Beautiful Gong Shim: Episode 10

by chickachunga

Dan-tae must continue to uncover more truths surrounding his identity, but already danger seems to be hot on his heels. He may not know who the enemy is at this point in time, but a crucial piece of evidence hints at where the enemy may reside, and it’s much easier to nab the enemy from the inside where more clues are bound to surface. Unlocking the mystery behind one’s existence may be a harrowing journey, but luckily, our Dan-tae compartmentalizes sorrow well, by slapping on a goofy grin and riding around a jumbo floor-polishing machine. It’s the little things, isn’t it?

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

After a tumultuous month of heartbreaking truths, Dan-tae finally returns home, worn and weary, to a home-cooked meal, courtesy of Gong Shim. She also left him hand-drawn cards, featuring a picture of herself with messages chiding him for returning so late and reminding him to take his medicine. The touching gesture moves him to tears, and he sobs.

At the Star Group office, Jun-su’s father and uncle are alarmed to find Dan-tae suited up and asleep behind the desk. When he’s jolted awake, he greets them with a winning smile and introduces himself as the new secretary to the chairwoman.

We rewind a week earlier to when Dan-tae called his father. Over the phone, his father divulges that he wasn’t the one who kidnapped him, but rather kept him away from the man who intended to kill him. Dan-tae wonders who his kidnapper is, along with his true identity, and his father insists they meet in person so he can reveal the whole truth. Dan-tae apologizes for doubting his father’s integrity, and his father expresses remorse for withholding the truth for so long.

Jun-su’s uncle (Uncle Butterfly Tattoo) has a colleague look into Dan-tae’s father’s whereabouts and pays him a visit at the arboretum where he works. Dad is perturbed by Uncle’s sudden appearance, especially when he mentions Dan-tae.

He assures Uncle that no one else knows about the kidnapping incident and that he and Dan-tae haven’t spoken in over ten years. Just then a call comes in from Dan-tae, which reveals his bluff. Uncle accuses Dan-tae’s father of disclosing details about the kidnapping to Dan-tae, and they get into a brawl. Uncle flings Dad to the ground, causing him to hit his head against the bench, then flees the scene.

Dan-tae arrives soon after and frantically tries to wake his father. During the ambulance ride, Dan-tae finds a Star Group pin in his father’s hand.

At the hospital, a doctor informs Dan-tae that his father is unconscious due to a cerebral hemorrhage, but is also suffering from an advanced brain tumor. This is news to Dan-tae, and the doctor says they’ll have to wait and see if he’ll recover. Facing the Han River, Dan-tae recounts what he knows to be true: “The criminal who kidnapped me tried to kill my father, too. The criminal is inside Star Group. Whoever it is, I’ll make sure I find him myself.”

The next morning, Dan-tae is outside Star Group headquarters and vows to find the criminal. His steely eyes quickly disappear as he cracks a goofy smile and puts on his happy-go-lucky mask before entering the building.

Uncle eyes Dan-tae with suspicion when he randomly hops on the floor-polishing machine, laughing out loud and enjoying the ride with the custodian. Uncle assumes Dan-tae’s clowning around like that because he’s not aware of what happened to his father.

President Seok is updating Grandmother on Jun-su’s successful business endeavors when Dan-tae enters the room and announces that he needs money. Both of them are baffled by his request, and Dan-tae clarifies that he’s not asking for their money, but seeking employment at Star Group. He insists he’ll give his all in whatever job they offer him.

After the meeting, he spots Gong Mi and calls out to her, but she frantically turns tail, trips, and falls. Pshh. Dan-tae helps her up, and she denies running away from him; she didn’t hear him because she was in such a rush. Mhmm.

Dan-tae points out the irony in Gong Mi’s recent hire at Star Group, the very company that fired Gong Shim. She urges him not to publicize that she’s related to Gong Shim and asks him to act like he doesn’t know her at work.

Dan-tae agrees to honor her request since they’re neighbors and all, but suggests that coming clean is the better option. He bids her farewell and walks away, only to turn back and shout, “Gong Shim’s sister!” to inform her that he’s here because Star Group is his dear friend Jun-su’s company.

Jun-su runs into Gong Mi at the elevator bank and asks if she’s available for a meal tomorrow; he wants to properly thank her for saving him. Gong Mi’s thrilled by his gesture and replies that tomorrow works on her end.

Gong Shim receives a call from her coworker in Jeju, who followed their swindling boss to Jeju airport, but lost him when he boarded a flight. She tells Gong Shim to get to Gimpo Airport and keep him there for thirty minutes until she arrives in Seoul. They need to capture him and demand their salary. Gong Shim, determined not to lose him, rushes out and runs into Dan-tae, who enthusiastically joins her quest.

