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You’re the Best, Lee Soon-shin: Episode 13

Placing Jun-ho at the mercy of the Lee women is one conflict that can play out forever, as far as I’m concerned, because it produces some hilarious misunderstandings. With a hapless heo-dang hero on one hand and the bumbling Bread Man on the other, courtship was never funnier. If only the show would actually drag out the funny longer! I know, I know, dragging out punchlines can kill them altogether, but in these two cases I think we could stand to savor their ignominy just a bit longer.

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Oneway – “모르죠 (She’ll Never Know)” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 13 RECAP

Mom decides to investigate her suspicions by dropping in on Song Mi-ryung unannounced. Thankfully for a shocked Soon-shin watching from inside the door, getting to an A-list celeb takes a lot more than knocking on her doorstep. Manager Hwang turns Mom away, and when Mom gets pushy and insists she must see Mi-ryung despite the late hour and the lack of appointment, he gets aggressive right back and pushes her down. Granted Manager Hwang is kind of an ass about many things, but I find Mom’s thickheadedness a bit annoying as well.

Soon-shin watches the whole thing on the door camera, and hurries out with an excuse. She catches up to her mother to ask after her in concern, only to have Mom brush her off with a casual dismissal.

There’s no clear explanation for Mom’s visit, so Soon-shin wonders if Mom found out about her lessons. Thus when Jun-ho informs her to prepare to start training for auditions, she tells him she won’t be able to stay out late for a while. What makes Jun-ho a great hero is that for all his nagging, he dos actually listen to Soon-shin and pick up on her concern, even if his methods of addressing the concern leave a little something to be desired in the finesse department.

So Jun-ho asks In-sung to prepare some herbal medicine—yunno, the kind of stuff that parents like—and In-sung assumes that he’s going to tackle his woman’s troubles head-in. “Don’t forget to kneel! I need this woman!

Grandma finds more time to nag Mom about how lucky she was to have such a good husband, and today Mom bursts out at Grandma to stop talking about a dead person. Yes, it’s a pretty disrespectful thing for her to yell at Grandma, but lordy does Granny need to shut it with her constant nagging.

When Jun-ho drops by and tells Granny he’s here to request “permission,” Granny remembers him from his last visit and starts asking about his parents and siblings, haha. When she starts going on about getting their fortunes read for compatibility, he realizes she still think she’s here on a romantic mission and assures her that no, he has no intention of marrying Soon-shin. Which does nothing to clear up her confusion, naturally.

Mom and Hye-shin come out and join them, and Jun-ho then kneels before Mom to beg her permission. Heh. She does understand his real purpose but is in no mood to entertain it, and orders him to leave. Grandma, assuming that he’s playing around with Soon-shin with his declaration of not-marriage, attacks him with a broom. Muahaha.

Hye-shin follows him out to apologize, at least, and tries to soothe ruffled feathers with Mom as well. She says that Jun-ho’s not really a bad sort, but Mom just snaps that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and that she’d better not encourage Soon-shin with her actor aspirations.

By now everybody’s wondering at Mom’s short temper and Hye-shin asks what’s going on. Mom bursts out that the “patience” she used to have was really just foolishness, adding bitterly that everybody was probably snickering behind her back over it.

And then when Grandma asks for some water, Mom snaps at her, “Get it yourself.” Eek! Harsh. I’ll admit I gasped a bit at that.

In her room, Mom tosses family photos in the trash and starts packing a bag.

Jun-ho’s parents have lunch at a fancy restaurant with Mi-ryung, and for once Dr. Shin is in a good mood, now that Yi-jung is skipping acting classes and seems much less devoted to that path. So when Mom steps aside, he actually has a pleasant conversation with Mi-ryung, who assures him that Yi-jung is likely to quit soon. She adds that this short stint with suffering might even benefit her, which I’d agree with if Yi-jung had much character to be building in the first place. Mom gets a glimpse of the two laughing together, finding the sudden change curious.

Pouting, Yi-jung asks her brother if Soon-shin has an important father or something. Why else is Mi-ryung fawning over her like she’s some acting genius? Jun-ho retorts that it’s because Soon-shin must be doing well, though I’d say he doesn’t fully understand it either.

So Jun-ho mulls it over, trying to make sense of why the famously difficult actress is being so uncharacteristically warm to Soon-shin. His mother further confuses him by mentioning how well his father and Mi-ryung got along today. Ha, how sad that Dad being nice is a legitimate cause for alarm.

At the chicken shop (I know, bear with the Chicken Couple just for a minute while we get some plot out), ajumma continues to press her husband about her suspicions. She asks if Mi-ryung was seeing Soon-shin’s father, and his terrrrrible reaction shot all but confirms that it’s true. Chicken Ajumma tsk-tsks about her poor friend, so in the dark while her husband was cheating on her. I’d say having you for a best friend is the bigger cause for sympathy, lady.

Chicken Ajusshi frantically insists that it’s not true. Yeah, I’m thinking that won’t stop her from running her mouth off at horribly inconsiderate moments. It’s her one life talent. Okay, maybe one of two talents, since birthing a sweetie like Chan-woo should count for something. Maybe proof of miracles?

