[Drama 2018-2019] Encounter / Boyfriend, 남자친구

[Rainydays]

thanks for @bebebisous33 analysis, since I might miss the details as well, it help me find new things when I rewatching the drama. my fav is about the poetry, its very beautiful.. 

I also think the flower bouquet in the glass case looks like Beauty and the Beast's red flower, also Belle and KJH they both like books.

 

[dahae2006]

 

[rahma92]

 

SAY IT LOUDER! 

[NongpeeP]

17 hours ago, bebebisous33 said:

RED

 

But there is a reason why CSH likes red so much: her mother. The latter showed up once in red and we could sense that this was her favourite color too. She only dressed in brown or dark blue, when she met chairman Kim as she knew that the queen would never accept such a color.  

 

@bebebisous33

After reading your comment, I am rewatching Encounter / Boyfriend.

When you mentioned CSH's mom, it reminded me what I wonder about CSH's life.

In ep4, Mr.Nam said he saw CSH's happy face again after CSH played sand game with KJH at Sokcho which he had not seen since CSH's middle school. 

 

CSH's mom might have manipulated CSH's life including friends when she was just 15 years old,  that meant CSH's father might enter to the political society for (35-15 =) 20 years.

 

CSH's mom and CSH's father have spent their life to climb up the political recognition for 10 years without Taegyeong Group's fund after CSH's father's friend(PR Director's older brother) died from protest. Mr.Nam was in jail for writing the article to protest. 

 

CSH used to thank you Mr.Nam to bring Secretary Jang to be her friend after such middle school which CSH's mom started manipulation. Secretary Jang mentioned in ep4 when she came to HBD to CSH that CSH helped her skip class for concert during school time. 

 

Secretary Jang has a certain standard of living in her mind; therefore, CSH's being with Secretary Jang might scope down CSH's life to be in a proper shape too. 

 

In ep15-16, the news about court mentioned Taekyeon Group funded CSH's father in year 2008, it was 10 years ago when CSH was at 25 years old. CSH married in 2012 at her 29 years old, divorced in 2014 at her 31, CSH has spent 4 years to turn around Dong Hwa Hotel to be profitable till her 35 years old.

 

If the information extracted from Encounter / Boyfriend here and there is correct, CSH has been in the limelight for 20 years since her age at 15. 

 

 

For KJH, he has spent time in the library, take a photo, study&graduate, enlist, work for part time jobs in his warm family BEFORE KJH collected money to travel to Cuba and finally encountered CSH to start Encounter / Boyfriend's story. 

 

When I thought that CSH's life to be manipulated by her mom & indirectly impacted from her father's political life for 20 years, CSH is with KJH might be like CSH's being released from No-Freedom invisible jail indeed. 

 

Vice Versa, KJH has entered to CSH's life could let him see the world in the part of cruel mentality and psychological distress, not physically struggle to live a life eg. raising his younger brother since 7 years old or working in several part-time jobs to make money to survive.

 

That's KJH's and CSH's destiny for Encounter / Boyfriend.

 

[bebebisous33]

The importance of time in Encounter

 

I have already written an essay called Time, however the mentioned analysis was focused on the episode 14, where time was the main topic of the episode which was illustrated in the drawing in the form of the huge hourglass. Nonetheless, this occurred to me that time plays a huge part in Encounter and is not limited to one episode. We could even say that time is what helps KJH and CSH to get together. But there is more to it.

  

First, the title is linked to time. Encounter means a casual meeting, hence timing is important. In order to meet each other, the paths of our main leads had to cross. Without the right timing, they would have missed each other and never met.

Notice that at the end of the episode 5, it is clearly shown that their paths crossed, yet they didn't notice each other. This was not the right time. Strangely is that CSH complained to JMJ in her car (episode 5) that the timing wasn't right therefore she couldn't be with KJH. She was divorced, had a difficult and complicated relationship with her ex-mother-in-law and was the CEO of Donghwa Hotel. She wished, she had met him before. Yet only the viewers know that in reality she met him before but neither he nor she caught the attention of the other. I guess, CSH's sad but beautiful face was the reason why she caught his attention in Cuba. This can not be just the red dress. Even later when he looks at her picture, the photo is in black and white and he is so fascinated by her. CSH became a "vegetable" due to her life with JWS's family and only through this experience, she became like that. Since KJH is a very happy and humble person, her sadness contrasts so much to his own life. Yet, after spending some time with her, he discovered a cute woman who could smile, laugh and even joke. He realized that with him, she was like transformed.

