As I was deleting my random observations on Episode 7 (the mermaid episode), I remembered that I promised to write about the mermaid and forgot to follow up on it. So I’m playing catch-up.

This is long so take your time. I’ll have to edit this because I don’t have the screenshots yet.

Episode 7 started with OG feeling under the weather.

OG: It snowed for a short time and I got something called the cold.
MW: Your body isn’t the type to catch a cold.
OG: Is that so? Hey Zombie, do you want to die? You told me it was a cold.
Zombie: It is a cold. You had a slight fever after being snowed on and you said your throat itched. Since I’m already dead, I can’t catch colds but I definitely remember getting them.
OG: Anyway, I don’t feel all too well because of this cold. If I drank warm sake, I would hav e been better
MW: Are you sure you have a cold? A cold is a pretty minor disease. Is there a possibility that it could be a more serious disease?
OG: No.

The Hong sisters have used this trope before, in the romcom, “Warm and Cozy.” Catching a cold is their metaphor for falling in love or catching the “love disease.” What Buja diagnosed as cold was actually OhGong feeling the symptoms of love. Mawang’s intuition was right; OG’s invincible body wasn’t the type to catch a cold. But because he was beginning to love someone, he was becoming susceptible to minor aches and pains.

I thought it was a foreshadowing when OG flatly denied that he had a more serious disease. Of course, he was going to suffer a more serious disease. He was going to be lovesick. As we saw in Episode 12, the result of this love ailment is his development of a weak spot, his heart. That’s why later on he had that heart-wrenching pain when he went against SunMi’s wishes and he vomited blood. He was no longer indestructible. The cold symptom he was experiencing in Episode 8 was the harbinger of more serious things to come…but of course, he denied it. Ha!

Interestingly, too, OhGong’s body language signaled his “falling in love”. If you notice in Episode 6 and 7, he began acting “droopy” like he was suffering from unrequited love or pining for someone.

He would lay his head on his arms like he was a wilting flower. He looked sorry for himself. I also mentioned in another post that this was about the time, he stopped wearing his fur coats. 

The other interesting about OG’s ailment is that, despite his feeling under the weather, he dropped by SunMi’s home, uninvited, to give her a flask of soup from CEO Sa. He wouldn’t have done this before because he disliked being inconvenienced.

OG: You got snowed on. Eat warm porridge before you sleep so you don’t catch a cold. Sa Oh Jeong made it.

To me this was a sweet gesture, sweeter actually than buying her ice cream because his thoughtfulness needed no coaching from his friend, General Frost. He did this on his own. He thought that she’d be suffering from a cold, just like him, because they were both outside in the snowfall, and he brought her soup.

He also took the advice of General Frost from the previous Episode 6. Back then, General Frost told him that he should be sincere with her to stop her from being mad at him, and that he should look into her heart to understand why she was mad.

OG: MaWang is done detoxifying but SamJang really hates me now.
General Frost: Comfort her
OG: I did. I told her that she’s pretty (at the Namsan Tower after the demon almost cut her hair) and that I love her. But she hates me even more.
General Frost: It’s because you’re not being sincere.

My opinion?? Of course, she would be mad. He wanted her dead. Plus, it didn’t help that when he told her that she was pretty, he said that she could get a haircut at any saloon, he sounded too flippant. It came out like he didn’t care at all how she looked like. Grrrrr…

OG: How can there be sincerity to an evil spirit who’s wearing the Geumganggo?
General Frost: But SamJang has sincerity since she’s human. Look into her heart and see why she hates you more. That way you can make her feel better.

That’s the reason she brought soup to SunMi. He wanted to get to the bottom of things and figure out why she was still angry.

OG: You’re mad because I tried to kill you, aren’t you? (He meant his plot with General Frost to have Mawang kill her by slowing down time.)

No shit Sherlock. 

SM: What is there to be mad at? I’m an idiot. The strongest predator who can eat me is you. Since you’re too friendly as a predator I was confused into thinking I was safe. (Meaning, she had let her guard down and believed that she was safe with him, and that he could be trusted.)
OG: Is that so? I’ve become sure. (He’s following General Frost’s advice and being sincere to her.) I couldn’t let you disappear. Before then, my heart will break into pieces. So you’re not going to die. Unless I do.
SM: Because of the Geumganggo?
OG: Yeah. You don’t have to worry anymore. You’re safe, Sam Jang. It’s the truth, so trust me.
SM: (scoff) How can I trust you, when you’re always conning me?
OG: Eat something warm, sleep well, and if you have something to say, leave a message.

SM: Are you trying to trick me again? I don’t believe you! (He disappears) Oh, he left. (Tries the phone) What am I hoping will happen? (she hears herself asking if she was pretty and OG replying, “Yes. You’re pretty because I love you.”)
SM: That was all fake. I won’t be fooled. I’m also sure now. I won’t believe anything. I will never, ever believe anything!
OG: You’re lying while you truly believe. Jin SunMi, when you were young and even now, you get fooled too easily.