Mom takes her packed bag and gets on a bus, not leaving till it hits the end of the line late that night. She ignores her calls from Soon-shin and settles down for the night in a jjimjilbang. It’s such uncharacteristic behavior from her that when she’s still gone in the morning, the daughters suppose that she just got up really early. But Soon-shin finds the discarded photos in the trash and wonders at it.

Jun-ho takes a meeting with Manager Hwang to go over Mi-ryung’s schedule, and chides the manager for being lazy in picking her roles—they’re too similar, unchallenging, and ignorant of the latest trends. Ha, that’s Jun-ho’s argument for anything when he’s got no better argument: “It’s the trend!” Is he a closet hipster?

But Manager Hwang fires back that it’s Jun-ho’s fault that Mi-ryung is so occupied these days with acting lessons. He cites the real motive of getting his sister to quit her actor’s dreams and points out that it’s rather unprofessional of him to use his star actress for a personal errand.

Ah, now the other shoe drops and Jun-ho realizes that his father’s been behind this. He heads over to the clinic straightaway, interrupting a meeting between Dr. Shin and his protégé Chan-woo, whom he recognizes as Soon-shin’s crush. Ha, and then he sniffs at Dad’s description of him: “He’s skilled, good-looking, has a good personality, and he’s tall. Unlike someone.

Dad doesn’t care that Jun-ho knows his plan and points out that he doesn’t have to get his permission. Jun-ho warns that both Soon-shin and Mi-ryung are his actors, and that Dad ought not mess with either of them.

Then on his way out, Jun-ho sneers in truly petty fashion at Chan-woo, whom he finds totally not good-looking, whatever, and pointedly pushes past him passive-aggressively. He has to look up at Chan-woo to shoot him a stare, and then puffs himself up like he’s willing himself to be taller. HA.

At the restaurant, huffy waiter Jae-bum is nicer to Soon-shin now, which is frankly unnerving for her. But his reasons are pretty transparent as he starts asking after her sisters, particularly the middle one, and whether she has a boyfriend. That’s all we get for now, but expect this bit to come back at a later date, whether tomorrow or twenty episodes from now. (That does tend to be the thing about family dramas; plot threads often dangle for a while before picking back up. And sometimes they just dangle there forever.)

Jun-ho drops by the restaurant on his way back and takes Soon-shin on a walk, which is when she apologizes for grandma’s whole broom-beating incident. She tells him not to worry about her family’s opposition to her acting; her plan is to do the best she can and show Mom that she’s succeeded. Soon-shin is confident that since Mom loves her, eventually she’ll come around.

Now that he knows Mi-ryung’s reasons for being so nice, he cautions Soon-shin not to take her praise too much to heart. He wants to find her a new teacher, but now Soon-shin refuses to switch—she likes Mi-ryung, and she’s gonna stay with her. End of story. And Jun-ho, hilariously impotent CEO that he is, can have nothing to say to that. I love how he’s the best worst boss ever. Or is it worst best boss?

Still upset about Mom’s outburst, Grandma heads out for a walk and ends up dropping by the bakery (yay!) where she asks Bread Man why he just ran out on them the other day. Thankfully for Jin-wook she doesn’t find his excuse suspicious (he left the stove on at home) and urges him to take their room after all.

Yoo-shin catches herself daydreaming about The Kiss, though she plays it cool when Chan-woo drops in during her rock-climbing session. The joke’s on her, though, when he takes to the wall and she has to watch all the other ladies swooning over him while she tells herself that there’s nothing to be impressed about, nope.

Bolstered by The Kiss, Chan-woo’s a lot cheerier around Yoo-shin now, which is adorable to see since he’s got that confidence adding to his general all-around awesomeness. So when she pointedly refers to their relationship as “friends,” he smiles to himself, like he’s thinking, Okay, let’s play your game.

He asks her to a movie later, and when she starts to protest he says that friends can totally go to see movies with friends. And now hearing those words from his mouth makes her look disturbed, like maybe it’s not exactly what she meant, but also maybe she doesn’t know how to back out of it without conceding her pride, and maybe this is Very Conflicting. Heh. She doesn’t really get to be upset about him calling her just-friends, which makes it a good learning experience.

After spending the night at that sauna, Mom whiles away her time in the park, still in her funk. But she sighs to herself that there’s no point in leaving home when you’ve got nowhere to go, and she trudges back to the house.

Her feelings take an immediate hit, though, to realize that nobody even knew she was gone. They act like she’s just been out on a really long walk, and grandma chides (as she always does) that Mom isn’t the only one whose life is hard.

Feeling worn down, Mom angrily throws down her bag and makes up her mind. Reaching for nicer clothes, she dons a neat suit, puts on her makeup, and heads out again.

Mom arrives outside Mi-ryung’s house, determined to get her meeting with her, and watches the star pulling up to her front gate. But the moment she sees Mi-ryung with her glamorous star glow, Mom looks down at herself glumly and can’t bring herself to approach.

Instead, she heads to her friend’s chicken shop for a drink and a cry. She shares everything, still incredulous as she says that Soon-shin is Mi-ryung’s daughter, and that she couldn’t bring herself to confront the star—what would she say? She still has no confirmation that her husband is the father, but she’s all but sure that’s the case, which adds to her misery and resentment.

