High Kick 3: Episodes 82-84

by gummimochi

Hearts are broken this week, along with mine. We’ve got a lighter load of three episodes and though I don’t mind a lesser workload, our story feels cut off and I feel a little short-handed. Each of these stories could stand on its own but please sir, I want some more.

SONG OF THE DAY

Kang Ta and Taeyeon – “7989” [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

EPISODE 82 WEECAP

A gray-haired Julien sits with his granddaughter in the future. She asks after an old photo of him and Nae-sang in a photo album. Julien tells her that he’s an old friend, and his go-stop instructor…

Back in present day, Nae-sang walks in on Julien losing at go-stop, a Korean card game. He offers to teach Julien, drilling him in shuffling and the various hands he can make with his cards. I’m not too familiar with the game but it sounds like Nae-sang’s doctrine breaks down to (1) Don’t show your best hand first (2) Observe what the other players put down (3) Don’t go for the big scoring hands.

He dominates the next game against Seung-yoon and Nae-sang’s business partner, fist pumping in victory.

Lee Juck stops by the house and is again miffed by the women of the house. There’s Ha-sun, who mentions that it’s too bad his blind date with Ji-sun didn’t work out, and Soo-jung who calls him “stupid uncle” for mixing up astrological signs. That’s the last straw for him and he burns with rage, shaking Soo-jung and calling her “stupid” times 100.

Too bad it’s all in his head, and he’s left to stew in his anger. He fakes modesty when they ask him to play guitar for them. The only people paying attention to him are Jin-hee, who compliments his singing, and Ji-won, who tells him that he lacks depth in his singing. It spurs another fantasy raging Juck to go after Ji-won this time.

Julien spots a group of ajusshis playing go-stop at the local real estate office. The sound of the cards hitting the mat, and the colors draw him in. The ajusshis scoff at his request to join them, telling him that this is the big league – no room for amateurs as this table. So Julien asks Nae-sang to help him beat the best of the best.

He takes a deep breath before stepping in the epic battle of the ages… or just an afternoon game.

Juck invites Jin-hee out to lunch, figuring her for the best lady out of the bunch. He pours her with compliments and just before he starts to talk about himself, Jin-hee asks him questions concerning Kye-sang. Like what he was like in college, if he was popular among his patients, who he finds attractive.

The more questions she asks, the more it annoys him. Then Fantasy Juck strikes again, telling Jin-hee to spit out her food if she’s only going to talk about Kye-sang on the lunch he bought for her. Leaving in a huff, his mind spins over all the women who irritate him.

Julien starts off weak, but picking up one card turns his luck around. One go, two go… and he runs home shouting ecstatically that he placed third. In a big hug, they take a souvenir shot, sealing Julien’s win in history.

EPISODE 83 WEECAP

At the clinic, Jin-hee and Kye-sang wonder what kind of plant they’re growing (it’s aptly named “Jinsang” which takes a part of both their names). She turns to the internet for answers and the community tells her that it’s likely a cherry tomato plant. She shares the news with Kye-sang who tells her they’ll have to split the harvest.

She talks to the plant, and gets a little carried away in her head, dreaming about feeding each other with cherry tomatoes.

One of Nae-sang’s hoobae is heading to the States, particularly L.A., a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by Soo-jung. They’re looking for a sweet and demure babysitter and Soo-jung jumps at the opportunity. But Dad has already told him that Soo-jung is the exact opposite (much to her ire), but she’s determined to transform into the perfect embodiment of innocence.

She consults her family that evening with possible ideas from kdrama heroines, (heh and Jong-seok knocks out her Shin Mina My Girlfriend is a Gumiho idea saying that she’s a gumiho who’ll eat other people’s girlfriends) but they’re uninterested and unconvinced that Soo-jung can do a successful 180.

Imagine their surprise when Soo-jung walks downstairs making a Victorian era woman look like a street gangster thug. Her modest laugh and polite mannerisms cleverly mask the death stares she occasionally shoots to her family. She keeps up the act throughout the night, taking up painting and knitting, true to her fake well-mannered persona.

So when she offers herself for the open babysitter position, the family friend says he’ll consider it.

Kye-sang invites Jin-hee out to see a musical (200 Pound Beauty, looks like), as a thank you for her hard work. Jin-hee borrows one of Ha-sun’s outfits and wonders if it’s a date. Kye-sang is the perfect companion, covering her with his jacket to make sure she isn’t cold. While he runs to the vending machine to get coffee, Jin-hee speaks to Jin-sang aloud about if she should be this happy, with tears in her eyes.

They run into one of Kye-sang’s old schoolmates, who ask him about his upcoming trip to Rwanda. This is news to Jin-hee and she stays quiet in the car. She asks to drop her off early and at the clinic, ponders alone in the dark. The tomato plant won’t bear fruit for another three months, after Kye-sang leaves.

She talks to Jinsang once more:

Jinsang, up until a little while ago, I thought that today was the happiest day of my life. Now, I’m so sad. It’s weird, right? Before, I thought I might cry because I was so happy, but now I might cry because I’m so sad. What if none of us are here when you bear fruit? It’s okay… it’s okay… it’s okay…

Jinsang, in voiceover, tells us that she wishes she could tell Jin-hee that no one knows about the future, like how she’s a kumquat plant, not a tomato one.

