Info For City Hunter

HOLY CRAP. She shot him! I mean, I know she doesn’t know that it’s him, but aaaaaaaaah!
The bullet hits him, and for a second, he hovers over the ledge, breathing hard and struggling to jump. I hold my breath.
He flings himself off the roof, leaving Seo Yong-hak behind, and Nana
takes off running toward him. He rappels down the side of the building,
though it’s really more like a slightly-guided freefall, and he lands
with a thud on top of a car.
By the time Nana looks over the ledge, Yoon-sung has crawled off the ground. He gets into his car and drives away.
Young-ju and his team arrive on the roof, and Nana tells him the direction the getaway car was headed.
Yoon-sung manages to get far enough away, but struggles to stop the
bleeding. He calls Ajusshi, who doesn’t pick up because he’s in the
middle of his own getaway, after having been caught with the fake badge.


Seo Yong-hak finally comes to, and upon hearing that the election
rally has been postponed, he gets in an uproar about being perfectly
fine and not willing to lose this opportunity to get voters. He angrily
tells Young-ju to catch the man who kidnapped him, and gives his rousing
speech on stage.
Jin-pyo sits in the audience and scowls, knowing that something went
wrong today. He’s met outside by trusty sidekick Sang-gook, who tells
him that he heard a shot fired, but he must’ve gotten away, and the
police are well, policing.
Young-ju and his team survey the roof, and the two biggest clues are:
the rope (tied in some newfangled fancy way they’re unfamiliar with),
and the blood. Aw crap. Young-ju orders a DNA test to be done right
away. Double crap. I mean, I know Yoon-sung’s probably got false
identities for miles, but he had to have something on file to be hired
at the Blue House, no? This is bad.

But the more immediate question is how the hell is he going to
survive the next two hours? He breaks a window and steals into a
darkened room – it’s Sae-hee’s veterinary clinic, which will have the
basic medical supplies he’ll need. Smart boy.
And then? He proceeds to do that one most badass of things… He digs
the bullet out of his own goddamn back. Aaaaauuuugh. No matter how many
times I watch an action hero do that, I will never fail to be impressed
and equally grossed out. *swoon/shudder*
Problem is, Sae-hee returns to the office because she forgot
something, and she notices the broken glass. For some reason (though
thankfully I suppose) she decides to inspect the place herself instead
of calling the cops.

She goes in to the exam room and turns the light on, not noticing
that Yoon-sung is standing in the corner right behind her. Chills.
She turns around and gasps to see him there, trembling and bloody.
Without explanation, he says suddenly vulnerable, “That thing you said
you owed me… Can I collect on that favor now?”
Ah, NOW I SEE why there’s a vet in the story! Is anyone else having a Duh Lightbulb moment here? Just me? ‘K then.
She stitches him back up, and he gets his pretty boy sense of humor
back long enough to ask if it’ll scar. Ha. He wonders why she’s not
asking him what happened, or why he’s here.

But she’s totally calm about the whole thing, and surmises that there
must be a reason he came to an animal vs. human hospital. She’s
familiar with the type of wound, having treated one like it before, and
so can guess what happened, but doesn’t press for more. I all of a
sudden REALLY like her.
She hooks him up to an IV and turns on the tv, which reports news of
Seo Yong-hak winning the primary – he’s now the majority party’s
candidate for President. But the story doesn’t stop there, and reports
of his attempted kidnapping, with the culprit still at large after
having been shot.
Though the coincidences are too large for anyone to ignore, she
doesn’t say a word, and offers for him to stay at the clinic for the
night, since the streets are lousy with cops. She makes the offhanded
comment, “Why do I suddenly feel like I’m a character in a movie?”
Way to be self-referential. Well this does officially give you
significant character status, since now you’re the only one who knows
that Yoon-sung isn’t some cowardly desk jockey. No, he digs out his own
bullets, and there’s kind of no goin’ back from that.

Yoon-sung gets interrupted by a call from Dad, who’s so hardcore that
he’s more pissed than worried. Gah. Did you dig out your own heart and
feed it to the elephants? Your son was SHOT. He barks at him to get his
ass over there at once. It’s almost like a normal dad scolding a normal
son, except it goes more like you are SO grounded for not killing your target! ISSUES.
Nana comes home and waits up for Yoon-sung, unable to keep the day’s
events from flooding her brain. Something about it rattles her and she
struggles to push it out of her mind.
Yoon-sung falls asleep at the vet and has a nightmare where he and
Nana face each other, guns cocked. In the dream he’s being chased and
she’s the shadowy relentless one, and she shoots first.

He gasps for air and looks at her, frozen. Then Jin-pyo appears
between them, shouting at him to shoot her. Then it goes dark, and they
both fire on each other.
They lie on the ground, both bleeding out, and finally turn towards
each other. Nana cries and he struggles to reach for her bloody hand. He
clasps it for a few seconds before she dies, and dies alongside her.
Damn, how can a nightmare so literal be so traumatic? I love that now
his fear is two-fold; he’s always been scared that he’ll hurt Nana, but
now he’s just as scared that she’ll hurt him.
It startles him awake, and then he grips his shoulder in pain. He sees Sae-hee asleep, hunched over at her desk.
In the morning, Nana grumbles that Yoon-sung stayed out all night,
huffy at the obvious implication. “Master of the One-Night Stand! Busy
Every Night Man! The man who resents, resents, resents that all 24 hours
in the day aren’t night!” Hahaha.
She gets so worked up that she chokes on her own toothpaste, and then
gets mad at him for causing her nothing but grief, as if it’s his
fault. Heh.

Sae-hee returns to the clinic in the morning bearing one of
Young-ju’s old suits that never got cleared out of her place. Yoon-sung
looks surprised, so she explains that the prosecutor is her ex-husband.
OH. Well that explains a LOT.
I always thought they were way too close to be simple exes, and just
assumed they had a really long history. The fact that they were married,
eventually ending because he consistently chose work over her, his
protectiveness, her resentment, his trust in her, why she knows his
secrets… it’s all coming together.
It also makes things really complicated, if she’s going to start keeping one man’s secrets from the other.
She checks on the wound and re-bandages it, her hands drifting…
Oh, get your mind out of the gutter!
She notices all the other scars on his back, saying, “These wounds
must’ve hurt a lot…” He quickly puts his shirt back on, making it
awkwardly clear that it’s not up for discussion.

She tells him to take his meds and then adds cheekily that her
hospital doesn’t accept insurance. “You’re about the size of a large
retriever, so I’ll charge you that price. 50,000 won.” [50 dollars, give
or take] Hehehehe. She says an expensive dinner will do as well, so he
laughs and says he’ll take her out next time.
She walks him out and they say their goodbyes, which is right when
Nana walks up and sees them smiling at each other. Oh, dear. Well, I
guess he really did spend the night with her this time, so there’s no
talking your way out of this one.
To make matters worse, she’s carrying a suit for him to change into
(presumably this vet office is just on her morning commute route, and
she’s bringing the suit to work), but seeing him with Sae-hee again
flips her out and she goes running in the other direction… right smack
into a guy on a bike.
Yoon-sung sees her and picks up the bag with his suit, and tries to
stop her to talk. She refuses and keeps walking ahead, until finally he
puts a hand on her shoulder and she body slams him to the ground,
landing him on his bum shoulder. Ouuuuuch.

He asks why she’s running away like she did something wrong, though
she denies it, of course. He tells her not to jump to conclusions, but
she’s heard that one before, and now wonders what’s really true and
what’s misunderstood.
He takes a step closer to her. “Do you… like me?” She stutters, “Who
said I liked the Bad Luck Bastard?” He tells her not to concern herself
with his personal affairs, since it’s overstepping her bounds. Aw, he’s
probably trying to nip her feelings in the bud before it gets them both
killed, but still… WAH.
She now regrets having thought of him enough to bring him clothes,
and he just mocks her fashion sense, or lack thereof. She counters that
he seems to have a stash of clothes at this house too, so he can
coordinate his outfit however he likes. So there. Heh. That’s so ineffectual it’s cute.
At work it’s back to the firing range, and Yoon-sung gets paired up
with Nana, who shoots her target with deadly accuracy. The agent in
charge tells them to think of the target as the kidnapper who got away,
and when Nana hits the target right through the neck, Yoon-sung actually
cringes.

He steadies his gun to take a shot, but his hand trembles and he
finally puts it down, too rattled to fire. I love this turn – that now
Nana is kind of terminator-scary, and Yoon-sung is no longer
indestructible.
As they walk away he asks if she likes being a secret service agent,
and wonders if she can’t teach judo to kids or something. Oh, NO. Don’t
be that guy. He asks how many women in Korea could shoot a gun like
that. Dude, this is totally not the tactic you want to go with. I mean,
don’t you know girls at all? I’d be like, That’s right. Just ME. Badass, huh?
He tries a different tactic, worrying that if she hadn’t shot the
City Hunter first, she’d have gotten shot. She scoffs that he sure was
busy with his love life for someone so concerned for her well-being.
Eeep. One point, Nana.
She laments, “I should’ve caught the City Hunter last night.” He
asks, a little scared to hear the answer, “Do you think the City Hunter
is a bad person?”
She pauses, “Well, because I have to protect Seo Yong-hak. That’s my job.”
That it is. He sighs, watching her go. Oh, I hate this
soldiers-on-opposite-sides thing, and yet… I LOVE IT. It wrings my
heart, but in a good way.

Young-ju’s team finds that all the CCTV cameras in that building were
shut off, and remotely by hacking into the police security system. The
origin IP is the Blue House. Okay, this again? How come MIT doctor is so
bad at hiding his virtual footprints?
Young-ju descends upon the communications team once again, announcing
that he’ll be collecting every single computer in the place for
inspection. I’m getting a sheriff vibe from him, like in old westerns.
He’s totally riding high on being that righteous long arm of the law.
He turns to leave but then stops in his tracks at the sight of Yoon-sung, sitting there wearing his suit and smirking up at him. Ha. I love this. So much information exchanged in just two silent looks.
As soon as he walks out, Yoon-sung gets started in erasing his
digital trail. You really ought to have done that before the sheriff
came knocking, but I suppose you had a bullet to contend with first.

Young-ju finds Yoon-sung in the bathroom and asks, “That suit and that tie…”
Yoon-sung snickers and answers, “Yeah, you’re right. They’re your clothes, given to me by Jin Sae-hee,” and walks out.
Young-ju rushes after him, grabbing him by the injured shoulder. “Are you always this light? With all women?” (Read: easy.)
He tosses back breezily that it’s not even his style so he wasn’t
going to wear it any longer anyway, adding, “But in a game that’s
already over, isn’t your interest a little funny?”
He turns to go, but Young-ju slams him against the wall (again, right on the bum shoulder, aaaack!), yelling:

Young-ju: Sae-hee is someone to be pitied! She needs to meet someone right, not YOU!”
Yoon-sung: What’s the matter with me?
Young-ju: She’s too innocent for you to play around with her.
Yoon-sung: WHO SAYS I’M PLAYING WITH HER?! Aren’t you
really afraid that I’m sincere? Clean up your own feelings. I’m not the
one playing Daddy Long Legs, skulking around behind someone.

Ooooooooooo. Dayum. Why is this smackdown so hot?
Young-ju’s problem is clearly that he feels so guilty about his part
in the failed marriage that he feels sorry for Sae-hee instead of
treating her like an equal. Yoon-sung’s outburst right back at him
surprised me—and wow was it effective—it probably scared the bejeezus
out of Young-ju, who now thinks that the playboy version of him is the
least of his worries.
But my favorite part, of course, is that somebody finally gave him
some shit about being Nana’s lurky Daddy Long Legs. ‘Cause I’m with
Yoon-sung on that one. And the look in his eye when he felt so exposed…
gah, good stuff.

Ajusshi finally escapes, riding the subway back and offending others
with his dumpster smell. Yoon-sung meets him on the train and Ajusshi
starts to cry at the sight of him, and Yoon-sung hugs him tight. AW. I
seriously love these two.
They’re so relieved that the other made it out alive, and Ajusshi whimpers into Yoon-sung’s chest, while he laughs and smiles.
They go to see Dad, who smacks Yoon-sung in the face the second he
sees him. Aw, it breaks my heart to see him bowing his head in fear of
Evil Daddy.
He apologizes (apparently getting shot is YOUR mistake, in this
family), but Dad yells that instead of giving Seo Yong-hak a bullet,
he’s given him wings. Yoon-sung knows he screwed up, and doesn’t make
excuses.

He digs the knife, “Have you forgotten how your father died?” He
declares Yoon-sung’s methods too soft, and announces that he’s out of
the game. But that’s not an option for Yoon-sung, and he fights back,
“This is MY revenge too!”
His fierceness is enough to win Dad’s trust for now. Jin-pyo: “But I
will not tolerate a second mistake.” This guy seriously makes Average
Korean Dad seem like a big fluffy teddy bear with a tummy made of
pudding. I mean, the way he checks to see if his son’s bullet wound is
healed? By hitting it with his cane. HA. WTF, Dad?
They discuss their plans for the next opportunity to get to Seo
Yong-hak, during a live broadcast. Ajusshi worries that security will be
even tighter, and the secret service on edge. Dad orders Yoon-sung to
kill any agents who get in their way. Oh no. No more shooting!

Ajusshi cooks a meal for Yoon-sung at home, and frets over his heavy
sighing. “Do you want me to feed it to you?” Hahahaha. I love
Ajusshi-as-mommy so much.
He asks who the agent was who shot him… Yoon-sung tells him that it
was Nana. Ajusshi: “NANA?! Nana shot you?!” I know. We’re right there
with ya, buddy.
Yoon-sung tells him that he’s pretty sure she didn’t see him or
notice anything weird, so they’re in the clear for now. Problem is,
they’ve got to find a way to get her out of the next Big Plan, otherwise
things’ll get hairy all over again.
Yoon-sung remembers that he once accidentally tripped her and
sprained her ankle. Ajusshi: “No! You could break her leg!” Yoon-sung:
“Should I slip some laxatives into her food?” Ajusshi: “But a woman…
having to run around with diarrhea all day…” LOL.
Then Ajusshi gets a bright idea and whispers it in Yoon-sung’s ear
(for no one else’s benefit but ours, since NO ONE else lives there, ha).
Yoon-sung: “She could DIE!”

Next thing you know, they’re up on Nana’s roof, and sitting on the
ledge are: a soccer ball, two flowerpots, and a bucket of apples.
Hahahaha. I think this is a bad idea, guys. Yoon-sung agrees, “Ajusshi,
no matter how I think it over, I don’t think this is it…”
But Ajusshi insists that it’s better than giving her diarrhea all
day. She arrives, and they scramble. Yoon-sung has to stop Ajusshi from
throwing a brick and a large flowerpot, “No, not that one! She’ll die!”
but as they struggle, the smaller flowerpot and a cooking pot go flying
down.
The copper pot hits Nana square on the top of her head, followed
directly by the flowerpot, and she crouches to the ground with an “OW!”
She looks up, and the guys duck in a panic. Yoon-sung: “You don’t think
she died, do you?” HAHAHAHA.
She shouts up at them, assuming it’s a couple of kids playing a prank, “You guys are all dead!” Ajusshi: “She’s fine…”
The boys stare at each other wide-eyed in fear. Ajusshi: “RUN!” You clowns. I hope Nana beats your heads together.

Next, Yoon-sung buys a round of coffee for Nana, Eun-ah, and Da-hae,
making sure to dose Nana’s coffee with laxatives. He doles out the
coffees and then tries to WILL her to drink it by chanting in his mind,
“Kim Nana, drink it. Drink it. Driiiiiiiiiiink.” So cute.
Only it seems to have the opposite effect, or perhaps on the wrong
person, as Eun-ah declares her coffee more delicious looking, and asks
her to swap. She downs the whole thing, and Yoon-sung cringes. Heh.
I love the comedy of all his failed attempts to keep her from her job.
Da-hae decides that she must sing, so they head to a noraebang and
she sings a ballad and then plops down next to Yoon-sung, telling him
that she cried while singing. Da-hae: “Wasn’t it a sad song?” Yoon-sung:
“I think your grades are sad.” Pffft.
While the girls head to the bathroom, Yoon-sung meets with Ajusshi,
who treats his wound and brings his meds. It’s cute that Yoon-sung’s
been pretending to be fine with everyone else like Dad (to prove he’s
capable) or outsiders (to keep his injury hidden), but lets Ajusshi take
care of him.

Nana tells the girls she’ll wait outside while Da-hae primps and
Eun-ah feels the full effect of choosing the wrong coffee. She looks
over and sees Ajusshi making his exit, and her face goes white.
Flashback to her parents’ accident, where many astute viewers have
already noted, Shik-joong was present. This time we see him give a
statement to the cops while she cries over her parents’ bodies.
Back in the present, her memory flashes as she trembles, “That
person… Bae Man-duk!” She runs out after him, calling his name, but
Ajusshi hides in time before she catches up to him. He hangs his head
guiltily and slips away, as Nana searches high and low for her first
lead in probably ten years.
Meanwhile, all hell has broken loose in the women’s restroom, all
because random girls have taken to insulting the President’s youngest
daughter, and Da-hae is too young and foolish to just suck it up.
She starts a knock-down catfight, complete with hair pulling and
screeching, and of course Eun-ah is too… incapacitated to do anything to
stop it. The whole thing spills outside to the hallway where plenty of
people catch it on video, because that’s what society has come to. Sad,
but true.
Nana and Eun-ah get their heads ripped off by their boss, all while
Da-hae’s walk on the violent side plays on YouTube on his computer. Heh.
He particularly cuts Nana’s heart out by insulting her father’s name,
or rather accusing her of dragging his name down with her bad work
ethic. Ouch. He punishes them by reducing Eun-ah’s pay for a month, and
Nana’s pay for six months, plus two weeks’ suspension, no pay. Damn,
that’s harsh.

