I should call episode 14 of Big: tears, fears, and emotional jawdrops. After a dizzying episode 13 full of machinations and revelations, Big returned to form today with an episode that was beautifully heartfelt. Kyung Jae and Da Ran talked, and talked, and talked some more, even if sometimes they said angry and contrary things neither meant. But in the end they understood how each other felt, and made decisions knowing all the facts and taken everything into consideration. There is still the BIG unknown to come – will the souls return to their rightful body, and then what happens afterwards – but for now, Da Ran took the courageous step forward and said “I love you” to the beautiful young man who loves her with all his heart. I seriously wept like a baby during that airport scene. And lest we think all the bombshells have been dropped, a new one came to throw even me for a loop. Technically Yoon Jae and Kyung Joon are fraternal twins! Read on to understand how this story continues to climb to dizzying heights of bewilderment and heartache.
Episode 14 recap:
The episode doesn’t start with where we left off in episode 13. A clock reads 10:10. Da Ran walks down a light-filled corridor and sees Yoon Jae’s body standing at the end. She calls out “Kyung Joon-ahhh”, her first instinct now is that the body houses Kyung Joon. He doesn’t respond, turning to smiles at her, so she asks if he’s Kyung Joon or Yoon Jae. He asks which one she hopes he is?
They hold hands and walk to Kyung Joon’s hospital room. She sees Kyung Joon laying on the bed, and is told that the person she doesn’t pick will disappear.
Da Ran turns and sees the real Kyung Joon standing next to her, staring at her. She looks towards the bed where now Yoon Jae is laying in it, and when she turns back, it’s Yoon Jae standing there looking at her. She wakes up in consternation at this bad omen dream.
Da Ran walks out to the kitchen and finds Kyung Jae there. She asks why he’s not asleep, and he points out that it’s clearly because of Yoon Jae’s sick body. Da Ran tries to take him to the hospital but he shakes her off. He’s clearly angry at her and doesn’t want to be seem as a sick patient since the one who is sick is Seo Yoon Jae. Da Ran says she cares if Yoon Jae’s body is sick and she tries to pull him off to the hospital again.
This pisses off Kyung Jae even more, and he tells her to not touch him. If she upsets him, he’ll run away and she can’t save her precious Yoon Jae. Kyung Jae then looks at his watch and sarcastically says he can’t run away since she put that watch on him. Clearly she intended to keep him around so that her Yoon Jae could be saved. Da Ran refute his angry assumption, only calmly telling him to stay beside her like she wants.
The next morning, Da Ran leaves breakfast and a note for Kyung Jae, reminding him to eat the meal she left. He reads the note and wads it, tossing it on the ground. Mari arrives and happily asks if he confirmed with Da Ran everything. Kyung Jae says yes, Da Ran claims to have known from the beginning. But he asks Mari if she asked Da Ran to lie, to push him away from her? Mari continues her lying streak by lying that she didn’t.
Kyung Jae says it doesn’t matter anymore. Since Da Ran tossed him aside first, he’ll never cling onto her or want her beside him. Mari is happy to hear that Kyung Jae doesn’t want Da Ran anymore. Kyung Jae understands why Da Ran cares about Yoon Jae and he knows the situation is dire right now. But he’s angry that Yoon Jae was born first. She’s just like his real parents, tossing him aside for Seo Yoon Jae.
Da Ran meets with Yoon Jae’s mom, who wants her to convince Yoon Jae to start treatment immediately. Da Ran is more concerned about Kyung Joon, wanting to know what Mom intends to do about her other son? Yoon Jae’s mom tosses the responsibility to her husband, but Da Ran is sure Kyung Joon will awaken after Yoon Jae’s surgery. At which point he’ll need his parents.
Da Ran tells Yoon Jae’s mom to face Kyung Joon and admit her grievances against him, and ask for his forgiveness. Then they have to take care of him for the rest of his life as pay back, so that he’s never alone in the world again. Yoon Jae’s mom brushes Da Ran’s concerns for Kyung Joon aside, telling her to just be concerned about Yoon Jae. Da Ran refuses, asking Yoon Jae’s mom to promise that Kyung Joon will come first from now on. If she promises, then Da Ran will convince Yoon Jae to have surgery. Yoon Jae’s mom concedes that she can’t keep ignoring Kyung Joon’s existence going forward. Da Ran reminds her to be thankful to Kyung Joon. She agrees, so Da Ran asks her to first say she is grateful and sorry to Kyung Joon while in front of Yoon Jae.
Da Ran asks Kyung Jae to attend a dinner with Yoon Jae’s parents to discuss treatment options. Kyung Jae doesn’t care if Da Ran is playing the part of the wife and daughter-in-law, he’s not interested in playing the part of their son Yoon Jae. Da Ran goads him, saying only a kid would throw a tantrum about this. If he wants to be an adult, he needs to act like one and meet to discuss the situation. Kyung Jae agrees to go but warns her he’ll act like a kid.
Yoon Jae’s parents are at a restaurant waiting and discuss how Da Ran wants them to apologize to Kyung Joon when he wakes up. They get a call from Da Ran about changing restaurants. Turns out Kyung Jae insists on eating elsewhere. The parents hurry over to the new restaurant.
Kyung Jae wonders what to order, should he eat what Yoon Jae likes? Da Ran tells him to pick what he likes, but he is angry and thinks he should do everything for Yoon Jae’s sake the way their parents had him for Yoon Jae. Da Ran tries to get him to stop being so angry, saying that Yoon Jae’s parents are his parents, too. Kyung Jae wonders if he should reveal the soul switch truth to the parents?
Kyung Jae takes out the Miracle picture in his wallet, as proof he can show them, along with Da Ran as witness. Da Ran says he will switch back soon so he shouldn’t shock his parents like this. Kyung Jae wants to stun them with the truth that inside their precious Yoon Jae is the son they threw away. Da Ran tells him again that these people are his family and he shouldn’t make things more difficult in the future. Kyung Jae doesn’t want family like this, and he intends to cut ties with them after he switches back. RIght now he want them to deal with the shock for the rest of their loves.
Kyung Jae thinks that the truth will get his parents to stop asking him about the surgery and will also torture them mentally. Da Ran puts her hand on his to ask him not to do it. Kyung Jae spots the ring and asks if she is worried about losing Seo Yoon Jae? Da Ran says yes, clearly to goad him not to do something that is wrong. Yoon Jae’s parents arrive and Da Ran manages to get Kyung Jae to turn the Miracle picture over and put it away.
Yoon Jae’s parents ask Kyung Jae how he’s feeling. They ask if he’s upset about Kyung Joon’s situation. They are grateful to Kyung Joon and feel bad about what they did. They want to make it up to him when he wakes up. Kyung Jae says they should leave Kyung Joon alone, he won’t want them. Yoon Jae’s mom says the parents will stick by Kyung Joon regardless, as Da Ran asked them to do. Kyung Jae turns to stare at Da Ran.
Da Ran quickly changes the subject to the hateful beans, pointing out that both Yoon Jae’s mom and Kyung Joon both dislike beans. Da Ran uses the beans to explain that Kyung Joon may hate something, if he’s told sincerely that it’s good for him, he’ll eat it. To her, Kyung Joon is a kind kid who will listen to adults. Yoon Jae’s dad says Kyung Joon’s surrogate mother raised him well indeed.
Da Ran boasts about how smart Kyung Joon is at school. His parents think that even if they didn’t raise him, Kyung Joon takes after them in ways like hating beans and being smart like the dad. Kyung Jae is pissed and says they are not Kyung Joon’s parents since they did nothing to raise him. Mom drops the bombshell that she could have given birth to Kyung Joon instead of Yoon Jae. She had two eggs extracted at the same time because she couldn’t get pregnant. One egg was fertilized and implanted in her womb, and she gave birth to Yoon Jae.
