Okay, where was I?

Backups.

1. Dalmi fixed Dosan’s backpack.

I’m sure nobody will get this one. lol. Dosan fixed Dalmi’s back first, then Dalmi zipped up Dosan’s backpack while they were waiting for the elevator.

That means she watches his back. She looks out for him. She’s his backup protection.

Saha: Why bother back-up when there’s nothing to steal?
Dalmi: It never hurts to be prepared. Who knows if investments will suddenly start pouring in?
Dosan: Exactly. You never know.

Dalmi noticed his open backpack and zipped it. Chulsan envied their display of affection, and playfully showed his unzipped backpack to Saha.

Chulsan: Even if you don’t like someone new…My backpack is open, Ms. Jung… (she ignored him)… You might one day go crazy for that person. (Dosan moved to zip up his backpack) Stop it!
Saha: Sometimes, the opposite happens. Who knows if your best friend will one day become your worst enemy.
Dalmi: People are unpredictable, and so is life. There’s no telling what might happen.
Dosan: So is coding. From a power outrage to hacking, all kinds of things can happen and there’s nothing you can do. That’s why we should always back up.

This scene is a foreshadowing. There are at least two more instances in this episodes when Dalmi looked out for Dosan’s welbeing.

One was when she asked JP for a favor. She didn’t want to worry him about money.

Dalmi: Also, I have a favor to ask you. Please don’t tell Dosan about this (holding up the business plan that she was pitching to the companies with CSR budgets). I want him to focus on his work without worrying about money.

That was her way of supporting/backing him up on this project. Although she was under a lot of stress to find investors, she didn’t want Dosan to know since he was already hard at work finishing the app. As far as I’m concerned, this division of labor is necessary and healthy. Dosan’s job as CTO, Chief Technology Officer, is to lead the technology innovation and development of the company. Her job as CEO is to manage the cash flow. Allowing the other person to do his/her job is a sign of confidence.

The other time when Dalmi got Dosan’s back was when she confronted Chairman Won.

In her own words: “To prevent your company from falling, fund NoonGil with Morning Group’s CSR budget. Also, settle with Dosan.”

Not only Dosan was impressed with Dalmi’s blackmailing…errr…negotiating skill here, so was her sister InJae.

2. Dosan asked her again what she liked about him. 

This scene is also about “backing up.”  You see, to back up something can mean to confirm it. Dosan wanted to ascertain that Dalmi’s previous answer was still valid.

Dosan: Dalmi
Dalmi: Yes?
Dosan: Can I ask you something?
Dalmi: What is it?
Dosan: What do you like about me?
Dalmi: Hmmm…

He just looked at her. This is noteworthy. In Episode 4, he badgered her till she gave a personal answer. She answered him that she liked because he was her first love, he wrote the letters, and he was a cool person. His hands were the last thing she liked about him. In this instance, however, he seemed reluctant to beg for answer.

Dalmi: Well…. You asked this question once before.
Dosan: (pretending) What? Did I? I don’t remember it.
Dalmi: Your hand. I like your hand.

She kissed his hand. This was a strong affirmation of her feelings. And kissing his hand was a better medication than the band-aid.

Dalmi: (continuing) You supported me completely today. I’ll never forget it. (then she handed back the hand she fixed up) It’s done.
Dosan: (grinning like a fool at his bandaged hand)

His hands might still be empty but he was proud of the scratches. To him, they were a badge of honor.

3. Technology as back-up

Grandma’s vision was steadily getting worse (remember how Dalmi threaded the needle for her?) Now, she couldn’t even see the numbers on her door’s pin pad, so she replaced it with a conventional lock-and-key. Dalmi argued that technology was so convenient and awesome. Grandma retorted that new technology made old people feel left out.

To prove her wrong, Dalmi took out the new app that Dosan created.

