For @agdr03 who drew my attention to the hickey in Episode 19.
I’m trying to remember the last time I saw a hickey on a kdrama. I don’t think I’ve seen one. Have you? Not in Hwayugi. I recall being grossed out by Lee Seunggi slobbering all over that poor girl’s face but I don’t recall her sporting a hickey afterward.
So this is my first Hickey Analysis. Congratulations, show! We’re certifiably crazy about this show that I’ve to stoop to making hickey analysis.
Hey, @phoenix did you notice this? What do you think?
Hmmm… how do we explain that hickey?
a. It’s a bruise, a contusion.
But unlike any other bruises that Weiwei could get from an accident, sports or workplace injury, a hickey is created out of a very private and intimate encounter between Mr. Lips and Ms. Neck. And the result of that secret rendezvous of Mr. Lips and Ms. Neck is a very public and visible purplish blotch on Weiwei’s unblemished skin. Whether he intended to or not,Nai branded her as his girlfriend for the world to see. People who knew the couple would know that they were engaged in necking at the sight of that hickey.
The hickey told us that Nai was sucking on Weiwei’s neck long enough and hard enough, to cause her small blood vessels to burst and her skin to discolor.
See? She couldn’t let her friend Er Xi see that evidence of a passionate interlude. She’ll never be able to live it down.
b. It’s also called a love bite.
In a consensual relationship (I’ve to add that qualifier in this age of #metoo), the receiver of the kiss, or hickee, would have agree to be kissed like that.
This gif is plain ordinary necking. The guy’s lips are roaming around her neck.
In a hickey, however, the hickee would have to sucked hard on the same area for about 10 to 30 seconds. Do you want to know how long 10 minutes is? Set the timer and suck the back of your hand for 10 seconds.
Now imagine that sucking motion applied to your neck. Your neck is an erogenous zone. It’s soft, sensitive and ticklish…like a cat.
This cat.
Do you see what I mean? The main point of Weiwei’s hickey is that she stood still for it. lol. The fact that the purple mark existed tells me that Weiwei didn’t shy away or move away when he kissed her in her hot spot.
Now, many viewers gave the character Weiwei (or the actress) a bad rap for being motionless. I’ll explain my take on this on another post.
For now, all I can say this: viewers often missed the DELICIOUS element of being motionless.
Sometimes staying motionless and fighting the body’s need to move, clench, clasp, embrace, moan, and essentially, REACT to the sensory stimuli and the sensuality of moment, is sexiness in itself. A great actor can convey eroticism (or orgasm, for that matter, lol) without eight arms flailing like an octopus. But there lots of stinky actors who can’t project sexy even with full frontal nudity.
lol. Do you want me to explain further? Let me digress then.
Standing motionless is a seduction game. A girl can dare a guy to make her lose her head and scream, and the guy won’t be able to resist the challenge. The more she keeps quiet and resists him, the more he tries to seduce her.
Look: if I were Nai, and Weiwei stood still in front of me, almost nose-to-nose, and looked at me straight in the eyes, then lowered her gaze to my lips, and held her breath, or bit her lips or blushed, I would consider her body language as tempting.
I would hold back a smile, and think, “Okay, Weiwei. Let’s see how long you can resist if I do this…or this…or thiss…” The more she held herself back and pretended to be unmoved (or motionless, lol), the more I would provoke and tease her.” Two can play this game.
Do you see what I mean?
By the way, how come I know this? Simple. My generation of women was part of that whole sexual revolution and movement to influence and change social norms. So I don’t care if shut-shame me.
To me, that’s the whole point of that weird fantasy/seduction scene in Episode 18. To me, it wasn’t stupid and it helped me understand what Weiwei was going through. It’s clear that Weiwei doesn’t grasp her sexual and emotional changes and her dream reflects her confusion.
If you notice, Weiwei’s fantasy is SEDUCTION. She fantasizes about seducing Nai. She literally dreams about it. The title of the script in her dreams is a giveaway, “Seducing the Despotic Company President.”
Unconsciously, her mind uses a “script” as a pretext to seduce him. In her dream, she HAS no choice but to seduce her boss Nai because she’s ordered to do so by the director. lol. That virgin/whore dichotomy strikes again! She isn’t a bad girl because she’s only told to do something bad, and her obedience to the command makes her good.
