20th Century Boy and Girl: Episodes 19-20

by LollyPip

I’m afraid that if something didn’t happen soon, that either Jin-jin or Ji-won was going to explode out of sheer frustration. So many years of longing can’t be held back without serious consequences, and at least one of the pair has had it up to here with the lame excuses. Someone has to speak up before they risk not only losing out on the chance for love, but losing each other altogether.

 
EPISODE 19: “Strong wind love song”

After Anthony loses his temper with the lecherous director, he sees Jin-jin in the lobby and grabs her in a bear hug. Ji-won sees them from across the lobby, and the shock of that preoccupies him as his meeting continues, so he’s surprised when Jin-jin is presented as the new face of National Chemical (ah, so that’s why she’s in Jeju). She introduces herself, but as most of the audience don’t speak Korean, Tae-hyun offers to translate for her.

But Jin-jin says she’s got this and proceeds to finish her self-introduction in perfect English. Ji-won looks at her in surprise, impressed and a little proud.

After the presentation, Jin-jin is also surprised to learn that Ji-won has been promoted to president of the company. He and Tae-hyun come to officially thank her, Ji-won behaving strictly professionally while Tae-hyun tries to contain his inner Jin-jin fanboy.

Anthony takes advantage of his unexpected free time to go fishing, and Manager Choi calls him, furiously ranting about crazy scumbag jerks. He thinks she’s angry with him for ruining his chances at the movie role, but she’s actually furious over the director’s behavior, spitting that he’s much worse than she thought.

She tells Anthony that she cursed at the director and hung up on him, and Anthony apologizes for putting her in a bad position. But Manager Choi says that she’s the one who should apologize for not protecting him better.

Ji-won and Jin-jin run into each other in the lobby, and though they’re still feeling awkward, they go for a walk together. Confused about the hug, Jin-jin asks if something happened to Anthony, and all Ji-won can think of is that it’s his birthday today. Jin-jin remembers that it was also his birthday the day she took that picture with him, back when they were idols.

Recalling that he’d run out in the middle of a show that day, she asks Ji-won what really happened. Ji-won says that his mother was sick and his stepfather was away, so he was the only one with his mom in the emergency room. The nurse had asked him a lot of questions about his mother’s health, scaring him.

But then he’d looked up to see Anthony running to join them. He says that he’d burst into tears in Anthony’s arms, and that was the first time he’d considered Anthony his brother.

Jin-jin says that Anthony is pretty great, and Ji-won agrees. He adds, a little sadly, that Anthony is so great that he doesn’t stand a chance against him. Jin-jin’s temper flares, and she says that she knows that already, then recants and says that she doesn’t want to know.

She whirls to storm off, but she turns her heel and nearly falls. Ji-won is right there to catch her, and they can both feel the electricity as he steadies her in his arms. He waits while she calls Mi-dal to bring her different shoes, and although they’re both painfully nervous, it’s sweet how Ji-won lets Jin-jin stand on his foot with her unshod one.

As Mi-dal heads out of the hotel with Jin-jin’s shoes, she bounces off of assistant Tae-hyun in the hallway. They recognize each other, having met once at a get-together for a video game they both play. They geek out over a special in-game weapon that’s being given out tonight, and Tae-hyun invites Mi-dal to go to an internet cafe with him later, so they can try to get the weapon.

The hotel receptionist gives Anthony a birthday gift that Jin-jin left for him. It’s just a token, but it’s the heartfelt birthday wishes in the card that really seem to get to him.

That evening, Ji-won and Jin-jin have dinner with the chairman of National Chemicals, who sweetly flatters Jin-jin and asks about her friendship with Ji-won. He’s skeptical that two young, attractive people are just friends, and he asks if there’s a chance they may get together.

Jin-jin immediately clarifies that they’re just friends, and Ji-won looks a little hurt. The chairman lists all of Ji-won’s positive traits, explaining to Jin-jin that he thinks Ji-won is impressive and that he’s been trying to introduce him to his niece.

Now it’s Jin-jin’s turn to look hurt. The chairman pushes Ji-won to schedule a blind date with his niece soon, so Ji-won says that he’ll call her when he’s back in Seoul. After dinner, Ji-won leaves without a word to Jin-jin.

