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Bubblegum: Episode 12

Sometimes the worst part of breaking up is living through the aftermath, and finding your new normal. You can use that time to wallow in your heartache, or you can try to do something to make your life better – it’s your choice. There’s no doubt that one course of action is healthier than the other, but does healthier necessarily mean happier?

 
EPISODE 12: “I’m Calling Out to You, Like a Song that Doesn’t End”

Ri-hwan advises a patient’s daughter to seek a second opinion on her father’s phantom pain from a lost limb, explaining that Eastern medicine believes that emotions have energy. He can’t see the missing limb, so he feels pain from the anger. Letting her father see the missing leg, and talking about it openly, could help him accept it.

We see that certain items in his office are gone now — items that probably reminded Ri-hwan of Haeng-ah. Perhaps someone should take his own advice. Ji-hoon bounces into the office as usual, but seeing Ri-hwan’s deflated demeanor has him slinking back out again.

On her radio show, Se-young discusses that one person whom you want to tell everything to, with whom you share your precious memories, even the simple ones. Haeng-ah recalls sharing a drink with Ri-hwan that she bought with the change in their pockets, having both forgotten their wallets, except that Ri-hwan had been lying about forgetting his just to mess with her. They’d teased and shared red bean pastries — nothing special about the day. Nothing special, except that they’d been together.

The radio team discuss Se-young’s increasingly negative forum comments (which she claims are just because she’s too good of an actress in her drama) and the possibility of doing some giveaways to bring in listeners. Haeng-ah is against it because of people who send in fake stories just to win, but Se-young pouts that it’s not fair to the people who really do deserve something nice.

Out for drinks, Ji-hoon complains to Ri-hwan that sometimes it seems like everyone is happier than you, but that they’re probably all thinking the same thing about you. He even thought it about Ri-hwan when he first met him, that he was a rich kid with no problems (Ri-hwan: “You said that out loud.” HA). He assures Ri-hwan that it’s okay to come out like this — the night nurse that Yi-seul hired is great with his mom.

They’re surprised to see Manager Jo wander into the restaurant and invite him to join them, but he’s awfully twitchy and declines. Aha, because he’s meeting Suk-joon, who gets there before Jo can warn him not to come. The four men end up sitting together under a dark cloud of awkward.

Ri-hwan finds his manners first and thinks Manager Jo for helping Haeng-ah while she took care of his mother, which makes Jo babble about Haeng-ah until he realizes how weird that it’s making everyone feel. He and Ji-hoon head to the restroom, mostly just to escape the tense atmosphere, leaving Ri-hwan and Suk-joon alone.

Suk-joon goes right for the throat, asking why Ri-hwan would promise to disappear then show up in a place where the station employees frequent. Ri-hwan genuinely didn’t know (Ji-hoon brought him here because Tae-hee used to bring him here), but assures Suk-joon that even if he did run into Haeng-ah, it’s over. Suk-joon notices that Ri-hwan has trouble even saying her name, and admonishes him to be even more careful if his feelings are that obvious.

Ji-hoon and Manager Jo sit on the curb, too scared to go inside, and discuss Tae-hee. Jo think she really only feels pity for him, his situation sparking her maternal instincts. He tells Ji-hoon that he truly has no intentions towards her, and Ji-hoon says he hasn’t given up on her yet.

Though Ri-hwan says that he doesn’t want to know, Suk-joon tells him anyway that Haeng-ah is doing well — um, how would he know, since he quit working at the station? Ri-hwan rises to leave, and Suk-joon pushes it by saying that he’ll also tell Haeng-ah how Ri-hwan is doing. Dude, just stop.

On the walk home, Ji-hoon apologizes for making Ri-hwan go out, while Manager Jo and Suk-joon stay at the bar to drink. Suk-joon expresses remorse over his lie to Ri-hwan, or maybe it’s just that he feels like it was a sloppy lie.

He runs into Haeng-ah the next morning at the landlord’s office (right, I forgot they live in adjacent buildings) and he offers to take her to lunch. She congratulates him on his new television broadcasting job, and tells him that her show survived the station’s recent restructuring.

After lunch Suk-joon suggests they meet again, and ignores his ringing phone even when Haeng-ah brings it to his attention. She tries to reject him but he says he’s not expecting to go back to how things were. He wants to start fresh, from the first time they met. He promises that things will be different, and they won’t hide anymore and do things she wants to do.

We see the remainder of Suk-joon and Manager Jo’s evening at the bar, and now it’s Manager Jo who’s tight-lipped and thoughtful. Suk-joon had said that this might be his last chance with Haeng-ah, but that he only feels alive when he’s with her. Manager Jo commiserates, comparing relationships with flowers that die but come again next spring — he worries that he could be seeing his last flower die (with Tae-hee).

