My Absolute Boyfriend: Episodes 13-14

by LollyPip

With two alpha males clashing horns over her heart, it’s no wonder our heroine is angry. One suitor showers her with love and attention while the other acts cold yet possessive, which is bound to confuse anyone. But at least one of these infuriating lovers is capable of learning and growing — and it might not be the one Da-da expects.

 
EPISODES 13-14 RECAP

While waiting for Da-da at the TV station, Young-gu overhears Eun-dong complaining that he can’t find anyone to be Wang-joon’s manager for a month while Yeo-woong recovers from her accident. He offers himself for the job and is hired on the spot, but Wang-joon predictably refuses to work with Young-gu.

Eun-dong excuses Young-gu and tries to talk Wang-joon into accepting Young-gu. He admits that Young-gu has no experience and that Wang-joon is extremely hard to work for, but that gives Wang-joon an idea, so he goes after Young-gu. He asks if Young-gu is really up to being his manager, his words sounding like a dare.

Young-gu and Wang-joon are both thrilled to tell Da-da about Young-gu’s new job, though for very different reasons. Da-da, on the other hand, is incensed that Young-gu didn’t check with her first, but he argues that this way he can see her at the TV station since he’s now an employee.

He reminds Da-da that she said she doesn’t want a jobless boyfriend, and she hisses that she meant by human standards. But Young-gu pouts that he wants her to be proud of him. He promises he won’t get caught, so Da-da whines for him to do whatever, though Young-gu cheerfully takes that as consent.

Kyu-ri and Yoo-jin spot Young-gu leaving the building, and Yoo-jin tells Kyu-ri (who’s still convinced that Young-gu is in love with her, ha) that she needs to stop drooling after handsome guys or she’ll get hurt. She points out that she’d rather get hurt by handsome guys than unattractive ones, and Yoo-jin snaps that nobody’s dating her, anyway. HA.

Wang-joon watches Young-gu leaving and snarls to himself, “Uhm Da-da, I’ll thoroughly expose your ‘great’ boyfriend and make him suffer. Let’s see how much he can take.”

Da-da visits Yeo-woong at the hospital, relieved that she’s not hurt too badly. Yeo-woong describes how she almost hit Bo-won and tells Da-da that he disappeared from the hospital, and claims that she’s enjoying the break from Wang-joon. Da-da changes the subject when Yeo-woong tries to discuss Wang-joon with her.

Bo-won makes his way to Da-da’s house, bruised and filthy, and whines to Young-gu that he’s nearly died several times. He asks if Young-gu is running his full version now, and he’s pathetically grateful to learn that Da-da hasn’t kicked Young-gu out. He apologizes that Young-gu will need to stay with Da-da a while longer, promising to return for him soon… then begs pathetically for some food. Aww, he’s starving.

After getting cleaned up and fed, Bo-won is upset to learn that Young-gu is content to love Da-da without his love being returned. He tells Young-gu that love is supposed to go both ways, sobbing that this isn’t why he smuggled Young-gu out of Kronos Heaven.

He sees a picture of Wang-joon and Da-da together and asks Young-gu if they’re dating, shocked by the potential scandal. But Young-gu says they’re not together anymore, then changes the subject to his new job. Bo-won thinks he’s bonkers to take a job working for Da-da’s ex, but Young-gu says he wants to learn more about Wang-joon, and Bo-won concedes that he should be out among people.

Bo-won leaves before Da-da returns home, wishing Young-gu good luck and taking the backpack he left with Young-gu before.

At the hospital, Yeo-woong notices Da-da’s ring and asks if she’s seeing the guy that’s been hanging around so much. Da-da says it’s not like that — it’s just a situation she’s in. Yeo-woong starts to tell Da-da something else about Wang-joon, but changes her mind.

Director Go and In-hyuk stay up all night at Kronos Heaven analyzing Bo-won’s diary and the note “real,” but they find nothing. Director Go’s assistant does some sleuthing and finds Da-da’s special effects studio (which is named Real).

At her mansion, Diana hears some maids cooing over the video of Wang-joon holding Da-da in his arms at the amusement park. She tells them playfully that it’s childish, then notes that the one maid’s hair is getting long again and says they should play “dolls” again soon.

Young-gu adorably puts his A++ sticker on his shirt before heading off to his first day of work as Wang-joon’s manager. Da-da asks him one last time not to do this, but he goes anyway, leaving Da-da at home alone on her day off.

