Recap: Queen In-Hyun’s Man Episode 12

Today we learn more lessons of courtship but don’t take them too much to heart. We will never be as perfect as these two.

On the side we also learn how to make “curry rice,” Hee-Jin style.

It is dawn and Hee-Jin is half-asleep, half-awake. She notices Boong-Do wordlessly watching her, standing by the doorway, and she smiles at him. (Does this man ever sleep?) The camera pans to two coffee mugs, standing side by side on the nightstand. Hee-Jin falls back asleep.

The sun is shining brightly outside and Hee-Jin wakes up fully. She looks next to her on the bed but no one is there. She bolts up and searches for Boong-Do. She walks out into the living and throws a little tantrum that Boong-Do seems to have left without telling her. She comes back into the bedroom and finds a note on the nightstand. It is written in Hanja (Chinese characters). She can read her name but the rest, no idea.

Hee-Jin is fully dressed now looking up each character on the internet. She grows more frustrated every second. “Is he testing my intelligence? If you are writing a letter to someone, you need to think about that person and write Hangul. He doesn’t even know the letters of the people, that elitist!” (Lesson 5: Learn Hanja so your smarty-pants boyfriend doesn’t tease you.)

Hee-Jin notices something in her pocket and she pulls it out. It is the amulet. She hears Boong-Do’s voice outside.

Boong-Do is outside riding a bike, asking the guesthouse owner if he is riding the bicycle well. The owner replies that he riding that well only after one to two hours of practice.

Hee-Jin steps out onto the balcony and looks down at Boong-Do who is circling the yard on a cute red bike. Boong-Do notices her and asks, “You finally woke up.” But Hee-Jin warns that he is going to fall and Boong-Do crashes into the deck. But his long legs touch the ground first and he avoids a complete embarrassment.

Hee-Jin asks where he got the bicycle. Boong-Do borrowed it from the owner. He was bored waiting for her to wake up so he figured he should try to learn how to ride the bicycle. Hee-Jin bashfully explains that she likes to sleep-in in the mornings.

Hee-Jin tells Boong-Do that she thought he left already, only leaving a letter. Boong-Do tells her it is not a letter, but her address. Hee-Jin can only softly say, “Oh.” He asks if she can’t even read her own address. “You seem to be more dumb than I….” Hee-Jin cuts him off. “You don’t even know how to ride a bike so stop showing off. There aren’t any men here who don’t even know how to ride a bike at that age.”

Boong-Do asks Hee-Jin if she is not hungry. He is about to faint from waiting for her to wake up. Hee-Jin tells him that he should have woken her up. He asks her what she wants to eat. He will go buy it. Hee-Jin wants to go with him but Boong-Do insists he can go alone. Hee-Jin knows that he doesn’t have any money to buy food so she needs to go with him.

Boong-Do pulls out a load of cash from his pocket. (Lesson 6: Never use a wallet. A handful of bills showcases your wealth much better). “I have so much money and I don’t have anywhere to put it.” Hee-Jin knows immediately where he got the money. She asks, “When did you sell it again?” Boong-Do informs her that it was easier the second time.

In a flashback, we see Boong-Do selling his family’s sword again (a gift from King Taejo). The shopkeeper once again notes the good condition of the sword. Boong-Do asks how much. The shopkeeper punches in some numbers on the calculator and shows it to Boong-Do. Boong-Do looks at it and announces, “Are you playing with me right now?” Boong-Do tries to take the sword but the shopkeeper stops him. Boong-Do turns his head and smiles in secret. (Lesson 7: Take care of gifts handed down from the King. You never know how much haggling will get you with that.)

Boong-Do informs Hee-Jin that he got a better deal this time. “If I sell it a third time, I think I will be able to get even more. I thought maybe I should buy you a car again but since you already have one….” Hee-Jin shakes her head. She doesn’t want a car that just disappears when you wake up one day. She will just remember Boong-Do’s heart.

