I liked it a lot, to me it was a realistic and bittersweet story. It didn't end 'well' in a shoujo type of ending but it really touched me. There's this sad and nostalgic feeling.
Spoilers 1 : I liked how versatile are the characters, they're human, the mc hyobi is a good girl but has flaws and made childish errors, everything isn't going around her, the guy she loves Bichan who's the 'main guy' isn't perfect as in most shoujos, he's not the ideal bf with her and they don't end up together which is very rare in mangas, she still loves him but he doesn't, this happens pretty often irl, love doesn't always have a happy ending, no matter how much you wish for someone to love you back it doesn't always happen, hyobi's mother doesn't change either like suddenly becoming understanding (even though she may gradually change in years), woojin loved soyule a lot but ended up getting over it like most people do. In the end Hyobi hasn't become the best baker in the world, she's not going out with the best guy ever, she's just continuing living, trying to realize her goals and keeping these nostalgic memories, neither soyule nor bichan are with her now but she hasn't forgotten them and what they've taught her about life, the changes they've brought to her in this short time together. Her life is much less shiny than in other mangas but much more realistic. Though it's great they made her meet with woojin again in the end because I like this guy, him and Soyule were my favorites personality-wise.
Spoilers 2 : I felt really sad for soyule, she's a lonely girl who has been through a lot, yearning for company even though she hides it under a cold and indifferent apparence, she knows bichan since they're children and he's the only one who has never left her side, who hasn't changed, he's a precious friend who knows everything about her story, when bichan started going out with hyobi she never felt jealous of hyobi or tried to put herself between us, when she was seeing him without hyobi it never was to hurt her, she was just so alone and bichan had always been there, he always took the first step and reached to her, he was a comfort, she stayed loyal to her love for the teacher even though it wasn't reciprocated, woojin did everything he could to make her love him and she'd have been happy with him but she couldn't forget, to me bichan is the guiltier because he denied his feelings for her, persuading himself and telling hyobi they were like brothers and sisters even though his actions said otherwise, but to soyule it was real family love and she never wanted to hurt hyobi, when he confessed she felt bad, she told him they should go their separate ways, she values a lot her friendship with hyobi and really wanted to be forgiven by her even though she hadn't done anything bad, when she ran away after talking to her mother in the last chapter she was feeling desperate but didn't call bichan even though he would have run to her, she called only hyobi who didn't answer because she was still feeling bitter, hyobi was too taken in her love for bichan, she refused to see the obvious signs of his love for soyule and instead of ending things with bichan earlier or being angry with only him for liking someone else more she was blinded by jealousy towards soyule, she knew how childish she was acting but that didn't stop her from resenting her, she wasn't there for soyule when she needed it, not answering her calls and being preoccupied by bichan instead, she reproached her for being loved more by him even though it's not her fault at all, she was selfish and thought so much about her love problems that she forgot her friend and the importance of their friendship. She realized all that but unfortunately it was too late. Bichan too, he didn't seem sincere with her since the beginning, even if he said he did love her it was obvious it was nothing compared to what he felt for soyule, he always had these weird reactions about her but he kept going on with this pointless relationship with hyobi, I don't even know why he initiated it, it only caused problems for hyobi and soyule in the end. It's so sad for Soyule to just die like that, she still had many dreams, she could have become so much happier, to think her last feelings in this world were strong sadness, hopelessness, loneliness, and then her life ended. It would have been great if she could have had a sincere talk with her mother, explained things with yunji, with hyobi, there were so many misunderstandings still unsolved. I hoped she could try to retrieve her beloved teacher too, when she turned 20, as she had planned to do. Wonjin is a really good guy, he's very kind, it's great he meets with hyobi again in the end. I like hyobi, she had flaws and made errors but she's a nice girl, she was just immature and foolishly in love, it's too bad soyule had to die for her to realize how important she was to her, and how stupid it was to resent her for what had happened. It's very unfortunate for hyobi as well because I'm sure she would have ended up calming down and realizing she was wrong with enough time, but sadly she was too late. If only she had answered that phone call...And bichan well, I don't hate him but he created a lot of problems with his indecisiveness.
Dear Diary