Fight My Way: Episode 8

by LollyPip

They’re so painfully awkward, I love it! Something about Dong-man and Ae-ra getting all twisted up around each other just makes me grin uncontrollably, because they’re so adorable in their refusal to admit that they love each other. But it’s getting harder for them to hide their feelings, and soon someone is going to have to step up and be honest, even at the risk of losing their friendship forever.

 
Round 8: “She was pretty…”

When Dong-man hears from an old classmate that Moo-bin is engaged, he rushes to find Ae-ra. Still upset, she tells him to stay out of her love life, but he yells that he has to get involved because she’s always screwing it up. When he comforts her as she cries, Ae-ra tells him to stop and blurts, “It’s because you make my heart flutter!”

As Dong-man stares at her, Ae-ra tells him to be careful because she’s not cool or sophisticated, and that like a dog, once she bites she’ll never let go. Dong-man stammers in confusion, and she warns him that she’s close to biting, so they’d better both be careful.

She gives Dong-man his shoes back so he can drive them home on the borrowed scooter, then she climbs on behind him. Dong-man stiffens when he feels Ae-ra’s purse wedged between her chest and his back, ha. She says it’s so he can concentrate on driving, but he quips that his back can’t feel something so small, meaning her chest. Pfft, he deserves that head-butt she gives him in retaliation.

As they walk home, Joo-man tries to explain to Seol-hee that his kiss with Ye-jin was nothing. Seol-hee takes exception to his description of the kiss being like a slug on his lips, disbelieving that he didn’t like it at least a little. She tells him that she’ll handle the slug from here on out.

Dong-man and Ae-ra’s walk home is a lot quieter, both of them feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Eventually Dong-man asks if Ae-ra will come to his match in two days, and she starts to yell at him for fighting but then trails off when the awkwardness returns. Dong-man tells her that he’s fine, so she can act like she normally does.

It’s too late, so Dong-man desperately comments on the stars, of which there are none, hee. They’re saved from themselves when Joo-man and Seol-hee show up, but Seol-hee goes straight home, then Joo-man heads up to his place, neither of them in the mood to drink.

Alone again, Dong-man and Ae-ra go to the roof to drink, and Dong-man promises to handle Moo-bin. He asks Ae-ra why she keeps dating such awful guys, which is apparently a habit that goes all the way back to middle school, when the boy Ae-ra was dating stole her phone and changed schools.

Dong-man also remembers the guy in the band (Ae-ra: “We didn’t date!”), Moo-ki who got another woman pregnant, and now Moo-bin. Ae-ra says haughtily that he left out her real first love, whom Dong-man only knows as “Wrist Guy.” Ae-ra says that her arm still hurts when it rains because of Wrist Guy, and Dong-man grumbles that he’s another loser.

Ae-ra gets lost in a memory from 2011, when she and Dong-man had gone out to eat before he did his army duty. She assures him that he’ll forget all about Hye-ran once he’s away, but Dong-man argues that guys think about their girlfriends even more at times like these.

The next morning, Ae-ra takes a pot of hangover porridge to Dong-man’s place, with a note saying that she’ll wait for him to come home from the army. She finds Hye-ran sleeping on his stoop and tiptoes past her, and when Dong-man doesn’t answer her knock, she leaves the pot of porridge on his doorstep. But she doesn’t see an errant breeze blow her note away.

Dong-man wakes to find a note that Hye-ran slipped under his door, asking him to meet her outside. He finds the porridge and naturally assumes it’s from Hye-ran, and she doesn’t correct him.

A while later, Ae-ra runs back to Dong-man’s, having forgotten the kimchi. She hears weird noises coming from his balcony and wonders if they have rats, and then she sees him and Hye-ran, deep in a makeout session. She tries to escape before they see her, but she trips and goes tumbling. Dong-man runs down to Ae-ra, who’s clutching her badly hurt wrist. OMG, Dong-man is Wrist Guy?? He’s Ae-ra’s first love!

