I have a theory gu used to be an athlete (remember that jump and CH saying there’s a short track athlete named…
If my theory is true this will make his already complex character even more multilayered (and sad). He is the most interesting male lead I’ve seen lately, the writer is amazing.
I have a theory gu used to be an athlete (remember that jump and CH saying there’s a short track athlete named gu jagyeong?) but had to quit because of his back injury. There is a notion in skorea that athletes have good stamina (read: are good at sex) so he started working as a host boy in a host bar and found unexpected success. He changed his profession while staying in the same field (his nightclub).
There are few things I realised after seeing his possible injury, GU thought MJ should like superficial things in ep 10 and kill her instincts. In ep 12 he adamantly told her to be ordinary and like/do things he thinks women usually do. In ep 10 he told baek he is tired of listening to drunk people speaking and singing. In ep 12 baek said this is why he doesn’t trust people who have worked in host bars.
For those who don’t know, host bars in korea are bars that offer “adult entertainment”, they are usually karaoke rooms men/women visit to drink and sing while having host boys / girls entertain them. When Gu said talk about about superficial thing like other women.. he was probably thinking of the women he had entertained at those bars.
Thanks for this translation. Netflix translated it as she dropped off a cliff and died so that was what I understood…
When it comes to translation you can’t help but have moments where the English translation doesn’t capture the meaning completely or things get lost in translation. In defence of the translator, they are not completely wrong for interpreting what he said as dropping off a cliff as that’s what MJ understood as well. It’s a very small detail that exists to showcase how Gu’s korean is misunderstood at times but unless you caught on him not being a native korean speaker and knew the term drop dead is common in english language, it’s very easy to miss and overlook. It was intentional I think to show how easily his words can get misinterpreted and misunderstood. I have a hunch the accident that took place was driven by misinterpretation of gu’s advice as well but we will see more about that in future episodes im sure. I first watched the ep 9 without subs and the tone of gu’s confession was different from rewatching it with english subtitles.
After rewatching the new episodes I’m certain Gu’s native language is not Korean. He said “she dropped dead” but the talk with baek hinted that her death was related to cars. What he said in korean meant literally dropping from somewhere and dying, in conclusion he translated what he wanted to say literally from English to Korean. He kinda confirmed it when he admitted he’s been forgetting korean to baek. He tried to say she dropped dead as in she died but MJ understood it as jumping off a cliff and dropping dead.
My another theory is that she might’ve been his wife and not just gf who lived with him. I’m not certain about this one but it was suspicious how baek said “I thought my wife died” meaning either a) she was his wife b) baek is married and I’m overanalysing. I hope we learn more about what happened in future episodes, I want to know what exactly went down and what kind of life gu used to live.
My theory is that the ending shows the possible two endings that can happen. Neither are future or past scenes that have happened or that will happen but instead exist to showcase the choices Gu has and might make. It’s also purposefully misleading in order to make viewers think about it for a long time and look forward the next episode. In my opinion, they are trying to make the upcoming happy ending sweeter to viewers by showing us the possibility of a sad ending.
Mr Gu is by far the most interesting character and I look forward his character development. The comment below…
Did anyone else catch gu’s expression when she said she never worshipped him? He was heartbroken and hurting yet his expression was so subtle, they casted the perfect actor for this role his acting is soo good and natural. I think he was trying to either purposefully or subconsciously push MJ away because of his quilt and feeling unworthy. I also believe he is living like this as a way to punish himself and not because he doesn’t actually have money. Now that we have insight about his past looking back at the worship scene makes so much sense, he saw his suffering and depressed ex in MJ. He was teary eyed when he said “sorry I’m an asshole too” and torn apart when he searched for the meaning of “worship”. I think he was hit by sudden surge of quilt because his ex might’ve wanted the same and felt bad for/worried for MJ who was hurting the same way. There are so many hints that he might be korean-American like not knowing what worship means and looking up online the english translation or saying “I mean” casually mid conversation. Anyways I don’t usually care for actors looks but he looked so good cleaned up in the train station lol
Mr Gu is by far the most interesting character and I look forward his character development. The comment below contains spoilers and theories about ep 9
Don't apologize! It's nice to read such a thoughtful comment.This situation for Gu and MJ looks unsolvable right…
I have no idea how their problem will be solved but I don’t think he will run away. I have a hunch he actually has a lot of money saved up but he just doesn’t use it and works in the factory and the field to not think/drink all the time. In the beginning it was said he spent all the time home just drinking all day long until they asked him to work which means he had money for rent and living without the need to work. Also from the recent ep we found out that whatever business he was running is obviously very successful since they are afraid of the possibility he might return and they would lose power. Hence why he was suprised to see the way mr Gu was living and called it an act. I think he’s trying to punish himself because he is suffering from unsolved quilt which also shows in his lifestyle.
There are few things I realised after seeing his possible injury, GU thought MJ should like superficial things in ep 10 and kill her instincts. In ep 12 he adamantly told her to be ordinary and like/do things he thinks women usually do. In ep 10 he told baek he is tired of listening to drunk people speaking and singing. In ep 12 baek said this is why he doesn’t trust people who have worked in host bars.
For those who don’t know, host bars in korea are bars that offer “adult entertainment”, they are usually karaoke rooms men/women visit to drink and sing while having host boys / girls entertain them. When Gu said talk about about superficial thing like other women.. he was probably thinking of the women he had entertained at those bars.
Here’s a picture that shows Gu’s possible back injury for those who didn’t catch it: https://twitter.com/y_51620/status/1525834572910698496?s=21&t=rknlzC5gYYzo2JXxb9m6VQ
My another theory is that she might’ve been his wife and not just gf who lived with him. I’m not certain about this one but it was suspicious how baek said “I thought my wife died” meaning either a) she was his wife b) baek is married and I’m overanalysing. I hope we learn more about what happened in future episodes, I want to know what exactly went down and what kind of life gu used to live.