This is the end of my discussion of this theme. I promise.

8. Restore the meaning of the Cheoyongmu dance

I should have explained the significance of this dance back in Episode 3 when King YiHeon danced it with the jesters. Hold your breath; I’ll take a deep dive again.

If you google search the cheoyongmu, you’ll learn that it’s a dance staged to drive away evil spirits, protect against sickness and misfortune, and pray for longevity of the monarch’s reign. Five performers wear a Cheoyong mask and royal costume in different colors: blue, red, yellow, black and white. They represent the five directions from which the evil spirits will be expulsed: north, south, east, west and center. The peaches, leaves and flowers on the mask supposedly repel evil. Likewise, the waving of arms in white cloth scares the spirits away.

This purpose of the cheoyongmu aligns with what YiHeon told JiYeong in Episode 10.

JY: Isn’t that a Cheoyong mask?
YH: It is. It’s said to ward off evil. It also symbolizes long life and abundance.
JY: (confused) Are you going to dance the Cheoyongmu right now?
YH: I’m thinking of performing it at the banquet to celebrate my grandmother’s seventieth year. She used to very much enjoy the Cheoyongmu I performed when I was little.
JY: Why did you want to see me at this hour?
YH: Because I want you to be the first to watch me dance.
JY: Me?
YH: Yes. Will you watch?
JY: Yes. Though I did watch you dance before…

The cheoyongmu is regarded as a happy dance, but historically, this wasn’t the way the real king Yeonsangun viewed it.

Lol. Please don’t take my word for it. I’m not Korean, anyway. But watch this youtube video by the Korea Traditional Performing Arts Foundation instead.

If you can’t open the video, here’s the gist.

This video said, “In 1504, a man danced in a palace every night. Big and sharp eyes. A strange face. He often sobbed in his mask. The king!” The video based this description from a diary entry of Yeonsangun dated April 4, 1505. It recorded that “when the King got drunk, he wore Cheoyong cloth. He danced Cheoyonmu and sang sometimes.”

Then, in another diary entry of March 20, 1504, it was recorded that “The King danced Cheoyongmu on the horse.”

According to the video, Yeonsangun “imitated the dead while dancing.” It’s clear that it wasn’t a happy dance for the tyrant king.

The video also said, by dancing Cheoyongmu, the king was trying to

a) bring his deceased mother back (ahem…restore) and
b) get away from “painful and hurtful feelings.”

That’s why he wanted the dance passed down. As a result, “The dance with the King’s madness and sorrow flourished in a form of art.”

So, to me, when JiYeong mused, “This might be the last time I get to watch to watch that dance,” and recalled their moments together, then wondered, “Was this always such a sad dance?”

my answer is yes. Indubitably.

For one, this scene is a foreshadowing of her disappearance or “virtual death” from YiHeon’s life. She’s going to be RESTORED to her previous life and they will remember his dance, not as a celebratory dance that he intended it to be, but as a farewell dance.

For another, she was unconsciously feeling (and mirroring or duplicating) the sorrow of historical tyrant king Yeonsangun. In this sense, the screenwriter and director were RESTORING the historical context of the dance lost to many viewers of this kdrama.

9. Restore JiYeong to her previous state
Recover her manuscript so she could return to the future.

After YiHeon’s performance, he asked her how she liked it. She answered that it felt different from last time, but he still looked cool. He draped his overcoat over her shoulders. She resisted, but he pointed out that the breeze was cold at night.

Sigh. She doesn’t appreciate little gestures like this, but I’m sure once she’s back in her world, and everything has been restored to its former state, she’ll miss this. Nostalgia is a kdrama trope.

YH: I must ask you something. Do you still wish to find Mangunrok and return?
JY: Of course! Why do you ask?
YH: I do not want you to leave. Wherever that may be.
JY: Do you finally believe I’m from the future?
YH: I could tell that you were not a person of this time.
JY: How?
YH: The day you made “gochujang bibinbap.” The day you made “ottokagi” [haute cuisine]. The day you serve me “doenjang pa-ah-sta.” I felt it all along. That you were not from this place.

