Asian Addicts Anonymous

So, this episode illustrates a rather good point: one decision can have a snowball effect that can negatively impact not only yourself, but the people around you. A few episodes ago, Saewa decides to forgo her chance at love and give up on her long-term, long-distance relationship with Donghae in order to use Kim Do Jin as a step up the corporate and personal ladder. Thus why she was at the hotel to meet him and his mother for lunch, thus why she was extremely worried about being late and ruining her first impression, thus leading her to cross the road against the light with oncoming traffic heading her way. Her decision led to Donghae being involved in the accident as he couldn’t stand by and see her get hurt. Good job Saewa. No, she didn’t force Donghae to save her, but her actions caused the accident. Bad Saewa. I wish I could say I feel bad for her in this episode as she is really torn and regretful, but it’s really her just desserts for choosing to go the route she chose.

The episode picks up with Donghae getting hit by the truck. Oddly enough, bystanders approach Saewa and not Donghae first to ascertain if she is or isn’t okay. What gives with that? She was the one who was pushed out of the way while Donghae was the one who got hit. I don’t care if she’s a girl, she isn’t the one lying unconscious and bloody. Sa

ewa freaks out and rushes over to Donghae to see if he is okay. Obviously he isn’t. He was hit by a truck after all. His coach and teammates run over and Saewa begins freaking out even more seeing Donghae’s blood on her hands. As she should.

Meanwhile, Hye Sook is furious that Saewa is late to their lunch date. Do Jin tries calling but can’t get through as Saewa is now at the hospital. I am impressed that this accident has managed to drive the meeting out of her mind as when her mom went missing she still went out with Do Jin instead of trying to find Sool Nyeo. When Do Jin doesn’t manage to get in contact with Saewa, Hye Sook angrily leaves. Do Jin follows her to her office and Hye Sook basically says the failed lunch and half hour wait was a deliberate snub. Do Jin says that Saewa isn’t like that, something must have come up, but Hye Sook won’t listen. In a way her

rage is understandable, but it is also a tad extreme, to me anyways. Hye Sook is even angrier when she learns that Do Jin doesn’t really even know anything about Saewa beyond that she lives with her mother and younger sister. Now that anger is understandable as Do Jin did blindly pursue Saewa. Do Jin goes to his office upset and tries calling Saewa again, but still can’t get through.

To break up the seriousness of Donghae’s situation, we get to see Sool Nyeo going to the police station to visit Pil Jae and thank him for helping her when she twisted her ankle. She plans on buying him lunch, but her plans are ruined as he is rushing out to work on a case. Pil Jae says he can’t talk and she will have to tell another officer inside. Sool Nyeo gives him her name (as he is always calling her ahjumma). This surprises Pil Jae, but he is soon distracted by the task at hand and goes off to do

whatever it is he’s working on at the moment. Sool Nyeo is happy to see her cool cop once again and then decides to get a charm for her son-in-law’s exam.

Sool Nyeo heads over to the Lee house where she finds Sun Ok on

her way out. Sun Ok has been calculating wedding costs when she decides to give up and just go pray for her son’s success. Sun Ok is surprised to see Sool Nyeo back again and already worries about Sool Nyeo coming over to scold her after Tae Hoon and Sae Young get married. Sool Nyeo then warns Sun Ok not to do anything to her daughter that she needs scolding for. Ah, these two. Good friends and yet the best of enemies at times. It’s a cute relationship really. Sool Nyeo asks where Sun Ok is going and Sun Ok tells her that she is going to a temple to pray for her son’s success. Sool Nyeo drags her off to the same fortune teller instead.

The fortune teller says that Tae Hoon has the runs. Well. That’s not really a fortune. Sun Ok doesn’t think so either and says that her son his studying for the bar. The fortune teller t

hen says that Tae Hoon is having stomach issues. Is he having the runs? Sun Ok says that yes he does have that issue when he is really nervous. Who doesn’t? Sool Nyeo then asks for a charm. The fortune teller says you can’t force things and reap what you so, but she does tell Sool Nyeo and Sun Ok a good luck charm that’s a little naughty when Sool Nyeo forks over an envelope of money. The charm? Make underwear ouf of the white cloth hung on the tree of a temple. Talk about sacrilege right there.

Back at the hospital, Saewa is doing some praying of her own. She prays that Donghae will be all right, that he will wake up. The doctor comes out and asks if Saewa’s Donghae’s guardian. She is needed to sign surgery consent forms. The normally unruffled and unphased Saewa demands to know if Donghae will be okay. Will the surgery make him okay? Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Bongi is making food for the big dinner. She is commented on the colorful…pasta?…things. Bongi thanks her friend Sunae and asks her to cover for her as she needs to step out for a minute since she knows one of the speed skaters. Then another of the chefs comes in and remarks about how an Asian skater got hurt in a car accident protecting a female. He comments on how cool it is that the guy through h

imself to protect the girl while Bongi has a fear (especially after hearing the Asian comment) that the skater just might be Donghae.

