Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Check out this cute screenshot of our lovebirds; aren’t they legit adorable together? 😍

Here are our usual ground rules, before we begin:

1. Please don’t post spoilers in the Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point. If you really need to talk about a spoiler, it is possible to use the new spoiler tags, but please know that spoilers are still visible (ie, not hidden) in the email notification that you receive, of the comment in question. We have quite a few first-time viewers among us, and we don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.

2. Discussions on this thread don’t have to close when newer threads open, just so you know! But as we progress through our group watch, please keep the discussions clear of spoilers from future episodes, so that future readers coming to this thread won’t be accidentally spoiled. Does that make sense?

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

My thoughts

Episode 11

There’s quite a lot that happens this episode, and we finally get some key movement on the OTP front. Progress! (But with a healthy dose of bead-related anxiety on the side, ack.)

I’m glad to see that Dae Woong’s so concerned for Mi Ho, but I’m much more preoccupied with Awful Noona. I am so mad at Noona for being so defiantly unrepentant, even when Mi Ho falls from the scaffolding to the safety mattress below. Ugh. The way she throws a look of contempt in Mi Ho’s direction, then stalks off in a huff, is as if she’s been inconvenienced. Her sense of entitlement is quite astonishing, really.

..Which is why it’s so satisfying to see Gumiho Hunter corner her and frighten her into running away. And, it was also pretty great to see Mi Ho literally threatening to kill her, right then and there. After all that Bad Noona’s done, this is really quite gratifying.

While it’s most likely because of the bead within Dae Woong, I do just like the idea that it’s Dae Woong hugging her, that brings Mi Ho back to her senses.

Afterwards, I like the role reversal, when Mi Ho expresses that it was all her fault, because Noona had only been reacting to the discovery that the ring had originally been here, it’s Dae Woong who defends her actions, saying that Mi Ho hadn’t done anything wrong, and in fact, she’d done exactly what a girlfriend is supposed to do. Nice.

Poor Mi Ho, though; she’s truly devastated that she’s let Dae Woong see her true “monstrous” nature, and is more convinced than ever, that she needs to leave Dae Woong, at the end of the 100 days.

As an aside, when Mi Ho tells Gumiho Hunter that she can feel herself slowly losing her powers, it all makes sense why she wasn’t able to hear Dae Woong approach Noona with the drinks, which is how that whole kiss thing happened. I like that Show makes sure to tie up this detail with supporting details of our developing mythology.

I like how, as we go through this episode, Dae Woong gets more and more uncomfortable about the impending end of the 100 days, even as Mi Ho takes concrete steps towards being independent.

It really is pretty poignant to hear Mi Ho tell Dae Woong that it was wrong of her to ask him to like her, that she won’t make things difficult for him anymore, and that she’ll leave after the 100 days have passed. I’m a little disappointed that Dae Woong reacts with anger (partly because he’s jealous of her relationship with Gumiho Hunter), but I rationalize that it’s such a difficult thing to hear that he’s in denial.

I do appreciate that on his own, Dae Woong regularly angsts about Mi Ho’s words, and also, goes out of his way to search for Mi Ho’s ring. This makes it really clear that he didn’t mean what he’d said to Mi Ho, that she wouldn’t be welcome to stay even for one more day, after the 100 days are up.

Also, Mi Ho really does appear to be top of mind for Dae Woong; when he feels discomfort around the bead during her second death, he rushes back to the apartment, anxious to know if she’s ok. I like that. Even though he has no idea what she’s going through, he’s no longer brushing things off assuming that as a gumiho she’ll be fine; he literally breaks down the door, out of worry for her.

Given Dae Woong’s jealousy and general animosity towards Gumiho Hunter, I’m rather surprised that he would go to the vet’s clinic to ask for painkillers (which he claims are for Ddoong Ja). It’s pretty significant, though, that he’d put aside his pride to ask Gumiho Hunter for help; he really does care about Mi Ho.

It’s bittersweet to see Dae Woong nurse Mi Ho through the night, because even though he’s finally starting to come around to his feelings for her, she is actively getting ready to leave. Mi Ho’s voiceover the next morning, as she runs as hard and as fast as she can, on her way to continue filming, is really quite heartbreaking.

“Woong-ah. Because I like you too much, I can’t stop liking you now. And I can’t pretend to not like you now, either. I can only not let you see that I like you. I can only stop begging you to like me. If I want to slowly leave your side, I still need to run.”

