Joo Won 주원 [Current Drama 2024 - The Midnight Studio/ 야한(夜限) 사진관]

[kittyna]

So, the final installment of Seolleim in Salzburg is still currently a work in progress - but over the past week or so, I've put together my first short Alice fic  Well...sort of.

 

Spoiler

Title: If I Could

Drama: "Alice"

Characters: Yoo Min Hyuk, Park Jin Gyeom

Premise: If he could, Yoo Min Hyuk would want more than anything to go back to the past and undo the choice he had made. However, given that that's impossible, he'll stop at nothing to keep the situation from getting any worse.

 

Note: This story really is more of a character study/exercise than a fanfic in the more conventional sense. In other words: if you've watched the drama (Episode 15, to be exact), you'll already know everything that happens, so don't expect any surprises or additional details. I just wanted to try my shot at getting into Min Hyuk's head for a while  

 

Once again, please do not repost any of this fic on any other website. If you want to share it, just link back to the URL for this post. Thanks!

 

Spoiler

If I Could

 

Finally, after several hours of driving, we are alone. The brightly lit bustle and densely packed skyscrapers of Seoul had faded away in time with the darkness of night; now, they have been replaced by empty countryside, the trees and fields on either side of the road illuminated by a grey morning light.

 

With no other cars to watch out for, I permit myself a darting sideward glance. I’m not sure as to why; perhaps, deep down, I am doing this in the vain hope that I’d find my son meeting my gaze. But he’s not. He’s still pointedly ignoring me: his gun clutched in a white-knuckled grip, his eyes focused intently straight ahead as though trying to burn our location into his memory.

 

Not that he would recognize where we are anyway. The last time Park Jin Gyeom tried to get to Alice by following me, we’d made sure to lose him back at the tunnel leaving Seoul. Back then, save for some begrudging admiration for his tenacity, I hadn’t thought anything of the police officer who risked his life to arrest my client. The way he scrambled out of his still-moving vehicle, throwing himself across the gap onto mine with just seconds to spare…I’d been impressed then, but how could I have failed to notice that the burning eyes that glared through this very windshield at me that night were so clearly hers? 

 

If I had realized it then instead of weeks after the fact, how would things be different now?

 

Seeing as he won’t be speaking anytime soon, I focus back on the road ahead. I did make a half-hearted offer to turn on the radio when we first started out; however, like me, my son never got into the habit of listening to music in the car. So now I drive on in a thick near-deafening silence, with only my own thoughts for company.

 

Click.

 

My ears perk up at the sound. “Gwenchana?”

 

After all, this must be the tenth time since we started that my son has gone blindly – and needlessly – through the motions of checking his gun: popping the magazine out and back in again, fiddling with the safety valve.

 

However, rather than answering directly, he changes the subject. “How much longer?”

 

“Ten minutes.”

 

The lie seems to satisfy him; once again, he subsides into the same steely silence from before. And once again, I am unable to resist the urge to peer over at him.

 

The fierce determination in his eyes, his tight grip on the gun…if I were him, I would probably look much the same. If I could – if not for the promise I’d made – I know I’d be the one racing to Alice now, trying to retrieve the Professor before it’s all too late.

 

Jin Gyeom will try to find the Teacher, but he must never do that.

 

But I have no choice. Even from beyond the grave, Tae Yi still has me wrapped around her little finger. Whatever she wants, she gets; with one major exception, that’s how it’s always been between us.

 

Still, I’m unable to look my son in the eye as I hand him the tiny metal pillbox, feeling rather than seeing when he rounds on me.

 

“What is it?”

 

“People from the past can’t go in on their own,” I answer. “If you want to enter Alice, you need to take this.”

 

He might not believe me about much else, but I know that he will on this. He’s seen for himself what happens to those who travel through time without taking protective measures against the radiation first. And if he fails to notice that this pill is green where the one I gave the Professor was not, then so much the better.

 

Sure enough, he takes it without complaint, swallowing the pill dry in his haste to get it down. Hopefully, the drugs will take effect just as quickly; it would be infinitely easier for both of us if he could just drift off now without asking any questions.

 

Carefully, I ease the pressure on the gas. It’ll only slow the car down by just an incremental amount, buying me only a few extra minutes at most, but I cannot risk going any further. Instead, to distract Jin Gyeom, I pose a question to which, if truth be told, I know the answer already:

 

“What do you plan to do after saving Professor Yoon?”

 

“That person who killed my mother…I’m going to kill him.”

 

There is nothing I can say to that; ever since finding out about Tae Yi’s death, I’ve been the same. Yet, although Jin Gyeom might never see me as such, I am his father: a pathetically useless excuse of one, but one nonetheless. And as his father, knowing that this black-hooded person who killed his mother – whoever he is – is now going after both him and the Professor….

 

I can’t.

 

It’s too dangerous.

 

We’ve both already lost Tae Yi once; I can’t risk losing him as well.

 

Shortly after the aforementioned ten minutes, I exit from the highway. Jin Gyeom, still frustratingly awake, sits up, his already intense gaze sharpening even further at the sight of the modern glass-paneled building that has now become visible in the distance. It isn’t Alice – simply a hotel-slash-conference centre that’s as close to the bridge as I dare take him – but for the time being, as far as I could tell from his ever-unreadable expression, he appears convinced. As I turn into the driveway and make for the centre’s main entrance, he coolly holsters his gun, the only clue to his true agitation being the loosely curled fist of his free hand.

 

However, no sooner have I turned off the engine does he visibly hesitate: hand hovering over the latch for a second before finally opening it and stepping out onto the curb. As I join him, I notice the uncertainty in his eyes, the way his steps slow to a stop as he takes in the large building ahead.

