Ever wonder why the Start-Up ship war is so crazy and we have such intense feelings about the love triangle/loveline just from watching it? Aside from the charismatic male leads, it’s because we are able to put themselves in the shoes of Seo Dal-mi.
Two beautiful people may not be fighting for our affections like her, but all of us want to be treated a certain way by a potential romantic interest. Fortunately or unfortunately, the two male leads could not be more different in expressing their love.
They are soooo distinct from one another that we can guess whether or not you’re team Ji-pyeong or team Do-san just based on the love language you like to receive. We’ve already gone over why Ji-pyeong is the better choice for Dal-mi, but maybe that’s because my love language aligns with what he gives.
If you are not familiar with the five love languages, you can learn more about what they are and what yours is by clicking here. Don’t worry, these concepts are easy to grasp and self-explanatory especially when you’ve been watching a lot of Start-Up like us.
Warning: there are minor spoilers until Episode 14!
Between the two, Nam Do-san is obviously better at all the sweet talk. It’s not even a competition. And given how shy and timid he can be, it’s actually saying a lot about how horrible Han Ji-pyeong is with the whole romance thing.
It’s easy to swoon over Do-san when he starts telling Dal-mi about how much he loves and cares for her. He suddenly becomes this cool lead when he starts saying all these nice words to her. For example, at the end of Episode 7, the both of them make an enemy out of In-jae’s stepfather when Do-san smashes his glass nameplate.
After ruining their only shot for an investment at the time, they go to the top of the building (because that’s the only natural thing to do) and Do-san says — nay, promises — that he’ll become more successful than In-jae’s stepfather and earn ten billion won for her!
Just making that promise is enough to make anyone swoon.
Meanwhile, we are fourteen episodes in and we have not really seen Ji-pyeong articulate how important Dal-mi really is in his life. And that’s what all of us in Team Ji-pyeong are dying for, right?
Being her mentor has made him say harsh things to her. However, we haven’t really gotten an idea of how much of a sweet talker Ji-pyeong can be in his interactions with the other characters either, so it’s safe to say that he is just horrible at any form of verbal communication.
But we’ll give him a pass because he was an orphan, and had no family to teach him how to tell people about his feelings. 🤷
This one was a tough one to determine, but I would have to give the edge to Ji-pyeong. If he were a real person, I would guess that this would be his most dominant love language. No talk, just action.
It’s answering over 400 questions for your mentee, editing her speech before she goes on stage, driving to a faraway province to fetch her, and mixing her noodles at lunch. And yes, it’s getting a stranger to act like the person in the letters because you don’t want her to flop in front of her much more successful sister.
I’m pretty sure this is not a love language that Dal-mi doesn’t fully appreciate, because if she did, she would be all up in Ji-pyeong’s arms.
To be fair, Do-san has some grand romantic gestures up his sleeve, too. I mean the whole concept of NoonGil was created because he wanted to do something nice for Dal-mi’s grandmother (aka halmeoni). I could also appreciate the fact that he still made sure NoonGil could recognize different medicine even when he was on a flight to San Francisco.
But it’s the little things that really make acts of service for me, and as you’ll see later, this is not really Do-san’s dominant love language.
This is a no-brainer. No one has had sex in the series so far (we think) but Do-san is the only one out of the two who has really shown his affection through physical means.
Obviously, he and Dal-mi have kissed, hugged & held hands more times than we can count.
Then we have Ji-pyeong who hasn’t really touched Dal-mi in any sort of friendly or intimate manner. Now that I think about it, I don’t think they’ve ever had any kind of skin-to-skin contact. And that is obviously a very conscious choice from the writers.
Because the first time they do, it’s going to be magical!
Aside from the romantic aspect of it all, Do-san is just able to express his care for people better through physical touch. The Samsan Tech guys also hug and high-five each other a lot even if it’s only because someone made a corny joke.
Ji-pyeong is just not a fan of physical touch even when he is at his most fragile state. We see this when he learns about halmeoni‘s loss of vision. He bursts into tears, but he just kind of stands there awkwardly until he is pulled into a comforting hug.
Again, it’s probably the orphan thing so we’ll give him a pass.
Think thoughtful presents and gestures, not big and grand.
Since Ji-pyeong is a loaded guy, and we’re living in the k-drama world, he naturally gravitates towards this love language to show his affection. It’s basically a rule in television that the richer guy never gets the girl because material things are supposed to be superficial or something like that.
So in true rich guy fashion, he offered to be Samsan Tech’s Plan B if they failed to get an investment at Demo Day. Some may say that it’s an act of service, but when money is involved, it’s basically a gift already.
It was supposed to be a caring gesture from him, and a move that probably divided a lot of viewers. Was he using his money to buy out Dal-mi’s love? Or was it just a genuine act of love?
As a biased member of Team Ji-pyeong, I want to believe that it was the latter.
We see another glimpse of this love language in play later on. When Ji-pyeong plans to confess his feelings for Dal-mi again, he brings an expensive box of jewelry along with him. Of course, we never really got to see what would’ve happened had he given it to her because the writers hate us.
I see Team Do-san already bringing up the RGB scrubbies he knitted for halmeoni as a counterexample, but the fact that Ji-pyeong’s character is so intertwined with money and physical wealth means that you’re probably a fan of his if receiving gifts is your love language.
Even if I don’t like him, I can’t discount the fact that Do-san expresses his love well through quality time. Whether it’s eating instant ramen at the park or going to a beach with Dal-mi’s family, his best moments with Dal-mi are when they are alone. You could leave those two alone in any place and they’d just enjoy the moment, and the insightful conversations in between.
Do-san does not only love grand gestures, but he also knows how to make use of his time with Dal-mi. Between the two of them, there is a lot of talking about feelings and dreams that makes their connection that much stronger.
It’s obvious that Dal-mi is a quality time kind of girl because she could talk with Do-san all night and fall for him even more.
On the other hand, Ji-pyeong isn’t a particularly expressive guy. But when a person he cares about is in trouble, you bet your ass he’ll be there! For example, he was quick to run to halmeoni when he learned about her loss of vision. Ji-pyeong didn’t really say anything to comfort her because he just can’t bring himself to express his worries in words.
Nonetheless, he was there!
We also saw him in a particular cute scene in Episode 13 when he spent dinner with Dal-mi’s family. There was nothing explicitly romantic about the entire scene, but staying up late house to prepare food with Dal-mi was basically third base for our dear Good Boy.
And of course, let’s not forget about that “lunch date” when he confessed his feelings to Dal-mi. It was a tumultuous time for her having learned that her first love was basically a lie, but Ji-pyeong was there to comfort her.
Sometimes, just being there is more than enough.
What’s your love language? And do you think it has to do something with you being team Ji-pyeong or team Do-san? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
If you’re looking for shows to watch after this weekend’s Start-Up finale, read up on our list of best k-dramas on Netflix for Gen Z’ers. Never miss out on anything by following us @ZoomersCornerPH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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