Woohoo Waikiki 2: Episode 13

by LollyPip

Nearly everyone in the Waikiki Guesthouse is having a bad day. For some it’s personal, for others it’s professional, and for a couple of them it’s a little bit of both. Emotions are flying high with jealousy, embarrassment, anger, and disappointment all getting into the mix. It’s never fun to face your fears, but it has to be done in order to grow, and I trust the housemates to come out the other side as better people for it.

 
EPISODE 13: “The Girl Who Escaped Through the Window/Even If the World Deceives You”

After spending a lot of time and money trying to find a replacement for the vinyl album of Woo-shik’s that Jun-ki broke, Soo-yeon finally locates one and heads home, excited to give it to Woo-shik. She sees him getting out of a cab with Min-ah, a former voice student. Min-ah talks Woo-shik into going for a late cup of coffee, leaving Soo-yeon staring after them.

Ki-bong and Yu-ri spent the evening drinking to celebrate her first successful day of food truck sales. Ki-bong wakes with a hangover… in Yu-ri’s bed… with Yu-ri sleeping beside him. Neither of them remembers how they ended up there, but they naturally assume the worst.

Woo-shik busts into Yu-ri’s room and Ki-bong quickly dives under the covers. Yu-ri explains the feet sticking out of the covers as belonging to a female friend named Ki-soon. Woo-shik tells Yu-ri that there’s a leak in a guestroom and he’s looking for the source, so she and her friend need to get up so the repairman can come in.

Ki-bong and Yu-ri rush to get dressed, and Ki-bong jumps back under the covers when Woo-shik returns, so Yu-ri claims that her friend is very sick. While the repairman inspects the room, Woo-shik asks if Yu-ri’s seen Ki-bong. He tries to call him, and Ki-bong just manages to turn his phone off before it rings and gives him away.

Downstairs, Woo-shik asks Jun-ki why he’s home so much lately and finds out that “Nice Man” has ended. Jun-ki is grumpy because it didn’t boost his career like it was supposed to, but he gets a call from a director to fill in a role and rushes off excitedly.

Soo-yeon is off work today, and she gives Woo-shik the vinyl album, making his day. She tentatively asks who the girl was from last night, and she relaxes to hear that Min-ah is a former student, but she’s disappointed for Woo-shik that he won’t be singing his own song. She listens as he takes a call from Min-ah, saying something about a date.

Jung-eun comes to Yu-ri’s room to borrow an outfit for an audition and gets the same “friend is sick” explanation for the lump in the bed. She makes Yu-ri anxious by taking forever to choose what to borrow. Someone calls Yu-ri to tell her that there’s smoke coming from her food truck, which she left at the park overnight. She tells “Ki-soon” that she’ll be back and to stay in bed.

On the movie set, Jun-ki is told that he’ll be playing the husband of a woman that the main character, a doctor, accidentally killed. Jun-ki studies the script, excited for the chance to do some real acting. But when the lead turns out to be a college hoobae of his named Hyun-sung, Jun-ki strangely shrinks into himself.

Still, he puts everything he has into the rehearsal of his big scene vowing revenge, and the PD loves it. They realize that they forgot a product placement for a scene that’s already been filmed, so they decide to put it in Jun-ki’s scene. Unfortunately, it’s for a handheld vegetable chopper, ha.

Instead of having the husband cut up a photo of the doctor with scissors, Jun-ki chops at it with the chopper, then comments that it cut the picture into such nice, even pieces that it would be perfect for vegetables. LOL, that’s not at all forced. Jun-ki does his best, but he worries that it doesn’t seem very natural.

While Yu-ri is gone, the repairman accidentally drops his pliers onto the bed and gives poor Ki-bong a bloody nose. Jung-eun tries to peel back the covers and check on “Unni,” but Ki-bong squeaks that he’s fine. He’s not quite so fine when the repairman drops an entire drill on his head next, but in spite of all the blood, Ki-bong stays firmly under the covers.

In Jun-ki’s next scene, he’s supposed to go to the doctor’s house to enact his revenge. The main actress is refusing to do her planned PPL because it violates her contract with a rival brand, so Jun-ki ends up wearing an LED skincare mask to break into the doctor’s bedroom.

It actually looks okay, but the line he has to say about the mask is really awkward. Again, Jun-ki tells the PD that it just doesn’t feel right for the story, but the PD makes him do it anyway.

Soo-yeon invites Woo-shik to go grocery shopping with her, but he says he’s leaving soon to meet with Min-ah. Yu-ri runs past them full-tilt and goes straight to her room, and Jung-eun finally leaves. Ki-bong peeks out to glare at Yu-ri, who gasps at his bloody face and tries to help him sneak out.

Woo-shik returns, making Ki-bong dive back in bed. The repairman finds the leak and says that it will take him several hours to open up the ceiling and fix it, so the lady in the bed will need to move.

Jun-ki gets stuck with more PPL in the final climactic scene in which he’s holding the doctor and his wife at gunpoint. The result is Jun-ki toodling around the room on an electric skateboard, gagging the doctor and his wife with some weird device you hold in your teeth (??), then playing “before you die” music through a smart speaker. PFFT, this is ridiculous.

