Wish Upon a Star: Episode 7

by javabeans

Best episode so far! It’s funny and adorable, with more character and plot development. I almost even found the Jung family scenes interesting (or, at least, not UN-interesting). All the characters are growing into their quirks, particularly the kids.

SONG OF THE DAY

Peppertones – “지금 나의 노래가 들린다면” (If you can hear my song now) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 7 RECAP

Pal-gang comes home after making her subway speech, and finds Tae-kyu waiting for her outside. Her first thought is that he’s locked out or drunk, not that he’s concerned for her well-being since she’s out late. Granted, he does seem a little tipsy, but he’s mostly here to fuss over her.

He persists on calling her by her name, which is inappropriate since she is older and has told him repeatedly to call her noona. However, tonight she feels generous and offers to be friends, inviting him to continue using her name. However, Tae-kyu declines the offer — he doesn’t want to be a friend! “Marry me, Jin Pal-gang! I love you!”

He grabs her in a hug, and she kicks him in the shin. She talks to him like he’s a pesky brother, warning him to cut it out. When Tae-kyu persists in calling her his soulmate (adding, “If you marry me, you can stay at the house even after a month”), she concedes that it’s not an entirely awful idea, but she’s already foisting five kids on the family, so no, she won’t add to the burden.

Jun-ha watches the exchange from his car. I wouldn’t say he’s disturbed, but more like discomfited.

In the morning, Kang-ha awakens to find a lump huddled at the foot of his bed. It’s Pa-rang, who mumbles, “I have a sleepwalking disorder. Please be understanding.” Yawning, he goes right back to sleep.

The other Jin siblings have noted Pa-rang’s disappearance. Worrying, they check around the house and outdoors. Kang-ha informs them of Pa-rang’s whereabouts and requests that they remove the boy. Ju-hwang is used to disciplining his brother and prepares to give him a whooping, saying that he’s got to feel some anxiety in order to keep his subconscious self from wandering into Kang-ha’s room.

Ju-hwang chases his brother around the room, noting that in the past he had improved after a spanking. Pa-rang promises to do better without the beating, and hides behind a sympathetic Jun-ha, who steps in and takes Pa-rang’s side.

Jun-ha scoops up Pa-rang and heads outside, while Ju-hwang chases, intent on delivering his disciplining. Tae-kyu feels left out and stops them, challenging his uncle: “Why are you doing this to our kids? They’re friendlier with me! Why are you butting in?” He thinks they’re playing a game and takes over Jun-ha’s role. Haha.

It’s the weekend and Pal-gang has put together a breakfast of toast, which is easier on her. Jun-ha eyes his picky brother and starts to say that Kang-ha doesn’t eat this kind of breakfast, but surprisingly, Kang-ha (grudgingly) agrees to put up with it.

Pa-rang is the brother with the least grasp on common sense, so he talks right to Kang-ha, saying, “Ajusshi, No-rang noona says that the other ajusshi is handsome, and my younger sister says Tae-kyu hyung is more handsome. But I think you’re the best. Honestly, you’re like a Power Ranger! And you fight well, don’t you?” (Puahaha! Kang-ha is not exactly flattered at this comparison.)

The girls take advantage of this time to further their campaigns with the men: No-rang pesters Jun-ha to express how he feels about Pal-gang, while Cho-rok talks to Tae-kyu. When Tae-kyu calls Pal-gang his soulmate and confides that he proposed, Cho-rok is thrilled and congratulates her sister on her impending marriage. (Pal-gang dryly comments that Ju-hwang will have to knock some sense into Cho-rok as well.)

Jun-ha tries to avoid No-rang’s questioning politely by escaping the house, but she tags along and talks his ear off about her sister. Plus, doesn’t he know she has great legs? “Take a look! They’re really slender!”

Wondering why the house is so quiet, Kang-ha goes back downstairs. Ju-hwang tells him that Pal-gang went grocery shopping with the others, then rushes off to the bathroom, still battling his constipation. Kang-ha spies Nam about to fall off the table and rushes to catch him, but then has to contend with his hungry crying.

Kang-ha tells Ju-hwang to come out and deal with it, but Ju-hwang isn’t going to be done for a while and instructs Kang-ha how to mix the formula. Kang-ha fumbles his way through it but eventually manages, though he has difficulty testing the temperature; Ju-hwang warned him to make sure it’s not too hot. Kang-ha tries to shake the formula into his mouth to test it, but the stuff just sprays all over his face. Frustrated, finally he sucks on the bottle — and comes face to face with Pal-gang.