As you can see, CSH was wrong with her statement: this was a bad timing. In fact, it was the opposite. Without her past, nothing like that would have ever happened. Fact is that CSH needed KJH which the latter realized. He made her smile and was happy with it. On the other hand, we have an encounter contrasting so much with the different encounters CSH and KJH had together. In the episode 6, JWS arrives at the store for a new suit as he wants to impress a picky lady, unaware that CSH is already there. She gets the impression that he is still womanizing. This is a bad encounter for JWS underlining how time and nature were working together against JWS. The latter was never meant to be her first and only love. He was just the first husband. But even the other title "Boyfriend" could be perceived as something linked to time as well because a boyfriend is not a permanent state. Either there is a break up or it ends with a marriage. That's why the viewers can not see their wedding in the end as the focus was on Boyfriend.

 

Then appointments, although totally different from encounters, are also linked to time. Striking is that although CSH and KJH had planned to meet the next day, they missed each other. This is interesting because it underlines that time can not be controlled by human beings. Nature and time worked against KJH and CSH first, but they helped them later. On the other hand, JWS has to call in order to meet CSH (episode 3, episode 9, episode 11). And CSH is always bothered by these appointments. This outlines that no matter what CSH could never feel comfortable around JWS and could never fall in love with him.  

 

Then the presence of time is often used with visual tricks through watches

Spoiler

(episode 1)

Spoiler

 (episode 2), cellphone and clocks.

Spoiler

The last picture comes from the episode 14, CSH is looking at the time of Havanna remembering good memories, she is doing the same when she is caressing her watch so delicately. These visuals have two purposes: on the other hand, we see how time has passed on and we see a scene from the past (like the first photo with the watch) or we can see the person remembering good memories from the past without using any flashback.  Yet, we have two time jumps in this story. Here is just one example.      

 

Then in the dialogues, time is often mentioned. For example, KJH keeps saying that he will stay by CSH's side for a very long time or CSH and KJH's mother need time. With the break up, KJH will have a hard time. You observe that people describe time. Since KJH speaks about death in the episode 11, the beholders are reminded that CSH and KJH's time together is limited. Death will separate them. However, the drawings and the use of fairy tales and of The Little Prince underline the aspect of timelessness. The stars, the moon, the sun in the drawings, just like the trees alley in the episode 11 and the garden where the love began and was completed indicate that although their time together is limited, their love is not. Their love will survive time hence at the end, we see the birth of a star: the symbol of their eternal love. 

Spoiler

The bouquet with the note shown at the end of the episode 16 is another allusion for time as well.

 

This taking is important as both objects mark the beginning and the ending of their love story. Besides, they represent good memories. Since they are protected by a glass, it illustrates that CSH wants to keep them for a long time. They should be preserved and even survive time. Like KJH said, love is ageless as death can not kill a love.  

 

If we pay attention to the time of narration, it doesn't correspond to our own time. First, it starts with the past (scenes of CSH in black and white), then the story begins around September/October, while the first episode was aired in November. Then we have one time jump (episode 2). So when CSH and KJH meet at the hotel (episode 2), where CSH is greeting the new employees, the time is now the same as the time the viewers were watching (November). The time is sometimes slower and sometimes quicker than our real time outlining that this is a story. In fact, we have two time jumps, yet no one complained about the time jumps. CSH and KJH's mother needed time to get used to each other. KJH made a mistake in my opinion, when he proposed to her for the first time with the flower. Imagine, it was around February and they had started dating in December!! Within two months, he proposed which is quite rushed, especially for a woman who has been through a divorce and had a difficult relationship with her mother-in-law. The story ends in 2020, ahead of our own timeline. We see here the future... As you can see, the story had elements from the past, from the present and from the future. So time was represented in his whole entity. And in my opinion, this is another reason why this story is indeed intemporel. Except the use of cellphones which definitely marks our modern society, everything seems not to be bound to age and time limit. Actually, I doubt that cellphones and Internet will disappear from our life. The cellphone might change its form but not its function and purpose, just like the Internet. Notice that our OTP walked in the nature (on the streets, in a field, in a beautiful alley) and never visited any amusement park.  

 

To conclude, time played a vital role in the love of CSH and KJH. CSH never realized that she had got it all wrong: wrong timing aso... in the end, it was the perfect time for her to change her life as she was about to meet KJH while watching the beautiful sunset in Cuba.

