Reunited Worlds: Episodes 21-22

by LollyPip

Whoever said angels don’t exist has obviously never met our Hae-sung. While he still has a lot of lessons to learn and to teach, he never stops thinking of those around him first and does all he can to take care of them. As he faces his own mortality all over again, it takes a very special person to worry more about others than he does about himself.

 
EPISODE 21 RECAP

CEO Cha tells Hae-sung that he knows who killed the bully Jung-chul on the night that Hae-sung died. Hae-sung hesitantly asks who it was, and CEO Cha says with great glee, “It was Young-joon. That night, the person who murdered the student is your brother, Sung Young-joon.”

He explains that he covered up the fact that Young-joon was the killer, then put Young-joon through medical school because he felt sorry for Hae-sung.

Shocked, Hae-sung refuses to believe him. CEO Cha says that he’d better believe him before the others come, and he tosses Hae-sung a document listing all of Young-joon’s school expenses. The document confirms Ha-sung’s worst fears, and unable to face the truth, he runs out of CEO Cha’s office.

He blazes right past Ho-bang, who was bringing Min-joon’s aunt to confront CEO Cha. Ho-bang follows him, leaving Min-joon’s aunt to be found in the lobby by CEO Cha. She doesn’t want to speak to him before Ho-bang gets back, until he offers to reveal the real reason that her husband took the blame for Hae-sung’s accident.

Hae-sung races all the way to Young-joon’s hospital, recalling little things about his brother that don’t add up, such as the fact that he wasn’t home the night Hae-sung died, and how Jung-won saw him with CEO Cha.

He bursts into Young-joon’s office and breathlessly asks where he was the night of the accident. Young-joon haughtily refuses to discuss that night, and tells Hae-sung to get out. Hae-sung asks if CEO Cha put him through school, and Young-joon looks him right in the eye and lies: “No. Why would I receive money from him?”

CEO Cha confirms that he paid Driver Hwang to take the blame for Hae-sung’s death, but he tells Min-joon’s aunt that she’s correct that that wasn’t all. He reveals that the money that Min-joon used to buy his restaurant didn’t come from a family friend as he thought, but from CEO Cha himself — a promise he made to Driver Hwang.

CEO Cha tells Min-joon’s aunt to go back to Australia immediately, unless she wants to see him pull his investment and force Min-joon’s restaurant to go under.

When Hae-sung makes his way back to CEO Cha’s building, Ho-bang tells him that Min-joon’s aunt left. Hae-sung says that he wants to stop investigating his death, and Ho-bang correctly guesses that the reason has to do with Young-joon.

Ho-bang goes to Min-joon to tell him what’s happening, but Min-joon gets a call from his aunt before Ho-bang says anything. Min-joon’s aunt tells him that she’s going home, but she doesn’t elaborate, so Min-joon rushes to the airport.

He wants to know why she’s changed her mind, but all she says is that his uncle took money to take the blame for the accident. She tells Min-joon that they needed the money for their daughter’s surgery, apologizing for keeping it a secret all these years. She advises Min-joon to forget about it and live a happy life.

That night, Jung-won is worried when Hae-sung’s apartment seems empty. She knocks on his door, and although he’s inside sitting in the dark, he doesn’t answer. He lies down on the couch, weighed down by the painful knowledge of Young-joon’s guilt.

The next day, Hae-sung makes a meal for Hae-chul and Soo-ji, looking a lot like the family they were when Hae-sung was alive. A little too much, actually. They’re soon joined by Young-in and then Jung-won, who asks Hae-sung to close the restaurant for the day. Okay, this can’t be real.

Jung-won takes Hae-sung for the full makeover treatment, including a new hairstyle and a brand-new suit (rawr). Once he’s all gorgeous, Jung-won takes him to a ceremony, where he and all of his siblings look on proudly as Young-joon takes his doctor’s oath.

Afterwards, Young-joon thanks Hae-sung for making it possible for him to graduate medical school. He promises to become a good doctor and pay Hae-sung back, even calling him “hyung.” Awww, this is a dream.

Ho-bang tells Hae-sung that Jung-won was worried about him so he told her that it’s nothing serious. But` advises Hae-sung not to worry Jung-won any further, sending him out for some fresh air. Hae-sung gets on a bus and just rides, no real destination in mind.

Angry at his father, Min-joon confronts CEO Cha for answers. CEO Cha confesses that he paid off Driver Hwang to take the blame for the accident, but he refuses to tel Min-joon what he said to make his aunt leave the country. Min-joon vows to make his father pay for what he did to Driver Hwang, brushing aside CEO Cha’s warnings to leave well enough alone. He leaves, passing his stepmother on the way out.