Haeng-ah visits the hospital to see Dr. Go, telling herself that people come here to be healed, and leave smiling. She’s much more confident and relaxed than before — she’s been seeing him regularly as she promised. After her appointment, she says that Aunt Princess told her that Mom remembers Ri-hwan now… wouldn’t that mean she’s recovering?

Dr. Go admits that, though Mom is an exceptional woman, and that it’s uncommon to forget the person closest to you with early onset Alzheimer’s, it doesn’t mean she’s recovering. Forgetting Ri-hwan was most likely from the trauma of her diagnosis compounded with her father’s death. She probably experienced a more common shock-related memory loss that resolved itself, rather than the brain cell death from Alzheimer’s.

Haeng-ah tentatively asks if finding out that she and Ri-hwan were dating could have contributed, but the doctor kindly assures her that she did nothing wrong. She seems relieved to hear it.

Ri-hwan drops Mom off at Secret Garden for the day, but he doesn’t go inside anymore. Aunt Princess is sad that she never sees him.

Haeng-ah walks home, remembering the rest of the doctor’s assurances. He’d said that he thinks Mom has gotten through the worst part of her disease, because she no longer knows what’s happening. She’s becoming more childlike, as her memories fade. We see Mom at Secret Garden, reading a book, and having a pout because her pencil is missing — no matter how many other pencils Dong-hwa sweetly offers to her.

Ji-hoon tells Ri-hwan later that Haeng-ah also hasn’t been to Secret Garden, and wonders why they’re both punishing themselves. Ri-hwan only says that he made a promise, but Ji-hoon wants to know why they had to break up in the first place. Ri-hwan admits that things could get even worse than they are now, and Ji-hoon figures out that he had other reasons than his mom to push Haeng-ah away.

Ji-hoon grows sad, saying that it’s possible he could be a bachelor forever. So he needs Ri-hwan to live a good life, so that when he comes over for holidays or just to see him, there’s a happy family to visit. He offers to look into a DNA test, to determine whether or not Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah are blood siblings. On the way to work Ri-hwan finds his mother’s missing pencil in the car, and decides to take it to Secret Garden himself — he can leave it at the door.

Oh no, it looks like Dong-hwa has a new crush, this time on Ji-hoon. She moans to Mom that he seems handsome now “though he used to look like a squid,” and Mom says that when your heart likes a person, they become handsome. Then Mom calls Aunt Princess by a name she doesn’t use anymore, and Dong-hwa eases her for changing her name to Gong-joo (which means Princess). That gets her swatted by both of her parents.

Aunt Princess takes Mom out for a walk, and neither of them notices Haeng-ah, hanging out just for a glimpse of Mom. Having seen that mom looks happy, she heads off, narrowly missing running into Ri-hwan on his way to the restaurant. She waits for her bus, but for some reason, doesn’t board when it arrives.

As the bus drives away, Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah see each other standing on opposite sides of the street. Ri-hwan turns away when Haeng-ah starts to cross to him, but she calls out for him to wait. He doesn’t stop, but every step is a struggle, so Haeng-ah calls that she’ll say what she has to say from her side of the street.

Ri-hwan stops, and Haeng-ah says that she’s getting her driver’s license and has had nine sessions with the doctor. She’s even going into the hospital for them now. She takes her medication and plans to start working out. She asks him to just wait a bit, and she can take Mom to her hospital appointments, too, and help him. When that happens, Haeng-ah says she’ll come back to him. Even if he tells her not to.

This gets Ri-hwan to turn and look at her, and Haeng-ah continues that right now, she feels like a burden to him. So she’s doing all this to remove that burden. She says that she never cries, even when alone, because she never knows when he may be watching. But she misses him so much, and she has to fight herself not to try and see him in secret.

Ri-hwan listens in silence, but on the inside, he’s dying to ask her how she’s been, if she’s eating, and Haeng-ah nods that she has been as if she heard his thoughts. She calls out when he turns to go again, asking him to stay just one more minute. He stops for a moment, then continues on.

Joon-soo is late meeting Se-young at her dentist appointment, and she plays the “I’m not mad” game even though she’s obviously mad. She snaps at him for flirting with the nurse (which he totally didn’t do) and when he objects, she tries to drag Yi-seul into the argument, asking if all men aren’t like that.

Yi-seul says she knows a man who isn’t, and tries to bring the conversation back to dentistry. She fusses at Se-young for drinking on the days of her treatment and delaying her healing, saying in a sad tone that people tend to stop coming around. She means to the dentist, but she’s thinking of Ri-hwan.

