Am really hoping that the pace will pick up next episode!

I started this show mostly because of Nam Joo Hyuk since I’ve only finished Weightlifting Fairy recently. In a summary, I think this show has lots of potential but may never live up to it. The premise is so interesting (although I’m a little confused at the comparison with Goblin as seen in the comments section) and I’m genuinely intrigued by the plot. However, the drama keeps cruising along by dropping little baits that just aint enough to satiate my appetite. It’s as if the writer knows that there isn’t enough substance to last a good 16 episodes. It’s such a pity because I feel that with a better script, the effect could have been 10x better.

We left off last week with Habaek desperately crying out So Ah’s name, but turns out that Bi Ryeom who has been playing couple-stalker the whole day flew like the wind and saved So Ah from the Truck of Doom. It’s definitely too early in the series for any truck to strike fatally, but it’s still nice to see that The Truck hasn’t succeeded anyway.

Bi Ryeom is amused by the couple and how they seem to be acting out a rom-com. In the meantime, we have a cameo by Kim Won Hae as a random cab driver who talks to So Ah about fate and luck – fate is predetermined, but luck’s different, “You can change your life by how well you maneuver your luck, and that’s exactly how you can change your fate.” Hmm interesting take?

So Ah reaches CEO Shin’s “private place” which turns out to be his personal farm and desires to sign the contract immediately. Hoo Ye declines given that he doesn’t have his company seal with him but nonetheless demands that So Ah stays and helps him out with farming. So Ah changes her mind that Hoo Ye is a closed-off and cold person and wonders how he got successful with business. Hoo Ye replies that he can read people’s feelings, prompting So Ah to complain about people who can run like the wind, turn things into diamonds, and transform. Note how Hoo Ye barely bats an eyelid at the mention of this!

Indeed after a few hours roughing it out, So Ah seems to feel better. Hoo Ye reveals that he likes taking care of trees because they will live longer than him and they do not try to take control of anything. Trees coexist. Hoo Ye also explains that So Ah want to spill things to him because “Spilling things to yourself is like trying to spit while lying down.” Haha, that’s quite true! It’s like all the pent-up frustration will only slide back to yourself.

So Ah thus confides in him that she has made a mistake of relying on someone who is about to leave soon. Hoo Ye murmurs, “Sounds like a bad person. They’re going to leave anyway and yet they messed up with your heart.” He drives her home later and she apologises for thinking that he’s a stuck-up person.

So Ah walks the last stretch home and halts momentarily before turning into the alley which leads to her house. True enough, Habaek stands there waiting for her, but on the pretext that he’s thinking of how to regain his powers.

Habaek directly asks if they are still fighting and we have a brief interlude where he pulls her away from some drunkards. So Ah admits that whatever she said earlier was a lie because she was angry and Habaek replies, “I know that already. It’s really obvious when you lie.”

I like the soft intensity in this scene, although I don’t really know what we are being intense about.

Krystal/Moo Ra looks amazing while she tends to the dying fishes by restoring air into their gills. She’s worried because there’s a problem with the water. A call from Bi Ryeom informing her that he saw Habaek and Joo Geol Rin gets her running to Bi Ryeom because she’s worried that Habaek will learn about *something* from Joo Geol Rin. She also hears from Bi Ryeom that Habaek probably doesn’t want to return to the Water Country anytime soon.

Shin Ja Ya descends once again in her yah-yah! ness, wanting to know why Hoo Ye smiled at her earlier when she was filming a yoga marketing pitch. I’m tired of her character so let’s just breeze through this scene by saying that she’s being an annoying brat as usual. Stop it with the yah-yah!

Hoo Ye calls So Ah and arranges to meet that evening to sign the contract. This call also inadvertently acts as a wake-up call for So Ah, who is alarmed at finding that she overslept. She gets even more taken aback when Habaek turns out to be in her living room and asks who was on the phone. She learns that she has left her keys in the door the night before because she was so distracted.

Habaek grants her permission to sell the land because it will bring her lots of money, the thing that will make her happy.

