People with Flaws: Episodes 27-28

by LollyPip

These two are killing me dead – can’t they just decide if they’re going to be together or not? They can’t seem to get on the same page at the same time, and there are those who are just waiting to take advantage of any crack they detect. Meanwhile, everyone else’s relationships are progressing at a quick pace, while I wish they’d slow down a bit and let us enjoy the romance.

 
EPISODE 27

Seo-yeon tells Kang-woo that she loves him, and he kisses her… but he suddenly jumps back, appalled at his behavior. He feels that he’s the reason for her parents’ accident all those years ago, and that he has no right to be loved by Seo-yeon. He hurries into his house and locks the door, leaving Seo-yeon begging him to talk to her.

She goes home and sits down Mi-kyung and JM, demanding to know which one of them told Kang-woo about the accident. Mi-kyung says that she was going to tell him but decided it would be disloyal to Seo-yeon, and JM admits that she went to see Kang-woo, but she only gave him sad puppy pictures of Seo-yeon (like the ones she gave Seo-yeon of him) then left.

Seo-yeon asks Won-jae, but he says truthfully that it wasn’t him… which leaves Won-seok. Won-jae tells Seo-yeon not to be mad because Won-seok only did what he thought would help her. He adds that if Kang-woo lets himself be chased off by her past then he wasn’t right for her, anyway.

We see that Won-seok did call Kang-woo and tell him about the accident, and that Seo-yeon was on her way to see him when it happened. Won-seok had been very clear that the accident was not Kang-woo’s fault, only that it was the reason Seo-yeon was crying and avoiding him lately. But Kang-woo still feels guilty and responsible.

As it turns out, it was Doctor Kim’s doppelganger who found Kang-woo’s phone after he dropped it. He answers when Doctor Kim tries to call Kang-woo, and says that the phone’s owner is picking it up soon. They each comment that the other has a nice voice, unaware that they also look exactly alike, ha.

Seo-yeon shows up to retrieve Kang-woo’s phone and when she notes the man’s disheveled appearance, she offers to buy him a meal. He insists on simple convenience store food, and turns away any other compensation.

Kang-woo refuses to open the door to Seo-yeon, even to get his phone back, no matter how desperately he wants to see her. Hyun-soo lets her in and Kang-woo nearly rips his head off, HA. He kicks Hyun-soo out and listens as Seo-yeon apologizes for how she’s been acting towards him, though he stubbornly refuses to look at her.

When Seo-yeon says she didn’t tell him about the accident because she was scared he’d act this way, Kang-woo retorts that he was even more scared, having been abandoned and not even knowing why. But he says he agrees now that they shouldn’t be together, and that she was right to dump him.

Seo-yeon finally leaves and runs into Min-hyuk, and he takes her to a coffee shop and buys an entire tub of lollypops to cheer her up. Seo-yeon tells Min-hyuk that she didn’t like him at first because he’s handsome, and he only now realizes that her comment about looks being important was meant the other way.

Min-hyuk admits that he’s really curious why she likes Kang-woo, since he’s also handsome. Seo-yeon says that it’s because of Min-hyuk, who taught her that handsome men can be good people. Min-hyuk tells her again that he likes her, and that he’s incapable of lying, so when he says it, he really means it. Seo-yeon asks why, and he says it’s the same reason she doesn’t like him — it’s just how he feels.

He continues with his original plan to go pick a fight with Kang-woo, petulantly refusing to give him a lollypop, hee. He informs Kang-woo that he likes Seo-yeon and intends to do whatever he can to get her, and when Kang-woo hesitates, Min-hyuk snaps that he’s being an idiot even though he has the upper hand.

During their tutoring session, Seung-joon has a temper tantrum at Joo-hee over her job at the karaoke bar, though all of his (very loud) objections are vague since Ho-dol is there. Joo-hee shrugs at Ho-dol that she has no idea what this is about, and Seung-joon bellows from the restroom, “Of course you know!” LOL.

When their session is over, Ho-dol finds Won-seok waiting to take him home. When they drive away, Won-jae comes out from where he was feeding Antoinette the Invisible Stray Cat, to watch them go. He gets a call from Kang-hee, but he doesn’t answer.

As Won-seok drops off Ho-dol, they’re both grinning like idiots… awww, these two kill me, they’re the cutest thing. Ho-dol is surprised to see his father waiting outside his door. His dad says with a worried but loving expression that he trusts Ho-dol and that Ho-dol has never disappointed him, then leaves to catch his bus. Ho-dol sees from the pile of cigarette butts that his father had been waiting for him for a long time.

