I’m going to repost this as a “Throwback Thursday” (I know it’s Monday) post to hide the comments.
WGers, you’ve been warned repeatedly to stay in your lane.
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Part 1 is here: The “Couple” song
2. The Pink Piggies were a red herring.
I explained what a red herring was, right? I said a red herring was a misleading clue or hint that’s meant to distract the viewers from what’s really important in the plot.
The gift of the pink piggies was a red herring.
Loan officer: Looks like we have all the paperwork we need. The loan will be issued as early as this week.
JW: Thank you.
Loan officer: We want to give you a small gift when you find a house you like. The branch manager wants to help out because it’s for a good cause.
JW: My gosh. Really? A gift, on top of taking care of my loan application so quickly? I won’t decline. By the way, do you not give that doll to your loan clients? I even have two saving accounts with you.
Loan officer: Oh sure, I’ll give you one. Do you have a kid? I thought you were single.
JW: No, I’m not married yet. Just give me one.
Loan officer: I’ll give you two. You can give one to your girlfriend.
Five things:
a. The pink piggies were supposed to be a couple item, that is, the loan officer intended one doll for JW and the other matching toy to be given to the girlfriend. Each one gets his/her own. However, Jang ended up with both toys. Technically, this was NOT a “couple” item by just a “double” stuff.
Do you see the difference?
b. The pink piggies were only a freebie or a giveaway. It was, in fact, a mere afterthought for JW who asked if he could have one after his transaction with the bank was done. He asked for toy as a freebie like you would add a postscript on a letter at the last minute.
In comparison, the coffeemaker was the real gift from the bank. The bank manager was giving it for the *happy couple,* JW and Songhwa, for signing a long-term lease with them.
To me, the writer was being deliberate in setting up the contrast between Jang and Songhwa. Jang got the kid’s freebie. It was meant for kids yet Jang liked it. Songhwa, however, got the adult gift, the coffeemaker, which was just fitting because she and JW were the hot coffee drinkers in the group.
c. While Jang was playing with the pink piggies, the real adults in a relationship were going to affix their signatures together on a lease document with a loan that JW applied for from the bank.
The Flower Gardeners understood the significance of the two activities. Playing with kiddie toys is childish, but it’s consistent with the sort of juvenile relationship that Jang and JW have. You have to be an adult to sign a lease agreement, and Songhwa and JW are locking in a long-term lease because they are committed to this project.
Also, @Sasa13 noted, “PG isn’t obliged to involve songhwa on this new project since this is unrelated with DLL, yet he did it anyway.”
d. Jang was pretending that the pink piggies were kissing while the real adults Songhwa and JW were pretending to be moving in together.
Note: It was JW who pretended that he and Songhwa were moving in together.
JW and Songhwa’s fists bumping >>>> pink piggies kissing
They were even buying appliances and furniture for their pretend marital home. I like how JW was actively involved in choosing the furniture (like a groom); he wasn’t foisting the task on Songhwa alone. He was consulting her opinion.
e. On Jang’s selfishness. Jang’s fans probably thought it was funny that she pretended she received an emergency call, and scurried out of the room to protect her pink piggies from being compulsorily donated to the Professor’s child.
But another “tale of two cities” was exposed here.
On one hand, there was the story of Jang who didn’t want to give up one of the stuffed toys although she originally was only meant to have one. Note: giving up the toy would have cost her nothing.
On the other hand, there was the story of Songhwa who was working on the DDL project, donating her time and service, and signing on the lease with JW for the shelter.
Look: signing the lease for a patient’s guardian shelter with JW would be a financial risk for both of them, especially for Songhwa. If for some reaso, the lease wasn’t paid, she would be legally responsible to pay the full amount. The lease agreement wasn’t a doll that they could shelve after they were tired of playing with it. It was a long-term commitment that they were both obligated to fulfill as co-signers.
Additionally, @Keutin said:
Taking out a loan is a big deal in Korea, and JWon is doing it for his project with SHwa, not for his own personal life. With him being 40/41, taking out a loan now means he’s also not planning to get married soon (it erases his eligibility to take out loan for his future marital house).
Here’s the full conversation again from Netflix:
Songhwa: So we’ll sign the lease next week.
JW: Yes.
Songhwa: And the hospital will take care of the monthly maintenance costs. Can we sign the lease next week for sure?
Songhwa sounded eager to sign the lease.
She was an excited about signing the lease as Jang was to receive the two stuffed toys.
