Romance Town: Episode 12

by kaedejun

~Soon Geum-ssi went up the hill ~to fetch a pail of money ~She got caught, by Soo Jung-ssi ~who then came running after…~

It’s boys-plus-Soon Geum versus girls/maids.

From the look on Soon Geum’s face, she seems to think she’s been found out about her lottery winnings. They want to see if she’ll confess on her own, but Soon Geum stumbles over her words.

Soo Jung: Last time at the department store, it was you who acted like you didn’t know us when you were with Kang Gun Woo and we rode the elevator together. You changed into another person by wearing the Madame’s clothing. It was you who flirted with Kang Gun Woo, right?

Whew! Gun Woo looks awkward, while Young Hee’s all “Whaat?”

Relieved, Soon Geum admits they’re right. All the maids are aghast that she would’ve done such a thing, and Da Kyum thinks Soon Geum took the seduction a step further by ensnaring Young Hee. She accuses Soon Geum of two-timing, and that she just couldn’t wait for her to get out so that she could become Young Hee’s maid too…

Soon Geum shakes the two men’s hold on her out of annoyance, causing Young Hee to stumble. (Bwaha – guy is so unstable!) She fires back – Young Hee ran around barefoot looking for Da Kyum the morning she left, and she was simply thankful that he went at such great lengths for a “maid.” On top of that, he wasn’t eating because of the forgery scandal. She didn’t think it was a crime to help out. “And in your owner’s room,” Soon Geum says in a slow, even voice, “I slept…on the bed.”

GASP! from all around the maids. Yeah Da Kyum – you ain’t that special anymore. The boys look a bit awkward about this revelation, but neither shut her up with a kiss.

Soon Geum just eggs a pissed-Da Kyum on; if she did something wrong, then Da Kyum can just go punish her!! She even shoves her head towards Da Kyum, allowing the young maid to grab her hair and pull it back and forth. Everyone tries to help pull them apart but Soon Geum tells them not to get involved. Hwang Yong admires Soon Geum – she’s like a real gangster.

Everyone finally breaks the two girls apart, and Soon Geum cries out at how they could think so lowly of her. They’ve been together as maids for three years, and have supported and leaned on each other. She’s angry that they only think of her as a money-hungry seductress. Hyun Joo steps in as the voice of reason, reminding her that whatever reason Soon Geum may have had, she should not have touched her madame’s things; it would only breed more distrust between the owners and the maids.

Soon Geum promises she won’t do it anymore, so on to the next matter of business: which man does she like more?

UH OH.

Gun Woo and Young Hee look at her expectantly.

Soon Geum: The person I like the most is money.
Gun Woo and Young Hee: O_O *blink blink*

And with that, she stomps back into the house. Young Hee grabs Gun Woo – they need some bro talk.

On the hood of the car, Young Hee finds out that Shi Ah = Soon Geum. He thought Gun Woo disliked Soon Geum, so how could this happen? Gun Woo says that he’s just going to continue pursuing Soon Geum, and he won’t ask for any help from Young Hee. That just shows he has more confidence than Young Hee, who doesn’t think he can do anything without money now.

He reveals that they both have maids who are in love with them, but can only see their backs. However, Gun Woo can only see Soon Geum’s back too, as she doesn’t even love him more than money! Gun Woo and Young Hee aren’t rivals – they’re on the same side and must battle Money – the ultimate, coolest Superman of the modern world!

(Oh I’d love to see a comic strip of this.)

Young Hee wails – he couldn’t stand women who had more money than him. He loved being the cool guy who can pay any date without looking at the bill. And Soon Geum would fall for a guy with money – didn’t they see how she acted around the expensive sushi?! Gun Woo and Young Hee sigh.

Hwang Yong takes Soon Geum to a small bar for some food. He notes that the maids are pretty feisty, but it also shows they care for her. Soon Geum says she hates them gangster types, so Hwang Yong wonders why she likes him so much. In response, Soon Geum grabs a piece of sushi and extends her arm to him: “Say ahh…!”

