I’ve been reading the forums for a few days now and I just wanted to add my two cents to the discussion of the series ^^ .
Overall, I still am interested in the series and want to know what happens in the discussion but the last couple chapters have lessened my interest in the series. Frankly, I don’t care if the series will ever cover a working relationship between Seola and No-rae. And I’m fine with the series having a slow character-focused pacing. But I really think that in the whole ski-resort-arc (with the trip to No-rae’s parents) the series jumped the shark without knowing what to do with that.
I don’t think repetition is the problem here. It would imply that when something happens the series would move on in order to return to the same point – but the series never seems to move on these days. The relationship between Seola and Norae is frustratingly static, the complications of the plot remain incidental and the closure (even on an incidental level these days) is non-existing. FF’s writing seems very inconsequential. What happened on that ski-resort-trip was all VERY dramatic (Seola crying out of frustration, Sungpyo suddenly appearing, Seola and Norae nearly kissing etc.) but it didn’t amount to anything. None of it even seems very dramatic in hindsight due to this lack of commitment. Those atrocious time-jumps happened too often between chapters and killed the natural momentum of the story again and again there.
But even aside from consequences, the writing wasn’t very elegant. You have all these plot-points and character-moments but they all seem to be only tangentially related in how they’re presented. Every meaningful moment of the ski-resort-trip exists in its own little bubble. There have been no confrontations between Norae and Seola despite the fact that the reason for all the events is that they’re at odds with each other. Norae clearly isn’t on the same wavelength as Seola when it comes to their relationship and the series has so far done nothing besides rubbing the readers’ noses in it. And if for some reason you haven’t realized that yet, you will have certainly gotten the message with that wordy chapter 66 that needlessly summarized all that has happened in the previous couple chapters (the golden rule is “show, don’t tell”, not “show, don’t tell – then later tell them what they’ve seen”).
What bothers me the most these days is Norae, though. I assume Ssamba wants to create tension by making us identify more with Seola than Norae. But it should be the other way around at this point, I think. Chapter 66 and this new chapter are disappointing because we already know what Seola’s mindset is. Far more interesting would be to find out what Norae is actually hoping to achieve by doing this whole “oblivious”-routine. Honestly, in the scene where Norae plays the guitar she acts oblivious to the point of being kinda insulting. Since it’s hard right now to identify with Norae (because we don’t really know what exactly she’s thinking) the whole thing starts to feel like an “idiot-plot”. You know, the kind of plot that can be easily resolved with one short, honest conversation but it isn’t happening because the characters behave like idiots. And Norae is that idiot right now. I mean, with how stubborn Norae is, I don’t think there’s anything Seola can actually do to change their relationship.
It’s disappointing for me because the chapters itself often have one or more nice, little moments of fluffiness and cuteness. But these are only moments in a story that hasn’t really come together as a whole in a while.
Also Sungpyo is a stalker… Seriously, this is the second (!) time he just “happened” to be in the vicinity of Norae for a flimsy reason.
I must say I agree with you- I'm truly enjoying the slow progress and the tension but ever since the ski trip the story feels a little inconsistent to me... It's like Ssamba is skipping all of the hard and important scenes! I just can't wrap my head around almost kissing, and then just going to sleep? Just like that? Even if they did I would at the very least expect some tension the next day... they don't even have to talk about it just showing that they were still thinking about it would've been enough but it's like they completely forgot about it!
Then there was the "More than Words" scene, which isn't as bad, but still I would expect No-Rae to follow Seol-A outside if she sees she's this upset/acting weird or at least to question her about it later! But nothing!
Like I said the slow pacing isn't a problem (It's the reason why this story is so good) but the inconsistencies lately drive me crazy~
Also I like seeing Seol-As inner thoughts (she's my favorite!) but I AM wondering what's going on with No-Rae. Like you said we hadn't had a No-rae chapter in a while and I just can't figure her out! Does she know how Seol-A feels? What does she think about her ex being back? What made her sing "More than Words"? What was she thinking after the almost kiss? Did it freak her out? Cause I would've definitely freaked out after instead of her, but we saw none of that!
