152

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop: Episode 11

Aw, this episode is really about brothers and bromance, in various forms. And you know how I have a massive soft spot for that. I love that the ramyun shop isn’t just a convenient way to use the term family, in the way that people have work families and school families and such. The characters also find connections to each other in their shared experiences of lacking family, like the way our two leading men miss mom, and our supporting boys miss dad.

SONG OF THE DAY

Kim Tae-woo, Rain, JYP – “Brothers and Me” [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 
EPISODE 11: “Can Love Be Translated?”

Chi-soo kisses Eun-bi (twice!)… and when the camera pulls back from that lengthy, open-mouthed kiss (thank you, cable), we see Kang-hyuk standing in the background, looking heartbroken.

Aw, if he’d still been dilly-dallying about his intentions, I’d say it serves him right for being too slow — but he’d already made his intentions known. The movie date! The hand-holding! The hairpin! Poor little giant-man.

Chi-soo takes Eun-bi to the river. You’d think he’d know better by now. It’s awkward and silent so she asks him to say something, and he blurts, still flustered, “I will, okay? I’ll say something, so just… wait.” I love this reversal, because now it’s her turn to ask, “Are you actually feeling an anger-like thing toward me?” She borrows his own words again to say that he’s acting like something out of an old fashioned drama.

Chi-soo says that yeah, because of her he’s turned into that old-fashioned guy who sees her everywhere he goes. Tapping his chest, “You wear that childish volleyball uniform and keep sending a spike here.” Oh, Chi-soo, to whom love is just a totality of physical symptoms. He says this all as backhanded compliment,: “This woman who’s less attractive than me keeps appearing in my eyes.” He concludes, “So stay by my side. Until I come to my senses.”

Eun-bi’s hardly flattered, and says that he must suppose this passes for a confession of his feelings. She reminds him that she was on a date, which she should really be getting back to. Chi-soo’s incredulous: “You’re going back to Onion?” (Ha at his use of the Japanese word, calling him Tamanegi.) He asks if she can’t see him standing there, eyes all flipped out because of her. She returns, “Then what about you? Do you not see me?” He’s all, Hello, I’ve just been ranting about seeing you everywhere, but she counters, “You only see yourself.”

Chi-soo looks floored and exclaims, “I just said I like you!” She thumps her chest, “But what can we do? Your confession didn’t make this part of me boil over in the least.”

Eun-bi returns to the cinema and finds Kang-hyuk lying on a bench out front, waiting for her. Over lunch, she starts to explain where she’d gone, but he just smiles at her and gives her an out, saying she must have gone to buy medicine and that she should take care of herself.

So-yi storms out of the theater after following Ba-wool there, pissy that he ran off to save his noona from Chi-soo’s clutches. Aw, is she actually jealous — and right after she’d assured Ba-wool that seeing him with another girl wouldn’t make her jealous at all? One step forward for princess.

So-yi bursts out, “You should only care about me! Why are you worrying over that intern teacher?” …aaaaand one step back.

So-yi points out that Eun-bi’s not even his blood noona, aka sister, and Ba-wool tries to explain, “Well, she’s a noona I like…” Ha, danger alert! Are we gonna have to explain this in terms of liking her, but not like-liking her? Ba-wool catches himself and corrects, “…er, a noona I know.”

This doesn’t fly with So-yi, even though she’d used that exact wording about her oppa. She retorts, “Just a noona you know? You have those kinds of noonas?” She denies being angry, slaps on a smile, and leaves.

Kang-hyuk and Eun-bi walk back to the store, and he teasingly asks for a kiss to cap off the date. She still feels guilty for ditching him mid-date and thanks him for waiting for her. He thanks her for coming back.

Up zooms Chi-soo on his bike, declaring that he’s here to confess properly: “I went to see my doctor. He says I’ve fallen for you.” Psh. How like him to only believe it when the Doc says so. But he won’t take off the helmet, because he has more embarrassing things to say: “Now that I’m like this, you’re going to fall for me soon, too.”

With that, he grabs Eun-bi’s wrist to pull her over to his side and tells Kang-hyuk not to go around touching “any old poop.” Why, because she’s your poop now? Your sense of romance is overwhelming.

Dong-joo is just as stunned by the news, and wonders what Chi-soo could possibly see in Eun-bi. Ah, friends. The funny thing is, she’s so materialistic that she means this all perfectly honestly, rather than jealously. You know. If we’re splitting judgy hairs.

Dong-joo points out that Eun-bi’s older, has no money, and “possesses nothing but strength.” At that, Coach bursts out of the fitting room — they’re in a men’s store, helping him choose a suit — and demands suspiciously, “You were talking about me, weren’t you?” Hee.

Dong-joo mulls this over and decides she knows what’s up with Chi-soo. Re-enactment time!

We’ve got our stand-in Chi-soo and Eun-bi again: Fake Chi-soo ogles hot women and throws out “You’re pretty” compliments left and right. Fake Eun-bi arrives wearing her uniform and tosses water in his face: “I’m just watering the flower” (boy). He grabs her and says, “Nobody’s ever done this to me,” and leans in for a face-smushing kiss.

Dong-joo concludes, “He didn’t fall for you [ban-hae], he’s pissed off [bun-hae] at you!” She wonders whether Eun-bi has feelings for Chi-soo, and Eun-bi stutters a denial.

That night, Kang-hyuk contemplates the hairpin he’d bought for Eun-bi and thinks back to the earlier confrontation, which we now see in flashback.

