I’m relatively new to kdramas so I likely am unaware of many tropes so I am hoping to learn from you seasoned watchers.
– ToD usually used to kill off a loved one and give the leads a tragedy to deal with. In the beginning ToD has working brakes (!) and HN survives but she thinks she should die. Then they use ToD to bring her story full circle when she also survived the 2nd ToD (first with KM), but then is plowed down by the older brother ToD. Now she wants to live and wishes she had told JW she loved him. ToD manages to kill off the “villain” who turns out not quite that black/white.
-Piggy back ride so the couple can be physically close and swoony. We get 2 couples doing a marco/polo like cat fight to highlight how pathetic the guys are.
-Umbrella scene usually swoony moment of closeness. They did have a slightly swoony one when they’re both drunk and HN falls asleep again on JW’s shoulder and he complains she’s a perpetual violator of their no touching rule as enemies. Then the other one when he gives her his umbrella during their breakup was heartbreaking.
-Episode 13 breakup happened in episode 8 and it was for a good reason and not to create tension- HN was not in the right mind mentally for a relationship and they were letting the giddy of falling in love obscure all the work they still needed to do on themselves and their relationship.
-The Kopiko coffee candy wakes up anyone right away. The one HN left for JW made him sad and miss HN more. Although they did come back to this with HR and DY but DY was lethargic because he was sad about letting Nurse Do and JW go although he knew it was for the best.
-The murder mystery was not dragged out to the end and neither leads were put into danger and needing rescue. Instead it was more a story of greed/opportunity/misplaced revenge.
-The expected working abroad and time skip to bring angst to the couple. Instead, we got to see silly scenes of OTP missing each other even though she hadn’t left yet. It was also an opportunity to show how much stronger HN had grown and was willing to protest aloud any mistreatment now.
-The chaebol-like parents refusing the marriage to a “lesser person” and coming to stop the wedding. I assume they were aware but too busy/or too uninterested to bother to protest.
-I was so glad they didn’t do the childhood love or that JW secretly loved HN when they were in high school. Instead it is safe to say that he really did consider her a rival who wreaked havoc on his otherwise perfectly bland and no love life but it was familiar and easy. I totally thought she was going to hit him when his friends kept telling her how much he badmouthed her every day in school… instead she accepted it as who they were back then and instead was worried that calling his friend and trying to reconcile them might have been a wrong thing to do.
Ok I am swooning. What a great landing for Doctor Slump. We got to bathe in sugar and the show even acknowledged how sweet it all is when Bada and his mom mention it. So meta again.
I also loved how it ticked off literally all the tropes in k-dramaland so very deliberately. I could almost see the team checking off from a box – “hey did we get this one?” and then laugh about how they were going to turn it on its head, lol! Every single freaking time.
@minniegupta1@lapislazulii@perillaleaves @SNOWYP Calling all Dr. Slump mystery solving hypothesizers. I have put together all the dialogue between KyungMin and Dr. Kang. Any guesses?
KM nervous to see Dr. Kang and asked “What are you doing here?”
Yang: “You need to keep your promise.” “You were the first to find my spy cameras but you kept them for 2 days without reporting them. I asked you why you did that.”
KM: “Sorry I just don’t see why I owe you an explanation.”
Kang: “You took my property for 2 days without my consent. So can’t I be curious about what you did with them?”
KM: “Mr. Kang! Watch what you say.”
Kang: “I had set up 7 spy cameras, 1 in OR, 1 in the office, 3 in the hallway, where do you think I put the last camera? Even the police didn’t know. Aren’t you curious to see what was recorded?”
The promise is the answer to what KM did to his cameras for 2 days. How did he know KM had the cameras for 2 days without turning them in? Did he catch KM picking up the camera on another camera? Also cameras in pleural so maybe KM was the one who had found the hallway ones and altered them to erase his presence on them. KM, JW and the police clearly are reviewing hallway images already when they first go to the police with the cameras. What else did he alter?
Theory1: Camera with view of front door showing KM letting in the mafia guys in since the incriminating evidence was on the OR tape. Or camera able to catch KM finding the cameras.
Theory2: 7th camera is in the utilities/supply closet and he caught KM giving the bribe money to nurse Park ahead of the incident. Or maybe also KM canoodling with nurse Park which might jeopardize his future marriage.
Is Kang now going to try to blackmail KM?
