My Strange Hero: Episodes 23-24

by SailorJumun

There’s not much our heroes can’t handle these days–they even make a complicated revenge scheme seem like a walk in the park. But with their revenge so close to becoming reality, they have to consider the damage it could cause to themselves. And that’s a reality they’re not too fond of thinking about.

  
EPISODE 23 RECAP

After a painful goodbye with Teacher Park, Bok-soo joins Soo-jung in her office and says that he’s going to reveal Seolsong’s corruption and get his diploma no matter what. Soo-jung grasps his hand and gives him a small encouraging smile.

In class, Soo-jung faces her students with the same encouragement. “Spiraea prunifolia! Ixeris stolonifera!” she announces, surprising them. “Their names may not be pretty, and people may not know that they’re flowers, but even if they’re stepped on, wildflowers will bloom again and never die.” She knows the kids are upset, but they can bloom again–they can succeed with the next test.

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Wildflowers never die

Late that night, Se-ho meets with Kim Myung-ho, who presents a list of parents who gave donations. Se-ho reminds him to prepare the list of teachers who accepted bribes and then asks for one more favor.

Meanwhile, Chairwoman Im is in her own meeting with several business partners. She wants to discuss the dismissal of Seolsong’s director, much to the room’s confusion. But Se-ho being her son is irrelevant to her; this is strictly business.

Principal Kim delivers the news to Vice Principal Song, and the two celebrate Se-ho’s inevitable downfall with drinks. Later, Kim has a designated driver take him home, and he’s so out of it that he doesn’t realize that driver is Bok-soo.

Kim gets a phone call from Chae-min’s mom, and Bok-soo overhears his refusal to provide answers for the next exam. They need to lay low for now, so Kim promises to help Chae-min with finals instead.

When Chae-min’s mom hangs up, she snaps that she wouldn’t have to worry about this if her son was better at studying. (Ugh, really?) Ashamed, Chae-min just says that he’ll do his best this time. Mom leaves his room, and he buries his head in his studies with a shaky sigh.

With no time to waste, the Your Favors gang get to work on gathering their evidence. Min-ji poses as a masseuse where Chae-min’s mom frequents and gets her phone to Bok-soo, who downloads all the photo evidence of test answers sent by Principal Kim.

Next, the boys pose as administrative faculty, a handy dandy tape recorder on hand, and visit the company where the school purchases all the overpriced furniture. Soon, the gang are able to check off a good amount of items off their evidence board.

Knowing Teacher Park’s failed attempts, Bok-soo says they can’t simply hand the evidence to the reporters. Gyung-hyun sighs that they need a witness–like one of the teachers that paid Kim Myung-ho. And though Bok-soo must be thinking about Soo-jung, he doesn’t speak up.

It’s time for the students to retake their placement exams. The Wildflowers take it just as seriously as they did the last time, with Soo-jung watching over them proudly. And just like the last time, Seung-woo gets first place. Chae-min, however, is horrified to see that he was pushed all the way down to fifth place.

“Hey, Lee Chae-min,” Seung-woo faces him. “I’ll continue coming in first place. Look forward to it.” Then sincere, he suggests that Chae-min stop obsessing over grades; it’s not healthy to freak out like he is now.

As Se-ho is passing by, he sees Chae-min grab Seung-woo by his jacket and seethe that if you’re not number one, you’re useless. Suddenly aware of the other kids around them, Chae-min releases Seung-woo and returns to class in a daze.

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If you’re not first, you’re useless

Se-ho is as surprised as anyone else that Seung-woo got first place again. He calls Seung-woo and Young-min into his office, and he sighs when they come in with Bok-soo. He tries to send him out, but Bok-soo interrupts that he’s suddenly feeling oh-so weak because of his old age, so he’d rather just sit down, heh.

Se-ho orders Seung-woo and Young-min to take their rightful place in the Ivy Class, but neither wish to leave the Wildflower Class. Since they’re on the subject, Bok-soo reminds Se-ho of their agreement.

