Pinocchio ep 2: Don't Believe Everything You See

Well, hello there!  Annyeonghaseyo! And welcome to this week's second installment of Pinocchio recapping. If we are just meeting now for the first time, my name is Dongsaeng and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I will be handling the even episodes of this drama while Kmuse takes the odds. I, like my awesome bloggy partner, am extremely excited to tackle and recap this drama! If the rest of the episodes hold up like these first two did, we are in for one fun as heck ride, don't you think?!

My Secret Hotel ep 12: Turning Tides

Well, hiya there! Dongsaeng here doing something that I haven't done much of in my past few recaps of this drama - spreading some hope and joy for all the Hae Young/Sang Hyo fans out there. This episode starts to turn things around for our very frustrating lead male. And yeah, I'm backing down from my "maybe Director Jo is the true lead and the one who will get the girl, ever think of that?" stance. I think episode 12 clearly started the tides turning in our sweet, annoyingly frustrating Hae Young's direction and he's definitely going to be our victor after this long, drawn-out, bitter battle of all of our feels.

First of all, though, I know they want us to start to suspect that Director Jo could possibly be a creepy murderer. As far as I'm concerned, there is no way he killed McCreepy, but I suppose it is always a possibility that he unintentionally took out Miss Blackmailer. And yes, I say "unintentionally", because I still can't fully accept that he is a full-blown psycho murderer. We have seen way too many positives from him. I feel he is a player and womanizer with the potential to be a jerk, maybe, in some situations. Let's just say that he's not one I would want to cross or get on the bad side of. But a cold-blooded killer? I'm just not seeing it.

We start out with our newly wedded exes preparing for a visit from Mom and Dad Goo. They are about to head to the US and are stopping at Hae Young's for a week, and expect to see a little wifey there. Cue the puppy dog eyes from Hae Young along with the whole "bad heart" sob story/guilt trip. We later find out that this visit from mom and dad was not exactly a surprise visit as HY made it out to be. Oh no. No, when Eomma and Appa called, it was simply to tell their son that they were headed to the States. HY is the one that instantly saw the potential to use this opportunity to win SH back, and begged them to cancel their flight and come stay with him for a week. Whoa there. Not sure if I'm impressed or a little pissed at him for this deception. I guess that it is kind of both. He has seen himself for being the pathetic hanger-on ex and is determined to change and win her back. I suppose I can applaud him for that, even if I take slight issue with his manipulation of the situation.

Sure enough, SH moves in, under the false idea that Daddy will die if she doesn't. Nice. (not really) But, methods aside, I am happy to see her there. As is Hae Young. He's enjoying this wayyy too much for his own good. Like when they were hanging the GINORMOUS wedding photo. Omo. And not only that, but how he sat there in a chair and stared at it once it was hung. Like in he actually set up a chair in the spot in front of the photo so that he could sit there for who knows how long and gaze upon it. Not creepy or weird at all. Nope. Yet, for some reason, when he does it, yeah, sure, it's kind of endearing. He can pull off pathetic pretty darn well without too much creepy/weird vibe. My hat's off to him for that. *slow clap*

The domestic scenes with these two were very touching to watch. They really are cute together. And, like I mentioned before, I think we start to see things turn around for Hae Young and his lady love. Just as HY is getting less loserly, Director Jo is getting more creepy-y. Scales are tipping here, folks! Scales are tipping! The fat lady has not yet sung - our boy is still in this race, and in it to win it!

Uhm, yeah, so I don't know what else to really say about this episode. There wasn't a whole lot as far as plot development outside of the relationships shifting. SH is staying with HY and playing house in front of his parents. There are many "awww!" scenes involved here, like the flashback to the wedding and HY on his knees begging his parents to let him go through with this wedding to SH instead of Soo Ah because of his intense and sincere love for his bride ex. Also, there were the kinds of scenes you'd expect to see from such a house-playing arrangement - "accidental" bed sharing, amazing back hugs in front of mom and dad, teasing about his "performance" issues, etc. And of course a very conflicted SH, who, every time things start to go nicely with HY, hears her boyfriend's hurt and accusing voice in her head about not thinking of him. Oh yeah, she is definitely having moments where she is obviously falling for HY all over again. I mean, she may not know this or want to admit it, but we all can see that she certainly has residual lingering feelings for the man. It's not like their relationship ending was expected. She never had that "closure", so of course there's still going to be unresolved emotions there. Duh. Does she really think that she can just ignore him and pretend that there is nothing there? Guess what, Sweetie, doesn't work that way. Sure, if you never saw him again, you could probably go on your merry way and live a life with some scars, but relatively unaffected by your baggage. That's obviously not an option here. He's back in your life, like it or not, and the least you owe to yourself is a really straight-forward, open and honest conversation with the man that just up and left you 7 years ago. Which actually brings up another talking point that has been on my mind...the breakup.