His character runs a smart vacuum to make sure none of his DNA is left on the floor, then puts his LED mask back on for the actual killing. To give him credit, Jun-ki does his best to make the whole thing as natural as possible. When they’re finished, Hyun-sung invites Jun-ki out for a drink to catch up, but Jun-ki says he’s too tired.

Ki-bong emerges from Yu-ri’s room in sunglasses, a mask, and a big floppy hat. Woo-shik invites “Ki-soon” to rest in a guestroom but Yu-ri says she’s taking her friend home. They’re almost home free when a guest bumps into Ki-bong and knocks him down. His hat and glasses go flying, and Woo-shik calls out to them to stop.

Oh whew, he just wants to return the hat and sunglasses. Woo-shik comes closer, so Yu-ri tells Ki-bong to run for it. He does, narrowly missing Jung-eun and leaping off the second floor balcony. Yu-ri is all, “Well… she’s shy?” Hee.

Stuck outside in a dress, and worried how he’ll ever face Yu-ri again, Ki-bong decides to spend tonight at a sauna. Yu-ri also wonders how she let last night happen and worries about what will happen between her and Ki-bong now.

HA, Jun-ki gets to take home the LED mask as a gift, and he decides he’ll give it to Jung-eun. Distracted, he crashes into Ki-bong, but he naturally assumes that the person in the dress is a lady. Ki-bong grabs the LED mask to cover his face and runs off with it.

Later, Soo-yeon gives out packages of facial masks to the rest of the housemates that she bought with her first paycheck. LOL, talk about PPL. Woo-shik wonders where Ki-bong is and asks Yu-ri if she’s heard from him, but she’s so worried that she bites his head off.

Ki-bong slinks home looking guilty and telling a weak story about staying with a friend. He escapes to his room, barely able to look at Yu-ri, who also goes to her room. Their friends assume they got into another fight.

When he’s alone, Ki-bong wonders how he’ll be able to work with Yu-ri after making such a mistake last night. But then he asks himself if it was really a mistake, or if maybe, he likes Yu-ri. He thinks about how she’s outgoing and pretty, and the way she comforted him when he got kicked off the baseball team.

In her room, Yu-ri asks herself the same questions. She acknowledges that Ki-bong is nice and handsome, and he even used the last of his money to buy her the food truck. They both wonder if it’s possible that the other likes them, and they don’t seem the least bit unhappy about the idea.

Hoobae Hyun-sung calls Jun-ki to ask if he’d be interested in an audition today, for another movie he’s shooting soon. Jun-ki accepts, but Jung-eun gets mad when she hears that Hyun-sung recommended him, reminding Jun-ki about the time that Hyun-sung humiliated him. Jun-ki says that’s all in the past, but he doesn’t seem too sure.

After he leaves, Jung-eun tells Woo-shik and Soo-yeon what happened. Jun-ki was cast as the male lead in a movie, but Hyun-sung used his connections to steal the role from him. Meanwhile Jun-ki’s audition goes well, and the PD casts him on the spot.

Soo-yeon is preparing for an interview about a talking cat when Min-ah stops by to talk to Woo-shik about his song. Soo-yeon and Jung-eun both notice that she’s very touchy with Woo-shik, and instead of going up to his studio, she wants to go out for ice cream.

Jun-ki calls Jung-eun to tell her about the huge role he just landed. He’s so happy he’s pinching himself, and he asks Jung-eun out for a drink later to celebrate. He’s in the men’s room, and after he hangs up, he hears voices mention his name.

He peeks out and sees the PD and another man. The PD says that he thinks the role is too big for someone with Jun-ki’s lack of experience, but Hyun-sung threatened to quit the movie if he didn’t cast him. He thinks that Jun-ki used his connections to get a role he doesn’t deserve and calls him cheap and nasty. Awww, poor Jun-ki.

Things are super awkward between Yu-ri and Ki-bong as they’re preparing to work the food truck. Ki-bong brings up last night, asking Yu-ri if it was a mistake, but looking like he hopes she says no. Yu-ri gets offended that he called it a mistake and assumes he doesn’t have feelings for her, so she says breezily that it was a mistake and they should forget about it.

The conversation makes them cranky, and they spend the whole afternoon snapping and glaring at each other. Any time either of them says the word “mistake” or “forget,” their tempers flare up all over again. Oh they soooo like each other.

When Woo-shik gets home, Jung-eun teases him about his “date.” He insists that Min-ah is just his student, but he gets a text from her that sounds very much like something one would send after a date. She also sends a string of letters, which Jung-eun says is like a secret code, but Woo-shik retorts that that’s nonsense, shooting Soo-yeon nervous looks.

Later, Jung-eun swipes Woo-shik’s phone to decipher the message Min-ah sent. Soo-yeon says she’s not interested, but she listens carefully as Jung-eun tries out different word combinations.