Bongi slips away to visit Anna wh

o has managed to fix the harmonica’s chain. She slips it over her head as Bongi comes to collect her to cheer Donghae on. The girl’s happiness is soon ruined by a call from Saewa. Finally the girl has come to her senses to call about Dnoghae. Bongi is unhappy when she notices that the caller is Saewa and boy is she in for a shock when Saewa tells her the news about Donghae’s accident. Poor Bongi is then tasked with passing the news on to Anna.

The nervous Saewa sits outside the OR and finally checks her phone to see that she has missed several calls from Do Jin. She knows that the first meeting is officially screwed up now, but is more concerned about Donghae’s wellbeing. Brownie points for her, but I doubt they’ll last as this series continues. Will I ever melt when it comes to that girl? Anna and Bongi rush in and try to find out exactly what happened and how Donghae is doing. Saewa isn’t able to explain anything beyond the fact that

Donghae is in surgery, which really seems to freak Anna out. At this point, the doctor comes out and lets them know the damage is worse than they thought so the surgery is going to take longer. Oh no! Needless to say when Donghae’s coach gets this translation, he knows there is no way Donghae can skate – that’s a duh anyways. Poor Anna is just freaking out and crying while the worried and frightened Bongi does her best to calm her since the collected Saewa is nowhere to be found. She has become a helpless mute in this occasion.

To break the melancholy melodrama, we have Sun Ok and Sool Nyeo heading to a Buddhist temple to pray. Sun Ok warns Sool Nyeo not to embarrass her since she tagged along. Sool Nyeo promises not to do something so silly as steal the cloth. While Sun Ok diligently kowtows and prays, Sool Nyeo slips off and finds the colorful tree cloths. She distracts the prayers and gets them to run off in search of the head monk. She has no success in completely pulling a white cloth off, but she does manage to rip a section off and stuff it inside her coat. Will such a charm work? Sun Ok doesn’t think so and didn’t want to do it in fear that it would jinx her

son (if the underwear tears, then Tae Hoon will supposedly never pass the bar).

Sool Nyeo gets home and plots out some underwear, wondering what size Tae Hoon is and lamenting about not having a son or husband to understand male underwear. Sae Young comes out and asks what her mom is doing and Sool Nyeo replies that what she is doing will guarantee that Tae Hoon is successful. This excites Sae Young and she decides to take over the task of making the underwear (she even knows Tae Hoon’s size). Apparently, Sae Young was one of the best sewers in her class, not that her mom believes her. Sool Nyeo wishes to do it, but Sae Young thinks because her mother cuts hair, Tae Hoon won’t make the cut if s

he makes them.

The worried Do Jin finally calls the stud

io since he can’t get in touch with Saewa. He learns that she hasn’t been back since leaving for lunch. This worries Do Jin who wonders if she had gotten into an accident, which, technically, she did. He tries Saewa’s phone once more. This time Saewa answers and apologizes. Do Jin asks what happened and all Saewa says is that she is sorry, but something work related came up. Donghae is then brought out from surgery and she hangs up leaving Do Jin wondering why Saewa would lie about being at work. His good image of her is starting to falter!

Saewa, Anna and Bongi rush to Donghae’s side. Anna holds her son’s hand and pleads for him to open his eyes. Why isn’t he opening them? The doctor explains about the extend of the injuri

es and the fact that Donghae hasn’t woken up yet. Why? He lost a lot of blood during surgery, so he is really weak. Does that mean they didn’t have the blood to give him a transfusion since he lost so much? Saewa is horrified to hear that Donghae is still unconscious. Yes, sometimes being in a coma bodes ill rather than well, but since this series is called Smile, Donghae, you know the protagonist will make it through, which is a relief. Poor Anna is so scared and the only one who can get her to calm down is Donghae. Will he open his eyes?

Sae Young takes the cloth and uses her own panties as a sample and begins to make the charm. Sae Young heads over to the Lees where she sneaks into Tae Hoon’s room. Her boyfriend has been diligently studying to the point of him even getting a nosebleed. Sae Young shows him the gift and explains how it is supposed to work. Tae

Hoon thanks her, but is worried as the underwear looks strange to him, plus it seems small. Oh…I am sensing failure already. I hope that Tae Hoon makes it!! Sae Young swears him to secrecy and then wishes him luck, reminding him not to tear the panties before stealing a kiss and leaving.

The depressed Saewa heads home where she recalls Donghae’s insistence on not giving up on their love even after she rejected him. Of course we have flashbacks of all this and then of him pushing her out of harm’s way. Saewa wonders what she will do and collapses onto her bed. Meanwhile, at the hotel, Do Jin reports on the success of the skaters’ dinner. I guess they haven’t been informed of the accident which is weird considering it happened right outside of their hotel to one of the skaters staying there. Hye Sook is glad to hear that and asks after his girlfriend. Do Jin can’t give her a satisfactory answer since Saewa didn’t give him one a

nd even lied to him as well. Hye Sook picks up on that and then says that he is irresponsible, she is disappointed, blah, blah, blah. This is why his dad can’t trust him and Hye Sook is going to start setting up arranged dates. Looks like her affection for her son and her patience has a limit. This is the coldest she’s been to him to date. Poor Do Jin. He does deserve some of her rancor, but not to that extent. Not yet anyways.

Hye Sook goes home where Joon has expressed to someone that he is interested in donating to orphanages or old folks homes. At least that is what I assume the conversation is about. Hye Sook is shocked to see him home so early. She is disappointed that she didn’t know thus they don’t get to eat together. Why do they persist in this farce of a marriage? Joon tells her not to be so upset since they are both busy and it is hard to have aligning schedules. He then asks about the date and when Hye Sook doesn’t really respond, he automatically assumes the worse and asks how bad the girl was. Not wanting her h

usband to know, Hye Sook lies and said they had to cancel the meeting due to work. Does he believe her? I wonder…

Bongi has returned to finish up work. The dinner was a success and the staff are happy at how well the skaters ate. Poor Bongi is distractedly wiping dishes and wondering after Donghae. Her coworkers wonder what’s up, but Bongi is too busy lost in her worry to respond. Worried about Donghae and Anna, Bongi does to the hospital after f

inishing her kitchen duties. There stands Anna like a statue outside of Donghae’s room. Bongi tries to get her to rest or eat, but Anna refuses to leave as Donghae will be waking up soon. Unfortunately, since Bongi is not family, she isn’t allowed to stay with Anna at the hospital.

Bac

k at the Lee house, Tae Hoon is still studying hard when his father comes in with a present of red bean candy to calm his son’s nerves. Tae Hoon thanks his father for the treat and Kang Jae leaves him to his studies. He runs into the upset Bongi and wonders what is wrong. Bongi doesn’t tell him and Kang Jae then hands her a bag as well. Bongi’s contains pancakes – her favorite. She thanks her father and then hugs him. She says she is thankful to have such a wonderful family. Kang Jae seconds this – happy that their family is healthy. Bongi agrees to that as well and then says she wishes that her family and friends will all be healthy an

d happy.

That night, Sun Ok and Kang Jae can’t sleep. They are too nervous about the exam. Both parents hope that their son will pass this time. Sun Ok also prays that no one will give Tae Hoon any more added stress or pressure than he already has. At breakfast, of course, Pil Jae has to make a big deal out of the test and put stress on Tae Hoon demanding his nephew pass or the whole family will die. Nice one. Sae Young then comes over with fruits for Tae Hoon. As he is about to leave for the test, she asks if he has his underwear and he replies that he is wearing them, but they are too tight and make his unhappy stomach even worse. Sae Young tells him again not to rip them and Tae Hoon then goes off on his way.

Tae Hoon safely arrives at the testing destination. His nerves don’t help his stomach and neither does his tight panties. During break he desperately tries to go to the bathroom to relieve his aching stomach, but to no avail. The underwear are too small and he can’t get them off easily. He also recalls Sae Young’s warning about tearing them, so he agonizingly tries to ease them off only to have the announcement made for examees to return to their seats to start the next portion. Uh

-oh. What will happen now?

Bongi goes to the hospital before work with a lunchbox for Anna. She is shocked to learn that Anna stayed like she was all night. She tries to get Anna to rest, but Anna doesn’t want to leave Donghae. The frustrated Bongi then asks about Saewa? She is at home and having nightmares about Donghae. When she wa

kes up, she calls the hospital about Donghae. She is horrified to learn he still hasn’t regained consciousness. She hangs up and then gets a call from Do Jin who demand to meet to get an explanation for Saewa’s lies. This makes the freaked out Saewa even more freaked out.

They meet by the river and Do Jin then demands to know what happened and why Saewa lied. When he turns to look at her, he gets a shock. I don’t see why as she doesn’t really look that bad. What’s wrong with Saewa? What lie will she spin? Or will she tell a half truth?

Meanwhile, Anna sits by her son’s side holding his hand. She pleads with him to open his eyes and wake up. End episode. Poor Anna. Imagine how hard it is for her. Her mental capacity is of a child’s, plus she has the mother’s love and bond for Donghae. This makes his accident even worse since he has always been the responsible adult caring for her.