#she also was like 'oh lee sun kyun .. . . . he always looks like he has a grey cloud over his face'

[katierosefun]

the hilarious thing about my mom is that she’s almost never disappointed in me. she’s not perfect, but she’s mostly always been more concerned with my happiness instead of my achievements. 

so imagine my surprise when i tell her i have not, in fact, ever watched the classic korean drama the coffee prince, and she makes the most disappointed, shocked sound, and goes, “YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE COFFEE PRINCE? THE CLASSIC OF KOREAN DRAMAS? MY OWN DAUGHTER?”

anyways, my homework is now to watch the coffee prince in the span of two weeks.

[noonachronicles]

You, Me, and Satan Himself

Lee Jooheon X Reader

Word count: 6.5k

Warnings: mild language. there are a couple of mentions of suicide/attempted suicide, not member or reader related. also mentions of child death, also not member or reader related. ummm I think that’s it. 

Genre: bffs to lovers. idiots to lovers. alludes fwb but not LJH/Reader. It’s got some spooky themes, but ultimately it’s fluff.

A/N: It’s a Halloweeeeeen story! Ghosts and ghouls, firemen and pirates and of course Satan himself. ;D Happy Birthday @nemesyis! This one is for you. It’s not really an attack story, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! 

Wind was howling through the naked branches of the trees that lined the path you were on. The brisk chill of the fall air made you shiver. Much to your chagrin the dress and tights combo of your costume was doing almost nothing to keep the cold from consuming you. Clicking of your black lolita heels against the pavement beneath you echoed down the avenue you were walking down. Luckily it was a full moon, which meant that the path was fully visible despite the lack of lights. It might have been romantic if you weren’t mentally preparing yourself to be spooked. Focusing in on the sound of every branch that cracked, every hoot of an owl, every flicker of movement in your peripherals was being noted and you were thrilled by the way it all made the blood tingle in your veins. The only thing putting you off was the chattering of your teeth. It was hard to focus on getting in the mood when you couldn’t stop thinking about how cold you were.

“I told you to bring a jacket.” Jooheon muttered beside you.

“A jacket doesn’t go with this costume.” you advised him for the hundredth time that night. “And the dress has sleeves...I thought it would be warmer.”

“Yeah well my costume doesn’t require a jacket either, so thanks for that.” he complained.

Stopping, you looked over at your very grumpy best friend. It was cute, his outfit. Plaid button down shirt tucked into brown cargo shorts. Round glasses sat on his nose. Pocket protector, complete with pens, sat against his chest. Tube socks pulled all the way up his calves and dirty sneakers on his feet. Every little detail made you smile, you’d done wonderfully putting it together for him, you knew there was even an inhaler in his pocket. He was the perfect Joel Glicker to your Wednesday Addams.

“Honey…” you said lifting your hand to his cheek as he pouted at you, “you look so cute. Thank you for being the best best friend a girl could ask for. I promise that next year I will have a boyfriend of my own and I’ll make him do couples costumes with me, and then you’ll never have to deal with it again.”

He sighed deeply and then gave a tight smile, you still caught a glimpse of his dimple, “It’s fine.”

Once the two of you got moving again you fell back into a comfortable silence, like the pair of you usually did. Instead of going back to your mood setting thoughts you considered Jooheon. He really was the greatest guy you knew. Growing up neighbors left him destined to be either your best friend or worst enemy and at different points in your life he’d been both.

From toddler to teen you were inseparable. Then at some point you couldn’t remember hormones tore you apart. That was when he met the boys. You could still remember how jealous you’d been that first summer watching them hanging out all the time, wishing it was still you he wanted to spend his time with. You’d tried making new friends but mostly became a recluse, playing video games all the time and reading libraries worth of books. In high school you got your first boyfriend, an athlete in the year ahead of you, and you dated for three years. On the first day of summer before your senior year he ditched you because he wanted to be single for university.

You never knew how he’d heard about the break up, you never asked, but the very next day when you had convinced yourself you were never leaving your blanket burrito ever again Jooheon showed up. The moment he walked into your room, after your mom had let him in the house, it was like there had never even been a second that you were apart. He spent every single day with you that summer. Even if he’d had plans with the boys, he always dragged you along. You barely spent a second alone and by the time senior year started you had practically forgotten you’d ever had a boyfriend in the first place. From then on you were back to inseparable even now as adults.

“I hate this.” he grumbled beside you.

The shrubbery along the path was thickening and it was getting darker the further you moved along. You reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing your fingers around his.

“Don’t worry so much. I’ll protect you, I swear.” you smiled over at him. “We’re almost there.”

There was the sound of another snapping branch from the trees and you could feel his body vibrate in fear, “We’re going to die, I hope you know. This is the worst night of my whole life because I’m going to die...dressed like a nerd.”

“Thank you.” you said again.

“For what? Dying with you on this cold, dark, abandoned path to some haunted house in the middle of nowhere?”

“Kind of,” you laughed quietly, “Thank you for coming with me tonight. I know you would have much preferred to stay at the party picking up chicks. Instead you came with me and that means a lot.”

“Oh,” he seemed to ease at your words and even puffed out his chest slightly, “It’s cool. Honestly, no big deal at all. I didn’t want to be at that party if you weren’t going to be there anyway. And yes, this may be a weird, creepy idea that I hate more than anything, but you know I’d do anything for you.”

You squeezed his hand again and smiled, “I love you, Honey.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled all the same, “I love you too.”

“We’re so close, the house is right up here, just around that curve.” you couldn’t help your excitement and you moved faster down the path.

As you had nearly reached the end of the path, the abandoned house in your sight, you could see a large dark mass speeding towards you, but you didn’t process it fast enough. Not until the cloaked figure was already rawring loudly into your face. Jumping back you clutched your chest, heart racing. Seconds passed and you finally registered Changkyun’s laughter, and your eyes adjusted enough to see his devilish face clearly. Jooheon was long gone, having sprinted back down the path quite a ways, he was still shrieking.

“That’s so fucked, Kyun.” you let out a large breath.

Devil horns atop his head, he held up his finger, an evil grin on his lips, “Just wait, it gets better.”

By then Jooheon’s screams had petered down. When you looked down the path to the silhouette of his figure you could see he was making his way, slowly, back to you. He was still several yards away when you saw the two new dark figures creeping out of the brush behind him. It was very clear he hadn’t noticed their presence yet.

“No, my poor Honey.” you mumbled, “Minhyuk?”

“And Hyungwon.” Changkyun snickered beside you.

After just a moment more of silence you could hear their collective “Boo!” as they lunged towards Jooheon. The sound of his screaming and cursing echoed through the night as he sprinted full speed back to you.

“Assholes!” he shouted, “All my friends are assholes!”

He clung to you as he panted, catching his breath and you gently patted his back, “You’re not wrong about that.”  

“I knew it was going to be good,” Minhyuk said still laughing as he and Hyungwon made it to the group, “but that was so much better than I ever expected.”

After finishing rolling your eyes you saw a flicker of light bouncing its way out of the front of the building.

“Shownu!” you called out cheerfully as you recognized the man behind the flashlight in his fireman costume. He gave a small wave as he made his way over. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Kihyun and Hoseok met some people at the party.” He shrugged as he moved out of the hug he’d given you. “Hoseok said to say sorry. Kihyun said to tell you he was not sorry and that if you couldn’t understand you weren’t really friends.”

