Hundred Million Stars From the Sky: Episode 15

by TeriYaki

Faced with an improbable coincidence, Moo-young takes on an unbearable burden to protect the one person he loves most, Jin-kang. But the more that he tries to insulate her, the more deeply he wounds her. Pushed to desperation and with his judgement is clouded by emotions, our tortured protagonist makes a major mistake that endangers both himself and the woman who loves him.

 
EPISODE 15: “Please don’t do this”

Jin-kang wanders outside when Moo-young doesn’t return from the pharmacy and finds a bag with first-aid supplies hanging on the doorknob.

Se-ran answers the pounding on her door to find Moo-young drenched in sweat, breathing hard. When Moo-young shoves her inside and demands, “Tell me the important thing that I don’t know,” Se-ran confirms his suspicions, “Yoo Jin-kang is your biological, younger sister…” She trembles with delight as Moo-young staggers away, stunned.

Jin-kang dresses her burn and then texts Moo-young to return home quickly. Moo-young’s steps are leaden as walks home and he has to steady himself when he’s overwhelmed by memories of Jin-kang — there’s the time that she jumped into his arms when he confessed that he wanted to be born again, their cozy meals at his place and the fun that they had together just hours earlier at the amusement park. Moo-young falls to the ground where sobs overtake him, but he manages to get back on his feet and wills himself to keep walking.

Asleep on Moo-young’s couch, Jin-kang wakes when Moo-young returns, but he ignores her questions to ask for her key. Assuming that Moo-young must have lost his, Jin-kang returns it, only to have Moo-young matter-of-factly declare, “We’re done here. Let’s put an end to this.”

It takes a few seconds for Jin-kang to comprehend what Moo-young means and she follows him outside, convinced that he’s joking. When his expression doesn’t change, Jin-kang takes Moo-young’s hand and asks what happened in the four hours since he left. Moo-young pulls it away and coldly replies, “You don’t get it? You got dumped by me.”

Jin-kang argues, “I’ve seen that look on your face a lot. When you’re forcing yourself to insist on something that isn’t true. When you’re hurt. So tell me. What happened to you? Who hurt you that badly?”

Moo-young takes his rejection to the next level, “I said, you got dumped…Did you think you were special? Don’t you remember Seung-ah? You’re the same as her to me.” The mention of Seung-ah’s name angers Jin-kang, who grabs her things and leaves.

After Jin-kang storms off, Moo-young tries to steady himself but ends up falling to the floor just inside his door. Hurt and confused, Jin-kang cries all the way home while Moo-young tries to return her key to his keyring. When his hands are shaking so badly that he can’t manage it, Moo-young breaks down again and sobs in grief. Once Jin-kang gets home, she falls onto her bed as Moo-young’s words sink in.

Later that night, Moo-young boxes up all of his mementos of Jin-kang, including the cat-doll that they bought. Moo-young recalls all of the hurtful things that he said to Jin-kang as he fingers her cat keyring and then closes the lid and hides everything from sight.

In the morning, as Moo-young prepares to leave, he notices the framed photo of him and Jin-kang at Namsan Tower. Moo-young removes the photo from the frame and is about to add it to the box, but he can’t bear to part with it and shoves it into his jacket instead.

Outside, Moo-young finds Jin-kang waiting for him, but he ignores her and as he walks away, Jin-kang protests, “I know you’re lying…You told me not to leave even if you said that you hated me.” Jin-kang’s words remind Moo-young of the night that she promised not to leave him, no matter what he told her, but he forces himself to respond, “Aren’t you going to work? You want to be fired on top of this?” As he walks away, Jin-kang begs Moo-young to help her understand what happened.

Moo-young visits Se-ran to ask if her job offer is still open and when he learns that it is, he asks to start right away. Later, Se-ran watches Moo-young take part in a marketing meeting and confesses to her secretary that she was able to get him to come to her after she found the key.

That night, Moo-young arrives home and finds Jin-kang in the same spot where he left her, shivering in the cold. He starts to take off his jacket to give to her, but remembers himself in time to walk past her indifferently.

