City Hunter: Episode 6

by girlfriday

Show, I LUB YOU. So, so, much. How do you cram so much story in one hour? So much banter and flirty goodness? So much cheeky wit and badass fun? Were you made just for me? Do you feel the same way? … BEEP. Your message has been recorded. ‘K, call me!

 
EPISODE 6 RECAP

Yoon-sung sees Nana stomping towards him, and tosses her a goofy grin with a request for her special just-so coffee that he can’t seem to get right without her. Apparently, the cream-and-sugar-to-coffee ratio is a mystery for MIT doctor.

But Nana’s in no mood for witty banter, as she’s just discovered that he bought her house from the guy who bought it at auction. What, you couldn’t even manage to keep her from finding that out? What the hell was the point of sending Ajusshi with all that untraceable cash?

She basically rips him a new one for throwing around his money and pitying her like she’s some charity case. He gets defensive, declaring that he’s free to buy a house with his money if he pleases.

He admits that it’s a rundown place, but finds it conveniently close to work. Nana: “So what, you’re going to live there?!” She’s crazy with disbelief and tells him that makes no sense, so before he knows it, he’s telling her to move her stuff out so that he can live there.

HA. You dolt.

And then, to further dig his grave, he asks if she didn’t really come here to ask if she could stay. He arrogantly tells her that this isn’t the best way to go about it (yeah, takes one to know one).

Nana whirls around and tells him that HE’s the one mistaken, if he thinks he’s going to use this house to play her. “That’ll never happen. I hate people who use money to play around with others, down to my bones.” She tells him that she’ll clear out of the house today.

He sighs and scratches his head, as though unfamiliar with why he’s got his foot shoved up his mouth.

He goes back to work, and Ki-joon rolly-chairs over to thank him for taking him home last night, and asks timidly if he did anything wrong… he can’t actually remember anything, though he does remember seeing Yoon-sung there with a woman.

He asks if it wasn’t Eun-ah (Nana’s partner and his judo instructor), and Yoon-sung scoffs realizing that this is all he wanted to confirm. He can’t resist the urge to shout that he DID make a lot of mistakes, a whole bunch of them, making Ki-joon nerd-scooch away in embarrassment.

Over at the prosecutor’s office, Young-ju questions the bus driver during Target No. 1’s prison transport about his attacker. He surmises that this attack and the attempt on Target No. 2’s life are related—the two men have been close friends for over twenty years. Score one for the smart prosecutor.

His assistant asks if he thinks the City Hunter is behind this, and Young-ju decides that makes no sense. Why turn in the senator to the prosecutor’s office, if your goal was to kill him in the first place? Two points. You’re kind of impressing me.

The assistant tells him that there were two suspects the night of Seo Yong-hak’s sniper shooting, and one had a distinct walk, perhaps having been injured in the escape. That triggers the bus driver’s memory: he didn’t think anything of it till now, but the man who attacked him definitely had a limp.

And so the search for Jin-pyo begins.

Yoon-sung checks out Nana’s building, surveying the city from the rooftop, because hey, what’s a City Hunter need other than a perch and a cityscape? He’s disheartened by the shoddy security (the lock, still busted since the break-in, and a metal gate that falls off at the touch). He hires someone to replace all the doors and windows with the most secure stuff he’s got, and the guy tells him to just drop off the key. Oh, the key.

He waits outside for Nana, practicing different ways to tell her that she can live there, like a big dork. She sneaks up on him, making him jump out of his skin. (And I chuckle to myself, remembering his equally girly reaction to a chainsaw not long ago.)

He asks for the key and she tells him that she’ll pack up her stuff and get out, and he can have the key. What he really means to say is that she needn’t leave, but he just keeps asking for the key instead, and follows her in. Creepy Right Hand Assassin shows up just in time to see the two of them head inside.

Yoon-sung watches her pack uncomfortably, trying to figure out how to tell her to stay. Oh, I dunno, you could… SAY THE WORDS. Instead he picks up her needlepoint that says “Flower Pretty Boy,” and smiles, wondering to himself, “Is this for me?” Pffft.

Oh, honey, let’s not try to dwell in the past, shall we?

They bicker like a couple of school kids – “Don’t touch my stuff!” What, do I need permission to touch your stupid stuff?” Are you going to follow that up with raspberries and a neener-neener?

