
i literally stumbled upon this story just today and i’m already caught up to it……. i thought i was gonna read some cooking competition but why did the first season hit like a truck and the second season feels like im being dragged around on the road the story is soooooooo good yet hurts soooooooo bad.
my hot take: they needed that break. bc at that time jeongro was dealing w a lot of shit, like a lot. and to go into a relationship is not really a good idea if you tend to self-destruct and not tell anyone about it. sure what he did was shitty yk ghosting gyul and taking a whole *checks notes* YEAR AND SIX MONTHS, but jeongro was able to tie off loose ends and become a better person and live a life for himself. he learned to not be dependent on gyul, which was his main dilemma in s1. so yeah it hurt to see them have this resentment towards each other, but hopefully it turns out well for the both of them now that jeongro feels better about himself and can fully commit to gyul.

at first i didn’t really like jei cause i thought that he knew abt seojin’s feelings and was playing with him, but it’s kinda not the case. reading the novel did bring some light to jei’s character. jei is really oblivious, didn’t find out abt his true feelings until he was put up to the test.
jei’s fiancee ends up breaking off the engagement bc she asked jei to choose between marrying her but he’d have to cut off seojin or break this engagement off so he’d have seojin. at that point, that’s where jei realizes his true feelings bc no one has really asked him that before, to have a life without seojin, jei never thought abt that before.
jei loving seojin can be characterized as something as easy as breathing. jei has always loved seojin whether he realized it or not and sometimes you forget that you are breathing bc it’s subconsciously will always be there. it’s only then you remind yourself that you’re breathing and that you fully become aware. that’s how it is for jei, loving seojin like breathing air.
in seojin’s case, yeah it was a little bit frustrating to see how seojin kept avoiding his feelings and running away. but you have to understand it’s a really big risk to go on a “feeling” if your best friend is in love with you or not. and yes it’s a manhwa so obviously the two characters are going to get together, but i like how realistic it is bc not everyone is exactly always going to be straightforward and cutting to the chase.
btw if you’re planning on reading the novel…good luck it’s not all rainbows and sunshine after they get together. and yes they have fights and arguments even when they are dating like normal couples so it gets really angsty near the final volumes. but overall jei and seojin find a way to work together bc that’s how most relationships work, you compromise together.

the novel is on ridibooks! it’s a korean website so it’s kinda hard to navigate (im not fluent in korean but i understood a little bit, i used a translator when reading the novel). there is a translator group already working on the novel and they’re on chap 40+. i recommend reading the translator group bc for ridibooks you have to sign up using a korean sim card or something of the sort and i barely understood how to get pass there, sorry . there’s 3 volumes, but the side stories are not included in the volumes i had to find that elsewhere.
https://springofromance.com/story/rsl/
they match each others freak a little toooo well