In the taxi ride there, Dan-tae questions how Gong Shim alone will be able to restrain her boss for thirty minutes. She points out that he’s heading to the airport with her now, assuming he would help her out. Dan-tae acts like that didn’t occur to him before and directs the driver to step on it, heh.

They arrive just in time, and Gong Shim spots the designated driver waiting with her boss’s name written on a card. Dan-tae pretends to be an undercover cop and manages to spook the driver enough to get him to relinquish the fake passport he’s prepared for the boss.

The swindling boss arrives, and Dan-tae acts like he’s his driver. The boss informs Dan-tae that his next trip is to China and asks for his passport, but Dan-tae pretends that he left it in the car.

The boss is puzzled by his Seoul accent since he thought his driver came from Yanbian, China, and Dan-tae immediately puts on a hilariously terrible fake accent. He gets the boss to follow him to the parking lot, and Gong Shim texts her coworker at lightning speed to let her know the boss has arrived.

In the parking lot, Dan-tae plays dumb and claims he can’t find his car and doesn’t know the license plate number either. The boss panics that he’ll miss his flight, and Dan-tae surreptitiously texts Gong Shim his location. The boss’s “Andante” ringtone catches Dan-tae’s attention, and he comments that this must be the song Gong Shim was referring to.

The boss is shocked that Dan-tae knows who Gong Shim is, and just then, Gong Shim and her furious coworkers run toward him and have at him. Gong Shim gives Dan-tae a thumbs-up for his efforts, and he responds with a series of flirty winks, which she doesn’t appreciate, heh.

Dan-tae’s perusing the aisles inside a stationary store while Gong Shim waits outside. She receives a call from Jun-su, who needs a dinner buddy for tonight, and Gong Shim decides to treat him and Dan-tae with her first paycheck. Dan-tae emerges from the store and informs her that he’s not available for dinner, but that she and Jun-su should go ahead without him.

He hands her a bag chock full of art supplies, and mentions that her drawings from the other day made him feel better. He says to consider him her first fan, because even the greats started with one, and encourages her to continue drawing in the future. Gong Shim’s grateful for the gift and promises to use it well.

Jun-su waits outside Gong Shim’s home, and despite efforts to include Dan-tae by rescheduling dinner or waiting for him to finish work, Dan-tae insists the two should enjoy their meal. Jun-su warns Gong Shim he’s going to select a very expensive restaurant since dinner’s on her, and she’s worried.

Movers get to work lugging boxes out of Dan-tae’s law office. Dan-tae apologizes to his aunt for making her work for him, and she tells him not to worry about his father; she’ll look after him.

Turns out Jun-su wasn’t kidding because everything on the menu is expensive, but Gong Shim gets over it and decides she’ll treat him as promised. A girl from a nearby table approaches her, and it’s her former high school classmate. She’s incredibly nosy and condescending and describes Gong Shim to her boyfriend as the unfortunate one who took after her father, unlike Gong Mi who had the smarts and beauty of her mother.

Jun-su overhears their conversation and senses Gong Shim’s growing discomfort. He decides to step in, and the boyfriend immediately bows to him. He nervously explains to his girlfriend that Jun-su is the director of Star Group, which takes her by surprise. She asks if Jun-su is Gong Shim’s boyfriend, and Gong Shim replies that he’s not. But Jun-su announces that he has a one-sided crush on Gong Shim, which effectively ends the conversation. Aww.

Afterward, Jun-su asks if he made Gong Shim feel uncomfortable, and Gong Shim admits she was thankful that he stepped in. He regrets not acting cooler, but Gong Shim tells him his acting was stellar.

At the convenience store, Dan-tae gravely asks Gu-nam if he has the goods, and Gu-nam silently whips out… Dan-tae’s beloved meal set, heh. Gu-nam doesn’t get how he can eat the same thing everyday, but Dan-tae explains how if there’s something he really likes, no matter what it is or what it does, he’s the type to never get sick of it and like it for a long time.

Gong Shim heads to the roof and tells Dan-tae that it would’ve been nice if he joined tonight’s dinner and suggests he join next time, her treat. Dan-tae grabs her wrist and gazes at her intensely. Gong Shim stands frozen and nervous as he inches closer to her. It looks like he’s about to kiss her, but he lets go and insists she treat him to a meal next time since he helped her get her first paycheck.

President Seok and Uncle congratulate the chairwoman’s secretary on his promotion and wonder who’ll take his place. They enter a room, and we return to the opening scene in which the two find Dan-tae asleep behind the desk.

