The Best Hit: Episodes 21-22

by gummimochi

Oh my, I wouldn’t mind getting caught in the rain with that face. Things are about to get more complicated for Hyun-jae when the seemingly small steps he’s taken are starting to add up to important changes. He may try his best to justify his actions for the better good, but what if time is giving him an opportunity to seize today?

 
EPISODE 21 RECAP

In an empty practice room, Hyun-jae tends to the cuts on Woo-seung’s arm. He scolds her for being so accident-prone and putting up with pain because that only inconveniences other people. He stresses, “You better not get sick or hurt for no particular reason!”

He fills in the awkward silence by saying that it’s bothersome, but Woo-seung has questions of her own, like how he ended up working as a music producer for Star Punch. Believing that there must be a reason, she asks if his memory has returned.

Hyun-jae swiftly denies it, then adds that he thinks he must be musically talented. He gives her the half-baked truth that CEO Young-jae wanted to employ him after coincidentally seeing his music notebook. She finds that hard to believe, but Hyun-jae counters that reality often sounds more absurd than fiction.

He’s astounded when Woo-seung complains that their dramatic exit off the music video set will stir office gossip, since he thinks she should be grateful for pulling her out of there. She objects to being called “Part-timer” when she’s an intern now, but it’s all the same to Hyun-jae because she doesn’t have a full-time gig.

Ji-hoon sports a new haircut at the bakery, where a customer snaps a few photo of him before asking him to take a few together. He obliges her in the cute poses she wants, though the moment is cut short with Hye-ri’s arrival.

She’s here to ask if it’s okay to give Ji-hoon’s number out to a contact from her previous agency who wants to meet him after seeing his photos go viral online. It seems she fully expected Ji-hoon’s reluctance and divulges that she did it anyway, so he should expect a call soon.

He asks why she bothered coming if she’d act of her own accord anyway, “To see you,” she replies. She gets up to leave, saying it was enough for her to see him. She notes that he doesn’t even give her a chance to get close to him, but she’d rather that he say nothing than try to act like the nice guy and hurt her feelings in the process.

Over at Star Punch, Hyun-jae hops on an elevator with Woo-seung. He teases that the rumor mill is probably churning about them and smushes his index fingers together as if they’re kissing.

Woo-seung concurs that they do have a relationship—a “master and slave” relationship, since Hyun-jae still has an outstanding debt with her. She agrees to keep Hyun-jae’s employment a secret from the boys since she believes it’s unbelievable that the village idiot scored a job.

He surprisingly agrees with the “idiot [babo]” expression and interprets the syllables into his own abbreviated slang: “Someone you miss no matter how much you see them.” She finds his jokes lame, and issues a warning at the door that people at work better not get the wrong idea about them.

When they return home together, MC Drill mentions that he heard through the grapevine of the fiasco that happened on the music video set today. Since Ji-hoon wasn’t there, he regales his buddy in an over-the-top tale which is grounded in some truth: Woo-seung knocked over a light that injured an idol girl, and when the angry director was about to strike her, the new music producer punched the man square in the face.

Behind him, Woo-seung mouths to Hyun-jae to let MC Drill reach his grand finale wherein the producer took Woo-seung’s hand, said “Baby, let’s go” (ha, à la Lovers in Paris?), and dragged her away. Woo-seung is quick to call that a bonkers story, but then Hyun-jae listens intently when she’s asked how she knows the new hotshot director. She remains tight-lipped, though, and sends Hyun-jae a knowing look before walking away.

Later that night, Ji-hoon and Woo-seung have coffee out on the roof deck, where she sighs that studying on her own pales in comparison to the days she attended the academy as Fake Ji-hoon.

She brings up how she only recently found out about Ji-hoon’s internet fame because she doesn’t use social media. Ji-hoon hilariously has to help her with his nickname Part-timer Oppang and downplays the idea that other agencies are interested in him because of his photos.

Everything about this wave of fame feels surreal to him since he was ready to put his dreams aside, but Woo-seung encourages him to seize the day, believing that he’ll regret it if he doesn’t. Her words are enough to convince him, and he lays down to get to her eye level and assert, “[I’ll go for] you and the opportunity.” She nestles up to him… and smacks his head.

Hyun-jae cracks open the door to see Woo-seung and Ji-hoon giggle together on the roof deck. He smiles, then heads back inside with the pair of cans of beer in his hand.

In the morning, Woo-seung proposes a round of rock-paper-scissors where the loser has to take out the trash. She lets Ji-hoon off the hook since the rest of them are tenants here. MC Drill and Ji-hoon aren’t surprised when she loses with her go-to move of scissors, and Hyun-jae loudly revels that he’s the king of this game. Woo-seung smiles, wondering how this childish Hyun-jae is the same one who stood up for her yesterday.

Woo-seung doesn’t end up taking out the trash, though, because Ji-hoo swoops in and offers to do it for her. His line that he’s happy to do it if she’ll accept his feelings for her spurs her to raise an arm as if to hit him, but he catches it, amused by her reaction.

Afterward, Ji-hoon swings by the bakery to tell Dad that he can’t help out because he has business to attend to today. Kwang-jae happily sends him on his way, but then sees Hyun-jae leaving too and flags him down.

Hyun-jae tries his best to remain patient when he’s reminded to keep a low profile, knowing that Kwang-jae is unaware that he helped write off his debt. He’s sick of Kwang-jae’s nagging, but he wants to know what Kwang-jae meant by his drunken apology to Hyun-jae the other night.

He doesn’t believe that those words were mere drunken ramblings and guesses that Kwang-jae’s subconscious must’ve felt sorry toward Hyun-jae for treating him so badly lately. He firmly tells Kwang-jae to be nicer to him and walks away.

Their conversation reminds Kwang-jae of when he learned of Bo-hee’s pregnancy and that Hyun-jae may be the baby’s father (also, is that Woo-seung’s mother?). He made sure no one outside this room would know of this, then tried to get a hold of Bo-hee.

But it was Hyun-jae who called him back, hoping to hear Kwang-jae’s voice one last time before going off the grid for a while. In the present, Kwang-jae reminisces that he had no idea that’d be the last time he’d hear from Hyun-jae. He wonders wistfully, “If you’d known [about Bo-hee], you wouldn’t have disappeared off like that, right?”

Hyun-jae is busy marveling at a music editing software in Young-jae’s office when he gets a call from a restricted number. Judging from the caller’s strained Seoul accent warning him about a secret bank account made in his name, this sounds like an obvious phishing scam.

But Hyun-jae hangs on the possibility that Other Hyun-jae may have stowed away some money and offers to meet in person. Flustered, the ajumma on the other end fires back in her country accent and hangs up.

Hyun-jae is ready to leave when Young-jae shows up moments later. Young-jae is annoyed when he’s asked for more money since he already paid off Kwang-jae’s debt, but Hyun-jae wants a credit card.

He complies and tells his secretary to give Hyun-jae whatever he wants until they figure out his true motives. Hearing that Hyun-jae lives in the rooftop apartment above the World Agency building tells Young-jae that seeing Hyun-jae isn’t a delusion, and the fact that Kwang-jae bought Hyun-jae’s cell phone leads him to believe that Kwang-jae is behind all of this.

After being passed over for a lunch invite with her team, Woo-seung heads down to the lounge for a drink. But the vending machine is busted so she shakes it, demanding that it give her a beverage. MJ finds her fighting with the machine, so he uses his knee to kick the machine and force it dispense a can (while masking his aching knee while she isn’t looking, heh).

Hyun-jae happens to pass by the lounge in time to see them together and scowls at how Woo-seung smiles at MJ. Convinced that Ji-hoon is going to lose her to the pretty boy, he interrupts their conversation and tells MJ that they have plenty of unfinished business.

Neither Woo-seung nor MJ knows what he means, and Hyun-jae rolls his eyes when MJ asks Woo-seung out to lunch and doesn’t let her off the hook for being busy because she should have lunch unless war breaks out.

That’s when Hyun-jae issues a refusal on Woo-seung’s behalf… because she has a standing lunch date with him (“War will break out if you don’t eat with me”). He shuts down MJ’s attempt to spend time with her for the rest of the day and drags Woo-seung away. MJ hears a clunk from the vending machine and he laughs to discover that Woo-seung also managed the kick trick.

Once they’re out in the hall, Woo-seung wrestles out of Hyun-jae’s grip and asks if he enjoys dragging her out of places. Hyun-jae argues that he was nipping any potential gripes from her about MJ in the bud, and she counters that she can stand up for herself.