After Chi-soo had grabbed Eun-bi’s wrist and pulled her aside, Kang-hyuk had taken their hands in his (yay for hands, not wrists) and wished Chi-soo luck. “If it’s to a better man than myself, I’ll accept it.”

Awwww, are you actually challenging Chi-soo to be a better man? This brings unexpected tears to my eyes.

Chi-soo had chafed at the suggestion that he needs Kang-hyuk’s approval, but Kang-hyuk had told him that right now, he’s still Eun-bi’s protector and Chi-soo’s employer.

Now as Kang-hyuk lies in bed, he wonders at his conflicting feelings, “Whose heart should I be boiling?” He addresses a photo of his mother, saying that this scenario’s unfairly harsh on him.

Eun-bi, meanwhile, is back to her Post-Its of Confusion, wondering how Kang-hyuk could so easily give up on her. “Does he think I’m easy?!” Then she thinks of Chi-soo’s kiss and her reaction to it, deflating: “You are easy.”

Ba-wool presents his “scientific” analysis of this whole Chi-soo question, which turns out to be crayon scribbles (of “Dog Chwi-soo”) with words like “motorcycle” and “smells like bathroom” and “facial expression resembling me” scrawled as clues. He concludes that Chi-soo likes her, but it’s unnecessary since she already knows.

Ba-wool asks, “You really don’t have feelings for him, right?” He makes her pinky-swear it: “If you break this swear, you’ll fail the civil service exam, boil ramyun your whole life, and not get married till you’re thirty-five!” Lol. He may not be too far off the mark, there.

He perks up to get a call from So-yi, cheerily oblivious as he answers, “Where am I? I’m with noona. You want me to run out of here immediately? Okay!”

Chi-soo tells Dad that he was out with his girlfriend, who is no longer that “cute-like-a-puppy” So-yi, but the intern. Dad gapes, reminding him that Chi-soo’s caviar and Eun-bi’s plain rice and ramyun. Chi-soo says that he won’t eat junk like ramyun, so instead, “I’ll make her eat caviar.” Just don’t shove it down her throat.

Dad sighs when his secretary tells him, “I don’t think this is a disease Dr. Yoon can cure.” He wonders if it’s that other disease, “The one I caught when I met Chi-soo’s mother.”

Time for the ramyun-tasting. Hyun-woo goes first, and what better theme for a Crazy Chicken-inspired dish than chicken. The chicken breast represents “Ba-wool’s violent tendencies” and the red pepper his “rebelliousness.” Hee! There’s a sauce as well, which expresses Ba-wool’s love for So-yi: chocolate. Kang-hyuk chokes on his mouthful. Next!

Ba-wool’s ramyun represents Hyun-woo’s “oily and imbecilic” personality, and has, curiously, a huge piece of rice cake in it.

Eun-bi’s dish has a cheese base since Chi-soo likes cheese, which is meant to cut the saltiness. (There are also little pieces of egg cut into flower shapes, ha.) Her recipe wins big reactions from everyone…but Ba-wool tastes and exclaims, “Noona! Are you trying to kill us?!”

Chi-soo hasn’t prepared a dish, and now that he’s made his feelings for Eun-bi known, there’s no need to hide behind the ramyun as his excuse for being here anymore. He starts to pull Eun-bi outside, saying they’ve got better things to do, and Eun-bi protests — until she sees that Kang-hyuk has just turned away, not bothering to object. Hurt by that, she agrees to go and leaves the shop, with Chi-soo tossing back a smirk at Kang-hyuk.

After they leave, Kang-hyuk sighs in disappointment, perking up excitedly when the door squeaks open: “Wife?” But no, it’s Daddy Cha’s secretary, who takes him to meet his boss.

Daddy Cha proposes buying out the store, and Kang-hyuk readily declines. Daddy Cha tells him not to be hasty and think it over slowly, but Kang-hyuk answers that it’s not really his place. He means emotionally, like it’s not his to dispose of: “It’s not a place just for selling food, but for feeding children.” Daddy Cha doesn’t much see the semantic difference and tells him to consider the business value.

Kang-hyuk points out that the man’s son works with him, to which Daddy Cha requests that he fire Chi-soo, who must just be playing around in some extended joke. Kang-hyuk’s response: “We don’t just cut loose our shop’s family. After your son joined the shop, he became my kid.”

Chi-soo takes Eun-bi to a fancy restaurant to eat caviar, and when asked about So-yi, he says they’ll be friends now, and that he’ll give her up to Ba-wool since he’d rather date Eun-bi. Not inspiring words for the future: Eun-bi asks if he’ll just give her over to another man later and say they can be friends too. Chi-soo says they’ll have to see.

Eun-bi’s still feeling her way around this compatibility issue, and asks if Chi-soo knows who Shinhwa is. He thinks she means the word shinhwa (legend), not the pop idols, and she asks if he knows (deceased singer) Kim Kwang-seok. Heh, this brings to mind all the times older colleagues express incredulity (“You don’t know who [insert past-his-heyday star here] is?”) just as we’re probably going to be saying in ten years, “You don’t know Justin Bieber/Miley Cyrus/The Jonas Brothers?” (We can hope.) It’s always annoying to be on the receiving end of the question, but on the flipside sometimes it really is that confounding that younger people don’t know of certain things that happened before their time.

Eun-bi gets to the point: They’re six years apart, he’s a student, and “I have no time to play around with a high schooler.” She’s past the age of revolving-door dating and cup ramyun (mass-produced and instant): “Now I want to eat ramyun that one man has cooked just for me.” Nice way of tying in Chi-soo’s refusal to participate in the taste-off. She calls their interaction like an accident that’ll pass them by.

