Answer Me 1988: Episode 15

by girlfriday

Yeah I know, I’m making that face at Jung-hwan a lot lately too. Some boys just know how to make you crazy. It’s a relatively lighter episode today, as friends help each other through some unexpected rough patches, reminding us that the bond in this group really does go five ways. The way these friends always show up for each other, rain or shine—it makes me genuinely envious that I didn’t live on one street my entire life.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Byun Jin-sub – “우정” (Friendship) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 15: “Between love and friendship”

March 1989. Sun-woo stops by to ask Taek’s dad if he plays baseball, and holds up too mitts to see if he wants to play catch. You are so sweet, it’s unreal. Taek’s dad agrees and looks utterly stunned at Sun-woo’s invitation, but then as soon as Sun-woo heads to the field ahead of him, Dad runs to change his shoes, gets Dong-ryong’s dad to watch the store, and runnnnns down the street excitedly. So cute.

Bora watches this from her yard with a big grin, and then Jung-hwan’s mom asks her to gather all the kids tonight for dinner. Apparently the moms are going on strike tonight because they’re sick and tired of cooking, and they have a girls’ night out planned. Bora doesn’t see why they can’t all eat on their own, but Jung-bong says he’ll make sure that the kids are fed.

Bora notices that Jung-bong has a permanent goofy smile plastered on his face and immediately guesses that he’s dating. He tries to deny it but he’s a terrible liar, and Bora wishes him good luck. His problem is that Dong-ryong overhears, though he promises to zip his mouth shut.

Bora and Mom discuss her last week at her part-time job, and in flashback we see that she’d decided to prepare for the bar exam after all. Mom and Dad were in tears, they were so happy about it, and Bora had told them she would quit her job after a month. She asked them not to tell anyone else either. Heh, Dad seems to want to hug Bora, but can’t really figure out how.

Taek’s dad has some trouble putting on the baseball mitt, so Sun-woo comes really close and throws the ball lightly, saying that he’ll go easy on him like he does with Jin-ju. But Taek’s dad insists that Sun-woo can back up further, and further, and then pitches a fastball right into Sun-woo’s mitt. Ajusshi can play ball! Sun-woo’s jaw drops, and then a slow smile spreads across his face.

Sun-woo’s mom leaves Jin-ju with Taek’s dad for the afternoon and sighs to see him eating a sad lunch of just rice and kimchi. She says she’ll make him anything he wants, but the thing he asks for is a different kind of kimchi.

Sun-woo tells Bora about playing catch with Taek’s dad and leans in close to make plans for later that night, but Bora pushes him aside when Dong-ryong bursts through the gate dragging Deok-sun behind him. She doesn’t want to eat at Jung-hwan’s house, but Dong-ryong and Sun-woo exchange a little nod, and Dong-ryong drags her kicking and screaming up the stairs.

Everyone gathers around the table and Jung-bong brings out two giant pans of kimchi fried rice—all because Dong-ryong wanted that for dinner, and Jung-bong had to cook to keep him quiet about his love life.

Jung-hwan comes home and stands around awkwardly because things are still tense with Deok-sun after their pink shirt fiasco, and she scowls at him when he sits down next to her. He still manages to tease her about the piece of rice that’s stuck to her face though.

Taek is away at another match and struggles through another headache. He wins despite his condition though. His baduk teacher fields calls from reporters all begging to get an interview and tells them not to hold their breath because Taek hates doing stuff like that.

The moms spend the day happily shopping at the street market and stop for some noodles at a little stand run by a grandma. Deok-sun’s mom offers to pay this time, but Jung-hwan’s mom insists on paying and refuses the change from the grandma, which she apparently does every time she eats here.

The next day things are back to normal and the moms are back in their kitchens, and when Jung-hwan’s mom orders him to set the table with silverware, he asks for a younger sibling (so he doesn’t have to do the grunt work). She tells him to shut it, and Dad jokes that they have to make a new baby because it’s Jung-hwan’s wish.

Sun-woo suggests inviting Taek’s dad over for dinner because he’ll be eating alone, and though Mom waves it off insisting that he’ll be fine on his own, she’s clearly concerned about it. Taek’s dad eats ramyun by himself, which just seems extra pathetic today.

Deok-sun’s family sees a news report about a massive wave of construction going on to build new housing in the city, and No-eul asks when they’ll get to live in an apartment. Dad says he’s working hard so that they can move someday, and Deok-sun sweetly tells Dad that she’ll buy them a big apartment someday.

Mom just begs her to go to college, but Dad defends Deok-sun, saying that she’s smart and kind and pretty, and it’s okay if she doesn’t go to college. Dad and Deok-sun exchange goofy winks, and Bora looks at them a little enviously.

Bora confesses to Sun-woo that she envies that about Deok-sun—how well liked she is by everyone, how she can make people around her feel good with her aegyo and her brightness. She really envies Deok-sun’s relationship with Dad, and Sun-woo asks why Bora and her dad aren’t close. She says it’s not because of anything in particular—it’s just her personality, and she doesn’t know how to be any different.

Sun-woo says he likes Bora better and likes her personality the way it is, though by now even he jokes that that makes him a crazy person. Back at home, Mom marvels at the money that they’ve opened a new savings account with, and she asks Dad the same thing about Bora—whether there’s a reason why the two of them don’t get along as well as he does with the other two kids. Dad insists that he and Bora are close, and he doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Bora asks Sun-woo to meet her for a date out on the town next weekend. He gets nervous about the sudden change in her, but happily agrees and gives her a kiss goodnight.

Deok-sun is up late trying to study when she gets a call. So do Jung-hwan and Sun-woo… uh-oh. They all rush over to Taek’s, where Dong-ryong is crying over a scraped up knee. They put medicine on it and nag him for riding a motorcycle, and Deok-sun gasps so loud at that that Jung-hwan clamps a hand over her mouth before she wakes Taek’s dad.

They worry about Dong-ryong having to go home like this but he says it’ll be fine as long as his parents don’t notice, sighing that Mom’s up for a promotion and is around even less these days. Sun-woo helps Dong-ryong home, leaving Jung-hwan and Deok-sun behind on their own. Jung-hwan waits till she’s done cleaning up and notices that she came over here without a jacket, but he can’t bring himself to offer his own. Why noooooot, Jung-hwan?

Deok-sun comes over to Taek’s house early the next morning to deliver food from her mom, and she goes in to check on Taek. He came home in the middle of the night and clearly took some medicine and crashed in the middle of practice as usual. Deok-sun cleans up after him and tucks him in with a pillow and a blanket.

Sun-woo is surprised to learn from Mom that Taek’s dad is good at all sports, and she warns him not to ever make bets when they play, because Taek gets his competitive streak from his father. Sun-woo says that Taek’s dad is a good person, and Mom is taken aback at the sudden statement. She asks what that has to do with her, and Sun-woo says nothing and runs out the door.

Deok-sun leaves for school quietly, already afraid of what’s to come when Mom shows up for her parent-teacher conference later that day. As Bora heads out, she overhears Mom telling Dad that he needs a new dress shirt because this is one is so frayed, but he insists that he can wear it for longer.

Dong-ryong doesn’t get caught for his motorcycle injury because no one’s even home to see him in the morning, and he just takes his lunch and limps out with a sigh.

The mood is heavy in Deok-sun’s classroom, and one by one the girls come back from their parent-teacher conference in tears. It’s finally Deok-sun’s turn and Mom waits expectantly for Teacher to tell her about Deok-sun’s college prospects. Mom says that they’re okay with any college and haven’t set their sights too high, but her face falls when Teacher tells her that with Deok-sun’s grades, college isn’t very realistic.

