[Drama 2011] A Thousand Days' Promise 천일의 약속

[71e]

[only*rae won*]

Hello Everyone .... Enjoy reading every post & contribution of u all ...

Thanx for every one post any new update for this beautiful drama ~~

i alwyas enjoy reading javabeans & girlfriday recaps of the drama on Dramabeans, so gonna share it with U all...

Thousand Day Promise: Episode 1

by javabeans

Thousand Day Promise premiered today, and has all  the makings of a taut, angsty melodrama. To be perfectly honest, by the  halfway point I wasn’t sure I was enjoying the episode, but I was captivated by the conflict, the emotion, and the acting.

One of the things that make the writing great about this episode is  that what you see at first glance is not always what you get. A scene  starts out a certain way, then develops and twists and ends up in a  surprising place. I love that. There’s conflict all over the place, and  tons of flawed characters.

This is the closest drama I’ve seen in recent memory that evokes a Que Sera Sera feeling of mood and development. In my book that’s a good thing — Que Sera Sera was likewise not always FUN, but it was always compelling, sometimes downright riveting, and intense.

EPISODE 1 RECAP

 

A couple drives to an out-of-the way lake and sits in a car. PARK JI-HYUNG (Kim Rae-won) and LEE SEO-YEON (Su Ae)  speak banmal like old acquaintances, and he confesses a truth he seems  shamed by: That he’s a bad person for wanting her, to hold her. That his  desire is all-consuming, and makes him want to find a way to hold her  without being such a bastard.

Tears fill her eyes and she confesses that she’s been wondering if  she should hold back, wanting to make the first move herself. “I’m just  pretending not to, because I’m afraid of embarrassment.”

That sparks the passion, and they make their way to a bedroom, pulling clothes off impatiently, until they end up in bed.  

Some time later, Seo-yeon drives along, alone this time. She’s  dressed nicely despite having curlers in her hair, and deals with a  headache. Pulling over to pop some pills, she flashes back to an earlier  conversation: Her younger brother MOON-KWON (Park Yoo-hwan) had noted her frequent painkiller habit and cautioned her to get herself checked out.

Waiting for her is Ji-hyung, who grows increasingly upset and worried  the longer he waits. He tries calling, but Seo-yeon has left her cell  phone at home, and he can barely contain his fidgeting.

Meanwhile, at home her aunt chatters with her uncle about feeling sad  because Seo-yeon has just paid off her loan for her home in full. The  aunt practically raised Seo-yeon and looks upon her with affection (and  some pity over Seo-yeon’s poor background), so it’s a bit of empty nest  syndrome that the little girl no longer needs her help.

(Small note: Everyone in this drama is using outdated phones thus  far, which suggests to me that there’ll be a time jump at some point.)

Seo-yeon doesn’t notice right away that she missed her stop and has  to turn back, making her even later. By the time she arrives at the  upscale remote hotel with apologetic smiles, Ji-hyung is just about to  charge out of the room to find her.

His worry has him lashing out at Seo-yeon, telling her he was  imagining an accident, or worse. Plus, they’ve only got an hour and half  left of their planned date before he has to go in to work, now that her  detour ate half the time.

Seo-yeon apologizes in good humor, although she notes that his  reaction is overblown. She lets his hurtful comments slide until he  calls her dumb for not calling, and then she fires back that they’re  always living on his clock; he doesn’t consider other people’s timetables.  

Then as quickly as she lost her temper, she cheers right back up and  pours the wine, figuring to make the most of their date. He calms down a  bit, distracted by the tie-up blouse she wore just for him, and they  start making out.

Before things get too steamy, though, they’re interrupted by a phone  call, and that kills Seo-yeon’s mood. She tells him to take it — he  wants to ignore it — and steps aside while he answers the call from NOH  HYANG-GI (Jung Yumi).

Ji-hyung isn’t excited to talk to her, but Hyang-gi calls him “oppa”  and happily chirps on about getting vaccinated, and then whispers that  the doctor told her to use contraception. Ohhh, wait. Is she the legit  girlfriend? Is Seo-yeon the Other Woman?

Seo-yeon tries not to let this phone call bother her, and now a few  things fall into place — like why they’re meeting at a hotel, why  Ji-hyung was so agitated to waste half of their tryst, why she insisted  he take the call right in the middle of foreplay. While she waits in the  bathroom, she recalls a flashback of a past rendezvous with Ji-hyung,  with them holding hands in bed, just lying there in quiet.

As this date comes closer to its end, they sit down to coffee and  Ji-hyung suggests that Seo-yeon stop working herself so hard editing and  ghostwriting for other people. Spoken like a rich boy, and she’d chides  that she’s gotta make a living, which keeps her too busy to write her  own novel.

Ji-hyung replies that he’d take care of her, like that’s the easy  solution. Which it is, only she’s not that kind of girl, and she needs  to make her own way in the world. She announces that she finally repaid  her aunt’s loan, and starts naming all the things they can eat and do on  dates now that she’s debt-free.

He cuts her short and tells her grimly that they’ve “set a date.”  Apparently his mother and his fiancée’s mother went out and decided that  next month should do it.

Suddenly her smile freezes, and she can’t bring herself to  congratulate him. She lets this sink in with some difficulty, and  realizes that today is their send-off date, and understands why Ji-hyung  was so angry when she came late — how unfortunate that she wasted their  precious time getting lost.

Forcing a brave face, she talks over his tense silence, telling him  that she’s fine, that she practiced for this moment, and it’s not so bad  after all. He’s hurt at her breezy tone, and says, “Must be nice that  you’re so fine with this.”

She plasters on a smile that’s obviously forced and says, “I told  you, I had practice.” Maybe the thing she practiced was acting okay, not  actually being okay, but Ji-hyung says, “Don’t smile, I don’t want to  see that.”

Seo-yeon asks if he’d prefer her to faint, or maybe die. He bursts  out, “Just for this day, this moment, don’t act so damned cool and just  let go. You’ve never broken down in front of me before.” He tells her  that even when they were together she was always removed, asking if  being with someone you can’t have is love. Interesting that he’s the one  asking if she’s been toying with him — a twist on the usual case of the  two-timing man — as though he’s the only one with his emotions engaged  while she has been along for the ride.

She tells him this is her pride, and he says bitterly, “That damned  pride.”  She starts telling him that she came from nothing, and pride is  all she has, which must be a familiar argument between them —  implication being that he’s from money and therefore has the luxury of  not standing on his pride.

But he cuts her off, reminding her that he wanted to marry her, and she refused. Oh, interesting. So he’s not just a cheating bastard.

She points out all the excuses he’d thrown at her for why their  relationship would be a mistake — his disappointed parents, the arranged  marriage. He fires back, “And still I wanted to marry you!” She reminds  him, “But you didn’t. You couldn’t.” He argues that she refused, and  around and around they go.

She asks, “If you make it my fault, do you think it’ll be easier for  you? Fine, then make it my fault.” Declaring that she refuses to make  herself miserable — even for him — she collects her things to go.

But Ji-hyung is already on the phone, pushing back his meetings and deflecting a call from his mother. Mom (Kim Hae-sook) is with Hyang-gi’s mother (Lee Mi-sook),  who’s just had a plastic surgery touch-up. The moms are after him to  take more time off from his job for his honeymoon, but he’s been fending  them off, insisting he can’t stay away from the job for that long.  Though it’s probably more like he’d actually prefer to work than take an  extra-long honeymoon with a woman he doesn’t love.

In the hotel room, Seo-yeon and Ji-hyang sit in silence, stalling  their departure, not quite ready to separate for good. He tells her he  doesn’t know if he can stick to this breakup, that he might call her  right away, but she says firmly that she can, and that she won’t take  his calls anymore.

It makes sense that he’s weaker, because that’s how they ended up  here, with him heading toward a loveless marriage and unable to take  that final step toward his own happiness. But I actually admire him for  being frank about it, as they hug one last time and shut the door on  their affair:

Ji-hyung

: “I’m sorry for being a coward.”

Seo-yeon

: “No. I’m sorry for being too poor.”

Ji-hyung

: “I’m worried for you.”

Seo-yeon

: “I’ll be fine.”

Already his resolve to cut ties is weak, because on their way out  Ji-hyung fusses over Seo-yeon and urges her to text him the minute she  gets home, to hire a driver, to ride with him instead. She’s the  stronger one and refuses a ride with him, speeding along their departure  while clearly he wants to drag it out.

As she heads to her car, Seo-yeon flashes back to a different memory, after another one of their previous trysts:

Ji-hyung

: “How long do you think it would it take for memories of these times to become comfortable? Three years? Five?”

Seo-yeon

: “I don’t know. I’ve never been in this position.”

Ji-hyung

: “Is there such a thing as a memory without yearning?”

Seo-yeon

: “Without yearning, it’s just a recollection, not a memory.”

Ji-hyung

: “Will we marry in the future?”

Seo-yeon

: “Me? Of course. Would you want me not to marry anyone else?”

Ji-hyung

: “I guess I shouldn’t want that.”

Like with all of their encounters, he’s miserable and she’s cheery.  She spins a story about how they’ll meet a year from now and she’ll  already be pregnant, and they’ll pretend not to know each other. He’s  half-amused and half-offended at her quick rebound time.

Back to the present: Ji-hyung stretches out this goodbye as long as  he can, double-checking and hovering like a clucking mama hen, while  Seo-yeon rejects his concern. When she stumbles, he overreacts and  rushes to her side, and without a more reasonable outlet for his  frustration/sadness/grief, he blames her for wearing high heels.

This leads to an argument over the shoes, which is a stand-in for  their frustration at their breakup, as he tells her not to drive in such  heels, and she retorts that she wouldn’t have worn them to her last  rendezvous if somebody had told her it would be their last.

Finally, she calms down and tells him quietly that she’ll do as he  advises. But when he steps in for a hug, like he thinks he’s still got  that connection to her and that right to comfort her, she pushes him  away.

She storms into the restroom, so intent on getting into a stall  before she breaks down that she doesn’t register that she’s in the men’s  room. She kicks off the damned heels and chokes on her tears.

Outside, Ji-hyung waits as long as he can, and finally leaves a note  on her car asking her to make sure to text him when she’s home.

On his drive to work, he flashes back into an old memory, dating back  to when he was a student. Ji-hyung had come to a house looking for her  cousin JAE-MIN, and found a young Seo-yeon screaming at her  troublemaking brother.

Moon-kwon had done something else wrong in a long string of things,  and she’d been fed up with constantly disappointing her, declaring that  she was giving up on him.

Moon-kwon had begged for forgiveness, but also tossed out, “You’re not Mom!” as he ran away.

Seo-yeon fights another headache and stops at a rest stop to pop a  few more pills. She makes it back to the city and drops in on her  cousin, MYUNG-HEE (Moon Jung-hee), who runs a bakery.

Ji-hyung heads in to work but constantly checks his phone for that  expected “I’m home” message. He can’t tamp down his worry and calls  Seo-yeon, but of course she doesn’t answer.

Another memory comes to Ji-hyung’s mind, which dates back to his  college days when he’d been talking to Jae-min about Seo-yeon. Jae-min  had explained Seo-yeon’s sad story, of how she was abandoned by her  mother as a child, and how his mother (Seo-yeon’s father’s sister) had  found the two children starving, ages 6 and 4. Aunt had taken the  children in, thanking God for coming upon them when she did.

Jae-min had warned Ji-hyung not to tell a soul that he knows this,  and ended the conversation worrying, “She needs to meet a good man.”  Clearly Adult Ji-hyung doesn’t quite measure to that standard.

When Seo-yeon checks her phone, it’s full of calls from “Park  Ji-sook,” her code for Ji-hyung. This spins her off into another  flashback, to the day Ji-hyung had laughed to see him coded as a girl’s  name in her cell phone. For secrecy’s sake, of course.

He, on the other hand, hadn’t programmed her in his phone at all,  because his fiancee Hyang-gi has a tendency to poke around. Instead,  he’d memorized her number. “What about the call log?” Sae-yeon had  asked. “I erase them right away.”

He apologizes for that, but she’s hurt nonetheless: “So right after  you end your call with me, I’m erased. Not just the call record, but me —  it feels like I’m being erased. After being erased over and over, one  of these days I’ll disappear into smoke.”

In the present, Seo-yeon sends off the perfunctory “I arrived” message, then ignores the immediate return call.

She prepares dinner, not realizing that tonight is dinner night with  her aunt’s family until her brother reminds her. She hurries over right  away, but it’s clear from her startled reaction that it bothers her that  she forgot this detail. Worried, even.

Ji-hyung calls out his old friend Jae-min (Lee Sang-woo),  although it’s been a long time since they’ve talked. Jae-min even  wonders if he’d done something to offend Ji-hyung, from the latter’s  avoidance of his phone calls. Ji-hyung tells him no, but he does have  something to tell him that he needs some liquid courage to help say.  Hence the wine.

