[Drama 2015] Answer Me 1988 응답하라 1988

[toera]

4 minutes ago, onlysb1 said:

So true!! I will say this once Deok Sun is not complicated not at all and she exactly  seeks what she read from novels it's romance and it's suits her age and upbringings that's why I don't think he can or even tries to understand the depth of both Taek's and Junghwan's love. I think Junghwan offers more than just romance if only she can see that kindness of him I will be convinced that they will be okay in their happy future. But what we have in our pockets? Time jump. I believe Deok will set aside her expectations and she will seek true love for her. So I can see Taek's chance there on. But now...well it's so subtle and being subtle is not Deok Sun's thing I have known there is no chance in present but I can clearly see possibility ^^

I don't think the time jump will change how she already feels. She may become more clear about it but after 16 episodes I think DS's feelings (even if she is too innocent to realise them) are already there. I don't think she is indifferent right now, she is not aware of them. I think we're already late in the game, to have an important change.

[aurora1205]

34 minutes ago, toera said:

I don't think the time jump will change how she already feels. She may become more clear about it but after 16 episodes I think DS's feelings (even if she is too innocent to realise them) are already there. I don't think she is indifferent right now, she is not aware of them. I think we're already late in the game, to have an important change.

 

Yeah Deok Sun's romance arc with SW and Junghwan all happened within four episodes^^ I'm not talking about change because change has already happened even though we see it  on different sides so question is what was that she wasn't aware of till time jump? And why DR questioned who she truly loves? Answers are different. Taek's love hasn't been tested yet that's why he has the chance^^ 

Edit: if that doesn't happen than Taek won't be given a chance not in present not in the future unlike clingy second leads^^  which makes him out of love lines out of kdrama logic actually  lol and I'm  okay with that too  I also see what others see in DS/JH love line and I also love JH as a kind natured kid so   as I always said I appreciate writer's effort for crafting this unique storyline ^^ Should we just say...not feeling it? 

[carolinedl]

38 minutes ago, toera said:

I think DS is at a point where things are not really moving for her. Her sister heads of to study law, she doesn't even know what to do about college and her best friend is already in a relationship and goes on dates (with DS being their mailman). And keeping in mind that all she knows about love is from her novels, i think she's waiting for a dramatic love, first confession, a first kiss etc not companionship.

And she is way too innocent to catch subtle hints. Remember in R1997 SW didn't understand even when YJ kissed her.

I agree totally, and I think both shippers can agree on that too.

And I also agree that her feelings are already there. We just don't know what they are exactly. It is the only missing piece of the puzzle that the love traingle is...

[Guest nchoerunnisa]

OMO... I just read such a long discussion about DS gift for JH. It is surprised me since I don't see it as such a strange thing.

Actually, that pink shirt gift was reminded me one of my favorite scene, yuhuuu Papa Bear and his pink gloves :


Yep, for me it's just as simple as that.
Everyone has no problem with TK's pink gloves back then, but why we questioned the sincerity of DS's pink shirt?

TK asked DS what to buy while DS asked MO.
Both could just go to department store and bought anything they pick. But probably they wanted to give the best gift they could give. So they asked second opinion from someone else. I just saw TK and DS action as them being extra careful.

TK has lived with his father for his whole life, DS has known JH for her whole life.
I bet Papa Bear and JH have never worn pink before (Ahjumma and Ahjussi laughed at Papa Bear because he wore pink gloves).
But why TK and DS just went ahead to buy pink things for Papa Bear and JH who have never worn pink before?
Did anyone question TK love for Papa Bear? It was so easy to make it a big deal... Let's just blame him for being inconsiderate... How could he, with his close-to-eidetic memory, not notice that Papa Bear, his own father, has never worn pink? Should he at least said to DS "But DS-ah... I've never seen him wearing pink before. I'm afraid he won't like it.". But no one did this.

Waeee... my DS was treated differently? huhuhuhu... I demand gender equality!!! LOL I'm just kidding.

I'm not saying that DS likes JH now. There's nothing much I can say about that. However, if someone says DS's gift was not thoughtful, let's agree to disagree then.

[carolinedl]

After watching episode 13, I think we should just all call Taek's father Papa Bear!!

 

[wasted_youth]

For a moment let's see this from a 'neutral' perspective. Let's not argue about DS's current feelings because different shippers see things differently. We will see more of that in the upcoming episodes.