 

I didn’t plan for this. I was hoping that he would already be asleep – or close to it – by now. Still, it’s too late to hesitate; we are already here, and the best I can do is to improvise.

 

“If you want to get to Alice, follow me.”

 

The command comes out smoothly, no different than usual – and yet, even as I take a step forward, Jin Gyeom stays rooted in place.

 

Slowly, I turn back around to face him. He’s still staring at the entrance, that hesitant look in his eyes. But now, with sudden clarity, I realize what it actually is: skepticism.

 

He doesn’t believe me. I don’t know if he ever did. But now that we’re here, seeing the alarm bells going off in his head, I find that I can’t stay silent any longer.

 

If I could, I would have kept my son in the dark. But he is clearly his mother’s son: once something doesn’t add up, he will stop at nothing to find out the truth.

 

Alright, then. If it’s the truth he wants, then let him have it.

 

“It was your mother’s final request,” I concede at last. “She asked me to stop you from going to Alice.”

 

His eyes harden. He rounds on me, closing the gap between us with several measured steps. He doesn’t say anything, but I could imagine the question tearing through his mind: why?

 

“A total war against them is impossible, anyway.” Especially since, I mentally add to myself, he’d likely be gunned down on sight, the Teacher’s followers probably already planted amongst Alice’s staff in advance. “So wait here, just for a few hours. I’ll bring Professor Yoon Tae Yi back – and once you’ve met up, you both need to run away from here as far as you can.”

 

The entire time that I am saying this, Jin Gyeom glares defiantly at me, his jaw clenched as though biting back some hidden retort. I don’t know which one of us – his mother or I – he inherited his stubborn streak from, but I have obviously just triggered it.

 

Sure enough, rather than conceding, he barks out a single curt retort: “We don’t have the time for this. We have to get to Alice. Now.”

 

He doesn’t wait for a response from me before heading back towards the car. However, he only manages a few steps before, suddenly, he collapses.

 

Immediately, I rush forward to help him, but he brushes me off, choosing to brace himself against the hood of the car instead. And, once he does finally manage to catch his breath and stagger back upright, the look on his face says it all:

 

He knows. He knows what I’ve done to him. And right now, he hates me for it.

 

“Mianhada,” I say softly, the word ringing hollow in my ears despite the heartfelt truth behind it. “For the first and last time, let me be a father to you, just this once.”

 

He lunges at me, grabbing me by the lapel as much out of a desperate attempt to stay standing as out of anger at my betrayal. For a second, it appears as though he wants to curse at me; however, before he could get the words out, he abruptly pitches forward, losing consciousness at last.

 

This time, because of his hold on me, I am able to catch my son in my arms before he could crash into the side of the car. For a moment, I struggle to regain my balance, his dead weight almost dragging me down to the ground with him. But once I am settled, although all logic indicates that he wouldn’t feel it, I am unable to resist the urge to pat him soothingly on the back.

 

A lump rises up unbidden in my throat, growing larger by the second. At the same time, tears start to prick in my eyes until, unable to take it any longer, I clench a fistful of his jacket in my hand, tensing up in a vain effort to force them back.

 

It shouldn’t be like this. This shouldn’t be the first time I get to hug my son. By rights, the first time should have been there when he was still a small child: patting his side as he drifts off to sleep, my mere presence enough to ward off the monsters he sees in the wardrobe or under the bed.

 

Were it not for the things I did, the things I said….

 

Most fathers in my shoes, in looking back over the wasted years their children – whether consciously or not – spent waiting for them to appear miraculously out of the shadows, could say that they had been young and stupid. But I can’t. Because I am still young; or perhaps, back then, I was already old. However I choose to look at it, the answer is still the same: I was just stupid.

 

He might resent you, even while knowing you are his father. But if he does, don’t resent him…protect him.

 

I’m trying, Tae Yi-ah. If I could, if I haven’t learned the hard way that we couldn’t change the past, I would go back. Back to 1992, to that moment in the car, to say what I actually wanted to say to you at the time: that as surprised and as worried about your pregnancy as I was, I would respect your choice to have our son, no matter what.

 

It’s too late for that now. I can only continue onwards along the sole path that I see ahead of me. Protecting our son, shielding him from the chaos and destruction to come, that’s the only option I have left.

 

He will hate me for it. Even if, one day, he forgives me for leaving his mother all those years ago, he will never forgive me for leaving him behind now.

 

But so be it.

 

Author's Notes (hidden because of spoilers)

Spoiler

Okay, so this isn't the first Alice fic idea I had, but it is the first that actually came to fruition. And I want to say, in this behind-the-scenes note, that as simple as it is in terms of plot, this was one of the most challenging stories for me to write so far.

 

See, anytime I work with a particular narrator for the first time, it takes me a while to figure out what "voice" to use for them. I don't do it as consciously or deliberately as a number of other writers do (so, if you compare different fics side-by-side, you'll find certain words, turns of phrase, etc. that are just simply mine and that show up universally), but I do experiment a bit with things like how casual/formal, open/closed, etc. a narrator would be.

 

And Yoo Min Hyuk...was tough.  On the one hand, there's so much deep and meaningful stuff I could delve into, given his situation, where he is emotionally right now, etc. Yet, on the other hand, he's one of the most closed/reserved characters I've worked with for a while; the more I kept working with his voice and perspective here, the more I felt like he wouldn't be the sort who'd reveal much of what he's thinking, even to himself.

 

Straightforward, direct, reserved, and spartan would be words I'd use to describe his "voice" in my head - but none of those make for good reading.  Seriously, you don't want to know how many times I wrote and rewrote parts of this, trying to get it to a point where, while still not perfect, I'm actually happy with the result.