Ji-hyung is so grim that Jae-min worries he’s in big trouble.  Ji-hyung finally tells him that he’s been dating Seo-yeon, and with  confusion, Jae-min asks if he called off his engagement at some point.  The look in Jae-min’s eyes gradually changes as he registers that no,  Ji-hyung is still engaged, and that he broke up with Seo-yeon today.

Ji-hyung doesn’t try to make lame excuses, but he says that he and  Seo-yeon went into it with their eyes open. To Jae-min it’s simpler:  “You’re saying you played with our Seo-yeon and dumped her.”

This argument heads outside, and Jae-min is now convinced Ji-hyung  seduced his little cousin like a cold-hearted cheater. This is doubly  hard for him to accept because Jae-min had even warned Ji-hyung a long  time ago about not treating her poorly, and had gotten back the  assurance that Ji-hyung thought of her as a sister.

Ji-hyung adds that he wanted to marry Seo-yeon  and she refused him,  but Jae-min can’t believe that. Ji-hyung bites out, “I know that I’m a  coward!” However, it’s not that easy — the two families are connected  tightly and it all rests on his shoulders. The mothers are friends, the  fathers are friends. His father is the director of his fiancée’s  hospital. Marriage has been on the table for the past decade.

Ji-hyung argues that even now, he’s so conflicted he’s about to go  crazy. The reason he’s telling Jae-min all this is because he needs him  to look after Seo-yeon, because he won’t be able to. The irony of that  is not lost on Jae-min — the bastard ex-lover, asking her own oppa to  take care of her after he casts her aside? Yeah, real honorable.

Jae-min tells him he’s a waste of a punch, and leaves him with the  parting words, “Don’t just say you’re going crazy — go crazy. Then I’ll  believe you.” With that, he walks away and closes the door on that  friendship.

After dinner with their aunt and uncle, Seo-yeon and Moon-kwon return  home, where they realize that she left the gas stove on when she left  for dinner. He hurries to air out the place and scolds his noona,  thinking that her absent-mindedness could have killed them.  

But Seo-yeon’s reaction is telling — she’s downright spooked at her  memory lapse and even lies to her brother about not forgetting. She’s so  upset with herself that she snaps at Moon-kwon, who tries to lighten  her mood, to no avail.

When Ji-hyung comes home that night, Mom brings up the whole  honeymoon issue again, telling him that she’s leaving it to him to  figure out. (She says, “You take care of it” but she really means,  “You’re going to do as I say, right?”) She warns him that Hyang-gi’s  mother is a little miffed at his taking Hyang-gi for granted; clearly he  needs to be a more attentive fiancé.

But Ji-hyung is bone-weary and just about at the end of his rope, and  he asks his mother quietly, “What would you do if I said I wanted to  call off the wedding?”

His mother senses he’s serious and grabs his arm, pulling him into another room. What does he mean?

In a despairing voice, Ji-hyung pleads, “I don’t want to do it.  Please let me out.” He tells her he doesn’t love Hyang-gi — he loves  someone else.

 

COMMENTS

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this drama going in, and even as I  was watching, I wasn’t sure what the story was, because characters and  impressions change even within one exchange. I love that feeling of  discovery, as you put together the pieces and figure out what’s what.  Because we dive into this drama right in the thick of the action — the  characters are already in relationships — there’s a sense that we’re  peering into their lives and trying to understand them, even as they’re  trying to understand each other.

The dialogue is sharp, which isn’t surprising coming from a writer  known as a dialogue master. It’s not necessarily witty or banter-y, but  it is keen and insightful and sometimes cutting. It’s the antithesis of  on-the-nose dialogue, which is the mark of clumsy writing — you know,  when characters yell at each other, “I’m mad at you!” or cry, “I’m so  sad!” Here, the characters talk about things that aren’t the things  they’re talking about. Like Ji-hyung clinging to his anger and taking it  out on her damned high heels, rather than admitting that this breakup  is tearing him up. This deflection is real, and it’s interesting. The  dialogue feels to me like a tool, not merely revealing character but  also shaping it.

The show almost feels like a stage play — which is something I also thought of Que Sera Sera  — in that there’s not a lot of actual movement in the present-day plot,  yet so much is revealed in these intelligently mapped conversations.

Normally, I think an overuse of flashbacks can become a lazy crutch,  but I think they’re a great tool here, given the drama’s whole memory  motif. I can’t wait to see what else comes out in memory, as we get the  sense of watching multiple narratives play out simultaneously, but  non-linearly. It’s sort of like life in that way too — things may have  happened to us far in the past, but perhaps they lay dormant and don’t  ping with us until something happens today to bring them back to the  surface. We’re as much shaped by our pasts as we are by our presents,  after all.

Last but not least, Kim Rae-won and Su Ae  are perfectly cast in this — emotive, strong, vulnerable, realistic,  and compelling. I’m not sure I’m going to love everything that happens  in Thousand Day Promise, but I do think it’s going to keep me wound up in knots. In a good way. 

EPISODE 1 RECAP by javabeans

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[71e]

Jae Min Oppa is the besssssssssssssstttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt :wub:

[only*rae won*]

Thousand Day Promise: Episode 2

by girlfriday

I didn’t love the first episode, but I did love the second. The first rattled me, because it began so unconventionally, in medias res (and not the kind where you get the quick 48 hours earlier orientation either). But this episode takes a step back, not in time, but in breathing room. I feel like I have some space to learn who the characters are, which draws me in. I don’t know that the first episode alone would’ve hooked me, but paired with the second, it makes the world feel lived in, and whole. I’ll discuss this further in the comments, along with a note on melodrama as a genre.

Also, is anyone else amazed at how Kim Rae-won went to the army and lost his baby face? I almost didn’t recognize him. I know there’s the old adage of going into the army a boy and coming out a man, but in his case, it’s physical, and not in the abs-sense. It’s crazy.

Today’s Episode 2 came out the ratings leader for Monday/Tuesday dramas: Promise 14.6%, Kye Baek 12.9%, Poseidon 7.4%. Yesterday’s premiere was in 2nd place with 12.8%, but already it looks like Promise is set to climb to a comfortable lead, if Week 1 is already nearing 15%.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

 

EPISODE 2 RECAP

Ji-hyung confesses to Mom that he doesn’t want to go through with the wedding, that he doesn’t love Hyang-gi, that he loves another. It’s probably the first time he’s ever uttered words of defiance in his life, judging from how meekly the words come out of his mouth.

Mom flips out, but in that really scary calm-and-collected-mom way. She decides she’s going to ignore what he just said. He sighs that never expected her to do otherwise. But that doesn’t change the fact that marrying Hyang-gi this way will make him a horrible person – a “con man for life.”

Mom thinks it’s just a matter of him never opening his mouth about it again. Oy. She tells him to clean up his mess, offering semi-threateningly to do it for him if he can’t. All Mom can think of is Hyang-gi and what this’ll do to her, pointing out that he’s the guy who cheated on his fiancée. She’s got you there, buddy.

But he can’t figure out what to do, because no matter what he chooses, he’s the bad guy. While I appreciate the predicament, if this was going to be a sticking point for you, being the bad guy, you should never have cheated, eh?

Mom reminds him of what’s at stake – his father’s position in the hospital (beholden to Hyang-gi’s dad, natch) and their two families. He lets out in a defeated tone, “My happiness was never a concern of yours, was it?” Mom: “This has gotten too big to be concerned with that.”

Oh. Damn. Just like that? Gee Mom, no hugs and a cup of cocoa to go with that?

Meanwhile, Jae-min (the oppa/cousin) goes straight from Ji-hyung’s confession session to go check on Seo-yeon. He comes bearing coffee, one cold, one hot, for her to choose. Um, can I have him?

He tells her that Ji-hyung came to see him, and that he knows everything. Her voice immediately changes – it drops a few octaves and she goes cold, palpably distancing herself. She wonders why he did such a silly thing, trying to downplay the situation.

Jae-min asks why she did it, fishing for evidence of Ji-hyung’s wrongdoing, like making false promises to her about leaving his fiancée. She doesn’t pass off blame, and instead says with an even tone that she decided to be a thief for a little while.

He starts to say, “You’re not that kind of…” and she cuts him off, repeating the phrase, saying she knew, but in the end she didn’t want to just sit there and regret her whole life. He worries about her, thinking she’s putting up a front (he’s clearly not wrong).

But she smiles and says it’s not like the earth is shaking. They simply parted ways, like they had planned to, all along. He asks how she’ll get over it, and she says, “Day by day, I’ll forget him, or day by day, I’ll miss him. It’ll be one or the other.”

Ji-hyung goes to pour himself the tallest glass of scotch ever, and Mom tells him that love is a feeling that fades. “Even boiling water, when the fire is turned off, cools.” Ji-hyung: “It’s still better than water that has never boiled at all.” Oh, you people with your delightful metaphors six drinks in.

Mom asks about the other woman, still curious. He tells her the rough outline (aka what she really wants to know) – that she’s without parents, she has a younger brother, she was raised by an aunt and uncle. Mom hopes she isn’t someone who will “cause trouble,” because that would be the worst. Yes, clearly, disrupting your life would be the worst thing that could possibly happen.

In true Seo-yeon fashion, she only lets herself cry when she’s alone. I don’t know why it kills me – her squatting there, doing laundry, and crying silently. She gets a call from Ji-hyung, but ignores it, as promised.

But then Ji-hyung gets a call right back, and answers, “Seo-yeon-ah?” No, it’s Jae-min, calling because it’s keeping him up all night. He tells Ji-hyung that he went to see Seo-yeon, and she put on a brave face, never showed a tear, and said she’d forget him in a few months’ time.

But Jae-min knows what Seo-yeon’s been through, who she is. She’s the girl who learned instinctively to take care of her little brother by the age of six, without ever having to be told. She’s someone to whom putting on a brave face is like breathing – it’s in her bones.

Jae-min: “But I have to say this. You took advantage of Seo-yeon. If she were some important family’s daughter, you couldn’t have done what you did. So no matter what excuses you give, you’re a petty coward. The end.” Wooo! That makes me feel great, just hearing him say the words. I love this guy.

Early the next morning, Hyang-gi comes by with pastries for Ji-hyung’s mom, which is of course a flimsy excuse to see Ji-hyung. But she’s the adorably sweet kind of silly girl, not the annoying bratty kind, so it’s endearing that she tries so hard. It probably helps that he’s the bastard as far as she’s concerned, to help her win some sympathy points off the bat.

She sneaks into his room just to peek at him while he sleeps, and decides to lean in for a kiss. She kisses him again, and this time it half-wakes him, and without opening his eyes, he starts kissing her, landing on top of her.

He finally opens his eyes, comes to his senses, and stops abruptly. Dude, your head is in such a messed up place right now. He gets up angrily and tells her that it’s wrong, which stings her.

She starts to cry as she says it’s been too long. A year in fact, which means in some sense he’s been faithful to his affair, in the physical sense. She asks if it’s wrong that she wants to touch him, and he reminds her that his mom and aunt are sitting in the other room.

But he softens to see her so vulnerable, and apologizes. She stops crying almost as quickly as she began, making him feel even guiltier.

Seo-yeon has another tiny memory lapse that morning, as she tries to remember what she needed – some colored pens for copywriting, which takes her a moment to remember. Moon-kwon promises to bring some home, and once she’s alone, she wonders to herself why she couldn’t think of it right away.

She turns on the stereo while but then immediately shuts it off. It flashes her back to a memory of sitting in the car with Ji-hyung, listening to the same aria from Madame Butterfly.

They had talked about the aria, how sad it made her feel, and he had held her lovingly in his arms as they listened to it, not realizing then how prophetic and tragic that story would be for them.

Back in the present, she sits lost in her thoughts, until her phone rings with a call from her boss, wondering where she is. She’s forgotten another meeting, just entirely forgotten. It shakes her.

She focuses on work for a while, not noticing the kettle that’s been boiling for some time now. She happens upon it later, now burnt black on the outside. She’s so stunned that she grabs it with her bare hand, and then again as she tries to take the lid off.

She gapes at the rising smoke.

But then she does what anyone would do – she scrubs the kettle clean, trying to wash away the evidence. She scrubs furiously, talking it out to herself. How could she forget? She was focusing on work; it happens. But what about the meeting? And the pens? Shouldn’t something have come to her, instead of being a blank slate?

It’s followed by another incident, the next day – Moon-kwon sees her sitting in the kitchen, when she should be at work already. Moon-kwon: “Have you quit your job?” Seo-yeon: “Who works on a Sunday?” Moon-kwon: “It’s Monday!”

Again, panic washes over her face. He tells her to get herself checked out at the hospital, but only in that half-serious way, not legitimately picking up on the extent of it. She rushes to work, so lost in her thoughts that she nearly runs straight into an oncoming car.

At the same time, Hyang-gi tries on her wedding dress. Ji-hyung comes by to get fitted for his tux, and gives a rather telling lukewarm reaction to the whole proceeding. But she breezes that he’s always that way. Or perhaps just where you’re concerned, poor thing.

Seo-yeon manages to get through her morning without further incident, but then at lunch with a few co-workers, she gets into an argument with their waiter, insisting that she ordered something she didn’t.

