My Feeling Heart: Son Ho Jun

Kim Bon aka Terius used to be a top notch black ops agent for the NIS but has now been living in hiding after a failed overseas secret operation had gotten his girlfriend, North Korean nuclear physicist named Candy, killed. This made him look as the mission's mole and thus got him blacklisted from the service. A few years later, he gets entangled with Go Ae Rin who happens to be his next door neighbor. As they team up to uncover the conspiracy behind Ae Rin's husband's death, Bon also comes face to face about the truth behind his botched mission that happened a few years back.

Image via MBC.

Terius Behind Me (aternate title My Secret Terrius, Code Name: Terrius) is a 32-episode South Korean television series aired by MBC on September 2018 to November 2018. I'm quite late for the party and I'm not even sure if I could put into appropriate words what Terius Behind Me actually was for me, but contrary to what other people think, I didn't find this show terrible at all. It may have been a lot of things all at the same time, but one thing I'm sure of is that it's entertaining. Pretty darn entertaining.

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1) So Ji-sub. I never really liked So Ji-sub that much. Even if I found him quite amusing in The Master's Sun, that still didn't raise my interest for him on a whole new level. However, Terius Behind Me seem to be proving So Ji-sub differently because if anything, him playing Bon was not only amusing but was also very much appealing, and at the same time adorably fun to watch. So Ji-sub was able to portray both an agent hung-up on the past yet still slick and badass, a stoic baby sitter, as well as a socially awkward neighbor effectively well that at the final stretch of the show, I just couldn't help but root for him.

2) Acting. A lot of the actors for Terius Behind Me, even the supporting ones, do shine a lot in this drama. Special shoutout goes to Seo Yi Sook who was really outstanding as the stern NIS Deputy Director Kwon Young Shil. And Sung Joo! I must mention how adorable and handsome Sung Joo was as Ra Do Woo. His presence alone lights up the screen like magic, so much so that even if he doesn't get a lot of screen time, he still comes off as a character to watch out for.

3) The cute, the funny and the heart. As mentioned, So Ji-sub was both adorable and amusing as a stoic secret agent slash clueless nanny, in that a lot of the cute, funny and heartwarming parts of the show stems from when he's basically around Ae Rin and the twins. Bon has literally been living off of bread alone in his apartment for years, which was why it was so satisfying to see him gain a family through Ae Rin and her kids. Even though Joon Soo and Joon Hee were annoyingly stubborn and naughty at times, how Bon slowly warmed up to them and genuinely cared for them speaks a lot about the show's heart.

4) Jin Yong Tae's Character. Jin Yong Tae was such a fun and refreshing villain, and Son Ho Jun remarkably portrayed him to a T. I loved Son Ho Jun a lot in Go Back Couple, and though I'm still a little bit distracted by his nose, how he portrayed Jin Yong Tae as a morally grey, incompetent and a scaredy pants villain who was always sort of reluctant at being bad was totally hilarious, but at the same time, very much endearing.

I also loved this:

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1) Logic. Although it doesn't really affect the awesomeness that Terius Behind Me has, there's still some parts of the show that came across as a little bit nonsensical, such as when the KIS Ahjummas were able to catch K The Magician easily like that in Episode 29 when Bon, a top notch black ops agent, spent a whole lot of time planning and preparing on how to do just that. It wasn't a big deal nor was it that glaring of a flaw. It's just that sometimes I can't help but think about how some things don't make sense, and how logical thinking should sometimes be thrown out the window in order to fully enjoy the show's tropes.

2) PPL. Product placement was quite heavy in this show. I think more than necessary spotlight has been put in ads for coffees, sandwiches, beverages and so on, that it sometimes feel like I am taken out from the story to watch a commercial, ruining the mood in the process.

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Although marketed as a spy thriller, Terius Behind Me's best foot isn't in the spy thriller genre. Instead of smart plotlines, well-built conspiracies or action-packed shenanigans, I think Terius Behind Me did humor and quirkiness a whole lot better. This is probably the reason why I enjoyed the show even better—I didn't look at it as a full blown espionage story. And though it might have lost some of its spark as the show neared its end, all in all it was still a pleasant watch.

If you were given a chance to travel back in time and relive your past, would you do anything differently?

Image via KBS News.

Go Back Couple (alternate title Go Back Spouses, Confession Couple) is a 2017 South Korean television series that centers around Choi Ban Do and Ma Jin Joo, their struggles as a married couple and the second shot they take at life as they unexpectedly travel back in time. It is a drama that sounded very cliche on paper but delivers differently as you watch. It's quirky and hilarious, yet at the same time, touching and beautifully written.

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1) Introspective and Full of Heart. Go Back Couple is an emotional roller coaster that's got a lot of thought and heart put in it. It's something that will grab you and carve its way onto you without you even knowing. It gave me the same feels that I had when I've first seen Reply 1997, and instantly shot up among my most favorite dramas to date because of its warmth. It's got a plot that dealt deeply with its characters' own feelings and emotions, so much so that it will suck you right into the story and the characters' own plights. Sure it might have sounded simple and cliche, yet in true drama fashion Go Back Couple was definitely all that and more.