Hye-ran puts on a big tear-filled show over Dong-man leaving for two years as Ae-ra grumbles that it’s not like she’ll wait for him. Dong-man checks Ae-ra’s wrist and fusses at her for crying because of a fall, saying that she’s ugly when she cries, never guessing that her tears are because he’s leaving. He wipes her tears with his cuff and tells her softly to stay out of trouble. It doesn’t escape Hye-ran’s notice that his goodbye to Ae-ra is longer and more tender than the one he gave to her.

Back in the present, Dong-man wonders how Ae-ra could hurt her wrist just from liking someone. Argh, he’s so dense! Ae-ra says that Wrist Guy was utterly useless and had no idea she liked him, and Dong-man sighs that clueless people never even know they’re useless. Tell me about it.

He asks Ae-ra if she still thinks about her first love, so Ae-ra says that a first love is like an immunization shot—you’re nervous before you get it, then it hurts a bit, but then you’re okay, with just a small scar left behind.

Dong-man laughs and says that first loves are bullcrap, then they retire for the night. But when he’s alone, he can’t stop wondering who Ae-ra’s first love is. Ae-ra lies in bed, sighing at what a dimwit Dong-man can be.

The dimwit spends a particularly long time getting ready for breakfast the next morning, spraying his wrist with a liberal amount of Febreeze (to smell nice?). Joo-man keeps sniffing him and complaining that he’s tainting the food with his smell, then Seol-hee notices that both Dong-man and Ae-ra seem nervous and quiet.

Dong-man denies that they’re fighting, weirdly waving his Febreezed wrist at Ae-ra, like he wants her to take a whiff. Seol-hee notices that Ae-ra is wearing lip gloss to breakfast, which catches Dong-man’s attention, though he comes to her rescue and says that’s her natural lip color.

They both leave for the day at the same time, and HAHA, Ae-ra does a u-turn right back inside when she sees him. Dong-man calls her outside and awkwardly asks where she’s going today. She says she’s going shopping for a suit for her KBC interview, and he asks stiffly how long it will take.

Joo-man and Seol-hee’s trip to work is no less cringe-worthy as Joo-man keeps muttering that the kiss was nothing. Seol-hee possessively grabs his briefcase handle, arguing that it’s not like she’s holding his hand when Joo-man grows nervous that they’ll be seen.

Dong-man tags along while Ae-ra tries on clothes, grouching that women always need a new outfit for everything. To every outfit she tries on, all Dong-man can muster is an “It’s okay…” at each one until she finally blows up and asks why he even came if he wasn’t going to tell her which one is pretty on her.

Dong-man stands and yells, “All! Just all! You look pretty in all of them!” The salesgirl giggles as he flops back down in his seat, looking like he’s either going to flee or burst into tears. So cute.

After the shopping is done, Dong-man says he’s off to the gym to train for his match tomorrow. Ae-ra bristles, angry that he’s not obeying her order to stop fighting even after being beaten so badly. But she tags along anyway, curious about where he trains.

Seol-hee surprises Joo-man with a kiss in the copy room, and they nearly get caught by his boss, Manager Choi. Seol-hee flounces back to work, and Manager Choi comments that Joo-won looks like he’s wearing lip gloss, LOL.

The next time Joo-man and Seol-hee see each other at the office, she brazenly grabs his butt, and he whines that she’s making him too nervous to work. Seol-hee says that if he told people that they’ve been dating for so long they may as well be married, then he won’t have to be nervous anymore—which her supervisor overhears. In private, she berates Seol-hee for keeping her relationship a secret, urging her to either tell everyone or keep cool about it. She admits that she was in a similar situation once, and that it’s frustrating and heartbreaking.

The guys at the gym are unhappy to have Ae-ra invade their manly lair, especially Coach Hwang, whom she orders to pay Dong-man for his time spent teaching. Coach yells at his mean trainee, whose name we finally learn is Byung-joo, for punching Dong-man too hard when they both have matches tomorrow.

Byung-joo talks back, then pummels Dong-man even more viciously. Ae-ra snarls at him, then she launches a hilarious aegyo attack, pouting in a squeaky baby voice, “Ae-ra wants to try!” LOL, Dong-man’s head whips around so fast you can practically hear the snap.

