I think he placed it there after using it or something. He was probably the one who made sure they'll meet again…
Wasn't the box unable to be opened except by the FL. Wasn't that the whole point of the first couple episodes and why they had to spend time together. She was the only owner of the box and the only one that could open it. Yet, the scene clearly showed him WALKING AWAY with the spell-book, not putting it in. And somehow he opened the box. So there is meaning here or just another plot hole on-top of plot hole.
Can someone explain me the last scene in the credits, when jang munjin took the spell book or put it back I didn't…
Who said he planned it all? I don't know where the show showed or said any such thing.
I got something very different from this moment.
I now question if this was a love story at all.
I am thinking about opening a discussion thread on the topic.
But it is either
1) The spell book in the present was fake all-a-long. So no love spell or anything ever happened because the real spell book was taken from the chest hundreds of years ago. Thus it is saying his love for her in the present was ALWAYS real, because the book she was using was false.
or
2) That Shin Yu is not in love with her and is under a spell. That the entire story is actually the revenge of a powerful female Shaman Aeng Cho now reincarnated as Hong Jo who turns the man that betrayed and killed her into her love slave that defends her and is willing to die for her. Ultimately giving her the life she always dreamed and wanted in the end. Where he is her puppy and gives her wealth and stature until the day she dies.
If you go back to the episode that revealed the entire story of the past in full, you know he asked for the spell book and she refused him. He then stole the book and ran off, only to be met with a small army and defeated on the battle field. The book ends up under control of the army and he ultimately goes and kills her. But as they are there on that snowy hill she calls out his name and asks.
"Did you fool me? Where you here for the spell book all along?"
To which he doesn't answer but musters the courage to stab her.
"He then says in another life may we live happily." but never says he wasn't there for the spell book.
You then have the final scene in question, with his wounds still present on his face from the battle on the field, where he is stealing the spell book from the box.
Did he fool her?
Why did he steal the spell book as she slept?
We also know that her death doesn't hinder his life. He marries, has children and his family remains wealthy and powerful for generations into today. Which is an odd thing considering he killed many of the palace guard. Went against the king and freed the shaman who was buried alive. Then proceeds to have a war slaying more palace guards in the process. Yet, he and his family are met with no punishment.
So we either have some gaping plot holes that we aren't supposed to think about and just accept, or the final scene is to show the truth of the past.
This seems, to me at least, that he had made some deals with the royals before he freed her from the well and was always on a mission for the spell book. It was what would save him and his family and possibly her. Did he want her to die, we can give him the benefit of the doubt and say no he thought he would keep her safe if he delivered the book as promised, but the book was the goal. His killing her was still somewhat out of kindness from what may lie ahead for her when he realized his plan had failed. But he still needed the book to save himself and his family and so the final scene shows him doing so.
It all comes down to if you think the magic in the show is real or fake. The show never falls on either side sternly. Even one of the last lines between the 2nd ML and the FL is him asking her if she still believed in that stuff. But all the spells cast on screen have no direct results except the one love spell.
There is no proof that the queen had a son because of her craft. Likewise, the prince who died supposedly from a curse, but FL swears she only pretended but never cast a curse. So his death was either natural or she lied. The main curse of him killing her in the past only affects him in the present. His father somehow was cured, and its never explained, their grandfather as well, and the family has been able again to survive for hundreds of years. So is there really a course or is it just people believed they had one cause the shaman claimed they would be. Thus, whenever anything bad happened or they had an ailment it was blamed on the curse without their actually being one. Medically there was nothing wrong with the ML, so was it just a psychological ailment because he believed? The love spell, was he really in love with her or under a spell. Her clear skin curse, she multiple times blushes and has redness after she casts it, yet other comment how vibrant she looks. Is she vibrant because she is in love and having happiness or did the spell really work. The cleansing spell never worked as he stayed in love and was still ill, plus she wrote the wrong word. "Flower" instead. And the avoid disaster is equally up for debate. Because she was living in hiding from a stalker, ML died from being stabbed, and she was kidnapped and poisoned. Yet, also they ultimately survived and all the bad people were caught and punished. So does that mean they avoided the disaster or not?
If you believe the magic, curse, and spells are real. Then that means the male lead is honestly that cold as#hole who treated her awful and the only reason he changed was because of her power. That it was destined because of her curse and it is all revenge of her shaman self to right the wrongs done to her. And it also means he did betray her in the past.
If you believe it all false and them believing in the magic was just a catalyst for them to meet and bond and ignite their love. Then this was truly just a tsundere romantic comedy that dealt with reincarnation and it was two souls who had been ripped apart by tragedy finding their way to happiness in this life and correcting all the wrongs of the past. The book taken long ago by the ML for reasons unknown.
Also, last point...maybe it is just poor writing. There are a lot of plot holes. I mean wasn't the box un-openable except by the FL. That was the whole point of the first few episodes. Yet, somehow he opened and got the spell book in the past.
Oh I did write a review too, trying to bring this up there.
7.0 = B-, 3 1/2-Stars. Flawed and imperfect, but still worthy of a watch.
Its beginning was intriguing, fun, cute, and a bit mysterious. It drew you in and a gave you a great cast. The directing had some great cinematography and approaches to scenes. The comedy was on-point and the chemistry of the 3 main leads was explosive.
However, it couldn't keep this going. I've edited this post into a review which is here.
In love with the nephew. So kind and gentlemanly. I hope he stays a large part of the show.
I liked all the characters here. Guessing the super kind 2nd ml might be a villian...def knows somethn about somethn whether a good guy or bad guy.
Cha Eun Woo is easy on the eyes...that neck while opening the window treatments...yum. Still not sold on his acting, but he's getting the job done so far, or at least well enough that the show is still enjoyable and worth watching. So, all good.
Park Gyu Young is bringing it as she always does. I'm a fan, even though I don't like all the shows she's in, I like her work as an actress.
This was really fun. Hope it stays strong enough to keep me coming back for how long its gunna take to air the whole thing.
Disjointed, badly paced, porely directed, and comes off as a low cost web series in quality instead of something that would be created to actually air on tv. When the actors arent walking around like cardboard props they are over-the-top whaling in sorrow and misery. No middle ground just thr extremes. Ultimately it ends with senseless action for the sake of action to make it seem fun instead of actually making the viewer have fun and fear the results of what is happening. Scenes repeat because the protagonist does the same things over and over again, so the antagonist wins over and over again by doing the same things in return in a reapeating cycle for the last few episodes.
And yeah while the "good" guys are in remote locations being cornered by the "bad" guys they literally tell them what they need to do to lose. Ya know dialogue like "no, Im going to hand it over to the police tomorrow."
Why wouldnt you just lie and say something along the lines like "I already gave to the cops. They know and are coming for you." Etc. So forth...
The cops always appear at the last minute, and do a worse job at detective work than an amnesiac ghost and taxi driver. Eye witness testimony and police actually walking in during crimes mean nothing. Everything is so the plot can make it to the last episode and is frustrating to watch.
I have issues with this. The dismemberment is, absolutely something worth avoiding for your loved one. So you can call it a mercy killing if you want....However, the horseman was trying to have her killed by arrow at that point anyway, but the bowman was too afraid of the curse to release the arrow. And then he was ordering someone else to go kill her.... who wasn't afraid....and ML offers.
Here is the issue, the dismemberment seemed to a threat and a jab towards ML to make him suffer, HOWEVER, once they caught up with her it was kill her on the spot. Which shows either a writing flaw, or that dismemberment was never really on the table.
Also, why would they allow him to just walk up and kill her. If they were planning an awful death of her, why in the end would they just let him go and slay her willingly....the 2+2 of the situation isn't equaling 4.
On top, you have them even being here.
