancer) which also involves the renewal of high school level behavior trope has not been put to good use. Yes, these episodes had a confession, but it was weirdly anti-climactic and not received in a way that suggested there was any reciprocal sense of long felt romantic desire.

The "burned out by the cold unfeeling world and goes back to the old neighborhood " without any fresh take on this experience (like maybe she begins to realize why she left to begin with, such as her Mom always beating on her- and should head to another city to train as a chef?) Yes, I guess the fact that she had cancer and didn't tell anyone, even her best female friend, let alone her parents, is a slightly different twist, but is that at all realistic?

And then also the ex-fiancé, who as common with kdrama ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, even if they are two timing slime ball cheaters, coming back and for reasons that are often unexamined, demands to renew the old relationship, and then refuses to take no for an answer and becomes a near stalker, generating more immature jealous behavior on the part of the ML. I don't know what will happen with this trope resolution yet, but I don't have a lot of confidence

Maybe the FL should go back to her fiancé. Then the show's last episode could have a time skip, and show her struggling to raise a child, as her husband is out gallivanting around in hostess clubs, with her sobbing words "I wish I had never come back to Korea to find myself."

The mention of this writers Hometown Cha Cha Cha shows how much better it was than this one, in that the hokey met in childhood trope was mainly used to show how considerate the ML was, the return to the small town from the big city was a big city native, and part of the shows dynamic was her outsider status, and the ex-boyfriend was really a nice guy, not a cheater or a stalker at all, and they talked it out and he accepted her refusal.
I'll still watch this one, but it really has to devote more time to the secondary couple and amp up the electricity between the main couple or, at the very least have something new with its handling of tropes beyond cancer for me enjoy it.

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Well said. I really can't stand stalking exes, and especially the cheating ones. Caring but cheater ex is a bit like having a split personality, no?

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After a few supposedly rom-com dramas I am led to believe that Korean parents are against their children's happiness. It is all about you must live according to my wishes because I gave birth to you.
I intensely dislike SR's mother. I thought after last week she would stop hitting her husband but no. The worst is she goes behind her daughter's back to conspire with he ex.
Though it is not funny it feels like a sitcom. Let's put all the characters through random situations and see what happens. SR's desire to cook appeared suddenly, then her cancer. It is not a cohesive story but improv.

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8 episodes in and this show has lost everything that endeared itself to me. The plot setup is not bad but the execution and writing leaves so much, much, much more to be desired. Hyun Joon for example could have been an interesting point to be explored. But, supposedly he cheated on Seok Ryu and that hasn't been sufficiently addressed by Seok Ryu so I am not even sure if he did it or not. Seok Ryu came back so weary of everything including the relationship she left behind, that it makes no sense now that she is allowing him to orbit her world. It makes Seok Ryu to be a giant pushover. Like, the guy knew you had cancer and he still cheated. Why are you tolerating him? Is it because you are thankful to him for being there? If so, it's not coming across well. Why are her parents so adamant she must be back with him? Seok Ryu wasn't visiting them that frequently so shy must it be him? Maybe with a better script, Hyun Joon could come across a bit more dynamic. Right now, he is a terrible, annoying plot device. Also, Seok Ryu's parents, I thought we were over the whole lets bully her into a profession she doesn't wish to have. No, we're back to 0. The confrontation between the 4 of them is same and repetitive. I really thought we'd make some progress but cancer is what they will use to plaster the cracks and call it a day. This is such lazy writing. Now, Seung Hyo, I am sorry Jung Hae In deserves better. He is being given nothing to work with which is tragedy. Jung So Min has been given too much and she doesn't have the capacity to handle it, this drama exposed her weak points to me personally. While Jung Hae In has been given bare minimum. The 2nd leads are a breathe of fresh air. I think Choi household has better stories in theory but again the writer doesn't know how to expand on that. I also need answers as to why Seok Ryu hid her cancer from her parents. The justification they will give need to be sound. Even if the relationship is fraught, nobody hides cancer from immediate family. They better have good reason for this weird direction of story.

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I also want to add that tsundere characters are overrated!

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I...I have thoughts. Cancer thought. I don't like when shows do that, especially not in episode EIGHT. There is already so much going on, and now that. I don't like the trope in general and I really don't think this show in particular needs it. There is so much going on already. I think that was really obvious when even the other plot lines in this episode didn't quite turn all the way over. For example, despite being the main focus for both episodes, I don't feel like Seokryu really had a voice here. Her (cheating!!) ex wouldn't go away. Seunghyo was being all possessive to the point where both men were trying to wrist grab her at the same time at one point. Her family was been awful to her yet again. And then on top of that she gets rushed to the hospital. It's just too much to heap on one character. There are so many other stress related health conditions she could have that aren't CANCER like even ulcers or anxiety for example. The writers still could've gotten a dramatic moment out of her having to be rushed to the hospital regardless.

