THE SHORT VERDICT:

Sensitively written, tenderly directed, and wonderfully delivered by a talented cast, Our Unwritten Seoul really is a gem of a drama, in my opinion.

It’s a story of healing, growth, and the journey towards self-acceptance and self-love, and it’s capably woven, made up of threads from characters both main and supporting, to make up a nuanced and diverse narrative fabric that I found as heartfelt as I found it engaging.

Our entire cast is extremely solid, but Park Bo Young absolutely stands out, playing dual roles of our twins.

As a bonus, the OST is breezy yet poignant, and pitch perfect, in amplifying the watch experience.

Absolutely, enthusiastically recommend. 🥲

THE LONG VERDICT:

My friends, this is that rare drama that I thought was really good and really solid right away – and that actually stayed the course without wobbling off-course like so many other dramas tend to do, stayed solid all the way to the end, and finished strong.

In terms of tone, this reminds me of the early episodes of Love Next Door (review here!), which I had loved so deeply, for how sensitively those episodes were written, and with such sharp and tender insight into relationships, particularly familial ones.

As you may already know, Love Next Door’s tone eventually moved away from that, and while it worked out to be a decent family drama, I’d felt that the magic of Show’s early episodes had, unfortunately, faded away.

Not so with this show, my friends; this one stays sensitive, incisive, and utterly affecting, all the way to the very end, and that just makes me so, so happy. 🥰🥹

OST ALBUM: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

Here’s the OST album, in case you’d like to listen to it while reading the review.

I really enjoyed the music in this show. To my ears, it feels far from formulaic, and is made up of heartfelt, melodious tracks that have a touch of whimsy to them, that feel perfectly suited to our drama world.

In terms of a favorite, I find myself gravitating to On Your Side which is the song that plays in Show’s opening credits. I just really like this song’s acoustic sound and the thrumming that runs undercurrent in its laidback groove. Very earwormy. 🥰

Here it is as well, on its own, in case you’d prefer to listen to it on repeat. Just right-click on the video and select “Loop.”

HOW I’M APPROACHING THIS REVIEW

First I’ll talk about how to manage your expectations going into this one, and what viewing lens would be most helpful.

After that, I talk about stuff I liked on a more macro level, before I give the spotlight to selected characters and relationships, in a separate section. Finally, I spend some time talking about my thoughts on the penultimate and finale episodes.

If you’re interested in my blow-by-blow reactions, &/or all the various Patreon members’ comments during the course of our watch, you might like to check out my episode notes on Patreon here.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS / THE VIEWING LENS

Here are some things that I think would be helpful to keep in mind, to maximize your enjoyment of your watch:

1. Think coming-of-age and slice-of-life

Even though our characters are not teenagers, they have a lot of growing to do, and our story focuses on that a lot of the time.

This does also mean that..

2. Show takes a pretty low-key approach to the romance

There is romance in this, to be clear; it’s just that the romance (while absolutely worthwhile and melty in its own right) does have a relatively more low-key presence in our story, compared to other more romance-centric dramas.

Adjusting your expectations around these points, will definitely help.

STUFF I LIKED

Show is quietly meaty, with lots of emotional layers

Show takes us on a journey of getting to know each character better, and understanding their contexts and backstories; truly seeing them, beyond the versions of themselves that they show the world.

Like I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of growth that our characters go through, and Show explores it all, never shying away from complex relationships or difficult emotions.

I really like the way Show explores both the past and the present, while building our mental context of our characters.

It feels like I’m coming to understand our characters, layer by layer, and I enjoyed this process a great deal.

General handling and execution

Overall, I thought that Show handled itself very confidently; I always felt like I was in good narrative hands.

I thought I’d highlight two key things on this front, which I felt Show did particularly well.

The way Show builds context

I really appreciate the way Show drops bits of flashbacks as we go, because these progressively fill in our understanding of each character, and I feel like I’m getting to know our characters better in two different but equally important layers; in the present, and retrospectively.

Show intersperses the flashbacks through our present-day story, and I love how that creates bursts of new understanding for us, as we view our present-day developments.

I love the way Show deftly plays with context in that way, because I feel it gives a great trippiness and richness to the viewing experience.

The way things come together

I also really love the way apparently unrelated fragments tend to come together, to make one cohesive whole.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. For example, Gyeong Gu (Moon Dong Hyeok) and his backstory, which honestly took me a long second to figure out.

It was only a bit later, on hindsight, that everything clicked in my head.

Like, Ohhh. Teenaged Gyeong Gu (Song Seung Hwan) hadn’t been rehearsing his confession like he’d told Seung Hyeon (Jang Deok Su). He’d really meant to confess to Seung Hyeon, and had backpedaled when Seung Hyeon had looked so shocked.

And Ho Su (Park Yoon Ho) had heard it all, and so Ho So had known, from the moment Mi Ji (Lee Jae In) had agreed to date Gyeong Gu, that Gyeong Gu was gay, and had only confessed to her because Seung Hyeon had pushed him to do so.

No wonder Ho Su’s been so aggravated by Seung Hyeon all this time.

[END SPOILER]

The regular voiceovers

Another highlight for me, personally, is the way we get regular voiceovers from our key characters, both in the present, as well as when they’re reflecting on their past.

Most often, these voiceovers are by Mi Ji, but as our story progresses, we also get voiceovers from other key characters, like Mi Rae and Ho Su, and I found these all very poignant and illuminating. 🥲

The way Show also gives attention to supporting characters

I really like that Show gives time and attention to our supporting characters, delving into their backstories and contexts more than I think most other dramas do.

It’s impressive to me, that Show manages to do so much, in terms of teasing out the journeys of characters like Ok Hui and Bun Hong (Jang Young Nam and Kim Sun Young).

I felt like as my understanding of these characters became richer, so did my affection for them, as characters, as well as my engagement with Show, as a whole, because, in my opinion, this went a long way towards making this story world feel so much like real life. 🥲

STUFF THAT WAS OK

The occasional stretches of logic

Show doesn’t stretch logic a lot, but there were a couple of things that my logical mind felt a little perplexed by.

These didn’t bother me too much, so here they are, just for the record.

[SPOILER ALERT]

1. In our opening episodes, Ok Hui is shown pretending that she only has one daughter, Mi Rae, and I’d found this very poignant, at first.

However, on hindsight, the town is way too small for this pretense to have held any water. Literally everyone would have known that Ok Hui had twin daughters.

2. The way Mi Rae manages to get away with pretending to be Mi Ji in that small town, is a bit of a stretch at points.

If everyone in Duson-ri knows that Mi Ji and Mi Rae are twins, wouldn’t someone think to wonder whether it was Mi Rae in front of them, considering that “Mi Ji” suddenly doesn’t seem to recognize people, nor seems able to ride a bicycle well, etc?

[END SPOILER]

SPOTLIGHT ON CHARACTERS / RELATIONSHIPS

Park Bo Young as Mi Ji / Mi Rae

Park Bo Young does a great job of the dual roles, and while I’d never had any doubt that she would do well, it’s still thrilling to see that she kills it, right from the get go. 🥲

I feel that her delivery of each twin is unique and distinct, and I find it easy to tell the twins apart, not just because of their different styling, but because of the different aura she gives each twin.

And, let the record show that Park Bo Young pretty much plays four different characters: Mi Ji, Mi Rae, Mi Ji pretending to be Mi Rae, and Mi Rae pretending to be Mi Ji.

And she handles it all so effortlessly, that I was able to literally forget that I was watching Park Bo Young in character; it literally felt like these were twins, on my screen.

Kudos, truly.

In the following sections, I’ll talk about each twin for a bit, before delving into the relationship between them.

Mi Ji

Apparently, some viewers didn’t like Mi Ji to begin with; I think they found her too outspoken and therefore annoying?

I didn’t have that problem at all, to be honest.

I liked Mi Ji right away, and continued to like her, all through our story, and the more I found out about her, the more my heart went out to her.

All our characters go through their own growth journeys, but perhaps because I automatically started off thinking of Mi Ji as our protagonist (because the voiceover opening our story is by Mi Ji, and also, it’s in the Hangul title, 미지의 서울, which translates as “Mi Ji’s Seoul”), I felt a little extra invested in her journey.

Here, in this next spoiler section, are my unfolding thoughts on Mi Ji, over the course of my watch.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. I find Mi Ji immediately likable, from the moment she starts her matter-of-fact narration of her life story, where she’s the less accomplished twin who got her rightful name taken from her, because her sickly sister had needed it more (because Mi Rae means “future”).

And then there’s the way she gets along with everyone, from the farmers she passes on her way to work, to the kids who secretly use the teachers’ restroom, to the way she declines to take on the cleaning job at the school because she doesn’t want to steal someone else’s job.

That strikes me as very decent and upstanding, and I like her already. 🥲

E1-2. These episodes, we do get some hints of backstory, as to why Mi Ji lives day to day as a casual odd jobs worker, instead of looking for something more permanent and sustainable; it’s everything to do with making herself available to help care for her grandmother (Cha Mi Kyung).

Aw. That is very sacrificial and loving, and endears Mi Ji to me even more, especially when we see how casually loving she is towards Gran, like caring for her is the most natural thing in the world. 🥲

And then, it’s very poignant to see that, when she’s alone, she does struggle with questions about her future, like when she kicks that ball against the wall in frustration, after yet another bickering session with Mom.

There’s a kind of wistful angst there, where she knows that she’s stuck; that it’s hard for her to live a “proper life” like other people, after the choices she’s made. 🥹

E3-4. Mi Ji talks about how she can feel Ho Su (Park Jinyoung) closing the door of his heart to her, and you can feel her sadness at the cost of her actions.

Right after this, we hear Mi Ji talk about how she’s always had a hard time getting people to open their hearts to her, and I find it extra poignant, that the first person she thinks of, when entertaining this train of thought, is her mother.

From what we see in the flashbacks, Mom had gotten into the habit of looking out for Mi Rae, most likely because Mi Rae had been the sickly child, and as a result, Mi Ji had gotten pushed aside.

I don’t think that Mom dislikes Mi Ji, honestly.

Rather, I think that it’s that Mom got into the habit of caring primarily for Mi Rae early on, since Mi Rae had been born sickly, and since Mi Ji had been so strong and healthy, Mom had gotten into the habit of leaving her to her own devices.

And so, even though Mi Ji falls from that bar, in the flashback, Mom isn’t even fussed about it, because (I think, anyway) Mom has gotten used to the idea that Mi Ji is tough, and won’t be worse for wear, even if she does fall from that bar.

I can certainly see why a mom would fall into this kind of pattern of treating Mi Ji more casually, because it’s natural to focus your efforts and attention on the weakest link, whether it’s your own broken finger, or your most delicate child.

After that, though, I do think that Mom makes the mistake of making it a habit, and just assuming that Mi Ji, being the stronger child, would be fine on her own.

On the one hand, I can understand how that became a habit, since Mi Rae had been sickly for most of her life, and so, for literal years, Mom had felt that Mi Rae had needed more attention.

