Oh My Venus: Episode 13

by LollyPip

In the aftermath of near-tragedy, everyone takes a step back to re-evaluate what’s really important. Confessions are made, relationships are altered, and nobody comes through it unscathed. But in some ways, even a terrible event can bring about positive change, and it’s possible to come through to the other side even stronger than before.

EPISODE 13 RECAP

As Uncle chases down Joon-sung in Young-ho’s car, Young-ho follows, desperate to save his friend. He swerves into Uncle’s car which stops him from ramming into Joon-sung, but in the process Young-ho flips his own car.

Uncle isn’t unscathed, his car having crashed into a couple of other cars nearby, and he gets out despite being injured. He sees a car with a familiar license plate, and he’s horrified to realize that it’s his own sister, and she’s badly hurt.

Joon-sung sees the accident and realizes that it’s Young-ho who was in the car that flipped, and he’s injured, bleeding and unconscious. Joon-sung grows frantic, screaming and crying, trying fruitlessly to free Young-ho. But Young-ho is pinned by the steering wheel, which is jammed into his bad knee. Thank goodness Manager Min also followed Young-ho, and he takes over from the desperate Joon-sung to staunch the bleeding in Young-ho’s leg and call for help.

As Young-ho is rushed to surgery, his gurney is wheeled right past a shocked Dad. He flashes back to Young-ho as a child, begging him to not make him go through surgery again. I think I prefer the crying, pleading Young-ho to the frightening way he lies, still and silent, on the operating table now.

Manager Min is beside himself with guilt, and he apologizes to Dad for letting this happen. Dad just says in his stoic way that there’s no sense getting upset over what’s done — they just have to get through it.

Stepmom is also in surgery to repair abdominal injuries, and Uncle sits outside on the floor waiting for news, looking pale and frightened.

Ji-woong arrives at the hospital to find Joon-sung still covered in Young-ho’s blood. He tries to run to Young-ho but Joon-sung silently holds him back. It’s Ji-woong’s turn to collapse in tears, while Joon-sung tries weakly to comfort him.

Still waiting for her son (and wearing the red coat he gave her, awww), Joon-sung’s mother tries to call him, but he’s not answering. Joo-eun also waits for Young-ho, with a bad feeling due to a broken mirror and her intuition. She’s in a daze the next morning at work, growing more worried the longer it’s been since she’s heard from Young-ho.

Joon-sung does finally show up at his mother’s the next morning, looking contrite and exhausted and terrified beyond words. His mother is visibly relieved that he’s okay, and when Joon-sung’s chin starts to wobble and he ekes out a tiny, lost, ”M… mom,” she folds him into a hug and they both cry. She promises to hug him often from now on.

Stepmom comes through surgery battered but ultimately okay, so Uncle goes to sit by Young-joon’s bedside until he wakes. Young-joon asks for his mom and Uncle tells him she’ll be here soon, and asks why Young-joon would deliberately overdose.

Young-joon says through tears that he was there at the anniversary celebration and heard what Uncle said on the phone to his mother, and sobs that he feels responsible. Without him around, everyone could stop being so greedy about Gahong.

Full of regret, Uncle consoles Young-joon and admits that he was the one who did something stupid, and that he’s sorry. Later he calls Woo-shik to the hospital and makes a personal request, though we don’t hear what it is.

Soo-jin is absent from work for the second day in a row, giving Joo-eun one more thing to worry about. She drives to Soo-jin’s place to check on her, trying again to call Young-ho on the way, but with no luck.

Young-ho’s doctor tells the family that he’s finally waking up, and that his injuries aren’t life-threatening. But despite their best efforts, the damage to his leg is extensive, and it’s doubtful that he may ever walk again. Dad is in danger of losing his iron compoure, and it doesn’t help when Manager Min tells him that Young-ho and Stepmom were both hurt while trying to stop Uncle. Dad gets a steely look in his eye, and growls to Manager Min to take care of this.

