Cha Min-ho is a sweetheart. There was that sense of, Huh? These girls are dumping this dude? when his unfortunate dating history is shown. But, really, anyone can be treated like a pushover, so I don't mind it. Seeing Min-ho already having a wedding fund for his sister truly made me tear up. That is incredibly considerate and thoughtful of him, and I think it showed off the core of his character the best. Min-ho is loyal. He is a good friend and a good brother. He’s good at what he does, and he’s overall a nice guy who is focused on getting his work done. 

I wish there were more time dedicated to Mok-jin and Young, because I think they're the most likable characters. I’m excited to see their romance unfold. I just love couples in which the guy is a bit out of his element. Mok-jin calling Young scary. Yes. This is exactly what I want. Mok-jin witnessing Young dumping someone and him trying to leave unnoticed with literally nothing to hide behind was so funny to me. Anyway, love them dearly <3. 

Let me talk about the love square. Now, I must premise this with the fact that I am a big fan of CLC, and Eunbin is one of my favorite members, so I obviously have a bias toward her and would have liked to see her more in the drama, but I don’t really care for Yang-hee. 

I can't tell if Min-ho is meant to be in love with Joo-ah already, but it seemed to me like he considered her truly just a friend until she started becoming interested in Joon. For one, I'm not one to like when romantic feelings begin with jealousy, but it's not super overdone here. Min-ho and Yang-hee going to the exhibit at the same time is a bit off-putting, but Min-ho isn't overly rude or jealous to the point of being obvious. My primary annoyance with romances stemming out of an initial jealousy is feeling like the romance should have begun on its own, not just because of a third party disrupting the dynamic, but with longtime childhood-to-adult friendships, I can understand why this could happen. Still, it’s just not my favorite way to see a friends-to-lovers story play out. Regardless of this, it bothers me that Joo-ah and Joon clearly have better romantic chemistry than Joo-ah and Min-ho. Joo-ah and Min-ho are incredibly comfortable with each other, but there isn’t really an underlying tension of potential romance in their interactions beforehand. There isn’t a sense of longing and yearning on either of their parts, or at least not enough to be convincing. 

Joon and Yang-hee’s characters are really not fleshed out enough for them to feel important. I do like Joon and Joo-ah’s chemistry, but the attempt at giving him this backstory of failing as a CEO’s son and having to settle for a lower-ranking school was, again, not convincing to me. Yang-hee doesn’t really have any nuance. She’s a rich, pretty girl who isn’t too worried about her future. Her indirect comment about Joo-ah being out of Min-ho's league was rude and unnecessary and honestly felt out of character. Even when she speaks about the “disadvantages” of having low-income students at their university, she doesn’t say it out of spite. She speaks objectively, even if her opinion is inherently hurtful toward Joo-ah and comes from her privileged socioeconomic level. All this goes to say that the set-up for what I assume will end in Min-ho and Joo-ah dating is not well-written in my opinion. There are moments that truly make me enjoy their friendship, like Joo-ah coming back to comfort him, and Min-ho standing between her and some guys from their dorm building who were glancing over at her in her bathrobe. However, this romance just falls short. 

The love triangle between Ji-min, Ha-neul, and Ro-sa is just so terribly annoying, and I felt like it consumed so much of the story. Ha-neul is worried about himself and his girlfriend. He's not peaking over at Ro-sa romantically at all. So, why is Ro-sa so dead set on going out with him? It has be her envy. Now, granted, Ha-neul is a nice and attractive guy, but Ro-sa's out here fighting with Ji-min like he's the creme of the crop, which he isn't. This comes down to Ro-sa trying to win one over Ji-min, which is so stupid. Ji-min is a genuine friend and truly celebrates Ro-sa’s wins, but Ro-sa can’t celebrate Ji-min’s wins because she trying to be the better of the two. What bothers me most about Ro-sa is that she’s throwing away the chance at a really great friendship with Ji-min. Who cares if you don’t have a boyfriend right now? You don’t need a boyfriend! In regards also to the older student harassing Ro-sa, it doesn’t excuse her behavior, but he needs to step away and leave her alone. 

When we’re introduced to Changhee, the obsession we find is the car. The car that will reduce his commute time, end his dependence on public transportation, and give him more independence to date and travel. But a car isn’t really a dream. It’s more so something that would make his life more convenient and would allow him to use his time more intentionally. When Changhee starts realizing he doesn’t have a dream, I truly began to feel a certain kinship with his character, because a lot, if not all, of my motivation is driven solely by others, especially my family. I don’t have the desire to achieve something big. I want a peaceful and fulfilling life, doing something worthwhile, but I don't know what that looks like for me. That's not to say that I have never dreamed of a specific career or of how I want my adult life to play out, but now that I'm reaching the beginning of adulthood (and awkwardly shying away from it as best I can, honestly) I'm realizing that most of my dreams were facilitated inherently by others prompting me to find what I want to do. But I don’t yearn for a career. okay, not true, I so deeply want to be a good writer and have people find my writing interesting, but easier said than done. I want to exist and to exist joyfully. 

