Asian Addicts Anonymous

So we start episode 28 with Hye Sook completely flummoxed to find out that lower class woman who turned her into the police for a hit-and-run is really Saewa’s mother. Sool Nyeo is equally horrified to find out Hye Sook is Do Jin’s mother. Hye Sook immediately cancels the dinner and says that if Sool Nyeo is Saewa’s mother, then serious thinking will have to be done before the marriage can proceed. Saewa is in shock. Surely her carefully cultivated plans won’t go down the drain, will they? Do Jin chases after his retreating mother while Saewa demands to know what’s going on from her mother. Sool Nyeo admits that she wronged Hye Sook, but the conversation doesn’t go any farther as Joon apologizes for his wife’s actions and says he will try to talk to her to figure things out.

Meanwhile, Donghae is rushing to find Do Jin to see if they can see other tapes as the one from the lobby was bad and the security leader won’t let them see other footage without authorization. Donghae finds Do Jin after Hye Sook breezes by upset and refusing to talk to her son. Donghae asks to see other footage and Do Jin tells him only if he begs. What. An. Ass. Donghae, desperate to find his father since he is so close, does get down on his knees and asks Do Jin to please help him. Do Jin smiles and says its useless as he had the footage from the lobby erased. He will not be catering to Donghae. This enrages Donghae who socks Do Jin. Let’s face it, Do Jin deserved it. I would really love to see Lee Jang Woo playing a character who isn’t a complete jerk for once. Luckily, Bongi rushes in and gets Donghae to stop before he pummels Do Jin. Our Donghae doesn’t need to spend any more time in jail – stupid Saewa.

Outside, Bongi urges Donghae to let it go as there is nothing they can do since Do Jin has already deleted the footage. Bongi tells him that they will find another way and Donghae angrily looks back in the direction of the hotel. Bongi turns him homeward and urges him to go. I know Do Jin is raised in a wealthy family and all that jazz and his parents’ don’t have the best relationship, but where does he get this horrible attitude which looks down on the less fortunate an deigns they aren’t worthy to help? His attitude is completely infuriating.

Saewa, Saeyoung, and Sool Nyeo get home and Saewa immediately demands to know what her mother did. Sool Nyeo explains about the accident and this sets Saewa off. Didn’t she warn her mother to never do anything that could tarnish Saewa’s name? Sool Nyeo asks her daughter to calm down and promises to beg Hye Sook if she has to in order to get the matter straightened out. Saewa doesn’t care to hear the whole story as no one but her mother would be act so stupidly. Poor Sool Nyeo. Saewa then attack her mother by asking what Sool Nyeo has actually done for her. It’s not like she raised her daughters in wealth in riches. Neither was Sool Nyeo or Saewa’s father influential. Saeyoung scolds Saewa for acting that way to their mother, but Saewa just tells her younger sister to shut up and demands to know if Sool Nyeo knows how hard she worked to get into Hye Sook’s good graces. Tae Hoon intervenes and says that even though Saewa’s upset, she shouldn’t talk to her mother like that. Saewa turns on her brother-in-law and tells him to butt out since he is an unemployed bum living in his mother-in-law’s house. Harsh.

Saewa needs to be slapped and put in her place. Even though Sool Nyeo couldn’t do everything for her daughters, she worked hard to get where she is now and to be able to live a comfortable life with them. Saewa has no right to say that. Saewa slams into her room and Tae Hoon tries to comfort Sool Nyeo only to endure her wrath at being a good for nothing son-in-law she can’t brag about or show off. Poor guy is really taking the brunt of everything in this family. In her room, Saewa calls up a sunbae to launch a plan to guarantee that her marriage will go through. What plan exactly?

At the Lee house, Pil Jae comes in with a hot bun for Anna, but he quickly takes it away and gives it to Song Yi when Sun Ok comes back earlier than expected with his daughter. Poor Anna. Anna then tells the newly returned Donghae [who promises to buy his mother a hot bun later] that Pil Jae compared her to a hot bun. Song Yi then says that means Anna is ugly. This makes Donghae angry and Pil Jae desperately tries to say that wasn’t what he meant. Poor guy, is doing this so awkwardly.