 

@dukesa1122@luv_jinsoo @stardustvoid@jl08@celebrianna@xu_lyfe@dreaminsince1998@thistle@Yongzura@roshzanna@lolipop86gorgeous@nikir@shyguitar @thadora @NongpeeP @rosiepeonie188 @twtwb @Tasia  @avondale16 @beejoy111

 

@NongpeeP Just finished reading your post. It was so interesting because it really shows that CSH's mother wasn't that bad in the first place but because CJH decided to become a politician, she had to give up on her own dream and had to sacrifice a lot as well. I guess, the pressure on her changed her and CSH became her toy. She decided to use her daughter for her own dream, as she had to do that for her own husband. This would explain why her husband took all the blame at the end.  

[stardustvoid]

@bebebisous33 love your latest analysis chingu! I’m glad I’m not the only who thinks that KJH’s indirect proposal in episode 13 was a little too soon. As sweet and lovely as he is, I can understand why CSH reacted that way.

 

I have nothing more to add to your beautiful analysis of time...except that this drama needed more time to satiate our hunger for our OTP 

 

I mean, we saw their beautiful love story evolve! Just when they overcame everything, like CSH free of her shackles etc, the drama ended. Don’t you guys feel like there’s more story to tell? Maybe I’m just making excuses for a season 2 lol

[bebebisous33]

@stardustvoid Thanks a lot for the compliment! It took me TIME (90 minutes) to write all this. Not I am complaining but just gathering the thoughts, put all the pictures together and try not to overlook any aspect, it is definitely time consuming.

 

So far, I have all these topics in mind:

- The playground part 3

- The queen

- Alice in Wonderland in Encounter

- the hands and feet again

- the conceited man from The Little Prince

[NongpeeP]

1 hour ago, bebebisous33 said:

 

@NongpeeP Just finished reading your post. It was so interesting because it really shows that CSH's mother wasn't that bad in the first place but because CJH decided to become a politician, she had to give up on her own dream and had to sacrifice a lot as well. I guess, the pressure on her changed her and CSH became her toy. She decided to use her daughter for her own dream, as she had to do that for her own husband. This would explain why her husband took all the blame at the end.  

@bebebisous33

Thank you so much for your latest analysis "The importance of time in Encounter", I really appreciate.

Your post reminded me several observations in mind, my memories from Encounter / Boyfriend pop up from these words and those words in your post so I might come back later after rewatching.

 

One pop up idea is I agreed with you that CSH mentioned wrong timing to Sercretary Jang to meet KJH after marriage, divorce, intervened by Taekyeong Group BUT actually it might be unlikely for CSH to date a guy as KJH before her 1st marriage when CSH's father is climbing the political world and CSH's mom as his wife was trying to best to support with all of their family including CSH.

 

As a well known politician's one and only daughter in the strong limelight before her 1st marriage, CSH would not be able to date KJH, more unlikely than after divorce as in Encounter. 

 

When I summarized timeline of Encounter, I am surprised with the writer/PD's choice to let the whole Encounter / Boyfriend's majority time span is as similar as from the Encounter's filming start to the filming end date, September 2018 to February 2019.

(except the one year later to suit the appropriate timing for another proposing marriage by KJH to prepare significant persons' mind in their live, CSH to make her mind calm and firm, CSH's father nearly out of jail and met KJH occasionally, KJH's mother to be familiar with KJH's girfriend)

 

I totally agreed with you that CSH's father's decision to be a politician is the root cause why his wife had done uttermost to support CSH's father's political path.

Political life is very stressful to climb up the position and recognition with game plan.

CSH's father's political canvassing required his wife's endeavor, and also his daugther with her stunning beauty in the news.

 

CSH's beauty attracted Taegyeon Group's son and her father's political status made Taegyeon Group be interested in, definitely CSH's mom was the linkage. That's CSH's fate from CSH's father's political spectum. 

[rosiepeonie188]

3 hours ago, ahdrianaa said:

P.O spoke about SHK again, I can’t find a link that I can post here. Brief summary of the Interview on MBC Fm4u

 

Radio DJ: BF just ended, didn’t it?

 

P.O : yes.

 

Radio DJ: There has been a lot of talk regarding your description of SHK’s beauty. You must meet a lot of beautiful people, why single out SHK?Why do you mention her so much?

 

P.O : I have spoken about it because she is that beautiful, even amongst beautiful people she is more beautiful. I want everyone else to also realize just how beautiful which is why I keep talking about her.