On the other hand, you can just see how desperately Mi Ji had wanted Mom’s attention; it’s what every child naturally wants, and she had never gotten it, simply because her sister had been weaker than she.

I can see how this would create an insecurity and complex in Mi Ji, in terms of always feeling like she was less worthy of attention than her sister, and thereafter, I can how this would create a ready-made layer of dysfunction underlying any special relationships that she does manage to create.

What I mean is, even when she does manage to gain the attention and affection of someone special, that layer of insecurity will be there, ever-ready to throw things awry, like we see in her bond with Ho Su, back in high school.

We see that Ho Su and Mi Ji had developed a special friendship with them being deskmates in class, and you can just see Mi Ji glowing in the midst of sharing this bond with Ho Su.

At the same time, we also see how quickly and easily that happiness is threatened, like when Mi Ji hears people gossiping that Ho Su must be dating Mi Rae, or when she sees Ho Su entering the stadium with Mi Rae, on that fateful day.

It throws her completely off-balance, both figuratively and literally, which is how she ends up with that injury.

And her unreasonable desire to shine, in order to come out from under the shadow of her sister, is so great, that she ends up permanently derailing her running career.

Ack. It’s so painful, yet so understandable, at the same time.

I found it so poignant to learn, through other flashbacks, that Mi Ji had basically crawled in her room and hidden from the world, for 3 whole years, after this.

The way I understand it, it’s that her entire future had crumbled before her, and now, left with no other bright future that she could see, she was paralyzed, and did the only thing she knew to do; she withdrew into her cave indefinitely.

I very much identify with this, because when my own life had started falling apart, back when it started becoming clear to me that I was headed for a divorce whether I wanted to or not, I had wished that I could just crawl into bed and sleep for two years – in hopes that when two years had passed, everything would have blown over, and somehow, things would be ok again.

Now, I didn’t do that, but because I’d had that desire to hide, I can very much empathize with Mi Ji hiding in her room, away from the world, for as long as she did.

I could understand Mom going along with it for as long as she could – that was her way of giving Mi Ji space, I believe – until she couldn’t anymore, and that’s when we get that scene of Mom literally breaking the door knob and trying to tear Mi Ji out of bed.

I’m so grateful for Gran, for her wisdom, not only in getting Mom out of there, because she knew that this railing would only make Mi Ji more stressed, but also, in the way she approaches Mi Ji with gentleness, and reframes Mi Ji’s behavior in such a sympathetic, compassionate way.

Because, yes, Mi Ji’s been doing all of this to survive, and I love Gran’s insight, that anything that you do to survive, is worthwhile.

E3-4. With the our understanding of Mi Ji growing with each new piece of context that Show gives us, I find it quite heartbreaking to see how Mi Ji’s view of herself has been warped over the years.

One of the most poignant things, to me, in these episodes, is how Mi Ji realizes how other people really saw her, versus what she’d believed about how they saw her, all these years.

All these years, Mi Ji had believed that Ji Yun had dumped her for Mi Rae because of her injury, and that’s why she’d distanced herself from Ji Yun, in response.

What a world-tilting piece of information, for her to now realize that the reason Ji Yun had wanted to hang around Mi Rae, was to ask Mi Rae what Mi Ji thought of her – because she’d idolized Mi Ji that much.

And, she’d never understood why Mi Ji had grown so distant and cold, all of a sudden.

Oof. Just, oof.

Again, I feel that the big underlying dysfunction in Mi Ji’s psyche, where she’s deeply insecure about her own worth, is the reason that she was so quick to accept a painful version of events as truth; she’d found it easier to believe that people would reject her, than to believe that they liked her. 😭

E3-4. It’s so sad the way Mi Ji speaks harshly of herself, saying that she lives so well, talking and laughing as if she hadn’t been the reason Gran’s bedridden.

On that note, what a powerful scene delivered by Park Bo Young, of Mi Ji’s utter fear and terror, as she battles her mental demons in order to step foot outside of her house, driven by the fear Gran wouldn’t make it, if she didn’t get help in time.

Even though Mi Ji does her best in this situation, I can fully understand the self-blame at play within her mind, where she questions whether Gran would have had a better recovery and not be bedridden like she is now, if she’d managed to get help sooner.

It’s an awful burden to bear, and yet, I can fully understand why Mi Ji would feel so unable to shake this haunting guilt, that Gran is the way she is now, because of her. 💔

E5-6. I do identify with what Mi Ji tells Tae I (Hong Sung Won), when he asks her why she’d lied to Team Leader about not having put in her best effort into the report; because she would rather be thought of as lazy, than incapable.

When you so desperately want to be seen as someone useful, doesn’t “lazy” seem like the lesser evil? 🥲

Taking Mi Ji’s backstory into consideration, doesn’t her deep desire to be useful land as particularly poignant?

She’s always felt like the invisible child; the one who wasn’t as smart as Mi Rae; the one who didn’t matter.

And then add on the guilt that she feels about taking so long to get help for Gran, when Gran had collapsed, and now fill in the piece of context that we get these episodes, that Mi Ji had taken 4 hours to get to Gran in the hospital, in response to Gran’s multiple requests for her, instead of the 30 minutes that most people would have taken.

We also finally get insight into the promise that exists between Gran and Mi Ji, where they’ve promised each other to keep living, in spite of their fears.

It all adds up to this very poignant picture of feeling less than; Mi Ji’s spent most of her life feeling like she hadn’t been enough and would never be enough, and so, it really is very, very poignant to see her work so hard on the report, in an attempt to prove herself.

That’s why I found it so gratifying to see that, during the meeting with the CEO, where Team Leader and Director Choi don’t have answers for the CEO’s questions, Mi Ji knows the answers, from having put in the time and effort on the project.

I do love that Mi Ji gets that little moment of glory, from being acknowledged by the CEO, in front of the very people who’ve been so dismissive of her.

E7-8. I do like that Mi Ji’s exploring more of her truth, in a manner of speaking.

First, there’s how Ji Yun (Yoo Yu Jin) saves her from a very accusing Mrs. Park (that was cool 🤩) and they end up having a conversation about how Ji Yun already knows that she’s Mi Ji and not Mi Rae.

It feels like an important piece of closure, for them to talk about their friendship, because of the way they had become estranged over a misunderstanding.

We’ve kind of known for a while, that Mi Ji had thought that Ji Yun had dumped her for Mi Rae, when in actual fact, Ji Yun had always been Mi Ji’s biggest fan, but it feels important that they actually talk about it.

Oh, on another friendship note, I really loved that interaction that we get between Mi Ji and Gyeong Gu, because they are the cutest pair of besties.

Clearly, they’d spent the entire duration of their “relationship” being best friends and getting to know each other, and it’s just very endearing, how they fall into sync, and start spilling their hearts with such relief, like they just couldn’t hold everything in any longer. 🥲

It’s really quite refreshing to see Mi Ji being able to talk so freely with someone, especially about Ho Su.

[END SPOILER]

Mi Rae

It took me a little longer to warm up to Mi Rae, but that’s only because Mi Rae’s the tsundere type; she’s prickly on the outside, but is a lot softer, on the inside.

Over time, as Show peeled back the layers to reveal what Mi Rae was really thinking and feeling on the inside, my heart couldn’t help but go out to her, and I couldn’t help but feel more properly connected to her.

The healing and growth journey that Mi Rae charts is very different from Mi Ji’s, but no less important.

Perhaps because Mi Rae’s so guarded, each of her breakthroughs felt all the more precious. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. I do love that Mi Rae has the moment with Gran, where Gran recognizes her, despite her best attempts to act like Mi Ji.

There’s just something very special about being known, particularly by someone you love, I think. 🥲

I also love that Gran tells Mi Rae that she did well, by running away, when things got too hard.

That kind of loving acceptance and encouragement is just too precious, and something that Mi Rae desperately needs, and I love that she’s able to receive that, from Gran. 🥲

It feels so important, that Mi Rae gets to cry those cathartic tears, in front of Gran.

It’s only when we’re not running on empty that we have anything to give, and I do believe that that moment of restoration with Gran, gave Mi Rae the fuel that she needed, to be able to come up with that plan for the strawberry farm.

E7-8. In episode 7, I feel like we’re finally getting a deeper glimpse into Mi Rae’s world, and it’s so poignant to hear her talk in voiceover, about how she’d used to wish that she could become a tree, because trees don’t feel pain.

All this time, I’d thought, along with our other characters, that Mi Rae was just naturally the reserved, stoic sort, and was very smart, which is how she’d excelled in her studies and gotten her job.

It’s very poignant to learn, these episodes, that Mi Rae had simply figured out how to endure, and that that had shaped her life and her personality, to such a great extent.

It’s also very thought-provoking, and just as poignant, to learn that Mi Rae had envied Mi Ji for her health and her sports achievements, which must have felt so out of reach for Mi Rae, with her heart condition.

It’s ironic, isn’t it, because all this time, all we’ve known is that Mi Ji has always envied Mi Rae, not only for her academic achievements, but even more so, for the fact that Mi Rae always commanded so much of their parents’ attention.

And it’s honestly quite saddening, to think that these sisters had grown apart over the years, feeling so distant from each other, because they’d envied each other so much, and felt like what the other person had, was so out of reach for them personally. 💔

[END SPOILER]

Mi Ji and Mi Rae

Show explores the relationship between our twins in a meaningful and heartwarming way, which I love.

[MINOR FOUNDATIONAL SPOILER]

Our first step, is certainly the way Mi Ji and Mi Rae switch places, by the end of episode 1.

They’re literally going to walk in each other’s shoes and live each other’s lives, and I knew right away, that would go a long way towards increasing their understanding of and empathy for each other.

I loved the idea, and I also loved the execution.

Our twins learn way more than they’d expected, from this swapping of places, which I’ll get into, in this next spoiler section.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. I think it’s a pretty clever set-up, to tell us upfront, that Mi Rae and Mi Ji look so alike, that even their own mother can’t tell them apart.

Not only does this pave the way for Park Bo Young to play both twins, it also sets it up so that it’s extra, extra special, when anyone is able to tell them apart. More on that later.

I also thought it was pretty clever to tell us upfront, how different they are in personality, and also, how they’d fallen into the habit of doing things in place of each other, so that life would be happier and easier for the both of them.

It’s a big contrast, how they’d been so tight when little, and how they’re distant from each other in the present, not just terms of physical location, but in terms of how little they talk, and how much they tell each other, when they do talk.

E1-2. Honestly, that thing that Mi Rae says, that she’s figured out that falling from a height, after throwing down a blanket, is the best way to get out of going to work, is a big red flag, and I’m glad that Mi Ji puts the pieces together, and manages to get to Mi Rae in time to break her fall.

And then I found it so poignant, to see Mi Ji bawling away, at Mi Rae’s remark, that Mi Ji should have let go of her hand and let her fall.

