The Man Living in Our House: Episode 10

by LollyPip

Na-ri has a decision to make that will affect her and Nan-gil forever, but she’s torn between choosing love or loyalty, and everyone is pulling her in opposite directions. It’s hard enough to know that your entire future rests on doing the right thing, but what to do when there’s no clear answer?

EPISODE 10 RECAP

Uncle confronts Nan-gil and Na-ri with his legal complaint against Nan-gil, and leaves with Wan-shik after begging Na-ri to testify on his behalf. Wan-shik confirms that Uncle said everything he was supposed to say about Na-ri’s father being dead, and they head back to the city.

Na-ri asks Nan-gil if there’s anything he’s still hiding from her. He says that Dada Finance is making Uncle pursue an annulment of his marriage to her mother, and that it’s possible Dada also forged her father’s death certificate. He tells her that he’ll keep looking for her father, and she says she believes that Uncle did see him a year ago.

Deok-bong lets himself into Deok-shim’s room, hilariously leaving and coming back in again when she doesn’t scream at him. He asks about her fighting skills, and she immediately knows he’s talking about her scuffle with Yeo-joo. Deok-shim tells him how Yeo-joo manhandled her, sure that she used to be a school bully.

Deok-bong asks if something happened at school, but Deok-shim just asks if he really likes Na-ri more than Yeo-joo. She says that Yeo-joo looks like his first love who betrayed him, then clarifies that she’s not looking out for him or anything, she just likes Na-ri better.

Na-ri finds Nan-gil kneading dough and asks why he didn’t tell her about Uncle’s complaint. He says he was trying to figure out how to tell her, since he has to win, but he was struggling with asking her to testify for him. Na-ri says she won’t be his witness, because having the marriage nullified will help them be together.

Nan-gil reminds her of what this place means to him – it’s even more important than she is. Na-ri still refuses, since it would mean that Nan-gil stays her stepfather forever, and even if their love isn’t meant to last, she can’t continue with things the way they are.

She’s confused and upset, and she tells Nan-gil to stop trying to change her mind before she says something hurtful. She says they should both think about this, and leaves.

In the morning, Young-gyu is startled by the three ladies from the TV show, who’ve come bearing coffee and wide smiles. They chat up Young-gyu and a very bored Nan-gil, who’s more interested in why Na-ri just left her house with a shovel.

Deok-bong has some questions for Secretary Kwon, such as why his grandfather would make a gift of land to Na-ri’s mother when she was only fifteen years old. He asks her to find out and she wonders how she could know what happened in 1975, and Deok-bong asks how she knew what year it was. HA, busted.

Yeo-joo finds him, having lied that she’s Deok-bong’s friend to gain entry to the closed museum. She asks if he wants to make a deal, and Deok-bong looks intrigued.

Nan-gil must have caved on allowing the TV show, because next thing he knows he’s being told to just behave normally while they film. Writer Lee says it will be simple, just a quick interview then the guests will taste the food.

Nan-gil says he has one condition, that he wants to use the show to look for the restaurant’s original owner. Writer Lee thinks that’s a great hook, and agrees. The moment he does, she swings into action and calls the entire production team to film today.

Nan-gil goes to see what Na-ri is doing with her shovel, but she snaps at him to go back to his fun with the TV show ladies. She says she’s turning the ground into soil for a garden, and when he asks why she didn’t check with him as the home owner, she retorts that he never checks with her first about anything.

Angry now, Na-ri says that she’s decided to testify for Uncle, and have the marriage annulled. Nan-gil can’t really be mad since she’s fighting for their relationship, and he gently checks her hands for blisters. He tells her to wear gloves, but she snatches her hand back and calls him a weakling for needing gloves.

Yeo-joo explains that she wants to help Deok-bong get together with Na-ri — since Nan-gil is her stepfather, they can’t ever be together, so this is Deok-bong’s chance. In return for her help, Deok-bong can introduce her to some of his friends so she can find a rich guy to marry.

