Woohoo Waikiki: Episode 11

by LollyPip

Finally, our Waikiki crew is back! I gotta tell ya, I didn’t handle the last two weeks off from their silly antics and heartbreaking crushes very well. It’s amazing that these bizarre people and their insane shenanigans have gotten under my skin so badly, when generally this kind of over-the-top humor would be annoying me by now. But somehow the show just keeps getting better and better, and I’m so glad to see our Waikiki oddballs again.

 
EPISODE 11: “Night of the Living Dead/I really like you”

Dong-gu marches home excitedly and finds Yoon-ah outside, and he tells her, “I like you. I really like you. Do you want to date me?” Yoon-ah stares, then pushes away his hands and declines. Dong-gu assures her that he’s prepared to take responsibility for her and Sol, but she says that she never asked him to do that.

She gets a little offended, asking if a single mother like her is obligated to go out with him just because he asks. She says they should pretend this never happened. Chef Hyun-joon brings Yoon-ah her phone, which she left in his car, and Dong-gu looks humiliated that Hyun-joon saw the whole thing.

Soo-ah arrives and asks if Dong-gu is okay. He asks if he just got dumped, and she says gently, “Yep, and it only took five seconds.” Awww.

Inside, Seo-jin complains that as a trainee at her new job, she has to review all the dramas and reality shows (hey, it’s a great gig!). Joon-ki asks her to clean his ears and flops his head down in her lap. Seo-jin turns bright red (it’s something couples usually do for each other) and shoves Joon-ki to the floor.

Dong-gu runs inside after Yoon-ah, and right in front of everyone, he demands a reason for her dumping him. She says coldly that she just doesn’t want to date him, and that she doesn’t want to talk about it.

She leaves, and Doo-shik asks incredulously if Dong-gu likes Yoon-ah. Soo-ah says that he got dumped in five seconds, shocking everyone further. Yoon-ah sits in her room while Dong-gu stalks off to brood in the park, both of them looking miserable.

Dong-gu ends up at a convenience store drinking beer, and Soo-ah joins him. He asks her if he’s that bad, protesting, “I’m handsome! And tall!” Soo-ah asks if he wants the truth or a sugar-coated lie, so he tells her to forget it. LOL.

He heads to the bathroom, and Soo-ah gets a call from her brother Soo-bong (cameo by Shin Seung-hwan), who thinks she’s in the U.S. As they chat, Soo-bong exits the store where he’s shopping and runs right into Soo-ah… whoops!

Soo-ah searches for an explanation, just as Dong-gu returns, mumbling that they should go home. Soo-bong asks what he means by “go home,” so Soo-ah blurts out that they got back together. She adds that they’re living together since they’re planning to get married soon, and Dong-gu can barely hide his alarm.

Soo-bong is thrilled and insists on following them home to catch up. Soo-ah begs Dong-gu to go along with it, scared that Soo-bong will find out she was conned, but he asks, “Hey, isn’t Joon-ki home??”

Joon-ki and Doo-shik make fun of Dong-gu’s crush and dub him “Five Secs,” ha. But everyone panics when Dong-gu calls to warn them that Soo-bong is on the way. Joon-ki tries to run away, but when Soo-bong walks in, he has to dive into a cabinet.

Soo-bong seems unsuspecting, until he spies a picture of Dong-gu, Doo-shik, and Joon-ki together. He asks why they keep a picture of a dead person, forcing Dong-gu and Doo-shik to turn on the waterworks and wail for their “dead” friend. What the heck?

Soo-bong seems to think that Joon-ki was killed by lightning, PFFT. He calls it punishment for stealing his girlfriend, adding that Joon-ki got off easy because he would have put him into a coma if he’d caught him.

Yoon-ah walks in and obliviously calls out to Joon-ki. Doo-shik thinks fast and tells Yoon-ah that she forgot again that Joon-ki died, snapping at her for forgetting her meds and bundling her off to her room. LOL, she’s so confused.

Once they’re alone, Doo-shik explains to Yoon-ah that Joon-ki stole Soo-bong’s girlfriend, so they had to pretend Joon-ki died (Sidenote: I love the running gag where characters repeat entire unheard conversations in really obvious exposition to explain backstories). Of course, it was Joon-ki’s idea, because he was terrified of Soo-bong, who’s an undefeated UFC fighter.

Poor Joon-ki is stuck in the cabinet all evening. Soo-bong’s about to head back to his dorm, but he gets a call informing him that the boiler broke, so he invites himself to stay at Waikiki guesthouse until he leaves for a match in two days. Seo-jin says there are no empty rooms, but he insists on sleeping on the couch.

Their attempts to get him out of the room so Joon-ki can escape all fail. Soo-bong decides to catch up on his dramas, so Joon-ki is trapped in the cabinet until late, eventually nature calls.

