One of the first words I learned from kdramas is “Gajima.”

Source: sweetandtasty’s youtube

There’s always a scene in kdramas when the star-crossed lovers must say goodbye and one of them is sobbing, “Don’t go!” and “Don’t leave me.”

From Goblin.

My reaction gif:

“Gajima” is not to be confused with “Hajima.” This is “Hajima!” It means, “Don’t!” “Don’t do that!” or “Stop it!”

We had a “Gajima!” scene in this episode. To prepare ourselves emotionally for an even bigger “Gajima” scene in the final episodes of this drama, let me go over this one.

Uk: Here you are.
Cho Yeong: (looks up at him)
Uk: I waited but you did not come. I almost went to Danhyanggok to look for you.

He really shouldn’t be surprised that he’s at the Chwiseonru for her now. He’s always been going to some place to fetch her back. He assumed Naksu would appear to him at the stone tower when Cho Yeong is actually everywhere, and anywhere. Just like in the “Words of the Heart.”

Cho Yeong: I went there. And now I found out who I am.

From a distance, Yul is keeping watch over Cho Yeong. He moves away when he hears her saying that she’s regained her memory. His task is done.

Uk: Does that mean you regained your memory?
Cho Yeong: Yes.
Uk: Then why did you come here instead of coming home? I came looking for you because you did not come.

This should remind us of their interesting conversation that morning. Uk asked her why she suddenly looked down-hearted when she was looking thrilled not a few moments ago. She answered that she found it hard to believe that he told her to wait. “You either always told me to leave or you just never came back,” she said.

Realizing how harsh he’d treated her before, he hugged her. He said, “Wait here. Do not go anywhere.” When she said she would, he added, “I will quickly be back by your side.” She then reminded him of her promise to always be by his side.

That promise is the one she’s breaking now. And that whole conversation that morning was a foreshadowing.

A “Gajima!” scene doesn’t happen out of the blue. There are always indicators that a big separation is about to happen. But foreknowledge or forewarning only makes the departure more intense and devastating. In kdramas, the painful goodbyes are proportionate to emotions invested in the relationship.

The bigger the hurt, the bigger the love. Or, the bigger the owie, the bigger the luvvvv.

Cho Yeong: I am sorry. I know I said I would wait. But I can no longer wait for you. I remembered something very important.
Uk: Let me make myself clear. I do not know what kind of person you remember yourself to be. But I do not care.

Bargaining comes standard in a “Gajima!” scene.

Sometimes, the lover would remind the other of a promise made. Uk could have gone that way. He could have held Cho Yeong to her promise to stay by his side. Sometimes, the lover would vow to become a better person. Uk could have done this, but he already indicated that morning that he’d changed his way and wait for her instead. And sometimes, the lover would negotiate a sticking point. And this is what Uk is doing.

Previously, he got mad at Cho Yeong for remembering things that would remind him of his days with Naksu, and would shake him to his core. For instance, at the stone tower, he accused her of attempting to “disappoint” him with her memories …meaning, to deliberately upset and bother him. Another time, after their handholding, he accused her of appropriating Naksu’s memories just because she had Naksu’s jade egg. He was angry that she confused him by evoking memories of Naksu. To me, he feared that he might transfer – or project — his feelings for Naksu onto Cho Yeong because Cho Yeong reminded him of Naksu. Hence, he always reacted negatively to her remembrances of the past.

Now, he’s flip-flopping in a big way. He’s telling her that he’ll accept her memories as they come, regardless of whether he’s reminded of Naksu or not. He no longer cares because he doesn’t see her as Naksu anymore but Cho Yeong…Cho Yeong who blew out the lantern for him.

This is what I find deliciously ironic. Now that he couldn’t care less that her memories reminded him of Naksu, Cho Yeong discovers that she IS Naksu. But she can’t tell him…

Uk: Whatever those memories are, they do not matter to me.
Cho Yeong: They matter to me. Among the many things I remember there was a man I deeply cared for.

How many times do you I have to tell you that double-talk, talking at cross purposes, and miscommunications are the Hong sisters’ forte? They can be frustrating to watch when done in spades. But when done occasionally, and timed just right, it’s enjoyable watching how the evil sisters twist language to torture the lovers.

Obviously, Cho Yeong is talking about him. But we’re not sure yet whether she’s talking about the Uk in the past, or the Uk in the present time. She’s conflating the two: her memories of Uk when she was Naksu, and her encounters with Uk now that she’s Cho Yeong.

Uk: You really have a way of surprising me when it is least expected. What is your point?

Showdown camera shots are the director’s go-to shots in a “Gajima!” scene. I explained this shot before. In American western movies, there’s always a face-to-face shot of the hero cowboy and the villain cowboy in the final confrontation. In kdramas, the couple not only face each other, but they also stare each other down in the moment of truth.

In Cho Yeong and Uk’s stare-a-thon, we get the idea that there’s no easy winner or loser in this showdown. Though guns aren’t involved, they both die – in a figurative sense – after this meeting.

Cho Yeong: But you see he does not recognize me, even if I am in front of him.

Here, Cho Yeong is clear that she’s referring to Uk in the present time. It hurts her that he didn’t recognize her at once.

Remember at the beginning of this episode, when she asked Uk what he thought of her when they first met? Uk didn’t call her “crazy” and “lousy.” He toned down his previous derisive language and said that he found her “unusual and suspicious” for being imprisoned in a room like that. On her part, Cho Yeong said that she liked him from the start. Her words: “I knew the moment I saw you. You are my husband.”