Sinking into self-loathing, Mom cries that she lived like such a fool, and how pitiful she is to have nowhere to run to or nobody to realize she’d even left.

Mi-ryung chuckles to Yeon-ah about how remarkable it is that her acting student had exactly the same reaction to that script reading that Mi-ryung had. Yeon-ah hasn’t seemed very threatened by Jun-ho’s wager all along, but upon hearing that the student was Soon-shin—and clocking Mi-ryung’s curious enthusiasm when talking about her—Yeon-ah grows uneasy. Especially when she invites Mi-ryung to attend a fashion show with her and gets turned down because of more acting lessons.

When Soon-shin arrives, Yeon-ah greets her coolly and makes it a point to be extra-chummy with “Mom,” as if staking her claim.

Soon-shin comments on Mi-ryung’s closeness with Yeon-ah, a little wistful today since her own relationship with her mother is strained these days. She asks hopefully that her mother ought to be happy if she were to become successful like Yeon-ah, wouldn’t she? She confides that Mom isn’t exactly thrilled about her aspirations, but she wants to prove that she can do it and make Mom happy.

Yi-jung cries off again on today’s lesson, so Mi-ryung suggests heading outdoors for a tour of the neighborhood. Soon-shin takes her up the hill and shows her the familiar hiking trail, and when Mi-ryung admits to having weak respiration Soon-shin wraps a scarf around her neck to keep her warm. It’s something her father used to do for her, since Soon-shin has the same weakness. Mi-ryung is touched at the gesture, and muses under her breath that it’s just like someone she used to know…

Jun-ho heads over to the restaurant, where Young-hoon’s words of greeting are a dry, “Soon-shin’s not here.” Jun-ho pretends that’s totally not why he’s here, which is convincing to no one.

Young-hoon is frustrated with him and his bet with Yeon-ah; he can see Soon-shin working her butt off with her acting lessons and fears that she’ll end up used and discarded. And no, he’s not buying Jun-ho’s excuse that she’s just doing it for the contract money, not about to let him off the hook.

Young-hoon reminds Jun-ho of his own musician days, and how receiving recognition from people had made him work even harder. He sees the change in Soon-shin after working with Mi-ryung, and worries about what happens after the bet is off. “Do you want to see her hurt, like you? Were you such a cruel jerk?”

It’s enough to discomfit Jun-ho, who mulls over those words at home, not able to shake them off. So when he calls Soon-shin later that night and hears that she’s out to dinner with Mi-ryung, he heads right over to talk to her.

He sits with Mi-ryung while Soon-shin steps aside for a moment and tells her warningly not to hurt Soon-shin—they both know this nice act is just a ploy to manipulate Yi-jung. What’ll happen to Soon-shin when Yi-jung does quit and the ruse is over?

Mi-ryung notes that he’s got no leg to stand on in this argument, given how he’s up to something with Yeon-ah. She’s perceptive enough to sense some of their wager, and also something else: His concern is excessive and suspicious. “Do you like her?”

He denies it, of course, though much less smoothly than he would’ve liked. But Mi-ryung assures him not to worry about Soon-shin, because she’s decided to work with her for real.

 
COMMENTS

There was less Soon-shin and Jun-ho in this episode than I would’ve liked, though it does make sense to spend some time on the question of motherhood since that is one of the backbones of the show. The birth secret itself is less interesting, but I do like the question of motherhood as we’re starting to see unfold with Soon-shin. There’s the mother who raised her, who’s the only mother that Soon-shin knows. Then we’ve got the mother she never knew she had, who would be a nonfactor except for the fact that she has her own maternal longings and has decided to take an active role in helping Soon-shin’s career—a career that Mom strongly opposes, to boot.

Complicating the matter further is the fact that Mom is undergoing her own personal crisis just as Birth Mom is engaging the relationship in earnest. How apt that the word used to mean you’re “developing” a new actor is the same one used to “raise” a child.

We need that tension built up now to set us up for the moment finds out the truth of her birth, because it’s the thing that could potentially kill the relationship between her and her mentor. So I see what they’re doing with Mom’s storyline, and I think her reactions are realistic and necessary. However, as with the aftermath of Dad’s death, I do feel they bring us down, and the tone overall, because lordy if she didn’t try my patience. I’m not upset at her for feeling betrayed by her husband or ashamed of herself for thinking she was so blind and foolish, but I do think the show is putting to much of that front and center. Not every excruciating detail of her disillusionment has to be put onscreen, does it? Because wallowing in self-pity doesn’t make for the most compelling storyline.

There is a compulsion to dissect everything about shows we’re enjoying, but I think it’s worth noting that sometimes simple weekend family shows don’t require complex layers of analysis. Here’s where I sometimes think I’m giving the show too much credit for building in depth, because with this drama we’re mostly dealing with “what you see is what you get.” Such as with Dr. Shin and Mi-ryung; the actors have so much chemistry and I’ve seen them playing romantic interests before that it’s hard not to read into their interactions a lot more than what may be on the page.