Min-joon almost makes it out without further incident, but Tae-hoon recognizes him in the lobby and stops him to say hello. Tae-hoon has no idea that Min-joon is actually his half-brother, so he’s confused when Min-joon coldly takes his leave.

Having overheard Min-joon calling CEO Cha “father,” Min-joon’s stepmother angrily yells at her husband for staying in touch with his son from his first marriage behind her back. She doesn’t believe him when he says that he hasn’t been in touch, and that Min-joon won’t be back. Tae-hoon joins them, ending the fight, though he senses that something is wrong.

Hae-sung rides the bus to its final stop, where the driver makes him get off. He finds himself in the country, so he walks along the road enjoying the view. He passes an old woman with a baby stroller and smiles at them. Suddenly a huge forklift rounds the corner and goes careening out of control, straight towards the stroller.

Realizing that the forklift’s driver can’t stop it, Hae-sung races the machine and throws himself between it and the stroller. He uses all of his impressive strength to stop the forklift just inches before it crushes the stroller.

He looks back and sees the old woman pull the blanket from the stroller, revealing… that it’s full of corn. HAHA. He gasps, “It wasn’t a baby,” then passes out cold.

Hae-sung is taken to the hospital by the backhoe driver, a nice-looking older woman. She’s advised to have him transferred to a larger hospital in Seoul since he’s not waking up. But then she witnesses a scrape on his arm healing instantly, and she smiles like she knows exactly what it means.

She sneaks him out of the hospital and to her house, where a younger woman helps her settle Hae-sung in. She removes a bandage from Hae-sung’s face to find the skin underneath completely healed, which confirms her suspicions.

When Hae-sung eventually wakes, he finds the woman sitting by his bedside. She gives him a drink and says that he’s been unconscious for two days, and that he’s at her home, where she brought him after seeing his wound heal itself. Hae-sung is surprised when she says that people can’t find out that he’s a person who’s come back.

She explains that ten years ago her own husband came back, then left again like the wind. She tells Hae-sung that her husband also had superhuman strength, and that he, too, would pass out after draining all of his energy.

Hae-sung is dismayed to hear that he’s been out for two days, and he asks if he can call Jung-won. Sure enough, she’s worried sick about him, waffling between anger that he’s not contacting her and concern for his well-being.

She’s visited by a woman, the same woman who helped Hae-sung into the grandmother’s house. She tells Jung-won that Hae-sung is safe and in good hands, and that he says she has nothing to worry about. Jung-won asks what that means, but the woman leaves without another word.

 
EPISODE 22 RECAP

Min-joon is surprised when his nemesis, Sang-hyun, shows up at the restaurant with the family friend that he thought was his primary investor. He’s informed that the friend is handing all of his shares over to Sang-hyun, which means that Min-joon no longer owns the restaurant.

In private, the family friend tells Min-joon that they money was never his, but CEO Cha’s. Min-joon rushes to speak to CEO Cha, but he says that he’s not angry over having his restaurant taken — in fact, he feels freed from his father’s dirty money. CEO Cha tells him that investing in his restaurant was a promise to his uncle, Driver Hwang, and that this is his punishment for digging into things that should stay buried.

Meanwhile, Hae-sung tells the woman hosting him about his death, and how he thought he’d come back to uncover the real killer and allow his siblings to live a happy life. He reveals that his brother was the killer all along, so now he’s not sure what to do.

He asks the woman (whom he calls simply Grandmother) about her husband coming back. She says that he stayed for six months, and when Hae-sung asks if she knows how long he’ll stay, she says she does. She tells him to stay with her and do what she asks, and she’ll tell him everything.

He agrees, so Grandmother tells him to fix everything on her farm that needs fixing, which should take about three days. HA, may as well put the young, strong man to work!

Hae-sung gets to work making repairs around the farm, then they sit to talk. Grandmother promises to tell him some things in the morning, making Hae-sung question whether she really knows anything. In the morning he feeds the cows while Grandmother watches him fondly, then they take a break for some roast corn.

Grouchy Hae-sung demands some answers, so Grandmother tells him that the answer to when he goes back is that he can’t know that. She says that she and her husband were childhood friends just like Hae-sung and Jung-won, and that her husband died suddenly at the age of fifty. She was devastated for three years, but then he came back.

She remembers that one day six months later, while trying on some suits, her husband went into a dressing room and never came back out. Hae-sung asks if she was sad, but Grandmother says that she was smiling when she realized he was gone because she’d gotten to see him again, and that her smile was her gift to her husband.

