AH

An observation about the preview of episode 8. Not really spoilery, but under a screen just to be safe.

I don't have a strong basis for thinking this will actually happen and I'm hoping it won't... but what if Myeol Mang's powers as Doom don't quite let him do nice things... for example, he can't make a flower bloom. He can only make doom seem bigger or smaller (by focusing or unfocusing it) or move it around (just like the penalty for Tak Dong Kyung is her doom "moving from here to over there").

So in order to save Tak Dong Kyung he will need to move her doom (brain tumours) to someone else. What if he becomes human, but transfers Tak Dong Kyung's brain cancer to himself in order to save her - meaning that he only gets to be human for a very short time before dying in Tak Dong Kyung's place?

I have a follow up tentative theory but it makes me sad.

When the ferris wheel shows up I'm going to spend the whole scene thinking about poor
Seo In Guk's painful ferris wheel confession / rejection https://youtu.be/i_e5xBNzcHY?t=268

I no longer think Myeol Mang was human in the past. He might have been something else before he was Doom just like Pinocchio was a puppet before the blue fairy brought him to life, but I don't think he was human. The Deity told Tak Dong Kyung that the seed she planted in the flower pot was her first time planting. Myeol Mang seems to be her only creation. Like may others, I think the Deity's seed represents Myeol Mang but now I think her goal is for her creation (Myeol Mang) to become human. That's the "sprouting" she was talking about. Maybe he achieves that just by being loved (like Beauty and the Beast) but I think @dramafan422's link is more likely correct - he has to prove himself worthy of being human like Pinocchio.

Myeol Mang's new priority is keeping Tak Dong Kyung safe, alive and happy. I'm guessing he's going to have to make some kind of big sacrifice to save her, and in doing so he will prove himself worthy of being human. Maybe the fact that he's embracing Tak Dong Kyung instead of running away from his guilt and pain is already a step in the right direction for proving himself?

The question is: was the Deity saying he couldn't escape his fate because she meant it? If so... what will the consequence be if Myeol Mang does become human? Or was she just saying it because she was antagonizing him (per her weird comment about kids rebelling against their parents)? Or did she just mean that she wouldn't let Myeol Mang escape his fate by dying (because her long game is that she wants him to become human)?

Also, if that is the Deity's goal... why? Because she wants one human to be her own creation? Or for a bigger reason?

The speculation link that @dramafan422 picks up on one really good point. I've updated my theory on the basis of that post, plus a few things the Deity said in episode 7.

I googled 333 angel number and oh my god the explanation is so perfect I LOVE it! Such a good little easter egg.

Before I read it I was 80% confident he was human before he was Doom. Now that's down to like... maybe 20%? The Pinocchio storyline totally fits, plus I'd really like to see him end up human and happy with Tak Dong Kyung so I'd be very happy if that theory pans out.

It changed my theory for Myeol Mang for sure.

The Pinocchio part is brilliant. Thanks for sharing!

That makes me think of the part about fortune and misfortune sometimes having the same face, so they're difficult to differentiate. Is it auspicious because it's lucky, or ominous because it's the precursor to something unlucky?

Does 333 have a particular meaning in Korean? Something like 666? I'm wondering if there's a reason they had Myeol Mang show up at her door at 3:33 AM.

^ This 100%. I have a few critiques but for the most part I'm really enjoying it. It's very addictive.

I wonder if Myeol Mang was human once and wished for doom to be brought upon the world at the same moment that a star was dying, and the deity partly granted his wish / partly punished him by making him Doom? And when he said that Tak Dong Kyung thought the same thing at the same time as him, it wasn't just that he wants the world to end now so he can die, but also that he made the same wish on his birthday when he was human?

The Deity did say that Tak Dong Kyung would not "resign herself to the world" the way Myeol Mang did, and Myeol Mang then said he would make Tak Dong Kyung resign herself to the world. Idk if that phrase is equally vague in the original Korean dialogue or not, but I think this is basically saying that Myeol Mang once wished for the world to end and the Deity thinks that Tak Dong Kyung won't do the same. At that point in the story, Myeol Mang was still determined to make Tak Dong Kyung wish for the world to end. It was before he accepted Tak Dong Kyung's alternative tactic of having Tak Dong Kyung fall in love with him so he can die (and she can live) when she fails to wish for the world to end. So making her resign herself to the world = wishing for the world to end.

Also I wonder if the Deity needs Doom / has an interest in spreading misfortune because she only exists because people called out for a god, and that typically only happens when people are suffering or they thank god when they avoid or overcome suffering?

