People who watched and liked the Hong Sisters’ “Hwayugi” (2017), “The Master’s Sun” (2013), and “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho” (2010) would be able to recognize some of the common elements of the world-building in this new kdrama. There’s no question that the sisters are fantastic at creating imaginary worlds. They can enchant the most blasé audience with their unique and novel takes on classic stories.

However, it frustrates me that, at the critical juncture, sometime around the 12th episode, their storytelling unravels. Just when the plot is supposed to tighten and protagonists deal with real-world dilemmas, the internal rules of the magical realm come crashing down. Those once-incredible lead characters lose their marbles and their spunk. The previously snappy dialogues turn maudlin. The usual tropes, like noble idiocy and giant misunderstanding, crop up one after the other, as if the sisters run out of fresh ideas to move the story along. They can’t seem to sustain the spell-binding romance in a down-to-earth, prosaic setting. “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.”

Unlike the magical world which they expertly set up from the onset, their final resolutions lack originality and credibility. Their endings are simply un.re.la.ta.ble. Remember “Big” (2012)?

Of all things to flub, the Happily-Ever-Afters shouldn’t be one.

So be forewarned. I’m not going fully invest in this kdrama. I’m going to bail out on this while I’m still enthralled with the plot.

I still believe it’s best to leave while I’m in love. hahaha.

 

Here are three things I think you should pay attention to in the first two episodes.

1. The names

One thing you have to remember about the Hong sisters is that they put a lot of thought on the naming of their characters.

Remember “The Master’s Sun”? That was the first time I was introduced to two honorifics, aside from the often used “ssi”. I learned about “goon” which is used to address a young, unmarried man and “yang” which is used to address a young, unmarried woman. Note the emphasis on “young.”

In “The Master’s Sun,” the male lead’s name is Joo Jongwon or Mr. Joo. He’s called “Joo-goon” and joogoon happens to be the word for master. In the same vein, the female lead’s name is Tae Gongshil or Ms. Tae. She’s called Tae-yang and the word for sun is “taeyang.” Thus, when the names of the characters are put together, it’s easy to understand the meaning of the title. Tae Gongshil is the Master’s sun.

Of course, the jibe at the ages of the actors portraying the Joogoon and Taeyang wasn’t lost on me. So Jisub and Gong Hyojin were hardly in their first flush of youth so I thought being addressed as “goon” and “yang” sounded funny. The Hong sisters were being cheeky.

Anyway….

In this kdrama, there’s an even more build-up on the names of the lead characters. We’re being told (almost bamboozled) that the names are key to understanding, not only the identities of the protagonists, but also the story.

The female lead’s name is Jang Manwol and the male lead’s name is Gu Chansung.

I think the significance of Manwol’s name is more obvious because of the direct reference to the “full moon.” In fact, that’s the hook that got me watching this kdrama. lol. Manwol was walking under a hot scorching sun but the background music was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. The clash between the visual and the aural had me laughing. And you know me: I’m a sucker for unexpected humor.

It was Manwol’s conversation with the Old Woman at the oasis that unveiled the relevance of her name to the plot.

Old Woman: It seems you have been wandering for a long time. Are you looking for some place?
ManWol: I’m searching for an inn somewhere in in this wilderness. I heard it said that there’s an inn where the souls of the dead may be put to rest.
OW: You’re searching for the Inn of the Moon.
MW: Do you know it?
OW: It’s the inn where the dead souls floating aimlessly are tied down.

At this point, the purpose and function of the hotel were established. The hotel was a place to comfort the souls before they moved on. It was a “healing” place as Manwol would tell Chansung later on. But, if you notice, it’s not quite certain for whom the hotel was built. Obviously for Manwol, she sought the place for the dead souls she was accompanying. She was bringing THEM to the hotel. Unfortunately, she seemed oblivious that she herself needed healing. She was searching for this place for her own “dead soul” which was wandering aimlessly with a coffin of brick-a-brac.

MW: Where is it? Where should I go?
OW: You can’t go there. That’s where the dead go. Like the ones over there (glancing at the spirits behind her). How many souls did you bring in this coffin?

