Summary
The ending of the finale certainly leaves much for the imagination of the audience, but this is a realistic end to a love story.
The finale of The Interest of Love had to focus mostly on Ahn Su-yeong (Moon Ga-young) and Ha Sang-su (Yoo Yeon-seok), especially after the bombshell in Episode 15 (that they don’t see each other again).
Episode 16 is certainly not for the hopeless romantics. If anything, it delves into the mishaps for love. The trials and tribulations of regret. The importance of healing. The ending of the finale certainly leaves much for the imagination of the audience, but this is a realistic end to a love story. It isn’t a certain happy ending. A lie we console ourselves to all of our childhood. It provides that sobering but self-aware outlook that being in love is simply not enough. Making the right decisions is hard work to nurture something sacred.
The Interest of Love Season 1 Episode 16 recap
Season 1 Episode 16 opens up — it’s June 2023. A normal day at the bank. Sang-su is living his life, becoming an assistant manager as it flits to 2024. He’s trying to forget about Su-yeong despite four years passing by.
Episode 16 moves to a wedding day — Sang-su presents a wedding between two colleagues from the bank — Ma Du-sik and Bae Eun-jeong. The bride wonders where Mi-gyeong is, which is met with an awkward silence. Colleagues believe it’s still awkward for Sang-su. Later on, Gyeon-pil bumps into Mi-gyeong at the wedding. It’s been a long time since they have seen each other. Mi-gyeong works at HQ now.
Su-yeong and Sang-su miss each other
Eventually, we see Su-yeong in Episode 16. A colleague visits her to catch up. She admits she thinks of Sang-su sometimes and reminisces. Su-yeong runs her own cafe now and admits she may need to visit the bank to get a loan. Regardless of where Sang-su and Su-yeong are in their lives, there’s definitely an air of regret. The wounds are not healing. They haven’t forgotten about each other at all.
Su-yeong needs a bank loan for her cafe
As we move forward, Sang-su moves branches. As he drives, he thinks he sees Su-yeong, and he immediately pulls over to run after her. The mere sight of her makes him almost breathless. However, when he reaches the woman, it is not her. However, by chasing after her, he does run into Su-yeong’s cafe — it’s a drawing cafe called “Future Happiness.” He decides to enter, and he sees paintings that he recognizes, locations where he and Su-yeong have walked and had endless conversations.
(Can I say, the whole coffee and paint cafe concept is a brilliant idea).
Mi-gyeong and Su-yeong find closure in their fractured friends, and Jong-hyeon achieves his dream
Meanwhile, Su-yeong is visiting a bank branch to enquire about a loan. She gets a trainee employee, so she sympathizes and asks the woman to take her time. She remembers what it was like to work at a bank. As she leaves the bank, Sang-su enters, and he’s introduced to his colleagues as the assistant manager.
Afterward, while at an art gallery, Su-yeong and Mi-gyeong run into each other, so they go for a coffee and a chat. They catch up, and surprisingly it isn’t awkward as they anticipated. Mi-gyeong admits that she used to resent her, but over time she became curious about her — either way, she has missed her. Su-yeong tells Mi-gyeong that she’s missed her too. The finale then moves to Jong-hyeon — he became a police officer as he dreamed of. He’s all glowed up.
Sang-su learns that Su-yeong owns the “Future Happiness” cafe
Back at work, Sang-su is given a report on one of their clients that’s due for an inspection — the business “Future Happiness” owned by Ahn Su-yeong. Earlier in the episode, Su-yeong asked the woman inside the cafe what the name of the cafe meant, and she didn’t know.
The bank invites Su-yeong to meet Sang-su about the missing documents for the inspection. Su-yeong freezes, knowing she will meet Sang-su after all this time. Sang-su walks into her cafe, and time almost stands still as they look at each other intently. Sang-su runs through with her the inspection procedure, and it is slightly awkward.
Afterward, Su-yeong invites Sang-su for coffee. They catch up, and Su-yeong tells Sang-su that she tries to be happy as best as possible. Sang-su admits he tried to be happy too. Sang-su finally leaves, frustrating this love storyline even further.
Eventually, in the finale, we see a fleeting reunion between Su-yeong and Jong-hyeon. Su-yeong passes him by as he directs cars as a traffic officer. They simply smile at each other. No conversation is needed. And then, there’s a fleeting moment between Sang-su and Mi-gyeong too. All the characters have healed as well as they can after what they endured years before.