To me, it was unfortunate that OhGong felt the urge to annoy SunMi about the phone. His joke was ill-timed and it detracted her from the real reason of his visit which was to reassure her that he wasn’t going to have her killed anymore.

But I also know that the Hong sisters have used this trope before in “Warm and Cozy.” In that romcom, the hero was also fond of teasing the girl. When he finally confessed to loving her, she didn’t believe him. The hero compared himself to the Boy Who Cried Wolf. In that Aesop fable, a boy told a lie once too often that he spotted the wolf in the neighborhood. When an actual wolf appeared, nobody believed his cries and the wolf ate him up.

I understood why SunMi would be annoyed with OhGong. He was trying to show her how foolish she was for falling for his trick. And nobody liked being made a fool twice. You know that adage right? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME. 

But I didn’t understand WHY OhGong would sabotage his own efforts to make peace with SunMi. He didn’t make sense to me. On one hand, he was asking her to believe in his sincerity. But on the other hand, he was laughing at her for being easily duped. On one hand, he was telling her to trust him that he was going to harm her. But on the other hand, he freely admitted that it was the GGG (not his free choice) which prevented him from harming her. On one hand, he swore that he could be trusted, but on the other hand, his actions showed the complete opposite. He’s a joker.

So why was he making this difficult for both of them?

Then, to add to the confusion, after reassuring her that she’d be safe with him, he used her as “bait” to catch the mermaid because he wanted to use the mermaid’s tears to gain a virtual experience of drinking alcohol again.

Shaking my head. Are you nuts??!

My THEORY is that he himself had conflicting emotions about falling in love with SunMi. He was conflicted because of his personal experience of human betrayal. He feared that SunMi would do the same thing to him. General Frost assured him that SM had sincerity because she was human, but it was a precisely a human who had betrayed him before.  His insecurity was conspicuous.

Here’s the conversation between SM and OG in the library.

SM: The person the mermaid loves is the librarian here. It must be him.
OG: I guess she must be hanging around him. We’ll set up camp here, and if you’re here, she’ll come.

(lol. He is using her as bait.)

SM: That mermaid even abandoned the sea she used to live in. Why wasn’t she able to receive that man’s love?
OG: She must have lost her love (her human lover) to a human (rival).

(The librarian and GF are talking: Have you eaten? Now let’s go to a café. You have to eat, what do you mean by a café? Let’s drink coffee.)

SM: Ah, I see. Someone who likes that man appeared on the scene. If the mermaid’s watching from nearby, she must want to die from heartbreak.

(This foreshadows the love triangle with Jonathan.)

OG: You’re wrong. She probably wants to kill him.

(This too foreshadows the jealousy scene with Jonathan.)

SM: Would she be able to kill him even if she loves him?
OG: (glances sharply at her then shrugs)
SM: She shouldn’t have started this kind of love from the beginning.
OG: (looks at SunMi) Do you feel sorry for the mermaid?
SM: Mmm. (yes)
OG: Then what about me?
SM: You?
OG: I’m also in the same position. I shouldn’t have started this kind of love from the beginning. Ugh. My head hurts. As expected, the energy from these books doesn’t suit me. If anything suspicious shows up, call me.

My comment here is that this scene can be understood in several ways. The first one is the obvious interpretation. OG was seeing his and SunMi’s relationship mirrored in the doomed relationship of the mermaid and the librarian. The second interpretation is the one we the audience are privy to. We can see Mawang’s behind-the-scene machination to recreate the mermaid’s love triangle, and we know that OG and SM are going to have rough seas ahead. The third interpretation, and the one which is secret even now, is OG’s past history of betrayal.

OhGong didn’t tell SunMi where his loyalties stood but SunMi was perceptive enough to grasp that should there be a fight between an immortal and a human, OG wasn’t trusting a human.

SM: Is she going back to the sea?
OG: She said she would take care of it.
SM: It looked like you gave her something. What is it?
OG: Something that a friend from the sea relayed to her. Now she will make the decision.
SM: By chance, it’s not dangerous, is it?
OG: To whom? To humans?

(Remember OG promised only to protect SM. He had always showed a disregard and disdain for protecting a mortal life. It wasn’t his concern. And now we’re beginning to see why. He didn’t think humans could be trusted. And it also made sense why he would abandon the young SunMi like that. If he had been locked up for 500 years because of a human, he wouldn’t be so eager to help a human right after his prison release.)

SM: If she’s going to harm humans, we have to stop her.
OG: I don’t want to. Why would I? I’ve finished my task so I’m leaving.