Jin-jin’s room key doesn’t work, so Mi-dal goes downstairs for a new one. A short while later, Ji-won heads up to his room, which oh no, is the same room number as Jin-jin’s.

Jin-jin is enjoying a leisurely bubble bath, and Ji-won takes a shower in the suite’s other bathroom. Jin-jin gets to the bed first and settles in, and a few minutes later, Ji-won climbs in on the other side. They suddenly realize that they’re not alone in the bed, and they lie there, staring at each other in surprise.

In his hotel room, Anthony can’t stop looking at the birthday card from Jin-jin. He starts to text her an apology for the sudden hug earlier, but instead he sends her a simple thank you for the birthday gift.

Neither Jin-jin nor Ji-won move a muscle as they lie in bed, wide-eyed with surprise. Ji-won guesses that their key cards got switched, and Jin-jin groans, half to herself, wondering why this happened to them. Ji-won says, “Because we’re friends.”

He whispers that he’s not going on that blind date, and Jin-jin asks why he’s telling her this. Again he answers, “Because we’re friends,” and this time the words look like they’re painful to say. Jin-jin tells Ji-won to go, and oof, the look of rejection and longing on his face is killing me.

He gets this things and leaves, but once he’s in the hallway, he stops and leans against the wall, reluctant to go. Jin-jin lies in the bed alone, reaching a hand out to caress the side of the bed where Ji-won had been lying.

Back in Seoul, lawyer Kyung-seok is surprised when he shows up to work to find Young-shim already there. Aww, it’s so cute how he checks the clock and smiles to see that she’s actually early for once. He checks in with her regarding her trial, and she shows him everything she’s prepared.

She’s got medicine for her throat, water in the event that she gets thirsty, a whole rainbow of pens, and a handkerchief in case she sweats. Kyung-seok reminds her that as nervous as she may be for her first trial, there’s someone more nervous than she is — her client. Oh, right.

Embarrassed that she was making it all about her and forgot the client, Young-shim tosses everything in the garbage. She goes to the hall to call her client, reassuring them that she’ll do her best and inviting them to come speak to the judge if they wish. Kyung-seok peeks out and smiles again, proud of her.

In the morning, Manager Choi shows up at the hotel to find Anthony heading to the next We Got Married shoot, which is conveniently also in Jeju. He tells her that he was up all night thinking about it, and she jokes that he was really up all night thinking about Jin-jin. He says it’s true, which gets her excited, then he takes it back and laughs, saying that she’s fun to tease.

Ji-won has to go back to Jin-jin’s room against his will for some skincare PPL, having forgotten his own products at home. She insists on making him wear sunscreen too, and as she puts it on him herself, he asks what she wants to do for today’s We Got Married episode.

She says she hasn’t thought about it, but when she and Anthony receive their mission to plan a honeymoon, she tells the camera that she’s always wanted to go backpacking. Anthony yammers at length about his favorite subject, fishing, but he doesn’t have any good honeymoon ideas.

So they do a combination of both, riding bikes by the ocean then going fishing at a local fishery. Later they take a pretty nature hike together, and Anthony catches Jin-jin taking pictures of him when he’s not looking. He retaliates by snapping some candid shots of her, then they pose together for some cute couple selfies.

Tae-hyun interrupts Ji-won while he’s working to ask if he’s going on that blind date with the chairman’s niece. When Ji-won says he isn’t, Tae-hyun asks if it’s because of Jin-jin, and gets an epic dose of stink-eye. But it just confirms his suspicions, though Ji-won denies that they’re actually dating.

While they’re driving around, Anthony somehow manages to lose the We Got Married crew, so he stops at an oceanside store to call them. He follows Jin-jin inside the store to wait, ordering coffee as she checks out the souvenirs.

Jin-jin stops cold when she sees a little glass shadow box with a dried flower inside, and the words “I’m not happy every day, but there are things to be happy about every day” handwritten next to it. She tells Anthony that she needs to find the person who made it, and the store clerk tells her the name of the shop where she got it.

