Haeundae Lovers: Episode 9

by kaedejun

I’m starting to feel more for Tae Sung, as he’s realizing that being up top on the social stratus can be a very lonely place indeed. (No wonder our K-drama chaebols are so cold!) Poor guy only wanted to regain his memories, hoping that finding his family will do that, but he just found the wrong family!

SONG OF THE DAY

Kang Min Kyung – “Farewell is Coming” from Haeundae Lovers OST [download]

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So will they divorce? Not if Tae Sung can help it! He reminds Sora why they got married; since they’re only going to be married until the uncles can get Min Gu back for what he did, and only until Tae Sung can get his memory back, only he has the right to say when they should divorce. But Sora is stubborn – all of Busan knows the story between her family and the Yangs!

Tae Sung: “So what if I say I don’t want to be the lost son?” Oooh – that’s interesting. Tam Hee laughs – what kind of game are they playing at? What idiot would believe that Tae Sung is willing to give up on the hotel just for Sora? Tae Sung points out that Tam Hee looks like that very idiot to him. Hee – it tickles my sides to see Tam Hee pouting for the rest of the time.

Joon Hyuk adds that once Ga Joon returns in two months, there will be a DNA test to verify Tae Sung’s identity. Tae Sung insists that he’s “Nam Hae,” and then argues that if he ends up not being the real son in two months, but is forced to divorce Sora now, then he is the biggest loser of this deal. Sora doesn’t think that will happen though – she believes that he is the hotel’s son, and she knows that he’ll never be able to give up family. Whether it’s now or in two months, she will file for divorce. She congratulates him on finding such a wealthy family, and leaves with her uncles.

Tae Sung chases after her but the elevator doors close on him. Tam Hee’s loyal men also stop him from leaving, as they need to take him to the cemetery so he can visit his father. The cemetery visit is all at Granny’s insistence, since even without scientific evidence, she knows in her heart that she found the real Tae Sung.

Joo Hee sends them all off in their black luxury cars and smiles to herself. She’ll be able to get rid of Sora because there’ll be a divorce, and Sora will never have the hotel. Now she has to get rid of Se Na – and she does so by contacting Se Na’s father’s secretary to come pick her up. Apparently Se Na had lied to her family about needing to work in Busan, and didn’t want her family to come find her. But Joo Hee had called the secretary anyways on the pretense that Se Na’s mother was so worried about her daughter that she had to be admitted to the hospital. It’s about time Se Na returns to Seoul.

So Se Na leaves in the secretary’s car, thanking Joo Hee for being a good friend. She promises to take off her ring so that she can show her family that she’s moved on from Tae Sung, and leaves.

And with that – Joo Hee has cleared her path towards Tae Sung.

At the cemetery Granny introduces Tae Sung to Man Ho’s ashes, and Tae Sung recognizes him as the bed mate who kept calling out for his son. Except now, that son is him. Granny allows for Tae Sung to say a few words to his father, now meeting after 27 years, and drags the disrespectful Tam Hee outside.

Tae Sung feels like he should be happy knowing that his father was searching for him all this time, that he now has a family. However he doesn’t feel happy. Though it’s great that he’s ended up being the rich son of Yang Man Ho, he’s more tormented by the fact that he’ll be enemies with Sora.

Sora returns home and starts packing up Tae Sung’s belongings into his backpack. She sees his lunch tray and it brings back memories of Tae Sung when he was endearing and annoying at the same time. The uncles come in to help her pack, and Uncle Hello Kitty asks if she really has to give back the lunch tray to Tae Sung. Looks like someone wants it! When Dong Baek calls him out for it, Uncle Hello Kitty throws the tray back at Sora – he doesn’t want it anymore!

Dong Baek then asks why Sora has to divorce Tae Sung. They’ll never be able to buy back Haeundae Hotel, but if she could stay married to him, she can basically manipulate control of the hotel back into her hands! Or, the uncles can off him! Sora doesn’t answer and just heads out to the shop, where she can try and cook in peace without memories of Tae Sung. (She can’t.) Soon Shin and Uncle Hello Kitty beat up Dong Baek back in the room for being so insensitive towards Sora. It seems like they know she’s starting to like Tae Sung. A lot.

