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[Drama Chat] Fastest ship you boarded + why

What’s a K-drama without a ship, right? Hail the open seas! Although the love lines generally have the shipping aspect hard-coded into them, it’s fun to note the *moment* you got on board, and why.

Was it right away, the second you saw the characters’ interactions (totally not a reference to Resident Playbook, nope), or did you take some convincing? Or, maybe it was a ship that you just couldn’t seem to board, no matter how hard the drama tried? Either way, let’s chat drama couple shipping.

What’s the fastest K-drama ship you boarded and why? Or, what was the scene or character moment that sold you?

 


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I was on board the moment the youth of May couple was on screen!! Nothing could have prepared me for the ending. Honorable mention is the One spring night couple and Life couple (not technically together but the director and doctor's 5 mins of conversation had me watch the entire drama that I didn't like). Cho Seung woo and Woo Jin ah's characters had a mature attraction. One that's realistic I guess.

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I am hardwired to root for a romance OTP, but One Spring Night moved so fast i kept questioning why are they so invested in one another. It took a lot of suspension of disbelief but i guess one just does not and could not resist Jung Hae In 😆

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And should not.

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Hahaha since you used the Resident Playbook picture.. i havent even started the show but i saw a clip of the elevator hand hold and I AM ON That Ship faster than the door can close.

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On the other hand, i was very invested when Hospital Playlist’s Chu Min Ah had her huge crush on Seok Hyeong but the moment they got together.. as much as i wanted it to be a happy ending, the relationship dynamics always felt kinda off.

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Elevator hand hold?! What? Where? How did I miss this... *Runs off to find it, but can't*

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It’s near the beginning about 8 mins in of the third episode (sorry can’t timestamp accurately for some reason) but it’s the lift scene when the resident Namkyung thinks the doctor (Guest appearance Moon Taeyoo) is looking and smiling at her in a flirty way. I recognised the actor straight away from another drama but don’t remember his character from Hospital playlist🙁.

I think he could easily play the brother of Lee Kyoohyung they remind me of each other.

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Thank you... I went back and watched, but was a teeny bit disappointed that it wasn't our Resident couple, but one from HP :( Anyway, guess still a bit too early for this ship to leave dry dock as yet.

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Oh wait, did i mislead you? Was i misled? I couldve sworn it was the Resident couple from the short clip. I’m hoping to start the show sometime this week..

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I got the scene wrong! Looks like it was during a photo session..

https://youtube.com/shorts/1yhfYMaJVpQ?si=sVNzoIF9s1z6FZZc

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I had moved Resident Playbook to my dropped list, but this thread is giving me pause.... nothing like a good hand holding on an elevator!

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Yumi's cells 2 had Bobby who for the life me felt like the worst boyfriend there was. I needed that ship to sink to the depths of the sea. Especially when he proposed after lying to her 😔.

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I never shipped the Love Next Door.
I was very angry with her American Ex, until we got the full story and that he had *not* cheated on her. Then I just couldn't see why she would leave a guy like him to be with the Bore Next Door.
Her American Boyfriend was super supportive, patient, kind, and on top of that, pretty.
And he didn't spend even just a minute being toddlerishly b*tt-hurt or nurturing some imagined petty pride. He didn't push her into the same room as her violent mum and slam the door behind her either.
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I did ship the cool first-aider friend and her civil hero mud-man. Until she promised his motherless daughter she would be there for her always a few days before disappearing for a year at least. That's no way to treat a child, even if children in K-drama always bravely says, as soon as they can stand on their own two little squiggly legs, that they can manage without their grownups. I suppose it's practical for South Korean capitalism as well as for making people have children, if they can make everybody think children don't really need you to keep your promises.

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Jo Seung-woo and Won Jin-ah's discuss in the peds ward was enough for me to ship them together. And I liked that the writer didn't forget that detail and did justice with the ending credits. It is one of the reasons why I love the OST Life by Jung Seung-hwan.

Chu Min-ha and Seok-hyung(Hospital Playlist): Of course our eternal Chu Chu pushed it for a long time before he began to reciprocate. The conversation he had with Chae Song-hwa told me this guy is intentional to a tee and not just intentional. Once confirmed, the ship sailed even farther than I could manage.

Lion(Latte) and the Road to Sian(Her Private Life): What was there not to ship? Kim Jaewook and Park Min-young ate themselves up by episode 2 I was shipping them already. Especially after the coffee latte incident.

