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History of the Salaryman: Episode 3

Love love love love. There wasn’t really a doubt in my mind, but this episode really sealed the deal.

When you give me an underdog hero being heroic just because his insides are made of heroic gold, I’m pretty much sold. Bang is an unlikely find in the ‘favorite heroes’ department, but maybe that’s why he shines so brightly. He’s not a chaebol, a tool, or a chaebol that’s also a tool. He’s just a normal guy who happens to be a genuinely good person. That’s a lot harder to find than it sounds.

 
EPISODE 3 RECAP

After both men pose potentially testicle-crushing math questions to each other, Bang draws his foot back to prepare for the kick… only Hang-woo is too smart for that, and answers the math question in the blink of an eye. Bang takes it in stride, and poses another equation as he gets ready… and Hang-woo solves it again before Bang can kick. Ha!

Hang-woo’s had it with this act, and tells Bang to stop with the tricks. Third time’s a charm, as Bang uses the time Hang-woo is chiding him to finally deliver that kick square into Hang-woo’s family jewels. Hang-woo goes down, inevitably, but before Bang can further defend Woo-hee’s honor he’s swiftly knocked unconscious by Shin with a taser (in the dining room!).

We find out through a flashback that the drug Hang-woo slipped into Woo-hee’s drink came from his brother, who painstakingly acquired it from the CIA. It’s truth serum in pill form, and he sets to interrogating her the moment they’re alone in a hotel room. She doesn’t end up delivering all the answers that he wants before she’s hit with a sudden wave of nausea – and he hilariously attempts to stop her from vomiting his only truth serum pill by covering her mouth with his hands. I love it – it’s such a fun way to subvert the truth serum trope. Either way, it looks like it’s going to be a losing battle.

Shin is there when Bang wakes from his electric-shock-induced slumber. Bang is a good guy at heart and wants to do the right thing immediately – which in this case would mean reporting Woo-hee as being kidnapped when his manager from Chun Ha calls. Shin claims that it was a national order (to kidnap Woo-hee), to which Bang replies, “How is the nation so idle, to sit there and give out that kind of order?” Aww, he’s not a total fool.

Unfortunately, using blackmail in regards to Bang’s job tends to work. When he answers his manager’s call, he claims that nothing went amiss and Woo-hee is fine.

Speaking of Woo-hee – she wakes up the next morning in the hotel room dressed only in a robe. When Hang-woo emerges from the shower she feigns sleep, but uses the time his back is turned to smash a flowerpot over his head. He doesn’t even flinch.

He wonders if she recognizes him from the drug trial (she does), but she’s no less horrified and scared. While she attempts to defend herself with only a TV remote, Hang-woo’s responses seem to stem from sheer curiosity at her behavior. He’s the victim here, as he tries to explain. If it hadn’t been for him last night, there’s no telling what could have happened to her. Oh, right – you mean after you drugged her?

Hang-woo finally notices something amiss… it’s blood, dripping down his face from the head wound she delivered. He seems upset that this is how she repaid his favor – and I can’t tell whether this is all part of the act, or whether he’s genuinely taken aback.

She checks his phone to make sure he didn’t take any photos or videos of a night that she can’t remember, and he does seem genuinely surprised that she’s so distrustful – has she never met a proper guy before? Regardless, he put his number into her phone, so if ‘King Kong’ is the name that comes up then it’s him calling. Haha, what? That’s what he named himself as?

Declaring that she never wants to meet him again, Woo-hee asks to split the hotel 50/50 and takes her leave.

It’s the start of a new work day, and Bang is all smiles and greetings as he shows up in a suit and backpack, looking like a kid going to school more than a grown man going to work. His smile fades when he sees the Vice President, Ho-hae, as part of Chairman Jin’s slow-motion entrance entourage. To the man who denied him a job, Bang proudly flashes his employee badge. How do you like them apples, Ho-hae?

