Reunited Worlds: Episodes 13-14

by LollyPip

Hae-sung’s return is having a profound effect on Jung-won, both in her relationship with Hae-sung himself and in her relationships with others. Confusing feelings are bubbling to the surface, causing Jung-won to behave in ways that are baffling even to her. She’s changing in a lot of ways, and all for the better, thanks to Hae-sung’s joyful influence.

 
EPISODE 13 RECAP

Hae-sung runs to meet Jung-won at the fireworks festival, but he hasn’t found her by the time the fireworks start. He looks around at the happy families and friends enjoying the festival, knowing he’s missed his second and probably last chance to share it with Jung-won.

Meanwhile, Jung-won stays with Min-joon at the hospital after his accident, knowing that he has nobody else to be with him. Min-joon wakes, sore but okay, and he reminds Jung-won that she had plans tonight. She’s reluctant to leave him in his condition, but he strongly urges her to go.

Jung-won runs to the festival, but it’s all over by the time she arrives. Luckily Hae-sung is still there, and when he learns why she’s so late, he’s genuinely glad to hear that Min-joon is all right. He doesn’t do a very good job hiding his disappointment that she missed the fireworks, but when Jung-won says he’s making her feel bad, he perks up and says it’s okay.

Jung-won decides they can still have their picnic, so she has Hae-sung set things up while she runs an errand. She comes back waving sparklers and runs in circles, then does the same silly dance she did in high school to make Hae-sung laugh all over again.

At the end of the evening, Hae-sung rides Jung-won’s bus to her stop and watches her from above as she heads to her apartment. They wave goodnight over and over like teenagers, then somehow Hae-sung ends up in Jung-won’s apartment watching a scary movie while she eats popcorn.

Jung-won mindlessly reaches over and feeds Hae-sung some popcorn, which surprises him. She offers him another bite, but this time she turns and sees the look he’s giving her. Jung-won feels the tension too, so she slowly moves the popcorn to her own mouth instead.

But Hae-sung follows the popcorn with his lips until he bump noses with Jung-won, and they both freeze. They stay like that for a long time, then Jung-won closes her eyes, and Hae-sung moves in to kiss her. Jung-won slowly turns into his kiss… then she wakes up.

What, it was just a dream?! AUGH. Jung-won smiles at the memory of kissing Hae-sung in her dream, then she shakes some sense into herself and hides, embarrassed, under the covers.

In the morning, Hae-sung goes back to the hospital, hoping to feel the pain in his chest that signals that the person involved in his death is nearby. Nothing triggers the pain, so he goes back to Tae-hoon’s mall, but he doesn’t feel anything there, either.

Finally he decides to leave, and just as he steps outside, the pain hits. CEO Cha, Tae-hoon’s father, is nearby sitting in his car, but Hae-sung doesn’t see him. CEO Cha sees Hae-sung, though, and seems to find him familiar.

He instructs his driver to leave, then gets a call from Min-joon’s aunt. He’s not interested in talking to her, but she says a police officer visited her at her husband’s funeral (CEO Cha’s former driver, and the man who took the fall for Hae-sung’s death). CEO Cha reluctantly meets with her and she tells him that the policeman — Ho-bang — was asking questions about Hae-sung’s accident.

CEO Cha offers her money, but Min-joon’s aunt says that she came to ask him why her husband accepted his ridiculous offer twelve years ago. She says she knows it wasn’t about the money and demands to know the truth. CEO Cha simply warns her to keep her mouth shut.

Min-joon’s aunt visits her nephew in the hospital and gives him a photograph of him and his uncle together. She says she’s moving to Australia, and cries with pity over how Min-joon’s mother died when he was only ten and his father refused to acknowledge him. Min-joon sweetly tells her not to cry.

Hae-sung spends the morning fixing Jung-won’s leaky bathroom sink. He sticks a note to her fridge and leaves, and he’s startled to find Mr. Mystery standing right outside her door. Mr. Mystery is full of mischief today, asking if this is Hae-sung’s girlfriend’s place.

When the landlord makes her way up the stairs, Hae-sung tries to make himself scarce. The landlord fusses at Hae-sung because Jung-won hasn’t paid her rent yet, threatening to move her things out of the apartment immediately.

In her anger, the landlord tries to shove past Mr. Mystery and trips over her own feet. He catches her in his arms and gives her a swoony grin, making her melt. When he asks if she’s really kicking Jung-won out, she stammers that she’ll just be leaving now. Ha.

Mr. Mystery takes Hae-sung to lunch, where Hae-sung asks how he made enough money to pay for his son’s hospital bills. He says he’s frustrated because he wants to make money to help his family and friends, but he can’t get a job because he has no ID.