Boong-Do wants Hee-Jin to list the things he should buy and Hee-Jin starts to rattle off. But she stops and heads back inside.

Hee-Jin sits at the coffee table, pen and paper in hand. She mutters, “Who are you calling dumb?” Hee-Jin heads downstairs and hands Boong-Do the paper. She instructs him to just buy everything on the list. As Boong-Do continues to look at the list, Hee-Jin informs him that he won’t understand what is on the list. It is written in English. English is trendier than Hanja right now. Boong-Do doesn’t need to try so hard to read it. All he has to do is hand it to an employee at the supermarket and they will find everything for him. Boong-Do smiles and puts the list in his shirt pocket. Hee-Jin continues to tease him. “I’m so worried. You don’t even know the alphabet.” Boong-Do just rides off.

Boong-Do is now at the mart and the employee is looking at the list. The employee exclaims, “Oh, a foreigner must have written this.” Boong-Do corrects him. “Not a foreigner. Just someone who has too much useless pride.” (Lesson 8: Make sure someone doesn’t know you too well before you try to upstage him.)

The employee is selecting the things on the list. He asks Boong-Do, “You’re asking for curry, right? It’s written here as c-a-r-r-e but it is c-u-r-r-y.” Boong-Do almost snorts in laughter. He just tells the employee that it doesn’t matter as long as the meaning got across. (Lesson 9: Learn how to spell. Correctly.)

Soo-Kyung is home, pouring milk into cereal, as she counts the minutes left until nine. “There are only three minutes left until the moment that starts our separation, Choi Hee-Jin. Call me now Hee-Jin if you don’t want to regret it forever.” Just as she says this, Hee-Jin calls. Soo-Kyung picks up and immediately starts screaming. “Where are you?” Hee-Jin apologizes and asks about Dong-Min. “Did anything happen?”

Dong-Min had been trapped inside the shower stall until Soo-Kyung and Chun-Soo got home. Dong-Min had left in a foul mood.

Hee-Jin apologizes. She couldn’t lie. Hee-Jin continues to apologize and Soo-Kyung explains that Dong-Min think Soo-Kyung knew Hee-jin was cheating and covered everything up with a story about counseling sessions.

Hee-Jin informs Soo-Kyung that they are in Paju. Soo-Kyung asks if Hee-Jin spent the night with a “sa-saeng” fan (“sa-saeng” fan is an obsessive fan who follows celebrities around like crazy and knows way too much personal information.) Hee-Jin corrects Soo-Kyung. Boong-Do is not a “sa-saeng” fan. Hee-Jin reminds Soo-Kyung that she said she would be on Hee-Jin’s side if the man from her dreams really existed. Soo-Kyung calls Hee-Jin crazy but Hee-Jin hangs up before Soo-Kyung can finish. Soo-Kyung asks to herself. “When did I say I was going to be on her side? When?” Then Soo-Kyung remembers. She had indeed said that on the night Dong-Min visited. Soo-Kyung wants to rip out her own mouth. “Why did I say something like that?”

Boong-Do is back and Hee-Jin inspects the food. Boong-Do asks, “Are you sure you asked for ‘curry’?” Hee-Jin confirms. Boong-Do is glad that it was right. “Since I don’t know English, I was worried that I bought the wrong thing.” He suppresses a smile as Hee-Jin innocently teases him about his concern. She pats him on his back to praise him. Boong-Do smiles widely in return, finding Hee-Jin incredibly adorable. (Lesson 10: Unlearn lesson 8 and 9. You will earn a cute smile in return.)

Boong-Do is sitting at the kitchen island and Hee-Jin is dressed in an apron in front of him. Hee-Jin tells him that what she is about to make is something that very difficult and is made only once a year, usually on birthdays. “Just because the cooking time doesn’t take long, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t high-level cooking. Because it is. Very high-level.”

