More Than Friends (Series Retrospect)

It took me a while to finish More Than Friends as I got continuously frustrated by the "will they, won't they" of the lead couple. However, underneath the surface of what many people might consider a simple "friends-to-lovers" romcom, we follow our characters' on their journey of self-discovery as they learn to truly love each other as well as love themselves, for all their flaws. 

SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)

This drama might be the first time I wished the second male lead got together with the female lead because my god, male lead Lee Soo endlessly frustrated me. We didn't get too much information on Joon-soo in episode 1 but subsequently, he developed into a character that I really liked. Having gone through his own personal struggles with love before and coincidentally being the current owner of the unknown number that a drunk Woo-yeon calls to lament about her failed relationships, Joon-soo starts to fall in love with her. Eventually, as the pair meet for work and get closer, they end up in a relationship. I absolutely loved the "romance" between Joon-soo and Woo-yeon, who I felt had far more chemistry than the lead couple. No matter how short-lived it was, he gave his all to loving her and constantly gave in to her. He perfectly complemented Woo-yeon and for the first time in her life, she knows what it's like to be loved.

You know what makes it all the more painful to see them break up? I always knew it was going to happen but Woo-yeon never stopped loving Lee Soo, no matter how much of a jerk he was to her and even though she tried her best to reciprocate Joon-soo's feelings, she never succeeded. I was so annoyed to see Joon-soo having to attempt to win her back and he fails every single time, finally giving up after she properly starts dating Lee Soo. This was completely different from any of her previous relationships because she genuinely felt guilty after she rejects him, knowing that he's given her so much but she's done nothing in return. This may be the first time that I liked the second male lead more than the lead himself because Joon-soo was caring to the end and even after Woo-yeon properly rejected him, he still did everything he could to make sure she felt loved and cared for. It's interesting to note that Joon-soo's name translates to "observance" and at the end of the day, even with his undying love for her, all he can do is observe Woo-yeon from afar and offer his support as a friend. For short, #joonsoodeservedbetter. 

Now that I've gotten my saltiness over Joon-soo's failed relationship off my chest, let's talk about male lead Lee Soo. Ong Seong-woo is indeed a good actor because he did such a good job of making me so annoyed at Lee Soo and his constant jerkish behaviour. In the first arc of the drama, Lee Soo repeatedly tells Woo-yeon that he has no feelings for her and rejects her a few times. After they meet again in 2020, he starts to drop hints that he likes her but through a series of misunderstandings, he loses her to Joon-soo. Even though Lee Soo tries to convince Woo-yeon of his sincerity, she no longer believes him because of his countless rejections. There was a small bit of satisfaction in me after I see how the tables have turned and now he's the one getting rejected. However, as we found out in the first episode, underneath Lee Soo's cocky and selfish demeanour lies the same child who never got over his parents' divorce. 

The reason why Lee Soo kept pushing Woo-yeon away even though they both had so much affection for each other is because of a statement his father made in the past about not keeping something you love very much too close to them. As a result of this, not only did his parents drift apart even though they were in love but Lee Soo took this to heart and never got too close to Woo-yeon. By the time he realised the err of his ways, his love had soon drifted away and he lost his chance. Of course, eventually, the pair end up in a relationship, albeit one with many problems. That said, over the span of a decade our hero has grown so much as a person, finally realising how hurtful his actions must have been to Woo-yeon. We know that Lee Soo's selfishness was a byproduct of him believing himself to not be worthy of love and so through maturing as an adult alongside Woo-yeon, he finally learns to love himself and by the end of the drama, they get back together, stronger than before. 

Here's my gripe about our leads' romance. No matter how terrible Lee Soo was and I'll be the first to admit I really disliked his character at times, Woo-yeon just kept loving him and to me that's so toxic. If K-dramas have taught me anything it's that we can't control our feelings but even then, our heroine was in love for over a decade with some punk who constantly trampled on her self-esteem and on her emotions. That's why I was also satisfied with Woo-yeon's growth in the series. She spent a good portion of the drama madly in love with Lee Soo and that was her defining characteristic for a very long time so I was super proud of her when she decided to leave him behind and start dating Joon-soo. Even though that relationship didn't blossom the way I wanted, it still marks Woo-yeon's turning point because she takes her life into her own hands. In our drama's final arc, after Lee Soo goes overseas for work while she stays behind, she actively ends their relationship after realising that they're drifting apart and will only make each other miserable. Yes, this was temporary because they end up back together again but Woo-yeon has developed so much as a person that she now knows what's good for her. 

This drama is primarily about love and revolves around three kinds of relationships. With Woo-yeon and Lee Soo, we saw a relationship that was marred by misunderstandings from start to end and in many ways, I found it somewhat toxic. Their relationship presents itself as the most basic kind of love, where our leads need each other in their lives, even though they've been hurt countless times, they still find themselves longing for the other. Thankfully, their relationship takes a better turn near the end of the drama after they both grow as people and understand each other. Now you might be wondering, what are the other two kinds of relationships portrayed here? Well, that's where our supporting characters come in. 

Our first supporting couple, Jin-joo and Sang-hyuk, probably represent the initial stages of love. Considering their romance is very "immature" in a way and they are very open about their affection,  it's a nice change to see this kind of romance as compared to the angst we got with our leads. Even when this couple is shown to have an argument prior to their wedding, they make up very quickly and it was very cute to get this kind of romance after all the nonsense we had to get with Woo-yeon and Lee Soo. Our last relationship is quite possibly the best one and that's between Young-hee and Hyun-jae, who've been dating for a decade. Their relationship has stood the test of time and their drastically different economical situations hasn't affected them much. However, Young-hee has constantly delayed their marriage because she doesn't want Hyun-jae to be burdened by her family. Just as she finally gets ready to propose to him, their relationship suffers a massive blow as her mother is diagnosed with stomach cancer and his family also tries to get in their way. 

At first, I thought it was going to be okay because if their relationship has lasted for so long, it'll be able to weather this as well but oh no, I was so wrong, because Young-hee breaks up with Hyun-jae, in order to prevent them both from becoming even more miserable. When you look at that relationship from both sides, it's frustrating because I understand why Young-hee wants to go through with this but on the other hand, if she would just let Hyun-jae enter that aspect of her life, everything would be far easier for her. Thankfully, by the end of the drama she realises how much she loves Hyun-jae and vice versa, with the pair eventually getting back together and getting ready for marriage. 

K-dramas have a habit of giving their characters names with double meanings and our leads are no different. Woo-yeon can be translated into "accident" or "coincidence" and this is something that is punned at throughout the drama. Her Instagram handle has "accident" in it and Lee Soo titled his self-portrait as "every moment was a coincidence" (as you can see at the start of this post). However, that title can also be translated into "every moment was Woo-yeon", showcasing how truly sincere Lee Soo was in his love for Woo-yeon because when he's with her, he's "complete", which is what his name translates to. While the drama's title can be literally translated into "Number of Cases" (as I mentioned in my initial thoughts post), a more direct translation that has been referenced in the drama is "Kyung Woo's Soo", describing how close the relationship between our leads has become. Even if I didn't like how their romance came about, at the end of the day I can truly appreciate their character development and how they became stronger as a couple. 

This drama has no doubt shown me how different people find their own kind of relationship with the one they love. Some of us may find solace here, as we relate to some of the characters but I hope by the end of this, you would've been inspired to act on your emotions and maybe, you too can succeed in becoming More Than Friends with someone. Thanks for reading.