Oof. The sisterly love, which had been repressed and forgotten for a while, is now instinctively out in full force, and I find that quite affecting. 😭

It’s very poignant to see the two sisters holding each other and just sobbing together like that; it feels like all the walls that had grown between them, have been shattered in an instant. 🥲

And so, it actually feels very natural, both in terms of Mi Ji’s character, as well as our story logic, that Mi Ji would offer to swap places with Mi Rae, just like they’d used to do.

Honestly, I feel very intrigued by this premise, because there are so many possibilities to mine, with Mi Ji and Mi Rae switching places; I love it. 🤩

Already, in episode 2, we see each of them experience moments of clarity, after spending a couple of days in the other person’s shoes, and as they start to realize that it’s not that easy being the other sister, after all.

E3-4. One of the big things that I appreciate on my screen, is that we get to see both Mi Ji and Mi Rae gain clarity about the other person’s difficulties, as they walk in the other person’s shoes.

When you’re in your own world and the other person is far away, it’s easy to dismiss the other person’s struggles, because your own struggles are so much bigger and clearer to see.

But, while they are in the other person’s shoes, they see and hear so much more, that they can’t help but start to see things with a new kind of clarity.

Like the way Mi Rae sees that Mi Ji’s always been taken for granted; that Mi Ji is expected to drop everything to go to the hospital to take care of Gran – because her work isn’t as important or as permanent as Mom’s or Mi Rae’s.

And the way Mi Rae sees that Mom is habitually dismissive of Mi Ji, even when “Mi Ji” is offering to pay for Gran’s hospital bills.

E3-4. I have to say, it’s very poignant to see how hard Mi Ji and Mi Rae are, on themselves.

The way they speak harshly about themselves, while pretending to be speaking harshly about the other person, is quite heartbreaking, really, because both of them, for all of their differences, have one thing in common: they find it hard to give themselves love and grace.

Mi Rae talks about how she’s selfish and self-focused, only focusing on her own problems, but look at the way she went out on a limb, to save Mi Ji from failing her classes, while Mi Ji was hiding in her room from the world.

She didn’t hesitate to chop off her own hair, in order to show up at school as Mi Ji.

When a girl’s willing to chop off her hair in order to save you, that’s love, yes? 🥲

E3-4. It’s so poignant to hear Mi Ji admit in voiceover, that she had always been harder on herself than anyone else, just for being herself.

Actually, I’m not even sure if that’s Mi Ji in voiceover, since we do also see Mi Rae on our screens as the voiceover happens, but y’know, it’s doubly poignant, that this truth applies to both twins.

They are both harshest on themselves, and attack themselves, in the moments that they most need to protect themselves.

This is definitely one key area where I would like to see healing and growth, in both sisters.

E5-6. One of the big things that I found myself enjoying, is the way both Mi Ji and Mi Rae learn new things while walking in each other’s shoes, and effectively have their established world view challenged, because things really hadn’t been what they’d each believed, all these years.

I really like this idea, that living in the other person’s skin, would offer so much revelatory food for thought, to the point of becoming potentially quite life-changing.

Like the way Mi Ji learns that Mi Rae had never dated Ho Su, and that she, Mi Ji, had actually been Ho Su’s first love.

And that the “hug” that she’d seen between Ho Su and Mi Rae on the day of that fateful race where she’d injured herself, had actually been Mi Rae blacking out – into Ho Su’s arms.

I do give Mi Ji credit here, for immediately being more concerned about the fact that Mi Rae had been so sick at that time, than the fact that she’d misunderstood in such a big way that it had literally led her to derail her future, though she does angst over this later, in private.

There’s also the thing where, even while walking in the other person’s shoes, sometimes our twins find themselves confronting their own pain and angst, unexpectedly.

It’s kind of like what Ok Hui says; people tend to carry their problems with them, wherever they go.

And so, even though Mi Rae is taking time out of her life to just hide for a while in Mi Ji’s skin, she’s still very much affected by the rumors about her and Se Jin dating, because she’d suffered similar type of gossip about that Director Park, which had gone quite some way to derail her career.

This hits her exactly where it hurts, and triggers all the trauma that she’s been trying to suppress all this time, which is, I believe, why she immediately quits her job at the strawberry farm.

E7-8. I do think that Mi Rae’s conversation with Se Jin works as a catalyst towards allowing Mi Rae to speak more honestly about how she really feels, with Mi Ji.

That she’s afraid of being disappointed in herself, and that she is scared of starting over.

It feels like a cathartic moment for Mi Rae, and an important milestone for the relationship between our sisters, and I like that very much. 🥲

[END SPOILER]

Park Jinyoung as Ho Su

I’ve enjoyed Jinyoung on my screen before (in When My Love Blooms, The Devil Judge and Yumi’s Cells 2 – reviews here, here and here!), but I do feel like this could well be my most favorite role of his, yet 🥲 (Yumi’s Cells 2 comes in a pretty close second!).

I find myself growing very fond of Ho Su very quickly.

As a character, he’s just so earnest, and there’s a sense of innocence about him that I find myself liking a lot. 🥲

And there’s the way Jinyoung plays him, with a gentle, expressive vulnerability, and a shyness that I found very endearing.

My heart couldn’t help but go out to Ho Su, the more I learned about him, and I definitely found myself thoroughly invested in his journey of healing and growth. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. It took me a while to clue in, but thanks to contextual clues and, later, a helpful flashback, we learn that Ho Su’s actually deaf in one ear.

Even though this does lead to inconveniences in his regular life, like not hearing when other people speak to him on the side of his hearing-impaired ear, he seems to be leading a successful life as a lawyer who’s valued by his boss.

E1-2. I appreciate that Ho Su’s discomfort at some of the aspects of his job, are visible quite early; it’s just that he’s not quite cognizant of it just yet.

E3-4. These episodes, it was hard to see him get so deliberately sidelined by his boss, Chung Gu.

Essentially, Chung Gu’s taking away all of Ho Su’s projects, excluding him from meetings, and just generally pushing him aside and not giving him any work.

Chung Gu takes it a step further than that, even, by setting up a meeting to have Ho Su transferred to another unit, without first discussing it with him; that’s basically like pushing Ho Su out the door, isn’t it?

When we get to see that flashback of how Ho Su had decided that he’d wanted to work with Chung Gu, after Chung Gu had given that speech at his university, it feels all the more poignant and sad, because, after all, Ho Su’s getting rejected by the very person for whom he’d joined the law firm in the first place.

I found that eventual conversation between Chung Gu and Ho Su very poignant, where Chung Gu states that he’d enjoyed keeping Ho Su by his side for Ho Su’s strengths, but he now realizes that the reason Ho Su had liked being by his side, was because of Chung Gu’s weakness.

I can see how that would really bug Chung Gu, since he clearly doesn’t wish to be defined by his disability.

At the same time, I find it quite affecting, the way Ho Su frames it; that he’d been drawn to Chung Gu, because he could see his vulnerability, and admires him even more, because of it.

The way the conversation was going towards a reconciliation between Chung Gu and Ho Su was very heartening, actually, with Chung Gu even looking quite pleased, as he asks Ho Su if he really would like to work with him.

In the end, though, I am proud of Ho Su for standing by his principles, and not allowing Chung Gu to basically emotionally blackmail him into entertaining the client, which is something Ho Su is deeply uncomfortable with, and which had started the whole cold shoulder thing from Chung Gu in the first place.

It really is brave of Ho Su to go ahead and resign, despite Chung Gu’s warning that he will make sure that Ho Su won’t be able to work for any of the top law firms, because he takes it that personally, when someone turns their back on him.

It’s understandable that Ho Su would get into a bit of a funk about all this, and I’m glad that Mi Ji takes it upon himself to help him redirect his thoughts – by teaching him how to crochet.

I thought this was very cute, and it tickled me, just how many scrubbers Ho Su produced, in such a short amount of time.

That just goes to show how desperately he’s trying to clear his mind, isn’t it?

E3-4. I’m really glad that Ho Su helps to put things in perspective for Mi Ji, by sharing his own situation, where he’d been the one to insist that his dad take him out, and that Dad had died that day, in an accident.

Oof. Again, such a painful situation to be in, and so much guilt that could easily seep into Ho Su’s life, because of it.

I’m relieved that Ho Su doesn’t seem to be blaming himself for the accident (or is he?), and I’m glad that he’s able to point out that “Mi Rae” tells him that it’s not his fault, but is so quick to say that Gran’s situation is Mi Ji’s fault.

E7-8. These episodes, we also get to see deeper into Ho Su’s heart, and it really is heart-pinching for me, to process how much he automatically sees himself as a burden to others.

He’s literally spent most of his life trying not to be a burden, and it’s really sad to consider the fact that he doesn’t feel able to just be himself around anyone, and is always wondering if he’s being a burden, even to the people who are closest to him. 💔

We get that flashback at the top of episode 8, where we see the day of the accident from Ho Su’s point of view, and I just really feel for him, because all he’d wanted that day, was to have thing be the same as before, just Dad and him, and he’d ended up losing Dad in that accident.

And how painfully ironic, that he’d thought that he’d felt more at home in a family of two, and that’s exactly what he got, except it was with Bun Hong.

The fact that Ho Su had overheard Bun Hong’s sisters censuring her at the hospital, at the idea of her taking care of Ho Su as a single parent, must have really scarred Ho Su, even more so than his physical injuries.

All of a sudden, the only family he had left in the world, was a stepmother, who, in the eyes of the rest of the world, had no obligation to take care of him.

I can see why Ho Su would take that thought so much to heart, that it would shape the entire way he then approached his life; to not be a burden to others.

And how much heavier would that weigh on him, knowing the physical limitations that he has had to live with, as a result of the accident? 😭

No wonder Ho Su’s default approach to life, was to make it such that he appeared as normal and as fine as possible, even if it made his life harder, like with his decision not to wear his hearing aid.

He would be able to hear less well, but if made him look normal and whole on the outside, and that mattered more to him, than being able to hear better. 😭

That flashback that we see later, where Ho Su tells Bun Hong to leave him alone, then spends the entire evening thinking she’d abandoned him, only to break into relieved sobs, when Mi Ji came over to tell him that Bun Hong wouldn’t be able to make it home that night.

Aw. He hadn’t actually wanted to push her away; he’d lashed out, yes, but he’d wanted her to still stay with him, and not cast him away. 🥹

That thing about not wanting to be a burden to others, continues to haunt him even now.

[END SPOILER]

Ryu Kyung Soo as Se Jin

I found Se Jin to be so unexpectedly cute and lovable as a character; I actually wish we’d had more screen time with him.

This is, hands down, the most endearing, quirky, lovable character that I’ve seen Ryu Kyung Soo play, to date. 😍

I just love how Se Jin’s so deadpan all the time, and yet, is so frank and open and therefore vulnerable, without too much in the way of emotional barriers in the way.

I also love how he basically marches to the beat of his own drum and is perfectly fine being viewed as odd by other people; in that way, I aspire to be more like Se Jin. 🥲

Long story short, I loved our strawberry farmer, and perked up whenever he showed up on my screen.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. I find it poignant that Se Jin has his own wounds that he’s trying to work through on the strawberry farm.

