First off, I’m not going to swayed by the second lead, that writer dude played by HongBin. I remember him from the Moorin School kdrama. And he is such an eye candy…if you’re 25 years old.

So, nope.

I’ve been done that path too many times to recognize the sadistic twists, ugly dead-ends, and writer’s trolling. (hahaha. Can you tell? I’m still bitter over that @#$@#% Poetry Bull-poop.)

And I won’t tolerate any whining about Hyun Woo’s looks. To me, he looks like Lee Jung Shin (that tall CN Blue crooner) and Nam Joo Hyuk (that Weightlifting Fairy boyfriend and Lord Habaek actor).  I didn’t allow their absence of good looks to diminish my enjoyment of their dramas, so why should I view Hyun Woo’s weak chin as a detriment to my enjoyment of this drama?

Last, unless we’re discussing the reactions of elements and compounds, any mention of chemistry between the two lead actors – or lack thereof – will be met with copious eye-rolling. I’ve noticed that so many reviewers gripe about “the chemistry!” of characters when the fault lies in their inability to detect subatomic particle changes.

Now, let’s get on with this romcom.

There are two witches in love here. We naturally assumed that the witch refers to the female lead, Cho Hong (or “CH” from now on). But I believe that the male lead, Director Ma (or “ST” for Sung Tae) is also a witch. He’s a male witch, or wizard, warlock, sorcerer, Harry Potter-lite, whatever the name du jour is.

First, we’ve seen him display his magical powers.

At least twice…as far as I can tell. The obvious one is in Episode 8 (or 9) when he unlocks the gate. But in Episode 2 he also lights up the dark alley as he carries drunk CH on his back.

He tries to wake her up, “Hey. Hey. Wake up. I really think we’re on the wrong street. I was sure it was here somewhere though. Why is it so dark here?” Then, by magic, the street lights turn on one by one.

If you rewatch these two scenes, you’ll notice something about his hands. In the same manner, that CH can summon magic with the snap of her fingers, I think, ST conjures magic UNAWARES when he rubs or clasps his hands. In Episode 2, his hands are joined together in an awkward location right under CH’s bottom. In Episode 8, he rubs his hands together before he pulls on the gate’s handles.

How about the writer JaeWook (or “JW”) then? Isn’t he a witch, too? No. I think he’s human.

To me, it’s purely coincidental that ST suffered a nosebleed as JW was scribbling furiously on the magazine. ST’s nosebleed was probably caused by fatigue (in typical kdrama lore) and change of temperature or air pressure or dry air.

Second, I think that the story of how the witch Cho Hong finds her true love mirrors the story of how the male witch Director Ma finding his destined love, Cho Hong. To me, it’s planned that Director Ma or ST narrates the introduction in the early episodes. There’s a reason. It’s to give the viewers the impression that he’s talking about a third party: the two grandmothers and CH, when in fact, his commentaries (or voiceovers) are self-referential.

Take for instance the voiceover in Episode 1.

He says, “This is a secret but there are actually witches living in this world. People just haven’t noticed them. But there are some crazy amazing people who we encounter every now and then. We don’t notice them because it’s familiar to us and so ordinary. That’s what the real secret is.”

Here, he’s talking about amazing feats of witches like the Chubby Grandma’s ability to carry heavy load or CH’s ability to walk with the heavy trays on her head. His talent is wrestling. The trio of witches run a successful soup-rice business while he runs an equally successful food conglomerate.

Then in Episode 2, his voiceover reiterates the secret lives of witches. “This is a secret but actually, witches live in in this world. It’s just that humans haven’t noticed that. Think about it: when we meet someone whose skills we can never match, no matter how we put in the same time and effort. When we meet them, we are mystified as if time has halted and our whole body freezes. And we are pulled by this inconceivable power. And we come to discover ourselves going towards them without self-awareness.”

Again, at first interpretation, it seems as if he’s referring to their initial encounter – when his car bumped her (or is she who bumped his car?) on the crosswalk. But on their second encounter, it is she who bumped him when her tray. Then, as he searches for the mystery soup-rice restaurant, he keeps on meeting her on the street because she’s walking home to the same restaurant. They both gravitate toward each other “without self-awareness” and without premeditation.

In Episode 3, his voiceover insists again, “This is a secret, but actually witches live in this world. It’s just that humans haven’t noticed. At times one many meet them in completely unexpected places. Although witches live diverse lives like humans do, it is certain that human values are completely different from witches’. What we regard as precious are oftentimes nothing but trash to them.”

Here, it becomes apparent that ST does NOT appreciate things that normal humans consider valuable. The grandmothers, the secretary, and his mother question his sanity and his purchase of the soup-rice building. It’s ludicrous to exchange his luxurious lodgings in the hotel for that small room in the grandmothers’ building.

But he’s no longer satisfied with his business ventures. He’s no longer willing to remain ignorant of childhood trauma. To be able to move forward, he wants to uncover the secrets of his past. Thus, he chooses to live in a room above a restaurant, much to his mother’s dismay. His mother is anxious that people will find his move to the “beggarly house” baffling and incomprehensible, and thus use the move as impetus to wrest power from him in the company.

Additionally, his move to the grandmothers’ house aligns with the Bad Witch’s view on trash vs precious items. The Bad Witch lectures CH, “To human eyes, it may seem like useless trash. But to me, they are the most precious treasures. Items contain stories, too. They contain their past owners’ memories, affection, tears, and history.” In a similar way, ST is also interested in finding something in the grandmothers’ house that will prove that his memories of the past aren’t just a figment of a child’s crazy imagination. Like, his dirty baseball.