One aspect I want to see developed further is the Yeon-ah angle, because she’s been hanging around far too long doing nothing very interesting, but is positioned to take an active hand in the story. Perhaps we’re just building up to it and I’m getting ahead of myself, but I feel like the story gets more interesting if she takes on Yi-jung as her own protégé, especially now that she’s starting to feel threatened by Soon-shin. It throws a wrench into multiple relationships, and that kind of shaking up can be a good think in keeping our plot wheels turning. Her mother-daughter relationship with Mi-ryung, for example, would be directly affected by her taking on a rival, as well as her professional wager with Jun-ho and her personal interest in him as a romantic partner. Plus, it’s a way to both make something of two annoying characters while also neutralizing their annoying traits by making them deal with each other. Ha.

I like that Jun-ho’s motivations are becoming blurred, and that other people are calling him out on his interest in Soon-shin. For a bigshot CEO, you sure spend a lot of time lurking around empty restaurants, I’m just sayin’. And his jealousy of Chan-woo is just a hoot to watch; that’s one misunderstand I really hope doesn’t get cleared up too son. If they play that one out for all its comic potential, I’ll forgive you for cutting Bread Man’s misunderstanding humiliation so short!

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Thanks jb!

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Eeeeep love this drama! (:

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Thanks!

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Thank you again for the recap, JB! Could anyone tell me what a heo-dang hero is? Thank you!

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Roughly speaking, a heodang 허당 is a person who is easily confused and/or someone whose way of thinking is just a bit odd. It's kind of difficult for me to put into words. Are you familiar with Lee Seung Gi? He is the epitome of a heodang. Watch him on the first season of 1N2D or the episode of Running Man that he appeared on a while back. If I was putting together a dictionary, I'd write Lee Seung Gi next to heodang in place of a definition.

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Hello Ryoko,

Thank you so much for explaining this to me. Hmm... I wouldn't have thought of LSG as a heo-dang, however, I am not Korean and I did miss watching the 1st season of 1N2D (I caught it towards the end). LSG just seems so professional to me... from what I have seen and seem to know of him, which maybe is not enough :-). I guess I will have to check it out (one more thing on my list of things to watch :-) ). I have heard of RM a lot and I have read some of the recaps of it here, on DB.

You said it best here, "If I was putting together a dictionary, I’d write Lee Seung Gi next to heodang in place of a definition." Thanks again for explaining and for giving me the Hangul writing of the word.

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YAY for recap! Thanks so much! I already finished the eps, but can't wait to read the funny and relive the moments to tide me through sunday...

But the ep's not filled out with enough funny to balance out the mum's makjangy ways... aaarrrgh... It was very sad though to see that she tried to 'run away' from home... and end up with nowhere else to go... and wasn't even missed... no one realised what she did.... I really felt bad for her existential crisis then... I guess she must be really feel awful... that trapped helpless feeling of not being able to change her circumstance...

But though I feel for her... its way too much... I really looking forward to more cuteness...

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As for the nobody missing her, I think that has to do with the fact that EVERYBODY is lying about everything, including the mom.

But I still have quite a few issues with this series - aside from all the stupid lies for no reason that the writers put in. People just keep doing really dumb things for no reason at all except to stretch out the episodes. At some point it stops being funny and just becomes "wake up and get a freeking clue!" time.

But even with all that I can't wait to see how this multi-angled plot of lost daugters, cover-ups, and extreme over reaction plays out.

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Thanks!

I'm really liking this show more and more. The next episode is particular good imo.

Also loving Young-hoon and Hye-Shin. Their characters are just cool, and hope to see more of them later.

Question though, how far apart are Soon Shin and Jun Ho in age in the show? I know they are 12 years apart in real life, but IU plays a University graduate, so her character is more likely 22-24.

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A U grad in SK would be 24, plus she has been job-hunting for, a year? Jun Ho is like 28-29, right?

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Soon shin is 24 and Jun Ho is 30 according to this http://a.yfrog.com/img692/5079/q8ew.jpg so 6 year age difference

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Okay thanks ^_^

I'm slightly skeptical about the other ages. It seems to state that Yeon AH, Chan Woon, and Chanmi, are all 20.

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Actually the chart says that Yeon Ah and Chan Woo are in their late 20s. I am not sure about Chanmi.

You have to look at the words after the number 20. It says 후반, 중반, or 초반 which respectively mean late, mid, and early.

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ahh thanks! I knew the Hangul was different, but no idea what it meant. I learned something new today :)

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from the image and my limited korean language knowledge, i think that only soonshin's age is the only one specified. while the others are just estimations.
for example junho, they put as early 30s.
chanwoo and yeonah are in their late 20s.

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i believe SS is 24 y/o and Jun Ho is 30. ^^

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Thanks...

I love everything in the show..but soon shin's mom's scenes get really boring sometimes..

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The scenes r definitely boring; I think they r building to some major blow up later, for dramatics or histrionics.

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I get Soon-shin's mom and I understand her conflict, but I've had it up to HERE *lifts hand to forehead* with her scenes as of late.