Hae-sung is struck by the fact that what Grandmother remembers most is the fun they had together while her husband was back. She tells him that before that, she barely left the house, but she changed a lot in the six months he was here. She tells Hae-sung to live each day as if it were his last, so that this experience can allow his friends and family to live happily when he’s gone.

With a sigh, Hae-sang says that he’s been so worried and preoccupied, but Grandmother says he’s going about it all wrong. She tells him to live like a madman, like today is his last day, and he grins.

Back in the city, Min-joon says his final goodbye to his employees before turning the restaurant over to Sang-hyun. As he walks away, he overhears Sang-hyun telling them all that they’re getting a raise as incentive to stay, but Jung-won’s voice rings out confidently: “I quit.”

She gets her things and leaves, finding Min-joon waiting outside to speak to her. He says that she doesn’t have to do this for him, but she reminds him that she dumped garbage over Sang-hyun’s head before, so he would have fired her eventually anyway.

Min-joon thanks her for quitting with him so that he doesn’t feel alone, and she admits that she feels lighter. The two go for a drink, where Min-joon asks if her offer to listen while he badmouths his father is still valid.

He reveals that his father was his investor, and the one who sold his restaurant out from under him. She’s appropriately horrified on his behalf, and he asks about her friend Tae-hoon’s relationship with his father. Interestingly, she deflects instead of answering, saying that Min-joon can always open another restaurant.

He gets a little drunk so Jung-won sends him home in a taxi, watching as he waves goodbye cheerfully. He’s adorable, and she worries if he got home safely, but mostly she misses Hae-sung. She snaps that he’d better come home soon, kicking his door angrily and hurting her foot, hee.

In the morning, Jung-won grows worried that Min-joon still hasn’t texted her that he got home safely. She goes to his apartment, where she finds him looking pale and sick. He passes out on her shoulder, so she puts him to bed.

She meets Jin-ju for lunch and they discuss Hae-sung’s strange disappearance. Jin-ju thinks that Hae-sung is off playing since he thinks he’s got Jung-won in the palm of his hands, and she suggeststhey let Moon-shik set them up on a blind date to shake Hae-sung up a bit.

Grandmother finally agrees to take Hae-sung home, and he’s antsy as a kid on Christmas to see Jung-won again. But she takes him to a fancy hotel instead, surprising Hae-sung with the fact that she owns the penthouse. She tells him he can find her here whenever he needs her, then he runs off to find Jung-won.

He finds her at her new job handing out samples at a supermarket. She takes him to the storeroom to beat the stuffing out of him for leaving without a word, which he takes good-naturedly.

Finally he grabs Jung-won’s wrists and twirls her around into a backhug, which shuts her right up. Hae-sung tucks his face into her neck and says he missed her, then spins her back around and says he’ll see her at home later, shooting cute little finger-hearts at her as he goes.

He goes to Min-joon’s home to find him so bored that he’s sorting the pellets in his medicine by color, hee. Hae-sung asks for Min-joon’s help, not taking no for an answer, then takes him to Grandmother’s hotel to borrow her truck. Heh, Min-joon is just there to be Hae-sung’s chauffeur.

Jung-won and Jin-ju are on their very best (cringe-worthy) feminine behavior on their double blind date, charming the guys with their demure mannerisms. That is, until they have a beer and Jung-won chugs her drink in one go, and Jin-ju lets loose an impressive burp. LOL.

Moon-shik heads to Ho-bang and Hae-sung’s place for the evening, but when he mentions the blind date, both guys sit up in alarm. They rush out to stop the date, but not before roughing Moon-shik up a bit for setting up the date in the first place.

The ladies are alone by now, having been abandoned for not being ladylike enough. They’re still drinking, but they sober up fast when they find Ho-bang and Hae-sung glowering at them. They each drag their girl out to take them home.

Hae-sung doesn’t stay mad long, and as they walk, Jung-won tells him about the restaurant and losing her job. She denies having been worried while he was gone and demands to know where he was and why.

Instead of explaining, Hae-sung takes Jung-won’s face in his hands and pulls her in for a kiss. When he finally lets her go, she snaps that this won’t get him off the hook, so he takes her face and threatens to kiss her again. He leans in until their lips are only an inch apart, so Jung-won promises to be quiet.

Feeling pretty full of himself, Hae-sung keeps walking, but Jung-won decides that she feels wronged. She catches up to him and slugs him hard in the belly, then lands several more punches as she orders him never to disappear again.

