You’re the Best, Lee Soon-shin: Episodes 17-18

by javabeans

Lots and lots of cuteness in this pair of episodes. It’s not like there’s a whole lot of new stuff going on, but the drama shifts its balance toward its humorous and couple-centric side, and that makes for a much more enjoyable watch this week. Plus, we kick up a few new conflicts and advance our relationships, taking us a nice step forward.

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EPISODES 17-18

Jun-ho swoops in just as Soon-shin is getting the royal brush-off from Mi-ryung, and is so upset on her behalf that he berates her for letting herself be so mistreated. Even now, Soon-shin blames herself—she should have called ahead, she should’ve done better so Mi-ryung wouldn’t have been disappointed in her.

Jun-ho tells her that Mi-ryung is supremely selfish and never meant any of her kindnesses. She can succeed without help from people like Mi-ryung, he tells her—just trust him.

Mi-ryung clocks Jun-ho’s protectiveness and tells Yeon-ah to give up her bet; if she doesn’t admit her real feelings to Jun-ho soon, she could lose him. She warns that Soon-shin is tougher than she looks, and ignoring her could well backfire backfire on Yeon-ah.

As suspected, Manager Hwang is in fact looking for Chicken Ajusshi, whom he calls hyung; they haven’t spoken in years but they’re both from the old neighborhood. He fishes for information casually, but when he asks what happened to Kyung-sook’s baby, Chicken Ajusshi gets nervous and lies that the daughter was taken to an orphanage. Asked the name of the place, Ajusshi supplies a false lead. Manager Hwang gets his investigator on the hunt for all baby girls who were left at orphanages in that area.

Chicken Man takes that information to Mom, assuring her that he threw Manager Hwang off the scent. But Mom snaps that he should’ve just told the truth so Mi-ryung could take Soon-shin for good, because every time she sees Soon-shin’s face she imagines her husband mocking her from the grave. Gah, lady. You give adoptive mothers everywhere a bad name.

At Gabi Entertainment, Jun-ho decides his strategy for launching Soon-shin: a youthful-innocent-mysterious-natural concept. Soon-shin has a little misunderstanding with his “exposure” comment (hence the “Back, back I say!” crossed arms), which he explains in terms of how to present her to the public.

Mom arrives at Gabi, however, to return Soon-shin’s contract signing fee, determined to end this connection once and for all. It’s hard to argue with her reasoning, since she says that he’ll just kick her to the curb like Mi-ryung did. Jun-ho admits being upset with Mi-ryung as well, but pleads for just six months to prove that he can turn Soon-shin into a success, and then cuts that down to one month. Grudgingly, Mom agrees to the one month, warning him that she’ll hold him to his promise to back off at that point.

Jun-ho pulls together a list of potential projects for Soon-shin, giving KBS a brief moment to plug its upcoming drama Shark, as the revenge thriller starring “Kim Nam-il” with a little sister role that Soon-shin might take. But he needs something starting within the month, and nixes that drama.

Yoo-shin is still skittish about keeping her relationship secret, but she’s not above a little jealousy, like when her co-worker asks for an introduction to that cute guy that Yoo-shin calls “just a friend.” Yoo-shin tells her that he’s taken, adding that he has a girlfriend—a really pretty one.

She meets Chan-woo for a date and wins a prize from the cafe, and he sneaks in a kiss for their commemorative photo. Reminding her that it was part of their dating agreement that she stop calling him “hey you,” he prods her to call him Chan-woo-sshi… “Or jagi-ya would be nicer.” Heh.

Chan-woo’s much more relaxed about being seen together while her caution borders on paranoia, although they do both jump apart when Chan-woo’s sister crosses their paths. Thankfully she doesn’t seem too sharp and doesn’t ask about the suspicious behavior.

Soon-shin hears that her mother agreed to let her act and takes that as a positive sign… although when she tries to catch Mom’s attention to thank her, Mom steadfastly ignores her. At the dinner table. Sitting right next to her. Arrrrgh, for a mother who’s not actually supposed to be evil, I sure am hating you a lot. Soon-shin literally calls out to Mom from a foot away, and the whole family points out that Soon-shin is trying to talk to her, and Mom just barrels on talking about the goddamned groceries.

