Beautiful Gong Shim: Episode 6

by chickachunga

Dan-tae is falling hard for our adorable Gong Shim, and although he has the ability to dodge blows, he’s unable to read minds, which means he’s bound for some missteps if he’s quick to jump to conclusions and solely relying on assumption. Jealousy is on full display in this episode, but so is the desire to make amends and talk things out, which is a solid step toward reconciliation.

 
EPISODE 6 RECAP

Gong Shim is alarmed to find Dan-tae with his arm in a cast, looking glum. She didn’t know he had injured himself from yesterday’s tumble and is awash with guilt. Dan-tae slowly approaches her until she’s backed up against the wall and squirming from his close proximity.

In a dead serious tone, he says that he doesn’t want her being close with other guys. As his face inches nearer to hers, Gong Shim manages to escape, disrupting the charged moment and wondering what the heck he means.

Dan-tae huffs that his broken arm is the result of her date with another guy, followed by her anger when he refused to eat the dumplings bought by said guy, which compelled her to push him, causing him to fall and break his arm, ergo she should stay away from other guys, heh.

Dan-tae somehow manages to make his twisted logic seem almost reasonable and Gong Shim apologizes. She points out that she had purchased the dumplings just for him, which causes Dan-tae’s hardened face to crack into a smile. He has his back turned to her and is absolutely loving the sympathy.

Once inside, Dan-tae muses that if he knew she had purchased dumplings for him sooner, he wouldn’t have gone so far… with his ruse! He slips his perfectly healthy arm out of the cast, and even does some bicep curls with a huge dumbbell.

Moments later, Gong Shim brings him a homemade dish of spicy noodles because she’s still regretful. Dan-tae continues with his fake pity party act, saying he’ll just dust off yesterday’s dropped dumplings and eat them. When asked if there’s anything she can assist him with, he looks up at his wet hair.

Gong Shim blow-dries his hair and buttons up his shirt, much to his pleasure. When he almost gets caught cupping her head with his hand, he pretends his arm pains him and tells her to be careful, making her extra apologetic. She leaves him so he can eat, saying she chose noodles since it’s something he should be able to eat with his left hand. Dan-tae contemplates the chopsticks with a thoughtful look.

So when Gong Shim returns moments later, he’s got sauce all over his mouth, purposely looking as pathetic as possible. “It’s okay, I can eat on my own,” he tells her while visibly struggling with the chopsticks. The messy sight is too much for her, so she proceeds to feed him. He sure loves that.

He even guilt-trips her into joining his investigation of the four-year-old boy (chaebol grandson Jun-pyo) who was kidnapped twenty-six years ago. Gong Shim takes photos of the train station for him, and he also makes sure he’s in a bunch of them as well.

He visits the birthday party venue where young Jun-pyo was last seen, and times how long it takes for a mother to realize her child is missing. Gong Shim plays the stranger who leads the child away in a simulated scenario.

He also times how long it takes to exit the venue, in total only roughly thirty-two seconds. That means by the time a mother realizes her child is missing and commences her search, the kidnapper would’ve already left with her child.

Dan-tae wants to hear an old shoeshiner’s account of the car accident that happened in front of him 26 years ago, but the man grumbles that he’s too busy to talk. Gong Shim volunteers to polish shoes for him, allowing him to open up.

The shoeshiner explains that he’s worked in the same spot for 30 years and still recalls that car accident involving the mother. Dan-tae verifies what he witnessed: A mother was hit by a car, and with her last breath, she uttered Jun-pyo’s name, followed by the word “butterfly.” According to the case file, the word “butterfly” was attributed to the bowtie (butterfly necktie) Jun-pyo was wearing at the time.

The shoeshiner commends Gong Shim on her polishing skills, and she beams as she unwittingly leaves a streak of black polish above her lip, like a mustache. Dan-tae can’t stop staring, but doesn’t say a thing to her.

Dan-tae plays on Gong Shim’s guilt to get her to buy a drink for him, and she runs across the street. Just then, a boy is dragged away from his video game by his mother, and Dan-tae can’t resist finishing off the game.