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And its not just that they are too many of her wallowing scenes.... but she is having some really nasty moments, where I have to stop my self and breath. Cause really she is a grown ass woman, who yeah is dealing with a lot of crap, but that doesn't excuse here behavior towards her family specially granny and Soon Shin.

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I am with you on this one! I keep fast forwarding her scenes, not because I don't get her reactions, but because they are starting to annoy me. Her and grandma both!

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Count me in on this as well. Cannot stand watching mom's moping, grandma's nagging and Chicken Couple's ANYTHING! JB, you nailed it when you stated having "Chicken Ajumma for a best friend is the bigger cause for sympathy." With friends like this, who the heck needs enemies?!

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Not as much cuteness as last week, but I still enjoy it. Jun-Ho has the best job ever. He never really has to do any work. He just spends his time Looking for Soon-Shin or worring about her, or thinking about her. Then the rest if the time he argues with his adorable assistant. The scene in the hospital had me in giggles. Trying to make himself taller. Ok soo random question, is this drama extremely easy to follow along for other people that speak no Korean? I'm trying to decide if my studying is finally paying of and I'm understanding more or if its just the simplicity of the show.

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That's a good question! Honestly, I've been watching kdramas for 4 years now (hot damn, i feel old lol), so I understand "most" of what's going on within the shows. That being said, I haven't taken any language lessons, this is solely from watching dramas and variety. Honestly, watching variety is harder than dramas; this is because dramas stay within context most of the time.

This show is a bit easier to understand than others. But I think it's because of the family genre. Not complicated at all. Sageuks, period pieces and shows of that sort are still like black-holes for me though haha..

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Sageuks give me headaches. That's probably the reason why in my year of watching kdramas I only seen fusion sageuks ( SKKS, QIHN, Arang) I tried watching Princess man, but I kept Having to pause to process the words. My brain wants to translate whenever I'm watching something foreign.. I find Variety fairly easy to follow along, but I only watched Running man & old episodes of Strong Heart & Xman.,

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Hahaha! Congratulate yourself on your Korean, but... yes, it's quite easy to follow because I'm trying to watch I summon you god and God of Workplace and those are much harder than this one. I can understand almost everything with Soon shin, and with the ohter two enough to know at the end of the episode what the episode was all about. I am sorry if I burst your bubble, I did the same with mine after attempting to watch the other two. Still, a great accomplishment

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Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay~♥
Thanks for the recap!

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In the first 2 eps, I thought that this was one show only IU fans could love . As it turns out, the show really is shaping up nicely and IU is growing on me; not being into K-pop, I've never seen her b4.
SS's mom's scenes of late r indeed tiresome, but I sorta understand her crisis, as this mild trusting woman thinks that she has been betrayed and duped by her loving husband of 40 years, and has no way of confirming her suspicion or confronting him. Major crazy-making situation.

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Yes, I feel the same. Her sense of betrayal and frustration at not being able to have anything confirmed or denied is understandable but yes, it was a little tiresome to watch. Still, there was enough cute to balance off.

I'm with JB in loving the bread man character and chan woo :)

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Although, if she really want's to confirm or deny, she could just do a DNA test with Soon Shin and one of her sisters. If it says they share a parent she would know. Not that I expect that to happen.

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You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!! A few strands of hair would do it.... Why all the drama.... haiz.... But she probably is stuck in a situation where she couldn't bring herself to confirm it... but... really....enough already ajumma...

I really think the chicken uncle is the dad... and he's so hateful and cowardly to hide behind the back of his DEAD friend... causing pain to others, so he can escape the wrath of his own crazy wife... sheeesh...

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I doubt that the chicken ahjussi is Mi Ryung's type. He probably knows more than he is telling, but is really bad at being poker faced.

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Well, at this point in time, soon shin is still being kept in the dark about her adopted state. So, she has to find that out first for those kind of things to happen.

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Thanks, I love this show!

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I love this show and most of the characters in it. I do find chicken ahjumma particularly jarring in her her manner of speaking as well as her character. I have to say though that they are not convincing at all in writing jun ho as a top notch talent CEO!! he can't even control a trainee! I really like how JJS is playing him but I do think that a real talent CEO would come down much harder on their recruits. Pretty much like that lady in SUFBB.

Thanks for the recaps.

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He can't control his trainee bcos he is more afraid of her leaving than she is afraid of being fired. I think the pt they r trying to make is that he is already enarmored with her, just that he doesn't know it!

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No real CEO would have gone so easy on their trainee la. She is on a contract anyway. But yes, if he is starting to have concerns for her beyond that of a CEO, whether or nt he knows it, then that would explain his impotence somewhat :).

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The grandmother with her complaining and going on about how everyone is ungrateful gets to me. Especially when her son was reincarnated as Choi in Nine. kekeke. Maybe I'm even more annoyed because she's using Kyeongsang saturi which grates against my provincial pride. ^^

Joon Ho seems to be a good CEO because he mostly spends his time delegating. He hires capable staff, but fails when he's on his own 'cause he seriously lacks noonchi. And he has arrogance issues, which exacerbates his lack of noonchi. Arrogance cancels dorkishness.

The Baker, though, is definitely a dork. He's humble after making a mistake. He shot up to being one of my favorite characters in this episode.

