[Contemplation] What I Did for Love by Val
This fiction (actually a Translated Fiction) is one of the pioneers of the kpop fanfic world. This features the boy group Sechskies (who made a comeback recently weeeee) and a non-gasoo (meaning not an artist) girl. I randomly found this at timevault.wordpress.com and do go there if you want to explore hidden old gems of fanfic paradise!
I actually finished an Itazura na Kiss fiction before reading this. However, I won’t be reviewing that since it’s based on the actual story of INK. So I might as well just proceed with this AWESOME FIC– *ehemehem*. Sorry. I will now review WHAT I DID FOR LOVE by Val!
Here is a quick synopsis of the story:
The story starts with the 19-year-old Nam Mina writing down on her notebook to retell the memories she had with Eun JiWon, the love of her life.She first met JiWon six years ago when she was 13 and he was 15. She was thoroughly abused by her stepmother and a dad with not so much of a help. The series of events made them meet and since JiWon unexpectedly turned out to be an heir (but didn’t want to), he helped Mina from her abusive stepmom and their feelings started developing. However for JiWon, since he’s not expressive of his feelings, instead of saying that he wants Mina to be his girlfriend, the word ‘dongsaeng’ (or little sister) came out. One day, JiWon’s parents decided to announce a wedding for JiWon and Mina. Mina was really happy yet nervous when she received the news only finding out the next day that Eun JiWon runaway from home and their wedding was indeed cancelled. (cr. lykasuperstarr)
So much feels for this! I totally had a greeeeat time reading this last night! (Yes, and I finished this last night as well) I found out about this fiction from those famous fanfic writers in soompi who were asked what was the first fanfic they read and they recommended this! It was indeed such a bittersweet story. It was my first time reading Sechskies fiction! (and I reaaallyy love SungHoon btw ^^) and I can definitely say that this fiction is sooo olddd (around 1998) yet eveything was written very well.
It is actually a short story (around 50 pages) that made me finish this fast! Everything was slowly revealed from their past and every scenes fit perfectly. However though, I must warn you that this is a tragedy; a tearjerker. But don’t worry, the author made an alternative ending. People emailed her and was telling her that they can relate to Mina and was asking for a happy ending since they found themselves contemplating on ever finding true love after reading it. And you know what? I'd rather stick to the first one since I remember myself actually skipping heartbeats after reading the last sentence in the ending.
I recommend What I did for Love to EVERYONE who loves reading and with no exceptions! You’ll miss a great story if you didn’t read this EVER. It’s really good that I found this even though it’s old and still managed to get the alternative ending as well. But trust me, you don’t want the ending to change, really! Hope you read this well!
My Rating:
Plot: 7.5/10
Characters & Dialogue : 7.8/10
Structure & Pacing: 8.5/10
Theme: 8.2/10
Style & Tone: 8.5/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.1
NOTE: This review came from my old tumblr account and was posted in July 2013.