Info for Heartstrings

Park Shin-hye plays LEE KYU-WON, a good-natured if
somewhat scattered student at a university of performing arts who’s
majoring in Korean classical music, or gukak. She’s practically
been bred for this path, having been raised by a stern, staunchly
traditionalist grandfather who’s a famed master of pansori, a
form of classical Korean singing. She’s got a close relationship with
Grandpa, although we see a few cracks in the relationship as the episode
progresses.
Kyu-won also practices as part of a four-member gukak group calling
themselves Windflower, of which her cheery friend BO-WOON is also a
member.

Applied-music student LEE SHIN (Jung Yong-hwa) seems
like your typical arrogant bastard hero at first glance, walking around
with a chip on his shoulder. As the vocalist of hot band The Stupid, he
gets the lion’s share of fan adoration, more for his looks than for the
music, which rankles him.
On the other hand, when he’s alone with family or closer friends, we
see glimpses of a nicer, softer Shin. Too bad he doesn’t let that show
to anybody outside his inner circle — though he gets enough attention by
being a jerk that he’d probably be mobbed by admirers if he were
actually, yunno, friendly.

KIM SEOK-HYUN (Song Chang-eui) is a hotshot musical
director who’s earned accolades for a recent production on Broadway. I
love that he’s conceited about it, in a good-natured sort of way,
thinking himself a bigger star than he actually is. As though being
famous for directing musicals will get him recognized on the street.
He’s brought in to direct the university’s big 100 year anniversary
theatrical production, to the chagrin of his sunbae, who wanted the
spot. This return, however, puts Seok-hyun into painful contact with his
ex, JUNG YOON-SU (So Yi-hyun), a former ballerina who is now teaching at the school.

EPISODE 1: “An Unexpected Meeting With You”

We open in Jeju Island, not for any great narrative purpose other
than to get our two lead characters in each other’s orbits, however
unknowingly, before they have their official first meeting. Shin’s
presence here is unexplained, while Kyu-won arrives with her crotchety
grandfather for his participation in a cultural symposium involving
classical Korean music.
Kyu-won’s first encounter with Shin isn’t terrible, though hardly
warm ‘n fuzzy, either: She struggles with her suitcase on the bus, and
he silently carries it on for her, without sparing her a glance or a
friendly word. So he can be helpful, but maintains a cool distance.
The trip also highlights Grandpa’s stubbornness, because he gets up
to leave almost as soon as he arrives; he’s incensed over the
organizers’ suggestions to liven up this whole genre of gukak. Sure,
it’s traditional — but that doesn’t mean it can’t change! Their liberal
interpretation of the concept of “classical” gets his temper flaring,
and he walks out.

Kyu-won’s next encounter with Shin is a lot more aggravating: Back at
the Seoul campus of their university, she puts on a special gayageum
performance for her class, where Shin blatantly sleeps in full view of
the professor. The professor rouses him from his nap and pointedly asks
what he thought of his classmate’s performance, and Kyu-won waits
expectantly for a compliment. Until he replies, “It was good for
sleeping.” Ouch.
Her impression of Shin takes a further dive when she arrives at a
live music club — dragged along by Bo-woon to see the hottie band The
Stupid — and overhears Shin coldly rejecting a girl with the callous
comment, “I hate ugly girls.” He turns and sees Kyu-won standing there
and asks if she’s going to confess her feelings for him, too — making
her scoff, As if!

She joins her friends in the club and grumbles about the world-class
bastard she just ran into, only to find everyone squealing when her
bastard takes the stage and starts singing.
How ironic that the song is all about how he’s fallen for a girl and
doesn’t have the courage to do anything about it. Psh. Like this boy’s
ever lived a moment of insecurity about his romantic prowess. Then
again, he could pretty much be singing about monkey poop and his adoring
audience would find a way to see the romance in it.
After the show, Kyu-won’s friends prod her to make a request of the
band, and she reluctantly broaches the topic with Shin. He foists her
off on the drummer instead, though, and leaves her to talk it over with
JUN-HEE (CN Blue’s drummer Kang Min-hyuk).

Despite that stoic exterior, Shin is a doting oppa to his little
sister Jung-hyun. When she asks him to wish her classmate a happy
birthday, for instance, he obliges her (and sends the crowd of
schoolgirls into a squealfest).
Cutely, he smiles to see her collect her payment — about five bucks —
from the birthday girl, amused to see his sister grifting her
classmates. Ha. Smart girl.

The request Kyu-won had made of The Stupid is to participate in an
event the Windflower girls are organizing, in order to raise funds for
their professor’s hospital bills. On their own they’d struggle to find
much of an audience, but if The Stupid were to share the stage with
them, they could attract a large number of attendees.
It’s something Shin would have flatly turned down if he’d stuck
around to hear the request, but because he’d left it to softhearted
Jun-hee to handle, The Stupid finds themselves engaged to play the show.
They can’t back out readily, either, because Kyu-won had paid them in
advance, and the constantly hungry Jun-hee had managed to eat up most of
the fee in meat. So, despite his preference to stay out of it, Shin
reluctantly agrees.

Kyu-won comes home that night to find that Grandpa has raided her secret stash of CDs — sent by her father — and broken them.
A flashback reveals the source of the conflict, because Dad had
wanted to pursue his own love of music (classical piano), only to have
his unbending father put his foot down. Dad had wanted to take Kyu-won
with him, but Grandpa had been emphatic in his intent to raise her in
the ways of gukak, and refused to relinquish custody. (Not in a legal
sense, but in a patriarchal, I-am-the-head-of-this-household-don’t-you-dare-disobey-me one.)
Dad had left, and has been sending Kyu-won CDs over the years.
Interestingly, they’re of classical composers like Mozart — so it’s not
like Dad went off to be a rock star, but that this is an East-vs.-West
conflict more than it is an old-vs.-new one.

Kyu-won studies at the library near a sleeping Shin, and witnesses
the return of the rejected girl — the one he’d called ugly — who is back
to following him around like a lovesick admirer, despite his treatment
of her. He dismisses her and leaves without the food basket she’d
dropped off, so Kyu-won follows him out to tell him to take it, chiding
him for his appearance-based prejudice.
He turns that right around on her: “You all do that too. Or do you
like us because our performance is so awesome?” HA, he hates that he’s
famous for his looks, which is great, given that his looks are the
source of his popularity. Aw, the musician wants to be legit, but the
fangirls won’t let him. Is that what we call first-world problems?
She points out that he could reject the girls nicely, but he says he
gets sick and tired of being on the receiving end of sooooo many girls’
affections: “Though I’m sure a girl like you has no idea what that’s like.”
He warns her not to follow him, and leaves. Or tries to. Kyu-won
huffs that she won’t, but trips over her shoelace and goes sprawling to
the ground…accidentally grabbing his ankle on the way down.

Pffffft. Okay, drama, you got a good laugh out of me with that,
because now she’s inadvertently made literal that metaphor about
ankle-grabbing. It can mean merely holding someone back, but in the
literal sense it’s the ultimate gesture of desperate begging, debasing
yourself as low as you can (physically) go, saying, “If you won’t stay,
I’ll drag you with me.”
He actually checks to make sure she’s okay, but she’s so mortified
that she waves him away, while bystanders muse that she must’ve just
gotten dumped.

Seok-hyun is clearly far from being over Yoon-su despite their six
years apart, and has kept up a scrapbook following her career as a
ballet and jazz dancer. At first she was on top of the dance world, but
toward the end the headlines allude to her career facing jeopardy.
Yoon-su practices alone in her studio that night, demonstrating that
injury had something to do with her shift from performing to teaching.
She falls clutching her ankle — and suddenly, Shin is there at her side,
fussing over her injury.

Apparently this isn’t the first time this has happened, because today
he comes prepared with a medicinal spray. In stark contrast to the way
he’s acted all episode, with Yoon-su he’s caring and attentive, all
gentleness and concern.
Yoon-su, on the other hand, tries repeatedly to distance herself and
to tell him to return home, but he ignores her obvious attempts to
dismiss him and insists on walking her back. Finally, she tells him
plainly to stop watching her in the studio, or waiting up for her, or
worrying about her foot. And that he should turn his affections to a
girl his age, rather than her.

Time for Jun-hee to fall in love crush for himself: He’s smitten at first sight when he comes across a student, Hee-joo (Woori), dancing in a studio. (I love that he finds her while on the search for his other great love, food.)
It’s cute that Jun-hee calls girls unnis (rather than noona) — even
the ones who aren’t older than him. He even calls Shin “hyung” despite
being the same age, because Shin buys him food. Hee. The unni thing is a
slang usage, and makes him seem even more toothless than he already is,
like our resident puppy mascot. (An additional character quirk: While
in the band, he dolls up as a slick idol boy, but at school he adopts a
shaggy, dorky, bumbling appearance.)
Slack-jawed at the sight of Hee-joo, he calls her his “Natasha” and
promises to find her later — and then leaves to continue his interrupted
quest for a snack.

The next time our lead couple runs across each other on campus, Kyu-won’s eyes him warily, and warns him not to miss the show.
She and the Windflowers practice together, choosing a gukak rendition
of the Habanera song from Carmen — which is also the tune that The
Stupids base their rock version on. What is with the Carmen fixation these days? It does create an interesting fusion effect, though, when the rock version is laid over the gukak version.

Shin invites Yoon-su to the show, and thinks back to the first time
he’d seen her in practice, when he’d seen her falling while dancing in
the studio.
He’d rushed to her side and told her to lean on him — meaning
literally and figuratively — while she’d self-consciously covered the
scar on her ankle, and broken down in tears in front of him.

As it happens, musical director Seok-hyun is buddies with the owner
of the live music club (named Catharsis), and is invited to stay for the
evening show. His friend assures him that it’ll be a lively crowd, with
the idol boys The Stupid playing.
First up are the gukak ladies of Windflower, although really,
everyone’s just here to see the pretty boys. They finish their set and
the boys begin setting up their instruments, worried that they can’t get
a hold of their lead singer.

They don’t know that Shin has been called by his sister, whose
appendix has burst and who undergoes emergency surgery. His mother
arrives while Jung-hyun is being operated on, and Shin checks the time,
knowing that he’s in danger of missing the show. But when Mom asks if
he’s got somewhere to be, he assures her that it’s not important, and
stays.
You’d think he could bother to put in a simple phone call, because
the natives are getting restless over at Catharsis. The impatient crowd
grumbles at the wait and begins a chant for Stupid, which hilariously
becomes a three-syllable word in the transliterated Korean. (Su-tu-pid!)

Feeling the pressure to act, Kyu-won takes the microphone and tells the band to begin playing.
Her voice is pretty and the song melodic, and thankfully the
performance quiets the crowd. For the moment. But when the show ends,
the attendees file out while making disgruntled comments about false
advertising.
Kyu-won’s so angry that all she says is, “I knew he was that kind of person anyway. There’s nothing to get disappointed about.”

On the other hand, the performance makes Seok-hyun sit up in
interest. An idea springs into his head for his own show as he watches
Kyu-won perform her classical music, and then take the mike for a pop
song.
Afterward, he approaches her at the bus stop, hilariously coming off
like an inadvertent pervy ajusshi with his attempts to engage her in
conversation. She even checks with him (“You’re not some kind of
pervert, right?”), and he starts to explain that he enjoyed her singing.
But before he can get to his point, her bus arrives and she dashes off
to deliver the concert proceeds to her professor in the hospital.

But no matter, since Seok-hyun knows enough details to call a friend
and find out which hospital that is. He arrives and asks a nurse for the
professor’s room — and hears with shock that she has died.
Outside, he sees the deceased’s family in mourning clothes, and
Kyu-won paying her respects. She recognizes him in surprise, wondering
what he’s doing here. She breaks down into tears as she admits that she
was too late, and awkwardly, Seok-hyun comforts her as she cries.

Shin finds Jun-hee at school and gives him an envelope of money to
repay the gukak girls for the missed performance. Jun-hee tells him to
do it himself, and it’s adorable how Shin asks his friend to come with
him, like he’s afraid to face them alone. But Jun-hee’s even more
scared, having seen their anger firsthand — “especially Kyu-won unni.”
Shin knows it’s bad when Jun-hee even refuses his bribe of buying meat, and sends him off alone.

Shin finds Kyu-won in her department, practicing the gayageum, and
tosses the envelope over to her. To his surprise, she doesn’t take it
and says harshly that she doesn’t need “this measly money.”
With contempt, she asks, “You think you’re so great, huh? So you’ve
got a decent face and some popularity, and that makes you feel like a
big shot, doesn’t it? Well, I’ve heard your music.” She thumps her
chest: “It didn’t resonate here even the tiniest bit, so screw off.”
She throws the money back at his feet, and he picks it back up and
tries again. But he chooses the worst possible thing he could say,
though unwittingly: “I understand how you feel, but take it. You said
it’s for your professor’s hospital bill.”

He tosses the money back at her, but she glares at him, all
indignation, and says she can’t fathom why he gets chased around by so
many fans. “You’re despicable, unlucky, and nauseating — what’s so great
about you?! Their eyes must be warped. Get lost, and don’t show up in
front of me again!”
She takes up the money to throw at him again, only this time he grabs
her wrist to stop her. I love this conflict, because as far as he’s
concerned he was in the wrong, but surely doesn’t deserve this level of
scorn. While Kyu-won — well, I’m entirely behind her outburst, even
knowing that Shin had extenuating circumstances.
They sit there glaring at each other, and Shin challenges, “Do you
want me to show you? Why everyone follows around such a despicable,
unlucky, nauseating guy?”


COMMENTS
Fight! Kiss! Fight! Kiss!
It took some time to build up their interactions and work up the
bickering, antagonistic vibe between them, but I’m really satisfied with
where we ended up. I find it much more compelling than the cutesier
stuff early on, and it’s that change in tone that threw me a bit in this
episode. I find myself thinking that there are two director Pyo
Min-soo’s: The one who does romantic comedy stuff like Full House and Coffee House, and the one who goes introspective and thoughtful for The World They Live In and Insoon Is Pretty. That’s why I never quite know what to expect with his dramas, and why I was really on the fence about You’ve Fallen For Me in the lead-up to the premiere.
This drama hasn’t been promoted as a rom-com at all, which is why I
was surprised at the lighter stuff in the beginning of the episode. It’s
actually been billed as a “youth melodrama,” and considering the range
of tones that existed in Coffee House, I’m expecting this one
to veer more dramatic at times, too. But I don’t mind that at all,
actually, because I think that there’s more substance in that scenario —
it’s why I was detached for the first half, and suddenly hooked by the
end of the episode.
I also happen to like Park Shin-hye much better doing dramatic stuff,
although she can be pretty funny as well. But as much as I liked her
Mi-nam/Mi-nyeo in You’re Beautiful, I found the exaggerated
cutesiness (and the weird shuffly rom-com running) to be corny here.
That kind of overacting works well in the wacky alternate reality of a
Hong Sisters drama, where a cross-dressing nun can turn into a pop star.
But the You’ve Fallen For Me world is more real, and that
gives the wild gesticulations a vaudevillian air. But when she cries,
and spews indignation, and shoots daggers at the assy hero? Oof, I feel
it, and I’m totally with her character.
I wasn’t at all impressed with Jung Yong-hwa in You’re Beautiful
and therefore didn’t care much for Shin-woo hyung beyond the
obviousness of his plot-device existence, but I like him much better
being a cold bastard here. It’s a similar trajectory to Kim Hyun-joong,
who I thought was atrocious being the sweet gentle benefactor in Boys Before Flowers but was much more enjoyable as the jerk in Playful Kiss.
And I appreciate that there’s more to Shin than meets the eye; we don’t
know why he puts on the asshole front, but I’m intrigued as to the
reason why. Is it a calculated disguise? A defense mechanism? Laziness?
As a whole, I’m treading carefully here, particularly until the story
settles into place and the drama establishes the prominent tone. But I
liked Coffee House despite its flaws, and I get some similar
vibes here — not in story or plot, but in overall ambiance, even if this
one’s less wacky-funny and more youthful angst. I’m in it for a few
more episodes, at least.

Tensions flaring high, Shin throws back at her that he’s heard her
play too, and repeats her gesture, pounding on his heart. “You didn’t
move me, not even the tips of my fingers.” Not one to back down (which I
love) Kyu-won counters that he knows nothing of gukak (classical Korean music), so he can just shut his trap.
He challenges her to a wager then, if she’s so confident: Rock Vs.
Gukak, and the loser is a servant for a month. Oh lordy. Please kick his
ass.
The second he leaves, Kyu-won demands for the girls to assemble, like
a mobster. Heh. And before she knows it, word of the battle spreads
across campus, and turns into an all-out war. (They made a rule to
exclude singing—just instrumental, to make it fair.)

She runs into Seok-hyun again (literally forehead-to-chest), and he
returns her sheet music from the other night. I love that she definitely
considers him an ajusshi and he treats her kind of like a kid… and yet…
I totally want these two to be together. Gah. I can’t help it. He’s so
much more interesting than Shin at this stage in the game.
Drummer Jun-hee’s big crush Hee-joo comes by the band’s studio
looking for Shin, and when he introduces himself as The Stupid’s
drummer, she refuses to believe that Jumpsuit Junior and Hot Drummer are
one and the same. Hee. Please let her fall for drummer boy not knowing
that Clark Kent/Superman are the same, and then get promptly thrown off
her high horse.

It turns out that Kyu-won’s still got a good relationship with Dad
who’s teaching music down in the countryside, but it’s kind of a secret
relationship, kept at bay from disapproving Grandpa. She clearly wishes
she could see more of him, but Dad’s keeping his distance. Dad asks if
this guy she’s going to battle is really all that good looking, and at
first she makes a sour face and shakes her head, then, “Well… he’s a
little pretty, kind of like a girl.” HA.
The lead-up to the battle grows bigger than either of them wanted,
but it’s out of their hands now. People start posting signs, departments
choose sides… I love that what’s at stake is month-long slavery,
because no matter who wins, it works to the story’s advantage. And it
doesn’t hurt that they hate each other.
They both work their bands to the bone, dissatisfied to just play their normal repertoire, and feeling the pressure to win.

Seok-hyun finds out that the Big Show he’ll be directing (the
university’s 100th anniversary show) has his ex Yoon-su slated to be the
dance choreographer. He heads to her studio and finds her just after
another fall.
She hears someone walk in and immediately assumes it’s Shin, telling
him not to come around anymore. But Seok-hyun walks in to tell her not
to do the show—that her skills aren’t up to par and that she should
avoid being pitied by others. Damn.
She disregards him, and he bursts out, “How am I supposed to do a
show with you?!” Clearly this is about your unresolved feelings, mister.
She refuses to back off, and he swears at her like she’s a dude,
something like “son of a bitch” or “asshole,” which is unusual unless he
was a teacher or a director of hers at some point. (Adult-to-adult it’s
gender specific and harsh, but from teacher-to-student it’s more gender
neutral and more like “you rotten kid.” Um… I dunno why. It just is, in
colloquial usage.) If she used to be a dancer and he was her director,
that would explain it. Either that or he swears weirdly.

