From the start, I believed that a theme of this kdrama would Seri’s choice…and I didn’t mean the brand name.
From my first post on CLoY:
To me, then, that will be the crux of this kdrama: her choices. For her, it’s always been important that she makes her own decisions based on what’s good and beneficial for her in the long run. As we’ve seen, she’s goal-oriented and success-driven. But when she inevitably falls in love with Jung Hyun, she’ll have to cast away her preconditions and negotiations because none will work in their situation. A relationship with him will require her to be selfless.
This picture represented her old way of decision-making.
She made choices based on what she deemed would be beneficial, expedient, and profitable (because she has a capitalist heart) for her. She was someone used to calling the shots in a tough competitive environment.
She was the only one with the stamina.
This picture, on the other hand, represented her new decision-making process. From this time on, she’d have to think of JungHyuk, too.
I liked the way that Gwangbum the Handsome insisted that she leave for the airport right away.
One.
But she asked for the keys so she could drive them.
Two.
But she demanded to know where the nearest hospital.
Three.
But she asked for the directions to the hospital.
Four.
But she rammed through the road blocks anyway like in “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Five.
But she stayed so she could donate blood.
Each time she was told to go, she chose to stay. She acted with full cognizance of the repercussion of her decision to stay.
But I want to ask you this: did she really have a choice here? did she really make a choice?
I say no. Because she cared for him, she had no choice. What she had was only an ILLUSION of choice. At first blush, it would look like she had five chances to leave for the airport. But in reality, there was no way she could up and leave JungHyuk while he was in that condition. Because she cared for him, there’s only one thing she could do: stand guard over him.
Seri’s choice was crystal clear as soon as JungHyuk was shot.
She realized then that her relationship with him had entered a new phase. Even though he couldn’t hear her confession, she owned up to it.
Seri: JungHyuk. I am not used to things like this. I have only been loving myself and hating myself. And I’ve only been protecting myself and neglecting myself. All I had was myself. I had no one else.
It’s understandable that, as a lone wolf, she only had to worry about her self-interest and her self-preservation. Hence, she said that she only had herself to love and protect. But what did she mean that she’d only been hating herself and neglecting herself? To me, it meant that she’d been hard on herself all this time, because there was no one else to rely on.
Seri: (continuing) So this is awkward for me. Having someone other than myself. You look at me, listened to me, smiled at me, ate with me, kept the promise, even if we didn’t make any contract, to protect me. You did all those things. All along I had you by my side. I usually don’t get scared but now I’m scared. I’m scared something might happen to you. Does this mean you have become a special person to me?
Here, she was confessing that although she liked having him at her side, she was also aware that she’d become vulnerable. She’d have to worry about his welfare, too. Whereas before she only had to think of one person, now she must think of two.
When JungHyuk woke up, his initial reaction when he saw her there in the room with him was anger. He thought that she’d missed the flight on some flimsy excuse. But he soon discovered that she’d made a sacrifice for him.
JH: You wanted to go home so badly. You should have just left.
She stared at him for a second before answering him. Without realizing it, they were talking at cross-purposes here. She thought he wanted her gone because she was endangering him and his men when in fact he wanted her gone because he knew that she wanted to go home badly.
SR: I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I told you. For once, I had to protect you too.
SR: Stop looking at me with such wistful eyes.
JH: Don’t misunderstand me. I’m just looking.
SR: No, you’re not. For a second, your eyes were so very wistful. See? Even now, you’re looking at me with those wistful eyes.
And he kissed her.
Trope alert: Do you see how the lights are blurred behind them? This is called the “bokeh” effect. The cinematographer does this to “prettify” a kiss and serve like a background for the real subject of the shot: the couple kissing.
Now, let’s do a kiss analysis, okay? 🙂
I don’t mean an analysis of the mechanics of the kiss, but an analysis of the reasons for the kiss. I’ll make a short list. Of course, since this is kdrama, I’m going to cross off sex. He didn’t kiss her because he wanted to initiate sex with her. Ha! That kind of scenario happens only in Hollywood.
I say that he kissed her for a combination of reasons,
A) he wanted to show his tenderness for this very mixed-up girl,
B) he wanted to comfort her because she was crying over him,
C) he wanted to say sorry for unfairly getting angry at her,
D) he wanted to express his gratitude for her saving him, and
E) he wanted to reassure her that he returned her feelings.
