Please ignore me.

I like this kdrama so I’m paying more attention when my time permits. Methinks, the screenwriter Ha SuJin by such an expert matchmaker herself by the way she entangled the main and secondary characters together in plausible situations. I couldn’t find a supporting character whose screentime could have been eliminated without affecting the plot. All the characters, from the hero and heroine to his sidekick and her maid, had a unique role to deliver. This is a rare occurrence in my (short) experience of watching kdramas. To me, it’s a sign of a well-conceived story. It deserves my second look.

Here are the episode titles.

Ep 1. I have not fallen for you
Ep 2. A bad feeling is never wrong
Ep 3. I think I am an agent of love
Ep 4. It takes 4.5 seconds to fall in love
Ep 5. What happened at Seonhwa Temple
Ep 6. Everyone has a secret
Ep 7. An eye for an eye, a rumour for a rumour
Ep 8. Life is unpredictable, therefore life is meaningful
Ep 9. My life has been completely destroyed
Ep 10. Love blooms at the May Festival
Ep 11. Second Love
Ep 12. Lovers under a time limit
Ep 13. The decision to leave
Ep 14. Those who love more are the strongest
Ep 15. The wedding operation
Ep 16. Match made between the widowed

I’ll add to my notes as I go along.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Episode 1. “I have not fallen for you”

Three important things in this episode.

1. The definition of a matchmaker (Ssangyeonsulsa)

In the beginning, the hero JungWoo explained the role of a matchmaker in society.

One out of 10,000 people are born with the ability to recognize nuptial ties and people with this special ability existed in all ages.

They were priests in the ancient times, and they were called matchmakers in Silla. They were known to have possessed great powers and wealth. If you read the separate volume on sorcerers of the “Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms,” most matchmakers who had great influence over Goryeo were women. But they start disappearing as Joseon rose because of its Confucian social order. Their method of recognizing nuptial ties is unknown as it is not recorded.

Even among matchmakers, those born more power than others would end up matching people without even realizing it. Matchmakers were known as sorcerers of loneliness, not love, by the people of Silla. This is because people who marry matchmakers live short lives without exception. Which is why many matchmakers are widows.

I think this introduction led most viewers to assume that only SoonDeok was the matchmaker in this drama. She was also considered a “goddess of matchmaking” by other matchmakers because she never failed in her mission. However, when she explained her successes, she said that her “reasoning is almost as good as a shaman.” She used reasoning for her matches instead of magical skills.

In comparison, JungWoo was a natural matchmaker. Meaning, he was born with the gift and/power to recognize couples.

I think it’s rather unfortunate that the only other matchmaker (sangyeonsulsa) in this drama, Mrs. Maeng, was predisposed to regard those matchmakers with preternatural gifts like her and JungWoo as “true” matchmaker, and discounted those who relied on their brain power to observe and create new couples, like SoonDeok.

2. The marriage arrangement of JungWoo and the Princess

The Left Minister Jo acted as the marriage broker of JW’s marriage.

At first glance, it would appear as if he did this because of his ambition to make his political party the dominant party in palace politics. In reality, however, Jo, his wife Lady SoHyun, and his brother-in-law Park, had been plotting to kill the Crown Prince, and replace him with Lady SoHyun’s own nephew, Prince JinSung.

They were playing political chess and using their sons as pawns. They thought that a) by positioning JungWoo as the King’s son-in-law, they could solidify their hold on the Crown, and b) by positioning Jo’s eldest son as the deputy mayor of Pyeongyangbu, they could protect the illegal flow of wealth into their coffers. Jo’s brother-in-law was the corrupt governor of the province.

But JungWoo protested the marriage as he wanted to go to Pyeongyangbu to deal with the corruption himself. After he became the youngest top scorer of the state civil exams, he was commissioned by the King to serve as the deputy mayor. Given that he was only 17 at the time, the job wasn’t only a prestigious one for someone his age, but it also demonstrated the level of trust the King conferred upon him.