Anyway, her mind rewinds and replays their encounter in his office when he kissed her against the wall, and she was too shy to respond.
In her dream, however, it’s reversed. She now holds the power over him as she’s the one who instigates the flirtation. She wears her red dress and, while lounging at the door, she issues her come-hither invitation. “Mr. Xiao, I heard you were hiring interns. Do you think I’m a good fit?” And he replies, “I’ll have to try to find out.”
lol. In her dream, she seduces Nai to approach her and kiss her against the wall. When she successfully entices him, the director calls “cut!” and praises them for a fine performance. Weiwei then wakes up from her fantasy, smiling.
When she realizes that she dreamt about seducing Nai, she was utterly embarrassed.
To me, her dream also demonstrates her REPRESSION. In the office when she kissed him, she suppressed her desire to return the kiss for a variety of reasons: her shyness, her halitosis (lol) and the awkward time and place. Then in her dream state, her inhibitions resurfaces. In her sleep, her repressed feelings come out and she relives that embarrassing moment.
However, this time, she’s takes charge of her inhibition. Her unconscious mind “corrects” her kiss encounter with Nai.
She couldn’t kiss him in the privacy of his office, and she couldn’t kiss him out in the streets in public out of fear of other people witnessing them. But in her sleep, she conquers both her inhibitions by kissing him in the office, in full and public view of the production crew filming their kiss. lol. Did you see that?
It’s funny that in her dream, she loses her inhibitions and becomes an exhibitionist of sorts.
In sum, she fantasizes about seduction but she represses her desire as unacceptable and embarrassing for a young lady like her.
Ahem. Just so you’ll know: being pushed up against a wall and restrained are common scenes in erotica. Why? Look it up if you want to. I’m not going to tell you. pwahahaha.
Now, that’s my interpretation of the dream sequence, let’s get back to the hickey.
c. It’s a badge of honor. Wear it with pride! lol.
I wasn’t surprised that Weiwei knew she had a hickey even before she saw herself in the bathroom mirror. She was covering her neck with the blanket when Er Xi knocked on the door, then her palm covered it when she went to the bathroom. She knew it was there because she remembered being kissed and the spot was still tender.
She saw the hickey as a stigma but I would have advised her not to be ashamed nor stressed out about it. I would have shown her how to have fun with it, like draw a red heart with an arrow through it to show the dateless that she had been kissed passionately by her handsome boyfriend.
She could also lie and say that she burned herself accidentally with her curling iron.
She could brag and say that Nai only cared enough to send the very best…of kisses. She could blame the vacuum cleaner; it got caught on her neck while she was cleaning Xiaoling’s apartment.
She could brazen it out and say that it was a special birthmark that appeared during her allergies. She could flaunt it and say that it was a new neck accessory; Nai promised to give her matching one, on the other side of her neck, on their next date.
Eat Suck your heart out, world!
Besides a hickey lasts only a few days unlike those stupid tattoos with your boyfriend’s name on it. Hickeys >>>> tattoos
Seriously now, for Weiwei, it’s a sign of her trust in him. Nobody exposes her vulnerable neck for sucking on unless she explicitly trusts him not to hurt her. (Think of vampires and Robert Pattinson’s Edward from that Twilight series.)
As for the hicker or sucker Nai, the hickey can be viewed as a branding. Nai isn’t embarrassed to tell the world that she’s his girl. “Don’t touch! She’s mine.”
But most importantly, the hickey is a sign of his being in an altered state. Her neck was so yummy that in the heat and height of passion, Nai forgot himself.
And that is the real reason, @agdr03, that I’m gobsmacked about this hickey. Considering how aloof, self-contained, self-conscious, self-possessed, self-aware, and self-whatever this Nai is, he totally lost his head while he was kissing her.
My brain short-circuited while reading that post!! I need some fresh air before i can process this **fans self**😉😉😉
@packmule3 I did notice that mark on her neck and her covering it up before her friend noticed it, but failed to make the connection to a love bite till you ladies pointed it out. I didn’t understand the significance because I had never seen such a thing in kdramas before and also, how shall I put it, because of lack of experience in hickeys **ahem ahem**.
I love your analysis of how Weiwei had to “stay motionless and fighting the body’s urge to move” for 10-30 seconds to get a hickey. And also the implication that Weiwei made Nai lose his uber self-control for long enough ! Hence he says in that ppst-bite sequence and she makes him super smooth in seduction techniques.