She sneers that first impressions are right after all, and that she should’ve known that he was every bit the schmoozy playboy in the backseat, and chides herself for thinking he was better than that when he paid her hospital bill and helped the kids next door.

He finally gets so frustrated that he just sits down in protest and tells her to put her stuff back and stay here. She gets even angrier, “I don’t know if you’re trying to mess with me, or you’re just investing, but ever since I was seven, this house…”

He cuts her off, “I know. It’s the house with the table that your dad built, and the tablecloth that your mom made.” Finally, you’re getting through! But then he promptly shoots himself in the foot by yelling at her to stay. Sigh.

She plops her dog down in his lap, requesting that he feed her once a day until she finds a new place. “You want me to live with this dog?” She reminds him that he’s kicking her to the curb—he can at least do this much. And with that, she’s gone.

He sits there, totally dumbfounded and peeved at how this whole thing got spun around on him, leaving him holding the bag dog.

He chases after her, and pulls up just as she’s about to get on the bus. He calls out to her, and she just gets on the bus anyway. He drives alongside in what his becoming his signature move, but this time he makes his presence known, honking and yelling her name.

She puts her headphones on and ignores him, finally moving to the other side of the bus to get away from him. What Yoon-sung doesn’t realize is that Creepy Assassin has followed him the entire way.

He does notice that he’s picked up a tail when he follows Nana to the hospital. So he finds a random girl and turns on the charm to ask if she’d be interested in his friend, and sends her right to Creepy. He uses her as a distraction to slip away, while the girl rejects Creepy Stalker (gee, wonder why) and asks for Yoon-sung’s number instead. Heh.

He watches over Nana as she talks to Dad, laughing through her tears at life’s cruel sense of humor. Then he sees her take out his bullet necklace, as he instinctively clutches his bare neck. “I’m alive because of this person,” and she holds it in her hand for luck, “because I feel like I’m dying.”

Aaaaaack, it kills me that in being a real Hero, he can never be her hero.

She falls asleep on the ground next to Dad, and Yoon-sung tucks her in tenderly. He returns to Nana’s house, yelling at the dog, “Hey, you’re supposed to bark when a person enters! How can I entrust Nana to you, if you’re like this?” Oh my god, why are you being so cute right now?

He starts talking to Nana’s family photo, venting his frustration: “You don’t even listen till I’m done talking! And why are you so stubborn? … Makes me sorry.”

He waits for her to get to the office the next morning with coffee in hand, smiling. (What did you wake up with a new personality today? Because she’s still not going to talk to you, buddy.)

She whizzes right past him, so he stops her to complain about the shoddy state of her house, where nothing works, there’s no hot water, and the toilet has to be flushed by dunking a hand into the tank. That last task especially has his knickers in a twist.

Exasperated, she tells him to either lower his standards for the house, or raise the house to his standards. Either way, it doesn’t concern her. And off she goes, before he can even offer her morning coffee. I sort of love that she never gives him an inch.

Young-ju makes a breakthrough in his investigation, and has found the source of the latest Blue House hack. He walks in to the communications office and takes Ki-joon away for questioning, announcing that the origin of the hack was Ki-joon’s home. Well that explains why he didn’t try to stop it, if the hacker is who we suspect.

Everyone sees him get escorted out like a criminal, and it has the whole place buzzing with theories. Yoon-sung’s team leader speculates that he could be a CIA spy, and Nana’s team leader scoffs that he’s just tall, grouping Yoon-sung into the same category of “tall and weak” guys – a fact that everyone knows. HA. I love these Clark Kent moments of perceived geekdom. While it works in Yoon-sung’s favor to keep his cover intact, he’s not above a bruised ego for the hit to his manliness.

In a bit of meta, Yoon-sung’s sunbae points out that a geeky exterior is the perfect cover for a real spy. Oh, if only you knew. So is being a jackass, and a playboy. Nana’s partner Eun-ah jumps up to defend her office crush Ki-joon, which is probably ill-advised (the dude’s being investigated for terrorism) but cute anyway.

Yoon-sung presents Dad with the curious case of Target No. 2’s youngest son, who is currently applying for medical exemption from the army. Shik-joong has done the legwork of retrieving the medical evidence submitted – a series of knee x-rays from an old basketball injury.

He asks the class to spot the anomaly, and Yoon-sung sees it – it’s not the same person’s leg, from one x-ray to the other. It’s a classic case of switcheroo. Dad growls that a minister of defense has the gall to weasel his sons out of army duty, and Yoon-sung vows to find a way to expose him.