He texts Seo-jin for help, and although she wonders why she’s even worried about Joon-ki, she ends up wandering out to the living room with an empty water bottle. She manages to slip him the bottle when Soo-bong isn’t looking.

Unfortunately, Soo-bong hears the sound of liquid splashing into the bottle, so Seo-jin turns the TV way up to mask the noise. She gets another text saying that Joon-ki needs another bottle, but all she has is her thermos. GROSS.

In the morning, Doo-shik wakes to find Dong-gu at the desk, frantically scribbling in a book over and over, “Why? No. I refuse.” Okay, the boy is losing it. Doo-shik emphatically swears that Dong-gu is awesome, and he asks Dong-gu how he confessed. He’s not surprised that Yoon-ah would refuse a confession given on the street without even a flower.

Poor Joon-ki is still in the cabinet, wondering if Soo-bong is still there. He is, and he’s watching the same drama that captivated Joon-ki, Doo-shik, and Sol before. He’s so engrossed that he refuses to have breakfast, keeping Joon-ki trapped.

Soo-ah decides to tag along to Doo-shik’s job again, determined to catch her ex, Yoon-seok, who stole her money. Seo-jin leaves for work, leaving Dong-gu with little Sol. He asks Sol what kinds of things her mommy likes, trying to make sense of her adorable babbles.

At the store, Doo-shik continues to work on his web novel. He decides to use a finger jab during one scene and performs one for Soo-ah, pretending to poke someone’s eyes. Unimpressed, she invites him to try it on her then easily grabs his wrist, making him whine like a weenie.

Yoon-ah had gone to school early to study. Hyun-joon finds her and asks her about Dong-gu’s confession, but she quickly cuts him off and says she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Doo-shik briefly leaves Soo-ah to watch the store, and while he’s gone, Yoon-seok comes in looking for the Thai ramyun again. Soo-ah recognizes his voice and confronts him, and he makes a run for it. She chases him outside, where Doo-shik sees them wrestling.

Breaking free, Yoon-seok heads in Doo-shik’s direction. Doo-shik bounces back and forth to block his escape, but Yoon-seok threatens him with a hand cart. The only thing Doo-shik can think of is the finger jab, and although he looks ridiculous, it actually works.

Back at the house, Soo-bong finally finishes his drama. He decides to go for a run after sitting all day watching TV, and Joon-ki finally tumbles out of the cabinet, his legs fast asleep. Soo-bong is chased back inside by the cold, and he comes face-to-face with Joon-ki. Oh no.

Thinking fast, Joon-ki pretends to be his own twin brother, Joon-gu. When Dong-gu wanders in, Joon-ki makes faces at him to play along. Soo-bong is a tough sell, but Joon-ki puts on a dramatic performance of a forgotten younger twin and convinces him.

Soo-bong wants to know where Joon-ki is buried, so Joon-ki says that they scattered his ashes. Soo-bong insists on saying farewell, so Joon-ki leads him to a random lake. Soo-bong kneels and wails Joon-ki’s name, sobbing that he and Joon-ki were close and that he forgave him long before Joon-ki “died.”

Seeing Soo-bong’s extreme reaction to his supposed death, Joon-ki grows emotional. He screams for Soo-bong and confesses that it’s him, and that he only lied out of fear. He throws out his arms to embrace Soo-bong, and Soo-bong runs to him… and beats the crap out of him. LOL.

Even though they caught Yoon-seok, Soo-ah is distraught to learn that she’ll probably not get her money back. Doo-shik says she can start over, but she snaps that she has no education or skills other than modeling, which doesn’t pay well. She asks accusingly if Doo-shik happy being a bad writer.

He says that he doesn’t care what others think, because he’s happy doing what he likes. He tells Soo-ah that everyone has different standards of happiness, so it’s not too late for her to find something she wants to do with her life that makes her happy.

She snaps that she’s already twenty-nine, but he says that she’s only in the third inning of her life. He asks if she’s going to quit so soon, when she may get a double or a triple later, or even a home run. Looking stunned, Soo-ah asks, “Doo-shik — how many innings are in a baseball game?” Sigh.

The house is quiet when Yoon-ah arrives home. Dong-gu calls to ask her to come to the media room to help him clean. When she arrives, she finds the room full of flowers and balloons, with Dong-gu standing in a heart made of flower petals. He’s so sweet, but he really doesn’t get it.

His confession is a lot more romantic this time, but Yoon-ah doesn’t even let him finish. She says that she’s already turned him down, and the poor guy looks so confused. He follows Yoon-ah downstairs and promises to get her a ring, but she says that her answer is the same no matter what he does — she won’t date him.

