I was asked by my good friends, @lovebangwon and @mslee1107 to give my “first impressions” of this kdrama. Since I’m not interested in melodrama, this will serve as my first and LAST impressions, too.

I wasn’t bribed with my favorite chocolate chip cookies.

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1. Who’s who?

You know that I don’t believe in fortune-telling. So, if you’re going to ask me to divine who the mistress and the “well-intentioned” informant are, then you’re going to be disappointed. I can only make give you a theory.

Let’s start with the names.

Na JungSun: the wife
Park SungJoon: the husband

There are three female candidates. I won’t include the lone male office worker, Sangwoon, because he wasn’t one of the people who was pictured opening the door to the bedroom.

A. Lee Hyuna: the colleague who wanted the general manager promotion which JungSun won.
Motive to have an affair with SungJoon: Revenge.
Her motto: (spoken in the elevator to reject a guy, at 9:09) “I’m not interested in playing games I may lose.”

B. Song Mina: the harassed wife and mother
Motive to have an affair with SungJoon: I’m not sure but the 10th commandment comes to mind when I see Mina. She probably covets JungSun’s well-ordered and competent life. Thus, to escape the drudgery of her real life, she started to have affair with SungJoon. Or maybe she actually fell in love with him and it was too late to get out of it? Time will tell.
Her ambition in life: To be free of stress? To have a life with a “glittering façade”?

C. On Yoori: the new employee. According to rumors, she used to work at the food court but was suddenly promoted because she’s having an affair with the Vice-President.

Motive to have an affair: ??
Her famous line so far: “Must we really fit in?”

Yoori is a newbie so there’s nothing much to say about her. But the two old friends, Hyuna and Mina, are interesting characters. Let’s take a look at their Subway conversation, okay?

Mina: (asking Jungsun) How was the prison visit?
JS: Geez…

The reason they were eating at Subway was because JS entered the office wanting an “energizer.” She had a terrible time at the prison visit because their VIP client, Ms. Hwang, gave her grief over the shoes. But Mina wasn’t really interested to know about her visit because she shifted the conversation right away.

Mina: What’s so special about those shoes?
Hyuna: She was arrested on the scene during a drug-fueled rampage. The entire nation saw her getting carted away while in her slippers. She’s concerned about her shoes as she comes back out.

What does this tell us about Hyuna? She keeps abreast of news and gossips, can deduce and connect not-so-obvious links, knows psychology.

Mina: Why would someone like Ms. Hwang use drugs?
Hyuna: Many lead lives with a glittering façade.

Hyuna was avoiding eyes as she said this. JS gave a chortle as if agreeing. Mina looked glum. Then Mina’s phone rang. She looked at it with a frown. She exhaled.

JS: What? There aren’t issues with the delivery, right?

They were expecting Ms. Hyung’s shoes to be hand-delivered from Japan that afternoon.

Mina: It’s my family. My kids. (texting them)
Hyuna: I mean, you both work. Why do you take care of the home and kids, both? If it were me, I would’ve bailed.
JS: The crisis is over. Go on home. We’ll wrap up here.
Mina: No, let’s wrap it up together.

Her phone buzzed again. And this time, she stood up to take the call. Curious, right? Her family and kids called and she merely texted back. But this one, she simply had to answer it. She stood up and left the table for privacy.

Mina: Let me take this call.

Note the bright smile on her face as she left the table.

Hyuna: She should’ve left when she had the chance. Why even bother…
JS: (commenting on Hyuna’s attitude) That’s it. Right there. You’re an old fogey who bitches about everything.

Probably the better description to describe Hyuna is cranky, grouchy, crabby, pessimistic, grumpy, oldie. She’s a stick-in-the-mud. But she’s right. It didn’t make sense for Mina to stick around when she had more pressing issues with her family.

And what’s more, when a concerned colleague offered Mina a job in another department, she was reluctant to take it. Her excuse? The VIP department was short-handed at the moment. She seemed attached to her job in the office when she wasn’t even a major, indispensable player.

