Persevere, Gu Hae-ra: Episode 2

by dramallama

For a show about an adorable trio of friends pursuing their dreams through music, it’s got a whole lot of twists. You may start this episode thinking you found the wrong episode because you can’t possibly imagine our characters like this, but do not be thrown off by the confusion. It’s a character- and narrative-heavy episode with a lot of deconstructing to do. Much of it has to do with the completion of our setup, which was not finished until this episode, and we see the full build-up of conflict reach its peak. It’s a rich and complex conflict that will surely take time, but this episode definitely has me invested.

 
EPISODE 2: “Don’t say goodbye”

In a brief introduction, we see Se-jong sprawled out on top of a car with intense guyliner and rocker vibes. He’s singing at a car junkyard with backup dancers, and it seems like a music video set. He has the angsty fist-slamming scenes and looks like a K-pop idol in all its glory.

Meanwhile, Se-chan takes Hae-ra somewhere in a taxi. She asks where they’re going, and he musters the courage to confess that he needed to tell her something in front of hyung Se-jong. Before he can go on, Hae-ra notices a truck headed in their lane and yells at the taxi ahjussi, who swerves last minute into a construction zone. The car flips and crashes, leaving Hae-ra stuck in the car and bloody Se-chan reaching for her on the street. What happened before all of this?

We pick up where we left off with Team Persevere being eliminated for not finishing their performance, more specifically because Se-chan didn’t continue after Henry had slipped. Hae-ra helps Henry walk out, but stops in her tracks. She calls out, “Wait!” and runs back onstage to face the judges.

“If I were Se-chan, I would have done the same thing. With a guitar, even if one string breaks, everything can go out of tune. Team Persevere is like the six strings on a guitar. It’s obvious for our team to falter when one member falls. If we had all continued, each person for themselves, we would have finished the performance very poorly, like playing on an out-of-tune guitar.” The team stands back on stage to defend their position with Hae-ra.

Judge Yoon Jong-shin challenges their argument using a similar analogy. The drums and bass don’t stop just because a guitar string breaks. This time, Se-jong continues the argument: “If you just have time to replace the guitar string, you could have a complete and satisfactory performance. Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss out on a performance because you didn’t have time to change that one string?”

Hae-ra asks for just thirty minutes to regroup and come back with their performance. The judges discuss, and Yoon Jong-shin tells JYP that they should pass that one guy — pointing at Se-jong — since he did well. JYP agrees and suggests that they give the team another chance before just accepting Se-jong. The judges announce their decision to give Team Persevere one more chance, and the members light up at this opportunity.

Outside the audition room, John Park argues with his teammate, Huh Gak, about his small lyrical mistake. They bicker and escalate to the point where Huh Gak grabs John Park’s collar, but John Park quickly brings him into a hug when he sees Judge Yoon Jong-shin approaching.

Yoon Jong-shin gives John Park a hug, cheering him up and telling him that he had a very good performance. He advises him to come to his company later on and warns him to not hang out with songwriters Lee Juck or Kim Dong-ryul (who are famously his friends). Those guys will ruin his life. Ha, plus John Park is close with these two sunbaes in real life.

Team Persevere watches this interaction from afar and sigh in despair. If John Park didn’t make the cut, how will they? (Meta note: John Park ended up being the runner-up to Huh Gak.) They can’t redo their dance performance because Henry is injured, and they’re short on time. Se-jong has a plan and asks Hae-ra to transcribe the music he arranges. She nods, and the team gets to work.

With Henry on the piano, Se-jong orchestrates the team to overlap beats and rhythms in a cappella, and their initial reaction to the arrangement is hopeful. They even seem to be having fun despite all the pressure. The team is called back up for their performance, and they begin on Se-jong’s count.

The team and the song are harmonious, as they showcase their combined talent. Although their dance moves are less flashy, the judges enjoy the musical performance. There still seems to be some tension among our main trio though, as Se-chan glances jealously at Hae-ra singing with Se-jong.

They end their performance confidently, and the judges ask how they think they did. Henry boasts that he thinks they did great and mentions that he used the JYP trademark “half air half sound” method, something that JYP frequently emphasized in his previous judge appearances.