Mr. Mystery tells Hae-sung that he was born in 1910, and that he was a ginseng digger when he was alive. One day he found a very big, very old wild ginseng in the woods, and he left it there and came to Seoul to find a buyer. But his boat capsized as he was crossing the Han River, and he drowned.

So when he came back to the world of the living, he went back to check on that ginseng, and found it still there and even bigger than before. He dug it up and sold it, making plenty of money to pay his son’s hospital fees and Jung-won’s debt. He tells Hae-sung that he wants to give what’s left to him, insisting even when Hae-sung tries to turn down his generous offer.

At the restaurant, the waitress tells Jung-won that there are two scary-looking men waiting for her, and Jung-won guesses that it’s the loan sharks back to harass her. She goes to confront them, and they tell her that they recalculated what she owes and discovered that she’s paid them off completely.

She’s skeptical, but they hand over her promissory note and tell her to rip it up. Jung-won tears a tiny piece, then more when they urge her to continue, then she gleefully rips it to shreds. The loan sharks say that they never have to see each other again now, and quickly get out of there. Jung-won falls to her knees, excitedly shrieking that she’s debt-free.

The loan sharks find Mr. Mystery and Hae-sung waiting in an alley and report that they did as they were instructed and told Jung-won that she’s paid them off. They assure Mr. Mystery that he’s paid off her debt in full, and he dismisses them. Hae-sung bows low and thanks Mr. Mystery, who grins that he’s just repaying Hae-sung’s kindness by settling the debt Jung-won incurred in order to pay his grandmother’s hospital fees.

That night, Hae-sung and Jung-won go for a walk, and she tells him that her debt is clear. He pretends not to know about it and congratulates her, enjoying her excitement. She walks backwards in front of him, saying that she feels like only good things have happened since he came back, but then she trips and falls on her rear.

Hae-sung rushes to her as she crouches on the ground, her shoulders shaking like she’s crying. But she’s just laughing because she found a coin, repeating that she’s having such good luck these days.

Jin-ju calls Jung-won to invite her and Hae-sung to hang out with her and their friends, so Jung-won lies that she’s working late. Jin-ju rejoins Ho-bang, who’s ranting in the store about Tae-hoon and Moon-shik joining them. Awww, he was hoping for some alone time with Jin-ju.

Jung-won wants to see a scary movie, and she makes a point to say she wants popcorn. HAHA, she’s trying to recreate her dream, isn’t she? Unfortunately, Hae-sung can’t get into the movie without ID, so Jung-won suggests they watch a movie at her place.

They make popcorn, and Jung-won tells Hae-sung to turn out the lights. When Hae-sung sits down, she scoots over so she’s practically sitting in his lap — okay, she’s totally trying to recreate her dream.

Hae-sung enjoys teasing Jung-won for being so scared, and she mutes the sound to lower the creepy factor. They hear voices outside the front door and realize it’s their friends and, oblivious to Jung-won’s plans for the evening, Hae-sung jumps up to answer the door.

Jung-won grabs him, slinging one arm around his neck and clapping a hand over his mouth. They go stock-still, their faces mere inches apart.

 
EPISODE 14 RECAP

In a whisper, Jung-won confesses to Hae-sung that she told their friends she’s still at work. Outside, everyone settles on the landing to drink and eat snacks, and poor Ho-bang is so frustrated at having his plan to be alone with Jin-ju thwarted.

Jin-ju goes inside Jung-won’s place for some kimchi, and luckily Jung-won thought ahead and dragged Hae-sung to hide with her behind the TV. They crouch together, nose-to-nose, until Jin-ju leaves again, which is when Hae-sung finally notices that Jung-won is right there in his face with her arms around his neck.

Jung-won jumps back, and Hae-sung says they should show themselves, as they listen to their friends eating and drinking outside. Heh, every time Jin-ju loses a game, Ho-bang tries to kiss her as her “penalty.”

Hae-sung gets a cramp in his leg and stands up, but Jung-won yanks him back down when Jin-ju comes inside again. There’s another moment of awareness after Jin-ju leaves, and Jung-won remembers her dream and puckers up. But Hae-sung doesn’t even notice because of his aching legs, and he begs her to let him stand up. Oof, I’m so embarrassed for you right now.

Suddenly they realize that it’s gone quiet outside, and they assume their friends have left. They move to the couch where Jung-won apologizes for lying, but Hae-sung gets hot and decides to go out for some fresh air.

But their friends are still there — they’ve just upped the difficulty of their drinking games by playing them silently. Jung-won and Hae-sung step outside just as Ho-bang is getting slapped for trying to kiss Jin-ju again, and everyone screams.