Nan-gil brings Na-ri some gloves despite her protests, and tells her that he’s filming the television show today. He says he’s doing it to help find her father, but she just sees that as more reason not to testify for him — if her father is alive, then Nan-gil can’t be her legal stepfather anyway.

She says that then they can get married and have a baby, and before Nan-gil can even process that, Young-gyu interrupts with his usual impeccable timing. Nan-gil has to go, and Na-ri glares at him as he heads back to the restaurant.

But he suddenly turns back and takes her hand, and takes her to her mother’s forest by the lake. He explains that he needs to tell her something that her mother wanted kept secret.

When Nan-gil had first come home and Mom had shown him the threats from Dada Finance, sh’d told him that her parents used to run a small orphanage near the lake. One night there was a fire, and all but one child had died. Rather than take responsibility, they left that child behind and fled to the U.S.

That child was Kwon Soon-rye — Secretary Kwon. Oh, this explains so much. Mom had told Nan-gil that neither of them ever forgot what her parents did, and that she has to protect the land the orphanage was on, no matter what.

Her dream was to let the forest grow, then donate the land, in memory of the children who died in that fire. Nan-gil had promised to help her protect her dream, and he takes that promise seriously.

Na-ri understands now why Nan-gil is so determined, but she admits that she’s still upset. She asks why Nan-gil is telling her this now, but he says she already knows. She reluctantly understands why he’s so passionate about saving this place.

Yeo-joo’s plan starts off with Na-ri seeing her and Deok-bong together, and Deok-bong scoffs that it’s not very original. Yeo-joo says it’s just a test, to see how Na-ri reacts, and if she’s interested at all.

They arrive at Hong Mandoo to find it swarming with television cameras, and Writer Lee freaking out because Nan-gil is gone. Luckily he and Na-ri are almost back, and Young-gyu hustles him inside.

Na-ri goes back to work on her garden, and Yeo-joo sends Deok-bong in to make his first move. Na-ri completely ignores him, so he picks up a shovel and starts to help her. On Yeo-joo’s advice, once Na-ri looks up at him, Deok-bong makes this weirdly awkward eye contact and moves closer.

Yeo-joo is upstairs remembering her little tutorial, and how she’d gotten flustered when she looked Deok-bong in the eyes. She tells herself not to waste time anymore on a man who wants someone else.

Deok-bong attempts the next step, casual touch, but when he reaches up to Na-ri’s hair she bats his arm away and he hops back a few steps. He seems happy when Na-ri tells him that Uncle has filed for an annulment, but he just asks if she’s really going to quit and move out here to farm.

He tells her to stop taking her upset out on the land, and come back to Seoul with him. Confused and upset, she follows him to his car, but says she’ll sit in the backseat when she sees Yeo-joo with him.

First, she goes over to the restaurant, and gives Nan-gil her mother’s phone back. She says that she feels as if he won’t be calling her anymore, so if she needs him, she’ll call Mom’s phone. She apologizes for adding to his stress, and says that they both need some time to think.

Curious, Deok-bong asks Yeo-joo what happened between her and Na-ri. Yeo-joo honestly tells him about stealing Dong-jin, and when he asks why, we see a flashback of Na-ri talking to a couple of her flight attendant colleagues. They’d been trash-talking Yeo-joo, and Na-ri had said that Yeo-joo just wants to be liked.

She’d told them to stop badmouthing Yeo-joo, unaware that Yeo-joo overheard the entire conversation. Now Yeo-joo says that even though Na-ri took her side, it upset her more than the girls who badmouthed her. It made her jealous, and want to compete with Na-ri.

She says that she was curious what kind of man would date Na-ri for nine years, and openly admits that she’s an evil bitch. Well, at least she knows, because that’s the worst excuse ever. Deok-bong says that it must be difficult for Na-ri to even look at Yeo-joo after that, and Yeo-joo says admiringly that Na-ri isn’t your average woman.

