Unnie's Wednesday Write Up: Stealing Breaths

Stop the presses!!  I'm actually writing my WWU & it's not the last possible minute before it's supposed to post to the blog!!  It's a summer miracle!!

Have you looked out your windows to see if pigs are flying?  I'd go & check now, if I were you.  Palle, palle!!  Or maybe Hell froze over while you were all sleeping.  But...uhm...how would you check that one?!?!  o_O

Actually it has more to do with the rest of this week's schedule, I will be so incredibly busy w/ actual life that I will not have time to get anything else done.  So I have to do this now.  Plus, it helps that it is in fact SUMMER BREAK around these parts!!!  FINALLY!!!

{{Pardon me while I singsong my favorite end of school jingle...."No more teachers.  No more books.  No more teacher's dirty looks."  Thank you for bearing with me.  I heart summer so much, especially after such a long school year.}}

So this week's WWU was inspirational.  I was sitting there watching episode 5 of my current 'K-Drama du Jour', A Gentleman's Dignity, last night.  (remember I am writing this on Monday, so "last night" refers to Sunday night)  And there was a really yummy scene. {{BTW: IF you haven't watched this week's episode(s) yet, then you NEED to, like NOW!  Chincha!  Best eps yet!!  I hope that doesn't mean next week's eps are going to be stinky.}}

And suddenly, I was transported, via a little memory flashback, of all my FAVORITEST Yummy K-Drama scenes ever, that didn't involve sex or a kiss.   Now, a non- Kdrama enthusiast might ask, "how do you have a favorite scene w/out kissing &/or sex?"  And of course, when those who have not been properly schooled, ask this silly question, all of us AddiKts laugh at their naivety.  Right?  I KNOW I would.  Hey!  Just being honest, don't hate the honesty dudes.  

Recently someone asked, "Why do you think it is we get so hooked/addiKted to K-Dramas?"

My answer then & now is this:

"Romance"  Plain.  Simple.  And to the point.  Maybe a little too simple?  I will take a moment to expound on why it is that Dongsaeng & I are Proud K-Drama AddiKts.  Something I must point out first that I have noticed, maybe some of you have as well.  I noticed that a lot of K-Drama AddiKts have another passion in common as well.  A love of all things Jane Austen.  Co-inky-dink?  I think not.  Because other than time period & language, something that both K-Dramas & Jane Austen's novels/movies based off Jane Austen novels have in common is that same simple answer, "Romance".  BUT it's not just simply romance.  It's clean, pure, unsullied, romance.  The kind with good girls & morals & ethics thrown into the mix.  Where there are societal concerns & rules that dictate & govern behavior & language.   

It's the kind of romance that gives you those tummy flutters & breath taking scenes of pure intimacy between the female & male leads.  Moments when they are close & almost touching, or just touching.  Where their breaths quicken & they tremble w/ the absolutely daunting task of NOT touching, and they make sure you know that it is a difficult & indeed, a daunting task, to not touch each other, even though you/we, the audience, can plainly see what they MOST want in the world, right at THAT moment is to touch each other, so very badly.   Which quickens our breath & has us on the edge of our seat waiting for that ultimate moment when they will touch, only it's pulled back, reigned in, stopped at the last possible second...with a little heavy breathing from the exertion of control.  Visibly & physically shaken from a mental & emotional moment of tortuously wanting someone so very much.  You can see it in your minds eye, right now, can't you?  Are you having your own little memory flashback right now, of your favorite scene or moment in a movie or K-Drama?  I know I did, while writing that little imaginary scene.  ^-^  

It's that right there, that almost but not really moment that invites our imagination in & that is when it clicks for us.  That moment when we think to ourselves, 'I have got to watch this show.  I have got to see what happens for this couple.'  They've hooked us.  And K-Dramas are oh so incredibly good at THOSE kind of moments.  They are also incredibly good at ending an episode with that moment that makes you say, "How can they end the episode there?!?!  I have to see the next episode to see what happens???  Dongsaeng & I have learned over the last year, never stop watching an episode or even say you will stop watching an episode at the end of the episode.  Always stop in the boring middle of an episode.  Otherwise, the shows writers will win & you'll be hooked again.  Just a little tip from your AddiKtion therapists.  Especially if you are sleep deprived or have an actual life that is trying to horn in on your K-Drama time.  You're welcome. 

{{Unnie, what are your favorite scenes?  What scenes have stolen your breath away & given you tummy flutters?}}

Well I'll tell you AddiKts.   I actually have quite a few of those scenes that have had my eyes popping, my heart racing & my tummy all a-flutterin'.  Moments that I, in all honesty, & you know your Unnie, she HAS to be honest, has her re-watching the scene about a million times before she can go to the rest of the ep or has her reaching for a cold glass of water or even better, a cold shower.  Homina homina homina.... {ok I'm done w the third person speak} 

So here they are, a few of my absolute favorite Stealing Breaths scenes between some of my absolute favorite leads. (& one non lead couple, who I believe stole the whole show).