HAHA, Hae-sung and Jung-won jump back inside, then they realize that looked stupid, so they go back out like it’s no biggie. Their friends demand an explanation, so Jung-won feigns a headache and goes in, totally throwing Hae-sung to the wolves. So much for loyalty.

Later, Hae-sung leaves with their buddies, and Jin-ju turns to Hae-sung with a suspicious look in her eye. His friends all leap on him at once, beating him up before running off. So cute.

The next day, Hae-sung finds his youngest sister Soo-ji fuming after a fight with Young-in. The subject of their disagreement is Hae-sung’s idea of the siblings all having a meal together, but Young-in refuses to be in the same room with Hae-chul. According to Hae-sung, Hae-chul had the same reaction.

They go inside to talk to Young-in, who tells Hae-sung that six years ago, Hae-chul stole the only thing she owned of her birth mother: a gold necklace. Hae-sung promises to make Hae-chul apologize, but Soo-ji backs up her sister. She also refuses to see Hae-chul, because he abandoned them and left the sisters struggling to survive alone.

Hae-sung goes to see Hae-chul at work, confronting him about stealing Young-in’s necklace. Hae-chul doesn’t deny it, but he also refuses to see Young-in, saying that an apology now won’t solve anything. He admits that he’s a huge jerk for what he did, and he yells that someone as horrible as he is has no right to even talk to Young-in.

Hae-sung reserves a gorgeous dining room for five, taking Young-in and Soo-ji. Hae-chul shows up (yay, Hae-sung convinced him!), and Young-in turns to glower at Hae-sung angrily. Hae-sung asks her to just listen to Hae-chul, but she and Soo-ji get up to leave.

Hae-sung manages to convince the sisters to stay, and Hae-chul hands Young-in a bankbook. He says it’s not much, but he’s been depositing whatever was in his pockets at the end of every day for three years, hoping to repay her someday. Young-in opens the bankbook and sees that it’s true, and that Hae-chul has accumulated the equivalent of more than three thousand dollars.

He says that he didn’t know the necklace had so much significance, explaining that his daughter had just been born when he stole it, so he was desperate for money. But he refuses to make excuses and just says again that he’s sorry.

Young-in obviously didn’t know she has a niece, and the fire goes out of her eyes. Hae-sung goes to the door to beckon to little Gong-ju, who walks in carrying a cake. She takes it to Young-in and chirps an adorable “Happy Birthday!” to her aunt. (I’m totally not crying right now, not at all.)

Completely disarmed, Soo-ji asks Gong-ju’s name, and Young-in blows out her candles and thanks her niece. Hae-chul and Hae-sung look on happily as Young-in, Soo-ji, and Gong-ju share a big hug.

Tae-hoon approaches Young-in later at work, and he hands her a used newspaper to “take care of.” She goes to throw it away, but she feels something inside. She pulls out a jewelry box with a note on it wishing her a happy birthday. Inside the box is a gorgeous necklace, with five circles of diamonds on it (aww, are the five circles for the five siblings?).

Min-joon arrives at work to see his father and his wife outside with Tae-hoon. It’s CEO Cha and his wife’s anniversary, and Min-joon listens incredulously as CEO Cha fawns over Tae-hoon.

Once seated, Tae-hoon calls over Jung-won to meet his parents, and he asks to meet the chef she’s spoken so highly of. Unaware of their connection, Jung-won takes Tae-hoon upstairs to Min-joon’s office. Of course Tae-hoon doesn’t recognize Min-joon, having only seen him once as a small child.

Tae-hoon goes back downstairs to find his father gone from the table. Min-joon runs into CEO Cha outside the men’s room, and the two go outside to talk. Jung-won is in the storeroom, and she accidentally overhears CEO Cha asking Min-joon not to tell Tae-hoon that they’re brothers.

Min-joon snaps that CEO Cha doesn’t let people say what can’t be known, and he neglects those he doesn’t need. He tells his father that he has no plans to tell Tae-hoon they’re brothers, but he makes it clear that it’s by his own choice, not because CEO Cha ordered it.

Back in the kitchen, Jung-won can see that Min-joon is upset and preoccupied. Tae-hoon’s table orders a special dish that is usually served by the chef, but Jung-won insists on serving it instead, making the excuse that it’s her friend’s table. Min-joon gratefully allows her to do it herself.

After work, Jung-won invites Min-joon to have a drink with her. She tells him that she accidentally eavesdropped and heard that her friend Tae-hoon is his half-brother. (How sad, Min-joon didn’t even know his brother’s name.) She’s surprised when Min-joon says he’s glad she knows, because now he has someone he can bad-mouth his father to.

He says he wants to give her a gift to thank her, then takes her to a claw machine where he brags that he can get any stuffed animal she wants. Jung-won points out a teddy bear, and Min-joon proceeds to lose the game over and over.