Shin arrives just after Seok-hyun leaves, and watches Yoon-su sink to
the ground and cry. I do love his puppy crush on her which makes him a
much more interesting character, despite the fact that the ballerina is
mostly a downer. I mean, if you spend the first two episodes crying, how
am I supposed to think of you as anything other than a wet blanket?
Kyu-won makes the mistake of telling Grandpa about the battle, which
turns him into General Pansori. He forces her to practice night and day,
basically turning her into a gayageum zombie, because now she’s got the
pride of all Korean music riding on her servant-bet.
Seok-hyun agrees to direct the Big Show, but plans to upend the whole
thing because what they’ve got planned is “no fun.” Heh, I love his
directness. His sunbae tells him that he does have to cast Hee-joo
though, because she’s the university president’s daughter. He doesn’t
seem too keen on that.

It turns out that Hee-joo has something in common with Jun-hee –
she’s always hungry too, but while his is metabolism-fueled, hers is
image-conscious bulimia. Sad. And worse is the truth that it’s all too
common with dancers. She overhears that the new director might go in a
different direction for the show, and hears him talking about Kyu-won
and the battle. Time for some recon on her competition.
Jun-hee tells his bandmates about the gukak professor who
died from cancer the night of the concert, and Shin realizes why Kyu-won
was so testy with him that day. I hope you feel like a heel. I can’t
tell, but I’m going to assume that you do.

It’s Battle Time. Awwwww, yeah. The entrances are awesome, all
western duel at high noon. Shin straps on his guitar, Kyu-won wields her
gayageum, and they approach each other like they’re slinging guns.
A crowd has gathered and Seok-hyun adorably cheers Kyu-won on like a
big dork, which officially seals my love for him. Yoon-su takes note of
his behavior with a hairy eyeball, and Kyu-won awkwardly waves back at
the very strange ajusshi. Heh.

On stage, Shin starts to apologize for the other day, but she doesn’t
let him get very far, assuming he’s just scared he’ll lose. The battle
is on.
The Stupid takes to the stage first and they wow the crowd, making the Wildflowers nervous. Kyu-won vows to do gukak
proud, and gets a big cheer from Grandpa too. They play what starts out
as a very traditional mellow piece but becomes an impressive display of
string-chops to a catchy beat.
They’ve got the crowd… they build to the climax… and then Kyu-won
breaks a string, bringing the whole ensemble to a halt. While I
appreciate that it’s a dramatic moment, I don’t need The! Drama! of it
all to be hammered into my skull like I’m incapable of understanding the
significance. Relaaaaaaax.

They lose, of course, but Jun-hee bounces up to them, “Unnis! You
were awesome! I’ve never heard anything like that before. I think I
totally love you.” So cute. Bo-woon offers to play for him everyday, and
he perks up when she offers to buy him food. Please pick her over the
starving ballerina. I bet you she’s such a bitch because she’s always
hungry. I mean, don’t people know being hungry makes you cranky?
Bo-woon is amazed as she watches Jun-hee devour his food and ask for
more, remembering his alter ego at school eating the same way. She
shakes her head no – it can’t be the same guy. Ha.

I love that everyone is so disbelieving that he’s one and the same.
He had explained to his bandmates that he can only afford a few nice
clothes, which he wears for concerts as fanservice. Heh. Yeah, but that
doesn’t explain the idol hair or the guyliner now, does it?
He eats so much that eventually he outspends her wallet output, and
they have to call for help. Kyu-won arrives and pays the bill, and Shin
arrives just behind her. Jun-hee calls her an angel and then he takes
Bo-woon home, leaving her awkwardly with Shin on the sidewalk.

She admits that she lost today, and he offers that she was good, and
if her string hadn’t broken, the outcome might’ve been different. She
agrees, which I love. He apologizes for not keeping his promise at the
concert and says that he’s sorry about her professor too.
She explains that she knows it’s not directly his fault, but the
circumstances… and he cuts her off to say that he gets it, no biggie. He
tells her the reason that he couldn’t make the concert, and she
believes him right away, which is a relief. I love a drama where
misunderstandings get cleared up quickly.
He says that he’ll use her slave services without too much burden or
guilt (gee thanks) and then asks which way she’s headed… “So I can go
the other way.” HAhahaha. You’re randomly a crack-up when you want to
be.
At school she attempts to hide, hoping that if he can’t find her, he
can’t enslave her. That works for about half a day, until he nabs her
phone so that they can exchange numbers, to the tune of jealous girls
everywhere. Hee.

Shin’s mom gets a request from his father to see his son once before
he dies. So either Shin’s from a first marriage, or an illegitimate
child, and either way Dad has no presence in his life, due to Mom’s
insistence against it. He seems to be dying from The Rock, as in living a
hardcore lonely life, and it makes Mom scared that Shin’s going to
follow in Degenerate Dad’s footsteps.
She asks noncommittally if Shin can’t quit guitar, but doesn’t really
offer the real reason why and takes it off the table. She looks through
pictures of the old days, when Shin’s dad was in a band… with Kyu-won’s
dad?
Oh, well that makes more sense, if Dad really did have a rocker
phase. Because the whole “You want to play Mozart? Get out of my house!”
thing was just kind of silly. So if Kyu-won’s dad was also living
somewhat unconventionally, it would explain Grandpa’s insistence on
raising her himself.
Sigh with the our-dads-were-in-a-band-together thing. At least they’re not siblings? Er? Right?

Kyu-won’s dad suggests that she let him see his son at least once,
for Shin’s sake. Interesting that she keeps in touch with her dad, but
not his. The next day she decides to take Shin to see his father, under
the guise of getting a guitar lesson from someone who was once in a
famous band. (Mom can get away with that as a cover because she works
for a music rag, so she’d clearly have the connections to do so anyway.)

He calls Kyu-won to attend class for him so she can get him through roll call, but of course she gets caught red-handed. Whoops.
Mom waits in the car and he gives her a smile and walks in, but once
he turns away from her, his face darkens. Omo! Is that… narrative
information I’m reading on your face? By jove, it’s a freakin’ miracle!

His face reveals that he knows much more about what he’s about to
walk into than he let on. He must’ve been curious about bio dad before
this, though clearly Mom is in the dark about how much he knows. He
steels himself before going inside.
Neither of them says anything revealing their relationship, and Dad
asks him if he knows how to play. Shin plays a song that he wrote, and
then Dad picks up his guitar and plays along. I love that this moment is
beautifully underplayed, but quite touching because it’s so simple.
Dad tells him, “The guitar and me. That’s my entire world,” and asks
if he’ll come again. Shin looks down to see his hand shaking.

He comes home that day and turns what they played together into a
song, and performs it at the club. Kyu-won comes with Bo-woon and as he
plays, her face goes from skeptical…to surprised… and then moved.
Aw, you did it—you played music that tugged at her heart.


COMMENTS
This drama lacks crispness in its cinematography, and it even feels a
little like it was shot ten years ago. But I like the setup and the
tone of the youth-melodrama. This is kind of what I wanted Mary Stayed Out All Night
to be – an exploration of youth, music, indie vs. conformity, what
adulthood means, etc. But that drama went to wackyville while this one
seems like it’s the perfect answer to what I wanted, thematically.
And okay, I had pretty much written off Jung Yong-hwa as a cardboard box with a pretty face, and though he hasn’t TOTALLY
changed my mind, I do see a glimmer of hope in his portrayal of Shin.
He’s straining less, which is good, and I think that he’s doing a decent
job playing the hot-and-cold guy, who is believably one character who’s
nice at home and mean outside.
He’s still got miles and miles to go before I’m with him on the
straight-up emoting, but this time I’m not actively seeing Black Hole
instead of Actor. And he totally surprised me with his facial
expressions that actually conveyed narrative information today. Yay for
growth.
Song Chang-eui’s character Seok-hyun is the winner so far, because
he’s interestingly written and brightly played, so it’s no wonder I’m
totally falling for his cute interplay with Kyu-won. I think Park
Shin-hye is best when she’s not trying to be cute (And I really fail to
understand why cute is even an affectation for her, ’cause she just
looks cute anyway, no effort needed).
So when she breaks into those moments of swearing at Shin (love) or
sassing him around, I adore her. She’s incredibly easy to feel with,
which is I think a lead actress’ main asset, because she pulls you into
her emotional state. I’m actually hoping for more drama with her
character, just to see her act well rather than rest on her cute
laurels.
But the bickery hatred? I’m all about that. I hope they hate each other for at least half the run or more. Oh yeah.

In the club, Shin sings his song — about being unable to let go —
while thinking about dance instructor crush Yoon-su, as well as his
father. Kyu-won watches with new appreciation, although their usual
bickering dynamic is back as she tells him that she got caught trying
to cover for him in roll call. Now they’re both assigned to write essays
in punishment.
Shin tells her to write his, and when she balks, he mutters, “Useless slave.”

Yoon-su perks him right up, though she reminds him that she doesn’t
want him lurking around anymore. Shin is only here to say, “I met my
father today. I just wanted to tell somebody” and Yoon-su understands
that that’s good news, and tells him so.
The musical commemorating the school’s 100th anniversary heads into
planning and posts audition notices. Seok-hyun is introduced to the
other instructors on his production team, and the meeting is that
special brand of awkward that’s laced with politeness to mask the
pointed words. The instructors dislike that an outsider has been brought
in to replace one of their own, and Seok-hyun doesn’t help the
atmosphere by making a barb at Yoon-su about how they ought to keep
pretending they aren’t acquainted in situations like this.

The teachers bristle when he confirms that he’ll be reworking the
entire concept, but he says it won’t be impossible, since the story is
simple: A girl loves a boy, but leaves him to go pursue her dream. When
that comes to an end, she returns in disappointment. A clear reference
to his failed romance with Yoon-su.
Seok-hyun’s sunbae Tae-joon — the one who wanted to direct the
musical — calls him aside to warn him not to hurt her, which makes
Seok-hyun guess that Tae-joon likes her. He retorts that she’s not the
weakling she appears, and that she’s stronger than either of them. This
friendly “advice” rubs Seok-hyun the wrong way, making him even more
determined to see this production through.

Shin and Kyu-won are called before their professor, this time for the
punishment essays. I love that the professor is more amused than
offended and asks if they’re dating, or if it’s a one-sided affair.
(Shin smirks, the assumption being that his isn’t the side in love.)
They’re told to read each other’s essays, and while hers may have
been written in all earnestness, now it sounds silly in his sardonic
voice: “I’m so so soooo sorry. I’m really really reeeeeally reflecting on my wrongs. Next time, I will really really really, never ever ever do this again.”
Kyu-won starts reading his, but stops short at mention of a “dumb
girl” he blames for not properly explaining his absence. They start
bickering, and the professor decides they haven’t been adequately
punished yet. So they’re ordered to clean up the theater department’s
prop room.

The room’s a mess, and Kyu-won sighs at the amount of work they’ll need to do by the end of the day. Shin agrees: “How will you
do it all alone?” Invoking slave privileges, he settles back while she
gets to work, and decides it’ll be fun to make her dress up in
ridiculous costumes. He reminds her that if she didn’t want to be his
slave, she could’ve just won that bet. Arg. She can’t argue with that.
He may treat her rudely for his amusement, but he does display
concern when the situation calls for it, like when she trips on her
costume and falls. Then the lights cut out briefly, and when they turn
back on, he’s uncomfortably close to her face, which unnerves him.

Ha! I’d be mighty gratified if he’s the one who falls for her first,
given his behavior. And really, that’s the way for this story to work,
since it’s so much more satisfying to watch the cold jerk trying to deal
with this spoiler emotion while she’s blissfully unaware, rather than
having the klutzy girl fall for the cool, rude boy. And no, bringing up Playful Kiss isn’t an example of an exception; I’d say it illustrates the point rather nicely, in fact.
Shin orders her to have his bike’s tires pumped with air, since they
went flat after she “cursed” him the other night, wishing the flat on
him. That’s hilarious to her, and she giggles at the sweet feeling of
justice. Next time can you curse him with something more humiliating,
please?

Hee-joo sees Kyu-won with Shin’s bike, which gives her jealousy
tingles. She asks how they know each other, even pulling out the ol’
“Don’t you know who I am?” chestnut. Gah. That question guarantees you
automatic douche status, regardless of context or qualification. Hee-joo
warns her to stay away from Shin, and that director Seok-hyun, for that
matter (she wants that lead role and sniffs a threat).
Kyu-won delivers the bike to Catharsis and returns the keys to Shin
inside, just as he’s being scouted by Seok-hyun for the musical. She’s
not interested in auditioning until Shin smirks at the idea that she
could be cast as the lead, and that gets her hackles up. I do believe
that look below is one of my favorite in Kyu-won’s arsenal, the
Pshh-You-Think-You’re-So-Great-But-I-Don’t-Really-Give-A-Damn.

But as he leaves, Shin mollifies her by saying, without mockery, “I’d
like to hear you play the gayageum again.” Seok-hyun jumps in to play
on her reaction, telling her that Shin was very much mocking her, adding that there’s scholarship money as well.
Kyu-won confers with Dad, admitting that Shin’s mockery is part of
the reason she’s considering auditioning. But it’s his comment about
wanting to hear her play that she replays in her mind as she practices,
and ultimately drives her to decide in favor of tryouts. The Windflower
girls are excited at Kyu-won’s decision — which will have to be kept
secret from Grandpa — and, with ten days till the audition, they begin
practicing.

Seok-hyun tracks down a former student, Ki-young (Lee Hyun-jin),
intending to cast him as the lead. However, there are a few hitches in
the plan: sunbae Tae-joon opposes the idea, Ki-young is on leave, and
he’s declared himself through with acting. Oh, and there’s also his
history of ruining multiple productions because of debilitating stage
fright.
Ki-young immediately shoots down the offer, having shut down his
dream of being a musical actor. But Seok-hyun doesn’t buy it, and says
it’s plain as day he’s still got the bug, and tells him to audition.
Clearly Ki-young’s convinced that he’s unfixable, while Seok-hyun
believes him too talented to lose. He’s warned, though, that the kids
won’t like the idea of Ki-young being cast — especially Hee-joo, who’s
practically a lock for the lead. She’s supposedly “frighteningly
talented” and won’t enjoy her moment being ruined.

Jun-hee shows up to offer Hee-joo a ride home from school on his
scooter, and thanks to his sharper dressing choices today — he’s in
Drummer Jun-hee mode, not Rumply Jun-hee — Hee-joo grudgingly agrees.
It doesn’t stop her from complaining the whole way home, though, with
the slow-as-molasses scooter, the rain, and everything about the world
that isn’t about her. Her pissiness doesn’t dampen his lovesick
adoration, which tells us that he’s either way too nice or a missing a
few IQ points. Despite his adorable boyishness, I’m gonna have to go
with the latter on this score… (Really? Her?)
The rainy bike ride gives Hee-joo a fever, though, and the next
morning she’s barely able to stand, despite her insistence on making the
audition.

Seok-hyun can see that Ki-young isn’t going to come to the audition
on his own, so he tells his friend Soo-myung to drag him here, by any
means necessary. That he does with a few lies, and shoves him into the
auditorium, to Seok-hyun’s satisfaction and the other judges’ surprise
(they know his story and don’t expect him to come back).
Ki-young stoically declines to audition and turns to leave, ignoring
Seok-hyun’s urging to go ahead and sing. Sunbae Tae-joon, on the other
hand, has thought this a Very Bad Idea from the outset and orders the
next auditionees to take the stage, and ushers the Windflower quartet
in.
The girls make their greeting and settle down to play, but pause
uncertainly when Seok-hyun continues to yell at Ki-young, provoking his
temper, yelling that this is his last chance. And it’s not like Ki-young
doesn’t want to sing himself, so for a few tense moments, he stands
there fighting himself, clenching his fist.

The girls start to play their song, which is “나 가거든,” posted above, sung by Jo Sumi in the 2001-02 sageuk drama Empress Myeongseong. And after a few fraught moments, Ki-young begins to sing, almost against his own will:

Kyaaaaa. It’s pretty great — both his singing, and the intensity with
which Lee Hyun-jin plays the moment, his eyes closed the entire time.
Afterward, he walks out silently, and the girls marvel at his amazing
voice. Kyu-won wonders if this is what performing is all about.

Hee-joo had insisted to her mother that she didn’t want her father
pulling strings for her, but now that she’s missed her audition she
grudgingly lets Mom call Tae-joon to ask for a makeup session. But
Seok-hyun throws Tae-joon’s own words in his face, reminding him that
nobody who misses the audition should be allowed into the production,
and shuts that down.
When Jun-hee hears about her illness, he’s wracked with guilt and
races to the hospital, where Hee-joo predictably blames him for
everything. Not that he doesn’t disagree — he’s convinced that it’s his
fault, and decides he has to make it right. Commence: Operation Harass
Seok-hyun.

Seok-hyun isn’t persuaded by Jun-hee’s pleas to give Hee-joo another
chance because he’s the reason she missed her audition. That makes
Jun-hee exclaim, petulantly and with that youthful conviction that
you’re the first person to feel feelings, ever, “You don’t know love!”
Seok-hyun has to laugh at that and wishes him well with that, but
maintains his stance.
So on to Plan B it is. Jun-hee calls in a favor with his bandmates,
then collects Jun-hee from the hospital to give her that missed chance,
no matter what. He takes her to school, where he’s set up a makeshift
stage in an outdoor auditorium. The Stupid is already there, and he
tells her to put on the show of her life.

Hee-joo protests that there’s nobody around to see her perform
anyway, but Seok-hyun speaks up to indicate that he’s here. So Hee-joo
takes the mic and belts out a song like a star.
As he watches, Seok-hyun concedes, “It’s love.”
That goes a long way to earning Hee-joo’s favor, not that she has a
lot of it to give. She warns Jun-hee that this puny little gesture is
hardly going to change things, but that’s mostly her saving (bitch)face.
Once she’s out of sight, she’s able to smile freely and thinks to
herself that now she can say she has no regrets if she fails the
audition, because she’s just had the performance of her life.

Audition results are posted, and the Windflower girls have all made
the cut. As has Ki-young…and Hee-joo. That provokes a few upperclassmen
to grumble since they all know she’d missed audition day, but Hee-joo
puts them in their place (and possibly lower) with her usual
haughtiness. I’m not sure if I dislike her more for her snobbiness,
which is plentiful, or like her for her sassy setdowns, which are
amusing in a smartassy way.
To Shin’s surprise, the Stupid boys are called to the auditorium
along with the musical participants, who are divided between actors (who
sing) and musical performers (who play instruments).
Cutely, Bo-woon seethes to see Jun-hee approaching Hee-joo cheerily,
although she interprets reality in a bit of a skewed way, saying that
Hee-joo is setting her sights on Jun-hee. Kyu-won asks skeptically,
“Does that seem like flirting to you?” Bo-woon, bitter: “Of course!”
Hee.

Shin wonders why he’s here, having no interest in the musical.
Another instructor speaks up to say she recommended him and his band —
and it’s that cougar-like professor who keeps trying to flirt with Shin.