The judges get back to business and ask who did the arrangement. Hae-ra responds that it was Se-jong, and he’s asked to step forward. They tell him that he’s passed and are clearly impressed with his efficient musical skills, but he glances back at his other teammates, worried about their fates.

Next, Leader Se-chan is asked to step up. They ask him to reflect on his own performance, and he drops his head, saying that he didn’t sing well. But JYP tells him that this song came alive because of his voice, which unified everyone’s voices in the song. On that note, the judges give them a pass. The team stands in silence for a moment, not having processed what had just happened. The judges confirm that the team seems so compatible that not one person can be missing. Team Persevere has passed. Woo!

Cut to the empty shop space for “Twins’ Chicken and Beer.” The twins’ mother nervously screams back at loan shark thugs that she doesn’t know anything. But the thugs aren’t going back without getting their promised amount from President Kim, the scammer who took Mom’s funds for the shop opening. The thugs threaten her with an ultimatum to get the money within the hour. Hae-ra’s mother comes running in to her friend’s side.

Se-jong films a hilariously awkward Coke Zero commercial for the Superstar K broadcast and misses the call from Hae-ra’s mother. Se-chan is also preoccupied, as he’s approached by the Hwangje representative dressed up as a security guard, who explains his scouting mission. Se-chan asks if they also take singer-songwriters, and the scout scoffs that no one’s a singer-songwriter nowadays. Besides, Hwangje is famous for their idols.

Their conversation is interrupted by a call from Hae-ra’s mother, who in Se-chan’s phone is adorably labeled as “mother-in-law.” Se-chan politely refuses the offer, saying that he made a promise with his friend and wants to become a singer-songwriter. The representative is left appalled.

Se-chan calls back his “mother-in-law,” who cries out desperately that his mother got scammed. He stands in shock, but thinking quickly, Se-chan runs after the representative. He signs the contract with Hwangje, which gives him an initial deposit, and the representative tells him that his trainee days start tomorrow. Seeing his reaction, he clearly didn’t read the contract thoroughly, but it’s too late. He’s already signed it.

After his commercial, Se-jong gets frantic call from his mother asking where all this money came from. He finds Se-chan and holds in his frustration as he looks through the 15-year slave contract his brother just signed. Se-chan can’t become the singer-songwriter he dreamt of being with this contract, but he argues that this was the only thing he could think of to save Mom’s shop. This is news to Se-jong, and he asks his brother to take him to the scout, Manager Pyun.

The twins’ mother looks at the deposit and scolds Hae-ra’s mother for informing her sons. Now, they’re entangled with Hwangje, which they are both not fond of at all. Hae-ra’s mother seems more upset and cries that her husband ended up like this because of Hwangje.

Se-jong meets up with Manager Pyun — and oh, they’ve met before. Flashback to the Incheon audition for Superstar K. Manager Pyun scouts Se-jong to be a solo artist at Hwangje, and is stunned when Se-jong refuses, saying that while the terms are pretty good, he’s not interested.

Back in the present, Se-jong argues that Se-chan’s contract is unfair and asks Manager Pyun to forget about it. But Manager Pyun laughs and says that it’s not that easy, and that breaching the contract would require three times the initial deposit. However, there is one alternative: Se-jong could take Se-chan’s place.

Team Persevere relishes in their success, although Se-chan can’t wholeheartedly join in on the happiness. Henry pats Jang Goon on the back, who of course escapes the germs before he expresses his excitement. They put their hands in for a team cheer and Se-chan reluctantly joins the “Fighting,” just as a staff member runs in looking for Se-jong.

Se-jong walks in, and the staff member asks if he signed with Hwangje. Due to the rules of the show, the judges have decided to eliminate Team Persevere in its entirety. Se-jong is alarmed, thinking he’d be the only one to be cut, but the staffer says they can’t cut around him and therefore have to get rid of everybody. Henry explodes with anger, calling Se-jong a traitor. Woo-ri sobs, Jang Goon-tries to comfort her, and Hae-ra stands still in disbelief.

