Part 1 is here: To My Beloved Thief: Ep 4 The Love Confession, Part 1

The scene moves from the archery to the marketplace.

EunJo is picking up the scattered dried herbs that the other guy, Im JaeYi (IJ), threw to the ground in a fit of anger. She’s startled when Yi Yeol (YY) kneels beside her and starts to gather the herbs.

Note: There’s a similar scene in “Bon Appetit, Your Majesty?” The king knelt to pick up flowers that Yoona had dropped, and his bodyguard was visibly nonplussed. It’s as if the king had broken some royal protocol when he bent over and touched dirt. Here, in this drama, YY does the same thing with no fanfare. However, I can’t help but think that his act of kneeling beside her is a metaphor that he’s lowering his status to join her where she’s at.

YY: What a mess.
EJ: (surprised)
YY: What? What’s that look?
EJ: (looking away without saying anything)
YY: I’m asking you. Something happened, right?

She blinks her eyes rapidly, as if to stop tears from welling up at the sight of him. Her reaction tells me that a) she’s glad to see him again despite telling him to leave her, and b) he’s just what she needs after that emotional encounter with IJ. But she’s too proud to tell YY that she’s overjoyed to see him.

EJ: You just caught me off guard, that’s all. What brings you here? (acting suspicious) Did you come here looking for me?
YY: “Don’t be mistaken.” (pausing) That’s what I wanted to say. But yes, I went to the Hyeminseo and heard you’d gone to the herb market, so I pathetically followed you here.

My two comments:

1. His honesty is disarmingly cute.

As he says, he could have denied wanting to see her, but what’s the point?

2. Clearly, he’s made up his mind to make a move on her. He isn’t allowing a temporary setback to distract him from his stated intention. Remember? At their last meeting, before IJ gatecrashed on them, he had told her, “I’m making a move on you. And starting now, I intend to do it properly.”

Then, he follows her home.

EJ: Why did you want to see me?
YY: (cutting to the chase) When is the wedding? Next year? The year after?
EJ: (musing) Running into each other like this will do no good. Let’s not leave room for misunderstanding.

Meaning, she isn’t going to lie this time. She’ll tell him the exact date, so he knows that pursuing her is futile.

But her words have the opposite effect on him. Instead of discouraging him, he thinks he must speed up his courtship since they have so little time.

EJ: In ten days!
YY: Ten days… Looks like there won’t be any time for teasing, joking, or getting to know each other.
EJ: What?!

Lol. I like his idea of courtship. What he means is if they had all the time in the world, then he would have gone the slow route with her and wooed her unhurriedly. They wouldn’t rush through this dating period. They would have taken their sweet time building a connection, comparing their likes and dislikes, finding similarities, and so on. But as they only have ten days, he has no choice but to hurry up the process.

YY: (rattling off) What do you like? Food, scenery, jewelry, art, music preferences. No, what should I start with? (noticing her threadbare garb) Well, where’s the nearest silk shop? Should we stop there first?

EJ: Wait! Hold on! You’re joking, right?
YY: Do you think I’d cling to you disregarding my pride just to joke around?

This reminds me of Mr. Darcy’s proposal.

Mr. Darcy also disregarded the wishes of his family and friends – not to mention, his better judgment – to “cling” to Elizabeth. That was the surest sign that he wasn’t joking around and that his feelings were sincere.

Same with Ye Yeol. He ignores his pride. He even disregards the fallout in the palace that he needs to face. So, no. This is no joking matter for him.

EJ: Am I the only one finding this situation rather sudden?
YY: (admitting) Same here. This? It’s practically the act of a madman.

I love, love his show of restraint. All this time, he purposely doesn’t mention his true identity as Grand Prince. If she knew who he really was, then a) she would no doubt agree that he was a madman, and b) his proposal would only burden her even more. Hence, the things he does not say – that is, the UNSAID words, the subtext – attest to his feelings much more powerfully than an actual declaration would have.

EJ: Pfft. I wasn’t wrong about you the day we first met.
YY: Perhaps it was the foresight of a foolish sort.

I’m not sure but I think this is what he means: she was right to call him a fool on their first meeting. But it’s more precise to say that she foresaw his recklessness. She correctly predicted that one day, he’d behave like a fool for her.

EJ: But you seem to have forgotten already. I… I already have my betrothed.
YY: That punk is…

And he pauses. He recalls IJ saying, “Why do so many men care about a mere eolnyeo?” He doesn’t want EunJo to know what IJ thinks of her so he disparages him instead.