Later Yi-seul brings a gift by Mom’s house, and Aunt Princess introduces her to Mom as Ri-hwan’s friend. Mom says she smells nice, recognizing the scent of a hospital on Yi-seul, and listens intently as Yi-seul describes her day. On some level, she recognizes the motions of running a hospital, and Yi-seul’s voice softens as she talks about her love of her job.

Ri-hwan arrives home and takes Yi-seul for a drink, and she apologizes — she only meant to leave the gift at the door. She admits that she does like his mother, not just because of him, and that she had no other intentions to be there. Ri-hwan just thanks her, understanding.

She notices that he’s wearing a watch when he said he normally doesn’t, and he reminds her that he told her that she needs to move on. Only partially speaking about her, he says that you just live day to day — make it to midnight then do it again, and don’t think about how hard tomorrow will be. Yi-seul guesses that he’s talking about his own pain, and asks if that’s what he’s been doing.

Just when you think she finally understands him, Yi-seul asks Ri-hwan again if he can’t like her. But she immediately says that she knows it’s not possible, so she agrees to try living day to day.

Ri-hwan goes home to find Mom’s information about the sanitarium she looked into. Mom sits in her room with a fistful of… something, but it’s only a hair clip she doesn’t recognize. It’s her mourning ribbon, and she asks tentatively if her father passed away. She takes the news well, and asks if she made any mistakes, but Ri-hwan says she did well.

She also found the sanitarium information, and asks Ri-hwan if she intended to go there. He says he doesn’t think she did, but she’s shockingly lucid, and figures out that she meant to go live there once her memory got bad. In her clear state she knows it makes sense, and if she’s still at home, that means she hasn’t been clear-minded in quite a while.

She tells Ri-hwan to listen carefully, while she’s still lucid. She apologizes to him, saying that her pride wouldn’t allow her to go crawling back to her father, even for his sake. She wanted Ri-hwan to do so well that her father would ask him to run his hospital, and also for him to marry into an impressive family. Then she could go back to her father and say that she was right all along.

But she knows that her father would have been happy to have her back no matter what, and that her stubbornness caused her son to grow up without a family. She says she was wrong, though Ri-hwan reassures her that he’s been fine and he understands.

Mom asks what else she’s been wrong about, begging him to tell her now before she forgets again. What other hurts did she cause her son by her selfishness? She tells him not to listen to whatever she said in the past, and to do whatever makes him happy from now on.

Later, after mom has descended back into her haze, the nurse takes her out for a walk and Ji-hoon comes to hang out with Ri-hwan. Ri-hwan asks what’s up with him and Tae-hee, making Ji-hoon sadly admit that the guy she likes seems pretty decent. He glomps onto Ri-hwan for a hug, satisfied when he gets a little smile as reward.

Ri-hwan thinks about his mother’s wish to make himself happy, and how Haeng-ah said she misses him. Mom comes back from her walk and he offers to go inside and read her her favorite book. “Now?” she asks, back in her innocent, forgetful mind. “Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now,” he says.

Manager Jo takes Tae-hee out to gently let her down, but she won’t even hear him out. She finally tries to walk out, and he has to call after her that he doesn’t like her. She stops, and orders him to say it one more time to her face. He hesitates, but we don’t see if he says it.

Haeng-ah excitedly tells Se-young about a woman with Mom’s same kind of Alzheimer’s who’s still doing well seven years after her diagnosis, and Se-young mutters that it makes her and Joon-soo’s fight seem silly. Tae-hee must have been rejected after all, because she shows up to work in a positively black mood.

The hilariously bland advice expert is on the show again, and Se-young asks him a question “for a friend” who’s dating a younger man. Of course, everyone knows who she means, especially Joon-soo, who gets a serious case of the giggles so that Tae-hee has to snarl at him. The expert says that if the younger man wanted to date women his age, he would — HAHA, even he knows she’s talking about herself, and looks pointedly at Joon-soo.

The next question is from Haeng-ah, and no better disguised than Se-young’s question. She asks if it’s selfish to tell a man who’s pushed you away that you miss him, but the expert says it’s human to want people to know how you feel.

Later as Se-young says on-air that the end of the year is coming, and that this is the time to make your confessions, we get a lovely split-screen of Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah sitting on their balconies, pondering their options.

It continues the next morning, as they both get up, get ready for the day, and bid their mother/houseplants goodbye. They both end up at the hospital, barely missing getting on the same elevator. Eventually Haeng-ah’s half of the screen expands, which is when she finds herself face-to-face with Ri-hwan.

