Oh My Ghostess: Episode 6

by girlfriday

Snap, crackle, and pop. Well our ghostess sure doesn’t waste any time. At this point, we’d be disappointed if she did, right? She’s always been about making the most of her precious remaining time, which makes sense given that she has the benefit of hindsight and is full of regrets about dying young. But today she actually starts to use that philosophy to influence the living, and a certain hoity-toity chef begins to soften around the edges.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Lovelybut – “외롭다고 아무나 안을 수 없잖아” (Can’t Hold Anyone Just Because I’m Lonely) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 6 RECAP

In the split-second that Bong-sun is distracted by a producer calling out her name, Soon-ae sees her chance and repossesses her. She immediately takes out her phone and calls emergency to rescue her father, and then gets dragged back to the cooking show set.

Sun-woo tells her not to look at anyone else and just focus on the batter, and says that he’ll figure something out to make up for the lack of flour (which Bong-sun spilled on her last turn).

Soon-ae wills her father to hold on a little longer and hurriedly takes her turn in their cooking challenge. Thinking on her feet, she grabs the bean powder to substitute for the missing flour, completing their mission. She doesn’t even stay for final pleasantries, and dashes off to the emergency room.

She runs around terrified that the next ghost she sees will be Dad’s, but thankfully he’s awake and reaches out for her hand. Soon-ae is so overcome with relief that she hugs him and cries, “Father!” She learns from the doctor that it’s cirrhosis of the liver due to excessive drinking, but they’ve caught it early enough that it can be treated, just as long as he stops drinking.

Soon-ae nags her father that he should’ve quit drinking like she said, and he chuckles fondly, saying that she really sounds like his daughter when she nags like that. He figures that she called him father by accident when she first arrived, but says it was nice—for a moment in his haze, he thought his daughter had returned.

Soon-ae forces back her tears and says that he can just think of her as a daughter then, and he agrees that he already thinks of his daughter whenever she’s around. Little Bro Kyung-mo runs in wailing that he thought Dad had orphaned him, and Soon-ae yells that he shouldn’t have let Dad get to this state if he was so worried.

She drags him out by the ear to yell at him some more about getting his head out of his ass and taking care of Dad properly, and Kyung-mo scoffs that he’s Dad’s son, and she shouldn’t be acting like a daughter-in-law so early, no matter how much she likes him. Pfft.

Soon-ae whacks him upside the head and tells him to get it together, and Kyung-mo actually swoons a little, noting that it’s the first time a girl’s hit him on the head save for his noona. You are such a weird kid.

PD So-hyung comes by to congratulate Sun-woo on the inventive dish, and then passes down the order from her boss to swap Bong-sun out for a different assistant chef. They’re worried about another broadcast accident, but Sun-woo reminds her that they were the ones who insisted that she stay for continuity’s sake.

He defends Bong-sun and says it was her idea to add the bean powder today, and tells So-hyung that they come as a pair, so they can fire him if they really want. Aw. So-hyung tells him not to be overly sensitive about this, but he argues that he hires people for a minimum of six months before making any decisions, and finds them a place to go if he ever fires them. He calls it basic human etiquette, and walks out.

That night, Sun-woo listens at his window next to the storeroom to check if Bong-sun has come home, and sits up in bed wondering where she ran off to and if she’s okay. He finally caves and calls her, and she acts like she’s far away and drops the call, only to walk into his room a moment later. He grouses that she said she was far, and she croons that she’ll always show up right away, “Because I live inside your heart!”

Soon-ae’s sunny disposition is immediately evident, and he asks if she’s on an upswing, ironically referring to her manic state as a visiting ghost. She plops down on his bed and coaxes him to lie down for five minutes, and he wrangles free and insists that they go outside so they can talk.

Soon-ae whines, but quickly decides that doing it outside wouldn’t be bad either, and giggles before joining him out on the roof. Sun-woo wants to talk about her future and asks, “What is it that you want to do?” She sing-songs coyly, “You know what.”

