Fight My Way: Episode 6

by LollyPip

There’s nothing like having a friend who just gets you in every way possible, who cries with you when you’re down and celebrates your successes as if they were their own. The only thing better would be if that friend were also the love of your life, and luckily for Ae-ra and Dong-man, they’ve already started down that path. Even luckier for us is that they have no idea what these new and strange feelings are about, because we get to enjoy the awkward moments every time one of them gets all hot and bothered and has no idea why.

 
Round 6: “Dear, don’t give me that kiss”

After losing his fight, Dong-man wakes in the hospital to find Ae-ra wailing over him at top volume. Ae-ra yells at him not to fight anymore, making soggy threats never to see him again in between gasping sobs. Amused, Dong-man asks if Moo-bin knows that she looks like a baboon when she cries, HA.

Ae-ra just snaps at him again before bursting into a fresh bout of tears. Dong-man fusses at her for eating her hair and reaches to push it out of her mouth, which is so sweet.

The mood is ruined by ex-girlfriend Hye-ran, who runs in to ask in a wobbly voice if Dong-man is okay, though her voice is perfectly stable when she tells Ae-ra to leave. For the first time, Dong-man speaks in Hye-ran’s presence, taking Ae-ra’s hand and saying that Hye-ran is the one who needs to leave. He adds for her to stop contacting him and showing up at his home.

He calls it horrible to keep seeing her, but Hye-ran just says that she’ll go for now. Ae-ra reminds her of her warning not to go near Dong-man again, and Hye-ran tells Ae-ra to know her place, and that Dong-man is only holding Ae-ra’s hand to make a point, not because he wants to hold it. She tells Dong-man to pick up when she calls, otherwise she’ll take it as an invitation to visit in person.

After she leaves, Ae-ra yanks her hand out of Dong-man’s grip, asking if he really only held her hand to make Hye-ran angry. Exhausted, Dong-man pouts that he doesn’t know.

On the way home, Dong-man remembers that Hye-ran waited for him while he was in the army. Ae-ra says that she saw Hye-ran with other guys while he was gone, then complains that Dong-man will probably let Hye-ran sucker him in again.

Coach Hwang drives up, and Ae-ra orders him to kill Dong-man. Coach Hwang looks like he’s ready to make him pay for fighting against his advice. But instead of getting hit as Dong-man expects, Coach Hwang grabs him in a big, relieved bear-hug. He says that Dong-man’s lucky to be alive, then takes him to a pojangmacha for some dinner.

While they eat, Coach Hwang watches the video of Dong-man’s fight. Rather than being upset over his loss, Coach Hwang notices that the one punch Dong-man managed to land really shook up his opponent. He knows by the fighter’s tattoo that he’s a member of the Karel family.

We see the tattoo again as Karel shakes hands with Tak-soo at the airport, and Tak-soo tells him that he sent the money for his wife’s medical bills. In halting English, Karel tells Tak-soo to avoid Dong-man at all costs, “because you will lose,” but Tak-soo doesn’t understand him.

Coach Hwang explains to Dong-man that the Karels are a three-generation family of Brazilian jujitsu fighters, and that last night he fought the second son. He likens Dong-man’s punch to a kindergartner landing a punch on a college student—it means that Dong-man is a lot better than they thought.

Not only did he land a solid punch, but Tak-soo’s coach says that that punch broke two of the Brazilian fighter’s ribs. It’s even more worrisome that it wasn’t one of Dong-man’s famous kicks that did it, but a punch.

Joo-man reluctantly sends Seol-hee to put in an appearance at his nephew’s first birthday party, then heads off to work. The girls run into Dong-man, who’s more excited than ever about fighting.

Seol-hee fishes for a compliment in her lacy pink dress, so Ae-ra obliges by saying that she looks like the perfect daughter-in-law. She says that parents love the “puppy type” like Seol-hee, and Seol-hee says that Ae-ra is the “kitten type” that guys like. They preen, while Dong-man stares like they’re speaking another language.

He invites Ae-ra to lunch, but Ae-ra snaps that he should eat with his girlfriend Hye-ran. The girls flounce off arm-in-arm, leaving Dong-man to trail after them, wondering why Ae-ra is suddenly acting like a girl.