She buys the shadow box and waits in the car while Anthony calls the show PD to ask for a few hours of personal time. He offers to help Jin-jin find the person who made the box, and they end up at a shop in the village. It’s closed, but Jin-jin sees more of the shadow boxes in the store window and knows she’s in the right place.

 
EPISODE 20 RECAP

Anthony asks a local about the owner of the shop, and they learn that everyone calls her Gong-joo, because she’s as pretty as a princess (gong-joo means princess). Unfortunately, Gong-joo left the village a month ago, and all anyone knows is that she moved closer to her husband’s hometown.

Back in Seoul, Jin-jin’s mom goes to the eye doctor for a checkup, because she’s been having difficulty seeing clearly. Her husband grumbles that she’s just getting older, but the doctor is concerned enough that he recommends Mom see a specialist.

Jin-jin tells Anthony about her sister, Ho-sung, and how she disappeared without a trace seventeen years ago. She says that she hated Ho-sung at first, but then she tried to understand her. Now she just hopes Ho-sung is happy, because if she’s not, then it just makes her parents even more pitiful.

She wonders why she misses Ho-sung so much when they used to fight all the time, and Anthony says it’s because they’re family. He admits that he’s jealous of Jin-jin because she still has the hope of someday seeing her loved one, while he’ll never see his mother.

Jin-jin tells Anthony that his mother is probably watching him all the time. She thinks that maybe she’s watching her too, and gives the sky a little wave. That makes Anthony smile, and he says that Jin-jin’s sister probably watches her since Jin-jin is a top star, and that he hopes she likes him. Jin-jin says that she won’t, since Ho-sung hates everything Jin-jin likes.

She thanks Anthony for spending time with her and apologizes for getting emotional. Anthony says that it was good to get some time to themselves, and when the crew bus pulls up just then to retrieve them, he looks a bit disappointed that Jin-jin is so excited to see them.

The entire crew goes out to eat that evening, and the director gushes about how popular Anthony and Jin-jin are as a couple, and how much chemistry they have. But he warns them to avoid scandals at all cost, unless it’s a scandal involving the two of them. (Foreshadowing!)

Anthony notices that Jin-jin is only picking at the sashimi and suggests ordering a hot dish. So the director orders seafood soup for the table and urges Jin-jin to try it. She seems hesitant for some reason, and only takes a tiny sip.

Afterward, Anthony walks Jin-jin to her hotel room door and tells her that he’s leaving first thing in the morning. He seems reluctant to say goodbye and starts to say something, but instead he just sends her inside.

As soon as he’s out of sight, Jin-jin sneaks back out of her room again to go to the lobby. She asks for some kind of medicine, but the hotel doesn’t have any, and the concierge says that all the nearby pharmacies are closed.

Ji-won enters the lobby, and all it takes is one look at Jin-jin for him to know that something is wrong. He sees her scratching her neck and immediately guesses that she ate shrimp, then makes Jin-jin pull back her collar and show him the rash, which looks pretty bad.

Back home, Ah-reum hails a taxi home, but the taxi driver gives her creepy vibes when he says that he likes women with pretty ankles, and that he noticed hers before picking her up. He says that he likes it when women get upset at being touched by men, all the while leering at Ah-reum in his rearview mirror.

Ah-reum realizes that her phone is nearly dead and her door lock is broken, and she begins to grow genuinely scared. A radio story about a woman who went missing and was later found dead just fuels her fear, so she unhooks her seatbelt and prepares to run.

Ji-won drives Jin-jin around looking for a pharmacy, but they’re all closed. Just as he’s about to give up, the pharmacist in the latest store hears him and lets him in, so he’s able to get Jin-jin allergy medication.

Ah-reum tells the creepy taxi driver to let her out, but he insists on taking her to her alley. Once he drops her off, she runs to her apartment and jumps in bed under the covers, terrified that he may have followed her. She’s got a good instinct, because he does get out of his taxi and lurk in the alley, trying to figure out which apartment is hers.

Young-shim is at the office late, still working on her first case, when Kyung-seok returns with the excuse that he forgot some papers. He puts a bag on her desk and wishes her good luck, and awww, it’s all the things for her nerves that she threw away.