YY: He’s disgusting. Repulsive.

Note: I’m not Korean but I think the word YY uses is “jaesu eopseo” (재수 없어). It’s an interesting word and the nuance is lost in the translation. It means that IJ –

a) sucks,
b) is conceited and arrogant,
c) is an ass…hole, and
d) is bad luck. Literally.

You see, “jaesu” means luck or fortune. And “eopseo” means no, none. Literally it means that encountering IJ is a great misfortune. He’s “bad luck” like accidentally stepping on a chewing gum or running into your ex when you look your worst.

But remember what I said when EunJo thanked him for restoring justice to the victims of corruption?

EJ: …It’s truly fortunate that you resolved this matter.
YY: Fortunate? What exactly do you mean?
EJ: I mean, you’re intelligent, and accomplished in many ways. That sort of thing.
YY: Don’t say that so lightly!
EJ: (not getting him) What?
YY: “Poverty, misery, wretchedness, tears.” It sounds like I might be one of the few fortunate things amid all that misery.

Well, if he brings her good tidings, then IJ is his direct opposite. It’s EunJo’s great misfortune to associate with IJ because IJ is “jaesu eopseo.”

Anyway, back to our couple’s dialogue.

EJ: Are you really the same person as the other day? Or were you always this reckless?
YY: If I truly were to act recklessly, there’d be no stopping it. The reason I didn’t ask about your betrothed’s family is because I wanted to reserve the force I could wield until the very end.

Meaning, he didn’t ask for IJ’s family name because retaliation against IJ is YY’s last resort.

Two quick comments:

1. It’s interesting that, as a member of the royal family, he has the power to destroy not only his rival, but also the whole clan of his rival. Absolute power is really scary, isn’t it?

2. I wonder what he’ll do once he learns that IJ’s father is his brother’s trusted adviser, Sec Im, and that Sec Im actually matched EunJo with the 75-year-old grandfather. Will he have enough power and clout to go against the Im clan?

YY: I endured all this with the utmost patience, trying not to be petty, just to see if I could change your heart.

He means he won’t bully IJ nor his family. He aims to win her heart fair and square. His words confuse EJ because she isn’t entirely convinced that he’s in love with her.

EJ: I’m asking because I truly don’t understand. How many times have you even met me?

Her question signals to him that a) she doesn’t believe in love at first sight, and b) he can’t confess to her that he fell for her at their first encounter as she wouldn’t believe him. Besides, he himself could hardly believe that he’d fallen for her at first instance.

Remember this moment back in Episode 3?

Thus, he knows he can’t convince her with the truth.

EJ: I’m asking because I truly don’t understand. How many times have you even met me?
YY: How many more times do you need for you to understand why I’m doing this?
EJ: (backtracking) No. No. I just won’t understand. I’m leaving. Take care.

He walks behind her.

YY: Why don’t you be honest? You’re running away from me right now, right?
EJ: (stopping)
YY: Because you’re afraid.
EJ: (not saying a word, turning around to face him) Afraid? What do you mean?
YY: You know what I mean.
EJ: I’ll say it again. My betrothed –
YY: (interrupting her) You don’t love him, right? If you did, that night, you wouldn’t have…

The word “kiss” doesn’t need to be said because they both understand.

YY: I considered playing along with your lame lie, and when you shut me out and pushed me away, I considered walking away. But I don’t want to anymore. So –
EJ: (interrupting him) Alright. I’ll be honest. You’re right. It was that night. That was the night I agreed to a marriage like most marriages in Joseon; one befitting my status. For me, wealth, success, honor, family, and even myself. Of all the things the world deems important, I believed love had the least to do with me.

Let’s stop here. The subs from Viki aren’t as clear as I wish, so I’ll attempt to make sense of it.

EunJo is telling YY that his speculation that she isn’t in love with her betrothed is spot on. In fact, on the very night that their kiss happened, she had just consented to the arranged marriage. But lest he thinks that she’s being avaricious for seeking wealth, success, and honor for her family and herself, she reminds him that her arranged marriage is viewed as a favorable match by people from her social milieu. She can’t expect much more, given her lowly status. Love is simply out of the question. That isn’t how folks from her milieu arrange marriages.

EJ: But that night, deciding on marriage, I asked myself for the first time: what if I’ve let something important slip away? That question made me uneasy. I felt unhappy too. That’s when I saw you.

