Ho-gu’s Love: Episode 2

by odilettante

The second episode of this adorable show is just as sweet and zippy as the first, and there’s also an added undercurrent of serious topics such as friendship and big life decisions that keep this from being total cotton candy fluff. Not that I’d mind some fluff when it’s as cute as Ho-gu, who finally gets to spend an evening with the girl of his dreams.

 
Second Fool’s Errand: Let’s give our seat to the pregnant women and nursing mothers

Ho-gu rushes back to Do-hee in the middle of the crosswalk, telling her, “Let’s go the ocean.” Meanwhile, back at the Kang family home, Mom tells Chung-jae that going to the ocean is a total green light — it’s how she and Ho-gu’s father got together. Ha, and it was Mom who took the initiative, making sure it was the last boat home. According to Mom, just going to the beach together doesn’t mean you’re dating — the key is making sure you stay out all night.

Ho-kyung gets a phone call (and Chung-jae is astonished that her ringtone is Kang Gary’s risqué “Shower Later”), and she’s so dazed by it that she can barely spit out what it was about, stumbling only over the words “Ho-gu… your eldest son…” Mom, Dad, and Chung-jae leap up, thinking he must have gotten into an accident and are ready to rush out the door, when Ho-kyung finally blurts out that he isn’t coming home tonight.

At the bus station, Ho-gu gets tickets for the last bus to Yeosu so that he and Do-hee can go to the ocean. He offers to buy her some water, and heads to the convenience store. But instead of returning to the waiting area right away, he ducks off into the men’s restroom to have a mini panic-attack.

He tries to gain his courage with some mind games, repeating over and over, “I can do it, I can do it.” Which only gets him handed a business card to a urologist from another guy in the restroom. Pffft. Ho-gu’s phone rings, and it’s Ho-kyung (with an eavesdropping Chung-jae), demanding to know where he is.

Ho-gu says that he’s still with his old high school buddies, but Ho-kyung isn’t falling for his lies, and asks if he’s there with a girl. She warns him not to do anything, but if he is going to do something, make sure to spend a lot of money. Chung-jae’s shocked at her advice, but she reminds him that Ho-gu will be lucky to get to first base, if he doesn’t totally strike out in the first place.

At the ATM, Ho-gu empties his bank account — all 300,000 won — and then boards the bus to sit next to Do-hee. He notices that her seatbelt isn’t buckled yet, and is about to tell her, but remembers Ho-kyung’s list of things not to do if you’re going to spend the night with a girl. The first one is to shut his mouth. If he wants to do something for a girl, he should just do it, and not talk her head off.

So he tries to buckle the seatbelt for Do-hee, but it won’t stretch. She moves the jacket on her lap to reveal that she’s already buckled in, and that seatbelt is his. Ha!

Ho-kyung’s second rule is to not let his date get bored. To make sure she’s having fun, he asks Do-hee if she wants to listen to some music. When she agrees, he pulls out his mp3 player and shares his earbuds with her. Aw, the track he selects is Busker Busker’s “Yeosu Night Sea.” Do-hee sighs and says it’s nice, relaxing a little as she watches the world go by outside the bus window. Ho-gu adorably smiles to himself.

At home, Mom and Dad dance together, and he wonders if Ho-gu is doing all right. Mom reassures him that Ho-gu takes after her, but then Dad worries if he’ll overdo it and be too “beast-like,” but Mom reminds him that Ho-gu takes after him, too, so he’ll be properly restrained.

On the rooftop, Chung-jae shouts out his envy that Ho-gu’s spending the night with a girl, but the practical Ho-kyung scoffs, saying it will be a surprise if Ho-gu doesn’t fall asleep first. But the only person sleeping on Do-hee’s shoulder is the mom with a small child who Ho-gu had given his seat to. As Ho-gu dozes and struggles to maintain his balance in the uncomfortable center seat, Do-hee turns to look at him, saying to herself: “His name is Ho-gu. Kang Ho-gu.”

