Answer Me 1988: Episode 12

by girlfriday

There are lots of secrets floating around in this episode, and to make things even more complicated, everyone with a secret gets found out by somebody else. It’s the price you pay for not locking your doors, right? The weight of keeping someone else’s secret is easy for some and heartbreakingly difficult for others, but as we discover in this episode, what you choose to do about it can define how you love someone.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Byun Jin-sub – “처음보다 더 어제보다 더” (More Than at First, More Than Yesterday) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 12: “Loving someone”

On a night in February 1989, Deok-sun’s dad clumsily makes his way home, clearly drunk and carrying what looks like a whole set of encyclopedias. Oy, Daaaaaaad. He at least thinks to hide the bundle before going inside, which I don’t know is better or worse. He’s especially affectionate to No-eul, who just wants to go back to sleep and hates being woken up by Dad’s freezing cold hands on his face.

The girls are still awake in their room, and Bora suddenly offers to let Deok-sun borrow the cassette she’s been asking for. The sudden bout of niceness is odd, but then as soon as Deok-sun puts her headphones in, Bora grabs the phone and waits by it anxiously. That’s cute.

It’s a while before Sun-woo is done putting Jin-ju to bed and sneaking the phone into his room, and Bora is nodding off but she still answers on the first ring. Sun-woo asks to go see a movie tomorrow, and she notices that he’s sneaking in some banmal here and there. He figures it’s okay since they’re dating, but she takes issue with it and he goes back to being formal with her.

They enjoy the fact that it’s late and no one else is probably awake on their street, which takes us around the neighborhood to check in with everyone. Jung-hwan’s parents cuddle, Dong-ryong sleeps in the library, Taek plays baduk, and Hyung comes into Jung-hwan’s room to point out that it’s snowing. And then he insists on cuddling up in Jung-hwan’s bed, which is just adorable.

Sun-woo tells Bora to come outside, and she accidentally wakes No-eul on her way out. Sun-woo grabs her in a hug as soon as she comes out to the street, insisting that no one will see them. Two seconds later, No-eul shout-whispers looking for Bora noona, and they quickly throw themselves against the wall right underneath him to avoid being seen.

Bora says she’ll take care of him and starts to head back inside, but Sun-woo assures her that no one else is awake and grabs her in another hug. This time he kisses her too, which is exactly when another gate opens and Taek comes outside with a pack of cigarettes in his hand. LOL, they all just stand there completely frozen, and Taek slooooowly hides the smokes and turns back around without saying a word.

Bora tells Sun-woo to take care of Taek, so he goes right over and spends the night there. It’s awkward for a while, and Taek smiles when Sun-woo finally starts by buttering him up with, “My precious friend Taek…” Sun-woo says it’s a secret, and Taek asks if he’s not afraid of Bora noona.

Sun-woo says no, he finds her cute. Taek: “Crazy bastard.” Hahaha. Sun-woo: “You know how to say things like that? Who taught you how to swear?” Taek just laughs and says it’s a secret.

Later, Taek practices that very phrase over and over, as Deok-sun coaches him on how to make it sound believable while adding to his swearing repertoire. The other guys complain that she’s teaching him bad things, but Deok-sun says he loaned a sunbae more money, and they immediately join in with curses of their own.

Deok-sun makes him practice saying no, and when Taek and Deok-sun start laughing together just the two of them, Jung-hwan gets up to go. Dong-ryong pulls him back down and says he got a coupon for a free meal from one of his brothers, and they make plans to go together.

Taek says he’ll try to make it if his match ends early that day, and Deok-sun looks over at Jung-hwan expectantly: “And you?” Jung-hwan hesitates, but Dong-ryong nudges him and says that an employee there looks like Lee Mi-yeon. He says he’ll have to go then, which makes Deok-sun scowl.

Sun-woo insists on going to the market with Mom and Jin-ju so that she doesn’t have to carry heavy things, but she doesn’t seem too happy about him coming along. We see that it’s because she’s not comfortable bargaining as much as she usually does with Sun-woo there, and in the end she makes him go home so that she bargain another 50 won out of the bean sprout vendor.

Deok-sun’s mom sends her upstairs with a plate of acorn jelly and tells her to come right back so that she can make a second delivery to Sun-woo’s house, but Bora shocks them both by offering to go to Sun-woo’s. She takes the tray and scurries out of there, and they gape at her the whole time. Deok-sun wonders if Unni needs to get her head checked at the hospital.

