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dangermousieOh my.
I finished Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang, grinning from ear to ear. I haven’t marathonned like that for a while. The write-up is going to be spoilery, a bit incoherent and very long, as I am going to babble about 10 (!!!) eps.
Interesting, as I know this drama was written by the same team which wrote my adored My Girl. You can notice some similarities (other than the fact that the perfect cameo at the end of My Girl is even more perfect now. I just might rewatch just that part): both feature intelligent, strong-willed heroines with less than ideal background and heroes who are laid-back good guys who love them precisely for their cleverness and strength, but who are no weaklings themselves. And they are all relatively un-messed up. There are time jumps, men pursuing when the woman tries to push them away to save them. And the hero and heroine are friends before they fall in love. And airport scenes that make me bawl and drama parodies that make me die laughing.
But that is about it. The stories themselves feel very different, fresh, fun.
Non-spoilery summary of the very lengthy write-up behind cut: if you are looking for a fast-paced, charming drama that is a perfect mix of funniness and angst, and a strong heroine and hero, and some awesome chemistry between the leads, DGCH is the drama for you!
Did I mention that I hated Mong-Ryong’s ex? Not as much as Byun, but still. She is all ‘it’s OK. If I can’t have him, at least CH shouldn’t either.’ She gets better by the end, but still, not a favorite.
Adore Chun-Hyang and Mong-Ryong though. (Though for some reason, everything is through a MR filter for me, as he is my POV character).
I love that MR demonstrates his constant care for CH through little things. Not for expectation of reward or even letting her know (she doesn’t know about his purchasing the necklace so she wouldn’t worry she lost it for example, until Byun’s flunkie slips up) but to make it better for her. Anyone can make grand gestures. Byun is making them all the time. It’s the little things that really matter though: it’s in the way Mong-Ryong always fetches the hot pans for her from the stove so she won’t burn her fingers, little things like putting a blanket around her when she is cold, or a band aid on her cut finger when she is asleep, fixing her father’s broken photo, traveling behind her on the bus and holding his hand in front of the window because she is tired and nodding off and he doesn’t want her head to hit the glass (and she doesn’t even realize he is there), it’s going to look for her Mom when she disappears or trying to come up with ways to sell her jewelry on the internet. It’s all in the everyday. As I said, for MR it’s about CH, for Byun it’s about himself (even before his grand plan, he totally lies throughout to get what he wants, never mind how it hurts the woman he supposedly loves).
They are not a normal, sweet couple and they never will be (Dani and her bf who later becomes a star, heee, are a lot more normal. I am not too keen on Dani but they make a cute couple). When they try a normal date, they have to be both coached to give flowers and to accept them, and to cut their food and what not. But he protects her from the crowd in the elevator and that is a lot more them. He is too blunt for his own good, but he is adorable.
Of course, before they get to the dating stage, we have some angst and misunderstanding and stubbornness. I love that he runs to her by midnight as she asks (after telling Chae-Rin he loves Chun-Hyang, it’s not pity, it’s love) and ends up carrying her (drunk out of her mind) home and it’s hilarious as he is totally matter of fact amused about her completely off the wall drunken ramble. And then looking at her when she is asleep and asking her if it’s OK to like her. *dies*
But she decides to push him away because witch Chae-Rin convinced her he doesn’t mean liking her, he is doing it out of pity, and of course she sees him in what she thinks is a compromising situation with CR and OMG…the elevator scene! When he chases after her but she is with Byun and he tells her he likes her and she says she doesn’t like him and the elevator door closes and he is devastated and runs down but she reiterates and oooooohhhhhh.
But of course she shortly discovers about the web of lies by Byun and CR and I love that she tells Byun ‘I must go to him [MR]’ and runs to the bus station because he left her a note Byun took earlier that he will wait there for her to go to Namwon and OMG OMG she runs (which is good, as the montage showed him sitting there waiting for her the whole day.) And she just missed the last bus and she starts crying but then…
But then…
But then…
You don’t want to know how many times I rewatched the scene.
He is there. And their faces. And he pulls her into this giant hug and they cling to each other, for dear life.
And I love that after that, after they are together, as I mentioned in the earlier post, their openness and trust in each other is absolute. Even if he goes to see CR or she to see Byun, they trust each other. They say it and they mean it and just…guuuuh.
And I love how compatible they are, how much fun they have together. Their first kiss is just so young and sweet and tentative and adorable (by the fire) and they tease and run around and play (the scene where they end up cracking hardboiled eggs on each other’s heads is just…pure love).
And he is so lighthearted and he makes her be too. The whole interlude where his parents mistakenly think she is pregnant and MR is milking it for what it’s worth to get stuff but then gives it all back and there is a scene on the staircase, where he is at the top and she is at the bottom and he goes ‘I gave stuff back, that deserves 10 steps’ and takes steps down to her and so on and finally ‘I like you, that deserves the rest of the way’ and she pouts adorably and he grins and throws his arm around her and they walk off home? Eeeee.
