Reunited Worlds: Episodes 23-24

by LollyPip

This show really delivers on the cute, and I’m loving every second. Watching Hae-sung as he cares for his loved ones and even makes new friends is so heartwarming on a purely visceral level. But although he’s making an effort to just enjoy the time he’s been given, there are still problems that will have to be faced sooner or later, whether he likes it or not.

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EPISODE 23 RECAP

Staring at the food truck, Min-joon finally finds his voice and asks Hae-sung what this is about. Hae-sung says it’s their new restaurant, and a look of incredulous wonder comes over Min-joon’s face.

Jung-won jumps inside to admire the equipment, though she notes that it’s a little tight for three people. Hae-sung says that he’ll be working with Min-joon in the truck because he has another plan for Jung-won: She will focus on entering a character contest. Min-joon backs up Hae-sung, and they agree to open the food truck on the day of the contest deadline as a show of solidarity.

The guys get to work creating a menu and designing dishes to sell, even taking things like their aprons seriously. Jung-won works on creating a character to enter into the contest, and after many revisions and rejections, she settles on an adaptation of the cute little dog on the food truck.

Finally the day arrives, and Jung-won sends in her character submission with a happy little squeal. Min-joon and Hae-sung open the food truck by the river, prepared to start a new chapter in their careers. Jung-won gets dressed for the opening, even wearing the blue hair ribbon from Hae-sung.

Awww, when she arrives, the guys are sitting dejected by the food truck without a customer in sight. Hae-sung tells her they’ve only sold three meals as Min-joon pouts like a little kid, hee. Jung-won says cheerfully that it’s only the first day and orders her own lunch.

She declares it delicious, though she notes that it takes too long to make. Min-joon explains that he’s just getting used to the different cooking style and that he’s getting faster.

Just then, he sees the blue ribbon in Jung-won’s hair, looking exactly like the one he gave to Ho-bang to return to the accident victim’s family. He asks her about it, making Hae-sung freeze nervously, but Jung-won simply says that a school friend gave it to her.

She heads off to her part-time job, and a while later, Young-joon and his fiancée, Seo-won, come by to wish Min-joon luck with the food truck. Young-joon and Hae-sung are surprised to see each other, but although things are awkward, neither of them gives away the fact that they know each other.

Hae-sung manages to keep a smile on his face until Young-joon leaves. But once he’s gone, the smile fades as Hae-sung remembers CEO Cha saying that Young-joon was the bully’s killer.

Young-joon also keeps his composure long enough to make it back to his office. Once there, he remembers running into Soo-ji in the hospital and looks up her medical records.

All he sees is her doctor’s name before Director Sohn, Seo-won’s mother, lets herself into his office. Deciding to be blunt, she tells Young-joon that she prefers that her daughter marry Tae-hoon, her friends’ son, but Seo-won keeps refusing because of Young-joon.

Director Sohn declares that she wants to retain her good relationship with her daughter, so she’s decided to meet Young-joon’s parents and give him a fair chance. She’s being pretty generous all things considered, but it worries Young-joon. His cover story is that he has parents who are still alive and live in the U.S., and he begins to worry when Director Sohn says that she’s visiting the States soon.

Soo-ji’s doctor, Doctor Lee, sees that Young-joon looked into Soo-ji’s online records. He goes to ask Young-joon about it, and Young-joon lies that he meant to check on a different patient with the same name. Doctor Lee is disappointed — he was hoping that Young-joon knew someone who knows Soo-ji.

A short while later, Young-joon is summoned to Director Sohn’s office and finds Doctor Lee there with her. Unfortunately for Young-joon, Doctor Lee’s brother works at the university where Young-joon claimed that his (imaginary) father worked as a professor. Director Sohn asks Doctor Lee to pass on a message to Young-joon’s father that she wants to meet him, and Young-joon looks downright ill.

Tae-hoon catches Young-in looking at pictures of Gong-ju on her phone while waiting for him. She tells him that she’s Hae-chul’s daughter, shocking Tae-hoon, but Young-in changes the subject. He regretfully breaks their plans due to an unexpected work emergency, so she makes the most adorable growly face at him, hee.

Later, Tae-hoon makes time to see Hae-chul, who tells him that he was in Chungho recently to put up the banner. Tae-hoon didn’t know that Hae-sung was looking for information about his accident, or that Driver Hwang was not the real driver that night.

