Lmangla
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Posts posted by Lmangla
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that soy sauce better be worth all this trouble for the chairman.
he is throwing everyone under the bus for food
-- noel, jihoon, yohan, dajung...
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2 hours ago, Ameera Ali said:
super messy. I remember when the news came out and we were all glued to TV and going "whaaaaaaaaattttttt????????" I remember sharing the story here in this thread and everyone was like, "hang on, what?"
2 hours ago, partyon said:Ya! Why are these Indian documentaries always so dramatic and over-the-top? It's like their Bollywood films?
because most of us love drama!!!! hahahahha....
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17 hours ago, rocher22 said:
The Far Pavilions 💖
the first long book I read as a child and I was so bored of the romance.
I only read it to prove that I can read so many pages. then I just went back to my short adventure novels. hahahahhaa...
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3 hours ago, sadthe1st said:
it's THE day where roses and chocolates sales shoot high up more than any other occasions
yea, the regional news covered that in the agricultural segment -- prices of roses shot up in the wholesale market. I barely paid any attention to the rose news.
contrast that to my aunt calling me a couple of days back and saying in shock, "do you know price of garlic has risen to xx/kg????" and this was me...
Spoiler
yea, we only care about food.
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1 hour ago, sadthe1st said:
HAPPY VALENTINES TO ALL CHINGUS!
I totally forgot this day existed till I see such posts.
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14 minutes ago, partyon said:
I still don't get it, sweetie....
hahahaha... oh well. I tried.
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2 hours ago, kokodus said:
@Lmangla Woww...I didn't even know all these about Ekta kapoor and her style. I have watched countless hindi dramas during my childhood. LOL. When they come tamil dubbed.....the one you shared, bade accha lagta hain, aired in zeetamil or polymer dubbed in tamil. I remember watching it with my mom. It is cult classic. Plus my favourite one was Uttaran aka sindhu bhairavi in tamil. It started airing when I was in 8th std I think and it went on till I was in 3rd year of my college. LOLOL. As you said, we can only watch the first 100 or so eps, after that it becomes too much. LOL. Some of these shows actually come with some really strong social messages too. There was one called Balika vadhu which was about child marriage, and there was one where the female lead wants to become an IPS officer while her husband is a jalebiwala who supports her. I dont remember the name of this. Even uttaran showed about social inequalities and other things. But thankyou so much. You have opened the nostalgia box, now I have to go and search whether any OTT platforms have all these old serials. Hehe.
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bade ache is really a cult classic and what is fantastic is how it is relevant even today. you should watch the initial episodes as an adult and it will totally hit you in a different way.
you would think a fight about cupboards is ridiculously petty but when put into the context of letting someone into your life, it takes on such a different emotional plateau. what I enjoy about ekta dramas is her ability to take social type issues and really make them kind of makjang drama without anyone getting too preachy or philosophical or shouty. that is actually very difficult to do.
look at bade ache which tackled on the issues related to getting married when you have been single for so long and what it is like for those in their 30s and 40s.
sakshi who played the FL was initially surprised to get the offer because she didn't think people would write a lead who is in her 30s but sakshi brought such a wonderful warmth and grounding precisely because of her life experience. a younger actress would have never been able to create those beautiful scenes like where the FL cries and yells at her family and asks why her relationship status is being discussed to death and whether her value is less just because she is single.
another scene that was great was when she goes on a date and is told by him that she isn't who he is looking for because he wants someone young, funny and attractive. you can just see the emotional slap move across her face but she just sits there politely without making a drama and walks away from the date with dignity but also feeling really deflated. those kind of scenes would still feel so emotionally angsty to anyone even today.
ram who played the ML was freaking out when he realized he was cast as the ML and not as some side character like uncle, father or brother. he had been depressed about not getting jobs and gone into this spiral of overeating and struggling to lose weight. his wife had to really convince him to go for the role and he did it to essentially play bills because they really needed the money. he got trolled like crazy but he said it convinced him to go on a journey towards better health and weight management.