The other egg was frozen, but after the tough delivery she could no longer bear children. Hence she could never go back and carry the second egg. When Yoon Jae was sick, she had no choice but to have the egg fertilized and implanted in Kyung Joon’s surrogate mother. Hence Yoon Jae and Kyung Joon are technically fraternal twins, despite their difference in 12 years. Mom says that if the eggs were switched, she would have carried Kyung Joon instead.
This upsets Kyung Jae even more, asking how it was decided that Yoon Jae would be born first and Kyung Joon stayed frozen, to wait to be unthawed when Yoon Jae needed him. Da Ran moves to grab his hand to calm him down, but he’s had enough and shakes her hand off. Kyung Jae stands up and grabs his wallet as he storms out. He says now its Yoon Jae’s turn to wait.
Da Ran chases after Kyung Jae but he’s not in the mood to talk with her. He mentions how she always felt Yoon Jae’s hand was warm, whereas when he first got into Yoon Jae’s body, she said his hand was cold. That was because he was frozen for so long. He congratulates her on picking the right guy in her life, the chosen one that is Seo Yoon Jae.
Kyung Jae sits on Kyung Joon’s hospital bed and looks at his sleeping body. He wonders how much there is he never knew. Da Ran looks at the Miracle book and says to herself that if everything that is happening is a miracle, then all she wants at the end is for Kang Kyung Joon to find happiness.
Choong Shik is eating with his mom, who asks if Da Ran found the ring. Choong Shik avoids explaining about Mari and the substitute ring, only saying Da Ran is wearing it again. They wonder who the man with the initials KKJ is? Choong Shik tried looking around in school and the neighborhood and there is no one with those initials, other than Kang Kyung Joon, the boy laying in the hospital.
Kyung Jae meets with Kyung Joon’s uncle and reveals Seo Yoon Jae has legal guardianship over Kyung Joon. He informs them that Yoon Jae is Kyung Joon’s older brother. Aunt is pissed they don’t get the rest of the inheritance, but Kyung Jae wants them to keep running the restaurant well. Uncle wonders if Kyung Joon’s dad lied to them, since last time he said he just wanted to take care of Kyung Joon and didn’t want any of the inheritance.
Kyung Jae finds out that his dad loved his surrogate mom, which he thinks is a lie. He says the surrogate mom took money to carry Kyung Joon, she didn’t do it out of love. Uncle stands up for his sister, saying she would not have done this for money. She would have done it only for love. His sister was raised in a loving environment and would never do anything for financial gain. She suffered for being a single mom because of love.
Kyung Jae storms out just as Mari arrives. He’s furious at his real parents for using his surrogate mom and ruining her life for their own needs. He storms to his parents’ hotel room and demands to know if Yoon Jae’s dad loved his surrogate mom? Dad admits it, and Yoon Jae’s mom pipes up that she was the one who asked for her to carry the child. Hee Seok agreed because the child was of the man she loved and because she was a nice person.
Kyung Jae cries and asks his dad why he didn’t stop her from doing this, if he claimed to love her. How could he have let her be used like this? Yoon Jae’s mom takes responsibility for being the instigator of this, saying again that there is nothing she won’t do to save Yoon Jae. Kyung Jae has had enough and he tells his parents that there is nothing he won’t do either then. He storms out.
Da Ran can’t reach Kyung Jae, who is off at the bar drinking away his sorrows. He flashes back to being called a good and nice kid by Da Ran, and how Yoon Jae’s mom said Hee Seok was a nice person. Mari tries to go into the bar but is barred since she is underage. She goes to find someone older. Da Ran finally reaches Kyung Jae and hears that he’s at a bar drinking. He tells her to come ask him sincerely to stop.
Da Ran arrives and tries to get him to stop drinking. Kyung Jae asks Da Ran whether she thinks those people are his parents? She says yes, but Kyung Jae drinks and says those people aren’t his parents. He asks whether she thinks he should accept as parents people who don’t even behave like parents. He keeps drinking. He’s not going to accept everything like they want him to. Da Ran tells him not to act like a kid, but her entreaties don’t work on Kyung Jae. He asks if she thinks he should give Yoon Jae everything, to which Da Ran says yes, because that is the only way for Yoon Jae can live.
Kyung Jae thinks he’ll die, and he wants Da Ran to tell him to put himself first. He yells at her, asking why she can’t put him first, why she can’t tell him to do whatever he wants. Da Ran says she can’t do that, because she knows Kyung Joon is a good person inside. Kyung Jae asks if she thinks that believes in him that must, he’ll do whatever she asks. Da Ran believes he’ll do what is right. Kyung Jae stops drinking and gets up, brushing Da Ran’s attempts to help him off.
Kyung Jae stumbles to the bathroom and splashes water on his face. He looks angry and determined, saying that he won’t be used like his surrogate mom was. He takes off his watch and leaves it on the counter.
Mari returns with an adult but is told that Kyung Jae has left already with another woman. She’s given Kyung Jae’s watch and she promises to give it to him.
Kyung Jae tosses the Miracle book aside, scoffing that it’s no miracle when its used to save Yoon Jae and use him. Da Ran retrieves the book and takes it to her room to read. She thinks back – to save Yoon Jae, Kyung Joon was born; then Yoon Jae saved Kyung Joon; and now to save Yoon Jae again needs Kyung Joon. Da Ran wonders how Kyung Joon can ever find happiness if the story ends right here.
Yoon Jae’s mom meets with Se Young to discuss how Da Ran is convincing Yoon Jae to get treatment. Mom mentions how Da Ran made her promise to put Kyung Joon first, which is odd to Se Young since Da Ran ought to be most concerned about Yoon Jae in this situation.
The next morning, Da Ran makes hangover soup for Kyung Jae, who is polite and drinks it. He tells her to go to school and he will do as she asked. He will go to the hospital and get checked up. They both notice that the watch on his wrist is gone.
Kyung Jae searches for the watch in his room. He sees Da Ran on the phone with Yoon Jae’s mom updating her on Kyung Jae taking care of his body by eating well and will go to the hospital later. Da Ran asks about his missing watch but Kyung Jae plays like he doesn’t know where it went and doesn’t care. After she leaves for school, he wonders why he needs to find it if he’s planning to leave.
At school, Da Ran thinks to herself about the watch. When Ae Kyung asks her for the time, Da Ran says 10:10 and starts to cry. When asked, she reveals that it will be 10:10 to her for the rest of her life. Both Ae Kyung and the Vice Principal wonder what’s happened to Da Ran? Mari sees Da Ran crying and she looks at the watch while vowing never to return it.
Kyung Jae is at the hospital and this time he administers the prep shot to Kyung Joon’s body. This time there is no reaction from Kyung Joon. Kyung Jae thinks Yoon Jae is in his body so he mutters that this past year he’s laid there setting up Kyung Jae to study medicine so he could be useful at this time. Se Young hears and wonders what he means.
Kyung Jae says Seo Yoon Jae is an unfair person. Se Young points out that Kyung Joon is Yoon Jae’s younger brother, and he won’t wake up and think it’s unfair that he could help save Yoon Jae’s life. Kyung Jae retorts that Kyung Joon will indeed think it’s unfair. Se Young explains that Kyung Joon’s body will continue getting the prep shots for a week and then his blood can be extracted for Yoon Jae’s surgery. Se Young thinks all will work out, Yoon Jae will recover and Kyung Joon will wake up.