Seven years ago, we had a super adorable and crazy in love couple of newlyweds. All was right in their world. With one major exception. His job was in NY. Hers was in Las Vegas. Both careers were budding. Both were a fulfillment of individual dreams, goals, hopes and aspirations. HY a star architect, and SH in the hospitality industry of her choice. Neither was willing to give up their individual dream. So what are they to do? Well, if you're HY, you take off for NY without a word and leave a plane ticket for you wife in hopes that she'll follow you there. If you're SH, you sit on the floor for days without moving until you pass out and then move on with your life, pretending as best that you can that you're over him. Yeah, so, how'd that work out for you two? Mmmhmm. Fast forward 7 years, and fate has brought them back together. Except, circumstances are different now. Now, the thing that came between them 7 years ago is no longer a thing. They both live and work their dream jobs in the same town. Except now of course they have the whole messy breakup thing to deal with, as well as minor things like pesky fiances and new boyfriends. The fiance thing is taken care of (how much do we love Soo Ah now, now that she's not a contender? I think she's crazy adorable and funny), and the boyfriend may end up being a murderer, so there's still hope there I guess. All that really and truly stands in their way of happiness is that freaking conversation that they have yet to have. Though, I must say, things are improving in that area. HY is less mopey and stalkerish and is learning to speak his words and his feelings with all sincerity. He's talking to her. She's starting to listen. We're getting so much closer! Woohoo! 7 years ago just wasn't meant to be. Not that they weren't right for each other, but that the timing was off. Now the timing is right. Perfectly right. Oh, so right. Now they stand a chance. Before we had right people, wrong time. Now we have right people, right time. Or at least we will, once we get rid of the extra people trying to gum up the works. Can no one see that fate is in control here? Why fight it? Embrace it. Embrace that these two crazy kids are just meant to be together and let them be. Don't stand in the way of love. Let it live. Let is fly free and unfettered.

And that's all I really have to say on this episode. For the rest of it, I guess I'll just leave you with some pretty pictures. Pictures that gave me hope and butterflies. Oh, how I love hope and butterflies!

Hope, butterflies, a little creepiness, a little laughter, and a smidge of angst. Getting excited for these last 4 episodes still to come - hope to get some answers and see some relationship resolutions happening! This is where the fun really begins, right?!

Until next time, may your week be filled with wonderful drama! Thanks for stopping by!

My Secret Hotel Ep 4: They Really Weren't Kidding About this Whole Secret Business

Helloooo and welcome back. Sorry this is late. I didn't get it finished before the holiday weekend, and so I'm playing catch up now. My apologies. But let's get started, shall we?

First, I want to give you the "who is she talking about" nickname rundown, so that as we go along, we're all clear on just who is being referred to.

Our boot-clad Urban Cowboy I call ROKer Ranger. ROK (Republic of Korea)-er Ranger, you know, like Walker Texas Ranger. Cheesy, stupid goodness, huh? ;) Only, Chuck Norris has got nothing on this guy. I love this guy.

I call this one Ms Picasso because in one camera shot, she totally looked like a Picasso painting. With the hair and then the distorted look of her face...well, I tried to screenshot it, but you'll just have to take my word for it I guess. She totally looked like a Picasso painting. And because "Whore" just seemed too mean, even if deserving.

Lastly, this is Ms Buttinski, because, everywhere we turn, she's butting in to the relationship between our hero and heroine. I'm convinced she played a major role in their breakup. I don't think she's quite evil enough for a total evil nickname though. She seems harmless enough, just way too involved and causing problems where problems don't need to be.



Now that that's all cleared up, onto the recap!

When we left off with episode 3, the writers were doing their darndest to make us think that our gorgeous hero was the culprit behind the mysterious murder of Mr Ice Pick McCreepy from Creepytown. They even go as far as to show him in flashback with said ice pick pointed directly at, and mere millimeters away from, the man's ice-like heart.