After watching the beach scene a second time, I’ve been thinking about how Gijeong mentions that the five of them never traveled together because it was after their father loaned money to his sister and how this affected Mijeong. Mijeong is clearly a reflection of her father. She’s quiet. She’s not truly intimate with her family. She’s not one to get angry easily, but she does have a temper. (It’s still funny to me that she threw Changhee’s slipper right out the door.) She’s so used to closing off her desires and her frustrations, even her needs, to them. Before Gu, it seems the person she’s most honest with is Hyuna, as Changhee acknowledges in this episode. Mijeong asks her family for nothing. She’s learned to not depend on them and to fix her issues on her own. And, obviously, part of this is just personality. But perhaps it’s because, by the time she was born, her parents were working to earn their keep day-to-day. I think of Changhee saying she had to play with the village idiot as a kid. She probably didn’t get many chances to have just pure fun as a child, and sometimes one learns not to want things to avoid disappointment. 

But, really, Mijeong desires a lot. She desires a full life. She so desperately wants to feel alive, and it seems like she did not feel that growing up. Of the three, she’s the one to begin working on her days off at home without needing to be asked. She’s diligent the way she’s always seen her father be, but after episode 13, it’s shown that Jeho isn’t necessarily diligent because he wants to be. He trusted his sister and ended up having large financial losses and, thus, had to give up a lot of his freedom. The “car chase” scene showed that he still had that drive to let loose. 

Duhwan and Junghoon laughing at meeting all the people the Yeom siblings have told them about at the funeral. Changhee talking about quitting his job. I thought it was interesting that although Changhee complains about his job and his coworker a lot throughout the drama, when we finally see him quit, it’s shown very simply and almost unclearly. He’s shown at the hospital with Hyuna’s friend instead of at work, but they don’t explain he’s quit until Gijeong says it out loud. I wondered why, and perhaps it is just like Changhee says that his soul knew it was time to quit.

“When you feel lonely, I hope you remember that Oh Duhwan is also feeling lonely somewhere. And this song is for us.” He’s the sweetest.

Changhee finally, finally gets a car. I actually laughed when Changhee told his father they need a car. It’s no longer about his dream, about being able to commute to Seoul more easily, or about making dating easier for him. There’s something special about traveling, escaping from your routine, and Changhee wants to experience that with his family. He knows they need it right now. 

Gijeong taking offense that her aunt wasn’t even considerate enough to cook something her father likes. The Yeom siblings caring more deeply about each other and their father.

The way they all look to the urn when Gijeong says, “I don’t even care if we’re family. I won’t see you again!” Although it’s a sad moment, it made me laugh because they all felt wrong to have that conversation in front of Hyesuk’s urn. Mijeong standing up to grip the urn, to comfort  and assure her mother.

It also made me a little happy to see Mijeong fight her coworker. It’s not about the affair. They are adults. They can do what they want. Mijeong is upset that (1) they have gotten her involved when it does not concern her in the slightest, and that (2) they were  flirting at her mother’s funeral. She had the right to be mad, because that is so rude and so wrong. At least have some courtesy, goodness.

Even Gijeong confronting Mijeong about taking out a loan and Changhee going on to defend her. Even though it’s an upsetting moment, they were open and honest with each other. They have not been a family that relies on each other well, and the first step to changing that is acknowledging it openly. 

The scene of them four in the car and at the beach together was so cathartic and is one of my favorites of the episode. There was a certain peace about it. Them saying and knowing that there’s no one else in the world who loves each of them like they love each other, because they are kin. The love between siblings and between parents and children. It is so special. And it’s not about being blood-related, not at all. It’s about the people who have known you nearly all, if not all, your life. The people with whom you share your earliest memories. Who share the same home as you. Who understand you. Who know you.

But it’s not just that. It’s also the Yeom family wanting to feel connected to her, still, Mijeong especially. We see Mijeong sitting alone in the living room until the others have gone to bed, to look at her mother’s ashes privately. She wants a moment of just them two, together, without the distraction of the other three family members. I wonder why it was so important for Mijeong to look at the ashes. I think it would sadden me even more to look at the actual ashes than to look at the urn, but maybe, for Mijeong, she knows that the urn is something pretty to look at. She doesn’t want to look at the pretty container. She wants to see her mother, and what remains are the ashes.