There is another way of looking at this, which is, for Seju’s mental health issues it’s actually better that her mom got murdered than that her mom abandoned her by committing suicide. She can now just be angry and get revenge if she wants to, being secure about herself, rather than be begging for love due to feeling like the abandoned bastard child. It’s like rewriting her own story in her head. Selfish but true.

Presumably that was the symbolic meaning of her spitting out the “leftover love” glove.

I must say it’s kinda dumb that she never investigated about her mom independently though. She already know her siblings are criminals. Also she is still on friendly terms with Saehyun despite the fact he tortured Sumin lol What gives?

Good point. I expect the truth would start to change Seju's outlook on life, where she slowly but gradually adopts a more positive view on how she sees herself and others. I only wish that it didn't come at the cost of even more physical and mental pain. Then again, you know how that saying goes "No pain, no gain."

One thing for sure, it's definitely going to be a tearjerker moment when flashbacks of Ahn Chahee are being revealed possibly next chapter or the one after. Just imagine her holding baby Seju in her arms, showing the warm love of a mother that was stolen away from Seju =(

Anyways, as for why Seju never bothered to investigate her mother, I suppose she was unable to do so because of focussing her love and attention all on Sumin. Not to mention she hated her mother this whole time, thinking she had cowardly hanged herself. If anything, I'm more puzzled as to why Chairman Baek given his power and influence, had never found out ages ago one of his sons were responsible for murdering the love of his life. He could have hired the best private eyes to investigate, and no matter how hard that son tried to cover up, there's bound to be a slip up somewhere.

I would say there is no point in thinking about the actual plot very hard. I know I seem pessimistic for saying this but I even feel like the writer of the story is not the same anymore, or cannot write in the same way anymore due to editorial requirements from Kakao (target demographic being teens, etc).

Like, the storytelling style has completely changed from the main story and One, while between those 2, it was very consistent. It is now fairly shallow and lost the subtlety it used to have so I don’t think most of these plot points (or shall I say, “gaping holes”) will be touched on.

Mind you, one of the reasons why I was 100% satisfied with the open ending of One, of Seju simply taking off and leaving everything behind, and was very concerned when I came to know they were going to make a series with her as main character, is because I could already tell writing a decent, believable story that shows a person like Seju healing after 107 chapters of pining over Sumin and family conflicts would be extremely difficult. A kind of quality death wish, a hanging by plot suicide lol

The situation is parallel to when Citrus reached chapter 36 and I got upset: I was literally like, there is no way this writer, with these abilities, will be able to bring this story knot to a satisfying conclusion.

As Britney would say in the infamous “Oops I did it again”: Oh you shouldn’t have

last edited at Jul 16, 2019 7:25PM

Mind you, one of the reasons why I was 100% satisfied with the open ending of One, of Seju simply taking off and leaving everything behind, and was very concerned when I came to know they were going to make a series with her as main character, is because I could already tell writing a decent, believable story that shows a person like Seju healing after 107 chapters of pining over Sumin and family conflicts would be extremely difficult.

I agree with this. It is objectively really hard to outdo the storyline from season 1. I believe TG got carried away by their personal feelings and kept making Seju more important to the story than they originally planned. With the Sumin x Sungji and Seju x Won you can tell there's a more professional/distant outlook of creating a character. I believe their usual writing is similar to these two pairings.
Generally, there's a pattern when you have to come up with a character. You think of what "trademark" qualities you should give them, both physically as well as mentally. Dowon is dark skinned and pretty strong. That's already two characteristics, even if one could also suffice.

I remember a story from Nanzaki Iku that did a very good job for me to root for the person the mc wasn't originally in love with. But it was only two chapters

I would say there is no point in thinking about the actual plot very hard. I know I seem pessimistic for saying this but I even feel like the writer of the story is not the same anymore, or cannot write in the same way anymore due to editorial requirements from Kakao (target demographic being teens, etc).
...
The situation is parallel to when Citrus reached chapter 36 and I got upset: I was literally like, there is no way this writer, with these abilities, will be able to bring this story knot to a satisfying conclusion.

And for me writing is consistent. I reread not so long ago some parts about Seju. One is somewhat symmetrical to the main story. Except nudity and explicit sex of course, lol. WDTFS is melodrama and demographic not a factor if the writing is good. Well, maybe it is, when story is for little babies.

And Citrus, why? Citrus already in chapter 1 showed writing quality and style. I'll enjoy reading this, even if these points will be never addressed like they weren’t in the main story.

I don't think the writing has been dumbed down to cater to teenage readers on Kakao. It still has the same style as the main story: the hidden meanings behind the characters' words and their actions, the foreshadowing, the complicated drama elements, etc. The only thing Team Gaji can't do is make the sex scenes more explicit, which is a damn shame since the series started off as a steamy adult drama.

I still feel as though if the author was gonna write a story with Seju being the main character, it should have been more of a sequel series with 50 chapters or more, showing her meeting new people and dealing with life without Sumin. But atlas, it is what it is. At any rate, I expect by the time One has ended, there will be a proper closure that leaves nothing to doubt. Seju will arguably get the happiest ending after all the suffering she had to endure throughout her life. She will have a family, friends and finally a soulmate.

Gotta admit when One does finally end, I don't think I'll be that eager and interested in reading the other side stories. Neither Dawoon or Sangmi particularly stand out. As for Sumin and Sungji side story in Will, not sure what's there left to tell about this couple. They will probably have a couple of conflicts just for the drama before finally making up and marrying each other at last. I could be proven wrong though.

I don't think the writing has been dumbed down to cater to teenage readers on Kakao. It still has the same style as the main story: the hidden meanings behind the characters' words and their actions, the foreshadowing, the complicated drama elements, etc. The only thing Team Gaji can't do is make the sex scenes more explicit, which is a damn shame since the series started off as a steamy adult drama.

Hidden meanings? Please, remove the fan glasses, they are blurring your vision :P What you have here is the most stereotypical K-drama style story possible, poorly written no less, and conveniently so to force a pre-planned outcome no matter how unlikely. You are looking for meaning and complications where there isn’t any, but I’d say just go and have fun with it lol

Compared with other manhwa/manga of same romantic style, if you take One on its own it’s already fairly weak. But if you compare with the main story and Paradise it’s almost like the original writer got replaced by a 12 year old fan fiction writer.

I still feel as though if the author was gonna write a story with Seju being the main character, it should have been more of a sequel series with 50 chapters or more, showing her meeting new people and dealing with life without Sumin. But atlas, it is what it is. At any rate, I expect by the time One has ended, there will be a proper closure that leaves nothing to doubt. Seju will arguably get the happiest ending after all the suffering she had to endure throughout her life. She will have a family, friends and finally a soulmate.

Gotta admit when One does finally end, I don't think I'll be that eager and interested in reading the other side stories. Neither Dawoon or Sangmi particularly stand out. As for Sumin and Sungji side story in Will, not sure what's there left to tell about this couple. They will probably have a couple of conflicts just for the drama before finally making up and marrying each other at last. I could be proven wrong though.

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 8:03AM

I don't think the writing has been dumbed down to cater to teenage readers on Kakao. It still has the same style as the main story: the hidden meanings behind the characters' words and their actions, the foreshadowing, the complicated drama elements, etc. The only thing Team Gaji can't do is make the sex scenes more explicit, which is a damn shame since the series started off as a steamy adult drama.

I still feel as though if the author was gonna write a story with Seju being the main character, it should have been more of a sequel series with 50 chapters or more, showing her meeting new people and dealing with life without Sumin. But atlas, it is what it is. At any rate, I expect by the time One has ended, there will be a proper closure that leaves nothing to doubt. Seju will arguably get the happiest ending after all the suffering she had to endure throughout her life. She will have a family, friends and finally a soulmate.

Gotta admit when One does finally end, I don't think I'll be that eager and interested in reading the other side stories. Neither Dawoon or Sangmi particularly stand out. As for Sumin and Sungji side story in Will, not sure what's there left to tell about this couple. They will probably have a couple of conflicts just for the drama before finally making up and marrying each other at last. I could be proven wrong though.

I definitely ain’t losing my time with WDTFS once One is over, since as Macy-san said outdoing the original story is nearly impossible so they are bound to disappoint even more than One. But will be waiting for a continuation of or another story with similar style to Pet’s Aesthetics.

Let's just say we agree to disagree. You've made your thoughts pretty clear, regarding One being a poorly written story that pales in comparison to the main story and Paradise, Dowon being another doormat like Sungji and how it makes more sense for Sumin x Seju to be back together etc. We'll be going around in circles trying to convince one another what is and what isn't. At the end of the day, there isn't really a right and wrong answer.