In the morning, Kang-hee shows up as Won-jae is leaving for work, since he’s not answering her calls. She asks if he’s rejecting her offer to date, but he just warns her that since she’s coming to him after he gave her a chance to run, he’ll stop her if she wants to leave him later. Kang-hee grabs Won-jae and plants a kiss on him, and leaves him happily stunned.

Kang-woo is distracted during a work meeting with Hyun-soo, and gets lectured for letting his personal life intrude on work. Then Hyun-soo gets a call from Mi-kyung and can’t run out of the meeting fast enough, ha.

Meanwhile, Mi-kyung goes to the infirmary and finds Min-hyuk’s snack drawer completely empty. Seo-yeon wonders if he’s not stocking snacks for her anymore, but they discover that Vice Principal Park is the real culprit — he found Min-hyuk’s stash and took absolutely everything.

Seo-yeon yells at him and takes what’s left to Min-hyuk in the main office, and she tells him to keep them in here from now on. Min-hyuk takes this as encouragement that Seo-yeon cares for him, and he asks Mi-kyung if she’s still on his side, but she says firmly that she’s on Seo-yeon’s side.

She explains that she was considered weird back in school, but Seo-yeon became her friend anyway, so she’ll always be on Seo-yeon’s side. Min-hyuk sighs that if he has met Seo-yeon back then, he’d have liked her first.

EPISODE 28

Mi-kyung checks with Seo-yeon just to make one hundred percent sure that Min-hyuk has no chance with her, and Seo-yeon says firmly that it’s Kang-woo or nobody. But he’s still determined to avoid Seo-yeon, even though he himself can hardly believe it.

Jung-ho finally shows up to idol practice, and he tells Seung-joon that he’s jealous of how adored he is for doing nothing. He warns him to enjoy it while he can, greatly confusing poor simple Seung-joon.

When Kang-woo gets home Seo-yeon is waiting for him, and when she calls him “Kang-woo-yah,” he snaps at her not to call him that. She asks if he lied when he said he’d forgive her anything as long as she called his name that way, and if this means he hates her now. Kang-woo invites her inside, though he says that if she comes in he won’t let her go home tonight (rawr?).

She hesitates, and Kang-woo says that he can never hate her, but he tells her to stop feeling him out (in other words, decide one way or the other if she wants him). He goes in, and a little while later he calls Won-jae to make sure Seo-yeon got home okay, since he couldn’t take her home.

On his way to work, Won-seok finds Ho-dol sitting outside his gate, looking upset. Ho-dol bursts into tears and wails that he thinks his father saw the video of him being outed as gay, and that he’s not ready to tell his family yet. They go to a cafe, but poor Ho-dol can’t stop crying.

Won-seok takes off his watch, making Ho-dol cringe, thinking he was going to hit him (awww). Instead, Won-seok shows Ho-dol the scar on his wrist that’s usually hidden by his watch band, and tells him the story of how his family found out he’s gay.

When his parents were still alive, Won-seok had tried to commit suicide, but his father had found him in time. In the hospital, Won-seok had apologized, but all Dad had to say was that he hopes the guy Won-seok brings home to meet him talks more than Won-seok does (Oh, my heart. Dad would have loved Ho-dol).

Won-seok had apologized again, but Dad had said it’s not something to be sorry for (being gay). In the present, Won-seok asks Ho-dol not to put his father through the same thing he did.

Doctor Kim is still imagining Kang-woo attacking him when he learns that he’s a fraud, and not a doctor at all. But Kang-woo just says he has nothing to say at his session and gets up to leave. He freaks out Doctor Kim by asking for the scissors, but he only wants to cut off a loose thread from his shirt. Doctor Kim offers to do it and his shaking hands accidentally cut a huge hole in Kang-woo’s shirt, HAHAoops.

Later, a knock at the door reveals Doctor Kim’s doppelganger, and at first Doctor Kim thinks he’s a ghost and slams the door in his face. But he opens it again, and he’s thrilled to see his twin alive and well.

Chairwoman Han shows up at the high school (and gets the “Pretty Woman” treatment, lol). Seo-yeon sees her bent over looking at the flowers, and, having no idea who she is, she assumes Chairwoman Han is sick or injured. She piggybacks her to the infirmary and fetches Min-hyuk, who tries to tell her who this is, but Chairwoman Han stops him.

Of course, Chairwoman Han guesses that that was the girl Kang-woo likes. From the sad way she looks at Min-hyuk, she knows his feelings, too, but she doesn’t say anything. She mentions the trauma That Min-hyuk is obviously still suffering from when he worked in a hospital, and says that it looks like things aren’t getting better with time like she’d hoped.

She invites Min-hyuk to be more like Kang-woo and express his feelings, saying that they’re both precious to her. Min-hyuk doesn’t respond, but he remembers a woman begging at his feet when there was nothing he could say to comfort her.

