I’m a serial killer, as you know. I start every kdrama with much optimism for the series, only to push the kill switch when I know that the plot is heading towards an irreparable muddle of a finale. I neither have the time nor the inclination to stay till the end to make sense of nonsense.

This kdrama mixes the right amount of fluff and mystery for me.

Here’s the fluff.

1. Park Gyu-Young as Han Haena

I’m not going to mince words here. A big reason that I dropped “Destined With You” is that I couldn’t stand looking at Jo Bo-ah’s face. Whenever she acted bubbly in a scene, she irritated me like a bubblegum on my shoe. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so Jo Bo-Ah joins Anya Taylor-Joy (“Emma”), Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex and the City”), Ariel Lin (“It Started With a Kiss”), Goo Hye Sun (“Boys Over Flowers”), Yoo In Na (“Queen and I”) in my list of eyesores.

Park Gyu-Young, however, is an actress I can watch all day. I thought she nailed it when she realized she had kissed the wrong guy. Her shocked face and her loud groan “Whoa! I’m sorry!” were on point.

My five comments on Haena:

a. I think it’s very dumb of her not to set a nightly 11:30pm alarm on her smartphone to remind herself that she had to be home before she turned into a dog at midnight. Lol. But that would ruin the story, right?

b. In Ep 1, I thought that it was smart of the dog to carry its red shoe home.

At first, I wondered why it even bothered to carry a single shoe. Haena couldn’t wear it without its pair.

But without the shoe, it would have been difficult to let her sister know that she had turned into a dog. It’s reverse Cinderella trope. Haena needed to be identified by the shoe.

Also, their “confirmation” process was interesting. Instead of regular dog commands like “sit,” “shake” and “paw,” their unique code word was “007” (or “double O seven” after James Bond). If Haena or her sister turned into a dog, they were to play dead when the command “007” was given.

c. In Ep 1, we learn about the origin of the curse. A man with long gray hair (presumably a deity of some kind) approached the sleeping ancestor of Hanae and told her, “If your children have a lover, and they kiss, their appearance will turn into something that is not human. They must be able to prove their outstanding love in order to change back into a human. My curse will pass down to generations, and they will not escape the cycle!”

I like that the curse is equal opportunity; it doesn’t discriminate between male or female progeny.

I think that it’s Hanae’s fate to break the spell once and for all. On the surface, the story is about her misadventures to re-kiss the guy she mistakenly smooched while inebriated. But given that her uncle is about to die soon as a canine, I think there’s an added imperative for her to break the cycle and release her uncle – and her future children – from the curse. And her fairy godmother in all of this is most likely her co-teacher, Lee BoGyeum. He’s actively getting her and Jin SeoWon together again.

d. By Ep 3, it’s hard not to notice that Haena likes botanical prints on her outfit.

I don’t know yet if — and how — this all ties in with her and Jin SeoWon’s past connection. It seems like in the past life, they had fallen in love in springtime, with the petals of a cherry blossom tree swirling around them.

This is probably why he was mesmerized when he first saw her catching a leaf. He had a — what’s that trope again in kdramas? — an “auto-selective memory that transcends time and space.” Lol. How many times have we seen this in  kdramas with a reincarnation theme?

Anyway, their past relationship must have been an ill-fated romance if Hanae’s lineage was cursed to prove “outstanding” love.

e. In Ep 3, the reason she can’t eat chocolate cake close to midnight is because chocolate, cocoa, and cacao beans are toxic to dogs.

Just an FYI to those who don’t know the difference between the three. Cacao is the raw and unprocessed source of chocolate. When the cacao beans are harvested, dried, roasted, grounded, and processed to extract cacao butter, it becomes cocoa. When cocoa is blended with milk, sugar, and cacao butter, it becomes chocolate.

2. Cha EunWoo as Jin SeoWon

I find it interesting that Hanae is cursed to become a dog between midnight and six in the morning when SeoWon exhibits the characteristics of a dog himself.

First, he’s kind like a dog. Their co-teacher BoGyeum pointed this out at a dinner.

BoGyeum: (admiring a cat photo) This is your cat? It’s so pretty!
Haena: You must like cats, too.
BoGyeum: Yes, I guess. But I like dogs more. That’s because dogs are just really kind. Right?
Haena: (nodding her head)
BoGyeum: Just like him.

Then he turned to SeoWon and tickled his chin.

BoGyeum: (cooing) Coochie coochie coo. You’re so kind.

Annoyed, Eunwoo stuffed his mouth with lettuce.

That is the first obvious reference to SeoWon as a dog. The second one is more subtle: he follows Haena like a dog. Again, it was BoGyeum who brought this subject up.

BoGyeum: I like dogs because they’re loyal. Once a dog meets its owner, it’ll follow them for life. Are you like that, too? When you like someone, do you like them until the end?
Haena: Of course!
BoGyeum: (laughing)

They didn’t know that SeoWon was right behind them and heard them.

SeoWon is a like a loyal dog because he follows Haena around. To me, it’s obvious he liked her from the start because he managed to accompany her on school errands. To me, he didn’t look like the type to waste his time going on errands with a co-teacher, if he didn’t want to be in that person’s company.

Haena remembered the occasions.

a. “During fifth period’s free period on April 20th, last year, when the teachers chipped in to buy snacks.”

They were on the way back when she realized that they had forgotten the soondae. When she looked up, he had disappeared.

b. “And also, on Ms. Song’s birthday last year, when we went to buy the cake together.”

They were standing outside the bake shop because she couldn’t make up her mind whether to buy the mango or matcha flavored cake. When she stepped closer to the window to look, he disappeared on her again.