It is impossible not to like Mong-Ryong. Of course, other drama girls think so too, and the scene where CH finds out just how desirable other women find her hunky husband and gets all jealous and is all ‘hello there, my HUSBAND’ and he is oblivious to the other girls and is all ‘huh?’ is priceless. Heee. Very girl to want a guy even more because other girls want him. And then she fixates on his lips etc heeeee.
I especially love the scene with the umbrella when they are walking together under this giant red umbrella in the rain, oblivious to the world, laughing together. Only to meet BHD who has been stalking them *ugh* and there is a confrontation and MR says he is never letting go and awesomeness.
You know, Chun-Hyang and Mong-Ryong are sorta like Ron and Hermione: the stressy, bossy perfectionist and the laddish guy who argue all the time. I think she only really relaxes and becomes giddy and girlish around him. It’s too easy for her to retreat into loner/tough/business lady. But he? Makes her laugh.
You know what didn’t make me laugh? All the scenes where she has to break his heart to save him.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kitsune714 once pointed out that no dramas make you cry like the ‘light’ ones and so true. I was crying so hard. I think it’s because I love the characters so much.
It was seriously so much worse than anything in Hanadan. So much worse.
Because that horrible Byun Hak-Do framed Mong-Ryong as an attempted rapist. (You know, BHD needs to learn that even if she couldn’t have MR, she’ll never be his). And he tells her (as I mentioned earlier) that she has to leave MR or he will ruin him, MR will go to jail, and even if not, his career/life will be ruined forever.
So she has to leave him to save him.
Oh GOD.
He gets out of jail and CH is not here, and he is thinking she is angry (and I love that this doesn’t make him mad) but OMG he goes to the store and buys an ice-cream cake because he knows how much she loves them, and I am getting misty just thinking about it…and he shows up at home only to see his bags packed and she wants him to leave. She tells him to leave, looking straight at him, and he is apologizing and is so bewildered and earnest and boyish and sweet and of course that is making her love him more and make it even worse for him and he is beginning to fall apart in front of her eyes (because not only does he love her so, but the one thing that kept him going was that she believed in him) and that whole scene is beyond horrific and she says someone is waiting for her and he follows her downstairs and Byun Hak-Do is there and she gets into the car with him and OMG…He screams her name. And the car drives away and Chun-Hyang says without fuss but with utter finality, to Byun: “I will curse you for this for the rest of my life” (if you think about it, she’s loved MR for so long and now has to give him up and it’s everything she’s ever dreamed about but can’t have) and Byun is all ‘but you’ll still be with me’ and Oh HATE. He doesn’t see her as a person, Jesus H. Christ!
I love how she is consistently frozen to Byun. She doesn’t yell or do dramatics, what is the point? Though it kills me that at one point she breaks down and begs. But you can tell she views him (deservedly) as less than dirt on her shoes.
But you know the worst thing? That is not enough to drive MR away. Because he loves her. And we get an unbelievably heart-breaking scene in Byun’s office, where CH tells MR she believes Byun and not him and she is tired of his always being in trouble and she doesn’t want to be with a child but with a grown man and it’s just…it’s eviscerating both of them.
And later, she is coming home and Dani tells her MR has been waiting for her outside and even though it’s cold, won’t come in (and you see him outside, waiting all day, face set) and even though earlier she wasn’t going to put on the necklace BHD got her because she just found out the truth, that Mong-Ryong pretended he found it when she lost it but in reality he bought a new one so she wouldn’t worry and that makes her love him more, and she thinks that if he sees her next to BHD wearing the necklace it will break his heart, and she is so desperate because hurting him is killing her, but she does put it on, and his EYES when he sees that. And she says she is getting engaged and you know what?
I can’t really talk about that scene because it makes me want to bawl and have a BHD voodoo doll to stick needles in.
And he tries one last time, crashing her engagement party, but that is it, and he signs the divorce papers and it is all over.
And he is drinking in a restaurant, trying to drink himself into oblivion but it’s so heartbreaking because he tells his friend who came to look for him, that no matter what he can’t get drunk and the friends are freaking out because he hasn’t been sleeping or eating and they drag CH there to see what she is doing to him, and he’s passed out and she starts bawling, and she hugs him and is ‘don’t hurt like this, because if you do, I can’t leave you’ and she takes the photo of them he had in his wallet and threw away.
And next morning, he watches her leave for airport with Byun (she came to say bye to Dani) quietly and she doesn’t see him but the friends do, and he is frozen. His eyes! And he realizes he lost the picture and goes to look for it at the bar and bartender tells him there was a young woman there crying her eyes out looking at him and OMG OMG OMG, he is going for one last desperate try and he finds her at the airport, and one of the angstiest scenes ever follows, as the guards have to bodily restrain him and he yells ‘Chun-Hyang!’ and he begs, out loud, he begs her not to leave and says ‘I love you. If you leave, I’ll die’ and he doesn’t care who hears it, even though she is with Byun and she doesn’t turn her face but just says ‘no, you should live and get your revenge on me’ and walks away. And he is walking through the airport, stumbling, and he literally just collapses on the ground. And he ends up in the hospital because he is such a mess.
And I love how quiet and withdrawn he is. He is all collected in his meeting with Chae-Rin, who is leaving for NYC. She asks him if he’s been ill and he says ‘a little’ and he is so reserved and subdued and he tells her that he will erase CH from his memory and that whole scene…he looks so much older.
