Poem a Day: Flash Poll, Ep 10, cont

Here are my reasons.

1. As much as I feel Dr. Ye’s inner struggles, he doesn’t win points for inertia. He actually loses points because in this episode, he did nothing to get her back.

I’ll give a rundown of his actions in this episode.

Day 1 after he rejected her:

At 4:00 minute mark, he walked in and was greeted by BoYoung with her mouth stuffed with bread. She asked him if he wanted some and he said, “No, that’s okay.”

That was all he said to her the morning after his rejection. At the very least, I expected small talk from him to see how she was doing, to say something like “Oh that looks good but no thanks. I’ve eaten. Enjoy your breakfast.”

At 6:00, Chief Wang told him BoYoung had found out that she didn’t get the fulltime job during the dinner the previous night. Dr. Ye didn’t go in search of BoYoung afterwards to just check on how she was feeling.

At 15:08, Chief Wang informed him that BoYoung had been crying all morning, during lunch, and after lunch. He had felt so bad for making BoYoung depressed that he treated her out but Boyoung reassured him that she was crying not because of the job, but “personal reason.” Dr. Ye knew it was about him. He told the Chief, “Don’t blame yourself. Maybe something did happen.” In stark contrast to his stoic reaction, Chief Wang said, “My heart is crying tears of blood right now.” Dr. Ye just sighed and looked disturbed.

At 24:30, they met by accident on the way home. They ended up going to a café.

Their dialogue:

Ye: I’m sorry, Dr. Woo. I heard about if from Chief. You must have been excited to get a full-time position so when you found out that that wasn’t happening anymore you must have had a hard time. But I made it even harder for you.
BY: That’s okay. I would have had to hear it sooner or later. To be honest, I wanted to pretend like nothing happened but I couldn’t help myself. But I plan to actually be okay, instead of pretending that I am. There are people who lose their partners, whom they’ve loved and shared their entire lives with. So this is nothing in comparison. I’m going to overcome this. So please don’t treat me well from now on. Don’t take care of me when I look upset and don’t comfort me when I have a hard time. I’m begging you.

What does this tell me?

  • BoYoung’s encounter with the grandfather gave her much-needed perspective on her pain.
  • She required time to get over the rejection but she would soon be fine.
  • I don’t know if she was being ironic here when she told him, “Don’t treat me well… Don’t take care of me… Don’t comfort me.” But she knew that she had been crying on her own all day but he didn’t seek her out to check if she was fine. It was Chief Wang who bothered to comfort her during his free time and to check if she was eating fine.
  • If they hadn’t chanced to meet on their way out, they wouldn’t be sitting across each other in that café.

This is the poem that followed after the cafe encounter, narrated by Dr Ye.

It Only Rained After You Left
by Yeo Rim

It only rained after you left.
The rain turned into heavy rain.
And I pictured you
Sitting in the bus with an upset expression on your face.

I felt my heart becoming sore.
There are times when people can’t be comforted by words.

I sit blankly while looking out the window
And even when I close my eyes as if I’m tired
A part of my consciousness becomes that much clearer.

It only rained after you left
In every street corner where I send you off.

So appropriate for his character. lol. One, the poet didn’t do anything but “picture” the girl elsewhere, “sit blankly” and “close” his eyes. Two, it talked about his “heart becoming sore,” while the girl only had an UPSET EXPRESSION on her face. And third, (I’m not sure if the translation is right but…) HE was the one who sent her off. Shouldn’t the girl be feeling more than “upset”?

Day 2 after he rejected her:

At 41:08 minute mark. He gave his lecture, and he played his demo with BoYoung as his assistant. lol. He didn’t remember that he had BY on the demo and he was surprised to see her face up there on the big screen. For 15 seconds he stared at the image. He apologized to his audience and continued with his lecture.

At 51:34, he went drinking with Dr. Park and Chief Yang. Dr. Woo was mentioned.

Park: She said she really wanted to hear Dr. Ye’s lecture
Chief: What do you think? I guess she wanted to avoid one of us.
Park: Pardon? Avoid one of us? Who?
Chief: I guess she didn’t come because I made her cry. Geez, I really did something horrible to Dr. Woo.

Dr. Ye was quiet the whole time, probably feeling guilty.

Park: Why are you drinking so much today? Are you upset about something?
Ye: No.
Chief: I’m the one who’s upset. I don’t know how I’ll face Dr. Woo from now on.

Later when he was drunk, he admitted that –

Ye: I guess, I’m upset after all. I didn’t think it was right…I really didn’t think it was right which was why I declined. But… I don’t know why my heart aches so much.

Chief and Dr. Park assumed he was talking about declining the chief position. lol.

At 59:46, he arrived home and saw the book of poetry, “It’s Okay If You Don’t Love Me” she had given him. He remembered what she said about the book and what she said about overcoming the rejection. He received a text from Chief Yang. As he was about to answer he saw the new icon on MinHo’s cellphone number. It was a picture of them at the beach. He said, “Did they go there together?”

As you can see then, for two days, he didn’t do anything to get her back. This whole episode was ALL about his “inner conflict” to conquer his feelings. Booohoooo.

