So there are a few things I want to address:

1. The Romance: The chemistry was admittedly there. I watched countless dramas where, yes, the lead couple was ship worthy and had me swooning over them but it was evident that the actors who played the leads were just great actors. In Secret Garden though, it was difficult for me to say the looks they gave each other was just pure acting skills. Of course, I'm not here to jump into the conclusion that Ha Jiwon and Hyun Bin were actually in love, because obviously they're just close friends, but I'm trying to say that their on screen chemistry was so good that the thought of the romance just being a product of acting never crossed my mind. They made me believe in their love.

But aside from all the good things I have to say about them (which are a lot), I do think that their relationship was a bit confusing. At the start, when all he did was insult her, I was genuinely questioning what the hell was going to happen especially because she seemed to hate him a lot. They would have constant fights surrounding similar issues and I was always just confused with both of their stupidity like really? Was that really necessary? Their fights were so frustrating that it nearly had be stop watching but I pulled through because the story was still interesting. Eventually, these insults and fights and all the things I thought were ridiculous ended up becoming endearing. During the last few episodes, the references to their fights and the way they jokingly insulted each other made me come to love the couple for how different they were from the rest of the K-drama lead couples. Their love was made from a cliche but turned into something unique and cute.

I also have to say that the side couples were great as well. A-yeong and Secretary Kim made me laugh a lot and Oska and Seul were just amazing to say the least. The latter couple had their faults which I won't get into because they seem pretty obvious (like the lack of freaking communication, we aren't in elementary yall) and everyone simply knows.

2. The Acting: Okay, guys, the ACTING. Ha Jiwon and Hyun Bin were literally amazing, I swear on my bank account. I'm a picky person. I won't watch a dramas unless I know there's a good actor - which is perhaps why I never watch new K-dramas unless they have pro actors - and with Secret Garden, I knew that Hyun Bin and Ha Jiwon were great, I knew. But seeing them portray each others characters was honestly such a good experience. The fact that not only did they portray another gender, not only did they portray each other in real life, they portrayed each others FICTIONAL characters and I think that really proves how amazing they are. I've watched multiple projects of Hyun Bin and I promise, his characters are nothing alike. When I watched Crash Landing on you after Hyde, Jekyll, Me and The Negotiation, I could not process how all his characters were played by him. He's great.

Of course, let's not neglect the side characters. Oska and Seul, oh gosh, they were great. I've never seen another project of the actress who played Seul but I absolutely loved her in Secret Garden especially her character development. It was fun to watch. And Yoo In Ah! She's a really gifted actress. Like Hyun Bin, all her characters seem so different from the other that's it's difficult to believe they were played by the same person.

OVERALL: It's something you definitely have to watch but I do warn you that things move pretty slowly. In the end, I think the slow pacing is worth it because once you finish, you'll immediately miss it. The funny banter between the leads and the rest of the characters, the switching, and the build up to the secret reveal. When I say every character in Secret Garden was worth watching, I mean it. All the character development made me emotional.

Also, I just wanna say, the OST of this gives out so much feels.