Now, I’m sure reasons A to D are all self-explanatory, so I’ll skip them and go to reason E. He kissed her because he understood what she was going through.
She said that she couldn’t leave him even if she wanted to, and that she needed to protect him this time. This was how he had felt, too, when he protected her from the trucks of doom and risked his own life.
For Seri, however, her confession sounded awkward. She looked self-conscious as she said it. For someone who thought she always had choices, she was admitting that she really did NOT have any choice but to stay by his side.
Now, since he was studying her face, it was evident to him that she wasn’t ready yet to admit to these emotions. For one, she was unaccustomed to her newfound protective instinct since she never had to care for anyone else other than herself. For another, she assumed that he would find her attention bothersome.
But he understood her. Before she even expressed it, he knew that she wanted to protect him because she cared for him, in the same way that he had wanted to protect her because he’d fallen for her.
And that’s why he kissed her: to let her know that he felt the same way about her. 🙂
Later on, she told him not to do any heroics for her.
SR: Tell me. Did you fail to dodge? (turning her back on her) Did you?
JH: I didn’t try to dodge.
SR: Why not?
JH: Had I dodge, you would have gotten shot.
SR: I’m touched. It’s just like a movie. But don’t do that from now on. I doubt we will face such a situation again. Even if we do, don’t even try to look cool. And dodge.
JH: The same goes for you. If something like this happens again, don’t stay behind because of me. Just go.
SR: You always have to have the last word.
JH: I mean it. To think that you could have gone back to Seoul makes my heart ache.
They’re telling each other not to perform any heroics next time, and to save himself/herself first. But we know that sacrificial love is mandatory in kdramas. Especially in this kdrama, it’s rather pointless to order JungHyuk to save himself first when we already saw him take a bullet for her?
In the next episode, JungHyuk told his fiancée, Seo Dan, that he’d risk even death to get Seri back home.
Dan: You might end up losing everything trying to hide her. It means she might even kill you. Is that okay with you?
JH: To be honest. I don’t want to get killed. Who would want to die? But I just have no choice.
Dan: What do you mean?
JH: I’ve already failed to protect someone whom I cared for the most in the world, ended up losing that person.
His brother.
JH: It would’ve been better to die.
Dan: So?
JH: I have to send her back home safely. Even if something happens to me along the way, I just think I can’t help it.
There.
Do you see what he did there?
He echoed what Seri said earlier about not having a choice. She said she wanted to leave but she couldn’t, because she had to protect him. For JungHyuk, of course, he wanted to live, but he had to protect her — or die trying to protect her.
Let me pause for a second here.
Now, this intrigues me: this notion that JungHyuk and Seri have no choice because they love each other. I’ve always thought of love as a choice. You choose to love someone or not. You choose this love this one fish out of so many fish in the pond. You choose to stay or end a relationship.
And now, here are Seri and JungHyuk saying that they don’t have much choice in the matter. They’re just acting on their a) primal instincts, b) their emotions for each other, c) moral imperative to do the right thing and protect the weak, and d) a combination of everything.
And their argument makes sense, too, doesn’t it? Love is indeed a choice…but sometimes love leaves lovers no choice.
That’s why he went to rescue Seri at SungJoon’s lodge. I like that emotionally-charged scene.
SR: What are you doing here now?
JH: Are you hurt?
SR: You’re in no position to worry about others. This is ridiculous. Do you think a gunshot wound is a joke? Did you not hear your doctor? He said you had to be careful for two to four weeks.
Good job, writer.
This is how an anxious person reacts: she gets mad when she sees her loved one endangered. The anxiety combines with frustration, and manifests itself as anger.
In this scene, Seri had just been informed by SungJoon about Dan’s reprisal. Seri was angry that JungHyuk was placing himself in real danger when he rescued her, but she was powerless to protect him from that danger. That’s why she was mad with him.
SR: (continuing) Why did you come here at this hour when it’s freezing out here? What on earth are you doing here?
JH: Must you ask? I came for you. I figured you’d be waiting for me.
Ha! I guess I’ll have to file this scene under “Love-means-you-have-no-choice.”
But as soon as he left, she started worrying again. “It’s freezing cold. It’s so cold. He’s all by himself. What if he passes out by himself on the way back? What if then. Oh gosh this is driving me crazy. What should I do?”
It was a no-brainer that she chased after him in the blizzard. Remember now, the mantra in this kdrama is “Love means you have no choice.”