Chi-soo jerks forward and asks why she’s talking like an old fogey. Eun-bi: “I don’t want to admit it, but I already am one. Just because we held hands once and kissed once, it doesn’t mean my heart is boiling. So let’s not waste time.”

She walks away, leaving Chi-soo confused. He follows her out to insist it’s not time-wasting he’s doing, but that she’s the first person to make his heart feel strange and roiling. He insists he’s being earnest, but she tells him he’s always like this — he’s never asked how she feels, just acted on his own feelings. His interest in her is just pride and curiosity.

He’s genuinely baffled at her insistence that they can’t work out, and she finally declares that it’s because “You don’t know how to cook ramyun.” How can a man who doesn’t know how to boil ramyun boil her heart? Uh-oh, and ha. Chi-soo should just wear a sign, “Abandon metaphor, all ye who enter here.” She leaves him shouting after her, “What does ramyun have to do with dating?”

Eun-bi comes home still feeling put out that Kang-hyuk let her go so easily. He’s waiting for her out front, and she tells him flat-out that if he’s trying to play dating games — doing the hard-to-get, push-and-pull strategy — she doesn’t know how. All she knows is the straightforward attack: “So tell me if I should be blocking you, or if I should spike.”

He replies, “I think you’re the one doing the pushing and pulling.” Kang-hyuk points out that she took his hand the same day she kissed Chi-soo, and ate with him and then rode Chi-soo’s bike.

Chi-soo comes home to a dad who asks him, “You’re my son, right?” Aw, poor confused President Cha, with his never-ending daddy issues. If it’s not Pororo, it’s that ramyun chef. Dad says that Chi-soo’s been acting weird, and Chi-soo says that Pororo is “just a friend” and Intern is “just passing by.” Aw, he looks pretty upset to have to admit that, and Dad reminds him that the only thing to trust in this world is money, himself, and Dad.

Eun-bi feels sorry to know that Kang-hyuk saw the kiss after all, and as they talk outside, she asks why he didn’t let on. He says he was trying to look cool, and she says he’s plenty cool already, “Too cool for me.”

He asks what’s wrong with her, and she calls herself foolish for letting a high schooler pelt her with stones, and not being able to grab the handsome guy standing right here. He tells her she doesn’t have to work at grabbing him, “Since I’ll always be here, like a pillar.”

He explains that that’s why Dad gave him the shop — because she’d need a place to come home to. “He said that in those times, there needed to be one place in the world where he could boil up a pot of ramyun, without saying a word.”

Therefore, Eun-bi can push-and-pull as much as she wants since he’ll always be here. However, Kang-hyuk adds, “But I hope you won’t fool yourself. Don’t force yourself to push Cha Chi-soo away.”

She protests, but he tells her that the heart isn’t for thinking. It just boils on, on its own.

Inside the shop, Ba-wool and Hyun-woo clean out their ramyun pots. Ba-wool mocks his chocolate sauce, but Hyun-woo says at least he tried to understand Ba-wool, who didn’t do the same for him. Hyun-woo can’t even eat the kind of rice cake Ba-wool used, since his teeth are weak; his father used to cut up all his food for him because of that. Ba-wool calls him a prince, but Hyun-woo says that’s in the past: “Now I’d be happy being a beggar if I could live with Dad.”

Ba-wool hurriedly brushes aside his pang of sympathy and says Hyun-woo should’ve said so, so he could’ve cut up the rice cake before putting it in the ramyun. That suggestion seems like a good idea to Hyun-woo, because it’s like a version of sujebi (made with bits of dough, floating in soup). Ba-wool argues against it, since he hates sujebi — it’s the only thing his adoptive father knew how to make, but he was so busy feeding his adopted siblings — lost kids he’d picked up, “like me” — that Ba-wool never got to eat any.

Aw, and the uncomfortable sympathy pangs are returned! Boy bonding for the win.

Eun-bi ignores Chi-soo’s call that night, so he enters the shop looking for her and finds Kang-hyuk instead…and asks him to teach him how to make ramyun.

So begins the lesson, starting with a dish Kang-hyuk’s father was particularly good at making. He asks if Chi-soo’s father ever made him food, and Chi-soo answers that there’s no kitchen in his house, since they have all their meals delivered from a hotel: “My father hates the smell of food in the house.” What a weird aversion, although maybe it has to do with the wife he can’t get over.

At home, Daddy Cha looks at an old photo of said wife… while Eun-bi finds a photo of Kang-hyuk’s mother… who is the same woman. Wait, wut? Really? Is that where we’re going, drama?

The boys complete their bowls of ramyun, but Chi-soo complains that Kang-hyuk must have added ingredients to his, because it tastes different. Chi-soo starts describing the difference, not really sure what words to use but sensing that Kang-hyuk’s “tastes like the thing you put in kimchi.”

Kang-hyuk realizes that he’d fried garlic in that pot earlier, impressed with Chi-soo’s palate. He says, “I think you have perfect taste.” (He means it in the same way that perfect pitch is a talent for music and hearing.)

Chi-soo isn’t really concerned, wondering if that’s a good thing. Kang-hyuk is much more aware of how rare that talent is, and says that yes, it’s a good thing: “I have it too.”

 
COMMENTS

Okay, admittedly, I’m a little nonplused about the Chi-soo-and-Kang-hyuk-may-be-half-brothers storyline, and my initial reaction was to groan. If we have to have it, though, I will suppose that it works with the characters and thematically ties in to the idea of lost (and found) families. It also allows Kang-hyuk to be the mentoring figure in Chi-soo’s life that he’d like to be, in the way that Eun-bi’s father was for him. I still think that could be achieved in a metaphorical sense without actual kinship ties, but this is a Korean drama, so who am I to complain about another birth secret? Maybe I should be more surprised that I was surprised.

