Please do not plagiarize or I’ll shut down this discussion on “Alchemy of Souls 2.” Don’t be like that whale Rosa Mae Aguilar flopping so badly to be me on Facebook.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

I begin with the assumption that the Hong sisters are NOT going to waste production budget on a scene that has no purpose but to show the romance of two middle-aged, secondary characters. To me, these cooking scenes of Park Jin are written to be an exposition. They provide extra information about a character or action that the viewers can utilize to interpret a future event.

They give context.

Please remember that when you see cooking scenes in the next episodes, and think about what they can be hinting at.

Episode 1: The cubed radish kimchi

Park Jin has a new hobby, kimchi-making, and it’s making all the people in Songrim have “pickled” tongues. Maidservant Kim visits him, and she arrives just in time to see him finish making a enormous vat of cubed radish kimchi.

Aware that he foisted “five crocks of mustard leaf kimchi and green onion kimchi” on everybody in Songrim, she must make him stop. There’s only so much kimchi people can eat, and his kimchi doesn’t even taste that great.

But how can she stop him when he says, “It was not that tiring to make, and I only did it to kill time”? To kill time is to wait aimlessly.

So, rather than outright telling him to cease and desist, she concocts a plan to decrease the amount of kimchi he makes.

MS Kim: My Lord, I need some radish. Can I use those?
PJ: Sure. But then I will not have enough to make cubed radish kimchi with.
MS Kim: Come on. This is already enough. (pointing at the finished product) They will appreciate it more if it is not abundant.
PJ: That is true.

When it’s time to peel the garlic, he brings out a huge sheaf of garlic.

MS Kim: (protesting) But the kimchi will be too bitter if you put them all in.

PJ: The bigger the amount, the tastier it will be.
MS Kim: (trying a different tack) I need some garlic, too, so let me take half.
PJ: Will the kimchi still be tasty?
MS Kim: Half is more than enough.

That’s the whole cooking scene in brief. It’s so bland that it’s easy to dismiss it as inconsequential.

Well, I think we can glean three things from it.

1. The kimchi is a metaphor of Uk’s life.

Like Park Jin, Uk is making everybody around him uncomfortable because his life has turned tragic. No one can approach him. No one seems to know how to help him.

And just like no one can convince Park Jin to stop making kimchi because he insists that it tastes fine, no one can convince Uk to stop pining for Naksu because he insists that he’s fine.

MS Kim: Young Master, are you fine?
Uk: I am always fine. Worrying about me will be the death of you. I told you not to worry.
MS Kim: Since you used that sword, you will struggle tonight as well.
Uk: I’m used to it now. It is bearable.

Of course, he only needs a strong drink to make it bearable.

2. Park Jin’s kimchi-making hobby is his way of killing time. Likewise, Uk’s hunt for soulshifters is his way of killing time.

The two men are both passing time aimlessly.

Park Jin lost his purpose when he resigned as leader of Songrim whereas Uk lost his purpose in life when Naksu died.

3. A burden shared is a burden halved.

Fortunately for Park Jin, he has Maidservant Kim beside him. She found a solution to his kimchi obsession. Without letting him know, she took away half of his radish and garlic so he was left with only half the ingredients for his kimchi.

Fortunately for Uk too, he’s offered a solution by Cho BuYeong, who claims she’s a powerful priestess. She proposes marriage with mutual benefits. She can escape the Jin compound, and he can use her divine powers to take away the ice stone from him. Uk finds this idea appealing because he no longer wants to carry on with his life.

He finally confesses to Park Jin that the ice stone is too much for him to handle on his own.

Uk: If a priestess as powerful as Jin Seolran exists, will she be able to extract the ice stone within me?
PJ: If she can, would you extract it?
UK: (silence)
PJ: (reminding him) You are only alive thanks to that stone.
UK: You said the ice stone should be destroyed since no human can control its power. Yes. You are right. It is too much for me…to handle.
PJ: Maidservant Kim told me that it was too painful to watch you live with a wounded heart. Is it still very painful?
Uk: I should have died then. As a human, I should have died then and there.
PJ: Do you think removing the ice stone would heal your wounded heart?
Uk: (not answering)
PJ: But if you do that, you will die.
Uk: At least, I will lift the weight off my shoulders and finally be at peace.