Kim Yeon and Swordmaster Park(Alchemy of Souls): I have nothing to say but thier bickering chemistry is top-notch.

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That's what I said!!! The Life couple felt like the most realistic couple there was. I got on-board that ship the moment she said goodnight to him.

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Thank you for the Life recco! I had dropped it halfway thru ep 1 long ago and forgotten about it... I'm throughly binging it and appreciating/ loving it so much now, a few years later.

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The Scandal of Chunhwa (spoilers): I shipped Princess Hwa-ri with Teacher Kim Min-hong (Team 스승님!) since their first interaction when he casually revealed that he was a candidate to be her husband. It was really sweet when she argued that being her husband is like being a mural at the palace, and he asked, "What's wrong with being a mural?" She was so wrong to try him out by leaning on his bare back and making his heart flutter. I'm still upset that she didn't save him from the evil minister by declaring that she would marry him.

The show could not sell the OTP's romance to me at all. I could not understand why they liked each other.

The most heart-fluttering line of the entire drama comes from Chani in the present-day timeline when she says that she'll call him if the book arrives, and he answers, "You can call me before then." It's heart-fluttering because we know he likes her back.

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Hum... the fastest one I guess was Rowoon and Ahn Hyo-seop in A Time Called You, why? It was the shortest too 😅

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I agree that they made the most of limited screentime. I know they're very close friends in real life, so I didn't expect much (seems to me it'd be harder to play sexual tension with a good friend) but I immediately rooted for them and felt something pretty close to devastation at the sudden accident right after they held hands for the first time.

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it´s fun playing pretend with a bestie, trust me. it is something I do regularly with some besties when people around are being unsensible, or sprouting stupid things, or just being shallow - the best way to confuse them really. bc you don´t even need a plan you go by the book

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Currently I'm shipping the Imugi and Yeo Ri in The Haunted Palace. Sorry, not sorry.

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I also liked the relationship between Dog-man and Ae-ra in Fight for my Way.

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Both of these are great choices. I typically am not that into Park Seo-joon, but in that scene on the bed where he pulls Kim Ji-won's legs so she's lying down was sexy and charming.

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Agreed. Some of my friends joke that these are just “soft porn for romantics” type of scenes, but when the attraction builds slowly and resolves in a natural, sexy way (as it should), it's hotter than anything.

And Park Seo-joon? He definitely knows his way around women. I still remember the first time I watched him in A Witch’s Love (back in 2014!) - that sofa scene? Whew. I was watching through spliced fingers, it was that hot.

I don’t even find him particularly attractive, but his chemistry with women is off the charts and his later rom-coms only confirm it. What an amazing actor!

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Absolutely 💯 yes to both these ships. The Imoogi had me at Kim Young-kwang hanging on that tree. 😂

Dong-man and Ae-ra are literally made for each other. 🤟

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Imoogi appears smitten with her. I don't mind it as well. Unless he does something really terrible.

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Yah... I mean he's a lizard who apparently killed her grandma, but there's chemistry there!

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I'm kind of suspecting he didn't really kill the grandma … my kdrama trope intuition / crystal ball tells me as much.

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I'm suspecting the same: I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out he was guarding her all these years. I know she's important to him so that he can ascend as a dragon, but the way he grabbed her when she was falling off the cliff...

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Lee Jae Wook and Go Youn-Jun in Alchemy of Souls 2. Before they even had a scene together the premise--man mourning the love of his love doesn't realize she's been near him all along, although of course, she doesn't know her own identity, either--totally got me. The angst! The longing! The dramatic tension surrounding when they would realize the truth and be reunited! So good.

Then, once they had their first scene, with her trying to escape her room and enlisting his help, I was completely and totally on-board. Their chemistry just clicked for me from the start, and it only got deeper and more interesting as the story progressed.

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Iirc, from BTS and interview videos airing at the time, it appeared LJW was smitten with her in real life. If true, that always helps! 😉

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I totally thought they were dating at the time. (Clearly, if they were, it didn't last long.) But I believe that a lot, and am wrong a lot of the time as well.

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Lol, when shipping jumps to real life 😀 I wouldn't be surprised if they were, but I'm wrong a lot too!

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Stars are often asked to hint at a connection in the Behind The Scenes and interviews, - just a but, to spark interest.
Like Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison, for example, were "dating" during the Twilight recordings and runs. Ahem.