 

Radio DJ : It’s to that level? Honestly, I have never seen her in real life. Could you describe it?

 

P.O : you know how we Koreans say that once in our life we should go and see the Baekdusan*? It’s like that, everyone should try and see SHK once in their life, even if it’s from a distance. 

 

Radio DJ: So if I could ask you to express the feeling of seeing her...? 

 

P.O : when you see her.... it’s like shalala (music)..

 

Radio DJ : like that? You mean she has this aura?

 

P.O : yes and it’s like you can hear background music when you see her. 

 

*Koreans consider Baekdusan( Mount Baekdu) as the place of their ancestral origin and as a sacred mountain, there is a huge crater lake on this mountain’s summit called the “Heaven’s lake”.

 

CUTEST FANBOY!!.. i just watched episode 13, my love and hate episode, so much sweetness from the beginning but with heartbreaking ending.  At the family dinner we can see how Jin Myung looked amazed at Soo Hyun, i think that  was how PO  really felt.

This Boyfriend team have great chemistry, they haven't move on, how can we? 

[bebebisous33]

@NongpeeP First, you are so right that it wouldn't have been possible for CSH to date KJH before her marriage. He was just a student, too young to support her, even if he has always been mature. 

 

Well, after reading your last post, I realized that I had missed one aspect in my essay about Time in Encounter. CSH worked for 4 years for Donghwa Hotel but was still a living corpse. IT was as if she was waiting. KJH once said that she was rather enduring time than spending time. The wait and the expression "enduring time" have two common denominators: passivity with a certain suffering. Time is painful but somehow CSH couldn't escape from it. Yet, CSH had the wrong thinking: she had somehow accepted to be controlled by others: her mother, her ex-mother-in-law, the media but also time. The moment she was touched by the beautiful sunset, she woke up and chose her own destiny. Time was no longer controlling her, she started enjoying her time. 

 

[dukesa1122]

@bebebisous33

Excellent views about time in this drama. Because of your post, I realize that the dramas timeline is almost the same as our Real time. Even CSH’s birthday is almost the same as Kyo’s original birthday. I’ve said this before when you posted about time ans I’m saying it again. Their love is so amazing, they proved that time can be altered to your advantage if you just choose to work for it. Thank you again so much!!! So much looking forward to the others on your list, chingu!! 

 

P.S. I dont know if you know this but your analyses (plural) are actually in instagram. 

 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

 

@ahdrianaa

Thank you so much for that clear translation. I saw the vid in ig but couldn’t understand the translation provided much.

 

Here’s the vid:

 

 

[bebebisous33]

@dukesa1122 Well, I remember that one analysis (the significance of hands and feet part 1) was posted in instagram but not the others. So I didn't know. Could you post a link like the last time? Which were selected? It is the same person than before?

[xu_lyfe]

3 hours ago, bebebisous33 said:

@dukesa1122 Well, I remember that one analysis (the significance of hands and feet part 1) was posted in instagram but not the others. So I didn't know. Could you post a link like the last time? Which were selected? It is the same person than before?

 

Here you go 

as someone suggested, I think you should combine all your analyses and post onto your personal blog.

 

[dukesa1122]

@bebebisous33

 

here:

Spoiler

 

 

I wouldnt worry though, it gave proper credits 

[bebebisous33]

@xu_lyfe Well, I decided to follow your advice and just created a blog. I just wrote the analysis of The queen. Sorry, if it doesn't look that great. This is all new for me.

https://wordpress.com/stats/day/bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/157846719/posts/15

[thepixies]

I think a chingu has mentioned earlier, How do we know that red is KJH’s (or CSH’s) favourite colour.  

 

I agree that neither the drama nor the characters acknowledge that KJH or CSH like red best.  But red is a recurring motif: CSH’s Cuban dress, HI’s notebook, CSH’s red jumper at the Kim family dinner, her couple rings date outfit, the gift boxes from KJH...

 

If a chingu wants to, you could post a comparison of all these objects and while the shade may vary here and there, they are all nearly of the same red. (I’m too lazy to do it!)

 

I think @bebebisous33 has already pointed out the striking colour of CSH’s dress and her melancholy expression gave KJH pause from photographing. In later episodes (ep 5 and finale) we learn that both had walked past each other in Seoul before, but he had not noticed her.  Since her beauty has not changed, what made him look up from his camera in Cuba then?  Surely the striking colour of the dress caught his eye first - CSH stood out against the turquoise sea and natural hues of the esplanade.  Then as he continued to gaze at the mysterious woman he may have wondered: How could a woman look so miserable wearing a dress the colour of life? 

