You Are My Spring: Episodes 7-8 Open Thread

by missvictrix

We get a deeper look into the hearts of our characters this week — especially our leads, who find themselves drawn to each other and struggling to articulate their relationship. But in the middle of a lot of cuteness is a much deeper and touching story… and then our hint of murderous intrigue, just when things seemed to be settling back into normalcy.

 
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP

Da-jung is far kinder about being brutally strangled than one might have expected. Perhaps because of the tenuous and somewhat sensitive relationship between her and Ian Chase, she lets the incident go, very understanding of the “nightmare” he was unable to break out from. Ian seems intrigued by her empathy, but regardless, soon checks out of the hotel.

The violence of this scene then falls to its romantic aftermath. While Eun-ha is taking her breather at the seaside, the cafe is desperate for a helping hand, so both Da-jung and Young-do pitch in (it’s helpful to have mutual friends!). When Young-do sees the bruises on her wrist, he not only goes into doctor mode, but protective oppa mode, doing everything from scolding her, to delicately putting ointment on her wrist.

There is such a softness and understanding between these two — I love how it always comes out with this childish banter, as if they don’t know what else to do with the emotions they are feeling. Their game of copy cat in the storage room is probably the pinnacle of this, and complete with some sexual innuendo from the other part-timer, these two are as awkward as ever.

Then, when Young-do has a fever and is hospitalized (as a precaution because of his transplant), the tables are turned. It’s Da-jung’s turn to expose her feelings for him via her concern for his health, and the moment ends with a frank conversation between the two.

Da-jung notes, and Young-do agrees, that he has not shared much about himself, whereas Da-jung has been pretty exposed to him from the start. He rectifies that in a beautifully written bit of dialogue about his childhood and his scars (emotional and physical), and Da-jung ties it all together, with new context on things hs has said. It’s a touching scene — especially when Young-do continues, saying how he has come to like Da-jung, but then stifles the moment asking her, “Do you want to be friends?”

When they tried to be neighbors they were actually more like friends, and now that they are posited as friends, it’s pretty obvious that what they want to be is lovers. But Young-do shuts the door on that before it’s even fully opened, and even though they share a beautiful embrace, the label of “friendship” hangs over them.

Their relationship has a real-life complexity to it, and even though they’re banter-y and childish half the time, there’s such a deeper and more mature current running through their relationship that it feels quite intimate to watch.

Da-jung is pretty somber about this “friendship,” understanding that she likes him, and noting all the moments and details and clues that they cherish each other — from the trinkets that they save, to the deeper moments that they realize they can, and desire to, rely on each other.

Da-jung surprises Young-do by writing into his radio show with a story about them, and awkward as it is, it opens up the communication up again. Da-jung admits she also likes him; Young-do admits he is afraid of hurting her if they become more involved. And, as the icing on the cake, bascially every other character in this drama is gunning for them to get together, with varying degrees of hijinks.

You Are My Spring is getting quite good at balancing its competing tones, and I think this week’s episodes are the perfect example of that. The depth and dialogue and moments between Young-do and Da-jung dig quite deep, as does the extended flashback sequence of Ga-young’s story (so touching).

But amidst all this depth and even emotional heaviness, there’s a huge chunk of humor, too. Ga-young is an important character for adding this lightness, and I loved all the moments with her and Da-jung, from their cohabitation, to the friendship that Ga-young declares, to Ga-young gunning for her to be with Young-do (as opposed to the usual antagonistic role of the second female lead, yay!). Comedy and hijinks also come from Young-do’s friends, who range from touching to ridiculous, but nothing tops the sequence between Da-jung and Young-do themselves.

Ga-young has put little post-its on the gingerbread cookies that Da-jung saved, and tucked them in a little towel. When Young-do notices, Da-jung is aghast, and can’t go far enough to convince him that Ga-young did it and she had no idea. She even follows him outside, desperate to save face, and in the end, clutches at his shirt and rips it opened Answer Me 1988 style. The horror is so, so comical, as is the rest of this scene. As Young-do tries to escape with his dignity intact, he’s running around like a headless chicken, and everyone that seems him is comically perplexed. It’s hilariously edited, and with great performances — definitely a rewind and rewatch moment.

But that’s exactly how the drama tricks us, too. We flip-flop from the deeper and emotional moments, to the light and comedic, and then suddenly — wham! We are back to the intrigue buried deep in our characters’ pasts.

Ian Chase turns up again at the hotel, and winds up buying ice cream for the strange little boy living in the hotel, and dragging Da-jung into it too. And damn, Yoon Park does it again. How can he be so very dark one moment, and the next (when he’s coercing Da-jung into letting him buy her ice cream), so charming and swoony? Because that look her gave her did make my heart flutter a bit. But then come the repercussions.

Ian asks to meet Da-jung one night at the cafe, and when he returns to the table from picking up his order, there’s the infamous napkin rose at his table. He picks it up, and that’s just when Da-jung walks in. All her horrors and fears come rushing back — what a relief that Young-do walks in behind her to steady her.

What’s going on!? Ian seems to have so many sides to him, I’m not entirely convinced he is the sociopathic twin. I mean, I think he is, but I also see the warmth of his connection to Da-jung. This leads us to think that Ian is actually the swoony + murderous character of Chae Joon we thought we knew earlier in the drama, but is this just a red herring to confuse us? How many more characters are involved? Is one twin really dead? Have we been seeing both of them act out different roles in the story so far? So many questions!

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