Dowon is super cute, I thought she would be a cold serious hot chick but lollll she's pure and soft too, at least we can see she only wants to share food to please Seju. or someone to eat with her. Not those who only approach Seju because of her status, sex, etc. I love the way she showers Seju with food, trying so hard to figure out what Seju likes to eat since we know too well Seju barely eats, easily falls sick. She needs to have a healthy diet & lifestyle. Go go go help your Madam, caretaker-ssi (￣∇￣")
Honestly, I wasn't expecting her to have similar vibes to Sungjil: clumsy young rookie who has a habit of saying thoughtless words and acts kind, accommodating towards her boss. But yeah, I like the way Dowon is being so casual towards Seju. Most other people in her shoes would have been anxious to act like that around their employer.
I don't know how can some assume she resembles the young Sumin, i think she was more like 'tanned' Sungji, but not as pure as her. The good points Dowon has but Sumin doesn't are her persistence and carefreeness. She didn't give up even though Seju rejected her food many times, to the point that she could finally dine with her boss. That means she must have offered many more after the sweet potatoes or else Seju wouldn't sit in the same table with her. Second, she doesn't really take Seju as her boss, but rather as a normal person, that everyone is equal. Meanwhile it was too obvious of Sumin to think that she's too much for Seju, she always had that inferiority complex around Seju. So I think being with Dowon, Seju can act like herself more.
ah sorry i Typed wrong name lol. Sumin thought Seju's too much for her. (⊙…⊙ )
O, that's actually an interesting point, I didn't think about that! But that's true, there was a scene when Sumin was studying with Seju in her room and this whole "inferiority complex" was mentioned then, I completely forgot about it. Although I wouldn't necessary say that Seju couldn't act like herself around Sumin, cause for me it seemed like she was the only person that she could be herself with, but you are right - it's great that Dowon is not treating Seju like her boss and seems to genuinely act friendly towards her, purely because that's the type of a person she is, not because she wants to gain something out of it. And these two will definitely benefit from it somewhere in next chapters, cause I doubt that even Seju can keep herself closed and distant from other people for so long, especially in an enormous and empty hotel
from my point of view, Seju has been faking herself for too long, especially that laughter of hers when she was staying in Sumin's house and generally throughout those 10 years after the breakup as well. She actually didn't feel well inside but she still acted like everything is ok around Sumin. Compared to the time in Paradise, I don't think she smiled that often. Seju had been pushing aside her own feelings to stay with/get Sumin back. That shall be the core problem. Just like the first time they met, her 1st smile to Sumin was fake to some extent (at least 10%) because she was told to do so by that man next to her, which eventually made Sumin fall in love with Seju at first sight and approached her. However her cold attitude to Dowon is literally the her real treatment to other people. Her true-self. Seju didn't even confide in Sumin about her family issues. I don't know whether it's because she doesn't feel the need to or she's so used to suppressing her miserable feelings (chap 8x when she rushed out of Sumin's house)
I guess Dowon also knows something which will make them become closer, and she may have gone through some incidents too because if not, a swimmer like her wouldn't be a caretaker in this deserted villa at this young age. Perhaps she commited crime lol or she was demoted or escaping reality like Seju lmao.
I'm of the same agreement that Seju never really open herself up, even with Sumin. It feels like she's always been running away from her problems whenever she used Sumin to comfort her. And Sumin herself wasn't being assertive enough to make an effort to understand and solve her issues, just allowing her girlfriend to do whatever she wanted back then, no questions asked. I still stand by the belief that their relationship was destined to fail, even if it weren't for those incidents in the past.
Having probably been used to superficial acting all her life, where fake people always approached her with ulterior motives, Dowon would be a breath of fresh air for Seju. Someone who is genuinely friendly towards others without asking anything in return and is seemingly so carefree that she'll treat everyone equally regardless of hierarchical position. Right now, they're not off to a good start, which I kind of expected since Seju is a pretty reserved character, but that could change in the next chapter if Dowon does know a thing or two about her mother. But yeah, it would be nice to learn more about Dowon's background, considering we know very little of her compared to Seju.
As for how a former swimmer like her ended up becoming a caretaker for a deserted villa, maybe it has nothing to do with a dark and troubling past that lead her to it. She probably retired from the sport when she hit her early 20s, which isn't unusual for competitive swimmers, considering the rigorous training they do takes a heavy toll on their bodies. Like every athlete who left the sport, she has to adjust back to normal life, so she found this job to make a living and perhaps trying to figure out her new purpose.