The significance of being restrained against the wall and kissed.. hmm..*lets imagination run wild**
I’m beginning to think that I need to gain some more in-depth experience, purely for drama analysis purposes 😈😈😈
What Xiao Nai did to Weiwei was a TEXTBOOK kiss against-the-wall.
It IS SUPPOSED to be an aggressive move because the man is “caging” the woman so she can’t move. Of course, in a loving relationship, the girl has no fear that he’s going to hurt. But the kiss is about yielding control. The girl wants to feel the guy be in control of her. The kiss can rapidly go from zero-to-passionate in a few seconds. (And they start taking off clothes. pwahahahaha.)
But it’s also hot when the woman reverses the role and she’s the one who’s pushing the guy against the wall. 😉
As for the hickeys…I figured you didn’t know about it because you’re not perverted like me and @agdr03. I was about to comment as soon as I saw it (like “Stop the presses! We got a big scoop here”). It was so unexpected and it cracked me. But @agdr03 beat me to it.
And as mother of boys, I can tell you, too that girls can give boys hickeys, too, lol. 😀
Ha! @packmule3 you are giving me ideas 🤔🤔😜😜
Maybe we should change the title of this post to: Love O2O for educational purposes 😝😝😝
I’m perfectly fine with the tag of perverted butch, provided I get to try my experiments on Yang Yang🤣🤣
So rewatched Ep.19 on YouTube and noticed for the first time that XN wore the clothes he gave WW to wear at his place to work the next day. OMG! Indirect I don’t know what to call it? Kind of sexy to me though. Don’t know how I missed that the first time. Between that and the fact that WW has a hickey-just what exactly did those 2 get up to during the night? 🙂 I was pretty surprised to see WW with that hickey when I watched the drama, since most Korean dramas (and Chinese dramas too, really) are pretty low key when it comes to portraying sexual moments. I don’t know but I think there’s something really overtly sexual about hickeys. I think the hickey scene is in the source novel (and I believe the “making of” is included there as well as the “morning after) so I’m glad they included it here in the drama as it shows how WW is growing closer to XN and more comfortable with the physical side of their relationship.
Good evening Ladies! 🙂
Firstly, thank you @packmule3 😘 for this detailed analysis of a hickey. I love it! I can just imagine XN actually giving it to WW, my mind is in ecstasy! 😉 I believe your right that this is the first time we have seen it in a drama. I don’t remember ever seeing it in kdramas. I am glad that WW had that dream because her thinking was giving her away. For example, she didn’t want to swim with XN, she just wanted to admire her boyfriend in swimmers.😄 But really I think she’s thinking too that she might not be able to control herself once she see’s his body. LOL! As I would too! She ended up swimming anyway but they just didn’t show it. Mind you though, I am one of those that saved themselves for marriage. Glad to know that XN did have self control. Thought it was cute when he asked ‘when are you going to let me graduate? My self control?’ 🤣
I love that XN always takes the lead especially the physical side, I just find it hot when he says ‘Erxi will be in the way’ or ‘we might not have time by ourselves for 2 days’ so he proceeds to kiss her or ‘who says I’m sleeping in the couch?’. 😍
Secondly, I did noticed that too @Table122000 ! XN wearing the same shirt that he gave to WW to change into. I just forgot to mention it and I did rewind it too just to make sure I was not seeing things 🙂 It was not enough that he gave her a hickey etc but he just had to have her scent on him too! This guy! 😀
Thirdly, I’m not sure how I would react if my boys have a hickey one day! LOL! How did you react? 🙂 Did you just not comment?
lol. We all noticed that he recycled his shirt. Weird guy. That’s why I told you about the “branding” when discussing hickeys, I was going to link it to the shirt. These are all part and parcel of “ownership.”
I’ve said this before in another post: dogs mark their territories when they piss on fire hydrants, trees, lampposts. They leave their smell so the other neighborhood dogs will know that they’ve claimed that spot. Now, when they return to the spot again the following day, they’ll sniff to get an “update.”
hahahaha. What other kdrama blog discusses dog’s peeing habits?
Anyway, romance writers SHOULD — especially this Love O2O writer would know — about a couple’s need to stake a claim. Xaio Nai’s been pretty consistent in his behavior. There’s a recognizable pattern, in fact.