The co-workers back up the waiter, having heard her order the dish he brought, but she insists she didn’t. It finally dawns on her that she’s having another episode of some sort, and leaves the table abruptly.

I like that she’s both frightened but fighting it with denial. I mean, what kind of smart, independent woman would realistically just allow herself to believe that she’s losing her mind? Especially the kind of girl who’s used to hardship and dealing with it on her own. It’s starting to get bad though, and she feels it, though she can’t face it.

Ji-hyung and Hyang-gi’s families meet to discuss wedding plans, and I just freakin’ LOVE that Lee Mi-sook is playing a plastic-surgery addict, whose introduction last episode was entirely bandage-covered. That cracks me up to no end.

Her husband sits down next to her, joking that this is really the last time she can go under the knife, because next time her eyebrows will end up here *points to forehead*. Hee.

Seo-yeon avoids her coworkers, eating a coffee-and-sandwich lunch, while trying to figure out what’s going on with her. Jae-min calls to check in, and she jokes that she’s going to have to change her number because of him, and not Ji-hyung.

He doesn’t think that’s a bad idea, trying to pre-empt any future calls from the ex. She agrees to do so, probably just to get him off her back.

Ji-hyung zombies his way through the family lunch, eliciting snide remarks from his future shark of a mother-in-law on his dour mood. I don’t understand how Lee Mi-sook does it – she’s got the least screentime of any of the major players, but she’s got more presence than anyone.

He leaves the lunch in a daze, flashing back to happier times spent with Seo-yeon. In one memory they play and make out in a pool, and then in another memory they walk along the shore in each other’s arms.

Ji-hyung:

What will we be like, five years from now? In ten years, how will we be? How will our hearts change? What kind of person will you remember me as? When will I be able to let you go? Will I be able to let you go?

Seo-yeon:

Five years from now… you’ll be a father. In ten years… you’ll be a 40-year old ajusshi. By then, today will have become like a faded, yellowed old photograph. Without even knowing that you’ve let go, you’ll realize one day that you already have. Days will continue to pile, one atop the other, and then someday I’ll become a fossil from the dinosaur age to you.

He holds her close as the waves crash on the shore.

We cut to Seo-yeon, staring at her computer screen, her desktop background an image of that beach. Perhaps it was her flashback, or a shared one.

She gets a call from a writer when she’s almost home, asking for her edits from the night before. She blames an email glitch, knowing that she sent it last night… but then starts to panic.

She rushes inside, ignoring Moon-kwon’s greeting, as she starts up her computer to check her email. She didn’t send it after all, which she admits to her brother. He blames her painkillers, insisting that they’re the problem. But she knows it’s something else…

Ji-hyung and Hyang-gi pose for their engagement photos, with Hyang-gi’s mom going vogue-nazi on them. Hyang-gi complains that she’s being rude and overbearing, and Mom yells back, “Rudeness is fleeting, but pictures are forever!” HAHAHA.

They finally get rid of her long enough to get some shots. A few are smiley, but damn, that’s a thousand-yard stare if I’ve ever seen one. He heads back to work, still weary and distracted. Hey, when did Alex join this drama? Is it a cameo or is he in this?

Seo-yeon finally decides to go see a doctor. Thank goodness she didn’t have to collapse somewhere first. He does a series of tests on her memory – she falters here and there, and it’s clearly a strain on her.

He tells her that they’ll have to do more tests to be sure, but she guesses that she’s on her way to dementia. He tells her it’ll take more tests, and possibly upwards of a year, to know for sure what it is.

Ji-hyung asks Jae-min to meet him, and passes over an envelope. Oh no you di’n't just try to buy your forgiveness by proxy! Jae-min looks at it warily, asking what this is. Ji-hyung says he’s always thought that Seo-yeon shouldn’t waste her talents on other people’s work – she should be writing her own stuff.

He says it’s enough for her to live on for a year, so she can focus on her writing. Jae-min calls him out for trying to buy her off, and tells him that he himself has never once offered to pay her way – why? Because she would never take it. “You clearly don’t know Seo-yeon as well as I thought.”

Ji-hyung realizes that he’s being shortsighted. He takes back the envelope, insisting that it was meant with good intentions. Jae-min isn’t so begrudging that he thinks ill of him for his totally misguided attempt to take care of her, after the fact. He admits that he knows Ji-hyung isn’t THAT kind of guy.

Ji-hyung: “How is she?” Jae-min: “She’s well. She’s strong. She’s someone who acts stronger, the harder it is for her.” Ji-hyung: “I know.”

Jae-min asks how he’s holding up, in all this. Ji-hyung: “I’m… being dragged along.” In my mind I’m stabbing you with your salad fork right now.

It’s telling that Ji-hyung spends the whole exchange with his head hanging literally halfway down his chest. He can’t look Jae-min in the eye, which right now is the only thing I like about him.

Seo-yeon stops by her sister’s bakery, where her sister runs the front, her brother-in-law bakes in the back, and her little bro helps out, in one of his many part-time jobs. Brother-in-law fawns over Seo-yeon adorably, while her unni chides her not to get married. I love this family.

Moon-kwon walks her out and asks what she did with the car. The car? He has to remind her that she took the car this morning. She looks up, stunned. He asks if she left it at work and took the bus. “No… I took a cab…”

He cuckolds her, but the way you’d yell at your mom for forgetting where she parked or something. But to Seo-yeon it’s another red flag.

She paces back and forth at home, the fear crawling up until she bursts, screaming in fury as she clutches her head.

 

COMMENTS

Wow, what a stellar performance by Su Ae. I’m more impressed with her in the second episode, where she had less dialogue and many more quiet moments to slowly freak out. While the first episode’s rapid-fire dialogue was impressive, it felt overwritten to me – not the words themselves, but the volume of them, which seemed unrealistic, given the circumstances.

But here everything started to gel together a little more organically. It feels like everything is slowly coming to a boil, like that kettle she put to the side and forgot about. I feel like we’re at a rolling boil, which is a great place to be, dramatically.

A few things to clarify as far as genre goes: A melodrama is something that’s centered on emotions, not necessarily sad ones, though that’s the general way it goes. It also doesn’t necessitate a sad or tragic ending, though of course that’s a common route. This drama is a melo because it’s emotion-centric, that is, stories are drawn for the purpose of eliciting characters’ emotional responses. It’s essentially a character study, which is why javabeans compared it to a stage play.

But being a melo doesn’t mean it’s a makjang, which is a genre classification that sometimes gets muddled. Makjang is a tonal variation, and a conscious choice to use common story elements like amnesia or incest or what have you, to carry the narrative. It’s often looked down on because it’s most commonly used as a crutch, to snag ratings. But lots and lots of dramas, especially the older ones, have elements of these common storylines, without actually being makjang. Another way around it is of course to embrace the makjang head-on, and be meta about it. (See: Flames of Desire.)

It’s just a question that a few people have brought up, so hopefully that helps. I’d put Promise squarely in the non-makjang, full-on melo category. I’d almost call it old-school, except it’s rather experimental in a few ways. I’m most intrigued by the free-flowing use of relative time. I don’t know which flashback belongs to whom, when flashbacks occurred in relation to each other, or even when NOW is. But it almost doesn’t matter, because time is liquid in this drama. It’s fluid and it’s also quite possibly wrong, depending on who’s doing the remembering. How’s that for a mind-bender?

Stylistically it’s also got a great touch in its use of black space and physical distance from characters in long shots, almost making us conscious of their unknowability. I like that I feel both instantly drawn to, but totally distanced from them — the hero, for instance, who is in one sense the most bleeding-heart vulnerable of all the characters, and yet insists on being a spineless jellyfish. It’s that duality in the characters that I think will carry this drama from first to last. Count me in.

EPISODE 2 RECAP by girlfriday

[Guest coffeebeanie]

From what I understood Hyanggi is not pregnant. She was throwing up because she was so stressed about what happened. The whole pregnancy thing was assumed by the mom when the helper told her that Hyanggi threw up. But I don't think its true since when her mom was talking to Jihyung's mom on the phone, she said Hyangi was crying and throwing up because of what happened. She didn't mention anything about being pregnant..

Although I do speak Korean, I can't say for sure that she's not, since they never really said she wasn't. But then again, they never really said she was. Lol. That's just what I got from all the context clues and the dialogues. The writer might surprise us in the future, but lets see.

[irilight]

From what I understood Hyanggi is not pregnant. She was throwing up because she was so stressed about what happened. The whole pregnancy thing was assumed by the mom when the helper told her that Hyanggi threw up. But I don't think its true since when her mom was talking to Jihyung's mom on the phone, she said Hyangi was crying and throwing up because of what happened. She didn't mention anything about being pregnant..

Although I do speak Korean, I can't say for sure that she's not, since they never really said she wasn't. But then again, they never really said she was. Lol. That's just what I got from all the context clues and the dialogues. The writer might surprise us in the future, but lets see.

ah,, thank you coffeebeanie, for this illumination on the new mystery.. nice to get a view from a native speaker too....! (I see such different translations, when I watch on different channels... I look forward to the day, I could understand Korean...)

[panraewon]

hello,every one.

i' am pan.i have some quesions to you all guys.

Why are you think Hyanggi was PREGNANT huh?

i can't think like that cos in epi 2 she said in tear with Jihyung ,

they are haven't slep together for more year a go.rigth?

then why she can have a child, it's impossible.

or the writer want make me crazy.huh

[Guest jdkk09]

From what I understood Hyanggi is not pregnant. She was throwing up because she was so stressed about what happened. The whole pregnancy thing was assumed by the mom when the helper told her that Hyanggi threw up. But I don't think its true since when her mom was talking to Jihyung's mom on the phone, she said Hyangi was crying and throwing up because of what happened. She didn't mention anything about being pregnant..

Although I do speak Korean, I can't say for sure that she's not, since they never really said she wasn't.  But then again, they never really said she was. Lol. That's just what I got from all the context clues and the dialogues.  The writer might surprise us in the future, but lets see.

I'm  glad to hear from a native speaker that she, Hyanggi doesn't seem pregnant.  She's an interesting character.  Very servile when it comes to Ji Hyun but fights her mother to protect him.  Even going so far as to lie for him and take the blame for the break up.  I'm looking forward to the confrontation btwn Ji Hyun's mother and SY, and the backlash from that encounter.  This drama is moving fast.  Hanging on for the ride.  

Totally agree with the comments on her brother.  Love that relationship and how he tries to help her and it breaks his heart.

[71e]

[71e]

[irilight]

Hello Everyone .... Enjoy reading every post & contribution of u all ...

Thanx for every one post any new update for this beautiful drama ~~ *quoted image*

i alwyas enjoy reading javabeans & girlfriday recaps of the drama on Dramabeans, so gonna share it with U all...

Thousand Day Promise: Episode 1

by javabeans

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Thousand Day Promise premiered today, and has all  the makings of a taut, angsty melodrama. To be perfectly honest, by the  halfway point I wasn’t sure I was enjoying the episode, but I was captivated by the conflict, the emotion, and the acting.

One of the things that make the writing great about this episode is  that what you see at first glance is not always what you get. A scene  starts out a certain way, then develops and twists and ends up in a  surprising place. I love that. There’s conflict all over the place, and  tons of flawed characters.

This is the closest drama I’ve seen in recent memory that evokes a Que Sera Sera feeling of mood and development. In my book that’s a good thing — Que Sera Sera was likewise not always FUN, but it was always compelling, sometimes downright riveting, and intense.

EPISODE 1 RECAP

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A couple drives to an out-of-the way lake and sits in a car. PARK JI-HYUNG (Kim Rae-won) and LEE SEO-YEON (Su Ae)  speak banmal like old acquaintances, and he confesses a truth he seems  shamed by: That he’s a bad person for wanting her, to hold her. That his  desire is all-consuming, and makes him want to find a way to hold her  without being such a bastard.

Tears fill her eyes and she confesses that she’s been wondering if  she should hold back, wanting to make the first move herself. “I’m just  pretending not to, because I’m afraid of embarrassment.”

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That sparks the passion, and they make their way to a bedroom, pulling clothes off impatiently, until they end up in bed.  

Some time later, Seo-yeon drives along, alone this time. She’s  dressed nicely despite having curlers in her hair, and deals with a  headache. Pulling over to pop some pills, she flashes back to an earlier  conversation: Her younger brother MOON-KWON (Park Yoo-hwan) had noted her frequent painkiller habit and cautioned her to get herself checked out.

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Waiting for her is Ji-hyung, who grows increasingly upset and worried  the longer he waits. He tries calling, but Seo-yeon has left her cell  phone at home, and he can barely contain his fidgeting.

Meanwhile, at home her aunt chatters with her uncle about feeling sad  because Seo-yeon has just paid off her loan for her home in full. The  aunt practically raised Seo-yeon and looks upon her with affection (and  some pity over Seo-yeon’s poor background), so it’s a bit of empty nest  syndrome that the little girl no longer needs her help.

(Small note: Everyone in this drama is using outdated phones thus  far, which suggests to me that there’ll be a time jump at some point.)

