dangermousie | City Hunter ep 12 - a ton of caps and meta

I finally narrowed down my 2500+ caps to a manageable 100+ so here we go.

I love the little bit where he carries her into his house - he struggled so hard to push her away to protect her, but now he knows he cannot keep doing it, and it's this huge burden that has been lifted. And I love how tiny she is in his huge bed (and in general how tiny she is - his shirts are huge on her. And yet she's pretty unbreakable, not to mention the biggest connection to his sanity).

The scene where he learns the truth - that his 'father' kidnapped him, that his mother never abandoned him - oh, Lee Min Ho should get all the acting awards there is for this scene alone because it is all done through his eyes, he doesn't say a word. And I love that it is mainly horror and anger (at himself for the way he was rude to his mother, at Undaddy for wrecking his life) but there is a little hidden relief mixed in because that means he was wanted. His mother loved him and wanted him. (Btw, how cool that for once an action hero's issues are mother issues not father issues?) And I love that for so much of this scene we see him through a window and then the window fades away, a sort of symbol of looking through the layer of lies and those lies then being gone.

The backhug scene. I love that he asks her to stay when he is at his lowest, after he's found out that his life has been a lie even more than he previously realized. I love that it happens after she tells him she will disappear from his life as she promised (the amount of clear-eyed dignity Nana has is amazing) and the way his face is frozen through most of it - as if he can't process being alone without her, as if he's almost frozen with the thought of it. And I love her face when he first says "Don't go. Please" - it's as if she's a parched traveller in the desert who has just spotted water. But I love that she walks away anyway because she's given up trying to puzzle Yoon Sung's hot/cold thing and he is even more frozen and bleak, as if he can glimpse all the years of his life rolling on without her. And then he walks to her and pulls her into this hug and it's not even a passionate expression of love but more a statement of desperate need, it's almost primal, especially the way he folds himself into her and buries his face in her neck - and she very gently lifts her good arm to his and strokes it. In an odd way it reminded me of some sort of powerful wounded animal seeking comfort. And I loved how tended and quiet it was, how the director gave it time and space needed, nor was there bombastic music, just two wounded people, giving comfort and receiving even more in return.

And I love how from then on, they don't need words, long explanations, passionate declarations - they just are together. They are so compatible with each other and trust each other so much (not to mention their actions speak for themselves). They are back to their warm and teasing selves, which is even more remarkable in Yoon Sung's case - even with the stress of Undaddy's death threats, the revenge plan being complicated, and all the stuff with his mother, he can still bask in her presence and be uncomplicatedly happy. I love that he bandages her shoulder (seriously, they will have matching scars - aaaaaaah) and that she lets him, and the way he teases her, turning into a kidergarten-level dork. Yoon Sung only really laughs and is happy when she's around. He really needs her not just because he loves her, but she's vital to his functioning as a normal human being, really. And I love Nana teasing him right back and the warm space they have together. Also, we totally got 'she got hurt, he goes insane, then takes care of her back' scenario flisties and I were fantasizing about :P

I love that while he let her into his heart, he doesn't want to let her into his justice gig and that she overrides it matter-of-factly, telling him she won't let him go out and do all the dangerous stuff himself. And his face - because he's always been alone up to now except for Ahjusshi (who is not the most self-reliant person out there). The man he viewed as his father wrecked his life, threatened the lives of his mother and OTP, and is now considering killing him if he gets in the way of revenge (which is so insane - you are going to avenge your BFF's death even if it means killing his son? Huh? Insane asylum is that way, psycho!) And yet here is Nana, who loved him even when she believed it was one-sided, who saved his life and almost died even when she should have ignored him or hated him, when he did his best to drive her away. And she is basically saying 'you protected me but I am going to protect you.' As

spunspider said in her amazing post, "getting shot strengthens her even more ffs, it's not 'i owe you so much my debt has been repaid' it's 'this hurts so much, you must've hurt this much and i did it to you, i'm so glad you're still alive', it's 'you must've hated me so much because i did this to you but i still wish you didn't, even if you're just saying it', it's not an exchange it's a give-and-take. - it's not debts owed and repaid, it's i need this for you i want this from you i need this for me i want this for you. gsakjsgkjfgafdkjgsdkjgdfksgfkgfkjgfds".

