Watching “Just Friends” reminded me of the things that turned me off about Hollywood romcoms: unlikable heroes, shallow plot, false standards of beauty and success, slapstick humor, and above all, lust masquerading as love. I should have just read the plot summary on wiki.

Here are the parallel elements I found in the film and drama.

1. No Sex = Sunset Kiss

Frankly, I don’t get why the girl in the movie wanted to sleep with the guy simply because they reconnected while eating ice cream and perusing the pages of their high school yearbook. Low standands, much?

I thought she needed to first connect with him on several other levels, e.g., life goals, family values, and politics (sad but true nowadays) before hopping into bed with him. He’s virtually a stranger to her after his 10 year absence.

Besides, with his lifestyle in Hollywood, she should have asked for an STD test. Ha.

The morning after they slept in bed together, the girl and boy whined to their respective besties about the night of unconsummated union. It was the end of the world for them because they didn’t have sex. They didn’t know how to proceed.

The camera switched back and forth the two scenes to give the audience a feel of parallel action.

First, the girl’s perspective.

Girl: …and we had this great night, and we were laughing, and we were showing each other old pictures and –
Friend: Did he try anything?
Girl: No!
Friend: Did you try anything?
Girl: No. but I put myself out there. I mean, I wore the sexy white shirt, and I did the whole cold-feet move and we slept in the same bed.

Next, the guy’s.

Friend: What the hell is wrong with you? I mean, why didn’t you sleep with her?
Guy: Oh, I know. I had her.
Friend: I mean are you two on the same menstrual cycle yet or what?
Guy: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.

Back again to the girl’s scene for a snippet.

Girl: Maybe I just don’t compare to these L.A. girls.

Then, the guy’s explanation.

Guy: Look, the timing just wasn’t right, you know? I’m laying there. I’m about to make my move on and then suddenly it just hits me. Where’s this going? What happens after we sleep together? Does she move to L.A.? Do I move back here?
Friend: Jesus. Dude. I thought you just wanted to sleep with her.

Then, the writer attempted to insert a sexist joke.

Girl: Maybe he just wants to be friends.
Friend: Maybe he’s gay.

Finally, we arrived at the central point of the show.

Guy: I can’t sleep with Jamie Palamino. We have a history. We’re … we’re … we’re … we’re…
Friend: Friends.
Guy: Damn it. I’m right back in high school again, you know? I gotta follow my own advice. I gotta just walk away.

As a result, the guy quickly booked a ticket to fly back to California. He decided that just being friends wasn’t good enough for him.

That’s the movie in a nutshell. The guy decided to cut his so-called losses because he wasn’t going to be in the friend zone again. He’d been there, done that. He wasn’t going to do that again.

Now what about our kdrama?

Well, it goes without saying that there was no pity party about having no sex in “Our Beloved Summer,” because premarital sex is not an option in kdramas. I guess kdramas avoid depicting sex in the plot because they want us to believe that couples in Korea are:

a. celibates,
b. asexual,
c. repressed,
d. working 40 HOURS A DAY,
e. all aegyo and no action,
f. still living with their parents.

Here, enjoy my naughty dog gif. 

Seriously now. Did none of you wonder how Yeonsu and Ung were in a five-year relationship without necking, petting, cuddling or any sort of physical intimacy involving body parts below the CHIN? I dislike the lust-o-mania scenes in “Just Married” but I thought the chastity in “Our Beloved Summer” was extreme and unrealistic, too.

But they did kiss. In the rain. With the sun setting behind them.

Gifs from ahsung’s tumblr

source: ahsung’s tumblr

Although the kiss wasn’t the torrid, open-mouth suction like in “The Notebook,”

it still left Ung and Yeonsu bewildered. They didn’t know how to proceed from there.

She couldn’t sleep so she ended up fixing her bookshelves and her drawers.

He couldn’t sleep either. He didn’t know whether to call her up or go to her house to talk to her.

In the end he decided to work.