I too wonder if TOD2 was purely an accident and not intentional. Mafia dude in jail and killing KM won’t solve that and KM wasn’t the one to put the guy in jail so can’t be revenge. Future FIL used KM to get fake drug approved to at least Phase 2 clinical trial data with falsified research probably also has no motive to kill him now especially since the stocks haven’t risen yet only suspected to be in the future once announcement of phase 3 approval.
I don’t have any theories about why KM drugged JW with Ambien either but the idea that JW thinks it was impulsive seems weird. Unless it’s that drug he was supposed to be developing and experimenting to see what side effects it had with alcohol. Anyone else?
Omg no yes ok, I was also so curious as to why KM didn’t go tell the police or JW about the cameras straight away – because at the time, this pause is what made us all suspect him of being the culprit. But now in hindsight, I’d back the theory that the gap was there so that he could check the footage/edit the footage so as to not incriminate him in any way.
And I also never fully bought the story that Kang was stalling because he was unsure of JW was a good guy – wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a reveal that he was stalling because of something KM said or did.
I don’t think he’ll blackmail KM though because he seems like such a weak person, but I do wonder what’ll go down next. Will KM try frame him for something to get him to shut up? I’ve wracked my head over what KM’s involvement in the botched surgery/murder was, but I’m like what would he gain from bringing JW down though?? Because at that point he (KM) had everything he wanted, maybe minus the fame that JW had. But then in that case, why not sabotage the case when he could see that JW had chance of clearing his name?? Idk, this (why/how JW’s case, JW, the future FIL and KM are all linked) is something I can’t come up with any rational conclusion for, because like JW had nothing to do with anything as far as all the hospital drama and politics went. OR unless, the FIL had some kind of dealing with the mafia folk and JW just happened to be a good scapegoat??? The more I talk, the less I make sense hahahahha
The ToD though what if that was the future FIL?? Finds out that Han-eul is digging and that KM is compromised because of something that Kang knows, so he’s trying to remove all liabilities at once?? It does feel like a very classic Kdrama future in-law thing to do 😆
Hmm… interesting thought. I love playing this game.
Additional facts we know:
1. KM went on a medical mission trip to Myanmar within the last 2 years since he started volunteering for the Sunshine clinic which is sponsored by the Haesung pharm company who also sponsors a similar association in Macau. That mission was a secret since KM never told his colleagues why he was taking time away.
2. Haesung has a new pain med developed by KM which is reportedly more effective without side effects about to pass its phase 2 clinical trials and even rumored to likely to move phase 3 but the source is questionable with a shady history which may result in stock prices soaring. According to HN’s evaluation of the research the data looks like it could have been fabricated.
3. Haesung is a shady company with a president (KM’s future FIL) with no interests in pharmaceuticals but took over to profit illegally and has links to gangs in Macau.
4. Haesung donated 300 million for a Children’s ward at the hospital HN worked at.
5. The VP of Haesung was at JW’s trial.
6. The macau gang’s leader is presumably that uncle of the girl who died in JW’s accident.
Maybe KM has an addiction to Ambien developed during his early medical school days due to stress and inability to sleep. He is unable to take pills and bought the drugs illegally crushed from some shady rep from that Haesung pharm company.
KM was later recruited by Haesung’s CEO to develop a fake drug with fake results to help boost stock prices. Probably the Macau mafia is using Haesung for charity money laundering and KM was sent on that mission trip to Myanmar to oversee one such event.
The mafia guy wanted to off his niece to inherit the casino fortune but he needed it to look like an accident. KM probably learned of the girl’s afib and anticoagulation status so suggests that they she should go to his famous plastic surgeon friend JW’s clinic where they could sabotage the fluids with heparin and cause a “medical accident”.
Sometimes I wish for KM to have a reason for his evil deed which will make him a more sympathetic bad guy like that night that he mixed the whiskey and ambien was originally for himself because ambien alone wasn’t working, but accidently JW drank it and got sent to the ED so he really was remorseful. He didn’t want JW to get close to HN in case his evil side is revealed because he needs someone to think he’s good. He wasn’t aware that the mafia people were going to set up JW with the fingerprint.
Other times I think he’s just evil/petty. He was always jealous of how seemingly easy everything was for JW (rich and smart) so he spitefully spiked his drink for fun (give him a taste of his own addiction). He preyed on JW’s kind hearted nature and easy going personality as a good target for the medical accident crime especially knowing that JW’s family support is absent so no parents will swoop in with pricey lawyers to bail him out.
This is such a fun thread. Thank you!! It reminds me of those “solve a mystery” stories which were so popular in old magazines which my Nana had in her house.