In regards to Chi-soo’s bumbling courtship: How satisfying is it to have a heroine not take crap from the hero. In older dramas, an asshole hero might pull a neanderthal move — “in the name of romance!” — and we were just supposed to accept it as romantic. It’s what drove me nuts about Secret Garden, despite loving Hyun Bin’s performance trying to figure out courtship. But Eun-bi doesn’t put up with that, and I love that the larger context is telling us, the drama-watcher, that yes, intent is important, but so is delivery. You can have good intentions but if you can’t deliver that message in a decent way, then maybe you haven’t earned the heroine’s trust yet.

What I am actually excited about is Chi-soo’s discovery of a cooking talent, because it hadn’t occurred to me that they’d give him a calling. Now that kind of twist, I find satisfying. He’s aimless and bored, and has a father who loves him but, face it, is sort of ineffectual in the parenting sense. A lot of chaebol dramas give us the scenario of the rich man who wants for nothing but love, to be fixed by the heroine. Here, we’re getting a rich man who can find an outlet in a personal skill, which I find more rewarding. Especially since he IS still young to necessarily find his one lifelong True Love. True Calling, though? That works.

RELATED POSTS

Tags: , , , ,

152

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for the recaps! :)

0
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

Probably should not have gone to the river to confess - did he forget they never leave together from there? And KH and matching taste buds is kinda interesting. I can see this as a way to save the shop from Daddy Cha's plans, and be a link between CS and EB.

BTW, totally looking forward to the next episode's kimchi kiss!!!

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yes. Omg. The kimchi kiss. Now I can't get my mind off that and write my report. (Oh well...?) For the first time I wished tomorrow would come faster :D
I love this show to bits and pieces. It's just so adorable and cute and...fuzzy... :)

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

AND I think (lol my Korean sucks...) they (Eun-bi) finally mentioned Chi-soo's mom in the preview :)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

the river loool.. groan

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yay! I was waiting all day!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

awsome :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

thanks for the recap!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Half my dose for this week! After reading tomorrow's recap, my week will be complete. Thanks Javabeans!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

yayyyyy! so excited :D can't wait for subs!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yay! I'm so glad to be able to read this! I'm still waiting on subtitles so it's nice to have all the missing pieces filled in. lol Can't wait for tomorrow's ep!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

"He replies, “I think you’re the one doing the pushing and pulling.” Kang-hyuk points out that she took his hand the same day she kissed Chi-soo, and ate with him and then rode Chi-soo’s bike. "

I have to say that I LOVE your translation!!!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I agree. The way that this recap was written, even if it was meant to be a translation, captures the mood of the scene perfectly and, somehow, also expresses the viewers' frustration.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I've been holding off watching the raw but now your recap here, I now. Thanks!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thank you, JB for the recap that is worth waiting for. You're awesome!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Is Kang-Hyuk's family name Choi? I'm wondering because He calls Chi-Soo Choi Chi-Soo this time... Is Kang-Hyuk aware that Chi-Soo is his sibling or half-sibling (I suppose that's what the matching photos want to tell us) and that's why he asks the photo of his mum whose hard he should boil, meaning either his brother's or his crush's?

Also, what's with K-Dramas and people with perfect taste, perfect smell (thinking of the tracking dog-like baker king)... Is that the latest fad in Korea?

0
9
reply

Required fields are marked *

umm, that should've been "whose heart he should boil"

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

You know the rule, people in dramas are supposed to be larger than life. if they can't all be chaebols, then they have to have the *perfect* whatever instead.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

True... I guess with all these drama chaebols that alone is no longer enough to distinguish the main lead :)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yes, the problem I had with Secret Garden is exactly why I can't get behind the Chi-soo and Eun-bi hookup. In Secret Garden, he treated her badly and did not do anything (in my eyes) in the beginning at all to be deserving of her feelings; so when they got to that famous sit-up scene, when they all want us to swoon, I was cringing and not feeling it at all. Same here with Chi-soo, he has not shown her any respect and has treated her like some mysterious object that he can force around and use for his needs (in this case, to figure out his weird feelings for her). So that's why I'm all the way for Kang-hyuk for now until Chi-soo can at least show some sign of respect towards her!...

.... though I will say Chi-soo looks like a good kisser!

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

oops... didn't mean to put this as a "reply" to the comment above...meant to be a stand-alone comment. Darn you message system!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

"…. though I will say Chi-soo looks like a good kisser!" --i totally agree. the first thing i observe in kdrama's kissing scene is how good the guy is and me thinks chi-soo's the best so far among those i've watched and scrutinized and, em sure someone else has a varying opinion.
any one wants to make a poll on the best kisser or kissing scene ever?

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

That's funny. Jung Il Woo's BFF Lee Min Ho also looks like a faboo kisser. Game Over Kiss. For me, that is the kiss to top.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yes, LMH's Game Over Kiss blew me away too. Another of my fave kisser is Taiwanese Ethan Ruan. Love the way he cups the girl's face with both his hands before leaning over and plants his searing hot kiss. Sigh! Wish my man can learn that too.

0

The kiss in the starting of this episode is the best kdrama kiss i've ever seen... it was SO GODDAMN HOT... re watched it quite a bit.... LOL... and yes I've seen a lot of kdrama kisses.... I actually think it is better than LMH's GAME OVER KISS

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for the recap!

