So, I can answer two of the three questions posed above, namely "which will she choose" and "which would you choose for her", right off the bat. Number one should be one we all know the answer to seeing as how this is episode 9 of 20. Obviously the answer right now is neither. She chooses neither. While she does admit to liking Kim Tan, she does not think that she can be with him and begs him to leave her alone. Swaying her heart maybe just a tad on the other hand would be Young Do. Okay, so I'm not sure how she feels about him exactly, but I'm suspecting some fear mixed with questioning pity. I think she is starting to feel a bit sorry for him, which frankly is hard not to do the way he bares it all, raw and wounded as it is. As far as which guy I would choose for her at this point, honestly my answer may surprise you just a bit, although, if you've been reading my other comments on this whole love triangle all along, it may not surprise you as much as one would think. Yes, it's true, right now I think she might be smart to give Young Do a chance. Wha??? I promise I'm not smoking anything here, just hear me out.
Young Do. A complicated character to say the least. On the surface? Big giant scary bully meanie head. But what is hiding underneath that rough exterior? A broken man child, sculpted and molded by Worst Dad of the Year (which is saying a lot because Kim Tan's dad isn't exactly top notch either) to be ruthless and successful at the expense of whomever and whatever gets in his way. A young man desperate for, and devoid of, love in his life. His mother ran away, his father is cold and awful. He has driven away his best friend, Kim Tan, in some twisted "I have dirt on you and therefore am more powerful" imaginary power struggle. With all of his faults, he is at times gut-wrenchingly honest and straight forward. When it comes to this girl that has descended into their messed up little richie rich world, he is thrown a curve ball that sets everything on its head. There is a warmth and goodness, an innocence, in her that sets her apart from the other vapid girls that roam the halls of Jeguk High. It's easy to see how Eun Sang would stand out. She is vastly different from anything Young Do has ever known. He is drawn to her. He has changed, or maybe more accurately, awakened something inside of him, you know, like feelings.
So why do I choose him for her at this point? Well, it's not simply because I think he's mega hot and sexy (though he is) or even out of pity for the poor kid. No, actually my reasoning is a lot more simple...it's high school. Let's imagine that she does go for him (not that she's going to, just play along for a moment). He's unarguably a threat to her, the only question is whether or not he's going to act upon the threat that he is. I don't think he will, but I could be wrong. She feels something for him beyond the fear. And again, it's high school. What are most high school relationships like? Short. Date him, tame him, get him to back off, turn him into an ally, then, drift slowly apart until you reach a point where you have an amiable break up and then you can both continue on with your lives. Hahahaha...yeah, I know. Okay, so when I actually put it into words, obviously I know that this is not the case. It wouldn't be a drama if it were so. I may be crazy, but even I'm not that crazy. I just like to present other options and explore other solutions and scenarios. I mean, my old high school boyfriends are totally free to date and love whomever they choose at this point - I don't care one bit. I stay out of their lives and they stay out of mine. It works. It could work here too, you never know ;)
Okay, okay, okay. Enough on that whole tangent. Sorry guys. It was something I thought of a lot, especially watching this episode so I just had to put it out there. How about we now move on and actually talk about what really is going on in the drama and not just my crazy interpretation of the situation?
Dongsaeng Splits Heirs
1. The Part Where Fangirls Around the World Wished They Could Push Park Shin Hye Aside and Show Her How it Should Be Done
We begin the episode where we left off in 8 - the rooftop kiss. Young Do is calling a terrified Eun Sang with an enraged Kim Tan wanting to protect her from his bullying former BFF yelling at her to not answer. She answers anyway and so Kim Tan literally takes matters into his own hands, preventing her from talking to Young Do by planting a big old kiss on her. It's awesome and romantic and a wonderful moment...until we see her face and she looks like she's about to vomit. Okay, so her character isn't supposed to be enjoying this moment, I get it. She's supposed to be resistant to his charming charms. But come on, what a total waste. Lee Min Ho is doing a pretty bang up job and putting some effort into the moment, but he may as well be kissing a lamppost. The camera swings around and part of the time he's moving his lips, part of the time not, but the entire time she has the same pained expression on her face. Honestly, as thrilling as it was in the beginning, by the end of this scene I was cringing because it was kind of awkward. I still love that he kissed her and think that it was fabulous, I was just maybe a tad disappointed in its execution. Granted, I did enter into this drama with certain low expectations in this arena (I've seen Park Shin Hye enough now to know that this was a very real issue for me) and so maybe I'm being harsher than I would if it had been anyone else standing in those lucky loafers. Maybe. We still have half of the drama to go, she still gets a chance to redeem herself. I'm not giving up all hope yet. Yet. Okay, and so long as I'm already being a Negative Nelly about this part, what was up with where her phone landed after she dropped it? Did that bother anyone else? She drops it and it ends up like 5 feet in front of where they are. Physics people, physics. Let's pay a little more attention to these things so that weirdos like me don't get all hung up and twitchy on something that doesn't really matter. Okay, Negative Nelly has now been hauled off and we should be able to commence in peace from here on out.
