๐ Working-Class Mr. Ahnโs Unscheduled Visits to Dr. Yeonโs Clinic continuesโฆ
โ ๏ธ Just a casual warning โ if you’re following along with Asuka and Jen’s fictional arc and delusion interior series, this post deals with some heavier psychological topics and dark fictional elements. Consider yourself warned! Everything under my fanfiction tab = totally fictional! No need to get super serious about any of it.
Dr Yeon’s Paranoid
Happy that interior design has become a side gig. No reply pressure, yeah?
(Starting to worry I might be messing with your projects.)
A few topics I wanted to get the bricks laid for quickly:
Right. Si-eun’s never been officially diagnosed with mental illness. Like most people in this country, he’d probably resist treatment.
Never been diagnosed, so why do I automatically assume he’s got something brewing?
Paranoia and Si-eun fit together like matching pajama pants, though.
This boy won’t get treatment. Wouldn’t have during med school either. He’d figure therapy’s unnecessary โ Suho’s right there beside him.
Still think he needs a therapist, though.
Otherwise, if Suho’s cough doesn’t stop for half a day, Si-eun will drag him straight to a lung MRI.
Can’t have these overreactions every single time.
I believed Director Yoo did deep research on teenage mental health issues during production.
I’ve never experienced the kind of emotional turbulence Si-eun goes through, so I’m drawn to characters with psychological fractures.
Moderate laughter. Moderate sadness. Moderate joy. Moderate anger. I’ve never been consumed by feelings that push past those boundaries.
Si-eun’s love for Suho and his paranoia are separated by tissue paper…
These intense, dark emotions definitely fuel my darker arcs.
The two otters in the bathtub worked up quite a sweat.
But puppies drunk on this much happiness got their cold shower โ preferably one that left them homeless and drenched to the bone. ๐
Oh Beom
Feel guilty about inviting Beom-seok into my dark arc.
But since this is a completely different universe from canon, I’ll give myself a pass ๐
Spun several scenario threads…
In my previous email’s interior renovation, I chose to make Oh Beom smarter about leveraging his adoptive father. So he’d have access to power and money.
Necessary for the dark arc buildup.
For mild-level dark interior work… ๐
High-paying gigs that don’t go to beginners, or lucky breaks when properties hit the market as distressed sales. Having Suho discover Oh Beom’s hand behind it all โ that would cut deepest.
What, you showing off for me? Want me to pay you an allowance?
Beom-seok picked those words like a needle, knowing exactly where to stab Suho. He’d been carrying that cruellest line in his heart, saving it for the boy he loved most.
When he arranged the pumpkin carriage and glass slippers for the awakened Suho, those would have been genuine gestures.
Apologies his money could buy.
Hope that his influence might earn forgiveness.
Like a genie in a lamp, wasn’t it?
Pull me from this darkness, and I’ll give you everything I have.
Ten years of waiting like that.
Of course, during that waiting period, the sticky business with the photos his assistant secretly took of Suho would have become a habit.
When Oh Beom finally knelt to apologise, wouldn’t he have imagined Suho’s coldly gleaming hazel eyes thousands of times? That dismissive little laugh, those jelly-soft lips letting out a deflated chuckle? He’d have run simulations. Practiced building immunity so he could withstand even the most finger-numbing reactions.
Parks his car near Suho’s place.
Waits under the yellow streetlight so he won’t startle Suho by appearing suddenly.
Anxious.
And finally, on a dark evening, he stands before Suho returning home.
Oh Beom’s heart hammering like it might burst.
But then he hears a familiar voice. Si-eun’s.
In his simulations, there were only Suho’s cold brown eyes.
That deflated snicker slipping through clenched teeth.
The ‘expectation’ that he might growl a low “get lost”
Or perhaps ‘the hope’ that he’d grab his collar and shove him against a wall.
Or even the delusional wish that he might quietly embrace him.
The simulations contained only Suho, so Si-eun is a variable now.
Even though he’d always known those two were together.