A tiny smile lights her face, while Ri-hwan stands like stone.

COMMENTS

I’m so happy that Haeng-ah is taking this opportunity to make positive changes in her life. For so many years she’s let others make her choices for her, and been dependent on others for nearly everything. She’s never even owned her own feelings, for fear of rejection. That’s no way to live, and it’s been frustrating for most of the runof the show to watch her just be so passive in her own life. It’s not an easy thing to admit that you need to change and actually make change, much less when you’re at a low point in your life. So I respect her a lot more now that we’re seeing her take the necessary steps to stop being a burden, someone that others have to support, and become someone who can support others. Good girl ~sniffle~

Suk-joon has really only been a tertiary character in this drama, making his behavior only mildly interesting to me, but in this episode I found some of his actions to be very selfish. Until now I’ve been willing to give Suk-joon the benefit of the doubt for how he treated Haeng-ah. I think that he didn’t mean to be neglectful of her, and had honest intentions to get her back. But now, with some of the lies he’s told to Ri-hwan, I have a lot less patience to put up with him. To my recollection he hasn’t even seen Haeng-ah since he quit his job, yet he’s telling Ri-hwan that she’s doing great and offering to pass a message to her. That’s just pure mean-spirited manipulation, and it makes me think a lot less of Suk-joon as a person. To look a heartbroken man in the eye and tell him that he doesn’t know anything about her (when he’s literally known her his entire life, and knows her better than anyone) and to make him think that Haeng-ah went running to Suk-joon as soon as they broke up, is just cruel. I don’t even care if he’s trying to be the partner she wants now — playing dirty to get what you want, just gets you a dirty prize.

Though I’m sure it would be easy to be forgiving in the face of Mom’s illness and her increasingly childlike sunny demeanor, I’m in total agreement with Saya in that I’m still pretty angry with her. She’s let Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah carry the burden of her own grief and depression their whole lives, which is a terrible thing to put on anyone, much less a couple of children. We haven’t seen her, even once, show that she understands that they also suffered a loss — Haeng-ah’s father was just as much of a father to Ri-hwan, so he was grieving too, and he not only had to deal with that but also the knowledge that his mother was willing to leave him. Depression is a terrible thing to deal with, but so is the fact that your only parents didn’t want to live enough to stay with you.

And in all the years since Dad’s death, never has Mom let up on her disapproval of Haeng-ah, or her objection to their ever being together, even though their love for each other has been evident their whole lives. As Saya so aptly put it, Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah are inextricably intertwined, and nothing can ever change that, not even their own will. To even attempt it would be to destroy them both, yet Mom lets her own feelings get in the way of their happiness, and she knows she’s doing it, and doesn’t care. The fact that she’s sick doesn’t suddenly make everything she did in her life okay, or forgivable, and now it’s too late for either of them to ever convince her to change her mind. And yes, though she did have a moment of lucidity in which she told Ri-hwan to ignore her and be happy, that doesn’t make up for the lifetime of knowing that she hated Haeng-ah.

She’s left them with one final burden — the knowledge that their only mother-figure disapproves of their love, in a culture where parental approval is everything. They’ll have to find the strength to fight that knowledge and understand that their own happiness is what matters, and that what Mom used to feel is no longer relevant, and find the ability to love each other anyway.

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Despite the fact that mom is the reason of RH's breakup, I still have sympathy toward her. Yes, she is selfish for interfering RH's happiness with HA, but she does that to protect RH with her own way. I remember in the last episode where she started pushing HA away, that was because she was afraid of losing again someone she loved. So, yes, she made bad decisions but if I see from her side, I think I can understand her that going through her depression, she's solely a mother, a woman, and she's human afterall. Flawed yet complex.

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But she has told RH that she wanted to merry him with rich girl to show off for her father. only then RH will be good enough to inherit grandfather's clinic. This is also to protect RH?

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Sorry, can't agree with you, Ga. I can understand that she mourned the death of HA's father deeply...but she was not the only one mourning. HA lost her father, making her an orphan. She now no longer has any close blood relatives. RH too mourns his death. HA's father was the father he never had, plus he had to carry the burden that he was responsible for the man's death because he had a drink with him, PLUS, he had promised HA's father to take care of HA. And by sending HA away, RH couldn't fulfill that promise. Image how he would feel. However, his mother was not even aware of all this. She had never taken the time to talk to him, to ask about he felt or to notice that he was in agony too. Why? cos she chose to wallow in her pain and ignore other's. She failed in her duty as a mother because she put her concerns and pain first...and worse, pretending and deluding herself that she was doing the right thing, despite knowing how RH and HA feel about each other. She sent RH away so that her pain would lessen...not concerned about the pain it would cause HA herself and RH.