Batting giant doe-eyes at Byung-joo, Ae-ra asks him to teach her, chirping that he’s the smartest and handsomest man in the place. He invites her into the ring and Dong-man begs her not to go psycho on him, but she ignores him and shames Byung-joo into not wearing a helmet. He’s gonna regret that.

Byung-joo demonstrates how to anticipate a punch, bragging that he can always evade an incoming fist. Ae-ra throws a few puny little jabs, squealing with girlish glee when he easily dodges them… then the moment his guard is down, she slams a fist into his nose, drawing blood. HAHA, that was awesome.

At a company lunch, everyone is talking about their first in-house couple who’ve been together for six years. But it’s not Joo-man and Seol-hee—it’s Seol-hee’s supervisor and her boyfriend, who’ve finally gone public with a wedding announcement.

When Ye-jin tries to serve Joo-man, Seol-hee’s supervisor nudges her and announces that Seol-hee has a boyfriend too. Seol-hee says it’s true and that they’re getting married soon, as well (Joo-man’s carefully neutral face is cracking me up). Uninterested in Seol-hee, Manager Choi tells Joo-man to do well with his kimchi project, get promoted, and get married too.

He asks Ye-jin to describe her ideal man, and she names Park Bo-gum. Seol-hee blurts that her boyfriend looks exactly like Park Bo-gum, making Joo-man spit his drink. HA.

After the meal, Seol-hee invites Ye-jin to have tea with her, alone. Ye-jin accepts, thinking that they’re girl-bonding because their parents both sell pork trotters and they both like pink. Seol-hee thinks that if this were a drama, Ye-jin’s character would be rude, annoyed that she’s actually sweet and pretty.

Over tea and cake, Ye-jin asks Seol-hee about her boyfriend, and when Seol-hee describes him as a teddy bear, Ye-jin says happily that they have the same taste in men. Seol-hee lights up to hear that Ye-jin has a boyfriend, since it means she’s not a real threat with regards to Joo-man.

Ye-jin offers to show Seol-hee pictures of her guy, reminding her to keep this a secret. Seol-hee’s face falls to see that the pictures are all candid shots of Joo-man. Ye-jin admits that they aren’t dating yet, but she’s confident they will be soon.

Looking at Ye-jin’s overjoyed expression and listening to her gush about how happy she is, Seol-hee can’t help but be reminded of the way she felt when she first fell for Joo-man. She imagines throwing water in Ye-jin’s face, or maybe giving her a good kimchi-slap. But then she realizes that in real life, it’s really hard to make yourself slap someone. HAHA.

Tak-soo and his manager Tae-hee manufacture a dating scandal for him in the hopes of overshadowing the rumor that he hired the Brazilian fighter to beat Dong-man. Tak-soo’s impatience with his girlfriend’s terrible acting skills makes her angry, since this scandal will risk her singing career.

As they walk home that night, Dong-man teases Ae-ra for punching Byung-joo, secretly pleased at the way she defended him. She argues that it’s no different than getting mad when someone hurts your puppy, hee. He tells her to get dressed, and they meet Joo-man and Seol-hee on the roof so Ae-ra can practice for her interview tomorrow.

Ae-ra’s prepared speech sounds great, and her friends are certain she’ll get the job. Seol-hee tears up, sniffling that she’s been watching Ae-ra and Dong-man working for their dreams since they were kids, and tomorrow they’re both getting their big shot.

In the morning, Ae-ra is nervous as she sets out for her interview. She asks Dong-man if she looks okay, and just being asked to look at her makes his brain lock up again. He stammers that maybe it’s because she usually she looks like a beast… and as he’s working up the nerve to call her pretty without actually saying the word, Landlady Hwang pops up behind him and scares him half to death.

“Pretty! He means you’re pretty!” she yells, while Dong-man tries not to curse, ha. She notes that they look guilty, like she caught them in the middle of something, which just makes them look even more guilty.

Ae-ra shoves Dong-man into a taxi and tells him not to tire himself out before his match. She even gives him money to pay for it, saying that she’s his first sponsor. Awww. He gives her the address of his fight just in case she changes her mind, but she says she’s never watching him fight again, and his face falls. Double awww.

