#love you too moo kang T-T

[tatasoom]

"Someone said that if we love listening to the same song, it's because that song stimulates the release of endorphins, serotonin, oxytocin, and other happiness-inducing substances. This could be due to a beautiful memory, love, or any experience we had when we first heard the song. Simly put, we're touched by the song. I hope everyone is so touched by our love song that it becomes a part of the playlist of your heart.

Thank you.

See you.

Muah. Love you.

Love you all. Bye."

[youmarin]

"The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" rant.

*Spoilers below*

Gotta get it off my chest. Mostly bc I hurt for Kim Moo Young .

I read the series summary and I was like, "Mmm okaaay there's gonna be trauma here." To be honest I didn't think grandly of him during the first episodes. Actually I didn't know what to think of Kim Moo Young. A very goodlooking mf who's a loner. He grew in an orphanage after the incident and well he seemed to care for the nuns there but that was it. He didn't let anyone close or felt anything for anyone (the closest thing before things developed was that coworker of his but even they didn't appear too close to be called friends? idk).

Until he overheard that conversation between Seung Ah and Jang Woo Sang, he didn't seem to do stuff that would make him go out of his way. He seemed to be looking to entertain himself even at the cost of other people's well being. That was because he normally was numb minded. He didn't understand people's behaviour, like for example, why people "had" to do things they didn't really want to do. So when he taunted Seung Ah (even though it must've been uncomfortable. I felt like that watching it), I thought, "He's being quite an asshole, but maybe that's his way to try and help her step up for herself?". Think about it, things are never as easy as just saying it. She thought she couldn't get herself out of that situation but Moo Young didn't see things like that. He saw things differently. And so he was like, "If you don't wanna do it then don't." Simple as that.

Seung Ah fell for Moo Young because of that. And I don't think she really loved him either. She was clinging to him to escape her own life, one that was mostly decided for her and that she didn't want. (Plus they've "known" each other for like 2 months. C'mon.)

Still at this point, Moo Youngs motivations regarding Seung Ah were obviously messed up. "I wanted to know what drives a rich girl.", the whole bunch of lies, working up people for the fun of it. I wasn't a fan. He really gave an uneasy feeling (and with that face too. I was like, "Damn he's so fine but something's really wrong with him. Can't say I like him but I don't unlike him" lmao). And all that game got two people killed (which of course he didn't plan on it to end like that, and it was her fiancé, speeding and being drunk off his ass that didn't even bother to press the breaks before they crashed. ). But feeling nothing over it? Something's up up there in his head.

Same with Lim Yu Ri. He keeps her from ending her life and she catches feelings (he collects broken girls and broken girls love him 💀). He learns she's on a tough spot with another girl who's extorting her. And he intervenes again and helps someone who's also clearly not in her right mind to commit murder. Moo Young stands and watches. And then goes and cleans it up. ( 🚩❗)

Seung-Ah's and Jeong Mi Yeon's death were not his doing. Directly. But he did stuff that lead to that end. And still, no remorse, no guilt. Nothing. Again, technically he didn't do it so why would he feel those? But well, any other person would, wouldn’t they?

It's understandable and logical for Jin Gook to be a worried brother and not want Jin Kang near him. Oh but wait! Jin Gook might know the guy! From way back when he was a little boy! He's aware of the great possibility that Moo Young might be actually the son of a criminal he accidentally shot to death more than twenty years ago. And that Jin Kang and Moo Young's pasts are linked. But Jin Gook is scared for Jin Kang and more scared for himself to face the past and burst the bubble he's been trying to keep for so long (though it's still eating him alive).

Unfortunately for him, Jin Kang falls in love with Moo Young and for her, Moo Young decides to try an be a good person and stop acting as he had been until then. With her help.

"Promise me you'll be a good person." "Then teach me."

And he starts getting curious again about the past he'd forgotten about thanks to (funny, huh) the car crash he was in with Seung Ah and Jang Woo Sang. And what does Jin Gook decides to do? Stab. the. guy. A police officer. Oh and after calling Moo Young a murderer, a devil and everything he could come up with. Talking big when he had also killed someone (be it an accident, that the person was a murderer and that he might've ended up sentenced with death anyway, it doesn't take away that he killed someone).

And then everyone at the station being normal about it?? "Oh there was no report." Nobody investigated shit. Tak So Jung saw the footage and still did shit about it. But that also lead to Moo Young seeking the doctor (the doctor who let go an amnesic 7 year old boy from a hospital alone to who knows where with nobody to take care of him. Just relying on chance, "Maybe it'll be better". Like some sort of study subject.).

More questions were brought to Moo Young. The only thing the doctor could tell him was that his father fell to his death. But he knew that wasn't it because every time that the memory came he saw and heard a gun fired. So he goes to where they say his father died, finds his house (that scene when he's inside the house and the memories come back full force that he falls to the ground. Ok, kill me now that was so intense.) And he finds out that his girlfriend's brother is his father's killer. Now, how can he tell her that?

He goes back, he's angry, he has to know the rest. He breaks into Jin Gook and Jin Kang's house. Finds an old missing child poster with his picture in it. Then he reaches out for help with Jang Woo Sang's older sister (from the people he got tangled with in the beginning and that Jin Kang had stopped him from getting involved with again. And Jin Kang had told him that those people were capable of anything. Honestly didn't get that woman's deal. She was really a bitch who loved nobody and loved toying with people. Girl, get a life won't you. Mind your business.) He asks for a gun and breaks in again into their house. When Jin Gook arrives he sees Moo Young's shoes in the entryway. And he admits that he shot his father. Moo Young asks why and tells him he ruined his childhood and family. But was he really going to shoot him? I don't know. I really want to believe he wouldn’t shoot him. Because Jin Gook is important to Jin Kang. And I know he said a couple of times "You're just you to me." Which basically I translate to "The hell with your brother." (plus he stabbed him. I have resentment over that lol. Like, what was the reason?).

But I'm glad we didn't see that happen (for Moo Young. The grudge again 💀). Later he finds out that the story he had made around his drawing, the sole clue he was left with for a long time was actually not true. His dad, who he thought had in a moment searched for him, was not a police officer (that was Jin Gook, in fact), it was a murderer. A murderer who killed his mom and two others (when I heard about the other two people that's when I realized, "Ok those are Jin Kang's parents" and the idea that popped into my head when Tak So Jung told Jin Gook "If that's the boy you were searching they can't be together.", that Jin Kang and Moo Young were siblings, was wrong. But they scared me for a sec. with that. I was like, "Hell nah I love SIG but what's up with his dramas always having smthn (the age gaps in Café Minamdang and High School King of Savvy? Mostly the Minamdang one. Don't get me wrong I still loved the shows but there was that fact that eek! Aand now incest? Pls no. And thank GOD it wasn't. Phew 😬😅😂)

Continuing, Moo Young feels disgusted (for someone who barely felt anything now he feels this great love for Jin Kang and is so troubled with all the things he's found out, and the things still left for him to know) and that it now makes sense his way of being. The Dr. tells him his past and his father's doing have nothing to do with him and that he's an example of that.

"You're just you."

The "I love you" text. She knew he was in pain.

"Are you really ok with who I am?" "I want to be born again." 🥺💔

"To be born again you have to live in a warm house. A warm house smells like warm rice."

And when she got burnt and he was so worried and it brought another piece of the puzzle of his memory. He and Jin Kang had been together all along.

(Also that scene of them comparing their scars? I was not okay.💔) "They look like a map. And we followed that map to get here."