At this point I wouldn't mind if she moved in with Taehee and just cooked all day from now on. Let her breathe.

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I agree about her not having a voice. Her character reacted to the stranger things this week.

When Seung Hyo was trashing Hyun Joon she didn't say anything. Even when Hyun Joon literally appeared out of nowhere. Seung Hyo was more shocked and offended.
Then, she got angry at her brother for calling Hyun Joon "bro in law" but she didn't react much at her mom for literally trying to dress her pretty for him?
And she didn't say much when Hyun Joon said he would keep trying to get her back. Or even when he decided to stay to eat her food. And she didn't say much to Seung Hyo when he got angry at her for eating with Hyun Joon.

But then she spends an entire episode beating up her brother for trying to do something she doesn't even know what it is? 😂😂😂 She was like "you don't have the right to have ideas, bro. My life was so unfair"

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I don't know why they've made her such a goldfish, just clamming up when people talk at or over her. On the one hand, she's happy to beat people up and yell/bicker all the time, and yet when she needs to open her mouth and stand ground, then it's zipped lips 🤔

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The brother idea is for a 2millions investment for marketing on instagram. Smell as scammy as the youtuber-hair incident at the restaurant.

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Yeah. But did she hear the idea? she just kept coming out of nowhere in the middle of the conversation to beat him up.
I was like "she's psychic?"
It was like a high kick episode.

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Oh I think she reacted this way cos of his past track record.

Apparently this wasn't his first time trying to get buy-in from mom. SR said mom had lost money before in these "investment" schemes of the son, so SR was reacting out from that space I think

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It is true that we did not see a full explanation of the investment idea, and even less SR listening to it.
I assume that the little bit she hears is sufficient to declare bullshit, because I that's what I also conclude of the scheme.
I agree that her reaction is not the good one, and not efficient anyway. But that's how they fonction in this familly. Would it be me, I would ask millions of questions so as to make it realise that the investment will be a loss. But it takes time, and does not make a fun scene for TV.

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This show is a mess. First off, the whole story with the ex doesn't really make much sense? Because at first everybody is against him for some reason, until mom conveniently changes her mind and is in favor of him again. But why is everybody against him? They don't know he cheated? Speaking of, does this show even remember that he cheated? Because they've literally ignored this for two entire episodes now, and it's kind of infuriating.

Now, the romance... It's not working for me. And I don't think it's written all that well either. I'm sorry, but I don't feel the development here? It's like the show uses the "they've liked each other since childhood" trick so they wouldn't actually have to write them growing to like each other in the present. But also, I don't need you to tell me that they liked each other since childhood, I need you to show that to me, and we don't get nearly enough flashbacks for that. The leads have basically been dancing around each other and their feelings for 4 episodes now, with the only proper development being his confession. But aside from that, any development in their dynamic feels minimal at best, at least to me. We get plenty of "big romantic scenes", but I feel like we get very little development outside of that. I do really liked the scene where he follows her after she runs out of her house, and they walk in the park. It's a a more quiet moment where they just support each other, but moments like that feel few and far between. If we get one of those scenes in a single 80-minute episode, it'd be alot. It honestly feels like the romance is being carried by the actors, rather than the writing.

Now, about Seung-hyo. I'm not his biggest fan. Luckily, he toned down his annoying behavior from last week (even if I feel like that kinda happened out of nowhere, but whatever). And I could complain a while about how he was gonna grab her wrist in the beginning of episode 7 to get her away from her ex, despite her giving absolutely no sign of wanting to get away from that conversation. But I'm not gonna complain about that, and I do realize this is more of a personal thing, and I just don't like stuff like this in general.

But anyway, I have a problem with him this week, because of one specific scene: the scene at night where Seok-ryu felt like somebody was following her, so she runs away, only for the person following her to be Seung-hyo. She was obviously scared. So, does he realize his mistake & apologize? Nope. Instead he ends up putting the blame on her, telling her she should've just turned around. Uhm, no she shouldn't have? She was running away, she was obviously scared, so he should've called out to her. Was this scene even necessary in the first place? Why is the writer trivializing something as serious as this?

And, yeah, I just don't like her parents after this week. I was mostly indifferent to the mother, but now I just dislike her. I loved the dad because of last week,...

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I loved the dad because of last week, but now I just dislike him too. I was hoping he'd at least try to be supportive, but nope.

But at least I like the second leads? I'm not gonna say that's an incredibly well-written romance, but at least it's fun and entertaining to watch and doesn't constantly infuriate me because of inconsistent, messy, and questionable writing.

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But I sorta can see it from dad's POV -- his fearful reservations about the viability of a livelihood for his daughter are unforch founded on his own life experiences.

The key difference (for me) between dad and mom is he genuinely wants his daughter to be happy and doing well for her own sake.