 

So just take this as the experiment that it is, and I'll come back with more Seolleim in Salzburg next time.

 

(Before anyone asks: yes, I also thought - due to the similar MBTI types, according to my take - that all my experience writing Cha Yoo Jin's voice would help here...it doesn't. I'm not sure why, but there seem to be some subtle differences between Yoo Jin and Min Hyuk that I haven't fully figured out yet.)

 

FYI: the bit about Jin Gyeom having Tae Yi's eyes...okay, that part was mine  Actually, I do have to give kudos to whoever did the casting (and then makeup and styling) for the Alice cast, because JW really was able to pass for a combination between Kim Hee Sun and Kwak Si Yang at times  

 

 

If anyone wants to access my other fics, a Master List is available under the "About Me" tab on my profile. Thanks for reading!

[kireeti2]

10 hours ago, kittyna said:

FYI: the bit about Jin Gyeom having Tae Yi's eyes...okay, that part was mine  Actually, I do have to give kudos to whoever did the casting (and then makeup and styling) for the Alice cast

Joo won does have few features from Kim Hee Sun and Kwak Si-Yang. I think he has similar eyes when compared with Kwak Si-Yang and cheekbones from Kim Hee-Sun

10 hours ago, kittyna said:

This story really is more of a character study/exercise than a fanfic in the more conventional sense. In other words: if you've watched the drama (Episode 15, to be exact), you'll already know everything that happens, so don't expect any surprises or additional details. I just wanted to try my shot at getting into Min Hyuk's head for a while

Btw the fan fiction was awesome read, it almost felt like this was exactly what Min Hyuk was thinking while he was taking PJG to Alice. Also, I totally missed the fact that PJG actually trusted MH and swallowed the sleeping pills, which shows us that he partly accepted MH in his exclusive club, in which he treats them fairly and trusts them with his life.

 

 

[kittyna]

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Joo won does have few features from Kim Hee Sun and Kwak Si-Yang. I think he has similar eyes when compared with Kwak Si-Yang and cheekbones from Kim Hee-Sun

 

I think in terms of the eyes, JW's look like a great in-between point: the overall shape (a soft curve with an upward slant in the outer corners) are like Kim Hee Sun's, but JW's eyes are a bit narrower than hers, which reminds me of Kwak Si Yang's. He definitely has the same general face shape/facial structure as Kim Hee Sun, but bears a reasonable resemblance to Kwak Si Yang when viewed from the side.

 

That last point, by the way, is one that I noticed Alice's director taking advantage of a ton. There are so many awesome shots where Park Jin Gyeom and Yoo Min Hyuk approach one another such that there's this moment when they both appear in profile, each on one half of the screen. I don't have a screenshot on hand to show you guys, but I'm sure you remember those moments.

 

Finally, in terms of an overall resemblance...I think Jin Gyeom looks more like his dad when it comes to individual features, but having a similar face shape with his mom pushes the "overall" score onto her side of things.

 

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Btw the fan fiction was awesome read, it almost felt like this was exactly what Min Hyuk was thinking while he was taking PJG to Alice.

 

Aw...thanks! 

 

8 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Also, I totally missed the fact that PJG actually trusted MH and swallowed the sleeping pills, which shows us that he partly accepted MH in his exclusive club, in which he treats them fairly and trusts them with his life.

 

"Trust" is probably a bit of a stretch at that point, as Jin Gyeom does still seem to be wary of time travelers in general (unless he already knew them well as people, like Go Ahjussi). But he does realize that he needs to follow Min Hyuk's instructions if he wants any chance of getting to Alice at all, so it's probably more a case of "Better the devil you know" than actual trust.   

 

However, in hindsight, I will say that I was surprised - and more than a bit intrigued - when Jin Gyeom revealed that he actually knew Min Hyuk was his father. It made me wonder when exactly he figured it out, as that could change the dynamic between them in many of their previous encounters if he already knew.

[kittyna]

Compilation post of JW's costumes as Park Jin Gyeom 

 

One of the brands, System Homme, was also used extensively for Cha Yoo Jin's costumes in Nae Il's Cantabile, albeit an overall more business/formal side of the line when compared to Alice.

 

And speaking of Nae Il's Cantabile, I recently stumbled upon this compilation of clips from behind-the-scenes put out by his agency. Most of the footage is from Life Log, but the last 3 minutes or so (starting from c. 8:30) are from other sources.

 

 

I have to say that I'm really glad that JW as Cha Yoo Jin wound up going with a different style/technique than what we see from the New World Symphony segment at the end. He was imitating the A Orchestra's conductor, who has a very flashy style (flashy to the point of being cringe-y, in my opinion, but maybe it works for him), but it definitely doesn't mesh well with Yoo Jin's character or personality. So watching this footage again, I do have to give JW and his instructors kudos for helping him develop two different conducting personas: this imitation, and then Yoo Jin's actual style.  

[kittyna]

lol - It looks like whoever designed the packaging for the Alice OST disc set decided to go all out.  The box as a whole looks like a copy of the Book of Prophecy, and then the CDs themselves are tucked in a folder made to look like a time card.

 

JW meeting fans at the theatre - Since the caption does mention "maintaining social distancing", I will point out that the fist bump might be out of bounds depending on where you live (since rules/social norms that have evolved out of COVID-19 vary from place to place). For instance, where I am, it could still be considered inappropriate since it involves touching hands. However, the subsequent elbow bump was cute  

[kireeti2]

29 minutes ago, kittyna said:

JW meeting fans at the theatre - Since the caption does mention "maintaining social distancing", I will point out that the fist bump might be out of bounds depending on where you live (since rules/social norms that have evolved out of COVID-19 vary from place to place). For instance, where I am, it could still be considered inappropriate since it involves touching hands. However, the subsequent elbow bump was cute

I was about to post this, but you beat me to it. Elbow bump was cute indeed and there was also a air fist bump in the end. Yeah, like you said fist bump may not be completely safe, but I think the point of contact is less and chances of touching face with the fist side is rare, so, it is safer than hand shake. And also, with elbow bump there are risks, like one needs to get close in order to give a elbow bump. So, nothing is absolute when it comes to COVID-19 transmission.

