SONG OF THE DAY
You’re Beautiful OST – “Lovely Day”. This is sung by Park Shin-hye. [ Download ]
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EPISODE 5 RECAP
Jeremy and Shin-woo come out to the balcony to see Tae-kyung comforting Mi-nam. Jeremy wonders what’s going on — does Tae-kyung know why Mi-nam is crying? Shin-woo muses (to himself), “Maybe Tae-kyung knows everything.”
Sung-chan and Stylist Wang join them, and Tae-kyung explains that Mi-nam is just feeling worked up after the performance. The stylist takes Mi-nam aside to fix up her makeup for the upcoming interviews. Sung-chan is pleased to hear that Tae-kyung comforted Mi-nam, as this is proof that they’re getting along better.
Of course, Tae-kyung and Shin-woo know there’s more to the story but keep that to themselves. There are looks exchanged all around (the two stare intensely while Jeremy looks on quizzically), and I have to admit that for a moment I was reminded of those Mad TV parodies of Mexican telenovelas where people just glare dramatically at each other.
The stylist heard about Mi-nam’s mother and asks if she’ll be okay for the interview. Mi-nyeo assures her that she can continue, but Tae-kyung’s voice cuts in: “You can’t do it.” He points out that she’s obviously been sobbing. What, is she going to blame it on him antagonizing her again?
I like that Tae-kyung frames it like this, because it’s his way of being gruff to cover up that he’s just looking out for her feelings. He supposes that she’s not in the frame of mind to answer interview questions and tells her to go; he’ll take care of things.
She thanks him, and the stylist hits upon the perfect way to smuggle Mi-nam out without being seen. Just get rid of her disguise! She grabs a spare outfit from one of the other acts and dresses Mi-nyeo like a girl pop star.
Tae-kyung keeps his reaction under control, but he’s definitely stunned to see Mi-nyeo looking so pretty. He even surreptitiously takes another look. As he leaves the room, he mutters, “Taking a real look at her feels so weird.”
Complications arise when the nosy reporter wanders backstage looking for a juicy story. Seeing Tae-kyung lurking outside the dressing room, he assumes that it’s because Yoo Heyi’s dressing room is nearby. Recalling that he’d seen them near each other at the hospital, his imagination starts linking the events. The reporter approaches and asks Tae-kyung about Heyi in an insinuating tone. Just then, the door opens and Mi-nyeo starts to step out.
Seeing potential disaster looming, Tae-kyung grabs her hand and pulls her along into a run before the reporter can get a good look at her.
Naturally, the reporter pursues, smelling a hot scoop. The two youngsters are faster than him, though, and make it to the lobby well ahead of him.
Tae-kyung instructs Mi-nyeo to run out without making any eye contact with anyone, which she does. The fans are busily fawning over Jeremy and Shin-woo anyway, and don’t take notice of her.
When the reporter catches up, Tae-kyung — now alone — runs back upstairs to evade him. Outside the dressing rooms, he runs into Heyi, who has finished her performance.
And just then, the reporter reaches them, out of breath, and figures he’s caught them red-handed. He asks why they’d run from him together.
Tae-kyung’s not inclined to humor the reporter, and leaves Heyi to deal with him. So when he asks her about running away, she has no idea what he’s talking about. The reporter only has the vaguest of photos (of the two people’s backs as they run), and they’re not strong enough basis for a story — but he vows later to reveal the romance.
For the interview, Tae-kyung tells Sung-chan that Mi-nam has gone home, and the clueless CEO makes polite excuses for Mi-nam’s absence.
The ride home that night is quiet with a serious air. Tae-kyung tells the other two about Mi-nam’s mother dying, which makes Jeremy in particular feel guilty. He asks his hyungs, “Did you both know he had no parents? Is that why you were so nice to him?”
Now Jeremy feels guilty for misunderstanding, and berates himself (“You rotten orange-head!”) for being so difficult. He voices what the other two are suppressing: “I feel sorry for Mi-nam.”
Mi-nyeo meets her Aunt Mi-ja, who is very emotional. Mi-ja cries that she tried to find Mi-nam, and that by the time her father entrusted the twins to her before his death, he’d said their mother had already died. Mi-nyeo asks for more information, but Aunt Mi-ja only knows that she was supposedly a singer. She’d never met her.
