Woohoo Waikiki 2: Episode 1 (First look)

by mary

With the threat of eviction looming over their heads, the housemates are doing whatever they can to find a way to raise money and keep the house. But in true Waikiki fashion, every time they think they’ve solved the problem, they just end up making things worse. Help always comes from the least likely direction, which just goes to show that a little kindness can pay off in very big ways.

 
EPISODE 2: Butterfly effect: A phenomenon where a small difference leads to a big change

When the guys get home from the disastrous wedding, they find the bride, Soo-yeon, stowing away in Rebecca’s trunk. She doesn’t recognize them at first, but she slowly recalls Joon-ki and Ki-bong, then the uncharacteristically quiet Woo-shik.

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Joon-ki tells her that Woo-shik is the masked man who sang at her wedding a while ago, but Woo-shik changes the subject and asks what she’s doing in their car. Soo-yeon whines that she’s not sure, then starts crying in earnest.

The guys take Soo-yeon inside where she tries to call her fiance or her father, but they’re not answering their phones. Joon-ki invites her to stay the night, and he and Ki-bong lead her upstairs while Jung-eun tries to recall where she’s heard the same Soo-yeon before. She eventually remembers that Soo-yeon is the guys’ first love, and she asks Woo-shik why she’s here in a wedding dress, but he just sighs and wanders off.

In the morning, Woo-shik finds Joon-ki and Ki-bong engaged in some intense grooming, hoping to impress Soo-yeon. He tells them to focus on the overdue rent before they all get kicked out, and Joon-ki warns him not to mention that in front of Soo-yeon, or the fact that they’re not successful in their careers.

Woo-shik says they’re shameless, but Joon-ki says he just wants Soo-yeon to have a good impression of them. Again, Woo-shik tells them to worry about the rent because pretending to date Landlady Kim is killing his soul.

On their way to wake up Soo-yeon, Joon-ki and Ki-bong run into Jung-eun on her way to yet another part-time job. They all yelp when they see Soo-yeon asleep at the bar. She explains sleepily that she was up late trying to call her dad and conked out here, and that the phone keeps disconnecting. Joon-ki shows her how to hold the cord just right so that “Gulliver” (the phone) will work.

Soo-yeon notices the gouge in the floor from the falling meteorite, and the massive poster of Joon-ki’s face that they taped to the ceiling to cover the hole, heh. She asks how they’ve been, so Joon-ki tells her that he’s a successful actor, and Ki-bong says he’s only in the minor leagues due to an injury.

The whole time the others were inflating their accomplishments, Woo-shik had been rolling his eyes right out of his head. But when they leave and Soo-yeon asks what he’s been up to, he does the exact same thing, bragging that he’s a successful singer.

He goes on and on about being in a music group, how BTS asked him to feature in one of their songs, and he’s planning a nationwide tour. Soo-yeon is bored silly by the time he says he’s taking a hiatus, but she’s interested in the guesthouse and asks how he and the others ended up managing it.

He keeps on lying, saying that he bought the guesthouse to meet people from all over the world. He asks about Soo-yeon’s fiance, Min-seok, and she says he’s a wonderful guy who’s good to her. She asks if he has a girlfriend, but Woo-shik says pompously that he’s married to music.

The landlady shows up and introduced herself as Woo-shik’s girlfriend, hee. She says she’s here to cook for him, and after she heads to the kitchen, Soo-yeon asks Woo-shik why he said he was single. Woo-shik lies again that Landlady Kim is a little deranged and thinks he’s her boyfriend. But that just makes Soo-yeon ask why he has a landlady when he said he owns the guesthouse, so he says Landlady Kim used to be the owner and thinks she still is.

He distracts Soo-yeon by suggesting she call her dad again, then he runs to the kitchen to try and convince Landlady Kim to eat out (to get her out of the house). She just gets angry that he’s not appreciative of her cooking, so he says obediently that he’ll eat whatever she makes.

