th3w0nderf00l

I really wish Cheong-ah and Eun-gyeol's relationship before the time travel was discussed a little bit more. Of course, they loved each other, and she was a pretty good mom, but she seemed to prioritize Yi-chan and his happiness over Eun-gyeol's and placed undue pressure on Eun-gyeol, giving him the job of fulfilling that happiness.

I can't get over how sinister Cheong-ah's stepmother's plan to get rid of Eun-gyeol was. She saw that Eun-gyeol was alone, with a family that was completely out of the picture, and a nonexistent legal identity and essentially tried to have him trafficked/killed just for teaching Cheong-ah sign language.

When the original letters for the Korean alphabet AKA Hangul were invented, they apparently consisted of 28 letters.

I think a big part of the reason Eun-yu warmed up to Yi-chan and genuinely seemed to enjoy his company is that he's similar to Eun-ho. Like, Eun-ho and Yi-chan think and act very similarly as teens, and their vibe is overall the same, so I imagine that Eun-yu, subconsciously or consciously, recognized that and genuinely enjoyed spending time with Yi-chan, even if she never had feelings for him.

Watching Twinkling Watermelon again for fanfic purposes, but I can't help but be upset at how Se-gyeong (not Eun-yu) and Cheong-ah's relationship was written. Se-gyeong was clearly hoping for friendship with Cheong-ah and likely felt they were kindred spirits because of how they were treated by the adults in their lives. While it may have been a bit of a projection on her part, she obviously wanted a friendship where the other person wasn't desperately trying to one-up her, and she felt she could get that with Cheong-ah. But it felt like Cheong-ah kept dismissing her and completely prioritizing Yi-chan despite the fact that Se-gyeong (not Eun-yu) had made it clear she wasn't interested in him.

I keep thinking about how, in the original timeline, Eun-ho must've spent his whole childhood watching Eun-gyeol be crushed under the responsibility that came with being the only hearing person in the household, forced to be mature beyond his years, always being the bigger person and the dutiful son because everything he did was reflected on their family. How he must've watched as Eun-gyeol let his childhood slip away in favour of doing everything that was expected of him, terrified that if he let himself breathe for even a second, something bad would happen, just like it did all those years ago in the fire. How badly he must've wanted to see Eun-gyeol drop that burden and live his life to the fullest, and how happy he must've been when he saw Eun-gyeol doing music and enjoying himself for the first time.

Watching Eun-gyeol's first few days in the past is genuinely one of the funniest parts of the show. Like, I feel bad for him because he was stressed and all, but what was bro doing, constantly referring to the teenage versions of the adults in his life by their adult titles after realizing he time-travelled? Yi-chan took it way too well considering the circumstances, but like, imagine being literally anyone else around him in that situation?

The thing that makes me sad about the ending of Twinkling Watermelon is that Eun-gyeol barely had any time to breathe or process all the things that happened around him. Finding out he didn't prevent Yi-chan's accident, nearly getting kidnapped and trafficked by the men Chung-ah's stepmom hired, believing he finally saved his dad, only for Yi-chan to lose his hearing while saving him, rather than a random kid. Then after all of that, he's not even given the chance to be there for Yi-chan and is told to go to the future where he belongs. And after what was probably the worst three days of his life, he's thrust into a brand new future with no memories of his new life aside from the people in it, and all of the people he'd grown to love as friends were suddenly 28 years his senior and viewed him as their friend's youngest son.