1) ML fell for someone that in know way would ever be allowed to be with. You can't control your feeling. Got it...but then 2) He chooses, as the only son of his line, to run away at night to be with her instead of marrying another so she won't be killed. This can be said he didn't want to taint the love between them by being with someone else....But honestly compared to where this story end-up...and considering the threats and power of his father. Wouldn't you rather marry someone you didn't love than having the one you love her stripped, raped, and killed by your father? 3) His father tortures and captures her caregiver forcing her to give-up the ML to save her family and not run away together....Again, the ML thinking running away a better option only to have it sever his relationship. 4) Trying to love her in-secret a second time knowing what his family and father had done, and that she is being forced to do an evil queens bidding in the palace. 5) Watching her get tortured and buried alive only to then go on a killing spree after and rescue her. At this point, how is he going to survive? He has gone against the kings orders and killed the palace guards? 6)***** STEALING THE SPELL BOOK AND RUNNING OFF!!! Even after she tells him no. What, after all that he had witnessed and how lowly the FL is regarded by the powerful and now that he is an enemy of the kingdom, what would this have accomplished besides betraying the woman he claims he loves. 7) After slaughtering another small army single handedly, and taking a multitude of wounds that would be deadly, he just hops on a horse and rides over to his enemies and declares he will kill her......WHAT?! WHAT?! 8) After all of this, and knowing the curse put on him, and after defying the king, slaughtering the palace guards, then having a one man war with the military and the spell book being in the hands of the enemy and being covered in mortal wounds.....
The ML is not put to death, punished, or dies on his own. Instead, he goes back to the palace weds someone else. Has kids to pass on the lineage and his family....which was also threatened by the way...becomes insanely wealthy for hundreds of years...and SOMEHOW SOMEHOW....the spell book that was demanded by the queen and the military was out combing the land-side for and was in their possession from the killing fields.....
Ends up as his families property and is buried under her dwelling to be found hundreds of years later.
It is all just senseless and a disappointment.
And while the actual stabbing you can try to argue is for some supposed keeping her from dismemberment....but also not....THE ENTIRE SITUATION AND REASON THE TWO GOT TO THIS POINT IS STILL ALL THE ML AND HIS FAMILIES DOING. If they hadn't done all the things above, then the story wouldn't have ended as it did for them. So, yes her death was no way around it, a result of the ML. Whether you justify the stabbing or not.
Good take but I consider it a disappointing story.I watch dramas to be entertained but mostly to be satisfied…
The rooftop scene is poignant not only for it being the last scene where our cast is together, last scene of this high-school experience, but also for how so much and so little has changed with the characters.
Shi Eon is in casual attire and more unkempt than he is the entire series and is having a contemplative moment about life and death after his mother as he looks down and wonders what would happen to him if he fell from the height he sits. Which works on two levels, not only on where he is emotionally, but also what if going to college he loses is 1st place rank.
Geon invites the sophomore 2nd female lead much to the rest of the casts dismay. This is significant not only in that he has fallen for her, and she has stated she will be loved in the next season of her life, but also in that out of everyone she is the ONLY person he openly CHOOSES to spend time with. This is important because this is the last we will see of him. Just like on the hill where he walked on without any of them and just like he is too busy to hang out with them when not in school, Geon will not get a scene that shows him with any of the characters in the future, at a school or not, or where his life is a year from now. Why because they were just people he knew in passing and the only person he will choose to know from here on out is our 2nd female lead. Pa Rang, Shi Eon, and Shi Won are at this moment, becoming his past.
What is even more telling is that the relationships between Pa Rang and Shi Eon seems to not have altered even after the emotional moment shared at the hospital. Shi Eon still looks at him with ridicule, and when Pa Rang speaks of his studying and going to college, he immediately dismisses him and degrades him. Just as he as always done. Likewise, Shi Won defends Pa Rang and gives him comfort, just as she has always done.
This takes us to the our final scenes. And why the story is fully closed with them. That is our second hill. We meet Shi Won sweaty and panting, (Like Pa Rang on the hillside on the trip) as she marches towards her class at the prestigious university. Up comes Shi Eon, fit energetic, and happy. Here they have the same banter they always have had. They flirt with each other. Shi Eon admits he is there just for Shi Won, his class isn't for hours, but he came to walk the hill with her, to see her to class.
This is in opposition to him watching Shi Won walk to and from school with Pa Rang and him being the outsider. Now he is taking up the role. He is the one by Shi Won's side. He is the one that walks with her. Both of them together climb the hill to the school without anything or anyone holding them back. Pa Rang is not there to hinder them. Pa Rang doesn't force them to look back. Pa Rang doesn't make them turn around and go back down. It is just them. Him and her moving forward, upwards together. Unteathered.
Then we have last scene before we leave this story. Pa Rang alone with his bowl of instant rice. The language here is very telling and is written with EXTREME purpose.
You see, Pa Rang is the only one of the cast that changes through the story. He is still not done becoming a man, but he worked to get himself together. He realized he was going to be left behind. He hired a tutor and studied and against all those that told him he was hopeless and couldn't make it into college, he succeeded and got into a school in Seoul so he he could continue being with those he loved.
Likewise he realized through a doomed relationship, time away from Shi Won, his art and drawings, and the moments of his life he had shared, that he doesn't want the love of anyone, he wanted the love of her. Much like when he looked over at her lying in the nurses office, seeing her look at him, the beauty that she was, the he needed to prove his worth so he could make her happy.
He supported his friends and loved them. He showed up for them over and over. When Geon couldn't hang-out and was stuck at work. He would go to the comic store, he would go to the gas station, he would go the coffee house. He would sit alone eating, drinking, reading, waiting for moments to share with his friend so that Geon wasn't alone in his hustle for life.
He followed Shi Won home from school and walked with her to school. Laid at the foot of her bed and took care of her when she was ill. Shared his time with her, ate with her, and knew her family. He allowed her to think that she took care of him and comforted him all the while doing the same to her and never complaining or asking for acknowledgment.
He walked Shi Eon home even when he was already at his own home. Stood next to him, embraced him, and supported him as his family fell apart and told not a soul about it. He accepted the ridicule, bullying, and demeaning remarks and still stood next to him and cherished him.
And yet here on this street he asks himself,
"I did what I was supposed to do, but why am I alone?"
To this he picks up his phone and calls his friend...we do not know what friend he called, and that is the point, it doesn't matter. The most obvious is Shi Eon since the friend says they have class, but we just learned he doesn't, not until 2 o'clock. So if it is Shi Eon then he is brushing him off. But the point is, the friend remains nameless, because the are all becoming strangers to Pa Rang anyway.
The translated conversation goes.
"I'm about to go to class. Go eat with your classmates."
To which Pa Rang responds "But I don't have any friends." though the phone cuts off before he even finishes his sentence.
The wording here is important. And goes back to the symbol of eating.
Pa Rang uses the word friends while the person on the phone says classmates. And it shows where Pa Rang stands.
To Shi Eon, and Geon...Pa Rang wasn't a friend, he was a classmate. Someone to eat lunch with. Someone to talk to in the halls. Someone to sit next to in school. Someone to use when they needed him. But they didn't value him, truly like him, respect him, or create anything of value with him.
And now that they are not in school, now that they aren't classmates, now that they aren't in hallways together....they also aren't going to share meals together. Their time is over. That sense of family is gone. They have moved on.
Shi Won, which did have an actual friendship with Pa Rang and believed romantic interest, is now walking up a different hill with different people by her side. Her life moving in a direction Pa Rang is not following. And the space he had in her life, at the school they went together, and the walks to and from and at her table eating is being filled by someone else.
And thus, Pa Rang, with all the changes he made, all the support he gave, all the love he had, walks alone down a flat street, not upwards towards the peak of life, but in an enclosed flat street surrounded by strangers and people who mean nothing to him. And with a family that neglected him, friends that were really enemies, classmates, and a romantic placeholders he eats alone, bonded to no one, his instant rice which he asks himself, "Why am I always eating alone."
And thus his prophetic dream is fulfilled. She Eon and She Won are together somewhere else and he is alone and left behind. The smoking villain victorious with him being non-the-wiser, that he was just something of use to the people around him for their own needs.
The Greeks had three different words and type of love.
The love of country and state, that which bonds you together to fight and enemy and outsider and want to support and uphold the land you call home.
The love of family and brothers, that which makes you seek friendship and support those around you, bonded together by blood and comradery.
And Eros, the passionate all consuming love that sweeps you away and fills your aching.