Back at the hotel, Tae Sung is being dressed in fine, tailored suits. He’s going to have to meet the hotel’s employees. Tae Sung wants to put it off until two months later, when it’s confirmed whether he’s the true son or not, but Joon Hyuk nixes that plan. In two months, the hotel will be very busy for the year-end events. He hurries Tae Sung to finish dressing, but Tae Sung wants to meet the employees his own way.

“His way” means that he brings in the employee to his office and interrogates them as if they were witnesses to a crime – or the criminal. His first “victim” is Min Shik, and Joon Hyuk questions Tae Sung’s style as if he were a prosecutor. Tae Sung laughs, but he also can’t help but feel that this whole process is very familiar to him.

Tam Hee is waiting outside the office, hoping to be able to listen in. She can’t hear anything through the thick doors and resolves to walk in – except she walks right into the exiting Joon Hyuk. Her face smashes right into his chest, and a lipstick mark ends up on his white shirt. Her beef with Joon Hyuk is that he’s wasting all the employees’ time by introducing them to Tae Sung, when it hasn’t even been confirmed that he’s the real son. Joon Hyuk is more curious over why Tam Hee is so sure that Tae Sung isn’t the real son.

Tam Hee: “Uhhh… because dreams come true! Dreams come true!” Um – what? This crazy rich woman… She changes the topic and points out the lipstick stain on Joon Hyuk’s shirt that she caused, saying that wives wouldn’t like that.

Joon Hyuk: Girlfriends wouldn’t like it either.

Tam Hee: Oh right… you’re “oppa New York-style…”

Kaedejun: *snorting laughter*

Tae Sung brings in all 22 employees – or basically, all the henchmen of Man Ho – into his office and dismisses them once he’s memorized their names, ages, and jobs. Min Shik doubts that he could have memorized all their names, and so Tae Sung starts rattling off all their names. “Need me to continue?” he asks. Um, no, almighty Tae Sung.

Tae Sung wants to leave first, but Min Shik has something else on his schedule. Since the gang cannot accept Sora as their wife’s leader, they’ve set him up on a date with the daughter of another gang that wants to be their ally. If they don’t like each other, then Tae Sung has approximately 30 other girls he can choose from within the Yang gang – all daughters of the members. Of course – there’s general disinterest on both parties.

He calls up Sora instead, while at the arranged meeting, but she’s busy talking to Joo Hee on the phone. Joo Hee had planned for her to arrive at the hotel cafe, so that she can witness this arranged date, under the premise that they were meeting up. When Sora gets Tae Sung’s call, she hangs up on him instead.

Sora walks right in to the cafe and sees Tae Sung and the biker chick date laughing, and she totally misunderstands the scene. In reality, Tae Sung is amused over this whole situation while the girl is laughing at the ridiculousness of this meeting. She was forced to attend by the gang because they confiscated her motorcycle. Besides, she has a boyfriend already.

Tae Sung calls up Min Shik, who’s sitting a few feet away. “Next time, let’s make sure the meeting is with a girl with the right set of chromosomes!!” Oooh – that’s a stinging remark, but they part ways coolly. As Tae Sung leaves the cafe, he sees Sora, and that cute smile of his widens. He explains that he was forced into a meeting with that girl, but he hopes that Sora isn’t still mad at him. He pinches her cheeks and asks why she didn’t respond to his calls, but she swats him away. They have no relationship, and shouldn’t be acting like this with each other.

She walks off, and Min Shik prevents Tae Sung from going after her. Instead, they’ve booked him another meeting with a delicate ballerina – a complete opposite of his first date.