Kang Jae’s orders are starting to stack up which means a lot more work, so Donghae volunteers to help the older man with his cabbages. Kang Jae gratefully accepts his help. While the two work with the cabbages, Kang Jae asks about Donghae’s search for his father. Donghae admits to not having much luck and Kang Jae says it would really be nice if he can get on TV again as that is the fastest way. True, but no program wants to take on Donghae who angrily stormed off one show already. Kang Jae then wonders about a job for Donghae who says that he’ll need one to be able to settle in Korean until they can find James. Kang Jae knows Donghae’s  licensed chef, how about looking for work in a restaurant. Great idea!

Back at the Kim house, Joon talks to Hye Sook about what she did at the restaurant. Hye Sook says she was just so flabbergasted at running into Sool Nyeo. She then tells Joon about how Saewa’s mother turned her in to the police for a hit-and-run. Not to mention how Sool Nyeo talks [she curses like a sailor]. They will definitely need to sit down and talk things over and decide what’s best to do for their son. Hye Sook is happy that she can talk to her husband about such things now. Yes, their marriage is looking better finally. However, when Joon goes into his home office, he still can’t bear to get rid of Anna’s picture. Meanwhile, Saewa meets with Do Jin who vows to never give her up even if his parents object. He then hugs her and someone snaps photos surreptitiously. Looks like that’s the favor Saewa called in. The conniving witch.

The next day, the man that Hye Sook fired [he wasn’t on her side, so she refused to overlook his underhanded dealings], explodes at her for firing him. Hye Sook explains that he took enough money in bribes that he should be set for life. He is then escorted out of the hotel. Do Jin comes in and goes to talk about Saewa and the marriage, but Hye Sook still isn’t in the mood to talk about it yet. They also decide to bolster the hotel’s image by entering all service staff into the cooking competition to promote Korean cuisine. At this time, one of Hye Sook’s assistants comes in with the newspaper which has a picture of Do Jin and Saewa embracing on the front. The hotel is already being flooded with calls. Nice move, Saewa.

At the station, Joon calls in Saewa and she apologizes for the scandal erupting. She’s not sure how that happened [lying witch]. Joon also says that even with the news article, the Kim family needs to consider everything carefully as a marriage is not just between two people, but also their families. Saewa says she understands and apologizes for the trouble that has been caused. She also says she has been contacted for interviews which she has turned down at the moment. When she leaves, Joon’s office she breaks into a big smile and calls her sunbae to “scold” him/her for leaking the story and then promises to invite him/her to the wedding. Fellow female reporters come to Saewa for the truth and she apologizes for not telling them and says that Joon called her in to comfort her [another whopping lie]. She then also promises to let them know the dates when everything’s official. Boy, is Saewa on cloud nine acting all superior. Boy, I am really hating this woman.

Back at the hotel, Bongi passes the next stage of the test and her former friend Soon Ae gets last place. Needless to say the other girl isn’t happy, but what can you do when your own cooking isn’t the best? The head chef then announces the contest, which excites Bongi. She immediately calls Donghae who is out job hunting [people don’t want to hire a US chef nor do they want someone who could leave at a moment’s notice to go back to the states]. She asks him to swing by the hotel so they can go home together. When Donghae gets there he asks what happened with her test and Bongi explains it went well. What about the girl who sabotaged her? It looks like she might be quitting soon if she doesn’t get laid off first. Bongi then shows him the printout about the competition and tells him about how the winner might get a TV appearance. This immediately strikes a chord with Donghae and he asks if he can get a job in the hotel’s kitchen to appear on the program and see about finding his father. Bongi knows that the hotel is going through restructuring and that people are getting laid off, but decides to go see the head chef just in case.