You laughed, knowing that it was likely that’s exactly what he said. “Wait so you just went in all by yourself?”

“Yeah, no one was here when I got here so I went in and took a look around. Not very exciting as far as haunted houses go. I didn’t find any workers. There’s no smoke machines or creepy music.” he said sounding very unimpressed.

“Nunu…” you shook your head, “Oh sweet man, it’s not a haunted house, it’s just creepy and abandoned.”

“Ohh.” he nodded in understanding, “That makes more sense.”

Jooheon quickly went from clinging to you to clinging to the pillar of muscle and fearlessness that was Shownu. “Full offense to everyone else here, who sucks, but dibs on Nu as my partner.”

“Dibs on y/n.” Minhyuk said throwing his arm over your shoulder, “Unintentionally wearing couples costumes and everything.”

You looked him up and down in confusion, “Min, you’re a pirate. How are we at all a couples costume?”

“You see, after tonight, when you’re wowed by my courage, strength, and overall ability to protect you, you won’t be able to resist me.” you did your best to hold back a snort, “After that, we will be a couple and then no matter what our outfits are they will always be couples outfits. ...because, you know, we’ll be a couple.”

“I think I got it.” you laughed.

As he’d been talking everyone, with the exception of Minhyuk himself, watched as Hyungwon slipped silently behind the brazen pirate. In a swift motion he reached out, grabbing his hips, with a quick boo! Minhyuk jumped about a foot in the air, his pirate hat was thrown off his head and his shrill shriek pierced the cold air.

“Yeah...good luck in there, y/n.” Hyungwon said shooting you a wink.

“She’s a goner for sure.” Changkyun smirked.

“Alright, alright.” you said anxiously, “Let’s do this. I don’t want to be standing out here until the sun comes up.”

Pushing through the group you made your way to the dark house. The pirate and the devil followed closely behind, the others with slightly less enthusiasm. Once you hit the porch steps of the old colonial house you pulled your flashlight from the pocket of your dress. One of the double doors had been broken or removed and was leaning against the door frame. It wasn’t really breaking and entering, you thought to yourself, just entering really.

You ducked through the open door to avoid the giant cobweb in the corner. Inside the house was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. Dead leaves scattered across the floor as far as your eyes could see and you wondered just how long the front door had been down. Rebellious teenagers had left graffiti a top the peeling wallpaper. There were giant holes all along the walls and you were sure there wasn’t a foot of copper wiring left in the old bones of the home.

The foyer was huge and as the beam of your flashlight moved over it you could just imagine how beautiful it had been in its youth. There was a staircase to the second floor to the left of the room. Beyond it were two hallways leading off in opposite directions. You looked over at the giant landing at the base of the staircase and nodded to yourself.

“Changkyun,” you said and flashed your light over at the area, “how about here?”

He nodded in agreement, “Perfect.”

He handed you candle after candle from a brown satchel at his side to light and place around the area. When the fireman, Glicker, and Hyungwon as the ghoul all made it inside the whole group of you got comfortable, or as comfortable as you could, on the landing of the staircase. The devil stayed standing, his red cloak swooped around his legs and the light from the candles lit up his face dramatically as he prepared to tell the group about the history of the home. The shadow of his horns illuminated against the wall behind him.

“The year,” Changkyun began, “was eighteen oh six. Doctor Leonardo Fitz had just wed the love of his life, Maria Vanderson. As a grand gesture of his love for her he had this house built just for her and what was meant to be their large, happy family. However, after many years had passed the halls of the home remained without the laughter of children. It seemed that the couple was not fated for the family they had dreamed of. Maria was devastated and heartbroken, believing herself to be at fault for their misfortune. Unable to take the guilt of it all she attempted to drown herself in the couple's claw footed bathtub, that remains upstairs to this very day.”

Jooheon let out a hiss of a breath and burrowed closer to you.

“Maria Vanderson was unsuccessful at her death, found too quickly by the house maid and dragged from the water. Though when she woke her husband feared the damage had already been done. His wife had become delusional. Nightmares haunted her sleep and visions attacked her in the light of day. To anyone who would give her a minute of their time she babbled on about what had happened in her time in the great beyond. She spoke of a man that had come to her just before the light took her for good.

The man with eyes as black as the darkest night sky pressed the palm of his clawed hand against her flat stomach. Locking his dark stare with her fearful one he whispered, ‘my son’. A little over a month after the incident occurred they found out that Maria was pregnant. The doctor, desperate for an excuse for his wives apparent insanity, blamed her delusions on the pregnancy hormones. Nine months to the very day of her attempted suicide, Maria gave birth.”

“Nooooo.” Minhyuk gasped. You bit your lip to keep from laughing at the look of absolute horrified realization on his face.

“What?” Jooheon asked with morbid curiosity, even as he wrapped himself even tighter around you.

Minhyuk looked over at him with raised eyebrows and mouthed, “It’s the devils baby!”

Changkyun sighed in annoyance. “Well if Minhyuk is just going to spoil everything what’s the point of even going on with the story.”

“Oh, Kyunnie, please!” You pouted cutely, “It’s so good and you worked so hard on all that research.”

“I did.” He nodded smugly, “I researched the entire history of this home…  So I will continue, but everyone better keep their theories to themselves.”

“Sorry,” Minhyuk said as he coward at the pointed look from his junior.

“What had been more shocking than the timing of Maria’s labor,” he started once more, “was that she gave birth to twin boys. One with flaxen hair like his father, the others black as a raven’s feather.”

Minhyuk let out another dramatic gasp but quickly slammed his hand over his mouth.

Changkyun continued, “Both boys grew up portraits of health and seemingly as normal as any other child might. The only difference between them besides the color of their hair was that Damian, the raven haired child, had been fussier than his brother Gabriel. He required much more attention but only that from his mother was able to comfort him. As they aged the changes and differences between them became more and more clear. Gabriel was a playful, independant boy that enjoyed spending his time outside in the sun. He liked to run around the giant yard, swinging on the swing set, and climbing trees. He liked to be dirty and to laugh.

Damien did not enjoy those things. He was quiet, an observer of the things around him. Even though he was just a boy he still knew things about the people in the home, their secrets.  He preferred to do whatever his mother was doing, always at her side. She called him her little shadow and adored him with every ounce of her being. The doctor did not feel the same way about the boy. He felt he could see a darkness in the child and was watching it grow every day. It terrified the doctor to see how he manipulated Maria and the others in the house into loving him.

One afternoon Maria had been getting ready for a gala she was to attend with the doctor. She’d been in front of her vanity doing her makeup. The boys had been running up and down the hallway and in the playroom quite loudly. After some time had passed she realized the house had grown silent.”

“I don’t like it,” Jooheon whispered just to you, and pressed his face into your shoulder. You squeezed his hand comfortingly and listened to Changkyun go on.

“When she stepped from the bedroom into the hallway the only thing she could see was Damien at the top of the stairs holding a wooden toy airplane at his side. As she moved closer to her son she could see the mortifying view at the bottom of the stairs. Her fair haired boy laid mangled across the bottom step, blood oozing around him. She wrapped Damien in her arms, pressing his face to her chest to protect him from the sight. The help claimed they could her screams for hours after, just echoing up and down the halls. Maybe we’ll even hear them tonight.”

“Wait...these stairs?!” Hyungwon asked in a panic, shooting up from the bottom step he’d been sitting on. He cleared his throat and said a little more casually, “I mean ...these stairs?”