Jin-kang grabs Moo-young’s hand and asks him to tell her the reason for the breakup, because of what they once meant to each other. When Moo-young snatches his hand away and then goes inside and locks her out, Jin-kang pounds on the door, pleading through her sobs, “Moo-young. Please don’t do this to me.”

Moo-young rocks on the couch with his ears covered as Jin-kang continues to beg him to talk to her. Unable to bear it anymore, Moo-young calls Jin-kook and simply tells him, “Come get your sister.”

Jin-kook races to Moo-young’s place and finds Jin-kang mumbling for Moo-young. She tries to tell Jin-kook that there’s something wrong with Moo-young, but he yells at her to get up. When Jin-kang can’t stay on her feet, Jin-kook carries her home on his back while Moo-young sits inside alone and cries.

A smartly dressed Moo-young pauses when he sees Jin-kook in the neighborhood pharmacy buying cold medicine for Jin-kang. He continues on his way but stops when Jin-kook calls out his name. Jin-kook commends him for breaking up with Jin-kang only to be told to be sure to keep her away from Moo-young.

At NJ Group, Se-ran signs the paperwork making Moo-young the CEO of the new pub, Angel’s Tear. Se-ran can’t contain her delight and goads her secretary into asking about the key that she found to control Moo-young.

Se-ran pulls out Moo-young’s family registry and explains that she got the idea to make Moo-young believe that he and Jin-kang are biological siblings. The night that Moo-young showed up at Se-ran’s home, demanding to know what she knew, Se-ran followed a hunch and claimed that Jin-kang was his younger sister. She describes how Moo-young’s arrogant eyes were filled with despair and admits, “What should I do? I’m so thrilled.”

At home, Jin-kook sets down some porridge for Jin-kang while he checks her for a fever. When Jin-kook returns for the porridge, he finds a crumpled piece of paper that’s been taped together and recognizes Moo-young’s childhood drawing.

Jin-kook takes the drawing outside for a better look and is reminded of the day that he killed Moo-young’s father. Jin-kook stood in the middle of Moo-young’s house in shock until Chief Lee, who was his junior back then, announced it was time to leave.

When Jin-kook turned to go, he found the freshly drawn picture on the kitchen table and broke down at the sight of the once happy family. Later, he visited Moo-young in the emergency room and left the drawing with the sleeping boy.

As he turned to leave, Jin-kook saw little Jin-kang, who was also asleep with her blanket kicked off. When Jin-kook tucked her back in, there was something about the little girl that lifted his spirits. The image of little Jin-kang sleeping in the ER that day is replaced with one of the grown Jin-kang asleep in her room, deathly pale.

Getting the pub ready for its opening keeps Moo-young busy all day, but after all the contractors are gone, he sits in the deserted space and thinks about Jin-kang. He recalls wanting to offer her his jacket when he found Jin-kang waiting for him in the cold. Moo-young then remembers Jin-kook’s trip to the pharmacy to purchase medicine for Jin-kang, and it looks as if he has to fight the temptation to go to her.

When Moo-young leaves, he finds Se-ran waiting to hand over keys to a new car that she picked out for him. Se-ran asks Moo-young if he needs anything else, such as a new home, and when he answers, “I should sleep at my real home, shouldn’t I,” she wonders if that means that everything else is fake.

Jin-kook drops Jin-kang off at work and reminds her, “Colds always go away… No matter how bad it is, it always goes away after a while,” but he’s not really talking about her cold. Jin-kook sends Jin-kang off to work with a smile, which disappears as she trudges away.

At the office, the first piece of news that So-yeon shares is about the new pub that Moo-young is opening. She also informs Jin-kang that CEO Hwang is upset that they weren’t awarded the new account.

Jin-kang goes outside to sit on the stairs, unaware that Moo-young is just out of sight, watching her. Jin-kang closes her eyes as she takes in the news that Moo-young accepted Se-ran’s offer to manage Angel’s Tear.