It’s only in Episode 2 when she realized that his fear of dogs was making him disappear from her side. Dogs like to approach her because they sense a kindred spirit in her. Unfortunately for Seowon, his phobia for dogs made sticking by her side impossible.

Now, I bet that she didn’t notice how he managed to accompany her again to shop for the wedding gift for their co-teachers.

Hanae: Wait! Should we get them a gift just from us, then?
Co-teacher: Could you two go and buy it? (meaning BoGyeum and Haena)
BoGyeum: Yes, sure. Shall we?
Haena: (nodding)
BoGyeum: Ms. Han, are you free this evening?
Haena: Yes, I’m free.
Co-teacher: In that case, let me know how much after you pick one. (exiting)
Haena: Where should we go?
BoGyeum: …
SeoWon: (interjecting himself in the conversation) Hyung. Aren’t you behind in grading the performance assessment? The NEIS entries are due in two days. The research department will give you an earful if you’re late.
BoGyeum: Gosh. That’s right!

And just like that, SeoWon took BoGyeum’s place and ended up shopping with Haena for wedding gifts together.

Fortunately for him, dogs weren’t allowed in the mall so he could walk at ease with her.

It seems to me that Haena only chose to remember that SeoWon disappeared from her side. She didn’t remember – or she ignored – how SeoWon came to be by her side in the first place.

Hmmm…is there ever a good day to be a dog? I guess, if it’s SeoWon, any day that he can follow his “owner” Haena is a good day.

Now, the mystery part.

1. Lee BoGyeum

I’m sure we all know to keep an eye out for that co-teacher BoGyeum. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? For now, I’m going to put him in the Good Guy column.

Here’s what I have to say about him.

a. BoGyeum actually started the kiss confusion when he encouraged Haena to be pro-active about confessing her feelings, and when he lent his winter coat to Seowon. Then, the following day, he made sure to put in a good word for Seowon and told Haena to apologize properly to the guy.

BoGyeum: SeoWon told me not to say a thing about it.
Haena: Really?
BoGyeum: Yes. SeoWon may be a little blunt. But he’s a decent guy.
Haena: Huh!
BoGyeum: Anyhow, I think you should apologize to SeoWon properly. It looks like he was really shocked.
Haena: Yes, I should. Of course, I should.

But the thing is, I doubt that SeoWon was bothered by the kiss itself as much as he was upset by Haena’s reaction to kissing HIM. Clearly, Haena liked BoGyeum enough to summon the (drunken) courage to kiss him but she was absolutely horrified to learn that she actually kissed SeoWon instead. Given that SeoWon secretly liked all along, he must have felt her rejection keenly.

b. BoGyeum seems oddly obsessed with the ImJin War.

Briefly, from wikipedia:

The Japanese invasions of Korea, commonly known as the Imjin War, involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592, a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597. The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea’s southern provinces.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that the passcode for Escape Room was 1592. From Ep 2:

Haena: You figured out the passcode in the first room. How did you do it?
SeoWon: Another word for King is “Imgeum.” So “Im” as in Imgeum. The character for the dragon in Earthly Branches is “Jin.” Reverse a word. W.A.R. It spells war. So you’re left with the clue “Imjin war.”
Haena: Hul! Daebak! Imjinwoeroan. By the way, they really made you want to escape the room.
SeoWon: Why did Hyung want to go to a place like that with just me? It gives me chills.
Haena: (laughing)

Probably it’s foreshadowing. BoGyeum wants him to prepare to escape a desperate situation with Haera.

I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that BoGyeum mentioned the year 1592 when his students asked him where and when he would travel to if he could time travel.

BoGyeum: I’d chose 1592.
Student: Why?
BoGyeum: Because a tragedy you can’t escape from started then.

Flashback to 1592 when soldiers were chasing Seowon (or his ancestor), Haena (or her ancestress) and a well-dressed lady. SeoWon managed to slay some of their pursuers. He threatened to kill the well-dressed lady as the rest of the soldiers pointed their arrows at them.

However, I got the impression that BoGyeom wasn’t specifically talking about the historical Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, but an minor incident involving a royal lady, royal guard, and village girl. There must have been a betrayal or a tragic misunderstanding that began the dog curse for Hanae’s family.

As for BoGyeom’s connection was with the royal lady, I can only say that he must have been attached to her since he kept her scarf in his possession all these centuries. The scarf wasn’t stained with blood but it did have a hole, suggesting that its wearer was shot with an arrow.

c. BoGyeom’s treasure trove

He gave enough hint to SeoWon that he’s from another time and world.

SeoWon: By the way, this teacup really looks old.
BoGyeum: Right? You’d have no idea how old it is.
SeoWon: About 100 years or something?
BoGyeum: (snickering) About the time it takes for the light from that star to shine and reach us here.
SeoWon: That sounds like a pick-up line.
BoGyeum: Huh?
SeoWon: I got you, right?

Pffft. I’m not an astrophysicist but I think this all depends on the star BoGyeum was pointing at. If he was pointing at the brightest star in Western hemisphere — which google says is Sirius and Sirius is only 8.6 light-years away – then the cup is less than 9 years old. Lol. But if he was looking at…say, Betelgeuse which is 650 light-years away, then the teacup is 650 years old.

But to me, what’s more interesting than the teacup is the jar with the tiger in his secret hideaway.

It links him to the opening credit. An image of tiger is shown in the beginning,

and beside the actor’s image.

In Korean folklore, a tiger is a protector of the citizens.

That’s a major reason why I think he’s a good guy.

Okay, that’s it for me. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep watching this kdrama. Here’s hoping I don’t need to “kill” it soon.