Hae-ra confronts Se-jong about his decision, asking, “Is this your response to my confession?” Se-chan looks at her wide-eyed, and Se-jong silently glances at his brother. She asks him again, and this time he replies. He says that it’s a rejection, and it was all one-sided. They’re just friends. Nothing less, nothing more (“I Want You and I Resent You” by As One begins to play in the background.)

Hae-ra takes it pretty well and gives him a firm “okay.” Whatever feelings she had for being more than friends, she’ll get rid of them completely. But from now on, he’s less than a friend. “Not only did you betray my heart, you took away my dream, and Se-chan’s, Jang Goon oppa, Woo-ri unni, and Henry’s dreams.”

Se-jong sincerely apologizes, but Hae-ra doesn’t accept it. As she walks away, Se-chan starts to tell her the truth. But Se-jong stops him — he doesn’t want to make a bigger issue out of this.

Two months pass, and on this rainy day, we see Se-jong furiously dancing in a dark practice room. He walks out to get water and sees John Park performing his rendition of Lee Moon-se’s “In The Rain” on Superstar K. Looks like he got Team Persevere’s spot in the show.

As the music plays, we get an update on our Team Persevere members. Woo-ri anxiously looks for her name on the selection sheet for an opera performance, but doesn’t make the cut. Jang Goon watches Superstar K on his laptop while studying, and cries in disappointment. Henry visits entertainment companies with demo CDs, but the lady at the desk tells him that they only take minors these days (that sounds really bad, but it’s true) and points at the TV, suggesting that he try out for Superstar K.

Hae-ra watches the performance from her cashier job and narrates, “We had woken up from a midsummer night’s dream and reentered reality.” As she walks out to pouring rain, Se-chan stands there waiting with an extra umbrella and suggests that they get chicken, soondae, and beer. Hae-ra agrees and then starts running, calling out that the last person to get there pays. “My relationship with Se-chan, though it seemed irreparable, went back to normal. The only thing difference was that we, who had always been three, became two.”

On the song whiteboard, we see that Hae-ra has written a song-title message for Se-jong: G.NA’s “I’ll Get Lost, You Go Your Way.” Se-jong thinks back to his first meeting with her, and tells us that he was first. Flashback to 1998. Se-chan whines to hyung for money to buy ice cream. Se-jong hands him the money and heads back home to a newly moved-in Hae-ra singing in the back of a truck. “On that day, it was me who saw Hae-ra first. But it was Se-chan who confessed first.”

Munching on chicken and soondae, Hae-ra and Se-chan watch the finale of Superstar K. Hae-ra bets on John Park while Se-chan bets on Huh Gak, and Se-chan proposes an actual bet with the punishment being a kiss. He starts pursing his lips, and Hae-ra smacks them with a drumstick.

Right before the winner announcement, Se-jong comes back home, much to Hae-ra’s dismay. He silently walks into his room to pack his things and hears Hae-ra calling him a traitor from outside. She’s so upset that she doesn’t watch winner announcement and goes back to her room.

Se-chan tries to lighten the mood by teasing Se-jong about his celebrity status and how he must be so lonely without him. He asks Se-jong to sleep at home tonight, but their conversation is interrupted by phone calls from the company. Se-chan says that being busy is fine, but he reminds him not to change his phone number, since that number has a significance to all three of them. He cuts himself off, though, at the mention of the three.

On the song whiteboard, Se-chan writes Kim Dong-ryul’s “Let’s start again,” to both Se-jong and Hae-ra. On the patio Hae-ra contemplates erasing Se-jong’s number from her phone but quickly rushes inside when she hears Se-chan coming out. She listens silently by the window as Se-chan and Se-jong talk.

Se-chan says that they’re just like Panic — Se-jong is the smart one like Lee Juck and he’s the free spirit like Kim Jin-pyo. They can’t be complete without one another. Se-chan urges Se-jong to sit down and sing a song with him, and they do. Hae-ra listens as the brothers sing “Station” by Panic, and we see that pictures of the trio during the good times are taped up with the song message. By the end of the song, Hae-ra finally decides to delete Se-jong from her phone.