He tells to be serious for a moment and asks if her dream is to be a chef, and says that she’s good on her feet and not without skill, but lacks basic training. He offers to formally take her under his wing to train (awwww), and Soon-ae agrees happily.

He warns her that he’s not kidding and will be hard on her, and she agrees that a tough guy is way more appealing. She aegyo-pokes him until he can’t help but break into a smile. So cute.

He wants to start right away and goes back to basic knife work, instructing her on how to cut different vegetables and why. He’s impressed that she’s quick to understand, but as the night wears on, Soon-ae grows tired of the endless chopping.

She lets the knife slip and cries out that she cut her finger, and Sun-woo rushes over in worry and sticks her finger in his mouth to suck out the blood. I dunno why, since it’s not a snake bite, but who cares.

He quickly discovers that she was joking and tells her to hurry up and finish the last few vegetables, so then she just attacks him with hugs and refuses to let go until he agrees to call it a night. I love that he starts laughing while arguing with her, and when he finally relents, she decides she doesn’t want to let go yet, and he starts wrestling her in turn.

Soon-ae looks around her converted storeroom and says that compared to sleeping downstairs, this is a hotel. She’s exhausted from the chef training session but decides it’ll be worth it because spending all that time with Sun-woo means that one thing will lead to another…

She fantasizes about him stirring a pot of sauce with his hand over hers. He turns her around to face him and backs her up, stopping to lift her up onto the counter and dropping pans in the process. Whoa, that was hot.

They kiss in slow motion and wrap their arms around each other, and Soon-ae snaps out of the fantasy squealing in delight.

That makes her wonder what Sun-woo is doing right now, and she gets excited thinking that he might be coming out of the shower with nothing on. She’s pretty damn close, since he’s walking out of the shower in nothing but shorts. When he hears her knocking on the door, he runs over to lock it just in time.

Soon-ae pouts at his door, then notes that the dog is now ignoring her because he’s mad that she yelled at him last time. Is it that, or something else?

In the morning, the staff is confused to find giant mounds of chopped vegetables in the kitchen, and Sun-woo steps in to take credit for it before Soon-ae can speak up. Sous chef Min-soo is disappointed to hear that his dish won’t be the special today because they have to use up these veggies first, and Soon-ae slinks away guiltily.

She asks Sun-woo why he took credit for the vegetables, and he tells her to keep their training a secret so that the others don’t misunderstand. She clings to his arm and asks coyly what kind of misunderstanding, and he bites down on her finger this time to wriggle free.

She calls out after him that that just makes her want to do it more, and Eun-hee comes by to ask, “Do what?” and Soon-ae pretends she was talking about exercise. When Eun-hee says she was worried about her the last few days, Soon-ae calls her concern burdensome, making Eun-hee feel awkward.

She calls her brother to check on Dad’s release from the hospital, and Kyung-mo is amazed that she got his number somehow. Dad likes her more and more, and Kyung-mo warns him not to be won over so easily, since he has yet to decide his heart.

Officer Sung-jae lurks around outside Dad’s restaurant, and is surprised when Dad and Kyung-mo walk up behind him. He acts like he was concerned when he heard about Dad’s collapse, though he looks almost disappointed to hear that he’ll be fine.

He asks who discovered him, and Kyung-mo says that’s the mystery, since the paramedics say that his daughter called them: “But it’s not like my noona came back from the dead or something.” That seems to pique Sung-jae’s curiosity.

Dad gives Sung-jae a drink and thanks him for always coming by like this, and Sung-jae tells him to take care of his health. But when he walks out, he throws the drink in a rage, smashing it against a car windshield.

Sun-woo takes Soon-ae with him to the fish market today, and the others start to notice that he keeps taking her with him wherever he goes. Joon in particular seems to linger on the thought. They run into Sung-jae on their way out, and at his mention of being worried about her at the police station the other day, Soon-ae belatedly acts like she remembers what he’s talking about.

Sun-woo uses the visit to the fish market as another lesson about touching and feeling things for herself to test quality, and Soon-ae immediately starts feeling him up: “What, you said touch and feel for myself.”