40 minutes ago, kittyna said:

lol - It looks like whoever designed the packaging for the Alice OST disc set decided to go all out.  The box as a whole looks like a copy of the Book of Prophecy, and then the CDs themselves are tucked in a folder made to look like a time card.

I think it's clever strategy, people will at least buy  the CDs to at leas the read the content from Book of prophecy, and that time card looked real as well. It would have been nice if that time card was like a real music player with a headphone jack and can play and pause the songs with the press of  middle button

[kittyna]

12 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I think it's clever strategy, people will at least buy  the CDs to at leas the read the content from Book of prophecy, and that time card looked real as well.

 

It's really just the first and last pages of the book, but I get what you mean  

 

12 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

It would have been nice if that time card was like a real music player with a headphone jack and can play and pause the songs with the press of  middle button

 

lol - That would be fun! Massively expensive to make in large quantities, but fun

[kittyna]

2 hours ago, kittyna said:

15 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I think it's clever strategy, people will at least buy  the CDs to at leas the read the content from Book of prophecy, and that time card looked real as well.

 

It's really just the first and last pages of the book, but I get what you mean  

 

After what I said before about the OST box set, I found this post on Instagram, and stand corrected. It looks like at least some parts of the book are included as souvenir notecards.

 

lol - Imagine writing a note for someone who hasn't watched Alice using one of those pages, though  Not that I think most fans would (they really are more keepsakes than anything), but can you seriously imagine getting a message on, say, the creepy Schrodinger's cat page or something? (Just as a hypothetical example - I don't know which pages are actually included) 

[kittyna]

Just popping by with a really funny "blink and you'll miss it" moment from Alice: we all remember JW's (in)famous "Tell Me" dance, right? Yeah, well, it took coming across this cropped/zoomed in version on Instagram for me to notice just how Jin Gyeom reacted to his friends' reactions. Namely, glancing down at the floor in confusion at the beer Dong Ho had just spit out  It's like, everyone's staring at him like he just sprouted horns, and that's the part he notices???

[kireeti2]

11 hours ago, kittyna said:

Namely, glancing down at the floor in confusion at the beer Dong Ho had just spit out 

Yeah, his reaction was hysterical, I wonder how many takes it would have taken to get this perfect scene. I would really enjoy watching bloopers of this scenes, but knowing that no bloopers of this scene, I guess it took only one take to get the scene right.

11 hours ago, kittyna said:

JW's (in)famous "Tell Me" dance,

I am surprised there are no memes for this dance , since there were so many memes form Alice's scene

[kittyna]

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I am surprised there are no memes for this dance , since there were so many memes form Alice's scene

 

Probably because the scene is a meme in and of itself  Actually, I don't know how to do it, but it'd be hilarious if someone actually made a GIF of at least part of that dance.

 

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yeah, his reaction was hysterical, I wonder how many takes it would have taken to get this perfect scene. I would really enjoy watching bloopers of this scenes, but knowing that no bloopers of this scene, I guess it took only one take to get the scene right.

 

lol - That's an awesome thought, that we managed to get the cast members' genuine reactions to JW's dancing. Most likely, there were probably still multiple takes just to get all the camera angles, but it's not really the sort of thing anyone (other than JW himself) could mess up - because even if the others just keeled over laughing, the scene would still work. 

 

I guess kudos to JW then for being able to nail such a ridiculous dance with such a straight face 

 

New promo video for Ghost - By the way, is it just me, or is JW doing both the sung parts and the voiceover? Either that, or his fellow Sam Wheat actors also sound a ton like him.

 

Throwback to JW's impression of Moon Chae Won while filming Good Doctor - Kudos to MCW's fans for sharing this! I think it's adorable that JW said she was like Cha Yoon Seo in real life.  

 

 

[kittyna]

So, it seems like JW has a busy day today: he mentioned both an upcoming interview and a performance on his Instagram stories. My guess is that this is the interview in question, but I'm not entirely sure yet.

 

In the meantime, it's also come to my attention that today is World Children's Day. And that got me thinking that, well, I haven't put together an interactive for a while (you can blame real life busy-ness for that), so let's throw together a quick kids-related round of Scattergories. 

 

Spoiler

Scattergories: Children's Day Edition

 

Again, you guys know the drill: for each of the prompts, just say which character(s) first come to mind. Repeats are allowed, and reasons are optional (although always appreciated - I love reading about what you think of the characters).

 

Note: this one takes a bit of extra imagination, because I want you to think about what the characters would have been like as kids. Also, keep an eye out for whether I'm asking about the guys or the girls.  

 

1. The JW drama guy most likely to prefer playing outside (as opposed to indoors) when he was little

2. The JW drama girl most likely to grow up with a pet (bonus: what was the pet?)

3. The JW drama guy most likely to rank first place during primary/elementary school

4. The JW drama girl most likely to be sporty or a tomboy (or both - both is also good )

5. The JW drama guy who you really don't want to be quiet - because when he's quiet, he's definitely up to some sort of mischief  

6. The JW drama girl most likely to prefer playing alone rather than with the other kids

7. The JW drama guy most likely to beg his parents for a younger sibling (whether that sibling comes along or not is up to you)

8. The JW drama guy most likely to be the leader among his group of friends

9. The JW drama girl most likely to be a total chatterbox

10. The JW drama guy most likely to be shy around strangers

11. The JW drama girl most likely to secretly stay up late past her bedtime (bonus: doing what?)

 

Nothing serious - just have fun with it  

 

[EDIT] - Changed one of the prompts (9) and added two additional prompts (10, 11).

