My Girl meta, eps 5-10
My Girl has got me marathonning almost with no sleep so forgive me if this is a bit disjointed and not really in any order.
But OMG, so much love.
First off, let me get this out. I can’t stand Sae-Hyun. She is selfish and inconsiderate and extremely solipsistic. Let’s start with the whole Yu-Rin saved you from the paparazzi bit but all you can do is whine that Gong-Chan does not live and breathe you. Ugh. And she whines and whines and whines. And then she finds out about Yu-Rin not being a real cousin and of course, even though Gong-Chan asks her not to reveal it, she tells the truth about Yu-Rin’s Dad (though not her real identity) to Grandpa and OMG, the trapped, helpless look on Gong-Chan’s face. And when he looks at Sae-Hyun, you can see that he will never forgive her (he might have if he still loved her but of course that is long gone and she is incapable of winning his heart all over again). Sae-Hyun’s betrayed him all over again. And he has to see his Grandfather cry and my heart breaks for him as you see his hands clench into fists because he invented a happy background for Yu-Rin on purpose, so as not to make his Grandfather feel guilty.
And her reaction to all of it? She is upset because Gong-Chan might be mad at her (and I love how he doesn’t deny he is), but not about the hurt she must have caused him. It’s all about how things make her feel. She never ever puts Gong-Chan first and that is why that relationship should end (contrast it with Yu-Rin stepping aside and helping Gong-Chan or Gong-Chan really suppressing anything he wants and trying to be about what Yu-Rin wants: he tells Jong-Woo he can pursue her, but if Yu-Rin won’t like it, to leave her alone because whatever Yu-Rin wants trumps anything. And that is AFTER he’s realized he’s fallen for her).
But you know what I love about this dorama so much? It feels very realistic. Sae-Hyun might be unsuitable for him (I really think he fell out of love with her in the two years she left him and the feelings he had for her when she came back were based on the memory of what he felt but he’s realized he doesn’t feel that way any more) and she is a horrible woman IMO, but she is not horrible in some cinematic way: just selfish and insensitive and too late (OMG, woman, a blind mouse can tell he is mad for Yu-Rin, why don’t you see it?). Gong-Chan himself is probably the most normal, grown-up dorama hero I’ve seen: he has a grown-up mentality, and a real world steady job, and issues but they are understandable and not weird. And how much do I love that you have a dorama where the heroine fell for the hero because he was just being a good, decent guy to her.
And he is, he is always very thoughtful and kind to Yu-Rin. OMG, the way Gong-Chan’s eyes are always so kind when he looks at her. I am meeeeelting. The thing is, Gong-Chan/Yu-Rin are sheer adorableness. I love the scene in ep 5 (or 6) where she’s left the party because she saw Gong-Chan and Sae-Hyun kissing and she looks up and Gong-Chan is there because Jong-Woo told him (I am going to have a separate paragraph on the sheer awesomeness that is Jong-Woo), a parallel to earlier her looking up because she dropped her shoe and he held it. And there is that AMAZING scene in the snow, outside, where he tells her ‘It’s your birthday’ (because it’s snowing) and he tells her ‘I will give you anything you want, just ask for it’ but of course the one thing she wants (him) she thinks she can’t have and she tells him not to be nice to her and he looks taken aback and hurt and then she basically as well as confesses her feelings to him and OMG the look on his face…so naked. And then the horrid Sae-Hyun comes by and he has to drive her home but they keep staring at each other.
And he is so confused about his feelings so he seizes on an alternative explanation as a crutch and the thing is, I don’t blame him in the least for taking his time to realize what he feels: because how can he? She keeps pulling trick after trick on him and for her, it’s overcompensating for the feelings she has that she believes are hopeless (and I love that she doesn’t try to break up Sae-Hyun and Gong-Chan. Heck, she gives SH musical tickets when she thinks the other person there will be Gong-Chan). But for him, he can’t trust her because he can’t trust his heart to her or his emotions because as far as he can see he has no idea when she is conning or not.
But of course, she does love him, and she’s got it bad. I love the scene where they are in a taxi, and he’s fallen asleep, exhausted, so she doesn’t want to wake him up so she tells the taxi to keep driving around and around. And what a parallel to later, when he drives her home and she is asleep and he can’t bear to wake her so he just sits there and lets her sleep and falls asleep himself.