But he got it wrong and believed they were siblings (also bc of that lying bitch of Jang Woo Sang's sister. Honestly I didn't think he'd believe her. He always was so "Don't trust people, people are nothing." So clever, used to lie and play around like that that I thought he'll ask for proof or something. But that was how he remembered it and well the bitch hadn't lied to him until that point so oh well) and couldn't tell Jin Kang because he loved her. But not the way a brother loves a sister. And how could he tell her that yes, your dad is the same as mine, a murderer who killed our mom and two more people. And even when he found out that thankfully they were not siblings he still didn't want Jin Gook to tell her anything because still the truth wasn't much better. His father killed her parents.

And then Kim Moo Young commited murder trying to protect Jin Kang when he didn't have to.

"I killed someone when I felt human the most."

Jin Kang unable to believe it and breaking down saying he couldn’t have done it, that he couldn’t even stand seeing a bird or a fish hurt. Because she knew him better than anyone. He truly was sensitive.

How Moo Young hugged Jin Gook (See that? No need for hurting him more, man.) Left him a note. Signed with his real name. 💔

"When I met Jin Kang I was able to breathe again." 😭

And when she pointed a gun to her forehead his façade vanished.

"Go back."

"To where? You've been there from the start."

The fucking ending. She made him admit that he wanted to live right before that mf came in and shot her first, that being the last thing he saw, breaking his heart one last time before he was shot and died too.

How she didn't get to say "I love you" back. He only got to say it while he was dying and she just texted it to him. And it was probably the first time he remembered ever saying it to someone. Like when Jin Kang asked him if he had ever really liked someone and he said, "you."

How in the beginning he was the one who looked over and treasured Jing Kang but no one looked over him for so long until she came around again years later without remembering him and finally showed him love.

(And how it was her voice now that woke him up from the nightmare/memory.)

I hated that they always kept Jin Kang in the dark. Like, tell her something pls. Enlighten the woman too. She died and never got to know the mess that made Moo Young break up with her. She missed so much. Trying to protect her that much ended bad.

How different would've been things maybe if Moo Young also had had someone like Jin Kang did. (?)

If Jin Gook had told them everything!!! Instead of being so against them. Moo Young made mistakes but he then tried (and it really showed in his eyes how he instantly regretted it when Jin Gook treated him like that. Because he wasn't doing it for him, he was doing it for Jin Kang.). And Jin Gook was always like, "You can start afresh" (even though he always carried his grief and regret but still, he tried to believe that but apparently that didn't apply to Moo Young or wtf).

Loved, loved, loved the scene when they first slept together, how full of love and how they couldn't help their laughter because of how happy they were at that momemt. All the times she squished his face. So cute hahah. And when he carried her inside his house. How she helped him make his house a home. He didn't even have a single glass because, what was the need for those things? He's the only one who's ever there.

And that scene when he's looking at the night sky and cries and Jin Kang appears there. "How didn't I know? There are so many beautiful things in the world." And then the shot shows him lying there alone. I don't have a heart anymore, this show stepped on it and shattered it. 💔 It was so sad but such a beautiful scene.

When she told her smthn like, I hope you always have things like plants to water and food you have to eat before it spoils and that those stuff cling to you and all that. For him to keep living and enjoying the simple things. Things that in the end they didn't have the chance to live for. 🥺🥲

Other stuff that ended me:

"You planted love in her heart". "I don't believe it but I hope it's true."

"You protected her with your tiny body." "Now I feel proud of my big, ugly scar." (And this got me thinking how he protected her back then and then she did the same and took the bullet for him. But in the end both got burned and both were shot 💔💔💔)

And the songs "Lost", "Star". Loved them. And "Hidden Memory" (again, that whole scene).

Anyways, great name. I have puffy eyes thanks to this drama. The smile left me eyes.

I'll edit this if something else comes up in my head later but I had to write all these so I can process what I just finished watching yesterday evening.

[stormyoceans]

silly pinkybrain is here. it seems to me that all brain rot was collected in trailer 23.5. now i can find almost nothing except:

the melody from vv and ltw fins in almost every part (when i heard in the divination scene the melody from the scene in which day secretly covered the distance of one palm with the sleeping mork, i screamed)

we can't say goodbye to each other for a long time before the bike

to give flowers

lettering on t-shirts

being sad at a bday party

blue swing and purple bag it's a pity that i can't share anything at the moment. for some reason, my spring mood is completely out of spring. mb we all need part 2gmm to fix this. i've seen your posts for me. you're very sweet, monica.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/29/51/4c/29514c701568a3144bd40824c74b5ee5.png

PINKYBRAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

HI DEAREST IT'S SO NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! i hope this won't make you feel pressured in any way, but i do want you to know that i've missed you and that im really glad you're okay!!!!!! although im sorry to hear your mood is still stuck in winter, even if i can kinda understand you on this. i do desperately need GMMTV 2024 part 2 to just happen and bring a breath of fresh air or at least a new jimmysea series to obsess over

im actually enjoying 23.5 tremendously, but when it comes to the vv brainrot i agree that most of it seems to have been concentrated in the trailer and the first episode, and then it slowly died down. the only thing i wanted to bring up and add to your list is the moon watching over both talay and ongsa

i don't think it's the exact same lamp(?) but it's still enough to give me brainrot ;;;;;;;

speaking of which, idk if you're watching only boo, but the show is actually giving me unexpected vv brainrot!!!!!! moo, the main character, feels a lot like puentalay's love child (he wears a bucket hat and has a big dream he's working hard to achieve but is also very open to love and says the cheesiest things) and the communication between him and kang reminds me of puentalay too. im not sure if it's your kind of show but i still wanted to throw it out there!!!!

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 4: Worlds Estranged

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

Read from beginning or find previous chapters here: Stories

All that’s left to write together is an epilogue.

Chapter 131 - Oh Yeon Joo and Kang Chul Have A Future (1560 words)

On Monday morning, Seok Bum stuck his head into the office and said, "Oh, hey Yeon Joo. Been a bit since I saw you here."

He sat at his desk, and started to write an e-mail, then stopped and peered at her.

"Are you...humming? Did something good happen?"

And Yeon Joo knew she was blushing, but she wasn't ashamed to say, "Yes. My beautiful friend from out of town that you didn't like hanging around Soo Bong is here now.

"Oh, congratulations!" He went back to typing for a minute.

After sending his e-mail though, he rolled his chair over to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Really, I'm so relieved to see you happy. We should all go get dinner sometime. I don't resent him anymore, I promise." After a pause he said, "Wait, how did you know I disliked him hanging around Soo Bong?"

"Soo Bong thought it was really funny, at the time."

Seok Bum made a disgusted noise, and wheeled himself back to his own computer. Soon after this, their productivity was again cut short by the appearance of Mad Park.

"Oh Yeon Joo, I saw a file today that made me think of your father. It's another six months before he comes in for his check-in, so I thought I'd see if you were here. How's he doing?"

"He's doing well. Did you see the release about the animated adaptation?" she added with a false air of innocence.

"That studio has produced nothing but saccharine love story comics! Absolutely not!"

"You know the rights have been picked up before, you only have to worry if it goes into production."

"No, no, no. What we need is a gritty drama, a procedural, and scrap the last volume or two. Maybe starring Won Bin!"

"Speaking of the last volume or two, Oh Yeon Joo's boyfriend who looks like Kang Chul is back," said Seok Bum, forever sowing the seeds of chaos. "That's why she's looking so well today."

Unexpectedly, Supervisor Park gave her a close look, and said, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. You've had a tough time. What's his name?"

"Kang Chul."

"Funny," said Mad Park. "Just as well."

"Why is it just as well?" Seok Bum asked. "Was there someone else you had in mind? That guy I saw MK yelling at the other day?"

