I am so glad that I decided to watch this drama. I initially ignored it, because of my indifference to baseball, but high reviews won me over, and I slowly fell completely in love with it. There are plenty of dramas about bffs falling in love, or how living together can turn into romance. The premise itself is pretty standard, but unlike other dramas that I've seen, this one doesn't just jump from strictly platonic to romantic love with a sudden revelation & a kiss. This one explores all the complicated in betweens, and conflicting/confusing emotions, that can come up when a relationship changes from friendship to possible romance. There are also no scheming exes, malevolent parents, debilitating diseases, social class barriers, or major "scandals" thrown in to add more excitement to the drama. It doesn't need any of that. Lee Jung Jin & Soo Ae's performances alone are enough to keep the story exciting. There is also a great supporting cast with interesting love (or lack of love) stories of their own, and a great overall theme about maturing into adulthood. Maybe the fact that I've had a similar opposite sex friendship plays a role, but Hyung Tae and Nan Hee relationship really resonated with me, plus they had great chemistry. This drama took it's time realistically portraying their close friendship, and they are also had their own separate romantic storylines, which made the pace a little slower than a typical Kdrama romcom. I thought the slower pacing was perfect for telling this kind of story, and lots of humor kept it from feeling like it was ever dragging. It also helped to build anticipation. I honestly enjoyed every episode. There were a few parts of the story that I think could have been handled a little better, but I think the writers did a really good job juggling different stories without losing focus on the main couple. I think the only weak character was Sung Ah, who after being mentioned so often in the drama, should have had a bigger presence when she finally appeared. I know she was meant to be portrayed as an outsider, but compared to the rest of the cast, her character bored me. I also have to mention how weird it was to see a young Lee Tae Sung in this after seeing him recently in Rooftop Prince. It makes me appreciate his acting range, considering how different each role I've seen him play has been. He's a real sweetheart as Jung Joo, Nan Hee's much younger boyfriend. His character is the only one that really has anything to do with baseball, so this should not be thought of as a sports drama. Baseball is just used as a metaphor for relationships in a way that kinda reminded me of the movie "Love & Basketball". You don't have to like baseball to appreciate this drama. Overall, "9 End 2 Outs" was a pleasant surprise, and I will definitely rewatch it. With all the cliché drama romcoms out there, this one certainly stands out. It's funny, and touching (though not a tearjerker), and I highly recommend it to anyone in the mood to watch a good romance unfold. *I swear I didn't give this mostly "9"s on purpose : )