Search Query: WWW: Episode 5

by LollyPip

The mounting issues in her professional life are having a profound effect on our brave heroine’s personal life, and she’s learning that she’s not quite as brave as she’s always believed. It’s not easy to feel all alone in the world, but luckily, there’s more than one person who would like to be by her side, if she’d let them. Ta-mi’s bravest act yet may be admitting that she needs help, but she’s discovering that the rewards are well worth the risk.

 
EPISODE 5 RECAP

Ga-kyung visits Min-kyu in the hospital after his failed suicide attempt and asks if he’s sorry he survived. He says he figured “celebrity who killed himself” sounded better than “celebrity who worked at a host bar,” but he half-laughs that nothing ever works out for him.

He says he only worked there a short while and hoped nobody would find out. Ga-kyung says that information on the internet lasts forever, and that “host bar” will come up anytime his name is searched. Min-kyu jokes darkly that at least he topped the rankings all day.

We see that a gossip column published an article accusing a web portal director of hiring “Celebrity A” then firing him when his past came to light. Readers figure out that “A” is Min-kyu and assume that Ta-mi is the web portal director, so Ta-mi is blamed for his suicide attempt.

This explains why Ta-mi suddenly finds her own name topping the real-time rankings. She freezes up in shock, but Mo-gun, having seen what’s happening, finds her and helps her to a place free from accusatory stares.

She tells him that she argued against taking Min-kyu’s name off the rankings earlier today, so she feels like she did this to herself. Mo-gun tells her to blame those who wrote the gossip column, the idiots who think it’s her, and those who spread the rumor.

She notes that he’s assuming it’s not true, and he says it must be false, because if he’s sharing her fishtank with Min-kyu then he’ll have to start getting facials. HAHA. He offers to take her home or run away, but she wants to go to the office, knowing that her teammates will be worried about her.

Ga-kyung returns to Unicon, where CEO In-kyung asks if she saw Ta-mi’s name on the real-time rankings. She asks Ga-kyung if the rumor about Ta-mi is true, and Ga-kyung says it’s false — because it’s about her.

At Barro, the team is discussing whether to remove Ta-mi’s name from the real-time rankings. The sticking point is whether she counts as a celebrity or a civilian (whose privacy should be protected). When Ta-mi arrives, Hyun asks if the gossip article is false, because if it is, they can delete her name on the grounds of libel.

Ta-mi says that, if the accused was just a regular person, they wouldn’t have this chance to explain themselves and get help, so it’s not fair of her to exploit her privilege as a Barro employee. She says she’s here as the team manager, not as the person whose name is on the rankings, and even argues that she qualifies as a celebrity due to the Unicon hearing.

She admits that she’d love to lose her own argument, but she still believes the public has the right to be informed. Brian (CEO Min, but we’ll switch to Brian since that’s what everyone else calls him) is forced to agree to leave Ta-mi’s name on the rankings, though he assigns everyone tasks to help mitigate the damage to Ta-mi and says he’ll consider filing a lawsuit.

He asks Ta-mi one last question, and tells her to answer as an employee of the company that will be speaking on her behalf: Is the gossip true? Ta-mi says it’s not, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. She apologizes, and Hyun says, uncharacteristically kindly, that she has nothing to apologize for.

Mo-gun drives Ta-mi home, but there are reporters waiting outside her building. Her phone is also blowing up, so Mo-gun confiscates it and takes Ta-mi to his place for the night. He gives her some clothes to sleep in and tells her where to find anything she needs ( and awww, he even put a glass of water by her bed).

Ta-mi giggles when Mo-gun starts nervously yapping about bleach, so he offers to tell her embarrassing stories about his childhood instead, or the time he got dumped by his first love. He tucks her into bed and leaves, but Ta-mi can’t sleep, so she eventually gets up and goes downstairs.

She finds her laptop and looks up the rankings, where she’s still number one. She searches her own name and finds several articles from Barro denying the rumors, but suddenly the internet is shut off, and she looks up to see Mo-gun waving his router at her. He holds out a hand to help Ta-mi stand, but she just holds on.

She says that she’d rather get this over with, so Mo-gun offers to sit with her instead. He asks her about her school years, and she says that her good grades helped her get away with all the trouble she stirred up, like fighting the dress code. Mo-gun says he was the opposite — he never caused trouble because he didn’t want to get in the way of people like her, who were out there getting things done.