"I don't want to talk about that," said Mad Park. "My spirit is broken. And I blame you as much as your father, Oh Yeon Joo!"

He walked away.

"What were you saying about MK?"

"Oh, one of Barking Mad's friends was here, but he was having an argument with MK. I think you got set up with him once. Tall guy, handsome-ish. Apparently up to MK's weight in a fight, which is really something."

Yeon Joo wasn't sure how to think about that. Clearly she needed to catch up with MK soon. She made a mental note to text her--later.

Mad Park stuck his head back in to say, "And that epilogue did not cut it by half! The script has to be by someone who will get it on track. I did like the twist with So Hee, but I hope your father read my comments about the final love-line."

"I assure you he did not," said Yeon Joo waving him away.

-

They were laying skin-to-skin, not ready to fall asleep when Chul summoned the courage to ask, "When did you first think that this might really work? Not closing W's narrative--us together."

He felt her take a breath to speak, ribs pressing a little deeper against his.

"That's a kind of complicated answer. But when you came here and were so appreciative of Soo Bong letting you stay with him, though it was not a great apartment or situation? I was relieved, because you seemed to be able to deal with real world inconveniences with grace."

"But that was nothing," he protested.

"The fact that you thought so meant a lot to me," she said, fingers gently brushing his collarbone. "I didn't know how much your privilege in W would form you."

"Ah, I see. My memories of my childhood are of a very normal home, though."

"What about you? You must be asking because you've been considering it."

"It was a process for me, too. But I have to say when you asked me firmly to let you finish eating, after sneaking into So Hee's apartment, I had this sense that I was experiencing something new and important."

She chuckled. "Yes, someone who wasn't an actual side character."

"Not just that. Even here, people look at me a certain way because of how I look. Or the expertise I have, or whatever. But you looked past that. You can see me, under the all-caps KANG CHUL of my origin."

"I'd already had a chance to become a little resistant to your face," she said, still amused.

"When we met again, after I'd gone into hiding, I understood why you were so devastated every time you met me. But you had still risked your life to help me, and you continued to do your best for me. Even being gentle when I fell in love with you, though it was such a hard thing for you to deal with."

"Was I kind?" she mused.

"Yes," he said firmly. "Because you didn't run away. You were honest with me."

"Looks like it all paid off on my end."

He accepted that she was not going to see herself as a hero in any way, and didn't protest again. It was enough that he'd let her know.

"In case you're tempted to cast yourself in the light of the sole beneficiary," she said after a moment, "what we went through together, all this time, gave me a fresh start. When I saved your life I was on hiatus from medicine and not sure I'd ever go back to it. I didn't remember creating a character that then became so popular, and I didn't know what I was capable of in hard circumstances. This story saved me, too."

"Then it's worth it, and I'm glad," Chul said.

His love in his arms, he listened to the erratic pulse of cars and city life, real and alive.

End Notes, from Park Soo Bong:

When I first set out to write the story of Kang Chul and Oh Yeon Joo, I planned to set the record straight. I realized eventually that even with first-hand accounts and raw material to draw from, I was creating yet another version of the truth. It was a little bit more story than real in some parts, because it made a great narrative. I hope you enjoyed the story you read, and it answers a few questions you might have had.

And now, since it is a story, just like W the comic I'll leave you with the fitting conclusion:

EPILOGUE

Understandably, all those involved in creating W felt wary of continuing work in manhwa after this and moved into different fields.

Park Soo Bong worked as a consultant on new comics under Editor Kim until he sold his first novel. Acclaimed as psychological horror with vivid settings and relatable characters, it sold well, and he is known a prolific writer with a knack for subverting expectations, sometimes with surrealist twists.

Oh Seung Moo's retirement from comics was considered dubious by the general public after the several false ends of his webtoon, but he never released any more material. He created a blog where he reviewed comics which enjoys a modest readership. His die-hard fans loved it while his detractors noted he seemed more focused on aesthetics than substantive writing. Nevertheless, his words of appreciation have encouraged many a new creator in a tough business.

Kang Chul got the job at the publishing house that sold his manhwa using an assumed name. He did well in management and eventually started his own division specializing in true crime and cold case books. He did particularly well interfacing with television companies, and a contract with his imprint was considered a foot in the door for adaptation. After getting more established, he also founded a prize in literature for investigative writing, with a clear mission to vindicate the falsely accused or expose those who escaped justice.

Oh Yeon Joo continued to work in diagnostics and post-surgery support rather than operations at Myung Se until Barking Mad Park recommended her to a colleague at the university who was doing a paper on traumatic impact of emergency surgery on hospital workers. Discovering this field of inquiry was a light-bulb moment. She studied counseling, became licensed, and specializes in medical trauma for both patients and medical personnel.

A year after registering their marriage, Oh Yeon Joo and Kang Chul had a small wedding at which both her parents, Mad Park, MK, Park Soo Bong and Kang Seok Bum were present. There were no arguments or gunshots or even tears, barring Yeon Joo's mother's slight emotional moment saying goodbye to the couple on their way back home. (She tentatively likes Kang Chul, mainly because Yeon Joo is happier now, and partly because her daughter isn't getting any younger.)

And while they still live today, in our world, they are all very happy to have made it to The End.

[dramaworlduk]

  Drama recommendations!

Part 2!!

<-Part 1

11. The Legend Of The Blue Sea

There’s history, mythology, mystery, romance, and comedy- what more could you want?! Heo Joon-jae (Lee Min-ho) is the son of a rich businessman who becomes a handsome and clever con-man after his parents' divorce. Shim Cheong (Jun Ji-hyun) is a mermaid who becomes lost and runs into him. First only sticking by her for material gain, Joon-Jae slowly realises his feelings are a little stronger than that. Their tale is juxtaposed with the parallel story of their Joseon era incarnations, town head Kim Dam-ryeong and the mermaid Se-hwa. Cheong is absolutely adorable as she learns to adapt to human life, and strikes up friendships with some of the strangest people. Joon-Jae is a scumbag with a heart and a tragic past and it is very difficult not to love them both. The added element of mystery with a murderer on the loose and Cheong’s attempt to hide her identity make for a full and intriguing story that you won’t want to take your eyes off of.

Year: 2016

Where Can I Watch?: KissAsian

Episodes: 20, 1hr length

12. Pinocchio

Choi In-Ha (Park Shin-Hye) hiccups every time she lies. Choi Dal-Po’s (Lee Jong-Suk) life was ruined by the lies the media spread about his family. He is adopted by In-Ha’s family and they grow up together, battling back their feelings for each other and the cutthroat business of reporting which they’ve both found themselves pursuing. It explores the value and falldowns of honesty and how the media can be manipulated and faked. Friends->lovers plus lovely family bonds and the importance of empathy. Very good drama, emotive and charming, 100% recommend.

Year: 2014

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 20, 1hr length

13. The Heirs

This ones a really good one if you’re starting off, as it’s not too heavy or complicated. Kim Tan (Lee Min-Ho),  a wealthy heir to a large Korean conglomerate, and Cha Eun-Sang (Park Shin-Hye) meet in America when Eun-Sang goes to visit her sister. After a failed encounter, Kim Tan offers to let Eun-Sang stay with him before she goes back to Korea. Despite being engaged to Yoo Rachel (Kim Ji-won), a fellow heiress, Kim Tan soon falls in love with Eun-sang. When Eun-Sang returns to Korea, Kim Tan also returns.  Tan’s ex best friend Choi Young-Do (Kim Woo-Bin) notices Tan’s softspot for the new girl and begins to pursue her too. It explores teenage trials and tribulations in the lives of the rich and the poor, as well as pressures from the adult world. 