Wang-joon doesn’t actually have a schedule today, but he gets all dressed up, which is hysterical. Eun-dong asks why Wang-joon changed his mind about the temporary manager, but Wang-joon smirks that Young-gu won’t last three hours.

As soon as Young-gu arrives, Wang-joon is immediately unhappy that Bbobbi, his dog, falls for Young-gu on sight. He asks Young-gu questions like his name and age, and gapes at his answers (“I opened my eyes eleven days ago!” Hee). Wang-joon demands to know where “they” met, but at Eun-dong’s confusion, he says he’s just asking why Young-gu wants to work for him (Eun-dong: “Do you think this is a blind date??”).

Eun-dong says that the important thing is whether Young-gu can do whatever Wang-joon tells him to do. Young-gu says confidently that he can do anything, so Wang-joon instructs him to go to his favorite coffee shop and bring him an iced caramel macchiato without the ice having melted.

Young-gu delivers the drink in perfect condition by transporting it in a cooler full of ice. He even amazes Wang-joon by getting his very complicated order right, having asked the staff what he usually orders. Wang-joon says that was an easy test, but now he’s hungry, and he’s craving white jjajangmyun made by a famous chef in Chinatown.

Eun-dong tells Wang-joon that even if Young-gu hurries, the noodles will be soggy by the time he returns. But Wang-joon crows that that won’t be Young-gu’s problem — the place doesn’t allow takeout. LOL, Young-gu talks the actual chef into coming to Wang-joon’s house to personally make the jjajangmyun for him — turns out, he’s a big fan, hee.

At home, Da-da paces with worry over how Young-gu’s day is going. She decides to go to Wang-joon’s house to check on Young-gu, but as she leaves, she catches Director Go and In-hyuk peeking in her shop window. They lie that they’re detectives from the Serious Crimes Unit (omg wut) investigating a dog thief in the area.

They ask if she’s seen a suspicious man around, maybe someone dressed or acting strange, or someone she could love at first sight. HA! Da-da says she hasn’t, and asks why the Serious Crimes Unit (I’m sorry, I can’t) is handling a dog theft case. Director Go blurts out that he’s actually a serial dog killer, then realizes how dumb that sounds.

Wang-joon can’t help but be reluctantly impressed that Young-gu got a master chef to personally cook for him. Eun-dong declares Young-gu officially hired and gives him a phone to use for work. When Young-gu leaves to return the chef, Wang-joon complains and glares at Eun-dong when he considers signing on Young-gu as his next big star.

While in Wang-joon’s house, Young-gu analyzes his personality based on his possessions and preferences. Video games and a huge manhwa collection point to a childish side, and his cleanliness level is deemed “okay,” ha. Young-gu comes across the dummy cake that Da-da made for Wang-joon, which says “Seven years of precious memories” on the side.

Wang-joon confronts Young-gu and grabs his cake back, then tells him smugly that Da-da made the cake for him. He compares his seven years with Da-da to Young-gu’s roughly one month, but Young-gu proudly points to his A++ sticker, saying that Da-da accredited him. He smacks Wang-joon’s hand for trying to touch his sticker, pronouncing it only for special people. HEE.

Wang-joon, who looks like he’s got a killer migraine coming on, says that he doesn’t understand why Da-da is seeing someone like Young-gu. But he says he’s certain that Da-da doesn’t have feelings for Young-gu, she just needs someone by her side right now. Young-gu says he doesn’t care as long as Da-da is beside him and not Wang-joon.

Furious, Wang-joon invites Young-gu outside to settle this. Da-da watches nervously as Wang-joon leads Young-gu to a nearby building — LOL, it’s just the gym. Wang-joon feels superior when Young-gu admits that he’s never lifted weights, then gets jealous when his trainer chirps that Young-gu is so handsome, she thought he was a new actor, ha.

Wang-joon insists on starting with the heavy weights even though Young-gu argues that he should warm up first. He struggles to lift the barbells and has to ask for help or be crushed, so Young-gu puts the barbells back on the stand… one-handed. Wang-joon catches Young-gu snickering, but Young-gu just politely suggests he try something lighter.

