To continue.
Part 1 is here. Today’s Webtoon: Ep 13 On Quadrangles, Part 1
3. Goo Joon Young, her coworker
I’m with @Fern and @nrllee on this one. I like him best.
Of all the three suitors, Goo is the one who pursues her romantically. Everybody around smells love in the air when they’re together. Everybody except MaEum herself.
Back in Ep 10, her best friend/judo partner assumed that Goo was a boyfriend. When MaEum denied it, saying they were just “coworkers,” the friend joked that Goo must then be the reason she was having a good at work.
At work, their colleague PD Choi instantly noticed when they began speaking casually to each other. Naturally then, he also picked up when they weren’t speaking to each other.
Choi: Any good ideas from the two of you?
Goo: (doesn’t look up)
MaEum: (looks at Goo)
Choi: What? Did you two fight?
MaEum: No.
Choi: I mean, you’re not saying a word. Make up!
Goo: (still not looking up) No. What’s there to fight about?
MaEum had caught Goo with the bad guy Director Heo but couldn’t confront him about it. Meanwhile, Goo was avoiding a conversation on the matter because he hadn’t yet collected the info he needed to back him up.
Daniel Choi’s Character (DCC) knows that Goo’s interested in MaEum. He spots him gazing at MaEum from a distance and MaEum walking with a downcast face. He puts two and two together that MaEum is unhappy with Goo’s association with Director Heo. He advises Goo to come clean with her before it’s too late.
He drops by her home that evening to clear the air but before he can explain anything her father arrives and pounces on him. Surely, he deserves a reward for being manhandled by her dad twice.
Like her judo friend, her dad also assumes that he’s dating MaEum.
Dad: Hey punk! When did you start hanging around my daughter? Ah! Since that time! That’s why you hid in here!
MaEum: (motioning no)
Goo: I’m not that kind of person!
Lol. I think he meant to say that he wasn’t the type to damage the reputation of a girl by sleeping at her place. But her dad misunderstood him and lunged for him. He probably thought that Goo was insulting his daughter and that Goo didn’t think much of MaEum to even bother hide at her place.
MaEum yells that Goo is her coworker. Thankfully, her mother and sister appear to invite Goo for dinner.
A few things about the dinner:
a. I like how Goo calls MaEum’s dad, “Abeonim.” Lol. He’s being formal and polite but to the dad, he’s being presumptuous about their relationship when he addresses him as “Father.”
b. I like that when mom said they must be “extremely close,” Goo just gave an angelic smile.
c. I like that dad asked the question that everybody really wanted to know the answer to. “By chance, are you two dating?” He said the quiet part loud.
d. The mom is right. MaEum was denying it too much. Or as Shakespeare would say, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The mom thinks she should be open to the possibility. “You never know about human relationships.”
e. The sister forced the issue when she asked Goo what he thought of MaEum.
f. I thought Goo was THE man when he dropped a bombshell at the table, “I like MaEum a lot.” Their different reactions were hilarious. MaEum looked at him like she was seeing an alien. Mom gasped with happiness. Sis knew the importance of the moment: he was confessing to MaEum in front of everybody. Dad needed to gulp down water for his gastric reflux.
g. But why did he backpedal and qualify his feelings for her as platonic??!!
“She’s a friend I depend on.”
Did he just put himself in the friend-zone? Why????
h. I can relate to the sister’s and mom’s reactions.
Sister: Chingu?
Mom: Just…friend-eu?
It’s annoying to that Goo just stared intently at her mom. Was he trying to communicate something to her?
MaEum: Yeah, yeah. Just a friend. (smacking Goo) Yah! Why did you say it like that and scare everyone?
I think she got it wrong. Nobody was actually scared at the prospect of Goo liking her? Her dad was more upset than scared. Maybe MaEum was projecting; maybe she was the one who was scared.
After dinner, it’s confession time.
Here’s what he confessed.
Goo: Because of you.
MaEum: (speechless)
Goo: I stayed on the team because of you and I wanted to protect the team because of you. This is what I wanted to tell you last time. The confession about what I’ve been doing and the reason behind those actions.
Before he could proceed, the family barged in. The Dad decided to halt his confession by pushing everybody into the room. He succeeded in spoiling the mood…or did he just throw MaEum a lifeline? Did he sense that MaEum wasn’t into Goo so he rescued her from having to hear Goo’s love confession?