She sends him out for the green onions that she forgot, and while he’s gone she takes a call from her son on her bluetooth earpiece. He’s not feeling well, so Landlady Kim talks about legs and hot baths and not making a fuss while manhandling the poor chicken, and it definitely makes her look like a whackadoodle to Soo-yeon.

When Joon-ki gets to the set where he’s filming today, he desperately has to use the restroom, but the bus is running late and there’s no time. The lead actor is also late so Joon-ki starts to ask for a bathroom break, but another extra beats him to it and gets fired for being selfish, so Joon-ki doesn’t say a word.

The star of the show, Kang Min (cameo by Joo Sang-wook) finally arrives, explaining that his dog is sick and he needed to talk to him on the phone, lol. Despite just having blacklisted an actor for needing to pee, the director says that the movie isn’t important compared to Min’s dog.

Meanwhile Joon-ki is trying desperately not to wet himself as Min stops the scene and suggests that Joon-ki’s character drink his makgeolli as an insult. Min keep flubbing his lines, so Joon-ki has to drink cup after cup, until he can barely move. The director stops the scene again, this time because Joon-ki has his legs crossed and it’s reading on camera as sexy.

Landlady Kim finishes preparing the samgyetang and invites Soo-yeon to eat with her and Woo-shik. Woo-shik tries to give Soo-yeon an out, but Soo-yeon says compassionately that if the poor sick lady cooked all this, then she should eat.

While they’re eating, Soo-yeon treats Landlady Kim like a child, wiping food off her face and offering to feed her. After she leaves, Landlady Kim asks Woo-shik what Soo-yeon’s deal is. He uses the same excuse, saying that Soo-yeon is not quite right in the head from the shock of her wedding being called off.

Joon-ki’s director moves on to the fight scene, and poor Joon-ki has to tippytoe with his knees firmly together to keep from having an accident. They start the scene again, and it goes better, until Min hip-checks Joon-ki in the belly and he goes down, desperately trying not to pee himself. The director threatens to replace him with another actor if he can’t do the scene right, so Joon-ki struggles to his feet.

The landlady insists on staying to make slow-drip coffee, and when Jung-eun gets home, she asks her to join them. Soo-yeon is in the living room, still in her wedding dress and turning circles with the phone cord in her teeth like Joon-ki showed her, looking as simple as Woo-shik implied she is.

The landlady stage-whispers that something is wrong with Soo-yeon, and Woo-shik screams at Jung-eun to go “do that favor you promised” to stop her from saying that Soo-yeon is just fine. He shoves Jung-eun into her bedroom and fesses up to all his lies, including that Soo-yeon and Landlady Kim both think the other is mentally ill. He says dramatically that a man’s first love means that much to him, but she snaps him out of his romantic musings to say that all three of the guys have lost their everloving minds.

At practice, Ki-bong pouts when the coach’s pet says the shower isn’t working, and the coach sends Ki-bong to fix it. The coach yells that his pet is going to be drafted to the major leagues, so his routine of always using the same shower stall is important for his condition, and the little snot shoots Ki-bong a smug smirk.

Joon-ki can hardly breathe by this point, he has to go to the bathroom so bad. Luckily, it gives him the intense glare the director wants from him, and he vows to get the scene in one take so he can go. But Min loses his shoe when they leap at each other, and Joon-ki can’t stop himself from screaming at the actor to get himself together.

He even bellows at the director to shut up and go shoot the scene, but instead of being mad, everyone assumes that Joon-ki is just deep in character. This time it goes perfectly — Min delivers the killing blow, Joon-ki snarls his dying line, and everyone praises him for an amazing performance.

Min tries to help Joon-ki up since he’s obviously struggling, but Joon-ki angrily shoves him away. The director stops him to ask him to be in his next project, and Joon-ki throws off the director’s hand. But the director gives him a friendly punch to the belly, and it’s the final straw.

