The Trunk

Presentation

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Overview

Synopsis

No In Ji works for a contract marriage provider NM that provides its clients with spouses for a 1-year contract.  She meets Han Jung Won, a music producer who’s still not over his ex-wife. While they get to know each other in this arranged marriage, a mysterious trunk is recovered from a lake that leads them to uncover secrets about NM company.

My Opinion (No Spoilers)

I had not binge-watched a drama in a long time, but I have to admit that The Trunk was somewhat addictive. The drama’s greatest asset is its capacity to depict the worst you can have in a relationship: obsession, jealousy, control, manipulation, toxicity, etc… Both leads have been through a lot and are clearly surrounded with people who are bad for them. Yet, their blossoming relationship shows that you can set yourself free and change whenever you’re no longer tied to the wrong people. The romance was sweet and slow-paced which I liked because it was clear that both characters needed that in their lives. That being said, there were however some missing points for me such as a clear lack of explanations at times. For example, I would’ve appreciated to have information on Seo Yeon’s background and motivation. Why is she acting this way? What made her like that? Same for other characters like In Ji’s people. We have absolutely no intel, they are just here and that’s it. Finally, NM company is impenetrable as well. We know nothing as to why it really exists, it just does and serves the purpose of the show. Apart from that, the drama tackles real topics linked to relationships (from domestic violence, to toxicity to being bisexual), while emphasizing on the light that can pierce through the darkness when with the right people. Only for that, you should definitely take a look!

Analysis

• Characters
  Han Jeong Won
  No In Ji
  Common points between the leads
  Lee Seo Yeon
  Yoon Ji Oh
• Atmosphere
• Symbols
  Jeong Won’s house
  The trunk
  The kayak
  The blue pills
• Themes tackled
  Dominion, stalking and obsession
  Healing people
  What’s marriage?
  

Characters: The Trunk displays a panel of characters who all carry luggage such as past traumas. Some of them pull each other up and heal together, while others are just bad for each other.

Han Jeong Won: Han Jeong Won (Gong Yoo) is broken. He may come from a wealthy family, but had a difficult upbringing that left him with emotional scars. He saw his mother being beaten by his father every day. He witnessed her descent to Hell and loss of sanity. Over the years, she was not herself anymore, unable to escape. That’s why, Jeong Won even chose to assist his mother in her suicide by giving her the rope. He could feel her suffering and wanted to deliver her from it. Obviously, a kid helping his mother to die leaves an indelible trauma that is still very alive today in Jeong Won’s life. He has nightmares and sees her wandering around the house. Jeong Won’s father was wealthy, high-ranked and respected. Though he appeared to be a good and respectable man in the eyes of society, he was actually a monster behind closed doors. Jeong Won’s father was obsessive, controlling and violent. He wanted to dominate his wife and thus suffocated her. He would spy on her using cameras installed in a crystal chandelier. He constantly needed to check what she was eating, doing, who she was seeing. This behavior drove Jeong Won’s mother to the edge of a cliff she jumped from. In a house full of brutality with no love or care, where relationships are power games, Jeong Won grew up lonely and lost. His parents’ marriage is the only testimony of a relationship he’s ever had and has thus become clumsy in the present. He’s also dreamed of not being the “son of”, but never succeeded in escaping that title. At the beginning of the drama, Jeong Won reproduces his parents’ toxic cycle with his current wife. Without realizing it, he adopts his mother’s behavior and lets his partner control his life and mind. Parallel to that, Han Jeong Won is also quite conscious that he has many traumas he wants to recover from. But he’s weak and doesn’t have the courage to face reality. He’s in denial that he’s relationship with his 30-year long friend is not good, but he doesn’t want to let her go out of fear of being alone and losing the last thread that connects him to his past. Han Jeong Won is a tortured character, tormented by his demons. He’s holding by a thread and engages in a self-destructive behavior – taking pills and getting wasted in bars for example – to flee reality and the truth. However, he doesn’t blame the world for what happened to him. On the contrary, he’s gentle and kind even to those who don’t deserve it. To me, Han Jeong Won was like a grown-up kid who needed warmth and a real embrace to lift him up and help him move forward with his life. And that’s when No In Ji enters.