A note on the coffin: lol. I thought that coffin would contain bones. Later, when the Old Woman opened the coffin, it shocked me to see that it was only full of doodads – although some more macabre than others. Among the trinkets, unmatched china, crumpled paper and braided cords were steel with bloodstains on them. Did Manwol own a traveling pawnshop? Or were these her “trophies” from her bloodbath? Or were these possessions of her comrades in battle? If the items belonged to the dead souls behind her, then they couldn’t have been worth much because none of the souls looked regal enough to own a treasure.

At the very least, these would represent Manwol’s emotional baggage or unresolved issues (or guilt?) that she had to carry around with her.

MW: They were killed because of me.
OW: Who else did you kill for the sake of the dead?

MW: (drawing her sword to slice the throat of the Old Woman) Shut up and tell me where to go.

It’s noteworthy that Manwol became defensive here. She regretted that people ended up dying because of her and she accepted that their dead spirits accompanied her. But when the Old Woman asked her who else died in her counterattack or retaliation (I’m presuming here that she avenged those deaths), she overreacted and became belligerent. She resented that the Old Woman questioned her decision to kill “for the sake” of her dead compatriots. And she threatened to slice the Old Woman’s throat.

“Full moon” was written on her sword. The Old Woman saw it.

OW: Full moon? It’s a moon that’s full of deep-seated grudges.

Here we have a defining trait of Manwol. She was filled with resentment and ill-will. In a Hong sisters’ kdrama, full moons will always have different meanings and associations. For the female lead in this particular kdrama, the full moon meant harboring grudges.

MW: Tell me (the location of the inn). I’m taking responsibility for the people I killed.
OW: You can’t even take responsibility of yourself. You don’t have the ability to take care of other people’s lives.
MW: (getting riled up) I told you if you spoke nonsense, I’ll cut out your tongue. Just tell me where to go. If only dead people can find it, I can kill myself this instant. (puts sword to her own neck)
OW: What a poor soul. You think you can compensate for everything by sacrificing your life. But that’s a futile desire.

Hahaha… this is an interesting remark coming from the Hong sisters since they have a propensity for “noble idiocy.” In their kdramas, their heroes think that sacrificing one’s life is enough compensation for everything.

MW: My own life is the only thing I have to throw away now.
OW: The Inn of the Moon is where all the dead gather. The wandering dead are heading there on their own.

Soldiers on galloping horses appeared behind her. She prepared to fight them but they passed through her because they were only spirits of dead men.

OW: They too were already killed by your hands.

Manwol remembered defeating them in battle earlier and retrieving her bloodied scarf from them. When she looked around her, the Old Woman, the tent, her horse, and all traces of the oasis in the wilderness had disappeared.

MW: (to herself) Is this the place? Did I kill them all? Did I become an evil spirit … and come to the Inn of the Moon on my own two feet?
OW: (in a disembodied voice) Arrogant and foolish! You are a pitiful human who has fallen into self-pity. As you have found the place to pay for your sins on your own two feet, so now pay for your sins.

The translation in both Viki is muddled up, and I think Kissasian subbed it better. To me, it made sense that Manwol would be confused by the sudden disappearance of the real world and her transportation to a surreal place. She wondered whether she was dead and became an evil and vengeful spirit because of her “deep-seated grudges.” And the Old Woman replied that she was NOT a spirit yet. She was being punished in that very spot for her crimes against humanity. Now, it’s important to stress here that Manwol did something horrific that she was condemned to live in this state for a thousand years. Not one year, not a decade, not a century. But a millennium.

Her crime was never properly expressed or reported. There was only a flashback shown after Manwol sensed a shadow creeping up behind her and she turned to stab it. She saw that she stabbed a tree, and she suddenly had a flashback.

gifs credit: belsmultifandomness’ tumblr

Of course, this flashback would foreshadow the relationship between the two leads but please, no reincarnation now, Hong sisters! There’s obviously a betrayal somewhere in Manwol’s history but a reincarnation trope is sooo not worth a thousand-century wait. Like, what happens if Chansung dies again and the lovers are separated once more? Wait another millennium?