Failing In Love seems to be focused on the last two of these. Pa Rang craves the passionate love. And he gives everything he has to the Brotherly familiar love.
But the Failing is that no one returns that love to him. He is no ones brother, no ones family, no ones friend. And the one that was to be his Eros, Shi Won who asked for the love to be "when it is greater than every other love" moves on to elsewhere. No matter how much he gave and tried and changed, he is left alone.
And with that, this story, the tale of Pa Rang and those around him came to a close. Because there was nothing else to tell. Their stories together are over. It isn't open ended. It doesn't matter where they all go from here. The point is that they will not go there together. Pa Rang will be a stranger that they see sometimes, at reunions, or in passing when they visit home or walk the old streets. And Pa Rang, he has to start again and try to find other's that may treat him as an equal and give back to him what the love he has to give.
Good take but I consider it a disappointing story.I watch dramas to be entertained but mostly to be satisfied…
3) The Hills
The school trip to the hill is a mountain of meaning. And hills are used twice. in the story as metaphors, and the difference of what transpires on them.
Geon, I haven't really written about, but now he enters the story as significant. As Geon, is a mix between Shi Eon and Shi Won. That is, he treats Pa Rang almost in the same manner as Shi Eon. Friendly and someone that eats lunch with him, but someone who thinks lowly of Pa Rang and is disgusted anytime he or his family is compared to Pa Rang. Yet, he doesn't have secret motives, and when Pa Rang is hurt he offers general support. He also allows Pa Rang to tag-a-long with him as he goes to his various jobs.
But Geon is, not truly friends with any of them. They are his classmates. He is too busy taking care of his family, working multiple jobs, and being a breadwinner to allow himself to get lost in friendship. And the hill symbolizes this.
When all the characters go to climb the hill. Geon goes alone. As in life he walks it alone and depends on himself. He also is ahead of them all in being an adult. He knows the struggle that is real world life, holding down jobs, needing to pay rent etc. Thus on this journey he walks ahead of them all. To the peak first on his own, not allowing any of them to hinder or slow him down.
Likewise, on this hill of life, Shi Eon and Shi Won walk together. A trip that Shi Eon cheated and made happen because Shi Won wanted to go hiking even though the rest of the class didn't. Much like he lies and designs his relationships with all the characters, using Pa Rang as a way to stay connected to his goal of Shi Won, he now lies to the teachers and designs an outing that allows him to stay by Shi Won's side. And on this hill they move freely together, him cementing himself as her partner.
That is until Shi Won realizes Pa Rang is no where to be seen, and is left behind. Geon has gone ahead, and both her and Shi Eon are together. So here on the hill of life everyone moving to the apex, she stops to turn back.
Instead Shi Eon says he will go, not wanting Pa Rang and Shi Won to walk this hill together. This is his role, to keep them from walking the hill of life as a unit. But it also forces him to give up his goal and reach the peak.
Then there is Pa Rang, who, in the beginning is determined to reach the top first only to struggle, fall behind, and end up alone and behind all the others. Yet he continues to not give up, to persevere. Stick in hand, limping, and sweating and tired, he trudges the hillside alone refusing to give up. When Shi Eon discovers him, it again with ridicule, only for Shi Eon to abandon him when something else to precedence. Then Shi Won, who reaches the peak without either of them, turns back to search, going back down, and finds Pa Rang alone.
This outing is not only significant in how all of their lives are led, and where all the characters stand with each other, but a foreshadowing of where it will all end.
4) Dreams
Dreams are much more straight forward as a way to explore other themes of the story. It is used widely for this in films and written works over and over again. Here is no different, as Pa Rang seems to have self-fulfilling prophetic dreams multiple times in the series.
The dream that is the main focus here, is his last in-which he dreams that Shi Eon and Shi Won are together and he is left behind, ALONE. It rattles him, and in his distraught he rambles on about it to Geon in class.
This brings us back, to how Geon views these other characters as classmates. As his initial reaction is a knowing look and shrug, with an agape mouth. That is, he isn't shocked if this happens. How he feels about Pa Rang, is that he won't be around him once they graduate. Shi Eon and Shi Won are both going to go far in life and are the head of the class, and likely will not have much in common with Pa Rang in the future either. He also, has inklings of something going on between Shi Eon and Shi Won, and picks up that something is brewing, though he doesn't know the full extent yet. And when Pa Rang reveals this fear in him, his dream, Geon agrees with it.
But he tells Pa Rang just to forget it and move on. It's no big thing, and Geon is done with dealing with the situation.
However, the story is not. And thus we move to the end.
Good take but I consider it a disappointing story.I watch dramas to be entertained but mostly to be satisfied…
Symbolism:
1) Eating
Not only is Korea a food centered culture, with "Have you eaten" having many meanings beyond its simple question. But food is also used as a sense of family, comradery, and togetherness.
Here both Pa Rang and Shi Eon eat like horses. Their lunch trays overflowing. They both get two bowls of ramen when going to the convenience store, etc and so forth. This, as mentioned before in their foil breakdown, deals with their likeness.
However, it also is used as a divide between them simultaneously. As how those around view their eating habits.
Back to the school trays and the table scene. As everyone looks at the sheer amount of food they are both going to consume. Yet, the friend of our female lead jokingly comments "Shi Eon grows taller all the time, but Pa Rang where does your food go?"
That is Shi Eon being revered is still looked at fondly, and his appetite is a means to his beauty.
But Pa Rang is viewed negatively, his appetite is a sign of his grotesqueness and slovenly nature.
This can also be viewed in their childhood stature. Shi Eon is a rotund or fluffy kid. While Pa Rang is thin and beautiful. Even Shi Won comments so when comparing Geon's little brother to a young Pa Rang. But Geon is offended by this. Because now as adults, Pa Rang is undesirable, while Shi Eon is the talk of the school. Even though Shi Eon still eats like a "fat kid" however, genetics have intervened.
Food is also important in the last scene of the series as Pa Rang walks eating alone...but this I will cover later.
2) Cigarettes and smoking
Everyone used to smoke in films and tv shows, until about the mid 1990's when the world went against smoking. Now cigarettes and smoking is given only to the villains, bullies, outsiders, and those who are rebuffing societal standards.
This is EXTREMELY important to the plot, as smoking is first introduced with the entering of the Bullies characters and their interaction with Shi Eon. These scenes are of the upmost in not only telling the viewer the role Shi Eon plays in the story, but also how much the "What is on the inside matters vs you are as the world perceives you."
That is the bully asks Shi Eon for a light...meaning the bully knows something we don't as no-one is a smoker up to this point. THe conversation continues to at which Shi Eon finally makes a comment "You think I would go to you bullies?"
The bully responds, "What, I thought you were one of us."
This, I can't stress enough, is one of the most significant comments of the series. In that Shi Eon doesn't think himself a bully or bad person, he is the Class President, 1st Ranked, wanted by every girl in school, rich, handsome on and on. That he treats those around him like trash, makes people cry, is calculating in pretending to be someone's friend only to control them and their relationship to the girl he wants, nor does man handling the girl he likes, forcing an unwanted kiss on her, and refusing to not woo her after she rebuffs him doesn't make him a bad person or a bully. No, because he believes himself not to be. His home and life excuse him, and the world reveres him. He is not like these bullies. People hate them and look down on them, but not him. He isn't one of them....yet he is. And when the bully says this to him, all he can do is scoff.
The final interaction with the bully cements this idea. As now, he is fully smoking, snuffing out his own cigarette as he approaches. We have now spent time with his voice over and fully understand his plans with regards to both Pa Rang and Shi Won. So now he moves from the shadows snuffing out a cigarette into the light.
Here we learn the backstory of Shi Eon's brother and family. As the bully is closeted and in love with his brother. We see Shi Eon watch as his family sends his brother away in shame. The bully seems to have stayed in contact with the brother even after he is shuttered but is now being ghosted, and it is this reason he has now started to contact Shi Eon, to find out what is going on with his lost love. But in this interaction the bully states "I know you, like your parents find us disgusting." to which Shi Eon responds. "That he doesn't and did his brother really think this of him?"