Sora watches Tae Sung leave, and that’s when Joo Hee finally arrives as the “supportive friend” who wants to make sure her friend is ok after her wedding to Tae Sung. Faaaaaaaaake! Joo Hee tells her that it’s just bad luck she ended up marrying the son of Man Ho instead of a normal man. Sora should demand double or triple the alimony and dump Tae Sung first to protect her pride! Sora thanks her for the consideration, but then leaves quickly, saying that she has some deliveries to make.

Joon Hyuk returns to his office and takes out the photos of him and his mother. Talking to the photo, he says that his plan was just to watch over Sora, but now he doesn’t think he can do just that. He gets a call from his father, and suddenly his intentions are made more clear. He promises his father that Haeundae Hotel will definitely become part of his father’s chain of hotels. Though they have found the heir to the hotel, the fight over control of the hotel will make the takeover even easier because the shares will get split up.

That evening, Tae Sung enjoys a full course dinner, but despite the fine foods, all he can think about is calling Sora. He wants her to come and eat with him, but she hangs up on him. He doesn’t understand – what did he do that was so wrong?! He calls up Min Shik and lets him know that he’s going to get the ramen that’s been cooked on the deck of a fishing boat under the sun, bloated but still tasting awesome. Aww – it’s cute how much he misses the Go family.

But Tam Hee is not happy with them. She gave them a week to move out, and instead of being able to demolish their store, Soon Shin and Uncle Hello Kitty have decided to lay themselves at the front of the store on the ground in protest. They can get run over for all they care! Besides, the shop owner had promised the uncles that he would sell it to them, so they still have time on their contract and can’t be kicked out.

Tam Hee will have none of that, and she orders her men to ransack the place and move the two uncles out. But then, she gets a tap on the shoulder. Joong Shik: “Hi Bok Ja! Is your boyfriend, Tae Pyong Yang still singing in the nightclub? Take me there!” Tam Hee shrilly tells him to go away, but Joong Shik keeps going: “Ga Joon’s dad, Tae Pyong Yang, is a really good singer right?” HAHA – the truth is out! (Though it’s not that surprising.) Tam Hee is furious that he would blurt that out so loudly, as it is worrisome that a crazy old man does know the truth.

But it makes so much sense as to why she’s not worried over the DNA testing – Ga Joon and Tae Sung’s DNA will never match, and Tae Sung could be pushed aside as the “false” heir.

Uncle Hello Kitty frantically calls up Sora to come, but another savior arrives at the store first: Joon Hyuk! He informs her that he’s taking her to court. The funds that she claimed were her own money to purchase the land actually came from the hotel; she just put the contracts under her name, which made it even more obvious what she was doing. Tam Hee’s not worried. Civil court takes a long time to get through, and she’s close to all the judges in the Haeundae area.

Tae Sung arrives just in time to witness all this and asks Joon Hyuk where Tam Hee took the money out from. Since she took it out of a bank that has its headquarters in Seoul, Tae Sung tells Joon Hyuk to file it there. That way, if Tam Hee actually does know the judges in the area, they can get away from them. He asks for two months – until he is scientifically proven to be Man Ho’s son (or not), he doesn’t want Tam Hee to touch Uncle’s Fishery or Sora. In addition, Joon Hyuk is not to file the lawsuit until after that too. If he’s not Man Ho’s son, he’ll walk away on his own, willingly.

It’s a deal, and Tam Hee rolls out. Joon Hyuk finds it odd that Tae Sung was just a bodybuilder, and yet knows so much about law. Tae Sung: “They tell me I’m a bodybuilder, so I’m a bodybuilder.”

At that moment, Sora arrives back at the store and she goes straight up to Joon Hyuk, thanking him for helping resolve the situation. Joon Hyuk takes it as a sign that perhaps they won’t have to be so awkward anymore, and asks if he could have some of her special clams at the shop. Sora isn’t completely at ease with him, but she’ll let him stay to eat at least. Tae Sung tries to go into the store as well, but the two uncles refuse to let him in. They won’t have anyone from the Yang gang come into their area. Because Yang’s henchmen are following Tae Sung, that makes him part of the Yang gang.

