@Fern wrote this:
I liked that during their reunion date, at about 57.25, MJ looked up and scanned the kitchen area. Without missing a beat, Gu gets up, goes into the service area, helps himself to a bowl of pickled something from the fridge and a can of cola. He brings them back to the table for her, sharing the can by pouring a portion into a glass, all without meeting her eyes. He can read her mind, just the same as he can understand her father. Finally he indicates silently that she can have the last portion of his meal. Gosh. Or Aigoo, as the mom would say.
@Fern,
I’d call this the Apology Date.
1. It started when he picked her up outside her workplace.
Gu: Let’s go before the traffic hits.
This told me four things:
One, he wasn’t going to verbally apologize to her. He assumed that she could read his mind and see that he showed up as an apology.
Two, he assumed that she would take him back anytime, anywhere. He knew she’d accept him warts and all.
Three, all he needed to do was to whistle and she’d come running. Like a dog. She was huffing and puffing when she got to him.
By the way, how did she know where to find him? We could hear her phone ringing, but she didn’t answer it.
I’m just going to assume that he texted her first, and he quickly followed it up with a call to make sure she got the message. When he saw her running, he realized that she didn’t text back because she immediately took off to meet him.
Four, he must have found her cute at this moment. In my eyes, he was trying not to smile at her behavior.
Gu: (continuing) Did…did that guy go home already? (looking around) Your boss who always throws a fit.
Then he got in the truck.
Three things here:
One, to my ears, his comment wasn’t as innocent as it sounded.
It sounded like he was offering to handle her boss for him. Just like in Episode 4 when he expressed frustration with her. “You two are the same. You and your dad. I mean…why do you act like you’ve done something wrong when you’re asking for what’s rightfully yours? (sighing) Want me to get it back for you? If you keep being nice, he won’t pay you back.” And just like in Episode 7 when he learned that MJ paid off the loan. Back then, he said, “What’s the asshole’s name? … I just need his name and phone number. I won’t do it myself. Someone else will do it.”
This time, he asked where her office bully was. The implied threat was he would deal with the guy so MiJeong wouldn’t be harassed anymore. But MiJeong knew that he was joking.
Two, we can see the major attraction of Mr. Gu for a lot of female viewers. He’s Mr. Fix-it. He recognizes when MiJeong is vulnerable, and he offers to eliminate the problems for her.
Three, we’re also seeing more clearly why MiJeong appeals to Mr. Gu. She presented him with the opportunity to save both of them.
As much as MiJeong has problems that need fixing, Mr. Gu has bigger problems of his own that need fixing. The way I see it, MiJeong’s problems are solvable with self-confidence and assertiveness. Mr. Gu’s problems, on the other hand, stem from emptiness. He doesn’t have any reason and purpose to live when he sees himself as an insignificant 1-won coin in a humongous pile – an almost mountainous pile — of 7.7. billion coins.
From Episode 7, Changhee’s explanation of the Gu’s metaphor.
MiJeong offers him a chance to find meaning and direction in his life. That’s why he he took up her offer to worship her.
Gu: Are you sure? That you and I will have become different people when spring comes?
MJ: I’m positive.
Gu: How do you worship someone?
MJ: You cheer them on. You tell them they can do anything and that everything is possible. You cheer them on.
2. A brief note on the truck
Now, that we know that he actually owns a Rolls-Royce, this Sanpo Sinks flatbed truck looks romantic. Mr. Gu is sliding into familiar tropes: the Secret Identity trope and the Prince Masquerade trope.
It doesn’t bother him to take MiJeong out on a date in her father’s beat-up truck because he knows that he has a Rolls-Royce at his disposal anytime he wants to leave that place.
3. The dinner date
As for the dinner date, @Fern, I think it’s fair play that he returns the consideration and attentiveness that MiJeong showed him when she waited on him at her family’s table or delivered him food.
At her home, he couldn’t do anything because any thoughtful gesture would be noted by her parents and siblings. But when they were out together like this, just the two of them, he could be more demonstrative.