Mom's got a lot of vanity, reflected glory and vicarious fulfilment riding on SR's success or lack thereof (that makes it distasteful for me).

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"It's like the show uses the "they've liked each other since childhood" trick so they wouldn't actually have to write them growing to like each other in the present."

I feel like a LOT of dramas are doing this lately and it's really annoying me. Let me see romance develop over time!

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I was genuinely enjoying this drama until this week’s episodes. So many things went wrong for me:

1. I was dreading the return of the ex-fiance and rightfully so, apparently. Ugh, take a hint and stop being a stalker!

2. I kinda understood Seung-hyo’s immature ways earlier, but I was not a fan of “Take your time but not really! You have 11 days and I will continue to taunt you about it daily.”

3. WTF is with her mom?! I can’t understand/sympathize/empathize with that woman at all. If my type-A daughter came home after suddenly quitting her job and breaking off her engagement I would be worried sick about what was going on with her. Not pushing her back to the environment/lifestyle that made her have a breakdown.

4. I eyerolled the cancer reveal though I suspected some sort of illness causing her previous break from Greip. I also thought, “When did I start watching QoT???” Which I dropped. I was really hoping they would have had her dealing with some mental health issues instead. I’m most invested in Seok-ryu’s journey of self discovery and that would’ve been interesting to explore. I mean, how could she not with those parents, workplace bullying and the immense self-inflicted pressure to be the best?

**Sigh** I’ll stick around for now to follow Seok-ryu’s journey but if we tread deeper into QoT territory I may just be keeping up through recaps 😩

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Seriously. I didn't even try to watch QoT for a reason and now it's following me here. I liked this show. Let's go back to what works and ditch the rest.

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I didn't even try to watch QoT for a reason and now it's following me here.
🤣🤣🤣
I nearly spat my tea. Priceless

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And once again episodes 5 and 6 are my least favorite. Why? Because it felt like they were utterly useless (to me). There was the father getting scammed and feeling like he didn't bring value to the family and then his wife said he does and they're a team only for this week's episodes to go back to the first week/first 2 weeks of the mom feeling resentful of her life and making him feel like a nonfactor or inadequate. Same with Seok Ryu. The mom said she would give her space and time and what happens, she's still trying to ship her off to the life she left behind and said she didn't want.

Regarding the second couple, the friend berated the reporter and his daughter said she wanted nothing to do with her only for this week everyone to be in awe of each other and it feeling like a continuation of week 2 (with some of the knowledge of week 3). I get it; it was suppose to show how caring and righteous she is and how doting he is but I just disliked how that played out so very very much and as always, folks seem very understanding and forgiving in these situations.

I wanted more with the brother but this was not it! I don't even understand what he was trying to do. Some influencer type stuff? And I swear there is just no winning in that family; the oldest is expected to perfect and enviable while the youngest is allowed to experiment while simultaneously being compared to the oldest. I assume part of the reason he lost interest in a bunch of things is because (a) he wasn't great or amazing at it and he didn't want to be a disappointment (b) he wasn't passionate about it and with whatever pressure he may have felt, it made the activity even more unappealing (c) he didn't need to commit to anything because his parents just went along with his whims.

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I was incredibly confused by the reaction to the ex fiance. I don't know if it's language barrier issue or translation thing but why does everyone assume he hurt Seok Ryu? At first, I thought Seok Ryu had told them he cheated her but that doesn't seem to be the case. And it also doesn't even seem like he cheated on her by the way Seok Ryu and the ex are acting.

Speaking of cheating, Seong Jun's parents remind me of those dramas that say things like "if you keep all your feelings in, you'll get indigestion". They have SO MUCH that they don't say to each other and it's like why? Are they non confrontational people or do they just not care or love each other? Even if they didn't care or love each other, how about respect each other as parents of someone? I was thinking the wife didn't cheat in a traditional sense but chose her career over her family and that's the incident she wanted Seong Jun to forget or forgive her for but now it does seem like she had some kind of affair and it was known to the guys of the family. It's awfully sad that Seong Jun got her the same exact necklace and yet she treated it like it was precious (granted any gift from a loved one should/could be considered precious) and an empty card. It's just so formal in that house. I couldn't help but think Seong Jun would get Seok Ryu's mom more thoughtful gifts.

I don't understand why Seok Ryu's cancer plot played out like it did. The jerk coworker made it seem like it was some shameful secret that people were gossiping about and it was that she took sick leave YEARS ago for cancer? Seriously? And the only person who knew was her fiance even though she had close friends if not family?

I didn't care for Seong Jun's "we have communication problem" after *he* chased *her* AFTER saying how dangerous it was for her to be out. I swear drama writers seem like they don't comprehend the dangers women face on a daily basis. Even if they know it, they don't *get* it.

