Many of our lurkers have explained what “Demo Day” meant. Thank you, @Diane, @Ayet, and @JM.

But because I like to file things away neatly, I’m recapping what was said — and not said — on Demo Day. There were other people demo-ing that day besides Dosan and JP.

There was Chunsan, for example. He didn’t know it, and most viewers probably didn’t get it, but he was pitching his “sincerity” to Saha, and it worked.

Saha: Look at your face. Is it because I’m holding your hand? Why are you so easy? You’re even burning up.

By “easy,” I thought she meant that he was so easily flustered by such a little bit physical contact that he appeared to be virginal. lol.

An aside: Stephanie Lee’s fingers are so long that her hand reminded me of flippers. lol. A face-slap from her would probably send Chunsan flying across the room.

Chunsan: Ms. Jung, when you lied to me the other day, it felt like I first rose to the top of the skyscraper and then fell to the ground. I know it didn’t mean much to you, but every little thing you do can make me happy and sad because I’m old-fashioned. I mean it. (releasing his hand) So I want you to stop confusing me. Please.
Saha: Okay, I will.
Chunsan: Alright. Let’s go back in.
Saha: Okay.

When he walked away, I thought that he successfully signed up Saha as an “investor.”

To a lesser degree, Youngsan was also doing a demo that day. He was pitching “justice for his dead brother” to JP.

We shall see in the next episode if he manages to convince JP to amend his ways, if ever it was him who drove the brother to suicide.

Then, there was this con artist, the shaman. She was also doing her demo that night. She preyed on depressed looking people, and pitched her “call-your-dead-ancestors” to scam her clueless victims. She used that restaurant like it was her stage.

See? Same place.

She even had a quick costume change.

For Dalmi, she dressed up in a black power suit to look like a successful career woman whom Dalmi could relate to. Then, later (or earlier) that same evening, she was dressed alluringly in red to look like a woman who would listen to all of JP’s troubles.

With JP, she told him to trust in his decision to confess. It was too late to regret his decision, and given his personality, he would have regretted NOT confessing anyway. Her spiel: If JP found himself not trusting himself, he should pray to his ancestors.

JP: I regret it. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her. Maybe I should have hidden my feelings until the end.
Con Artist: No, you would have regretted that, too. At least a little bit. There’s no point in regretting it now because there’s a reason for every choice. So just trust your choice. And when your trust falters like now, you get a little help from someone else.
JP: Who?
Con Artist: Your ancestors.

With Dalmi, she told her to trust in her decision, whatever it might be. The longer she delayed her decision, the more she’d waver. The shaman’s spiel: If ever Dalmi found herself not trusting herself, she should pray to her ancestors. That was how this scam artist hooked her victims. She presented herself as trust-worthy.

Dalmi: …I’m awful, right?
Con Artist: You’re not. The ones who lied to you are. It’s okay. It’s only natural that you’re confused. Don’t feel bad about it.

Dalmi: The worst part is that I can’t trust myself anymore. I feel like I’m walking a tightrope these days. My job is to pitch an unprofitable business. But I’m losing my confidence.
Con Artist: That’s not good. You can’t persuade someone without being sure of yourself.

lol. This is the opposite of what JP was telling the CEOs during the Demo walk-through. He basically told them to “Fake it till you make it.”

In his own words, “Put aside all the pressure. Step on stage with confidence. Just show them how excited and enthusiastic you are now, and it’ll be a success. (looking at Dalmi) Don’t be intimidated.”

In other words, without getting to the root cause of Dalmi’s anxiety, he was telling her to be brave. He was urging her to ignore her real worries to put on a show of enthusiasm for the investors. He was giving her platitudes. All she needed to do to be successful was to show enthusiasm. “Don’t be intimidated.”

In short, “fake it till you make it.”

If I were Dalmi, my comeback would have been pithy.

But THAT’S why Dalmi wasn’t mollified or appeased by his speech. His words might work for others because they were generic and sweeping. But his words didn’t help her, in particular, to regain confidence; they didn’t resolve her issue.