Kyung Jae tells his parents that he is willing to get treatment, but he wants to do it at the hospital overseas where his dad works. The parents are fine with it, and Mom wants to go with him. Kyung Jae doesn’t want Mom or Da Ran to accompany him, he wants to go alone. He asks Mom to stay by the side of the son in the hospital, at the request of the son Yoon Jae that she loves above all others. Afterwards Da Ran wonders why he doesn’t want her to accompany him either? Kyung Jae reminds her of the promise she made to be by Kyung Joon’s body’s side when he wakes up.
Da Ran tells her family that Kyung Jae is going overseas to receive treatment, but she won’t be accompanying him. When Mom asks if this is true that she cheated, Da Ran promises to explain to them later about what is really going on.
Mari finds out from Choong Shik that Yoon Jae is going overseas. He thinks finding the ring didn’t help keep his sister and Yoon Jae together, but Mari says it worked (in keeping Da Ran and Kyung Jae apart). She tells Choong Shik she’s going somewhere as well and tells him to forget her.
Kyung Jae keeps Da Ran from taking him to the hospital. He also tells her that he’s planning to sell this house, so she needs to move her things out. He’ll toss his own things. He jabs at her that all she gave him was a watch and since its lost, he has nothing to discard from her. Despite saying this, Kyung Jae later goes to the bar and finds out Mari has the watch.
When asked, Mari lies and insists she doesn’t have it. Kyung Jae doesn’t press her since he rather let it go at this time. Da Ran also goes to the bar to find the watch and hears that Kyung Jae was by earlier.
Da Ran comes home to find Kyung Jae packing up his belongings. When asked about the watch, Kyung Jae says he doesn’t take back what he tossed away, emphasis on Da Ran throwing the ring away and then putting it back on.
Kyung Jae stands over Kyung Joon’s bedside with his Miracle picture. He walks away and lets it fall on the ground. After a moment, the picture appears to fly away on a gust on wind. Kyung Jae says goodbye to his parents, declining their offer to take him to the airport. He gives both parents a hug.
Kyung Jae offers Da Ran a hug, too, if she wants to hug Yoon Jae’s body. Da Ran asks why he is so angry. What happened was a Miracle so he could become an adult and find his family. She hopes he is happy when he returns. Kyung Jae says the Miracle was for Yoon Jae’s happiness, not his.
Yoon Jae’s mom stand over Kyung Joon’s body and discuss how the dad will bring Kyung Joon’s blood overseas for the treatment. Mom confesses that she couldn’t accept Kyung Joon because he was born of the woman her husband loved.
At the hospital, Kyung Jae tells Mari to stop following. He’s not planning to head to the hospital overseas for treatment, he’s actually taking off for parts unknown. Mari says his body is in danger of failing, but Kyung Jae doesn’t care. He has Mari play errand girl to tell everyone he is not going to do what they want from him.
Mari calls Da Ran and frantically tells her to go to the airport to stop Kyung Jae, who is planning to run away. Da Ran takes off for the airport. Kyung Jae stands at the gate with a LA boarding pass. Da Ran catches up to him before he passes customs. She calls out his name and he pauses, standing there with his back to her.
Da Ran tells Kyung Jae that she will speak with sincerity about her feelings, asking if he will listen. She explains how Yoon Jae’s dad did love Kyung Joon’s surrogate mother, but he made the difficult choice to abandon them so he could save his son Yoon Jae after he was given an ultimatum. But in the interim, he was intensely unhappy.
She asks him not to run away and stay to save Yoon Jae. If he doesn’t, then he will come to regret it. She asks him to stay, and the price she will pay for it is to be unhappy for the rest of her life. Which will probably happen, because Da Ran loves him, she loves Kyung Joon.
We see tears falling from Kyung Jae’s eyes. He turns around and asks Da Ran why she is choosing this path knowing she will be unhappy. Mari stands in the distances and watches the two of them.
At the hospital, Teddy Bear gives Kyung Joon’s Miracle picture to Rabbit, saying that it will make her not sick anymore. Rabbit recognizes it as the angel doctor.
Da Ran and Kyung Jae sit at home and read the Miracle book. They discuss why Yoon Jae has not woke up in Kyung Joon’s body? Kyung Jae asks his dad about the book and finds out that while his dad drew the angel picture on the cover, Kyung Joon’s surrogate mom actually wrote the story inside.
Kyung Jae meets with the art professor and finds out that his surrogate mom had the book made and gave a copy to Yoon Jae. She wanted a miracle to happen and both boys to be happy. She is thankful that because of Yoon Jae, she was able to have Kyung Joon. Her intention was for Kyung Joon to learn one day that he had other parents and an older brother, and he is in fact not lonely. Kyung Jae finds out his surrogate mom wanted him to meet his other family by using the book as a clue. Professor says a miracle will happen, since Kyung Joon is laying unconscious right now and he’s been found. So when Kyung Joon wakes up, he’ll have an older brother and parents waiting for him. The professor believes that Kyung Joon’s surrogate mom wanted this kind of happy miracle to happen.
Kyung Jae thinks to himself that he needs to forget everything that happened when his soul goes back so he can find the happiness his surrogate mom wanted for him. His conclusion from the book is that when he switches back, his memories will be gone in order for him to find the happiness his mother hoped for. Mari thanks Da Ran for convincing Kyung Jae to stay, and asks if she has chosen to be by his side. Da Ran confesses that she loves him so much which is why she won’t keep him by her side. Mari is pleased with that.
Kyung Jae sits in the living room with the Miracle book. He flashes back to all his happy times with Da Ran in this house. She cooks rice without beans, she warns him to keep the floor free of crumbs, they listen to the walkman together, she plays with the two pandas with him. He cries some more as he thinks about how he needs to forget all of this so he can start over after the switch.
Da Ran buys fresh baked bread for Kyung Jae, but when she comes home she sees that he’s cooked the delicious oven-roasted chicken he was planning to make for her that time. They sit down to eat and discuss how Kyung Joon’s blood will be drawn tomorrow. Kyung Jae is unclear if the switch will happen then. They acknowledge this between them might all end tomorrow.
When Da Ran offers to be by Kyung Joon’s body, Kyung Jae asks her to stay by Yoon Jae’s body. He mentions how when Yoon Jae wakes up, he can answer Da Ran’s question about whether he loves her. Da Ran says she no longer cares about Yoon Jae’s answer. AH HELL YEAH! Sadly Kyung Jae reveals his plan to forget everything that happened post accident. He will pretend he doesn’t remember so things can go back to the way they were.
He asks her to not be sad that he doesn’t remember. He asks her to forget him as well. They make a promise to each other. If he forgets, she’ll also act like none of this happened. Da Ran gets up to grab some milk from the fridge, and after she walks away, Kyung Jae starts to silently sob. We see Da Ran also silently crying with the fridge door blocking her face. OMG, sobbing like a baby here.
At the hospital, Se Young preps Kyung Joon’s body while Kyung Jae looks on. Da Ran and Mari wait outside. Kyung Jae tells Se Young to go out as he’ll do it himself. The procedure starts and we see blood drawn from Kyung Joon’s body. Suddenly Kyung Jae starts to get dizzy. He grabs Kyung Joon’s hand and then he collapses on the ground.
We see Teddy Bear and Rabbit looking at the Miracle picture and discussing which of the two angels is cuter. They turn the picture around so we don’t know which angel is the one on top.
Se Young tells Da Ran and Mari that Kyung Jae fainted during the procedure. Mari immediately takes off for Kyung Joon’s hospital room. Mari runs inside and walks over to the bed, looking sad when she sees Kyung Joon still unconscious.