Hyuna: Yah! Lee Hyuna and “old fogey” are not meant to be synonymous. (sees JS smiling) You look at ease these days.
JS: Huh? I want to be at ease.

Hyuna’s phone rang. She glanced at JS before excusing herself.

Hyuna: Sorry, excuse me for a second.
JS: He must be guy number three.
Hyuna: Yah! Who do you think I am? He’s number five.
JS: Yeah.

This tells us that she’s a maneater, and proud of it. I think this would be a cruel joke indeed had she been hiding an affair with JS’s husband while referring to JS’ husband as her #5 to her face.

Outside the two ladies saw each other from a distance. Mina bit her lips when she saw Hyuna

Then, smiled in greeting at Hyuna,

Bit her lips again as she moved away.

Biting lips is a sign of sudden stress or sudden tension; you compress your lips unconsciously to make them disappear when you’re suddenly feeling uncomfortable.  To me, she’s hiding something and biting her lips was her unconscious body language of distress. lol. If this scene is a foreshadowing then I’m going to make a wild guess: the mistress is Mina, and Hyuna caught her and the SungJoon, and sent the text.

2. Symbolisms

There were a few symbolisms.

a. The revolving door

I took this to mean that SungJoon is considering an affair. The revolving door = a change in his relationship; an affair

b. She’s been “robbed.”

She was watching a stray kitten eat the food she had given it. She was on the phone trying to contact her husband but all she got was a recording. “The call isn’t going through.”

A child approached her.

Child: Ahjumma, what are you doing?
JS: I’m checking to see if the cat is eating.
Child: But why watch him from over here?
JS: Because I’m afraid of cats.

To me this is a foreshadowing. She’s going to watch her husband SungJoon from afar because she’s afraid to know the truth, that is, the root cause of their marital unhappiness. For him to consider an affair, there’s discontent somewhere.

Child: Then why are you feeding him?
JS: He’s so thin, all skin and bones. Plus, he keeps following me. I think he got skinnier following me around. I feel responsible.

She says she feels responsible for the kitten. This is a big part of her character. I didn’t count anymore how often her responsibility was brought up in this episode. Her husband reprimanded her for taking on SangWoon’s job responsibility, and Hyuna also scolded her for feeling responsible for the newbie.

JungSun has an over-inflated sense of responsibility. She’s very good at her job because of this hyper-responsibility. It’s actually a sign of her intense desire to control what happens in the world. She takes on the role because she thinks she can handle everybody’s affairs better than them. Unfortunately, in the process of shouldering everybody’s duties, she neglects her self.

The child smiled at her and started following her.

JS: Why do you keep following me?
Child: So you’ll feel responsible. I want some chocolate ice cream.

The next scene. JungSun’s husband finally contacted her. She asked why she couldn’t get a hold of him earlier. I think he must have parried her question with, “What are you doing?” because she was answering, “Me? I got robbed.” She’d bought the kid ice cream.

My quick take here? There’s a double meaning here. Motherhood; she was robbed of her motherhood.

Of all three women, Hyuna the office rival, Mina the harassed mother, and Yoori the newbie, the only person who possesses something she DOES NOT HAVE is Mina. Mina has children; she doesn’t.

She wanted to get pregnant; that’s why she looked at her ovulation chart.

c. The fuss about the shoes

Again, it’s a sign of her OCD. She’s good at what she does because she pays attention to details. She had the women parade in the similar-looking pair of shoes.

However, for me, the shoes are symbolic of the women in her husband’s life. They all represent a facet, or aspect of JungSun. They’re not the original JungSun, or the Model #NDRX4 shoes that Ms. Hwang wanted delivered to her in prison by 6pm.

Let me see now:

Hyuna is the corporate world version of JungSun. JungSun’s is awfully fierce at her job, very detailed and uber-competitive. Did you see her ride the motorcycle to deliver the documents for the customs? Hyuna wants to be like her.

Hyuna isn’t as competitive as JungSun. Remember: Hyuna only competes if she thinks she can win it.

Mina is the disorganized version of JungSun. She can’t get her act together because her husband and her children are always making demands on her time.

