026. they say love is a virtue, don't they

[ever_neutral]

... so, in case it wasn't already evident, the december ramble meme is on hold b/c real life got real. hoping to fill the rest of the prompts over the next month. in any case, they will be done.

WAS planning to get some more done before the end of the month but then made the mistake of watching the doctor who xmas special. and then... rewatching the rerun the following night. i do these things to myself. nonsensical episode, only relevant part was the last five minutes. i will be ready to talk about it when i'm dead.

... i did, however, finally manage to mainline love potential and liveblog it as requested by jessica.


let's do this


EP 1

ok so 5s into ep 1 and i'm side-eying??? "i met my ideal type"? "while he never once dated gieok hoped for his 'princess' to appear and 10 years later finally he met her". um?

"from middle to high school got rejected by 15 different girls" lol this is not a good start.

"i believed there must exist somewhere a girl with innocence". this monologue plays over ki eok literally cutting out body parts to create an "ideal girl". W T F.

gieok's father telling him to masturbate WHILE THE NUTCRACKER THEME PLAYS. I'M CHOKING.

so jihyun is gorgeous, obviously. which reminds me eleonore told me she's 4minute's LEADER even though she gets 5s of screen time in every mv, wtf. so, lookin' forward to seeing what she can do. NOT looking forward to anti-shipping her and sungyeol's character-- gieok imagining his cut-out "ideal type" over her and then calling her "princess" is possibly the worst start to a main ship you could give me. PRAYER CIRCLE THIS SHOW IS REALLY ABOUT DECONSTRUCTING THIS EXACT TROPE.


EP 2

fuck sungyeol's woobie face.

O M G DID SOMEONE JUST SAY "FUCKERS" IN A KDRAMA? I'M SCANDALISED.

CRAYON POP REFERENCE!

btw i like that sungyeol is so convincing at playing a nerd b/c it ~confirms~ my highschool/college!infinite headcanon that he and myungsoo were total l0sers at least until sungyeol grew up hot and then cheated on myungsoo with the plastics a.k.a. the 91-line. BUT THIS IS A STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME.

ok good minah gets her own pov time. this is promising.


EP 3

so i like that minah is mostly initiating things w/gieok but still wary about this whole trope of "nerd who's never known love finally gets appreciated by hot girl"? we'll see.

lol i bet sungyeol had fun filming that bus scene. i mean, what.

L O L MINAH'S GAY HEADCANONS. FAVE TBH.

i ship these two dudes tbh (sorry idr anyone's names).

oh em gee minah is such a dork ilh. they could have made that dance studio scene ~sexy but nope.

fml teacher!sungyeol. hold my sexual frustration.

tbh idr what happened in the rest of the ep after that.

oh no wait ramyun. ofc there must be ramyun.


EP 4

ok i like this inadvertently getting drunk together thing. IF I IGNORE THE GROSSNESS OF ALL OF EP 1 AND THE SETUP OF GIEOK'S CHARACTER THEN I CAN LIKE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS FRIENDSHIP/RELATIONSHIP.

w t f @ this angel/devil scene where gieok tries to decide whether or not to feel up mi nah w/o her consent? THIS IS SO MOTHERFUCKING SQUICK-TASTIC?? i mean, on the one hand, props to the show for actually saying it'd be sexual violence BUT OTOH EW.

k gieok's father's homophobia when mi nah lies about him being gay is not amusing.

"which part of you looks gay? you look so manly and strong." no.

ok now they're doing a school play together and gieok is being told he should try out for female roles as well as male ones and looks vv displeased about it and i lol @ all the sungyeol overlap.


EP 5

awww, gieok making a bunch of real props for the play.

OMFG I SHIP THESE TWO DUDES SO MUCH.

can we not with this action teacher's male-gaze pan up drama teacher lady's body.

"it's because my heart hurts too much" you loser.

yesssssssss minah being the boss of gieok and calling him pabo 10 million times VV GOOD.

lol no show don't make me feel bad for gieok b/c minah didn't want to kiss him.

sungyeol's woobie face is truly terrible tho.


EP 6

i wonder if gieok is gonna have the male equivalent of the ugly duckling transformation where he gets hot and then minah will finally want to kiss him. BOOKMARK THIS QUOTE.

i love this unimpressed drama teacher ngl. what a boss.

ugh can we not with this bikini runway male fantasy.