See that? That’s what we can learn from the kimchi scene. We can see it as a metaphor for Uk’s life that has gone sour and bitter. 🙂

Episode 2: meju

This is meju.

source: Maangchi’s blog

From dictionary.sensagent.com.

Meju is a brick of dried fermented soybeans in Korean cuisine. While not consumed on its own, it serves as the basis of several Korean condiments, such as doenjang, soy sauce, or gochujang. Meju is produced by boiling soybeans, then crushing them in a mortar. Frequently, other grains are also mixed in when making meju. The specific process followed when making meju varies slightly depending on which food the meju will be used to make.

source: sensagent.com

It must be stinky.

On Maidservant Kim’s next visit, she sees Park Jin boiling red beans in a big cauldron.

On a sidenote, the visuals of Park Jin cooking remind me of Master Lee. I doubt that’s a coincidence.

lol.

MS Kim: (excitedly) What are you doing today? They are red beans. Are you making red bean porridge?
PJ: I’m going to make meju with red beans.
MS Kim: You are going to make meju with red beans? Not soybeans?
PJ: “Making meju with red beans” is an expression that people use to describe a lie or bluff. But if I actually make meju with red beans, then that expression will no longer exist.

PJ: Everyone thinks this is impossible, and I will be the first to prove them wrong. I am going to challenge myself.

As mentioned above, meju is made of soybeans. To make meju with red beans contradicts the very essence or basic element of a meju. It’s an impossible task so anybody who claims to have made meju with red beans is regarded as lying or bluffing.

MS Kim: I bet you will lose. Meju is made with soybeans.
PJ: Red beans might work.
MS Kim: Soybeans.
PJ: Red beans.
MS Kim: Soy.
PJ: Red.

They argue back and forth like kids.

PJ: (smiling at her) You and I really do click well.
MS Kim: Goodness. Even if you do make meju with red beans, I will not be shocked. Something even more shocking happened last night.

She apprises him of the bride Uk brought home. It shocks them both since they know that Uk is still not over “that girl.” She’s still in his heart, Maidservant Kim says.

MS Kim: I really do hope you succeed in making meju with red beans. Show me that impossible things sometimes do happen.
PJ: (pensively) Uk brought someone home saying he will marry her?

My comments:

1. Admirable or foolish?

On one hand, I admire Park Jin for his determination (or giseya). He isn’t afraid to challenge himself and he’s determined to prove everybody wrong.

But on the other hand, I must question why he’s making his life more difficult, and whether he’s just being stubborn and foolish. I’m reminded of Naksu and Uk’s discussion in Season 1. There’s a thin line between being stupid and being strong-willed, determined, and tenacious.

2. To me, “making meju with red beans” is the central theme in this episode and many viewers missed that. They didn’t see the big picture.

Though quite a number of characters lied and bluffed their way out of tight spots in this episode, I’ll limit myself to the significant ones.

First is Cho Yeong.

She pretends to be a great priestess.

It’s excusable when she first did it at their “meet-cute.”

UK: Tell me. Who are you?
Cho Yeong: I cannot reveal who I am due to a certain reason. But once you find out who I am, you will definitely want to take me out of here. (smiles knowingly at him)

Lol. Don’t you just love the double meaning? She hinted at her being the eldest daughter of Jinyowon and Uk got her message. But the subtext here — what they both didn’t know — is she’s his beloved Naksu. Had he discovered who she really was, he wouldn’t just take her out of there. He would also destroy the place and take down Lady Jin with it.

Then, at their next meeting, she clearly told him of her unique position at Jinyowon.

Cho Yeong: The future leader of Jinyowon will be me, the eldest daughter. Jin BuYeon.
Uk: What? You are who?

But take note. She didn’t say anything about having divine powers. When Uk asked her why he should consider marrying her, she said, “because my beauty is unmatched.” For her, her selling point was her appearance.

It was at their third meeting, when he returned to help hide her from the Jinyowon guards that she brought up her divine powers.

Uk: Seeing how determined they are to find you, you must not be just some lousy priestess. Are you really Jin BuYeon?
Cho Yeong: Yes, I am her.
Uk: She went missing ages ago.
Cho Yeong: But they found me three years ago.
Uk: They also found a fake daughter back then.
Cho Yeong: If I were fake, why would they hide me for all these years? I am the real BuYeon.

The reason they were hiding her is that she’s a “meju” with red beans. More on this topic later….