Bora mutters that she’s gone crazy all the way down the street, but still stops to check her hair before getting to Sun-woo’s. Deok-sun stops to primp too, and joins Jung-hwan’s family at the dinner table. She’s adorable with Jung-hwan’s dad as usual, and as they toss jokes back and forth, Jung-hwan nearly pulls something trying not to laugh.

It’s like he’s trying to force himself not to think she’s cute, but it’s a losing battle and in the end he just turns his head so that they don’t see him laughing.

Sun-woo’s family looks like they’ve seen a ghost, but it’s just Bora standing there with food from her mom. Sun-woo grabs the chance to get her in his room to “ask her something,” and they set a new schedule for meeting up now that he’s heading back to school tomorrow. Bora says that No-eul is onto them, so they have to meet further away from home now.

He’s happy just as long as he gets to see her, and grabs her in a hug. Of course Mom chooses that moment to open the door, but they disengage fast enough for her to have missed the hug. Bora pushes Sun-woo so hard that he falls to the floor, and she tells him to get checked for anemia before fleeing.

Deok-sun heads out too, and I love the way Jung-hwan stands near the door flipping a light switch just to be around when she goes. She asks when he’s leaving for school tomorrow, and says she’ll see him then.

She asks Jung-bong about the letter from her friend Mi-ok, and Jung-bong blushes adorably and says he sent a reply in the mail.

Deok-sun is uncharacteristically early for school, and gets dressed in a skirt and tights despite the freezing cold. She waits outside the gate for a while, until Jung-hwan’s mom comes out and says that Jung-hwan left ages ago at the crack of dawn. We see that he didn’t go early to study though, because he’s just sleeping in an empty classroom.

Deok-sun’s friend Ja-hyun warns her about seeing a trench coat flasher outside the new restaurant where she’s planning to eat with the guys this week. Deok-sun says she’s the only one in their class who’s never seen the flasher, and Ja-hyun notes that she sounds a little disappointed, admitting that she broke down in tears after her encounter.

Deok-sun vows to study this year and get into college, and Ja-hyun wonders if it isn’t a little late for that.

The moms enjoy a quiet moment now that all the kids are back in school, though Jung-bong is still at home with nothing much to do, which makes his mother sigh. The other moms remind her that there was a time when she swore she’d be happy if he were just healthy, and that she needn’t be greedy about college too.

Sun-woo’s mom coughs (she did once the night before too), and they urge her to buy some medicine if she has a cold, though she brushes it off as nothing. They worry about her getting caught by Sun-woo while working her part-time job, but she’s confident she can keep it a secret. There sure are a lot of secrets today.

The others ask who’s watching Jin-ju, and Mom says she’s found Jin-ju a new friend to play with. Hee, it’s Taek’s dad, who’s sporting a new hairstyle and busy cutting out new paper dolls at Princess Jin-ju’s command.

Jung-bong stands outside waiting for the mailman, and his face falls when there’s no letter for him today. The rest of the kids are busy studying, with the exception of Dong-ryong who gets caught sleeping in class by Dad. Deok-sun looks bored out of her mind but powers through the long day, and Sun-woo rushes off to meet Bora, while Jung-hwan heads home to hang out with Hyung.

With no one left to watch his video with, Dong-ryong heads over to Taek’s alone and peers into the room over the wall like a creeper. Taek sees him and they smile at each other like a couple of fools.

Sun-woo runs to the pojangmacha to meet Bora and asks why she’s studying all day when she’s still on break. She tells him that she’s studying accounting so that she can take a job, because there aren’t a lot of options for her with her police record.

She tells him he’s lucky she’s not studying to get an accounting license, because then she really wouldn’t have time to date. She says they can only see each other on weekends because he has to study for college too, and Sun-woo pouts.

Dong-ryong brings over his latest X-rated rental to watch with Taek, and they pop it into the VCR just as Deok-sun busts into the room. They try to keep her at bay, but she just wrestles them both to the ground and presses play to see what naughty video they’re watching… only to discover that Dong-ryong got the wrong tape.

Bora asks if Sun-woo is mad, which he clearly is. She takes issue with him using banmal again, and he asks if they’re really dating, because it still feels like a one-sided love to him. He thinks she still treats him like a little brother, but when they get up to go home, he smiles when he notices that she wore a skirt just to impress him.

When Deok-sun mentions the trench coat flasher, Taek suggests going to a different restaurant with the gang, but Dong-ryong says they have to go there for the coupon. Deok-sun isn’t afraid anyway and wants to see the flasher, and Dong-ryong figures that there’s nothing Deok-sun is afraid of in this world, save for Bora.