I'm just enjoying the story for what it is, which seems to be about two broken women who are slowly but gradually healing from their past wounds. Perhaps that's what the theme of One is supposed to be all about: a second chance at love.

I definitely ain’t losing my time with WDTFS once One is over, since as Macy-san said outdoing the original story is nearly impossible so they are bound to disappoint even more than One. But will be waiting for a continuation of or another story with similar style to Pet’s Aesthetics.

Will be interesting to see what kind of new series Team Gaji is planning to do. I kind of expect it will take place in the same universe as WDTFS and Pet's Aesthetics.

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 8:54AM

I think in this case there is an objective answer about storytelling quality tbh. Which can be answered by whether if anyone reads One as a stand-alone piece of work, what its rating would be in comparison to other stories by the same author, including Paradise, and even other manhwa of same genre. If not for those with an intense desire to see Seju happy, carried over from the main story, who would be reading One standalone and legitimately thinking it’s good? That’s why I said it is more like fan fiction, appealing only to a very particular subset of the original audience of WDTFS.

But yes, at the end of the day it’s all about what we personally enjoy after all. :) However since this is a manga discussion forum, that’s why I feel free to analyze and be critical of the story elements at a more technical level, even with my amateur perspective.

So to be clear: I don’t mean to point out to anyone what they should like or not. At the same time, yes stories can be evaluated in a somewhat objective way. As an example, I like movies like Pacific Rim personally more because they are mindless fun, but cannot deny another robot-themed story like Evangelion is objectively better in terms of storytelling.

I don't think the writing has been dumbed down to cater to teenage readers on Kakao. It still has the same style as the main story: the hidden meanings behind the characters' words and their actions, the foreshadowing, the complicated drama elements, etc. The only thing Team Gaji can't do is make the sex scenes more explicit, which is a damn shame since the series started off as a steamy adult drama.

I still feel as though if the author was gonna write a story with Seju being the main character, it should have been more of a sequel series with 50 chapters or more, showing her meeting new people and dealing with life without Sumin. But atlas, it is what it is. At any rate, I expect by the time One has ended, there will be a proper closure that leaves nothing to doubt. Seju will arguably get the happiest ending after all the suffering she had to endure throughout her life. She will have a family, friends and finally a soulmate.

Gotta admit when One does finally end, I don't think I'll be that eager and interested in reading the other side stories. Neither Dawoon or Sangmi particularly stand out. As for Sumin and Sungji side story in Will, not sure what's there left to tell about this couple. They will probably have a couple of conflicts just for the drama before finally making up and marrying each other at last. I could be proven wrong though.

I totaly agree with you. Seju's story, One have obvious themes and it feels like continuation, and with my favorite character. In my opinion Dawon was secondary character just to make Sungji busy. She doesn’t have much of a presence and doesn’t leave much of impression. And Sumin x Sungji arc is fully closed. On other hand, I'm curios whan TG will do and I want to be proven wrong, lol. And, yes again, instead of so many spinoffs I wanted to see more chapters in One, like full-blown sequel.

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 11:20AM

I'd personally like this arc more if I could read it as an individual story. But I think that Sumin flashback during their sex scene would still catch my attention.

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 12:02PM

Was it really a surprise someone from Seju's brothers killed her mom? It was pretty obvious, since they hated Seju and her mom so much. Also being greedy af and not wanting to share their fortune. It couldn't have been Seju's dad or her brother.
The only mystery is still whether that particular brother had an affair with Seju's mom, since there was a scene of him remembering her in season 1. Some people would also theorize that he is actually her dad, but I think that's less possible.

I don't think Dowon will die either.

Season 3 with Dowon's past and her evil ex, while Dowon gets healed by dating Seju. Season 4 that ex moving on with someone new

Not really a huge surprise but still, its not something that anyone in their sane mind would want it to happen. Like god dammit, havent this poor girl suffered more than enough already? How much longer does the author intends to shit all over her?

What are you -talking- about? This development couldn't have worked out better for her! There is incontrovertable eyewitness testimony and physical evidence that her brother tried to murder her and frame it as a suicide, and he basically admitted that he was the one responsible for her mom's death. She gets to put her mother's murderer in prison, get revenge against the worst of her terrible family, and she'll probably find a way to crush the rest of those awful siblings along the way. Not to mention her new girlfriend came to the rescue in the process. If that isn't going to help her get over Sumin, I don't know what is.