Da Ran slowly walks into Yoon Jae’s doctor’s office and sees Yoon Jae’s body sleeping on it. Da Ran leans down and looks at him, touching her hand to his cheek. Slowly his eyes open, and he looks at her. Da Ran calls him Kyung Joon-ahhh. He sits up and looks quizzically around at his surroundings. Da Ran asks again if he’s Kyung Joon? He stares at her.
Thoughts of Mine:
AHHHHHHHHH (to infinity). This cliffhanger will be the death of me. Unlike the cliffhanger at the end of episode 6, I’m fairly certain this time there was a switch back, and we’re finally meeting Seo Yoon Jae again. Or maybe not. Maybe wuri Kyung Jae is just perplexed there wasn’t a switch. All I can say is that I have NO clue whatsoever how the final two episodes will unfurl, and what the major end game of this drama is. Other than my OTP of Kyung Joon and Da Ran have to end up together, or else imma declare online war on the Hong Sisters.
I am so happy the drama chose to deal with whether Kyung Joon should save Yoon Jae in a thoughtful way, by de-coupling the choice from what wrongs were done to Kyung Joon by his real parents. That’s a different issue that needs to be addressed, and sins ought to be atoned for. But the decision on whether to save his older brother is one that Kyung Joon should make devoid of gut punch reactions. Da Ran is right that it is the right thing to do, and he will come to regret it if he doesn’t.
The Miracle book being written by Kyung Joon’s surrogate mom was a lovely gesture, one which symbolizes her hopes for future happiness, even if it comes in the form of a Miracle. She’s not bitter about carrying Kyung Joon, she’s not angry that she raised him, nor does she want to keep him from his real family. Her love is so great that she hopes her son will grow to find another source of happiness with his biological family. I think Kyung Joon understand her wishes at the end, hence he choose the be a strong and mature adult and save Yoon Jae. His biological mom was a petty and jealous person, who couldn’t get over the fact that her second son was born from the womb of the woman her husband loved, hence she chose to discard his existence. But similarly Kyung Joon’s surrogate mom was a magnanimous person who embraced Kyung Joon and wanted his happiness above all else. I’m proud Kyung Joon was able to understand the lesson she was trying to tell him via the Miracle book.
I think Kyung Joon’s real parents are two pieces of shit, they are cruel and selfish, weak and perverse. How could Yoon Jae’s mom discard her biological son simply because he was born of the woman her husband loved is beyond me. But my gripes about his parents aside, they are his parents, and at this point, they are his only family. We can’t choose our family, and if his parents want to make amends, then it’s up to Kyung Joon to decide if he wants to accept it. I understand why Da Ran tried to counsel him to accept the fact that they are his family first, because avoidance is not the mature thing to do. Just like Kyung Jae tried to run away in episode 3, when he tries again, its still Da Ran who manages to talk sense into him. He’s a young man, but at a time like this, he cannot afford to be a child and just do what he wants. He might come to regret it, and it’ll be too late.
I’m so grateful the drama dispensed with Kyung Jae thinking Da Ran was choosing Yoon Jae, and Da Ran thinking that she had to hide her true intentions from Kyung Jae. Her confession at the airport was beautifully done, when she dug deep into herself and spoke from the heart. She loves him, but she cannot place him first in the sense that she has to support his decision to be an irrational child and run away. Love is not about unconditional support, love is wanting the best for the other person and encouraging them to do the right thing. I appreciate how Da Ran leaves the choice with Kyung Jae, but she tells him the hard truths he doesn’t want to deal with. He has a shitty family, he’s in the body of his older brother who will likely die without treatment, and perhaps he can go back to his original body and find happiness that might not include her.
How easy is it just to run away, to get angry and throw things, to lead with our emotions rather than our minds. We’ve all been there, done that. When we were kids, and maybe even now when something unbearable happens. Da Ran reminds Kyung Jae that perhaps everything that happened has a greater purpose aside from saving Yoon Jae. She believes the soul switch is a chance for Kyung Jae to find his family, and how terrible would it be for Kyung Joon to one day get over his issues with his parents only to learn that his older brother is gone when he could have saved him. I’m glad that in the end, Kyung Joon made his own choices, and I was moved that he did it with full knowledge of what might happen, but knowing in the end that Da Ran does love him. I hope folks have also been able to de-couple clamorings for Shin Won Ho or Gong Yoo to get the girl, in either incarnation of Kyung Joon. The actor doesn’t matter, as long as we know it’s Kyung Joon, the young man we’ve come to love and cherish for the last 14 episodes.
Thanks ockoala…
Reading your recap made me sob again.
This is such an impeccably acted and tenderly executed episode. Big is indeed a drama about maturation and I insist that DR and KY are meant for each other.
This episode was really just stunning in its sincerity. Just like Kyung Jae asked Da Ran to speak to him sincerely, this episode spoke to me sincerely. I respond to this drama because it is ultimately such a simple story – how does a boy deal with suddenly becoming a man. Forget soul switch fantasies, this is really about each of us when the first situation happens when you realize you have to take responsibility for your actions, and that’s always going to stay with you. Family isn’t a safety net, to catch you when you are scared, they are merely a source of support like a harness. Kyung Joon learned that he can’t play a child in an adult world, and people are asked at times to make decisions that are hard to deal with. Sigh, I wish he could stay a kid forever sometimes.
What an amazing episode!! I hope we learned from Episode 13 that causing someone pain when you believe you know what’s better for them doesn’t work. Telling them the truth is what actually makes things better. What a wasted Episode 13 was when the whole pain could have been avoided and the whole pain of Episode 14 until the Airport scene, when Da Ren finally spoke her heart.
We all should know that when someone is in pain, it’s better to talk and understand them than telling them something they don’t want to hear or telling them what you think is right for them. Even if they know you’re right, they will never listen just to spite you.
love your insight… sincerity is always the bravest, purest, most beautiful thing that a child or an adult can do. I think that if KJ can live sincerely even after all this (and I’m pretty sure he will), then he will beat most of the adults out there~ being responsible and sincere is what true adults should be =]
Thanks Koala,
This episode is stunning and more so with you analysis. Best episode and most well written one for Big so far.
thank for the recap ~~!
1st of all BIG THANKS to GY acting skill, now everybody love SHIN.. we just see few moment of shin acting .. No one can denies GY act. he really make us believe that KJ live within him. BIG fighting!!
arghhh the cliffhanger totally kills me! brought me back to the MGIAG days frenzy at the episode before miho was supposed to die.
I’m betting my bucks that there isn’t a switchback though. My speculation is that the endgame will be Gil Daran-Kyung Jae. A Daran-Yoon Jae ending will probably throw all the fans into a uproar, and a Daran-Kyung Joon/Shin Won Ho ending is just visually unconvincing (I mean, just look at all the lovey-dovey scenes between LMJ-GY built up over the last 13 episodes (compared to 1 epi between LMG-SWH).
So what’s going to happen to Kyung Joon body? The dark side in me says he might just die away in his comatose state after serving his purpose to give the blook to save YJ. Or THS may go the wacky route and have YJ’s soul wake in KJ’s body. It’ll be a riot to see SWH act out the role of the real prim and proper SYJ! :p
Can’t wait for next week to come!
Ms. Koala… thank you for your lovely recap! I had a tough time understanding D’s speech at the airport since my Korean’s so limited… but now it makes sense… why she said it’d be her suffering in the end.