Hee-Jin proceeds to show Boong-Do her amazing cooking skills.

“Today’s menu- Curry Rice”

1. Tear the plastic.

Hee-Jin: “See this line here? You have to make sure to tear exactly at this line. If you go just a little out of the line, you’re ruining the meal.” Boong-Do keeps his eye on the bag as Hee-Jin tears the container with great effort.

1. Pour the curry on top of the rice.

Hee-Jin: “Pour it nicely and evenly like this, over the rice.”

1. Cover with wrap.

Hee-Jin: “This is a skill that not any housewife can do.”

1. Put everything into the microwave and heat for 3 minutes.

Hee-Jin: “It can’t be 2 minutes 50 seconds or 3 minutes 10 seconds. It has to be exactly 3 minutes. That’s the lifeblood of the meal.”

Boong-Do sits seriously with his arm crossed, waiting. The microwave bell chimes and he perks up. Hee-Jin wipes her forehead and with grand gestures, takes out the rice and unwraps it. Voila- It’s perfect!

Hee-Jin pretends that this was the hardest thing to do in the world and sits down. “You don’t have to be too thankful. All you have to do is eat well.” Boong-Do finally says, “Just because I don’t know this world, you try to con me too much.”

Hee-Jin is surprised at the word “con.” Boong-Do reminds her that he has known this world for several months now. “How dare you?” Hee-Jin laughs and sticks out her tongue at him. “Merong.” (Lesson 11: Con, trick, and prank all you want because you will get nothing but huge smiles).

Before they can dig in, Hee-Jin asks what Boong-Do was doing at dawn. He was up, all dressed, and standing at door. Boong-Do asked her if she was dreaming. Hee-Jin is sure it wasn’t a dream. Did he go somewhere at dawn? Boong-Do turns the conversation around but Hee-Jin remains suspicious.

Dong-Min is on the drama set, still mad as hell. He sits next to Na-Jeong who asks him if he had fun yesterday. Dong-Min tells her to buy him a drink after they finish filming. Na-Jeong wants to know why he is asking her. What kind of scandal does he want to create?

The director comes into the room and Dong-Min approaches him. “I have a good idea. Why don’t have In Hyun Wang Hoo drink the poison and die? I think it will become a big issue.” Na-Jeong reassures the director that it wasn’t her idea. Dong-Min confirms. “It is my idea.” Dong-Min says the same thing he said before the cutting of the amulet changed the course of the future, when Dong-Min had embarrassed himself on the airplane. The director says the exact same things as the last time. To kill of his previous wife would make the King a psycho. Na-Jeong asks Dong-Min, “Did you guys fight?” Dong-Min tells Na-Jeong that she definitely has to buy him a drink.

Dong-Min is in the van throwing a temper tantrum and Chun-Soo yells at him for making a fuss here on set. Dong-Min informs Chun-Soo that he can’t film in this mood.

Boong-Do is outside with the bicycle and Hee-Jin runs downstairs to him. She points out that he forgot to buy one thing- instant coffee. Boong-Do tells her that he purposefully forgot that. He wants them to drink outside, to celebrate him learning how to ride the bicycle. Hee-Jin is worried. A new bicyclist can’t handle having a woman riding in the back. Boong-Do tells her that he practiced hard since the morning in order to give her a ride. Hee-Jin gets on and Boong-Do warns her. “If we fall though, let’s take care of our own individual selves.” Hee-Jin is surprised at such irresponsible words. Boong-Do just takes Hee-Jin’s hands and puts them around her waist. “Hold on tight.”

Now we can a delightfully sweet montage of our adorable couple riding the bicycle, laughing and thoroughly enjoying themselves. They take a break and Hee-Jin sits on the wood railing of a deck overlooking the river. She playfully tries to butt heads with Boong-Do.  They rest and sit on the bike together. Then they blissfully continue to ride around the village. (Lesson 12: Make sure you know how to ride a bike. And that it is a one-seater.)