He yanks off his cast to quickly play and gets so into it, he doesn’t even realize Gong Shim tapping his shoulder with his cast. When he finally turns around, she furiously grabs his hair for fooling her this whole time and making her worry. He exclaims that his arm felt like it was broken, but she doesn’t buy his excuse. Naturally.

Gong Shim’s mom, Jae-boon, and Jun-su’s mom, Tae-hee, meet for coffee, now that they’ve reconnected from their Miss Korea reunion. Jae-boon admits that she’s worried about her Gong Mi’s marriage prospects, but Tae-hee says she has a guy in mind—an only son who’s set to inherit his father’s company—which is music to Jae-boon’s ears.

Dan-tae visits Jun-su at work and asks him to treat him to lunch in the cafeteria. They bump into Gong Shim there, and while she’s happy to see Jun-su, she’s still annoyed at Dan-tae for the fake injury stunt. Dan-tae seethes with jealousy while Gong Shim and Jun-su share laughs and inside jokes.

Feeling left out, it becomes a matter of pride for Dan-tae to offer to buy coffee, but Jun-su resists, and they end up deciding to settle this on the basketball court: Winner buys. The boys are hilariously competitive as they alternately score points. Gong Shim cheers whenever Jun-su scores, and frowns whenever Dan-tae rubs his victory in her face. The score is tied nine to nine when the teenage owner of the basketball returns to end the game, telling the ajusshis to quit before they die, heh.

The trio are sipping on their coffees when a black van pulls up to them and snatches Dan-tae right before their eyes. Gong Shim and Jun-su panic and alert a nearby police officer.

They frantically describe how the kidnappers looked, but the officer takes his sweet time jotting down their observations instead of jumping into action. But as they’re urging him to hurry, the black van returns, and Dan-tae emerges, safe and sound.

Dan-tae thanks the men in the van and the police officer for their cooperation in his experiment as Gong Shim and Jun-su scoff in disbelief. He muses that during his disappearance, only the kidnappers were described in detail, not to victim—so “butterfly” may have to do with the boy’s kidnapper rather than the boy. His observations go unheard since Gong Shim and Jun-su ditch him in annoyance, heh.

Mom wishes Gong Mi luck on her blind date that was arranged by Jun-su’s mom. Dad reminds her that she doesn’t have to go on these dates if she doesn’t want to, but Mom shushes him, and Gong Mi says she doesn’t mind; the plan is to marry rich so she can have her own law firm. Still, she seems pretty uninterested.

Her boss sends Gong Shim to deliver a packet to Jun-su at the site of his new restaurant. He’s busy trying to learn how to cook—he’s not the chef, but he has to cook for everyone on opening night—and he asks her to taste his dish. Gong Shim takes a bite and says it’s tasty… and then can’t bring herself to swallow and apologizes, saying that it’s becoming increasingly less tasty in her mouth, HA. With food still in her mouth, she tells him it has potential if he tries really hard.

Dan-tae visits Jun-su’s grandmother and hands her a pair of glasses that allows her to watch TV while lying down. He uses it to illustrate a point: A person’s viewpoint can change based on his/her circumstances. Jun-su’s mother was really referring to her son’s kidnapper when she uttered the word “butterfly,” not her son as everyone assumed. He assures Grandma that he’ll get to the bottom of this case.

Gong Shim gifts Jun-su with a box of her homemade cookies, knowing he’ll be working late in preparation for the grand opening. Jun-su cooks alone in the kitche late into the night when he suddenly starts to sway, looking ill, and faints to the ground. Flames start to engulf the counter while he lies motionless.

Dan-tae makes fun of the “ugly” homemade cookie Gong Shim gives him, but she clarifies that she only used quality ingredients like organic flour and eggs from green-tea-leaf-fed chickens…Uh-oh. Did she say eggs?

Dan-tae retorts that he could’ve died had he eaten her cookie because he’s severely allergic to eggs. Gong Shim thinks he’s fibbing, but he tells her to confirm with Jun-su, who’s even more allergic to eggs than Dan-tae. Gong Shim fears the worst and calls Jun-su to make sure he didn’t eat her cookies, but he doesn’t pick up. He’s still on the floor and unconscious, as flames and smoke permeate the kitchen.

