Oh My Lady: Episode 6

by javabeans

Jazz hands! I was trying to split these intro screenshots equally between Choi Siwon and Chae Rim, but what can I say, dude makes some funny faces.

Well, this is moving faster than I thought it would. In a kdrama, that’s almost always a good thing, since it keeps us on our toes.

SONG OF THE DAY

Younha – “LaLaLa” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 6 RECAP

After Min-woo does the macho Korean wrist-grab and leads Kae-hwa out of the apartment, they sit outside where she apologizes profusely, sorry for having initiated the DNA test. If not for her, Yoon-seok wouldn’t have found out about the results. She wishes she had thought faster and lied about it.

Oddly enough, Min-woo is much less agitated than she is, sitting there with a half-smile on his face as he calls her a meddler. She asks why he punched his manager. Min-woo retorts, was he just supposed to stand by with Yoon-seok saying such crap? Kae-hwa’s not upset that he did the hitting, but she is worried that Min-woo would get himself into more trouble.

The adults do briefly worry about Ye-eun, but the little girl can more than hold her own. Especially appearing suddenly dressed in a white shift in her creepy-mute way, like a ghost in the night. Before spotting her, Yoon-seok pockets the DNA test, muttering, “Wait and see. You dare hit me?” Then he turns and gasps to see the girl, before he realizes the ghostly image is just Ye-eun.

She starts to cry, and like so many grown men who are otherwise capable of handing difficult situations, the sight (and sound) of a bawling girl has him completely flummoxed. Yoon-seok is actually kind of funny here, because he’s completely at a loss as to how to react. He calls Min-woo and barks at him to do something about the kid. He leaves the apartment after shooting Min-woo a hard look.

The next day, Yoon-seok seeks out Min-woo at the gym, acting like things are back to normal and the whole descent into violence was just a blip on the radar. He cautions Min-woo to be careful with Kae-hwa and to keep her close for now, to make sure she stays in line.

Min-woo has noticed the removal of the DNA documents and asks if Yoon-seok took the test results. Yoon-seok evades the question, asking if that one piece of paper is so important. Clearly he expects the answer to be no, but when your career rests upon it, I’D SAY DUH IT IS.

At home, Min-woo tells Kae-hwa to be careful from now on not to let the situation out. He then comes upon Ye-eun drawing with crayons, and comments on the crude drawing. Sure it’s not Picasso, but the kid is, well, a kid. At his remark, Ye-eun picks up her drawing pad and actually hides the picture from Min-woo, which is adorable and hilarious. Hmph! Little baby’s got pride.

It gets even better when Min-woo enters his room and shouts in outrage. Somebody has scribbled all over his huge wall photo, of which he is very proud. One guess who that might be!

Seeing the black crayon smudged all over Min-woo’s face, Kae-hwa points out that he had it coming: “So why insult someone else’s drawing?” And despite the desecration of Min-woo’s face, Bok-nim takes this as a good sign that the girl is starting to express her feelings, even if it’s through vandalism.

Shi-joon has hired someone to follow his wife around to gather proof of her cheating. As she lunches with her man on the side, Jung-ah notices a parked car just outside, whose driver is pointing a camera at her. She runs out to confront the snooper, but the car pulls away. I don’t really know why she seems surprised because Lady, you’re really not being very discreet as far as illicit affairs go.

In fact, Shi-joon looks more conflicted at having her investigated than Jung-ah does at cheating, which I suppose tells us just how very shameless Jung-ah is. But JUST in case you didn’t get that message, we have the following scene:

Jung-ah heads to the office to confirm that Shi-joon is having her followed. She’s got some chutzpah taking HIM to task for not confronting her directly, suggesting that he didn’t want to bother saying the words himself. She’s actually offended, saying, “I’ve never insulted you like this.” What with all the cheating and the sneaking around and lying, NEVAH!

Her misplaced righteousness knows no bounds, because she adds, “I didn’t know you were the type of person who would do this.” Uh, HELLO?

Jung-ah tells him to fight with her instead of bringing in a third party, and okay, she has a point there. Only, I seem to recall that she also “brought in” a third party, so to speak. With that, she storms out.

Kae-hwa has returned to the office early from lunch, in time to overhear most of this argument. She tries to hide, but Shi-joon sees her through the blinds. Unable to pretend she didn’t witness the scene, Kae-hwa hesitantly enters his office to explain that she didn’t mean to overhear. He gives her a curt nod to acknowledge this, and she ducks back out.

When the others return from lunch, the conversation turns to musicals and reveals Kae-hwa’s painfully limited knowledge of the musical world — she doesn’t even know what an intermission is, and hasn’t ever seen a show. That’s hardly something to be proud of, and although Jin-ho says so nicely, the point is clear: she’s unqualified to hold her job.