But I don’t know however if he’s typically this attentive or more (less?) attentive to the other girls he dated. You see, I thought that he COULD HAVE noticed earlier that they didn’t have kimchee and drinks at the table, and not towards the end of the meal.
Remember Hospital Playlist 2 when Yoo YeonSeok’s character prepped the water glasses and side dishes before the meal was served? That’s how I would’ve expected Mr. Gu to act but it seems to me like he wasn’t used to serving tables.
4. The last piece of dumpling
As for offering her the last piece of dumpling, I thought that was his tacit way of “worshipping” her. She was probably full, too, but she accepted it as his olive branch.
To me, this scene is a reprise of their ramyun scene in Episode 7. MiJeong had also gotten angry at him. He served her ramyun.
Gu: Eat.
MJ: (just stares at him)
Gu: You were trembling. Come eat. This is me worshipping you. Come eat.
MJ: (sitting down) Water.
He sighed then and stood up to get water. He placed it on the table with a flourish.
To me, he understood that MJ was “testing” him to see how far he’d go with this worship business.
Gu: (sitting on the elbow rest of the couch) You’ll be surprised if you find out what kind of person I am. You know.
MJ: (just stares at him again)
Gu: I’m a scary person. I won’t even blink if I was stabbed in the stomach. But you scare me.
I think Mr. Gu is fascinated by the idea that someone as insignificant and meek as MiJeong can have him so whipped.
Gu: I get nervous when you’re in front of me. And that annoys me because it makes me feel like an idiot. But even though it annoys me, I still wait for you. Okay? You should know, Yeom MiJeong. You should know who you are.
MJ: Keep going. I like it.
The ramyun scene in Ep 7 is repeated in this dumpling scene in Ep 10. MiJeong was furious with him for endangering himself with the feral dogs.
MJ: Do you have anything to say?
Gu: That’s a surprise. You just sounded like one of those dull women.
MJ: What?
Gu: Do you want me to apologize? If you have something to say, say it. Women always ask for things like I owe them something. I don’t owe you anything, do I?
This was a rotten thing to say but I’m sure it could be argued that he was knowingly sabotaging himself.
Gu: (continuing) That’s how life is. It seems to go well and then stabs you in the back. Did you think it was always going to be peachy?
MJ: (whispering) Idiot. (aloud) It’s not like I asked for a diamond.
Gu: It’d be easier to get you a diamond. How do you worship someone? I have no idea.
MJ: You were ready to let a dog bite off your arm. And yet, you find it hard to hold a woman? You think it’s cool to endure pain with clenched teeth, and it’s dull to have a cute, happy life with a woman? Which is harder? Getting your arm bitten off by a dog, and getting your nose broken, or being nice to the woman you like? Which do you think is harder?
This was a rhetorical question. No answer was expected. She was just telling him that he was stupid for refusing to see what was obvious.
MJ: (continuing) You treated me like a fool who couldn’t even get her money back. You’re no better.
She exited and Mr. Gu laughed.
To me, his laughter could be due to:
a. she scared him. His laughter showed that he was stunned that he could be so frightened by her.
b. she bravely called out his stupidity. In his world, nobody would have dared offend him like MiJeong did. He found the irony of somebody timid like MiJeong confronting somebody like him, very amusing.
c. she made him realize that his situation wasn’t really as hopeless as it appeared. She shook him out of his despondency. He laughed.
d. she had him stumped. He was unable to think of a comeback to her parting shot that all he could do was laugh.
He seemed to like the idea that she has him wrapped around her little finger.
The diner scene: it did seem exactly like how mom described dad and gu’s working relationship .—The dad looks around and Gu just knows what he wants/needs. I liked that scene not because of that part, but because of his smile after she ate the dumpling. He looked so proud of himself for serving her and offering up the apology dumpling that she took. I’m not sure if he’s ever served someone like that and he seemed to like doing it for her.