Since they’re at work, Hyun-jae points out that she can’t freely call him Thumbs Up here. His suggestion of calling him by his funny-sounding name of Da-bong makes her scoff, and she sarcastically agrees to show him respect. Promising to call her bosses, he orders her to spend the rest of the day with him and drags her out the door.

They end up shopping for a new wardrobe for Hyun-jae while Woo-seung’s job is to clap like a seal and shower him with compliments at every outfit he tries on. She grows weary as the makeover sequence continues, but a simple blue linen shirt and khaki pants combo leaves her speechless. He snaps her back to reality with the reminder to give him two thumbs up, then remarks that she’s in dire need of a fashion upgrade too.

He argues that the way she dresses affects the company’s image, so they agree to a round of rock-paper-scissors where the loser must do everything the winner says. Woo-seung puts out her go-to move of scissors, which loses to Hyun-jae’s rock.

He waits outside for Woo-seung to appear in a flowy ivory dress and heels and says that her makeup could be better too. He orders her to follow him with their shopping bags while Young-jae is bombarded with context text notifications of Hyun-jae’s transactions.

Hyun-jae and Woo-seung end up at a makeup store, where he has her try on the lip tint. When she puts it on, Hyun-jae bluntly says he’s a terrible liar and confesses, “You look pretty to a truly shocking degree.”

He buys out the entire line and stuffs the basket with even more products, and when Woo-seung insists on paying, he reminds her that she lost the best, so she has to listen to him.

Meanwhile, Ji-hoon gets his photo taken at a studio, then heads in for an interview at Hye-ri’s former agency. Asked why he thinks he never got to debut, Ji-hoon answers that he thought effort was all that mattered, but he realized that he always lacked a sense of certainty at the last second, and that made him doubt whether or not he deserved to be on stage.

“What about now?” his interviewer asks. “Do you have a sense of certainty?” Ji-hoon smiles and confidently answers, “Yes.”

 
EPISODE 22 RECAP

Woo-seung and Hyun-jae spend their afternoon in an indoor shopping center, where she warns him against making her pay for his credit card bill later. He stops them in front of a sticker photo booth, amazed by the idea of instantly developed photos.

She refuses to come inside with him to partake in a kiddie activity, but the real child is Hyun-jae, who throws a tantrum right then and there. He stops the waterworks when she finally agrees, and they head inside to pose with funny props. He then leaves a photo of them on the board amidst countless others.

Woo-seung checks her watch and drops all the shopping bags as soon as the clock strikes six and her workday is over. Picking up the bags, Hyun-jae proposes that they go out for dinner because there’s someplace he wants to take her.

He drives Young-jae’s car (leaving Young-jae without a way to leave work, ha) and takes them to the Chinese restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Woo-seung’s stomach growls too much to protest, and Hyun-jae wakes the sleeping elderly restaurant owner to order two bowls of jajangmyun.

Woo-seung can’t shake off the eerie feeling that she’s been to this restaurant before, and Hyun-jae admits that he came across this place before and wondered if it was the same one from Woo-seung’s story about her father. When their food arrives, he pointedly notes the fried egg on top of their noodles while Woo-seung looks over at another table where a father eats with his young daughter.

Emotions caught in her throat, Woo-seung picks up her chopsticks, and Hyun-jae smiles warmly when she admits she thinks this is the same restaurant she ate at with her father as a girl. One bite is enough for Woo-seung to confirm the theory, and she keeps her tears at bay while she eats.

Afterward, she admits that it was worth going out of their way to eat here. Hyun-jae says this was the best jajangmyun he’s ever had in his life.

Ji-hoon receives a text from Hye-ri’s former agency, Ssen Entertainment, informing him that he’s been accepted into the debut team. He hears Woo-seung and Hyun-jae arrive together, and she takes her shopping bags before heading into her room.

He’s confused when Hyun-jae says Ji-hoon should be grateful to him for spending so much time with Woo-seung today, but he does knock at her door a little later to tell her his good news. She congratulates him for being accepted into the biggest entertainment agency in Korea, and he says he still has one more dream to chase after: her.

She waves him away because she’s too tired to hit him for another cheesy line, but she does give him an enthusiastic thumbs up. He returns with a peace sign (which also look like scissors in rock-paper-scissors).