And she continued to do it in the years to come. It is one thing to do it just after HA's father death...maybe she was depressed and was not in the right frame of mind...but she continued to do it, even after knowing that they were dating. That's totally selfish. If HA and RH were somehow siblings, then she should at least have the decency to tell them. They are adults now and all the more so when she found out that she was suffering from Alzheimers.

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Nope, have no sympathy for her, and even though she's an imaginary character, I don't want to have any as it feels like we're just making excuses.

There just has to be a time, where despite your own pain, fears, depression etc - where you see the people around you, especially those who are even more vulnerable - and think about them instead. Her pushing HA away was just awful - how can you do that to a child, who had just lost her father? Seriously, she deserves a massive shaking.

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Ga, I completely agree with your assessment. It's so easy to write off Sun-young as a selfish mother and human being who lives vicariously through her son (a write-off I can't comprehend in the least), but this show, I think, invites analysis beyond the superficial, knee-jerk reaction.

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I don't think she lives vicariously through her son, at all. She barely sees him a person. Ri Hwan is merely the means by which SHE will vindicate herself to her father. I'm still amazed that she let him go into Eastern medicine - there really is no precedent or explanation for her allowance of that deviation from her plan. Ri Hwan, other than not becoming a Western medical doctor to take over daddy's hospital, has always done exactly what she wanted - her suicide attempts made certain of that. Her Alzheimers has just given her the ultimate means to keep him bound to her side, living the life she chooses for him. One moment of honest clarity will not change a lifetime of conditioning.

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Interesting about the part with the DNA test - does RH think that's the reason his mother is objecting to HA?

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I think this DNA test is meant to check if RH has genetic threat to have inherited Alzheimer. The real reason that RH doesn't want HA to go through that pain she's facing now with his mother's illness. He really thinks, that deleting himself from her life will make her forget him someday and if he'll have that illness she won't be in such pain, like now with his mother.

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From JH's and RH's convo it was clearly seen that this test should be to check if he can inherit Alzheimer

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I assumed that the major reason for his advanced case of Noble Idiocy is that he wants to "protect" Haeng Ah from the heartache of living with someone with Alzheimers; he seems to be assuming that the same thing that has happened to his mother will happen to him.

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Yes!Yes!Yes! Recap! Thanks, LollyPip! Off to read it

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There is no excuse for living your life thru ur children.mum had issues yes, she is human yes, but nothing will justify that she has to pass it on to innocent children yet to find there own part in life..

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Just chiming in to back up what Lucy said. The DNA test is not about RH and HA being siblings... It's whether or not he will be inheriting his mother's illness.

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I was almost crying when reading your Comments part, LollyPip. This drama is so real. And this problem with mom who's causing so much trouble and mental illness to innocent kids, then grown up kids and lately adults...This writer knows how to play on my heartstrings. And after all she has done, Haenga still cares and loves her, and Rihwan tells her that he understands everything and there is nothing to forgive. Gosh, i want him to accept that his mother caused him a lot of pain and mental problems. Being a boy he knew that she was going to leave him alone and he has distracted himself from all social activity to stay with her, since he was scaring she'll fall asleep for good. And after all that painhe has grown up as mature and selfless, sunny person. Oh, Rihwani, please show your inner pain andget rid of your fears. Live your own happy life!

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All I can say is that mum is really lucky that RH grew up to such sweet and caring person and that HA loves her no matter what.

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By the way, how do you think will Rihwan end up by letting his mother live in that sanatorium, his mother was going to live?
I can't wait to see how they will work out their problems and how they will find strenth to live happy life even with mom's illness. But that's life...Writer, I love you!

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Maybe because it's hard enough for her to be a single mother, and when there is hope in HA's father and she lost it, she justify everything that she has done in the name to protect and to raise RH properly. It's the same with Elis Grey from Grey's Anatomy.

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Can someone please slap Suk Jin, left, right and centre? LollyPip, I totally agree with your assessment of his character and your analysis of mum.