Uk: Then again, I did hear that Jin BuYeon could see energy. And you saw the ice stone within me.
Cho Yeong: That is right. I am the eldest daughter with the greatest divine powers. If my looks do not move you, consider my skills. You might need my help one day.

Note here. This is when she started the lie. She changed her selling point because a) she sensed that she would be more valuable to Uk if she touted her (nonexistent) skills, and b) she was desperate to escape her prison sentence of life without parole.

Uk: Alright. If I ever need your help, I will find you then.
Cho Yeong: (clutching his arm again) I will get married on the full moon of this month. And once I do, I will never be able to leave that room. I need a new groom to avoid that fate. I would like you to come and take me away. I will be waiting. Please come for me.

Uk frowned at her and she made one last appeal.

Cho Yeong: Jang Uk. Everyone seems to avoid you. Just get married while you still can. I am willing to marry you.
Uk: Forget it.

Note what she said in her closing argument. She dropped her earlier inducements for marriage, this is, her beauty and her divine powers, and returned to the most basic reason: she alone will stay with him.

Call it whatever you want: faithfulness, commitment, reliability, loyalty, steadfastness. She’s promising him something that he once demanded of Naksu. Remember this?

Even when people avoided Uk, Cho Yeong promised to stay right by his side.

Don’t you just see how everything has come full circle? 🙂

So, when Uk tells her that he wants to marry her because he needs her divine powers, she must act quickly before he discovers her lie and backs out of marrying her.

To be fair, she could have simply entrapped him into marriage with the wedding drink. But her honesty gets the better of her and she informs him of the wedding tradition of drinking from one cup.

Cho Yeong: If you drink that, it means we are officially married. Let us think of it as a wedding drink. Go on. Drink up.
Uk: A wedding drink?
Cho Yeong: Drink up.

Uk notices her eagerness and suspects something is up. He puts the cup down.

Cho Yeong: Why aren’t you drinking it?
Uk: There’s no need to rush our first night together. Take it slow. The night is young.
Cho Yeong: (babbling) Summer nights are shorter. The sun will shine any time now.
Uk: What does that have anything to do with becoming a married couple?
Cho Yeong: (slams the table, startling Uk) I prefer it when it’s dark. It would be awkward to do it in daylight.
Uk: You really have a way of surprising me with your words.

There are two ways of interpreting this remark. One, he’s surprised by the sexual connotations of her words. (Personally, I doubt that she’s aware of the innuendos.) Two, he’s surprised by how easily she spews lies when she’s nervously hiding something. She isn’t a good bluffer.

So he tests her. He takes out a lantern to test her much-vaunted divine powers.

When she fails to extinguish the light, he discovers her lie. She’s making meju with red beans and he catches on.

Cho Yeong: (tearing up)
Uk: You cannot do it. (getting angry) Why can you not do it? I thought you had great divine powers.

Cho Yeong confesses that she lost her divine powers along with her memory. All that’s left of her supposed divine powers is her ability to see energy.

So Uk brutally tells her that she’s of no use to him. He orders her to go home at the daybreak.

Ouch.

Second is Master Lee.

This is the best bluff ever because he fooled everyone…except uber-bitches like me.

I already broke down the conversation here: Alchemy of Souls 2: Ep 2 On Cho Yeong’s Body But I’ll transcribe the Netflix subs again so you can catch his Master Lee’s bluff.

Master Lee: The body has petrified without a single ounce of water left, yet she is still alive. How miraculous.
Lady Jin: Please save her. She is my long-lost daughter.
Master Lee: I always wondered why she never ran wild even with Naksu’s energy. I guess it was because the body belonged to a Jinyowon priestess. Naksu did not take over this body using the Alchemy of Souls. Her soul was actually locked up inside this body.
Lady Jin: She called me “Mother.” BuYeon’s soul also remains inside this body.
Master Lee: The choice is yours. The only way to keep this body alive is to use Naksu’s energy that remains inside the body. BuYeon’s soul is clinging to that energy. In order to use Naksu’s energy, we must get rid of BuYeon’s soul while leaving Naksu’s.

Lady Jin: Are you asking me to choose Naksu’s soul over my own daughter’s?
Master Lee: That or let them both die. What will you do? Do you wish to keep the body alive through Naksu’s soul? Or will you keep your daughter’s soul and watch her die? I will respect your decision.

😂😂 He was bluffing the whole time. I told you, didn’t I? He’s on Team Naksu. He wanted to save Naksu.