I knew this brother thing was gong to happen but I'm not sure if it'll be laid out in motion in the plot or just some twists that aren't really twists because they turn out different. I'm also glad that Chi-soo will be able to find a true calling or exceptional talent. I've seen too many dramas with the rich chaebol act that is displayed in Chi-soo's character. I, personally, hope that Chi-soo and Eun-bi end up together. Although I can't fathom the true love scenario from Chi-soo at such a young age either, my fangirling self will not be able to bear an ending without our two leads together. Also, the Ba-wool and Hyun-woo moments in this episode are so precious and heart-warming. Their ramyun projects cracked me up, especially the ramyun Hyun-woo made! Chocolate? I might need to try that someday. And So-yi's spark of jealousy is glorious! I was waiting for it happen so that she would be able to see how significant Ba-wool is to her and reinforce her own feelings. Let's see how the story further develops and what surprises lay in store for us next! Woot.

Once again, thanks for the recaps! They complete my week!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I knew this was coming... brothers of sorts. I love it!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for putting this up so fast.

Lots of funny lines, but still one of my favorite K-drama moments:

Chi-soo takes Eun-bi to the river. You’d think he’d know better by now.

I guessed at a lot of the conversations, but was curious how EB was explaining to CCS why they couldn't be together not just because of the age difference but because of how different their worlds are. The idea of the song from the earlier episode is similar. How can you be my romantic partner if you don't know that popular song that we all fell hearing when we were younger?

But otteke? They have this chemistry thing, and that is worth a lot, too. She says her heart is not boiling, but I am guessing if he gets his recipe right, it will. He has turn his pair of eyes that are inward now, to face her. To understand her. If he started to do nice things she wants him to do, and kiss her like that? Pul-ease! The KH shipped is sunk!

I think the perfect taster is called a super taster; there is actually a test you can buy to check if you are. They literally have something 4 times more tastebuds.

Quick factoids from Wiki:
A supertaster is a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average. Women are more likely to be supertasters, as are individuals of Asian and African descent.

(Homer Simpson was temporarily a super taster.)

Don't mind the step-brother thing, either, cause if CS loses EB, he could gain a hyung, and that would be awesome for him.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

I watched this raw (first episode I did that for ever) and even though I really didn't get more than a few (very few) words - as in, I could tell that So Yi and Ba Wool were talking about Eun Bi and that she wasn't happy that Ba Wool cared about her..but that could have been a lot of facial stuff, too...

Anyway! OT has been saying all along that the mothers would turn out to be the same!!!!!

Still saying she doesn't end up with Chi Soo but the supertaster thing has me a little scared.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i read somewhere that women in her period is more sensitive to taste..

anyho... although the iceberg is in front of the ship... My heart can not handle the sunking of KH-EB ship. I feel that a women like EB need a pillar more than caviar. even if CS has rapid growth in the past episodes, he is still a kid and I can't see this kid getting the girl.. :|

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thank you so much for the recap!
The suggested birth secret was quite a surprise to me. I'm really curious how it is going to be utilised further on.

And sorry, but I have to: I want a Kang Hyuk for myself!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Awesome recap..thanks

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i think there're some clues that they're maybe brothers. I forgot in which episode, when Kang Hyuk met Chi-soo for the first time, he seemed surprised when he heard Chi-soo from Cha's family, Cha Sung family. And then when Chi-soo leaved later on, Kang Hyuk mumbled "dad".

I think Kang Hyuk realized at that time how he related to Chi-soo...maybe brother or maybe not. But they really have connection from the start. What makes me confused is the different age between them two. If Kang Hyuk is 6 years older than Eun-bi and Chi-soo's six years younger than Eun-bi, then they have 12 years age gap!!

0
15
reply

Required fields are marked *

Haha I liked how there was some clues that they could be brothers (like the missing Mom thing) b/c it's not really abrupt, like other dramas (cough 49 days cough). So it's not such a BIG surprise. And I liked (for once) the brothers thing b/c it really ties things kinda together, so they're all kind of related. B/c I'm thinking it'd be kind of random...to just throw in Pillar looking at his mom's photo, etc.
(and I was thinking that the Mom coincidence really shouldn't be mentioned if they weren't somehow connected...>> Or it's the dad's first love, haha...)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm curious about that scene too. I saw two translation tho. The first one translated it as "Dad.", and other subber translated it as "It's hurt, isn't it" or something like that. It's the word: Apa (pain) or Appa (dad) correct me if I'm wrong tho.

I kinda still remember the sentence: "Apa/Appa kesso?". So which one? Some kind soul who speak Korean could answer this.

Thanks for the recap JB ^^

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

if they are brothers then that explains why they fall for the same girl, isn't that one of the golden rules in k-drama, that brother or half brothers whatever always fall for the same girl?..:-)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I haven't seen all the episodes yet but i did suspect already that CS and KH could be brothers. The photos, missing mums, the same songs(big big clue). I thought at first maybe EB and KH were siblings but the song connection with KH and CH's mum threw it out for me. So I wouldn't be surprised if they are indeed brothers. Or maybe there will be a twist. I'll wait and see.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

i think they are brothers because of the similarity in the picture of CH's mom and KH's mom....

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I thought the songs were the big giveaway earlier that there was a connection between the two guys.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I think they're full-blood brothers! Remember Kang Hyuk is autistic... I think their mum left with him because Cha daddy can't have an autistic heir. Then out of guilt he smothered Chi-soo with affection. He also said that the only thing in his house that can't be broken was Chi-soo. Kang Hyuk must have been broken in his eyes...