Filming begins for the TV show, and a trio of idols are brought in to taste the mandoo. They do a cute little intro, then Young-gyu stalls the shoot by looking straight at the camera, ha.

Yeo-joo stage-whispers wooing advice to Deok-bong on the drive back to town, as if Na-ri isn’t sitting right there. Na-ri is onto them, but she’s too despondent to really care.

Back at the restaurant, filming for the show goes well, then one of the idols reads the story behind the restaurant. She mentions that they’re looking for the original owner, who went missing one day years ago.

Uncle reports to CEO Bae’s lawyer that Na-ri might not testify on their side in the court proceedings against Nan-gil’s marriage to her mother. Wan-shik arrives, nervously telling CEO Bae that Kwon Deok-bong will be Nan-gil’s lawyer, which makes CEO Bae sit up in surprise.

They make Uncle call Na-ri to plead for her to testify on their side, but she stays silent. Uncle pretends that she’s agreeing to testify, for the benefit of the scary men in the room with him.

Deok-bong goes back to the restaurant that evening and confronts Nan-gil. He asks why Nan-gil hasn’t asked him to represent him at the trial, and Nan-gil says it’s because he’s after his land, too. Deok-bong tells him not to underestimate his feelings for Na-ri, making it clear that he’s waiting for Na-ri to come to him.

But Deok-bong proposes that they focus on the trial first. It’s in his best interest to win, since it would preserve Nan-gil and Na-ri’s relationship as stepfather and stepdaughter, and give him a chance with her.

Nan-gil goes inside, where his chefs tell him that they checked out the hospital, and confirmed Na-ri’s father’s death. He still wants to look into it himself, unwilling to let go of the hope that he’s alive. Young-gyu bounces into the middle of this tense scene, and slinks away when he meets three sets of death-glares, ha.

Deok-bong takes Na-ri out for coffee, and bluntly asks if she’s still considering dating him. She points out that she was never considering it, and he says gently that she’s mistaken about him. He thinks that in his attempt to seem confident, he accidentally came across as arrogant.

He says honestly that he really likes her, but he may have seemed impulsive and thoughtless. When Na-ri says that she didn’t misunderstand him, he perks up and asks her to reconsider dating him.

He changes the subject, and says that he’s also here as a lawyer, to ask her to testify for Nan-gil. He makes it clear that her testimony will win this case for whichever side she chooses, but that if she doesn’t testify at all, Nan-gil is almost sure to win.

Nan-gil and his chef sidekicks go to see the woman whose information Wan-shik handed over, who supposedly has Na-ri’s father’s death certificate. They find her working in a laundry, and though she tells them that Hong Sung-gyu died five years ago, she’s suspiciously nervous.

Nan-gil goes back to the restaurant that night and cries, unable to shake the memory of Na-ri’s father lying in a pool of his own blood. He answers when Na-ri calls on Mom’s phone, and she tells him that her final flight is tomorrow. She says that her mom had always promised to take her last flight with her, and asks him to take her place.

He agrees, and Na-ri points out that it’s his first flight. She admits that she’s already bought his ticket, and suggests they treat this as a little vacation before the trial. Nan-gil fights tears again, and softly says, “Okay.”

After hanging up, Nan-gil opens the safe in his desk drawer, and takes out a USB card.

The following morning he shows up at the airport as promised, and nearly suffers a panic attack from the crowds of people. He stops to take his medicine, but decides to power through it, since Na-ri is counting on him.

He feels better by the time he boards the plane and finds his seat. Na-ri greets him formally as his flight attendant, and he obediently nods as she gives instructions on sitting in an exit row. Aww, his happy smile is adorable.

She joins him after landing, and he complains that his first flight was scary. They agree to just play and have fun for the next twenty-four hours, and head out to enjoy the day.

Nan-gil and Na-ri head to the beach, where Na-ri calls attention to the fact that neither of them are doing very well with the trial looming closer. Nan-gil thanks her for his first flight, and she says they shouldn’t be distracted, and just enjoy the day.

