Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! This pair of episodes turned out to be so cute and squee-worthy; I am a very happy camper, and I hope you guys are too! 🤩

SOME IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, before we begin:

ZERO SPOILER POLICY

1. We will be adopting a ZERO SPOILER POLICY for this Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point.

The spoiler tags don’t work in email notifications, therefore, please take note that WE WILL NOT BE USING SPOILER TAGS FOR THIS OPEN THREAD. 

ANY AND ALL SPOILERS WILL BE REDACTED to protect first-time viewers in our midst (although, I’d appreciate it if you would save me the trouble of having to redact spoilers, heh 😅).

This includes, but is not limited to, how characters &/or relationships develop, later in the show.

We need to protect the innocent! 😉

SPOILER ZONE

2. HOWEVER!! If you’d like to discuss spoilers from a rewatcher’s point of view, I’ve created a SPOILER ZONE for you, where you can discuss all the spoilers you’d like, without the need for spoiler warnings. You can find it here!

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

My thoughts

Episode 3

Ahh, this turned out to be a really fun episode of drama, and I remember all over again, why I found this drama so slurpy in the first place.

Mainly, I just love when Boong Do and Hee Jin share the screen, which means that I specifically prefer the scenes in the 2012 timeline.

I know in my head that the Joseon timeline is important too, and provides important context for Boong Do, but can I help it that he’s so much more endearing in 2012, and that his appeal goes up so much, when he’s in Hee Jin’s company? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also, I find Hee Jin really cute and endearing, and just really enjoy having her on my screen.

Her confusion at how she’d ended up the hospital is really cute, and I love how disarmingly honest she is, in telling her version of events to Soo Kyung, even though it sounds crazy and ridiculous.

Meanwhile, I am most taken by Boong Do’s reaction to the world around him, as it sinks in for him, that he’s experienced some kind of time slip.

I love how he doesn’t panic, through it all. In fact, the only indication that all this is overwhelming for him, is how his eyes sometimes dart about, as he tries to take in all the information in his surroundings.

He’s bemused and questioning, but he’s also observant and analytical, and it gives me a thrill to see him piece things together on his own.

Like how he traces his steps through the various buildings in the palace grounds based on his memory of the layout, and then finds his way to the entrance – which is where he gets that overwhelming full view of modern Seoul, filled with tall buildings, cars, and sounds that he’s never heard before.

I like how he then pieces together that he’s been through some kind of time slip, and I like how he also observes how people dress in this new world – and then snitches a suitable set of clothes, to blend into his new surroundings.

I really like how Boong Do’s shaping up to be such a capable, smart, adaptable male lead.

Not only that, I am charmed by how happy he looks, when Hee Jin finds him at the palace, using the phone tracker on Soo Kyung’s phone.

There is relief in his eyes, sure, but what I’m charmed by, is the fact that there’s warmth in his smile too, when he sees Hee Jin again.

Also, it’s so cute that when Hee Jin demands that Boong Do tell her what he’s about and what’s going on, he tells her to comfortably believe what she prefers, because he doesn’t want her to faint again.

Doesn’t that feel rather gallant, somehow? 😁

I also really like the fact that when Boong Do’s flummoxed by Hee Jin’s words – especially when she gets annoyed – his response is to smile and apologize that he has no idea what she’s saying.

I really like the warmth in Boong Do’s smile, and I find him so likable, for being so calm,  genial and even considerate, in such extraordinary circumstances.

Plus, there’s how he gets protective of Hee Jin, too, when Na Jung comes along and attacks Hee Jin.

On a side note, it’s so like Dong Min to think that he’s doing Hee Jin a favor, by spreading those rumors about Na Jung bullying her, when instead, it ends up creating a toxic situation with Na Jung actively going to the hospital to bully Hee Jin, just to show Hee Jin how it’s done.