She walks out, her suspension effective immediately, and Yoon-sung
catches up to her to say that he heard the news. He tells her to rest
up, and to use the time to clean the house, since it’s a little dirty.
She spins around, angry tears bubbling up, and asks how he can tell
her to clean when he must know how she feels right now. He stammers that
he did also tell her to rest (ha) but she’s in no mood for his
attitude. “Men like you are the worst.”
No argument here. Men that hot usually ARE the worst.
He sighs as he watches her go, and says to himself, “You have no idea
how thankful a suspension is.” The second part of that sentence has an
unspecified object, so it could be read as either: how thankful for you,
or how thankful for me. Works both ways, and well, it’s true both ways.
It now occurs to me that Yoon-sung could’ve somehow sent in those
random girls on purpose to antagonize Da-hae, but that seems like too
many factors to be able to foresee. And if he’s thankful, he’s probably
just relieved he doesn’t have to face off with her at gunpoint all over
again. He should REALLY be grateful that he got her off duty without
having to pull any more crazy stunts, which he was hilariously bad at.

Nana goes home and sits on the roof, remembering the last time she
saw Ajusshi. She flashes back to a few days after the accident, when she
had come to the police station wearing her funeral clothes, to ask why
all of a sudden her father went from being the victim of the accident to
the culprit.
The officer explains that the eye witness was drunk that night, and
has revised his story. And though stammering, Ajusshi affirms his now
revised eye-witness account, that her father’s car was the cause of the
accident, and the other car merely stopped to avoid the crash.
Oh, holy hell. So basically the other driver (who Nana believes is
Kim Jong-shik, aka Young-ju’s dad) got to Shik-joong first and paid him
off or threatened him, or all of the above so that he’d change his
story.
The officer calls him by name, Bae Man-duk, and he signs his
statement and gets up to go. Nana pleads with him over and over, to no
avail. She crumbles on the spot and cries, powerless to do anything and
totally alone.
Ajusshi turns the corner and then watches her, guilt already settling in.
Back in the present, Nana murmurs to herself that it was him; she’s
sure. She just needs to find that man again, because that’s how she’ll
reopen the investigation.

Yoon-sung finds her there and tosses her some tissues, teasing that
if she’s going to be crybaby, she should do it at home. She starts to
walk away in a huff, but he grabs her by the hand and drags her
downstairs and sticks her in his car. She demands to know why he’s doing
this.
Yoon-sung: “Because I’m the worst!” Ha. Wait… is this YET ANOTHER
car? How many cars does this boy have? A different car for every fling?
For every pair of pink trousers?
She asks where they’re going, and he tells her that he’s trying to
lift her spirits. Nana: “Why are you so good to me?” Yoon-sung: “Because
we live together, like family.” Nana: “No you were, even before we
lived together.”

She tells him that he talks ugly, but in fact he’s always doing nice
things, like paying her father’s hospital bill, buying her house,
getting her bandaids, taking her for a drive. Awww… she’s totally on to
you! You big ol’ softie.
He just dismisses it, disliking all this nice talk, and instead tells
her that whatever she says or does today he’ll keep it a secret. He
tells her to yell or break things, or whatever she wants, and even gets
her started by yelling at Da-hae.
She totally lets out her frustration, yelling out in banmal at her
boss, at Eun-ah. She adds for good measure, “And you, Lee Yoon-sung! The
way you look, the stuff you do, you’re a total Bad Luck Bastard!”
He throws back an insult that she thinks she’s so badass ’cause she’s
good at judo and carries a gun, giving her the nickname Big Liver Girl,
which sounds weird, but having a big liver is a colloquialism for being
brave. They laugh adorably and he asks if she feels better now, and she
nods, smiling from ear to ear.

They stop at a tree-lined dirt road and over coffee he asks if he’s
really such a bad luck charm, insisting that MANY girls go gaga over
him. What? That’s ludicrous. Why, what have you heard?
It starts to rain and his convertible top won’t close, so they race
off, getting soaked to the bone. He takes her to his house since it’s
closer and she cautiously walks inside. He turns to look at her, finally
noticing her soaking wet in a white shirt, and has a little gaga moment
himself.
Gulp. He finally snaps out of it long enough to toss her his jacket
and a snide over-compensating remark, that he’s just ruined his eyes.
I’m just amazed that the first question out of her mouth isn’t And why do you live at my house again?
He gives her a shirt to wear and they each shower, and Yoon-sung tends
to his painful bullet wound, looking a lot worse for wear.

He comes out and finds Nana in the kitchen, but freezes in his tracks
at the sight of her in nothing but his white shirt. Omg, I love
watching him go googly-eyed over her.
She asks him to turn on his newfangled electric stove so she can cook
some ramen, and he helps her awkwardly, the close proximity getting to
be a little too much for him. She looks for bowls while he does that,
and finds them sitting up on a shelf designed only for giants and
supermodels.
Yoon-sung looks over at her reaching and jumping up, dangerously
close to being nekkid as a result, and he nearly puts out the lights in
the whole city trying to tamp down his reaction.

He reaches up and gets the bowl for her, making them awkwardly close
again. Eeeee! The sexual tension is enough to drive him out of the
kitchen for good. “Eat by yourself! I don’t want any!” Heh.
He puts out wine and fruit though, and in a bit of meta, she watches Prosecutor Princess (which City Hunter‘s PD Jin Hyuk also directed) and falls asleep.
He sees her sleeping on the couch and tucks her in, watching her
sleep in that totally smitten way. He brushes the hair out of her face
and gets up, but then stops and turns around…

He leans down toward her face and traces her eyebrow with his finger,
totally making me swoon. And then he leans in ever so slowly, to kiss
her…
And she opens her eyes. Eeep!
He stops, but he doesn’t pull away either (So. Hot.) and she squeezes her eyes shut. Omo! Green light! Do it! Do it!
He moves at the pace of molasses, which is both making me crazy, and making me crazy…
He gets thisclose, and then the phone rings.

%^$&#*#(@*^%^@#&*@#*$^@%#@%^#@&@#&!!!!!!!!
Fuuuuuuuck!
Dad, you have the WORST timing ever! Show, I love and hate you so much right now.
What’s worse is that Dad calls to say super obvious things about tomorrow being D-Day, and I’m screaming, Yeah, we already know! Can we get back to the almost-kissing?!
But the moment has passed, and he curtly tells Nana to sleep. How’s a
girl to sleep when you were so very recently close to her lips?
He stays up and prepares for tomorrow, the stress and his weakened condition starting to really take a toll.
He drops her off at home in the morning. She thanks him for
everything yesterday, and sheepishly asks if she should make something
for dinner, wondering what he likes. He says he likes glass noodles with
no onions or carrots, just beef, and heads off.

The problem is, Nana gets a call from her boss that Seo Yong-hak had
her there through every recent crisis, and doesn’t feel safe without her
there. So she’s reinstated. Oh crap.
It’s time for the live broadcast of the presidential debate, and the
show begins, with Nana and Young-ju on the sidelines and Yoon-sung
getting ready backstage. He starts by gassing the director’s booth, and
then when Seo Yong-hak cues a video clip, Yoon-sung plays the recording
of his shady deal with Mars. Nice.
He quickly ditches his gas mask for the black one and starts his way
out, only Young-ju is pretty certain the City Hunter is behind this, and
catches up to him. What commences is a damn good fight, mostly because
the music is cut for great dramatic effect (love) and Yoon-sung is
severely injured, making it evenly matched and even a little in
Young-ju’s favor.

He manages to shake him off long enough to get a head start. Nana
leads Seo Yong-hak out a different way… leading straight to the same
corridor where Yoon-sung ends up.
Nana points her gun at him and Yoon-sung freezes, seeing her there.
Young-ju comes careening after him, so now he’s totally trapped between
them.
Nana squints her eyes for a second, possibly a glint of recognition,
but he’s too far to see clearly. And then panicking, Seo Yong-hak grabs
the gun from Nana’s hand, and then TURNS it… on her! What the hell,
crazy?

But it’s his survival instinct that’s kicked in now, not logic, and
he threatens to shoot her if they come any closer. Now all of a sudden
Young-ju’s standing next to the City Hunter with his hands in the air in
a total reversal.
Nana waits and then sees her moment to elbow Seo and get the gun out
of his grasp, only her getting away from him means flipping over and
hanging off the ledge, up many many stories.
Seo takes off running and Jin-pyo watches it all from down below, surveying the events with a scowl.
Young-ju and Yoon-sung both take off running at the same time…

…only Young-ju zooms past Nana towards Seo Yong-hak, while Yoon-sung runs straight for her. Everyone with me now: And this is why you’ll never get the girl, prosecutor.
Yoon-sung grabs her hand just in time as she loses her grip, and
struggles to hang on. His shoulder sears with pain and he starts to
bleed down his arm all the way to her hand, and she clutches his hand as
his strength starts to give…


COMMENTS
YAY! You learned how to do cliffhangers right! I’m so proud! These
last two episodes had amazing endings, finally the kind that drives this
sort of series and keeps me wound up and on the edge of my seat, dying
for more. Pitch-perfect.
I love our first glimpse at a vulnerable Yoon-sung in this episode.
It’s always in these moments that the hero feels most like us—not quite
so perfect, not fully prepared, not bulletproof. He was already plenty
relatable through his personal relationships, but seeing him spend a
whole episode not at peak physical shape, having to rely on other
people, makes him more human and highlights the fact that he really puts
his life on the line to do what he thinks is right.
It might not be so heroic if he were just hell-bent on revenge at any
cost like his father, but he’s on his way to becoming a champion for
the people, which is exactly what all these politicians claim to do, but lose sight of on their rise to power.
And we’ve learned now that Nana is one of those people, too young and
too powerless to have stopped the cover-up that tarnished her good
father’s name, and that she carries that massive chip on her shoulder
because of that experience. It makes a little more sense for her
character—why she’s so rash and brave, often times overcompensating and
trying to appear so strong.
I love that their growing attraction is mutual, and all the built-in
complications keeping them apart. It’s actually something that I liked
about Prosecutor Princess too, so maybe the reference wasn’t so
random, though this show is much more effective because the stakes are
life-and-death. The bigger the stakes, the better the conflict. That’s
just the way it goes.
And the final moment of choice, highlighting the vast difference
between Yoon-sung and Young-ju? Gold. Why so cool, Show? Just hand me a
spoon. I’ll eat it up.

Both Yoon-sung and Young-ju arrive at the hospital at the same time.
The prosecutor confirms Lee Kyung-wan’s dead body, while Yoon-sung spots
his father glowering at him, still dressed up as a doctor, and heads
out.
First off, I have to say I freaking LOVE that Jin-pyo went all badass
revenge-seeker and killed Lee Kyung-wan. I get Yoon-sung’s aversion to
the eye-for-an-eye vengeance spree, but it’s totally fitting that
Jin-pyo’s bloodlust spurs him to act. Plus, it heightens some already
steep stakes between father and son, and hammers in the whole
Nana’s-in-danger worry — because Dad is not above a little collateral
damage, and anybody could be next.
Young-ju and his partner Pil-jae follow Yoon-sung’s car, puzzled when it pulls up outside Dad’s hi-tech lair.

You’d think the slick City Hunter might have noticed the car on his
tail, but perhaps he’s too upset over the deaths to focus on that; he
beelines for Dad and asks incredulously why he had to kill two cops in
addition to the target.
Dad has a chilly response: “Because that’s my method.” Damn, can’t
argue with that, when the father-son battle had been about winning the
right to handle the case however he saw fit. Jin-pyo adds that he hears
the sound of that maritime massacre every day of his life, and that his
sole purpose for surviving is to mete out revenge.
Yoon-sung challenges, “Whose revenge is that? I’m suddenly curious,
whether it’s for the country’s betrayal of your comrades — or whether
it’s self-inflicted torture over your survivor’s guilt.” Dayum. He may
have a point, but making that point? Balls of steel.

Yoon-sung adds that the two dead cops also have families that have
been left behind: “This is no longer revenge. It’s just murder.”
Dad ups the badass-crazy quotient by a factor of, oh, a thousand by
warning grimly, “If you fight me, you may even die by my hand.” He’s not
so much threatening to kill Yoon-sung, as he is telling him very
clearly that even he could become collateral damage.
Yoon-sung replies, “I won’t avoid it — because I’m the only one who
can stop you. I’ll stake my life to stop you.” Fuuuuuuck. I mean, yay
for heroism and fearlessness in the name of justice, blah blah blah, but
noooooooo, you can’t take my Yoon-sung!

As he exits, Yoon-sung comes face to face with Young-ju, waiting
outside smugly: “You said you didn’t know Steve Lee.” Impressive how
Yoon-sung turns on that flippant charm like a light switch, saying that
he was just introduced to him today through an MIT colleague, regarding
some investments in Steve Lee’s agricultural enterprise.
But Young-ju is not to be thus distracted, and points out that he’s
entirely capable of tracking Yoon-sung’s whereabouts for the times
corresponding to Lee Kyung-wan’s delivery to his front steps, Seo
Yong-hak’s sniper incident, Seo’s kidnapping, the broadcast debate…

And then Young-ju goes back to his office to the upsetting news: “Lee
Yoon-sung has a perfect alibi?!” Ha! Nana’s aunt confirms that
Yoon-sung used hotel keycards on the nights in question, and those card
entries correspond perfectly to the CCTVs in the elevators. The video
shows him with a different woman each time, HAHA. Keeping up alibis and your image? Whatta multi-tasker. The only day missing an alibi, however, is the day of the sniper attack.
But our smart prosecutor connects more dots, realizing that each
hotel is located mere minutes from each incident. Guessing the City
Hunter had orchestrated this to solidify his alibi, it’s time to bust
out the big guns: DNA testing. How to get a sample from Yoon-sung?

Yoon-sung understands that Dad is going to kill Target No. 3, Kim
Jong-shik, as soon as the man returns to Korea from his business trip.
Calling Jin-pyo a vehicle whose brakes have gone out, he says that the
only way to stop it is to crash into it: “I’ll have to crash him.”
Ajusshi asks, “What if you die?” Yoon-sung: “I’m preparing myself.”
Shik-joong wants to run away and live in the mountains somewhere, but
Yoon-sung still thinks those baddies have to pay for their crimes, and
he’s still in it for his revenge. Yoon-sung’s also wary of Young-ju
sniffing around him, particularly since the prosecutors have samples of
the City Hunter’s blood from two locations.
Nana hears the news report about Lee’s murder, with many speculating
that the City Hunter did it. That shakes her, and she tells herself that
there’s no way Yoon-sung would have committed the murder.

This is when she spies the photo dropped by Shik-joong as he was
packing up Yoon-sung’s things — the torn-up, taped-together photo of
Yoon-sung’s biological parents.
She recognizes two of the faces: Kyung-hee and Jin-pyo. And that’s
enough to get her brain whirling, as Nana recalls Yoon-sung’s reactions
regarding his mother, and draws the connections. Thank goodness for a
drama heroine who isn’t too dumb to put together two and two!
We don’t get far into Target No. 3 Takedown Plan today, so for now
Team City Hunter is in research mode. Yoon-sung looks over the
accounting records of top universities (Target No. 3 was the education
minister), and notes that they rake in enormous amounts of money.
Adorably, he jumps to keep Shik-joong from drinking his energy tonic —
the one given to him by Kyung-hee — warning him not to touch it, not
clarifying even when Shik-joong assumes that Nana gave it to him.

Kyung-hee sees a doctor for a bruise on her arm, and already I’m not
liking the looks of this, especially as she explains that she didn’t
even know she had it until she changed her shirt. The doctor looks
worried to see that she has no guarantors or children to help her, and
tells her that her bloodwork came back with bad news: leukemia. She
needs to be admitted immediately.
(OH OH OH this is brilliant! ‘Cause she’s gonna need a bone marrow
transplant…and there’s no better match than a blood relative…like her
long-lost son…and this may just be the thing to push him over the edge
and approach her, misconceptions-about-abandonment be damned… AHHHHHHHHH
so prematurely excited!)
The doctor tells her she has to begin cancer treatments immediately,
and they’ll start looking for a bone marrow donor. Kyung-hee is so
rattled that she asks to be allowed to return to her store first to
close up shop before admitting herself, which makes me fear that she
won’t return for treatment after all.

At home, Kyung-hee takes out her baby’s old clothing, telling it
sadly, “I’ve just been surviving, waiting to meet you. Will I be able to
live and meet you?” She sobs clutching the baby clothes: “I miss you…”
Yoon-sung arrives outside the cafe where Nana works now, telling
himself he’s only here because of Kim Jong-shik. Suuuure. Tell yourself
that, Captain Denial. He asks Nana to chat, and the impatient guy next
in line taps Yoon-sung’s shoulder to ask him rudely to get out of the
way if he’s done ordering. Nana bursts out unthinkingly, “Sir, be
careful! You shouldn’t hit someone that…hard.” Which makes sense to no
one, not even Nana, who can’t think of a better excuse to cover up her
worry for his injury.