Anyway, Manwol’s sword became embedded in the tree and the tree swallowed it. The tree grew and her scarf was whipped away by a strong gust of wind.

All in all, we get a great deal of insight into Manwol’s character from the opening scene. We take for granted that her name is “Full Moon” because of the engraving on the sword she wielded. She’s the lone survivor of her clan.

The name Chansung is trickier to explain because…sigh… I’m not Korean. But if I get this wrong, I can blame Chansung of 2PM.

His twitter handle is @2pmagreement211. You know why? Because his name “Chansung” means agreement. hahaha. #sillyfacts

If Manwol means “full moon,” then Chansung means “agreement.” I warned you, didn’t I, that Hong sisters are anal-retentive about naming things. This is a long explanation so let me discuss this separately.

2. On fairy tales and Chansung’s agreement

Whoops! Another thing you have to remember about Hong sisters is that they like to incorporate Western fairy tales in their kdramas. For instance, there was this lovely elevator scene in “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho” where the heroine Miho appeared like the Little Mermaid being carried up by underwater bubbles as the voiceover narrated a passage from the book, “The mermaid watched the happy prince with the woman he loved. She turned into a bubble and disappeared entirely into the air.”

credit: dramabeans

In this kdrama, I EXPECT my smart bitches to see right away the allusion to Beauty and the Beast or I’ll rescind your Bitch memberships.

If the Old Woman’s scene with Manwol didn’t tip off the viewers to the Witch’s cursing the arrogant prince to become a Beast, then the scene of the Chansung’s father stealing the bloom off the tree should have set off warning bells.

Chansung’s father is similar to Beauty’s father who was caught by the Beast trying to steal a rose for Beauty. All of Beauty’s sisters (how many were there? Three?) requested for material goods and only Beauty asked for a rose upon their father’s return. Beauty’s request supposedly indicated her pure-heartedness so it always strikes me as ironic that her simple joys ended up being costlier than her sisters’ Gangnam style.

But I digress again….

In the Brother Grimm’s tale, the Beast allows the father to leave only if Beauty takes his place. From the start, the Beast makes it clear that Beauty must WILLINGLY come and accept to take his place. When the father agrees to it, the Beast lets the poor man leave with a chest of treasures to give to his daughters. Bribe, anyone?

Beauty ends up returning to the castle – reluctantly – to honor her father’s promise and the Beast welcomes her. Every night, however, he asks her to stay with him forever as his wife and she refuses him in no uncertain terms. If I remember the Disney-version correctly, she only stops escaping when he rescues her from the wolves.

Do you see the similarity between the fairy tale and the kdrama?

Not only does Chansung’s father steal the flowers from the tree for Chansung’s birthday present, but ManWol also allows the father to leave. Instead of a chest of treasures, money is deposited in his bank to raise and educate Chansung.

Like the Beast, Manwol bides her time and allows Chansung to return on his own volition. She sends him a yearly reminder, evening primroses, on his birthday so he never forgets his promise. And when he finally gets on the train to visit her hotel after 20 years had lapsed, she lets him reject her – just like the Beast does when he proposes marriage to Beauty.

CS: Is it you? The one who bought me?
MW: It looks like you were prepared. You should start by saying, “Who are you?”
CS: There was no need to ask who you are. This is playing out exactly as my father explained to me. You are the president of the Hotel del Luna, Jang Manwol, right?

Note: This really bugs me. It should be Hotel de la Luna, instead of del Luna. But oh well…. I thought you were good at naming, Hong sisters!! hahaha.

CS: (continuing) You sent me those flowers for my birthday every year.
MW: So you threw away the flowers that I sent you on your birthday every year?
CS: Every time I received them I grew worried that maybe my father’s words were real. That you might come to get me like this.
MW: So that’s why you ran from one country to another? So that I couldn’t come get you like this?
CS: Although I did run away, I didn’t know you would really come. I thought it all ended last year and let my guard down.
MW: That’s exactly why I didn’t come last year. Since I allowed you to be at ease at for a year, come to work starting tomorrow.