He already devised a plan to save both her body and soul. All he needed was consent, Lady Jin’s consent.

He wanted her to believe it was entirely her decision so when Naksu was revived as Cho Yeong, Lady Jin would have no choice but to accept and support it.

Master Lee: She’s recovering using Naksu’s energy. As the energy flows in her face and she starts looking human again, her features will slowly resemble those of Naksu’s. The body and soul must be one for her not to run wild.
Lady Jin: Are you telling me to look at that face and think of her as my daughter?
Master Lee: You made your own choice. You decided to use all of Naksu’s energy to save your daughter’s body. She has a new body now, so her memory is gone. Naksu’s soul may still remain, but she lost both her energy and memory.

To borrow Park Jin’s words again, Master Lee made meju with red beans. And he actually succeeded.

The third is Lady Jin. 

Uk accidentally learns of Lady Jin’s attempt to “make meju with red beans” when he drops in on Park Jin’s home.

Park Jin feeds him a dish made with red beans.

PJ: I tried to make meju with red beans, but I failed. So I used it make red bean porridge. How does it taste?
Uk: You said you failed, but it somehow tastes like meju.
PJ: It does, right? I really think I might be able to turn it into meju.

There’s a subtext here that may not be obvious to viewers.

On one level, they’re merely talking about the taste of the meju. But on different level, Park Jin’s meju that “somehow TASTES like meju” even when it isn’t, alludes to Cho Yeong.

Like Park Jin’s failed meju project, Cho Yeong failed to come out the way that Lady Jin wanted her to be. However, despite the failed experiment, she still somehow appears to resemble Jin BuYeon, like she can open the Jinyowon doors and detect energy. These faint traces of the priestess Jin BuYeon in Cho Yeong are like the faint taste of meju in Park Jin’s porridge.

Both Park Jin and Uk know that the the porridge isn’t made of soybeans. And no matter what kind of deception or mind trick they perform on themselves, Uk is eating a red bean porridge.

Likewise, Cho Yeong isn’t Jin BuYeon. And no matter what kind of delusion or wishful thinking that Lady Jin comforts herself with, Cho Yeong is the one standing in front of her. Her younger daughter Jin ChoYeon has already accepted it. Hence she feels for Cho Yeong.

Uk: Did you invite me to eat what you failed to make?
PJ: Uk. I heard you brought home someone you wished to marry.
Uk: I figured Maidservant Kim would tell you.
PJ: Why did you kidnap the priestess of Jinyowon on the day of her wedding.
Uk: She was pretty. I was mesmerized by her beauty.
PJ: Were you going to ask that beautiful woman to take out the ice stone for you?
Uk: (not answering)
PJ: You punk! You should marry someone you wish to spend your life with, not someone who will take your life away.

I like Park Jin is now acting like the father that Uk never had. Because he’s no longer the head of Songrim, he can talk to him with more empathy and less censure. Also, because he’s no longer head of Songrim, his instructions don’t come across as severe or judgmental. Uk doesn’t take offense.

Uk: Don’t worry. She ran away.
PJ: I heard she is going to be announced as the official heir of Jinyowon tonight.
Uk: Jin BuYeon? How?
PJ: She is a priestess with great divine powers. It seems like there have been concerns regarding Jinyowon. If her eldest daughter attends the Unanimous Assembly and gets announced as the heir, Jinyowon will be able to show that they still stand strong.
Uk: So they are trying to make meju with red beans.
PJ: (looks at him)

Park Jin doesn’t understand what he’s talking about since only Uk knows that Cho Yeong (or the person who is known as Jin BuYeon) has no divine powers.

Uk:Do you know how you can succeed in making meju with red beans?
PJ: Is there really a way?
Uk: First, you hide it. Then you make sure no one tastes it.

He means bluffing. The way to “succeed” in making meju with red beans is to spread the word that you’ve made one then hide it before anyone can demand to taste it. Nobody can then challenge your bluff.

Uk knows that Lady Jin is making meju with red beans. Cho Yeong (or the person who is known as Jin BuYeon) has zero soybeans …errr… divine powers in her. Uk expects Lady Jin to show her to the world then lock her up so no one will ever see her again.

PJ: Does it taste that bad?

Lol. They’re talking at cross-purposes here. Park Jin thinks Uk is still talking about his failed meju project when Uk is actually talking about Lady Jin’s attempt to pass off a “fake” priestess as a powerful one.