2. The Aftermath
After the kiss on the roof, things of course get ugly once the magic of the moment is over. Eun Sang comes downstairs and Young Do tries to do the whole wrist grab thing, a move which she deftly defies by wrenching her wrist out of his grip. I don't know if I've ever seen that before in a drama, have you? I've seen the girls pry the guy's hand off, but I don't know as I've ever seen them pull a move like Eun Sang did. You can practically hear Young Do's heart shatter in that moment. Correct me later if I am wrong, but my guess is that through her, he learns to be a decent human being. She's treating him in a way he's never been treated before and he appears to be learning some hard lessons along the way. This poor girl isn't falling for his rich boy charms and bullying and it's shaking his very foundation. Or so I like to think because I'm of course still holding out hope for him that he turns into a decent, non-bullying guy.
Eun Sang's "fun" doesn't end there - she goes to the ladies' room and must face the wrath of Retchel, who grabs her hair and starts blaming her for causing all this trouble at the school. Meanwhile, Kim Tan and Young Do are in a knock-down, ugly fight. Boys, boys, boys - is this how we solve problems? Just look at your beautiful faces all bloodied and messed up. What a waste. And all over one girl who can't even kiss. Tsk tsk tsk.
3. You Have to Admit that this Scene was Hot Though, Right?
Eun Sang is at work and getting pushed around by some pervs who are coming on a little too strong. In comes her Knight in Maybe Not So Shiny Armor Young Do who teaches those guys a lesson they won't soon forget. Young Do has been doing some detective work, trying to track down Eun Sang and came across her old apartment on the wrong side of the tracks (it was the one listed on her custom's form that Retchel stole). So he's standing there, messing with her in his Young Do way, trying to put all the pieces together - the old address in the hood, the new address in the nice part of town all support the whole "new money" notion, yet he's convinced she's part of the Social Care group. As he's being all cocky and listing these things out and teasing her, she cuts right to it and boldly declares that he's right - she's not new money and is indeed in the Social Care group and what is he going to do about it? Tease her? To which he replies honestly that no, he's not going to tease her and why? Because he likes her. See! It's moments like that that make my heart flutter for this guy - those times when he is just brutally honest. When he is a jerk one moment and then bears his heart on his sleeve the next. How can anyone not be attracted to that? Or am I just weird? (no need to answer that)
4. PTA
When a lady from the school's PTA calls Eun Sang's mother (who is mute and cannot answer the phone), Kim Tan's mom answers on her behalf. PTA lady is being pushy trying to get Eun Sang's mom to come to the next meeting and doesn't take no for an answer, so before we know it, Kim Tan's mom is going to school as Eun Sang's mom. At first it seems like a brilliant idea - Kim Tan's mom has been majorly bummed out that as the secret mistress she is unable to be involved in her son's school life. She has had to hide in the shadows while Daddy's wife acts as mom. So she's all cute and thrilled to participate in this masquerade and it appears to all be good -- at first. She comes in all done up high-fashion style and all the other moms' jaws drop. Suddenly Eun Sang's status in the school rises - she not only has money, but loads of it. Momma Tan starts tossing around money, donating very generously to the school's upcoming camp out. All is going well, until the school's chairwoman, i.e. Kim Tan's public mother, shows up. Yeah, that goes well. Not to mention that Retchel's mom, the mother of the girl her son is engaged to, is also there at the meeting. This could start to unravel very quickly.
5. He's Got the Dirt, Now What?
Young Do pays an unexpected visit to the Kim home and in the process learns what Kim Tan's bio mom really looks like - something dangerous now that she has come out publicly as Eun Sang's mom. In case you're keeping track, this means that Young Do now knows some of the most dangerous secrets going on here with both Eun Sang and Kim Tan - Eun Sang's poorness and the identity of Kim Tan's real mom. The only thing he hasn't figured out yet is that Eun Sang lives there. But is that about to change?
Okay, addicKts, it's now up to you to decide on which Bachelor wins this round? Which camp are you in? And no matter which camp you find yourself in, can you at least maybe understand why the other one holds merit as well? Of course we know in the end who will be the winner, but isn't it fun sometimes to advocate for the 2nd male lead? Even when it's hard because he's kind of a really big jerk in a lot of ways? You know me, I love these complex characters - the bad guy with redeeming qualities that you just can't help but like. You know you should hate him, but there are too many reasons not to. And no, it's really not because he's hot. Really guys, it's not, I swear.
;)
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