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When there’s a string of hardships and misfortune, good things are bound to happen after. Gyeom’s biggest belief that got him through the hardest moments in his life is proven true thanks to the good luck and blessing that is Kim Moo-bi.

Melo Movie Episode 4: It’s Not Your Fault

Gyeom heads out on a trip to visit his parent’s memorial site on the anniversary of their passing. Joon is unable to join because he has a therapy session so Gyeom heads out alone. On the drive there, his car ends up breaking down. Thankfully, a street vendor selling some corn fixes Gyeom’s car. But then Gyeom ends up having to walk a little bit later because the main road is blocked and closed off. He eventually makes it to visit his parents. He reassures them that he and Joon will be fine and that they’re doing well. For Gyeom himself, he doesn’t remember much about his parents so even he’s unsure if he’ll keep visiting. Throughout the challenging moments and struggles in his life, Gyeom always believed that life had a fixed amount of happiness. Whenever there was a set amount of misfortune and string of hardships, good things were bound to happen after. It was this belief that got Gyeom through the hardest moments in his life, especially when it came to his brother’s accident. On the drive back home, it suddenly starts to rain and Gyeom is forced to pull over since the windshield wipers on his car are broken. He’s already gone through enough that morning, something good has to happen to him, right?

And sure enough, that fortune arrives. It arrives in the form of Moo-bi who helps Gyeom out by holding an umbrella over his head to protect him from the rain as he checks out his car. They switch spots and she attempts to fix his windshield wipers. Moo-bi plays around with the wipers for a bit and someway, somehow gets it to start working again. She sure is his good luck charm.

Gyeom receives some good news from the magazine company who he’s been working with for his movie reviews. His interviews and stories are a success and they want him to do even more by appearing in videos, on TV, and on radio shows. He’ll become even bigger and he’ll also get a huge pay raise. As for his next plans, Gyeom reveals that he plans on reviewing the latest movie directed by Director Koo Yeong-sik. Speaking of interviews, Moo-bi comes back home to check out the article that Gyeom wrote about her. She’s quite impressed with his writing but there’s another part of the interview that stands out to her.

Si-joon heads back to his studio after watching Joo-Ah’s movie at the theater. Joo-Ah herself is at his studio and she musters the courage to knock on his door to enter. But a random lady opens the door and Joo-Ah excuses herself out of panic. The lady is a singer who’s helping to sing one of Si-joon’s songs. She notices how much he’s changed and how he’s no longer the confident guy he used to be. He seems discouraged in a way. While hanging out at Director Ma’s office, Gyeom checks out a bunch of mangas on Director Ma’s shelves as well as the photos on the wall of Director Ma with his daughter. Gyeom had no idea that Director Ma had a daughter since he never talked about her or his family. But given how busy and occupied Director Ma is with movies, Director Ma reasons that no one would want to live with him (hmm, this oddly sounds similar to someone’s father..). Director Ma brings up Gyeom’s movie reviews and warns him to tone it down a little bit. His reviews have been a little too harsh lately but Gyeom doesn’t think too much about it. Work is work after all. Speaking of work, Moo-bi is invited to attend the preview for Director Koo’s movie. She also meets with Joo-Ah who stops by her office to talk about her movie “Melody.” Joo-Ah agrees to collaborate with Moo-bi on the movie. She trusts that Moo-bi will do a great job in bringing the script to life and also wants to make a few music recommendations. Moo-bi allows it but makes it clear that she gets to call the shots on the music selection. So with that, the two ladies shake hands to confirm their new plans.

Si-joon joins his parents and brother for a family meal back at his parent’s house. It’s clear he’s the odd one out in the family as his older brother and dad both work at a hospital. While hanging out in his room, his brother comes to visit and gives him an ultimatum. He should just quit working on music and come back home to live with his parents. It’s not like he gave anything up in the process of doing so. How much longer should they put their blind faith and trust in him to become successful? But Si-joon argues that no one in the family ever believed in him. Moo-bi ends up attending the preview for Director Koo’s new movie and meets Gyeom there. As Gyeom happily points out, it’s their second time watching a movie together, hehe. After the movie ends, they walk out together and Gyeom suggests that they go grab some dinner together. But Moo-bi isn’t interested and apparently Gyeom isn’t either for he leaves right after picking up a phone call.

