Asian Addicts Anonymous

Happy Monday! Really, the weekend is too long when you’re this addicted to a series. Unless…I guess that the series you are addicted to actually airs on the weekend. Alas, this is a weekday series.

We go back to where Bum Soo and Go Dong organize a search party to find the missing Man Ok and Tae Ik. Well…I’m sure they are probably more concerned over Tae Ik. Man Ok wakes up as she hears the yelling and bolts upright in bed. She looks down and notices Tae Ik and tries to scream, but he quickly covers her mouth, stifling it. Man Ok points outside and the two begin to scramble around. What do they do? LOL. They technically didn’t do anything wrong, so their initial reaction to hide (even if they are afraid of causing a scandal is amusing).

So they end up buried together under the covers (Tae Ik’s long legs are sticking out, though). They turn their heads and almost share an accidental kiss. The search party try to open the trailer, but the door has been locked and they move on. When the voices go away, the two pop up and Man Ok wondered what on earth she’s doing in the trailer since she went to sleep outside. Tae Ik, being Tae Ik, can’t admit that he took pity on her and brought her inside. Instead he asks her what she did with the sleeping bag. Does she sleepwalk? LMAO. Did she happen to do something to him in his sleep?

Man Ok says she was definitely outside with the cat. Cat! Where’s the kitty? She immediately opens the door much to Tae Ik’s unhappiness. He quickly covers himself up with the blankets while Man Ok gasps in shock. Enter Bum Soo. What is she doing there? Realizing that it is just Bum Soo, Tae Ik sits back up. Bum Soo goes to yell at them, but then looks from Man Ok to Tae Ik. Knowing what Bum Soo is thinking, Tae Ik yells that isn’t the situation at all. Bum Soo tells him to shush so as not to attract attention. He then says that he will divert the staff and that the two need to come out quietly and separately so no one catches on. Once Bum Soo leaves, the two look at each other and Tae Ik tells her to clean up. Man Ok says she can’t by herself, Tae Ik needs to help. He reluctantly gets up to do this while a mysterious someone takes pictures with a cellphone.

On the ride home, Man Ok is still trying to figure out what happened. She definitely went to sleep outside. Did Tae Ik…no, that’s impossible. Omo, she really doesn’t sleepwalk does she? She closes her eyes and slides down in the seat. Tae Ik opens his and glances back. Was Man Ok only pretending to be asleep last night? How else would she be outside of the sleeping bag? His mouth curls and he wonders what this dirty feeling is. Bum Soo then lowers the paper and glances back and forth between the two. It can’t be, right? We then end with all three shaking their heads wondering just what happened. LOL.

Meanwhile, the long forgotten Kang Hwi (well, not really, it’s he just hadn’t had much screen time in the previous half episode) is doing what else? Shopping. This man. Shakes head. He has a serious problem. He asks about a new bag sans zipper and the clerk replies someone else already reserved it. Kang Hwi replies he was the one and goes to check out. The clerk then hands over half a dozen bags. Kang Hwi is confused. He looks through them. They are all his style…but he can’t buy all of them. Don’t tempt him. The clerk says they are all paid for. Who did that? She hands over a red card and tells him to read that. Inside is a hotel name and room number. DON’T GO THERE!!!!!

Go Dong calls up Kang Hwi. Where is he? Out. Shopping? Come on, he doesn’t ONLY shop. LOL. Bum Soo wishes him to come home right away, but Kang Hwi doesn’t want to as the president gave him the day off to rest. Go Dong says that something came up and the company is particularly chilly today. Go Dong will be there in an hour to pick up Kang Hwi. The star says he has an important meeting and could stay out all night. Go Dong asks who he’s meeting, but Kang Hwi only tells him not to pry into his private life. Kang Hwi gets off the elevator and so does the man who follows him off. Like that isn’t obvious. Kang Hwi looks back and the man quickly pretends to be on his phone searching for a room. The door opens and out steps an older woman. The two hug and go inside. The man looks. This is “daebak” news.

No, it’s not. Kang Hwi is just meeting his mother. Why is there meeting a secret? His mom asks if he’s okay. Kang Hwi says he never gets sick. His mom then asks if his eye has gone bad. Kang Hwi tells her his eye is fine—he went and had it examined. Hmm. There has to be more of story since she’s actually asking about it. She then asks her son to quit his career and come back with her as she’s lonely without him. How is that so when she’s always with Chairman Won. Interesting. He doesn’t call his father “dad.” His mom says she’s only by the sick chairman’s side for his sake—she doesn’t want to be there. She then says that Ju Ming (NO idea who this is) is trying to take his place. Kang Hwi lies and says he has practice and needs to rush off. Before he leaves, his mom warns him that she doesn’t know what she’ll do if he keeps acting like this. She’s done everything she could to secure his place. Kang Hwi turns and tells her that makes him sad to have such a meeting with her after a long time and leaves. She shouts she will never give up. The stalker then comes out after Kang Hwi leaves and grins as he tells someone over the phone that he’s hit something big.