Barely holding in his frustration, Se-ho says that the class won’t be transferred but that they’re making a big mistake. Bok-soo throws back that Se-ho might as well end the discrimination now that the first place student is in the “worst” class.

Bok-soo stands and quotes Soo-jung, saying that wildflowers bloom even after being stepped on. “Thank you for giving our class such a fitting name, Director,” he says, smirking.

The three Wildflower boys leave the office, and Seung-woo and Young-min praise Bok-soo for being brave enough to talk back to their scary director. Bok-soo just holds up his hands, wanting some high-fives, and his friends happily comply.

After school, Soo-jung joins Bok-soo at a cafe and re-energizes by leaning on his shoulder. She loves moments like this but feels she can’t relax not knowing what Se-ho might do. Bok-soo holds her close and tells her not to worry about it.

Bok-soo spends the night at Soo-jung’s again and lies in bed as she writes in her diary. When she reveals she got to boast in front of the vice principal, he reveals that he did the same with Se-ho. He smiles at the thought until something else comes to mind. “Do you remember that?” he asks Soo-jung.

Flashback to 2009. At school, Bok-soo and Soo-jung had surprised Se-ho with a Choco Pie birthday cake. He wondered how they even knew it was his birthday, and they just urged him to blow out the candle. Smiling, he closed his eyes and made a wish.

But that wasn’t the only surprise–Bok-soo whipped out a bottle of soju and got everyone drunk. A teacher had walked in to find them all giggly and red in the face, and he made them sit out in the hall as punishment. Even so, the three couldn’t stop laughing.

“The three of us were so happy back then, weren’t we?” Soo-jung says, only to notice that Bok-soo has fallen asleep. Before tucking him in, she caresses his face and quietly thanks him for being by her side.

EPISODE 24 RECAP

As Gyung-hyun performs his janitorial duties in the teachers’ office, he hides a camera pointed right at the safe. At the same time, Min-ji sneaks over to Kim Myung-ho’s desk and finds something shocking on his computer.

That something is the employment solicitation list that Kim wrote up for Se-ho. He delivers the list as promised, and there are quite a few names on there next to Soo-jung’s. After some thought, Se-ho asks that Kim remove Soo-jung’s name.

Min-ji confronts Soo-jung with the same list and asks if it’s true. Flustered, Soo-jung explains that she got scammed, and Min-ji says she should’ve been smarter than that. The gang had been working hard to reveal the school’s corruption, but revealing this will just drag her and Bok-soo down.

Soo-jung takes the list to Kim Myung-ho and asks what it’s about, and Kim tells her that Se-ho plans to fire all the teachers listed. He assures her not to worry, though, since Se-ho asked to have her name removed. He figures the two must be in a special relationship, especially since Se-ho gave her $50,000. Kim shuts his mouth, having realized what he just said, but it’s too late.

Soo-jung storms over to Se-ho’s office and asks if that money was really his. Se-ho doesn’t understand why she’s so angry; she was having a hard time and he was trying to help. But she cries that he’s just making things worse and that he should stay out of her business. “You don’t think I was being sincere?” he asks, stunned. “Why are you always stepping over my sincerity?”

She calls his actions selfish, saying all he’s ever done was to get what he wanted. To that, Se-ho says there’s no difference between him and Bok-soo since Bok-soo knew about this too.

And there’s something else Bok-soo hasn’t told her–that it was Se-ho who spread the rumors about her being poor. He was always watching her, so he found out on his own. Though Soo-jung already suspected this, she can’t believe it’s actually true.

She demands to know why he lied back then and he plainly answers, “To split you and Bok-soo apart. You guys broke up, didn’t you?” He says that last part with a cruel smile, making Soo-jung slap him.

A switch flips in Se-ho and his expression turns cold. He opens his drawer and takes out a bunch of photos of Soo-jung and Bok-soo together. (Arghhh, you and your freaking photos!) As she flips through them, he tells her that she better break up with Bok-soo if she wants to protect him.

Soo-jung leaves with the photos, and Se-ho picks up the remaining ones on his desk to tear them up and throw them to the ground.