And she is totally making herself his partner, solving stuff side-by-side.

And then the scene when he's hiding her when Blue House guys come to visit. The wink! I about died. He's like another person when she's around, it's like she travels with her own portable sunshine. The fact that they can be like this - she with her family's tragic death and the injustice of it all and poverty, and he with his brutal upbringing full of physical and emotional abuse and lies. It's a complete miracle. Please, please don't ruin them drama - give them a happy ending!

He buys her clothes and you can tell his giddiness at being able to spoil her (heeee, when he guesses proper sizes by measuring them against his chest). Of course, he totally does his usual foot-in-mouth 'should be compliment but turns into insult' thing but now that she knows the truth about him and his feelings and everything, she can tell the adoration underneath and just teases him back.

Hair-washing scene. She can't wash her hair due to her wound, so he washes it for her. There is something amazingly swoonworthy in this (see my similarly incoherent reaction to a similar scene in Thank You). It's such a menial task and yet such a caretaker one, such a gesture of worship. To see him do it so giddily because that means he can touch her hair and help her and take care of her - is just... And he's so tender and thorough and then just starts massaging her scalp (!!!!) and she starts playing with the soap and then shortly after they are in an all-out soap-suds fight and both are laughing with complete abandon (have you ever seen Yoon Sung this happy? Never). I like to believe that when the camera cuts away, they have an epic and soapy make-out (hey, wouldn't she need to have her body washed too? :P) Only - this is giving me flashbacks to the bathing soap fun in Tree of Heaven, and we all know how that ended up - that was their one moment of pure joy. And I am worried madly, because ToH connection is never a good thing is you are hoping for a happy ending and is this a glimpse of what could be if they were 'normal' and that glimpse, that taste, is all they are ever going to get? Please no.

This scene with the wire speaks for itself as to their compatibility, their chemistry, and their seamless sync.

Their successful heist - against both the bad guy and Undaddy (who really should learn that the fact YS doesn't want to kill him even after all he's done - contrast his stopping the car when Undaddy gets out in front of it to Undaddy's psycho trying to run YS over - is not a weakness but something to be grateful to God for. When Undaddy hit him, I wanted to murder Undaddy (who keeps pushing his luck. YS is going to take your head off one of these days if you keep it up)). The three of them are a perfect team and so happy and awesome (I love that that Nana can take on her share of bad guys in a fight, and that they plan things and don't randomly dash off).

Afterwards, giddily ready to celebrate. I love when she says she wants 'fried chicken chicken. Buy it buy it Buy iiiit' and our angsty masked avenger who was trained to be a killer from the cradle just giggles back at her. They are such kids.

Grocery shopping. Seriously, they shine shine shine around each other, no matter how mundane what they do is.

That's Yoon Sung's "vegetables! get my enemy away from meeeee!' face. Bwahahahaha.

I love their playful bickering over benefits of produce. I could watch these two do laundry, seriously.

Aha! Secret way to get YS to eat vegetables. Call him Nana's husband :) Why are you so cute, guys, why?

And then, as they walk out happy, she goes to pick up a tomato that rolled off the cart, the doors lock YS out, the lights goes out, and she's trapped in the underground garage with a psycho Undaddy coming towards her on a motorcycle, looking every inch prepared to carry out his earlier decision to kill her (and Nana knows he's capable - she figured out this ep what he's capable of). And all YS can do is watch. Undaddy is insane if he thinks Yoon Sung won't kill him if he harms Nana. Maybe someone should show him what happened to the thug that shot her.