Yoori is the young version of JungSun. That’s why the VIP shopper who was taken with JungSun’s skills as a personal shopper, also took to Yoori. She liked the candor of JungSun and Yoori. But Yoori would idolize JungSun’s competence and confidence.

Thus, the shoe parade? It’s just like the parade of women in the husband’s life. The original one can’t be replaced.

d. Following in her footsteps

They all want to follow her footsteps.

To me, that’s the whole point of this scene. The little girl, and the kitten followed her footsteps because they want her to take care of them and to take responsibility for them.

It’s the same as this scene, when she had the women parade in the similar-looking pair of shoes. She walked around in a circle and the women followed her. This reminded me of the three women, Hyuna, Mina and Yoori, who would want to follow her footsteps for she had qualities that are lacking in them. The three ladies would like to step into her shoes and walk her path.

Even the opening credit showed JungSun walking down an empty corridor and looking back to see who was following her.

3. Cheating?

Yes. On the surface, it looks like this kdrama is about cheating. But I don’t think it’s the central idea. Perhaps in the beginning, it will expose the cheating but, at the story progresses, it’ll be about JungSun’s self-discovery.

The walk in the rain with SungJoon is pertinent.

JS: Did your meeting in the morning go well?

Ha! It’s funny that she should ask her husband. There were two people who had meetings that morning although it was supposedly their day off. SungJoon and Mina.

She was late for her PTA meeting, and was re-buttoning her shirt in the car. Her husband called her as soon as she sat in the meeting. But he thought she had been in the meeting since that morning. He thought she had been “marathoning” the PTA meeting when in fact, she had just arrived and was late for that meeting.

Notice the lip-biting here again?

Anyway, to continue with the walk in the rain with JungSun and her husband.

SJ: Yes. You know…
JS: If you’re to die tomorrow, what would you like to do? Just because. Seeing Ms. Hwang go suddenly like that,
SJ: Well.

If you notice here, she didn’t really wait to hear his answers. Just like when Mina asked he how her prison visit went, JungSun asked her husband questions but she wasn’t interested in his answer. She proceeded to talk about what SHE would like to do.

JS: I’ve thought about it. I don’t want to do anything in particular. I think I’m fine living the way I’ve been living. Worry about what to have for lunch while working. Go home and badmouth my boss to my husband. If I die after living like that, I think I’ll be okay. So it was nice. Even if I die tomorrow, the thought that it’s fine to live as I am right now, it was nice. Honey, you look exhausted nowadays. Exhausted.

She repeated, “it was nice” twice. When somebody does that, I see it as an indication of wanting reassurance. She’s trying to convince herself that their current arrangement was nice…although it wasn’t.

SJ: Yeah. I’ve been busy. Sangwoo should get settled in now.
JS: This is why working for a successful team leader is exhausting. Not everyone is as quick as you are. (he touches her forehead)
SJ: Was I too sensitive these days?
JS: I know it’s because many eyes are watching, but you should take it easy. Let’s take it easy and live well before we die. Mr. Park.

And he placed an arm around her.

That night however, on the way to their bedroom, she passed by a closed door and she looked at it resentfully? sadly? That room probably held some secrets. But what room was that? I could only think of two possibilities: a children’s bedroom or an office.

4. The title explanation

Right now, I don’t know who the Very Important Person (VIP) in JungSun’s life truly is. It seems to be her job. But I think in the end, this will change. She’ll learn to cater to her own needs or to her husband’s needs — it depends on the screenwriter’s mindset and theme of this kdrama.  🙂

It’s possible that the most important person in the world is her own self. She’s been so focused on pleasing others and taking responsibility of others that she doesn’t know herself and her own desires.

But then the VIP can also mean the two of them, as husband and wife. When a marriage breaks down, it’s rarely the fault of just one person.

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So there you have it, @lovebangwon and @mslee1107. This is a rather rough first and last Impressions for this kdrama. I had to squeeze it in between my reviews for “Extra-ordinary You” and the others. But I hope it’ll be useful for you. If not, just throw it away. 🙂