Where was I?
Ah! I was about to relate MokHa’s story about the seagull’s eggs to BoGyeol.
The link to part 1 is here: Castaway Diva: Ep 7 On Seagull’s Eggs
Here’s the thing. Metaphors, analogies, fables, and parables are good only up to a certain point. The trick here is to find that “certain point” where they no longer apply.
MokHa was bawling in a diner because she was wracked with guilt that she ate her friend seagull’s eggs then lied about it. Then, as she was blowing her nose like a humpback whale, BoGyeol appeared from nowhere and took the seat beside her.
He ordered one gukbap and acted as if he noticed nothing amiss with her flood of tears.
That’s his standard way of dealing with her emotional meltdowns. He redirects her focus on the mundane.
BG: Come to think of it, we haven’t eaten since yesterday evening.
Diner owner: Why haven’t you eaten anything?
MH: How did you know I’d be here?
BG: I searched you online.
MH: Searched?
BG: I could track you in real time since you’re kind of a public figure now.
MH: (astounded)
Diner owner: Are you her boyfriend?
MH: (embarrassed) Goodness! What are you saying?! Not at all.
BG: (calmly) We’re former classmates. Middle school classmates.
She didn’t say anything. Next thing we saw she was exiting the diner with BoGyeol following behind her. They walked to a park.
My comments:
The fact that MokHa showed no reaction to his announcement indicated to BoGyeol that a) she already knew who he was. His news didn’t come as a surprise to her, and b) more importantly, she was furious with him. That’s why he walked behind her and didn’t even chase after her or try to catch up with her. He knew that they were about to clear the air in a private place.
MH: Why are you doing this, Kang PD-nim?
BG: Let’s go home.
My comments:
a. “Jibe gaya.” In English, “Let’s go home.”
The casual observer wouldn’t get the wealth of meaning behind these simple words. She/he wouldn’t remember that back in Episode 5, when BoGyeol saved her from his father at the Seoul Station, the word “home” wasn’t in his vocabularly. He prodded her to stand and follow him with “Gapsida” or “Let’s go.”
b. I told you, didn’t I? The banner at the beginning of Episode 2 was relevant. You should believe me when I tell you to pay attention to these details.
c. It seemed like fate that on the day that he decided to take the banner down and rent the room himself, MokHa was found and rescued from the island. But before he could occupy it, WooHak snuck her in without parental permission.
It was left up to BoGyeol to ask their parents if MokHa could stay. At first, they were worried that MokHa would recognize him. But he assured them she wouldn’t at all. He said, “I must’ve changed a lot.”
Awww. I detected a tinge of regret in his voice. It sounded like he was expecting to be recognized by her at their first meeting on the island.
He promised his parents that he’d make sure she would never recognize him. When his mom still hesitated to agree to his plan, he pleaded, “Let’s take her in just until she can get back on her feet. Please?”
His mom eyed him suspiciously, “What’s this? You didn’t budge when WooHak wanted to take her in.” And that’s when he smiled, “Is that a yes, then?”
His mom couldn’t resist him when he smiled. She told him so, “I was able to see your precious smile thanks to her. Otoke? I have no choice but to say yes.”
d. I get why he wouldn’t let MokHa take the rooftop when WooHak suggested it. He refused out of pique and jealousy.
He was feeling vexed, resentful, annoyed, jealous, and hurt that after 15 years of looking for her, it hadn’t been him who found her on the island but his Hyung, WooHak. And to add insult to injury, she didn’t recognize him even when he bought her the pair of shoes he had promised her.
e. This is why telling her “Let’s go home” is meaningful.
He had 15 years to prepare a home for her. I’m sure, he wanted to tell her at the island when they found her, “Let’s go home.” But he stopped himself because she was already hugging WooHak, and because she didn’t recognize him one bit.
After he informed WooHak after the contest that he was done with the lies and deceptions, he was resolved to reveal his identity to MokHa.
f. Telling MokHa “Let’s go home” is his way of resetting his relationship with her. He already revealed that that they were “former classmates; middle school classmates.” So, next, he told her to come home with him.
If her father hadn’t appeared at the pier and wrecked their plans to run away together, her home would always have been with him. After all, they had planned to be together as she pursued her dreams. He had arranged the locations of her vocal training room (“close to the agency,” remember?) and his study room (“far from the agency but cheap”). When she promised to take care of him no matter what, he thought she was proposing to him.