In her office, Soo-jung stares at the photos, only to hide them in her folder when Bok-soo barges in. Bok-soo notices she doesn’t look so good and reaches for her folder to fan her, but she panics and snaps at him to get back to class. He’s so shocked by her reaction that he sits out in the hall, bummed out.

Seung-woo finds Bok-soo and correctly guesses that his love life is going through some trouble. He tells Bok-soo he should be more careful anyway; his winks and kissy faces in class are too obvious. Bok-soo straightens up, appalled that Seung-woo was ever awake to notice all of that, lol.

Meanwhile, Se-ho learns from his secretary that he may have some dirt on his mother. He wonders if his mom was the way he is now–knowing what he’s doing is wrong but not being able to stop.

Soo-jung and Min-ji have drinks together and further discuss their predicament. On top of the Kim Myung-ho problem, they now have to worry about Se-ho and his photographs.

Min-ji can tell Soo-jung is conflicted, so she suggests Soo-jung and Bok-soo just date after he graduates. They waited nine years, so they can wait a bit longer.

“I want Bok-soo… No, I want the two of you to be happy,” she says. And if they want to be happy, they have to think smart. Soo-jung smiles sadly and nods.

Later, Gyung-hyun returns to the office and finds Min-ji drunk. He offers to piggyback her home, but she just grabs him and kisses him right on the mouth. When they pull apart, she nervously waits for his reaction.

Gyung-hyun mutters that that was his first kiss and that he wanted it to be done beautifully, not drunk. Min-ji insists that she’s not drunk, but Gyung-hyun just stalks off, with her right behind him.

Soo-jung comes home to Bok-soo waiting for her; he was worried that something was wrong. Looking at his smile and remembering what Min-ji said, Soo-jung’s eyes fill with tears. “Kang Bok-soo,” she says. “Let’s break up.”

She starts rambling about how it’s best to stay apart until he graduates, and he tearfully asks if Se-ho threatened her again. If that’s the case, then he’ll drop out. Her voice now firm, Soo-jung reminds him of Teacher Park’s wishes.

Teacher Park, Bok-soo’s mom, and Soo-jung all want to protect him, and she wishes he could see that. If he got expelled again, she wouldn’t be able to face him. He’s crying now too as he takes her hand, but she escapes from his grasp and hurries inside. He stays where he is, heartbroken, as she silently sobs behind the gate.

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Let’s date after you graduate

The next day, Soo-jung arrives to school with puffy eyes, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the kids. She tries to remain positive but is constantly distracted by Bok-soo’s pouty face.

Later, he comes into her office and slams a package of yogurt drinks in front of her. After thinking about it, he agrees that breaking up would be best for everyone. So, for now, he’ll just think of it as sending his girlfriend off to the army. In the meantime, she better not accept yogurt from anyone else. Ha! Also, awwww.

He promises that he’ll get his revenge and graduate, and she smiles, saying she’ll wait for him. He nonchalantly walks out of the room, and he tells himself that he totally looked cool back there.

He then notices someone snapping pictures of him and chases after the culprit. He learns that it was Kim Myung-ho all along (shocker), and he destroys the SD card inside Kim’s camera.

Kim starts to say that Bok-soo is too young to understand what one must do for their job, but Bok-soo cuts in that his bosses will only dispose of him when he’s no longer needed. If they wanted to, they could even blame everything on him. So Bok-soo suggests he get his head on straight and choose the right side.

Se-ho walks in on his mom making a business call, and he asks what it’s about. She snaps that it’s her business, and he retorts that it’s his school and he doesn’t run it like a business.

Mom smirks and reminds him that he framed a teacher to fire him and that he created the Wildflower Class to get rid of them. How is he any different from her? He’s her son, after all. Se-ho insists that he is different, and he’s going to show her.

Needing some air, Se-ho heads out and notices a couple sharing a birthday cake in a restaurant. He’s reminded of the little surprise party Bok-soo and Soo-jung gave him, as well as his own birthday cake. “What did I wish for back then?” he wonders. “I don’t remember.”