Tae Sung orders the henchmen to back off, and then starts pleading with the uncles. He doesn’t like gangsters, and it hasn’t been proven that he’s Man Ho’s son yet! He doesn’t want them to make assumptions for at least two months. The uncles grudgingly let Tae Sung in, and he happily orders a coke to start with. But Soon Shin doesn’t want to deal with Tae Sung, and sends Uncle Hello Kitty to get Tae Sung’s bag from his room.

Meanwhile, Sora serves Joon Hyuk one order of the clams, which surprises him because he was hoping to share with Sora. Ha – she’s not that comfortable around him yet. But on to serious things, Joon Hyuk does have something for her: the list of shareholders for the hotel. It was hard for him to procure since the hotel is a private company. Sora is rightfully suspicious of it since this is coming to her a little too easily. But Joon Hyuk is being sincere – he hopes that Sora could trust him a little more and disregard their “mother connection.” After all, he’s keeping quiet about her fake marriage for her.

That comment surprises Sora and Tae Sung equally.

Joon Hyuk leaves, and then Uncle Hello Kitty hands over Tae Sung’s belongings and tells him to get lost too. But Tae Sung won’t leave until Sora says he should. She wishes him luck with the blind dates and sends him off. Tae Sung says that he only did what he was told to because he was afraid that the gang wouldn’t leave her family alone. He actually wanted to stay by her side since he lost his memory. He was actually nervous during their wedding because he actually wanted to take care of her and her family; though it was a fake marriage, he was taking it very seriously.

But because he needs to own up that his father is Man Ho, he’ll leave. Poor Tae Sung – he’s so sad that Sora refuses to contact him at all.

Instead he gets a call from Min Shik, who informs him that Man Ho’s will stipulated that Tae Sung gets work experience at the hotel. Tae Sung is shocked, and Tam Hee starts comparing how awesome her Ga Joon is because he’s looking into a hotel location in Antarctica. Lemme give my biggest “whut” face ever.

Min Shik gives Tae Sung three hours to tighten up the pipes and oil them, as well as clean the air filters in the air conditioners. Tae Sung starts hoofing it, and he successfully completes his task within three hours. He then chases after Joon Hyuk and Tam Hee and points out that something is wrong with the will. He’s being told to do work for two months, and then to get lost if he’s not the son? He’s totally at the losing end of the deal!

Tae Sung acknowledges that he’ll have to do work, but he wants work that is befitting to his class and stature (i.e. being a manager). He also adds that when Min Shik read out the will, there were no clauses about Tae Sung’s personal life, so they all better stop forcing him to break up with Sora. That’s right – give ’em attitude! And he goes off to enjoy his huge bubble bath in a marble tub. He does realize that Sora never went on a honeymoon where she could enjoy this, but he’s not going to think about her now. Not when she refuses to talk to him! Unfortunately, he can’t help but think about her while he’s enjoying his high life in the hotel – how she’d enjoy the wine, how she’d enjoy the view of her favorite bridge.

Boy is smitten.

He wonders if Sora is just hurt by him and decides to give her a call. He’ll apologize for anything he has to apologize for, and accept whatever should be owed to him. He calls so many times – all night even – but she never picks up. But it’s not because she’s ignoring him on purpose – rather she’s just very busy with the restaurant.

But at every moment when she’s not paying attention to the customers, she is thinking about him. Girl is smitten. She sees the numerous missed calls, but doesn’t call him back.

Sora and the uncles pack for the next day’s deliveries, and she tells them that the lawyer said they could MAYBE get the hotel back if they convinced the shareholders. The uncles are excited over this prospect, but Sora emphasizes the keyword: MAYBE. Besides, if they wanted a list of the shareholders, there’s no way the hotel would actually hand it over, right? She clearly doesn’t trust Joon Hyuk, so Soon Shin wonders if perhaps Granny knows anything about the shareholders.

