The gate parallel (from the notes for ODE TO EPISODE 4 OF DANGEROUS ROMANCE podcast ep)
At the beginning of the episode, Sailom is invited to Kang’s house to study. He has to ring the gate bell and wait for Kang to come out and let him in.
The first shot we see him in is from the outside of the gates. He’s the outsider who gets a brief access in and a taste of privilege. The scene is filmed from his pov.
When Kanghan appears the camera focuses on him and we see this beautiful garden behind him. It's like Sailom is being temporarily invited into the grounds of a castle by this rich boy who, unlike Sailom, does not feel out of place in this environment.
However, at the end of the episode, Kanghan is waiting for Sailom by the gates IN THE RAIN. His umbrella is black, he’s dressed in black, everything behind him looks bleak and the scene even starts with us seeing him through the gates. It makes it look like he's behind bars and it feels like he's the imprisoned prince this time, waiting to get rescued, even though he’s the one doing the rescuing in this particular situation by pulling Sailom into his safe space. This contradiction also aligns with the fact that even though the scene is obviously from his pov, we still see his face and we still see him through the gates. So who's saving whom?
Then we jump back to the conversation between Kanghan and his grandma where he says the FAMOUS " Without wind, how can a windmill spin?". He's basically declaring that he can't function without Sailom (to his grandma), or, unknowingly confessing his love.
He looks troubled and anxious. Maybe he wasn't sure Sailom would actually show up, as suggested by Z.
Then Sailom appears and suddenly the background is brighter and more colorful. Sailom holds the blue umbrella with the pinwheel (a windmill for kids, as they were when they first met). It's the first time we see Sailom through the gates from Kanghan's pov.
And Kang’s face lights up, the chorus of the instrumental ost starts and he rushes to open the gate door. The rest is history.
HOW DARE THEY MAKE THIS MOMENT SO UNAPOLOGETICALLY ROMANTIC?!?
And then we're told about the moving in and we get how much weight this moment actually holds.
In conclusion, episode 4 is the story of how Kang fell completely and irrevocably in love. He was concerned and intrigued and overwhelmed at the beginning of the episode, but it’s undeniably love by the end.
He took Sailom under his protection, he hid him in his own world where nothing could harm him, just as the umbrella protected Sailom from the rain. And even though he's partially aware that Sailom helps him become better, he hasn't realized that he invited his own savior to live in his castle just yet.
63 notes
·
View notes
Jonathan Byers This Is An Intervention
“You’re not happy here.”
Jonathan looks up, startled. Will stands in the doorway with his arms crossed. They’re alone in the house, El hanging out with Max and their mom on a date with Hopper. They had to practically shove her out the door before she’d leave, rambling a list of phone numbers and where to find them, as well as reminding them where the leftovers were.
“We know, Mom,” he and Will had chorused, and permitted her to pull them down for one last kiss on the cheek before closing the door on her. Hopper just watched in amusement.
He and Will had eaten dinner before separating to work on their projects, Will with a dnd campaign idea and Jonathan cleaning his camera out. It has more dust than it should, having been sitting in his closet unused for too long. It makes something in him ache, but he can’t make himself pick it up again. There’s something blocking him.
“What?”
“You’re not happy here,” Will repeats. “In Hawkins.”
“It’s Hawkins,” he points out. Being unhappy is a given. He’s always known it sucks here, from the way people treated his mom to the rumors that always flew around when he made his way through the halls. The way they’ve treated Will. He hated this town long before interdimensional monsters factored in.
Will’s frown gets deeper. “I’m happy,” he points out. “Mom’s happy. El and Hopper are happy. We actually have friends here.”
“I have friends,” Jonathan protests, slightly offended. He and Argyle call multiple times a week. He and Nancy are still good friends, and Steve and Robin are slowly growing on him. In a surprising turn of events, Eddie is the person his age he talks to the least, but it makes sense when he thinks about it. Eddie’s brand of freak has always been loud and dramatic, half relying on shock value. Jonathan prefers the quiet.
“When was the last time you actually hung out with someone that wasn’t me?”
Is that what this is about? Something in his heart sinks at the idea that Will doesn’t think he’s enough. “I like hanging out with you. You’re the coolest person I know,” he says, shifting over and patting the bed next to him.
Will sits down with a huff that sounds very fifteen-year-old of him. He’s glad he’s getting to be a kid. “You’re not listening to me,” he complains.
“Then what are you trying to say?”
