Why Gong-myung is the main character and why Memorials is an appropriate title

Nana was absolutely excellent in Memorials (Into the Ring). To a few people, she singlehandedly carried the show as its loud and over-the-top heroine. I think, however, that this is a mistaken perspective. Restraint does not coincide with inferiority, and I’d even argue that Gong-myung has a larger role than Se-ra.

Why? The Korean title of this series is Chulsapyo, which is a transliteration of Chu Shi Biao. Chu Shi Biao is one of the letters sent by Zhuge Liang to his new emperor, Liu Shan, and it provided advice towards the proper way toward ruling a kingdom. It took the final episode for me to connect the dots, frankly, but Gong-myung is the Zhuge Liang of this series. That’s why Se-ra was quick in saying that she liked Kongming. From the very beginning of the series, Gong-myung has been a disciplined and fastidious civil servant. He got demoted from his role in Planning and Budget because he called out the reality that they no longer had any money to spend, and therefore had to be more conservative with spending.

Even though he was thrown into the service center, he does not mince words with people yet does his job to the best of his abilities. While others gave up from Se-ra’s pestering, he dealt with her complaints even when there was no one else in the office. It is from this anger that he had his petty revenge on Se-ra, who was again fired because she did not have any powerful backers.

Despite this, however, he wasn’t the one who fired her from the service center: in fact, it was his father who, even early on, was such a master manipulator: he removed Se-ra from her job and offered her work through his connections that he planned to use later on after she decided to run for office. Knowing that they no longer had a budget, he initially dissuaded Se-ra from pursuing politics. However, when he realized that while she initially pursued a position to be paid, she also wished for politics to effect positive change, he became steadfast in his support toward her. After all, power should be given to the person who wish to avoid its trappings.

When she gave up for Eun-sil and drank her sadness out, he was there to give her support and take her home. In fact, even though she gave up for a better candidate, she had his vote. He provided her with the relevant information regarding the municipal bonds, and even when she was being ostracized by her other peers in the assembly, he had quietly provided his support by looking over her ordinance and celebrated its completion even though her credit was stolen from her.

There’s a later episode where Se-ra talked with Bong Chu-san regarding how one person’s faith in you can make anything tolerable, and while Gong-myung wasn’t vocal about it, he had always silently supported Se-ra and called her out whenever she started to stray from the right path. By this time, Se-ra had quite obviously fallen for him. What makes their pair so dynamic is that Gong would have been ignored by most women because he doesn’t do obvious things, but Se-ra doesn’t: many people only see the charismatic, but fail to see that every productive leader has a master strategist behind him. And Se-ra sees this and appreciates it: “You can do this, Koo Se-ra.”

He is, however, unafraid to call her out when she’s blinded by frustration or money. In this manner, we slowly see the relevance of the Chu Shi Biao: Se-ra can be thrust by her emotions, but the cool support by Gong reins her in. There’s a pivotal scene in Episode 5 where, after she chose to work for her responsibilities instead of being driven by money that Gong rewards her for her ordinance. She confesses to him after this because she sees his value.

As someone who lives a relatively fastidious lifestyle, I can relate with being unappreciated. I’m considered as uptight and too disciplined, and I’m not very obvious. To be appreciated the way Se-ra appreciates Gong, however, is something I’d love to experience. This theme will recur over the course of the following episodes. When Se-ra’s being affected by her emotions, or by rejection after rejection, Gong’s quietly in the background and provides both intelligence and support. When Se-ra was doubting whether he had feelings for Hee-soo, he clarified despite his awkwardness. Later, when he saw her being harassed by a drunk, he stopped the drunk and brought her home, and even gave a most insightful observation: Se-ra, it’s okay to be over-the-top as long as you do the right thing. That’s you, after all. This scene was perfectly acted by Nana because Se-ra was so touched by his insight and kindness, she asks him “Want to go and get a shot to eat?”

After the opposing party broke their pledges to her in the following episodes, Gong was around to comfort her. She confesses a second time to Gong, and gets rejected, not because he didn’t like her, but because he wanted to be certain of his own feelings. Personalities like ours (INTJ/ISTJ) often take our time with relationships, because from the very beginning, we don’t want to waste our time on things we would see as failures anyway.

Later, Se-ra picks up his advice, almost naturally, even. “Something that only I can do,” first came from Gong, but becomes Se-ra’s battle cry even when she was being attacked from all sides. A wonderful trait of Se-ra could be seen repeated over many episodes was that she was willing to defer to expert authority, and this is a trait of true leaders. She knew when she was out of her depth and respected her lack of wisdom.

When she was voted Chairman, Gong was assertive in protecting her from the machinations of his father. His support then becomes even more obvious, even until the end: if he did not choose to come clean with his past and crucify himself in the process, Son Eun-sil likely wouldn’t have won the elections.

I’d like to point out, however, that Se-ra also had a huge positive influence in his life. It was most manifest in Episode 13. When he discovered that there were memorials (!) of his brother, he was distraught because it reminded him of his father’s treachery and his past. What she did (impulsively, as always) just to be with him was also noble and typical of her character. Sometimes, even the master strategist needs to be buoyed with love and kindness. However, Liu Bei wouldn’t have gone as far as he did without Zhuge Liang, and because of Zhuge Liang’s prudence and emotional stability, Liu Bei was a far better leader.

Many people have already shown that Se-ra and Gong have one of the healthiest relationships in K-drama. I agree with them. More importantly, however, Memorials is one of the most well-written series I’ve seen, which is no surprise since it won Best Screenplay in a contest. And yes, Gong-myung is actually the main character.

This is one of my absolute favorites. It ranks alongside My Mister. It is an absolute masterpiece.

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