Up until recently I was submerged in books from my latest haul. Courtesy to google suggestions, I learnt about a much talked korean series ‘Nevertheless’ starring Han So-hee and Song Kang which aired on Netflix. After putting a bookmark on my current read, I binged watched this series and then couldn’t stop myself to pen down the thoughts regarding how vehemently each episode of this drama took chunks out of my emotional well being.
Plot Summary
Yu Na-Bi (Han So Hee) is an art student who has recently ended it with her first love. She is recuperating from the impact when she meets Park Jae Eon (Song Kang) at a bar. They are visibly attracted to each other and spend the evening together. Na-bi has a feeling Jae-Eon likes her until she hears him telling someone that he misses them. Considering the scenario she walks out on him without saying goodbye. Later she learns Jae-Eon is her junior pursuing the same field. On many different instances Na-bi realizes, he is over friendly with every girl he encounters. She decides to distance herself but instead, the infectious chemistry between them leads to the beginning of a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship. This continues for a bit but before long, Na-bi starts hearing rumors about herself. Apparently even her professor hints that it’s affecting her work. She decides to call it off but eventually ends up saving him from an enraged brother of a woman, Jae-eon hooked up with. In parallel to this, Jae-Eon also occasionally meets up with his ex-girlfriend Yun Seol-A who has clearly not gotten over him. She knows about Na-bi and even approaches her on campus. Seol-A lies to her saying she and Jae-Eon are still dating. Na-bi is hurt and without informing anyone, she leaves for her aunt’s house in the countryside. Jae-Eon and others couldn’t get hold of her while Na-bi meets her childhood friend Yang Do-Hyeok (Chae Jong-hyeop) who secretly likes her since long time. Do-Hyeok is the owner of a famous noodle shop and by coincidence Na-bi’s classmates along with Jae-Eon arrive at the shop for a group retreat. Jae-Eon is jealous at Na-bi’s and Do-Hyeok’s closeness but still flirts with Do-Hyeok’s cousin nonetheless. Do-Hyeok makes a sweet confession to Na-bi upon which she agrees to being torn between her heart and mind and needs time. The gang returns back to the city and Na-bi busies herself for her exhibition. She firmly decides to cut ties with Jae-Eon and hence tells him to take his things away from her house. Do-hyeok comes to the city to meet Na-bi and sees both of them together entering Na-bi’s house. Jae-Eon spots Do-Hyeok as well but ceases to tell her. While leaving from her house, Jae-Eon asks her out. Na-bi is confused and later when she meets Do-Hyeok, she comes to know he has seen them together and feels embarrassed. She finds Jae-Eon waiting outside her house and then learns Jae-Eon had seen him as well. Upon a heated conversation Na-bi tells him she regrets everything but cannot blame him because she brought it upon herself. She knew Jae-Eon would never commit but she got her hopes high. Jae-Eon looks sad and Na-bi enters her house leaving him outside. Few days are left for the exhibition when a ceiling fan falls on Na-bi’s piece completely shattering it. She is shell shocked and cries in front of the broken structure so Jae-Eon offers to help her rebuild it. He promises to leave her alone after that. They finish the piece and later Jae-Eon packs his things, hands a green notebook to her, leaves without a trace. Na-bi opens the notebook later to find her own sketches even before the day she first met Jae-Eon representing Jae-Eon had known and liked her before. She tries to contact him but fails. On the day of the exhibition, she is complimented on her piece but she waits for Jae-eon to come. The exhibition closes and late at night Na-bi returns back to the gallery to find Jae-Eon standing in front of her artwork. Na-bi follows her heart and decides to date him despite knowing she might regret it, leaving Jae-Eon teary eyed.
Verdict
The drama rowed quite far from reality, in fact it even swayed away from the webtoon its based of. Song Kang’s character Jae-Eon is all over the place from the very beginning. His actions throw blazing red flags at the viewers but almost miraculously he changes by the end of the drama (in the last 2 episodes to be precise). We all know people don’t change overnight but maybe the creators were just too apprehensive to not show the true color spectrum of the characters involved, the justice the webtoon did. The drama though promising to be an exact replica of the webtoon strayed from its path to provide an unnecessary happy ending to the viewers. Han So Hee’s character comes out as naive and love struck as she chooses the path she dreaded most. In the webtoon, Na-bi decides to stay firm and chooses Do-Hyeok at the end though still visibly affected by Jae-Eon’s presence which actually made a lot of sense. Jae-Eon remains flirtatious as ever, drawing the line just when someone falls for him, justifying his character. Nevertheless was never a fairy tale romance to begin with. It was a reality check to every toxic relationships that scars a person temporarily sometimes permanently. Instead disfiguring that very essence and leaving all with a half baked love story is simply unworthy.
The one redeeming quality of this drama is an intriguing side romance shown between Yoon-Sol and Seo Ji-wan, both childhood friends who confess to have liked each other since long, my first glimpse of a LGBT relationship on Korean screens.
Rating
6/10. Hopefully next time we get to see a more maturely handled version of realistic modern relationships. Korean dramas have always been a torchbearer to beautifully executed, intricately written plots and I do wish it remains the same.
After so much being said, Please do let me know your take on the drama.
PiaReads 