Sang-su has no more reasons to see Su-yeong after the inspection concludes
Sang-su visits Su-yeong’s cafe to continue the inspection; Sang-su sees Su-yeong smoking and wonders when she took on that habit, revealing that he quit. She jokingly tells him that he will live longer than her. Everything with the inspection is cleared, and Su-yeong looks sad that their banking ordeal is over. Sang-su asks if he can try painting before he leaves. He paints a beach and a sand castle where they both sat together, peacefully
Sang-su finally leaves, and Su-yeong seems anxious. It’s obvious she doesn’t want him to leave (not knowing when she will see him again). Sang-su tells her that he hopes she lives a happy life, and she returns the same sentiments. Once again, there’s no closure between them both. Sang-su at least as his painting, a memory of their brief encounter, but deep down, it is not enough.
Sang-su and Su-yeong cross paths again
Sang-su walks late in the night and bumps into Su-yeong, which makes them both laugh; they can’t believe they have run into each other again. They go for a coffee, and there are a lot of unspoken words between them. Su-yeong wants to know why he isn’t curious as to why she ghosted him. Sang-su admits he doesn’t fully understand why she ghosted, and it didn’t feel right missing her when she broke a promise — to go out to eat pork cutlets. The pair laugh to add amusement to the conversation.
Sang-su gives Su-yeong another chance and asks her if she’d like to see him the next day — she promises again.
Sang-su and Su-yeong meet for a date, and this time, Sang-su makes sure he is not late
And the next day comes, and Sang-su is under pressure at work to leave on time to go on his date with Su-yeong — he’s so desperate to be on time that he balances the books himself with his own cash. The series goes full circle; while he was late at the start of this story, this time, he turns up on time to meet Su-yeong. Sang-su asks her why she never called him back in the past; Su-yeong believes she had no more to give or receive.
Sang-su ponders what would have happened if they made different decisions — if Sang-su did not hesitate on the night they were supposed to go on a date; if Sang-su was not thrown off by her and Jong-hyeon — if they did absolutely everything right, giving the audience a kind of La La Land montage.
Su-yeong then wonders the same if she had made different decisions. She ponders how better it would have been if she was honest with him. A life with less regret and instead, love.
Su-yeong and Sang-su admit they wished they worked out and are expressing the number of regrets they have. Su-yeong tells Sang-su they would have had a life of marriage and family, sometimes arguing like a couple, enjoying the day-to-day until the inevitable divorce. Sang-su disputes the divorce part, knowing Su-yeong always thinks of worst-case scenarios. They are being playful with each other. It’s a prelude to their official relationship.
The Interest of Love Season 1 Episode 16 Ending Explained
Eventually, they both stop walking and look at each other longingly. Sang-su narrates how they were once a part of each other’s lives and fell in love, but they played foolishly with what they had. But everything they regretted made each other long for each other more. Were they either in love or blinded by interest all of this time? By now, we know the answer. They are intensely in love.
Do Su-yeong and Sang-su end up together in the end?
As the finale ends, Sang-su and Su-yeong look at each other with love in their eyes before continuing to walk. This time, there is no goodbye to end the night. They have everything they need.
Whether they will end up together is a question left to the audience. This is certainly a painful ending for the hopeless romantics hoping for an embrace. Instead, the K-Drama ended by teasing the audience with the “what-ifs.” We leave this series hoping that they work it out now they are back in each other’s lives. No foolishness, no regrets. The lesson served is — if you love someone, make sure you have no regrets.
What did you think of the K-Drama The Interest of Love Season 1 Episode 16 and the Ending? Comment below.
Most frustrating K drama I have ever watched. Very disappointing ending and series.
I hated the ending.
So they did or did not end up together!!!? Omg
This show ending is one of the most horrible ending in a kdrama that I have seen in a long time since after cheese trap series ending, cheese in trap is actually better because I don’t feel like I have wasted my time watching it. I mean I don’t even understand the moral of the show. I don’t believe I spent 16hrs watching this, to the writer if you want to be romantic be romantic, if you going for a slice of live, stay there, why the mess.
When people are not honest and open about their true feelings it will inevitably lead to regrets! I think Sang Su for the most part tried to be honest with Su- Yeong about his feelings for her. He even went so far as to break up with Mi-Yeong. I was really hoping in the end they would realize their mistakes and start fresh. They both clearly love one another and deserve to be happy.