This is again, the perception of self colliding, as Shi Eon didn't defend or protect his brother, but only watched what was done to him, even though he wasn't morally opposed to his brother's love. He didn't fight for his brother either. And, until then and even after this scene, even when his mother tries to commit suicide, he doesn't reach out to his brother. That is, what is given to us, seems to imply that he doesn't have any type of active relationship with his sibling. Thus, he learns that his own brother thinks he hates him, even though he doesn't.
These scenes not only shake-up what Shi Eon thinks himself to what he truly is to those around him, it also uses the symbol of the cigarette to cement not only is he a bully, but he is also the villain or antagonist to our story.
Good take but I consider it a disappointing story.I watch dramas to be entertained but mostly to be satisfied…
This is where symbolism comes into play heavily on the story, to parse out where things truly lie by the end and what is really happening in the last scenes both at college and with Pa Rang on the street eating instant rice, which fully closes the story we have seen.
Before we can get into the symbolism we have to realize how much the story is warring between to opposite belief systems of "self".
1) It doesn't matter what is on the outside, inside is what counts.
2) You are as the world perceives you.
These are two polar opposite ways of viewing what makes a person who they are. And this series delves deeply into how viewing a person in both manners changes the characters and the situations.
1) Pa Rang, he is face value when looking at things. Thus he abides by you are as the world perceives you. These people are his friends. He sees them as his friends. He believes them to be his friends. His emotions are on his sleeve and what people say to him and how they treat him creates not only how he thinks of himself but also how he views those speaking to him. But as we move through the story, "what's on the outside doesn't matter, inside is what counts" rears its head as we learn what the people around him truly think of him in their hearts, and how they view him versus their actions to him. Are they really his friends, and have they ever been?
2) Shi Eon lives the opposite, it doesn't matter how the world sees him, it is what he feels on the inside that matters. Thus, pretending to be a friend to someone doesn't mean he is their friend. Pretending to not like someone doesn't mean he truly doesn't want them. And being cool collected and strong, doesn't mean he isn't truly lonely, hurt, and longing. However, this also is tested as him being as the world perceives him smashes in when he is confronted by our female lead and is called out and rebuffed, when someone he truly doesn't like believes him a true friend and is by his side when he is broken, and lastly the bullies and his brother and how they believe him to be.
3) Shi Won, is more like Pa Rang in that she is moving through life judging people and situations by how she perceives them. Shi Eon is cruel and mean and not a viable partner, Pa Rang is needy and afraid to be alone and she must care for him. Her love is one sided because Pa Rang will love anyone that gives him attention and isn't true. These people are also all just her friends. But what is on the inside disrupts her as well, as Shi Eon suddenly starts showing there is something more to him and their relationship and may be someone she can connect with. Pa Rang confronts her and allows her to understand that he is fine being alone, but has always been with her because she needed him. And her friend points out that while she thinks she is in love, most people view her situation from that outside as nothing more than a brother sister relationship.
So, what is the truth in these relationships? Which view is honest and true? Who really are all them and what about them matters? What is honestly the love that exists between them?
Good take but I consider it a disappointing story.I watch dramas to be entertained but mostly to be satisfied…
Firstly, and my main point to doing this, is that I do not believe this is an "Open-ended" series at all. It is very very closed in the story it was telling. There was no need for more, or options on what is meant or possibilities of what could be. While it can be argued that all the characters life continued on, and there is more that we can see of all of them, which is with most stories unless everyone dies at the end, the reason we were here watching them, getting to know them, and viewing these moments in their life is fully answered. To get to this point and understanding, I had to see why the characters were designed as they are.
Pa Rang and Shi Eon are foils of each other.
1) Both males, same age, same school and class. 2) They both eat voraciously (Which has significance) 3) They both have the same friends and know the same people. 4) They both are lonely and have absent parents 5) They both are entangled with the same girl.
But they foil each other in that 1) One is wealthy one is not. 2)One is tall, pale, traditionally Korean handsome, and fastidious. The other is short, darker skinned, slovenly, and deemed un-datable. 3) One is an emotional void, cold, distant, and harsh. The other is warm, emotional, kind and accepting. 4) One is calculating, shrewd, top of the class, and selfish. The other is artistic, poor at studying, and runs on truth and face values while being mostly selfless. 5) And finally one is revered by those around them, and the other is butt-of-jokes and constantly diminished by those around them.
Our female lead is in-between the two, which matters. She is kind and warm, accepting, and middle class (Like Pa Rang) while also being intelligent, desired, popular, and driven (Like Shi Eon). This is why she finds herself caught between these two men (or boys) because she equally shares their polar opposite qualities in every way.
We pick the story up at this stage for many reasons, but mostly because the pull between these character's finally reaches its stress point while simultaneously culminating at the same moment when they are about to leave school behind and venture onward as adults in college and careers.
But our main protagonist is Pa Rang not Shi Eon, and this is important because the 2 options for interpreting the ending given are from SHI EON's point-of-view and not Pa Rang. That is, option 1) Shi Won and Shi Eon don't need Pa Rang and now move into a relationship or 2) Shi Eon accepts Pa Rang as his true friend and gives up being with Shi Won, though Shi Won understands she now like Shi Eon.
This is problematic. These options empathize with Shi Eon and are more interested in his conclusion and journey and how he was affected and not who the story is actually about which is Pa Rang. If one rewrites these options for the main character's point-of-view then they would be as this.
1) Pa Rang learns that he was unneeded by those he thought were his friends and is left behind as Shi Won and Shi Eon forge a new relationship. or 2) Pa Rang finds himself finally accepted as a true friend by those around him and Shi Eon, no longer wanting to hurt him, pulls back from his attempts to woo Shi Won. Though Shi Won has budding feelings for Shi Eon.
This makes the two optional endings be seen from how the main character is affected by the story and events and not how the story journeys through Shi Eon's. We open with Pa Rang and the last scene is also of Pa Rang. That is, it is an ensemble and we spend time with other characters and get to know them deeply, but this is Pa Rang's story.
So, if as I believe, this isn't an open ended story at all, then which of the two options is the ending supposed to imprint. Well, at base level it is option 1 but that option isn't fully complete, because it solely focuses on the love triangle and not all the other layers that are in play. And that is the exploration of these people and their friendship. Because it is saying a lot more than who is needed and not needed in the story of love.
I'll break the post up. So it isn't so foreboding to wade through.
Good take but I consider it a disappointing story.I watch dramas to be entertained but mostly to be satisfied…
I know it has been a year since you posted this, and I am more than positive you have moved on. But, I just finished this, and your comment stirred something in me. It made me evaluate the show more, as I watched it in one sitting, and thus it is very fresh in my mind. Ultimately I moved it from a 5.5 rating which to me is C-, 2 3/4-Stars. Just Below Average. Came up short but with bright spots. Up to a 7.5 = B, 3 3/4-Stars. Shows its flaws but remains strong, likely to be enjoyed.
Given that your comment made me reevaluate the series, it wasn't because I was in agreement but because of my total disagreement to your interpretation. And I had to make myself understand why I was taken aback by your 2 optional outcomes and thus started going over everything in my mind umpteen times. Had I really not gotten the story so much? Did I need to re-watch it? How was my take so different?
Your breakdown was so thoughtful and insightful and supported and clear. How was my take so very different? And thus I kept running it over and over again, until I thought, I should write it out as well, and maybe you would be open to seeing my side of things?
One of the main reasons my rating for the series changed, was once I did this re-evaluation it made me realize how tight the writing is, also how incredibly layered it is. It is honestly amazing for its short time to have so many layers. Also, the symbology in the series is outstanding and EXTREMELY meaningful to the ending and overall story. And my first knee-jerk reaction to this series and low score, was much more an emotional reaction than an analytical one. The use of symbolism is so strong to the understanding.
So I hope you will maybe read on. As, I know this is an older series, so not many will be here on this page to interact with....I'll put the rest under a spoiler tag.
On episode 2 and I came to read what others were thinking and on the front page here there are like upteen posts about how many people can't with the FL because she took the ML phone in secret....how awful she is for it, etc so forth so on...