But I love that he tells his friend that he might forget CH but Byun? Byun he won’t. Look out, evil nasty guy! I hope MR bashes your face in.
Of course, he doesn’t know that CH ran away before the plane took off. She could not go with Byun because that is one step she couldn’t stomach. She left a note that she will disappear and not to hurt MR because she won’t be with MR and hurting MR will kill her and left. See, Byun Hak-Do? You ruined their lives and gained nothing.
And CH and MR miss seeing each other on buses (just as later on elevator, eeee) and…yeah.
Sad.
Btw, before I move on, I want to mention how much I love the family relationships in this one. MR and his father really grow to not just love but to admire and understand each other. I love the drinking scene after CH leaves. It’s all just…guuuuh.
OMFG. I love time jumps in dramas. And this one? Perfect. And he is a hotshot DA (that way he can channel his strength productively) and she runs a jewelry business. I love that both MR and CH went on to lead productive lives, even though emotionally there is a hole there for the both of them. It’s just a wound they learned to live with. I am especially thinking of MR, doing the whole ‘ten minute run’ thing, after remembering CH and their going out for ice-cream, and then standing there afterwards, smiling, and saying ‘I’ve forgotten her for whole ten minutes. I can do it.’
Oh darling.
And of course, nasty Byun is still obsessed (probably because he never had her) but MR is his equal now.
And he kept that cell phone chain she made for him, in a box. I do love that once he finds her later, and sees she still has some feelings for him, he puts it back on his cell (and he was sleeping holding it!!!). And I love the way her eyes stray to it, and she wants him too take it off, but he won’t.
He is so persistent because he knows she loves him and she is hurting and he won’t let her get away this time: he’ll do anything: he crashes into her (empty) car because now she’ll have to meet because of insurance, he makes all her workers like him, he even crashes in her house. And the thing is, she is desperately trying to be tough, but she loves him so much, it makes her a poor liar. I love how he whispers to himself, after she said good bye ‘Oh, Chun-Hyang, saying ‘take care’ with tears in your eyes’ and reverses the car to go back to her. And OMG, I love when she comes in and sees him sleeping and you can tell she is finding him yummy enough to eat (so do I ;D) and he opens his eyes and looks at her and teases and goes ‘do you want me to like you again?’
Oh yeah, his finding her. The scene KILLS me. Because it’s complicated and plot-driven, but he basically realizes that she is the boss of the guy he’s been dealing with for a plot reason (because he finds her wallet which has their pic in it…and his face when he sees she’s kept it!).
So he calls the guy and asks him to pass the phone to his boss. And he does, and she goes ‘hello?’ (because all she knows is it’s the DA whose car they scraped) and the look on his face as he finally hears her voice. And his face his face his face. And he just stands there, and all he manages to say is ‘Sung Chun-Hyang?’ and she recognizes his voice and her face! And then he stands there and all he does is just repeating into the phone her name, over and over and over. Because I think his mind has been wiped blank but also because I don’t think he’s really allowed himself to talk about her or say her name much or anything. It was seven in the morning, I had four hours of sleep, and I was crying like a little girl.
And then, their later face to face meeting, when she calls him telling him not to come and she lies she is in Busan but she is outside his house because she is just as in love as he is and she wanted just a glimpse of him, and he realizes she is there and OMG OMG OMG first meeting and she babbles and he stares and it’s the most amazing thing ever.
And later, he looks for her in the airport again, yells her name out actually, and finds her and it’s awesome. I love how he says he’ll rekindle her feeling for him. He is so determined but unlike slimy BHD will leave her if he finds out that is what she really wants. (Just as he went and warned BHD upfront, not the skulking behind his back, the way BHD would do).
I love how he can tell something is wrong, that her story doesn’t mesh, even if he doesn’t know what it is (though he has doubts: I love how he asks her if she really is over him and it’s all sad and quiet). But then it all falls into place as he finds her cell and notebook (he was looking for a pencil/paper). And he idly turns on the phone and sees it’s her old phone and she has all those pictures of him on it, including their practice wedding. And he finds the notebook (that made me so spastic in the earlier post) she keeps, with all the newspaper clippings about him and she wrote on the margins his name over and over and ‘I love you’ over and over and OMG.
I shrieked.
And he is tearing up and whispers ‘silly’ and walks out just to see her come back with Byun Hak-Do (she promised him she won’t be with MR, yet again) and OMG, MR is so full of certainty now and it’s awesome and he figured it all out, even though he doesn’t know what exactly Byun had on him and her, and he is all ‘I know how you feel, you don’t have to pretend any more’ and tells Byun to go away and to stop torturing CH and it’s just…
GUUUUUUH.
And then he is teasing her, taking a new pic of himself so she’d have a newer one ‘as I am more awesome now.’ And you can tell he is almost giddy with relief. And she comes to the city to see him and you can tell she has excuses but it’s because she wants to see him. And she fusses because he is skipping meals, has no time to go to see a doctor because he’s a bit sick etc etc etc.
And he is so basking.
HEEEE.
