I have a confession to make. I've never actually seen Il Mare and I also never made it all the way through The Lake House. I tried watching it when I was a teenager, but it was just a little too boring for me, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I started reading this. Just plot-wise, I mean. I knew that I was going to love the writing because... well, it's yours LOL

I loved the whole letter thing. (That was the one thing I liked about the movie, but it's so much better in a written story.) I've always had a weakness for people writing letters to each other, getting to know each other that way, so I was really happy that a big part of this story was in letter form. You can learn so much about a person that way and you gave us so many delightful insights into their personalities - their likes and dislikes, their insecurities, the little things that brightened their days, the way the other person's letters slowly became some of the most important parts of their lives.
And I really have no idea how you did it, but even though there was nothing overly exciting about the letters (and I definitely don't mean that in a bad way), there was just something addictive about them. They were talking about perfectly ordinary everyday things, but I just loved reading abou them. There was something so incredibly charming about those interactions. I don't know how you managed to come up with all that stuff, or how you managed to make these normal things seem so special, but you did.
Maybe because it was so obvious how interested they were about the details of each other's lives. They were just happy to learn more about each other - no matter how little the detail or how insignificant it may seem to an outsider. You packed so much sincerity, so much affection and care into these letters and that was just incredibly touching. You managed to give the smallest thing a special meaning because they cared. There was something magical about all those letters (and I'm not talking about the 'travelling through time' part).
It was all about the details. Not just Chanyeol telling Jongin the story behind his lucky email address, or how trapped Jongin had felt in his old job. I'm talking about how Jongin loves the feeling of paper or Chanyeol's dislike for Comic Sans (completely agree btw!!!!). That was what made it so beautiful to me.

The whole "date" thing was really cute and really sad at the same time. I mean it was such a lovely thing, but the fact that they wanted to see each other so badly, but couldn't was so sad to me! I wanted them to be able to see each other face to face, to be able to hold hands, to have that kiss at the doorstep at the end of the date. The farther along the story, the more painful their longing became. I mean it was basically blasting off the screen!
But then there was also something beautiful about their whole dilemma. They weren't "together" together, but that didn't keep them from feeling all these things (so eloquent, I knooooow). Their feelings for each other were as real as they could possibly be.

AND THEN
It basically broke my heart when Chanyeol's letters stopped coming. I knew from the beginning that something like that would happen because of Cola, BUT STILL /sobs ;_____;
AND THEN
CARRICK FINNEGAN
DAMMIT ADELE MY HEART
(As you might have noticed, this is the end of the coherent part of this comment.)
AND THEN
THEN
...
I was so relieved when they finally found each other! ;_______;
That whole epilogue, the fact that they can finally be together, had me all emotional (or should I say extra emotional, because I've been feeling way too much since a few letters into the story!)
And the cookie! My wonderful cookie! YAY TO THE SEXING! I've been so curious about Yixing (especially since this is probably my first time reading a story where someone chose Yixing as Yeol's best friend). And the thought of a sick Sehun just had me all :( But reading about them living together immediately turned it into =D