Bum-jeung is just one of the many who has taken notice of Bang, and not on a good note. He knows that Bang couldn’t have entered the company on his own, but Bang’s manager is without the power to fire him. Their plan? To get him to quit, by appointing Bang as Yeo-chi’s new personal assistant. His new job will be to make sure she stays out of trouble. (To which I say: good freaking luck.)

As usual, Bang takes any job with all seriousness and dedication. He shows up at Yeo-chi’s door with his game face on, reporting that she has ten minutes to show up for work. If he fails, he’s fired – so this is life or death for him. When she starts to complain, he simply informs her that she’s taken up one minute out of ten. This pairing might just work, because Bang looks like he has no intention of taking any crap from her – he’s got too much at stake.

Cut to: Bang carrying a kicking and screaming Yeo-chi into the office, still in her strawberry hair rollers and pajamas. The ruckus is enough to gain everyone’s attention, and Yeo-chi is beyond furious (and cursing even more than usual). The moment he sets her down she slaps him hard, but it’s completely ineffectual on Bang. She then orders him to lower his eyes… which he does, but his gaze inevitably goes straight to her breasts. “You told me to lower my eyes,” he defends innocently when Yeo-chi is thoroughly scandalized.

Once she’s left alone at her desk, one thing becomes very clear: This means war.

Yeo-chi takes it upon herself to answer incoming phone calls, deliberately trying to sabotage every single one. One of the callers speaks English, and when he asks to speak to the man who’s phone she’s using she gleefully replies that she’s sorry, he died. When the caller asks if she’s kidding, she responds that she is and gets bleeped out by the censors before she hangs up. She’s amazing. She literally does everything she can to be a complete menace to society – including shredding important documents for her grandfather with smiles and laughter. Despite her outrageous behavior, however, no one is willing to fire her.

Chairman Jin gets the word that his granddaughter is causing madness and mayhem, but poor Bang is the one forced to pay the price. He’s just getting a warning today, but his job is in danger if he can’t keep Yeo-chi in line.

Bang gets called to the cafeteria, where Yeo-chi’s rampage continues – this time she’s hired a team of chefs to deliver her lunch, replete with a violinist nearby. With his standard-issue lunch tray, Bang plops into the seat across from her and attempts something she may not be used to… reason.

She knows that her behavior will cost him his job, and doesn’t care. Bang wants to reach a peaceful agreement since he’s in a precarious situation as well, as he’s of the mind that they don’t have to cause each other to bleed like this. Cue blood dripping from Yeo-chi’s mouth from her raw steak, which she happily notes as being the best part of the meat.

When Gabi comes to report that Chairman Jin has summoned her, Yeo-chi gives Bang a victorious look – only made creepier by the blood on her chin.

Now we get to the heart of why Yeo-chi feels such a need to rebel against her grandfather – and it’s because she holds him responsible for the death of her parents. Grandpa Jin defends himself by saying that her dad’s death was a suicide and her mom’s was a drunk driving accident, but Yeo-chi is quick to respond that it was he who told them to go out and die. So they did.

Apparently, he allowed his daughter to marry the man she chose because they claimed they couldn’t live without each other. But he considered his son-in-law as less than a dog because he lacked ‘competence’, which again he defends by saying that her dad just couldn’t endure and so he died. He has no regrets, because that’s how his company has survived. And that’s exactly why she hates his company.

Grandpa Jin even goads her to try and take revenge on him, if she dares – except he doesn’t think she could even if she tried, because she’s the child of that incompetent and feeble father of hers. Oooooouch. Good gracious, Chairman Jin, maybe try easing up a little on being a complete tool.

Yeo-chi promises to remember what he said.

Woo-hee is freaking out now that she’s discovered a vial of Eternal Youth missing from the super-secret storage unit. She wants to alert the higher-ups, but her chief talks her out of it – only the two of them know the code, so they’d be the first ones blamed. It so happens that right at this time Woo-hee receives a call from ‘King Kong’ – aka Hang-woo – and promptly declines.

