I'm posting this today since it's I'm so sick's 1st anniversary. I had some late realizations and other people's inputs I would like to add that I wasn't able to put on the video I made last year for my interpretation on I'm so sick.

To be honest, I'm just so bored that I decided to finish this today. Don't bother watching the video I made since this post is more in-depth, though I'm still linking it down below. Think of this post as the revamped version. Changes and additions of interpretations were made.

Edit: I posted late since I can't publish the post yesterday because the site won't load. Anyways, happy 1st anniversary to I'm so sick!

I'm so sick MV: Click

The theory video I made for I'm so sick: Click

Please take out with credits if you're going to take some ideas from this post for something else.

 

I'm so sick (1도 없어) Analysis

So I'm going to lay out everything first and then add things in here and there so I can follow some sort of order. I'm going to be using the music video and the individual member teasers as references.

My premise for the whole thing is that the Apink members were all accomplices for a crime. Even though there is a 'main' character, all of them killed their partner as if they are just one person doing it. The music video shows the steps they took before, during, and after the crime. The whole set also looks like a crime scene that happened in the house with the black and yellow caution lines present on the floor.

The story in the music video's main character is Naeun. The other members, Chorong, Bomi, Eunji, Namjoo, and Hayoung, act as if they are Naeun's personas.

The crime is divided into several parts—each of the members have a part in the crime which is symbolized by the members having their own rooms.

Chorong enters the living room.

Bomi enters the music or entertainment room.

Eunji enters the bathroom.

Naeun enters the bedroom.

Namjoo enters the kitchen.

Hayoung enters the garden.

At the start of the music video, classical music was playing in the background while it was raining. This suggests a perfect setting to commit a crime since the rain will wash the clues away, while the music will muffle and conceal the sounds as the members perform the actual crime.

After the rain and music player are shown, Bomi goes to sleep and then wakes up. But several scenes are shown in between her sleep.

Eunji is pouring water onto the sink full of films with her glass in her attempt to destroy the films.

Toxic gas goes off in the garden. Hayoung is holding a glass of water which she eventually pours onto a plant.

Chorong picks up the orange telephone, but the line is suddenly cut off and the screen went black.

Naeun appears and admits she's a liar as she says her iconic line:

I'm so sick of lying, you gotta know that

Naeun sits at the middle of the long table which symbolizes the number 2, as the first chair is aligned with a solo red candle while the third chair is aligned with the three candles. The scene is festive as if something is being celebrated but overall a bit messy, with even a chair on the upper right side knocked off. 

Lots of glasses with water are shown, along with the appearance of a chandelier.

The members walk towards their respective rooms.

Now, Bomi wakes up from her dream which shows her a vision of what seems to happen before, during, and after the crime. The scenes that are shown from the moment Bomi goes to sleep up to this point will her help her write an alibi for the crime.

The members go to their respective rooms, but Namjoo is already inside the kitchen before the others go inside their rooms. Naeun is also farther to her room's door when the other members enter theirs.

Bomi slaps the viewer because she wants to be out of sight. She's about to write her alibi on her typewriter as she wants it to be secret.

Naeun is the lying character in the music video with her lines in the song as her lies.

잘 지내 잘 지내 잘 지내 day day

I'm doing well, doing well, doing well, day day

///

달콤해 달콤해 달콤해 day day

Sweet, sweet, sweet day day

Every time Naeun sings her lines, the televisions in her room appears behind her which also shows her at the same time. This emphasizes how good Naeun is at lying. No can tell if she's acting or telling the truth.

Naeun aims at two objects in the music video. During the first time, she aims her paintbrush at her partner's portrait she is painting. While on the second time, she aims her heels before she throws it at the camcorder viewing her. In both occassions, she's aiming at her partner.

Meanwhile, Chorong tells the truth in her lines as contrast to Naeun's.

일부러 일부러 일부러 baby, I'm a liar

Intentionally, intentionally, intentionally, baby, I'm a liar

///

힘들어 힘들어 힘들어 baby, I'm a liar

It's hard, hard, hard, baby, I'm a liar

As said earlier, Bomi is the one who creates and writes the alibi to lure and invite their partner. However, the one who executes this alibi is Chorong.

At the start of the first chorus, Bomi reads the book entitled, 'I'm ill'. Two keys are shown above the title. The book's description at the back cover is Naeun's lines at the start of the song.

I'm so sick of lying, you gotta know that

Lying is Naeun's 'illness'.

The book contains all the lies that they already used before. Scenes in the music room also show the crumpled papers used in Bomi's attempt to write the alibi. She is struggling to write it since she has already written so many before.

In the second verse, Naeun is shown lying idly on her bed.