They stop at a railroad crossing. Hee-Jin is resting her head on Boong-Do’s back. Hee-Jin notes that Boong-Do does really learn fast. Boong-Do reminds her that he said that was his only good point. Hee-Jin slowly starts to say, “Even if you lived here, I don’t think you will starve. Do you like to teach? You can teach Hanja. You can be a horse-riding instructor. You can even just not work. You can just sell your old things. That’s a life to be jealous of.”

Boong-Do, who had been listening to this all silently, responds, “Is that so?” Hee-Jin asks, “Isn’t here more fun than there? Truthfully.” Boong-Do just says, “Maybe.” Hee-Jin pouts. “Even if you are from a great family there, you don’t know when you can be killed by the king. Even if you do succeed in life there, medicine has not developed well there yet so you can die early. There’s nothing good there. Isn’t that so?” Boong-Do is smiling softly at all this. “I guess so.”

Hee-Jin remembers that she has the amulet. She takes it out and sees a small flame nearby. She notes, “If I just throw this there right now, you would have to stay here. Should I just throw it there?” Boong-Do smiles and does not say thing. Hee-Jin says that his silence is affirmation. “I’m really throwing it!”

Boong-Do just smiles and starts to pedal, as the intersection is now safe to cross. He looks back for a moment and sees the flame. He stops and exclaims, “What have you done?” Hee-Jin reminds him that she said she was going to throw the amulet. As Boong-Do heads toward the flame, Hee-Jin waves the amulet in her hand and teases him. “You were scared!”

Boong-Do looks at her in relief as Hee-Jin sticks out her tongue. Silence falls heavy on them before Hee-Jin says, “You DID really get scared. That you couldn’t return.” Hee-Jin looks crestfallen and Boong-DO is silent. Hee-Jin says, “You know that I am impulsive. Take this before I really burn it.” Boong-Do slowly takes the amulet from her and Hee-Jin looks disappointed.

Boong-Do gets back on the bike. Hee-Jing gets a call from a drama’s assistant director. The assistant director wants to know if Hee-Jin can film tonight since Dong-Min is in the hospital and the schedule got changed.  Hee-Jin is surprised to hear this.

Soo-Kyung gets a call from Hee-Jin. Hee-Jin is calling to confirm that Dong-Min really went to the hospital because of gastric camp, due to stressed caused by her. Soo-Kyung doesn’t think so. She thinks Dong-Min is putting on a show. Soo-Kyung lays it out for Hee-Jin. Dong-Min’s insides are all twisted up now because he can’t endure being dumped even though he can dump people. Because of his pride, they don’t know what he will do next. It seemed like the director got a hint that something is going on between Dong-Min and Hee-Jin so she is going to see him right now. Hee-Jin decides that she needs to go the hospital.

Boong-Do calls Hee-Jin’s attention with his bicycle bell. She informs him that she needs to go. Boong-Do overheard her talk about the hospital and guesses that Dong-Min is there, putting on a show of being sick. Hee-Jin feels she needs to go since she is the cause. Boong-Do doesn’t think Dong-Min is the type of person to get sick because of things like this. Hee-Jin asks how he knows. She thinks Boong-Do is jealous of her going to visit Dong-Min. Boong-Do retorts, “Impossible.” Hee-Jin DOES think it is jealously but reassures him that it will only be a short visit. Boong-Do should not worry and wait for her.

Back in Joseon time, Yoon-Wol is leaving Boong-Do’s house with her maid. A man is sitting outside watching this. The same man reports to Ja-Soo that Boong-Do is said to have gone to Yang-Ri and doesn’t know how long he will be gone. Ja-Soo doesn’t think Boong-Do went there. Ja-Soo asks another guy where Boong-Do’s hometown is. It is Chung-Poong. Ja-Soo figures out that if the lie to make sense, Boong-Do cannot appear back in the capital for five days since that is how far Chung-Poong is.

