'Love Next Door' or also known by its native title as 'My Mom's Friend's Son' is not your typical romantic comedy k-drama that is a no-brainer and whose plot is only filled with the usual fluff, cliches, and scenes that will make you cringe to the core, while having the typical one-dimensional perfect romcom main lead characters. This drama offers a whole lot more which had completely exceeded my expectations.

The storyline of Love Next Door is simple yet very thought-provoking as it captured the essence of real life in its full color, not just merely black and white, but the greyness of it. It is not poorly written but rather well-written, and should be perceived well as it has a lot of depth to it. The story does not solely focus on the romance aspect alone but tackles real life struggles which most viewers — especially, those who come from an asian family or culture, can relate to. Apart from that, the storyline highlighted the importance of relationships in any forms and how certain life decisions or perceptions greatly affects it. The pace of the storyline might seem slow but it is at perfect temperature which burns the slow-burn romance trope in this drama satisfyingly. This drama will give you the slice of life feels, with some melo and bearable angst that blends together with the romance and comedy in just the right amount. Love Next Door might not fit certain peoples' cup of tea which is normal as everyone has a different taste. Fortunately for me, it filled my cup to the extent it overflowed.

Some of the tropes in the storyline might seem overused, however, this has long been a norm in all dramas and doesn't necessarily equate to them being carbon-copies of each other. The execution of such tropes is what sets them all apart. This is where I would love to praise the writer of Love Next Door because of the way she had used and executed such tropes in a new and refreshing way, it is definitely not lazy writing on her part. The cancer trope which almost everyone had dreaded the most actually turned out to be a cancer survivor trope that adds depth to the storyline, and clearly it stands out differently from all the other k-dramas that had used the same trope in this aspect. For the first time such illness is not being linked to instant death but rather the after effect of it, the impact it had on the lives of both the person who had experienced cancer themself and the loved ones who stood by their side along the battle. Another notable thing which I would praise the writer for, is how the issues or problems aren't dragged all throughout, instead are resolved either by the same episode or the next. They were also not merely just brought up out of the blue, most scenes had already foreshadowed them, the characters dialogues or simply who they are as a character gave the hints away too. The writer laid out certain life challenges as a pivotal element for the storyline and characters development. The neatness in how each loose ends (hardships & struggles) are woven together (resolved) as the storyline progresses leaves a meaningful impact and conveys life lessons, therefore, bringing comfort and healing too.

The characters here are realistic and definitely not one-dimensional, they are all flawed in their own ways. The realism of the characters in the storyline depicted the rawness of human emotions and the different ways certain people in real life deal with life itself. The characters reactions are animated, exaggerated, immature, ignorant and expressive making them very complex with lots of layers. Yes, the characters who are in their 30s had acted immature and this is something which can be considered realistic too. Maturity is not set on age, there is no such thing as the older you get the more mature you become, in reality it has to do more with ones life experiences and lessons, the same applies to these characters. The storyline gave these realistic characters a lot of space to make mistakes, be confused, be miserable, to learn valuable life lessons and grow, while also allowing them to hold on to what they want in life despite not being at their best selves. This is exactly what I found beautiful about Love Next Door, because I was able to find the entire range of human emotions in this drama alone. I was able to relate, understand, sympathize and empathize with the characters. It had also opened my mind to certain things that I might have not known before. Just exactly like what Jung Haein had said, we have to see the characters in Love Next Door as real people not simply as characters. We also have to open our mind and allow ourselves to step into the shoes of each characters in order to get a full grasps of who they are and why they made such decisions in life, because each of the characters here come from a reasonable stance.

Bae Seokryu is the character whom I relate to the most in this drama. She is a character written to be the 'eldest-daughter of an asian family household'. She had always been ambitious ever since she was young and she takes pride in her achievements. She values her mother's opinions and had always tried her best to be a filial daughter to her family. She is strong-willed and had shown her mature side since she was young. The flashbacks when they were children had shown sides of her maturity with how she takes care of Choi Seunghyo. She is an extremely selfless person who cares too much about her loved ones to the point she often neglects herself as an expense of trying to carry everything around her shoulder for the sole purpose of not becoming a burden or worry anyone whom she holds dear to her heart. Her questionable and easily misunderstood life decisions at certain times are due to her selfless-ness. Her cancer, workplace bullying and depression which she had suffered from made her hit rock bottom. It was an awakening for her that finally made her realize that she wasn't truly living for herself. To Bae Seokryu who fell into a slump, Choi Seunghyo became her compass that helped her navigate to the new life she had decided to live for herself. For Bae Seokryu, Choi Seunghyo is the rainbow in her life. Choi Seunghyo on the other hand is a character written to be the complete opposite of Seokryu. He has his own selfish side and may have had flaws due to his abandonment issues. He lacked familial love but still was able to grow up successfully into a kind and loving person. He isn't a completely immature character, he has his mature side too which he often brings out when him and Seokryu have their serious moments, away from the banters. His character never once annoyed me. Instead, I felt for him. While he might not have been the typical romcom male lead, he is a green forest in his own way I must say. To Choi Seunghyo who lacks familial love as a child, it was Bae Seokryu who helped him get through life as she was always there for him in his sickness and important life events. For Choi Seunghyo, Bae Seokryu is the gold medal in his life.