Hwang Yong laughs it off, but she forces him to open his mouth and take a bite. He notes it’s the first time he’s ever been fed by a woman, and Soon Geum replies, “It fell on the floor already.” (!!!) She laughs it off as a joke, but is amazed that no woman has ever done it for him. Hwang Yong says it’s because no one’s laughed so easily around him before Soon Geum.

She’s worried that she’ll be abandoned by tomorrow by both men, considering that she’s come between their friendship, and bets her entire wealth on it. Hwang Yong laughs – that’s not true! Though he doesn’t say it all aloud, he knows it’ll be a waste if Gun Woo gave her up because he knows she’s richer than he is. And Young Hee wouldn’t give her up because he’s now penniless and thinks he has a better chance being on equal status as she is.

Back at the hood of the car, the two boys are plotting what they should do going forward: first, defeat Money. Second, fight each other and propose to Soon Geum with the following words: “I have money.” Then they’ll see who Soon Geum will go to.

Though Soon Geum is embarrassed by the events of tonight, Hwang Yong tells her she’s lucky she’ll get to choose. And, if a man’s sincerity is all that matters to her, she will need to ignore everything about property or material wealth and simply decide if Kim Young Hee the Man or Kang Gun Woo the Man are enough for her.

The next morning, Gun Woo, Joo Won, and Young Hee are all out on their morning jog. Both men ignore Soon Geum, which bums her out. Meanwhile, Joo Won urges Young Hee to go to the gallery so that he can help resolve the scandal. She also wants him to get the painting back from whomever he gave it to, and is willing to go confront the girl herself. Young Hee says he’ll sell his house, sell stocks, and even use the money he made selling apartments to help compensate buyers’ losses. Either way, the painting might be gone, since Da Kyum claimed to have thrown it away.

At the Jang residence, Soon Ok and Boon Ja are fretting over the inheritance. They try to figure out a way to get their hands on some money, and realize that it’s Hyun Joo they have to worry about – she might get two-fifths of the inheritance! They fire Hyun Joo immediately and give her her severance pay, working in the kitchen to prepare the meals themselves. Hyun Joo wonders if she did something to displease them, but Soon Ok snaps that Jang Chi Gook has gotten sick of her food, so out the door she goes.

Carrying her duffel bag, she walks through the neighborhood despondently. Ten years working there and out in ten minutes. She spots Hwang Yong coming out of his home and immediately cries to him about the injustice of being fired. But he only replies, “I’m a little busy,” and drives away.

Soo Jung complains on how lazy Da Kyum is as they sit down to eat, and they have an unexpected visitor – Young Hee! Soo Jung had invited him over since she was afraid he might be starving, much to Da Kyum’s annoyance. He even brought his own utensils. Soo Jung tells him to come any time for food, but Da Kyum tells him to run to Soon Geum instead. Soo Jung tells her to shush, and then makes a passing comment about how the painting on the wall beautifies the room.

What painting on the wall?

Young Hee bends over backwards to look up – it’s his grandfather’s painting! He chokes on his rice. Da Kyum defensively says she took it back (after throwing it out) because it was the first gift he ever gave her. Nowadays, she just pretends that the painting is Young Hee and aims a finger gun at it every so often to release her anger.

Another guest arrives – it’s Hyun Joo in a funk and demanding food. She slams the door and the painting falls to the ground, making Young Hee scramble for it.

That day, Soon Geum heads over to Gun Woo’s office building, which brings a smile to his face (even though he tries to act all cool about it). Turns out she has a new lunch box for him! But Gun Woo’s having a hard time accepting that Soon Geum chose money over him, and acts like a player. Soon Geum’s response? “Want to go to the sauna together?”