He then corners So Ah and deduces from her blushing cheeks, racing heartbeat and jagged breath that she was on the phone with a man. He storms off in an obvious jealous rage hahaha, which is hilarious because he doesn’t realise that HE’S the one who caused So Ah to be like that.

So Ah tries to explain to him but realises how strange it would sound + she almost spilled that she was on the phone with the guy who wanted to buy the land. She wonders if Habaek allowed her to sell the land because he wants her to be happy, but concludes that it’s just a test. She goes for work and learns that an animal activist group is trying to get her to postpone selling the land because they found poop of a dying Korean leopard species. Not very sure what’s the relevance of this….but I’ve learnt from this scene that So Ah only has one patient a day and I’m genuinely curious why she sucks so bad at her practice. Oh, maybe because she needs to see a psychiatrist herself?

Moo Ra films a show which ends up looking more like a diamond earring and watch advertorial. Anyway, the male actor passes out just as he moves in for the kiss. Although I thought initially that Moo Ra intentionally attacked him, I realise she’s also tired from how all male actors pass out before filming kiss scenes with her. Is it some incompatibility thing going on? A human can’t take the energy of a goddess?

Moo Ra visits Hoo Ye (with Bi Ryeom in tow) and informs him that she’s starting to look for a personal residence. Bi Ryeom is surprised that she’s so civil to a human, not to mention apologising to him. Moo Ra kicks him out of the room to take a call from Habaek, causing Bi Ryeom to feel slightly annoyed.

Turns out Habaek wanted a ride from Moo Ra to the Land of the Gods. I’m quite amused that he’s starting to live by human laws. He picks up a rock which he carelessly overlooked the previous time and passes it to Moo Ra. She’s stunned because there’s human blood on it, but all human traces should have been purified in this land. Although traces from the Realm of Gods could have remained, no one from the Realm has any blood. “Then…what is this?”

In the next scene, we watch Hoo Ye do some planting with a blind little girl. He leaves her momentarily to take a call and she cries out because of a huge caterpillar on her arm. In that instance, Hoo Ye’s eyes flash and he swipes the caterpillar off, before comforting her. As they walk away, the bug burns in fire.

At this point in time, I think it’s pretty safe to guess that Hoo Ye is a demi-god (which we already know from some synopsis left on various sites + manhwa) probably of fire god/earth god descent and he’s the one who left the blood on the rock – because he’s a human, yet a god at the same time.

Moo Ra questions Habaek based on what Bi Ryeom has said, that he doesn’t want to go back. She is desperate for him to just say, even lie, that Bi Ryeom is wrong, “Don’t fall for another human woman, don’t remember the pain from your past!” Habaek’s bewilderment leads me to think that he has some form of memory loss? Anyway, it’s at these points of the drama where I feel like we are onto something good, but they always pull away thinking that it’s a good bait for its viewers. Yeah, but when you keep leaving baits all around with no results, it gets annoying.

Although So Ah recalls Habaek’s conflicting stands, she stamps the contract and the deal is now sealed. During dinner, Hoo Ye reveals that he was actually an orphan, causing her to drop her cutlery. Things turn awkward afterwards and Hoo Ye smiles that So Ah must have been analysing him like a psychiatrist. Don’t worry dude, this girl keeps hearing voices in her head too. Also, did So Ah really became awkward after learning that Hoo Ye was an orphan? Girl, you’ve gotta stop that inferiority complex against orphans.

Moo Ra stops the car when she sees So Ah and Hoo Ye together, and Habaek tears up in anger and maybe resignation. He finally answers Moo Ra, “Bi Ryeom is wrong. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not, my answer is all that matters.” Moo Ra lightens up considerably and drives the car away.

In the meantime, So Ah walks home and recalls Hoo Ye asking if he can stop the breeze that shook her heart. So Ah replies that she wants to do it herself and in any case, the breeze has stopped. Nonetheless, she still stops before turning into her home alley and is visibly disappointed when she doesn’t see Habaek waiting for her.