[kireeti2]

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

1. The JW drama guy most likely to prefer playing outside (as opposed to indoors) when he was little

Park Si-On's elder brother

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

2. The JW drama girl most likely to grow up with a pet (bonus: what was the pet?)

Han Yeo-Jin from Yong-Pal, if I remember correctly she had a pet dog when she was 6 or 7 years old

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

3. The JW drama guy most likely to rank first place during primary/elementary school

Park-Si-On in academics or PJG in sports. I don't know which rank you were referring to. So, I choose two characters in different field

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

4. The JW drama girl most likely to be sporty or a tomboy (or both - both is also good )

Cha Yoon-Seo(Sporty) and Nae-Il(Tomboy)

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

5. The JW drama guy who you really don't want to be quiet - because when he's quiet, he's definitely up to some sort of mischief

Han Gil Ro, I can picture him as the most rebellious one out of all the characters

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

6. The JW drama girl most likely to prefer playing alone rather than with the other kids

Han Yeo-Jin, I did not see a rule where it says that I am not supposed to repeat the character

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

7. The JW drama guy most likely to beg his parents for a younger sibling (whether that sibling comes along or not is up to you)

Han Gil-Ro , since only this character as most stable family and only kid in stable family tends to get bored because of the free time, so, I can picture Han Gil-Ro asking for sibling from his parents

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

8. The JW drama guy most likely to be the leader among his group of friends

Hwang Tae-Hee

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

9. The JW drama girl most likely to be a total chatterbox

Nae-il

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

10. The JW drama guy most likely to be shy around strangers

Park Si-On, although as an adult it was shown that he has no trouble talking with a stranger, but as kid I am sure he was shy around strangers

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

11. The JW drama girl most likely to secretly stay up late past her bedtime (bonus: doing what?)

Yoon Tae-Yi (2020), probably watching stars or reading advance books on quantum physics(I know it's a  little stretch for kid to read  book on quantum physics, but she science prodigy)

 

 

Now that I am done with the exercise, it came to my notice that only few joo won's character had  normal childhood, like, Han Gil Ro, Kim Tae Hyun, Hwang Tae Hee and Gu Ma jun up to some extent.

[kittyna]

Reactions first, then my own responses  

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Han Yeo-Jin from Yong-Pal, if I remember correctly she had a pet dog when she was 6 or 7 years old

 

I don't remember if the drama mentioned her having a dog, but even if it didn't, it's not impossible  

 

lol - And now you're reminding me of the way Lee Sang Chul (the security guard who befriends Tae Hyun) secretly lets the neighbour's dog "trespass" into the yard just so he could play with it before chasing it back off again  

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Park-Si-On in academics or PJG in sports. I don't know which rank you were referring to. So, I choose two characters in different field

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Yoon Tae-Yi (2020), probably watching stars or reading advance books on quantum physics(I know it's a  little stretch for kid to read  book on quantum physics, but she science prodigy)

 

I personally envisioned ranking first academically, but I also didn't specify.  As you said, different characters might excel in different fields, so anything's possible.

 

Actually, if we step back and think about it, there are a ton of exceptional/prodigy kids in JW's dramas. Academically, we can definitely count both Park Si On and Yoon Tae Yi for the sciences, Gyun Woo for the humanities/liberal arts (to use the modern terms), both Cha Yoo Jin and Seol Nae Il for music, Park Jin Gyeom (and possibly some others) for athletics...yeah. Quite the mix, there.

 

(And the mental image of mini-Tae Yi reading under the covers with a flashlight is darn cute )

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Cha Yoon-Seo(Sporty) and Nae-Il(Tomboy)

 

I didn't expect to see Nae Il as a tomboy, so I'd love to hear more about your thoughts here. (Not a disagreement, just curiosity)

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Han Yeo-Jin, I did not see a rule where it says that I am not supposed to repeat the character

 

That's because there isn't - I did say that repeats were okay.

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Han Gil-Ro , since only this character as most stable family and only kid in stable family tends to get bored because of the free time, so, I can picture Han Gil-Ro asking for sibling from his parents

 

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Now that I am done with the exercise, it came to my notice that only few joo won's character had  normal childhood, like, Han Gil Ro, Kim Tae Hyun, Hwang Tae Hee and Gu Ma jun up to some extent.

 

And I wouldn't exactly consider Kim Tae Hyun or Gu Ma Jun having normal childhoods either - Ma Jun, maybe, but Tae Hyun's is...normal in the sense that it's (tragically) common, but definitely not in the sense of being uneventful, ordinary, or healthy.

 

And now for my own answers:

 

1. The JW drama guy most likely to prefer playing outside (as opposed to indoors) when he was little

 

I'm going to say either Kim Tae Hyun (for playing with other kids) or Park Si On (for playing/exploring by himself). I generally just imagine Tae Hyun to be a rather active child who would need space to run around and burn off some excess energy, and I see Si On as the sort of kid who'd love to roam around in nature with his pet rabbit in tow.

 

2. The JW drama girl most likely to grow up with a pet (bonus: what was the pet?)

 

I mentioned this in passing in some of my Seolleim in Salzburg fics already: Seol Nae Il. I like to think that she had a dog when she was little, and probably would have wanted even more pets if her parents hadn't said no.