Anywho, the second couple were cute. I liked how she gushed about Mudflat Man only to realize she was talking about him then her coworkers also mentioning her instant crush/attraction to Mudflat Man.

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Seok-ryu told her family that SHE cheated on him. But because they felt like she wouldn't be the type of person to do that, they just assume she was covering up for something bad he did. To them, it wouldn't make sense for her to break it off with a successful lawyer, so it must have been the guy probably looking down on her family.

I can see her hiding her cancer diagnosis. She never wanted to be a burden on her family. She knew her mom coddled Dong-jin because he had the hole in his heart. Even though the hole closed up, the mom was traumatized by that moment. She didn't want to scare her parents.

I'm not sure if it's the way with Koreans, but with some people in my Chinese family, they like to hide sicknesses. I found out an uncle has cancer (seems to be early stage) and the other family members found out because the daughter told another cousin not realizing that she was meant to hide it.

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I can see hiding the cancer diagnosis from her family but not her best friends. So her entire support was solely the fiance? That's alot for the both of them if they had options.

The amount of hostility still didn't match what was told.

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My own mother hide her cancer from her daughers ! She didn't want to bother us. (we learned it several years after).
Not sharing important information is one part that I find realistic in this drama. But this is not a ROMCOM.

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1. Not sharing important information is one part that I find realistic in this drama.
2. But this is not a ROMCOM.

Both statements. So TRUE. Unforch.

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It was obvious since the first episodes that there was not much story! I don't understand why the leads kept bickering! Why the writer thinks it is a kind of dating should be! Other then second couple the rest is extremely unmatured. Our main lead couple seems stuck in their teenager years. Why there are many unnecessary flash backs! It is not any help to story! How come everyone totally can not communicate ! Our main leads are my favourites but I cant believe they chose that script! According to googling result the writer's last job was Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. This is defiantly not a slow burn story and we have not seen any improvement since the opening week. One more week but I honestly have no hope from the show! After years of KD experience i knew it would not be a good ride at the first week :)

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We barely started on the rom, and now the com is gone? If it's not serial killers, then it's a random cancer storyline in a romcom. Maybe I should have kept my expectations in check given how much I couldn't stand Hometown Cha Cha's ml, but Seung Hyo's writing was not an unpleasant kdrama ml stereotype before, the mother daughter relationship got mended, and the bickering was cute and mutual. Now I feel annoyed with how entitled and rude Seung Hyo seems about and to Seok Ryu so often instead of both of them being funny and childish mutually, the mom's understanding of her oldest child lasted three minutes, and no one seems to want to give Seok Ryu any peace or grace and I just want everyone to leave her alone.

Love all the actors, main and supporting, but this script is not doing any of them justice.

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Seung Hyo's entitlement... OMG... She asked you to wait, but never once did you make a quiet moment to actually sit and ask what she was going through. No... Your feelings mattered the most, and so you had to explode! Ugh

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"Cancer is the new serial killer."

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Episode 8 totally ruined my Sunday night, I was soooo pissed! And the weaker points of this drama all hurtled glaringly to the forefront together, too. The preview for the next ep gives me the chills. Soooo disappointed, let’s see if the drama can somehow redeem itself (or not)… :(

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Is it weird that I was relieved it was stomach cancer? I seriously thought her hiatus was maybe a suicide attempt and an extended stay at a psychiatric hospital, and I was wondering how they would be able to cover that sensitively. I don't think they'll kill her off, but it makes sense to me after the hospital scene why she was letting that ex hang around and not tell him to gtfo with all the stalking. He must have been there for her while she was sick and recovering. She does care for him, but not enough to marry him. And if she had gone through with the marriage, it would have been out of gratefulness and obligation and would have been what she had been doing all her life.

I've been annoyed with Seung-hyo, but at least he finally confessed. I did get annoyed when he was like "you can think about it" and "you have 11 days". Dude... I like how Seok-ryu is starting to see Seung-hyo in a different light.

I sort of partially agree with Seok-ryu's dad about a cooking career. It can be more grueling than depicted in kdramas. But I also suspect something happened in his previous workplace that traumatized him too. And there are other ways to cook without being in a kitchen during dinner rush - like home catering or those businesses where you can hire yourself out as a private chef for a day.

The Mudflat Guy scenes were gold. The horror of the realization and then having it brought up again. Mo-eum admires Mudflat Guy but neither Dan-ho nor Mo-eum are looking for a serious relationship. Mo-eum wants to go to Antarctica.

I'm still enjoying this drama. I think letting go of seeing this drama as a rom-com helps. I like seeing the various characters interact. The two dads drinking together are a highlight, even though I don't condone excessive drinking. Seung-hyo's dad's drinking habit was hilarious.