Once they reach Yeosu, they get a taxi to go to the beach. Do-hee is happier than we’ve ever seen her as she leans out the window, shouting her hoy. The genial taxi driver teases the “young lovers” for thinking the winter air is like a warm summer evening. Ho-gu bashfully tells him they’re not dating, but the driver is thrilled to try and help him win the young lady’s heart.

Do-hee delights in watching the scenery go by, but Ho-gu watches the taxi meter quickly increase, and tries to furtively reach for his wallet. Except he can’t find it. Do-hee quickly realizes (much to sweet, naive Ho-gu’s surprise) that the mother Ho-gu swapped seats with also stole his wallet.

He protests when Do-hee reaches for her bag, telling her that the man should pay. Do-hee: “Who cares? The person with money should pay.” Except it turns out her wallet was stolen, too. Oh no!

The class reunion has dwindled down to Tae-hee, the class bully, and couple of others in various states of drunkenness. Demanding to know why their class president didn’t show up to the reunion, the bully calls him — only to get a sleepy secretary at a law firm. Oh, hey — it’s the same law firm that Do-hee visited in the first episode. Composing herself, the secretary pounds on the lawyer’s office door in order to be heard over the Tchaikovsky playing full blast on the stereo.

She finally gets the attention of BYUN KANG-CHUL (Im Seul-ong), and does her best to stifle her frustration with him as she passes along the messages she’s received, which he color-codes as “red” or “green” depending on their importance. She asks what his “ex-girlfriend’s” number should be classified, and he coolly replies, “Red.”

Tae-hee isn’t surprised to learn that Kang-chul is now a very successful lawyer, since he was always at the top in school. The rest of the classmates wonder if Do-hee and Kang-chul are still dating, like they did in school, and Tae-hee suddenly realizes that Ho-gu isn’t around.

That’s because he and Do-hee are slowly making their trek across the bridge, now that the taxi driver kicked them out for being unable to pay their fare. When Do-hee clutches at her stomach, Ho-gu worries if she needs to go to the restroom. She’s annoyed that he remembers she’s been plagued with constipation issues from high school, and then blames him for getting their wallets stolen.

A high school couple walking by catch their attention — it’s Answer Me 1994‘s Dohee and C-CLOWN’s Kangjun.

Do-hee watches them go, thinking they’re adorable — but then again, anything you did at that age was adorable. Ho-gu agrees, saying that no matter what Do-hee did, she was always pretty.

Flashback to their school days, during gym class as all the guys gawk at the pretty Do-hee. But as soon as the game of kickball begins, her competitive side comes raging out, and she makes leaping catches of every single ball, easily getting the other team out while her team stares at her in amazement.

Back in the present, Kang-chul’s secretary tells him that she’s leaving for the day. She then adds that she thought his ex-girlfriend was very pretty — so why did they break up?

Flashback to Do-hee screaming at her team to run, and then terrifying the other team with her forceful kicks. As she kicks another home run, she celebrates by unzipping her track jacket as she runs about the bases, scoffing at everyone staring at her. What, like they’ve never seen a sports bra before? Watching her as he walks by is student Kang-chul, and present-day lawyer Kang-chul matter-of-factly tells his secretary that the reason he broke up with his girlfriend is because “she’s scary.”

Do-hee and Ho-gu continue to walk because they’ve got no other choice, but once they reach the top of a hill, they look back at the lights in the city. Ho-gu marvels at how pretty it is, something he didn’t notice when they were walking through it. Do-hee agrees, adding that people will make a point to go out of their way to see something that’s beautiful from far away, but close up is so dirty.

Case in point: the high school couple sitting on a nearby bench, drinking soju and smoking cigarettes. Do-hee marches over, chastising them for smoking and drinking while wearing their uniforms. But the boyfriend stands up and tells her she’s not his mom, so she shouldn’t tell him what to do or he’ll break her arm.

But Do-hee is no gentle flower, and challenges him back, cursing him out. Ho-gu tries to intervene, but the girlfriend shoves him aside to confront Do-hee. Just about every other word the women yell at each other is a curse word (and the ineffectual Ho-gu continually gets pushed aside), until the girlfriend recognizes Do-hee as the nation’s athlete.