When he smiled at her while he was sitting on the couch and said something like “you told your parents we are dating” I’ve seen some swoony giddy comments but I don’t like that smile at all. It felt like his cruel smile similar to the one he gave to Baek during their talk outside. BUT his laugh after she called him an idiot and a fool?? That felt genuine. It’s like he had to laugh because he was so surprised at himself and his reaction. I think he was pleasantly surprised to be so amused after he had just put on such a show to drive a wedge between them. I imagine she’s nothing like the women he’s been around/dated previously. Like her rush to his truck with zero
care for what he thought of her running to him like a dog and also her lack of shame that he’d be dressed like that driving a work truck when any of her coworkers could’ve seen.
Yes! I forgot about that, @birdie007. Her coworkers could have seen them.
He picked her up in that truck and he was dressed up shabbily, too.
But hey…did you notice? He wasn’t wearing his usual running shoes. He had work boots on.
The way he wore his running shoes was frankly getting to me. He was stepping on the heels.
I just lost a long post with quotes and it’s too late to re-do all, so I’ll summarise.😣 @packmule3, yes it’s definitely an apology date.
I think that Mi-jeong wanted an apology, and deserved an apology, because Gu was so awful after the dogs incident. Rather than thanking her, he blamed her, saying that every time she keeps making things worse, as though she is cursing him; interfering with his karma. He says he can handle small misfortunes, but she keeps stopping them and makes them bigger. He mocks her sharp countryside instincts and says that she should move to the city to dull them and to make herself able to chit chat like other women. He said she scares him.
When Mi-jeong tells Hyeon-a that Gu says she scares him, Hyeon-a says it’s because MJ can see right through him. A scared person should grovel but usually they want to run away. I think that Hyeon-a gave MJ some armour or some weaponry when Gu insulted her next by insinuating that her questions were like those of dull women and that he owed her nothing. She is able to stand up for herself, but later she sent him a text underlining that she had already told him that she didn’t care if he was a criminal or an alien, she thought he was okay and that they could continue on. He went to see Baek afterwards, partly because he was annoyed that Baek was spying on him and partly because MJ said that he was no better at solving his problems than she was. I think MJ’s text left him an opening for an apology, if we call the meal date that. Otherwise it might not have happened. I also think that he was a bit chuffed after his visit to Baek; it must have been a big weight off his mind.
I agree with @birdie007 that MJ is nothing like the women Gu has known before. He did say it would be easier to give her a diamond than to ‘worship’ her. Yes, she ran to him, but in a sense he ran to her as well. He could easily have left Seoul without her ever knowing he had been there. I agree that his comment about her boss sounded like he was ready to punish him.
It was a funny scene when Gu read the financial news out loud; he implied that he wasn’t used to speaking anymore. I think he spoke to Baek more, and more quickly than in any other scene in the drama. I think I may have a hard time getting used to him being at all talkative.
@Packmule3, another note on the truck: I think the screenwriter has a thing for little old trucks. A very funny one featured prominently in My Mister. At least the Sanpo Sinks truck doesn’t tip over when making a turn.
As for Gu’s asking MJ if her annoying boss has left work, I see that having two functions: as you suggest, he’s giving MJ the message that he’ll have her back if needed; but I also think Gu is providing an excuse for his being in Seoul and coming to meet MJ at her place of work just as she’s heading out. MJ has no clue what actually brought Gu to Seoul–his confrontation with Baek–and Gu threw up a smokescreen so she wouldn’t wonder. The empty truckbed would give away his not having come to Seoul on Sanpo Sinks business, as after an installation the truck is loaded with the scrap of the removed cabinets. There are no business supplies in the back either. Gu is fine with MJ thinking he drove all the way to Seoul solely for her sake, but doesn’t want it to appear too sentimental a gesture.