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Seo-yeon doesn’t notice right away that she missed her stop and has  to turn back, making her even later. By the time she arrives at the  upscale remote hotel with apologetic smiles, Ji-hyung is just about to  charge out of the room to find her.

His worry has him lashing out at Seo-yeon, telling her he was  imagining an accident, or worse. Plus, they’ve only got an hour and half  left of their planned date before he has to go in to work, now that her  detour ate half the time.

Seo-yeon apologizes in good humor, although she notes that his  reaction is overblown. She lets his hurtful comments slide until he  calls her dumb for not calling, and then she fires back that they’re  always living on his clock; he doesn’t consider other people’s timetables.  

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Then as quickly as she lost her temper, she cheers right back up and  pours the wine, figuring to make the most of their date. He calms down a  bit, distracted by the tie-up blouse she wore just for him, and they  start making out.

Before things get too steamy, though, they’re interrupted by a phone  call, and that kills Seo-yeon’s mood. She tells him to take it — he  wants to ignore it — and steps aside while he answers the call from NOH  HYANG-GI (Jung Yumi).

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Ji-hyung isn’t excited to talk to her, but Hyang-gi calls him “oppa”  and happily chirps on about getting vaccinated, and then whispers that  the doctor told her to use contraception. Ohhh, wait. Is she the legit  girlfriend? Is Seo-yeon the Other Woman?

Seo-yeon tries not to let this phone call bother her, and now a few  things fall into place — like why they’re meeting at a hotel, why  Ji-hyung was so agitated to waste half of their tryst, why she insisted  he take the call right in the middle of foreplay. While she waits in the  bathroom, she recalls a flashback of a past rendezvous with Ji-hyung,  with them holding hands in bed, just lying there in quiet.

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As this date comes closer to its end, they sit down to coffee and  Ji-hyung suggests that Seo-yeon stop working herself so hard editing and  ghostwriting for other people. Spoken like a rich boy, and she’d chides  that she’s gotta make a living, which keeps her too busy to write her  own novel.

Ji-hyung replies that he’d take care of her, like that’s the easy  solution. Which it is, only she’s not that kind of girl, and she needs  to make her own way in the world. She announces that she finally repaid  her aunt’s loan, and starts naming all the things they can eat and do on  dates now that she’s debt-free.

He cuts her short and tells her grimly that they’ve “set a date.”  Apparently his mother and his fiancée’s mother went out and decided that  next month should do it.

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Suddenly her smile freezes, and she can’t bring herself to  congratulate him. She lets this sink in with some difficulty, and  realizes that today is their send-off date, and understands why Ji-hyung  was so angry when she came late — how unfortunate that she wasted their  precious time getting lost.

Forcing a brave face, she talks over his tense silence, telling him  that she’s fine, that she practiced for this moment, and it’s not so bad  after all. He’s hurt at her breezy tone, and says, “Must be nice that  you’re so fine with this.”

She plasters on a smile that’s obviously forced and says, “I told  you, I had practice.” Maybe the thing she practiced was acting okay, not  actually being okay, but Ji-hyung says, “Don’t smile, I don’t want to  see that.”

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Seo-yeon asks if he’d prefer her to faint, or maybe die. He bursts  out, “Just for this day, this moment, don’t act so damned cool and just  let go. You’ve never broken down in front of me before.” He tells her  that even when they were together she was always removed, asking if  being with someone you can’t have is love. Interesting that he’s the one  asking if she’s been toying with him — a twist on the usual case of the  two-timing man — as though he’s the only one with his emotions engaged  while she has been along for the ride.

She tells him this is her pride, and he says bitterly, “That damned  pride.”  She starts telling him that she came from nothing, and pride is  all she has, which must be a familiar argument between them —  implication being that he’s from money and therefore has the luxury of  not standing on his pride.

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But he cuts her off, reminding her that he wanted to marry her, and she refused. Oh, interesting. So he’s not just a cheating bastard.

She points out all the excuses he’d thrown at her for why their  relationship would be a mistake — his disappointed parents, the arranged  marriage. He fires back, “And still I wanted to marry you!” She reminds  him, “But you didn’t. You couldn’t.” He argues that she refused, and  around and around they go.

She asks, “If you make it my fault, do you think it’ll be easier for  you? Fine, then make it my fault.” Declaring that she refuses to make  herself miserable — even for him — she collects her things to go.

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But Ji-hyung is already on the phone, pushing back his meetings and deflecting a call from his mother. Mom (Kim Hae-sook) is with Hyang-gi’s mother (Lee Mi-sook),  who’s just had a plastic surgery touch-up. The moms are after him to  take more time off from his job for his honeymoon, but he’s been fending  them off, insisting he can’t stay away from the job for that long.  Though it’s probably more like he’d actually prefer to work than take an  extra-long honeymoon with a woman he doesn’t love.

In the hotel room, Seo-yeon and Ji-hyang sit in silence, stalling  their departure, not quite ready to separate for good. He tells her he  doesn’t know if he can stick to this breakup, that he might call her  right away, but she says firmly that she can, and that she won’t take  his calls anymore.

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It makes sense that he’s weaker, because that’s how they ended up  here, with him heading toward a loveless marriage and unable to take  that final step toward his own happiness. But I actually admire him for  being frank about it, as they hug one last time and shut the door on  their affair:

Ji-hyung

: “I’m sorry for being a coward.”

Seo-yeon

: “No. I’m sorry for being too poor.”

Ji-hyung

: “I’m worried for you.”

Seo-yeon

: “I’ll be fine.”

Already his resolve to cut ties is weak, because on their way out  Ji-hyung fusses over Seo-yeon and urges her to text him the minute she  gets home, to hire a driver, to ride with him instead. She’s the  stronger one and refuses a ride with him, speeding along their departure  while clearly he wants to drag it out.

As she heads to her car, Seo-yeon flashes back to a different memory, after another one of their previous trysts:

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Ji-hyung

: “How long do you think it would it take for memories of these times to become comfortable? Three years? Five?”

Seo-yeon

: “I don’t know. I’ve never been in this position.”

Ji-hyung

: “Is there such a thing as a memory without yearning?”

Seo-yeon

: “Without yearning, it’s just a recollection, not a memory.”

Ji-hyung

: “Will we marry in the future?”

Seo-yeon

: “Me? Of course. Would you want me not to marry anyone else?”

Ji-hyung

: “I guess I shouldn’t want that.”

Like with all of their encounters, he’s miserable and she’s cheery.  She spins a story about how they’ll meet a year from now and she’ll  already be pregnant, and they’ll pretend not to know each other. He’s  half-amused and half-offended at her quick rebound time.

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Back to the present: Ji-hyung stretches out this goodbye as long as  he can, double-checking and hovering like a clucking mama hen, while  Seo-yeon rejects his concern. When she stumbles, he overreacts and  rushes to her side, and without a more reasonable outlet for his  frustration/sadness/grief, he blames her for wearing high heels.

This leads to an argument over the shoes, which is a stand-in for  their frustration at their breakup, as he tells her not to drive in such  heels, and she retorts that she wouldn’t have worn them to her last  rendezvous if somebody had told her it would be their last.

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Finally, she calms down and tells him quietly that she’ll do as he  advises. But when he steps in for a hug, like he thinks he’s still got  that connection to her and that right to comfort her, she pushes him  away.

She storms into the restroom, so intent on getting into a stall  before she breaks down that she doesn’t register that she’s in the men’s  room. She kicks off the damned heels and chokes on her tears.

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Outside, Ji-hyung waits as long as he can, and finally leaves a note  on her car asking her to make sure to text him when she’s home.

On his drive to work, he flashes back into an old memory, dating back  to when he was a student. Ji-hyung had come to a house looking for her  cousin JAE-MIN, and found a young Seo-yeon screaming at her  troublemaking brother.

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Moon-kwon had done something else wrong in a long string of things,  and she’d been fed up with constantly disappointing her, declaring that  she was giving up on him.

Moon-kwon had begged for forgiveness, but also tossed out, “You’re not Mom!” as he ran away.

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Seo-yeon fights another headache and stops at a rest stop to pop a  few more pills. She makes it back to the city and drops in on her  cousin, MYUNG-HEE (Moon Jung-hee), who runs a bakery.

Ji-hyung heads in to work but constantly checks his phone for that  expected “I’m home” message. He can’t tamp down his worry and calls  Seo-yeon, but of course she doesn’t answer.

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Another memory comes to Ji-hyung’s mind, which dates back to his  college days when he’d been talking to Jae-min about Seo-yeon. Jae-min  had explained Seo-yeon’s sad story, of how she was abandoned by her  mother as a child, and how his mother (Seo-yeon’s father’s sister) had  found the two children starving, ages 6 and 4. Aunt had taken the  children in, thanking God for coming upon them when she did.

Jae-min had warned Ji-hyung not to tell a soul that he knows this,  and ended the conversation worrying, “She needs to meet a good man.”  Clearly Adult Ji-hyung doesn’t quite measure to that standard.

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When Seo-yeon checks her phone, it’s full of calls from “Park  Ji-sook,” her code for Ji-hyung. This spins her off into another  flashback, to the day Ji-hyung had laughed to see him coded as a girl’s  name in her cell phone. For secrecy’s sake, of course.

He, on the other hand, hadn’t programmed her in his phone at all,  because his fiancee Hyang-gi has a tendency to poke around. Instead,  he’d memorized her number. “What about the call log?” Sae-yeon had  asked. “I erase them right away.”

He apologizes for that, but she’s hurt nonetheless: “So right after  you end your call with me, I’m erased. Not just the call record, but me —  it feels like I’m being erased. After being erased over and over, one  of these days I’ll disappear into smoke.”

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In the present, Seo-yeon sends off the perfunctory “I arrived” message, then ignores the immediate return call.

She prepares dinner, not realizing that tonight is dinner night with  her aunt’s family until her brother reminds her. She hurries over right  away, but it’s clear from her startled reaction that it bothers her that  she forgot this detail. Worried, even.

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Ji-hyung calls out his old friend Jae-min (Lee Sang-woo),  although it’s been a long time since they’ve talked. Jae-min even  wonders if he’d done something to offend Ji-hyung, from the latter’s  avoidance of his phone calls. Ji-hyung tells him no, but he does have  something to tell him that he needs some liquid courage to help say.  Hence the wine.

Ji-hyung is so grim that Jae-min worries he’s in big trouble.  Ji-hyung finally tells him that he’s been dating Seo-yeon, and with  confusion, Jae-min asks if he called off his engagement at some point.  The look in Jae-min’s eyes gradually changes as he registers that no,  Ji-hyung is still engaged, and that he broke up with Seo-yeon today.

Ji-hyung doesn’t try to make lame excuses, but he says that he and  Seo-yeon went into it with their eyes open. To Jae-min it’s simpler:  “You’re saying you played with our Seo-yeon and dumped her.”

*quoted image*

This argument heads outside, and Jae-min is now convinced Ji-hyung  seduced his little cousin like a cold-hearted cheater. This is doubly  hard for him to accept because Jae-min had even warned Ji-hyung a long  time ago about not treating her poorly, and had gotten back the  assurance that Ji-hyung thought of her as a sister.

Ji-hyung adds that he wanted to marry Seo-yeon  and she refused him,  but Jae-min can’t believe that. Ji-hyung bites out, “I know that I’m a  coward!” However, it’s not that easy — the two families are connected  tightly and it all rests on his shoulders. The mothers are friends, the  fathers are friends. His father is the director of his fiancée’s  hospital. Marriage has been on the table for the past decade.

*quoted image* *quoted image*

Ji-hyung argues that even now, he’s so conflicted he’s about to go  crazy. The reason he’s telling Jae-min all this is because he needs him  to look after Seo-yeon, because he won’t be able to. The irony of that  is not lost on Jae-min — the bastard ex-lover, asking her own oppa to  take care of her after he casts her aside? Yeah, real honorable.

Jae-min tells him he’s a waste of a punch, and leaves him with the  parting words, “Don’t just say you’re going crazy — go crazy. Then I’ll  believe you.” With that, he walks away and closes the door on that  friendship.

*quoted image* *quoted image*

After dinner with their aunt and uncle, Seo-yeon and Moon-kwon return  home, where they realize that she left the gas stove on when she left  for dinner. He hurries to air out the place and scolds his noona,  thinking that her absent-mindedness could have killed them.  

But Seo-yeon’s reaction is telling — she’s downright spooked at her  memory lapse and even lies to her brother about not forgetting. She’s so  upset with herself that she snaps at Moon-kwon, who tries to lighten  her mood, to no avail.

*quoted image*

When Ji-hyung comes home that night, Mom brings up the whole  honeymoon issue again, telling him that she’s leaving it to him to  figure out. (She says, “You take care of it” but she really means,  “You’re going to do as I say, right?”) She warns him that Hyang-gi’s  mother is a little miffed at his taking Hyang-gi for granted; clearly he  needs to be a more attentive fiancé.

But Ji-hyung is bone-weary and just about at the end of his rope, and  he asks his mother quietly, “What would you do if I said I wanted to  call off the wedding?”