If this series has 30 episodes, I'd say there's still a chance if the writer wants a twist and make the girl falls for another guy. But we're already at ep 16. Watch carefully the development from ep 1 until now. With that kind of build up, with Deok-sun still unaware of the truth about the shirt and does not know JH actually has feelings for her, tell me how the can writer just forget about all of this and make Deok-sun falls for someone else? Yes a writer can make a twist in her story, but it must be consistent with the whole plot. With 4 episodes left and not to forget this drama is a family-friendship focus, they don't have much time for that. If they want to make her fall for Taek, they will need to address and solve a few things — the shirt misunderstanding, JH who has yet confessed to DS, about how JH will react when DS choose TK, how the friendship changes later. The fact that the writer has spent so many episodes focusing on Jung-hwan's feelings/point of view will make it even harder for them to solve those issues, whether there is a time skip or not. If this was a series with 4-5 seasons, then yes, any endgame would still be possible.

All I know, this triangle will end once these two pabo talk or kiss haha. Remember, she still likes JH (I'm sure we all can agree on this, she's not 100% crazy for him like he is for her but she still has that feelings), the only thing that stopped her from 'pursuing' JH is because of the stupid misunderstanding. You may say Taek stands a chance in the future, but please give me a proper development. If they can solve everything and write things without lacking in continuity in this remaining 4 episodes, why not. But if you ask me based from what happened so far, I don't think so.

With all the things that have not yet been settled, it will be ridiculous and OON if Lee Woo-Jung suddenly wants to change the direction of the romance.

[hushhh]

On 12/29/2015 at 5:14 AM, carolinedl said:

@hushhh I see what you mean and I do agree with what you are describing. But for me it is those exact things that make DS and Taek's relationship a strong yet platonic one. For instance, I don't think DS letting herself be seen crying in front of him actually shows romantic love. When one starts liking someone, I think the last thing you want to do is cry in front of them. I think she is so confortable around him that she lets herself cry in front of her. But first loves are everything but confortable! Also, for teh losing thing; yesterday I would have totally agreed. BUt I finished watching episode 13 today and when SW calls Taek after his father freaks out, SW ends his call by telling Taek that it is okay if he loses. I thought that by having SW say that exact same thing Taek asked DS, an echo was created. Hence me further thinking that, at least for DS, she seems to be oblivious to Taek's romantic love. Again, for me it is not a question of not loving each other, but it is that the love Taek is showing cannot be interpretated by DS as romantic love. Your image of the different languages is nice, but it put the fault on DS and I don't think it is her fault. I don't think she is looking for French and not understanding ASL. I think it is more that his expressions of love cannot be read as such without a dictionary... and in opposition with what the others do. DS and SW said the same thing to Taek - and frankly, at the time, I did not see the difference. There is one for Taek certainly, but not for DS and that's my main issue. How can she read his love expressions as love when the others do the same?...A

PS: I use the term "romantic love" to differentiate it with love but it's reductive too...

Cut to retain the section I am responding to.

Stories are culturally constructed, even stories with universal themes.  

I'm not South Korean so the nuances might well be missing me.  Often I think a story is going one way then it turns in a direction that I did not anticipate, like a Shakespearean level of illogical reconciliation to preserve the family over individual lover's happiness or sanity.

So I have no idea where this is going. DS might end up in a deeply committed lesbian relationship with one of her friends for all I know.

However the incidents you describe as elements of platonic friendship are true to platonic relationships but I think they are also elements when deep friendship turns to love. 

DS crying in front of Taek may not seem like romantic love to you, but to me it seems honest and secure and there is nothing sexier in a relationship than knowing you are fully accepted for who you are.

I don't think that first love is always uncomfortable.  I think people sometimes (reciprocate) fall in love with people who see the best in them. SW and Bora's relationship is not uncomfortable BETWEEN them. Bora reciprocated SW affection when she realized he sees her best self.  They are comfortable together.  SW loves Bora because when he was at his most vulnerable she comforted him. SW has seen Bora at her worse/most vulnerable and neither are uncomfortable about it. The discomfort in the relationship is about their age difference and how other might react to  it.  

I am not putting the responsibility for not understanding Taek's feeling on DS. They are Koreans. Neither French nor ASL are language they communicate well in. They should be communicating their feelings in Korean as it is their mutual language. 