Year: 2013

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 20, 1hr length

14. Hymn Of Death

This three-parter channels Titanic with its tragic love story and historical setting. You go into this knowing there will be heartbreak, but it still hurts so much!!  It is based on the true story of the tragic romance between Joseon's first soprano Yun Sim-deok (Shin Hye-Sun) and a genius playwright Kim Woo-jin (Lee Jong-Suk). It is heartbreaking to see the two fall for eachother knowing they cannot be together for far too many reasons. It spans a number of years and their love remains strong throughout. The quotes in this from Woo-jin’s real journals are beautiful too and add to the real life story. A must watch, if not for the story, then for Shin Hye-Sun and Lee Jong-Suk’s acting which is fantastic throughout.

Year: 2018

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 3, 1hr length

15. My Love From Another Star

Alien Do Min-Jun (Kim Soo-Hyun) whose time on earth is nearly up meets Famous actress Cheong Song-Yi (Jun Ji Hyun) as she moves in next-door to him. He finds himself entangled in Song-yi's crazy and unpredictable situations, and finds out that she looks like a young girl he fell in love with in the Joseon era. Song-Yi’s best friend Lee Hee-kyung (Park Hae-jin), is in love with her, but his older brother Lee Jae-kyung (Shin Sung-rok) has a dark secret and will get rid of anyone who finds out about it or gets in his way. This drama can be very intense at times wih the threat of Jae-kyung, but Song-Yi’s sweet, comedic personality serves for some very humourous moments too.

Year: 2014

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 21, 1hr length

16. W: Two Worlds

Bad boy with a heart of gold?? Comic book world??? Violence and mystery?? Adorable, loyal sidekick?? Badass doctor who can travel between worlds?? LEE JONG SUK LOOKING HOT WITH A GUN?? W has it all. The premise is new and exciting, making for unpredictable plot twists and constant need for questions to be answered. W is a fictional bestselling webtoon in South Korea centering around the dramatic life of Kang Chul (Lee Jong-suk). Authored by Oh Seong-moo (Kim Eui-sung), somewhere along the line W became a living universe. The gap between the two worlds is crossed as Seong-moo's daughter, resident cardiothoracic surgeon Oh Yeon-joo (Han Hyo-joo) gets dragged into the webtoon world and is immediatel faced with saving Kang Chul’s life. Only, Kang Chul wasn’t meant to live. If you do one thing this year it should be to WATCH W. It’ll do you good, I promise.

Year: 2016

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 16, 1hr length

17. While You Were Sleeping

A girl who sees the future in her dreams, and a seemingly unconnected new neighbour are brought together through a series of events. It is legal drama crossed with fantasy as Jung Jae-Chan (Lee Jong-suk) starts a new job at the prosecutor’s office despite his clumsy, goofy personality. Jae-Chan dreams about an accident which causes much grief and loss, and decides he must try to stop it, and in doing-so his connection with Nam Hong-Joo (Bae Suzy) is strengthened and their relationship blossoms. There are some great dynamics here, not only between Jae-Chan and Hong-Joo, but also with their friend Han Woo-Tak (Jung Hae-in), who begins to dream of the future too after his life is saved, and Choi Dam-Dong (Kim Won-hae) who is a funny but sweet father figure to Jae-Chan as he teaches him the ways of life as a prosecutor. Ruthless lawyer Lee Yu-Beom (Lee Sang-yeob)’s portayal is magnetic and captivating.

Year: 2017

Where Can I Watch?: KissAsian

Episodes: 32, 30min length

18. My ID Is Gangnam Beauty

Afraid of how her peers perceive her, Kang Mi-Rae (Im Soo-hyang) undergoes plastic surgery to stop worrying about her looks before she starts university. However, after a while at university people begin to label her as a ‘Gangnam plastic surgery monster’ as her appearance is a bit too obviously altered. Mi-rae struggles with her concerns of what people think about her, which has followed her around her whole life, in a stark contrast to Do Kyung-seok (Cha Eun-Woo), who does not care what others think. The general message of body positivity isn’t without its flaws, but it brings discussions of insecurity and societal standards to the forefront. The good messaging outweighs the flaws by far and there is also a fair bit of feminism going on, just keep track of Mi-rae’s T-shirt slogans! The relationship between Kyung-seok and Mi-rae is very sweet and shy, and Kyung-seok likes her regardless of what others think. Lighthearted but with an important message.

Year: 2018

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 16, 1hr length

19. She Was Pretty

Kim Hye-Jin’s (Hwang Jung-eum) childhood friend contacts her years later wishing to reconnect. However, upon meeting Ji Sung-joon (Park Seo-joon) does not recognise her, expecting her to appear like her younger self. Kim Hye-jin was a beautiful girl from a rich family, but after her family's publishing company went bankrupt, she experienced hardships then lost her beauty too. Ji Sung-joon was a shy, unattractive boy, but grows up as a handsome and successful editor. Ashamed to meet her first love and ruin his perception of her, Hye-jin asks her attractive best friend, Min Ha-ri (Go Joon-hee), to act as her once, then make up an excuse to never see Sung-joon again. Things get complicated when Hye-jin is assigned to work at The Most magazine publishing office where Sung-joon is the deputy chief editor. He openly mistreats and belittles her for her clumsy nature, not knowing that she was his real childhood friend. Kim Shin-Hyuk () is the second lead in this and his performace is fantastic. The growth between Sung-joon and Hye-jin is definitely worth watching and messages about beauty resonate well.

Year: 2015

Where Can I Watch?: Netflix

Episodes: 16, 1hr length

20. Thirty But Seventeen

Although there are a fair few emotional moments, this show is still for the most part a light, heartwarming drama with little angst and struggle. Also, there are not really ny plausible second leads to confuse the romance storyline as Yoo Chan (Ahn Hyo-Seop) is Gong Woo-Jin’s (Yang Se-Jong) 19 year old nephew, and Kim Tae-Hyun has very little screen time. I feel this makes it a lot easier to connect to the main couple, who are ADORABLE. They are both still mentally 17, after Woo Seo-Ri (Shin Hye-Sun) was in a coma for 13 years, and Woo-Jin’s PTSD from the accident keeps him stuck on repeat. After waking from her coma, Seo-Ri returns to her old house, unaware that it is now under new ownership in the form of Woo-Jin’s family. There is still a lot of tropey goodness (living together!!), but the story and interactions feel fresh and unique, and the dynamic between Seo-Ri, Woo-Jin, Yoo Chan, and Jennifer (Ye Ji-Won) is enough to keep you watching as it’s so warm and pure. Not to mention the dog Paeng/Deok Gu!! I love them all so much and it’s just the sweetest!

Year: 2018

Where Can I Watch?: KissAsian

Episodes: 32, 30min length

[dinahdlance]

top fave kdrama vids

back by popular demand (lol no), here are some of my favorite kdrama vids, that are mainly shippy bc i��m a little goblin that watches kdramas for the serotonin it uploads directly to me and i can’t do 10 bc i have too many, and there’s way more under the cut of top 5 (@applepiips, @hedgewitches) 

the k2 | he’s a wolf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJBt8vkTqMI is literally unparalleled and it’s honestly why i keep watching dramas just to find the talented vidders and shit. tbh.