Ho-gu tries to escape with Do-hee by distracting the high schoolers, shouting, “Look! It’s Seo Taiji!” Hahaha! Everyone turns to look, and Ho-gu grabs Do-hee’s arm and runs away. He also takes their cigarettes, soju, and snacks, leaving behind the only money he has on him — a 500 won coin. The girlfriend turns back to her boyfriend, asking, “Who is Seo Taiji?” It’s extra hilarious since that actress played a character obsessed with Seo Taiji in her Answer Me 1994 role.

As they make sandcastles on the beach, Do-hee teases Ho-gu for selecting Seo Taiji as the celebrity the kids would know. (Maybe in 1994, but not now.) He thinks it’s great that they recognized her, though, and he says he’ll be more mindful when he says that they’re friends, since he realizes how famous she really is.

They break out the pilfered soju, and when Ho-gu asks how well she holds her liquor, Do-hee says she doesn’t know — she’s never drunk alcohol before. He’s surprised, because it’s just natural to have a beer or two when you meet up with friends. Do-hee: “I don’t have any friends.”

It turns out two small sips is enough to get her totally trashed, and Ho-gu chases after her as she drunkenly runs around on the beach. She asks him which is more harmful to the body — soju or cigarettes, then orders him to light a cigarette for her so it could “harm her body” and make “this thing inside her go away.”

Bewildered but compliant, Ho-gu begins to light the cigarette, but then Do-hee smacks him on the head, demanding to know why he would smoke in front of her when it would harm her body.

She starts crying, and Ho-gu gently pulls an eyelash of her cheek, telling her to make a wish — but the eyelash flies away before she can make her wish. She breaks down in sobs, yelling after the eyelash to “take this thing from my body because I’m scared.” Ho-gu holds her, trying to comfort her while she weeps, and thinks to himself that her chronic constipation must be really painful. Oh, you naive boy.

Once she finally stops sobbing, he cups her face in his hands, asking if she’s okay. They stare at each other for a long moment, and he goes in for the kiss! Then she grabs him and kisses him back. Sunrise on the beach sure makes for a perfect romantic setting.

At the train station, Do-hee hands over the 300,000 won that her coach wired to her, telling him he doesn’t need to worry about paying it back — her coach has made enough money off her over the years. She also gives him a ticket back to Seoul. She’s staying behind for a surgery.

She shows him the doctor’s note for hemorrhoid removal. But the nervous way she says it’s just like removing a small cyst, and she needs to get better soon so she can start training again, raises some flags. Ho-gu is oblivious, though, and grabs her hand to tell her it will be all right, that everything will be better (or “clean”) after the surgery. Do-hee wonders if that’s really true.

As she walks him to his train, she hands over her silver medal, telling him that he can return it to her on Christmas Day, which is when she’ll return the comics she rented, too. He wears her medal as he rides back to Seoul, barely able to contain his excitement that he has a date for Christmas.

Do-hee sees the pick-pocketing mom from before, and waits until they’re alone in the restroom to confront her. She warns the pick-pocket that if she doesn’t want to be reported to the cops, she’ll deposit 300,000 won to the account number Do-hee gives her.

Angry, the pick-pocket mom yells after Do-hee, telling her at least she didn’t abandon her child. She may not be exactly law-abiding, but she’s providing for her family. Then she stops, recognizing Do-hee. Do-hee: “Do you want an autograph?”

Ho-gu tries to sneak into the workplace, apologizing for being late, and his buddies totally freeze him out — until he admits he was out all night with a girl, and suddenly they’re buddies again, wanting all the details. He refuses to tell them who he was with, but he bashfully admits they kissed, and dreamily explains that it felt like bees buzzing in his ears. That’s sweet, but totally not the details his friends are looking for.

When he finally returns home, he sees a banner hanging up in front of his door, congratulating him on his first night out.

Do-hee arrives at the clinic, pausing before entering when she sees “Seo Tae-ji” on the name board. The doctor takes an ultrasound, letting her know that she’s thirteen weeks along. If she wants an abortion, it’ll have to happen soon. But Do-hee watches the ultrasound screen, marveling how small it looks — like a piece of candy. The doctor switches it off, gruffly saying it’s better to not see it.

