The Classic

I just watched another Korean movie entitled "The Classic". And as usual I couldn't get over the movie. As I type now, my tears couldn't stop from falling. I'm super affected. Big time! It's really silly that I cry over such movies. But I'm only human and I have feelings you know.

This is the first time I've heard of that movie. Jan lent it to me and I just thought it was just one of those Korean movies that's why I didn't bother watching it right away. I didn't have any idea who the actors were so I just left it in my bag. But to my surprise, it's another Korean movie that made me cry and is still making me cry. It might be like the effect of "My Sassy Girl" on me. I've seen "My Sassy Girl" several times and it never fails to make me cry. Guess I'm really a sucker for romance!

There was this college girl Chin ye, who was leaving alone because her father died when she was young and her mother was working abroad. When she was younger, she suggested to her mom to remarry but her mom just wouldn't. Well, she had a friend, Su Kyeung, who had a big crush on one of the guys in school. Sang-min who's a theater actor and he's really good-looking. Su Kyeung would often invited Chin ye to tag along during her dates with Sang min. Chin ye was secretly falling in love with Sang min.

One time Chin ye was cleaning their house when she thought of going through her mom's box of letters. She was curious because everytime her mom, Joon-hee, would read the letters it makes her cry. The letters were mostly from her father, Tae-Soo. But she found one letter that's not the name of her father. The name was Joon-ha. And there was a diary inside. Chin ye started reading.....A small note was in one of the pages that read like "When I look at the sun I think of you....."

.....A young man named Joon-ha was having his vacation in his uncle's town. Joon-hee, the daughter of a congressman, was also there. Joon-ha was smitten by the beauty of Joon-hee. An opportunity came for Joon-ha when Joon-hee approached him asking him if he could accompany her to the haunted house which is at the end of the river. It was supposed to be a secret because her grandfather wouldn't let her go. Joon-ha obliged the next day. Of course Joon-ha prepared for it. They've been talking for a long time but they hadn't moved too far. Joon-ha then admitted that it was really his first time to row. They eventually reached the haunted house and went around. There were no ghosts but they got scared when they saw a shabby man that they came out running. They started screaming and laughing as well. They were about to get back to their boat when it suddenly started raining. When they reached the riverbank, the boat was really in the middle of the river and there was no way that they could swim for it. It was raining really hard that they started running to look for a shed. While running Joon-hee slipped and broke an ankle. Joon-ha had to carry her on his back. Since the two were really dripping, Joon-ha lent her his shirt so she could wipe herself dry. He even got a watermelon for their food. As the rain stopped they started walking because it was already getting dark. They passed by a makeshift wooden bridge that was full of fireflies and Joon-hee was amazed. Joon-ha got one for Joon-hee and transferred into her hands. As they were nearing the riverbank, Joon-hee gave her necklace to Joon-ha. She said it was her gift for the firefly he gave her and promised that she'll take care of the firefly. Of course Joon-hee's grandfather was really furious that Joon-ha got a slap on the face. Joon-hee was taken away back to Suwon and was rushed to the hospital because she got sick from the pouring rain.

.....Back to Suwon, Joon-ha had a bestfriend named Tae-soo. Tae-soo asked him to write love letters for a girl. He wasn't really interested because it was his father who arranged it. This girl is the daughter of a congressman. Joon-ha did the favor and it turns out it was Joon-hee. Joon-hee would usually write back. One day, Tae-soo had tickets for Joon-hee's recital. He invited Joon-ha along. Though seated very far from Tae-soo, Joon-ha confirmed that it was really Joon-hee on stage. After the recital, Joon-ha had flowers for Joon-hee but Joon-hee couldn't approach him because her parents as well as Tae-soo's were there. Joon-ha just sat on the bench outside the gym. But Joon-hee sneaked to look for Joon-ha and they were happy to see each other even for a while.

.....Tae-soo was starting to fall for Joon-hee and he confessed this to Joon-ha. Tae-soo invited JOon-ha to attend a folk dance class so they can have a double date together with Joon-hee's friend. Once introduced, Joon-hee and Joon-ha acted like it was their first time to meet. While the two were dancing with their respective partners, they couldn't help not to glance at each other. And when the dancing called for the switching of partners, it was the opportunity for the two to dance closer but the naturally funny Tae-soo changed it to fast music. Everyone really had a great time. After that the two pairs split up, Tae-soo and Joon-hee, and JOon-ha and his date. BUt as soon as Tae-soo left and before Joon-hee could go inside their house, Joon-ha approached her and they hugged. Their relationship was supposed to be a secret.