See there? She’s being reasonable with him. Like the Beast; he doesn’t scare off Beauty at their first encounter. In fact, he indulges her with food, clothes and nice things so she won’t leave the castle.

CS: My father told me that you’re a scary person. If I refuse, will you kill me?
MW: Hey, you must think I don’t look scary right now, right? I guess I’m too pretty to be scary.

lol. I’m beginning to like this adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Manwol’s a beast but he’s unafraid of her because she doesn’t look like beast. This kdrama has an original approach to the fairy tale.

CS: I’ll acknowledge that. Therefore, I shall continue being unafraid and refuse you.

credit: chayeona’s tumblr

Note: Chansung withholds his consent. Like Beauty, he’s refusing her in no uncertain terms. But he isn’t living up to his name which means “agreement.” lol.

MW: (scoffing) I shouldn’t have sent you flowers every year. I should have sent you a canary with its throat slit.

And this is when she gives him a special present as this year’s birthday present: the ability to see ghosts. Just watch the scene and see how sexy black can be. lol. She’s dressed for a funeral; her stilettos can be considered a weapon; and the train is pitch-dark but, in our minds, we’re still seeing a seduction instead of murder.

credit: leekangdoo’s tumblr

But after delivering the kiss of death (did you see what the writers did there? She blows him a kiss, a kiss that cursed him to see DEAD people), she lets him go at the next train station.

MW: Aren’t you getting off?

He moves to escape her but then he looks back at her.

MW: You want to be with me longer?

hahaha. She makes it so easy for him to scuttle away. He grabs his birthday flowers and lies bald-faced to her.

CS: Your gift to me – I didn’t throw it away on purpose. It was inspected by customs while I was traveling internationally.

She snorts. Of course, she knows that he’s lying. To me, this is a show of bravura. He wants her to know, almost defiantly, that he’s unafraid of her threats. His white lie is meant to prove his earlier statement that that he shall continue being unafraid of her because she can only deliver empty threats.

But note here: she allows him to defy her order to come work for her. She lets him off although she has the power to compel him. She wants his “agreement.” Do you see now how his name is significant to the story?

Later that evening, she saves him from a sightless ghost and then invites him to dinner.

MW: There’s a really yummy restaurant in this area. I saw it on TV. Let’s stop by there on our way out.
CS: A restaurant?

He’s flabbergasted that she’s so brazen. He’s made it clear that he’s rejecting her but she still insists on his company.

MW: I wanted to go there, so this turned out well. What are you doing. Let’s go.
CS: If I don’t follow you…are you going to send another one of those things (he meant the ghost) to kill me?

See here. This is the second time he asks her if she (or her one of her minions) means to kill him if he doesn’t obey her. And her answer remains the same. She doesn’t say it explicitly, but she cannot kill him because she needs him alive to run the hotel. lol.

MW: You won’t die. A thing like that doesn’t have enough strength to kill a living human. But since you’re extremely weak-hearted, you might get scared to death. (she meant literally scared to “DEATH”). Is that all? In a little while, they’ll start closing. We’re going to be late. (she hurries him up.)
CS: Let it close then! Return my eyes to how they were originally. Until you do so, I won’t go anywhere.

lol. It’s funny that he’s laying down his conditions. See that? He isn’t scared of her despite her being a “beast.”

MW: If we’re late because of you and the store closes, your eyes will stay closed…forever.

He agrees to go with her. At the restaurant, she keeps up a steady one-sided conversation. She cajoles him to eat. He speaks to her only to ask about this new ability to see ghosts. She insists that he eats something and makes it a game of chance.

MW: Challenge yourself to eat all these dumplings in one bite. If you succeed, I’ll give you a chance.
CS: (bald-faced again) I just wish you would disappear from my sight.

Ooof! I’m sure he’s going to live to regret saying that to her.