Lapis the “future on-law” bit really made me laugh my head off.
OMG yess I love this game!!
My two cents is that maybe Dr.Kang had been involved in drugs in his previous malpractice case, and has some dirt on KM, who might have been supplying them? I find the whole theory of Dr.Kang being a good guy who was too scared to give the evidence a bit shady, and it was too convenient to hand them to JW the morning of the case, so that will hopefully be explained in the next few episodes.
As much as we find devious villains annoying, it is even more frustrating to encounter a stupid villain who can’t pull off schemes properly with common sense, so I really hope we don’t get some lame resolution to the mystery!
Well I guess some of us were partially right but who would have guessed it was a fake out 7th pen to test KM. Dr. Kang was quite the red herring looking all creepy and quiet in the OR. I am glad KM turned out more nuanced than we thought.
I know this show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I like how the writer peels aways bits and pieces of each character like an onion to reveal their core. Initially we thought HN was just a competitive workaholic who was burnt out who was a loner and a bit cold/aloof. Then we learned that she was getting abused and then gaslighted. Then we find out how impactful her dad’s death was on her expectations of happiness always ending in sadness resulting in self sabotage. As she grows we also grow in our understanding of her like what drove her to anesthesiology. It was her dad’s death but it was the impact his anesthesiologist had on her and her wanting to be a comfort for her patients during the scary surgery like that doctor was for her and her dad. Inside she was a warm hearted empathetic person who was afraid to pursue those messy feelings that comes with opening yourself up to someone else and letting them into your world including the good and bad.
For JW he seemed like the cocky doctor who had it all (fame, fortune, and adoring fan/friends) who just had his first big challenge (aside from competing with HN) with the medical accident. Then we learn that actually he has always put on a fake happy face to please people especially his demanding parents who only want him to be perfect but otherwise couldn’t be bothered with him. He was their trophy son although I guess in their eyes a 3rd place trophy barely worth throwing into the back of their closet since he was so disappointingly barely excellent. He was so needy for unconditional love and support but had buried that desire far down in his psyche for so long before he met HN. He was always empathetic to others except himself like he couldn’t allow himself to be sad or angry or resentful to his parents. I think meeting HN and sharing in her pain and experiencing her family’s unconditional love and support started to break down the wall he had erected around his heart. However it really needed something major like that medical accident and betrayal by his one and only “friend” to totally collapse that wall. I loved the advice HN’s mom gave to him to let time heal the wounds but keep the memories worth keeping. At his core JW is just too kindhearted for this world as her mom said. He also needs to show the messy inside to others and still know he is loved.
KyungMin was probably the hardest onion to peel because at first he seemed like the only friend that JW had after his high school buddies turned their backs on him. However we started doubting his sincerity when they showed him holding the pen camera and then telling JW he shouldn’t be happy. Soon we thought he was firmly in the evil incarnate camp when we learned how he used HN to get his promotion and maybe groomed her to be his work slave by starting off super nice and giving her the praise and attention she was craving to then badmouth her behind her back, discredit her and steal her work. Even more so did we curse him when we learned he had drugged a drunk teenage JW. However the writer tells us no one is black or white but mostly gray and gives the backstory for KM and we find ourselves understanding him. The writer doesn’t absolve him of his sins but lays bare the tiny stones that he had laid down when he gave up his moral integrity at each turn until they buried him. In his dying moments he apologized but didn’t ask JW for forgiveness. Instead he told JW to forget everything and move on. Maybe he had realized on his dying bed that he had wasted his life in resentment and was tormented by his sins against JW.
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Koalatown
March 17, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Calling all Doctor Slump Fans who want to play the game of kdrama trope turned on it’s head in this drama.
Koalatown
March 17, 2024 at 6:07 PM
I’m relatively new to kdramas so I likely am unaware of many tropes so I am hoping to learn from you seasoned watchers.
– ToD usually used to kill off a loved one and give the leads a tragedy to deal with. In the beginning ToD has working brakes (!) and HN survives but she thinks she should die. Then they use ToD to bring her story full circle when she also survived the 2nd ToD (first with KM), but then is plowed down by the older brother ToD. Now she wants to live and wishes she had told JW she loved him. ToD manages to kill off the “villain” who turns out not quite that black/white.
-Piggy back ride so the couple can be physically close and swoony. We get 2 couples doing a marco/polo like cat fight to highlight how pathetic the guys are.
