Took me 3 years to finally watch this drama, and I have to say that I finally realized why there's so many complaints about it.
The fact that this was similiar to Cruel Intentions got me intrigued. I've watched the movie years ago and was wondering how would they pull it off, but the lack of originality here was slightly off putting. They could have made this better if they dropped the romantic/family issues plot and the bunch of secondary characters that got dragged along the plotline and focused on that friendship between the trio. It would be nice to see friendship prevail and win instead of love being the holy savior per usual.

It got to a point where I was rolling my eyes at some scenes mainly between the leads and all the pointless drama and endless breakups that I was starting to wonder if this was based on any Chinese drama, heaven knows Waking Love Up as an example of one too many breakups and misunderstandings was just like that, where the leads had constant breakup in 40 episodes. Praise the LORD this one only had 32 episodes, but holy skittles it was too damn long. This could have worked on a 16 episodes if they did better plot.

Honestly I only finished this because of Kim Min Jae's character Lee Se Joo. He was by far my favorite of the whole show. And in second I have to point out Moon Ga Young's character Choi Soo Ji. WHY these two? Se Joo had everything that many characters lacked hence he was my favorite. Still, I liked both because of the complexity of their personalities and feelings.
In the beginning I liked Si Hyun too, he was part of the trio and his character seemed to be interesting too, however, after a couple episodes in the sudden change in him could not be considered a character development but a conflict of guilty feelings.

"The three of us aren't like other friends. The secrets and pain we've shared are beyond your imagination."

This was true.
The foundation of their friendship wasn't exactly healthy in many ways, but we cannot deny that it was real.
The whole through thick and thin could label these three. They relied on each other because they shared the pain and anguish that plagued their hearts because of their twisted and broken families. It scared them and made them distrustful and wear masks or have certain behaviors so to cope with everything when they in fact needed guidance. They were all lost in a maze of cruel intentions, falling victims by the adults decisions that surrounded them, with their cunning ways to discard them easily leaving them to live a hell in their own hollow homes.

"We had a hideout only we could get into, it was more comfortable and warmer than home."

So, they came together and were the 3 against the world, Se Joo helped them have a place where they could refugee themselves from their wrecked homes, a secret haven where they could be themselves even though they had no clue on who they were by that point. Nevertheless, they gathered there no matter if it snowed or rained and had fun, or shared secrets, hanging out to support one another or brag about any conquer they had made, it was a place to vent and be free. And it lasted until the house of cards came crumbling down on them.
When they succumbed to the pressure of their latest scheme and to the pressure of all the troubles between families and conflicted emotions buried inside their hearts and others.

"It has become an empty nest."

When everything fell apart even that place become a place with both good and haunting memories.

"Relationships like those are all bound to change."
"All relationships change. Friends, lovers and even family. If you aren't sincere, it just changes a bit quicker."

We cannot blame one sole individual here for the turmoil that affected the trio's friendship. They were all at fault in one way or another, some more than others. Tae Hee was their initial toy and therefore a victim of their sick play and bet, but at the same time her character was infuriating in certain attitudes. Perhaps its the humanity she had, we are greedy, selfish and impulsive. And we can't deny that there was a certain hypocrisy in her actions too. Mainly when it came to love, she was at first one who preferred to chose friendship over love. How quick did she change that, and made Si Hyun to chose between those too.

"You, me and Se Joo. We only had each other when times were tough.
We truly believed... that if it wasn't for the three of us, no one would understand us. We believed so.
That was so natural for me until this day. But I do not... feel like that anymore."

Only in his case he gave up on his friends for her love. What in fact made him fall in love for her? That's the mystery.
It is shown in the drama that he wasn't always heartless punk that seduces women for fun, he has a caring side for those who are close in his affections, and in his heart he had 3 people, his late mom, and his two best friends Choi Soo Ji and Lee Se Joo.
These two stayed with him in the toughest moments, and shared his pain as he shared theirs. And yet the three of them still never attempt to know more about each other, only linked by their personal pains to care about details because the granted thought that their friendship was everlasting was more than enough. So, why was it so easy for him to leave them in the end?

"Could she ever... mean more to you than us?"