0
8
reply

Required fields are marked *

KH is autistic...? can I ask from which episode this information is from?
He doesn't seem autistic... lazy yes, autistic? eh?

0
6
reply

Required fields are marked *

"After Dad left, and Mum died. That autistic child who did nothing but sleep all day survived on your Dad’s ramyun. He said that boiling ramyun was like boiling a person’s heart; the one who told me that I could do anything, that type of relationship..."
It's from Episode 5 while they're on the train. Eun-bi asks Kang Hyuk's relationship with her father was. Dramabeans didn't ad the autistic bit, they translated it as little but other recappers have and so have some subbers. You can decide for yourself but I think that KH's actions show more than just lazyness.
Also dramabeans quoted that as saying dad died and mum left but I've read others that say the opposite (but I don't know Korean so I have no idea who's right).

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

yeah!! i think this recap only show their perspective only!!!
so, shown best kang hyuk and Chi Soo like bad boy... i dont like it! Kang Hyuk and Chi Soo are good boys

0

after reading your comment, I re-watched episode 5 and from the translation (I watched at kimchidrama.net) he said the "the little boy whose mother ran away and father died..and all he did was sleep" ..

he didn't say any pervasive developmental disorder and from his capabilities in social skill and his emotional range.. I assume he doesn't have this kind of disorder....

translation is tricky... and I also don't understand korean. so, i'll give it the benefit of a doubt about the autistic bit..

and I'm sorry if I sound sensitive with this issue... working in mental health service has gave me a sensitive ear for potentially misinterpretation on mental/developmental disorder labeling. ^^

0

i remember them saying autistic as well. Maybe "Dom" just saw a different translation....but it did say he was autistic...

0

wow I didn't expect to creat a discussion with my first ever comment!

0

Just double checked, so he says:

"After mom left and dad died, the little, autistic kid who used to sleep all day ate your father's ramyun and managed to live."

Autism in Korean is 자폐증 (ja pye jeung).

Kang Hyuk calls himself "ja pye jeung kko maeng yi"

0

i think ur opinion is right.... remember when EB's father died and CH saw her crying there was a flashback where his mom was crying... maybe that was the time when his father wanted to throw out KH because he cant have an autistic child.....

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I didn't like the whole birth secret idea at first, but now rhat I think about it, I'm kinda warming up to it. And I kinda like the whole true calling thing roo. Let's see how his will turn out...

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I think pillar never once called him all the family name like, Kim Chi Soo, Lee Chi Soo or Bae Chi Soo but never once "Choi" Chi soo. I think being Eunbi's guardian was one of his goals, but the other goal was to find Chi Soo. But considering how easily he appeared and how deeply he was involved in Eunbi's life, that he never admitted it.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Chi Soo calls himself Choi Chi Soo sometimes...but you're right, I don't think Kang Hyuk has ever called him that.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yay!!!! Aswome as ever! Thanks for the recap!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Wow! I really hope this show go "there" (birth secret thing). Its too good for that. I was thinking maybe she was ChiSoo Dad first love who rejects him? *fingercrossed*

Anyway, thanks for the recaps JB!! Its awesome.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

i mean, i hope this not go there

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Poor Panda Kang-hyuk, pillar of my heart. I hate it that he's letting Eunbi go, but I love it and respect it all the same that he's putting her feelings above his. It's the one thing we wished annoying second leads would do all the time which is to let go of something that was never yours to begin with. But facing it head on like this from a Second Lead that I love to bits hurts just a bit. Yi dian dian. Argh, what can I say? Eunbi? Just don't hurt him badly.

And Soyi? I will bitchslap you for any pain you cause my Crazy Chicken. Maybe CC and Hyunwoo just hold on to each other. Makes more sense to me at this point. Hehehehe

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

So true. Kang Hyuk is the perfect second lead, and his gentle nature is breaking my heart more. Trying to act cool despite the pain just feels a lot more terrible 'cause there's no one to console you. The fact that he's the father figure makes it even harder; there's no one he himself can lean on. Well, there's Eun Bi, but she's leaning toward Chi Soo, so...yeah, that makes me really sad. :(

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm with you on loving Panda, but I feel like he should try a little harder at this stage to get her to like him. Not in an asshole-y way, just a gentle reminding way. It's like he's bowing out because the writer needs him to rather than because he's responding to what's actually going on.

...although he's still awesome. Also, I will team up with you on the bitchslapping if So-yi doesn't shape up right quick. Her double standards are so appalling. Crazy Chicken FTW!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Oooo I so enjoy your recaps! I'm in a class and checked to see of you posted it and yes!!!! My day is fulfilled now!!!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

the simmer after the boil ( that was the kiss)
yehey! for bromance... like the Ba-wool and Hyun-woo scene.
Kang hyuk, how can your heart be so magnanimous. I want to give you a hug right now.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Okay, perhaps, I have a bit of a perverted imagination. But, I found that LARGE rice cake/stick a bit . . . suggestive?

And, yes! My favorite character, 'Chicken', AKA Ba Wool is getting his share of respect from SY.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

ME TOO...was laughing thinking oh ho, Chicken...what are you thinking about our Hyun Woo there?

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

UH YEAH Those things were seriously phallic.

And I want to give Crazy Chicken hugs forever.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I thought this recap would never come. Thank you! Thank You!

Next episode is going to be epic. I almost fell off my chair from the preview of him licking her finger and face.

0
7
reply

Required fields are marked *

He licked her finger, but he kissed her face.
Oh my lord that was the hottest thing I have seen in a while!

