Stories... And Other Stuff

Q. Hi! I really enjoyed reading all your additional insights on Goblin and was wondering if you know what the freshly drawn water for their wedding signified? I couldn’t quite catch what she was saying after suggesting that. Viki translates it as: “Mysteriously”, VIU is “Keep it mysterious” while in Dramafever it’s “It will be magical”? Thanks!

Eun-Tak : Let’s get married with a bowl of water. Mysteriously (or ‘Mystically’). 은탁 : 식은 정화수 한그릇 떠놓고 해요. 신비롭게.

The bowl of water is called Jeong-hwa-soo (정화수, 井華水) which literally means “The freshest and cleanest water of the day drawn from a well at dawn”.

Traditionally, Korean people often prayed at dawn in front of the bowl of freshly drawn water which symbolizes the most divine and purest offering to the supreme god.

(* I already talked about the supreme god called Chil-Seong-Shin (칠성신, 七星神) in my previous post about Korean Mythology in Goblin. Check it out)

When impoverished lovers hold a wedding without any money, or when forbidden lovers go for elopement and wed without any guest, they prepare a bowl of Jeong-hwa-soo for an offering to the supreme god and bow each other in front of the water. Even though there is no guest in this ceremony, the water means the supreme god is watching their marriage as a witness.

“You could have died. If the cut were a little deeper, you would have died.”

He is so frantic and angry at her and it’s because he knows how close she was to death and the realization that he would have to live in a world without her in shakes him deeply. 

“Did you think about what it’s like to live with a scar on your body?”

The mere thought that Hae Soo wilingly harmed and mutilated herself makes So utterly livid, because now she’s sentenced herself to a life of stigma, a life he’s been living for 15 years now, and that’s something Wang So doesn’t want for her. Fate really does work in strange ways - on one hand it’s driving them to each other because when HS gives herself the scar she unwittingly gives herself and So the chance to be lovers in the future. However, on the other, that same fate is working against them because that very scar (a scar everyone in the Palace knows about) and her family’s ruin (the solution So suggested to his father) are the very reasons he won’t be able to marry her and make her his queen. 

“I just couldn’t do it. No one can save me but myself. That’s what I thought and that’s why I did it. Once I came to…this happened.”

OMG, THAT LOOK IN HIS EYES WHEN SHE TELLS HIM!!! “In this world, you’re the only one who’s on your side,” THAT THE WORDS SO TOLD HAE SOO HIMSELF AND NOW SHE IS BASICALLY PARAHPRASING THEM IN FRONT OF HIM! And it breaks him! He’s just promised himself that he will be the one to protect her, hasn’t he?! Her words rattle him because while he might hate the fact HS hurt himself, in the end he does understand why she did it and can relate to it because it’s the same for him - the instinct to protect yourself no matter what, no matter the odds or how strong the opponent is because it beats everything, even the fear of consequences. SHE IS SO BRUTALLY HONEST ABOUT HERSELF AND EVERYTHING WITH HIM! Compared to such intensity and sincerity her “conversation” with Wook after she woke up feels so empty and terribly lacking. You can see from the way how overwrought and desperate HS is, that she’s been bottling it up all inside, not having anyone to confide in about it (no mother, no best friend) because everyone’s been tiptoeing around that topic, afraid to talk about it, afraid to hurt her or make her uncomfortable. However, with So she does talk about things that really matter, no matter how painful or awkward - he has the ability to draw her out of her shell. It’s So, not Wook, she tells all these things, it’s HIM SHE SHARES HERSELF WITH - her innermost thoughts, her fears, weaknesses and insecurities - BECAUSE IN THE DEEPEST RECESSES OF HER HEART SHE KNOWS HE IS THE ONE WHO WOULD UNDERSTAND HER AND WON’T JUDGE HER!

“You stupid girl. Don’t do this again. I won’t ever forgive you.”

Yoo Ah-In sent a coffee truck to “Doctors (a.k.a Doctor Crush)” set to cheer Yoo Gyun-Sang up. The banner is saying….

“Moo-Hyul, you must be having a hard time because of the hot weather.” - From your former master, Yi Bang-Won.

And Moo-Hyul’s response is…

"Musa Moo-Hyul! I’ll be sure to beat the summer heat and finish this shooting without any mistake!” #Yoo Ah-In #Yi Bang-Won #My Lord #Your Highness #Master #Hyung-nim #Hyung @hongsick