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I would have preferred it to actually have been a mental breakdown, than cancer... Job worries, maybe her fiance had cheated previously too... Those are emotional things that people tend repress so much, it takes such a toll, that attempting drastic steps might seem the only way out. Medical issues aren't ones to hide, IMO.

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Agree, I'm fine with her one-year gap due to a mental breakdown. Honestly, depressive disorder or alcoholism due to stress is a better secret than cancer. Because the mental breakdown fits perfectly with the flow of the plot where SR needs to return home to recharge herself and find out about her dream. Hiding her physical medical issues from her family is totally wrong and inconsistent with the characters' setup. SR's family has communication issues and they don't easily share their emotional stories, but it's not like they are strangers, they clearly love each other and all of them know that. This isn’t just a simple misunderstanding anymore, it totally ruins what the drama was about until now. I drop the show after the cancer was revealed. I've had enough of its nonsense.

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There are too many missing puzzle pieces to show a complete picture of how SR and her ex broke up. It could have been his family objecting to her diagnosis. The "cheating" scene could have been after their break-up. SR could have broke off the engagement because of her prognosis. She did say she was on the fence about him: she would not go back to him but she does not hate him.

I never get how an ex, like a US lawyer, can suddenly take off weeks of time from work to chase an ex with no career repercussions.

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I know the drama is skipping the drudgery of work scenes, but some dramas annoy me with how much free time the characters appear to have, especially on a day like today when I come home exhausted. I can't imagine having the energy to fall in love and verbally spar with anyone.

I guess I can pretend like the ex is probably working remotely in the night.

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I'm so disappointed that this isn't better. I love the premise and the cast, but the script and direction are incredibly mundane and uninteresting. Everything feels forced. Why is it so dang lifeless? Never again for me with this writer (didn't like Cha Cha either). Most of the characters are unlikeable, and I have a very hard time believing any of them are redeemable in the next 8 episodes. Jung and Jung are the only things keeping my eyeballs on this drama. What a waste of a fabulous cast and an opportunity for a truly memorable romcom. Thank goodness No Gain, No Love stepped in where LND has failed.

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The script and direction in this show are just so bad.
The writer is just throwing the kitchen sink at it, with the same hubris as the QoT writer did, expecting the audience to just lap up anything based on their last work's success.
The editing decision is to show crucial scenes in halves, or in flashback, expecting it to give it more depth, but actually makes the present scenes so shallow, because the audience doesn't know wth is actually going on...
Case in point, the scene where SR says she still loves "somebody"- I yet don't know if she was speaking of SH or her ex. Or, where she's going around making calls about the gym contest.
Why didn't they just show it all as it happened? It would have been more powerful to see these two have feelings for each other parallelly, and not knowing how the other feels... It would build up the romantic tension, and we'd be more invested to see their paths finally meet somewhere. Right now, they're still on their individual journeys, and then suddenly a landslide will hit bam, and they're together. Pfft.
The relationships seem so superficial also - nobody knows anything about anyone, despite being supposedly ride or die. I am going through a real tough time in my life right now , relationshipwise... And while my friends (we're much like the Lavender group here, known each other for 40+ years) don't know all the details, they still have an inkling, and some more than others... Because we are "in tune"... Words, expressions... some catch on, and ask in private if all's well. That comes from a lifetime of knowing, and that's missing across the board here, be it between friends or spouses. Also, in spite of difficult times, partners still TALK, because how could you live together, and not?!!! Maybe we're the exception to the rule, because my spouse and I are still so vested in each other and our child, despite everything... Lol this is parasocial TMI at its peak, isn't it? 😂 But if it helps someone see the power of communication, why not...
Back to show, the cast is doing a great job, because when have they never. So like I said elsewhere, I'm just going to rage skim through until it starts making sense again. Fingers crossed, it does happen at some point!!

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I think your observations on communication in real life long term platonic and other forms of relationships are really helpful in highlighting where the drama is working and where it is not.
I hope you are getting what you need from your support network. It is such a shame when we want K dramas to do what they are good at and it feels like a breach of contract when they don’t do that one job well😞

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"The relationships seem so superficial also - nobody knows anything about anyone, despite being supposedly ride or die. And while my friends (we're much like the Lavender group here, known each other for 40+ years) don't know all the details, they still have an inkling"

My share of TMI: At least the 50% of the things I know about my family (mom's friends) are because my mom took me with her to their (*version of Lavanders*) meetings as a kid, or because I ended up hearing something at home. And my aunts, uncles and cousins know a lot without me having to tell them anything. LOL
And I know a lot about my best friend's family and she knows a lot about mine. It's just impossible not to, because with whom else are you going to talk about those stuff? (We all know kdramaland writers don't believe in therapy either, so...).

So yeah, because of my experience I too feel weird no one knows how bad things are at each other's houses when they're all besties (neighbors!!!) since forever and stuff.
Mo Eum's relationship with the leads felt shallow since day 1, tho. They don't even bother to show her in flashbacks.