I do not think the writer knew how to end it.
I loved this series but the ending left me unsatisfied. Why did Su-yeong make so many heartbreaking decisions? The explanations were pathetically weak. I can only conclude that the producers wanted to drag it out for 16 episodes but the writers couldn’t come up with stronger reasons. They still could have salvaged the ending with a kiss. Instead they left but it as weak as Su-yeong’s rationale for doing what she did.
This series is definitely not for the hopeless romantics. No matter how it ended I simply loved how the emotions were dealt with the right amount of pace in this series… The series literally talks emotions to it’s audience.
This drama ending sucks. Why did she keep on entertaining him on episode 16 if there was no feelings there? She could have just moved on because rehashing about the past did not matter at this point since she is always negative about the relationship. In life you do not need to know every “what if”. The writers could have done better. After 4 years both could have been more assured of what they want and where they would go with their lives. It could have been more specific. Love the acting except Su Yeong’s movements were always just too slow. It was a let down.
The ending is like many moments in the series: lacking clarity and a glimmer of hope. The writers have created weak main characters who drag paradoxes and indecisions throughout the story. This clumsy rather than open ending shows that the lack of ambition also concerns the writers.
I think people are missing the point to this show… this is not a love story. The show even sets you up for it in the beginning, when Mr. Ha says he messed up by falling in love with an “absolute bitch”.
We soon learn that more than a bitch, Ms. An is a broken person which, due to her past, has a very hard time “letting people in” (aka trust issues). Because of this, she opts for an “easier” relationship with Mr. Jung as he’s not an emotional threat to her because of his age and immaturity, making it more difficult for her to develop deep feelings for him.
Eventually, as Ms. An heals from her past wounds, Mr. Ha and Mr. Jung remain stuck. This makes it “wrong” to step into a relationship with either one, as it wouldn’t be fair to the other. Additionally, when asked by Mr. Ha “why she never called”, Ms. An states that “there was nothing left to give and nothing left to receive”, meaning that since the relationship had been corrupted from the beginning, it made it impossible for her to give or receive anything to and from Mr. Ha without feeling wrong about it.
In the end it is revealed that she always DID like him, but their timing was always off. For either personal or external reasons, they could never get the timing right, and that’s what this show is about; Timing.
Finally, Mr. Ha gets the closure he needs in the end as they walk up the “hill of oblivion”, as he’s able to face whatever the outcome is from their relationship. This is the best possible ending to this show, as their relationship was ill fated from the start.
I believe some things should have been written differently, but overall I think it’s a great show for its unique approach to the crude reality of some relationships. Also, it carries a great message: we need to learn to let go.
Bob, you are so right. It was similar to the sad, droning music in the background. It made no sense to me. I felt so cheated, having watched so many hours of this bad drama.
The beautiful zombie actress and the ice hockey playing corpse made a nice couple. Too bad it didn’t work out.
Se-Young did not deserve Sang Su. He was such a decent and honest man and Se-Young toyed with his feelings. The way she disappeared on him was so wrong. I kept hoping he could free himself from her and meet someone who deserved him, leaving her to feel the pain Sang Su felt. Se-Young drove me crazy with her issues and games she played. I checked out on her when she conspired on the making of that video. This was a good series with the male lead actor doing an excellent job of portraying his character but I was disappointed he did not find someone who deserved him.
Incredibly frustrating drama….so much so that I was afraid to watch the ending. Terrible, terrible ending that left fans that deserved much more than they got. Total ambiguity.
Ending would have been ok if they hadn’t married ml off to someone else in episode 9 clip of future.
I don’t like the ending. It’s so frustrating.
An infuriating and unrealistic drama. I really don’t think people would drag out their feelings for one another for years. I liked it in the beginning and hated it in the end.
Very frustrating drama, indeed?
How i wish i didnt watch the final episode?
Reality at its finest or worst. Everyone wants and they lived happily ever after, it’s hard work to have happily ever, there’s a giver and a taker, Mr. Ha is hopelessly in love, Ms An not so much, I think due to her parents infidelity and brother’s death. She needed to be in therapy.
Hopefully they will find peace with each other as companions….