Uncle warns Dan-tae to leave before he calls security, but Grandma enters the room and informs them that she hired Dan-tae temporarily to fill the vacant secretary position. President Seok doesn’t agree with Dan-tae’s hire since he lacks proper experience, but Grandma retorts that experience wasn’t what made him president either.

Jun-su’s uncle updates his sister on Dan-tae, and she’s shocked to learn who his father is. Dan-tae’s employment at Star Group causes her to panic, but Uncle tries to appease her by mentioning that Dan-tae doesn’t know anything about their crime, and that he severed contact with his father years ago. She yells at him to make certain she never crosses paths with Dan-tae.

President Seok spots Dan-tae in the lobby, riding on the floor-polishing machine like it’s an amusement park ride, having the time of his life. He sees his former secretary arrive, looking angry after losing her job, and decides to join Dan-tae and the custodian on the machine to avoid getting seen by her.

He warns Dan-tae to stop fooling around at work, but once he leaves, Dan-tae and the custodian decide to have one last lap around the lobby, just for kicks.

Dan-tae delivers coffee to the custodians in the break room, and it turns out they already know who he is; they’re current on the latest Star Group gossip. He encourages them to seek his legal expertise whenever and they’re delighted. He asks if they just clean the executive rooms and bathrooms, and they answer that they clean every single room in the building. They’re all assigned places, and they clean early in the morning before the executives get in.

Dan-tae greets Jun-su, who inquires as to how he ended up working at Star Group. Dan-tae admits that he needed some money after his aunt took out a bad loan so he asked Jun-su’s grandmother to hire him. Jun-su’s glad everything worked out and suggests that Dan-tae not call him “Director” when it’s just the two of them, but Dan-tae doesn’t listen and playfully calls him director repeatedly.

Gong Shim has found herself back at the gas station, working as an attendant until she finds full-time work. Meanwhile, Dan-tae sits at the head of a table in a conference room and munches on a cookie. He ignores the disapproving looks from the attendees and observes their lapels, noticing that they all wear the Star Group pin.

President Seok and Uncle arrive for a board meeting, and while they’re not pleased with Dan-tae’s presence, they know he’s there to take notes for Grandma. Dan-tae glances at their lapels and notices that they, too, wear the company pins.

President Seok chides him for eating all the refreshments and sitting in the chairwoman’s seat. Dan-tae moves over and the meeting commences, only to be interrupted when Dan-tae spills his water. The man sitting next to him picks up his wet pen and finds it odd that the color changed, despite it being made of real silver.

Dan-tae prohibits everyone from drinking their water and declares that it may contain poison. Everyone lines up as Dan-tae takes their water and pours it over the silver pen. Everyone’s water tests clean, except for Dan-tae’s, which tarnishes the pen again.

Everyone starts murmuring, frightened by this incident, but President Seok calls for order and advises them to stay silent on this matter so it doesn’t get leaked to the press. Dan-tae states that he’ll maintain confidentiality and thoroughly investigate. As he walks out of the room, he wonders if he was the culprit’s target. Uncle observes Dan-tae and Gong Shim having a conversation outside building and concludes that they must be close friends.

Jun-su’s grandmother is appalled by the poisoned water incident. Jun-su says Dan-tae requested a chemical analysis of the water, the results of which detected a small amount of potassium cyanide. Jun-su’s mother thinks her brother may be behind this after she demanded that she no longer see Dan-tae again, but keeps her worries to herself.

Dan-tae mulls over why anyone would target him so quickly and recalls that his water bottle was unopened. He assumes the poison was injected via syringe and visits the custodians in their break room to see if they discovered anything suspicious in the trash. However, none of them have.

President Seok holds a meeting with board members and urges them to unite in order to dismiss Dan-tae because ever since he started working here, things have gone awry. Jun-su’s uncle adds that if they all write statements in favor of Dan-tae’s dismissal, the chairwoman will have no choice but to approve it. Dan-tae overhears everything and remarks that he may lose his job this way.

President Seok sees Gong Shim outside the building and thinks his eyes are fooling him because he’s seeing her in a flattering light for once. When she stops right in front of him, he’s delighted to see her and they catch up. Suddenly, a motorcyclist whizzes by and throws a paint-filled balloon at Gong Shim, which splatters over her shirt.

Dan-tae believes the culprit is now targeting people close to him as a warning. He checks to see how Gong Shim is faring. Luckily she’s unharmed, but a bit shaken. She states that she was chatting with the president when she was struck. Dan-tae takes note of this and leaves abruptly.