On the other end, Hang-woo is mystified. A woman declining him is a first, so what’s the only reason he can think of? “Maybe she’s a woman who has some mental or physical issues.” Haha. I do feel sort of bad for him, though. He thinks she’s just playing a game to protect her pride, but it’s clear he’s trying to protect his a little more.

Hang-woo is called to be at the side of Chairman Oh, who’s decided to play a friendly high-stakes card game with Chairman Jin, who’s brought Gabi along. And what do supremely rich people gamble on when there just isn’t enough money to bet? Land deeds and golf memberships, of course. Must be nice.

They both go all in, with Chairman Jin ending up victorious. Even Gabi, normally stoic and all-business, gets so swept up in the game that she’s screaming and cheering for the win as much as Chairman Jin.

Once again Hang-woo’s brother has come to his aid with more spy gadgets – this time, with a jewel necklace outfitted with a hidden camera to give to Woo-hee. Once she receives it (addressed from King Kong), she gives him a call, wondering what she’s supposed to do with this knock-off. Doesn’t he know she’s not interested in him?

This makes Hang-woo visibly uncomfortable, as he’s clearly floored that she has the gall to refuse such a nice gift. These words clearly do not compute with him, and he almost loses his lunch when she accuses him of being a clingy stalker. Upset, he tells her to do what she wants with the necklace – throw it away, even – and hangs up, his little feelings hurt.

All hope is not lost, and there’s some pride still to be had – Hang-woo returns to the Love Goods van to find that Woo-hee has put on the necklace he gave her. Now they can see everything that she sees, and it’s not long before Hang-woo gets all the information he needs – including the passcode – to Eternal Youth’s storage room.

Yeo-chi runs out of the office the moment the work day has ended, and Bang finally gets a reprieve – what she does on her own time is not his job. Unfortunately he’s called by Shin to do more spy duties, and this time it’s to steal his manager’s entrance badge into the research facility. He’s the most obvious, most terrible spy ever, but he manages to steal it nonetheless.

He’s starting to get suspicious of Shin though, and is reluctant to trade the badge so easily. After all, he’ll have to live off a salary for the rest of his life – so if Shin is planning on stealing the drug from Chun Ha, he’ll end up going down with the ship. Bang is still under the belief that Shin works for the National Intelligence Service, so Shin only has to accuse Bang of being unpatriotic in order to get the badge.

Naturally, Shin delivers the badge to Hang-woo, who’s planning on infiltrating the drug facility himself. He knows the layout best from the clinical trial, and there’s that matter of revenge, too.

At the same time, Bang’s manager is upset to be running errands for the higher-ups of Chun Ha, who know that there is a spy amongst them. Thus, he and Bang are once again roped in to keep an eye on Woo-hee. Chun Ha isn’t using Bang because he’s the best for the job, but because he’s on his trial period and can be used and abused like an intern. His manager knows this and even feels a little bad for him.

Everything starts happening at once, with our characters on a collision course for each other. Hang-woo manages to successfully sneak into the Chun Ha Drug Research Facility, Woo-hee realizes that she left her necklace there and decides to return for it, and Bang has to follow her because he’s been assigned to tail her.

As Woo-hee is about to leave once she’s found her necklace, she sees something strange at the other, dark end of the lab – it’s Hang-woo breaking into her computer and stealing all her top secret files. It’s a series of near-misses as she keeps finding where he’s been only after he’s left, and this is especially the case when she makes it to the Eternal Youth storage room a moment too late, as Hang-woo has already stolen all the vials of the drug. He’s still in the room, and with his face half-covered in a mask he ties her up and throws her into a separate storage room with the promise that he’ll come back and untie her soon.

Hang-woo then walks through the lab with two spray cans, covering the nearby surfaces with a flammable agent as he goes. Once he’s on the second floor he pulls out a lighter, ready to set the place on fire and exact revenge on Chairman Jin for his dad’s suicide.

Only he’s stopped by Bang, who’s made it just in time. They get into a fight, and despite Bang’s efforts Hang-woo still manages to toss the lighter into the lab.