The.Ending.Sucks
How i wish i didn’t watch this series
I don’t like open finales, I feel the writers plays with us however she said that always goes on hiding and it’s was difficult to get her although he said that always finds everyone because he wait until they comes out. Those lines are telling me that at the end are together more mature, learn from their mistakes. Her bank friend said at the hospital “ If you are destined for each other will get together eventually.
Lovely love story however the solutions to end relationships were a bit incomprehensibles. Not sure if real people will do that or just say “ sorry I don’t love you anymore, let’s go different ways” or put your self back because you think your are less of other peoples relationship’s.
Hopefully the writes next time gives us closed end be very much appreciated. Thank you
Loved him. Both his acting and character was fascinating. But I really disliked how her character was written and portrayed – as if she thought the singlemost important trait in life was to be enigmatic. She was kind of a narcissist, in love with her own vibe of mysteriousness. The only thing that bothered me about him by episode 16 was why was he even still interested in her? She was not a good person. I would have liked to have seen a better ending for him. They wouldn’t eventually divorce from bickering. No, they’ll have two kids and one day she would just up and ghost them all, screwing up another generation. That’s who she is. Why did she leave? Because she just couldn’t be bothered anymore. They really didn’t seem to be in love anymore, anyway.
someone said it better than me……its unbelievable….that these people wasted my time//. watcherf beware
Episode 16, hated it! Too much reminiscing and looking back, instead of now. Yes we can have regrets, but the future is ahead! Sang Su and Se Young should have said let’s start anew and looked forward to happy times together. It was obvious they still had feelings for one another
my goodness what an ending…im anticipating an exciting ending seeing Sang su and Su yeong together kissed together at the end which mean they really love each other …The ending means viewers want a Season 2 for this. I want an ending that could make me happy i spent how many hours watching this kdrama and yet at end im not satisfied….please producer do something to make this kdrama worth remembering and to watch repeatedly season 2 is the answer hahaha
The what-ifs are what we thought should’ve happened between Su Yeong and Sang Su. But they complicate the relationship with many wrong decisions of not to be honest with their feelings. The non-contact between them for 4 years feels like a reset button. They learn what not to do from the past and more or less agree on what could have happened if they made the right decisions. At the end, both of them now decide to go together to the place they planned to go long before. They are at where they should have been.
Sang Su deserves someone who is as nice as he is. Su-Young is too prickly for him. I would like the ending shows Sang Su happy and moves on with his life.
INTEREST OF LOVE
I became very invested in the characters and their relationships. The ending is a MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. It’s HORRIBLE! In this current world where fear and loathing take center stage more and more every day, no one should be asked to invest their time and give their hearts following these endearing characters and their story only to be dumped into an abyss of depression. This show went from a lovely much-needed vehicle of escape and entertainment to a sorrowful BLACK HOLE. This world needs more love…more happy endings. I don’t want or need to spend so much of my time watching a Kdrama only to feel bad at the end. I have better things to do. Shame on the writers. Shame on Netflix! If there is no Season 2 to show that there is hope for even broken people…that they can grow, learn, maybe even earn a second chance, and deserve to be loved, then this ending is even worse than I’ve explained….if that’s even possible!
Sad and open ending without any closure…just a waste of time
Horrible ending. So frustrating. I am tired of seeing endings like this where the couple does not get together. I feel like the writers cheat the audience.
The ending sucks. There is no hope for redemption. No more romantic kdramas for me. They are not realistic at all.
The last episode was beautiful! We had 15 episodes of misunderstandings, repressed feelings, complexes and misgivings. I for one doubted SYs feelings towards SS. They were ambiguous, she just wanted him to be happy without her, as she could not love him back ….toxic environment didn’t help. In the end , SY was madly in love with SS, she had done everything to help both of them! She really no love to give or receive after the terrible breakups with JJ and SS…. That was not the time to start dating each other. She knew SS will find her one day! The older teller told her to stop this repressed feelings, 4 years have gone, if she is interested in SS, she should not wait ! After that, we can see how much she loved him, not wanting him to leave when he came, she never wanted to say goodbye to him ever, it crushed her when he walked out! She knew where he would go! Yes! She knew he will go to that cafe as he is having a hard time! She finds him and laughs , happy to see him again! He asks to go for dinner date, she accepts!!! That means she is. Or letting go of him this time. At the end , SS says he had not forgotten anything! Not her and not there love! The walk uphill , all ready to live each other as they should have 4 years ago…. This was great ending! Finding out how much they lived each other after 4 years even!