Starting from Episode 10, when he revealed himself to her, he’s insisted on being acknowledged as THE man in her life. Hence, the bike ride through the campus, the gym “declaration”, introduction to his friends. He wanted it known to all and sundry that he was her guy.
Then starting Episode 17, he ESCALATED this “claim of ownership” into the more physical and intimate aspects of their couplehood. He was no longer as concerned about the public acceptance of their status but HER own acceptance of their status as a couple.
So, we have the kissing in the privacy of his office, kissing her in public, bringing her home when she got caught in the rain buying medicine, drying her hair (really? she can’t do that??), giving her a hickey, lending her his clothes (and recycling his clothes the following day), driving her to and fro, offering to accompany her to buy a swimsuit (hahahahahahaha NO), telling her to stay at his house (and being pleased about that idea), asking her to look for his swim trunks, borrowing her from Ashung to work on his project, and so forth,
to the normal viewers, these are JUST swoon-worthy behaviors.
But, to me, since I’m studying his personality and behavior, he’s becoming more intense in staking a claim on her. He’s “leveling” up his game. If this were a military campaign, he’d already entered his enemy’s territory by Episode 10, and now he’s storming the castle for the invasion from Episode 17 onward.
She’s his woman to protect, cherish. And you and I know that he’s a possessive guy, indeed. His big problem is he’s in denial. lol.
But for me, His “possessiveness” is so far tolerable because he does allow her freedom. But if you notice, whenever she falters, gets sick, gets lost, gets harassed, gets rained on, and whatever, he’s IMMEDIATELY at her side to pick her up and boost her.
Why?
Because all along, he’s ON HIS WAY to get her. Or he’s only a couple of steps behind her. Or he’s already working on a contingency plan to bail her out. He’s her parachute.
Gotta run and finish watching the Ep 24.
‘Anyway, romance writers SHOULD — especially this Love O2O writer would know — about a couple’s need to stake a claim. Xaio Nai’s been pretty consistent in his behavior. There’s a recognizable pattern, in fact.’
XN’s feelings for WeiWei has never wavered/faltered right from the word go. 🙂 He’s always there to catch her, to listen to her and to support her. I like that, her parachute. 😍
His jealousy is cute like in that buying a suit scene. He said he has plenty but when WeiWei said K.O. is handsome in his suit, XN had to try on one and buy it! OMG! No competition whatsoever! 😃
I’m not there yet. I’m on Episode 25 now. 🙂
Hey, do you want to be my partner for this soompi game and post our answers later?
https://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/431751-anti-love-game/?do=findComment&comment=21412445
I think I got all the answers, but go ahead and check and tell me what you think.
I’m trying to look for @nrllee, too.
I had a quick look girlfriend, looks fun but I’m not sure I’ll be of help to you because I haven’t really seen a lot of dramas and my memory at most is about 40%? LOL! I can try though but I’m not confident.
I don’t want to let you down even if it’s just a game 🙂 I think @nrllee is much better at those 🙂
Ohhhh episode 25, your getting there! 🙂
I’m halfway through Ep 25.
Okay. I wanted to know who’s obsessive enough to play this game. Let me ask @nrllee. She likes to do research. lol.
I was curious about the game you mentioned. Here are my guesses for the game. Feel free to use them;
#1-SecretForest
#2-Chicago Typewriter?
#3-Save Me
#4- Mad Dog
😂 I already posted my answers. Posted them before going to bed, and before seeing this. 🤦♀️
We got 1, 3, and 4 correct but not 2. Chicago Typewriter was going to be answer too but I thought the whole point of this contest was NOT to have dramas about love and CT was basically a love story bridging time.
The answer I posted was “Our Happy Ending.”
I knew it was going to be the wrong answer when I posted it because it’s a 2008 kdrama. Nobody’s going to hear of that! And I doubt the mods who made the questions were going to be that witty. But who cares? I’ve to think outside the box. 😂
https://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/431751-anti-love-game/?do=findComment&comment=21412657
Do you want to be my anti-valentine? I still don’t have a partner. We can discuss our answers here before posting over there.
Good morning! Sorry for butting in, why don’t we just discuss it as a group here before you post the answer? 😊 Does it need to be just 2 people? 😬
I’ve finished episode 30. 😍☺️ First thoughts were – there’s a few grabbing scenes there, cute conversation about having a son instead of a daughter, definitely a hungry wolf and different subs.
