To be honest, I'm surprised this series isn't rated higher.. it was so good, Is it perfect? No. But it had so much good going on that the bad was next to irrelevant.

So what is this "bad" that I'm talking about? For me, the biggest issue was the editing and pacing. Seriously, there were so many inconsistencies albeit each one was minor. But even if they aren't huge or even all THAT noticeable, if there are too many of them, it becomes more and more distracting.

A few examples (SPOILER ALERT) I remember... the progression of the painting. (you see Phap making progress on it then in a few scenes later, it's back to where it was and for a minute I thought we were watching a flashback). The fact Phap gets fired and then a few scenes later, the rest of the employees are asking why he's not in the office and if he'll work for them after he comes back from Japan. (Like, he was fired. No. No he won't.) And then there was the jealousy and misunderstandings.. it's fine to have it in there but it's like, one minute it's there, then the next it's forgiven without any actual conversation, you just have Phap standing there with cotton candy and a megaphone, and then the next scene, he's all pouty again.

But even with all that said, I can't really fault the actors for any of it. They were all so perfect in their roles and it was fun to see a few of them in such different ways from other series I've seen them in. I very recently watched Triage and it was fun to see Tae in this fun-loving character after such a heavy and serious one. I also remember being fascinated by Singto in He's Coming to Me (another fairly heavy drama) and he was even better here. I've heard SOTUS was good too but I have yet to see that one though, after watching Paint With Love, I'm likely to follow Singto in every series he's in.

But I digress..

I really loved the chemistry between Tae and Singto, and I'm not talking about their romantic chemistry. They fed off each other with their bickering and their comedic timing was so good, I almost didn't even need there to be any romance between them. Almost. Not gunna lie, when they finally hook up, I was super happy. But I would have watched this even if it just turned out to be a buddy comedy, which is saying a lot because I love me some smut. The show was simply THAT entertaining.

The side characters were fun and interesting enough to have the viewer invested in them. There wasn't an overload of multiple storylines going on or an influx of new faces coming in and out. It was easy to follow and each one was relevant, at least to some degree (obviously some more than others.) I have seen Yoon in a few shows before and, while I think he's a great actor, I never truly believed his chemistry with his on-screen partner. This show was better and he definitely looked more relaxed in his role though I feel like the side couple still fell under the more typical awkward BL stigma where "intimacy" is concerned. (I put "intimacy" in quotations because I don't mean smut.. but instead anything that suggests there's romantic intent in their interaction.)

But overall, this was a very enjoyable series and I can certainly see myself watching it again from start to finish.

Oh, and whoever was in charge of Maengmum's wardrobe, I salute you.