Asian Addicts Anonymous

Meh. Not a bad episode, but I am kind of losing patience with this series [actually, I lost it a few episodes back]. You know, it’s kind of like Heartstrings which had all this buildup only to fall flat at the key moment. Mainly the hype up the festival. Really, that drama should’ve ended after the successful performance instead of continuing on like it did. Oh well. Now this, after all of the crap gone through just to get Gumiho on stage, it’s really getting annoying and repetitive and predictable.

But, on the bright side, we have Jae Yi and Eun Bi moving forward. That’s good, right? And we have Jin deciding that he will pursue his own dreams and happiness despite his grandfather’s machinations. And Ra Kyung…. nope, not going to go there, but props to Joon Hyuk.

We step back a bit to see Jae Yi’s questioning Eun Bi about her feelings and them finally sharing their first kiss [if you can even call that a kiss. definitely one for the lame drama kisses book]. Eun Bi leaves her house the next morning recalling the kiss. She seems both happy and embarrassed. On her way out she meets Gu Jak! The two meet for some coffee and Gu Jak says that he believes Eun Bi has learned a lot while working on Monte. The last time he heard her sing, she showed quite a bit of improvement. Eun Bi. She waves this off and Gu Jak talks about how they used to joke around. He then talks about having insomnia for the first time in his life thanks to what’s going on. Gu Jak then gets to the point. They are going to Dae Gu to audition the musical that weekend. Eun Bi is familiar with Sang Mi’s voice, right? That’s why he can’t sleep. He then begs Eun Bi to help him out by coming back to Do Hwa’s role for the competition. Eun Bi can make no promises [even when Gu Jak mentions making it up to Jae Yi by bringing Do Hwa’s song back] thanks to being with Monte. She does say that she will ask the company.

After learning Eun Bi’s feelings, Jae Yi is on a working binge that really worries Sung Ha. Why? You can guess she is afraid of what his actions mean. When she asks what he is doing, Jae Yi replies he is arranging the music sheets. Why? He has simplified the songs so more dance heavy ones will be easier to sing live. He has also included individual personal notes for all of the girls. Sung Ha says he can just tell them to the girls himself, but Jae Yi doesn’t plan on going to the studio. At the same time, Jin gets notified that Chairman Suh [aka Ra Kyung’s father] called asking if Jin was busy. Jin wants to know why the call wasn’t transferred and learns that Suh personally stopped by. Basically we have Suh threatening Jin. He talks about the investment is all hinging on Ra Kyung’s and Jin’s marriage. If Jin misses the right timing, then he will lose both the money and the girl. Sheesh. How typical.

Sang Won and Kang Hee are going over photographs when Eun Bi comes in. She goes to ask them about this weekend, but before she can get the question out, Sang Won thinks she has all ready heard the good news. And just what news is that? Due to a prior commitment scheduled months ago, Kang Hee can’t perform the role of Mercedes that upcoming weekend. That means that Eun Bi will get to be the lead actress for that performance. Oh, and it just happens to be the same day that the competition is so it’s impossible to do both. Great. Instead of being happy over the news, Eun Bi seems very conflicted. I think if she were honest, she’d choose Do Hwa over Mercedes any day. Eun Bi begins practicing hard for the role. She is in the middle of rehearsing Mercedes’s lines when she gets a call from Bok Ja letting her know that she will be late due to practice. This seems to make Eun Bi feel guilty, but what can you do? A commitment is a commitment.

While Eun Bi is conflicted about the audition, Ra Kyung is conflicted about what she saw at the hospital. [Is anyone else getting sick and tired of seeing Ra Kyung moodily depressed at work? I know I am.] Jin is also brooding over what his mom told him about happiness and marriage. He also recalls what his grandfather said about not regretting his decision and Suh’s threat. He calls up Ra Kyung and they arrange to meet for lunch. When they do, it is awkward. Jin goes to talk, but Ra Kyung does the talking. She says that they are a habit now. She also says that it will be easy to hang on, to do the marriage for the investment and make Jin’s life better [she still loves him and wants to marry him], but she isn’t gong to do that. She announces that she’s breaking up with him. Jin is okay with this decision. They both deserve the right to find their own happiness. Ra Kyung does tell him that his happiness won’t be Eun Bi as she is too obsessed with musicals. Jin isn’t doing this strictly because of the other girl. He wishes to listen to his dying mother’s wish and discover just what will make him happy. He wants Ra Kyung to find her own happiness as well.