I like how he listed the food that she made for him. This reminds me of Julia Andrews aka Maria listing her “Favorite Things” and Elizabeth Barrett Browning listing “How Do I Love Thee?” Listing things from memory means that, no matter how trivial or insignificant they are, they have impact on him.

But, unlike me, JiYeong doesn’t seem to have a romantic bone in her body. She’s indignant that he still mistreated her even though he already knew that she was from another time.

YH: Mistreated? What are you talking about?
JY: I don’t believe this. Just find me Mangunrok already.
YH: Do you really wish to find that book?
JY: (suspicious) Wait. Have you not been looking for it all this time?
YH: (avoiding her eyes) I am sure I will find it soon.

Okay, he didn’t look for it.

But if I were JiYeong, I’d forgive him. Because he did something better than waste time and manpower on searching for the lost book. He created for her a personalized Mangunrok which carried her memories, and his, of her stay in Joseon.

The irony isn’t lost on me. He’s probably planning to surprise her with his manuscript IN LIEU of the Mangunrok he can’t find. He doesn’t know that his manuscript, like the other lost Mangunrok, possesses the same magical effect of transporting her “back in time,” that is, her PREVIOUS life. He wants to prevent her from leaving him but he’ll unwittingly help her leave in the end.

YH: (confessing) However, I did not want to look for it.
JY: Your Majesty.

The way she says this in a subdued manner indicates that she senses the change in atmosphere or “vibes.” She knows they’re about to have heart-to-heart conversation. Hmph! We women have great radars to detect love confessions and proposals.

He holds by her shoulders again and said…

[drumroll please]

YH: Be my companion.

Awwww.

He’s asking her to be his lifelong partner. I think viewers were expecting him to use a romantic word like “beloved,” (e.g., “Will you be my beloved?”) or a word denoting future status like “wife,” “queen,” and “consort” (e.g., “Will you be my queen?”)

But in my opinion, he’s asking her to be his “companion” because she insists on returning to her world. In other words, he’s “begging” her to stay with him instead of leaving him behind.

Of course, a king doesn’t beg. This is as close to begging as he can get without actually going down on his knees and clasping his hands.

The hands on her shoulder are meant to keep her with him, to anchor her to his side.

JY: Your Majesty. That’s just not…
YH: I mean it.

And he puts a ring on her finger.

YH: If you become my companion, every morning, I will make you bibinbap.
JY: (thinking to herself) That was the moment that I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad even if I didn’t go back to my time and my world.

My comments:

1. He mispronounces “bibimbap” as “bibiNbap” because it’s an alien word to him.

2. I get that bibimbap was the first food they shared together. It was also the first food that hit him in the “feels” because he remembered his mom.

But it was also the only food that left him in tears. The rest of the food she prepped for him made him smile, grin, or laugh heartily.

3. I told you. The bibimbap is THE metaphor of their harmonious relationship. It’s a mixture of his world and her world, unexpectedly mixed up, but blending well together. Though it was unusually spicy for YiHeon, the taste grew on him…like JiYeong did.

4. For the first time, she considers opting out of the “restaurant.” That is, she doesn’t want to be “restored” to her home.

However, when I think about this, what is her “original” home? If the Mangunrok existed before, and it was a record of her visit, doesn’t that indicate that she previously lived in Joseon with him? Shouldn’t staying with him – wherever/whenever that may be – be regarded as “restoring” herself to her rightful time and place?

5. Re. the Kiss.

It’s a “Yoona” kiss, alright.

Lol. I don’t want to hear any excuses about this kdrama being “sageuk” so she isn’t supposed to kiss with gusto.

Yoona. Simply. Doesn’t. Know. How. To. Kiss. With. Passion. Period.