Top that off with the "evidence" - something small and mysterious pulled from the hero's wallet found beneath the corpse. Without even seeing it, I'm pretty sure I know what it is. Sure enough, it turns out to be a picture of Sang Hyo back from the couple's "good old days". Now, just why would groom Hae Young be carrying around a picture of his wedding planner in his wallet, hmm?  That's the question that ROKer Ranger has to ask. Not being necessarily the sharpest tool in the box, he wrongfully assumes that groom fell for his wedding planner while she was his wedding planner instead of her being a part of his past. But that's okay. The guy still gets points for his sheer coolness and comedic relief. I love this character. He's fun in Surplus Princess, and he's fun here too.  Pulling double duty, yet keeping his two characters so vastly different and completely entertaining. My ahjumma visor's off to you, Ahn Kil Kang.

Our hero's only concern, as he begins his story, and as we see later in the flashback, is for Sang Hyo. All thoughts are on her and her protection in this investigation. RoKer Ranger even asks him in surprise why he, the murder suspect, is concerned more for her than himself even under these circumstances. We get some of their story – how they met in Vegas 7 years ago, and after just a short few weeks, he proposed. The wedding though was apparently done more as a joke, was never registered, therefore never legal, and ended less than 3 months later. *Side note: doesn't seem so "jokey" on his part...just sayin'* Later on in the episode we see more of the breakup, at least how it relates to the picture he carries with him. We see her sitting at a table looking at the picture of them taken together on the day he proposed and crying. She tears the picture in half and next thing we know, he’s running into a now empty apartment. She has left and all he finds is the torn picture. He obviously takes the half with her image on it and treasures it over the next 7 years, even as he is walking down the aisle with another woman. After his interrogation and consequent clearing of suspect-status, we see him literally cradling the photograph in his hand, but then eventually setting it on fire and letting it burn. All while I gasp and cry out, “no! Don’t give up yet!” That’s okay though, I’m sure they’ll take a new one together once their love is sufficiently renewed ;)

 
All the angst of our Hae Young being Prime Suspect #1 is soon laid to rest though as RoKer Ranger let's the poor guy off the hook after toying with him, and us, for a bit.

Then the investigation continues. If I was some crime/mystery show with cool graphics, I'd put up all of the people being interviewed with all of their pertinent information/reasons why they could be the killer. But, I'm not. So I won't. But envision it as you go along. It makes it much more CSI-y. Two things important to mention though is that the death occurred between 10pm and midnight and that it is suspected that it was a hotel employee who was the murderer.  Let the interrogations begin!

One by one the employees are brought into a conference room with RoKer Ranger and asked the same question - where were you between the hours of 10pm and midnight? All have varying excuses, some better than others. It quickly becomes evident to us viewers as well as our dogged detective that these walls truly do hold many, many secrets among the people who work there.

When Sang Hyo’s turn comes for interrogation, all RoKer Ranger wants to know is who she likes between Hae Yeong and Director Seong Gyeom. This is where I get slightly unsure of his intentions. We’ve seen how he wrote in his notebook about how she, Sang Hyo, is his style and beautiful. Is he hitting on her in some strange, convoluted way? Trying to figure out what her type is? Or is he just curious because there is obviously something to be curious about going on between her and both men? Either way, it’s hilarious and seeing her confused face when he asks her is priceless. As is her eventual reply of pleading her right to not answer. What was even more butterfly-inducing though was when she learns that she is not even a suspect because Hae Yeong has given her an alibi already – she was talking in the garden with Director Seong Gyeom at the time of death. She is shocked to find out that Hae Yeong had come back to the hotel that night, on the eve of his wedding and wonders what it was all about. Obviously he was coming back to her, but does she put all this together? Certainly she has to suspect as much, right? It gets her thinking and wondering though and that is good enough for me at this point.

Let’s talk about Director Seong Gyeom for a moment. Now, I vary slightly from Kmuse here. I honestly don’t find him to be all that creepy. At least not in a sexual harassment kind of way. My only issue with him at this point is that he seems to really enjoy playing the ladies against each other. He comes across as really liking the attention and knowing that he is so popular. Okay, but let’s be fair, wouldn’t we all? Who doesn’t want to be the object of affection for multiple gorgeous people? I mean, really. So yeah, he comes across to me as a tad cocky, but he’s changing. This improvement is most noticeable the night they go out for drinks.