His mother senses he’s serious and grabs his arm, pulling him into another room. What does he mean?

*quoted image* *quoted image*

In a despairing voice, Ji-hyung pleads, “I don’t want to do it.  Please let me out.” He tells her he doesn’t love Hyang-gi — he loves  someone else.

 

COMMENTS

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this drama going in, and even as I  was watching, I wasn’t sure what the story was, because characters and  impressions change even within one exchange. I love that feeling of  discovery, as you put together the pieces and figure out what’s what.  Because we dive into this drama right in the thick of the action — the  characters are already in relationships — there’s a sense that we’re  peering into their lives and trying to understand them, even as they’re  trying to understand each other.

The dialogue is sharp, which isn’t surprising coming from a writer  known as a dialogue master. It’s not necessarily witty or banter-y, but  it is keen and insightful and sometimes cutting. It’s the antithesis of  on-the-nose dialogue, which is the mark of clumsy writing — you know,  when characters yell at each other, “I’m mad at you!” or cry, “I’m so  sad!” Here, the characters talk about things that aren’t the things  they’re talking about. Like Ji-hyung clinging to his anger and taking it  out on her damned high heels, rather than admitting that this breakup  is tearing him up. This deflection is real, and it’s interesting. The  dialogue feels to me like a tool, not merely revealing character but  also shaping it.

The show almost feels like a stage play — which is something I also thought of Que Sera Sera  — in that there’s not a lot of actual movement in the present-day plot,  yet so much is revealed in these intelligently mapped conversations.

Normally, I think an overuse of flashbacks can become a lazy crutch,  but I think they’re a great tool here, given the drama’s whole memory  motif. I can’t wait to see what else comes out in memory, as we get the  sense of watching multiple narratives play out simultaneously, but  non-linearly. It’s sort of like life in that way too — things may have  happened to us far in the past, but perhaps they lay dormant and don’t  ping with us until something happens today to bring them back to the  surface. We’re as much shaped by our pasts as we are by our presents,  after all.

Last but not least, Kim Rae-won and Su Ae  are perfectly cast in this — emotive, strong, vulnerable, realistic,  and compelling. I’m not sure I’m going to love everything that happens  in Thousand Day Promise, but I do think it’s going to keep me wound up in knots. In a good way. 

EPISODE 1 RECAP by javabeans

Thank you, 'only*rae won*, I have loved Dramabeans episode recaps ever since I have read them about Gourmet... But I have not heard or seen GirlFriday yet..

hello,every one.

i' am pan.i have some quesions to you all guys.

Why are you think Hyanggi was PREGNANT huh?

i can't think like that cos in epi 2 she said in tear with Jihyung ,

they are haven't slep together for more year a go.rigth?

then why she can have a child, it's impossible.

or the writer want make me crazy.huh

Panraewon, I think people were speculating because of her throwing up? And so it was in the drama.. when her mom hears about her throwing up she asks if she is pregnant, right?

[irilight]

Episode 6

[TRAN]

~ Seo yeon and Ji hyung ~

Till next week.....

I think that this is not about been happy, it's about love someone full-hearted, I always thought that is important to take care of those we love, if you don't, maybe you can't forgive yourself, it's dificult to live with that. And, if i were him, i would want to be with her all the time i could.

Maybe is hars to break up with Hyang gi, but for me it is worse for her to get married with him when he can't give her the love and care she needs, I belive that the loneliness you feel in that kind of relationsheep is bigger than been alone. It is like freezing inside.

Sorry for my creppy english

But honestly, why did he sleep with her in the first place? Isn't he the bad guy here? .... You can't just change your mind when you find something new! Right?

[Guest jajami]

I have nothing more to say ...but this drama makes me cry all the time starting from its first episode . I love  all the flashback scene , how they met and got into relationship..this role really fits for Su Ae and she deliver the dialogue so well..and all the dialogues here all meaningful and real...

and I can't believed she is reciting the Our Father went back home while she is drunk...I meant she still can't accept the fact and still hoping for miracle but prepared to die anytime...and Jae Min oppa  your the best...

[only*rae won*]

Thousand Day Promise: Episode 3

by  javabeans

Ooh, I love how things are shaping up. I really appreciate that this  drama can be emotionally stirring, but without the grand melodrama that  usually accompanies this genre. It’s full of emotion, without wallowing  in it or offering it up as some sort of glorious misery. At least not  where it counts (mothers and aunts can be excitable, sure): namely  Seo-yeon, who faces her crisis with such a realistic mix of feeling —  coolness that turns to fear, calm that erupts in panic — that I’m just  captivated by her struggle.

Ratings are creeping up, with this episode hitting 15.1% and remaining in first place. (Kye Baek and Poseidon scored 13.1% and 7.1%, respectively.)

 

EPISODE 3 RECAP

We start off the episode with a study in contrasts, breakfast being  the theme of the day. In her small apartment, Seo-yeon eats a bowl of  cereal alone, lost in memories of her breakup with Ji-hyung and her  worry over her deteriorating memory.

Next door at Aunt Chatterbox’s house, the family gathers around the  table for a conventional Korean-style breakfast (rice, kimchi, etc)  while Seo-yeon’s aunt natter-natter-natters on about insignificant  things, until finally landing on a topic of (our) interest: Why hasn’t  Jae-min set up his little cousin with a nice man?

Myung-hee butts in to tell her mother to lay off the pressure,  because her request is no picnic and is stressing him out. After all,  Seo-yeon is poor, has no family, and has little to attract a decent man.  Wow, I know that’s what the snooty chaebol half of this drama might  say, but you too, cousin dearest? Mom argues that these days all a woman  really needs is a good character. Myung-hee retorts, annoyed with  idealistic Mom, “Hers isn’t all that, either!” Wow, and I again I say,  wow. And here I was all set to like you.

At least Mom doesn’t take her seriously, smirking that Myung-hee  probably thinks she’s better than Seo-yeon. Mother and daughter talk  with their mouths full, spitting food at intervals, cutting kimchi with  bare fingers. Quintessentially ordinary and middle-class.

The men remain quiet throughout breakfast, waiting until they’re both  heading out to work to speak. Dad tells Jae-min that his mother is  worried, and checks in with him that he won’t “make that kind of  decision ever again.” Jae-min says no, and Dad advises, “Go on and  forgive. That’s how you’ll forget.” Hm, seems there’s some kind of  heartbreak in Jae-min’s past.

Breakfast at Ji-hyung’s, by comparison, is an elegant affair.  Western-style toast and fruit, washed down with coffee served in china.  Ji-hyung’s parents discuss wedding plans; in this merging of two  friendly but competitive families, it’s like The Honeymoon has taken on  deep symbolism, which might explain why everyone’s so damn obsessed  about it except for the people actually going on it.

Dad is dissatisfied with Ji-hyung’s choice of a five-day trip to  Hokkaido, like he’s a common salaryman. Then there’s the matter of where  the couple will live. All these choices reflect the parents’ status,  and Ji-hyung’s parents are conscious of looking shabby in front of  Hyang-gi’s richer, more powerful parents. For instance, Director Noh  (Hyang-gi’s father) has given them an expansive villa to live in, but  Mom objects; the groom shouldn’t live in the bride’s parents’ home,  which is the total reverse of tradition.

Ji-hyung’s dad says they can give their spare apartment to the couple  (what, you don’t have one of those lying around?), but Mom protests  that they can hardly trade the bride’s villa for a smaller, cramped  apartment, can they? No, they’ll have to find a way to supply an  appropriate home, even if they have to sell off a property or two. Ah,  first world problems.

Hyang-gi calls the house as Ji-hyung readies to get to work, so he  tells her he’ll call right back. That spins him off into a flashback:

A fishing trip. Over the years, apparently Ji-hyung had called  Seo-yeon once or twice a year to check on her. He hadn’t had feelings  for her — or perhaps it’s that he hadn’t realized them — because he  hadn’t understood his own reasons for calling: “I was just concerned.”  Seo-yeon had answered his calls curtly, always asking, “Why do you want  to know?” as though he had no business caring about her. They laugh  about it now, and Seo-yeon admits that she’d kept her crush on him well  under wraps because she’d known he was out of her league.

I appreciate the way the scenes are layered thematically in this  drama, although it’s done in a subtle way that doesn’t necessarily  trumpet the connections. Breakfast is one such example, and here’s  another, contrasting Ji-hyung’s inexplicable desire to keep calling  Seo-yeon with his deep reluctance to call Hyang-gi.

He’s driving when Hyang-gi calls again, not able to wait for him to  return her call. We (along with Hyang-gi’s parents) only hear the  conversation from her side, though it takes little imagination to  suppose Ji-hyang’s answers are vague and noncommittal. She wants him to  come meet her friends and buy them dinner, as all her friends’ fiancés  did. Her mother listens with growing frustration as it becomes clear  Hyang-gi’s not going to press him, especially when she cheerfully  accepts his brush-offs with a happy, “I love you!”

Now there’s a face you don’t want glowering your way, although  Hyang-gi isn’t fazed. Mom rips into her, saying that she ought to be  firm and decisive, hating to see her daughter wheedling and being  treated as an afterthought. Hyang-gi just smiles, “I must have no pride  where he’s concerned.” Or perception, or brains, as far as I’m  concerned. (Is she actually blind or just willfully ignorant, so as to  maintain the veneer of bliss?)

Seo-yeon returns to the hospital, minus the guardian her doctor had  told her to bring. She tells him she has no family and says she’ll be  fine to hear this alone. Right off we know this is serious, because he  compares her brain scans to that of “a normal elderly brain.” He has her  diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer’s.

She can’t believe it; she’s only 30. He tells her that it’s unusual,  but not unheard of. There’s no cure, but there are ways to delay its  advance. Grasping at straws, she starts listing her symptoms again, like  her headaches and her stress may have led to misdiagnosis.

The doctor tries to assuage some of her fears, saying that  Alzheimer’s itself won’t kill her, but that’s no consolation for  Seo-yeon: “As my memory erases, that means I’m being erased. Then what  becomes of me? Where do I go, where will I be?”

The doctor advises her to return with somebody to act as guarantor — a  close friend, a relative. She says firmly, “There’s nobody. I have  nobody.”

As she leaves, Seo-yeon tries to calm herself down, telling herself to get a grip, “You’ll be okay, you’re okay.”

She takes a seat on the hospital’s outdoor bench, watching patients  go by. In the cab home, she gets a call from brother Moon-kwon, who is  adorably programmed into her phone as “Superman.” He’s checking up on  her because she’d taken time off work to go to the dentist and changed  her phone number without telling anybody except for her aunt. (She’d  figured Aunt would spread the word to the family.)

Moon-kwon has to hang up quickly, and steps in to mediate a fight  between his cousin and her husband (Myung-hee accuses him of taking up  smoking again, which would ruin all their product since he’s the one  baking all the bread, while he insists he hasn’t).

Jae-min takes Seo-yeon to lunch and asks if she’s okay; she’s acting  fine, but he knows her too well to believe she’s really okay. She tells  him she’s decided to be fine, and therefore she’ll have to be fine. A  Seo-yeon-like statement.

He asks how much she makes at her job, and brings up the topic of her  taking time off to write her own books. It’s a sentiment he shot down  from Ji-hyung for being wildly inappropriate given their circumstances  (her accepting Ji-hyung’s money would be tantamount to taking a payoff  to end an affair), but as her oppa, Jae-min would like to support her  writing.

She immediately guesses that he’s been talking to Ji-hyung, though he  awkwardly denies it. Jae-min says it’ll be his “investment” which she  can repay once she’s got a bestseller on her hands. Seo-yeon thanks him  but declines. Not knowing there’s more behind her denial, he urges her  to have confidence.  Seo-yeon tells him seriously, “I can’t do it,”  explaining merely that she’s ruined her creativity by writing for  others.

His kindness brings her to tears, though, and she jokes that people  will think he dumped her, and no amount of assuring “No, he’s just my  oppa” would dispel the impression.

That leads to another set of related flashbacks. In the first memory,  Seo-hyun had decided they needed to change the way she addressed him.  She argues that it feels incestuous to continue calling him oppa, as she  has done since childhood, suggesting this is probably very early in the  relationship, right after their shift from acquaintances to lovers.

The next is a flashback of her prodding him to tell her how he feels  and he complies: “I love you. I like you.” The memory had taken place in  a bathroom, and is prompted by Ji-hyung washing his hands in the  bathroom.

The mothers meet for tea, talking over their plans with Hyang-gi’s  mother fishing for some compliments on her recent plastic surgery.  Ji-hyung’s mother obliges, saying, “Two more trips and you’ll look like  my daughter-in-law,” which thrills Hyang-gi’s mother despite being  blatantly false. Ha. I love how vain she is, and how frank she is about  it.

Ding-dong — er, Myung-hee’s son — races into the bakery to take home  some sandwiches for dinner, since Grandma’s too tired to cook today. His  father balks that he needs rice, and the boy says with his precocious  wisdom that he already made one bowl for Dad, sighing that Grandma sure  fought him on it, saying that Dad could stand to skip one rice dinner.  He speaks with such resigned ajumma-ness that everyone giggles, charmed.  

