Hey you guys! Our dear Kmuse isn’t feeling well, so I, the intrepid Maknae, have taken over this week’s While You Were Sleeping recaps. Mwahahahaha!

ALSO, I noticed something in my last post. You know that picture of Jae Chan threatening his brother with “Wolverine” and I said something about sibling torture? That whole story arc is a contrast in sibling relationships! There’s the fun-loving, caring one between Jae Chan and Seung Won, and the deadly one between Kang Dae Hee and his brother. Can we just say excellent writing? Because, seriously, that is some excellent writing. I applaud the writer.

Cliffhanger

All righty. On to this week: We left off in a bloody cliffhanger last week, at least where Woo Tak was involved. As he is one of my favorite side characters of all time, I was justifiably concerned. 

That’s not where the episode opens, though. Instead we see, through flashback, Jae Chan entrusting Woo Tak with vital information to keep Hong Joo safe. I’m so happy to see a solid friendship developing between these two.

Next, we see Jae Chan doing his best to subdue Dae Hee while he’s waiting for help to arrive. And can I just say that Investigator Choi continues to improve upon acquaintance? The flying kick he delivers right to Dae Hee’s leg was a thing of beauty. Anyway, Jae Chan goes to comfort Hong Joo, who finally recovers herself enough to ask the question that is on all our minds: How is Woo Tak? Thanks to the quick actions of his colleagues, Woo Tak had pressure applied to his wound (as opposed to someone shaking him and telling him to wake up. Hello, kdrama pet peeve) and he was rushed to the hospital. He survives. YAY!

Justice is served!

Dae Hee winds up in prison, which is no surprise to anyone but himself, and he angrily demands to see Yu Beom, who seems to be refusing his calls. Elsewhere, Jae Chan gets accolades at the office while Woo Tak is recovering. The chief prosecutor is impressed that he has physical strength as well as brains, which is a nice change from his earlier opinion. And Jae Chan humbly acknowledges that he was not the only one to take down Dae Hee, but that Investigator Choi was involved. I’m hoping to see a solid working relationship between these two as well. It’s looking good. As he gets on the elevator, Jae Chan runs into Yu Beom and learns that Yu Beom won’t be defending Dae Hee anymore, since he refuses to take losing cases. When Jae Chan goes to interview Dae Hee, he informs Dae Hee of that and Dae Hee loses what’s left of his mind.

We then get the scene where Jae Chan is supposed to be sitting next to Hong Joo, listening to her report of the Dae Hee case on the television. Instead, he’s sharing the couch with his brother and mourning his missed opportunity. (I may have snickered.)

Pretty setting, ugly crying.

The next morning, the chief prosecutor assembles the senior prosecutors to watch him hang a picture on the wall that says, “Give credit to others and blame yourself.” He then passively aggressively blames himself for not seeing the weaknesses in his senior prosecutors that led to the Dae Hee kerfluffle. This starts some bickering among the seniors, who all feel guilty about Woo Tak’s stabbing, as do Hong Joo and Jae Chan. They all have their own ways of dealing with it, which includes Hong Joo crying her eyes out in the park and Jae Chan providing the tissues. He shares some words of comfort about not crying over spilled milk, but slowly filling the empty glass again. It’s a beautiful piece, but Hong Joo correctly calls him on it, saying they’re not his words. He ruefully agrees, and we get a flashback to the young Jae Chan being comforted by one of his father’s co-workers after he confessed about manipulating his report card. The co-worker shared those words, and Jae Chan apparently never forgot them.

Evil music can make anyone into a killer.

Then we have our cut to our next episode (by SBS’ standards). An internet technician is checking the cables in an apartment, being watched over a woman who used to be an Olympic archery champion. He gets the job done and asks for a good review, and the housekeeper talks him into taking out the trash while he’s there. Apparently he’ll do anything for a good review. 😀

The best abs in South Korea

It seems that Woo Tak knows this boy, but at the moment that doesn’t matter because abs. WAIT. Let me back up. Woo Tak calls Hong Joo to the hospital, since he’s been released, and we see him changing shirts while conversing with Jae Chan. Kmuse texted me and said, “I don’t really notice shirtless scenes anymore, but Woo Tak’s abs are a thing of beauty.” I have to say, during this scene, I was rather forcibly reminded that Woo Tak idolizes Batman, who also took excellent physical care of himself. I was cracking up in the next minute, though, because Jae Chan was doing his best to protect Woo Tak’s modesty when Hong Joo walked in. And Woo Tak was taking his own sweet time buttoning up his shirt, obviously having a good time messing with those two.