While those two are busy breaking up, Eun Bi and Jae Yi are busing hooking up. Jae Yi finds Eun Bi coming out a store in his neighborhood. Knowing she has no real business in the area, he knows she’s there to see him. Eun Bi is uncomfortable and goes to leave, but Jae Yi brings her home. Once there, she tells Jae Yi to keep his back to her as she doesn’t have the courage to talk to his face. After a whole lot of hemming and hawing and uncertainty, Eun Bi finally tells him that before she didn’t know what love was as she had never received it before. Romantic love, okay, I’ll give that to her, but when it comes to love, you can obviously see how much love she gets from her father and grandfather, so I don’t really like that comment. Eun Bi then says she is ready to receive his love.

The hurting Ra Kyung calls up Joon Hyuk who rushes to accompany her for the day. She tries to stay strong but eventually breaks down and all he can do is watch her. Meanwhile, Kang Hee calls of Jae Yi who actually meets her. Kang Hee doesn’t mess around and cuts straight to the chase. She will give Jae Yi the money so he can get out of the contract. She can’t accept that he is no longer doing musicals due to financial reasons. Jae Yi refuses to accept the money. It is his problem and he will take care of it as he sees fit.

To break up the heaviness, we have a cute budding romance between Bok Ja and Eun Bi’s friend, which they keep hidden from Eun Bi. This is really a cute scene. When Eun Bi comes home, the two fear they got caught, but Eun Bi just angrily reminds her friend to stop keeping the fridge door open. Eun Bi then breaks the news to Bok Ja who tells Eun Bi to just concentrate on Monte. Why? If Eun Bi infuriates Kang Hee, Eun Bi’s budding career as a musical actress can be easily crushed. As much as Bok Ja wants Eun Bi’s help, she can’t have her dream be over. Eun Bi then gets a call from Jin and goes to meet him. He tells her about what his mother said and how he will try to find his own happiness. Eun Bi says this is something he should tell Ra Kyung and Jin lets her know they have broken up as they both deserve to find their own happiness. He makes his feelings known to Eun Bi, but doesn’t ask for her love in return. He just wishes she could be by his side while he searches for what he really wants.

Ra Kyung and Joon Hyuk go to karaoke where Ra Kyung went earlier with Jin. I think she even sings the same song, but now she can’t stop crying. Ra Kyung insists that she wasn’t thrown away, she broke up with Jin. Truthfully, it was over long before she ended it, so whatever makes her feel better. She then turns to Joon Hyuk and says that even if she is no longer with Jin, that doesn’t mean she will be with him. Talk about a low blow to the man she invited out knowing how he feels about her. What a wretch. Joon Hyuk then says he understands that. He doesn’t want to be her boyfriend [although it would be nice], he just wants her to be happy. Good for him for not trying to take advantage of Ra Kyung and not snapping at her attitude.

Yu gets a call from Suh. You can imagine that conversation. Suh hints at how bad things are between the kids and Yu quickly says that there is no problem. Them fighting is actually a good thing because they were getting along too well. Of course when Jin gets home his grandfather has to talk to him about what’s going on. He urges Jin to go to China after marrying Ra Kyung. Jin refuses, he has to see to the Amour Fund. Yu backs down on going to China, but insists that Jin marry Ra Kyung. Jin refuses once more. He and Ra Kyung are going their own ways. When Yu pushes about China being their ream, Jin points out that it was never his, only his grandfather’s. I am surprises that Yu didn’t disown him immediately, but Jin is s till hanging in there for now. I did like how Jin said he was going to protect the dream of the artists. Yu is right in saying that investing is for the investors, but Jin is right by saying that investing is to make dreams come true [since it is an arts fund] on top of giving the investors a good return.