The next morning, Se-jong and his mother talk on the phone. She asks if he’s really okay with the five-year contract that forced him to take a leave from school. He assures her that he’s fine, but Mom blames herself for being an obstacle to her son’s future. Swallowing his tears, Se-jong reassures Mom that he’s doing well, but their conversation is cut short by a group of trainees.

They call him President Hwang’s son for all the special treatment he’s been getting. The main bully, an eight-year trainee, tells Se-jong to greet him properly, but Se-jong counters that he’s been ignored every time he tried, and that he should either accept it or reject it, not want both. The bully raises his fist but a fight is prevented by Tae-poong, who reminds the trainees that in order to survive in this business, you need to remember: don’t ever gamble, drive drunk, or assault.

Tae-poong takes Se-jong with him to the recording room, where he explains to him that they’re just like that because no matter how long you’ve been a trainee, the person who debuts first is the sunbae. Se-jong says that he doesn’t care, but Tae-poong tells him to care. If he’s this stiff, he’ll eventually break. He should learn to bend.

Tae-poong also breaks the news that Se-jong’s solo debut album will be his last project at the company, and Se-jong’s disappointment shows on his face. He says that his dream is to create an “artistar,” someone with the skills of an artist and the fame of a star. Se-jong asks if he can recommend some people for this “artistar” search.

Se-chan and Hae-ra introduce themselves in front of their school sunbae, Tae-poong, in a former Hwangje practice room. This is where Tae-poong practiced when he was a trainee, and we get a hilarious throwback image of his trainee days. They start singing Lee Jang-woo’s “Since We Met” for their audition, and Tae-poong tries to hide his enjoyment of their musical abilities. (This song was also remade into S.E.S’s “Oh My Love,” which may be the more familiar version.)

After they finish the song, Tae-poong takes them to an oldies record café for a quasi-interview. They’re both learning music composition, and Hae-ra explains that she needs to finish writing a song (her dad’s). Se-chan smiles giddily when he says that he’s almost done with his solo song, which of course, Hae-ra will feature in.

Tae-poong tells them that he can’t do much for them, but he can help them grow into true artists. In other words, he’s taking them under this wing. Yay! A few beers in, the three reminisce about the ’90s, and the show so generously gives us hilarious clips of Tae-poong in his Storm (his group) glory days: dramatic wind, flying confetti, and an embarrassing haircut. It just screams ’90s.

Although Storm was immensely popular, everything soon went downhill when they were accused of plagiarism. President Hwang made sure to lift lyrics in groups of seven consecutive words (eight was legally plagiarism), which means they were technically safe, and we get a small montage of ’90s parodies and references to R.ef, Fin.K.L., and Sechs Kies. The night continues with Tae-poong offering to tell them anything they’re curious about — except for the romance scandals, that is.

A plane lands, and Manager Pyun is at the airport to escort one of their company’s stars, a spoiled girl who mixes in unnecessary English into her speech. She orders him to take her to her office.

Main Bully enters Se-jong’s practice room with his group, and Se-jong remembers Tae-poong’s advice to bend a bit. He turns around to give them a proper bow, but Main Bully is not amused. He threatens to force Se-jong’s leave and throws a punch at him. They fight, and the other trainees need to pull them apart.

At home, the mothers make kimchi, and Hae-ra’s mother notices the sickly look on the twins’ mother. She’s been working menial jobs during every spare hour to save up enough money to free Se-jong, and it’s been taking a toll. As she tries to carry the bucket of kimchi, she faints.

Manager Pyun gives Spoiled a tour of their facilities and walks in on the ongoing fight in the practice room. He scolds them for such behavior while Spoiled frequently glances at Se-jong. Tae-poong comes running in and asks Manager Pyun to let this one slide, but he can’t, not with Spoiled having witnessed it too.

Luckily, Mom doesn’t have anything serious, but she’s suffering from exhaustion and needs to rest up for the night. Se-chan goes out to call Se-jong, but he’s not picking up because of his recording, which is interrupted by President Hwang himself. He orders Tae-poong to add more autotune, and when he refuses, President Hwang reminds him that he got here through plagiarism. Money is what’s important.