Later on, in a conference with the Octopus and Mawang, OG demanded his payment of the mermaid’s tears. “I gave that knife to that mermaid. Give me what you promised.”

While the Octopus explained to Mawang what really transpired, his words undoubtedly troubled OG. “Because a mermaid’s love is unconditional, she sacrifices everything. She gives everything to the ever selfish human and gets discarded.”

With declarations like this, doubts about SunMi’s trustworthiness could beset OG. 

According to Mawang and the God Representative, OG would have been reminded of his past ordeal with a certain nameless human. Hence, OG wouldn’t have enjoyed using the mermaid’s tears anyway. However, they were incorrect with their assumptions.

While they were gleefully gloating on the past and its hold on OG, OG was actually dealing with the present and reassessing his future with SunMi. Would she turn out to be another deceitful person or not? Could she be trusted or not? Would she be mad that he didn’t try to save the human?

Their meeting at the bar resolved his insecurities — because SunMi was patient  and understanding with him. She wasn’t judgmental.

SM: You knew about it all along, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me? Because I’m human, and you thought I would try to stop the mermaid from exacting her revenge?
OG: Yeah. Humans are selfish and can’t be trusted.

(He was speaking from experience; he had the right to be bitter if he had been imprisoned for 500 years because of a human’s duplicity. But SunMi was understanding. She didn’t yell at him for “fooling” her. Unlike the flask joke, she sensed that something more was at stake here so she didn’t push him.)

SM: Song Oh Gong, earlier you asked me if you and that mermaid were both pitiful in the same way, right? It’s not the same. I don’t feel pity for you at all. Because I like being with you.

(SM knew that OG lumped her with the guilty and dishonest humans. Guilty by association. But instead of being defensive, she put herself in his monkey shoes. The librarian really didn’t love the mermaid and thought the mermaid was insipid. She was telling OG that the relationship they had, was vastly different from that of the librarian and the mermaid. She liked him.)

SM: Even if your feelings are fake, I’m thankful and glad that you love me. It’s the truth.

(To me, when she said, “it’s the truth,” she was harking back to that time OhGong said “it’s the truth to her” when he delivered soup to her. He told her back then that he wouldn’t let her disappear because his heart would break into pieces. Even if his feelings were fake because of the Geumganggo, he said that she shouldn’t worry, because she was safe with him; she could trust him. And SM was repeating his words: it’s the truth.)

OG: The human who got stabbed probably said the same thing as you in the beginning.
SM: That’s right. Because humans can’t be trusted, I also think that I can change. If I every only use you and betray you, you can also stab me.

(SM understood very well, that from OG’s point-of-view, humans couldn’t be trusted. She didn’t try to convince him otherwise or point out that he, too, could betray her. Instead, she appeased him. She told him that he could give her pain to remember for the rest of her life if ever she did that.)

OG: I told you, didn’t I? You can’t die until I die.
SM: Then I’ll take off the Geumganggo. If I take it off, nothing will happen to you. Stab me.
OG: A contract.
SM: We need to sign a contract?
OG: Why? You want to look like a trustworthy person but don’t want to take the responsibility. That’s sneaky.
SM: It’s burdensome. We shouldn’t really let an incident occur that ends in a stabbing. I’m saying just in case. Just in case. (She meant hypothetically).

Here, too, SM understood him. He wasn’t asking for a new contract to weasel out of it, like he did in the past. On the contrary, I think he wanted the new contract because he wanted to believe in her. His faith in humans like SunMi, had been rattled by the mermaid affair, and he remembered why he didn’t trust humans at all. He wanted somebody to believe in.

Fortunately, SunMi was willing to restore his faith in humans — or at least give him a new perspective. She didn’t really want a stabbing to prove their “love” for each other. What she wanted was for them to avoid such physical violence as a stabbing — as a form of love declaration or proof of love — in the first place.

What was interesting about this conversation was it had the RIGHT effect on him. When he saw Jonathan with SunMi, he didn’t “kill” Jonathan (like what he thought the mermaid would do to the librarian). Mawang, Secretary Ma, Summer Fairy, and PK all predicted that he would get stark raving mad and kill Jonathan (or stab SunMi, lol). Instead, he kissed her.

See? He didn’t stab her with a fork. 
credit: kdramaxoxo

I thought it was funny how he was reliving his kiss with SunMi at the bar.

credit: realsamjang

And I liked that SunMi also told Mawang that she was going with her temperamental fairy. It was because of their dialogue and new-found understanding that OG decided to trust in her and she paid it back by being faithful to him, too.

It was too bad though that Mawang had to interfere and show her the special Monk Sauce that OG had prepared for her. He probably forgot they were in his fridge but Mawang, ever the BS-maker, had to bring them out of the fridge and cause trouble for them.

okay… that’s it for now. Will come back later for edits. Gotta run.