Lucky for her, there’s a new musical out, for which Shi-joon and Min-woo have both received complimentary tickets via business contacts. Kae-hwa eyes Min-woo’s tickets and tries to segue into the topic naturally, working up to her pitch. Who is he going to the show with? At his noncommittal response, she suggests that if he’s not busy, she can go with him.

Min-woo’s shocked she’d even think that, and laughs: “Ajumma, do you think I’d have nobody to go with? The problem is I have too many.” He mutters that he’d rather not go than go with her. A little stung by his easy dismissal of her, she gripes to herself that she doesn’t care to go with HIM — she just wants to go to the musical.

Min-woo wonders why she’s so interested. Still miffed, Kae-hwa snaps at him, saying that she’s never been to a musical before. He’s incredulous, but she points out that tickets are expensive, and to all the country’s ajummas who live by scrimping and bargain-hunting, a $100 ticket is a lot of money. It’s not like they’re rolling in luxury, unlike some people.

He’s chastened at that — it’s like he genuinely didn’t consider the money angle until she pointed it out — and proposes giving her a 50% discount, deducted from her salary, in exchange for the ticket. She mutters that he got the tickets for free, but when faced with Min-woo withdrawing the offer altogether, she jumps on it and asks for a bigger discount. Say, 70%. Min-woo agrees, warning her not to look too shabby because he’ll have to be seen with her.

Min-woo goes shopping for clothes with Yura, who is buying him an outfit in thanks for agreeing to be the brand model for her company. A crowd of fangirls — and the Pesky Reporter — mill around the window to snap photos of Min-woo looking friendly with Yura, and she makes the most of the opportunity to touch his jacket repeatedly. She might as well stick a sign on him announcing “MINE” (subtitle: seduction pending).

As often happens when Min-woo is around Yura, he speaks without thinking and invites her to the musical that night. It’s not until he heads back to his car — safely out of orbit from Yura’s narcissistic gravity — that he remembers his deal to take Kae-hwa, and he grimaces. He calls his management to ask for another ticket to rectify the situation.

Reporter Han follows Yura in his car and makes a gutsy move to cut her off in order to force a meeting with her. He has been growing more desperate with each failure to find a decent story, and now he’s dead-set on getting his Min-woo scoop. He demands to know what Yura’s relationship to Min-woo is, and says he’s been gathering evidence. Why doesn’t she just reveal the relationship already?

Yura answers that they’re not at “that stage” yet, which is enough of an answer to delight the reporter, who asks for an off-the-record chat. As she doesn’t actually dislike the idea of making her relationship known — in fact, she’d love being known as his girlfriend — she agrees.

She happily runs through old stories of their relationship, highlighting how smitten Min-woo was over her in the past. However, to Reporter Han’s ears this is boring stuff. He’s dismayed to hear Yura describe their relationship as quite innocent. In her mind, this doesn’t make it less of a relationship, but to the reporter this sounds like kiddie play. So there’s nothing juicy? That’s it?

Kae-hwa looks forward to her outing all day, hurrying home after work to finish the housework and get ready. But just as she’s rushing out, she gets a call from her ex-husband about taking Min-ji for the night. Disappointed, she tries to tell him she has important plans, but at the end of the day it’s really not much of a contest. She picks Min-ji up, telling Min-woo she can’t make it.

Mother and daughter bond over a sauna session and have a fun day of it. Bok-nim, on the other hand, thinks Kae-hwa is crazy for giving up this chance to go to a musical with Min-woo. She invites Min-ji over for the night — bribing the girl with new DVDs — depriving Kae-hwa of the chance to protest.

But first, Kae-hwa needs a new outfit. While she doesn’t quite get a full makeover, Bok-nim insists on buying Kae-hwa a new dress that’s more fit for the occasion. Once she’s appropriately attired, she rushes for the theater, running late because of the last-minute plan changes.

Min-woo arrives at the theater with Yura and naturally causes a stir. He had given away Kae-hwa’s ticket when she first called, then had to take it back when she called back to say she would make it after all. Yura catches him looking around the lobby, and although he tells her it’s nothing, it’s obvious he’s looking for Kae-hwa. Even after they’re seated, he’s distracted and excuses himself from his seat to head out to the lobby to wait, where Kae-hwa finally comes running in.

Once inside, Kae-hwa greets Yura happily, but does not get back the same friendly response. Honestly, this whole scenario is worth it just to see the sour look on Yura’s face, and how utterly unfazed by it Kae-hwa is.

This dynamic continues through the performance, which Kae-hwa finds completely captivating. Yura is too cool to laugh at its jokes and Min-woo keeps his reaction to a smile, but Kae-hwa claps her hands together in childlike delight. In a moving moment, she wipes away tears.

(You may notice that Min-woo’s reactions are halfway between the two extremes. Yura doesn’t have much of a response at all, but Min-woo looks like he’s engaged by the show, even if he is too cool to express it as openly as Kae-hwa.)

