Some viewers pan some scenes as filler scenes when I think they’re important one. One fine example in this episode is the make-up scene in the night market.

gifs from damn-salvatore’s tumblr

source: damn-salvatore’s tumblr

Some of you think it could have been left out, so I’ll explain why I think it’s relevant.

First, it shows us the go-to technique for exposition of the director and screenwriters: the flashback.

Naksu is sitting at a beauty market stall (the drama’s equivalent of a Sephora, lol) and pondering about her eyes, and why they would hurt every time she was at Jinyowon.

Uk spots her and joins her at the counter. They play around with the make-up and after a while, they move on to another stall. As he looks at more trinkets, Naksu has a flashback.

She actually spotted him first. She’d been putting on lipstick and smiling at her pretty reflection. She was about to call out to him, but she stopped herself. She removed her lipstick before he could see her.

Recalling all this, she looks confused. She wonders why she’d behaved like that. She covers her cheek, as if she’s shocked to find herself blushing.

And she shakes her head, as if to shake away the appalling thought running in her head that she’d become interested in beautifying herself for Uk.

Unconsciously, she’s learning to become feminine because of her attraction for him. And she doesn’t want that.

Thus, in this scene, the purpose of the flashback is very clear. It’s to show a development in Naksu’s character. The short flashback illuminates her emotional world. We’re supposed to notice that she’s experiencing bewildering changes in her make-up.

And by make-up, I mean two things:

One, her cosmetics. She didn’t use make-up before.
Two, her disposition and character. She didn’t use to care about these beauty products and prettifying herself. But now she does, because of Uk.

However…

While the flashback works well in this scene, I personally think the director and/or screenwriters have overused it to the detriment of the show.

Instead of telling the story in a chronological order so viewers can understand the timeline and the current events correctly, the director and the Hong sisters preferred to obfuscate the backstory in order to mislead and keep the viewers in the dark longer. They’re striving for a “Gotcha!” “I tricked you!” and “See, how smart I am?” moment. Their plan could have worked if this was a two-hour movie. But when viewers are still uncertain of the real backstory after 18 episodes (or two freaking months!), the frustration is warranted. We’re going round and round the same issues.

Second, this scene shows us the kind of loving relationship that Naksu and Uk have. I don’t know about you, but this is important to me. To be quite honest, I’m watching this drama for the romance between the leading characters, not the saga of the ice stone.

Uk: (poking her cheek) MuDeok, what are you doing here? Why were you looking in the mirror?

He sits down beside her.

Uk: Did you want to look nice for me?
Naksu: Do not be ridiculous. (standing up)
Uk: (holding her head to sit her down) Wait. I want to make myself look nice.

I like Uk’s awareness of Naksu’s personality. He knows she isn’t a typical girl. When she stood up to leave, he correctly read her shyness and embarrassment to be caught at the cosmetics stall. He pretends to be the one interested in make-up.

Uk: How about you pick something suitable for your young master?
Naksu: (looks away)
Uk: I will pick one myself.

He picks up a hair ornament and tries it on.

Uk: What do you think? Does it suit me?
Naksu: Yes, sure. You look fabulous.
Uk: Of course, it would look nice on me. Let me see. (tries another one) This looks nice on me too. This is just too hard. Everything suits me.
Naksu: (snorting)
Uk: (picks up a sponge) What is this?
Naksu: (grabs it) Give me that. I will doll you up.

She doesn’t realize that she’s showing interest in makeup now. She bops Uk’s head with powder, and laughs.

Naksu: Look at you. You look stunning.
Uk: It looks like I am all dolled up now. Now, it is your turn.

He puts red blusher on her cheeks. Naksu glares at him.

Uk: Look at how pretty you look, MuDeok.

If you haven’t seen “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho,” the lead female MiHo is obsessed about having red dots on her cheeks.

source: pinterest

They’re called “yeonji gonji” and the bride wears them to ward off evil spirits on their wedding day. Naksu reminds me of a Korean bride with her red cheeks.

Naksu: How childish of you. I thought you only liked my eyes. (brushing the blusher off)
Uk: I know, right? I only thought your eyes were pretty. But your poison must have done a number on me. Now, you look pretty no matter what.

Meaning, he accepts her good and bad points.

Naksu: (not answering)
Uk: I see you are trying hard not to love me. You seem distressed.