As they walk along the shore, Nan-gil says that just as Eskimos have many words for snow, he has many words that mean Hong Na-ri. She asks for examples, and he lists things like pretending a slingshot strike doesn’t hurt, reading while walking, and dancing with butterflies.

Na-ri defends that kids do a lot of silly things, and Nan-gil teases that she was in college when she danced with the butterfly. Ha. They get into a shoving fight, and Nan-gil sweeps Na-ri up and pretends to drop her into the ocean.

Nan-gil thinks of several more words for Na-ri as they play — tripping while looking at clouds, losing a childhood home, digging in the frozen soil. “The most beautiful thing in the world, Hong Na-ri.”

Yeo-joo goes on a blind date that Deok-bong set up for her, and things are super awkward right from the start. He tells her that something is odd about all this, because Deok-bong doesn’t date, so for him to be chasing after a woman is very strange. She asks why Deok-bong doesn’t date, and he says that Yeo-joo looks just like “her.”

Na-ri decides that Nan-gil knows too much about her from watching her grow up, and thus he must die, ha. He says that only a person who loves without hope can know so much about another, and he loved her without hope for a very long time.

Na-ri asks why he chose a love like that, and he says that he had nothing, and it was better than nothing. He tells her that he doesn’t expect or want anything from her, that he’s happy just like this. Na-ri says that she’s not, and that she plans to testify for Uncle so that they can be together like any other couple.

The authorities show up at Dada Finance with a search warrant, here to investigate complaints of illegal loans. They seize everything they can get their hands on, while CEO Bae and Wan-shik watch from their secret observation room. They know that this is Nan-gil’s doing, because he’s the only one who could have provided proof of their illegal dealings.

Deok-shim runs into Deok-bong’s room to report that Nan-gil and Na-ri are on vacation together, which he’s already heard from Yeo-joo. Deok-bong tells her to knock from now on, then smiles and says that she must like Nan-gil a lot to come into his room for the first time ever.

Deok-shim complains that he’s too calm and must not really like Na-ri, but he tells her that when she’s an adult she’ll understand. He explains that their trip is a goodbye, which gives her something to think about.

Na-ri pouts that night when Nan-gil mentions that they have two rooms, hee. Talk turns to Mom, and Na-ri says that she wishes she could see Mom smile again. Nan-gil says that she’ll learn all of his darkest secrets at the trial, and that he thinks she should go and hear it all. But he tells her first that he’s been to prison, and a flashback shows us that Mom came to visit him once.

He’d been at peace, knowing that he was coming home once he got out. He’d bragged that he made even better mandoo than Mom did, and she’d left him with a sad little smile (and aww, it was Wan-shik who’d brought her).

Nan-gil says that he thinks Mom’s plans started with him, and that’s why he so desperately wants to protect her land. Na-ri says that she understands, so he can stop explaining.

But he goes on to say that he regrets calling her back that day, the day he confessed his love to her. Na-ri tells him to stop again, and goes to outside to think. He joins her, and she says sadly that their hearts are too different.

She asks what he wants her to do, and Nan-gil says that her trusts her to make the right decision. She says that she wants to find her father because if he’s alive, it will prove that she and Nan-gil aren’t related. Even after forgetting about him for years, now she longs to see him because of the man she loves.

She tells Nan-gil that she can’t be wise about this, so he says he’ll decide for her. He tells Na-ri that the land is hers, and asks her to help him not to lose it. She pushes past him to go inside, and he calls to her back, “Hong Na-ri. I love you. Even if I can never say it again, I will love you.”

The day of the trial comes too soon, and Dada Finance calls Na-ri as their witness. She takes her place at the stand, and prepares to testify. The lawyer asks her if her mother ever told her about her marriage to Go Nan-gil, or that she married him and transferred ownership of her land and restaurant to him, and Na-ri says that she didn’t.