I’m glad that this is out in the open. This is exactly how it transpired that night. She was feeling like fate had shortchanged her. She felt treated unfairly by life and was given less than what she truly deserved. So, she decided to “steal” the kiss. Lol.

EJ: Seeing a man waiting for me for over four hours. I felt like I’d become the heroine in an old folktale. That’s all. Running away from reality and rushing to you. Blinded by self-pity. Spilling my misery to a strange man won a whim. And now, I don’t want to be trapped in a fairy tale.

Three comments:

1. She’s parroting what In JaeYi told her earlier, that she needs to cease imagining that she’s Sim Cheong and dreaming of being rescued by a king to live happily ever after.

2. But remember the beginning of Episode 1 when the Chief Medical Officer at the Hyeminseo defended GilDong’s thievery? He reasoned that since corrupt officials plundered from the people, taking goods that rightly belonged to the people, then GilDong was only returning the goods to their rightful owners.

Using the same argument, EunJo felt cheated by the fates and unfairly denied love and happiness, so she decided to snatch what she considered rightfully hers. Brief as that kiss might be, it was her “reward” for doing good and being filial.

3. I find it sad that after that unfortunate altercation with IJ, she loses her courage, her defiance. (lol. IJ is really a “jaesu eopseo.”) I think Yi Yeon senses the change in her.

YY: You are lying.
EJ: Don’t follow me.

YY chases after her then blocks her path.

YY: I’m the one who got rejected, but why are you angry? Just one word is enough. One word from you saying you’ll accept me.

She wonders to herself why he’s so serious. She then remembers the Elder Son Im’s threat to show no mercy to her and her kin.

Thus, she decides that she needs to say mean things to YY to end this. It’s this whole “you have to be cruel to be kind” trope.

EJ: (coldly) I’ve already given my answer. Since my status is insignificant is my refusal also insignificant?
YY: That’s not what I meant. Are you twisting my words or pretending to?

He isn’t falling for it. He knows she’s hiding her feelings. But she doubles down. She plays the “class” card to shift attention from the main issue. She argues that since she’s from the commoner’s class, she isn’t surprised that someone from the noble class like him is a) ignoring her request to be left alone, and b) imposing his unwanted attention – or “passing whims” as she calls it – on her.

EJ: I’m not someone who can speak any thought freely. Nor am I able to display any emotion as I please. Everything I feel or think must be measured, restrained and hidden. Never to be revealed to anyone. So I won’t be swayed by passing whims.

I like the imagery of the tall grass here. You have to cut them down to size. Just like what EunJo is doing to Yi Yeol at this very moment.

YY: (speechless)
EJ: That is the gap between you and me.
YY: Whims. You are right. As you said, I grew up without watching my step or holding back. I admit my rambling was a confession that didn’t consider the others, and a love without respect. I wasn’t even curious about that gap you mentioned because I didn’t need to know. I don’t want to pretend I understand now. However, even for someone of my status, it takes dozens, hundreds of rehearsals before appearing before the woman he loves. Each step, heavy and hesitant. People usually call that courage, you know. How cold of you. I’ll be going.

OMG. My heart just exploded.

My comments:

1. Hearing his sincere feelings for her described as passing “whims” broke him. He can’t recover from that. Why? Because he gave so much thought and consideration to their circumstances before he even dared to approach her again. It’s mortifying to learn that his efforts are just considered whimsical by the woman he loves.

2. He did a Mr. Darcy here. He hid behind a wall of stiffness and formality when he acknowledged his faults. Yes, he was being self-centered. Yes, he was inconsiderate. Yes, he was being disrespectful. Yes, he was arrogant. And yes, he remains clueless. He understood that his offenses were so great in her eyes that her rejection of him was perfectly understandable.

You could tell that he just wanted to get out of there and disappear. But not before he confessed one more thing.

3. That’s when he threw the “class” card back at her.

In a few words, he pointed out that it doesn’t matter whether a man is a commoner or a noble when he’s about to hand over his heart to the woman he loves. The feelings of anxiety, apprehension, hesitancy, trepidation, vulnerability are universal for all men. It’s only the hope of receiving the woman’s affection that gives him courage to propose.

But to her, his courage is just a “whim.”

4. And she could have turned him down with compassion and generosity. Instead, her coldness left him with no doubt that he was unwanted.

She dismissed his feelings and proposal as nothing but “whims.”

Her plan worked, though. She wanted to be cruel to be kind.

And that’s why my heart exploded.

It’s been a long long while since I’ve read something so dramatic without the icky-factor of cheesiness.