Yeon-ah takes Mi-ryung’s warning to heart and decides to do something about her relationship with Jun-ho by visiting his father. She gives Dr. Shin a gift and offers him compliments, only to find herself stalemated when Dr. Shin firmly refuses. He’s polite but resolute, citing office rules, though we see that he entertains suspicions about Yeon-ah’s relationship to Jun-ho.

Yi-jung drops by the clinic for some more Chan-woo stalking, and when Yeon-ah recognizes her as Jun-ho’s sister, she invites her out to coffee. She’s super-friendly, happy to ingratiate herself to ONE Shin, at least. Yeon-ah even hands over her designer scarf when Yi-jung ogles it, and asks for her phone number so they can hang out.

Yi-jung is thrilled, though she isn’t so dense that she doesn’t pick up on hints of some kind of relationship between Yeon-ah and her brother.

Jun-ho brings his beauty team to the restaurant and subjects Soon-shin to another makeover right then and there. Yes, it’s a bit ridiculous that they’re doing this in the restaurant, but hey, if this is what it takes to get Young-hoon and Jun-ho together in scenes, I won’t complain.

Soon-shin is beautified and gussied up, and we get our slo-mo reaction shot from the boys: Jun-ho, Young-hoon, and even Jae-bum, who all stare slack-jawed. Granted, Soon-shin already had her Cinderella moment at the VIP screening with the purple dress, and then again at her audition, so this is a repetitive beat. That, and Jun-ho’s a little slow on the uptake to only now go glazed-eyed at her appeal. But you know, I love it anyway.

Jun-ho covers up with his usual gruffness, nitpicking Soon-shin’s posture and speech: The public wants a fantasy, not the truth.

Jun-ho instructs her to work on her mannerisms and deportment to become a woman who’d make his heart skip a beat, ’cause if she can do that, she can win over the public. Oh, I think we’re going to be fine on that front.

Young-hoon, the sweetie, cheers her on by telling her that her charm is her easygoing, natural personality and that she ought not forget her real self.

Mom pesters Hye-shin again for her husband’s cell number, determined to give him a good scolding for ignoring his family. Sigh, if you only knew. Hye-shin has bigger complications, though, when her ex-mother-in-law calls her out to basically rake her over the coals for being such a horrible wife as to demand fidelity from her husband, and then to leave him instead of just sucking it up forever.

Furthermore, Mom-in-Law declares her intent to take over paying for Woo-joo’s child care, because she can’t stand to see her son spending his hard-earned money on child support. Well, I guess we know where he got his parenting skills. Mom-in-Law orders Hye-shin to invoice her every month, and snipes that if Hye-shin is so offended about it she should’ve just stayed married. Oh, so she could get the abuse from Mother-in-Law and Hubby? I think she made the better choice, dragon lady.

Bread Man Jin-wook overhears much of this conversation since, naturally, it takes place in his bakery. He hangs back out of consideration, but when Dragon Mom snaps that “it’s no wonder your husband looked elsewhere” for comfort, he snaps. Yay! He interrupts the conversation, and then because he doesn’t want to put Hye-shin on the spot, he just tells Dragon Mom that they’re closed. She has to leave. NOW.

Jin-wook all but shoves her outside, and then adorably offers Hye-shin a glass of milk. She’s embarrassed and grateful, and asks him to keep this a secret from her family. Jin-wook plays dumb and tells her that he honestly didn’t hear anything, so he doesn’t know what she means.

With the one-month deadline, Jun-ho’s options for launching Soon-shin are slim, and he decides to go with a music video. It’s already been cast with a hot young actress, Shin Ji-ah, and her agency CEO is a bulldog, but Jun-ho’s willing to risk it and swings into action.

It sends the already frustrated office of Gabi into more stress, and Mi-ryung hears about Shin Ji-ah being dropped to make room for Soon-shin. Uh-oh…

Soon-shin hears about Mi-ryung’s visit to the office and darts out in time to see her leaving the building. Chasing after her on the street, Soon-shin apologizes again for disappointing her, keeping upbeat as she promises to prove herself. Mi-ryung just tells her to go ahead and do just that… and then takes a meeting with Shin Ji-ah’s manager.