so when the drama puts in scenes on how the ML is always ignored and even his own family want to use him for his money, ram hit it out of the park because he personally knew the struggle of being overlooked. the ML is so matter of fact bitter that he will always be alone because he is not necessarily good looking or super charming. those are feelings that people will struggle with in any age especially now with the whole online culture where you are judged on your pics.
that is what makes bade ache a cult classic. I re-watched it a few years back and I loved it. those type of scenes, those emotions anyone can relate to right? gah. such feels! what I think is funny is that both ram and sakshi still have no idea apparently why people loved them so much as an onscreen pairing. sometimes a drama isn't just about good writing but also about the actors ability to make them human, relatable and just lovely to watch.
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11 hours ago, partyon said:
@Lmangla sweetie, what’s going on here?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3Kt5AtPMVx/
How long is an episode of an Indian series, if this is the speed of a dramatic scene?
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kekekek... this turned out to be an essay but only way to answer your question is to give context..
any Indian series is a half hour slot. however, the actual episode length is usually around 17-19 minutes. the rest of it is just ads. and they can run as long as they have ratings. sometimes, it is about the producer enmeshing with the channel. some of these producers have really deep pockets and connections. so if the current drama is not going well, it is now common to just wrap up the story and then do what is called a 'generation leap' where the story then shifts to the children of the protagonists and what happens to them when they grow up.
basically the channel needs to kick out these producers but they won't and so you just have the same drama airing for years. I kid you not. years. even if they stick to the same characters, sometimes, you will have different actors portraying them because actors get fed up and leave. they will botch the story in several ways. generally I only watch the first 100 eps of the drama or so and then I drop it because by then the drama goes off the rails.
according to some in this Indian drama forum, there are A writers and B writers. the A group will be the ones who start the drama and at that point, everything will be interesting to watch. once, the ratings are established, the A group is rotated out to work on some other dramas while the B group, the junior writers, then take over. these are the kids who have no idea what they are doing and at this point, they are writing nonsense, butchering the characters and so on. then when ratings dip, again, the A group writers are brought in and immediately there will be a change in the drama's tone, characterization and level of drama.
very few dramas remain solidly good story telling from beginning to end. most people just watch these dramas as background noise while preparing dinner or having food. basically these trend of dramas that go on for hundreds of episodes really happened around the 90s when satellite television came in and channels wanted a way to have audience loyalty and less channel flipping.
the other part of your question -- dramatic scenes are really amped up with freeze shots of all the characters (their faces doing omo) and dun dun music. people make memes but still, it continues because it is not only dramatic but absurdly funny.
this absurd way of doing dramatic scenes really started with a producer called Ekta Kapoor. She has become synonymous with these types of dramatic scenes. like how kdramas use the word 'makjang' to describe, people here call it 'ekta' for this type of style.
she has an interesting back story -- basically she is the daughter of a famous actor but growing up was rather overweight and a couch potato. she loved tv dramas and so decided to become a producer. whatever one may think of ekta kapoor dramas, it is very clear that it is produced by someone who really understands why people enjoy watching dramas. basically she is a drama fangirl who decided to produce what she loves to watch.
she does make some really good dramas. however, some of her choices are interesting to say the least.
so this was one of her dramas that was a ratings gold and initially people were like "huh????" when the promos came out. basically she went against the grain by casting these actors (who were 35+ish) and making a story about an older couple as the leads.
the actor playing ML was overweight and was trolled for it. people were wondering how he got cast but ekta was very intentional with her casting as she wanted to try something different with actors who had acting chops.
it was about a 30 something professor who is unlucky in love and rejected for being boring and a 40 something businessman who is lonely and rejected for his weight -- how these two end up getting into a contract marriage for the sake of their families and how that turns from a "this person is weird" into a friendship into love.
even though people initially trolled the concept, it was ratings gold because the characters were really just lovely and there was great chemistry between the two leads.
