King of High School Episode 4 - Boy's Will Be Boy's

Yet another amazing episode brought to us from the writers of King of High School.  The hour seems to fly by, as I laughed, winced, and cheered along with Min Seok and Soo Young.  We see our leads have character growth, both individually as well as allies, and are yet again absorbed into this world in which they live.  I love how our OTP (One True Pairing) slowly gravitate together since they are both outcasts within the workplace system.  Soo Young, because of her odd manners and lack of physical perfection and then Min Seuk because of his "I'm pretending to be my brother" ruse, as well as his inferiority complex over his intelligence.   There is something to say for a comedy which is not trying to force the main couple together from the first glance.  Instead we get a nice simmer of a relationship that builds with each episode into a wonderful burst of flavor.  But it is not just the relationship between the main couple that make this drama so amazing, but the interaction between all the characters both large and small that create Min Seok's reality. 

Min Seok is caught by his two high school BFF's but thinks on his feet and starts yelling at them for skipping school and trying to sell him things, effectively shutting them up and getting them out of the building before they could blow his cover.  He quickly tells them that he will talk to them after work (their blank expression at the terms "work" and "management meeting" were hilarious) and Min Suek runs off.  His friends, deep thinkers that they are, do what every normal teenage boy does.......they head off to eat something.  hahaha.

"If only I can turn back time" is the song replaying over and over in Soo Young's mind as she wakes up the next morning and realizes that she got drunk and bit her boss.  Her boss who is surprisingly ok with it, just intending to tease her a bit.  Two elevators open, Soo Young sees Min Seok in one and runs into the other, not noticing that it held Jin Woo.  Unfortunately for her, when she does notice she coughs and blows out some type of powder she was about to eat, all over him (what was she eating?  If you are reading this and know, please leave a comment because curious minds want to know.)  Her mournful monologue continues on about how it is impossible to turn back time and she is doomed.  Min Seok stares at her from the blinds in his office talking to himself that she is only delaying the inevitable.  HAHA they are the cutest work office besties who don't know they are besties yet. 

The time of reckoning has arrived and Min Seok must confess the reason behind his actions to his two BFF's.  To appease their anger he takes them on a massive shopping spree, curtsey of the companies credit card.  While out, he receives a mysterious phone call and a request to meet someone connected with his brother.  turns out that it is a head hunter for a rival company who had originally made an offer for him/his hyung to come to Korea and work.  Miffed that they had been turned down, they take  Min Seuk and his BFF posse out to dinner and then to drinks at a hostess bar trying to lure him back with offers of double salary. 

Poor Min Seuk is conflicted over going into the hostess bar since they are after all underage (seriously he is so adorable when he is being upright and honest).  His friends have no such compunction however and with the words "you only live once" they rush into to the bar anticipating their debut into the world of loose women.  HAHA  but instead of a night of sexy debauchery, his friends end up getting drunk and cuddling each other in Min Seok's bed.  Their poor dreams are dashed and instead of waking up with a willing woman, they get their heads smacked by Min Seok's father and grandfather while they eat hangover soup.

The hostess bar debacle ends up kicking Min Seuk in the booty, when the company that is trying to snipe him is also the company who suddenly uses Comfo's extreme park ideas word for word.  This indicates that there is a leak in the dept. and Min Seok is of course the prime suspect since he was seen at the hostess bar with one of the rival companies head hunters.
Gossip is running rampant within the company and all of Min Seok's coworkers are quick to distance themselves from the suspicious director.  Everyone but Soo Young that is.  She yells at her coworkers that Min Seok is not that type of person, and that they should not gossip without solid evidence. She then snags Min Seok and tells him what is going on and how he has been branded a spy.   But suspicion soon travels to yet another coworker (grouchy ahjussi) since the leak seems to have come from his computer.

Min Seok spends the whole episode growing into his role as his hyung.  It is amazing that the pretense starts to become so real, that he can't just sit back and watch events unfold.  He is a man of action and at the end of the day, even if you pretend to be someone else, you are still yourself and have to live with your actions.  I appreciate that this show does not use his double identity pretense as an excuse for him to throw his morals to the floor and party.  Instead he takes up the mantle and uses it to protect those that are being used. My favorite scene of the whole episode was when Min Seok stood up against Jin Woo when he was trying to browbeat grumpy ahjussi.  When he told Jin Woo  "Who cares if you are smart, you have no basics.  Is this how you treat elders?", I totally cheered.   Come on. admit it.  I couldn't have been the only one to cheer out loud during that scene.  He continues to fight with Jin Woo on his underlings behalf, until it comes out that the real culprit were hackers.  Oops.  Poor Jin Woo comes out of this situation looking really bad, and it does not help that he is reprimanded by his father (yet another candidate for worst dad of the year in a kdrama).

Having won the fight Min Seok, Soo Young, and Grumpy Ahjussi go out for beer and fries.  It is hilarious that only Grumpy Ahjussi is drinking since Min Seok yet again defers (wonder if it is because he is underage or he really is a total lightweight) and Soo Young refuses because she is still remembering her last drunken rage/biting incident with Min Seok.  During the drinks, Min Seok talks about his family.  His father that is really only his father of his heart, and his grandfather who is also not a direct relation.  His sincerity and loyalty shine through and Soo Young looks at him for the first time really seeing the man beneath the charm and bluff.  I can't wait to see this attraction start to take root and turn into something more.

But Jin Woo is not going to let his disgrace and embarrassment by Min Seok go unpunished.  He might not be able to do anything to Grumpy Ahjussi and Min Seok, but the third member of the trio is fair game.  Remember that Soo Young is a contact employee, which means that in order to continue with the company, her contract has to be redone every year.  Jin Woo, in his rage, orders Soo Young fired and kicks her out of the company.  Poor Min Seok is about to lose his best ally and I am sure there is going to be a lot of anger and cursing, if the previews are accurate.  Something to look forward for next week.

The best part of this drama is how it is so subtle in its character movement, that you don't even notice that things have changed right away.  Think back to the first episodes where the high schooler Min Seok shown through in his every action.  Slowly but surely, he is gaining strength and confidence in himself and it is showing in how he interacts with his coworkers.  I am not sure if he is losing himself in his fake life, or if the real Min Seok is starting to shine through now that he is not comparing himself to his brother.  Either way he is really coming into his own as a character.  Now if Soo Young can also start getting some confidence in herself, then I will be a very happy kdrama addict.

Kmuse

Follow us on Facebook for info on all our newest recaps, posts and to join in our kdrama discussions. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-crazy-ahjummas/336988683021748?fref=ts