 

The red dress signifies CSH subconsciously wanted to break out of her zombie-like existence, where she had been enduring life’s incidents that happen to her.  That she chose to seek out the sunset view of El Malecon beach despite taking a sleeping pill (yeah, smh) is kind of suicidal and rebellious, a reckless bid to break out of her self-induced coma.  That was her first act of volition which fatefully led to her first proper encounter with the love of her life.

 

So to me, the colour motif and choice of attire are not accidental.  

 

I think PBG also said in an interview that for the scenes where he jotted down significant events into his calendar, he decided to wear the same jumper, which also aligned with what PD-nim wanted for the mise en scene. That Hye-In was able to declare to Jinhyuk that she finds red too eye-catching and not really her colour is her acknowledgment that she is not really compatible with Jinhyuk. She was finally ready to move on from her unrequited crush.

 

Anyway, this ^ is just my brain fart. I guess I’ve been dwelling on it as red is my favourite colour.  Lol!

 

 

[rosiepeonie188]

@dukesa1122 @ahdrianaa now that i saw the clip, the radio DJ is Park Kyung. He and PO are both Block B member.

I hope more casts will talk and share on other tv/radio program as well, because we're still missing BF sooo much..

[roshzanna]

Thank you @bebebisous33, such informative analysis.

i rather read your posts and everybody's posts here than read the news with all nerve-wrecking news.

Speaking of time.....

I always believe that one of the assets of JH is right timing. 

When the car accident happened in Cuba, of all people to be seated in that table and to be bumped by the car, it was his. Hence, their first encounter. When SH dozed off at morro cabana, he was right there on the right time. Of all applicants for a job in Donghwa hotel he was the one hired. And so on. He is on always on the right time on the right place.

Agreed with you all, if they met 4 years ago, there will no love story for the two. Or even if  they met , it may not be possible. Just like their 1st encounter, Jh going to the library and Sh going to a gallery, they didn't even noticed each other. Its not yet the time, the right time.

 

I remember when i first joined this forum, i joined everbody here defending JH 's confession of " i missed you".  Many had said its too early for him to say that but here we all agreed that its not too early, in fact its the time for him to do so. And our opinion on that was validated when what he wrote on the memo in the cafe was revealed. And if he didn't go back to sokcho at that time, WS had all the confidence in winning Sh back.

 

Now i wonder if Jh mother didn't have that change of heart and without Sh father words will Sh has a change of mind. And Jh will wait on his place a longer time?. Though how i see it, its the film given by Jh that started her to change her mind and  the shoes and letter sealed it.

 

I admire PO for having no qualms in expressings his thoughts about SHK.

I believe only a stone will not admire her, or should i say even a stone will.

Though its a pity for Bogum to face all those reporters alone,  i admire him for answering them like giving them their own dose of medicine.

[NongpeeP]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credit twitter bananakj_ from PBG’s fanmeeting about Encounter /Boyfriend.

(Thank you so much for her kind translation)

 

- The similarity between KJH and PBG is optimistic.

The difference is

: KJH encountered CSH who was the stranger in unfamiliar place as Cuba and graduall started their relationship but PBG will not do this with the stranger. 

 

: If parent object about his girlfriend, PBG will go to ask the reason and discuss while KJH kept silent and wait. 

 

: Express love with word. KJH dared to say I miss you when he ran to meet CSH in the early morning in Sokcho but PBG will carefully think before saying a word, not sure to be burden to another party or not. 

 

: The script when KJH stood out for CSH in front of hotel lobby made PBG cry just from reading and then thoroughly considered how to act in the scene. 

 

: PBG’s the most favorite scene is VDO phone call to show the lovers’ moment but actually PBG and SHK filmed in the different time; therefore, the real mobile screen will be their own face to act with imagination. 

 

: KJH’s Drunken scene made PBG shiver because he is not an alcohol drinker and has not never been drunken. He thanked editing and PD to show the on air version smoothly.  

[avondale16]

17 minutes ago, roshzanna said:

 

I admire PO for having no qualms in expressings his thoughts about SHK.

Me too. From his point of view, its undescribable.

Its shalalalala..

I like the way he express and sings....

 

Its like music to my ears...