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I can see the kids not knowing how bad things were in Seung-hyo's house since the kids were probably hanging out at Seok-ryu's house or outside. And they split apart after their first year of college (only Seung-hyo would have the money to visit), did their own things, and fell back into old patterns when Seok-ryu returned. As teens, they were probably focused on how much money Seung-hyo had and thought that meant happiness.

I can see Seok-ryu's dad not knowing since it doesn't seem like the Lavender group had the husbands as honorary members. I did think it's a bit weird how Seok-ryu's mom doesn't have any inkling about Seung-hyo's mom, but I also think Seok-ryu's mom places a lot more importance on money given the family's financial situation. She would probably rather be in Seung-hyo's mom's emotionally-dead house than be stressed about money and think it's a good trade-off. She would be like "why are you complaining that your successful, doctor husband forgot your bday? Your architect son with his own firm gave you an expensive necklace? My daughter is unemployed; my son is barely employed; and my husband might as well not be employed."

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"She would be like "why are you complaining that your successful, doctor husband forgot your bday? Your architect son with his own firm gave you an expensive necklace?" 😆

Omo, yes. I can totally picture her saying something like that.

And for the kids it could've been the same.
Like you said, maybe it does make sense inside the show, but it's a bit hard to know what's intentional and what's straight up lazy writing with this show. LOL I guess the nature of their friendships not being so "friendly" can explain why they don't tell each other much. That's their style, I guess.

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I hope that you will have better IRL times soon.

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Thank you 😘

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Baek Seok-ryu 🤝 Hong Hae-In

Not telling your loved ones you have cancer

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This made laugh out loud. Hahaha. I'm scared this will become a "thing" in kdramaland.

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Memo to Show:

1. Dear show, it is entirely possible to do all necessary story beats that move plot and characterisation in 60 mins. Please keep time. This is not the Titanic or Red Cliff, it's just love next door and your neighbourhood is really small.

2. Genre whiplash: "Romcom has left the building, it's Melo now?"
A gf was so irate she raged: "Cancer?! That trope has been done to death. DEATH!" (that went on for a while in our posts cos she was *really* mad).
Romcom, please come back! All is forgiven! I will even take your half-assed jokes!

3. "Will. You. Mary. Me. A foursome proposal."
-- the SQUARE we never wanted to see at mid-arc. Go back to basics, Show. Do your love LINES right (from Party A to Party B), before progressing to TRIANGLES, then SQUARES
SRSH (line, please)

4. The violent yelling parents are back! Call the police! (I never thought I would say this as an Asian, but they are too much. How dare you trample on my Korean cooking instruction book!) ok, just joking. Still, please call the police.

===========================
Plot predictions - highly unscientific Beanie straw poll here

1. The ugly fiance did not cheat on her (show is gonna throw some plot twist or reveal some hitherto unknown intel later)

2. SH's mum did not cheat on dad (or at least she has stopped). She doesn't want a divorce either

3. Wife of Dan-ho will return! Thus completing the unholy trinity of exes in the neighbourhood - they will huddle together, watch the kettle boil to make tea and plot. But of course, taking their time cos "love takes time, so does plotting." (Kermit the Frog sipping tea)

4. Ugly Fiance will give SH a run for his money (I say this with perverse pleasure) cos both are so deplorable and pushy in their own ways I would like to see some karma

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CONT'D -- Plot Wish List:

a. It will give me GREAT satisfaction to see SR pull the "sick child" card on her mom. It will be the proverbial slap in the face.

b. Leverage on the newly grained moral high ground, and either negotiate for a beach-head and lifelong immunity from parental harassment, or take the chance to move out to Mo-eum's house.

c. Buy a bicycle. Avoid the unwanted accosting from both suitors on way to school.

P.S. The Beanie who said it would be great to see the tension between fiance and SH who are there for different parts of her seasons and history - I am with you on that. Let the ring fight begin.

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The violent yelling parents are back! Call the police! (I never thought I would say this as an Asian, but they are too much. How dare you trample on my Korean cooking instruction book!).

This! I can’t fathom all the yelling SR's mom directs toward her husband and daughter. And to think I was defending her in the first week. Sigh.

I was so mad at the cancer plot I feel betrayed. Hello, this is just a simple story about the girl and boy next door, just living their life, day by day. I wasn’t looking for twists or dramatic plots. I just want to see their everyday lives unfold in a way that stays true to their characters and shows some realistic growth.

The show has lost all its merits to me, and I've dropped it for now. People said that in one interview JHI told the story will get better from episode 11 to 16, but no, their redemption can't earn my forgiveness. Thank goodness there’s still 'No Gain No Love' to give me hope for the future of Kdrama rom-coms.