Tae Ik is not happy to be taken to the company some business. Why are they there? Bum Soo tells him that the president is waiting. This doesn’t bode well. Meanwhile, in the car, Go Dong turns to ask Man Ok what happened. She replies that she and Tae Ik lost their way. Not last night, what happened at the shoot. Man Ok says she got a little fired up is all. Go Dong says that’s one thing, but how can hyung hit the advertiser? This is news Man Ok, since she was looking for a kitty at the time. Will she put two and two together especially when Go Dong says that Tae Ik may have a nasty temper, but never resorts to violence?

Inside, Joon is trying to placate department ass. In walks Tae Ik. Joon immediately apologizes since Tae Ik is a sensitive musician. Department ass wants the apology directly from Tae Ik who refuses to say anything. When Tae Ik is forced to pour him a drink, Tae Ik overflows the glass making matters worse with department ass. He goes to the bathroom to wash his hands and the angry Joon comes in. What does Tae Ik think he’s doing? He’s no longer a chaebol’s son but a singer and model who just insulted the advertiser. There’s a limit to everything. Tae Ik smirks. Is Joon and department ass in this together? They said the exact same thing as one another. Touché. This surprises Joon. What? Tae Ik says that isn’t the only CF out there, so losing that one won’t hurt them. Joon busts a vein and yells at Tae Ik that it is Joon who decides such things, NOT Tae Ik. Doesn’t Tae Ik know that he’s Joon’s puppet? Tae Ik turns around with a smile and says his master can handle the situation as the puppet is leaving. NICE. Joon laughs and then shakes in rage.

Bum Soo tries to stop Tae Ik and make him go back and apologize, but Tae Ik yells at him to move as Tae Ik himself is shaking (in rage?) and can’t see anything right now. He then rushes past and Bum Soo says he’ll get the car. Poor Tae Ik-ssi. He doesn’t deserve what people are doing to him. No wonder he has a slightly twisted personality.

We cut to Man Ok who is sitting outside on a swing overlooking the property. She recalls what Go Dong told her about Tae Ik’s past. How his family was one of the top builders in the industry and how the land and the house all used to belong to him. Now it’s only the house and Tae Ik had to scrimp and save all he could to be able to get that back. His main goal is to get the entire property back, but it’s incredibly expensive. Man Ok asks Go Dong what happened, but Go Dong doesn’t know. That’s a secret with a tight seal that no one talks about. Looks like Joon bought it and won’t give it up. Walking back to the house, Man Ok recalls the party from the first episode. She remembers at last! But don’t expect her to reveal this memory to Tae Ik.

Enter the angry Tae Ik. Man Ok calls out to him, but he ignores her. She then runs up to him and stops him. Didn’t he hear her? Tae Ik just tells her to move. Man Ok says she didn’t even go home and waited for him all of this time. She then hands over an herbal pain relief patch. She bought the most expensive, hypoallergenic one she could find so that he could put it on his back where he got hurt the day before. AWWW. This act of kindness surprises Tae Ik. He takes the medicine patch and then Man Ok’s stomach rumbles. She embarrassingly goes to leave. Tae Ik looks down at the patch and calls out to stop her. His little boyish expressions are SOOOO cute. Seriously, Noh Min Woo is doing a wonderful job at expressing the multifaceted Tae Ik.

The two end up in Tae Ik’s car and Man Ok’s stomach keeps rumbling. Tae Ik does his best to quash his boyish smile. He tells her to breath and her stomach rumbles again as she exhales. This is why she said they should eat at home. Is it still far? Tae Ik again represses a smile. LOL. LOVE!!! The two then end up outside a really expensive restaurant. Man Ok balks (I think for his sake since she knows how he really is hard-pressed for money). She then says to just go to a nearby soft tofu place. Tae Ik can only eat 100% organic tofu. LOL. Everything needs to be 100% organic for him. Man Ok again tries to get him to leave and Tae Ik tells her to walk home by herself then. He looks so frustrated as he’s trying to do something really nice.

The food comes and when Tae Ik insists on ordering two more servings of two very expensive dishes, Man Ok again balks. Only bring one serving of each. Tae Ik insists on two. The server leaves and Man Ok looks at the crowded table. How can they eat all this when even more dishes are coming? Tae Ik then says this is all food she’ll never see again in her lifetime. Nice. He then tells her she better eat everything in sight. 😛 It’s so cute. Man Ok is trying to save him money and he’s insistent on spending his money on her to repay her kindnesses to him. Awww, shucks. They are soooo cute together. Man Ok finally stops hesitating and opens her napkin. Fine. She’ll eat and then die.