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Some of my fastest ships 🛥️🚤🛳️

_ My Dearest.
_ The Best Hit.
_ Live up to your name.
_ Knight Flower.
_ Fated to love you.
_ Queen Seon Deok (Deok Man + Bidam).
_ Yumi's cells 1 (Yumi and Woong).

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I totally agree with you on My Dearest, Fated to Love You and Knight Flower. I haven’t see the others you listed.

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All are shows I enjoyed a lot 😊
So fast ships are maybe one of the reasons why we enjoy or are very invested in some shows.

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The first time gorgeous sowwy-girl Cheon Song Yi laid her haughty skeptical above-the-sunglasses up-and-down gaze on our oblivious innocent alien-boi Do Min Join, I was SOLD on the ship. The elevator scene is still one of the funniest and electrically charged scenes I’ve ever scene in kdrama.

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In no particular order:

- One Spring Night, Han Ji Min & Jung Hae In
- A Piece of Your Mind, Chae Soo Bin & Jung Hae In
- I Am Not a Robot, Chae Soo Bin & Jung Hae In

Reason:
Jung Hae In & Chae Soo Bin— they always seem to make it work and connect really well with their co-star, imho. It just feels right in my gut 🥰🥰🥰 So I’m glad they actually got their own drama, too!

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LOL My subconscious must REALLY have a thing for Jung Hae In for me to put his name down even when it’s wrong 🙈
Ofc y’all know I mean Chae Soo Bin & Yoo Seung Ho for I’m Not a Robot 🤦🏻‍♀️

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I really liked Son Ye-jin and Jung Hae-in in the first half of Something in the Rain. It felt like the most honest, funny, and giddy falling-in-love scenes I'd seen in a K drama. Plus it wasn't like one kiss/one time sex and done with all that -- they seemed to really like each other, have fun together, and have a mature realistic relationship. Shame about the second half of the show.

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I agree!! The main cast did a terrific job— which is why I understand why the drama followed Jung Hae In for so long even after it finished airing—but the writing of the script was definitely tragic in a number of ways

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I was going to say them too but there was no way I was going to mention the drama that drove me completely mad😂 The way they wrote that female character and what the men in the firm got away made that second half rage inducing. The mother character was beyond redemption for me too. That type of character will always ruin a K-drama for me and 90% of those characters are mothers or second female leads it’s so annoying.

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Yea, my major issue with the drama’s script was mostly how the women are written. The female characters felt like a failed attempt at bringing what we’d seen in very tropey and stereotypical meek female characters of the early-2000s into the 21st century

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I completely agree. This was my first kdrama and I was very confused about the second half of the show. Their "chemistr*" was outstanding for the first half.

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Gosh, what was your second drama? If I had started with that drama I would not have returned to K-dramaland. The drama was like two different dramas and at that stage of my K-drama watching I always watched the whole drama once I started, it was like I had a rule that I needed to respect the work the staff had put in even if I was hate watching. I am so glad that the day came when I finally gave myself permission to drop a drama I was no longer enjoying. I accepted that they rarely returned to an enjoyable experience. In that drama I needed them back together again to justify enduring that second half. I thought it really was a special relationship. The actors captured the joy of a new relationship perfectly.

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At the time I was very interested in knowing what it would be like to live as a young woman in asia. My daughter was living in Japan and I had tried to access some Japanese dramas And this drama was the one I came across.

The relationship was so well depicted that it was so difficult to accept the second half. Now I blame it on the writing and directing. I did watch the pharmacist one later , and that was better. Not quite the same magnetism between the couple though, Although it was good.

I think I am only now learning to stop watching dramas when I am not enjoying them. It is a very sick feeling to get to the end and realize you really did not enjoy.The whole dramand the ending was not very good often in that situation. I am Doing more rewatches of dramas.I have enjoyed rather than starting something.Or continuing something I am uncertain about.

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I apologize for the poor editing. I was dictating because I had not charged my tablet keyboard.

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Not sure what was my second drama. I did go on a son Yejin kick for awhile And then followed some of her male costars. My name is Kim samsun, Secret garden, City hunter, Crash landing on you, Healer. So now I exclusively watch korean and chinese dramas with the occasional japanese one thrown in. Such a great interest/ hobby!

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@monmor

That’s so neat!! I love how dramas bring people together, and I especially love how each and every person has their own special moments and experiences and journeys with them even if it’s the same drama.
There’s quite a few on Dramabeans who will also watch the occasional Japanese drama and quite a handful of us who watch Chinese dramas, too (and I’m actually ethnically Chinese 😊), so don’t ever hesitate to join in the conversations about these dramas and definitely don’t hesitate to tag us if you ever want to share thoughts and discuss!

