Gwan-sik always told his daughter to come back to him whenever anything goes wrong, when she eats some food (was that a sea food?!) for the first time, when she goes to school, when she decided to take part in the race, when she goes to college, all the time he told his daughter that if she falls back, he'll be right there to hold her.

When Chung-seob was throwing up in the boat, he started following Geum-myeong when she was going to the toilet. Gwan-sik asked him why he follows her everywhere, even to the toilet and his one sentence dissolved all the worries, hesitation and doubts the father had. Chung-seob said - "in case she falls"

The father who always reassured his daughter that he'll pick her up if she falls and she can always come back to him, saw someone else worried that in case she falls, he should be there to help her. And that's why he decided to let Chung-seob rob him off of his precious daughter.

does it make the drama any less sour, though? no. in fact the story is arguably more sour than it is sweet, so much that its content probably suits the korean title a lot better: 폭싹 속았수다, a phrase in korean dialect which translates to something among the lines of "thank you for your hard work."

hard work in what, you may ask? well, life.

this series tells us about life. shown through one that perhaps not everyone is overly familiar with, but can relate to all the same. because we all know it's difficult, this whole ordeal of living. of being pushed into adulthood without any semblance of experience, but expected to excel in it nonetheless. no free trials, no repeats, nothing, nada. it's absurd and almost unfair. it's our first time living after all.

yet life relentlessly takes and takes, and voids us of the ability to stop for just a moment to breathe or even—for goodness' sake, grieve when we should; when we need to.

but it's fickle in that it also gives. because nothing ever really lasts. nothing good, sure, but also nothing bad. life smiles at us sometimes. it comes in the form of a loved one, or a flower blooming in spring. it gives meaning to enduring all the hardships.

so we try so hard to survive even if it's hard to keep up and we're barely getting dragged along; a stubborn grip on the hem of life that waits for no one. it's not easy. it probably doesn't look pretty either. but we try.

and for that, as the original title goes, "thank you for your hard work."

"you're doing a good job."