What-ev-uh!  I told you, didn’t I, that his major character flaw is his inaction. He gets caught up with his inner struggles that he becomes indecisive. He’s too caught up in his own pain, just like that poem in Episode 9, named “Height.”

Height
by Yoo Ahn Jin

I’m ashamed to say that until now
I only cried for myself.
My most painful cries
Still only come out for myself.
How much older do I need to get to grow a bigger heart
And how much taller does my heart need to get
Before I can cry for someone else?
My eyes can only see myself
On the most sorrowful days.
My ears can only hear my laugh
On the most happy days.
I’ve never realized how imperfect my heart is.
I’m embarrassed and ashamed.

lol. I thought he would realize, like MinHo did, that he acted selfish when he wallowed in his own sorrows.

Really, this is another dealbreaker for me. Young cried BECAUSE OF HIM. How could he not feel empathy when he was the cause of her feeling miserable? It didn’t need much for him to show some feelings here. All he really had to do was call up BoYoung and ask her how she was doing, and if she was feeling okay.

Even Chief Yang did much more. Chief Yang’s conscience bothered him so that he treated her out to her favorite restaurant and apologized. Afterwards, he couldn’t stop talking about BoYoung although BoYoung assured him her sadness wasn’t because of him.

As for MinHo? MinHo did more than Dr. Ye. It only took one look at her “sad back” for MinHo to galvanize to action.

2. That’s why INDECISIVE Defcon beat him. lol.

Do people really think that the stories of the minor characters are insignificant? They enhance our understanding of the plot because they highlight the good qualities without our “biases” for one male actor getting in the way of our comprehension.

For instance, Defcon may be indecisive. But in  important things, he comes through like a true hero.  He comes to the defense of his friends, like he did with Dr. Kim in this episode. His strong defense made Dr. Kim respect him.

This was precisely what Dr. Ye should have done for his ex-girlfriend when rumors started. He told BoYoung that he had been very distressed because people talked about them, but he didn’t DO anything to stop it.

Just observe what happened at the funeral. Again those people were talking about his ex but he walked away. Instead of coming to her ex’s defense, he complained to her. He said,

People will talk about us again…I really hate this. (Who doesn’t?)
I don’t like attract attention at a place like this. (Does he really think the ex likes it too?)
I don’t like your pain becoming nonsense. (So DO something for gawd’s sake. Tell those people to stop like Defcon did.)
I don’t like sending off Chief Park who’s precious to me with anything other than sad feelings. (Huh? How can he compartmentalize feelings like that?)

This was the same kind of “distance” he was trying to put between him and BoYoung. lol. He didn’t want to be involved in any “unsavory” conduct. Conduct that would compromise his principles.

Moreover, Defcon also knows how to use the phone to TEXT somebody.

Look, if Dr. Ye didn’t want to have a face-to-face contact with BoYoung because he wanted to end it, then he could still have texted “How are you? Are you okay?” to check on her wellbeing

lol. Sending 47 texts was ridiculous of course. But so was sending ZERO text to check on BoYoung’s welfare.

 

I have more reasons why MinHo’s ahead but I’ll have to do these tomorrow. Meanwhile, let me list them so I won’t forget.

3. MinHo.

4. The poem.

5. Her fantasy conversation

6. Her smile. She had been smiling the past few days but that was her first REAL smile. It’s her mischievous smile, like she was sharing a secret with MinHo again.

7. Her conversation with MinHo.

 

edited to add my interpretation of BoYoung’s hallucination. Next up will be the poem and her conversation with MinHo.

edited to add my interpretation and SyeraAisya’s interpretation of  “Old Flame”

Next up: MinHo.

 

 

 

 

13 Comments On “Poem a Day: Flash Poll, Ep 10, cont”

  1. Minho deeply in love with boyoung. Im sad boyoung still can’t see what minho had done for her this 2 days eps. Even at the beach she still keep thinking about dr ye

  2. Will have to explain that tomorrow. so sleepy.

  3. the episode start with MinHo came offering ride for booyoung and Ending with MinHo and BooYoung hanging out together. And the last poem called old flame is all about MinHo once again the very exact sentence “Eventhough it was a flame that I stoled for just for awhile, as long as I feel the warmth, I forgot all my fears and sorrow”
    and its was the scene where MinHo put on his jacket on her and them watching the fireworks, He being the obvious reason she could smile again.

  4. Good job! You just saved me from answering those two points then. Thank you. 🙂

    But the poem can also refer to Dr. Ye. But watch what happens with the last line. It will mean different things for the different guy…

    and MinHo’s interpretation will come out better. 😉

    Go on ahead if you have time, and write about the poem. I’ll read it — even if you go over 400 words. pwahahaha.

  5. Old Flame-Choi Yong Mi

    Even though it was a flame that I stole away for just for awhile,
    As long as I felt the warmth,
    I forgot all my fears and sorrow,
    I’m thankful for everything you’ve done for me,
    as well as everything you haven’t done for me
    It felt warm.

    by definition old flame =Former lover hence past and who is in BY past? its MH, and who is in MH past? it’s BY.