I want to explain in details but my mind and body have given up on the late nights 😂 I’ll explain tomorrow.
What a way to finish the show. Right where it all started. First and forever love wins! 😊
Have a good day everyone!
You finished it?! Awesome! I already watched the ending, remember? To check if there’s an AGREEABLE ending. 😂
I’m wary of Yang Yang’s other dramas. He might not be as swoon worthy as this one. I want him stuck in my head as Xiao Nai just like Colin Firth is Mr Darcy for me.
I don’t know how many people. It’s a Valentine’s Day contest so I’m assuming it’s for two. But the funny thing is I’ve already been rejected by two (three, if I count you) people. 😂😍 It would be funny if this became a running joke: how I couldn’t find a partner and I kept asking people till on the final day of the contest. 😂🤪😂😆
Then on Valentine’s day, it’s going to be my “Single Awareness Day” or “Couple Emancipation Day” or “‘Down With Love!!’ Day.”
hey @packmule!
Sure, I’ll be your partner for the contest. Sounds like fun! Or we can all do it, like @agdr says.
I’ll take a look at the questions for today and post my guesses here.
Awesome! Thanks!
Working late tonight. So I appreciate your help!! And @agdr03’s too. 🙂
Will take a look at it when I get home ~ 10pm EST.
Soompi Anti Love Game Day 3 My Guesses:
#1 Ms. Hammurabi? or Judge Vs. Judge?- this one I’m stumped on.
#2 Switch ( The other twin legal drama Your Honor had a romance with kissing)
#3 Mother
#4 Heart Surgeons
I enjoyed episode 30. It was awesome! 😍😉
I got caught out with the subs in Netflix, it was the conversation about the sexagenarian. I’ve never heard it before so I had to check the meaning, thought it was something else judging by the first 3 letters 😂 So now I know what it means.
I’m going to rewatch it because I want to list all the the swoon worthy lines of Xiao Nai. 😍
I am hesitant in watching other YangYang series too because of that same reason, but I found the series of him and Zheng Shuang called Divas Hit The Road. It’s a group of 8?people and they travel. I only watched episode 1 and after that I couldn’t find English subs of the next episode.
Anyway I’ll let you know once I’m ready to move on 😉
I’m not moving on. I’m savoring this cdrama.
I told @nrllee that I promised to do at least 10 more posts on this drama (like the Twelve Days of “Fluttering Alert”). But let me catch a few more Zzzzs 😴. It’s only 5am here and I forgot to silence my phone before going to bed last night. Wenchateur’s posts sounded multiple chimes to alert me of incoming comments, and woke me up. 😂 If he lives in France, he’s 6 hours ahead. 😆🤦♀️😆
Ooops, a very early morning to you! 😃
Oooohhh really? 😍 Like the Twelve Days of Fluttering Alert? Then you’ve got company! 😉
It is very hard to move on isn’t it? YangYang is imprinted in my mind now 😂
Let’s keep enjoying this series then 😍
Bring it on! 🙌🏻
I completely agree with you ladies🙌🙌
I’m not ready to move on either😅. In fact, I don’t think I can tolerate watching any other leading man for some time. I’m going to re-watch swoon-worthy episodes of Love O2O while writing that post on the incomparable Xiao Nai😍😍😍..and I’ll keep stalking this blog for more of @packmule3’s Love O2O insights😁
In fact, Xiao Nai’s always on my mind**like that song**. Today I was standing in a line in the cafeteria counter at work and was reminded of Xiao Nai coming all the way to Weiwei’s cafeteria just to see her**sigh**
After that, of course, I spent whole of lunch time re-watching that episode and smiling insanely😛..and when people around me were giving weird looks, I was tempted to show them the middle finger and recite Right #8: Right to watch K-drama/C-drama in public places without fear of censure from nosy people trying to look over my shoulders😎😎😎
Pingback: Love O2O: Ep 19 Serial Hopper – Bitches Over Dramas
Pingback: Love O2O: Ep 18 Highlights – Bitches Over Dramas
This analysis is simply amazing! Hehe! When they showed Weiwei being all panick-y about something on his neck. I realized it’s a love bite but mannn we were robbed of that scene. I cannot wrap my head around that happening after she changed to his clothes… Like… Exactly when?! Drama should have given us more. Hehe!