I keep on forgetting to write about this scene so I’ll post this as is.
This scene from Episode 1 is a metaphor of their relationship.
They were coming home from their first date at the fairgrounds. The guy JoonYoung (JY) couldn’t eat spicy food but before he could tell YoungJae (YJ), she started raving about spicy food. To please her, JY went along with it and got wrecked by the extra hot sauce. To douse the fire in his mouth, he grabbed a beer from a nearby beer drinking contest and chugged it like it was water. After a few more rounds, he ended up winning the contest he had accidentally joined. His prize was this glass trophy and a stuffed toy.
Now, why is this a metaphor of their relationship?
Because for JoongYoung, she was a trophy. He never thought he would have a girlfriend like her, so vivacious, bright and fun, when he was such a nerd. He regarded her like she was the best thing to happen in his life. Her words had the power to make him change his career path from Engineering to Law Enforcement. He would cater to her needs like crazy and would guard her jealousy from others. His moods were dependent on his on-going relationship with hers.
In contrast, for YoungJae, he was her stress-reliever. The stuffed toy represented what JY was to her. She always hankered for a stress-reliever because of her hard life. That’s why she liked eating spicy food, right? Because they were “stress-reliever.”
To her, JY was her personal, walking-and-talking plush toy that she could hug whenever she was stressed out. See? The stuffed toy even looked like JoongYoung with those round glasses. lol.
She found him cute and lovable. His childishness and naivety made her laugh. And his thoughtfulness (like preparing a CD for her and going on an impromptu beach trip because she said she wanted to see the beach) made her forget her troubles. He de-stressed her. But because she viewed him as her comfort toy, she downplayed and pooh-poohed his emotional needs.
To me, this ill-conceived perception of each other as “trophy” and “stress-reliever” is the root source of their misunderstanding. The trophy and stuffed toy are the symbols of their problems in the relationship.
Their opposite personalities aren’t the problem. All couples have them, anyway. Like, my husband hates roller coaster rides, I love them. My husband loves golf, I hate it. My husband can’t eat shellfish; no mollusk (escargot! oysters!) or crustacean (lobsters, crabs, and shrimp) is safe from me. But there’s always the middle ground for loving couples.
His jealousy and insecurity, and her lack of empathy toward his feelings are only the outward signs of their faulty view of each other. When he stops thinking of her as his trophy, then he can respect her work space and clients, and her independence. When SHE stops seeing him as her lovey or squishy toy, then she can begin to respect his feelings.
As of Episode 5, I don’t see them changing their wrong preconceived notion of love and the role of the other person in a relationship. But we’ll know better as the story progresses. This is only their second encounter anyway.
Wow! It’s great how clearly you see these stuff.
😜 but does it make sense?
watching drama like this after coming home from work is easy though. Here in Washington, I often wonder if there exists an Intelligent Being bright enough and patient enough to unscramble and fix the mess we’re in. In kdramas, I assume that the director and writer are intelligent enough to craft their dramas in order to make sense. If they’re too dumb like ahem, A Poem/Shit a Day writer and director, I blacklist them.
oh, it does make a lot of sense.
I’m totally sold with him being her plush toy. He even resembles that particular plush toy. Cute, huggable, stress reliever but also aesthetically a bit weird and I don’t know, what is that weird looking toy anyway? And how ridiculous (while endearingly cute still ridiculous) was he in his nerdish ways? I mean look at him in this screenshot also.
She fits too as a trophy for him. A trophy he won by accident. But with her I’m not quite convinced the metaphor fits so perfectly. I feel she’s more than that to him
Yes, his nerd-ness was really charming. I think only this actor in particular could have portrayed it in such a winsome and lovable way. Had it been any other actor… say Do Kyunsoo (hahaha. @nrllea, are you reading this??), I’m sure it would have looked awkward.
But this guy??? I feel like squeezing him. He releases the “cute aggression” in me.
I think the way they stand right NOW, in Episode 5, they won’t be able to make this relationship work. Their mindset has to change and it will take a major break-up or upheaval for them to realize what they’re doing wrong. She thinks it’s all about personality differences so she doesn’t even VALIDATE his feelings. Meanwhile, he’s sulking out there because of his insecurities.
If I were their relationship therapist or their couch potato…errr…psychologist, I’d say they need a reboot. A third time will probably be the charm for them.
As for that doctor, why am I getting that annoying JeYoon vibes with him? He looks goody-two shoes and I find him shady, too.
yep. The doc is very shady. Basically same same with JeYoon, you’re getting good vibes.
I see woman. I like. I find out she is in a relationship. I want her even more. No respect for her feelings.
Is this the new type of second leads we’re seeing in kdramas?
Before when the male leads were the tsundere type, the second leads were written as the more understanding and soulful kind of guy. The girls fell for them as a stopgap, or a temporary emotional filler.
But now that the girl is less wishy-washy with her feelings, and the hero isn’t the mean brute anymore, we’re seeing this stalkerish, obsessive, can’t-let-go type of second lead.