Nana is all nerves when she goes back on Seo Yong-hak’s security detail, and when a crazed supporter rushes the crowd in agitation, she mistakes him for an attacker and slams him to the ground.

While it was a mistake, I don’t understand everyone’s annoyance with her. The dude seemed belligerent, and there was just an attempt on your life, but whatever. Seo Yong-hak seems more understanding but his scary wife is another story.

Nana apologizes profusely and after that crap work day, she’s met with a text from Yoon-sung: “Clean up dog poop.” Hahaha. And you wonder why she hates you? The best part about this is his expression when he looks at the dog and comes up with the bright idea to get her here. He seems SO pleased with himself for such a genius plan. Pfft.

She comes over to find him lounging on the couch, as he points to the two little pieces of dog poop he refuses to pick up. She reminds him through clenched teeth that she asked him to take care of the dog while she finds another place. Yoon-sung: “Then you should’ve left me a dog that doesn’t poop.” LOL.

He can’t resist another dig, “You said the dog was smart. Is relieving yourself in the living room smart? I think she takes after her owner’s lack of patience.” [patience as a euphemism for “holding it”]

He tells her to take the dog with her then, and she can’t believe he’s being so unreasonable when he knows she has no place to go. Yoon-sung: “Then just live with me!”

BUH.

His eyes dart back and forth as he realizes what he just blurted out. She reels for a second in shock and then gets awkward-angry, thinking he’s just messing with her again. Honey, you don’t even know the half of it. I wouldn’t put it past him to have placed that dog poop there.

He gathers his thoughts (I love that you can see the wheels turning in his head), and starts to complain about the myriad broken, rundown, annoying things about this house, and declares that he’s not getting a return on his investment. He tells her she can stay here rent-free if she cooks and cleans, and fixes the TV (very important, that), adding that when she saves enough money, she can buy the place back from him at the auction price. Smart boy.

It’s too good an offer to turn down, and Nana starts to consider it. But…

Yoon-sung: Ah, ’cause we’re a man and a woman? You’re good at judo, right? Let’s just say I make a move. I know exactly what you’ll do to me, so would I come after you? Am I stupid? Am I a glutton to be pummeled to death?
Nana: That’s true…
Yoon-sung: And more importantly, you’re a B-cup, aren’t you? I don’t ever see anyone under a C-cup as a woman. Besides, you think I’m a jerk. So there’s no reason you’d make a move. So what’s the problem?

Oh my god, she’s falling for his non-logic. On the one hand, I TOTALLY want her to fall for it so they can be roommies, but if I were her friend, I’d be shouting don’t fall for his size-ist lies! As it stands though, I’m firmly on the side of please, for the love of pink pants, be roommies with the playboy jerkwad!

She mulls it over in her room, and decides to accept the deal. His petty victory smile is so cute.

Nana: Okay, let’s live together. But I have a condition. You have to sign a No Bodily Contact Agreement.
Yoon-sung: How many times do I have to tell you that you’re not my type? You’ll never ever ever be my type.
Nana: It’s just precautionary. If you grab my hand, it’s… 50,000 won!

He gets up in her face, inching closer and backing her up against the wall.

Yoon-sung: Then what if I touch your shoulders?
Nana: 100,000 won.
Yoon-sung: If I put my arm around you?
Nana: 200,000 won?
Yoon-sung: What if I hug you?
Nana: 3… 300,000 won.
Yoon-sung: A peck?
Nana: 5… 500,000 won!

He leans in…

Yoon-sung: And if I kiss you?
Nana: 1,000,000 won! [A thousand bucks, give or take.]
Yoon-sung: Hahaha. A guy sure needs a lot of money to be with you. At 1,000,000 won per kiss, who would date you? Oh no, wait… you could just prolong one kiss for extra mileage…

RAWR. (I’m gonna need a moment…)

Yoon-sung goes home to pack a bag, and tells Ajusshi that he’s staying with Nana because she’s being followed by Chun’s Right Hand, Mr. Creepy. It’s technically true, but still Ajusshi worries about the whole setup—blowing his cover, being alone with her. He shakes an adorable fist at Yoon-sung, “If you even lay one finger on her…” So cute. Yoon-sung assures him that he’s got high standards, thank you very much.

