Two valid complaints about this drama, and my response.

1. “The story feels disjointed.”

Yes, even I can see that it’s disjointed. However, I say that it’s INTENTIONAL that everything feels fragmented at this point and it’s actually a sign of a well-crafted script.

You see, we’re supposed to feel the onslaught of revelations. We mirror the disorientation that the female lead, YeongHwa, feels when her dreams merge with her reality. And now, as her birthday (or death day) draws near, new discoveries about her past karma or reincarnation are dropping every day for her. Like random jigsaw puzzle pieces without the picture on the box to guide her, the new discoveries feel disjointed to her. And as we see, she’s increasingly getting agitated and short-tempered with DoHa because she couldn’t make heads or tails of her situation.

Same with us then. We walk in her shoes.

As the story accelerates towards the end, we’re given new revelations that disrupt or change the trajectory of the plot as we expected it to be. If the story feels rushed, it’s because it mimics YeongHwa’s days. Her days — and her nights for that matter — are no longer regular, rhythmic, measured. She doesn’t realize it, but “mysterious” events are happening to her in increasing frequency because the villain in the story, CEO Seo (or So RiBu in the previous life) has become more daring and desperate in his attempts to kill her.

Life comes at her fast.

Or as that famous ad goes, “Life comes at you fast….Nationwide is on your side.”

The series of unfortunate events don’t make sense to her because she’s in the dark about her past life. But as she learns more, we can expect her to see a common thread.

Likewise, since we aren’t given a linear or straightforward story, we’re only seeing by bits and pieces how YeongHwa’s current life INTEGRATES with her past life as RiTa THROUGH her dreams. The series of unfortunate events, as well as the presence of the CEO Seo, didn’t make sense to us until now because the drama began in medias res or in the “middle of things.” But as we learn more, we can see the common thread.

The common thread here is DoHa.

Everything feels disjointed until we see that there’s one common thread or the leitmotif in this drama. It’s DoHa; his love for her is enduring.

2. “I don’t know how we got from ‘I will kill you’ to ‘I will save you.’”

This comment made me laugh. I’d be confused too if I hadn’t been following the common thread.

If you rewatch the scenes, you’ll notice that DoHa never told YeongHwa what his real intention was.  His intention to kill her didn’t change so much as his reason to kill her did. He was still planning on killing her but his motive was no longer to avenge his death by her sword but to release her from her eternal curse.

From Episode 2.

After their plunge into the river, he took over actor JoonOh’s dead body. She was discharged from the hospital, and he watched her wave goodbye to him from afar. He said to himself, “Kang YeongHwa. Go anywhere you would like. This time I will make sure to kill you.”

From Episode 3.

She was knocked unconscious by their kidnappers, but he woke up and finished them off. He told her unconscious body, “Do not worry. I will not let you get killed by someone else in this life.”

The impression we got here was that he didn’t want her to be killed by anyone other than himself; vengeance was his.

From Episode 6.

Then, they met on the bridge. As he stood in front of her, these thoughts raced in his mind. “Would you be able to tell me why you did that then and why you had to?…I’m just delaying you just a little bit. Since you perhaps you might be able to give me the answer to my age-old question.”

See how he was giving her leeway? He didn’t know if YeongHwa knew — or could possibly ever know — the answer as she wasn’t RiTa.

Then, he asked for her help.

DoHa: I told you. I’m not a human.
YeongHwa: Then what are you?
DoHa: The lost soul that’s attached to you.
YeongHwa: What?
DoHa: I’ve been trapped in this world for 1500 years. That’s why I’d like you to help me.
YeongHwa: What do you mean? Help you with what?
DoHa: I want to know how I died.
YeongHwa: I’m sorry. But I don’t know what you’re talking about.
DoHa: Only you can, Kang YeongHwa. Because you…were my wife.

And in a flashback, we see him gifting her with prayer beads on their wedding day. Made of lotus seeds, the prayer beads were to protect her from all the evil in this world.

Then he said his marriage vows, “From now on, you are forever my one and only wife. Even if death tears us apart.”

To me, that’s the reason they’re inseparable. He attached himself to her for all eternity, not because he was a vengeful spirit, intent on avenging his death, but because he loved her. I told you, right? This kdrama was about “thick love.”

From Episode 7.

He asked her to continue dreaming. She refused at first.

DoHa: But now I want to quit this endless cycle and leave this world.
YeongHwa: If everything you said is true, do you know how I’ve been struggling because of psychological trauma my whole life? But I was traumatized just so you could leave this world?

Note 1. She was referring to her childhood trauma.