SUNGYEOL IN PINK TOWEL.

"i like rides that aren't fun too!!!" WHAT. A. LOSER.

but yes good ferris wheels are my shit continue.

ok this ferris wheel confession is sweet save for the "no other girl was worth paying attention to until you" part. APART FROM THAT.

SHE'S REJECTED HIS PROPOSAL. ANGST. \o/ \o/ \o/


EP 7

bless drama teacher lady's constant cussing.

"gieok's acting has really improved!" how meta. seriously though, sungyeol is great in this -- i hope his next project is just better/less frustrating (and longer).

el oh el this entire sequence where gieok's friend does elaborate calculations to figure out who minah's crush is.

lol i'm glad people in the show actually recognise that gieok/sungyeol is handsome -- if he was supposed to be some fugly twerp that'd be motherfucking stupid.

and the ol' yeollie scream makes an appearance.

O M F G whatsisface throwing other whatsisface (sorry idr anyone's names apart from sungyeol and jihyun's characters) into the ocean O T FUCKING P !!!!!!!!!!!!

the yeol is wet. and once again i forget what happened in the rest of the ep.


EP 8

i hope gieok comes out of this drama with a firmer sense of self -- "if princess minah likes something i'll like it just as much because she does" is a delightfully pathetic sentiment but also no.

why is sassy drama teacher lady so invested in gieok/minah though.

… so, i've never actually had a legit hangover (b/c i get sick of alcohol before i can drink TOO MUCH). do people w/hangovers actually dry retch everywhere or what.

obligatory couple montage time.

DRAMATIC RUNNING SEQUENCE.

so minah has called gieok over and caused him to run like 10 blocks just b/c she wants to get drunk AND THEN SHE DRUNKENLY PINCHES HIS CHEEKS AND CRIES ABOUT HOW CUTE HE IS AND BURSTS INTO TEARS AND OH NO YOU DON'T SHOW DON'T MAKE WANT TO SHIP IT. AND JIHYUN IS THE MOST ADORABLE, WHY HAVE I NEVER PAID ATTENTION TO HER BEFORE???

lol this men's room scene where gieok's cronies confront the dude on the toilet wtf

O M G MINAH WITNESSING THE GAY SMOOCHIES


EP 9

gieok being broody bedridden minah's slave while she pays no attention to him, now this is the kind of dynamic i can be on board with, trololol.

why is sungyeol's whiny begging so mothereffing qt

MINAH SCREAMING AT GIEOK AND TELLING HIM NOT TO COME OVER AGAIN. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SHOW, GIRL-TREATING-BOY-BADLY IS MY DOWNFALL. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

btw jihyun is great??? does anyone who's better versed about 4minute things know what other things she's been in?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO GIEOK DOING STUPID AEGYO TO MAKE MI NAH LAUGH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. (also that was 150% sungyeol there tbh.)

drama teacher lady is such a disdainful bitch, god bless.

NOW THEY ARE STUCK IN THE RAIN TOGETHER AND THIS IS SO CLICHE BUT I AM EATING THIS SHIT UP. WHEN DID LIFE GO SO HORRIBLY WRONG.


EP 10

"you were weird before but now you're not weird" is the title of this ep hmmmmmmmmm

MORE WET YEOL. WHY.

ok look i am all over girl-takes-guy-friend-for-granted-to-disguise-nascent-feelings b/c i'm trash but there is really no need for minah to feel guilty about rejecting gieok? that was totally her right.

ugh but now they are talking through the wall via paper cups NOOOOOOOOOOOO :( :( :(

WHAT IS THIS QT UPBEAT CATCHY SONG PLAYING OVER THE SEQUENCE OF THE DRAMA CLUB BUILDING SETS?? IT IS A JAM TBH.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA IT IS DESTINY!SUNGYEOL ON THE POSTER. A+++++++++++++++. THAT IS SOME MOVIE POSTER BULLSHIT RIGHT THERE.

I KNEW IT. HE'S UNCURLED HIS HAIR FOR OPENING NIGHT. THE UGLY DUCKLING HAS BECOME A HOT PIECE. I KNOW HOW THESE THINGS WORK. (to be serious though this unruly curls = ugly duckling trope needs to stop.)

DRAMATIC FAINTING


EP 11

oh yay i like that we get to see the actual play!

SUNGYEOL THE LOAN SHARK!!!!!11111 THE HAIR GAME IS SO ON POINT.

