Youths Over Flowers in Iceland: Episode 2

by javabeans

girlfriday: You know, even in replay, “Please hot dog world” cracks me up just as much as the first time. We resume on the first morning in Iceland, with the boys all excited about their first day trip out to a waterfall. It’s about an hour and a half away, and they figure they’ll be back by sunset, easy peasy.

javabeans: The more they drive, the snowier and colder it gets, and their smartphones can’t get online. Their mood gets a little more worried and Jung Woo asks, “It probably won’t happen, right? The snow will turn into a blizzard and we won’t be able to sleep in our rooms tonight right? Surely that wouldn’t happen?”

girlfriday: Lol, Jo Jung-seok and Jung Woo are dramaland experts at this kind of line delivery, only this time it’s real. The shaking voice, looking back and forth with nervous laughter. Jung-seok: “What… do we do?”

javabeans: Their reaction to the worry, though, is to start laughing like it’s the funniest thing, wondering what the PDs are thinking behind them. Jung Woo: “It’s not that I’m scared, but it’s this sc… scar… scary situation, right, where feeling scared is normal?”

girlfriday: So they decide to pull over to the side of the road to discuss it with the crew, and Jung Woo says, “It hurt our pride so we weren’t going to stop…” and then we see them a few minutes before, deciding that being alive was better than salvaging their pride.

javabeans: Don’t you feel like they’re kind of like the youths in the Laos trip, without Mommy Yeon-seok to take care of them?

girlfriday: Yes, it’s both a little scary and a little more entertaining because of it too.

javabeans: I really hope for their sakes that Kang Haneul is the smart one.

girlfriday: Though it would be funnier if he weren’t.

javabeans: I know they called Jung-seok the brain of the group, but at this point that just seems like a relative term.

girlfriday: Acorn heights?

javabeans: Totally. Three Stones, Three Acorns, same difference. (Measuring heights of acorns is a Korean saying that means you’re examining differences that exist, but matter very little.) I love how the producers tell the trio that they’ve made “the wisest decision in a long while” and then the boys cheer at the approval, because even though they were telling themselves this was the smart choice, they didn’t really believe it till someone else confirmed it. They’re so cutely dim.

girlfriday: It helps that all three of them are super easy-going. Jung Woo says that this is what traveling is all about, because nothing ever goes according to plan. He seems like a calming influence on the group.

javabeans: They turn around to return to Reykjavik, and Sang-hoon offers up, “I told navigation to take us home, but it doesn’t know where home is….” Then they start giggling at the thought that they’ll spend the whole trip in the city, only eating hot dogs. LOL.

girlfriday: After a while they return to town, thankfully in one piece, and go visit the big church in the center of the city, Hallgrimskirkia. No matter what these guys do, they seem like three boys who escaped a class field trip. They just giggle and have fun doing anything.

javabeans: I know. They know enough to be quiet and respectful to the other people in the church, but then take a bunch of selcas in silly poses, trying not to snort out loud. Also, doesn’t this group seem the most phone-addicted out of everyone? I want Na PD to do that challenge where he drains their batteries to 10% before giving them a mission.

girlfriday: You could do that to the experienced 1N2D boys who’re used to being stranded on the side of the road, but you can’t do that to these guys! How would they survive without their smartphones? They need them to order hot dogs!

javabeans: Despite insisting they have pride, I have a feeling they’d start begging right away. They decide to search for a place to stay, and go online to the app and get stuck thinking a one-bedroom apartment means an apartment with one bed in the room.

girlfriday: Oh noes, they’re not going to book a three-bedroom apartment for a night, are they? Then they really will have to eat only hot dogs for the rest of the trip.

javabeans: At least they decide to go ask in person, which will probably be better than booking something online and hoping for the best.

girlfriday: Finding the place turns out to be the hard part, and they go in circles for a while until they finally get some help and find the right apartment.

javabeans: They should only go in person, because on top of being cheaper than the online price, the guy shows them a one-bedroom, and it has beds for three. Phew!

girlfriday: And yet I feel like they still don’t understand the concept of a one-bedroom apartment, at the end of the day.

javabeans: On the upside (?), they aren’t the types to sit there worrying about making the logic fit. They just cheerfully accept and then go grocery shopping, ha.

girlfriday: Don’t you love the moment where they stand in front of the doors just wondering how you get inside?

javabeans: Hee. They’re all, “Why won’t it open?” and don’t register the huge red sign with arrows pointing to the other side. They head back to their new apartment dying of hunger, and get to work making dinner.

girlfriday: Sang-hoon whips up a chicken dish out of red pepper paste and tomato sauce, but the problem is, he ruined the rice. Jung Woo tastes the chicken and says it’s good, but then tries the rice and goes, “What is this?”