On the ride home, Hoon-yi says that Mi-nyeo has been doing a good job. However, she feels it’s time to call it quits; after all, she made a promise with Tae-kyung.
When she gets home, however, her spirits are cheered at the surprise party thrown by her bandmates celebrating her first performance. (It’s cute how Jeremy is now the enthusiastic one, making up for his earlier unfriendliness.) Tae-kyung, meanwhile, sees how well the other two are treating her and practically harrumphs; he’s not jealous, oh no not at all, but it’s like he doesn’t like being left out yet has too much ego to make any overtures.
Jeremy tells her, “Tae-kyung hyung didn’t do anything, but he didn’t stop us either.” He shows off one of his comedic impressions, but nobody laughs, which bothers him. Back when they were newbies on the scene, he’d gotten tons of laughs from his act whenever they went on various variety programs. Their popularity even grew because of him! (He calls his act a “first wife” — as in, they accepted it when it was young but now that time has passed they’re going to dump it.)
They recall that Tae-kyung used to have a “special skill” that he showed on their early variety-program appearances, and Jeremy offers to show Mi-nam the clips, which he kept “to watch when I’m feeling depressed.”
Tae-kyung is clearly uncomfortable with this idea, but tries to pretend he doesn’t care. He tells himself it’s just a joke, but Shin-woo confirms that he’s seen it too.
Immediately, Tae-kyung bolts up and runs into the house shouting, “Don’t, Jeremy! If you do, you die!”
Tae-kyung bursts in on the room just as the tape is getting started, and we see how stiff and uncomfortable A.N.JELL used to be. He yells at Jeremy to turn it off.
Jeremy fast-forwards to show Mi-nam the good stuff, and runs around with the remote control as Tae-kyung chases him. Mi-nyeo sees the clip of Tae-kyung asking for a radish, which he then bites into to shave it with his front teeth.
(These variety shows are another aspect of idol life that the writers poke fun at, because it’s all done in the name of exposure and increasing popularity, no matter how the idols may feel about it. It’s clear that Tae-kyung is not comfortable making a fool of himself on camera (Jeremy has had more success with that), inasmuch as he takes himself very seriously despite his idol status.)
Afterward, Tae-kyung comes upon Mi-nyeo laughing quietly to herself. She assures him that it was fun watching him: “Back then you were the most handsome of the three!” He asks, “Back then? What about now?”
She fumbles, “You’re still handsome,” but he picks up on what is unsaid (the superlative is gone now): “But I’m not number 1 [in handsomeness].” Her lack of an answer confirms that, and he says, “Forget it. I don’t care about your preference.”
However, his mood goes from annoyed to startled when she mentions being happy to be leaving with such good memories. He looks at her sharply: “Leaving?” Mi-nyeo answers, “I wasn’t able to find my mother, but I will keep our promise. I’ll wrap things up so I won’t cause trouble and leave.”
When she heads outside, he says almost petulantly, “She was so insistent on staying for her mother’s sake, but she doesn’t even think of her brother’s sake. How can she have so little loyalty to her twin?”
As Mi-nyeo helps Shin-woo clean up, he asks how she’s doing. She answers that the guys were big comforts to her in a difficult day.
He offers more comfort and tells her, “Hold out your hand.” There’s a solemnity in his air that makes her a little nervous, and he holds her hands… and puts a stack of dishes in them. Phew! He tells her to take them inside, breaking the odd tension.
The mood wasn’t imagined, though, because when she takes the plates inside, he wonders, “I’m here watching, but who are you holding out your hand to?”
Jeremy offers to take the dishes from her — it’s the least he can do, since he’d been unfair in jumping to conclusions about her. She was totally unaware of this and asks what that was about. Uncomfortably, he admits that he thought she’d been flirting, but mumbles his answer because he’s unwilling to admit what he’d thought. So he seizes upon something more acceptable — Jolie! He explains that he thought she was stealing his dog’s affections and it upset him.
Mi-nyeo promises not to do that anymore, and he says he won’t torment her anymore, either. Growing a little uncomfortable being around Mi-nyeo and her good-hearted openness, he stumbles while he tries to turn away — and she grabs him to help him from falling. Too bad this closeness is further unsettling to Jeremy’s peace of mind.
Tae-kyung changes his hairstyle, which the stylist says reminds her of his early days. She wonders why he wanted to change, and he says “Just because,” muttering to himself in dissatisfacion, “She said I’m not number 1.”