When she caught up, she invited him back in the car. “Get in the car for now. I’ll give you a ride.”
He looked at her then pulled her into a hug. And she hugged him back. Then, she pulled away, saying, “Let me go. I didn’t come for this.” He just hugged her again and she had her arms around him.
Now, do you know why this scene feels oddly familiar?
Because it’s a repeat of the hospital kiss. The emotions are the same. The motive is the same. The outcome is the same. It’s just the weather conditions that have changed. That time, it was pouring rain. Now, it’s snowing hard.
So, I’ll just repeat what I said, too —
Seri sounded awkward again. She looked subdued. For someone who’d been berating him a few moments ago and ordering him to let her go with SungJoon in peace, she came after him.
But since he was studying her face again, it was evident to him that she still wasn’t ready to admit her real feelings. She had no choice but to go after him.
But he understood her. Before she even expressed it, he knew that she wanted to protect him because she cared for him, in the same way that he came after her even in his physical state. He wanted to protect her so he ran after her.
And that’s why he hugged her: to let her know that he felt the same way about her.
🙂
I like a man who needs no words. Don’t you?
Yes!
Nice analysis @pkml3!
Packmule, wow, just wow! What an amazing analysis!
I am a teacher by day and a mom by night and it’s marking and report card season in our corner of the world (East Asia). Your analyses and beautiful writing touches a chord deep within me and keeps me going. Thank you!
I concur with your analysis that JH understands how SR truly feels. Such a contrast to the end of episode 6 when she asked for a hug and he only allowed himself to give her a handshake.
As a first time Kdrama fan CLoY (plus your fantastic analyses) has opened a new world of entertainment for me.
I really hope this series has a happy ending of their reunion in Switzerland since I’m too emotionally attached to the SR/JH couple. From the teasers I’ve seen on Swoon and Tvn’s Insta feeds it looks like they end up for good in Switzerland, JH with his hair swept up, perhaps a few years down the road. I’m also guessing they will need to be separated first, SY back to SK and JH in North Korea…
Look forward joining this group to reflect about the rest of this drama!
P.S. Glad you are feeling better! About dragonfruit, the purple ones are much tastier. They are sweeter and have more flavor. I use them as a natural dye. Just put some in the blender and just the purple dragonfruit juice to make pink cupcakes, cakes, bread, shakes, mochi, mashed potatoes–you name it! 🙂
I stumbled upon your blog by accident. Now, I am always looking forward to reading your posts. Your analyses are insightful. They add an additional, significant dimension to drama viewing because they add meanings to the content in two ways: (1) bring our attention to dialogues that are easily ignored or taken at face value, and (2) provide a cohesive “framework” to understand how and why decisions are made and actions are taken. The viewing of this drama is made immensely more pleasurable with your analyses. Thank you!
p.s. Comments to your posts are also quite fun to read.
I just so loved the scene when he asked her simply “Do you mean it?”, after telling him her plan to return to South Korea with the con man. But this man can walk away from her, knowing she can go home.
My heart dropped after this scene …
Now, it is yet to be determined where home is for her.
Aye, is altruism a choice? Before he took a bullet for someone he loved, JH hid an unknown girl from the authorities of his country at a great peesonal risk. Taking death instead of someone you love would probably fall lesser on the “self less” spectrum? Like JH himself puts it, it would have been better to die for who wants to live in a world where that person doesn’t exist? “Love” in the romantic sense of meaning is probably more of a choice in comparison to altruism so deeply ingrained that the debate is whether it’s in our genes… So much so that “surviver guilt” is actually a phenomenon in the human world.
*personal not peesonal 🙄 where is auto correct when you need it?
And oh yes! Please ! to a man who needs no words. In real life, One is always exhausted by continuously having to explain what one feels to one’s man. Even when that man is a nice, broadly sensitive, loving individual. 🤦
Thanks. The dialogues are interesting to dissect. And I think they make a good starting point for analysis than “feelings.” Anybody can write about how they feel about a scene, and they’re probably more in tune with their inner “feelings” that I am. I cannot make you FEEL what I feel but I can make you see what I see.
And yes… the comment section is a blast to read, isn’t it. The posters here have provided many insightful and funny comments. I apologize that I can’t respond to all them and I can’t welcome all the newcomers. I don’t carry my personal phone with me all the time so I don’t access my own wordpress account.