JW: Yes. The loan was approved today. We’ll get the money as early as this week.
Songhwa: Then, let’s make a list of the things we need to buy.
IJ interrupted them.
IJ: Did you guys have dinner?
Songhwa: Yes, we did.
IJ: Me too.
To me, IJ displayed a hint of pique because Songhwa and JW dined together and didn’t invite him. As it was, she and JW didn’t pay him any attention when he walked in. She didn’t look up from the list she was perusing, and she continued conversing JW as if IJ didn’t interrupt them.
Songhwa: A fridge, TV, couch, washer…
JW: We don’t need a bed, right?
Songhwa: A bed? Wouldn’t it be good to just get one?
JW: Single beds, right?
IJ: (interrupting) Are you guys moving in together?
JW: Yes, we are indeed. (offering a fist bump to Songhwa)
IJ: Ah! Boooyaaaaa. (or “What’s going on?”) What are you two up to this time?
I like how Songhwa was grinning at JW. Then, instead of letting JW explain their project, she jumped in and did the honors.
Songhwa: Jeongwon wants to set up a patient guardian shelter, for patients who live far away and those who visit us for anticancer therapy or hemodialysis. He’s buying a house near the hospital.
JW: (correcting her) No, it’s a long-term lease.
Songhwa: That’s right. We’ll start a lease.
Note how proud Songhwa was about this “couple” item that she and Jeongwon were setting up for the needy families. As Linnea wrote earlier,
So the viewers got distracted by JW giving the toys to Jang (them being big and pink and representing his cutesy and “silly love” to Jang) when in the background it was Songhwa who was the real winner – what she got from the bank and from JW of course was the money they lent together for their DLL project. And they were talking about that guardian house like they were setting up their real home together!
IJ: Can you run Daddy-Long-Legs and the shelter with the revenue from the VIP wards? It’ll cost quite a bit to manage it.
JW: I cut a deal with Director Ju. I asked him for his support on my personal project in return for me staying here. He doesn’t know about Daddy-Long-Legs, so I asked him to help me launch my dream.
IJ: And this guardian shelter is the first project?
JW: Yes. I figured that this is what the patients need the most. For the other stuff, we’d have to change our policy, and it’ll take us a while to tackle the issues. That’s why I want to start with the patient guardian shelter.
Songhwa: What’s your ultimate dream?
This is a significant question for Flower Gardeners. Songhwa is the only one who’s interested in listening to JW’s dreams and working hard to make it a reality. This the reason FGers are confident that SongHwa and JW are the endgame.
JW: (looking at her) A children’s hospital.
Songhwa: What?
JW: My ultimate dream is to build a children’s hospital.
IJ: (the attention seeker gets a pen and begins writing on his palm)
JW: (continuing) I want to build a children’s hospital that offers comprehensive pediatric care.
Songhwa: That will cost a fortune.
JW: It’ll cost about 400 billion won.
Songhwa: What?!
IJ wrote on his palms. With his mouth forming an “o” he’d written “와” which meant “Wa” or “Wow” in English. This behavior is similar to that time he made a paper mask for Songhwa. Remember I said that he couldn’t resist stealing the spotlight from somebody and divert it to himself. It’s a narcissistic disease. He couldn’t let another individual shine without upstaging him/her.
JW: You’ve been fiddling with that because you thought it was funny?
Songhwa: What did you do?
IJ: (showing her)
Songhwa: (laughing)
JW: You like his lame jokes.
Songhwa: It’s so funny.
This is the second time he commented on this. Sooner or later, he’d blow up.
IJ: Ahn Jeongwon, you really are something. One more time! Waaa! (then wrapping his arm around Songhwa) Let’s do it together. Waaa.
The phone rang.
JW: Hey, your phone.
IJ: Oh, It’s GyEouL.
JW: (waves his hands)
Note that IJ thought JW should get the call since JW was the boyfriend. But JW signaled him to take Jang from him. He was “giving up” Jang to IJ. Songhwa was grinning at him.
IJ: I have to go. Have a fun meeting. I’ll buy a housewarming gift when you sign a lease. What would be good? A coffee machine?
JW: The bank branch manager is getting that for us.
Again, keep in mind that Songhwa and JW loved hot coffee and this would be a great couple gift for them.
IJ: Really? Then let me think about it. I’m off.
He made the Wa joke again.
JW: Don’t we need a microwave?
Songhwa: It’d be good to have one.
JW: Yes.
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More tomorrow.