Spoiler
this drama was so popular that in subsequent years, other producers have tried to replicate that similar kind of magic with other contract marriage dramas but never been as successful
now, to get back to your question, while these type of dramas were good in terms of storytelling as well as characterization, these dramatic type slow-mo techniques were more appreciated because it adds to the romance or the comedy or the conflict. people do love them in those type of dramas.
to give an example, one of the arcs that I remember was a fight about cupboard space.
so he shows her his room where she will be moving into after marriage and then shows her two small shelves that he has designated for her. she does a total eye roll and gets annoyed. he does not get it and they have a huge fight. later he comes to apologize and she shows him her room and asks him how she is supposed to wrap up all her memories and put it into a few small shelves.
they then have a lovely discussion about how to share spaces and making room physically as well as emotionally for a new person in their life.
all of this was well-written but it wasn't a serious tone. ekta kapoor dramas always leans in on more makjang+ comedy+ emotion type storytelling. so a fight about shelves turns into something hugely dramatic (while still being funny) but also indicative of the emotional growth. this is done through freeze shots, dun dun music and scenes that are extended over several episodes.
where this type of dramatic slow-mo techniques gets very very hilarious to watch are the supernatural/horror genre. the IG clip is actually mocking a series of very well-known season of dramas from this producer called 'naagin'.
I have never watched them and so I can't tell you what they are about but the clips themselves are hysterical. basically it is a mix of intentional bad acting, CGI and ridiculous storytelling. no one is watching because it is realistic. they essentially watch it because it is weirdly funny and engaging at the same time -- that is what I have heard from forum members. so people poke fun at it but they still keep watching anyway.
ekta kapoor is trolled but she is well-known as she has had many ratings gold. hence this essay to explain how she created these weird dramatic scene type shots and music and made sure every single one of the dramas she produces has the same.
many other producers also do it as well now but it is still known as ekta kapoor style whenever we see it. in the Indian drama forum I am part of, we did have discussions on whether this technique is good or bad. some people really find it annoying but they also do acknowledge that in ratings gold dramas, it can amp up the drama even more to make it more entertaining and can produce a positive effect in ratings. so the trend continues no matter how many people troll or meme it.
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14 hours ago, kokodus said:
Poor In seo is having it hard. This is the problem with nice kids, they are too sensitive to others feelings that they dont open up about theirs. He didnt even do anything wrong. Sigh. He should learn from Mina on how to be shameless. LOL. I understand where his mom is coming from, but she should trust him more. This is the problem with Asian parents, they are never ready to let go of our hands. Sighh.
I found his arc one of the best parts of the drama especially it isn't something we see often in dramas. the problems iseo faces are very real and relatable. I loved that they didn't give him a romance and instead stuck with him having this growth arc where he finds value in himself and tries to figure out what he wants to do with his life.
I loved that he was average but he found hidden skills. it was also really lovely how the remarriage of his grandfather actually helps this family and his relationship with inseo blossoms as a result. so lots of good scenes for you to look forward to. and yes, eventually, his mother realizes how many parenting mistakes she made with inseo and she does apologize to him. they learn to find a middle ground where they can talk it out -- basically the road to a healthy adult child-parent relationship.
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14 hours ago, liyahsbutterfly said:
They may be setting HW up to be morally grey or even villainous herself.
I do think it will be something on those lines. generally I enjoy such characterizations because they are fun to watch but I feel like this actress frankly doesn't have the acting chops to do it. even in miss M, I found her very meh. it is part of the reason I find the character hyewon as fake and not very sincere. everyone has good and bad parts to them but it has to blend together in a way that makes them feel like a whole person. instead, hyewon at the moment seems very duplicitous where she hides her true self and then her claws come out. so her character seems uneven to me. it could be bad acting but I also think the writing plays a part here. that said, this drama is way more engaging and at least logical compared to that silly empire drama that came before.
re: @maribella
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@confusedheart ~ how can you forget bawoo from bossam steal the fate?? the man was willing to go to prison and even possibly die literally. he was willing to protect her without any spoken feelings or show of affection from her side.
when he acts as umbrella from the drizzle. gah, great memories.
yikes, I forgot to wait to vote before suggesting. oh, well. in addition to dramas I put in vote for, this one holds my heart.