I think that Dowon could just end her career because of her age, cause she's almost 30 and for a professional athletes in case of some sports it's pretty old (although I have no idea at what age she stopped swimming, maybe there was something more to it and I'm really really hoping to find out more about her background. IN general I hope that One will be longer than Paradise, cause there could be so much to the story and character's relationship development). Or she could be injured in some way that would prevent her from continuing her swimming career? That's always possible, although of course I'd have to be something that still makes it possible for her to take care of an entire mansion
As far as Seju's emotional suppression and general reluctance when it come to discussion her problems or showing them in any way - I completely agree with you. Actually your comment made me realise that yes, she was hiding things from Sumin as well, although Sumin in general was aware of Seju's family situation but she definitely lacked assertiveness that Down has. I wouldn't go as far as saying that they relationship was destined to fail, because after all I still see Seju and Sumin as more compatible that Sumin and Sungji and there is always a chance that as time goes by Sumin would grow up to be more assertive, just like she eventually got more comfortable with sex and being dominant, but this is something we probably won't even find out.
But I agree with the fact that Dowon will be a bit of "a fresh air", just like you said, especially that Seju isn't really used to people being nice to her just because, without wanting anything in return, although at the beginning she'll definitely be annoyed by this type of person.
This is what bothered me about Nami's character for example - yes, she was very persistent (which is also a quality that Dowon has), but she acted that way because she wanted something out of Seju and that's it which is why I'm genuinely happy that Team Gaji didn't turn Seju and Nami into a couple, although it would definitely be convenient for a plot purpose.
This side-story would probably be the longest one, I'm guessing around 20 chapters, maybe even more. Don't expect Seju to fall head over heels for Dowon overnight. It's going to be a slow burn where it's going to take a while for Seju to heal and realize Dowon is the one for her. I'm kind of hoping there's going to be a plot aside from just romance involved. Since the villa was originally used as a hotel in the past, perhaps Seju can be motivated to start it back up (with Dowon giving her the push) and she could hire Dowon to be the general manager or her secretary perhaps. Later on, she could expand her hotel business across other places, make a big name for herself. That's one way for her to improve her self-worth since she thinks she's useless and has nothing good to show for.
I actually also think Seju and Sumin’s relationship was destined to fail regardless of that cheating incident, in fact it’s just a push to make them break up sooner. The point is, they’ve been miscommunicating for too long, hiding deep down emotional feelings from each other, focusing too much on future like Sumin said in Paradise last chap, they only talked about their dreams everyday rather than live in the present and enjoy each moment. They didn’t even know much about the other’s family background. Simply put, the way their world revolves only 1 person is unhealthy. It might be okay back then but sooner or later, they will be exhausted to death for constantly running away from problems and faking yourself to please your partner.
Being with Sungji, Sumin can enjoy whatever she does in her own life, has her own freedom and interact with any person without worrying that it will upset Sungji. Just because their bond currently (less than 1 year) isn’t as great as Sumin and Seju (17 years) doesn’t mean it won’t last long. What if Sumin Sungji have been together for 18 years? Would your opinions change? Everything requires time to build.
I seriously hope Sumin and Seju would never go back together. She had been involved with too many mental problems since the moment she was born but nobody has helped her face and deal properly with it. I don’t want to see Seju being partly depressed and partly happy like when she was with Sumin anymore. I mean, she will immediately become an indifferent, negative, cold-hearted, depressing woman once Sumin isn’t around. Seju has to find 100% inner peace. That whether or not the person you love is staying next to you, you still can treat the world with full of positivity. That love helps brighten your entire world, not just give you a vague light in darkness when that person shows up.