Dong-man and Ae-ra end up eating at the same convenience store, but at different tables. Ae-ra checks her email, and she leaps up when she finds a message saying that she’s landed an announcer interview at KBC. She tells Dong-man in a disbelieving voice, and he screams and jumps with excitement right along with her.

But at the feel of Ae-ra bouncing up against him, Dong-man freezes solid, and he tries desperately to think of some words. Unable to look at her, he pushes her away and squeaks, “Hey… why do you go around like that?”

HAHAHA, Ae-ra just now realizes that she’s not wearing a bra, and Dong-man’s knees nearly buckle. He gives her his jacket for the walk home, though he jokes that it’s not really necessary, pfft.

They run into the landlady on their building’s stairs, and she finally tells them her name, KANAKO HWANG. She warns Dong-man and Ae-ra that they’re not allowed to sleep in the same room, and they both choke. Dong-man stammers that he blocks all advances on Ae-ra, then immediately afterwards, he angles for an invitation to her place for coffee. Ae-ra glares and says she’s “blocking” him, hee.

Seol-hee’s mom meets her at the subway station, weighed down with food to send to the party. She tells Seol-hee to hurry and get married so she can quit her awful job, and when they arrive at the party venue, Mom refuses to come in, and just reminds Seol-hee to set a date for the parents to meet regarding her marriage.

Hye-ran shows up at the apartment building, but instead of going to Dong-man’s place, she rings Ae-ra’s doorbell. Ae-ra is practicing her announcing, but she stops to look up Hye-ran’s bio on the KBC site just to snarl at her.

Thinking that it’s Dong-man at the door, Ae-ra opens it to find Hye-ran smirking at her. Hye-ran pushes her way in and makes herself at home, and she sees herself on Ae-ra’s laptop and purrs that Ae-ra must see her as a role model. As if.

She tells Ae-ra that before she visits Dong-man, she wanted to tell her that she intends to start over with him, listing all of her assets as reasons why Dong-man can’t possibly reject her. She says that she’s not asking her permission—she’s giving Ae-ra notice that Dong-man belongs to her. She tells Ae-ra not to make herself any more pathetic than she already is, pretending to be his friend when she really wants more.

Outside, Dong-man decides to try to talk to Ae-ra again, but he can’t bring himself to knock. He ends up yelling through the door that he takes back what he said about her, asking awkwardly why she keeps getting upset with him lately.

Frustrated, Ae-ra opens the door and tells Dong-man to take Hye-ran away. Hye-ran sees him and starts in with her sickly-sweet, “Oppa… “ but Dong-man levelly asks why she’s here. She says she was worried about him, and Dong-man admits that his heart sank when he heard of her divorce, and he couldn’t breathe when she called him.

Ae-ra hears this much through an open window and slams it shut, assuming that Dong-man is falling for Hye-ran’s act again. She tells herself that she doesn’t care anymore, and that they deserve each other.

Hye-ran also thinks that Dong-man’s words mean that he’s glad to see her. But he pulls away, clarifying that he felt that way because he feared she would show up again and make him relive those horrible five years. He asks her to get lost and leaves her there.

Joo-man’s family obviously sees Seol-hee as beneath them, making faces at her homemade food and even gagging at the smell of the pigs’ feet that her parents sell. Joo-man’s sister says that the food her mother made doesn’t fit the party theme, and his mother asks why Seol-hee didn’t try to talk Joo-man into coming to the party.

At the office, Joo-man finds Ye-jin crouched beside the copy machine, covered in ink. She blinks up at him pathetically, reminding him of the moment he fell for Seol-hee—she’d been in a similar situation, kneeling among the pieces of a broken cash register.

Once Hye-ran is gone, Dong-man sits outside Ae-ra’s door, calling for her to talk to him. She gets a call from Moo-bin, who wants to see her. Hearing Dong-man’s voice again, Ae-ra thinks about Hye-ran’s accusation that she secretly wants Dong-man, so she agrees to see Moo-bin.

Dong-man stops her when she leaves, wanting to know where she’s going and swearing that he didn’t call Hye-ran. Ae-ra asks why he’s telling her this, asking angrily, “Do you like me? Do I like you?” Stunned and hurt, Dong-man just stares silently. Ae-ra says that they need to maintain their boundaries, unwilling to give Hye-ran a reason to pity her again.