Si-joon feels dejected and down after his tough conversation with his brother. While at his part-time job at Sang-sik’s pub, he starts to question his life choices. He’s been working at Vide Bar for six years already and he feels pathetic. Sang-sik attempts to cheer Si-joon up and suggests that they can drink their hearts out that night. But Si-joon ends up not drinking due to Joo-Ah who unexpectedly shows up to the pub to have a chat with him. Si-joon assumes she’s there because she wants to talk about their relationship. Si-joon’s not interested in being friends with Joo-Ah nor does he want to get back into a relationship with her. He feels nothing for her at all. But that’s not the reason as to why Joo-Ah showed up. She needs his music for the new movie that she’s working on and wants to collaborate with him. She supported him throughout their 7-year relationship when he was focused on making music and now it’s time that he supports her with her dreams. The movie means a lot to her because it was inspired by their relationship (okay wait hold up – this scene between these two was actually so good?? I didn’t really care for it that much at first but now it got me a little more interested!).

Gyeom checks in with Joon on his physical therapy sessions and scolds his old brother for not going. Gyeom isn’t happy that Joon has been skipping his appointments. Joon comes up with a bunch of excuses but Gyeom is adamant that Joon must continue to go. Even if the medical bills are high, he’ll pay for them all. He’s making more money now anyways. He just wants his brother to keep getting better. So with the pay raise comes all the special appearances on TV. Moo-bi is shocked to find Gyeom on her TV one morning while doing her laundry. But it’s not just on TV that he’s popping up. He’s even on the main page of popular search engine Naver (and to Moo-bi’s dismay, he still hasn’t reviewed her movie). Si-joon updates Sang-sik on the conversation he had with Joo-Ah the other night. He’s conflicted on how to feel about her request to work with him. Maybe she viewed him as someone who was easy to take advantage of. But Sang-sik argues that Si-joon should stop thinking so negatively. Maybe it was something that she thought long and hard about before finally deciding to approach Si-joon and ask for his help.

And it was something that Joo-Ah thought long and hard about and continues to think about. She’s quick to meet with Moo-bi to update her on the situation. Si-joon didn’t exactly say yes to her request but she still has faith and confidence that he’s the best fit to make the music for their movie. Joo-Ah did use their relationship as inspiration for the movie after all. Joo-Ah’s also not concerned about letting their history affect their work. It seems as if he’s already moved on so Joo-Ah doesn’t think this will be an issue. But enough about Si-joon. What about the man who Moo-bi kept on talking to her about the night that they drank at the bar? Moo-bi’s shocked to find out how chatty she was the night that she got drunk with Joo-Ah. Haha.

While on the way home, Moo-bi listens to a radio interview that features none other than Gyeom. Gyeom’s been getting a little bit more daring and brutal with his movie reviews but Gyeom defends himself. It’s his job to be as objective as possible and it just comes with the job. Moo-bi becomes concerned that Gyeom is overdoing it a little too much and might get into some trouble. But Gyeom doesn’t feel all that bad. The money and fame trickles in and he seems quite satisfied with his success. Someone who’s not satisfied is Si-joon who vents to his best friend about his current conflict. He feels as if he should give up on music but he’s not so sure what to do. Joo-Ah became a successful scriptwriter. Gyeom is everywhere nowadays as a movie critic. But what about him? He has nothing to show for. Gyeom cheers his friend up and encourages him to keep going. He’ll get his big break soon.

Gyeom cheers up Si-joon but finds himself in a difficult situation himself not too long afterwards. After news of Director Koo’s suicide attempt is released, Gyeom rushes to the hospital to check up on him. Thankfully, Director Koo seems to be doing okay but Gyeom isn’t. His visit to the hospital causes a frenzy and he’s confronted by a group of reporters and journalists for answers. They blame his harsh movie review as the reason for Director Koo’s suicide attempt. Moo-bi catches up on news articles from Gyeom’s appearance at the hospital and grows concerned after reading the netizen comments about Gyeom.

Gyeom goes out to have some dinner with Director Ma at a restaurant. Gyeom claims that he’s fine and Director Ma reassures him to not worry. Everything will be okay. At that moment, Moo-bi shows up to join the two thanks to Director Ma who reached out to her. So the three sit at the same table but Director Ma goes out to smoke a cigarette with an old colleague of his. It’s just Moo-bi and Gyeom at the table and she notices his strange behavior. She wants to ask him how he’s feeling and before she can add, a man swoops in to their table to talk to Gyeom. He’s director Kim Yong-woo and had one of his movies reviewed by Gyeom. Director Kim is still upset about Gyeom’s review on his movie but he’s also flabbergasted at how Gyeom can be out drinking after what he did to Director Koo. Moo-bi gets upset and marches out of the restaurant with Gyeom. She’s worried about him but Gyeom doesn’t think it’s his fault. He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s not worried about Director Koo, he’s not worried about how Moo-bi and Director Ma are trying their best to comfort him, all he cares about is himself. Moo-bi confronts Gyeom about his selfish behavior. She wasn’t trying to lecture him nor did she ever say that it was his fault. In fact, people who usually say that are just trying to deflect the blame onto someone else.

After finishing his part-time job at Vide Bar, Si-joon heads back home. But there’s someone waiting outside for him and it’s Joo-Ah. She’s come back to see him again. Si-joon finally relays his decision to her and agrees to work with her on her movie. He’s going to hit it big with this project and become more successful than her. Moo-bi heads out to visit Director Koo at the hospital. It doesn’t take long for Director Koo to recognize Moo-bi. He heard a lot about her from her mother as well as her father. Director Koo first clarifies his situation and reveals that he never attempted suicide. It was all a misunderstanding. He had been using sleeping pills for a while but suffered an overdose after a night of too much drinking. Moo-bi is relieved to know that Director Koo will recover just fine. If something bad had happened to him too, all she would have left is her hatred for movies. To first lose her father to movies and then Director Koo a few years later would have been devastating. Director Koo mentions Moo-bi’s father a few times to her. He must be proud to see her become a successful director.

Moo-bi isn’t the only person who’s visited Director Koo as Gyeom has also been dropping by to see him (omg I can feel my eyes filling up with tears. I can’t do thissss). Moo-bi approaches Gyeom as he’s sitting outside in the lobby by himself in the dark. She squats down in front of him and asks what he’s doing. Gyeom answers that he’s waiting.. waiting for something good to happen to him. And just like when Moo-bi showed up on the rainy day and fixed his windshield wipers for him, Moo-bi once again showed up in front of him. She’s once again the fortune that appears after Gyeom experiences a string of hardships. As for Moo-bi, she admits that one of her weaknesses is that she opens up her heart too easily to pitiful little things. In this case, Gyeom is that pitiful little thing and she can’t help but feel for him. So she sits herself next to Gyeom and together the two get some rest after an exhausting day. They close their eyes and enjoy the peace and silence. For once, things are calm. Gyeom finally allows himself to accept Moo-bi’s help once again.

Epilogue

Moo-bi wakes up to find herself alone in the hospital lobby since Gyeom is gone. She takes this as a sign to head back home so she prepares to leave. But Gyeom actually never went back home and he instead disappeared to grab a blanket for Moo-bi. Moo-bi still doesn’t plan on staying at the hospital and she encourages him to also go home. Since they’re neighbors, they might as well head back home together. But before they can get out of the hospital, Gyeom stops Moo-bi to make a confession: he wants to like her again.

My Thoughts:

This drama is so good at illustrating each episode’s theme and concept in a way that just gets to you and makes you feel things. In this episode, it was the concept of how fortune comes after a series of hardships and struggles. In episode 3 and then now with the ending of episode 4, it was the theme of attachment and how Moo-bi easily became attached to certain things or to certain people. We learned more about Gyeom’s thoughts and the central belief that got him through difficult times. Then we learned about Moo-bi and her central belief that transformed who she was and how she treated others. Together, the drama was able to weave their individual personalities and beliefs to complete each other. Gyeom was afraid to ask for help and Moo-bi wanted to help him. Gyeom’s misfortunes and hardships – whether big or small – was followed up by Moo-bi’s presence and support that served as his good luck charm. They truly are compatible and meant to be.

I really enjoyed how we got more insight into Moo-bi’s feelings and thoughts for Gyeom in this episode. In the beginning of episode 3, Moo-bi admitted that she was the type to get easily attached to things that were pitiful and little. This was why she found it so strange that she somehow became attached to Gyeom even though he was neither of those things. Then at the end of this episode, we saw her bring up this comment again and this time, Gyeom was pitiful and little because of what he went through with his job. The bottom line through all these years was that Moo-bi cared for Gyeom regardless of what he was going through. Whether it was five years ago when he was super jolly and upbeat and cheerful or in the present where he felt small and down and stressed, she opened up her heart to him regardless. Moo-bi became attached to Gyeom back then and became attached to him again five years later. And perhaps that attachment was always there; perhaps it never left.