Jin-kang makes an effort to perk up when CEO Hwang and So-yeon join her. CEO Hwang promises to forgive Jin-kang since she’s been sick and when Jin-kang laughs with her colleagues, Moo-young smiles.

That night, Moo-young runs into Jin-kang outside of the convenience store. He walks towards his new car and when Jin-kang stares at him, he asks if she wants to see it. Wordlessly, Jin-kang continues on her way and Moo-young stares at her retreating figure in the rearview mirror as he drives off.

Jin-kang’s voice explains how she tries to convince herself that everything is over and that she had the wrong idea about Moo-young all along, while Moo-young looks longingly at the rice cooker in his kitchen. It turns out that Jin-kang is talking to Dr. Yang, and she confesses that no matter what she does, she can’t convince herself that Moo-young is the worst person in the world.

When Jin-kang asks about Moo-young, Dr. Yang explains that someone as smart and sensitive as Moo-young would find the world a strange place and shares a personal story to prove his point. Dr. Yang recalls reuniting with Moo-young at the lake, where the boy asked why he released the fish that he caught. Dr. Yang told him it was so they could return to their families and after that exchange, Moo-young silently watched Dr. Yang fish every day for a week.

One day, Moo-young didn’t appear until late in the day, when he showed up carrying a dead fish. It was then that Dr. Yang realized, “The child was criticizing me. ‘You pretend to be a good person and release the fish…but the fish all died because of you.'” Dr. Yang explains to Jin-kang, “I didn’t know that I was actually hurting them. From that day on, I quit fishing.”

As Jin-kang walks home, she thinks about something else that Dr. Yang shared — during their visit to his orphanage, the nun asked Moo-young about Jin-kang and was told, “She’s someone I want to impress.” Dr. Yang impressed upon Jin-kang that he and the nun agreed, “If Moo-young, who couldn’t open his heart to anyone, happens to love this place even a little, it’s probably because he met you.”

When Jin-kang looks up, she sees Moo-young’s new pub and approaches to peer inside. Se-ran walks up and invites Jin-kang inside, where she mentions how hard it must be to deal with being dumped. Se-ran offers her help, since she knows quite a bit about Moo-young and Jin-kang.

Moo-young returns and sees Jin-kang with Se-ran from the upper floor. Before he can reach them, Se-ran suggests that Jin-kang may want to ask Jin-kook about what happened between him and Moo-young twenty-five years ago, since it has something to do with her.

When Moo-young reaches their table, Jin-kang asks to speak with him but he explains that she can say what she has to say in front of Se-ran. After Jin-kang leaves in anger, Moo-young asks Se-ran, “What did you two talk about?”

On the bus ride home, Jin-kang can’t stop thinking about Se-ran’s hint that something happened between Jin-kook and Moo-young. She meets with So-jung to get some answers, but So-jung tries to laugh off her questions until Jin-kang confesses that she’s known since high school that she isn’t Jin-kook’s biological sister.

Jin-kang believes that the answer to why Jin-kook hates Moo-young has something to do with what happened in their past. Jin-kang gasps in shock when So-jung finally tells her the truth — Moo-young’s father didn’t commit suicide, Jin-kook killed him in self-defense.

After Moo-young drives Se-ran home, she teases that he must be very curious and suggests that if he joins her upstairs, she might tell him what she said to his sister. Inside, Se-ran reveals that she urged Jin-kang to ask Jin-kook about what happened twenty five years ago, since it involves her.

Moo-young quietly realizes, “You have no intention of stopping, do you?” Se-ran asks why she should stop when the game has gotten so fun, which prompts Moo-young to confess his regrets about getting involved with her just because he was angry with Jin-kook.

Moo-young admits, “I thought that I would be the only one left broken by this.” Se-ran’s expression hardens when he admits, “I made a mistake. I beg of you. Leave those people alone.”

Moo-young returns the key to his car and walks away, even though Se-ran orders, “Stop right there.” He has his hand on the door handle when Se-ran threatens to call Jin-kang if Moo-young opens the door.