She’s about to drive to him, but Gong Mi has the car. Fortunately, Gong Mi happens to be near the restaurant so Gong Shim tells her to check on Jun-su at his restaurant immediately. Gong Mi arrives at the restaurant and drags Jun-su out of the fiery kitchen.

Jun-su’s family rushes to the hospital, overcome with relief that Jun-su is alive and unharmed. The doctor reports that Jun-su was very lucky and could’ve perished if he was in the kitchen much longer. His family wonders who saved him and took him to the hospital, but he doesn’t remember anything after passing out.

Gong Shim calls her sister for an update, and Gong Mi lies that she didn’t see Jun-su at his restaurant and that all the doors were locked. Gong Shim is relieved to hear that nothing went awry.

Gong Shim is forced to return to the office late that night because a confidential document was inserted into one of many sealed invitations to the restaurant’s grand opening. She simply did as she was told, checked the recipients’ addresses and sealed the invitations, but the two other secretaries bully her into going through all the invitations and locating the document.

Dan-tae looks through the notes Gong Shim took during their investigation and notices a sentence about how the case is a triangle. He calls her to ask her what she meant by that, but she hurriedly hangs up on him when the secretaries give her the stink-eye.

She finally finds the confidential document, but overhears the secretaries mention that Jun-su is in the hospital. Guessing that her cookies made him ill, she runs out of the office.

Dan-tae arrives outside Jun-su’s hospital room and spots Gong Shim inside. Jun-su assuages Gong Shim’s concern that her cookies caused him to faint. He tells her he avoids cookies altogether because of his egg allergy, and that he actually fainted from dizziness. Dan-tae finally enters to check on his friend. Jun-su’s embarrassed, but grateful for all their concern.

Gong Shim’s concern for Jun-su makes Dan-tae feel down. She offers to stay around and help Jun-su with whatever he needs, but he assures her he’s fine and urges her to go home with Dan-tae.

They wait at the bus stop together, and Gong Shim realizes that she left her cardigan in Jun-su’s room. She wants to retrieve it, but Dan-tae gives her flack for it, and accuses her of dishonesty.

He thinks Gong Shim was at the hospital with Jun-su when he called her earlier, and asks, “If you were going to visit someone at the hospital, you should’ve just said so. Why lie and say that you’re busy?”

Gong Shim is incredulous at his assumptions and offended that he’s calling her a liar without having the whole picture. She demands, “Why should I have to tell you where I am, at what time, what I’m doing, in detail?”

The bus arrives, and she boards without him.

The next morning, Gong Shim rebuffs Gu-nam’s greetings upon seeing Dan-tae nearby. Gu-nam has a hunch that something must’ve happened to her at work yesterday, and Dan-tae’s ears perk up.

Gu-nam confirms that Gong Shim went into work due to an emergency, and it dawns on Dan-tae that he wrongly accused Gong Shim of lying to him. He cringes, having hurt her feelings with his hasty conjectures.

Jun-su is discharged from the hospital, but he still doesn’t know who saved him. A nurse is only able to tell him that a woman accompanied him, so he decides to check the CCTV footage at his restaurant. He sees Gong Mi rushing in and dragging his limp body out of the kitchen.

Jun-su invites Gong Mi to coffee at his restaurant and thanks her for saving his life. He inquires as to how she knew he was there, and she replies that she spotted his handmade chair outside the restaurant and remembered his mentioning that the new restaurant was near the wood workshop. He thanks her again, and she modestly states that anyone else would’ve done the same. Mhm.

Dan-tae waits for Gong Shim in the lobby, hoping to talk to her, but she’s in no mood to do so. She accidentally bumps into Jun-su’s uncle, one of the directors, causing him to spill his coffee. He warns her that if she bumps into him again, he’ll make her his secretary.

Uncle cleans himself up at the bathroom sink, and rolls up his sleeves, revealing a butterfly tattoo. Aha, this is the man who kidnapped Jun-pyo 26 years ago.