The part I don't really get is why Doom needs to be sentient. If people calling out for a god created the Deity, there almost certainly must have been misfortune before she came into being (and obviously before she created Myeol Mang as the master / personification of Doom). Myeol Mang says he's being punished and I'm guessing (as noted above) that means he was human before he became Doom and that being Doom is his punishment, but in addition to that, perhaps the Deity created him so that she could feel like a benevolent god herself while still ensuring that someone else (Myeol Mang) was forced to unleash a minimum amount of misfortune consistently, to ensure that people would keep calling out for god so that she will continue to exist.

When writers build romance up quickly it's usually so they have time to take it away from us painfully for a bit before giving it back.

Right now the deity's position seems to be: (a) she won't let the world end; and (b) Myeol Mang cannot escape his fate or behave in a way that is contrary to her program (e.g., falling in love). It doesn't seem like she has Myeol Mang's best interests at heart, so I don't think she's trying to teach him to love being doom. I think it's more likely that she would consider Tak Dong Kyung dying a worthwhile price to pay (just like her own illness) for preserving the system as it is with the world not ending and Myeol Mang not escaping his fate.

I'm not sure how the writer will end things, but I hope the leads somehow figure out a way to set Myeol Mang free from being Doom. In reality, there's no need for a conscious being to become the personification of doom. Death and loss may be necessary, but it doesn't need to be directed by a conscious person. Having to play that role is a cruel punishment for Myeol Mang. So I'd like to see him set free from that role. It would be nice to see him decide not just that he wants Tak Dong Kyung to live, but that he wants to live with her and then fight to make that happen. Ideally I'd like to see Tak Dong Kyung live and Myeol Mang become human to have a happy ending with her, but that might be too happy for this type of drama.

I'll take a sad or bittersweet ending as long as it makes sense / is well written. Sad but satisfying is better than technically "happy" but badly written and unsatisfying IMO.

Doom seems like a really good translation though, compared to the alternatives. His jurisdiction is much broader than just death or destruction. So far we've either seen it include or Myeol Mang has told someone that it includes: a sink hole, death, forcing a murderer to live with the pain of dealing with the consequences of his actions, lights flickering / breaking, car crashes, medical emergencies, flowers dying, heat waves, pictures falling, and bad / unhappy marriages. So he's not just an angel of death or a god of destruction. It seems like he's a harbinger of misfortune more generally. When he focuses it he can keep it fairly contained (making a murderer live with consequences) but when he tries to avoid unleashing misfortune it gets bigger and out of control (on the scale of a record breaking heat wave or a person dying by suicide).

So there's no version of this drama where Tak Dong Kyung is actually going to wish for the world to end. Her only alternative seems to be breaking the contract and invoking the penalty. The penalty is that the person she loves most will die and she will live (Myeol Mang confirmed that she would live if she broke the contract in episode 3). I can only see four (technically five) possibilities.

Option 1: Tak Dong Kyung loves Myeol Mang the most at the end of the contract period, per her plan, and he dies. His wish is fulfilled. But the deity says he can't escape his fate so it seems unlikely that she would let this option happen.

Option 2: The person Tak Dong Kyung loves the most in that moment is herself (perhaps she uses her wish to make this so). She dies accordingly without having to end the world. I really can't imagine Myeol Mang would let this option happen. Maybe if he refuses to grant this wish it would constitute breaking the contract from his end. See Option 4.

Option 3: The contract is nullified. Perhaps Tak Dong Kyung uses her wish to nullify the contract somehow. Maybe if she wishes for Myeol Mang to be human, the contract would cease to exist? Or perhaps she could wish that they never met? Or that she would take his place as Doom? Or that whatever events led Myeol Mang to become Doom never happened so he never becomes Doom in the first place. In that scenario, I like to think we would get to see Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung meet as humans in an alternate timeline.

Option 4: Myeol Mang breaks the contract before Tak Dong Kyung, meaning that her penalty is not invoked. To break his side of the contract, I assume Myeol Mang would either have to refuse to grant Tak Dong Kyung's wish (one that he is capable of granting) or he would have to stop protecting her from her pain, even if she "recharges" her protection. I don't think the second option is likely (even though he has withheld his hand for a bit before to make a point), but maybe he would refuse to grant her wish if it would bring her harm. I wonder what the penalty would be if he breaks the contract?

Option 5: Technically the fifth option is that Tak Dong Kyung loves someone else (i.e., her brother) the most at the end of the contract period, but I really, really don't think that's how this drama will end.

About being the first, in the Viki subtitles she poses that as a question to Myeol Mang when she surprises him in his car in episode three.

If Myeol Mang can use his power to make Tak Dong Kyung love him, does that mean Tak Dong Kyung could use her wish so that the person she loves the most is herself so that only she dies when her time is up and the world / her brother / Myeol Mang are all spared?