Uk tastes Park Jin’s concoction.

Uk: Yes. It tastes absolutely horrible.
PJ: I will bring you honey. Then it will be sweet red bean porridge.

Uk looks at the porridge.

Uk: Red beans can never turn into meju. How foolish of her. She should have run away.

My comments:

1. By now, viewers should be familiar with the Hong sisters’ mindset. There’s simply no excuse for missing yin-yang balance/complementarity going on in this kdrama.

But I’ll help you with this one.

In Episode 1, Park JIn was making kimchee and the over-seasoned kimchee represents sour and bitter Uk.

In Episode 2, Park Jin is “making meju with red beans.” Since meju is made of soybeans, making meju with red beans is self-contradictory and impossible. This meju made of red beans symbolizes Cho Yeong. Her existence is self-contradictory and impossible to explain. Above all, her life is nothing short of a miracle.

2. There are other ways that Cho Yeong is a meju made with red beans.

One, she’s supposed to be formed with the body of Jin BuYeon aka Ms. Soybeans, but she ended up taking on the original Cho Yeong’s appearance.

Two, Master Lee was bluffing when he got Lady Jin to consent to save Naksu’s soul instead of BuYeon’s. Master Lee’s bluff is “making meju with red beans.”

Three, Cho Yeong was bluffing too when she said she had divine powers. She was “making meju with red beans” because she wanted Uk to save her.

3. Finally, the best part of making a “meju with red beans” is the challenge to prove everybody wrong.

Remember what Park Jin said. He said, “‘Making meju with red beans’ is an expression that people use to describe a lie or bluff. But if I actually make meju with red beans, then that expression will no longer exist. Everyone thinks this is impossible, and I will be the first to prove them wrong. I am going to challenge myself.”

That’s what Uk essentially does in the final scene.

Uk: You left without taking your medicine.
Cho Yeong: Everybody was looking for me. Why are you here?

His greeting doesn’t only indicate that they know each other. It also suggests that he takes responsibility for her and her health. Then, her reply is tacit acknowledgement of their intimacy. She doesn’t ask him, “Who are you? How did you get here?”

Uk: To check something. (shows her the lantern) This was turned off. Did you do it? I turned it on again. Try turning it off again.

Hmmm… I want to know the backstory of that lantern.

Cho Yeong: (stares at the lantern) I…do not know how.
Uk: (approaching her) If you turn it off, I’ll take you with me.
Cho Yeong: (tries hard to turn it off but fails)
Uk: (turns to leave)
Cho Yeong: Wait.

She grabs Uk’s hand and, and to her big shock, turns lantern off. In effect, she extinguishes the last light in the big courtyard, leaving everybody in the shadows.

See the shadows? Remember the title? 😂 The Hong sisters and the Director are really working this light-and-shadow theme.

Cho Yeong: It turned off. Did…did I do that?

Uk hands her the lantern and turns on all the stage lights.

Et voilà que la lumière soit! 

Mage: What are you doing?
Uk: Jin BuYeon cannot be the heir of Jinyowon.
Lady Jin: What do you think you’re doing?
Uk: Jin BuYeon is already married to Jang Uk, the son of the Jang family.

Everybody is stunned. Lady Jin asks her daughter to explain.

Lady Jin: BuYeon, what is this nonsense?
Cho Yeong: He is right, mother. This man and I shared a wedding drink and became husband and wife. I will not return to the room in Jinyowon.

Uk puts an arm around and announces to everybody.

Uk: We are married. Please give us your blessings.

I know the stage where Uk and Cho Yeong are standing on resembles the stage in a wedding ceremony. I know it’s a far cry from the outdoor kitchen where Park Jin sat making meju with red beans. But in that instance, Uk is channeling Park Jin. Like Park Jin, he’s determined to be the first one to prove everybody wrong.

In a sense, his marriage announcement is his defiant declaration that red beans can indeed turn into meju. I think he’ll challenge anyone in the assembly, including his supposed mother-in-law, who’ll dare to call Cho Yeong an imposter, a failure, a liar, or an insane and lousy Jinyowon priestess.

And he isn’t bluffing. That’s why Cho Yeong looks at him with that adoring puppy look on her face. And frankly, my dears, Jung So Min can’t do that look.

His bride may not be the powerful priestess that everybody’s waiting for. Nonetheless, he’s bringing her out of the shadows, into the light, where she belongs with him.