Tae Sung has a new job – cleaning the sauna’s locker room! Well, at least it’s a step up from doing handyman’s work down in the basement. He sees that a kid has left one of his toys on the benches because he got a new one. Tae Sung: “Don’t you have any loyalty?! How do you think this toy feels being abandoned?” Whoa – chill, Tae Sung. No need to take out your own frustrations on a toy! Poor kid gets scared, and Tae Sung’s manager apologizes on his behalf and escorts the boy and his father out.

Another sauna patron comes in, angry that his watch was lost by another worker. The patron is angry that the people can’t find his watch, as he’s worn it for over 20 years and has a particular attachment to that watch. Tae Sung just looks at that toy sadly, as if saying, “I wish that kid took better care of you. I know how you feel, bro…” Feeling a sudden rush of empathy, he rushes to the patron’s aid – he’ll help him find the watch! He berates his coworker for not trying hard enough – what if they got amnesia and lost their family, would they want the family to give up on the search?! Oh man Tae Sung – you crack me up for crying because you feel like the watch…

In the hotel’s cafe, Soon Shin and Sora meet with Granny, who recognizes Sora as the girl who drove her to the hotel. She unfortunately never knew any of the shareholders, so Soon Shin asks if there were any guests that always came to President Yang’s house for a meeting? Granny remembers a Mr. Bae who owned a dish business back in the day, but got so rich that he now owns an entire market.

Tae Sung and the patron start sweating in the laundry room as they search for the watch, as the patron thinks he left it in the robe he was using. The watch is very dear to the patron because his son had bought it for him with the money he made from delivering newspapers. He was so proud of his son, and sent him off to the States to study and do well. Unfortunately his son fell into gambling and wastes his time and talent at casinos. Nevertheless, he still loves his son, and feels the need to protect him. The patron also owns a small business at the local market – so could he be Mr. Bae!?

Next thing we know, Sora and Soon Shin enter the laundry room. Tae Sung is so excited to see her, amazed that she came all this way looking for him. But she wasn’t looking for him! She was tracking Mr. Bae down! She introduces herself as Go Joong Shik’s daughter, and asks if he’s a shareholder at Haeundae Hotel. That comes as news to Tae Sung, and it seems to be true even though Mr. Bae denies it. He tells Sora to leave before the security guards come to kick her out.

Tae Sung stops Sora and Soon Shin for a moment, and starts talking very loudly: “This guest is actually looking for a watch he lost right now, and he’s about to pass out from exhaustion. Oh – what did you say? You’re going to help him!?” He gives Sora a wink – and a way into Mr. Bae’s good graces. Tae Sung then announces that he’s leaving, and Sora’s eyes glint – time to find the watch!

Tae Sung also takes Mr. Bae up to the cafe for some iced coffee, which makes Mr. Bae feel bad. He only met Sora and Soon Shin for the first time, and already they were helping him find a watch. He wants to go back down to help, but Tae Sung tells him to not worry about it – those people loooooove helping others. Why do I feel like this is just Tae Sung getting revenge on Sora for not calling him back? 😛

But he does give Mr. Bae a good impression of Sora and Soon Shin. This man sure knows how to treat people well at the hotel!

Sora and Soon Shin are about to give up, having been unable to find the watch. Tae Sung arrives with Mr. Bae to see how far they got, giving Sora a bottle of water too. Mr. Bae tells them to give up if they can’t find it, as there’s very little else they can do. But that reenergizes Sora and she starts digging through the large laundry machines that she could probably squeeze herself into. And lo and behold – the watch is in the laundry machine! It simply fell out of the pockets!

Everyone cheers and Mr. Bae is touched at finding his watch again. Tae Sung gets a little too carried away in hugging Sora and Soon Shin even has to push him away. Though the watch is already broken, Mr. Bae always wore it with the hope that his son will go back to being an upstanding man. He thanks Sora and promises to repay her again in the future.

Tam Hee finds them all in the hallways and scolds Tae Sung for slacking off, but she immediately changes her tune when she sees Mr. Bae. She greets him respectfully, and finds out that Tae Sung had been helping Mr. Bae the whole time. She introduces Tae Sung as the son of Yang Man Ho – if the DNA tests prove positive. So Yang Man Ho’s son and Go Joong Shik’s daughter helped him? They know each other?