I really appreciate that insight into his past, and how he’d come to the farm, to try to change everything for his grandfather, who’d ended up passing away.

That gives us some much-needed context around Se Jin and his rather nonchalant, rather flighty way of handling the farm.

He’s not really there to grow strawberries, but rather, he’s there in search of his grandfather’s memories. 🥹

That’s so poignant, isn’t it?

[END SPOILER]

Mi Ji and Ho Su

I will say that this romance is a slow burn, and perhaps that might not work for everyone, but I enjoyed it very much.

I love that Show recognizes that both Mi Ji and Ho Su have a lot of individual healing and growing to do, and allows them the time and space to grapple with their own issues, even as they inch closer to each other, over the course of our story.

And, I also love that they each also have a part to play in the other person’s healing and growth journey, and altogether, I find it very meaningful.

Additionally, I found it very cutely endearing that Ho Su and Mi Ji are so shy and awkward around each other.

We might not have gotten as much in terms of quantity of screen time focused on the romance as we tend to get with other romance-centric dramas, but Show more than made up for it, I feel, in terms of the quality of the screen time we did get. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. It doesn’t take long for us to establish that there might be some feelings running undercurrent, when it comes to Mi Ji and Ho Su.

Like that beat where Ho Su’s mom Bun Hong (Kim Sun Young! 🤩) asks Mi Ji if Mi Rae’s seeing anyone – coz Ho Su’s still single; you can totally tell that Mi Ji feels very awkward about the question, as she tries to joke the question away.

Obviously, Bun Hong’s more interested in Mi Rae as a potential daughter-in-law, since Mi Rae’s the more successful twin.

But, as we see from the high school flashbacks, the bond that Ho Su had shared, had been with Mi Ji.

The rough start to their connection was hard to watch, since Ho Su had been inadvertently hurt over and over again, by Mi Ji’s unknowingly insensitive words, but then, that scene in the library, where we see that he’d stayed “checking his answers,” had clearly been an excuse to spend more time with Mi Ji, who was waiting for him to be done – when, in fact, he’d achieved a perfect score, and had no answers to check.

Ahhh! I kinda love the idea that Ho Su kinda had a crush on Mi Ji from early on, and in spite of the rough start that they’d had, with her asking him if he was deaf (without knowing that he was, indeed, deaf in one ear).

I also love the idea that even in the present, he seems to still have a bit of a crush on Mi Ji; after all, the reason he wears that pink tie, is because his mom had once asked Mi Ji to pick out a tie for Ho Su, and this was the tie that she’d picked – likely out of petty spite, since Mom had mentioned that he needed a tie to wear to blind dates. 🤭

I also love that detail that we eventually get, that when he’d brought that basket of apples over for Mi Ji (to apologize, I believe), and both twin had had their wet hair wrapped in towels (and so there was no easy way to tell who was whom), he was able to identify Mi Ji, while barely missing a beat.

I love the idea that he would know her with such clarity, beyond the physical similarities that she shares with her sister. 🥰

Which, honestly, would mean a lot to Mi Ji, I think, because from what we can see, everyone just mostly sees her as her sister’s spokesperson, and asks her about Mi Rae, and not herself.

E1-2. Given all of this contextual angst where Mi Ji feels insignificant and unimportant, I find it very sweet, that Ho Su is the one who thinks to ask Mi Ji how she’s doing.

And, it’s also Ho Su who reminds Mi Ji, that Mi Rae doesn’t like to appear weak in front of other people – but is willing to cry in front of her.

I do think that that bolsters Mi Ji’s willingness to see Mi Rae, and also, helps to give her a bit of focus, when meeting Mi Rae, so that she’s able to pick up on the clues that Mi Rae’s not ok.

E1-2. I do love that Mi Ji bumps into Ho Su, and gets persuaded to meet up to talk, even though Mi Rae puts her foot down and tells Mi Ji to nip it in the bud.

Mi Ji does do a pretty good job of imitating Mi Rae’s clipped, more distant sort of tone, but I love that when her guard is down, like when she gets that call from the old lady running the restaurant, and gets all excited, she can’t help but be herself – which is when Ho Su asks with certainty, if she isn’t Mi Ji.

Ahhhh!! I loved that moment, because I just LOVE the idea that he knows her, even when she’s pretending to be someone else. 🥰

E3-4. I have to say that my fangirl heart was quite crushed, when Mi Ji responds to Ho Su’s conviction that she is, in fact, Mi Ji and not Mi Rae, by tearing him to pieces.

I mean, putting it into my brain’s context, where I think it’s the most romantic thing in the world, that he knows and recognizes her, even when she’s actively pretending to be someone else, and my heart is just shattered at the way Mi Ji not only denies the truth, but basically verbally attacks him.

My logical brain does understand why Mi Ji might jump to that though; after all, there’s that train of thought that attack is the best form of defense (from “The Art of War,” no less).

She knows that if she attacks Ho Su and berates him for being presumptuous, to think that he knows her well enough to come to this kind of conclusion, he would be thrown into confusion and doubt, and that would stop him in his tracks, allowing her to get away with the deception.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think that Mi Ji actually thinks it through too much, and this could simply be her “fight or flight” response coming into play.

Perhaps she was so intent on keeping the secret for Mi Rae, that she instinctively just did whatever she could, to keep the secret intact?

Also, another thought occurs to me, and that is, we tend to hurt the people who are closest to us, so perhaps one of the reasons that Mi Ji instinctively allows herself to hurt Ho Su like this, is because she thinks of Ho Su as someone who’s close to her?

Like I said, though, my fangirl heart is quite crushed at this development, but I’m rationalizing that this will basically give us more narrative opportunity for more similar types of “Aha!” moments, where Ho Su will realize, despite all of Mi Ji’s precautionary defensive wall-building, that she is, indeed, Mi Ji, after all.

Also, while it’s absolutely not cool for Mi Ji to lash out at Ho Su like that, I appreciate that we get to see that she is immediately regretful, internally.

E3-4. When it comes to Ho Su’s confused feelings around “Mi Rae,” I do think that it makes sense, because even though Mi Ji’s pretending to be Mi Rae, she is still herself, and this lines up with the idea that Ho Su knows her and likes her.

To my mind, it’s kind of like he’s cognitively accepted her assertion that she’s Mi Rae, but his heart can’t help but be drawn to her, because his heart sees all of the Mi Ji qualities that he’d been drawn to in the first place.

I just feel bad for Ho Su because he’s so confused about it all, thinking that he’s inexplicably developing odd feelings and interest in Mi Rae, when he’d never felt anything for Mi Rae before. 😅

For his sake, I hope that he figures it out soon, that the person he likes, is still Mi Ji. 🥲

To that end, I feel like there are some clues for him to pick up on; the question is whether he’ll be able to piece things together, in spite of Mi Ji’s strong denials.

I do think one of the big clues, is the way Mi Ji hyper-ventilates when she sees Ro Sa incapacitated on the ground, because it brings back the trauma that she’d experienced, when she’d discovered Gran passed out on the floor, which had then forced her to leave her house to seek help.

I’m thinking that if Ho Su figures out that this hyper-ventilation episode is trauma related, and that it has something to do with Gran, he might be able to trace it back to Mi Ji. Maybe? 😅

E3-4. I’m pleased that where we end the episode, Mi Ji hears from Ho Su himself, that his first love had always been Mi Ji.

I feel like this is important for Mi Ji to hear from Ho Su, because in her own negative, insecure frame of mind, she’d believed that he’d forsaken her for her sister, which he hadn’t actually done.

I kinda love this inadvertent sideways confession, where Ho Su’s confessing his feelings to Mi Ji, without realizing that he’s confessing his feelings to Mi Ji, and I’m hoping that this will temper Mi Ji’s approach towards him, in our next episodes.

Coz I do think that poor Ho Su deserves a break, and I want him to know that he’s spending all this time with his first love, and not her sister! 😁

E5-6. It is all very, very hard on Ho Su, from the accident itself, to the after-effects that Ho Su has to live with, afterwards.

For a boy in high school, it must be so hard to step aside from strenuous activities like hikes, when the teacher says that anyone who feels unwell can report to the school nurse, because of course the other kids would snigger and make fun of him, right?

And in Ho Su’s case, it stings extra, especially because Mi Ji, the girl whom he likes, is just so athletic that she’s accepting bets with another boy, on who’ll reach the summit first.

I can see why Ho Su might get it into his head that he must conquer the mountain, even if it means going against doctor’s orders; it’s not just a matter of what the other kids say, it’s a matter of self-worth.

Put in that perspective, I can see why Ho Su would push himself so hard, and ignore all of Mi Ji’s attempts to help him in his ascent.

To him, it wouldn’t be the same, if he had help; to him, it had to be something that he accomplished with his own strength.

And, skipping ahead to the reveal that we get later in episode 5, the fact that Mi Ji had waited for him at the summit, like it was the most natural thing in the world, had meant so much to Ho Su because it showed that she had believed in him, even more than he had believed in himself. 🥲

E5-6. As Mi Ji anxiously tries to contact Ho Su, we get that scene where Ji Yun tells Ho Su that “Mi Rae” isn’t Mi Rae at all, and – mic drop – Ho Su answers that he knows.

Ahhh!! 🤩🤩🤩

I love that Ho Su knows (more about that in a bit), and chooses to go to Mi Ji. 🥲

I also love that flashback to when Mi Ji had been drunk and sleeping in his bed.

The way he responds to her, from the way she grabs his hand, to the way she starts to confess her secret, to how she stops herself from saying it, to how she keeps responding “Mm?,” when he calls her by name, is just so affectionate and adorable.

I love how gently he smiles at her, and how gratified he looks, as she responds to his voice, calling her name. 🥰🥰🥲🥲

And so, of course, my heart is just swelling with happiness, to see Ho Su make his way to meet Mi Ji, and then insist on carrying her on his back, because her ankle is hurt.

I also like the idea of them having a less guarded conversation, even though, in this moment, Mi Ji is still pretending to be Mi Rae.

I do feel like what Ho Su says about not knowing the full story, and finding meaning in helping someone to keep their secret, is about Mi Ji and her relationship with Gyeong Gu.

Aww! All these years, he’s consoled himself that he’s been helping Mi Ji??? That’s so sweet, honestly. 🥹🥹

And isn’t it so very sweet, that when Mi Ji hesitates to tell him what she wants to say, he tells her to only tell him when feels comfortable talking??

He doesn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, nor does he want to make things difficult for her, even though he doesn’t understand why she’s living Mi Rae’s life; he is so understanding and patient and lovely. 🥰🥲

We don’t get a proper confession or minting of our OTP relationship, but I do feel quite gratified to hear Mi Ji tell us in voiceover, that she’s always liked this foolish Ho Su, and still does, in the present. 🥰

As for when Ho Su had realized that “Mi Rae” was actually Mi Ji, Show is rather vague about this, but I’m guessing that Ho Su had had his suspicions, from the end of episode 2, when he’d been utterly convinced that the person in front of him, was Mi Ji.