So KJ’s theory that he’d lose his memories is more because of his deduction of his mom’s wish when she wrote the book– the assumed key to the switcheroo. (instead of what i’d originally assumed about him trying to run away from the situation– for which I’m utterly greatful). He finds out that she wrote it in hopes that after the miracle, KJ would be happy to find his new family… and for KJ to have that ending given the current situation, is for his memory to revert back to before the accident (as the professor pointed out, and so has Mari in earlier episode). THIS makes it all the more painful when KJ remembers his happiness with D in that flashback scene and realizes that this is what he’ll have to lose to be happy with his bio family… per his surrogate mom’s wish.
This brings a SUPER good question to us… will he really be happy in ignorance: finding new family in forgetting the trauma that he experienced because of the switcheroo… but losing his love and memories of it… or will he be better off and happy with the truth in its whole? pain and all?
What a trip. I keep asking myself why did I come here but only out of curiosity am I staying. I am so sad but for different reasons. I do see the actors and this drama would have been so much more to me if I could see Shin act his part but now the end is near and he has to stay in SY body. So sad. Next week if I am wrong about KJ being stuck in SY, I will be a happy woman. Yes I probably have been irritating on that point but I believe a large majority want KJ to stay in SY. So sad because I kept hoping they would switch. So sad KJ (Shin not GY) got robbed of so much.
You know what would be funny sad…..is when the switch does happen and Da Ren the actress has no tangible chemistry with Shin(real KJ). I hope they have been working on their chemistry behind the scenes or Miss Koala wanting us to separate the faces will be mad difficult if the actress herself can’t. The Shin character has been on bed rest for far too long and now we are entering the final week. I don’t know……but I fear we may be left not feeling the love at all.
Thank you, koala, for this beautiful done recap!:-)
Thank you very much for posting this so early! My internet plan’s about to expire in an hour. Off to read!
I’ve been waiting all day for this recap!!! my day is finally complete hahah
episode 14, the best! Thanks so much for the recap. The confession of love was perfect.
Don’t get me wrong, i love this drama to bits, but why do they have to separate lives (DR and KJ)?Enlighten me with this one. Just didn’t get it. At. All. Can’t wait for the last 2 episodes btw. Kyung joon-ahhhh in Gong yoo’s or Shin’s body, i don’t give a damn! As long as it’s KJ. I’ll miss Yummylicious GY though
I don’t think that KJ switched back. Simply because it would’ve been even more shocking and dramatic to know that KJ switched back. And we all know that writers of K-Dramas always choose the most exciting parts to end an episode as they want us to suffer..
P.S. I’m not really sure if anyone understands what I mean. I’m not good at explaining things lol
I understand, and I have a question.
KJ told her to go to HIS side when he woke up and hold his hand.
But, when the two women – DR and Mari – found out that YJ’s body passed out,
Mari went running to KJ’s body hoping to find him there, and we assumed that DR went running to YJ to find him there, but instead, she asks “Kyung Joon?”
Do you think SHE expected to find KJ still in YJ’s shell? I think yes.
I see your point!! She wants YJ’s shell…=)
i actually agree, that i’m confused if they switched back now,,
for what?
when KKJ is already want to donate his blood to his older brother,,
why they switched now?
is it YJ try to refuse the operation?but it will getting more complicated,,
so this is the GOOD thing!
i dont know WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!
NO CLUE!
can’t waitXD
and please please DONT LET ANYONE DIE!
please please
i want KKJ and YJ meet as brother
ps:i really like teddy bear and rabbit!!!!
they really one of what i waiting for XD
Thanks for the recap and your thoughts.
Sobbed OUT LOUD into my TOWEL, hiding in my room.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHKKKKKKK!
Pretty much my reaction through the whole thing. In a GOOD way, a BIG GOOD way.
Everything was perfect.
The dream at the beginning made my stomach drop looking at baby Shin there in all his 20 year old glory. Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze! Can she really stay with that face?
Suddenly GY was looking like an old man! But they put him in a dark suit, and left Shin in his PJ’s. What if it were reversed? What if Shin were wearing GLASSES? (HA! I did that to make Koala’s world stop a second imagining it again.)
The fraternal twins thing -SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! I mean, GET OUT! That was just so cool.
I said almost the same thing here: Da Ran says she no longer cares about Yoon Jae’s answer. AH HELL YEAH!
I don’t know why he has to forget it all to be happy.
Are we supposed to think that by KJ waking up and meeting these smiley happy people parents, new Hyung WITH HIS LOVELY WIFE! that he would live feeling loved and cherished?
No! The person who loves him more than anything, almost as much as his mum, is DR. Forgetting her would not be the miracle KJ’s mom wrote the book about. Nuh-uh!
Who the heck is in that body?
How the HECK am I supposed to make it through the next six days, and, I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS BIG, if this production crew did not make everyone vow NOT to release this spoiler, I will get on a plane…ah you know the rest.
I love all the guessing and the theories, I hate finding out before the character says the words himself.
I don’t know who is in there. No clue. That is the way I like it.
To me the perfect ending would be…
Gil Da Ran getting off the bus, and then suddenly *BIG/Grown up* Kyung Joon calling out her name and grabbing her umbrella *just like he did in episode 1* Then, Da Ran with tears in her eyes would ask if it’s Kyung Joon. Then he would do the *buing, buing*. Then she would embrace him, and he would kiss her passionately *Garrrrr*
Then a year later, the marriage! yay!!!
Then a few months later, Da Ran pregnant with twins! XDDD
The END –
But what I think is that once KJ wakes up in his own body he will go to the States with his dad, and will comeback as a great doctor.
Gil Teacher would eventually get divorce from YJ. And go to the suburban school…just like she planned it before.
But we will see…
Btw, Thank you for the recap! I’ve been bawling for the last three hours! Seriously Kudos to GY and LMJ! They were daebak *especially in the kitchen scene*♥
I think your 2nd thought might be the ending of BIG. KJ wake up and never has any memories of what had occurred between him and DR; and followed his dad to US. just like you said. And poor DR with memories of KJ could never be happy with YJ. Thus, divorce and mend her broken heart by being a very good teacher at the surburban school. this is like the ending of 49 days…. hope it is not going to end this way.
This was actually an OK episode. Though I beg to differ on the fraternal twins thing. That’s not how it works. Just because the mom had her eggs extracted at the same time, it does not make the two twins, in any sense; they are just normal siblings. Unless I missed the message there somewhere, as I did not actually sit through the episode.
I can’t wait for this to end, though. What’s the next drama on the roster?
Yes, it is stretching the idea of twins.
Except, they were fertilized on the same date, just as twins are, but born way far apart.
That’s it.. twins can’t be born apart, much less 10 plus years so.That just defies the very definition of the twins concept, despite what might have been simultaneous fertilization; though from the recap this didn’t even happen, as one was fertilized and the other egg was frozen non-fertilized. I guess I’m just anal with medical terms.
I suppose this just another example of K-dramas disregarding proper medical terms/conditions to satisfy their conflict/drama needs. But then again Big has been like that since the start. Probably one of the reasons why I can’t watch it much.
l think Big will be replaced by ‘Haeundae Lovers’, a story about a prosecutor fall in love with a gangster’s daughter.
Hi, this may be a bit late but let me share with you something that I found when I was researching about this twin-born-years-apart thingy:
“It does depend how you interpret the term ‘twins’ — twins generally means that they are born at the same time,” Valentine Akande, MD, lead clinician and director of fertility services at the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine, told The Telegraph. “But, yes, twins in that they have come from the same batch of embryos, collected from the same treatment cycle — so twins born at a different time.”
http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living-pictures/wonderful-and-wacky-facts-about-twins.aspx#/slide-4
So in the end it’s all in the matter of perspective, I guess.
