Reunited Worlds: Episodes 11-12

by LollyPip

Hae-sung finally starts to ask some questions about his new life after coming back from the dead, particularly in regards to his new powers. But the answers are unexpected, and he realizes that he’s going to have to make some difficult decisions soon. He’s always lived his life for others—but is it time for him to start living for himself?

 
EPISODE 11 RECAP

Min-joon watches as Hae-sung hugs Jung-won, comforting her after her disappointing day. Hae-sung sees Min-joon and lets go, then he leaves so Jung-won can talk to Min-joon alone.

He’s downcast as he walks to the bus stop on his own, but soon Jung-won comes running after him. She’s relieved that he hasn’t gotten on the bus yet, and Hae-sung is just as relieved to see that she came for him.

Min-joon sits outside the restaurant, replaying his conversation with Jung-won. He’d said that she would get another chance to pass her test. He’d mentioned a successful sunbae of his who passed his test much later than most chefs, offering to take her to his restaurant to talk to him.

Jung-won had politely refused his offer, preferring to just go home tonight. Min-joon had held in his disappointment until after she’d gone.

Jung-won and Hae-sung sit on a bench to talk about their letdowns of the day. Jung-won admits that she was mostly upset that she couldn’t surprise Hae-sung with news that she passed her test, but she says that she’s decided to follow his advice and live her life for herself.

She tells him to do the same thing—to stop worrying so much about his siblings and just think about himself. He admits that his brother Young-joon is a problem, and Jung-won remembers Young-joon asking her to back up his story that he’s an only child.

Hae-sung tells her how he promised Young-joon he would pretend that they’re strangers. With a sigh, he says that he knows Young-joon even though they aren’t real brothers, and that he has a good heart. Jung-won agrees, telling him to be patient and Young-joon will come around.

She asks Hae-sung if he cried when he made his promise to Young-joon, and he smiles sheepishly. She tells him to cry to her from now on and reaches up to pet his hair, then they realize that they’re staring into each other’s eyes. The mood changes to something more intimate, and they break apart nervously.

Jumping up, they agree that it’s time to head home, and as they walk Hae-sung says that he’s starting to feel like he’s imposing on Moon-shik and his roommate by staying with them. He offers to walk Jung-won home, and their fingers brush, which kicks off another awkward moment.

But this time Hae-sung grabs Jung-won’s hand in his and they run all the way to her apartment. He’s reluctant to let go of her hand when he drops her off, and they do that cute thing where they part reeeeally slowly, turning back to wave goodbye several times.

Hae-sung meets Ho-bang at the bus stop the next morning to help him carry his things—he’s been promoted to homicide detective and is moving to Seoul. They go to eat (at Subway, of course), and Ho-bang tells Hae-sung that he went through all of the old case reports in their hometown, looking for clues in the bully Jung-chul’s death.

He reminds Hae-sung that Tae-hoon’s father’s driver was driving the car that hit him. Ho-bang went to talk to him, only to discover that his funeral was that same day (oooh, so the man that hit Hae-sung was Min-joon’s uncle). At the service, the man’s wife was wailing that he wasn’t responsible for the accident, but when Ho-bang asked her about it later, she denied saying it.

The only reason Hae-sung can think of why someone would hide being responsible for his death is if they were also connected to Jung-chul’s murder. It makes him happy to realize that this likely means that Young-joon had nothing to do with the bully’s death.

Mr. Mystery surprises Hae-sung on the bus and tells him that he got to see his son speak again, and that he thinks he said he missed him. He thanks Hae-sung again for making it possible, and Hae-sung asks a favor in return.

He says that he knows he’s strong and can hear extremely well, but he wants to know how his other senses may be enhanced. Mr. Mystery doesn’t see the point in knowing whether his sight, taste, and touch are better, but Hae-sung knows exactly what button to push. He says that he wants to use everything he can to help his brothers and sisters, and Mr. Mystery caves.

He takes Hae-sung to the top of a very tall building to work on his eyesight. Hae-sung struggles to tap into his super-seeing powers, but after a lot of frustration (mostly on Mr. Mystery’s part, hee), he’s finally able to zone in on a man several buildings away and read the text message he’s sending.

