Running Man: Episode 232

by gummimochi

Friendships will be put to the test this week in a race to acquire the golden key. Some relationships seem to be stronger than others, and our cast learns that bringing a friend can either be a great advantage or a liability. Who knows what kinds of secrets that buddy of yours is keeping under wraps? But that same friend can also be your greatest source of strength at a time of need, and maybe just the wingman you needed.

EPISODE 232. Broadcast on February 1, 2015.

We start off today’s Best Friends Race with an introduction of our cast’s real-life friends in the biz. First up is Jong-kook’s buddy, singer Hong Kyung-min who recently got married in November.

Suk-jin is quick to point out that Jae-suk didn’t attend (due to a scheduling conflict), but Jae-suk says he gave a larger monetary gift to the newlyweds (a customary practice in Korea, though the amount usually depends on how close one is to the family or signifies greater social status. In this case, Jae-suk would be joking about boasting a fatter wallet, and in the end, likely gave more in apology for not being able to attend).

Anyhow, Jong-kook has some famous friends (Jang Hyuk, Cha Tae-hyun, and Jo Sung-mo, to name a few), and Kyung-min says while the viewers could anticipate that he and Jong-kook are buddies, he honestly had a hard time trying to place everyone else’s guests, all, “Who are you here for?” Ha.

Ji-hyo’s friend is actress Kim Ji-soo (Warm Words), who have known each other for the past decade as they once belonged to the same agency. They became friends over drinks, and Jong-kook remembers that Ji-soo used to be an MC back in his Turbo days.

Jae-suk busts a gut to see singer Kim Won-jun, who’s also a college classmate. Suk-jin also happens to be a mutual friend too, though he’s pulled back every time he tries to brag about their singing days.

Suk-jin’s “friend” is more like a former colleague in actress Oh Hyun-kyung (Legendary Witch) back when they were paired as MCs two decades ago. Hyun-kyung and Ji-soo hail from the same high school (Kaywon High School of Arts) — a name Jae-suk recognizes because he couldn’t snag a group blind date in his day with those students.

Hyun-kyung also knows Kwang-soo (they were former co-stars in the sitcom High Kick Through the Roof), which supports Suk-jin’s earlier statement of: “It seems like all of you are closer to her than I am!”

Brown Eyed Girl’s rapper Miryo is here as Gary’s friend, and Kwang-soo momentarily chokes to see his friend, actress Shin Da-eun (Rascal Sons). She speaks openly, mentioning that Kwang-soo seemed to think there was something going on between them in the past.

That opens a can of worms, and then she adds, “You confessed your feelings to me once.” Oho, did he now? He can’t brings himself to verbally admit it, but concedes a nod as his answer. Aww.

Lastly, Haha’s friend is MC Park Ji-yoon, to whom he refers to as “friend-sshi.” I remember the days when she was an MC with Suk-jin on Star Golden Bell, which spurs the question that Ji-yoon should’ve been paired with him instead. Hyun-kyung (to Kwang-soo): “Then YOU should have been the one to invite me!”

Today’s race is to find the bag that contains a golden key by acquiring hints after completing their mini missions. Ji-soo lights up at the thought of money and gold. Ha, just like Ji-hyo would.

Newlywed Kyung-min urges his friend Jong-kook to hurry up and get married already. When Jong-kook says he still has to focus on work, Kyung-min doesn’t buy it: “You’ve been working for the past twenty years.”

In their car, Won-jun and Jae-suk reminisce about eating street food during their school days. Won-jun admits that he auditioned to be a comedian the same year Jae-suk did; he failed the first round, but recalled seeing that Jae-suk had passed. Jae-suk remembers how over-confident he was back then, bringing up a story of how he picked his ear when receiving his participation award.

But Won-jun sweetly says even that contributed to Jae-suk’s fame now, adding that he’s the friend all their fellow classmates brag about. He’s their biggest star, Won-jun notes. Awww.

Suk-jin and Hyun-kyung arrive at the snack food restaurant first, and their politeness towards one another only solidifies how awkward they feel around each other. That’s how Won-jun and Jae-suk finds them, and everyone’s a little wary about being allowed to eat before being told what their mission is.

Comparing each other’s zodiac signs has Hyun-kyung jump to say that she and Suk-jin’s signs are compatible. Using jargon like zodiac signs and compatibility dates herself, though she also says that Suk-jin’s the only one born in the ’60s.

Both teams finish their food, only to learn that they must perform the right action while sharing their food in order to succeed. Hyun-kyung wonders if they’re supposed to share the ddukbokki à la Pepero Game style, and then immediately puts the rice cake in her mouth. And Jae-suk has to stop Suk-jin from biting the other end.

