3GGG

Indeed, now we'll get to see who he chooses and how she acts once she's not in the dark anymore. It's the same thing with learning about her grandma's illness. One by one, she's discovering all the things people kept from her. BTW, Dal Mi, for me, is actually the main character and everyone else is a supporting character to her story.

I'm also looking forward to her finding out that her sister lied about being the girl in the swing. And I want her to find out that her father would've succeeded, had he not died on that bus.

Exactly. In fact, Dal Mi is actually the main character of the story. All characters (in one way or another) relate back to her. Take away the letters, and she may not have met Do-San or worked with him. And the letters that meant so much to her, were ones that Do-San couldn't understand and he needed HJP to kind of explain them to him. That alone hints at the fact that he's forcing himself to be someone he's not in order to fill in the role Dal-Mi is looking for.

We saw it happened when she celebrated his birthday (though it was really HJP's) and when she mentioned the relation between the "type of blood" and "personality", Do-San forced down his own feelings/thoughts in favor of "playing along".

No matter what happens, I'm kind of glad that the secret will be out soon. Because then all characters will be deciding things on an even play field.

It was the same for "The Fairy and the Woodcutter" but the FL ended up with the 2ML in that one. And, in fact, there the FL assumed the ML was her "reincarnated husband" and pursued him based on that assumption, allowing her and the 2ML to develop a relationship without baggage. Then, of course, after they fell in love we found out that the 2ML was in fact, her husband. So I wouldn't put it past the writer to do that here. ;)

Don't lose hope! :D

Towards the first point, I'd argued that this has been done before. In The Fairy and the Woodcutter it turned out that the 2ML was actually the end game. In that show, like in this one, the FL believed the 2ML to be her "husband" and thus started pursuing him based on that "lie" (or rather, that misunderstanding). That gave the writer room to develop the relationship between the FL and the 2ML with a clean slate and have them fall in love "on-screen". Plus, no matter the order we see the actors in, HJP actually had a BIG role in the first episode, whereas Do-San didn't come in until the third episode. Based on air time alone, it's hard to see HJP as the 2ML.

As to your second point, that also happened in both SWP and TF&TW but the end result remained. It simply was painful for those whose ship was broken. That's why I mentioned that the writer was unfair to Do-San, because he gave him a HUGE flaw (being dishonest based on fear) to ensure he couldn't be the end game (because his lovable, otherwise).

I think he may end up following Alex to the US at the end. Or at least, that's what I'm thinking given the way we have been shown that Alex seems very interested only in Do-San.

I think HJP didn't anticipate that the lie would extend to this point. But he's always been thinking about Dal-Mi and not wanting to hurt her. In fact, not reveling the truth is actually hurting him. And I'm pretty sure Grandma knows that as well. And let's not forget that the letters were Grandma's idea to begin with, so revealing the truth would also mean hurting his benefactor. The fact that he was being genuine as he continued to write the letters (which is why he kept them) is something that he himself isn't yet aware of but he's starting to realize it.

At the same time, revealing the truth to Dal Mi for Do-San would mean putting himself at a disadvantage. Yes, he doesn't want to hurt her. But it's clear he's also afraid that revealing the truth would put an end to Dal-Mi's feelings for him. Which is why he's obsessed with asking her "what do you like about me" and why he asked her "to not remember him as the guy in the letters" a few episodes ago (can't remember which episode exactly he asked that, though).

If you like his acting, I HIGHLY recommend "Catch the Ghost" he has one of the best roles in that one. His character is interesting, riddled with flaws and pains, and ABSOLUTELY adorable at the same time!

I do think he'll be the end game and that she'll remain friends and co-partners with Do-San. I feel bad for Do-San, but he got the short end of the stick by having him establish a relationship with Dal-Mi based on a lie.

I politely differ on that one, but we are can still enjoy the show. For me, i doubt the kiss would've taken place had the letters not been at play. Or rather, had Do-San come clean, the kiss may not have happened as they would still be in the "getting to know each other" phase. Though that doesn't mean she wouldn't have kissed him later, though. Just that, because of the lie, the entire romantic relationship with her feels unearned. Whereas his relationship as a working partner feels more genuine.

Agreed! That scene with the grandma covering him with the umbrella... I'm so excited to see that scene! Kim Seon Ho is amazing at portraying pain. His role in Catch the Ghost made me a big fan of his!

So this episode just confirms something and I'm starting to see why the writer needed the lie to last for so long (a common complaint I see regarding this show). So, hear me out:

Basically, when it comes to the romance part, this story follows the forumla of "She was Pretty".

> You have two characters who developed a tight relationship "off-screen" when they were young and who reconnect again once they are grown up.

Now, the reason why "a lie" must take place (in SWP, the FL asks the 2FL to pretend to be her and meet the ML; while in SU Do-San is asked to pretend he is HJP in a way) and that lie must be extended as much as possible, is simple:

> The lie acts as an excuse for the writer to develop a *new* relationship between the ML (in this case, HJP) and the FL (Dal Mi), rather than continue something that already developed (there would be no story otherwise).