javabeans: Sang-hoon dumps the uncooked rice into the chicken saying, “I meant to do it this way.”

girlfriday: Jung Woo: “What do you call this dish?” Sang-hoon: “…Chicken…Rice. Chicken rice.” I don’t know why that’s so funny.

javabeans: After dinner, Jung-seok discovers that his translation app does Korean directly into Icelandic, and gets excited trying things out. Of course, nobody knows if the translation is right, but he keeps trying longer and longer phrases to try it out.

girlfriday: Then they head out to see some nightlife and enjoy drinks at a live music club, and Jung Woo actually attempts a conversation with a table of girls who ask what they’re filming. He’s terrible at explaining what Youths Over Flowers is, but he’s so adorable that nobody cares.

javabeans: Jung Woo: “We are Korean va-ri-e-ty show! Kkot-bo-da-chung-choon!” Girl: “What is kobodachachoo?” Jung Woo: “No speak Englishy!”

girlfriday: They have another drink back at the apartment, and talk about how surprised they are at how well they’re sleeping. We see Jung Woo explain in interviews that he has trouble sleeping in new places, and cut to him passed out comfortably night after night.

javabeans: Then Jung Woo says how he doesn’t drink much, before the show gives us a montage of all the drinks he has in Iceland. He also says he doesn’t take many pictures either, and then we see him take selca after selca.

girlfriday: Basically, he’s either a liar or he doesn’t know himself very well. Na PD says he’s full of reversals, like he always says he doesn’t want to do a thing, but once they’re there, he’s happily doing the thing he whined about not wanting to do.

javabeans: And then, we jump back to Korea… for the Blue Dragon Awards. This gonna be good.

girlfriday: I love that the crew was just there on the red carpet, blending in with the paparazzi as Kang Haneul posed for the crowd.

javabeans: The guys were asked about working with Haneul before the show, I’m guessing in passing, and both Sang-hoon and Jung-seok had done stage shows with him (and he did the movie C’est Si Bon recently with Jung Woo). We see Na PD talking to Haneul’s management about the scheduling conflict, but saying he’d try thinking of ways to make it work. Cut to the Blue Dragons, where Haneul lost out to Choi Woo-shik, and afterward a “reporter” (really a producer) pulls him aside asking for an interview.

girlfriday: They have a whole name for a fake show and an interview concept for year-end letters from celebrities, and then tell him that he was picked as the number-one star that PD Na Young-seok wants to meet.

javabeans: Omg he’s so cute! He’s so super flattered by that! He’s given a handwritten letter from Na PD himself, and told to read it.

girlfriday: Hahaha, so he starts to read the letter out loud, where Na PD needlessly introduces himself and says that he’s currently shooting Youths Over Flowers in Iceland. Na PD: “Is there a chance you’d like to join this trip? If you do, open the second envelope, and if you don’t, rip up this letter. If you rip it up, this footage will be destroyed and never be aired, so don’t worry. And just in case it helps with the decision-making, I’ve included a common picture of Iceland, no big deal.” It’s of the Aurora Borealis, of course.

javabeans: The letter has Haneul speechless as he stammers, “Um, uh, uhhh…” The producer confirms it’s all true, and he laughs disbelievingly, “But… you… can you really just… like this?” He asks for the second envelope, and the producer presses, “Are you going? Will you go then?” He asks when it is, and she replies, “If you say you’ll go, we’ll give you the second envelope.” He confirms that he’d be going with the Three Stone hyungs, then exclaims, “I want to go!”

girlfriday: He opens up the second envelope, with a plane ticket for two hours from now, naturally. He stammers that he has to go to Norway tomorrow for a photo shoot, and the PD tells him that they were the ones who booked him for that shoot.

javabeans: I love the moment when it finally sinks in, and he sees his passport, then points at his manager, “Then… you’re a traitor!” He’s so fixated on the fact that he’s still wearing his tux, asking repeatedly if he can really just go like this. He asks how his hyungs departed, and the PD replies, “Just like this!”

girlfriday: He just keeps laughing and says that he even bought a new suitcase just for his trip to Norway. Guess you’ll just have to use that next time.

javabeans: Ha, this also means the stories we were given pre-broadcast were all fudged a bit (since Haneul made it sound like he knew he was doing this show), not that I’m surprised that Na PD likes to keep surprises for the live broadcast. PD: “It’s an impromptu trip.” Haneul: “This isn’t impromptu, it’s kidnapping!” PD: “It’s a backpacking trip!” Haneul: “Then you’d have to give me a backpack!” PD: “Let’s call it a shopping bag trip.”

girlfriday: He clutches that shopping bag like it’s his lifeline. At the airport, he runs to the convenience store to pick up emergency supplies, and then he really just boards with two shopping bags and a jacket, in his awards tux.