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Wait wait wait!
Hold your horses, maybe don't drop the show first?

I don't think it's a relapse. I think they are just doing a plot reveal of her PAST stomach cancer history - which would still be great narrative fodder for changing emotional trajectories, shared history balance, and bargaining power (sick child card, anyone?)

They had better NOT do the "yes, she has cancer now" stunt on us.

I will really go "next door" for love (and yes, No Gain No Love is delivering on the rom AND com, and if you want family healing drama in a neighborhood & mother-daughter angst (good type), Romance in the House is doing it very competently as well.

Beanies, we have choices. If the abuse is *too* much to take, we can walk. *dramatic rain*

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LOL, much obliged to missvictrix and all of you, so I won’t run away from the recaps. As for the show, let's see if they fulfill their promise to get better post-Ep11. The frustration doesn’t come from the possible relapse but from the root cause - past cancer - and SR keeping the secret from her family.

I’m escaping this neighbourhood and heading to 'No Gain No Love', so much Rom and Com there.
Thanks for recommending 'Romance in the House'. I'll put it on my watch list for the weekend.

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@joanna: You know, I rather like the love square. I'm curious to see where it will go because it doesn't seem like a typical love triangle/square. Maybe I'm just being optimistic. I kind of like Tae-Hee because she's very meta.

Re: plot predictions - I completely agree with you, and I also want to see Ugly Fiancé give SH a run for his money. I mean, seriously, how long can one string out childhood-friends-to-lovers without getting boring?

Yes, the writing is loose, jarring, and a bit chaotic...but I genuinely think the writer is trying to do something new, but may be having a hard time figuring out how to take-off. People talk about others not being able to "land", but I think our writer has problems with "take-off".

I'm still wondering if Heon-Joon is going to be a "sky", like SR, which may explain why she feels lukewarm about him. They are too similar. This may mirror TH's observation that SH was never has warm for her as she was for him, because they are also similar.

I can't help but notice that HJ also crosses boundaries (country boundaries at that!) to go after who/what he wants, similar to SR's devil-may-care attitude that is a source of frustration (and charm) for SH. HJ has airs of foreign-ness about him (like SR and SH) because he's lived outside of South Korea.... Hmmm, anyway, I'm still in it to see where the writer takes us.

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Frankly, at this point I don't really care if these metaphors hold true and through the entire series arc.
We are barely holding the story together now.

If Show wants to go meta on us, then please do this: https://www.dramabeans.com/2024/09/love-next-door-episodes-5-6/#comment-4215490

We have hit the halfway mark now (Ep 8).
Show us you can come from behind and regain your lost ground - like SH did in his return lap.

If you manage to bring it home, all will be forgiven.

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I'm starting to think that no drama should be be allowed to have episodes over 70 minutes. It's too draining for viewers and discourages tight storytelling. I mean, we have 16 episodes, is 16 hours not enough to tell a story? American TV show writers would kill for that nowadays, lol

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Well, I guess that's it.
Episode 7 was pretty forgettable. Once again. I fast-forwarded through much of it. And then I started episode 8, read the comments, and quit. I don't like these people, I'm not interested in what's going on (except for how her career change will pan out), I could care less about the exes, et cetera. I yawned during the confession scene, and though that wasn't really the fault of the show (I was just sleepy), I did think that was pretty symbolic.
I'm done. I might just read the recaps though.

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Wow, that was a great watch! I feel like I'm the only person who thinks so. It seems like most commenters were really thrown by the hospital scene.

Why do you think the FL is going to have a cancer relapse and not, say, an attack of appendicitis? She doesn't have to be terminally ill for the cancer to do its work in the plot. It explains so much! Why she's so thin, why she wanted to do more meaningful work, why she left a guy who couldn't support her through it.

That's also why she picks the ex-fiance instead of the ML when it's time to go to the hospital. She's hiding this as a big secret. I will be disappointed if this is a relapse, I must admit it.

All we know about FL's breakup with the other guy is that he wasn't there for her when she needed him.

There's actually a lot we don't know. We know almost nothing about Seung-ho's parents and their apparent total lack of communication. Did the mom have an affair? It doesn't seem in character for her. I'm interested in solving these problems.

I did laugh a lot at the scenes with Mo-eum and Dan-ho. I realize that the writer can still screw the pooch at the end but I am hopeful that this will resolve in a satisfying way.

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I don’t think you are alone in enjoying this drama, some beanies have learnt to become quiet when there is a lot of noise because it reduces the need to defend your corner. Sometimes unnecessary raining on other’s parade comments especially on the fan wall can cause an unpleasant atmosphere.

I am waiting for big reveals that will address the areas that beanies are finding frustrating. There have been a lot of hints that are slowly being revealed but I think the pacing is not fitting for a lot of beanies.