Definitely skipped the mom's scenes though.

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GUH MOM!!!! RAWR RAWR RAWR RAWR RAWR! Yeah, don't like her.

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I read jun ho as being insecure and in his insecurities, overcompensated with arrogance. So, arrogance is not his true nature.. Just a defense mechanism to hide the insecurities. He is not so smooth and he is not so comfortable as he would like ppl to think. Often, he is fiddling with his tie, hand keep going in and out of pockets etc. not the sign of a poised, assured person.

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Exactly the way I read it too..his arrogance is just a front..a wall

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Hello KimYoonmi, I don't know if you will read this, but what is noonchi?

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You seem to forget the point of hiring Soon shin - in the beginnig it was to get Yoon-ah to sign with him and prove his greatness to her. Soonshin wasn't all that interested in acting to begin with so he wanted to keep her more than she wanted to stay. Now that she wants to stay, he is so lax with her because he likes he -although completely unaware of that

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I haven't forgotten that. But he did make her sign a contract. And the contract specified that she needs to do this and that eye.. He is unbelievably slack with her.

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This drama trainee situation is not at all realistic. I mean, Soon Shin has a part time job at a restaurant...and Jun Ho might as well get a job there too because he spends most of his time at the restaurant. LOL. He's obsessed with Soon Shin and it's hilarious.

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I'm glad mom finally want to confront Mi Ryung. Lets get everything out in the open and stop moping!

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I too really like this show and surprised by how much. I didn't have very high expectations at first. I'm not that big of a fan of birth secret dramas and how they usually play out. But this show for some reason has me intrigued.

Also I really enjoy the chemistry between all the actors. And pleased with how well IU has been doing. Plus the humor of the show is wonderful! I love the baker man!! I can't wait to see him interact more with the family esp with the 2 who dislike him. Plus I have a feeling he is going to find out things that he shouldn't know without knowing he knows it. If that makes any sense.

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This episode reminded me of a stalled car that didn't go anywhere... just spinning it's wheels especially Soon Shin's mom. If her family didn't even know that she had left the home with her belongings and was gone for a while, it's really sad and pitiful. I hope she gets a grip and stops treating Soon Shin like dirt and who is misinterpreting her nasty behavior as Mom's disapproval of her acting ambitions. Mom should be ashamed of her behavior and suspicions about her late husband who really loved her and Soon Shin.

I hope there will be More cute scenes of Jun Ho with Soon Shin and less cranky old mom! She's getting on my nerves!

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Bread man and Jun Ho are killing it in the humor department!

I sure hope Yeon Ah stays a hateful character. I like having someone who has no redeeming qualities. I think if she took on Yi Jung as a portage...I'd probably have to choke someone. It'd be 2 annoying personalities compounded to the Nth!

Can't wait for more Jun Ho and Soon Shin interactions though. I don't think we'll be getting too much anytime soon with mom taking up so much screen time sulking in misery. And the fact that we still have 36 episodes to go so the development with out OTP will be drawn out for ages!

Overall, a super enjoyable show!

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What... what.... What was Yeon-ah wearing in her scene at Mi-ryung's house??? I think I missed the next few scenes trying to decide why she'd dress as Interstellar Dominatrix Barbie....

Also I appreciate that both the male and female characters are interesting if not yet fully developed, especially after watching a string of dramas with oddly unbalanced people in them. This is fun *and* cute!

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I did notice that! my face was like o_o when i saw yeon-ah's dress. too short!!!! i think it's funny how JunHo keeps nagging on soon shin's clothes to be more actress-like while yeon-ah is not doing any better lol

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Same here! I was like, "What in the what is this gal wearing?" I mean, there's fashion, and then there's THAT. Not very appealing imo. Very distracting actually, I couldn't help but stare at how short the dress was, so I ended up not even listening to what she was even saying lol

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That outfit was indeed bad. I had to re-watch the scene to figure out what was going on, because I ended up staring trying to figure out what was up with the dress the first time around.

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That outfit has got to go down as one of the worst in kdrama history. How did they get the actress to put it on?

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I didn't think it was bad. Don't really get the overreacting here lol. I've seen other girls wear dresses like it and it was fine to me.

What did bug me, however, was that jacket.

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Though I will add that when she stands, well it wouldn't hurt to add a couple inches to the dress lol. Looks fine sitting down though.

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Wow - I usually don't notice clothes, but that dress almost made me choke! Maybe Yeon-ah is competing in ice skating when she's not acting???

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i basically jus fast forward scenes when mum start her makjang...honestly these scenes is takin up so much time dat it bcomes unbearable sometimes, i get the point dat she's sad & felt betrayed but dear writer-nim, u really do not need to keep remindin me ... there's so many things to tell so pls pls show me some mercy by givin more scenes of the baker man, i hardly c him in this last 2 eps ... sorry for the rant

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Totally irrelevant but, whenever I see Manager Hwang I think of Mr. Wolfe from the show Suburgatory. Because of that, I just can't take him seriously.