Gu could have returned to Seoul without MJ ever knowing he was there, but Papa must’ve known the truck was gone and needed a logical reason. Gu and MJ have used the truck other occasions they’ve spent time together. Since MJ openly declared it, everyone in the family knows she and Gu are dating. At least CH knows the two had a falling out (but that didn’t stop CH from using Gu’s bidet every morning and night). Reconciliation and a date night are perfect cover for Gu’s use of the truck. But I’d like to think that Gu wanted a real reconciliation, not a feigned one. His behavior during the dinner demonstrates that he does value MJ and takes opportunity to dote on her.
Why the falling out? Gu had said harsh things to MJ after she protected him from the feral dogs, and continued speaking harshly when she came to his house to talk to him. Both times Gu had been drinking, and he claims he’s a nicer person drunk than sober, but in these confrontations he leaned into meanness. He could have been, like MJ, comfortable fighting because he knew she liked him. Or he could have been trying to drive MJ away with his words. That is how MJ interpreted it. She had been thinking just before the stray dog incident: “It’s just what you say when you want to end it with a woman, isn’t it? ‘The woman I used to live with died’. ‘Because of me’.” When MJ delivered the soju from CH to Gu, tension still ran high between them. Gu said he had no idea how to worship someone. MJ said, “You were ready to let a dog bite off your arm. And yet, you find it hard to hold a woman? You think it’s cool to endure pain with clenched teeth, and it’s dull to have a cute, happy life with a woman? Which is harder? Getting your arm bitten off by a dog and getting your nose broken, or being nice to the woman you like? Which do you think is harder? You treated me like a fool who couldn’t even get her money back. You’re no better.”
Gu should be glad MJ took it easy on his sliding glass door as she exited: a standard wooden door probably would have been slammed.
I believe MJ gained insight when she talked to Hyeon-A. She had wanted to meet with Hyeon-A after Gu told her about his girlfriend’s suicide. Not having gotten a response after texting and calling Hyeon-A, MJ shows up at her apartment unannounced, only to overhear Hyeon-A and her current boyfriend having a brawl. She walked away without intervening, which surprised me a bit. When MJ and HA did meet for dinner, HA was physically unharmed and emotionally unfazed. Although she was speaking of herself and her recent spat, HA shared a helpful thought with MJ: “There are lots of crazy jerks who do bad things and blame you for it.”
I believe what broke the ice between Gu and MJ is that MJ texted the following to Gu: “I told you, I don’t care if you’re a notorious criminal or even an alien. So what’s the big deal? I still think you’re okay. So let’s carry on. Let’s keep going. It’s now chilly…in the morning.” Show makes it a bit confusing, because we only hear these words in MJ’s voiceover as we watch her during various stages of her commute into Seoul. We’re not even shown that morning’s commute in consecutive order, seeing her waiting for the Sanpo Village Bus to Dangmi Station after we see her arrive in Seoul. Showing that first segment last coincides with MJ’s reminder that the seasons are changing. Time is passing, and it will be fall, then winter, then spring; she’d promised they’d both be different by spring if Gu worshipped her.
After reading texts on his phone, Gu sits outside the factory. He gazes at Mama prepping aubergines for cooking, and it seems he’s faintly nodding. Whatever his thoughts, they spurred him to drive into Seoul and confront Baek. Gu’s parting words to Baek: “I’m a little busy these days, making sinks and stuff. I’ll come back if I decide to. Do I decide that I like making sinks and want to leave this world behind, or do I decide that this is the world that I need to conquer? It’s one or the other. I’ll be back after I make the decision, so just wait. If you keep lurking around and pissing me off, I will come back for good, so just wait quietly. Humm?” [Subs say “Got it?] From these words, it is fair to say that Gu is still considering making a life with MJ [the “and stuff” keeping him busy in Sanpo beside his current employment].
Gu takes MJ to dinner at a dumpling restaurant. He seems very familiar with the place, knowing exactly where to get the pickled radish. Did he used to be a frequent customer? Does he know the owner? Because he looks so comfortable there, his choice in restaurant makes me think he wants to show MJ a little of his past life.