Whoever the writer of More Than Friends is – he/she is really doing a great job on its stunning storytelling.
The superb screenplay has taken us to the highs and lows of unrequited love, that lost its footing because of bad timing and misunderstanding. Yet, it still goes back to how love is truly felt in reality – accepting pain because love is never a pure kind of bliss.
The last time a K-Drama love triangle consumed me so much was circa The Greatest Love and Discovery of Love. So, I’m really happy spending time with this series each week. Yes, albeit the emotional strain.
More Than Friends is something I won’t recommend for people who want to get away from their “one great love” memories. It literally brings back some moments better left to where it should be – especially if you are happy already or single and still hoping. *chuckles
abbyinhallyuland watched More Than Friends on iQIYI
Recaps: 01&02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Finale + Review |
More Than Friends Episode 8 Recap
“You held me back to push me away even farther.”
Finally hearing the words Woo-yeon (Shin Ye Eun) has had not a happy memory when she said it twice before, Lee Soo (Ong Seong Wu) makes a follow up statement negating what Woo-yeon and all of us thought to be his confession. “I like you. I like you with him. I hope it won’t be a bad relationship this time,” he said.
She goes back to where Joon-soo is and they finish watching the movie. Fetching her home, Joon-soo hopes the photo shoot ends soon, because he does not want to be called CEO by his girlfriend anymore.
Amused at where his line of thought is going, Woo-yeon lists down some terms of endearment. Hearing Woo-yeon mentioned “oppa” literally brightened up Joon-Soo’s face.
“I wondered what I should say to see you again.”
Looks like Jin-ju (Baek Soo Min) won’t be single anymore as a prospective romance is set to make her heart flutter. She almost bumped on the cafe employee she frequently go to, who turns out to be a Seoul university student. When she realized who he is, she insists on him going to the hospital for check.
Obliging to her request, he calls her to meet him and makes a confession of how he’s been thinking about her for a month. Going straight to the point, he asks for her permission to keep contacting her.
Of course, Woo-yeon and Young-hee won’t let a milestone in Jin-ju’s love career not go by with a girl talk. Excitedly raving, Young-hee follows Woo-yeon’s “young, handsome and smart” with “someone like that is always a good catch” creating an adorable slogan to root for Jin-ju’s possible romance.
The boys join the girls later at Sang-hyuk’s place. Lee Soo, who was aiming to sit beside Woo-yeon, fell on the ground because she was saving the seat for Joon-soo who also entered the room behind Lee Soo.
“Do you know why people categorize relationships? So that you act within the boundaries of that category.”
Once settled, Sang-hyuk announced he already made a weekend plan for all of them. He recently met up with their club adviser in high school and they will head to help out in the orphanage where he currently spent his time with his wife.
Joon-soo and Lee Soo meet in the wash room and the former notices the same shoes he saw at the movie house last time. Sharing mutual faint animosity, Joon-soo hints on the boundary not to be crossed between friends. He reminds Lee Soo to be Woo-yeon’s friend since the boyfriend position is already his.
Taunting Joon-soo of how he’s not that confident to his position with a smirk, Lee Soo furthers the gap. Joon-soo brings up how he is shameless with his actions when he has hurt Woo-yeon for ten years. Insisting he has all the right to protect his girl, he warns him firmly.
“I should return it to you, the thing you took off in my car.”
Obviously sulking on his heated talk with Joon-soo, Woo-yeon is put on an awkward situation when Lee Soo told her to get the thing she took off inside his car. He quickly clarifies that those are shoes, but we see red flaming around Joon-soo’s.
Woo-yeon chides Lee Soo about his misleading remark and warns him not to be the jerk he is to Joon-soo. Upset on where their talk is heading, Lee Soo remarks how easy Woo-yeon is for claiming Joon-soo is already precious to her. He can’t believe how she can care for someone more than she care for herself for such a quick time.
She takes it as Lee Soo bringing out how easy she was in clinging over him for ten years and blurts a litany of how Lee Soo has always been selfish and inconsiderate. Staring at his eyes, Woo-yeon lets him realize how he has ignored everyone’s feelings which led him to being lonely.
“10 years out of 28. Woo-yeon liked you for over a third of her life. When she got over those feelings, she had to be strong.”
