Reunited Worlds: Episodes 15-16

by LollyPip

These two are killing me. Their love is so sweet and innocent, and based as much on deep caring and friendship as anything romantic. But Hae-sung has more urgent things to think about, as his chance for catching his killer is literally fading away. Time is growing short, and he needs to decide which is more important — arranging for his loved ones after he’s gone, or living as much as he can while he’s still here.

 
EPISODE 15 RECAP

Jung-won is worried when she finds Hae-sung crying at the bus stop, having just seen Mr. Mystery fade back to where he came from. He doesn’t tell her what’s wrong, so she just hugs him tightly, giving what comfort she can.

Later, Hae-sung asks why Jung-won didn’t ask why he cried. She says that he would have told her if he’d had a good reason, and he doesn’t correct her. She says he can always talk to her if he’s having a hard time, because she’s gained a lot of strength from him and she wants to return the favor.

She lays her head on Hae-sung’s shoulder, then stands to go inside. She says that he’ll feel better tomorrow, and even better as time goes on. In the middle of her sentence, Hae-sung reaches up and grabs her in a hug. Jung-won starts to say something else, but Hae-sung ends the hug and leaves.

While waiting for his bus, Hae-sung finally reads the note that Mr. Mystery left behind:

Hae-sung-ah, there’s no time for you to worry and be sad. Do everything you’ve always wanted to do, so that you don’t regret anything in the future. Take care of yourself, and thank you. By the way, Hae-sung, my name is Ahn Tae-bok.

Hae-sung promises to do his best, and starts by telling Ho-bang about how his chest hurts whenever he’s near the person who killed him. Ho-bang is excited, and Hae-sung says that now they know that CEO Cha’s driver wasn’t really responsible, since he’s felt the pain since the man died.

They wonder why someone would accept blame for a death they didn’t cause, and speculate if the real killer also had something to do with the death of Jung-chul, the bully that Hae-sung was said to have killed before his accident. Hae-sung notes that in both cases, the person who took the blame was not the guilty party.

Ho-bang tells Hae-sung to call him when he feels the pain again. Hae-sung agrees, but he tells Ho-bang that it’s less painful each time and he’s worried it will soon fade completely. Ho-bang says they have to catch the culprit before that happens.

He makes a visit to CEO Cha to ask some questions, since it was his driver (Min-joon’s uncle) who was said to be driving the car that hit Hae-sung. CEO Cha remembers the incident, and when Ho-bang says that he suspects someone else could have been driving the car, CEO Cha grows nervous.

He asks what makes Ho-bang think that, but Ho-bang skirts the question. He asks if there’s anyone who works at the Chungho mall now who might have had access to the car back then, and CEO Cha offers to have a list sent to him.

On his way out, Ho-bang tells CEO Cha that he’s friends with Tae-hoon. CEO Cha makes the appropriate friendly noises, but after Ho-bang leaves, that fact seems to bother him. Ho-bang reports back to Hae-sung that even though he’s met CEO Cha several times, he didn’t appear to recognize him today.

The two friends decide to look for a place to live, and Ho-bang teaches Hae-sung how to search for apartments on a cell phone. Heads close together, they argue cutely over whether it’s better to have a big kitchen or a big bedroom. Then they realize how they must sound to the other customers in the coffee shop, hee.

At the restaurant, Min-joon announces that they’re hiring another kitchen assistant, and that next week they’ll be working on new menu ideas. He asks the employees to each develop a unique dish for consideration, and as soon as he’s finished talking, Jung-won runs off.

She leaves instead of eating lunch with everyone, sparking rumors that she has a boyfriend. Min-joon gets cranky and goes up to his office to frown at the teddy bear Jung-won won for him. He remembers her making sandwiches the other day and wonders who they were for.

Hae-sung visits Hae-chul at work, and they’re both surprised when Jung-won shows up with a surprise lunch she packed for them. Hae-sung digs in happily, but Hae-chul takes one bite and looks startled, heh. Jung-won heads back to work, saying that they’re extra busy because they haven’t hired a new assistant yet, and Hae-chul suggests that Hae-sung apply for the kitchen assistant job.

Hospital Director Sohn calls Young-joon to her office and instructs him to give CEO Cha and his wife their physical results personally. A colleague asks her if that’s standard practice, and she says, right in front of Young-joon, that CEO Cha will be her daughter Seo-won’s father-in-law. She knows that Young-joon and Seo-won are already engaged, and she tells her colleague that she can’t fire Young-joon, so she’s trying to get him to quit the hospital of his own accord.