She’s impressed when she sees him in action though, all friendly with the shopkeepers and throwing around a country accent as he flirts and makes deals. He’s adorably attentive to her too, bringing her borrowed boots to wear when a deliveryman spills water on her sneakers, even stooping down to put them on her feet.

Her stomach is so growly that they stop to eat, and Soon-ae sneaks a half-finished plate of dumplings from the next table over, thinking they’ve been abandoned. The man at the next table comes back in wondering where his food went, and happens to recognize Sun-woo.

Sun-woo offers an autograph, but the guy is actually a high school classmate, and Sun-woo’s face hardens when he recognizes the guy. He tries his best to play it cool and even invites a group of their classmates over to his restaurant tonight, though Soon-ae can tell something’s not right.

Soon-ae asks about it on the car ride home, but Sun-woo doesn’t want to talk. A flashback confirms what we expect: The group of guys he just invited to his restaurant were the bullies who ragged on him in high school.

Kyung-mo runs over to Dad in excitement and shows him the wad of cash he just found on noona’s desk, but Dad tells him to put it back where he found it. Kyung-mo complains that Dad won’t touch anything of noona’s, as if she isn’t really dead—he hasn’t even stopped paying her cell phone bill. Kyung-mo storms out crying that Dad loves his dead daughter more than his living son, and Dad deflates. He calls Soon-ae’s number just to try it again, but there’s no answer.

After taking Eun-hee to the hospital, Sung-jae takes her home and tells her not to be too disappointed and that they’ll just keep trying to have kids. He asks about Bong-sun being forgetful (Eun-hee says that’s not like her) and whether she’s friendly with Sun-woo, which she says wasn’t really the case before, but she seems to have changed lately.

Once he’s gone, Eun-hee finds something wedged in between two drawers in Sung-jae’s desk, and pulls out an old cell phone with a cracked screen. Aack, that’s Soon-ae’s phone, isn’t it? She doesn’t think much of it and puts it back in the drawer.

Sun-woo tells his staff that his friends are coming tonight, and changes up the special yet again, much to Min-soo’s ire. He goes totally overboard and plans dishes with the most expensive ingredients, and calls for the special tablecloths he got from Italy and the awards he’s won to be out on display.

He looks over every last detail with a fine-toothed comb and waits nervously for his friends to arrive, though he’s disappointed when the lead bully Chul-min isn’t with them because he’s coming straight from work.

The guys are super impressed when Sun-woo’s staff hangs on his every word and reacts with military precision at his orders, and Sun-woo enjoys acting like a hotshot (well, more than usual). The staff gapes at the expensive wine and food being trotted out and wonders what’s gotten into their chef.

Bully Chul-min finally arrives, and Sun-woo takes on a mean passive-aggressive streak to his words, noting that Chul-min has let himself go. He offers to serve up anything he wants to eat, and adds that he used to do the same in high school: “I probably got my money stolen too.” Chul-min looks chastised at his words, while the others hurry to fill the awkward silence.

It’s not long before Chul-min gets up to leave, and Sun-woo follows him outside. Soon-ae comes out with more dishes and overhears the others talking about how different things are now that Sun-woo is successful, when he used to be the nobody under Chul-min’s thumb.

Sun-woo acts all sad that Chul-min has to leave early, and insists on giving him cab fare too. Chul-min swallows his pride and takes the money, and admits that he’s a vacuum salesman and times are tough, and asks if he knows anyone who might need vacuums.

It takes all the air right out of Sun-woo’s sails, making him suddenly feel so small and petty. The feeling lingers with him long after the night is over, and he sits in the dark by himself, lost in thought. Soon-ae notices all of this and tries to perk him up, but he tells her to train on her own tonight.

She whips up a pancake to bring to the rooftop where he’s drinking alone, and shoves a piece in his mouth against his protests. He offers faint praise and she runs with it, declaring him an amazing chef because one lesson with him and she’s so much better. He smiles at that and tells her to just put him back where she found him if she’s going to turn him all topsy-turvy like that.