About Dowon, It’s normal for a competitive swimmer to retire at such age. But considering her genuinely friendly personality towards people, I think there has to be a certain dark reason why she out of sudden chose a job where she almost has no one to interact with. Seju went up to 4th floor, not using elevator, but still didn’t even encounter a single maid/bodyguard. It feels like there’s only Dowon in the villa all this time, which might be true, no one is living there since it’s not used as a hotel anymore. But why Dowon has to take care of this huge cheap crap all alone? Friendly like her must have felt very lonely just by reading job description, but she still chose it. And when Seju arrived, Dowon be like “I finally found someone to share my food” Lmao. Also, considering her clumsy words, I don’t think she has worked with an employer in this management field before either. It’s really weird that she chose something completely different from her abilities. That’s why I think she actually doesn’t want to work in this deserted villa, but she has to due to some reasons. I had a feeling her past is somehow interesting, if not Team Gaji doesn’t really need to mention she’s a former swimmer. It has something to do with it. Perhaps they will reveal her story in next chapters.
I'm very sure One is longer than Paradise, at least 20 chapters and at most ~~30+ Because it's really not easy to make Seju change her mindset towards love/life. It's 5x-10x harder for Seju to move on than Sumin so we need baby steps for her story. Team Gaji really did make a lot efforts on building her character as well so I guess One story won't disappoint me that much lol. First chapter of One seems very slow too, just about how they met and how they should call each other lol. Then, with the way Seju thinking about how her mother used to live in this villa, I also think she will do something to re-run it in the future regarding Seju's a true businesswoman, she has never wasted time doing nonsense things (like how she disapproved of the unemployed Sumin only staying at home knitting scarf for Sungji, or how she's the most successful that even lent money to the most powerful eldest brother among her siblings) Hopefully Dowon will become the one for Seju and perhaps general manager like eikichi said to help Seju find motives in life and realize her self-worth as well.
Well, when it comes to the Sungji-Sumin relationship, yes I don't see them as compatible, but not because I'm comparing the length of the time they've been together to the time Sumin was with Seju. It has nothing to do with Seju, but more with the fact that Sungji as a character was never very much developed, or at least I definitely failed to see her as a well-developed character, especially in comparison to the other two, but on her own I also think that she lacks flaws or other traits that would just make her more human, you know? She just kind of reminds me of a character that was half-created because she served mostly one purpose and that's it. And as a result I don't see them as compatible - not necessary because I liked more how Sumin and Seju used to love each other, cause heck I'm all for her new journey in One and I really hope she'll learn how to be happy again, but because we didn't really get to see Sungji outside of her crush and then relationship with Sumin. If we did, then maybe I wouldn't be bitter about the fact that Sumin could forgive Seju, cause I really want to see Sungji as a person who can be not just a good love interest and an interesting character in a first place and I still can't. So yes, if these two could last 18 years, just like you said, of course my opinion would change, because this is a thing that I can't imagine as possible but if it turns out to be possible, then there is nothing to doubt or argue about, right? I hope it makes sense sdfghhsds
But back to Dowon, it's true that her personality and the type of job she has are contradictory. I think she mentioned that only cleaning company visits this hotel once a month, but outside of that it looks like she's all by herself there. Well, was, cause now she's there with Seju. Maybe there was something that happened in her previous career that made her decide to take more quiet and isolated job, or there is someone who actually told her to work there. Overall, this type of place looks like a great hiding spot for me - no-one lives there anymore, there are no clients and barely any visitors.
As for the hotel business thing, I'd absolutely love to see Seju turning this place into an actually functioning hotel again and possibly planning to grow this investment in the future with Dowon's help. As you mentioned, she has no problem with developing such a business and regardless of the fact that she probably has enough money to not have to work for at least couple years, I feel like starting something like this would be very beneficial for her mental health, even just by proving to her that there are still things she can do in this world which means that she's not useless or worthless and overall starting a business from almost nothing would be a great way to keep her mind busy. Not to mention that if Dowon was a part of it, this would bring them closer together, although I hope that One will be about more than just their love story. Especially that Seju has a tendency to distance/shelter herself from other people and in past she had no trouble thinking that in this huge world full of different people she could only live with Sumin and failed to see this type of mindset as unhealthy. What I'm trying to say is that an isolated hotel creates a "perfect" environment for this type of mindset and general desire to avoid any unnecessary or annoying human interactions and I really want to see her interacting with other people, so she won't have this kind of thoughts again
I want to see Seju!! Seju at the present time! Seju with her happy ending!
I'm pretty sure that chapter was the last one, I forgot where it was mentioned so I can't go back to make sure but from what I remember Paradise is 10 chapters
No 103 is not the last ep yet. There's still 'to be continued'
Seems like I was mistaken about the latest chapter being the finale for Paradise. I thought the author said these side-stories were 10 chapters at most. Here's hoping Paradise end sooner rather than later, this past over Sumin and Seju is simply torturing lol. No matter how many times we see those memories, it still doesn't change the present or the future.
