Episode 5, we suddenly start with voiceovers from Jun Hui for a change.

All seemed to be going well in the morning, …. until… (she sees lots of good luck as a harbinger of disaster. How sad!)

Her bolting was unexpected but that seems to be her reflex action when confronted with something she can’t handle at the moment. Something to do also with what she said about holding in stuff until it’s too much and one just falls apart suddenly?

@Snow Flower, Yes JP’s Step mum is quite a nice person. Pity she’s a bit browbeaten by that husband with a short temper.

This Episode is called A Bad Day, however now that I’ve watched it, I tend to feel that it was actually a good day. Certainly JH would want to bury her head and hide in shame and humiliation, but other than her feelings, the overall situation has taken a turn for the better.

For 1 thing, it was great that the issue with Violent Brother got resolved (at least for some time). If not for that day, JH would still constantly be looking over her shoulder.

That day was the occastion that was very good for the clearing up of most lies/subterfuge or unknown stuff. JH’s backstory came out at the police station, JP discovered that YR is his tutor’s sister, and even our fave suitor, Jeong Hyun, being the observant guy that he is, notices the dynamics between the girls and the 2 boys and guesses who is on YR’s mind.

This ‘bad day’ clearly demonstrated the strength of the girls’ relationship. Without clearly understanding the whys, I was super impressed by how YR took action to protect her friend (hard head-butt in mid air no less!!) and took the wheel of the bus as a certified driver to bring her friend to safety! Her motto that it was good to get more certificates because one never knew when they would come in handy, has proven itself very true and a wise move.

Hence on top of all those good things, this day surprisingly showed off Yeong Rye in an amazing light. It was so unexpected because she seems such a timid, submissive little person, but touch the ones she values and she turns into a tiger.

The question of family …

JH’s real family is abusive, hence she takes refuge with YR’s family. Mother and brother figure out that she’s hiding. YR’s brother even gives her advice like a real brother would, even giving her the milk his mum had specially got for him, after warming it up.

The friendly Bus Conductors are like family, who help each other out. I like how they sprayed Violent Brother with water to help JH escape.

And then there’s the Bus Company who claims that they regard their passengers as family, hence no passenger should left out and everyone who wanted to board should be squeezed into the bus, even if there was no way to close the bus door. The Bus Conductors’ comment that the company was treating the “family” like a piggy bank was on point.

With such an uncaring family as Cheongah Bus, the accident was just an event waiting to happen.

The other good thing that came from the ‘bad day’ was that JP asked to just remain friends with JH. That paved the way for them to hang out together as a group of friends. It was a welcome scene were we get to see them just being ‘kids’ skimming/skipping stones or picnicking. However the green-eyed monster was also present.

Sang Cheol sees that it’s JP who has YR’s attention. He typically tries to impress her as well, but again fails.

I like that he’s aware. When asked by JH why he does not ask YR out one-on-one, he puts the question to her if she thinks he’s really the one YR likes. This brings to JH’s mind the many instances when YR’s feelings for JP were obvious. Without knowing all that, SC is at least smart enough to know that he is not the one on YR’s mind.

The irony that just as YR was prepared to say goodbye to her first love and crush, JH became more fully aware that YR still harboured feelings for JP. The timing was also unfortunate since the accident put brakes on going further into this dawning realisation.

In their reality, YR and JP actually hear the song ‘Close to You’ playing from the nearby cafe. YR takes this as a sign to start thinking of all the other times she’d heard that song in her head, when JP was near.

I enjoyed the fake-out and the imaginary sequence. I was quite taken in by that dramatic misdirection, and was even about to applaud YR for coming out at last to tell JP how she felt, but then it was all just in her mind. 😒🧐🤨😜

We see her speaking out what’s in her heart, and asking him for a chance for them to be a couple. And we get all the scenes of them being close in a bubbly world, while the song plays. Of course it was meant to burst like the bubbles around them. It was her way to lay to rest all her hopes with regards to JP, by imagining what could have been and then to say goodbye to it all.

I really liked that we see what she had hoped for if they had dated. It sort of feels like the show is pandering to what it rightly guesses are viewers’ desire for some sweet moments between the 2 who would never be. So after this, viewers can forgive the Show for the fact that they won’t get the pairing that they want. 🫤😉

@pkml3, I like YR’s kind of ambition. She really gets down to brass tacks. If something could be useful and she could handle it, she’d get herself qualified to do it. She could possibly earn more money for having extra skills.

I wonder what other qualifications she has.

For her self protection, I’d like her to take up some form of martial arts like maybe Taekwondo or Hapkido. Her run, jump and head-butt was impressive, but it must have hurt her a lot too!

Although I am watching other genres at the moment, I have been happily reading the comments here!

@pkml3, I went back to the first episode to catch the voiceovers of YR again.

YR runs after the bus and JH waves her scarf out the window. Finally the bus slows down and YR stops running. The scarf flies out of JH’s hand and lands exactly over YR’s head LOL.