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12 hours ago, maribella said:
I couldn’t see the vindictiveness to HW
in one of the early episodes, she is at the wedding shop and someone is rude to her. she then in turn goes one step above and makes a comment about how that girl is too chubby. so HW is definitely vindictive and her true colour comes out when she interacts with do eun. what I don't get is her sweet act which at times comes across as fake rather than convincing to me.
12 hours ago, maribella said:HW’s attachment to the MIL looks more like her finding a mother she never had and also her respected boss, just being nonchalant when one’s mother figure and employer is grievously hurt is not possible in real life and in this kdrama. Her reaction is that of someone who’s less controlled than the MIL.
see, I get we are supposed to see it that way but her reaction still seems over the top. if she is so attached to MIL because of how she was treated at home, then why is she attached to stepbro? she got beaten by her stepmom and was ordered to take care of stepbro. whenever he messed up (which he did routinely as he is autistic), she would get beaten. so wouldn't her natural reaction be to resent him? or why even go through the anniversary tribute ritual for the dead stepmom? because of loyalty? there is a lot about HW that doesn't add up to me...
12 hours ago, maribella said:I might have missed the part where it said they had separated long before he met HJ, but I can theorised too that being the rich man with some quixotic view of love relationship ( his verses to his driver) I would say he had been cheating on his wife before HJ, but justified it as loving and living.
I think they had one of those housemates type marriages for years. when art MIL is accused of sexual harassment, makjang aunt and grandma actually think it is possible. why would they think that? because the marriage has been dead for years and they are all living in the same house together but with no real affection for each other...
12 hours ago, maribella said:The grandmother is a nasty woman who will get her comeuppance.
she is far more complex though which makes her more interesting to watch than robotic art MIL. for me, the scene was when drunk makjang aunt came home crying saying that she is messed up because she never received love growing up. so grandma agrees but then also adds that despite all the affairs of makjang aunt, grandma has tried to protect her and keep her in the same status. makjang aunt then cries.
also you get more glimpses into how she operates. when she talks to HW, she says that the share price initially fell when news of FIL's affair came out but then next year, bounced right back after a good year of sales. so she is far more pragmatic of the situation in some ways. she can't force a 60 something man to live with his wife and not get divorced. I don't think her intention is to welcome do eun with open arms but rather have a wait and watch approach as they can't avoid her. so she comes across as just astute.
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finally caught up with the drama.... and I don't like hye won at all.
13 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:- Well we finally got the secret whisper that set this whole thing off ... looks like Hye Won's got some explaining to do when she finally realizes her Little Sister is right in front of her.
the secret whisper indicates that hye won is really capable of being cunning and deceitful even as a young child. so she isn't kidding when she warns do eun that she is ready to go low.
I thought the mahjong scene with blue grandma was really interesting -- grandma is right in assessing that hye won is very impulsive and not smart or thinking things through. grandma asked directly if she was choosing between the MIL or the FIL and hye won had no answer because she wasn't even aware that she is making a choice. as grandma said, be careful of the tile you discard thoughtlessly.
I found it bizarre that hye won was more upset about the divorce than MIL. you would think the wife would be angry when she meets the mistress but art MIL was rather cool. it was more about her son's position that she was concerned about. yet, hye won raging and ranting at doeun was ridiculously stupid.
first, she is the daughter-in-law and as a wife, she should be wondering how it will affect jichang. why on earth is she getting involved in someone else's marriage? she could have sympathized with MIL and just offered support but there was no reason to go to war with doeun like a dummy. if anyone should have gone to war, that should be art MIL but if she is not interested, who is hyewon to get involved?
as grandma rightly pointed out later, if jichang had a problem, then he needs to leave the family as well as the company as well as his inheritance and walk away. will he do that? obviously not. then, the writing was on the wall that FIL at some point will walk in with doeun. was she planning to fight FIL? was she planning to fight grandma or makjang aunt? so getting involved in a fight with doeun was a dumb approach.
wanted to give a little clap when FIL reprimanded hyewon and asked her to give respect to doeun. she does not have to like or agree with his choices but disrespecting doeun is ultimately looking at FIL as a fool. her crying at the door just made me roll my eyes. even art MIL wasn't shedding this many tears at getting a divorce.
actually like how pragmatic grandma is in all of this.