But she just gives a little haughty sniff and eats the dumplings on her own. My sixth sense tells me however that his cruel honesty here causes her more pain that his inept lie earlier on the train. It’s the way that she makes light of his confession later after dinner. To me, she’s downplaying his aversion to her by cracking a joke and showing that she’s unaffected.

MW: Hey, Gu Chansung, who doesn’t want to see me. (see that joke?) Go across the street and buy me a milk tea so I can eat and die. (another joke here.)

CS: (in disbelief) You ate so many dumplings yet you’re amazed by Kim Joon Hyun’s appetite? (rhetorical question) Is she human?
MW: Hurry up. If they close because it’s too late, you will die.

And she signals him to leave her. He knows it’s another empty threat and appears to resist her. But he ends up obeying her order. My sixth sense tells me here that she’s planned for him to leave the scene so he won’t get hurt when the Mayor attacks her. He returns to see her stabbed.

CS: What’s this? (he runs to her) Have you been stabbed?

lol. I would’ve been stunned, too. The iron rod is poking out of her chest but there’s no blood gushing on her white suit.

MW: How can living things not know their own sins?

There’s a double interpretation here. On one level, she’s talking about the Mayor who stabbed her. He’s blaming her for his own descent into hell. But on another level, and in light of the flashback she has when she’s stabbed, she’s talking about herself, too. She killed the army sent after her and she dared to cut the throat of the Old Woman. But I don’t think she knows or, more importantly, remembers her own sins in detail now because of the passage of time. She seems to see the past in disjointed memories.

CS: Are you alright?
MW: I cannot ridicule the old man. I was also crazy like him and I carried a sword around.

She admits that she had killed, too, in her previous life. But what is still unknown here is her reason for killing.

MW: (continuing) Gu Chansung. You didn’t succeed before, but I’ll give you a chance anyway. Run away if you want to. If you turn around and go now, just as you wish, I’ll disappear from your sight.

Awww…this is another indication for me that she DID mind what he said earlier at the restaurant that he wanted her out of sight. She’s generously offering him another opportunity to leave her.

MW: (continuing) Go. If you don’t go now, it’ll be too late.

And she closes her eyes. That’s important point here: she closes her eyes. She does NOT want to see him leaving her.

He runs away.

To me, this moment is quite sad. She opens her eyes and sees him gone. It’s as if she got her visual confirmation that everybody and everything eventually leaves her. She’s all alone in the world so she closes her eyes again. The aerial shot here spotlights her loneliness.

Then, he comes running back with a trash cart.

Hahahaha. I didn’t know whether to swoon or laugh.

A trash cart??? Let’s all appreciate the reference here. In the beginning of the episode, she was leading a horse-drawn cart with a coffin on it. Now, at the end of the episode, she herself was going to be hauled away, like the dead, on a cart for garbage. It’s funny how life comes full circle.

But really now. Doesn’t this guy have a phone?? Call 911 next time. Do you see what I mean now about the Hong sisters’ FATAL logic flaw? They have this kind of mental lapse.

MW: What is it?
CS: I’ve brought it to help you. Get on it. I’ll take you to the hospital or to the Hotel del Luna. Let’s go fast.

He grabs her elbow to pick her up but she shrugs it away.

MW: What’s with this?
CS: I don’t have the strength to carry you. It’s not dirty so get on.

But he sees the cabbage leaves and other leaf litters on the cart and proceeds to clean it. She stands up and takes out the rod from her chest.

CS: Here. Are you alright?
MW: Gu Changsung. You’re really weak-hearted. (She smiled at him wryly.) Your weak heartedness in coming with a handcart really pleases me.
CS: A vulnerable human has done something useless for an incredible person who doesn’t die even when she’s stabbed. (he’s upset). Okay, then, I’ll just be on my way.
MW: You can’t go.

She twirls the rod in her hand.

CS: What are you doing? Are you really going to…

He thinks she’s going to kill him but instead she lets the rod zoom across space to stab the Mayor. Cool. It’s like a heat-seeking missile.

MW: You lost your last chance for me to give you up now. If you run away now, I’m going to kill you.