Grandma: What service?
Dalmi: It’s called NoonGil. An app for the visually impaired.
Grandma: (freezing) Why the visually impaired out of the blue? I thought you were working on AI or something.
Dalmi: This app uses AI. It was Dosan’s idea.
Grandma: (shocked) It was Dosan’s idea?
Dalmi: Yes. Using voice and image recognition technology, this app becomes the eyes for the visually impaired.

I like that she knew that Dosan made this for her, and that Dosan secretly did it for her.

Note: You can see the different mindsets of JP and Dosan here. On one side, Dosan knew that blind people needed this technology, so he created it. He knew finding investors would be difficult so he agreed with Dalmi that they could be patient and work with Morning Group’s AI development to get the money.

That’s why he went with her to look for money.

On the other side, JP knew that investors wouldn’t fund this app, so he discouraged its creation. Even after he found those CSRs for Dalmi, he was still dissuading her from venture because it was too difficult.

Dosan: We can do it!
JP: We’ll never make it.

We can see the difference between the two men but right now, I’m not sure whether Grandma can see it herself. Either way, she returned Dosan’s kind act with a kind act herself. Since Samsan Tech needed feedback for the app, she wrote a long one for him. (Lol. That wasn’t really the sort of “feedback” Dalmi was expecting. She was expecting a “like” or a star-rating on social media.) And I like the idea of Grandma writing a long feedback because it acted like a letter. She had written a long letter to be read by Dalmi and Dosan.

Grandma: I tried using the app and made a feedback for you. That’s called a feedback, right?
Dosan: (apologetic) I should have told you beforehand.
Grandma: Thank you. I think it will be a great help to me in the future.

The app was going to be a great support for her. It was her backup pair of eyes.

A word on the name NoonGil.

I’m not Korean but I think there’s a wordplay. I thought it was lucky that the name meshed well with Morning Group’s name.

But “noon” sounds like the Korean word for eye which is “nun.” “Gil” is the word for road. Based on the name, this service offers a metaphorical avenue for the visually impaired people to walk among the sighted people. It was like a guide dog.

The last meaning of Noongild I could think of is the 2015 movie called “The Snowy Road.” The translation of “The Snowy Road” is Nungil. Calling the service “The Snowy Road” could be alluding to the hardship that a blind person must traverse in a world for the sighted.

Those are my interpretations as a non-Korean. You’re free to take it or leave it (or add to it). Just don’t argue with me.

4. People as backups or supporters

There were many supporters or backups in this episode to help Dosan launch the product.

His cousin was a backup. He used his marketing know-how to make NoonGil viral.

The famous baseball player, Park Chanho, was another backup. His enthusiastic support of the app made it viral.

Even God was a backup.

Dalmi prayed to God that the “DAU (or Daily Active Users) would be less than 1,000.” She realized too late that God answered her prayer, but in a rather peculiar way. While they were eating, exactly one person downloaded it.

God granted her wish by allowing only ONE person to download it that very night. However, by the following day, that ONE person promoted on TV and their app went viral. Dalmi only prayed for that single day. For her goal to be effective, she should have asked the heavens to make her weekly, monthly or even annual users be less than 1,000. I say God answered her prayer, literally.

Altogther, these people were Dosan’s backups: Dalmi, Grandma, the 1% cousin, and the baseball pitcher, Park Chan Ho. They supported him in a POSITIVE way.

However, one person supported him in a negative way. That’s JP.

Karma. lol.

Honestly, I laughed because he does this a lot in “2D1N.” Falls down.

Joking aside, I’ve also mentored and I see people like JP in my field. As he stands right now, without a better character development, I say that he’s TOXIC.  A mentor who continually:

a. belittles his mentee, and
b. focuses on the deficits rather than merits of the project and the mentee,

will have a negative impact on the self-confidence and drive of his mentee. That’s not what TRUE mentorship is all about. I get that JP’s jealous of Dosan and/or is threatened by Dosan’s genius, but he should keep his personal feelings separate from his duties as mentor of Dalmi, and SamSan Tech.

Just so we’re all clear here, this is short list of JP’s wrong predictions on Samsan Tech.