Look: Ung and Yeonsu’ kiss is diametrically opposite the “no sex” night of the couple in “Just Friends.” While Ung and Yeonsu had an intimate encounter, the couple in “Just Friends” had none. Nevertheless, the kiss at sunset and sexless night both had the same effect on the couples. These moments were game changers. They changed the way the couple viewed their relationships.

Fortunately for Yeonsu, she had a good friend to listen to her and to make her see reason.

Bestie: Did you sleep with him?
Yeonsu: Are you crazy?

lol. This is funny. The girl in “Just Friends” was upset that she only got to “sleep” — literally just sleep — with the guy. In comparison, Yeonsu was mortified at the suggestion that she slept with Ung. Different standards of dating.

Bestie: So that means you’re ruining my new dish over something as trivial as a kiss?
Yeonsu: “Trivial”?
Bestie: Is that why you two ran away the next day? That’s so boring. Isn’t there anything interesting?

I like the Bestie here. Best friends should tell it like it is. She reassured Yeonsu that kisses from ex-boyfriends were bound to happen.

Bestie: Hey, you’re adults. Plus, you two used to date. Things like that can happen when the mood is right. Everyone does that. What’s the problem?

For good measure, the Bestie advised her to forget about it.

Bestie: Just say, “Oh, it was a mistake” and forget about it.
Yeonsu: It’s not that simple.
Bestie: You always seem to complicate things. Why are you sulking? What’s the problem?
Yeonsu: He hasn’t called me since then after he did something like that.

She was expecting a follow-up call from Ung. She didn’t know that a. he’d been sick, and b. he was having second thoughts.

Bestie: Hey, what are your fingers for? You call him. Or maybe he’s already made up his mind. He’s decided to go, “Sorry. It was a mistake.”
Yeonsu: He’s not the type to do that.

I like that she implicitly trusted Ung. She knew that he didn’t kiss her because he was a sex-starved fool (like the guy in “Just Friends”). But she was also expecting him to “take responsibility” for the kiss, and she was baffled why he didn’t.

Yeonsu: He might seem dim-witted on the outside, but he’s actually much more prudent than I am.
Bestie: Jeez. Don’t you get it? If he wanted to get back together, he would have come to you already. But he… (stopping)
Yeonsu: (tearing up)

I like this moment. It shows good editing. The technique used here is called “cross cutting.” Our view switches back and forth their faces to show us the slow realization as it happens simultaneously. The bestie realized that Yeonsu was still in love with Ung while Yeonsu realized that hiding her feelings was useless.

Bestie: Do you…want to get back with him? Are you worried that Ung might say that it was all a mistake? Don’t tell me you still…?
Yeonsu: (just staring at her)
Bestie: Yeonsu-ya? Since when? From when you met him again?

Yeonsu’s voiceover: Even on that day when I went to see him again for the first time, since I had brutally dumped him, I was confident.

Meaning, she was confident that she could hide her feelings. She convinced herself that she could hide her feelings and that she didn’t need to worry about meeting with Ung. Until the kiss, that is.

The kiss was the game changer, I said. After that kiss, she exposed herself, and she couldn’t hide anymore that she still had feelings for him.

Yeonsu’s voiceover: I just had to keep a hold of myself. I just had to hide my feelings. But…

Yeonsu: (admitting to her Bestie) I’m not confident anymore.

Then, she drank soju. She needed to summon all her courage to barge in at Ung’s place and have it out with him.

Yeonsu: Are you a douchebag?
Ung: What?
Yeonsu: Wow. You’ve really changed a lot, Choi Ung. I don’t care what you’ve been up to or how free you had been all this time. But…
Ung: Do you want some water?
Yeonsu: After what you’ve done, how can you pretend as if nothing’s happened? Is that what people do these days? Do they just kiss and hold hands with anyone and pretend that it didn’t happen?
Ung: You don’t have to yell.
Yeonsu: Since when did that become acceptable? That’s just being a douchebag.
Ung: Are you done?

This scene is interesting to me for a few reasons:

One, Yeonsu was outraged because he kissed her but pretended like it didn’t happen afterwards. In her mind, he was debasing and devaluing their moment because he could so easily erase the kiss from his memory — just like he erased their first trip from his memory. She thought he was despicable.

