너 나 좋아해서 그런 거였어

You Acted That Way Because You Like Me

These are translation notes for the mini drama series "banana actually." I'm using this series for korean listening practice. The language in it is pretty natural, and spoken rapidly. Even though there are korean and english subtitles, it's still pretty challenging for me to follow along and try to understand all at the same time. So I made these translation notes as a companion piece to the videos. The notes aim to point out and explain any unusual vocab, grammar points, and ways of speaking that you might not encounter in a text book. You can click the blue toggle-button below to hide the annotations if you just want to read the transcript.

Disclaimer: English translations have been modified from original english subs, in most cases to make them sound more natural, but in other cases, where I couldn't avoid it, I rearranged them to line up better alongside the korean source text, even when that makes them a little more clunky sounding. The grammar/vocab annotations in this episode were drafted with the help of an LLM and have not been checked by native or bilingual speakers, so treat them with more caution than earlier episodes – there may be transcription errors or flat out mistakes. If you find any, do let me know at (gianni at scaramanga dot co dot uk).

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Main Dialog
한국어	English
대박	OMG
나 지금 뭔가 떠올랐어	Something’s just hit my mind
우리 다 모였을 때	When we gathered together
내가 뭐 먹으러 갈까 물었었고	I asked, what do you guys want to eat?
야 배고프지 않냐?	Aren’t you feeling hungry?
나는 백숙이 먹고 싶댔고	I said I wanted to eat chicken soup
얘는 스파게티가 먹고 싶댔고	He said he wanted to eat spaghetti
라면	Ramen
떡볶이	Tteokbokki
냉면이 먹고 싶다고 했을 때	Someone said naengmyeon
아 난 백숙 먹고 싶다	Ah, I want to have chicken soup
나는 니가 그냥 백숙이 먹고 싶어서 그러는 줄 알았거든	I thought you too wanted to eat chicken soup
근데 너 그거 나를 좋아해서 그런 거였어?	But you said so because you like me?
This is the pattern the whole episode is built around: V-아/어서 그런 거였다, "it was because [you] did X" – used to retroactively reinterpret some past behaviour once a new explanation comes to light. You'll see this exact frame recur, with small variations, every time he reinterprets one more memory as secret evidence that she liked him.
잠깐만	Wait
나 지금 계속 생각나는 게 있어서 그러는데	Something keeps hitting my mind
내가 신나서 일어나다가	When I was excited and suddenly stood up
들고 있던 물컵을 깨고	I accidentally broke a glass
미안해서 내가 치우려고 빗자루 찾으러 가려고 했을 때	I was feeling sorry and was going to fetch broom to clean up the mess
아 가만 있으라고	Just stay here!
너 그거 나 좋아해서 그런 거였어?	You said so because you like me?
근데 내가 혹시 몰랐던 거야?	And I haven’t notice that?
너, 그때 백숙 먹고 싶은 거 아니었어?	That time, wasn’t it you really wanted to eat chicken soup?
갑자기 백숙은 무슨 소리고	What chicken soup are you talking about?
무슨 소리고 ends in -고 instead of the standard -야/-니 you'd expect in casual Seoul speech. This is a Gyeongsang-dialect (satoori) question ending – you'll also hear -노 used the same way for wh-questions in that dialect. It's a small but telling detail about where this character is from.
그때가 도대체 언제를 말하는 건지는 모르겠는데	I don’t know what you are referring to
나는 백숙은 항상 먹고 싶은 편이고	but I always tend to want to eat chicken soup
저기요	Here
너 나 걱정해준 거야?	Were you worried about me?
무슨 걱정을 어떻게 해줬다는 건지 내가 당최 모르겠는데	I don’t know how I was worried about you at all
당최 is an intensifier meaning "at all," almost always paired with a negative verb (당최 모르겠다, "I have no idea whatsoever") – it's a slightly old-fashioned/dialectal alternative to the more common 도무지, giving his denial a bit of extra flavour.
넌 나 말고 다른 사람도 항상 걱정을 시키는 편이거든	but you tend to make people, not just me, worried about you