One. JP didn’t think Samsan Tech was any good until Samsan Tech won CODA.

He said, “…But what’s the use? You have nothing to entice investors. What is your business model? And how will you generate consistent profit? You don’t have a clear picture. Getting tutoring support? A crash course? With tricks like that, you won’t get into Sand Box. It’s all about potential. You need to prove an least an inkling of it! At this rate, Samsan Tech will go under in no time. Stop wasting your family’s money and look for another job.” (Ep 3 at 1:03:44)

Dosan was rightfully insulted with JP’s finger gesture. But instead of retaliating insult for insult, he paid it back with a heart sign. Dosan proved himself to be a bigger man by not rubbing JP’s nose in their victory.

Two. JP didn’t think Dosan had it in him to be CEO. And yet, as CEO of the company, he chose Dalmi over InJae to take over his spot as CEO.

He said, “…What if I tell you to recruit a CEO for your company? That’s my tip. Give up your CEO position. You’re not cut out to be a CEO. You’ll only make everyone’s life harder. Once you enter Sand Box, recruit a CEO first. What your company needs is a proper CEO.”

Dosan asked, “Are you saying I’ll never become a good CEO? And JP said, “Yes.” Dosan controlled his temper then. (Ep 4 at 51:00)

Patience, kiddo, patience.

As CEO of his company, Dosan knew what kind of person would work best for them. “You guys don’t want to be someone’s underlings. Dalmi asked us to recruit her while Won InJae said she’d recruit us. See the difference?”

So JP was wrong in his assumption. In reality, Dosan made everybody’s life easier by picking the right match between CEO and the employees. His instincts were great although he didn’t have JP’s business acumen.

As for this Sand Box test?

JP’s fangirls have pointed this out as proof of JP’s prescience that Dosan would fail as a CEO. I say this sort of reasoning is ludicrous.

Do you really think the skills, determination, savviness, and vision of a would-be legendary CEO could be determined by a timed test? This simulation was administered only for purposes of the hackathon, and for the sake of expediency. In reality, many CEOs are groomed for the job. They aren’t randomly picked out a hat, based on their knowledge of “trending words.” lol.

Why am I being tested????

Three. JP didn’t think Dosan should be “key man,” so Dalmi chose Dosan (and defied him).

See link. Start-Up: Ep 6 The Key Man

Four. JP didn’t think this project Noongil which combined visual and voice AI would work.

He said, “Why don’t you just exclude voice-processing technology? Combining it with image recognition is difficult (meaning, it’ll be problem for Dosan) and expensive (meaning, a problem for Dalmi). It’d be easier without it. Dalmi answered, “But Dosan is going to pull it off. So am I.”

And JP was wrong again. Dosan succeeded in creating it, the 1% cousin was a genius in marketing, and Dalmi found funding for it.

And, most importantly, Grandma needed it. This is really ironic. If JP had known it was for Grandma, I’m sure he would have funded it himself. This would have repaid what he owed her.

Five. JP believes that money is the driving force behind innovation. Dosan and Dalmi think that a vision of a better world should spur new technology and advancement.  (The Director Yoon knows this…but I’ll have to write about that some other time.)

JP has lost his ability to dream. Dosan works hard to make his dream into a reality, but JP drags him down. But even JP’s NEGATIVE drag can serve to accelerate Dosan toward his goal because Dosan uses JP’s putdowns to prove him wrong.

However, I think the kind of person that Dalmi likes is lost on JP. Dalmi loved her father the most, and her father’s character is different from JP’s.

JP: It won’t work.
Dalmi: Why do you say that without even looking into it? This is a brilliant idea.
JP: I know. It’s brilliant. I like the name, too. “NoonGil.” But if this was such a great idea why has no one done it yet?
Dalmi: (refuting his argument) There are similar services, in the US.
JP: I know. Google and MS are doing it. And a mere start-up wants to do it?

There he goes again! Keep it professional, JP! 

