Destined With You 이 연애는 불가항력 [2023]

[mademoiselle]

Octopus Behind the Scenes is here!

 

[gilaswan]

@mademoiselle Yes! That office kiss scene was very cute! And had a lot of potential to get more than cute. Hahaha... They do have a nice chemistry going, they really do. Not the sort that has a lot of tension between them (like the leads in AOS), but very watchable, and very believable. I like. 

I've rewatched till episode 4. I'm still really wondering if the spells did actually work. But therein lies the problem - if they did work, then how real are his feelings towards Hongjo now then? I want to think that the spells did not actually work, but right up to the start of episode 3, Shinyu did still seem as if he cared for Nayeon, even asking her to wait for him as he sorted himself out (presumably cos of his worsening illness). That part of the storyline isn't sitting well with me... At that point, he was still very much believing that Nayeon was nice and he was really outright nasty towards Hongjo. What are your thoughts?

[mademoiselle]

@gilaswan My thought is the spells work, but not in the way we all think. Shin Yu has never loved Na Yeon, but he's developed some feelings for Hong Jo before the spell. I believe the spells don't immediately take effect, but it did quicken or awaken his feelings for her/Aeng Cho. He started to dream about his past life more and more after Hong Jo cast the spell(s). Additionally, he's usually a calm/cold person, it doesn't make sense all of a sudden he would react like an infatuated puppy if he was given the chance to fall for her in a normal way. Hence, he is confused and believed the feeling isn't real due to the love potion.

 

I don't think he cared about Na Yeon (in a loving way). He was being respectful and a gentleman (but distant). He sided Na Yeon purely because she was his girlfriend, and he had prejudice towards Hong Jo at the time. But he said so himself when drunk, he's never felt the way he felt towards anyone until Hong Jo came along. In episode 3-4, Shin Yu was still fighting his feelings towards Hong Jo, so his actions towards Na Yeon is invalid. Notice he wasn't happy when she proposed to him, but didn't reject because how could one when the lady is the one proposing. More importantly, Na Yeon was supposed to be that person he thinks he'll marry per his father's wish.

 

I think the drama deliberately avoid confirming the spells actually work. I see a pattern that it confirms it, and then negated it to confuse us. But, signs that the spells worked were:

(1) Shin Yu stopped experiencing the bloody hand after Hong Jo cast the healing spell.

(2) when the assistant asked Shin Yu whether he's dating Hong Jo by referring her to the girl who blushes, Shin Yu said she no longer blush. Both hinted the spells do work.

 

Plus, the spells had to work for the curses cast by the gardener to work.

Edited October 3, 2023 by mademoiselle

[mademoiselle]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxAP5LYJ103/?igshid=MmU2YjMzNjRlOQ==

 

@gilaswan watch this!

[gilaswan]

@mademoiselle Ooh! I didn’t think he had feelings at that point though? I did think he was intrigued by her at that point and if nothing else, felt for her loneliness.

I want to watch the rest of the commentary!

[mademoiselle]

 

 

@gilaswan

[mademoiselle]

Episode 13 Pre-release

 

This Na Yeon is so annoying and delulu.

[mademoiselle]

New stills

Looks like after being dumped (LOL), Shin Yu goes to get drunk again...

Spoiler

 

 

But it's OK because the gardener stalker is out, so Shin Yu gets all worried and takes Hong Jo to his place (based on the text preview). Just not sure if it's his place, or his parents' place...

[gilaswan]

tonight's gonna be a lot of pain! oh noooo!!!

[gilaswan]

@mademoiselle Arrrgghhhh!! How many times did my heart stop tonight?! Aaarrrggghhhh!!!

[gilaswan]

Last night’s episode was so full of pain but also so beautifully conveyed through their acting. I think they’re my favourite kdrama couple now. Hahahaha… There was so much tension between them in episode 13, I was half hoping that the writer/director would give us a reconciliation ending which we sorta did - I loved how protective Shinyu was of her, telling the police without skipping a beat that he was her boyfriend - but argh!! 

 

The two of them are a couple that’s still living the highly independent lives they have become so used to that they invariably place themselves and the other in danger - acting alone to check out the dug out pit, greenhouse, and now, checking out Mr Gardener Stalker on his own. Why did he do that??? For drama’s sake. 

 

And Eun-wol Halmoni… I don’t know what to make of her. She seems like such a pointless character. Nothing she has said so far is of any use to the couple in any way. Surely their coming together again in this lifetime must present as an opportunity to make right what went wrong before, right? If Hongjo is the reincarnation of a powerful shaman, can she not do something about the curse she supposedly cast? And is it only when she touches his face that he gets the severe chest pains right? Then don’t touch!! 😂 

 

We’re 3 episodes to the end. I still want to know exactly what their history was - why he killed her and was it for his own selfish gain to get the spell book? I somehow cannot imagine that to be the case, but did Aengcho know the real reason for it? Did he marry someone else while she was still alive? There’s no way he could have married a shaman anyway. I also want to know if Nayeon’s affair would be outed to more people - letting her off too easily if everyone thinks it was just a break up cos he fell out of like with her and was chasing skirts at the work place. 