Ha, it’s pretty great how proactive and shameless Hyun-kyung is, biting into half a kimbap and immediately feeding Suk-jin the other half. Meanwhile, Kwang-soo and Da-eun get scared by a pigeon, then sit down for some bbopki (a traditional candy of caramelized sugar and baking soda).

Whereas Kwang-soo tries to set the semi-romantic mood of cutting out the shape without breaking it, Da-eun is busy at work. He says there should be a hint of nervousness and butterflies in stomach feeling in this activity, to which Da-eun basically says she feels pretty comfortable with him. LOL.

Ji-hyo and Ji-soo are surprised to receive sodas instead of the juices they ordered. Ji-hyo has to remind her unni friend not to show her back to the cameras, and tries to decipher the name of the game for clues. The Year of the Dragon ’76 friends Jong-kook and Kyung-min arrive just then, but their cups aren’t as filled as the ladies’.

They’re told to drink first, and I have a feeling that this game involves not burping for a full minute afterwards or something. But no, they’re told to order again.

The guys do a love shot upstairs, and then the ladies’ hear cackling from the first floor. Could they have gotten it right on the first try? They did, and Kyung-min can’t help but laugh at his own genius whereas Jong-kook thinks it’s because his friend drinks too much.

Elsewhere, Haha and Ji-yoon look at old photos of veteran actors, including Lee Kye-in, Shin Gu halbae, and Lee Deok-hwa. The two take a series of adorable photos together, but none are the pose they need to succeed. When their human pyramid pose doesn’t work, Haha jokes that she should be on the bottom this time.

He guesses it might be a piggyback ride, and immediately Ji-yoon offers to carry him. It turns out to be right, and omg, they look so cute. The pair receive their one character hint too and head out.

Gary and Mi-ryo stop at a stationery store and take a stab at the coin-operated toy vending machines inside. Miryo worries about using up all their cash here, but Gary says it’s too early to get truly annoyed on this show yet. But a series of capsule duds later, Miryo jokes to Gary: “Is your life a dud?”

They give up on the machines, then Gary realizes that the keyword is highlighted. Turns out finding a highlighter is the correct answer, and he and Miryo leave with a hint card.

Back at the restaurant, Jae-suk and Won-jun watch as Suk-jin and Hyun-kyung feed one another until Suk-jin concedes the last piece to his friend. That happens to be the right thing to do, and so Jae-suk and Won-jun follow suit. Then Jae-suk has to flag down Suk-jin to pay for the bill.

Meanwhile, Kyung-min guesses correctly again when he climbs onto Jong-kook’s back for a photo. Da-eun oh-so-casually completes the mission at the stationery store on her own, and by the river, Jae-suk and Won-jun along with Ji-hyo and Ji-so try their hands at bbopki.

Each pair keeps cracking their designs, and Ji-soo keeps cracking hers either with the first attempt or even before she starts. They all know that licking the sweet helps, though there is a slightly disgusting quality to it. When Ji-soo points out as much, Jae-suk says they’re freezing out here—one has to do what they must.

Won-jun is so close to cutting out his heart shape, and when Ji-soo says he won’t succeed, he asks that she set him up with someone if he does. That spurs a small exchange about whether Ji-soo doesn’t want to meet up with Won-jun sometime. She’s game and Won-jun shyly hides beneath his hood.

Won-jun succeeds anyway, and with some encouragement, he hands the candied heart to Ji-soo. And then Jae-suk breaks it in half, saying that they can put it together when they meet up next time. Aw, you just (literally) broke Won-jun’s heart!

Jae-suk and Won-jun stick around until Ji-soo completes her heart. She gives it to Won-jun in the same manner. In the car, Ji-hyo asks if Ji-soo isn’t interested in the ageless singer, and the latter does seem interested.

The other teams continue to complete their missions, and Haha and Ji-yoon realizes that the hints add up to Yeouido Park. The others pick up on the same, but Won-jun points out that the bag they’re looking for could be anywhere in the vast park.

Jong-kook and Kyung-min are the first ones to discover the bags that await them in the park, and as a reward for arriving first, are told that Bag Number 2 contains the golden key. They have the choice of either defending that bag or try and steal it away later.

Jong-kook feels that it’s better to keep the truth to themselves and chooses a different bag, so that another team can believe that they came across the real one by pure luck.

And that’s exactly how Gary and Miryo react to the bag containing the golden key. Gary says they have to keep cool—and this coming from the man whose face cannot hide the truth on his face?

On the bus, the group teases Won-jun and Ji-soo for their blossoming loveline. Haha adds fuel to the fire, saying that Hyun-kyung had mentioned that a woman needs a man. The conversation turns to Kyung-min’s blissful married life, though Jae-suk outs him by saying that the new husband asked if they don’t have a team dinner after filming wraps.