Soo-jung flips through her diary, stopping on the page when she was preparing for her teacher certification exam. She’d written little reminders such as “Become a teacher that students aren’t ashamed of” and “Become a teacher that practices what she preaches.” As the words sink in, she takes another look at the solicitation list.

The next day, Soo-jung enters Se-ho’s office and tosses the envelope of $50,000 on his desk. She orders him to keep her name on the list, ignoring his arguments. Even if she was rich, she would’ve paid the money, so she deserves to be on there. He asks if she’s crazy and she responds that she is and that this is just the beginning.

The Your Favors gang are in the final stages of their big revenge plot, and they decide that finals week will be their D-Day. They have all their evidence ready, except for the corruption with the teachers.

Seeing Bok-soo’s expression, Gyung-hyun and Min-ji agree that they should leave that part out; it’s not like they can reveal the list.

But Soo-jung walks in and states that that list is the core of Seolsong’s corruption. Before Bok-soo can talk her out of it, she says that she’ll testify. The gang is speechless as she erases “Find witness” from their evidence board.

   
COMMENTS

Ooooh, things are getting intense! I’ve enjoyed the past few episodes, but I’m glad that our characters have really gotten down to business in terms of the whole revenge scheme. It’s always hilarious when the Your Favors gang suit up in their disguises and cause whatever chaos is scheduled for the day. So much so that I’ll actually be somewhat sad when Bok-soo inevitably leaves the company for good. And I have been wondering what he’s been thinking of career-wise, if he has at all. He may not be the smartest cookie, but he’s got more than enough heart and drive for any career path. As for Soo-jung, I worry about what her final decision will do to her professional life. She seems all for taking herself down if that means taking Seolsong down with her, which is incredibly brave but also tragic. On a quick sidenote, I missed the charming presence of Teacher Park, so I do hope he returns soon. The gang isn’t complete without him!

I never thought I’d say this, but thank goodness our couple broke up. They were making me way too nervous with the “secret” dating in school and not-so-secret dating in public. I mean, if you’re trying to be inconspicuous, why would you hug or hold hands in plain sight? Honestly, they were practically asking to be photographed. I get that it’s been nine years and that they were just enjoying being in love, but it really wasn’t that smart. So kudos to Min-ji for talking Soo-jung into a break. Min-ji is a bit of a ridiculous character, but I appreciate that she gave Soo-jung some concrete advice full of sincerity and not petty jealousy. And she was right–Bok-soo and Soo-jung know that they love each other, so a little waiting won’t hurt. After Soo-jung suggested the idea, I thought Bok-soo would start acting melodramatic, and the show only proved (once again) that these characters are much better than that. They’re silly and childish, but they can still be very responsible.

As y’all know, I go back and forth with Se-ho throughout each episode, and this one was no different. He deserved every lecture that Soo-jung threw his way, and I think he kind of knew it. That line about him not being able to stop himself really stuck with me because I wasn’t always 100 percent sure if he was self-aware. He wondered if his mom had been the same way, and now I’m wondering that too. Was there ever a time when Chairwoman Im was as innocent as the eighteen-year-old Se-ho was? There had to have been, right? If so, what was it that made her the black-and-white businesswoman she is today? Either way, Se-ho better save himself before all of his innocence is completely lost and he ends up just like his mom. Chae-min better get on that too, because I’m starting to see the parallels of him and his mom with Se-ho and Chairwoman Im. It was easy to simply call Chae-min a jerk, but now I’d say he’s just another kid feeling trapped by his mom. And it scares me to have a Se-ho clone roaming the halls.

It’s interesting that whenever someone mentions the past, Se-ho’s go-to answer is that he can’t remember. He can’t remember being close with Bok-soo, much less liking him, yet anytime he has a flashback, there’s a glint in his eye that suggests otherwise. It’s like a part of him is attached to those memories, and he knows he can never get them back. Perhaps he’s only pushing forward because he thinks he’s already lost the two best friends he’s ever had. And that’s more heart-rending than anything else.

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