달콤해 달콤해 달콤해 day day

Sweet, sweet, sweet day day

Again, she is lying about having a sweet day as Chorong's line follows.

힘들어 힘들어 힘들어 baby, I'm a liar

It's hard, hard, hard, baby, I'm a liar

At this point Naeun is already tired of lying, so she asks a question.

Do you love me?

In Chorong's room, there is a cake beside the orange telephone. Orange is color that signifies an impending doom [see: The Godfather (1972)]. She also wears an orange skirt in some of her scenes. She digs on the cake by herself but loses her appetite then stabs the cake with her fork. This is her ticking point. She wants to see her partner but has no excuse that she can use to meet up, so she uses the alibi Bomi has made to lure him.

So Chorong chooses her clothes and looks at herself on the mirror to see if she looks pretty so she knows how she presents herself while she executes this alibi, which also suggests duality in her character. Out of all the members, Chorong has the cleanest and tidiest room.

This is probably the reason why Chorong and Bomi share a scene together in the red room since their parts in the crime work hand-in-hand. Aside from love, red can also mean violence, danger, or malice.

Namjoo studies a piece of fry before she throws it into the pile of fries. She proceeds to smother the fries in ketchup. This part shows that she's the one who executes the murder. The kitchen is the place of murder since there are tools that can be found there which are useful for the crime. The fries is the body and the ketchup is the blood. In their choreography, she also does a shooting motion.

Namjoo then plays with her shiny key before she drops it into a glass of water as she looks at it intently then looks through the part of the glass with no water. Her lips then refracts into a smile.

The following scene shows Eunji looking through the films while holding onto them tightly. The films itself represent her memories and the sadness that came along with them. Unlike printed photos, the shots in the film cannot be easily seen, ripped apart, or disposed of.

Eunji fails at her attempt to destroy the films with water and throws the glass angrily at the sink.

Eunji also sports a key earring.

Hayoung's garden doesn't have a door unlike the other rooms so anyone can enter, including their partner. When she enters the garden, she's carrying a bag of flowers. She sits on the couch which is covered in plastic so she will not leave any clues behind. The bag of flowers is highlighted as yellow, a color of deceit and betrayal. The invisible gas from Bomi's dream is used to knock down their partner and cloud the area after their partner is successfuly lured. The garden floor is also filled up with green leaves and not brown dead leaves that naturally fall off from trees which indicates that Hayoung wants to cover up something up right away.

In the second verse, Hayoung turns green as she sings her lines. Green is a color commonly used for life and growth, but at the same time is a color that shows when one is feeling sickly or a scene is sickening [see: The Matrix (1999)]. But it can also mean resilience towards something bad that is happening or about to happen. It is also a color that depicts dreadfulness and dull, mundane repetitiveness of everyday activities. In other instances, Hayoung is also tinted with green.

들키지 않게 뻔한 거짓말을 해 woo

I told an obvious lie so I won't get caught woo

The garden is shown to be surrounded by a metal fence as if hinting of a cage.

Similarly, Chorong's room is also painted with green. Naeun's outfit in the bedroom is shiny green.

After Hayoung succeeds with her task of knocking out their partner with the gas, she opens the chest from her set of keys and sees the gems as her prize and treasure but drops these back to the chest. The colors of the gems are white and blue. White can be symbolic of a clean state or a fresh start but may also depict coldness, while blue can be symbolic of freedom but can also depict sadness.

Eunji turns off the 日 (il, 일) sign which is character for sun or day. This can mean that there is no more day left with their partner as they won't spend time with each other anymore since he is already dead.

At the top right corner, the sign is still on when Eunji throws the films away.

The literal meaning of the Korean title of I'm so sick, 1도없어 (ildo eopseo), is often used as an expression to say ‘nothing at all’ or ‘there is none’, and 일 (il) is also the same word in Korean used for the number 1. Thus, number 1 is used in the title to replace 일, so I'm so sick in Korean is 1도없어 (ildo eopseo) instead of 일도없어 (ildo eopseo). 

Before the members came together for the exit, Eunji is remorseful. This was before she poured the water onto the films since one of the glass on her lower left is still full.

Eunji pours the water at the last minute just before she joins the other members. She and Namjoo are the last ones to join the group.

In the music video, water is extensively used as a symbol of destruction and death. Eunji tries to destroy the films while Namjoo tries to destroy her key. Eunji, Namjoo, and Hayoung are the only members with keys. But Eunji and Namjoo are the only ones in the music video trying to get rid or destroy something, namely the films and the key, respectively, which may connect to the two keys on the book cover. As water may have been used as a means to cleanse off these items as it may hold a meaning of purity.

The members ride the elevator on the 6th floor but they also come out on the same floor.