Beom-seok-ah…
Eyes wide with undeniable surprise and joy, approaching Oh Beom.
What if this was a scenario that never played in any of Oh Beom’s simulations?
That would give this dark arc’s opening sufficient plausibility. ๐
As Si-eun steps toward Beom-seok, Suho’s hand darts out, snatching Si-eun’s waist and drawing him back into his embrace. The movement mirrors how Suho used to jolt awake at his desk, arms flying up in instinctive defence when someone stirred him from sleep. In the hundreds of scenarios Beom-seok had rehearsed, there was no such guard from Suho. And certainly not one that shielded Si-eun.
This protection โ wouldn’t it sear deeper than any sneer ever could?
Eventually, we’d get to see Suho beg.
Caged
I’ve also imagined Oh Beom revealing that the bathtub where two happy otters warmed themselves had always been caged. By ‘caged’, he was the financial backer behind all the wealth Suho accumulated in his twenties โ the moment Suho learns about this secret patron, his whole twenties would retroactively feel like an illusion. (God, I’m so mean ๐)
Carefully approaching this since I might set this email on fire too, among the bricks Iโve stacked, how to crush Mr Ahnโs pride (Iโm really mean) โ the brick about gently trampling his pride would be Suhoโs face when he realises Beomseok was the benefactor.
Because Beomseok is the โperpetratorโ, the financial support he provided might seem โnaturalโ to Si-eunโฆ but not to Suho. Poverty took his parents to Japan, and even when clinging to oxygen support, couldnโt bring them back โ such destitution.
๐ How could Suho not have insecurities about poverty and money?
Even Suho, as spiritually mature as he is, couldnโt possess that level of transcendence.
But suddenly appearing Beomseok radiates wealth, high-class at that. And Dr Yeon treating himโฆ (McGonagall dances with her wand)
Jen under a dark corner on Wednesday
Su-ho embodies that effortless grace โ carefree and magnetic, drawing others into his orbit through sheer charisma and disarmingly honest charm. It’s precisely this natural magnetism that bred resentment in the Yeong-bin crew and made Beomseok snarl, ‘That bastard Ahn Suho thinks he’s some kind of king’ (words born of wounded pride, not genuine hatred…)
I craved to witness that composed silhouette crumble โ to see his shoulders lock rigid, chest rising and falling in violent rhythm as fury coursed through him, that careful composure finally shattered. (God, I’m twisted lol)
Even in my original commentary, I confessed my obsession with Suho’s wounded expression when Oh Beom’s cruelty about ‘allowance money’ landed like a nail โ that moment of pride bleeding out became my muse. How to break this laid-back boy just once more? HAHAHA
Money felt like the perfect poison… Everything he’d built after emerging from that coma. The wealth that came too easily, the confidence it bred. All those lucky breaks that always seemed to be waiting there for him, as if they were supposed to be there.
But then โ what does this Si-eun before me represent in this carefully constructed illusion?
P.S.
To paint the walls with a thicker consistency, dark chocolate-coloured wallpaper.
Assuming Si-eun and Beom-seok were mental twins in the originalย Drawing inspiration from this thread, the fact that Si-eun is a ‘man’ capable of both in & out could also be used as glue to make the wallpaper stick to the wall. Wouldn’t Oh Beom play-act? A child who hasn’t grown, still trapped in adolescence.ย Wouldn’t this stimulate Si-eun’s soft spot?ย Oh Beom’s trap could take various forms.ย Perhaps a more cunning and devious trap,ย ‘Luring Si-eun away’, making Suho wander around looking for his missing owner until he has no choice but to come find Oh Beom.
If Si-eun can ‘bury’ himself inside Suho, wouldn’t comforting Beom-seok be even easier?ย
Si-eun and Oh Beom bonking possible
Jen ๐
The Last Patient
Hi Jennie,
No worries, my projects are going ok ๐ I guess. I powered through using the inspiration generated by delusion; thanks for the emails, they really take my mind off the grind. The most demanding projects will be over by this Saturday. Thereโs one more next week, but thatโs a lot lighter, kinda looking forward to it in fact, though not as much as my mental visits to Yeon Clinic.