Are you freaking kidding me? That’s it? I watched faithfully every week to watch this empty, blasé ending! So very very disappointed in the writing of this. Let’s play the truth game for a second. I HATED THIS ENDING. A WASTE OF MY TIME!
Assistir a história de um amor tão belo, compreensivo e perseverante, principalmente da parte de Sang Su, especialmente com um ator que transborda sensibilidade, é compensador, apesar da incerteza quanto ao final dos dois que frustra os nossos ideais românticos.
Certamente, há muito o que aprender no que diz respeito aos preconceitos, diferenças de classe e traumas, que limitam não apenas a vida das pessoas, mas também o relacionamento entre elas.
Watching this drama was an exercise in frustration. The script was so ridiculous at times…especially the supposed one stand to create a finality? Do we not have language? Must we orchestrate betrayal between friends and lovers to communicate, to create boundaries and understanding of the complexities at hand? This script advocates immaturity/acting out/repressed feelings.
Definitely not a good, engaging, smart script.
This is typical of Netflix-they have had several unsatisfying endings for their K-dramas lately, without clear resolution. Examples include Interest of Love, Twenty-Five, Twenty-One, and My Liberation Notes.
I looked up the writers and directors and promised myself not to ever watch a show they are involved in. What an awful script and waste of time.
These people need to move on to others. They are totally unable to communicate with each other. I see them as never being able to do this and living a silent relationship in the future. They are both wounded human beings .
I still don’t know why Su-yeong did what she did with the coworker. She crashed the castles, but why? She was better with Jong-hyeon.
Mi-gyeong was better for Sang-su.
Strong actors. Miserable – dysfunctional plot.
The first time Sang Su and Su-Yeong walked up the Hill of Oblivion, Sang Su explained that is called the Hill of Oblivion because students forget what they have studied once they reach the top. Su-Yeong asked Sang Su if he forgot anything. Sang Su replied, no he didn’t. Su-Yeong looked sad. She was hoping to get back with him, but Sang Su doesn’t seem up to it. He tried to say goodbye to her many times in the last episode.
A delicate hug or a gentle hand hold at the very end would have left the viewers fully relieved.
Very disappointed with the ending. I felt the drama was dragging very slow every episode. Not much romance and the ending was horrible.
This is the most frustrating kdrama I had ever watched…I won’t try to ever watch this again for the second time. I love the actors but I don’t want them to get involved in a kdrama series like this one. The author must have had lots of regrets and disappointments in his pathetic life to have written this. No more of this kind of story please….
The coldness borderline ceuelty of Su Yeong was borderline psychopath, in my view. And the reason was not explained, nor resolved.
The blind persistence of Sang Su in the face of such rejection and cruelty makes you think how could he expect happiness with some one so broken.
The series alow tempo and her fold eyes made me cring many times. She is very beautiful and out of reapect for Yoo Jon Seok who is a talented actor, was the only reason that I suffered rhis horrible drama till the end.
Frustrating ending! Wasting my time! But I think I’m not alone and that quite cheers me up!
Hopeless.
Writer only wanted to do things complicated.
Don’t write dramas anymore
The producer and writers in this drama are confused, just like the characters in the drama itself, back and forth, going around and around… don’t know how to write a good ending nor understand the audience. The whole series is long and weird (actually not real, people in real life are much more intelligent and practical) . Thumb down for this drama.
I wonder how many 4 yrs we could have thinking and missing a person whom you love and dare not commit.
I was truly disappointed with the ending. The series up to the ending was great and even left viewers with anxious moments because of the many false baits that was magnificently used, but as much as we held on to the hope of a long awaited scene with them finally getting the love between them resolved and a happy ending, we are left with the same open ended relationship they had throughout the entire series. I was truly disappointed in the ending.
I am 69 years old and am an avid K drama fan. I must have watched over 120 serials in the past 3 years. Interest of love was perhaps the most
difficult to understand in episode 16. The ending was definitely not what viewers like me would have anticipated. One never understood why Sang su
did not listen to the full recording in episode 15. Maybe he didnt care what Se-young did since his love for her was above what she did with other men. Very confusing. If it is left to the viewers imagination to decipher the end in the finale, then they left quite a few loose ends from the start. I would rate this drama 4/10 only because I like both the female lead ( Alchemy of souls S 2) and the Male lead ( Hospital playlist S1 and S2). Sorry but disappointed.
