Mary Stayed Out All Night: Episode 4

by girlfriday

Well, you were warned. Second lead ‘shippers, guard your hearts. Jung-in goes for the kill, and I don’t know about Mary, but everyone else gets slain. See, this is what happens when you marry two men. It gets confusing, for everyone involved. Including me. Couldn’t you have just gotten a job or gone into hiding? At least things are getting more fun, now that the triangle is in full effect.

 
EPISODE 4 RECAP

Mary walks in to find her two husbands in a compromising situation (I know. But this isn’t fanfic. I swear, I’m not making this up.) She runs over to Mu-gyul, screaming, “Jagi-ya!” and drags him out before he can protest being kicked out without a shirt on. Are you at least wearing pants? Because if you’re not wearing pants, this recap is going to end up in a very different place…

Mary scoots him out of there, and even stops him from going back to get his guitar. The less husband-to-husband contact, the better. Well that’s what you say. She promises to bring his guitar to him after work, and adds that he shouldn’t be working with a guy like Jung-in. Only a crazy person would insist on marrying a girl who’s in love with someone else, and when she reasons that someone who thinks of marriage as a business deal can’t be trusted, Mu-gyul agrees that it’s weird.

At the office, Mary asks Jung-in to leave Mu-gyul alone, but he’s intent on bringing him in to do the music for the drama. Seo-jun comes by with a new cell phone for Mary as an apology for the other day, and Mary declines the gift, replying cheerily that her phone isn’t broken, but she’ll accept the apology. Later she sees Jung-in and Seo-jun walking around together, and wonders why he isn’t dating and marrying someone who suits him, and is instead dragging her into this arranged hullabaloo. Two words: Daddy Issues.

He sees that Mary’s been reading the script and asks her what she thinks. She says that it’s a fresh idea to do a music rom-com, but that it skews too young—adults won’t watch it. Haha. Well, my mom would beg to differ.

She asks for Mu-gyul’s guitar, but Jung-in insists on returning it himself. So Mary shows up running like a madwoman at Mu-gyul, screaming, “JAGI-YA!” to warn him that Jung-in insisted on following her here. She tries to keep them from talking, but Jung-in shoves her in the van to have a chat with Mu-gyul. Haha. It’s hilarious how she’s at DEFCON 1 and the guys are like, Do you hear something? Nope. Don’t hear a thing.

She climbs out the back and tries to stop them, but Mu-gyul pulls her aside with a hand to the forehead, (It’s somehow adorable the way he manhandles her like a puppy; I don’t know why.) saying that he’ll take care of it on his own. He asks Jung-in what his deal is, insisting on marrying a woman who is already married. He adds that he’s been scammed by managers before, and that he can’t trust a guy who treats marriage like a business. Mary smiles to herself, and Jung-in is silenced, for now.

Mary’s dad gets a talking-to by Jung-seok, who tells him to take care of this Mu-gyul character for good. Dad insists that he’s too much of a playboy to stick with Mary, and that he swore nothing happened between them. Jung-seok thinks him a fool for trusting a boy who’s running around with his daughter, and makes it clear in no uncertain terms that if Mary chooses Mu-gyul at the end of the hundred days, the debt money must be returned.

Dad goes straightaway to track Mu-gyul down, but finds that Mary’s with him, before her scheduled time. They see him spying on them, so they make a run for it and hide in a karaoke room. Dad follows them all the way there, so they’re forced to sing, despite Mu-gyul’s hatred of these places. He refuses to sing, so Mary picks up the mic and begins to sing, eliciting a look of sheer horror on Mu-gyul’s face. “What the…you’re totally tone deaf!”

Hahaha. He takes the mic from her and belts out a song, making her swoon. Dad hears from the hallway, and freaks out: “No, no…what do I do? He’s totally good!” After hearing Mu-gyul sing, he’s so impressed that he’s certain Mary’s fallen head over heels. Are you sure you’re not the one who’s smitten?

They finally borrow a bike to shake him for good, and as they ride along, Mary tells him that he was really cool back there, with the singing. He looks back at her, like he’s going to say something snarky, but then breaks into the cutest smile ever: “So what…you like me now?”

Flutter. Flutter. Sigh.

Mary: “NO! Just…objectively speaking, you were cool.” Mu-gyul: “I know.” Aaaaand, we’re back down to Earth. Okay.

They ride around Hongdae, and Mary stops him when they pass by a yarn store. They end up back at Mu-gyul’s place, and he builds a makeshift heater while she knits herself some mittens. Aw, they’re so cute. She finds out that she’s two weeks older than him, and teases him to call her noona from now on.

Mu-gyul: “Hey, noona, you actually look like a girl, doing that.” Mary: “I AM a girl.”

He blows on his hands to warm them up, and she asks if he wants a pair of mittens too. He nods, so she asks for his hand, to measure it against hers. Excuse for skinship! He peers at her scar while she measures his hand, and asks how she got it. She doesn’t remember, and just knows that Dad told her she hurt herself while playing, at the age of four. She’s nearing curfew, so she leaves the mittens half-done, and promises to finish later.