Woo-seung has trouble with her door the next morning, so she wedges a folded piece of paper between the door and frame. Out in the living room, MC Drill has Hyun-jae check his incoming text, only to literally roll over when it’s a notice for the reserve forces training. Hyun-jae asks if MC Drill already completed his military service, but the latter laughs it off.

Kwang-jae finds Bo-hee in the bakery and asks if she doesn’t need to head into work at Star Punch, believing that she already signed her contract. She teases that sounds like him wanting her to leave and mentions that she heard Kwang-jae didn’t give Young-jae a piece of his mind the last time he saw red.

Kwang-jae announces that he’s going on a fishing trip and declines her company. He tells her not to mind him, but him repeating that only makes her more concerned.

MC Drill packs up his things and lies that he’ll be away for a night for a family wedding. Hyun-jae says it’ll be better if Drill never comes back, but we can see his camouflage fatigues peeking out of his bag.

Ji-hoon helps Dad load the car for his fishing trip, then asks to tag along. He assures Dad that he doesn’t have to make it to today’s audition and runs upstairs to grab his things, where he tells Woo-seung that he’ll be away for a night. Picking up on her dismay, he asks if that means she’ll miss him.

She scowls, then hands him a bottle of mouthwash. He asks if she’s got a particular reason for him to be minty fresh. She hits him with her bag for that remark, and before he leaves, Ji-hoon makes plans to see a movie with her when he returns.

Later that night at Star Punch, Hyun-jae catches Woo-seung heading out to run a coffee errand. He accompanies her (but doesn’t help her carry the cups) and points out a kimbap store with a line out the door. Woo-seung recognizes it as a famous eatery but admits she never tried the food because the line was always too long.

Kwang-jae and Ji-hoon fish by the Han River, where Ji-hoon notes that Dad always goes fishing when something worries him. Dad admits that fishing helps clear his mind, but he’s pleased to hear that Ji-hoon passed his audition at Ssen Entertainment.

His many years of road manager experience tells him that Ji-hoon will find success, and he agrees to help Ji-hoon in any way he can. He promises to put in a good word with his contacts at Ssen, but that’s when Ji-hoon says he won’t be joining that company because he wants Dad to be in charge of his debut.

Dad looks back at him in surprise, and Ji-hoon explains that he met lots of company bigwigs, but no one was as good as Dad. He even considers this fishing trip as an audition. Aw.

Hyun-jae is miffed when he text Woo-seung and learns that she’s studying at the library. He takes out his annoyance on the many customers outside the famous kimbap store, and then gets annoyed at himself for remembering that Woo-seung wanted to try the kimbap here.

Telling himself that it isn’t like him to wait in a long line for hours, he walks away. Cut to: Hyun-jae waiting in line like everyone else. LOL. Next thing we know, he’s back home with the kimbap in hand. You goof.

He’s massaging his aching legs when he hears the rain outside. He wonders if Woo-seung has an umbrella and convinces himself not to worry because she always thinks ahead. He sprawls out on the bed as a clap of thunder roars.

However, Woo-seung is without an umbrella. She waits outside the library, then takes a few steps, contemplating whether or not to run and use her textbook for cover, when a voice calls out, “Oy, Part-timer!”

It’s Hyun-jae, who get slightly flustered when she asks what he’s doing here. He claims he went out for a walk like he does every night. Suuurrre.

He berates her for staying out this late and forgetting an umbrella when she looks like the type to think ahead. He pulls her in closer to stay dry, and though she was angry with him at first, she thanks him for picking her up.

It’s only when they return home do they realize that they’re alone in this apartment tonight. Hyun-jae doesn’t think it makes a difference but calls Woo-seung out for finding it awkward. She denies anything of the sort, but keeps her distance as she tells him to stay away from her room and converse over text until morning.

Unfortunately for Woo-seung, she’s locked out of her room because that wedge of paper she used has popped out. Hyun-jae concludes that they’ll need to call a locksmith tomorrow, which means they’ll have to sleep together in this space.

Woo-seung stammers nervously and then rushes to pull the room divider closed, telling Hyun-jae to sleep on the floor tonight. Her mouth drops when he asks if she wants to wash up first, skeeved out even more.