She heads to her interview, looking confident and professional. But when it’s her turn to interview, she’s the only one not asked any questions. She’s told that her resume is so lacking that they aren’t interested in learning more about her, because she doesn’t have anywhere near the education and experience of the other candidates.

They assume that because she hasn’t been studying and working in the business, that it shows a lack of dedication. But Ae-ra says that while the other candidates were volunteering and studying abroad, she was earning money.

She calls her dad afterward to ask if she can come visit, but he says that he’s too busy with his restaurant. As Ae-ra heads home, she thinks about how she and her friends live hard, but their resumes have nothing to show for it. She hides her face behind the curtain on the bus so that nobody will see her crying.

Tak-soo’s dating scandal breaks right on schedule, though he’s angry when he learns that Dong-man is fighting his debut match today. Tae-hee promises that he’s found someone who can fight Dong-man and end his mixed martial arts career, because he’s beaten Dong-man before.

As they wait for their bus home, Seol-hee says to Joo-man that she wishes someone would find them out because she’s nervous lately, what with him getting kissed by a pretty, younger girl. Joo-man dutifully insists that Seol-hee is prettier, but she admits that she feels like his secret mistress, and that she’s dragging him down.

She confesses that sometimes, she wishes he hadn’t gone to college and gotten a good job and was more on her level. Joo-man scoots over and takes her hand, and he promises that if he gets promoted to manager, they’ll tell everyone about their relationship and she can quit.

He says he’ll support her dream of being a power blogger, which is a great career for a manager’s wife. Seol-hee stares as he says, “Once I become manager, let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

Before his fight, Dong-man calls his mom, who fibs that his father also wants to talk to him. She holds out the phone, putting it on speaker so that his dad hears him when Dong-man says not to bother passing the phone to his father.

But he hears his dad’s nervous cough, so he tells his mom to give his dad a message, knowing he’s listening. Softly, he asks for his dad to believe in his son, then he quickly hangs up. Dong-man’s dad says gruffly that there’s no need, because Dong-man will win no matter he does. Awww.

At the last minute, the rookie fighter who was to face Dong-man forfeits, so Dong-man is matched with his own teammate, Byung-joo. Coach Hwang objects since Byung-joo is much more experienced. Byung-joo acts like he’s already won the fight, saying that he’ll go easy on Dong-man.

But Dong-man says he’ll fight Byung-joo, confident that he can win. Adorably, he’s more nervous about taking off his shirt to fight, but Coach promises that the audience won’t see anything (“They’ll just look like two kidney beans!” HAHA). Tak-soo’s coach stops them to tell Dong-man that he’s here today as his fan. Dong-man is taken aback, but Coach Choi seems sincere when he tells Dong-man, “Let me see you fly again.”

When Joo-man and Seol-hee’s bus arrives at their stop, Seol-hee calls Joo-man jagi-ya, a common endearment among couples. Belatedly, they see that Ye-jin was waiting for Joo-man at the stop, and that she heard what Seol-hee said.

Byung-joo makes a dramatic entrance into the stadium, followed by Dong-man. As he approaches the cage, Dong-man passes right by Tak-soo, but they just exchange glares. As required, Dong-man takes off his shirt, and Coach Hwang tells him not to let Tak-soo being in the audience rattle him, and to remember that he possesses the superior skill. Dong-man says that he’s just going to enjoy this, since it’s been so long.

There’s a stir in the audience as Hye-ran shows up, and all the reporters follow her to her seat, asking why she’s here. She says that she’s here to cheer on a fighter, gesturing to Dong-man as he’s introduced.

The fight begins, and Byung-joo aggressively lands several punches and kicks in a row, making Tak-soo smirk. But then Dong-man spots Byung-joo shifting his weight and takes his opportunity, delivering a kick to the side that makes Byung-joo double over. Dong-man executes his signature move, the roundhouse kick, and he lands his foot right into Byung-joo’s face, knocking him out cold.

Tak-soo is stunned to see Dong-man win his debut fight against an experienced fighter in only nineteen seconds. Coach Hwang is so proud that he wonders with tears in his eyes how Dong-man kept this inside for so long. Dong-man lets out a mighty battle roar as his hand is raised and he’s declared the winner.