Their surroundings are set ablaze instantly in a fantastic sequence, and the two men continue their fight amongst the flames. In an effort to keep Hang-woo from running away, Bang rips the bag where Hang-woo has stashed all the Eternal Youth vials off, and it goes flying off into the first floor. Hang-woo tries to save the bag from falling until his arm catches fire and he’s forced to let go. All the vials of Eternal Youth burn up below.

Bang really put his Hero Pants on today, as he proves himself still unwilling to let Hang-woo escape. It’s only when the two men are in close quarters that Bang gets a look at his face – and even through the mask, he immediately exclaims, “You’re Number 22!” I love that they subverted the ‘Half Mask = Cloak of Invisibility’ trope, especially since Bang has pointed out things like this before.

When Hang-woo makes a run for it, Bang is left to save the damsel in distress. He does such a standup job, adorably administering CPR (not without informing her unconscious self that he’s doing it only for her safety) before carrying her out of the building as it explodes behind him. It’s like the best scene of an action movie, only funnier because it’s, well, Bang running in a suit, just being himself.

Our resident arsonist finds himself back in the Love Goods van, with only Shin to tend to his burn wound. He’s decently miffed that this is the second time Bang – a spy who’s supposed to be working for them – has ruined their plans. After all the recent seriousness, Hang-woo and Shin bring the comedy back with well-timed physical gags.

Chairman Oh is absolutely elated to hear that his mortal enemy’s lab has burned to the ground. He doesn’t even care that Hang-woo was unable to retrieve any vials of Eternal Youth – as long as Chun Ha no longer has it, they’re all set to take the top spot.

Chairman Jin, meanwhile, has collapsed at the news. He gets a second wind when he hears that one of the vials had been stolen before the fire even started – so as long as Chun Ha can locate that vial, they can save themselves from complete ruin.

Yeo-chi, who has come to visit her Grandpa, stops when she begins to overhear their conversation. She gets all the important points, such as the fact that they know there’s a traitor amongst them and that he/she might have that precious vial. If Jang Cho gets their hands on it, it’s all over. She doesn’t reveal herself after hearing this, and seems to be listening pretty intently. This might get interesting.

During a meeting with the higher-ups over the arsonist, Bang finds out that the infamous Number 22 is Jang Cho’s general manager, Hang-woo. This sends him straight to the Jang Cho building, where he fearlessly confronts Hang-woo while using his hand to cover parts of his face like the mask from last night. Bang exclaims, “You set the fire, right?”

Hang-woo looks like he’s going to deny it, and Bang grips his burnt arm – hard. Hang-woo doesn’t flinch, but it doesn’t matter. Bang knows he started the fire.

 
COMMENTS

This is just like the face-off ending of the last episode, only there’s so much more going on now. How much do I love Bang’s heroism? Let me count the ways…

Early on in the episode I realized that I’d already come to like everyone – and that mostly stemmed from Woo-hee, who I think is a hoot. She’s more subdued than say, Yeo-chi – but from what we’ve seen so far she seems to be just this side of ditzy, despite her brainpower. What this show seems to handle incredibly well is establishing everyone’s separate personalities, and everyone feels so thought-out and real. Hang-woo, for instance, could have just fallen into the Cold Bad Guy character bin – but we see genuine pieces of just him shining through, regardless of the job he’s carrying out. Like when he starts to actually get mystified as to how Woo-hee could be turning him down – I like that he got a little prideful and emotionally invested in the job, simply because he couldn’t help it.

This show seems too good to have clear-cut, moustache-twirling villains, but it does seem like Hang-woo is being set up as the hero’s foil. Overall he has too many fun moments and is thus far way too likable – unless he really meant to leave Woo-hee to burn with the lab. I’m just going to think that he left her there because all his plans went to hell, especially since he was back to cracking jokes in the van afterward. You’d have to be really bad to crack jokes after potentially killing someone, right?