In his mind, it was a foregone conclusion that their home in the future was anywhere they could be together.
MH: What home? I never considered your home my home.
True. She never considered his residence — the brick and mortar house — as her home. How could she when she hadn’t been there long enough?
But I think she was purposely misunderstanding BoGyeol’s unspoken words. He meant that wherever he was staying, that place would be her home, too. She had no family. Her only connection left in the whole world was KiHo aka BoGyeol. He was her family and home.
BG: Are you really giving up on your dream?
MH: Performing once on stage is good enough for me. I have nothing more to ask for.
BG: It’s me. KiHo.
MH: (not answering for a second) No. You’re Kang Bogyeol PD-nim.
My comments:
BoGyeol’s declaration could have two interpretations.
On the surface, it seemed like he was merely revealing his identity so that once and for all, there was no confusion about who he was.
But note here: he knew that MokHa was already aware of his identity.
Reading between the lines then, he was telling her that she couldn’t fool him because he was KiHo. He knew her dreams of becoming an iconic star because he was KiHo, the boy who videotaped her music video, who told her to come to his blue window any time, and who got beaten up so she could make her escape. She couldn’t fool him that she was giving up on her dream so easily.
So he reminded her again who he was.
BG: I’m Jung KiHo from Chunsam Middle School.
MH: How could you do this to me, really? You didn’t show yourself when I was looking for you. Why are you showing up now and upsetting me?
Love her honesty here! First and foremost, she was furious with him for hiding from her and making her wait this long to show up.
In a way, her feelings mirrored his feelings when they met at the island and she didn’t recognize him. He expected her to recognize him instantly so he was upset.
In reverse, she expected him to come forward and “claim” her the moment news came out that she was rescued from the island. Instead, he played hide-and-seek with her.
BG: Mokha-ya.
Notice his tone here? He knew that she was right. It was wrong of him to “ghost” her like that and to disavow any connection and responsibility for her.
MH: To me, you’re Kang BoGyeol. And you have to remain that way forever! Being Kang BoGyeol is better for you too!
Ha! She was a living and breathing example that hell does indeed have no fury like a woman scorned. After all the emotional angst that he made her go through, she had every right to vent at him. How dare he make her believe that he didn’t care for her anymore! It served him right that she was rejecting him, too.
It was better FOR HER if they pretended not to know each other personally, and just maintained a professional distance. Then, as an afterthought, she added that it was better FOR HIM, too.
BG: It was.
He agreed with her that being BoGyeol was better for him. As BoGyeol, he had moved on to a better and happier life. He liked his new stepfather; he was safe from his father; he had no worries about his family being found and killed by his lunatic of a father.
But do you notice the brevity of his statement? Two words.
You see, despite his current life as Kang BoGyeol being better than his previous life as KiHo, he would have gladly traded it if he could have welcomed her back as KiHo.
BG: But there was one day when I regretted it. The day I found you on the island I wished I was Jung KiHo again. I wanted to find you before anyone else could.
When he dreamt of their reunion, he envisioned himself running up to her and telling her, “You’re alive! I knew you’d be alive!”
BG: I wanted to thank you. (stepping closer to cup her cheeks) I wanted to thank you for being alive. (hugging her)
My comments:
a. Did you all notice how big BoGyeol’s hands were??!! Whoa! When did the actor Chae Jong Hyeop grow up? To me, he’s still that skinny, awkward kid in “Sisyphus.”
b. That’s how the seagull story related to him. He was the seagull robbed of the eggs. He waited all these years to find her. He started the club, “Island Keeper” in college on the pretext of cleaning up islands, and never skipped volunteer work except when he was in the navy. He contacted RanJoo in case MokHa showed at her fan meeting. He began working as a producer to watch out for her. He went to their meeting place at Seoul Station in case she appeared.
Though he wasn’t sure that she was still alive, he waited for her while making preparations for her reappearance. And he continued to hope that one day, they would meet one again.
But in the end, that happy reunion he dreamt of was stolen from him, just like the eggs were stolen from the seagull.
c. And this is where the metaphor and parable of the seagull’s eggs end. According to MokHa, her friend Gull never understood her betrayal and they became enemies.