When she was young, she always saw him at her side and it was generally assumed that her vision was a hallucination. The psychologist couldn’t come up with a medical explanation for her condition. Only after she and her dad visited the temple did she get relief. A young monk handed her the lotus beads and these beads stopped her from seeing “evil” spirits. As soon as the monk relinquished the lotus beads to her, though, HE saw DoHa’s spirit hovering beside YeongHwa.

Note 2: It should be noted that YeongHwa voiced the same resentment and grudge as RiTa did.

RiTa was furious that DoHa wanted her to kill him so he could escape his guilt and torment for killing so many on the battlefield. She didn’t want to him to find peace in death. She wouldn’t release him from his anguish. She had to make him pay for killing her parents.

Now, YeongHwa was saying the same thing. Although her grudge wasn’t as big as RiTa’s, she still didn’t want to help DoHa find peace through death. She wanted him to suffer. She wanted payback for her childhood trauma.

DoHa: The only way to end this endless cycle is for you to have the rest of the dreams and find out why I died.
YeongHwa: No matter how confused I am and how much I’ve been suffering, you just need to achieve your goal, don’t you? Right? Is it okay to shake up my life to the core to solve your problem? Are your unresolved feelings that important? In the 21st century, all sorts of incidents, accidents, illnesses, and mysterious causes kill tons of people. Not all of those people ruin other people’s lives to relieve their pain like you.

“Death happens.” She was telling him that death eventually happens to everybody. Why was he making a big fuss about his? What made his death so special that he couldn’t let it go?

Lol. To me, she’s channeling Elaine Benes from “Seinfeld” who famously said, “Just die already! Die!”

YeongHwa: I think you’re mistaken. I’m not Han RiTa. I’m Kang YeongHwa. Just like you’re not Han JoonOh, I’m not the woman from 1500 years ago, either.
DoHa: You can never escape from the woman from 1500 years ago. You see your past life in your dreams. Do you really think you can run from it? You’re curious about how it ended, too.
YeongHwa: Let me give you a piece of advice. If it’s been 1500 years, why don’t you just move on from it? I’ll just move on from my ridiculous fate, too, then.

As she walked away angrily, he told her in his mind not to look back. “Do not look back. Only look ahead from now on.”

Meaning, he was fine if she walked away. He didn’t want to see her feel REGRET and return to him. He was remembering their past, when she made a bet that he would turn around and look back at her. She won that bet because she cheated. She wanted him to stay with her.

I like how she walked on stepping stones

like he did in the past.

Both in the past and in the present lives, it would have been easier if they resolved never to look back and to sever ties completely. It was their LINGERING feelings for each other that made their lives unbearable for them.

But that night after she told him that they should never meet again, her dreams came.

In that dream, DoHa was at his deathbed. She could have easily killed him while he was unconscious. But instead of completing her vendetta, she nursed him back to life. She admitted to DoHa then, “I wanted to kill you. I really wanted to…. Why I did not? I wonder. Rather than wanting to kill you, why was I more worried that you would never wake up?” She told him that she had lost the will to kill him. She faced an existentialist crisis because killing him had been her sole reason for living, her raison d’etre. But then when the opportunity arose, she couldn’t. So, how was she supposed to live now?

He answered that he would think about it. He would give her a new reason to live. The subtext (or his unstated meaning) here was that HE would be her reason to live. He would find a way to live no matter what. Therefore, she wouldn’t need to fear that she had lose a reason for living. She then made him promise her one thing. In her own words,

RiTa: Promise me just one thing. Do not disappear from my sight. Since I have you, I can endure this hellish time.
DoHa: Even though, I put you in that hell?
RiTa: I must be out of my mind. Just seeing you like this, it makes me feel relieved.
DoHa: I am not sure what to do with myself. I do not know anymore.

Waking up after that dream, YeongHwa began to REGRET what she said to DoHa the previous day. Compared to her dream, her words sounded harsh and petty. She had refused to help him because of her childhood trauma but in her dreams, she promised to endure even HELL just to have him around.

Note 3: I should point this out: RiTa should have been more careful with her wishes. She wished to have DoHa in plain sight. Just to have him was enough for her to endure the hellish time she was going through. Well, DoHa ended up hanging around her for 1500 years. He couldn’t disappear. He had to endure a lot for her.

From Episode 8.

He repeated what he said in episode 2.

DoHa: This time, I won’t let you get killed by someone else. I’ll prevent all the threats that are awaiting you.

But now, we begin to see the big picture. Her birthdate was also her death date. Sigh. Why do they always do this in kdramas?  

