the sweetest heart

soufflé. the growth so-bong undergoes, as she falls in love with with nam-shin iii, is truly a sight to behold. i disliked so-bong originally, but as she developed and changed her mind about nam-shin, she really won me over. it takes a while but the result and ensuing romance is extremely rewarding.

soufflé. fluffy and cute cohabitation, following their dreams and supporting each other and balancing each other perfectly.

second chance. petty divorcees who are utter children and still in love and cannot let each other go, because of their egomaniac need make each other suffer is just. *chef’s kiss*

soul healing. the slowest way to fall in love, being scared to fall in love, and being vulnerable again. not knowing what love, deciding to search her heart for what remains in its absence. i really liked se-hee and ji-ho‘s gradual romance, and how they navigated boundaries.

soufflé. super cute renditions of clark kent (sans super powers) and lois lane (but more crooked) as they become each other’s best friend and fall in love.

soul healing. loved seeing these two overcome their obstacles, drawn to each other quietly, then all swept up in the emotion of progress.

soufflé. these two become best friends, support each other, and fall in love eventually, but it's the journey that matters the most, and then they really are the most adorable couple.

soul healing. these two were lost in the roles other gave them, and slowly, they found a way to fall in love and realize that life isn't all about sacrificing yourself to others, you matter, you love, it's okay to want and put yourself first.

soufflé. adorable duo that support each other and live together and fall in love with the banalities of life and lawyering. also the most iconic morning after ever.

soufflé. i really liked the change in bong-soon's affections from guk-doo to min-hyuk, revealed by dreams. a very sweet couple.

second chance. an incredibly petty couple on the brink of divorce that cannot resist taking potshots at those who wronged them, but also learned to  appreciate the things they once took for granted. i really liked how they overcame the obstacles that caused them to drift apart, and also how they explored the road not travelled. regardless at how these two felt about each other, it was lovely to see that they always missed their son.

soul healing. yeon-su’s iciness changing to someone sweeter and dan’s hopelessly falling in love with her was adorable. i loved how hard both fought for a happy ending and refused to give up. also adored their forgotten childhood meeting, and how they followed through on their promises all the same.

soufflé. watching cold hearted joong-won grumpily come to care and fall for gong-shil was a delight especially because it is all about skinship. i liked how both became better people as well, joong-won a nicer person and gong-shil less of a pushover.

soul healing. i loved the slow-burn of these two fighting against the attraction and then being swept away in their feelings. i just wish they actually got a happy ending.

bananas. i love the sheer drama of a cold hearted emperor marrying an aspiring actress, who truly adores him, just to cover his affairs from the public. the disillusionment, the murder attempts, constant backstabbing. i just love that despite all that, eventually lee hyeok genuinely does feel love and affection for sunny, and tries to protect her in his own way; even though by that point sunny rightfully hates his guts, so it’s almost too late, but i still think sunny loves him despite being disappointed in him. and i just wish they got a happily ever after anyway.

soul healing. bo young and jae wook quietly falling for each other, out of appreciation and gentleness and mutual affection for poetry was adorable. i loved the build up and how both worked on their relationship to be better to each other, once they got together, but even so, from the start, they were so gentle with each other, and trusted each other so their problems never caused drama for each other.

soul healing. honestly the fact that yi do loves jae hee regardless of whether she is ye rin or not is pretty adorable. yi do loves jae hee for her heart, not her appearance. i love their petty spats and ridiculous behaviour and eventual overcoming of their issues. it’s not a complete recovery, but the fact that both work hard is pretty darn inspiring.

soufflé. honestly the cutest married couple. them pulling away from each other as the lies are revealed makes total sense, as does them coming back together as they realise how deeply and truly do hyun soo loves cha ji won, and how cha ji won loves do hyun soo so completely,  with his past unearthed, even despite the heartbreak. i love that hyun soo is given the chance to be with ji won by his own choice, free to be himself at last and love without the facade of before, trusting his emotions, and is given the happy ending they both deserve.

soufflé. extremely fluffy couple who fall in love for the first time but deal with it in such a delightful manner, talking through their issues and developing trust and faith in each other. i adore the growth both display, from their initial misunderstandings and disliking each other to confiding and worrying about each other, and falling in love with each other so softly and sweetly.

soul healing. these two gently and slowly came together in a very comforting manner, resolving the misunderstandings between the differences in their lifestyle and personality. it was a joy seeing these two fall in love so naturally as they took care of each other and bonded over their different interests and aligned their paths so that they would be side by side.