Next they go to a restaurant where Hae-sung learns that he can determine the exact ingredients in a dish just by tasting it. Mr. Mystery asks the restaurant owner if Hae-sung is right, and when the owner gets angry, they know Hae-sung nailed it.

Mr. Mystery balances a chopstick on his finger to demonstrate their special sense of touch, and Hae-sung picks up the trick quickly. Then he asks how to use a cell phone without it shorting out, but Mr. Mystery says he can’t use them, either.

Things turns serious when Hae-sung asks about the sudden pain in his chest several days ago. Mr. Mystery says that happens whenever they’re near someone or something related to their death.

He knows because he drowned in the Han River, and the first time he went there after coming back, he felt the same pain. He says that he only felt it the first few times he went to the river, and that the pain lessened and eventually stopped.

So Hae-sung visits the hospital and maneuvers himself near Young-joon, and when he feels no pain, he knows that his brother probably isn’t the murderer. He’s surprised to see Soo-ji in the lobby, who lies and says she’s at the library when Hae-sung calls her.

She’s actually at the hospital to speak to her doctor, who warns her that despite how she feels now, she could begin suffering collapses again at any time. She insists that she’s fine, but the doctor tells her to bring her sister with her next time so they can discuss a possible organ transplant. From Soo-ji’s reaction, it’s obvious that she hasn’t told anyone she’s ill.

Hae-chul brings little Gong-ju to see Hae-sung, and tells him that he got a job in a restaurant. Hae-sung is proud of him, and Hae-chul seems a lot more relaxed than he was before.

Hae-sung manages to coax the shy Gong-ju out from behind her daddy, and sees that she cut her bangs extra-short to look like “Pretty Aunty,” as she calls Jung-won. That is so freaking precious. Gong-ju pouts that she’s still not pretty, but Hae-sung tells her that she’s much prettier than Jung-won, who used to be soooo ugly and had a terrible temperament as a child.

HA, Jung-won is standing right there, and Hae-sung falls on his butt when he sees her death glare. She gives him a hard time about calling her ugly and offers to show him a bad temper if he wants to see one, and he trails behind her like a kicked puppy.

She’s still mad as they meet up with their friends for drinks to celebrate Ho-bang’s promotion. They play drinking games, and every time Hae-sung laughs, he gets a fresh snarl from Jung-won, hee.

Hae-sung sees a poster advertising a fireworks festival. Jin-ju tells him not to ask Jung-won to go with him, because she’s told Jin-ju she hates fireworks. But he remembers that when she was younger, she’d given him tickets to this very festival with a note saying that she loves fireworks. She’d asked him to bring his MP3 player and go to the festival with her, but he’d died before they could go.

He asks Jung-won if she’ll go with him to Hae-chul’s new job to congratulate him. She says yes even though she’s still grumpy at Hae-sung, but he grins at her anyway.

The following day, the restaurant owner’s nephew recognizes Hae-chul and tells his uncle that Hae-chul and his gang used to beat him up. Hae-chul sincerely apologizes, and the boss tells him to stay out of trouble and work hard. Hae-chul is visibly relieved that he didn’t get fired.

He moves away to see to some customers, but he hears the nephew telling his uncle to fire him because his brother is a killer. He goes back to confront the nephew, asking if he can prove it, and he angrily demands an apology.

Jung-won arrives in time to see the nephew repeat that Hae-sung was a murderer and refuse to apologize. She tries to calm Hae-chul, but the nephew sneers that Hae-sung got what he deserved when he died after killing someone. Hae-chul snaps, picking up a chair and slamming it into a table.

Hae-sung walks in and sees Hae-chul screaming and throwing things, and he roars at his brother to stop. Hae-chul rips off his apron and storms out, with Hae-sung and Jung-won right behind him.

Hae-sung yells at Hae-chul for his behavior, demanding to know why he started a fight his first day on the job. He says that Hae-chul should be ashamed in front of Gong-ju, and Hae-chul is so angry that he just walks away.

Jung-won tells Hae-sung that he went too far by mentioning Gong-ju, but he’s angry that Hae-chul defaults to violence whenever something goes wrong. Jung-won tells him that he was wrong too, because his siblings aren’t children anymore and he doesn’t know everything about them.