Dong-ryong clams up when he hears mice, and Taek says that he and Dad set out mousetraps recently but are both too afraid to see what they caught. Deok-sun just puts her coat on and says she’ll go out and catch the mice, and then proceeds to chase the boys around the yard with the mousetrap. Ack.

Taek and Dong-ryong flee into the house, and Dong-ryong asks if he doesn’t want to rethink it: “You really like her?” Taek grins from ear to ear: “She’s cute.” Dong-ryong gives him a good shake: “Get it together, Dummy!”

Deok-sun’s dad stumbles home with mousetraps this time, and when he wakes No-eul up like usual, No-eul blows up at being woken up for the millionth time by Dad’s freezing hands.

At the crack of dawn, Bora heads to the library to study, and Dong-ryong’s dad is shocked when Deok-sun comes out just behind her. He thinks she’s finally got her head on straight now that she’s a senior in high school, but we know it’s because she wants to catch Jung-hwan before he sneaks off to school without her.

She gets to the bus stop and hides around the corner when she sees Jung-hwan arrive, and she waits till he’s on the bus to board. He’s shocked to see her, and neither of them has an answer for the other about why they’re going to school so early. Deok-sun just says she’s going to sleep, and Jung-hwan braces himself when she falls asleep on his shoulder.

Sun-woo worries that Mom is sniffling now, but she still denies that she has a cold. She brings Jin-ju over to Taek’s dad, who worries about her too.

The boys eat dinner in class, and Dong-ryong reports that Taek’s match is still going on for ten hours now. They worry about his condition, knowing that he stayed up the night before, and we see Taek look more worn than usual as his game wears on. In the end he loses, and it seems like he throws the game just to be done.

Jung-hwan notices that Sun-woo still has a stomachache since lunch, and tells him to go to the bathroom if it’s indigestion. Sun-woo eventually throws up and gets permission to go home early, and when they see that, Dong-ryong attempts to lie to his father about eating the same thing as Sun-woo. Dad just grabs a pin to prick his finger instead.

Sun-woo stops by the pharmacy to get medicine and some cold medicine for Mom. Meanwhile Mom takes Jin-ju over to see Taek’s dad, who gives her cold medicine that he bought earlier. He opens the bottle for her and they’re just really sweet together, but then we see Sun-woo standing outside the shop holding Mom’s medicine in his hand. He looks shocked and hurt, but just goes quietly to the steps and takes his medicine on his own.

Taek looks completely and utterly exhausted the whole way home, and gets reminded that he has another match at nine in the morning. Geez. That’s brutal.

Sun-woo waits outside until he sees Mom return home with Jin-ju, and then arrives acting like nothing is out of the ordinary.

Deok-sun runs up behind Taek when she sees him ahead of her on their street, and tells him that he must’ve had a hard day, and that he did a good job. It seems like exactly the thing he needed to hear (or maybe it’s just the person he needed to see), and he smiles and takes a decisive step forward.

She’s surprised when he holds onto her arm, and then he starts to lean in like he’s going to kiss her…. Omo. Omo.

But then he just rests his head on her shoulder and stays like that for a little while, and she stammers that he worked hard, and he smiles.

The next morning, Deok-sun waits outside the gate for Jung-hwan, and this time he comes out at a normal hour. So do Sun-woo and Dong-ryong, who note that it’s really rare for all of them to come out at the same time like this, and all they need is Taek to make a complete set.

On cue, Taek comes out to get his morning milk. He makes sure to give Deok-sun a separate greeting, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the boys. Dong-ryong reminds them all about their group dinner tonight, and they race off to school.

Sun-woo can’t concentrate on his studies because his thoughts keep drifting back to his mom and Taek’s dad looking so cozy together. Jung-hwan seems preoccupied with thoughts of his own, and they both try to force the thoughts out by washing their faces.

Jung-bong prays to the God of Mail before checking the mailbox today, and he’s disappointed when there’s still no reply. Jung-hwan’s mom asks Sun-woo’s mom if work is still manageable for her and she still hasn’t been caught, and she says it’d be over if Sun-woo found out. Mom says he’s rather scary when he gets mad, and Jung-hwan’s mom says it’s just because he cares.