 

And the spells. I reckon as @mademoiselle has said, the spells prolly did work. But he can’t be living under the love spell forever? Shinyu said again in Ep 13 that he was still under the spell and so the separation was more agonising for him, though I cannot imagine him to still be under the enchantment of the spell though. I’m more inclined to think that the moment she reciprocated and he realised he was actually in love with her, there was no need for the spell anymore and so the spell was broken. What if it was the same for the curse? Once they are able to overcome the challenges and come together as one, i.e. they end up marrying each other, the curse would also be nullified since he has not killed her this time round, but given her… new life together? 

 

 

[mademoiselle]

Episode 14 Pre-release

 

I haven't watched. I'll be back to spazz later!

[gilaswan]

They were lovely dovey even in Joseon. Hahaha... 

[mademoiselle]

New Stills

 

Spoiler

 

 

[mademoiselle]

Episode 13

 

I enjoyed the angst. I love the FEELS from their separation. It has just the right amount of pain and perfectly ended with suspense thriller, LOL! 😆 I did read on SNS that the PD is famed for directing suspense thriller. Most importantly, Imma got herself a stabbing scene, and it's Rowoon being stabbed. Woo-hoo!

 

There are many things I liked in this episode; the dialogues exchanged between them—such as Shin Yu saying time is precious because it felt like a foreshadowing now that we see he was stabbed. Not that he will die, but narratively speaking, he was right that Hong Jo should treasure the time they had together. In this, I hope tonight's episode, she won't be stupid wanting to leave his side again. I'm worried his dad might blame Hong Jo. Yikes. Hope Na Yeon don't run her mouth.

 

Another one I liked was him giving her the ultimatum—no more bullshit about wanting to break up. So MAN.

 

So glad they finally found the bloody shirt and gloves. As for Na Yeon, yeah agree, he's still letting it slide too easily. But he did say this is one last time as a verbal warning, so if she still misbehaves, then for sure I'm expecting Shin Yu to send her and her father to the court.

 

Eun Wol Halmoni acts just like any fortune-teller is expected to act! Says lots of ambiguous, nonsensical stuff. I think we have seen enough of time-travelling or past/future changing stories to know that destiny is filled with multiple possibilities and is only determined when a person makes a choice. So, the choice both Hong Jo and Shin Yu now make is important for their future. Their fate is bound by karma, but perhaps Shin Yu has now paid it back, saving her and being stabbed exactly where Mu Jin stabbed Hong Jo.

3 hours ago, gilaswan said:

And the spells. I reckon as @mademoiselle has said, the spells prolly did work. But he can’t be living under the love spell forever? Shinyu said again in Ep 13 that he was still under the spell and so the separation was more agonising for him, though I cannot imagine him to still be under the enchantment of the spell though. I’m more inclined to think that the moment she reciprocated and he realised he was actually in love with her, there was no need for the spell anymore and so the spell was broken. What if it was the same for the curse? Once they are able to overcome the challenges and come together as one, i.e. they end up marrying each other, the curse would also be nullified since he has not killed her this time round, but given her… new life together?

Hmm, is this why Eun Wol Halmoni said it will only end when Hong Jo dies? Meaning the curse on Shin Yu will only end if she dies? I think the original curse Shin Yu had was already lifted. It's the Gardener's curse that needs to be broken, so if he dies, then the curse will be lifted?

 

I'm not sure about the love spell. The hardest part with kdrama's fantasy is, they tend to have no logic. And Shin Yu could have said that to Hong Jo so that she would stop rejecting him.

 

I really dislike her colleagues. I don't find them funny, and they are useless to the plot. I half-expected them to warm up to Hong Jo, and be nice to her by now, to be honest. But they are just there to do more PPL—but yes, I notice how big the grapes are and would love to try them.

P.S. And oh, I can't believe we have a shower scene! A first from Rowoon!

 

 

[mademoiselle]

OST 9 LYn - We Love Each Other

 

Full Soundtrack with goodies

Edited October 5, 2023 by mademoiselle

[mademoiselle]

Behind the Scenes

 

[mademoiselle]

Episode 14

 

Mu Jin and Aeng Cho's story was so heartbreaking, but poignantly beautiful when it was revealed Mu Jin rather be cursed for generations, and killed her because he couldn't bear she be torn to pieces!