Out of curiosity, she peeks into the rooftop to find Habaek awake. She tries to escape but Habaek cautions her gently not to stay out too late. She can’t stop herself from asking why he wasn’t contemplating about his powers (read: why wasn’t he waiting for her?) and he replies that it doesn’t matter since he’s going home soon. After she leaves, Habaek calls Moo Ra and asks if she knows any minor gods who know stories from long ago.

So Ah hilariously wonders if Habaek has watched a movie with a cool lead character, which is why he spoke to her like that. She looks at the contract and keeps hearing Habaek’s voice, so she finally asks him, “Why can’t I sell my land?” Selling the land doesn’t affect the portal.

Habaek replies with a tinge of sadness, “They’ll say a king couldn’t even protect that one piece of land.” So Ah is taken aback by this answer and wakes up the next day with dark circles. Truthfully I like this answer as well because it exposes his vulnerability.

Turns out the minor gods meet up once in a while. These minor gods have been living in the human world and TERRORISING humans by being snobs, crooks, reporters etc. Everyone praises Joo Geol Rin for leaving a mark on Habaek and escaping. Bi Ryeom appears in a literal boom and everyone escapes, other than Joo Geol Rin. Moo Ra then makes her smokey entrance like a runway model. It’s so funny to watch how the minor gods are afraid of the higher gods and how they have been packaged – there is indeed a different aura from the two sets of gods.

Joo Geol Rin, in his panic, stammers that he wouldn’t tell Habaek it was Moo Ra’s idea to challenge him to a fight. I don’t think we know the full story of this yet, but Bi Ryeom enlightens us a little that this was something which happened when Ms Shim (Shim Chung?) came to the Realm. But unlike what Moo Ra misunderstood, Habaek actually hated the woman. Bi Ryeom wants Moo Ra to confess to Habaek and get rejected because he hates the sight of her pining.

All this drama is because Joo Geol Rin is the minor god who lived as long as the high priest. Habaek’s stomach rumbles in the sight of Joo Geol Rin hahaha, causing the god to stammer in fear again.

Habaek then shows him the rock and everyone gets all cryptic about how this is impossible, but if this is human blood which cannot be erased, then it must be that “man” from the Realm. I honestly wanted to tear my hair out and pity Nam Soo Ri when he keeps asking them what they’re talking about but the two gods just KEEP talking about a “him”.

The trio has lunch at the resort and Hoo Ye greets them but leaves after Habaek’s coldness. Coincidentally, So Ah comes and finds Hoo Ye because she’s in a tangle of mental knots over having sold the land. While Nam Soo Ri and Moo Ra gossip over the duo, Habaek gets up and intercepts the duo with a, “I caught you.”

“I said, I caught you.”

I really want Habaek to be talking about the fact that Hoo Ye is a demi-god, but given how things are going, I think it would be something along the romance. One of my biggest gripes with the show is So Ah. Although she’s not as useless as Ra-On in the Moonlight Drawn By Clouds, she’s pretty ill-equipped to walk the same scenes as the gods. I understand, as she had explained, that the gods are just way too powerful for humans, and maybe some viewers genuinely like the damsel in distress game. But for the rest of us, we would love to watch how the woman navigates her way through the games played by the gods. Is there really a point to see repeatedly that she requires help from the gods? Or that as a psychiatrist, she’s rather troubled herself? I admire that she faces her problems head-on most of the time because she knows that’s “the best for her mental health” and that psychiatrists are humans too, but there has been negligible character growth for Yoon So Ah from Episode 1 to Episode 7.

Right now, I’m really curious about two things – Hoo Ye/demi-god and why the gods seem so fearful of the existence of such creatures & Habaek’s past love life. Kudos to the show for piquing my interest, but please just let me get my answers in an exciting, yet non-frustrating manner! I swear if I have to hear another cryptic conversation over “him” and “what the high priest told me”, I would ditch the episode altogether.

<3thoughtsramble