Okay, so unfortunately I (Michelle, aka Nabi) binge-watched the entirety of Boys Over Flowers after Episode 5, so I’ll be going back, reading episode summaries, and writing about the important things that linger in my memory about each episode. Or at least the ones I write about. I think CeeFu and I are still alternating entries…mayhaps…

But THIS episode… this episode is MINE. It is MINE because it lies at the heart of the problem I have with Jan Di. This episode gets at exactly why I loathe her. Loathe means to extremely hate something, and I. Hate. Jan. Di. That. Whore. (That’s her epithet: Jan Di That Whore, or JDTW)

Okay, she’s not totally a whore, and I know there are a lot of people who like her, and there are a lot of people who would defend her, and there are even some moments when I like her. But it’s not enough for me. I’m very harsh when it comes to female protagonists who have more than one Prince Charming-like suitor that they don’t deserve, but I think that as a disillusioned American woman I’m entitled to a little bit of hate towards fickle, lukewarm girls who can’t just freaking choose. There’s no wrong answer, so why doesn’t she just CHOOSE?!

*deep breath* Okay. Sorry about that. Anyway, let’s start off with a picture from the episode. How about Jan Di’s “main course” from the last episode?

Delicious.

*ahem* Okay, so right now we’re on vacation on a tropical island that is totally owned by the Shinhwa Group (aka Jun Pyo) and everything is going really well. Jan Di is staying more or less with Ga Eul – her best friend who got kidnapped along with Jan Di for the vacation – and everyone seems to keep more or less to themselves.

I’m not really going to talk about Jun Pyo ‘undressing’ (to reveal swim trunks, everyone. Calm down) or about Ji Hoo saving Jan Di from ‘drowning’ (in about 3 feet of water….lame…) because those aren’t the important parts of the episode. I will mention one thing: in the last episode, Jan Di has a dream that she and Ga Eul visit a native fortune teller who predicts that Jan Di “will loose something very important …as a woman…” Jan Di and Ga Eul look at each other, contemplating what that could mean, and then suddenly realize that the fortune teller is saying that she’ll loose her virginity, so they both wrap their arms over their chests and scream. I thought that was hilarious!

So Jun Pyo goes to extraordinary lengths to have a beautiful meal prepared for all 8 guests: Jan Di, Ga Eul, Ji Hoo, Woo Bin (Frack, half of the Thuglife duo – yes, I know their names now!),  Yi Jung (Frick, the other half of Thuglife), himself, and two random white chicks who never speak. Why they’re there is anyone’s guess. At some point in the dinner, Yi Jung and Ga Eul are talking, and she lets slip that there’s someone else that Jan Di likes.

Let’s back up for a second.

Jun Pyo has stood in front of the entire Shinhwa school and declared Jan Di to be his girlfriend. And she never refuses him! She’s not exactly thrilled about it, but she doesn’t turn to him and say “I’m not your girlfriend!” or any other form of “no.” Instead, she acts like his girlfriend (in a way that fits with their dysfunctional relationship) the entire time. But she still has a thing for Ji Hoo, who is, by the way, Jun Pyo’s best friend. Is it bad for a girl to like another guy while she’s dating someone else? I know that there are circumstances that create these situations, but usually the girl has agreed to be the original guy’s girlfriend, and in my own opinion, if she was going to make everything right and be with the other guy, she’d break up with the original guy first and then go out with the other guy. Does Jan Di do that?

No. And that’s why I don’t like her. Let’s continue on, shall we?

Jun Pyo sets off some beautiful fireworks, then goes to Jan Di’s room after dinner. No, not to make what the fortune teller said come true. He goes to her room to give her a “cheap trinket”: a turquoise anklet with a shark’s tooth. He tells her not to loose it, then leaves her alone. She decides to get dressed and find Ga Eul, but when that fails she goes for a midnight stroll around the resort.

Jan Di, who is Jun Pyo’s girlfriend, ends up finding Ji Hoo on the beach. Alone. At night. Looking really sad. Do you see where I’m going with this? So she goes down and sits with him on the beach. Ji Hoo’s only just gotten back from France, where he was essentially his first love Seo Hyun‘s pet. He came back to Korea because he felt pathetic waiting around her apartment all day, and so now he’s truly feeling like he’s pathetic and worthless.