(are you human too?) nam shin iii / so bong | i found love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXRMmEG-lQE; don’t even look at me about tin can couple. 

legend of the blue sea | reborn as you and me (se hwa/dam ryung > shim cheong/joon jae): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuiM4k7PIog. i’m never over mermaids, heists, reincarnated romance. never. 

multifandom | i got you; cakevelvet is my absolute favorite vidder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ryBTQZ-p0U 

hee ju/jin woo | can we kiss forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otYP7rcfE5g one of my absolute fave video got deleted for memories because it fucking slapped so hard, but this video is absolutely a close second. watch memories of the alhambra and then come scream with me about a wasted concept. 

her private life | ryan/deok mi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOyWORsb5DY don’t even @ me about this being at the top

touch your heart | jung rok/yeon soo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqABAtgp6a0  i just love them so much  

(mad dog) min joon/ha ri| everything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx04a54AswU&t=6s i love...mad dog so much. one of my gateway dramas. 

(mr. sunshine) dong mae/yang hwa | nightcall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di0Uc2XAeSc i’d literally kill 10 men for kim min jung’s FACE 

man to man | seol woo/do ha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzRrto82TmE this youtube user dreamie234 does not have to go so hard when they vid but they do 

lawless lawyer | sang pil/jae yi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oj-A__r1Us lawless lawyer imo lost it’s steam wrt this relationship as being equals and pushing jae yi out when she and sang pil but, on an aesthetic level? this ship is what dreams were made 

ghost detective | da il/yeo wool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xltzGOPfSA literally come catch me screaming in a feedback loop about ghost soulmates and how they wasted daniel choi and park eun bin’s insane chemistry by not letting them kiss at least ONCE 

a korean odyssey | son oh gong/jin seon mi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSAqWK5SkJ8 i’m never over hwayugi. 

doctors/doctor crush | hye jung/soo chul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz7ezeUnkSE this drama pings my hard do no wants in the main romance which is like why i’m even watching dramas so that’s why i got invested in the side pairing because ji soo and park shin hye have some faces that DESERVE to kiss each other!!! let them do another drama but they get to be the main pairing!!!

he is psychometric | seung mo/ji soo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCt_8FK_rUA&t=3s literally i’m never shutting up about this stupid pairing or this stupid video

healer | angel with a shotgun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g5p4Rwb8Xg i’ve never seen healer bc i’m a bad bisexual when it has ult faces park min young and ji chang wook but this video slaps

sunny/reaper (wang yeo/sunny) | goblin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g5p4Rwb8Xg y’all: shut up about goblin! me: never! 

eun ho/tae woon | school 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFyK80DSk6g this one and this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHu2DhKdjJI singlehandedly made me watch school 2017 in like a week. 

min hyuk/bong soon | swdbs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G16cGHAdUZw they’re cuteeeeee

fight my way | ae ra/dong man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZIpWWGd3lo they’re just so neat and i love them

7 rings | multidrama mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_9HObhiZJs i just think girls are great 

(k-movie alert) tazza 2 | him and I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1tBu3keDjs i don’t even know what this is but it’s entrancing as fuck and the wiki summary is Wild, heed content warnings for past (?) implied sexual assault and torture/gore

the smile has left your eyes | jin kang/moo young: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFRzojzuvJE i kept loosely up to date with this drama bc i was scared of the j-drama twist but then the korean drama did a different twist at the end and i was like ‘that’s too dark shit i can’t deal with’ but the editing here was simply superb

black | ha ram/444: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aDu4lK_1WA&t=39s this drama singlehandedly made me a go ara & song seung hoon stan unfortunately bc ocn got a read on my id (which is just supernatural romantic murder mysteries) and now here we are.

bong hee/ji wook | suspicious partner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl9bjBaALi4 my second favorite niche: deep murder mysteries and/or conspiracies while the leads are lawyers or prosecutors

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 4: Worlds Estranged

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

I ended up starting a new volume for the last stretch. Not because there’s going to be that many chapters left, I don’t think, but just to pace the story overall the way I want it. Probably only I care about this!

It’s time to see if setting in place a scientific mode of finishing the story will get them to the end. In a way, it’s just putting down the things they know, and answering their own questions. But this is, always, a story with a life of its own. Just like Chul. Just like Yeon Joo. Just like W itself.

VOLUME FOUR: WORLDS ESTRANGED

Chapter 107  - HYPOTHESIS 1: Places Exist in Both Worlds As Passages (1105 words)

Chul hadn't realized how afraid he was until he watched Yeon Joo walk toward the door of the house and though he didn't want to be more than an arms length away from her, he also didn't want to step any closer. He didn't allow that hesitation to actually stop him, but he noted it.

Soo Bong had set up the workstation with the tablet, still in pieces, in the area where the assistants had once worked, so there was plenty of room for them all to sit together by the screen. Not that they'd need the seat for Chul for long, but it was a nice gesture. It also set the tone that this was a new effort--a different plan of attack.

Soo Bong was clearly sneaking evaluating looks at them, and slightly flustered, but if there was something there for him to read it wasn't enough for any other reaction. Chul wanted to stand close to Yeon Joo, of course. To stay in the radius of her scent, to be where he could put a hand on her arm naturally. But he was going to have to walk back out that door again, and it seemed both incredibly wise and insufficient that Yeon Joo had set clear boundaries last night.

"Here's the drawing of the apartment door from that photo. And I am ready with the drawing of you, because Yeon Joo started with that last time. But you're going to try to go without our help first, right?"

"Yes. Do you have the other things prepared?"

Soo Bong had brought a tablet of his own with the images he'd prepared over the last week, from a rendition of Chul's familiar old casebook to a hypodermic syringe. Yeon Joo went down their checklist and confirmed they had everything. The check was mainly so if they'd forgotten anything obvious, they'd have one more chance to think of it.

"Editor Kim doesn't know what's going to happen," Soo Bong said, "but I did mention that your dad was getting a little restless so she's going to put two and two together when the comic starts posting again."

He gave a very heavy sigh.

Chul chuckled, but he was distracted. The air in the house was less stagnant than when they'd started meeting to plan, and yet the place felt haunted. The catatonic body in the other room contributed some. The knowledge of what his past self had done here, too.

But a part of him seemed to know, also, that this was the locus of so much that had happened to him while he still thought he was a real person in a real world, back in W. The absent mind of Oh Seung Moo might be felt here, but not as much as his own ghost.

He started putting the tablet back together, feeling the eyes of his friends on him like searchlights. He didn't fumble, and it was still unplugged when he finished, so they could choose their moment.

"I'm ready, then. You both will make it happen, I know."

Yeon Joo had sat down, but now she rose. Her eyes asked if he was really going right away, and he smiled at her.

"We've mapped it out. If something goes wrong, then we'll have to talk more."

She nodded.

Soo Bong reached over and shook his hand soberly.

Chul walked to the door, keenly aware of the exact quality of light in the room, the precise posture of Yeon Joo standing to watch him go.

He spun and walked back to her. Took her face and kissed her gently, regretfully, knowing that until he died this day would haunt him.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I tried to do goodbyes earlier. But I am going to miss you."

"I love you," she said.

And he knew she meant just him, the one in this skin in this moment in this particular series of choices they were making.

His lips traced hers again, then he stepped back. Their hands unlinked as he took another step away. His eyes never left hers with the kiss bright as tears in them, until he was turning out of the door and closing it behind them.

Then he walked, his heart somewhere in the room he'd left behind and the pain of its absence like a fist trying to clench around the hollowness, while the weight of her love and hope hung around his neck with the ring. He drove Soo Bong's car to the apartment complex they'd picked out, marched to the door they had assigned to his current antagonist--Han Sang Hoon, the man wearing Oh Sung-Moo's face.

-

There was a single chime on Soo Bong's phone, striking like the peal of a much larger bell, in the dead silence they'd kept, waiting for Chul to be in place.

"He's there," Soo Bong said.

The text was longer, but she didn't ask what else it said. That would be for later, when she wasn't in a state of calm, patient despair. She quickly dropped the image of the door into the template of the page they'd built, shaded in the wall...

and there he was. Eyes closed in concentration. The rest of the page unfolded rapidly--his eyes opening, intent.