Yoon-sung hands over Nana’s file on Kim Jong-shik, saying that he
found it in his luggage, and asks who the guy is. Nana answers that he’s
the man who caused the car crash that killed her mother and turned her
father into a vegetable, and that she’d been collecting information
hoping to reopen the investigation. However, it turns out that the
national identification number of the crucial witness, Bae Man-deok, had
been erased — a feat taking some doing, since you’ve essentially wiped a
person’s existence from all public record.
Nana says she saw Man-deok at the noraebang a few days ago, which
gets the wheels turning in Yoon-sung’s head. He asks for a physical
description, and recognizes that she means Shik-joong.

Yoon-sung asks what she’d like done to Kim Jong-shik, and she answers
that she doesn’t want a death for a death: “But I’d like for the City
Hunter to catch him and deliver him to Prosecutor Kim Young-ju.” She
wants Kim’s true nature revealed to the world, because her research on
him has shown that he has a number of skeletons in his corrupted closet.

You know what makes this great? She’s dropping this info purposely,
much like Sae-hee did, knowing he’s the City Hunter — yet here he is
thinking his secret identity is safe and sound, so he’s asking questions
AS the City Hunter, posing as Yoon-sung.
Then Nana screws up the courage to ask hesitantly, half-afraid of his
answer, “The City Hunter…probably isn’t someone who kills people,
right?”
He answers noncommittally, “How would I know?” She replies, “I believe he won’t.” Yoon-sung: “Then you’re probably right.”
Yoon-sung goes straight home and confronts Shik-joong about being Bae
Man-deok, demanding to know the full story. Scared and sorry, he
explains.

Flashback: Shik-joong/Man-deok had been on the sidewalk when he saw a
car swerving wildly into the wrong lane, slamming into Nana’s parents’
car. The man behind the wheel was Kim Jong-shik, and by the time Nana
had gotten there, she’d seen Shik-joong giving his statement.
Shik-joong had been called by Kim Jong-shik and told to change his
story. Using Shik-joong’s gambling history as blackmail, Kim warned that
he was powerful enough to have Shik-joong imprisoned, falsely if
necessary. In exchange for his revised witness account, he’d make sure
he’d be well compensated.
Shik-joong admits that he was foolish and weak, too cowardly to even
die, wracked with guilt at the thought of Nana. He says he’s glad
Yoon-sung uncovered the truth, and vows to help him fully to nail Kim
Jong-shik: “And after I help you, I’ll turn myself in and receive my
punishment.” Awww. He’s a coward for what he did, but his resolve brings
tears to my eyes and surely makes up for it, at least to the extent
that I can respect him now without feeling guilty about it.

Nana is called back to the Blue House, and because of her good work
during the sniper incident and the kidnapping of Seo Yong-hak, she’s not
fired. However, she’s relegated to Da-hae duty, which I think seems
fair; she’s not exactly the best bodyguard anyway, despite her few key
saves. I’m sure most people would rather be guarded by someone with a
consistent record, rather than someone with a few spectacular saves
mixed in with some gross negligence.
During judo practice, Ki-joon congratulates Nana on her good luck for
facing probation twice and escaping firing. She retorts that she’d had
two commendations, too, then purposely fiddles with her bullet necklace
as she adds, “Thanks to somebody.”
Eun-ah and Ki-joon engage in more of their judo-as-flirtation before
we turn to Nana and Yoon-sung for their…well, judo-as-flirtation.
Seriously, how anybody gets properly trained in this place is a wonder.

Yoon-sung waits expectantly for Nana to begin, but she’s wary of
hurting him and begins a few throws, but pulls back each time. So he
pulls her down to the mat, hovering over her for a few charged moments
(*whzzzzrp!* rewind), before he pulls back and walks out.
Nana finds Yoon-sung at his favorite bench and offers him coffee,
reminding him that they were still supposed to be friendly at work. He
gives her the cold shoulder while she keeps up a cheery stream of
chatter, explaining her coffee-making technique, until he impatiently
shoves her hand away and sends her coffee to the ground.

He asks if she has no pride — why does she keep approaching him?
Nana replies, “Because I like you.” Eeeeeep!
He goes through the whole rigamarole again, telling her he didn’t
mean anything by the kiss, that she’s not his type, that if every woman
he kissed clung to him, blah blah blahhhh. She says that she likes him
anyway, and misses him.
She admits that she feels pathetic, “But I want to be faithful to my feelings.”

All he can do is turn the rejection dial to full-blast, and he
mutters that he’d better ignore her entirely from now on, stalking off. I
do love how this puts him in a strained spot, since it was hard enough
denying his own feelings — but to turn hers away? Yeah, good luck with
that, buddy.
Nana tears up, but tells herself she did the right thing: “Liking him is a good thing.”
Ki-joon sees his expression and guesses that he’s had a spat with his
girlfriend, and offers to give him a few lessons at the art of the
romantic push-and-pull, of which he is (reportedly) a pro. Ha.

Da-hae visits a university campus, clinging to Yoon-sung’s arm,
pouting when his eyes stray to the girls on campus. They happen upon a
student demonstration, demanding that Kim Jong-shik stick to his word of
half-price tuitions, because those students came to school believing
that promise and now have difficulty remaining enrolled. Basically, if
Kim reneges on his promise, he sends the message that (1) Only the rich
deserve education, and/or (2) If you want schooling, you’ll stay poor.
In the cafeteria, a rich spoiled brat gives a cleaning lady hell for
not properly doing her job, at which point Yoon-sung steps in to deliver
a setdown about cleaning up her own mess, which he learned in
kindergarten: “Or did you not even make it that far?” He says that if
she spent all that money to be thus educated and has this crappy
character to show for it, her personality can’t afford the half-price
version.
That night, Yoon-sung flips through his books looking for something —
that missing photo — and comes up empty. When he sits down for dinner,
he sees that Shik-joong has prepared his favorite — that japchae dish without vegetables — which makes him think of Nana.
He sends Nana a text requesting her driver services, and she heads
out with excitement (stopping at a makeup store to freshen up with their
samples first, hee). Only…when she gets there, he’s got some new floozy
on his arm. Aw, you bastid. I totally get why you’re doing this…but it
doesn’t make me like it any!

Then Nana has to sit there stewing while he flirts outrageously with
the girl, and he tosses out the barely veiled insult that short, dumb,
inexperienced girls do nothing for him — the kind “who overreact and
think you like them if you treat them the least bit nicely.”
Nana gets fed up watching Yoon-sung sucking face with the girl and
pulls over, and I do love how perfectly this mirrors their first
encounter in Episode 2. Only, this time she grabs the girl out of the
car and hails a taxi, sending her off in it.
Yoon-sung asks if she’s jealous, and Nana replies, “No. That woman
isn’t even worth getting jealous about. If you’re doing this to push me
away, you don’t have to. My feelings are my own — I never forced them on
you. If you still want to push me away, then at least date someone good
enough that I can accept it. I’ll get properly jealous then. But don’t
waste precious time and money like this! And don’t call a designated
driver when you haven’t drunk, either. Acting like this — your parents
wouldn’t like it.”
With that, she returns his photo, and walks off.

Aw, looks like someone’s onto you, smooth operator. At home, he sighs, “Kim Nana, don’t like me. You have to be happy.”
Young-ju reviews the facts of the hospital murders: All three victims
were taken out with one efficient blade. CCTVs were obscured by spray,
as in the sniper incident, and Yoon-sung was right there with him at the
hospital. He orders his co-worker Pil-jae to have Yoon-sung followed
again.
Kyung-hee’s back at work, as feared, where her health is not holding
up well. When she gets up to fix Nana some food, she collapses,
breathing heavily.

Nana calls Yoon-sung, who feigns indifference when she tells him the
snack shop ajumma is at the hospital emergency room. But she tells him
to come anyway: “Because she’s your mother.”
(Omo! This is even BETTER! ‘Cause Nana knows, and she’ll be the one
to push him to donate his bone marrow…My mind’s running wild with all
the fantastic dramatic possibilities.)
So Yoon-sung heads to the hospital, unaware that he’s being tailed by
Pil-jae, although that tandem illegal U-turn really shoulda been a
clue. You sure do stalk people really well, but you suck at detecting
stalkers of your own. Good thing Daddy’s got your back. Even if he may
be the one to ultimately stick a knife in it.

Yoon-sung arrives at Mom’s bedside, where Nana introduces him to the
doctors as Kyung-hee’s guarantor and son, despite his protests. (Mom’s
unconscious and doesn’t hear this.) He’s shaken badly by the diagnosis,
especially when the doctor informs them that she’ll need to receive
cancer treatment immediately. He also advises Yoon-sung to test his bone
marrow for transplant right away.
This has thrown him for a loop, and Nana admits that she doesn’t know
their family circumstances — but he’s ajumma’s son, and should get
tested. Yoon-sung finally bursts out, “And why should I?! After she
abandoned me?”

Nana’s surprised, but she entreats him to remember that he’d longed
for her anyway, that he’d kept that photo: “If you hate her, say so. If
you miss her, say so. You have a mother you can say that too.” Ooooof.
And that’s why Nana’s the perfect person to do this, because he knows
she doesn’t have her mother, and this juxtaposition highlights that his
reaction, while understandable, is something he ought to overcome while
he can still appreciate having a mother who’s alive.
Nana hammers that nail in: “Or, you know, you can just watch her die.”
That does it. Yoon-sung signs forms as Kyung-hee’s guarantor and
pulls out his credit card to request “the very best room.” He doesn’t
see that he’s being followed by Pil-jae… and Pil-jae doesn’t see that
he’s being followed in turn, by Bad Daddy’s cohort Sang-gook. HAHA. It’s
both hilarious — this is like 49 Days, where even stalkers had stalkers — and worrisome, since you know that means Jin-pyo’s on the scent. Ahhh, crap.

Both minions report to both bosses, leading to a few conclusions: (1)
If Yoon-sung is related to the patient, the prosecutor’s office may be
able to get their grubby hands on a blood sample, and (2) Dad now knows
that Yoon-sung is “a weak little boy” AND that the prosecutor is on his
tail. Young-ju orders Minion to get that blood no matter what, and Dad
orders Other Minion to prevent Yoon-sung from giving blood no matter
what.
I just love this. It’s such a perfect setup on both sides, but it’s
not just dropped from the sky into our laps out of nowhere; it’s laid
into the plotting so well that when it all clicks into place, it just
makes the suspense richer.
Kyung-hee protests to Nana that she’s not in a position to receive
medical care right now (meaning: she can’t afford it), to which
Yoon-sung counters that taking time to think about it won’t change her
circumstances. Kyung-hee doesn’t understand why he’s speaking to her so
harshly all of a sudden, while Nana urges him to soften his words, to no
avail: Yoon-sung continues, “You say you have no family. Why don’t you
just obey [the doctor]?”
Nana assures Kyung-hee that despite his mean words, he’s not a bad
person, and this also happens to be the first time that Mom hears
Yoon-sung’s name.

Yoon-sung stomps up the stairs to the rooftop, where he yells in
frustration. He asks Shik-joong, “Does this make sense? She abandoned me
to live happily on her own. Then she should be living proudly, and
well! But why is she sick?!”
With that, he tells the doctor that he’s not family after all, and
that it was a misunderstanding. The doctor worries that this means her
situation is dire, and that in a worst-case scenario, Kyung-hee could
die while waiting for a donor match. She doesn’t have much time.
Yoon-sung asks if he can donate if he’s a match, which requires a
simple blood test. Eee! Do it! No, don’t do it! Do it! Don’t do it!
You’re driving me mad, drama!
For once I’m relieved to see Jin-pyo there, since that takes care of
the dilemma. Yoon-sung says that he can donate the bone marrow if he has
to, despite Mom’s abandonment. Jin-pyo tells Yoon-sung that until their
revenge is complete, Yoon-sung doesn’t have the freedom to do whatever
he wishes with even a hair or drop of blood. Yeesh. That’s taking the
term “possessive parent” to extremes.

Yoon-sung says that even if she abandoned him, a mother is still a mother: “And if she dies now, I can’t even hate her freely.”
Jin-pyo warns that the instant his blood is drawn, his identity will
be revealed, and their revenge is kaput. Plus, if the prosecutor
followed him this far, he should be able to connect him to Kyung-hee as
well: “I’m warning you: Your life rests on your choice.”
Yoon-sung tells Shik-joong he’ll do the blood test anyway, because
otherwise his mother might die. Shik-joong reminds him that he might die
instead, but Yoon-sung says, “It’s okay.” (Ughhh, I’m feeling mighty
uneasy with this episode’s constant reminders that Yoon-sung may be
facing death… This is a red herring, right? They’re just trying to
surprise us later, RIGHT?!)
That’s when Minion Sang-gook (who has just come from locking Minion
Pil-jae in the bathroom, heh) stops Yoon-sung, saying, “The Boss says
NO.”
Throwdown!

They relocate to a shady basement area to duke it out. It’s three to
one, but our City Hunter knocks ‘em all down. Shedding blood so he can
go shed blood…that’s deep, man. (LOL.)
Yoon-sung gives blood for the test, only to be joined by the
prosecutor duo, who have him just where they want him. Pil-jae’s looking
mighty smug for someone who’s just had to be liberated from the
bathroom by his boss, I’m thinking.
Yoon-sung smirks, “Someone might misunderstand, and think you like
me.” Oh, don’t I WISH that were the case. He tells Young-ju to pick a
number and wait his turn, so as not to upset the others waiting in line.
HA.

Young-ju answers that he needs his blood, and Yoon-sung quips, “Are we playing vampire now? I hope it’s fun!”
Young-ju produces a warrant and demands the blood, and rather than
balking, Yoon-sung gives his okay like it’s no concern of his. The
nurses hand over the vial, and Yoon-sung maintains his careless attitude
until he’s out of there, and then it’s a race to get that vial before
Young-ju can get it tested by the forensics lab.
Pil-jae is sent back to stalker duty, but as he’s about to follow
Yoon-sung from the hospital, he’s stopped by Nana. She’d spotted the
prosecutors leaving the hospital and understands, partially, that
they’re after Yoon-sung, so now she races in front of Pil-jae’s car with
a trumped-up excuse about the reinvestigation, ensuring that Yoon-sung
gets away. Atta girl.

Yoon-sung is, at the moment, busy following Young-ju, who remains unaware since his tail’s tail has lost the trail.
Yoon-sung waits as two ambulances are stopped at the security point
of the National Forensic Service, and oh-so-casually ambles his way over
to the one in the rear. He slips inside and disguises himself in a body
bag among the other dead bodies being delivered here to the morgue.
*Shudder* Also, ballsy.
From there, it’s an easy matter to exit his vault and walk out,
leaving the slab open and bound to freak out some coroner tomorrow.

A senior lab technician is insulted at the prosecutor’s
high-and-mighty demands, waltzing in with one teeny vial and insisting
on instant analysis when they’re up to their eyeballs in materials
awaiting processing. She storms out to give Young-ju a piece of her
mind…but one sight of his charming, polite face has her smitten, and
suddenly she’s all understanding and smiles.
This gives Yoon-sung the chance to spot the lab tech holding his
vial, and he seizes his opportunity — by stepping off the rooftop,
freefalling a full story, and catching himself on the window ledge below
with his fingertips. JEEZUS, Mr. Death Wish.

And then he does it again, down another story, and this time
manages to catch himself with ONE HAND. Holy shit, Balls of Steel.
That’s your new nickname, I swear.
He hoists himself inside the lab, watching as Ms. Lab Tech moons over the hottie prosecutor (“He’s exactly
my type!”). She waxes poetic about his shining eyes, perfectly chiseled
features, physique like Michelangelo’s David… Get a grip, lady! It’s
not like he’s Lee Min-ho.

Yoon-sung is smart enough to swap in a false vial for his, so that
she’s none the wiser when she takes it to test. Young-ju, alas, is just
as sharp as he is, and he notices the open window, out of which
Yoon-sung has just leaped, where he dangles by his fingertips.
Suspicions firing, Young-ju approaches the window and looks down — and sees nothing.

City Hunter, why so cool? He struts down to the lobby, mission
accomplished, not seeing that he’s not out of the woods yet — because
Young-ju is just half a flight of stairs behind him.
He hasn’t been seen yet, but he’s in imminent danger of it — just as
an arm grabs Yoon-sung and yanks him out of view. Young-ju walks out,
none the wiser.
Meanwhile, Yoon-sung instinctively grabs a hidden blade and whirls his assailant/assistant against the wall. Nana.

Nana tells Yoon-sung that she’s glad he wasn’t the one to get shot,
and her body goes limp. Yoon-sung cradles her to himself, crying.
If anything were able to inject the tiniest smidge of humor into the
moment, it’s the sight of Shik-joong, bursting into the room after
finding a crate to wield as a weapon, surprised to find the enemies all
neutralized. Thus they’re able to escape, so when Kim Jong-shik gets the
word that his captives have fled, his upset quickly turns to fear: “It
can’t be…the City Hunter?”
Sae-hee answers the clinic door and quickly takes in the sight of
Yoon-sung grimly carrying in a bloody Nana. Without batting an eye, she
immediately locks the door and tells ajusshi to close the blinds. Gotta
love a woman who’s fast on the uptake.

Lying on the table, Nana opens her eyes, and OH THANK GOD. (It’s
mixed with the tiniest bit of disappointment, narratively speaking,
which I’ll talk more about below. But yes, mostly relief. My blood
pressure can return to normal now. I mean, I was pretty sure they
weren’t going to kill her. But…what if?)
Sae-hee sees the wound and says with censure, “Guns, again?!” Even as
she starts to clean the wound, she tells Yoon-sung urgently to take her
to the hospital, because Nana’s lost a lot of blood and they have none
here. I half-expect Yoon-sung to go flying out the door to steal blood
packets from a hospital, but his response is even better: “Take my
blood.” He’s Type O, the universal donor, and with tears in his eyes he
overrides Sae-hee’s concerns. He insists, “I’m fine — just save Nana.”