Tae Sung: Oh yeah. She’s my wife.

Sora: We’re separated.

Tae Sung: That’s not true.

What a way to confuse a man! Sora hopes that Mr. Bae won’t forget his promise to pay her back, as she will need his help in the future. That incites Tam Hee’s temper again, but Tae Sung tells her to back off – the only person who can yell at Sora is himself!

He then drags Sora away, as they have some “business” to take care of. That business is taking her to the garden and confronting her about why she never called back. Did she never ever worry about him? Was she not even curious about how he was doing? She should apologize for not even giving him a chance to hear him out. Since he married her out of sympathy, he was hoping that she would feel bad about him and his situation as well. He’s been trying to fix their relationship ever since he made her angry (and I believe he’s referring to the “robbery” incident of all her fish) and trying to pay her back. He’s also been trying to reach out to her ever since they found out he’s Man Ho’s son. However nothing has worked.

Sora doesn’t need his sympathy, nor does she want it. At that moment, Joon Hyuk calls, and Tae Sung asks her not to pick it up. But she does – and he asks to meet. He has a way to help her get rid of the Tam Hee problem. He tells her to meet by the boardwalk, but no one is there. Instead – she gets picked up by a couple of black-suited men, who take her back to Haeundae Hotel.

In the pool area, Sora finds a small table set for two, and Tae Sung floating in the middle of the water. Was this how he looked like when he was picked up off the ocean? Sora is impressed he knows how to use his men – it’s like he’s really a Yang now. Though Tae Sung knew he could never be a gangster’s son, he bets that no one can resist the allure of being wealthy. He extends his hand to Sora and she takes it. And of course, he pulls her into the pool.

Tae Sung promises to help her find the shareholders, as a way of thanking her for saving his life. He will buy her time, as the two months won’t be enough to track everyone down. He’s willing to be her way in – to be manipulated for her purposes – so that she can get her hotel back. Sora initially refuses, but he tells her he’s doing it anyways.

“Don’t be mad,” he says. “At least, don’t be mad until I finish checking…”

And he swoops in for a kiss – to check if she truly loves him or not.

Comments:

Awww! A real kiss! Whee!

This episode was all about Tae Sung becoming Cinderella, which is funny because usually we see the girl getting all excited – or overwhelmed – by the wealth. Instead we see a guy who doesn’t really care for the riches – and yet can fit right in with high society. Tae Sung tackles his situation with aplomb, not really caring whether he really is the son or not, but using the loopholes in any way he can to get what he wants. He has to do work? Fine – but he won’t work as a handyman! He can’t be with Sora? Fine – but he won’t divorce until the DNA results come in. He’s got henchmen? Fine – he’ll use them to bring Sora right back to the hotel so she can’t meet Joon Hyuk. What I enjoyed the most was that he was very much like the little child screaming for attention. He likes a girl, and so he’s going to pester her until she gives him the attention he wants. While it can seem annoying, it’s incredibly endearing for me because Kim Kang Woo plays it so well.

There’s a lot more plot in this episode than I expected. First, it appears that Joo Hee has her designs on being the lady of the hotel herself, whether it be through Joon Hyuk or Tae Sung. She’s truly like Tam Hee #2 without the shrilly voice. Joon Hyuk’s story line became much more intriguing because now we know his endgame is to acquire Haeundae Hotel for his father’s hotel chain. It’s possible that he was going to have Sora do the hard work of reaching out to the stockholders and then manipulate it to his favor in the end – whether it be marrying Sora or by taking the shares away from her. At first I wanted her to accept Joon Hyuk’s help, but now I realize it’s a good thing she will only accept Tae Sung’s.

I hope Tae Sung’s adopted family and Se Na don’t fall on the wayside. After Se Na got dismissed to Seoul, I worried that it may be the last we see of her. We’ll just have to see how it turns out, but I would love for Se Na and the Lee family to make a reappearance soon!

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