He apologizes for turning down the job she went to such trouble to get for him, and for not telling her he went back to work for Unicon. Ta-mi sighs that he always makes her reflect on her actions. Having seen that she still has the heart he drew on her leg, Mo-gun asks teasingly if she doesn’t shower, and she bops him with a pillow, hee.

Mo-gun grabs it and unwittingly pulls Ta-mi close, making them both freeze for a long, tense moment. Mo-gun says softly that he doesn’t want her to have any bad thoughts here and that he’d rather she stay awake all night because of him, his invitation clear. But Ta-mi replies that she doesn’t want to take advantage of his feelings for her, and goes to bed alone.

The next day, Brian meets with the legal team, who disagree with his decision to support Ta-mi and bring Barro into the situation. Brian argues that they should defend their employee, who did nothing wrong, and that getting involved won’t harm Barro in any meaningful way. He says he wants to send the message to his employees and their users that they will help their employees when they face injustice.

Ta-mi comes to his office later (which oh my, is gorgeous), and she says she slept well knowing that he has her back. He offers her a few days off to avoid the negative attention she’ll be attracting, but Ta-mi says she’s innocent and won’t hide, and can always curse at anyone who’s rude to her.

By the time the rest of the team gets to work, Ta-mi’s name has fallen to eighth on the real-time rankings. Hyun muses sympathetically that the public forgot within a day, but Ta-mi won’t forget for a long time.

The entire team receives a text that sends them running to meet with Brian. He’s learned that someone intentionally put Ta-mi’s name on the real-time rankings, as proven by the fact that it started at number seven and went to first within six minutes, which is impossible. Hyun asks Ta-mi if there’s anyone who would want to do this to her, and Ta-mi says there’s nobody she can think of who hates her on this scale.

Brian asks to speak to Ta-mi and Hyun in private, and he tells Ta-mi that Barro can’t support her any further by alerting the Cyber Bureau without putting itself in the line of fire. Hyun seems upset that Barro won’t help Ta-mi clear her name, though Brian says he thinks they’ve already done that. Hyun argues that Ta-mi has the right to know who’s doing this, but Brian snaps that his first priority is to protect Barro.

Ta-mi leaves the building in a daze, but as soon as she steps outside, a group of Min-kyu’s fans start screaming accusations and throwing eggs at her. Fuming, Ta-mi grabs an egg and smashes it over the ringleader’s head, snarling that she can just join Ta-mi in feeling wronged.

She gets her hair washed at a salon, then goes to her spot where there’s no cell or wi-fi service. She’s more bothered by the hateful things Min-kyu’s fans said, and the fact that Brian withdrew his support, than she shows, but she also remembers Hyun telling her not to apologize.

Somehow her phone buzzes with a call from Mo-gun, and she answers it with a sob, then hangs up. It’s pouring down rain by the time he finds her, and he says gently, “I don’t know much or have much, all I can do is stay in the rain with you. You keep pushing me away, and I understand why. But I know one thing.”

He takes off his jacket and covers… Ta-mi’s purse, quipping that it’s too nice to get wet. PFFT, this kid. He holds out his hand, and Ta-mi doesn’t hesitate to take it.

Mo-gun takes Ta-mi to a convenience store and buys an ice cream for her to put on her swollen eyes. He teases her again and laughs when she lashes out, glad to see her feeling more like herself. He finally asks what made her cry, and Ta-mi admits that she felt lonely, and that she goes to that spot at the school when she’s scared because nobody can find her there.

She tells Mo-gun that the spot doesn’t have cell or internet service, so it’s bizarre that his call got through. She says she’ll remember today for a long time, every time she visits her spot and it rains, and Mo-gun says he’ll go there, too, when she locks herself up in that space.

In-kyung and Ga-kyung are aware that someone put Ta-mi’s name on the real-time rankings, though In-kyung says they need to hide their knowledge if Barro decides to investigate. Ga-kyung doesn’t think Barro will investigate, because if it gets out that it’s even possible to falsely put someone on the rankings, it would harm web portal sites in general.

In-kyung asks if Ga-kyung knows who did it, and Ga-kyung asks why she assumes she’s innocent. In-kyung says that Ga-kyung has been a slave to her mother-in-law since her own family went bankrupt, and Chairwoman Jang wouldn’t do something like this, which hits a little too close to home for Ga-kyung.

