Throwing a stone to reach a best friend's prison: seven things you missed in IU's 'Dear my crazy soulmate' music video

'Dear my crazy soulmate', from IU's single 'Unknown Planet (이 별로부터)' released on September 10, is a song whose description carries a single line: 'To Yoo In-na'. IU wrote the lyrics, and among them is the line '같이 이상한 gramma 둘이 되는 게 꿈이야' ('my dream is for us to become two weird grammas together'). The music video actually draws that dream. Kim Young-ok and Na Moon-hee appear as longtime best friends trying to spend a birthday together. The audio runs 2 minutes 36 seconds, but the video runs 3 minutes 31 seconds, which means a long story is wrapped around the song on both ends. We picked seven easy-to-miss scenes, in time order. As of October 1, the video had been played more than 45 million times.

0:00 · 'Happy birthday Moon-hee ♥'

The first shot is a cake topped with purple cream and cherries. The name written on it is 'Moon-hee'. At 1:13, the same name appears on the name tag of a correctional officer's uniform. The character Na Moon-hee plays carries the actress's own first name.

0:26 · The day the shift changed

Kim Young-ok, who has set up a yellow table and is waiting, gets a phone call. The words in the subtitles are 'my shift changed, so I don't think I can come out today' and 'let's celebrate next time'. This one call sets off all the commotion that follows.

0:38 · The stone propping up the table

At 0:20, Kim Young-ok wedges a pinkish stone under the leg of the yellow table. After the call ends, at 0:38, Kim Young-ok grabs that stone again. The illustration in the closing credits also shows a yellow table with a stone under its leg.

0:48 · Broken glass on a police station floor

Just before the first line is sung, the scene moves to a police station. On the floor, a stone has rolled in among shards of broken glass, and IU and Shim Dal-gi, in uniform, look out the window in shock. Outside, Kim Young-ok smiles and holds out both hands together. At 1:05, handcuffs close around those wrists. This first chorus has no drums or bass. The scene plays out over the voice and a light backing alone.

1:09 · Where lyrics and lines overlap

Once the two meet again inside the prison, their dialogue overlaps with the song. At 1:09, as the lyrics sing '실망했지라는 말도 함께' ('along with the words, you're disappointed, right?'), Kim Young-ok's subtitle also reads '실망했지' ('you're disappointed, right?'). At 1:12, the lyric '넌 내 앞에선 평생 이상해도 돼' ('in front of me, you can be weird all your life') appears at the same moment as the subtitle for officer Na Moon-hee's line. The lyrics become the two women's conversation word for word.

1:23 · A baking class for 'two grammas'

At 1:23, as '같이 이상한 gramma 둘이 되는 게 꿈이야' plays, the screen shows baking time for grandmothers in purple prison uniforms. At 1:50, a young inmate, face covered in doodles, is asleep face down on the dough. At 2:12 a candle goes into that same cake from the start, and the two sit face to face, clinking teacups.

3:00 · Throwing the stone again

At the last chorus, 3:00, the song sets down the drums and bass again, just like the first chorus. The screen goes back to the start, too. At 3:12 Kim Young-ok, in red, throws another stone through the police station window, and at 3:16 holds out both hands again with a smile. According to the credits, the director is Jeon Go-woon, and it was filmed at the former Gwangju Prison. On September 11, the day after the release, IU posted photos on social media taken with Kim Young-ok, Na Moon-hee and director Jeon Go-woon, calling the two actors 'seonsaengnim', a term of respect.