The manhwa world is similar to a reincarnation.

The nerdy trio call it déjà vu, that feeling that a moment has been experienced before, although it’s the first time. One of the nerds says it happens to him often.

But Haru is still unsettled by the vision he had earlier while he and DanOh were washing their hands in the outdoor faucet. He heard the same CLICKing sound that DanOh normally hears to signal the beginning of a Stage.

Note: I mentioned in an earlier review that Kyung doesn’t know when the Stage ends. I think only DanOh hears the clicking sounds before and after Stages. Kyung doesn’t hear the clicking sounds so he doesn’t know exactly when a Stage begins but he can discern the end of a Stage when an illogical thing happens (like a bench suspended in air) or when DanOh suddenly switches off.

Here, Haru hears the CLICK (or the page-flipping sound) and he turns around to see DanOh of a different era wearing sageuk clothes at a stream. The Sageuk DanOh smiles at him, splashes water at him, giggles and splash water again.

But he’s staring at the present-day DanOh who calls him out of his trance, “Haru-ya. Haru-ya.”

Isn’t she incandescent with happiness?

She, too, had just splashed water at him so she pretends to remorseful, “Alright I’ll stop messing around” and tricks him again, “You really thought I would stop, didn’t you?”

She splashes him a second time and giggles, “Hey, you’re completely soaking wet.” In revenge, he scoops up water and lobs it at her, completely drenching her. She gasps and he quickly drapes his shirt (because he’s well-trained after that forest incident) on her, and apologizes. “Sorry.”

She sulks and he holds her hand and begins to apologize, “I’m sorry, I did it because I thought we were messing around—” But she suddenly laughs up at him, “This is the first time I’ve felt this feeling. Because of you, I feel as if I’ve been born again.”

Her words trigger memories of a Sageuk DanOh saying the same exact thing. “This is the first time I’ve felt this feeling. Because of you, I feel as if I’ve been born again. Haru.”

And he doesn’t know what’s going on.

DanOh doesn’t realize how ironic her words are. When she says that she feels “reborn,” she means that she feels happy, energized, and rejuvenated. She’s feeling refreshed after their water play.

But to Haru who’s seeing a vision of a Sageuk DanOh super-imposed on the real DanOh, he’s discovering that she’s replaying a past moment. It’s as if she’s, literally, born again.

It’s more than déjà vu.

He’s remembering his past life, and he’s re-living this moment with her. Meanwhile, she feels reborn because she’s falling in love with him again, just like the previous lifetime.

That is essentially what reincarnation is. It’s a rebirth.

Haru is slowly realizing that there’s a fundamental pattern to their manhwa lives, and although there are variations, their present life is following a cycle. Events from the past are repeating.

Note: The music teacher actually foretold this sequence of events earlier. Just like the math teacher’s Gauss lecture, the music teacher’s lecture on Beethoven is helpful to our understanding of the direction of this kdrama.

The music teacher said, “This piece is Beethoven’s Variations in F Major, opus 34. Let me tell you how variations work. They add their own style to the songs of the past generation and end up creating various musical expressions. They don’t limit themselves to the conventional styles of music. By doing that, they are looking for the joy of music.”

Now, because we’re smart and curious bitches here, here’s the music if you want to listen to it.

But if you want a lighter introduction to variations, I recommend you listen to this Mozart’s composition called, “Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman.” This used to be my sons’ bedtime music. By the time they went to school, they recognized that this is the same melody as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Baa Baa, Black Sheep” and the “ABC song.”

 

But I digress…

The point of the music teacher is that life should be lived like a variation. Sure, there’s a cyclical nature to our existence. We seem to be merely repeating mistakes and our failures are inevitable.

But we should still strive to create our expression of our individuality. To live joyfully, we shouldn’t be constrained by human conventions; just like Beethoven (and Mozart) weren’t limited by musical conventions.

That’s what DanOh and Haru’s impromptu date was all about. They skipped school and created a story of their own — their secret story — that is distinct and separate from the writer’s recycled manhwas.

DoHwa already said that all manhwa plots are the same. He said, “There’s a female lead, male lead, and a male second lead.”

The bell rang as he was describing manhwa conventions to Kyung in the A3 room. He stood up to go to class but Kyung decided to stay behind.

And that’s how Haru and DanOh ended up skipping the same music class. Kyung decided to stay behind from class, and Haru stepped in to take Kyung’s spot.

DanOh: It’s not fun, right? Let’s skip class.
Haru: Skip?
DanOh: (raising her hand to call the teacher): Can I go the nurse’s office?
Music Teacher: DanOh, are you really not feeling well somewhere? Where’s Baek Kyung?
Classmate: BK isn’t here yet. (lol! Haru found his chance!!)
Haru: Teacher!
Teacher: Yes?
Haru: I’ll take her. (Haru found his chance.)
Teacher: You??

To everybody’s amazement, he grabbed DanOh’s hand, and they ran away.

Thus, Haru and DanOh broke the conventional style of the manhwa world. The plot remains always the same, according to DoHwa. But they found a way to find their joy of living.

That’s why DanOh is happy as they return to the school. The water play seems like a perfect way to end this brief interlude. She feels “born again.”

It’s only Haru who realizes that something’s amiss, and suspects that even this “escape” from the manhwa world may have been written already in another lifetime.

To me, the Squid fairy actually favors Haru over Kyung, but his hands are tied. He’s the only one with the awareness that everything is a reincarnation. He believes that ignorance is the kindest gift to Haru and DanOh who are bound to repeat the same tragedy.

Think of them as Romeo and Juliet. That book is on the bookshelf, right? lol. But please notice that there’s a question mark after “Romeo” (to tease us viewers that the identity of Romeo is still undecided) and the word, “and” (again to tease us that whether the couple will end together or not is still undecided).