“One and the same.” Changkyun confirmed.

“What...that’s it?” Shownu asked high key unimpressed. You watched as Hyungwon slowly made his way from the staircase to the opposite side of the circle, otherwise unnoticed.

“Worry not, the story doesn’t end there.”

“Oh god damn it.” Jooheon groaned beside you.

“Alright, everyone, settle down and focus.” Changkyun waited for everyone’s attention before going on with the story. “Doctor Leo knew right away what had happened to his son and was furious. He wanted to get rid of the evil boy. However, Maria loved her son and she refused to believe the ravings of a madman. One day while she’d been out the doctor had even brought a priest into the home to try and exorcise the boy. Maria was enraged when she arrived home. Unable to handle the pained cries of the only child she had left, she tore the restraints from his body and banned the clergy from her home.

A decade had passed and the doctor’s fear and anger had torn him and Maria apart. They stayed on opposite sides of the home. She refused to speak to him because every time she did he would just say some hurtful things to her about Damien. The doctor began to drink heavily, he was falling apart having lost his son and then his wife.

On his fifteenth birthday, what would have been Gabriels as well, Maria took her son into the city for lunch and then to the zoo. When they arrived back home they found the doctor had ended his own life. Unable to handle the evil consuming the home any longer. His limp, lifeless body was found hanging from the railing, just there,” Changkyun pointed up to the railing of the second floor that was broken, leaving dangerous open gaps, “He’d made a noose out of bed sheets.”

“Two down, one to go.” Hyungwon joked, though he eyed the railing warily

“He won’t kill the mom.” Shownu argued. Both Minhyuk and Jooheon shuddered at the thought.

You sighed, “Come on, guys. He’s almost to the best part.”

“Which is?” Shownu asked.

“The end.” Jooheon grumbled.

“The best part is when he finally gets to the reason we’re really here.” you corrected.

“Just get it over with then.” Minhyuk whined, pulling his knees to his chest.

“For three years following the death of the doctor, mother and son lived here quite harmoniously. The only complaints to be had were from the help. Maids and gardeners often complaining about the property being overrun by creatures that always ended up dead. In the home and around it they found rats, cats, birds, foxes, rabbits, and snakes. As if they’d come to the house for the sole purpose of dying.

One afternoon, not long after Damien’s eighteenth birthday, Maria was just coming home from a short trip to the city. Out on the lawn, she found the old gardener facedown on the ground, dead.  When she ran inside the maid and the cook where both here in the foyer. Deep gashes like those from the claws of an animal covered their bodies. Blood was seeping from their wounds. She could see, dug into the wood flooring, were marks left by the cooks nails as she’d been dragged down the hall. Terrified for her son’s life, Maria searched the whole house for Damien. She found the door of the study, the last place she’d checked, slightly ajar. She peered inside and what she saw made her sick with fear.

Her son was standing in the center of the room with his eyes closed and naked as the day he was born. Behind him the fireplace was burning and she watched with wide eyes as a horned beast stepped out from the flames half man, half animal. Ten feet tall it had hoven feet and eyes as black as the darkest night. In his clawed hands he held a gold chalice. He spoke in a language she could not understand and from the chalice poured what seemed like an endless stream of dark red blood on top of her son’s head.

In a voice she’d heard before the beast whispered, my son.

Damien’s eyes opened under the shower of blood, and she gasped when she saw they were as black as his fathers. The door swung open, exposing her. The last thing she saw was the sick twisted smile of her demon son as his father came for her.  

Some people say you can hear the sound of hoven feet against the hardwood floor, the pained screams of Maria, the giggles of young Gabriel, and warnings from the doctor himself, whispered against your ear, begging you to leave this damned home.”

“I’ve seen the fireplace in the study. It’s huge. The devil coming out of it,” Shownu shrugged, “that’s actually pretty believable.”

“The devil!” Jooheon whined, “That’s so much worse than just a regular ghost story! I hate this, I’m gonna be sick.”

“Who is going to explain why we’re here?” Shownu asked, “I thought that would be made clear.”

“We’re here to find the chalice.” Changkyun answered. “Somewhere in this haunted old house is the devil's cup. We will go in our pairs and search until it’s found or the sun has risen.”

“What do we get if we find it?” Hyungwon asked intrigued.

“Pride, honor, a golden chalice to drink all of your future drinks out of.” you said as if the answer were obvious. “Also, the winning team gets breakfast paid for by the losers.”  

“Yeah, we’re winning. Let’s go.” With that Shownu grabbed Jooheon by the wrist and dragged him down the hall to the left.

“Game on.” Changkyun said with a wicked laugh before running upstairs with Hyungwon hot on his devils tail.

~~

The house was much scarier than you expected it to be. It might not have been that bad if it weren’t for the fact that Minhyuk was trembling with fear everywhere the two of you went. You’d searched the kitchen and the dining room together. The pair of you clung desperately to each other with every step you took down in the basement. You were sure if the chalice had been down there you’d missed it. The only thing you were focused on while you were down there was getting back upstairs and Minhyuk had been much worse off than you. He made you search the study by yourself while he stood by the door holding a shaking flashlight in your general direction. The pair of you passed by Shownu and Jooheon on the way to the sitting room and the sun room on the opposite side of the house.

Once you were sure you’d been to every room downstairs you went upstairs. In the children’s room, instead of the chalice you found a dust covered, wooden toy airplane. When you showed it to Minhyuk he screamed and for several minutes you were certain he was going to cry. Then, walking across the hall from one bedroom to another, a toy ball rolled passed your feet and Minhyuk swore he heard a child’s laughter. Though the whole situation made your chest tight with fright, part of you was also sure that Changkyun had something to do with it. Especially since you hadn’t seen him or Hyungwon the entire time you’d been upstairs.  

The two of you were headed to the master bedroom next. Minhyuk was a few feet in front of you. He passed by an open bedroom door without a second thought but a quiet whistling from the room caught your attention. You’d looked everywhere in the small room, and were standing nervously in front of the closet when Minhyuk called your name from down the hall. You turned to call back to him but when you opened your mouth a hand slammed down against your lips. Screaming into the hand, you were dragged backwards into the closet and the door closed in front of you.

“God, Y/n, stop screaming.” Changkyun whispered against your ear and spun you around.

“What the hell, you scared the fuck out of me.” you hissed as your eyes started to adjust to the darkness.

“All of the fuck?” he grinned, “Not even a little fuck left for me?”

“Apologize,” you whispered, sliding your hand from his chest to his hip, “maybe then I can find a fuck for you.”

He leaned in and dragged the tip of his nose from your throat to the base of your ear and whispered back, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

You hummed in pleasure, “Oh, look, I think I found one.”

“Mm, that’s good.” he said before leaving kisses along your neck, pulling the soft skin between his teeth until you were groaning. You squirmed beneath his hands as they pinned your hips against the wall.

“Kiss me for real.” you whined. He lifted his face to yours and let you pull his lips between yours. You kissed him for a full minute before you realized he wasn’t kissing back. “What? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you kissing me?”

He cupped your face in his hands with a smile, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay, then kiss me.”

He leaned in again, this time pressing his lips against yours in a true kiss. His tongue slipped between your teeth and you pulled his hips closer, practically slamming them into yours. He kept you pressed against the old, dirty wall of the bedroom closet until your lips were sore and swollen and you weren’t sure which tongue was his and which was yours. When he finally pulled away, he kept his eyes on you for a moment as you caught your breath.  