Afterwards, Deok-sun waits nervously for Mom to yell at her, but Mom just gives her hand a little squeeze and tells her to go back to class. As Mom walks away, Deok-sun calls out in tears that she was wrong, and Mom suddenly calls her by her real name: “Deok-sun-ah, I’m okay.”

Deok-sun bursts into tears and runs over to Mom: “Have you given up on me? Why am I Deok-sun again? I’m Soo-yeon! Mom, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Mom just holds her while she cries and tells her it’s okay, calling her Deok-sun again.

Taek’s teacher reminds him to go home since it’s getting late, and he hems and haws before asking Taek to do just one interview with a reporter, swearing that it’ll be short.

Taek’s dad, meanwhile, puts Jin-ju to bed (with a new hairdo, of course) and waits by the window for Sun-woo’s mom to come home. She comes into the shop later than usual and out of breath, and tells him that she was just mugged on the way home by someone on a motorcycle. She wonders how she’ll walk home from work from now on because she’s so scared.

The boys walk home from school together, and when Dong-ryong says he’s going for another motorcycle ride, the other guys nag him to stop hanging out with that friend. Bora walks past so Sun-woo goes after her, though they don’t get much time for romance because Deok-sun walks past. She’s lost in her own funk though, and Sun-woo stops Bora from yelling at her.

By the time Jung-hwan gets to his front gate, he sees Deok-sun sitting alone on the steps down the street and hesitates, wanting to go to her. He decides against it (uuurg) and starts to head inside, but then when he sees her crying he can’t help himself and starts to walk toward her.

But that’s exactly when Taek arrives, one step ahead of him. Taek asks if something’s wrong, but Deok-sun wipes her tears and says it’s nothing. She asks what’s wrong with him and why he looks so tired, but he doesn’t say anything either and just falls onto her shoulder and leans on her for a little while. We don’t see Jung-hwan’s reaction, but hear the gate closing as he goes inside.

Sun-woo drops off some food at Taek’s house and asks Taek about his upcoming match. He guesses that Taek’s going to confess to Deok-sun when it’s over, and Taek wonders how he knew. They make plans for the group to get together before Taek has to leave for China, and Sun-woo runs off to school.

Bora hands out presents she bought with her first paycheck—a dictionary for No-eul, allowance money for Deok-sun, and beauty products for Mom. Dad is clearly expecting something as well, but when Bora makes no mention of a present for him, he runs off to work feeling snubbed.

Jung-bong monopolizes the phone at his house calling Mi-ok, though she doesn’t answer. He takes out a chocolate bar with a love letter written inside, asking her for a date at their coffee shop (naming the first floor this time, ha). The letter is ridiculously cheesy: He suggests Viennese coffee for the date, names Vienna as the capital of Austria, and calls her the capital of his heart. Pffft.

Mi-ok’s scary dad answers the phone instead, so Jung-bong hangs up in a fright and runs to the bus stop to catch Deok-sun before she goes to school and asks her to give the chocolate to Mi-ok.

Jung-hwan makes sure to ask the bus driver to wait until she can get on, and though he doesn’t give up his seat for her, he does get up immediately when a grandpa gets on the bus. He stands behind Deok-sun the whole way and is bothered by her not holding onto something, finally taking her hand and putting it on a handle himself.

Taek’s dad worries that Sun-woo’s mom is overworking herself with extra shifts on the weekends, but she’s just happy to get more work and thanks him for watching Jin-ju. Jung-hwan’s dad comes by with one of those spring bars that are impossible to squeeze together and suggests that Taek’s dad should exercise too, and Taek’s dad shames him by squeezing it like it’s made of paper.

Taek has agreed to the interview, but when it begins, his teacher sighs to see that the reporter totally lied—there are cameras in Taek’s face, a video camera, and the reporter right away starts asking about Taek’s family life instead of sticking to baduk.

Jung-hwan’s mom nags Dad for hopping around on the stairs at night, even though she’s the one who nagged him to go outside and exercise. She yells at him to stop before he gets hurt… and then he calls out to her seconds later, splayed out at the bottom of the stairs. Ouch. Mom screams and goes running over.

Dong-ryong goofs off while the other boys in his class study, and Sun-woo reminds them about getting together tomorrow before Taek leaves for China. Dong-ryong wonders if maybe he could just get Taek to get him a job somewhere, but Jung-hwan says Taek hates asking and giving favors more than anything.

Deok-sun struggles with math but refuses to give up trying to understand it, and asks her deskmate to be patient with her and asks for help.

Sun-woo’s mom is on edge that night when she walks home from work, and she jumps at the sound of a motorcycle passing by her. But when she looks up, Taek’s dad is waiting for her at the corner so he can walk her home. Awww, I knew you’d show up and be all swoony!

Jung-hwan’s dad is screaming in pain in the emergency room, but the hospital happens to be backed up with a sudden accident in the area and they’re forced to wait. Taek’s dad runs over there and then calls Deok-sun’s mom to let her know that Jung-hwan’s dad broke his back.

Deok-sun’s dad wonders why there’s never a quiet day in their neighborhood. He yelps when Mom throws his dress shirt in the trash bin, but she tells him he’s worn it long enough and points to a gift box sitting on the shelf.

Taek’s baduk teacher mutters to his assistant that he’s done for, because it’s been hours and the reporters are just now packing up their things to leave. Teacher looks forlornly over at Taek, who’s on the phone, and is convinced that Taek will never speak to him again.

Jung-hwan’s mom is at her wit’s end trying to get a doctor to stop and help her husband, but the ER staff is shocked when the assistant chief of their hospital comes down and says he’ll do the surgery himself. They’re all surprised, but grateful.

Deok-sun’s dad opens up the gift box to find a shiny new white dress shirt and beams proudly. Mom asks why he ran off in such a hurry this morning, and we see that Bora gave the gift to Mom and asked her to give it to Dad.

Mom wonders if Dad and Bora don’t get along because they’re so similar (well duh!), but again Dad swears that he and Bora are close. When Bora comes home, Dad timidly thanks her for the shirt and says he’ll wear it well, and she just nods before heading to her room.

All the neighborhood dads are there at the hospital while Jung-hwan’s dad is in surgery, and Jung-hwan is the last to arrive. Mom assures him that Dad will be fine, and when the nurse comes by with some more forms, Mom asks her how the assistant chief came to do the surgery himself.

The nurse says that it was at the request of their hospital director, who’s a big baduk fan. When Choi Taek called personally and asked him to take care of his family member, the director saw to Jung-hwan’s dad’s surgery immediately.

Everyone’s jaws drop, and in flashback we see that Taek’s dad called Taek at the training center, and that Taek had asked for the hospital director’s number so he could make the call directly. Aw. Jung-hwan’s mom looks over at Taek’s dad like he’s the sweetest man in the world. Which he is.

Taek’s teacher shuffles his feet nervously waiting for Taek to tell him off, but all Taek does before he leaves for the night is hand him an envelope of money so that he can take the staff out. Taek says that they work so hard and he never has a chance to do something nice for them, and Teacher smiles gratefully.

Mom sends Jung-hwan home because there’s not enough room for them all to spend the night at the hospital. Jung-hwan stands outside on the street instead of going in though, because he’s waiting for Taek to come home.

Taek arrives looking exhausted as usual, and is glad to hear that Jung-hwan’s dad is going to be okay. As they walk home, Jung-hwan says, “Thanks… for today.” Taek just smiles like it’s no big deal.

Jung-hwan is the first person to notice that Taek’s shoelaces have been untied (for days now), and stoops down to tie them. Taek thanks him with a smile and they walk home side by side at the end of a really long day.