Her issue was this: she felt fake.

Dalmi: Now that everything’s fake, I feel like I’m a fake, too. Because I’m confused, the tightrope starts shaking. I could fall any minute. What should I do? A CEO shouldn’t feel this way.
Con Artist: (a look of comprehension on her face) Are you a CEO?
Dalmi: What’s the point? I don’t deserve to be. I’m starting to doubt everything. I’m not sure if I could do this.

Con Artist nodded and poured more soju. She knew this was the moment to begin her pitch aka her sales talk. She gave Dalmi a generic advice, then segued into her dial 1-800-ANCESTOR.

Con Artist: The longer you remain unsure, the less confident you’ll feel. Make up your mind no matter how hard it is so that you can overcome it. You can do this.
Dalmi: How?
Con Artist: Ask for help.
Dalmi: Ask who?
Con Artist: Your ancestors.

Dalmi: Ancestors?
Con Artist: Hold a memorial service for your ancestors and ask them for help. I’ll bring your fortune back.
Dalmi: Really?
Con Artist: Really.

And that’s when Dosan stepped in for Dalmi’s sake.

Was she like samsin halmoni in the “Goblin”? Was the writer of this kdrama parodying Lee El?

source: Melissaleavesthevillage

But so what if she was a goddess?

lol. I thought it was funny that if she was indeed the human representation of the “samsin” (or the triple deity), then she just met Dosan, THE GOD of the three mountains (Samsan meant three mountains).

And he busted her for her scam.

Dosan: Hold on. How can you be so sure?
Dalmi: Wait, what are you doing here?
Con Artist: Is he your friend? This is bad. You need help from your ancestors, too. Hold a huge memorial service.
Dosan: I want to know what led you to that conclusion.

Aha! I hope this is a preview of what future Dosan can be in the future: assertive and confident of his facts. He easily decimated the Con Artist’s argument when he did it here.

Con Artist: Personal experience. I used to have text neck just like you. But after I held a memorial service and prayed to my ancestors. Look. Do you see this perfectly normal C-shaped curve?
Dosan: But that can happen without a memorial service.
Con Artist: It happened after I held a memorial service. I’m recommending this based on actual data. A memorial service isn’t superstition. It’s science.

He looked at Dalmi and saw that Dalmi was getting convinced by the shaman. You see, the scam artist/shaman was throwing out buzzwords that were meant to pique her interest and impress her. Words like “c-shaped curve,” “actual data,” and “science.”

Ha! This actually happens during demos. Technical jargons and trendy slangs are spouted off by start-up CEOs to attract attention and to prove to their audience that he/she is up-to-date with the corporate culture. Using buzzwords tell people if a person is au courant. (“Au courant” isn’t a buzzword. It means “up-to-date” in French.)

So, Dosan counterattacked with his own jargon.

Remember: Dosan was an engineering guy. He normally used these technical jargons when he talked. But Chulsan once gave him grief and said that his way of speaking was the reason other people talk shit about engineers. Remember this?

But if Dalmi was going to be mesmerized with the shaman’s appeal to “science,” then he was going to talk like the engineer that he was.

Like this:

Dosan: Data means nothing unless the other variables were completely controlled. What are the experimental groups? You don’t know? You didn’t compare them? That renders your data useless. Have you performed a randomized controlled clinical trials?

The shaman was rendered mute.

And Dalmi was becoming “woke.”

Dosan kept drilling the shaman.

Even though Dalmi was drunk, she could see that Dosan was right.

And note this: she was becoming mesmerized by his geekiness.

lol. Like I said before, Nerd Talk is sexy.

Dosan: (continuing) No?
Con Artist: (she knew she was defeated) Who is this guy?
Dalmi: Nam. Do. San.

And like I said before, Dalmi never saw Dosan as a stalker, as those silly fangirls claimed. Dalmi saw Dosan as her super-cool boyfriend whom she was proud to introduce as Nam. Do. San. Period.

The period was her conking out on him.

Science and Engineer >>>> Shamanism, and con artist and “goddess”

******

Part 2 later.