Smart Bitches: The 1st Best Kdrama Boyfriend (BKB)

Nam ChiWon of Jugglers.

But before I start raving about him, I have to get something off my chest.

IMO, Daniel Choi, the actor who played Nam Chi Won, is only handsome when he wears glasses.🤓

I’m going to be brutally honest here and observe that, without glasses, he looks rather seedy and grungy. It doesn’t help that he has scars on his cheeks. He needs skin ~~re-pavement~~ resurfacing or something. I understand that some chicks might find his rough skin part of his appeal and manliness, but me, I prefer roughness with morning stubbles and 5 o’clock shadows only.

Now that you know that I’m shallow, I might as well confess that I did something uber-shallow.

I drew glasses on pictures of him.

Tadaaa!!!

See my cruel handiwork?? hahahaha. 👏👏👏

And now I’ve photoshopped the essential black specs on my poor guy, Daniel Choi, I can once again put on my rose-colored spectacles and proceed with my paeans for Nam ChiWon.

Here are the reasons he’s First Ever BKB on this blog.

First, he offered to share his world of comic books with her. 🥇

Don’t you know how romantic that was? He reminded me of Beauty and the Beast when the Beast offered Bella his personal library. Remember this scene?

ChiWon was annoyed with VP Do for intruding in his private space during his lunchtime, but he invited YoonYi to meet him there and showed her his hiding space and inner sanctum. He even pre-ordered his usual lunch set for her: ramen.

He was revealing this dorky side of himself to her.

gif credit: banghae’s tumblr

Sharing his mangas is not at all like sharing his stash of porn magazines (pwahaha). Sure, both mangas and porn deal with FANTASY. But whereas one is doable (crime-busting, saving the world, etc.), the other is definitely not (getting laid by a playboy bunny? Dream on, pig!).

Sharing his comic book world with her was a big step because it meant that he wasn’t embarrassed and afraid to be seen as dorky or less-than-cool due to his childish interests.

He’s writing a very cerebral treatise on self-government by free men and women in the 21st century…not!

So, yes, he had perfect reason to feel embarrassed about his comic-reading habit. It was awkward to respond to YoonYi’s question about what genre of manga he envisioned for them so he covered his face. This was similar to the embarrassment he experienced when he gave her the 100 Facts Questionnaire to help her get to know him, and the cheesy bunny slippers as a Christmas present. It wasn’t cool for adults to do these things.

But I’ve to give him credit. He’s an introvert; she’s extrovert. He was willing to open up and tell her details about himself because he trusted her to remain in his life and stick to him like glue.

Second, remember what YoonYi in the start about bosses?

She believed that, “No boss can be a hero in front of the personal assistant. We end up seeing the bare truth about the boss that we do not want to see.”

But in the end, he was her hero. The more she knew the bare truth about him, the more she liked him. She trusted him, even telling him to bring her box to her desk because he’d get her back to their office soon anyway.

With their teamwork, she did return as he’d promised.

Like YoonYi, I like the way he protected her, not with fistfights and physical display of violence, but with words and brains. I’m tired of men fighting each other over a girl, and I’d rather that ChiiWon intimidated and decimated the other man in YoonYi’s life with logic, insulting wit, and threats. It’s much more civilized.

If YoonYi thought that it was cool of ChiWon to get in the face of her ex-boyfriend then it was too bad she didn’t witness this scene in the elevator.

He definitely leveled up here in his coolness.

gif credit: happiness365’s tumblr

In Episode 15, when ChiWon saw YY bristling at her ex-boss’ fake compliments, he only had to remind the ex-boss of their encounter in the elevator and to issue a warning that he wouldn’t miss the main event to make the ex-boss stop goading YY.

It was like his bitch mode (or you can call it Superman mode) suddenly switched on.

ChiWon was so cool with his words that even YoonYi’s ex-boyfriend developed a mild man-crush on him. ChiWon admonished him not to make YoonYi regret the five years she spent with him as his girlfriend with his shameful words and actions.

I like that idea very much: we honor the memory of a past relationship but living well.

Third, I like that he quickly learned from his mistakes.

I was always warned not to marry a stupid man. Why? Because my respect would soon fly out the window, and my impatience for him would gnaw away whatever emotions I had left for him. I’ve low tolerance for stupid.

That ChiWon was smart was a given. But I like that he had self-awareness. He knew when he made mistakes and tried to rectify them.

For instance, he realized that he made an error in accusing her of leading on a man after he heard her ex-boss accuse her of leading him on. Without fuss, ChiWon apologized to YoonYi. Some men would choose to pretend that they did nothing wrong and, to me, this fake bravado only aggravated the situation. So, kudos to Chiwon here.

gif credit: thosefinelines’ tumblr

Additionally, he was very much attuned to her body language and read her silent reactions very well. It’s exasperating when your guy can’t pick up on your nonverbal clues.

For instance here:

He knew with her little pout and that glance that she was disappointed and annoyed with him. He didn’t want her to think that he wasn’t interested in her.

gif credit: banghae’s tumblr

And here:

He realized that she might incorrectly think that the ex was better than her because his ex didn’t eat much. So he reassured her that he liked women with a big appetite.

Not only could he read her body language, but he also noticed any change about her, like when she grew taller because of heels

or when she had a booboo.

Paying attention to detail (or being nitpicking like ChiWon) is an important survival skill for men because we women always love to “test” and ask our boyfriends and husbands if they notice anything new with us.

Like, honey, can you spot the difference here????

hahaha. (hint: Daniel Choi)

Fourth, ChiWon became a swoon-worthy boyfriend whenever he wrapped her up in his jacket.

Admit it, bitches!! We like raiding our guy’s closet and wearing his sweatshirt, white shirt, tshirt, socks and whatever comfy clothes he owns. They smell and feel like home.

So, when ChiWon did this to YoonYi

or this

I can’t help feeling all warm and cozy.

And I’m looking at you, OhGong of Hwayugi kdrama. You don’t know what you’re missing when you refuse to lend her your jacket, you baboon!

Fifth, I do agree that actions speak louder than words but yes, after cleaning her whole house, buying her a couple raccoon keychain, eating her abominable cooking, and telling his ex-wife to leave them in peace, there are still some things that do need to be said.

Like saying thank you when he realized that it was she who instructed the staff on his daily routine. He texted her to say that although he appreciated his staff’s efforts, she was irreplaceable to him. In other words, he missed her.

Or saying that he wanted her to stay with him — although he knew it was cringe-y.

gif credit: smittenskitten’s tumblr

Or saying thank you again for cherishing someone like him who had baggage and scars when she could have a lot of better and more normal male options. I think that was sweet of him to say.