Haha turns to the camera and addresses to Kyung-min’s wife that there is no dinner, hence there will be no reason for him to stay out late. Suk-jin shushes Jong-kook for mentioning that his wife still doesn’t know what time he gets off work. Suk-jin: “I film Running Man for four days out of the week.”

Gary and Miryo have been trying to act cool during this entire exchange. But the others are quick to notice that they haven’t said a word. Whoops.

So everyone knows who’s in possession of the golden key by the time they reach their final mission location. Jae-suk says it definitely isn’t Ji-hyo, since she made him carry her bag. Hahaha.

Here, the bags will rotate in whichever direction the winners from each game chooses. Once the three-hour time limit is up, the teams will check their bags, and the team in possession of the golden key will become today’s victors.

First, the teams are sent out to retrieve two towels. Kwang-soo finds two right away, and then runs back with Da-eun to receive their first mission: one member will keep their head submerged underwater while the other runs up to tear off the tape from three balloons (carefully!) and run back.

Da-eun volunteers to hold her breath while Kwang-soo runs. The other teams’ remarks on how Kwang-soo is and the sound of balloons popping makes her give up.

When it’s Jae-suk and Won-jun’s turn, the others worry that Won-jun’s larger lung capacity as a singer gives him an advantage. Won-jun admits outright that there’s a heodang quality to him, then submerges his face into the water.

But then Won-jun pops right out even before Jae-suk gets to the balloons. Haha keeps popping all of the balloons he comes in contact with while Ji-yoon stays submerged. But she can hear the popping sound and then pops out herself, enraged.

Jae-suk attempts to be a source of distraction to Jong-kook, only to find him with his eyes firmly shut. Kyung-min slowly but surely gets all three balloons, then runs back down. Panicked, the others try to block him, but Kyung-min touches his teammate for the win.

Everyone else complains that the swift win denies them of the opportunity to see other actresses get a little wet. Hyun-kyung jokes that she was looking forward to showing the world her bare face, but the two winners denied her of that chance.

The staff takes their time to set up the exchange while the clock ticks away. Jong-kook and Kyung-min choose to move the bags just once over, which means Ji-hyo and Ji-soo now have the golden key.

There’s still a little less than two and a half hours remaining for their following game: Trampoline Karaoke. Jae-suk and Won-jun steal Suk-jin and Hyun-kyung’s song choice and start whooping as soon as the song starts.

Everyone gets into the song, singing and dancing together. It’s a quick win, too, as Jae-suk and Won-jun win with a 92 on their first try. Jae-suk climbs onto the railing in victory, and the Easy Brothers each pull down on his leg to bring him back to Earth. Owwww.

I certainly hope the staff has enough games lined up if the teams will succeed this easily, and Jae-suk chooses to move the bags five times so that he and Won-jun have the golden key. Now four teams know exactly who has the bag, and Won-jun has to bite down on his excitement.

We skip ahead to the two and a half hour mark, after Jae-suk and Won-jun win the third game (which honestly looks like it’d be fun). Another transfer would mean that Jong-kook would have possession of the key, which would have to be transferred again regardless of whether Jong-kook would win the next game or not. Or that’s Jae-suk’s strategy anyway.

Ji-yoon has to leave early for another schedule, and now there’s less than 25 minutes on the clock. Their next game involves jumping on that dreaded acupuncture mat to stick a hat onto the ceiling. Haha has to stick two on his own, and our guests get their first taste of the prickliness under their feet.

Won-jun thinks of jumping off the table to help him reach the ceiling. It almost works… and then he lands on the mat. Hard. Oww. The other guys follow suit, but then Gary slams his head onto the ceiling instead. Owwwwwww.

Suk-jin and Hyun-kyung end up winning the fourth game, and with fifteen minutes left, they all hurry to make another switcharoo. The bags get moved once, and they move on.

There’s just ten minutes remaining for their next game, which involves catching at least ten hula hoops by the neck from the second story within thirty seconds. Just like before, Kyung-min stays calm as he catches each hoop, but the others can’t afford to let this team win that easily, lest it gives the strongmen the opportunity to take the golden key for themselves.

Thankfully for them, the whistle blows and Kyung-min fails to catch the last hoop. At first, Hyun-kyung takes her time tossing the hula hoops, then throws them in quick succession. It’s hard to tell whether Suk-jin is trying to catch any or avoid them all, and needless to say they don’t succeed.

Suk-jin yells to his teammate that they only need to bear through three more minutes in order to win (since they have the golden key). Not if the others can help it, as they hurry to complete the game.

With one minute remaining, victory is within arm’s reach for Suk-jin. Kwang-soo and Da-eun fail, and Kyung-min and Jong-kook are ready to use those final thirty seconds to their advantage.

One by one, Kyung-min catches all ten hula hoops. But as it turns out, Jong-kook celebrated just a few seconds too early. Which means Suk-jin and Hyun-kyung snag the win and come out on top with a golden friendship.

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