Hae-chul mentions how much he likes the food at the small restaurant where they’re eating, so Tae-hoon asks if he’s ever thought of starting a place like this. He offers to invest if Hae-chul wants to do it, and though Hae-chul is moved and grateful, he doesn’t think it’s right to accept a friend’s money. Something tells me Tae-hoon won’t drop it that easily.

He drops by Ho-bang’s that evening for a visit and asks why they’re looking into the accident after all this time. Ho-bang explains, but he quickly adds that they didn’t get any hits, which is why they took the banner down.

The food truck is still pretty deserted, though it’s clean as a whistle since the guys have so much down time, heh. They get excited when some skateboarders gather nearby, but they ignore the truck. Hae-sung gets an idea and throws some meat on the grill, trying to attract someone with the scent, and it works — one guy places an order.

While he’s waiting, he poses for a selfie with the truck in the background, then takes his food away to share with this two buddies. Hae-sung suggests they try another location, so they pack up and drive off.

Behind them, the three friends come running over, upset over having only one serving to share and wanting to buy more, but the truck is gone. The first guy posts his selfie online, asking for help locating the truck so that they can have more of the delicious food.

At Min-joon’s that evening, they guys eat up what they didn’t sell so that it won’t go to waste. They’re adorably pitiful, sick and tired of eating pasta, though Min-joon confesses that this experience is re-igniting his love of cooking.

Director Sohn calls Young-joon to her office again, this time to ask why he hasn’t set up a meeting with his father yet. He fibs that his father is traveling, but she just asks for his number so she can call him herself. When Young-joon hesitates, Director Sohn reveals that Doctor Lee asked around, and the professor whose name Young-joon gave doesn’t have a son in Korea.

CEO Cha arrives unexpectedly while Young-joon is trying to come up with an explanation. Director Cha says that she’ll call Young-joon’s father later, which has CEO Cha asking her if she knows him. He says that he’s known Young-joon’s father for years, backing up the lie.

The two go to dinner and discuss their failed attempt to get Tae-hoon and Seo-won together. CEO Cha says that Young-joon has a bright future with Chungho Foundation, his company, asking if she’ll be supportive of his transferring Young-joon to a hospital in the U.S.

He tells Director Sohn that it works out for her either way — either Young-joon becomes more established and thus a better match for Seo-won, or the separation will lead them to break up. He takes his idea to Young-joon, who is honored and thankful for the way CEO Cha helped him earlier.

Excited, Young-joon tells Seo-won about this opportunity, but he wants her to go with him to the States. She seems reluctant, but she says she’ll think about it seriously.

One of Min-joon’s former employees sees the selfie of his food truck posted online and shows it to the entire kitchen. She shows Sang-hyun as well, who isn’t happy that Min-joon looks poised for success again. The selfie is really making the rounds online, and even Jung-won’s customers at her waitressing job end up sheepishly leaving to look for the food truck.

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EPISODE 24 RECAP

More people start to find the Cha Pasta food truck and post about it online. Soon the guys are mobbed with customers lining up and down the sidewalk, but one very special customer stays at a distance.

Grandmother watches them proudly, sending her assistant Miss Kang to get her some food to try. She asks what Miss Kang thinks, and when Miss Kang answers that they’re both very handsome, Grandmother is all, “I mean the food!” LOL. They both take a taste and agree that they’re torn.

Jung-won arrives at work right at the time when the character contest results should be out. She calls the company, but she’s informed that she’s not one of the prize winners. Awww.

She visits the food truck after work, where the guys are hard at work filling orders. Hae-sung can see that something is wrong and takes a break to talk, and when he hears that she didn’t win, he ruffles her bangs affectionately. Min-joon sees them looking chummy and comfortable, and he seems unsettled.

The six friends get together that evening to celebrate the food truck’s success, but Jung-won has worked herself into a good funk and keeps bringing everyone down. She starts eating food that’s fallen on the floor, pitifully moaning that it’s all she deserves after losing the contest.

She even asks Tae-hoon to drop some more for her when she runs out, ha. Later that night, Jung-won falls off the bed, which just makes her feel even more sorry for herself.