SUNGYEOL GETS TO CUSS. OH EM EFF GEE.

gangsta sungyeol is so inappropriately motherfucking attractive i want to rip open my couch and eat it. (that said i don't find him to be threatening vibe at all.)

btw jihyun and this other dude she's married to in the play are good job.

murder by knife is always a good way to end things.


EP 12

noooooooooo now the wife has to save the husband!! this story within a story is so compelling, lmao.

OHO NOW THE WIFE IS DEALING W/LOAN SHARK SUNGYEOL TO SAVE HUSBAND. SUNGYEOL IS DISTURBINGLY ATTRACTIVE WHILE PRETENDING TO BE A DISGUSTING HUMAN BEING. I QUESTION MY TASTE FOREVER.

… why do i want fill-in-the-blanks fic of wife/gangster sungyeol during the time she was enslaved to him. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. WE MAY NEVER KNOW.

this whole story-within-a-story thing is interesting. i wonder there's something there about gieok fashioning fantasies for himself and then getting so lost in them that he hurts himself. I AM PROBABLY OVERTHINKING THIS.

lol now sunglasses dude w/his terrible acting has to fill in. NO WAIT GIEOK IS BACK.

FUCK. WHY. AM. I. WRONG!SHIPPING. THE. WIFE. AND. GANGSTER. SUNGYEOL. WHY IS THIS MY LIFE.

KISSING.

oho now the drama has morphed back into gieok/minah HOW META. but lol why is the audience cheering for the abused woman to get with the gangster who has literally treated her like property for two years. wtf. (WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT MY WRONG!SHIPPING.)

more couple montage.

AND KISSING. LEGIT KISSING.

you know, all this kissing now makes me bitter about myungsoo and woohyun apparently being forbidden from making out with their love interests in their previous dramas (fine, woohyun is more pressing to me b/c out of the two of them he actually has chemistry with women, TROLOLOLOL sorry soo). i wonder if sungyeol has more freedom here b/c he wasn't specifically asked to appear for idol fame reasons and therefore possessive angry fangirls was less of a concern? THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS HOT PEOPLE KISSING IS GOOD.


ANYWAY. VERDICT:

so this has been a vv weird journey with this show where i hated it and then by the end i loved it.

mostly, i wish we could excise all that "ideal type" nonsense from the first few episodes. if i ignore all that then the gieok/minah relationship arc is ~everything i wanted~. him falling in ~love at first sight~ and projecting all his problematic romantic fantasies on to her (which was evident enough without the show spelling it out), followed by her rejecting him and totally blowing apart said fantasies -- and then him learning how to be her friend and see her as a person rather than a romantic object. and then she realises her feelings for him because they've actually grown close and she can rely on him.

OKAY, THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL STORY ARC IN ITSELF TBH.

all the "poor nerd rejected by 15 girls" setup was just unnecessarily manpain-y and now i am sadly wondering if the moral of the story was supposed to be "poor rejected nerd finally finds ideal woman who appreciates him where those other bitches failed." which. NOCURR, I REJECT THIS PREMISE, MINE IS BETTER.

moving on. so, sungyeol and jihyun were both GREAT. although sungyeol was a lot more convincing to me as gieok than the loan shark, which i guess is b/c gieok was the one acting as the loan shark. that, or sungyeol's strength as an actor lies in loser nerd roles. (on that note he was good in "while you were sleeping", too, at least the cuts i saw.)

anyway. chemistry: they had it especially during the wife/loan shark scenes b/c i'm trash.

and i've now become somewhat a jihyun stan. girl is fab, where has she been all my life.

WHAT DID Y'ALL (i.e. the other five people on my flist) THINK? :D






hope everyone's xmas/last week was acceptable.

Comments

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

S M H @ your latest rec. HOW DARE YOU TEMPT ME WITH SNARKY BFFS AND HOT LEADS.

But listen, this 9 Ends 2 Outs show has to be put below My Name is Kim Sam Soon on the priorities list, okay, because Hyun Bin.

... Which is to say, I agree with you 9 million percent. HOW DOES HYUN BIN. He is embarrassingly totally my type in the shallow sense but he also just shot to the top of my list of male kdrama actors, fml. THE BODY-SWAPPING PERFORMANCES THO??? His physicality, body language, even the way he changed his voice???? WHERE HAS THIS MAN BEEN ALL MY LIFE?????