She asks him if he knows that he has the same name as the famous singer, but the doctor is surprised that there’s anyone else out there with his name. He doesn’t pay attention to popular culture, which is probably the reason she was referred to him — and he holds up a post-it with his information. Ooooo, the post-it is from Kang-chul’s legal firm. So, when does she want the surgery?

Months go by, and Ho-gu wonders how Do-hee’s surgery went. He sends her multiple text messages, but she doesn’t respond. Even though he clings to the promise that they’ll meet again on Christmas Day, he worries that the surgery was more dangerous than he thought.

One day, as he’s skimming through the newspaper, he sees an article about Do-hee taking a break from training for health reasons. He asks Ho-kyung what hemorrhoids are, and once he realizes that it isn’t something that requires a lengthy surgery, he tracks down Do-hee’s coach to ask if he knows where she is.

But Coach is in the same boat as Ho-gu — he doesn’t know where Do-hee has disappeared to, or why she’d need to go to a specialist to have hemorrhoids removed. He just knows that she promised to come back the day after Christmas.

Ho-gu has another reason for visiting Coach, though, and hands over an envelope of cash to repay the amount Do-hee borrowed on his behalf. Coach asks if there’s something going on between him and Do-hee, reminding him that Do-hee is a celebrity and a national treasure, and he’s fooling himself if he think he can have a relationship with her.

Ho-gu rides the subway back to Seoul, staring at Do-hee’s silver medal in his hands as he remembers when his sister would elbow him in the stomach, and he’d have no choice but to be suddenly awakened from his dream. That’s what it feels like, now — being rudely and painfully awakened from a beautiful dream.

When a very pregnant woman stands in front of him, he immediately leaps up to let her have his seat. Ho-gu tries to be thankful that at least he’s being woken from his dream, but admits to himself that he can’t wake up from it. Not being able to wake up from a dream no matter how hard you try — isn’t that really a nightmare?

As the pregnant woman’s bag spills its contents, he stoops down to help pick up her things. But he stops when he recognizes the comic book that fell from her purse. He looks up at the woman, and it’s Do-hee. He finishes his internal narration with what’s becoming his catchphrase: “My name is Ho-gu. Kang Ho-gu.”

 
COMMENTS

I love it. I love it all. There’s a delicate balance zany zippiness mixed with a serious undercurrent which has managed to capture my heart and mind in just a few short episodes, and I’m looking forward to seeing how show takes off now that the story is really beginning. It helps that all the actors have completely sold me on their characters, especially UEE and Choi Woo-shik, who are absolutely perfect. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding which face to watch because they’re both so into the moment that I want to see what’s going on with both characters as they react to each situation. (The solution, then, is to watch each episode twice, amirite?)

Even though half the time I feel like I’m going, “Oh, you poor naive baby,” I really respect Ho-gu’s earnestness and how he feels so genuine. He’s often ineffectual, but he’s not helpless. He’s sincere and wants the best for everyone, even if it’s at his expense. He may nurse a broken heart at times, but he never blames anyone else for his failings. He’s a nice guy, but he’s not a Nice Guy.

Which is probably why Do-hee feels comfortable enough with him to let him into her life, however brief it may seem to her. She doesn’t have any friends, but Ho-gu is a good friend, no matter who you are. He’s the kind of guy you can lean on and trust, and while that may have gotten him used before in past potential relationships, Do-hee doesn’t seem the type to use him.

Her affection for Ho-gu, whatever it may be, seems sincere enough. Even though she knows he had a crush on her in high school, she doesn’t use that against him to get her way — she’s too matter-of-fact to manipulate anyone. While there were definitely some sparks flying during that sunrise kiss, I get the feeling that Do-hee just really wants someone she can trust and rely on — a friend.

Then again, much as I want a romance between these two (because there’s definitely chemistry there — hello, sunrise kiss! — plus mutual respect, which makes it all that much hotter), I’m really looking forward to Do-hee learning how to be a friend. In return, maybe Do-hee could teach Ho-gu how to stand up for himself. Or at least he could learn a few new curse words.

 
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