Cant.Stop.Crying…..episode 14 is so beautiful it hurts…and it’s gonna end next week…it hurts more!!! wahhhhhhh Thank you madam K for this…you just explained the gamut of emotions I felt throughout the whole episode… I dunno what to expect next week…I just want my KJ and DR together….one week seems so loooonggggggg….arrrrghhhhhhhh sniff sniff T T
hello.. does anyone know where i can find the lyrics of suzy’s i still love you(in hangeul)? i just listened to it.. and OMG! i love the way she sang it! soooo heartfelt!! ^^
One of the YT videos has a link to them.
oh.. thanks! 🙂
Some much unnecessary drama!
I like the actors, their performance and whole vibe that transcends this k-drama, but, honestly, there are too much nonsense in some parts of the plot.
For example, if his surrogate mother wanted him to have a loving family then why didn’t she stay in touch with KJ’s real parents? Or better why didn’t she gave him to them after he was born? Noooo, she had to write a book and hope for a mystic event because this was the only way to solve this issue. C’mon…what are the odds? The funny thing is that, suddenly, Da Ran solves everything by just talking to these people and persuading them to accept KJ.
Another thing that I thought totally unnecessary was the whole “I will forget the time we spent after the acident” and their heart-breaking sobbing…Wake up OTP, you don’t need to forget anything, All you need is to love each other and the rest may to go to hell!!!
Hi, i think the reason why KJ wants DR to forget their time together because he’s afraid that he’ll forget everything when he wakes up (which is a possibility) and that will make DR really sad. Do you remember the scene where he recalled that DR asked him to undo the 10:10 curse because it’s going to be with her for life? i think that was why he wanted her to forget him and move on, even if it’s difficult, because he’s worried he wont remember her and she’ll break down. He does understand her love for him, that’s why he’s willing to ask the impossible of him. and as he assumed that YJ will wake up, he believe YJ will take good care of DR and hence, he is willing to let her go.
As for DR, i’m not so sure about why she willingly agreed to forget their everything as per KJ. i’m still trying to figure that out.
BUT, all that’s said, i believe that only one man will stay behind and that is KJ. The opening at ep 14 told us everything. Only the man she wants will stay while the other will disappear. Of cos, THS will have to write a really reasonable ending so fans like us won’t feel like wailing over poor Shin lying on the bed for 15 eps. haha!
Thanks for the recaps ms. Koala. Picts of Gong Yoo with those to kids are SO CUTE!
I think those kids are important keys. I got the feeling that Teddy Bear is Bunny’s imaginary friend, only she and KY can see him. Teddy Bear also looks exactly like little KKJ … so he might be SYJ’s wondering soul (Since SYJ and KKJ are technically fraternal twins).
I think SYJ is already dead since the beginning. His soul came back as Teddy Bear to help and guide KY, so he won’t be scared anymore and find happiness. SYJ mystery is already solved: he did love GDR and never cheat on her, so it doesn’t matter if he is not coming back.
The big question is still remained: is it going to be Gong Yoo or Shin to represent KKJ at the end? In my heart i want Gong Yoo, since i like the actor … but my head says it should be Shin to be fair.
… I still want Gong Yoo though! >.< … Life is not fair anyways 😛
… but it might ruined the story.
HS, can I got both please? Good ending and Gong Yoo?
OMG UNICORN, if you are right, I will buy you whatever you want.
I have PAYPAL!
LOL .. you are so funny 🙂 I hope I’m right then *cross fingers*
btw typo, i meant two kids not to kids.
So, Unicorn, I have been saying that YJ is not coming back, too, but then
what happens to KJ’s shell?
Does he just die?
I had guessed that KKJ’s willingness to save YJ is what ends up saving his OWN life.
The miracle is that KKJ’s shell really has been dying all this time, but magic kept him alive so he was there to save YJ’s body if he so chose.
But, how does everyone NOT look like vultures if the body that saved a person, dies. It would be horrible to see that.
Even if WE know that KKJ was never in there from the accident on, his parents, the doctors, and DR’s family didn’t know.
It would make for a clean end for the OTP. DR doesn’t have to wait for KKJ to grow up, she can re-marry him as KKJ instead of SYJ.
I think the cheating thing will remain unraveled. But, like you, I also have have high hopes to see GONG YOO in the end as KJ. Gong Yoo is simply awesome! Maybe, since YJ and KJ are twins, they’ll skip time and say that KJ looks just like GONG YOO in the future…haha…absurd..but who knows..anything is possible in this drama! =)
SYJ is not cheating, Se Young confirms that she made it up.
you are right … anything is possible in this drama. I wouldn’t surprise if they throw another time jump. I just hope we will have a good and satisfying ending, which i found it’s very rare in kdramaland.
Again .. *cross fingers*
With love, the more one tries to forget it, the more one fails. He he.
As I think about the similarities between BIG and 49 days – the soul switching and body sharing – I cannot avoid thinking that 49 days had a better plot, even when considering its flaws. There was a deeper message about love and life, I don’t see that in BIG.
Maybe I’m getting this drama in the wrong way, maybe this drama isn’t about falling in love, maybe it isn’t about growing up, maybe this drama is about being BIG hearted even when life give you lemons…because poor KJ had too many lemons and he is going to need a really big heart and noble attitudes to save his brother, face his evil parents and with his nasty uncle, and deal with the possibility of losing Da Ran…BIG KJ!!!
*Clap. Clap*
Thank you for the recap. A rough weekend ahead but great episode.
Gong Yoo is absolutely wonderful and he further proved that to me in this last scene. Big has been a great ride for me and I hate to see it go but will be ecstatic to get all the goodies waiting at the last stop.
Da Ran does’nt deserve to be with either one of them because they’re brothers. Where are those so called morals and family values in this. What I see is an old woman lusting a younger guy who happens to be the man she supposely loved brother.
HULLO! How could you even say that? Have you even been watching this show at all? Ridiculous and small-minded. So upsetting!
lol then why do you even bother to watch this drama? That’s the premise of the story from the get-go.
Also, why are you blaming on the woman alone? How about KJ? Geez…according to your logic, a younger man wanting to kiss an older woman is not “lust”? Lol. They fall in love with each other. Period.
@sassy,you just landed in the wrong premise. Have you been watching every episode,what the heck are you on about here? You are really annoying!
I have a guy in my life who’s six years younger than me and we never thought about our age-gap,we get along just fine. You call this lust? Grow Up!!!
Dear Ms K,
Is it true that they are increasing the number of episodes from 16 to 20? Got this from some BIG facebook page and this person seems sure but I am doubtful so am asking you:)
I don’t know whether to be happy or sad though – I don’t want more draggy angsty moments but it would be nice to see the OTP a couple more weeks.
Maybe they decided that the young KKJ has suffered enough lying there doing nothing for so long and decided to reward him with some solid screen time.
Ok…the person who said 20 eps on FB has since retracted and apologized. Geez…I kinda feel sorry for Shin. Is lying down all the acting he’s gonna do outside of ep 1? It’s my dream job (sleeping) but still…
I honestly dropped the show halfway and just read the recaps but will go back to watch episode 13 till the end. OMG I WANT TO CRY!!!
thanks for the super fast recap… thank goodness for this episode. I was so mad with 13… I still don’t get why GDR have to let KJ go. And why KJ has to pretend to forget… I mean if he really forgets, that’s one thing, but if he doesn’t, why can’t they be together???
I just realized something. There hasn’t been any cameo appearances from previous Hong drama actors right? I thought that this was a tradition that the Hong sisters usually keep.