I think our PDnim has us ladies all figured out.
Watching JIW go through all of this with the mouth and the face and the hands and the ears is sheer torture!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I swear after I saw the preview I had to leave my office and take a quick walk outdoors. No lie.

How is it possible that this show gets hotter and hotter? And to think I started watching this on a whim because the title was stupid and I thought it would break my kdrama addiction. FML it just made it worse :(

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

pffffft in hindsight at the idea of this drama breaking kdrama addictions. You couldn't have known, and God knows a network's explicit wish to deal in pretty boys rarely ends well for the actual quality of the drama, but oh man.

I wonder if they understand the true high caliber of stuff they have with this drama? Hopefully the rest of their self-proclaimed pretty boy dramas can measure up.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Put yourself in the cameraman's shoes. I don't know if you saw the bts films, but he is RIGHT there in their faces when they do these lovely scenes.

And they take HOURS to get all the angles.

I think that intimacy with our OTP is what makes our hearts race. And not quick close ups. Long lingering takes of JIW, then, long close ups of LCA.

It must have taken some getting used to for the pair.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Seriously, that is the funniest thing I've read all day :) I can imagine your frustration! I really thought this would be dumb but fun...how could anyone have ever imagined that something so silly would be so incredibly awesome?

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

After the preview...I clicked (and abused, I suppose) the replay button. Hee. And then I took a cold shower. Really though, I should stop watching rom-coms and go out and get an actual boyfriend. One that's real. Not my star crushes. My friend asked me today, "if there's someone you love and you'd hug, who'd it be?" and I was all like "my internet. computer. Star crushes!" and my friend told me to get a life. Oh well? x) I don't think I'll ever get one after this drama. :)

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Same goes here, darling. Oh, how am I going to get a life after this one?

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

JB, I surprised that you didn't see the half brother thing developing. They have been dropping hints (song, etc.) along the way and I think this will really up the tension between the two brothers.

You're usually the first to spot any future trends.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Maybe she caught it, but was hoping that it wouldn't play out that way.

I'm just curious to see what brand of crazy ChiSoo is gonna display when he finds out. That should be interesting.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Oh, Chi-soo...when will he ever learn?

I had a bad feeling that the two hotties were gonna be revealed as possible half-siblings ever since I saw that picture of the mother. They don't show those pictures for nothing. And of course, the only reason Chi-soo has a good palate is because he just MIGHT be related to Kang-hyuk. A little disappointed in this particular development in the drama and I hope they don't go deep into that half-sibling territory like so many shows in the past have done. I do agree that the show would've done perfectly fine without that little secret. Oh well... Soo looking forward to the next episode though.. looks like it's gonna get steamy!!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

True...
However, wouldn't it make it MORE intense if things ended up that way? I mean, having them as half brothers or actual brothers, and they chase after the same girl, seems like it's going to end up fun and interesting :D

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Cool. Very cool. Thanks, JB!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

after a tiring day... this is my coffee... thanks so much for the recap.... gonna watch it raw.. hahah.. hu needs subs if you have JBs recaps.. ^_^

re: CS and KH being brothers... i like the fact that they'll be linked forever! hehe.. i wanted them to be friends though CS and KH are rivals in love...
re: CS having great sense of taste, i had thoughts of it... CHA is bigtime in the food industry... it must have started with being supertasters and the likes...

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ah! Complicated Birth secrets.Chi Soo doesn't like women crying in front of him because in a previous episode, his mother was crying, who is now revealed as Kang Hyuk's mom too.Since there is such an large age gap, Kang Hyuk might know of Chi Soo's existence but not visa versa? Daddy Cha didn't react to Kang,so daddy doesn't know about him? I'm confused.
Also,what I don't understand is didn't Eun Bi hear the bells chimed when Chi Soo kissed her?(second time the bells went off) Doesn't she believe in the fortune teller's prediction?
Just love the fake Chi Soo and Eun Bi 's love reenactment scenes.Love the cute parody. The actors are hilarious.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

oh yes the bells rang!!
Already shows that Chi Soo and Eun Bi are going to end up together. But it's funny how she doesn't realize that. Or maybe she will yet realize later on.
And i agree about the reenactments on fake chi soo and eun bi! Hilarious

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ahh, the metaphors of this drama.

I badly want to hug Kang Hyuk for being so understanding. He should be the wounded 2nd lead, but he's too cool for that. There's a hint of rivalry between Chi Soo and him, but Kang Hyuk's caring nature just gets rid of it. I reacted strongly against the maybe-or-maybe-not-half-brothers plot too. But there might be positive things that could grow from there.

Chi Soo's true calling is so interesting! He might actually know what he wants to do with his life.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Tag! You're it!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I totally saw the chi soo kang hyuk thing coming, i was starting to suspect since last week. I knew it was too good to be true when they weren't using cliche kdrama situations but either way its still a pretty unique and well written drama and I absolutely LOVE it!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Damn! I tried waiting for subs but I came on here and the recap is already up...I couldn't resist lol I read it :/

Has there ever been a drama where the girl lives happily ever after w the second lead? Cus as much as i love Chi-Soo, Kang-Hyuk is one thats got me

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

"Peach Girl" is the only one that I know where second lead wins. It's a japanese live action / anime / manga.

[scratch head] Drawing a blank for any Korean dramas. Possibly "Live In Style", but that one is currently in production. Dr Second String currently has the heroine's heart, but with a lot of episodes left, they may fade him back.