Then he pressed a sweet kiss against your forehead and smiled, “We had fun right?”

“What? Why did you say it like that? Had?” you asked confused.

“That was our last kiss, kiddo.” he said as if it was just any ordinary conversation.

“What?”

“Jooheon is going to ask you out later.”

“What?”

He chuckled, “You should say yes. He likes you, is in love with you, likes you.”

“What?”

He grabbed your face in his palms, “Please stop saying what.”

“Um,” you looked at him trying to process but not being able to, “What?”

“Jooheon, you remember him?” he asked. You nodded, “He’s in love with you. He’s going to ask you out on a date. A real date, not just you two being besties like you’ve always been. I really think you need to say yes. I think you want to say yes. He really wants to be with you and you deserve that.”

“So...what does that mean, you don’t” you asked feeling a little hurt.

“Oh baby girl, I don’t want to be with anyone. I’m just having fun and we did that, right? You had fun?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

He frowned seeing how upset you were, “You want more than secret rendezvous every once in awhile. I’m not totally clueless. I know you’ve been wanting more from me for awhile now.”

“I guess I was the clueless one.” you sighed.

“No” he said, “what I do just isn’t for everyone. You deserve more. You deserve real dates where you go out to dinner and then get ice cream after. You deserve sleepovers that end in you falling asleep together on the couch while the movie is still running. You deserve someone that’s going to drag you around everywhere and tell anyone who’ll listen that you’re his girl, because nothing makes him more proud than being with you.”

A small smile found its way to your lips, “Honey.”

“Exactly.” Changkyun smiled.

“You really think he loves me? I mean, I know he loves me like a best friend but…”

“He would not be trembling his way through this dark abandoned home on Halloween night, if it wasn’t for you. He would do anything for you and he’d do it because he loves you. Loves you loves you.” He shook his head as if amused, “You love him back, you know. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for that delicate little man.”

“What if it’s not supposed to be like that. What if it ruins our friendship?” you bit your lip.