> So now, we (the audience) get to see them re-establish a relationship without baggage. And, in so doing, we'll experience the entire process of them developing feelings for each other without their "past" coming into play and lending them a sort of "handicap".

Of course, in this case, Do-San gets the short end of the stick (just like it happened to the 2FL in She was Pretty) because he gets the handicap instead. Rather than have him build a relationship with Dal-Mi, he got a girl who was already "in love with him" and that may have played a role in why he "fell in love" with her so fast. The key part here is that, had they met as strangers, he might not have even fallen in love with her. What he liked was the fact that she believed in him from the get-go when nobody else did, but that was in big part because of the letters.

This is also why it's harder to buy the romance between Do-San and Dal-Mi, because we didn't see the development of their relationship properly. Instead, Dal-Mi was already "in love" with a version of Do-San, leaving him trying his best to fill in shoes that weren't his. Not only was he dishonest with Dal-Mi, but with himself as well. And the lie of trying to act like someone he's not... well, it was bound to take a toll on him. Which we kind of see when he keeps asking her "what do you like about me?"

Now, this hurts because the writer "used" Do-San (an interesting character if taken out of the love triangle) as a mere plot device. He was there so that Dal-Mi could fall in love with HJP despite her thinking Do-San was her first love (again, following "She was Pretty").

Had Do-San been honest and come clean to Dal-Mi near the start of the drama, they could've tried to build a relationship on even grounds. That relationship might have been as friends first and then moved onto something more, which is what is happening between HJP and Dal-Mi instead.

As it stands, even the last episode's kiss (episode 7) is unearned. Dal-Mi kissed a version of Do-San that wasn't real. She is, after all, still tying him with the letters that meant so much to her.

We'll see how the story shapes up next week, as the secret will certainly be revelealed. And now both guys would need to mend the broken trust. But, at this point, Do-San will have a harder time. Since him continuing the lie also meant he took advantage of the "handicap" it provided him.

Based on the rest of the responses, that may indeed be the reason. So now I shall be less frustrated with this issue (as i have seen it in other dramas, just not as prevalent as in this one). I kind of wished there was a better way to translate whatever is being said so it doesn't become misconstrued when taken at face value. But that's the difficulty of languages and it's why translation and localization are two separate things. Localization is always better because it accounts for the target culture and changes things to avoid misunderstanding when needed. Of course, it's more specialized and therefore more expensive to do.

Oh, i have seen Sherlock. There it makes sense. Irene is a taboo name. She caused great pain to Sherlock so avoiding her name is actually to distance himself emotionally to her.

That's why the ML's brother saying "that woman" makes sense, but not the ML. Though someone has now pointed out to me that they are using formal language when referring to her, so i might indeed be a victim of cultural clash here and a less than ideal form of translation. :)

Interesting, since i am not familiar with the language, I can't really tell when its formal or informal, so that at least alleviates some of my peeve. Thanks for sharing!

It could be, though usually for things like "Oppa" or "Hyung" they simply translate using the name. So i feel like calling her "that woman" is supposed to be somehow "romantic" (according to the writer). Unfortunately for me, it's anything but.

In fact, everytime I hear them calling her that, i immediately picture how Bill Clintom tried to lie about Monica Lewinsky by using those terms (and therefore distancing himself from her), lol. So yeah, just a huge peeve of mine. XD

Honestly, i would be very surprised if the director is misleading us with the visual cues. Even with Fairy and the Woodcutter I called the final couple right because of the visual cues. But we shall see. I'm actually excited to see how this one unfolds.

I agree. Part of HJP's character arc is finally accepting his feelings and understanding that to love someone it means to be vulnerable to them and that's okay. Already, whether he likes it or not, grandma and Dal Mi are the closest thing to family he has. Once he realizes what they mean to him and accepts them fully, then nothing will stop him. Which is why I still think he's the end-game. All the visual cues from the director points at that happening. And usually the visual cues trump whatever the dialogue says. ;)

I think his abandonment issues are consistent with his characters. Because he grew up alone, he doesn't want to rely on anyone so as not to give them an opportunity to leave him. But I think he will get to the point where he will ask for help and will ask for comfort. And that's why the scene where he asks DalMi what she will do when he asks for help is so important. Once he learns of what happened to her, he won't want to leave her. More so once he also learns what's happening with the grandmother. Because for him, who is all alone (a trademark of k-drama MLs), FL and her grandmother will become his world.

I feel the fact that HJP kept the letters already says they meant something to him as well. And i have a feeling HJP may end up finding the last letter DalMi left in the birdhouse (I think it was in episode 2) which will cause him to maybe come clean about being her pen pal.

Like with every show, there are things I like and things I dislike here... But what really frustrates me is WHY so many characters (including the ML) keep referring to the FL as "that woman". It implies her identity is not important enough to warrant being called or thought of as a signular person with a darn name...