Growing on me

Update after Episode 6: Okay, its growing on me I admit. The cringiness that gets to me of the first couple episodes has cleared into more bearable levels of cringe typical for genre, and i don't mind it at all; its part of the charm. The portrayal of the leads has improved for me as well. Taesung is emoting much more which makes helps. The chemistry between the leads is improving as well. They aren't setting the screen on fire or anything (especially the tucked lip that barely touch kissing) but I believe they like each other now which is an improvement. One gripe I have picked up for both our leads in episode six is that they both do so much pouting and speak so cutely, I still find it mostly charming though so I'm not that mad. I still love Jiah and wish we saw her more but Yonghee has grown on me. We love a wingman.
I'm having more issues with the plot in the last few episodes though. It really is starting to feel like they are just picking particular scenes from the manhwa to show and expecting the viewer to fill in the blanks themselves, like a highlight reel. I bet people who haven't read it feel like they are missing context a lot of the time. This really got to me in episode 6 which I think happens over a period of weeks but the show doesn't really show you that. Given that they seem to be doing the entire second season of the manhwa in 3 episodes is likely the cause there. On that note, I am surprised they have seemingly cut the stalker storyline which is the shows loss I think. Though it might clash with the tone of the drama and maybe thats why they cut it.

Overall, I'm enjoying watching it and would recommend it to people who know they like the genre and are up for a cute, easy watch. Worried about how rushed its currently feeling though.

Original Review after 2 episodes 'Flawed but giving it a chance': This drama is shaping up to be disappointing for me. The production quality isn't great and the writing/acting (especially the minor classmates, i nearly jumped ship when taesung was walking down the hall and the girls were freaking out) is spotty at best. I'm enjoying Haebom so far; he is appropriately cute and wholesome without coming across too saccharine or tryhard for me. I'm not getting as much of the effort to not be a burden to Taesung and Eunsun energy as I want though. I sort of expect him to be sacrificing himself to reduce the burden he thinks he causes. He has his (secret?) job but I'm not getting it in his energy or other interactions. On the other hand, Taesung's portrayal is so stiff and lifeless. I know his whole thing is that he is purposely stoic and hiding his feelings but he isn't conveying anything to me. I want his eyes at least to be showing longing or restraint or something but I'm not getting anything so far. I'm also not really getting any chemistry between them yet, which is too bad. I'm also weirdly enjoying Jiah in the show more than I thought I would. I find her to appear more natural on screen than maybe anyone else on the above cast list. I'm going to continue watching for now because I'm enjoying Haebom and Jiah. I hope the chemistry between the leads improves as the show progresses though.

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