“You would never let that happen, either of you.” Changkyun said with certainty, “You’ll never let him out of your life, and he’ll never let you out of his. Even if things go horribly wrong, which I guarantee they won't, you two are going to have each other forever.”

~~~

It wasn’t totally clear how long you’d been in that closet with Changkyun but you knew it had probably been too long. Minhyuk was nowhere to be found upstairs and you immediately felt horrible having left him alone for so long. You had run into Hyungwon who asked if you’d seen Changkyun and you gave a vague response about him maybe being in the master bedroom before heading downstairs again.

Your flashlight had gone dead just before you’d run into Hyungwon, so you were pretty desperate to find your partner. The way down the stairs was slow going as you cautiously felt for each step before moving forward. Midway down the light from a flashlight hit you in the face. You squinted, unable to see who was coming up the stairs.

“Hey!” Jooheon grabbed your arms looking panicked, “Where were you?”

“I was just searching upstairs. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” You asked concerned.

He dropped his hands to his sides with relief, “We ran into Minhyuk, he said he lost you. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I was so worried. Where’s your flashlight?”

“Oh...it died. You were worried about me? You searched a dark abandoned house for me all by yourself?” You grinned.

“Well...yeah. I just, I didn’t want you to be alone or get hurt or something.”

I wasn’t,” you paused, he didn’t need to know you weren’t exactly alone, “I was okay. Thank you for coming to find me though.”

You looked over your shoulder at the sound of footsteps on the stairs and nodded at Changkyun as he passed the two of you, Hyungwon following close behind. You watched him all the way down the stairs and into the dinning room before looking back at Jooheon. He looked from you to where Changkyun has disappeared and then back again.

“You were alone, right?” He asked quietly.

“Mostly…”

He bit his lip nervously as he looked up at you, “Do you want to be with him?”

“Be with who?” You gulped.

“Kyun. Are you into him?”

A small smile spread across your lips, “No, actually I think I might be into someone else.”

“Oh.” His shoulder fell with disappointment. “You never told me about anyone new. Usually you tell me that kind of stuff.”

“He’s not really new. I’ve known him for awhile.”

Jooheon’s face creased in confusion, “Who do you know that I don’t know?”

“I never said you didn’t.” You laughed.

“Someone we both know and it’s not Changkyun?” He asked. You could see the gears turning in his mind. “Oh god. Please tell me it’s not Minhyuk.”

“I found it!” Hyungwon screamed, running into the foyer holding the golden chalice high above his head. “We win!”

“Noooooo!” You could hear Minhyuk whining before you saw him tear into the foyer from the opposite hall. “Where?!”

“Kitchen.” Changkyun was leaning against a post, you hadn’t even seen him stroll in after Hyungwon.

“We looked there!” Minhyuk spun around the room with his flashlight until he spotted you under the beam of light, “Didn’t we look there, y/n?”

You blocked the light from your eyes with your hand, “Yes, Min.”

“Well not good enough. Haaaaah!” Hyungwon laughed as Minhyuk chased after him through the foyer, grabbing for the chalice.

“Hey!” Shownu shouted from the balcony, the light from his phone illuminating his face, “Kihyun and Hoseok are already at the diner for breakfast. They want us to meet them there.”

Finally gathered together once more the whole group took off together, back down the avenue of trees. Dawn was coming and what once was pitch black was now a muted gray. Everything looked a little different in the soft light. You turned around and looked back at the old house, it didn’t look very threatening at all.

Changkyun had thrown his arm over your shoulder, in what you knew was now simply the action of a good friend. Though Jooheon didn’t and he pouted as he walked with Shownu behind the two of you. With a yawn you wondered how Minhyuk had the energy to chase Hyungwon down the sidewalk, still desperate for the golden chalice.

Hoseok and Kihyun met the group outside of the twenty-four hour diner looking a little worse for the wear. Hoseok was half asleep and stumbling drunk as you made your way inside. The group packed into two red vinyl booths.

Jooheon looked up from his plastic covered menu at you in surprise as you slipped into the booth next to him. “Wouldn’t you rather sit with your boyfriend?”

“Who? Changkyun?” You asked, pulling the menu between the two of you so you could read it too. “I thought we cleared that up. I like someone else.”

“Yeah but you never said who. Are you going to tell me?”

You opened your mouth to say something and he watched you wide eyed with anticipation. However the waitress had arrived for drink orders, giving you a second chance to avoid the question. It wasn’t that you weren’t going to tell him, just that you enjoyed the frustrated look on his face, it was too cute to resist.

When the waitress left to get the drinks, instead of telling him what he wanted to know, you engaged with Kihyun who was sitting across from you in a very serious discussion about what to order. You couldn’t decide between dinner and breakfast. In the end you did what you always did. Jooheon would get breakfast and you would get dinner and then you’d split your meals.

“Did you have fun at least?” You asked Jooheon as the waitress came around with your food. “It wasn’t that bad was it?”

“No, not as bad as I expected.” He sighed as he separated his meal into two. “It was fun. I scared Hyungwon once, did I tell you?”

“No! You didn’t!” Laughing at the thought, you put half of your cheeseburger on his plate. “I’m so happy you had fun, Honey.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t win.” He said quietly

You grinned, “Oh it’s okay. Maybe next year.”

“Next year?!” He asked in an instant panic.

“Yeah. It’ll be better. We’ll just make sure we get to be partners next time.”

“You’d want to be partners with me?” He asked genuinely surprised, “I thought you were going to have a boyfriend by next year. Whoever this secret guy is that you like probably likes you back. If you’re dating then he’ll want to be your partner and I’ll get stuck with someone else.”

“Well, do you?” You asked grabbing a piece of bacon from his plate.

“Do I what?”

You looked across the table where Hoseok and Kihyun had passed out on one another, their food left almost completely untouched except for a french fry hanging from Kyihuns mouth.

“Do you like me back?” You asked.

“Yeah of course I like you back I-“ his eyes went wide when he realized that you meant. “Me? I’m the guy you’re into?”

“The one and only.” You were sure you’d never seen his dimple get so deep he was smiling so big.

“I want to kiss you.” He said, eyes sparkling.

“Wait, there’s something I want to tell you first.” You felt nervous, but telling him about Changkyun seemed like the right thing to do. If you were really starting this you wanted to start it the right way. “Kyun and I were…”

“I know.” His smile dropped slightly but he shrugged, “I’ve known for awhile, you guys were pretty obvious.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” You asked grabbing his hand beneath the table subconsciously.

“I wanted you to want to tell me. I wanted you to be happy. It was hard being around you two, poorly hiding flirtatious looks.”

“I’m so dumb. I’m so sorry.” You whispered as you thought back at the last few months realizing Jooheon had almost never spent time with you and Changkyun together.

“Kyun figured it out. He asked me the other night and I told him the truth. That I’m in love with you.”

Your eyebrows shot up but you weren’t sure you were entirely surprised. “Honey…”

“Kyun told me to ask you out, he said you were… that you might… maybe...possibly.”

“I’m in love with you too.” You laughed, ending his small suffering of trying to avoid asking you if you loved him back. “I think I was in some denial but Kyun showed me the light.”

“He did?” Jooheon seemed genuinely shocked when you nodded, “well what do you know, Satan himself thinks we should be together.”

“Who are we to deny him?” With a small smile you leaned over and pressed a kiss against his dimpled cheek.

He covered his face with his hand shyly. “Aish, not in front of everyone!”

You laughed at the cute way he blushed, “You’re the one who wanted to kiss me!”

“Still do...” he grinned and lifted his hand to the back of your neck pulling you in for a sweet first kiss.

[sqewed0722]

The Fiery Priest

So I decided to join the bandwagon and check out what all the hype is about with this drama starring Kim Nam Gil and Lee Ha-nui.  

The story revolves around a Roman Catholic priest named Father Michael Kim Hae-il, who tries to put the demons of his past to rest by taking on the cloth. Father Kim used to be a soldier, and not just an ordinary soldier, but an intelligence operative.  During one of his missions, he ends up killing several children by mistake at the order of his superior and the incident caused him to give up his career in the intelligence bureau.  He tries to live a life as an ordinary citizen, but the trauma of what he has gone through propels him into self-destructive behavior.  He drinks indiscriminately and picks fights with strangers and in one of those encounters, almost loses his life.  An old priest named Father Gabriel Lee Young Joon finds him bleeding on the pavement and takes him home.  Father Lee nurses Hae-il back to health, both physically and spiritually, and inspires him to become a priest himself.  However, the process of healing is not easy, and Hae-il often finds himself losing control of his emotions, despite having taken the vows.  He is sent back to Father Lee but just when he is about to settle down and try to find peace again, Father Lee is murdered.  This sets Hae-il spiraling downward again into anger, and he decides to take matters into his own hands to investigate and bring to justice the people who killed his mentor and father-figure.  