As they are about to eat, Man Ok’s phone rings and it’s a drunken Kang Hwi. She excuses herself and Tae Ik looks really unhappy. Man Ok says she is just about to eat and can’t come out to play. When Kang Hwi says he misses her and tells her where he is, Man Ok promises to quickly come after she finishes eating. Awww. Poor Kang Hwi. Looks like he’s still smarting from what happened earlier with his mom. He lays his head down on the table and recalls a childhood memory of dancing alone with his mom in a beauty shop. The happy mother-son moment is ruined when rocks are thrown through the shop windows. A piece of glass cuts his eye and enter thugs that take him and hold his mother back. We then cut to a scene with Kang Hwi, two little girls, and who I can only guess are Chairman Won and his wife. The older girl tries to be good to Kang Hwi while the youngest refuses to let him eat. Kang Hwi starts crying and the woman (who speaks in Chinese! no wonder Kang Hwi knows it) tells him to be taken away. Looks like he and Tae Ik both had very tragic pasts and experiences as children. Back in the present, Kang Hwi eats a shrimp and vows NEVER to go back. I don’t blame him.

Meanwhile, Man Ok is concerned over Tae Ik who refuses to stop eating. She’s really worried he’ll bust a gut. She then mutters that Kang Hwi is waiting for her. Tae Ik childishly replies that he told her they weren’t leaving until all the food is gone. Man Ok cannot believe this. Why is he acting like this? Does Man Ok know how expensive this is? If she knew the real value of the dinner, she wouldn’t leave anything behind either. Man Ok scoffs and asks how much it is—she’ll pay for it. Tae Ik hands over the bill which is 570,000 won. Will she pay it? Man Ok quickly shakes her head and picks up a crab leg and begins nibbling when she gets a text from Kang Hwi. Why isn’t she there yet? Sorry, she’ll be late as a problem came up.

Enter the fake idol who doesn’t like Kang Hwi. Why is he there? He came to pay his respects. He then goes out and meets with the guy stalking Kang Hwi earlier. Fake Idol puts drugs in the alcohol and the stalker asks if they need to go that far since they have the video from the hotel. Fake Idol says they need to be certain. He goes back to Kang Hwi and turns off his cell phone. He then wakes him up and tells him to have another drink. This definitely won’t end well at all. Nope, nope, nope. Poor Kang Hwi. Accursed Fake Idol.

Back at the house, Tae Ik is suffering from his gluttony and refusing to let Man Ok poke his finger. Tae Ik says that he can’t be sick from expensive food, he’s just in a bad condition. Man Ok says there is no way he WOULDN’T get indigestion from eating as much as he did. How much of a baby can he continue being? She grabs his arm and pushes up the sleeve while he tries to fight her off. He warns her that if she pokes him, he won’t let her off. Man Ok wipes the needle on her hair and then stabs his thumb. Blood wells out thick and dark. See? He really did have indigestion. Tae Ik brings his thumb to his face with a look of horror. Blood. Man Ok says that he’ll be okay now. If it doesn’t get better, she’ll poke his toes. Tae Ik immediately sits up straighter and curls his toes. Man Ok goes off to get him medicine and water while he sucks his thumb and smiles widely. Awww. Kawaii. When Man Ok comes back, he’s curled up on the couch, thumb still in his mouth. Man Ok smiles at this and covers him up.

She looks at her watch and rushes out. She notices Kang Hwi’s wing is dark and tries to call him. We then cut to Fake Idol and Stalker putting him in a car. Uh-oh. When Man Ok gets a message about his phone being off she’s immediately worried. Is he still at the bar?

And since Viki’s video cut off the previews:

Looks like the actress who was Tae Ik’s first love made some moves on Kang Hwi! Don’t tell me these two end up in perpetual love triangles? Looks like Kang Hwi might be forced to go off somewhere due to Fake Idol’s blackmail. Joon even tries to record it. Nothing like blackmailing a blackmailer with a tape of their blackmailing deeds. Man Ok and Kang Hwi will have some cute moments. Tae Ik and Kang Hwi will fight as always. And Man ok gets the backup dancers of Take One to act as her students to fool her grandfather.

So many good Man Ok-Tae Ik moments that you can’t help but love. I also really like how each episode kind of focuses on one character to a point. Now we’ve gotten Man Ok’s, part of Tae Ik’s, and now Kang Hwi’s past stories. I like it. It’s nifty. And it’s not bogged down or anything (though I do admit the flashback to childhood scenes are ALL incredibly corny—but that fits this show so well).