As a result, Gabi is soon slapped with notice of a lawsuit, with Shin Ji-ah demanding damages for losing out on her MV gig. Jun-ho finds this suspicious, because while he can see cause for ruffled tempers, blowing this up into a legal battle is bad for both agencies.

Thus when Yeon-ah calls him for a meeting, he’s curt—and suspicious. Did she manipulate President Han into the lawsuit?

Yeon-ah’s reason for calling him out is to suggest they drop the bet, even agreeing to sign with his company after all. But she bristles at his accusation, as though she wouldn’t go through such lengths to foil Soon-shin, a mere nothing. Jun-ho reminds her that this isn’t unlike her: “You always did whatever it took to get what you wanted. Not caring about hurting other people.” He leaves her with the warning not to mess with Soon-shin, or else.

Since this conversation takes place at the only restaurant in Seoul, Soon-shin sees them talking from a distance and asks Young-hoon about their relationship. Young-hoon doesn’t give anything away, but Soon-shin puts two and two together, figuring that Yeon-ah must be the ex who broke his heart.

Soon-shin dutifully follows Jun-ho’s instructions and practices her demure persona, which hilariously creeps everyone out. Her unnis give her the ole side-eye and Grandma wonders if she’s ill, but they are at least happily supportive to hear that she got a role in a music video.

They urge her to show them a taste of what she’s been learning, so Soon-shin complies with a heartfelt monologue. She delivers it well and with the appropriate tears and emotion, awing both sisters and even Grandma, who grudgingly says that she hasn’t been wasting her time. (Coming from her, that’s a compliment.)

Mom, of course, kills the whole mood by sniffing that there are tons of people out there who are better than Soon-shin (really, Mom? Really?), adding derisively, “If she’d done a good job, would Song Mi-ryung have quit?” Gah. That’s so emotionally manipulative.

Mom’s display of negativity is so extreme that the sisters all wonder what’s going on. Yoo-shin warns Hye-shin that Mom seems to be on to her situation (re: the divorce) and urges her to out with the truth already (seriously), but Hye-shin isn’t ready to tell.

When Woo-joo drops by the bakery to buy Grandma’s favorite sweet buns, Bread Man asks if she wants anything for Children’s Day. She turns him down flat, then brags that her father is going to send her a huuuuuge present and that she’s only living here until Dad comes back. Aw, Bread Man is left wondering if she is in the dark about her parents’ divorce.

Jun-ho finds that the rival manager, President Han, is not at all willing to compromise. He’s offended to have his star pushed aside for some lame newbie, and threatens to continue with the legal suit if Jun-ho keeps pushing Soon-shin.

The thing is, President Han is perfectly justified in feeling miffed, and Jun-ho is aware of that—but even so, he points out that his hard stance on this is quite unlike him. (Read: There’s another reason pushing him to stonewall Jun-ho.)

Jun-ho isn’t willing to back down, but he isn’t blind to the risks he’s taking. Hence his glum mood when he checks in on Soon-shin’s lessons and takes her for a walk. She picks up on his mood and guesses at the reason, half-teasing that it’s from being lovelorn over Yeon-ah.

Jun-ho totally denies it, but not convincingly and Soon-shin continues to poke good-natured fun. She reminds him of his own words to her: that you can’t change people’s minds, only your own, and thus you’re better off changing how you feel. Heh, now the student teaches the master.

Soon-shin surprises Jun-ho by thanking him quite sincerely, saying that she’s really enjoying herself and finding that acting is thrilling. It’s the first time in her life she’s enjoyed herself this much and she’s grateful that he gave her the chance. With that, she offers him the flower she’s been toying with, puts on her demure actress voice and thanks him as though in an award speech. He totally loves the attention, the dork.

Adding icing to the cake of the moment, a bike messenger plays Cupid by whizzing by, making Jun-ho grab her out of harm’s way and leading to some pounding hearts all around. Aw, I like that they’re both developing feelings at the same speed. To make it even cuter, Jun-ho paces back and forth for a moment in agitation, but makes sure to retrieve the flower he’d dropped. Then he goes home smiling like a doofus.