Regarding 'permission to lose'.  While it is true that other people have told Taek it is okay for him to lose, the only person whose permission he sought was DS.

I find it interesting that you doubt Taek's romantic interest in DS.  I don't doubt JH's romantic interested in DS; I just don't support it in the same way that I support Taek.  Taek said clearly, without embarrassment, to his friends, I like DS. I like her as a woman. Why would you doubt that he knows what he is feeling. Does he have a history of misunderstanding his own feeling like DS does. 

I will be disappointed if it isn't Taek and DS. If it turns out not to be the China couple then I'll view the outcome as an opportunity to examine Korean cultural interaction through fictive narratives.

[carolinedl]

26 minutes ago, hushhh said:

I find it interesting that you doubt Taek's romantic interest in DS.  I don't doubt JH's romantic interested in DS; I just don't support it in the same way that I support Taek.  Taek said clearly, without embarrassment to his friends, I like DS. I like her as a woman. Why would you doubt that he knows what he is feeling. Does he have a history of misunderstanding his own feeling like DS does. 

 

Did I ever say that?!? I don't doubt Taek's romantic interest for DS at all, on the contrary, I recognize his feelings fully; what I am saying is that he is expressing it in such a way that's hard to see as romantic love, by doing some of things he is doing, he is encouraging the type of relationship in which DS babies him. LIke I said in the part you cited above, it is the way that love can be read that is problematic for me...

[halojins]

On 12/25/2015 at 6:16 AM, lelee said:

@wateryroseapple I read before that they won't sell the sweaters... neither the umbrella nor bag. ㅠㅠ They are doing some giveaways tho on their facebook. But I think it's only for koreans. I tried entering one tho, haha. I want the sweater too...ㅠ

I want it so much...  Thanks btw! 

[13infamyss]

10 hours ago, tituyphing said:

Wonder when Duksun picked Bday gift for Papa Kim makes it less meaningful present from the boys to Papa, we don't even know Papa Kim likes it or not. 

Come On, 18years old teenagers (boys or girls) ask suggestion from friends in picking gift. That simplest thing. No one said DS-JH fixated on pink color, it's just a way for writer telling us, THOUGH it's not his fave color, no plan on wear it, still he likes it, treasure it and can never share that gift to anyone.

@13infamyss quoted this part of your post  "Despite Duk Seon's warning not to get the same thing, she still got it for Jung Bong. Because Mi Ok liked that shirt." 

No Duksun did not warn her, what is Miok actually said is "don't tell sooyeon, she might make fun of me if she knows I copied her"

 

Ooops sorry my bad, I just wrote that without going back to the original video for reference. in any case, the point still got across. Mi Ok liked that shirt and would want to get the same thing for Jung Bong.

 

1 hour ago, Nurul Choerunnisa said:

OMO... I just read such a long discussion about DS gift for JH. It is surprised me since I don't see it as such a strange thing.

Should he at least said to DS "But DS-ah... I've never seen him wearing pink before. I'm afraid he won't like it.". But no one did this.

Waeee... my DS was treated differently? huhuhuhu... I demand gender equality!!! LOL I'm just kidding.

I'm not saying that DS likes JH now. There's nothing much I can say about that. However, if someone says DS's gift was not thoughtful, let's agree to disagree then.

 

See that's the thing, Taek's present to his dad was represented in the story as something as the first time he received a present from his son. Simple as that. The scene was intended to be heartwarming and that's how we, the viewers, felt it too. And we never saw them talked about colour preferences. And who knows, as tough as his looks, maybe Taek's dad favourite colour is pink - we were never told of his preferences. The birthday present in Ep 14, however, was a different case. It's been talked all through Ep 14. It's hard to ignore and say "it's just a gift, no biggie" when we've got a scene where the girlfriends talked about picking out the gifts, 3 scenes where brothers talked about the gift, 1 scene where the birthday present caused the misunderstanding, and 1 last scene where the character is very conflicted about it all because of that birthday present. This birthday present was never intended to be as heartwarming and thoughtful case like Taek's present to his father. Its purpose was eventually to drive these two characters further apart, in contrast to Taek's present where his present made him and his father closer. It comes with all different hidden meanings and intentions rather than making it "just a gift". Ep 14 made the birthday present a big dramatic/climactic thing (it wasn't me!), and that's why I`m reading more to it than what it appears - that perhaps it was the PD/writer's intention to show that not all presents bought can bring happiness to parties involved. And this "dissecting-the-story-piece-by-piece" streak in me wanted to figure out the why the present brought Jung Bong and Taek's dad happiness and caused Duk Seon and Jung Hwan misunderstanding. And this is why I love Reply series so much - they don't make things as simple as it is. Each scene thrown at us comes with meanings for us to interpret.