Young-joon delivers the test results to CEO Cha at the mall office, and seeing him reminds CEO Cha of Hae-sung, and thinking that he looked familiar the other day. Young-joon thanks CEO Cha for his help going to medical school, and when CEO Cha asks after his siblings, Young-joon admits that he doesn’t see them much.

Once Young-joon leaves, CEO Cha’s assistant reports that Min-joon’s aunt has moved out of the country and changed her phone number. CEO Cha calls Min-joon, who is busy working on dishes for the menu and declines his call.

Min-joon is distracted by thoughts of Jung-won with a boyfriend, imagining her on a picnic, gazing lovingly at a faceless man. He sits outside the restaurant to brood, and Hae-sung finds him there when he comes to return Jung-won’s lunchbox. Min-joon relaxes when he realizes that Jung-won made the lunch for Hae-sung, who he thinks is just her cousin.

He takes the lunchbox inside to Jung-won and gets asked if he saw Jung-won’s boyfriend. He teases Jung-won, saying that he’s a handsome younger man, and Jung-won runs outside to catch up to Hae-sung.

The satisfied grin on Min-joon’s face fades when his father walks into the restaurant, angry that he didn’t answer his call. They talk outside, where CEO Cha demands his aunt’s new phone number, but Min-joon refuses to give it to him.

While he’s sending Jung-won back to work, Hae-sung feels the pain in his chest again. He runs inside and looks around, anxious to catch his killer before the pain disappears completely. But CEO Cha doesn’t come back inside, and Hae-sung’s pain fades as he drives away.

Hae-sung finds Ho-bang to tell him what happened, frustrated that he couldn’t pinpoint anyone suspicious. They decide that it makes sense for him to spend as much time at the restaurant as possible in case the person returns, so Hae-sung tells Jung-won that he wants to apply for the kitchen assistant position.

Excited, Jung-won takes Hae-sung to talk to Min-joon. Thinking to kill two birds with one stone, Min-joon agrees to let Hae-sung create a new dish for the menu, and if his dish is chosen he’ll get the job.

Hae-sung walks Jung-won home, and she asks him inside to eat. He reminds her that they just had dinner on the way home and leaves, and she pouts that she didn’t invite him inside because she was actually hungry. HA.

The next morning, Jung-won discovers that someone is moving into the empty apartment next door. She’s surprised to see that it’s Ho-bang, and he informs her that he’ll have a roommate — Hae-sung. Aw, they’re neighbors, yay!

Hae-sung and Jung-won begin working on new recipe ideas, and Jung-won is amazed at Hae-sung’s ability to taste every little ingredient in a dish. They spend time trying new foods and deconstructing them, and decide to create a gnocchi dish for Hae-sung’s kitchen test.

 
EPISODE 16 RECAP

Hae-sung practices his gnocchi dish at Jung-won’s place, and they agree that it’s good, but that it’s missing something. He takes the leftovers next door to Ho-bang’s, who has some of his work buddies over for a housewarming party (heh, it’s cute how Ho-bang has a little trouble introducing Hae-sung as his dongsaeng).

One of the detectives feeds Hae-sung some sliced beef from their grill, and he suddenly realizes that this is the ingredient his pasta is missing. He runs next door to whip up another plate, and this time he and Jung-won agree that it’s perfect.

The kitchen test is the next day, and Jung-won watches nervously as Hae-sung cooks up his gnocchi dish. By the end, Hae-sung and the sous chef are the top two dishes, which are pitted against each other in a test similar to Jung-won’s kitchen test.

When the mushrooms are counted, Hae-sung has eight, while the sous chef has only two. Hae-sung’s dish is added to the new menu, and he’s offered the job of kitchen assistant. Even the sous chef admits that Hae-sung’s dish was far superior.

Min-joon speaks to Hae-sung in his office and says that he’s amazed at Hae-sung’s cooking ability. He says that Jung-won must be very excited to work with Hae-sung, because he can tell she’s extremely fond of him.

That night, Hae-sung and Jung-won sit on their balcony, and Hae-sung cringes girlishly when he catches Jung-won staring at his chest. She says she was just imagining how he’ll look in a kitchen uniform, and she predicts that in ten years he’ll probably have his own restaurant.