Remember, part of the reason she went to the hotel in the first place was to try and find some kin of connection/resolution towards her dead mom. I'd say this qualifies.

I wouldn't belittle the trauma this would put a real person through, but for a fictional character? This might as well be a giftwrapped box labelled "cathartic resolution".

Both her parents are gone, her first love left her for good after tormenting her for 10 years, twice someone made an attempt on her life. Now she finds out the truth her mother was actually murdered and Won got injured in order to save her. What's next? She gets kidnapped, tortured and raped? O_o

Next her mother's killer goes to jail (or maybe she'll blackmail him with this to just ruin his life, I wouldn't put that past her) Then she nurses her girlfriend back to health and they happily-ever-after while bro hangs himself because losers like him can never take any of the shit they dish out.

Edit: (I bet it ends with a boat scene like the dream with Sumin, but with Do Won instead, signifying that Seju has finally really moved on.)

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 8:18PM

I would guess that wdtfs will end with a Seju's smiling scene that makes Seju fans burst out crying out of joy.

Edit: not wdtfs, I meant this side story.

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 11:03PM

They need to stop repeating scenes, because it would be hard to make her seem happier than in that boat with Sumin (and it wasn't a dream?). I hope in this case the ending is that she finally leaves Korea to study in the U.S. as she always wanted. With Do Won, probably.

last edited at Jul 17, 2019 11:03PM

Literally what the story of this series has become: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8e3BpCbmzU

Finally Seju starts to live her own life. No longer let anybody stop her from doing whatever she wants. No longer stay still to let them look down on her. This is what Seju should have done years ago because she literally has everything. Best closure ever for Sumin and Seju when they passed by each other with a smile on their face as well, like: "See, I'm perfectly doing well even without you".

Now it's time to switch to Won's past and the truth behind her parents sucking up to Seju's mom. It's literally what Seju has been longing to figure out when she moved to the villa after all o_O

5 pages of comments (pgs. 517, 516, 515, 514, 513...) and now I'm wondering if I should read WDTFS. It's quite an intimidating roller-coaster it seems to me.

Finally Seju starts to live her own life. No longer let anybody stop her from doing whatever she wants. No longer stay still to let them look down on her. This is what Seju should have done years ago because she literally has everything. Best closure ever for Sumin and Seju when they passed by each other with a smile on their face as well, like: "See, I'm perfectly doing well even without you".

Now it's time to switch to Won's past and the truth behind her parents sucking up to Seju's mom. It's literally what Seju has been longing to figure out when she moved to the villa after all o_O

Yup, goodbye Sumin x Seju. It isn't necessary for those two to exchange any more words with one another, as they've already said enough. Just small smiles on their faces before they walked away to their separate lives. Couldn't have asked for a better closure than this.

I like the parts where Seju shows how much she cares about Wonnie: telling the doctor to make sure she stays obediently at the hospital, having her assistant letting her know when she's awake, ordering the other assistant they should quickly head back after her schedule finished, dismissing her asshole brother with the "So what" reply when he implies something negative about Won. Clearly, we know who's the most important person on her list :P

And damn Seju is sure living up to the ruthlessness of a Baek. First, we have Saehyun scarring Sumin's shoulder, the other brothers sending the female assassin to strangle Seju as a lesson, the 3rd Oppa killed Ahn Chahee and trying to do the same on Seju. Committing crimes seems to be part of the family's DNA.

You guys have such low expectations and are happy with anything. I feel jealous :P No way I am spending $ on One though, glad it can be found for free.

To be honest, this last chapter was ok for me since I decided to just accept that the high storytelling quality of the main series+Paradise was an exception never to be seen again, and now the series is just common stereotypes, canned dialogues and "because the author said so" till the end. It's a pity also because Do Won is such a well-drawn character, she is so beautiful and yet reduced to extreme Mary Sue behaviour even after her only cool scene of defending Seju.

My conclusion is indeed the writing used to be so good probably due to the Team GJ writer suffering from depression. Never has emotional suffering been better utilized, clearly.

last edited at Jul 27, 2019 11:41AM

I just want to give opinion after read other stories from the same author, I begin to see the red line... it has the same tendency just like “pulse” author. In general, people will like it, because it only show a flower road of lesbian relationship without all that “prejudice” in Asian countries.