In any case, they're at that age where simple little misunderstanding could be blown out of proportion. It's unfortunate that they never talked about it, and let the moment passed by. Though I don't think the story will get back on this misunderstanding again and get it cleared up, but it's fun talking about items that the story have used quite a few times, but their significance to the story is all different. I`m glad you guys brought up Taek's present to his father because that made me realize more the level of importance the gifts were presented and how each of them were laid out in the story. 

[monsterlife]

I don't think ending with TK is a twist or the writer making her fall for another guy. It's because for me the story is setup in a way that can go either way. DS feelings are so vague sometimes that as a shipper I could just put her reactions to the perspective that I want. Seeing DS being cute and lovable towards JH is like seeing her doing that to SW when she was crushing on him. I guess it drove DR's point. What does she like? Can't she like someone without someone liking her first?

So, a time jump, maturity and the story's focus on DS feelings will do wonders. She may love JH or she is in love with TK and either way the story goes it is possible. Whatever love that will come out of it there is already a foundation for it. It is probably the reason why the writers made JH fade into the background while telling TK's story with DS and how it slowly evolved (it evolved because the girl stopped patting him in the head and cooing at him).

IF TK confess in ep 16 then it is 100% JH but TK didn't and that in my book made the two boys equal. DS in 1988 is at a point in her life that she needs to make choices: college, courses, future etc... and the girl is confuse to what she wants. DS in that year cannot hold a first love never die relationship until 2015. The triangle's friendship will also go bye bye. 

[nearsea]

Yeah @monsterlife as deok sun's teacher said wisely in the classroom,'you are only eighteen...you don't know what you are doing..'.  Maybe that's what the writer is trying to deliver here too.

[monsterlife]

Throwback to my reactions with Reply 1988  :

Episode 1: boring but for the sake of hyeri. Being a fangirl is hard.

Episode 2: hmm..tk is so cute. I want ds and tk.But the other one the 'dog' is the one that is surely the husband. Prickly, cute, and their relationship is one made for fanfics.

Episode 3: Yah, I am right . This is too easy. 

Episode 4 & 5: Can't we talk about ds in the show? Why all talk about the husband? C'mon this is hyeri's first show that she is lead and as a good fangirl, I am insulted that they are all only talking about the guys . This is not girl's day's year. What with the scandal and everything. I don't want someone to outshine hyeri.

Episode 6: Teak! Yes! My tk and ds heart.

Episode 7,8,9: waiting desperately for the big moment between ds and tk. Eat my words and started talking about who is the husband to the point I join soompi. 

Episode 10: tk confessed and i am like jh at that time. Falling in despair that my ship is sinking before it begun. 

Episode 11: stop watching the show and relied on live recap and youtube clips. The angst and the noble idiocy is something I cannot stand. Also I am not that into the familys' story.

Episode 12,13,14,15: Taek . DS . Hmm...tk and ds...maybe there is a chance? No? Please writer? 

Episode 16: booyah!! My ship have a chance!!!! I watched episode 16 despite it being so long .

Sidenote: I do not want to admit this but for me future husband look like TK's dad. 

 

 

 

[shinheenim]

GUYS i'm now watching ep 15 with subs and i just couldn't keep watching without spazzing over a scene

ahaaaaang jungpal is driving me crazy .. 

that moment when the guys get on the bus .. and JB comes running calling DS so she didn't get on the bus to hear what h have to say .. then .. JH asks the driver to wait please .. just for 10 seconds so she won't miss the bus ... kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa na ottokhaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

see that's why i have no choice but to love him .. i mean i never choosed JH it just happened i don't know why but just a small act from him like this one would make my heart beat like hell !!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm going crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[aurora1205]

@wasted_youth.  When you use 'neutral viewer' and 'twist' words within a post I'm not sure how to respond you. I know what you mean without asking so I will stick with  Deok Sun's reactions when Taek  requests to stay with him for a while...