He turns to leave and Young-shim has to remind him that he supposedly came for his papers. HAHA, busted. He sheepishly grabs something off his desk and scoots out of the office.

Terrified, Ah-reum calls Woo-sung, wails about how scared she is. A little while later, a shoe whacks the creepy taxi driver in the arm, and he turns around just as Woo-sung hurls his other shoe at his face. Woo-sung tells the creep that he called the cops, and the driver beats a hasty retreat.

Woo-sung pounds on Ah-reum’s door, worried sick. She lets him in, and the moment she sees his face, she bursts into loud, ugly sobs. Still in his sock feet, Woo-sung takes her in his arms and reassures her that she’s safe now.

Jin-jin is oddly subdued on the ride back to the hotel, and Ji-won assumes it’s the medicine making her carsick and stops so she can get some fresh air. He tries to pull her coat closed and she jerks away from him, snapping at him not to touch her.

Ji-won asks what’s wrong, and that’s all it takes to make Jin-jin let loose on him. She looks up at him accusingly and asks if he got her the medicine out of guilt, so that he’ll feel like a good person. She tells him to stop being nice to her and confusing her, only to walk away.

He’s at a loss for words, shocked at her outburst, but Jin-jin isn’t finished. She tells Ji-won that he’s made her feel both happy and sad, but that she’s been wasting her time and energy waiting for him. She says that she even waited for him at the hospital, and now she regrets it all.

She yells that this is driving her crazy and she’s sick of it, and when they get back to the hotel, Jin-jin stomps off to her room without another word to Ji-won. He sits up late that night, drinking by himself.

In the morning, Hong-hee and Mi-dal are all fired up to go play on the island, but Jin-jin decides to stay in and go over potential scripts. Ji-won works out in the hotel gym with Tae-hyun, who’s amazed that he isn’t hungover.

Ji-won takes a call from the chairman, who informs him that the niece he’s trying to fix him up with just happens to be in Jeju. Ji-won is forced to agree to meet with her, and Jin-jin is in the cafe when she overhears the young woman on the phone with her uncle, confirming the date with Ji-won. Unwilling to witness his date, Jin-jin grabs her things to leave, but finds her exit thwarted by fans who ask for a picture.

To his credit, Ji-won tells his date that while he couldn’t turn down the chairman’s request to meet her, he’d planned to call her when he got back to Seoul and tell her that he’s not ready to meet anyone. Just then, he catches sight of Jin-jin leaving the cafe, and something in him seems to snap.

He realizes, “It was an excuse.” He tells his date that he’s finished making excuses, and he runs after Jin-jin. Yes, go get her!

She gets all the way to the hotel courtyard before Ji-won catches up and tells her that he has something to say. Jin-jin asks angrily if he’s doing this because he knows he’s her weak spot, but he begs her to hear him out. She yells that she doesn’t want to, because she doesn’t want to be heartbroken again, or keep waiting for him.

She’s shocked silent when Ji-won says that he doesn’t want to wait either, or lie to himself anymore. He admits that he was at the hospital when she collapsed, but that he was surprised to see Anthony there, so he left. He continues:

“I thought I had no choice but to turn back. That’s what I said to comfort myself. But it was all excuses. I was the one who had a problem. I was the one holding myself back, because I was afraid I’d lose you. Because everyone I love leaves me, and I was afraid you would, too.”

Ji-won gives Jin-jin the most heartbreaking look as he takes a breath, then says, “Let’s stop being friends.”

He takes a step closer to her and, takes off her baseball cap, and drops it to the ground. He takes her face in his hands and slowly leans in to give her a gentle kiss, and when she returns the kiss, he gives her another, and another.

 
COMMENTS

Let’s just go ahead and add Kim Ji-suk to the list of leading men who are great kissers, shall we? That was such a beautiful confession, the way Ji-won just laid it all out there, admitting that Jin-jin’s anger is his fault for hesitating out of fear, and telling her honestly that he doesn’t want to be just friends anymore. And then when he went to kiss her he made his intentions clear, and went slowly to give her a chance to say no. It almost felt like the first kiss was a question, it was so careful and tentative, and when Jin-jin answered “yes” by kissing him back, he just went for it. For me, the best onscreen kisses are the ones that make my toes curl and my skin tingle as if I’m the one being kissed, and in that respect, this one was absolutely perfect.