Seo-yeon sits in the dark, swilling soju that night. She sits  simmering in fury at Fate itself, her resentment piling on in waves:

Seo-yeon (voiceover):

“This, too? Was it  not enough for you? Were you disappointed? You couldn’t just pass by —  you couldn’t leave things alone? If you were going to do this, why did  you not just kill me then? Are you toying with me? What have I done that  was so wrong? What crime have I committed that you need to be so cruel?  Is it because I stole someone else’s man, without compunction? Is that  why?”

She laughs humorlessly:

“Don’t make me laugh. That man was mine from the time I was sixteen. I  only turned him away because I was dirt-poor. I thought he wasn’t mine  to have. I tried to forget.”

She cries.

“No, no, I didn’t try — that’s a lie. But is that such a  big mistake? Fine, strike me down with lightning instead. Burst my heart  open! Do you think I’ll lose? That I’d get on my knees and beg? That  I’d surrender?

NO!

”

Screaming now:

“I’ll rebel. I won’t collapse! I’ll shake off this curse and shove it  in a cesspool! I’ll tell it to go to hell! I’ll spit right at it!”

The last she roars out loud at her empty room.

And then, she sits shivering under the covers, partly from cold, mostly from fear.

On the other side of town (and the emotional universe), Ji-hyung  tries to work while Hyang-gi suffocates him with her presence. She’s  backhugging and pouting, and tells him he always makes her feel like  she’s a nuisance, even when she’s not interfering. That’s because your  very existence is an interference to his happiness, princess.

They go off to grab a fancy sushi dinner, while Seo-yeon eats alone  at home. She goes over her to-do list of things for tomorrow, ticking  off each item as she does it. With her memory so unreliable, she’s  trying to keep a grip on her life, to keep it in order.

But even in the midst of this exercise in proving she can regain  control of her life, Seo-yeon finds herself forgetting what she was  doing with the soup, and ends up standing with her eyes glued to the pot  lest she forget again. Moon-kwon points out that the soup she declared  done is hardly done at all, and she covers by saying she was going to  add those ingredients in the morning. Then she forgets where she kept  the garlic and can’t think of the word for scissors.

Moon-kwon jokes that she’s too young to be going senile, and she  turns on him, overdoing the defensiveness to cover her panic. She scares  him with her outburst, and he apologizes through the door while she  cries in her room.

Flashback: Six-year-old Seo-yeon at the neighborhood market, deciding  not to steal a packet of ramyun at the last minute. Instead she offers  4-year-old Moon-kwon a bowl of water, but he wants food and cries for  Mom.

It’s then that her aunt and uncle had dropped by just in the nick of  time and carried them home, crying over their circumstances and cursing  their mother. And then when the rain started pouring down on them, Aunt  had cried, “It’s your father, crying from heaven.”

Back to the present: Seo-yeon’s aunt sends her a text message asking  about the kimchi she’d sent them, and Moon-kwon replies for his sister  that it was delicious. It’s adorable how excited the aunt gets at the  text reply, since the phone is her newfangled toy of the moment, and she  brags about the message to the rest of her family.

Aw, she may be an incessant talker, but her simpleminded warmth is so  endearing; no evil stepmother she, when usually these stories of  abandoned kids involves a resentful caretaker of some sort.

Ji-hyung stumbles home drunkenly after dinner, miserable as ever. His  resolve crumbles and he dials a familiar number, only to be told that  it no longer exists. Aw, you’ll be feeling that way again soon, and for  the rest of your life.

Seo-yeon goes around reminding herself of the names of household  items, as though each correct answer is one more block of sanity that  gets rebuilt in her brain. Looking into the mirror, she labels herself:

Seo-yeon:

“Lee Seo-yeon. Thirty years  old. Team leader at book publisher Space. From years 2005 to 2006,  employed at Munhwa newspaper, novel division. Writer. john tesh you,  Alzheimer’s.”

 

COMMENTS

Wooo. I love the type of emotion this drama brings out — intense,  real, but not hysterical. You can have energy when something explodes or  spews or fires in a big giant fireball of chaos. But you can also have  energy when there are two strong forces shoving up against each other,  not moving, but exerting pressure on each other just the same. It’s that  kind of simmering, just-about-to-bubble-to-the-surface energy that I  feel here, where one move from either side can send everything bursting  in chaos. Precarious balance, always on the verge of eruption. Seo-yeon  feels that way to me, her control giving way to these momentary bursts  of panic and horror.

I love that she gets angry, and that she rages at her illness and  Fate. Her diagnosis sucks, and it’s depressing, and even if it’s not a  literal death sentence, it’s tantamount to that when it chips away at  your sense of self by degrees. But she’s determined to keep it together,  and I find myself respecting her reaction, even admiring it at points.

In fact, the direness of her condition so overshadows the lost  romance that I almost don’t care about that right now. I actually really  like the fact that Ji-hyung’s so weak — I don’t like his character,  but it makes for a very interesting dynamic — and appreciate that his  character’s got a long (loooong) way to go to redeeming himself. (Isn’t  that part of the fun of the challenge?) But yeah, for right now I’m  content to watch him squirm in the hell of his own making, because that  strong, independent, tough-as-nails woman you gave up? She’s living a  hell someone else gave her, and my sympathies are all tied up thataway.

Ji-hyung’s problem is that he can’t make a choice. He thinks he has  no choice, but that’s just his cowardice talking. But once Seo-yeon  really starts to deteriorate and he decides what truly matters, I think  we’ll see more of what he’s made of — and I mean the good stuff this  time. Despite his misery now, I think the part when he realizes  Seo-yeon’s fading actually seems like the less painful part of this  whole deal.  

As to structure: This drama does an interesting thing, which  girlfriday previously touched upon, in giving the flashback a sort of  ambiguity as to origin. Each flashback does have a present-day anchor  telling us who’s thinking it at this moment, but you could say they’re  all shared memories; both Seo-yeon and Ji-hyung are living more in their  past these days than they are in their bleak presents, and no doubt  many of these memories overlap and coincide.

EPISODE 3 RECAP by javabeans

[only*rae won*]

Thousand Day Promise: Episode 4

by girlfriday

It’s the brothers’ episode to shine, as some characters go hurtling  towards the truth, while others stay firmly in the land of denial. Grab a  hanky and settle in. Oh, and you’re also gonna want your phone handy,  to call your brother when it’s over.

Ratings: Promise hits a new high with 17.5%; Kye Baek follows with 13.3%; and Poseidon brings in the rear with 7.3%.

EPISODE 4 RECAP

Seo-yeon makes breakfast carefully and methodically, her new method  for doing everything. Moon-kwon wonders why they’re eating so early, and  she says it’s to buy some time to talk. Not The Talk, but just life  stuff, like the fact that she thinks he should quit his part-time jobs  to focus on school.

But he insists he’s young and spry and can handle it. Besides, if he  doesn’t earn money, how will he marry off his sister? Aw, could you be  any cuter?

She starts getting a little ahead of herself, asking him about his  future and his plans to marry, which just confuses him because he  thought they were talking about her. He senses that she’s saying this  stuff to him because there’s a change in her life, and jumps to the  conclusion that she’s getting married.

The questions come flying, about who the guy is, when they’re getting  married, how he knew there was somebody. She denies, so then he asks if  he’s from a wealthy family who won’t allow the marriage.

Startled, she says, “Yes. So I ended it.” Moon-kwon laughs, not even considering that it’s the truth.

She heads out for work, thinking about her brother’s laugh, wishing  she could do the same in the face of her illness. She painstakingly goes  over everything – that she brought her phone, that she is on her way to  work, that she can read at the same pace that she used to.

She spends the entire rest of the way playing a word game in her head.

Ji-hyung heads out and tries calling Seo-yeon’s disconnected line  again, over and over. Finally he calls Jae-min to ask for her new  number, because he “didn’t end things properly.”

Jae-min asks what that would be, exactly, and points out that he  can’t very well give him Seo-yeon’s new number when he’s the entire  reason she changed it. Ji-hyung pleads that he just has stuff left to  say, that he needs to say. Jae-min: “That’s your problem, ” and “Don’t  mess with her.” Gah, I love oppa.

Seo-yeon is first at work, with everything seemingly under control,  until a coworker points out that she’s brewed coffee without the coffee.  She rushes to the bathroom chanting to herself that it’s okay, that  it’s a mistake anyone could have made.

She steels herself in the mirror and heads out, not realizing she’s  left the faucet running. But she remembers at the last minute and turns  back, her resolve beginning to crack.

At lunch the women rant about how unrealistic their latest project  is, a novel about a Candy divorcee who snags a chaebol. “Have you ever  actually SEEN a chaebol?” Seo-yeon laughs and says no, more concerned  with remembering what she ordered for lunch than whether chaebols exist  outside of fantasy.

Meanwhile the actual chaebols stand around arguing over what  ridiculously overpriced piece of furniture to buy, and whose taste is  gaudier than whose.

Seo-yeon spends every free moment surveying her surroundings, naming  objects, places, names. God, I can’t even imagine the terror of being a  writer who can’t remember words. She memorizes the coffee menu at  Starbucks, which I honestly couldn’t even do on a good day. I mean,  what’s a half-caff-decaf-mocha-skinny-frappucino anyway?

She stops in to see her aunt, who’s adorably excited to make her  dinner on a non-family-dinner night. Moon-kwon calls to ask for the car  keys to go to his friend’s sister’s funeral, and Seo-yeon directs him to  her dresser, where he finds the keys and one of her little daily  checklist memos. A few normal entries, and then: “Memomemomemomemo,  Checkcheckcheckcheckcheck.”

He reads it and smiles, probably thinking that she’s just being a  little OCD, and goes to put it back… when he finds another piece of  paper. It’s a prescription, for drugs he doesn’t recognize. He doesn’t  know what any of it means, so he looks up the terms on his phone.

One of the pills is for Alzheimer’s, while the other is for  depression. It starts to dawn on him that this is what’s going on with  his sister, and he rushes to the computer to find out more. Panic washes  over his face as he reads.

After dinner, Seo-yeon sits with her aunt and asks about her mother,  for the first time ever. She asks what kind of person she was, and if  Aunt knows where she might be. She doesn’t know (or doesn’t let on if  she does), and declares her a crazy person, otherwise how could she have  abandoned her children, not realizing what it might mean to Seo-yeon if  her mother were legitimately crazy.

Seo-yeon asks if she and her brother would’ve died if Aunt and Uncle  hadn’t come to get them, and thanks her for taking them in, despite how  poor they were. Aunt insists it only took three spoonfuls of rice to  feed them, like it was no big deal.

She in turn feels grateful to her husband, for suggesting that they  take the kids in. (They’re her brother’s kids, so Uncle technically has  no blood ties.) Seo-yeon takes out an envelope and passes it to her. She  went to the department store but couldn’t choose, so she got a gift  certificate instead. It’s her first gift to them, now that she’s  debt-free and able to say thank you.

Jae-min sits outside a convenience store with a can of beer, and  Moon-kwon rushes over to meet him. He says there was no one else, that  he had to tell hyung first. Jae-min wonders if he’s in some kind of  trouble. Half-jokingly, “Did you get someone pregnant? Does she want you  to take responsibility?”

Moon-kwon starts in that it’s to do with his sister, that something’s  going on with her. Thinking he means her recent breakup, Jae-min calmly  says that she’s got her private life too, and that it’s something he  should respect.

But Moon-kwon finally spits it out: “I think noona has dementia…” He  lays out all the things that add up now, like her forgetfulness growing  by the day, her strange memos, how she always leaves her phone behind,  doesn’t recall the names of things.

He tells him about the scissors, how she had to resort to miming them  with her fingers, and then blew up at his joke that she was going  senile. He shows Jae-min the slip of paper with the name of the doctor  she went to see, saying that this was the day she said she went to the  dentist.

He says she’s been on painkillers for a while, but these  prescriptions, made out in her name, are for new things – depression,  Alzheimer’s. Jae-min says it can’t be… she’s too young. Shaking,  Moon-kwon looks up at his hyung, looking to him for answers.

Seo-yeon walks home from her aunt’s house, counting each step as she  goes down. She sees Jae-min walk up towards her, staring at the ground,  completely oblivious to the world.

She waits in his path and he stops at her feet, startled. He makes  vacant chitchat and she walks past. He stops her, “Ji-hyung called  today.” He relays the message, that he has something he wants to say.  Seo-yeon asks what he answered.

Jae-min: “I told him not to mess with you.” Satisfied at that, she  says she doesn’t need to hear it, that it’s probably just that he’s  sorry. Jae-min’s like, he didn’t even say SORRY? But she  smiles, “He would have. Tell him he doesn’t need to feel bad, that I  don’t need to hear it. That I’m fine.” Wow, are you thinking of sparing  his conscience, even in this moment?

Jae-min watches her hobble down the steps in her high heels and turns  back. He takes her arm and walks her down. Seriously, I cannot handle  how perfect he is. There’s gotta be something wrong with him. Secret  clown porn collection? Deals heroin to kids in his spare time?  Something.