Deok-sun’s mom makes a mountain of Dad and Bora’s favorite dish, and Deok-sun frowns when Mom calls her Deok-sun again (instead of her college-hopeful name Soo-yeon) as she asks her to go deliver some around the neighborhood. Deok-sun nags Dong-ryong when she sees him running out for another motorcycle ride, but his parents aren’t home and he’s sure he won’t get caught.

Dad makes repeated attempts to put food on Bora’s plate, but she tells him to just eat and not concern himself with her, and Mom looks over at them with a sigh. They really are like two aliens when it comes to showing affection.

Sun-woo asks Mom for some of the cucumber kimchi she made and is shocked that it tastes good. She happily calls out to Taek’s dad over the wall between their houses and invites him over for the cucumber kimchi she made (because he asked for it the other day), and he runs over excitedly.

As they wait for the others, Taek inspects the Monopoly-like board game they’re going to play and Sun-woo warns him not to memorize the cards. Taek nods dutifully. Taek asks Sun-woo what he’s supposed to do if he confesses his feelings to Deok-sun and she doesn’t believe him.

Sun-woo says that’s impossible because he can tell that Taek likes Deok-sun just by the way he looks at her. He says that you can always tell when someone likes someone by their eyes, because eyes don’t lie. Sun-woo says Taek’s eyes are especially like that, and then wonders how he gets by in baduk.

The phone rings, and Jung-hwan sounds panicked on the other end as he tells Sun-woo that he’s at the police station. Oh noes, Dong-ryong got into a motorcycle accident with their classmate and got caught riding without helmets.

The whole group rushes down to the police station, where thankfully both boys aren’t badly hurt. They’re just scraped up and scared, and Dong-ryong is most terrified that they called his mother, even wishing that they’d called Teacher Dad instead.

Both Mom and Dad arrive, and Dong-ryong squirms nervously in front of Mom. He says he’s sorry, and Mom tamps down her tears. She reaches over and Dong-ryong flinches expecting a hit… but she just pets him on the head lovingly and asks if he isn’t hurt.

He’s so shocked that he can barely answer, and Mom just squeezes his hand and says it’s okay as long as he isn’t hurt. Dong-ryong breaks down in tears.

At home, Mom makes him his favorite meal, and Dong-ryong almost looks happy when both Mom and Dad nag him not to ever ride a motorcycle again. Mom is running late and gets up to leave for work, and Dong-ryong mutters sadly under his breath that he hates to eat alone.

Mom feels a pang of guilt and sits back down at the table, and says she’ll stay until he’s done eating. Dong-ryong lights up and immediately starts jabbering to Mom about all the stuff that’s going on in the neighborhood, like he’s been dying to tell her and just never had the chance. Mom realizes that she never knew her youngest son was this talkative.

The gang gives Dong-ryong a beating for making them worry, and Dong-ryong shouts that he’s going to tell his mommy on them. They remind him that he was mad at his mom, but now he defends her, saying that Mom was just busy.

They finally get to play their board game, and of course Taek wipes the floor with all of them. I love that he’s a millionaire even in their board game world. Dong-ryong grouses at Sun-woo for teaching Taek the rules, but Sun-woo says he learned them on his own. Taek inspects all of his money and then asks why they’re missing a space travel chance card, because it never came up.

That’s because Jung-bong gave it away, of course, not that any of them know. And Jung-bong is downright giddy when he opens up Mi-ok’s book to find that she’s laminated the card and turned it into a bookmark.

Their outfits are strangely familiar, but then we see why when their foamy coffees arrive and Mi-ok ends up with a milk mustache. Jung-bong gets up and leans across the table to kiss the foam from her lips in a Secret Garden parody kiss.

Dong-ryong wants to dance and convinces Deok-sun to join him, and Sun-woo smiles knowingly at Taek when he catches him laughing and smiling up at Deok-sun with those eyes he was talking about.

Taek smiles back sheepishly, but then something else catches his gaze… It’s Jung-hwan, with that same goofy loving expression on his face. Taek looks back and forth slowly between Deok-sun and Jung-hwan as the background goes silent and the truth sinks in: Jung-hwan has that unmistakable look in his eye. Aaaah, Taekie knows!