That’s the funny thing here. She thinks he’s agreed to stay with her because he didn’t run away. He clarifies however that he only returned out of necessity. He thought she needed saving from death.

And she lets him off. Again. She doesn’t insist he stays and she doesn’t follow through with her death threat. Another empty threat.

MW: Then you should address me properly first. Call me “Boss.”
CS: You’re not my boss. I’ve never considered working at your hotel.
MW: Looks like you’re not very afraid yet.

They do this throughout Episode 2. She tries to convince him to come work for her and he doesn’t agree. I would list all the scenes if I had time but just go ahead and rewatch it yourself. In all their scenes together: at the shoe store, the carport, the museum, the restaurantS, she persistently tells him to come and work at the hotel and each time, he’ll refuses.

Even after she rescues him from the ghost knight and he wakes up at the hotel, he insists that he’s not the manager of the hotel.

If the whole story revolves around Manwol’s heart full of grudges, then the counterpoint is Chansung’s agreement. He’s the only one who keeps on rejecting her without ever incurring her wrath.

Did you see that?

3. On being alive but looking dead… or is it being dead but looking alive?? lol.

Listen up, folks. This is the real reason I’m writing this review: I was worried that the audience would miss this part.

Here’s the conversation between ManWol and her manager, Mr. Noh, in front of the tree. They’re discussing the tree.

MW: Is it alive or dead? For over a thousand years, it’s had neither leaves nor flowers. Is it going to die?

Then she has a flashback of Chansung outside the closed department store. He described her life in limbo. He’d asked her “Which side are you on? Have you not reached the door (aka death) yet? Or have you missed your chance and are now wandering and feeling regretful?” I find it fascinating that, despite knowing her for only a brief period, he astutely summed up her existence.

Noh: It’s alive. That tree contains your spirit.
MW: Hmph! Exactly. But does that mean that I’m alive?

Noh: I prepared a fine champagne. Will you have a glass?
MW: Good. Instead of just sipping on one bottle, bring a whole case.

If the tree represents her spirit, then she’s as lifeless as that tree. She’s been waiting in limbo for a thousand year, neither blooming nor flourishing.

That’s why she finds a kindred soul in the spirit of the Mt. Baekdu tiger. At the museum, she and Chansung ponder over the taxidermy animal.

MW: Like this…this is it.
CS: Is this also a hotel guest?
MW: It’s because it’s a spirit.
CS: This was the last Mt. Baekdu tiger captured on the Korean peninsula. I remember seeing on the news, a long time ago, that they captured a tiger in North Korea. He came here without a pack, without a mate, living alone to the end.

Note: I’ve always known them as “Siberian” tigers but these tigers used to roam around the Korean peninsula as well. In fact, the tiger figures prominently in Korea’s creation mythology because of their real presence in the mountain ranges of Korea. Unfortunately, a combination of hunting and urbanization drove them to brink of extinction in the early 20th century. Now, sighting of “free-range” tigers (meaning, not living in the zoos or sanctuaries) have become as real as sightings of unicorns.

To me, there are two levels to understanding this passage. On one hand, to Chansung, the tiger lived a lonely life, without a pack, without a mate, to the end. It was the last of its kind. But, on the other hand, ManWol identifies with the tiger. Her spirit may be in a tree, but the tiger’s spirit is wandering without a body. Remember what she told the bellhop the night before. She said, “It’s dangerous for a spirit to wander around like that without a body.”

MW: He is dead. They made him look alive like this.

Standing beside her and listening to her, Chansung has a flashback of Manwol saying, “I’m not dead. I haven’t died yet. I just exist.”

credit: dramavixen’s tumblr

Here, Chansung gets an insight. Manwol has been existing for a long time but she feels dead inside. Like the tiger, she’s only made to look “alive” by dressing up nicely and owning nice cars. But she’s at a standstill, immobile like the stuffed tiger. She’s passing time.

Later they visit the chairman of Chansung’s hotel who, coincidentally, was given the Mt. Baekdu tiger exhibited in the museum. They admire the painting that was also presented to the chairman along with the Mt. Baekdu tiger.