Sun-woo is so preoccupied that he bails on his friends and skips night classes altogether, and they wonder what’s gotten into him. Deok-sun is already waiting at the restaurant, and Taek arrives soon after. Taek’s just as shocked to hear that Sun-woo skipped class out of the blue.

The food arrives and Deok-sun can’t handle watching Taek struggle to cut his meat, so she just ends up doing it for him, which Jung-hwan notes quietly. She gets up to go to the bathroom to empty her stomach, and Taek gets up too.

She’s almost to the bathroom when suddenly the trench coat flasher shows up and eagerly drops his pants right in front of her. Taek is a few feet behind her and they’re both frozen in shock, but Deok-sun gathers her wits and says, “It’s so small! There’s nothing to see! Go home, ajusshi!”

She succeeds in shaming him enough that he scampers off, and Taek is totally impressed. But the second he’s gone, her knees buckle and the shock wears off, and Deok-sun bursts into tears. Aw.

Sun-woo skipped class to stalk his mom, which sounds weirder than what he’s doing, which is standing outside Taek’s house looking like a sad puppy. He listens to his mom and Taek’s dad talk and laugh and play with Jin-ju, sounding very much like a little family.

Jung-hwan and Dong-ryong wonder what’s taking the others so long, and Dong-ryong giggles as he suggests that maybe Taek is making his big move. Not what Jung-hwan wants to hear right now.

Taek sits by Deok-sun’s side in the stairwell while she cries, and he scoots closer to ask if she’s all done crying. She tells him not to tell the others because she’s embarrassed, though he doesn’t think there’s anything embarrassing about crying.

Sun-woo is still outside the gate when Mom heads out for work, which is another shocker to add to his plate. Taek’s dad reminds her to wear gloves, and he worries about Sun-woo finding out, but Mom says he’s busy studying and she has to work if she wants to buy him new shoes and clothes when he goes to college.

Sun-woo has to bite his lip to keep from bursting into tears, and hides out of sight as Mom heads off to work. He follows her to the bathhouse and lingers outside.

Deok-sun and Taek return to the table, and she stuffs her face happily. Dong-ryong tells her to slow down because no one’s going to steal her food, but she says it’s just habit. Her eyes get even bigger when dessert arrives, and she sticks the little umbrella in her hair.

Taek just finds everything she does cute, and Jung-hwan looks downcast when Taek reaches over and takes the umbrella out of her hair. Jung-hwan leaves the table, saying that he has to call Hyung about recording something on TV.

Deok-sun needs to go to the bathroom but is clearly holding it because she’s scared. She ends up going, though she’s frightened the whole way there, and eventually she senses someone following behind her.

She reaches the end of the hallway and braces herself, but it’s just Taek. He says he came out for a smoke, but tells her to go because he’ll wait right here until she’s done. Aw.

Sun-woo finally decides to go inside the bathhouse to confront Mom, but when he goes in, he breaks down at the sight of her hunched over and scrubbing tiles. He’s overcome with emotion and tamps down his anger and his tears, and in the end he turns around goes back out, asking the owner not to say anything about him stopping by.

Taek’s dad discovers Sun-woo out in the street, and starts to tell him that his mom just stepped out for a moment. But Sun-woo balls up his hand in a fist and says he knows about Mom’s part-time job, and will act like he doesn’t know.

He meets Bora and asks her why Mom insists on working when he doesn’t want her to suffer, when he doesn’t need or want nice clothes or shoes. He wonders why things can’t stay the same, and why on earth Taek’s dad knows things about his mom that even he doesn’t know.

Bora just listens and lets him blow off all his steam, and then just says one thing: “That’s enough. Go massage your mom’s shoulders. Go home and massage your mom’s shoulders.” She pats him on the back as he tries not to cry.

It’s not until Sun-woo walks home by himself that the tears really spill out, as he thinks back to what Bora said. She knows that he hates it that Mom is working, but she says that his mother hates not being able to buy him new shoes. She tells him to think of it from Mom’s perspective too, because it’s not always about him getting to be guilt-free because that makes him feel good.

Bora: “Loving someone isn’t just the room to give. It’s a desperate need to give because you have to.”

Sun-woo wipes his tears and heads inside with a bright voice and tells Mom he’s hungry. She runs out to greet him and they happily eat pastries as they talk about their day. As Sun-woo looks over at Mom, Bora’s words continue: “You love your mom, right? Loving someone is a really difficult thing.”

Deok-sun’s dad comes home tipsy like always, but this time he stops and warms his hands under the blanket and checks that they’re warm enough before touching No-eul’s face.