Sun-woo meets Bora for their big date, and she gives him a shirt that she bought with her first and last paycheck. She finally tells him about quitting her part-time job, and he admits that he’s childishly happy about getting to spend more time with her.

She then tells him the whole truth—that she’s going to start studying for the bar exam—and Sun-woo’s expression changes. He asks warily if that means they’re breaking up, and Bora asks why he’d say that. Well, at least she didn’t come here to break up, which is what I expected. Sun-woo doesn’t look reassured though, and honestly, neither does Bora.

 
COMMENTS

It was nice to focus on Dong-ryong today, and though his character arc has always been more simplistic than the others, it was still really great to see him make up with his mom and get just that tiny ounce of attention he so desperately craved from her. I love the way his friends always show up for him too, whether he’s run away from home or being held at the police station, because he just seems like a kid who needs affection. Bora and Dad’s running problem with affection was touching too, mostly because it’s a very realistic portrayal of an awkward and restrained parent-child relationship, though it happens more often between fathers and sons. It’s not a serious problem, but it’s sweet that they both try and fail so miserably at it, despite loving each other no less than anyone else. And I thought it said a lot about her when she admitted to being jealous that expressing affection came so easily to Deok-sun.

I was actually most moved by Deok-sun today, in her scene with Mom at school. I didn’t expect her to care about college, but I think it was feeling like she’d disappointed Mom that got to her. There’s just something about her middle-child, not-so-bright, more-average-than-average character that I really love. She just seems like a true everygirl, someone you could meet in real life who doesn’t know what she wants or what she’s good at, but just doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. I like that her self-discovery is just as important as who she marries, and that we’re made to root for her to realize her own strengths and find her own path, no matter how unconventional.

Today’s episode felt a little slow, though not in the moment-by-moment, since all the little scenes were cute and fun—it’s just that there wasn’t much change happening in the overall picture, so by the time it was done, I realized that nothing had changed since last week. I found myself actually wanting Bora and Sun-woo to break up to inject a little drama into the episode by the end. If Taek or Jung-hwan or JUST SOMEBODY doesn’t do a thing to advance a loveline soon, it actually won’t matter who the husband is because no one will care. I mean, I actually really appreciate that the husband-hunting isn’t made into a big deal in Answer Me 1988 (and am greatly relieved, in fact), but I think there’s a lot that can happen character-wise that doesn’t have to make me feel like the plot was at a standstill. Okay, so there were still really lovely moments between Sun-woo and Taek’s dad, like that game of catch. I think Taek’s dad’s loveline was actually the one that advanced the most today, so he gets a gold star for being awesome. Will ya maybe sit the other boys down and give them a good talking-to about wooing the girl next door? I mean, who knew you’d be better at it than they are?

In the very least, I’m glad that Taek now knows about Jung-hwan’s feelings. That moment was really well played, and I like that Taek discovered this on his own rather than having to be told. Though if that makes him hesitate as much as Jung-hwan, I’m going to pitch a fit because somebody needs to confess up in here. I understand all the reasons they’re hesitating and scared, but at this point I just want them to get it out there and deal with the aftermath. And obviously I want to know how Deok-sun feels in all this, so someone’s gotta pull that trigger. Hell, maybe she can confess first and shut them both up for good. You know, I like that idea a lot actually.

I do love Jung-hwan and Taek’s friendship though, so it’s not like I don’t feel the pangs when Jung-hwan sees them together or when Taek discovers the way Jung-hwan looks at her when he thinks no one’s watching. What makes the conflict work is their bond as friends, like the way Jung-hwan takes care of Taek and notices every little thing like his untied shoelaces. Or the way Taek doesn’t hesitate to sell his name and do a thing he normally hates without a second thought when Jung-hwan’s dad needs surgery. It makes me less worried about this look on Taek’s face. A little.

 
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