They lie there, facing each other, while his blood supplements hers.
Oh man, taken as an isolated gesture this is poignant, but it’s made all
the better by the fact that we’ve established that Yoon-sung’s blood is
his kryptonite — at least to his secret cover. Of all things, it’s the
one that puts him in the most danger. And the two people to whom he’s
offered it, despite his revenge and his scary scary father, are his
mother and Nana. GOD I LOVE THIS DRAMA.

Just before Sae-hee administers a sedative so she can operate for the
bullet, Nana tells Yoon-sung not to worry about her, because she’s
plucky like that. Honey, after this you won’t ever have to prove that
again, ever. Her hand extends from her side, and Yoon-sung takes it,
holding on as she goes under.
He keeps holding it while Nana sleeps after the procedure. He wonders
to Shik-joong, “What kind of person is she? Why is she so fearless? She
looks just like a normal woman, but she doesn’t stand back, and doesn’t
spare her health.”
Shik-joong mumbles sleepily, “It’s ’cause she’s strong. That’s how she’s lived like this all this time.”

Yoon-sung asks, “Will she live well…without me?” (I don’t know what
you’re thinking, but stop it! Right! Now!) What’s lovely about this
conversation is that Shik-joong is half-asleep, so he doesn’t read into
Yoon-sung’s words and just murmurs unthinkingly, “The living just keep
living. That’s what living is.”
Yoon-sung: “I don’t think I can do that anymore.” Do what? DO WHAT?!
You mean live without Nana, right? You mean forgo your happiness for the
sake of revenge, right??
Yoon-sung takes Nana home with him, since she won’t be safe at her
place. He tells her not to go to the Blue House, either, since Kim
Jong-shik will know where she works, and Shik-joong calls in sick for
her (citing an injured arm).

Nana asks Shik-joong why he lied all those years ago, and he tells
her regretfully that he caved to Kim Jong-shik’s threat to imprison him
on false charges. Asked how he knows Yoon-sung, he explains about
Yoon-sung saving his life in Thailand. He adds that he’d asked Yoon-sung
to look after Nana when he got to Korea, because he’d felt guilty all
these years.
Yoon-sung confirms that the money hasn’t moved, since the tracker he
snuck into the stash is still at Kim Jong-shik’s mansion. By his
calculations, there was a staggering 200 billion won in that room, which
translates to roughly $185 million. It also accounts for the missing
university funds that they’d been unable to trace.
Shik-joong settles back for some light reading (a home shopping
catalog!) and flicks the light switch, which doesn’t work. He gets up to
replace the bulb…and spots the bug planted there by Bad Daddy’s minion
Sang-gook.

(You know what’s a fantastic detail that really makes this moment for
me? The fact that the bug was planted while Shik-joong was distracted
with his home shopping fixation — and now it’s discovered because of it.
Awesome way to weave a minor point into the larger fabric of the show.
It’s what gives the drama texture.)
They realize where the bug must have come from, although Jin-pyo’s
already gleaned a lot of information from it, such as the fact that Nana
took a bullet for Yoon-sung (ahhhh, that will never stop being
satisfying to say), which suggests that they’re in “no ordinary
relationship.”

Yoon-sung arrives outside Dad’s lair all ready to burst in with
righteous indignation, but thankfully he catches Dad and Sang-gook’s
conversation in progress, which gives him pause.
Jin-pyo says that his warning not to fall in love has gone by the
wayside, so now “I’ll have to take care of Kim Nana. I’ll get rid of
her.” He then asks for an update on Kyung-hee’s whereabouts, and
Sang-gook reports that he’d searched hospitals far and wide, but turned
up nothing. Jin-pyo orders him to find her, “Before Yoon-sung finds out
she’s disappeared.”
Okay, so yes, it’s a little convenient that Yoon-sung happens to
eavesdrop on this crucial bit of information. I’ll admit it. Yet the
content of this eavesdropping is so awesome that I’m thrilled — this
drama doesn’t drag secrets out far past their expiration date, but
instead exposes them and twists them into something even more
interesting. On a regular basis. This explains the crack-like addiction.
Furthermore, I appreciate that Sang-gook is starting to show glimmers
of hesitation, as though even he’s uneasy with the extent of Jin-pyo’s
badassery. He asks hesitantly, “But telling her that Yoon-sung died —
isn’t that going too far?”

Jin-pyo shuts him up, saying, “When I stole Yoon-sung away from her, I’d already crossed a river I couldn’t turn back on.”
Stunned, Yoon-sung walks inside to face his father, and asks why he
lied that Mom abandoned him. Jin-pyo answers that Yoon-sung represents
his father to him, and that if he hadn’t stolen him away, Jin-pyo would
probably be living a normal life right now. But every time he felt the
desire for revenge ebbing, he’d look at Yoon-sung and be reminded of the
betrayal.
Jin-pyo’s selfish logic is completely warped, yet makes sense in his
own solipsistic, mad-for-revenge way. In his mind, the revenge has
become so paramount that everything else pales in comparison.

Yoon-sung isn’t buying his explanation, saying that Jin-pyo’s mission
has ruined his life. “I didn’t want to live like this! I will never,
ever forgive you for this.”
Jin-pyo reminds him that they have work to do, but Yoon-sung tells
him, “I will carry out my father’s revenge alone. You called this a war.
I won’t run from it.”
Jin-pyo: “Yoon-sung, you can’t beat me.” Yoon-sung: “No. You can’t beat me.” Ooooh. Them’s fightin’ words.
Yoon-sung warns Dad that if he touches Shik-joong, his mother, or
Nana, he’ll stake his life to fight back: “This is my last warning to
you, Father.” Jin-pyo actually chuckles as Yoon-sung stalks off: “But
you still call me Father.” Well, sure, if we’re going to argue semantics…

Yoon-sung arrives home as Nana is about to leave, and she tells him,
their backs turned to each other, that she’ll stay with Sae-hee. She’ll
return his borrowed shirt via mail, and she’ll disappear from his life,
per his request and her promise.
But everything’s changed now for him, and how refreshing is it that
he no longer has to keep Nana away to protect her. In fact, the reverse
is true. Yoon-sung grabs her wrist and asks, “Don’t go. Please. Don’t
go.”
Nana shakes off his hand and walks away anyway. He follows, and gently holds her to him.

Drinking alone, Jin-pyo relives his last moments with Mu-yeol in the
ocean massacre, and promises his friend to see the revenge through:
“Whatever gets in the way of that revenge, I’ll kill. Even if that’s
Yoon-sung.”
I love the way he says this with sadness, not wild-eyed ferocity, because he’s not actually insane,
or irrational. Maybe he’s just grieving, in his twisted way that
doesn’t allow him to see that he would be willing to kill Mu-yeol’s son
out of love for Mu-yeol, which is the very definition of defeating the
purpose.

Kim Jong-shik worries that the City Hunter saw his mountain of cash
and orders his man to recapture Nana and Bae Man-deok (Shik-joong), to
lure the City Hunter. Too bad one of them is off the grid, and one is a
Secret Service agent, which complicates matters.
Yoon-sung tends to Nana’s shoulder, and she asks about his life back
in Thailand, wondering if he had friends there. I love that their old
camaraderie is back, now that they’ve smashed the whole
I’m-being-a-dick-to-protect-you facade. He cheerily describes someone
there who was like Nana — who was also strong, ate well, “and enjoyed
whenever I touched [her].” Nana blusters that she’s not all about the
skinship — well, maybe except now, but that’s only because of the
injury, uh huh.

Yoon-sung warns Nana to keep out of his business, but she asks to be
included in his mission against Kim Jong-shik, “Because he’s my enemy,
too.” He’s prepared to argue, but she shuts him up with the simple, “I
won’t leave you to do dangerous things alone anymore.” Gotta love a girl
who’s as intent on protecting her man as he is about protecting her.
She backs off a bit by offering to find Kyung-hee while he works on
Kim Jong-shik. It’s great how quickly she takes to this line of work,
instructing him to hack into the hospital networks so she can start
looking. She finally wears him down by pointedly picking up the tonic
bottle Kyung-hee had given him, saying she misses her too.
Giving in, Yoon-sung pulls up a chair for her and shows Nana the list
he’s compiled. The image below totally makes me happy, with Nana proud
to join in as part of his mission.

At the Blue House, Eun-ah smells something fishy about the timing of
Yoon-sung’s resignation and Nana’s injury, wondering if they’re playing
hooky together. Eun-ah has always sensed something in the way he looked
over during Da-hae sessions. Unless…he’s interested in HER! Ha. So
close, and yet so far.
The IT chief asks Ki-joon and Eun-ah to help convince Yoon-sung to
return to work, so the trio heads to Yoon-sung’s personal castle with
mouths agape at the grandeur. (Nana scrambles to hide, lest she blow
their cover.)

Evidence of Yoon-sung’s riches means the boss can’t exactly appeal to
his need for a salary, so he asks Yoon-sung to come back as patriotic
service. But Yoon-sung is firm about not changing his mind.
Hilariously, Shik-joong is smitten with Eun-ah at first sight, which
is all the funnier since she’s thinking Yoon-sung’s into her. She offers
to replace Nana in judo practice and go easy on him (getting Ki-joon’s
hackles up), then flounces off to give herself a tour of his place.
Yoon-sung jumps up to stop her, since Nana’s hiding upstairs, and dives
to cover her from view. And then gives Nana a cheeky wink, gah.

Shik-joong sends off the trio with some homemade food, giving the men
a small box and Eun-ah a huge one. (I do wonder if there’ll be any
complication with the fact that Shik-joong called in for Nana as her
uncle, and is introduced here as Yoon-sung’s uncle… Or maybe “uncle” is
just his default cover.)
Jin-pyo knows Yoon-sung has bugged the money, and readies to steal it
once it’s on the move so he can send it to to the prosecutor — but it’s
not surprising that his primary motivation isn’t a sense of justice.
Instead, he does it because he’s anticipating the entertainment factor
of watching the fallout — will idealistic Young-ju prosecute his father,
or protect him? “This should be fun,” he says.

Nana listens as Yoon-sung and Shik-joong discuss the likelihood of
the money being transported within the next day. She’s still fuzzy on
the details of this whole City Hunter operation, and asks whether Dad
knows his secret identity. And why Jin-pyo doesn’t live with Mom
Kyung-hee.
That’s a whole kettle of fish they aren’t inclined to get into right
now, so Shik-joong merely says that Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung are having a
“difference of opinion.” Nana’s sharp enough to suppose that such a
“difference” equates to Dad offing Lee Kyung-wan.
Students stage another sit-in regarding the forfeited tuition
promise, and Kim Jong-shik walks in to address them in his (falsely)
earnest way. He says that he feels their pain, and is doing what he can
to find more funding support, asking them to end the demonstration. But
the leader, while thankful for the offer, says that they must see that
the promise is honored.

Kim Jong-shik accepts that decision graciously and wishes them well,
bowing deeply. But as he walks out, he sneers that they dare quibble
over that measly money, in light of the school’s reputation as the top
university in the country? If those students drop out, there are
students for miles who’d be happy to enroll, AND pay full tuition.
In his paranoia (well, maybe it’s not paranoia if his fears are
founded), Kim Jong-shik calls techs in for daily sweeps of his office,
searching for wiretaps and hidden cameras. Kim is so nervous that he
orders all phone and internet access cut off in his office.
Yoon-sung scopes out the situation from the lobby (“reading” a book titled Romance Novel, haha), deducing that Kim is readying to move his stash.

Kim is also fighting a toothache, and heads to the dentist for an
appointment. One step ahead of him, Yoon-sung precedes him to the
dentist’s office and delivers supplies, which then get implanted in Kim’s tooth. Hee!
Kyung-hee turns up in a monastery some distance away, but she decides
to head back to Seoul to take care of something. She’s managed to
remain hidden, and the prosecutors are likewise unable to locate her.
Young-ju tries to look up Mu-yeol’s records, but finds that they don’t
exist and wonders if they’d been purged.
Nana asks Yoon-sung to pick up her clothes from Sae-hee’s clinic,
where she left her luggage. Once there, he sees Sae-hee being questioned
by a minion and remains out of sight as she lies, saying she doesn’t
know anything about Nana.
Shopping time! Yoon-sung starts out by asking the saleswoman for some
“comfortable clothes to wear around the house,” but a dress catches his
eye, and another, and another, until he’s cleaned out the racks. But he
can’t give a sincere compliment to save his dorky hide, so he tells
Nana that he bought things to hide her lack of a figure, ha.

But Nana’s on to him now, and smiles that he’s like her Daddy Long
Legs. Which reminds her of her actual Daddy Long Legs, and she reveals
that it’s Young-ju. She asks if they can go to him for help, still
unaware of the Daddy-Son relationship, and Yoon-sung barks at her to
remember that the prosecutor is on his tail. (He calls her Gom Nana, a
play on her name which means “Bear Nana” and refers to her denseness.
But I think I’ll call her Nana Bear instead, ’cause that’s just
ridiculous and adorable.)
Shik-joong offers Nana some nifty (home-shopped?) shampoo, but she
says she can’t shower because of her shoulder. He offers to wash her
hair for her, and Yoon-sung immediately overreacts, jumping up in
protest. Shik-joong: “Then you do it!” Yoon-sung: “I will!” Cute cute
cute.
He washes her hair for her, taking his time and being gentle, which
has got to be one of the sweetest romantic gestures ever. Nana playfully
flicks suds at him (prompting another “Nana Bear” exclamation) and they
engage in a play-fight.

Then it’s time to listen in on the bug implanted in Kim Jong-shik’s
tooth, as he takes a meeting with a prospective donor. Who is…Kyung-hee?
Eek! She’s here to hand over the funds Jin-pyo had sent her over the
years, now that she believes she has no son left living and is not long
for this world. She tells Kim to use it to help the troubled students to
continue their eduction. The amount: 1 billion won, which is just under
$1 million.
As soon as he realizes it’s his mother, Yoon-sung runs out.

Kim Jong-shik smirks at this easy get, because Kyung-hee’s request to
remain anonymous works out perfectly for his desire to pocket the
funds. He can leave it unreported and just enjoy the spoils. You
bastard!
Yoon-sung arrives at the school and passes by his mother, who’s
hidden in a group of students. Noooooo! Turn around! He does, but a
split second too late, and returns home in dejected spirits. His team
reads his disappointment clearly, and Shik-joong confides to Nana that
Yoon-sung had snapped when his surrogate mother died in Thailand. Nana
asks for an explanation, but he tells her to hear it from Yoon-sung
directly.
Kim Jong-shik wastes no time spending his money, taking his wife
shopping for expensive bags and clothes. Posing as a shopper, Yoon-sung
follows him along and overhears him confirming his plans to move the
money tomorrow.

Young-ju goes over the university account records, finding
discrepancies between the actual numbers and the recorded ones. There’s
200 billion that’s unaccounted for, and that suggests the possibility of
a slush fund.
With that suspicion bouncing around in his head, Young-ju drops by to
see his father — and finds him busily boxing up his money. My, isn’t
that a satisfying “Oh shit” look on Kim’s face when his son calls out to
him, looking stunned and disillusioned. Also furious.

Upset but also pleading, Young-ju says he doesn’t want his father to
turn out like Lee Kyung-wan or Seo Yong-hak, and tells him that it’s
still not too late. He gives him two options: “Return this money to the
school, or turn yourself in.”
Dad says no, actually using “Everyone else does it” as his defense.
What’s so wrong about him doing it too? If your friends all jumped off a
bridge…
Young-ju replies with all earnestness, “Because it’s the law. Because
it should be upheld. Because there are people who are hurt by your
greed. I beg of you, please return to the father I respected. Please.”

Dad sighs that he’s come too far to turn back, but adds that his son is a prosecutor, and “You have to do what you have to do.”
Aw, I love this. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s another intra-family
declaration of war, even as both parties acknowledge that they love each
other. But not enough to back down — one believes in the value of
justice, and the other can’t give up his selfish greed. Dad had wanted
to preserve both his power and his son’s respect, but when push comes to
shove, he chooses power.
Young-ju stalks out. Yoon-sung listens on the other end — having sent
Nana away purposely to avoid this discovery — and muses, “Prosecutor
Kim Young-ju, your dilemma has begun.” That’s a mild way to put it.
And then, D-Day.

Team City Hunter follows the tracker to the prepping grounds for the
money move, which has been loaded onto a freight truck. Yoon-sung
declares that they’ll have to return the money to the honest people who
sweat blood and tears to earn it, and warns his team that Jin-pyo will
be on their tail the moment they take the money: “No matter what, we
have to protect it.”
The plan swings into motion, and it’s so genius-simple that I love
it. Yoon-sung strolls over to the van and tosses some kind of teargas
bomb inside, and when the window rolls down, he elbows the driver in the
face. Then Shik-joong strolls over to the freighter and knocks on its
window. When the driver rolls down the window, he tosses another bomb
inside.
The driver jumps out quickly, and Nana steps in, flipping the guy to
the ground — she’s only got one good arm, but the arm sure is good. It
makes the guys gape in wonder, cutely.

