Loveholic (and Goong and other dramas)
Jan. 29th, 2007 12:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieOh.
Gosh, I love this drama.
If gorgeous angst was currency, these people would be richer than Bill Gates.
It's interesting how Kang Wook and Yool Joo can't function without each other. They try, but Good Lord, they are dysfunctional. Very much in the manner of the protagonists of A Love to Kill who were also driven almost crazy by the differing pulls of duty and love. I was especially thinking of ALtK in light of KW's reaction to things. When he has to go meet YJ again and pretend he's over her, he doesn't care, after that meeting, he wanders straight into a boxing hall to be someone's practice partner, just so someone would beat him up into unconsciousness (and he does that not once, but twice. The second time YJ finds out, of course). And YJ toys with suicide a la the heroine of ALtK.
Korean dramas do that, don't they? Love with an edge of madness, loss of control? Not just 'serious' dramas like A Love to Kill or Loveholic or Snow Queen or whatnot. 'Light' dramas like My Girl (just see Gong Chan's reaction when Yu Rin comes back, two years later) or even Goong (hello, Shin saying to Chae-Gyung that he misses her, misses her even when he is with her? Whoa).
But yes, the two of them have to work together and they both keep denying the feelings: because they believe the other person gave up and don't want to be hurt but also because life broke them pretty badly (Kang Wook doesn't believe he can offer her anything, ex-convict and all). Some of those scenes are just...guuuuuh. The level of intensity! I am thinking especially of the scene where she drives with him and she wants him to work in her restaurant (because she knows he is unemployable) so she lies she is over him and the ride back is hellish. He asks her why she still has the keychain he gave her and she should get rid of it. To which she retorts he is cruel and says she has it because he still has the watch she gave him. He replies it's just a watch to which she points out it's broken. So he opens the window and throws it out *yeah, there is something in my eyes. I am freaking sobbing, actually*
And so she starts backing up the car to run it over and the scene goes from there (her driving away and his walking away, both saying, in tears 'don't look back, don't look back' and his almost shouting 'she said it means nothing.' EEEEK) Or when he tells her she should leave Korea forever (and it's because the not!HarryPotter knows the truth about the murder and threatened to tell YJ and KW is freaking out) and that whole scene is so full of pain.
But despite the fact that they should, they can't stop feeling for each other. She has a fiance (with whom she went as far as trying on dresses) and who is a good man who loves her. He ends up with Ja Kyung because she wants him and he likes her as a friend. I have to point out the drama is very adult about the relationships. Not only does it indicate that JK and KW are totally not platonic in bed, but it makes me care and like about both Ja Jyung and Tae Hyun (YJ's fiance). They are good people, trapped in this love story that won't stop. (Once again, the same theme of uncontrollable love. YJ telling her Mom who discovered her photographs of KW that she can't help herself, can't stop).
And of course, as is inevitable, the truth about their feelings for each other comes out. On a trip from hell to Jeju Island, where not!HarryPotter brings YJ, KW and Ja Kyung for nefarious purposes (short summary: he wants Ja Kyung), even though JK/KW are the 'couple' you can see how he is instantly attuned to YJ. And not!HarryPotter keeps pushing, asking him about his feelings for YJ and threatening to tell the truth about the murder to her. And there is this amazing scene where KW confronts not!HarryPotter and neither of them see YJ come up.
And he is almost shouting at not!HarryPotter, that he doesn't know what love is. And he continues that in love, you give everything. It's OK he spent five years of his life for YJ. He'd spend 50. So if he hurts YJ, he will kill him. He pushes her away because he knew he couldn't be away with her for her own good. And he continues that he loves her, and being with her, even from a distance makes him completely happy and makes his heart ache blah blah *insert awesome speech here*
And then there is YJ/KW scene where she is asking him "why did you ___" and he is trying desperately pretend he has no idea what she is talking about but it's not fooling anyone.