Seo-yeon sees how upset he is and checks to make sure he’s not sick, and Min-hyuk looks shaken to the core by her concern. He recalls Chairwoman Han’s advice to express his feelings, and wonders if he should tell her everything.

Chairwoman Han goes to see Kang-woo’s dad, to tell him that Min-hyuk has feelings for Seo-yeon. They’re both worried that Kang-woo’s mother will find out (didn’t Min-hyuk already tell her?), and they have no idea what to do about the situation.

Despite being determined to avoid Seo-yeon, Kang-woo keeps checking his front door camera just in case she’s there. He startles when he actually sees her, but when he runs outside, she’s already gone. Seo-yeon is actually hiding just around the corner, waffling over Kang-woo’s statement that if she shows up again, she won’t be leaving.

On the way to meet Mi-kyung for a date, Hyun-soo spots Won-jae looking very fine as he waits for Kang-hee after a date. Hyun-soo tries to scout Won-jae as a model, belatedly recognizing him as the guy he saw with Seo-yeon at the dealership. Mi-kyung arrives and confirms that this is Seo-yeon’s oldest brother. Hyun-soo comments that they don’t look alike, and Mi-kyung drags him away before Won-jae bites his face off, hee.

Kang-hee returns and he tells her that Mi-kyung is a friend of his sister’s, and they bond over annoying younger siblings. Kang-hee goes back to work and Dad is in her office, upset that she didn’t research Seo-yeon like he asked her to do.

She looks at the file he left on Seo-yeon, and sees Won-jae’s name among her siblings. Kang-hee realizes that she and Kang-woo’s significant others are brother and sister, and suddenly all the pieces fall into place.

Seo-yeon tosses and turns all night thinking about all of her sweet moments with Kang-woo, from childhood until now, and his recent ultimatum. Finally she gets up, having made her decision, and tries to sneak out of the house… and runs right into JM and Joo-hee. She slips past them, only to find Seung-joon practicing his dancing in the living room.

She manages to get out of the house, even creeping past Won-jae as he feeds Antoinette the Invisible Stray Cat. She runs all the way to Kang-woo’s house, a huge smile on her face. When he sees her, he asks if she thought he was joking, but she says determinedly that she’s not leaving this time: “I won’t go home. I’m staying with you.”

She reaches out and plucks his sleeve, suddenly shy, and asks him to stay together. Kang-woo warns her, “I can’t stop myself now,” and he grasps her hand and leads her inside.

 
COMMENTS

I wish I could feel confident that this means Kang-woo and Seo-yeon are finally together, but I’m sure they’ll find some way to misunderstand or guilt trip each other, and that the conflict isn’t over yet. But they’ve never done things quickly — it’s taken them fifteen years just to get this far — and they’re getting there slowly but surely. Thankfully, the show offers so much great content regarding the side characters, and this episode gave us a lot of information about nearly everyone.

One of the best things about People with Flaws is the theme of family acceptance that runs through every family in the show. No matter how flawed these people are, they all receive nothing but love and support from their families, and it’s so lovely to see in a genre that has been known to thrive on family conflict. It would have been easy for Won-jae and Won-seok to resent Seo-yeon for her involvement in their parents’ deaths, but they have always been loving and protective of her, without reservation. Kang-woo’s family is a bit more mired in tradition, being a conglomerate family and thus more concerned with social norms, but half of them already accept Seo-yeon without even knowing her, and the other half, I think, will quickly come around once they get to know her and understand why Kang-woo loves her so much.

Won-seok and Ho-dol’s stories particularly touched me in this episode — despite being gay, which is still very much considered wrong in their culture, their fathers showed nothing but unconditional love and acceptance of their sons just the way they are. It’s no wonder that Won-seok is so confident in himself now, knowing that wherever he is, his father is proud of him. I’ll bet that’s why he feels drawn to Ho-dol… he sees his former self in the insecure young man. I’m sure Won-seok will pass his own self-assurance on to Ho-dol as they grow closer.

There are only two episodes left, but we still have a lot of ground to cover for all of our characters. Kang-woo and Seo-yeon still have a ways to go before their relationship can be considered healthy and lasting, and from what we learned about Min-hyuk today, he’s still got a lot to unpack regarding his past. Joo-hee is still struggling with family issues, Seung-joon is about to get hit with a betrayal by someone he thinks is a friend, that could very well end his idol dreams. We still don’t know why Doctor Kim’s twin is living homeless, or why Doctor Kim assumed his identity. And I worry most for JM, who has nothing to go “home” to but a future of being sold off to whoever can offer her father the most advantageous business proposal. I’m concerned that there’s not enough time to give everyone a satisfactory ending, but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

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