 

As karma bound Mu Jin and Aeng Cho together, it makes sense that the people around ShinHong could also be linked to their past life. As expected, the gardener and Jae Kyung also appeared in the past. I now think the woman Mu Jin's father want him to marry could be Na Yeon. It would explain why she feels entitled and “crave” for him so much because she never got his heart—past or present. What's interesting was in the past life, Jae Kyung went against the couple for money and it mirrors his current life. But I think next episode, he'd make a different choice and, thus, break the bad karma he collected in the past. Same for the gardener, he might be a not-as-talented Shaman hired by the Concubine. I don't think the past life backstory is fully over yet. The drama made us think Aeng Cho cursed the Crown Prince, but Aeng Cho told the King she didn't. Her black hands were likely the consequence of casting the dark spell on herself.

 

Mu Jin's curse is real since he killed Aeng Cho, but I don't think the curse included the bloody hand. His father most definitely never mentioned experiencing the hand before. I still think the hand is a painful memory from Mu Jin's past, exclusively to Shin Yu because he's the reincarnation of Mu Jin. I don't quite understand the “all will end when one dies”. Mu Jin died in the past too, but the curse carried on! What's your thought on this @gilaswan?

 

Since Shin Yu died once and lifted the curse, what about the curse cast by the gardener?

 

Spoiler

 

 

Really love all the parallel and mirroring between the past & present.

Edited October 6, 2023 by mademoiselle

[gilaswan]

@mademoiselle I’ve got quite some thoughts on the latest episode and am still doing my re-watches (at episode 5 now), but yes… the statement about how things won’t end until life ends…

 

Someone said something similar to me once too - the story about a person is never fully written until life ends, therefore whether he/she is a good or bad person will not be fully known until his/her life ends. 

 

I reckon from a philosophical standpoint, what Eun-wol Halmoni means is that there is nothing seemingly that Hongjo can or cannot do to end this cycle of pain between them unless either of them dies. So they potentially take this pain with them to their death. I don’t reckon she was referring to the curse per se. So logically yes, you will feel the pain right up till your life as you know it ends. As she said, if they had lived separate lives and never encountered each other, they would each be none the wiser of their past lives. But since their karma was so strong, they were drawn together by their destinies, so they had no choice but to live it out. How it actually would end - whether pain would be the inevitable end - would actually remain to be seen. 

 

In my back watches, I noted that they both actually spoke of their destinies and whether they should head towards it like the way waves would simply carry you along to whichever destination it would go, or whether destinies could be fought. When things were still giddy for Shin-yu, he wanted to go where destiny would take him; Hong-jo said she wanted to fight it. Once they did come together with Shin-yu’s head screwed on right this time, he wanted to fight the supposed ill-fated end they were to have, while Hong-jo this time seemed ready to accept the despair thrown at her, which really was more in keeping with their characters - Shin-yu always said that despite growing up being told of the curse, he didn’t want simply to accept it and was always doing things as differently as he could; Hong-jo grew up accepting her poor lot in life and cowered into the sad existence she thought was simply how it was for her, from accepting being bullied and quitting school, to just accepting being bullied by colleagues. 

 

As things got difficult for them as a couple, you see Shin-yu trying to convince Hong-jo not to be fatalistic in her “acceptance” of her supposed role in his cursed life. He’s the one trying to fight it. And in his death when his heart stopped, I reckon it was out of determination that he continued to seek out the revelations and truth of their histories, to learn that he accepted the curse not because he deserved the curse but it was because he wanted to save her from a death that could possibly mean no possibility of reincarnation. And as she (Aeng-cho) died he expressed hope that if they had another shot at life together, it would be a happy one. With this revelation, he returns to the present, “resurrected” with affirmed belief that this was now exactly their shot at being happy. 

 

As you have proposed, I do reckon that the spells worked such that Aeng-cho’s curse was lifted - he wasn’t sick anymore and even when he started hallucinating again and saw the bloody hand, MRI scans revealed nothing. So he was well and truly alright. As you suggested, the hallucinations of the bloody hand was the black magic placed on him by Mr Gardener. Hong-jo’s awakening of her past life and images of the bloodied hand being hers gave her the wrong impression that she was the cause but she wasn’t actually. You’re probably right that there’s some more of the past life yet to be revealed to us, like, who did the actual cursing of the crown prince and what spell was she casting then? 

 

Whaddya think? 

[gilaswan]

Am at episode 9 now of my rewatch. Looks like Hongjo started liking Shinyu around episode 5 when he came to her drunk. That was the first time she blushed at what he said. By episode 7 when Jaegyeong confessed to her, she no longer blushed - she was still blushing after the fair skin spell was cast, so that didn’t stop the blushing. The spell did work though - many people at City Hall started saying she was pretty except the 2 men who clearly already found her attractive. I think she stopped blushing only cos she started getting comfortable with them.

 

What I’m picking up from the rewatch that I like - mum did not like Nayeon at all! I’m still wondering what will come of his parents’ relationship.  

 

@mademoiselle What spell did Hongjo cast in episode 9?