This episode redeemed the show for me. I love the Da Ran finally grew a pair and stood up to Yoon Jae’s mom, and she told him she loved him, now that’s what I’m talking about!! I also love and hate that they ended it with him having just woken up, but I knew they were going to. Gotta keep viewers watching right? I also feel that they have actually switched back, and I am torn about the memory thing. Even though it would kind of suck (especially for Da Ran), wouldn’t it also be kind of a beautiful ending if he woke up and really didn’t remember anything and had a family that he never had before and they fell in love all over again like it was fate and not even his memory loss can tear them apart… I will stop now because the cheese is overflowing, but I actually think that would be a nice ending.
I love this episode. Love it love it love it. Hong Sisters have stepped up from episode 13. I was so disappointed with Daran in the last episode, but Hong Sisters make it up. BIG. So heartbreaking.. but was written so beautifully. They did manage to bring it all together. Daran, KJ, YJ, the parents, the miracle book. What it all meant.. for them. Especially touching was that all these happened was so KJ could find happiness… yes my boy, you deserve it.
What a wonderful ride it has been… lets hope for some happy times and ending after all these angst and gallons of tears that has flowed..
This may be a bit off-topic. Does Yong Jae ever do doctor stuff. I mean he usually plays with the 2 kids but does he get a paycheck? If he does what does he actually do since he is scared of blood. If he doesn’t why does he have access to the kids if he isn’t working their currently. Maybe he is on leave.
Ha ha I’ve thought the same thing. Does he just put on a lab coat to go play with those two kids? lol.
Da Ran CAN NOT be with Kyung Joon if he switches to his original body. That would be so much hurt and confusion for Yoon Jae, his parents, and her family. You can’t divorce one brother and marry the other unless you want to be a leper. In Korean society and in most countries that would be considered very gross and taboo. So either Da Ran ends up to real Yoon Jae, Kyung Joon in Yoon Jae’s body, or alone. I really love my OTP (DR&KJ), but if Kyung Joon’s gets a happy ending I think I’ll be okay…Nope. I want DR+KJ!!! I’ll probably sulk, glare at my computer, and swear off the Hong Sisters’ dramas…
Thank you…I am watching BIG on Dramafever and it is two episodes behind your recaps. I love both guys….I love the DR + KKJ combo with him being in YJ’s body (great body!)……I don’t know what I want….this is killing me!!!! This is another My Lovely Sam Soon again!!!! Its like a rollercoaster….you never know whats going to happen! 🙁
Thank you so much for the recap. Reading it brings tears to my eyes.
I feel sad for my Da Ran,will she be alone in the end? If Kyung Joon doesnt remembers her when there’s body-swapping later,I will be devastated!
Im with you,declare online wars on the Hong Sisters if Kyung Joon and Da Ran are not together in the end. I told myself im going to write tons of hate letters if this happens.
Kang Kyung Joon and Gil Da Ran to the end!
OMG…daebak what an episode full of pain and awesome acting from GY… Now I remembered why I lurve/adored GY from She’s on Duty with Kim Suna. He was so hawt!
Sob like there is no tomorrow esp at the scene where KJ was having flashback memories of DR at his home…
I believe the ending will be: KKJ will remain in YJ’s body and KKJ’s physical body will die…
Otherwise I am staying far away from THS…
Thank you Ms K for your super duper fantastic write-up, recaps and insights! You are much loved by all of us and always in our thoughts 🙂
It’s weird how everyone’s like “WHY CAN’T THEY JUST BE TOGETHER?!” Erm, are they forgetting the plot point that KJ might forget everything, including the fact that he ever loved Da Ran? LOL…
And to transition him into his family, wouldn’t it be weird if his sister-in-law suddenly got with him instead of Yoon Jae, the person who is trying to recover from his illness?
Yeah, not that simple.
Oh my god, I am also so tired of people talking about how Da Ran needs to grow a pair and how she “finally” showed courage by telling KJ’s mom to put KJ first instead of Yoon Jae. Having courage is not just talking back to a person! She has shown courage long ago IN THE FIRST EPISODE when she decided to tell Yoon Jae that he needn’t marry her if he just felt bad for her. She showed courage when she decided that the relationship with Yoon Jae wasn’t working out. She showed courage when she married KJ to protect him, even though he was in the shell of the man who had inadvertently hurt her with all of his secrecy! She showed courage when she realized her own feelings for KJ and then confessed them to him.
Guys, she has continuously shown courage throughout the entire show in her own way. She’s not as flamboyant as Gong Yoo’s KJ, but that’s his character! He’s young and lively and has a shit ton of charisma to boot! Wish people would stop hating on Da Ran and appreciate her for the person that she is.
@Wen,Ilike you. Thanks for standing up for my Da Ran. She’s a great lady,isnt she?
I love her and hope she will find happiness in the end.
@ Wen, not everyone is going to like every character I personally really like Ma Ri’s character despite her obvious flaws, and there are plenty of people that are hating on her, but it’s okay with me because I realize not everyone will like her. It’s nothing personal, people just view things differently. I’m just like outspoken and tough female characters who really go for what they want with passion whether it be right or wrong, and the way I perceive Da Ran is that she is not that way at all. But if you feel differently, that’s you and you don’t have to take to heart anything anyone says about Da Ran.
so…. if KyungJoon wakes up without memory of the last year…then why-the-hell call the story BIG and have the MAIN character endure a year of forced…um..grown-upt’d-ness…only to have ZERO memory of it. (?!)
erm…what’s the point of this exercise?
befuddled.
In the Tom Hanks movie, the main character actually did forget his time as an adult (see my post below). Although, considering that he was really like 12 or so, it was better for him to forget all the adult knowledge.
Not sure if this is a rhetorical question, but there are any number of reasons for this if the Hong Sisters do in fact go this route. It would indeed be heartbreaking for us, the viewers, but maybe the Hong Sisters want to explore more fully what is the nature of maturity and where it comes from. Do our experiences change us irrevocably, whether or not we have a memory of them? Or is memory a necessary component of our change and growth, without which we revert to who we were before?
Big has engaged from the very beginning with questions of memory and of how our experience of the world, each other, and ourselves can be filtered through the lens of our memories and our preconceived notions of those around us. But the love of Kyung-Joon and Da-ran seems to have been able to break through this, giving them a common language. Even when misunderstandings arise and circumstances strive to keep them apart, these two keep finding each other.
Again, I have no idea if this is the direction that Big is going, but choosing to have Kyung-joon lose his memory would answer (or at least bring up) these primary questions: does maturity come from a conscious understanding of our experiences (i.e., is personal growth dependent on remembering where and why that personal growth came about)? And can love endure a loss of memory of where and how that love came about? Are Kyung-joon and Da-ran etched into each others souls, or is their connection contingent upon a shared memory of their experiences together? Yoon-jae and Da-ran didn’t work out largely (among other things) because they did not have the same memories and/or interpretations of their shared experiences. Will Kyung-joon and Da-ran succumb to the same fate if they similarly lose their shared-memory connection to each other, or does their love run deeper than that?
I love what you wrote here.. I never thought of that perspective.. It kinda reminds me of the movie eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, in which the guy tries to get his memories erased to forget a woman he loves
@enz: I LOVE that movie. One of my absolute favorites. No wonder I’m so into Big, haha. I hadn’t thought of the similarities until people started mentioning it on this thread.
Painful emotional roller coaster ride…im getting scared of the near ending…pls be gentle Ms. Hong sisters, dont hurt KJJ anymore :'(
Sometimes it’s the price for becoming mature.
I know its all about everyone’s opinion here but can I say something?
I would like to know why Da Ran’s hair is always tied up? To make her looks older?
I really like her hair let down,in that part when she’s waiting for him outside the house,when she smiled and he blushed seeing her happy that he appeared.
She’s very pretty with her hair just as it is,untied.
I saw that, too.