Ah the dragonfruit. I don’t how my husband peeled it. I woke up last Sunday, and he’d already chopped it up…along with that pesky pineapple (He probably got tired of waiting for me to deal with them.) @grace and @ nrllee said it would taste bland, but I really could tell because my bad cold. I saved some of it for my salad during lunch, and I poured mango vinaigrette over it. So, if I’m going to Proust-ian about this, dragonfruit will taste like mango in the recesses of my memories. pwahahaha.
Anyway, Switzerland does seem like a terminus for this kdrama. I’m sure you all know that the Kim Jong-Un studied in Switzerland for about 4? 5? years. In the late 1990s, when he was ~12 to 15 years old. I’d like to think that he’s watching this kdrama himself.
Hats off! Your blogs never fail to entertain and make me think and rethink 😊😊😊 it makes me understand and appreciate better the scenes, gestures and the drama all in all! Thank you!
“Love means you have no choice”
Hmm… I would still like to think we have to decide. I guess it depends on what your definition of “love” is. If it’s just the “feeling” and you run with it, like it’s reflexive and knee jerk (and doesn’t actually bypass your brain) and primal, then yes. Once “love” takes hold, you pretty much have to just go with it. It’s a “no brainer”. Is altruism so ingrained in us that we love out of instinct? Are we by nature kind? My worldview says we are not. It’s counterintuitive. I have to teach my children to “be kind”. If it’s innate I would have to do no such thing. Is “Love” a noun or a verb? Maybe both? You are IN love, but you choose to STAY IN love and act within the realms of love so defined. To remove choice in the matter takes out the act of the will. I think most married couples would attest to the fact that “falling in love” is easy but “staying in love” is hard.
JH, “It’s better to die because I don’t want to live in a world where SR doesn’t exist?” – isn’t that inherently selfish? I can’t live by myself (or with myself) without this other person so I would rather die? Wouldn’t that motivation be one of self preservation/protection (I can’t live with myself – avoiding survivor guilt) rather than the greater choice of dying for the sake the other’s good? 🤔
Frankly, I’m on the “Love means ‘I have options'” party. My bitch side demands that I have a say in every step of the relationship, from where to put the bed in the bedroom, what stocks to invest in, which cars to buy, how often we see our in-laws, when to go on vacation. who will put out the trash. My husband is a martyr for putting up with me.
That’s why it took me a while to write that post. I was trying to shoehorn in my worldview into the story, and pass it off as the writer’s. But as you can see from the dialogues, it doesn’t work — as it stands in Episodes 7 and 8. She cares for him so she can’t leave him. She has no choice but to stay there. Same with him. He wants to protect her so he’ll do anything to protect her. No matter what. He has no choice. I didn’t say those; those were their words.
So I’m willing to give the writer the benefit of the doubt. Although it doesn’t fit with my worldview, I’m willing to wait and see where she intends to go with this angle, and whether it works out in the end.
Anyway, without being too “philosophical” about this… this “illusion of choice” is actually NOT unique; it’s NOT uncommon, and it doesn’t have to about love. It’s called Hobson’s choice.
For instance, I must be on 7am flight to New York. My secretary tells me however that it’s fully booked; no seats are available except for this middle row seat in the last row of plane near the toilets. Would I like to take that seat? It would seem like I have choice there. To buy that seat or not buy that seat. But if I must be on that 7am flight, I really have no choice then.
In chess, too, there’s a “forced move.” When a king is in check, it has no choice but to defend itself. It cannot simply ignore the threat and move another piece…unless moving that other piece results into removal of the threat.
Same with impending natural disaster (like hurricane) or national emergency. There’s going to be a forced evacuation. Although the police isn’t going to forcibly remove you from your home, there’s really no choice but to leave all your belongings and go. It frustrates me when people insist on staying home, and then they end up needing to be rescued.