-Umbrella scene usually swoony moment of closeness. They did have a slightly swoony one when they’re both drunk and HN falls asleep again on JW’s shoulder and he complains she’s a perpetual violator of their no touching rule as enemies. Then the other one when he gives her his umbrella during their breakup was heartbreaking.
-Episode 13 breakup happened in episode 8 and it was for a good reason and not to create tension- HN was not in the right mind mentally for a relationship and they were letting the giddy of falling in love obscure all the work they still needed to do on themselves and their relationship.
-The Kopiko coffee candy wakes up anyone right away. The one HN left for JW made him sad and miss HN more. Although they did come back to this with HR and DY but DY was lethargic because he was sad about letting Nurse Do and JW go although he knew it was for the best.
-The murder mystery was not dragged out to the end and neither leads were put into danger and needing rescue. Instead it was more a story of greed/opportunity/misplaced revenge.
-The expected working abroad and time skip to bring angst to the couple. Instead, we got to see silly scenes of OTP missing each other even though she hadn’t left yet. It was also an opportunity to show how much stronger HN had grown and was willing to protest aloud any mistreatment now.
-The chaebol-like parents refusing the marriage to a “lesser person” and coming to stop the wedding. I assume they were aware but too busy/or too uninterested to bother to protest.
-I was so glad they didn’t do the childhood love or that JW secretly loved HN when they were in high school. Instead it is safe to say that he really did consider her a rival who wreaked havoc on his otherwise perfectly bland and no love life but it was familiar and easy. I totally thought she was going to hit him when his friends kept telling her how much he badmouthed her every day in school… instead she accepted it as who they were back then and instead was worried that calling his friend and trying to reconcile them might have been a wrong thing to do.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
March 17, 2024 at 7:03 PM
👏👏👏👏
You have done all your homework!! There is nothing to add!
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
March 18, 2024 at 4:50 PM
This is awesome! That’s a lot of work 😀 I would love the chart thing. I have a few. I will add soon.
Koalatown
March 17, 2024 at 12:12 PM
Ok I am swooning. What a great landing for Doctor Slump. We got to bathe in sugar and the show even acknowledged how sweet it all is when Bada and his mom mention it. So meta again.
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
March 17, 2024 at 2:10 PM
It literally crusied to the sunset. Absoluetly beautiful.
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
March 17, 2024 at 3:34 PM
I also loved how it ticked off literally all the tropes in k-dramaland so very deliberately. I could almost see the team checking off from a box – “hey did we get this one?” and then laugh about how they were going to turn it on its head, lol! Every single freaking time.
Koalatown
March 17, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Great minds think alike. I was thinking a cool fan wall post would be to try to identify them all and the twist!
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
March 17, 2024 at 5:15 PM
Yes!! Let’s do that.
Koalatown
March 5, 2024 at 9:46 AM
@minniegupta1 @lapislazulii @perillaleaves @SNOWYP Calling all Dr. Slump mystery solving hypothesizers. I have put together all the dialogue between KyungMin and Dr. Kang. Any guesses?
Koalatown
March 5, 2024 at 9:47 AM
KM nervous to see Dr. Kang and asked “What are you doing here?”
Yang: “You need to keep your promise.” “You were the first to find my spy cameras but you kept them for 2 days without reporting them. I asked you why you did that.”
KM: “Sorry I just don’t see why I owe you an explanation.”
Kang: “You took my property for 2 days without my consent. So can’t I be curious about what you did with them?”
KM: “Mr. Kang! Watch what you say.”
Kang: “I had set up 7 spy cameras, 1 in OR, 1 in the office, 3 in the hallway, where do you think I put the last camera? Even the police didn’t know. Aren’t you curious to see what was recorded?”
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
March 5, 2024 at 9:50 AM
This is fantastic. I’m in the middle of a very boring work deadline but I’ll be coming back to this. I’ve tons to write.
Koalatown
March 5, 2024 at 10:21 AM
Edit… sorry 2 pens in the office.
The promise is the answer to what KM did to his cameras for 2 days. How did he know KM had the cameras for 2 days without turning them in? Did he catch KM picking up the camera on another camera? Also cameras in pleural so maybe KM was the one who had found the hallway ones and altered them to erase his presence on them. KM, JW and the police clearly are reviewing hallway images already when they first go to the police with the cameras. What else did he alter?
Theory1: Camera with view of front door showing KM letting in the mafia guys in since the incriminating evidence was on the OR tape. Or camera able to catch KM finding the cameras.