Soo-jung is enraged to hear that the ajusshi chose to go with an older college student in the U.S., fuming that he led her to think she was in the running. So Jong-seok pokes a little fun with his sister, lying that the other girl has pulled out. When she finds out the truth, she comes after him with a canvas in her hand.

Jin-hee finally gifts the knit gloves to Kye-sang the next morning, telling him not to forget them. He corrects her, saying he won’t lose them. But she explains that he shouldn’t lose them nor forget them, since she made it herself.

EPISODE 84 WEECAP

Nae-sang’s business partner is out of town and sent a replacement to fill in his absence – a sharply dressed man (cameo by Jung Bo-seok) who shares that it’s always been his dream to be an actor. Something is a little off, however, because he mistakes Nae-sang to be older when he himself is the hyung.

Ji-won uncovers a baby photo of Jong-seok by accident. But this is no ordinary adorable photo of yore – it’s one of those embarrassing nekkid ones you stash at the bottom of your photo albums. She gleefully takes a photo with her camera before running off.

Seung-yoon draws the conclusion that Ji-won must like Jong-seok. After all, girls like childhood photos of their crushes and boyfriends and Ji-won admitted to liking someone earlier on a lie detector toy. Jong-seok brushes the idea aside, but the thought lingers on his mind, slightly hopeful.

But Ji-won hands him a notebook later that night, filled with notes for him to study for the next few days – she’ll be volunteering over at the clinic to fulfill her volunteer requirements. Seung-yoon drills into his buddy that no girl would have gone to such lengths to provide such detailed notes with cutesy expressions.

So Jong-seok oh so casually meets Ji-won the following morning, offering to give her a ride to and from the clinic. Over the next few days, Ji-won comments that she’ll have to make it big one day so that Jong-seok can be her driver. He can’t pick her up that night since a friend is in town and he can’t help but note her slight disappointment. Adorable.

It looks like Bo-seok’s major weakness is math, as he fumbles with the time zone differences, and counts out how much he’s eating to the penny (by literally placing the bills and coins on top of his plate). The Ahns are puzzled, and a bit disgusted at the sight.

When Bo-seok gets wrangled to fill in for an extra as a math professor, Nae-sang is reasonably worried at the mere volume of variables and mathematical lingo. He catches Bo-seok scribble notes under the script to help him memorize, noting that it’s not “x two” but “x-squared.”

It actually shocks Bo-seok, who gets caught at another roadblock, this time with fractions. HA! He sweats during the shoot, the pressure of the numbers slowly suffocating him. His vision blurs, and he passes out.

The doc is baffled at his scans – the area responsible for math and problem-solving seems to be…a tiny dot in his brain. BAHAHA! And poor Bo-seok solemnly writes the fraction which broke him down on the window, forever to haunt him.

Jong-seok’s friend cancels plans and he heads to the clinic to pick her up. Strange then, that Ji-seok tells him that Ji-won was the first to complete her hours…

Inside, he catches a glimpse of Ji-won and Kye-sang laughing in his office and the pieces start falling into place: the Christmas carols, the admission, volunteering at the clinic. He angrily takes her phone when she comes out to greet him and deletes the photo despite her protests. His sudden outburst surprises Ji-won. Jong-seok drives off, fighting tears.

COMMENTS

Time to examine the Ahn siblings again. I’m glad they’re being slowly introduced back in this round of episodes because I’ve missed them and they seemed too peripheral for a while. High Kick does a great job of circulating these characters so we don’t miss them too much while they’re gone, which I appreciate. Soo-jung, oh Soo-jung, you’ll never change. Her immaturity really knows no bounds and her goals are still the same – instead of appreciating where she is now and making the best of it, she’s still clinging onto L.A. Having a dream of what you’re comfortable with isn’t necessarily bad, but constantly reflecting on it doesn’t encourage any growth either. Compared to all of our characters, she’s the one who’s grown the least.

Then there’s Jong-seok, who has really evolved over this series – he wants to study, he has a desire to go to college, he likes someone who I think really suits him. When I said that this week felt short, I was drawing your attention to this storyline. The nail’s been driven into the coffin in this last episode where Jong-seok had an inkling about Ji-won’s crush, but now he definitely knows it to be true. It breaks my heart to think that their relationship will change because of it since I found their moments together so delightful.

Lastly – Jin-hee, who finally found out about Kye-sang’s plans to go to Rwanda. I don’t understand how she didn’t know for, say the past 70 episodes, unless she lived under a rock, but it’s still heartbreaking nevertheless. The scene where she spoke to Jinsang, the plant, was extremely powerful and touching – who knows where the future will take them next?

RELATED POSTS

• High Kick 3: Episodes 78-81
• High Kick 3: Episodes 73-77
• High Kick 3: Episodes 68-72
• High Kick 3: Episodes 63-67
• High Kick 3: Episodes 59-62
• High Kick 3: Episodes 54-58
• High Kick 3: Episodes 49-53
• High Kick 3: Episodes 45-48
• High Kick 3: Episodes 40-44
• High Kick 3: Episodes 35-39
• High Kick 3: Episodes 30-34
• High Kick 3: Episodes 25-29
• High Kick 3: Episodes 22-24
• High Kick 3: Episodes 18-21
• High Kick 3: Episodes 14-17
• High Kick 3: Episodes 10-13
• High Kick 3: Episodes 5-9
• High Kick 3: Episodes 1-4