Oof. Poor Mi Ho is so earnestly trying to do the right thing, even though she’s feeling just as anguished as Dae Woong.

I appreciate how we do get some levity amid the angst, this hour, via Director Ban’s loveline with Aunt.

It all starts off so promisingly, with Director Ban showing Aunt around the film set, and him talking about how she’s the leading lady of the film in his heart. Aw. That’s sweet. And then it feels like such a momentous moment, when Sun Nyeo comes into view, and instead of pushing Aunt out of the way like he’d done before, Director Ban determines to introduce the leading lady of his heart, to his daughter.

Aunt must really have stress-related digestive issues, though, because she’s completely mortified by the, er, involuntary flatulence that escapes, just as those important introductions are about to be made. Ack. Poor mortified Aunt! I can understand why she wouldn’t know what else to do but run away.

Credit to Director Ban, though, for chasing her down, and assuring her that she has nothing to be embarrassed about. I like how Director Ban dramatically tells Aunt to be bold about admitting that she’s his woman, and that she’s always had a light fragrance about her, and I am also amused by how Aunt is so dramatically touched by it all, as he dramatically pulls her in for an embrace. Tee hee. These two deserve their own show, truly. 😆

The other thing I found especially amusing this episode, is the fake curse that Mi Ho puts on Sneaky Noona, that Noona will get uglier and uglier, from that point onwards. Ahaha. That’s brilliant, because that’s exactly the sort of thing that would freak Noona out. Not that she believes in curses or anything, but her appearance is so important to her, that the threat of such a curse possibly being even a little bit real, would be enough to freak her out. I loved this.

I also love how the angst comes to a head when Noona expresses glee at the idea of Mi Ho leaving at the end of 3 months, because this pushes Dae Woong to articulate how he really feels.

This is the first time Dae Woong says out loud that he doesn’t want Mi Ho to let him go, and would rather she hold onto him, and I am very pleased that he says all this to Noona, with such firm resolve. I particularly liked the part where he tells Noona not to try to understand nor interfere. YES. Take that, Noona.

I also like the fact that even though both Dae Woong and Mi Ho go to the church separately while pining for each other, it’s when they are individually honest with their feelings, that they find each other. Mi Ho goes there when she comes to terms with the fact that she isn’t really all that keen on the life as Park Seon Ju that Gumiho Hunter has planned for her, and Dae Woong goes there as he fully comes to terms with his feelings for Mi Ho; it’s perfect. And finally, because Dae Woong articulates that he likes her, Mi Ho finally feels able to tell him that she is going to become human.

I also love the way Show plays with cause and effect, in their clarification of their feelings for each other. Dae Woong doesn’t like Mi Ho because it’s ok to like her; it’s because he likes her, that everything’s ok. And Mi Ho doesn’t like him because she needs him; she likes him, and that’s why she needs him. Aw.

It is rather swoony, though, that Dae Woong takes that idea and twists it, telling Mi Ho, “If you need me, then just use me. Take everything and use it. In return, take responsibility for me.” I love that he doesn’t care whether she uses him or not; he just wants a commitment. Ahh! I love it.

While it still bothers me that according to Gumiho Hunter’s set-up, one of them will die at the end of 100 days, I’m too busy enjoying The Cute to worry too much, right now. I like that Dae Woong sings Mi Ho a personalized birthday song, and meaningfully changes the lyrics to say that she’s his 여친 (“yeochin”) which is a truncated slang for 여자 친구 (“yeoja chingu”), meaning girlfriend.

Ahhh! It’s official, and we have kisses to seal it!

Episode 12

I’m pleased that when Dae Woong takes out the ring to return it to Mi Ho, he tells her that this time, it’s for real. Aw, yay. I know it was already implied, when they were talking about feelings and everything, but this still feels important, and I’m glad that Dae Woong makes it a point to negate the old relationship contract.

How amusing, that now that our OTP is officially together, they start to explore what being in a relationship is like, only to have the angry bead stop them in their making-out tracks. Ahahaha. I find the idea, that the bead is angry because Dae Woong has been tainted by the energy of another woman, very amusing.

Also, I am suitably tickled that the bead basically allows Mi Ho to read Dae Woong like a book; it’s so funny, that Mi Ho coyly tells Dae Woong that he doesn’t have to pretend that he wasn’t thinking about mating, when the bead got angry. Lol. Only Mi Ho could manage to look so innocent, while blithely talking about mating.