That means I should soon be free enough to binge both WHs again to draw energy for dark arcs. I find that darkness take more care to cultivate, not because I am a sunny person, but because I want to catch some of Beomseokโs complexity (he is fearsomely complicated) more than just generating gratuitous r*pe porn (although that is likely half of Beomseokโs mind with regards to Suho.) Director Yoo really did such a masterful job; I prostrate in deepest respect.
Thanks for Oh Beomโs interior design. Letโs see what shade of black this brew will take.
Yours,
ASL, on coffee dark and cold
18 Sept 2025
Hi Asuka,
Sending you a fire extinguisher for yesterday’s sparked flames.
It’s a bad habit – having to capture ideas before they evaporate – and I hope you’ll bear with me.
No pressure to reply quickly! (If I’m causing even the slightest disruption to your projects, I’ll vanish like a Matrix virus ) It’s like mental exercise.
Your delicate, literary vocabulary curation conjures core images instantly – I’m in awe. Word curation has become my own obsession, too. Since English isn’t my native language, selecting vocabulary to weave idea-threads feels like an amazing curatorial process.
(Picture McGonagall rapturously waving her wand)
So let me continue painting darker brown wallpaper from Thursday’s shadowed corner.
Oh Beom (2)
Your specific description of Si-eun’s paranoid tendencies completely hooked me.
The inspiration struck hard. (Worrying that Suho’s shoes might trip someone precious…)
Suho locks Si-eun in his embrace and disappears into the house.
Si-eun glances back at Beom-seok standing under the streetlight.
Their eyes meet, but Si-eun can’t read Beom-seok’s expression.
For a week after, the two happy otters become rain-soaked puppies, barely speaking.
Neither asks questions nor broaches topics first.
As if they’d never seen Oh Beom at all.
Then, one Friday afternoon, a familiar name appears on the clinic monitor: ‘Oh Beom-seok.’
The last patient.
Beom-seok enters with a smile, looking undeniably polished and affluent – his fortunes clearly improved.
You can hardly miss the scent of wealth and success on him.
Dr Yeon, mouth slightly agape and defenceless against this sudden visit, gets swept into Oh Beom’s embrace. For the next month, Beom-seok visits weekly – Friday afternoons – for allergy treatments.
Claims living in hot climates triggered various sensitivities.
Since personal feelings can’t interfere with patient care, Si-eun maintains professional examination standards.
Naturally, past conversations emerge.
Oh Beom pours out confessions about the regret and guilt he’s carried regarding Suho.
Beom-seok was also his first love, after all.
Si-eun holds him close.
Si-eun keeps these month-long meetings from Suho, hoping someday he might persuade Suho to hear Beom-seok’s confessions.
Without realising it, Si-eun begins hoping Suho’s forgiveness might ultimately become a cure-all for their peaceful well-being.
Today marks Oh Beom’s final examination.
While waiting, Si-eun experiences strange deja vu.
“You guys just try solving math problems without understanding root causes – that’s why grades don’t improve…”
Oh Beom mentions returning to the Philippines soon for business. Si-eun hasn’t arranged anything between Suho and Beom-seok yet. Like their first appointment when Beom-seok suddenly embraced his shoulders, Oh Beom hugs Si-eun tightly in farewell. Si-eun reciprocates, but Beom-seok whispers something in his ear:
By the way, Si-eun-ah… can you be certain I won’t kick Suho’s head again?
Such a monotone delivery. Beom-seok’s face pure as a child’s.
I’m genuinely curious. You’re a doctor, Si-eun-ah
Satisfied with the dark brown wallpaper ๐ Si-eun’s preemptive risk management – planning the best dentist through college connections when Suho mentions tooth pain, checking his work shoes for anti-slip soles – all attempts to eliminate danger. But unpredictable Oh Beom himself becomes the trigger igniting Si-eun’s paranoia about Suho.