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You're not alone 👋
It's just that for some of us, or at least for me, expressing our frustration with the show, is a form of showing how attached we are to it (in true Kdrama mom style 😂😂)
Like the shows I don't care for, and haven't watched at all- I don't even bother reading recaps.
So please continue to show us your love - it gives us a balanced perspective and kind of talks us down from the ledge of dropping it! 🤗

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It is fun to read criticism of a drama I like, @nivar. I also think it's OK if people drop a drama. In the dark days before one could stream video all day and all night, if you dropped a TV show, you missed it--unless someone taped it for you or there were reruns. Today, almost everything is available again, like a library book you didn't like the first time. (Or even, like a book you liked so much the first time you must reread it again!) I did feel a general sense from the comments that people were legit distressed by the show's recourse to a potentially terminal illness. I suspect and hope that's not where we're going with this!

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I am with you in liking some parts of this drama and still holding out hope and waiting for the writer to show the cards.

I totally agree that this is probably not a full-blown cancer relapse. I think it is more of a way of introducing us to all the secrets that Soek-ryo has been keeping and why she made this big change in both her engagement and her job.

It makes sense for her to lean on ex-fiancee for the moment because he doesn't need any explanations. And that is also enough for the drama to show that Seung-ho doesn't know everything about his childhood best friend and also to be hurt by that.

It really puts the argument with her mother in context as well: what Seok-ryu sees as coddling of her younger brother, how painfully her mother's comment of "wait until you have a sick child" and why she shouts "What's the big deal about being sick!"

But I agree with other that the pacing may mean many will loose patience with whatever the writer is planning. Slow reveals are good, random curveballs can be jarring.

I just want Choisseung's parents to actually TALK. Until then I really want to fast forward past them because it's painful to watch them silently and slowly hurting each other. The silence in their house makes me sooooo uncomfortable!

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I had an insight reading your comment: of course Choisseung couldn't tell Seok-ryu that he liked her for decades. His parents can't tell each other that they like each other and want to be closer, either. His dad just left his mom a note that maybe they should break up. He is NOT set up for a healthy relationship!

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Ep 8 was 1h 19 minutes. This in itself is really putting a dampening on my strength and sends me yawning. The content of the drama really can't sustain that kind of length.

With these two episodes, I'm increasingly worried that Seung-gyo never exited puberty. He just doesn't deal with things like I'd expect a man in his thirties would. If he was a teenager his behaviour would make more sense.

That said, Seok-ryu isn't faring that much better and I'm starting to wonder if there is some serious miscommunication between the author and the director. I think the two following episodes will decide whether I drop this or not. Right now, I'm more interested in the parents.

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Actually the ex came a bit later with her medical records and he might have printed it out as these days people have everything available as soft copies. So I don't think it's odd that he came with it. He might have been there with her in the past during her treatment so he has them with him.

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I was puzzled by and unsettled by these episodes but also intrigued.
Pros- Finally some info about Seok-ryu's secrecy about her time in the States. I knew something felt off and there was more that she was hiding. In this ep we also learned that her little brother had a whole in his heart as a child which eventually closed on its own with no need for surgery. So her parents have been over-protective and indulgent with him and Seok-ryu now has at least one compelling reason for hiding her health issues in the States. How much do you want to bet her relationship with the ex-fiancee was accelerated too fast because of her diagnosis and he decides to propose? But they didn't have enough foundation to hold that through difficulty and the love didn't have an organic root and that is explains Seok-ryu's explanation to him in the car about it not being "real" but just habit.... this is my take so far.
- Just glad to see Choisseung doing something? Can you see how he relaxes and settles as soon as he finally says something? He becomes so much more pleasant to be around! I enjoyed seeing what pushed him to make a move - "You won't know until it goes in the kiln." Love that metaphor.
And then he finds out Seok-ryu has been calling to find out how the competition went, caring more about him (she obviously loves him) and being the person he has always loved. Boom!
And the line when he says he didn't fall for her because she's "a woman" but "because she's Bae Seok-ryu" Yes!

Cons-
- Choisseung's parents have got to talk and stop assuming and they are driving me crazy. Perhaps a good example of what happens when the pattern their son pointed out of assuming and blaming is multiplied over years but still infuriating and I want to skip them all the time.
- I would have more compassion (perhaps I am mean) for Soek-ryu's parents, her mother's seeming desperation for her daughter to have a "better life" and her father freaking out at his daughter following his footsteps, if the show had SHOWN me more about their life/past that has been so hard/traumatising. Cause right now their reactions seem over the top and are making me crazy.
I want to be invested in both sets of parents but right now they have lost me.

- Last maybe con, there is a thin line between a show giving you unexpected surprises that delight or intrigue and yet make more sense and a show pulling the rug out from under you or reconning to force things to make sense.... this show is going back and forth over that line for me....

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