I was so glad to see Jin-jin finally lose her temper with Ji-won and tell him exactly how it feels to keep waiting for him, only for him to do nothing over and over again. She waited for seventeen years with no word from him, then when he finally comes back and they pick up where they left off, he still keeps her waiting. I like that Jin-jin was the first one to speak up and say that she’s hurt by Ji-won’s passive behavior, because she’s pretty outspoken in general and I was beginning to wonder why she hadn’t said something yet. And there’s really no need to be coy about it — they’re adults and they both know they have feelings for each other, someone just needed to say it out loud.

I get that he’s had his heart broken before and he’s scared, and that by changing their friendship into a romance, Ji-won risks losing not only the woman he loves, but his best friend. But he needed to hear that by wallowing in his indecision, he was about to lose Jin-jin anyway. And I also like that Jin-jin didn’t make the first actual move, because I think that that was something Ji-won needed to do, both for her and for himself. He’s been frozen since his broken engagement, and he needed to find that courage within himself to open up and take a risk.

But I think, even though Jin-jin and Ji-won have definitively established that they have feelings for each other beyond friendship, that things are about to get very complicated, very fast. This episode is the first time I’ve started to see Anthony developing feelings for Jin-jin, and I’m scared that it’s going to cause problems between him and Ji-won. I’m not worried about Jin-jin wavering, because as much as she likes Anthony and admires him as an artist, she’s never shown any hint of romantic feelings for him — in fact, she’s made it clear that a true fan has no such hopes for a relationship with their oppa. But I still fear that Anthony’s feelings may start to be a problem in his relationship with Ji-won, and that would be a real tragedy.

Let’s not forget about Ah-reum and Young-shim, who are both experiencing the cutest “some” relationships I’ve ever seen in a drama. I cheered out loud when Woo-sung came to Ah-reum’s rescue, then took one look at her crying face and went all papa bear. He looks like the kind of guy who gives fantastically warm, squeezy hugs. And I think that Young-shim is going to be very surprised when she discovers that her boss is already smitten with her — she’s a little oblivious because she gets so focused on what she’s doing, but the way Kyung-seok smiles at her when she isn’t paying attention is the sweetest thing.

I’m loving this show as it is, and I think it’s a shame that the ratings aren’t better, because I’m finding it a really sweet little story. I like that there’s no villain — I prefer stories where the conflict comes from the situation, not a person who behaves as very few real people ever do. I’m particularly looking forward to learning more about Jin-jin’s sister and why she left home, because you don’t run away and disappear for nearly two decades unless something is terribly wrong. The natural assumption would be that Ho-sung was running from family issues, but the only clue we have is that she and Jin-jin fought a lot, which is very normal for teenage sisters. Jin-jin and Min-ho are more happy and well-adjusted than most, and Mom and Dad are about as sweet as they could possibly be. So I can’t imagine what on earth made Ho-sung leave without a trace.

But while we wait to find out, let’s see that kiss again, shall we?

[geolocator_show for=”SG”]

[geolocator_show for=”SG”][/geolocator_show]

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: 20th Century, Witch’s Courtroom, This Life Is Our First, Mad Dog, Revenge Club, Go Back Spouses, Package, Black, Revolutionary Love
• Everyone is a kid at heart for 20th Century Boy and Girl
• Finding love at the movies in MBC’s 20th Century Boy and Girl
• A rosy reunion in MBC’s 20th Century Boy and Girl
• Disappearing childhood sweethearts in 20th Century Boy and Girl
• 20th Century Boy and Girl adds Lee Sang-woo as second lead
• Kim Ji-suk, Han Ye-sul confirm lead roles in 20th Century Boy and Girl
• Ryu Hyun-kyung up to join girlfriend trio in No Sex and the City
• Han Ye-seul considers offer to headline No Sex and the City
• MBC lines up fall rom-com No Sex and the City