With “Mi Rae” denying it so strongly and basically verbally attacking him in order to distract him and cause him to doubt himself, I think he’d accepted, cognitively, that this was, indeed, Mi Rae, and I do think that’s why we see him telling his ex-colleague about how “Mi Rae” is his first love’s twin.

I think it’s clear from the way Ho Su takes his ex-colleague’s advice and goes back home just to see Mi Ji, and gain some clarity over how he feels, and for whom, does indicate that he really doesn’t know that “Mi Rae” isn’t really Mi Rae, just yet.

I believe that’s why we see him musing, upon leaving, that “Mi Ji” was acting really different.

I will say, though, that I think this is very likely the beginning of him putting the pieces together, to conclude that the “Mi Ji” he’d just met, was very possibly not Mi Ji at all, which would mean that the “Mi Rae” he’s been spending time with, is therefore very possibly Mi Ji after all.

That said, I’m guessing that Ho Su would have had niggling suspicions surface from time to time, particularly every time Mi Ji would show her true personality, or say something that indicated that she might not actually be Mi Rae after all.

Like the way “Mi Rae” looks so surprised to hear that Mi Ji was Ho Su’s first love, which is something that Ho Su had obviously expected Mi Rae to know, or the way she keeps giving him strange looks, in relation to her frequent mentions of Dusonbong Peak.

The way Mi Ji questions him so relentlessly about this, on several occasions, and the way she reflexively protests, at the end of episode 5, when Ho Su says that he’d made it to the peak because of Mi Ji, that he had been the reason she’d gone up the mountain too, would be significant clues for him, I think.

Well, of course, there’s also the bit where she tells him that she’d like him too. That’s a BIG clue, for sure. 🥲

E7-8. The relationship between Ho Su and Mi Ji actually gets minted these episodes, ooh!

Honestly, I was felt both amused and secondhand mortified, when Mi Ji finally found out from Mi Rae, that Ho Su already knew that she wasn’t Mi Rae.

Like, eaarrghhh!! All those things she’d oh-so-casually said about helping him get together with Mi Ji, and what would the two of them do without her. 🤪🤪 So mortifying!! 🙈🙈😂😂

I literally had to pause the episode and go do something else for a while, before coming back to commiserate with Mi Ji as she drowned in her horrified embarrassment. 😅

I totally get why she would henceforth feel suuper awkward around Ho Su, to the point of trying to avoid crossing paths with him, because it really is a squirm-worthy situation, and I would want to escape too, in her shoes. 😅

The way the two of them are so awkward around each other, with Mi Ji feeling mortified and Ho Su not knowing what to do with the sudden information that she knows that he knows, and I’m ruefully amused at them.

Like, oh these two; they really are a little bit hopeless, aren’t they? 🤭

Which is exactly why it’s good that they have Gyeong Gu, to kick them both in the pants, a little bit.

First, we see Gyeong Gu trying to push Mi Ji to tell Ho Su that she likes him, and when that doesn’t exactly work, he literally makes up a delivery excuse to go to Ho Su’s house, to push him to tell Mi Ji the he likes her, and that there’s no such thing as perfect timing.

Which is so wise, honestly. Because that’s just how imperfect life tends to be.

I’m glad Ho Su takes it to heart and gathers up his courage to tell Mi Ji, which is how we end up with that lovely confession scene at the end of episode.

I love how Ho Su begins by telling Mi Ji about his feelings and intentions that fateful night when he’d wanted to confess to her, but had lost his courage because he wasn’t sure that he could help to heal her the way she was able to heal others.

And then I love even more, how he gently approaches her, and tells that he’d been enduring all this time, because he’d wanted to wait until her heart was lighter and until he’d become a better person, but that he’d tell her tonight; that he likes her, and has liked her for a long time, much more than she knew.

Melt. Meltmeltmelt. 

So gentle, so earnest and so sincere. 🥲

It’s perfectly lovely that Mi Ji replies with earnest wonderment in her eyes, that she likes him too.

The way they just stand there and hold hands for a bit, is very sweet and wholesome too.

It’s only on hindsight though, that I think I understand why Ho Su hurries Mi Ji to go on back inside; it’s likely because he’s not feeling very well, after having waited for her for so long, in the cold.

Plus, he’s also kind of awkward to begin with, particularly when it comes to romancey things, so I can see why, in his mind, this was enough to confirm that they were in a relationship.

BUT, not so to poor Mi Ji, who continues to be confused for quite a while afterwards, in terms of whether or not they’d become a couple. 😂

On the plus side, we do have that very personal conversation at Ho Su’s apartment, when they talk about the time Ho Su had cried when Mi Ji had come over and passed on the message from Bun Hong, that she wouldn’t be home that night.

My favorite part, is when Ho Su talks about Mi Ji always barging into his life and just being there with him, and crying with him, even if she didn’t know what she was crying about.

This speaks of a closeness that feels very important, I feel. 🥲

And, even though part of me shakes my head at the ambiguous way this relationship is starting, I do feel like there’s a strong poignance there, in the reasons why.

There’s Mi Ji, feeling so uncertain of herself, because she’s not actually in an assured sort of place when it comes to her self-worth, and then there’s Ho Su, who’s self-conscious about his weak constitution, and determined not to be a burden to Mi Ji.

It’s just a recipe for misunderstandings and miscommunication, and I feel even worse for Mi Ji, when she reflexively lies about her job when they run into Ho Su’s ex-colleagues.

I’m glad that they finally talk things through at the end of episode 8, when they both come clean.

She, about why she’d lied in the first place, and he, about why he’d appeared distant.

Also, I’m just as glad, that Mi Ji reaches over and gives him that backhug, because that breaks the streak of awkward handshakes between this OTP, and it’s about time too. 😁

[END SPOILER]

Mi Rae and Se Jin

We get even less screen time for this loveline than the main OTP, and yes, it works perfectly well, but I can’t help but wish that we could’ve had more time with this OTP as well, y’know? 🥲

While it’s kind of predictable that there would be a loveline between Mi Rae and Se Jin (drama law pretty much says so, yes? 😅), I still found their pairing quite unpredictable, because of how different they are.

Mainly, I love that Se Jin, in all his quiet, quirky eccentricity, isn’t at all intimidated by Mi Rae’s default prickly personality, and continues to be genuinely curious about her.

I found this particular thing extremely melty, so yay for me, that we get to see this dynamic play out, through a good chunk of this OTP’s connection. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. I love that Mi Rae puts Se Jin in his place with her outburst, once she realizes that he’s testing her, by paying her a high daily wage, but not actually giving her anything to do.

That is her daily nightmare back in the office, so of course she would be completely triggered by Se Jin’s smug experiment.

E3-4. I  enjoy the fact that Se Jin’s so unflustered and undeterred when it comes to Mi Rae and her rather standoffish ways.

Even when she allows her prickliness to come through, his brand of quirk somehow seems to make him quite immune to it, in that he’s not at all put off by it, and seems ready to keep pushing on, in their partnership, and I do like that very well.

Like the way he just deadpans that he’s been waiting to take her home because it’s part of his responsibility as her partner, when she tries to tell him that she’ll go home on her own.

I am low-key amused, and actually look forward to seeing how this reluctant connection continues to unfold.

E5-6. As we close out episode 6, Mi Rae goes back to the strawberry farm to help Se Jin, in the midst of the typhoon.

When she tries to explain why she’s there, and lands on the fact that everything and everywhere else in her life feels fake, and the farm is the only thing that feels real to her, I feel like I can understand what she’s saying.

This strawberry farm is the one thing where she’s put in her effort and been recognized for her effort, and I can see why this feels more real and precious to her, than her role at home, or at the office.

Honestly, though, I can’t help but love Se Jin’s response when she tells him that she disliked the rumors about them because there’s nothing to like about them.

How quirkily, matter-of-factly melty is it, that Se Jin simply says that he likes those rumors about them.

Ahh! Is this an indirect confession, perhaps??

E7-8. I am finding Mi Rae’s burgeoning connection with Se Jin very calming and healing.

There’s just something about the way Se Jin doesn’t seem to care two hoots about what anyone else might think or say, and just marches to his own drum, so to speak.

That’s something that Mi Rae struggles to do, and getting to watch him do just that, before her eyes, is quite helpful, I tend to think.

Also, I really like that we see Mi Rae be so forthcoming in conversation, these episodes, especially when she realizes who Se Jin is, from that magazine that she stumbles across.

It’s charming to see all her words come spilling out, in a way that makes me question whether they’ve had time to actually register in her brain before coming out of her mouth.

And, I’m charmed that Se Jin seems charmed by this too, with the way he remarks thoughtfully, that it’s not that she’s a quiet person, but it’s just that she’d chosen not to talk.

I like moments like this, because it makes me feel like he’s actively trying to understand her better.

Isn’t it so endearing, that he tells her that he likes this version of her?

It seems to me that all this time, Mi Rae’s been trying so hard to “become a tree” that she’s lost a lot of her real self, particularly when interacting with others, so how precious is it, that when she does let her real self leak out like this, she’s greeted by Se Jin telling her that he likes her like this???

It’s basically him telling her that he likes her for her; just the way she is, naturally, and I don’t know what could be more precious to Mi Rae, given how hard she’s worked to suppress her true self, all this time. 🥲

These episodes, I did feel quite thrilled to see how Se Jin and Mi Rae are able to connect at a very important, fundamental level, where they talk about important things that Mi Rae doesn’t feel able to talk to anyone else about.

Like when Se Jin asks her about her interest in activist funds and asks her why she’s here instead of getting involved in what she’s truly interested in, he sees right through her reasons; that they aren’t real.

I like how this conversation kind of continues over several different interactions, and each time, it kind of continues as if they’d never left off from the initial conversation.

And I really appreciate how Se Jin shares his own story, because it’s in sharing his story, that Mi Rae gets to see and understand that he’s not just talking from theory, but from experience.

Like his story about studying for the civil service exam, and how his “reasons” for studying for the exam were just excuses, which is grandfather had seen through.

That his real reason was that he’d been scared, because everyone assumed that he would do well.

This mirrors exactly Mi Rae’s own experience, and I can just feel the connection between them growing stronger, from this sharing. 🥲

Because Se Jin speaks from experience, I feel like his words land with more weight, with Mi Rae, and that is a very positive thing, from where I’m sitting.

And of course, there’s the story that Se Jin tells her, about how he’d missed Grandpa’s last call to him, because he’d been too busy doing something which he’d believed to be important, only to miss out on the truly important thing.

Oof. What an awful lot of regret and guilt this must have given Se Jin, that he would give up everything, to come to tend Grandpa’s strawberry farm, in search of peace? 😭

This story really puts everything into perspective about what the truly important things are, in life, and I do believe that Se Jin’s story goes a long way, in Mi Rae’s own consideration of what to do with her life and her situation.