But I digress…
there are dire and grave situations were all options are off-the-table except for one: survival. And I think that is what the writer is trying to say here. It’s easy to talk about having options and making choices when a life is not on the line. From the safety on my home, I can ponder about my choices, instinct, altruism or nature vs nurture. But if, for instance, I was about to fall down the stairs while carrying my baby, you betcha I’m not going to care about my broken bones or my concussion. Protecting my baby would be the only thought in my mind. And to attribute this fierce protection to primitive instincts or altruism is underestimating the virtues of maternal love. 🙂
Yes for sure @packmule3. To be fair, I think here the choices they face are of the extreme kind (life and death, not just parting for a short duration but potentially for life), so I would give the writer the benefit of the doubt. It’s not a “normal” humdrum day to day living sort of choice. Personally I much prefer his little acts of kindness and thoughtfulness towards her – the candle, his patience when dealing with her incessant phone calls and ramblings, buying her shampoo, brassiere (😂 he obviously had zero idea), making her breakfast. Little “mundane” choices that he made for her good. That speaks more of love to me than taking a bullet for her.
same here. I’m sure when this is over and I reflect on the scenes I find memorable, it’ll be exactly those scenes you mentioned: the candle, the phone calls to his office, him remembering to buy her shampoo, conditioner and bodywash, the coffee!!!, and stuff.
Not the motorcycle scene. Taking a bullet for her was sooooo trope-y. It reminded me of that song by Bruno Mars, “Grenade.”
I’d catch a grenade for you
Throw my head on a blade for you (what??)
I’d jump in front of a train for you
You know I’d do anything for you
I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes I would die for you baby
That whole premise sounds silly and over-the-top even as I’m typing the lyrics. lol.
@nrllee yes, if you said altruism is not genetic and a choice, you’d be equally right. It’s still a debate whether it’s an innate behavior or we’re socialized into it. I don’t have an opinion here because it’s not an area of my academic expertise.
I also agree with you that it’s counterintuitive and illogical. That’s what makes it so fascinating. Why do humans make such strange, illogical choices when faced with dire circumstances (the life and death kind as you and pm3 have rightly noted)?
@pm3 As you may already know, maternal behaviors are not included in altruism. 🙂 They are governed by different mechanisms. I meant altruism only in the sense of romantic love between two adults or not. Maternal love tends to be a sensitive area where one can argue both philosophically or in a pure biological sense. In the latter, it is not seen as unique to humans (unlike altruism), common in nature, essential to survival of a species and having a neurochemical basis. But it really depends on your perception and your choice 😌 I once risked getting my head bitten off by my cousin when I suggested role of Oxytocin in maternal love to her. She was very upset that I thought “some chemical” is responsible for mother’s love. Needless to say,that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean to “degrade” maternal love to some chemistry. I’m a mother myself and I know what it takes to love beyond self. I merely wanted to suggest biological basis to the phenomenon.
However, some opinions tend to make people more upset than others. For example, Richard Dawkins seems to think we’re mere machines to harbour some “selfish genes”. I get very upset with this theory and loudly oppose it whenever someone suggests it 🙈 So really, the acceptance of our differences is what makes being human so fascinating. 🙂
Little acts of kindness – the quiet but lovely scenes are what I also remember, and prefer. I never cared for the grandiose over the top event trope.
Apologies for spamming the comments section but my last one on this song. WHAT on Earth? As @nrllee and @pm3 note, “staying in love” and owning up to that love by making coffee, by taking turns to take care of the baby, by making choices of vacations and homes and dinnerware together – that is what is hard. Who wants you to take a grande Mr Mars? That’s the easy option.
@Arihsi I think there is some truth to the whole “are some people just born nice” (genetics/temperament). We breed animals with good temperaments? Similarly we breed dogs with particular vicious tendencies to be guard dogs. Testosterone levels? Oxytocin? I don’t doubt that our altruistic tendencies and behaviors in general do have scientific explanations to it. But you are right. To reduce it to purely neurochemicals and hormones would take the whole romance out of the situation. It would rapidly lose it’s allure. Easier to just talk about nebulous “chemistry” between the leads to cast an aura over what we’re seeing than to rationalize it with an influx of dopamine, endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin (all your feel good brain chemicals) 😂.
Haha the bokeh effect! In Strong Woman Do Bong-soon or Weightlifting Fairy, they did it with shape of heart ! Kdrama are good for this kind of things 😀
And in Goblin, if I remember correctly.
The Bokeh effect gives the dreamy feel to the shot. That’s why cinematographers love to use it for kiss scenes and love confessions.
My reaction however is “Bokeh again?!! Bah, humbug.” 🙂
😂 I thought the Bokeh effect was so as to put the whole “focus” on the coupling? As in “time has stopped”, everything else is “out of focus” and the spotlight is only on the kiss or hug. But yeah… it’s an interesting effect on film. I like it on my photos…blurring the background so the focus is purely on the subject. The hearts 💕 though? Overkill 😂.