With no choice, Moo-young returns and once Se-ran realizes how much he loves Jin-kang, she gives in to her anger. Se-ran picks up her phone and in a sing-song voice, she holds an imaginary conversation with Jin-kang, “Moo-young says he loves you. He’ll love you until the day he dies. You want to know why he dumped you when he loves you so much? Because he’s your brother.”

Moo-young pauses near the sideboard and opens a drawer as Se-ran continues, “Don’t tell me you slept together without knowing any of it.” As she exclaims, “Oh, my. Did you really,” Moo-young points Se-ran’s gun at her and fires three shots. With Se-ran dead, Moo-young walks out in a daze, the gun still in his hand.

Multiple police vans are dispatched while Cho-rong runs to find Jin-kook. Reports of Se-ran’s murder hit the airwaves and just after she gets home, Jin-kang gets a call from So-yeon. Jin-kang turns on the television to a news report that Se-ran was shot to death by her business partner and recognizes Moo-young in the accompanying CCTV footage, even though his face is blurred.

Jin-kook gets home just as Jin-kang is about to leave and she weeps inconsolably while insisting that Moo-young could never do such a thing. Jin-kang becomes hysterical when Jin-kook holds her back, ignoring her pleas to let her go to Moo-young.

When So-jung meets Jin-kook outside his house to insist that he ask for protection, Jin-kang races to Moo-young’s place, only to find it being emptied by police officers. The box with her keepsakes is outside and when Jin-kang sees that the photo from Namsan Tower is missing, she runs off clutching the empty frame.

As she’s about to leave, So-jung considers telling Jin-kook that Jin-kang knows that she’s not his real sister, but she decides against it. After So-jung’s taxi pulls away, Jin-kook gets a call from an unfamiliar number — it’s Moo-young, who’s calling from a phone booth.

Jin-kook jumps into a taxi and is dropped off at the temple where Moo-young’s parents were laid to rest. When Jin-kook runs inside, Moo-young emerges from his hiding place and the two men face one another.

 
COMMENTS

I found this episode to be filled with misery, followed by more misery, ending in a tragedy born of desperation. What that doesn’t describe is how brilliantly Seo In-gook and Jung So-min embodied the pain and grief that consumed Moo-young and Jin-kang as their love fell victim to a shameful taboo. Unfortunately, my last shred of hope for a happy ending died along with Se-ran, because after killing an heiress, Moo-young is a dead man walking, just like his father once was.

To be honest, the life left both Moo-young and Jin-kang when they broke up. The only motivation that Moo-young has left is his desire to protect Jin-kang, even if it is from a distance, because he believes that she’s his sister. Jin-kang has all but lost the will to live without Moo-young, but she’s determined to keep her promise to stay by his side no matter what he says, even though the effort may truly kill her. Moo-young’s collapse when he accepted that he’d been involved with his sister was wrenching and I couldn’t help but cry along with Jin-kang as she wailed for Moo-young. It was obvious that every cell in her body was awash in heartbroken grief. Even though the performances were exceptional, they were hard to watch.

Gutted by the belief that his love for Jin-kang is incestuous, Moo-young decided that she could never know the truth and be forced to live with the same shame that he feels. Moo-young unknowingly follows Jin-kook’s example of trying to prevent anything unsavory from touching Jin-kang, even though it already has. As usual, Jin-kang suffers from not knowing the truth, which may or may not be accurate since Se-ran confessed that she made up the brother/sister connection between Moo-young and Jin-kang just to break Moo-young. Drunk with her newfound power, Se-ran can’t keep herself from pushing Moo-young over the edge, and she pays the price with her life.

After killing Se-ran, Moo-young has painted himself into a corner and I don’t see a way out for him. How, or if, Moo-young’s crime impacts Jin-kang’s love for him remains to be seen, but like Dr. Yang, she’s knows him well enough to understand that Moo-young is suffering after what he did. The only place where Jin-kang has known peace and happiness is at Moo-young’s side, in spite of the objections of Jin-kook and others. Now that Moo-young needs Jin-kang more than ever, will she find a way to return to him, and does she even want to?

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