[mademoiselle]

@gilaswan The show didn't tell us what spell, but since she's already used the healing spell on Shin Yu earlier on and burnt the page, that won't be it. She also used the disaster spell (which doesn't require burning of the page). The only one left I could think of (and was shown to us in episode 2) is the body cleansing spell, which may require burning of the page.

 

Yeah, mum never liked Na Yeon. Mum will like Hong Jo. She even packed her food before meeting her. Haha. I think Mum can sense/know her own son doesn't love Na Yeon, and it's already different with Hong Jo.

On 10/7/2023 at 2:08 AM, gilaswan said:

Whaddya think?

That was a great piece! I really hope the show will clear up the mystery from the previous episodes. Such as, how Shin Yu was found by Na Yeon unconscious with no memory at the car park when the scene before he was with the gardener. Surely it has to be some black magic?

 

The bloody hand was a remnant of memory exclusive to Shin Yu, which he feared due to the accompanying pain, and led him to believe it's related to the curse/sickness. But now that he remembers and understands, he no longer fears it, and Hong Jo's touch doesn't bother him any more. I wonder what kind of curse was put on Shin Yu again, I thought it was coincidental that it had to be a pair of gloves and the hand returned to haunt Shin Yu.

On 10/7/2023 at 2:08 AM, gilaswan said:

You’re probably right that there’s some more of the past life yet to be revealed to us, like, who did the actual cursing of the crown prince and what spell was she casting then? 

The show also hasn't explained how did the spell books get buried with the shrine. From episode 14, Joseon gardener had the box. But we learnt from episode 2, only Hong Jo can open the box. So I'm guessing even the villains got the box, they couldn't open it. Even if they did open it, they can't use the spells because the spells will only work when it is cast by Aeng Cho and the person she chose.

Edited October 8, 2023 by mademoiselle

[mademoiselle]

I have to post this. It's one of my favourite (octopus) scenes. Hehehe.

Edited October 8, 2023 by mademoiselle

[gilaswan]

4 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

I have to post this. It's one of my favourite (octopus) scene. Hehehe.

I think this has to be the absolute cutest-cum-sweetest-cum-funniest-cum-most creative (and I could go on) scene that I’ve seen in kdramas to date! I love it! Love it, love it, LOVE IT! She’s so cute in her drunken state - so happy to be with him - and he’s so clearly loving her being this adorable. But then also rarr!! Him asking her if she would regret what she was or might be doing when she got sober, and I don’t think he meant her regretting being cute. Hahaha… they’re my new favourite Kdrama couple for sure.

 

About the episode 9 spell - she did say that the spell worked when he appeared at the bridge instead of going to Jeju. Could she have cast the seduction spell? But he also said that the spell working or not was immaterial by then - he clearly could tell he loved her in spite of the spell. Which makes me then wonder about Mr Gardener - if he was stalking her because he had drunk the love potion too, why does it seem he’s not as aware of it as Shinyu was? That bit’s kinda messed up.

[mademoiselle]

@gilaswan Did you watch the BTS for this octopus scene? After the octopus, she was lying on the sofa and Shin Yu brought her a glass of water and called her, "Octopus Lee". That was cute. They shouldn't have cut it.

3 hours ago, gilaswan said:

About the episode 9 spell - she did say that the spell worked when he appeared at the bridge instead of going to Jeju. Could she have cast the seduction spell? But he also said that the spell working or not was immaterial by then - he clearly could tell he loved her in spite of the spell.

I think she cast a spell for his health, it wouldn't make sense since before this she was worried about him and asking for the spell books back due to the straw man curse. It wouldn't make sense to cast the seduction spell at that point. When he said he doesn't care if the spell works or not, it's because he's seen his past life. He now knows their love goes way back—and this tied in to the end of episode 14—past life or present life, he loves her. At that stage, he's no longer confused and question his love was due to the love spell.

[gilaswan]

@mademoiselle Yep! I did watch the BTS. It was very cute lah. Very extremely cute. 🥰 

 

At the start of ep 10 after they go home following their New Year’s together, Hongjo goes through the spell book again and the mind-body cleanse spell is still intact. 🤔

 

I’ve been wanting to say this - I love Gidong too. He’s actually a very good sidekick. Where did he get those “coupons” he’d been cashing in on with Shinyu? I don’t remember seeing them anywhere… 

 

And the suits. Row on almost wears nothing. but suits save those few casual smart occasions. And almost always 3-pc suits. He looks so dapper in them. I love his black on black on black aesthetic. 
 

Was this series entirely pre-produced? They were filming through the seasons, were they? Story also seemed to span a period of at least 4+ months from Autumn into winter? 

 

Ah… and yes, you mentioned this before and I agree with you - I don’t like her bullying colleagues very much. They don’t seem to have grown as characters and continue to bully her still… very little movement in their relationship with with Hongjo.