E7-8. I love how Se Jin figures out that she’s Mi Rae and not Mi Ji, and is so nonchalantly matter-of-fact about it; he doesn’t even confront her about it. He simply starts addressing her as “Mi Rae” and that’s the end of that.

There’s something so quirkily cool about that, I think.

I think it says a lot about how much Mi Rae’s come to trust Se Jin, when she seriously considers Se Jin’s offer to help her stay, instead of go back to Seoul.

It’s just too bad that something’s come up, and Se Jin feels the need to leave the strawberry farm.

Of course that would cause Mi Rae to immediately withdraw and clam up, but I’m hopeful that once Se Jin realizes that Mi Rae wishes to stay, he’ll reach out and make it ok, somehow, all over again. 🥲

[END SPOILER]

Jang Young Nam as Ok Hui

Like I mentioned earlier, usually, dramas don’t tend to give a whole lot of care to fleshing out the contexts and backstories of characters like Ok Hui, but I’m so glad that this show cares enough to do so.

Show peels back the layers, bit by bit, so that we see that beneath Ok Hui’s very gruff and tough exterior, there are hurts and wounds that need healing too.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E7-8. One of the things that strikes me, in this arc, is how Ok Hui believes that Gran wouldn’t care about her even if she knew about Ok Hui being hospitalized.

And yet, the truth is, once Gran hears about it, she gets really worried and anxious, and even gets a nurse to help her make a call to Ok Hui, so that she can ask after her.

It’s heartbreaking, really, the way Ok Hui cuts the call short, telling Gran that she’s fine and there’s nothing to worry about.

First, I’m sad for Gran, because she’d been so worried, and yet, Ok Hui remains distant and gruff, and won’t give her a chance to talk and gain the assurance that she’s looking for.

Second, I’m sad for Ok Hui, that she believes that her own mother doesn’t care about her.

In fact, I’m also sad for her, that she believes that there’s something wrong with her, and that’s why other people always think the worst of her intentions, like the catfight situation with Bun Hong.

I talk more about this in later sections, but I’m just really glad that Ok Hui gets a chance to gain closure and start healing. 🥲

[END SPOILER]

Kim Sun Young as Bun Hong

I just want to say, I loveee Kim Sun Young in this role. 😍😍

I find her interpretation of Bun Hong so gently quirky; I love how she gives Bun Hong this high pitched gentle voice, and I also love the way she makes Bun Hong so naturally animated.

I think it’s so great. 🤩

Bun Hong, for all her lashings of pretentiousness, quickly proves to be very good-hearted, and I found myself liking her a great deal. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E3-4. I really liked that beat where Bun Hong shows Mi Rae how to make strawberry jam, and sneaks in a perspective about life, while she’s at it, by saying that sour strawberries make the best jam.

That’s pretty great of her, I feel like, because she didn’t have to try to help Mi Rae, but she does anyway.

E7-8. It was very, very poignant seeing things from Bun Hong’s perspective, these episodes.

This poor lady’s been through so much, losing her newlywed husband, and then losing her family, in choosing to care for Ho Su as her own.

That flashback to when she’d received news that her mother was in critical condition, and had rushed back to the family home, only to be turned away, was utterly heartbreaking.

And on the very day that Ho Su had lashed out, asking her to leave him alone?

Couldn’t have been a worse day for poor Bun Hong indeed. 💔

[END SPOILER]

Bun Hong and Ok Hui

The slightly awkward connection between Ok Hui and Bun Hong is low-key played for laughs, particularly in our earlier episodes, but I’m so glad that Show takes the time to delve into this relationship, break down the barriers between these two women, and find a way for them to become real friends. 🥲

They literally start our story as frenemies, and then become besties, by the time we get to the finish line, and I love-love-love the way Show paves the way for this, with bursts of truth, empathy and compassion. 🥹

[SPOILER ALERT]

E3-4. I can see why Ok Hui would chafe around Bun Hong, because Bun Hong’s more successful than she, and tends to boast about Ho Su, plus Bun Hong’s her boss, and so, I can see why Ok Hui would throw in a jibe in Bun Hong’s direction when the opportunity arises.

At the same time, it’s clear to see that Ok Hui doesn’t actually mean any harm.

That’s why Ok Hui backpedals so hard, when she realizes that Bun Hong’s mother has passed away, and that’s why Bun Hong keeps telling her not to have any regrets.

That’s also why, when Bun Hong calls Ho Su during that challenge and everyone hears him tell Bun Hong that he’s quit his job, Ok Hui is quick to try to say something to make Bun Hong feel better – it’s just that Bun Hong smoothly side steps it, by saying that she doesn’t identify with Ok Hui’s statement, that sometimes her child feels like someone else’s.

Heh. These two are kinda like frenemies, as far as I can tell, and I am suitably amused.

E7-8. These episodes, I ended up loving the focus on the relationship between Ok Hui and Bun Hong.

At first, it had seemed like quite a ridiculous thing, that they would get into a catfight over Ok Hui’s remark that she’s not interested in having a son-in-law who needs to be waited on hand and foot, but as we see, it all goes a lot deeper than a petty misunderstanding.

For Bun Hong, this touches a very raw nerve, where she can’t shake the belief that Ok Hui had been referring to Ho Su’s extensive injuries from his accident, and his inability to truly function fully like a normal person.

And so, the claws come out in full force, even though they are on some very dangerous stairs, and even though Ok Hui tries to clarify that that’s not what she’d meant at all.

I guess that’s just how blinding emotion can be, when it takes hold of you, yes?

I am so proud of Ok Hui for going over to Bun Hong’s house, and offering to wash Bun Hong’s hair, because Bun Hong’s in no shape to wash her own hair, with her arm in a cast.

Honestly, Ok Hui does speak a kind of truth, in her gruff way, and her remark, that Bun Hong seems to be dating Ho Su, unlike other mothers, does ring true.

Perhaps that’s why Bun Hong chooses to confide in Ok Hui, that she’s not Ho Su’s biological mom.

I’m so proud of Ok Hui, for the way she blusters that of course Bun Hong is Ho Su’s mom, and that you don’t have to give birth, in order to be a mom.

I absolutely believe that those are words that Bun Hong needed to hear, but had had no one from whom to hear them, all these years. 🥹

I love that this marks a new and closer chapter in their friendship, because with this big thing out of the way, they’re now that much freer to share their hearts. 🥰

[END SPOILER]

Bun Hong and Ho Su

When we start our story, the relationship between Bun Hong and Ho Su feels quite typical; she’s the proud mom who only wants the best for her son, and he’s the son who feels suffocated by her good intentions.

However, trust Show to make their story so much more meaningful and poignant than one might first expect.

I’ll just say that this relationship worked out to be so lovely and affecting, that this mother-son connection turned out to be one of my personal highlights of the show. ❤️

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. Show casually clues us in to the fact that Ho Su’s mother has passed away, via that opening shot of the bouquet of white flowers (white is a mourning color), and that Bun Hong is his stepmother, via Ho Su’s defiant question to Dad, about which mother Dad’s referring to.

I honestly didn’t clue in to these revelations until revisiting these episodes for these notes, and I feel like my drama world has tilted in a very real way.

Now, on hindsight, Ho Su’s relationship with Bun Hong is so much more poignant.

All the pride that she takes in him; that scene where she’d called him hoping to hear an “I love you;” her refusal to agree with Ok Hui, that sometimes her son didn’t feel like her own; Ho Su’s awkwardness around her; it all hits differently, now that I understand that she’s his stepmother.

Suddenly, my affection and respect for Bun Hong’s gone up tenfold.

This lady continued to care for her stepson even after her husband had passed away, and brought him up on her own, as her own.

She could have placed him with relatives or in an orphanage and gotten remarried as we’ve seen so many other stepmothers (and even bio mothers) do in Dramaland, but she didn’t.

Instead, she sends Ho Su for surgery after surgery, in a quest to have him fully healed and whole, despite the horrific accident, and is genuinely heartbroken when the doctor informs her that Ho Su will never fully recover from the accident.

She’s such a beautiful soul. 🥲🥲

That said, I can see why Ho Su would feel awkward around her, and I just love her even more, that through his awkwardness, she continues to be patient and loving, in a way that I feel is aptly described as long-suffering.

E7-8. I feel really bad for both Ho Su and Bun Hong, because they’re both trying so hard, but completely missing each other’s intentions.

He wants to set Bun Hong free from her obligations towards him, which he’s always seen as a burden to her, which is why he’s even taking more and more of his things to Seoul, but that’s exactly the thing that hurts her.

She tries so hard to be a good mother to him, and that’s why she’s always busying herself to cook for him and clean for him, but he sees that as him being an unnecessary burden on her life, and it’s just all very heartbreaking to me. 💔

I want this mother and son pair to overcome their communication difficulties and really come to understand and accept that they’re family.

And I’m so glad that Show gives us that, in our finale episodes. 🥲

[END SPOILER]

Special shout-outs:

Won Mi Kyung as Ro Sa

I just had to give Won Mi Kyung a shout-out for her wonderful portrayal of Ro Sa, the restaurant owner.

We start off seeing only her very prickly, brusque side, but later on, there are so many moments of softer emotion, that Won Mi Kyung plays with such a lovely sense of expressive vulnerability.

She communicates so much with her eyes, and I was suitably spellbound. 🤩

Im Chul Soo as Chung Gu [BROAD SPOILERS]

I love having Im Chul Soo on my screen, and I honestly rather loved his outing as Chung Gu, Ho Su’s boss.

I found it interesting that Chung Gu’s in a wheelchair a good amount of the time – but still manages to cut a dapper figure, in his sharp suits and his smart looking cane.

For some reason, I’d imagined that Chung Gu, being a person with a disability, would be a good and compassionate character (possibly from having suffered because of said disability), but in fact, we see that he’s actually more amoral and ambitious instead.

I found that combination of qualities, combined with Im Chul Soo’s cute face, quite trippy, in a good way, and I also appreciated that Show stayed consistent with Chung Gu’s characterization, all the way to the end.

Meaning, whatever change we saw in him, was consistent with his amoral and ambitious characterization; he doesn’t suddenly change because it’s convenient to the story, and I really appreciated that.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE PENULTIMATE EPISODES [SPOILERS]

E9-10. These episodes felt like.. a lot, my friends.

Coming away from episode 10, I feel like my heart’s been all around the block in just the space of these two and a half hours, feeling every emotion, and now I feel a bit like I’ve been left in the corner to recover, after being suckerpunched in the gut. 😅

Let me back up.

We’d ended episode 8 with that cliffhanger, so let me start there, this week.

I had not been expecting that it had been Mi Rae standing in front of that data storage room, and not Mi Ji!

..Which brings us to one of the main ideas in these episodes; that it’s not so simple to switch back to your old life, when living your twin’s life has changed you.

I mean that in a good way, of course. 🥲

Looking back at the experiences that both Mi Rae and Mi Ji have had, and thinking about what they’ve gained from the experience of swapping lives, I think that it boils down to three main things:

1, Each of them has gained from walking their twin’s shoes and hearing and learning things that they would not have, in said twin’s shoes, like what other people really think of them,

2, Each of them has gained perspective that they would not have had, if they hadn’t been in that time and place, like the way Mi Rae meets Se Jin and has all those conversations with him, while living as Mi Ji, and

3, Each of them has gained time and space to reflect and heal, while at a distance from their regular lives, because that’s just something that’s really hard to do, while you’re in the thick of things.

Putting all of that together, I can see why it would feel difficult to just go back to the way things were; Mi Ji and Mi Rae are now changed enough from before, that they no longer easily fit into the same spaces. 🥲

Which, in this case, I count a good thing, because before the switch, they’d both been feeling stuck.

Although it’s a misunderstanding that drives Mi Rae to go back to her life in Seoul, I do feel like it’s a good thing that she goes back.

Not that I want her to go back to her suffocating life, but it feels apt that she goes back to confront her demons, and take the steps to overpower them, that she couldn’t before.

And also, I have to admit, I did get a nice stab of satisfaction at the dumbfounded looks on those guys’ faces, when Mi Rae scanned her thumbprint, and successfully cleared the trap that they’d set for her. YESS. 😁

We finally get insight into what had happened between Mi Rae and Park Sang Yeong, and I have to say, Park Sang Yeong is scum. SCUM, I say. 😡

It’s bad enough that he would come onto Mi Rae like that, after acting like a nice and caring sunbae, but to then turn around and act like the victim, even when it was just the two of them?

THE NERVE. 😡😡😡

With everyone pointing fingers at Mi Rae and questioning her actions, I can see why Mi Rae would start to doubt herself and start to wonder if she had actually contributed to the situation without realizing it.

I mean, when it’s everyone against you, and when people are asking why you did this or didn’t do that, it’s very easy to be led into a different train of thought, and wonder if you had given other people the wrong idea without actually intending to, y’know?

I can see why Mi Rae had chosen to back away from the situation, especially when Ho Su’s appearance triggered her to consider her family and friends.

In the present, though, I’m glad that she’s not taking things lying down, though there is definitely still some struggle, when it comes to grappling with whether or not to do anything about the various injustices that she’s suffered.

It’s not an easy decision to make, certainly, especially given that, as she puts it, this is a fight that she’s already attempted in the past, and had lost – and quite spectacularly, at that.

She does have to get nudged into facing her demons, admittedly, but I can’t blame her for not being keen to wrestle with them in the first place.

One big nudge comes from Tae I, who goes ahead to upload that anonymous post on the company forum about Sihan Construction getting preferential treatment, which leads to everyone suspecting Mi Rae of being the one to upload it.

It’s unfortunate that the train of thought here, is that she’s done something similar once, so it’s very likely that she’d do it again, but the silver lining here, I think, is that this, and the conversation that she has with Su Yeon, through that closed door, forces her to wrestle with her conscience.

To my eyes, it seems that the fact that Su Yeon is still feeling apologetic towards her, even though Su Yeon is, herself, a victim, is a big factor contributing towards Mi Rae’s decision to take action.

What she won’t do for herself, she’d do for Su Yeon – at least, it seems to me that that’s at least part of it.

The other part of it, I think, is that Mi Rae’s time away that has allowed her to gain enough strength to return to the fight.

I LOVE that scene where Mi Ji just jumps in and starts raining blows on Park Sang Yeong.

The way Mi Rae quickly gets into co-conspirator mode, egging Mi Ji on to hit Park Sang Yeong a little more, is so funny to me; I love it. 😂

Mainly though, it’s great to see Mi Rae take up the fight again; this time, wiser, stronger and sharper than before. 🥲

I love that fact that Se Jin cares enough about Mi Rae, that he puts his fancy America plans on hold, and drives that truck all the way to Seoul, in order to find her.

And I love that when he doesn’t manage to find her in the crowd, he gets hold of that fancy sports car, so that she would be able to see him, in the crowd.

He’s got such a sense of romanticism about him, and I find that very sweetly whimsical, especially when he admits that he knew that he could’ve just called Mi Ji, and that she would’ve given him Mi Rae’s number, if he’d just asked.

He didn’t want the easy way out; he wanted a more thrilling, fated sort of encounter – for the romance of it all.

Aw! I love him. 😁

And then how great is it, that he asks Mi Rae for a day of her time, and then takes her to meet all those business owner friends of his, to show her that there are more ways to live and have a good career, aside from working for a big company.

Also, not gonna lie; I found it quite melty, that he would ask her to consider working with him, in the US.

That.. could actually work out quite well, I think?

Like, after Mi Rae’s finished fighting these battles in Seoul, perhaps working with Se Jin, in America, would be a great way to get a fresh start?

As for Mi Ji, one of the complications for her leaving her life as “Mi Rae,” is the fact that she’s made connections with people while living as Mi Rae, like with Ro Sa (well, Sang Wol) and Tae I.

And, well, in a sideways sort of way, Ho Su as well.

Because, while she’d been living as Mi Rae, she’d had a reason to stay in Seoul, which would then put her in the same place as Ho Su, which is great for their budding romance.

But, her going back to Duson-ri does mean that she and Ho Su are no longer in the same place.

I do like that Ho Su does what Mi Ji can’t do for herself: question why she has to go back to Duson-ri in the first place, and tell her that where she chooses to stay, would then become the place where she belongs, and not the other way around.

On a fangirly note, I do love some of the moments of OTP closeness we get, these episodes. 🥰

They are adorably nervous and awkward, navigating these new relationship waters, and I find it utterly wholesome and endearing.

I loved that moment when Ho Su tells Mi Ji, with that awkward, earnest gaze, that she looks pretty with the long hair – but also, just as pretty, with the short hair from before.

So sweetly, awkwardly adoring. 🥲

And then I loved that beat, where Mi Ji stops, mid-kiss, to ask Ho Su what he’s thinking, then ends up spilling her guts about exactly what she’s obsessing over – about whether she’s clumsy, or seems pathetic, or about how long she’s supposed to hold her breath for, or whether she’s ruined the mood – which leads him to then spill his guts over what he’s obsessing over – if she’s only staying coz he’d asked her to, what time the last bus to Duson-ri leaves, whether he should sit on the couch or the floor, or if he should wear sleeves to cover his scars – and it’s all wonderfully, awkwardly but openly honest.

I LOVE IT. 🥰🥰

And I love how Mi Ji quietly tells Ho Su, while gently stroking his scarred arm, that he’s a dummy, because none of it bothers her at all, to which Ho Su tells her in return, that she doesn’t bother him at all either.

The resulting kiss now feels honest, open, vulnerable, and so, so accepting and tender, that my heart’s just quietly bursting over here. 🥹🥹🥹

Aside from this very, very lovely moment, however, it does feel like we don’t get a whole lot more, on the OTP front, these episodes.

Instead, we focus on the things that Mi Ji and Ho Su face individually.

I’m glad that Ho Su comes to a decision during that lunch, and chooses not to take up the job, even though they are happy to hire him.

It feels like a very significant moment for him, because he’s finally managed to crystalize the vague sense of discomfort that’s been haunting him, into an articulated thought: that he’s not as noble as they say he is, and also, that he doesn’t want to be defined by his disability.

I think it’s courageous of Ho Su to turn down the job, because, as we know, Chung Gu’s been making it difficult for him to get a job at any high ranking law firm, and this is a rare opportunity for him.

I do admire him for having the courage to choose to make a stand that aligns with who he really feels he is, on the inside, instead of what or who he thinks he should be. 🥲

For Mi Ji, her process of reckoning really begins, I think, when she wakes up in a panic and feels compelled to return to her old life in Duson-ri, because it seems to her, that she has no place in Seoul.

And yet, just like Mi Rae had found with her place in Seoul, Mi Ji also finds that it’s not so simple, going back to her old place in Duson-ri.

I’m glad that it finally clicks for Ok Hui, and she realizes that Mi Ji and Mi Rae had switched places, because that leads to a much-needed confrontation and conversation, about the fact that Ok Hui treats the twins differently.

When Mi Ji hadn’t yet approached her family as “Mi Rae,” it didn’t really matter so much, but now that she’s experienced first-hand what it’s like to be “Mi Rae” with Ok Hui, the difference, of coming home as herself, must be very stark to her.

And so, even though it’s upsetting for both Ok Hui and Mi Ji to have this confrontation, I do feel like it’s much needed, because it’s only now, that it becomes clear to Ok Hui, why Mi Ji would continue to stay on in Duson-ri, the way she’s done all these years:

She feels a responsibility not to leave Ok Hui alone, and to help with caring for Gran.

I feel bad for Ok Hui, in the sense that this is a realization that makes her feel extremely guilty as a mom, because now she feels that she’s held Mi Ji back from living her life.

But, I’m here for the silver linings, and the silver lining here, is that this realization unlocks their situation and allows for new things to happen, like Mi Ji going back to Seoul, not because she needs to cover for Mi Rae, but because she wants to. 🥲

Back in Duson-ri, I’m glad to see Bun Hong offering words of concern and advice to Ok Hui, even though Ok Hui is as grumpy and suspicious of Bun Hong’s intentions as ever.

I love how Bun Hong brings Gran pine nut porridge and coaxes her to eat, and then nudges Ok Hui to show Gran some love, before it’s too late.

Augh. That whole beat, where Bun Hong talks about how she realized that you need to receive love before you can give love, and had wondered if her mom would have loved her back, if she’d shown Mom some love first, was just such a swift suckerpunch to the gut.

That hit me so hard, in the feels; I find the idea of a wounded healer so affecting, and that’s exactly what Bun Hong is, to Ok Hui, in this moment, and I find myself loving Bun Hong more than ever. 🥲

In the meantime, I do like that Ho Su and Mi Ji search together, for what they really want to do with their careers.

And, it makes sense that it all culminates with the story of Ro Sa and Sang Wol, which we get to see unfold before our eyes, in flashback, as Ro Sa (who’s actually Sang Wol) tells the story to Ho Su and Mi Ji.

It is truly such a heartbreaking and affecting story, and I can’t help but feel for both Ro Sa and Sang Wol, who had so little, and suffered so much hardship, but had each other, for comfort.

I came across some comments by other viewers, whose point of view is that Sang Wol had loved Ro Sa romantically, and I have to confess, I hadn’t picked up on that, while watching.

On hindsight, however, I can see how that interpretation would work as well.

I chose to digest it as a relationship between platonic soulmates, and I found their story, where they continually made sacrifices for the other person’s sake, very touching.

How poignant is it, that Sang Wol’s been living all these years, holding Ro Sa’s name and memory dear?

And how equally poignant is it, that Ro Sa had believed, and told Sang Wol, even on her deathbed, that Sang Wol would meet good people one day?

And how sweetly wholesome is it, that Sang Wol now believes that Ho Su and Mi Ji are these good people? 🥹

I’m very glad that Ho Su and Mi Ji manage to get Sang Wol a suspended indictment, and it really is wonderful to see Mi Ji bubble with excitement.