In the same salon is Yoo Heyi, who’s getting her hair done and falling asleep in her chair. He’s about to ignore her, but he sees that her cell phone is about to fall to the ground. As it does, he leaps forward to catch it, which wakes her up.
She accuses him of stealing glances of her as she slept. He retorts, “There’s got to be something worth seeing.”
Heyi wonders what the deal was with the reporter, who thinks they’re dating. She asks, “Then who’s that girl? The one wearing clothes like mine who you ran away with. He got a picture of you too.” That grabs his attention, but when he sees the photo (which she’d gotten from the reporter), he’s relieved because it hardly shows anything. There are no faces, in any case.
He tells Heyi: “You and she are different heights, and you have different figures. You’re absolutely nothing alike. Nothing to worry about, Korea’s Fairy.”
When he flashes that smile at her, Heyi looks at him with renewed interest, then wonders if that means Tae-kyung really has a girlfriend.
At dance rehearsals, the guys watch a home shopping channel while eating, and while the guys all stare at the model’s legs, Mi-nyeo fixes on the shoes, calling them pretty: “It’s just that I’ve never worn shoes like that before.”
This, naturally, earns her some odd looks. Belatedly, she realizes her blunder and forces a laugh to cover up. She explains that of course she’s a guy so no, she’s never worn shoes like that, which is why they’re interesting, and oh, look, the model’s legs are pretty.
The scene does, however, give Shin-woo an idea. He shops for shoes, wondering what kind of style Mi-nyeo would like.
Sung-chan takes Tae-kyung to a special lunch meeting with a music star who wants to work with Tae-kyung: Mo Hwa-ran. Since Tae-kyung’s maternity is a secret to the public, Sung-chan is unaware of the bad blood between the two, and approaches her offer enthusiastically.
Hwa-ran wants to make a comeback, which is why she’d like the help of Sung-chan and a youngster like Tae-kyung: they could record and perform together. Sung-chan refers to Tae-kyung’s paternity — his father is a world-renowned genius conductor (LOL, is this a nod to Beethoven Virus?) — which provokes a look between mother and son. Tae-kyung answers pointedly that “I only resemble my father.” She answers, just as pointedly, that she didn’t get along with geniuses — they were sensitive and prickly.
Hwa-ran invites them to eat — she ordered the best, specifically for them. However, Tae-kyung spits out his food — it’s shrimp. Tae-kyung excuses himself as Sung-chan explains his allergy, and Hwa-ran looks upset. She asks herself, “Was he allergic?”
Tae-kyung stumbles to the bathroom, breathing heavily, and spits out his food. But despite the physical discomfort, it’s the emotional one that’s more troubling.
He recalls one of his rare meetings with his mother as a child. He hadn’t eaten what she ordered because there was shrimp in it, which annoyed her because she’d thought he was a fussy eater. So, the insecure boy, wanting his mother’s approval, had taken up his fork to force himself to eat. He’d started coughing and breathing heavily, and a disconcerted Hwa-ran had told him, “Don’t make trouble for me, and go to the bathroom quietly.”
(Great scene for Jang Geun-seok; look at those eyes.)
Shin-woo, meanwhile, also takes Mi-nyeo to lunch at the restaurant (which I recall was also featured in an episode of Star’s Lover). He makes up the excuse that she’s helping him by coming with her because he’d wanted to eat here, and afterward, she can help him by going with him to the amusement park. He’s even prepared disguises to evade notice.
She notices that he has another bag with him — the shoes — which he explains are for a girl he’s going to meet. He’s planning to apologize for lying about something and give it to her. “I’ll gain her forgiveness and her heart.”
Mi-nyeo spills some juice and heads to the bathroom to clean up. There, she comes upon Tae-kyung, who’s getting his emotions under control.
Seeing her, he straightens and leaves without a word, but she follows worriedly.
Shin-woo waits in the private dining room alone, unable to get hold of Mi-nyeo, who has left behind her phone. She does call him from a pay phone outside as she watches over Tae-kyung and explains that she’ll have to be with Tae-kyung for a while.
Tae-kyung tells Mi-nyeo curtly that he’s fine, that he just had momentary breathing trouble. When she asks if he’d eaten shrimp, he asks bitterly, “You remember that — why can’t she?”