Will won’t meet his eye, suddenly nervous. “Everyone your age here is leaving,” he says quietly. “Nancy is going to Emerson soon, Steve and Robin are going to Chicago, and Eddie…uh, I don’t know his plans, exactly, he might be going with them. He’s not staying here, anyway. And Argyle is on the other side of the country. So all the people you’re friends with are leaving.”
“They are,” he agrees, laying what he hopes is a soothing hand on Will’s shoulder, “but you know I’m not leaving you, right? I’m not leaving you and Mom.”
Will squeezes his eyes shut. “Maybe you should.”
It feels like ice water being poured over his head.
Something in his stomach twists uncomfortably at the idea of calling Hopper his dad. He doesn’t know if he’s ever going to. He doesn’t even know if Hopper would want him to. But “dad” is always a word he’s associated with bruises and yelling, the stink of whiskey and a gun in his small, shaking hands. Jim Hopper, with his gruff, fumbling way affection and sweet smiles at his daughter will never fit his version of the word.
“You’re not my dad,” Will says. “You’re my older brother, you should be my brother. You should be moving away and going to college and living your life! You shouldn’t be stuck here because of me.” He seems near tears now, and Jonathan flounders. He’s always been pretty good at making Will feel better, but now it’s different. Now it’s him making his little brother upset.
Will takes a deep, stabilizing breath.
“You’re not my dad,” he says again. “You shouldn’t have to be my dad.”
“I wasn’t trying to be,” he says weakly.
“You’re doing a better job than he ever did.”
“Okay, then how should we start?”
“You could tell me why we’re always running out of tylenol.”
He didn’t even realize anyone noticed that. He’s been replacing it before it was even empty.
The words stick in his throat, reluctant to come out. But he promised. He promised he’d tell him, and he hates to break a promise to Will.
“It’s my back,” he admits. “My boss hit me with a chair, and it hurts all the time now. I used to smoke it away, but…”
He smoked a little too much. He was too reliant on it. He was being neglectful. The reasons stay on the tip of his tongue, unable to admit his shortcomings.
Unfortunately, Will takes it another way. “You stopped because of me.”
“No!”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Or Mom? We can go to the doctor now, we have insurance.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you go? Why can’t you just take care of yourself?”
“It’s just a little back pain,” he defends, “it’s not a big deal.”
It’s really not. It’s practically nothing compared to what some of their friends ended up with. Will has respiratory problems, Eddie uses a cane now, Max is in a wheelchair and her eyes might never work again. Not to mention Steve’s mix of migraines, glasses, hearing loss, and scars he’s accumulated over the years that put Jonathan’s to shame. His issues pale in comparison.
“It is when you take as many painkillers as you do! You’re going to eat holes in your stomach.”
“If I get an ulcer, it’ll be because I know there’s another world out there full of things that want to kill us,” he says, poking Will in the stomach. He giggles, and then looks mad about it.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you actually happy. I feel like it’s my fault.”
What does he say to that? It can’t be your fault, because I don’t remember the last time I was happy like that? I felt like this long before you went missing? Anything he says will make him worry more.
“It’s not your fault,” he finally settles on.
“But if I hadn’t disappeared—“
“I would still feel like this,” he says, because he has to. He can’t stand the idea of Will thinking it’s his fault when the truth is that something has been wrong with Jonathan for a long, long time. “It’s not because of the Upside-Down, bud. It’s not something you can fix. I’m pretty sure I’m just…like this.”
He’s had moments of happiness, obviously. Sometimes he’ll get days, or even weeks, where he genuinely looks forward to the future. When he was in California with Argyle, he felt even better. But eventually, the heaviness in his chest always comes back. It’s just something he knows how to live with now.
Will sits up, glaring at him. “That’s bullshit!”
“It’s just how it is.”
He squares his shoulders, a telltale sign that Jonathan isn’t going to like whatever he says next. “Mom and I think you should see a therapist.”
Jonathan really doesn’t like that. “You’ve been talking to Mom about this?”
“She’s worried about you!”
“She shouldn’t be!” He’s almost offended. He’s been taking care of himself for years. He was taking care of her for years. “I’m fine! I know how to live with it!”
“I haven’t seen you smile for real in two months!”
“I’m fine!” He snaps again, and immediately regrets it. Will’s lower lip trembles.
“You’re not fine,” he says. “You’re not. Don’t lie to me, Jonathan. You just said you weren’t going to lie to me.”
101 notes
·
View notes