The quandary of the Squid guy: if no one can rewrite the stars, if nothing that Romeo and Juliet (aka Haru and DanOh) can do will avert their tragic ending, then isn’t it better for two star-crossed lovers not to know their fate?

To me, the Squid guy is questioning his decision to withhold the truth from Haru when he talks to him at the arbor.

Squid: If I didn’t want your memories to return…would I have been too much of a bad guy?

He wants to spare them the suffering of knowing their doom. But Haru doesn’t press him, like Kyung would do.

Haru: There must be something I shouldn’t remember. In my memories, I remember this flower. I thought it was a dream, but it wasn’t a dream. Is it an event that will happen? Or has it happened already?

Note: DanOh can only see the future. But Haru can also see the past which becomes their future.

Squid: It’s the reason I couldn’t give you an answer about your beginning. Your beginning isn’t a secret from here.

What he really means is that his real story has long been a secret. Even in the other manhwa, “Flower,” his origins had been unknown.

Haru: Is that why I remembered Eun DanOh? You said that the meaning of the Chinese trumpet vine was “waiting”, right? I think I know why I kept seeing this flower. So I could remember Eun Dan Oh. To wait until DanOh could find me.

The Squid guy returns to the library and contemplates Haru’s questions, “Is it an event that will happen? Or has it happened already?” And, in solitude, he answers the question truthfully.

Squid: It happened already but would happen again. Because the writer uses the same character over and over again. And even the lines in the story are the same. It’s harder to not become self-aware. Even if I burned the book, I couldn’t prevent some things from happening.

That’s true. When DoHwa remembers to anticipate the next scenes and when the other classmates sense déjà vu, they’re actually gaining awareness that things are happening on a repeat cycle.  In the context of the manhwa, the writer is simply recycling stories because the conventions of the manhwa must be followed.

However, in context of life-and-death musings, this is reincarnation. The soul repeats endless cycle of birth, unconsciousness/consciousness, suffering, and death. They can’t escape it unless there’s a breakthrough or an enlightenment.

Squid: (continuing) Once everybody finds out about the story, I might have to witness that tragedy again. (addressing writer) I’m happy I’m able to appear in many works. But you’re very cruel. If it’s going to be like this, take away my self-awareness as well.

In this sense, the Squid guy is a pathetic fellow, too. He sees the endless pattern but is powerless to stop the tragedy.

Note: there’s a difference between how Haru and Kyung talk to the Squid guy. Haru treats the Squid guy with civility. He isn’t submissive; he respectfully informs the Squid guy of his decisions. On the other hand, Kyung comes off as rude, confrontational and threatening. In Episode 8, he drops by the kitchen and waits for the Squid guy with his feet on the table.

He insolently asks the Squid guy how he should call him? By his name, Jin michae (or dried squid fairy)? Or should he call him “Hyung” like Lee Dohwa does?

And the Squid guy responds with a fake smile, “That’s definitely not something I want you to call me by.” His fake smile shows how his true feelings. To be related to Kyung would be detestable.

To me, if Haru and DanOh are going to be Romeo and Juliet here, then Kyung is the antagonist…just like his set-up in this manhwa.

Remember this?

I find it rather amusing that the defenders of Kyung ignore that a) he’s grouped with the bullies in the manhwa, and b) he’s like the female version of Sae Mi.

There’s a direct parallelism between him and Saemi. Remember that cafeteria scene? Saemi angrily complaining that Jooda stole NamJa from her. She has first dibs on Namja since they’ve been friends since elementary school (just like Kyung and DanOh). She and Namja even shared a kiss in a play.

Saemi: Did he attach a GPS tracker on her what? I’m the only bad guy, I am.
KY: You have no choice since your role is to be the antagonist, Shin Sae Mi.

DanOh: (scolding Kyung) Yah!
Saemi: Antagonist?
KY: Yeah.
Saemi: I am? Is there an antagonist that gets his place stolen from him? (And she storms off.)

DanOh: There’s no need to tell her that.
KY: No, I do. You have to tell them their role so they know their place. Haroo…remembers everything now.
DanOh: I’m relieved. I was really worried about him.
KY: Is this the real EDO? Are you happy that HR returned? I have no way of knowing. You keep switching it up on me, the real and fake EDOs.
DanOh: This is definitely the real EDO. He disappeared and came back for me.
KY: Is that it?
DanOh: What?
KY: Is that really it?

Haru: (coming in with his lunch tray): DanOh, is the seat next to you free?
KY: Why are you sitting over here?
DanOh: BK, why are you being like this?
KY: I told you! If you don’t tell them they won’t know that they’re crossing the line.
Haru: How am I crossing the line?
KY: The fact that you’re sitting in front of me is crossing the line. Think of your setup.

See? He’s like Saemi here. He wants Haru out of the picture because he thinks Haru is a usurper. He wants to claim DanOh because he knows her first, since childhood days, and he’s her fiancé.

Haru: Those don’t matter to me…things like that.
KY: You. I’ll be watching to see if you can say those words in the next stage. (then he walks off, too, like Saemi)
DanOh: He was doing alright for some time now. Why did he suddenly go back into jerk mode? Really.
Haru: Don’t worry about it. Let’s eat.
DanOh: Mani bogo.
Haru: You too.

Although Haru treats Saemi as DanOh’s friend, I think, subconsciously, Haru recognizes that she’s an antagonist. That’s why he blinks at her when he sees her.

And made her wear the watch, lol, so Kyung came to rescue her instead of DanOh.

*****

I’ll have to continue this later because I’ve a busy day tomorrow.  Will discuss the Kyung’s brother, the date and the tennis match.