Also, I unabashedly loved Joo Won in all his neurotic effeminate hideous-sparkly-tracksuit-wearing terrible, no regrets. I remember you ranting about what a great character he was and you did not lie. I WILL NEVER DOUBT AGAIN. SO GREAT. Not because he was a ~jerk with hidden depths~ but because the whole show was so dedicated to tearing holes in his supposed masculinity? \o/ \o/ \o/ Like, the use of the sparkly tracksuits was actually GENIUS? He totally SHOULD have been your typical conventionally masculine rich hero but then halfway through the first episode TROLOLOLOLOLOL fucking with all your expectations forever.

I def agree the show was problematic but tbh I wasn't really bothered? Maybe because you already warned me and I was prepared for the worst so it turned out to be less troubling than I expected??

BUT THIS IS WHAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN OTP WITH INSANE CHEMISTRY IS AS OPPOSED TO AN OTP WITH NEGATIVE CHEMISTRY Y'KNOW.
WHERE ARE THE LIES. ngl I was probably less bothered by the OTP in Secret Garden being problematic for this reason, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

THEN AGAIN I bought the Jan Di/Jun Pyo chemistry in Boys Over Flowers (which had the same rich-guy-persistently-pursues-poor-girl premise) but the pairing STILL made me uncomfortable? So now let me ramble and try to figure out my different reactions. (lol @ the fact I have to split this into two comments.)

[youcallitwinter.livejournal.com]

S M H @ your latest rec. HOW DARE YOU TEMPT ME WITH SNARKY BFFS AND HOT LEADS.

OH, ALEX, I FEEL SO DESTROYED RIGHT NOW. LIKE I KEEP REWATCHING SCENES. THE SNARK. THE ANGST. (THE TRASH TALK!) THE COMFORT LEVEL. THE TENSION. THE BFF-NESS. THE EVERYTHING. I CAN'T EVEN MOVE ON. AND VERY FEW PEOPLE HAVE EVEN HEARD OF THIS. IT HAS NO LJ, NO TUMBLR, NO WIKI, NO NOTHING. I CAN'T. I know there's a possibility that lots of people think it too low-key since it has no markers of the usual high drama, but there was so much stuff that I just felt like they took how I feel about some things and made it into dialogues. Ouch.



So flashback yay! She's just broken up with her boyfriend in high school and is just sitting there, all drained and sad, and he's basically in the background trying to put some kind of record on, and it's not even an interactive scene, but she just keeps swinging the mirror to look at him through that, just because it makes her feel a little less alone, and I die. And then they basically spend most of their present-day time bitching about each other to each other and I die again.

BUT YES, I CAN TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE PULL OF HYUN BIN AND CANNOT FAULT YOUR LIFE CHOICES ANY WITH SAM SOON. I really liked MNIKSS, although that had its problematics too (but like, what doesn't, and I always feel a little :s about judging an Asian culture through Western values of feminism, when I am perfectly aware of what the cultural reality is, since it's so close to my own country's.), but Hyun Bin is magnificiently a grade-A jackass. But he's GOOD at being a jackass, so it all works out, heh. Besides the heroine's characterization is SUPER interesting. But Hyun Bin has my heart forever, I can watch him being jealous and possessive anytime, which is sad for my social justice cred.

I SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE HYUN BIN IS MY EVERYTHING-BIAS. (Also the fact that in his enlistment, he went through the whole procedure and gave tests and went for the Marine Corps., which is the hardest base there is and distinguished himself, also make him embarrassingly attractive to me, for some reason D:)

BUT DUDE, TA 10000% HYUN BIN DOES GENDER CONSTRUCTION LIKE NO ONE'S BUSINESS. THE WAY HE LOOKED AT OSKA? THE KISS? THE WAY OF SITTING AND LOOKING AND TALKING. HE WALKED THROUGH IT ALLLLL.

Also, I unabashedly loved Joo Won in all his neurotic effeminate hideous-sparkly-tracksuit-wearing terrible, no regrets.

I KNEW YOU'D FEEL ME. But l m a o, how hysterically appropriate are the ridic expensive, horrifying tracksuits made by an Italian designer in 1356 B.C. with the blood of virgins anyway. (SG has been parodied SO MUCH, it's insane, lol, these tracksuits are so often used in other shows now). Also, his neurotic tendencies are done well, which I feel is so rare. I genuinely FEEL he has issues that run beyond being a jackass. I remember I thought he'd be typical too...till about halfway through the first episode where he comes out in a sparkly blue tracksuit and the show's like "PSYCHE." Also, I ADORE how self-aware he is NOT, like laughing forever@"so now that I've turned out to be rich, I look even better looking, and maybe even taller, right?"

I def agree the show was problematic but tbh I wasn't really bothered?

LOL, honestly, I did kind of lose interest around the last lap because of the crying, but it was never the problematics that bothered me, but while rec-cing anything, I always sound it out, because I know it's easily possible to be since it's a very borderline case on some regards. BUT IT'S WORTH ENJOYING TBH.

JUN PYO/JAN DI :@@@@@@@@@ NEVER OVER IT.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

LOOK, DON'T CRY, BECAUSE I WILL WATCH THIS DAMN SHOW AND PROBABLY HAVE YOUR FEELS B/C I'M A PREDICTABLE MOFO IN THIS WAY.



SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WITH YOUR TEMPTING RANDOM SPOILS but qt actors tho.

But Hyun Bin has my heart forever, I can watch him being jealous and possessive anytime, which is sad for my social justice cred.

You're not alone, you're never alone.

lol, I must say I don't get the army appeal, BUT HE IS FOREVER ATTRACTIVE IN EVERY WAY, WE ARE AGREED.

BUT DUDE, TA 10000% HYUN BIN DOES GENDER CONSTRUCTION LIKE NO ONE'S BUSINESS.

I think it also helps that he has this very delicate flower boy look about him tbh (WHICH IS 300% MY TYPE OBVIOUSLY, I NEVER CHANGE).

WORD TO YOUR MOTHER, I genuinely think Joo Won is the best chaebol-male-lead kdrama land has to offer (from what I've seen, anyway). I mean, they make his main source of angst a legit debilitating medical condition, which you never see happen. So that vulnerability isn't something that exists to corroborate MANLY PAIN but actually legitimately makes him helpless (especially since for most of the show he literally DOESN'T REMEMBER the trauma that caused his claustrophobia).

BUT OMG DUDE, THE WHOLE BIT WITH JOO WON SWAPPING THEIR BODIES AFTER RA IM FELL INTO A COMA RUINED MY LIFE. I WAS DEAD INSIDE FOR A WHOLE HALF AN HOUR until the magical fix-it came around BECAUSE OF HYUN BIN'S CRYING FACE (LITERALLY THE BEST CRIER ON TELEVISION TBQH). /lies down in hole

[youcallitwinter.livejournal.com]

LOOK, DON'T CRY, BECAUSE I WILL WATCH THIS DAMN SHOW AND PROBABLY HAVE YOUR FEELS B/C I'M A PREDICTABLE MOFO IN THIS WAY.

LMAO, YOUR ASSERTION IS SOOTHING TO MY WEARIED, WORRIED SOUL.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WITH YOUR TEMPTING RANDOM SPOILS but qt actors tho.

Hee, I am so much a spoiler-phobe generally, I hate spoiling other people, but in matters like this, I always try and judge the opportunity cost; ONE RANDOM SPOIL VS. THE TEMPTATION AND SALES PITCH. Also, lol, I wouldn't have enjoyed this drama half as much I'm sure if I didn't love the female lead and wasn't wildly attracted to the male lead #foreverkiddiepool

lol, I must say I don't get the army appeal, BUT HE IS FOREVER ATTRACTIVE IN EVERY WAY, WE ARE AGREED.

I don't get it either and YET IN HIS CASE IT IS KIND OF APPEALING 2 ME? But he's so ridic attractive, I cannot. I AM GLAD THE ARMY HAS GIVEN HIM BACK TO US.

I mean, they make his main source of angst a legit debilitating medical condition, which you never see happen.

Y E S. He's a mess of neuroses and depression and clearly unable to really relate to the real world. It's visible in pretty much everything he does. And I think his debilitating memory loss and loneliness and alienation is so well-established through his large, empty house, and the times he just imagines Ra Im next to him and accepts it as a natural order of things. He clearly lacks all fundamentals of social interaction and unlike most chaebol leads, doesn't have the capacity to be a playboy because of that same lack of social charms or facades. He's prickly and uncomfortable and intense and blunt. It's fascinating, really. He's just so fundamentally alone, and not in the 'no-one-understands-me-therefore-I-screw-the-world' sort-of way.