And because of a girl he fell in love with. To me it felt like an obsession of sorts at first. Almost as if he had been in the dark for so long and the minute she came and shed some light, he held onto to her with all his might so he could be pulled out. But, instead of pulling his friends with him, and giving a second chance and save them all, he chose to leave them in their darkness.
It wasn't hard to see the spiral that was coming for the three of them with the bet they made and how it would affect them.

That was a turning point for the trio, and one of the many ominous things that would lead to their end.

Si Hyun was having a hard time, but so were all the others. Soo Ji was always so self-centered in her own pain to acknowledge anyone else. Se Joo was too good at hiding behind a mask of cheerfulness and indifference when he was perhaps the one who was hurting the most not only emotionally but physically too given all the abuse he faced by his own family members. He was the glue that kept the trio together, but after endless tries of mending the cracks in their foundation, he too started to feel helpless on how further could he hold onto to everyone else when no one even held out to him in the first place.

"Was I the only one who wanted to hold us three together?"

For that and many more he is my favorite. He was the strongest of the three of them. Makes me mad on how they all took him for granted in everything he said and did, because he deserved better than that. He was just as scared as they were, he had his sick mother in the hospital which I believe neither Soo Ji or Si Hyun knew, and his family members were cunning and abusive that he would spent more time outside or running way from a place that should be his home, to friends that neglected him therefore he was always in a certain way alone. Still, he coped. He masked his own pain and helped others with theirs. He kept his feelings for Soo Ji hidden until he could no longer conceal them as before, and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He was honest and open minded, and not afraid to speak his mind or being true to himself even it meant to be brokenhearted or hurt.

"I wanted to make sure no one changed. Nothing went wrong. It's just that... we changed a little."

Soo Ji might have been a complex character, but when it come to all the most complex was Se Joo.

"Anemone. Betrayal, helpless love, empty love, thanks for being there for me.
I will give you my everything even if you do not love me, I still love you."
"It has so many meanings and every one of them is sad."

The meaning behind Soo Ji's favorite flower is everything that depicts Se Joo and how he feels. Maybe that's why he memorized each and every meaning and was always offering them to her, so she could acknowledge him in the end.

"The three of us can't be together forever, but... no one should get their hearts broken."
"Are you talking about yourself?"
"No. It's about you and Si Hyun. Both of you... suffered enough because of your parents."

As if he wasn't in pain and suffering too. The longing and painful stare he gave to both of them in many situations ignored or neglected were heartbreaking. His actions and decisions, were solely in prol of both Soo Ji and Si Hyun, although at a certain point he took Soo Ji's side when Si Hyun replaced them quickly. Because in his heart and mind suddenly all that mattered was Tae Hee and nothing and no one else that he even neglected his friends. Si Hyun could have tried better to work on both. This is one of too many motives that I would prefer this to be focused on their friendship only and make it prevail, that the three of them could help and improve themselves and get out of their own prisons. That there is love in friendship too, that family does not always end in blood. We can create our own family too, and they are as close as they could be given everything.

"After we turn 20, let's just light three candles. However old we are, one each for the three of us.
Lee Se Joo, Choi Soo Ji and Kwon Si Hyun. That's three."

How much did this promise meant to Si Hyun, that he never cared for it when he was the one who suggested ?
The other two never failed it though, even through the course of years they held onto to it even when he forgot all about it.

"The three of us always celebrated his birthday together. We left school early just for that.
He pushed us aside now that he has a girlfriend. He said he didn't need us now."

That was a low blow, and Tae Hee's yellow smiles and feigning ignorance was too. She was not the sole responsible for the broken friendship, but she was part of the cataclysm that caused it and she did not make an effort to persuade Si Hyun to give any chance to his friends and she did not make one either. Sure, Soo Ji wasn't the easiest to deal with, but rather than anger at the world she was mostly sad and lonely and afraid of being left alone because of past traumas.

"Si Hyun told me this once.
He said that his friendship with Se Joo and you is... something precious that can't be described in words.
That's why I envied you guys. Because I wanted to be someone he treasured too.
When he was with me, he would leave and go to you guys. There were times when I was disappointed and resentful."