We’ve been seeing a lot of Bang (obviously), and while I first took him as just being relatively simple and funny he’s now shown so many more dimensions – a credit to the actor as much as the writing and direction. (The perfect drama trifecta strikes again!) This isn’t a case of him saving Woo-hee because he loved her or even liked her, but because that’s just who he is. He’s just one of those good guys, and the fact that I feel so strongly about him only goes to prove how happy I am with the whole production.

 

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haha first to comment!

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dang, i thought i was, pout.

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Ohh, really liking this now, good job on the recap!!

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Aww, you didn't watch the epilogue @ the end of this episode? It was priceless.

You know how the necklace had a camera on it? Well, Woohee took off her necklace to take a shower, and she hung it to give the PERFECT view. Hangwoo and that ahjusshi were watching it like: O_______O... :Q__ Hangwoo covers the ahjusshi's eyes but not his own... LOL.

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Thanks for mentioning the epilogue-- I had missed it because I was afraid of watching a preview (I'm spoilerphobic).

In case anyone's looking, mysoju has ep.3 w/subs.

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Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I normally avoid previews for next episodes, so I had no idea they were throwing in little epilogues. I'll be sure to include them from here on out. :)

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Ah, I see~ ;w;

I do the opposite--I HAVE to know what happens next...so no preview usually makes me not such a happy camper, hehe. I hate waiting!

But anyways, yeah, the epilogues are gold! I'm hoping they'll continue to have one each episode.

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this is kdrama gold right here...it's so out of the box...yeay!!!

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Nice to see Hoog Soo-Hyun in another great show. 'Never fails to amaze me just how beautiful she really is. :P

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AWesome recaps very2 fast i must say (eventhough i have checking your recaps for this drama almost every hour since last week he he he) i already has seen ep 3 of course but for a non korean like me your recaps is a miracle in disguise please keep them coming for salaryman.JUst like you said the trio combo actor,director and writer of this drama is brilliant they all keep amaze me and it is very clever how they peel of the BAng character so well and others as well. What more can i say they all very good cheered up my monday and tuesday night.

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Hang-woo said he's going to come back for Woo-hee. so i think you're right that his plan being thwarted that's why he left her behind for Bang to save.

I love all the characters too!!! Thanks for the recap =)

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Gotta lurve a wacky show that shows some heart! :)
Thanks for the brilliant recap once again!

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thanks for your recap! for now, i'm just reading your recaps instead of watching the show but you make it sound really interesting.

wow, you're a busy recapper with this and WR. keep up the awesome work!

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HeadNo2, you are just a wrecking ball of drama galore lately. I haven't had tine to watch a drama since best love, but your writing and analysis is digging it's claws into me; I must see Bang is action. Great recap.

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I totally enjoy this show because of my knowledge of the historical characters this drama is parodying. I hope the recapper include some of that information; it totally adds to the humour and wit.

But this show by itself is already awesome even if you have never heard of Liu Bang, the guy who founded the Han Dynasty...

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I would LOVE to hear about the historical people behind these characters. I had no idea there was even such a thing. But it would be kind of amazing if Bang was even loosely inspired by Liu Bang. Does this mean Bang will found a new company of his own by the end of the drama?

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Look up the Chu-Han contention...Bang is Liu Bang, Yeon Chi is Liu Zhi, Hang Woo is Xiang Yu, and Woon Hee is Consort Yu.

To be honest I'm not sure how all that's going to work out since things are going a tad different than I expected LOL.

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wow! another unexpected part of this drama. How I wish all drama scriptwriters were so creative!

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Thanks for the wonderful recap and insightful comments-- I really enjoy your writing and I'm soooo happy that you're recapping this drama. HOTS is a fabulously put-together production-- it feels like a movie to me, and IT'S. SO. MUCH. FUN.

I, too, am loving our Everyman hero who makes us laugh and makes us proud. I'm really glad that we finally got filled in regarding the root of Yeo Chi's vitriol, and am relieved to know that she's not just a spoiled brat having a temper tantrum. Can't wait till Bang gets a glimpse of her vulnerable side.