[mellinadear]

 This thread. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Everyone Believes a side is superior to the others. What one person sees may not be agreeable to what the other sees and vice-versa.

In the end, its up to the writer and DS to choose who she decides to end up with and be happy. Right now, she needs to focus on herself . DS might decide to be a nun for the sake of the husband game.lol. who knows?

[hushhh]

1 hour ago, carolinedl said:

Did I ever say that?!? I don't doubt Taek's romantic interest for DS at all, on the contrary, I recognize his feelings fully; what I am saying is that he is expressing it in such a way that's hard to see as romantic love, by doing some of things he is doing, he is encouraging the type of relationship in which DS babies him. LIke I said in the part you cited above, it is nthe way that love can be read that is problematic for me...

 @CarolinedlI 

Sorry, my system seems haunted. I missed "interpreted BY DS"

[nearsea]

@mellinadear Lol have to give it to the writer for making a story to have hopes on two opposite poles for so long haha.

[packmule3]

As promised –

@minibunny, I believe it was you who asked eons ago – with a bit of frustration, if I remember correctly your post correctly – why do people presume that the OTP is JH and DS. I’m going to give you the reasons, bluntly, as I understood them. Again, I don’t ship drama couples; I ship scriptwriters and their scripts. It doesn’t matter to me with whom DS ends up, as long as 1) the scriptwriter has demonstrated a logical progression and resolution of plot ideas [i.e., No amnesia  for DS, no coma for JH, no mental breakdown for TK) and 2) the characters’ actions, words and thoughts are CONSISTENT with what we know of their personalities. Shippers who have a weak constitution or an intolerant mindset will have to avert their eyes now.

The main arguments for JH:

1. The actor who plays JH receives top billing. The actor Ryu Jun-Yeol doesn’t have the name recognition and the clout to be able to negotiate top billing if he’s only playing a secondary role here. If Tom Cruise was to appear in a cameo in this show for 2 nanoseconds in this show or Won Bin was to act as DS’ oppa crush, then sure these men would get top billing because their names are enough to draw people in. But RYJ?  No. 

He gets top billing because he’s NOT playing the supporting role here. He’s the lead, even if his screen-time ebbs and flows throughout the series, and he’s been stuck in secret admirer mode since Episode 3 when he had that sexual epiphany scene.

2. The writer has shown a predilection for bickering couples in the past two series. And in this show, the bickering couple would be JH and DS. Most people think it’s highly unlikely that the writer would ditch a plot format that had worked for them in the past two series.  Moreover, the fact that the same actors were casted as father and mother here reinforce the impression that the production team do NOT mind at all repeating a winning formula.  

I must admit that I tried to watch Reply 1994 after the series ended so I knew about Chilbong disaster. The early episodes absolutely turned me off, especially Ep 1. It was nauseating to watch a 20-yr-old girl and 25-yr-old guy involved in physical tousles. There was something incestuous about Oppa Trash freely touching her underwear, and Na Jung ordering him to take off his clothes and then proceeding to take off his boxers herself. Ugh! Thank goodness we’re spared that. When JH and DS tumbled on the floor as she wrestled him for the smut book, they didn’t look like siblings.  Nor did TK and DS look like Trash/Najung when DS ordered TK to take off his shoes and wrestled him on the sand to remove them. 

3. JH’s traits fit the mold set by Yoon-Jae and Trash so well that we should all be able to recognize the HERO TROPE of the Reply franchise. What’s the trope? One: The male hero ISN’T merely the boy-next-door; the boy actually lives in the same house as the girl at some point. Two: He’s top of the class as opposed to being a PRODIGY. (Yoon-Jae’s hyung was a computer prodigy, Chilbong was a baseball prodigy, and TK is a baduk prodigy.)  Three: He’s quiet and brooding. Four: He worships the girl anonymously and from afar. 

For me, however, the one Hero trope thing noticeably missing with JH is his affinity for DS’ father. In the other series, the male leads (hmm…as well as the secondary male leads, for that matter) have a special rapport with their future fathers-in-law already established early in the show. They’ve forged a male bonding, like the father recognizes an equal in the young man, and he can safely “give away” his daughter to him (sexist, I know). But we’re only in episode 16, and a relationship between DS’ father and JH can still develop in the next episodes. 