And later we get this awesome parallel scene. She sees his shoe is untied and she kneels to tie it down for him (like he did in the rain, years ago). And leaves him a note in his room that she is sorry she didn't wait and tries to walk into the ocean and he runs (KW runs a lot. Or showers. Or wanders in a daze across intersections. YUM). And he finds her and there is crying and mutual begging of forgiveness and more awesome romantic things said and he pulls her into a hug and stroking her hair and I am dead.
They try to continue on with their set lives, he with Ja Kyung, she with her fiance (she goes as far as to try on dresses. OMG, the look KW gives her when he hears it). But it's not working. It all culminates at a dinner where she is with her fiance's family and he is with Ja Kyung. Poor darlings keep sneaking looks at each other (the amount of eye frelling in this drama is insane!) and then when they are left outside waiting for their dates to pick them up in cars. They are standing closer and closer and closer and then...he stretches out his hand and grabs hers and they are holding on for dear life, their fingers interlaced. And then the fiance shows up and knocks KW down and takes YJ away. And KW leaves Ja Kyung.
And they are talking on their phones that night (both literally ran away from home) and the conversation is about how she should marry her fiance who is supportive and a good man. And they totally agree. And then, phone call finished, they walk out and realize they've been in the same building (where they work). And there is a beat as they look at each other, and then he is next to her, and he grabs her hand, and they look at each other, and they run hand-in-hand.
They've given up being 'good.' I love the scenes that follow, as they run, breathless, grinning, for the first time in years. They wander the streets. They go to a Church to pray. And he tells her he can guess what she prayed for but he is wrong. She didn't pray for forgiveness (from her fiance etc), she prayed for being able to never leave his side, even if she is never forgiven. And he tells her that if there is any punishment or unhappiness because of this, he prays it will all fall on him. And there is hugging and adorable bus scene (his falling asleep on her shoulder and muttering she smells like cotton candy). And they are so happy. And I love when he is by himself and he is talking to his dead parents asking them to look out for YJ and, once again, if anyone should be punished, let it be him.
GUUUUUH.
I know something horrible is coming (after all we have seven more episodes) but I stopped it for the night. It's a happy place to stop on.
P.S. The scene where she unties his apron? And it's the first time she's touched him in years? HOT.
And because I've been thinking about Goong lately (unlike a lot of dramas which I love when I watch but then fade, I love it more and more as time passes), and the link I posted before has expired, here is a MV to my favorite ever Goong MV (youtube has hundreds). Actually it's probably my favorite drama MV period (there is a Mars one that might compete). Well, actually to be more correct, it's a Shin/Chae-Gyung mv (and the shippy scenes not the funny ones) as I don't think you could tell from it there are other people in the drama. But when there is Shin/CG I don't really notice other characters either.
In other drama news, I am amused to note that I got my DVD of Smiling Pasta (Chinese/Malay/English subs. The subs are a bit pidgin but understandable. I'll see whether my dislike for watching on the computer is stronger than my liking for perfect subs) and they included some postcards of the F4 as well as a Jerry Yan postcard and a Vanness postcard. Yay :D
Gosh, I love this drama.
If gorgeous angst was currency, these people would be richer than Bill Gates.
It's interesting how Kang Wook and Yool Joo can't function without each other. They try, but Good Lord, they are dysfunctional. Very much in the manner of the protagonists of A Love to Kill who were also driven almost crazy by the differing pulls of duty and love. I was especially thinking of ALtK in light of KW's reaction to things. When he has to go meet YJ again and pretend he's over her, he doesn't care, after that meeting, he wanders straight into a boxing hall to be someone's practice partner, just so someone would beat him up into unconsciousness (and he does that not once, but twice. The second time YJ finds out, of course). And YJ toys with suicide a la the heroine of ALtK.
Korean dramas do that, don't they? Love with an edge of madness, loss of control? Not just 'serious' dramas like A Love to Kill or Loveholic or Snow Queen or whatnot. 'Light' dramas like My Girl (just see Gong Chan's reaction when Yu Rin comes back, two years later) or even Goong (hello, Shin saying to Chae-Gyung that he misses her, misses her even when he is with her? Whoa).