Welllll…BoGyeol isn’t a seagull and he doesn’t think like a seagull. He might have been robbed of his sweet reunion with her, and prevented by an “unavoidable reason” to reveal himself.
But he remained steadfast, or as MokHa described KiHo in Episode 6, “unwavering and determined.”
If a 15-year absence and separation didn’t spell the end of their relationship, then they can survive betrayal, lies, deception, and misunderstanding. He’s no Gull the seagull. She has no reason to fear that he’ll become her enemy one day. As it is, he’s endangering his own family and himself to give her the opportunity to pursue her dream.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Bravo Professor @pm3
Thanks for this. AND the Easter egg post. You named @Janey but I think you meant me—I was going to look for the feather. Definitely didn’t notice the signs and their significance until you pointed it out.
I got teary-eyed reading this. Thank you, @pm3.
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Thank you, @packmule3. I completely understood that she was angry/frustrated because of the situation with his father. She was frantically trying to protect him and his family, but instead he sought her out. But I missed that she was just as angry about him not telling her right away, so thanks for pointing that out.
The dynamic between BG and his brother really comes into play here. BG couldn’t be the first one to meet her on the island but he *would* be the one who found her and brought their relationship out into the open; Woo Hak wouldn’t cheat him out of finding her this time. The way Woo Hak walked past her and didn’t see her, whilst BG found her within a café with her back to the door is a testament to how aware he is of her presence now. BG makes it clear to his brother that he is interested in her. I think we haven’t see the end of Woo Hak’s desire to be with Mok Ha, despite his avowals to his parents.
Yes, @Fern. This whole confrontation in the park is BoGyeol’s “Great Reset” or great re-boot of their island encounter. In a perfect world, this is how he would have met MokHa. If WooHak hadn’t been there, they would have reunited in secret and, right from the start, he would have found a way to launch her musical career with a new name, an alias.
But WH scuttled BoGyeol’s plan when he reported on MokHa’s discovery on national tv.
To WH’s credit, though, he saw his brother and MokHa hugging, and knew better than to barge in. He gave the couple their private moment.
Of course, we observed that the hugging scene was a total reversal of the hugging scene on the island. This time around, BoGyeol and Mokha were hugging and WooHak was hanging at the perimeter.
And true, there was no way WH would “cheat” BoGyeol out of finding her FIRST this time around. “Coincidence” and “Fate” were conspiring against him. He actually went to the park first (at least it seemed like the park to me) but MokHa wasn’t there. He found someone wearing pink shirt and jeans first. He also was just across the street from the diner, when MokHa walked by and entered the place to eat.
It was just BoGyeol who found her first, this time.
And a good thing, too. Because if WH had found her first, then he would have told her to “hide better.” He would have flat out told her to drop her dream of becoming a famous singer.
At the train station, Episode 8.
BG: Let’s split up and call if we find her.
WH: What will you say to her?
BG: I’ll say we should go home.
WH: I won’t say that. I’m going to tell her to hide even better.
BG: Hyung!
WH: I’ll say that I’m sorry but she should give up her dream. For our family’s sake, I’ll ask her to lie low so that man doesn’t find her.
BG: (internally sighing) Just stay here. I’ll look for her.
Then he put an arm out to stop him from following him inside the station.
If you think about this, it circles back to KiHo’s world perspective. Between living inside a fish tank or living outside a fish tank, he preferred outside the fish tank. Sure, it was more dangerous. The environment outside the fish tank was unknown; the territory was new and unfamiliar; survival wasn’t guaranteed in the wild.
But still, it would have been more unbearable to live inside the confines of a fish tank where they couldn’t breathe anymore. BoGyeol couldn’t live anymore in that world of lies and deception. He told WH so during their argument in the stairwell.
WH: Why did you put Mokha on stage?
BG: The reason was simple. It’s a live show, so we put on a live show. And the winner was brought on stage.
Lol. I like how he used facts to hide the true reason. WH couldn’t dispute facts.
WH: So you have no plan.
BG: I did what had to be done.
Yes. KiHo always “did what had to be done.” He took action. Just like it had been him who talked to their parents about letting MokHa stay on the rooftop while WH took the easy way and snuck her in.