Hae-ra finds Se-chan outside, and he gives her his jacket. Se-jong calls back, and Se-chan tells him that Mom isn’t well. Se-jong explains that he’s busy because of the music video filming tomorrow but promises to visit if he gets the chance. He’s obviously worried, but Hae-ra criticizes Se-jong for being so inconsiderate. She can’t believe he won’t even come for his mother. Se-chan tries to tell her the truth but can’t seem to get the words out of his mouth. He tells Hae-ra that he has somewhere to take her tomorrow and then gets a text that Mom woke up.

They’re relieved to see Mom doing well, and when she tries to leave, they all force her to stay the night. Se-chan holds his mother’s hand while singing to her, and she marvels at how great he is. He tells her that his wish is to be called a superstar and asks what her wish is. She says that she just hopes that she can have a long happy life with her sons. Se-chan also adds that he has another wish to ensure that Mom lives comfortably, and she makes him pinky promise.

President Hwang swings at a golf field, and we find out that Spoiled is his daughter, SCARLET (Seo Min-ji). He tells her that he had her learn golf because you can experience the power of money in the golf clubs you use — the more expensive they are, the further they hit. She’s not too interested in the sport and tells her daddy that she has bad news and good news. Bad news: she has a worry. Good news: Daddy can take care of it easily. She wants Se-jong’s song.

President Hwang hesitates and tries to make the excuse that the music video filming has already started, but Scarlet seems convinced that she can just take the song. She says that if he doesn’t do this for her, she won’t play golf with him anymore, so he agrees. But only if she can make a hole in one.

We’re now caught up and return to the opening scene, with Se-jong filming his music video and Hae-ra asking where Se-chan is taking them. Manager Pyun abruptly stops the filming and informs them that this project has been cancelled. Exasperated, Tae-poong storms off to directly confront President Hwang.

Se-chan and Hae-ra arrive at the music video set, and Hae-ra still shows resentment towards Se-jong. Unable to deal with the tension, Se-chan tells them that he wants to clear the misunderstanding. He starts by saying that this whole ordeal is his fault, but Se-jong harshly interrupts before he can go any further. He tells Hae-ra to leave, and the two walk away in opposite directions, leaving Se-chan stuck between them once again.

President Hwang can’t believe his daughter actually made the hole-in-one, but his thoughts are interrupted by an infuriated Tae-poong bursting into his room. He demands to know why this project was cancelled, but President Hwang ignores him and assigns him to produce for Scarlet. But Tae-poong isn’t done. He calls the president cowardly and despicable, recalling ten years ago. He announces that he’ll be leaving with an official resignation and also a challenge against President Hwang.

In the taxi, Se-chan tries to explain what he meant to say to Hae-ra in front of Se-jong, but Hae-ra’s eyes widen at the approaching truck driving in the wrong lane. Although they avoid a car collision, the taxi drives into a construction area and flips. As the car crashes in slow motion, Se-chan does his best to secure Hae-ra from harm, but there’s only so much he can do. The crash leaves Hae-ra bloody and unconscious in the car and Se-chan just outside, reaching for her.

Some time later, Hae-ra wakes up in the hospital, injuries patched-up, and sees her mother’s crying face. The first thing she asks about is Se-chan, and all her mother can do is silently cry. Hae-ra begins to freak out and gets up to look for Se-chan, but her mother pulls her into a hug, no words necessary.

As feared, the accident took Se-chan’s life, and everyone grieves. His overwhelmed mother is inconsolable, Hae-ra apologizes, and Se-jong suffers silently. Se-chan’s cremation urn reads, “The Superstar Sleeps.”

It’s a rainy day, and the family slowly leaves Se-chan in his resting place. Though the mothers walk together, Hae-ra and Se-jong grieve separately. As they leave, another person arrives with his face covered by the umbrella. None of them see his face, but as he passes, we see Se-chan? Or someone who looks exactly like Se-chan. How could this be?