Eventually Joo-man gets the printer working again, and Ye-jin wipes a smudge of ink off his lip with her fingers. She offers to buy him a drink after work as thanks, and when he declines, she invites him to see a movie this weekend. He keeps turning down her offers, until finally she just grabs his tie and kisses him. Frustrated, she yells at him to stop complicating things, then runs off.

Dong-man helps Coach Hwang put up flyers for the gym as he tries to compose an apology text to Ae-ra, though he really doesn’t know what he’s apologizing for. He notices that the flyers list his physical attributes, and asks why. Coach Hwang says that he did it to entice the women in town (while fondling Dong-man’s butt, hee).

There’s a reporter waiting at the gym to take pictures of Dong-man, but all Coach Hwang will tell him is that they’re for their counterattack. He tells Dong-man that he’s booked his debut match, having seen him fight the Brazilian and decided that he’s ready, and Dong-man beams excitedly.

After the photo shoot, one of the fighters at the gym invites Dong-man to spar. He taunts Dong-man about the fight he lost, but Dong-man throws one punch and the jerk sinks to his knees in pain, ha.

Seol-hee’s mother realizes that she forgot to leave her gift for the baby, so she treks all the way back to the party. When she gets there, she sees Seol-hee in an apron and work gloves carrying heavy trash bags, taking orders from Joo-man’s sister instead of enjoying the party.

Mom overhears Joo-man’s family talking nastily about Seol-hee, saying that her brother should have checked out Seol-hee’s family background before dating her. They even talk about a blind date they’ve set up for Joo-man with a much more suitable girl.

By the time she gets to her old workplace where Moo-bin is waiting, Ae-ra isn’t feeling well. She clutches her side, using the pain as an excuse for why she’s not in her uniform, since she doesn’t know that Moo-bin is already aware that she quit.

We see Landlady Hwang visiting the department store, dressed to the nines and strutting around like she owns the place. She tells the store manager to get better control over the shoppers, mentioning the chairman’s shoplifting wife as an example.

Landlady Hwang says that she heard about an innocent employee being forced to kneel and apologize to the thief, warning that stories like that can get a store closed for good. She’s suddenly sweet as pie as she says that all she wants is a store where VIPs aren’t allowed to abuse their power.

When Moo-bin asks how she’s feeling, Ae-ra says that she has minor irritable bowel syndrome and that it’s been a stressful day. She admits that Moo-bin’s “surprises” don’t help, saying that he’d be uncomfortable too if she kept showing up at his place of work.

He says that actually, he’d like that a lot, but promises to give more warning from now on. Ae-ra decides to come clean and tells him that she quit her job, and Moo-bin pretends to be hearing this for the first time.

She tells him her dream of being an announcer, and that she’s got an interview at KBC. Moo-bin thinks that sounds perfect for her, and he thanks Ae-ra for being honest with him, taking it as a sign that they’re growing closer.

When she gets a chance, Seol-hee asks Joo-man’s mother nervously when the two families should formally meet. Joo-man’s mom agrees that they should do that, though she says it won’t be soon since she has a bum knee that needs treatment. But as Seol-hee watches her bouncing the baby without a problem, she knows it’s a lie to put off any marriage talk.

Coach Hwang catches Dong-man reading articles about Tak-soo, angry that he goes out clubbing while Dong-man is stuck in the gym. He tells Coach Hwang that he gets more upset whenever he thinks about how they they tricked him, but Coach says that Dong-man’s brain isn’t meant for thinking. So true.

Tak-soo is at a bar right now with a girl, insisting that she’s the only one for him yet refusing to let her look at his phone to see whether he’s texting other girls. Dong-man enters the bar and finds Tak-soo’s manager Tae-hee, and then goes downstairs to confront Tak-soo.

Without any warning, Dong-man grabs Tak-soo’s hand and twists it painfully, then he executes another slick move that lands him on the floor. He thanks Tak-soo for giving him the chance to learn some jujitsu, then he leans closer to whisper that no matter what, they’ll end up in the ring together.

After the party, Joo-man’s family opens the gifts, and they’re shocked to find that the envelope from Seol-hee’s mother contains a fat wad of cash. They’re further surprised when Joo-man shows up, looking thunderous and asking for Seol-hee. He finds her cleaning and drags her out to the dining room, then he orders the attention of his family.