And Jung-Woo drives by and sees it and OMG his eyes. Lee Jun Ki has the most expressive eyes. And he does this whole ‘eyes shining with unshed tears’ thing that just kills me (OMG, and he does cry once and it’s totally breaking my heart, awwwww). I think I’ve never watched anything in my life where I was so torn about who I wanted Yu-Rin to end up with. I am all about the OTP but Jung-Woo is such a darling, and so funny, and he is just such a good guy.
I love the bit at the end of five when he realizes who it is Yu-Rin is in love with (and he knows GC and YR aren’t cousins) and then he catches her as she falls (whoa, HOT) and tells her, very gently, ‘If you love him, it’s going to hurt.’ And the thing is, you can see him falling, but he does try to get GC and YR together at first (he is the one who tells GC to go look after YR after the party. But I don’t blame him for finally deciding to woo Yu-Rin for himself and trying to win her. As far as he can see, Gong-Chan had his chance and didn’t do anything and he has a girlfriend and I can sympathize with him telling GC that he is in love with YR when he can tell Gong-Chan is about confess his own feelings, as the situation would be really unbearable for him. For the same reason, I don’t blame him for not telling Yu-Rin what he saw (on which more later), that GC is mad about her and letting her think he doesn’t care. He is a good guy, not a Saint (and I love that he is drinking, all upset, and these mobster guys pick a fight and he thanks them for it, heh). At first, Jong-Woo is confused about his new feelings but not for long. Of course, the problem is, he’s sort of tried to woo her as a reflex when they first meet so she just assumes it’s more meaningless of the same. She doesn’t get to see any of his moments of being upset about her or what he does for her. She just thinks he is being his flighty self.
And I love that scene when he sees her crying over Gong-Chan (and she is sloshed) and he wryly mutters ‘The least you could do when bawling and crying another guy’s name is to look plain in my eyes’ and he has the whole shining with unshed tears thing and I am a goner. And OMG, then he has the shop-keeper call Gong-Chan to pick her up (because earlier on he tried, tried really hard to be selfless, He gave Gong-Chan his chance). And he also tells Yu-Rin he will be her ‘bamboo field’ and doing that rally gesture (aka someone she can tell things she can’t tell anyone else. Must suck for him awfully). Actually, I think he is the only one in possession of all the facts, and everyone’s feelings right now.
I love the bit where he is in a bar and his bartender/friend calls Yu-Rin over and she drags him out to cheer him up and they end up having a blast playing all those games and video arcade stuff and AWWWW. Jung-Woo is going to have his heart trampled so badly and I feel horrible. I don’t think he should end with Yu-Rin (because Yu-Rin/Gong-Chan=LOVE) but of boy, I wish there was a happy ending for him. He keeps rescuing Yu-Rin: not just from thugs at the beginning but from social embarrassment: when SH invites YR with her and GC and JW knows it would be painful to her, he grabs Yu-Rin’s hand and tells everyone they’ll leave (and OMG the look on Gong-Chan’s face), and from being lonely (when Gong-Chan has to cancel the Jeju trip and he runs to the airport to make her feel better). He is just all-around awesome. I’ve decided that:
a. I am moving ‘King and the Clown’ way up in my list of things to watch (and hey, he’s definitely pretty enough to be a King’s concubine) and
b. If they ever made a proper live action version of ‘Peach Girl’ (because the Taiwanese one was an abomination), Lee Jun Ki is totally my dream Kairi.
OK, now that I’ve blabbered on about Jung-Woo and LJK, I have to point out that despite all of the above, I still adore Gong-Chan and am rooting for him and Yu-Rin like crazy. They are just so tentative and mutely passionate about each other. Just look at the look on his face as she tells him she is leaving in ep 6. He can’t bear it. And then when Yu-Rin is so vulnerable because of her father (the useless lame jerk. And the bit where she had to demean herself to karaoke guy? Horrible. It kills me that at the same time GC is flipping about her not being home yet) and Gong-Chan (reasonably) assumes that she was conning him yet again and blows up at her because he, himself, has genuine feelings for her, but then he finds out the truth and OMG he is so guilty.
The only thing hotter than an angsty dorama hero is a guilty angsty dorama hero. And he finds her at the docks, crying for her father, and he just holds her and he is so gentle and I die.
I just love how he always but always takes care of her. When he comes to pick her up when she is completely drunk (after Jung-Woo had the clerk call Gong-Chan), that whole scene is both hilarious and completely tender. He sees her climb the Xmas tree and pull a star down and he catches her as she falls and the way he looks at her. And then we get the funny of the nuns who think he is some wicked seducer, heeee. And then we get the tender again, in the car, and the funny when she throws up on his coat and he is horrified. And both tender and funny when he makes the guy friend sleep outside, with himself, because Yu-Rin is all alone. AWWWW.