Yoon-sung commandeers the truck, with Shik-joong and Nana in the car
behind him. He’s soon joined on the road by Jin-pyo and Sang-gook, who
pull up alongside them, and Yoon-sung begins Phase 2.
That means Shik-joong and Nana drive between the truck and Jin-pyo’s
car, running interference and allowing Yoon-sung to speed up and drive
on. Dad’s car tries to overtake the lead, but Shik-joong swerves back
and forth to remain in front, and both cars get stuck at an intersection
when the light turns red.
Dad catches up soon, overtakes the truck, and stops in the middle of
the road — a direct echo of Yoon-sung’s own move in Episode 4. Eee, I
love the parallel! But Yoon-sung isn’t his father, and may not have the
balls (steel though they may be) to actually run him over.

And sure enough, he screeches to a halt just a few feet shy of collision.
Yoon-sung gets out and faces Dad, who tells him he’ll be taking the
money, thanks. Yoon-sung intends to return the money to their sources,
and then continue his Kim Jong-shik revenge.
Jin-pyo: “And then you’ll fight me?” Yoon-sung: “I warned you, didn’t I?”
Dad whips out his cane and whacks Yoon-sung with it, bringing him to
his knees. Yoon-sung won’t hit him, so Dad challenges him to fight back,
saying, “War means needing to win no matter who your opponent is.”

Jin-pyo gets into the truck and drives off, leaving Yoon-sung
stranded in the road alone. He’s down, but not out — because when Dad
pulls over a short distance later, he finds the truck empty. Muahaha!
Even Jin-pyo has to laugh, impressed even as he scowls, “Yoon-sung dares to fool me?”
Kim Jong-shik is much less amused (as in, not at all) and flips his
lid when he hears the money has been stolen. Panic, rage, shock.

Shik-joong swaps out the license plates on his truck, applauding
Yoon-sung’s forethought in procuring the exact same truck to act as
decoy. With that, Team City Hunter gets down to business, boxing up
money to mail back to the appropriate students. The accompanying note
states that the City Hunter is returning funds hoarded by the university
chairman for his personal use, in order to honor the tuition promise.
An interesting aside: One of the demonstrators is the bitchy girl
from the previous episode, whom Yoon-sung had chided for her bad
attitude. She’s the only one of the demonstrators who hasn’t received a
package from the City Hunter, and wonders why.

Feeling celebratory, Shik-joong sends Yoon-sung and Nana to the
supermarket for party ingredients. Shopping for groceries is such a
delightfully mundane, domestic activity that it never ceases to put a
smile on my face, especially when the sample lady refers to Yoon-sung as
Nana’s husband and he smiles adorably in response.
As they’re heading to the parking lot, however, a cart knocks into
theirs, and Nana darts forward to retrieve fallen tomatoes. Which is
when the automatic sliding doors slam shut, separating the two, and the
lights cut out. OH NO.
A motorcyclist speeds into the darkened garage, heading directly for them. Jin-pyo.


COMMENTS
I didn’t really think Nana would die, but there was enough
uncertainty to make me mighty uneasy for a good half-day. I doubted this
drama would go that dark, but thematically speaking, it would have
worked wonderfully with the direction the story is taking. Thus far,
Yoon-sung is the voice of justice (and reason), while Jin-pyo is driven
by bloodlust. Killing Nana would have spurred Yoon-sung to revengey
thoughts, and driven him close to — or over — the edge, much as he’d
lost it when his surrogate mother was killed in Thailand. That means
this not only becomes a son-vs-father battle, and a
City-Hunter-vs-baddies-vs-The-Law battle — but a Yoon-sung-vs-himself
battle, in which he fights to claim himself from the dark side. How
great would that be?
Plus! Could you imagine the additional angst of Young-ju finding out
that his father not only killed Nana’s mother, but also Nana? I would
have been massively impressed had they gone that route, definitely.
On the other hand, I want SO BADLY for Yoon-sung to be happy, and I
can’t see him ever being light and free without Nana by his side. So I’m
not terribly disappointed, even though I still think it would’ve been
an awesome way to go. Even if it would have broken my heart.
You know, I don’t want City Hunter to be extended, per se —
I’ll take one if they give it to us, but that’s not what I mean when I
say I want more, more, MOAR. I want them to wrap up this season as
planned, then take some time to plot out a Season 2 with a new arc and a
new set of character development issues, and see that complete story
through as badassedly as they did this one.

Which, I think, is entirely feasible, possible, and desirable given
that this season — imma call it Season 1 because I blindly refuse to
give up the idea of a Season 2 — is really an origin story. It isn’t
really until this episode that we have the assembly of our City Hunter
Scooby gang, and with it now in place, I can totally see this structure
playing out over multiple seasons, like Buffy or Angel.
Extending it into more seasons would also bring us closer to the
original story, though I’ve long since stopped worrying about the manga
ties as a requisite for enjoying this one. Consider that this season
establishes Yoon-sung’s playboy alter ego, as well as setting him up for
the Girl Friday relationship he has with his sidekick, and introduces
the XYZ code as a call for help. The Blue House stuff was an invention
of the K-drama, and it’s what gets our hero here at the beginning of his
journey — but from this point on, we could even drop it and not lose
anything. In future stories, all we’d need is a new Big Bad for the
season, broken down into smaller Bads per this season’s five targets, to
keep up the steady buildup-and-payoff rhythm we’ve established.
‘Cause really, this is a sustainable premise. I’m loving this team,
and the characters, and the possibilities that this world has created.
It would kill me a little to know they won’t get to realize the full
gamut of stories built into the world.
Ahhhhh Season 2, where are you??

President Choi walks up and hands Yoon-sung the volume that he’s
looking for, containing his father’s picture from his days as a secret
service agent. Yoon-sung quickly covers up his interest in the book and
says he was just browsing at random.
The president asks for some help uploading a picture onto his blog.
(How cute is it that he has a blog?) Yoon-sung notes the piles of work
he’s got sitting on his desk, and is surprised to hear him say that he
strives to keep up with current affairs without having to add to anyone
else’s workload.
He cites a very simple, down-home adage that when you give someone
more work, you must give more pay. Basically it’s a shorthand to mean
that he understands the plight of the average worker, which again
separates him from his Council of Five cohorts.

He mentions his son and then frets about youngest daughter Da-hae.
Yoon-sung promises to stop by the coffee shop and check in on her. Aw.
He’s obviously taken a strong liking to Yoon-sung for various reasons,
and invites him to the presidential luncheon later that day.
Mom sends Nana a care package with a hand-stitched handkerchief
inside, asking her to come visit and to take care of herself. Nana
cheerfully tells her that she’ll come by, hiding her heartbreak.
Target No. 4 Chun Jae-man meets with Jin-pyo and they both play the
I-know-what-you’re-up-to game. Jin-pyo tells him that he’s had a recent
break-in and something valuable went missing, and Chun very graciously
offers to recommend a good security system. Ha.

Chun then comes out and says that he lied before about those men in
’83 – that they were really on a government mission, and died in the
field. He admits to lying to draw out the City Hunter, because he’s got
the one document to clear up the lie in his possession, and he’s sure
the City Hunter will come to collect. Wow, this guy’s no idiot. (This is
all of course based on his misunderstanding that the City Hunter is
sitting right in front of him.)
Jin-pyo laughs it off and says that the only thing he’s interested in
is money. Chun certainly plans to take advantage of that, despite who
he thinks Jin-pyo is. I love that both of these guys think they’re
outsmarting the other, and I’m not even sure which side is winning right
now.
Chun pointedly says that it’s time someone of his stature meets the
president, and invites him to the Blue House luncheon. Oh this should be
interesting. As soon as he leaves and Mr. Creepy enters, he reveals his
plan to take the rest of Jin-pyo’s money and then kill him quietly.

People start arriving at the Blue House for the luncheon and Da-hae
clings to Yoon-sung, asking him to come along. He doesn’t intend to,
despite the president’s invitation, that is until he sees Dad arriving
with Chun Jae-man.
The president enters the room with Nana at his side and starts
greeting each guest individually with a handshake, until he reaches for
Chun Jae-man’s hand, and stops in midair….

He locks eyes with Jin-pyo, standing right in front of him. Huck! He
looks like he’s seen a ghost, and Jin-pyo smiles at him with that creepy
badass smile of his. “It’s nice to meet you, President Choi. Eun.
Chan.” Eeee! He says nothing in return, but his eyes betray stress,
worry, fear.
Nana is startled to see Yoon-sung’s dad, and he notes her presence with an evil smile. No. Nonononononono.
The president gives a short speech, all the while focused on
Jin-pyo’s gaze, and neither of them notice Yoon-sung, who arrives late
with Da-hae. He sits and observes quietly. Gah. President Choi, Chun
Jae-man, Dad, Nana, Yoon-sung… this is the tensest lunch ever.

As soon as lunch starts, Jin-pyo puts down his cane, and a whirring
noise startles the entire room. Nobody can tell where it’s coming from,
and the agents all scramble. The noise grows closer and louder and
louder…
And then POP! as Nana jumps in front of the president to shield him.
Dude, you can say what you want about Nana, but a girl who jumps in front of an oncoming bullet/unidentified flying object is just hardcore, yo.

Luckily it’s something like a paint gun pellet, which just explodes
some pink splatter and does no harm. Everyone freezes in fear, except
for one man, Jin-pyo, who EATS HIS STEAK with a smile. Hahaha. It’s a
similar effect to having everyone in a crowd turn in one direction,
while one man stares directly at his target. Only with steak.
Yoon-sung can do nothing but watch as Nana jumps in the path of the
attack. The agents safeguard the president and Nana sees that he has
some of the paint on his suit. She hands him Kyung-hee’s handkerchief…
which he recognizes at first glance.
It makes him look up at Jin-pyo, who’s still enjoying his steak with aplomb.
Outside, Yoon-sung tells Dad that Nana is nothing to him now, and he
needn’t put himself at risk to mess with her. He asks who Target No. 5
is, since Dad must’ve read the confidential file before it was stolen.

Dad simply tells him that there’s an order to things – they have yet to get Chun Jae-man. You forgot to add: before I make you ruin/kill your real father. Oh, this is going to be very bad. Very bad.
The president later stops Nana to ask where she got that
handkerchief, wondering if it’s maybe someone he knows. She tells him
that it’s unlikely, since it was just a gift from an ajumma she knows.
He lets it go and returns it to her, but then goes to his desk and
takes out his own identical handkerchief, holding it with a sigh. Man,
is he still in love with her on top of it all?
Nana calls Mom to ask if she can tell the president about her,
because he asked about the handkerchief. Mom quickly says no, feigning
modesty, and tells Nana not to say anything about her. She agrees, but
notes her reaction curiously.
Mom goes for a walk in the hospital and nearly crosses paths with
Chun Jae-man. She sees him down the hall and immediately hides out of
sight, pulse racing in fear.

She flashes back to the day she found out she was pregnant with
Yoon-sung. She exits the clinic and Chun is standing there waiting for
her. He tells her to abort the baby, and she refuses, insisting that she
will raise the child herself. He throws money at her and threatens her
with her life.
He tells her that Choi Eun-chan is his dearest friend, and he’s not
going to let him leave his family and throw away his future just for a
woman who works in a bar. Ooooh, interesting. So he really did love her
enough to consider throwing it all away.
But wait… if he loved her… okay, this is getting downright old school
biblical. It’s like David and Uriah. He was the king who loved a
married woman, got her pregnant, and then sent her husband away to
battle knowing he’d die. So that he could have her. EVIL.
I thought the fact that the prez was Yoon-sung’s father was twisted
enough, but if you think of it this way, it’s fucking WRONG as all get
out.

Back in the present, Jin-pyo clutches a photo of him and Mu-yeol, and
talks to his friend. It turns out that Mu-yeol did know that Yoon-sung
wasn’t his child, but chose to raise him anyway as his own. Aw. How is
it that the only really good guy in this drama died in the first
episode?
Jin-pyo asks if he can understand him for raising Yoon-sung the way
he did. “But even if you can’t understand me, I can’t stop this
revenge.”
Now it makes me wonder – if Yoon-sung HAD been Mu-yeol’s biological
son, would Jin-pyo have raised him so cruelly? If he were really his
brother’s blood, would that have changed everything?

Shik-joong Ajusshi comes to visit Mom and introduces himself, and
then gives her a present from Yoon-sung. It’s the framed photo of his
not-dad, Mu-yeol. She takes it and then gives him another of her
hand-stitched handkerchiefs to give to her son. Oh dear. You might as
well put up a neon sign: Birth Secret Here.
Yoon-sung can’t get his mind off of Nana throwing herself in harm’s
way, and then Ki-joon comes in, blubbering (thinking of Eun-ah) and
voicing his fears out loud. He watches her walk by but all he can do is
worry silently and brood.
Nana washes out her paint-stained clothes and sighs as she thinks of
Yoon-sung’s words, asking her to be the one to walk away from him.

The president sits alone in a darkened movie theater, and Jin-pyo
arrives to meet him. He says that he’ll reveal the truth and tell the
world that Chun was lying about Operation Clean Sweep.
Jin-pyo: “You may have covered it up the way you wanted, but you
can’t reveal things the way you want. They loved their country more than
anyone. I’ve spent twenty-eight years sleeping to the sound of their
cries, dreaming of this revenge. We’re so close. If you reveal it now,
it won’t taste any good, like flat beer.”
They speak to each other in banmal, and the president calls Jin-pyo
by first name alone. He asks what he gains from going this far. Jin-pyo
tells him that he tried to forget, even understand. But watching their
actions, he realized that his men had died like dogs, for nothing.
He gets up to go, and President Choi asks why he took Kyung-hee’s
child. Whoa. That’s right — way back when he went to see Kyung-hee, she
told him that Jin-pyo ran off with her son. So he actually has all the
requisite knowledge…if he connects Yoon-sung to Jin-pyo, then game over.
Jin-pyo says nothing and walks out.

Young-ju continues to investigate Chun, and finds that his entire
empire is an inflated house of cards – Haewon is basically a
conglomerate where he builds up the value of each subsidiary by using
the others to invest in and therefore inflate the other’s worth. It’s
like using credit to mortgage credit. Sound familiar, AMERICA?
Ahem, anyway, his boss comes in and yells at him for refusing to give
up on the case, and tells him that he’s been demoted by the higher-ups.
Just then, his staff arrives with a letter from the City Hunter.
He succeeds in wrangling the file from them over his boss’s protests,
and finds the discarded files on Haewon’s chemical waste and a copy of
the contract that Chun attempted to get the cancer patients to sign.

Yoon-sung stops by Da-hae’s coffee shop and she brings him a latte
with a heart on it, which he rejects: “I gave up coffee.” Aw, why does
that break my heart? It basically means ‘I gave up Kim Nana,’ which
makes me wail.
He is nonetheless surprised to see her working hard, having expected
her to quit after the first day. She tells him that she wants to make
her dad proud, and worry less about her. Yoon-sung acknowledges that as
the first sign she’s ever shown of growing up, and then oh-so-causally
asks after Nana.
But they’re interrupted when Young-ju walks right up and sits down at
his table. Should I be concerned, City Hunter, that the prosecutor
seems to find your whereabouts so easily?

Yoon-sung: “Are you a stalker? I’m getting a little tired of it.”
Young-ju just says he’s here to drink coffee. And stare at your pretty
face? You know, pretty-to-pretty?
Da-hae eyes him warily but when the people behind her knock her down
by accident, Young-ju jumps up to help her tenderly, while Yoon-sung
chides her for being clumsy. She takes one look at Young-ju and switches
teams, handing him Yoon-sung’s coffee. Ha.
Yoon-sung watches her with a peeved look. “You said that’s MY coffee.
That’s my coffee! Why are you giving that person my coffee?” Da-hae:
“You said you gave up coffee.” HEE. Hee hee hee. Your pettiness amuses
me to no end.

Young-ju sits down and tells him about his curious findings, namely
concerning Yoon-sung’s interest in Steve Lee, and Steve Lee’s investment
in Haewon. He says that Hae-won is like a carefully stacked tower, only
most of the parts are worthless. Everything is held together by one
linchpin: Haewon Construction.
And who should be listed as the head of that company, but Steve Lee?
He illustrates with the tower of blocks on the table—if you pull out the
core, Haewon Construction, everything else falls down. He guesses that
this is what Steve Lee is after. Yoon-sung just scoffs and walks out.
Nana arrives, just missing Yoon-sung by a second, and stiffens at the
sight of Young-ju. She asks Da-hae to hurry with her coffee and
Young-ju sees her look away from him.
She brings the coffee back to the Blue House and gives it to
President Choi, so that he can taste his daughter’s coffee. Aw, that’s
so cute of you to do. He’s adorably happy about it and drinks with a big
smile.

Young-ju waits for Nana until she leaves work, and stops her to say
that he’s sorry, that he knows these words aren’t important, but that
he’s genuinely sorry. She tells him that it’s not his fault, and that
she knows how much it must’ve weighed on him, and why he became her
Daddy Long Legs, which she’s thankful for.

Nana: But I can’t forget… the words that
Kim Jong-shik said about my parents – that he was relieved that they
died and became a vegetable. How a person could be so shameless, so
cruel. I’m grateful to you, but when I think about your father, I don’t
know what I’m supposed to do.
Young-ju: I’m sorry.

He raises his hand up to her shoulder timidly as she cries.

Nana shows up at Sae-hee’s clinic with a bag of soju and snacks,
looking for a friend. She sighs that even her Daddy Long Legs isn’t her
Daddy Long Legs, declaring Sae-hee the only friend she can talk to
freely.
Sae-hee realizes that she knows about Young-ju and his father, and
Nana guesses that she must’ve seen the news. Sae-hee takes a shot for
courage and begins: “I didn’t mean to fool you… but I’ve known for a
long time.”
Nana asks how and Sae-hee finally tells her: “Kim Young-ju is my
ex-husband.” Finally! But gah, Nana’s face when she realizes that every
single person in her life has lied to her? It’s crushing. I’d almost
rather her keep lying, just for tonight when she needed a friend. Okay,
fine I would’ve railed against her if she hadn’t outed herself, but my
heart breaks for Nana, who feels so alone.