Theory2: 7th camera is in the utilities/supply closet and he caught KM giving the bribe money to nurse Park ahead of the incident. Or maybe also KM canoodling with nurse Park which might jeopardize his future marriage.
Is Kang now going to try to blackmail KM?
I too wonder if TOD2 was purely an accident and not intentional. Mafia dude in jail and killing KM won’t solve that and KM wasn’t the one to put the guy in jail so can’t be revenge. Future FIL used KM to get fake drug approved to at least Phase 2 clinical trial data with falsified research probably also has no motive to kill him now especially since the stocks haven’t risen yet only suspected to be in the future once announcement of phase 3 approval.
I don’t have any theories about why KM drugged JW with Ambien either but the idea that JW thinks it was impulsive seems weird. Unless it’s that drug he was supposed to be developing and experimenting to see what side effects it had with alcohol. Anyone else?
lapislazulii
March 5, 2024 at 12:30 PM
Omg no yes ok, I was also so curious as to why KM didn’t go tell the police or JW about the cameras straight away – because at the time, this pause is what made us all suspect him of being the culprit. But now in hindsight, I’d back the theory that the gap was there so that he could check the footage/edit the footage so as to not incriminate him in any way.
And I also never fully bought the story that Kang was stalling because he was unsure of JW was a good guy – wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a reveal that he was stalling because of something KM said or did.
I don’t think he’ll blackmail KM though because he seems like such a weak person, but I do wonder what’ll go down next. Will KM try frame him for something to get him to shut up? I’ve wracked my head over what KM’s involvement in the botched surgery/murder was, but I’m like what would he gain from bringing JW down though?? Because at that point he (KM) had everything he wanted, maybe minus the fame that JW had. But then in that case, why not sabotage the case when he could see that JW had chance of clearing his name?? Idk, this (why/how JW’s case, JW, the future FIL and KM are all linked) is something I can’t come up with any rational conclusion for, because like JW had nothing to do with anything as far as all the hospital drama and politics went. OR unless, the FIL had some kind of dealing with the mafia folk and JW just happened to be a good scapegoat??? The more I talk, the less I make sense hahahahha
The ToD though what if that was the future FIL?? Finds out that Han-eul is digging and that KM is compromised because of something that Kang knows, so he’s trying to remove all liabilities at once?? It does feel like a very classic Kdrama future in-law thing to do 😆
Koalatown
March 5, 2024 at 5:11 PM
Hmm… interesting thought. I love playing this game.
Additional facts we know:
1. KM went on a medical mission trip to Myanmar within the last 2 years since he started volunteering for the Sunshine clinic which is sponsored by the Haesung pharm company who also sponsors a similar association in Macau. That mission was a secret since KM never told his colleagues why he was taking time away.
2. Haesung has a new pain med developed by KM which is reportedly more effective without side effects about to pass its phase 2 clinical trials and even rumored to likely to move phase 3 but the source is questionable with a shady history which may result in stock prices soaring. According to HN’s evaluation of the research the data looks like it could have been fabricated.
3. Haesung is a shady company with a president (KM’s future FIL) with no interests in pharmaceuticals but took over to profit illegally and has links to gangs in Macau.
4. Haesung donated 300 million for a Children’s ward at the hospital HN worked at.
5. The VP of Haesung was at JW’s trial.
6. The macau gang’s leader is presumably that uncle of the girl who died in JW’s accident.
Maybe KM has an addiction to Ambien developed during his early medical school days due to stress and inability to sleep. He is unable to take pills and bought the drugs illegally crushed from some shady rep from that Haesung pharm company.
KM was later recruited by Haesung’s CEO to develop a fake drug with fake results to help boost stock prices. Probably the Macau mafia is using Haesung for charity money laundering and KM was sent on that mission trip to Myanmar to oversee one such event.
The mafia guy wanted to off his niece to inherit the casino fortune but he needed it to look like an accident. KM probably learned of the girl’s afib and anticoagulation status so suggests that they she should go to his famous plastic surgeon friend JW’s clinic where they could sabotage the fluids with heparin and cause a “medical accident”.
Koalatown
March 5, 2024 at 5:22 PM
Sometimes I wish for KM to have a reason for his evil deed which will make him a more sympathetic bad guy like that night that he mixed the whiskey and ambien was originally for himself because ambien alone wasn’t working, but accidently JW drank it and got sent to the ED so he really was remorseful. He didn’t want JW to get close to HN in case his evil side is revealed because he needs someone to think he’s good. He wasn’t aware that the mafia people were going to set up JW with the fingerprint.
