It looks like Hong left on a whim letting things unresolved. Because of her father's illness she didn't come back and Jungo was waiting for her comeback. It's why they both had something to tell but never could?

It's hard to judge their relationship but Hong's loneliness is hard to understand because the ramen shop's employees were nice with her, wasn't the boss who came to the hospital? She seemed curious, full of energy, so I don't understand how she ended up staying home alone.

Kanna's words about forgettin the past were pretty funny when she's just doing the same thing.

I was sad for Min-jun, it was hard to see your future wife so unmotivated for her wedding.

I can understand her loneliness in a foreign land but she also didn’t seem to have her own life. While he was doing what he had to do or wanted to do and had a clear idea of wanting to write.
Looks like she left abruptly without a proper break up. At this point the show might just end with these two cutting ties but more amicably so they can move on.
I feel bad for Min Jun. poor chap.

Maybe I'm a cynic, but we were watching their honeymoon phase last week. Of course they're so in love and can't stand being apart from each other, but it doesn't last. Even if a misunderstanding had caused their breakup and they were still together today, it's unrealistic for them to stay that happy through their entire relationship. The show is setting them up to be "the one that got away," but to root for them to get back together, I would have to be rooting for her to cheat on her fiancé, and I hate cheating.

What did happen to Hong's job at the ramen shop? It doesn't seem like her family sends her money since her mom is against her living in Japan, so why can't she go to grad school? Jungo argued that they go to bed every night together and wake up every morning together, but he doesn't even get home until 4 in the morning. I loved seeing Jungo's dad pick Hong up at the hospital.

I was wondering why everyone was being emo. I still don't feel connected to the story/characters, don't really know much about these people, but I do see why they would break up. I'm guessing it was a gradual process of being let-down with maybe a last straw at the end. The loneliness issue also shows the importance of having community and not relying on one person. Though I am glad boyfriend's dad picked her up.
I usually hate when exes show up (especially the "let's get back together" kind), and this one is no different. Why are you here...
And there's too much going on with this love square. Then again, it's a melo. I'll still keep watching I guess. Six episodes shouldn't be too bad.
Also, don't go through with that marriage.

These two broke up before I even cared about their relationship, so waiting for one episode per week makes it harder to get into it. At this point, I just want to roast the heck out of them.

The more I get to know Hong, the less I relate to her as a student in a foreign country. Why did she go to Japan in the first place? To find a boyfriend to babysit her or to be more independent and further her education? Why does love have to come first at this point in her life? Me me me me me, as she told him to quit his job.
Jungo doesn't express his feelings much. What does she love about him? His looks, kindness? What? She seems to be 100% in, and he's around maybe way less.

I’m not currently watching the drama— just going with your recaps, @dramaddictally thank you 😘— so there may be a few nuances that I am missing due to this, but here are my thoughts:

1. Hong went to Japan on a low note, carrying the disapproval of family, that in itself has already got to sting and make Hong feel lonely and closed off to begin with. She then meets someone and they go through a whirlwind honeymoon phase but never accounted for what it would be like when they settle back into reality, so when it happens, things begin to come to a head, which is realistic. My inquiry is to ask if Hong ever had any feeling of self love and self worth (esteem) to begin with regardless if any of the things with Jungo ever happened? As the saying goes, “Others can’t love you if you don’t love yourself first”. It seems like Hong hasn’t shown up for herself ever since she landed in Japan and has been relying on others (Jungo) to show up for her, and when he fails to do so, well…

2. I do— but don’t— feel sorry for the 2nd leads. They’re knowingly walking into a relationship wherein they are aware the other person’s heart isn’t fully theirs. If we get any resentment from the 2nd leads down the road because of this, I think imma roll my eyes quite hard.

Even with just the recaps, I still quite captured by the mood of this show, so I’m going to keep with it, and then maybe watch it all in one go when all of its episodes are released

Thank you for the recap Dramaddictally!

Uhm...
This episode made me dislike every single character. The four of them feel like a different version if the same.

1. Why is Beni planning to marry her friend? Why is she repeating her parents story? She wants her friend to tell their kids "women can't forget their first love", and then give them the home address of her first love? Just like her parents did with her? Like, why is she doing this to him?