No In Ji: No In Ji (Seo Hyun Jin) used to have an ordinary office life. She was in love with a man and about to get married. A few days before her wedding, her then fiancé’s reputation took a hit at work because of a post published by In Ji’s mother. In this viral post, In Ji’s mother revealed that Seo Do Ha (Lee Ki Woo) was bisexual and also liked lying in bed with men. She virulently accused him of deceiving and securing her poor and innocent daughter into a fraudulent marriage. After that, No In Ji was abandoned on her wedding day and never saw Do Ha again. The latter never gave In Ji a proper explanation or closure. Instead, he just disappeared. No In Ji developed a fear of abandonment since then. She became cold and closed in on herself, promising herself not to form relationships with anyone. At the bottom of her life, she met Lee Seon (Uhm Ji Won), the CEO of NM and started getting married secretly. Before meeting Jeong Won, In Ji had been married 4 times, but only to men who either needed an excuse to get married because they were gay or about to die. This allowed her to keep a distance and never get emotionally involved with her partners. Behind her cold façade, In Ji actually proves to be a warm and affectionate person. She’s patient and tolerant. These qualities make her trustworthy and push others to confide in her. On top of that, she never spills secrets. I honestly really liked this character who was trying to move on in spite of her traumatic previous relationship. However, I would’ve appreciated a bit more context regarding her mother, as she never appears in the drama. We only know that she ruined her life and marriage. Since then, In Ji seems to have cut ties with her completely. It’s unclear whether the mother was a positive or negative element in In Ji’s life before that incident. But one thing’s for sure, In Ji entirely removed her from her life.

Common points between the leads: Though Jeong Won and In Ji come from a different place, they share a lot of similitudes that allow for their connection to grow stronger. They are both broken and lost. They carry huge scars and traumas from their past that they still have not overcome. They are somehow stuck in their past and in their own pain. Jeong Won is still haunted by his parents, while In Ji hasn’t grieved her relationship with Do Ha. Both have a fear of abandonment and of being lonely because this would mean confronting themselves with reality and their traumas. And yet, they are extremely lonely. They have no attachment and live like empty shells. Feelings are cold or non-existent, they don’t express themselves or confess their fears. But together they find balance, closure and healing. The most beautiful part of their relationship is that they are not trying to change each other, but rather want the other one to be well – whether or not it’s with them. Though they are calm, pragmatic and don’t let their emotions take control, they also reveal a different facet of their personality when they open up to each other. They display kindness and affection.

Lee Seo Yeon: First of all, I think it’s quite a shame that we don’t know more about Lee Seo Yeon’s (Jung Yun Ha) background because I was very curious to know what turned her into the person she’s become. She’s not evil per se, but she’s definitely toxic with Jeong Won. She’s known him since early childhood and thinks he belongs to him. At the beginning of the drama, we get to see the obsessive, possessive, control freak and manipulative side of her. She’s not ashamed nor afraid to use emotional blackmail to guilt-trip him. But this dark behavior didn’t appear overnight. Indeed, there’s a story between Jeong Won and Seo Yeon that led the couple to destruction. The pair got married two years ago. Jeong Won was over the moon and wanted to start a family with Seo Yeon. At the same, she was the only positive element from his past that he managed to keep. The only one who would bring him solace. One day, Seo Yeon got pregnant and that’s when problems arose. She didn’t want to have kids, but never expressed her disgust of being pregnant and having to raise children. Instead, she kept it all inside until the point of no-return. When she tried to kill herself while pregnant, she discovered that Jeong Won had chosen to save the baby first rather than her. She said he was selfish and guilt-tripped him by saying that he was the one responsible for the accident. To punish him, she forced him into a divorce and a remarriage with In Ji, a woman she had personally hand-picked thinking she would never correspond to Jeong Won. My theory is that Lee Seo Yeon was powerless while pregnant and even more when she had the accident. Jeong Won unilaterally chose the baby over her and that’s the trigger for her. She was not a priority and she couldn’t even defend herself. Jeong Won had control over her body and her life, so she wanted pay back. She wants to have dominion over him and control every fiber of his body to the point that it becomes obsessive, for example when she installs cameras in the ceiling lights like Jeong Won’s father did with his mother. She knows it’s bad but still does it. She torments him and he doesn’t retaliate, so she continues. When she realizes she’s about to lose him, so tries to make In Ji go away but it’s too late. She’s responsible for the end of their marriage, but it’s a good thing she did it. Interestingly, Lee Seo Yeon also has a certain human side and you see her failures. She’s not tough, on the contrary. And that’s something her second husband Yoon Ji Oh can see. She has faults, fears and scars as well. It’s clear that she has a lot to unpack but instead of dealing with her insecurities, she projects them onto Jeong Won and blames him for them. The end of the drama finishes on a positive note for the character who seems to have become herself at last.