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I knew I would like this from the trailer's, I so needed something complete different and this is for certain that. Thanks for the recap.

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Nice to read your recaps, HeadsNo2. I enjoyed your recaps of Tree with Deep Roots and now this. This is such a fun drama at the moment. Love it!

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Hang-woo, do not find him likeable at all, of course it is classic revenge from a childhood tragedy but that hardly excuses him from what he doing. As for getting the lady out before the building burned down, did he see Bang carry her out? If not he didn't seem to care one way or the other that she was as far as he knew now toast. I think his so called human side poking out when she refused him, was more normal k-drama jerk arrogance, ie i am rich and handsome how can any girl resist me, frankly his chat up line was terrible lol

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LOL LOVE THIS SHOWWWW!
Its soooo wacky and enjoyable. its like making of giant which was serious and gaunt.

They have this revenge line going on but its more just pure hilarious more than anything.

Lol and Han Woo at the end with epilougue LOL. I love him. You would think hes cold but when Won Hee rejects him hes like whaaaat? Lol. Actually want to see some Yeo Chi and Han Woo interactions that would be soooo funny!

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I loved the epilogue for this episode. I was hysterically laughing when the guys were watching Woo Hee take a shower. (Plus, I was happy that a female finally got a shower scene.)

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My new favorite drama next to Padum Padum the sound of his and her heartbeats.

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I LOVE this show so so so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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omg...I am loving Jung Ryeo Won in this. She's cussing up storm. This is how a spoiled, tamper throwing, chaebol granddaughter is supposed to act. I haven't really watched her in anything other than MNIKSS, but dayum...she can draws out the worst of her character so well.

Lee Bum Soo is nothing less than what I expect of him. How is it that everyone in this drama is so wonderfully colorful. Love!

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Thank you for your recap! I love it.
Why this drama remind me of "My Fair Lady" by YEH?
Spoiled, chaebol Yeo-chi against kind, righteous Bang.. which this drama has done a better job in plot and casts.
Well done..

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So awesome! Things are starting to get complicated.

"He’s not a chaebol, a tool, or a chaebol that’s also a tool." So true! And Lee Bum-soo is killing it, he makes him so much more than just ordinary. Although I guess the chaebol-tool is the heroine in this case (can a woman be a tool? you get what I mean). But she's so gleefully horrible, you can't hate her. Plus now there's a reason for her behaviour, which makes her more interesting.

Hang-woo is so fun to watch, and I think it's largely Jung Kyeo-woon's charm. Plus how awesome is it that the guy who fits the typical kdrama lead mold is not only not our hero, but gets foiled in all his super-smart plans by the very normal good guy? I love watching his evil plans get thwarted.

From Bang's watching-her-sleeping scene with Woo-hee, I'm guessing he'll fall for her first, and then start having complicated love-hate feelings for our foul-mouthed heroine. Can't wait!

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haha..i usually don't watch previews too. but somehow I caught this one and wah...let's just say I will start watching from now on!

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I'm in love:) this is the first time in a drama that I haven't hated any characters, because all of them are faceted on all sides, and it's just crazy in general, which I love. OMG, the epilogue had me laughing out loud at the two pervs;) and of course, hang woo is so freaking HOT!

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I am really loving this show at this moment!!!!!!

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Ok, this episode made it REAL INTERESTING!!

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Great episode -- not sure why the sprinkler system didn't come on, though. I can't imagine Hang Woo being able to shut that off without alerting someone. Sprinklers are pretty automatic and pretty much mandatory in super-secret laboratories!

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um did I miss something in the epilogue that everyone found so funny? The two guys were behaving like sick perverts watching a woman take a shower without her knowing. I can't be the only one who found that scene extremely disturbing and disgusting. I don't find it funny at all.

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seriously. the old men and their laughs. and it was so funny when the chun ha group grandpa grabbed the back of his neck after his yeo chi left and no one was there to be like "AHH ! mr. president!!"..heh heh

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