Wish Upon a Star: Episode 6

by javabeans

Episode 6 kicks off the next phase of this drama, in a fun way. Everything has now been set up, and although saying that Episodes 1-5 were setup ground makes it sound like they’re slow, in fact it’s quite the opposite. They’ve been fast-paced and funny, with a healthy amount of heart-tugging scenes sprinkled in. It’s just that with the relationship lines clearly drawn, now we get to play with them.

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EPISODE 6 RECAP

Determined to do her housekeeping job to her utmost, Pal-gang leads her troop of siblings in a cleaning session around the house. Tae-kyu urges her to try a different tactic, because cleaning diligently isn’t likely to change Kang-ha’s mind. She has to try something that might work (like seduction).

Pal-gang answers that she’s not intending on changing his mind, but later that night, she tentatively seeks out Kang-ha.

Irritated, Kang-ha remains unmoved when she drops to her knees, saying sarcastically that she must have developed a habit of begging on her knees. He’d heard that she tried this at the office; it must have worked if she’s trying it again on him. But he won’t fall for it, so she may as well leave.

She admits that she has to try since she doesn’t have any other skills, and asks, “Just one month.” She’ll move out after one month of saving up money. (When he says that he hates the idea of a rowdy house full of kids, she blurts unthinkingly, “Then YOU leave for the month!” It’s so ridiculous that it’s funny, and she cringes.) He asks, “Why do I have to do this?” She answers, “You don’t, which is why I’m asking you to give in this once.”

Tae-kyu comes in to add his entreaties to the mix. Pal-gang furtively tells him to leave, but instead, he gets on HIS knees and bargains, “Uncle, I’ll quit doing drugs. I won’t do them anymore!” Kang-ha is dumbfounded: “You did drugs?” (Tae-kyu’s reply: “That’s a given for musicians.” When reminded that he passed his physical exam, Tae-kyu replies that there are ways to get around that. LOL.)

Tae-kyu begs, saying that Pal-gang and the kids will keep him clean: “If you kick out the kids, who knows what I’ll do if I fall into despair?”

Once they’re safely clear of the room, Pal-gang and Tae-kyu exult — it worked! (Pal-gang checks to make sure Tae-kyu’s really going to quit drugs, and he answers, “I don’t do drugs.” He’d made the whole thing up. HAHA.)

When Jun-ha arrives, they excitedly tell him the news. He’s displeased to hear Pal-gang begged on her knees again, but he is relieved at the news. She thanks him for worrying about her, and adds, “If you hadn’t said that yesterday in the yard, I would have gone back to work at the bar today. Thank you.”

Pal-gang takes the agreement one step further by drawing up a handwritten “contract,” which she asks Kang-ha to sign. It’s a statement promising to not kick her family out before their month is up; failure to do so will incur certain legal penalties. This whole conversation is pretty funny, so here it is:

Kang-ha: “What does ‘certain legal penalties’ refer to?”
Pal-gang: “Well, it just seemed I had to write it like that for it to seem like a real contract.”
Kang-ha: “Don’t you know that such a vague contract has no validity? When you say ‘for one month,’ what dates does that cover? Who specifically are the ‘siblings’ you mention? What exactly do you mean by ‘legal penalties’? That’s why your contracts are invalid!”
Pal-gang, cheerily: “They may be invalid, but I’ll have faith in your conscience. Please sign.”

Of course, living together (officially) has its drawbacks, such as bathroom crowding. With only one bathroom to share among five kids and three adults (Kang-ha’s upstairs bathroom is only for himself), this makes the morning rush difficult, and is reminiscent of the scenes at Pal-gang’s old house.

However, since everyone wants to prove to Kang-ha that this will work out, Jun-ha and Tae-kyu accept this all in good stride and don’t complain. (Their kindness fuels the kids’ continued discussions of who’s better, Jun-ha or Tae-kyu.)

Another hilarious exchange arises when Kang-ha confronts Pal-gang about the morning situation:

Kang-ha: “Tae-kyu is forced to do his business by a tree in the yard, and Jun-ha can’t shower because the kids are crowding the downstairs bathroom. Do you think this situation makes sense?”
Pal-gang: “It doesn’t. There are five children, and since they’re not invisible people, saying that they should act like they don’t exist didn’t make sense from the start.”

Pal-gang takes out her signed contract and shoves it in Kang-ha’s incredulous face:

Pal-gang: “There was no clause in the contract saying that the kids had to act invisible.”
Kang-ha: “Are you familiar with the phrase that the person in the wrong shouldn’t argue?”
Pal-gang: “It doesn’t work from a common-sense point of view, does it? If it doesn’t make sense for adults to act like they don’t exist, how can that be expected of kids? I thought you had enough sense to know that.”
Tae-kyu: “Lawyers are good at the law, but lack common sense. Don’t Pal-gang’s words make sense, Uncle?”

Kang-ha is so dumbstruck that he can only glower.

As Kang-ha walks off, Jun-ha takes the moment to rub his brother’s face in it a little. He asks innocently, “Doesn’t Jin Pal-gang have a great personality? She makes her own opportunities and has a lot of common sense.”