His hand going up to bang on the door. The gun in his other, poised to threaten.

Then, gut-wrenchingly, that face that was her father's sneering out the door.

Chul had a phone to his ear as he paced into the apartment, brandishing his weapon.

You can't shoot me. Then you lose your role as the hero, said Han Sang Hoon.

Yes, I am calling to report that I have found the W Broadcast shooter, Chul said, staring down the barrel of the gun at him while talking to the dispatcher. I'm looking at him right now.

The police arrived with fanfare, and found the shooter tied up, unconscious. The gun matching the killing of Chul's friend Son Hyun Seok was there, as were various news clippings about the W broadcast station, photos of Chul, images from shows on the station's channel.

He was bundled into a police car, and the comic cut to Chul, wearing a waiter outfit ducking into the hotel where he used to live.

Yeon Joo had to resist the urge to chew the end of the stylus as she watched the chapter unfold before her eyes.

"We've done it," Soo Bong said, though his triumph was muted.

"We've started doing it," she said, knowing that just because the plan was going smoothly so far didn't mean it was going to work.

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 3: Worlds Aligned

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

Read from beginning or find previous chapters here: Stories

Getting closer even knowing they'll have to survive apart. It's like they've never seen the end of this story before.

Chapter 105 - Making A Promise to the Dark (1098 words)

Yeon Joo modestly turned her back after giving him a pair of sweatpants to sleep in. When Chul bounced down onto the bed, showing he was done she said, "Shhh!" in a frantic tone. The elation of closing the distance between them tempted him to tease her, but he resisted. If she got mad at him he might have to sleep on the floor--he was determined not to leave if she didn't order it. Her bed wasn't as small as Soo Bong's couch, and some part of his mind automatically considered how much more convenient it would be to share his own bed in the penthouse in his world, though he hadn't been back there in months himself.

Which raised the question of why he'd been given such an ungodly large bed. It was like having double-vision, seeing himself choose it but also knowing that he'd done so because it had been drawn by Oh Seung Moo. Was it was meant to imply a sexual prowess? Or was it just visual opulence, to hold him up like a god so tricking him was easier?

This train of thought threaded through the more halting ones. It wasn't very late, the city still awake outside. Though the sun was down, and they'd gotten into clothes to sleep, there was a pause in the room. He wanted to reach out, but also wasn't sure what came next.

He felt terrifyingly new. He was strangely aware of being skinny and pale, in a way he didn't usually think to consider. But Yeon Joo hadn't given him a shirt, and it became swiftly apparent this was not because she didn't have one for him. She leaned against him, putting a hand around his waist and both her hands on the skin of his torso. He turned in to kiss her, was invited by her yielding mouth, and her hands ran over his skin so he was fairly confident she didn't dislike how he looked.

She stopped him once to turn off the main light, and then she drew him down alongside her on the bed. He knew he lacked a little in knowledge but he was also happy to let her set their pace, and tried not to let his sense of being so reliant on her to bother him.

It was too nice to lean their bodies together and drink her in for his frustration to matter. She wanted to touch his skin, and when he reciprocated her reaction was intoxicating. Their breath was a mingled dialect, between kisses he learned to control so she curled into him. Stroking her side turned her softer in his arms, and made her breath catch in a way he liked

Eventually, too close to the edge of desire they had to bank, she untangled herself to lay on her back, arms folded over her chest. He pulled himself up on his side, back to the wall and gazed at the lines of her profile, wishing to run his finger along them but holding back to give her breathing space.

"Your husband really wasted his time, didn't he?" he said.

"Shooting my dad was a real setback for our romance line," she answered.

"That's what I mean."

The pang of both carrying that guilt and not remembering it pulsed out, never forgotten but for a moment burning too along the palms that had just held her.

"You don't think that you'd do it?" Her tone was even: she wasn't trying to imply he didn't know himself.

"I know I would--that's the proof," he said. "The person I am now can't be disentangled from what came before, even if I don't remember it. But I can still think my past self missed some clear opportunities."

Yeon Joo chuckled slightly. Then she said, "You would have tried to beat the villain some way, though. It's not in you to prioritize anything else as long as he's hurting those you care about"

"If I'd been paying attention a little bit earlier to something besides my sense of betrayal, I could have asked a few smarter questions about that villain. I don't know if that would have made it better or worse, but things could have gone differently. It doesn't matter now."

After a longer silence, Yeon Joo said, "I love you."

He laughed once, "Thanks."

"I mean, specifically you. The man who met me as a suspicious character, always nearby when something terrible was happening, and who decided to trust me anyway."

She rose a little and pulled something off of the nightstand. She sat up, and looked down at him, a grave look on her face.

"I want you to know for certain, even though I loved you as you were before, and even though you share many things with him, I don't love you because of him. I hope we succeed, even if that means we lock ourselves worlds apart from each other. But I will miss you, as fiercely as I ever missed him. Probably more. I feel privileged to know you. To care about you, in all the different meanings that has taken. I don't know what the future looks like for us, and I don't want you to promise me anything. But I wonder if you'd be willing to be considered, for this moment, to be my fiance."

He felt a weight in the pit of his stomach. It was the usual fear mixed with something else--a dread, maybe, of knowing how much he meant to someone right before he required her to lose him. Of acknowledging he'd asked for her to feel that way, even knowing this was to come.

"I...would be honored."

She slipped a long chain over his head. Before he even saw it swing free from her hand, he recognized the necklace with her ring on it. It hit his bare chest, slightly warmed from her skin, and he swallowed a laugh trying to rise, born of dismay. She was starting to tear up, so he pulled her back down to cry into his shoulder while the unfamiliar metal pressed between them into his heart.

It was fitting. After all, he had done this to her himself, asking her to wear a reminder of the history they had right before severing their ties. He hoped his old self hadn't fully understood it, then. Because if he'd made Yeon Joo feel the way he felt now on purpose...he was a worse man than he feared.

And the version of him in this room right now was bad enough.

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 3: Worlds Aligned

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

Read from beginning or find previous chapters here: Stories

Kang Chul has his own reflecting to do on the day. Is it strange that he feels more real in a world that’s not his own? And when he does something without meaning to? Or is that an element of being human?

Chapter 95 - The Pulse Of The Real (936 words)

Chul returned to Soo Bong's apartment to find him napping on the couch. Or rather, he woke from sleep on the couch as Chul came in with a startle so sharp, the sound of his teeth coming together was loud.

"What happened?" Soo Bong asked muzzily.

"Nothing happened," Chul said. "I just wanted to get some air."

"We spent all afternoon on the streets of Seoul," Soo Bong remarked, incredulous.

"What about me suggests I have reasonable ideas of what's fun and normal to do?"

"This is a good point," Soo Bong said, with slow nods. "Is everything okay, though?"

Chul hesitated. "Okay" was not a phrase he'd use for anything happening right now.

"Look, I made it back in one piece. I don't need a lecture."

"No, no, no," said Soo Bong, successfully diverted. "Uh, I'll make up a bed for you."

Chul was not sleepy, but his host was, so he helped spread a clearly hastily dug-out set of sheets over a thin mat, accepted a blanket, and bid Soo Bong good night.

He lay on the living room floor, hearing the sounds of the city as clearly as if the windows were not closed.

As he listened it seemed to grow louder and louder, the heart-thrum of the city. It was alive, it was so much larger than he was, and each place he'd traced out with Soo Bong ran through his memory, dingier and yet brighter somehow with a quality that was missing from their W counterparts.