Her animated description of her lucky dream was super cute and endearing, I must say.

However, I can’t help but worry for Ho Su, because the fact that sound seems to be blanking out for him, does not look good at all.

And yet, I still have faith, that Show will somehow give us an ending that leans hopeful and wholesome. 🥹

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

E11-12. My friends. I loved this finale so much, that as I’m sitting down to write about it all, I feel uncertain about whether I’ll be able to do this show justice – that’s just how much I loved it. 🥲

I can say that this was the most satisfying drama finale in recent memory, and I am 100% wistful at saying goodbye to these characters, but also, I feel 100% satisfied with where we leave them.

How often can one say that about a drama finale, yes? 🥲

Perhaps even rarer, is the fact that I can say that I loved the penultimate episode just as much as I loved the finale; so often, the penultimate episode just feels like Show ramping up for the finale, but in this case, the penultimate episode felt just as important and meaningful as the finale.

Put in drama speak, you could say that the penultimate episode isn’t a supporting actor, there to make the finale work; the penultimate episode was a main character, all in its own right.

I cried watching each of these final episodes, and it was just so affecting and satisfying, all around. 🥲

I feel like the best way to talk about it all, would be to break it down into big sections and just dive in, so here I go.

Ho Su’s hearing issue

Honestly, I’d been so worried when Show gave us that cliffhanger at the end of episode 10, indicating that Ho Su’s hearing was suddenly getting worse; I was worried for Ho Su, and I was also worried for what this might do to our remaining episodes.

I needn’t have worried, because I do think that Show handles it wonderfully.

Show keeps it realistic, in making it such that we – including Ho Su himself – don’t know whether or not his hearing will get any worse, after it stabilizes after that steroid treatment, but the overall tone of hope was really well done, I felt.

It made sense to me that Ho Su’s first instinct would be to cut off everyone dear to him, and hole himself up, once he heard from the doctors that there was a chance that he would lose his hearing completely, and that there was nothing they could do to prevent that from happening, if it was going to happen.

As hard as it was to see Ho Su like that (I literally started and stopped episode 11 a couple of times, because it was that hard for me, to see Ho Su like that), I really liked how Show used this to give us breakthroughs in the relationships that matter the most to him.

Ho Su and Bun Hong

The one that got to me the most, was Ho Su’s relationship with Bun Hong; that was literally THE highlight of episode 11, for me.

I love that Bun Hong goes straight to Ho Su’s apartment in Seoul, and has people drill through his lock; she’s that determined to reach him, even though he would rather not be reached.

It’s like her Big Mama Bear energy is too great for Ho Su to keep out, and I love it.

I love even more, that in the emotional conversation that follows, all their true feelings come tumbling out.

Ho Su finally admits that he feels that he’s been a burden on Bun Hong long enough, and that she should now go and live her own life.

I just love Bun Hong’s response; she basically reframes everything for Ho Su, by telling him that he’d been the one to save her.

That, because he’d reached out to her first and called her “Mom” when she’d felt like ending her life, she’d survived that very dark time in her life; that he was and still is her reason for living.

I love that we, along with Ho Su, finally get the finished sentence that Dad had started to say, when that accident had taken his life, that fateful day.

How poignant and beautiful, that it had been a sentence that he’d learned from Bun Hong herself, when he’d tried to break up with her, for fear of being a burden to her, and how poignant and beautiful it is in the present, that Ho Su would finally hear the full sentence from Bun Hong herself:

That love isn’t about winning or losing; it’s about staying together, on the same team, to the very end.

I love how adamant Bun Hong is, as she looks Ho Su in the eye, and tells him that he’s her son, and she’s his mom, and then pulls him in for the biggest bear hug a mama bear could give. 🥹❤️

Augh. This entire scene was so emotional and affecting; I just love-love-LOVE that their relationship is redefined and strengthened, from this moment onwards.

And it was so gratifying to see this new, strengthened relationship at play, in the rest of these episodes.

Like when Ho Su shows up to Bun Hong’s school, bearing flowers, just to see where she works, and Bun Hong’s colleagues coo enthusiastically over the handsome son of whom Bun Hong’s always spoken so proudly. 🥲

Ho Su and Mi Ji

I was very much bummed when Ho Su opted to break up with Mi Ji, but I could understand his reasoning; that he didn’t want to be more of a burden on her than he already was.

And I can also understand why Mi Ji didn’t fight him on this too much; she’d been through something similar, and could understand his instinct to cut everyone and everything off, and withdraw into himself.

I’m so glad for Bun Hong and Sang Wol, because each of them gives the two halves of our OTP a push in the right direction – towards each other.

It’s very gratifying, that we see both Ho Su and Mi Ji make that choice, to be together, even though they don’t know what the future will bring, because the most important thing, is that they face that future together. 🥲

Mi Ji

And what an important breakthrough for Mi Ji, that she finds the courage to close that bedroom door, and then make the choice to open it, in order to go towards Ho Su.

In the past, she’d been forced out of her room because Gran had collapsed, and Mi Ji had had no choice but to open the door and step outside.

Because that hadn’t been her own choice, it feels worthwhile and significant, that she make that decision for herself, even now, in the present. 🥲

In the end, I’m glad that Mi Ji chooses to go back to school, not because of any other reason, but that she wants to give it a proper go this time around, instead of how she’d simply given up in the past, so that she wouldn’t have to measure up against Mi Rae.

This feels like a decision towards growth, more than towards any particular ambition, and that feels meaningful, to me.

With this, and renting her own place in Seoul, it really feels like Mi Ji’s finally growing up for real, and that feels so worthwhile and hard-won.

Gran and Ok Hui

Even though the time is short, I’m really glad that Ok Hui gains insight into Gran’s heart, which has been for her, all these years.

There has been a lot of lost time, for sure, but it still feels like a precious breakthrough, when Ok Hui breaks down sobbing at the hospital, and Gran just holds her as she cries.

I feel like this is such an important moment of catharsis and healing for Ok Hui, and for Gran as well. 🥲

Gran and Mi Ji

I was sad to realize that Gran wasn’t going to make it, and I immediately felt for Mi Ji, because she’s been the closest to Gran, all these years.

That farewell dream that Mi Ji has, where she gets to talk with Gran one last time, was so well done, I thought.

It was great to see Gran so full of life and vigor, compared to the bedridden state that she’d been in, all these years.

And it was very meaningful, that Gran tells Mi Ji about all the adventures she’s planning to go on – but that she would hang on, if that’s what Mi Ji really wanted.

It feels like such a loving sacrifice, for Mi Ji to tell Gran that it was ok for her to go, because you can just see that Mi Ji doesn’t want to hold Gran back, nor have her suffer.

It’s so touching, the way Mi Ji then puts on Gran’s shoes for her; what a supportive, loving thing to do, to send Gran on her way with so much love.

I definitely cried big fat tears at this point, my friends; it was just so beautiful, affecting and poignant. 🥹

Ok Hui

I’m truly glad to see Ok Hui finally gain some perspective, and become more consciously grateful for her daughters.

It feels refreshing to see her take that step back, and give her permission for Mi Rae and Mi Ji to choose the paths they feel is right for them, as unconventional as these paths might seem.

At the same time, I’m glad to hear her say, upon Mi Ji’s prodding, that she’ll go back to painting.

Aw. She’s going back to the passion that she’d put aside, all those years ago, and that feels like she’s reclaiming at least a bit of the life that she’d once wanted for herself. 🥲

Mi Rae and Se Jin

As for Mi Rae, I’m very pleased with how Show resolves her situation.

It’s great that we get to see the various slimey people at the office get their just desserts without having to spend much screen time on them, and it’s also nice to know that Se Jin’s supporting her by helping her get that article published, which expedites everything.

I like that Mi Rae chooses to quit, not because she has everything figured out, but because she knows that leaving that toxic workplace, is in her best interest.

I’m also proud of her for listening to her heart, and choosing the option that feels right to her, instead of the option that makes the most logical sense.

Although part of me had wanted her to take up Se Jin’s offer, to work with him in the US, I realize that her choice, to manage the strawberry farm in Duson-ri, is the choice that would give her time and space to find herself, properly, and also, grow into her own person without any outside interference.

I like that through it all, we see that there’s a definite spark of a special connection between Mi Rae and Se Jin.

I love even more, that aside from some mild protests, Se Jin doesn’t actually try to change Mi Rae’s mind, once she’s made her decision, even though he likes her and would like nothing more than for her to go to the US with him.

Clearly, it’s not because he doesn’t like her enough; it’s because he respects her decision, and wants to honor her choice. 🥲

I did love that goodbye scene at the airport, where he rushes out of the check-in area the minute he realizes that she’s there at the airport to see him off; he’s so endearing in his dorky way. 😍

And then, time skip later, I do love that moment, when he comes back to Korea and finds her again, in the middle of Seoul.

This is such a great callback to that moment when he’d first come to Seoul looking for her, but hadn’t been able to find her, in the sea of people.

It’s so gratifying to see that now, Mi Rae no longer blends into that sea of people, but stands out, as her own person. 🥰

It’s also really satisfying to see that the time spent apart hasn’t dulled Se Jin’s feelings for Mi Rae one bit, even though she’s kept the interactions pretty businesslike, in the time that he’s been away.

We don’t get to see this relationship overtly evolve into something more, but I’m pretty certain that this connection will blossom into something romantic, now that they’re back in the same orbit again. 🥲

In the end

Show gives us an ending that’s open, yet hopeful, and that feels perfectly perfect.

It’s great to see Mi Ji figure out that she’d like to be counselor, and it’s also great to see Sang Wol read Ro Sa’s poetry at a public reading (how far she’s come! 🥲), and it’s also great to see Ok Hui and Bun Hong become such close friends, that they would live with each other, while having their homes renovated.

And of course, it’s also very heartwarming, to see Mi Ji and Ho Su start to think about their future as a couple, even as Mi Rae and Se Jin reconnect, now that he’s back in Korea.

Everyone’s in a place of contentment and growth, and even though the future is unknown, I have full confidence that they will continue to keep writing on the empty pages of the books of their lives, and fill the pages with memories, learning and love, for a lifetime. 🥹🥰

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Wonderfully sensitive, absolutely relatable and so very worthwhile. 🥲

FINAL GRADE: A+

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PATREON UPDATE!

The next drama I’m covering on Patreon, in place of  Our Unwritten Seoul is Law and the City [Korea].

You can check out my episode 1-2 notes on Law and the City on Patreon here.

Here’s an overview of what I’m covering on Patreon right now (Tier benefits are cumulative)!

Foundation Tier (US$1): Entertainment Drop (Sundays) + the first set notes of all shows covered on Patreon (that’s 2 episodes for kdramas and 4 episodes for cdramas)

Early Access (US$5): +The First Night with the Duke [Korea]

Early Access Plus (US$10): +Law and the City [Korea]

VIP (US$15): +The Prisoner of Beauty [China]