But is it ❤️ that OhGong feels for SunMi?

The Hong sisters are twisted sisters.

They begin their dramas where other writers end theirs. For instance, in other romcoms, the love confession of the hero means that a happily-ever-after is imminent. In Hwayugi, I believe that every love declaration of OhGung actually shows his growing mockery of love and his resistance to SunMi. Each confession is a step back away from the HEA.

You see, OG’s very much aware that the hateful wristlet Geumganggo (GGG) is spurring his crazy emotions. He recognizes that his love sickness isn’t real, that it’s only a figment of his imagination, and that the wristlet fabricates this false notion of love. He clearly resents this crazy situation that he’s been tricked into.

In his mind there’s no dividing line between fake love and real love because everything IS fake. Even if he eventually learns to feel empathy, concern or affection for SM, he’ll also doubt these emotions and attribute them merely to an illusion of the wristlet’s creation. He’s being deceived, thus he distrusts and resents SM for what she’s done to him.

This resentment is there from the start of Episode 4 when he coldly issues an ultimatum to SM. If she wants him to protect her assistant, then she must remove the bracelet. This scene demonstrates that he’s willing to sacrifice an innocent life in order to regain freedom from the detestable circlet.

Previously, he only cajoled, argued, bargained, wheedled, ranted, and bribed SM to release him from the GGG. As I said in my previous post, he made it sound as he was being benevolent and caring of her welfare, when all along, all he was after was his freedom.

His emotional blackmail takes their dynamics to a whole another level. He’s making her choose to save her life or another, and in the process, he exposes the chink in SM’s armor. Although she can resist OG’s antics, she balks at endangering another person’s innocent life. Here lies the main conflict between OG and SM. Whereas OG has been single-minded about his quest for freedom, she has been resolute about the protection of innocent life.

Remember their first encounter? At the beginning, she simply sought protection for herself. OG wanted to escape from his prison in the Mountain, and in exchange, she wanted protection from the demons that haunted her. Back then, it was her young life that she wanted protecting.

But by the start of Episode 4, she’s including other people in this protection – like her assistant’s life. The sphere of protection (or safety zone) got bigger because she’s now a grown-up and no longer lives alone.

She’s scared, tormented and sadden by the things that will happen, not only to herself, but to her assistant as well. And she wants him protected, too.

But protection for one innocent life extends to protection for all innocent lives. It’s a buy-one-take-all. We’ve seen in previous Episodes that SM, despite appearing cold and haughty, is concerned about others like the anorexic ghost and the sleepy driver. She steps in to help. Despite being ostracized and bullied in her young life, she has become a compassionate adult. She won’t allow millions of innocent lives to perish without protection.

However, she knows very well that OG detested saving her and other humans because they are insignificant creatures in his eyes. But as the Sam Jang, she is deemed an incredibly important person by the heavens and is thus, worthy of OG’s protection. So she invokes his protection as the Sam Jang, not as SM.

That’s why the closing scene of Episode 4 is ironic.

When he vows to protect her “even if the world breaks,” he does not fully understand SM’s summons from the heavens. Her calling in life is to save the civilization from another holocaust. In vowing to protect her then, he’s also unwittingly vowing to protect not just SM herself, not one or two of SM’s close friends, but the entire humanity… which he claims to find insignificant.

It’s ironic because protecting her was a task he ran away from doing in their very first encounter.

Back then, he FREELY entered into that contract with SM because he desperately sought to escape. But now, he’s coerced to make the same verbal contract, but one of greater magnitude (remember: not one defenseless child, but the whole world), because he is desperately seeking his freedom again. This time however, the cost of protecting her, and indirectly the world, is tantamount to the complete and ultimate loss of his freedom, that is, his death. He’s saving her…even at the price of his life.

lol. #toolittle #toolate

To me, the twist by the Hong sisters here is whether to believe OG or not.

Other people see OG’s agreement to her request as believable because it’s romantic. This is what a lover would do: protect the beloved at all costs.

But, as I said earlier, OG knows exceedingly well that he’s only being deceived and COERCED by the bracelet.

If the bracelet is removed right now, I doubt that he will honor his promise to her save her. As of Episode 4, true love hasn’t developed yet for him, and OG’s judgment is clouded by a sense of being taken advantage of, of being manipulated by the GGG.

Unlike most people, I don’t believe his emotions for her right now constitute love. In fact, I think whatever original feelings he had for her at the start, has disappeared or was buried under the resentment for the the bracelet.  He feels duped and trapped by her.

These are other signs that he doesn’t love her at this point.

1. Onions.

He doesn’t realize why he’s tearing up at the thought of SM’s grief upon the assistant’s death. His tears are similar to tears shed when peeling an onion: a reaction. Peeling onions result in tears because of a chemical reaction. Likewise, his tears are only a physical reaction to the image of SM discovering her assistant mauled to death by a zombie. You see, the image wrenches his heart but he dismisses the pain. What is physical pain to him anyway? He has said that he tolerated physical pain as if it were a tickle. YY’s grief doesn’t really pain emotionally him. Hence, he’s surprised to see himself crying over her. It’s Mawang who readily grasps how OG’s feelings are linked with SM’s feelings, and explains the connection to him

In a sense, OG is like a zombie. The zombie couldn’t feel the excruciating pain when a barbell dropped on her foot so she couldn’t react in a human way. She had to be MADE AWARE of her pain. In OG’s case, he can’t feel the empathy which love brings because he does yet NOT love SM. His tears are caused by onions… errr….the Geumganggo bracelet, not his real emotion.