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thanks JB. btw, did you have a few cocktails before this recap? this one read a bit like emails I may or may not have sent in the past after a few drinks! hehe This is the only drama I watch each week that I don't wait for subs for. The humor and heart really are great, and I LOVE Woo Joo and her freaking out at Bread Ahjusshi. It just doesn't get old, it's so funny to me, unlike Mom's story line.

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I think we should give mom some credit. I mean, yes it is really annoying to watch her mope around being miserable and all that. But I think that's what makes her scenes more realistic. If it were to tone down, we'd probably think that her character is not a strong one since she is not feeling the conflict as much as a normal person in that situation would.
But kudos to the show. Looooooovin it. I love IU here. She's great to watch although I do think that she tends to over act in the dramatic scenes.

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before this I agree that IU's acting during emotional scene looks over act..but as the episode goes by, her acting in those emotional scenes looks balance & preferable to watch..like in this episode, she shows her emotion in balance & not overly anymore :)) by the way, this drama getting interesting episode by episode & I really love it!

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i don't know why, but mum doesn't pull at my heartstrings at all. maybe it's her lack of facial expressions? i find all her scenes draggy to be honest. i don't need multiple scenes of her sitting at the bus stop, then on the bus, and lying on the ground at the spa house, with the same things happening each time (- having to be called back to reality by the cleaner/bus driver during closing). once is enough.

yeah i think yeon-ah's dresses are a bit too much. but very interesting! i would love to dress like that as an actress :D i love all the styles in this show. my favourite ones would be on 2nd sis.

big sis has the most long-skirt, teacher style. love it too.

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You're right, Chloe. That's what's bothering me about Mom's situation -- same facial expression all throughout the episodes now. It's as if she had botox and can't seem to move her face, which makes it hard for me to identify with what she is going through.

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I agree it's the lack of facial expressions is partially responsible for grating on my nerves.

But more importantly, I feel that if she didn't just throw Soon Shin to the curb as soon as she found out Soon Shin "may" be her husbands lovechild, we'd be feeling conflicted right along with her. I mean, sometimes she feels bad about Soon Shin but most of the time, she's curt and doesn't give a damned about her. Where did our mother/daughter bond go? I'm waiting for her to decide that she doesn't care whether or not Soon Shin could possibly be her husbands lovechild and get over the funk already! I want to root for the selfless mother who took in someone else's abandoned kid, regardless of where it came from.

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I'm loving this drama! Jun-ho in the hospital with Chan-woo is pure gold.
I don't know if the subtitles are accurate, but I laugh everytime Jun-ho says to Soon-shin "Appreciate me".

Thank you for the recap!

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Me too!! It's the way he says it. And he tries to remind her of it every time in this disgruntled manner. Just too funny

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I think I can rationally get mom's behaviour.... but emotionally... no... I have the urge to skip her scenes... is it then just a fault of poor writing/execution?

Anyway, love all scenes with Junho and I find it a pitty that the misunderstanding with his marriage/acting proposal is over... it was such a fun! :--)

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I think it's good writing for you and most of us to feel that! :)

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I feel bad for hating on Soon-shin's mom, but I can't help it. It's one thing to feel betrayed by your husband, I understand her pain. But isn't it entirely inappropriate to act out all her frustrations on an unknowing person? Soon-shin has no idea she's adopted, much less what her mother is going through, and yet she has to accept all this pain...

I don't think it's right for people to adopt a child, and when it gets to painful and frustrating for the adoptive parent, they can feel free to kick the child out of the house as if their entire childhood spent as a family was moot. :(

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I just skip the mum parts. Like I care, too much thinking and drinking ahjumma. You're the mother of 3 kids- get your act together instead of blaming Soon Shin.

That hospital scene is one of my favourite in any drama. I've never seen a hero with a height complex before, I just laugh rewatching it again and again.

Does anyone actually know if it made him taller? To me, it didn't make a difference. Which makes it even funnier :-)

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Hahaha javabeans, you must really enjoy Jun-Ho and Bread Man being tortured and humiliated. Well, don't we all. These two adorkable characters bring out the sadist in me.

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Wow, the hatin' on poor traumatized Mom is rather much me thinks. I think her reactions are entirely appropriate and understandable as she tries to come to grips with what she's learned. It's as if her entire world paradigm has collapsed; The devoted husband she thought she knew was apparently hiding a very, very big secret that has huge implications going forward, implications are still yet to unfold. Just wait until she discovers that Soon Shin's acting mentor is that child's very own natural mother. What is she to do, given the fact that the girl doesn't even know she's adopted, much less that she might be the result of her father's adulterous affair. All these facts, only Mom knows. No one else in the family. And it's eating her alive. I completely understand. It's perfectly reasonable for her to believe she may have been fooled by her husband into raising the child whom he sired with a mistress. She must be thinking, "Did I ever really know this man?" Who wouldn't feel deeply betrayed? And now the grief of losing him is exponentially complicated by some very nasty emotions, which she really can't share with those closest to her. How can she not suddenly look differently upon the child for whom her love had heretofore been so simple and uncomplicated? Honestly, it's not been that long since she began putting the pieces together. I'd be walking around like a zombie one moment, and lashing out in anger the next, too. Nevertheless, I believe it's still obvious that this mom loves her adopted daughter, who is very much the child of her heart. She understands that Soon Shin is innocent in all this mess, and will do whatever she believes necessary to protect the girl. I think coming episodes will bare that out. Obviously, I'm in the very lonely minority, but I find the Mom's character compelling and sympathetic.