Even though my guy is over a decade younger than me, I'd chose Pillar Panda over the Youngster if it were me.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Didn't Coffee House have the second lead girlend up with the main guy? Also, Baker King-the second lead guy got the girl as well.

I was so hoping the second lead would have won out in BBF, and also in a few others, and I am seriously hoping that in this case Pillar/KH ends up with Eunbi. They just seem like the right match, and to boot the man is a MAN.

:)

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

coffee house was more by internet demand though wasn't it?

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Didn't that drama with Park Shi-woo have a reversal with the second lead getting the girl? Queen of Reversals or something?

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

How to Meet a Perfect Neighbor and Queen of Reversals. Two Park Shi Hoo dramas that they rewrote it so the girl would end up with 2nd lead.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hmmmm... Anyone else feel like this drama's been spinning it's wheels the past few episodes? Knock on wood that this isn't the case, but this drama almost feels like it's going to have the same trajectory as Protect the Boss - fantastic start, still-good-but-not-as-great middle, and somewhat disappointing end (although hopefully FBRS won't be derailed by an extension). I'm starting to get impatient with Chi Soo - he needs to man up and soon, otherwise I'm jumping ship.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Naw..you're not the only one. I'm starting to feel that way a little bit myself. It's still cute and still entertaining, but I'm ready to see CS grow up some. Especially if CS/EB are the end game.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thought today was a little wheel spinny but it looks like they loaded up ep 11 with lots of goodies.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

And by 11, I meant 12! The next show. sigh.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

thank you so much for this! i've been waiting to know what happens after that kiss...

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Half- brothers, or actual brothers? Was Daddy Cha too rich for Mommy Cha leaving with one kid and having left the other w/ Dad? Unless my memory is faulty weren't both Kang Hyuk and Chi Soo born in the same year? '93? Fraternal twins? Maybe I just need some zzzzs. Watching way to many Kdramas. But it figures The Song that no one could figure out the title of was significant.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

No, Kang Hyuk and Chi Soo are 12 years apart I believe? That was talked about when Eun Bi asked Kang Hyuk about the zodiac signs lol.

I agree with you though; it seems to hint that the mother left..

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

No, Chi Soo is a '93 Rooster and Kang Hyuk is a '81, so there's 12 years difference. When Eun Bi asks Kang Hyuk whether he's a '93 or an '81 he says '93 in surprise then asks her in amazement if he really looks like he could be a '93. So they're definitely not twins.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

no, they're not of the same year, just the same zodiac, meaning they are 12 years apart.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Omoh! theyre brothers? 0.0 :D yayyayayayay!!! <3
thank you sooooo much for the RECAP :D <3

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Why oh why do I only see the Scheduler when I look at Jung Il Woo?? XXD

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Well, since it looks like JIW is stepping into the second lead that doesn't get the girl in The Moon That Embraces The Sun right after this, I hope he has a happy ending (pun intended) in FBRS. Chi Soo may not have the fine points if a real relationship down but looks like he's willing to work for it in that preview, cutting his fair hands to cook for Eun Bi... the part I don't get is Eun Bi saying she's done with merry go round dating and needs someone serious. Wasn't her ex her first kiss?

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for the song inclusion. I went elsewhere to listen AND watch the vid the three guys did - love the song, have no idea what the lyrics are in English so I'll have to go searching. Seemed like the three guys (JYP, Rain, Kim Tae-Woo) are a close-knit little trio and their voices blended perfectly. Thanks!!!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I saw the video, too...watched it 3 times in a row! Just on it's own it's completely awesome, but add to it that it's my beloved, dear, darling Rain, and my new-found buddy JYP (watching Dream High these days) AND I had never heard Kim Tae Woo sing before and he's good, and that immediately went into my favorites to be played lots and lots in the coming days!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I've been confused by Chi Soo's dad, because he mentioned loving his wife/Chi Soo's mum, but then he also made that comment about ramen and caviar not mixing. And it seemed like he hadn't married that ramen woman. So did he have two women? One of them Kang Hyuk's mum and the other Chi Soo's mum? But they're clearly trying to make us think they're brothers, so I'm not sure now.

I loved Kang Hyuk basically telling Eun Bi not to deny her feelings for Chi Soo, if she has them. He doesn't want to lose her but he wants her to be with the person she wants to be with, even if he's not necessarily the right person.

It doesn't sound like we had any lazy Kang Hyuk moments in this episode, which is a pity.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

LOL..yep. What a pity. I miss his lazy self :(

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

DUN DUN DUN ! Brother's you say? This is getting super interesting.

For some reason, after episode 9, I haven't watched a single episode. I keep reading your recaps instead! Thanks a bunch :D

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

This series is so addicting.I just wish the episodes were longer.40 something minutes is just not enough for me.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I love KH more and more as each episode unfolds. He's so understanding. What a man he is.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

So the whole brothers thing.....didn't they both say that they were born in the year of the chicken? So unless they are twins or one is 12 years older than the other. I wanna see where this going. But for some reason, I'm sooooo rooting for the second lead, Kang Hyuk.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Me too. KH gets the girl, and CS learns to cook!

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

lol, agreed.
Nothing more to add. Just, *nods head*

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Seems fair. I like it. Do that!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

2nd lead getting the girl, queen of reversals with park shi woo.......luv that drama too

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Awesome and FAST recap!! Thanks so much! If the subbers can work as fast as you guys can, then a lot of us viewers will be very HAPPY! :) Keep it up! :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

OMG, just saw the preview for next episode and I CAN'T WAIT!! What's up with Jung Il Woo's lips?! That lick and kiss is to die for!!!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *