I truly haven't read any comments or any reviews because I can imagine what they'll say about Son Haeyoung. As it stands, for me personally, she is the most relatable FMC I've ever seen in a kdrama.

Typically, if there's a grumpy, seemingly cold MC, the love interest is warm and personable. Here's a story that takes place between 2 characters that grew up learning not to want things. For SHY, that made her resistant to taking anything from anyone and making sure to always get her fair share in every single aspect of her life, professional or personal. For KJU, it meant basically putting his own desires aside if it conflicted with anyone else's.

I love SHY. I don't think I've ever seen an FMC in a kdrama like her before. She's complex, flawed, intelligent, driven, and very protective of those she cares about. Her morals regarding loss/gain applied to everyone she cared about, meaning that she'd push someone in what she felt was the fairest direction, even if that caused her pain. I'd hope others could see how many things she did that were selfless and in defense of others, but I've noticed that these traits tend to be demonized in female characters. And in a show that clearly pushed other characters into more of a sympathetic light, I'm certain she rubbed other viewers the wrong way.

This show explored something very interesting in that I initially thought it was going to show a sympathetic take towards a child neglected while her parents served others. It explores that children growing up in the same household can have very different childhoods. SHY's mother was kind, generous, and attentive to *other* children. I could not understand why there was never a point where she's showing that same attention to SHY. It's implied the only parent that remotely did was her father. I couldn't understand why they bothered having a child if they weren't going to pay attention to them. I thought it was shaping up to be a rather brave story choice, but it didn't really stick the landing in my opinion. Not a single character validates that SHY was right to have wanted more from her mother. The narrative repeatedly pushes the idea that her mother was a "saint" and SHY is presented as selfish for wanting an actual childhood. If the show had shown at least one person understanding SHY's relationship with her mother, I probably would've given this a 9.5 and called it my favorite kdrama of the year. But... here we are.

To be clear, I think it's great SHY's mother was so kind to foster children. I don't think it's great the show implies SHY was selfish for wanting her parents attention. She says repeatedly that her mother was great to *others*. I don't get how anyone watching could fault her for not being super thrilled about her personal experience with her mother. Especially considering SHY still took care of her despite that.

Ultimately, I think it was a nice (intentional?) thing that the show highlights the many ways SHY was like her mother - helping foster kids, protecting abused children, protecting kids from bullies, and giving so much even when she suffered for it.

Anyway, I loved the relationship between SHY and KJU. It was adorable watching him flounder with relationship ups and downs and the misunderstandings were actually very funny to watch. I liked how SHY cared for him and encouraged him to seek his own desires and let go of the promises he made to his grandmother, birth mother, and foster mother. She was often more outraged on his behalf than he was outraged for himself. SHY fought for everyone and I just wished she had more people understanding of why she is the way she is without constantly pushing the "your mother was a saint" thing. It's honestly quite unhealthy when you think about it. Sidenote, the moment in the finale when he says he won't lie to her ever again, I laughed. To be honest, I lost count of how many things he lied about, but still, I liked them together.

I loved Nam Jayeon. The actress is great, she did a wonderful job, and her story was very moving. I enjoyed her romance with the CEO, though it is a bit strange the show has her flip flop on being loyal to SHY after she was unfairly demoted. The fact that he screws SHY over and its never remedied is pretty messed up. Anyway, I'll check out the spin off show.

I didn't connect with Huiseong as much as the others, but I thought the actress did a great job.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. It's paced well, I never really felt like the episodes were too long or just filler. This show does a great job balancing drama and humor. The humor of the "light saber" fight was a bit jarring after such a serious scene, but ultimately, it's one of the scenes that made me laugh out loud. The show discusses some very difficult topics. I found the handling of some aspects braver than others, but it's a clear recommend from me. I can't think of another kdrama I've seen with this many complex and interestingly written female characters.