Most frustrating K drama I have ever watched. Very disappointing ending and series.
What a waste of time don’t watch it
I have been completely out of the director and actors . Even Mr Sunshine devastatingl as it was had a satisfying conclusion, this was rubbish !
I regret watching it
Sad ending, wasted
The ending was so disappointing it’s annoying. For 16 episodes they love each other and then inexplicably break up for no good reason. OK they will find themselves. So: 4 years later they have another chance and punt the commitment although obviously in love and unhappy apart.
A different ending doesn’t make it smart. It makes it an insult to sucker an audience for 16 episodes.
The ending was so disappointing it’s annoying. For 16 episodes they love each other and then inexplicably break up for no good reason. OK they will find themselves. So: 4 years later they have another chance and punt the commitment although obviously in love and unhappy apart.
A different ending doesn’t make it smart. It makes it an insult to sucker an audience for 16 episodes.
i think other commenters were on to something about Su-Yeong’s narcissism- she’s beautiful, charming and emotionally crippled, presumably because of her tragic adolescence. Not the kind of thing likely to be fixed with therapy. Sang-Su didn’t look so good either: hopelessly addicted to her and borderline stalking her for most of the series. Ok, so this might arguably be a realistic psychological drama, but i don’t care- I was not interested in watching it for 2 months to see it merely fade to credits at the end without any resolution of anything.
The most disappointing and annoying ending of a show I have watched. Is different supposed to be smart? It feels like a broken writer. My time was abused. The writer must be laughing. We are led to believe two people in love will eventually get together. They are unhappy apart and light up when they see each other. Su Yeong, now we know, revels in being pursued and then subsequently dishing out pain. Why is she so invested when he is in front of her and then turns him off the minute he turns his back. Don’t worry she will proclaim her feelings right? Not! The writer built up our expectation and then gave a slap in the face. Nice job. Hey you are smart..
The Ending was Exasperating!!!! The series showed 2 explicit previews that never were in the series – 1. The apartment with the indication of Sang Su and Mi-Yeon 2. Sang Su and Su-Yeong in a high rise expressing physical affection. I consider this “bait and switch”. I plan to research the screenwirters, the producers, and the director to make certain when I start a new series, if they are a part of it – I Will not watch it! Netflix made a huge mistatke with this series and someone should be held accountable!!! I feel sorry for the actors as this will affect their public perception whether directly or indirectly.
Thank God for this post/thread. I finished this series upset and “flipping off” the screen. I immediately Googled “The Interest of Love – terrible ending”, and this recap popped up. I was caught up in this series from the beginning in spite of the time it took everyone to speak, the awkward stares, and the glaring problem of passing up on the ultimate woman, Mi-gyeong, for a socially stunted character like Su-yeong, who at every given opportunity will disappear on you without a shred of reason and stomp of your heart if given the chance. As beautiful as Su-yeong is, no one has the right to play with people’s emotions or be as inconsiderate to people around you that love you (seemingly unconditionally). Sang-su is just an idiot. He fell in love (can’t blame him for that) with the wrong girl. Su-yeong seems innocent, but is terribly manipulative and cold hearted, somehow justifying it with a challenged upbringing and decades of miscommunication. Fear and prejudice guide her every move and Sang-su is right there to take every slap in the face, without explanation which tortures him and wastes years off his life. Unbelievable. Yes I am a romantic, and was hoping for a better conclusion, but depictions of real life or not, this was just frustrating and hate-inducing.
Dissatisfied on the ending and unclear. Wasted my time.
The ending is much better than 25/21… its openended unlike baekdo lovestory wc totally left no hopes for season2…
This show must be a setting us up for a season. I’d like to think that those two walking up the hill, will be together in the next episode! There must be a next episode…a season two! If not, I will just let my mind settle the situation. She walked on by the ex-boyfriend cop. She then talks over “what ifs”with the guy she really loves. So they must be together for the rest of their lives…as it should be. But I was heart broken hat it was not written in cement that they would always remain to each other. I hope there is a season two to let us know…beyond a shadow of a Doug,…that they will get married. Other than that, good show!
Very disappointed.