Along the way, he encounters Prosecutor Park Kyeong Sun (played by Lee Ha-nui), Detective Koo Dae Young (played by Kim Sung Kyun) and rookie Detective Seo Seung Ah (played by Keum Sae Rok).  Prosecutor Park is an up-and-coming star prosecutor who somehow strives to be a good Catholic, yet her desire to succeed in her profession often leads her to act in ways that aren’t exactly in consonance with the teachings of her faith.  Detective Koo is an underachieving detective who tries to keep his head down amidst the corruption in his force, even as he strives to honor the memory of a partner who had been killed by the same corrupt people who controls the police.  Detective Seo is an idealistic young detective who courageously tries her best to uphold the positive values of the police, or at least what she believes them to be, despite the odds.

Together with Sister Kim, a religious sister who seems to be batty and scatterbrained, yet hides a past about as shady and mysterious as Father Kim’s, Father Han, a young priest who turns out to be a former child star, Oh Ha Yong, a cashier at the nearby convenience store who faithfully attends the church where Father Lee used to lead, and Song Sak, an immigrant Thai who’s best friends with Ha Yong and turns out to be an excellent fighter, these people form the rag-tag team of “avengers” called Team Tsunami in this drama.

The premise of “The Fiery Priest” is as outrageous as it is far-fetched.  A Roman Catholic priest would be suspended if he were to conduct himself the way Father Kim does, beating up people in broad daylight while in his vestments, complete with his Roman collar.  Regardless of how just or right he may be, the way he acts would totally go against the values of the faith he practices and preaches.  But I guess  in the interests of drama, they needed a fresh take on the anti-hero.  The premise of a former intelligence agent turning his back on his profession and living the life of an ordinary citizen but being forced by circumstances to use his skill again in order to defeat new enemies has been done countless times (think Bourne Identity).  So how does one put a fresh twist into this premise?  Why, turn the anti-hero into a priest.  A priest with anger management issues, PTSD, and killer instincts.

I guess what works for this drama is the fact that everything is done tongue-in-cheek.  Despite the underlying seriousness and gravity of the plot, as well as Father Kim’s emotional and spiritual journey (coupled with those of his teammates), the drama is executed in comedic fashion, sometimes with such hilarity that you end up suspending disbelief over their antics and just taking everything in good fun. It also helps a lot that the actors are so charismatic and effective in their roles.  Kim Nam Gil carries the craziness and volatile temper of Father Kim with such aplomb.  Same with Lee Ha-nui, whose facial expressions as Prosecutor Park are so funny and cartoonish yet without looking odd or overacted.  Same goes for the rest of the cast.  And they have such amazing chemistry together, maybe because they’re having fun doing it.

This may not be a popular opinion but I hope this drama doesn’t jump ship by making Father Kim give up being a priest in the end.  That would be tantamount to a defeat, because the journey from his old life as an intelligence officer who’s trained to kill, to a priest who gives hope and new life to others is a long one.  To my mind, such an end would belittle the sacrifices he made, along with those like Father Lee who believed so much in him and supported him in his journey.  It would be more radical and satisfying if he chooses to remain a priest in spite of everything - yes, in spite of his chemistry and sexual tension with Prosecutor Park and Detective Seung Ah’s crush on him - and for him to end up positively influencing the lives of his teammates in Team Tsunami and inspiring them to become better versions of themselves.  After all, if someone like Father Kim can do it, then they can do it too.    

In any case, he can always put his intelligence officer skills to good use by moving to the Vatican and working for the Pope.  ^_^

[morninginsp]

Yo I’m gonna need that catalogue of scenes that make you think he’s fallen for her 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

So I’ve gone back through and decided to narrow it down to 5moments (really you could say any time they shared air in episode 12 and thatwould be accurate) plus one that was completely unconsciously done before hestarted to grasp the situation he found himself in, and I’ll explain therationale behind each.            

Pre realization: When he goes to buy out her debt and endsup beating Kwang Il to a pulp (and in turn getting pummeled himself). This oneI would argue was when he was mostly unconsciously doing it because he hadgrowing feelings for her. I don’t think at this point he had any idea of thebreadth of his feelings for her. However, he did know that Ji An getting beatup by this jackass was completely unacceptable, and although I believe thiscould be completely platonic and more family oriented if the future momentshadn’t happened, there was some elements of him having complex feelings thatled to this moment.

Moment one: When Ji An’s grandmother tells him how gratefuland at peace having him in Ji An’s life makes her feel. This was definitely thefirst, oh shit moment, he had. Dong Hoon is not a dumb man. He has known fromthe beginning how this relationship might be perceived from the outside, whichis why he told her that he shouldn’t keep eating meals with her, but I don’tthink he had to come to terms with his own feelings on these perceptions untilnow. Beyond the communication gap, I do believe he was momentarily stunned bythis perception, and how it didn’t completely fall outside his own feelings forher that led to him just accepting it instead of trying to refute what wasbeing said. (Yes there’s also an argument that he just didn’t want to break hergrandmother’s heart, but he was a little too struck by the statement at thetime, in my opinion, for that to be the main factor which keeps him quiet.)

Moment two: The entire engineered scene by Ji An where shebaits him into hitting her because she confesses her feelings for him. Irewatched this scene earlier this week, and oh man, it is really reallyuncomfortable to watch. There are a lot of emotions at the surface and theviolence in this show is always so realistic that I was highly disturbed on therewatch. YET, if he didn’t feel anything, he would not have reacted like that.She struck the nerve that had been exposed by her grandmother earlier in theepisode and played him to a tee. But if you watch his face when he realizeswhat is going on, it is clear he wants to run as far away as possible fromthese emotions. Oh she does like me, I was planning on dealing with my emotionshere by burying them so deep they never see the light of day like I always do.DONG HOON DEAL WITH YOUR EMOTIONS IN A HEALTHY MANNER THAT DOES NOT FALL FORTHE MECHANISMS SHE WANTS YOU TO. Especially since it involves violence. Anyway,if he didn’t reciprocate, I could see him being very gentle with the let downhere. As he’s not, I would say there’s something going on under the surface.

Moment three: (God this is getting long; I have a lot offeelings clearly.) Oh hey that scene where he tells her that he won’t fire hereven though she wants him to. I’m just saying, he gets really worked up oversome slippers you guys. I mean, I too would get very worked up over theslippers that my totally platonic friend took back after a nasty conversationwhere I didn’t handle myself very well and then demand she re-gift me some. Andreally this scene is just an extension of that moment when he realizes they aregone, and it clearly upsets him. Which is to say, he doesn’t want her out ofhis life and he desperately needs her to realize that. When he demands she buyshim new slippers, I was like O-KAY THEN. You are in no way telling her that youdon’t want to throw away your relationship and that it might mean somethingmore than you’re willing to actually say at this moment as you’ve realized shemeans a lot to you. Ji An being the champion that she is totally falls evenmore for him because of this.

Moment four: When after reliving the events of his wife’sconfession in his mind and his subsequent emotional breakdown he physicallyreacts to her presence on the street corner. If at any moment his response toher should be at its most muted, it would be here after thinking about how muchhe is hurt by his wife, and yet he follows her with his eyes (I’m not gettinginto the scene on the train but THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER that she then callsout, oh my god, Ji An my darling, how are you still standing??) and actuallysits up to maintain eye contact. The yearning; it was so real. Their connectionwas so palpable in that scene, and he plays such a huge role in it. Even as heleans back, it’s like oh wow, I am IN THIS. This girl is living under my skin.Yes Dong Hoon, have emotions, they are not evil.

Moment five: It’s actually much smaller than the othermoments. When he’s scanning the area for her outside Joon Hee’s bar hoping she’llturn up when he’s chatting with the neighborhood boys. That was when I waslike, you’re not even trying any more sweetie. You’ve accepted your fate. He sowanted her to appear and that aching feeling is so delicious; and again, if itwas strictly a platonic relationship, his face wouldn’t have been quite ashopeful and distracted as it was. Concerned, sure, but that mixture of longingand hope, not so much. (Props to Lee Sun Kyun’s face which gives so much awayin minute expressions totally in line with his reserved character.)

Bonus: WHEN HE FUCKING SMILES AT HER WHEN SHE CALLS HIM AGOOD PERSON AND LOOKS BASHFUL. Sorry that was unacceptable. DONG HOON. You knowshe’s fallen for you, her heart eyes alone squeeze my heart painfully (also let’snot discount the heavy lifting IU does in her micro expressions in this dramabecause they SLAY me), and yet you think it’s acceptable to blush like a schoolboy over her sweet compliment while you’re eating and drinking together. Do youwant me to fall for this nonsense? DO YOU???