Joon-ki loses control of his bladder at the exact same time as Ki-bong gets the shower head to burst forth in a glorious spray. The director finally notices Joon-ki’s expression, and the stream of liquid tracking through the dirt to puddle at his shoe. The entire crew watch in horror as Joon-ki waddles away, dribbling pee as he goes.

It’s getting late, and Landlady Kim cheekily suggests that she could spend the night. The thought horrifies Woo-shik, but she admits she was joking.

After practice, Ki-bong sees someone sobbing on a bench and stops, belatedly realizing that it’s Joon-ki, still in costume. Joon-ki throws himself into Ki-bong’s arms needing comfort, but Ki-bong yelps at the stench wafting from his friend.

The landlady spots the plant and the poster that the guys used to hide the meteor holes in the ceiling and floor. Soo-yeon, unaware that she’s the landlady, tells her exactly what they’re for, but Landlady Kim just assumes she’s hallucinating and hugs her sadly.

She tells Soo-yeon that she’s too pretty to be out of her mind, and Soo-yeon is all Who, me?! She tells Landlady Kim that the guys said a meteorite fell through the ceiling. To prove it, she moves the plant and takes down the poster just as Woo-shik emerges from his room.

Landlady Kim demands an explanation, but before he can think of another lie, Ki-bong and Joon-ki get home. Landlady Kim asks if all three of them have been lying to her. Woo-shik pleads with his eyes, but Joon-ki misunderstands and asks Woo-shik accusingly why he lied that he loves her.

She whirls on Woo-shik and asks if it was really a lie, and Jung-eun walks into the room as he’s trying to think of what to say. Landlady Kim snaps at her, “Did you know that Woo-shik was lying to me??” The guys try to signal to her, but she blurts out, “Woo-shik, why did you call Landlady Kim crazy?” Oh, this just gets worse and worse.

Everyone stares at Woo-shik, and Landlady Kim slaps him hard, and everyone in the room jumps. She shoves him to the floor and jumps on top of him, and it takes three people to pull her off.

She gives them until the end of the day to come up with every penny they owe her, or she’ll kick them out and confiscate everything they own to cover the debt. Joon-ki and Ki-bong say they can beg everyone they know for loans, and Jung-eun goes to ask her many part-time jobs for advances.

Soo-yeon decides it’s time for her to go home, and she asks for a ride. She offers her wedding dress as payment when they say they have to take care of something else, but the guys all sneer that they have no need for a dress. Soo-yeon says that even used, it’s worth about half what they owe Landlady Kim, and Joon-ki asks where she needs to go, hee.

They all ride together in Rebecca, but when they get to Soo-yeon’s home, there’s a swarm of creditors outside. They guess that her father’s office will be similarly crowded, and Soo-yeon says she could call her father’s secretary, but she lost her phone and doesn’t know the number.

Her old phone is in her room inside the house, and she makes sad faces until Joon-ki and Ki-bong agree to go in and get it for her. They stare at the twenty-foot wall, and Joon-ki tells Ki-bong seriously, “Prove your manhood. Start climbing!” HAHA.

Joon-ki somehow scales the wall in seconds, while Ki-bong creeps up slowly, wondering if Joon-ki is Spiderman. Joon-ki pulls Ki-bong the last few feet up the wall by his hoodie strings and they sneak into the house. They’re amazed by the opulent surroundings, but soon Ki-bong locates Soo-yeon’s room (whoa, so much pink) and they quickly find her old phone.

As they’re leaving, the creditors somehow get into the house (led by Jung Man-shik) looking for Soo-yeon’s father. The guys scramble back to Soo-yeon’s room and lock themselves in, but soon the creditors are at Soo-yeon’s door.

Joon-ki and Ki-bong duck into the wardrobe, but the creditor decides to take it, since it’s full of Soo-yeon’s expensive clothes. Woo-shik and Soo-yeon watch as her wardrobe is loaded onto a truck. Joon-ki calls Woo-shik, he and Ki-bong quietly screaming into the phone as the truck drives away. Woo-shik starts up Rebecca and follows.