He asks her to go on one date with him and then decide, but Yoon-ah says she has no time for dating. He offers to wait, but she tells him not to. Dong-gu raises his voice, asking if she’s unwilling to even consider him, but Yoon-ah just stands there silently. So he backs down and says that he’ll just stop liking her.

Soo-bong walks in carrying a limp Joon-ki and asks what Dong-gu means about liking Yoon-ah. Uh-oh. When Soo-ah comes home later, Soo-bong knows the truth about everything, including her being scammed and the real reason she’s living at the guesthouse. He tells her to go home to their parents’ house, but she says she wants to start over.

She argues that she’s only twenty-nine, and she uses the UFC main event to explain that she’s only in the second round of her life, with three rounds left to live. She convinces him, and he gives her a comforting hug.

Yoon-ah goes to Hyun-joon’s bakery where he finds her practicing late at night. He asks if she looks so sad because of Dong-gu, and he asks why she refused him when he seems like a good guy. She says, “I know better than anyone that he’s a good man. But I don’t want to trust anyone again. I don’t want to be hurt again.”

Dong-gu stays in the media room for a long time, moping over Yoon-ah’s rejection. He’s still grouchy in the morning, and when Yoon-ah leaves to practice at Hyun-joon’s bakery again and Joon-ki wonders if she likes him, Dong-gu says calmly that he doesn’t care because he’s not interested in her anymore.

Doo-shik asks where he’s going today, and Dong-gu snaps, screaming that he already told them he’s going to work on Director Kim’s movie. But sure, he doesn’t care.

Joon-ki starts posting selfies of himself online, claiming that it’s to communicate with his fans. He asks Seo-jin to take a picture with him, and she gets all hot and bothered again when he throws an arm around her. She retreats to her room to despair over her reaction to Joon-ki while he leaves to film another episode of his children’s drama, the one where he and Mutant Man play an octopus and a crab.

During a break, Mutant Man tells Joon-ki about an audition for a drama with a famous director, but unfortunately the audition is over. Joon-ki visits Jae-woo, an assistant PD who’s an old friend of his (cameo by Tae In-ho). He’s startled when Jae-woo bellows at him at top volume, and Jae-woo explains that he recently filmed a bombing scene, which temporarily damaged his ears.

Joon-ki has to bellow back, asking if Jae-woo can get him an audition for the drama, but Jae-woo says it’s too late. Seo-jin comes by on her way to an interview, and she blushes and stammers when Joon-ki ruffles her hair. Jae-woo thinks she’s cute and offers to get Joon-ki an audition in return for a favor.

Dong-gu is distracted during his movie planning meeting, so that when he’s asked for idea, he just yells out, “Hyun-joon!” The director thinks he’s talking about actor Shin Hyun-joon, but luckily he likes the idea of casting the actor and praises Dong-gu.

Yoon-ah pays for ddukbokki to thank Hyun-joon for letting her use his bakery, though she wishes he’d let her buy him something nicer. As they’re leaving, a young boy crashes his remote-control car into Hyun-joon’s leg, tripping him and badly injuring his back.

Joon-ki calls Seo-jin and offers to buy her a meal, so she primps and dresses up while complaining that this is sooo annoying. But when she arrives at the restaurant, she’s surprised when they’re joined by Jae-woo, who shouts a greeting at her.

Joon-ki explains that this is a blind date, and when Seo-jin tries to leave, he appeals to her to stay so he can audition for the drama. She takes pity on him, but she quickly regrets it when she has to yell for Jae-woo to understand her and the whole restaurant laughs at them.

Dong-gu comes home from his meeting with a stinky box full of old socks, which his director asked him to wash since he’s so busy. He’s pretty upset when he learns that Yoon-ah still hasn’t come home, and he listens with interest when Yoon-ah calls Doo-shik.

She says that she’s still at Hyun-joon’s house because he got hurt and needs help. Fully aware that Dong-gu is lying about being over Yoon-ah, Soo-ah fans the flames by slyly noting that she’s alone with Hyun-joon late at night. Dong-gu says he’s not at all worried, then fakes a call from his director and claims that he wants his socks back right away.

He heads to the cooking school, but it’s closed. He tricks a teacher into giving him Hyun-joon’s address by pretending that the box of smelly socks is an urgent delivery, and when he gets to Hyun-joon’s (very nice) apartment, he feigns surprise to see Yoon-ah there.

He lies that he thought this was his director’s house, then decides that it would be very rude to leave without having a cup of tea. But Doo-shik calls Yoon-ah to tell her that Sol won’t stop crying, so she heads home, asking Dong-gu to take care of Hyun-joon. Heh, the guys look at each other with identical expressions of, “Well, that didn’t turn out like I’d hoped.”