While in the elevator, Namjoo covers the camera as a means to hide themselves from the crime and hide her herself as the murderer. 

Naeun presses the number 10 which is the top floor that can signify the ending, but they went out on the same floor they came in which is the 6th floor. It can be also noted that 1 (il, 일) is also missing from the buttons to further make sense of the song title in Korean.

A scene of two die are burning with numbers 2 and 3 on the top surface—a different but harsher method of destruction. Number 2 can symbolize the present or a relationship of two people, while number 3 can mean the past, present, and future. This burning die can mean the ending of a relationship or of a present. Adding numbers 2 and 3 together we get number 5 (oh, 오, 无) which in Chinese means nothing which ties the symbol more to the song title. 

Numbers 2 and 3 often reappear in the music video as Naeun sits in the middle chair in the earlier scenes and takes down the middle painting in her teaser.

The two keys in the book cover are also involved with destruction—one with Eunji who wears a key earring with the films and one with Namjoo who drops her key into the glass of water. The keys are connected to the alibis or lies Bomi has already written before as Naeun's 'illness' is lying.

A gift, or synonymously a present, is also destroyed with fire. 

Chorong's character in the music video is the one that tells the truth like her line in the bridge as she sings it in the red room.

솔직히 매일 너의 목소리 기다리고 있어

Honestly, I wait for your voice every day

In the bridge, a part of the choreography shows the members surrounding Eunji. One of the gestures they do is they put out their pointer finger and lay it down, and disperses like a flower afterwards after they connect their hands. This can be telling of the fact that they have to let go of the past which is connected to number 1 in order to blossom.

The members all walk to the long table and sit on their respective chairs. Apink's symbolic items from their past music videos are on the floor.

Naeun is not celebrating alone this time because she's with her members. The same chair on the upper right side is still upside down. They do not bother turning it up properly because they know that their partner won't be able to make the banquet as he's already dead. A chandelier is also present on the left side.

Naeun lights up the lone red candle on the left which can signify her attempt of reminiscing about the past, looking at it with teary eyes.

There are two photographs in the bathroom surrounded by lights. Namjoo is seen wearing these lights around her in a black and white scene at the final chorus. Since Namjoo kills their partner when Eunji fails to 'kill' the memories with the films, Namjoo cries as they are not able to completely remove him and his memories inside her. The memories still remains as the films stay intact.

Eunji is also the only other member seen with lights but with a chandelier, and has black and white scenes like Namjoo aside from the whole group together.

Hayoung's garden is covered in plastic so the rain won't wash away what's left behind in there.

Only Naeun is seen visiting another member's room which is the garden, a place she can visit as their partner is probably buried there.

Bomi and Hayoung hesitate to drink but eventually drink anyway to celebrate as they are successful in their parts. Bomi is successful with creating her lie—an alibi, and Hayoung is succesful in knocking their partner down with sleeping gas and burying him. Namjoo, on the other hand, does not touch her drink as she is the one who commits the murder—the most guilty of the crime.

Chorong and Eunji only hold onto their drinks as they hesitate to celebrate what they did. Chorong lies which is against her nature of telling the truth, while Eunji fails to destroy the films and the memories that come along with it.

Eventually, the light goes out without finishing the whole wax of the candle.

The members then looks at the viewers as the scene goes from colored to black and white. Their seating arrangement in clockwise follows the steps of the crime. The color motif for their outfits in this scene is also black, a color often worn during funerals.

The whole music video is a metaphor for a break up—including what comes before and after it using items such as a camcorder or water to symbolize their partner and ways to get rid of the memories. They kill him, not exactly him, but his parts in Naeun's being. 

Naeun is tired of acting and lying in front of her partner as she wants to be her real self. The empty bottle she is playing with represents herself that is as empty too. They break up and that way she won't see him anymore. She can be herself. Even though they already broke up, Naeun is still not completely over her ex because his memories are still with her even if she's lying or acting for the most part of their relationship.

At some point, Naeun wants to give him a chance but she knows it's bad for her like the lines in the bridge.

솔직히 매일 너의 목소리 기다리고 있어

Honestly, I wait for your voice every day

처음처럼 맘을 훔쳐 줘 너무 늦기 전에

Steal my heart like the first time before it’s too late

Naeun is still hurting despite celebrating the break up since their memories together still have a lot of meaning for her. So when the members are celebrating the scene turns from colored to black and white as a sign of remorse. But all of these are necessary for her to grow.

Cute, right? So this analysis is a bit different from the ones I made before since I added and changed a lot accordingly. I might also add some more in the future if something ever pops out in my mind again. So feel free to come back in a year's time (lmao). Thanks for @/clamallergy from Twitter for the number 5 symbol!

 

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This blog post by Myeon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.