Meanwhile Soo Jung is back at the convenience store and checking out his CCTV system. She brings an expensive product to purchase, asking to put it on credit, but the clerk is annoyed. He doesn’t take credit – especially not from her since she purchased instant ramen on “credit” last time. Soo Jung continues to insist that she didn’t, which causes him to go to the back room and show her the video tape.

Ding!

He rewinds back to when she visited the store, and she asks why the video is portraying her as left-handed when she’s really right-handed. He explains that the video shows the opposite of reality, and then they see Zar Lin coming into the store through the camera. The clerk rushes out to assist her, and Soo Jung takes the opportunity to close the door behind him.

The door locks immediately, so while the clerk searches for the key, Soo Jung dashes to look through the video for Soon Geum visiting the store. She notes where Soon Geum put the tickets – the maids’ are on the right, and hers are on the left. She jots it down just in time before the clerk opens the door.

Soon Geum and Gun Woo sit inside a sauna room with one other couple. The girl is cleaning her boyfriend’s ear, and so Gun Woo nonchalantly cleans his ear with a finger in front of Soon Geum. *Hinthint* Because the girl accidentally hurts the guy, he quickly runs out. She follows, and the room is finally all theirs.

Soon Geum is curious about what they talked about behind her back, and Gun Woo says they just cursed her out. She tells him he should’ve admitted they kissed so that Young Hee would stop liking her. Gun Woo: “Hmph – we only did it twice.” Soon Geum is outraged he speaks so lightly of two kisses, as if they were nothing.

Swoooop! Gun Woo kisses her on the mouth again, and Soon Geum’s eyes widen in surprise. Gun Woo: “You make the choice then, since I chose to like you. Young Hee can do whatever he wants.” Soon Geum thinks there’s no need to choose, now that they’ve kissed THREE times, but he reminds her that three is nothing – they do 300 and then it’s a different story…

He immediately leaves the room out of embarrassment, leaving Soon Geum to blush ridiculously by herself. Aww cute…

Soon Geum returns home with groceries, and Soo Jung calls her over menacingly – Soon Geum purchased an extra lottery ticket, didn’t she? And her ticket was the winning ticket, wasn’t it?

Soon Geum panics. Soo Jung inches closer, cradling her face with her hands; “Why are you surprised? Are you scared?”

Geez – Soo Jung is freaky!

Soon Geum immediately cries that it was just once. She only bought it because her parents appeared in her dream, and she had purposely kept hers on the left. She even told the maids specifically that theirs was on the right. Soo Jung checks it against her own apron, where she’s hidden go-stop cards to symbolize the maids’ and Soon Geum’s tickets. Soon Geum’s story adds up, and so Soo Jung just leaves her alone.

At the gallery, all of the paintings are taken away. Young Hee joins Joo Won and the lawyer (who is really the curator now), who are looking over some slides analyzing the paintings. Young Hee can’t tell which one is real, but the lawyer/curator points out that the left picture is genuine because you can tell based on the paints used. The genuine one has egg yolk in the paint composition. The problem is that most of the paintings in the gallery don’t have egg yolk in it, and therefore they’re all forgeries. Young Hee orders for them to get invoices from all those who purchased paintings; he’ll compensate them all.

Back to Soon Geum, who’s begging Soo Jung to keep her winnings a secret. Soo Jung: “Why don’t you give me some then?” Soon Geum is shocked at the request, but Soo Jung says she’s just kidding. Soon Geum’s story checks out so she’s not going to lay any claim on it. She lays out her apron towards Soon Geum and has her explain it again.

Soon Geum takes out the cards from the apron to prove that the maids’ ticket was the losing ticket, and that hers was the winning ticket. However, when she reaches into the left pocket (which is the right pocket facing her), it’s actually the maids’ “ticket”!

Both of them realize that there was a mix up at the same time – all because it depended on who was looking at the pocket at the time. Hyun Joo had taken out the wrong ticket, thinking that “right side” meant her “right side,” and not the wearer’s right side. (Everyone following so far?) The winning ticket belongs to the maids.