 
EPISODE 12 RECAP

Tae-hoon helps Young-in with a large box of product at the department store, wondering why her coworkers aren’t helping. He sees them watching curiously, so he asks Young-in to have lunch with him, which earns her some instant popularity points.

Ho-bang begs Jung-won to meet, beside himself because Jin-ju went on a blind date last night. He says he waited outside her apartment all night but she never came home, but he forbids Jung-won to call Jin-ju and ask about it. The poor guy is a wreck.

Outside, Hae-sung approaches the coffee shop, and with his keen hearing he overhears Ho-bang and Jung-won’s conversation. Deciding not to interrupt, he sits at a table on the patio, listening as Ho-bang explains that Hae-sung asked for his help with Hae-chul.

Ho-bang says he paid for the damaged property and convinced the restaurant owner not to press charges, which makes Hae-sung smile gratefully. But he’s shocked to hear that the reason Hae-chul blew up was because he was defending Hae-sung against unfair accusations.

Jin-ju joins Hae-sung and tells him that she got a text from Ho-bang that was meant for Jung-won, saying he was worried about her. She tells Hae-sung that she spent the night at her mother’s house and wonders why Ho-bang is so worked up, so Hae-sung promises to tell her.

Later, Hae-sung finds Hae-chul working at a car wash and thanks him for believing in him. He apologizes for yelling at him without knowing the whole story, and he promises to find the real murderer for his siblings’ sake.

Hae-sung goes to Jung-won’s that night to apologize to her too, and he says that she was right that his siblings aren’t kids anymore. He says that everyone has changed, with one exception: “It’s you, Jung-won.”

He produces the firework festival advertisement and asks her to go with him, to make up for the one they never got to see twelve years ago. Jung-won looks touched and happily agrees, and Hae-sung asks why she lied about hating fireworks.

He remembers her note and repeats it back to her word-for-word, that she loves fireworks because they make her think of how the world must have started. She’s impressed that he remembers, but he reminds her that for him, it was only a few days ago.

An arrogant man, Jang Sang-hyun, enters the restaurant and imperiously demands that Min-joon come to speak to him and his companion. Nearly the entire kitchen follows Min-joon out to see how Sang-hyun could dare show his face here.

They agree that Min-joon should just punch the jerk, but that he’s too much of a gentleman to do so. The kitchen manager explains to a waitress that Sang-hyun used to be the manager here, but that he stole Min-joon’s secret recipe and opened his own copycat restaurant.

Apparently Sang-hyun is here with an investor who wants to start a franchise with Min-joon and Sang-hyun. Min-joon politely turns him down flat and heads back to the kitchen.

Sang-hyun tells the investor to try to convince Min-joon, then heads outside for a smoke. He runs into Jung-won, who tells him he can’t smoke here, and he says that with her cooking skills, he’s surprised she hasn’t been fired.

He says that she’s pretty and has a good figure, and offers her double her current salary to be a waitress at his restaurant. He implies that her looks are her only asset, and that she should use her body if her kitchen skills aren’t up to snuff. He leaves her huffing indignantly. Ugh, he’s gross.

He goes back inside to his table, and Jung-won soon follows, slapping a bowl of kitchen scraps in front of him and saying it’s his meal. She says that trashy people should eat trash, then dumps the entire bowl over Sang-hyun’s head.

Sang-hyun stands up and starts loudly threatening to sue everyone in the place. Jung-won just says that since he said she should come and be eye candy for his customers, she’s going to counter sue him for sexual harassment.

Sang-hyun raises an arm to strike her, but Min-joon is suddenly there, still looking calm and collected. He tells Jung-won to go back to the kitchen, then asks Sang-hyun if he really plans to sue Jung-won.

Sang-hyun says that he won’t, if their business negotiations go well. But Min-joon says that he can sue him, too, then punches Sang-hyun in the face. That was awesome.

Later Min-joon is icing his sore hand in his office when Jung-won comes in, and it’s cute how he hides the ice and tries to act tough. She apologizes for causing trouble, thanking Min-joon for helping her with her mother, and again today. He asks for her help with something, then takes her to the library to do research for a new recipe he wants to create.