JungWoo: I’m bound to leave for Pyeongyangbu tomorrow, according to His Majesty’s order.
Jo: A prince cannot take public office. That position is assigned to InHyeon now. His Majesty will give you a big house in Bukchon as a wedding gift and your Older Brother will receive a public office. So this is a great opportunity for you and your family. And you will become a member of the Royal Family which will be a great support for us, DongNo Party.
JungWoo’s brother: (acting like a sycophant that he is) Of course. It is all thanks to your help, Your Excellency.
JungWoo: If it is such a great opportunity, your unmarried second son, Brother InGook, can become a prince.
Jo: The princess has chosen you.
JungWoo: The Book of Rites said marriage is taking the good parts of the two families, serving the ancestors, and continuing the lineage. This means marriage is a matter between families. So how can the princess decide who becomes prince, only according to her liking? This is against the rites.
JungWoo’s father: That is enough. The marriage between you and the princess is my will. So, just submit and obey!
JungWoo: Father! Do you not know my dream is to become Chief State Minister? I will never become a prince who cannot take public office!

Three noteworthy things.

One, InHyeon was Jo’s eldest son who took over JungWoo’s job. He also took the same civil exams, and to his and his father’s chagrin, he came a distant second to JungWoo.

In Episode 9, it would be revealed that while InHyeon was working in Pyeongyangbu, he uncovered, not only his uncle’s corruption, but also his family’s treason. While he had no problem reporting to the King about the corruption, he drew back from disclosing the treason as that logically meant punishment (even death) of the entire family. But before he could report to the King, he was killed by his own father. Jo killed InHyeon, not because the son discovered his father’s treason, but because the father discovered his son’s homosexual relationship.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Two, JungWoo was pushing Jo’s second son, InGook, to marry the princess in his stead.

As it turned out, InGook later married SoonDeok. According to SoonDeok (Ep 8), their marriage was short-lived. They were married for less than half a year when he passed away. SoonDeok’s marriage lasted longer than JungWoo’s, however.

JungWoo’s princess collapsed during their wedding ceremony and only recovered for a little while to make him promise to take office and help her father, the King (Ep 13). To make good on his promise, he had been petitioning for eight years for an annulment of his marriage. Once released from his widower status, he could take on a role in the government.

It seemed to me that it was a fortunate turn of events that both SoonDeok’s and JungWoo’s first spouses were their “fated” matches. Otherwise, their future together would have been limited as matchmakers were “sorcerers of loneliness.”

Three, though Left Minister Jo acted like he was the head of the DongNo party, the founder of the party was actually JungWoo’s father. Hence, when Jo was hauled off to jail, along with his brother-in-law Park, Lady SoHyun called in JungWoo to act like the leader of the party.

To me, she was the veritable powerbroker of the party.

3. The title “I have not fallen for you”

JungWoo and SoonDeok met by accident. He was hiding behind a fan and almost bumped into her. They did the side-step dance to avoid each other but after moving back and forth a couple of times, he stopped and lowered his fan to look at her. Then, he moved to the side to pass her. But he didn’t notice a passing delivery man and was almost crushed if SoonDeok hadn’t grabbed him out of the way. Her move surprised him. He didn’t expect a woman to protect him.

source: makesomehistory’s tumblr

I like this meet-cute. From the start, we’re told to expect some reversals of the usual male/female tropes found in romcoms, that is, SoonDeok is the protector and JungWoo is the knight-in-distress.

Apparently, JungWoo was on his way to the bookseller. He was a regular patron of the shop, buying medical books from Ming (China). However, on that day, he dropped in to make a special order of “gold silkworm’s poison,” a poison that was mentioned in one of the medical books. He told the bookseller that price was no object.

On his way out, he found a book on the floor. He flipped through the pages and was shocked to discover that it was an erotic book. The passage describing an amorous encounter between a husband and wife caught his attention, and the image of SoonDeok appeared in his thoughts. When the bookseller rudely interrupted his daydreaming (or was it lusting?), he became defensive. He wanted to report the book to the authorities, because it was mocking nobility but he first had to read it until the end of book to determine whether it was indeed just a harmless book for women’s titillation as the bookseller claimed, or a subversive book.

Just then, SoonDeok arrived and took the book out of his hands. She derided him for treating a fictional book like it was something real story.

Note: this was foreshadowing. As the drama progressed, we would find out that there was much truth masquerading as fiction in these books. In these books, common people could air their grievances against powerful and influential people without fear of repercussions.

They bickered about the book some more, and when she turned to leave him, he blocked her path.