Two, I can’t help comparing the importance Yeonsu places on her kiss and the importance of kisses in the movie, “Just Friends.” For Yeonsu, the kiss was precious. In the movie, however, kisses were treated like a commodity. For example, the second female lead in the movie played tonsil-hockey with the guy and his brother (ugh!) to get her own way. The kisses in the movie looked sordid because they were added liberally to the script for their shock value. As a result, I wasn’t moved at all when the couple kissed at the finale. I’ve seen enough kisses in the show to know that this wasn’t as earth-shattering as it was meant to be.

Unlike the kiss in this drama.

Three, a scene in the movie parallels Yeonsu’s unexpected visit to Ung’s house.

In the movie, the guy was drunk when he confronted the girl at the bar where she worked. The girl accused him of messing with her head, and the situation quickly escalated into an ugly row.

Guy: I mess with your head for three days. You’ve been torturing me since the sixth grade.
Girl: So that’s what this is all about. Because I wouldn’t screw you in high school? Get over yourself.
Guy: Ugh. After years of you being the biggest tease, trust me, I am so over myself.
Girl: Ah. So now I’m the tease. After I practically threw myself at you the other night, you did nothing.
Guy: And now, you know how it feels. I’m outta here.
Girl: Yeah there you go. Just walk away like you always do.
Guy: No…no… no. I’m not walking away. I’m running back to my great life in L.A.
Girl: Well have fun.
Guy: You have fun…being the girl who peaked in high school.
Girl: (slapping his face)
Guy: You slap like a cheerleader.
Girl: (boxes his face)

That’s why I said in the beginning that this movie had such an unlikable hero? It’s true that Ung said hurtful things like when he accused her of ruining him or when dismissed their first trip together as forgettable.

But Ung and the guy in the movie are on totally different levels of cruelty. Ung didn’t engage in name-calling or belittling Yeonsu, while the guy in the movie was insulting. His words were disrespectful, savage and objectionable. For me, the guy in the movie was the real douchebag, not Ung.

Four, Ung knew that Yeonsu was spoiling for a fight, so he avoided it. He offered her water and asked her not to yell. He avoided a slanging match with Yeonsu by keeping calm. Bravo.

2. The meaning of “chingu”

Unlike Yeonsu who had a friend to confide in about her relationship woes with Ung, Ung had no one at his side. His mom came over to tend to him him during his illness, but he could hardly confide in her about the kiss. His conversation with her highlighted how solitary he was.

Mom: When did my son grow up so much?
Ung: What? I’ve been a grown man for quite a while.
Mom: Why did you grow up all alone? It must have been difficult for you.

I’m sure Ung was thinking that it wasn’t by choice that he was all alone. He didn’t want to be by himself, remember? Back in Ep 6, he told Yeonsu, “I like my life as it is. Next to you and my family.”

Mom: (continuing) Don’t try to carry all the burden yourself. You don’t have to. I guess me and Dad are still quite lacking for you to depend on us.
Ung: It’s not that, so don’t worry. I’m just more comfortable alone.
Mom: Ung, but still…
Ung: Mom, it’s okay. I like the way things are right now.

Ung’s voiceover: It’s okay to be alone from the start. You’d be used to it. But being alone after being with someone isn’t something I want to experience again.

Later that day, he chanced upon his drawing portfolio for 2016-2017, the year of his breakup. He saw his manager EunHo’s inscription, “Drawings from Ung’s Dark Times,” and read the note he left, “I like that you’re an amazing artist. But I hope you never experience this phase again.”

Because he didn’t have a friend to talk to, Ung brooded by himself. He came to a decision to remain friends with Yeonsu.

And that’s the prime difference between Ung and the guy in the movie. The guy walked away because he didn’t like to be in the friend-zoned. He only returned at the end of the show when he had epiphany.