In Episode 4, he continues, “It is commonly thought that witches can see fate, but most witches do not believe in fate. Rather, they mock humans who rely on fate. But when pushed to a corner, they end up playing the “fate” card. Ultimately, fate will not allow itself to follow the witches’ plans.”

For me, this episode spotlights the mystery of the intertwined fates of CH and ST. Just as the voiceover forewarns, the Bad Witch tries to interfere by “playing the ‘fate’ card” when she hands CH the fake ears and tells her about her “fated man.” But even without the Bad Witch’s interference, it’s pretty obvious that the lives of the two characters is intrinsically bound when CH accidentally cuts herself with a knife. Back in his hotel room, ST suddenly hunches over in pain while in the Bad Witch’s pawnshop, a bottle with blue liquid begins to glow.

Then, ST walks to a mirror to study the scar on his right chest. It’s of course significant that the location of his scar is similar to the location of CH’s missing rose tattoo. If he was born a witch, his personal tattoo would have been glowing there too — instead of inside a bottle in a storage room. It must be noted too that the spirit (or whatever) in the blue bottle recognizes CH when she approaches it. To me, her missing rose tattoo, his unexplained scar and the mysterious blue bottle, are three seemingly unconnected elements of the story which foreshadow the twisted fates of CH and ST.

Moreover, the word “fate” is mentioned twice in this 4th Episode.

First, the writer JW thinks it’s fate that he encountered CH on the same bus going home. For him, fate is an accidental meeting.

Then, Secretary Kim mentions “fate” upon seeing CH walking on the crosswalk. He says, “Fate is quite strange, don’t you think? In the past, she would’ve just been one of the many pedestrians. Now she stands out among the crowd.”

Secretary Kim suddenly craves soup-rice after seeing her and envies his boss for being able to eat it anytime he wants. But ST promptly rejects the suggestion that he eats and likes soup-rice — to Secretary Kim’s disbelief. ST becomes defensive and, in a slip of the tongue, denies liking CH, too. As the voiceover narrates at the beginning of this Episode, ST isn’t a great believer of fate like most witches. He openly derides humans like Secretary Kim for believing in such a thing.

But I like Secretary Kim’s suggestion that fate is a conscious awareness of another person’s existence. It serves as a nice contrast to the UNCONSCIOUS way that fate has linked ST to CH’s pain when she cuts herself with the knife, and he doubles up in pain. In that early scene of Episode 4, fate is shown as this unknown, mysterious, nebulous, and uncertain element in life. But in this later scene with Secretary Kim, fate is depicted as a definite awareness of somebody’s presence in one’s life. According to Secretary Kim, ST can’t help being aware of CH’s existence now. Even in a crowd, she stands out.

For me, this neatly explains why JW can’t find her standing in the middle of a busy street despite him having a bird’s eye view of her location. Fate for him is a happenstance, a coincidental meeting, a lucky encounter. There’s a 50-50 chance that he will not find her.

On the other hand, ST easily zooms in on her because fate is like having a built-in radar for spotting her even in a crowd. Again, she stands out and he will find her NO MATTER WHAT. To me, that’s the difference between the two men vying for CH’s heart.

There are other interesting qualities of a witch that fits Director Ma to a T. For instance, after the kiss with CH, Director Ma’s recuperation from the leg/ankle injury speeds up. Not only that, he’s now handsomer, according to the chubby grandmother.

I’ll go over more points some other time…but I’ve to rush this now. My ice cream fix is wearing off.

But of course, I can’t leave without discussing Director Ma/Sung Tae’s nightmare.

I’ll connect it with that scene in Episode 3 when the old grandma describes to Cho Hong the horrifying consequences of losing their witch power.

She says, “You’ll end up in a place that’s darkest and coldest and dirtiest in the world, without even one good memory. You’ll suffer from aching and tormented, hurt and furious, wronged and sad. Only with those memories, you chew on and chew on more. If you knew the reasons why, you wouldn’t be frustrated. You won’t remember why you’re sad, why you’re furious, and who you are or where you are. Was I a witch or a human, or was I an animal? If not that, neither? Without knowing anything, amid only desperate screams and evilness.”

Here, the old grandma is trying to SCARE Cho Hong into guarding her heart well. Cho Hong and the Chubby grandma are made to deliver food to a once-famous opera singer who lost her witch powers because she was stupidly loved a human being.

To me, the interesting point here is if we apply this doomsday scenario to Director Ma losing his witch’s powers when he was a child, then we view his incessant nightmares in a different light.

The poor guy has been in that Witch’s Limbo for the past 25 years!  He’s lost without his memories of his abduction, and he suffers the never-ending images of the raining night, the knife pointed towards his heart, an approaching shadow in a raincoat, and the building with a pointy roof.

The scary scenario of being powerless that Cho Hong was made to witness is IN FACT a real and present crisis for Director Ma.  The terrifying future that CH hopes to avoid by finding her fated man is already the present-day terror that ST has to live with because of that day 25 years ago.

And that’s why I think all those bottles in the Bad Witch’s storeroom are spirits of witches who are also trapped in that Witch’s Limbo.  They saw the spirit of young Sung Tae escape the bottle, and they too are agitating to be let out.

To be continued….