Jun-ha’s comment is a dig at Kang-ha’s previous criticism, that people should make their own chances rather than be given them freely.

At work the next morning, Pal-gang’s boss gives her a stack of wrapped gifts — they’re leftovers from her own stockpile given to her own clients. She means for Pal-gang to make the rounds to her own clients to give them the presents and pay a friendly visit. The assignment isn’t to win new contracts, so it’s low-pressure and also a generous move on the boss’s part, since Pal-gang doesn’t have money to go buying her own clients presents.

Pal-gang thanks her boss profusely and heads out to greet her customers. When one asks for information on a new policy, Pal-gang eagerly sits down and goes over the details, but is unfamiliar with the terms and is therefore unable to sign the new contract. Tae-kyu does his part by gathering his friends to sit down to a talk on why they should get insurance, but Pal-gang is underprepared and can’t convincingly explain why it would be beneficial for youngsters to invest in their futures.

Tae-kyu wonders what’s wrong — she usually speaks so glibly. And yet, once she’s in front of customers, she stammers and gets tangled up in her words.

Another cute conversation as the kids study (there are a lot of cute conversations in this episode). It’s currently vacation time, but soon they’ll have to head back to school. Second-youngest Pa-rang tries to talk them out of sending him back, so Cho-rok hits him. When he complains, “Why did you hit me?” she retorts, “Because you’re a dummy.”

Pa-rang turns his plea to his eldest sister — since they’re poor, does he have to go to school? He points out, “They say being rich is about saving money more than making money.” Going to school will cost money for supplies, but “if I stay at home, we don’t have to spend that money.” Ju-hwang sighs sarcastically, “Way to use that brain.” When Pa-rang entreats Pal-gang with his logic, she turns the job over to Cho-rok — who takes that as her cue to smack him again. Pa-rang complains, “This is why my brain is getting worse.”

All joking aside, when she’s alone, Pal-gang hopes (directing the plea to her parents), “Don’t let them become like me.”

Driven to do better with her insurance job, Pal-gang takes the book of policies and rehearses her sales pitch outside. She doesn’t realize anything’s wrong until she’s interrupted by the arrival of Kang-ha — and the two police officers who have been called by neighbors for a noise complaint. Kang-ha assures the officers he’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.

When he turns to deal with Pal-gang, it’s like he’s so used to her disrupting his quiet life that he’s more sarcastic than angry. She defends herself — sure, she made a mistake, but how ridiculous is it for neighbors to call the cops instead of just dealing with the scenario?

Jun-ha arrives home, breaking up the exchange, and she offers to cook him ramen since he was working late. She heads inside, leaving Kang-ha to grumble about the situation. Jun-ha looks at his brother’s face closely and comments, “How odd. This is the first time I’m seeing you talk so much with a woman.”

Kang-ha gets defensive: “She keeps talking to me!” Jun-ha marvels further, “And this is the first time I’ve seen you get angry because of a woman.”

To be polite, Pal-gang includes Kang-ha in the ramen offer, but says it in a discouraging tone so that he’s not likely to accept. Then Tae-kyu arrives and happily accepts, so he and Jun-ha eagerly dig in.

Kang-ha goes up to his room, disturbed at Jun-ha’s comment, and vows not to respond to Pal-gang anymore. So when he strolls by the kitchen to get some water, he remembers his vow and just gestures with his hands. He also steals a few glances as the ramen, but rejects the offer to have some. Jun-ha and Tae-kyu guess that he really wants some, but his pride won’t let him admit it. In his room alone, Kang-ha takes a dissatisfactory swig of plain water.

Pal-gang gets up early to fix breakfast, and Jun-ha comes upon her early in the morning. Actually, it’s not that he’s up early but that he was up all night working, so they sit down for an early-morning cup of coffee.

Pal-gang confides that her mother used to say that the most foolish person is the one who uses a lot of energy but doesn’t get anything done. That’s what she’s like — she may have the energy, but things don’t work out for her.

Jun-ha commiserates, because he’s the same way. Kang-ha is smart, and has never had to bring work home, whereas he has to spend a few nights here and there catching up. He shares a secret with her: “When I work at home, I always lock the door, because I don’t want to be caught by hyung or Tae-kyu.” Pal-gang doesn’t understand, but he says abashedly, “But it’s embarrassing.”

He asks her to keep that secret, in exchange for the secret she shared (about her own lack of ability).

Although it’s time for the kids to get up, Pal-gang assures Jun-ha that she had told them to wait until the adults left. That way, they can avoid a crush like yesterday. However, Jun-ha grabs extra chairs and adds them to the kitchen table. Pal-gang protests that the kids can eat later, but Jun-ha says that while they’re living together, it’ll be easiest to eat together too.

And so, when Kang-ha joins the group, everyone purposely flatters him in a bid to pre-empt complaints. They serve him first and address him as the eldest. (And it finally looks like Pal-gang has gotten the knack of breakfast cooking.)