 Unnie's #1 Favoritest Stealing Breaths scene:

Scent of a Woman 

Lee Dong Wook & Kim Sun Ah

This one is JUST video because there is no way a mere picture could capture the intensity, intimacy & sensuality that is Lee Dong Wook & Kim Sun Ah in the Tango scene.

Unnie's #2 Favoritest Stealing Breaths scene:

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Kimchi Finger Lick

to be followed immediately by the...

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Kimchi Cheek Kiss
Jeong Il Woo & Lee Chung Ah
Episode 12's best moment is when while group making homemade Kimchi
Lee Chung Ah goes to get some extra seasoning & is followed by an irritated Jeong Il Woo, irritated because he didn't get the test taste, his rival did.  He determines that he doesn't want her to go give him a bite from the batch anymore...
No he wants to taste it directly from her finger.  Which unhinges her & after she leaves the kitchen she heads straight for some calming medicine.  He catches & confronts her because previously she had told him that she wasn't affected by him.  Can you say Big Fat Liar, Liar Pants on Fire?!?!

After he picks her up off the floor he pulls her in very close & then tastes the Kimchi she got on her cheek.  And then her knees buckled.

To be honest though, my knees buckled too & I was sitting down!!
Omo!!!  Omo!!! Omo!!

Sorry no video...couldn't find JUST the Kimchi part.

Unnie's #3 Favoritest Stealing Breaths scene:

The Secret Garden Sit Ups
Hyun Bin & Ha Ji Won
This moment is a must watch!
This whole drama is a must watch!
If you haven't watched this drama you are an idiot & need to be educated properly!

Ha Ji Won is a stunt woman, Hyun Bin, is a Chaebol Prince who runs the family department store.  And he has fallen for Ha Ji Won's character & signs up to train & she is responsible for training him w/ all the other 'new recruits' at the stunt school.  But he's absolutely hysterically uncoordinated & is only there to be near her & flirt & drive her crazy.  And then she has her trainees doing sit ups only Hyun Bin has no one to hold his legs, so Ha Ji Won gets that fun job.  At first he barely sits up.  For which he gets scolded by Ha Ji Won.  He tells her I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, but okay if this is what you want.  Then he does a sit up.  Then another one & another & OMO!!! my heart froze in my chest & my breath caught each time this beautifully dimpled man sat up!   And it was the first time, while watching a K-Drama, for this Unnie, that I was extraordinarily jealous of the female lead & wanted to trade places with her.  

Here's the moment in video...can I say I love fan-made k-drama videos?

Unnie's #4 Favoritest Stealing Breaths scene:

City Hunter
Lee Min Ho & Park Min Young

Who can forget episode 8.  They've just gotten back after being caught in the rainstorm.  Everything is fun & games till the girl you like gets her white shirt all wet in the rain & you can see her skin through the wet fabric, {{tsk tsk tsk, he must have really hated that}} so you tell her to change & then you walk out & see her cooking, in your kitchen, in your shirt & nothing else?!?!

Hmmm...happens to me all the time.  Yeah okay now I'm the Big Fat Liar Liar Pants on Fire.   With 4 kids running around all day long, uh yeah not so much.

Then she reaches up to her tippy toes & has to stretch her arm up even more, in fact as high as possible, shrinking the amount of  thigh covered by your shirt, just to reach for a dish, for that ramen she's making you.   Thereby causing you to step up right behind her, so your brushing your front against her back, while you reach over her to grab the dishes for her.

How gallant of him, right?

You know maybe me being a shortie isn't such a bad thing after all...if it means I get a hottie, to counteract my shortie, & reach for my dishes too.  Just trying to think outside the box, for my vertically challenged self.

"Oh CA can you help me with the dishes please?!?!"

{{giggle}}

And then this last one you might be surprised by AddiKts.

As it's not my real #5.  My real #5 is also from Secret Garden, where Hyun Bin & Ha Ji Won are wrestling on the bed & he has to resort to reciting his poem to calm himself down & to protect her from his lecherous thoughts.  I can still hear his voice as he says...

" Kim Soo-han-moo Keo-bu-gi-wa du-ru-mi Sam-cheon-gab-ja Dong Bang Sak Chi-chi-ga-po Sarisarisaenta, Woriwori, Saepeurika Moo-doo-sael-la gu-reum-yi heo-ri-kae-in dam-byo-rak seo-saeng-won-ae go-yang-yi ba-duk-yi-neun Doldolri"   


{{BTW I found the above romanized poem, including it's meaning, here.  I did not do the hard work & therefore it does not belong to me.  Just an FYI}}

Hyun Bin if it were me? You wouldn't have to control your lecherous thoughts.  At ALL!!!  You know in case you were wondering Hyun Bin.  And I KNOW you are!  o_O

But I wanted to insert a little levity along with the heat.  I wanted you to see a little variation of the theme & I absolutely loved the secondary lead couple in this drama!  {{or were they considered the third couple?}}  In my head they were secondary, the other couple were already married & had no heat or chemistry in my opinion.