Hae-sung’s smile droops, knowing that he won’t be here in ten years. Jung-won misunderstands and thinks he feels pressured, so says that she’ll expect him to be successful in fifteen years, then.

She produces a necklace, the silver one with the fork and knife pendant. She wishes for Hae-sung to become a successful chef, and tells him that she got the necklace for him for his nineteenth birthday, but never got a chance to give it to him. She takes it back and puts it on for him, flustering Hae-sung with her nearness.

While their faces are close, Jung-won coughs, and accidentally plants a kiss on Hae-sung’s cheek. They both react with shock, and Jung-won swears she didn’t do that on purpose. She goes inside, and before he goes to bed, Hae-sung puts the silver necklace away in a drawer.

Tae-hoon grins dreamily as he drives to meet Young-in, who invited him to lunch. Oh yeah, boy’s got it bad. He’s surprised that Soo-ji is waiting with Young-in, and Soo-ji cheekily calls him out for looking disappointed to see her.

He gives her a pair of sneakers he brought for her, blatantly calling it a bribe so that she’ll leave. Soo-ji even fusses at Young-in for inviting her when Tae-hoon is obviously a smitten kitten for her, then she takes off.

Tae-hoon and Young-in enjoy their lunch, discovering that they have the same preferences in everything from food, to which way toilet paper roll should face. Tae-hoon sees that Young-in is wearing the bracelet he gave her (my mistake, I thought it was a necklace), and she says that it’s been a long time since anyone got her a gift.

Seo-won, Min-joon’s school friend (and Young-joon’s fiancee), brings a friend to Min-joon’s restaurant with the idea of setting them up. Her friend is impressed by Min-joon’s looks and obvious intelligence, then she spots Jung-won and recognizes her.

They go to the ladies’ room after their meal, and the friend tells Seo-won that she went to high school with Jung-won. She says that Jung-won was famous because she had a boyfriend who died in a car accident because of her, and that she cut ties with all of her friends after that.

They leave the ladies’ room, and Jung-won comes out of a stall, having heard everything. Hearing herself blamed for Hae-sung’s accident brings it all back to the surface, and she fights back tears.

Seo-won talks with Min-joon later, asking him what he thinks of her friend. Min-joon says that he already likes someone, producing his teddy bear as proof. Seo-won pouts, then she asks if he knows about Jung-won, unaware that she’s the person he likes.

She tells Min-joon what her friend told her: that Jung-won had a boyfriend in high school, that he died because of her, and that she cut herself off from her friends. Seo-won isn’t being mean, in fact she feels sympathy for Jung-won, but Min-joon is still taken aback to hear it. He goes down to the kitchen and watches Jung-won working distractedly, a strange look on his face.

Ho-bang invites all of their friends over for a party, and they drink to Ho-bang’s new apartment. Ho-bang shows off the slippers that He-sung and Jung-won got for him as a housewarming gift (one foot each, lol), Tae-hoon presents the air conditioner he bought, and Moon-shik points out that he installed it.

Jin-ju gives Ho-bang a bottle of herbal liquor, guaranteed to make sexy nights even sexier. She tells Ho-bang to drink it with someone special, and he blurts out, “I’m going to drink it with you!” Oh sweetheart, you’re cute but you have no filter.

Hae-sung worries when it gets late and Jung-won isn’t home yet. She’s still at the restaurant, huddled in a corner, thinking about her old classmate blaming her for Hae-sung’s death. Min-joon comes downstairs and sees her there, crying piteously, but he walks away from her.

The next morning, Jung-won finds Hae-sung waiting for her when she steps outside. He asks if everything is okay, and she says the restaurant was just busy last night. Hae-sung says happily that going to work together reminds him of how they would ride to school every morning, but he looks uncomfortable when Jung-won doesn’t react.

She smiles obligingly, but again Hae-sung can tell something is off. When the bus arrives, Jung-won makes an excuse not to ride to work with him and sends him off alone.

Hae-sung suits up in his chef coat and apron, and goes out to the dining room. He thinks to himself that this is his best chance of catching his killer, so that he can prove his innocence and leave his siblings, and Jung-won, to live happy lives.

Back in the kitchen, Min-joon straightens Hae-sung’s nametag and introduces him to the rest of the staff. Min-joon assigns cheerful kitchen worker Ji-soo to be Hae-sung’s mentor, and they all get to work.