The way Boong Do intervenes to get Na Jung away from Hee Jin, without ever allowing her to see his face, is so great. This, when he doesn’t actually even know if the door can be locked behind her, and if so, how. 😁

First of all, I’m quite gratified that Na Jung is so chagrined, thinking that there’s a witness now, who’s how she attacked Hee Jin. Hopefully that will help to keep Na Jung in check, going forward.

Secondly, I’m really charmed at how Boong Do just won’t allow Hee Jin to be bullied like that.

Plus, when Hee Jin cries, all overwhelmed at how she’s being attacked for things that she doesn’t even know about, Boong Do gently offers her words of wisdom and consolation:

“The wise man knows he knows nothing, the fool thinks he knows all.”

“When there are no answers to problems that must be quickly resolved, they naturally work themselves out with time, so no need to be defeated by it.”

Aw. Boong Do strikes me as kind, and I really like that.

When Hee Jin blearily protests that Boong Do doesn’t even know how to work a car door, what he says in response is so true; that what Confucius said 1,000 years ago, still holds true in the present, because in the end, it’s all about people.

I like how Hee Jin is so diligent in wanting to remember all these good sayings.

Her earnestness in wanting to have these good sayings to draw from during interviews, makes me feel that she’s humble, understands that she has her shortcomings, and wants to work hard to overcome them.

Ahh. I kinda love how Boong Do disappears from the bathroom in such a nonchalant fashion, like he’s so used to time traveling now.

Plus, how thoughtful is he, to write out that saying for Hee Jin on the mirror, with that lipstick, because he’d wanted to answer her question?

Last but not least, I find it inordinately charming, that he would be so considerate, to fold his modern-day clothes in such a neat pile, before making his departure.

Guh. I am loving having Boong Do in 2012, if you couldn’t tell. Therefore, I’m admittedly a little disappointed that he’s gone back to his own time so soon.

However, there’s always next episode, and I’m fully expecting that Boong Do’s going to somehow find himself in 2012 again – for more modern hijinks, with Hee Jin. I can’t wait. 🤩

Episode 4

This episode went by really fast, which, I think, is proof that I’m enjoying this rewatch very much. I find that this show is not only slurpy, it feels pretty solid, underneath its fun and fluffy trappings.

And, I believe part of the reason for that, is because there’s Boong Do’s Joseon context grounding the hijinks in the 2012 timeline.

Before I get into that, though, I wanted to say again, how appealing I find Boong Do, when he demonstrates his talent for shrewd analysis and high adaptability.

I love that with a few timeslips, he’s managed to figure out the workings of the time-travel talisman; that it saves him when he’s in mortal danger, by allowing him to pass through a crack in time.

I still think he’s pretty brave, though, for daring to test it out like that.

Lesser people would balk at the risk of telling someone else to shoot an arrow at them – and to specifically aim for the heart. Eep. I know I would have trouble doing that, even if I had a reasonably strong belief that I’d be saved by a magical time-traveling talisman. 😅

I am also loving how shrewd Boong Do, in the way he approaches his world.

I’d wondered for a hot minute, what his “better card” was, that he so serenely warned Lord Min Am about.

It’s really only towards the end of the episode, when Boong Do goes to seek out the historical records at the library, that it dawns on me that his access to the future – and the 20/20 hindsight on the past, that comes with it – is likely that better card.

I think it’s pretty safe to conclude that Boong Do had saved Yun Wol from Lord Min Am’s clutches, believing that he would find another way to thwart Lord Min Am’s dark plans, by studying the historical records.

It’s so sneaky-tactical-smart; I love it. 🤩

And of course, I love that in order to do this, he goes straight to Hee Jin. He’s so smart, to figure out the exact spot he should get shot at, in order to arrive in Hee Jin’s hospital bathroom.

..Which means that Hee Jin is actually on-point, about being wary of getting undressed in the bathroom, just in case Boong Do makes another unexpected appearance, HA.

It’s just too bad that Boong Do gets mistaken for a pervert-stalker, and ends up getting captured in the glass-walled shower stall, by none other than Dong Min.

Lol. This ends up getting so awkward, seriously, with everyone from the hospital crowding that bathroom to gawk at the man in his hanbok, who’s purportedly so obsessed with Hee Jin, that he’s dressed the part, to match her new drama.

Hahaha. The irony. 😂

The detail I love most about this, is when Hee Jin appears on the scene, and she meets Boong Do’s gaze. That look of familiarity gives me a thrill, as does Boong Do’s warm smile, which, markedly, only makes an appearance in response to Hee Jin. Eee! 😍

Hee Jin’s clearly bonded with Boong Do, judging from the way she finds an excuse to go back into the bathroom, so that she can talk with Boong Do in private.

Even though her feelings for Boong Do might not be very defined at this point, Boong Do does have a point, that she goes in there to talk to him, from a stance of wanting to help him, even though everyone else there is keen to have him arrested.

And, even though she hesitates at first at his library request, I think it’s her compassion that wins out when she hears that he has to risk his life in order to come to 2012, and leads her to tell him to meet her at the park

Aw. She doesn’t want him to have risked his life for nothing.

But.. he ends up having to risk his life again anyway, to go back to Joseon, get his new bearings, and then come back, heh.

I have to love how eager Hee Jin is, to get out there and meet Boong Do, even though she’d hedged when he’d first asked for her help. And, when she gets to the park and doesn’t see Boong Do there, she’s noticeably disappointed and wistful.

Aw. It’s so clear that she wants to see him.

Her look of silent wonder, when Boong Do does appear, and knocks on her car window, which quickly morphs into perky cheer, is so endearing, as is her childlike glee, at teasing Boong Do by driving back and forth for a bit.

She’s honestly so guileless, as she explains what sticking out your tongue means, in 2012, and she’s so cute with the effortless almost-aegyo, that I honestly feel like this must be the moment that Boong Do first becomes more hyperaware of her, as an attractive woman.

For the record, I really freaking love the library scenes.

Like, I love how they banter with each other in the elevator, on the way up.

Boong Do and his extreme adaptability continues to impress me, and it’s so funny to me, when Hee Jin rolls her eyes at his smarts, and asks sardonically if he’s passed the state exams – not expecting Boong Do to answer without missing a beat, that he’d placed first in those very exams.

Hahaha. This amuses me greatly. 😁

I also love that beat, when Boong Do is so happy to read about the successful outcome of his fight back in Joseon, that he asks Hee Jin how happy moments are shared between people in modern times, and Hee Jin mentions that hugging is one way that’s done – and he leans in and hugs her, just like that, with so much joy and happiness.

Ahhh. It’s so great to see him be so happy. And how sweet, that he tells Hee Jin that it would have been lonely without her there. That’s so heartfelt and sweet.

On Hee Jin’s side of things, it’s so cute to see her so flustered, calling him a player and everything. Tee hee. Looks like Hee Jin is already quite attracted to our time-traveling scholar. 😁

And then there’s how Hee Jin gets mobbed by fans at the elevator, and Boong Do just reaches out and pulls her into the elevator, while shielding her from their line of sight, with his body.

And how swoony, to realize that he’d grabbed her by the hand, and is still holding onto it, as he grins that he thinks he’s got this elevator thing down pat. Ahhh, he’s a natural player, as Hee Jin puts it, but somehow, everything he does feels so earnest and sincere, at the same time. 😍

It’s so guilelessly impetuous of Hee Jin, to grab Boong Do, just as he’s about to use his time travel magic chant to get back to Joseon, to “teach” him about proper goodbyes, in the form of a kiss.

Ahahaha. She’s so shocked by her own actions, that she stumbles, like she’s a bit drunk or something.

I feel like Hee Jin’s basically intoxicated by Boong Do, and the thought of never seeing him again, just galvanizes her into at least experiencing one kiss with him.

She’s so impetuous and adorable at the same time! 😍

And judging from the amused smile that Boong Do smiles to himself after she walks off, I kinda think that Boong Do thinks so too. 😁

Guh. How are these two this adorable, this soon, into our show? I really can’t wait to see what happens next, with them. 😍