I Do I Do…like Ji An and Tae Kang

Waxing Poetic Tae Kang

I’ve watched all the way up to Episode 12 of I Do I Do and I am definitely on the Tae Kang ship. He is so honest and respectful which are qualities I really admire. And he’s silly enough to bring some happiness and joy into Ji An’s life.

I like so many things about this show, but one of the things I like the best is that it challenges us to really consider what a mature and capable woman like Ji An desires and values in man as a partner in life. They made Tae Kang such a refreshing antidote to the pushy, possessive, domineering, clingy, often times rude, and presumptive kdrama male leads out there who just drag “their” women around by the wrist…

Can I just take a moment to relive this scene. I loathe wrist grabs with every inch of my fiber, but never say never. For the first time in my kdrama watching history I witnessed a wrist grab that made me swoon. Sacrilege! It literally turned my insides into jello and turned me into a total squeeing rom-com fangirl…I actually began to doubt my kinda-almost-a-feminist-at-heart-leanings. And the man who did this was Tae Kang….Le freaking sigh! The GIF doesn’t do justice. Check it out for yourself- episode 8 starting at minute 51:00. I just can’t get over how sweet this guy is. Look at that adoring smile! He is so excited just to be with her. Awww.

With every episode, the drama shows us how capable Tae Kang is because of all his great qualities including being supportive, understanding, caring, respectful, honest, courageous, straight-forward, family-orirented (I could go on and on). These are really wonderful, hard-to-come-by qualities that make him attractive to Ji An so I totally understand her slowly letting him get closer to her. Most women would have straight up fell for him already. Look at Na Ri. She’s practically a gonner just because Tae Kang was genuinely and sincerely nice to her. I really don’t think most men realize that genuine sincerity, respect, curiosity, and admiration of a woman will undoubtedly make her notice him. No need for slick pick-up lines or a wingman– no need for designer suits or piles of cash. Just come honest and have some patience.

Tae Kang as a lead also challenges the go to idea that a woman with a strong and capable persona needs a man with an even stronger persona. I think what every woman really needs, regardless of her personality- raging bull or wilting flower- is somebody who is supportive and affords her the space be herself as she grows and learns about him, herself, and the world they face together. There is no price-tag to be put on this and it’s very hard to come by. It is also why Eun Sung continually fails to capture Ji An’s heart. Eun Sung looks really good on paper, but I think Ji An feels she would suffocate in a relationship with him judging by how forceful he was in the first half of the drama pushing himself into her life and on her parents.

Waxing Poetic Ji An

So that’s my love for Tae Kang. I have just as much, if not more, love for Ji An. I love the lack of aegyo. Aegyo can be cute at 16 or 20, but it’s an affected lie at 35. I love that Ji An is always herself and that she doesn’t put on airs to ask people to like her, but even so, those around her eventually come to respect, value, and understand her. They may even grow to defend her and genuinely like her. I like how honest and real this portrayal of a woman whose worked hard to be where she is, is. And her design team knows how good of a boss she is even if they complain about her. Like when Team Leader Ma confessed that she knows Ji An would have actually valued the teams input in the shoe collaboration design as opposed to blowing them off like Jake did, but that she joined Jake and Na Ri’s team from fear of ticking off Na Ri.

I love that Ji An is smart, sophisticated, genuine, brave, hard-working, passionate, dedicated, supportive and confident. She is also a very deeply feeling person. As the audience, we get to see the inner workings of her emotions that she does not let on to others around her. We’ve seen her cry unabashedly, doubt her ability and her judgement, and totally ransack her shoe closet, (one of the most hilarious scenes in the whole show that makes her so relateable, because who hasn’t done that to their room in a moment of crisis?). Ji An is like many smart and successful women: she thinks about herself a lot–  her job, her decisions, her feelings, her actions. It’s not so much that she’s self-involved, but I get the feeling she believes she can figure out what to do and understand things by thinking about them as opposed to say– reacting to them or reacting to impulsive or fleeting moments.

“I’m not crazy…really. I just need a moment to think.”

             

Ji An is exactly what Tae Kang needs, even if not as partner in life, but as a mentor. I loved their working relationship in the past few episodes with the design competition. And even in the earlier episodes, whenever she was harsh to him it always ended with her encouraging him to show some passion, resilience, and dedication towards his work because that is the only way he can succeed. I’m pretty sure one of the reasons Tae Kang fell for Ji An is because she always encouraged him to work harder while others just wrote him off and never put any pressure on him.

Waxing Poetic Bong Soo

He is downright the funniest person on this show. LOVE him.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Tae Kang and Ji An’s relationship develops. Mostly, I want to see Tae Kang’s reaction to knowing he is the father of Ji An’s baby. I want to know what happened on Tae Kang and Ji An’s first night together. Was it really just the alcohol or was their some kind of meaningful, albeit brief, connection between these two since the beginning?

Blame it on the al-al-alcohol!…T-Pain watches kdramas?!

Also I would really, really like for Ji An to start her own shoe brand with Tae Kang, Tae Kang’s Dad, and Bong Soo. And I think the brand should be named ‘Ankle.’ I love when the whole gang gets together because they have such great chemistry– they’re a family. ♥

Tags: I Do I Do, kdrama, Kim Sun Ah, Korean Drama, Lee Jang Woo