And this shocked both of them. Cho Yeong could hear him say, “I knew the moment I saw you. You are my master.”

So she turned to Uk with understanding and told him, “You once felt the same way.” Uk explained to her that the blue marks bloomed in her eyes like flowers. That’s how he knew that Naksu was his master: the marks of the soul shifter were visible in her eyes.

Then, Cho Yeong said, “I do not care that you did not recognize me when we first met. This time…I recognized you first.”

She said those words with bravado. She was displaying bravery and defiance. She wanted him to know that it didn’t matter to her that she wasn’t his first love, Naksu.

However, now that she regained her memory, it saddened her that he didn’t recognize her at all. The unspoken accusation here is Uk SHOULD HAVE recognized her.

Uk: Is that so? Then why not tell him that it is you?
Cho Yeong: I cannot. I hurt him too gravely.

She’s talking about her killing him.

Cho Yeong: I cannot tell him it is me…or go near him. I feel too guilty to stay with you. I shall go to Jinyowon.

She cannot tell Uk that she’s Naksu.

She can’t let him recognize her as Naksu. Why doesn’t she want to be recognized?

a. because of the past: she feels guilty for killing him.

b. because of the future: she feels guilty that she’s going to die on him soon since Jin BuYeon’s divine powers are returning, and she has to leave the body.

c. because of the present: if he finds out who she is now, parting will just become 100x more “sweet sorrow” – as Juliet said.

This magnified a hundred times.

“Gajima!” scenes always have a bit of Romeo and Juliet in them because they’re the quintessential ill-fated couple.

Uk: No, wait.

I have to give Uk credit here. He didn’t tell her, “Gajimaaaaaa!” Instead, he told her, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute” (잠깐만, 잠깐만) or “Jamkkanman. Jamkkanman.”

This is in line with the theme of “waiting.”

Uk: You are just going to leave? You left after you said you would wait, and now you are leaving me because you remember someone else? Then am I supposed to act fine and wish you good luck with him?

This is typical Uk reaction. On the surface, he’s protesting her unfair treatment of him. First, she reneges on her promise to wait for him. Second, she’s discarding him now that she’s found someone else. He was offended that she expected him to behave graciously despite her neglect of him. “Then am I supposed to act fine and wish you good luck with him?”

But in truth, he’s aggrieved because he’s jealous, just like in episode 6, when he was vexed to hear that Yul was her “chinggu.” “How can someone who hugs me and puts me to bed be just a friend?”

Uk: No, wait. You said you cannot be with him and he does not recognize you.

Actually, Uk said, “aniji” (아니지), meaning “No way.” He’s questioning her logic. Why does she have to leave him when she cannot be with this Mystery Guy and this Mystery Guy doesn’t recognize her anyway? To him, her reasoning doesn’t make sense. She should just stay with him then.

Cho Yeong: I really… liked him a lot. I liked him more than he liked me. But I never had a chance to tell him.

I honestly don’t know how she could think that the Uk-of-the-past liked her more than she did. In Season 1, Uk was more besotted with her than she was with him.

Remember that proposal scene in Ep 19, Season 1? That must have been one of the worst proposal scenes I’ve watched in kdramas, and I’m blaming Jung Somin’s performance for that. I don’t know what was running in her head when she acted this scene. Who the heck smiles like this when she receives a marriage proposal?

This is proposal, not a beatification.

She was too serene. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. There were no crinkle lines around the eyes. Her eyes weren’t glowing like a girl in love. Her lips were closed. No teeth were showing. Uk might as well have told her, “Madam, cocktails are in served in the foyer” and gotten the same bland reaction.

Awful, awful acting. Jung Somin ruined this scene. Micro expressions? Pffft.

No thanks to Jung Somin’s insipid and shallow acting in the romance scenes with Lee Jaewook (don’t make me take out my notes; I’ve been restraining myself), I have trouble believing that her character Naksu liked Uk more than he liked her.

My reaction gif:

However, it’s true that Naksu never got to tell Uk that she liked him.

She either held herself back, pretended to be angry with him, or deflected. The one time she confessed her feelings, she was too drunk to remember (Ep 20).

But I get how Cho Yeong can say that she likes him more than Uk likes her. If she looks back on the way that she acted and spoke to Uk ever since he rescued her from Jinyowon, and compares it with his treatment of her, then there’s no contest. She liked him more.

And Cho Yeong already told him so.

Cho Yeong: Jang Uk. Turn the light back on. Keep your head straight. Keep your promise and let me go.

Don’t you like how the lantern has come to epitomize Season 2’s title “Light and Shadow”? It turns on and off, bringing light or casting shadows, at their behest?

You can hear the difference. She expresses the same bravado and command that Naksu did. She isn’t the sweet Cho Yeong that we’ve seen since this season began. She’s the masterful and haughty Naksu.

And Uk lets her wrist go.

This is a standard shot in “Gajima!” scenes. Hands/wrists/arms are released to symbolize the act of letting go and setting free. Sometimes, the director gets fancy and includes weather shots. Rain shots are prevalent; so are wind shots. I’ll give the director bonus points this weekend if he surprises me and thinks outside-the-box.

Cho Yeong: I am sorry.

Yes, all “Gajima!” scenes have an apology, too.