She chides him for being dirty. Kang-ha bursts out in his defense that he was testing the temperature, then leaves the baby to her care, feeling annoyed and embarrassed. Out in the hall, Cho-rok’s words make him frown; she says, “He must not know how to do it. I thought lawyers were supposed to be smart.” Pa-rang defends Kang-ha, but that’s almost worse: “I think we’re similar.”

Tae-kyu chuckles to see his uncle at such a loss, saying that Kang-ha’s charisma has taken a hit because of Pal-gang.

Later that night, Pal-gang studies her insurance handbook while her siblings sleep, and gets a nosebleed. On her way to clean up, she runs into Jun-ha, who offers her some warm milk, and they sit for another chat. She marvels at how different he and his brother are, and he answers, “Women only like my brother.” Pal-gang answers loyally, “That’s because their eyes are faulty!” But she’d once been one of those women, so he asks wryly, “You too?”

Regarding the nosebleed (which in kdramas mean you’re overworking), Jun-ha says that she must be taking on too much. Pal-gang’s answer is happy, though: “But you know, I feel really wonderful.” She’s never had a nosebleed from working really hard at something. He understands a little: “Do you know how it feels to study all night, then go to school and lie that you fell asleep and didn’t study?” (She muses, “That’s never happened to me.”) “Well that’s what I would say, and when I went to the bathroom my nose was bleeding and I felt good because it meant I’d studied really hard.”

She promises to keep this a secret, too, prompting him to note that they keep confiding secrets in each other. Pal-gang laughs, saying they should start up a secret society or something, and bids him good night. As they separate, he pauses to glance back at her with a thoughtful look, and this marks Jun-ha’s first time seeing her as a woman in a conscious way.

The next task Pal-gang’s boss gives her is to merely “let them know you’re not a stranger.” These basic lessons are her boss’s way of training her at her job, not by following specific rules but in a way that teaches her to be sincere. Pal-gang is starting to understand, although she wonders how she can accomplish this latest task.

One of their co-workers, the middle-aged pinchpenny Jang-soo (who has a crush on Jin-ju), has heard of a possible job opportunity for Pal-gang as an event model. It’s a job requiring skills that she doesn’t have (modeling, dancing, being graceful), so she thanks him for the thought but declines. She’s committed to making the insurance gig work.

Therefore, she drops by a client’s office and hears that his father has passed away, and pays her respects at the funeral. The client hadn’t expected to see her, but she stays behind at the wake and cleans up after the dining guests.

Since she’ll be late coming home, the kids take over dinner duties. Surprisingly, they do a pretty good job, and their cooking is even better than Pal-gang’s. Again, the sisters pay particular attention to Jun-ha and Tae-kyu. It’s very cute, because while both sisters are flattering the guys to get them interested in Pal-gang, it comes across more as their own adoring crushes. The flattery makes Jun-ha uncomfortable, and even Kang-ha has to deal with his own unwanted admirer — Pa-rang.

There’s a funny moment when Tae-kyu comes home bearing flowers for Pal-gang, which he can’t give her because she’s still out. Jun-ha assumes they’re for Kang-ha’s upcoming birthday, and Kang-ha actually smiles in appreciation — which is then wiped from his face when he hears they’re for Pal-gang. When Tae-kyu announces that he’s going to marry her, Kang-ha barks, “You said you quit doing drugs!”

Pal-gang’s client’s son thanks her for her help but urges her to go home now. She assures him she’ll stay just a while longer till the guests leave, and sees that the widow has been sitting in tears all night long. The woman cries that she and her husband had fought all the time and she’d thought she would feel free when he died — but now that there’s nobody to fight with, she feels empty. There’s an old song her husband used to sing, and Pal-gang would like to sing it for her but she’s not familiar with it. She promises to learn it and sing for her at a later date.

When she gets home, Pal-gang finds rice and packaged seaweed soup with a note from Jun-ha letting her know that tomorrow is Kang-ha’s birthday. Since she’s probably tired, he bought the soup ahead of time (seaweed soup is traditionally eaten as a birthday breakfast) to help her.

In the morning, Pa-rang is asleep in Kang-ha’s bed again. The boy again mumbles his apology, then falls right back asleep comfortably. Kang-ha grumbles, “They all say sorry, then do as they please anyway.” But today, he actually pulls the blanket back over the boy.

