no kidding. i have commented the same thing in multiple manhwas. not just the past life trope but also the "we met as children atleast once" trope (was just reading scent and sensibility and the flashback of them as kids didn't make sense to me. the story can still progress without it tbh). i can tolerate it if it was hinted at the first few chapters but some of them came out of nowhere
ISTG I hate when they do the “we met as children and since then I’ve been in love with you” thing. Like how could you fall in love with someone you met once when you were 5
BRO I HATE IT SO BADDD like it almost feels like lazy writing at times bc then the author can just point to their past lives when asked why they're meant to be together :/
Soulmates as a trope is pretty common (you’ll see this often in books and fanfiction) so Koreans alone aren’t obsessed with it. That being said reincarnation is predominantly a belief found in Asian religions and indigenous beliefs, so that does have a significant impact on storytelling from those regions. Besides, loving someone across lifetimes is a pretty romantic concept, almost classically so.
But here they’ve known a liked each other since they were in middle school/junior high. That’s like mid teens. Not the same no? Besides, while they are connected because of their past selves, they don’t love each other because fate alone dictates it. They’ve been into each other long before the red string quests began. It is a point of connection for them. I don’t think having two characters fall in love before finding out they are predestined is lazy writing.
I wonder why Koreans are so obsessed with the past life trope. It’s a constant in manhwas, kdramas and novels. I don’t really like it tbh not everyone has to be “connected by fate in their past lives” for them to be in love.
Anyway baby Lee Yeon is the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just want to pinch his cheeks. No wonder he grew into such a cute adult