No dated camera or 🙄🙄😒 wardrobe is dulling Sung Hoon’s shine.

I finally caught up with The Kidnapping Day and all I can say is I\’m geared for today\’s episode.

That said, I two two $1 questions.
Why did Myeong-jun marry Hye-eun after she basically stole his life?
If he was that intelligent in his teenage days, what happened to him after he was returned to the orphanage? Was it his time in jail that made him decide to resign to whatever fate had in store for him.

And it was quite interesting that while I saw him do some intelligent thinking and acts, these are not dominant, they are recessive. Ah! I think I\’ve found better words to frame my 2nd question. If he was that intelligent in his teenage years, how come his intelligence is now his recessive gene?

My current guilty pleasure – Political Fever. I’m halfway through it. I plan to complete it in time for WWW.

Is this an inspiration for the title of my favorite mini series

Touch Your Heart ep 2.

Of late, I\’ve been finding it hard to watch some dramas. Why? Despite it being interesting, it moves at a slow pace. Like a very slow pace. I\’m not talking about the storyline, I\’m talking about word delivery, close to static acting. Like the actors require maximum strength to move the next muscle so they spend some extra milliseconds. And in a way, this kinda detracted me from a lot of kdramas of recent. I almost didn\’t watch Durian\’s Affair for this reason.

Solution:
One day I stumbled upon playback speed. I\’ve always stumbled upon it and even used it. But not with the same impact this time. It is like a revelation in an especially needed time of need. And setting Durian\’s Affair to 1.39 playback speed, I zoomed through it without feeling the slow paced acting and also not missing a detail. Immediately I used the same tactic with Happiness Battle and it was just perfect. Happiness Battle was at 1.25 playback speed cause it was quite engaging. I almost dropped Longing For You but playback speed came to the rescue – 1.45 playback speed(my highest record) without losing any detail. I intend to use this mode to dive into Beneficial Fraud. I stopped this at ep 4 cause it was a bit dragging. I also intend to get into Cold Blooded Intern and The Killing Vote this week so I guess playback speed will come in handy in two ways – not get bored if the plot moves slowly, and to finish them in record time.

Pros: I\’ve been able to watch more dramas of recent. And to finish them in record time as well.

Cons: I hope I don\’t make this my standard mode of watching.

No matter how enticing watching at a faster speed is, I was unable to do that to My Dearest. I guess that\’s a measure of reassurance. That not all my watches will suffer these fate.

And beyond this. I think this hack I discovered will help me in a long run. I\’ve been thinking of how I\’ll merge my kdrama watching life with academic life(I\’m in my finals) as to how my books won\’t suffer from my go-to stress reliever. I think consciously discovering this playback speed function will go a long way in helping me keep up with my kdrama time.

Drum roll 🥁🥁🥁 to the one, the amazing 🥁🥁🥁

Lee. Chung. Ah.
🤭🤭🤭

I knew Ryang-eum would try to come in between our lovebirds. I knew it would be something like this. And now I wish it didn’t happen in the manner it did.

My Dearest Part A Finale

The word that escapes my lips by the end of each episode of My Dearest : \” I can\’t get enough of this\”. The same can be said of ep 9.

Gil-chae stepping up to the occasion to provide for her people…solid. The respect she earned from the men of the forge…total admiration. Eun-ae doesn\’t slack either. She might not be the proactive one but she sure knows how to stand in solidarity.

Kím Dong-wook’s to be joined in conjugal bliss soon🤭🤭🤤🤭

https://www.soompi.com/article/1610267wpp/kim-dong-wook-announces-marriage-with-non-celebrity-girlfriend

One Reason We Can’t Meet.
I made a mental note to watch the O’PENing series this year and I narrowed down a select few that I must not miss. One Reason We Can’t Meet is one of them. Was it the title that piqued my interest? Maybe yes. I’m a sucker for romances that painfully or lovingly tugs your heartstrings so I was quite ready for this. One Reason We Can’t Meet however decided to do both. And, with UEE starring in this, there’s no way I’m not watching it. I’ve only watched her work in Marriage Contract so as a bonus, this in a way serves as an appetizer – wetting my palate for her role in the upcoming weekender as the titular character.
Kang Sang-joon equally brings his best to the table. Upon checking his portfolio, I must say he did quite well to match Uee’s gravitas and true to the fact, he wasn’t lacking. With only a drama stint in Bora! Deborah and a drama special, he was quite impressive to the point where I had to check the internet for his previous works. For someone having such a green portfolio and delivering such a good performance, I hope more prominent roles will come his way.

