Unlike a lot of the reviewers, I find the last episode to be the most unsatisfying. Everything else was good overall, including the middle or late part that many seem to dislike. To explain why I am really unsatisfied with the ending and why I disagree with others and enjoy basically all the other episodes, I will focus on the character develop and plot lines.

The main casts, just like everyone says, are simply lovely. They played a loving couple so well in the show that I almost took them to be real. However, it needs to be said that Jin-ah, or female protagonist has a much more complex character plot than Joon-hee. Her character growth in the show was remarkable and relatively well depicted, whereas Joon-hee's growth is comparatively small, and much less complex.

This difference has to do with two of the major plot lines in the show besides the main theme of romance: workplace sexual harassment and parental authority. Jin-ah was involved in both plot lines directly and heavily, while Joon-hee only got involved in the family struggle that Jin-ah had with her family. This difference played out importantly in the latter part of the story. Jin-ah started out as a capable yet obedient woman in both her family and her job. She had the lowest status in her family such that even her younger brother could scold her, and considered her an immature trouble-maker. In her office, she was targeted as the main female worker who was compliant and can be easily harassed without repercussion, which earned her the nickname of "Mrs. Tambourine." By the latter half of the show, she not only gained support and respect from her brother, but even stood up against her strong-headed mom openly and persistently. In her workplace, she became the sole fighter against sexual harassment and showed courage, perseverance, and tact in her fight. This remarkable growth was initiated by the romantic relationship that Jin-ah and Joon-hee had, and thus, the romantic relationship is always tangled with these two themes. However, growth in character took time to develop, and came at the “cost” of romance because the plot line gradually took up more of her work and family struggles and became less less romantic as a result.

For everyone who thinks that latter half of the show became boring, I dare say that it has to do with this gradual change of focus from a clear romance to a more complex show in which the romantic part became less dominate and fuzzy. This, however, is one reason why I appreciate this show: it showed that people live a complex life in addition to the romantic relationship that they have, and how a loving romance can do: it does much more than making one feel butterflies in stomach, and can truly improve and mature a person. It is in these two aspects that I find the male protagonist lack: his whole life focused on the love relationship that they had such that he was willing to threaten his boss multiple times for sake of his relationship, and he had not showed much of a growth even till the end. Initially, his tendency of being protective lent great strength and courage to Jin-ah such that she dared to call out and reject harassment that she encountered. But this protective tendency gradually became excessive and even impeding when Jin-ah became more mature and independent. Joon-hee had always been loving. But he loved the same way throughout and due to a lack of development, his love gradually became impeding to Jin-ha and their relationship. How can you tell a woman to give up her job, her genuine concern about sexual harassment, and her whole way of life just for "love?" The fact that Jin-ah had matured while Joon-hee remained unchanged, to me, is the underlying and true reason for their break-up. Jin-ha had turned into a woman who courageously faced the challenges of love, family, work, and sexual harassment head-on. Joon-hee, however, remained someone who was troubled by perceptions of others, and decided to use work opportunity to escape.

By the time of the second to last episode, Jin-ha's clear determination to fight against sexual harassment and the conspicuous difference between Jin-ha and Joon-hee in terms of maturity become two major issues in the way of them getting back together. However, the final episode does not address either of them directly. It was hinted that Jin-ha succeeded in her fight in sexual harassment, and managed to put the harassers to legal penalty they deserved, but nothing is clear. This is really disappointing, because this lack cuts off the theme that has been building up to this point. Besides, this is one of the clear reasons why they broke up, and not finishing the story on this part is quite a misfortune. My biggest gripe, however, is that the reunion went too short to capture the emotional expectation of the audience and to explain the character development needed for completing the story. This moment of reunion was what the audience had been waiting for. But the couple did not talk nearly as much as they should have, nor had had in previous episodes. In the very last conversation between Jin-ha and Joon-hee, they exchanged less than 30 lines, and all of them short. WHY? Why??? How does this address all the tensions built-up and all expectations that we have??? It came so woefully short that neither was it satisfactory emotionally, nor did it offer a clear, convincing logic for why they got back together. To the credits of the screenwriters and directors, I can understand that this first reunion must be charged with emotion, and logic should be left for a later occasion. But then there is no later occasion that allows for a meaningful conversation or interaction. This really cuts the show short for me.

Overall, however, I enjoyed this show quite a bit. There are many other problems that I didn't mention here, such as the music, some of the plot designs, and so on. But they don't prevent this show to shine. The maturity of plot, the realness of problems, the struggles and love, and the beautiful smiles and laughter of the in-loved Jin-ah all make it worthy of re-watch. How I wish the ending could be different!