Back at Jung-won’s, Hae-sung follows her inside and walks right into her bedroom. He takes a cute sketch of a puppy off her wall before she shoves him out, though he stops to threaten another kiss just to rattle her cage.

A short time later, Hae-sung shows up to drag a struggling Jung-won out of her apartment, refusing to tell her why but with a big grin on his face. He’s up to something. He goes to Min-joon’s to similarly drag him outside, taking them both to… the river? Okay then.

Soon the reason for Hae-sung’s weird behavior arrives — a food truck, with “Cha Pasta” printed on it and Jung-won’s cartoon dog acting as mascot. OMG, did he buy them a food truck?? He did, that’s so perfect!

Min-joon is stunned and just stares alternately at the truck and Hae-sung, as Jung-won grins widely. Hae-sung informs them that this is their new restaurant, asking if they’re ready to rise again.

 
COMMENTS

What a great episode. I love how it balanced the light romantic moments with Hae-sung’s growth as a character, allowing Hae-sung to evolve in his journey without bogging the story down. I’m glad that Hae-sung met Grandmother when he did, because I like that his reason for returning may not be to solve a mystery after all, but just to live and love and ease the pain of those he left behind. Hae-sung really embraced that message wholeheartedly, which doesn’t surprise me, being the sunny, optimistic kid that he is.

I really like where things are going with Hae-sung setting up the food truck for Min-joon and Jung-won. It’s really looking like the show is setting up Jung-won and Min-joon to be together once Hae-sung is gone, though whether that means as friend, business partners, or something more is still unclear. The food truck solution gets rid of the uncomfortably uneven power dynamic between them as employer and employee, and hopefully puts Min-joon and Jung-won on equal footing so that their friendship can flourish. Even if they never become more than friends and colleagues, that would still be great, since they do need each other in a lot of ways.

It’s a credit to the show that, even though I’ve suspected Young-joon of being the bully’s killer all along, I still felt Hae-sung’s dismay and grief to hear that his brother is guilty. I don’t know if Hae-sung will make the connection that ultimately, Young-joon is responsible for his own untimely death, because Hae-sung doesn’t think that way. But even though I believe wholeheartedly that Jung-chul’s death was an accident (he probably attacked Young-joon again, and Young-joon was defending himself), it’s true that if that hadn’t happened, Hae-sung wouldn’t have found Jung-chul and run for help, putting him in the path of CEO Cha’s car. I’m betting that the reason Young-chul distanced himself from his family is because he does think that way, and feels guilty for starting the chain of events that ended with Hae-sung’s death. And not only that, but he let Hae-sung be blamed for Jung-chul’s death, while Young-joon profited.

I don’t believe for one instant that CEO Cha put Young-joon through medical school out of guilt and the goodness of his heart. In fact, I’m convinced he has neither goodness nor a heart at all. My theory is that Young-joon witnessed Hae-sung’s accident as he was fleeing the school after injuring Jung-chul, and that CEO Cha put him through school as payoff for his silence. It’s probably another reason that Young-joon doesn’t speak to his family anymore — fear that he’ll weaken and tell them the truth, that he sold out for personal gain. Even though he was a child, he grew up, and could have cancelled the agreement at any time.

I adored Mr. Mystery as Hae-sung’s guide into what it means to come back from the dead, but I also loved the poetic beauty of the fact that once his personal purpose was finished and he had no more to teach Hae-sung, he peacefully went back. I’ve been expecting Hae-sung to meet someone else who’s come back who could teach him more, but I like the twist that instead, he was found by someone who loved a man who came back. I think that Mr. Mystery’s purpose in Hae-sung’s journey was to teach him how things work, and that Grandmother’s purpose was to show Hae-sung that his reason for returning isn’t to solve a mystery but to just live, and that those who have lost someone twice can still live happy, full lives. Hae-sung is going to have a difficult time leaving Jung-won and his siblings behind when it’s time, so I’m glad that Grandmother was there to teach him that his coming back is a precious gift, and that that’s what they’ll remember when he leaves again.

This is totally wishful thinking on my part, but I can’t help but hope that Hae-sung gets to meet at least one more person who has come back, to teach him the final lesson of letting go. Is it too much to ask for that person to be the bully who was killed on the night that Hae-sung died? Hae-sung could be Jung-chul’s mentor and help him make right the things that he did wrong to others, bringing his own experience full circle. There wold be a beautiful symmetry for the two to have a chance to meet again and mend their misunderstandings, and forgive each other and Young-joon for their parts in both of their deaths.

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