The sounds weighed against his ears and his own blood raced through his veins and out into the minutest capillaries and back again, taking up oxygen as they ran through the central stations of his heart's chambers, and carrying it out like souvenirs to the rest of his system. He was aware of his own realness, for the moment. So much of his recent life this had seemed doubtful, but right now every part of him was awake and knew itself.

The fingers that had reached for Yeon Joo without waiting for his permission--and the heart that had shrank painfully away, when she didn't want him to take her hand. The shoulder where she had laid her head, when he'd found her by the bridge--and the mind that had been reeling both from her holding him and from letting her go so soon. The memories seemed raised and prickling on his skin, as if they were fresh tattoos. The confusion of who he was (in the midst of who he had been) was still a problem, but both of these encounters with Yeon Joo seemed to steady him. To help him realize that he was flesh and blood, even when he wasn't born real.

The part of him that was still a little unreal also felt exactly where Oh Seung Moo was, across the city. And it felt the blank screen of the shut-down tablet that was his portal to and from the world he came from. It was reassuring, that it was cold and dark. Reassuring and chilling.

He wasn't sure he could sleep here tonight. He wasn't sure he could sleep here in the world at all--last night he'd been unable to, but thought it was just having changed worlds, being too excited. Was this what Yeon Joo had felt like in his city? Was this why she had collapsed the way she did, when returning to one or the other?

He couldn't sense Yeon Joo in the world, not with that narrative tension that told him where his creator was. Instead, he had a human's vague idea of where she probably was, compass-wise, and felt his thoughts lean her way.

He hoped she had stopped crying. He hoped she hadn't stopped thinking about hugging him. He doubted his touch was as electric, still, on her skin. How could it be, when she still loved the man he'd been before?

The fissure in his chest opened again, like unrealness tried to break in and deny that his heart was beating.

He pulled out his phone, and sent Yeon Joo a goodnight message, in case she needed more comfort.

When she replied, the fissure seemed to close ever so slightly.

He laid on his back, listened to the realness of the city, and thought about how a fugitive from the police, a thoracic surgeon, and a comic book artist's assistant could stop a murderer with nothing but a cursed tablet and a documented history of previous failures.

Deep in thought, he gradually relaxed.

He found himself in the chilled night, chest on fire, and the dark closing in around his eyes. He knew instantly: he was dying, he was waiting for Yeon Joo, and she was not going to make it. The heat of his wounds contrasted with the cold leeching from his body, the cold wet of blood all over the front of his body. He wanted to straighten himself, but he couldn't force himself to move.

With a gasp, he woke up. He was still in the stuffy living room where light from a billboard several blocks away pulsed in on him. The sensations were gone but haunted him: this nightmare was new. He was always drowning.

But he had drowned.

And he had drowned, in another edit of his story, before.

He'd been stabbed like that before--was this a vision of how he would have died of Yeon Joo hadn't saved him? But he hadn't been on the roof of the hotel in the dream.

Well, it was a dream. It didn't have to make sense.

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 3: Worlds Aligned

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

Read from beginning or find previous chapters here: Stories

Discussing the reality of the story involves accepting their own responsibility for what’s happening. But planning together again looks a little like hope, and that’s been thin on the ground for a while.

Chapter 99 - Responsible For Each Other (823 words)

Yeon Joo didn't rush as she drew her hand away, though she was careful not to linger, either. "If you created the monster, you had help. My father set up a vacuum, and it was filled. If you somehow were granted true existence, and that existence made you able to call others into existence, that's not wholly to be laid at your door."

"I don't care." This was said gently, not with force. "What other people are responsible for is their business. I just have to live with my role in things. And knowing my responsibility may help us map our way out of this. If your father and I have created a world that perpetuates itself, and a villain has to exist in it because your father wouldn't give the story the closure it wanted, then also I have not been the hero it needed. I was selfish, and wanted to live more than I wanted to let the story be told. To right the wrongs, I have to become the hero that beats the villain on the story's terms."

"It's not just my father, you know," Yeon Joo said. "Or maybe you don't know yet. But...I had a hand in your creation, too. My mother told me, showed me old drawings: I came up with your character--that my dad based his comic off of my drawing. So then, I have a responsibility, too."

"Those who have responsibility also have power," he answered, unperturbed. "So the loss of Oh Seung Moo is not so catastrophic, because you also are a writer. I see that now."

Yeon Joo didn't understand why his statement bothered her so much. But she did have one question that she wanted to pose.

"How do you know that you don't just fall in love me because you were written that way?"

She rushed on, "That it's not just because I saved you and that's how stories work? I created this character to love as a girl, and I forgot about it but then you became real. I started you. How can you choose?"

She couldn't shake a memory of how angry Chul had once been about her role in his suffering, in being written in the first place. That was why his calm reaction now bothered her.

"In that case, how can you know what you feel is real?" he responded. "If I was made as the man you would love? That's the real question you have to answer. I chose, and I know I did. I've read how I did it, over and over, in the last life we had together. But that doesn't even really matter now.” She hadn’t expected that conclusion, and she looked at him sharply. “What I feel is not as important as getting W sealed and finished."

He thought he couldn't stop the story. Not without going back into W for good.

"You're right." The words were catching in her throat, but she didn't let it show. "We just have to do what we can, and that's all."

"So, when you're ready to face this music again, let me know. I'll see if I can go back on my own terms, and you can try to write me discovering my old case journal."

Something clicked. This had been the whole course of this conversation. He hadn't forgotten anything they'd discussed: in fact he'd been working toward this idea all the more while she took her time away. She both admired that and somewhat resented it--she felt like she'd been led right where he wanted her. Maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe he was just intent, but waiting for the right moment.

She looked sidelong at him for a moment.

His face wasn't defiant, exactly--just decided. There was a weariness next to his eyes--not quite wrinkles. All those marks of age had gone with his first iteration's life off the page. This iteration of Chul, though, was gentle and polite but no less stubborn. Yeon Joo turned her eyes away again and her breath was a sort of sigh.

"I will do my best," she answered. "Just give me a few more days to get work done. To try and lighten my load. I can't do both anymore. It's too dangerous for others."

There was a moment of quiet. She could hear the way he caught his breath in, as if thinking about whether to say something. Despite the noise of the car running, she also heard a gentle unsticking of his hands from the pleather of her steering wheel as he adjusted his grip. Then she felt his hand rest, lightly, on the forearm close to him. He lifted it away before long, and said, "Thank you. I'm sorry you have to do this for me. I mean, I'm sorry you have to do this. I'm grateful you are willing to do it for me."

"We are doing it for each other," Yeon Joo said. That felt like the only true thing she'd said to him all morning.

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 3: Worlds Aligned

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

Read from beginning or find previous chapters here: Stories

Soo Bong is practically the only one who knows the full extent of Yeon Joo’s misadventures and the depth of what the comic has done. Which means when Oh Seung Moo wants to make one last stab at closing the storyline himself, he knows just how bad this could be...

Chapter 65 - Too Many Chefs Spoil the Plot (642 words)

Soo Bong answered Master Oh's summons with more trepidation than usual. His text had been, "I need to talk with you about the comic." Since they never talked about anything unrelated to the comic, this emphasis was disconcerting.

When he entered the house with a soft greeting, and found Master Oh standing next to the resurrected tablet, "disconcerting" was elevated to "terrifying".

"Is she still going there?" the master asked, without preamble.

"They erased Kang Chul's memory," said Soo Bong. "I don't think she's in danger of going there again."

"That's even better, then. This time, we will give Kang Chul a suspect, and then he will be got rid of for good."

"Sir, we've already signed all the contracts. The publication has ended, we don't have a license to post more."