And he catches a cold and she makes him that remedy thing. And I love the bit when she asks him why he needs a new coat and he is so vain so he goes (and he is goaded to breaking point because her friends told him YR always rants about him) ‘that’s why: it stinks of vomit’ and her reaction: ‘Gong-Chan, why did you throw up in your coat?’ Heeeeee. So he just says it’s his fault she was upset so ‘we’ll just pretend it was I who threw up.’ Heeeee.
I love how he buys her a snow globe as a present and he is like a little kid, waiting for it to snow, and then he gives it to her. And she tells him she quits and he is so desperate to keep her around even if he doesn’t know why.
I love the bit where she tells him to meet her at the 63 building and he is late (I think because he doesn’t want to face that the ‘I am leaving’ is what she is going to say) but he finally comes and she is in the elevator going down and he keeps saying: ‘I will let her go. I won’t let her go. I must let her go. I can’t. I should. I will not.’ OMG. I am dead dead dead. And then he blurts it out she can leave but he is so intense. And he takes her for a seafood special and they have those bantering jokes about clams and ants and everything. I love the two of them together so much.
And later he tricks her into staying at least until his aunt’s wedding and he is so pleased with himself, like a kid, that even his secretary notices (btw, love the cute secondary romance between her and Yu-Rin’s friend who is a lot cuter with new hairdo. I bet no one treated her other than Ms. Business before).
And he is jealous of the outfit Yu-Rin is going to wear to a musical with Jung-Woo but for complicated reasons actually JW ends up there with SH so Gong-Chan tells Yu-Rin the two of them should go somewhere (‘you are fun and I am bored’ heeeee). And I love the scene of them walking. And he takes her to 63 building and she keeps conning him (about the breath holding in elevator thing eg). And I love after she went off to buy hot potatoes and he can’t see her so he desperately closes his eyes and counts until 5 (she told him if you do that, and see someone, you’ll love them) and then he sees her smile at him from the food stand and the LOOK. ON. HIS. FACE. And he goes ‘Seol Gong Chan, you must be insane’ and she cons him again about potatoes and he is angry because his emotions are real but he feels he can’t trust her because what if all she is doing is scamming and scamming and scamming (of course, as I pointed out above, I really think she is in overdrive to compensate for her vulnerability).
We also have funny bits, like when they are alone in the house and she is afraid she’ll jump him, or the X-files/Professional/Bond spoofs. Or the bit where he sees her going to buy buns for Grandpa so he gives her a ride, ‘in order to access your work conditions’ but clearly because he just wants to spend time with her and he is all agog at the cheap prices, and then there is that hilarious bit where the bra seller tells her to get an A cup and she insists she’s a B and then the seller tells her to ask Gong-Chan’s opinion and Gong-Chan grins and tells Yu-Rin to listen to the expert (seller). Yu-Rin is all indignant ‘did you see them, huh?’ and then she remembers and he grins and goes ‘I remember. I should have lied.’ AWWWWW. And then they have to ride the bus back because he car got towed :P I just love the two of them together. Almost as much as I love Gong-Chan-Yu-Rin-Jong-Woo together. The scene where JW and YR go to a movie and drag GC with them ‘for the money’ is priceless, especially since YR falls asleep in the middle and her head flops on GC’s shoulder and you see JW reach and move her head to HIS shoulder. ROFL. And I love the buddy vibes between the guy friends and the whole ‘which one of them is mom and dad’ talk. Heeeee.
But one of my all time favorite scenes so far is when she falls down the stairs so as not to go to Japan. And Gong-Chan races to the hospital and he is freaking out, so worried for her. And then he walks outside and is grasping the railing so hard going ‘It’s because I am worried etc etc’ but then OMG he comes back into her sickroom and brings her Japanese food and she is asleep and he sees her leg bandaged and you can tell it’s killing him to see her hurt and he's so tender *guuuuh* and he so hesitantly and softly strokes her hair and he is so unguarded. And I die. And of course, Jong-Woo sees it and OMG, he breaks my heart too because he whispers ‘Oh no, Gong-Chan, not you too’ because up until that he thought it was one-sided and I love how he really doesn’t want to go against his best friend and how it makes him feel bad later.
