Synopsis

“The Bride of Habaek” (“Habaek”) takes place in a universe that is divided into two realms – the realm of humans and the realm of gods.  Ha Baek (Nam Joo Hyuk) is the god of water and will someday be the ruler of the gods.  Before becoming ruler, however, he must first journey to the human realm and recover the three divine stones that have been hidden there.  This, he must do, without the use of his divine powers.  On his journey, Ha Baek encounters Yoon So Ah (Shin Se Kyung), a human psychiatrist who owns the land where the portal between the two realms is located.  Because of the actions of an ancestor, So Ah lives a very unlucky life.  To make matters worse, Ha Baek and his subordinate, Nam Soo Ri (Park Kyu Sun), inform So Ah that she is the servant of the gods on earth.  So Ah initially believes that Ha Baek suffers from a mental illness, but whenever So Ah’s life is in danger, Ha Baek’s divine powers return and So Ah realizes that he and Soo Ri, as well as their friends, Moo Ra (Krystal Jung) and Bi Ryeom (Gong Myung), are, in fact, gods.  In his quest to find the stones, with So Ah by his side, Ha Baek experiences hunger, betrayal, jealousy, and love.  Ha Baek realizes that the stones were placed in the human realm for him to learn and truly understand such concepts, and that his quest has made him a better god and ruler.  But when it is time for Ha Baek to return to the realm of the gods, he has fallen so deeply in love with So Ah that he wishes to remain by her side.  Unfortunately, if Ha Baek fails to return to the realm of the gods, he will forfeit the purpose for which he was created and will cease to exist.  Nevertheless, Ha Baek willing gives up his single use of his divine powers in the human realm so that So Ah can learn the truth about her father’s mysterious disappearance.  Lamenting Ha Baek’s imminent disappearance from existence, the couple is surprised when the gods’ high priest (Lee Kyoung Young) suddenly appears in the human realm, however.  The high priest says that when Ha Baek understood the value of saving the life of a single person, he accomplished his mission in the human realm and is once again able to return to the realm of the gods as its future ruler.  In addition, So Ah recovers the crest of the gods from her father and is allowed to make one wish.  So Ah uses her servant’s wish to ask that Ha Baek be allowed to stay with her in the human realm until she dies.    

Ha Baek

Ha Baek is the god of gods.  He was born to be ruler.  Not all divine powers are equal, and some gods are more powerful than others. Ha Baek possesses all of the divine powers of the gods except for two (the power to bring someone back from the dead and the power to kill), making him the most powerful god in the god realm.  When he enters the human realm, however, he is stripped of his powers.  Ha Baek begins the K-drama as a proud and obnoxious character, unable to truly love.  Having been hurt by a human in the past, he looks down on all humans.  But it is by living amongst humans, particularly So Ah, that Ha Baek learns how to be a better being, and ultimately, a better ruler.  He learns that the divine stones were placed in the human realm for just this reason.  There is no king in Korea, So Ah tells him.  The people delegate their power to others, though “once in power, they usually forget that.” Coming to the human realm is a humbling experience for Ha Baek, as he learns about hunger and betrayal, privilege and compassion.

So Ah

So Ah ends up being the greatest influence on the future ruler of the gods, though their path as Lead Couple is not an easy one.  While Ha Baek’s sense of superiority leads him to look down on So Ah, So Ah’s difficult life drives her desire to appear uncaring.  Throughout “Habaek,” we see that her ancestor’s sister, Nak Bin (Im Se Ju) is the sacrificial human who once betrayed Ha Baek.  Because of her actions, she and her descendants are cursed to live a life of struggle.  So Ah wants nothing more than to leave Korea for a secluded home on Vanuatu, a nation comprised of a chain of islands in the south-western Pacific Ocean west of Fiji.  But in spite of her uncaring demeanor, So Ah is a psychiatrist, which enables her to see things in people that others do not see.  Selling her family land (on which the portal between the realms of the gods and humans is located) is So Ah’s ticket out of her miserable life, but as she develops genuine feelings for Ha Baek, she is unable to sacrifice his future for her own.  So Ah stops the sale of the land, at great personal cost. 

Fate

“Habaek” looks at a common trope of K-dramas which is the idea of fate.  It is Ha Baek’s fate to be the ruler of the gods.  It is So Ah’s fate to struggle in her human life, a servant to the gods.  But “Habaek” asks, what is fate?  And is it alterable?  One day, So Ah encounters a taxi driver – who is actually the high priest of the realm of the gods in disguise.  She confesses in him that her life is one of a doomed fate.  The taxi driver/high priest tells her that she is confusing fate with luck.  Luck can be changed, he tells her.

CEO Shin and Other Gods

Throughout “Habaek,” So Ah encounters many gods who play an important role in Ha Baek’s journey.  Moo Ra is a goddess from the Water Kingdom.  She lives in the human realm as an actress and looks down on humans for their weaknesses.  She does not care for anyone outside of her inner circle, to whom she is extremely loyal.  She torments everyone except for Ha Baek and Bi Ryeom, her friends since “childhood.”  Moo Ra believes that her place is by Ha Baek’s side, and is threatened by his relationship with So Ah.  It is Moo Ra who tells So Ah the story behind her family’s fate as servants to the gods, and it is Moo Ra who asks So Ah to let Ha Baek go for his own sake. 