No matter: Shin rejects this plan flatly… Or at least he means to,
until Yoon-su walks in. A second shocker arrives when Seok-hyun asks
Kyu-won to stand on the other side of the room — with the actors, not
the performers.
She’s puzzled, not understanding why he’d request that, and is about
to press the matter when she notices Shin staring at Yoon-su…who’s
staring at Seok-hyun…who happens to be talking to her. Ahh, it’s the
K-drama merry-go-round of Meaningful Glances!


COMMENTS
I like the light-hearted feel of this drama; it’s not the most meaty
of stories, but what’s there is presented with a refreshing lightness.
It’s sweet and breezy, but has a plot with a solid trajectory. Like Mary Stayed Out All Night could have been, if it had had a brain. Or Playful Kiss, if it had had a narrative throughline instead of just sketches slapped together.
I confess that it was really Lee Hyun-jin’s appearance as Ki-young
that perked me up, because he injected some welcome intensity into the
drama. Oh, we’ve got Angsty Backstories and Tense Staring already with
the director and failed ballerina’s dead romance, but I’m not so much
interested in them. Or at least, not in the downer half of that pair;
Seok-hyun on his own is a delight. Especially when he’s being cute and
charming and slightly immature (though not immature enough to be
irritating. Just enough to be amusing).
But the portrayal of Ki-young injected such a nice burst of energy
into the musical plot that now I have a reason for wanting the
production to pull through and be a success. Kyu-won and Shin will be
fine — she’ll have some grandpa clashes and he’ll be indifferent with a
dash of mooning loverboy — but it’s Ki-young who’s got the stakes and
the drama. I know he’s not the lead, but surely he’s gonna be one
someday, right?

You hear that shattering of glass into tiny little pieces? That’s
Kyu-won’s heart, and she walks home in a daze, letting herself get
soaked to the bone. Kyu-won is angry at herself for feeling this way,
and at Shin. It’s not like she ever wanted to comfort him!! (Well then
girlie, you shouldn’t have fallen for him!)
Kyu-won and Shin arrive at home completely drenched. At least Grandpa
doesn’t give her too much crap about wetting the floorboards or
something. As for Shin, his mother’s tiptoeing around him, afraid of how
he must feel about his father’s death. Shin wants to know what she must
have seen in his father for her to leave her boyfriend. “He disappeared
once he picked up his guitar,” she notes. So… you liked your ex-hubby
for his music, nothing else? She adds that Shin is exactly the same as
his father. She has no regrets though, because that short lived
relationship produced Shin.

The next day at school, Shin brings an umbrella over to Yoon-su’s
office. Seok-hyun catches him there, but he has no harsh words – he’s
heard about Shin’s father’s passing. Instead of wanting to give the
umbrella face to face, he hands it off to Seok-hyun: “Take care of her
well, please.” YAY! Shin is over Mopey Ballerina Girl!

Kyu-won’s friends catch up with Shin, wondering if he saw Kyu-won
last night. He didn’t, but he finds out that she’s home sick because of
the rain. He overhears them walking away, talking about “the necklace.”
Before he can do anything, he’s called away by one of the professors in
charge of the musical as well.
Professor Hong wants Shin to help remix a song to perform with the
Windflowers. She has faith that he can remix songs well, and it would
help him for his portfolio. Of course he rises to the challenge.
When he gets home at night, his sister wants to make Kyu-won make
some food for them. He tells her to stop treating Kyu-won like a slave,
since their deal is over. Aww – he’s defending her.

Kyu-won goes back to school feeling better but not completely 100%.
Her friends think that the necklace she found was hers, but she doesn’t
reveal who it belongs to. Rather, she catches Shin in the park and hands
the necklace back to him.

Kyu-won: I’ve decided to do what you
told me to do. I won’t care about who you like, or how much your heart
hurts because of it. I’ll stop liking you from now on.

Whoa, WHAT!? How did we get to the point of confession?! I wasn’t
even aware that Shin really knew her feelings. She ends with sending her
condolences for his father, and then leaves – probably hoping to not
have to interact with him in the future again.

She walks away, bumping into Seok-hyun in the process. He invites her
to coffee (in which she pours tons of liquid sugar) to ask if she’s
interested in auditioning for the main actress role. He doesn’t have
much faith in her since she’ll be going up against Hee-joo, but since
she’s here, might as well go for it? He uses really weird reverse
psychology, but hey – it works! The theme for the songs in the audition
is “love.”
Tae-joon isn’t too thrilled about having an audition for the main
actress, but he’s determined to make sure that Hee-joo wins. If she does
so, then when he steals her away for his show, Seok-hyun’s will collapse. Meanwhile, Hee-joo warns Ki-young outside of school that he better not run away and ruin her performance
again. Ki-young: “You being such a brat looked good, once upon a time.”
That’s right – Hee-joo, you’re not five anymore. Cutely enough, Jun-hee
appears behind her, afraid that she’s cheating on him.

Kyu-won is called over to meet with Professor Hong. Shin is having
some trouble putting in the right emotions as he isn’t familiar with
traditional music, so she called Kyu-won over to help tutor him. Heh –
more forced situations to be together!
She tells Shin that she’s OK being near him – after all they do have
practices together for the play – and warns him that she’s all serious
when it comes to traditional music. Yeah, sure – if only she could go in
the right direction to the library.
She hands Shin a pile of books that keep getting higher and higher,
noting that every book she picks up is “essential” to learning about the
right emotions and traditional music. Shin grumbles that she must be
exacting revenge upon him right now.

The other Windflowers are super excited at the prospect of working
closely with The Stupid, and they dab on some makeup before heading to
practice. It’s a nice fusion of electric guitars and gayageum, and at
one point, Kyu-won pauses to look at Shin. He catches her looking, and
she gives him a smile before continuing. But Shin can’t help but look at
her every so often. Sparks! Sparks!

Kyu-won meets her father outside of school, as he’s come for a visit,
and she confesses that she really wants to audition for the role of
lead actress. Her father’s all for it, and even guides her on what songs
she could pick. Love isn’t just about sounding nice, but could also be
pain, or hatred, or heartbreak. He does tell her to beware of Grandpa
though.
As Shin practices next door, Kyu-won searches for the right song for
her audition. She also hides all materials relating to the musical
around her room in case Grandpa comes into her room.
After the next practice between The Stupid and Windflowers, Jun-hee
suggests they all grab a bite to eat. Kyu-won initially declines, saying
that she needs to take care of her grandfather, and Shin immediately
says he has to leave. However with much prodding from her friends,
Kyu-won is convinced to go. They all pass by Shin unlocking his bike,
and he pouts – he thought Kyu-won wasn’t going!
So he tags along. Kid – you’re so subtle about who you like!

They all head over to a barbecue place for some grilled meat and
beer. Shin just watches as Kyu-won drinks and stuffs her mouth with
food. Her excuse is that because she was sick, she feels even hungrier.
He warns her to eat carefully, and even steals the piece of meat she was
going to grab. Dude – stop getting in between a girl and her meat!
Jun-hee even offers her a wrap, which stuns his bandmates; Jun-hee never gives his food away!
Hee – my Kang Min Hyuk is just too sweet.

Karaoke time! All of them have a thrilling time, singing and dancing,
while Shin just grumpily watches on. Really – no one is asking you to
stay… He then sees Kyu-won turn green, and she rushes to the bathroom to
throw up. All that eating and then dancing has made her feel queasy.
Shin comes into her stall and starts patting her back, gloating a little
bit in that “I told you so!” moment. He tells her to stop pretending
that she’s OK if she’s really not, and Kyu-won sheepishly nods.

He walks her to the bus stop, as the fresh air helps her. He wishes
her luck for the audition tomorrow, but Kyu-won is OK if she doesn’t win
the main role. For her, just being a part of this performance has
reinvigorated her love for music and the gayageum, which she was already
getting quite sick of. It’s the opportunity to do something that
excites her, not necessarily the role.
The bus arrives, and Kyu-won bids him farewell. But rather than
taking his bike, he joins her on the bus as well, saying that he just
“wants to take a bus once in a while.” Pfft.

Back at home, Grandpa is doing the laundry, since Kyu-won was sick.
As he brings her clothes to her room, he looks around her room, going
over to her numerous plaques. He knocks one aside, and a program for the
performance drops out from behind. He starts fishing through her room
and discovers all these papers and music sheets associated with that
performance. UH-OH.
Kyu-won arrives home begging for forgiveness. He had thrown all of
her music and programs out the front door, which Shin picks up. He
overhears Grandpa yelling at his granddaughter for betraying him, and
Kyu-won insisting that she wants to do the musical no matter what.

The next morning, the board president has Seok-hyun do an impromptu
interview with the reporters. Tae-joon is none too pleased about the
attention Seok-hyun is getting, and becomes more adamant than ever that
he get Hee Joo for his performance. Seok-hyun announces to the reporters
that they will be holding auditions for the lead actress, and that all
of them are invited to come and watch.
Unfortunately, it looks to be a one-woman performance as Kyu-won is
currently locked into her room. Grandpa is not going to let her out at
all, and he took her phone already. Her absence actually worries her
friends, who called but only heard Grandpa on the other end. A bunch of
people are placing bets, and the Three Angry Girls who bullies Kyu-won
actually want her to win. But when they hear that she might not be
coming, they switch their bets to Hee-joo.

One of the bandmembers from The Stupid overhears this problem and
reports back to everyone else, which of course sends Shin running for
his bike. At the same time, Soo-myung informs Seok-hyun that Kyu-won is
trapped at home. He too runs for his car. Now we have two men chasing
after Kyu-won!
Seok-hyun gets their first, but he can’t even reason with Grandpa to
get through the front door. Shut out, he dejectedly heads back to the
school. Shin arrives just in time – just twenty minutes before the time
of the audition – and gets his sister to do a little something for him…

Jung-hyun heads inside the house to ask for Grandpa’s help in explaining some rules of baduk.
She keeps asking questions, so Grandpa goes to get the set from another
room. Immediately, Jung-hyun unlocks the door and tells Kyu-won to run.
She gets on Shin’s bike – surprised to see him there – and they race to
school. Grandpa is all angry that she actually escaped, while Jung-hyun
is happy she’s now 10 bucks richer. Kyu-won is super thankful towards
Shin, but this act of kindness isn’t going to help her forget him
anytime sooner.

Hee-joo performs spectacularly well for her audition, although it’s a
little bland for my taste. Tae-joon is ready to leave after Hee-joo’s
performance when suddenly Kyu-won bursts through the doors. Seok-hyun
smiles proudly at seeing her show up.

And of all songs to sing, Kyu-won chooses C.N. Blue’s “I
Will Forget You” as her audition song. (English version is “Teardrops
in the Rain.”) Wow… Kyu-won evokes such emotion that she even cries
during her performance, and she moves everyone in the room. It’s not
technically good, but it’s moving. Shin even comes in, watching her in
wonder. Yeap – he’s fallen for her.
The votes are cast in a ballot, and Seok-hyun counts them out. Out of all 8 judges, the winner won 6-2. It’s Hee-joo.
URGH.
Tae-joon gives her a standing applause as the reporters flash their
cameras. But despite Hee-joo’s gleeful moment, all of the students
watching from behind rush up to Kyu-won and congratulate her. The
difference between the two is so disparate, where Hee-joo has no friends
to congratulate her, whereas the “loser” Kyu-won has the support of all
her friends. Even Three Angry Girls don’t feel good about winning their
bets placed on Hee-joo.
Seok-hyun is disappointed, but he concedes to Yoon-su that Kyu-won’s
singing wasn’t as good as Hee-joo’s. Yoon-su reminds him that they have a
date, and he promises to meet her there.

Outside of school, the friends all want to go celebrate. Seok-hyun
comes out and stops Kyu-won for a moment. He’s glad she showed up for
the audition, but… she lost him $10!! Kyu-won: “But you said I was going
to lose anyways!” He ruffles her hair in frustration: “But I didn’t
think you really would!”
Shin arrives at that moment to remind her to go home – she has
Grandpa to deal with. Seok-hyun smiles wryly – who’s Shin all of a
sudden? Kyu-won’s manager? Shin offers to give Kyu-won a ride, but she
rejects it. After all, being in more close proximity to him isn’t going
to help at all. Seok-hyun offers to drive her home instead; as the
director of the performance he might be able to smooth things over with
the grandfather better. Kyu-won accepts the offer.
Shin stares moodily. Once again, he’s lost another girl to Seok-hyun.
Comments:
First off – I’m still giddy over the use of“Teardrops in
the Rain.” Not necessarily my favorite C.N. Blue song, but certainly
quite a nice ballad. Its instrumental track was used as well, and I
couldn’t help but pay more attention to the song than the particular
scene it accompanied.
I didn’t expect Hee-joo to win the audition, as I really wanted her
to lose and knock a couple of pegs off her podium. It’s interesting
though because now she’ll be acting opposite Ki-young in the musical,
and I think Ki-young is the only one who can really bring her down from
her lofty self-centeredness. Plus, I still get that feeling that she
likes Ki-young, but doesn’t really know it yet.
While I was afraid that this episode was going to veer into angst
world, I’m glad it didn’t. Kyu-won quickly realized that she can’t mope
over Shin anymore. I actually never really understood how she reached
the point of falling for him, as she denied it for so long, but I guess
closeness breeds affinity, which can then turn to a crush. I’m glad
she’s working hard to not be associated with him all the time. It’s
brave of her, especially for someone who first had the crush. It also
makes it that much sweeter when Shin starts to realize a growing
attraction for her. I also prefer bright and happy Kyu-won, and jealous,
moody Shin, only because it makes their interactions that much funnier.
Everything he did was so childish – he was clearly doing things just so
he could spend more time with her, even if he wasn’t really doing
anything with her.
But poor Shin – he really just can’t beat the awesome Song Chang Ui. In anything.

We get a recap of what happened in the last five minutes of episode
7, and then we’re in Seok-hyun’s car. He looks like their father as he
drives the two kids-who-are-not-on-speaking-terms home. Seok-hyun is
thankful that Shin got Kyu-won to the audition on time, but their
awkward silence unnerves him more. He finds it amusing that they’re
neighbors now too.

Once Kyu-won is inside, Shin urges Seok-hyun to leave for his date;
he’ll stay in front of the house and make sure no yelling occurs inside
Kyu-won’s house. With a reminder to not be late for practice, Seok-hyun
heads over to meet Yoon-su.



Kyu-won apologizes to her grandfather through the screen, and lets
him know that she failed the audition. She wants to continue with the
musical, but will also practice her gayageum even more earnestly than
before. Grandpa suddenly opens his door; he wants Seok-hyun’s number –
now! “Why?” she asks. “You don’t need to know!” and Grandpa slams his
door closed.

By the time Seok-hyun arrives, Yoon-su is tired and wants to go home.
As he drives her home, he honestly tells her that he drove Kyu-won home
because he was worried she might get chewed out by her unrelenting
grandfather. They then discuss Hee-joo’s performance; Seok-hyun admits
that while Hee-joo was good, she has no heart. She’s just a
“well-trained doll,” but no raw talent. Yoon-su on the other hand likes
that Hee-joo works really hard. She actually takes offense at
Seok-hyun’s analysis because those “dolls with no talent” actually train
over and over again, go through eating disorders, and don’t care about
their feet getting deformed.



Hee-joo knows in her heart that Kyu-won’s performance was much
better, more moving, and most importantly, she had friends to support
her. Because her mother had talked to the judges beforehand, Hee-joo had
managed to get the part. She hates that everything is so easy for
Kyu-won, so she’s about to eat a chocolate bar to make herself feel
better, but decides to just weigh herself instead, taking satisfaction
in her light weight.

Kyu-won reports to her father about the audition; though she failed,
she felt like she did her best. And – photographers were there! She then
asks her dad why the first love always hurt. It’s not because she’s
experiencing the pains herself, oh no, but Father says it’s all
so that she’ll remember it the most. After they hang up, Kyu-won
declares herself finished with nursing a broken heart, and goes to
sleep. Yeah!

Jung-hyun bugs her brother about the “ugly girl’s” audition. Shin
warns her not to call Kyu-won that – it’s not nice to call people names!
Hee. But I’m glad he also calls his sister out on her bratty behavior.



The next morning, Shin waits for Kyu-won outside her door, his excuse
being that he wants to know if her grandfather got mad. Grandpa’s not too
mad so far, and she thanks him and Jung-hyun for their help. She heads
to the bus stop, but finds it weird that Shin is following her. Well –
that’s because he left his bike at school.

The two of them head to school in an awkward silence, together but
not really together. They head in the same direction, the same building,
the same halls, in a slow careful pace. It unnerves Kyu-won so much
that she finally breathes a loud sigh of relief when Shin heads in a
different direction.



That’s when Hee-joo catches her for a one-on-one talk outside.
Kyu-won sincerely congratulates her on snagging the role, but trust
Hee-joo to think that Kyu-won is being insincere. She wants Kyu-won to
drop out of the performance team. Hee-joo’s worked so hard to be in this
performance, but Kyu-won’s been coasting on the favor of Seok-hyun.
Kyu-won points out that Hee-joo isn’t the only person in this entire
world who can sing and act, but Hee-joo wants Kyu-won gone. For her
peace of mind. What a selfish, insecure brat.

Shin arrives in class, snapping his fingers and whistling. Several things are off: 1) he’s actually in class; 2) he’s whistling; 3) he’s snapping his fingers. That’s when his band mate tells him that Kyu-won’s in the papers.



The papers declare that Kyu-won’s performance moved the audience
more, but Hee-joo had snagged the part instead. Tae-joon is annoyed, but
he tells his allies to not fear; attention will be on Hee-joo soon, and
when they snag her, Seok-hyun’s plans will fall apart. He then visits
Yoon-su in her office, wanting to talk to her about creating a new
performance team. Tae-joon’s interest lies primarily in getting Hee-joo,
since the performance team that will last longer is the one with
Hee-joo in it. Besides, if Yoon-su joins him, she can come back as a
choreographer again.



The Three Angry Girls antagonize Hee-joo in the hallway by reading
out the newspaper article, causing her to cry alone in the park out of
anger. She’s the lead, no matter what anyone says! Suddenly Jun-hee
appears by her side and puts his headphones over her ears. She turns to
him, cheeks tear-stained, and insists he turn off the music and leave
her alone. But Jun-hee just cradles her face and makes her listen, and
that’s when she bursts into more tears.



Kyu-won does feel a bit bad for Hee-joo, and so she goes to visit
Seok-hyun, interrupting him during his training session with Ki-young.
She wishes to switch back to the music team only, and the acting team
won’t need her since all the roles have been filled. Seok-hyun is
angered at the thought – he chose her for a reason, and now she just
wants to leave before she finishes? Who does she think she is to just
change teams at her whim? (Well – as if Seok-hyun’s favoring her isn’t
obvious enough…)

Later, Seok-hyun presents tickets for a new date with Yoon-su. She’s
about to mention Tae-joon’s plan, but he has to rush off. Yoon-su makes
her decision – she rejects joining Tae-joon’s performance, since all she
had wanted was to prove herself to Seok-hyun. Jealousy also makes
people do crazy things..



Professor Hong informs Seok-hyun that she gave Shin the assignment of
fixing up the ending song. Though Seok-hyun may be angry at her choice,
she defends it, saying that both of them are taking a chance with Shin
and Kyu-won respectively, trusting in these students’ potentials. And
speaking of which, Kyu-won and Shin report to Professor Hong about their
practices. However, they can’t do a demonstration today because the
Windflowers are going to a senior center to perform. Hong suggests that
Shin go as well, since he might learn a thing or two about it.



At the center, the seniors have so much fun that some of them get up
and start dancing. One of the guys gets Kyu-won to come up and dance
with them in a circle, which makes Shin smile. Next thing you know, all
the ahjummas just want a chance to dance with the handsome Shin sitting in the corner! Hahaha! Oh so awkwardly cute.

Seok-hyun and Yoon-su go on a walk together, and the conversation
circles back to Hee-joo. Seok-hyun acknowledges Hee-joo’s efforts, but
he still believes that her skills are not good enough to amaze an
audience. He wonders if Yoon-su is just defending Hee-joo because it
reminds her of her old self? Or perhaps Yoon-su is living vicariously
through Hee-joo, wanting the student to succeed where she couldn’t? Hurt
and insulted, Yoon-su leaves first.



The Windflowers and Shin then have food and drinks with the seniors. Kyu-won drinks up the makgeolli
deliciously, but Shin refuses, because he can’t drink alcohol. One of
the grandfathers insists, handing Shin a bowl, but Kyu-won calls “Black
Rose” – she’ll drink it for him! (I smell trouble!)

That grandfather admires how prettily Kyu-won drinks alcohol, and so
he keeps pouring her drinks. Another grandmother on that table wishes
that she could be her grandson’s wife. Kyu-won finds out that the
grandson is twelve, and then smartly replies, “I like them young too!”

Unfortunately, Kyu-won gets drunk, and Shin finds her dozing off on
the stairwell. He asks if she’s ok, and she goes “Oh! It’s the one that I
like, Lee Shin!” Girl – you talk too much… He tries to get her to stay
awake, and she grabs his face: “Lee Shin, you fool! I even took shots
for you,” and then leans her head against his shoulder. In her sleep,
she curses him out for calling her ugly. Hee.

They get caught in this position by her fellow Windflowers, who then
hurry out, preferring to leave them like this. Shin actually doesn’t
mind that Kyu-won is leaning on him, and smiles.



Jun-hee gives Hee-joo a ride back home, only to be caught outside by
her mother. Jun-hee: “Hello, I’m Hee-joo’s boyf–*WHACK*” Hee-joo slaps
him in the head before he can say something else. The mother calls
Hee-joo in immediately, and Hee-joo mumbles her thanks. Jun-hee’s
adorable as he points out the boo-boo she just gave him.

As for Shin, he carries Kyu-won on his back, holding her gayageum as
well. Even though Kyu-won’s drunk, it doesn’t stop her from yelling at
him for sticking around her when she’s trying so hard to forget him.
Heh.



Grandpa’s not too happy to have a drunk granddaughter in his hands,
but Shin goes home with a small smile on his face. Apparently, smiling
is a rarity for him because his mom wonders whether he really is her
son. But she’s happy that Shin seems to be a happier guy of late.

The next morning, Grandpa takes her to task for getting so drunk she
needed to be carried on a guy’s back. Kyu-won suddenly remembers that
Shin carried her home, and quickly rushes out the door. She has to leave
before she bumps into Shin! Grandpa tries to get her to eat breakfast
first, but Kyu-won is too busy for that.



She tiptoes out the front door, thinking the coast is clear. But Shin is right behind her.
He commends her on her drinking habits, which she then denies. Um –
yeah right. He informs her that he’s got 3 patches on his back, thanks
to last night. (Heh – that last sentence could so easily be
misconstrued…) He clutches his back in pain as he walks off, but smiles
like a childish school boy.

Seok-hyun catches Yoon-su to apologize for likening her to Hee-joo,
and thus comparing his girlfriend to a doll. She accepts his apology,
but states for the record that she finds herself nothing like Hee-joo.
She only thinks the girl is talented, and no one is noticing her
efforts.



Hee-joo’s mom meets up with Tae-joon, not too pleased that all the
attention is on Kyu-won right now. Tae-joon assures her that the
spotlight will be on her daughter, especially once he gets her for his
own team. But that’s not enough for the mother; she wants Kyu-won
completely rid of. No one can threaten her daughter’s position.

Bo-woon grabs the other girls to plan what they should do for
Kyu-won’s birthday, as it is today but Kyu-won has forgotten all about
it. They propose lighting up firecrackers and celebrating after their
rehearsal with The Stupid. However, Kyu-won isn’t completely oblivious,
because she gets a text from her father wishing her happy birthday and
promising of a gift later.



While studying in the library, Shin comes by and dumps the stack of
books she made him read. “Summarize. There’s too many books. I read it
but don’t understand it.” If she doesn’t help him, he’ll tell on her to
the professor. (What are they in, first grade?!) He orders her to have
it done by dinner time. It’s impossible for her, but he reminds her that
carrying her on his back was the more impossible task. Grudgingly, she
gets to work, and Shin watches her from behind a few shelves, grinning
mischievously.



She manages to complete the task by the time of their practice. No
one is there yet, so Kyu-won just starts tuning up her instrument. He
asks if the gayageum is like a guitar, and she begins explaining to him
all the carvings and parts of the gayageum, which he finds interesting.
They’re interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the bands, and the two
bands play “Carmen” again. Seok-hyun sneaks into practice, and he’s got
a guest – Kyu-won’s Grandpa! Grandpa apparently did contact Seok-hyun
finally, and he watches his granddaughter play on her gayageum.

Grandpa has a proposal for Seok-hyun: he doesn’t want the traditional
and western music to mix, but he offers to come by several times a week
and help them. (!!!!!) Seok-hyun tries to say it’s not necessary since
the kids are really just amateurs, but Grandpa replies: “I am Lee Dong
Chang, the great singer. I wish I could come more often but I can’t.
I’ll come out a few times a week.” On to the next matter of business: is
Seok-hyun seeing anyone right now? (BWAHAHA!)



After practice, Bo-woon announces that they’re going to grab a drink, and everyone
except Shin and Kyu-won leave. (Awkward.) Then the lights turn off.
(Even more awkward.) Then all the friends return singing “Happy
Birthday,” carrying the cutest snowman cake known to man. (AWESOME!)
Kyu-won is touched, and her friends release some firecrackers. They all
play around, smearing cream on each other’s faces, while Shin hangs
back, watching.

That’s when Kyu-won realizes he doesn’t have cream on his face! Shin: “Don’t….” And Kyu-won starts chasing him around the room.



As they’re all leaving practice, Shin greets Kyu-won happy birthday.
Caught off-guard, she thanks him, and then trips down a flight of
stairs. (So this is how they’re covering up her accident…) Kyu-won can’t
get up from the pain, and everyone rushes to her side.

It’s already evening, and Grandpa is still talking off Seok-hyun’s
ear about how legendary his skills were. Poor Seok-hyun, the guy looks
ready to fall asleep in any minute. Grandpa is about to start his story
all over again, this time going back to when he was fourteen, when Seok-hyun finally gets interrupted by a call from Shin.



The two of them rush over to the hospital, where Shin is sitting by
her bedside. Kyu-won quickly says that she’s OK – no broken bones or
anything – and Shin immediately assumes responsibility for her fall.
Kyu-won assures everyone that he had nothing to do with it, and that
she’s OK. Not so, says Lee Shin: “She has a fractured rib and sprained
ankle.”

Kyu-won glares at him for betraying her, and the nurse comes by to
let them know that they’ll be moving her soon. Seok-hyun takes Grandpa
home so that he can bring a change of clothing and stay with Kyu-won at
the hospital. In the meanwhile, Shin can stay by her side.



Shin helps settle her in her room, and she asks if he can amuse her
with something funny. Thing is, Shin is not the funniest of guys, so all
he knows are REALLY lame jokes. Disappointed, Kyu-won just asks for her
medicine and water. Once he’s gone, she starts laughing at how lame
they were.

Back at home, Seok-hyun helps Grandpa pack Kyu-won’s things, and he
notices all her plaques and pictures. He then suggests to Grandpa that
since it’s late, Grandpa can just go in the morning, and he will bring
her things over tonight.



When Seok-hyun arrives, Kyu-won is asleep, having taken her
painkillers. Seok-hyun fight over who should stay for the night, but the
nurse comes in to check if they’re family. Since they’re not, she asks
them to wait outside, because they’re men… and the patient’s a woman…
(Wow lady, I don’t think anyone is going to try and molest her in her
sleep, but OK.)

Now that both are kicked out, Seok-hyun suggests having coffee. He
reassures Shin that Kyu-won will be fine, as she’s a strong person. But
Shin doesn’t think Kyu-won is as strong as she presents herself to be.
(Hmm, lover boy’s got insight.) Seok-hyun offers some praise after
watching the two bands practice together. He does note that the original
writer of the ending song is really picky about certain things, and
likes to show-off; yup, he’s also talking about himself.

Seok-hyun notes that Shin seems to be a little different these days,
and wonders if it’s Kyu-won’s effect on him. (After all, Shin always
gets a soft smile on his lips when he talks about Kyu-won; he smiles
more; he’s less broody over Yoon-su; he’s less antagonizing unless he’s
making fun of Kyu-won…)

Seok-hyun heads to go check on Kyu-won before he leaves for the night, but Shin isn’t letting him go alone. He too wants to go check on Kyu-won! *Goofy smile*



The next morning, Shin goes over early to check on her again, but
Kyu-won’s not in her room. Instead, she’s already out in the lounge, on a
wheelchair, listening to some music. She’s surprised to see him, and
tells him he didn’t need to come and check up on her. But he has an
excuse ready: holding up her notes, he asks her to explain some of the
stuff he doesn’t understand. Kyu-won can’t help but be a little disappointed.

As she’s explaining musical composition, Shin isn’t really listening
to her – he’s just staring at her. HA. He’s also bored by it all.
Frustrated, she tells him to listen carefully as she explains for the
fourth time, and Shin nods like a drone, only smiling and listening to
her melodic voice instead of what she’s really saying.



He ends up falling asleep as she talks, which annoys her even more,
and that’s when all her friends from Windflowers and The Stupid arrive
bearing food and fireworks. They came to visit, and are surprised to see
Shin there. They thought he was just hanging by himself, alone, instead
of visiting Kyu-won of his own accord. By himself. “I came to get tutored,” he says, with wide eyes proclaiming innocence.

They all take her out in the evening, and fire off some firecrackers
and sparklers for her birthday. Of course, that just pisses off the
guards, and everyone starts running, with Shin wheeling Kyu-won out of
there.

The two of them manage to get to a safe spot, exhilarated that they
didn’t get caught. Thing is, they don’t know where everyone else went,
and wonder if they made it out safely. Shin watches her laughing and
worrying about others, despite the pain she’s in.

Shin: Kyu-won. Don’t stop liking me.

Kyu-won: What?

Shin: (kneeling in front of her) Don’t stop…liking me.

And fireworks go off in the distance.

Comments:

AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I SCREAM! FOR ICE CREAM!

OK, that just means I like it. I looooooooooooooooove it.
Episode 8 paid off. I think if I watched episode 8 last week, I would
have had an aneurysm and died. I think the cover-up for her injury was a
little random, but I’m sure sitting in a hospital bed helped Park Shin
Hye. I don’t doubt she was faking about her pain. I’m also relieved that
she fell of her own accord, as Hee-joo’s mother’s threat was so ominous
I thought she was going to plan a “car accident” and get Kyu-won in a
hospital.

As for Hee-joo, I do feel bad for her because she does work hard. She
trains all the time and maintains her skinny figure by starvation. It’s
not like she acts her family to help her get things, which makes it
even more pitiable that her mother had to intervene to make sure she won
the part. If Hee-joo had not won the part in the first place, I think
Hee-joo would have been pissed, but accepted it. But because she won,
everyone is calling foul on it and thus placing her in a bad spot. It’s
also not like Hee-joo asked her mother to help her, so it’s really not her fault.

It’s interesting that Seok-hyun thinks Yoon-su is like Hee-joo, which
I have to agree with, but on a different level. I just think So Yi Hyun
is quite soulless and boring in her role, and so she’s as uninspiring
as Hee-joo the Character. Anyways – Yoon-su claims that she likes
Hee-joo because the girl works hard and no one acknowledges that, but I
think that’s where the two of them are alike. Yoon-su seems to have had a
lot of pain as she worked hard to achieve a dream that ended up
shattered, going away unnoticed. She doesn’t seem to want the same fate
for Hee-joo. No matter what Yoon-su may claim, I think she’s more like
Hee-joo than she is ready to admit.

So Shin confessed – eeeee! But Kyu-won takes it the wrong way; when
he can’t answer her about whether he likes her or not, Kyu-won thinks
he’s just stringing her along. Just because he’s popular doesn’t mean he
can tell a girl to not like him, and then tell her to like him. He
tries to tell her she’s misunderstood, but Kyu-won will have none of it.
Bo-woon calls just in time, and Kyu-won asks to be taken back to the
hospital.

Shin rides back home, confused. Good thing his sister comes barging
into his room asking for some more autographs so that she can sell it to
her classmates. He asks how she would react if a guy told her to
continue liking him. Jung-hyun: “My butt! Who says I like you?” Heh. She
tsk-tsks her brother for having bad moves.



Meanwhile, Kyu-won talks to herself in her room, convincing herself
not to be shaken by Shin. She is interrupted by a visitor: Seok-hyun.
He’s here to present her the lines and lyrics for the starring role,
because he wants her to be Hee-joo’s understudy. (Ah – so that’s how
he’s keeping her in…) Kyu-won is all, “I don’t want it!” and sounds like
a petulant child. Seok-hyun sounds like the patient father, asking if
she really means that. Heh – of course not. He also informs her of a
team retreat so that everyone can bond. He suggests that she just stay
at home and rest, but of course that makes Kyu-won want to go even more,
even with her injuries.



The next day, the school Chancellor tells Seok-hyun to play nice. Now
that he’s appeased Tae-joon by having Hee-joo as the lead, perhaps they
won’t split off and create a new performance team. Seok-hyun grudgingly
accepts, and then asks for permission for the trip. Since Tae-joon
turned down the offer to chaperone (because he doesn’t want to breathe
the same air as Seok-hyun) and Professor Hong is too busy, the
Chancellor suggests Yoon-su, which Seok-hyun is only too happy to agree
with.



Meanwhile, Tae-joon is stressed thanks to Hee-joo’s mom. His cohort,
Kim Young-min, plays devil’s advocate: what could the mother be
complaining about if her daughter’s already the lead? And the reason why
Kyu-won gets more attention is because she was better! That doesn’t
help Tae-joon, and he’s more determined than ever to bring Seok-hyun
down. He wants the dirty secrets, and he wants Young-min to get them.



Seok-hyun supervises the practice, and provides some constructive
critiques. He tells them to make sure they tap into their deep emotions
while singing, rather than trying to appeal to the audience. And then,
he gives a demonstration.
It’s a moving song that makes Bo-woon gush: if Kyu-won were here,
she’d have fallen in love with Seok-hyun. Shin overhears, and he can’t
help but think of Kyu-won while Seok-hyun sings.

Seok-hyun wants to make sure that everyone has understood about the
emotion part – especially Hee-joo. The Three Angry Girls know that
Hee-joo is being targeted for her soulless singing, and make fun of her
after practice.



Hee-joo mopes at the playground, angry at their comments but also
worrying about it. She gets a call from Seok-hyun, and lies that she’s
in a cafe instead of out in the sun. But Seok-hyun catches her there
anyways. He wonders why she’s sulking if she got the part, since she’s
so good anyways. But he tells her that she’s quite emotionless in her
performance because she hasn’t experienced love – the feelings of
falling in love, of yearning for a person, of pain, of break-up. She is
all technique, but no depth. Hee-joo snipes back – has Kyu-won loved? Is
that why she’s so great?

Seok-hyun just says that Kyu-won will be her understudy, whether she
likes it or not. He challenges her to break his prejudice towards
doll-like actresses – prove to him that she’s better than he thinks she
is.



So Hee-joo does a surprising move. She seeks out Ki-young and asks
him if he thinks she’s an emotionless doll. He’s amused by her query,
not knowing she cared so much, but he’s even more surprised when she
asks for his help! She wants him to teach her how to love. (HA! Is this
the triangle we’re going for?) Though Ki-young hasn’t really experienced
love much, he’s acknowledged as a talented actor, so she wants
Ki-young’s help. In secret, of course. Her pride can’t handle more than
that. Ki-young simply marvels at the change in her.



Meanwhile Shin goes to visit Kyu-won in the hospital. She’s not
pleased to see him, but he reminds her that he still needs tutoring. As
Kyu-won goes over the notes in an angry tone, she eventually gets on his
nerves – why is she so mad at him? Kyu-won: “Do you still have to ask?
Are you slow?” Annoyed, Shin stands up – he’ll go and find someone else
to tutor him instead.

He rides back to school, looking hurt. (Yes – I read that emotion on
his face!) He announces to his bandmates that they’re no longer
practicing with the Wind Flowers, which bums them out, ’cause, yunno,
they liked those girls. Too bad though – they’re forced to follow Shin’s
whims. I love that everyone always assumes that if he or Kyu-won change
their plans suddenly, it’s always because they fought, and not because of any excuse/reason they may give.



Kyu-won’s father and Grandpa bring her home from the hospital, and
they bump into Shin outside. Shin greets them politely, and Kyu-won
quickly whispers to her father that he’s the “Arrogant Prince” she
always talks about. The father says hi, not having met his
ex-girlfriend’s son ever, but then has to rush off to teach. Grandpa
wants to have a word with Shin, since he heard about the boy mixing
traditional and western music for the performance. Kyu-won tries to get
Shin to leave, but he thinks Grandpa will be a better tutor than her.

And what is Grandpa’s idea of tutoring? He goes into his whole spiel about his own history of how he became a famous singer – exactly what he told Seok-hyun! Heehee! Kyu-won and I enjoy watching Shin grimace in pain, having sat on his crossed legs for too long listening to a boooooring history of this Grandpa’s life.



Kyu-won gets a call from Bo-woon, and confirms that she’ll go to the
team camping trip. Now they can arrange something to do for the talent
show together! Just before Grandpa is about to tell his story (from 14
to his twenties), Kyu-won decides to interrupt. You have no idea how relieved Shin looks to see her. She reminds Grandpa that Shin needs to study, so he can tell his story another day. Now who’s the better tutor, huh Lee Shin?

As for Grandpa, he muses over who is the better candidate for his
granddaughter, since both men have endured his test of listening and
endurance: Shin is good, but he’s in a band. Seok-hyun isn’t in a band,
but he’s too old… HEE!!