But Hyun-jae doesn’t mean anything else by it and heads into the bathroom. It’s then Woo-seung sees the kimbap on his bed and he pops his head out moments later claiming that he picked some up for her because the line happened to be short. D’aw.

While Woo-seung tries to convince herself that she sees Ji-hoon, MC Drill, and Hyun-jae in the same way, Hyun-jae admires his physique in the bathroom and flexes in front of the mirror. But then he sees a cockroach on the floor and he runs out of the room, screaming in terror.

Woo-seung also screams to see him in nothing but a towel around his waist. He hides behind her and yells at her to get rid of the bug. They run around in circles until she slips, grabs hold of his towel, and then falls on her back. A naked Hyun-jae falls on top of her.

She protests when Hyun-jae tells her to close her eyes, thinking that he might kiss her. But he points out his buck naked state and she hilariously looks down to confirm before letting out a high-pitched shriek. LOL.

He instructs her to keep his eyes closed while he runs to get dressed, and when they lie down to sleep later, Hyun-jae sneers, “Pervert.” They bicker about who was to blame for the towel incident, and then Hyun-jae coughs and tells her to sleep.

Neither of them can fall asleep that easily, and Hyun-jae later asks if Woo-seung is asleep yet. She answers that she is, and he figures that she’s studying again. That’s exactly what Woo-seung is doing, but she grows worried whenever she hears Hyun-jae launch into another coughing fit.

He thinks he can sleep off his oncoming cold, but Woo-seung pulls open the divider and discovers that he’s running a fever. She chides him for not mentioning that he was sick and repeats his words that people shouldn’t put up with pain.

She prepares a cold towel and places it on his neck and wonders if they should go to a hospital. Hyun-jae stubbornly refuses to go, claiming that will only ruin his image. But he does confess that the towel feels nice.

Hyun-jae wakes the next morning to see Woo-seung curled up against the bed, asleep. He gently pulls the hair away from her face, and his touch wakes her. They look at one another, and Hyun-jae’s heart beats a little faster.

Epilogue

Dressed in his uniform, MC Drill takes a break from reserve forces training. Does his name tag say Lee Won-bin? He’s approached by a pair of girls looking for the army basecamp—ha, it’s Kwang-jae’s idol girl group who are as surprised to see him as he is to see them.

Quickly sizing up the situation, they realize that MC Drill lied about his age, but he points out that they snuck out here without telling Kwang-jae. Unfortunately for him, the girls have one last card: “Does Ji-hoon know you’re an old man who’s been in the military?” His lip quivering, MC Drill sadly admits, “No, he doesn’t.”

 
COMMENTS

Poor MC Drill. He really does get the short end of the stick in this series as a minor character, but whose dream is just as worthy as anyone else in this world. I’m almost positive that Drill also got a haircut that went understated in this hour, and it saddens me that he has to lie about his age in order to get a shot at being on stage. Keeping one’s real age a secret isn’t anything new in the industry, but I imagine it’ll eventually come to light in his friendship with Ji-hoon.

It was only the other week when Ji-hoon learned the valuable lesson of seizing an opportunity whenever it presented himself. I admired how he took life by his own reins and took the chance of making his feelings known to Woo-seung, but his overall dream became temporarily muddied after he quit his trainee life. Even with his newfound internet fame thanks to his good looks, we were left out of what Ji-hoon wanted to do next with his life. I was surprised when he showed up to the interview at Ssen Entertainment because he still seemed unsure until Woo-seung prodded him to jump at that opportunity.

But I was even more surprised when he chose to spend time with Dad instead and take the chance to debut under World Agency than a larger agency. Perhaps it speaks to Ji-hoon’s sense of loyalty and his attempt to amend his relationship with his dad, but the business side of me is thinking that he has to take advantage of that short-wave of fame while it’s still around.

Teaming up with World Agency does give Kwang-jae more motivation as well, since he’s still trying to let Bo-hee move on to what he thinks are bigger and better things for her. I don’t think he’ll be quite as happy when he hears that Hyun-jae is using Young-jae for temporary monetary gain, though I really enjoy watching Hyun-jae rack up a high credit card bill for the man who made money off of his compositions.

Now that Hyun-jae has realized his own feelings for Woo-seung, things are about to get real complicated in our love square. How Woo-seung is lucky enough to have three suitors vying for her attention is beyond me, but I suppose some of us are just that lucky.

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