@maribella - I don't see a typical cheating story here. the marriage has been dead for many years and what is left ultimately is just pride, money and inheritance. so rather than some emotional ties being broken, really, it was more about legality. thats why grandma, makjang aunt and even art MIL seem rather cool about it with hardly any emotions. that cannot happen overnight. no, the emotional separation happened years ago way before doeun even entered the picture.
also, doeun is right in assessing that hyewon does not have some moral high ground to look down. both hyewon and her dad come across like leeches who stuck on to some rich lady who treated them both like servants because they were there only for money. so, the affection for abs stepson seems off. maybe they feel sorry for him after all these years. who knows. but I don't buy this family setup at all. it seems odd that she would care for autistic stepbrother when the stepmother was not treating her well. why would she? given that little hyewon was really shady with the whisper, it seems more like hyewon was play acting perhaps.
11 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:With all of Little Sister's flashbacks, she's clearly being fleshed out more of a tragic villain rather than one thats purely evil
she 100% had a tough time and we can see that she is really reacting from a place of a hurt child. because it was hyewon who whispered lies, she does not blame her dad for abandoning her but her frustration and hurt is all directed at hyewon. it amazes me that hyewon is desperate to meet doeun. does she believe that doeun was somewhere out there happy with their mom and the reunion will be some happy event????
again, hyewon doesn't seem to really think it through.
I want to know why the dad agreed to give up one daughter when he knew what kind of person the ex was. she and her current hubby will make life miserable for both sisters.
as of now, doeun is really the star of the story. am also starting to think that FIL really does love her and he is drawn to her vulnerability and wants to protect her. she is playing him like a violin and has not revealed her sob story but he is definitely seeing something beneath the shell even if he is not fully aware of it.
similarly, jichang also gets convinced by doeun because she know how to turn on sincerity - that actually comes from her hurt place. so rather than seeing it as manipulation where it comes from a place of control, they are drawn in because they can feel the hurst if that makes sense.
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3 hours ago, youngae said:
What if his murderer is closer to home than we think. What if SR’s mom killed her dad? She hated all three of them.
That has been my thought as well. serin deflects and thinks everyone else is responsible for her misery and her bad actions. her mother does the same. so I won't be surprised if her mother blamed dajung's dad for the murder because in her head, it wasn't her fault -- the same way, serin blames dajung even for pushing off the cliff.
so I won't be surprised if that is what happens -- it will turn out be a case of like mother, like daughter.
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On 2/7/2024 at 6:47 PM, Ameera Ali said:
the audacity of this father , he get woman they all want for love & he want his son to stay with the Sidechick for business
I was really surprised by how emotional the scene was -- it was well done by both actors especially the cousin. I found it interesting that he is really upset for how dajung is being perceived and how his father is using him. so rather than serin, it is more about his relationship with his father that is causing him the most upset.
I don't know if they have introduced a new music director because I feel like the second half of this drama has much better melo music especially during the emotional scenes that heighten the mood.
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2 hours ago, liyahsbutterfly said:
I am loving the new DJ. Torture SR, DJ, torture her!!!
I also really enjoyed sang cheol's expressions and banter. he was hilarious and he was relishing it after with ice cream made me laugh.
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2 minutes ago, kokodus said:
Oooo now I'm curious.....menopause?! What could it be?
bingo!
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13 minutes ago, kokodus said:
@Lmangla @Ameera Ali Is min ah's mom pregnant too? she is suddenly feeling very tired and drowsy all the time. Is that where this is going? After that one night? Wahhhhhhh.