Back at the house, Jung-eun finds Soo-yeon’s dress and decides to try it on. She only wears it for a minute then tries to take it off, but she gets her hair caught in the zipper. While groping for scissors, the skirt rips on a table corner, then Jung-eun trips over the hole in the floor and her foot gets caught. Welp, that’s awkward.

Woo-shik and Soo-yeon wait until the truck is unattended, then Woo-shik climbs up to let them out. But as soon as he gets the wardrobe door open, the creditors return, so Woo-shik hops inside with them. They carry Soo-yeon’s pink furniture inside the creditor’s home, and his wife (cameo by Oh Na-ra) opens the wardrobe.

The guys flash her angelic smiles, and she asks her husband about the “things” inside. She’s hilariously thrilled when he says they’re all for her, and she starts choosing her favorite (Woo-shik) before he sees the guys and drags her away, LOL.

Joon-ki introduces himself and the others to the creditor as NASA scientists who just successfully discovered teleportation. PFFT! He offers to do it again to prove it, and tells them to close their eyes while he activates their “teleportation device” (a flashlight pen), and as soon as they do, Joon-ki, Woo-shik, and Ki-bong quietly sneak out the door.

Of course, the creditor sees them and gives chase, and they run for Rebecca screaming for Soo-yeon to start the car. They make it to safety, and they wait while Soo-yeon calls her father’s secretary. He passes her dad the phone, and he tells Soo-yeon that he got conned and will call her soon and explain, then hangs up.

The guys drive Soo-yeon to the building where she and her fiance were planning to live. She says she’ll wait here for him and thanks the guys for their help, promising to repay them one day. They haven’t driven off yet when they see Soo-yeon run into Min-seok and his mother outside the building.

His mother tells Soo-yeon that their family was humiliated because of her. She says that the marriage is canceled, since they only approved of it due to her father’s money. Soo-yeon looks pleadingly at Min-seok, but like a coward, he just says there’s nothing he can do.

Watching from the car, Joon-ki and Ki-bong snarl, but Woo-shik just silently gets out and goes to Soo-yeon. She cries that she’s angry, but she doesn’t know what to do. Woo-shik tells her that crying won’t change anything, but Soo-yeon wails that everything she owns is inside.

A few minutes later, Min-seok answers the doorbell to find Woo-shik, Joon-ki, and Ki-bong glowering at him, and Woo-shik says they’re here for Soo-yeon’s things. Min-seok asks who the three guys are, and Joon-ki says that Soo-yeon was their first love. He roars that he’s First Love Number One, Ki-bong bellows that he’s First Love Number Two, and they have to poke Woo-shik to make him say he’s Number Three, ha.

They swagger inside and get everything that belongs to Soo-yeon. She says there’s one more thing and points to the suit that Min-seok is wearing, which was a gift. Woo-shik orders Min-seok to take it off, and he hands over the vest and jacket.

The guys demand the pants too, but Min-seok clutches Soo-yeon’s arm and asks if she’s really going to do this to him. She just looks at him, all wide-eyed innocence, and repeats his own words back to him: “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” Good girl!

As they’re leaving, Soo-yeon suddenly remembers something she forgot — Minky, who just happens to be her pet albino iguana. They load up Rebecca and Joon-ki asks if there’s a relative’s house he can drive her to, but Soo-yeon says she doesn’t really have anywhere to go.

Joon-ki and Ki-bong invite her to stay at the guesthouse, since they have plenty of rooms. Woo-shik mumbles for her not to get too excited since they may all get kicked out tomorrow, but Joon-ki chirps, “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

He says they can sell the dress and pay Landlady Kim half of what they owe, which should buy them some time. But when they get home, they find Jung-eun’s leg dangling from the ceiling, and they file upstairs to find her still stuck and fast asleep in Soo-yeon’s wedding dress.