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Nope, I'm with you Valleydaley.
I think it wasn't on the actress' vault. She portrays it quite well. And may not on the writer's vault, too, if I may say so. I notice in most of several long-run dramas (aka 50 episodes and more), the story always drags on mother/father/grandmother/grandfather's misery event aunt/uncle and so on... Either one, two or all of them.

That's why I almost prefer not to watch every long-run dramas, except when I get really hook to the main + side characters (ie: Okjagyo Brothers, If Tomorrow Comes). And when I find something I do really like, I always have my laptop ready in front of me. When the 'boring' part comes, I go surfing or play games.

You can still follow the story, although may miss one or two details (that's when recap always comes handy), but still have most of the fun.

That would be different with regular drama for 16 - 18 episodes.

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I think the problem is that they did not explain the whole adultery plot very well. Is Soon Shin's Dad her real dad? I feel like we don't know that as an audience and that is the fault of the writing...

Soon Shin's Dad had zero chemistry with the Mom and they didn't act like past lovers nor did they present the dad like someone who would cheat. If he really cheated they should have presented a more complex view of him, like maybe a guy who loves Soon Shin, but also has some feeling (any feeling, regret, sorrow, IDK) about the fact that at one time he betrayed his wife and family, but they just made the dad a Super-Dad who was awesome. Something is off about how they presented the whole thing which is why I think some people watching don't empathize with the Mom.

I think for many of us the Dad is still that same great guy and not someone who cheated on his wife and brought his love-child for her to take care of. We never see him like that so it's hard to just accepts the Mom's conjecture given all the other things we know.

...sorry I am rambling and making myself late for the day! ack!

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But the big scret plot is who is LSH dad, of course they won't show it so early. This drama has 50 episodes!

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I don't get it...

Has everyone just agreed that Soon Shin's dad is the Mom's real husband?...

I hope not. I thought that since they made him such a saint before (pretty much letting us know that his death is imminent) that he wouldn't turn out to be Soon Shin's real dad. This is the problem. I don't know how to react to Mom's depression on this whole subject because I'm not sure if she is actually right about her husband cheating on her and her having raised her husband's mistress' baby! hahahaha. Ridiculous. Should I feel empathy or chide her for not having the facts right?

If Soon Shin's Dad is her real dad then I can understand and even appreciate seeing all that the Mom is going through, but if it's not the case then every time the Mom calls herself stupid and a fool, I keep shaking my head 'YES!"

The other thing is even if Mi Ryung is a cold person, she must have had thoughts about her child when she realized that her child's biological father died, but she didn't go investigate the house or her daughter's living situation or anything. And they didn't play up her self-guilt for being involved in the accident that killed her child's father. Maybe I have watched too many dramas, but they are sending confusing signals. And yes, it is just a weekend drama...

Basically my main complaint surrounding the birth secret, besides the fact that there is a birth secret, is that it is confusing as opposed to intriguing...

Other than that though, I love this show and it is quickly becoming my crack drama that I wish I could marathon although by watching it live I get to spend more time loving it.

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omg ! what a great episode !!!
hha love every thing !
but MOM there is DNA tests omg !! people !!

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haha! DNA test! :)

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awww the couples are getting much closer now <3

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Thanks for the recap JB!!!! Aigoo bread ahjussi is so cute! Wait til you watch ep 14 he's dang FUNNY. ;D

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This show is my crack right now. I love it to pieces.

I wish there'd been more Jun-ho/Soon-shin, but I get why there wasn't. I'm glad people are starting to take notice of his feelings for Soon-shin, even if he himself is still oblivious. Jun-ho is just too adorkable.

Let me just say, I hate Yeon-ah. Right now, I see no real point to her character, although she is the one Jun-ho has the bet with, and she serves as a foil to Soon-shin in many aspects. Still, I find her petty and childish. She left Jun-ho, and now she's showing interest in him knowing he comes from an affluent family, and because he's been spending so much time with Soon-shin. If Yeon-ah and Jun-ho get back together at some point, even if it's not at the end, I'll be so pissed. She also seems jealous that Mi-ryung is enjoying teaching Soon-shin. Where're her real parents? Why doesn't she go spend time with them?

Mom is also starting to wear on my patience. Has she really so little faith in her husband? She just assumes he's the father because Mi-ryung/Kyung-sook was his supposed first love. I hope this issue is cleared up soon.

Grand-ma was pretty awesome in some ways this episode, although her constant nagging does grate on my nerves.

Thanks for the recap, Javabeans!

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Thanks for the great effort in episode recaps!!! Really enjoying this film...

I LOVE all the characters and what is happening so far..

IU really surprises me cos she is so good!!!

I am actually most into Yoo Shin and Park Chan Woo (he is so so cute)- this review sums it up best http://aserendipitiouslife.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/you-are-the-best-lee-soon-shin/

Wish to see more of them!!!!

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