Ja-Soo notes that the Queen is visiting her parents’ house tonight. He remembers what Minister Min instructed. They are to wait for the Queen to leave the palace and they must not let Boong-Do enter the palace on that day. Ja-Soo is happy that the heavens seem to be on their side today. He instructs one man to go down to Boong-Do’s hometown and the other man to gather more soldiers. Ja-Soo and the others will go to the Queen’s parents’ house tonight. One of the men tells Ja-Soo that he thought about just killing Yoon-Wol who was on her way to the temple unguarded. Ja-Soo tells him to leave her alone. She was a favorite of Minister Min before and Min will deal with her his own way when everything is solved.

Dong-Min is in the hospital. Chun-Soo is on the phone with Hee-Jin and informs Dong-Min that she is downstairs. Dong-Min allows her to come up to see him. Chun-Soo warns Dong-Min to not create trouble at the hospital. Dong-Min remembers something and scurries to the bathroom.

Hee-Jin is outside the hospital room door, flowers in hand, nervous about going in. She enters. Dong-Min is sitting cross-legged on his bed. Before Hee-Jin can finish talking, Dong-Min pulls out a water spray bottle and sprays Hee-Jin in the face. Dong-Min continues to spray Hee-Jin in the face, angry that she tricked him. Dong-Min finally finishes and says, “Since you are a couple, you don’t mind getting sprayed instead of him, right?” (Sure, Dong-Min. Attack someone who is weaker than you just because you can’t defend yourself against a stronger person. Ugh.)  Hee-Jin is not angry but she thinks it is petty. Dong-Min throws a pillow in her face, saying Boong-Do threw a pillow at him too. “How about being locked in the bathroom?” Dong-Min asks and tries to drag Hee-Jin into the bathroom. “Then go tell on me to that guy. Is he a gangster? He fights really well.”

Hee-Jin tries to calm Dong-Min down. “I’ll explain why the situation is like this even though I didn’t lie or cheat.” Dong-Min doesn’t believe her.

Thankfully, Chun-Soo enters the room with the director. The director asks why Hee-Jin is wet. Hee-Jin lies that it is sweat. The director, looking back and forth between Dong-Min and Hee-Jin says, “Did you wash your face in sweat?”

Chun-Soo tries to ease the situation but the director has his suspicions and looks at Hee-Jin. The director says to Dong-Min that he looks well. Dong-Min denies that he is well. Dong-Min refuses to film with In Hyun Wang Hoo from now on. He wants all those scenes cut out. He can’t act with a cheating In Hyun Wang Hoo. He can’t pretend to be in love with her. Chun-Soo tries to calm Dong-Min down but Dong-Min continues to insist he can’t work with someone who can’t take care of her personal life. The director is astounded. Dong-Min points to Hee-Jin and calls her a two-timer and a pretentious liar.

Hee-Jin and the director are outside and Hee-Jin apologies. The director doesn’t know whom to believe but knows he will have to shoot the two of them apart for the time being.

The director leaves.

Hee-Jin sits in her car, worried and upset. She looks at her watch and remembers that Boong-Do is waiting for her. She calls the guesthouse. The owner picks up and tells her Boong-Do left. Hee-Jin is not sure if Boong-Do returned to Joseon time or if he is just temporarily out. She remembers that Boong-Do was up at the dawn. She thinks that he definitely went somewhere then. She also thinks back to earlier in the day when she pretended to have burned the amulet. She talks out loud, “Surely he doesn’t have a hidden woman in the Joseon era and is going back and forth between us?! He admitted he was a player.” Hee-Jin starts to imagine Boong-Do with gisaengs, laughing his head off. “Do you know what a player is?” Hee-Jin imagines Boong-Do saying to the gisaengs. (No, no! Not our Boong-Do!)