Anyway, those would be the main moments that I think suggesthe’s probably fallen/falling for one Lee Ji An, and he has no idea what to doabout.

Other worthy moments: when he says that she knows him and itmakes him sad, when he calls her a good person for caring for her grandmother,when he refuses to fire her after the incident with the assistant manager, allthe moments he refuses to say anything about their relationship while beingprepped for his interview, when he realizes she stayed in the office withouthim to help the team finish the report, and then when they have theirconversation that includes intense eye contact before she runs off due tophotographer dude, and then he FUCKING CHASES OFF THAT PHOTOGRAPHER DUDE ANDHOVERS PROTECTIVELY OVER HER LIKE A BAMF and then walks her home despite herprotests she’d be fine. And the actual concern that plays across his face inthe split second we see it after he finds out she got called in for theinterview. To like name a few more.

Final thought: these moments are building now more quickly.I don’t think that’s just a coincidence.

[obsessivedilettante]

Dramaland Forecast: November 2017

 Previously: 2016 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - June - July - Aug - Sept - Oct

Completed:

Woman of Dignity -- considering how much I’ve hated this writer’s previous works, I went into this with negative expectations. I just wanted some background noise while I appreciated drama queens Kim Sun Ah and Kim Hee Sun. To my surprise, I got totally sucked into this saga about the “Desperate Housewives of Gangnam.” The gothic murder-mystery also definitely helped me to goggle at every cliff-hanger and queue up the next episode, and I ended up binging the series in a matter of days. Despite my low expectations, this has become one of my favorite drama-watching experiences of the year.

Currently watching:

The Package

Black

Dropping/skipping:

Mad Dog -- the lack of Leverage style capers was definitely a disappointment, since based on the first couple of episodes I thought that this would be that kind of show. I also really hated Woo Do Hwan’s character and wanted to punch his smirky face whenever he was on screen. Considering I fell asleep in the middle of an episode and then decided it wasn’t worth my time to rewind, it’s clear this is not the show for me. Sorry, Yoo Ji Tae! Hopefully your next drama is more to my liking!

Upcoming dramas of interest:

I’m Not A Robot -- a man who falls in love with a woman pretending to be robot because he has an allergy to other people is definitely an interesting concept, although I’m instinctively wary of any love interest that puts a woman in a category of “robot.” The cast is excellent, though, but that’s probably me thinking Uhm Ki Joon can do no wrong.

Meloholic -- OCN has made its name with gritty thrillers and cerebral mysteries, so I’m very hesitant when they try to branch out into more comedic or romantic fodder. There’s also a lot about this show that puts a few strikes against it, such as a director who’s very hit or miss with the quality of his shows (mostly miss with me) and, y’know, it stars U-Know Yunho (who, to be fair, I actually really enjoyed in the mini-drama I Order You, but historically he hasn’t exactly been one of those idol-actors that command a strong thespian presence). I’m curious if it will be as... ah... mediocre... as I presume it will be, but doubt I’ll make time to actually watch it.

Nothing to Lose -- considering the quagmire of legal shows that make me sigh if I have to deal with yet another prosecutor trying to save the day, the concept of a legal drama about two judges with completely different personalities somehow seems novel and refreshing, even though I’m sure it will be no different than anything else we’ve seen before.

Doubtful Victory -- the premise is vaguely compelling in that “one sentence synopsis that may set up false expectations” way (a man escapes jail and becomes a fake cop), but I’m really liking the production team. The director previously worked on Tree With Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons, which were both visually stunning, and 3 Days which, well, wasn’t terrible but I mostly remember being disappointed that it didn’t live up to my Kim Eun Hee fangirl expectations. The writer previously did School 2013 and Pride and Prejudice, which means I have faith that the script should be pretty decent. I also like the leads, Yoon Kyun Sang and Jung Hye Sung, although I haven’t heard about the supporting cast yet.

Untouchable -- this could be a dark horse drama, because it’s JTBC, I like this director, and the cast is pretty decent (Eunji! I’ve missed you!). But this writer is... eh... hit or miss, to put it nicely (oh the RAGE I still feel about the hours I spent in vain hope that Masked Prosecutor would somehow live up to its potential), so this will probably be one I skip and binge later if it doesn’t sound as soap-opera frustrating as it could be.

Two Cops -- I don’t think I have anything new to add so I’ll just say: Jo Jung Suk! Kim Sun Ho! Lee Shi Un! HOYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Bad Guys: City of Evil -- I don’t care about the complaints that it’s not a true sequel, it looks awesome and that caaaaaaaaaaaaast.

Jugglers -- Daniel Choi is coming back! And he’ll be starring with Kang Hye Jung (aka Tablo’s wife) who usually seems to prefer playing quirky/offbeat characters. Even though I’m still unsure about the premise, this cast definitely has my attention (and how shallow am I to hope for some lame excuse to show-off the post-army abs?).

Wise Prison Life -- the latest drama from Reply series PD Shin Won Ho, which means of course everyone’s favorite papa Sung Dong Il is in it. Also starring is Yoon Kyung Ho (and cutie-patootie Jung Hae In, who I’m happy to hear is getting lots of attention from his role in While You Were Sleeping, which I didn’t watch but I’m always pleased for my pet actors to gain the glory they deserve). The premise is vague so far (prison life), but the strength of the production team and cast means I’ll be tuning in.

Just Between Lovers -- my instinct is that this will be a low-key real-life character-based drama that JTBC does so well, so fingers crossed it lives up to those expectations.

The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World -- I never saw the original, but it’s Noh Hee Kyung’s remake of her 1996 drama of the same name, which starred (and will once again star) everyone’s favorite granny, Kim Young Ok. I’m not sure if I’m ready for a gut-wrenching story about family and Alzheimer’s, but for Noh Hee Kyung, I’ll endure it.

Return -- I adore Go Hyun Jung so I was already vaguely interested in this legal-mystery-thriller, but now that there’s a rumor Park Ki Woong will join the cast, I’m definitely adding it to my watchlist. I adore Park Ki Woong but have not been impressed with his choices post-enlistment (in fact, I’ve been actively ignoring them), so hopefully this will be the drama to remind me why I’ve been his fan for so long.

Let’s Eat 3 -- really? REALLY??? I love foodie Goo Dae Young to bits but after season 2 completely writing out Soo Kyung noona as though she never existed, and the fact that the foodie scenes weren’t even all that appetizing, I’m going to be watching this with a very negative “prove me that this is all worthwhile” attitude (but of course I’m still going to watch, because dammit Dae Young, I can’t quit you).

[butterfly-child99]

Welcome to my first Drama review – I have been watching Kdramas for a few years now but never thought to review them but I love them so much I want to share my insight. I am going to have to go back and watch my favourites again so I can review them, oh what a nightmare 😂 Kidding, I rewatch my faves all the time.

Warning for you all – I don’t like “spoilers” in a review so there won’t be heavy content on the whole recap/synopsis side of things, I may give you some insight to parts I like, the characters etc but if you want a run of what happens or a play by play, this is probably not the place for you. I just would like to share my opinion and if you’ve been considering watching a kdrama and haven’t been sure, I’m hoping my reviews will encourage you to give them a go. I will talk about some parts of the shows, but not heavy on the spoilers.

I know some people are put off by the subtitles, but if you watch enough, it really does become second nature to watch and read at the same time. K-dramas can be dramatic, fluffy, cute, sweet, sensitive, dramatic and exciting and are totally worth the watch if you can get past the subtitles.

Anywho, onto my first Drama Review:

I’m not a Robot

Cutest leading couple I ever did see.

Drama in one sentence: A highly Intelligent but lonely business man suffering from an allergy to humans meets and falls in love with a Robot which is actually a human pretending to be a Robot. 

Honestly though, this synopsis does not give enough credit to how beautiful and emotional this series was. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a drama based around a robot at first, especially a human pretending to be a robot and another human falling in love with it. But the cast and the storyline in I’m not a robot make it so much more than that.

Aji-3 – AI robot or human playing was a robot?

The human allergy aspect played remarkably by leading man Yoo Seung-ho  helped make the storyline much more believable. The whole thing could have been unbelievable, unrealistic and silly, but seeing how Kim Min-kyu had not had physical human contact for years and had closed himself off from the world, the whole thing became much easier to believe. I absolutely love Yoo Seung-ho, he brings a beautiful smile, an innocence and beauty to this role. If the character had been played by anyone else, I think I would have struggled to dispel all the things that could have gone wrong with a human being tricked into thinking a robot did all the things Aji 3 did, but as he is so adorable, innocent and unspoilt by human contact, it’s totally believable.