The writing/direction here distracted me a bit, to the point where I asked why the leads attached to this particular debutant script amongst the mix. Never has the fourth wall been such a distraction to this extent, for me, to the point where I expressly noticed it. To those who found the fourth wall an itch in Beneficial Fraud, I don’t know if it might itch you a bit more. Surprisingly, way into the story, you kind of enjoy its usage. I did, but was more of a displacement than a fit, the misses were more than the hits, however perfect the hits were.

It’s another story of two people who are somehow a perfect fit for each other but life’s designs had other things in store for them, so it’s nothing new but it told it’s story nonetheless. The title spoke to me in several ways. What exactly was the reason? Was it because they were naked and vulnerable around each other? Was it because they knew what each other wanted and had to offer? Perhaps to make it a bit more pointedly, was it because they were afraid of what they might make the other become? How could they want something so badly, make the necessary adjustments to get it, yet one of them is hesitant to grab it and that spelled the doom on their relationship.

I was expecting Won-young to be the one self-destructing the entanglement that was becoming serious, so color me thrown off to see and learn that the problem was, not with Won-young but with Ki-joon. Not in a villainous way, but because Ki-joon was scared his devils – the state of parent’s marriage – will replay itself in his relationship with Won-young. Was that a reason why he doesn’t want to have kids? Maybe yes. And I most definitely agree with him even though I’ll be having a hard time accepting it should I be with a spouse who shares his sentiments. I simply wished he was willing to set aside his fears…put his demons behind him and prove to himself that he’s nothing close to his father, that his ex-wife was projecting her failings as his own and leaving him with this misconstrued lingering notion that he’s a toxin catalyst to anyone who’s married to him and as such the best thing for her is to not be married to him so it’s easy for her to walk away. What makes this especially poignant was that he was the first to suggest living together which she shrugged since living together sort of equals to marriage in her books. And when she suggested living together later on, he flat out declined in a way that shocked me more times than one. In that moment all I wanted to do what pat his head and tell him one thing : ‘It’s not your fault. You’re mistaken. Your ex-wife was wrong when she said it was your fault.’

In the mix of all this was sweet adorable Ji-Ni bearing the brunt of the adults falling in love and, breaking apart. I can picture the strength it took for him to warm up to Uncle Ki-joon and the hurt he felt when Uncle Ki-joon stopped showing up. Were Uncle Ki-joon beside me in that moment where he lovingly asks Won-young with this resigned dejected look if Uncle Ki-joon was going to come today, I’d have sent something was than a death glare his way. I can’t believe they both forgot they were being parents to this young child as they were working their issues. If anything, I’ll treasure the scene where Ki-joon called out to him after daycare this particular day that got all heads rolling and Ji-Ni walking down in pride. Or is it me seeing a father figure correctly and properly bribe a child for the first time in a long while in kdramas without having to make false promises or statements. And that’s a testament to how matured Ji-Ni was and how much he grew on me in the short time I spent with him.
Was their love strong? Yes. With question? No. Definitely without question. Their care and attention and consideration for each other was so strong to the point that they found opportunities to put themselves first before anything else and that they did. But at the end of the day, by the time I was done watching I had to accept that this is another drama where I loved the two couples to be together so much but they cannot be, for reasons I perfectly understand but very much unwilling to get behind.

Thank you @mmmmm for mentioning Il Maré on your beanie fanwall.
I checked it out and it was a beautiful love story set in the ’00s. I’d have rioted if it ended as a beautiful tragic love story. I’ll place beautiful side by side with tragic because that was what it is, a beautiful story nonetheless.
It also as you said, is very quiet and solemn. It’s going into one of my favorite k-movies.