Soon Geum is so shocked that she falls backwards in her seat. As for Soo Jung? She’s so overwhelmed by this bombshell that she begins wailing, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks.

At mealtime, Jang Chi Gook wonders why he hasn’t seen Hyun Joo all day. Soon Ok says that Boon Ja made their meal today, and Chi Gook realizes they’re only suddenly doing this because of the will. Or – the other option is they’re making him terrible food so that he can die early! Either way, he’s not happy with their efforts.

Hyun Joo wanders around in a drunken daze, and stumbles across the car bringing Tae Won and Yoon Joo home. Tae Won is more insensitive, noting that Hyun Joo could probably do well at a bar with her face. Yoon Joo effectively tells him to shut up. She goes over to Hyun Joo: is she hanging around because she’s still in love with Hwang Yong, or with her job? If she’s fired she should just leave.

Hyun Joo apologizes and notes laughingly that it’s so hard to get her friend to say the word “friend.” She turns to leave, and Yoon Joo asks if she needs any money. Or perhaps she is still looking for a rich man to save her. Hyun Joo tells Yoon Joo to just live well and be good to her husband, since she has everything already.

Tae Won arrives to escort Yoon Joo away from this “crazy maid,” and that’s when Hyun Joo comes right up to his face and says that she’s Yoon Joo’s friend. Tae Won thinks she’s just nuts, and is looking down on both of them. Hyun Joo poo-poos the idea of class statuses and notes that they’re perfect for each other, always talking about class. Yoon Joo has to drag her husband away before they escalate their argument any further.

Hyun Joo falls down to the grass and cries about her bad luck. Yoon Joo isn’t completely heartless to her former friend, so she forces a miserable Soon Geum to go out and check up on Hyun Joo.

Soon Geum would go – but first she wants to ask Yoon Joo for advice: if she originally won 10,000 Won (hypothetically) and her friends had pitched in 8,000 Won and want their share, what should she do? Yoon Joo reasons that if it’s certain the 8,000 Won is theirs, then she must give it. But Soon Geum feels like she just got robbed, having had 10,000 and now only being left with 2,000. Of all things, it’s the rich Yoon Joo who points out that Soon Geum would be a thief if she doesn’t hand over their share.

Soon Geum finally goes outside and lies down next to Hyun Joo on the grass. They have a confession session: from now on, once she leaves 1st Street, Hyun Joo vows never to be a maid again. Soon Geum confesses that she feels completely torn between what she should do, and feels like she’s going through hell right now.

Young Hee and Gun Woo arrive home to see the two women lying on the grass. Hyun Joo just wants to be left alone, and so Young Hee asks Gun Woo’s permission to allow Soon Geum to cook him dinner. Gun Woo: “Just you two? No.” Young Hee tests his limits – so he can’t even meet her outside for coffee just one on one? Gun Woo says no, absolutely not. What did you expect, Young Hee?!

A hint into Zar Lin’s life: she watches the news, admiring only at the anchorman because he’s so handsome (it’s the same guy who announces the winning lottery numbers). She opens her locket; on one side are pictures of her siblings, and on the other side, a picture of the anchorman.

Young Hee, Soon Geum, and Gun Woo (carrying a drunk Hyun Joo) ring the doorbell to Jang Chi Gook’s home. Soon Ok announces that Hyun Joo no longer works there (which is news to all of them) so they won’t take responsibility for a drunk maid. They have no choice but to leave Hyun Joo at Soo Jung’s for the night. Young Hee notes the crooked painting and asks if he can fix it as a form of repayment for the free meal. He can’t do it now at night, so Soon Geum sends the two men off first so that she can have “girl talk.” But Soo Jung figures out quickly what it is Soon Geum wants to talk about and tells her they can discuss it tomorrow.