So, Byun Hak-do finally relented at the end. And he showed the ‘true’ tape at the press conference, removing the threat of ruination from Mong-Ryong, thus enabling Chun-Hyang to go to him, at last.
Permit me to still NOT CARE ABOUT BYUN. I want him dead. You know ‘fine, I won’t blackmail you into hurting the man you love most in the world so badly he wants to die, any more. Oh, and yeah, I totally stole years of your life together from you. My bad’ isn’t really going to cut it. OMG, how many years did they lose? It has to be at least 5, as last time they met pre-time-jump was in college, no more than second year, and when they meet again he is a successful DA. And his Dad mentions waiting 10 years for the wedding (from CH and MR’s first meeting), so I am pegging it at more like 8. (But they still love each other after all that time! *dies*)
He only finally gave in when he saw that he couldn’t keep them apart anyway: no matter what he was going to do, CH was never going to see him as anything but the man who made her hurt MR, and (more importantly), MR finally knew the truth about why she left him and was never going to back down. His blackmail tape was impotent because MR explicitly told him that Byun could release the tape to the media, he was never letting go of CH anyway.
Actually, I think Byun should have realized that: his best hope of ever getting some part of CH was to keep MR ignorant of the truth because the two woobies are so gift of the magi. MR was content to give up everything else in his life to be with her, and she would give everything to keep him safe. But I guess Byun felt like one last desperate gamble, because MR found out the truth about CH’s feelings (if not the reason for leaving) so he sent him that tape as if to say ‘you don’t back off, I’ll release it.’
Huh. But MR told him ‘your manipulation of us ends now’ *swoon*
You know, I continue to be so impressed with the leads. I have no idea how old they were when they made this, but they are completely believable as both high-school students in the beginning and professionals in their late 20s at the end. And that’s the thing. MR is a grown man by the end. The playing field between him and Byun is more than equal now.
That is why, while I understood why CH so desperately tried to protect him and keep the truth from him when they met again, I wanted to tell her to admit the truth: she had to protect him when he was a college student: he was a boy, and powerless, and no match for Byun. But now the guy is in his late 20s, a hotshot DA for the city of Seoul (so he’s freaking tough). Now, he can take care of himself. He is completely grown-up (I think he lost the last bits of boyishness after that horrible scene at the airport).
I do love though, their scene after they realize the other knows of the tape (and he finally figures out why she pushed him away years ago). And she is all agitated, telling him if this is made public, doesn’t he realize everything is all over. And I just love him in that scene, so mature and sane and calm. And he tells her of course he realizes what will happen: he’ll be branded a crazy rapist, and will have to resign, and never be able to practice law, probably not even be able to step out of his house. But he’ll be OK if he has her. And he tells her ‘the important part is whether you believe me [in his innocence]’ and OMG, it’s such a callback to their painful conversation years ago when she had to break his heart and she told him she didn’t, and here she smiles and says yes and he basically says that this is all he wants and OMG OMG.
And OMG OMG OMG, he jumped off the building for her. The scene at the climax, where she gets knocked off the roof and he jumps after her. That is the thing: it’s pure instinct and not wanting to be without her: there is no way he can save her, but he can die holding her *swoon*
Of course, this not being Stairway to Heaven, the cops manage to get air mattress under them in time, and I love how he is holding her hand in the ambulance, and asking her, so tenderly ‘have you NO fear?’ and silly boy. Of course she doesn’t, except where you are concerned. That is why you love her.
Did I mention the marriage proposal, which is beyond adorable? She says she is going to study abroad and he offers to ditch his job and come with (see why I love him. He is quite macho enough thank you, he doesn’t need to prove it). When she refuses he then grins and says that in that case she can go after three kids :D And proposes!!!!!
So she does her usual ‘if you can run to the tower and back in 10 minutes I’ll say yes’ and he turns and…kisses her. In public!!! EEEEE! And he tells her he can’t wait 10 minutes, and what is her answer or should he kiss her again, and she is grinning and saying yes and there is hugging.
And then they have the most adorable wedding, and he is (as always) late, and he has to get out of the stalled cab and run to the Church, in the snow, and she is hitting him with her bouquet and they are laughing, and saying ‘forever’ type stuff and OMG.
Perfect.
Purely perfect.
Oh, and I finished ep 8 of Snow Queen and now that I am home, will continue with it.
I know it’s irrational to dislike Geon Woo. He is a nice guy. But I love TW too much and so…
Yeah.
I love the scene where TW gives Bo Ra the Snow Queen book and puts in a note that she should believe it’s from Geon Woo: this is following a convo with his mother, after an adorable shopping scene where he helps Mom out, where she tells him she should treat even one sided love better, no matter how well he treats it now, and you see him decide then and there to try to get her to be happy with GW).
But of course, that makes Bo Ra to finally realize she can’t be with GW and her feelings for TW.
But OMG, meanwhile, TW finally found out she is his dead friend’s sister. I love the final scene of the ep: Bo Ra gets home after breaking up with GW and Tae-Woong is standing by the gate, looking like he can barely stand and she is ‘what is wrong?’ (and OMG, they are so each other’s place to hide) and he asks if he can hold her.