soufflé. honestly, i really liked the beats to lee yeon and nam ji-ah’s romance, from lee yeon seeing nam ji-ah as ah eum’s reincarnation to loving her for herself. 

soul healing. i just. i loved these two kids trying to figure themselves out and balance their love life while also being overwhelmed by things that they’re too young for and not ready for, just yet: fame, family debt. they wanted to take care of each other, and i liked the way that they were there for each other and their rooftop meetings.

soufflé. i just adored these two falling in love and being competent medical staff, and going along with each other’s oddities and mirroring each other’s actions.

bittersweet. from precarious friendship to gradual love to throwing each other away. they were flawed, they were happy, they were miserable. they truly existed on a spectrum that was doomed and transcendent. broke my heart in such a painstaking way. how they loved each other, yearned for each other and missed each other.

soufflé. mischief makers who love each other even though one doesn’t take the other seriously until far too late, and the other who has no idea how much the other misses them. i love how sweet they are, and how they compliment each other. destiny was not on their side, but who says that’s going to stop them from being fated to each other?

implied. from enemies begrudgingly working together to close friends that worry about each other endlessly. what is romance if not fighting off violent possessions, something he does for nobody else. what is romance if not being the only other person to understand what it’s like  to feel after being possessed and someone else’s memories pass through you and thei habits remain. what is romance if not endless bickering and annoying each other to pieces and recognising and admitting their mistakes when at fault.

soul healing. love is like a tea kettle, warming you up from the cold, nice and cozy, and full of gentleness. it’s all about quiet intimacies, small gestures, and hugs to let yourself care.

bananas. i love this melodramatic couple, that start’s off as a revenge scheme before genuinely falling for each other, how love drives a person to extreme lengths, with a couple of murder attempts, amnesia, and scandals along the way. they deserve a gentle ending, with the couple rings he bought for them so long ago and i am so, so glad they get it.

soufflé. adorable nerds who love to tease each other and support each other in their chosen career, and communicate with each other in a healthy manner. i loved how they accommodated each other and worked hard to make sure their relationship  was consistently charming.

bittersweet. from a silly emperor and vengeful warrior to paranoid drunk mess and ice cold empress, these two were painful. they loved each other, and sought to protect each other, but in the end, they could not live happily ever after.

bittersweet. a vengeful lawyer and a optimistic librarian fall in love against the backdrop of inevitable tragedy. she waits for him outside the tunnel of darkness he has created. she thinks maybe that he’s asking her to stop him, that he needs a good hug. and for a time, he is tempted, and they are happy. but it is not enough.

second chance. from resenting each other to rewriting the timeline so they never met to appreciating each other and understanding the faults in themselves and their relationship, the way these two come together is uplifting. they met at the wrong time, and the fact that they resolve their issues and decide to live in the present instead of regretting their past is inspiring, and how they get a happier ending with some rocky moments is exactly what they deserve, since now they’ll choose each other and strive to make it work this time around.

bananas. from strangers in the street, to saving her on the seaside, to taking on his sister’s identity because she thought that they’d never meet again, to meeting almost instantly in his house and then pretending to be his sister for the sake of revenge. i love this dramatic duo with tearful confessions in the dark, promising to wait until after her revenge has ended to be together and then breaking both their hearts in the process. they found themselves on the seaside time and time again, until finally they could truly be free to be with each other.

soufflé. from disliking each other to recognising loneliness in each other and falling in love, i adored how these two grew close in their daily interactions. and how they found out that their lives intersected at various points of their life. they sweetly both decided to propose to each other on the exact same day without telling each other.

soufflé. bubbly art student falling for the icy prince after the marriage, slowly becoming friends first then lovers. is it cliche? yes, but no less sweet to watch them protect each other and tease each other, making it possible to breathe again in the palace life and realize that life without each other would be very boring. they cute. also teens being the most teens with their complicated feelings of being able to bounce between silliness, miscommunication and anger.

everlasting. soulmates with their red string of fate cut, they found their way back to each other, their hearts unwavering and unyielding despite their silent suffering. every moment fraught with tension. he hates her because he cannot understand his unconscious grief, she loves him and says nothing at all. they broke my heart with the depth of their love, and how it spanned centuries, and the tragedy of their once so happy life together.

everlasting. bickering and unaware, wanting to save each other and reunite with each other. i loved that they became unrecognisable from their past selves, and yet the love remained. they were still best friends in spite of driving each other nuts.