Yoon-sung sits at home brooding over the ring and his bullet
necklace, when Sae-hee calls. He comes rushing over and she tells him
that Nana drank until she passed out, saying that she had no one else to
talk to freely. She asks if something happened.
He sighs to see her clearly hurting so much and then carries her out,
literally walking her all the way home in his arms. It’s totally
impractical but really sweet. He lays her down in her bed and watches
her sleep for a while.

Yoon-sung: What made you drink? Because
of me? I seem like an idiot right? I told you to let me go, and I can’t
stand it. I can’t give you up to some other guy. But then I can’t keep
you by my side either. Kim Nana, don’t be in pain.

He sweeps the hair out of her face and then leaves. Don’t be in pain?
You’re freakin’ kidding me, right? Says the guy holding the knife
through her heart? Yeesh. She hears him leave and opens her eyes, having
heard the whole thing.
The president meets with Chun Jae-man to warn him that he’s going to
tell the world the truth about what happened in ’83. Chun just scoffs
that the president has gotten cowardly in his old age, answering to
silly pranks.
He asks what Chun was doing there with Lee Jin-pyo, and Chun pretends
not to know what he means, saying that Steve Lee is the CEO of Haewon
Construction, and he was merely there as a business associate.

Chun thinks he ought to concern himself more presidential matters,
such as helping to privatize health care. President Choi declares that
it will never happen during his term, because not protecting its
citizens’ health is the first sign of a nation’s collapse. He points out
that the country’s health care system is what’s protecting the people
who got sick at Haewon Labs.
Chun declares that the young should stop having to take care of the
elderly (oh my god, you really ARE the devil) and mentions prosecutor
Young-ju as being a particular thorn in their side with his constant
digging into Operation Clean Sweep. He thinks they should neutralize him
first.
President Choi: “Sacrificing the young to save ourselves… once was
enough. Don’t lay a hand on Prosecutor Kim Young-ju.” He declares that
he’s going to out the truth himself.

Young-ju packs up his stuff for his demotion and relocation, finally
defeated and let down by the one thing he put all his faith into—the
system of the law. His colleagues stand by unable to help, declaring
that their fates were sealed the second they touched Chun Jae-man.
Young-ju walks out of the prosecutor’s office with heavy steps, and
gets in his car to drive away. Suddenly, a hand reaches into his window
and grabs the steering wheel. It’s his boss: “What kind of back [power,
pull] do you have?”
He tells him that he’s not only been reinstated, but is back on the
City Hunter and Chun Jae-man cases. Young-ju breaks out into this
adorable little boy grin. Aw, it makes me so happy to see him get his
job back. I’ve never seen someone so happy to go to work before.

It’s the president’s doing, of course, and Yoon-sung happens to
witness his call to the prosecutor’s office to make it happen. I like
that despite Young-ju being a constant thorn in his side too, he seems
happy about the reinstatement. In the very least, Young-ju is the only
prosecutor he can trust to deliver his targets to. Yunno, petty rivalry
aside.
Yoon-sung resumes his computer lessons with the president, and seeing
him dote on Da-hae, he says, “You seem like a good father.” Oof. That’s
gonna hurt later. The president tells him that his must be the good
father, since he raised him so well. That’s gonna hurt too. Worse when
you find out said father groomed him to kill you.
Sang-gook leaks more information to Yoon-sung because he doesn’t
trust or understand Jin-pyo anymore. He seems to be focusing all his
energy into investments and political bribes, when he could simply have
taken the Operation Clean Sweep document public when he still had it.

Yoon-sung knows better and tells him that Dad is not one to care in
the least about money. No, he’s got a bigger plan in mind. He takes a
look at Dad’s schedule for the next few days and notes his meeting at
Haewon hospital with two senators later that night.
At the same time, Chun Jae-man gets an alarming call from the bank.
Steve Lee has pulled his investment in Haewon Construction, essentially
cashing out against the company’s worth – 30 million won in one blow.
Chun needs to come up with the cash that day or Haewon Construction goes
into phase one of bankruptcy.
And just like that, Young-ju’s prophecy begins to come true.

Chun flips to realize that Jin-pyo’s motive isn’t greed but simply to
ruin him, though when Jin-pyo arrives for their meeting, he puts a
smile back on his face. They meet with two senators to grease the wheels
on the healthcare bill, and Jin-pyo adds that they left a little
something in their lockers.
Chun’s face turns to stone and Jin-pyo smiles devilishly, enacting
his plan to spread his dirty money to every rotted corner of this web.

Yon-sung shows up and heads straight for the lockers and opens one,
but a henchman arrives before he can look inside. What commences is this
awesome sequence where all Yoon-sung does is hide from the guy, but he
does so behind a row of free-standing mirrors, which serve to block him
from the guy’s view, but reveal him to us in the reflection.
Basically it’s totally badass while being low-tech. I love stuff like
this. It’s visually tricksy but not overly flashy. Just using mirrors
to put two people in the same frame, but out of each other’s line of
sight.
He makes his way around and then knocks the guy out with a swift couple of blows, and checks the locker. But it’s already empty.

Young-ju arrives, also curious about Chun Jae-man and Jin-pyo’s
constant meetings with senators and other officials, convinced that they
must be lobbying. He notices the sleeping guards on his way in,
immediately cluing him into the City Hunter’s presence there.
He works his way around the locker room, but all he finds is the
henchman’s unconscious body. He calls Ki-joon at the Blue House to ask
if Yoon-sung is there, and receives confirmation that he’s out of the
office.
Jin-pyo alerts the senators that he’s put their “presents” in their
cars, to be safe from prying eyes. He assures Sang-gook that this is all
for a greater purpose and gives him the rest of the day off for his
mother’s memorial.
Sang-gook receives a phone call from Sir Creeps-a-lot posing as the
gas company (dude, get a new routine), alerting him to a leak at
Jin-pyo’s compound. Jin-pyo says he’ll see to it himself and sends
Sang-gook on his way. Ruh-roh. Not the day to give your lackey time off.

Young-ju waits outside the Blue House, totally high on a City
Hunter-catching crusade. He asks Yoon-sung’s coworkers if anything about
Yoon-sung seems out of the ordinary, but his boss confirms that he just
got a call about Yoon-sung’s immaculate presentation at a work
conference, and Ki-joon calls him a huh-dang, a rather helpless fool despite the look of him.
Just then, Yoon-sung pulls up to the parking lot while talking to
Sang-gook on the phone. He walks up and Young-ju stops him, just as
Sang-gook tells him that Jin-pyo went back home to check on a gas leak.
Yoon-sung stops cold, flashing back to Young-ju’s
gas-leak-as-assassination-attempt, orchestrated by Mr. Creepy. But
Young-ju is a dog with a bone and he is in no mood to let up today.

He turns to go back but Young-ju grabs his arm, taunting him with
questions about his whereabouts and whispering that he’ll out his
identity as the City Hunter if he leaves now. Gah, I know you’re all
excited to get your job back, but can you get up in his grill some other
time when he doesn’t have a daddy to save?
Yoon-sung thinks quickly and tosses out, “I have to ditch work to go
meet my girlfriend. Will you help me out?” But Young-ju isn’t buying it
today. Yoon-sung turns to go anyway and Young-ju grabs him by the
shoulder.
It’s just enough to make him snap, and he pulls Young-ju over his
shoulder, slamming him to the ground swiftly. At least it’s the move
that Nana taught him? He rushes off, and somebody’s car keys lie smashed
on the ground in the process, though if it’s something more I can’t
tell by looking at it.
His coworkers marvel that he’s gotten much better at judo, while
Nana’s boss notes the event curiously. Young-ju smiles, knowing he’s
close to blowing Yoon-sung’s cover once and for all.

Jin-pyo arrives home to find himself surrounded by a team of
pipe-wielding minions, led of course by the Gas Man. He puts up a good
fight for a while, but fierce as he is, even Jin-pyo is no match for the
number of men he’s up against.
They beat him down to the ground over and over, as he struggles to
stay up. Wah, I know Evil Daddy is evil, but HURRY UP AND SAVE HIM!
Creepy looms over him and takes out his knife. He sticks it up to his throat with a sickening smile…

Yoon-sung bursts in (FINALLY!) and fights his way over to Dad. Oh thank GAWD for the hero’s unending daddy love. I’m a nervous wreck over here.
They stand back to back, ready to take on the baddies.


COMMENTS
It’s strangely really hard to see Jin-pyo beaten down like this,
because I’m so used to Dad always being ahead, always in control. He’s
not a sympathetic character, and yet the thought of anyone except
Yoon-sung getting the best of him drives me crazy. Also, I’m okay with
him dying eventually if it’s for the right reasons, but death-by-Creepy
is certainly not one of them.
Truth be told, Yoon-sung’s daddy relationship with Jin-pyo is still
far more interesting to me than his bloodline to the president. Yes,
that one is twisted fate, big tragedy, and thematically perfect in
setting up Yoon-sung’s empty revenge for his Father-with-a-capital-F (as
in idea of, since Mu-yeol was never a father to him in a personal way).

But Jin-pyo is still, for all his faults, Yoon-sung’s father, and the one he’d jump into fire to save.
If it were simply one birth secret hanging in the balance, it’d be an
unimaginative, rather common third act. But with three fathers, one a
ghost and the catalyst for revenge, the other who ordered his death
thereby rendering his child TWICE fatherless (think about that for a
second), and then the third who raises him in the mirror image of the
truth, so that he avenges one father with the death of the other?
I mean seriously. I don’t know if it’s an ode to patriarchy or a
death note to it. Is it wrong if I still want Jin-pyo to be Dad in the
end? Even if he dies? For once I want a drama to say, “blood is not the
end all be all.” Sigh. What’s a hero gotta do for some fatherly love
around here?

Jin-pyo gets ambushed at home by eight of Chun’s minions, a number
too large to fend off single-handedly even for a man of his badassery.
As girlfriday noted, there’s something so strangely sad about seeing
Jin-pyo knocked to the ground, fumbling for his cane, and having it
kicked out of his hand. He’s Bad Daddy! He’s the all-knowing,
ten-steps-ahead-of-everybody mastermind! It’s dissonant and weird, like
coming to the moment in your adulthood when you realize your parents are
just people, flawed and fallible.

Yoon-sung quickly fights his way to Dad’s side, and the men stand
back-to-back as the gang encircles them. (Ack! It’s a pose that kills
me, every single time — so symbolic, so us-versus-the-world.) Dad
growls, “Why did you come?” Yoon-sung points out, “This isn’t the time
to say that.”
McCreepy takes in the scene and deduces, “So you were the City Hunter.”
What ensues is a knock-down drag-out fight between the ten men, with
Team City Hunter holding their own, but just barely. A minion takes hold
of Jin-pyo’s sword-cane — just a sword now — and comes at him with it,
and Jin-pyo actually stops the blade between the pages of a book. Gives
new meaning to the saying, The pen is mightier than the sword.

He loses ground, though, and is in imminent danger of getting an eye
poked out when Yoon-sung races to Dad’s aid. The sword glances off Dad’s
arm rather than his face, and now McCreepy calls in his boys for a
quick retreat.
McCreepy tries to contact McBossy with his news about the City
Hunter’s true identity, but Chun Jae-man is tied up at the moment with
his financial concerns, so the phone call doesn’t get through. Chun is
desperately trying to convince the bank that Haewon is still afloat
despite the amount Jin-pyo pulled, but hears to his shock that they’re
at a 500% debt ratio. Meaning, they owe waaaaay more than they’re worth.


At work, a very confused Eun-ah and Ki-joon puzzle over Yoon-sung’s
overnight mastery of judo. Nana tries to cover for him, saying he’s
actually a fast learner, and he had a great teacher… which unfortunately
insults Eun-ah, who pouts, “Then am I incompetent, that my student is how he is?” with a pointed look at Ki-joon.
That makes Ki-joon hurriedly suggest that perhaps Yoon-sung took his
time off to enroll in some fighting classes, and grumbles about
Yoon-sung’s “lack of loyalty” for not taking him along. Hee!
The reason I love these Blue House scenes is because there’s always
about a half-dozen conversations happening within one conversation, and
it’s hilarious. Nana’s covering up for Yoon-sung’s secret
identity, Eun-ah’s taking this as an affront to her pride and
professionalism, and Ki-joon is trying to smooth over her ruffled
feathers while also excusing his own poor skills.
Nana goes home worrying about Yoon-sung and is attacked by McCreepy, who has been lying in wait for her.

Yoon-sung gets a call from Nana’s phone while he’s with Dad in the
hospital — Jin-pyo’s injured and bruised, but not in life-threatening
shape. He hears Creepster on the line, saying that Nana sure put up a
struggle and that he’s mighty tempted to just kill her now. He’s got her
tied up at Haewon Sea World, and suggests that Yoon-sung show up to say
his last goodbye. Nana yells for him not to come, but that’s a futile
request and Yoon-sung goes speeding to the aquarium.
Nana floats in a large tank, hands and feet bound, her body tied to
weights. A rope holds her up to keep her head above the waterline, but
it’s only a matter of time before she, uh, swims with the fishies.

Mr. Creepy arrives and shows Yoon-sung a remote trigger, which will
drop Nana into the water the second he presses it. He orders Yoon-sung
to slap on a pair of handcuffs, and Yoon-sung complies readily. Thus
bound, Creepy starts to beat him, and Yoon-sung just takes it.
Creepy holds trigger in one hand, switchblade in other, and strikes —
just as Yoon-sung lunges for him and knocks them both down, but Creepy
grabs the remote and hits the trigger. Nana drops into the tank, which
is just about my worst nightmare. Deep water, darkness, oversize fish
swimming all around. Gulp.

This puts Yoon-sung in that classic hero dilemma: Save the girl, or
defeat the bad guy? Or, in his case, how to do them both, and quickly?
Clock’s ticking and Nana’s sinking. Arms still restrained, he kicks
McCreepy to the ground hard enough to knock him out, then unlocks his
cuffs and races upstairs to pull her out of the tank.
In the aftermath, Yoon-sung worries over her condition, but she tells
him curtly that she’s fine, and rejects his touch. Aw, you didn’t even
know what you were asking when you told her to reject you even if you
came begging later, did you?

Nana tells him he shouldn’t have come, but that’s just the hurt
talking; she adds, “Do you think that because you won’t answer, I won’t
wait? I’ll wait — I’ll wait for you for the rest of my life.”
Yoon-sung puts up a (weak) protest, but she entreats, “Let’s do this
together. I don’t know where the end is, but if we do this together, it
won’t be lonely. I won’t leave you to be lonely anymore. I don’t think
there’s anyone for me but you.”
He finally says, “Just a little — wait for me just a little while. I see the end now.”
At home alone, Nana tells herself, “I’ll wait. Because he said he’d come back — he said he’d come back after it’s all over.”
Yoon-sung tells himself that he’ll survive and make it back to her, a
marked turnaround from his resigned-to-die attitude of late. And thank
heavens for that. I like my heroes badass, hot, and most of all alive.

Yoon-sung arrives home with a little extra something in tow: Mr.
Creepy, whom he entrusts to Shik-joong’s care. It’s not a task that the
timid ajusshi looks forward to, but is made more palatable by the
promise to unfreeze his credit cards asap. Heh. He is so easily bribed
with pretty things.
Chun Jae-man’s call comes through on the henchman’s phone, and
Yoo-sung picks up to assure him he’ll take good care of his little
minion. But Chun has no use for the guy, and in fact would prefer if
City Hunter killed him for him, to keep that mouth forever shut.
McCreepy hears this, and Yoon-sung makes the point that if evil
incarnate Chun were so quick to turn on his friends of 30 years, what
chance stood he?

Hilariously, Shik-joong asks their hostage what kind of food he
likes, so he can prepare it for him. Oh, you are so in the wrong line of
work, Mr. Softy.
Shik-joong also hands Yoon-sung the embroidered handkerchief from his
mother, and agrees to check in on Dad in the hospital. Again
Shik-joong’s initial reaction is to wonder about what to cook him — ha,
he is such a mom.
Yoon-sung deduces that Chun must have cottoned on to Jin-pyo’s real
plan, and a review of Haewon Construction’s accounts confirms his
suspicions.

Young-ju returns to his office and tells his assistant Pil-jae that he lost track of Yoon-sung. Pil-jae: “Again? Again, again, again?” Young-ju glares.
Young-ju reviews the list of Haewon Chemical employees who’ve given
up their claim to sue the company, and notes a connection: They’re all
in the hospital.
He finds one woman on her way out: Choi Myung-sook, the mother of the
boy Yoon-shik who was coerced into signing that contract. She explains
that she’s being kicked out of her hospital room because she changed her
mind and returned her settlement money. After hearing about how the
City Hunter came to the aid of the protesters, she became determined to
fight and win the suit. Better yet, she’d thought to record McCreepy’s
threats on her cell phone, giving them evidence of Haewon’s underhanded
tactics.

Yoon-shik asks how he can meet his “City Hunter hyung,” because he
wants the City Hunter to help his mom, just like he helped all those
people at the company protest. He gives one of his precious 100 won
coins to Young-ju, asking him to give it to the City Hunter when he
meets him, along with his request to help Mom.
Young-ju puts in another request to issue an arrest warrant for Chun
Jae-man, but his boss refuses, knowing the possible blowback of going
after someone that powerful. He tells our hotheaded DA that he needs to
learn how to wait for the right moment, which is advice sorely needed. I
actually really love Young-ju’s intensity and single-minded doggedness —
it’s a consistent part of his character — but it’s both his asset and
his liability.