The ML is an 18 year old (aka adult) male secretly running a prostitution ring of underage (aka minor) girls to ADULT men....THAT IS HIS CHARACTER....
But she is the awful one for taking his phone....wow being a cute guy definitely has its perks doesn't it....
And b4 I get the whole he's been abondoned by his parents and is just trying to survive while shes rich BS....well...he could have prostituted himself....not others...he could do the dirty self demeaning work and scratched a living...I would respect him more for sure and actually feel bad for him...but instead he became a pimp to earn the money off other's labor whilekeeping himself a st8 A student....he could have also used adult women or , gulp, adult men as well and not preyed on desperate young girls who are also trying to survive....
So, I am behind everyone else here, just started this tonight....and um.....
Didn't even make it through episode 2 and Boston and Top are dead to me....dead....
I don't care about sad back stories, unresolved issues, and childhood complexes....that sh+t is just excuses. I've witnessed enough in life to understand, decisions are decisions and you make em and must live with what those decisions make you into. It's no one else's job to fix your sh!t and forgive you.
Both of them gave me the irks in episode 1, but being an as*hole isn't crime. Being a bad friend is just sad and pathetic.....so they both had room to make me care for them, or want redemption for them.
Episode 2 slammed that door shut, padlocked it, and then made a cement wall. This story will have to do one hell of an amazing job to make me give a damn about either of them, and no matter if the sweet Mew grows some fangs and horns at some point in the future and shows his inner beast....I still will not want him to be a part of anything that has to do with these two.
Viki is the best legit site for Eastern content outside of Netflix I've found...large selectiong of BL too..Gaga has more gay/bl content overall but lacks in other content and has a lot of subpar programs.
1 
2 
I got something very different from this moment.
I now question if this was a love story at all.
I am thinking about opening a discussion thread on the topic.
But it is either
1) The spell book in the present was fake all-a-long. So no love spell or anything ever happened because the real spell book was taken from the chest hundreds of years ago. Thus it is saying his love for her in the present was ALWAYS real, because the book she was using was false.
or
2) That Shin Yu is not in love with her and is under a spell. That the entire story is actually the revenge of a powerful female Shaman Aeng Cho now reincarnated as Hong Jo who turns the man that betrayed and killed her into her love slave that defends her and is willing to die for her. Ultimately giving her the life she always dreamed and wanted in the end. Where he is her puppy and gives her wealth and stature until the day she dies.
If you go back to the episode that revealed the entire story of the past in full, you know he asked for the spell book and she refused him. He then stole the book and ran off, only to be met with a small army and defeated on the battle field. The book ends up under control of the army and he ultimately goes and kills her. But as they are there on that snowy hill she calls out his name and asks.
"Did you fool me? Where you here for the spell book all along?"
To which he doesn't answer but musters the courage to stab her.
"He then says in another life may we live happily." but never says he wasn't there for the spell book.
You then have the final scene in question, with his wounds still present on his face from the battle on the field, where he is stealing the spell book from the box.
Did he fool her?
Why did he steal the spell book as she slept?
We also know that her death doesn't hinder his life. He marries, has children and his family remains wealthy and powerful for generations into today. Which is an odd thing considering he killed many of the palace guard. Went against the king and freed the shaman who was buried alive. Then proceeds to have a war slaying more palace guards in the process. Yet, he and his family are met with no punishment.
So we either have some gaping plot holes that we aren't supposed to think about and just accept, or the final scene is to show the truth of the past.
This seems, to me at least, that he had made some deals with the royals before he freed her from the well and was always on a mission for the spell book. It was what would save him and his family and possibly her. Did he want her to die, we can give him the benefit of the doubt and say no he thought he would keep her safe if he delivered the book as promised, but the book was the goal. His killing her was still somewhat out of kindness from what may lie ahead for her when he realized his plan had failed. But he still needed the book to save himself and his family and so the final scene shows him doing so.
It all comes down to if you think the magic in the show is real or fake. The show never falls on either side sternly. Even one of the last lines between the 2nd ML and the FL is him asking her if she still believed in that stuff. But all the spells cast on screen have no direct results except the one love spell.
There is no proof that the queen had a son because of her craft.
Likewise, the prince who died supposedly from a curse, but FL swears she only pretended but never cast a curse. So his death was either natural or she lied.
The main curse of him killing her in the past only affects him in the present. His father somehow was cured, and its never explained, their grandfather as well, and the family has been able again to survive for hundreds of years. So is there really a course or is it just people believed they had one cause the shaman claimed they would be. Thus, whenever anything bad happened or they had an ailment it was blamed on the curse without their actually being one. Medically there was nothing wrong with the ML, so was it just a psychological ailment because he believed?
The love spell, was he really in love with her or under a spell.
Her clear skin curse, she multiple times blushes and has redness after she casts it, yet other comment how vibrant she looks. Is she vibrant because she is in love and having happiness or did the spell really work.
The cleansing spell never worked as he stayed in love and was still ill, plus she wrote the wrong word. "Flower" instead.
And the avoid disaster is equally up for debate. Because she was living in hiding from a stalker, ML died from being stabbed, and she was kidnapped and poisoned. Yet, also they ultimately survived and all the bad people were caught and punished. So does that mean they avoided the disaster or not?
If you believe the magic, curse, and spells are real. Then that means the male lead is honestly that cold as#hole who treated her awful and the only reason he changed was because of her power. That it was destined because of her curse and it is all revenge of her shaman self to right the wrongs done to her. And it also means he did betray her in the past.
If you believe it all false and them believing in the magic was just a catalyst for them to meet and bond and ignite their love. Then this was truly just a tsundere romantic comedy that dealt with reincarnation and it was two souls who had been ripped apart by tragedy finding their way to happiness in this life and correcting all the wrongs of the past. The book taken long ago by the ML for reasons unknown.
Also, last point...maybe it is just poor writing. There are a lot of plot holes. I mean wasn't the box un-openable except by the FL. That was the whole point of the first few episodes. Yet, somehow he opened and got the spell book in the past.
Oh I did write a review too, trying to bring this up there.
https://kisskh.at/profile/soundinfinite/reviews/309357
Its beginning was intriguing, fun, cute, and a bit mysterious. It drew you in and a gave you a great cast. The directing had some great cinematography and approaches to scenes. The comedy was on-point and the chemistry of the 3 main leads was explosive.
However, it couldn't keep this going. I've edited this post into a review which is here.
https://kisskh.at/profile/soundinfinite/reviews/309357
I liked all the characters here. Guessing the super kind 2nd ml might be a villian...def knows somethn about somethn whether a good guy or bad guy.
Cha Eun Woo is easy on the eyes...that neck while opening the window treatments...yum. Still not sold on his acting, but he's getting the job done so far, or at least well enough that the show is still enjoyable and worth watching. So, all good.
Park Gyu Young is bringing it as she always does. I'm a fan, even though I don't like all the shows she's in, I like her work as an actress.
This was really fun. Hope it stays strong enough to keep me coming back for how long its gunna take to air the whole thing.
And yeah while the "good" guys are in remote locations being cornered by the "bad" guys they literally tell them what they need to do to lose. Ya know dialogue like "no, Im going to hand it over to the police tomorrow."
Why wouldnt you just lie and say something along the lines like "I already gave to the cops. They know and are coming for you." Etc. So forth...
The cops always appear at the last minute, and do a worse job at detective work than an amnesiac ghost and taxi driver. Eye witness testimony and police actually walking in during crimes mean nothing. Everything is so the plot can make it to the last episode and is frustrating to watch.
Here is the issue, the dismemberment seemed to a threat and a jab towards ML to make him suffer, HOWEVER, once they caught up with her it was kill her on the spot. Which shows either a writing flaw, or that dismemberment was never really on the table.
Also, why would they allow him to just walk up and kill her. If they were planning an awful death of her, why in the end would they just let him go and slay her willingly....the 2+2 of the situation isn't equaling 4.
On top, you have them even being here.