2. Guilt-free.

After saving her assistant, OG tells SM bluntly that he would have killed her and eaten her up had she released him earlier. He’s only stating a fact here and the concern for her feelings (which is given between lovers) isn’t there. Why issue such a menacing statement?

What’s confusing here is the mixed sentiments. The Hong sisters twisted the words and the gesture.

On the one hand, he’s warning her to beware of him because he’s a monster without qualms of eating her. But on the other hand, his warning contradicts that he’s a monster. On top of this, his gesture – stroking her hair – is typically seen as a caring gesture made by a lover. But we also know that this lover-ly action stems from the GGG’s magical powers rather than OG’s true feelings.

3. Contract.

This is another twisted metaphor from the Hong Sisters. Of course, legal claims do NOT exist in perpetuity. There’s a time limit because eventually the signatories of a contract die and records become lost.

OG is too casual and blithe when discussing the end terms of the contract. Mawang points out to him that a human only has a maximum life expectancy of a 100 years so the contract has an expiration date. However, instead of showing angst for YY’s death, his focus is on being released from the terms of the contract as soon as possible.

Moreover, he complains to Mawang to stop talking about SM’s death because it wrenches his heart – as if the subject matter was a mere inconvenience to him. He’s whining about the pain HE gets from the constant talk of her death, rather than agonizing over the inevitable disappearance of SM in his life.

Finally, compare how their motivation to become a deity. OG is desperate to be released from the contract because he wants to regain his freedom. He wants to eat SM so he can be a god who can drink. lol. When he’s cleaning the bottles of alcohol, he CONSOLES himself that there’s now a time limit to the contract. His heart isn’t pained at all by the fact that it’s SM’s death that terminates the contract.

Mawang however is desperate to enter into a contract with OG because he wants to become a god to save his love.

Secretary Ma: You were much stronger before. It would be better if you just eat Sam Jang. Then, you will be stronger than anyone else. If you give your permission, I will bring her to you even at the cost of my own life.
Mawang: Secretary Ma, I have to become a god. Only then I can have a hand in the fate and life of a human. Only by being a god, can I save her.

There’s a world of difference between the two. Currently, OG is a creature of his nature, a mischievous monkey. In many ways, he acts immature and reacts to situations with only his best interest in mind. He isn’t in love with SM yet.

3. Lastly, this confession scene. When I watch it, I can already see how the Hong sisters will twist this and make OG regret his words.

SM: You are the Great Sage, and I’m a human that doesn’t amount to much. And I’m sorry for using GEumganggo to tie you down. Oh??!! I thought you’d tell me, “If you’re sorry, take this off” but you’re not saying anything.

OG: It’s because even if you do NOT remove it, it’s definitely going to come off. Someday.
(Here, OG is showing that he’s resigned to being captured. He’ll tolerate his situation because he knows that the contract will end soon enough. The unspoken thing here is that SM’s death signals the contract termination and fulfillment.)

Until then, I’m just going to love you.
(He’ll endure this captivity until her death. He’ll grin and bear it. He knows that GGG is coercing him to PERFORM acts of love for her and he won’t fight against it anymore.)

This love that’s bound to end and disappear without a trace.
(He scoffs at this fake emotion imposed on him by the GGG. The GGG is the catalyst of all his loving motions; the love doesn’t stem from his authentic self.)

I’m just going to pile it onto you like crazy.
(Meaning, tit for tat. The GGG is driving him insane because he’s forced to love her and do things for her when he doesn’t want to and when he wants to be released. In retaliation for this unfair enslavement, he too will drive her crazy… by hurting her.)

SM: End and then disappear?
(See? He delights in making her confused and insecure.)

OG: Of course. My feelings are fake anyway.
(And the hurting starts now….)

I’ll be done and you’ll be alone again.
(So cruel. He knows that she wanted three things most of all: family, friends and a lover. She didn’t want to be alone and lonely. But now he’s taunting her by reminding her that she’s only being delusional. In the end, she’s still lonely.)

Until then, I’ll be by your side.
(If love can’t promise to be forever, then what good is for? He’s reminding her that his presence at her side – his “faithfulness” to her – has only been by the GGG. )

I love you, Jin Seon Mi.
(See his mocking face? He meant the opposite.)

Do you see that? There’s a doublespeak here. Whatever he says, the meaning is disguised and distorted to hurt SM the most.

But not worry. Knowing the Hong sisters, I know that an episode is fast coming when he’ll regret that he won’t have enough time to love her. Despite all his great power, he’ll be unable to find a way to stop her from disappearing and their love from ending. Like a demented person, he’ll try to give her all the love she deserves. He never wants her to feel lonely again. But his efforts will be futile because the contract is expiring and GGG’s power is gone.

lol. In the same way that his original words are twisted to have an undercurrent of seething resentment and cruel mockery, they can be twisted again to demonstrate his real love and pain.

The idea of a demigod getting comeuppance is too delicious to miss.