DUDE, HYUN BIN'S CRYING GIVES ME LIFEDEATH. HOW IS HIS FACE AND TEAR DUCTS. THAT BIT WAS JUST SO WELL DONE, I CAN'T. ESP SINCE HE HAD TO SWITCH BETWEEN RI/JW AND BASICALLY PLAY TWO CHARACTERS IN ALMOST ALL THOSE SCENES. ALL THE AWARDS TBH.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

LMAO, YOUR ASSERTION IS SOOTHING TO MY WEARIED, WORRIED SOUL.

Good, good. *pets your face*

Listen, being attracted to the male lead is extremely important, yo. PRETTY SURE MY ENJOYMENT OF KDRAMAS IS DIRECTLY CORRELATED WITH THE LEVEL OF MY ATTRACTION TO THE SAME.

BUT WHAT IS HYUN BIN'S NEXT PROJECT GOING TO BE? I NEED HIM BACK ON MY SCREEN, I HAVE WAITED ALL MY LIFE since about a week ago FOR THIS MOMENT.

+90000000000 to all your Joo Won feels. The ways in which he actually is sympathetic are always played subtly -- I never feel like the show is TELLING ME to like/sympathise with him, especially since he is so neurotic and socially awkward that most audience members probably wouldn't be able to identify with him anyway. BLESS THIS CHARACTER. ALL OTHER CHAEBOL MALE LEADS CAN GO HOME TBH.

ESP SINCE HE HAD TO SWITCH BETWEEN RI/JW AND BASICALLY PLAY TWO CHARACTERS IN ALMOST ALL THOSE SCENES. ALL THE AWARDS TBH.

RIGHT????? AND ALL THE AWARDS: HE GOT THEM, RIGHTFULLY SO.

[youcallitwinter.livejournal.com]

LOL, I WAS FEELING SO BAD ABOUT THAT. I legit get turned off dramas if the male lead isn't attractive to me :s like Coffee Prince and Secret are the only ones I remember where the acting MADE the leads attractive to me. otherwise I'm not invested right at the beginning itself. DUDE, THE ACTORS IN 9E2O HAVE DONE ANOTHER DRAMA TOGETHER. But I think he's the second lead in it and I refuse to do that to myself, esp with these two. But, on the other hand, more scenes with them, goddammit. GODDAMMIT.

I THINK HYUN BIN IS DOING SOME KIND OF MEDIEVAL KINGS & CROWNS POLITICAL THRILLER MOVIE THING AS HIS FIRST RETURN-FROM-THE-ARMY PROJECT?? Actually apart from MNIKSS and SG, the dude's pretty...not mainstream, he chooses all these really, really artsy things to do.

I think that's why so many people go turned off (although a significant majority did NOT get turned off at all, and the drama is insanely popular), because JW is so hard to relate to and doesn't really have markers of paaaaaain as such. He can be legit prickly and mean and not in the dashing-cold-silent-kind type of way, and I'm fairly sure it's Hyun Bin being a crowd favorite that made up for it in the larger scheme of things and not the character himself, y'know? even though it's the character ALSO who was really interesting (although Hyun Bin's interpretation is totally also what sold it).

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

DUDE, THE ACTORS IN 9E2O HAVE DONE ANOTHER DRAMA TOGETHER. But I think he's the second lead in it and I refuse to do that to myself, esp with these two. But, on the other hand, more scenes with them, goddammit. GODDAMMIT.

lol ur pain

I THINK HYUN BIN IS DOING SOME KIND OF MEDIEVAL KINGS & CROWNS POLITICAL THRILLER MOVIE THING AS HIS FIRST RETURN-FROM-THE-ARMY PROJECT??

SOUNDS HOT TBH. HFT.

He can be legit prickly and mean and not in the dashing-cold-silent-kind type of way, and I'm fairly sure it's Hyun Bin being a crowd favorite that made up for it in the larger scheme of things and not the character himself, y'know? even though it's the character ALSO who was really interesting (although Hyun Bin's interpretation is totally also what sold it).

Seems legit. I cannot imagine anyone else pulling off Joo Won tbh. Hyun Bin was so fab because he had zero fear of making himself look ridiculous (THE SPARKLY TRACKSUITS ALONE). It's kind of amazing he still came out of the show considered a sex symbol, trololol.