1) ML fell for someone that in know way would ever be allowed to be with. You can't control your feeling. Got it...but then
2) He chooses, as the only son of his line, to run away at night to be with her instead of marrying another so she won't be killed. This can be said he didn't want to taint the love between them by being with someone else....But honestly compared to where this story end-up...and considering the threats and power of his father. Wouldn't you rather marry someone you didn't love than having the one you love her stripped, raped, and killed by your father?
3) His father tortures and captures her caregiver forcing her to give-up the ML to save her family and not run away together....Again, the ML thinking running away a better option only to have it sever his relationship.
4) Trying to love her in-secret a second time knowing what his family and father had done, and that she is being forced to do an evil queens bidding in the palace.
5) Watching her get tortured and buried alive only to then go on a killing spree after and rescue her. At this point, how is he going to survive? He has gone against the kings orders and killed the palace guards?
6)***** STEALING THE SPELL BOOK AND RUNNING OFF!!! Even after she tells him no. What, after all that he had witnessed and how lowly the FL is regarded by the powerful and now that he is an enemy of the kingdom, what would this have accomplished besides betraying the woman he claims he loves.
7) After slaughtering another small army single handedly, and taking a multitude of wounds that would be deadly, he just hops on a horse and rides over to his enemies and declares he will kill her......WHAT?! WHAT?!
8) After all of this, and knowing the curse put on him, and after defying the king, slaughtering the palace guards, then having a one man war with the military and the spell book being in the hands of the enemy and being covered in mortal wounds.....
The ML is not put to death, punished, or dies on his own. Instead, he goes back to the palace weds someone else. Has kids to pass on the lineage and his family....which was also threatened by the way...becomes insanely wealthy for hundreds of years...and SOMEHOW SOMEHOW....the spell book that was demanded by the queen and the military was out combing the land-side for and was in their possession from the killing fields.....
Ends up as his families property and is buried under her dwelling to be found hundreds of years later.
It is all just senseless and a disappointment.
And while the actual stabbing you can try to argue is for some supposed keeping her from dismemberment....but also not....THE ENTIRE SITUATION AND REASON THE TWO GOT TO THIS POINT IS STILL ALL THE ML AND HIS FAMILIES DOING. If they hadn't done all the things above, then the story wouldn't have ended as it did for them. So, yes her death was no way around it, a result of the ML. Whether you justify the stabbing or not.
Shi Eon is in casual attire and more unkempt than he is the entire series and is having a contemplative moment about life and death after his mother as he looks down and wonders what would happen to him if he fell from the height he sits. Which works on two levels, not only on where he is emotionally, but also what if going to college he loses is 1st place rank.
Geon invites the sophomore 2nd female lead much to the rest of the casts dismay. This is significant not only in that he has fallen for her, and she has stated she will be loved in the next season of her life, but also in that out of everyone she is the ONLY person he openly CHOOSES to spend time with. This is important because this is the last we will see of him. Just like on the hill where he walked on without any of them and just like he is too busy to hang out with them when not in school, Geon will not get a scene that shows him with any of the characters in the future, at a school or not, or where his life is a year from now. Why because they were just people he knew in passing and the only person he will choose to know from here on out is our 2nd female lead. Pa Rang, Shi Eon, and Shi Won are at this moment, becoming his past.
What is even more telling is that the relationships between Pa Rang and Shi Eon seems to not have altered even after the emotional moment shared at the hospital. Shi Eon still looks at him with ridicule, and when Pa Rang speaks of his studying and going to college, he immediately dismisses him and degrades him. Just as he as always done. Likewise, Shi Won defends Pa Rang and gives him comfort, just as she has always done.
This takes us to the our final scenes. And why the story is fully closed with them. That is our second hill. We meet Shi Won sweaty and panting, (Like Pa Rang on the hillside on the trip) as she marches towards her class at the prestigious university. Up comes Shi Eon, fit energetic, and happy. Here they have the same banter they always have had. They flirt with each other. Shi Eon admits he is there just for Shi Won, his class isn't for hours, but he came to walk the hill with her, to see her to class.
This is in opposition to him watching Shi Won walk to and from school with Pa Rang and him being the outsider. Now he is taking up the role. He is the one by Shi Won's side. He is the one that walks with her. Both of them together climb the hill to the school without anything or anyone holding them back. Pa Rang is not there to hinder them. Pa Rang doesn't force them to look back. Pa Rang doesn't make them turn around and go back down. It is just them. Him and her moving forward, upwards together. Unteathered.
Then we have last scene before we leave this story. Pa Rang alone with his bowl of instant rice. The language here is very telling and is written with EXTREME purpose.
You see, Pa Rang is the only one of the cast that changes through the story. He is still not done becoming a man, but he worked to get himself together. He realized he was going to be left behind. He hired a tutor and studied and against all those that told him he was hopeless and couldn't make it into college, he succeeded and got into a school in Seoul so he he could continue being with those he loved.
Likewise he realized through a doomed relationship, time away from Shi Won, his art and drawings, and the moments of his life he had shared, that he doesn't want the love of anyone, he wanted the love of her. Much like when he looked over at her lying in the nurses office, seeing her look at him, the beauty that she was, the he needed to prove his worth so he could make her happy.
He supported his friends and loved them. He showed up for them over and over. When Geon couldn't hang-out and was stuck at work. He would go to the comic store, he would go to the gas station, he would go the coffee house. He would sit alone eating, drinking, reading, waiting for moments to share with his friend so that Geon wasn't alone in his hustle for life.
He followed Shi Won home from school and walked with her to school. Laid at the foot of her bed and took care of her when she was ill. Shared his time with her, ate with her, and knew her family. He allowed her to think that she took care of him and comforted him all the while doing the same to her and never complaining or asking for acknowledgment.
He walked Shi Eon home even when he was already at his own home. Stood next to him, embraced him, and supported him as his family fell apart and told not a soul about it. He accepted the ridicule, bullying, and demeaning remarks and still stood next to him and cherished him.
And yet here on this street he asks himself,
"I did what I was supposed to do, but why am I alone?"
To this he picks up his phone and calls his friend...we do not know what friend he called, and that is the point, it doesn't matter. The most obvious is Shi Eon since the friend says they have class, but we just learned he doesn't, not until 2 o'clock. So if it is Shi Eon then he is brushing him off. But the point is, the friend remains nameless, because the are all becoming strangers to Pa Rang anyway.
The translated conversation goes.
"I'm about to go to class. Go eat with your classmates."
To which Pa Rang responds "But I don't have any friends." though the phone cuts off before he even finishes his sentence.
The wording here is important. And goes back to the symbol of eating.
Pa Rang uses the word friends while the person on the phone says classmates. And it shows where Pa Rang stands.
To Shi Eon, and Geon...Pa Rang wasn't a friend, he was a classmate. Someone to eat lunch with. Someone to talk to in the halls. Someone to sit next to in school. Someone to use when they needed him. But they didn't value him, truly like him, respect him, or create anything of value with him.
And now that they are not in school, now that they aren't classmates, now that they aren't in hallways together....they also aren't going to share meals together. Their time is over. That sense of family is gone. They have moved on.
Shi Won, which did have an actual friendship with Pa Rang and believed romantic interest, is now walking up a different hill with different people by her side. Her life moving in a direction Pa Rang is not following. And the space he had in her life, at the school they went together, and the walks to and from and at her table eating is being filled by someone else.
And thus, Pa Rang, with all the changes he made, all the support he gave, all the love he had, walks alone down a flat street, not upwards towards the peak of life, but in an enclosed flat street surrounded by strangers and people who mean nothing to him. And with a family that neglected him, friends that were really enemies, classmates, and a romantic placeholders he eats alone, bonded to no one, his instant rice which he asks himself, "Why am I always eating alone."
And thus his prophetic dream is fulfilled. She Eon and She Won are together somewhere else and he is alone and left behind. The smoking villain victorious with him being non-the-wiser, that he was just something of use to the people around him for their own needs.
The Greeks had three different words and type of love.
The love of country and state, that which bonds you together to fight and enemy and outsider and want to support and uphold the land you call home.
The love of family and brothers, that which makes you seek friendship and support those around you, bonded together by blood and comradery.