 

3. The JW drama guy most likely to rank first place during primary/elementary school

 

Since it's already hinted at in the drama, I'm going to say Park Jin Gyeom here. Even in terms of academics. It shows up a lot in conversation that he consistently has good grades in school, and I also see him as being a diligent and focused student. It's practically the one thing he's good at as a kid, and he also tended to use "I have to study" as his excuse to get out of all sorts of situations growing up.

 

4. The JW drama girl most likely to be sporty or a tomboy (or both - both is also good )

 

Hye Myung would be the obvious choice (she acts like a tomboy even if she's never allowed to dress like one ), but to change things up a bit, I agree with @kireeti2 on Cha Yoon Seo, and I'd also like to add 2020-Yoon Tae Yi to the mix. I dunno; I just sort of see them being more interested in "boyish" things growing up, whether it's in terms of the games they play, or even the common assumption among kids that STEM fields are for boys. Not that that's true, by the way, but the perception is there, so, for instance, I could envision both Yoon Seo and Tae Yi doing the whole "I'm not like most girls" thing.

 

5. The JW drama guy who you really don't want to be quiet - because when he's quiet, he's definitely up to some sort of mischief 

 

While Han Gil Ro is definitely the most mischievous out of all of JW's drama characters, I also see him as the sort who'd be really loud and rambunctious when he's up to something. If, on the other hand, I need to think of someone who'd become really quiet or sneaky when he's up to no good, I actually end up thinking of Gu Ma Jun.

 

6. The JW drama girl most likely to prefer playing alone rather than with the other kids

 

I...think I'm gonna have to also go with Han Yeo Jin for this one. In part, it's because her parents didn't let her play with other kids much; but I also think she would grow up internalizing that "princess" mentality and would probably have wound up with a really snobbish phase. 

 

7. The JW drama guy most likely to beg his parents for a younger sibling (whether that sibling comes along or not is up to you)

 

I can see this being equally true for both Han Gil Ro and Kim Tae Hyun, mostly because I think both seem like the sort who'd want a playmate.

 

8. The JW drama guy most likely to be the leader among his group of friends

 

For me, I think of Gyun Woo, or possibly Lee Kang To (before things went to bits between him and his peers during their teenage years).

 

9. The JW drama girl most likely to be a total chatterbox

 

Nae Il's definitely a contender  But just to have a different "official" answer, I'm going to go with Kim Do Yeon here. She's also got that bubbly, talkative streak to her, and she seems to like using it to draw others (like Jin Gyeom) out of their shells.

 

10. The JW drama guy most likely to be shy around strangers

 

There's a difference between quiet and shy, so here I'm going to go with Cha Yoo Jin - who, admittedly, is also quiet, but I'm thinking more of his general tendency to be wary or cautious around others at first. Talk about music will get him to open up, but not much else  

 

11. The JW drama girl most likely to secretly stay up late past her bedtime (bonus: doing what?)

 

Again, Tae Yi's a great pick, but I still want to pick someone different. So I'm going to go with Seol Nae Il here. Of course, she wouldn't be playing music here, but I could imagine her chatting and playing with her gazillion stuffed animals well into the night.

[kireeti2]

7 hours ago, kittyna said:

Nae Il as a tomboy

As you know most(generally speaking) of the men doesn't keep their  rooms tidy, doesn't have any personal Hygiene and mostly important they don't organize their stuff. So, Nae-il might be girly in some aspects like clothing, hobbies etc, but she certainly passes on as a tomboy with her day to day habits  

 

7 hours ago, kittyna said:

And I wouldn't exactly consider Kim Tae Hyun or Gu Ma Jun having normal childhoods eithe

That's why I said it is up to some extent, on surface of it, it does seem like they had normal childhood, but they have their own issues 

7 hours ago, kittyna said:

Gyun Woo, or possibly Lee Kang To

I thought of these two as well, but in order to be a leader one must have qualities like empathy, accommodating and some good inter-personal skills, these are seriously lacking for Gyun Woo and Lee Kang To childhood is marred with hardship, so, he would be busy making money for his family and generally would have no time to play as a normal child, I sort of assumed the age group of the character between 8-14. 

 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

I'm going to go with Kim Do Yeon

 Her screen time was so short that she never crossed my mind, know that you mention it, in order to be a journalist one has to be talking as hell and needs to strike conversation all the time. 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

I'm going to go with Cha Yoo Jin

This one surprised me, but I get it, maybe Cha Yoo Jin was like a shy kid and grew into an adult who was full of himself as he slowly realized that he was best among his peers 

8 hours ago, kittyna said:

So I'm going to go with Seol Nae Il here.

Yup, I can totally imagine her having a late night tea party with her stuffed animal toys. She was on my mind as well, but given that she has lot of family support, it is simple impossible to stay up late night, but I can see she might do it occasionally 

[kittyna]

1 hour ago, kireeti2 said:

As you know most(generally speaking) of the men doesn't keep their  rooms tidy, doesn't have any personal Hygiene and mostly important they don't organize their stuff. So, Nae-il might be girly in some aspects like clothing, hobbies etc, but she certainly passes on as a tomboy with her day to day habits  

 

I see.

 

Mind you, the more typical trope in lighter K-dramas is for the guy to be really put together and self-sufficient and the girl to be something of a hot mess 

 

1 hour ago, kireeti2 said:

I thought of these two as well, but in order to be a leader one must have qualities like empathy, accommodating and some good inter-personal skills, these are seriously lacking for Gyun Woo

 

I think that, for Gyun Woo, it would be a case of becoming a leader due to charisma or a general take-charge personality. He does lack key social and interpersonal skills, as you pointed out, but depending on what age we're imagining (and what assumptions we make about kids at that age), it's possible that he and his peers aren't thinking quite so deeply yet  So, if we go with the preteen to early teenage years (8-14, as you said), there is a possibility that kids would gravitate to whoever's nicest, but it's also possible that they'd just flock to whoever they think is "coolest". And if the latter's the metric we use, then Gyun Woo's a viable contender.