Turn it off after he finds her at the beach and leave it to your imagination because it’s just trash after that. How does everyone else get a happy ending but not the main characters? Oh and the rich girl allowing him to take the blame for their failed relationship that SHE FORCED & MANIPULATED him into?! How infuriating!!
I think viewers didn’t get this drama. I reject the view that Su_yeong is a narcissist. I don’t find Mi-,yeong kind. She is a rich girl who buys her relationships and essentially acts like her father. In the bank there is a hierarchy based on class and education
Su-yeomg is a high school grad who is sexually harassed by her boss. She doesn’t get promotions even though she is highly competent. Mi-young tries to buy Sang Su. Her parents don’t really approve and it’s telling that he is reared ny a single parent. Who just happens to be Mi-yeong and her mom’s facialist. We know how class conscious South Korea is and Mi-yeong has to have the upper hand. If you look.at the relationships there are very few that are balanced.l. I like that Su-yeomg left the bank to find a careerire suited to her. We see that she lives art and is talented. That satisfied me. And our police officer also had an unbalanced in the relationship with Su-yeomg but she gave him.shelter when he needed it. The viewers here did not understand that work life had lots to do with it. Mi-yeong in reality was a nepo baby and could do anything she pleased at work. Not the same for Su-yeomg and if you watch closely how many veiled threats did Mi-yeong give San Su regarding Su-yeong’s employment if San Su didn’t do as she wanted. So Su-yeong was always looking to protect her position. And if you look at her back story she had lots of hardship. In fact, she was an overachiever. In reality this was a social issue drama ala Misaeng. The complications came as much as the social positions each character had. If you approach this drama from this level you will see how the ending made loads of sense
Very Very Very Dissappointing! The writer of this drama either had never love before or trying to be ‘naughty’ with real love. Both Sang Su and Su Yeong were truly in love with each other, but the writer used this to turn the love upside now so that audience will want to watch till the end. The world is already suffering. Rich or poor are the same. Dramas helps to lighten one’s life. But this drama did the opposite. Made everyone angry and depressed, especially the last two episodes.
I recommend not to watch the last two episodes. A waste of time as it was poorly done and communication is so poor (hardly any intelligible conversations) . In the end , when Sang Su replied to Su Yeong ‘Absolutely Nothing!’, I am surprised. I felt it is more like telling the aidience instead, that actually this show has nothing to give. You all have being played by the script-writer.
The last two episodes were badly done. It should be removed … and maybe it will make us feel more positive and more hopeful and thus enjoy watching. True love does not work this way …
So many good comments here…I have seen too many K-drama’s as of late that are pure plot driven and characters change personality traits for the writers whims. Like My Mister is a good story with solid characters that are consistent.
The ending was not the the annoying thing for me…it was expected. We have to put ourselves in the shoes of the individuals. You have the male lead…yes I agree he was borderline stalkerish (writers did not justify his actions) and female lead who is…I agree narcissistic. The show was just a bunch of padding time for the most part. Weak minimal dialogue and staring at each other for dramatic affect that got weird after awhile. People don’t act like this in real life. The pattern would go: 1. He chases her 2. She would show interest but step away. The only thing that changed was the amount of each. The ending was predictable…even though they don’t show it…she will still run, she never admitted to him that she wanted to be with him and he was destroyed multiple times throughout it. Anyone saying that its a timing things is creating the story in their head. It was all kicked off my a simple hesitation. If someone cannot forgive a minute act like that, they are psycho. The majority of people wouldn’t even notice this at all.
I liked the 2 moms that were friends…great characters…and the two that got married at the end, that was a cute relationship. The other love interest for him was who I was routing for until they changed her character into someone super desperate instead of understanding like she was before. There was not enough character building or hints to show the change. We were just to assume time passes and thats why. Life doesn’t work this way and its impossible to relate to it and be invested in a character.
Plus there is no way anyone would be able to trust the female lead…toward the end she showed she was always going to leave as if she enjoyed hurting him even though they tried to present it as some inner struggle. SHE NEVER RELATED TO HIM…no inner struggle…her actions showed her playing with him through the whole thing. No man would have put up with this and no woman would be that unbearable.