The next day, Kyu-won basically leaves the house all packed up and
ready to go for the camping trip. Though Grandpa tries to stop her, she
pouts and begs, and promises not to do anything to hurt herself. Grandpa
finally lets her go, but then he quickly makes a phone call to
Seok-hyun. He drops hints about how folk songs are best heard at beaches
and/or the woods, but Seok-hyun doesn’t get it. Grandpa hangs up,
furious; how could Seok-hyun not realize that he wanted to go on this
trip too?! Seok-hyun is out of the running!

When Kyu-won leaves her house, she bumps into Shin. They’re the first
ones at the meeting spot for the bus, but don’t talk to each other at
all. As for Jun-hee, he’s waiting to catch Hee-joo to make sure that she
joins in on the trip as well. They all laugh as Sa-rang (the main
leader of the Three Angry Girls) struggles with her two heavy luggages,
wondering what on earth she could be bringing.



Soo-myung is going on this trip too, and he marvels at how punctual
the students are when it comes to having fun. They all board the bus,
and Sa-rang eyes a seat next to Soo-myung. He places his bag on the
empty seat and says it’s already reserved. Heh.

Shin tries to find people to sit with too, but no one wants to share a
row with him. He finds a seat next to Kyu-won, and before she can
protest, he sits down: “There’s no room. I have no choice.” And then he
closes his eyes and “falls asleep.”

Yoon-su boards the bus as well, and is met with great whoops from all the boys (minus Shin). Soo-myung lets her sit next to him, which makes Sa-rang pout with envy.



Young-min has gotten the dirt on Seok-hyun. Back in Broadway,
Seok-hyun had gotten into a scandal with a lead actress. He kicked out
the original lead actress for a play and replaced her with a nobody.
However, that ‘nobody’ was actually really talented, and it ended up
being good for the performance. But then people spread nasty rumors, so
the ‘nobody’ and Seok-hyun ended up quitting. Young-min thinks that the
rumors got to Seok-hyun in the end, but Tae-joon disagrees. However,
this is useful enough for them to go to the media with.



The team arrives at camp, and girls and boys are split into two
houses. While Sa-Rang asks for Soo-myung’s help in carrying her
luggages, he flatly rejects her and offers to help carry Yoon-su’s small
bag. (Heehee. This is such a random love triangle the drama is throwing
at us…) But it turns out Sa-rang was carrying a lot of supplies –
toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, you name it. And since Hee-joo hadn’t
packed anything, she purchases the necessities from them, even if
they’re ripping her off.

Seok-hyun arrives with all the food, pans, and supplies, but he
forgot to bring fruit because Yoon-su didn’t write it down on the list.
(Men…) He gathers the entire cast into a small performance room and has
them yell out their dreams.

Hee-joo: “I’m going to be the best actress in Korea!”

Ki-young: “I’ll be on Broadway one day!”

Kyu-won: “I’ll do my best at the 100th Anniversary performance!”

Sa-rang: “I’m going to be Soo-myung’s girlfriend!”

Soo-myung: “NO WAY!”

Shin takes a stroll outside the compound and sees Yoon-su. He’s about
to pass her silently when she stops him to say that she’s looking
forward to hearing his ending song. She’s reaching out to him this time
(as a teacher) instead of the other way around, which is good for both
sides. She notes that he’s happier now, and he apologizes for having
been annoying to her before. (Besides, he’s got a new “someone” to
annoy.)



Kyu-won escapes in a large room to rest and sit down. And who shall come to antagonize her but Shin. He’s checking up on her, but since she insists she’s fine, he wants her to scooch over so that he can sit at her spot.
Grudgingly, she moves over for the big baby. On the other end of the
spectrum, Jun-hee comes bounding in with Hee-joo and he lays down a mat
for her to sit on. Now that’s someone you should learn from, Lee Shin.

However, Soo-myung interrupts the four of them. He needs two people
to cook, and another two to get the watermelon. Jun-hee the Food Lover
volunteers himself and Hee-joo on kitchen staff, and Shin gets the keys
from Soo-myung to go to the market. Though Kyu-won is tired, she has no
choice but to go under the watchful eyes of Soo-myung.



Shin and Kyu-won bump into Yoon-su and Seok-hyun. They bid them a
safe trip, and Yoon-su notes that Shin must like Kyu-won. Seok-hyun
can’t believe that, and a cloud covers his expression. HMMMMM – more
tension?

In the kitchen, Hee-joo can’t cook for her life, and she accidentally
cuts her finger. Jun-hee immediately sucks her finger to stop the
bleeding, much to her chagrin. He dashes to get a Doraemon band-aid from
his bag, and applies it, singing “Heal quickly~!” to her finger.
Hee-joo is touched, and she finds out that Jun-hee usually sings that
song to his sickly mother nowadays. Since Hee-joo can’t slice, Jun-hee
has her wash the rice.



In the marketplace, Kyu-won goes from seller to seller, wanting to
get the best deal for the watermelons. Shin gets impatient, and he
starts walking ahead of her. That’s when Kyu-won starts to feel the pain
on her waist. She tries to call Shin to wait, but since he ignores her,
she just goes into a nearby pharmacy and purchases a pain relieving
patch.

Shin turns around and realizes she’s no longer behind him.
Immediately, he grows worried, and starts retracing their steps. He
completely misses her in the pharmacy, and so when she steps out, she no
longer sees him ahead of her anymore. Kyu-won also didn’t bring her
phone. Great. Meanwhile, Shin desperately searches for her through the
streets, worried that she might be hurt somewhere.



Back at the camp, Jun-hee painfully bites into a small rock in his
rice. The other students all find their rice dirty, and still having
some rocks in them. Hee-joo glares at them – she totally did a good job
of washing that rice! – that is, until she bites into it herself and
finds a rock. Everyone complains about the stew Jun-hee made; no one
ever puts cucumbers in the recipe, and not everyone likes what Jun-hee
likes in his stew. Jun-hee and Hee-joo glare at all their critics, and pretend everything tastes good to them. Hehe.



It’s already late at night when Shin finally finds Kyu-won at a
stall, purchasing a watermelon for $15. She’s happy at having finally
gotten a deal, whereas Shin is furious. Does she not know how long he’s
been searching for her?! He grabs the watermelon and they head back to
the car. Kyu-won asks if he regrets looking for her, but he tells her he
was worried sick. She’s already hurt, and he was afraid she might have
gotten even more hurt.

He tells her to sit back on the chair so that she can rest her back.

When they finally get back, Shin moodily drops off the watermelon and
leaves. Seok-hyun wonders if they fought (again), but Kyu-won
sheepishly admits that Shin’s mad he lost her at the market. When they
both leave, Yoon-su notes that Shin didn’t look mad, but looked worried.
Again, Seok-hyun has that weird conflicted expression on his face.



After dinner, it’s talent show time! Of course, someone performs a
lip-sync of “I’m a Loner” (외톨이야) as a nod to C.N. Blue. When it’s time
for the Wind Flowers to go on for their dance, Shin grabs her wrist and
stops her backstage. He doesn’t want her to go on; she’s too injured.
Shin calls from across the stage that Kyu-won will not perform. And with
that, the two of them slowly sit at the back of the audience and watch
as everyone claps and dances along with the Wind Flowers.

Shin: Don’t be hurt. I’m worried.

And with those words, suddenly the two of them are lost in their own
thoughts. The world melts away into silence as the two of them sit next
to each other, sneaking glances, painfully aware of the other and yet
unable to say aloud what they’re feeling or thinking.

Seok-hyun and Yoon-su go for an evening walk, a momentary escape to
“date” while on this trip. Yoon-su thanks him for wanting to start over
with her. She’s happy he gave her another chance, and he notes that
she’s changed a lot in the six years they were apart. But I wonder –
perhaps Seok-hyun has changed too…



Back inside, Soo-myung hands Shin a guitar to play a song for
everyone. With a glance at Kyu-won, he breaks into song: “Lucky” by
Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. (I’m sad he only sings the chorus)
He keeps looking at Kyu-won as he sings, and clearly, the “best friend he’s fallen in love with” is her.

Kyu-won then volunteers to get the watermelon, and Shin immediately
follows her. She takes a misstep and sprains her ankle, and Shin is
immediately by her side, checking on her injury. Their faces are so
close to each other…and Shin starts saying her name. He seems like he’ll
say more when both are interrupted by Bo-woon.

That evening, neither of them can fall asleep, and so both of them
end up going outside to look at the night sky. He asks after her foot,
and she says she’s much better. “Are you really ok, or are you just
pretending?” he asks, and she insists she’s telling the truth.

Kyu-won sighs that she was hoping to make a wish on a shooting star.
Shin wants to know what her wish is, but she won’t say, keeping it a
secret. She asks what wish he’d make; “It’s a secret,” he replies. Heh.



He then holds out his hand to her. Kyu-won looks at it confused, so he takes her hand and holds it.

Shin: Do you want to know what my wish is? It’s for you to like me again.

O_O

Comments:

So. Two episodes. Ending with two confessions. From Shin. WHOAAAAAA!
My head could burst! I’ll give him credit for this one though – his
second confession came out way better than his first. Instead of giving
permission for her to like him, he’s now hoping that she can
start liking him, because clearly he likes her. Any confusion she may
have had before is getting dispelled by the simple fact that he’s
watching out for her.

This entire episode he’s been hovering over her and constantly
worried about her and her injuries. In some ways, I can’t stop thinking
that parts of the real Jung Yong Hwa is coming out, and he’s just being
worried about his friend Park Shin Hye. (Maybe that’s why his acting is
getting better…) Though Jung-hyun may think her brother is pathetic with
girls, at least Shin isn’t trying to win her heart with stupid antics
and little mind games. Instead, his sincerity is what’s pulling him
through. I appreciate that about him, because even though he came off as
a “cold, arrogant guy” in the beginning, we always knew he was capable
of kindness and sincerity through his interactions with Yoon-su and his
sister. Therefore, I like this type of growth for him; he is merely
revealing another side to Kyu-won, a side he’s always had.

The Hee-joo and Ki-young loveline seems to be interesting, as this
episode sets in place future interactions. I’m actually hoping we see
more of them next time. This week we’ve built up a lot on Kyu-won and
Shin’s relationship; now we should focus on the upcoming play and the
conflicts that will play out.

I notice that some people are wondering about the parents’
relationship, and how it will affect our main couple. I’m actually not
too worried about that, for the simple fact that I don’t think the
parents will get together. While the parents may love each other, I
think they’ve moved past the point of getting back together. The Grandpa
may prove to be a bigger obstacle to Shin and Kyu-won than the parents
because he will need to change his deep-seated prejudices towards
western music. Shin and Kyu-won also aren’t siblings, so it’s OK.

Hee – Shin’s actually waiting outside of Kyu-won’s house, with a
smile on his face, and she’s pleasantly surprised to see him there. He’s
come to walk with her to school, not taking his bike because she can’t
ride it anyways. He offers out his hand, and she shyly takes it… only he
wants her backpack instead! HAHA – gallant, but so not what we wanted!

As if the cuteness will never end, they walk side by side, and
Kyu-won swings her hands so much so that it will brush his. “I guess we
will have to hold hands if we don’t want them to hit each other” – and
with that, he grabs her hand! YAYYYY!



Meanwhile the parents have an encounter of their own. They bump into
each other outside their respective houses and go for coffee. Sun-ki
(the father) finds out that Ji-young’s son is the infamous “arrogant
prince” in Kyu-won’s stories, and wonders if he should have his daughter
stop seeing her son. You see, he’s planning on moving to Seoul, and
it’s not just because he wants to take care of his aging father. It’s
also because of Ji-young. Good think Ji-young stops him in his tracks
and tells him not to talk about it.



Shin and Kyu-won go on their date at an ice cream parlor, but guess
who sees them as they pass by the store? Yep – the Three Angry Girls.
Immediately they peer through the windows to see if the girl he’s with
is really Kyu-won. Shin sees them right away and grows uncomfortable. He
stops Kyu-won from turning and seeing them, and sighs in relief when
the Three Angry Girls go skipping away.

They reason that it’s possible for Shin and Kyu-won to hang out because they’re neighbors, and nothing more.

Shin admits that he didn’t want rumors spreading if Sa-rang really
saw them together on a date. All the girls would also rise up against
Kyu-won and make her life troublesome. While that may all be true, it’s
also hurtful. Kyu-won thinks that they might as well not do anything
together then, in case they get caught. It’s not what Shin meant, but
that’s how she takes it.



As they leave the parlor, they bump into Bo-woon, who’s surprised to
see her there with Shin. She leads Kyu-won away, leaving Shin to follow
them a ways behind.

Bo-woon wants to know if something happened with Shin during camp,
but Kyu-won denies that anything happened. Heh – of course, Shin hears
it all and he starts muttering Bo-woon’s name in anger – annoyed that
she just came in between them.



At school, Jun-hee is accosted by some fans giving him cookies. He
sees Hee-joo passing by, and immediately runs up to her. In front of
those fans, he shares the cookies with her. Hee-joo, being bratty,
throws it out of his hands. She didn’t want it, okay?! And he shouldn’t
be tempting a girl with an eating disorder on a diet with cookies.

Tae-joon meets with Hee-joo’s mother, who’s not too pleased to be
constantly meeting him outside. Tae-joon relates his plans on how to
embarrass Seok-hyun with a scandal, but she says it’s not necessary.
Since Hee-joo will be onstage no matter what, it’d be better if she were
under the guidance of a Broadway director. And just like *that* the
problem is gone. Tae-joon is foiled!

This drama does not seem to dwell on the melodramatics very long…



Still wanting to ruin Seok-hyun, he goes to visit Yoon-su, telling
her that “something” happened between Seok-hyun and his lead actress
back in Broadway. Clearly he’s trying to make Yoon-su jealous, but she
doesn’t bite. After all, she dated others too when they were apart.
Tae-joon pretends that he just wanted to make sure Yoon-su wouldn’t be
stabbed in the back later, but she doesn’t mind. After all, she stabbed him in the back first.

Tae-joon is foiled again!



At practice, Shin watches Kyu-won from afar as she socializes with
the other actors. In need of some attention, he starts showing off his
skills on the guitar. Kyu-won is non-plussed, and Seok-hyun calls him
out on it playfully. They all start from the first act, and of course,
Hee-joo pushes Kyu-won aside. However, Seok-hyun wants Kyu-won closer to
the front, rather than in the back. She needs to practice exactly the
same as Hee-joo, much to the leading actress’ annoyance.

After practice, Seok-hyun calls both girls aside. He takes the two of
them out for coffee, and of course, Kyu-won orders a very foamy and
sweet cafe mocha in front of the starving-herself Hee-joo. Seok-hyun
scolds Kyu-won for not watching her weight, but Hee-joo doesn’t mind –
after all, Kyu-won won’t go on stage!



Now all Seok-hyun has to do is watch the two girls diss each other and fight. And that’s literally
the reason why he brought them aside. He wants them to realize that
they’re not competing. They should be taking care of each other instead,
and make sure nothing will affect the performance. He makes them
promise, and they even force their smiles to satisfy him.



Shin waits outside the rehearsal hall, and is startled when Soo-myung
asks what he’s doing there. A moment later, the reason appears:
Kyu-won. Soo-myung remembers that they’re working together on the ending
song and wishes them luck. Good thing they have that excuse to spend
time together, eh?

He’s about to apologize (or explain himself) about that morning when –
guess who? – Bo-woon appears! She interrupts (again) and invites
Kyu-won to hang with the girls. Like, right now. Bo-woon finally notices
Shin there: “Oh, I see you quite often today!”

HEE HEE HEE.

Once again, Shin utters Bo-woon’s name like a curse. But then he gets a bright idea…

The girls are all dishing for the latest news from Kyu-won, knowing
that she had ice cream with Shin this morning. (News like that spreads
fast, you see…) But everyone thinks it’s only because they’re neighbors
and nothing more, otherwise they’d be pulling out her hair now.



They all go into a store, and Bo-woon catches her looking at couple
tees. Kyu-won fibs that she wants to wear them with her grandpa
(*snerk*). After all, underneath all that traditional clothing, he’s
quite the fashionista. OK then! Bo-woon now wants to visit Grandpa and
take a picture of him wearing the couple shirt.

Shin actually ends up at Kyu-won’s house. He greets Grandpa – he
actually wants to hear the rest of Grandpa’s long-winded history! HA! Oh
the pains he’s willing to go through just so he could catch Kyu-won for a private chat. After all, Bo-woon couldn’t possibly come over to her home, right?!

Most ridiculous thing Grandpa says? “I looked just like you when I was younger!” Shin: “HUH?”



Finally, Kyu-won arrives home, and Shin once again smiles with relief. Except… Bo-woon follows her in. HAHAHA!

Bo-woon is surprised to see Shin for the third time in one day, and
Kyu-won lies about Shin getting traditional music tutoring from Grandpa
these days. Bo-woon then excitedly tells Grandpa about the couple
t-shirts, and Shin immediately realizes that those t-shirts are more for
him than for Grandpa.

Grandpa’s all, “You want me to wear that!?” He thinks she’s just
trying to get out of ironing his clothes all the time, but he agrees to
wear them for Bo-woon. Shin nearly falls after sitting for so long, so
Kyu-won helps him up – a move that does not go missed under Bo-woon’s
watchful eyes.



Bo-woon thinks she’s been seeing the two of them together too often,
but Kyu-won brushes it aside to just being neighbors. Grandpa comes out,
proud of the t-shirt. That’s when Shin gets the bright idea of
suggesting that Bo-woon listen to the grand life story of Lee Dong Jin
the Great Singer. Naive, she agrees to listen, totally excited.

Shin closes the door behind them, saying, “Cha Bo-woon, you’re so lucky. You should feel honored.”
Hehehe. And you know where Grandpa starts his story? Waaaaay back when
his mother had a dream about a pumpkin, before he was born.

Outside, Shin goes, “Grandpa must have started with the dream. I
wonder how far she’ll get.” (I’m literally dying from laughter here at
the immaturity of it all.)

Now with Bo-woon out of the way, he can finally apologize to Kyu-won
for that morning. Kyu-won agrees with him though – she does want to keep
their relationship on the down-low because she doesn’t want her hair to
be pulled.



They go to a nearby park so that he can show her his current edit of
the song. Using his tablet, he plays the guitar, and she uses her phone
to play with the Gayageum app. How friggin’ convenient is that? The song
is quite cheerful, and it meshes both stringed instruments quite well.
Kyu-won didn’t expect to like it so much, and she promises to help him
make it better and use all the traditional instruments. [download]


Shin wonders if Kyu-won is OK with being Hee-joo’s understudy,
because she might never be onstage. But Kyu-won is fine; she knew she
wouldn’t be the starring role anyways. She’s enjoying just learning and
dancing, and is glad that Shin got her to continue doing the musical in
the first place.