He tells them not to look down on Seol-hee, and his sister asks Seol-hee if she tattled on them to Joo-man. He loses his temper, bellowing that Seol-hee was cleaning when it’s not even her family’s party.

Seol-hee begs him to calm down, but he continues, saying that he’s not so great, just an assistant manager who went to a local college. But through all that, Seol-hee worked and supported him, and Joo-man tells his family that they should be thanking her.

His sister snaps that it’s not like he’s rushing to marry Seol-hee and make her part of the family, and Joo-man agrees. But he says that even if he doesn’t marry Seol-hee, he won’t marry anyone else but her, either.

When Moo-bin pulls up to Ae-ra’s building, she asks nervously if he’s going to watch her go in again. This time he says he’s going in with her, then he pops the trunk to reveal a heart-shaped bouquet of flowers (saying that it’s how Ahn Jae-hyun won Gu Hye-sun, hee). He’s even added a foot massager to the presentation, which he insists on carrying to her apartment for her.

Ae-ra is horrified, but there’s nothing she can do but follow him up the stairs. The stress sets off her stomach pain again, but Moo-bin doesn’t listen as she begs him to wait. Landlady Hwang sees them and demands to know what Moo-bin is doing here. The stomach pain is too much, and Ae-ra collapses on the stairs, unconscious.

Seol-hee gives Joo-man’s hand a little kiss on the bus ride home, thinking that it’s kind of sweet that he defended her that way, but Joo-man asks why she’s so submissive, wondering what she thinks she lacks. Seol-hee says that she doesn’t lack anything, she just likes him so much that she wants his family to like her.

He can’t help but smile to know that she cares about him that much. Seol-hee tells him that seeing him get angry was sexy, and when she kisses his hand again, he complains that that’s not his lips and is rewarded with a real kiss.

Seol-hee asks how he knew what was happening and why he came to rescue her. Joo-man says that he left work early because her mom texted him, and he even shows her the text. We see that Seol-hee’s mom had cleaned up the busted trash bag that Seol-hee was dealing with at the party, then she’d written an angry message to Joo-man saying that she won’t allow him to marry Seol-hee because she’ll never let a family like his have her daughter.

But she’d deleted it, and the message she sent in the end was very different. She said that Seol-hee cares about him so much that she went to his family’s party, then she simply asked him to take care of her daughter. Seol-hee reads the message and sobs, knowing that her mother must have cleaned up that trash and seen everything. Joo-man sweetly wipes her tears and holds her while she cries.

Moo-bin gets Ae-ra to the hospital and has some tests run, learning that her irritable bowel syndrome caused painful gas to build up, and that’s why she fainted. Ae-ra pretends to be unconscious, but her lips tighten at that, and she wants to die when the doctors discuss whether or not she farted (Moo-bin: “Twice. One of them was quite long.” HAHA).

Dong-man’s texts to Ae-ra are still going unanswered, which worries him. He’s distracted when Landlady Hwang drives up and tells him that Ae-ra was taken to the hospital, and she even tells him what room he can find her in.

As Moo-bin sits by her bedside waiting for her to officially wake up, Ae-ra’s stomach lets out a long, loud gurgle. Moo-bin tries to listen to the noise so Ae-ra sits up, weakly faking that she just now woke up. She flinches every time Moo-bin mentions gas, then she looks around the fancy suite she’s in and says she wants to go home. Moo-bin’s face falls and he asks why she always wants to go home whenever she’s with him.

Her phone rings and they both see that it’s Dong-man, but Moo-bin asks her not to answer. He asks if she can’t look at him instead, then admits that he paid for this expensive room hoping to win points with her. He asks why she finds him so uncomfortable: “Why does your stomach hurt when you’re with me?”

It’s the most unguarded he’s been with Ae-ra, and she thinks that he’s so sweet he’s giving her a toothache. As he rambles about how he’s doing all this just to spend more time with her, she wishes he’d stop, because she’s already sick and vulnerable and he’s making her waver.

Moo-bin sits next to her on the bed, and he says softly that just looking at her makes his heart go crazy. Ae-ra groans that it’s unfair to do things like this when a person is sick, but Moo-bin says he’s willing to go low. He darts forward and kisses her, then does it again—which is when Dong-man throws the door open.

