Episode 12 Title: Be Careful. There are No Secrets

So far, so good. The writer makes complete sense to me. This is the kind of story I like because the lead characters are steady and rational.

You see, I understand that kdramas use makjang tropes to make the drama interesting and to force our couple to fight for their love. What I don’t understand, however, is the lead characters reacting in a makjang way.

For instance, the hero is given pictures of the heroine entering a hotel with his rival. I don’t want him jumping to conclusion that she’s involved in a revenge plot to estrange him from his chaebol-family and to lay claims to the family’s shipping conglomerate. 

Do you see the difference?

The over-the-top makjang themes, like scandal, infidelity, revenge, chaebol opposition, and jealousy, may be featured in the story, but I don’t want the hero — and heroine — to behave in an overwrought and melodramatic way. I can tolerate dramatic and sensationalized situations, but the characters must be sane and normal.

Take for instance, this Episode 12 in our romcom.

There were many elements that could have made this episode into a makjang, like the possessive ex-wife, the opposition from YY’s mother, YY’s jealousy and CW’s trust issues. But YY and CW both comported themselves like reasonable adults. 

From the start, YY didn’t hide that she was jealous of the ex-wife DoHee. Typically I dislike it when two guys fight over the girl like two dogs with a bone. But I like the role reversal here. To be honest, I was applauding YY’s assertiveness. She was the new woman in CW’s life, and if she wanted him, she should guard him like a dog with a T-bone. I’m so done with passive and helpless girls.

Also, DH was being catty when she told CW that YY “did well pretending” not to be bothered by their departure. Pretending??!! lol.

YY wasn’t at all “pretending” there. Of course, YY didn’t like the situation, but she was reining in her anxious feelings because what else could she do? Fall down to the ground and wail, “Kajima!!!!” like in a makjang drama? Pffftt.

She knew she had to bear it because the needs of VP Do took priority over her feelings. She was behaving like an adult here. 

But I must admit that I liked the way she brushed off that invisible dust on CW’s shoulder, instead of teeth-gnashing and wailing.  Good. Good.

Moreover, CW himself knew that YY wasn’t happy. That was why he returned to give her the key to his room and told her to read his comics, remember? He was consoling her so she wouldn’t feel miserable in his absence.

And I also liked it when she wore his slippers and rolled all over his bed — it reminded me of a doggy pissing on a fire hydrant to mark her territory. 

Thus, when CW admitted to his ex that he liked YY because YY was “honest,” he did NOT mean that YY would tell him the truth no matter what. He meant that YY would be sincere to him – and be trustworthy, too — even when she was hiding her real feelings or keeping secrets from him. There’d be a good reason for her to conceal things from him and he would trust her.

Sure enough that was exactly what happened when DH arranged to meet YY in the coffee shop.

YY tried to evade CW when he asked where she was. He immediately sensed that something was wrong, and he suspected that she was with DH so he called up DH.

In contrast to YY’s prevarication, DH informed him of their whereabouts without hesitation. DH then bragged about her “honesty” saying that she and CW never kept secrets from each other because CW hated people lying and people hiding things behind his back. She was insinuating that YY’s less-than-honest ways would turn off CW.

But DH didn’t understand what CW meant about honesty.

To him, honesty was linked to sincerity. Even when YY lied, YY would never deliberately injure him or hurt him because her first concern was his welfare. She was sincere in her affections. She was being honest when she said that she wouldn’t let go of him and would stick to him like glue. She was somebody he could trust to “be there” for him.

Her honesty was in her steadfastness.

Another thing that I found amusing in this episode was the continuation of the “superhero” theme I mentioned in my previous post. lol. I thought it was sweet that CW saw YY as his superhero, and YY took his blatant “hero-worship” of her in stride. Again, I like that role-reversal.

He found her wrist-grab finger-grab cool — probably because she didn’t dislocate his shoulder like in a typical kdrama/makjang wrist-grab. 

He actually liked being the girl fought over.

I loved the way she lowered her voice like a man’s and teased him.

And when he answered, “Of course, I trust you. That’s why I’m here right now,” he probably was remembering her mother’s words to let her go.  Although he understood where the mother was coming from, he was making a decision based on his and YY’s feelings for each other, rather than her mother’s groundless fears.

He trusted in her to stick with him like glue, come hell or high water.

****************

Edited to add this:

If she had been wearing the right bedclothes as I bitched about here a few days ago (see “Pet Peeves”), then he wouldn’t have had problems removing her track suit. Please! No clothes with zippers, Velcro, hook-and-eye, buttons (okay, less than 2 buttons allowed) on the bed.