Uncle spots Dan-tae in the lobby and almost looks like he might have a vague sense of recognition. But he just introduces himself and keeps staring intently at Dan-tae, who greets him politely and doesn’t seem to recognize the man.

Gong Shim emerges, and she still has no desire to talk to Dan-tae, nor does she have anything to say to him. But he grabs her wrist and takes her to a stairwell, insisting that he has a lot to say to her.

 
COMMENTS

Dan-tae messed up, he knows it, and he wants to clear the air! It’s funny and also interesting to see such a dichotomy in his personality. He’s like a mischievous child when he’s jealous, in high spirits, or messing with Gong Shim and Jun-su, but he’s very much a mature adult when he realizes that his misunderstandings hurt the woman he cares about, as he should be. It’s this side of Dan-tae that confirms that his interest in Gong Shim is no laughing matter; it’s the real deal. He genuinely likes and cares for her, and his jealousy is strangely indicative of that.

Gong Shim has proven once again that although she may be lacking in physical appearance, she really does have the kindest heart. Her sincerity is probably one of her most attractive qualities. The way she took care of Dan-tae when his arm was “broken” and how she rushed to Jun-su’s side when she found out he was at the hospital reveals that she’s a caring and nurturing friend who values her friendships. Even though she was driven by guilt in both scenarios, I do hope she realizes that everything isn’t always her fault. She’s not some walking misfortune even though her ridiculous parents, sister, and coworkers may see and treat her that way. We’ve seen her stand up to chauvinistic men, and I hope to see her stand up for herself even more.

Oh, Gong Meanie. I mean, Gong Mi. I never took a liking to her in the first place, never had even a modicum of sympathy for her, and that sentiment still remains. She’s a pathological liar and opportunist. She lied to Gong Shim about not finding Jun-su at his restaurant, and she lied to Jun-su when asked how she knew where he was. I’m relieved Jun-su didn’t immediately fall for her (as far as I can tell) when she saved him, but I’m wary of her using this opportunity to try and woo him. We all know she’s attracted to his wealth—his looks are an added bonus—and her parents, especially her mom, are somehow okay with her open admission of marrying rich so that she can have her own law firm. I guess she can add “gold digger” to her resume, right after “conniving sister” and “fraudulent lawyer.”

The investigation of missing Jun-pyo has officially begun, and I admittedly wasn’t all that impressed with Dan-tae and Gong Shim’s first two findings: how long it took for a mother to realize her child went missing and the shoeshiner’s account of what happened (which was exactly the same as what Dan-tae read in the case file). I did, however, find Dan-tae’s conclusion that people don’t generally describe the kidnapped victim, but rather the kidnappers, to be pretty intriguing. It seemed obvious, but at the same time, not so obvious that one would immediately know that. The finding was strong enough for me to believe that it was all Dan-tae needed to determine that “butterfly” had to do with the kidnapper.

There is something quite sinister about the fact that Jun-pyo/Dan-tae was kidnapped by his own uncle. From the start, Jun-pyo’s uncle was portrayed as a shady character, so we knew to feel antagonistic towards him. I did feel a slight chill when he introduced himself to Dan-tae and shook his hand, not knowing he was face-to-face with adult Jun-pyo. Other than that, there’s not much to go off of, and there’s no real sense of danger emanating from him just yet. Honestly speaking, the tattoo of a butterfly doesn’t help his case. I’m not saying it had to be obvious like a skull and cross bones, but a butterfly seems kind of random. Maybe there’s an ominous meaning behind the butterfly, or maybe this baddie happens to be a butterfly aficionado. Perhaps we’ll find out.

Anyway, what engrosses me most about this drama continues to be the quirky and endearing characters of Gong Shim and Dan-tae. They never fail to make me laugh with their slapstick comedy. It’s a testament to their acting ability that I’m able to laugh at/with them when their highs are high, and feel for them when their lows are low. The story may be lacking, but they’re elevating it, or maybe they’re just pleasantly distracting me from it, like a colorful butterfly.

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