Beom-seok’s question was innocent.
Like a homage to “I don’t know why I did that” from 13 years ago.
This time: “I don’t know what I might do”
Si-eun’s paranoia about Suho-related risks operated through cause identification and preemptive response. But Oh Beom himself can’t be controlled. How do you eliminate unknown causal factors? Suppressed nightmares gain substance. The boogeyman, never before seen in the examination room, cackles mockingly at Si-eun:
Drunk on happiness all this time? Thought you could escape? Dream on
My dark mine overflows with raw materials, but this particular dark ore satisfies my fetish, so I’ve been applying wallpaper extensively. Simply grateful you enjoy it. Without Beom-seok’s complexity, I never would’ve fallen this deep into WHC. As Director Yoo said, Beom-seok is the story’s core. Disgustingly realistic. My favourite character in Korean drama history.
Plus
Viewing S1 solely from Beom-seok’s perspective – it’s almost Beom-seok’s begging. Wanting Suho’s love, exhausted from begging. Still can’t process ep 7 – kicking his most beloved boy’s head. Too intense. Could this not be love?
Vanilla Note
Having said that, after weaving nearly a book’s worth of Suho-Si-eun romance, claiming I’m not into BL seems rather disingenuous ๐ I’m similar to you – I don’t consume much BL either.
I remember laughing hard at your wit about Facebook’s “grim purpose of checking if any friends have gone on before me”
You can’t imagine how much porn AU the algorithm pushes on timelines. But I rarely read it. Too simple, no entertainment value. Just dopamine-stimulating porn. Words merely listed, not curated like yours. Simple listing resembles excretion; thoughtful curation offers readers brain exercise opportunities.
Reading your wit-and-rhythm fiction is pure joy. Poetic, elegant – metaphors and analogies exquisitely embroidered. Your adjective and verb choices reveal how seasoned your vocabulary curation has become. I even feel rhythm in your sentences. Everything comes through.
I’ll visit again this weekend without knocking.
Buddhism, your book recommendations, your Taiwanese and Chinese acquaintances, plus other fresh garnishes crowd the table. Excited.
Your wireless bricklayer, Jen
P.S. I love temple visits too. Ever dated at a temple? Sacrilegious but thrilling.
And, the most sacrilegious word I encountered in TOEFL vocabulary was r*pe. Why? It was listed with rapture as its etymology. So very Oh Beom-like. Complex. He probably cried every single day wanting to tangle with Suho. Even when Suho was barely clinging to the ventilator, he must have felt self-disgust for those feelings.
Complex and dangerous and pure and foolish.
What a character.
Just realised I forgot to tuck this tail into the email I just sent. Here goes my cute little compulsion again, catching ideas before they evaporate. May your cold, dark coffee transform into Dumbledore’s Pensieve, even for just a moment. That would be glory ๐ค
Since even Beom-seok doesn’t know what he might do, Si-eun can’t preemptively eliminate the danger. So, the solution Si-eun conjures up all night with the boogeyman on his back? Treatment. Because he’s a doctor. Si-eun and Beom-seok once shared the same mirror, didn’t they? Deep loneliness. Affection starvation. Si-eun was the only one who recognised the kid’s solitude. Twins with different faces.
From here, the dark level cranks up another notch, so your grip on that coffee mug is about to tighten. Better type this before my inner Umbridge emerges screeching, ‘How dare you engage in such shameful behavior!’ and starts self-censoring ๐
Oh Beom loves the traces of Suho lingering all over Si-eun’s body. Could be bruises. But he’s particularly fond of the scent. That’s the secret reason Beom-seok loves holding Si-eun tight – burying his nose in shoulders, armpits. Si-eun carries Suho’s scent. Years of steeping, naturally.
So Si-eun starts meeting Oh Beom in secret. Behind Suho’s back. Maybe he can cure Oh Beom? Could be a complete misdiagnosis, as a doctor, who knows.