Guy: Jamie! I really said a lot of crappy things the other night. I’m sorry about that. I haven’t been a very good friend. And I’m sorry, okay? I’m just… The truth is I’m just afraid to be your  friend. Because I’m always going to want more. And then I got to thinking that I’d rather have you in my life as a friend, than not at all.
Girl: (coming out of the house)
Guy: You know that’s a lie, too.
Girl: Why are you back here?
Guy: Because I want to take you out for a date. And I don’t care if it’s at day or at night. Or whenever. As long as it’s a real date. I want to tell you how beautiful you really are. Inside and out. And I want to have babies with you. And I want to marry you and I love you, Jamie. I always have. (then kiss)

To me, this moment was too little, too late. It wasn’t too long ago that they had shouting match, so this change of heart wasn’t believable. Besides, how could he reasonably expect her to fall for him after he called her a “tease” and somebody who “peaked in high school”? Those words were his unfiltered thoughts. They revealed exactly what he thought of her and she’d be a dummy to forget them.

If I were the girl, I would have said “Nope!” to his proposal.

In contrast to the guy’s knee-jerk reaction to being friend-zoned, Ung carefully considered his next course of action, then he concluded that staying “just friends” with Yeonsu was the best way forward for both of them.

Yeonsu: How are you acting as if nothing’s happened? Did you really have nothing to say to me this whole time?
Ung: (looks at her)

Awwww. I couldn’t make up my mind whether he looked angry, hurt, or bitter here. She accused him of running away when all along, he was sick and was thinking of their relationship. He sure had plenty of things to say to her, but he was just sorting them out.

Yeonsu should have counted her lucky stars that Ung didn’t trash-talked like the guy in the movie.

Yeonsu: Really?
Ung: Should I apologize…and say it was a mistake?
Yeonsu: What?
Ung: Is that what you want?
Yeonsu: (silent)
Ung: But I don’t want to.

Phew! Yeonsu must have felt relieved to hear that. Her bestie was wrong and she was right. He didn’t regret kissing her.

Yeonsu: Then what? Then what do you want to do?
Ung: (looks at her again) I’m not dating you again.

Ung’s voiceover: This is the conclusion I came to.

This conclusion was unfortunate but totally understandable. After talking with his mom, and reading EunHo’s note, he knew that he didn’t want to get hurt again. His instinct for self-preservation is good.

Yeonsu: Oh, I see. So you don’t want to say that it was a mistake and apologize (swallowing) or start dating me again. You just want me to get lost. (sighing) You should have told me faster instead of dragging this out. (gets her bags to leave)

Ung’s voiceover: Despite what happened, I can’t go on without her in my life.

Ung: Yeonsu-ya.
Yeonsu: (ignoring him) Don’t call me. I’m never going to see you again, you jerk.
Ung: Should we be friends?
Yeonsu: (turns around to face him)
Ung: Let’s be friends.
Yeonsu: What? You want us to be what?
Ung: Friends.

A few notes on this word, 친구 or “chingu.”

I’m not Korean but I do know that the word “chingu” doesn’t translate exactly into “friend” the way we English-speaking people think it is.

Read about it here: Travel World Heritage

We call somebody a “friend” when we have a close relationship with that person.
But for Koreans, “friends” may have two meanings. It can mean someone they’re emotionally attached to (similar to the English definition). But generally speaking, when Koreans use the word “chingu,” they’re referring to a “peer.” A same-aged peer.

The age is given consequence (i.e., two people are born on the same year), not the emotional relationship between two people.

In this sense, your seatmate in physics class is your “chingu” although she bullied you all throughout high school. And your coworker who was born the same year as you, is your “chingu,” although you’ve barely spoken more than 5 words to her.

To me, this dual meaning of the word is the reason Yeonsu looked confused when Ung said that he wanted to be “chingu” with her.

She wondered if she was hearing him correctly. Did he want to be “chingu” in the generic “we’re-the-same-age-so-I-can-speak-to-you-informally” sense?

That’s why I thought the title was brilliant. There was a word play going on.

“Just friends” in the context of the film meant she was in the “friend zone.”

But “just ‘chingu,'” in Korean usage meant that she was “merely” his same-aged peer. Their friendship or emotional attachment wasn’t relevant. She could just be an acquaintance who was as old as he was.