Tae-kyung has also left behind his cell phone and instructs Mi-nyeo to head back and get it for him, but unfortunately, she doesn’t know where the restaurant is. She’d been busy following him out, and didn’t notice where they were going.
Wearing Shin-woo’s disguises, Tae-kyung and Mi-nyeo pick a direction and walk, figuring they’ll hit the restaurant sooner or later. But after walking around and around in circles (although Tae-kyung refuses to admit they’re lost), they still haven’t found the restaurant.
They decide that it’s faster to go back to the agency instead, and at least Tae-kyung is confident he knows the way. Only, he doesn’t. He leads her past the same ice cream four times, ignoring Mi-nyeo’s suggestion that they’re going in circles.
But when she suggests hailing a taxi, he refuses, saying, “I have my pride.” When she offers to ask for directions, he barks, “Don’t ask! I’ll find it.” But he surprises her by quoting her own line: “Someone once told me that if you look for something with an earnest heart, you’ll find it.”
Stylist Wang returns the outfit Mi-nyeo had worn out of the music festival, and as the outfit came from Heyi’s troupe, Heyi takes note of the A.N.JELL stylist’s arrival. She also realizes that the clothing is similar to hers from the festival, and deduces that the stylist must know who Tae-kyung’s girl is.
She takes a risk by asking, “I hear Tae-kyung oppa and that person escaped safely, right?” She implies that Tae-kyung told her the whole truth, and when the stylist asks, “Are you really dating?” Heyi says coyly, “In these situations, I should say no, right?” She assures the stylist that Tae-kyung entrusted her with his secret, so the stylist answers, “If people find out Mi-nam is a girl, we’re in trouble!”
Heyi is startled, but plays along. She ingratiates herself with the stylist to get more on this story.
Finally, Tae-kyung and Mi-nyeo arrive at the agency. He’s proud of himself, although she’s exhausted at all the wandering they did.
Yet when he smiles at her in satisfaction, her heart starts to pound. Why this is happening? Is it from all the walking? In her confusion, she steals glances at Tae-kyung, who wonders why she keeps looking at him. Mi-nyeo thinks fast: “It’s just… your new hairstyle is really cool!”
He makes sure to tell her, “I didn’t change it because of what you said. It’s to fit the new album concept.”
When she enters the house, both of the other bandmates are acting odd. First, Jeremy shies away from her, still unnerved at his feelings for her. He laments to his dog, “What do I do? All day, I just think of Go Mi-nam. What’s wrong with me?”
Shin-woo is also less friendly than normal, feeling upset that she’d left him for Tae-kyung. When she asks about his date, he answers that he’d been stood up, and his tone is short.
True to her word, Mi-nyeo readies to leave. Tae-kyung seems less-than-thrilled to see her packed to move out, but before he has to decide how to act about this, he’s saved by an unexpected arrival: Aunt Mi-ja.
She has come intending to stay with Mi-nam for a while, and since the others don’t know of Mi-nyeo’s intention to leave, they can’t exactly turn her away. Mi-nyeo and Hoon-yi beg Tae-kyung to be understanding, and to let Mi-nyeo stay a little while longer. Thus Tae-kyung is given an excuse to pretend that he’s dissatisfied with this, while not having to actually part ways.
However, this brings up the problem of room arrangements. Aunt and nephew can’t room together comfortably, so it would be better if Aunt Mi-ja takes the room to herself, while Mi-nam shares with another guy. He tells Jeremy to share since he’s the youngest — which freaks him out, since Jeremy is fighting his unsettling attraction to Mi-nam.
Then, what about Shin-woo? But Shin-woo’s feeling rejected, and answers that there’s someone else who should find sharing with Mi-nam more comfortable — meaning Tae-kyung.
Tae-kyung immediately refuses, but Sung-chan doesn’t see why not. He orders Mi-nam to make the decision. The three guys tense as they await her answer, and when she looks at Tae-kyung, he mouths, “You’re dead.” Mi-nyeo answers, “If I have to choose…”
She points at Tae-kyung. He’s incredulous: “You can’t mean me?” He refuses, but she says pleadingly that given the circumstances, she’d rather room with him. (Note that she still believes that her identity as a girl is unknown to the other two guys. Therefore, even if Tae-kyung hates rooming with her, he’s the only one who knows her secret, so rooming together is the logical choice.)