Eventually he gives up, covering his embarrassment by blaming his failure on his medications, but Jung-won decides to give it a shot. She gets the teddy bear on the first try as Min-joon pouts adorably. Jung-won gives him the bear, which is dressed as a patient and even has the same bandages as Min-joon, and he takes it with the cutest bashful smile.

He walks Jung-won to her bus stop, where he thanks her for keeping him company when he was feeling alone. He sees her onto her bus and waves goodbye, looking about as lovestruck as he could possibly look.

On another bus, Hae-sung and Mr. Mystery talk about Jung-won. Hae-sung says that he likes her a lot, and that he thinks she likes him back. But he adds that strangely, he feels like he shouldn’t like her. Mr. Mystery asks if it’s because he doesn’t know when he’ll have to go back, and if he worries about hurting her when he goes.

Hae-sung says yes, so Mr. Mystery tells him not to worry so much about tomorrow, or what other people think. He changes the subject and starts to rattle on and on about foods he likes, as Hae-sung turns to stare out the window.

Suddenly Mr. Mystery stops talking, right in the middle of a sentence. Oh no. Hae-sung turns back to him, but there’s only a small note left where he was sitting. Mr. Mystery is gone.

Hae-sung gets off the bus at Jung-won’s stop, and he stands there with tears in his eyes until Jung-won arrives and finds him. Hae-sung turns to her and breathes her name, then gives her a heartbreakingly sad smile.

 
COMMENTS

Wait, no, I’m not ready! I’m not ready to lose Mr. Mystery, I love him so much, and I’m not ready for Hae-sung to lose the closest thing to a father he’s ever had. I’m definitely not ready to face the reality that Hae-sung’s time is limited. And it scares me how it happens… Mr. Mystery was just here, and then gone. Will Hae-sung just disappear with no warning? Hopefully he’ll be able to feel it coming like Mr. Mystery did, and get a chance to say his goodbyes first. But for now I hope Hae-sung takes Mr. Mystery’s advice to heart and says and does what he wants while he can, because the only thing worse than his leaving again would be if he left with regrets.

Hae-sung and Jung-won really turned up the heat in this episode, and I love that it was Jung-won who felt the effects of the sexual tension the most. It makes perfect narrative sense, since she is the adult in the situation, chronologically. And as a woman myself, I really appreciate it when the heroine is the one staying up late at night thinking about kissing and whatnot, instead of a show trying to pass off a grown woman as being all innocent and virginal. It’s Hae-sung who seems very immature in this arena, at times, the way he sometimes registers the tense moments and sometimes misses them completely even when Jung-won clearly feels them.

But as much as I love Hae-sung and Jung-won together, I also like her with Min-joon, who seems so much like the man Hae-sung would have grown up to be had he been given the chance to grow up. I’ve said before that Min-joon is very like Hae-sung — mature, responsible, kind, and thoughtful — and if this were just a drama about Min-joon courting Jung-won, I’d be the captain of that ship. I love how their friendship is developing, with respect and genuine caring, and how Min-joon never pushes Jung-won or tries to make her do something she doesn’t want to do, either personally or professionally. He supports her in her career and always lets her make her own decisions. I even love that Min-joon has those adorable awkward moments, which keep him from being too perfect. Even though he’s jealous, Hae-sung appears to like and respect Min-joon as well. If it’s true that Hae-sung won’t be able to stay with Jung-won, then I think he’ll be comforted to leave her with a man like Min-joon, who will treat her every bit as well as Hae-sung himself would if he could.

And I’m starting to think that that’s how things will turn out, because everything in the show seems to be foreshadowing it. It’s telling that when Jung-won and Hae-sung were trying to meet for the fireworks, Fate or the universe or whatever stopped them and made sure Jung-won was with Min-joon instead. In fact, there are a lot of hints as to how Hae-sung’s story will end… there are the obvious hints like Mr. Mystery disappearing once his purpose for being back is fulfilled, but there are a lot of smaller clues that make me think that Hae-sung’s time in the living world will be short. Even the necklace that Tae-hoon gave to Young-in felt like a message, with the four smaller circles flanking a single large circle, which made me think of Hae-sung and his brothers and sisters.

And yet, it’s no comfort to know what will probably happen, that Hae-sung will most likely disappear once he’s reunited his family and solved the mysteries from the night he died. His being back only proves how much his family and friends need him, but I guess that a large part of why he returned was to show them that even without him, they can still be happy and together. It’s just so difficult when we have a character who is so essential, and so influential in the lives of everyone who knows him, to imagine how they can ever be okay when he’s gone. His death broke all of them in some way, and his leaving is only going to break their hearts all over again.

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