So here, without further ado, is...

 Unnie's #5 Favoritest Stealing Breaths scene:

Wild Romance
Lee Dong Wook and Lee Si Young

Although in this Stealing Breaths Scene the leads are
Kang Dong Ho and Im Joo Eun

I don't know about any of you but for me, these two funny, straight laced characters were the BEST part of this show.  Minus Wookie's "Yumminess" of course.  Which in my opinion was the main star all on its own sexy self.

Dong Ah's candor & love of all things erotic & Mgr Kim's straight laced proper gentlemanly behavior appealed to the 'love of tension building, gotta fall for these two yin/yang, secondary leads", romantic in me.

They were funny & hot all at the same time.  I hearted them so much more than Lee Si Young & Lee Dong Wook.  Whose chemistry was hit or miss through most of the show.  And yes I got a SWAK ending but it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been & there was no other real skinship in the show to keep coming back for more, except for Mgr Kim & Dong Ah.

In the scene above Dong Ah (Im Joo Eun) was going undercover to get close to the main suspect in this semi-thriller romantic comedy.  And she needed to play the part so she not only asks Mgr Kim to drive her (she doesn't drive since her parents were killed years ago) but she then asks him to help her put on false eyelashes on her very made up Sexy Red lipstick wearing beautiful face.  Closing her eyes & thrusting her face at him.   Manager Kim who is usually so stoic & unflappable was definitely sweating through the moment.  {{giggle}} I really enjoyed seeing him lose his cool, calm exterior.

You go Dong Ah!!  Ruffling feathers one set of false eyelashes at a time.  {{GIGGLES}}

Now you may be thinking to yourself "But Unnie there are so many other moments far superior to that last one",  but this here is MY (our dongsaeng-OUR) blog & I can pick any moments that I want to.  {{It's good to be the co-boss}}  And that moment while not the absolute sexiest, especially when compared to my #1 choice, definitely deserves the spot.  Rife w/ tension AND humor?!?!  Oh yeah always a spot for that combo on an Unnie list.

So, now I give you your chance, to agree or disagree or simply add to my list.  Remembering that I have literally dozens of favoritest moments.  These were just my top 5.  Fear not AddiKts.  I heart lots of romantic Stealing Breaths scenes.  Too many to put on this post.  I WANT to hear your favoritest moments.  As many as you want to share with me.  Chincha!!  Share, vent, tell me what you heart.  Help spread the K-Drama Love to the rest of us, maybe you've got one I haven't seen.  Or one someone else hasn't seen & they'd like another drama to obsess over.  Remember we here at TCA want to support by enabling the addiKtion, not by overcoming it.  

And now I want to remind you to share, Share, SHARE us!!  We're writers, writers like all artists crave attention & yet shun it at the same time.  We're a complicated bunch aren't we?  Eh, whatcha gonna do?!?!  Feed the need that's what you do!  That's always what you do!!  Like us, Tweet us, Follow us!  Tell your friends about these 2 crazy AddiKts that you know.  We're likable, won't you intro us to your friends?  Okay so we're a little needy.  Everyone needs to feel needed right? ^-^

On a more serious note, yes I can be serious, every once in a blue moon.

We are so grateful to all of our dedicated readers.  You guys totally rock for allowing us to hypnotize you!  I mean....  uh...thank you for being so gullible, NO wait!  That's not right, either!  I meant easy to confuse w/ shiny objects & pretty Oppas.  I mean supportive!  Whew!  Yeah that last one, that's what I was trying to say!   {{Okay so much for 'serious', I tried!  Chincha I did!!}}

This last weekend marked our 2 month-i-versary.  And in that short 2 months we've been up & running we have had over 10,000 (closing in on 12,000 now) views.  WOW!!  How about that!?!?!  Pretty awesome to us.  We realize for an already established blog that number is probably really small.  But for two stay at home American moms, starting up their first public, all about Korean Pop Culture/Culture, that might someday be a business, blog ever?  That's really awesome.  So...

Gamshabnida!  Jongmal Gamsahbnida!!  {{THIS time I am being serious.  I mean it, we are so humbled & grateful}}

We hope we are keeping you entertained.  We hope we are keeping your interest & attention.  We'll use as many pretty Korean boys & their sexy dance moves & lovely crooning voices & Stealing Breaths scenes as we can to keep you with us.  And aren't you glad we will???  {{GIGGLES}}

Until next week's Wednesday Write Up I hope you all have a lovely week.

Saranghabnida,