It’s predictable, stereotypes, lack of twist, flow so fast, and only show the honeymoon phase, it lack a depths, and only focus on the romance, which could be good or bad depends on the reader’s taste.

Summary: The art is “great”, the character is “charming” but the plot is “boring”

I believe I am the only one who think this way~

last edited at Jul 27, 2019 11:27AM

I just want to give opinion after read other stories from the same author, I begin to see the red line... it has the same tendency just like “pulse” author. In general, people will like it, because it only show a flower road of lesbian relationship without all that “prejudice” in Asian countries.

It’s predictable, stereotypes, lack of twist, flow so fast, and only show the honeymoon phase, it lack a depths, and only focus on the romance, which could be good or bad depends on the reader’s taste.

Summary: The art is “great”, the character is “charming” but the plot is “boring”

I believe I am the only one who think this way~

You are not the only one, I think the same. I generally dislike the simplistic, extreme stereotypical vibes of these stories. I tried reading Lily Love after reading Pulse but couldn't get into it because everything is so boring and predictable, the author repeats the same formula over and over. I suspect Team GJ is heading in the same direction. But hey, there is a market for it so for as long as people are paying it's all we're ever gonna get.

last edited at Jul 27, 2019 11:47AM

I just want to give opinion after read other stories from the same author, I begin to see the red line... it has the same tendency just like “pulse” author. In general, people will like it, because it only show a flower road of lesbian relationship without all that “prejudice” in Asian countries.

It’s predictable, stereotypes, lack of twist, flow so fast, and only show the honeymoon phase, it lack a depths, and only focus on the romance, which could be good or bad depends on the reader’s taste.

Summary: The art is “great”, the character is “charming” but the plot is “boring”

I believe I am the only one who think this way~

You are not the only one, I think the same. I generally dislike the simplistic, extreme stereotypical vibes of these stories. I tried reading Lily Love after reading Pulse but couldn't get into it because everything is so boring and predictable, the author repeats the same formula over and over. I suspect Team GJ is heading in the same direction. But hey, there is a market for it so for as long as people are paying it's all we're ever gonna get.

Thankfully someone with intelligent, just in k drama land, the formula is repeating and more people became aware and feels that every drama looks monotonous, shown by how the rating keeps declining.

We will see how long the repetitive formula can last, because this side story is so similar with sumin x seju story. I appreciate something that can go beyond “trend”, although the market might be smaller.

Something like “her shimcheong” will be good, it shown about the social issues in our Asian society between male and female role. Yet, I hope we got a story in recent time, not in the pass

Or the extreme one, like WAHNR, giving more “color” to yuri genre

I hope we got a refreshing new story after WDTFS, from the same author, and not like lily love 2.... I stop following that after 2 chapters

last edited at Jul 27, 2019 12:10PM

My conclusion is indeed the writing used to be so good probably due to the Team GJ writer suffering from depression. Never has emotional suffering been better utilized, clearly.

Oh I was thinking about that for years now. Especially seeing how different the Sumin and Sungji arc felt. Also how fast the love between Seju and Won is developing. I would also say the author/artist has gone through a similar situation like Seju and Sumin before.

Anyway, it seems like simple stories like that is what people drink like water. If you check the YA books as well, the love interests are way worse than that, and generic love triangles get much more praise than deserved.
YA stories with teen audience need a different format. I guess the main audience for romance in manga too is these ages as well.
I'm not saying there's something wrong with that, but the problem is when you market it differently from the start, then change direction.
Wdtfs was more of an adult story, but lately I feel like it fits into a teen audience better.

However I still wouldn't compare wdtfs with Lilly Love or Pulse. These are pretty bad, worse than citrus.

What's YA? Not very familiar with these terms...
And yeah, I agree, looks like the target audience for WDTFS has changed to teens.

WDTFS was so good I decided to pay, because I felt "wow this a story made for adults that shows some complex emotions, one of a kind". But if you take One on its own, at least for me not only I would never pay for it, I also think it's worse than the other stories you mention because it's crazy rushed.

last edited at Jul 27, 2019 12:30PM

YA= young adult genre. Think of Twillight as an example. They most of the time have a bland female mc, and two guys competing over her. Most of the stories for YA use the same cliches (love triangle, mc who doesn't belief in herself but for some reason every guy wants her etc) and usually some fantasy elements.

It's the worst fiction genre, and a lot of other agree on this being pretty problematic. But teens eat these stories up.