Bi Ryeom is the god of wind.  He loves humans and unlike Moo Ra, sees their weakness as something to be envied, rather than despised.  Bi Ryeom is Ha Baek’s best friend in the realm of the gods, but is also jealous of Ha Baek’s relationship with Moo Ra, whom he desperately loves.  For Moo Ra, he will do anything, including betray Ha Baek. 

While Moo Ra and Bi Ryeom are higher gods, Soo Ri is a lesser god.  He is Ha Baek’s caretaker and guide in the human realm.  He has visited the human realm before and is more accustomed to their ways.  Unlike the other gods, Soo Ri is humble, as he knows what it means to serve others.  He works various part-time jobs in the human realm, to help support Ha Baek.  He is the most human-like of the gods.

But the most important god that So Ah meets besides Ha Baek, is, in actuality, not even a god but a demigod – half-god and half-human.  Shin Hoo Ye (Lim Ju Hwan) is a wealthy CEO whose father was a god and whose mother was a human, making him a human with divine powers.  The other gods look down on him. Part of the reason is because he is unlike them, but the other reason is because they fear him.  Unlike the gods who have positive powers to create, CEO Shin’s powers are those that can be used to annihilate.  CEO Shin and Ha Baek are set up throughout the K-drama as opposites.  Ha Baek’s spirit is water, while CEO Shin’s is fire; Ha Baek is proud of his role as a god, while CEO loathes his divine powers; Ha Baek feels that his duty as king naturally makes him superior to others, while CEO Shin feels that it is his duty to help those who are less fortunate than he.  CEO Shin tells So Ah that he loves trees because of their ability to make a forest without trying to control it, embracing even the lowly grass.  Another significant difference between Ha Baek and CEO Shin is that, while Ha Baek has to learn to read the emotions of others, CEO Shin can see the feelings of others.  CEO resents his role as a demigod, but So Ah tells him that he is actually the most god-like of them all.  While the other gods think of themselves as superior beings and do nothing to actually help the humans of her world, CEO Shin works doing a god’s work, helping the poor, the homeless, the orphaned, and the disabled. 

Surviving after loss

The message of “Habaek” seems to be two-fold.  The first message is about living with a servant’s heart and helping those around you, particularly those who are less fortunate.  The gods keep themselves separate from humans, as they feel that they are superior beings.  Even when they are in the human realm, they keep themselves somewhat separate, living in massive penthouses high above the world below them.  Humans look to deities to answer their prayers, but in “Habaek,” it is actually the demigod and the humans who do the most work to serve others.  At the beginning of “Habaek,” So Ah resents how much her father serves others, but she comes to realize the impact that their actions have on the lives of those they help.  Two examples are her nurse at her clinic, Yoo Sang Yoo (Shin Jae Hoon), who was one of the orphan children that her father helped, and CEO Shin’s young, blind neighbor whom he adores spending time with.

The second message of “Habaek” is about finding a way to survive after loss.  So Ah lives her life without her parents, having lost them at a young age.  While she has Nurse Yoo and her friend, Jo Yeom Mi (Choi Woo Ri), she is virtually alone.  And yet, she perseveres.  She finds a strength to go on, even though her unlucky life seems unfairly stacked against her.  “People find a reason to live on without withering away,” she says.  Ha Baek, finds a way to live on when he is betrayed by his first love.  CEO Shin manages to become a successful businessman and lovable human, despite his wretched beginning in life.  And because Ha Baek must return to the realm of the gods, he and So Ah must eventually separate.  So Ah uses her servant’s wish at the end of the K-drama to allow Ha Baek to remain with her in the human realm until she dies, but eventually, they will have to part, and Ha Baek, an immortal god, must learn to live on after losing her.

Final verdict: SKIP  

All-in-all, “The Bride of Habaek” is a SKIP.  Initially, I found it difficult to get into this K-drama as neither lead character is very likeable.  Ha Baek is proud, arrogant, and lacks compassion, while So Ah is at times utterly ridiculous and seems unable to get out of her own way.  And though the K-drama does become more engaging towards the middle episodes, the ending is ultimately unsatisfying as the Lead Couple is only able to remain together during So Ah’s lifetime, leaving Ha Baek to suffer in his eternal life without her.  The premise of the story – a god venturing into the human realm to learn about love – is a good one, but the story did not seem to really grab my attention until the fourth or fifth episode.  The most interesting part of “Habaek” is the story of the demigod, CEO Shin – the most compassionate of the gods, and the most likeable of the humans.   Despite the fact that his life began full of abuse, CEO Shin does not wish to continue that cycle of abuse.  He is often tortured by his divine powers and his existence as a demigod, and actor Lim Ju Hwan does an amazing job conveying the pain he feels.  His character is selfless and gentle to others.  Unlike the other gods who flaunt their powers and status, CEO Shin is hesitant to use his divine powers and does not want to be known as a god.  That journey of self-discovery that he makes for himself, with with no small help from his psychiatrist and friend, So Ah, is the highlight of “Habaek.”  And the relationship between CEO Shin and So Ah leads to no small amount of SLS (Second Lead Syndrome).  The push and pull between the Lead Couple does become engaging, at times, and the actors do a terrific job of gutting you with their tears.  Still, their path to love is not very clear, and frankly, seems a bit abrupt, lacking in the development given to So Ah’s relationship with CEO Shin.  Ultimately, “Habaek” falls short of making my WATCH list.  

So there it is, our review of “The Bride of Habaek.”  What did you think?!  Thank you for joining us on this journey. 

Have a favorite K-drama you think we should review, comment down below!!  We look forward to seeing you back again soon!

Up next, “The Forbidden Marriage”