Ajusshi insists on sending him with food to stock the fridge, and Yoon-sung whines that he’s not getting married (his word choice is that of a bride being married off, heh), but Ajusshi overrules him like a proper mom.

Shower Time!

Not to be nitpicky, but who wears a towel in the shower, while showering? Just sayin’.

Nana writes up their Roommate Contract while he showers, the first half of which is their No Bodily Contact Agreement, with the kinds of touching and penalty prices listed. Ha. You’re really just inviting him to violate that, but hey, I’m not complaining.

He pokes his head out of the bathroom to ask for something to wear since he forgot to pack pajamas. She complains and he counters, “If I had these looks AND preparedness, it’d be so tiring.” (Read: too perfect. Oy.)

He puts on her judo uniform and reaches for the belt that’s hanging on her wall, and she’s quick to snatch it out of his hands and get him a different one. He takes a look at the belt with her name embroidered on it, and notes that it means something to her.

She rushes to the bathroom to avoid awkward questions, and in her haste, she sits down on the toilet without looking. “If you’re going to use the toilet, put the seat down after!” Ha.

She comes out of the shower all sparkly and clean, and his reaction to the pretty is just priceless.

They toss and turn for a while and go to sleep, and Nana has a nightmare about her parents’ accident, where she arrived on the scene to see her mom’s lifeless body clutching that judo belt now hanging on her wall.

She wakes up in tears, jolted by the traumatic memories. She tells her mom that she’s sorry, as if blaming herself. It’s probably her youthful guilt thinking that if they were on their way to pick her up or something, that it’s her fault, though it remains to be seen why she feels guilty.

The next morning, Nana sneaks out of the apartment peeking around corners and creeping around like a cat burglar. Yoon-sung sneaks up behind her to see what she’s doing, and she bites his head off for coming out at the same time, with no concern for what all her neighbors will think.

He doesn’t think anyone cares, but Nana is adamant that they stay rumor-free, and instructs him that she’ll exit one way, and that he’ll count to twenty, then exit the other way. Yoon-sung: “You’ve clearly done this before. Who is it?” Hahaha. He watches her leave, the very picture of unstealthiness, and laughs to himself.

Yoon-sung goes to see Ki-joon in prison and tells him to just reveal the truth instead of taking the heat—he knows that Ki-joon’s younger brother lost his leg due to faulty army boots, and that he was the one to attempt the amateur hacking job.

Ki-joon just tells him that he can always find another job (oh really, with government hacking on your record?) while his little brother’s life is over. Yoon-sung sighs that life is made up of choices, and leaves. He runs into Ki-joon’s brother on his way, and tells him not to drag his brother down with him, and to do the right thing. Aw.

Yoon-sung purposely acts like a scaredypants during his shooting lesson that day, which I find endlessly amusing. First Daughter Da-hae prances over with Nana and Eun-ah in tow, deciding that she’s all of a sudden interested in learning how to shoot.

She pouts and annoys Yoon-sung until he finally caves, and shows her how to fire the gun with his arms around her. Nana’s eyes grow wide with jealousy. Heh. Love it.

Ajusshi Shik-joong reports the arrival of a Mr. Hudson of Mars, the U.S. military arms dealer, and his pickup by Seo Yong-hak’s secretary. He convenes with Seo at a hotel for a private meeting, and Shik-joong alerts Yoon-sung.

At the same time, Young-ju and his ex Sae-hee enter the same hotel to attend a friend’s child’s 100th day party, and Sae-hee is grateful and surprised that Young-ju is keeping appointments now: “When we lived together, if you flaked it was the norm, and if you kept your dates I was grateful.” Too bad he sees Seo Yong-hak and Hudson in the lobby and ditches her on the spot. She sighs, totally unsurprised, and wondering why she got her hopes up.

Young-ju stops them just as they get onto the elevator, asking Target No. 2 what he’s doing here, if he’s supposedly laid up in the hospital, evading Young-ju’s requests to question him. Then he turns to Hudson and throws his prosecutor’s weight around, declaring that his company won’t be doing any illegal arms deals. I don’t think you can stop him, but I like that you try. (Also, why is the American’s English worse than Young-ju’s? Bah.)