From Episode 9.

He found himself wavering. She seemed to genuinely care for him, so he reminded himself that she had swung the sword and killed him right AFTER she told him that she loved him. No matter how fetching she had looked at the theme park with her tiger headband, he couldn’t fall for her trap twice.

He said to himself, “I can’t fall for you again and continue this hellish cycle.”

But despite his resolve, he texted her to clear the air with her. He couldn’t tell her the real reason that the real reason he wanted her to stick around him was because he had to protect her. She was going to die before or on her birthday. Meanwhile, she assumed that he was being extra clingy because HE was about to die and wasn’t ready to let go.

They both believed that the other person was about to die and was preparing themselves mentally and emotionally.

So she promised to spend time with him to prepare for his looming death, and he said that he too needed time to sort out things.

To seal their promise, she taught him the hand pledge. And as she went through the motions, he thought to himself, “Yes. Maybe I had lingering feelings. Because I want to see you for another day or two.”

Awww. He was looking shyly away from her.

That’s when he told her that she didn’t have to dream anymore.

YeongHwa: Huh? Why all of a sudden? You said you need to know how you died to break the curse.
DoHa: My curse will break itself. I made up my mind.

In other words, he made up his mind to kill her. No matter what, he’s going to kill her.

From Episode 10.

DoHa pulled YeongHwa from the cliff. She was clinging to the rock, and just as she was about to lose consciousness, DoHa grabbed her by the hand and snapped at her to come to her senses.

Clearly, this moment parallels that time when RiTa could have killed DoHa as he laid dying. The opportunity was there, she just didn’t take it. Similarly, DoHa could have pushed her or released her hand to send her plunging to her death. He had the perfect opportunity, but he didn’t take it.

YeongHwa: (hugging him) Thank you. You saved me. See? You are my guardian angel.
DoHa: It was just good luck.
YeongHwa: (hugging him) When I was facing death, I regretted it. “I can’t say goodbye to you like this.” That I didn’t get to say that. I won’t tell you to stay forever. Could you just… stay by my side a little longer?

DoHa looked at his hand and wondered, “Would I be able to kill you?”

He was unsure of himself. He didn’t know what his hand would do, in the future. Would it save YeongHwa from death? Or put her to death?

Note 4: Do you see his dilemma? If he loves her, then he’ll want to save her and hold on to her. But if he truly loves her, then he knows that he must kill her to release her from her curse.

YeongHwa: (collapsing)
DoHa: Kang YeongHwa!
YeongHwa: What’s wrong with me all of a sudden? (fainting)
DoHa: Kang YeongHwa! Wake up!

Later, he would reveal YeongHwa’s karma. She was going to die when she was 30. That was her curse and his.

DoHa: I…saw every single one of your previous deaths. That’s how I realized that for 1500 years you continuously died and I stayed and watched you without being able to stop it. That’s the horrible curse we ended up with.
YeongHwa: Maybe it won’t happen just once. There are exceptions in everything.
DoHa: You’re the one who asked about the curse after what happened today. Do you think all of the accidents you almost died in were just coincidences.
YeongHwa: Why didn’t you tell me sooner? If it was so definite, why didn’t you say anything?
DoHa: Even if I did, nothing would’ve changed.
YeongHwa: No. You changed it just now. You saved me at the cliff earlier. Come to think of it. You said there was a way to break the curse. Isn’t that why you told not to have dreams? How do you do it? Please tell me.
DoHa: (to himself) I have to kill you to break the curse. (to YeongHwa) It might not work anymore. I’m sorry. There’s no way now.

That’s where we are now at Episode 10. That’s how “I will kill you, you cursed wife!” became “I will release you from this curse, my one and only wife!”

In sum, killing remains a viable solution for all of DoHa’s problem. As of Episode 10, it’s still an exit strategy. It was never off the table. But the reason for killing YeongHwa has changed. Instead of revenge, grudge, and resentment, DoHa has to kill her for love.

To me, “Moon in a Day” is a compelling love story. I must admit that DoHa’s style of speaking veryyyyy slowly took me a long time to get used to, but I get that his words capture the intensity of his feelings for her. I like how the dreams and the present time are woven to show YeongHwa’s unbreakable link to DoHa. No, the dreams aren’t contrived and forced like the time-travel in “The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract.” And I like that despite her disbelief in reincarnation, karma and curses, YeongHwa can’t deny that she wouldn’t be in this situation with DoHa if they weren’t linked by fate. Just for this kdrama, I’m a believer of fate, too.