He asks if she knew about her father’s debt, and she says she didn’t know. The lawyer asks if she thinks the marriage is null and void, and Na-ri looks over to Nan-gil. She remembers his promise to love her even if he can never say it again, and thinks to herself, “If we can’t even say we love each other, then let’s stop here.”

COMMENTS

I knew there had to be a reason why that particular piece of land was so important to Mom, and by extension to Nan-gil. It makes sense now that we know about the fire, and Mom’s dream to grow a great forest to commemorate the children who died and that her parents betrayed. I also understand why it’s so important to Nan-gil — not only is he also an orphan, but he’s idolized Na-ri’s mother his whole life. Taking on her dream is his way of repaying her for her kindness to him when he was young, and for helping save him from CEO Bae (and it also explains his statement to Na-ri that he won’t sell until a tree he planted by the lake grows tall). It’s not often that I agree with drama characters who set material concerns above love, but in this case, Nan-gil has a very noble reason for placing greater importance on saving the land than on his love for Na-ri.

It also explains why Secretary Kwon is so resentful of Na-ri’s mother, even after her death. From Secretary Kwon’s perspective, she was very nearly killed in a fire as a child, then the family that was supposed to protect her just up and fled the country and abandoned her. I can see why she puts all that resentment onto Mom, and though it’s misplaced, it’s not easy to let go of leftover hurt feelings from childhood. It’s understandable that she’d grow up with a lot of resentment and anger.

I don’t know that I’ve ever flip-flopped so much in regards to a second lead character, but Yeo-joo practically has me doing gymnastics. One episode I feel bad for her and just want her to find a man who loves her, and then the next episode I think she just needs to be alone with her evil self forever. I thought that maybe Deok-bong could help her see the error of her ways, but instead she’s egging him on in pursuit of a woman who has clearly and repeatedly told him that she’s not interested, of course in exchange for introductions to rich men. And there’s no guarantee that Na-ri will suddenly develop feelings for him even if Nan-gil remains her stepfather.

So I’m not terribly happy with either of them at the moment. Yeo-joo needs to back off of people who are in love with someone else, whether for herself or for anyone else. Deok-bong needs to evaluate why he’s so fixated on a woman he barely knows, who has told him from Day One that she’s never going to go out with him. And they both need to stay away from each other, at least until they’ve done some real hard soul-searching and learned why they consistently pursue unavailable people.

That said, I do like Deok-bong a lot, and I love how self-aware he is. For a guy to tell the woman he likes that he’s been trying too hard and made the wrong impression isn’t an easy thing to do, and I respect his honesty and ability to give up his ego. And on some level I even admire his tenacity, because although Na-ri has told him that she’s not interested in him in that way, he’s never come across as too pushy or aggressive in his pursuit of her. He just gently reminds her that he’s still there, and only whenever he sees things that aren’t going well with Nan-gil. As long as Deok-bong keeps backing off whenever Na-ri draws a line, I can’t fault him for giving it his best shot when he sees an opening, because at least he’s being honest and respectful about it, even if he is barking up the wrong tree.

But as for our leading couple — ugh, what a dilemma. And it’s especially difficult because I can understand both sides of the issue equally, and I see why both Na-ri and Nan-gil feel as they do. Nan-gil is deeply principled, and he made a promise to Mom to protect her land and her dream, no matter what. To do that, his marriage to her has to stay valid, so that he keeps ownership of the land. And his promise to Mom predates even his most casual relationship with Na-ri, so to him, the land and the forest are his first priority.

But for Na-ri, who places love above material things and who was never privy to her mother’s secret or her plans for the forest, she just wants to be with the man she loves. For that to happen, she has to testify against Nan-gil, and help get the marriage annulled. At least Na-ri has only one interest to protect — her own. Nan-gil seems like he’s being torn in two, between his promise to Mom and his love for Na-ri. Either way this turns out, he wins and he loses. I have no idea what Na-ri will do, but I have a feeling that whether she chooses to testify for or against Nan-gil, things are about to get a lot more complicated.

 
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