He asks if she shouldn’t hear Ji-hyung out, one last time. “What if  he says you’re the only woman for him?” Seo-yeon: “While he raises  children with someone else?” She wonders if there is such a thing.

She assures him that in a few months’ time, she’ll have forgotten all  about him, and be with someone new. “What, did you think he was my one  and only?” She apologizes for disappointing him, and laughs it off,  saying she’ll be fine. She turns to go.

He starts to go back up the steps, but stops and turns back to watch  her walk away. She tells him to turn around. “I don’t want you to see my  back.” He complies, and this time she watches him go.

I love these two together. They have such an interesting dynamic that  feels different from a normal family connection, but not in a squicky  way. Their scenes play out not unlike a pair of lovers, though what  makes it great is that he’s just her oppa. (Though obviously, part of me  is like, can he be adopted?)

She flashes back to a time when Ji-hyung dropped her off, and she  insisted that he leave first: “I don’t want you to see my back.” He asks  why, and she says she just doesn’t like it, that showing her back feels  sad and pathetic.

It’s telling that this has always been her character. It’s commonly a  guy thing to say (at least in dramas) – “I’ll never show you my back” –  as in, I’ll never walk away from you. She’s always been the stronger  one, to look after other people’s feelings before her own.

Ji-hyung’s pre-wedding drama comes to a head when Hyang-gi’s mom  hears his latest request, to push back meeting Hyang-gi’s relatives  until after the wedding. He’s basically using work as an excuse to be  involved as little as possible, which just does not fly with  mother-in-law to-be.

She storms over there to scream her head off at Ji-hyung, and call  the whole thing off. Well you just might be doing us all a favor there,  lady. He apologizes in his usual placid, zombie way, which does nothing  to calm her down.

But Hyang-gi shows up and counters that she’ll just DIE if she can’t  marry Ji-hyung, and cries like the seven-year old princess that she is.  He picks her up and comforts her, while Mom gapes at her, unable to  fathom how she could’ve given birth to a daughter so useless. Ha. I love  that Mom basically thinks her daughter is a moron.

Too bad she’s not serious about calling off the wedding though, as  she promptly calls Ji-hyung’s mom to have her smooth things out and get  him to play ball.

Seo-yeon starts a daily journal, detailing everything she did that  day, more like a catalogue than a journal so she can keep track. She  then goes over a series of questions geared towards Alzheimer’s  patients, and answers them one by one, as if trying to convince herself  that these don’t apply to her and that she’s fine.

Jae-min researches her illness online, and Mom brags to him about the  gift certificates from Seo-yeon. She muses that she seemed different  today, asking about her mother for the first time. Jae-min assures her  that it’s natural that she’d be curious.

Moon-kwon calls from a rest stop on his way home, to check in. When  she says that she’s settling in to do some work, he worries that she’s  overworking herself.

Moon-kwon:

What if you work yourself  sick? I’m still powerless. It’s not a senseless worry. Of course I  worry. It’s just the two of us. I haven’t done anything and you’ve  worked so hard. If I didn’t worry, I’d be a jerk. Noona, I love you. I  really really love you.

*whimper* The words just come tumbling out, seemingly out of nowhere.  Seo-yeon smiles and tells him he’s being weird, musing that he must’ve  been traumatized by his friend’s noona’s death. He chokes back his  tears.

Ji-hyung gets an earful from his mom about how he’s clearly feeling  avoidy because he doesn’t want to marry Hyang-gi. Um, so then why do you  insist he still marry her? She tells him to get it together and stop  making her nervous, and he assures her that it’s all squared away and he  won’t hurt Hyang-gi. Mom: “Your wedding is the happiest moment of your  life.” Yeah, you people seem real happy about it.

Hyang-gi’s mom continues to be dissatisfied purely for reasons of  pride, while Hyang-gi is busy making sure that Ji-hyung isn’t mad at  her. She texts him: “I think I was born to love you.” Oh dear. You are  in for quite a shock, princess.

Jae-min sits up pondering what to do, zoning out while the rest of  his family goes about their usual incessant shouting. It’s not just you,  buddy. Every time your noona opens her mouth I just kind of go numb and  tune her out.

Seo-yeon works for a while, and then notices a cup of ramyun sitting  on her desk. Fear sets in as she realizes she forgot to eat it. She  destroys the evidence, murmuring to herself that it’s okay, it happens  to everyone.

Jae-min goes to see Seo-yeon’s doctor the next day, and confirms his  fears. He tells Moon-kwon, who bursts into tears. “What is this? What is  this, noona? What is this?!” Ugh, my heart, my heart.

Jae-min silently puts a hand on his shoulder as he cries and cries.  After a while, he settles down and asks what they’re supposed to do now.  She hasn’t filled her prescription – are they supposed to keep  pretending they don’t know?

Jae-min suggests they wait a little longer for her, since she’s  probably barely hanging on now. Moon-kwon worries about the meds, but  Jae-min thinks she’ll tell them when she’s ready.

Moon-kwon: “What if she doesn’t, till the end? … We have to put on an  act. Noona’s act, and mine too… Why are we so unlucky? Dirty rotten  luck…”

While Moon-kwon cries his little heart out, Ji-hyung attends a  couple’s cooking class that makes me want to puke. No, mostly it makes  me want to shove his head in the oven, and a pie in Hyang-gi’s face.

Seo-yeon gets a surprise bonus from a project she’s been working on  the side, and decides to take her coworkers out. They have a great time,  while she spends the night distracted.

Jae-min stares at his dinner that night, unable to eat. Ji-hyung  calls, and he steps out. He begs for just one hour of Jae-min’s time,  swearing it’ll be the last.

He says he’s scared he’ll lose his friend, though it’s something he  knew was a risk from the start. And yet he still hoped, that after  everything, his friend might still understand him. Jae-min doesn’t  answer, but agrees to have a drink.

Seo-yeon watches her friends sing and dance the night away, as she pours herself shot after shot of soju.

 

COMMENTS

Well the mini cooper’s certainly about two inches from hitting the fan. I  don’t think Jae-min’s going to be able to keep this from Ji-hyung,  despite his anger. He’s not jaded like Seo-yeon is, and I feel like  he’ll say something because he knows it’ll change the outcome. He’s  gotta know it’ll richard simmons her off something fierce though, which will  probably be the source of their conflict from here on out.

I can’t wait till Ji-hyung finds out, Seo-yeon’s pride be damned. I  know he’s miserable, but that self-flagellating guilt is so  unsatisfactory as far as I’m concerned. Oh, you’re unhappy, boo frickin’  hoo. Get your head out of your richard simmons and DO something about it. The truth  is bound to kick him out of stasis, which will go a long way towards  recovering his character.

I love that despite having the world’s most rotten luck, Seo-yeon is  actually surrounded by family who love her. I don’t know who to feel  worse for — the little brother who suddenly has to deal with his whole  world coming down around him, or the hyung who suddenly has to have all  the answers. Moon-kwon’s heartbreaking discovery just about killed me,  and I’m glad that we didn’t have to wait any longer for someone to find  out. It also gives him the chance to step up and protect her and be the  caretaker, when it’s always been the other way around their whole lives.  That role reversal just gets me *right here.*

EPISODE 2 RECAP by girlfriday

[Guest saladyum]

I'm waiting for subs, trying not to read anything about ep 5 & 6 yet.

but i peek a little at ep 6, then i saw this image.

My chocolate.. gahh *swoon*

I'm probably in the minority but I think Hyang Gi is a moron. Yes, she's sweet and adorable and chirpy...but how many years has she known Ji Hyung? How can she not know from looking at this mans face and demeanor that something is wrong? HORRIBLY wrong! And yet she ignores everything except her own little world. Is she ignorant? or innocently stupid? I don't buy it. If they've known each other since they were both in diapers, she should know him much better than this and KNOW that something is wrong.  Why on earth would she want to marry someone who walks around like a corpse with no emotions. *quoted image* She "loves" him? Not buying that either...if she did she would know something wasn't right and that he's feeling lost. (although I agree too that he's a bastard) 

I think we're watching an obsession in Hyang Gi. She's obsessed with Ji Hyung, maybe for her it's love.

Obsession is probably making her air-headed, giggly, high, persistent, etc... Oh gosh, why am I feeling like i'm describing myself. *go back to goggle some more at my chocolate ^^*

[only*rae won*]

Thousand Day Promise: Episode 5

by  girlfriday

This episode just about killed me dead. It’s D-day, otherwise known  as fan-hitting time for le mini cooper. I love how quickly we get here, how raw  the emotions are, and as always, I’m madly in love with Jae-min. He  really ought to just dispense with that silly car and ride around on a  white horse.

 

EPISODE 5 RECAP

Ji-hyung and Jae-min share a drink, and Ji-hyung confesses that he  regrets it – regrets thinking that being the dutiful son was the right  choice, when all he had to do was cast off that burden. He says he  should’ve let it go, that he mistakenly thought that not stirring up  trouble was the most important thing.

Jae-min tells him that he gave Seo-yeon his message, and that she  said not to worry about her. Ji-hyung asks him to tell her that it  wasn’t because he loved her any less, and how sorry he is. “I already  know how pathetic I am. That I’ll spend the rest of my life being  pathetic.” Yes, while that’s not untrue, it also does nothing for  anyone, does it?

He adds that she should forget him as quickly as possible, and  Jae-min tells him it’s pretty funny for him to be worried about that –  she’s her and he’s him, so it’s really none of his concern anymore.

Jae-min reminds him that Seo-yeon hates dangling threads, loose ends.  Ji-hyung sighs, “I know. But Jae-min-ah, I think I’ll be dangling my  whole life.” Jae-min counters that he’s overstepping to worry about her.  He knows it, but can’t help worrying anyway.

Ji-hyung loosens his tie, sighing that at least sitting here like  this with Jae-min feels like he’s got a needle’s worth of breathing  room. It’s a nice visual both as an action and a metaphor, because he’s  so utterly suffocated by his life.

Myung-hee denies Moon-kwon’s request to quit working at her bakery  (because he brings in the high school girls, ha) and at home she wonders  if it’s because Seo-yeon is mad at her or something.

She confesses to badmouthing her when her husband pointed out a  picture in a magazine saying it looked like Seo-yeon, and now she’s  convinced Moon-kwon overheard and now both of them are mad. Ha. If only  that was the height of their troubles, lady.

Jae-min tells Ji-hyung to stop being a crybaby and get it together.  There’s nothing he can do for her anymore because she wants nothing to  do with him. “So just consider her dead.” Ji-hyung says he gets it, and  tears brimming, he asks that Seo-yeon at least know that it wasn’t  because he loved her any less, and that he’ll spend the rest of his life  endlessly sorry. Dude, what good does that do for anyone? GUH.

They get up to pay, and Jae-min heads to the counter… where he runs  into Seo-yeon’s doctor. Oh. The doc recognizes him as Seo-yeon’s  guardian and asks if he’s spoken to her about needing treatment soon.  Jae-min says he hasn’t yet, and they part ways.

But Ji-hyung’s heard enough to know something’s seriously wrong with  Seo-yeon, if Jae-min has met with a doctor because of her, and that if  it were really nothing as Jae-min insists, the doctor wouldn’t be  concerned with her treatment.

He asks what it is, if it’s cancer, what’s wrong. Jae-min holds his  ground, insisting that they’re over and it’s Seo-yeon’s business. It  starts to get heated as Ji-hyung relentlessly asks what’s wrong, and how  he could stand here and pretend not to hear.

Jae-min: “She wouldn’t want you to know and neither do I. It has  nothing to do with you – it’s our family, our business!” It turns into a  shouting match as Ji-hyung pleads, but Jae-min refuses and sends him  away. I want him to know, but I adore Jae-min for not making it easy.

Ji-hyung runs back into the restaurant to look for the doctor  himself, and catches up to him on the street. He pleads with the doctor  to tell him what’s wrong, insisting that he’s Seo-yeon’s boyfriend and  her guardian too.

The doc says he can’t tell him because it’s the family’s private  matter. Ji-hyung begs, asking if it’s cancer. The doc tells him that if  he comes to the hospital tomorrow with Seo-yeon herself, then he’ll tell  him everything. He adds that even if it’s not with him, she needs  treatment.

Jae-min walks along and runs into Seo-yeon walking home just ahead of  him. She’s barefoot and reciting the Lord’s Prayer in English, for some  reason. Well that’s just the oddest drunk behavior I’ve seen to date.

He runs up and finds that she’s had some drinks, which she announces  happily, since it was to celebrate her surprise bonus. She grins from  ear to ear as she tells him it’s lots and lots of money, and she had a  great time singing and dancing and drinking.

He worries about her feet, and she says she didn’t want to stumble in  her heels and there was no one, so she just took ‘em off. He says that  she should’ve called him or Moon-kwon, and says that he’s here now.

He bends down to put her shoes back on, worried about her cutting up  her feet, and offers to walk her home. Swooooooon. He insists on  carrying her purse too, and she takes his arm, laughing that it’ll look  like they’re dating.