She says he looks so handsome when he smiles and rests her head on his shoulder as she says in her cutesy voice: “It makes me want to pluck you.” HA. He snaps at her to stop with that doing-it talk, because it makes him dart awake in the middle of the night.

She doesn’t see why unless… he’s a virgin. She gasps, “Really? WHY?” He insists that he’s not, which she doesn’t believe. He shouts back, “You’d be in big trouble!” and she hilariously crows, “I want to be in trouble with you. I really want to be in trouble.” LOL.

She takes on a world-wearied bent to her words and reasons that life is shorter than you think, and it’s better to just forgive and lose sometimes, as long as you can spend your days being happy. She points out that the one who forgives is the one who can sleep easy, and that seems to speak to Sun-woo’s angst.

Soon-ae says that there isn’t much to being happy and demonstrates with a bite of food and a swig of beer to wash your troubles away, and Sun-woo agrees that she’s right. He complains whens he wants to take a selca but poses on cue, of course.

She swoons at the moonlight and lies down on his leg as a pillow, and behaves herself for about two seconds before reaching up his leg with her wandering hands. Naughty girl. He pulls her hand away but lets her stay there, and says gently that her pancake is seasoned well but not quite up to snuff. He offers to take her to a place that has the best pancakes in town “for training,” and she excitedly makes him pinky-swear.

He starts to get up to go to bed so she latches onto him, and by now I swear I can’t tell if he’s fighting her or hugging her back. I love that when he cries out that she’s hurting his back, she quickly retreats. Can’t have him putting his back out!

Soon-ae goes to visit Dad in the morning, and when she hears that the doctor ordered light exercise, she suggests a hike. Dad says that his daughter used to come up here every morning, and regrets never joining like she had always wanted.

He sighs that he’s just full of regrets and tells Bong-sun not to live that way, and they make plans to take morning hikes together from now on.

Sun-woo surprises Min-soo by finally putting his spinach pasta special on today’s lunch menu, and Min-soo clutches the menu board like he might take it back any second. Sun-woo and Soon-ae exchange a little glance and a tiny smile like he’s taking her words to heart, and Joon picks up on it.

Joon takes Soon-ae to the locker room for a chat and asks if she’s got something going on with Sun-woo, and starts to ask what’s up with her, but stops midway. He starts to walk off but turns back to tell her not to be stupid and get herself hurt. Ugh, stop making me swoon! Soon-ae has no idea what he’s saying, but finds it dreamy anyway.

Sun-woo’s mom has really taken a shine to Shaman Unni, and calls her to meet for coffee for no real reason other than to hang. The shaman grumbles that this is all Soon-ae’s fault, and is convinced that she’s hiding somewhere close by. Just then, a woman walks into the coffee shop, ringing the chime on the door, and Shaman Unni has an epiphany.

At the restaurant, Sun-woo bites the bullet and calls Bully Chul-min to offer up some contacts who might need vacuums, but Chul-min speaks up first and says that he shouldn’t have asked Sun-woo for help like that, feeling ashamed about it now.

Sun-woo says to ask if he changes his mind, and at the last second Chul-min says, “Sun-woo-ya, I’m sorry for the past.” It surprises him, but Sun-woo accepts it and tells him it’s all in the past, and ends the call with a smile on his face.

Soon-ae comes out to make sure he hasn’t forgotten about their pancake date, and he assures her that he’ll come by to pick her up later. She decides that today is D-Day and rifles through Bong-sun’s clothes, finally resorting to cutting them up to make something suitable.

She duct-tape-waxes her legs (oowww) and uses air freshener as perfume, and skips out in anticipation of the night ahead.

Sun-woo waits on the corner where they promised to meet, wondering why he’s being made to wait when it’s not even a real date (you sure look like you’re dressed for a date though), and Soon-ae hurries when she realizes how much time has passed.