Jung-in’s drama production reaches a standstill, as he worries over how to deal with costs while the drama has no airdate. Dad comes by to make things clear to Jung-in, as far as Mary is concerned: she must choose HIM at the end of the hundred days, or Dad will pull all of his investments in Jung-in’s company. Time to turn on the charm, lover boy.

He comes by to pick her up the next day, for a two-day trip to his father’s house. Mary calls Mu-gyul on the way, making a show of how this is an infringement of the contract hours, and that they should ask for a four-day vacation in exchange. Jung-in agrees to whatever she wants, but asks her to do her best this weekend.

He leaves as soon as they get there for a meeting, to try and talk the lead actor out of pulling out of the drama because the production might get pushed back. Seo-jun arrives to announce that she’s in regardless, because she believes in the project. She invites Jung-in to her birthday party later that night, but he declines.

Left alone in the house, Mary wanders around, and can’t shake the feeling that the place feels familiar. She just assumes she must’ve seen it in a drama. Oh, dear. Please no birth secrets, Show. Just…no.

She sees a picture of her parents with Jung-in’s father, and wonders who the man is, which is exactly when he walks into the room. She thanks him for repaying her father’s debts, but doesn’t understand why he wants her for a daughter-in-law. He says that he knew her mother before she even met her father, and promises to tell her more about it later.

They sit down for some awkward tea, and Jung-seok tries his hardest to find something in common with Mary, or some activity to do. He lands at ba-dook, a Korean chess-like game. Mary doesn’t know how to play, but she does know one game…

Jung-in comes home to the sound of his father laughing and playing a game with Mary, and finds them using the ba-dook pieces in a game of marbles. That’s exactly what I used to do with MY dad! Man, this scene is totally bringing back memories.

The three of them eat an awkward meal, and Mary is clearly more comfortable with Jung-seok, who she calls “ajusshi,” and hardly looks at Jung-in. She finds out that Dad is recovering from cancer, and tells him to take care of himself.

Meanwhile, Mu-gyul keeps a hairy eyeball locked on a surprise visitor…it’s Mary’s dad, who tries to do his best impression of an imposing figure, and fails miserably. He tells Mu-gyul that he’s not husband material, and that Mary will suffer if she’s with him. Mu-gyul just laughs at Dad’s seriousness, and tells him to take it up with Mary.

He gets a call from Mom, and runs out to meet her, brushing off Mary’s dad. Mom is heartbroken yet again, and Mu-gyul tells her to just date and stop falling in love. He asks her of the three—faith, hope, and love—which is most important. She says love, but he says no—it’s dependability. He tells her to stop meeting men she loves, and start meeting men who are dependable.

Mom asks where he heard that from, and he tells her it’s the girl she met that night outside his place. Mom: “Oh, that cute girl who looks like a puppy!” Haha. Now we know where he gets the expression from.

Mom sighs that she’s so lonely, and suggests that she and Mu-gyul live together. He perks up at the idea, but says it’s okay—she’ll just end up leaving once she finds a new boyfriend anyway. She hugs him and apologizes for bringing him up this way, with no father and going from relatives’ homes here and there.

He doesn’t seem bitter about it in the least, and says that it’s all in the past now. He looks at her sweetly and asks if she wants ice cream. Heh. He’s so the parent in this relationship. Looks like he and Mary are birds of a feather.

Mary’s dad follows them and snaps a picture, thinking that this’ll prove that Mu-gyul is home-wrecking cougar-bait. But while Mu-gyul is paying for the ice cream, Mom gets a call from the ex-boyfriend and runs out without a word, leaving him holding the ice cream alone. Aw, poor kitty.

He eats the freezing cold ice cream alone in the park, and Mary calls, to put on another show in front of Jung-in. She screams “jagi-ya” so many times that he asks her to stop because he’s getting goosebumps from the cheese-factor. She replies that she misses him too, and he scoffs that she should get an award for her acting. Jung-in smirks to himself as he listens to her, probably amused at how hard she’s overacting to sell the fact that she’s in LURVE.

She asks Mu-gyul what’s most important—faith, hope, or love—and reminds him that dependability is most important, and that a family is built on that. Even though he rolls his eyes at first, her words hit him, especially in light of his evening with Mom.

She yells, “I love you!” and hangs up. It comes out of the blue, and both of them are a little stunned at the outburst. She stares wide-eyed, surprised at herself, and Mu-gyul can’t help but smile. Aw. So. Cute.

Seo-jun sits alone at her own birthday party, holding Mu-gyul’s guitar pick and thinking of him. Sigh. Been there, done that. A small group of people from the drama production arrives with cake and presents, but it doesn’t do much to lift her spirits. She gets a text from Mu-gyul’s bandmates, and meets them for a drink.

Jung-in fills his dad in on his drama production woes, but insists on seeing it through, despite Dad’s protests to let it go. Have to say, Jung-seok’s eyebrow raise is definitely a contender for the hall of fame. Mary’s dad arrives as well, to reassure him that he’s taken care of the Mu-gyul situation.