Meanwhile, Sool Nyeo catches Hye Sook going into the hotel and follows her up to the office. Sool Nyeo begs Hye Sook to let the two children who are in love [yeah, right] get married. Sool Nyeo knows she is rough and unrefined, but that was because of the struggles she went through and the hardships she endured. The one thing she can say is that she raised her daughter up properly so she will not be an embarrassment to the Kim family. Hye Sook still doesn’t like the fact that Sool Nyeo is Saewa’s mother and will be connected to their family. Sool Nyeo then vows to give up being Saewa’s mother in order for her daughter to be able to marry in peace. Hye Sook smiles and asks Sool Nyeo to put it in writing right away. Oy. There are times when I feel for Hye Sook and don’t think she’s all that bad, and then she pulls a stunt like this.

Hye Sook then arranges for the whole family and Saewa to gather for lunch. She tells the children that they can go through with the marriage. This excites Saewa and makes Do Jin happy. Joon excuses himself to wash his hands and Hye Sook uses this opportunity to tell Do Jin to give her and Saewa some space so she can “comfort” the younger girl about what happened. As soon as her son leaves, Hye Sook drops her nice act and lets Saewa know that she’s not 100% happy with this marriage at all. Saewa will have to work hard to live up to the Kim family status. She also hands over the signed statement that Sool Nyeo wrote up. Saewa is completely shocked. Hye Sook asks if she’s offended. After all, Sool Nyeo offered to write it herself. Saewa says she isn’t, but I wonder. If she isn’t offended, then there is something wrong with her.

Of course the chef says no. Bongi goes to change and asks Donghae to wait for her. He goes out to the lobby where he sees a suspicious man hiding behind a column. He gets even more suspicious when the man blatantly hides his face behind the newspaper and strides fast in the newly returned Hye Sook’s direction. Concerned, Donghae rushes to the elevator, but doesn’t stop it in time, so he starts running the stairs trying to catch it. Meanwhile, the man who was fired begins to push Hye Sook around. When Donghae finally manages to catch the elevator, the man has Hye Sook’s arm twisted behind her back. Donghae immediately grabs him and pulls him out of the elevator while security comes running [I’m guessing because they saw what was going on with the elevator cameras]. Do Jin also comes rushing to his mother’s aid. Hye Sook thanks Donghae for saving her before going off, quite rattled.

Back at the Lee house, Anna is helping Sun Ok with the laundry. Sun Ok tells Anna how to take care of the clothes [like bringing them in before the sunsets so they don’t get damp]. Anna replies she used a dryer in the states and little Song Yi says that Aunt Sun Ok hates wasting money on things like that. Then in comes Pil Jae with roasted sweet potatoes for everyone. He gives Anna and Song Yi the nicest ones which causes Sun Ok to gripe. Anna immediately trades hers for Sun Ok’s tiny one. This upsets Pil Jae, but what can he do? Bongi and Donghae get home and the girl goes in to change. Meanwhile, Kang Jae goes out to take cabbages to Sool Nyeo [Sun Ok protests as Sool Nyeo buys her kimchi instead of making it]. Donghae offers his help and Kang Jae gladly accepts.

At the Yoon house, Saewa lets her mother know that the marriage is still on. Sool Nyeo is happy and relieved and promises to be on her best behavior so Saewa and the Kims aren’t shamed. Funny how Saewa doesn’t mention she knows about what her mother did… Sool Nyeo then tells her daughter that she will do Saewa’s hair for the wedding. Saewa immediately refuses this offer as she is getting her hair done at a salon that does celebrities’ hair. What an ungrateful wretch of a daughter. Saewa goes into her room and the agitated Sool Nyeo goes out for a walk. Kang Jae and Donghae arrive at this time with the cabbages. Donghae recognizes the apartment building, but shrugs it off. Boy does Saewa get a shock when she looks out and sees Donghae standing behind Kang Jae.

End episode. I’ll get 29 up tomorrow barring any roadblocks, like cutting the grass after work.