.....Tae-soo was really in love with Joon-hee and Joon-ha informed her about this. She didn't want to be unfair and she didn't wanna screw their lives that she said she wouldn't see any of the two guys anymore. She broke up with Joon-ha. She started avoiding him and not coming out when he lights up the light post outside her house (it's their sign that he's out in front of her window). One time, it was really raining and Joon-ha started following Joon-hee so that they could talk. She ran off but left the umbrella with Joon-ha. Joon-ha was very persistent and they got back under the pouring rain. They agreed they would let Tae-soo know. As usual Joon-hee got sick again after being drenched.

.....Tae-soo was really Joon-ha's good friend and he had a hard time confessing everything to him. But Tae-soo was very understanding. He even became the bridge so the two could secretly communicate. The letters that Joon-hee would receive had Tae-soo's name as the sender when in fact it came from Joon-ha. This went on for a while until their secret was discovered. Tae-soo's father was really angry and Tae-soo got a terrible beating because of that. He's father was expecting him to get married to the congressman's daughter. Joon-ha told Tae-soo that he can sacrifice for his friend and he would return John-hee's necklace. But Tae-soo said he can't do that because the necklace came from Tae-Soo's father. Tae-soo wanted to end his father's brutality to him that he committed suicide. Good thing though that Joon-ha saw him right away and was able to call for help. At the hospital where Tae-Soo was, Joon-hee came to visit and asked Joon-ha to stay. But Joon-ha thought that it would be best to give up Joon-hee to Tae-soo so that things wouldn't be complicated. He left the necklace and suddenly disappeared. Joon-hee didn't see him since then.

.....Days passed and she didn't hear anything from Joon-ha. She ran into Tae-Soo and she found out that Joon-ha was to be sent out to war. She came to the train station to say goodbye to Joon-ha but he wouldn't look at her. When the train started moving, Joon-ha looked and waved goodbye to Joon-hee. She gave the necklace back and asked him to come back alive. Well, the necklace was the one thing that made Joon-ha hang on during the war. During a battle, a fellow soldier was smiling at Joon-ha and he didn't know why. This soldier was eventually shot. They were already retreating when Joon-ha realized that he didn't have the necklace. Stupid Joon-ha came back for the necklace, that's the reason why the soldier was smiling. The dead soldier had his necklace. He started running back and helped a wounded soldier. When they were near the helicopter, they were bombed and Joon-ha was holding on to the necklace.

.....Years passed, Joon-ha and Joon-hee agreed to meet in a restaurant. Joon-ha knew that Joon-hee had already married Tae-Soo. Likewise, Joon-ha had already gotten married. While conversing, Joon-hee discovered that Joon-ha was already blind. (The part that I started crying). He didn't think that she'd discover it because he said he practiced the night before. They went on with their separate lives. Soon, Tae-Soo died.

.....One time, Joon-hee brought her daughter to the river where she and Joon-ha went. Then three men came carrying a box of letters and an urn. They told Joon-hee that Joon-ha had passed away and his last wish was to have his ashes scattered into the river. They also said that Joon-ha left a son. Joon-hee cried a lot. (Me too!)....

Going back to Chin-ye's life. Of course she didn't read the whole diary continuously. She's a student and she had a major secret crush on Sang-min. One time her friend Su-Kyeung asked her to tag along while Su-Kyeung was with Sang-min. At the end of the date, Sang-min had a gift for the two girls. Chin-ye got the gift with a very special note inside. When she told about this with Su-Kyeung exchanged boxes with her (bwiset!).

Chin-ye didn't have an umbrella when it started raining one afternoon. She only had the leaves of a big tree to protect her. Then Sang-min run under the tree not having an umbrella as well. Of course Chin-ye didn't know what to do being alone with Sang-min. Sang-min offered to bring her to the library and they'd use his jacket as an umbrella. As expected Chin-ye was very happy but couldn't show it.

Another rainy afternoon, a woman from the school was telling Chin-ye that the good-looking Sang-min gave her his umbrella. The woman told her that she can borrow the umbrella. The woman told her that Sang-min was in her store one rainy afternoon when he suddenly gave her the umbrella and started to run out to the big tree across the store. (Hmmmmmmm......) Chin-ye hastily left and took the umbrella to Sang-min.

Chin-ye brought Sang-min to the river where her mom used to bring her. She had told him about the love story of her mother from the diary that she read. Tears fell from Sang-min's eyes after the story and then he showed the necklace to Chin-ye. Yup, the same necklace from Joon-hee to Joon-ha. Yes, he's Joon-ha's son!!!!!!

They went to a makeshift bridge and again there were fireflies. Sang-min got one for her too and they kissed!

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!! Was that destiny working in their love story. I was just so dumb-founded with the twist of the story?! MY jaw dropped and my tears fell. As in what the??!!! I just cried! I felt it! Such a beautiful story! Can that happen in real life?! I just don't know what to say anymore......