FINALLY! Reasons why Seju opens up to Won, which is rare (even with Sumin)
1. Bored of course, no one to talk with her besides Won.
2. a familiar stranger who has yet known anything about her past/background and won't judge her behaviours.
3. I guess after few days passed, Seju can sense that Won is a sincere, honest, silly person who won't either do harm to her, or make any moves or take advantage of her due to her social status. She only does her job as a caretaker without asking for anything else. She's extremely soft despite her cold appearance and wasn't verbally attacking Seju or holding grudges on her cold treatment like others.
Well, let's wait for more. I'm so hyped for this sidestory. They both look super hot and somehow compatible too. I feel like Won is Seju's giant puppy who will always get roasted by a tsundere president lolll (￣∇￣")
It never ceases to amaze me how Won can act so carefree. She had the nerve to straight up ask her boss if she could sleep in her room for one night like it was a pretty casual thing to do lol. Clearly, she doesn't seem like she's used to working in a job before and dealing with people from high society, as the concept of knowing your place don't apply to her. Luckily for her, Seju isn't one of those uppity rich women with fragile egos, who gets easily offended and would sack her on the spot for speaking out of turn.
I'm liking the development so far. Seju is slowly but gradually warming up to Won, even seeking her out and confessing her cautious habit towards other people.
As discussed in previous chapter, the good point of Won is indeed her carefreeness which made me think she doesn't have much experience in this kind of workplace. That's why I jumped into the conclusion that she's running away from something by forcing herself to become a caretaker in a deserted villa. And also thanks to this carefreeness, her true self was almost fully exposed to the point Seju notices she's not a bad person desiring something from her. So Seju took time to explain her case and even asked if Won was cold.
I also realize that Seju has started to be more 'human' by having weird thoughts since the day she met Won. It was like Won is just too silly that Seju unconciously couldn't help teasing her. Especially "A bear in Jeju island?" Lmao what?? This looks very cute to me as Seju somehow becomes a little more childish when it's something related to Won, including that time when she was repeatedly shaking her head after checking out Won's muscles lol, and her giggle after teasing Won's only good at cleaning. But then she suddenly stopped smiling and walked away. I guess Seju will be in denial state that she gradually cares for someone else in upcoming chaps~
Dude I started laughing when Won asked Seju if she can sleep in her room for one night, saying that her room is cold. It was so unprofessional and could be easily misunderstood, but the fact that this request was sincere just makes Won adorable. No wonder that Seju felt like she could tease her a bit, whether it was conscious or unconscious. I doubt that it's easy for her to find people who can treat her like a normal human, without behaving different around her due to her status and Dowon clearly has no problem with that (if anything, she has a problem with keeping this professional relationship), so no wonder her behaviour "allows" Seju to be a little childish. I actually like this current Seju - she doesn't have to pretend that she's all fine, she doesn't have to hide behind a fake smile like she did in WDTFS, but she still manages to gradually open herself to another person, even if she's doing it unconsciously. And I agree, it seems like she'll be in denial, especially that in a picture next to the one that showed her smile her face had this gloomy, grey-ish reflection which made it look like she had some sort of an unpleasant realisation. And then she walked away thinking "It's just a habit", as she was trying to explain why she was teasing Won.
Tho I though that Seju asking Won if she's cold was a reference to her request, not necessary out of worry, but rather to make her realise how weird and ambiguous this question sounded like, especially that she repeated "isn't it very cold at night?", but that's just how I read it.
This actually is a huge progress since we know well Seju is a very reserved person. But now not only she eats in the same table with Won, she also patiently sits there without leaving first. Lmao at least she now learns to behave in better manner. She even comes to Won (because of getting bored of course) but again she only sits there doing nothing. I don't think Seju in Wdtfs main story would do that kind of thing, she really hates getting near to anybody around her just like she said in this chapter. She dislikes their thoughts of taking advantage of her for example Nammi. I guess Won is the only one after Sumin she's willing to approach even though they've just met for a few days. (Sungji is an exception because she needs to "pay a little more attention" to someone Sumin cares for).