They while away the afternoon, listening to some music together. It’s
late evening before Kyu-won finally returns home, and by then Grandpa
is only up to his life at 16. Bo-woon is suffering a slow and painful
death, but thankfully Kyu-won arrives to send Bo-woon home. Hehe. As
Bo-woon limps out, she realizes that Shin must have done this out of
revenge against her, but she has no idea why.



The next morning, Shin takes her to school, and he even got her a
special froggy cushion for her seat in the back of his bike. He tells
her to hold on tight – around his waist, not just his bag. AWWW. When
they arrive in school, Shin grabs her hand. It doesn’t matter if others
see (and others DO see – notably the Three Angry Girls and Soo-myung).
Shin basically proclaims their love in front of everyone as they walk
through the halls. Boys go “Whoaaa!” Girls faint and scream, “Noooo!”
Chaos reigns the school. Even the Windflowers get on her case
immediately, and Bo-woon complains that if she had known earlier, she
wouldn’t have stuck around Kyu-won so much.



The hatred towards Kyu-won even reaches the professors’ ears, and
Seok-hyun wonders what the fuss is all about. He thinks Kyu-won
shouldn’t be dating at this time, and Yoon-su is amused that he
disapproves so much. With the performance a few days away, he’d rather
if Kyu-won focused more on the performance than on her love life.

Hee-joo is practicing hard with Ki-young in the rehearsal room. He
doesn’t think she’s managed to encapsulate the feelings of the main
female lead, who leaves the main male lead for acknowledgment. She
thinks too hard about trying to be in love that all you can see is her thinking about it.

Her mother, meanwhile, is taking out the sponsors for a meal,
thanking them for helping out. They congratulate her on her daughter
being the lead and ask if they can see a bit of the performance today.
While mother isn’t all too keen, she does pull a few strings to make it
happen.



As for Hee-joo, she tries to practice through her hunger, but Jun-hee
catches her. He takes her out for a rooftop picnic, knowing that she’s
not eating anything other than vitamins and ginseng. He’s worried that
she’s getting to skinny, so he forces her to sit down and eat lunch with
him. He was even thoughtful enough to make sure her food was
non-fattening. Eagerly, she eats. Poor gal.

She gets a call from an annoying telemarketer and so Jun-hee shuts
off her phone so that she can eat in peace. That also means, she misses a
call from her mother, warning her about the impromptu performance.

Tae-joon relays the message about the performance to Seok-hyun, who
frets about it being so sudden. Tae-joon is secretly pleased with this
development, as he wonders how Seok-hyun will deal with the pressure.
Seok-hyun doesn’t want to hold the performance, but Yoon-su tries to
appease him. Just do it once – for her.



Kyu-won is in the band’s practice room, getting private lessons from
Shin on how to play the guitar. He notes how she’s tied up her hair
quite tightly today, and it’s all because she wants to make sure it’ll
be difficult for anyone to just grab her hair. Hehe – I love how she’s
so worried about girls coming after her.

Shin tells her that he’s by her side, so she will never have to
worry. He leans in close – to KISS HER – when suddenly BO-WOON comes
rushing in to the room! Shin: “Cha Bo-woon. I was wondering when you’d
be coming.”

!!!!!!!!!! I died.

Bo-woon is too panicked to care. Kyu-won needs to hurry to the
rehearsal room because they need to perform for the sponsors – and
Hee-joo is nowhere to be found. This is what understudies are for!



Hee-joo is still enjoying her rooftop date, and so after she’s eaten
her full, Jun-hee tells her that she can sleep on his lap. He’ll sing
her a lullaby. Great Jun-hee! You just ruined Hee-joo’s chance to
perform! Her mother is freaking out that Hee-joo is nowhere to be found,
and is forced to show the sponsors a performance without her daughter.
Tae-joon thinks this might end up favorable for him; if Kyu-won proves
to be better than Hee-joo, no doubt the mother won’t let the matter
rest, and Tae-joon can get his revenge against Seok-hyun.



Ki-young and Kyu-won prepare in the music room. Ki-young is trying to
calm his nerves, but looks like he’s ready to bolt. Kyu-won immediately
grabs his hands – he can’t fail her now! She’s relying on him! She
tells him to pretend it’s practice, and he smiles, a little more at
ease. Shin comes in, and Ki-young tactfully chooses to leave the room
for them.



Now it’s Kyu-won’s turn to have her major freak out – she only
pretended to be strong for Ki-young. Shin admits that he gets stage
fright when he performs at the club too. He cups her face in his hands,
and tells her to look at the audience in the eye, and chant, “You’ve
fallen for me.” Then she can overcome her nervousness.



Seok-hyun apologizes to the sponsors for the short performance, as
they can only show a bit of Acts 3 and 4. Hee-joo’s mother explains to
the sponsors that her daughter is sick, and so they’re going to have to
watch the backup perform. While she’s bristling with anger, Hee-joo
suddenly awakens at the rooftop. She turns on her phone, and finally
sees all the missed calls from her mother.



The performance is well under way, starting with an elaborate dance
sequence, and ending with a duet from Ki-young and Kyu-won. Of course,
the moment Kyu-won opens her mouth, the sponsors are awed; the mother is
struck dumb – and furious; Seok-hyun smiles; and Shin is glowing with
pride for his girlfriend. [download]


Now if the understudy is that good, Hee-joo must be better. Right?!



If only it were that easy. By the time Hee-joo arrives outside the
performance hall, it’s all over. Her mother sees her with Jun-hee, and
*SLAAAAP* right across her daughter’s cheek. Jun-hee is sent away, and
the mother yells at her daughter for turning off her phone for a sloppy
boy. Hee-joo can quit right now if she doesn’t want to take this
seriously. She shouldn’t embarrass her parents – especially now with
Kyu-won actually being way better than Hee-joo.

The mother visits Tae-joon. She wants him to leak the scandal now, and persuade Seok-hyun forcefully to cut Kyu-won.



After the performance, Seok-hyun is so proud of Kyu-won for stepping
up, and for helping Ki-young stay focused. He ruffles her hair
affectionately – but is stopped by Shin. Yup – don’t mess with his
girlfriend. She’s not a child either. He takes her by the hand and drags
her away. Ki-young notes that Shin must really like Kyu-won, but
Seok-hyun thinks Shin is just doing that because he ruffled her hair.

The Windflowers catch up to the couple to inform them about a new
campaign the Three Angry Girls are starting. They want everyone to
participate and choose if Shin and Kyu-won should be together or not.
Shin actually finds it amusing, and tells her not to worry about what
others say. But Kyu-won is angry and hurt that she must be hassled like
this for just dating the most popular guy in school. She leaves, seeking
solace on her own.



Immediately the Windflowers take him to task for being too
popular. Ha! They’re about to go and take down the Three Angry Girls,
but Shin stops them. Instead, he goes up to them and tells them to cut.
it. out. Three Angry Girls: “OK!” and they pack up. What the hell!?

Once again, Seok-hyun catches Kyu-won during her sad moments. She
mournfully asks if she’s really that inferior to Shin. Seok-hyun
promises to punish every single person who says she is; Kyu-won has the
ability to move people’s hearts, and it’s just unfortunate that very few
people can realize that. He also says that he’ll beat up Shin if he
ever breaks her heart.

Hmm… is Seok-hyun playing the “protective older brother” card right
now? But he also has a moment of confusion, where he even shakes his
head to clear out his feelings.



Shin rides up to Kyu-won’s home, but finds that she’s not there yet.
At home, he types out several versions of an apology but can’t decide on
the proper text. Jung-hyun interrupts him, aghast that he’s really
dating Kyu-won. She thinks her brother’s at a disadvantage if it’s true,
and warns him that they can’t kiss! The moment they do, he will lose
all his fans… and then she can never sell his autographs again! (Yes, it
all circles back to her and her money-making schemes.)

Yoon-su and Seok-hyun go to his friend Jung-eun’s bar for some
drinks. Seok-hyun thinks that it’s Kyu-won that’s at a disadvantage
here, as he doesn’t think Shin has anything great. Jung-eun doesn’t care
– he’s never had so much business during the day with so many girls
crying over Shin! Good thing Shin arrives at that moment. Seok-hyun
warns him not to hurt Kyu-won, and Shin tells the director to worry
about his own girlfriend, Yoon-su.



Kyu-won is annoyed that she never got a text from Shin all day. He
must be a dolt at dating! She tries to distract herself with other
things, when finally she gets a text from Shin! He wants her to go down
to Catharsis no matter what. And, to leave Bo-woon out of it.

Heh – guy’s gotta have precautions.

Hee-joo mopes at home, thinking, when her mother comes into her room.
The mother tells her she’ll try to kick out Seok-hyun and Kyu-won from
the production. Hee-joo: “Thanks. They bothered me anyway.”

UGH. Any hope that I had of her possibly redeeming herself just dissipated.



Shin performs with The Stupid, and this time there are less patrons,
as most of the girls are pissed he’s taken. He sees Kyu-won come in, and
immediately stops playing. Eh? Shin picks up an acoustic guitar, and
sings his ballad for Kyu-won, declaring his love for her. (Seen at the end of Episode 2)



He asks her to step up close to the stage, kneels down before her, and then kisses her.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Comments:

Whoo… well that was a fun episode! Shin is finally so much more
interesting in this episode. Not only does he clearly care for Kyu-won,
but he does have his sense of humor. It’s really a nice change in pace
for him to play the supportive boyfriend. It also helps that Jung Yong Hwa has eased considerably into his role.

I think this episode tops episode 7, or 8, or 9 – mainly because I
got to laugh and giggle at the smaller moments in life. An overbearing,
long-winded grandfather? Check. A best friend with the worst timing in
the world? Check. An annoying, selfish younger sister who’s so
protective of her brother she’s like his manager? Check. The entire
school being so invested in two people’s love lives? OK – that’s not
really a “small moment” in life, but it sure as heck was funny.

One gripe – this kiss wasn’t as romantic as Jang Geun Suk‘s with Park Shin Hye at the end of You’re Beautiful. OK, done comparing. Moving on.

I was so surprised that the mother stopped being a threat so early in
the episode, that I actually felt relieved when she decided to go back
on her dastardly plan of getting rid of Kyu-won and Seok-hyun. After
all, we do need some major conflict in this drama! I don’t think it has
to come from the parents, although I’m curious as to how Shin and
Kyu-won’s mom and dad will develop. We saw very little of them in this
episode, and I don’t think they’ve ended their conversation on getting
back together just yet.

This has got to be the most awkward kiss ever. Eyes wide open as they
peck each other on the lips and frozen as statues. But the girls scream
“GET AWAY FROM SHIN!!!” like no other. Bo-woon arrives (HA!) with the
other Windflower girls to see this shocking scene.

Shin pulls away, and tells Kyu-won she’s in big trouble now. And he
goes back to his seat and starts singing “You’ve Fallen for Me.” How
appropriate! And he only has eyes for Kyu-won. Suddenly, because he’s
singing his hit song, everyone’s back to rocking out without a care in
the world.



They walk home, holding hands. Kyu-won is a tad worried she may need
to wear a swimming cap tomorrow to protect her hair, but she trusts Shin
when he promises that nothing will happen. He wants to see her go in
first. Even though all she has to do is open the door, he’s worried she
may trip over the door going in. Ha!

And before she leaves, he kisses her on the forehead and bids her
goodnight. That sends her running into her house. EEEP so cute! I love
Shin’s bashful smile after he kisses her too.



Too bad she needs to report to Grandpa, who wants to know why she
came home late. She makes up the excuse that she couldn’t get a part on
the gayageum right, and was practicing all night. As soon as she enters
her room though, she starts giggling like a fool. Shin goes home, whistling,
and his mother catches on. She offers him two tickets to an art
gallery, and he eagerly snatches them. When he goes into his room, he
can’t stop smiling like a fool either. Aww – why is this couple so cute?

Hilariously, as soon as Shin calls Kyu-won, she fixes her hair and straightens her clothes – as if he’s
going to see her over the phone. Pfft. He tries to act cool, saying
that he can’t throw away these tickets his mom gave him, so he invites
her to go to the art gallery. Kyu-won: “I don’t really want to go, but
we can’t throw them away.” (Oh my God it’s so hard to contain my
giddiness right now…)



Suddenly Jung-hyun bursts into Shin’s room. He kissed Kyu-won!?!?
(She heard from her friends.) He tells her to shut it, and he’ll pay for
all those autographs and compensate her losses. In front of money,
Jung-hyun shuts up. And she promises not to tell mom. When Shin goes to
wash up, Jung-hyun realizes she might have just landed on a cash cow
with this new development.

The next morning, Jung-hyun waits outside of Kyu-won’s home, giving
her a fright when she goes out. She wants to talk to Grandpa and tell
him allllll about Kyu-won and Shin going out, and kissing.
Kyu-won’s eyes widen, and then Jung-hyun complains about no longer being
able to make money from the autographs. So of course, Kyu-won says
she’ll give her allowance. After all, they’re neighbors! Kyu-won
initially offers $5 dollars, but Jung-hyun scoffs. Only $10 appeases
her. For the day…



Yoon-su visits Seok-hyun at the office and notices him reading a
postcard from a close friend back in the States. With a smile, Yoon-su
asks if it’s the girl he had a scandal with back in Broadway. She admits
she heard it through Tae-joon, and was afraid that it might become a
serious rumor that could damage his reputation. Seok-hyun tells her not
to worry about it.

Tae-joon instructs Young-min to spread the rumor that no one called
for Hee-joo on the day of the performance for the sponsors – rather, the
director didn’t call Hee-joo because he wanted Kyu-won onstage.
Young-min isn’t too keen on lying, but Tae-joon threatens that the guy
has a review coming up soon… Young-min goes running to spread the lie.



Kyu-won goes shopping early in the morning, trying to find something
suitable to wear for her art gallery date. He notices her new dress –
literally, because he sees the tag hanging from the back! So she totally helped Grandpa get music sheets riiight? And that dress seems so new! It must be trendy to wear tags on the back, huh?

Kyu-won dashes into the gallery, embarrassed like hell.



They go on the coolest – date ever. 3D paintings where you can
actually step into them?! Did my Harry Potter dream come true in this
drama or what!? She even catches Shin in an awkward pose as he bends
down to tie his shoelaces, and there’s a painted cupid cupping his butt.
Of course, she hurts herself again, bumping her head against one of the
back of the paintings.



The school chancellor informs Seok-hyun about the rumors of Hee-joo
never getting a call. Seok-hyun wants to confront her, but Hee-joo is
out sick. He calls Hee-joo’s phone, and her mother picks up, but she
hangs up on him. Soo-myung and Ki-young are shocked, and Soo-myung has
his phone records to prove that he’s called her. Soo-myung wants to go
and confront her, but Ki-young remembers that Hee-joo went somewhere
with Jun-hee. They need to find him, fast.

Hee-joo is locked up at home until the whole scandal is over, but of
her own choice. She calls up Jun-hee, and blames him for getting her in
trouble. Eager to help her, she tells him to deny that he was ever with
her that day, to anyone who asks. He is to feign ignorance about her
phone being off or people searching for her. The devil…



During lunch, Shin asks why Kyu-won lives apart from her dad. She
says it’s because her father and Grandpa fight way too much. Shin admits
that he has a different father from Jung-hyun, but she already knows
that. They find out that Jung-hyun has gotten a total of $30 from the
both of them. Heh. When they go back to school holding hands, they have
to part ways in the hallways, and Shin sends her off first. Kyu-won
doesn’t think it’s dangerous in the hallways, but after seeing all those
stares, she rethinks it and leaves first. No one touches a hair on her
head under Shin’s watchful eye.



Soo-myung tracks Jun-hee down in the band practice room, but the
drummer lies that he was never with Hee-joo. When Shin comes in,
Soo-myung asks if Kyu-won is okay. There’s been some misunderstandings,
and he mutters that some people can’t stand to see others succeed. He
tells Shin to take care of Kyu-won at this time, and Jun-hee looks away,
troubled.

The Three Angry Girls confront Kyu-won on the grounds; guess school’s
not too safe after all! But they’re not just attacking her for getting
together with Shin. Rather, they think that she’s seduced the director
so that she could get the lead role. Things have only turned worse
because Hee-joo won’t be coming into school, and so Kyu-won will have to
do the practice as the main lead.

But Kyu-won knows she’s not doing anything wrong, and so she’s going
to keep going to practice, even if it makes her look bad. As for
Seok-hyun, Yoon-su is willing to talk to Tae-joon for him but
Seok-hyun’s going to go to practice anyways. He doesn’t like that
Tae-joon is using Kyu-won for his petty jealousies, but he can deal with
it.



At practice, the rest of the actors think Kyu-won won’t show up, if
she has any dignity. But she shows up. Her only supporters in the room?
Ki-young and Shin. When Seok-hyun enters and calls for Kyu-won to step
forward as lead, Shin notes the jeers in the room, and also wonders what
Seok-hyun’s aim is.

After practice, he grabs Kyu-won aside – can she not do this
performance? It’s not worth all this trouble and abuse, and Hee-joo will
be in it anyways. But Kyu-won wants to stick with it. She’s actually
having fun performing, even if she knows that she’s only an understudy.
Also, if she leaves now, it will put Seok-hyun in an awkward position.
She leaves, insisting that he stop thinking about things only in his
perspective, and he gets a call from Seok-hyun.

Seok-hyun wants to listen to the ending song mix. He thinks that
there’s too many stringed instruments in the piece – guitar and gayageum
– but Shin sees no problem with it. Seok-hyun wants a little piano
intro before the guitar, and since he’s the songwriter and overall director of the performance, Shin’s gotta do it.

Shin then asks if Kyu-won can be out of the performance, because he
wants her to. Seok-hyun reminds him to not be so controlling – they just
started going out.



Tae-joon visits Seok-hyun in the office, pretending that he doesn’t
want any misunderstandings to arise between Seok-hyun and Hee-joo. Hmph.
He wants a drink, since he’s been working soooo hard for
Seok-hyun, and so the director goes out. Tae-joon steals Seok-hyun’s
phone on his desk and quickly taps out a message to Kyu-won, telling her
to meet him at the hotel at 7pm. Uh-oh…

Hee-joo’s mother is informed, and she texts the exact same message to
Seok-hyun. Of course, he’ll go, since he wants to find out what
Hee-joo’s mother wants. But Yoon-su comes into his office – they have a
date at 6pm! Unfortunately he has to cancel on her again, and he comes
up with the excuse that a journalist is here to interview him.



Shin comes home and bumps into Kyu-won and her father outside their
house. The father decides to leave the two of them, noting their awkward
glances and lack of eye-contact. When Shin asks, she says that she’s
going to visit a friend that’s not Bo-woon. He apologizes
again, and tells her to just do the musical if she likes it so much. He
just didn’t want her getting hurt because of others.

She asks when he was born, and it turns out he’s three months younger
than her. Therefore, he’s got no right to tell her what to do! And she
can take care of herself, thanks very much!