Coach helps Dong-man put his shirt back on and hugs him, fighting back tears. With reporters calling questions to him about who he is and what his relationship is to Hye-ran, Dong-man heads towards the audience and stands in front of Hye-ran, who looks up at him expectantly.

But he steps right past her and up the stairs, to a small figure in the top row, huddled into a ball with her hands over her ears.

He crouches in front of her, and then reaches out to touch her knee. Ae-ra raises her head, revealing her face streaming with tears. Dong-man asks what she’s doing and tells her that he won, and Ae-ra heaves a giant sigh of relief.

In a wobbly voice, she asks if he really has to do this, because she can’t bear to watch. Looking up at her in wonder, Dong-man just says, “I’m in trouble. Now you look pretty even when you cry.”

Epilogue.

Little Dong-man’s teacher finds him feeding the class rabbits, favoring the pretty one over the ugly one. She tells him that the ugly rabbit will be sad to be left out, saying that the uglier it is, the nicer he should be to it.

Later, Dong-man passes out gum to little Ae-ra, curly-haired Seol-hee, and himself. He has one piece of gum left, and he looks closely at both girls before giving the last piece to Ae-ra. She grins at him, and he reaches out to pat her head like she’s a fluffy little bunny.

 
COMMENTS

Well, just excuse me while I swoon forever. Hoo boy, when Dong-man decides to turn on the charm, he really goes all-out, doesn’t he? He was all business during that fight and all man afterward, no trace of the dumb jock at all. It was so romantic, the way he knew Ae-ra was in the audience without even seeing her face, and he knew that she needed him to reassure her that he was okay. Seeing him fight really does tear her up inside, but it’s proof of how much she cares about him that she was there to support him anyway, even if she couldn’t actually watch and even though it made her miserable. I’m hoping that Dong-man’s declaration that Ae-ra is pretty when she cries is him finally recognizing and accepting his feelings for her. As cute as they are when in denial, I’m ready to see some truly embarrassing dating now.

I’m happy that Joo-man finally set a goal to marry Seol-hee, though something still feels wrong to me. We’re at the midpoint of the story so it might just be weak writing, but as the rest of the characters are so well-imagined, I can’t help but hope that this is intentional. Their conflicts have been solved too easily, and I worry that something big is about to hit them and truly test their commitment to each other in a way that an annoying admirer hasn’t been able to do. But as strange as it sounds, I think that Joo-man and Seol-hee need something to shake them up, to make them really think about whether this relationship is what they want. I don’t want them to get married because it’s been six years, so why not. I want them to get married because they’ve been through the fire and realized they can’t live without each other.

Tak-soo is getting worrisome—he’s way more concerned about taking out Dong-man before they have an official fight, than just fighting him fair and square. He’s obviously scared of facing Dong-man in the ring because he knows he’ll lose, but I’m getting scared that his tricks and schemes are going to get Dong-man seriously hurt. They already did once before, and people get killed in this sport. Now it looks as though Byung-joo might even have a connection with Tak-soo, which is frightening because he has close access to Dong-man that Tak-soo wouldn’t have otherwise. Luckily, it seems as though Coach Choi really is a decent guy who admires Dong-man’s skill and dedication (loved his little smile when Dong-man won his fight), so I hope that he’ll step up to help if things go pear-shaped.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that Dong-man is Ae-ra’s first love, because we’ve seen the clues in the epilogues going all the way back to their childhood days. But I am surprised that she’s so aware of it, and that even Dong-man knows about Wrist Guy, though not his identity (of course the big moose was there when Ae-ra hurt her wrist, but he’s never been quick enough to put the clues together). Until now, I’ve just been assuming that Ae-ra’s warnings to Dong-man were because she’s experiencing a newfound attraction to him—it never occurred to me that she’s knowingly been in love with him for years. And it’s no wonder that all of Ae-ra’s boyfriends have been disasters… none of them are Dong-man, so she’s never bothered to really look for someone she could love, because she’s already in love. Somehow, this adds a layer to their interactions that changes everything, and it’s the best thing ever.

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