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Before, i was guessing here and there about mom. Her brief talk in this ep confirm everything. She's so selfish. I feel she doesn't deserve such a good son like Ri Hawn. So she just want to married RH to YS family so that she can keep her head high when she goes back to her family. Man. That's just not right. She basically kept her pride regardless of RH's wellbeing. He could had got a better childhood if she just go back to her family. And about 2 suicide attempts, that's just the worst. So, in short, i think she the worst character in this drama. However, because of the love and loyalty she has from HA and RH, ppl feel like she's not a villain. At least, now that she has Alzheimer. She realised her craziness. And I'm not sure how as well. I feel like her confessions is too rush. It was touching how she told RH stop listening to her and live happily. But shouldn't it be more story for why she suddenly change?
I love love love HA talk across the street. Girl you finally got it right. I have always feel her weakness since the beginning of the drama. It get frustrating when mom' situation kick it. Mom was right when she said HA is someone to be taking care of not the other way around. But now she knows how much she was a burden to RH. And she changed. I love what she said about her getting back to RH life regardless RH wish to push her away.
Can't wait for cute reunion of our OTP. I didn't sign up for this much angst when i see Bubblegum as the name.

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Thanks for the recap! Just one point! I don't think by the DNA test he wanted to confirm that they were not siblings, he wants to know whether or not he has the disease.

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My personal Top-3 of the best characters in Bubblegum (so far):
1. Park Ri Hwan. Nevertheless his controversial decision to break up which is still not 100% wrong if to look from different angles an should bring positive changes at least at HA's life afterwards, he's my favourite male character among all kdramas I've seen so far.
2. Kim Haeng Ah. Slowly approaching to be one of my favourite female characters in kdramas. She's finally becoming stronger and changes her lifestyle and I hope mind as well. Still, for me if lacking her emotions towards RH. We have seen her addiction and passion towards SJ. I know that loves can be different, yet I want to see her affection towards RH.
3. Tae hee. Very controversial character. As much as I hate her for bringing mess into HA's heart and head and making RH feel guilty, I still admire her and feel sorry that she's choosing her quite pity love interests because of her inner mental illness. I hope she'll find her happiness.

My top-2 of the worst characters in Bubblegum (so far):

Although we don't have cliche villians here, still, those people's actions bother and irritate me a lot.

1. Seok Joon. Normally I seel sympathy to second male lead. Here I can only idnore my feelings to him. Not because of my love towards Ri Hwan, but because of Seok Joon's miserable actions. From the very 2nd episode I didn't appreciated how he was treating RH. But now, what he did with broken hearted man was more then awful. Agree with LollyPip regarding his character.

2. Mom. Oh that mom. So many words have been said here about her selfishness. And her words to RH in episode 12 weren't enough for me to forgive her and believe that the problem of mom's rejection has been resolved.

In this episode I've started to appreciate more Ji Hoon. He's good friend. Very good. And if TH doesn't see that HA won't be happy without RH, JH understands it totally.

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I find that I'm not really warming to Ri Hwan, here. To me, he seems curiously immature. He is very caring, but he seems to lack the courage of his own convictions. He starts out his relationship with Haeng Ah with a lot of bravado, not really accepting the difficulties ahead but just looking at everything with a rosy sort of it-will-all-work-out optimism. Then, when faced with some serious obstacles, he just crumples. He can't see any way forward but to deny the very existence of their feelings - this is so childlike, to think that just pretending it doesn't exist will make all the problems go away. Yes he is miserable, and he has made her miserable, and he doesn't have the guts or the brains to come up with another solution. Meanwhile, Haeng Ah is valiantly hanging on, busy growing and changing to make herself more worthy. His puppydog-sad eyes don't make me feel for him, they make me want to give him a swift kick in the pants. Snap out of it! as Cher would say (in Moonstruck).

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@skelly - I mean no disrespect, but I'm just curious...I s there any character/s of this drama that you like and are watching for? The only reason I ask is that in our discussion over the last couple episodes, you described HA as pathetic, miserable, and stuck. After your comments here about RH being immature, I am wondering if you enjoy this drama at all and/or why you're still watching it.

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Actually, I watch it because all of these characters are so flawed, flawed in very realistic ways. I really enjoy playing armchair psychologist with them, I like pulling apart all of their issues -- I will be watching this show to the very end, not because I especially like any of the characters (obviously I don't) but because the characters are multi-faceted and interesting and are almost all well-acted (a rarity in itself). Plus, I love the way the show is shot, the cinematography is beautiful.

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This Suk joon is really an asshole. Who caused HA more pain that he has to be getting me angry like this, he should just get out of thier life, HA just barely moved on from him. What an annoying character he is

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@Skelly, for sure you're HA's fan if you call Ri Hwan miserable and childish. And probably you don't "read" what writer is showing us. Or you read it in your own way. Haeng Ah is recognizing by herself that she's weak, and she's changing. Anf what RH should recognize? When he has stepped into relationships with HA he didn't know about mom's disease or his possible disease as well. Isn't it a HUMAN's behavior to make mistakes or somehow wrong decisions? In such situation. Or do you want him to behave as those fairytale dramas' characters? Writer has shown us that he was an engine of their relationships, but later, when REAL problems have arised, she has shown us his human behavior, not Prince Charming's from the fairytale. I'm sorry, but I can't get into your point of view. At all. How can human's behaviour in such extremly tough situation can be called childish? All I can see from your comment is complete admiration of Haeng Ah without even trying to understand Ri Hwan.