But yes, the two of them have to work together and they both keep denying the feelings: because they believe the other person gave up and don't want to be hurt but also because life broke them pretty badly (Kang Wook doesn't believe he can offer her anything, ex-convict and all). Some of those scenes are just...guuuuuh. The level of intensity! I am thinking especially of the scene where she drives with him and she wants him to work in her restaurant (because she knows he is unemployable) so she lies she is over him and the ride back is hellish. He asks her why she still has the keychain he gave her and she should get rid of it. To which she retorts he is cruel and says she has it because he still has the watch she gave him. He replies it's just a watch to which she points out it's broken. So he opens the window and throws it out *yeah, there is something in my eyes. I am freaking sobbing, actually*
And so she starts backing up the car to run it over and the scene goes from there (her driving away and his walking away, both saying, in tears 'don't look back, don't look back' and his almost shouting 'she said it means nothing.' EEEEK) Or when he tells her she should leave Korea forever (and it's because the not!HarryPotter knows the truth about the murder and threatened to tell YJ and KW is freaking out) and that whole scene is so full of pain.
But despite the fact that they should, they can't stop feeling for each other. She has a fiance (with whom she went as far as trying on dresses) and who is a good man who loves her. He ends up with Ja Kyung because she wants him and he likes her as a friend. I have to point out the drama is very adult about the relationships. Not only does it indicate that JK and KW are totally not platonic in bed, but it makes me care and like about both Ja Jyung and Tae Hyun (YJ's fiance). They are good people, trapped in this love story that won't stop. (Once again, the same theme of uncontrollable love. YJ telling her Mom who discovered her photographs of KW that she can't help herself, can't stop).
And of course, as is inevitable, the truth about their feelings for each other comes out. On a trip from hell to Jeju Island, where not!HarryPotter brings YJ, KW and Ja Kyung for nefarious purposes (short summary: he wants Ja Kyung), even though JK/KW are the 'couple' you can see how he is instantly attuned to YJ. And not!HarryPotter keeps pushing, asking him about his feelings for YJ and threatening to tell the truth about the murder to her. And there is this amazing scene where KW confronts not!HarryPotter and neither of them see YJ come up.
And he is almost shouting at not!HarryPotter, that he doesn't know what love is. And he continues that in love, you give everything. It's OK he spent five years of his life for YJ. He'd spend 50. So if he hurts YJ, he will kill him. He pushes her away because he knew he couldn't be away with her for her own good. And he continues that he loves her, and being with her, even from a distance makes him completely happy and makes his heart ache blah blah *insert awesome speech here*
And then there is YJ/KW scene where she is asking him "why did you ___" and he is trying desperately pretend he has no idea what she is talking about but it's not fooling anyone.
And later we get this awesome parallel scene. She sees his shoe is untied and she kneels to tie it down for him (like he did in the rain, years ago). And leaves him a note in his room that she is sorry she didn't wait and tries to walk into the ocean and he runs (KW runs a lot. Or showers. Or wanders in a daze across intersections. YUM). And he finds her and there is crying and mutual begging of forgiveness and more awesome romantic things said and he pulls her into a hug and stroking her hair and I am dead.
They try to continue on with their set lives, he with Ja Kyung, she with her fiance (she goes as far as to try on dresses. OMG, the look KW gives her when he hears it). But it's not working. It all culminates at a dinner where she is with her fiance's family and he is with Ja Kyung. Poor darlings keep sneaking looks at each other (the amount of eye frelling in this drama is insane!) and then when they are left outside waiting for their dates to pick them up in cars. They are standing closer and closer and closer and then...he stretches out his hand and grabs hers and they are holding on for dear life, their fingers interlaced. And then the fiance shows up and knocks KW down and takes YJ away. And KW leaves Ja Kyung.
And they are talking on their phones that night (both literally ran away from home) and the conversation is about how she should marry her fiance who is supportive and a good man. And they totally agree. And then, phone call finished, they walk out and realize they've been in the same building (where they work). And there is a beat as they look at each other, and then he is next to her, and he grabs her hand, and they look at each other, and they run hand-in-hand.