This showed her level. She was mostly jealous, and preferred that he cut ties with his "toxic" friends. Those who had his back.
Because Soo Ji liked Si Hyun, he once like her too, although it felt more like an infatuation of his teenager years. We can say Soo Ji was probably his first love, but afraid of ruining their friendship he did not dare to give the next step. The same went for her, Si Hyun was her first love, but given her distrust towards relationships she feared any confession so she preferred playing games, as for Se Joo, he was torn between his first love and the loyalty towards his friend, mainly when both were his best friends so he concealed everything inside, and the three of them went just like that along the years. Losing the right time.

"Instead of plotting this stupid game, you should've just.. liked Si Hyun outright. What were you scared off?"
"Aren't you the same? Too sacred of something to admit the truth?"
"You're right. I'm the stupidest of the three."

In my opinion Se Joo was the most mature out of the three of them.

"We can't go back to how we used to be."
"You're right. Si Hyun is gone. We can never go back to how we used to be.
Do you think we won't be lonely... even if it was just the two of us?"
"We were lonely at times... even when there were the three of us."

That was because in their friendship it lacked communication. Although the feelings were there, and they shared common interests and levels of pain and suffering, they started to keep secrets that were bound to destroy everything they had built.

"I'll at least... make you feel less lonely than... when the three of us were together."
"I thought we would never change. When did everything begin to go wrong, and since when have I done so much wrong?
If I had told him that I liked him first... when he asked me why I didn't trust anyone, if I had told him that I trusted him, would he have come down to this?"

Nothing is certain that things would have gone in a different direction if that was to happen. Still, it's undeniable how the love and friendship between them could have been better to save them all from their own predicaments instead of this messy plot.
Why creating three strong characters only to ruin them by torn them like so? It was brutal and unnecessary. Skipping the whole goody two shoes FL cliché, and the whole FL past is linked to the family of the ML, and they fall in love and tragedy blah blah blah would be way better. I even rooted more for Se Joo and Soo Ji than the leads, because they carried the whole show.

"Why are you always sorry? You're the one who's done the most for the three of us."

Glad that it took a sum of about 30 episodes for Soo Ji to acknowledge this about Se Joo. Sadly, Si Hyun cut ties with both and never acknowledge anything with his puppy love for Tae Hee's. Begging for her forgiveness and love? If it weren't for Se Joo telling her the whole truth who knows when Si Hyun would have the courage to do so, and yet he snapped and made the no turning point by punching his best friend, and then punching the frame of the picture of the three of them therefore ending their friendship. Through the course of the drama he lost points for me, and it's a pity I love Do Hwan and he made a good job with his character, the fault is in the script and the mess that it become.

"Now let the flow take us wherever it may be."

In conclusion of this long text I made. It's not a perfect drama with a good storyline. You'll start this and love the trio for about 3 or 4 episodes in, and when you reach episode 6 or so you will see the route it will have and the amount of frustration ahead.
The puppy romance wasn't it for me, most people felt biased for the trio and despite their toxicity so did I, preferring that it would be more about them than anyone else. Either they would go down the road of total perdition or redemption, they could have saved themselves if friendship prevailed over the typical cliché romance. Too many side characters and plot holes here dragging the plot or adding more intense drama and being linked to the past. Some characters appeared when needed to create conflict and stir things up and other's vanished in thin air without explanation as to what happened to them. A mess.

The only highlight here was the trio and mainly Se Joo. And that's about it.

Sadly it did not last, but I like to imagine an AU where despite their bets and games, it led to no romance.
Where Si Hyun and Soo Ji sorted out their feelings, and in a way Se Joo too, and having them be their first loves, who knows if they would be the ending game, however, their friendship would remain strong and with time and commitment and with proper help and sheer power of will lighter and brighter. So, that the three of them could escape their demons together, and leave their troubles away. That would be nice to see. Instead of what they gave us. An open ending that should lead to a second season, where the trio could mend their broken friendship and begin anew with their healing hearts after 5 years...

The OST was okay. The drama itself felt like a mix of Cruel Intentions and Gossip Girl. It wasn't bad but, could have been better.