And Eros, the passionate all consuming love that sweeps you away and fills your aching.
Failing In Love seems to be focused on the last two of these. Pa Rang craves the passionate love. And he gives everything he has to the Brotherly familiar love.
But the Failing is that no one returns that love to him. He is no ones brother, no ones family, no ones friend. And the one that was to be his Eros, Shi Won who asked for the love to be "when it is greater than every other love" moves on to elsewhere. No matter how much he gave and tried and changed, he is left alone.
And with that, this story, the tale of Pa Rang and those around him came to a close. Because there was nothing else to tell. Their stories together are over. It isn't open ended. It doesn't matter where they all go from here. The point is that they will not go there together. Pa Rang will be a stranger that they see sometimes, at reunions, or in passing when they visit home or walk the old streets. And Pa Rang, he has to start again and try to find other's that may treat him as an equal and give back to him what the love he has to give.
The school trip to the hill is a mountain of meaning. And hills are used twice. in the story as metaphors, and the difference of what transpires on them.
Geon, I haven't really written about, but now he enters the story as significant. As Geon, is a mix between Shi Eon and Shi Won. That is, he treats Pa Rang almost in the same manner as Shi Eon. Friendly and someone that eats lunch with him, but someone who thinks lowly of Pa Rang and is disgusted anytime he or his family is compared to Pa Rang. Yet, he doesn't have secret motives, and when Pa Rang is hurt he offers general support. He also allows Pa Rang to tag-a-long with him as he goes to his various jobs.
But Geon is, not truly friends with any of them. They are his classmates. He is too busy taking care of his family, working multiple jobs, and being a breadwinner to allow himself to get lost in friendship. And the hill symbolizes this.
When all the characters go to climb the hill. Geon goes alone. As in life he walks it alone and depends on himself. He also is ahead of them all in being an adult. He knows the struggle that is real world life, holding down jobs, needing to pay rent etc. Thus on this journey he walks ahead of them all. To the peak first on his own, not allowing any of them to hinder or slow him down.
Likewise, on this hill of life, Shi Eon and Shi Won walk together. A trip that Shi Eon cheated and made happen because Shi Won wanted to go hiking even though the rest of the class didn't. Much like he lies and designs his relationships with all the characters, using Pa Rang as a way to stay connected to his goal of Shi Won, he now lies to the teachers and designs an outing that allows him to stay by Shi Won's side. And on this hill they move freely together, him cementing himself as her partner.
That is until Shi Won realizes Pa Rang is no where to be seen, and is left behind. Geon has gone ahead, and both her and Shi Eon are together. So here on the hill of life everyone moving to the apex, she stops to turn back.
Instead Shi Eon says he will go, not wanting Pa Rang and Shi Won to walk this hill together. This is his role, to keep them from walking the hill of life as a unit. But it also forces him to give up his goal and reach the peak.
Then there is Pa Rang, who, in the beginning is determined to reach the top first only to struggle, fall behind, and end up alone and behind all the others. Yet he continues to not give up, to persevere. Stick in hand, limping, and sweating and tired, he trudges the hillside alone refusing to give up. When Shi Eon discovers him, it again with ridicule, only for Shi Eon to abandon him when something else to precedence. Then Shi Won, who reaches the peak without either of them, turns back to search, going back down, and finds Pa Rang alone.
This outing is not only significant in how all of their lives are led, and where all the characters stand with each other, but a foreshadowing of where it will all end.
4) Dreams
Dreams are much more straight forward as a way to explore other themes of the story. It is used widely for this in films and written works over and over again. Here is no different, as Pa Rang seems to have self-fulfilling prophetic dreams multiple times in the series.
The dream that is the main focus here, is his last in-which he dreams that Shi Eon and Shi Won are together and he is left behind, ALONE. It rattles him, and in his distraught he rambles on about it to Geon in class.
This brings us back, to how Geon views these other characters as classmates. As his initial reaction is a knowing look and shrug, with an agape mouth. That is, he isn't shocked if this happens. How he feels about Pa Rang, is that he won't be around him once they graduate. Shi Eon and Shi Won are both going to go far in life and are the head of the class, and likely will not have much in common with Pa Rang in the future either. He also, has inklings of something going on between Shi Eon and Shi Won, and picks up that something is brewing, though he doesn't know the full extent yet. And when Pa Rang reveals this fear in him, his dream, Geon agrees with it.
But he tells Pa Rang just to forget it and move on. It's no big thing, and Geon is done with dealing with the situation.
However, the story is not. And thus we move to the end.
1) Eating
Not only is Korea a food centered culture, with "Have you eaten" having many meanings beyond its simple question. But food is also used as a sense of family, comradery, and togetherness.
Here both Pa Rang and Shi Eon eat like horses. Their lunch trays overflowing. They both get two bowls of ramen when going to the convenience store, etc and so forth. This, as mentioned before in their foil breakdown, deals with their likeness.
However, it also is used as a divide between them simultaneously. As how those around view their eating habits.
Back to the school trays and the table scene. As everyone looks at the sheer amount of food they are both going to consume. Yet, the friend of our female lead jokingly comments "Shi Eon grows taller all the time, but Pa Rang where does your food go?"
That is Shi Eon being revered is still looked at fondly, and his appetite is a means to his beauty.
But Pa Rang is viewed negatively, his appetite is a sign of his grotesqueness and slovenly nature.
This can also be viewed in their childhood stature. Shi Eon is a rotund or fluffy kid. While Pa Rang is thin and beautiful. Even Shi Won comments so when comparing Geon's little brother to a young Pa Rang. But Geon is offended by this. Because now as adults, Pa Rang is undesirable, while Shi Eon is the talk of the school. Even though Shi Eon still eats like a "fat kid" however, genetics have intervened.
Food is also important in the last scene of the series as Pa Rang walks eating alone...but this I will cover later.
2) Cigarettes and smoking
Everyone used to smoke in films and tv shows, until about the mid 1990's when the world went against smoking. Now cigarettes and smoking is given only to the villains, bullies, outsiders, and those who are rebuffing societal standards.
This is EXTREMELY important to the plot, as smoking is first introduced with the entering of the Bullies characters and their interaction with Shi Eon. These scenes are of the upmost in not only telling the viewer the role Shi Eon plays in the story, but also how much the "What is on the inside matters vs you are as the world perceives you."
That is the bully asks Shi Eon for a light...meaning the bully knows something we don't as no-one is a smoker up to this point. THe conversation continues to at which Shi Eon finally makes a comment "You think I would go to you bullies?"
The bully responds, "What, I thought you were one of us."
This, I can't stress enough, is one of the most significant comments of the series. In that Shi Eon doesn't think himself a bully or bad person, he is the Class President, 1st Ranked, wanted by every girl in school, rich, handsome on and on. That he treats those around him like trash, makes people cry, is calculating in pretending to be someone's friend only to control them and their relationship to the girl he wants, nor does man handling the girl he likes, forcing an unwanted kiss on her, and refusing to not woo her after she rebuffs him doesn't make him a bad person or a bully. No, because he believes himself not to be. His home and life excuse him, and the world reveres him. He is not like these bullies. People hate them and look down on them, but not him. He isn't one of them....yet he is. And when the bully says this to him, all he can do is scoff.
The final interaction with the bully cements this idea. As now, he is fully smoking, snuffing out his own cigarette as he approaches. We have now spent time with his voice over and fully understand his plans with regards to both Pa Rang and Shi Won. So now he moves from the shadows snuffing out a cigarette into the light.
Here we learn the backstory of Shi Eon's brother and family. As the bully is closeted and in love with his brother. We see Shi Eon watch as his family sends his brother away in shame. The bully seems to have stayed in contact with the brother even after he is shuttered but is now being ghosted, and it is this reason he has now started to contact Shi Eon, to find out what is going on with his lost love. But in this interaction the bully states "I know you, like your parents find us disgusting." to which Shi Eon responds. "That he doesn't and did his brother really think this of him?"
