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Discussion
I just finished Professional Single yesterday! Overall, I really enjoyed it, but it felt really incomplete and very weird at the end. A few things I wanted to discuss with some others: (and this is filled with spoilers!)
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Did anyone else think that there was ever going to be more to the Ling Wei/Qin Shen/Jia Si Cheng story? I felt like this was so underdeveloped. I kept expecting some flashback that explained why Qin Shen hated Ling Wei so vehemently. I mean, I get she was annoying always hovering around him, but at one point he talked about her playing tricks and stuff. He certainly made her seem worse than just a girl with unrequited love. I also couldn’t figure out what happened with Jia. It seemed like maybe he had dated Ling Wei at first, but then later it seemed like he too just had unrequited love. I wanted like a two minute flashback. Obviously Qin Shen had been nice to Ling Wei at some point, but when and why did that change?
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The parents were never around. I know that this is a campus drama, but I really expected there to be more with the parents. Qin Shen’s parents (and grandmother) seemed like a wasted plot point. They were on camera for like five minutes, but we never saw them again. I wanted to see what sort of interaction he would have with his parents. Obviously his mom never accepted him at the end. And that really sad thing was just glossed over like it was no big deal. And we never got to see Yuan Qian visit grandma’s! I was looking forward to that. Why even bring it up if you’re not going to show it?
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Qin Shen was controlling, possessive, and predatory at the end. The show acted like it was cute, but it made me uncomfortable. The hotel scene... it really bothered me. Did it bother anyone else? I mean, he manipulated her into getting one room with one bed. She built a pillow fort and he broke it. Where was the consent?
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Despite all the things I mentioned, overall I really enjoyed this! A height difference is always cute. And there weren’t really many misunderstandings. The childhood friend aspect was nice. The backdrop of art was nice. All of the roommates were so supportive of one another. There wasn’t really any backstabbing. And the mean girl wasn’t really very mean. For the most part it was fluffy and sweet. I just hesitate to suggest it based on point 3.
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I think the last hotel scene could be seen as him being a bit cheeky as if you notice he’s still separated by her extra blanket. I like to think he’s not so much of a brute that he’d force the matter and she never outright said get off me I don’t want to do this. I felt she was trying to maintain a semblance of demure restraint with her “do you want to be a dog” question. Despite how small she is she is still an adult in a relationship that at this point is not new.
Hi!! So glad to see this review! I agree with so much you had to say about this drama. I also found it overall enjoyable (literally wanted to eat my phone during some really fluff parts), but also felt like some issues were glossed over.
Honestly, Jia Si Cheng was so inconsistent of a character. I couldn’t tell if he was relevant to the story or not, especially when he tricked Yuan Quan at Ling Wei’s birthday party that LW and QS were once an item. Then there was his really angsty phase toward the ending episodes and him just stealing YQ’s statue idea, destroying his own work, idk. From what I gathered from the LW/QS/JSC relationship, it seems like JSC was pissed that LW used him as a way to get close to QS since the two were “best friends” (again, drama really didn’t go into this). I didn’t feel that QS was ever actually nice to LW as a friend, it seems like when he helped pick her papers up during that incident in high school, LW fell in love and was convinced there was a thing between them.
Ugh this is so true. When QS’s grandma was like “I want to meet her. She was so cute over video chat”, I thought we were going to get some meet the in-laws interaction. This honestly could have extended the drama by like 2 eps and I wouldn’t have been mad.
This was just so uncomfortable to watch. I really loved the fluff, but I hated how they romanticized unhealthy jealousy. Especially Ep 22? when she invites Song Si Yi to dinner with her roommates to ask him to model for them, YQ was so uncomfortable and scared to upset QS. The episode just ends there and is never brought up again in the next. That was so disappointing to watch, along with countless other times (like when she wanted to respectfully turn SY down with dinner and he was at the same restaurant staring her down). The way she even has to agree to 3 of his requests to even see a guy friend 🥴🥴. I wished the drama didn’t romanticize it so much because that’s so harmful.
Despite the misgivings with #3, I still really liked the drama too. I definitely fangirled out loud for some scenes (rose confession scene). Personally I thought the height difference was too much LOL. Sometimes when he tried to hang his arm around her, she was straight up in a chokehold. And the way he lifted her up like she’s a toddler too 😂.
One of my favorite scenes was the apology by the rocks. It was just so cute. The prank with the necklace by QS and YQ’s apology for putting everyone else’s feelings before his. Her straightforward apology felt really mature and just refreshing to see. Then when she stuck to her promise to make their relationship public and stood up to LW, I felt so happy for QS. Kiss scene was great too, haha. Overall, I will miss this drama.
Thanks for numbering all your thoughts! It made it so much easier to respond to!
I know what you mean about how possessiveness is a negative trait but I had no problem in this show as I felt it’s part of their relationship dynamic. He was very clear with ling wei every single time that he was not interested in her but his girlfriend is not so blunt. As he knows his girlfriend has a problem hurting others feelings I feel like he stakes his territory and acts the bad guy to make sure there are no more misunderstandings.
Ahh I can understand it from this perspective if it was QS being direct and trying to make it clear to SY that YQ was his. But YQ still looked really uncomfortable and so did her friends at the dinner. Also because the drama was pretty short so we didn’t get to see what happened after, it felt (to me atleast) that YQ couldn’t really be friends with Song SiYi normally again. But then again, that ending scene where she wishes him luck w his competition and SY acknowledges that YQ is taken was pretty lighthearted so I guess it can be assumed they are all friends at the end? Thanks for this perspective though, it does make sense when considering QS’s brisk and direct personality in the drama.
Yeah I can see that side too! I think that’s why had he not met YQ he would be a “professional single” 😉