And then she wakes up and thinks the food is from Jong-Woo. Booooo! (Though it’s not JW’s fault).
And then GC and YR almost go to Jeju but he cancels at the last minute to give interview with Sae-Hyun and finally get their relationship public (and I love that the consideration that sways him? Protecting Yu-Rin and her identity) and Yu-Rin is so upset and Jong-Woo who was flipping out earlier about the trip (playing squash and looking mighty fine sweaty) comes running to the airport and makes her feel better. But OMG, it’s killing him. Just like I love the scene where her ears are cold and then she sees TV announcement about Gong-Chan and Sae-Hyun’s engagement and she is frozen in misery and Jung-Woo sees it, so he breathes on his hands and holds them over her ears, both to warm her up and to distract her and he jokes ‘these are million dollar earmuffs.’ (Just like he later takes her somewhere warm to warm up).
And then, after the Jeju thing, Gong-Chan finds the upset Yu-Rin and she tries to hit him and spins out and he catches her and OMG OMG OMG OMG there is a kiss. And she is so mortified she plays head and he ends up having to lug her, heeee. And then he apologizes and they call it even and she is a bit sick so he makes her that egg thing she made for him even though it takes him forever. And heeeee, he puts in expensive liquor because it’s her and she is all delighted (the thing is, I can see why she is obsessed with money. She’s been broke for so long. Just like I like that she’s clearly had a hard life, but she won’t mope about it. Just like I can see why both guys love her despite her pranking. She really is a darling).
Of course, Jung-Woo doesn’t really have a chance and a part of him knows it: just look at the look on his face when he sees Gong-Chan trying to grab money out of Yu-Rin’s hands and they are being so playful and happy. Or the way Gong-Chan touches her mittened hand in the snow (and when he takes her out and it snows and he can’t bear to tell her she has to leave). Or the way he defends her from Jung-Woo’s mother, so effectively, so automatically.
But of course Jung-Woo is going to try, and Gong-Chan knows about Jung-Woo’s feelings and he has no idea Yu-Rin is in love with him, GC, and he can’t break it to the family that she isn’t the real cousin because they will all be devastated, especially Grandpa (he saw how hard Grandpa took finding out even part of the truth) and the real cousin is dead and if Grandpa found it out he’d be so guilty, and his best friends wants Yu-Rin and Gong-Chan doesn’t think he can have her and so of course, Gong-Chan being Gong-Chan, he is going to do what he’s always done and do the right thing and completely sublimate his own desires even if it kills him.
And so we get my favorite scene so far. Because he’s gotten her on the bench outside the bridge and she asks him what is going on, and he has been quiet for forever because he doesn’t want to say it (because he’s realized what he really feels) and you see him clutch the ‘liar’s coin’ she gave him earlier (she told him if you hold it, you can tell even the biggest lie’ and he is clutching it tighter and tighter, so his knuckles are white and he says, very quietly ‘Yu-Rin, will you stay with me for the rest of my life…’ and she looks at him and asks him ‘as what?’ and he replies (and the hand with the coin is a really tight fist now) ‘As my cousin.’ OMFG. The LOOK on his face. I really think he phrased it that way because he wanted to prolong the inevitable and dream for at least a little bit.
And later, they are having dinner and she asks him if he can be happy having her as a cousin for the rest of his life and he is clutching the coin again and says ‘yes.’
Oh my poor woobie OTP. I confess I was bawling at that point. Evil dorama. You drag me in with funny and then you ambush me with angst.
But of course it’s so hard for him. I love the scene where it’s just the two of them, in private, and she asks him ‘can you bear to be my cousin even when we are alone?’ (I am not sure if she is asking because she thinks he likes her, or, more likely, because they really aren’t related so playacting must be hard) and OMG the intense stares and the chemistry and everything. I am dead dead dead. And then you see him very slowly reach out his hand and touch her hair as if she is made of glass and will shatter at any but the lightest touch and he says with an effort ‘See, I can bear it’ or something to that effect. OMG. I am deader.
And she leaves (she was sticking a needle into his finger to help with indigestion) and you see him suck on his finger and go ‘It hurts’ and he is clearly not talking about the needle sting. Poor poor OTP.
I also love the bit where she explains why she likes the 63 building, because it’s so tall and when you are in trouble, you can’t run far but you can run high so when he has things he can’t bear, that is what he should do (I bet this is going to come into play later).
And OMG, the bit where he decides he really will never have her and erases the picture of her that she stuck on his cell. OMG. Evil angst! Get together soon, OTP, before I expire!
x-posted to my lj
But OMG, so much love.
First off, let me get this out. I can’t stand Sae-Hyun. She is selfish and inconsiderate and extremely solipsistic. Let’s start with the whole Yu-Rin saved you from the paparazzi bit but all you can do is whine that Gong-Chan does not live and breathe you. Ugh. And she whines and whines and whines. And then she finds out about Yu-Rin not being a real cousin and of course, even though Gong-Chan asks her not to reveal it, she tells the truth about Yu-Rin’s Dad (though not her real identity) to Grandpa and OMG, the trapped, helpless look on Gong-Chan’s face. And when he looks at Sae-Hyun, you can see that he will never forgive her (he might have if he still loved her but of course that is long gone and she is incapable of winning his heart all over again). Sae-Hyun’s betrayed him all over again. And he has to see his Grandfather cry and my heart breaks for him as you see his hands clench into fists because he invented a happy background for Yu-Rin on purpose, so as not to make his Grandfather feel guilty.
And her reaction to all of it? She is upset because Gong-Chan might be mad at her (and I love how he doesn’t deny he is), but not about the hurt she must have caused him. It’s all about how things make her feel. She never ever puts Gong-Chan first and that is why that relationship should end (contrast it with Yu-Rin stepping aside and helping Gong-Chan or Gong-Chan really suppressing anything he wants and trying to be about what Yu-Rin wants: he tells Jong-Woo he can pursue her, but if Yu-Rin won’t like it, to leave her alone because whatever Yu-Rin wants trumps anything. And that is AFTER he’s realized he’s fallen for her).
But you know what I love about this dorama so much? It feels very realistic. Sae-Hyun might be unsuitable for him (I really think he fell out of love with her in the two years she left him and the feelings he had for her when she came back were based on the memory of what he felt but he’s realized he doesn’t feel that way any more) and she is a horrible woman IMO, but she is not horrible in some cinematic way: just selfish and insensitive and too late (OMG, woman, a blind mouse can tell he is mad for Yu-Rin, why don’t you see it?). Gong-Chan himself is probably the most normal, grown-up dorama hero I’ve seen: he has a grown-up mentality, and a real world steady job, and issues but they are understandable and not weird. And how much do I love that you have a dorama where the heroine fell for the hero because he was just being a good, decent guy to her.
And he is, he is always very thoughtful and kind to Yu-Rin. OMG, the way Gong-Chan’s eyes are always so kind when he looks at her. I am meeeeelting. The thing is, Gong-Chan/Yu-Rin are sheer adorableness. I love the scene in ep 5 (or 6) where she’s left the party because she saw Gong-Chan and Sae-Hyun kissing and she looks up and Gong-Chan is there because Jong-Woo told him (I am going to have a separate paragraph on the sheer awesomeness that is Jong-Woo), a parallel to earlier her looking up because she dropped her shoe and he held it. And there is that AMAZING scene in the snow, outside, where he tells her ‘It’s your birthday’ (because it’s snowing) and he tells her ‘I will give you anything you want, just ask for it’ but of course the one thing she wants (him) she thinks she can’t have and she tells him not to be nice to her and he looks taken aback and hurt and then she basically as well as confesses her feelings to him and OMG the look on his face…so naked. And then the horrid Sae-Hyun comes by and he has to drive her home but they keep staring at each other.
And he is so confused about his feelings so he seizes on an alternative explanation as a crutch and the thing is, I don’t blame him in the least for taking his time to realize what he feels: because how can he? She keeps pulling trick after trick on him and for her, it’s overcompensating for the feelings she has that she believes are hopeless (and I love that she doesn’t try to break up Sae-Hyun and Gong-Chan. Heck, she gives SH musical tickets when she thinks the other person there will be Gong-Chan). But for him, he can’t trust her because he can’t trust his heart to her or his emotions because as far as he can see he has no idea when she is conning or not.
But of course, she does love him, and she’s got it bad. I love the scene where they are in a taxi, and he’s fallen asleep, exhausted, so she doesn’t want to wake him up so she tells the taxi to keep driving around and around. And what a parallel to later, when he drives her home and she is asleep and he can’t bear to wake her so he just sits there and lets her sleep and falls asleep himself.