Seok-hyun waits at the hotel bar, but no one arrives. He then spots
Kyu-won coming in, and both are surprised to see each other. He’s
puzzled when she says that he had texted her to meet. When she shows
him the proof, he realizes it’s the exact same message he got, and
immediately he pricks up to the danger impending. He makes the excuse
that he sent the text to the wrong person, and then rushes the both of
them out of there. He pats her on the shoulder to rush her out, but too
late – someone’s snapped a photo of them.



He warily exits the hotel, and the photographer catches the two of
them exiting, and Seok-hyun’s hand behind Kyu-won’s back, guiding her
away.

At home, Shin musters the courage to phone Kyu-won. She lies about
being with her friend, even though she’s being driven home by Seok-hyun.
Since she’ll be home soon, Shin decides to wait outside for her.

On the other hand, Seok-hyun is all preoccupied, wondering if anyone
else knew she was meeting him. Only her dad knows about their meeting,
but not the location. Seok-hyun’s lips tighten – he clearly knows and
has experienced the repercussions of such an incident…



Shin sees Seok-hyun and Kyu-won walking up her street, and he quickly
hides around the corner. Seok-hyun apologizes for putting her through
all that trouble, and insists that he sent the text to the wrong person.
He tells her not to worry about anything that may happen. (Whew – I’m
glad someone’s lying to protect her, rather than to sabotage her.)

She texts Shin when she gets home, but he doesn’t reply. Perhaps he’s asleep? And he replies with a simple “Yeah.” He’s actually moping outside her house, wondering why she lied to him and why she was with Seok-hyun.

The next morning, Jung-hyun is back! She wants to see Grandpa again,
but Kyu-won is up to speed with her tricks. “You know what my grandpa’s
wish is? It’s for me to get married so that he can see his
great-grandson.” Kyu-won also adds that Grandpa really likes Shin for looking like him when he was younger. Heh – that’s enough to send Jung-hyun away!



At school, rumors have already spread of Kyu-won and Seok-hyun dating
because of photos of them exiting a hotel. People look at Shin a little
pitifully, and the Three Angry Girls tell him about Kyu-won “cheating”
on him. The photos are incriminating alright, even though Soo-myung and
Ki-young know that this can’t possibly be true. Soo-myung quickly
suspects it’s Hee-joo behind all this.

Aaaand – Hee-joo comes back to school! Jun-hee catches her, and
Hee-joo tells him that she can’t hang out with him anymore. If she does,
she’ll never come back to school. What is she in, third grade? They
can’t hang until the performance is over, and Jun-hee, the poor simple
guy he is, agrees.



Shin chases Seok-hyun down, wanting an explanation for what happened
last night. Seok-hyun sighs, immediately understanding that they were
set up. He tells Shin he’ll take care of it, but Shin is too worried.
This is exactly why he wanted Kyu-won out of the musical! He knew she’d
end up getting hurt! He wants Seok-hyun’s car keys – he will keep
Kyu-won away from the school for the day, until Seok-hyun resolves the
problem.

Praise the Lord Almighty – Shin understands! No stupid misunderstandings and cold shoulders! Ack!

He hands it over, and with a sigh, he adds, “Please take care of
Kyu-won.” Shin: “Do you only worry about Kyu-won? Shouldn’t you be
thinking about how Professor Jung feels right now?”



He calls Kyu-won in time – she’s right outside the campus. He drives right up to her and makes up the excuse that the director especially
asked him to take Kyu-won out. Ever since she got hurt, she’s been
getting pummeled at all sides by her fellow classmates, and so Shin is
going to take her out per director’s orders. Despite her insistence on
not skipping class, she’s easily persuaded.

The phone rings, and Shin immediately guesses it’s Bo-woon. I mean, who else could it be? That girl has the best timing in the world! He confiscates her phone for the day.



Seok-hyun enters his office, where Yoon-su is waiting for him. He
apologizes and tells her the truth, and Yoon-su figures out that they
got set-up all because Hee-joo couldn’t perform that day in front of the
sponsors. Seok-hyun thinks it’s unfair since Hee-joo will be starring
in the actual show, but Yoon-su knows better: Hee-joo’s mother actually
has no confidence in her daughter’s talents, and is afraid that Kyu-won
truly is the more talented one.

Seok-hyun quitting will not solve the problem; he will have to tell
Tae-joon that he’s taking Kyu-won out of the show. Of course, he doesn’t
want to do that, but Yoon-su reminds him that Kyu-won isn’t his only
student.



Shin and Kyu-won stop at a pit-stop for some lunch. He buys her a
pair of awkward shades shaped like a TV, and then feeds her fries. Hee
hee… She feeds him right back, and stuffs a bunch into his mouth. They
play some of the arcade games – and Kyu-won proves to be way better than
him. And thus they enjoy a wonderful day together!

Seok-hyun swallows up his pride and goes to Tae-joon. He denies
there’s anything between him and Kyu-won, and that he’ll take Kyu-won
out. They still need an understudy, so he’ll just pick anyone for it.
Tae-joon can barely contain his smile, and says it’s all up to
Seok-hyun. Though Seok-hyun thinks that will be enough for Hee-joo’s
mother, Tae-joon says they’re all going to have a meeting about it soon.



At practice, the Three Angry Girls are now sympathetic and nicer to
Hee-joo. After all, she must have suffered so much from Kyu-won’s
backstabbing right? Ugh – excuse me while I go to the kitchen to grab
some eggs to throw at them…

Jun-hee overhears this and looks quite uneasy. When Seok-hyun arrives
for practice, he dismisses the bands, and then asks if Hee-joo’s
feeling better. Of course that brat is – she friggin’ has her part back.
Even Ki-young can see through her. But Jun-hee is conflicted, fully
aware that the reason why Hee-joo missed the performance was because of
him. I don’t think he’s figured it out completely yet, but he does think
the whole situation is a little weird.

Seok-hyun quits. Shin gives Kyu-won an ultimatum. He pulls her into a
hug, and Kyu-won agrees not to go. It doesn’t stop her from worrying
though.

Word spreads throughout the performance team that Seok-hyun left,
which makes everyone worried. Even the Three Angry Girls no longer
believe that Seok-hyun and Kyu-won had an affair, since Shin took
Kyu-won away, and hotels have a bunch of other things besides rooms. All
this talk about Seok-hyun leaving just stresses Jun-hee out even more –
so much so that he’s no longer eating. He knows it’s his fault, but
isn’t exactly sure how it is.



Judging from Shin’s blase attitude, Kyu-won thinks that Shin doesn’t
care about the performance. But he’s merely realized there are more
important things than a performance – like Kyu-won’s happiness for
example. He doesn’t want to be left out of the loop anymore, so if she
has to meet anyone else – even if the text says to keep it a secret –
she has to tell him where she’s going.

Hee-joo is back at home trying to nurse her cold, thinking that her
strained throat is because of a simple cold. She flips a lid when she
finds out that Seok-hyun left; she needs Seok-hyun Broadway reputation
to succeed! Mom doesn’t care – she’s so tired from all this performance
business and wants it over with already. Pfft – like she’s doing any of the performing.



Kyu-won and Shin go shopping at a small accessories store and she
quickly spots a cute teddy bear charm holding a gayageum. She hints at
getting a couple set for both their phones, but Shin is adamantly
against couple-anything. Minutes later, he comes up to her and whips out
his phone – he’s got a teddy bear with a guitar! Now they can be a pair
without being too obvious (although really, how much more
obvious can it be?!). He notes the similarity between Kyu-won and the
bear, and calls her “Bear-poo.” No – sorry, that nickname’s not going to
catch on like “Pig-Rabbit.”

She warns Shin at the end of the night to make sure Jung-hyun won’t
get her hands on it. (Heh – and true to Kyu-won’s predictions, Jung-hyun
later sees it and wants it. However, when Shin won’t give it to his
sister, she wails that her brother is too mushy now. She wants the cool
Shin back!)



Shin heads over to Catharsis to return Seok-hyun’s car keys, and he
finds Yoon-su trying to wake Seok-hyun up. He’s been in Catharsis all day, drinking himself to oblivion.

Seok-hyun stays over at Yoon-su’s for the night. The next morning,
she tries to persuade him to go back to the school but he refuses
because he’s a stubborn butt. He chooses to spend the day fishing by the
lake instead.



As for Shin, he waits for a long time outside Kyu-won’s door, but her
grandfather comes out instead. Grandpa thinks Shin wants to listen to
his life story again, but Shin quickly makes his escape to head for
school.

Kyu-won already left a lot earlier because she’s looking for
Seok-hyun. He’s not in his office, and she bumps into Yoon-su instead.
She apologizes for the misunderstanding about the hotel, and though
Yoon-su knows it’s no one’s fault, she lets slip that Seok-hyun quit for
her. Kyu-won doesn’t want to continue in the performance, but Yoon-su
tells her to go. Otherwise, Seok-hyun’s faith in her will be all for
naught.



Shin finds her in school and they head over to practice together.
However Tae-joon stops them. Now that he’s the new director for the
musical, he’s going to change the script a bit and won’t need an
understudy. Kyu-won can just leave now. Shin is furious and wants to
skip too, but Kyu-won convinces him to stay. It’s not worth throwing
away the performance over this, especially since she expected it to
happen anyways.

Tae-joon’s script changes are massive, and riddled with mistakes. The
performance team are reluctant to go along with this plan but have no
choice. Since Tae-joon doesn’t need the band for practice, Shin makes
his leave. He goes around the campus grounds looking for Kyu-won, but
she won’t pick up her phone.



It’s because Kyu-won is up on a secluded rooftop, crying her heart out.

Shin heads over to a broadcasting studio, and over the school’s loudspeakers, he sings her a song:

(download)

Smile, don’t be sad.

It’s okay, don’t waste your tears.

I hope the song I sing for you cheers you up.

Smile, don’t be hurt. I wish that this song could help you a little.

It’s okay, even when the world is against you.

As soon as this moment passes, everyone will understand you.

It won’t change. You can lean on my shoulder.

Just rest for a little while. And smile…

I trust you. I’m here.

The Windflowers and Yoon-su hear the song separately, and they both
are happy to hear Shin working so hard to cheer up the girl he loves.
Thankfully the other Windflower girls have more sense than Bo-woon, and
stop her from once again interrupting the love birds. The song also does bring a smile to Kyu-won’s face. See? Perfect boyfriend.



When he finally does find her, he makes her promise to never go off
on her own without telling him, and to also never cry without him
around. He’s pretty controlling, but all for her sake. He hugs her, and
then tries to cheer her up with a music practice – their two bands can
play his edited final song together! (And their final song is truly
awesome, putting a smile on everyone’s faces.)



Kyu-won’s father has brought some of his luggage back home, and
immediately Grandpa sets up some ground rules. He does not want Sun-ki
encouraging Kyu-won to take up western instruments. After all, how would
it look if the great traditional singer Lee Dong Jin didn’t have any
descendants playing traditional instruments? Sun-ki is reluctant to
promise that, especially since it’s Kyu-won’s choice to make.

Wrong answer.

Ji-young tsk-tsks Sun-ki for getting kicked out so soon. However she
would support Kyu-won if she wants to continue in musicals and is
willing to mentor her. In exchange, she hopes that Sun-ki can mentor her
son, as there are some things that men should talk about with men.

But I think someone needs to control that Jung-hyun. She goes up to
Grandpa and tattles on the recent rumors about Kyu-won, and how his
granddaughter is cheating on her brother with the director. Even though
he was contemplating either man as his grandson-in-law, he’s irate with
his granddaughter and immediately calls her in.

Kyu-won gets the call after music practice, and so everyone finds out
that Grandpa just found out about her scandal. As this could
potentially prevent Kyu-won from coming to school, Jun-hee finally
breaks. He kneels before Kyu-won and begs for forgiveness. Hee-joo had
told him to lie about not being with her during the day of the sponsor
performance, and he had followed along because he thought he’d never see
Hee-joo again. However, he never expected it to reach this level of
melodrama.

Shin yells at him for listening to someone like Hee-joo, but Bo-woon
sympathizes with Jun-hee, worried that he hasn’t been eating. ARGH –
can’t Jun-hee realize that Bo-woon > Hee-joo by ten million times?!



Shin goes with Kyu-won back home to help explain it to Grandpa.
Grandpa thinks that Shin only wants to listen to his life story, but
Shin explains that Kyu-won did nothing wrong. He thinks his
granddaughter just smeared his name, not just by cheating on two men,
but by failing the audition too. Shin takes out the music sheets for the
final song, trying to prove that Kyu-won has actually been really
productive and really good in helping him.

Grandpa scoffs; the song has no depth. What could Shin possibly learn
from a novice like Kyu-won? He orders Shin to come after school for an
hour every day to listen to his life story. Only then will Shin be able
to learn some more depth about traditional music.

HAHAHAH – how is this grandfather the most amusing self-centered
person in this entire drama? Though Shin grimaces as he accepts the
terms, he knows exactly who to bring along for some revenge – Jun-hee,
for lying and causing the scandal to erupt in the first place.



Yoon-su finds Seok-hyun later that day by the lake. She knows full
well that he hasn’t caught anything, but instead of trying to convince
him to be more productive and come back to school, she chooses to
support him no matter what. Unfortunately, back at school all the
sponsors are backing out after they heard Seok-hyun quit. Tae-joon
promises the Chancellor that he’ll convince the sponsors, since he has
too much pride to go to Seok-hyun and beg the guy to come back.

Hee-joo is another one who’s pissed at the new developments. She
wants her mom to get Seok-hyun back. Even if Kyu-won comes back to the
performance, does her mother have so little faith in her? After all,
Kyu-won is an understudy, not the main actress. She also has her voice back – or so she says…



That evening, Seok-hyun apologizes to Yoon-su, firstly because
proposals are something men should do. Aiee! He sounds like he’s about
to propose to Yoon-su when they’re interrupted by a well-timed phone
call; the Chancellor wants Yoon-su to bring Seok-hyun to school the next
day. Though Seok-hyun stubbornly says he won’t go back, Yoon-su knows
he’s itching to.

Turns out, the Chancellor has brought Seok-hyun and Hee-joo’s mother
together for a meeting. Hee-joo’s mother asks him to just forget all his
hatred towards her and concentrate on the performance. She will even
acquiesce to having Kyu-won back as an understudy.



Not knowing all this is Tae-joon and the rest of the performance
team. They’re all still moody about having a new director, and Sa-rang
just wishes Hee-joo could quit. When Tae-joon orders them all to get
ready for practice, Hee-joo surprisingly refuses to move. She doesn’t
acknowledge Tae-joon as a director – and BAM! The rehearsal room doors
open and Seok-hyun makes his way in.

The entire performance team rushes towards him and smother him with
hugs. Heh – in your face Tae-joon. Hee-joo doesn’t hug Seok-hyun, but
she doesn’t hide her smile. Now that the performance is once again in
good hands, everyone eagerly gets up to practice.



Tae-joon is furious and he goes to Hee-joo’s mother, demanding an
explanation. She basically calls him an incompetent ass; if only he were
any good the sponsors wouldn’t have pulled out from the performance. He
tries to blackmail her by saying he’ll leak information about the two
of them framing Seok-hyun and Kyu-won, but Hee-joo’s mother calls him
out on his petty jealousies.

Lucky for him, he manages to discover that Hee-joo is having trouble
with her voice. He follows her all the way to the hospital, where she’s
getting a check-up. Hee-joo has a vocal chord infection, and because
it’s so bad she’s going to need surgery. The doctor advises her to not
strain her voice any further. Oh well… princess is falling far from her
high podium.

Practice isn’t going very well though, as the team is out of sync.
Seok-hyun orders everyone to pack their bags – they’re all going to have
to stay over the weekend at the school and practice nonstop.



When Shin goes home, he remembers the photos that he took in Jeju. He
looks at them again, and realizes that they mysterious girl he saw near
the lighthouse was in fact Kyu-won. So when Kyu-won goes to the bus
stop dragging her broken pink luggage, he picks it up for her as they
board the bus, and then stands next to her indifferently.

It’s all so deja-vu-ish, and Kyu-won finally realizes that’s how the
two of them met at the airport in Jeju. They smile fondly at finally
remembering each other, and when Kyu-won sees the pictures, she says
that he pursued her first.

Too right you are. From the first moment you two met at the airport, you both became the OTP.



Shin leans in towards her – so he pursued her first huh? Kyu-won
looks nervous, but he tells her to relax. Bo-woon will be there any
minute. He snaps his fingers.

“Kyu-won! Kyu-won!” HAHA – I love this girl. Bo-woon comes upon them
and suddenly worries that she intruded again. Shin tells her that he
expects her at moments like these now, so Bo-woon simply fulfilled her
role. She makes him promise not to exact revenge on her again!



Tae-joon comes in during practice, wanting to watch in particular the
duet between Ki-young and Hee-joo. Realizing that she can’t strain her
voice, Hee-joo fibs bout not having memorized the lyrics. Hah – yeah
right, but that’s enough for Tae-joon to work with. He later meets with
Hee-joo’s mother, even though she doesn’t want anything to do with him.

Tae-joon advises the mother to ask Hee-joo if she’s really well – because you know, it’ll be disastrous if Hee-joo lost her voice and can’t sing…

Hee-joo’s mother orders her to come home and confronts her. She
finally breaks down in tears and admits that she can’t really sing.
Completely frustrated and angry, her mother makes a drastic move. She
wants the Chancellor to cancel the performance.



Back at the school, everyone’s relishing the sleepover on campus, and
they get Sa-rang to tell one of her ghost stories. Apparently, there’s a
ghost that roams the college halls, but anyone who sees it will succeed
in whatever they want to do. The girls want to go hunt for the ghost –
maybe then, the 100th Anniversary performance can be a big hit! Kyu-won
is scared though, but is pressured to go along with them.



Soo-myung overhears the girls’ plans and quickly rounds up the boys.
What’s better than searching for the ghost with the girls? To be the
ghost themselves! He rounds up all the boys’ cellphones – none of them
are allowed to call any of the girls on the team and let them know
what’s happening. Shin refuses to relinquish his phone, but Soo-myung
already saw his teddy bear charm peeking out of his pocket. Gotta hand
it over, boy.



The girls huddle together in the dark halls, calling out for the
ghost to appear. Kyu-won lags behind, and when she pauses to answer a
text from her Grandpa, she loses the rest of the girls.

Meanwhile the boys are all dressed in various costumes and masks,
excited to scare the girls out of their wits. Shin isn’t in a disguise
though, and he knows that Kyu-won is easily frightened.



Kyu-won tiptoes through the halls fearfully, when suddenly someone
covers her mouth and grabs her from behind. When she’s released, Kyu-won
is ready to scream – but it’s only Shin! He’s mad at her for actually
going along with the girls on this little group activity without telling
him first. (Um – may I remind you that you don’t have your phone, so
you wouldn’t have known either way?)

He needs to punish her for not listening to him – by pecking her on
the cheek! That’s punishment?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Dude – for this
crime, you should be kissing her on the lips!



The girls creep through the halls as the boys reach the same corner
from the opposite direction. Of all things – the two groups end up
frightening each other to death! The girls scream in horror at the boys’
costumes, and the boys scream like little girls when they see the girls
lit by a flashlight. They all run in various directions, but one of the
boys gets caught by Sa-rang and her crew. They beat the poor “ghost”
until they get a good look at his face – it’s Soo-myung! HAH!