On their way out of the theater, they run into Shi-joon and Jung-ah, who have come together. Thus the two groups join together to make up a table of five at the afterparty.

Jung-ah keeps up pleasant conversation, and when Kae-hwa enthusiastically raves about the musical, calling it “really, really fun,” Yura catches on to Kae-hwa’s relative ignorance of the genre and baits her, asking for more details. Min-woo is embarrassed on her behalf (she’s coming off rather gauche), while the others continue the conversation with more enlightened remarks about the background of the lead actor and the expression of emotions.

Feeling left out, Kae-hwa excuses herself to head over to the buffet tables, and when she looks back at her companions continuing their discussion, it makes her feel even more out of place. She stands alone, shoving desserts into her mouth.

In the bathroom, Yura solidifies her status as The One To Wish Bad Things Upon, commenting to Kae-hwa, “Your dress is stylish… though it doesn’t really suit you… Clothing and places have to suit a person. You didn’t have to come along — didn’t you understand that?”

Kae-hwa tells her not to worry, as she’s old enough not to mistake Min-woo’s kindness for more meaningful attention. Yura tells her to not hang around Min-woo — she could ruin his image if other people misunderstand their relationship. (Oh, how I wish mental slaps were effective.)

Shi-joon’s rival, Producer Eom, arrives at the party with Kae-hwa’s ex, Byung-hak. They’ve just formed a business relationship, and Byung-hak’s pretty starstruck.

The two ex-spouses are shocked to run into each other, and the bickering commences immediately. Byung-hak can’t believe she left Min-ji to come to this “important event,” while she thinks his involvement in another business venture is doomed to end badly. He’s keeping this a secret from his father, which means he knows it’s not something that would be met with approval, and has failed in ventures in the past. He obviously thinks he’s more capable than he actually is, and has grand ambitions.

He wonders why she’s here, and sneers, “Are you here to work in the kitchen?” She tells him to mind his own business and stalks off. But he’s soon gawking at the sight of Kae-hwa chatting with Min-woo, who offers her a cookie and asks her to find out the name of the song that’s playing. (Thanks to reader Maggie, here are the songs: it’s “The Winner Takes It All” and here’s the download for the musical version, as well as the Meryl Streep version from Mamma Mia.)

Kae-hwa’s had enough of this shindig so she grabs her things and starts to leave, at which point Byung-hak grabs her and takes her aside. He has heard from his colleague that Kae-hwa is working for a musical company, and calls her irresponsible for dumping their kid off at home. He also prods for info on her relationship to Min-woo (as he’s eager for introductions).

The tensions rise as he warns her not to go around messing things up for him, because he is working to advance his standing in this field. She retorts that he’d better not ruin another business.

Byung-hak isn’t one to take that kind of talk from her, so he accuses her of giving herself careerwoman airs. Just as her party comes within earshot, he says derisively, “You can’t even pay rent and got kicked out!” His voice booms and everyone in the lobby stares at her.

Mortified, Kae-hwa has no response to that and turns to go, which is when — BAM! — a waiter collides with her, spilling drinks all over her and her pretty new dress.

(Which would be a moment that would have had a lot more impact if it weren’t an exact replica of the one in Last Scandal, with the movie star looking on as his ajumma-housekeeper drips in beverages.)

Min-woo starts to step toward Kae-hwa, but Yura holds him back, saying that people are looking. In shame, Kae-hwa hurries away meekly, leaving both men looking troubled.

In fact, even Jung-ah looks sympathetic to Kae-hwa’s humiliation, showing us that even the shameless hussy of a cheating wife is more relatable than that smug Yura, who actually looks like she may be enjoying this.

Kae-hwa fights her tears on the bus ride back, and the others likewise make their drives home in pensive quiet.

Min-woo gets to the apartment first and calls out for Kae-hwa. A few moments later, she comes in carrying Ye-eun, but ignores him and heads straight for the bedroom, not even looking up at him.

Min-woo’s feeling bad but doesn’t really know what to do about it, so he loiters outside the room to speak to her when she comes out. He starts out with a sympathetic tone, about to say, “Din…” (as in, did she eat dinner), then goes for the brusquer “I’m hungry. Make me ramyun.”

Silently, Kae-hwa prepares the noodles and sets the pot in front of Min-woo. He’s just using this as a way to engage her in conversation, so he says the noodles are too soft — he can’t eat this, and requests a new batch.

I actually awwed at this, because to the viewer it’s a transparent excuse to get her to eat with him — if he rejects the first bowl, he leaves it free for her to claim. But Kae-hwa is feeling so upset that she doesn’t register this, and just dumps out the ramyun into the sink angrily.