4. The writer is a professional; she’s adept at making the 2nd lead male look extremely appealing, and viable as a romantic lead. That’s her job: to create a CREDIBLE rival to compete with the male lead for the girl’s heart.  No matter how tempting she’ll make TK to be, she’s only using a secondary character as foil to highlight the admirable traits of lead character who’s been predetermined at the very start of the drama.    

5. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”  People are wary of being Chilbong-ed again so even if they can see connections between TK and DS; they aren’t willing to suspend their sanity and go through the heartache again.

Do you know what makes Charlie Brown of the Peanuts cartoon strip so pathetic? It’s because he always falls for Lucy’s football pranks. Lucy will persuade him to trust her to hold the football so he can kick it. At first, Charlie Brown will resist, but eventually he’ll go for it, believing that perhaps this time, Lucy will keep her word. So Charlie Brown ends up flying in the air and hurting himself.  Quite a number of viewers of Reply 1988 are afraid to punt the scriptwriter’s football here for fear of falling flat on their faces. 

6. The hints re. the Future Husband point to JH. Although the scriptwriter may have intended the “clues” as misdirection or red herrings to distract the viewers from the real husband, the fact remains that there are details that match only JH, and JH alone. To wit:

a. the chocolate in Episode 2. Footage from the camcorder suggested that DS slid a chocolate bar somewhere between the school jacket and the schoolbag on the floor. TK is eliminated from the suspect line-up because he doesn’t attend school.  Moreover, based on the conversation between DS and her father, she had met up with TK prior to going over to the party.  Her father had asked her “How come TK didn’t come with you?” And DS replied that he was on his way but she told him to borrow some comic books.   

Note: DS might have had a memory lapse here because she didn’t plan to give it to JH either. There were three bags on the floor, and she chose the bag partially hidden under the school jacket. JH had an animal-print jacket on, and he wouldn’t leave his school uniform lying on the floor of his house. He would hang it up.

b. the future husband knew of SW’s rejection of DS, and the postcards she wrote in Episode 6. JH was the only person who saw the postcard and overheard the conversation between SW and DS. Note: It’s possible that DR, the neighborhood eavesdropper, also heard the rejection and figured out the identity of “Sunny” on the radio.  

c. the confusion about 1988 college musical festivals (Episode 6). TK was in Busan, playing baduk (he missed his father’s birthday) so he wouldn’t have remembered anything about the college musical festival.  Also, from Ep 2, SW said that TK only listened to the band Deulgukhwa, thus the group-gift of the solo album of the band’s lead singer for TK birthday.  Between the JH and TK, JH was more likely to know pop culture and song hits than TK, whose only source of pop music was SW. 

As interesting it is to hunt for the husband based on the hints, it wouldn’t surprise me if the scriptwriter does a plot twist like she did in Reply 1994. In Episode 2, it was implied that the husband was Chilbongie because he had free use of the rooms; it was later revealed that the apartment belonged to him, and he was renting it out to NaJung and Trash. 

7. Last December 15, an article appeared here on soompi, supposedly with spoilers. An unidentified staff member of Reply 1988 production team shared a personal experience with the actor who’s portraying TK (sorry, I forgot his name, something gummybear).  The staff member compared Taek to Chilbong, writing, “Just like Chil Bong was Kim Jae Joon in ‘Reply 1994’ in my heart, I believe Taek shall always be Deok Sun’s husband to me.” The implication was TK would have the same fate as CB. 

In most cases, I would only give credence to news reports if the sources have been verified. Consider the source. For all we know, the person quoted in this article could have been a hairdresser or a wardrobe coordi expressing her shipper’s heart. Unless it comes directly from the scriptwriter or the director, it’s safe to ignore media play like this. 

8. First love. Many viewers think that the male character who loved the girl first or longest should get the girl in the end and that’s why they root for JH. 

Personally, I think this is the weakest argument for three reasons. First, the definition of FIRST love can be vague, and kdrama writers have been known to play around with this concept.  In the conventional definition, first love means the male character has never felt this way before towards any girl; he’s love-struck for the FIRST TIME. Infatuation and puppy love fall under this category of first love.  

However, in terms of significance and impact, first love can also mean that encounter when he was MOST affected and MOST changed by his feelings for the girl. It goes beyond puppy love. Even if the guy suffers from a heartbreak, the first love will always be remembered. Finally, in terms endurance and strength, first love can mean the GREATEST love. It might not be first, earliest, most memorable and most painful love, but it’s the love that lasts forever. It’s “first love” because the guy, for the first time in his life, is willing to endure all things for this love of his for all time. 