Hee-Jin shakes away this imagination. “It doesn’t suit him. But how do I know what he does there? I can’t even go back and see for myself.” (LOL. Risking his life to go back and forth between women. Uhm, I don’t think so. Oh wait. He IS risking his life to see A woman, though. Hehehehe.)

Yoon-Wool has come to see Young-Myung monk to confirm for him that Boong-Do had returned safely that night. She was worried that since the monk only received a letter of confirmation, he would still be uneasy. The monk reassures Yoon-Wol that he saw Boong-Do safe, face-to-face. Boong-Do came at dawn.

The monk and Boong-Do talk. Boong-Do came to the temple because he couldn’t sleep.

The monk tells Yoon-Wol that it seemed that Boong-Do’s worries had only increased since he found the amulet. Yoon-Wol asks, “What worries?” The monk responds, “It seemed like he wanted to go the new world.”

Hee-Jin is driving when she gets call. It is Boong-Do and he is at the park again. He was touring Seoul while waiting for her. Hee-Jin is upset that she worried when he out having fun. Boong-Do asks if anything happened to her. Did Dong-Min do something? Hee-Jin just tells him that she is not the type of person to just let people attack her. Boong-Do thinks Hee-Jin is exactly that kind of person.

Hee-Jin is parked near the phone booth already but she doesn’t hang up. “If you were that worried, you should have gone with me. You said you would take responsibility.” Boong-Do responds, “If I went, I think Dong-Min would have been more sick.” Hee-Jin frowns. “This is a situation when a cat pretends to care about a mouse. You said you would take responsibility but you don’t actually have any plans.” Boong Do responds, “I thought about it but couldn’t come up with anything. We can only wait for him to calm down.” Hee-Jin cannot believe what she is hearing. “You’re not just joking right now, are you?”

Boong-Do asks her if she is in her car. Hee-Jin tells him to stop turning the conversation around. Boong-Do tells her to open the glove compartment. She sees a ton of money in there. She quickly closes the compartment, grabs the cellphone, and leaves the car. “Why are you giving me the money? What am I supposed to do with it? Stop pretending to be a ‘chaebol’ from a manga/manwha/comic.”

Boong-Do asks her to use the money for him. “I need to stop using the payphone and wearing other people’s clothes. In order to meet you once, I have to keep running away to the countryside. I want to buy a house near where you live.” (Okay, starting to hyperventilate). “I need to buy a cellphone and some clothes. Will that money be enough?”

Hee-Jin responds, “The money is enough but…” Boong-Do continues, “I said I would take responsibility. I suddenly came into your world and turned it upside down. I don’t think it is enough to just be your boyfriend for some time or buy you an expensive car or spray water on him.”

Boong-Do: To take real responsibility is to always be by your side.

Hee-Jin had been walking slowly to the phone booth all this time and now she is finally in next to it. Boong-Do cannot see her yet. He continues to say, “How is that? I could only think of that solution.” When Hee-Jin remains silent for a long time, Boong-Do finally turns around and sees her.

Boong-Do tries to hang up the phone but Hee-Jin starts to speak. Boong-Do puts the phone to his ear again. Hee-Jin says, “That’s a wonderful solution.” Boong-Do asks, “Is that so?” She nods. “I sure know how to pick a person.” They smile at each other through the phone booth.

It starts to rain and Boong-Do immediately pulls Hee-Jin into the phone booth. They stand close together, watching the rain. (Lesson 13: Find the smallest phone booth in your town because it is going to be very useful.)

We cut away to what happened between Boong-Do and the monk the night before. The monk asks what worries Boong-Do. Boong-Do tells him he just ran straightforward trying to save his life and help the Queen. Now that everything has been solved and his memories are back….This place he is living in right now has become the past to him. Can he live well in this world?