2) Jin Joo and Her Mom. Kim Mi Kyung was a stealer as Jin Joo's mom in this show. I love how she served as a pillar of strength to Jin Joo—she was wise and loving and proved to us that a mother's love is not only the purest, but is also the most selfless love of all.

Special shoutout to this:

3) Life Lessons. One of the greatest strengths of Go Back Couple for me is how it poses various life lessons poignantly well all throughout the show. Through Ban Do and Jin Joo's journey, we are able to rediscover the importance of family and the choices that we make in life. The experiences that our leads went through served as a reminder for us to not take the people we love for granted, as well as to deem time and honesty as something of significant value. But I think the lesson that resonated to me the most from this show is that even if we do get a shot at second chances, it wouldn't mean anything if we still have not learned from our past mistakes. Second chances aren't given, they're earned; and only those who work hard for it are the ones deserving of a second chance.

Choi Ban Do: "At one point in life, we begin to take some things for granted because we get comfortable and used to them. We live on considering the kindness of our love and the happiness that we have are something we deserve and then take them for granted. But we only realize this after we lose everything—even someone's existence itself is not supposed to be taken for granted."

Let me just add another one:

Choi Ban Do: "It's not easy to find something enjoyable in your life. What you want to do does not always align with what you need to do. If that doesn't happen, you need to make it happen. If you focus too much on the things you need to do, nothing will be left when you can't do what you need to do anymore. If you did something fun, at least you got that experience. Nothing lasts forever, so you should do what you want in that moment."

4) Son Ho Jun and OTP Chemistry. I didn't know who Son Ho Jun was prior to this show, so it was a big surprise to find him oozing with chemistry opposite Jang Nara. These two were perfectly cast as Choi Ban Do and Ma Jin Joo as not only were they able to portray the angst and maturity of their 38-year old selves compellingly well, they were also able to radiate the liveliness and youth of their younger counterparts quite believably well, too. Yet what I loved the most about this OTP was Ban Do and Jin Joo's growth. Through their trip back to the past, they were able to reassess where they stand in each other's life. By traveling back in time, Ban Do and Jin Joo began to see each other in a new light. They began to realize the important thing they have been missing along—the thing that made them fall in love with each other in the first place. Rediscovering this made them learn to appreciate each other more, and at the same time, cherish their new lives together as a married couple.

5) Non-Linear Narration. Since Ban Do and Jin Joo traveled back in time, their 2017 life are now technically their past, as portrayed in "flashbacks" during their 1999 lives. But even if this is the case, we are not deprived of what really happened in the past—the one that actually took place in 1999—through epilogues that are cleverly interwoven into the show. Go Back Couple is a show that's good at this—it isn't distinguished by a specific timeline; yet the non-linear narration works. The said narration effectively helped in making the viewers understand each characters more, and I love how it has drawn me into the story much deeper than I had expected.

Image via Bugs Music.

6) OST. Go Back Couple is one of those rare shows that has both a beautiful and an emotionally driven OST. I think the last OST where I have felt sad and bawled my eyes out for still clearly remembering the emotions I have felt from some scenes in the drama (even if it has already ended) was Im Sun Hae's Will Be Back. For this show, Sohyang's Wind Song as well as Lee Seok Hoon's You and I tugged at my heart the most.

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1) The Ending and Time Travel. No gripes about the ending, it was satisfactorily done and the happy ending that Jin Joo and Ban Do had was really well earned and well deserved. My only concern is the use of the deities as a deus ex machina solution for the time travel aspect of the show. I'm well aware that Go Back Couple isn't a time travel drama per se. Rather than a central theme, time travel only serves as a plot device to get the story moving. However, I find it sort of anti-climactic to incorporate two deities as the reason behind the magic of Ban Do and Jin Joo's rings at the last stretch of the show. Even though I appreciate how the rings cleverly served as an agent for time travel and that weaving the deities into the story connects the time travel dots pretty well, my mind couldn't help but balk at how cheesy it was to have these deities thrown into the big picture like that. It's not really that big of a deal especially since Go Back Couple isn't really a time travel drama to begin with, however, I just couldn't help but feel sort of meh for the lack of a better approach regarding the said magic. Was I expecting too much because of all the time travel dramas that I have seen prior to this?

2) Missing People. I can't believe I'm seeing a drama again where a fun character goes missing in the end once more (here's to looking at you, Squad 38). So yeah, can anybody tell me where Dok Jae went? I want to know how he is and what he's doing in this redone future... More importantly, did he get to cut his hair? 🤪

❀ RULING ❀ »•»

Go Back Couple may not be a romcom that solely focuses on the grandeur of young, sweet love, but nevertheless, it delivers. It accounts for an absolutely beautiful tale of familial love and second chances, one that will play with your emotions, provoke your thoughts, and definitely stay with you for a long, long time.