And just like he confronted their dad and told him the truth that they were better off without him than living with him. Both his mom and WH wanted him to lie; he told the truth that he was saving up money to run away.
WH: I’m not joking right now!
BG: Hyung. I’ve never been more serious.
WH: Just as you said, our family will be destroyed at this rate.
BG: What?
WH: It’ll only be a matter of time until he finds MokHa and us. We must come up with a plan.
BG: And exactly is your plan? Lying, stopping her from becoming a singer and living with fake names forever? Is that your plan?
See that? That’s the life of “living inside the fish tank.” Living in safety but living in confinement.
WH: Yes. We can do that. I’ll do what you’ve been doing. I can sweep the past under the rug.
BG: That’s because you just found out. As for me? I’ve been living like this for 15 years.
He outgrew that world and was ready to live outside the fish tank.
WH: And you’ve been doing well. You said you could forget the past while lying to me.
BG: It was hard on us. As we shared the same room, you kept asking and I kept lying to you. Deceiving people…I can’t do it anymore. I’m sick and tired of it.
The lies and deception were killing him in that fish tank.
And yes. We’ll continue to see WH’s struggles to bury his feelings for MokHa. Unfortunately. 🙂
Oh no, @Snowflower!
I didn’t write anything sad, did I? Where’s the sad part?
Ah, so you were the one who said she was going to look for the feather. Not @Janey.
I know you’re BIRDie, @birdie007, but the floating feather was from Forest Gump. “Start Up” had the floating petal.
I would say that in this episode, the sparkles got my attention. The other singer MoRae had her own brigade of stylists: makeup artists, hair stylist, wardrobe stylist. So he sent his own brigade for MokHa.
Head stylist: Producer Kang sent us. He sent to help with your makeup and outfit.
MH: Goodness. No. I don’t need any of that.
RanJoo: No. You’re right. It’s for her. She’ll be performing on stage.
She realized that BoGyeol wanted MokHa prepped and beautified because for one, they WERE going to win that competition, and for another, they had an agreement that MokHa was going on stage after they won.
That’s why she was given all the sparkles and bling bling.
RanJoo: Today is your stage, not mine.
The contrast between her and MoRae was set-up. Hmmm…should I write about the title “Seo Mokha vs Eun MoRae”?
Ironically the family’s deception would also be exposed as soon as the car full of the dead Kang family was found in the pond. While there are a lot of identical names in Korea, the likelihood of them all having the same names as the dead family would be very slim.
I liked that BG/Ki Ho knew the correct sort of outfit for Mok Ha to wear. Eun Mo Rae was dressed in a very trendy way, appealing to her fanbase. BG knew that her fan base would vote for her regardless. Mok Ha was given a modern day princess dress (maybe a Cinderella). It was a classic style with a young, beautiful vibe. This would appeal to almost everyone else.
– Well I liked it and I would love seeing my daughters in such a dress.
@pm3, what you wrote was not sad, but very moving. Ki Ho is such a well written character: thoughtful, thorough, faithful, and fearless. Mok Ha mentioned that she had no feelings for him, but I think she does. She just needs to realize it.
Yes PETAL 🤦🏼♀️
•MH dress made me think she was a shimmering pearl fresh from a shell
•your breakdowns make me feel a bit like WH—-we both must be shown and explained to the points of things whereas KH/BG already inherently just gets it
• I’d love to see a breakdown of MH vs MR. I’m not sure who the actress is but I find her character somehow still likable/redeemable even though she’s presented as the enemy and I’m sure it’s mostly the writing but I think the actress is also doing a good job. I wonder what the part would be like if it had been given to the actress who played the idol in Our Beloved Summer
Alas, I don’t have much time now to comment.
But I’ve read that with the most interest!
We had a hint about this situation of Mok Ha annoyed that Ki-Ho didn’t reveal himself earlier, and reverse, Ki Ho would have liked to do it.
I remember previous dialogue when Mok Ha is unhappy when Ki Ho is for her a mix of heat and cold, each time acting opposite what she want, and the fact that confuse her.
@Pm3, it’s not often, but here, I’m amazed about the quality of writing of this drama. That’s don’t mean it’s my favorite (even if I can say it will be one of my fav), it’s not a question of taste but of writing. As you made analyse of tons of dramas, I would like to know your opinion about that.