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what-breaks-my-heart · 4 years

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Episode 10: Misunderstanding from Understanding (이해라는 오해) - Episode Thoughts

It is safe to assume many viewers are ENRAGED at Woo Yeon’s behaviour in this episode, particularly when she agreed to have dinner with Joon Soo just a minute after Lee Soo introduced her to his parents as the person he likes, and when she showed up in front of Lee Soo’s door afterward.

I was enraged myself that I went to several posts made by other people and shared my displeasure by her actions. No matter how I tried to find the reason behind Woo Yeon’s actions, I found nothing. It seemed to me that her actions were not only unjustified, but also unbecoming of her character.

Buuuuuut, and that’s a big but here (no pun intended), after sittting with my thoughts (more like tossing in bed) and going through all of the over 1,000 screencaps I took during the episode (oh god I am becoming more like my tumblr mutual with 50 GB of screencaps), I realised the writer pulled a grand scheme of shifting the viewers’ rooting from Woo Yeon to Lee Soo, while also laying down another piece of the puzzle in Woo Yeon’s and Lee Soo’s eventful relationship. I promise this will make at least some sense further down

This is going to be a long post so more under the break!

A quick recap: episode 9 ended with Lee Soo walking past Woo Yeon with a straight face at the exhibition, with Woo Yeon feeling upset about it.

At the beginning of episode 10, we were shown the conversation between Woo Yeon and Young Hee about her attending this exhibition. This conversation which took place before the exhibition, seemed to be out place (more on that later), because it could have been cut short to just Woo Yon telling Young Hee why she’s not worried about attending the exhibition. Heck, it could have been done with the three girlfriends having a drink and them teasing each other. But no, this conversation only took place between the two of them. Apparently Young Hee is acting like a big sister to Woo Yeon with her sage advice too.

Young Hee: Will you be okay? Both Mr. CEO and Soo will be there.

Woo Yeon: Why wouldn’t I? It’s all over anyway.

Young Hee: With whom?

Woo Yeon: With both.

Young Hee: When?

Woo Yeon: Well, it ended a while ago for me. And I haven’t heard from Mr. CEO or Soo since. It’s over.

Young Hee: Mr. CEO is one thing, but Soo said he’d wait.

Woo Yeon: He’s selfish. If he wanted to, he would’ve called long ago.

Young Hee: Who are you to conclude that?

Woo Yeon: Because I understand. Because I was like that. When someone I thought would like only me started seeing someone else, and when I saw him saying and doing things that I thought were only for me to someone else, I got jealous. How ridiculous is that?

Young Hee: You don’t want him, but you don’t want anyone else to have him. Something like that?

Woo Yeon: Something like that.

Young Hee: And so, that’s how it is for Soo.

Woo Yeon: Correct.

Young Hee: Are you sure about yourself?

Cue the episode title in calligraphy writing.

At first, I really thought this conversation was out of place and didn’t deserve to be followed by the episode title calligraphy. Some of you would notice that these episode title calligraphy would only appear after some heavy conversations in the middle of the episode. Putting this conversation and the episode title calligraphy right at the beginning of the episode was way too heavy.

However, by putting the title this early in the episode, the tone for the entire episode has been set, and everything that is bound to happen will follow this theme. Earlier this morning, I was mad at myself for not noticing how this ties back to Woo Yeon’s outrageous behaviour at the end of the episode.

You see, what this episode is trying to tell us is how the characters thought they have understood the others, and acted based on that perceived understanding.

Why Woo Yeon acted that way, you ask? Because she thought she understood Lee Soo. She thought she had seen it all, being the closest person to Lee Soo during their last year in high school together.

Woo Yeon knew how she has a moment of burning jealousy everytime someone she thought would like only her, suddenly acted in a similar way they were to her, to other people.

Woo Yeon also interpreted Lee Soo’s sudden act of clinging onto her when she was in a relationship with Joon Soo as Lee Soo being jealous and frustrated that Woo Yeon, whom he thought would only like Lee Soo, suddenly showed any sign of interest to someone else.

Premised on the above, Woo Yeon concluded that she and Lee Soo are similar in that sense, easily becoming jealous.

Now, let’s jump ahead to the night when the incident took place.