As you can see then, first love isn’t so cut-and-dried so I personally wouldn’t use this as a yardstick to determine the leading male. 

Furthermore, in this show, the person who loved DS first – meaning, earliest and longest -- was the person who didn’t speak much in the first couple of episodes. lol. Didn’t anybody else *see* that? 

It was Taek. 

It’s been so easy to overlook him. The viewers have to be more discerning and to follow his gaze to know where his attention rested. And the viewers need to review Episode 2: One Thing You Misunderstood About Me again. (In more ways than one, the title is very apt.)  

This was how the guys reacted to DS that morning in Episode 2 upon meeting her for the “first” time.

JH: “I’m late. richard simmons off.”
SW: “Doesn’t that jean jacket belong to your sister?”
TK: He briefly conversed with DS. He answered her question that he returned home yesterday, then asked her if she was going to school. She teased him to drink milk and hurry up and grow so he could marry her. He looked pensive after she and DR ran away. [He should have been grinning because of the joke and the cheeky pat on his bum, but instead he dribbled milk, like he was startled.]
DR: “Hurry. We only have a minute left!” He tugged her hair and she chased him. 

Spoiler

At his surprise party, he glanced at DS first.  
 

Spoiler

Then, note their differing opinions when they casually discussed DS’s growing aegyo.

DR: “Deok-sun is kinda cute lately, no?”
SW: “Yeah, a little.”   
TK: smiles and nods “Mmm.” [His shyness masked the honest truth.]
JH: “You’ve gone crazy, haven’t you? You’re crazy! Are you drunk?”

In Episode 3, when DS and JH asked for ramen, his eyes gravitated towards DS first before looking down at JH who was lounging by DS.

Spoiler

His questions re. the field trip looked innocent, too. On the surface, it appeared like he was feeling envious of their school trip. But he pointedly asked DS if she was going too and he stared at her afterwards. When they discovered that his next tournament was to be in Tokyo, their trip to the country sounded…well… provincial in comparison.  The following day, his father saw him staring at field trip info sheet. 

Now, look at this whole scene through the eyes of an infatuated guy, like this: he discovered that DS was going on a school trip with guys and it bothered him. Suddenly, JH’s remark that he was “jealous” took on a totally different meaning. [And the choice of camera angle was brilliant here].  lol. 
 

Spoiler

And as we all know, this school trip in Episode 3 is when JH became first sexually aware of DS, and couldn’t sleep at night. 

In the next episode (aptly titled as “Can’t help ~ing”), observe the differences in how people treated DS’ academic struggles.

Bora: is totally exasperated with her sister’s incompetence [can’t help berating]
DS’ father: thinks it’s a joke [can’t help treating it like a joke] 
DR: is happy to find a partner in his scholastic struggles, and they both opt to focus their energy on something do-able and having fun [can’t help laughing].  
JH: knows that DS struggles, but instead of helping her, he shows off his Engllish skills which ticks off DS. [can’t help being superior]
SW: hears DS’ wrong grammar, and corrects her English [can’t help correcting her] 
TK: is pressured to help her improve her concentration by teaching baduk and they both quickly realize that the situation is hopeless. [simply cannot HELP, lol] But she sticks around, and he lets her disturb his preparation for the tournament and indulges her rubik’s cube requests. [can’t help loving you the way you are]
 
See all those examples? As SW said in Episode 15, eyes don't lie. And if the viewers heeded SW and truly paid attention to TK, it was obvious from the beginning that TK was "only ever looking at her" even when they were together as a group. [clever meta-joke there, scriptwriter].  

My last and final reason for disputing this “first love” is this: in real life, it doesn't matter if the person is the first, second or third love as long as he/she is the LAST love. That’s the important one here; let’s not lose sight of that even if kdramas insist on the romance of "first love". 

All the other proposed reasons why JH is the leading man have merits, though, @minibunny.

@shooastrid thanks for posting more info on baduk. I don’t loiter in both shippers’ threads to avoid being unduly influenced by one group or the other, so I appreciate you sharing it here. Will reply to your other post later. I can’t help resting now~

[nearsea]

@packmule3 Your post.is simply.awesome.No doubt.I also ship any good script...but more than love ..I think the basis of love is also important.Just saying.