I’m not going to lie. I’ll be disappointed if Goo backs out and decides that they’ll just be friend before he even proposes to her. But I get why. MaEum has never really shown that she’s interested in him in a romantic way. She’s always friend-zoned/coworker-zoned him.
And for a guy like Goo, who likes to do project analysis and to get evidence (remember Director Heo?) before he acts, he’ll be risk averse. He’ll wait for a sign from she feels something for him other than just friends before he confesses his feelings once and for all.
Thank you, @packmule3.
Haha, that family was eavesdropping. I can picture them lined up like Sakura’s family in “Love Lasts Forever”. As they were leaving the room, Goo shook his head subtly to the dad – a signal that it wasn’t the right time? I wonder if the two men had a quiet word and there was a mutual agreement that Ma Eum not get pressured before she was ready?
To me, Goo saying that he took the risks to save the team for Ma Eum’s sake is 95% of a confession. It seems to me that he wants her well prepared before he asks her to date.
Thank you, @packmule3.
The way the dad took a quick swig after Goo said, ‘I like Ma Eum a lot’ made me think that he perhaps decided to qualify it (friendship) to avoid a ruckus.
Haha, that family was eavesdropping. I can picture them lined up like Sakura’s family in “Love Lasts Forever”. As they were leaving the room, Goo shook his head subtly to the dad – a signal that it wasn’t the right time? I wonder if the two men had a quiet word and there was a mutual agreement that Ma Eum not get pressured before she was ready?
To me, Goo saying that he took the risks to save the team for Ma Eum’s sake is 95% of a confession. It seems to me that he wants her well prepared before he asks her to date.
I wish, @Fern! I wish that Goo added the “I depend on her as friend” remark out of empathy for the father’s distressed feelings.
What frustrates me is that his hints just go over MaEum’s head. In Episode 14, for example, when MaEum left him to attend to Artist Shin’s mother in the hospital, Goo said that he’d take care of the CCTV for her because “Loving one’s coworker is loving one’s country.” But she still didn’t get his double meaning.
To me, if the girl doesn’t get any of the guy’s intimations or his indirect communication, then that’s a sign that a) they aren’t on the same wavelengths, or b) she simply isn’t interested in him romantically but wants to keep him as a friend.
Sorry took me forever to finish Ep13. I keep getting interrupted. I thought Goo dropped that bombshell confession at dinner to “read the room”. As Packmule pointed out, the mother and sister were all for it. I think he wanted to gauge the father’s response. Would he flip out? Toss food at him? Shirt front him again? But no, he growled and took a sip of water instead. Which was an improvement? But Goo knew that was too big a leap for Abeonim. So he back pedaled for now. I think that’s why I like Goo. He seems to be a patient sort of guy. He doesn’t mind waiting. He never seems to be in a rush. There were a few times before when I thought he would lean in for a kiss but he never did.
With the flashback reel we know for sure now that DCC secretly liked ME but has gallantly stepped aside for Goo. No wonder he was a tortoise as a pet. 😂. He who dares wins. Goo made moves and they paid off.
But I understand your frustration. ME seems totally oblivious. 😂. Maybe one too many falls on the judo mats. She seems to be so dense when it comes to matters of the heart (romance).
😂 You mean, she had concussion that’s why she’s dense? I know she has funny ears because of constantly being pushed too the ground.
Maybe the final episode will have a time jump or something to show her falling in love with Goo after a year of working with him.
@packmule3 yes 😂.
I sped through Ep14. I liked the last voiceover about The Almighty. How parents are like The Almighty in a child’s world. Because they create it. Good or bad. I am not in favour of how DL’s mom chained him to “keep him safe”. 🤔 I realize they were trying to give her reason to do so because he started a fire the last time…still…doesn’t make it right.
Will try to binge the last 2 eps after ep16 drops.
I really enjoyed the On family dynamic. Usually in KDramas we see father and mother bickering, shouting rudely or putting each other down. Here, it’s almost got a Western family dynamic? Date night for dad and mom? Wow. That’s refreshing. 👍❤️
I’m doing the same — will watch both episodes tonight.
I had some difficulty with the chaining as well. It wrecked DL for a couple of decades, right? But he forgave his mother so quickly and we get the impression that he will try to take care of her. Lacking his trauma, I wonder how he will continue with his dark storyline in the future?