At work, Pal-gang is again instructed to repeat her task from yesterday. However, Jae-young is displeased with the decision to keep her employed, and Pal-gang is called back to the office by a now-angry boss. She doesn’t understand what she did wrong, but the boss points out that she told her specifically NOT to pitch clients for sales. She was supposed to deliver the gifts and her greetings only. She had promised to change, but she doesn’t even listen to her instructions.

Pal-gang starts to tear up, starting to realize her errors. She cries that she wanted to do as her boss said, but she felt the time pressure to make money before she’s homeless again: “Every time I open my mouth, stupid words come out, and I hate myself too. Why am I so dumb? Why do I live like this?”

After work that evening, Jun-ha is driving home when he spots Pal-gang hesitating in front of the subway station. His curiosity is piqued when she finally walks inside, and he follows at a distance as she gets onto a subway car. She’s preoccupied with her thoughts, and keeps her head bowed.

Once the car is in motion, she stands in the middle of the compartment and starts speaking hesitantly, apologizing meekly for interrupting their busy evenings.

She makes her confession with a lot of difficulty, squeezing her eyes shut as she introduces herself as the useless Miss Jin who has never done anything right, who had mired herself in debt with her priorities all backward. “If my parents hadn’t died, I would still be living like that. But… but… now I can’t do that.” Opening her eyes, she explains that she has five siblings, and that in one month she will have no home.

Pal-gang: “But I don’t know how to do anything. I stutter in front of customers, and even though I talk well with other people, when I see my customers, my mouth freezes and I get scared. I get scared that I don’t know if I’m saying the right thing or if I have my information straight, so I can’t talk. So that’s why tonight, I’ve interrupted your time when you’re tired. I have to come to my senses and survive, but I’m afraid. I felt that if I could at least assert my courage like this, to come before strangers like you and tell you honestly what kind of person I am, then maybe I’ll be able to speak honestly with my customers. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so disruptive.”

She bows her head, tears falling down her face — but surprisingly, everyone claps.

 
OTHER PLOTLINES

Chairman Jung wanders out of the hospital, trying to find his eldest son, and arrives in Pal-gang’s old neighborhood. He’s confused and disconcerted, especially when one of the residents, Man-soo, recognizes him. However, since Man-soo is dimwitted (he’s also the one who witnessed Pal-gang’s parents’ car crash), the truth that is mixed in with his words just comes out sounding like babble.

Chairman Jung has a brief memory flash of standing in this very spot and having brief interactions with Pal-gang and Cho-rok (and the name “Pal-gang” sparks something in his brain), but those are gone in a flash.

The Jung family freaks out to have him wander off, but thankfully he is recovered soon enough.

In-gu scolds his wife Min-kyung for acting so coldly with Kang-ha, whom he has already accepted as his future son-in-law. He also recognizes that his daughter always achieves her aims, and she has set her sights on marrying Kang-ha. Min-kyung has a particular aversion to her daughter being compared to her, perhaps because she has greater hopes for her daughter than she was able to achieve herself.

Kang-ha, meanwhile, continues to resist Jae-young’s attempts to win him over, saying that he doesn’t see her as a woman.

 
COMMENTS

This was a fun-packed episode, and finally starts to show us more behind Kang-ha’s facade. In the first five episodes, whenever Kang-ha got angry, he honestly seemed frightening and heartless, but starting in this episode, his anger is mixed with resignation, and also played for laughs. In the household, it’s eight versus one, and he’s on the losing end. I particularly enjoy Pal-gang getting the upper hand in a few of their exchanges, which is helped greatly by the fact that she honestly doesn’t seem to look at him with any romantic eyes. So when he tries to bluster and growl at her, she’s sassy right back.

It’s too bad I’m still on Jun-ha’s side, which is both a good and bad thing. On the downside of things, the longer I stay with him, the harder it’ll be to switch over to Team Kang-ha later (as we know must happen soon enough), and when the inevitable happens, I’ll feel really sorry for Jun-ha. On the upside, though, THIS is the kind of love triangle I like to see — the kind where the romantic pull is believable with both male leads. Plus, I enjoy that this isn’t a drama where the romances are played as life-or-death, once-in-a-lifetime things. There’s a time and a place for that kind of melodrama, but it’s not now.

I love that Jun-ha and Pal-gang had a bonding scene, and even when he’s displeased with her, it’s usually because he feels bad for her. For instance, when she announces that Kang-ha has agreed to let her stay for the month, he frowns to hear that she’d knelt at his feet. It recalls his anger at the bar, which I didn’t interpret as a self-righteous “How dare you do something sleazy” accusation, but as an expression of concern. It means that Jun-ha believes she’s worth more than she thinks of herself (since she’s always calling herself dumb and talentless), and doesn’t like to see her so easily demeaning herself. Having higher standards for her convinced Pal-gang to have higher standards for herself, and gave her the courage to go back to the office.

I’ll be honest in saying that I didn’t really love the ending scene, which seemed overly dramatic. I see Pal-gang’s point about wanting to build up her courage, but it just seemed too saccharine and feel-good that everyone would burst into a round of applause. But that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the episode as a whole, and I’m hoping things keep improving.

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