That was not the reaction Min-woo was going for, and he still doesn’t know how to get the ball rolling to cheer her up. Thankfully she takes the lead this time, finally speaking up to ask if he’d like a drink instead.

As they sip their wine, Kae-hwa asks sadly, “I was really miserable today, wasn’t I?” He answers, “It wasn’t that bad.” Not that he’s fooling anyone.

Kae-hwa explains that the man was her ex-husband. “He’s the person I want to show my best, most confident side to, but I couldn’t do that.” Instead, Byung-hak mocked her for knowing nothing about musicals, and she found that she couldn’t argue with him. She knows she only got this job thanks to Min-woo, and she’s just clinging on now.

Now that the ice is broken and she is talking again, Min-woo can take a light tone as he blusters, “Well, it’s true that you’re ignorant! You didn’t even know that song title earlier. How can you assist a star like that?” She sighs that she knows that without him rubbing it in, and he smiles, saying, “We’ve got a problem. I don’t know that song either.” Kae-hwa sees his expression and can’t hold back a little smile.

Now he’s free to tease her, saying that she looked ridiculous at the musical, the way she was so into it. Forgetting her earlier woes, Kae-hwa exclaims, “It was really fun!” She starts to rave about the main actor and how wonderful he was, which makes Min-woo grumble over her taste (or lack thereof).

Intent to prove that he’s not without skills, Min-woo sings her a couple verses. Kae-hwa is just as tickled with his performance as she was about the musical actors, and claps in glee.

In fact, her response allows him to revel for a moment in his own talent. Even if that smile is then wiped from his face when she enthuses, “Now I know why you’re a star even though they say your acting sucks! You definitely have star quality.”

He says drily, “You should take out that part about the sucky acting.” But the mood is much lighter now, and she tells Min-woo that if he ever wins an acting Daesang, he’d better include her name in his acceptance speech. Min-woo replies — with jazz hands! — “Why not? I’ll say that I share this honor with Yoon Kae-hwaaaaa.” The last bit he says mimicking her intonation when she draws out her own name.

Kae-hwa hopes things will turn out well for Min-woo, which is a sentiment that strikes him as odd — she’s better off being happy over her own future, not other people’s. She answers, “I like it when anybody does well. I have to live with that spirit so that I’ll be blessed, and Min-ji will be blessed.” Min-woo replies, “If you say such nice things in this industry, people will call you a fool.” But he’s not one of them, since he doesn’t seem to find her generous spirit stupid.

When they’ve drained two wine bottles, both are drunk and tripping over their words. Min-woo brings the conversation back to the beginning and slurs, “You’re not miserable.” She mumbles, “I know that too. But really?”

Min-woo: “Your voice is loud. You’re interfering. You’re positive without a reason.”
Kae-hwa: “This doesn’t sound like praise.”
Min-woo: “On the whole, your face isn’t quite pretty, but if you take each part separately, you have big eyes, and your nose is cute. And your lips…”

At that, he looks at her lips, losing his train of thought. His thoughts start to take a different turn, while Kae-hwa prods, “What about my lips?”

Shaking himself out of it, Min-woo sends Kae-hwa into the kitchen to fetch more wine while he looks puzzled over these unfamiliar thoughts. Kae-hwa doesn’t return, so he heads to the kitchen to find her leaning against the open refrigerator door, momentarily dozing.

With her eyes closed, Min-woo takes a good, long look at her face. A thumping noise pounds in his ears — as though representing his heartbeat — just as Kae-hwa opens her eyes. She sees him staring down at her intently, and looks up at him curiously.

At which point he leans closer…

 
COMMENTS

Yura (Park Han-byul) hardly seems like real competition, huh? I was not looking forward to the seeing this dynamic play out for too long, with Min-woo ditching Kae-hwa every time Yura comes calling. But already Yura’s pull over Min-woo is fading, and I was pleased that Min-woo didn’t take Kae-hwa’s ticket back after he invited Yura to the musical, and that he was more interested in Kae-hwa’s reaction to the show than Yura’s. Despite the outer appearances that say Yura and Min-woo are the perfectly matched beautiful couple, we can see from their reactions that Min-woo’s probably more like Kae-hwa than he’d care to admit. He’s got his appearance to keep up, but rather than sneering at Kae-hwa’s transparency (like Yura does), he seems to appreciate that about her.

I’m also surprised to be liking Jung-ah more than I probably ought, even with her ridiculous confrontation with Shi-joon. Maybe it’s because Moon Jung-hee’s awesome, or maybe it’s because at least she showed a little decency over Kae-hwa’s embarrassment. It’s funny how she’s committed the greater sin by cheating on her marriage, yet it’s Yura’s shallowness that makes her more fun to hate. ‘Cause we all know that girl, right? — the one who can’t fathom when people don’t fall at her feet just because she’s pretty — and it’s always fun to see her get her comeuppance.

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