JungWoo: (arguing) Even if it’s a made-up story, it must have a basis in reality. I must find out and learn the intention of the author.
SoonDeok: (under her breath) What an obnoxious jerk!
JungWoo: What did you say?
SoonDeok: I said you are too serious.
JungWoo: (insulted, he decided to pull ranks) Which merchant inn are you associated with? Tell me your name and age.
SoonDeok: Seeing how you are uselessly seeking the source and meaning of a made-up story, you must be a high-ranking noble. (stepping closer to him)
JungWoo: (nervously) Why…are you coming closer?

She pointed a finger at her hairbun. The hairbun indicated her marital status. She decided to attack him.

SoonDeok: Why are you harassing a married merchant?
JungWoo: Huh?! Harassing? What nonsense! Do you know who I am?
SoonDeok: I don’t know who you are. But you are trying to get my personal info, though I have nothing to do with this book’s author. I cannot help but suspect that you fell for me.
JungWoo: Fell for you?

He started to hiccup. SoonDeok’s strategy worked. She caught him off-guard.

SoonDeok: Omo! The hiccup of truth! I guess it was not a mistake.
JungWoo: (shaking his head)
SoonDeok: So vulgar.
JungWoo: (couldn’t answer)
SoonDeok: (thinking to herself) How dare he try to challenge me when he has never courted a woman before? That’s cute.
JungWoo: (chasing after her) No. You are mistaken!

That evening, JungWoo tried to “cleanse” his mind of the vulgarity of the book. He grabbed a pile of books from his bookshelves and began reading. He was revisiting the proper examples of a married couple. Fired up, he decided to write a petition to ban the spread of novels that mock officials among ignorant women.

Note well: not once did he mention in his petition the erotic nature of the novel. Instead, he zeroed in on the insult directed at the nobility. Every time, he mentioned SoonDeok in his petition, her wild accusation came to mind. His chest hurt, and he blotted his writing paper.

The following morning, he consulted the doctor about his malady. The doctor said he was experiencing a psychosomatic illness due to an imbalance between his body and mind. He blamed it all on SoonDeok’s unfair accusation, so he headed off to the bookseller’s shop again in search of her.

SoonDeok (incorrectly) I assumed that he wanted to see her again because he was curious to know the ending. To end the big scene he was making in the shop, she decided to come out of hiding to hand him the book. But before she could take it out of her satchel, JungWoo blurted the unbelievable.

JungWoo: I…I…have fallen in love with you.
SoonDeok: (stunned)
JungWoo: (blinking) What did I just say?
SoonDeok: Ahh. You said you feel in love with me.
JungWoo: (coughing) I misspoke because I was ill. Forget it.

source: liveasbutterflies’ tumblr

JungWoo: (continuing) What I want to tell you is that.. I.. I’m not in love with you.
SoonDeok: (still confused) Aahhh. Why would you say such obvious things?
JungWoo: Did you not insist here yesterday that I was in love with you?
SoonDeok: What?

She remembered a second later that she had joked that he fell for her.

SoonDeok: (in disbelief) You looked for me just to say that to me?
JungWoo: Resolving that ridiculous misunderstanding is very important to me.

She thought to herself that she was dealing with a crazy one. Things would get worse if she didn’t nip this in the bud. She immediately apologized to get out of there.

SoonDeok: (deep-bowing) I guess I was mistaken because I was in a rush that day. I am sorry for upsetting you. I will change my mind and say you are not in love with me, Sir.
JungWoo: (accepting her apology) All right.
SoonDeok: To atone for my sin, I will never appear before you again. Bye then. (high tailing it out of there)
JungWoo: (to himself) She does not have to go that far.

I like this scene for three reasons.

One, it shows the confusion and nervousness that underpin JungWoo’s interactions with SoonDeok, going forward. He isn’t used to being flummoxed by a stranger, and a short female, at that. He’s the type to launch an attack first, and he always wins the argument because he’s “memorized all the regulations and conducts of Joseon.” But SoonDeok manages to turn him into a socially awkward man (a rube!) in no time.

Two, because he’s the type to become easily scandalized by the slightest appearance of impropriety, it’s delicious to watch him deny his attraction for her.

Three, there was nothing clichéd about their meet-cute and first couple of encounters. I’ll remember them.