Chairman: You know how to look at paintings. This is a painting which was bequeathed to me by a famous North Korean painter. I received it as a gift when I visited North Korea. Same with the tiger from Mt. Baekdu.
CS: Yes. I’ve seen the tiger on display. Do you happen to think the tiger —
Chairman: I brought them both from the north. He came here and never mated. He was alone until he died.
MW: You don’t need to put anything meaningful here. Because everything he cherished is somewhere he cannot return to.

Meaning, everything has changed. Manwol knows very well that the tiger can’t go back to the past because she and the tiger are in the same situation. In Episode 1, when she traveled down that dusty road with just the coffin filled with mementos, it was clear that she lost everything that she ever cherished and she couldn’t undo the past.

Chairman: I don’t feel good about this. Even in my dreams, I keep seeing the tiger.
MW: The one who brought him here must send him back.

I think this reasoning is in line with Manwol’s personality. She believes in taking responsibility.

Chairman: The stuffed tiger has already become a symbol of interchange. I can’t do as I wish. I can’t send him back.

Again, this is pertinent to ManWol. She can’t do as she wishes (i.e., die) because she must pay the price for the lives killed for her and by her. The tiger problem appears difficult, but at least, the tiger can reach its final resting place. She, on the other hand, can’t leave her station in life. She’s stuck here to atone for the deaths she caused.

Later, she speaks to her Manager Noh who’s finally died.

Noh: Ms. Jang. I spent my whole life here, but it feels weird to come as a guest.
MW: Are you dead?
Noh: I’m sorry. When I left the hotel, I lost my life.
MW: (sigh) I finally let you go. You probably didn’t have a chance to live like a human.
Noh: As I served the guests here, I’ve spent a meaningful life. A long time ago, when I tried to let myself go, I would’ve lived a short and lame life if I hadn’t met you that day. I was glad that I could stay at Hotel del Luna.

I interpret this to mean that at one point in time, he aspired to live a normal life. But he realized that he would have lived a futile and empty life.

MW: Glad? How can you be glad? You never formed a family who would put up an altar for you.

This is the “tiger argument.” The Mt Baekdu tiger’s life was pitiful because it lived a lonely existence without a pack and a mate.

Noh: As I was the only one who got older in this hotel, you were my elder sister, my daughter, and then my granddaughter. I can leave without worries, now that you have a reliable replacement.

Manager Noh is telling her that family is what you make of it. Without her sharing his blood, and without her awareness, she’s become all of his family in time.

Manwol reaches out to grip his sleeves with two fingers.

MW: Since I can’t die, I can’t tell you that we’ll meet again or something like that.

He releases her hold on his sleeves and clasps her hand in both of his.

Noh: I hope that your time will start running once again someday.

That’s why she empathizes with the Mt. Baekdu tiger and wants to acquire the painting. It isn’t out of greed. She understands, before Chansung does, that both the tiger and the painting, are a matching set. She understands that after the tiger has returned home, its time will cease to be static and aimless. When I say “home” I don’t mean the physical world because that’s long gone but the afterworld.

MW: The place you want to go to, no longer exists in this world. The man who brought you here provided a place for you to stay though. Go and rest in peace.

Sooooo…what’s my point here then?

In a very subtle way, the kdrama is posing questions about human existence. What does it mean to exist and what it means to be alive? What does it mean to have a meaningful life?

Manwol is barely living. Sure, she indulges in fine things like good food, abundant champagne, expensive cars, and nice outfits. She also does good deeds to the souls she helps to “heal.” But deep inside, she’s still a dead wood like that tree of hers.

If she’s going to exist forever, then something has to change. She can’t continue the kind of life she’s been leading.

You see, despite the trappings of wealth and power seen here,

nothing much has changed from that moment she was first seen walking in the field with the coffin behind her. She still walks alone.

She’s just exchange the wooden coffin for an opulent, palatial one. lol.

That’s what Hotel del Luna actually is. No matter how many turrets you put on it, it remains a place for the dead, not the living.