Meanwhile, Kyu-won and Shin are sharing a quiet moment out on the
terrace, looking up in the night sky. Kyu-won wonders if they could see a
shooting star. She wants to wish that the performance will go well, and
Shin says he’ll wish for that too. He then hugs her from behind. UGHHH –
I am so jealous. Insanely jealous.



The next morning, Seok-hyun wakes up the tired students with a few
morning exercises out on the field, like jumping jacks! Heh. After
exercises he tells them all to assemble in the halls by 9am, which
freaks out the Three Angry Girls because, well, they won’t have time to
put on make-up!

Suddenly Soo-myung runs up to them. Bad news: the show has been canceled.

Comments:

OK – let me just say that Shin is one of the awesomest boyfriends I’ve seen so far in K-dramas. (There’s Lee Min Ki in Dalja’s Spring and Lee Jung Jin in 9 End 2 Outs on the list too.) So I just want to give some space to do this:

AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE – AJHF;AHWGOWI;AGHJG;HF;DSFJOWGJHUSGAJ!

Sorry – needed to spazz about how freaking awesome he was.

Back to the drama. Everything was pretty predictable, but I have to
say that Tae-joon’s jealousy knows no bounds – and it’s annoying. At
first I had thought he was going to be a difficult but complicated
character; he didn’t like Seok-hyun, but he had acknowledged Seok-hyun’s
talents. I thought he was going to be a difficult boss, but not
unreasonable. Now he’s turned into a one-dimensionally evil,
unreasonable, pain-in-the-ass department head. What’s even worse is that
he keeps at it, even though everyone around him can see that he’s just
jealous. Why are people bothering to listen to him?! I wish more of the
characters were like Yoon-su and weren’t so insecure in their beliefs of
Seok-hyun or Hee-joo, because insecurity is what Tae-joon thrives on.

Which brings me to Hee-joo’s mother. She’s the worst mother one could
have because she’s the least supportive parent out there. She forces
her daughter on one road, but she clears the obstacles on that path so
that Hee-joo doesn’t have to do any work. At least with Grandpa, even
though he is forcing Kyu-won down a certain path, he’s making her work
her way through, and achieve everything by herself. Nevertheless, it’s
because of this woman’s idiotic, one-sided brain that we have any
conflict in this series, so I’ll grumble quietly about her.

As for Jun-hee, I’m really glad he finally stepped up and told the
truth. It’s gratifying to see him choose friendship over love. Though he
is still hung up over Hee-joo, he clearly respects and likes Kyu-won
more, and that’s why he told the truth. Thank goodness for friends.
They’re there whenever you need them, even when you don’t need them
(cough*Bo-woon*cough).

The Chancellor has no words to say; all Seok-hyun can do now is catch
Hee-joo’s mother and convince her to change her mind. When he does find
her, Seok-hyun wonders why on earth the mother is so against the
performance. 1) She asked him to come back to work on the performance,
and 2) Hee-joo is the lead! Isn’t that all she wants!? However,
Hee-joo’s mother LOVES the game “Hot and Cold” and this time blames it
on all the controversies and rumors that have beset the production in
recent weeks.

Seok-hyun catches Tae-joon and blames him for sabotage, even though
Tae-joon plays the “I’m innocent!” card, citing that he too is a
department head and equally disappointed at the outcome. He calls
Seok-hyun’s hot-headedness the reason why Seok-hyun will never succeed.

(Um – forgive me Tae-joon, but didn’t Seok-hyun go to Broadway while
you were stuck as a measly department head in a college, never trusted
to direct a performance as important as the 100th Anniversary one? Who’s
the successful one now, huh?)



Jun-hee can’t get in contact with Hee-joo, which puts all the other
students in further despair. They all know Hee-joo had something to do
with this, and they break down in tears when Seok-hyun confirms that he
can’t save the production. Jun-hee takes matters into his own hands; he
heads over to Hee-joo’s place and calls for her to come out.

He wants to know if she really didn’t want to do the performance, and
thus perhaps had something to do with it getting canceled. Hee-joo says
she didn’t want to perform, which Jun-hee knows is a lie. He chooses to
believe in her – he will wait for her every day until she comes back to
the performance. She must come back.

Really Jun-hee? Are you going to do this for her? She ruined
all your friends’ chances to perform onstage; she hangs out with you
and then pushes you away; she’s an annoying attention-seeker who doesn’t
play fair; and she doesn’t deserve all these chances! Sure –
you can go blame her mom for pulling all the strings, but Hee-joo isn’t
doing anything to stop her mother. She wants her mother to pull these strings. So Jun-hee, stop sending her love poems about your “Natasha” and giving her chocolate gifts.

Actually – give her the chocolate gifts – she needs to gain weight anyways.



Shin suggests to Kyu-won some activities where she can cry without
hiding, but Kyu-won is in no mood for that. Even if they could
participate in next year’s performance, she feels like she gained
nothing out of this one because they left it unfinished. Shin corrects
her: “You gained the hottest guy in Arts University.” BAH! True. But so
ridiculously self-centered!

Seok-hyun wants some time alone to grieve over this loss, but he
isn’t given a moment’s rest. A producer named Kim Ho Jin (but with a
business card that says “Grace Han”) wants Seok-hyun to direct a
successful Korean musical in Broadway. He’s giving Seok-hyun an
opportunity to go back to the States, especially now that Seok-hyun is
no longer tied to the school performance.

Madame Goo of Catharsis eavesdrops gleefully, and later spills the beans to Yoon-su.



Meanwhile, Shin and Kyu-won break the bad news respectively to their
families. However Ji-young tells Shin that when it happened to her in
school, she and her classmates performed it anyways in front of the
school, and later got in trouble. It gives Shin an idea, and he goes
over to Kyu-won’s to discuss: How about they perform it anyways? It
doesn’t matter if there’s an audience or not – at least their hard work
will be paid off.

Grandpa is in his room, listening in: “Now they realize that art requires no audience?” Heh.



The Stupid and the Windflowers manage to convince Ki-young to come on
board; after all, he’s got the most influence in convincing Seok-hyun.
However, Soo-myung crashes the party – Seok-hyun is leaving for
Broadway.



All the performers race out of the classroom and catch Seok-hyun with
his things, and Yoon-su. They beg him to stay – to at least help them
for their performance. They’ve worked so hard, and they’ve told everyone
they knew about it. The Three Angry Girls adorably get down on their
knees and beg, and Yoon-su adds that if it were her, she would have
stayed for the performance. Since they’re laying the guilt on thick,
Seok-hyun finally puts down his things: if the performance fails, he’s
going to sue every single one of them for obstructing his path to
Broadway fame again.



Yay! Performance is back on, and this time they’re not going to label
it as “100th Anniversary Performance.” It’ll just be a regular show.
They inform the Chancellor, Tae-joon, and Young-min of their plans of
going ahead, with or without the school’s support. Everyone can’t help
but feel somewhat inspired – even Stubborn-Butt Tae-joon. (Yes, I caught
you giving a glimmer of a smile there!)

With no money for the performance, Kyu-won suggests hosting
fundraisers. Shin pools in his pay from his part-time job, and Sa-rang
adds all her money that she saved up for a nose job. It’s sad and
touching to see her want a nose job in the first place, and to give up
her dream for this. Soo-myung adds that her nose is the prettiest of
them all. That’s it – Sa-rang dashes to hug him, and we just have
another pairing to go “AWWWW” at.

Seok-hyun formally rejects Kim Ho Jin of the offer, who’s incredulous
that Seok-hyun would stay for a measly performance. It’s not about the
stage, Seok-hyun says, but about the performance, the art. Madame Goo
eavesdrops again, and he hugs and kisses Seok-hyun for staying for the
students. Gosh – everyone just wants to hug this guy, eh?



The Windflowers and Shin all make posters for the fundraiser
performance, and two of the girls leave to buy some snacks. Shin gives
Bo-woon a meaningful glance, and suddenly, like a robot, Bo-woon
announces that she needs to use the bathroom. Heehee. Of course, Kyu-won
and Shin’s private moment doesn’t last very long as Bo-woon really has
nowhere else to go. She pokes her head back in and asks Shin for
permission to reenter.



With the performance date nearing, Yoon-su sets up private lessons
with Kyu-won on dancing and adjusts the choreography for her, as she is
the weaker dancer. During a break, Kyu-won finally asks Yoon-su what’s
been on her mind ever since she joined the performance – what does
Yoon-su think about the play being based on her and and Seok-hyun’s
life? Yoon-su is OK with it – though she left Seok-hyun, she didn’t
regret trying new frontiers, seeing how far she could fly, because she
was young then.

She asks what Kyu-won would do if she got an offer to Broadway after
the show. Kyu-won is more pragmatic, and also quite unimaginative. She’s
never imagined doing anything other than gayageum, and says she’d
reject the Broadway offer. After all, it took a lot of effort to
convince Grandpa to let her participate. It’s this limited outlook on
herself that Seok-hyun later admits to finding most frustrating; Kyu-won
is talented but no one seems to acknowledge it, least of all herself.
He wants to nurture that talent within her, but his concern gets
misconstrued into all sorts of scandalous things.



That evening, Ji-young and Sun-ki walk home, Sun-ki dragging his
heavy luggage like a poor kid kicked out to the curb. She offers to help
him carry it, but sprains her ankle in her heels. Excuse to hold hands
time! Sun-ki supports Ji-young on the walk home.



Shin also walks Kyu-won home, and when she complains about her legs
being tired, he has her sit on a bench and massages her legs for her.
Moment is made doubly sweeter when she kisses him on the forehead for it
– and then changes the subject about the stars in the sky. Kyu-won then
spots her father and Ji-young. Holding hands. The parents immediately
drop hands, and clearly, everyone needs to have “the talk.”

Sun-ki tells Kyu-won that Ji-young was his first love. Ji-young tells
Shin that no matter what, the kids are more important, and therefore
they won’t get in the way of their kids’ relationship. Besides, their
time has passed. Whew! Well, I’m glad we got that over with in a jiffy.



The next day, The Stupid and the Windflowers perform at Catharsis for
the fundraiser, playing their repertoire of a fusion “Carmen” and
“You’ve Fallen for Me.” The fundraiser is a success, and Shin takes some
pictures with some female fans after the performance. Of course,
Kyu-won becomes jealous, and when a male classmate invites her to sit
and drink with them, she happily accepts.

She cheerfully flirts with the male classmate as Shin shoots daggers
across the room. So he goes and starts offering to take pictures and
videos with any other girl in the room. Oh my God – can you two be any more
juvenile!? But Shin lets her slide this once, only because she’s
looking particularly pretty tonight, and forbids her to hang out with
any other guys in the future because he’s jealous. Gah – how did you
learn all these smooth words, Lee Shin?!



Kyu-won goes home and gives her father and Grandpa tickets to the
show. Grandpa refuses to go, because if Kyu-won’s the lead actress, then
he’s missing nothing at all. Of course Papa will go and watch his
daughter shine. Kyu-won threatens her Grandpa – if he doesn’t go, then
she won’t bring a single classmate to listen to his life story again!

Jun-hee has been spending every single day outside Hee-joo’s house
for hours, waiting for her to change her mind. The mother is irritated
with him already, but he finally gets to see Hee-joo when she leaves the
house to go for her surgery. He begs with her one more time; the
performance is tomorrow, and he really hopes she’d come.



Hee-joo doesn’t answer, and heads to the hospital. However, she can’t
get Jun-hee’s words out of her mind. She recollects all those times
Jun-hee’s helped her, fed her, followed her around. He’s the only one
who seems to have any faith in her as a person. When her mother goes to
fill out some forms, she quickly texts Jun-hee to come pick her up!



The team is in the middle of practice, and Kyu-won has clearly
improved. Hee-joo comes in, much to everyone’s shock. She wants to come
back – after all, the performance can’t be without its lead actress
right? Immediately, Shin yells at her – who does she think she is to
just come waltzing back in? Besides, Kyu-won is perfectly fine as the
lead role.

So Hee-joo directs the question at Kyu-won: if Kyu-won wants her out,
she’ll stay out. Everyone looks at her, waiting for her answer. (I hate
when they pressure her like this – there’s no way she can come out of
this unscathed. Say “stay out” and she’ll look mean to the rest of her
peers; say “come back” and she loses her role.)



Kyu-won wishes Hee-joo luck, and congratulates her for coming back at
the right moment. (GAHHHH!) Everyone protests but can’t do anything
about it. Shin chases after her; how could she let the role slip past
her fingers? Though Kyu-won really wanted to be in the play too, she
notes that everyone has had to make sacrifices for this performance.
Seok-hyun gave up Broadway; Sa-rang gave up her savings; Ki-young is
giving his all despite his severe stage fright. The play isn’t about
her, it’s about who can give the best performance. But Shin is proud of her.

Seok-hyun makes no effort to hide his hatred for Hee-joo, but Hee-joo
feels likewise. She notes that Kyu-won was off by a beat in her
dancing, and so she promises to teach Kyu-won. After all, didn’t
Seok-hyun say that the lead and the understudy need to take care of her
until the end?



Off to the dancing room they go! Kyu-won doesn’t get why Hee-joo is
training her so hard, especially since Hee-joo is the one performing.
Hee-joo: “Shut up and do it again.” Hehe. You can’t ever do a half-ass
job in front of a perfectionist… Hee-joo wants Kyu-won to be able to say
she did her best; she herself never felt like she could say that, and
never gave herself enough credit for her work. Understandable – as she’s
always been surrounded by people who make her feel insecure about her
talent.

Hee-joo’s mother comes rushing to Seok-hyun, wondering where in the
world her daughter is. That’s when Seok-hyun finds out the true reason
why the mother canceled the performance in the first place: Hee-joo can
no longer sing.



Seok-hyun finds the girls, and angrily asks why Hee-joo never
admitted to losing her voice. Hee-joo’s eyes well up in tears. This is
why she’s back at the performance. This is why she’s helping Kyu-won
with her dancing – she may not be able to perform, but she can at least
make her understudy give a performance worthy of Hee-joo’s approval.

All of a sudden, Hee-joo is like an unni to Kyu-won, telling her to make sure to sleep early and do well. After all, she had to come all the way over just
to make sure Kyu-won was doing it right. She tells Shin to take Kyu-won
home, and Jun-hee excitedly offers to take Hee-joo home.



The day of the performance! Chancellor comes around to make sure
Seok-hyun won’t embarrass him, while Tae-joon literally admits defeat.
He hands over some money so that Seok-hyun can take everyone out to eat.
(Well, that was a quick turnaround.)

Back in the make-up room, Sa-rang muses about how funny life turned
out. She thought she was going to do the make-up for Hee-joo, but it
ended up being Kyu-won. Suddenly, Kyu-won gets an idea…



It’s just minutes to the performance, and Shin seeks Kyu-won out.
He’s got a bad case of nerves, worried that no one is going to like his .
She cups his face in her hands and says not to worry – “Just tell the
audience, ‘You’ve fallen for me’.”

The performance begins, and everyone is there. Grandpa even made it
out. The Stupid and Windflowers open up the musical, and then we get the
opening dance sequence of everyone pretending they’re in school. And
then… they uncover the lead. It’s Hee-joo. Everyone in the crowd gasps
in shock – including Hee-joo’s mother. Since when was Hee-joo in the
play? Only Seok-hyun looks least surprised.

Grandpa complains loudly about Kyu-won not being onstage, and Jung-hyun insolently adds that she knew Kyu-won couldn’t possibly be talented enough for the lead.



The play follows as Hee-joo and Ki-young act as lovers, and then part
with a quick kiss. Ki-young broods, and has a scene where he wears a
mask – and then strips off his shirt. (O_O) He lets the ensemble cast
(all donning white Phantom of the Opera masks) caress his abs and dance
around him. I’m going to interpret this scene as Ki-young/Seok-hyun
masking his heart, and transforming into another person who cares no
longer for others but focuses on his own success.



Then we get a scene of (presumably) New York where Hee-joo is now a
star dancer. A bunch of boys try to win her affections with their
breakdancing moves, but she shuns all of them. She relishes in the
attention – until she is (metaphorically) hit by a car. Hee-joo returns
to Korea, defeated, a lost dancer.



And then – it’s Act 4. The act where Hee-joo and Ki-young sing their
duet. Shin starts off with his guitar solo, and then the Windflowers
join in. It’s the ending song. Ki-young comes out first. (download)

Go ahead and smile, happiness will come.

Go ahead and smile, so that love can also be in my arms.

Countless dreams like stars up in heaven.

Go ahead and stand up, don’t stand down.

Go ahead and stand up, even if you’ll regret it.

It will be alright.

The female lead sings. It’s Hee-joo…but a look backstage shows that it’s really Kyu-won singing, and Hee-joo lip-syncing.

When my eyes are filled with tears, when your cheers run with tears.

Just yell aloud. It will all be OK.

When my heart breaks down.

When your heartache brings you down.

Just smile big and find hope.

Comments:

Wow. This episode felt like we had reached the end of the drama already.

I can see why it’s so maddening to have Hee-joo show up in the end as
the lead actress and take the spotlight away from Kyu-won. However, I’m
really happy with the way this turned out. This scenario was truly a
reflection of how the performance team came together and became one.
After all the jealousies, the in-fighting, the rumors, and the scandals,
everyone finally had one goal: to perform the musical. In the end,
everyone wanted to give their best and to be part of something special –
big stage or not.

You could say Hee-joo was being greedy to the end, but I think her
tutoring Kyu-won was pretty magnanimous. If anything, that’s probably as
generous as snobby Hee-joo could ever get. While I wish Kyu-won could
have been more assertive in wanting to preserve her place as the lead,
I’m glad she didn’t. She’s said before that all she wants is to be part
of something different from gayageum. To have been able to dance and
sing is enough for her. While we (and Seok-hyun) want her to dream big
and realize her other potentials, she’s happy to explore them without
having to be in the limelight. By singing for Hee-joo, she gets her
chance in the spotlight too – it’s her voice everyone is going to be talking about.

The nice thing about Shin and Kyu-won is that both are characters who
believe that they’re good and don’t crave for that affirmation over and
over again. They know how to deliver their best and say it was
their best. I think Hee-joo needs this performance more than anyone
else – to prove that even with a handicap, she can do her best. And
that’s why I’m glad she performed.

Tae-joon has been such a weird character for me. His turning point
was when Yoon-su threw her support behind Seok-hyun to hold a
performance with no funding. When he admitted defeat to Seok-hyun, I
wondered: was it 1) Yoon-su choosing Seok-hyun that convinced him he
lost (since he has/had a crush on her)? 2) the idea of not spending a
single cent for Seok-hyun’s musical that allowed him to admit defeat? or
3) was he inspired by the idea of performing for the sake of art, not
audience?

I’d like to hope that it was option 3 for Tae-joon. Clearly,
this episode is all about performance for the sake of performing for
oneself, and not for the audience.