Joo-eun gets no response when she knocks on Soo-jin’s door, so she lets herself in (never use your birthday as your passcode, people!) and finds Soo-jin in bed with a migraine. She makes the grouchy Soo-jin something to eat, noticing the medication and half-drunk glass of wine by the bed, and decides to level with Soo-jin.

She tells her to treat her body better, and not to take medication with wine. She also tells her to change her passcode, and to apologize — but not for stealing Woo-shik. Joo-eun is hurt that after Soo-jin passed the bar and moved, she never contacted Joo-eun again and ignored all of her emails. Then when she came back, she only ever said they were classmates, when in reality they were good friends.

Joo-eun demands an apology again in a loud voice, then immediately deflates and sits on the bed with Soo-jin. Soo-jin looks taken aback by Joo-eun’s outburst but she doesn’t take her seriously, so Joo-eun hauls off and smacks her. Hard, and repeatedly.

That breaks the ice and the whole story finally comes out — how Soo-jin was treated by the blind date that Joo-eun arranged, and how he said that Joo-eun pitied her. Soo-jin also wails that Joo-eun knew how much Soo-jin liked Lee Ji-hoon but got his number for herself. Joo-eun tells her what really happened that day, that Lee Ji-hoon was trying to hook her up with a talent manager, and that’s whose number he gave her.

She asks if this trivial stuff is why Soo-jin has been acting this way, but Soo-jin says she could have died from being so lonely and miserable. They keep calling each other “bitch,” but the heat goes out of the word with each repeat, which is oddly sweet.

Soo-jin grumps for Joo-eun to apologize first, and Joo-eun says that she never even knew any of this, but she does apologize. Soo-jin says that Woo-shik approached her first, and Joo-eun actually believes her. She knows he wouldn’t fall for someone just because they threw themselves at him. So what he feels for Soo-jin must be genuine.

Joo-eun really is over Woo-shik, but she whines that relationships are hard for her when Soo-jin asks about Young-ho. She starts to sob in earnest, releasing all the stress that’s built up, and Soo-jin almost pats her back to comfort her. She doesn’t, but she does mutter that she’s glad she didn’t change her passcode. Awww.

Ji-woong looks nervous as a cat on the way to see Young-ho, scared he’ll cry in front of his hyung. Considering his wobbly chin, I think he’s about to lose that battle, and so is Joon-sung. They warn each other not to cry, no matter what.

It’s so sweet that Young-ho’s first words are to ask if Joon-sung saw his mother, and to tell him not to feel responsible for this. Of course, this makes Joon-sung cry after all. Ji-woong babbles about nothing in his attempt not to cry, but it’s hopeless for him as well. Even Young-ho lets a tear fall.

Joo-eun calls Joon-sung, who asks Young-ho what he should tell her. Young-ho doesn’t want her seeing him like this, or to see her cry over him, and he seems terrified to think what may happen to him. Ji-woong says determinedly that he’s going to pray for a miracle, and Young-ho sends them both away.

Ji-woong and Joon-sung arrive back at the villa to find Joo-eun waiting for them, and they conspicuously avoid telling her where Young-ho is. She knows from their behavior that he must be in a lot of pain somewhere (which makes Joon-sung go all wibbly again — such a softie), but they won’t tell her where he is.

She gets upset, and says that she’ll find him if she has to search every hospital on the planet. They finally cave, and the three of them go back to the hospital together. Joo-eun literally runs, frantic to see Young-ho, with the boys trailing behind her.

The minions stop her from entering Young-ho’s room, and Manager Min tells Joo-eun that Young-ho doesn’t want to see her. She tells Min that she never listens to Young-ho anyway, begging him to just let her see if he’s okay, and calls out to Young-ho from the hall.