In the morning, she’s woken by Hae-sung’s frantic pounding on her front door. She lets him in, and he tells her to snap out of it and get dressed because he’s taking her somewhere. She even wears her blue hair ribbon, just for Hae-sung.

He takes Jung-won to Grandmother’s farm and tells her that this is where he was when he disappeared for a few days. Grandmother arrives to say hello, and she and Hae-sung do a silly happy dance when they see each other. Grandmother glances at Jung-won, then at Hae-sung, who nods as if to say, Yes, this is her.

Hae-sung runs off to get the corn (why so much corn, Grandmother?), and Grandmother sizes up Jung-won, who thanks her for letting her cousin stay with her. Grandmother corrects her, saying that she knows Hae-sung is Jung-won’s boyfriend. She also tells her about her husband coming back three years after his death.

When Hae-sung returns, Jung-won asks where Grandmother’s husband is now, and both Grandmother and Hae-sung look cornered for a second. Thinking fast, Grandmother says that he’s back in Seoul, then she leaves the two alone.

Hae-sung and Jung-won suit up in the requisite ajumma pants and rubber boots and get to work. Hae-sung explains that this is a place to forget your problems and just work, which makes Jung-won smile.

She leans a little too close and Hae-sung rears back, falling and landing right in a cowpat, ha. He jumps up and chases Jung-won around the barn with his poopy hands, then they get to work mending a fence. Jung-won is dismayed when they’re even expected to cook their own meal, but she admits that she’s happy despite all the hard work.

They work until after dark, and when it’s time to head home, Hae-sung notices that Jung-won’s blue hairpin is missing. But there’s no time to look for it without risking missing the last bus back to the city, so Jung-won apologizes and talks Hae-sung into leaving the pin behind.

He’s so despondent over the lost hairpin that he bites Ho-bang’s head off that night over ramyun, but at least Ho-bang understands why losing that pin upsets him so much. Jung-won doesn’t, and she’s angry that Hae-sung reacted so badly over a little hairpin.

She complains to Jin-ju about his bad attitude, so Jin-ju calls Ho-bang the next day to get the scoop. She reports back to Jung-won that Hae-sung bought her that hairpin on the day that he died, and that he never got to give it to her.

Jung-won instantly feels horrible, belatedly realizing how important that pin is, so she rushes back to Grandmother’s farm to search for it. She looks everywhere, but the pin is nowhere to be found.

Over dinner, Seo-won tells Young-joon regretfully that she’s thought about it, but she doesn’t want to go to the U.S. He says it’s an amazing career opportunity for him, but she argues that his career is already impressive enough that he doesn’t need to go. He agrees to stay in Korea, though he looks deeply disappointed even when Seo-won suggests they get married as soon as possible.

He returns to CEO Cha to respectfully turn down his generous offer, but CEO Cha says darkly that he’s making a huge mistake. He roars that Young-joon had better take his “kind” offer, adding that he’s in no position to decide for himself.

CEO Cha is still in a bad mood when he gets home that evening, probably worried that Young-joon will break their agreement of silence. Tae-hoon’s mother fusses at Tae-hoon for not getting married, though she perks up when he says he’ll be getting married soon enough. CEO Cha snaps at her to let Tae-hoon be (Tae-hoon gives him a cute thumbs-up at that), but she continues whining about wanting a daughter-in-law.

Hae-sung arrives home that night to find Ho-bang climbing the walls with worry over Jung-won. He tells Hae-sung that she found out the truth about the hairpin and went to the farm to look for it alone, and that she hasn’t come home yet.

Jung-won is still combing the farm for her hairpin, using the flashlight on her phone to search through the grass in a huge field. Just as she’s about to give up, something glints in the grass nearby, and she rushes over to find the hairpin safe and sound. Whew!

But as soon as Jung-won’s distress fades, she realizes that she’s all alone, in the dark, with nothing but the spooky nighttime noises for company. She tells herself that she’s not scared, then she breaks into a run as she admits that she’s very scared. She trips over something in the dark and starts to tumble to the ground.

But a pair of strong arms catches her, and she looks up to see Hae-sung, there for her just in time. He sets Jung-won back on her feet, and she shows him the hairpin, but he just fusses at her for coming here alone without telling him.