I think the saddest thing about it is…We as society don’t tell stories like our ancestors to give good moral lessons. We rely on shows, movies, books to share these and learn from them in addition to experience. What shows like this are presenting is, there is no hope in the world for “you” as the main character in your life. People around you can have a good or decent relationship but not going to happen to you. I get so sad when I think of the youth in Korea that watch shows like this…what is it teaching them? Why would anyone ever want to try a relationship seeing these shows over and over again…there is no hope. In my youth there was nothing but hopeful and growth/maturity type shows. Very few dramas ended bad and when they did it was about sacrifice for someone else in an honorable way. Breaks my heart because birth rates are already on the decline and people are less and less interacting IRL.
If you read all that just note…there is good out there…took me 10 bad relationships and 35 years to get there but it was well worth it. Be smart, learn who you are, learn to love yourself, be patient, be okay without someone, don’t stop trying, and never lose hope. Oh and stay away from narcissists.
The series is not about love but the courage to love and be loved. Neither character was able to follow through or be honest about their true feelings. It takes courage to be vulnerable, to admit we care, are scared or just lost or even raging about the past. To love is also about loving those around us. I was glad to watch a drama that didn’t neatly package the ending into ‘ they lived happy ever after.’ How many relationships succeed in truth? Isn’t Korea experiencing young people choosing to forgo relationships? This was one of the most realistic dramas. I hate when the final episode is dedicated to showing how everything worked out in the end. I always feel those dramas could have ended with one or two less episodes. I don’t want my dramas to be predictable. This was an exploray into the human condition. It wasn’t all rainbows and flowers and it certainly wasn’t all highs and lows. Life is like that. For my part I interpreted the ending as they missed their chance because they weren’t ready and they lacked the courage to stand in love. A very difficult drama to act in. A shout out should be given to all the actors for taking it from the page to realisation. The leads were exceptional and frustrating. Well done to the writer and director for setting themselves the task to challenge our perception of a romance drama. I also loved the ost dice game and the other songs were well chosen.
Annoying, I wish I did not watch upto the end
One of the best reviews of the drama, if not the best. I feel the topic chosen was very difficult to adapt to a conservative storyline. The incomplete scenarios and indecisions by ML and FL lead were agonizing! The message which was clear (a little) FL knew in the present set of toxic circumstances, there is no way she can start dating the ML. She broke off and Ran so that, ML is protected from a scandal , for his future!
She did want him to keep following her as she told him later, I had nothing left to give you or receive from you! Meaning our relationship will be doomed forever. Once she achieved her dream of financial happiness, she realized that, the regret and guilt just doesn’t go away , no matter what you do. ML cannot move on either! But he is at least content because he has no regrets for his feelings for FL. She is clearly still in love with him, but is scared of what he feels or says about her abandoning him for so long. He makes her feel comfortable and doesn’t bring up anything painful from the past. The walk on the hill signifies, they Finally told each other what was in their hearts ! They both regret the mistakes, ML says to her that he hasn’t forgotten anything! She wanted to hear that for so long! They walk together to see what those feelings are and now there is no one to come between them. But there was no affection, even the slightest, they were lovers at one time, one night in her hometown. So, it came out cold and frigid. What weee they missing for 4 years??!
I was so frustrated. As I read these comments , I agree with the feelings of most of those responding. Each episode came on and I thought , this week one of the main characters would profess some sort of a sentence of love. Always left hanging and I wanted to scream-say something! But I kept forging on and waiting. After the final episode, I immediately came to see what the ending was supposed to be to understand it but just now found these responses. I feel comforted to know others were as disappointed as I. The actors were good and not the problem. Not all stories have a happy ending but I would have appreciated one here.
Ending sucked. Writers were all over the place. The only reason I even stayed till the end is because of Yoo Yeon-seok. If I wanted to see an ambiguous end I wouldnt watch K-drama. Real life sucks enough as it this. Now I see why everyone was scoring this drama so low.
One of the best finales ever in K-drama.
Did San-su and Su-yeong end up together in the end? The answer lies in the intro scenes to Episode 9. But did they forget each other? Here, the answer is in the intro to Episode 12.
You should not critic a series (or a film) based on whether you like it or hate it; personal preferences have no place in film criticism. A series that you really like may be the worst series ever, but you still like it. In the same vein, a series that you really hate may be the best series ever.
Judge a series according to its internal substantive value.
Did it cause you intense catharsis, which is rare in a K-drama series? Definitely. That in itself is a reason to consider it as one of the best K-drama serious romance series ever, if not the best in the serious romance category.