javabeans: We resume in Iceland in the morning, as the guys get ready to head out for the morning to make Attempt No. 2 at seeing the Gullfoss waterfall.

girlfriday: Jung-seok gets behind the wheel this time, and they head out to go find their next apartment for the night first. Only, they keep driving and driving further and further out of the city… and Sang-hoon asks if Jung-seok made sure to enter their destination into the navigation. Jung-seok: “Yes! To Gullfoss!” Um, did he miss the entire conversation about going to find their lodgings for the night?

javabeans: Oh no, haha. They take it all in stride, but Jung-seok is totally embarrassed and apologetic, even though they figure they’ll have to roll with it.

girlfriday: The weather is much nicer today, so they drive in good spirits, enjoying the view on the way. The preview shots of this waterfall are gorgeous. I hope it’s not frozen or something when they get there.

javabeans: They stop first to see the geysers, which is a lot more interesting once they realize that they shoot up into the air instead of just being hot springs. Jung Woo runs with his selca pole toward the geyser, shouting at random strangers, “Hello! Hi!” They stand at the side with the rest of the tourists, waiting for the geyser to shoot.

girlfriday: They have the best reaction when it shoots up, like jumpy little boys who’ve seen the coolest thing EVER.

javabeans: They’re such children, it’s so cute. They give the replay as though they hadn’t just seen it: “It went like this! [hand gestures]” Jung-seok: “It’s like somebody farted underground!” And while they’re still all hopped up in excitement reliving the moment, the geyser shoots up again and they cheer all over again.

girlfriday: It makes them even more excited to see the waterfall, and they approach with nervous energy to the edge of the cliff… and the view is breathtaking. Damn. They just keep exclaiming, “Wow! Woooow! Wow!” over and over, and then head down the trail holding hands and eating icicles.

javabeans: They stop at the top of the cliff to admire the sight, jumping and shouting like kids, and then Jung-seok seems to get a little quieter and introspective as he marvels at the view. Jung Woo is so hilariously friendly, I don’t even know how he does it but it’s something I envy and admire. He just walks up to a stranger and asks him to take a picture together, just ’cause.

girlfriday: I know, it’s like he has no filter, in a good way. Sang-hoon and Jung Woo cry a little when they see the view, but they’re quick to make jokes again. The boys huddle and stick hot packs on each other’s faces so they can stay a little longer, and Sang-hoon has to ask if his nose is still on his face.

javabeans: Meanwhile, Haneul arrives in Amsterdam and heads out for his layover, seeing some of the sights alone.

girlfriday: Okay, he’s better at this than the hyungs. He just scans the city map once and then finds sights to see that are within walking distance, and actually gets to see some of Amsterdam as the sun rises.

javabeans: The Three Stones head back to the city in great spirits, thinking of dinner, and get stuck in traffic as the sky darkens. I’m a little concerned that they haven’t found a place to stay yet, but they suggest just winging it. Eep, that makes me nervous! Why aren’t they more nervous?

girlfriday: Yeah that’s a little nerve-racking. They decide to go back to the first place they stayed at, and figure that if they don’t have a room, they can at least get a referral.

javabeans: I wonder why they don’t stay in the same place multiple nights, but maybe Na PD gave them rules about having to switch every night?

girlfriday: Maybe. It is a little weird to swap rooms in the same city for no apparent reason. They finally ask for a room that night at the first hotel, and are quoted a steep price that’s three times the amount they paid last time.

javabeans: It’s the weekend markup, and they decide to keep trying, turning to their mobile app again. I’m sure Na PD is making some commentary by scoring this moment with Jang Kiha’s “Let’s walk slowly, slowly, slowly…”

girlfriday: I like the idea that Na PD is spending this whole trip sitting on his hands and just biting his tongue to keep from helping them out.

javabeans: They get lucky by returning to the place they tried last night, and the guy says he can give them a bigger room for the same price. Score! And it’s literally the apartment next door to last night’s room, haha.

girlfriday: And four beds! Fate is on their side. Or Haneul’s side, really, since he’d have to sleep on the floor otherwise.

javabeans: They’re so pleased with themselves and their good luck, and Jung Woo actually mock-worries, “But we should be suffering a little, what about the broadcast?” I hope he didn’t just jinx themselves.

girlfriday: He totally did, because Na PD basically neener-neeners them with flash-forward footage of them pushing cars through snow repeatedly on the rest of their trip.

javabeans: And is that driver’s side window duct-taped together?! What happened there?

girlfriday: Nothing good. And are they camping out in the freezing snow??

javabeans: Haneul takes the next flight to Iceland, and only now remembers that he’d left laundry in the washer at home. Na PD greets him at the airport, and it’s hilarious that he’s half-apologetic and half-directorial right off the bat.