At one point, Jung-won is reaching for a book on a high shelf, and Min-joon comes up behind her and gets it down. Jung-won turns to find Min-joon standing very close, and when she scoots out from under him nervously, he flashes a tiny smile.

Min-joon tells Jung-won that he comes here a lot, but that it’s sometimes a bother because he so often gets notes and canned coffees left at his table by women. They head back to their table, and sure enough, there’s a canned coffee sitting in Min-joon’s spot, and he sends Jung-won an “I told you so” smirk.

He opens it and takes a drink, and the woman across from him says indignantly that that’s her drink. HAHA. Poor Min-joon has to buy her a new one, and when he makes his way back to Jung-won, she bursts into laughter.

Jung-won calls Hae-sung to make plans to meet him at the fireworks festival. Min-joon notes that they’re awfully close for cousins, then he starts to say something else, but he’s cut off by Jung-won asking if he got all the books he needs.

During the afternoon break, Jung-won happily makes sandwiches to take to the festival, and Min-joon sees her but doesn’t say anything. He picks up her watch where she left it on the counter, then goes back to his office. She goes upstairs to remind him that she asked for the evening off, which he grants.

Hae-sung visits Young-in at work to get his MP3 player, which she’s kept in a box of valuables all these years. As he’s leaving he suddenly clutches his chest, then remembers Mr. Mystery saying that the pain happens when he’s near someone who was involved with his death.

Just as Mr. Mystery said, the pain is not as intense this time. Hae-sung looks around for someone that could be causing it, but soon it disappears. We cut to Tae-hoon’s father, exiting the elevator that Hae-sung was just standing near, but he’s now on a different floor.

He enters his office, where he finds Tae-hoon and his mother fighting over whether he’ll accompany his parents to the hospital for their checkup appointments. At least his mother is honest, admitting that she wants Tae-hoon to marry her friend’s daughter.

Mr. Mystery pops up outside the shopping center and tells Hae-sung sadly, “My son just died.” Aw, no. They go to the hospital to see his son’s body being taken away, and Young-joon sees Hae-sung but ignores him completely.

Hae-sung sits with Mr. Mystery as he cries, and he tells Hae-sung that he’s started to feel weak and thinks he’ll have to “go back” soon. Hae-sung asks what he means, so Mr. Mystery explains that they have to go back to where they came from eventually, noting that he’s been here since last summer, which is a pretty long time.

He tells Hae-sung that they could go back at any time, and that nobody knows when it will happen, but sometimes it’s as short as a month. He tells Hae-sung not to put things off because he never knows if he’ll get another chance, urging him to go to that fireworks festival now while he can.

The kitchen manager announces that everyone has to stay late to prep for an event the following morning, and Min-joon clocks Jung-won’s disappointment. When it comes close to the time that she’s supposed to meet Hae-sung, she asks the kitchen manager for permission to go. But he tells her not to even think about it, and Min-joon stays silent.

But a few minutes later, Min-joon intervenes and dismisses those who have to leave. Jung-won thanks him and runs out, and Min-joon tells the kitchen manager that he needs to step out for a few minutes, but will peel all the shellfish in Jung-won’s place.

Hae-sung leaves for the festival, but he stops to deep-bow to Mr. Mystery, who waves him away weakly. But Hae-sung is still in the hospital when his chest pains him again, and he thinks smart and follows the pain signals, looking for the person who could be triggering them.

They lead him to an elevator, where he takes the stairwell just as Tae-hoon’s mother and father exit the elevator on another floor. They head to the health center for their checkups, and when Hae-sung arrives at their floor, they’re out of sight.

He follows the pain again to the health center entrance, but he pauses when he sees a clock and realizes that he’s late to meet Jung-won. Another stab of pain reminds him that he needs to find the killer, and he hears Mr. Mystery’s voice telling him not to put things off.

Hae-sung makes his decision and starts to enter the health center. But a doctor bumps into him, making him drop his MP3 player, and he thinks about Jung-won and how badly she wanted to see the fireworks. Hae-sung realizes what he actually wants, and he runs to meet Jung-won.