Yoon Ji Oh: Yet another character I wished we had more information about. But it’s fine, we know enough to understand his behavior. Yoon Ji Oh (Jo Yi Gun) used to be a keeper at NM meaning that he had to protect those getting married in case things went sour with their partner. One day, he saw one of his colleagues being killed by Eom Tae Seong (Kim Dong Won) just like No In Ji. That’s when he stopped being a keeper and started to get married after. He’s nothing like Jeong Won which makes his relationship with Seo Yeon interesting. He’s assertive, knows what he wants, can talk back to her and not do everything she asks. He’s more confident in his love and decisions which is what Seo Yeon needs. But he’s also patient and devoted to her, despite her craziness. He’s always on her side; that’s why at the end she’s on his side by helping him get out of prison. Indeed, at the end he kills Eom Tae Seong.

Atmosphere: The ambiance of the drama is dark, oppressive and torturous like characters’ state of mind. However, it gets lighter by the end of the drama when characters unpack their traumas one by one. The use of light as a mirror of characters’ souls is even more visible at the end when Jeong Won and In Ji meet again in a floodlit street mid-day. Both have healed and move on from their scars and the brightness of the scene is synonymous with that. Soon, they will be able to start a new chapter of their lives.

Symbols: The Trunk uses a variety of symbols in order to reflect the plot and characters’ feelings. Here are a few that I think are worth mentioning.

Jeong Won’s house: Jeong Won’s house is the representation of his tortured mind. It’s a very unique house, built by an architect that is full of corners, shapes, detours, with stairs going up and down. It’s exactly like Jeong Won’s mind. His spirit oscillates between dreams and nightmares; reality and illusion; he’s lost and bumping on each and every corner whenever a new event in his life occurs. The vastness of the house also amplifies Jeong Won’s solitude. There are so many rooms for just one person. Furniture is dark and the house is cold. There are not family pictures, no frame hanging on the wall, no colors. It’s as if Jeong Won was just passing by and sleeping in a house that was not his. And that’s the case. This house used to be his father’s. It’s the witness of Jeong Won’s past, suffering and trauma. The ceiling light is at the heart of the house, as it is at the center of Jeong Won’s pain. The importance of the house as a reflection of Jeong Won’s story is even clearer when the chandelier where his father used to put cameras to spy on his wife is replaced by a new one brought by Seo Yeon in which she also puts cameras to spy on Jeong Won. It’s like a cycle of terror where one relationship replaces another one, but always following the same pattern. When he’s in the house, Jeong Won is plagued with nightmares. And that makes sense considering that all his bad memories are stored in this house. By staying there, Jeong Won can’t move on. There’s a shift at the end when Jeong Won’s father dies and he puts an end to his relationship with Seo Yeon. Only then can he free himself from his physical and mental prison. He decides to destroy the house instead of selling it, as a way to bury his bad memories. It’s like mentally starting on a clean slate in his life, full of hopes for the future.

