With apologies to non-Bossam beanies for this long fanwall post, I present the

BOSSAM EPISODE 10 Squeecap

Ba-woo (Kim Dae Seok) watches as his mother and daughter are taken to VP Lee’s house. Dae-yeop is concerned because Ba-woo knows the layout of the house. Inside, Ba-woo’s sister Kim Yeon-ok grumbles that these are the same people who killed her father and grandfather. Her mother warns her to watch her mouth and never mention her brother.

Ba-woo investigates the shipwreck incident. Chun-bae babysits Cha-dol and other kids flying kites. Soo-kyung works on her “erotic” drawings, but the bookseller doesn’t accept them because the figures are fully clothed. Ba-woo is nowhere to be found and Soo-kyung is worried.

That night the Jemulpo clerk crawls around the streets but is caught by Ba-woo, who knows from Geo-jeong that the clerk is working for VP Lee. Ba-woo ties the man to a tree and demands information, threatening him with a knife. The man whimpers that someone important from Ming Dynasty is coming. It’s Eunuch Wei’s man, Lord Zhang.

VP Lee sits down with Won-yeop and his guard Tae-chul. He entrusts Won-yeop with the task of meeting Lord Zhang. Tae-chul reports that he could not locate the grandson of Kim Je-nam (i.e.: Ba-woo). VP Lee is done being subtle. He thinks Ba-woo kidnapped the princess on purpose and is a dangerous man. He wants him found ASAP. He has them send posters of Ba-woo around the country.

Soo-kyung works through the night on her drawings: a man chopping wood, a man carrying a woman, two people on horseback that look suspiciously familiar… The next morning she presents Chun-bae with the drawings and some palace stories she wrote down. Chun-bae has a sudden inspiration: combine drawings with text. He convinces the bookshop owner that romance stories would reach a wider audience than erotica. Creating woodblocks to print the stories is quite an investment, so Chun-bae will sell the manuscript copies himself and prove their commercial potential to the bookseller.

Audiences of men and women gather round as he relates the “Story of Woon Yeong”. Court Lady Jo does the same with the noble ladies. It’s a racy love story between a scholar and a court lady of Grand Prince Anpyeong (Sejong the Great’s third son, King Sejo’s younger brother). Chun-bae stops at a juicy cliffhanger so people will buy the book. It’s a massive success.

Ba-woo is at the harbor, keeping an eye on arrivals from Ming. He catches sight of Chun-bae and Court Lady Jo leaving the bookshop. He finds out about their new business and orders them to stop. Soo-kyung says this was her choice. Furious, he tears up the book. Court Lady Jo won’t stand for it. She calls Ba-woo out for his stupid manly pride. He needs money and doesn’t have a plan, so Soo-kyung helped him.

Ba-woo walks by the sea, his heart a bundle of worries and frustrations. Soo-kyung continues drawing. The next morning, she finds a pile of books in neat handwriting, ready to be illustrated. Ba-woo must have spent all night writing them. He pokes a hole through his door and sees her standing outside his door smiling. She says “You worked hard. Thank you”. He melts in a puddle. (The soft sunlight and their smiles make me melt too).

Ba-woo walks through town just in time to see a “Wanted” poster of himself, offering 50 rolls of cotton for his head. He catches sight of VP Lee’s son with the envoys from Ming and runs after them.

Won-yeop entertains Lord Zhang at a gisaeng house. He has a letter from VP Lee and a few chests of gold and silver. Lord Zhang promises to give the letter to Eunuch Wei. Ba-woo has a gisaeng spy in the room so he knows exactly what happened. He goes home and sits alone despondently. Soo-kyung was waiting up for him. They sit quietly, watching the moon together. Swooning gently over here

Ba-woo has a good night’s sleep for the first time in ages. Next morning, he waits for his chance at Jemulpo harbor. Geo-jeong causes a ruckus, distracting VP Lee’s men. Ba-woo smoothly swipes the letter intended for Eunuch Wei.

Once alone, he reads it. In the letter VP Lee offers to remove Gwanghae and supply Ming with 10,000 Joseon troops and a hundred thousand sacks of supplies for their war against Later Jin (the Jurchens). He only asks for recognition of a new king. This is treason!

At the palace, Gwanghae is starting to put Westerners in positions of power. We see the decree, dated 1619, 12th Lunar Month. VP Lee is against the idea, but he can’t take back his promise. At the next court session, Kim Ja-jeom is promoted to Vice Minister of Defense. His first courtly intervention is to present the king with the “Story of Woon Yeong”. The king is scandalized that the Vice Chief of Police (Won-yeop) has allowed such a filthy book to circulate. He orders Won-yeop to find every single copy and burn it.

Court Lady Kim Gae-si informs Kim Ja-jeom that the king had a good laugh thanks to him. It will be hard for the Chief of Police to burn every copy since the book is so widespread. Even his mother is reading it.
Dae-yeop finds his brother sulking because of the book business. He takes a quick look and recognizes the drawing style of Soo-kyung. He investigates by threatening booksellers. He soon learns that the writers of the novel are at Jemulpo.

Ba-woo consults the Head Monk. Presenting the letter to the king would be too dangerous since he’s a wanted man. He’s also worried that his mother and sister might be killed. He has another plan…

That night VP Lee wakes up with a sword at his throat. It’s Ba-woo. VP Lee is still crafty: his mother and sister will die if he gets revenge now. Ba-woo: “It’s amazing how much you evil men scheme.” He waves the letter of treason in front of VP Lee’s eyes and tells him to bring his mother and sister to the shrine in front of Sungnye Gate in two days, or else he will give the letter to the king. He slams the sword into the floor, piercing VP Lee’s pajamas, and leaves.

He gets back home around dawn. Cha-dol hugs his dad in his sleep. The next morning Dae-yeop arrives with his men. They arrest Ba-woo as the man who illustrated the book. Soo-kyung pleads with her brother-in-law and says she should be arrested instead. He ignores her. As they drag Ba-woo away we hear a heart-rendering cry: “Ba-woo-ya! Ba-woo-ya!”. She said his name!!

Ba-woo is thrown into a cell with the bookseller at the magistrate’s office. Soo-kyung goes to see him and bumps into Dae-yeop. Why did he arrest Ba-woo when he knows that she drew the pictures? He doesn’t answer right away. He’s confused why she left him for a poor person’s life. She replies that it might not look like it to him, but she’s happy now. With tears (of rage? disappointment?) he says that he’s doing this to protect her, because that’s his only reason to live. He finds Court Lady Jo on his way back and orders her to keep the princess away from the magistrate’s office. Back at home, Cha-dol is oblivious to everything that has happened.

Undeterred, Soo-kyung heads out again, claiming that she is going to the sea to cry her heart out. She gets into the magistrate’s office by claiming to be a relative of VP Lee (which is true). Dae-yeop has Ba-woo brought to him. If the princess is safe, Dae-yeop doesn’t care what happens to Ba-woo. Why doesn’t he give up and forget everything? Ba-woo grows angry. He was going to forget his revenge, but VP Lee and his family are forcing him to be Kim Dae-seok for their own purposes. Soo-kyung overhears the conversation. She is stunned. Now everything makes sense: why Ba-woo had called himself a “dead person”, why he hated the king, why he had tried to kill her, and why he had tried to part ways with her. She breaks down in tears by the sea.

Ba-woo is to be transferred to Hanyang the next day. He paces around his cell, helpless now to go and save his mother and sister. Chun-bae bribes the prison guards for Soo-kyung to visit Ba-woo.

They talk through the prison bars. He’s worried about her. She shouldn’t be there. She worries about him. Is he hurt anywhere? She holds his hands, apologizing for always bringing trouble. They are both crying by this point. She reaches out and touches his face, saying in a voiceover how much he must have suffered all these years. He gave up his resentment and revenge for her. Actions speak louder than words. His hands are tied. He stretches his fingers but he can’t reach her. She leans forward and lets him touch her face.

The end

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      How many times will I watch the last scene? SHE grabs his hands and touches his face. They mind-meld over familial heartbreak. HE can’t reach her face, untill she leans in. Acch – I’m going to have to go for a walk in the mountains to calm myself. Ten more eps of wonderful to go. Canada Bonita with gal pals here I come (they all are used to me ranting about Kdramas).

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        @jossie4cheryl I tried to stay coherent in my squeecap, but I’ve watched that final scene like 10 times. There is so much going on, little details such as her reaching out to him, and that deep understanding between two souls who have been through the same thing, hatred and forgiveness and love… the flood of tears held back for so long. Such great acting and directing. 😭❤

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          That last scene was everything. I was watching it with my husband. They are so good. Jung Il-woo is so good. I told my mom she just needs to stop whatever drama she’s watching with him in it and switch to Bossam. She called me tonight to tell me she started it! I’m going to have my entire family watching at this rate!

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          I loved that scene. 🙂

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        I expected all the instances of her freaking out whenever he touched her would lead up to something… But I never expected it would be so heartbreaking and romantic. The way she initiated to touch his hands and face became such a grand gesture. It’s wonderful, and both actors especially JIW really did great in that scene.

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      That last scene has stayed with me all week. I loved how she reached out and cupped his face with her hand. So tender. And his tears, buckets, accumulated for years and years, and bravely held back. His anxiety is intense because of his fear for his mother and sister. After all, he knows already how merciless his enemies are.

      There were two other great moments for me. The first was when he confronted VP Lee in his bedroom. He can speak the language of these people because he has all the authority of his class. The second was when he so cuttingly explained to the blinkered Dae-yeop exactly why he could no longer just disappear because he had been driven into a corner. Dae-yeop is seething with jealousy. Hearing the princess call Ba-woo by name only intensified that.

      I also love the clever way in which the writer has made it possible for the princess to be educated. Her whole bossam experience has been a steep learning curve about the ways of the world, and as she says, not wholly unappreciated.

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        Oh, yes. VP Lee waking up to his worst nightmare was good. The irony is that VP Lee has created this situation by pushing Ba-woo into a corner. I still hope Dae-yeop has more to do in this drama than be the bitter second lead.

        I wonder what the king will do when he learns who the author of “that filthy book” is…

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          I hope Dae-yeop comes good. I suspect he will, once he faces reality. I don’t think he cares at all about VP Lee’s plans. He is playing a double game. His focus is the princess and wanting her for himself, ostensibly “to protect her”, which would put her back in her genteel prison, and we know what she thinks of that. His offer was to run away, but that seemed unrealistic, besides the fact that she was never going to put him in that situation. We don’t really know his relationship in the family either, so that may add complications. Possible options: 1. he dies heroically to protect her; 2. he “discovers” the sister 3. he brings his family crashing down 4. the father serves him up in order to preserve himself (I could go on forever and not get it right). I’m hanging on to the first meeting when he wanted to be Ba-woo’s friend and was full of admiration for him. I’m hoping we come back to something like a friendship based on mutual respect.

          I’ve thought that the king really loves and mourns his daughter and at other times, I’ve realised how cold blooded he is in using her to get the better of VP Lee. I’d like to see her face up to her father and reveal her post-bossam self. I wonder if we’ll get to see what sort of a relationship they have, if any.

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            Right now I like your option 3. I think Option 2 is unlikely since she’s the daughter of a traitor and has become a slave, which is “beneath” Dae-yeop. Plus Lord Naeam already has someone in mind for him.

            I am still holding on to the theory of a birth secret for Dae-yeop. 😆

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            Yes, the birth secret will come into play.

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      This is such a great thread. I’m loving the squeecaps, the comments, the research. Thanks to @wishfultoki, @kiara and everyone. The discussion is rich.

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      Yay, I finally got to watch eps 9 and 10💚 That last scene, oh my heart!

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      Not that it’s very important. We later found out that Kim Ja Jeom wasn’t appointed Vice Minister of Defense. His post is a jwarang, a 6th senior rank Defense Ministry officer. After lots of research (by three different people including the subber, the two Translation Editors and myself) we were able to find out more about it. It’s not a military position (like Lieutenant Colonel, who would be the corresponding 6th senior rank) but an administrative one.
      Wikipedia says: “The Six Ministries were the chief executive body of Joseon. Each Minister was assisted by a Deputy-Minister (Champan) and a Secretary. Apart from these three officials, each Ministry was headed by three Jeongrang (정랑, rank 5a) and three Jwarang (좌랑, rank 6a).”
      The jwarang seems to be in charge of personnel administration and internal affairs.
      Our fox-eyed Kim Ja Jeom used to be a 7th rank official at the Astrology, Astronomy and Meteorology Bureau, so he has “jumped” 3 ranks with this promotion.
      So we’ll probably go with “Deputy Administration Officer of Defense Ministry”

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        @irmar
        Thank you for the clarification! This is important information because it shows Gwanghae is slowly but steadily promoting Westerners. It’s amazing how this drama is making everyone do more research. Are you part of the Destiny Thieves team?? We really appreciate their work!

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    Ah, this episode…I went from squeeing to weeping pretty fast.

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    Gahhhhhhhh! That’s all. I really wish I would have binge watched this. The “when will they kiss” suspense is killing me—

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      I am almost 100% sure your patience will be rewarded soon.😂

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      i m waiting badly for that moment to come soon.. simply cause their love story is being built so realisticly, subtly and slowly that my heart skips beats just seeing their tiny stealing glances at each other, being grateful towards each other… It’s like the foundation is being built with so much care and concern then how beautiful the final outcome would be.
      and i cant just cant wait to watch it..

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    Thank you! The way Ba-woo looks at Soo-kyung … Swoon. Between the “Ba-woo-ya” and the ending I was a mess.

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      “Ba-woo-ya” hurt so much to hear. I thought she might call him by name some day, but I did not expect it to come with such anguish. Yuri killed it in that scene.

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        exactly.. it wasn’t just the name but the way it was called made it a masterpiece.
        the yearning, the suffering, the pain, the angst with which it was called was a clear give-away how much she loves him (i am having goosebumps even now just by imagining abt the whole scene in my head while i write abt it).
        ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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    Thank you so much Toki <3.

    I have unfinished work everywhere because this show is terribly addicting lol.

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    Thank you, Toki! I love this show ❤️

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    thanks for the tag.
    Ba Wu ya.. that one scene will remain in my heart forever… i had no expectation with it as seen similar “weaker being dragged” in the name of justice but the way it was changed was classic (as @snowflower mentioned on hangout).
    her silent affection for Ba Wu had to come to the surface and what better way to show it when he was at his weakest and she being princess calling him by name how relieving it must have been for him. And JIW made that scene unforgettable. his acting, his eyee, his shock, his smile everything proved this is the moment he never thought would ever come but its here.
    I had goosebumps from the moment she calls till he leaves with that final turn and look at her face with smile on his face.
    This was my fav scene of this episode.. cause of how one simple act of just calling by name could have been turned into an Excellent Confession ever.

    last scene was emotionally exhausting and i bawled with it, and it needs more analysis so ill be back soon.

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    @wishfultoki You are amazing! “Thank you” is not enough for your hard work. And I wonder how many times you had to stop during writing this recap to squee and melt into a puddle. 😉
    This is the best episode so far, with all the great moments, big and small. I rewatch all the best scenes on MBN Youtube channel (to sustain myself until the weekend LOL) and still a melting puddle over here.
    I always hope that Soo-kyung would know who Ba-woo really is and how much he puts on the line just to be with her before their romance officially starts. And the writer did that <3 JIW can ugly cry and break my heart like no-one else (the scene where he recognized VP Lee and the last scene of this episode).
    All the squees and heartbreak aside, I have to say Ba-woo's network is quite impressive and Soo-kyung's debut as Joseon best-selling writer is something I didn't know I need. ^^

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    Sokyung’s talk with Daeyeob, and then Bawoo’s talk with him are so on point! They simply see through the lies he tells himself, his recklessness and self-interest disguised as concern for Sokyung… Both of them are so over his crap, and they’re so good at telling him like it is! And now I’m living for Sokyung to show us another of her talents, I love it that she became an author. In the preview it looks like she’ll go on ninja mode and rescue Bawoo from jail

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    Hello Toki here I come! I just finished this ep a moment ago before taking time reading through your recap and Beans’ comments. The scene I love the most from this ep turned out to be the scene when BW made a hole in the door paper and saw the Princess thanking him. Everything in that scene is perfect: the lighting, the acting, especially the feelings of both BW and the Princess. Yuri has set a very high standard for me to look for in future saguek Princess roles: She is elegant, calm and so very collected. This is probably the portrayal of Korean historical princesses I like the most.

    I’m now very annoyed by DY. I understand that, according to @kiara, he wasn’t really at fault when he turned the princess’s offer to elope together down or his actions in other incidents, but his ‘love’ and his want of ‘protection’ for her really complicated what had already been complicated. I had a moment that I really pondered how come a sincere person like him ended up complicating so many things. 😅

    And I felt bad for VP Lee: With that much gold and silver delivered to the Ming without the letter, this is such a huge loss. 🤪

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      Yay @mmmmm it’s good to see you here! That’s my favorite scene too ❤ It was a way of his saying “I’m sorry”, accepting that she was right, and letting her help in their fight for survival. One of my favorite things in dramas is when the OTP works together, so I’m excited about this one.

      I understand Dae-yeop a bit better now, but he’s complicated. He had a good reason to arrest Ba-woo to protect Soo-kyung, but I also think he was jealous. His problem is he wants to save his family and save Soo-kyung, so he’s often stuck in the middle. I like that he’s unpredictable and sincere even when he’s being a stuck-up nobleman.

      That’s right! VP just suffered a huge financial loss. I hadn’t realized that 😂😂😂

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