Asian Addicts Anonymous

I’m more and more convinced that Hyun Woo isn’t his father’s child, and I’m sure that’s revealed already in one of the episodes that has already aired and I desperate need to catch up on. That being said…Hyun Woo does seem a lot like his grandfather…so what is the deal? Deul Im’s and Hyun Woo’s progression is cute. We know they will have tons of obstacles on their way to love, a cousin, a sister, a mother, a picked out wifey, and what not. But…it will be a cute romance, I think. Their characters are an awful lot alike, but Deul Im stands firm in her pursuit of her own dream while Hyun Woo buckles down under family pressure to do what is expected of him. Neither way is necessarily wrong as long as you are not making yourself miserable or pursuing an obviously unobtainable dream.

As a note…this recap may not be in 100% chronological order and I am definitely skipping over things that really…don’t add to the plot. Like all the lovely family arguments that are very repetitive (Mi Ok and her doggy, etc.).

Hyun Woo does what any mature adult does after his father slaps him across the face—he runs away from home. Ji Young tries to stop her son, but to no avail. He tries calling both Soo Im and Tae Kyung, but neither one of them answers their phone. Oddly enough, he doesn’t think to hit up his cousin and just crashes at the theater. Meanwhile, Deul Im’s parents get angry at her for refusing to work as a secretary in order to continue as a trainee. They ground her and forbid her from leaving the house. Of course we all know how well Deul Im listens…to anybody.

Deul Im starts cleaning the practice room and sits down on a bench in the corner only to have that bench groan. Deul Im is shocked to see Hyun Woo there. Is he a thief? Hyun Woo assures her he isn’t as he wouldn’t have slept in the studio if he was going to rob it. Duh. Unless you’re a really stupid thief. Hyun Woo then wonders why Deul Im is there and no one else. Deul Im comes in extra early to clean everything up and get things ready for the actors who will be in at 10 to start practicing. The two then share Deul Im’s breakfast and Hyun Woo tries to refute that he is homeless, lol. He then has to hit Deul Im up for bus money since he left his wallet at home. Deul Im tells him to add this on to the money he owes her and he bows to pay it back as he rushes out the door.

Unfortunately, him leaving is seen by Na Ri who immediately accuses Deul Im of bringing a man into the studio (to do inappropriate things). Deul Im tries to refute this, but Na Ri won’t listen and just calls the younger girl trash. This is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back and Tae Kyung, again, won’t listen to Deul Im’s explanation and kicks her out telling her to never return. This time…Deul Im takes it seriously. She curses out Hyun Woo as she leaves the theater, crying. She tries to call him to yell at him, but his phone is off.

Ji Young vists Sang Hyun with food and is surprised that Hyun Woo didn’t crash at his apartment. She assures Sang Hyun she would come and prepare food for him any time—it’s not just because she thought her son was there. Ji Young then meets Hyun Woo at work with his wallet and a change of clothes. She colds him for not calling her and letting her worry all night. Hyun Woo is back to his more chipper self and agrees to return home that evening. Before he does go home, he gets in touch with Tae Kyung to go drinking since he can’t possibly go home sober.

Hyun Woo tells Tae Kyung where he crashed and Tae Kyung realizes his mistake. He then tells Hyun Woo that he officially booted Deul Im out. This horrifies Hyun Woo. He demands Tae Kyung hurry and rectify the mistake as he doesn’t want Deul Im to hate him even more because of this matter. Tae Kyung doesn’t commit to bringing her back or not. He should feel bad for how he treated her (without even evidence of her alleged misdeeds beyond the DIVA’s words and we all know Na Ri doesn’t like Deul Im). They go to leave and run into Sang Hyun. The drunk Hyun Woo tries to get his cousin to go for another round, but Sang Hyun insists on taking him home.

Once home, Hyun Woo is scolded for staying out all night and coming home drunk. Hyun Woo tears up, bows, apologizes and recites what Deul Im told him. She is going after her dreams or else she will wither and die. Hyun Woo can’t go after his own dreams, he must pursue the dreams his father creates for him. He isn’t perfect and he never will be, but he hopes his father can see his honest effort and accept it for what it is. Of course, Judge Park isn’t very happy about this speech and Sang Hyun is sent off to help Hyun Woo up to his room.

Deul Im waits for her sister and cries as she talks about how the theater company greatly insulted her. She wanted to achieve her dream on her own, but it looks like that won’t happen. Is Soo Im still willing to talk to her college buddy on Deul Im’s behalf? Soo Im agrees and does her best to comfort her crying sister. She’s a good big sister. She’s a good daughter. She’s horrible at relationships…but so is Tae Kyung. They are so alike in that department, they are better off dating. I feel bad for him though, because Soo Im got really defensive when Hyun Woo teased her about being unattainable at the exact same time as Tae Kyung.

At the Gong house, Sung Hoon again reminds his mother about meeting with Se Joon. He also says he received notice that his lunch fees haven’t been paid. Jung Ja is embarrassed by this and insists it was just a mistake. She will transfer money into that account right away. However…she has no money. She also has no job prospects. She eventually goes back to the café where she fought with May. She can’t quite bring herself to talk about the help wanted sign. Pride isn’t a bad thing, except when it gets in the way of doing what you need to do to survive and keep your children clothed and fed. I like it when she’s at the market later and runs into the upset Se Joon who can’t get in touch with her. She is extra nice and even pays for his food without him tricking her. He’s completely baffled and thrown by her nice behavior.

Sang Hyun is still interested in investing in Tae Kyung’s theater, but he is uncertain as he knows Tae Kyung doesn’t agree with him. Tae Kyung’s producer, however, tells Sang Hyun to go ahead with getting the Broadway show and she will  do her level best to convince Tae Kyung. Soo Im meets with Tae Kyung and gets a huge load taken off her chest when he agrees to meet her baby sister. He’s happy to be able to help her. The two also talk about how they didn’t even know just how close their families are. Can there really be such ignorant coincidences? I mean…it’s not impossible to know your friends’ parents are also you parents’ friends…but doesn’t that seem unlikely with how much Mi Ok and Jin Soon do together?

I do feel badly for Hyun Woo. He meets Deul Im again and she wants nothing more to do with him—not even for the money he owes. When he talks about taking responsibility for the mistake and her firing, Deul Im wonders if he can do so since he didn’t take responsibility for the accident. Hyun Woo bites his tongue as she needed to take responsibility as well, but didn’t. He does insist that he will definitely this time since he’s obviously at fault. He also scolds her for giving up so easily on he dream. Deul Im then brings up the fact that she was called trash and she wasn’t raised all these years by her parents to be called like that. This really cuts Hyun Woo. I do believe that is really sensitive to him as his father considers his memories and loves trash.

Since Se Joon can get into trouble for not submitting a written report about Sung Hoon’s fight, he is more than anxious to meet with Sung Hoon’s mother. Ja Hye keeps trying to point him in Tae Hee’s direction with no luck, so Se Joon tells Sung Hoon to lead him to his house. Sung Hoon manages to elude him, but brings him in contact with his mother. Se Joon asks why she was so nice as to pay for his food and Jung Ja replies that she is just being polite for someone from the same neighborhood. She then scurries off where she runs into her ex who wants to talk to her yet again about getting back together. Jung Ja refuses to talk and demands money. Sung Hoon then comes out of hiding and the two go home together.

Once home, Jung Ja is immediately attacked as the rumor of her second divorce is making the rounds and shaming the entire Gong family. Granny Jo can’t even show her face in the senior home. Jung Ja yells that she will get out of the house, but Soo Im and Deul Im do manage to convince her to stay since she and the children really do have no place left to turn to. I know multiple divorces is nothing to brag about…but to treat her so trashily because of this isn’t fair. Of course…I think the divorce rate has hit over 50% in the US…but…that’s partially because we have people getting married and divorced multiple times. Perhaps it’s a bad thing that divorce has become less of a big deal and more widely accepted here. At the same time, you shouldn’t be trapped in a relationship where you can trust or love your spouse because of their actions. Though…due to the economy…divorce rates tend to go down when its bad as its harder to survive on your own these days.

Let’s see…what else happened…nothing really major. Hyun Woo works on his case and gets scolded in front of his perfect cousin, which earns Judge Park Ji Young’s wrath. Demeaning your son in front of a close relative or friend will not grand you the desired results and you can tell it really makes Sang Hyun feel badly for his cousin. It’s because of this that Ji Young tries to bring up something from the past…but we never get to hear what it is. And then there’s when Judge Park goes to his son’s work to take he head lawyer out to lunch and they comment about blood being inherited, etc. and Judge Park gets that uncomfortable look once more. Out with it. No need to keep this so buried, is there?

Well…okay…something major. Tae Kyung gets an emergency call saying one of his actresses has been in a car accident. She broke her leg and will be out of commission for a month. There are no understudies for her part and Tae Kyung has no luck in find a replacement actress at the last minute. Hyun Woo reminds him once again about that trainee. She does have some talent. Tae Kyung considers this and calls up Deul Im. He hands her a score and tells her to sing. She asks why. He tells her what happened and she outright refuses. Say what? She has no need to work in such a company if he cannot listen to her explanation nor apologize for his behavior. Tae Kyung admits that he found out he was wrong about her. He kind of gives her an apology…but it’s not a REAL heart-felt wrong. Deul Im does accept it though since he admitted his mistake. She then starts singing the song and Tae Kyung and the other actors are impressed. Tae Kyung gives her the part and that’s when Na Ri’s wrath breaks loose. She will NOT work with Deul Im.

End episode 10. Na Ri is such a divalicious witch. What right does she think she has to control who comes and goes? Sure…if you’re popular and good enough, you can have some clout, but is she really all that so she can demand unreasonable things? Deul Im obviously has some talent and she is very earnest in everything she’s done while working, so why isn’t Na Ri giving her a chance at all? Tsk, tsk.