Yeon-ah goes to Mi-ryung for a consolation drink and wonders what’s gotten into Jun-ho, accusing her manipulating the music video situation. Mi-ryung stiffens, but she’s an old pro at this whole deceit game and fans the flames, telling Yeon-ah that it’s because everyone’s gossiping that Jun-ho’s got a romance cooking with the rookie. She offers to help Yeon-ah, which cannot be a good thing.

Chan-woo buys himself a new car and calls Yoo-shin to confirm their date. Who should spy him in the clinic’s parking garage but Yi-jung, who is so brassy as to help herself to a seat and pester him for a date. She’s harmless enough and therefore not worth getting upset about, but man is she a brat.

Chan-woo gets pretty annoyed and pulls her out of the car, and she leaves with her head hanging. Still, she consoles herself with the thought (delusion) that they’re fated to be.

Yoo-shin has a rough day at work, getting chewed out by her boss for a mistake that wasn’t her fault, and gets surprised by Chan-woo in his new car. The drive cheers her spirits and she buys him his first car accessory, thanking him for cheering her up. The way he lights up at that is just adorable.

A phone starts ringing, and comes from a phone neither of them recognizes. Yoo-shin picks up, and a hilariously catty conversation ensues as Yi-jung and Yoo-shin suspiciously question each other, wondering how they’re involved with Chan-woo (who’s just sitting there in quiet confusion).

Yoo-shin announces herself as the girlfriend, and Yi-jung totally plays the situation to piss her off, and they both fume until Yoo-shin snaps and hangs up. It’s really cute.

Chan-woo laughs, saying that she’s even prettier when she’s jealous—for once it feels like she actually likes him. He points out that she’s never actually said the words, and she says she will… if he stops being so indiscriminately nice to other girls. Ha.

Mom has been increasingly suspicious of Hye-shin and her husband, who is resolutely out of touch. Mom asks Woo-joo about it, who dutifully lies to cover Mom’s ass but who then stomps off feeling extra-sensitive. So when she calls her father and he fails to pick up yet again, she starts crying halfway into the message as she asks why he doesn’t call anymore.

Bread Man sees her crying on the stoop by herself, and offers her a huge teddy bear. Aw, it’s a toy from the bakery that he’d seen a young girl asking her daddy to buy her earlier today, and it’s extra-sweet that he doesn’t make a big show of it, knowing Woo-joo’s not likely to take it well. So he says that he knows her father’s gift will be better, but she should accept this one too.

Woo-joo says, annoyed, “Am I a child?” Ha, Bread Man just blinks: “You are a child.” Hee. He tells her to keep the teddy bear, adding that she can throw it away if she wants.

She doesn’t throw it away, but she does stomp into the bedroom crying, and begs her mother to make up with Dad and live with him again. It’s not quite fair for everyone to act like Hye-shin’s betrayal is nothing, but it is sad to hear Woo-joo’s own suffering as she cries, “How can Dad do this to me?” But it’s easier to blame the one who’s in front of you than the one who refuses to be, so she yells at Hye-shin, “This is all your fault, Mom!”

Mom again presses Hye-shin for the truth, asking if they’re having money troubles. Hye-shin manages to fob Mom off with more excuses, but I’m pretty sure she’s just about out of them.

Soon-shin keeps up her demure facade at work, and it has Jae-bum thoroughly creeped out… at himself: “She keeps looking pretty to me.” Pwahaha. Young-hoon compliments Soon-shin on her improvement, which makes her squeal in her normal voice, “Really?!” before she kicks herself for dropping out of character. It’s tough, acting so sweet and poised all the time.

Unfortunately, the gossip about Jun-ho’s fixation with his rookie gains traction, not just within Gabi’s offices but through the industry at large. Soon-shin first encounters it when she’s the target of bitchy trainee girl gossip, who sniff down their noses at her for wagging her tail at the CEO.

