I can't believe I am about to type this, but out of all the excellent airing dramas I am watching, I am most obsessed with a modern cdrama. The world is about to end.
But I think a lot of it is that there are real stakes (a rarity in modern cdramas, imo) but also I can so feel these characters are real people, especially FL. Her despair in the rain, at one of the lowest points in her life, really got me. And then, when she almost gets run over (and doesn't even care), and QL rescues her again, the relief on her face!
And she clings to him (also, obligatory note of insane height difference!) but the reason this hits so hard is we, the audience, know he's just believed her previous claim of being a transmigrator (that phone! Knew it was gonna play a role!) and so while she thinks he's the one friend she has:
He's reeling and not in a good way. And her cries just confirm the truth to him.
The bit where his arms automatically start to go around her and then he stops, his instinct to comfort JXY, his JXY, getting overridden but the whole "but that's not her" realization. Yeaaaaah. This is gonna go real bad real fast.
I mean, she's in serious distress and he just pushes her away. You can't imagine him doing this before.
Her last support getting kicked from under her...
The thing is, I get why he is being like that - for him, it's a body horror tale now, a stranger taking possession of his loved one. If you think about it, what this story explores is something all transmigration narratives merrily skip over - well, it's all well and good for the transmigrator, but how about the people who loved the original? (In most narratives, for example, the love interest didn't know or like the original so they don't care. The original's parents don't find out etc) but if you think about it, this is not a fun adventure/second chance type of narrative for the people who loved the original soul, it's horror in which they don't know they are interacting with a parasite of sorts. I love love LOVE Derailment for addressing this head on.
But also, poor FL, who really did want to believe he didn't just see her as an echo and her fears all coming true in the worst way, and lashing back.
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