Episode 1, entitled “Cool Goodbyes,” is divided into three chapters. The first chapter begins with an imperative to “End the Relationship.”

Immediately there’s contrast between Woong’s black and white image and Yumi’s colored world. While they’re sitting in the café, only Yumi is in color.

As they walk to the fountain, the visuals continues. The world around them is monochrome. Even Yumi’s yellow vest seems washed-out.

Oddly enough, after Woong says goodbye to her and walks away, the color returns to her world.

At first, I thought the whole color scheme was a strange directorial choice. Instead of the colorized background, I was expecting Yumi’s world to darken even more and turn gloomy to reflect her sadness about the breakup.

But now, I think the black-and-white images of Woong is meant to evoke nostalgia. Although he’s still physically present — sitting with her in the cafe, walking alongside her, and standing in front of her — their once romantic relationship is already fading in the past. That’s what black-and-white pictures represent: the past. The message here is that eventually, Woong will fade into memory, and her life will revert to its usual familiar colors.

Thus, I see the color scheme as subtly giving hope that her heartache will come to pass. One day, she’ll be able to look back and see things the way they are.

There are three other noteworthy things in this chapter.

1. the Cells are riding on the Viking ship to survive the flash flood. Their ship reminds me of the ride seen in amusement parks.

If you notice, Love Cell is on board the ship, in the back row. They didn’t leave her behind. She’s unconscious and wearing an oxygen mask.

Reason Cell orders everyone to keep holding on. He says they’re different from before. Yumi is an adult now so they must part ways in a “cool manner.”

To me, his advice to the other cells to hold on is echoed by Yu Ba Bi’s encouragement to Yumi to “himnaeo.” The expression “himnae” (“힘내”) has many meanings in English. Viki translates is as “Stay strong!” but it also means “Cheer up!” “Hang in there!” and “You got this.”

Deep down inside, Yumi knows she can survive this breakup, but it’s good to hear support coming from another person.

Note: I also like how BaBi’s yellow shirt matches Yumi’s yellow vest in the opening scene. It creates good optics, like Yumi is being linked to him. Not even her yellow vest could brighten her spirits when she broke up with Woong. But now, she’s perking up as BaBi appears in front of her, looking handsome in his yellow shirt.

2. The importance of having a “cool” breakup is underscored.

For Yumi, especially, it’s essential to feign composure, sangfroid, and nonchalance after the breakup. Her Pride Cell demands that she avoids the appearance of clinging on to Woong and their finished romance.

But given social media, it’s easy for her to remain connected to Woong. She notices that he’s changed his profile and deleted their couple picture only six short days after their breakup. She assumes that he’s “coolly” moved on with his life because he’s out and about with his friends, and that hurts her even more.

I thought her riddle is a dig at Woong. “Who is the person who seems to be everywhere but is nowhere? Answer: A cool person.” From stalking his friends’ social media, she concludes that he’s neither pining for her nor brooding by himself. In this sense, being a “cool” person is not any different from being a heartless person. He’s resumed his old ways without concern for her welfare or a tinge of regrets.

I think she’s misunderstood him. I’ll explain it when I talk about the emoticons.

3. The emoticons are on point. (Pun alert.)

As veteran kdrama viewers, we know that her emoticon “TT” means crying. It shows tears streaming down from tightly shut eyes. She’s far from being cool about the breakup.

In contrast, his emoticon, a dot/point/period, is the epitome of a cool goodbye. There’s nothing as final as a period.

However, Yumi doesn’t know that Woong has seen her status update. It looks to me as if he too is feeling her pain at that very moment. She isn’t the only one grieving about the end of the relationship.

But she misreads his emoticon as “coolness” when he’s in the same boat as she is.

I think Yumi and many viewers understand only part of the meaning of his emoticon. Remember the conversation between the Pathetic Cell and Writer Cell?