Ju-hwang finds his brother and is determined to scold some sense into him. Kang-ha leaves the room to let Ju-hwang do his thing, smiling to hear Ju-hwang’s rebukes about being rude to sleep in Kang-ha’s room. But that smile drops from his face when Ju-hwang makes the implication that Pa-rang should watch it around Kang-ha since he’s not a nice person.

Pa-rang replies, “But I think he has a good personality,” which brings the self-satisfied smirk back to Kang-ha’s face… which again twists into a frown when Ju-hwang retorts that Pa-rang has no taste in people. (Kang-ha’s facial gymnastics = SO FUNNY.)

It’s quite a turnaround to see Kang-ha looking so pleased — and not trying to hide it — when he is presented with a special birthday breakfast. In addition to the soup, Pal-gang has gone out of her way to make a special side dish of japchae (sauteed vermicelli noodles), which he samples.

Immediately his face tells the story — as do the faces of the others. Pal-gang has failed to do the crucial soaking step and cooked with hard noodles. LOL.

At work, Pal-gang asks Eun-mal to teach her the song that the grandma mentioned, and practices singing it with her. Of course, this is when Jae-young walks by with Jun-ha and scolds her again with her pinched face and accusing tone.

I’m sure Jun-ha would have defended Pal-gang regardless, but today he has a point, noting that Jae-young’s reaction was excessive. Comparing Pal-gang to a crazy woman is pretty unfair. Jae-young explains, “There’s another someone like that. Whenever I see her or Jin Pal-gang, it really gets on my nerves.”

With the song newly memorized, Pal-gang heads back to the funeral wake looking for the grandmother, only to hear that she has collapsed and is in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Ju-hwang manages to convince the owner of a PC room to give him a job doing menial tasks there like serving customers and cleaning up. He tells his siblings that he’s out with a friend, which No-rang knows is a lie — first he said he was at the library, and now he’s with a friend? Pa-rang suggests, “He must have gone to the library, then to his friend’s.” Cho-rok points out that Pa-rang doesn’t know what a library is, and defines it as a place where you read books. Now Pa-rang understands their skepticism: “Books? He lied, where did hyung really go?” (HA! I guess this isn’t a reading kind of family.)

Jun-ha takes Kang-ha and Tae-kyu out for birthday drinks, and brings over three women to sit at their table. They aren’t hostesses; I think this is more of a booking situation, where they are fellow customers. He has made a deal with one girl in particular, however, to flirt with Tae-kyu. This is his attempt to divert Tae-kyu from the silly idea of marrying Pal-gang.

Again, gotta love Kang-ha’s reaction when Jun-ha explains that this is why they’re here. He almost pouts, “But you said this night was for me.” Jun-ha responds, “That’s because it had to be believable.”

Kang-ha isn’t interested in the woman clinging to his arm, so he gets up to leave early just as Jae-young arrives bearing a gift. (She had ignored Kang-ha’s dismissal earlier when he had told her, “I’m a man. I’m not a crazy guy to spend my birthday with my little sister.”)

Kang-ha’s not downright mean with her, but he’s very blunt about his lack of interest, and she just keeps ignoring them. Like tonight: He accepts her gift, but her company is not an enticement for him to head back inside. Instead, he goes home early.

Feeling hurt at his rejection, Jae-young proceeds to get drunk. At least Jun-ha’s having better luck with his plan to detach Tae-kyu from Pal-gang, since Tae-kyu is responding very positively to the new girl. (Jun-ha isn’t doing this with malicious intent; he recognizes that this is a passing — and inconvenient — infatuation and is hastening its conclusion.) Tae-kyu gets happily drunk and vows that this new girl is his soulmate, and proposes that they get married.

At home, Pa-rang sleepwalks into Tae-kyu’s empty room. He then heads out to the living room, where he plays with two objects he has retrieved — a lighter and a firecracker.

It’s not until the firecracker lights and the couch catches on fire that Pa-rang wakes up and tries to bat at the flames with his bare hands.

Thankfully, Kang-ha walks in the door and yanks the boy away, then beats the fire with his coat. Pal-gang walks in a few moments later and rushes to her brother’s side, who is by now sobbing for his mother in fear.

Kang-ha manages to put out the fire, but he turns his furious gaze on Pal-gang and demands, “Leave immediately. Right now! Get out!”

