It only should have been 16 episodes.
This was the first drama that i started to watch after a while but it gave me such anxiety attacks after the first 16 episodes that i dropped it at the 24th, skipped to the 27th and i just stared blankly at the screen after they got together again, i could not find any more enjoyment in it. The high school flashbacks also annoyed the hell out of me after they got together the first time, i mean why are you wasting several minutes of my time of the same flashbacks that we already know about and their connection to their relationship every time??
Before i started to watch the series, i already felt like more than 30 episodes are WAAAY too much but i was like they must have a reason for it. No, they dont have any. I love asian dramas, i know how the plotline can be too long but this is was way too much that it became unwatchable.
The SA storyline could have been handled in 4 episodes total (after the 16th) since they already went on a different story plot as in the novel, as i heard. The FL had SUCH a nice character development after the first few episodes since the 16th but then they all tossed it in the trash with the runaway. I was furious. I will never watch it through the end.
Also the normalizing of constant STALKING by the ML as well is NOT OKAY. It's not smth that you should search in a relationship. There's no such thing as good stalking.
Disclaimer:
If you want to watch it ONLY WATCH THE FIRST 16-20 EPISODES and you get a quite good drama and will most likely know everything that could have happened with the FL in the past. There's no point watching it further unfortunately...