He and Sang Hyo are heading out when Ms Picasso butts in and invites herself and the security guy along. While there, she unabashedly hits on the director. It starts out a little more subtle, but soon becomes full on “whoa! I can’t believe she just said that!” when she starts talking about blindfolding and tying him up with the tie she gave him and that he is wearing. Giving a man a tie is apparently the same as claiming him as your own. Didja know that? Well, now you do. So be careful, ladies, in who you choose a silk leash for. As the very uncomfortable and sexual-harassment-tinged drinks come to a close, Ms Picasso asks Director to take her home, which he readily agrees to, much to my utter shock and disdain. He quickly then shows us that he's got some taste and decency after all though, as he shuts her in his car and waves as she is driven off, choosing instead, of course, to go with our leading lady. Good choice, bro, good choice. 

When they reach Sang Hyo's place, she invites him in, all coyly, for some ramen noodles, informing him how her noodles are the best. Seems innocent enough, until at the next scene where they are sitting outside a convenience store eating noodles and he looks a little disappointed and bamboozled. It would seem as if he had hoped that "ramen noodle" was code for something else, huh? Tricky little tricksy fox Sang Hyo - I'm proud of her! She proves that you don't need to be all overt and whore-y like Ms Picasso in order to toy with a guy ;) After noodles, he walks her home. She's just come in the door when Director calls her. She's obviously all flattered and soaking up his attentions, especially when, after going through the nightly check to make sure no creepy ice-pick wielding ghosts are hanging about, he leads her to look out her window where she then sees him standing there. Okay, okay, admittedly it doesn't take a whole heck of a lot to get me all fluttery, but that was definitely one moment that had me all filled with squeeees. Insert the "I wanna look out my window and see a gorgeous, rich, sexy guy standing there looking up at me" whine here.

Okay, yeah, so I'm running out of time here. I gotta speed this last little bit up. 

Two more main scenes I want to mention.

One - the scene where HY is at work and thinking about the phone conversation he had overheard Ice Pick Ice-y Corpse having when he was running around at the hotel looking to confess his undying love for SH that fateful night before the wedding. He was threatening someone. Specifically, he threatening to tell this mystery person's son something. HY is trying to decide if this is information that he should be sharing with the investigator when, suddenly, he gets a call informing him that his beloved SH is at the police station. Thinking she is being suspected, he runs off to save her and claim her innocence. See, look, this boy is ALWAYS running off or back or here or there for this girl that is his ex. How can you not love that? I know I sure do. I love it a lot. He rushes to the police station, basically barging in yelling, "she's innocent!". One of the cops says "oh look, it's the first suspect" which SH overhears and freaks out over.

Turns out that she was only there to pick up Dead Guy's personal belongings since he has no next of kin or friends or anyone to take his box of dead guy stuff. 

SH doesn't leave the police station with just the box of stuff though.  No, now she leaves also with thoughts of her ex possibly being the murderer. She is driven with enough curiosity about this to don Dead Guy's stuff and sneak into his car. She kinda stinks at this disguise/sneaking business though as she is clearly seen by the officers up in the police station who are very amused by her and her "cuteness". Anyway, synopsis here is that she gets into his car, "makes" him drive by "threatening" him with a back scratcher (how adorable was his smile here as he laughed at her?!?!),

and they drive off to have a conversation in a park. The conversation all boils down to him being hurt that she would even consider that he might have been the killer. He's all broken-hearted as he lobs a "you still don't really know or understand my true self" in her direction and walks off, leaving her sitting there looking like, well, she just had a dose of cruel reality lobbed her direction. The picture of just what went wrong in their marriage is ever so slightly beginning to take form here.

The last scene I wanted to talk about is when Ms Buttinski again involves herself in the relationship between our star-crossed ex-lovers. She writes this scathing article about the corpse at the wedding which sends everybody scrambling. It's a PR nightmare for the Secret Hotel and fingers are pointing at SH. The solution? Well, first she starts out by taking on full responsibility and offering to resign. That's not good enough though. No, instead, she must plan another wedding, because for some reason, getting the two hitched without a dead body this time will make everyone out there forget about the dead body at the first attempted ceremony.  The logic is stupid, but the effect is there - she's not off the hook yet as the wedding planner for the ex. Crap. Crap crap crap crap crappity crap. 

Now, a few "clues" to point out. Go on ahead and add them to your notepad as we try to piece together the mystery. 