*dead*
I finished Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang, grinning from ear to ear. I haven’t marathonned like that for a while. The write-up is going to be spoilery, a bit incoherent and very long, as I am going to babble about 10 (!!!) eps.
Interesting, as I know this drama was written by the same team which wrote my adored My Girl. You can notice some similarities (other than the fact that the perfect cameo at the end of My Girl is even more perfect now. I just might rewatch just that part): both feature intelligent, strong-willed heroines with less than ideal background and heroes who are laid-back good guys who love them precisely for their cleverness and strength, but who are no weaklings themselves. And they are all relatively un-messed up. There are time jumps, men pursuing when the woman tries to push them away to save them. And the hero and heroine are friends before they fall in love. And airport scenes that make me bawl and drama parodies that make me die laughing.
But that is about it. The stories themselves feel very different, fresh, fun.
Non-spoilery summary of the very lengthy write-up behind cut: if you are looking for a fast-paced, charming drama that is a perfect mix of funniness and angst, and a strong heroine and hero, and some awesome chemistry between the leads, DGCH is the drama for you!
Did I mention that I hated Mong-Ryong’s ex? Not as much as Byun, but still. She is all ‘it’s OK. If I can’t have him, at least CH shouldn’t either.’ She gets better by the end, but still, not a favorite.
Adore Chun-Hyang and Mong-Ryong though. (Though for some reason, everything is through a MR filter for me, as he is my POV character).
I love that MR demonstrates his constant care for CH through little things. Not for expectation of reward or even letting her know (she doesn’t know about his purchasing the necklace so she wouldn’t worry she lost it for example, until Byun’s flunkie slips up) but to make it better for her. Anyone can make grand gestures. Byun is making them all the time. It’s the little things that really matter though: it’s in the way Mong-Ryong always fetches the hot pans for her from the stove so she won’t burn her fingers, little things like putting a blanket around her when she is cold, or a band aid on her cut finger when she is asleep, fixing her father’s broken photo, traveling behind her on the bus and holding his hand in front of the window because she is tired and nodding off and he doesn’t want her head to hit the glass (and she doesn’t even realize he is there), it’s going to look for her Mom when she disappears or trying to come up with ways to sell her jewelry on the internet. It’s all in the everyday. As I said, for MR it’s about CH, for Byun it’s about himself (even before his grand plan, he totally lies throughout to get what he wants, never mind how it hurts the woman he supposedly loves).
They are not a normal, sweet couple and they never will be (Dani and her bf who later becomes a star, heee, are a lot more normal. I am not too keen on Dani but they make a cute couple). When they try a normal date, they have to be both coached to give flowers and to accept them, and to cut their food and what not. But he protects her from the crowd in the elevator and that is a lot more them. He is too blunt for his own good, but he is adorable.
Of course, before they get to the dating stage, we have some angst and misunderstanding and stubbornness. I love that he runs to her by midnight as she asks (after telling Chae-Rin he loves Chun-Hyang, it’s not pity, it’s love) and ends up carrying her (drunk out of her mind) home and it’s hilarious as he is totally matter of fact amused about her completely off the wall drunken ramble. And then looking at her when she is asleep and asking her if it’s OK to like her. *dies*
But she decides to push him away because witch Chae-Rin convinced her he doesn’t mean liking her, he is doing it out of pity, and of course she sees him in what she thinks is a compromising situation with CR and OMG…the elevator scene! When he chases after her but she is with Byun and he tells her he likes her and she says she doesn’t like him and the elevator door closes and he is devastated and runs down but she reiterates and oooooohhhhhh.
But of course she shortly discovers about the web of lies by Byun and CR and I love that she tells Byun ‘I must go to him [MR]’ and runs to the bus station because he left her a note Byun took earlier that he will wait there for her to go to Namwon and OMG OMG she runs (which is good, as the montage showed him sitting there waiting for her the whole day.) And she just missed the last bus and she starts crying but then…
But then…
But then…
You don’t want to know how many times I rewatched the scene.
He is there. And their faces. And he pulls her into this giant hug and they cling to each other, for dear life.
And I love that after that, after they are together, as I mentioned in the earlier post, their openness and trust in each other is absolute. Even if he goes to see CR or she to see Byun, they trust each other. They say it and they mean it and just…guuuuh.
And I love how compatible they are, how much fun they have together. Their first kiss is just so young and sweet and tentative and adorable (by the fire) and they tease and run around and play (the scene where they end up cracking hardboiled eggs on each other’s heads is just…pure love).
And he is so lighthearted and he makes her be too. The whole interlude where his parents mistakenly think she is pregnant and MR is milking it for what it’s worth to get stuff but then gives it all back and there is a scene on the staircase, where he is at the top and she is at the bottom and he goes ‘I gave stuff back, that deserves 10 steps’ and takes steps down to her and so on and finally ‘I like you, that deserves the rest of the way’ and she pouts adorably and he grins and throws his arm around her and they walk off home? Eeeee.