Distressed = flustered. Uk knows that he flustered her with his confession that she’s pretty to him no matter what.

Naksu: Not at all. You could not be more wrong.
Uk: (holding her head again to make her look at him) If you are going to lie to my face, at least try not to show it. You are blushing right now.
Naksu: That’s because you put all this blush on my face.

As usual, she sounds irritated, and she tries to erase the blusher with rough strokes.

Uk: Let me see.

He cups her face in his hands. In contrast to her roughness, he wipes her cheek gently.

Uk: I must have applied too much. It will not come off. (smiling) You kind of look like a drunk dog right now.
Naksu: (frowning)
Uk: Huh? You should not glare like that. You look like a dog about to bite.
Naksu: I might as well just bite you. (pounding him) I will not bite. Come here.
Uk: (sits back down)
Naksu: (bites him)
Uk: All right. Stop.

So what does this tell me about their relationship? Uk understands that Naksu is more comfortable with a Tom-and-Jerry relationship than a lovey-dovey one. Fighting with him is her way of showing affection. And teasing her is his way of showing that he won’t change his mind about her even when she’s mean and horrid to him. He teases her because he doesn’t mind her angry reactions; he actually finds them cute.

Naksu: (looking at the makeup) I had to buy this because of you.
Uk: Do not use it if you do not need it. I will use it myself.

Lol. I don’t think Naksu realized that Uk got his own way once again. He saw her in front of the mirror and suspected that she wanted to buy make-up but was reluctant to do so with him around. So he gave her an “excuse” to buy make-up. They were obliged to buy something afterwards after they played with the blusher.

Uk: (seeing the bracelet) This is pretty, too.

This is when Naksu had an epiphany.

She was putting on lipstick before he arrived. As I explained earlier, she’s bewildered to see this new side of her emerging. Although outwardly, she’s grumbling about being forced to buy the make-up, secretly, she could imagine herself wearing make-up and looking pretty.

He was right all along. She did want to look nice for him.

Remember back in Episode 14, when Naksu saw Heo Yun-Ok and Uk together, and Uk swatted a bee away? I wrote back then that she had looked at Yuk-Ok sadly because it must have dawned on her that she could have been a graceful lady like Yun-Ok if her father hadn’t turned into a soul-shifter.

Now, in Episode 17, she’s got her opportunity. She’s blossoming under Uk’s unwavering attention for her. She can show interest in make-up, hair ornaments and bracelets like a typical girl because he’s around to indulge her whims.

Third, this scene is also relevant to me because I can see the director and writers trying to clean up their act.

Naksu: (gazing at the mirror) Why do my eyes hurt like crazy every time I go to Jinyowon?

Flashback to when she held BuYeon’s eye bandages in BuYeon’s room and when she witnessed SoYi’s opening the vault.

Naksu: Is it because of the power of their relics?

I’m going to quibble here: this isn’t true. Her eyes don’t hurt every time she’s at Jinyowon.

It all began in Episode 6 when she touched the box with the broken yin-yang jade in it. She winced then had a vision of the broken stone inside. She rejected ChoYeong’s offer to be her servant. Outside, she wondered if the vision was real, then she rubbed her eyes.

Later, she entered the Jinyowon manor, and experienced vertigo. Vertigo isn’t painful. It’s just uncomfortable sensation of spinning around.

When she tried to escape Jinyowon, she accidentally entered the courtyard leading to the family vault. Note that her eyes weren’t hurting as she walked down the path.

She was able to touch the mirror without hurting her eyes either. Her eyes became blind after she cracked the mirror with BuYeon’s power. The flash of light blinded her. She said she couldn’t open her eyes, and Maidservant Kim gave her a handkerchief for them.

Note that she didn’t say her eyes were hurting like crazy. And the following day, when she removed the eye bandage and she could see again, she didn’t mention pain.

In Episode 13, after the lightning hit the constellation basin in Cheongbugwan, Naksu became blind again.

Uk: It’s the energy of the Soul Ejector. I felt the same dark energy when GilJu attempted to shift souls.
Naksu: (covering her eyes, and moaning)
Uk: What’s the matter?
Naksu: I cannot see just like how I could not when I came out of the mirror. I feel dizzy and nauseous.

She wasn’t so much in pain as she was dizzy and nauseous. It’s similar to motion sickness.