President Seok is in the parking garage when the motorcyclist from before zooms up and threatens him with a bat. Dan-tae arrives just in time and blocks the motorcyclist from striking the president. He beats up the assailant, and the woman who rode on the back of the motorcycle takes off her helmet and exclaims in worry over her fallen partner.

President Seok recognizes her as his former secretary, the one who’s been harassing him constantly, asking him to reinstate her. Dan-tae determines that she was the one who poisoned the water because she had building access and knew exactly where the president sat (although the seating got rearranged when the chairwoman was absent and Dan-tae was moved over). She was also behind the paintball attack, but Gong Shim was hit instead.

Gong Shim worries about Dan-tae that night, and goes to see him when she hears his footsteps. He lets her know that the culprit has been captured, and she worries at his exhausted face. She returns to her room content, and doubts she’ll be able to fall asleep, but ends up snoring in no time.

The next day, Uncle hands President Seok all the board members’ written statements for Dan-tae’s dismissal. But Jun-su’s father has had a change of heart and announces that Dan-tae will remain as secretary. Uncle is stunned by this unexpected turn of events. Later that day, the president, Uncle, and Grandma all watch from above as Dan-tae happily drives the floor polishing machine in the lobby.

 
COMMENTS

Ahn Dan-tae, Ahn Dan-tae! Gotta love Dan-tae! His odd and quirky self was what had us smitten from the very beginning, but it’s interesting to see him magnify that eccentric aspect and exhibit it for all to see as a means of digging up more dirt at Star Group without raising suspicion. And so far, the ploy’s been working. People are so weirded out and distracted by his slightly spaced out, doltish behavior, the last thing they’d suspect is his probing into Star Group for personal reasons. He’s a clever man, our Dan-tae! Now that he works at Star Group, the investigation can finally commence.

Gong Shim took a backseat in this episode in order for us to see how Dan-tae gained entry into Star Group, along with the trouble that arises immediately after his hire. I didn’t mind this so much because her few albeit major moments were so satisfying and entertaining to watch. Also, Secretary Dan-tae is pretty funny.

Gong Shim and Dan-tae make a great team, and I mean that in the romantic and pragmatic sense. It was fun to see them work so well together to nab the swindling horticulture boss at the airport. I loved how Dan-tae just followed her to the airport without really knowing why he was there, but of course he didn’t mind because he’ll do anything for the lady he loves! His “Yanbian” accent was so bad, with intonations all over the place, but it made for a fantastically hilarious scene.

Jun-su, what a sweet gentleman and an even better friend. When he stepped in and declared his one-sided crush on Gong Shim in front of her rude acquaintance and boyfriend, I was nodding, “yes” and wishing chivalry weren’t dead in the real world I live in. I did notice a tinge of sadness in his eyes when Gong Shim complimented him on his “acting,” and it really made me feel for him because we all know he actually does have feelings for her; it wasn’t an act.

I don’t think Gong Shim is aware of her burgeoning feelings for Dan-tae yet, but we as viewers are! She worries about his well-being, can tell if something’s wrong with just one look at his face, and she’s unable to fall asleep because of him. If that’s not the early makings of a crush, then I’m a Joseon princess.

She’s starting to mirror Dan-tae’s caring behavior from before, which comes at an opportune time since Dan-tae could use all the moral support he can get now that he’s working through an identity crisis. It was a lovely moment when he gifted her with art supplies because he recognizes her true potential and wants her to pursue what she truly loves and is skilled at. How lucky Gong Shim is to have Dan-tae as her very first fan! I hope this means we get to see more of her artwork in future episodes. Her drawings were too cute.

I was pretty surprised by the twist at the end. Who knew that former secretary would be so vengeful? All the shots of Jun-su’s uncle looking shady turned out to be a red herring, but they were enough to make me believe he was behind the water poisoning and the paintball attack.

He wasn’t, but that being said, I don’t doubt his ability to commit crimes because he kidnapped Dan-tae/Jun-pyo with the intent to kill, and most likely would’ve gone through with it had it not been for quick thinking by Dan-tae’s father. He’s still the primary enemy with the butterfly tattoo, the one who fomented this disaster, and I’m sure he’ll strike again soon once he feels his fortune is at stake.

I have no doubt Dan-tae will come out stronger after coming to terms with who he really is—same goes for Gong Shim—but the pain he’ll experience is inevitable, which is why I’m relieved he can ride around the floor-polishing machine at work for short bursts of joy. I can’t deny that I wanted to ride along with him, but I’m sure you felt the same way, too. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all board the Dan-tae-mobile and experience the same joy he does?

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