    Just for awhile indicated how MH treated her well (even if it for short time) BY appreciate it.

    As long as I felt the warmth
    she appreciated what MH has done for her, even after MH confessed that he brought her to the beach just to cheer her up but everything went off because of NW and JY, she replied “That ok I had fun”.

    I forgot all my fears and sorrow
    by watching and “solving” NW and JY quarrel she forced to forget thinking about DR Ye.

    I am thankful for everything you’ve done for me.
    MH: You crazy bastard (to NW and JY)we came here to cheer her up so how could you make her fall into water?

    MH feel bad for her, but her appearance in his clothes make him slightly happy, especially when NW said “What do we do? those are the only clothes we have, but ours club uniform suit you”

    As well as everything you haven’t done for me.
    When MH showed up to the beach and offer her his jacket for which she rejected at first, she thanks him for taking his time for her, she even said that “I feel comforted knowing someone looking out for me”, this poem portrays how much BY and MH grateful for each other for everything they’ve both done to each other.
    After all, although it’s not much, everybody love attention right?

  6. You’re awesome! Thanks for doing this!
    I’ll put this up later on the blog as a separate post and I’ll add my comments, okay?

  7. I was thinking about the ‘rumours’ after yesterday’s comment. This is a bit dramatic but..

    So we know that when Dr.Ye joined to the hospital there were a variety of rumours on why he joined. Then we believed along with the PTs, that he left his previous workplace because he couldn’t bear the rumours about his girlfriend cheating on him with the very same guy he testified against. But what din’t make sense to me is why this led to him cutting off all contact with his mentor, who was like a father to him and who fought for him post the trial.

    We know for a fact that the ex tells him “I am not with that man anymore”, which man we don’t know. Note at the funeral when the ex stops him, he talks about her “Pain becoming nonsense” (how would more rumours about her cause her hurt to become nonsense? Unless the pain she is feeling is not about the rumours at all?) and that he doesn’t want to send off his mentor with anything but sad feelings (meaning that he has other feelings towards his mentor he doesn’t want to think about? Not at his funeral).Do you get my drift? What if the truth is more unsavoury, you can say disgusting even, than the lies and the rumours. How do you defend yourself? How do you deny it without offering proof. That’s only bound to add fuel to the fire.

    Going back to the time when Minho and Boyoung were in college. To the time between the wrist grab and the rejection. Is it possible that Minho heard a rumour about Boyoung? Something that made him think her “disgusting”. That’s a harsh word he used. Did he maybe hear she was.. a gold digger?? After which he rejects her saying they are too different and not compatible (because they come from different social structures?) Then in the present day he tells her you better not like me and is so relieved that she doesn’t like him. However this time he is far away from the rumours and he clearly comes to see her genuine goodness . But then she goes and falls for the star doctor in the department. Blinded by his jealousy, he falls back on old judgements he passed calling her “repeat offender” and “ex convict” like she had some pattern. But again he din’t have to look too hard to see that her affections came without strings. Falling for her all over again.

    This may be could be what happened? What do you think Packmule3?

  8. Also so so sorry about the word count. Will definitely try to keep it under 400 on the next one! Sigh brevity is not my friend…

  9. Gold digger. That’s my idea, too. Will explain later. Still at work; just needed a change of atmosphere. Won’t be home till 9pm. 4 hours from now.

  10. Pwahahaha. That doesn’t apply to you.

  11. It doesn’t apply to me?!!! Yipee!!!

    Ah waiting to hear your take. I have had this ominous feeling since ep 10 for the shinship. While Dr.Ye is only an illusion, and Minho is reality to Boyoung. But what is Minho’s reality? At the beach there were times where Boyoung was trailing behind Minho and he says something like come quickly and catch up. This is him asking her to catch up to how he feels. But where he comes from they will never be seen on an equal footing. The alligator has no business being on poor Namwoo’s shirt no matter how much he clung on to it. And :'( . Yea I will just wait here for your post for reassurance.

  12. No, doesn’t apply to you, Paperclip.

    Unfortunately, I can’t post tonight. I’m still not my chill and relaxed 😎 self. But go on ahead and tell me what you’re thinking and what else you’re worried about.

    I saw the preview that Nearsea mentioned. I think if ever Dr Ye becomes jealous, it’s because he saw MH’s avatar with BY. And that’s a dealbreaker. He was fine with MH earlier (the bathroom indecision) but now that he sensed he was losing BY, he was going after her.

  13. Oh please take your time with the post!!! Seriously, no pressure! I totally understand you would need some downtime and a clear head to decipher and connect the puzzle pieces like only you can. Hope the the hearing went well!

    Re: The preview, its funny how jealousy kickstarts both of the male leads’ affection. This sounds like a something a petty child would say but, uh Minho got there first. That demonstration video at the lecture that seemed to stump Dr.Ye, well who filmed that? What he was seeing he’s seeing through Minho’s eyes. But at the end of the day its who Boyoung loves. Is there enough time for her to get over Dr.Ye now that he’s thrown himself into the fray? For her to fall for Minho, and deal with his chaebol parents?

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