-는 편이다 means "to tend to be/lean towards X" – a hedge that softens a generalization. You saw it a few lines earlier too, in 백숙은 항상 먹고 싶은 편이고 ("I do tend to always want chicken soup").
너 나 좋아해서 그런 거였어?	You just did that because you like me?
나도 그런지 아닌지	I don’t know whether I like you or not
그렇다면 언제인지 모르겠는데	If I do, I don’t know from when I started to like you
니가 등이 다 파인 옷을 입고 다닐 땐	But when you were wearing a back-revealing dress
니네 엄마한테 사진 찍어 보내고 싶었고	I wanted to take a photo of you and send it to your mom
니가 어느 날 남자친구가 생겼다고 했을 땐	When you said you just had a boyfriend
그 날 하루 종일 어떤 일도 손에 잡히질 않았고	I wasn’t able to focus on anything that day
손에 잡히다 literally means "to be caught in the hand" – the standard idiom for being able to concentrate on a task. 일이 손에 안 잡히다 ("work won't stay caught in my hands") is the natural way to say you're too distracted to focus.
너한테서 며칠 소식이 없으면	If I don’t hear from you for days
니가 어디서 누구랑 뭘 하면서 재밌게 노는지 궁금했어	I wondered where you would be, doing what with whom
니가 우리집에 먹을 걸 사와서 냉장고에 넣고 있으면	When you came to my place and were filling my fridge with foods
나는 너랑 결혼하면 어떤 모습일까 생각해보게 됐고	I started to imagine what it would be like if we were married
저번에 우산 쓰고 너네 집까지 걸어갈 때	When I walked you home holding an umbrella
나는 니가 가슴이 있는 줄도 몰랐는데	I didn’t realize that you had boobs
어느 날 갑자기 내 팔이 거기에 조금씩 닿을 때마다	But when my arm was brushed against there
나도 모르게 말초신경이 자극되면서	My nerves were on edge unconsciously
말초신경 (末梢神經) is the actual clinical term for "peripheral nerves" – using it here for a moment of physical awareness is a slightly nerdy, funny overstatement, like reaching for a biology textbook word to describe a flutter of attraction.
괜히 신경이 쓰였고	It made me care for no reason
니가 짧은 바지 입고 우리 집 옥상에 누워있을 땐	When you were lying on my rooftop, wearing short pants
나도 모르게 니가 알면 기겁을 할 만한 상상도 하게 됐고 그	I imagined something you would be freaked out
기겁(을) 하다 means "to be shocked/startled out of one's wits" – a strong reaction word, stronger than just being surprised, reserved for something genuinely alarming (or, as here, mortifying).
그래서 다른 애들도 나처럼 그럴까 봐	I was worried that others might imagine things like that
니 바지에 술을 부어버리고 내 바지를 입히기도 했어	So I poured a drink over your pants and gave you mine instead
부어버리고 attaches -아/어 버리다 to 붓다 (to pour) – this auxiliary adds a sense of decisive, no-going-back completion to an action, often (as here) committing to something drastic on impulse to solve a problem, rather than just "pouring" neutrally.
그게 너를 좋아해서 그런 건지	If it all was because I like you
아니면 친구니까 당연한 감정인지	or it’s just a natural feeling as a friend
특별한 호감인지	If it’s a special feeling
별거 아닌 오지랖인지	or I’m being just meddlesome
오지랖 originally means the front flap/lapel of a coat; 오지랖(이) 넓다 ("to have a wide coat-flap") became the idiom for being nosy or meddling in things that aren't your business – the image being a coat so wide it covers everything around it. 오지랖 on its own, as here, is shorthand for that same meddlesome impulse.
나도 잘 생각을 안해봐서 지금 머릿속이 정리가 안 되는데	I don’t know because I didn’t give much thought about it
어	Yes
어?	Yes?
어	Yes
왜?	Why?
좋아해서 그런 거였나 보지	Maybe, it was because I like you
The episode's recurring "-아/어서 그런 거였어" frame finally gets its answer here, softened with -나 보다 (an inference, "I guess it must be...", from episode 6) plus the offhand -지 ending – giving a shy, non-committal "...guess it was because I like you" instead of a direct confession.
너 나 좋아해서 그런 거였어? #수상한 남사친	You acted that way because you like me? #strange_male_friend
72초TV	72secTV (www.72sectv.com)

너 나 좋아해서 그런 거였어

You Acted That Way Because You Like Me

Main Dialog

한국어

English