At the guesthouse, the whole place rattles when Jae-woo brings Seo-jin home and they bellow their goodbyes to each other. Seo-jin comes in looking exhausted, and she shoots Joon-ki the Eye-daggers of Certain Doom on her way to her room. He follows her to ask how it went, and when she says she’s not going to see Jae-woo again, Joon-ki asks her to please just keep seeing him until after his audition.

She refuses, but Joon-ki acts so pitiful about missing out on the audition of a lifetime that she relents. He leaves, happy and bouncy again, not even noticing how miserable she looks.

While Dong-gu wonders if he has to spend the night with Hyun-joon, Hyun-joon gets stuck in the bathroom. He calls for help, and when Dong-gu gets to the bathroom, he shrieks at the sight of Hyun-joon with his pants down. Hyun-joon sheepishly asks for help getting to his feet, but once he’s standing, he realizes that he can’t bend over to pull up his underwear or pants.

Dong-gu tries hard not to look as he kneels in front of Hyun-joon, but he accidentally gets an eyeful and screams with maidenly horror. Hyun-joon tries to reach a magazine to cover himself with, but instead he falls, giving Dong-gu another unwanted look at his goodies. Dong-gu arrives home later looking like a man who’s seen things, ha.

A few days later, Seo-jin comes back from another date with Jae-woo, looking furious. Joon-ki goes to her room, and she says that Jae-woo asked her to date him. She asks what Joon-ki wants her to do, and he says it’s her choice.

Seo-jin asks Joon-ki if he sees her as a woman, because she sees him as a man (in other words, someone she’d consider dating). She tells him that she likes him, and his smile drops as he realizes that she’s serious.

COMMENTS

If Joon-ki cracks a joke and doesn’t take Seo-jin’s confession seriously, I swear I will personally go over there and whack him upside his stupid head. We know he can be serious and that he considers himself a ladies’ man, so he’d better not dismiss Seo-jin with a joke and a pat on the head. I fully expect him to start noticing her in return now that she’s told him how she feels about him, and the flailing should be highly entertaining, but I just don’t want to see him hurt her even more in the process, not even by accident. I’m already angry enough at Joon-ki for basically pimping out Seo-jin in return for an audition, not even asking first, and with a guy who has to scream just to have a conversation (although, how cute was Tae In-ho – he looked like he was cracking up the entire time). But Seo-jin’s been through enough humiliations and disappointments already without Joon-ki making her embarrassment over her crush on him even worse.

I really think it’s great that Soo-ah has become Dong-gu’s confidant in his pursuit of Yoon-ah. She’s got a pretty decent understanding of relationships, she knows Dong-gu’s softer, romantic side better than any of the housemates. She has no stake in whether Dong-gu and Yoon-ah get together, she’s just helping him because she genuinely wants to see him happy, and she’s not afraid to tell him the painful truth. It’s sweet to watch Dong-gu and Soo-ah establish a friendship while she helps him with his broken heart, and I really love the trust he gives her by telling her how hurt and heartbroken he is. In fact, maybe that could be the answer to her question of what to do with her life… She took Doo-shik’s advice and used it to appeal to her stubborn brother, even tailoring it so he could understand, and she was passionate about what she was saying. She would probably make a great life coach, with a little practice.

Even though I’m disappointed that Yoon-ah rejected Dong-gu’s confession, I’m really proud to see her standing up for herself and firmly establishing boundaries. She’s still gentle and sweet, but she’s not a pushover anymore, and she’s prioritizing the things she needs to do to make a better life for herself and her child. Plus, we still don’t know for sure what happened between her and Sol’s father, and she still speaks about it vaguely whenever anyone asks. I think she was badly hurt, which is no doubt affecting her willingness to get into a relationship again. But Yoon-ah had every right to keep her reason for refusing Dong-gu to herself, and he had no right to keep hounding her about it. She said No — that should be the end of it. Of course this is a drama, so that won’t be the end of it, but I hope Dong-gu shows Yoon-ah a bit more respect in the future.

I do think Yoon-ah has feelings for Dong-gu, even if they’re still very small and new right now. But I also think that she’s smart not to risk her heart, much less her and Sol’s futures, for a guy who has shown himself to be impulsive and dismissive, quick to anger, willing to lie to avoid responsibility, and has treated her pretty badly in the not-so-distant past. I don’t think Yoon-ah rejected Dong-gu in the hopes that he’ll change — she really meant it — but if Dong-gu is smart he’ll realize that it’s not enough to just say he’s ready to take care of her and Sol. He’s going to have to prove it, and it’s going to take a long time and a lot of work. He’s got a lot of work to do to convince Yoon-ah that he’s worth the risk, but I believe in him.

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