Da Kyum goes out to see if Young Hee’s eaten, but he tells her not to worry about him. The next morning though, he happily accepts the stew Soon Geum hands him. Joo Won watches this from afar, totally jealous.

Tae Won visits his son at the trading room, where Gun Woo is watching his stocks. He notes that Gun Woo is being too careful with his investments, but Gun Woo is aiming for quick wins – he needs to collect his money bit by bit, as cleanly as possible. He is not going to go down his father’s path.

Young Hee fixes the painting on the wall, which makes Da Kyum’s heart soften a bit more for him. She tries to get on his good side again, but he rebuffs any conversation with her. Meanwhile Joo Won wants a chat with Soon Geum. She suspects that Soon Geum is the recipient of the painting, and tells her that it’s worth 10 billion won. But Soon Geum is all, “What painting?” Woops – wrong person.

Hwang Yong spots Hyun Joo at the bank, waiting to deposit her severance pay. He starts off with some small talk about how much she got, but then asks whether their meeting at the hotel was coincidental or not. Hyun Joo lies that it was a coincidence, but you can’t fool the Fairy Godfather. He knows that the person she cursed in his car was Yoon Joo. (Why is he so smart!?!?) She gets up to go to the teller, but he grabs her wrist: “The one who called and tried to warn me was you too, wasn’t it?” Hyun Joo doesn’t reply, but Hwang Yong looks at her a little more kindly than before.

Soo Jung visits Soon Geum’s home – she wants to have the “talk” with everyone else at Soon Geum’s newly bought apartment, and will notify the others. Meanwhile, Da Kyum takes down the hanging painting and sends a text message to all the maids…

Soo Jung is the first to arrive at the apartment, and she carries with her a newly purchased luggage. She wants to see the money first before everyone else, citing the fact that she’s the oldest, so she should get to see it first. Besides, it doesn’t matter when anyone sees it. Without much choice, Soon Geum takes her to the second bedroom where she kept all of the other boxes of money.

She opens one to show Soo Jung the money; split 5 ways, each person will get 2 billion. Soo Jung collapses from the sight of all that money. She asks Soon Geum honestly: after having 10 billion and now being forced to split it, does she feel a little robbed? At first Soon Geum replies no, but then admits she does. However, since they promised to share it, she’s going to follow through.

That’s when Soo Jung admits that the others aren’t coming – in fact, they don’t know about this meeting. So… how about they split it in half? 5 billion each. Soon Geum is worried they’ll get caught, but Soo Jung tells her that they just need to keep their mouth shut. She can do that right, since she’s hid the 10 billion from all of them these past few weeks?

Soon Geum is resistant, and is creeped out by Soo Jung’s increasing greediness. Soo Jung reasons with her – even if they may seem like bad people now, Soon Geum will be thankful later. It’s 5 billion! Compared to the paltry 2 billion if everyone knew!

Suddenly the cell phone rings, and the two of them scream at the break in silence. Yeap – that’s how the guilty scream!

They realize it’s Soo Jung’s phone, and she picks up. It’s one of the maids – and she’s in town!

Comments:

They are SO going to get caught! This is what I meant by “darker” – I wanted the characters to become devious and greedy because they have the incentive to do so. There’s a lot of money at stake. While I did enjoy the fun, light, slice-of-life feel to this drama, I think it’s high time that they focus the story on the maids and the money. Everyone’s fate has been reversed at this point, so it’s time to show what the characters are going to do on their new paths. I appreciate the deeper character relationships that are in the drama, but now I want those ties tested. I don’t want to just see cute scenes between Gun Woo and Soon Geum; I want to see them overcome obstacles together about the money. Everyone needs to know the truth about everyone; not just Hwang Yong knowing all. Based on how episode 12 ended, I think this drama should – needs – to go to a darker, more melodramatic place. It will justify the pace, and it’ll allow for more character depth.

But that’s just my opinion. I don’t want to be questioning where this series is going anymore, since we’re almost done with it.

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