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@skelly by the way, which difficulties he should have taken into account when starting relationships with HA? Was he only one who has started it? HA is not a sheep who just followed him. He has told her that she can decide by her own. I simply can't stand when female characters' fans are trying to put all fault on male's shaulders. Are we, women so miserable creations?

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Uh, I'm not Haeng Ah's "fan." She's got plenty of issues on her own, including massive insecurity (understandable) and untreated anxiety. But she's been more honest about this train-wreck relationship and is still trying to find a way to make it work rather than wallowing in self-indulgent misery. Ri Hwan didn't even give her a reason when he threw her over.
He knew, before initiating the relationship, that his mother would be against it; he was even there to hear his mother saying, in no uncertain terms, that if it ever happened she would throw Haeng Ah out. He just seemed to throw roses over everything. Cute, but they should have talked more about what to do about mother right up front. Then, once she was diagnosed, there should have been more communication about what this meant for their relationship and how they could care for mom yet also care for themselves. And as her son, and really the initiator of this relationship, it really was his responsibility to initiate these topics. No; it was either roses or disaster, which is just a really immature way of looking at life.

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I see...it's you point of view based on your own attitude to life, love, relationships. But that's doesn't mean that you're right and it's verity. Neither my point of view is. But isn't truth - what writer has put into story? And in that particular storyline for me is obvious that neither writer, nor all characters consider Ri Hwan as immature, miserable or guilty. What I like in this writer, that she gives us humans and humans reactions, actions, mistakes. I don't say that he was right to send HA away and break with her. For me the best was to ask her if she's ready to go through his possible Alzheimer. But that's the only mistake I see. But this mistake is how human acts. And not because they're immature. And that's what writer is showing us. You're judging/blaming him, that he should bear everything on his shoulders since he has started those relationships? What problems? Mom could send HA away? But where to send? She's already living by her own and mom doesn't treat her well. RH gave HA choice to quit. She has chosen to go on with romance. And at this moment there is two of them, not only RH. Yes, he has told her to deal with his mom, which was the main issue. And he did it. He was ready to confront his mom and that's what he did and even when he has found out about her Alzheimer he was still trying to figure everything out. And the person who wanted escape was HA, not him.
So he was permanent in solving those problems which they had before starting relationships. And then came evil fate with mom's disease. Did he know about her disease when he has initiated their relationships? And even knowing it he was permanent. Where was his immaturity in it? But then he realized that weak (I mean more about health) HA might face not only mom's but his disease as well. They should have talked, I agree. But then in following your logic both of them are immature, since HA didn't want to talk lots of times and reveal her feelings or fears and he was the one who has constantly pushed her to do this. But for me it's not the problem of immaturity, but of people's inner fears and mental problems. And that's real life. No one is perfect. He has fought over HA's fears and mental illness. If she could be pushy then they might have talked and he might has explained her everything. But she's not that kind of person. And I don't call it immaturity either. It's just what she should change in herself. I hope that's what she's doing now. Because being close with person you love won't help you in future. Anyway, I agree only with fact that he was wrong, that he hasn't discussed this issue with her. But it wasn't only his fault, since the problem why he has done it wasn't one of those problems he has promissed to go through when he has suggested step into relationships. And this problem was force majeure for him. I love this story and those characters coz they're not perfect...they're humans. And calling RH immature...well, it's your...

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Ri-hwan started up this whole mess of trouble in the beginning by hitting on Haeng Ah and now he feels it's okay to just walk away. His mother messed him up in so many ways.

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The Noble Idiot is a selfish jerk. Why? Because the NI doesn't think enough of the other person to let that person make a decision for herself. The NI ignores the other person's hopes and desires and places their own desires first. It doesn't matter that the NI means well because the individual loses all power. The NI essentially tells the other party that she is incapable of making decisions or being mindful for their wellbeing. Here, RH is a NI. Whether HA wants to deal with all the potential baggage or not, RH doesn't trust her to make her decision. Therefore, it stripes HA of her autonomy and renders her powerless in her own life.