 

1 hour ago, kireeti2 said:

Her screen time was so short that she never crossed my mind, know that you mention it, in order to be a journalist one has to be talking as hell and needs to strike conversation all the time. 

 

Um...how on earth did Do Yeon slip your mind???  I thought you, like, thought of both her and Nae Il and just went with Nae Il out of the two  

 

1 hour ago, kireeti2 said:

This one surprised me, but I get it, maybe Cha Yoo Jin was like a shy kid and grew into an adult who was full of himself as he slowly realized that he was best among his peers 

 

The way I see it, Yoo Jin's one of the biggest examples of someone who changes drastically going from childhood (especially early childhood) to adulthood. So, I think that when he was really little, he was a pretty shy and sensitive child. However, because of being pushed into the spotlight pretty much from birth (you know, because of his famous father) and being a child prodigy in his own right, he would have learned how to promote himself in public from a very young age - like, even as a 3- or 4-year old. Add to that his own father's contempt towards even the slightest hint at "weakness" or vulnerability, and we definitely have a case of innate personality traits that end up deeply suppressed over time.

 

However, I don't necessarily think that Yoo Jin genuinely believes he's actually the best out of his peers. There is reasonable argument for thinking he's one of the best (as evidenced from early episodes of Nae Il's Cantabile), and he does seem almost oblivious to how things he thought were easy could actually be challenging for others. However, at the same time, he's very much aware that 1) his skill comes as much out of hard work as it does natural talent; 2) he's blatantly being exploited by people like Professor Do, the Chairwoman, etc.; and 3) no matter how good everyone else thinks he is, his father's never going to think so. In short: I think Yoo Jin has something of a love-hate relationship with his own label as a prodigy-turned-virtuoso. He's sort of like Gu Ma Jun in that sense, actually.

 

1 hour ago, kireeti2 said:

Yup, I can totally imagine her having a late night tea party with her stuffed animal toys. She was on my mind as well, but given that she has lot of family support, it is simple impossible to stay up late night, but I can see she might do it occasionally 

 

Tons of family support, yes, but also probably coddled and catered to a good deal as well  Chances are, her parents would be aware of her nighttime escapades, but they leave her to it while laughing between themselves about how it's cute that she thinks she's being all sneaky about it  I'm sure we've all seen parents like that  

[kireeti2]

37 minutes ago, kittyna said:

r K-dramas is for the guy to be really put together and self-sufficient and the girl to be something of a hot mess 

Well in South Asia pop culture it is often portrayed men to be a man child and really as no purpose in life and women are shown as the responsible one in a relationship. Also, there is darker side in this theme, like, it puts pressure on girls to be mature one and more forgiving and their mistakes are unacceptable, its like a colonial thing. Like the early missionary schools sort of imposed this notion on South Asia, it's like there was no "Home Science" for women before the colonial education system and  girls use to be at least had some freedom(mind you its not like that women were free and can get education, status of women in South Asia deteriorated before the colonial rule).

43 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Um...how on earth did Do Yeon slip your mind???  I thought you, like, thought of both her and Nae Il and just went with Nae Il out of the two

Like I mentioned, it is due to less screen time. It would have been nice if there were more scenes of PJG and KDY, like, the writers should have at least given a episode or two for these two characters. Like, they there can be a episode where these two traveled back in time and tried to solved mystery behind PJG's mom's murder case.

 

47 minutes ago, kittyna said:

but they leave her to it while laughing between themselves about how it's cute that she thinks she's being all sneaky about it  I'm sure we've all seen parents like that

Lol, That scene would have been super cute, had the writers included in the drama, like, they should have shown her background story as kid who had no friends and she use to play with her stuffed toys.

Alice team reunion. By the way, who is the guy on the right of the table?

[kittyna]

11 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Alice team reunion. By the way, who is the guy on the right of the table?

 

I don't know, actually - I was hoping that someone who reposted the pic would end up tagging everyone, but the best I've found so far is this Korean article on the subject. I...can't read Korean much (I just try to sound things out and match what I hear with the handful of words/phrases I do know), but about halfway through the article, I did manage to make out some names: JW, Kwak Si Yang, Lee Da In, and Choi Won Young. But that only accounts for five people in the shot, and there are six. 

 

My guess for the time being (meaning: I could be wrong, and if I am, please say so) is that it's someone from the production crew rather than one of the listed actors. The article does mention the director, so...maybe?

 

(My first guess, prior to finding that article, was that the sixth person was one of the body doubles - since we know that JW filmed a lot with one due to the whole "multiple Jin Gyeoms" thing. But now I'm not so sure.)

 

11 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

It would have been nice if there were more scenes of PJG and KDY, like, the writers should have at least given a episode or two for these two characters. Like, they there can be a episode where these two traveled back in time and tried to solved mystery behind PJG's mom's murder case.

 

I think that having Kim Do Yeon going back in time with Park Jin Gyeom would have opened the story up to a whole other set of complications re: unassisted time travel. Like, we know that Jin Gyeom could travel through time spontaneously because of his unique circumstances, and it seems like he's capable of bringing Yoon Tae Yi along with him - but is that the pattern, or is Tae Yi supposed to be an exception? I assumed all along that she was an exceptional case like he was, but...yeah. 

