I guess you all know the plot of Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the most iconic love stories ever written in history...
The beauty of that romantic novel - model for a thousand of love stories written afterwards, looking at it as an inspiration- resides in one simple concept: the pure, true, unselfish, generous love of Cyrano at the end is recognised by the woman he loves and it's , somehow, rewarded.
Well, turn it upside-down and you get the plot of 'Start-up'.
Here, instead, the selfish, aggressive, deceitful, serial-liar male character gets the too-good-for-him-girl and the generous boy gets nothing but a slap on his face.
I don't know what's the personal problem of the writer, or if the director has gone through a difficult relationship , but it looks like their intent is to destroy an otherwise potentially beautiful love story about two people who were ment to be together, bound by destiny; I bet most of the K-drama fans who were watching the first episodes expected that natural outcome. But, no:, the director and writers went the other way: nstead of giving us a story with a meaningful message (honesty and generosity will be rewarded) and an happy ending, they decided to ruin our mood by giving us an ugly ending (dishonesty and lies win the heart of the Beauty).
Personally, I'm a huge fan on Bae Suzy because I find her possibly the most attractive and cute Korean actress ever. Therefore, I am pissed off by seeing again and again that the film-makers in korean indusrty keep on giving her 'cinderella' roles, where she plays always the role of a fragile young woman who has to be saved by the Prince. And it's not just any ordinary Cinderella, she depicts a stupid one, at that: in this serie's plot, just tell me please how can an intelligent person accept to be together with such a liar? How can't she recognise where real love comes from? So disturbing!
It's not the first serie where Bae Suzy ends up with the wrong guy; in 'While you were sleeping' she gives herself away too easily to a dull, narcissistic and childish male lead (in that case it was the always boring, boysh, one-expression-only-in-the-whole-film, Lee Jong-suk; he's probably like that in real life, I guess) .
Please, give her a better male lead next time, some real, grown-up man.