These two

This necklace

These suspicious characters and incidents

Something fishy is going on for sure. Secrets, secrets and more secrets. I'm curious to see how everything starts to unravel and piece together, how about you? Good luck with this one Detective ROKer - it seems as if you have your work cut out for you.

Stay tuned for KMuse's recap of this week's episode 5 coming soon!

Lost in Lakorn Land

So I have been having a personal meltdown this week.  It is actually over something totally silly and does not make any sense at all logically.  My oldest daughter is off on a four day school educational camp.  I know I know, it is well chaperoned and organized and only an hour away.  But in my mommy brain (in my defense it is the first time she has ever left home at all overnight) she is off in the wilds facing bears, bad food, foot fungus from unclean showers, and possible weird camp leader perverts.  SIGH.... so in an effort to somehow maintain some semblance of dignity (my husband and mother are totally cracking up over my meltdown) I am throwing myself into my drama watching.  But with A paranoid emergency that is this big, normal dramas just do not completely keep my attention.  It is at that time that I break out what I like to call "THE MEGA CHEESY FLUFF SHOWS!" or what others call Lakorns.   A Lakorn is actually the term given to TV shows in Thailand.  And just like Kdramas, Jdramas, and Tdramas, it also has its very distinct feel that is uniquely its own.  I like to look at them as the link between Asian shows and Latin telenovelas since I definitely see aspects of both and it equals into a whole bunch of enjoyable tv for those that don't want to think.

You might recall my huge push towards everyone to check out the Thailand version of Full House.  (By the way the ending was awesome and I loved every second of that show from start to finish.  If you have not yet watched it then I suggest you start post haste.)  A remake of the Korean drama of the same name, it brought a sweet, simplistic and genuine air to a drama that had previously been bogged down in angst.  This is the perfect gateway for those of you interested in trying out a Lakorn but are not ready for the super cheesy.

The Full House OTP has the BEST chemistry and I truly truly just adore them and their path towards finding each other.  I laughed, I cried, and totally cheered at times, as they lived together and learned the importance of love.  And they even filmed a lot of scenes in Korea so you kdrama junkies should have some comfort in seeing places that are familiar.

Now for you more adventurous drama watchers, I suggest giving this next drama a try. The Lakorn "Cubic" is currently airing (up to ep 11) and you can find it on Viki and on Youtube.

DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!!
Cubic is in no way shape or form an actually well acted drama.  It's characters are over the top cheese with a capital C.   Many of their actions leave you shaking your head and saying "WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WATCH"  Everyone has a gun and no one actually knows how to fire their guns.  There was one scene where twenty bad guys had guns and machine guns and yet could not hit our hero standing out in the open with absolutely no protection. There is an overabundance of staring..........and by staring I mean that I am pretty sure that one scene I sat and watched the camera pan from character to character as they tried to grasp a concept for five whole minutes.  By the end I had forgotten even what they were trying to contemplate, I suspect it was something important like "Should I have sugar or cream with my coffee?" All that being said, this is the most addictive and hilarious show I have watched in a long time.

Synopsis:  
When a businessman has to welch on his loan from the mafia, he must fork over his oldest (beautiful) daughter who he put as collateral for the money to Lin Lan Ser (main mafia boss).   Lin Lan Ser was attracted to her beauty and planned to make her his mistress.  The businessman father instead runs away with his favored oldest daughter and instead leaves his younger ugly duckling daughter, Ruethainak, to take her place.  Enraged Lin Lan Ser takes Ruethainak as collateral as he searches for the rest of her family.  Slowly they become closer as she works off her families debt doing various jobs for him.  Oh and while all this is going on he makes sure she continues to go to school.  Just so happens that our mafia kingpin owns a school and is the principal of so said school.   I will pause just a second so you can wrap your heads around the concept of the sexy head of the mafia also being the principal of a high school...  Mind boggling isn't it.

Why You Should Watch It:
It is hard to say why you should watch it per say, just that you should.  I forced my mom and sister to give it a try and they also went into full dramathon mode and could not stop til they were caught up.  It is one of those shows that is so so so so bad that it is good.  Kind of like those awesome cheesy cult classic movies from the 80's.  You go back now and still laugh and get emotionally moved by the characters despite the so so writing and acting.  I would highly suggest giving this drama a two episode try.  It might be painful at first, but before you know it you will be laughing along with the rest of us.  Also, the plot is actually not that bad.  If you can get past the staring (oh my gosh so much hilarious staring) and over acting, the plot is pretty interesting and I would totally watch the same thing if it was transferred into a Korean drama.  Before you know it you are actually wondering what is going to happen next to our OTP, and how long it is going to take the dense ugly duckling to
realize that she has her own gun toting prince charming wrapped around her finger.