Poor Ji Hoo!!!! That makes me so sad 😦 So what does he do? He hugs on to Jan Di and tells her “I’m so cold, I can’t take take it.” And what does she say? What does she do? NOTHING. She doesn’t even offer comforting words, or tell him to back off because she’s Jun Pyo’s girlfriend, or anything. She just lets herself be hugged by a super attractive Korean man in need of some lovin’. Then she traipses back to her room, leaving her anklet on the beach with Ji Hoo, who has no idea that the anklet means anything. He just picks it up, planning to give it to her later.

Oh, and Jun Pyo is waiting at her room again when she comes back. He wanted to check on her and instead found her missing. He asked her what she was doing, and she says nothing. So he tells her not to wander around alone at night and leaves.

The next day? Jan Di isn’t wearing her anklet. Ji Hoo has her anklet wrapped around his wrist. Jun Pyo tries asking her where the anklet is, and Jan Di replies that she left it in the room so she wouldn’t lose it. Then Jun Pyo asks Ji Hoo where he got the ‘bracelet,’ and he tells him that it’s Jan Di’s, she must have lost it last night, could you give it back to her? Jun Pyo gets so upset that he goes out of commission for a while , so while he’s asleep, Ji Hoo wants to go fishing on a sailboat, and asks Jan Di if she wants to go.

And she does.

The Jun Pyo recovers, without saying anything to anyone, and takes Jan Di on a helicopter ride to show her a heart-shaped field, which he actually calls his heart, and tells her that once he found a girl he liked he’d show her his heart. And she’s uncomfortable about it. That’s probably because she’s passively standing between two really attractive and well-off but emotionally vulnerable and closed-off men, and just can’t seem to find the time or the words to say “Sorry Jun Pyo, I actually don’t feel the same way about you” or “Ji Hoo, please back off, I’m Jun Pyo’s girlfriend.”

Then, that night, they find out that Seo Hyun is actually engaged to some French diplomat or something, and Ji Hoo walks away, clearly upset. Jan Di sits in her room, worrying over Ji Hoo, when Jun Pyo walks in and asks if she’s accepted his feelings.

She. Says. NOTHING!!!!!!! She had an ‘out’ if she really didn’t want to date Jun Pyo, but she just sits there, passive and silent. So he tries to kiss her, and she cringes away. Yes, literally she cringes. But that’s not a “no,” so he walks away, telling her not to make him wait too long. I’m assuming that means, don’t make me wait too long before you tell me whether or not you like me back. So after he leaves, she decides that Ji Hoo must be super upset, and walks down to find him on the beach. Alone. At night. Crying.

Stupid, stupid girl.

So she gets to Ji Hoo, and she starts crying because she feels guilty for encouraging him to go to France to run after Seo Hyun, and he’s already been crying because her engagement is real. But Jan Di, maybe in some attempt to comfort him, and with tears in her eyes, says: “Please be happy… Because if you’re unhappy, I am too.”

Stupid, stupid girl.

So Ji Hoo kisses her. Well, DUH, what did you THINK would happen? That he’d dry his eyes, say “Aw, thanks, that’s just what I needed to hear,” and then walk away? REALLY?!

Right after the kiss, there’s Jun Pyo. With them. On the beach. FURIOUS. He wanted to believe Jan Di when she said she left the anklet in her room, when she said she didn’t meet anyone the other night. He asked her if she had accepted his feelings, and she didn’t exactly refuse him. And on top of all that, his best friend is kissing his girlfriend. He’s incredibly hurt, especially since he showed her his heart, so he assumes that ‘this’ is the answer to his question earlier about whether or not she had accepted his feelings, and storms away, warning both of them to stay away.

Jun Pyo leaves the entire vacation that night, and everyone asks Jan Di why he left. She says nothing, of course! Just sits there, looking all uncomfortable and guilty. I can let her by on that one, because it’s just awkward at that point, but that’s one of the only concessions that I’ll give her. On their return trip, we find out (through Ga Eul) that the anklet Jun Pyo gave Jan Di is a local tradition, and you’re supposed to give it to someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. Later that night, alone in her room, with memories of Jun Pyo filling her head, she starts crying and says out loud “I’m sorry, Gu Jun Pyo.”

Yeah, you should be sorry. You done goofed.

This is super long, and we’ve only gotten through half of the episode, so it’s on to Part 2.! And yes, there’s more, much more, to prove why I don’t like Jan Di.