Tired of the indecision, Sung-chan tells Mi-nam to pack her (his) bags — she can share with HIM, then. Sung-chan even warms to the idea — they can do dude things together like work out, go to the sauna together, scrub each other’s backs (that quintessential Korean bonding activity)…
At this, Mi-nyeo turns a desperate eye to Tae-kyung, begging with her puppy-dog eyes. Tae-kyung has to choke back his distaste and agree. He says with difficulty, “We’ll get along fine. Working out, going to the sauna, and scrubbing each other’s backs should be fun.”
At this, Mi-nyeo looks at him like he’s just saved her world. (Well, he kinda has.)
Hoon-yi is pleased at the change in Tae-kyung, but he hands her a taser just in case, and has to explain (uncomfortably) that it’s to use… in case… well she probably won’t have to use it… but if Tae-kyung… maybe… tries to do… to her…
Finally, he just tells her that if Tae-kyung’s gaze changes from intense glower to suddenly soft, she’d better press the button!
Mi-nyeo settles into Tae-kyung’s room for the night, but he has a problem with her camping location. She assures him, “I’m fine. How could I take your bed? I can sleep here below.”
Of course, that’s not what he meant — he orders her even further below. He can’t sleep with the lights off (on account of his night blindness, I’m sure), while she can’t sleep with the lights on. Naturally he wins, so even when he’s asleep, she tosses and turns.
Mi-nyeo reasons that since he’s already sleeping, she can turn off the lights now. As she flips the switch, she pauses to look down on him: “He looks so different when he sleeps.” It’s because the tension is gone from his eyes and he looks nicer.
She thinks, “Today I’m seeing a lot of sides to Hwang Tae-kyung I haven’t seen before.” But the recollection of smiling Tae-kyung sends her heart pounding again. Uneasy, she asks Mother Superior for guidance, and crosses herself to pray.
Only, with that gesture, she accidentally touches the taser Hoon-yi had given her — and tases herself. (Omg! Lulz.)
Knocked unconscious, Mi-nyeo falls on the bed, on top of a sleeping Tae-kyung.
COMMENTS
Seriously, if that isn’t the most unusual way I’ve heard of to get two characters in each other’s arms…!! Love how the writing is continuing to add unexpected twists to otherwise expected situations. (I’d seen the preview hinting at this event, but any of the possible explanations I could have come up with don’t come close to the end result.)
As for Tae-kyung, what a big ol’ softie. We don’t necessarily get big revelations today that weren’t hinted at before, but I like seeing more examples of his inner nice guy. Often you have the bad boy pretending to be the nice boy and hiding his douchey real self from the girl by putting on an act. With Tae-kyung, we have a nice guy trying to act the bad guy, but he’s just not very good at keeping it up. At least not around Mi-nyeo.
For instance, at the beginning of the episode, he’d like to think he doesn’t care that she’s crying, but he can’t leave her alone and comforts her. And later at the party at the house, when she apologizes for being troublesome, he answers gruffly, “Go Mi-nam, today you were pretty useful. You performed well.” It sounds like a backhanded compliment, almost grudgingly given, but it’s probably one of the best compliments he could actually give her, since she had lamented her uselessness, and explained how she felt the desire to be of use to him.
I’m really enjoying the characters here, even bit players and side characters like Yoo Heyi. She could have been played very one-dimensionally, but I think she’s been well-written, and well-cast. I know nothing about UEE or her pop group, but I think she totally measures up to the role and is good at playing both the publicly sweet Heyi and the privately bitchy Heyi. It occurs to me that this is actually how I imagined the lead would be when I first read the description for Lady Castle. This is how you can be an entertaining mean girl, and I enjoy how Heyi is so two-faced.
For instance, she’s not one to go for the obvious put-down. Gu Jun-pyo (Boys Before Flowers) or Kang Hae-na (My Fair Lady) are the type to tell you to your face how much you suck, but Heyi is the master of the mean-girl taunt, the sly put-down, the “unsult,” if you will. It’s passive-aggressive. She tells one of her dancers with a meaningful edge that she sure was dancing hard tonight! (Meaning: You blocked my camera shot, bitch.) She tells another dancer that her super-high heels sure made her legs look long. (Meaning: Get rid of your heels and the nerve to one-up me!)
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