As we head down the final path of this story, DR’s appearance has matured with her character. Also to really underline the age differenc between her and Shin as KKJ.
Hopefully, when the happy comes back,
THE HAPPY IS COMING BACK, RIGHT?!
they will soften her look again.
THe happy comes back,I like that and I hope so. I love her clothes but its time they have to do something with her hairstyle.
I would like Da Ran to be as pretty as she can be.
Kyung Joon has really had his world rocked by all the revelations in the last few episodes. As he sorts through all this in episode 13 and 14, he recognizes that if/when the body switch occurs things are going to be one big mess. He will be back in a 20 year old’s body, having to finish high school, not yet being considered an adult. Da Ran will struggle between her feelings for Kyung Joon and her perceived duty to Yoon Jae. She’ll face a lot of condemnation from both families (and society) if she leaves the older brother and gets together with the younger one, even if they wait for a few years before getting together.
I think the proof of Kyung Joon’s mindset is the conversation he has with Da Ran towards the end of episode 14, where he says that since time stopped for Yoon Jae at the time of the accident, Kyung Joon might remember nothing when he goes back into his body…and if either he or Da Ran remembers their feeling s for one another, they need to pretend to forget.
There’s a thematic element that often occurs in time travel and body switching stories…the person who is exposed to knowledge that he/she would not ordinarily be exposed to, and how this knowledge changes them, “spoils” them for a return to their previous life (consider how returning to the past is really a prison for Kim Boong Do in In Hyun’s Man). The choices for resolution tend to fall into a happy ending for the lead couple, or a bittersweet ending.
In the Tom Hanks movie Big, the writers this problem by having his character, when returned to his adolescent body, to forget his experiences, and return to the innocence of a middle school kid. The collateral damage was that the woman who fell in love with him remembers.
In “Rooftop Prince,” Lee Gak returns to the past. He lives out his live there with knowledge of the future and, more importantly, with memories of Park Ha. She has to deal with the pain of loss in the present. It is only when his reincarnation (Tae Yong) emerges from his coma, somehow with Lee Gak’s full memories, that the primary couple (sort of) have their happy ending.
I have thought for quite a while that Kyung Joon’s body will never wake up, that Yoon Jae’s soul is long gone. The dreams/premonitions by both Ma Ri and Da Ran have reinforced this in my mind.
So, at the end of episode 14, someone wakes up in Yoon Jae’s body, and we are not sure who that is. Meanwhile Kyung Joon’s body is still in a coma. Which brings me to the next twist I think will be coming…
I believe that Kyung Joon is still in Yoon Jae’s body, but because of his lingering anger towards his parents, and his uneasiness about what Da Ran will have to go through to be with him, he’s going to pretend to be Yoon Jae…to everyone. At this point, it will be a more thorough acting job than the past year, in an effort to convince Da Ran that he really is Yoon Jae. His plan is to let Da Ran go as Yoon Jae, allowing her to either put both relationships in the past, or to possibly get back together with her in his own body later on. During this time, Kyung Joon’s body will die. The grief that he will see on the part of his parents will finally soften his heart towards them, and Da Ran’s heartbreaking grief will cause him to reveal the secret to her.
So, I eventually see two possibilities for the ending…
1) I’m wrong, and Kyung Joon in his own body, which matures in a few years with an appearance similar to Yoon Jae. Whether Yoon Jae lives or dies, this presents big obstacles for Kyung Joon’s relationship with Da Ran, and is therefore the more “bittersweet” of the two possible endings….and I do think the Hong Sisters prefer happy endings over bittersweet ones.
2) Kyung Joon is still in Yoon Jae’s body. Yoon Jae’s soul is long gone, and the only reason why Kyung Joon’s body remained alive was to eventually heal Yoon Jae’s body so that Kyung Joon could live on. Kyung Joon assumes Yoon Jae’s identity for the rest of his life, with only Da Ran and possibly Ma Ri knowing (although, Ma Ri not knowing, and believing Kyung Joon is dead, will allow her to finally move on).
Great thoughts, thanks for sharing!
I REALLY hope they don’t use the “twin” connection as a way to do a time jump and suddenly have Kyung-joon (in his own body) look exactly like Yoon-jae (as in, be played by Gong-yoo). I get that a lot of people want the face of Gong-yoo at the end, but I would just find that way too hard to believe, given that Kyung-joon and Yoon-jae don’t look that alike, and appearance doesn’t change THAT much once you’re over 18.
Those are really good theories. They could really go a lot of different directions with this. We can’t forget that Yoon Jae’s body was dead until Kyung Joon’s soul entered it, and that’s a lingering mystery I have always wondered about. Was he meant to die to begin with and if they switch back will he die anyway even with the surgery because it was fated. I wonder about that sometimes, though it would be really sad. I just feel like there has to be some significance to the fact that he was actually already dead and in the morgue before Kyung Joon’s soul entered his body and he woke up. It could just go along with what you were saying that Yoon Jae’s soul is actually already gone. But then maybe the switch was just to bring Kyung Joon and Da Ran together so that his younger brother could find his family and be there to take care of the woman he loved after he was gone because he knew he was fated to die. I don’t know it makes my head spin lol.
My guess:
The MIRACLE that KJ’s surrogate mom hoped for when the brothers finally met DID occur –
even though it was under traumatic circumstances.
SHE was the pink streak in the sky that Koala noted and showed a screen cap of right before the accident.
Only there wasn’t technically just ONE miracle:
1. YJ went back and saved KJ.
2. YJ, who died, left his shell to KJ specifically so KJ could take care of Daran in his stead. Which would have been fine, except the body was sick. Which is why KJ’s body stayed around in a coma long enough to donate his bloodfood to YJ’s shell.
3. YJ will come back to life, as a reward for his earlier sacrifices, but he will leave DR to eventually refall in love with KKJ.
4.KJ will NOT remember everything, but YJ will and he will wish them the best.
It will be some awesome acting again by GY.
I love the idea that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind presented: We cannot forget the truest loves of our life no matter how much we want to.
@ Jomo
I love that you just referenced Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, that is one of my favorite movies of all time!! Like I was saying earlier, I think that would be a beautiful ending for them to fall in love over again despite him having memory loss. I would love for them both to live and for them to somehow untangle the mess that is created by Da Ran being married to Yoon Jae, but I have a feeling Yoon Jae is going to die/disappear. Maybe I’ll be wrong and it will be less bittersweet of an ending.
@JULIE
ESOTSM is also my favorite movie of all time.
I watched it over and over and finally got my husband to watch with me, and he actually thanked me!
BEST scene among a lot of great scenes was when the beach house was falling down around him and he was fighting it. LOVED IT.
I think THAT film more than anything gets me excited about DR and KKJ faling in love all over again more than disappointed that they have to “start all over.”
It will be a test for Da Ran if Kyung Joon is still in Yoon Jae’s body. If he pretends to forget,he will see for himself,how Da Ran is going to deal with the situation facing her.
Will she truly let go of Yoon Jae? So I guess we going to be seeing Da Ran in tears more often soon.
Thank you for this recap!!! Gee, twins? Mindboggling indeed! There is just so much in this drama it makes your head spin. Goodness, what could the ending possibly be? Couldn’t wait for your next recap!
By the way, nice format. I hope this is it :). Love the shades of pink and purple.
he is Kyung joon or Yoon Jae..??? hmmmmm…… i’m waiting ep 15…
Now, this really is not one thing you will need. It is going to possibly be all about the way you look, the way you converse, the way in which you act and also the way your business card looks when you happen to be inside the earlier stages of having your prospects. It will come out to be practically the exact same equation eventually, no matter how you combine and match up the variables to the equation.
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