Category Archives: Love & Relationships

Between Desire and Conscience: Dong Hoon’s Deliverance

@actionscript gives his perspective on Dong Hoon’s narrative arc and why it matters.

“When he is caught between desire and conscience, he always leans towards the latter.” Thus speaks Ki Hoon of his brother Dong Hoon in episode 1, and these words introduce us to the kind of man our protagonist is. I’d say it’s quite consistent with the image that Dong Hoon had exhibited in the first few scenes – in how gentle he was with the ladybug, and in how dutiful he was as a brother to both Sang Hoon and Ki Hoon. But Ki Hoon follows up those words with a seemingly ominous declaration: “I pity him the most.”

Continue reading Between Desire and Conscience: Dong Hoon’s Deliverance
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Love Grows Here: Hugye Restobar

For Park Dong Hoon, the neighborhood restobar is the safest place in Hugye, and he goes there whenever he wants to be alone, away from the observant eyes of the Hugye gang and Yoon Hee. Over the course of our story, it’s a place where he lets show his longing, smiles, worry, and even his tears.

It’s also the special spot where he invites Ji An to join him. From the time he takes Ji An there for a drink in Episode 6, to the time they have their bittersweet farewell in Episode 16, the restobar sees several important and increasingly-intimate scenes unfold between them.

As usual with other locations in this show, the restobar is packed with symbolism and things to discover. For one thing, there’s at least one male-female couple in almost every instance.

Continue reading Love Grows Here: Hugye Restobar

Ji An the Mentor

Commenter John Payne from the Man vs Drama YouTube threads writes:

The chance encounter between Dong Hoon and Ji An to complete My Mister is magical, from the onset when Ji An hears the voice she had become so intimate with, to the camera as it follows her over the shoulder to reveal a reborn young woman, standing in the beautiful sunlight and finishing with a handshake that is anything but.

It’s wonderful that Ji An, the mentor, has seen her student Dong Hoon become so happy. BUT WAIT, you may be thinking, Dong Hoon is obviously the mentor here. Hear me out though as I make my case. I think the Writer, Park Hae Young is brilliantly flipping the obvious roles of mentor/mentee here in ways that on the surface appear one way but in actuality are reversed.

Continue reading Ji An the Mentor

Yu Ra’s Movie: Ji An’s Life in 65 Seconds

Auditioning for her comeback film in Episode 8, Yu Ra has to deliver lines that surprisingly portray Ji An’s situation: “It’s a terrible pity that I’m younger than you, [Department Head]. I want to bite off your arms and legs, curse at you, and quit. But I have a loan to pay off. So I’m going to love you starting today.”

Much later, we get a treat when Ki Hoon goes to the movies and we see a snippet of the final film. It turns out Yu Ra’s character represents Ji An in more ways than one.

@actionscript at Soompi Forum writes:

The short movie clip of Yu Ra that is shown in Episode 16 was a metaphor for Ji An’s life.

Continue reading Yu Ra’s Movie: Ji An’s Life in 65 Seconds

Do Joon Young: Captain of the Ship

As mentioned in Part 1, Do Joon Young and Ji An spend a lot of time together. For someone who says, “What man would eat and drink with a woman he doesn’t like?” he meets up with her quite often. He even has her over to his house a couple of times. If only the Managing Directors knew about that!

Tracing the progression of Do Joon Young’s relationship with Ji An, we see how and when things start to turn against him. At first he believes (understandably) that Ji An is working with him to fire Park Dong Hoon. Then as he attempts to use her to trap Dong Hoon further, he starts observing troubling things about her — she seems to have feelings for the loser engineer! Suspicion turns to confirmation, confirmation turns to fear as Ji An starts working against him, and finally what he thought was a win-win situation crumbles.

By the end, Do Joon Young is our disgusted shipper in the show, the one that drives Ji An more into Dong Hoon’s orbit and then names the love between them. He had tried to pair them off to create a scandal….but his plan comes back to bite him.

Continue reading Do Joon Young: Captain of the Ship

All the Ending Scenes: A Deeper Look

by @actionscript from the Soompi Forum

It’s a K drama trope to end episodes with cliffhangers, and My Mister used it with great effectiveness. For My Mister, not only were these ending scenes cliffhangers, but most of them were the highlights of those episodes as well. Looking at these final scenes per episode, we get a glimpse of how the show moved the narrative forward.

The first 4 episodes established how the fates of Dong Hoon and Ji An have become intertwined:

Continue reading All the Ending Scenes: A Deeper Look

Yu Ra: Spokesperson for Ji An

Throughout the show we see close-ups of the other characters’ hands. But I noticed the show hardly ever shows Yu Ra and Ki Hoon’s hands — and I do think this is because the show wants us to listen carefully to what they’re actually saying.

Continue reading Yu Ra: Spokesperson for Ji An

The Beautifully Undefined Relationship

by deantrblss from tumblr

I think some people were right when they said there wouldn’t be any romance; there’s nothing romantic about Ji An and Dong Hoon’s story.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t love and heartbreak.

The degree and types of love fluctuates as the story progresses, but it’s clear that Ji An struck a chord Dong Hoon never even knew he had with that confession. Continue reading The Beautifully Undefined Relationship

My Mister Locations: Ji An’s House, #1

It starts with the question Yoon Hee poses to her husband, “Who is #1 in your life, honey?” He never answers her; I don’t think he could, for he himself does not know.  But as the story unfolds before us, is it possible that this mystery person in Dong Hoon’s life lives behind door number 1? Continue reading My Mister Locations: Ji An’s House, #1

Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly

by @oldschooler

Glass is hard yet transparent. It blocks entry, but at the same time allows us to peer into the space it shelters. Looking through a glass window or door, we see without touching. We are able to watch and scan every object, action and expression, but we should not be fooled for there is still an invisible barrier that shuts us out. And sometimes, if we look carefully, we see our own reflection. Continue reading Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly