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betweenseasonsSo I finished watching this kdrama I've been following for a few weeks now that about the story of these two twin sisters who swap lives for a bit because of them struggling in their personal lives (THE POST IS NOT ABOUT THEM BEFORE YOU LEAV), and I enjoyed it more than I expected to when I just picked it up on a whim when I was bored!! (Though to be honest, my standards for kdramas have fallen steadily over the past year or so because they're pretty fun to just watch brain-off). Anyways, this one had a subplot that I've been turning around in my head for a bit because I've also been thinking about the Shu/Shennong identity shenanigans recently when combing through the story for my brainworms exorcism post.
There's an old lady one of the twins (Miji) meets when attempting to complete a task for her office, that requires her to convince this woman to sell the property her restaurant (Rosa restaurant) is built on. Over time, she becomes close to this woman named Rosa, even though she's unable to convince her to sell her restaurant. Things start to get dicey when this sketchy lawyer gets involved and is willing to get his hands dirty with threats to get the property, and some information about Ms. Rosa comes to light. She's living under a stolen identity on the property, and worse yet, her true identity has been charged with murder before. Stuff happens, and when Miji and her bf find her and convince her to let them help her sort out the situation, she tells them about everything that's happened in her life, from the moment where she met the person she considered her soulmate. Guys this shit was so gay. It was like the most explicit you could possibly be with a subtext-y kind of gay relationship, but it was so.
Sangwol (our old lady) met a girl named Rosa in her youth at their orphanage, when she was an easy target for harassment for a disability that got her into trouble fairly often (had dyslexia, never learned to read bcoz of it). She and Rosa became fast friends, and they would spend time together with Rosa reading poetry to Sangwol. When they left the orphanage, they lived together, spending every day in the way that felt right to them. I Really feel like the queer reading of Sangwol had to be on purpose to some degree, bc there were some moments that just felt so pointed abt it.. Rosa, being more of the social type, made friends with others quickly, while Sangwol kept to herself, thinking that Rosa was the only one she needed. When Rosa would have guests over, Sangwol felt that she lived in an entirely different world from these people. When one of her friends made a claim that he liked her romantically, Sangwol once again thought to herself that the problem with her and Rosa's relationship was within herself, that her own feelings toward Rosa were "wrong". This is partially framed in the perspective of Sangwol being unable to read the poetry that Rosa was garnering renown for, but the timing of it is so Particular. The phrasing is too!! After this incident, Sangwol decides to move out, wanting her friend to be able to live her life without this burden. After she's settled in her new life, she tries just once to call the old place to find out how her dear friend is doing. Hearing that she's married now, Sangwol remarks through her sadness that Rosa had always wanted a family, something she couldn't provide her. Gay shit I'm telling u. Well it gets worse and then a little better and then worse.
Fast forward some years and Sangwol happens upon her old friend at a marketplace, only to note that she looks haggard and disheveled, quickly piecing together that she and her young son are being abused by her piece of SHIT HUSBAND. Anyways so then she runs away with her 🙂↕️. This period of their life is noted to be idyllic, with Sangwol talking about how every day was peaceful, returning to Rosa and their(!!) son. Unfortunately piece of shit husband comes back, and Rosa ends up killing him on accident trying to protect Sangwol. Here, the identity shit comes in. Sangwol begs Rosa to leave with the baby, telling her that she would take responsibility for the crime so that Rosa could continue to protect her child (ok wait she was lowkey crazy and real as hell for this but she slams that guy a few more times as if to really cement the fact that it was her. omg). After Sangwol is released from prison, they fall on hard times once again, as she's unable to find jobs with her record, and Rosa's poems weren't selling for much money.
They decide to move to the city to start over where no one knows them, where Sangwol begins to use Rosa's name for all their official documents, including the purchase of the restaurant building. The restaurant, Sangwol decides, will be named Rosa Restaurant 🥺. Again, they manage to live peacefully for sometime, until misery finds them again BECAUSE THEY CANT HAVE ANYTHING NICE EVER. Rosa is diagnosed with cancer, and admits her son to a caretaking facility for the undisclosed disability he has. She files for a death record(?), telling Sangwol that when she dies, she must report the death as Sangwol's, so that she can continue to live under the name Rosa, to protect her son from being transferred into the custody of his abusive relatives. Sangwol finally relents after hearing this, though she wonders how she could ever live without Rosa. She proceeds to live as Rosa in the years following her death, using the royalties from Rosa's poetry that grew to greater popularity in order to donate to a scholarship she started in her name 🥺 guys she loved her so bad like that was her soulmate fr.
There's this one line that comes up towards the end of this arc, in the will that Rosa left behind (that Sangwol was unable to read, until it was unearthed out of necessity by the duo helping her). It honestly reads like a love letter but in general it kinda made me feel so sickkkk. It's 90% of the reason I wanted to make this post.
Rosa's reciprocation to Sangwol's love (regardless of how that's interpreted) comes in the very last episode, after Sangwol has spent a while beginning to learn how to read, so that she would be able to read the poems Rosa left behind without having to rely on others reading them. In the first page of her notebook, a dedication to Sangwol is written from Rosa long ago.
But on the other hand, the other reason I've been thinking about this is that the shitty comment section on mydramalist has a ton of people denying the possibility that there could ever be any romantic connotations to this relationship, one-sided or not. And well that's just insane to me because to some degree depicting two women as life partners who understood each other better than anyone else in their lives, in a time where they obviously could not have lived the modern queer experience, combined with all the less-than-subtle nods to Sangwol's feelings towards Rosa, has to be INTENTIONALLY HINTING AT THIS.... right....... The logical answer is just "commentors are homophobes" because they probably are. But it made me mad anyways. Sometimes I forget people see the mere concept of gay romance as something inherently impure, something that would somehow dirty the power of the love these two women had for each other. (Which is #funny to forget ebcause my family is homophobic as hell but that's neither here nor therenfjg. power of being online every day and also gay shipping spaces)
Anyways, loving the concept of using someone else's identity as a vehicle for love. Yes there are only 2 identity theft romances on my hands right now and maybe they have nothing to do with each other. But if you have any thoughts or recommendations on this genre let me know because I want more food and I thrive off of finding similar themes in stories and boxing them together neatly in my head.
There's an old lady one of the twins (Miji) meets when attempting to complete a task for her office, that requires her to convince this woman to sell the property her restaurant (Rosa restaurant) is built on. Over time, she becomes close to this woman named Rosa, even though she's unable to convince her to sell her restaurant. Things start to get dicey when this sketchy lawyer gets involved and is willing to get his hands dirty with threats to get the property, and some information about Ms. Rosa comes to light. She's living under a stolen identity on the property, and worse yet, her true identity has been charged with murder before. Stuff happens, and when Miji and her bf find her and convince her to let them help her sort out the situation, she tells them about everything that's happened in her life, from the moment where she met the person she considered her soulmate. Guys this shit was so gay. It was like the most explicit you could possibly be with a subtext-y kind of gay relationship, but it was so.
Sangwol (our old lady) met a girl named Rosa in her youth at their orphanage, when she was an easy target for harassment for a disability that got her into trouble fairly often (had dyslexia, never learned to read bcoz of it). She and Rosa became fast friends, and they would spend time together with Rosa reading poetry to Sangwol. When they left the orphanage, they lived together, spending every day in the way that felt right to them. I Really feel like the queer reading of Sangwol had to be on purpose to some degree, bc there were some moments that just felt so pointed abt it.. Rosa, being more of the social type, made friends with others quickly, while Sangwol kept to herself, thinking that Rosa was the only one she needed. When Rosa would have guests over, Sangwol felt that she lived in an entirely different world from these people. When one of her friends made a claim that he liked her romantically, Sangwol once again thought to herself that the problem with her and Rosa's relationship was within herself, that her own feelings toward Rosa were "wrong". This is partially framed in the perspective of Sangwol being unable to read the poetry that Rosa was garnering renown for, but the timing of it is so Particular. The phrasing is too!! After this incident, Sangwol decides to move out, wanting her friend to be able to live her life without this burden. After she's settled in her new life, she tries just once to call the old place to find out how her dear friend is doing. Hearing that she's married now, Sangwol remarks through her sadness that Rosa had always wanted a family, something she couldn't provide her. Gay shit I'm telling u. Well it gets worse and then a little better and then worse.
Fast forward some years and Sangwol happens upon her old friend at a marketplace, only to note that she looks haggard and disheveled, quickly piecing together that she and her young son are being abused by her piece of SHIT HUSBAND. Anyways so then she runs away with her 🙂↕️. This period of their life is noted to be idyllic, with Sangwol talking about how every day was peaceful, returning to Rosa and their(!!) son. Unfortunately piece of shit husband comes back, and Rosa ends up killing him on accident trying to protect Sangwol. Here, the identity shit comes in. Sangwol begs Rosa to leave with the baby, telling her that she would take responsibility for the crime so that Rosa could continue to protect her child (ok wait she was lowkey crazy and real as hell for this but she slams that guy a few more times as if to really cement the fact that it was her. omg). After Sangwol is released from prison, they fall on hard times once again, as she's unable to find jobs with her record, and Rosa's poems weren't selling for much money.
They decide to move to the city to start over where no one knows them, where Sangwol begins to use Rosa's name for all their official documents, including the purchase of the restaurant building. The restaurant, Sangwol decides, will be named Rosa Restaurant 🥺. Again, they manage to live peacefully for sometime, until misery finds them again BECAUSE THEY CANT HAVE ANYTHING NICE EVER. Rosa is diagnosed with cancer, and admits her son to a caretaking facility for the undisclosed disability he has. She files for a death record(?), telling Sangwol that when she dies, she must report the death as Sangwol's, so that she can continue to live under the name Rosa, to protect her son from being transferred into the custody of his abusive relatives. Sangwol finally relents after hearing this, though she wonders how she could ever live without Rosa. She proceeds to live as Rosa in the years following her death, using the royalties from Rosa's poetry that grew to greater popularity in order to donate to a scholarship she started in her name 🥺 guys she loved her so bad like that was her soulmate fr.
There's this one line that comes up towards the end of this arc, in the will that Rosa left behind (that Sangwol was unable to read, until it was unearthed out of necessity by the duo helping her). It honestly reads like a love letter but in general it kinda made me feel so sickkkk. It's 90% of the reason I wanted to make this post.
I spent my whole life trying to define Sang-wol and me with a single word. But each word felt too grand or too small. I never found the right one.🥺😭😭😭😭😭 ALL HER KINDNESS IS HELD WITHIN THE THREE SYLLABLES OF MY NAME.... Like, the power of a name, and all of the weight it holds... and Sangwol taking on every misstep in their lives onto herself, onto her own name, and placing all the good things in their life under Rosa's identity.. that's love... I actually really love the ambiguity in their relationship because there's no label for them that's all-encompassing, just that they truly loved each other unconditionally.. SOULMATES...
Still, you can define who Hyeon Sang-wol is in just three syllables. Kim Ro-sa. With that foolishly kind heart of hers, she took all the bad so I could have only the good. All her kindness is held within the three syllables of my name.
I held onto everything for a while because the world is harsh and cold. But everything in my name truly belongs to Sang-wol.
Rosa's reciprocation to Sangwol's love (regardless of how that's interpreted) comes in the very last episode, after Sangwol has spent a while beginning to learn how to read, so that she would be able to read the poems Rosa left behind without having to rely on others reading them. In the first page of her notebook, a dedication to Sangwol is written from Rosa long ago.
My world began to sing after meeting you. Just as the wind carries the bird, you led me to poetry.yeag....... To bring it back to Shu/Shennong a little, I like that there's varying degrees of agency at play here. Shennong had no say in the way that Shu would erase herself from their relationship in others' eyes, leaving them to only remember her as a mortal. Shu would be left alone as the only surviving memory of their time together (and Ji, to a lesser extent). Shennong's perspective on it shows in the way she reiterates time and time again that the two of them together paved the way for the future. On the other hand, this subplot was actually centered around this concept of blending/swapping identities, so it's more overt choices in the face of a difficult situation. There's a back and forth, one suggesting the temporary swap, only to build a life in the other's name. The roles are flipped at the end where Rosa tries to repay Sangwol's kindness (in addition to asking for her help one last time), by gifting her back everything earned in her own name. sobsobsob. It's really good to me..
My song, my wind, my Sang-wol
But on the other hand, the other reason I've been thinking about this is that the shitty comment section on mydramalist has a ton of people denying the possibility that there could ever be any romantic connotations to this relationship, one-sided or not. And well that's just insane to me because to some degree depicting two women as life partners who understood each other better than anyone else in their lives, in a time where they obviously could not have lived the modern queer experience, combined with all the less-than-subtle nods to Sangwol's feelings towards Rosa, has to be INTENTIONALLY HINTING AT THIS.... right....... The logical answer is just "commentors are homophobes" because they probably are. But it made me mad anyways. Sometimes I forget people see the mere concept of gay romance as something inherently impure, something that would somehow dirty the power of the love these two women had for each other. (Which is #funny to forget ebcause my family is homophobic as hell but that's neither here nor therenfjg. power of being online every day and also gay shipping spaces)
Anyways, loving the concept of using someone else's identity as a vehicle for love. Yes there are only 2 identity theft romances on my hands right now and maybe they have nothing to do with each other. But if you have any thoughts or recommendations on this genre let me know because I want more food and I thrive off of finding similar themes in stories and boxing them together neatly in my head.