What we know:

Woo Yeon wanted to leave upon learning that Joon Soo had tricked her into having a dinner with him by pulling some strings with his friend who told her it would be a business meeting with the said friend on the future project.

Joon Soo guilt tripped her into staying, saying her leaving would embarrass him in front of Lee Soo’s family who noticed them at the restaurant.

Woo Yeon reluctantly stayed, and rejected Joon Soo’s proposal to be in a relationship. AGAIN. Girl, you could have finished early and left right away yet you didn’t

Lee Soo, who was only a moment ago, lit up after running into Woo Yeon at the restaurant and introduced her as the person he likes to his parents, turned sour, and the entire family had an awkward birthday dinner.

The thing that made me furious about this is how Woo Yeon felt obliged to stay to save Joon Soo’s face, while ignoring how the entire fiasco would HUMILIATE Lee Soo in front of his own parents. Not just Lee Soo. In front of Lee Soo’s PARENTS. I was fuming mad.

Both groups finished dinner, and all of them were leaving the place. Unlike Joon Soo the creepy stalker, Lee Soo waited for her in front of the building, just to speed off in his car when Woo Yeon tried to approach him.

Never stop being a drama queen, Lee Soo

And now what? Woo Yeon actually took a taxi to Lee Soo’s apartment? Just to explain to him what had happened?

*flips table*

“No matter how hard I try to understand you, there’s only one conclusion. Kyung Woo Yeon thinks I’m a joke.”

“What?”

“It looks like you still don’t believe me, but I really like you. So don’t trample on my feeling.”

Set it straight to her, Lee Soo!

“But I just snapped right out of it. I’ve regained my balance.”

Let me reiterate how this made me outraged. If Woo Yeon was planning on getting pay back for his mistreatment of her over the years, she really has gone overboard this time. Lee Soo might have been a selfish jerk, but everything that he ever told her was his understanding of his feelings during the moment. Never once has he tried to hurt her on purpose. He did hurt her nonetheless, and that’s why I gave her a one-time pass when she quoted his own words to him at the cafe. But repeatedly hurting him on purpose? I started to feel like Lee Soo deserved better.

Okay, here’s what I promised.

“When someone I thought would like only me started seeing someone else, and when I saw him saying and doing things that I thought were only for me to someone else, I got jealous.”

“It’s like a moment of burning jelaousy. Something like that.”

Remember I said earlier how Woo Yeon concluded that Lee Soo became jealous at her once she dated Joon Soo. Their fateful (I keep repeating this wordplay but it’s funnier in Korean) encounter at the restaurant was their second time seeing each other since Lee Soo took that long trip, and Lee Soo was being treated to the sight of Woo Yeon having a dinner date with Joon Soo.

Based on her own conclusion of how Lee Soo would react to this, she tried to explain what happened to stop him from getting jealous. Why? Because she needed him to continue worshipping her. She needed to keep him by her side, close enough that she could feel herself being chased by Lee Soo who was madly in an unrequited love, but not too close, because she didn’t want him. Woo Yeon must really like tuning into the home shopping channel huh

“You don’t want him, but you don’t want anyone else to have him. Something like that?”

It was a eureka moment when I joined all of these dots together. I could finally understand why Woo Yeon did what she did. She basically acted in the way that she understood her own feelings, and the way she understood Lee Soo. But no, it still does NOT justify her actions.

“Are you sure about yourself? Do you never misunderstood yourself in any way? I just wonder if the emotion that you say you’re sure about really is what you feel. It’s human nature to misunderstand yourself at times. Is it possible to understand someone else? I just wonder if it’s right when you think you understand someone is when misunderstandings form.”

I now believe that Woo Yeon is still confused about her own feelings and misunderstood herself (and Lee Soo). It may be some time before she can finally clear all of that misunderstanding, but I believe just like how Lee Soo finally understood his own feelings, Woo Yeon would soon understand hers too.

In conclusion, I would say that this episode integrated the episode title, Misunderstanding from Understanding really well. Perhaps a little too well.

#woah this felt like writing an entire literature analysis for my exam ages ago #excuse the long post but as you can tell I am possessed by this drama #all I can think of is this drama and this drama alone #more than friends #kdrama #kdrama opinion

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