 

Rather than going back in time, I would have liked to see a flashback showing Do Yeon and Jin Gyeom as high school or university students, trying to solve the case on their own until, inevitably, the trail goes cold. Instead, we seem to have Do Yeon just telling Jin Gyeom to move on, and I'm not sure that's entirely realistic given their friendship.

 

11 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Well in South Asia pop culture it is often portrayed men to be a man child and really as no purpose in life and women are shown as the responsible one in a relationship. Also, there is darker side in this theme, like, it puts pressure on girls to be mature one and more forgiving and their mistakes are unacceptable, its like a colonial thing. Like the early missionary schools sort of imposed this notion on South Asia, it's like there was no "Home Science" for women before the colonial education system and  girls use to be at least had some freedom(mind you its not like that women were free and can get education, status of women in South Asia deteriorated before the colonial rule).

 

From what I've seen in dramas, variety shows, etc., I think that was also the norm in Korea not that long ago. However, in recent decades, there's been a shift - not so much towards expectations for women being relaxed (if anything, they seem to have intensified, with the whole "superwoman" ideal of having both a successful career and being a good housewife), but in the sense that the ideal man is a caregiver and not just a breadwinner. 

 

It's really obvious in, say, the 1N2D cast that JW was in: there was a noticeable generation gap between the older guys who were pretty clueless about cooking/cleaning/etc., and the younger guys who had at least some idea (with Sung Si Kyung being the most knowledgeable of the bunch).

[kireeti2]

38 minutes ago, kittyna said:

I don't know, actually

The guy on the right is Choi Won-young, like, there are 6 people and when I have translated the article using Google translated it showed Choi Won-young along with other actors. And the guy the hat is the director of Alice

40 minutes ago, kittyna said:

there was a noticeable generation gap between the older guys who were pretty clueless about cooking/cleaning/etc

If my memory serves right, the older generation group won the competition in cooking, it is in the same episode where we get to see the Joo won's older brother. I think it is more like unwillingness of the older guys not taking part in household works rather than being clueless about cooking/cleaning etc.

 

42 minutes ago, kittyna said:

"superwoman" ideal of having both a successful career and being a good housewife

They really misinterpreted the whole women participation in the economy. Lot of men think that even if the woman is a working professional, she still needs to do the household work along with the job. It was actually the theme that men should start doing their fair share in household works so that women can be productive at work subsequently improving the country's economic productivity.

 

[kittyna]

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

The guy on the right is Choi Won-young, like, there are 6 people and when I have translated the article using Google translated it showed Choi Won-young along with other actors. And the guy the hat is the director of Alice

 

Okay, then - that makes sense  

 

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

If my memory serves right, the older generation group won the competition in cooking, it is in the same episode where we get to see the Joo won's older brother. I think it is more like unwillingness of the older guys not taking part in household works rather than being clueless about cooking/cleaning etc.

 

Yeah, the older guys did win that round. But I also remember them being completely lost during the relay cooking challenge, so it sort of wound up being Si Kyung and JW doing the whole thing.  

 

So in thinking about that...yeah, I agree with you that it's not so much a difference in terms of knowledge as it was the whole psychological aspect of it: like, all the guys knew something, but the older ones tended to feel more awkward about it than the younger ones. For example, there was one time where JW and Uhm Tae Woong wound up being tasked with folding a massive pile of socks, and while UTW was all like, "Crap - I do this at home already, and you want me to do it here?!?!", JW was completely unfazed and even said something like, "Just go at it with a mother's heart". Which, yes, would have sounded weird to the hyungs coming from a guy, but there you go  

 

4 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

They really misinterpreted the whole women participation in the economy. Lot of men think that even if the woman is a working professional, she still needs to do the household work along with the job. It was actually the theme that men should start doing their fair share in household works so that women can be productive at work subsequently improving the country's economic productivity.

 

I think that's why the whole "flower boy" ideal really took off among younger generations, then, because it presents a more well-rounded take on masculinity than what had been before. So now, in youth dramas, there's a tendency for the guys to be neat and well-polished, but also able to take care of both themselves and the female lead (at least).

 

By the way, given the success of the recent round of Scattergories, I want to point out that I actually had more prompt ideas than I could fit in - so here's a quick bonus Round Two, based on the same theme:

 

Spoiler

Scattergories: Children's Day Edition (Bonus Round!)

 

Again, you guys know the drill: for each of the prompts, just say which character(s) first come to mind. Repeats are allowed, and reasons are optional (although always appreciated - I love reading about what you think of the characters).

 

Note: this one takes a bit of extra imagination, because I want you to think about what the characters would have been like as kids. Also, keep an eye out for whether I'm asking about the guys or the girls.  

 

1. The JW drama guy who constantly changed his mind about what he wanted to be when he grew up

2. The JW drama girl most likely to have loved playing dolls/princesses/etc. (in short: the girly girl)

3. The JW drama guy most likely to get lost in some crowded public space like a shopping mall, amusement park, etc. (Bonus: how would he react?)

4. The JW drama girl most likely to have been the "queen bee"/bully at school

5. Inversely, the JW drama girl most likely to have been bullied or picked on by the other kids (Bonus: for what reason?)

6. The JW drama guy most likely to secretly stay up late at night (yes, this is the flip side from a prompt in the first round; and again, bonus: doing what?)

7. The JW drama girl most likely to be super-close with her mom

8. The JW drama guy most likely to accidentally hurt himself from playing too rough

9. The JW drama guy most likely to voluntarily help out around the house

10. The JW drama girl most likely to have thrown really epic tantrums when she didn't get her way

11. The JW drama guy most likely to have been terrified of going to the doctor's office when he was really little (i.e. 3-5 years old)

12. The JW drama girl most likely to try to make something in the kitchen...only to completely mess it up