They wake her up and she explains what happened, and it slowly dawns on them that the dress is badly ripped, so they can’t sell it. They rush back downstairs when Landlady Kim arrives for her money, and she refuses the guys when they get on their knees to beg for a little more time.

Annoyed by Landlady Kim’s callousness, Soo-yeon asks what they owe. Luckily, they’re able to sell Minky, a very rare iguana, to a reptile collector for roughly what they owe in rent. Only Woo-shik seems to understand how hard this is for Soo-yeon as she promises her pet that she’ll come back for him.

The four of them head home feeling like the weight of the world is off their shoulders, and Woo-shik thanks Soo-yeon for helping them. They see four teenagers at a ddukbokki stand, which reminds them of their younger selves. Soo-yeon asks if she’s really all three of their first loves, but they just cringe at the cold and run home, avoiding the question.

They pass the kids at the ddukbokki stand, who turn around, and we see that it’s Woo-shik, Joon-ki, Ki-bong, and Soo-yeon as kids, fighting good-naturedly over the food.

 
COMMENTS

I love the epic payback of Soo-yeon showing up at the door of her ex-fiance with three gorgeous guys, only minutes after getting dumped! It’s so cute watching the four of them rekindling their old friendship, and it makes me wonder why they ever stopped being friends. Did they just drift apart, or did something happen to split them up? Whatever it is, I like that this set of housemates has a history together, and it will be fun seeing them absorb Jung-eun into their group as well. I’m a bit disappointed that the third girl, who will be Woo-shik’s sister Yu-ri, hasn’t shown up yet, because right now the plot is heavily skewed towards the guys and we could use some more feminine energy in the house. Hopefully next week the ladies will make a stronger showing, especially now that Soo-yeon has gotten some of that “feisty personality” back that she’s supposed to have.

This episode feels even more like the first season as the characters and situations settle into a very familiar comedic rhythm, and it’s wonderful! One of my favorite things about this show has always been the way that the smallest throwaway comment or action can become a huge plot point later, and that happened several times in this episode. Joon-ki showing Soo-yeon how to make the phone work, later ended up making her look looney to Landlady Kim. A simple lie on Woo-shik’s part grew until he was stuck in a huge mess with half the household involved in multiple layers of deception. They guys being willing to help Soo-yeon ended with her saving them from eviction.

On top of all that, it looks like we’ll be treated to another season of the hilarious cameos that make each episode into highly entertaining baskets of easter eggs. Jokes are stretched until they can’t be stretched any further, way past the point that most shows would have stopped, but the hilarity factor remains high and the gags never fall flat. Even a lot of the music and the sound cues are the same, which lends to the familiar feeling this season. I know this type of humor isn’t for everyone, but for me, it’s clever in a silly, ridiculous way, and I can’t get enough of it. Usually when I say that a drama is just like another drama, it’s not a compliment, but in Waikiki‘s case, it very much is. I think that the new cast brings enough fresh energy that the show can safely continue with what worked before and have it be just as fun. That said, I promise to do my best to evaluate this second season for itself from here on out, and not keep hammering on about the similarities!

I do appreciate the differences that this season brings as well, most notably (for now) the fact that the alpha male of the group’s love interest is an old flame, instead of a new one. Woo-shik is generally very outspoken, if overly pessimistic, so it’s very strange how quiet and subdued he gets whenever he’s near Soo-yeon. Back in high school, she shut down Joon-ki and Ki-bong pretty much right away, but she seems to have spent some time with Woo-shik, so I think that his feelings went deeper and were more than just a “she’s so pretty” crush back then. And whatever happened between them obviously traumatized Woo-shik to the point that he’s still not over it, but I don’t think that Soo-yeon remembers at all, since it took her a minute to even recognize him after the wedding. It will be interesting to learn what happened back then, and why it meant so much to Woo-shik but not to Soo-yeon.

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