Voiceover: “And that’s how our story begins. We were young, but our lives were exhausting and threadbare. But because we had each other, we shone ever so brightly. The you and me of those radiant days. And…” (She let the scarf slide off her and get blown away but did not pick it up… I found this strange. I’d have gone back to pick it up before returning to the bus. Perhaps she did not want to hold up the bus any more than she had already.)

YR had looked at JH sitting at the back of the bus as JH chewed and burst the bubblegum. Knowing about the bubbles in the imagination/fantasy sequence in YR’s mind, I wonder if this one real burst bubblegum means something more, taking place at the start of their meeting each other.

In any case, YR’s voiceovers have this distant memory tone in the words that she’s addressing to JH who is no longer next to her.

@pkml3, thanks for writing out the scene and dialogue. I noted those points too and was amused by how concerned the ‘other oppa’ was whom YR was not calling out to.

Yes, Asians call non-family or relatives by ‘titles’ like big or small brother/sister, uncle/aunt, grandma/grandpa and for the Koreans even mother/father. It was in that capacity that YR addressed Jung Hyeon as oppa, without even a shred of ‘boyfriend’ in the meaning. But he behaved towards her as if he were her boyfriend already.

I noted that he was observant and yes, he was ‘boasting’ that he was the eldest son of Hwashin… so once again we hear of the birth position of a person and we are to understand that he had status as the firstborn, and a male to boot.

Because his family was rich, this being the eldest had an opposite meaning from the same words said of a son of a poor family. While Yeong Sik as the eldest son was doted on and favoured for being the pillar of the family, he was also expected to bring home the bacon and take care of the younger siblings. Jeong Hyun as the oldest son was free to come and go, loaf around at his friend’s place, borrow his mum’s car (or maybe it was his but he did not want to admit it) and looked forward to inheriting the family business. Driver Kim (and many others) as the eldest had to work to support his parents and siblings.

In Episode 2, she went by herself to a Club with the name Giant in it, but got caught up with the police raid. She lost one shoe in her futile attempt to run. We see her white socks and it reminded me of the white socks of the person on the road after the accident.

I’ve also just recalled that brother Yeong Sik looks a bit guilty that YR wants to take night classes. He knows that she gave up schooling to work so that he could continue with his studies in college. He also kept elbowing Jeong Hyun in the ribs whenever he called YR ‘Ugly’ in front of him.

He gave her his old high school books to help her along in her studies. So JH was right. He did give off a cold aura but he was actually quite caring.

= = =

In Episode 3 (title: Fate), there was this other voiceover by YR as they entered the Vivaldi Music Cafe and met the boys for the soegateng: “Jong Hui, sometimes I regret that day. That day, if I hadn’t gone there with you, what would have happened? They say three coincidences make it fate. What if I hadn’t thought that maybe this person was my destiny, clutched my racing heart, and gotten my hopes up?”

She sometimes regrets that she thought her ending up with JP was fate. So it was definitely not meant to be, but did the regret also stem from what happened between her and JH because she’d mistaken 3 meetings for fate?

Urgh, I cant believe I am adding to that last…Not to be misleading, it may be immaterial but in QM, the Mom helps her son catch a copycat killer, and the whole thing is a remake of La Mante, a French series from a few years ago, but of course it stands on its own as a solid piece of work and all about Korea.

@pkml3 About Sang Cheol… yes the reverse tropes (somewhat cute and quirky in their own right!). YR is a girly enough girl, and yet she takes care of the boy. It’s partly that she’s slightly older, is used to behaving like a parent and possibly because Sang Cheol is still a ‘school boy’. I believe that it’s not just an age thing. She looks up to JP as a ‘man’ who saved her and took care of her, tied her shoe laces, helped carry her mum, etc when even her own brother was not beside her to help.

By contrast, Sang Cheol seems like the child, and she has enough ‘children’ to take care of at home. His level of maturity has not matched up to hers.

I shook my head when SC gave his reason for wanting a girlfriend as: in order to have someone to spend Christmas with. I forgave him because he’s just 18?? (It sounded like something a girl would say).

When he saw the 4 girls at the soegaeteng, and got ‘frightened’ by JH’s confidence, it seemed to be that fear that got him to decide on targeting YR as his ‘girlfriend’. It was not so much who attracted him more, but who did not remind him of his scary mother. LOL.

After this I was continually highly amused that he spoke of her in expectation that she would be his wife. This, in a sense, is also a bit of a reverse trope. Usually for a Show from the girl’s point of view, we see that it’s the girl who is dreaming of the Prince Charming and of Happily Ever After. However although this show is mainly from YR’s point of view, we are given more reverse trope insights with Sang Cheol.

He did check with his best Bud that latter was not interested in YR, but he forgot to check with YR herself if she was interested in him. I found it somewhat pathetic that he had to ask her if she had any questions for him (instead of endless questions about JP). At that stage, he still had not guessed where her heart lay.

Yes, it took the stone skipping and picnic for him to notice that his rival was his best Bud. So the fun day out became a ‘bad day’ for SC!

@Snow Flower, yup! Now we have 6 main roles instead of just 3. I’m glad to see that Sang Cheol’s actor and Yeong Sik’s actor are also considered to be in the main roles.