Thanks for hearing me whine a bit and I hope that some of you will enjoy the dramas I suggested even if they are out of the kdrama wheelhouse.   Also if you by chance already watch Lakorns can you send me some suggestions on one's I should watch in the comments.  I have noticed that it is really hit and miss with these so any help would be appreciated.  That is it for me, I am off to catch up on all of this weeks dramas for the weekly countdown.  Hopefully it will continue to distract me for the remaining two nights my daughter will be gone.

Kmuse

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The Master's Sun ep 14 Review/Recap

I am happy to report I am almost completely better, hoping I didn't just jinx myself, not that I am at all superstitious, she said as she knocked on wood three times & made sure to go around the ladder, rather than under it.  Phew!  That was close.  And how awesome was it to finally see my beloved Master's Sun?!?!  Sigh, happy feels!  Of course, this one also had sad feels too but mostly I was happy. 

When last we left our awesome leading couple, with the fabulous chemistry & awesome acting abilities, Joo Joong Won was paying Tae Gong Sil a visit at her home to find out just who the heck she is or was, to him.  Oh poor Tae Gong Sil, I felt so bad for her this whole episode having to pretend that she was glad to walk away from him.  Especially when he just kept seeking her out & grabbing her wrist & forcing her to face him & then staring deeply into her eyes.....sigh......  


I lost my train of thought.  Darn you Joo Joong Won/So Ji Sub!!

I guess I need to reboot my brain.  I know just the face uh...way to help...

So here's what happened...

He couldn't get past the fact that his life has changed so very much, and what's more, he actually likes the changes, what is up with that?!?!  He can't figure it out, he is desperate to remember what he can't remember, it's seriously nagging him.  Not that I blame him, it would drive me crazy.  He also can't understand why he was so tied up with Tae Gong Sil, who is an average woman, nothing remarkable about her.  How could he make her his "Candy".  And if that was the case shouldn't he be the one to dump her not the other way around? 

Uncle Rocks Socks:
His Uncle, oh how I LOVE his Uncle.  I loved that Uncle goes against Aunt's wishes & starts filling in the blank spots for Joo Joong Won.  My favorite part was his version of how the meeting went between Aunt & Tae Gong Sil, when Joo Joong Won announced his engagement.  In his version Tae Gong Sil was very straightforward & unafraid of Aunt & threatened to break the vase & refused to leave Joo Joong Won alone.  It was so awesome!  It is so obvious that Uncle distrusts Hanna & LOVES Tae Gong Sil, which makes me love him so much more. 

Fulfilling her part of the contract:
But this story did have it's share of darkness added in the mix.  Remember in order to save Joo Joong Won's soul, Tae Gong Sil gave herself completely to Madame Go as a go between for her ghostly matchmaking.  And while Tae Gong Sil may have forgotten that part Madame Go has not & she reminds Tae Gong Sil of this when she comes to collect the promise.  Tae Gong Sil is now her finder of single female ghosts.  First thing Tae Gong Sil needs to do, is give up her dream of finishing school, or of having any kind of normal life now.  I really don't like her but she really has the most awesome facial expressions.  {{She does creepy so well.  I want to meet her IRL to see if she is anything like her character.}}   Night after night Tae Gong Sil goes out to the cemeteries to hunt up single female ghosts for marriage. 

Then the next day is spotted by Tae Yi Ryeong & her manager(?) as they are discussing the US movie that has just been offered to TYR.  She found a female ghost & she is meeting with the family & the ghosts & Madame Go to seal the deal.  Then TYR forgets about TGS & heads over to Kang Candy to tell him, I think to try & impress him, with the news of the US movie.  His response was classic, but I happened to see your movie on TV & you weren't a very good actress.  Poor Yi Ryeong.  I hope he starts liking her back soon.  She tries to get him to be her bodyguard but he, of course is not interested, besides he's already busy protecting TGS.  Before he leaves he tells her to practice her acting more & become an international star.  Eventually she lets him know that TGS is meeting w a wealthy family & w Madame Go.  Which makes him wonder if she is now working for Madame Go? 