Sung Ha is getting anxious. She asks to rush things and have Jae Yi go to America sooner than planned as she believes he will get into trouble if he stays in Korea for much longer. Jae Yi asks what she’s referring to and Sung Ha replies that the musical people won’t leave him alone, they will make Jae Yi falter from his path. Jae Yi tells her not to worry and that he is almost done with writing. Jae Yi also reveals that someone was willing to give him the money needed to back out of the contract. This floors her. Jae Yi does assure her that he isn’t going to accept that money at all, but it does little to relieve Sung Ha’s panic. She insists on settling the schedule earlier and Jae Yi insists that she not do such a thing. He then unceremoniously tells her to leave. Yep, things aren’t going like how she’d hoped.

Jae Yi goes back to the bank once more. Of course Sung Ha has struck again with a preemptory article saying that Jae Yi will be leaving for America to work with Flowers. This makes the bank woman happy and she talks about how his sister all ready knows. Jae Yi then tells her that he won’t be going to America and that he wasn’t the one who gave that interview at all. He then insists on getting out all of his money. Again, she doesn’t want to, but Jae Yi gives her two choices. 1. Be afraid of his sister and withhold the money. 2. Give him the money or he will take his banking elsewhere. Guess which one she chooses? Meanwhile, Eun Bi is trying hard to nail Mercedes’s songs, but she keeps getting drawn back to Do Hwa’s song [which she understands now is Jae Yi’s confession to her].

Then comes D-day. Gu Jak waits for Eun Bi until the very last minute. Joon Hyuk tells him that their lead male actor will fly out later for the competition and that they need to go. At that time, Eun Bi is getting ready for rehearsal and is receiving congratulations on getting to perform as the lead as Kang Hee’s stand in. Meanwhile, Jae Yi meets with the company and gives up the money for the contract termination. He has already completed the first album and he is willing to give up his copyright to the company. When Sung Ha desperately protests [bringing up the news article and how Jae Yi backing out can tarnish the girls’ reputation], Jae Yi offers to give a press conference explaining things. The label head pulls Sung Ha out. He scolds her for releasing the article against his wishes and says that they have made a $500,000 profit, plus they get to keep the copyright, meaning lots more money in the future. The contract is successfully canceled. Jae Yi tells the upset Sung Ha goodbye. It’s okay, their paths were just different.

Ok, so is there really a huge need to go into detail on the last 20 minutes? Not really. It turns out that Kang Hee’s commitment was to act as one of the judges. Jin is also a judge. Gu Jak keeps waiting for Eun Bi who is distractedly going through Monte rehearsals while the nervous Sang Mi preps. Their group is the last to go. Jae Yi shows up, giving them all a huge morale boost. The competition begins and the judges comment on how much better the quality is. Jin and the fund are credited with that. Then comes time for the final number and Eun Bi shows up just before they take the stage! Jin already knew what the final piece was and was highly anticipating, while Kang Hee was shocked and not happy at all. She was even more unhappy when she saw Eun Bi take the stage as Do Hwa.

Gumiho is easily the judges’ favorites. They are all set to pick it as the winner [much to Jin’s delight] when they notice Kang Hee is missing. They need her input as well. Kang Hee is out giving Eun Bi a piece of her mind. Eun Bi can kiss her musical career goodbye as she tried to do both roles. Kang Hee essentially fires her from Monte and tells Eun Bi that she will make sure Gumiho loses. Eun Bi tries to plead, but is knocked to the ground. She apologizes to everyone else who are depressed at the news. Jae Yi then comes with food and tells them to cheer up. Meanwhile, Kang Hee tells about the rights problem as Jin’s company technically has them, so they have to be disqualified from the competition. This disappoints everyone else. As the final judging is about to commence, in rushes Jin’s assistant with the papers that revert the production rights back to Gu Jak. Nothing like upsetting Kang Hee’s plan!

The previews for 15 show things getting even more crazy. Sigh.