His trainer kits up Wang-joon in a bunch of equipment, which Wang-joon brags makes the workout that much harder. Young-gu declines the equipment, which shocks the muscles with electricity while you work out, but Wang-joon shames him into it then whispers to the trainer to give Young-gu an extra-difficult workout. As soon it’s turned on, the equipment goes haywire and Young-gu is rendered unresponsive. Electrical currents race over his body, and even Wang-joon gets scared.

Da-da had followed the guys into the gym and sees what’s happening. She runs in, worried for Young-gu, and when the equipment finally shuts down, she stops the trainer from calling for help and says that he’ll be fine. She pulls Wang-joon aside and asks why he did that to Young-gu, not believing his weak excuses and accusing him of bullying.

He turns it around on her and asks if she followed them because she was worried about Young-gu. He asks if she truly has feelings for Young-gu, and if she’s slept with him, but she’s offended that that’s all he seems to care about.

Young-gu finally opens his eyes and sits up, perfectly fine. He finds Da-da and apologizes for worrying her, and asks Wang-joon if he can take Da-da home now. As they leave, he sees that the stone in Da-da’s ring has gone black for anger, and he thinks she’s angry with him for not working the few minutes that he was non-functional.

She asks what he’d have done if she hadn’t shown up, and complains that Bo-won tricked her into bringing Young-gu back. Young-gu meekly follows her at a respectful distance, which Wang-joon notices as he’s leaving. But he also notices that someone on a second-floor balcony is about to deliberately throw a flowerpot down onto Da-da’s head.

Without thinking, he grabs Da-da and spins her out of the way. Young-gu runs inside to chase the culprit, using his inhuman speed and acrobatic abilities to catch up to the guy. He grabs the man by the belt and flips him through the air to land about a hundred feet away in a pile of garbage, then politely invites him to visit the police station together.

At the station, Wang-joon notices that Da-da is babying her left wrist. He confronts the flowerpot thrower and asks if he’s been sending him the back boxes, but the culprit swears he doesn’t know anything about any boxes. Wang-joon doesn’t believe him and has to be restrained from attacking him.

Once they’re allowed to leave, he asks Da-da if she’s really okay, and she says she is. She leaves as Eun-dong arrives, beside himself with worry over Wang-joon getting himself into a legal situation. Wang-joon heads for the car and runs into Young-gu on his way back from the store, and he sees the medicine Young-gu bought and tell him it’s too strong for Da-da, tossing him something more appropriate instead.

Young-gu joins Da-da and asks why that man tried to hurt her, but she just says it was an accident. She’s impressed that Young-gu brought her favorite medicine, and Young-gu admits that Wang-joon gave it to him. Da-da recalls a time earlier in their relationship when Wang-joon had refused to put a patch on her sore back after a long day at work, which initially upset her.

But then he’d returned with this same spray, saying that she’d gotten swollen the last time she used those patches. He’d teased that he doesn’t always seem to be paying attention, but that he notices everything. Wang-joon also remembers that day and sighs heavily as he watches Da-da walking home with Young-gu.

Wang-joon takes a call, and someone whose voice is obviously altered asks why Wang-joon is still with Da-da after his warnings. When Wang-joon asks what he wants, the voice says he’s already made that clear. Wang-joon growls that he’s not scared of someone who can’t even face him, which just means they have something to hide.

He tells the caller to release any pictures or videos he wants, and the caller asks if he’s sure, because Da-da will be the one in danger. Wang-joon says they are over and to stop messing with her, but the caller says he’s a liar and tells him that Da-da will get hurt if he keeps this up.

That evening, Young-gu asks Da-da to help him write a resume (Eun-dong requested one). Da-da is surprised that he still wants to work for Wang-joon after today and asks him to reconsider, but Young-gu just sets his jaw stubbornly, so Da-da concedes defeat.

While she’s finding resume paper, Young-gu sees the photo of her and Wang-joon again, which was taken at the beach. He asks Da-da what the ocean is like, but she doesn’t hear him, and he drops the issue. They work on his resume, and when they get to the part about family, Da-da says that whoever made and cared for him is his family, so she puts down Bo-won as Young-gu’s uncle.

The resume is sparse, but Young-gu says happily that having one makes him feel human. He thanks Da-da, who says that she doesn’t do that much for him yet he’s always thanking her. Young-gu replies that even if she’s angry at him and her heart belongs to someone else, he’ll still be there for her and give her his love, because it’s the reason he was born.