Yeonsu: Why?
Ung: We’ve never tried being chingus before.

See here. I think Yeonsu didn’t know what to make of his remark, so she walked back to Ung. She wanted to know what Ung meant by “chingu.”

Ung: Who knows? We could be good chingus.
Yeonsu: Have you been drinking?

Now, do you get why Yeonsu was affronted? Of course, they’ve been good friends before. They hardly could have been enemies while they were dating, right? But she couldn’t believe that he’d suggest being *just* chingus…or same-aged peers…with her. She thought he was out of his mind.

Ung: It’s you who’s been drinking.
Yeonsu: Or are you on your medication?
Ung: Not yet. I’m taking them later.
Yeonsu: Can you really be chingus with me?

Meaning, could he really treat her distantly, indifferently, nonchalantly like a “chingu” in the Korean context. Could he ignore their close relationship and treat her like a casual acquaintance?

Ung: (aloofly) Yes.

To me, that’s the reason she became teary-eyed.

To me, Ung’s suggestion was worse than being “friend-zoned.” In the movie, even when the guy was friend-zoned by the girl, they could at least still be an emotional support for each other. They could laugh about the olden days, commiserate on their problems, share jokes about their day, and be there for each other.

But what Ung was suggesting was a relationship that was even more distant than the “friend zone.” It was “chingu” zone. She wasn’t a close friend of his, but she was relegated to the wider circle of friends and acquaintances.

And that’s why Yeonsu felt sad. But she decided to accept the terms anyway.

Yeonsu: Fine. (putting on a brave face) Let’s be friends then. This is going to be fun.

She turned to leave again and then she changed her mind. This is the moment when she decided to turn the tables on him and exploit the meaning of “chingu,” to rile him up.

Ung: Do you have anything else…?
Yeonsu: (walking up to his face) Can I stay over?
Ung: What?
Yeonsu: We’re chingus, so that’s okay, right?
Ung: (speechless)

If they were just “chingus” then nobody would consider it improper of her to sleep over.

3. Just “Chingu”

So what’s the difference between “just friends” and “just chinju”?

Here’s a short list of what it means to be in the friend zone, according to the movie.

a. Going to a lunch date instead of dinner date. The guy said, “Don’t do lunch. That’s the express lane to the Friend Zone. See, when the girl decides that you’re her friend, you’re no longer a dating option. You become a complete non-sexual entity in their eyes. Like a brother or a lamp.”

b. Being told that you’re loved like a brother. The girl told the guy, “You mean more to me than anybody else in this whole world. I love you, Chris…like a brother. We’re friends, right?

c. Getting kissed on the cheek instead of on the lips. The guy told his buddy, “Friends don’t kiss.”

d. Getting hugged instead of a kiss. The guy complained, “I was coming for a kiss, but she wants a hug so then we got caught in a sort of kiss hug limbo type thing.”

e. Sleeping side-by-side undisturbed despite wearing sexy clothes. (Self-explanatory.)

And the guy’s rule is “if you feel yourself going there, walk away.”

According to Yeonsu, this is what it means to be in the chingu zone.

a. Sleeping on his couch

Ung: Is this because you’re drunk?
Yeonsu: (sprawling on his couch) I’m doing this because we’re chingus.
Ung: Ya.
Yeonsu: Where’s your blanket? You’re not making a chingu sleep without a blanket, right?
Ung: Kook Yeonsu!
Yeonsu: You don’t have to yell.

This is funny because her drunken state comes and goes, whenever it’s convenient for her. She was pretending to be drunk so she could stay over. Also, she was mimicking the words he told her earlier, “you don’t have to yell.”

Ung: Jeez.
Yeonsu: As you can see, I drank quite a lot. I’m really tired, so can you be quiet?
Ung: Ya! Just go sleep on the bed then. I’m going to be working downstairs.
Yeonsu: No way. We’re just chingus, so let’s keep it that way. And get me a blanket.

lol. In the movie, being friends meant the girl could sleep in the guy’s bed. In this episode, being chingus meant they had boundaries. They couldn’t share bed.

b. Hanging out together

In the movie, the guy could spend the day with the girl because they were friends. In this episode, Ung could tell her to leave him alone because they were chingus. He didn’t have to worry that his words would offend her.

