What’s Up: Episode 9

by kaedejun

KYAAAA! I couldn’t help but SQUEAL over Im Joo Hwan in this episode. Can you have a cooler character or what!? I noticed that this episode was longer than the past episodes – closer to 1 hour rather than 45 minutes long. Perhaps the broadcaster is starting to realize that “more What’s Up” = “more happy viewers”?

Either way, we’re at the halfway point of this drama. Can you believe it’s so fast? I hate how time flies when you’re having fun…

So the scandal breaks. And Prof. Yang decides to call up all the other professors in for a disciplinary hearing for Sun-Man. When Sun-Man stumbles in (in PJ’s no less), he sits next to the other professors rather than in front of them. Haha – this is his way of “diverting the attention.” Finally the Chancellor arrives, forcing him to obey to Prof. Yang’s demands. Prof. Yang wants to know who the girl in the picture is because it could be a lawsuit waiting to happen. In perfect Sun-Man fashion, he gets up, says he has “somewhere” to be, and leaves, not wanting to waste anyone else’s precious time.

Even the Chancellor can’t say anything to that, especially when that “somewhere” means Park Eun Hye’s grave.

Meanwhile, the students are all a-flutter over the printed articles of the scandal posted everywhere. Ka Young rushes up to Doo Ri, asking if it’s true she’s the girl in the photo. Byeong Gun tries to help Doo Ri, saying that it must be fake, and tries to get her to stay away from the articles. However, Doo Ri goes right up to them, studies it, and then grabs Byeong Gun close to mimic the position. Hee – boy looks scared! Classmates are scandalized.

Back in class, Myung Hwan is once again taking over vocal lessons. He gives Tae Hee tips on singing, such as singing while understanding the meaning of the lyrics, and to not listen to CD-versions while practicing.Jae Hun spots Do Sung smiling like a fool towards Tae Hee, and Doo Ri sitting quietly in the back, a tear falling down her cheek.

Do Sung phones his uncle, confirming that he can leave this time. But he bumps into Jae Hun outside the dorms. Jae Hun understands if Do Sung wants to leave, but mentions that he should say goodbye to Tae Hee. Do Sung says he won’t – why bother? – and that he’s not in a relationship with Tae Hee or anything. “Really?!” Jae Hun cries. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’m going to go after her then!” Do Sung is all chill and like, “Whatever dude,” which actually annoys Jae Hun more.

Jae Hun knows how much Do Sung likes Tae Hee, and that Do Sung is trying to act cool because he doesn’t like asking for help. He’s just like Doo Ri; they both try to act like they don’t need anyone, and therefore they don’t expect any help in return. Do Sung irritably walks away.

When they get into their dorm room, they find a stranger holding up the Hades mask, shouting out some lyrics. Do Sung is frozen in fear, and Jae Hun assumes it’s Byeong Gun playing a prank. It’s not – it’s the reporter instead. EEP!

Jae Hun has no idea who the hell Hades is (bless his soul) and the reporter thinks that’s how Jae Hun is protecting his roommate. He accuses the reporter of entering without permission and attempting to rob from them. Do Sung tries to send Jae Hun out, as Jae Hun’s abrasive manner isn’t really helping the situation. But throwing money at the reporter isn’t going to help either.

The reporter actually has a bone to pick with Do Sung about that; he was just a reporter trying to get an exclusive scoop, but suddenly he got pushed aside in favor of the big name reporters, and he couldn’t do anything. At the same time, Jae Hun quietly walks around the room to behind the reporter, and he spots the camera. Do Sung and my eyes widen. Jae Hun takes out a water bottle… (and I scream, “Do eet! Do eet!!”) and he spills it all over the camera, right into the lenses!! The reporter screams; Jae Hun: “Oh is that your camera?”

*VIRTUAL HIGH FIVES JAE HUN*

The reporter stalks off angrily, and Do Sung chases after the reporter, begging for a proper talk. The reporter won’t hear of it; he threatens to expose Do Sung properly, and no money can ever stop him. If Do Sung tries to leave the school, he will call the cops to look for him, saying that Hades was kidnapped.

Meanwhile, Prof. Yang’s assistant tells Doo Ri about Sun-Man’s “trial.” He never gave the name of the student, and so she warns Doo Ri to be careful around him. Doo Ri starts heaving and clutching her stomach, which makes the assistant think she’s pregnant! No – actually Doo Ri is just feeling disgusted. She thinks the assistant told on her and Sun-Man to the reporter, that she must have gotten paid for the tip; an unfair accusation since it was all an accident on how the reporter found out.

After finding out where Sun-Man is, she packs for a trip to the countryside. Tae Hee begs her not to go, but Doo Ri doesn’t listen. She’s heading over no matter what, but is surprised to hear that Tae Hee knows the way. Well yeah, the area Doo Ri is going to is where she lives! Tae Hee is curious why Doo Ri wants to meet Sun-Man’s former girlfriend, and Doo Ri says she only wishes to ask the girlfriend – Park Eun Hye – for permission to take care of Sun-Man.