 
EPILOGUE

We revisit the accident scene, where Se-chan desperately reaches out for Hae-ra. Just as the ambulance arrives, he sees Hae-ra falling unconscious. When the EMTs arrive at his side, he tells them that he’s okay and pleads that they save Hae-ra first. So they work on drilling her out of the car, but in that time, Se-chan falls unconscious.

 
COMMENTS

OMG. Oh, how I vastly underestimated this show. I was expecting more of the Dream High sort of light and fun musical drama with a ton of heart from our heroine’s quest to reclaim her father’s music. I did not realize the show would throw us so many curveballs, especially in the second episode. The first episode did not foreshadow too much on the imminent darkness approaching our characters, so I’m completely shocked that we lost Se-chan. To be fair, I did find some hinting at death looking at the episode in retrospect, but they all flew under my radar while I watched. I was more focused on how the characters were starting to grow on me. Just as we start to get attached to Se-chan, the show takes him away and baits us into wanting more. What a way to get us invested.

I loved seeing Se-chan stepping up and taking the son role that his hyung used to fill. It was a point of growth for him, and though I wouldn’t call him immature, he definitely played the part of younger brother to Se-jong. But maturity is a subjective scale, and Se-chan was mature in different ways. In terms of expressing his sincerity towards Hae-ra, Se-chan definitely wins. Sometimes thinking too much makes you unaware of the beautiful simplicities, and I think Se-chan understood that, especially with Hae-ra. He had such an admirable naivety, but I think that was the main driving force of his ultimate sacrifice for Hae-ra. It was in pure selflessness and complete worry of another being that he lost his life, and that’s a pretty honorable way to go.

And like Se-chan mentioned, the brothers are like Panic. They’re compatible and complete each other, yet they’re quite the opposite beings. While Se-jong has intelligence and maturity, he seems to funnel that into excessive responsibility. He takes the responsibility and makes sacrifices for things that are out of his control and doesn’t want anyone else to help with his struggles. Again, I wonder if it’s just showing us the natural tendencies of younger and older siblings, difference in personality, or maybe something more. Seeing from the end of this episode, we can deduce that Se-jong may not be blood-related to Se-chan or Mom, so maybe the fraternal twins are so opposite because they’re not related at all. Of course, this is not completely accurate, as we’re a product of our environment as well, but for the purposes of the show, I can understand if the differences were hinting at this.

On another note, I thoroughly appreciated Tae-poong’s involvement in this episode. I love how he was the product of a company that he’s come to hate and even actively fight. His search for the “artistar” seems to be right up Team Persevere’s alley, and I look forward to the possibilities of their collaboration. The references and flashbacks to the ’90s pop music scene were my favorite part of this episode, and it once again surprised me how hilariously they put together that section. It’s another one of those cases where the show stretches the boundaries of comedy to parody the era of early K-pop, and I find it so wonderful. The overdramatic acting, wind blowing in your red-highlighted hair, and then confetti blowing into your mouth was a prime moment.

Hae-ra mentioned how the only difference was that three became two, but that difference is now huge. I’m sure we’ll have some part of the void fulfilled by Se-chan’s doppelganger/possible twin, but the void between Hae-ra and Se-jong is going to be hard to fill. They’re a trio, not a duo. Without their missing link, especially with their rift, I’m not sure how they’ll come to resolve their misunderstandings. In these circumstances, I think Se-jong would be even more opposed to the idea of telling Hae-ra the truth. Se-chan is gone, and you can’t really blame the dead for leaving the living with the consequences of their death. It’s complicated, and I hope we get some attention to this rich conflict without the excess angst or roundabout noble acts.

Now, I’m suddenly really curious about the love lines as well. It seemed pretty clear to me in the first episode that we do have a clear pairing, that being Hae-ra and Se-jong. But now, I’m not too sure. I’m reminded of that Answer Me theme of “Who’s the husband?” except this drama doesn’t have all the red herrings. We’re back to square one now, with Se-jong pretending to be an asshole, thus making him part asshole, and now we have a new but familiar character in Se-chan’s twin. I’m interested in seeing what the show makes of this while keeping all the funny, heart, music, and occasional gloom.

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