Then Suho discovers the whole truth. Suho has those one-dimensional corners – a man who doesn’t read beyond what he sees.
I remember a subscriber once asked about Throuple, and I shot it down because different social classes make it impossible. And here I am now, listing out fetishistic plot points HAHA
Hope your coffee hasn’t gone too cold
19 Sept 2025
Evangelion
Wow Jennie, in your exploration of dark BL you have hit upon ideas I have only seen in top-flight stories.
Si-eunโs comforting of Beomseok because of the union of neurosis with nostalgia is believable and, in fact, quite likely. I see from how he talks to his mental projection of Beomseok (in S2), that Si-eun doesnโt lay all the blame at Beomseokโs feet, even though those were the feet that did the unthinkable. He seems to blame himself mostly. This warm child with so much guilt. Madeleine Miller develops similar themes ever so lyrically in her Song of Achilles, and that book is really at the upper echelons of fiction, let alone BL.
Beomseok experiencing boy-urges while feeling guilt and sorrow for Suho on life-support has been explored, and even animated, by the revered Evangelion, hallowed be its name. In the infamous End of Evangelion hospital scene, Ikari Shinji (who has aspects of Si-Eun and Beomseok) grieves over his comatose friend on life support.
But when he sees more of her than he should, he impulsively milks his feelings right by her bedside. Evangelion fans raise this profound question: should ultimate power (which Shinji gains) be granted to what is basically an animal? I raise this equally important question: does that room smell of raw almonds? Incidentally, the pretty friend on the bed is named Asukaโฆ
I may or may not have some complexes to wrestle with.
Si-eun being steeped in Suhoโs scent is just the most gorgeous possibility hahahaha Itโs so romantic.
You know, since they say you are what you eat, Si-eun must be subtly redolent of caramel; and whenever Suho wafts past some smitten nurses, they realize he comes with the most alluring vanilla note. These are perfumes of forbidden provenance that Beomseok has never known, but he too is drawn to them.
Ahโฆ and that frosty scene where the trio finally meet outside Suhoโs house, and the AhnYeon besties walk on awkward eggshells around each other for a week, and Si-eun falls for Beomseokโs manipulation and hides his meetings and causes a heartbreak for Suhoโฆ
Oh god, I can just picture Suhoโs wounded face.
Itโs delicious.
Jennie, you are the finest architect of the boysโ nightmares. All Si-eunโs and Suhoโs sleep demons acknowledge the heart-piercing tip of your tail hahahaha
And yes, I do love the vibe of old temples. Speaking of sacrilegious, in Thailand, some of the younger monks were really cute with their shaved heads and toned deltoids saying โhiโ from their half-sleeveless saffron Theravadin robes. This badly affected my meditation practice, and I left before I ripened some cursed karma, if I havenโt alreadyโฆ
So itโs the old temples of Nara for me then, with their old and fully covered monks. The oldest Buddhist temple in Japan is, by the way, in Nara and is called Asuka Temple (้ฃ้ณฅๅฏบ). I am not making this up. Actually I wanted to visit Kyoto this November, but autumnal Kyoto with its seas of red has oceans of tourists, and higher pricing, so I opted for good old Tokyo instead. This decision had nothing to do with the BL cafรฉs in Tokyo. And it was all before I learned of the Anguk option, which is likely to materialize next year. Got to breathe in Jongnoโs September air, and giggle to myself. Hope I donโt frighten the occasional jogger.
Yours very warmly,
Though on iced coffee,
Asuka, almond-free.
Evangelion is a little like Marvel with its multiple multiverse re-tellings. The best place to start is the original 26 episode 1995 series. Each ep is under 30 mins. Itโs a wild ride, rich with symbolism. (But it does not contain the scene where Shinji whips up some nut milk latte; that is in one of the Evangelion movies, End of Evangelion, released later.)
I am now at one of those infernal โcompulsory partiesโ to celebrate an End of Project. Are there a lot of these team festivities in Korean office life? I think the better way to have any celebration is to binge WH1+2.
