I ended up really enjoying this, which surprised me because the synopsis and trailer made it look like it would be pretty cringey. I also hadn't really seen many good reviews. But I ended up enjoying every episode and definitely tearing up unexpectedly a few times.
This is a real romance, with a spotlight on the gendered double standards in dating.
Although the characters and setting aren't "everyday", the romance is definitely more realistic than most, and the show really throws aside the facade of "no s*x before marriage" that a lot of Korean romances put up.
Instead of hours and hours of tension waiting for the romantic leads to finally kiss, the tension and drama comes from external forces.

I'm not sure what it was, but something about the male romantic lead suddenly felt off in the later episodes and that feeling never quite went away. Perhaps it was that his character development stalled at one point and they never continued improving him?