Soah

Soah is a young girl who is the female protagonist in Bride Of The Water God. As her village is in times of severe drought, it was decided that she would be sacrificed to appease Habaek, the Water God in order to bring prosperity back to the village. Surprised that she wasn’t actually drowned in the whirlpool, she finds herself in the mysterious land of Suguk, where the Gods live.

After meeting a young boy who completely ignores her, Soah is shocked to find out that this young boy is her husband. Habaek cordially insults Soah calling her manly. Fast forward, Soah literally is crashed into by a mysterious man who calls himself Mooee or Mui, who turns out to be Habaek’s form at night. It seems that he has a curse placed upon him, forcing him to take the form of a child during the day. Soah doesn’t find out Habaek’s secret until later, when someone reveals it to her.

The ending of first volume of Bride of The Water God, with Habaek’s mother visiting scoping out her sons choice of bride ends without much excitement but the second volume delves deeper into the intrigue. In the opening of the second volume, Soah question’s another girl called Yohee, who lives amongst the Gods, about the consequences for deceiving a God. After being told that a person’s soul would be torn to pieces, Soah becomes introspective, thinking about her fate if her secret is discovered that she is a phony or fake bride. Well, I try to think back to the very first volume and if you think about it you might figure out why Soah is a fake bride. Soah sacrificed herself because it was originally her little sister that was going to be Habaek’s bride. As an act of selflessness and love for her sister, Soah took her place.

But the conflict really heats up in the third volume, so here’s some spoilers to keep you ticking over.

Nakbin, Habaek’s first wife makes an appearance but it turns out that this it is the Emperor in disguise. Soah becomes extremely upset with her situation while taking a bath and she screams in her mind, wishing for someone, anyone to help her. Mui appears and with the claim, “I came when you called me”, suggesting that Habaek has some telepathy. But Soah becomes more distressed with the fact that she was taking a bath when Mui barged in. Mui becomes very amorous and forces Soah to bed, she vehemently refuses and when Mui sees tears in her eyes, he decides to send her back home because she was very distressed. When Soah was sent home, all her memories of her time in Suguk with the Gods is erased. Upon returning to the village, I think Soah’s father tries to sell her but somehow Mui manages to stop this. The villagers also take Soah’s return as a bad omen. There’s an older brother figure who has romantic inclinations towards Soah but she refuses his first marriage proposal. Mui ends up meeting Soah and he tells her that he’s looking for his wife and of course she tells him good luck with that…

I’m not going to give anymore away, because that’s no fun.