Deok-sun and Dong-ryong return to their neighborhood after their dinner, and Deok-sun asks why Jung-hwan just left early without a word. Dong-ryong figures he had to run home to watch the fight on TV with Hyung. But we see that Jung-hwan is asleep on the couch while Hyung is watching the fight. Aw, did you just not want to be around Taek and Deok-sun?

Bora’s voiceover continues: “Loving someone is also never being able to hate a person, even if they endlessly cause you pain, making you endlessly want to hate them, but you can’t.”

Jung-hwan’s mom sends him over to Taek’s house to bring him soup, and Jung-hwan finds him passed out in front of his baduk board. He sighs and sets out the blankets and tucks Taek into bed all warm and snug, and Bora’s voiceover says, “Loving someone isn’t not hating them. It’s not being able to hate them.”

Jung-bong checks the mail and finally receives the letter he’s been waiting for, and kisses it happily. He shows it off to Deok-sun, who’s surprised to hear that it’s from her friend Mi-ok, who’s currently laid up in the hospital after a car accident. She says Mi-ok can’t even lift a finger right now, and Jung-bong tears open the letter to find that it’s anonymous chain mail. Wah waaaaah.

 
COMMENTS

This episode is another example of what I love about this season, because you start out thinking that the focus will be entirely on romantic love, only to find out that it’s really about a son’s love for his mother, and a friend’s love for his friend. Sometimes Sun-woo seems too nice to be real, but there was a nice balance today between his childish idea of protecting Mom and Bora’s more mature consideration of Mom’s feelings. I like Bora more and more with each passing episode, especially as she shows a softer side that actually cares about impressing Sun-woo with all the little things. But she’s especially great at cutting through the crap and getting the younger kids to see beyond their selfish scope, like she did with Dong-ryong, and again this time with Sun-woo.

It’s inevitable that at eighteen, the younger kids will only think about how their parents’ behavior affects them, or makes them feel. Sun-woo’s concern for Mom comes from SUCH a good place, but Bora is right about him just wanting her to stay at home so that he feels better about it, when really he’s not old enough to support his mother or change their situation in a practical way. It’s undue pressure for a kid to even have to worry about this stuff, but we’ve seen how much Mom tries to hide her financial troubles from him for that very reason. If doing manual labor affords her the peace of mind to buy a few extra things for her children, it’s right that he should keep her secret and not let on that he knows about the job. It’s so sweet that it breaks his heart that much to see his mother scrubbing the floor, but I was far more impressed with his maturity in accepting her decision and just doing his best to be loving and supportive. I don’t think it’ll be quite so easy when it comes to Mom possibly remarrying, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I’m really worried about the pressure that Taek is under (and whatever that goddamned medicine is that Dad mentioned picking up at the pharmacy for him). He looked especially worn out during his match, and if he’s constantly staying up nights in order to keep up with expectations, that’s gotta catch up to you at a certain point. It’s not that I think he’s fragile; he’s overworked and under public scrutiny, and people in the show keep talking about how baduk is as much a physical game of stamina as it is a mind game. I do like that he’s expressing his feelings more—he’s seeking comfort from Deok-sun and leaning on her when he needs it, or calling Sun-woo a crazy bastard for liking Bora noona, or just taking the time to hang out with his friends. I especially enjoyed seeing him take care of Deok-sun for a change when he stepped up to be her bathroom watchdog, because it’s so often the other way around with them.

In many ways, Jung-hwan’s approach is frustrating when it comes to Deok-sun, because she’s starting to show signs that she wants to be around him and now he’s trying to maintain a certain distance. But then he goes and takes care of Taek no matter how much he’s jealous or even resentful, and then I get all sympathetic towards him trying to keep everything the way it was. Maybe he thinks that no one else will get hurt if he ends his crush quietly, or maybe he thinks that Deok-sun would never choose him. It’s hard to say because they’re all one-sided crushes, even though I think he might be blind if he doesn’t see that Deok-sun likes him back. But the point is that he doesn’t think of Taek as a rival; he loves Taek as much as he loves Deok-sun, which is the problem. It’s not at all surprising that Jung-hwan is hanging back, when he did the same with Sun-woo (pre-Bora). He’s cautious and observant and so scared of being caught in his crush that he wouldn’t even call Deok-sun pretty around the other guys, so it totally fits that he’d act like this. I love him for loving Taek, but at some point he has to act on his feelings or risk forever being the guy who loves her from the sidelines.

 
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