The story itself is what I’ve stated above mixed in with the usual drama trope of man meeting woman, falling for her, betrayal, anguish, hope and finally happiness all rolled into a very unique story, as we have the robot aspect to take into account. Overall, I think the plot could have been a nightmare but the leading cast made it a beautiful story, that I fell in love with.

Cast

There may be slight spoilers ahead as I do a run down of the cast / characters but only from the initial episodes as I think you should decide if you want to find out more about the series yourselves and watch the episodes. If you have seen any k-dramas before, you will undoubtedly be able to figure out how this series might go, so without many spoilers here but a little hint, here is the good, the bad and the on the fence characters in my opinion, it doesn’t mean they are always good/ bad or on the fence. This is just my opinion from the get go.

The Good

Yoo Seung-ho as Kim Min-kyu

  Leading man Min-kyu is a highly intelligent business who has suffered with a terrible debilitating human allergy for the last 15 years. He has lived on his own, with only  a butler for company. He is the son of one of the founding members, a majority shareholder in the company and I want to say Financial director (?), he has earned a lot of money for the company, but has a unique way of doing business as he can’t really interact with people, although I don’t think anyone knows his issues, so people just think he is weird.

He wants to perform his military duty but cannot as his illness can cause him to die, so he is struggling internally with this. Also, within his business there is some angst, as there is always someone trying to take over businesses and using someone else to do this.

In his personal life, he is an avid collector, which is how he originally meets our leading lady. And he has been in love with an old family friend for a long time but has never made a move.

The company he owns is also in the process of buying into a small AI company, the Santa Maria team, whom have built a robot – Aji 3. A very human like Artificial Intelligent robot. He wants to test the robot and asks if he can see how she works, which is how the story begins.

If you do not fall in love with his beautiful smile and cute little ways, then well, I don’t know what, because he is fricking adorable. Every time he looks and smiles at Aji-3, oh my heart!😍

Chae Soo-bin as Jo Ji – ah and Aji 3

Leading lady Chae Soo-bin plays not one but two very exciting and interesting characters. She brings a real spark and sassiness to the robot Aji 3 – which does take a bit of suspended belief to accept that Min-kyu falls for the ruse – but if you can get over this then Soo-bin plays the part beautifully. In her main role as Ji-ah, I love her, I really do. She has this unique quality which makes her a perfect combination of adorable, sassy, interesting, hardworking and passionate.

Ji-ah lives with her brother, his heavily pregnant wife and niece as she lost her dad in her teens. She is an aspiring inventor and entrepreneur. She has made a fair few inventions but unfortunately none of them has ever taken off. Her brother at first does not seem very supportive and seems to heavily criticise her life choices. She seems to have a few various part time jobs but is on the whole a really happy and kind character. If you don’t fall for her, almost instantly you may be watching the wrong series.

One of her part time jobs, is buying rare and collectible items for people. This is how she first runs into Min-kyu, and their first meeting although memorable in some ways, is not a great start.

She is also linked to the Santa Maria team through the head professor, as he is her ex boyfriend, and he is how she is pulled into pretending to be a robot.

Santa Maria Team

consists of:

Um Ki-joon as Hong Baek-kyun. Ji-ah’s ex boyfriend and world renowned but shamed robotics professor and leader of the team. At first, I couldn’t see any potential in his character and was a little bored of him, but as the series got going, I loved how they didn’t necessarily go for the straight forward lead / second lead fights for girl. Baek-kyun genuinely wants to know how and why things went wrong with his relationship. He’s also very sweet and the more I watched, the more i realised my initial opinion of him was off.

Park Se-wan as “Pi” Angela Jin. I think she is the second in command in the team, she is highly intelligent and appears to have a lot of control over the team, making sure they stay on point and focused etc. Blatantly, and this isn’t really a spoiler as you’d have to be blind not to see it straight away, she is in love with Baek-hyun. The best part is she knows he still has feelings for Ji-ah, but she doesn’t act jealous, she doesn’t dislike Ji-ah or Baek-hyun for this though, she accepts this and does her best at work and is there for the professor regardless. She’s a really good feminine but in control of her life character.

Song Jae-ryong as “Hoktal” Kang Dong-won and Kim Min-kyu as “Ssanip” Eddie Park. I feel like these two definitely need to be talked about together, there is definite bromance going on here, and I am here for it. They’re super geeky, but super adorable. I believe they are the “comedy relief” in the series, although later on they do have some beautiful scenes, that may or may not have made me cry, a little bit. Both single, hardworking professors in robotics, they have their own little quirks they have “input” into Aji-3, which make her more human, and make these two so sweet and cute.

Secondary Characters: 

Um Hyo-sup as Doctor Oh. Min-kyu doctor who has been treating him for the last 15 years, trying to help control and eventually, hopefully beat the allergy. He also seems quite close to Min-kyu.

Kim Ha-kyun [ko] as Butler Sung. Min-kyu butler and well at the beginning of the show, if you don’t accept the robot hoover as a friend, his companion and friend.

Seo Dong-won [ko] as Jo Jin-bae. Ji-ahs brother and I am not 100% sure what he does, but he also works for Min-kyu and seems important to him.

Lee Min-ji as Sun-hye. Ji-ahs best friend and she owns a coffee shop where the Santa Maria team starts to spend a lot of time at. May also be a romantic interest to some of the characters.

Yoon So-mi as Hong-ju. Jin-baes wife, Ji-ahs best friend from school and is currently heavily pregnant.

Lee Han-seo [ko] as Jo Dong-hyun (8 years old). Jin-bae and Hong-ju’s wife, Ji-ahs adorable and very perceptive niece. Also suffers with some allergies, although not as severe as human allergy.

The Bad

Son Byong-ho as Hwang Do-won

President of KM financial, the company Min-Kyu is director of. He is the father of the CEO of the company Yoo-chul, whom was also the best friend of Min-kyu growing up. in think the families all would have been close growing up. As with all dramas, he isn’t happy with what he has and inevitably wants more.

Lee Hae-young [ko] as Mr. Yoon.

KM groups maaging director. He is definitely up to something, You can tell from the get go! All I need to say. He just looks suspicious. 🙂

The On the Fence

Kang Ki-young as Hwang Yoo-chul.

KM groups CEO, childhood best friend of Min-Kyu. He doesn’t look like a bad guy, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to be part of the bad guy team, but you never know in a Kdrama, they can surprise you. You will have to watch to find out. Surprisingly, he is a second male lead so will he get the girl??

Lee Byung-joon as Ye Sung-tae.

Founder of the KM group. Father to Re-il, Min-Kyu’s childhood friend, crush and first love. He looks like he could be a bad guy, but seems to get along with Min-Kyu from the beginning.

Hwang Seung-eon as Ye Ri-el.

Re-il is the second leading lady. She is Min-kyus first love, childhood friend and crush and was best friends with both Min-Kyu and Yoo-chul growing up. Second leading ladies often get brushed with the scary, angry, jealous characteristics, but I don’t want to believe she is like this. Again, you will have to watch it to find out. She doesn’t look bad, but as with everything, you never know.

In the end.

Don’t worry I am not about to spoil the ending for you. I think this series is well worth a watch even if you’re not into k-dramas as its a really lovely storyline. It takes a little to accept the robot side of things, and to dispel reality for a bit and accept that anyone would be lonely enough to believe the decidedly human attributes Ji-ah brings to AJi-3 are in fact a robot, but if you can get past this, and accept it all. It is a truly beautiful, romantic and wonderful story. Its all about the characters for me and the chemistry they bring. All the characters in this drama bring something new and different and I absolutely loved following all their little stories, and that is why this is a good  drama. the business side of the story, doesn’t really do it for me, but its tolerable when you get to see the excitement, happiness and chemistry between the characters. Especially the two lead characters, their chemistry and relationship is truly wonderful. I love the actors playing the leads and to see them act together is beautiful.

How he ever believed she was a robot though? Really?

I hope you give this drama, or any drama a go. You will probably lose sleep as it is a common side affect of getting into Kdramas, that you will inevitably try to fit whole series into one night of viewing or you will try to talk yourself into thinking you can fit two more hour ling episodes into the next half an hour and still wake up at 7am to go to work. But k-dramas are just a really enjoyable way to spend some spare time.

5/5 finger hearts

I am giving it 5 finger hearts because its a really cute drama and the leads make it even more compelling viewing! They are definitely one of OTP’s!

Enjoy! Drop your comments below, have you watched I’m not a Robot? what’s your thoughts? Any recommendations?

See you soon, K-Drama fans!

Butterfly Child (Tina T)

    **KDrama Review** First drama review - I'm not a Robot - I really enjoyed this show! I hope you like my review! But check out the show #kdrama #koreandrama #neflixandchill Welcome to my first Drama review - I have been watching Kdramas for a few years now but never thought to review them but I love them so much I want to share my insight.