But she’s stopped in her tracks by Shaman Unni, who says that she’s been hiding right under her nose all this time. Soon-ae tries her best to play dumb, but Shaman Unni is on to her and rings her bell collar to prove her point.

With no other choice, Soon-ae takes off at a run, and Shaman Unni gives chase. She finally gets close enough to reach out with her magical stick, and Bong-sun and Soon-ae split on contact. Soon-ae hops a ride on a bus and Shaman Unni follows, leaving Bong-sun standing in the street utterly spun around.

She walks along in a daze until she comes upon Sun-woo, waiting on her for their date.

 
COMMENTS

Yay, I’m so glad that Bong-sun is the one who gets to go on their not-a-date. She deserves a night of Sun-woo being sweet to her after missing out on all their other cute moments. This time around, I thought Soon-ae had a good reason for possessing her, though obviously she’ll always be in the wrong morally when it comes to taking over Bong-sun’s body without permission. She is a ghost, after all, so I don’t exactly expect her to be respectful or considerate, but I’m still holding out hope that she’ll learn to be more respectful of Bong-sun’s life, and that they’ll influence each other more directly from here on out. There’s so much good they could do for each other, if only they could get beyond the obvious reasons that they’re in opposition to one another. Bong-sun is the one with the future—in cooking, in Sun-woo’s life—and I want Soon-ae to start looking beyond her short-term goal of getting some and moving on (not that her fixation with Sun-woo’s nekkid body isn’t good for laughs).

Soon-ae is certainly capable of empathy and concern for others, as she’s shown repeatedly with her father and now even with Sun-woo. And now that she has a stronger motivation to keep Bong-sun tied to her father for his health, maybe they can reach some kind of agreement to help each other out. Maybe Bong-sun really could become Dad’s surrogate daughter. She certainly could use the family. Poor Dad really is hanging on by a thread, but I’m thankful for Soon-ae’s sake that he hasn’t touched a thing in her room or turned off her cell phone, because it’ll come in handy when we’re looking for her killer. Assuming she was killed, of course, but it’s looking more and more like she was, and quite possibly by Shady Officer Sung-jae (or the malevolent ghost riding his body, eep). I like that he’s gone from creepy mystery guy to a growing active threat already, as he starts to clue in on Bong-sun’s odd changes in behavior. There’s no telling what he’ll do to hide his crimes, and that gives the plot a nice jolt of tension.

I’m so glad that Sun-woo’s defenses are starting to crack where Bong-sun/Soon-ae are concerned, more for Jo Jung-seok’s sake than anything—it’s written all over his face that he finds her utterly adorable, and I love how realistic it makes his begrudging affection, saying one thing and doing the opposite. Her open adoration feeds his enormous ego too, but it’s even better when she’s able to make him feel better about himself in the ways that really matter, like when he’s feeling really small and petty for holding a high school grudge and needs the nudge to grow up and forgive. I found his arc today especially poignant for his character, because he seems to have built his tough, confident identity around his anger at having been bullied as a teen. It was why he was so hard on Bong-sun before, and why he continues to be so outwardly haughty now—to keep others from thinking he’s an easy target.

When he invites his friends to dinner, the expectation is that they’ll treat him the same way that they used to, but it was a nice twist to see that everything went the way he wanted… but he was left feeling dissatisfied. I cringed when he kept harping on the past and showing off, but thought more of him for being self-aware enough to realize in the moment how little it meant now. Making his bully feel weak and guilty actually did very little to make up for the torment he’d been holding onto all this time, and Soon-ae was smart enough to pick up on what he was feeling and give him advice without puncturing his ego about it. Of course it’d be a lie to say that it isn’t satisfying to know that the bullied kid grew up a strong, respected leader while the bully became a washed-up salesman, but the point is that Sun-woo didn’t really need that pain to define him anymore, and being the bigger person was actually better for his own happiness. It’s nice to see him growing up, and even better that Bong-sun/Soon-ae is the reason why. He’ll be falling head over heels in no time. And until then, I wouldn’t mind biding my time with more fantasies.

 
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