That night as he is coming home, he runs into TGS, as she is about to leave for yet another cemetery.  We find out later that he followed her there, in case she needed help but not once did she cry out for his help.  While I thought it was sweet that he wants to protect her & help her, when he said, "Call out my name if you're scared" and is then disappointed that she didn't, I couldn't help but think, she isn't going to call out for you, she thinks you're back at home.  What good would calling for someone that isn't there going to do her?  There's a flaw in your logic honey.  Next time tell her you are there, so she will call out your name, as you so badly want her to. 

Every time Joo Joong Won thinks he's got Tae Gong Sil out of his mind, he gets slapped in the face, metaphorically, with another reminder of her.  Secretary Kim is gone & his Uncle's secretary, who is probably doing double duty, doesn't have the right notes for an important meeting, so he grabs his recorder to see if Secretary Kim had a chance to record the notes before he left.  As he is listening to the recording all of a sudden Secretary Kim's voice is replaced by Tae Gong Sil's, he goes to meet his Aunt for lunch, she just can't stop trying to get him to start dating Hanna, & runs into Tae Gong Sil.  Who happens to be with another of Madame Go's clients.  This time it's a man that is getting married.  His old fiancé passed away & her ghost stays next to him, TGS's job is to try & get her to move on.  The whole situation gets out of hand when a huge misunderstanding occurs.  The man thinks Joo Joong Won, is a former client with the same problem he is having, so he asks JJW how long it took him to get her off of him, to stop sticking to him.  This is all the same terminology that he & TGS have been using to describe their relationship but the man is talking about his dead fiancé.  And when JJW says he almost died, by being stabbed in the back literally w a huge screw driver the guy freaks out. Poor guy, I'd have run too.  Giggle

As JJW's Aunt & Hanna enter the restaurant, Aunt spots TGS & Madame Go, & stops Madame Go as she is leaving.  Aunt now knows the truth about TGS's ability to see ghosts & why she hung around JJW.  So she hires Madame Go's services, which include TGS.  JJW meets up with Aunt & Hanna & in comes Madame Go & TGS.  Aunt wants to know if TGS can really see ghosts & if so can she see one attached to JJW?  She confirms she can & is right now & then calls out Cha Hee Joo & tells her to stop appearing in front of her or else tell who it is that is responsible for her death.  JJW having had enough, wrist grabs her & drags her away.  It is at this point that Madame Go can see why he was so special to TGS.  Well she doesn't actually "SEE" it per se.  Cos she can't see ghosts, but she is psychic, so she must have felt the psychic vibrations change, when he touched her. 

Filling in the blanks:
TGS fills JJW in on her real role at Kingdom, for him.  She wasn't his Candy but his "10 billion won radar" to find ghosts.  And that it's because of her ability, he got hurt & she felt bad, so that's why she quit.  She also tells him, again, she doesn't want to see him anymore.  She must have repeated this phrase a million times this episode but uri Joo Joong Won is stubborn.  Later & in her bedroom, Hanna faces the mirror & seemingly looks at Cha Hee Joo's ghost, smiling she asks, "Are you by my side?  If you're standing next to me, I'll apologize.  Sorry Eonnie."  And then creeptastically smiles a little bigger.  She really is good at bad girl. 

Now it's Kang Candy's job to fill Joo Joong Won in a little more on why Tae Gong Sil was so entwined in his life.  He shows him the pics, tells him about the twin & explains that TGS was trying to help him find the 10 billion won necklace.  Enter the bad guy who stabbed JJW.  Tae Gong Sil's words that the child's ghost was staring at him.  He's come to Kingdom in search of her, heads to her office, has a fight with Kang Candy & is captured & given over to the police, begging to talk to Tae Gong Sil.  But before he goes he reveals to JJW that he never meant to stab him, he was trying to stab the girl but JJW rushed in front of the screw driver & protected TGS with his life.  Which Kang Candy confirms, yes this is how it happened.  He knows she is suffering but he can't remember why it's important to him, that she not suffer, & he can't figure out why he feels so bitter all the time.

And we finally find out a small portion of the accident that Tae Gong Sil was in so many years ago.  She was in the mountains, got lost & wandered, alone, for 10 days.  Once she was found, even though she was okay she slipped into a coma for 3 years.  Then we see a guy come in to the coffee shop, he sits down with 2 cups of coffee.  One for himself & one for the ghost that always likes getting free coffee off of TGS.  There is a very mysterious conversation between the 2.  Obviously this guy sees ghosts too.  Or at least he sees the coffee lover ghost.  Who it seems hasn't been haunting TGS but supposedly been keeping an eye out for her, watching over her.  The living guy wonders if it's time to go & talk with her & if she'll recognize him? Very interesting!  I can't wait to see more! 