Meanwhile Yoon-sung saunters into the hotel and sets up next door, while Shik-joong bugs the conversation via coffeepot. They watch the video feed as Seo Yong-hak tells Hudson that he has evidence to prove that Mars’s combat planes are faulty, and the ones sold to Russia, India, and the Czech Republic have recorded crashes. He declares that they can’t buy faulty weapons and fighter jets—doubly so if/when he becomes President.

Hudson starts to get up but Seo tells him not to be hasty. He backpedals and agrees to the arms deal, while managing to slash the price in his favor, increasing his personal commission for brokering the deal… basically two seconds after declaring them death traps. You are SO busted.

To even further dig his own grave, he adds that when he becomes President they’ll strike a long-term contract, and increase military spending, but then, “We’ll only purchase top-grade quality arms when I’m President. Because I’m someone who loves Korea.” Pwahaha.

Yoon-sung and Shik-joong both stare slack-jawed, only now realizing the extent of his evil, and decide that Dad should be told and D-day planned soon, now that they have the deal recorded. Shik-joong runs off to catch a date with the home shopping channel (HA), leaving Yoon-sung to collect the bugs himself.

Yoon-sung heads down to the bar and runs into Sae-hee, who skipped the party to do a little drinky. She’s a little sloshed, so when she gets up to leave, she spills a drink all over him, and feels so bad that she insists on going upstairs with him to wash his shirt.

UMMMMMM… *debating whether to cry foul at the badly-plotted maneuver to get them upstairs and nekkid, or applaud the girl for her gumption*

At the same time, Young-ju runs into Nana, who’s here to prep the banquet hall’s security for Seo Yong-hak’s press conference tomorrow. He heads out to search for Sae-hee, and sees her walk into the elevator with Yoon-sung and head to the nineteenth floor. Uh-oh.

Seo Yong-hak sends Nana up to his room to fetch a document, and she rushes up, forgetting what the room number was. She takes a chance and knocks on a door, and of course, Yoon-sung opens it, in nothing but a bathrobe.

Sae-hee comes out to see who it is, and Nana gasps to see her there.

To make the square complete, Young-ju then arrives on the floor and sees Nana, so he walks up…

Dude. AWKWARD.

 
COMMENTS

This episode relied a bit more on coincidences than I’d like, but otherwise, it was chock full o’ bantery goodness, which I can’t get enough of. Yoon-sung is so badass, and yet… such a doofus when it comes to Nana. It’s so endearing.

So about the Young-ju Daddy Long Legs situation: the reason I was hoping he wasn’t Daddy Long Legs is because the whole “Ajusshi” sending secret packages without revealing his identity, then pretending not to know her as he tries to date her? Is squicky. I find it more than a little creepy. What I do like is the fact that he knows about his father’s involvement in her parents’ accident and that he’s keeping that from her—that’s great dramatic tension. What I don’t see is why he and the vet are pretending he doesn’t know her. If he were just a benevolent caregiver it’d be fine, but he’s trying to date her, which is SO not fine. I don’t know why; maybe it’s just a personal preference, but that part really bugs me.

Other than that, the way the romantic tension weaves in and out of the foursome is great, especially when each pairing is rife with secrets and guilt and heroism, and I find that the various ways to keep Nana and Yoon-sung apart work for me. Though sometimes I just want him to toss caution aside and just kiss her already. But it’s not the hero’s way. I adore their classic rom-com banter that gives the darker storylines a nice balance.

What I love are these mini-arcs, each about a different Target (a man of power, more largely representing The Man) abusing his privilege and using government for personal gain. It sets up such delicious satisfaction in watching each get socially crucified for their particular sins, each of which is narratively designed for maximum gratification. The social welfare senator pads his own pockets; the war veteran minister of defense cheats the system to keep his sons from serving in the army and sends his country’s troops to war with faulty arms. In one sense we know it’s pat and a little too neat, but it feels like a comic book that way—the lines are broad, but the message pops. And damn if it isn’t satisfying to watch them get their just deserts.

The structure of the mini-arcs keeps us grounded with the hero as well, because we feel like he’s actually accomplishing things along the way. He’s knocking down one target at a time, one social problem at a time, which keeps the plot moving but also allows us to trust in his sense of justice and ability to deliver on the Big Plan. I hate waiting around for heroes who spend lots and lots of time… planning. There’s nothing that saps more confidence than a hero who talks a big game, and then spends fifteen episodes circling his prey. This way we get invested in one target at a time, and the characters’ lives get further entwined as Yoon-sung actively begins his hero’s journey.

 
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