Dalmi: (fiercely) Yes, we do. Why? Don’t you think we can?
JP: Do you want facts or a future filled with hopes and dreams?
Dalmi: A future filled with hopes and dreams.

Boom!

If JP can’t understand Dosan, how will he understand Dalmi. Dalmi is her father’s daughter.

Remember her last conversation with her father. Her father told her, “I can picture what the world will be like in the future. Take a look around. Many have cellphones these days, right? Imagine cellphones becoming better and better. What if we could use them to take pictures, listen to music, and surf the internet?…Hey, it won’t just be just be nice. It’ll change the world completely.”

lol. Now, do you all see why Dosan and Dalmi are like a backup or a copy of Dalmi’s father? They’re all visionaries.

And I pointed this out to you, right? Dosan actually LISTENS to Dalmi. During the hackathon, Dosan listened to Dalmi’s comment about rocks vs flowers. And now, he was listening to her again.

Why would he compare himself to Tony Stark when he could be Nam Dosan?

And there he goes again. He discovered a way to make Dalmi’s suggestion work.

I like how he praised Dalmi here. He didn’t brag about his greatness when he was actually the one who figured everything out. Instead, he gave Dalmi credit for coming up with the idea. He was backing her up, too.

See that? That’s how Dalmi and Dosan are like backups of Dalmi’s dad. They’re visionaries. They like to imagine a better future, and they want to create technology to make it so.

The father continued, “I didn’t quit my job because my boss hit me. I quit my job to prepare for a new world. What do you think? Don‘t you think I’ll be successful?”

And Dalmi responded, “Can I be honest? I believe you. You’ll be a huge success.”

That’s why Dalmi clings to a future filled with hopes and dreams. She’d chosen to stay with father because she believed in him. JP should have known this, too, had he taken her letters to heart.

Dalmi likes to backup people with dreams and hopes.

I’ve one more to go. Will add later.

5. Back up means to go backwards.

In the Epilogue, we saw Dosan wearing this outfit. When did this encounter happen?

If we backed up, we would see that Dosan was wearing the same outfit on the night Dalmi treated them out to chicken. Dosan was crying, remember?

Dosan was wiping his eye.

He must have been crying over the app. He couldn’t have been crying over something else, could he??

He brought Dalmi home after the team dinner.

Then he must have returned to Sand Box solo to retrieve his bike. Right? That’s why he had his bike with him the following morning.

While he was getting his bike, JP drove by to give him Dalmi’s crunchie.

I pointed out that JP’s behavior was a contemptible move, or to use teen slang, a dick move. He should have returned the scrunchie to Dalmi. Instead, he set out to make Dosan doubtful, suspicious, and jealous of Dalmi, deliberately ignoring Dalmi’s wish that Dosan be left to work without worries. JP was fomenting trouble between the two.

I then applied the kdrama “mean girl” rule. If the second female lead did this cheap trick on a heroine, i.e., leave her tube of lipstick or earring in the hero’s car to incriminate the hero, viewers would all righteously all gang up on her and call her nasty. So why are we giving JP a pass for his underhanded move?

EDITED TO ADD THIS: That scrunchie lie was an antisocial lie, an unkind dishonesty, a lie of commission (full intention to deceive), and an non-altruistic, self-serving lie.

links:  Start-Up: Ep 6 On Lying, Part 1 and Start-Up: On Lying, Part 2

So, sadly, I must dropkick JP. He’s out until he redeems himself in a significant way.

…Like pay for Grandma’s new house with upgraded features and innovative design for the vision-impaired. lol.

Anyway, this whole scene tells me that when Dosan was absent from the team karaoke session, he wasn’t only meeting with the police, he was also avoiding Dalmi for a reason.

He didn’t want her to know that he was beginning to doubt that he could ever be anything but a backup in her mind for the old Dosan. In this sense, he did NOT want to be a backup. He didn’t want to go back in time when he was just an unimportant person in her life or a sidekick to JP.

🙂

So that’s it. I limited myself to 10 examples of backups in this episode.