Inside Joon-soo’s car, Woo-yeon tries to explain what made her left the shoes he gifted to her. But Joon-soo disregards it and tells her she does not need to explain.
Outside Sang-hyuk’s bar, Young-hee sees Lee Soo and tells him to stop looking pitiful. She tells him to go back home and sleep and not bother Woo-yeon anymore. Reminding him of how hard it was for Woo-yeon to battle her one-sided love for almost all her adult life, she tells him to back off.
The next day, Lee Soo goes to meet his mom and gets a love lessons when she sensed a love problem plastered in his face. She tells him that the most important thing about long-term relationship is memories. She explains how she shared good memories with her father, but the painful memories ran deeper. Those memories, are hard to just forget. (Dear Lee Soo, please listen to that.)
“Making abandonment beautiful by calling it fond memories, is a right belonging solely to the abandoner. The ones abandoned probably still hurt.”
Almost done with the photobook project, Lee Soo and Woo-yeon have scheduled an abandoned railway and theme park for their last sessions. Coincidentally, they meet at the railroad and make amends on the harsh talk they shared last time.
Lee Soo figures she’s going to apologize and beats her to it. While walking together, he tells her that their final shoot should capture the theme “being loved even after being abandoned.” A fitting concept to a train track where no train passes through and an amusement park that has been shut down.
Voicing her opinion, Woo-yeon thinks “things for which time has stopped” have varying perspectives. She cites how abandonment has reasons countering Lee Soo’s opinion. It could be no longer useful or it hurt them.
Remembering the time Woo-yeon told her about the pain he caused her back at Jeju island, Lee Soo blankly stares at her.
Baffled at Lee Soo’s strange gaze, Woo-yeon hears him saying sorry to her. “Sorry for hurting you, for mistreating you, for everything,” Lee Soo said.
Perplex to hear his apology out of nowhere, she threads on the railway and lost her footing, but Lee Soo is there to catch her.
“If you truly love someone, you’d never falter no matter what happens.”
Feeling dispirited for her horror film project falling through, Lee Soo tries to cheer Woo-yeon up with a lollipop. He tells her to get her shoes around dinner time.
Arriving as what she promised, Woo-yeon agrees to have dinner before leaving. Lee Soo receives a call and steps out to fix something about his car. Woo-yeon who noticed a stain on her blouse looks for the wash room, but ends up opening Lee Soo’s dark room. There she saw her photos captured without her being aware of it.
Surprised that Woo-yeon is not in his place anymore, Lee Soo figures her stumbling of his dark room. Young-hee sees her friend eating alone. Woo-yeon tells what she discovered so Young-hee reveals the truth about Lee Soo’s accident on the day they were supposed to meet.
Whining about Young-hee telling her about the truth as if it could change something, her friend tells her to straighten up her emotion, not for Lee Soo but Joon-soo. She reminds her that true love never gets swayed no matter what happens.
“This happened to us because of bad timing.”
It’s D-DAY to the visit to the orphanage and the growing love competition between Woo-yeon’s former unrequited love and current boyfriend is on. From the gifts they prepared for the kids and vying for Woo-yeon’s attention, the tension keeps building for the two men in Woo-yeon’s complicated love life.
Noticing Lee Soo’s longing gazes to his woman definitely piques him and it escalates further when he sees him almost touching her as she sleeps. Escaping the situation, Woo-yeon joins Jin-ju to hang the clothes as Hyun-jae saw from afar the rift raising between Lee Soo and Joon-soo.
Hyun-jae reveals to Lee Soo that Woo-yeon waited for him on the day he had an accident. Confronting Woo-yeon of seeing the photos and waiting for him that day, Lee Soo finally voices out his reasons. She firmly responds how clearing the misunderstandings won’t change anything, Lee Soo pleads how they are victims of bad timing. However, Woo-yeon replies what us viewers also want to tell him. *wink
“Do you think it’s bad timing? You had thousands of chances over the past 10 years. You lost all those chances. People always resent the last chance they missed out on.”
“I like you for ten years, but now of all times?”
Turning her back, she walks away, but stops and walks back at where he is. She tells him to go away just like what he always does because she does not like being confused anymore. Telling how livid she is for going through the confusion she shuts him up for questioning why she is confused.