Park Eun Hye?! Tae Hee’s eyes widen – that’s her aunt!! (Ha! Sun-Man has to actually take care of Eun Hye’s niece!)

Outside, of the dorms, Do Sung apologizes for the reporter incident, but Jae Hee shrugs it off as if it never happened. He tries to stop Do Sung from saying anymore by insisting that he has no idea what Hades or Do Sung is talking about, and that if Do Sung says anymore, he’ll get hit. He feels guilty enough towards the reporter for ruining the camera. Jae Hun’s all about tough love… 🙂

He then meets Chang Jin in the billiards room and hands over the sheets listing the 3,718 he ran up and down the steps. He might have missed a few on the way, but he did them all – (13 minutes late X 22 students) X 13 days = 3,718 rounds on the steps. A teacher had told him to be honest, rather than make a rough estimate and lie about it.

Hehe – Chang Jin can’t say anything. However, he does make Jae Hun inform the rest of the first years to gather at the auditorium. So Jae Hun does it the most effective way possible – have it blasted over the speaker system.

The students all gather, fretting, and Byeong Gun whispers to Jae Hun that he’ll do all the talking next time. I love how everyone assumes Jae Hun pissed off Chang Jin again. Chang Jin and his cronies arrive, and he announces that one student has disgraced the department because of her scandal with Sun-Man. While Sun-Man is getting dealt with by Prof. Yang, he has taken it upon himself to punish the student. He wants someone to tell him a name, stat.

The only person missing from this bunch is Chae Young – and that’s because she’s hanging out with Soo Bin in the piano room. He knows that the first years being rounded up is all her fault, but she innocently says she did nothing wrong. All she said to Chang Jin at lunch was, “I gave up everything to come to this school, but what’s this? This scandal is making me look bad. Chang Jin – I’m so upset!”

Bam! Chang Jin springs to action to punish the student that hurt his beloved Chae Young. And she claims to hate the girls who put on the helpless act to get guys to do her bidding…

Back in the auditorium, Chang Jin puts the pressure on the first years, and Ka Young is ready to break. But then Jae Hun stands up – “Love thy comrade, love thy country.” Isn’t that what Chang Jin had taught them all? Jae Hun addresses his classmates: Chang Jin is actually trying to teach them all a lesson here! He’s testing their loyalty on this proverb. Chang Jin doesn’t really want them to tell; he’s just making sure everyone fully learned this lesson and is going to be loyal to their classmate, who scandalized the department.

What an awesome spin to the leader’s words, Jae Hun! Except… it just makes Chang Jin rethink the punishment. Since they’re all being loyal to this “comrade,” they can all clean the bathrooms of the building together until that student returns.

Oh Jae Hun, you sure know how to make your enemies. And keep them. Byeong Gun moans – this is why he wanted to talk! He just knew Jae Hun would give them all more grief!

Tae Hee follows Doo Ri to the bus station, much to the latter’s displeasure. What she hates the most is when people help her when she doesn’t ask for it. Tae Hee gets the hint and immediately turns to leave… except, she forgot how to get back to school.

So Doo Ri has to guide her back. On their walk, Tae Hee tells her about her aunt, and how Eun Hye had raised her after her mother left. When she and her father moved out of Seoul, Eun Hye stayed behind. Doo Ri then points out the path, and turns to leave, tired of being with the clueless Tae Hee. She gets a call from Ka Young about how the first years all got in trouble, but Doo Ri doesn’t really care. When she turns around though, she doesn’t see Tae Hee anywhere. Worried, she hangs up.

As for the boys, they do rock-paper-scissors to see who will be left behind to clean. OF COURSE Byeong Gun, Do Sung, and Jae Hun are the ones left behind. Byeong Gun whines and complains throughout – how could he possibly clean toilets?! This would be the end of them. There’s no hope for their future anymore! (If Byeong Gun can’t overcome his fear of singing, he should enroll in the drama department; he has a natural flair for over-dramatics.)

Do Sung wonders if the picture is even real, and Jae Hun notices that huge light bulb go off over Byeong Gun’s head. The two pester Byeong Gun over what his idea is, but he tells them to shush as he thinks, sitting on a toilet.

As for the girls, they wonder where Tae Hee and Chae Young are. Ka Young comes to Chae Young’s defense: her roommate is doing a “special assignment” from Professor Yang. Suddenly, Doo Ri appears, looking for Tae Hee. No one has seen her.

The other girls wonder if it’s really Doo Ri in the picture. Doo Ri: “Couldn’t you tell from the picture? Everyone else knew.” Hahah – I love how matter-of-fact she is. Anyways – she tells them they missed a spot and then goes off searching for Tae Hee again. Hehehe.

Tae Hee is actually walking back to school, talking about how she got a ride back to school to none other than – Sun-Man. He calls her an idiot, which pretty much just blows right over her head. She asks if he’s the mysterious person who always leaves flowers at her aunt’s grave.

At that, Sun-Man freezes – Eun Hye is Tae Hee’s aunt? He’s found Eun Hye’s relative! Without the Chancellor’s help!

