Promises in Bongchon Bride

[Spoilers for Bongchon Bride by Son Gaepi. Discussions of suicide, incest, and sexual assault.]

I found that over the course of Bongchon Bride, I liked the ways that Soongap’s younger brother Pilgyeon was humanised. During his childhood and in his dreams, Pilgyeon adored Soongap and aimed to raise him from the status of a slave yet it didn’t change that Pilgyeon was an evil person. Obsession with Soongap and duty taken on in childhood revealed themselves throughout his portrayal but cannot be excused when shown beside Bongchun’s far kinder innocence.

Though the threats and building up to sexual assault only culminate in the action once, the pressure of Pilgyeon’s torment did just as much damage to Soongap each day. His compulsion to control was something he knew to be damaging to Soongap but he did not stop.

When all was lost, Pilgyeon saved Soongap in what seemed to be his last moment. Soongap was shocked; his reaction when looking over the edge of the cliff hinted at unshed grief, though the space before certainty was dense with many potential outcomes. In that moment, Soongap intended to kill himself, the second time he had come to this point after losing the person he loved the most, and was once again ‘saved’ by Pilgyeon. However, this action can’t be viewed as kindness.

When Bongchun saved Soongap twice, it was something to be grateful for. Soongap realised that he wanted to live. He appreciated the gentle affection behind every ordinary action from Bongchun, and came to see him in a more positive light because of the environment he’d fostered. Knowing that there was goodness in the world, that his new master could save his life just for the good of preserving a life, aided Soongap in considering that life was worth living. Pilgyeon’s intention in saving Soongap from the ledge each instance was to trap him and keep him at his side. Soongap had no desire to live in a world without Mojil or Bongchun when it meant he would be forced to be with the single-minded Pilgyeon.

Mojil never saved Soongap in an obvious way, instead becoming everything to Soongap (a brother, a friend, a lover). As slaves they were equal in status and that allowed their love to flourish. Pilgyeon, on the other hand, was Soongap’s half-brother and desired to be his lover. Soongap pondered whether Pilgyeon would have acted like this without seeing Mojil and Soongap having sex in the first place. The answer is unknowable, though it could be seen that the role of a lover became necessary for Pilgyeon to take on after realising that Soongap’s ‘everything’ included a lover.

Bongchun only desired to hold one role in Soongap’s life, yet even that was something that he didn’t force upon the slave he came to own. In fact, Bongchun appeared to be a person willing to help all people unconditionally. He agreed to a huge debt in order to buy Soongap from Mr Jeon’s house only with the knowledge that the slave would die otherwise. This immediately set him apart from Pilgyeon who felt tasked with protecting Soongap alone to the detriment of others.

Though their motives and values set them apart, Bongchun and Pilgyeon shared a strong air of innocence. In both cases the values impressed upon them in childhood stuck with them, even beyond the trauma related to them.

Pilgyeon still possessed a doll made in Soongap’s image after all their years apart and had only stopped looking for his brother when he was led to think that Soongap was in some household unknown to him. As a young child, he could clearly see the difference in their status. Pilgyeon was the son of two nobles yet Soongap was treated poorly as the son of the noble father and a slave woman taken on as a concubine. The truth as to why Soongap was rejected so firmly by his father despite his mother being the father’s favourite may be a reason only known to Pilgyeon in the narrative so this added to the responsibility he bore. Soongap’s mother Gwideok asked Pilgyeon to look after Soongap, something he happily promised to the mother he wished to have before finding her hanged. From what we see of Pilgyeon’s childhood, he didn’t seem to show the effects of being the first to find Gwideok hanged, though some mental stasis could be inferred from his continued parroting of the reasons and intentions set during his childhood along with the stubborn inability to see the perspective of others.

Bongchun didn’t have Pilgyeon’s yangban grace but was shy and experienced despite his mammoth strength. He was kind to a fault and didn’t need a moment to think about whether or not to take on a debt of 50 sacks of rice for a slave beaten halfway to death. In his childhood the promise he made was to his parent. He would just apologise to nobles to resolve situations. He wouldn’t use his strength to defend himself. Though he endeavoured to save anybody in trouble, he avoided fighting back against people because the last time he did so led to his father’s death. The childhood promise Bongchun made was in service of making his parents happy but he was able to break that to help Soongap and the bandits who formed a community he’d never been allowed in his youth.

Whereas Pilgyeon’s childhood promise led to him heavily wielding his power, Bongchun refusd to use his physical strength to force anything. As a master, Pilgyeon had the ability to keep Soongap at his side and take him away from all other duties. Bongchun could physically overpower Soongap and anybody else in theory, yet he was a master who willingly told Soongap the location of valuables he could use to cover his travel expenses. Both Pilgyeon and Bongchun pull Soongap from doing any physical labour but Pilgyeon shoved the work onto other slaves whereas Bongchun took the work on himself. All Soongap had to do was keep Bongchun’s elderly mother company. There were no expectations placed upon him in return for the kindness shown to him.

Bongchun directly provided a lot for Soongap. He nursed Soongap through illness and injury, all the while blushing smiles and affectionate ways of speaking suggested he had liked Soongap from the start. However, he didn’t even expect Soongap to remain with him. Bongchun saved Soongap just to allow him to live.

Pilgyeon dreamt of providing all Soongap desired and gave him medicine for Mojil, but even as he claimed to be patient he had the expectation that Soongap would come to his side.

From the flashbacks to their time in Hanyang, Soongap spent time with Pilgyeon but never sought him out the way his younger brother looked for him. It begs the question whether distance existed from the start with their differing statuses as brothers born from a concubine and a noble wife. Soongap cared for Pilgyeon and worried about losing the doll made to look like Pilgyeon but he wasn’t thrilled about reuniting as adults. Living as a slave for so long without the link of his mother to bring him closer to the caste he’s been rejected from, it is understandable that Soongap wouldn’t be happy to meet the brother who grew up with everything awarded to nobles. Killing Mojil after that certainly didn’t help how Soongap viewed Pilgyeon.

In Bongchon valley, Bongchun sought Soongap out equally as ardently as Pilgyeon had done in Hanyang, yet he guaranteed a life of comfort and the choice to leave even whilst his true wish was for Soongap to stay. Still innocent, Bongchun confessed he wanted Soongap to be his bride forever, yet his forever presented Soongap with an entirely different notion to the threat it seemed to be from Pilgyeon.

The men who loved Soongap all wanted a forever with him, but their intentions and actions towards Soongap’s agency differed greatly. Mojil grew up alongside Soongap as his equal and treated him as such. Pilgyeon, Soongap’s younger brother, and Bongchun, Soongap’s new master, were very much grounded in childhood in their approaches to interacting with him. The promises made had to be broken for both Pilgyeon and Bongchun to move on in their lives. With Soongap as the catalyst for both promises being broken it shows how far the vows made as children worked against their ability to make Soongap happy.