They've given up being 'good.' I love the scenes that follow, as they run, breathless, grinning, for the first time in years. They wander the streets. They go to a Church to pray. And he tells her he can guess what she prayed for but he is wrong. She didn't pray for forgiveness (from her fiance etc), she prayed for being able to never leave his side, even if she is never forgiven. And he tells her that if there is any punishment or unhappiness because of this, he prays it will all fall on him. And there is hugging and adorable bus scene (his falling asleep on her shoulder and muttering she smells like cotton candy). And they are so happy. And I love when he is by himself and he is talking to his dead parents asking them to look out for YJ and, once again, if anyone should be punished, let it be him.
GUUUUUH.
I know something horrible is coming (after all we have seven more episodes) but I stopped it for the night. It's a happy place to stop on.
P.S. The scene where she unties his apron? And it's the first time she's touched him in years? HOT.
And because I've been thinking about Goong lately (unlike a lot of dramas which I love when I watch but then fade, I love it more and more as time passes), and the link I posted before has expired, here is a MV to my favorite ever Goong MV (youtube has hundreds). Actually it's probably my favorite drama MV period (there is a Mars one that might compete). Well, actually to be more correct, it's a Shin/Chae-Gyung mv (and the shippy scenes not the funny ones) as I don't think you could tell from it there are other people in the drama. But when there is Shin/CG I don't really notice other characters either.
In other drama news, I am amused to note that I got my DVD of Smiling Pasta (Chinese/Malay/English subs. The subs are a bit pidgin but understandable. I'll see whether my dislike for watching on the computer is stronger than my liking for perfect subs) and they included some postcards of the F4 as well as a Jerry Yan postcard and a Vanness postcard. Yay :D
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 07:20 am (UTC)as for smiling pasta.. fun show isn't it? but it gets kinda draggy towards the end. He Qun is too cute for words.. hehehe
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 02:01 pm (UTC)Or in the alternative, why doesn't JJH make something else already? Argh.
SP is adorable. And main reason I love it is He Qun who is one of the rare fictional crushes who'd make a great bf. He is just adorable.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 08:25 am (UTC)I can't believe the song used for the mv is in french and I don't even know it lol! I'm such a noob in music XD.
I miss Goong like hell *-*. It's not the best drama I've seen but for some reason it's the one who stays with me the most. That probably doesn't make any sense. Ah well... ^^
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 02:03 pm (UTC)Hey, I don't know most American songs so...
It's not the best drama I've seen but for some reason it's the one who stays with me the most. That probably doesn't make any sense
No, it makes sense. Goong might make it into my Top 5 (barely :D) but it's not number 1 but I just adore it to pieces.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 02:00 pm (UTC)But you are right, it really is a great great scene, because in so many ways it's Shin and CG in a nutshell. She is very open about her feelings but even she won't be vulnerable enough to admit to the guy she thinks has no interest in her that she likes him (especially since she thinks she just theard him making plans with Hyorin. Guh. The fact that she didn't stay a minute more to hear him tell Hyorin what he really wants is natural but makes me want to tear my hair out). And Shin is freaking out seventeen different ways but he really can't express himself well at all, as you said. I noticed this time, that he kisses her right after she tells him Yul is honest about his feelings and he isn't. Oh. Guh. Woobies.
And of course, later when he does make the proper first move (telling her he loves her, in public no less) she's so brainwashed by Yul and so confused by Shin's demeanor, disaster of gigantic proportions happens. Part of the reason they have such a problem is that she is not used to someone as reserved as Shin. And I don't mean it in a 'quiet stoic' type, because even at the end, he is always going to be reserved. I mean, in a borderline dysfunctional, and certainly very unhealthy way. She has way to read him. She is used to her exuberant family and her normal friends. True, she is not the most perceptive and sensitized person ever born, but the thing is, she is so open and normal and bouncy: she never had to try to figure out hidden meanings in people. And Shin controls himself around her really well for most part. He is someone who has had to learn how to hide/fight his true feelings around people who are really good at reading others, so CG is children's game.