Other times I think he’s just evil/petty. He was always jealous of how seemingly easy everything was for JW (rich and smart) so he spitefully spiked his drink for fun (give him a taste of his own addiction). He preyed on JW’s kind hearted nature and easy going personality as a good target for the medical accident crime especially knowing that JW’s family support is absent so no parents will swoop in with pricey lawyers to bail him out.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
March 6, 2024 at 2:47 AM
This is such a fun thread. Thank you!! It reminds me of those “solve a mystery” stories which were so popular in old magazines which my Nana had in her house.
Lapis the “future on-law” bit really made me laugh my head off.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
March 6, 2024 at 2:47 AM
* future in-law
perillaleaves
March 5, 2024 at 8:52 PM
OMG yess I love this game!!
My two cents is that maybe Dr.Kang had been involved in drugs in his previous malpractice case, and has some dirt on KM, who might have been supplying them? I find the whole theory of Dr.Kang being a good guy who was too scared to give the evidence a bit shady, and it was too convenient to hand them to JW the morning of the case, so that will hopefully be explained in the next few episodes.
As much as we find devious villains annoying, it is even more frustrating to encounter a stupid villain who can’t pull off schemes properly with common sense, so I really hope we don’t get some lame resolution to the mystery!
Koalatown
March 11, 2024 at 8:37 PM
Well I guess some of us were partially right but who would have guessed it was a fake out 7th pen to test KM. Dr. Kang was quite the red herring looking all creepy and quiet in the OR. I am glad KM turned out more nuanced than we thought.
I know this show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I like how the writer peels aways bits and pieces of each character like an onion to reveal their core. Initially we thought HN was just a competitive workaholic who was burnt out who was a loner and a bit cold/aloof. Then we learned that she was getting abused and then gaslighted. Then we find out how impactful her dad’s death was on her expectations of happiness always ending in sadness resulting in self sabotage. As she grows we also grow in our understanding of her like what drove her to anesthesiology. It was her dad’s death but it was the impact his anesthesiologist had on her and her wanting to be a comfort for her patients during the scary surgery like that doctor was for her and her dad. Inside she was a warm hearted empathetic person who was afraid to pursue those messy feelings that comes with opening yourself up to someone else and letting them into your world including the good and bad.
For JW he seemed like the cocky doctor who had it all (fame, fortune, and adoring fan/friends) who just had his first big challenge (aside from competing with HN) with the medical accident. Then we learn that actually he has always put on a fake happy face to please people especially his demanding parents who only want him to be perfect but otherwise couldn’t be bothered with him. He was their trophy son although I guess in their eyes a 3rd place trophy barely worth throwing into the back of their closet since he was so disappointingly barely excellent. He was so needy for unconditional love and support but had buried that desire far down in his psyche for so long before he met HN. He was always empathetic to others except himself like he couldn’t allow himself to be sad or angry or resentful to his parents. I think meeting HN and sharing in her pain and experiencing her family’s unconditional love and support started to break down the wall he had erected around his heart. However it really needed something major like that medical accident and betrayal by his one and only “friend” to totally collapse that wall. I loved the advice HN’s mom gave to him to let time heal the wounds but keep the memories worth keeping. At his core JW is just too kindhearted for this world as her mom said. He also needs to show the messy inside to others and still know he is loved.
Koalatown
March 11, 2024 at 8:37 PM
KyungMin was probably the hardest onion to peel because at first he seemed like the only friend that JW had after his high school buddies turned their backs on him. However we started doubting his sincerity when they showed him holding the pen camera and then telling JW he shouldn’t be happy. Soon we thought he was firmly in the evil incarnate camp when we learned how he used HN to get his promotion and maybe groomed her to be his work slave by starting off super nice and giving her the praise and attention she was craving to then badmouth her behind her back, discredit her and steal her work. Even more so did we curse him when we learned he had drugged a drunk teenage JW. However the writer tells us no one is black or white but mostly gray and gives the backstory for KM and we find ourselves understanding him. The writer doesn’t absolve him of his sins but lays bare the tiny stones that he had laid down when he gave up his moral integrity at each turn until they buried him. In his dying moments he apologized but didn’t ask JW for forgiveness. Instead he told JW to forget everything and move on. Maybe he had realized on his dying bed that he had wasted his life in resentment and was tormented by his sins against JW.