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So glad you got some good K-dramas in to balance out that first experience.

Did your daughter love her time in japan is she still there or is she back now? I know a few people who travelled to Japan in their 20’s teaching English as a way to experience a different lifestyle between uni and work kicking in. I used to think of the language as really complicated but now I have watched quite a few J-dramas over the years and picked up a few words here and there. I only watch K dramas, with some J and Chinese dramas on the side.
Have you got Viki? It has a few of my favourite J-dramas. The latest being Where does the sea begin which is so beautiful, sad but also hopeful. I also liked Silent and Why I dress up for love.

Netflix has First Love and The Makanai - Cooking for the Maiko House which are both also really good. These all have strong themes about love/friendship and identity.

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I am not a Robot - what a wonderful absolutely underrated drama. From the very minute she dropped her dress to reveal the fancy-schmanzy robotics inside of her, I was hooked on that ship, thinking at the time, weeeellll, this is going to be deliciously complicated and confusingly romantic and hilarious and angsty, and it was all that in the end.

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There’s—and the IU/Lee Joon Gi pairing from Scarlet Heart — for me is one of those OTP pairings that make me go, “I never knew I needed this until it happened” and then it’s forever imprinted in my heart and I am hoping that there will come a day they will work together again because it’s just that good and in my gut, it’s the best thing since sliced bread 🍞

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**Their’s

Autocorrect on a Monday morning 🫩🫩🫣🫣
I know my grammar, I PROMISE!! 🥹🥹

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I’m not a Robot got me so hooked. The chemistry between the leads was great. INAR deserved more attention.

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I agree!! There’s actually a handful of us who do annual re-watches of the drama because we just love it so much

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The fastest ship I boarded was Twenty Five Twenty One

Hee-Do and Ye-Jin. Their playful nature. Their secret happiness. The way they helped each other out. They were soulmates in every way.

Until they weren’t.

That ship sank. And I went down with the ship

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Yes. It's a "Don't mention the war!" kind of thing.

BTW I also shipped FL a little bit with the champion she was such a fan of.

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Instant YES!!:
I Am Not A Robot - Chae Soo Bin and Yoo Seung Ho, from the first scream and reaction - did he really just buy my obvious lie?!? ^^
My Unfamiliar Family - Han Ye Ri and Kim Ji Suk, from first seeing each other after estrangement they just fell back into their groove, no verbal recriminations.
Dali and Gamjatang - entire first day/evening together was a great sexy, funny mix of opposites attract, gorgeous.

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My Unfamiliar Family> I loved how they just went to eat after not seeing each other for a long time. The day after? She told him how she slept with her boss😅 🤣

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I need a rewatch.

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Me too. But I don't want it to disappoint me for whatever reason in a second watch, because it's one of my favorite dramas ever, but I watched it early in my k-drama journey.

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I just need a watch! This has popped up on my radar now for the 3rd time in a week. 🧐

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The universe has given you three signs.
I believe they said thrice is the charm. Right? 👍🏽

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@jerrykuvira Yes indeed!

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I have to say I love Kim Dami and Choi Woo Shik's chemistry in The Witch: The Subversion. That I was very excited to watch them in another project once it was announced they will be paired in Our Beloved Summer. I knew they can be great together. It also was a genre that I liked. Let's just say it did not disappoint.

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Those two were so great in Our Beloved Summer
Their chemistry was incredible.
I did the opposite. I watched OBS first and then The Witch. That did a number on my poor brain.

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I’ve said before that The Witch is what would happen if they didn’t date in OBS and kept fighting.

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Wow, I need to watch The Witch. They were great together in OBS.

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I do recommend it but dont expect the story to be anything like OBS. Its a great movie for its genre.

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I do recommend it but dont expect the story to be anything like OBS. Its a great movie and one of my faves.

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The fastest ship I ever boarded was one that unfortunately didn't set sail and that is the FL-SML relationship in Jealousy Incarnate. There was this scene where she visited him in his studio and he got down with all the smolder nomally reserved for a ML in ep 8. I abondoned this ship mid-series when the charm and pettiness of Hwa-shin hit its peak. Most particularly when he wore his glasses. It was a instant K.O.