And Jung-Woo drives by and sees it and OMG his eyes. Lee Jun Ki has the most expressive eyes. And he does this whole ‘eyes shining with unshed tears’ thing that just kills me (OMG, and he does cry once and it’s totally breaking my heart, awwwww). I think I’ve never watched anything in my life where I was so torn about who I wanted Yu-Rin to end up with. I am all about the OTP but Jung-Woo is such a darling, and so funny, and he is just such a good guy.
I love the bit at the end of five when he realizes who it is Yu-Rin is in love with (and he knows GC and YR aren’t cousins) and then he catches her as she falls (whoa, HOT) and tells her, very gently, ‘If you love him, it’s going to hurt.’ And the thing is, you can see him falling, but he does try to get GC and YR together at first (he is the one who tells GC to go look after YR after the party. But I don’t blame him for finally deciding to woo Yu-Rin for himself and trying to win her. As far as he can see, Gong-Chan had his chance and didn’t do anything and he has a girlfriend and I can sympathize with him telling GC that he is in love with YR when he can tell Gong-Chan is about confess his own feelings, as the situation would be really unbearable for him. For the same reason, I don’t blame him for not telling Yu-Rin what he saw (on which more later), that GC is mad about her and letting her think he doesn’t care. He is a good guy, not a Saint (and I love that he is drinking, all upset, and these mobster guys pick a fight and he thanks them for it, heh). At first, Jong-Woo is confused about his new feelings but not for long. Of course, the problem is, he’s sort of tried to woo her as a reflex when they first meet so she just assumes it’s more meaningless of the same. She doesn’t get to see any of his moments of being upset about her or what he does for her. She just thinks he is being his flighty self.
And I love that scene when he sees her crying over Gong-Chan (and she is sloshed) and he wryly mutters ‘The least you could do when bawling and crying another guy’s name is to look plain in my eyes’ and he has the whole shining with unshed tears thing and I am a goner. And OMG, then he has the shop-keeper call Gong-Chan to pick her up (because earlier on he tried, tried really hard to be selfless, He gave Gong-Chan his chance). And he also tells Yu-Rin he will be her ‘bamboo field’ and doing that rally gesture (aka someone she can tell things she can’t tell anyone else. Must suck for him awfully). Actually, I think he is the only one in possession of all the facts, and everyone’s feelings right now.
I love the bit where he is in a bar and his bartender/friend calls Yu-Rin over and she drags him out to cheer him up and they end up having a blast playing all those games and video arcade stuff and AWWWW. Jung-Woo is going to have his heart trampled so badly and I feel horrible. I don’t think he should end with Yu-Rin (because Yu-Rin/Gong-Chan=LOVE) but of boy, I wish there was a happy ending for him. He keeps rescuing Yu-Rin: not just from thugs at the beginning but from social embarrassment: when SH invites YR with her and GC and JW knows it would be painful to her, he grabs Yu-Rin’s hand and tells everyone they’ll leave (and OMG the look on Gong-Chan’s face), and from being lonely (when Gong-Chan has to cancel the Jeju trip and he runs to the airport to make her feel better). He is just all-around awesome. I’ve decided that:
a. I am moving ‘King and the Clown’ way up in my list of things to watch (and hey, he’s definitely pretty enough to be a King’s concubine) and
b. If they ever made a proper live action version of ‘Peach Girl’ (because the Taiwanese one was an abomination), Lee Jun Ki is totally my dream Kairi.
OK, now that I’ve blabbered on about Jung-Woo and LJK, I have to point out that despite all of the above, I still adore Gong-Chan and am rooting for him and Yu-Rin like crazy. They are just so tentative and mutely passionate about each other. Just look at the look on his face as she tells him she is leaving in ep 6. He can’t bear it. And then when Yu-Rin is so vulnerable because of her father (the useless lame jerk. And the bit where she had to demean herself to karaoke guy? Horrible. It kills me that at the same time GC is flipping about her not being home yet) and Gong-Chan (reasonably) assumes that she was conning him yet again and blows up at her because he, himself, has genuine feelings for her, but then he finds out the truth and OMG he is so guilty.
The only thing hotter than an angsty dorama hero is a guilty angsty dorama hero. And he finds her at the docks, crying for her father, and he just holds her and he is so gentle and I die.
I just love how he always but always takes care of her. When he comes to pick her up when she is completely drunk (after Jung-Woo had the clerk call Gong-Chan), that whole scene is both hilarious and completely tender. He sees her climb the Xmas tree and pull a star down and he catches her as she falls and the way he looks at her. And then we get the funny of the nuns who think he is some wicked seducer, heeee. And then we get the tender again, in the car, and the funny when she throws up on his coat and he is horrified. And both tender and funny when he makes the guy friend sleep outside, with himself, because Yu-Rin is all alone. AWWWW.