Pal-gang has seen her brother’s burned fingers, and Kang-ha’s anger ignites her own. Furious, she slaps his cheek.

He yells that the house could have burned down, and she fires back, “My brother could have died, you heartless bastard!”

 
OTHER PLOTLINES

Kang-ha has a meeting with some higher-level JK executives, who discuss the possibility of Chairman Jung dying or being unable to recover his senses. His stocks will pass to his heirs, but with the subsequent shakeups, Kang-ha may well become JK’s primary stockholder and be able to “recover” his management rights. Kang-ha doesn’t believe he ever had those rights to lose, but they remind him that if his father had not died, the Chairman wouldn’t have been able to take over so easily. There are still those who would be loyal to his deceased father, and they’re willing to help… (I guess his father and Chairman Jung were at the same level, which explains how he grew up so close to the Jung family.)

Kang-ha tells them to forget it: “If you’ve thought of me as a stand-in for my father, you have misjudged. I am only a lawyer with JK’s legal team.” They argue that he must have hidden motives for joining JK instead of accepting scouting offers at law firms, but Kang-ha denies it flatly.

Chairman Jung is discharged from the hospital to be cared for at home, at Min-kyung’s prodding. There’s a scene in the hospital when Pal-gang walks by, triggering Grandpa’s memory. But she walks on, and he loses the thought.

At home, he asks Min-kyung if she’s the bar girl that In-gu had brought home — his memory is flickering in and out and he isn’t quite sure of the facts. Didn’t she also try to kill herself? Min-kyung keeps an even tone but it’s evident that these old scars still hurt; she answers that yes, she tried to kill herself after the chairman had said he would never accept her for his daughter-in-law. He wonders, “Did I speak so heartlessly? You must have felt very hurt.” Min-kyung replies, “I wish I could be like you, forgetting what I want, remembering what I want. No — there’s nothing I want to remember from before Jae-young was born.”

When Grandpa checks his voicemail, he hears Pal-gang’s father’s last words, groaning, “Sir… your son… child… is our…” He drops the phone in shock as all the memories come flooding back — Pal-gang’s father, the Jin family, In-gu’s tirade — and he collapses.

 
COMMENTS

As I said, this is the first time we see Jun-ha becoming aware of Pal-gang. He doesn’t say anything in words, but he casts a few looks her ways that are very telling, plus he has No-rang pestering him to think of Pal-gang as a good match. (The “look at her legs” line made me burst out laughing.)

He seems to have gotten over his long-standing feelings for Jae-young in the previous episodes, and while I don’t think that quite makes sense for him to let go so suddenly, I’m not complaining. I’ll take it. It’s also why I get some satisfaction out of seeing him treat Jae-young differently now. He’s not mean to her — he’s too nice for that — but he does speak to her with dry sarcasm now. For example, when she finds them in the cafeteria and complains that they should have called her to join them, he returns, “Why, do you not know where the dining hall is?”

I enjoy how quickly the plot is developing. I LOVED seeing Kang-ha make the change from grumpypants to grudging resignation to almost-open acceptance, but it made me wonder what would happen for the rest of the series if he made the change so soon. He’s getting used to the family, as evidenced by his pleased expression at the birthday breakfast (even if that was marred by Pal-gang’s bad cooking). Even though he dislikes Pa-rang sleeping in his bed, the second time he’s not even fazed. And when he has to watch Nam, he’s not actually as awkward with the baby as you might expect.

So I like that this ending puts the family back on the hook, and this time it’s really not Kang-ha’s fault. It would be nice if he could be understanding, but given how far he’s come, you’ve gotta admit that setting fire to his living room falls into the “pushing it” category. It’s also a nice touch to make this Pa-rang’s doing, because he’s the one who looks up to Kang-ha, and also the one Kang-ha has been slowly warming up to (if reluctantly).

You can’t quite blame Pa-rang either, and not just because he’s a kid but also because this happened on the night when Pal-gang and Ju-hwang were both away. It reminds me of the earlier episode when the kids try to help out around the house and end up making a mess — their intentions are good, but they just bit off more than they could chew. Here, things were going along well, but Ju-hwang leaves to make extra money (and I’m not blaming him either), and this overreaching disrupts their fragile balance. Just when they’re starting to settle into a sense of comfort and ease, they let their guard down and now their future may be jeopardized again.

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