She turns the question around on him, asking why he didn’t tell her that the hairpin was so important. She apologizes for being careless and losing it, and Hae-sung silently takes it and pins it on for her. He smiles at her, saying that he’ll let it slide because she’s so pretty.

Jung-won belatedly realizes that they missed the last bus, and she worries what they’ll do now that they’re stranded hours from home. Hae-sung sighs heavily and says that when a couple misses the last bus, they usually have to spend the night together because there’s only one room left. He laughs at Jung-won’s stricken expression, admitting that he was just kidding and that the farm owner offered them a ride to Seoul.

They arrive home laden down with potatoes and more corn, and begin to prepare a feast to share with Ho-bang. He takes a call, motioning for Hae-sung’s attention when a voice asks if he’s the one who put up the banner in Chungho.

They all lean close as Ho-bang puts the phone on speaker, listening intently as the voice tells them, “On the day of the accident twelve years ago, a murder took place inside the school. I have information about that murder case.”

 
COMMENTS

I knew there had to be more about the murder that hasn’t been revealed yet. I don’t trust CEO Cha as far as I can throw him, and he’s the only person who has said that Young-joon killed the bully that night. I have a feeling that the truth is much more complicated and much, much worse than a simple case of violence between students going terribly wrong.

Although Hae-sung has dropped his search for the truth on the night he was killed (for now), I’m glad that the show hasn’t forgotten Young-joon. He has a lot to atone for regardless of whether he’s guilty of killing his bully, both to his family and to Hae-sung himself. I just want to see Young-joon face his past, mainly because he seems so miserable. I don’t really care about Young-joon’s emotional well-being so much, because he’s never shown himself to be anything but self-centered and heartless towards those he should care about the most. But Hae-sung’s only wish is to see his family and friends live happy lives after he goes, and I have no doubt that, no matter what Young-joon did or didn’t do, Hae-sung would want for his brother to let go of whatever has been weighing him down all these years.

Speaking of the accident, I’m a little worried about Tae-hoon asking so many questions about why Ho-bang and Hae-sung have been looking into the details of that night. I don’t really think Tae-hoon was directly involved, but it’s possible that he knows something that he’s been keeping silent about for whatever reason. I’m scared that his digging around is going to get him in big trouble, because at this early stage, I fear that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the truth of that night.

It was so sweet of Hae-sung to take Jung-won to his happy place when she needed a pick-me-up. I think that Grandmother had him work to get his mind off his problems, and it was smart of him to think of that for Jung-won and generous of him to share it with her. It nearly had his biggest secret outed though (that he’s not back forever) when he forgot that Grandmother might mention her husband coming back. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with Hae-sung’s decision to keep it a secret for so long (because what if he disappears before he gets a chance to explain?), I admit that I held my breath. I dread Jung-won finding out that Hae-sung is going to leave her again.

It was also really sweet to see Jung-won’s distress over the lost hairpin once she realized its significance. She doesn’t acknowledge her feelings for Hae-sung publicly, or even to herself a lot of the time, so I was glad that the hairpin meant as much to her as it does to him for sentimental reasons. Spending so much time looking for it demonstrated how important Hae-sung is to Jung-won, even though she doesn’t feel comfortable saying so yet.

This week’s episodes were pretty low-key, focusing mostly on Hae-sung’s relationships and his learning how to just enjoy the fact that he’s been given time to be with his loved ones again. But it feels like a lot of scenarios were being set up for some pretty major blowouts next week. Min-joon is beginning to realize that Hae-sung and Jung-won’s relationship isn’t exactly as they say it is, and I’m concerned that he’s going to find out Hae-sung’s secret and take it badly, which would be heartbreaking just as their bromance is finally taking off.

I really adore their friendship, especially the way that, despite their age difference, Hae-sung and Min-joon relate to each other as equals and genuinely like and respect each other. I’m afraid that the discovery that Hae-sung isn’t Jung-won’s cousin, but her childhood first love — not to mention the tiny complication that he’s back from the dead — will be too much for Min-joon to process and he’ll do or say something awful. Or even worse, he won’t, but instead he’ll just quietly draw back emotionally and cut himself off from the first good friend he’s ever had. Hae-sung would be fine, but I’m worried that Min-joon is just fragile enough that it could do permanent damage to his tender little heart.

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