When Jung-won leaves work, she sees an old woman outside, loading cardboard onto a cart. The cart overbalances and starts to roll down the hill, but Jung-won is too far away to catch it. Min-joon suddenly shows up and stops the cart safely, and Jung-won breathes a sigh of relief.

But as he’s helping the woman pick up her cardboard, a car comes around the corner too fast and plows into Min-joon. He rolls over the hood and falls onto the street, unconscious. Jung-won stands frozen in fear.

She goes to the hospital with Min-joon, who’s suffered a severe head trauma. She sees the time and wonders what to do, but the nurse needs a guardian to stay with Min-joon. Jung-won agrees, since Min-joon has no family.

Hae-sung runs all the way to the festival, begging Jung-won in his mind to wait for him. When he arrives, he looks around frantically, but Jung-won is nowhere to be seen. The fireworks begin, and Hae-sung stares up at the sky, begging, “No, not yet!”

 
COMMENTS

I’m just devastated to learn that Hae-sung’s time back in the world is limited, even though I’ve suspected it from the very beginning. Even without that sure knowledge, so many moments in this episode were about bad timing and missed opportunities, and it’s becoming clear that the show is trying to tell us that Jung-won and Hae-sung are on borrowed time. There’s still something between them, especially on Hae-sung’s end since for him, he’s just picking up exactly where he left off. And I think that after twelve years, Jung-won wasn’t initially feeling anything for Hae-sung other than gratitude for having him back and fondness for her first love, but it’s obvious that those feelings are coming back for her, too.

But she’s also realizing that Min-joon is an attractive man too, and he has a lot going for him that Hae-sung doesn’t have. He’s mature, with life experience and a successful career, and he’s every bit as thoughtful and sweet as Hae-sung. The only thing he doesn’t have that Hae-sung does is a history with her. But he’s trying his hardest to put himself in front of her and get her to notice him without crossing any personal or professional boundaries. And while I’m crushed to learn that Hae-sung won’t be allowed to stay and make a new life with Jung-won, it’s comforting to know that he’ll be leaving her with someone who is a lot like him, and who loves Jung-won, too.

It’s an interesting twist to learn that the pain Hae-sung experiences whenever he’s near the person related to his death will recede over time. It puts a time limit on his ability to use the pain to lead him to answers, so he’s got to step up his game if he wants to learn who is causing his pain and why. I don’t think he’s truly that interested in learning more about his own death because as far as he knows, it was an honest accident. But he suspects that whoever is causing his pain was also involved in Jung-chul’s murder, and discovering who it is and what they know could be the key to clearing Hae-sung’s name and freeing his brothers and sisters from the limitations that being related to a murderer has caused their whole adult lives. Hae-sung’s pain is already lessening every time it happens, so he needs to hurry if he wants to solve this mystery and help his family.

I’m very worried about Soo-ji’s health concerns, for multiple reasons. It sounds like she’s been very sick but has been hiding it, but now she needs an organ transplant and her siblings are the best possible matches. She probably needs a kidney or a liver, since they’re looking for a live donor—maybe she’s diabetic? The actual blood relations among the five brothers and sisters is still unclear, but my guess is that Hae-sung and Hae-chul are related, as are Young-in and Young-joon, just based on their names. They’ve said that Young-joon and Hae-sung aren’t “real” brothers, and I’m guessing that since the doctor suggested Young-in get tested as a possible donor, that Soo-ji could be Young-in and Young-joon’s biological sister. And now that Hae-sung has learned that he’s not back for good and will have to leave again soon, all this talk of organ transplants just makes me that much more concerned.

It really broke my heart when Jung-won told Hae-sung that he can’t be his siblings’ big brother anymore, because they’ve all become adults while he was away. It just slams home that much harder that Hae-sung got left behind in the twelve years that he was dead. It’s understandable that he’s still trying to be their oppa and hyung, but the painful truth is that all of them besides Soo-ji are older than he is now. It’s so sad to think of what a wonderful family patriarch he would have been if he had been able to grow up along with them, but it’s never going to happen now. I think that Hae-sung’s instincts to guide and protect his family are too ingrained for him to ever be able to let go of his need to get involved, but I do hope he can figure out a way to do that that doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.

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