Ung: What are you still doing here?
Yeonsu: I took a shower. Can I borrow your clothes? I need some fresh clothes.
Ung: Just go home then.
Yeonsu: Why? Can’t I stay?
Ung: Why would you?
Yeonsu: Because I want to hang out with my chingu. What’s the problem?
Ung: Come on. Why are you doing this?
Yeonsu: You know I don’t have chingus. I’m excited that I’ve made a new chingu for the first time in 29 years. Feel free to tell me if you want to stop being chingus. I’ll take some clothes from your closet. Why aren’t you sleeping? Are you going to sleep now?

Note: Yeonsu did have a “chingu,” in the English sense of the word of friend. She had a good friend in Solyi whom she called “unnie.” But Yeonsu was right that she had nobody among her peers, her age, whom she could consider a friend.

Ung: I’m going to.
Yeonsu: Go to bed then. I’ll just hang out here.
Ung: I hope you’re gone by the time I’m up.
Yeonsu: I’ll decide that for myself, chingu-ya. Get some sleep.

lol. It’s ironic how she kept bringing up that word “chingu” when she’s clearly using it out of spite; she wasn’t behaving at all like a “chingu” when she wanted to get under his skin. She was going to make him regret calling her a “chingu.”

c. Borrowing clothes

Ung: You’re still here?
Yeonsu: Hey, you’re up. You slept less than expected. You could die early at this rate.
Ung: Hey, that shirt.
Yeonsu: Oh this? I found it in your closet. You didn’t throw it away.
Ung: I didn’t know it was there.
Yeonsu: Really? It was folded up neatly though. Do you feel awkward that I’m wearing the matching shirt we wore as a couple when we’re chingus now?

In the movie, the girl borrowed his clothes to look sexy. In this episode, Yeonsu borrowed her couple sweater that he tucked away to deliberately make him feel uncomfortable about their dating years.

Ung: Gosh. Not at all. Do whatever you want.
Yeonsu: Fine. They were a lot of side dishes in the fridge, so I made some stew. Do you want some?
Ung: This is my house, and that’s my food you’re eating.
Yeonsu: What should we do after eating? Do you want to play video games?
Ung: Aren’t you going to your home?
Yeonsu: Why? Can’t I stay longer? We’re chingus—
Ung: Ya. You keep emphasizing the word, “chingu.” Why is that?
Yeonsu: But you really want us to be chingus. Right?
Ung: Yes.
Yeonsu: Right. That’s why. So let me hang out here today. That’s okay, right?
Ung: All right, fine. Let’s hang out all day.

Then his manager Eunho called him. Eunho called him, “Hyung,” or 형. This is the word that Koreans use to mean “friend” when there’s a difference in age. Hyung, noona, oppa, eonni, and dongsaeng.

He cancelled his appointment that afternoon so he could spend the day with Yeonsu. If he truly wanted to be “just chingu” with her, he wouldn’t have done that. He didn’t have to carve time out for her because “chingus” come and go.

d. Settling for a lunch date 

In the movie, the guy’s major complaint about being just a friend is that he had to settle for a lunch date. He couldn’t go out on a dinner date with the girl. In this episode, Ung and Yeonsu had lunch together.

Ung: Luckily I don’t have any plans today. So I’ll hang out with you.
Yeonsu: Okay, chingu. (continues to eat) Do you want some?
Ung: I’ll get it myself.

Lol. But being a chingu, she didn’t even serve him lunch. She just ate by herself, and took it for granted that he’d serve himself.

e. Being nosy about love lives 

In the movie, the guy couldn’t show jealousy because he was just a friend. In this Yeonsu and Ung could be inquisitive about the “other” girl and guys because they were just chingus. They weren’t jealous; they were merely curious.