Ga-kyung finds an envelope on her desk containing pictures of Min-kyu with a beautiful young woman. The pictures are pretty innocent, but it’s clear that the two are dating.

The next morning, Mo-gun visits with an older man who gives him some fish from a recent fishing trip. He tells the man that he got rehired at Unicon, and the man affectionately calls him crazy.

Joon-soo, Ta-mi’s ex (and the guy Hyun is currently dating), bravely talks to Hyun on his bluetooth while in the car with his actual girlfriend, Dong-joo. He tells Dong-joo that he can’t take her home and drops her off to catch a cab instead.

Mo-gun sees them together, and when Dong-joo spots him, she simpers at his good looks. She catches him looking and assumes he recognizes her from her vlog, and when Joon-soo comes back because she left something in his car, he accuses Mo-gun of flirting with his girlfriend.

Mo-gun just smirks as Joon-soo complains that Ta-mi was really angry with him after Mo-gun left their meeting. Dong-joo asks how they know each other, and Mo-gun deadpans, “I got to know him because he keeps hitting on the woman I like.” He asks Joon-soo if Dong-joo knows he’s cheating on her, and Dong-joo glares at Joon-soo as he tries to deny it.

At dinner with her in-laws, Ga-kyung fields questions about whether Ta-mi’s name was falsely put on the keyword rankings. She’s asked who did it, but she just says that’s difficult to find out. Someone jokes that Chairwoman Jang probably did it, but Chairwoman Jang says that if she was cute enough to think up something like that, she’d be remarried.

Chairwoman Jang asks after Ga-kyung’s mother, saying that she’d like some of her kimchi as if she’s doing them a favor by requesting it. On the drive home, Chairwoman Jang asks Ga-kyung what her dream is, and Ga-kyung says softly, “To disappear.” Chairwoman Jang says it’s a nice dream, and in the front seat, Ga-kyung’s husband Jin-woo looks profoundly uncomfortable.

Ta-mi runs into Jenny in the Barro restroom, and Jenny makes sure they’re alone before giving Ta-mi the information on the company that put her name on the real-time rankings. Oh right, master hacker Jenny! She tells Ta-mi to get revenge, and when Ta-mi expresses reservations, Jenny points out that no company has the right to deprive her of the truth like Brian is doing.

The name Jenny turned up is a hacker-for-hire named LEE HO-JIN (cameo by Yoon Joo-man). The next day, Ta-mi asks Brian to turn a blind eye to what she’s about to do, because she now knows which company made her trend online but the information was acquired illegally.

She says she plans to find Lee Ho-jin and learn who hired him to do this to her, and that she’s not asking permission, just notifying him. She says that she doesn’t resent Brian for his decision, and that she’ll do what she can for herself.

Jenny’s information on Lee Ho-jin includes an address, so Ta-mi goes to confront him. He seems to recognize her, and he makes a break for it. Ta-mi chases him all around the neighborhood until she runs out of steam and has to stop… but someone rockets past her and continues the chase — it’s Hyun!

The chase goes on for a hilariously long time, but Hyun eventually stops Ho-jin by beaning him right in the head with a pot. HA! When Ta-mi catches up, Hyun has Ho-jin on the ground, twisting his leg and demanding to know if he got paid to put Ta-mi’s name on the keyword ranking.

Ta-mi asks Hyun what she’s doing here, and Hyun says that Brian sent her, knowing that Hyun could beat the guy up. Awww, that’s weirdly sweet. They go to Ho-jin’s office, where he has shelves and shelves of computers all engaged in some sort of illegal activity.

Hyun takes video while Ta-mi asks Ho-jin — who’s a big ol’ coward — who hired him. He gives Ta-mi his notes, and once they have what they need, Hyun uses a lighter to set off the fire alarm sprinklers, destroying all of Ho-jin’s computers. HA.

Hyun asks Ta-mi who did it, and she says, “Someone I half expected, and half wished it wasn’t.” Hyun offers to go see them with her, but Ta-mi says this is something she has to do herself, and sincerely thanks Hyun.

Oh no, it’s Jin-woo, Ga-kyung’s husband. She just asks who told him to put her name on the rankings, suspecting Ga-kyung, since Ga-kyung sent her to that hearing then unfairly fired her, had someone else fired just for being her friend, then stole Han Min-kyu in order to ruin her new job. But Jin-woo says that Ga-kyung wouldn’t do this — he did it on his own.