In Episode 15, she went to Jinyowon with Maidservant Kim to speak with ChoYeon about providing her alibi. Note: her eyes didn’t hurt when she entered the mansion. Only when she touched the eye bandage did she feel dizzy again. (lol. If she was supposed to look like she was in “pain.” then that was some lousy acting.) She blamed the scent of the incense stick.

Meaning, the incense stick caused her momentary dizziness, not pain.

She wore Buyeon’s eye bandage without wincing or grimacing in pain.

It was in episode 16 when she first exhibited pain. She was watching SoYi’s attempt to open the ivy-covered gate, and for some reason, she experienced a headache. Instead of the customary nausea, her eyes hurt. Also, the medallion behind her conveniently lit up at the same time as SoYi was raising her hand.

Lol. I should say this was a very artificial moment. It didn’t happen anytime else.

In Episode 7 when she opened the door,

and in the other episodes when Lady Jin and ChoYeong opened it, they were all standing in front of the ivy-covered wall. They waved their hands a few feet from the door.

Now, Naksu was able to open it from a quite a distance just when SoYi was about to be discovered as a fraudster. To me, this prop is a cheap deux ex machina. The writers had to “fix” the situation by forcing an expedient prop – a priestess-detecting medallion, no less! — onto the plot.

Tsk tsk tsk.

To summarize, her eyes didn’t “hurt like crazy” every single time she went to Jinyowon. No. Most of the time, she merely felt and nauseous. It was only in Episode 16 when she showed sign of pain. It’s obvious to me that this was a last-minute correction and that it was contrived to remove an obstacle and to move the plot involving SoYi forward.

Sigh. I hate it when the directors and/or screenwriters attempt to gaslight me or confuse me by revising what they previously established.

Fourth, another reason I say that this isn’t a filler scene is because it shows us that this director uses the OSTs to explain certain points. I already explained to you how the OST “Aching” related to the “Words of the Heart,” right? Same thing here. Unlike in other kdramas, the OST in this drama isn’t randomly played in the background during high emotional moments. On the contrary, I think the OST is chosen specifically to enhance our understanding of what’s happening.

The OST “Breath” by Kim Na Young plays while Naksu recalls applying lipstick and becomes flustered.

Thank goodness, I don’t have to rearrange the lyrics. I found a great translation from caffehallyu. Credit goes to the blogsite.

“Breathe”
by Kim Na Young

[Verse 1] You’ve come like rain that’s been pouring without a break
Even if I push it, I’m waiting for it again
I want to be with you in the same night sky everyday
You knew how I felt without any answers

[Chorus] I came here because I felt empty
Is it a wind that shakes me once?
You tell me that it’s okay even when I’m anxious
I lean on your breath

[Verse 2] The painful memories that I couldn’t let go are hovering around the same spot
I looked back on my cries that I couldn’t hear and I smile

[Bridge] In the gap in my heart that nothing could fill
Someday you will come
You come to me silently and give me everything

[Chorus] I came here because I felt empty
Is it a wind that shakes me once?
You tell me that it’s okay even when I’m anxious
I lean on your breath

[Outro] I couldn’t hear the hot pain that was flowing with tears anymore
You hugged my sadness so warmly

source: cafehallyu.com

Do you see how it connects to our scene?

Uk is like the rain. He keeps pouring love on her that she’s gotten used to his brand of loving. Although she acts like she doesn’t like what he’s doing to her, she’s begun to wait and hope for him. She used to feel empty inside. But he always knows to say to make her feel better. He has changed her so that she no longer dwells on painful past. She can smile, and even laugh now over make-up. She can lean on him for strength, protection, and comfort.

Uk: You were almost hit by the wagon.
Naksu: (slapping her face to stop herself from thinking foolish thoughts)
Uk: MuDeok. Are you really drunk or something? Did you drink without me?
Naksu: (composing herself)
Uk: I had a drink too. How about we have some more together?
Naksu: I am not drunk.

Of course, she isn’t drunk. She’s just rattled by her feelings.

For me, then, if the director took the time to create details, like designing a flashback, matching the scene with the OST, and retconning the story, then the scene is NOT a filler at all. We’re supposed to pay attention because a special occasion is unfolding. It sets the stage for Naksu’s decision to save Uk from the soulshifter in the next episode.