And it's not even a really voluntary thing any more, but a reflex. Even in the later eps. I mean, look at the kiss scene. She is the one who has to make the first move, which is understandable after the way she treated his ILY (which was very eloquent and yet somehow...not polished at all. It's something he's been thinking for ages, but it's not the way someone who is really good at these sorts of things would phrase it). But even then, it's totally hard for him to ask her to stay by his side. And then it's a desperate rush of feelings. He really has so little idea how to act like 'a real boy.' I love that CG is totally making him do/say things (like the scene where he comes back from press conference and she gets out of him that he missed her). It's interesting, even at the very end, all the lovely things he says, feel very 'blurted.' I can't explain it, but it's like someone who really has t invent a whole other means of communication for the first time in his life.
CG needs Shin because she loves him and she needs someone to take care of her because she is a bit too innocent, still. But Shin needs her much more, because she is his ticket to staying human.
OK, this is a freaking essay. But I find Goong so fascinating, and in a lot of ways it's because of Shin. CG wins your heart right away and she is such a darling, and is the heart of the story. But I think Shin is the most interesting, because when you start he is this icicle and by the end you learn so much about him and even though outwardly he isn't much different you (or at least I) end up falling for him (in a fictional sense :D) and really rooting for him. I love character reveals even more than development (not that there isn't that there).
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 03:01 pm (UTC)I noticed this time, that he kisses her right after she tells him Yul is honest about his feelings and he isn't. Oh. Guh. Woobies.
Yeah, he tries to *show* her instead of telling her and it's just unsuccessful but he tries and it's so touching and hurty.
Too true about CG winning the viewer over instantly but the process to love Shin is a longer one. It's pretty much the same with everyone, it seems. Like at first I remember you were wondering, "How will these two fall in love?" and I was all, "Oh Shin, you cold bitch!" and I know
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 03:50 pm (UTC)Oh yes. I find that the best dramas often do that. We initially meet a character and there is an impression but by the end that impression might change completely and the person is in a very different light and not because they underwent a drastic change (I am thinking of Meteor Garden and Mars especially. I was horrified at the beginning of MG thinking the heroine I adored was going to end up with such a jerk and by the end I was yelling at the screen for her to reciprocate. Or Mars where when we first meet them, the heroine is this borderline committable person who doesn't talk to anyone and freaks if anyone touches her and the hero is the daredevil extravert class bad boy. But we slowly realize he is much much more messed up and fragile than she is).
I like these little gradual 'revealments.'
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 02:01 pm (UTC)...eep. I'm just glad I only understood the english lyrics, haha.
I hate how you know, since it's a drama, that if Kang Wook and Yool Joo get together around episode 9, they'll definitely have to .break up again as soon as the writers can manage it. On Jeju island, I love the scene where Ja Kyung gives the camera to Kang Wook and as he moves it, he passes by Yool Joo, but he can't seem to pull the camera, or his eyes, away from her. Ja Kyung, you're doomed.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 02:07 pm (UTC)I only understood the english lyrics, haha
Is it really dirty? :)
Re: Loveholic. True. I wish they'd let the two of them just stay together and have one more ep to wrap things up. I am sort of dreading watching, wondering what horrible thing what will happen next but it's addictive. I do like it that they didn't waffle for 16 eps. Those two just can't keep away from each other.
On Jeju island, I love the scene where Ja Kyung gives the camera to Kang Wook and as he moves it, he passes by Yool Joo, but he can't seem to pull the camera, or his eyes, away from her
Yeah. I love that scene. It's like it's completely outside his control. And I think Loveholic really has this theme of love as outside control and not logical or convenient. Because both of them have a good time with their others. And are compantible with them. But they just can't suppress their feelings. It's utterly outside their control. Ohhhh, the scene where they hold hands for the first time, and it's completely irrational if you think about it: they are in public, their partners will show up but they can't help it.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 10:13 pm (UTC)