But anyway, the first half of chap 110 kinda made me laugh too much thanks to the way Won so straighforwardly asked to sleep in her boss's room, guess her being that carefree would think it's not a big deal but that speechless face of Won when she was rejected, perhaps she would ask herself what she did wrong when she return to her room lol. Also, I've never thought Seju's eating habits would be this terrible, like she just stared at it. I can't stop laughing at her emotionless face until now. However, second half of the chap somehow gets gloomy. The way Seju confesses her problems and expected Won to see her as a bad person like others but no, she just looks at Seju like "why would I do so?", like she really understands where Seju was coming from. I realize from the beginning Seju never has anyone to confide in and willingly listen to her story. I hope Won could do so since she looks like she went through her bad days as well. It's not good for Seju to swallow it all for so many years, she needs to spill everything out in order to set her mind free from depression. I really look forward to seeing more new sides of Seju. Her real self.
I'm actually much more invested in reading One then I was while reading Paradise. I mean, I knew it would happen, but I didn't think that the difference would be this enormous. Not just for the obvious reason that in One we get to see Seju's current journey wheres Paradise was just us visiting her memories with Sumin. Seeing her all happy in Paradise was just soul-crashing (because for me she was the only character I actually deeply cared about and knowing what is going to happen in the future just made the entire Paradise bittersweet), but going through One is like partly experiencing Seju's healing journey. We got to see her at her lowest points in her life (and Paradise made us understand even more deeply why these moments had happened in the first place, offering us even more in depth explanations than flashbacks in WDTFS did) and now we can, hopefully, see how slowly she overcomes all of her issues.
The one think that I also want to see apart from Seju-Dowon relationship development is Seju coming to terms with who she is on her own. Because after all you don't need other people to find out how much valuable you are as a person - sure, technically presence of another person always can help and it can (and probably will be) the case for Seju's journey, but taking into account how much Sumin as a person meant to her, how much she was always willing to sacrifice for her, even when Sumin started to push her away, how desperate she became to keep this one person near her, like she was the only reason for her to continue living.. this was very unhealthy and I hope that with this relationship Seju will learn how to live on her own - with someone, rather than for someone.
When it comes to Seju's eating habits - I just loved her face when she was staring at Won while they were eating dinner. Kind of reminded me of a young, bored child that was forced to eat and now is just awkwardly sitting near the table with this "mom, can I go now?" expression. I actually hope to see more of this version of Seju (and I think we will), because apart from the fact that she is a very capable businesswoman, knows how to work and how to achieve a high position among other successful people, she has this childish, a bit immature part of her that we didn't get to explore in WDTFS
Btw, I really like all of your long comments about Seju (not just this ones, but also the ones regarding previous chapters, it's really fun to read them!)
Well, I actually like reading your comments too, I have to say that WDTFS is the only story that made me go into civil discussions this often, we can get to see a lot of different arguments depending on our favourite character. Seju is the only character I’ve liked so far as well since her complex background and personality made her look more human to me, hmm I guess human is not the right word choice, it’s just that I can feel her and really wish to see her journey towards lifelong happiness.
We also reach the same agreement that Seju should learn to live on her own, it’s easy to know why she depended that much on Sumin as she’s the only friend, lover, and also family member Seju has so far, in short Sumin was her everything, the only person that Seju thought would love her for who she is in this entire cruel world. But Seju could never love anyone properly if she continues living with this mindset. That’s why I want to see Seju open up herself more, not just to Won, but she also needs to find some friends because it’s not like the world is filled with bad people. I have yet known anything about Won’s past, it does look like she’s just as lonely as Seju to me, however I really hope that she also has some good friends and parents so that Seju could go into more social interactions with these kinds of person and make even more new friends in the future. In this case, it would help progress a lot if she reruns the hotel to get rid of her current boring life in the hella big villa where only two people live…
I guess we’ll get to see her rebuild the swimming pool first since it seems Seju liked to swim but she couldn’t. Then the more they get close to each other, the more Won could motivate Seju to have this kind of healthy life. But firstly, we need to see Seju EAT, not just stare and even have some favorite food for herself (as Sumin said, Seju not only barely eats but also doesn’t like anything specifically). Another point is that Seju starts to feel her body get stiffer because of only staying at home, I think Won’s muscular arms is a signal that we’re gonna see her going to the gym. Through exercising, hopefully Seju will be more positive.