Kisses! Kisses! Kisses!

Anyway, he asks Hong Joo if he can stay at her house while he recovers and asks Jae Chan to take care of his dog. (There’s a funny bit about his parents in there. Watch for that.) Jae Chan is envious of Woo Tak’s growing relationship with Hong Joo and her mother, but gets over it when Woo Tak sends him and Hong Joo on a lengthy shopping trip to get a few things he needs. At the end of the trip, there’s some awkward kissing/not kissing between Jae Chan and Hong Joo, which definitely shows us where they are romantically!

Nice Ahjussi Flashback

When Jae Chan returns home, Seung Won says they got another envelope in the mail from “that ahjussi”. Flashback time! We cut to the funeral home, where little Jae Chan and Hong Joo are hiding out from the reporters, and learn that the AWOL soldier’s brother is also there, and that he’s a policeman. They turn around and there is the police officer, the same co-worker that comforted Jae Chan after he confessed to his dad about his report card. The younglings turn their anger on the poor man for his brother’s actions.

 Post kiss awkwardness averted.

Back to the next morning, and Hong Joo is trying to avoid Jae Chan because of the awkward kissing the night before. She asks her mom to tell Jae Chan that she left for the office already, and that’s exactly what her mom does — tells Jae Chan that Hong Joo told her to tell him that she left for the office already. Hong Joo’s mom is my spirit animal — I love her! They walk to the office and decide to get over their awkwardness already.

 I suspect we have another murder.

We’re back to the internet tech and the archer. Apparently her internet is out again and she’s getting annoyed. He fixed it and takes out her recycling again. Lo and behold, a few hours later, she’s discovered dead. OMO! I wonder who did it!

In the meantime, dinner at the Han household gets comical as Woo Tak reveals that it’s time for him to go home and that he allowed Jae Chan and Hong Joo to serve him because he’d seen how sad they were about his stabbing. I really, really like this boy. Afterward, Jae Chan and Hong Joo agree that there’s something mysterious about Woo Tak.

 Mysterious mysteries

The episode ends with Woo Tak waking up to a phone call. Hong Joo has had a dream that the accused murderer of the archery champion busted into his apartment and started threatening him. Yeah, the murderer had the passcode and Robin went and sat in his lap. Yeah, Woo Tak definitely knows him. Hak Young asks for Woo Tak’s help and threatens to reveal his secret if Woo Tak won’t help him. Um, yes, mysterious describes our Woo Tak quite well. 

Kmuse’s Thoughts:

Hi all. Blogging from my sick bed and so thankful that Karie is helping me out this week. I have just a few thoughts that had to be shared. First off….. I have to complain about the park scene. To this point, I have been really impressed with Suzy’s performance. That said, the director should never focus on her crying. It was horrible. I would even put it up with some of the worst crying scenes in kdrama history. I can live with her acting since I am actually enjoying her character. But please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t force her to cry on camera. Look angsty, scream in anger, be scared…. OK. I can handle that. Just not the fake tears that she just can’t pull off.

Next, can I just say that Woo Tak is kind of stealing the show? I love Lee Jong Suk. I really really love Lee Jong Suk. But for some reason, I can’t stop rooting for Woo Tak. I am worried that I am going to have to suffer his character getting hurt in some way. We all know that this writer is not against an occasionally beloved character death. I am bracing myself for some kind of noble idiocy sacrifice. What do you think? Do we have a tragic character ending in our future?

Anyhow…. I am off to go back to sleep and dream of khotties.  I guess being sick isn’t all horrible.

Until the next recap, drama fans!

Karie the Maknae (and a sick Kmuse)

Dramas with a Side of Kimchi