She leans on him as they walk. “Oppa, thank you.” She says she’s  grateful to Aunt and Uncle, Myung-hee and her husband too. “But I’m most  grateful to you. Why? Because you always quietly took care of me.  You’ve never hurt me, or made me feel like it was a burden. To me, you  were always my biggest background.”

He asks why she’s talking in the past tense. She quickly corrects  herself, “No, it’s past, present and future. Oppa you need to protect  me. Don’t find a girlfriend. If you find a girlfriend and stop paying  attention to me, I’ll be mad.”

Jae-min smiles, “That’s a really selfish thing to say.” Seo-yeon:  “That’s right. I’m selfish. I’m going to be selfish.” She lets out a  heavy, shaky sigh.

These two kill me. I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a drama where I  cared LESS about the romantic relationship than I do about the oppa one,  but damn.

He walks her home and watches her go up with a heavy heart. He gets a  text from Ji-hyung, naming Seo-yeon’s doctor and his appointment with  him tomorrow at 3. He calls and Ji-hyung totally lies that he’ll hear it  from the doc tomorrow anyway, so Jae-min should just tell him now.

Urg, I’m so torn between wanting him to know but not wanting to give  him the satisfaction of knowing. He finally railroads Jae-min into  coughing up the truth, after swearing to keep it a secret from Seo-yeon.  “It’s Alzheimer’s.”

Stunned, Ji-hyung goes through the same process of denial, wondering  how it could be possible in someone so young, if maybe she was  misdiagnosed. But no, Jae-min’s been down that road already, and  researched doctors to know that hers is a well-respected one in his  field. According to the doctor, she’s had it for about two years now  (which would explain the long-term use of painkillers without an end to  the headaches).

Jae-min tells him to just think of it as Seo-yeon’s fate, and not to  feel guilt over it. “Do you see now why I said there’s nothing you can  do?” He points out that Ji-hyung’s a week away from his wedding. Ugh.  Jae-min asks him to keep his promise and not get involved.

At home, Moon-kwon puts on a brave face and promises to deal with the  part-time job situation himself, rather than have Seo-yeon get  involved. He panics for a moment when she struggles to remember the word  for cereal as they talk about what to eat for breakfast. Both of them  lurch for a moment, but then she finds the word.

He worries under his breath about her drinking, but it comes out loud  enough for her to hear. He covers it up by saying that he’s just  worried that it’ll be hard on her in the morning, but she smiles it off  and says to worry about himself.

Ji-hyung sits staring blankly, as it starts to sink in. He flashes  back to a happy moment in bed, when he had lied about not being  ticklish. She insisted on testing it to be sure, when he caved and  admitted to lying about it.

She wondered why on earth he’d lie about that, and he says it was to  appear impressive in her eyes. She in turn tells him that when she was  young she had an outy bellybutton, but it just changed one day, and now  when she gives a push, she can turn it back into an outy. He totally  falls for it and she laughs, wondering who’d fall for something so dumb.

It leads him to another memory, of the time they ran into each other  at an art gallery, the first time they had seen each other in over eight  years. He had returned from studying abroad, and it was long enough of a  separation for them to not recognize each other right away.

He points out that they saw each other three years ago, when he came  in to see Jae-min, which she had forgotten. He marvels at how she looks  the same, and notices that she doesn’t put sugar in her coffee. “Because  they say it’s bad for you. I have to live a long time.”

She asks about his fiancée, and when he’s getting married. He says in  about a year… and as they have coffee, he asks her to lunch. And then  as they have lunch, he asks her to dinner.

After dinner they walk along the river, holding hands. Ji-hyung:  “What is this feeling? As if… since ages ago, since before I was born,  since a thousand years before… I’ve been waiting for today.”

She tells him for her it’s déjà vu. She doesn’t believe in past  lives, but she has the feeling that they’ve been here before, just like  this, maybe in memory, maybe in dreams. He adds a vote to the past lives  theory.

Back in the present, he weeps.

The next day he heads out of the hospital and has another memory, of  Seo-yeon singing him happy birthday. He kisses her before she can finish  the song and she sighs that she’d like to die right then and there.

What a heartbreaking thing to remember – something she said to mean  how happy she was, but now just ringing in his ears tragically.

Seo-yeon spends the day at work in good spirits, until she gets a  call at her desk. It’s Ji-hyung, waiting for her downstairs. She braces  herself and meets him, repeating herself curtly that she’s fine and he  needn’t do this.

But he launches straight into it, telling her that he made an  appointment with a new doctor, that they’re going to get a second  opinion, that she needs to start treatment. She looks up at him in  shock. “How? How do you know?”

He tells her that he found out from Jae-min. “Oppa? How? How does he know?” Ohgod ohgod ohgod ohgod….

Ji-hyung and Jae-min sit across the table from her, side by side. She  buries her head in her hands, balled up as fists the entire time.

Finally she speaks, without looking up at either of them. She insists  that she’s not a patient, not until she says she is. She’s fine.  Jae-min agrees then that it’s possible if she gets reexamined…

But she cuts him off that she found the best doctor, and he should  fold that last bit of hope. Ji-hyung tries to chime in but she cuts him  off coldly, in jondae, not to concern himself with it.

She tells Jae-min not to concern himself with it either, and he bites  back, “How can you say something like that?!” She asks what he can do  about it, and he tells her that there’s ways to treat it, to slow it, to  wait till there’s a cure.

Seo-yeon: “Oppa, rather than growing old and stupid, I want to hurry,  hurry, and end it.” She tells him that she has no intention of becoming  a useless burden to the people around her, just sucking up their pity.

Ji-hyung tells her that it’s different, case by case. She could have  ten years, maybe more. Seo-yeon: “What use is that? If I live a long  long time as an empty shell, getting into trouble, shaving precious time  from precious people – will I be immortalized forever?”

Ji-hyung: “Do you want to be dragged there, or do you want to go  willingly?” Seo-yeon: “Stop pretending to be the good guy and get the  hell out.”

She throws his concern right back in his face, asking if he wants to  drag her to the hospital so she can hear the same diagnosis all over  again, so he can sigh and say he did all he could, and feel good about  it? “My problem is so big, that I don’t have time to do that for you.”

Ooof. There’s just something so fierce and raw about her pride even in a situation like this – it just resonates with me.

She gets up to go, and Ji-hyung blocks her path. She tells him that  she’s perfectly fine, and rattles off all the things she’s handling  right now, at work, in her life, how she’s perfectly normal.

Ji-hyung says that maybe it means she’s really fine, so if they see  another doctor… But she pleads them not to make her hear it again. If  she hears that diagnosis one more time, she can’t ignore it, can’t deny  it. She’s scared she’ll just give up and collapse.

She looks over at Jae-min, “Until I got into really big trouble, I  didn’t want anyone to know. My pride… it hurts a lot.” She walks past  him to the door, but falters as soon as she reaches the handle. She  crouches down, unable to stand.

The guys get up and Ji-hyung rushes to her side. She leans on him and  clutches his arm, but she turns to Jae-min. Trembling, “Oppa, oppa,  take me home.”

He comes over and picks her up out of Ji-hyung’s grasp, and she hugs  him for dear life, wailing like a child. She cries into his shoulder, as  Ji-hyung stands aside and cries silently. I can’t even see them through  my tears.

Ji-hyung watches silently from the sidelines, unable to do anything  for her, as Jae-min takes her to the car, puts on her seatbelt, and  drives her away.

Over at Ji-hyung’s house, the moms-in-law meet up, and despite my  hatred for this world and all its ridiculousness, I do love these two  moms and their hilarious conversations. Today Ji-hyung’s mom gripes  about her friend’s over-shortening of words, which is totally a gripe I  share about Korean slang and its obsession with senseless compounding  and shortening till words are no longer words, and everything is an  acronym.

Hyang-gi’s mom in turn wonders if she ought to buy Ji-hyung a new  car. Mom says no, that’s silly, so then she asks, “Do you want a new  car?” She asks what the obsession with cars is, and she admits that a  friend of hers married off her daughter with five new cars. Ji-hyung’s  mom: “Did she have two heads?” Hahaha.

Hyang-gi’s mom goes so far as to worry about Ji-hyung and his, er,  reproductive health, making everyone else cringe at her boundary issues.

Jae-min drops Seo-yeon off at home, and she insists that she’s fine  and back to her normal self. She tells him that she doesn’t want Aunt  and Uncle to worry, or to have Unni clucking at her, so to wait until  after she’s lost her mind to tell them. He says he understands and  promises to do so.

He calls Moon-kwon to tell him what’s happened, and he runs home with  lightning speed, crying the whole way. He arrives out of breath and  struggles to tamp down his tears before bracing himself and knocking on  her door.

There’s no answer so he opens it cautiously. She lashes out at him,  furious that he went through her things, that he told Jae-min. She asks  how he could spill that secret so easily. Trembling, he admits the  truth:

Moon-kwon:

Because it was too big for me to handle! Because I was so scared!

Seo-yeon:

So what are you going to do about it? Are you  going to be sick in my place? Are you going to swap my head for yours?  Can you do that?!

Moon-kwon:

If that’s something I could do, I’d do it right now! If it meant that you could live, I’d jump off this roof right now!

Seo-yeon:

You say something stupid like that one more time! Do you want to be beaten?!

Moon-kwon:

How long did you think you could hide it?  What is there to hide? Am I a stranger? If you’re hurting then I have to  be hurting with you. Noona, if I were hurting, would you just be  whistling and pretending not to know?

Seo-yeon:

I’m not… ready yet. I can’t acknowledge it.

She refuses to face it, the dirty rotten luck of a girl abandoned by  both her parents. He says that Dad didn’t abandon them, but she bites  back that dying that young is the same thing as abandoning them. (Which  means this is what she feels about leaving Moon-kwon behind, of course.)

He pleads with her to start taking her meds, but she ignores him,  zooming past to change the subject and order food. She asks for her  phone and he has to tell her that she left her purse at work, and that  Jae-min is having it sent over by courier.

She flinches at the slip and then asks for his phone then, trying her damnedest to get past this moment and this conversation.

Ji-hyung calls Jae-min to check in, worrying endlessly with no  outlet. He asks for Seo-yeon’s number, “just to have it,” but Jae-min  tells him to back off from here on out.

He looks over the city at night, remembering Seo-yeon telling him  that she loved him over and over, and the first moment when she knew,  the day they first met. In voiceover, Seo-yeon: “Since the day I met  you, I was zapped like lightning. Why, I wonder? You weren’t even that  impressive. Why, I wonder?”

 

COMMENTS

Every time I’m more and more impressed by Su Ae. Seo-yeon’s  prickliness could be extremely off-putting if she weren’t playing it all  with such a deep undercurrent of vulnerability and sadness. You can see  it on her face – the mask of denial and strength that she’s so desperately trying to keep up, everything she’s feeling underneath the words that come out of her mouth.

It makes her character so three-dimensional for me, because real  people don’t say what they mean. They coat it, in pride, in anger, in  misplaced blame. I’d be the same way, clinging uselessly to pride and  denial because it’s safe, it’s what I know. I love that she doesn’t  sugarcoat things for other people—it’s for HER, because she can’t face  losing control of her life. That feels so utterly real that it’s kind of  gut-wrenching to watch her falter.

The brothers continue to be the real heroes of the piece so far, but  we do get our first glimpse of Ji-hyung’s transformation, just on the  brink. He has yet to actually act – to put his money where his mouth is,  so to speak – but the courage seems to be rising. I’m just glad that  this drama dispenses with the secret-keeping, and that people just find  out what they need to know swiftly, refusing to let them live in the  safety of denial. It’s like the world or Fate pushes everyone out of  complacency, trauma be damned. It sucks for them, but it’s awesome for  us.

Structurally, I love that the romance plays out in the past. Somehow  keeping it trapped there, only in memory, is maybe the most tragic thing  of all. They play out like bubbles of time that can’t help but be  tinged with sadness, no matter how happy they are in the moment, because  it’s already gone. That inside-out feeling is a nice effect because it  puts them on the outside, looking in on something that is no longer  there. I don’t know why, but that kind of sadness gets to me more than  two people breaking down and crying over each other. It’s like how  insisting that you’re not going to think about someone is proof that  you’re currently thinking about them – the fact that they exist in  memory is proof that they are in the past.

EPISODE 3 RECAP by girlfriday

[TRAN]

Jihyung Seoyeon's strory so far....

She met him when she was 16 at the time when he saw her yelling at the brother....

After 8 years or so they met again at the Gallery, they had coffee, luch, dinner and at the end of the day they were holding hands..... she's 24 ?

Back to the first scene when they were in the car, Jihyung said something like "... from that day, he couldn't get her out of his mind ...". Which day is he referring to? The day at the Gallery? But didn't they just hook up a year or so ago?

I feel like Seoyeon so far has been the stronger one in the relationship, perhaps in latter part Jihyung maybe the one in charge. Lets's wait a see what he's gonna do...

Thanks 71e for the BTS photos... nice to see her in jean and runners and not high heels all the time!