It's either pregnancy or terminal illness. LOL.
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neither; it is something we see rarely shown in dramas which makes it rather interesting.....
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1 hour ago, kokodus said:
Is she talking about sangbaek? LOL. Sangbaek is also cute. Sanggu isn't that tall. If not foe oh min hui, I don't think he would be able to survive. LOL. Sanggu is slowly becoming more and more soft with bouts of irrational anger at times. Hahaha.
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I have forgotten all the names in this drama. so who are you referring to? brother#1 with pregnant daughter? brother#2 who is the cranky director with the funny actress wife? brother#3 who is the art major and jobless?
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1 hour ago, kokodus said:
@Lmangla @Ameera Ali I can't believe I'm saying this.... but sanggu is too cute!!! LOL. I know cute is not the word I should use for an almost 50 year old ahjussi. lol.
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have you heard of the old hallyu drama called "summer scent" (same PD as the one who made "winter sonata"). so he was the second lead there. this was him all those years ago
on a side note, @partyon, look how healthy the guys looked in the original hallyu wave. good looking but also normal body. no one is super skinny. why can't it be like that now?
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42 minutes ago, sweetroad said:
Speaking of beauty spots, anyone watch this on Netflix? It's a hoot, complete with 90's memorabilia and Cindy Crawford. I loved her.
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it is hysterical. one of my favourite docs on netflix. such characters!
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13 hours ago, Ameera Ali said:
JH you can’t take woman word literallySR
Also SR [ All the time ]
eavesdropping on him , spy on him , follow him
# make it make senseserin wants to play hide and seek.
serin wants this reaction from jihoon:
Spoiler
whereas jihoon be like:
Spoileryea whatever mood...
she would have more fun playing with dajung..
better than hide and seek game...
Spoiler
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23 hours ago, kingpin said:
This revenge is going to be epic! I get why DJ choose Chairman Wang instead of either YH or JH. SR, her mom, and even Bobae cannot touch her when she is Dream's lady owner.
angry dajung is fun to watch. she was fun to watch as evil second lead in other drams and so she knows how to channel that energy. I also think dajung's choice in chairman was inspired.
yohan didn't even tell her song yi's death because he was afraid to hurt her feelings. for two years, serin is working there and he hasn't worked her to death. what a manager -- always fair! kekekke..
and he has been talking about taking back from his uncle for years and still hasn't done anything about it. hahahahha.. I was laughing at that scene. it is hard to take yohan seriously because he is too much of a softie.
jihoon would have been fun choice but then dajung would have been mistress and she wouldn't get to boss around serin like the way she is doing now. so yes, chairman was the best pick...
1 hour ago, Ameera Ali said:did you think JH’s dad find out SR fakery when he did background check on SR , later on put two & two together , that why he married DJ , we all see how he obsessed with grandma business & also get the chance to ..
* yes I am watching two sister
chairman definitely knows and is playing around dajung for a specific reason. based on promo, it sounds like he owes her something -- maybe his life -- and it is suiting him to make her his wife for a time. so they are partners in crime and he is perfect because he will have no qualms about hurting anyone's feelings. hahahaha...
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2 hours ago, kokodus said:
@Lmangla Did you watch Animal?? I'm watching it right now againstaeveryone's advice. And i dont understand what is happening in this movie. He told the girl (who just got engaged with another guy) that she has big pelvis and can carry healthy babies. The next day the girl broke off the engagement and was ready to marry him. I dont understand in what world the things he said was attractive to a girl that she would choose to marry him.
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for my own sanity, I did not watch.
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-- noel, jihoon, yohan, dajung... 
again, hyewon doesn't seem to really think it through. 
[Current Drama 2023-2024] The Third Marriage - 세 번째 결혼 - Mon to Fri 19:05 KST
in k-dramas & movies
Posted
for sure; always find it funny that it is always the money crimes that the evil people end up serving time on in kdramas