“What? You like me? Now? FInally?! That is not love. That’s misconception. You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me? That’s greed! You thought I’d like you forever, but now that I like someone else, you’re jealous?”
Unable to counter Woo-yeon’s rant, Lee Soo pleads to not drag Joon-soo to what they have, but she corrects him that it is he who keeps on meddling on her relationship with Joon-soo.
“I’m glad I was able to start anew although I was abandoned.”
For the final photo shoot, Woo-yeon and Lee Soo go to an abandoned theme park. Resigned to fulfilling Woo-yeon’s request in their last emotional talk, he even burned the photos of her that he took. Surprised to hear he will be going away for real, she nonchalantly responds when he requested for them to play and for her to smile.
Feeling the quaint beauty of the theme park, Lee Soo utters how the theme park gained a new look when it was abandoned.
Clumsy Woo-yeon almost fell off from the carousel, but Lee Soo was there to assist. A stranger approached Woo-yeon to give Lee Soo’s wallet thinking she owns it. She returns it back to the stranger and tells her to give it Lee Soo later.
Retrieving his wallet, Lee Soo panics not seeing the sole photo of Woo-yeon he kept inside. He tells Woo-yeon to stay in the car while he looks for something. Knowing what he’s looking for, Woo-yeon goes to where he is and asks if he’s looking for the photo she’s holding.
“If you’re going to be pathetic like this, why did you lie to me?”
Round 2 of confronting emotions for Lee Soo and Woo Yeon ensues. Staring at Lee Soo’s pitiful look, she refuses to give the photo to him. She castigates him on telling the truth that day that he got hurt that’s why he wasn’t able to go. Blaming his sincere act kept her going back to the what-ifs of that day.
In tears, Woo-yeon asks why he keeps being sincere and confusing her heart. Desperate to appease Woo-yeon, he inches closer to her looking straight to her eyes. He declares being in an unrequited love this time around. He vows to go through what she had to bear; and like her more than she liked him.
Reversing their situation, he promises to be like her just as she acts like him. Willing to challenge their love cycle, Lee Soo declares he is willing to wait for her.
“Opportunities lost become regrets. If there are no more opportunities for me to lose, I can just create them on my own.”
More Than Friends Episode 8 Musings
I’m surprised my heart is still beating to write after watching episode 8 of More Than Friends. *wink Lee Soo, Woo-yeon and Joon-soo have occupied my life for a month now, and they will still be in the next four weeks.
I had to pause and savor the scenes for this episode because of all those moments framed stunningly. Now, that the misunderstandings are out in the open, the honest confessions pierced deeply between Woo-yeon and Lee Soo.
Shin Ye Eun has really captured the girl who could be us – or someone you know, who just keeps going back to her first love. With such distinctly pictured male leads portrayed in stellar flair by Ong Seong Wu and Kim Dong Jun; More Than Friends has never looked back when it carved its phenomenal romance story four weeks ago.
How do we solve Woo-yeon’s boy problems?
Notably, More Than Friends consistently highlighted how the female lead confronts his conflicted emotions. Simultaneously, she traverses a new-found “ideal” love – while fighting not to get confused again by the one-sided love she harbored for 10 years.
That clothes line scene where Woo-yeon blurted out all the things she wanted to say to Lee Soo is exactly what I want to tell Lee Soo. This is quite embarrassing but, girls wired like Woo-yeon (like me) can’t really put up the right explanation on a prolonged love fixation.
Given her situation, the rational choice is to go to someone who wouldn’t hurt her, but love as they say, moves in mysterious ways. In Woo-yeon’s case, it’s not the magical type, but the pain-inducing one. She is just wired to gravitate to what her heart beats for regardless of how much kindness and love she gets from a new flame.
Ultimately, it’s really hard to validate who deserves the female lead. I hope we get the right reasons in the perspectives of the two men vying for love convincingly in the second half of the series.
More Than Friends moves to its second half of its 16-episode on JTBC.
Photos: jTBC | iQIYI
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majong Sofine
October 28, 2020 at 9:13 amThe FL has liked the ML for 10 years.
FACT: Through that time he was a best friend. He never encouraged her love due to his own problems with his parents but protected her at every obstacle in her life. Selflessly. Doing it all without her even knowing.
During this time SHE dated 12 guys. He never dated anyone.
Through a series of events the ML could no longer deny his feelings for her as if those feelings were overpowering and rewriting his love perspective due to his parents.
FACT: The 2ML witnesses the FL making one of her confessions to the ML so he knows her and of her love for the ML from his day 1 of seeing her. He has a cellphone that has the same number the ML used to have and recieved messages and calls on it from the FL for years and has listened to her feelings and issues with the ML. He eventually meets her, uses his position as a publisher to get close to her, offers her a job.
Through many situations the 2ML KNOWS he is the second fiddle, but he uses every trick in the book to persue the FL. The 2ML gives the FL till a musical event to say yes or no to accepting him.
She attempts a relationship as she has done 12 times before but when the ML finally comes to terms with his true feelings and how they outweigh any past traumatic relation based reservations he has grown up with he confesses and arranges to meet for a date at Namsun Tower. She is noncommittal but he says he will wait.
The day comes, she turns down the 2ML at the venue and goes to Namsun. When she gets to Namsun the ML is there but being put into an ambulance because he is uncousious from being hit by a car. He remains unconscious for an hour at the hospital. When he wakes he rips out his IV runs out and back to Namsun. On the way he calls and asks if she is waiting. She lies says shes with the CEO and didnt come.
All this eventually comes to light be she, thinking he had stood her up, has already accepted the 2ML who was waiting at her house as a consolation prize.
The 2ML also knows all this and continues to skeeze his way into her life further. The FL sees many signs as he is doing it. If she would realize it she would see he is a blank paper, molding himself into whatever form would appeal to her. He admits it. He will learn to like spicy food because she does etc….
Ladies, this is not a personality type that will last long term in a realtionship, you know that! Quit wanting them together because he seems to be the “nice” guy.
Even the FL’s girlfriends like the CEO because he seems to treat her nice but they eventually recognize and tell her that if she is wavering that bit means she doesnt really like the CEO and it will end in failure and unhappiness.
In one scene where the ML is basically saying “Whats the problem? I went to Namsun and you went to Namsun. We both know what we want.” And yet the FL is saying “why now after 10 years? Just because I am with the CEO now you change your mind? Why did you lie and say you werent at Namsun because something came up and when I asked you said it was nothing? Why dont you just leave Korea and never come back? etc”
The ML should have told her, “I am not the one who lied am I? I said something came up and it did. You are the one who lied and said you didnt come. You lied and said you were with the CEO!! You accuse me of interfering because of the CEO but I didnt with your last 12 boyfriends. Whats different is my feelings!!”
The FL here is outside of reason. She wants her pound of flesh for her 10 years of suffering.
She cruelly removes what turns out to be the last surviving picture he had of her from his wallet and when he moves heaven and earth trying to find it all while selflessly not telling her what he is looking for and keeping her safe and comfortable in the car in the rain.
When she comes to look for him and finds him soaked and desperately searching she KNOWS what he is looking for and WHY!
Summary.
If she stays with the CEO the ML will never be able to see her again! Never able to be her friend again! And also never be able to see the one person he has ever felt love for again! That picture is all he has left!!!
He was always a friend even if he didnt love her.
She wants him to leave forever!
Other than not loving her, he cared for her all this time.
She however seems to enjoy causing him pain.
His unrequited love is WAY more painful.
Compared to the ML the CEO is a stalker manipulating her. Proof: Female commenters say she should be with the CEO because he’s “nice” as if thats how they chose their boyfriends. Just go and look for the 1st “nice” guy.
They should have cast a less attractive guy as CEO and seen the female commenters opinions change. Where is the female recognition of the ML doing things seeking no credit and the 2ML doing things COMPLETELY for credit?
abbyinhallyuland
October 28, 2020 at 3:25 pmHello dearie,
That was quite an insightful comment. I always root for “true love” whether painful or happy as long as its mutual and share beautiful memories. Both male leads for me are doing well. The fact that we, viewers are engrossed in Woo-yeon’s love problem says a lot about how the narrative is truly affecting and stunning.