I did not love Together With Me. While I really liked most of the characters, I found Knock to be incredibly frustrating and downright idiotic. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad when he and Korn got together at the end because I felt Korn deserved so much better. At the beginning of The Next Chapter, I found myself feeling much the same way. Even after three years, Knock was still an immature pain in the ass and Korn was left acting as more of a parent than a partner. It was honestly sad to watch.

What this show did so beautifully, was show how complicated relationships can be. It had a realism that I really haven't seen in any other Asian dramas. Most of the time, if cheating is featured in the story, it is made very clear who is good and who is bad in the situation. The ambiguity here, was far more realistic, and I really enjoyed that. In the cases of Korn and Yiwha, yes, they were in the wrong, but their reasons for unfaithfulness were, while not justifiable in any sense, understandable.

In the case of Korn and Knock, you have, as I mentioned earlier, Korn acting as more of a parent to Knock. He wakes him up, makes sure he has money to buy food, puts toothpaste on his toothbrush and basically everything else other than physically dressing him. He shows physical affection, worries constantly and basically his love and care of Knock is very much on display. And then you have Knock who's so obsessed with his online games and going out and partying and generally still acting like a teenager that he's barely functional. He's constantly running late and constantly tired because of his complete lack of responsibility. There is a serious unevenness in their relationship that was bound to cause issues eventually. And then Pete comes in playing both of them, acting sympathetic and understanding, particularly towards Korn who's understandably frustrated with how things are playing out with Knock, especially concerning coming out to his parents. A combination of Pete's manipulation, alcohol, and Korn's own conflicting feelings, basically wishing that Knock would be as understanding and mature as Pete appears, and the mistake is made. It's understandable, again, not justifiable in any way, but understandable and realistic because I think that's how it is in many cases of cheating. I think both Korn's and Knock's reactions to Korn's cheating were well done and realistic. Korn, obviously, feels horribly guilty and he apologizes repeatedly, but Knock's reaction is understandable in not wanting to immediately accept that apology and feeling extremely betrayed. And here is where Knock finally starts to grow some. When the two finally reconcile, Korn asks to take care of him again to which Knock says he doesn't want him to take care of him but to just love him. It's a sweet moment and a telling one to see that Knock has grown as a character. The only thing I would have liked to see a little more of is Korn earning back Knock's trust.

Coming out to their parents becomes a big issue between them with Knock showing frustration that Korn won't tell his parents. This issue left me with some questions because Korn's dad tells him that if he's gay, he's no longer part of their family. Korn never explicitly says and Knock never mentions if this fact was communicated between them which I think is hugely important. If Korn told Knock and Knock was still willing to force the issue, frankly, to me, that makes him a colossal ass. I understand not wanting to hide something so big, something that is such a part of you, but to expect and keep pushing for Korn to basically just give up his family would be incredibly cruel and insensitive. On the flip side, if Korn never communicated that to Knock, then that makes him a colossal idiot. Knowing Knock's character, if he knew what Korn's father had said, I feel like he would have been more understanding. I think the fact that its never specified if the two discussed this was deliberate to feed the drama.

In Yiwha and Cho's case, it provided a different point of view. In their case, they seem pretty happy together aside from Cho working too much. Yiwha has a semi-flirtatious relationship with her senior, Art, and eventually that flirtatiousness leads to mixed feelings. The reasoning of Yiwha's infidelity isn't quite as cut and dry as with Korn. She finds her senior attractive, they're thrown together more frequently due to working on a project, spending time alone, and then a few instances that push them together physically as well. Despite both being in relationships with other people, they ignore the warning signs that lines are starting to be crossed and eventually end up almost sleeping together. The difference is how they each react. Like Korn, Yiwha is almost crushed by her guilt and betrayal of his trust while Art continues to pursue even when she tells him to stop even dragging her to meet his girlfriend and announce that he's fallen for Yiwha. I do want to take a second here to commend his girlfriend, Mint, for her poise. She doesn't lash out at either Art or Yiwha and even afterward remains calm despite obviously being hurt. She didn't get a lot of screen time, but I really liked her and that they didn't set her against Yiwha. Anyway, in regards to Yiwha, I really appreciated how her emotions and reactions were played out, particularly the fact that she specifically tells Cho that she's betrayed his trust. She absolutely understands the mistake she made and she regrets it hugely and even though Cho is willing to forgive her and get back together, she struggles to forgive herself. Again, her portrayal felt realistic and nuanced and I loved it, though I really wanted to give the poor girl a hug.

Farm's relationships were more complicated. I have to admit, I missed the Farm from Together With Me, all innocent and sweet. I didn't like this Farm nearly as much, though his insight into his friend's relationships were helpful and spot on at times. He's basically a horny, cheating bastard for most of the drama. I was honestly disappointed in him. He gets his happy ending and all, but I don't think he really deserved it. I totally understand that Bright messed him up in Together With Me and he probably needed therapy after the abuse he suffered, but to see him turning around and basically doing exactly what Bright did to him just to get back at Bright was disappointing and just a continuation of the cycle of abuse. He obviously went back to Bright to get revenge, to hurt him the way he had been hurt, but the fact that he didn't stop when he realized that Bright had truly changed and continued playing both him and Rit was infuriating, especially since Rit did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Rit was such a sweetheart, he clearly really loved Farm, to the point he was willing to put aside his own feelings and help Farm get back together with Bright. He deserved so much better and I hope he found it. While on the one hand, I hope Farm and Bright work out, on the other, I honestly wouldn't have minded if he got dumped by both Bright and Rit, it would have been fitting. Of all the characters, he showed the least growth, in my opinion.

Which leaves Fai, who I was honestly disappointed in there for a while. I loved her no nonsense, tough girl attitude in Together With Me and how she was willing to stand by her friends and support them. I felt like they dialed back her character some in The Next Chapter, but not in a bad way. She was still Fai but a little more mellow. My disappointment came from her reaction to her friends' cheating which was so incredibly cold and judgmental, I lost some respect for her, especially since she wasn't willing to listen to any kind of explanation. It's understandable for the rest of the world to react extremely negatively, but you would hope that your friends, especially ones that you've had for so long, would at least listen and not make a snap judgment. Her lack of relationship experience also didn't play well in her favor and made her seem very shallow. I was glad when she finally seemed to come to her senses, at least with Yiwha, and offer comfort and support. There were a couple of scenes between the two that were very sweet and touching. I felt like her growth was a bit more understated than the others, but it was still present and I really enjoyed watching it.

This drama proved to be really solid and enjoyable. It was a bit slow to start with, but once it got going, it was unstoppable. There are very, very few things in this world that are black and white and I really liked how this drama showed that in such a real and grounding way. But what really made this drama is the characters and their continuing friendship. This proved to be one of the best dramas I've watched in a while and I will definitely be watching it again in the future.