And he catches a cold and she makes him that remedy thing. And I love the bit when she asks him why he needs a new coat and he is so vain so he goes (and he is goaded to breaking point because her friends told him YR always rants about him) ‘that’s why: it stinks of vomit’ and her reaction: ‘Gong-Chan, why did you throw up in your coat?’ Heeeeee. So he just says it’s his fault she was upset so ‘we’ll just pretend it was I who threw up.’ Heeeee.
I love how he buys her a snow globe as a present and he is like a little kid, waiting for it to snow, and then he gives it to her. And she tells him she quits and he is so desperate to keep her around even if he doesn’t know why.
I love the bit where she tells him to meet her at the 63 building and he is late (I think because he doesn’t want to face that the ‘I am leaving’ is what she is going to say) but he finally comes and she is in the elevator going down and he keeps saying: ‘I will let her go. I won’t let her go. I must let her go. I can’t. I should. I will not.’ OMG. I am dead dead dead. And then he blurts it out she can leave but he is so intense. And he takes her for a seafood special and they have those bantering jokes about clams and ants and everything. I love the two of them together so much.
And later he tricks her into staying at least until his aunt’s wedding and he is so pleased with himself, like a kid, that even his secretary notices (btw, love the cute secondary romance between her and Yu-Rin’s friend who is a lot cuter with new hairdo. I bet no one treated her other than Ms. Business before).
And he is jealous of the outfit Yu-Rin is going to wear to a musical with Jung-Woo but for complicated reasons actually JW ends up there with SH so Gong-Chan tells Yu-Rin the two of them should go somewhere (‘you are fun and I am bored’ heeeee). And I love the scene of them walking. And he takes her to 63 building and she keeps conning him (about the breath holding in elevator thing eg). And I love after she went off to buy hot potatoes and he can’t see her so he desperately closes his eyes and counts until 5 (she told him if you do that, and see someone, you’ll love them) and then he sees her smile at him from the food stand and the LOOK. ON. HIS. FACE. And he goes ‘Seol Gong Chan, you must be insane’ and she cons him again about potatoes and he is angry because his emotions are real but he feels he can’t trust her because what if all she is doing is scamming and scamming and scamming (of course, as I pointed out above, I really think she is in overdrive to compensate for her vulnerability).
We also have funny bits, like when they are alone in the house and she is afraid she’ll jump him, or the X-files/Professional/Bond spoofs. Or the bit where he sees her going to buy buns for Grandpa so he gives her a ride, ‘in order to access your work conditions’ but clearly because he just wants to spend time with her and he is all agog at the cheap prices, and then there is that hilarious bit where the bra seller tells her to get an A cup and she insists she’s a B and then the seller tells her to ask Gong-Chan’s opinion and Gong-Chan grins and tells Yu-Rin to listen to the expert (seller). Yu-Rin is all indignant ‘did you see them, huh?’ and then she remembers and he grins and goes ‘I remember. I should have lied.’ AWWWWW. And then they have to ride the bus back because he car got towed :P I just love the two of them together. Almost as much as I love Gong-Chan-Yu-Rin-Jong-Woo together. The scene where JW and YR go to a movie and drag GC with them ‘for the money’ is priceless, especially since YR falls asleep in the middle and her head flops on GC’s shoulder and you see JW reach and move her head to HIS shoulder. ROFL. And I love the buddy vibes between the guy friends and the whole ‘which one of them is mom and dad’ talk. Heeeee.
But one of my all time favorite scenes so far is when she falls down the stairs so as not to go to Japan. And Gong-Chan races to the hospital and he is freaking out, so worried for her. And then he walks outside and is grasping the railing so hard going ‘It’s because I am worried etc etc’ but then OMG he comes back into her sickroom and brings her Japanese food and she is asleep and he sees her leg bandaged and you can tell it’s killing him to see her hurt and he's so tender *guuuuh* and he so hesitantly and softly strokes her hair and he is so unguarded. And I die. And of course, Jong-Woo sees it and OMG, he breaks my heart too because he whispers ‘Oh no, Gong-Chan, not you too’ because up until that he thought it was one-sided and I love how he really doesn’t want to go against his best friend and how it makes him feel bad later.
And then she wakes up and thinks the food is from Jong-Woo. Booooo! (Though it’s not JW’s fault).