He takes in the scene, and Ae-ra stammers that this isn’t what it looks like. Dong-man slams the door shut and storms off down the hall, but then he stops. His expression hardens, he turns around, and he marches right back toward Ae-ra’s hospital room.

Epilogue.

On vaccination day at school, little Ae-ra’s tummy acts up, making her gassy. The other kids complain about the smell, and Dong-man sees her embarrassment and forces out a toot, taking the blame and making him Ae-ra’s instant hero. Later, she pats his head and brings him candy as thanks.

The trick doesn’t work so well when he farts in her face another day, hoping for a share of her snack. He can’t understand why this time, all he gets is a whack on the head for his trouble.

COMMENTS

I just love it when the epilogues are about Dong-man and Ae-ra as kids! They’ve always been adorable together, and I swear Park Seo-joon must have studied his childhood counterpart’s expressions, because they get the exact same look on their faces when Ae-ra does something that makes them swoon. So freaking cute!

I have no idea why Dong-man doesn’t drive me crazy in a bad way, because generally I hate dumb jock/meathead sorts of characters. Bless his heart, but he’s just not that smart, so it’s a good thing that he’s otherwise so sweet (not to mention pretty). I don’t think I would like Dong-man half so much if he were being played by any other actor, and that’s not just my Park Seo-joon bias talking. Somehow, Park manages to make Dong-man so endearing and squishable, and while he’s not so quick on the uptake sometimes, he never seems stupid. And most of all, you can tell that he has a true heart of gold. He genuinely cares about his friends and he’s loyal to a fault, and you just can’t help but love that befuddled, blank look he gets any time Ae-ra gets into his personal space. His brain just completely shorts out, and I could watch him forget how to speak whenever Ae-ra is near all day long.

It’s interesting to me how Dong-man and Ae-ra are such complete opposites, yet it’s exactly why they get along so well. Where Dong-man is solid but slow, Ae-ra is fierce and whip-smart, quick to anger and even quicker to stick a foot in her mouth. She’s a woman that you want to be friends with, in no small part so that she doesn’t become your enemy. But her lightning temper also leads her to jump to incorrect conclusions, such as her assumption that Dong-man is going to take Hye-ran back—not because of anything he’s done, but because it’s Ae-ra’s worst fear. But I just love it when Ae-ra is angry at Dong-man because of something she’s made up entirely in her head, and poor Dong-man is left apologizing when he hasn’t the slightest clue what he did wrong.

On the other hand, Hye-ran is the type of character that I hate most of all, the one that thinks that what she wants is all that matters, and that railroading anyone who disagrees is a reasonable response to rejection. Dong-man and Ae-ra can’t possibly have been any clearer with her—she’s not wanted, and they don’t wish to see or hear from her ever again. The kind of person who responds to that with, “I’ll call you, so pick up or I’ll just come in person,” is nothing short of a sociopath, someone who doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about anyone’s feelings but their own. I know that people like this exist even outside of dramas, but I’ll never understand why someone would want to be with a person who wants nothing to do with them. Isn’t the whole point of love that it’s so good because the other person loves you back?

So, as much as I love that Ae-ra is ready to fight this witch on Dong-man’s behalf, I’m even happier that he finally got a chance to tell Hye-ran exactly how he feels. He’s not happy to see her, and just the thought of her showing up again makes him feel sick. But he’s still so affected by Hye-ran that just speaking to her is an effort, so it’s good that he’s got Ae-ra to fight her for him when he can’t. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Hye-ran and her manipulative little Oppa…, and I can see her going after Ae-ra’s weakness (her feelings for Dong-man) and causing a lot of trouble before everyone’s emotions get straightened out.

Moo-bin isn’t acting any better, taking advantage of Ae-ra’s weak moments to play on her emotions and win her favor. Ae-ra is right that it’s a low thing to do because it catches her when her guard is down, but Moo-bin doesn’t seem to care. He’s such a beta male that it’s probably the only way he knows to win a girl like her, and I don’t think he even does it consciously, but in a lot of ways it’s manipulative. So I cheered when Dong-man turned around and went back to confront Moo-bin, or maybe Ae-ra—either way, it’s time that someone around here admitted what they’re truly feeling.

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