girlfriday: Right away Na PD is bad-mouthing the hyungs, saying that they haven’t even exchanged their currency yet, and that they’ve already forgotten why they came here. Haneul argues, “No no, my hyungs aren’t dummies!” Na PD: “I’m sorry, but they are.”

javabeans: HEE. At least the production team drives Haneul into the city, and they stop at a restaurant and hear that the Three Stones checked into a place. They literally walk right by Haneul’s cafe on their way to the market, and Haneul steps out, ducking around the corner, in preparation… Ha, the team walks right by Haneul, who merely ducks his head down and is totally overlooked, and the boys proceed to get lost.

girlfriday: Omo, they cross the street and walk right past him! Jung Woo even turns to stare, but Haneul buries his head in his coat and they don’t stop.

javabeans: And then! Haneul starts to follow them, chuckling to himself, and the trio realizes they’re going in the wrong direction—and they turn around and walk RIGHT BY Haneul again! HAHA.

girlfriday: Lol, this is priceless.

javabeans: They do find Haneul suspicious in his hunched-over state, wondering what that weirdo’s doing, and then Jung-seok decides he must be an Icelandic celebrity, and he’s ducking from their cameras. LOL. They really can’t put two and two together can they?

girlfriday: Haneul seems amazed he’s even made it this far, and he goes to hide out in the hotel lobby this time.

javabeans: It’s so cute how much effort Haneul is putting into this surprise, going through a bunch of scenarios and concepts, trying to figure out the best way to reveal himself.

girlfriday: Pfft, Na PD points out that he’s cut holes in his newspaper so he can see from the other side and teases, “What are you, 007?”

javabeans: He’s adorable. The hyungs head back with groceries and spot cameras on the street, and decide that their street weirdo really must be an actor. Back in the lobby, they sit down for a breather with the crew, and hilariously, you can see Haneul behind his newspaper, turning ever so slightly to watch them through his eye-holes. It’s like something out of a cartoon.

girlfriday: Na PD drops these giant hints about how the sky (haneul) is really on their side tonight, and though Jung Woo keeps glancing in Haneul’s direction, nothing comes of it and they just get up and leave. Haneul cracks up, and Na PD goes, “See? Your hyungs are dummies!”

javabeans: Finally he decides to head up to the room, and calls out that their delivery has arrived, and just walks right in. The hyungs have the big reaction while Haneul cracks up, and NOW the hyungs are all, “That was you before, right?” Way to go, Sherlock.

girlfriday: They’re so huggy and cute. Haneul even has a present for them, and takes out four pairs of pajama pants, which makes Jung Woo SO happy.

javabeans: They notice he’s still in his fancy pants, and he tells them he literally got dragged off from the awards. Jung-seok remembers that they have four beds tonight, and is further amazed at their luck. It’s like they’re seeing cosmic signs everywhere, like how Jung Woo just had a feeling he wanted to buy extra food tonight. Jung-seok: “Now I’m bummed we only bought three apples.” Sang-hoon: “But we have an extra banana!” Hi-fives all around.

girlfriday: Sang-hoon starts to make curry, which seems like an easy enough thing. But it starts to go downhill when he decides that there isn’t enough seasoning and puts in ramyun sauce packets, and then worries that the boys might kill him because he ruined dinner. So to fix it, he adds… pasta sauce??

javabeans: Doesn’t it just make you increasingly nervous? I mean, with this group I’m sure there’ll be no big blowup, but it just keeps going more and more sideways. On the upside, he seems pleased with the result after everything and the kitchen sink has gone into it.

girlfriday: They say it’s good when they eat it, which makes me question their taste buds. Each of them interviews about Haneul and how much they love him, and Jung-seok talks about doing a musical together when Haneul was just 20, and how he’s still the same bright, happy kid.

javabeans: It cracks me up that Haneul does his solo interview with the hyungs hanging around the doorway, listening to him talk about how, for instance, Jung-seok hasn’t changed in all the time he’s known him, and is “as sensitive as ever” and looks after him well. He ends by thanking the show for bringing him along, promising to make lots of memories to last a lifetime.

girlfriday: They toast to their new maknae’s arrival, and when Haneul offers to do the dishes, Jung Woo refuses, saying, “It’s okay until today… because you’ll be doing them continuously from now on…”

javabeans: Welcome party over! Muahaha.

RELATED POSTS

• Youths Over Flowers in Iceland: Episode 1
• Tuxes and thumbs-up for Youths Over Flowers in Iceland
• Seeking whiskey and missing mommy in Youths Over Flowers in Iceland
• Kang Haneul joins Youths Over Flowers in Iceland
• Youths Over Flowers’ dummy trio heads to Iceland
• Jung Woo, Jo Jung-seok headline new season of Youths Over Flowers
• Na PD brings back another season of Youths Over Flowers
• Youths Over Flowers: Episode 1