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still watching this show, somehow this writer has managed to make me cry every single episode, wahhhh...

thanks lollypip & saya for the recaps. yay! for the changes that HA is making in her life. her speech on the sidewalk was so real & heartfelt.

what i really love about this show, the snippets of conversation among the cast:) I can’t help but cringe every time I hear some dialogue that mirrors what I’ve said in real life… like JH scene w/ RH in the resto, I can’t believe he said that, but I’m like I say that to friends who wants to get married. Encouraging them to be happy & find love, even though I’ll end up being a spinster, hahhahahhahaa… embarrassing but I was like, did he just say that! I can’t believe he said that! But that’s me, hahhahahhahaaa… the only thing missing is RH reply should be to JH (insert well-meaning friends), don’t lose hope, you never know, you’ll find love in old age, hahhahahhaaa…

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HA: “That day was like any other out of the 365 days. I didn’t know I’d remember it for so long. Why I give you all of my heart so fearlessly? What was I thinking storing all of that in my heart while with you? I won’t even be able to forget it?”
All that HA wanted, so did RH wanted too, was that simply, a simply day like any 365 days. Its not a matter of simply or extraordinary that weigh in our heart. It’s about the person that we spent that simply day with. Even though they grew up together, they restricted their hearts, and stored each other archived deep into a corner in their heart, likened to boxes of “Unsolved Cold Case”. Only when they acknowledged that their present love for each other, whether or not, they have future for each other. Then they retrieved that box in their heart, realizing all along each is in the other’s heart. Every Simply Day in 365 days, looks new.

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RH: “I think you need to live day by day.. Don’t think about the fact that she won’t be with me tomorrow. Just Last until midnight.
How amazing that this OTP is extraordinary, that they don’t glory themselves into how they may waste themselves in mourning their “breaking-up”. Each on their own, lives on healthy, though not happily truly, but healthy and sensibly and sincerely for each other, even without each other knowing. For fear that the other may secretly stalked and noticed how they lived in misery and get saddened. So they moved on, not wallowed in self-destruction. I say that is Great. While HA make changes to her daily life, conquered her fear, looked forward to a day when she is worthy to come and help him. There’s nothing he can do, he will just look at each present day by itself, and just live meaningfully, just by not breaking down. While he will not fake any happiness, he will not advertise his pain. He looks at “now till mid-night”, worry not that the bubblegum may burst tomorrow… this is how his daylight fade into nightfall, each day. tomorrow is another day by itself.

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“James Dean Said this: “Dream like you’ll live forever, live like you’re going to die tomorrow….
But people live today as if they will live forever, they dream as if they will die tomorrow.”
“Seize the day” was always the theme that recent KD drama being saying, from Twenty Again to this, Seize means be responsible for each of your decision and treasure today as if you’ll die tomorrow, when tomorrow comes you have not regret. While simply no one live forever, I’ll say, dream and live today as if you die tomorrow. So that when tomorrow comes, today become a sweet memory by tomorrow. And believing while Forever is in the hands of God, your “today” does craft your forever future.
Bubblegum uniqueness comes littered along the pathways in little heartfelt sharings, not the swooning OTP moments, or big drama plot…. But loved her night RADIO broadcast, her supporting casts’ rantings, the music selection, the Voice-over…. The many philosophical honest sharing. Isn’t late night broadcasting are actually meant for lonely hearts, wounded hearts, aging hearts, dying hearts….
This Bubblegum is a bone in our mouth, how we find this bubblegum hardened, and weigh heavier each week. The intensity deepened, the bubblegum went into our stomach, bloated and ballooned and filled up our being. How weightier can a bubblegum be? I still don’t understand, a drama with such intensity can be called bubblegum?

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http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jamesdean103528.html

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."
James Dean

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HA kicks ass in this ep. She's stronger than ever. I love that she basically explode in this ep. She says all she should have say all this drama.
Mom's doctor friend, Ji Hoon and the girl at Secret Garden is awesome too. They're saying all us, the viewers, want to say.
The kiss in the forehead is cliché. But it's filmed beautifully. I love the shot from outside the bus window. LDW's and JRW's visual is deabak. JRW looks very naturally pretty. And do i have to talk about LDW's drop dead handsomeness?!

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Haeng ah impressed me so much in this ep, she's finally not being passive anymore. her greatest growth in being able to go to the hospital confidently encouraged and touched me so much, this is a drama but all the characters feel so real and fleshed out that I care so much for them. Sukjoon and Yi Seul are just like whatever now man im sad that they were reduced to such roles but i appreciate the emphasis on the main 3 people of the show, RH, HA and RH's mom. on the side note there was much needed humor provided throughout this ep so yay!

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