Lee Seung-gi and Oh Yeon-seo on Hwayugi
The Korean drama Hwayugi tells the story of the lives of Son Oh-Gong, played by Lee Seung-gi, a powerful immortal being that is in conflict with another spirit, and Jin Sun-mi, played by Oh Yeon-seo, a girl who is entitled to his help whenever she wishes due to a binding agreement they made 25 years ago. Their relationship starts off rocky, with the two of them not really recognizing what is going on and not understanding the tie that binds them together, while being bothered left and right with conflicts beyond the physical world.
As time goes by, the two start to get closer with each other and fall for one another, with Son Oh-Gong accepting his protective side when it comes to anything Jin Sun-mi does. Their romance is atypical and has lots of ups and downs that only they can experience, but it is filled with heartwarming moments, as well as moments that make your heart clench. Their love defies rationality, but that is the beauty of this out of this world fantasy romance. So, are you ready to experience their romance through the scenes they share together on-screen and their chemistry off-screen? Let’s take a look at Lee Seung-gi and Oh Yeon-seo’s bittersweet moments in Hwayugi!
Lee Seung-gi and Oh Yeon-seo’s Bittersweet Moments in Hwayugi
Their bittersweet love story definitely peaked in the latter half of the season, with their sweet and lovely moments sprinkled in between. Watching the two push and pull in order to keep the balance between themselves and their importance in the world of deities is simply to die for. Their fates are entangled with various other entities that make it hard for them to genuinely bask in the feelings they harbor for each other. Here are some of those bittersweet moments compiled to relive those painfully heart-wrenching moments.
The love story between Son Oh-gong and Jin Sun-mi cannot be separated from the mythology of the Geumganggo, the bracelet that is wrapped around Son Oh-gong’s wrist as a sign of his dedication to her. He is destined to serve her whims and become her guardian, while at the same time help her fulfill her destiny as the Samjang, the savior of all humanity. The cuff prevents him from expressing any displeasure aimed at her, thus causing the dilemma between the two of them. This dilemma centers around the fact that Jin Sun-mi does not know whether or not his feelings are genuine or not.
In the scene above, Jin Sun-mi can be seen experiencing the previously mentioned dilemma of taking off the Geumganggo on Son Oh-gong’s wrist in order to know Son Oh-gong’s true feelings or leaving it on.
The scene above depicts the dream space that Jin Sun-mi is stuck in while the priestess occupies her living body. In this particular episode, Son Oh-gong works his hardest in order to free her from the space and manages to separate Jin Sun-mi from the priestess in their occupied non-physical spaces, allowing him to enter and take her soul back to her body. Despite the successful attempt of saving her, in this scene, we can see the bittersweet realization that Jin Sun-mi experiences, in which she could be the sole reason of Son Oh-gong’s demise, as he would always run back to her. It shows Jin Sun-mi resisting his help and refusing to come back with him as she is a danger to him, yet in the end, she relents and goes back into his arms.
As the dilemma around the Geumganggo continues, in one of the scenes found in the eighteenth episode, we can see Son Oh-gong finally taking off the Geumganggo while deeply contemplating its purpose and meaning, in regards to his true feelings for Jin Sun-mi. He doubts that the Geumganggo has any influence over his feelings as they are genuine and even without it, he would still be in love with her. This theory proves true as the audience can see that after he takes it off, he still looks at her lovingly, looking at her from a distance playing with the snow.
We can see Son Oh-gong acknowledging his feelings for her but refusing to tell her the truth, something he later relays to Ma Wang when he approaches him. He reasons that he needs to do so in order to protect her and also to keep her from sinking deep into her feelings when he eventually needs to do what he is tasked to do, which is to kill the Sam Jang, Jin Sun-mi, in order to protect humanity.
The scene above was closely followed by this next one, where they finally confess to each other, albeit with Son Oh-gong still acting as if it was all just a ruse under the spell of the Geumganggo. The two share an intense moment in which Jin Sun-mi asks Son Oh-gong for his true feelings whilst confessing her own. Meanwhile, Son Oh-gong questions her as if he cannot believe that what she is saying is true from the heart. The scene is indescribable and is filled with tension that is not just strictly romantic, but also electrified with lust. The scene ends as it leads to what would be the start of the bed scene found in the next episode.
The most heart-clenching scene in the whole drama regarding the two is found in the last episode, in which Jin Sun-mi’s finally meets her fate and dies fulfilling her purpose as the Sam Jang. Despite Son Oh-gong making a deal with the patriarch to sidestep his responsibilities to kill Jin Sun-mi by his own hands, she ends up dying anyway as she is stabbed by the enemy in the battlefield. Her sacrifice to give her life away to Son Oh-gong ultimately fails and the two share such a painful scene as they revel in the aftermath of her being stabbed.
Lee Seung-gi and Oh Yeon-seo Off-Screen Moments
Off-screen, the chemistry between the two is just undeniable, as they continue to work with each other to deliver the best they could for the audience. They often run lines together and help each other with delivering their lines. The instance shown above is when the two rehearsed their confession and kiss scenes that ended episode 18.
In a separate interview regarding her work on Hwayugi, Oh Yeon-seo revealed, “I was born in 1987 and Seung Gi was born at the beginning of 1987. We probably would have been more comfortable had we met at school, but because we met in a business setting, we have a peculiar relationship where we refer to each other formally and use a mix of casual and formal speech.”
In regards to Lee Seung-gi himself, she stated, “He’s a passionate and zealous person. He works really hard on set, Oh Gong from Hwayugi really isn’t an easy character to play. However, he always kept a smile on his face and tried to make things fun. Even though he had a lot of things he was doing in his schedule, he tried to create a bright and positive atmosphere on set.”
So what do you think of Lee Seung-gi and Oh Yeon-seo’s chemistry as the star-crossed lovers Son Oh-gong and Jin Sun-mi? Comment your thoughts and opinions in the section below!