It is impossible not to like Mong-Ryong. Of course, other drama girls think so too, and the scene where CH finds out just how desirable other women find her hunky husband and gets all jealous and is all ‘hello there, my HUSBAND’ and he is oblivious to the other girls and is all ‘huh?’ is priceless. Heee. Very girl to want a guy even more because other girls want him. And then she fixates on his lips etc heeeee.
I especially love the scene with the umbrella when they are walking together under this giant red umbrella in the rain, oblivious to the world, laughing together. Only to meet BHD who has been stalking them *ugh* and there is a confrontation and MR says he is never letting go and awesomeness.
You know, Chun-Hyang and Mong-Ryong are sorta like Ron and Hermione: the stressy, bossy perfectionist and the laddish guy who argue all the time. I think she only really relaxes and becomes giddy and girlish around him. It’s too easy for her to retreat into loner/tough/business lady. But he? Makes her laugh.
You know what didn’t make me laugh? All the scenes where she has to break his heart to save him.
kitsune714 once pointed out that no dramas make you cry like the ‘light’ ones and so true. I was crying so hard. I think it’s because I love the characters so much.It was seriously so much worse than anything in Hanadan. So much worse.
Because that horrible Byun Hak-Do framed Mong-Ryong as an attempted rapist. (You know, BHD needs to learn that even if she couldn’t have MR, she’ll never be his). And he tells her (as I mentioned earlier) that she has to leave MR or he will ruin him, MR will go to jail, and even if not, his career/life will be ruined forever.
So she has to leave him to save him.
Oh GOD.
He gets out of jail and CH is not here, and he is thinking she is angry (and I love that this doesn’t make him mad) but OMG he goes to the store and buys an ice-cream cake because he knows how much she loves them, and I am getting misty just thinking about it…and he shows up at home only to see his bags packed and she wants him to leave. She tells him to leave, looking straight at him, and he is apologizing and is so bewildered and earnest and boyish and sweet and of course that is making her love him more and make it even worse for him and he is beginning to fall apart in front of her eyes (because not only does he love her so, but the one thing that kept him going was that she believed in him) and that whole scene is beyond horrific and she says someone is waiting for her and he follows her downstairs and Byun Hak-Do is there and she gets into the car with him and OMG…He screams her name. And the car drives away and Chun-Hyang says without fuss but with utter finality, to Byun: “I will curse you for this for the rest of my life” (if you think about it, she’s loved MR for so long and now has to give him up and it’s everything she’s ever dreamed about but can’t have) and Byun is all ‘but you’ll still be with me’ and Oh HATE. He doesn’t see her as a person, Jesus H. Christ!
I love how she is consistently frozen to Byun. She doesn’t yell or do dramatics, what is the point? Though it kills me that at one point she breaks down and begs. But you can tell she views him (deservedly) as less than dirt on her shoes.
But you know the worst thing? That is not enough to drive MR away. Because he loves her. And we get an unbelievably heart-breaking scene in Byun’s office, where CH tells MR she believes Byun and not him and she is tired of his always being in trouble and she doesn’t want to be with a child but with a grown man and it’s just…it’s eviscerating both of them.
And later, she is coming home and Dani tells her MR has been waiting for her outside and even though it’s cold, won’t come in (and you see him outside, waiting all day, face set) and even though earlier she wasn’t going to put on the necklace BHD got her because she just found out the truth, that Mong-Ryong pretended he found it when she lost it but in reality he bought a new one so she wouldn’t worry and that makes her love him more, and she thinks that if he sees her next to BHD wearing the necklace it will break his heart, and she is so desperate because hurting him is killing her, but she does put it on, and his EYES when he sees that. And she says she is getting engaged and you know what?
I can’t really talk about that scene because it makes me want to bawl and have a BHD voodoo doll to stick needles in.
And he tries one last time, crashing her engagement party, but that is it, and he signs the divorce papers and it is all over.
And he is drinking in a restaurant, trying to drink himself into oblivion but it’s so heartbreaking because he tells his friend who came to look for him, that no matter what he can’t get drunk and the friends are freaking out because he hasn’t been sleeping or eating and they drag CH there to see what she is doing to him, and he’s passed out and she starts bawling, and she hugs him and is ‘don’t hurt like this, because if you do, I can’t leave you’ and she takes the photo of them he had in his wallet and threw away.
And next morning, he watches her leave for airport with Byun (she came to say bye to Dani) quietly and she doesn’t see him but the friends do, and he is frozen. His eyes! And he realizes he lost the picture and goes to look for it at the bar and bartender tells him there was a young woman there crying her eyes out looking at him and OMG OMG OMG, he is going for one last desperate try and he finds her at the airport, and one of the angstiest scenes ever follows, as the guards have to bodily restrain him and he yells ‘Chun-Hyang!’ and he begs, out loud, he begs her not to leave and says ‘I love you. If you leave, I’ll die’ and he doesn’t care who hears it, even though she is with Byun and she doesn’t turn her face but just says ‘no, you should live and get your revenge on me’ and walks away. And he is walking through the airport, stumbling, and he literally just collapses on the ground. And he ends up in the hospital because he is such a mess.
And I love how quiet and withdrawn he is. He is all collected in his meeting with Chae-Rin, who is leaving for NYC. She asks him if he’s been ill and he says ‘a little’ and he is so reserved and subdued and he tells her that he will erase CH from his memory and that whole scene…he looks so much older.
