True Friendship Always Has True Love
Working-Class Mr. Ahn's Unscheduled Visits to Dr. Yeon's Clinic continues...
Missed Part 1? Start here → PART 1
Warning: this post deals with some heavier psychological topics and dark fictional elements. Everything here is totally fictional.
Neanderthals in Suits
Asuka: Ah yikes! I hope no trace of a hangover plagued you on Monday. I too am a repository of friends' marriage sob stories. Some of these are wilder than the average K-drama.
That's why I retain a sort of drinking discipline, goodness knows what witchery I would release if I succumbed to alcohol. So I put my humble acting skills to good use: resting a tipsy face in both palms; using diaphragmatic speech that echoes back from the furthest wall of a small club; cracking a sex-joke out of character. Apparently my role play is convincing enough for me to block inane conversation, slip out early, freshen up back home and settle down for a book. (Although from May to August my literary interests were happily replaced by WH and its related commentary videos — yours — and also other dramas and stuff by Choi Hyunwook and Park Jihoon. It looks set to persist.)
I spent half of Monday sick in bed. As in, I was in bed daydreaming of sweet tortures for Suho, and this is a fairly sick activity. Looking forward to what wicked ideas Chuseok hatches for you.
I watched the wonderful Misaeng several years back, and the dreadful after-work drinking culture depicted in the show reminded me of Japan's awful nomikai. People swagger into the izakayas and stagger out. Gross. And unproductive. I prefer to keep my mind clear for deluded thoughts.
Ah Jangsu, that bastard. Hahaha Shin Seungho has really beaten up some pretty boys in his career. But yes, if Suho had been without his charisma (and his fists of punishment), and Junho without his quietly stubborn will, I think both guys would have received all sorts of abuse, not excluding sexual abuse. Male apes can ravage modesty out of some deep evolutionary impulse to assert dominance. Clearly some men are just Neanderthals in suits.
Caged & Feet
Asuka: Hmm yes, that's true.
The real wound? Those stolen teenage years — Oh Beom's "feet" caused that damage.
Yes, the 'feet' metaphor aligns perfectly!
Hehehe yes — I need to put him through a bit of a wrangle. When he finds out Beomseok has touched Si-eun, and Si-eun doesn't resist, this should really cause him to fall apart...
Beyond the darkening beer and thickening walls, glimpsing Suho's humiliated profile kissing those "feet" — this little devil's tail wags with glee, hahaha.
Suho couldn't fathom that one touch of his jelly-soft lower lip anywhere could claim those feet entirely. Gentle head stroking would probably make this daddy-issue sufferer tremble and weep with his whole body. (Wicked...)
Belittle Friendship
J: Subscriber Elaine, deeply inspiring like you, said: "People tend to belittle friendship compared to love."
Asuka: She's right. They do!
From what little I know of common Christian beliefs, I think the Lord Jesus says something like 'no greater love has one for another, than he who lays his life down for his friends.' In other words, kind of like what Si-Eun and Suho have.
Sometimes, after couples divorce, best friends still remain. Some best friends would die for each other. I know this. There is by no means just one type of true love.
True Friendship Always Has True Love
Asuka: Yep, I said it before, and I'll say it again: True friendship always has true love.
A bruised-up Suho, dehydrated and still concussed from a bat to the head, actually looks like he would lose his first fight. Then, a desperate Si-eun protects Suho with a belt and an attitude that screams, "Don't touch him, you bastard." One loving brick to the knee and one romantic kick to the face later, and the two high schoolers have subdued their local gang lord. And then they exchange thoughts so precious, they echo in Si-eun's warmest dream.
Some couples pronounce affection like hastily written Christmas cards, and even when they are together their minds are lost in their own little separate phone-worlds. But Si-eun and Suho's actions speak louder than words, and their words mean more than what they say. I think… they are saying "I love you" all the time.
J: Our beloved final scene "Yellow Hospital Light Sequence" contains what I consider the most admirable wordplay:
Si-eun: "Sorry" (미안해/MIANHAE) — Suho: "Me too" (나도/NADO)
When Si-eun suddenly says "mianhae" — I hear "saranghae" (사랑해/I love you). Two heterosexual boys post-tragedy using wordplay to hide sincerity, as teenage boys do. Both "mianhae" and "saranghae" end with the action verb "hae." Si-eun actually said, "I love you", and Suho's faint smile with "me too" was the automatic romantic response.
Asuka: What a beautiful interpretation. Thank you for this.
J: Suho was Sieun's first love. If that's not love, what is? This sparked our deluluverse arc, haha.
Asuka: I'm not a shipper, and I realize the mortifying irony of having mapped out a deluluverse with several thousand words in recent days. For this I can only offer Beomseok's defence: "I don't know why I did it." But no award-winning tear is going to flow out of my eye. Because I'm gonna do some more. Although mine is a paperback crusted with heartbreak.
Ssibal
Asuka: Absolutely hahaha. My conservative friend noticed Si-eun used his very first 'ssibal' only towards Beomseok, and it is hissed out with such wounded breath. Of course, we all know he soon births another 'ssibal.' That one has the sound of his soul being torn out.
And that face. If I ever meet him in a fan-signing (deluluverse speech I know), I'm going to print that face out and ask him to sign next to it.
Who is Jennie? Bricklayer. Local correspondent for the Yeon Clinic deluluverse. A sous chef who checks whether the soup actually tastes like Seoul. A specialist who designs this kitchen to hold more than Suho's coma — philosophy, history, society, culture, stacked one recipe at a time.
Who is Asuka? Head nurse and main chef of the Yeon Clinic. A Scheherazade who sings the Song of Achilles she found shelved next to a book on Zen Buddhist masters. Fluent in several languages, conversant in single malts and the precise emotional damage of Weak Hero Class 1. Signs off as ASL. (Always starch linen.)
This free ebook will ruin you. In the best way. A character analysis of Si-eun, Su-ho and Beom-seok that goes beyond what subtitles can carry. Take it — it's free → DOWNLOAD HERE
This post was originally published on Jennie's blog in the autumn of 2025. The original blog has since moved to Blogger due to hosting changes — welcome to the new home.
Comments
Post a Comment