I have just pretended to be drunk to write this in the washroom. As someone who single-malts stress away, it will take a lot more than four measly pints to fell this head nurse, though I admit I am a little tipsy.
Oh yes, I wanted to mention, I think a heart-torn Suho will use language a lot stronger than, say, โshootโ. Will this trigger any adverse warning for your blog? Personally, Iโd rather not resort to grotesque contortions like โforkingโ or โwhat the fuchsia.โ (I recall one of Park Jihoonโs characters saying Korean โshoeโ instead of what he wanted to say when he spotted his schoolโs discipline master mid-sentence.)
ASL, thinking of watching WH1ep1 right in this cubicle.
Hope you’re not still trapped at those infernal compulsory parties, trying to keep up appearances. I finally escaped my friend’s two-hour hostage situation and I’m home sipping decaf coffee.
Just posted the 5th instalment of our arc – what a day.
There’s autumn rain outside, so I added some imagery of Oh Beom standing under that streetlight with its anxious yellow glow, and Dr Yeon’s increasing disappearances…
Suho frantically putting down his phone.
Also added more weight to those bricks, crushing Suho’s pride (cackling evilly haha).
Tomorrow I’m spending the whole day leisurely swimming in this delusional ocean.
(Your email convinced me to dive into Evangelion – just reading the Wikipedia entry showed how philosophically deep it goes)
(I looked up that most controversial scene, wow… wow…)
Jen
Hi Jennie,
Yes, I did get out before people around me drank themselves silly. Managed to clear off the alcohol with the blackness of sleep, back to work as usual this Sunday morning.
A WH analyst of your depth will be able to quickly perceive the Si-eun and the Beomseok within Ikari Shinji, who has serious daddy issues. The first time you mentioned (I think in a YouTube comment?) that Director Yoo had inspiration from Evangelion, I was very pleasantly surprised. But then I quickly thought, โAh, no wonderโฆโ
Thanks very much for Caged. I think I am going to end up incorporating very large chunks of it into dark-hued soup.
Always happy for your arc designs, or anything else ๐ They hit in a way coffee cannot.
Yours,
Asuka, looking forward to Monday
Hope you’re savoring Sunday after that heavy project wrap. May your evening single-malt toast the approaching leisure ahead. Listening to married friends confess their emotional (sometimes physical) infidelities is wretched business. Five glasses of soju left me nursing a hangover until late afternoon – wasted half my golden Sunday in bed.
Still, Chuseok approaches – Korea’s greatest holiday means over a week off.
I’ve been hoarding post ideas for that stretch.
Reviewing yesterday’s tipsy email to you – seems I lit another fire, lol. I wanted to capture “house of cards” – that phrase just surfaced!
Suho’s pragmatic, so discovering Oh Beom’s patronage wouldn’t crack his pride initially. The real wound? Those stolen teenage years – Oh Beom’s “feet” caused that damage.
Still, even with Oh Beom laying financial carpet, Suho’s diligence built the house.
Foot
What I wanted to probe in Caged was Oh Beom’s “feet” – you nailed it brilliantly. Those feet that could induce a two-year coma…
Korean expression: someone with wide connections or influence has “wide feet” (๋ฐ์ด ๋๋ค). Similarly, generous people who share food abundantly have “big hands” (์์ด ํฌ๋ค).
This natural-born, laid-back boy who sparked Yeongbin crew jealousy – if he faced another mental tremor, it would stem from Oh Beom’s “feet” again. The deluluverse bricks align perfectly.
Oh Beom’s “wide feet” – influence that could reduce an invincible “hyung” to meat on life support, feet that stride unrestricted through Suho’s sacred spaces. That composure would crumble.
Financial backing… even complex on money & poverty, Suho might shrug off compensation from his perpetrator. But recognising someone controls both his fate and his soulmate’s? That expression would be… exquisite.