At first Ta-mi is surprised, thinking that Jin-woo has no reason to do this to her, but then she realizes he’s protecting the real web portal director from the gossip story — Ga-kyung. Jin-woo isn’t one bit sorry to have thrown Ta-mi under the bus for Ga-kyung’s sake, though he does offer her a huge bag of money in compensation.

Ta-mi demands an apology instead, but Jin-woo says that money is of more comfort than empty words. She takes the money and turns to go, only to run into Ga-kyung. Ta-mi asks Ga-kyung if she knew that Jin-woo was behind her name being on the rankings, and by her expression, it’s obvious that Ga-kyung didn’t have any idea.

Ga-kyung orders Jin-woo to apologize, but Ta-mi snaps that she’s already been paid. She leaves and calls Hyun to ask for her help, and when Hyun shows up, she’s brandishing a pair of baseball bats. Oh yes.

She asks Ta-mi what they need the bats for, and Ta-mi says, “Because we’re going to smash that car over there.” She confirms that it belongs to the person who put her on the real-time ranking list, and that’s all Hyun needs to hear.

She hands Ta-mi a bat, and they lay into Jin-woo’s car with vicious rage. Ta-mi screams her fury, and Hyun has an evil, satisfied grin on her face as they completely destroy the car. Soon, Ta-mi is grinning right along with her.

They’re still taking out their feelings on the car when they hear a voice, and they look up to see Jin-woo and Ga-kyung staring at them incredulously. Hyun (who’s standing on the car, lol) is shocked to see them, but Ta-mi just puts her bat through the windshield one more time.

She picks up the bag of money that she’d dropped and dumps it at Jin-woo’s feet, telling him to use it to buy a new car — she’ll consider this her compensation.

 
COMMENTS

While I would never advocate violence as a solution to a problem, I can’t deny that watching Ta-mi and Hyun destroy that car was extremely satisfying. Who among us hasn’t had a similar fantasy when someone did us wrong for no good reason? But Ta-mi knows she’s got Jin-woo backed into a corner, because if he reports her to the police, she can just show them the proof that he did something even more illegal. She also got the satisfaction of being able to throw his insulting payoff back in his face, which is just the icing on the cake. Now let’s just hope that we don’t find out that’s not even his car!

I really wasn’t expecting Jin-woo to be the one who put Ta-mi’s name on the rankings, because he seemed so… I don’t know, maybe weak is the word I’m looking for. With strong women like his mother and Ga-kyung appearing to always overshadow him, I’d underestimated Jin-woo to be a pushover, and that was a mistake. Whatever the problem is in his marriage with Ga-kyung, in spite of her obvious disdain for him, Jin-woo seems to genuinely love Ga-kyung, so it’s not really a surprise that he’d do this to protect her. I think we need to keep a close eye on him, because if he’ll do this, he’ll do even worse, and he may turn out to be a very serious threat.

Can we talk about how awesome Hyun is for just a moment? She was a lot softer towards Ta-mi in this episode, even defending her when Ta-mi wasn’t around, and I loved how she was willing to rush to Ta-mi’s side to help her more than once. I think that Hyun initially made some snap judgments about Ta-mi based on very specific, limited information. But now she’s getting to know Ta-mi and can see that Ta-mi is a very principled person who has sound reasons for the things she does, even if Hyun disagrees. She’s also witnessed Ta-mi being fair and upholding her principles even when they go against her own self-interest, which I think was the turning point for Hyun. By the end of the episode, Hyun was willing to just take Ta-mi’s word when she wasn’t yet ready to explain herself, which is a long way from the woman who vowed to oppose Ta-mi no matter what. I love their new baby “sismance,” and I can’t wait to see them grow even closer.

Speaking of awesome, I’ve liked Mo-gun in a general sort of way until now — he’s insightful, talented, kind, and handsome, how could you not like him? — but this is the episode where I really fell for him. I also love the way Mo-gun undercuts the most emotional moments with deadpan jokes and makes Ta-mi laugh, because laughter is something she sorely needs in her life, especially now. But when he went to Ta-mi and said that he can’t do much to help her, but he can stand in the rain with her, that was such a meaningful moment. He’s admitting that all he has the power to do is be by her side while she suffers through the “bad weather,” but right now that’s the thing Ta-mi needs most… someone to stand by her, who won’t judge her or leave her standing in the storm alone.

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