You’ve Fallen For Me: Episode 8

AAAAND we’re back in business! Oh man, can I just have a huge free space to SQUEE in delight? THis episode is allll about Jung Yong Hwa‘s soft smiles.

SONG OF THE DAY

모르나봐 (“I Don’t Know”) – M Signal – You’ve Fallen For Me OST [download]

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.