But I love that he tells his friend that he might forget CH but Byun? Byun he won’t. Look out, evil nasty guy! I hope MR bashes your face in.
Of course, he doesn’t know that CH ran away before the plane took off. She could not go with Byun because that is one step she couldn’t stomach. She left a note that she will disappear and not to hurt MR because she won’t be with MR and hurting MR will kill her and left. See, Byun Hak-Do? You ruined their lives and gained nothing.
And CH and MR miss seeing each other on buses (just as later on elevator, eeee) and…yeah.
Sad.
Btw, before I move on, I want to mention how much I love the family relationships in this one. MR and his father really grow to not just love but to admire and understand each other. I love the drinking scene after CH leaves. It’s all just…guuuuh.
OMFG. I love time jumps in dramas. And this one? Perfect. And he is a hotshot DA (that way he can channel his strength productively) and she runs a jewelry business. I love that both MR and CH went on to lead productive lives, even though emotionally there is a hole there for the both of them. It’s just a wound they learned to live with. I am especially thinking of MR, doing the whole ‘ten minute run’ thing, after remembering CH and their going out for ice-cream, and then standing there afterwards, smiling, and saying ‘I’ve forgotten her for whole ten minutes. I can do it.’
Oh darling.
And of course, nasty Byun is still obsessed (probably because he never had her) but MR is his equal now.
And he kept that cell phone chain she made for him, in a box. I do love that once he finds her later, and sees she still has some feelings for him, he puts it back on his cell (and he was sleeping holding it!!!). And I love the way her eyes stray to it, and she wants him too take it off, but he won’t.
He is so persistent because he knows she loves him and she is hurting and he won’t let her get away this time: he’ll do anything: he crashes into her (empty) car because now she’ll have to meet because of insurance, he makes all her workers like him, he even crashes in her house. And the thing is, she is desperately trying to be tough, but she loves him so much, it makes her a poor liar. I love how he whispers to himself, after she said good bye ‘Oh, Chun-Hyang, saying ‘take care’ with tears in your eyes’ and reverses the car to go back to her. And OMG, I love when she comes in and sees him sleeping and you can tell she is finding him yummy enough to eat (so do I ;D) and he opens his eyes and looks at her and teases and goes ‘do you want me to like you again?’
Oh yeah, his finding her. The scene KILLS me. Because it’s complicated and plot-driven, but he basically realizes that she is the boss of the guy he’s been dealing with for a plot reason (because he finds her wallet which has their pic in it…and his face when he sees she’s kept it!).
So he calls the guy and asks him to pass the phone to his boss. And he does, and she goes ‘hello?’ (because all she knows is it’s the DA whose car they scraped) and the look on his face as he finally hears her voice. And his face his face his face. And he just stands there, and all he manages to say is ‘Sung Chun-Hyang?’ and she recognizes his voice and her face! And then he stands there and all he does is just repeating into the phone her name, over and over and over. Because I think his mind has been wiped blank but also because I don’t think he’s really allowed himself to talk about her or say her name much or anything. It was seven in the morning, I had four hours of sleep, and I was crying like a little girl.
And then, their later face to face meeting, when she calls him telling him not to come and she lies she is in Busan but she is outside his house because she is just as in love as he is and she wanted just a glimpse of him, and he realizes she is there and OMG OMG OMG first meeting and she babbles and he stares and it’s the most amazing thing ever.
And later, he looks for her in the airport again, yells her name out actually, and finds her and it’s awesome. I love how he says he’ll rekindle her feeling for him. He is so determined but unlike slimy BHD will leave her if he finds out that is what she really wants. (Just as he went and warned BHD upfront, not the skulking behind his back, the way BHD would do).
I love how he can tell something is wrong, that her story doesn’t mesh, even if he doesn’t know what it is (though he has doubts: I love how he asks her if she really is over him and it’s all sad and quiet). But then it all falls into place as he finds her cell and notebook (he was looking for a pencil/paper). And he idly turns on the phone and sees it’s her old phone and she has all those pictures of him on it, including their practice wedding. And he finds the notebook (that made me so spastic in the earlier post) she keeps, with all the newspaper clippings about him and she wrote on the margins his name over and over and ‘I love you’ over and over and OMG.
I shrieked.
And he is tearing up and whispers ‘silly’ and walks out just to see her come back with Byun Hak-Do (she promised him she won’t be with MR, yet again) and OMG, MR is so full of certainty now and it’s awesome and he figured it all out, even though he doesn’t know what exactly Byun had on him and her, and he is all ‘I know how you feel, you don’t have to pretend any more’ and tells Byun to go away and to stop torturing CH and it’s just…
GUUUUUUH.
And then he is teasing her, taking a new pic of himself so she’d have a newer one ‘as I am more awesome now.’ And you can tell he is almost giddy with relief. And she comes to the city to see him and you can tell she has excuses but it’s because she wants to see him. And she fusses because he is skipping meals, has no time to go to see a doctor because he’s a bit sick etc etc etc.
And he is so basking.
HEEEE.