Yeonsu: I guess you’re quite close to her.
Ung: Who?
Yeonsu: That famous singer, NJ.
Ung: Just a bit.
Yeonsu: It seems you keep in touch with her. And she visits you often despite her busy schedule. Is there something going on between you two?
Ung: What?
Yeonsu: Why are you startled? Is there?
Ung: I mean, I was startled you asked that.
Yeonsu: Chingus can ask things like that
Ung: I guess you can since we’re chingus. Then let me ask you this. What was going on between you and Mr. Jang?
Yeonsu: What?
Ung: I can ask that since we’re chingus.
Yeonsu: We just know each other through work.
Ung: The others didn’t seem to think that.
Yeonsu: What do you mean?
Ung: And since we’re on the topic, since when were you so close to Kim JiUng?
Yeonsu: Really?
Ung: You two were never that close.
Yeonsu: Are you being jealous right now?
Ung: Yes.
Yeonsu: What?

He obviously made a Freudian slip. But I like how quickly he recovered and deflected from his slip of the tongue.

Ung: What? What I mean is don’t steal Kim JiUng away from me. He’s my chingu.
Yeonsu: (snort)

f. Being brazen

In the movie, the girl made the first move to sleep over at his house with the intention to sleep with him. In this scene, Yeonsu made the first move, too, to rekindle their romance.

Ung: I never said you could snoop around my house.

He took his portfolio from her hand and re-shelved it. She stood her ground and didn’t move away. I think if he had leaned in to kiss her, she wouldn’t have minded.

Ung: You can’t do whatever you want because we’re chingus.
Yeonsu: What’s your plan?
Ung: What?
Yeonsu: You were waiting for me to come back so you could spray salt and water on me. You agreed to do the documentary just so that you can bully me, hide from me, and reappear. Then you kissed me. And now you want to be chingus? I have no idea what you’re thinking so I want to find out.
Ung: I don’t have any plans. I just want us to get along as chingus. What’s the problem?
Yeonsu: But… (stepping closer)
Ung: (backing away)
Yeonsu: Why do I feel like you’re lying?
Ung: (scoffing) You’re so conceited.
Yeonsu: I have something I want to hear from you. Come to think of it, you never said it to me. So I want to hear you say it now. You can keep pretending we’re chingus. I’m going to make plans of my own.

This sounded like a “battle” plan to me. He could pretend to keep their relationship in a harmless “chingu” footing, but she wasn’t buying it.

Ung: (silent)
Yeonsu: Oh, and this. I’m taking this since I won the bet. (Takes the drawing of castle at the amusement park) Isn’t this the amusement park where we broke up for the fourth time? I can have this right?
Ung: Wow! Just leave. I’m not letting you stay over tonight.
Yeonsu: “Tonight”? Then can I come again some other night?
Ung: You’re so weird. Do you know that?
Yeonsu: I was about to go anyway. After I eat the chicken. (running away)
Ung: (chases after her)

4. Lying again

In the movie, the guy told the girl that he’d be lying if he told her that he’d rather settle for her friendship than lose her in his life. The truth was friendship wasn’t good enough for him. He’d always want more. He’d want to marry her and have a family with her. Blah blah blah. 

As for this episode, Ung admitted to two indisputable facts. One, he didn’t want to date her again. And two, he couldn’t go on without her in his life.

I thought he was already missing her when he came out of the shower and saw the living room empty. He thought she left him without saying goodbye.

Then, he was dogging her footsteps when she ran up the stairs,

and when she went to open the door for the door for the chicken delivery.

I think he already sensed a third truth about their relationship, but he wasn’t willing to admit it just yet. He wanted to marry her. If he didn’t want to date Yeonsu but he  couldn’t go on without her in his life, then marrying her was his best option. But it was too soon.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

I don’t have to tell you that I like this episode a whole lot more than the movie on which the episode title was based. But the movie served its purpose. It not only highlighted the important moments in the show, but it also made me grateful that I’m no longer stuck with Hollywood romcoms for entertainment.

I’m not going to talk about JiUng because I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone that he was friend-zoned by Yeonsu. The “Just Friends” tag applied to him. There’s no subtlety there.

Moving on to Episode 10 after I watch Bulgasal tonight.