The trunk: The trunk is a crucial piece of mystery in the drama that makes the link between present and past; investigation and romance. I personally associate the trunk to Pandora’s box, except that these are secrets and not world aches that would come out once open. First, the trunk is a connector between Jeong Won and In Ji’s stories. Indeed, they were in the same shop when In Ji bought the trunk. That’s when Jeong Won noticed her and realized he had met her at university years before. Ever since that encounter, he couldn’t forget her. In her trunk, In Ji has hidden her marriage contract that should never be revealed to the world. Her stalker Eom Tae Sang has wind of it and steals the trunk at Jeong Won’s house in order to blackmail her later on. The drama opens with detectives investigating a murder scene at a lake where Eom Tae Sang is found dead and the trunk is retrieved. Problem is, no one can unlock it. So, the trunk is also at the heart of the criminal investigation. How did it end up with Tae Sang in the lake? Well, if In Ji’s trunk contains her secret aka her marriage contract, it turns out there’s a similar trunk in Jeong Won’s house that belongs to Seo Yeon. In the same shop she met In Ji, she bought the exact same trunk and hid all her babies clothes and objects inside. She buried it in Jeong Won’s house and grieved the life she could’ve had if she had given birth to her baby. Seo Yeon’s trunk is actually the one that was stolen by Tae Sang and found in the lake. In that context, I think the title of the drama truly makes sense. The trunk is literally the one item that links all characters together under the same narrative arch.

The kayak: The kayak and the lake are In Ji’s safe place. They make her feel like she’s on an island, alone and isolated from everything and everyone. By coming early in the morning, she can really use that place to gather her thoughts. While on her kayak, she’s unreachable. No one can get to her, attack her or make her feel insecure. She’s also the one guiding her kayak the way she wants, asserting that she’s got a hold on her life though it’s not necessarily the case. The kayak is her world and her mind. Like Jeong Won and his house, In Ji’s kayaking on the lake is a reflection of her state of mind. The little fog that covers the water shows how blurry her mind is. For 5 years, it’s like she’s been rowing in vain, blindly moving on and trying to find the ground. When it becomes clear that Jeong Won is a trustworthy person she wants in her life, she lets him enter her world and they go kayaking together. At the end of the drama, In Ji doesn’t need to feel like an island. Her mind is clear, as her relationship with Do Ha is closed. She can know go back on safe ground and continue her life.

The blue pills: I couldn’t help but see a reference to the movie Matrix where the blue pill leads you to a world that is not real and the red pill confronts you with the harsh reality. In the drama, Seo Yeon gives Jeong Won blue pills (that could also be associated with Viagra by the way and would make him feel more aroused in In Ji’s presence). The drug serves as a leverage for Seo Yeon. If Jeong Won takes the pills he would live in a fantasy world where his problems don’t exist. His addiction to drugs would also enable her to reinforce her dominion and power over him. However, Jeong Won doesn’t want to be a pawn anymore and doesn’t take the pills. Worse, Seo Yeon puts these pills with an echograph of their baby to remind and torment Jeong Won even more and push him into falling under her spell again. He doesn’t do it and would rather have a reality check than live the same way he has before.

Themes tackled: Though the drama essentially deals with toxic relationships, it still showcases that there’s a chance to heal and get better if matched with the right person.

Dominion, stalking and obsession: When it comes to toxicity, there are 3 characters that definitely tick the box each at a different level. First level would be total dominion over the partner with a psychological and physical destruction. Second level has to do with psychological torture and potential physical violence. Third level revolves around obsession and psychological torment towards a spouse.
At the top, you have Jeong Won’s father who feels the constant need to control his wife and her every movement. Power is physically asserted through violence, rape and psychologically reminded by surveillance. The dynamics are so imbalanced in that relationship that the only way out for the dominated spouse is to die. The second level is embodied by Eom Tae Sang. He’s In Ji’s stalker who’s obsessed with her. To have her, he’s willing to destroy all the people around such as Seo Do Ha. He also resorts to violence, blackmail, psychological torture by suffocating In Ji and her loved ones until they just can’t bear this unhinged presence anymore. Eom Tae Sang creates a feeling of oppression and hopelessness. Though he went to prison several times, it seems like there’s no escape from him. At the third level (the least crazy) you have Seo Yeon. She’s not as bad as Jeong Won’s father (who couldn’t be worse) in her marriage and doesn’t use the same weapons. Being a woman, she can’t really physically dominate Jeong Won. So she uses emotions to control him. She plays with his head and with his heart, using a strategy of push-and-pull, making him think that she’ll come back before going away. Lee Seo Yeon is also quite obsessive, hence her surveillance. Lee Seo Yeon mentally tortures Jeong Won who’s somehow willing to abide by Seo Yeon’s rules.

