Reflections..BOF again!

Gu Jun Pyo might be rich and influential, but his life was extremely lonely. He had to make a choice, between saving his family business and his one true love. (Why does his mother have to force him to choose?!?!) The Korean version develops Jun Pyo's father more than the other two versions, showing a young Jun Pyo promising his father to take of the family and the company when his father was not around. (And boy, his mother did not forget to remind him of this from time to time..."Are you going to throw away your father's wishes over a girl?")

In episode 15, Jun Pyo rushed from a meal with Jae Kyung's parents to catch Jan Di before she flew back to Korea. He was furious when he saw Ji Hoo put on a pair of shoes for Jan Di, but Ji Hoo made it clear that he would no longer hold back (after watching Jan Di cry because of Jun Pyo). Jan Di repeated the cold words that Jun Pyo had said to her earlier on ("Why are you here? Do you have something to say?) and turned to leave with Ji Hoo, leaving Jun Pyo hurt and helpless. He collapsed onto the ground and cried, cried like a child until Chief Jung came and cradled him gently and lead him away, leaving behind a gift box--the shoes that Jun Pyo had wanted to give to Jan Di, the exact same pair. It was almost too much to bear, I thought my heart would break...poor Jun Pyo.

Faced with the responsibility of 700,000 lives as well as Ji Hoo's challenge , Jun Pyo made the painful decision to go out with Jae Hyung. Much as she tried to make it work, his heart longed to be with Jan Di. It's painful to watch his struggles.

Next in episode 18, at Jae Kyung's resort (double date), Jan Di went into the water to retrieve the necklace that Jun Pyo had given her. However she couldn't swim due to her shoulder injury (the Junpei incident). The scenes interchanged between her struggling in the warer and back when she had a leg cramp at New Caledonia, between Ji Hoo swimming towards her, and... Jun Pyo carrying her out of the water. O M G. *flowers blossoming in my heart* Back at New Caledonia, Jun Pyo had rushed to the beach as soon as he had heard Ga Eul's cry for help, but his legs grew heavy as lead as images from his past haunted him. His frustration grew and he could only watch helplessly as Ji Hoo raced past him to save Jan Di. After Jan Di was rescued, the view of Jun Pyo's lonely retreating back made my heart ache for him... :(



Yet now he could swim. He realised that he would rather have drowned than to let some other guy save Jan Di. So he learnt to swim for her. Is this sweet or what? All this from a guy who nearly drowned when he was kidnapped as a kid. How can anyone not feel touched? Sigh, but he was already engaged to Jae Kyung, and could only hand Jan Di over to Ji Hoo unwillingly.

Like other people, I agree that Jae Kyung has stayed for waayyy too long in the show. But I found it hard to hate her, even when she told Jan Di that she would not (could not?) give up on Jun Pyo. I mean, she's a really cool and kind girl, and honestly who wouldn't fall for Jun Pyo, right? And as in the Taiwanese and Japanese version, the part where Jae Kyung apologises to Jan Di is VERY SAD. She said, "Jan Di, I really like you very much. If someone asked me to choose the two most precious person to me, it would be Gu Jun Pyo and Geum Jan Di. That's why I'm really sorry. For making your heart ache... I'll die trying to make it up to you. Forgive me." All my previous irritation with her melted, and I cried. She too, had to choose between friendship and love (and unrequited love, at that). Sigh.