Moo-bi was concerned for Gyeom and contemplated on how to approach him in a way that wouldn’t burden him or put pressure on him. Her confrontation with Gyeom outside of the restaurant was her way of saying that she was worried about him and that he should have considered how others may have felt about wanting to comfort him. Director Ma and Moo-bi were contemplating on how to check up on him because they didn’t want to go overboard and yet all Gyeom could think about was himself. I understood that Gyeom didn’t feel like it was his fault and this sentiment is something that’s consistent with what we heard from him all along about being a movie critic: being harsh and blunt about movies comes with the job. But I agree with Moo-bi in that there’s a fine line that you tow as a movie critic and it’s Gyeom’s responsibility to find that balance. Also, he should have put himself in other people’s shoes and not just think about himself. In a way, he was trying to place the blame on someone else so that he could feel better about what he did and so that he could remain in denial about everything. Moo-bi’s comments helped him come to his senses and helped him realize that this wasn’t just about movies. This was real life. This was someone’s life that they were talking about. Gyeom may write movie reviews for a living but he has to deal with the consequences that comes with doing so. He then approached the situation with Director Koo differently after hearing from Moo-bi. He went to visit Director Koo and wouldn’t leave despite how late and lonely it was at the hospital.

I loved that the drama continued to focus not just on Gyeom but also on the other characters, in particular on Moo-bi’s story. Her father was brought up a few times during her conversation with Director Koo and a part of me couldn’t help but be curious about that five year process when she became a director (hence why I wished that this drama gave us a few more episodes before the 5 year time jump. There was so much more that I wanted to see and know about!). A part of me wished that we could have gotten to witness that phase in Moo-bi’s life and that we got to see her transform right in front of our eyes. We knew that Moo-bi disliked movies, that she resented her father because of movies, and that she wanted to eventually make her own movie one day. It was emotional to hear Director Koo mention how Moo-bi’s dad would have been proud seeing how successful Moo-bi was as a director. He would have been proud to see her do what he himself loved and dedicated his entire life to. It was also interesting to see the similarities between Director Ma and Moo-bi’s dad as two guys who loved movies more than their own daughters.  

Along the same lines of family, we learned that Gyeom accepted the pay raise and increase in media appearances because he was the breadwinner and needed to financially support his brother. This was his way of fighting for his brother and doing something for him just like how Joon used to work endlessly to support him back when he was younger. They live for each other and are always thinking of putting the other first. Gyeom learned lessons about work and life the hard way but he did what he had to do to care for his brother. Gyeom was willing to put up with more interviews and media appearances as long as he got paid for it because it would allow him to support his brother. It was interesting to see which choices belonged solely to Gyeom (the more harsh and blunt movie reviews) and then which choices were because of his love and support for his brother (the increase in media appearances and the pay raise to cover his brother’s medical bills and provide for him).

I even enjoyed Si-joon’s character arc after paying a little bit more attention to him in this episode. I’ll be completely honest – I wasn’t all that invested in Si-joon or Joo-Ah when I watched this drama the first time. But after rewatching this episode, I realized that I liked where the drama went with their stories, respectively. Si-joon planned on using the project with Joo-Ah as his last hope in becoming a successful songwriter. Meanwhile, Joo-Ah hoped that the opportunity could potentially rekindle their broken relationship. I liked that the drama gave us insight on Si-joon’s battles and struggles with his music career to help us better understand his decision to work on Joo-Ah’s new movie. He wasn’t sure if he should continue or quit, especially after the harsh conversation that he had with his brother. He was at a crossroads and he wanted to bet on himself one last time. This project with Joo-Ah would ultimately be the deciding factor as to whether he would stop once and for all or keep going. The drama did a nice job of weaving Si-joon’s personal struggles and issues to his connection with Joo-Ah. The movie “Melody” was what brought them together again and they each had their own reasons as to why they wanted to participate in it. 

Gyeom joked in this episode that he and Moo-bi watched movies together two times already. Then in this episode, we saw him do something else with Moo-bi a total of two times. We saw him accept Moo-bi’s help twice. The first was when she fixed his windshield wipers and then the second was when she stayed by his side and provided him company at the hospital. The situation with Director Koo’s hospitalization was foreign territory for Gyeom. He learned how to keep persevering after Joon’s accident despite how difficult and challenging it was. But receiving hate and backlash for his movie reviews was completely new for Gyeom and he wasn’t sure what to do or how to feel. Thankfully, Moo-bi was there to support him and be there for him. For Moo-bi, this proved that she cared about Gyeom. And for Gyeom, this proved that Moo-bi’s help was exactly what he needed during a difficult and unfamiliar time in his life.