Best friend Chan-mi comes back into relevance when she hears that rumor from her stylist friend, who tells her all about that gold-digging rookie who stole the music video from Shin Ji-ah. At least Chan-mi defends Soon-shin—she hasn’t proven herself to be much of a friend so I had my doubts—and runs to warn Soon-shin about the rumors.

Well, first she has to confirm them: Is she the CEO’s new girlfriend? Soon-shin is, to put it lightly, gobsmacked.

On the upside for Jun-ho, he hears that Shin Ji-ah scored a new movie, so they can spin some of the stories into a more benign version. But a puzzle piece drops into place to hear that she got the movie through a recommendation—from Mi-ryung herself. Aha! He realizes, “It wasn’t Yeon-ah?”

He heads straight to Mi-ryung’s house to confront her, asking why she’d do this to Soon-shin. Mi-ryung doesn’t bother to deny her involvement, and in fact readily admits that she did it because she didn’t like seeing “my Yeon-ah” hurt because of Jun-ho.

She has to connect the dots for him, saying that Yeon-ah asked him to drop the bet because she wants to get back together. How can he be so blind to a woman’s heart? Figuring that Jun-ho still has feelings for Yeon-ah, she tells him to stop wasting his time with Soon-shin.

 
COMMENTS

Well, thank goodness for Mom’s agreement—she’s still a pill, but at least this shakes up the story in speeding up the ticking clock and removing (somewhat) her opposition. ‘Cause let’s face it, her stubborn refusal to let Soon-shin act wasn’t only tiresome to watch, but also losing ground on the whole logic front. We know she’s motivated by other factors, but nobody in this show does and so the longer she held out, the more confused everyone else got.

It’s what makes her continued silence so frustrating. Yes, you have a right to feel betrayed, and yes, I’ll even cut you some slack for lashing out at the wrong person because of all the grief and hurt. But there’s a limit to how much you can emotionally dump on the wrong person before you stop being the martyr and start being the bad guy here. Let’s assume she’s right about all the horrible things she believes, and that Dad dumped a child on her with nooooo regard for her feelings whatsoever, and that she sacrificed endlessly and thanklessly, and good god nobody was every more misused by the world than she was. Let’s assume all that’s true. That still doesn’t excuse her behavior toward Soon-shin, which I thought finally crossed a line in this pair of episodes from lashing out misguidedly to willfully hurtful. And that’s something I don’t excuse, no matter how much of a victim you think you are.

What makes Mom so problematic (and I feel like I’m repeating this point ad nauseam—but it’s relevant, week after week) is that the question really should be about blood not equaling motherhood, and yet Mom’s reaction is all about that biological bond. I get that it’s her great fear, and that perhaps even a big part of her standoffish reaction is driven by self-hatred… but self-hatred that manifests as hatred isn’t really that much more excusable, is it?

On to happier topics: I love Bread Man Jin-wook. He is such a great, endearing character, and I love the well-roundedness of Jung-woo’s portrayal. Despite being armed with a lot of information (and for once, that info is correct, ha), he’s being very circumspect about using it. His interactions with both Hye-shin and Woo-joo are always driven by their needs, and that makes him a stand-up guy who doesn’t get a lot of credit (in the world of the drama, that is) but continues to be a stand-up guy anyway. Because that’s just the way he lives his life.

That also provides a significant contrast to the selfishness of Hye-shin’s husband, who is his complete opposite and brings his family nothing but misery. Though it may take a while for this loveline to heat up, I’m content with the way Hye-shin notices and appreciates him, even if neither of them seems aware of it yet. But Woo-joo knows, and Woo-joo just may be the link (despite wanting very much to be the dividing force at this point).

I’m nervous about how this whole casting couch rumor is going to play out, mostly because it seems one step away from being twisted into reality. There was humor into having the CEO flustered and challenged by the indifferent rookie, but now that they’re actually starting to show interest, I fear for the ugliness in store. Not to mention that only badness can come from a Mi-ryung/Yeon-ah alliance. I just have to hope that this show is too much of a lightweight to take that too far, bringing us back in no time to bantering, flirting, and accidental clinches. Or, you know, nonaccidental ones. I’m not picky.

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