Young-ju says he’s sick of seeing the weak law wilt under those in
power, a feeling that only intensifies when he hears that the Haewon
Chemical employees lost their suit, even with Myung-sook’s evidence.
Adding to their concerns is that if the City Hunter once again shows up
and metes out his brand of vigilante justice, the prosecutors (and the
law) will look even more ineffectual. Their already battered reputation
would take yet another beating.
Young-ju vows that he won’t lose to the City Hunter this time. He’ll
achieve their goal — winning that lawsuit, capturing Chun — and do it
legally, dammit.

Jin-pyo attempts to get back to work, despite his injuries. Sang-gook
holds him back, urging him to let Yoon-sung take care of Target No. 4,
reminding him that he has to recover if he wants to fulfill his revenge.
Jin-pyo sees his point and relents, though he keeps a close watch on
Haewon Group, which is well on its way to ruin. They’ve already done a
good job of paralyzing the corporation’s finances, and now Jin-pyo
orders Sang-gook to contact all the players — bank employees, senators,
businessmen.
As a result, Haewon falls into initial bankruptcy, with all its
smaller subsidiaries on the brink of failure as well, just as Young-ju
had predicted with the tower of stacked blocks. Chun plays the avoidance
game and books a plane ticket to LA.

Eun-ah worries about her brother, who works for Haewon and is about
to be married, since it would be quite the trial to find yourself
newlywed and unemployed. Ki-joon speaks up, accidentally using the word
meaning “wife’s brother” (hee — that’s counting chickens before you even
have the eggs), and asserts that the Blue House is a stable, secure
employer. Perhaps Eun-ah ought to look close by when seeking a marriage
partner. Which, sadly for him, results in another crossed wire since
she’s thinking of another co-worker.
Speak of the devil: Yoon-sung’s arrival at work that morning is
greeted with lots of curious questions about his fighting skills and
relationship with that prosecutor. To distract Eun-ah from examining his
fighting technique too closely, Yoon-sung asks her about the green tea
he (Shik-joong, really) had sent her, and she preens. Ki-joon jealously
blurts out that it makes her face bloat, ha.

In the hallway, Yoon-sung is stopped by Nana’s boss, the supervisor
on the bodyguard team, who tells him pointedly that they can’t let the
Blue House be rocked by someone operating on ulterior motives.
Yoon-sung plays dumb, but the bodyguard has sharp eyes — unlike the
bumbling IT crew — and has clued in to the oddities surrounding
Yoon-sung. He leaves with a warning alluding to a hypothetical situation
where a person might gain entree into the Blue House using a false
identity.

Chun Jae-man tries to rustle up the necessary funds to stop the
bankruptcy, which he must secure by the end of the workday. The amount
isn’t very much in the big scheme of things — approximately $25 million
USD — but given Haewon’s inflated value and its amount of debt, this is a
daunting task. Made worse, of course, by the fact that Jin-pyo gets to
all Chun’s contacts first.
By now, Haewon’s name is thoroughly mud, and Chun is stonewalled at
every turn. Finally, he gets through to a dinner gathering where Jin-pyo
entertains all their powerful business contacts.
Chun actually falls to his knees and begs for rescue, offering up the
confidential book he’d stolen from Jin-pyo in exchange. But that has no
effect; Jin-pyo plays ignorant and has Chun thrown out.

As a thank-you gesture, President Choi takes Yoon-sung fishing,
explaining that his father taught him how as a child. He’d wanted to
take his son fishing, but he’s currently serving in the military, and
thanks Yoon-sung for making the trip with him. Aw, the dramatic irony in
this scene — palpable and sad. Okay, also a little heavy-handed, but no
less moving for all that.
The president takes a call from Chun Jae-man, who begs him to help
stop the bankruptcy. The president tells him calmly that he can’t help.
His reasoning is one more demonstration of his idealistic beliefs, as he
says that numerous companies go bankrupt every day in this country, and
it isn’t fair that one would collapse while another survives merely
because of a connection to the president.

Chun actually uses the “Countless people will lose jobs!” line — a
desperate grab if there ever was one, since we know that the only way
he’d care about those people is if they came to him with money stapled
to their foreheads. And even then, he’d probably just take the money and
toss ‘em back to the wolves.
President Choi knows this, and reminds Chun that that’s why he
advised him to acknowledge the hazardous factory. He ends the call and
sighs to himself, “Jae-man, why were you so greedy?”
Yoon-sung offers to buy beverages, and while he’s away, Nana’s
bodyguard boss senses potential threat in the air. Tensing, he reaches
slowly for his gun, then whirls around and levels it…at Yoon-sung.

Everyone looks at him in puzzlement, and he puts the gun away,
feeling rattled. Nana tells him that he’s wound up tight today, and the
boss mumbles to himself, “I couldn’t hear his footsteps.” Ah, he’s a
smart cookie, that one. He’s not quite sure of Yoon-sung’s caped
crusader routine, but he’s wary enough to realize that things don’t add
up.
Haewon Group misses its deadline, and bankruptcy is declared.
Yoon-sung decides that since Dad’s plan has been completed, it’s time
for him to step in. Shik-joong worries for the numerous employees now
out of jobs, and Yoon-sung agrees, “That can’t happen.”
Another downside to the bankruptcy is the plight of Haewon Chemical,
the next subsidiary to be facing collapse. The workers’ bitter fight for
legal recognition of their working conditions all becomes moot if the
company dies.

Young-ju anticipates the flight risk and orders a flight ban put on
Chun Jae-man. Since the easiest way to get an arrest is on tax evasion
charges, he decides to go for that.
He then tracks down Yoon-sung — so good at finding him, less good at
keeping him — and acknowledges Jin-pyo’s clever plan to undermine Chun.
But what about the workers? He’s pretty sure that the City Hunter would
share his concern for their futures. Yoon-sung comments, “How would I
know? I’m not him.”
Young-ju pulls out Yoon-shik’s 100 won coin and gives it to
Yoon-sung, asking him to pass it along to the City Hunter. He says that
it’s from a young boy who’d asked the City Hunter for help, then vows
that he’ll help those people using the law. What, are you going to tie
up the villains in miles of red tape? ‘Cause, really, that’s the most I
think the law can do for you at this point.

In his hour of need, Chun Jae-man is visited by a fund manager from
New York — a dorked-up and metrosexualized Yoon-sung, presenting himself
under a different name. I suppose he ought to be grateful that the
ditzy secretary doesn’t recognize him after their
almost-one-night-stand, although she does look at him curiously.
Yoon-sung (or “Ha Tae-sung”) says he’s thinking of acquiring Haewon
Chemical, although he’s wary of its debts. He lays out enough facts of
Haewon’s seedy underbelly — its illegal loans, misappropriation of
funds, and other shady practices that make Chun fidget uneasily in his
seat. So: If Chun wants to lessen his burden as he faces possible prison
time, he’d best unload some of that debt. Sell Haewon Chemical.
The price? Yoon-sung pulls out Yoon-shik’s dime and places it on the table.
Booyah! I love that. In response to Chun’s sputtering outrage, he
says, “Given your tremendous debts, shouldn’t you be thankful that we’re
willing to assume them?” Yoon-sung shrugs, saying he can forget the
deal if he wants, and gets up to go — and Chun hastily declares, “Let’s
do it.”
Ahhh, sweet justice. Not just making Chun face the indignity of being
brought thus low, but that it should be Yoon-shik’s 100 won coin to
seal this deal.

And so, 51% of Haewon Chemical’s shares are transferred to its
employees. In exchange, the employees are responsible for paying back
the debt with a portion of its revenues. The company acknowledges its
hazardous working conditions and agrees to foot the bill for all medical
and insurance related claims.
Team Bad Daddy watches the news, knowing that Yoon-sung’s behind it.
Bloodthirsty still, Jin-pyo declares that these guys deserve far more
justice than the law can mete: “They must die.”
Yoon-sung and Young-ju both see that Chun is scheduled for a flight
out of the country, and some pulling of strings has kept the flight ban
from being issued. Young-ju orders his team to call the airport and
ground the flight, while Yoon-sung arrives in person. He calls in a
message to Young-ju to be at the front of his office by 4pm.

Yoon-sung follows Chun through the terminal and into an elevator,
waiting till the glass box is between levels to knock them all out. By
the time the elevator reaches the destination, all the men are
unconscious, and Yoon-sung drives away with Chun.
Young-ju calls in the SWAT team to anticipate the City Hunter’s 4pm
drop. Spotting the black-clad, masked man climbing the steps to the
building, they rush him — only to find a stranger, who explains
nervously that the City Hunter had sent a message saying that if he
wanted to meet him, he was to arrive here at 4pm wearing a black mask.
Hee! Clever boy.

The SWAT members spot another arrival and turn their guns that-away…
only to find more black-masked looky-loos making the approach, eager to
meet their hero. HA!
In fact, Shik-joong had posted a message onto the internet issuing
the offer/challenge to meet the City Hunter in person. From the turnout,
it looks like our crime-fighting hero has amassed quite the fanbase of
young adolescents, with some elderly folks sprinkled therein. Aw. You’re
never too old to love Lee Min-ho.
Mightily frustrated, Young-ju orders all the masked fans apprehended,
but thankfully for the innocent netizens (who ever thought those words would go together?), a figure is spotted off in the distance. It’s a body, tied up and slumped on the ground.

Chun Jae-man lies unconscious, wearing yet more dog tags and the banner that reads sarcastically, “In Korea I trust.”
Yoon-sung is already zooming off in his car, but the determined
prosecutor rides his tail. And why oh WHY is there a handgun in your
passenger’s seat? Gulp.
After a brief back-and-forth race, where the two cars zoom in front
of each other and cut the other car off, Young-ju pulls ahead and
screeches to a stop. Yoon-sung is forced to halt to avoid collision,
then quickly backs up to turn around — and Young-ju pulls out the gun
and shoots his tire flat. Ooh. Bad. Ass.

Go, Yoon-sung, go! You can still drive a car with a flat! I’ve seen the high-speed chases on the evening news!
But no, Yoon-sung steps out of the car and coolly faces Young-ju, who
levels his gun at him. With his cat-like reflexes, Yoon-sung grabs the
gun out of Young-ju’s hand, and whirls it right back on the prosecutor.

Separated by a car’s length, Young-ju steps forward slowly,
gradually, and Yoon-sung keeps the handgun fixed at him, not advancing
or retreating.
Young-ju comes practically eye-to-barrel with the gun, and reaches up slowly — and whips off the mask.


COMMENTS
More interesting than the reveal — since we’ve been flirting with
that for weeks — is Yoon-sung’s stoic reaction to it. At this point,
they both know, and they both know that the other knows that they know…
The only thing they lack is a direct, caught-in-the-act confirmation.
And it’s almost like Yoon-sung is challenging Young-ju to do it, because
if he’d wanted he could’ve been off like a shot. Or knocked Young-ju
unconscious. Or resisted in the least.
I’ve read some comments that questioned why Young-ju is so intent on
apprehending the City Hunter when he should be working on catching the
bad guys. Just for clarification: The City Hunter is, technically, also
one of the bad guys — at least in the eyes of the law. We know what
motivates him, and the public loves him for rooting out corrupt
officials where nobody else can, but there’s a reason vigilantism is
illegal. You may trust the guy to break laws when he’s helping out, but
it’s an all-too-slippery slope once you start asking what exactly
constitutes help, what’s a justifiable breach of laws, and what’s going
too far.
Plus, there’s the whole “He’s making us look bad” argument for the
prosecutors wanting City Hunter gone. But Young-ju’s not that petty, and
I give him more credit than that, because he’s the kind of guy who
wants to win the “right” way — using the law, as he vowed in this
episode — rather than just getting to the goal through any means
necessary. It’s what separates him from Yoon-sung, and what makes him
admirable yet also aggravating, and is why he’s not our hero. Yoon-sung
is not above the law, but the City Hunter operates as though he is. Of
course the lawman’s gonna be peeved to have his precious law treated
like an etiquette guideline.
You know, I think the drama has faltered a bit in the last couple
episodes, in that it spent too much time on Target No. 4 and drew out
that conflict a bit too long. (Hey, I can be in love with a drama and find it magical and acknowledge that it has flaws. Really.)
I’ve still loved every episode and found gripping moments in each
one, but the Chun Jae-man stuff, in my opinion, seemed like a collection
of technicalities obscuring the stuff we love about this show — the
badass conflicts, the punch-me-in-the-gut reversals and thrills. For a
guy whose perfidy operates on a mostly cerebral level — no
heart-twisting or gut-wrenching involved — Chun got a lot of screentime
compared to opponents with more emotional weight — Kim Jong-shik and
President Choi, namely.
That said, the last part of this episode brought back some of that
early excitement, with the delivery (and wrap-up, thankfully) of the
target and the Young-ju-versus-Yoon-sung standoff. When that gun came
out, I was surprised (and worried — had Young-ju finally let his
frustration drive him over the brink?), but excited at where the scene
went. Not so much about the unmasking itself, as I said, but in the way
these two guys reacted to it. Where do they go from here?
So I’m glad we’re finally at the last target now, and hope the finale
episodes amp up the tension from here on out. I think the last two
episodes sort of labored over the plot and forgot the Joss Whedon mantra
for storytelling: Moments, not moves. It’s why Joss Whedon rocks —
because while his plots are tight, the core of the story is always
rooted in an emotional moment, rather than a lot of fancy moves on a
chessboard. I want — I hope — the finale to bring those moments back. I
think it will. *crosses fingers*

Young-ju manages to stop the City Hunter and then pulls a gun on him.
Yeah that lasts about two seconds, as Yoon-sung swipes the gun and
turns it right around on him. But the prosecutor doesn’t even flinch as
he inches forward, head to barrel. Damn, it looks like Young-ju’s the one with the balls of steel.

He uses this one chance to unmask the City Hunter…

…and he finally gets his confirmation, as Yoon-sung stands there
looking back at him, gun still trained at Young-ju’s head. Yoon-sung:
“Are you satisfied now?”



Sirens wail as the SWAT team descends on them quickly. Young-ju has seconds to decide the City Hunter’s fate… Young-ju: “Go.”

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Epic swoon.

I cannot believe how long I’ve been waiting for this moment. Bromance
for the win! They both act the part and Yoon-sung manages to get away,
swiftly shedding his jacket and mask to walk by the SWAT team unnoticed.



Target No. 4 Chun Jae-man sits literally with his hands tied, waiting
for questioning at the prosecutor’s office, but someone he recognizes
comes in to rescue him. Oooooh, I wonder who it is? It’s not McCreepy
because he’s presumably still tied up in Yoon-sung’s basement.

Young-ju comes back to find Chun already gone, and figures that he
must’ve gotten help, and from someone on the inside as well. Ruh-roh.
Dirty prosecutor maybe? Poor Young-ju. Guy can’t catch a break.

Meanwhile Ajusshi keeps his hostage McCreepy company, reading to him from a self-help book entitled I Am Precious to Me.
HA. He’s trying to rehabilitate the guy? That cracks me up. He keeps
waving a cane at him too, probably because it makes him feel more in
control (mimicking Dad maybe?) but I have a feeling that stick is going
to end up in Creepy’s hands.



Yoon-sung comes home and tells him that Young-ju made him, and
Ajusshi freaks out. He rattles off a list of things to do – get a plane
ticket, send Yoon-sung abroad, then gather Nana and Mom and meet him…

Yoon-sung tells him that it’s okay, but there’s no calming Ajusshi
down when it might mean he’ll be separated from Yoon-sung. But he
assures him that Young-ju won’t be coming for him. Ajusshi doesn’t
understand—he’s been running all over town on a witch hunt because of
what he did to his father.

Yoon-sung: “He let me go.” Ajusshi: “Wha~ He let you go? He saw your
face and he let you go? Really? Really really?” He smiles. Is that an
I-love-Young-ju smile? Is it a
my-BFF-Young-ju-and-I-will-fight-crime-together-forever-and-ever smile?



News breaks of Chun’s delivery via City Hunter and his subsequent
escape. Nana worries all day as she watches the news and then looks
longingly at her photo with Yoon-sung in a new frame.

He sits at home and does the same, his still in the broken frame.
They each pick up their phones to call the other… and then put them back
down. Nana: “He’ll come back. Soon.” Yoon-sung: “I’ll stay alive and
return to you.”

Young-ju gets his ass chewed out by his boss for losing Chun Jae-man,
and then totally lies that he didn’t get a good look at the City
Hunter’s face because he was busy getting his gun stolen. Wow, you’re
even sacrificing your pride? I love this.

Yoon-sung comes to find him.

Yoon-sung: Why did you let me go?
Young-ju: Why do you think I did? As Kim Jong-shik’s
son Kim Young-ju, I should have thrown you in jail immediately. But when
I thought about it, the things that the law couldn’t get done, the City
Hunter could. I didn’t have the right to catch you. Because you won the
law.
Yoon-sung: Just like Kim Young-ju. Naïve and humorless.
Kim Young-ju, the next time this happens, don’t be messy, and do what
you need to do as a prosecutor.
Young-ju: And you? Why are you keeping me alive?
Yoon-sung: The same reason as you.

Yes! Because he can do what you can’t, and vice versa, inside and
outside of the law! I love that Young-ju remains humorless and that
Yoon-sung keeps his distance (No matter how much I’d love to see them be
all, Wonder Twins, Activate! that would be out of character for both).

