I think it's now drama canon that he needs her to need him in order to live!
I am dead now.
Gong Min and Choi Young being confronted by Gi Chul. Mmmm, intensity is yummy.
So, CY rescues the kid who will grow up to kill him (knowing that). Irony!
They tell her she has to pick who will get killed - CY, the Queen or Jang Bin. And she tells them to fuck off and leaves. Aahahahaha! Because they can't kill her and the only leverage they have is her caring for others, so if she acts as if she doesn't care, what can they do? Eun Soo, pwning supernatural killers. Ovaries of steel.
Problem is, the guards get here and her bluff sort of gets called when Eum Ja is killing them all with his flute and she intercedes.
Sorry, psychos, you can't have your fun. Because guess who strides in like the Wrath of God? Sexy sexy wrath of God!
He sees her covering her bleeding ears and OMFG MY OVARIES WENT BOOOOOOM because this happens. It kills me how gentle he is and how he is acting as if there is nothing else outside of them.
And then he tells the killers to fuck off. After he took care of Eun Soo. Because he has priorities. Fire Lady is all 'whatever, we learned what we wanted anyone, we know which one is most important to you, he always runs to you and finds you.' People, even the bad guys are shipping you! But of course Eun Soo freaks out because by being like that, CY is in danger (as Gi Chul seemingly has only one mode of operation - remove all nearest and dearest of his quarry). And so when he goes to touch her, she swats his hand away. Noooooo! His faaaace!
Like that 1990s song went 'unbreak my heart!'
The King and his Warrior. I love this relationship almost as much as I do the OTP.
Gi Chul must be insanely powerful if he can defeat CY! Bu utterly without supernatural powers Gongmin still pwns you, evil one!
My secondary OTP is going full steam - Gongmin totally freaks out about danger to Nogook and almost runs to her quarters and knocks out (poison?) cup, and grabs her hand (just like he did in Yuan, awwwww!!!) and they keep holding hands until they realize what they are doing (oh, darlings, darlings, darlings!) and he has her stay in his quarters and OMG I love them with an insane love.
Because what would this drama be if we went an episode without whomping Choi Young?
Eun Soo is flashbacking. Sue sign of love in kdrama land.
The fact that Choi Young is teaching and befriending the kid he knows will kill him. Oh, Choi Young!
This scene broke my heart and danced on the remains. He tells her he will take her to the heaven's door (even though she knows he has a ton of stuff to do for the King) because she will be in more and more danger as people know about her. She asks (and though he doesn't answer, his silence confirms) that he was the one who rescued her when she tried to run from Gi Chul and that if he saw she was in danger, he would have fought, no matter the odds. And she asks him whether he will lose and die if he fights Gi Chul and he says yes (I love that he never lies to her). And of course it's her worst fears confirmed - that by being tied to her, he will lose his life. And then at the end he asks her why she never smiles any more - whether it's just in front of him, or has she stopped smiling utterly (and if you think about it, I am not sure which alternative is more miserable - one is that he brought her to a place that sucked her happiness away, another is that she is so alienated from him/unhappy with him, she will smile elsewhere but not with him). Oh, woobies, you are trying to protect each other so hard, and negating what you feel.
His fears are confirmed - advisor wants the King to use Eun Soo and says he's been broadcasting her fame everywhere (so now more psychos will want her).
He tells the King that if he keeps Eun Soo and uses her, he's no better than Gi Chul and that he woll bring people to him without Eun Soo.
I don't ship them, but I like their dynamic.
You know how I said the earlier scene broke my heart? I lied. This is the scene that did it. She is trying to go to heaven's door by herself but of course he finds her. And she tells him she absolves him from his vow, she forgives him for kidnapping her, doesn't want him to return her etc. His face! She is doing it so she can protect him, so he won't get hurt protecting her, but he doesn't know - all he can tell is she doesn't want/need him any more. Oh lady - remember the old zombie Choi Young? You are the reason he's living (and I don't mean you stitching him up). He's going to go back to his dead self if you go! But he lets her go, sending a guard with her, because he thinks it's the most he can do for her. Waaaaaail!
I love that Nogook and Gongmin decide everything together now!
Choi Young with the scholars he wants to get on Gongmin's side. I love his explanation as to why he serves Gongmin - because it's the first King he picked to serve for himself (says volumes about his past) and because, despite his flaws (and I love that CY can see all of Gongmin's flaws), Gongmin knows shame. That's quite a thing to say. The scholars agree to meet but have him guarantee to protect them. It's yet more people for him to protect. He is going to break...
Eun Soo keeps thinking about him...
I almost cried here. He pretty much tells his aunt that he plans to die (and the way he phrases it - because he forgot his fiancee's face. What if he doesn't recognize her in the afterlife? Crying here....) and also wonders why Eun Soo didn't trust him and OMFG, that is what broke you, didn't it? Which makes sense because while he can fight better than 10 people, emotionally he is one thread away from snapping - before Eun Soo he was a lost cause, the only thing keeping his deathwish in check was his duty. And with Eun Soo, he actually found a desire to live, but she is gone now (and she tried to sever all ties, and he doesn't know it was to protect him), so he's back to basketcase land, and this time his deathwish and his duty perfectly align.
Off on his suicide mission.
Aunt finds Eun Soo because she knows Eun Soo is the only one who can bring him back (shippiest drama ever, y/y?) And Aunt says he was like the walking dead before but became different once Eun Soo appeared. And the she asks her if Eun Soo told him she didn't need him? It's canon. Choi Young needs Eun Soo in order to live. He needs her to need him and trust him to live. asjsfjkfdhjlrhkldjgflkl!!!
Before his suicide mission, lying to Daeman he plans to come back. Yeah, right!
And we get the cut of her riding hell for leather and his looking at the moon, off to his death.
Tuesday come quicker, please!