soufflé. reincarnated lovers who fall in love slowly and surely again, both unaware of their past life at first.  energetic ray of sunshine with a cold and grumpy loner is a perfect combo, as they talk to ghosts, solve crime, and make sparks fly with their bouncy silliness. as long as they are together, they will be happy.

soul healing. they just. they make each other want to be a better person, and though it’s slow and soft, the way they progress from cheerleaders and friends to nascent lovers is very cute.

soufflé. love is a choice, and how they chose to stick together, sharing each other’s sufferings and joy was a pure delight from how silly they were to begin with and gradually changed with each other. the way dongfang qing cang changed from manipulating orchid to truly caring about her and falling for her was wonderful, as was orchid’s levelheaded change of heart that naturally evolved from loneliness and companionship to true love.

second chance. mature exes who broke up due to tragic circumstances, suddenly reunit ten years later. he never stopped worrying about her disappearance, she never really loved another since. but it was sweet to see him tease her, and watch her barriers tumble down, as she bickers back warmly, as they join forces to crack the case and fall in love again.

soufflé. i adored the way they looked out for each other and grew to care and worry about each other. he loved her stories and verve for the world, she loved his strength and his inspiration.

second chance. fated lovers who fell in love in high school, then separate due to tragic circumstances, then reunite, even though one of them is unaware of their past. the pining is painful but oh so moving, as the pieces fall into place and things connect. i loved the youthfulness of the past and the bitterness of their present, and how eventually, eventually, they find their dreams again, whole again, in the future.

soul healing. they meet as strangers abroad on holiday, only to find out that they are boss and employee later on. from there they navigate their attraction under scrutiny from friends, family and the public, as they try to figure themselves and their relationship out. i love how respectful and sweet they are to each other, building their confidence and agency to be happy together.

soufflé. chaotic duo who create a fake relationship to solve their problems only to fall for real, and discover their issues in having a pretend relationship and a real relationship. nevertheless,i adore how ridiculous they are, and how loudly and messily they fell for each other, wanting to look after each other in spite of their opposing views on marriage and solidarity. 

everlasting. the cutest smitten kittens who have so much charm as friends becoming something more, and then the angst hits like a knockout. i love them trying to hold onto their faith to each other as they fall apart, and lose that trust. they have the saddest backstory, reincarnating again and again, and then as she tries so hard to not repeat the past it happens again, much to his heartbreak. they suffer so much for the happy ending that they so desperately deserve and i am so, so glad they finally get it.

soul healing. high school friends reunited with their childish side brought out almost immediately. i love how she regains her independence slowly but surely, and how he helps her along the way. they don’t need each other to be happy in their life but they want each other around and that’s very cute.

second chance. petty exes who married too young and are terrible to each other in present day, enemies who work together to try and get rid of each other so no one can figure out that they used to be married and yet they can’t but try and be protective of each other as old secrets come to light, and may they weren’t over each other as they originally believed.

soufflé. super cute couple who tease each other and make each other laugh and heal their scars. i just liked how they lightened each other’s burden, and worried over each other, even though they initially disliked each other to begin with, once they found common ground, love was quick to follow.

bittersweet. an adorable pair who reunite as adults and cannot help but feel drawn to each other. despite the  lies that they tell one another to protect each other, they fought so hard for their love. they bickered and were soft and sweet, but unfortunately fate only had heartbreak for them in mind.

everlasting. they are everything and anything. heroes and villains, sweet and angsty, dramatic and cruel. li susu goes back in time to prevent the human destined to be the devil lord, and finds tantai jin. despite falling for him, she has her mission to fulfil and is determined to see it through. she helps him become a person but is terrified of the person he might become. yet destiny has a way of causing these two such strife, no matter how they wish to cling to each other. 

soul-healing. love these two messes who start rock bottom, and slowly help each other. he wronged her, sure, but still he helps her, and she in turn breaks him out of his shell, so the yearning combined with guilt and sweetness makes me root for their hard-wrought happy ending. also, he felt so strongly about her, that this love traverses time and space.

soul-healing. ki-ho never gave up on looking for mok-ha, was willing to risk everything to get her from both of their abusive dads, and carried that burden for years, and even when he couldn’t tell her the truth of his identity tried his best to look after her. i loved that mo-ha was equally as protective and supportive of him, thinking of him always, wondering where he was, shocked at the truth. i just. loved their sweetness and gentleness they had together, and hos their connection helped theminto adulthood and helped their careers. and gosh, those smiles and how they lit up around each other eventually was just the cutest.