Healing people: Thankfully, the drama is not all about negative relationships. Opposite to them, it shows that there are people who are right for you and together you grow stronger. That’s the case for Jeong Won and In Ji. Even if they started off the wrong foot (Jeong Won was reluctant to remarry), they warm up to each other. The more they do, the more involved in each other’s lives they become. Jeong Won gives his all to get rid of Tae Sang, while In Ji confronts Seo Yeon to free Jeong Won from her influence. In the meantime, they learn how to share their feelings to someone else. Their slow-paced blossoming relationship is endearing to see because you can feel how cautious and unsure they are. They are trying to heal from their trauma and support each other. At the end of the drama, characters don’t end up together right away. Instead, they make a promise to start dating if they were to meet twice by chance. In the last scene, they meet each other by chance in the streets. One encounter left to go, I suppose. I believe this ending was good in a way that neither Jeong Won nor In Ji could get into a relationship directly after everything they had been through. They are just starting on their healing journey and need time with and for themselves to know who they are, what they want in life, what they expect from a relationship… Dating directly would be too rushed and dangerous. Another couple that unexpectedly demonstrates that you get better if matched with the right person is Seo Yeon and Ji Oh. I never would’ve bet on them, and yet, they proved me wrong. Ji Oh’s personality perfectly corresponds to Seo Yeon’s. His devotion and self-confidence are what she needs in a relationship. Ji Oh is also fully under Seo Yeon’s spell because he even kills Tae Sang for her. Contrary to Jeong Won who was willing to sacrifice her for the baby’s life, Ji Oh would rather sacrifice his life and go to prison for his wife. Ji Oh’s actions reinforced Seo Yeon’s conviction that she was his priority and that’s enough for her to make her move on with him. Hence her decision to defend him at the trial. Last but not least, I need to mention the only ‘normal’ couple of the drama made up of Kang Yoon Ah (Joo Min Kyung) and Oh Hyeon Cheol (Hong Woo Jin). Happily married and parents of two kids, these two represent the typical struggles a married couple goes through. Yoon Ah is a housewife who doesn’t live for herself but rather her family. She feels like she’s never accomplished anything in her life. Hyeon Cheol is a salaryman who would like to spend more time with his family. Both are aware and understand the other’s struggles. But they work on it together. Yoon Ah actually mentions that no matter how tough her marriage is, she’d rather go through it with her husband just to keep on holding his hand in the streets.

What’s marriage? The drama offers a real reflection on different types of marriages. Sometimes, it’s a contract that unites two people who share the same interests. Sometimes, it’s a relationship binding two individuals who just comply with the circumstances; there may not be love but there’s stability and respect. Sometimes, it can be based on obsession, control, toxicity and annihilate one of the spouses. Sometimes it’s based on love between a man and a woman who want to make things work together. Marriages can be long or short, based on love or not, ruin your life or simply make it better. No matter the configuration, marriage is all about finding the right partner. That’s what determines whether a marriage works or not. If you’re with the right person, you will still need to make concessions, but at least you will support each other. It can hurt at times, but you overcome obstacles together. If paired with the wrong partner, that’s when it all turns sour. That’s the best lesson to take away from the drama I think: there’s only one family you can choose in your life and that’s your partner, so you’d better choose wisely because this will determine the rest of your existence.