Encounter: a photo album

I had analyzed the different meanings of “Encounter” and pointed out that “encounters” was exactly what defined JH-CSH’s relationship which explain why despite the gaps in their social status, their age and environment they could meet and understand each other. Due to many encounters, their relationship got deeper. Then in the episode 5, the turning point of their relationship is marked, when they stand in front of this painting.

They are looking at each other and JH is even touching CSH’s arm. She doesn’t push him away. Striking is that this painting from Kim Whanki is also referring to “encounter”, since his title is “Where, in What Form Shall We Meet Again”. What also caught my attention are the colors and the structure of this painting. Since we know that Cha Soo Hyun’s element is water as our heroine is often connected to the sea, we could interpret this painting as an image of the sea with a lot of foam, bulbs of air. So this painting embodies perfectly CSH and KJH’s relationship: the meeting of water and air. Yet we could interpret this painting in a different way. As you can see, 

the painter Whanki Kim drew a lot of squares with different sizes and colors. The squares could be seen as picture frames. And now we can understand why the episode started with this drawing. 

Our protagonists are walking side by side and there are a lot of picture frames. All of them look empty. But in reality, there are not. It is just that our OTP is not aware that their relationship has been marked with different pictures. They didn’t take any picture but the director and the viewers are the spectators of their pictures. I sense that from the start, the director and writers were planning to use this drawing and painting. Let me give you examples from previous episodes:

In the first episodes, we see these following takings:

Due to the black frames, they definitely look like photos. Then in the second episode, wheen JH and CSH were eating ramyeon, the scene was so shot that you have the impression, it is a picture (metal bars remind of a frame again) 

and it became a photo for real.

Then in the third episode, this scene on the beach

which is breathtaking reminds us of a painting due to the window frame of wood which can be perceived as picture frame. In the episode 5, the director shot a scene in a similar manner: 

To me, the painting from Whanki should be seen as a photo album that contains all the moments of our OTP and that’s why at the end of the episode, we see the painting used to show different moments of JH and CSH’s life.

JH and CSH are not entirely aware of their serendipity because at the end, we see how their paths crossed each other without noticing each other. By doing so, the director and writer are underlining that they were fated to meet. As conclusion, the viewers are actually watching a photo album of our OTP therefore the writer keep shooting scenes as photos. Moreover, the picture frames in the drawing look a lot like stars illustrating first the natural of their meetings and second the impact of their encounters… in this darkness, they felt happy and are kept as good memories. And their final photo is this

All along the viewers keep seeing such pictures, while our protagonists have no idea of their existence. These are invisible photos. But who is the photographer? Sure, in reality the director chose to create such takings but in the story itself, I would say, nature and time are the ones behind these pictures as nature and time are the natural forces that bring KJH and CSH together.