2. And why is he doing this to himself? Why would he give her the permission to cheat on him as long as she "goes back" to him or wtv? Yeah, feelings change, but that doesn't mean they'll change in your favor dumb dumb. She won't go back to you, because she was never with you.
I know that you freaking know that.
So why hurt yourself and why help her keep hurting herself too?

3. Why would you ask for an engaged woman's home address or phone number? After doing nothing for five years? After meeting her a la serendipity? After she told you she had nothing to say to you?

4. And why woman? Why? Like... Why? Your scenes are the most painful to watch. Please, stop.

Sigh. Tbh, this could work if this was a character-driven story that tries to show the complexity of human relationships and how imperfect or broken we all are, yada yada yada. But I barely know this people. And their relationships feel shallow as hell. And five years have past, but they're somehow worse than when they were young dumb broke college kids. They're so self-centered and dramatic. No one is considering the other person's feelings. They're all trying to get this "idea" of love—or wtv they think they're feeling—, and trying to force the other person to play with them.
Do they know each other? Do they even know what love is?

We saw how that after the three months of happiness thanks to the love hormones the main couple was completely out of sync.

I felt like Hong was clinging to Yun Oh because that's what was keeping her afloat in a time where she felt lost.
Hong didn't make friends or any other meaningful relationship outside of him. She gave up on continuing her studies, and it seems like she quit her job? I think he was working to take care of them both.
So, to me it felt like she what she was demanding from him wasn't just her "boyfriend" to be more attentive or wtv, but it was more of her desperation to have someone/something that would take her away of herself. She didn't want to face what she was feeling. She didn't know what to do with it. And I feel like she never figured that out, because even five years later she looks like she's drowning. And that's why she still has conflicted feelings about Yun Oh. Because she has those memories of their initial phase when she felt "okay" as long as she was with him. But it really isn't about him and their love or wtv.

And for Yun Oh... Tbh, my respect to this man because a young and broke college kid who is sincere about his...

Thank you for the recap, @dramaddictally! I, too, would like at least 2 episodes each week, so I can process what's happening more. I understand that Hong became lonely in Japan, specially when her friend went back home and she had to move in with Jungo. He was busy with school and work and being left alone at home with nothing to do broke her. There are many "she could have" answers to it, but she left her home because she didn't like the way her mother dictates what to do in her life. Now that she's free of her mom, I think she felt radar-less because she relied on Jungo to be there for her - if not all the time, probably most of the time.

Thank you dramaddictally for your excellent recap.
One episode is not enough :)
I find Hong's actions and behaviour unreasonable and juvenile.
It's hard to believe a character who was so insistent about living her own life and had to leave the country to do so, then basically relies on another person to live her life through. It's kind of contradictory.
The show also did itself a disservice -" We still don’t know what pieces of the story are missing, but by not putting those pieces up front, it takes the bang out of the argument they have. I find it hard to empathize with Hong"
I know it's a melodrama but I really wish we didn't have the female ex lurking around and I found it totally ridiculous/unbelievable that after so long and out of the blue she asks him to marry her. This just seems like an easy pathway/lazy writing to add drama into the story.
I still really enjoy the show though because of the two lead actors who are doing a great job.

In the previous recap I shared their dating timeline: they dated for roughly 6 months, starting sometime April 2019 to early Oct 2019 (link:https://dramabeans.com/2024/10/what-comes-after-love-episodes-1-2/#comment-4221980).

Ep 3 added more info to the dating timeline. Hong got injured in June 2019. She Started to feel lonely earlier than that. Doing the math...they were only happy together for roughly a month to two 🫠.

Several issues I have with this adaptation as of ep 3:
1. The dating timeline doesn't match the angst they are showing. They were happy for only around 2 months-ish.
2. They are in 2019, not 1990s like in the book. Technology is available for communication to happen with other people, Hong chose to limit herself to Jungo.
3. Drama started with Hong being all independent, ready to face the world. What happened to that Hong? Did she stop working and just stayed at home? What happened to her fun colleagues, no group chat with them? She went to school but didn't make any friends at all?