And then GC and YR almost go to Jeju but he cancels at the last minute to give interview with Sae-Hyun and finally get their relationship public (and I love that the consideration that sways him? Protecting Yu-Rin and her identity) and Yu-Rin is so upset and Jong-Woo who was flipping out earlier about the trip (playing squash and looking mighty fine sweaty) comes running to the airport and makes her feel better. But OMG, it’s killing him. Just like I love the scene where her ears are cold and then she sees TV announcement about Gong-Chan and Sae-Hyun’s engagement and she is frozen in misery and Jung-Woo sees it, so he breathes on his hands and holds them over her ears, both to warm her up and to distract her and he jokes ‘these are million dollar earmuffs.’ (Just like he later takes her somewhere warm to warm up).
And then, after the Jeju thing, Gong-Chan finds the upset Yu-Rin and she tries to hit him and spins out and he catches her and OMG OMG OMG OMG there is a kiss. And she is so mortified she plays head and he ends up having to lug her, heeee. And then he apologizes and they call it even and she is a bit sick so he makes her that egg thing she made for him even though it takes him forever. And heeeee, he puts in expensive liquor because it’s her and she is all delighted (the thing is, I can see why she is obsessed with money. She’s been broke for so long. Just like I like that she’s clearly had a hard life, but she won’t mope about it. Just like I can see why both guys love her despite her pranking. She really is a darling).
Of course, Jung-Woo doesn’t really have a chance and a part of him knows it: just look at the look on his face when he sees Gong-Chan trying to grab money out of Yu-Rin’s hands and they are being so playful and happy. Or the way Gong-Chan touches her mittened hand in the snow (and when he takes her out and it snows and he can’t bear to tell her she has to leave). Or the way he defends her from Jung-Woo’s mother, so effectively, so automatically.
But of course Jung-Woo is going to try, and Gong-Chan knows about Jung-Woo’s feelings and he has no idea Yu-Rin is in love with him, GC, and he can’t break it to the family that she isn’t the real cousin because they will all be devastated, especially Grandpa (he saw how hard Grandpa took finding out even part of the truth) and the real cousin is dead and if Grandpa found it out he’d be so guilty, and his best friends wants Yu-Rin and Gong-Chan doesn’t think he can have her and so of course, Gong-Chan being Gong-Chan, he is going to do what he’s always done and do the right thing and completely sublimate his own desires even if it kills him.
And so we get my favorite scene so far. Because he’s gotten her on the bench outside the bridge and she asks him what is going on, and he has been quiet for forever because he doesn’t want to say it (because he’s realized what he really feels) and you see him clutch the ‘liar’s coin’ she gave him earlier (she told him if you hold it, you can tell even the biggest lie’ and he is clutching it tighter and tighter, so his knuckles are white and he says, very quietly ‘Yu-Rin, will you stay with me for the rest of my life…’ and she looks at him and asks him ‘as what?’ and he replies (and the hand with the coin is a really tight fist now) ‘As my cousin.’ OMFG. The LOOK on his face. I really think he phrased it that way because he wanted to prolong the inevitable and dream for at least a little bit.
And later, they are having dinner and she asks him if he can be happy having her as a cousin for the rest of his life and he is clutching the coin again and says ‘yes.’
Oh my poor woobie OTP. I confess I was bawling at that point. Evil dorama. You drag me in with funny and then you ambush me with angst.
But of course it’s so hard for him. I love the scene where it’s just the two of them, in private, and she asks him ‘can you bear to be my cousin even when we are alone?’ (I am not sure if she is asking because she thinks he likes her, or, more likely, because they really aren’t related so playacting must be hard) and OMG the intense stares and the chemistry and everything. I am dead dead dead. And then you see him very slowly reach out his hand and touch her hair as if she is made of glass and will shatter at any but the lightest touch and he says with an effort ‘See, I can bear it’ or something to that effect. OMG. I am deader.
And she leaves (she was sticking a needle into his finger to help with indigestion) and you see him suck on his finger and go ‘It hurts’ and he is clearly not talking about the needle sting. Poor poor OTP.
I also love the bit where she explains why she likes the 63 building, because it’s so tall and when you are in trouble, you can’t run far but you can run high so when he has things he can’t bear, that is what he should do (I bet this is going to come into play later).
And OMG, the bit where he decides he really will never have her and erases the picture of her that she stuck on his cell. OMG. Evil angst! Get together soon, OTP, before I expire!
x-posted to my lj