Beyond the darkening beer and thickening walls, glimpsing Suho’s humiliated profile kissing those “feet” – this little devil’s tail wags with glee, hahaha.
Suho couldn’t fathom that one touch of his jelly-soft lower lip anywhere – lips, or perhaps Oh Beom’s “head” – could claim those feet entirely. Gentle head stroking would probably make this daddy-issue sufferer tremble and weep with his whole body. (Wicked…)
But Sieun’s such a tender soul.
Like your beautiful observation – he doesn’t lay blame at Beomseok’s feet, blaming himself instead with that gentle heart.
Perhaps Sieun would soften again when it comes to Beomseok matters. Ultimately, wouldn’t it be Dr Yeon who reveals to Suho the ironic truth? That his jelly lips need only touch anywhere on Oh Beom – anywhere except those very “feet” – to make the boogeyman who devoured our three-canoe trio simplyโฆ vanish.
He’s that good a kid, after all.
Song of Achilles
Scanned Amazon reviews – the story structure shows through.
Early YouTube days brought frequent questions: Is Suho-Sieun’s love platonic? Did they actually love each other? Comments often overheated.
My highest-viewed video “Suho’s Wordplay That Made Sieun Smile” hit 50,000+ views.
One rainbow-profile commenter wrote: “This video talks for 7+ minutes while saying nothing.” Haha, I caught their meaning – they wanted direct romance definition, not bush-beating.
Everyone pitched perspectives on platonic versus romantic… I’ve been planning a Chuseok post on whether Suho and Sieun truly loved each other.
Love takes many forms. Subscriber Elaine, deeply inspiring like you, said: “People tend to belittle friendship compared to love.”
Your recent wit-and-philosophy-laden comment that opened this Yeon Clinic saga perfectly nailed the love-versus-friendship theme. I adore that comment.
Hearing “You’re really psycho” delivered like “I can’t stand how much I love you” – their emotional exchange was obviously love. They shared ์ ์ฐๆ (comrade love). Since you likely know Chinese characters, Korean ์ ์ฐๆ already contains ๆ (love).
Their bond while restraining Gilsu was ์ ์ฐๆ. Calling each other crazy was metaphor for that comradeship – Suho’s love confession to Sieun.
Our beloved final scene, “Yellow Hospital Light Sequence”, contains what I consider the most admirable wordplay:
Sieun: “Sorry” (๋ฏธ์ํด/mianhae)
Suho: “Me too” (๋๋/nado)
When Sieun suddenly says “mianhae,” I hear “saranghae” (I love you) – two heterosexual boys post-tragedy using wordplay to hide sincerity, as teenage boys do. Both “mianhae” and “saranghae” end with the action verb “hae.” Sieun actually said “I love you,” and Suho’s faint smile with “me too” was the automatic romantic response.
People debate whether WHC qualifies as BL drama. I disagree – true BL would’ve made sexuality central, which this drama consciously excluded. But did Suho and Sieun share love? Absolutely.
Suho was Sieun’s first love. Suho, attracted to “strong mental will,” shared ์ ์ฐๆ with Sieun. (Even praising Yeong-i, Suho noted her wildness and “guts” – qualities supposedly rare in girls.)
If that’s not love, what is?
This sparked our deluluverse arc, haha. Must organize these ideas into posts eventually. Thanks for the brain exercise, friend.
Added Song of Achilles to my wishlist – will read after finishing The Alchemized (though Malfoy’s losing appeal, weakening my completion resolve…). Song of Achilles likely explores such comradeship too.
That era’s Greek/Spartan male love was exceptional – mutual attraction to masculinity ran wild, haha. The most heterosexual imagery inevitably connects to homosexuality in countless works…
Profanity
Right, Suho rarely swears compared to peers.
“Bastard” barely registers as profanity for that age group. His most vicious cursing came in the boxing ring when Taehoon grabbed his ankle – that savage “ssibalshaki.”
He’s no walking “fuck fuck” machine, which makes him more elegant.
Resisting Monday’s approach, Jennie