On a similar note, you just gotta love Mi Ho’s straightforward life plan, eh? She’s got it all figured out, and I got a good chuckle at how horrified the visual, of a brood of kids hankering for Daddy to buy them meat, made Dae Woong. 😆

It’s nice to see Mi Ho impress Grandpa, using the skills she’d acquired to impress her bridegroom 500 years ago, and it is poignant to hear Mi Ho tell Dae Woong that even though she doesn’t know yet how she feels about growing old and dying as a human, she just really wants to have the experience of growing and changing over the course of her life, like Dae Woong has. How heartwarming, that Dae Woong now tells Mi Ho that they can start memories together. I like that idea.

Although I didn’t much care for the introduction of the little goblin who wants to eat Mi Ho’s bead, I have to admit that he was pretty useful to our story. For one thing, he’s the one who convinces Gumiho Hunter that Mi Ho’s bead has the scent of goblin fire, which is the thing that causes Gumiho Hunter to conclude that Mi Ho was made from the embers that Kil Dal dissolved into. I guess.. that makes Mi Ho a reincarnation of Kil Dal, in a manner of speaking?

After losing Kil Dal the way he did, I’m not surprised the Gumiho Hunter is now determined to protect Mi Ho from suffering the same fate that Kil Dal had.

It’s a bummer that Dae Woong’s movie shoot takes him to China for an extended period of time, but I really like this scene, where he recharges Mi Ho, by telling her 9 things that he likes about her – one for each of her tails. Cute.

In particular, I love the ninth thing that Dae Woong says, because he echoes Mi Ho’s favorite phrase so well: “The last one. Nine. Mi Ho-ya, I just.. really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really… really like you.”

Ahhh! It’s perfect. I love it. And I love how thrilled this makes Mi Ho. Our girl’s liked Dae Woong for so long, that I just really like the idea that she’s being assured so well, that her feelings are 100% reciprocated, in equal measure. ❤️

It’s sweet that Mi Ho works so hard to be supportive of Dae Woong’s trip to China, even though the last thing she wants, is to be separated from him. It says a lot, that she’s even earnestly eating vegetables, to show him that she’s capable of taking good care of herself while he’s gone.

I feel pretty proud of Mi Ho, for being true to her word, and filling her days with people and activities, and making memories to put into that photo album, while Dae Woong’s away. I love that she even learns of Aunt’s antennae thing with Director Ban (the dorks!), and takes photos with Aunt doing the antennae pose. 😆

Last Open Thread, I was most annoyed with Sneaky Noona for trying to come between Dae Woong and Mi Ho, but this time, it’s Gumiho Hunter who’s in the dog house with me. I really don’t like how he’s basically manipulating Mi Ho in a life and death situation, without actually giving her full information.

It’s not fair that he makes these life and death decisions for Mi Ho, while keeping her in the dark. She’s not a child, and deserves to know what the stakes are. Heck, she’d deserved to know right from the beginning, when he’d presented her with the option of becoming human. It’s just so wrong that Gumiho Hunter knows how much Mi Ho cares about Dae Woong, and yet, he’s looking for a way to get her to leave Dae Woong, so that she won’t know that he’d died for her to become human. It’s insane.

Because our little goblin arc this episode also works to clue Mi Ho in to the truth, that if Dae Woong gives her back the bead, he’ll die, I do find it worthwhile overall, even though I personally didn’t care for the details of the arc all that much.

Poor Mi Ho; she’s utterly devastated to realize the true implications of Dae Woong holding her bead for her. Not only does this mean that she and Dae Woong can’t be together like they’ve planned (and those plans have only just been made, after such a long road to togetherness!), this means that one of them will have to die. Ack. It’s the worst dilemma imaginable, honestly.

Meanwhile, poor innocent Dae Woong only learns (again, from Gumiho Hunter) that if he doesn’t return the bead to Mi Ho, she will die.

And now we have a situation where Dae Woong’s intent on returning the bead to Mi Ho, in order that she might live, and Mi Ho’s now intent on disappearing, so that Dae Woong might live. 😭

Somehow, the fact that Dae Woong is now starting to trust Mi Ho implicitly, telling her that he believes she hadn’t told him about the consequences of him not returning the bead because she believes in him unconditionally, makes everything so much worse. Save them both, Show! You have to!