This is again, the perception of self colliding, as Shi Eon didn't defend or protect his brother, but only watched what was done to him, even though he wasn't morally opposed to his brother's love. He didn't fight for his brother either. And, until then and even after this scene, even when his mother tries to commit suicide, he doesn't reach out to his brother. That is, what is given to us, seems to imply that he doesn't have any type of active relationship with his sibling. Thus, he learns that his own brother thinks he hates him, even though he doesn't.
These scenes not only shake-up what Shi Eon thinks himself to what he truly is to those around him, it also uses the symbol of the cigarette to cement not only is he a bully, but he is also the villain or antagonist to our story.
Before we can get into the symbolism we have to realize how much the story is warring between to opposite belief systems of "self".
1) It doesn't matter what is on the outside, inside is what counts.
2) You are as the world perceives you.
These are two polar opposite ways of viewing what makes a person who they are. And this series delves deeply into how viewing a person in both manners changes the characters and the situations.
1) Pa Rang, he is face value when looking at things. Thus he abides by you are as the world perceives you. These people are his friends. He sees them as his friends. He believes them to be his friends. His emotions are on his sleeve and what people say to him and how they treat him creates not only how he thinks of himself but also how he views those speaking to him. But as we move through the story, "what's on the outside doesn't matter, inside is what counts" rears its head as we learn what the people around him truly think of him in their hearts, and how they view him versus their actions to him. Are they really his friends, and have they ever been?
2) Shi Eon lives the opposite, it doesn't matter how the world sees him, it is what he feels on the inside that matters. Thus, pretending to be a friend to someone doesn't mean he is their friend. Pretending to not like someone doesn't mean he truly doesn't want them. And being cool collected and strong, doesn't mean he isn't truly lonely, hurt, and longing. However, this also is tested as him being as the world perceives him smashes in when he is confronted by our female lead and is called out and rebuffed, when someone he truly doesn't like believes him a true friend and is by his side when he is broken, and lastly the bullies and his brother and how they believe him to be.
3) Shi Won, is more like Pa Rang in that she is moving through life judging people and situations by how she perceives them. Shi Eon is cruel and mean and not a viable partner, Pa Rang is needy and afraid to be alone and she must care for him. Her love is one sided because Pa Rang will love anyone that gives him attention and isn't true. These people are also all just her friends. But what is on the inside disrupts her as well, as Shi Eon suddenly starts showing there is something more to him and their relationship and may be someone she can connect with. Pa Rang confronts her and allows her to understand that he is fine being alone, but has always been with her because she needed him. And her friend points out that while she thinks she is in love, most people view her situation from that outside as nothing more than a brother sister relationship.
So, what is the truth in these relationships? Which view is honest and true? Who really are all them and what about them matters? What is honestly the love that exists between them?
Well finally, the symbolism comes to the rescue.
Pa Rang and Shi Eon are foils of each other.
1) Both males, same age, same school and class. 2) They both eat voraciously (Which has significance) 3) They both have the same friends and know the same people. 4) They both are lonely and have absent parents 5) They both are entangled with the same girl.
But they foil each other in that 1) One is wealthy one is not. 2)One is tall, pale, traditionally Korean handsome, and fastidious. The other is short, darker skinned, slovenly, and deemed un-datable. 3) One is an emotional void, cold, distant, and harsh. The other is warm, emotional, kind and accepting. 4) One is calculating, shrewd, top of the class, and selfish. The other is artistic, poor at studying, and runs on truth and face values while being mostly selfless. 5) And finally one is revered by those around them, and the other is butt-of-jokes and constantly diminished by those around them.
Our female lead is in-between the two, which matters. She is kind and warm, accepting, and middle class (Like Pa Rang) while also being intelligent, desired, popular, and driven (Like Shi Eon). This is why she finds herself caught between these two men (or boys) because she equally shares their polar opposite qualities in every way.
We pick the story up at this stage for many reasons, but mostly because the pull between these character's finally reaches its stress point while simultaneously culminating at the same moment when they are about to leave school behind and venture onward as adults in college and careers.
But our main protagonist is Pa Rang not Shi Eon, and this is important because the 2 options for interpreting the ending given are from SHI EON's point-of-view and not Pa Rang. That is, option 1) Shi Won and Shi Eon don't need Pa Rang and now move into a relationship or 2) Shi Eon accepts Pa Rang as his true friend and gives up being with Shi Won, though Shi Won understands she now like Shi Eon.
This is problematic. These options empathize with Shi Eon and are more interested in his conclusion and journey and how he was affected and not who the story is actually about which is Pa Rang. If one rewrites these options for the main character's point-of-view then they would be as this.
1) Pa Rang learns that he was unneeded by those he thought were his friends and is left behind as Shi Won and Shi Eon forge a new relationship. or 2) Pa Rang finds himself finally accepted as a true friend by those around him and Shi Eon, no longer wanting to hurt him, pulls back from his attempts to woo Shi Won. Though Shi Won has budding feelings for Shi Eon.
This makes the two optional endings be seen from how the main character is affected by the story and events and not how the story journeys through Shi Eon's. We open with Pa Rang and the last scene is also of Pa Rang. That is, it is an ensemble and we spend time with other characters and get to know them deeply, but this is Pa Rang's story.
So, if as I believe, this isn't an open ended story at all, then which of the two options is the ending supposed to imprint. Well, at base level it is option 1 but that option isn't fully complete, because it solely focuses on the love triangle and not all the other layers that are in play. And that is the exploration of these people and their friendship. Because it is saying a lot more than who is needed and not needed in the story of love.
I'll break the post up. So it isn't so foreboding to wade through.
Given that your comment made me reevaluate the series, it wasn't because I was in agreement but because of my total disagreement to your interpretation. And I had to make myself understand why I was taken aback by your 2 optional outcomes and thus started going over everything in my mind umpteen times. Had I really not gotten the story so much? Did I need to re-watch it? How was my take so different?
Your breakdown was so thoughtful and insightful and supported and clear. How was my take so very different? And thus I kept running it over and over again, until I thought, I should write it out as well, and maybe you would be open to seeing my side of things?
One of the main reasons my rating for the series changed, was once I did this re-evaluation it made me realize how tight the writing is, also how incredibly layered it is. It is honestly amazing for its short time to have so many layers. Also, the symbology in the series is outstanding and EXTREMELY meaningful to the ending and overall story. And my first knee-jerk reaction to this series and low score, was much more an emotional reaction than an analytical one. The use of symbolism is so strong to the understanding.
So I hope you will maybe read on. As, I know this is an older series, so not many will be here on this page to interact with....I'll put the rest under a spoiler tag.
On episode 2 and I came to read what others were thinking and on the front page here there are like upteen posts about how many people can't with the FL because she took the ML phone in secret....how awful she is for it, etc so forth so on...
The ML is an 18 year old (aka adult) male secretly running a prostitution ring of underage (aka minor) girls to ADULT men....THAT IS HIS CHARACTER....
But she is the awful one for taking his phone....wow being a cute guy definitely has its perks doesn't it....
And b4 I get the whole he's been abondoned by his parents and is just trying to survive while shes rich BS....well...he could have prostituted himself....not others...he could do the dirty self demeaning work and scratched a living...I would respect him more for sure and actually feel bad for him...but instead he became a pimp to earn the money off other's labor whilekeeping himself a st8 A student....he could have also used adult women or , gulp, adult men as well and not preyed on desperate young girls who are also trying to survive....
He is a much worse person by far, so far
Didn't even make it through episode 2 and Boston and Top are dead to me....dead....
I don't care about sad back stories, unresolved issues, and childhood complexes....that sh+t is just excuses. I've witnessed enough in life to understand, decisions are decisions and you make em and must live with what those decisions make you into. It's no one else's job to fix your sh!t and forgive you.
Both of them gave me the irks in episode 1, but being an as*hole isn't crime. Being a bad friend is just sad and pathetic.....so they both had room to make me care for them, or want redemption for them.
Episode 2 slammed that door shut, padlocked it, and then made a cement wall. This story will have to do one hell of an amazing job to make me give a damn about either of them, and no matter if the sweet Mew grows some fangs and horns at some point in the future and shows his inner beast....I still will not want him to be a part of anything that has to do with these two.
Everyone else still has potential.