We get a montage of Boong-Do touring Seoul. He sees people dressed in Joseon clothing and reads the plagues that commemorate history. We hear Boong-Do tell the monk, “I know how history will play out. I will now have to just live out my life as it is destined to. Is that how a human should really live? Can someone who already knows his destiny be happy?” Boong-Do is at the bookstore touching the spines of the Korean history books. He sees an open book of a European cathedral. “The future is now my present. I am questioning whether if the future is where I must live out my life.”

Yoon-Wol is shocked to hear this from the monk. The monk tells her that he thinks Boong-Do has created a relationship with someone there. Back with the monk and Boong-Do, the monk says, “I think I know what you are saying but will you be happy in a strange place where no one remembers you? There is nothing worse than loneliness.” Boong-Do agrees. “But if there is even just one person who remembers me, wouldn’t that live be different?”

Yoon-Wol asks the monk if Boong-Do really does want to leave here. The monk replies that it isn’t a decision easily made but it seems his heart is already pointed in that direction.

We get a flashback of Ja-Soo telling Minister Min about the amulet and how it is loyal to only Boong-Do. “He lives when he dies.” Minister Min instructs Ja-Soo to not kill Boong-Do. “He lives when he dies. He dies when he lives. Who’s to say Boong-Do won’t lose it all because of the amulet.”

Ja-Soo and the others are hurriedly making their way to the Queen’s parent’s house.

It is evening and Boong-Do and Hee-Jin are still inside the phone booth waiting for the rain to stop. (Who am I kidding? They are not waiting for the rain to stop. They just want any excuse to be as close to each other as possible.) They are looking at the European tour book that Boong-Do saw at the bookstore. He tells Hee-Jin that when he saw the picture of the cathedral, he wanted to go there. Hee-Jin teases him that he can’t travel since he doesn’t know English. “I guess I have to be your translator.” Boong-Do replies, “I think after one month of learning English, I will be better than you.” Hee-Jin can’t believe his confidence. She learned English for years. Boong-Do says that they can even bet on it. Hee-Jin wants to know where he got his confidence. Boong-Do asks her what the spelling of “curry” is. Hee-Jin replies, “c-a-r-r-e.” Boong-Do laughs and says, “See.” Hee-Jin insists that she is right.

Hee-Jin and Boong-Do continue to tease and laugh and talk as only lovers can do as the rain continues to fall. Hee-Jin narrates, “We met by coincidence. A strange meeting that started at the gap in time. The necessary ‘cause-and-effect’ of our coincidental meeting, and its end, were heading towards us.”

Comment:

Perfect, Perfect, Perfect.

I said it was perfect. I will take responsibility for those words. “How” you say? By giving you detailed recaps. I might die doing them but I have learned a lot from Boong-Do.

I don’t know how it gets better with each episode but this drama does. Today we got one important answer and several pertinent questions asked.

Hee-Jin wanted to know Boong-Do’s intentions and she got her answer. We now know for sure that Boong-Do plans to travel back and forth to see Hee-Jin. But the question that is now on his mind and ours is whether he will make his life here in the future with Hee-Jin permanent.

The effects and consequences of Boong-Do’s meddling with history and time travel had not been openly discussed in the drama so far but we now see those questions coming out. Boong-Do knows how history will play out. He knows much more than a person should. His life in the past, then, is just watching everything play out in front of him. How can someone live his or her life like that?

The easy answer would be to say that Boong-Do could just live in modern time with Hee-Jin. But the writer throws us in for a loop and reminds us that there is a balance to the amulet. “He lives when he dies. He dies when he lives.” Boong-Do lived for the sake of trying to reinstate the Queen. When he traveled through time, he wasn’t doing it solely for his life or happiness. But now it is a different story. Boong-Do is trying to live and is searching for his own happiness. The great looming question then becomes whether that means death for him.

Just when I thought that maybe the Joseon and time-travel part were starting to lose their significance, the writer once again raises the stakes. Now that’s a good drama. KEEP IT COMING!!!!!!

(My recaps keep getting longer and longer. Someone kill me. Or stop me from caring about this couple so much.)