So, Byun Hak-do finally relented at the end. And he showed the ‘true’ tape at the press conference, removing the threat of ruination from Mong-Ryong, thus enabling Chun-Hyang to go to him, at last.
Permit me to still NOT CARE ABOUT BYUN. I want him dead. You know ‘fine, I won’t blackmail you into hurting the man you love most in the world so badly he wants to die, any more. Oh, and yeah, I totally stole years of your life together from you. My bad’ isn’t really going to cut it. OMG, how many years did they lose? It has to be at least 5, as last time they met pre-time-jump was in college, no more than second year, and when they meet again he is a successful DA. And his Dad mentions waiting 10 years for the wedding (from CH and MR’s first meeting), so I am pegging it at more like 8. (But they still love each other after all that time! *dies*)
He only finally gave in when he saw that he couldn’t keep them apart anyway: no matter what he was going to do, CH was never going to see him as anything but the man who made her hurt MR, and (more importantly), MR finally knew the truth about why she left him and was never going to back down. His blackmail tape was impotent because MR explicitly told him that Byun could release the tape to the media, he was never letting go of CH anyway.
Actually, I think Byun should have realized that: his best hope of ever getting some part of CH was to keep MR ignorant of the truth because the two woobies are so gift of the magi. MR was content to give up everything else in his life to be with her, and she would give everything to keep him safe. But I guess Byun felt like one last desperate gamble, because MR found out the truth about CH’s feelings (if not the reason for leaving) so he sent him that tape as if to say ‘you don’t back off, I’ll release it.’
Huh. But MR told him ‘your manipulation of us ends now’ *swoon*
You know, I continue to be so impressed with the leads. I have no idea how old they were when they made this, but they are completely believable as both high-school students in the beginning and professionals in their late 20s at the end. And that’s the thing. MR is a grown man by the end. The playing field between him and Byun is more than equal now.
That is why, while I understood why CH so desperately tried to protect him and keep the truth from him when they met again, I wanted to tell her to admit the truth: she had to protect him when he was a college student: he was a boy, and powerless, and no match for Byun. But now the guy is in his late 20s, a hotshot DA for the city of Seoul (so he’s freaking tough). Now, he can take care of himself. He is completely grown-up (I think he lost the last bits of boyishness after that horrible scene at the airport).
I do love though, their scene after they realize the other knows of the tape (and he finally figures out why she pushed him away years ago). And she is all agitated, telling him if this is made public, doesn’t he realize everything is all over. And I just love him in that scene, so mature and sane and calm. And he tells her of course he realizes what will happen: he’ll be branded a crazy rapist, and will have to resign, and never be able to practice law, probably not even be able to step out of his house. But he’ll be OK if he has her. And he tells her ‘the important part is whether you believe me [in his innocence]’ and OMG, it’s such a callback to their painful conversation years ago when she had to break his heart and she told him she didn’t, and here she smiles and says yes and he basically says that this is all he wants and OMG OMG.
And OMG OMG OMG, he jumped off the building for her. The scene at the climax, where she gets knocked off the roof and he jumps after her. That is the thing: it’s pure instinct and not wanting to be without her: there is no way he can save her, but he can die holding her *swoon*
Of course, this not being Stairway to Heaven, the cops manage to get air mattress under them in time, and I love how he is holding her hand in the ambulance, and asking her, so tenderly ‘have you NO fear?’ and silly boy. Of course she doesn’t, except where you are concerned. That is why you love her.
Did I mention the marriage proposal, which is beyond adorable? She says she is going to study abroad and he offers to ditch his job and come with (see why I love him. He is quite macho enough thank you, he doesn’t need to prove it). When she refuses he then grins and says that in that case she can go after three kids :D And proposes!!!!!
So she does her usual ‘if you can run to the tower and back in 10 minutes I’ll say yes’ and he turns and…kisses her. In public!!! EEEEE! And he tells her he can’t wait 10 minutes, and what is her answer or should he kiss her again, and she is grinning and saying yes and there is hugging.
And then they have the most adorable wedding, and he is (as always) late, and he has to get out of the stalled cab and run to the Church, in the snow, and she is hitting him with her bouquet and they are laughing, and saying ‘forever’ type stuff and OMG.
Perfect.
Purely perfect.
Oh, and I finished ep 8 of Snow Queen and now that I am home, will continue with it.
I know it’s irrational to dislike Geon Woo. He is a nice guy. But I love TW too much and so…
Yeah.
I love the scene where TW gives Bo Ra the Snow Queen book and puts in a note that she should believe it’s from Geon Woo: this is following a convo with his mother, after an adorable shopping scene where he helps Mom out, where she tells him she should treat even one sided love better, no matter how well he treats it now, and you see him decide then and there to try to get her to be happy with GW).
But of course, that makes Bo Ra to finally realize she can’t be with GW and her feelings for TW.
But OMG, meanwhile, TW finally found out she is his dead friend’s sister. I love the final scene of the ep: Bo Ra gets home after breaking up with GW and Tae-Woong is standing by the gate, looking like he can barely stand and she is ‘what is wrong?’ (and OMG, they are so each other’s place to hide) and he asks if he can hold her.
*dead*