"Then we will be posting a sequel. Who cares about the stupid comic? My daughter is in danger, and falling in love with a maniac."

Soo Bong had a sense that he was going to continue getting better at dealing with crazy people, starting right now. "How...what are you going to do, sir?"

"I'm going to give Kang Chul a face he'll believe in for a villain."

He turned the tablet so Soo Bong could see the sketch he'd made. Soo Bong gasped.

"Yes, I think it will work," agreed master Oh.

Soo Bong could not immediately text Yeon Joo a warning, because he had to help Master Oh storyboard the chapter, and he felt more scrutinized than even usual. But Yeon Joo needed to know.

Hearing the alarm go off over the intercoms startled Yeon Joo out of her uncomfortable sleep. She had never been in the hospital when such an alert was used--it was for mass emergencies in case of a state of disaster or some other large influx of patients in critical condition. Just hearing the sound was enough to start a person panicking, and being someone technically in charge made the other layers of dread even worse.

She dashed down the hall, got in an elevator, and burst out into the lower floor before she realized that she was not in Myung Se. This changed everything. She edged out of the way, to stand in the periphery, watchful for any indications that she could help without being noticed as a stranger.

"You, there," a young man barked, turning toward her. "Why are you just standing there? This person is hurt, too."

Yeon Joo startled, looking up into the white face of Kang Chul. The words tried to form to explain--that she didn't know this hospital, meant to wait for direction, for the room to clear some as others did triage. Then she shut her mouth again. The anguish on Chul's face was both familiar and new. Maybe it was having his anger directed at her, but only as a bystander.

She went to the side of the person he had indicated, who was walking but had suffered a wound to the arm. A tight bandage kept him from bleeding, but he was clearly growing faint and in shock.

"A shooting," she heard one of the nurses say, "they're all from the W station."

Yeon Joo, easing the young man into a seat, shot Chul a look. He caught her interrogating glance with confusion, then seemed to turn his back in disgust.

He thought she was star-struck, maybe, amidst this crisis.

He couldn't know how much his pain meant to her--nor how haunting it was to be here when some disaster was happening, when the world by all rights should be running on without plot or problem.

Once she was in action, it seemed others found it easy to direct her toward tasks, and it was easy to execute them. It kept her from thinking of Chul's pale face--or his disgust with her.

[bygosscarmine]

W: Worlds Apart - Volume 4: Worlds Estranged

Kang Chul X Oh Yeon Joo - Fix-It Fic (T)

Read from beginning or find previous chapters here: Stories

Oh Yeon Joo seems to have saved her father’s life, and ended W’s intrusions into hers. Isn’t that a happy ending?

Chapter 119 - Living in the Epilogue (1168 words)

Yeon Joo stayed on at her grandmother's house with Dad, sending Soo Bong first with the money for a motel room before he drove back to Seoul. They were actually resting in the countryside like she'd claimed. The docility with which Dad agreed to this was troubling, but she was too grateful for a respite to question it.

Not that the respite was particularly easy. As soon as Soo Bong was gone, a next-door neighbor came to snoop on what they were doing, check if they were really supposed to be there. Yeon Joo was able to satisfy the first wave of curiosity, and the crimp-haired woman went away with potentially sincere wishes for Dad's well-being--but she also got a call just hours later from her uncle checking in on them. The neighbor passed the word along, apparently, just in case.

The grace of being a heroine in a story was gone, and all the little inconveniences were back.

Days passed and they didn't speak much about what had happened. Her father did not drink any alcohol, though. After almost a week, she said, "The community center is having a lecture series, and I'm going to one about Toxic Emotions. Would you like to come?"

And he went with her, though she wasn't sure if he was actually paying attention. They went for a treat since they were already out in town, and as they sat in the cafe, mostly quiet, he said, "I'm sorry for what I did to you, most of all. That I took something you made and loved, then made him suffer. None of this would have happened if I hadn't asked to take that from you."

Suddenly, he was crying.

As if he had no memory of how to do it, like it took him by surprise. And Yeon Joo first, selfishly, wished he wasn't doing this in a public place.

Then she took a breath, pretended this was a scene of a comic, and said, "I didn't see it that way. But if you feel that way, I want you to know I forgive you. I forgive you for whatever pain I felt. I can't forgive you on behalf of others, but for my part, what's done is done."

She had to say it that way. She couldn't speak the name or she would be in the same state, though she had more recent practice with tears. And she wasn't sure she really could forgive it all, certainly it wasn't true that she'd already managed it. His acceptance that he'd done wrong was monumental, though.

He moved to leave the cafe, embarrassed, and she followed. In her car, he was busy cleaning up with his handkerchief, but even as they were pulling out of the cafe's street he added, "I have all these memories now. Of the killer who took my face. Of everything he did, while I was unconscious. And I can't tell myself I didn't do it, because I didn't listen to you or anyone. I kept forging ahead trying to just end things on my own terms."

"I'm sorry," Yeon Joo said, because suffering wasn't some kind of justice.

They didn't speak about it more, but having said that much, the air around the house changed.

After another week, Yeon Joo took him back to Seoul.

In the following months, he sold his lovely but now-inappropriate house for an apartment, where his lease could be easily covered by even diminishing royalties the rest of his life. It cost Yeon Joo a pang to have him let go of it, but it had already become a sort of museum to times that were painful, fraught. She'd had to go clean up blood first thing in the morning there, when her father was in recovery, before she went to relieve her mother. So no one would have to see it there but her. Best to let it all go.

Not long after he moved, Yeon Joo received mail from Dad ar her mother's house, a stiff large envelope.

She pulled it open to find a sheet torn from a sketchbook, penciled with slightly inaccurate panel lines enclosing what seemed to be a scene--

of her father talking to Kang Chul.

The art looked strangely naked, with the sketches not inked, no backgrounds filled. She'd grown used to developing an image on the tablet, and it had been some time since she'd seen a new draft her father was working out on paper. Even when the story had been generating itself from her partial drawings, its final form had always resembled the uploaded webtoons. It was weird to think that the comic's sense of itself had included the work assistants like Soo Bong did.

She slid it back into the envelope, swallowing. Not knowing what it was about, she wasn't sure she was braced to read it.

She went and made dinner, and did dishes. Only when she was back in her room, thinking about bedtime, did she have to acknowledge that she wasn't going to be able to go to sleep without looking at it.

She carefully drew it out and set it on her desk.

Oh Seung Moo sits at a table with Kang Chul sitting across from him. The panels show each of their faces in close-up as the conversation continues.

Kang Chul: I don't plan to ask your permission for anything. I want you to know, if your daughter will have me, I will be with her.

Oh Seung Moo: You know this is not acceptable. We've tried to kill each other. How can we ever have a father and son-in-law relationship?

Kang Chul: If it's what makes Yeon Joo happy, we just have to do it. We owe it to her. I owe her my life, you owe her yours. We don't get to choose.

Oh Seung Moo: So what if she wants nothing to do with you? Will you go away quietly then?

Kang Chul: If she sends me away then I will be patient. But I will be always within reach. And I will never give up hope, so I'll go just loudly enough that she will never forget that I am waiting.

Oh Seung Moo: I don't like you.

Kang Chul: How could you? You made me everything you weren't, and my existence showed your weaknesses. But in that way I will always be your child, won't I?

Oh Seung Moo: I don't like you. I understand, though, that Yeon Joo may be only happy with you beside her. I am willing to pay that price.

Kang Chul: And so am I.

She'd had taken down the reference pictures from her walls, now just reminders of her connection to Chul rather than useful. She tacked this up, though, as a reminder that no matter what she faced now, she had been loved. She had forgiven. The story was over and she had survived. Her father was also surviving.

What more could she want?