Recently found another way to waste time by finishing The Girl Downstairs, which isn’t my usual jam but Bae Suzy is starring in the live adaptation of it, so I figured I’d finish it before webtoon locks it behind some stupid daily pass.

**major spoilers**

The Girl Downstairs follows utterly average college student Joon, who lives in a building above the girl downstairs, Duna, an ex-idol with a mysterious and troubled past. What follows is mostly a cute and fluffy romance between the two as they navigate college. Eventually culminating in the very average Joon leaving to serve his two years in the military like the average Korean man he is. Predictably, Duna stops contacting him. Next thing we know, Duna is working as an idol again.

Duna and Joon don’t end up with their happily ever after, even after Joon returns and they briefly rekindle their love for one another. In fact, Duna lies to Joon about having a boyfriend and Joon eventually marries the girl he friend-zoned, Ira, who wasn’t even his second choice, but his third.

It’s not the typical romance ending, where the main characters end up together, but something slightly bittersweet. Irrespective of how average Joon was, he made Duna happy and gave her a sense of normalcy. She could hang out with friends, go on trips, go to college, and date like a normal person. Duna too helped Joon (in some ways) get over his unrequited feelings for Margo.

Love doesn’t always work out and sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. However, as a reader we don’t actually know who Duna is, nor do we know the depth of her affection for Joon. We only get to know Joon’s version of Duna. We think Duna loves Joon as much as he loves her simply because he thinks so. We’re confused when she lies to Joon about finding a nice boyfriend, annoyed when she chooses to become a celebrity again despite the trauma it clearly caused her, when in fact we never really know what Duna is thinking, or what she actually wants.

Duna is ever only seen through Joon’s POV. Her feelings, thoughts, actions – everything about her we learn through Joon. So while Duna did seem to genuinely appreciate Joon in some ways, it came as no surprise (to me) that in the absence of both her loves (Joon and the idol life), Duna realizes what she misses most is being a celebrity, not Joon.

However, admitting this to Joon (and maybe even herself) is likely difficult. After all, the tenet of every good Hallmark movie is the boss babe city girl choosing true love over a successful career. Who chooses a career over a good man one can build a family and future with? Especially a career that caused Duna so much angst? It’s easier for Joon to believe and accept that Duna simply moved on while he was in the military, something that’s likely not so uncommon in real life.

Joon, for all his lack of charm, is a simple dude and Duna possessed the maturity to realize while he could handle being with the girl downstairs, he couldn’t handle being with Duna, the idol. Her true love was never Joon, but the idol life, and the reasons why are one’s the reader will never know, because Joon never bothered to see who the real Duna was.

The Girl Downstairs Rating: 6.5/10