Min-joon pulls Jung-won aside to speak privately, and he takes her up to the roof where she rejected him. He admits that his feelings for her haven’t changed, and Jung-won says regretfully that her feelings haven’t changed, either. Min-joon accepts that if she doesn’t like him, then she just doesn’t like him, and he can’t change that.

But he adds that if there’s another reason, then he can’t accept that. Jung-won asks him what he means, and he says that he thinks she’s used to pushing people away. He tells her that he can no longer keep his promise to just quietly be there for her, and says that he plans to start liking her again.

Ji-soo sends Hae-sung to toss a stack of empty boxes. Outside, CEO Cha and his wife arrive, and though CEO Cha looks unhappy about being here, he hasn’t got a good reason to leave without telling his wife about Min-joon. He sends her inside first so he can have a smoke.

After a cigarette and a good whine, CEO Cha heads for the restaurant’s front door. Meanwhile, Hae-sung carries the boxes through the dining room, heading outside with them. As the two near each other, Hae-sung feels the familiar pain clutching at his chest.

He looks up, and he and CEO Cha lock gazes.

 
COMMENTS

I’d been worried that something would bring Jung-won’s guilt over Hae-sung’s death back to the forefront, because she and Hae-sung have never really talked about it, and they really, really need to talk about it. I felt so bad for Jung-won as she was sobbing all alone, but it’s good that this is resurfacing so that she can face her guilt and shame at what happened. Hae-sung exposing his real killer will help, because I suspect that his “accident” wasn’t as much of an accident as we’ve been led to believe. I’m glad, at least, that what triggered Jung-won wasn’t any meanness on the part of her old classmate, and that Seo-won only told Min-joon out of sympathy.

But I’m angry with Min-joon for turning away from Jung-won when she needed a friend the most. She was there for him when she accidentally discovered his deep dark secret, even reaching out to comfort him first, and she didn’t judge him for it. But when Min-joon had the chance to return the favor, he didn’t even bother to learn exactly what happened, he just left her there to grieve alone. I still think he’s more involved than we know, possibly even more than he knows, because he has that ribbon that Hae-sung was going to give to Jung-won on the night he died.

I’m not sure what changed overnight that had Min-joon confessing all over again the next day, but it definitely has something to do with learning that Jung-won isolated herself from her friends after Hae-sung died. He thinks that she doesn’t let herself have feelings for him (or anyone) because she’s still traumatized by her loss in high school, and he’s not wrong, he’s just also not exactly right. But it’s not his fault that he doesn’t know that she’s dealing with her old love coming back from the dead, which has got to be messing with her mind and her emotions in a big way. If this were a different drama and these two were the leading couple, I would love Min-joon’s decision not to give up and let Jung-won retreat from life and lose out on love. But this isn’t Min-joon’s love story, and I worry that he’s just going to get his heart broken.

This show does a very good job of withholding information at the right times, and doling out just enough so that we can form some educated theories without knowing for sure what happened on the night Hae-sung died. Small clues are coming together, leading me to form a rough idea of what happened — it seems as though CEO Cha was probably the one driving the car that killed Hae-sung, simply because he’s the one that Hae-sung’s chest pain responds to. I believe that Young-joon, who was the only sibling not at home that night, probably saw what happened and knows the truth (which is probably his real reason for abandoning his family — guilt over betraying them and Hae-sung). I’m guessing that CEO Cha paid off Min-joon’s uncle, his driver, to take the blame for the accident, and that he paid Young-joon’s way through medical school as a payoff for keeping his mouth shut about what really happened that night.

But there are still so many unanswered questions, and the clues don’t really line up perfectly quite yet. We don’t know why Min-joon’s uncle was willing to plead guilty to manslaughter, because although CEO Cha paid him, his wife says that she knows it wasn’t about the money. We don’t know why Young-joon would have been willing to sell out so easily, because although he was already an angry young man, Hae-sung had never done anything but protect and defend him. And the big question is, who really killed Jung-chul, and how does his death tie in with Hae-sung’s? I think that it was either Tae-hoon, which is why his father was willing to cover everything up, or Young-joon, who had both motive and opportunity.

Regardless of what happened that night, it’s clear that all of the people involved are committed to keeping their secrets. I have a feeling that we haven’t even scratched the surface of the truth, and that we have a long way to go before we know what really happened that night. Hae-sung is going to have a hell of a time proving anything, much less his own innocence in Jung-chul’s murder, when he can’t even explain how he’s back from the dead after twelve years.

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