Pathetic Cell: Writer, can you write something for me, keeping it a secret from the other cells?
Writer Cell: Write something?
Pathetic Cell: Can you write something short that expresses Yumi being sad after her breakup with Woong? I want to make it obvious somewhere.

Pathetic Cell means that she wants to send a signal to Woong that she feels miserable without looking like she’s miserable.

Writer Cell: Won’t that look a bit pathetic?

I had to laugh here. Of course, it looks pathetic. The idea’s coming from the Pathetic Cell after all.

Pathetic Cell: That’s why I’m asking you to make it short.
Writer Cell: Short? How short?
Pathetic Cell: How short can you make it?

That’s how Yumi ends up with the “TT” emoticon. It’s the shortest expression of her grief and despondency that her Writer Cell could think of.

But I think her Writer Cell is outwitted by Woong. He’s thought of something pithier than “TT” to express his own sadness.

It’s the dot.

Yes, the dot/period expresses the finality of their breakup. But more importantly, the dot reveals how lonesome Woong is after the breakup. There’s nothing as solitary and lonely as a single dot.

Do you see it? Do you see the dot?

It’s as desolate as the moon in the dark sky, and Woong in an empty court.

To me, that’s the real meaning of the dot in Woong’s status. Sure, he isn’t crying like Yumi. But he’s grieving just the same.

The second chapter in the episode is about the “Cure” for Yumi’s heartbreak. While several remedies are suggested by different cells, none is effective.

• Eating kkwabaegi or twisted donuts (lol. They’re purportedly medicinal.)
• Shopping for purses
• Late night movies
• Drinking beer which only made her maudlin that she ends up caterwauling tunelessly in the middle of the night
• Cleaning out everything related to Woong

If you ask me, I recommend:

• Going to a spa with girl friends
• Traveling to a foreign land by yourself or with friends,
• Learning a new sport that involves taking out your aggression on a ball (like tennis or baseball) or on a dummy (no, not your ex!)
• Volunteering in your local community
• Getting a dog
• Starting a garden
• Watching kdramas

I do like Reason Cell’s discovery that “time is the only cure for the after-effect of a breakup. However, one phrase can be a great treatment.” And that phrase is “himnae.”

That’s what BaBi tells her when he drops off work at her apartment. He asks her if she’s okay then tells her, “Himnaeo.” While Viki translates his words as “Stay strong,” Kissasian translates it as “Have a good night.”

Hahahaha….no.

I don’t think that’s what Babi wants to say. I don’t think the translator got that right.

Babi also has “Himnae” written on his profile.

I suspect that Yumi’s update on her profile status was noticed not only by Woong but also by BaBi. He knew that she’d split up with boyfriend and was going through tough time. Then, in a typical BaBi understated move, he drops by her house to see how she’s doing and to cheer her up. BaBi is sensitive guy that way.

The third chapter in this episode is about “Yu Ba Bi Club.”

Yes, like many of you, I enjoyed the joke on Shinee’s Minho (he cameo’d in Season 1 as Yumi’s crush) and Gong Yoo fan clubs, and the meta about BaBi being an idol. The actor Park JinYoung is an idol.

I laughed when I recognized the strains of “Les Miserables” song, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” as the call-to-arms of the Yu Ba Bi Club.

But what I found interesting in this segment is that the Guard Cell turns out to be the secret president of the Yu Ba Bi Club. To me, this is a foreshadowing. The Guard Cell is a good indicator of her future with BaBi. She’s literally “guarded” with her feelings. Although she can’t help fangirling over BaBi because he is a cool sensitive guy, she’s cautious about developing feelings for him. Her wariness is a natural response. She fears committing herself again so soon after a break-up.

Although she knows that a) Babi is crush material, and b) she and BaBi have many things in common (e.g., books and music), she needs more time to get over Woong. A rebound relationship isn’t known to last long especially when one person hasn’t sorted out her/his feelings from the previous romance.

I’ll end here. This was intended to be my “Quick Takes” but I ended up writing a lot. Sorry. 🙂