Mary wanders about the house, and happens across an old picture of Jung-in piggybacking her when they were both kids. That totally counts as a piggyback in this episode. I say we’re on, for the countdown!

Jung-in finds her, and they both stare at the picture wondering why he’s piggybacking her, and why they don’t remember. Please don’t be brother and sister. Please don’t be brother and sister.

The two dads reminisce about old times, and the fact that when Mary and Jung-in were little, they had planned to marry them off to each other. Well that’s cute, if their families were close when they were young that they had played and piggybacked and whatever, but the fact that Jung-seok is still clearly in love with Mary’s mom makes it all a bit squicky.

Mary asks Jung-in what the inscription on the photograph says. Jung-in: “I’m here. I will protect you. Forever.” Oh, swoon. Here we go. Third leg of triangle, locked and loaded.

Jung-in asks to see Mary’s scar, and she refuses. She wonders why he doesn’t remember anything about them meeting as kids, since he was about eight in the photograph. But he doesn’t remember anything from that age, and doesn’t really want to.

He does admit that it’s romantic—that their relationship began twenty years ago. He tells Mary that regardless, he’s going to marry her at the end of the hundred days. She balks that he’s going back on his word that he didn’t care about marriage and that she just had to get through the hundred days. He claims that things have changed, and that he needs her to choose him in the end.

She declares that she’ll be doing no such thing, and reminds him that she’s in love with someone else. She turns to leave, but trips and falls. Oy. Jung-in sighs, and then…

Piggyback? Seriously? Hahahahaa…okay this really does need to become a running gag through the whole series now, because it’s becoming like clowns in a car at this point. He carries her in, and the two dads beam.

Mu-gyul sits at home, and finds Mary’s notes on their love story (the version she told Dad). He calls it a “goosebump-inducing romance novel,” but then smiles gleefully while reading it. He catches himself, and looks around his empty apartment furtively, like he doesn’t want to get caught enjoying it. Heh.

He tries on the half-finished mittens to keep his hands warm, and when his phone rings, his first thought is, “Is it Mary Christmas?” Aw.

Sadly, no, it’s his friends calling, and he comes out to find Seo-jun there. She awkwardly suggests that they start dating again in front of everyone, and Mu-gyul says that she ought to know—when something’s over for him, it’s over. That’s that.

Ouch. She insists on heading out to the bathroom alone, and his friends marvel that Seo-jun is still hung up on Mu-gyul, still wearing the guitar-pick-necklace that he made for her. He reminds them that they’re the ones who told him to marry Mary, and they reply that Seo-jun’s more his type, but peg him as having developed feelings for Mary anyway.

He denies it and walks out, further upset when he gets a text and it’s STILL not from Mary. Heh. He walks home, but finds Seo-jun being attacked in the street by a couple of drunk guys. (Sigh. Of course she is.)

He gives them a good beating and drags her away, yelling that he told her not to go out by herself. He asks if she’s okay, and she says no, as she hugs him tightly. Ugh. I hate it when the second lead is damsel-in-distressy. So. Much.

Meanwhile, Jung-in ices Mary’s ankle, and she asks why he’s changed his mind about marrying her. He says that it’s good for business and what his father wants. He says that his father is like a god to him, and Mary looks at him curiously.

He reaches over to put her feet up on a pillow, and she hides under the covers. She reaches for her phone to call Mu-gyul (fast becoming a defense mechanism), but he takes the phone out of her hand, and tells her not to call: “Kang Mu-gyul is my rival now.”

Kyeow!

He reaches his hand out and brushes aside her hair, touching her scar tenderly. He repeats the words, “I will protect you.” As he kisses her on the forehead.

COMMENTS

Glad that the second leads are stepping up to the plate, ’cause I’m already hating Seo-jun, but that’s the point, right? It’s looking like a good game of four-square, although of course, nobody beats the ridiculous amount of Cute from Mu-gyul and Mary. I suppose now that she has a past with Jung-in, he’ll be a contender for her heart, especially if he keeps up with the knight-in-shining-armor bit.

It’s interesting that all the characters are all damaged in some way, but Mary and Mu-gyul are able to stay sunny despite spending their entire lives…essentially raising themselves. I like that they’re bright and cheery, and manage to turn their situations around, because they’ve lived enough in the real world to know that the only person you can count on is yourself. As Mu-gyul says to his mom, “You live alone and you die alone.”

But when they see that the other is dependable too—trustworthy in a way that only they know the value of—they’ll hopefully come to rely on each other. I like that they’re both cynical based on what they’ve experienced, and yet optimistic enough to be their adorable selves.

RELATED POSTS

• Mary Stayed Out All Night: Episode 3
• Mary Stayed Out All Night: Episode 2
• Mary Stayed Out All Night: Episode 1
• Kim Jae-wook looking mighty fine for Mary
• Jang Geun-seok sings on Mary OST
• Official posters released for Mary Stayed Out All Night