I have read some translations of both books (hong and jungo version), the book feels different. Not sure if they will include Hong's whole argument shout/speech because it's 😮 and even I felt for Jungo. Anyways, I wished they stuck to the years in the book. In the book, they dated around 1997-98. I haven't read the full book, but I feel that's a richer setting because 1997-98 was in the midst of Asian Financial Crisis. On top of that, technology back then was not as it is now, only few have mobile phones and not many have emails yet, that would make their separation and total loss of contact make more sense. Changing it to newer times changes that, technology is more advanced and they both can google each other with ease, if they wanted to 😂.

I do want to know more about Hong's time in Korea before the breaking point. But I can see why she was so angry, even though what she said was unfair. She was made to feel unsafe somewhere she'd felt safe, that comes with a lot of emotions anger being one of them. Not only was he not able or willing to pick up the phone or call back, it probably really hit home how alone she was. In Korea she'd have both parents, a sister, and her bestie as other support. And when Jungo came home it might of done a lot to just be concerned and apologetic that she had to go through that alone.
Also, she did seem to pick Japan because she was running away from something and not towards something, which probably played in to her discontent too. And while her mom is not my favorite she might of had a point when she pointed out.....something along the lines of how she never commits completely. Just like Jungo's ex new that he wouldn't be the one to take the initiative in fixing or confronting their problems.
To me it definitely feels like right person but wrong time. Jungo knows his and obviously wants that to take precedence, which makes sense at this stage. Hong seems a little lost and is putting too much weight on he and the relationship because she doesn't know her next steps, she may of realized that Japan isn't where she should be right then.
I actually kind of appreciate Min Jun stopping her from saying anything right then. She was drunk and had just seen her first love. In real life that could be a recipe for a very bad decision and not fated love, lol.

@dramaddictally thanks as always for your insightful recap! Reading through the posts here I appreciate each and everyone's viewpoints however I am just happy to go with the flow with this one without being too analytical just yet. Being a short series of only six episodes I am liking the slow reveals due to the non-linear storytelling and trust that by show's ending it will feel complete.

I almost kind of rather enjoyed this episode more than the previous one. But agree with the critique and areas that can be improved upon. Maybe 6 episodes is just not enough time for viewers to really care about two characters. Ajumma still hanging in there with the drama, it's bittersweet to be reminded of one's own failures in cross-cultural relationship but also cathartic.

I can't blame Hong for feeling lonely and desolate in a foreign country. Also I understand Jungo's striving to earn money for his education and gain experience for his future literary works. They were both self consumed with their own issues that they failed to communicate and work out their issues. I do not think only one party was at fault at the breakdown of their relationship. So I think the reason they are so both hung up about it is because they lack closure. There are the unevitable what-ifs but 5 years is too long of a time for them to be hung up on their ex. MinJun seems to be a very decent guy whim ahong is set to marry. As for Kanna, i do not have high opinion of her. She knows that Jungo still loves his ex but she is waiting in the wings for 5 years for him to like her again.
I am bummed that we only get one episode this week.

Reading everyone's comments are always fun.

I thought I was going to do laundry while I watched this show, so I was surprised at how much emotions I got from these first episodes. I think both Yuno and Beni have different views of love and we are seeing different perspectives of the same relationship.
Beni is young and falls into things but matures into Hong who is cold and lifeless.
Yuno knows what he wants to be and accomplishes being a writer, but the future he planned with Beni didn't work out.
They are both so miserable and changed in present day that the flashback scenes are painful to watch, in a good way. I don't think this show is for everyone, but 6 episodes works well for a melodrama. Great acting, direction, music and plot. Lee Se-Young and Kentaro Sakaguchi are terrific. I will cry with them, whether they reunite or part ways in the end.

Reading everyone's thoughtful comments is making me realize that this drama is about redemption and second chances. I think people who've been in the FL's shoes or knows someone that was, can identify and relate to her situation. You know, a friend who suddenly runs off to another country and then quietly comes back again. But maybe you didn't know what happened and why. As bystanders we only see the gossip-worthy highlights but not the reasons for their seemingly erratic and dramatic behavior. So dramas like these that show a fallible FL who fails to create a found family and is needy and unreasonable makes her an unusual and more realistic FL compared to most other drama heroines who are strong and thrive in all circumstances. So on an intellectual level I can connect to the drama because I've also been an immature FL in my youth in my own life and have made mistakes in relationships that I regret. But as a viewer I wish the script was better written so that I can care about the leads more and enjoy the drama more. The story is good but the script leaves a lot to be desired.