I will also die on the hill that is the pairing of FL+SML in Bloody Romance, although I will also die on the hill that Gongye indeed was the ML, just not the romantic interest of the FL. He should have been! Gongye had way more screen time, character progression and portrayed by a great character actor.
In what scene did my ship sail? The first! (Yes - the swamp/graveyard/murder scene) And then in most up until the, like, last episode.
There may have been some very shady and creepy behaviours from time to time but as I said - character progression.

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I kept liking the SML better in Jealousy Incarnate.
There was so much not to like about ML. So much.
And I agreed with SML when he said that feeling anxious, unhappy, and jealous is not the only sign that you love someone.
Feeling happy and comfortable is a pretty good sign, too, and would even venture to say it bodes for at better life.
When she made a great reportage using her own body wo prove the effects of pollution, and he shook his head and thumbs-downed it even while she was live on camera , that was the last straw. Then he told her that using herself like that was too sentimental and sensational, and then he went on to make his biggest scoop ever, confessing he had had breast cancer. And never gave her credit for giving him the idea.
No, I shipped her either with SML ... or with both, since the men were so crazy about each other. Would have been fun. The two mothers and their chef seemed to get along okay in that same drama.

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Dating Agency Cyrano...last scene in Ep1 when Byung-hoon stops Min-young from falling and they come very close in the process. One of my favorite ship moments! And I was shipping them since then (and I didn't know then if the show would have romance between them)

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I'm going to go with 10pm last night when I saw a news clip about an upcoming fantasy romance drama with a sexy vibe apparently set to star Kim Young Kwang and Chae Soo Bin. Yeah, we need that drama like yesterday! (Working title: Charge Me Up)

As for dramas I've actually seen, my #1 ship is Yoon Seri and Ri Jeong Hyuk in Crash Landing on You. But recently Kim Go Eun and Ahn Bo Hyun had my heart fluttering from their first meet cute in Yumi's Cells.

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I think for me it's Just Between Lovers. From that first time they ran into each other in the stairwell I wanted them to be together all the time. I think because I already liked them both individually and wanted to know more about them. Plus I was intrigued about how these two strong but scarred people would connect (and the show did it so well). Plus Junho was sprinkling his magical chemistry dust everywhere and the FL was more than equal to it.

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Just between lovers, Despite the difficult themes, Is a favorite of mine. I watched before I knew Who junho was And was very impressed with his acting.

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Queen of Mystery, as soon as Seol-ok gave that tsk tsk he looks like a gangster, I knew they'd be great.

Also Fight My Way, great chemistry right from the start, no dilly dallying.

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Mine is probably Hwang Shi-mok and Han Yeo-jin in Stranger, or probably I ship them so bad because I kind of knew already that there won't be any loveline between them. Then I jumped to Dong-jae and Eun-soo ship without knowing Dong-jae is married with kids lol (and at that time who knows Dong-jae is supposed to be older than Shi-mok, which made him way much older than Eun-soo).

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I love Yeojin, but my ship is forever Hwang Shimok and Young Eunsoo. Shin Hyesun has so much chemistry with either Jo Seungwoo or Lee Junhyuk, and there's so much chemistry between Jo Seungwoo and Lee Junhyuk too 😅

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😂 So many ships to board for a drama that doesn't really have any loveline except for maybe Lee Chang-joon and Lee Yeon-jae. Shi-mok and Dong-jae were just gold together. They were so funny in the beginning of season 2.

I'm glad we're at least going to get Lee Joon-hyuk and Shin Hye-sun together. The drama better be good and both of them better stay alive😭.

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Yes I'm so looking forward to Shin Hyesun and Lee Junhyuk pairing!! I sure have a soft spot for SHS, she made every pairing where she's a half of look right, but I shipped her with Ahn Bohyun most dearly!!

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Yeah I wonder how good that pairing will be if the writing of See You in My 19th Life was better. I had a problem that she behaves almost like a mother to him, and the ending *headdesk*

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@bewitched Yes it did feel like that if you looked closely, but it was so interesting to see someone as big as ABH to play that sort of role, and I also accepted that some couples have the dynamics like theirs, so I had no problem with it. And ABH did play the combination of gentle and commanding very well so he didn't feel less manly but rather Jieum felt older than her age (and his age as well 😅).

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Shi-mok and Yeo-jin are my friendship ship, I just want to see them hang out together (My Mister is another one).

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Boarded Taekie ship the moment he met Deok Sun.

and from KillHeal, I am still hoping for the return of Shin Se Gi bc I didnt like Do Hyun.

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