Inside, Young-ho opens his eyes, and he checks his phone to see the multiple calls and messages she’s left him. His breathing speeds up and he’s crying, and he sends her a text: “Tap tap.” It reminds her of how he always taps her to make her stop what she’s doing, and she collapses to the floor. He’s tapping out.

Manager Min lets her go as far as Young-ho’s door, knowing that she’ll respect his wishes. She calls to him through the door, saying that it’s not fair for him to tap out like this, but she understands why he’s doing it… because he feels that the best thing to be is healthy. But she reminds him that she’s stubborn — she doesn’t care how long it takes, she’ll wait for him to come back.

She reminds him that if he’s still hanging in there, it means he hasn’t reached his limit, and tells him to believe in himself. It’s okay with her if he’s not healthy, or handsome, or sexy, as long as he comes back to her.

She apologizes through her tears for not telling him sooner how much she loves him, and hearing that, Young-ho starts to cry along with her. He feebly tries to get up but he can barely move, and can only lay in bed and sob.

Grandma comes to visit Stepmom, furious at Uncle and threatening to rip him to shreds. She credits Stepmom’s interference with saving Young-ho’s life, but Stepmom can only apologize over and over. Still, Grandma suggests that they cut ties now, as if they never met. Dad takes Grandma’s hand to lead her away, but she shakes it off.

Joo-eun holds it together until she gets home, where the sight of the two bandages from Young-ho makes her legs go out from under her. She sits on the floor in the dark, and lets her tears flow.

Uncle sits in his office at Gahong, thinking of how he secured a place for his sister and Young-joon to stay, and had asked Woo-shik to arrange everything. Instead of agreeing to go, Stepmom had told him about Young-ho’s osteosarcoma, and how he spent half his life in hospitals.

She’d told Uncle that Young-ho was her husband’s son and Young-joon’s half-brother, asking why he would do such an evil thing. But Uncle isn’t as repentant as he seemed, and had argued that there’s nobody to take care of her and his nephew, but him. She agrees that their family is flawed, but at least she had a family, and a wonderful son, and was happy.

Soo-jin handles the legal settlement between Uncle and Young-ho, which also signals the end of Uncle’s employment at Gahong. Soo-jin and Woo-shik talk privately afterward, where he assures her that he’s not angry at her for doing her job, even though Uncle was his boss.

Soo-jin tells Woo-shik that she’s aware of the VVIP medical center proposal (the one Young-ho refused to sign off on), and that she thought it seemed unlike the rule-following Woo-shik she knows, to be involved in a shady deal. He admits that he was ambitious and willing to overlook the problems in the deal. As for getting involved with PD Go, he says he was too single-minded about getting revenge on Young-ho to think about the consequences.

As he’s leaving, Soo-jin drops the bomb that she and Joo-eun had a big fight. But she’s teasing Woo-shik, and jokes that women solve problems by fighting just like men do. Did Woo-shik just pout? He totally just pouted.

Soo-jin says that Joo-eun told her that he must be sincere about his feelings for her, and they both grin. Soo-jin smiles that it’s easier to talk about Joo-eun with him now, and Woo-shik is all So you’re good? Then let’s go get something to eat. Typical guy.

Joo-eun rings in the new year (2015) with her mom and brother in Daegu, and her mom notices that she’s particularly grouchy lately. Mom asks if Joo-eun will get married to that guy who makes her smile, which touches a nerve, but Joo-eun promises that Mom will meet him soon. She doesn’t sound so sure about it, though.

Everything reminds Joo-eun of Young-ho — the blanket they slept under that night, her brother taking care of his pregnant girlfriend, even her medication. She keeps up with her exercises, remembers to watch her posture, and eats right. But she can’t help but worry about Young-ho, and cries often, even in front of clients.

Time passes, and before Joo-eun knows it, it’s Christmas Eve nearly a year later. During that year Joon-sung wins the RCF championship, and Ji-woong decides to apply to the Marines again after being rejected for the sixth time. Joo-eun still sees Young-ho everywhere, smiling and holding his arms out for a hug. But it’s only her imagination.

