Yo I’m gonna need that catalogue of scenes that make you think he’s fallen for her 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
So I’ve gone back through and decided to narrow it down to 5moments (really you could say any time they shared air in episode 12 and thatwould be accurate) plus one that was completely unconsciously done before hestarted to grasp the situation he found himself in, and I’ll explain therationale behind each.
Pre realization: When he goes to buy out her debt and endsup beating Kwang Il to a pulp (and in turn getting pummeled himself). This oneI would argue was when he was mostly unconsciously doing it because he hadgrowing feelings for her. I don’t think at this point he had any idea of thebreadth of his feelings for her. However, he did know that Ji An getting beatup by this jackass was completely unacceptable, and although I believe thiscould be completely platonic and more family oriented if the future momentshadn’t happened, there was some elements of him having complex feelings thatled to this moment.
Moment one: When Ji An’s grandmother tells him how gratefuland at peace having him in Ji An’s life makes her feel. This was definitely thefirst, oh shit moment, he had. Dong Hoon is not a dumb man. He has known fromthe beginning how this relationship might be perceived from the outside, whichis why he told her that he shouldn’t keep eating meals with her, but I don’tthink he had to come to terms with his own feelings on these perceptions untilnow. Beyond the communication gap, I do believe he was momentarily stunned bythis perception, and how it didn’t completely fall outside his own feelings forher that led to him just accepting it instead of trying to refute what wasbeing said. (Yes there’s also an argument that he just didn’t want to break hergrandmother’s heart, but he was a little too struck by the statement at thetime, in my opinion, for that to be the main factor which keeps him quiet.)
Moment two: The entire engineered scene by Ji An where shebaits him into hitting her because she confesses her feelings for him. Irewatched this scene earlier this week, and oh man, it is really reallyuncomfortable to watch. There are a lot of emotions at the surface and theviolence in this show is always so realistic that I was highly disturbed on therewatch. YET, if he didn’t feel anything, he would not have reacted like that.She struck the nerve that had been exposed by her grandmother earlier in theepisode and played him to a tee. But if you watch his face when he realizeswhat is going on, it is clear he wants to run as far away as possible fromthese emotions. Oh she does like me, I was planning on dealing with my emotionshere by burying them so deep they never see the light of day like I always do.DONG HOON DEAL WITH YOUR EMOTIONS IN A HEALTHY MANNER THAT DOES NOT FALL FORTHE MECHANISMS SHE WANTS YOU TO. Especially since it involves violence. Anyway,if he didn’t reciprocate, I could see him being very gentle with the let downhere. As he’s not, I would say there’s something going on under the surface.
Moment three: (God this is getting long; I have a lot offeelings clearly.) Oh hey that scene where he tells her that he won’t fire hereven though she wants him to. I’m just saying, he gets really worked up oversome slippers you guys. I mean, I too would get very worked up over theslippers that my totally platonic friend took back after a nasty conversationwhere I didn’t handle myself very well and then demand she re-gift me some. Andreally this scene is just an extension of that moment when he realizes they aregone, and it clearly upsets him. Which is to say, he doesn’t want her out ofhis life and he desperately needs her to realize that. When he demands she buyshim new slippers, I was like O-KAY THEN. You are in no way telling her that youdon’t want to throw away your relationship and that it might mean somethingmore than you’re willing to actually say at this moment as you’ve realized shemeans a lot to you. Ji An being the champion that she is totally falls evenmore for him because of this.
Moment four: When after reliving the events of his wife’sconfession in his mind and his subsequent emotional breakdown he physicallyreacts to her presence on the street corner. If at any moment his response toher should be at its most muted, it would be here after thinking about how muchhe is hurt by his wife, and yet he follows her with his eyes (I’m not gettinginto the scene on the train but THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER that she then callsout, oh my god, Ji An my darling, how are you still standing??) and actuallysits up to maintain eye contact. The yearning; it was so real. Their connectionwas so palpable in that scene, and he plays such a huge role in it. Even as heleans back, it’s like oh wow, I am IN THIS. This girl is living under my skin.Yes Dong Hoon, have emotions, they are not evil.
Moment five: It’s actually much smaller than the othermoments. When he’s scanning the area for her outside Joon Hee’s bar hoping she’llturn up when he’s chatting with the neighborhood boys. That was when I waslike, you’re not even trying any more sweetie. You’ve accepted your fate. He sowanted her to appear and that aching feeling is so delicious; and again, if itwas strictly a platonic relationship, his face wouldn’t have been quite ashopeful and distracted as it was. Concerned, sure, but that mixture of longingand hope, not so much. (Props to Lee Sun Kyun’s face which gives so much awayin minute expressions totally in line with his reserved character.)
Bonus: WHEN HE FUCKING SMILES AT HER WHEN SHE CALLS HIM AGOOD PERSON AND LOOKS BASHFUL. Sorry that was unacceptable. DONG HOON. You knowshe’s fallen for you, her heart eyes alone squeeze my heart painfully (also let’snot discount the heavy lifting IU does in her micro expressions in this dramabecause they SLAY me), and yet you think it’s acceptable to blush like a schoolboy over her sweet compliment while you’re eating and drinking together. Do youwant me to fall for this nonsense? DO YOU???
Anyway, those would be the main moments that I think suggesthe’s probably fallen/falling for one Lee Ji An, and he has no idea what to doabout.
Other worthy moments: when he says that she knows him and itmakes him sad, when he calls her a good person for caring for her grandmother,when he refuses to fire her after the incident with the assistant manager, allthe moments he refuses to say anything about their relationship while beingprepped for his interview, when he realizes she stayed in the office withouthim to help the team finish the report, and then when they have theirconversation that includes intense eye contact before she runs off due tophotographer dude, and then he FUCKING CHASES OFF THAT PHOTOGRAPHER DUDE ANDHOVERS PROTECTIVELY OVER HER LIKE A BAMF and then walks her home despite herprotests she’d be fine. And the actual concern that plays across his face inthe split second we see it after he finds out she got called in for theinterview. To like name a few more.
Final thought: these moments are building now more quickly.I don’t think that’s just a coincidence.