Once again Uncle shows his support for TGS.  During dinner at  JJW's house w Aunt & Hanna, after Aunt sets up Hanna as JJW's date for a big anniversary party for Kingdom, Uncle sneaks over & whispering tells JJW, with backward glances at the women, that Tae Gong Sil came to the hospital every day he was there, that she cried a lot.  And JJW is starting to connect the dots.  He asks Uncle my heart stopped right?  Uncle says, basically you died & then came back to life.  He remembers that TGS can see ghosts & that he died & he starts to figure out she must have seen his ghost.  Then Uncle says, "Of course to live normally well, that woman's (Hanna's) level would be the right choice, but whom you threw your life away for was Tae Gong Sil who lives in the study motel & sees ghosts."  This leads to him pretending to be Secretary Kim & texting TGS that he needs to see her at the office.  She confirms she saw him, but refuses to tell that he told her he loved her just before his ghost disappeared.  She then tells him, he won't get his memory back, it's been sealed.  He finally says I won't look for you & she agrees that she doesn't want to see him, but as she is walking away he whispers, look back at me & I will try one more time to hold on to you.  But she doesn't stop. 

Hanna Brown:
While doing a background check on Hanna Brown, Kang Candy comes across her writing & recognizes it.  He pulls up a picture of his computer of the back of the postcard that has a picture of Cha Hee Joo, a year after her death (her obvious twin) & compares the 2 writing samples.  They are a perfect match but the faces don't match.  This, we know is because Hanna had plastic surgery, or so her friend tells Secretary Kim, who is now back & confirms with Kang Candy that Hanna is the long lost twin of Cha Hee Joo & that both girls are his nieces.  And that is why he stayed so close to JJW all these years. 

I can't handle the feels:
As JJW & Hanna enter the mall for the party, they run into TGS & Madame Go, who have finally convinced the dead fiancé to move on.  There is awkward staring & so many painful feels as eventually TGS turns away & JJW heads up to the party & she turns back to watch him go off with another woman.  Uncle once again is my hero.  At the party, he goes up to JJW & tells him that he heard TGS she has entered into some weird contract w Madame Go for the rest of her life.  So he confronts Madame Go & tries to buy TGS out of the contract & wants to know what it's for etc...  Madame Go says nothing, except that he can get his memories back if he really wants to, he just has to remember what disappeared.  Referring to the necklace that TGS wears around her neck, it holds his memories.  When he gets mad & asks how much is the contract worth Madame Go tells him, Tae Gong Sil gave all of herself. Why don't you calculate how much that would cost, and settle on that." 

Back at the party he gets dizzy & he just can't stop thinking about Tae Gong Sil.  When his Aunt & Hanna come over to see if he is sick, he says he is sick, he didn't realize till now how sick but yes he is sick.  Then he sees the same necklace around Hanna's neck & he remembers being in the spirit world & watching the necklace disappear.  He tells Hanna I keep looking at it because it's just like the other one, but it isn't the genuine one.  Burn!!!  That can be taken in so many ways!  Necklace is not the same, Hanna isn't as good as Tae Gong Sil.  Hanna also wasn't as good as Cha Hee Joo.  Deep stuff that! 

He rushes off to meet with TGS, who is meeting with Cha Hee Joo's ghost begging her to stop coming, that she won't lend her body to her, because she needs to live too & she will forget about him, she is done with all of it, & to prove this she takes off the necklace & is about to throw it & pauses & then finally firming her resolves she reaches back to throw it, for real this time, when JJW intercepts her arm & stops her from throwing it, saying to her, "You can do without your safety shelter?"  That's right!  He has his memories back!  Woot Woot!!!   She lies to him that she felt comfortable without him in her life too but he calls her on it & says, "You can never feel like you can live without me.  Without me, you have to feel like you are dying."

And wow I am an emotional wreck after this episode.  Roller coaster of emotions!!  I told you he'd get his memories back in the next couple of eps & I was right.  It's so satisfying to be right.  :)  I can't wait to see episode 15 tonight.  See you tomorrow guise.

Saranghamnida,