Their love story had never felt one sided to me as I was able to understand where both of them was coming from and how they both have a completely different way of loving. Seunghyo is more expressive with his love and Seokryu is the silent lover type. Seunghyo is willing to go through rock bottom with Seokryu no matter how uncertain their future is, while Seokryu is willing to carry all the pain to lessen the damage for Seunghyo, both are very selfless acts of love. The resilience of Seunghyo's love for Seokryu that withstood all the storms truly speaks volumes of how he is the right person for her. Seokryu's braveness to open the doors to her heart to allow love in her life again despite her past traumas and fears tells how Seunghyo really means to her. No love outweighs the other. Sometimes when life knocks you down, it isn't about who pulls you back up, it's more about who stays with you in the dark, who lets you cry and rant and rage. Accepting you in all your life's phases, even the ugly and worst one but still wholeheartedly loving you in every way. Sometimes love isn't only about building things up but about gathering the broken glass and making sure none of the pieces get lost. Their love story and many of their moments will surely remain unforgettable for me.

The transition of their romance from being childhood friends to lovers was done smoothly in a well-detailed manner. I love how it wasn't rushed and they showed the awkward phase in their relationship. They gave justice to the childhood friends to lovers trope by giving it a proper execution. Although they had a rough start due to certain past misunderstandings and the unresolved traumas each of them still carried. What I love even more about the development of their relationship is the fact that they were only brought together when they are already in the phase of healing rather than hurting. Their relationship wasn't always smooth sailing, through the moments of their arguments we got to see them slowly growing and showing maturity with how they handle their problems together as a couple. I especially love the way Seokryu and Seunghyo had both professed their love to each other. It was done in a unique way that is tailored for the two of them only, the details to their confessions makes it even more romantic. Their confessions sounded so poetic and the fact that their token of love for each other weren't merely wedding rings but things that connects to their childhood and holds sentimental value to them. I cannot pick a favorite dialogue or scene from their confessions, as I love everything including the banana milk expiration scene.

This is Jung Haein's first romcom k-drama and I have so much praise for the spectacular performance he had delivered. His micro expressions and how his eyes act alone is enough to move me. It is so refreshing to see this new side of him and this will definitely go down as one of my favorite roles of his. I would absolutely love it if he ventures more into this type of genre. Jung Somin gave a wonderful performance too. I love her. They both did great at bringing life to their characters as Bae Seokryu and Choi Seunghyo respectively. Without a doubt the two of them had delivered the childhood friends to lovers trope convincingly. Their chemistry is truly insane and the best of the best, either on or off screen. As for the heavy and emotional scenes, their performance and ability to portray a wide range of emotions didn't fall short and surely left an impact as they stirred up my emotions too and made me cry with them. Every other actors in this drama are deserving of praise too. I am so thankful that Jung Haein and Jung Somin were casted in this drama.

While watching Love Next Door, you have to completely allow yourself to be immersed in its storyline. To sit back and enjoy the flow of where the story is taking you, not where you want the story to be taken. Which I am glad I did because I was fully able to appreciate and enjoy watching this drama. The storyline might have some minor flaws but the amount of good qualities it had made me overlook such flaws. I love almost every single thing about this drama. From the story about their families, friendship and neighborhood to the wholesome friendships portrayed here between Seokryu, Seunghyo, Moeum, Danho, Yeondu...their dads and the lavender group. There were so many memorable and note-worthy dialogues and scenes that easily became my favorite. It is sad that the nuances in most dialogues had been lost with translation errors because it definitely has a deeper meaning in Korean. The title and its changes after each episode is something which I liked too but again, lost its deep meaning due to translations. The ending might have been left open-ended which I usually don't prefer, but for the first time I found myself satisfied as it was meaningful and very SeungRyu coded. A heartwarming happy ending indeed. This drama left a deep emotional impact and valuable message about ordinary human life through each of the characters experiences.

Overall, Love Next Door is the best romcom k-drama that had been released this year for me. The amount of happiness, comfort, tears, healing and warmth it brought to me with its beautiful storyline makes it all worth it. I agree when Jung Somin said that there is something heartwarming about the way the writer sees people. I don't think I will ever get this attached to a drama ever again. It will be so hard for me to move on from this. I wish Jung Haein and Jung Somin could reunite in another drama again and maintain the friendship they have. I have so much love for Love Next Door.

"Just find what's valuable to you in your life. That's more than enough" — Bae Seokryu

"Who cares if we fall? who cares if things crumble? we can hit rock bottom together. Then we can get back up again" —Choi Seunghyo