Meanwhile, Chae Young is out to meet with her manager. He picks her up to go to a party, but is mostly dismissive of her. She whines for some attention, but he pulls up a video of the performances on his laptop. She glows when she sees that her performance got recorded, but she grows snarky when she sees him watch Team B’s performance. He pauses on a close up of Tae Hee’s face; “Who is this girl?” he asks. “She stands out.”

Uh-oh…

Tae Hee and Sun-Man have a heart-to-heart in a small park on campus. She reveals that Eun Hye wrote a lot about him in her letters, and listed his three main faults. 1) He doesn’t eat his vegetables. (Because he’s 6 at heart.) 2) He wears mismatched shoes when leaving the house and doesn’t notice until he gets back home. And, with some hesitancy, Tae Hee says: 3) he never asks for help. That’s the problem that bothered her aunt the most because she never knew how to help when she wanted to.

When Tae Hee’s dad found out, he had commented, “That man must have a lot of fear. You’re afraid of being rejected or ridiculed. You’re afraid of everything.” Tae Hee nervously reiterates that those were her father’s comments, not hers per se. But Sun-Man agrees. He was afraid of being rejected, and of being looked at pitifully.

Tae Hee has an upbeat spin on that though. She doesn’t mind it when people look at her pitifully because it means they’re worried about her. And since there aren’t a lot of people who worry about her, when she gets a stranger’s pity, it means that she has one more person in the world who cares about her.

Throughout all this, Doo Ri overhears this from behind the bushes and takes Tae Hee’s words to heart.

The next day, reporters come to the school trying to find out Sun-Man’s teaching schedule, but Prof. Yang’s assistants try to send them off. Doo Ri enters class and is greeted with silence. Awkwardly, she addresses them all: “Can you help me?”

No one replies, and Doo Ri looks like she regrets asking in the first place. But then Ka Young pipes up – how can they help her? Score!

Phase 1 of Doo Ri’s plan: Jae Hun and Do Sung pose together in a variety of close poses. Jae Hun dresses in men’s clothes while Do Sung dresses in more girly clothing, and Byeong Gun snaps the photos. Whee!

Phase 2: the rest of the class assists Doo Ri in taking over the broadcasting room. A couple gas the room so that all the radio broadcasting students leave the studio, and then they take over. They help Doo Ri be heard over the loudspeaker:

“I’m first year student of the Musical Department, Oh Doo Ri. Some of you may know, but I’m the girl int he article. I heard a lot of upperclassmen wanted to know my identity. Are you satisfied? I’m the girl who was caught in the scandal with Professor Sunwoo… Professor Sunwoo are you listening? It’s me, Doo Ri.”

Perfect timing – the guy’s in a private meeting with the Chancellor when the broadcast goes out.

“What did I tell you? I told you if you didn’t return my feelings, I’d get back at you. Now what are you going to do? All eyes are on you?”

And at that same time, photoshopped photos of Sun-Man’s face with other female members in the faculty appear. The ladies – which include Prof. Yang and her assistant’s faces cropped onto Do Sung’s body – look quite chummy with Sun-Man (on Jae Hun’s body). The reporters all see this and have a good laugh. Unfortunately this means this scandal story is a waste of time for them.

Doo Ri continues:

“Are you still going to refuse me for being a student? Sunwoo Young, it’s me, Oh Doo Ri. Just watch – I’m going to make you love me.”

And then, out of her emotions, she sings, and her classmates grab a CD to accompany it. [download episode audio rip]

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Comments:

Loyalty and friendship seems to be the theme in this episode, with an emphasis on how being a lone wolf isn’t really all that great. The characters all parallel each other quite nicely. Do Sung, Sun-Man, and Doo Ri are all on the same boat in the sense that they prefer to do things on their own. (I guess Sun-Man and Doo Ri are soulmates in this sense.) They’re lonely creatures, and it looks like they all grew up lacking that supportive-parental environment.

And then you have Jae Hun, hardened by the streets and is above all other people’s issues; and Tae Hee, whose obliviousness makes her float above other people’s issues as well. The two of them are like the glue between friends, because in their own weird ways they make sure that their friends stick together. Jae Hun reminds the first years that they’re all classmates and on the same boat under the hazing of Chang Jin. Tae Hee connects people together, kindly showing them that there are people who are willing to help if they only ask. Soo Bin is another character who is “above it all,” but he’s more like an observer so far than he is a participant in these students’ lives. I do enjoy how he is the only one that Chae Young can be honest with. She doesn’t try to hide her cattiness around him, and he’s sarcastic rather than pensive around her. He brings her out of her shell in a way, and I wonder if it’s because both are quite well-known already, and feel some sort of affinity. Their stories need to be revealed.

For some reason, this episode hits home for me. Do Sung, Doo Ri, and Sun-Man all have to figure out what their fear is because it’s holding them back. And then they have to work to overcome it. For Do Sung, he needs to overcome his fear of his mother; Doo Ri and Sun-Man need to get over their pride. It’s the perfect question to ask college students, because they no longer have their parents to shield them. They need to learn how to deal with the “real world.” It is college…

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