AKMU · Korean · 31 words

LOVE EPISODE

LOVE EPISODE (2024) collects AKMU's warmest run of singles, including 「Love Lee」 — a bilingual pun on "lovely" and the siblings' own surname, 이 — and 「후라이의 꿈」, Lee Su-hyun's solo track whose title deliberately misspells 프라이 as 후라이, a word that also means a tall tale. The Korean runs from long-distance-relationship complaints to a cake-shop daydream, and two titles here turn on wordplay: 「케익의 평화」 spells cake as 케익 rather than 케이크 so that 평화 can double as English "piece".

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning	Example
틈	a gap; the space in among things or people	수많은 사람들 틈 혼자인 밤이 무서워요Nights alone in among crowds of people frighten me
입을 맞추다	to kiss — literally "to put lips together" (idiom)	입을 맞출까요Shall we kiss?
아쉽다	to feel a pang at something ending; reluctant to let it go	이대로 지나가기엔 이 밤이 아쉬워요It'd be a shame to let this night pass like this
잠결에	half-asleep; in the haze of sleep	잠결에 너의 이름을 부르네Half-asleep, I call your name
어지럽다	to be dizzying; of a place, chaotic and disordered	어지러운 세상 속 나는 네가 필요해In this dizzying world I need you
사흘	three days — the native-Korean count, used alongside 나흘 (four days)	하루 이틀 사흘 나흘One day, two days, three days, four
시간을 내다	to make time for someone (fixed expression)	너 바쁜 건 다 알지 시간 좀 내I know you're busy — just make a little time
꼭꼭 숨어라	"hide, hide well" — the opening line of the Korean hide-and-seek chant, used here for someone who can't be pinned down	꼭꼭 숨어라 보일 듯 말 듯Hide, hide well — almost visible, then not
선명하다	to be clear and sharply defined	선명해질까 싶어서 실눈 해I squint, hoping it'll come into focus
핑계를 대다	to make excuses (idiom)	이런저런 핑계만 대You just make one excuse after another
케익의 평화	the title phrase, working two ways at once: 케익 is cake deliberately misspelled (standard Korean is 케이크), and 평화 means peace while sounding out English "piece" — so it reads as both "the peace of cake" and "piece of cake"	케익의 평화 Peace peace peace of cake이면The peace of cake — if it's a peace, peace, piece of cake
멍청하다	to be stupid; dim-witted	멍청한 위로 따위stupid consolation and the like
위로	comfort; words offered to console someone	듣기 싫어 난 멍청한 위로 따위I don't want to hear it, that stupid sort of comfort
살살 녹다	to melt away softly — said of food that dissolves in the mouth, or of a heart being won over (idiom)	그런 거 없이 날 살살 녹여Without any of that, it just melts me
한 모금	a mouthful; a sip	그리고 커피 한 모금and then a sip of coffee
답답하다	to feel stifled and hemmed in — and of another person, maddeningly slow to act	답답해 답다답해It's stifling, so stifling
곱씹다	to chew something over; to turn it in your mind again and again	열 번 곱씹어도 내 맘은 정해졌죠Turn it over ten times and my mind is still made up
뒤집다	to flip something over; to turn it upside down	일단 뒤집고 보는 모래시계처럼like an hourglass you flip first and think about later
겁내다	to be scared of something; to lose one's nerve	겁낼 이유가 없어There's no reason to be scared
모 아니면 도	all or nothing — idiom taken from the highest and lowest throws in the board game 윷놀이	모 아니면 도 전부 아니면 아무것도All or nothing — everything, or nothing at all
튕기다	to pluck a string; in dating talk, to play hard to get	너 튕기기가 내 기타 줄보다 더해You play harder to get than my guitar strings
홀딱	completely; utterly — used of getting soaked through, or of falling head over heels (의태어)	우산 없이 비가 와 홀딱 다 젖어도 좋아Even soaked right through by rain with no umbrella, I'm happy
훨훨	flying freely, wings wide open (reduplicated 의태어 — keep both halves)	자유로운 날갯짓 훨훨훨free beating wings, off and away
쏟다	to spill; to pour out	아끼는 옷에 coffee를 쏟아도Even if you spill coffee on the clothes I love
빈털터리	someone flat broke, with nothing left	다 퍼주고 될게 빈털터리I'll give it all away and end up with nothing
거위	a goose	저 거위도 벽을 넘어 하늘을 날을 거라고They say even that goose will clear the wall and fly
달팽이	a snail	달팽이도 넓고 거친 바다 끝에 꿈을 둔다고They say even a snail sets its dream at the end of the wide rough sea
꾸물꾸물	dawdling; moving sluggishly and getting nowhere (reduplicated 의태어)	나도 꾸물꾸물 말고 꿈을 찾으래They tell me to stop dawdling and go find a dream
강요하다	to force something on someone; to press them into it	내게 강요하지 말아요 이건 내 길이 아닌걸Don't force it on me — this isn't my road
우러러보다	to look up at; to revere	모두 높은 곳을 우러러볼 때While everyone gazes up at the heights
나른하다	to be languid; pleasantly drowsy and heavy-limbed	계란 fry fry 같이 나른하게languid, like a fried egg