What intrigues me is that Young-ju still resents Yoon-sung for his
father’s near-death, but his debilitating objective nature wins out.
Logic wins over his heart, which makes for SUCH an interesting
character, and the perfect foil for Yoon-sung.

Yoon-sung complains that it looks like he’s going to have to pull an all-nighter because someone
lost Chun Jae-man. Young-ju asks about 1983 and the top-secret record
book, and Yoon-sung just tells him to figure it out for himself. Or
yunno, you could pull an all-nighter together. Mm?



Chun Jae-man calls looking for the City Hunter, presumably on
McCreepy’s phone. He offers a trade: the super-secret book if the City
Hunter stops dogging him. Yoon-sung turns him down cold.

This whole exchange goes down with McCreepy by his side in the
basement, and he offers up what he knows – that there’s no way Chun
destroyed the book, because he was intent on finding a good hiding place
for it, and that he can guess where he’s going next.

He asks Yoon-sung to finish off Chun properly if he gives him the
information. Yoon-sung promises, though I’m thinking these two have a
very different idea of “finish off.” Creepy tells him that after every
recent visit with President Choi, Chun was obsessed with finding a
woman, who he claimed was his hidden card…

Her name is Lee. Kyung. Hee.



Yoon-sung’s eyes widen, as he repeats the name in shock. Eeep! So
excited at his first big hint that Mom is a bigger part of this whole
conspiracy.

He calls Sang-gook, who tells him that he thinks Jin-pyo didn’t show
him the secret book on purpose. He recounts Dad’s words that he’d rather
have it destroyed than land in Yoon-sung’s hands.

Young-ju’s team starts burrowing through all of Chun Jae-man’s files,
confiscated from his office. He comes across something old called
“Sunflower,” and finds a painting marked with a signature – a different
name for the same flower.

And then in that file, he finds a hospital record for Lee Kyung-hee,
from her OB-GYN. Oh, this is getting so good! Is it wrong if I want
Young-ju to find out first?



Then we see someone painting the exact same painting in the present…
it’s President Choi. He marks it with the same seal, which Nana sees as
she stands guard. He completes it and decides he should put it up on his
blog. No! Don’t do that! Wait… do I want him to do that? Argh, I don’t
know!

Chun Jae-man calls the president to ask for his help getting out of
the country. President Choi refuses and tells him to surrender, but of
course Chun plays his final hand – he threatens to tell the world about
his extramarital affair with Lee Kyung-hee, and their child.

His reaction makes me wonder if he actually doesn’t know that his
child survived. Was he maybe told that she had an abortion even though
she refused to? Did he assume that the child she was speaking of was
Mu-yeol’s son, after the fact?



He calls Nana back into his office and asks about the woman who gave
her the handkerchief. He says that he thinks she might be someone he
owes a great debt to, and asks where he can find her.

She hesitates, knowing that she’s not supposed to tell anyone about
Mom’s whereabouts. So President Choi takes out his own handkerchief,
identical to hers. “Will you still not tell me?”

Yoon-sung goes to see Mom in the hospital and starts to ask about her
involvement, but ends up letting it go. She happily notes that he’s
carrying the handkerchief she gave him, and she tells him that it’s a
gift she gives to people she likes.

He asks very innocently if she also gave one to Dad, and she
awkwardly says “Yes…” And then she stops him to ask, “Maybe, just maybe,
if your father were still alive, that would be a good thing for you,
wouldn’t it?”



Yeah, that’s a big fat maybe, is what.

He just dismisses it as wistful talk and outside, he wonders why Chun
Jae-man was looking for her. Why can’t you just ask her? Aaaargh.

He decides to track down another source, the woman that Ajusshi found
when he looked for Mom the first time. They worked together way back
when, and Yoon-sung pays her to find out what she knows.

She tells him that Kyung-hee had a hard life, struggling to pay for
her father’s hospital bills, and then she got pregnant with one man’s
child and then another man married her, knowing all that.

He stumbles out in a daze, knowing now for certain that his father
isn’t his father. Man, that’s twice already: one, Jin-pyo, not the
daddy, two, Mu-yeol, not the daddy. Just then, Nana calls to tell him
about the sunflower handkerchief – the president has one just like
theirs, and he’s looking for Mom. She didn’t tell him where to find her,
and Yoon-sung tells her to keep it that way.

He thinks back to the beans (his habit of picking beans out of rice,
which President Choi and Da-hae both do), the very thing that clinched
it for us as viewers, only he’s now catching up to all the arrows
pointing toward the president.



Thankfully, he goes right away to ask Mom directly. Oh Drama, I love you so.

He tells her that he’s not upset at her, but he’s found out the truth
about his real father. She confirms it, and also the key fact that
President Choi doesn’t even know that she was ever pregnant with his
child.

She tells him that he already had a family when she became pregnant,
and when Chun Jae-man found out, he threatened her to protect Choi
Eun-chan’s future.

She asks if he’s disappointed to find out what kind of woman she was,
and he just hugs her tenderly, “I’m not disappointed. I’m not
resentful. I’m just grateful that you’re alive.” She cries in his arms.



And then trembling, he asks if the father who raised him knew all this. Mom: “Jin-pyo-sshi? Yes. He knew.” Ack!

Oh no. THIS. This right here is the betrayal that stings the most.
The look in his eyes! The fact that the president is his father doesn’t
matter half as much as the father he loves, the one who raised him,
keeping him in the dark all this time. Heart. Breaaaaaaaaak.

What kills me is that this is the moment when he realizes that Dad
really only considers him a weapon for revenge, and doesn’t love him as a
son. I’d venture to say that somewhere in the deep dark recesses of his
used-to-be-a-heart, Jin-pyo does love him, but now Yoon-sung will never
believe it.



He comes to see Dad to tell him that he knows everything. Dad says
nothing, but he flinches when Yoon-sung says Choi Eun-chan’s name. He
slams the bullet necklace down on the table. “I will find out
everything. And you’ll pay the price for twisting my life.”

Waaaah, are you breaking up with Daddy? He turns to walk out, and
Jin-pyo clutches the only thing he has left — Mu-yeol’s bullet.

Yoon-sung sits in the Blue House parking lot, lost in thought, and
Ki-joon pulls up next to him after showing off his new car to Nana and
Eun-ah. It’s so adorably transparent why he bought the same car as
Yoon-sung. Hee.

They try to say hello, but he just stalks off without a word.



Meanwhile Young-ju goes to see Sae-hee and asks about Yoon-sung as
the City Hunter, saying outright that he knows she patched up his bullet
wound. She refuses to tell him anything, and asks why he’s pursuing the
City Hunter so hard, if it’s because of his father.

Young-ju: It hurts my pride as a
prosecutor. I keep having to acknowledge it. I keep thinking that his
methods are right. It makes me angry and it wounds my pride, but there’s
nothing I can do. The law has lost. To that guy.

Sae-hee: You should’ve shown me this side of you
sooner. I left because you were so perfect, but today I feel like I want
to be by your side. He’s a lot like you, Lee Yoon-sung. He seemed
really lonely too. How he must’ve grown up… his back was covered in
scars, and as he dug a bullet out of his own back… I felt really bad for
him. You know I can’t stand to see a dog that’s lost its way. You’re
like that too, aren’t you?

She changes the subject to the sunflowers she bought, and suddenly
they trigger Young-ju’s memory. He rushes to his office to look at the
president’s blog, and finds a series of the same paintings as the one in
Chun’s file.



He calls to meet Yoon-sung for coffee, and asks for curiosity’s sake
if he would have become the City Hunter, fighting for truth and justice
and all that, if it weren’t for his revenge. I like that this matters to
Young-ju.

Yoon-sung tells him that it’s something he risks his life for, and
asks if Young-ju wouldn’t do the same, for poor defenseless people in
pain. Young-ju smiles, satisfied at the Lee-Yoon-sung-esque answer.

He goes straight to Jin-pyo afterwards, to confront him straight-on
about his own twisted revenge. Okay, seriously, Young-ju is rocking the
big guns in this episode. He unflinchingly tells Jin-pyo that Yoon-sung
doesn’t regret becoming the City Hunter because he couldn’t just stand
aside and watch people in pain. HUCK! What if he slits your throat on the spot for knowing Yoon-sung’s identity?



He says that he liked that answer from Yoon-sung, who differs so greatly from someone else’s revenge plot that reeks of bloodlust. He says that Yoon-sung’s revenge may be forgiven, but Jin-pyo’s cannot.

And then he lays down the gauntlet: “You must have known. That Lee
Yoon-sung is not Park Mu-yeol’s biological son.” Oh crap. He adds that
he doesn’t care how Jin-pyo managed to survive in ’83, but what he
really wants to know is why he stole Yoon-sung and raised him as another
man’s son.

Jin-pyo: “If you want to know so badly, ask your father.” Oof. Poor
Young-ju. The daddy drama never ends for you either, huh? Jin-pyo tells
him that it’s all in the top-secret report, so he can find it himself to
know the truth.



Jin-pyo tells him that it’s his job as a prosecutor to put a man on
trial for murder. But what about a government that murders twenty of its
own and then erases their existence to cover up its crime?

Jin-pyo: You think my revenge is for
blood alone? The country I trusted to protect me – how it exploited,
deceived, and slaughtered the lives of twenty people… What unspeakable
acts they did in the name of country… what your father did!

Young-ju tells him that he will uncover the truth, and that Jin-pyo
will have to face judgment. Jin-pyo doesn’t balk at facing his due
punishment, but adds that he’ll have to put the nation on trial as well.

Young-ju is nothing if not exact about the letter of the law. He
swears to put the country on trial, and even his father, to receive
judgment for their actions. He tells Jin-pyo that the next time they
meet it’ll be as prosecutor to criminal, on the stand.

So goddamn heroic, it kills me.



Yoon-sung, meanwhile, listens obsessively to his recording of Chun
Jae-man’s phone call, trying to suss out where he is from the background
noises. Ajusshi comes in, nagging incessantly about how he’s not
eating, and what are they going to do about McCreepy downstairs who has
to be fed, taken to the bathroom, and read-to…

Yoon-sung snaps and yells angrily at Ajusshi that he’s trying to find
Chun Jae-man, scaring the living daylights out of him. Aw. *whimper*
Don’t be mean to Ajusshi! He just loves you!

He realizes that he’s reached the end of his nerves, and apologizes.
Ajusshi says he’s sorry and says that he’s worried about him is all, and
scoots away before he gets yelled at again. Aw, poor Ajusshi, but I do
appreciate the palpable sense that the City Hunter is down to the wire.



Chun Jae-man is still hiding out, and sends his new minions to
retrieve a package that he sent to Young-ju. He vows to win this. “Let’s
see who remains… the persistent one or the strong one.”

Young-ju drives along and gets a call from Sae-hee, over at his place
to pick up a jacket she left behind last time. He asks if she has time
to eat, so he heads over to meet her. Oh, I have a bad feeling about
this. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

While they’re still on the phone, she hears a doorbell, so she goes
to answer the door… Eeep, I’m watching this with my hands over my eyes…

It’s a deliveryman, with a package for Young-ju, no sender. Oh whew.
He tells her to open up the package, so she does, and finds the
top-secret record book inside. Whoa. So Chun Jae-man must’ve originally
sent it to him, planning to air the president’s dirty laundry. He tells
her to keep it safe and heads home to meet her. But then a second
doorbell rings. Ack! It’s the gas man. NO!



Nonononononono, don’t answer the door!

She answers it, and Chun’s new minions back her against the wall and
knock her to the ground, laughing at her threats. They retrieve the
book. Is he changing his mind because he wants to deal directly with the
president? Or with the City Hunter?

Young-ju comes home, passing by the thugs on his way in. Something doesn’t feel right so he rushes upstairs…

He calls out her name over and over, checking every room, but there’s no response. Aaaauuugh, did they kill her? IS SHE DEAD?



He finally finds her, tied up and still alive. Gah. My nerves. She’s
beaten up but okay, and she tells him to hurry and go. He just hugs her
tight and says he’s sorry for putting her through this. Aw. He finally
learned to put her first! That alone is worth the scare.

Yoon-sung finally figures out one of the background noises in the
recording as a tow truck, hauling up a car. He realizes that Chun
Jae-man used the accident outside the prosecutor’s office to escape in
the car that was totaled. He replays the news footage to track down the
car to the junkyard.

Young-ju takes Sae-hee to the hospital, and she tells him that she’s
okay so he should go. He looks up at her, now realizing that she always
said, “It’s okay. Go,” but I think it only now occurs to him that he
shouldn’t have gone.



But that’s just Young-ju, and she knows it, even admires that it’s
who he is. He tells her that he’s sorry. She smiles at him, “If I give
you a second chance to repay that regret, will you do well?”

Aw, the way he looks up at her, like a puppy… it just kills me. She
tells him that it’s what she wants. Yay, I’m so happy for them. But it
also makes me re-scared for their lives all over again. Gah.

Chun gets word that he’s got the book back, which he plans to use
against the City Hunter first, putting his original president plan on
the backburner. He still thinks that Jin-pyo is the City Hunter, and
declares that he should’ve died back in ’83.



He sends Jin-pyo a text to meet him at the junkyard if he wants the
book. Jin-pyo in turn sends the message to Young-ju, posing as the City
Hunter.

Sae-hee sees it written on his face that he has to get back to work,
and laughs at his lack of a poker face. She tells him she’ll be safe in
the hospital, and tells him to go. He puts his hand on hers, “Your offer
of a second chance… that’s a promise, okay?” AW.

She tells him not to forget it either, and they promise to talk about
it later. OHGOD. There’s not gonna be a later, is there? Is he gonna
die? Show, are you trying to kill me? He gets the slow-motion hero walk
out the door. OH NO. Frack.

Nana goes to see Mom and asks why the president has the same
handkerchief as her. She asks if what she’s suspecting is right, and Mom
tells her the truth.



Young-ju arrives at the junkyard first, and Chun Jae-man is surprised
to see him there when he called Jin-pyo. He tells him that the book is
being destroyed right this second, so he’s never going to get his hands
on it.

Young-ju realizes that it’s serving as bait for the City Hunter, and
turns back to try and retrieve it. But Chun and his henchmen beat him to
a bloody pulp.

Yoon-sung arrives at the same junkyard, having tracked down the car
that Chun escaped in. He takes out the thugs sent out to meet him in
some outrageously badass moves, including one where he jumps through a car meant to squash him.



He gets closer and Chun jumps at the sound, “Is it the City Hunter?”
Young-ju realizes what he has to do, and so he quickly locks the door
behind him and sends Yoon-sung a text to find the book in the car
crusher.

And then he buys him time by giving the henchmen a fight. Oh god, it’s his last stand, isn’t it?

Yoon-sung gets the message and turns around. The machine is rigged to
keep going so he only has a few seconds to search the car before it
gets pulverized with him in it. He digs around and finally finds the
book hidden under the floormat, and gets out just in time not to get
squashed to death.



Chun’s men finally beat Young-ju down to the ground, but he does
everything to try and keep him there, grabbing his leg and refusing to
let go. Chun sighs that it’s too bad he’s not more like his father. And
then like a proper evil villain, he mentions that he’s headed to port to
catch his boat, because Young-ju’s blocked all the airways.

Young-ju grits his teeth and uses all his remaining strength to pull
himself up, as he lays out Chun Jae-man’s crimes against the people, as
Prosecutor Kim Young-ju addressing the court.



And that’s when the final blow comes, straight to the back of his head. Blood streams down his face as he falls to the ground.

Yoon-sung makes his way up to Chun and his men, knocking down the
ones sent at him, while Chun slips away. He’s about to go after him when
he realizes that Young-ju is nowhere to be found.

He runs upstairs…



And there he finds Young-ju, lying bloody on the ground. He shakes
him awake and Young-ju comes to, asking if he found it. He says yes. He
tells Yoon-sung to uncover the truth.

He tells him to go catch Chun Jae-man at the port, “I don’t think I
can go right now.” Augh, why is that sentence breaking my heart?

Yoon-sung: “Kim Young-ju, catch him with your own hands.” He coughs
up more blood as he struggles to speak. He reaches out his hand and
Yoon-sung takes it in his.



Young-ju: “City Hunter. Lee Yoon-sung. Forgive my father.” Oh my
gooooooood. You’re asking for forgiveness in your father’s place? *WAIL*

A tear rolls down his face as he says, “I’m sorry,” and then he falls to the ground, dead.

Yoon-sung shakes him over and over, “Kim Young-ju. Kim Young-ju! KIM YOUNG-JU!”




COMMENTS

Oh my god, they killed Young-ju! I know, we complained that no one
died, and then they killed off Young-ju! Grawr! Can I go back in time
and trade some of the others for him? Puhleeeeease? Sigh.

But what a heroic send-off, for the upright prosecutor, to die
defending justice and truth. And the City Hunter! I can’t believe it. It
kills me, but in the best way possible. I mean, he was maybe the ONE
character I didn’t want to see die under any circumstance…
which is what makes it PERFECT. It’s the death that gets me in the gut,
and rips out my insides. I have such a love-hate relationship with a
show that does that. Respect, but angry bitter respect. Like it knows
exactly whom I love and then kills him bloody. Gah.

I can’t believe they finally gave me the begrudging partnership
between Yoon-sung and Young-ju, the one thing I’ve been dying for, just
to yank it out from under me. It’s like waking up thinking it’s
Christmas and then finding out it’s April Fool’s. It’s a cruel, sick
joke. Props, Show. You fucking bastard.

You win.