Until the day it isn’t, and when Joo-eun steels herself to walk through Young-ho’s apparition as usual, she bonks right into his chest. Young-ho isn’t even surprised, and just smiles at her, then wraps a pink scarf around her neck. “It’s been a long time, Kang Joo-eun.”

Joo-eun reaches a trembling hand to touch Young-ho’s face, and lets out a relieved sigh to realize that it’s really him. Her eyes go to his leg, which he stomps to prove that he’s all healed up.

Without a word, Young-ho grabs Joo-eun in a tight hug.

COMMENTS

Aww, I’m glad that didn’t last long. Or at least, it didn’t last long for us as viewers. I was worried the show would make us suffer for an episode or two before reuniting Young-ho and Joo-eun, but clearly it knows what it’s got going for it. We’re all here because the two of them together light up our screens.

I can’t help but continue to be impressed with Joo-eun and her priorities — she’s just a lady who is doing it all right. When she confronted Soo-jin and demanded an apology, she had so many issues she could have been upset over, but the one that’s hurting her most is the one that most of us would probably consider least urgent. Not that Soo-jin has been treating her like crap at work, or even that she pretty much stole Joo-eun’s boyfriend of fifteen years — no, Joo-eun is most hurt by the fact that Soo-jin let their friendship drop after she finished school. Leave it to Joo-eun to place friendship above work and romance — and then to resort to childish violence when Soo-jin doesn’t get it. Hey, nobody’s perfect. But I just adore her, and she makes me want to be a better person. And apparently she’s rubbing off on Soo-jin too, who seems much happier and lighter since their fight. I’m looking forward to seeing them become friends again.

I really appreciate the theme of communication that weaves its way through all of the character’s relationships in this show, and how it can alter events drastically depending on how it’s handled. There are so many examples of bad communication, such as Soo-jin and Joo-eun’s entire college history, or how Young-ho’s father never talks to anyone, much less Young-ho himself, about his feelings and fears for his son. And the show makes it clear that this is definitely not the way to be, because it causes so much hurt and misunderstanding. Just one honest conversation could clear up so many things, if only people would just talk to each other when something comes up in the first place — but a lack of communication can ruin relationships for decades, or even lifetimes.

And then there’s the counterpoint of Young-ho and Joo-eun’s relationship, in which they’ve made it a priority to be honest and talk to each other at every crucial moment. They don’t talk things to death, but they make sure the other knows what’s going on with them, and how they feel about each other. And if one starts to refuse to talk for whatever reason, like Young-ho’s reluctance to talk about his phantom pain, the other doesn’t let them withdraw and back away. They manage to draw each other out in a positive way, and talk just enough to keep each other in the loop, which lets them support each other in the way they need to be supported. It’s such a healthy way to relate to each other, which I think is why I love their relationship so much. In a Dramaland where miscommunication, non-communication, and misunderstanding drives so many drama plots, it’s refreshing to see a couple who just talks to each other.

So it’s fitting that the real conflict in the show is seeing that communication being put in danger, and it’s refreshing to see that rather than the usual amnesia or Noble Idiocy. Okay I guess it could be argued that Young-ho’s year-long disappearance is a sort of Noble Idiocy, but I don’t think it’s the same thing. He never broke up with Joo-eun, and he didn’t cut contact in some misguided attempt to save her from his situation. He simply needed the time to get healthy without the added concern of seeing Joo-eun being worried and burdened by him. And given his feelings that a healthy body is the sexiest thing in the world, I can see why he would be ashamed to be seen by the woman he loves, in a state he finds humiliating. Not that I think it was the best way to handle things, and as a viewer I could have done without it, or even enjoyed seeing Joo-eun helping young-ho get better the same way he helped her get healthy again. Still, I’m happy that it didn’t last long, because there’s nothing better than Young-ho and Joo-eun together and in love.

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