Da-da gets a call from Yeo-woong, who asks if she’s with Wang-joon. She lets slip that she’s surprised Wang-joon and Da-da haven’t reconciled yet, and she tells Da-da that Wang-joon wasn’t at the restaurant the other night because he came to the hospital to see her.

Da-da remembers that Wang-joon did call her that night, but she’d cut him off and told him to leave her alone. Wang-joon and Da-da both spend the night thinking about the past, and Young-gu recalls how Wang-joon told him that he has seven years of memories with Da-da.

He reads his book, “The Happy Prince,” which is about a prince who was happy in life because he only saw the opulent inside of the castle, but became sad after he died and was made into a golden jeweled statue that overlooks the harsh realities of the city. The prince, with the help of a bird, gives up his jeweled eyes and his gold coating to help the people who are sick and hungry.

But when the people see that the statue is now ugly, they tear him down and throw him away. Bo-won had given Young-gu the book since it’s his favorite story, and had made him promise that he wouldn’t end up like the prince.

Young-gu finds Da-da asleep at her desk and gently puts her to bed. In her sleep, she murmurs Wang-joon’s name, and Young-gu feels his robotic heart respond erratically.

In the morning, Da-da wakes up in a car on a pier. Young-gu says he brought her here because he’s curious why people in love go to watch the sea. He says he’s never seen it before, and that he’s happy he got to see it with her.

He takes Da-da’s hands and grows serious, and asks her, “Can’t you give me a chance? I want to be loved now.”

 
COMMENTS

Awww, our lovebot is evolving! I’ve been awaiting for this, because Young-gu’s constant giving was getting almost oppressive. It’s not natural for anyone to only give love and never receive it, nor is it healthy in any relationship – it eventually leads to resentment, even from the person doing the receiving. For Young-gu to ask Da-da to love him back (or at least to try) is a huge step, because he’s noticed that the difference between him and Wang-joon is that Da-da loved Wang-joon. It makes me happy to see him asking to be loved, which makes the playing field feel more balanced. Of course, Da-da can’t make herself feel something that’s not there, and she’s free to refuse to try, but at least Young-gu is asking to be an equal part of whatever-this-is between them, and that’s no small thing.

Every time I start to feel bad for Wang-joon, he acts like a real jerk to Young-gu and/or Da-da, and I lose all sympathy again. The show keeps showing him looking sorry about losing Da-da, but to her face he’s demanding and rude, and now he’s bullying Young-gu. He keeps forgetting that he broke up with Da-da, which means he has no claim on her, regardless of his confidence that he will win her back. I was hoping that he would see how Young-gu treats Da-da and realize that that’s how she deserves to be treated, but right now he’s just strutting around being demanding and trying to make Young-gu miserable (and just because that’s not possible doesn’t get Wang-joon off the hook, because he doesn’t know that Young-gu is a robot). Add that to my seething anger at the way Wang-joon went about the breakup, and I have a hard time caring about how he feels. I want to care, I want him to have a redemption arc and have a real chance at getting Da-da back, but he’s got to do a lot of soul-searching and even more serious changing before that can happen. As he is now, my fervent wish is that when Wang-joon reveals to Da-da why he broke up with her and that he actually does want to marry her, she tells him to take a long walk off a short pier.

That said, I do think that’s where the plot is leading us — to Wang-joon and Da-da’s reconciliation. I do have sympathy for him because he’s in a pretty terrible situation and he’s scared for Da-da, and that’s bound to make a person act strangely, especially when it does look from his angle like Da-da moved on almost immediately. I don’t like the way Wang-joon is handling things, but I do give him credit for genuinely caring for Da-da even if he doesn’t — or can’t — always show it. I just want him to be… better. To talk to Da-da nicely and stop accusing her and asking questions he has no right to ask (like whether she’s slept with someone else, the nerve!). I want him to treat her well, like someone he loves, and not someone he feels jealous and possessive of. He’s still got time, but now Young-gu is stepping up, and Da-da’s feelings are going to get confusing if Wang-joon doesn’t start getting very honest with himself and her.

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: My Absolute Boyfriend
• Yeo Jin-gu transforms into Minah’s Absolute Boyfriend
• Absolute Boyfriend finds a home at SBS for May premiere
• Absolute Boyfriend remake drama is a go with Yeo Jin-gu, Minah
• Yeo Jin-gu and Chun Jung-myung up for Absolute Boyfriend
• Kim Haneul and TOP are top contenders for Absolute Boyfriend