At the park, Ki-bong is approached by a woman who says she’s been his fan since high school. She gives him her card and offers to buy him dinner, and Yu-ri’s eyes nearly roll right out of her head. She barks at Ki-bong to get back to work, while trying to light the fan’s hair on fire with her brain.

The steak truck owner brings Yu-ri some food and asks if she’d like to have a beer with him. Ki-bong runs over to ask why she’s not working, and picks a fight over how much food she should prepare for the afternoon.

Jun-ki confronts Hyun-sung about pressuring the PD to cast him. He asks why Hyun-sung did it, and Hyun-sung says that it’s because he owes him. Jun-ki says he won’t do this and turns to leave.

Hyun-sung calls after him that he hasn’t changed, and asks if he ever gets tired of being so righteous. He says that he doesn’t regret stealing Jun-ki’s movie role back then, because that role got him where he is now.

Jun-ki shakes him and calls him garbage, but Hyun-sung says that being righteous only got Jun-ki minor rolls and fill-in parts. He tells Jun-ki that no matter how righteous he is, nobody will recognize it, so he can either take the role or continue to live an unimpressive life.

At the end of the day, Yu-ri tells Ki-bong to go home without her — she’s staying for that beer with the steak truck guy. In retaliation, Ki-bong calls his fan and invites her to dinner, and the two couples end up sitting just feet away from each other, ha. Yu-ri and Ki-bong talk and laugh just a little too loudly, just to make a point that this isn’t bothering them one tiny bit.

Ki-bong’s date asks him what his relationship is with Yu-ri, and he growls that she’s just his friend’s sister. Steak Truck hears this (because Ki-bong is so loud) and chuckles that he thought they were dating because they seemed close. Yu-ri says that Ki-bong is the exact opposite of her type, and Ki-bong tells his date that he hopes she didn’t also get the wrong idea.

Yu-ri starts telling Dumb Ki-bong stories while Ki-bong tells Mean Yu-ri stories, until both of their dates are bored silly. Ki-bong’s date asks if they can talk about something else and he apologizes, and Yu-ri sneers that he made another mistake.

It’s the final straw for Ki-bong, who says he’s out of the food truck business. Yu-ri snaps that nobody would want to work with someone as shameless and mean as her, and Ki-bong deflates. He grabs Yu-ri’s wrist when she turns to leave, and says softly, “But I do. I care about you. So don’t drink with another man!” He asks how she feels about him, looking incredibly vulnerable, and she admits that she cares about him, too.

Jung-eun and Soo-yeon are completely engrossed in trying to figure out what Min-ah’s cryptic message to Woo-shik meant. Jung-eun takes a break and goes to the kitchen for a drink, and she catches Jun-ki arriving home. He smells like alcohol and she gripes at him for drinking without her.

He just says he’s tired and goes to his room to mull over what Hyun-sung said to him. He tries to sound cheerful when his father calls, but he says he’s just been cast in a movie, and tells his dad not to worry. After he hangs up, he tells himself that everyone lives like this so he can, too.

Yu-ri shyly says that she and Ki-bong should probably define their relationship, and asks if he likes her. He says he’s not sure, but he does worry about her. She says she’s not sure either, but she also worries about him. She adds that it might affect their friendship if they started dating without giving it serious thought, and Ki-bong agrees, plus there’s Woo-shik to worry about.

Ki-bong gets an idea to go on one date and see how they feel after that. His tummy growls and Yu-ri offers to make him some spaghetti, and they both relax, having thought of a way to tackle their problem.

Soo-yeon and Jung-eun stay up all night but they can’t figure out what Min-ah’s coded message means. Woo-shik comes looking for his phone and Jung-eun confesses what they’ve been doing. Min-ah shows up again, saying that she needs Woo-shik’s help, so Jung-eun decides to just ask her.

At first Min-ah is confused, then she figures that her little cousin must have accidentally sent that text because he likes to play with her phone. Woo-shik tells Min-ah that Jung-eun thought she was secretly asking him out, and Min-ah admits that she did like him when he was her teacher — in fact, he was her first love.

Jun-ki meets with the movie PD with some ideas for his character. The PD seems genuinely impressed and invites Jun-ki to discuss it further over lunch. But as they’re leaving, another actor confronts the PD, asking why they suddenly took away his role and begging him for another chance. Oh no.

Jun-ki remembers doing the exact same thing when Hyun-sung took his role years ago, and how desperate he felt at the time. He leaves the studio, tossing his script in the trash on his way out.

When Jun-ki comes home, Jung-eun asks how his meeting went. He just says softly, “I quit. I quit acting. I’m never going to act again.”

He locks himself in his room and ignores Jung-eun’s attempts to get him to let her in. He sinks to the floor and sobs his heart out, wracked with grief over giving up his dream

 
COMMENTS

Oh no, poor Jun-ki. He’s such a happy pill ray of sunshine that when he cries, it just makes my chest ache. He’s been through so much and he’s never once thought of quitting, but everyone has their limit and Jun-ki finally hit his. I think that he’s realizing two things — that if he had the talent, he would be famous by now, and that he’s not willing to compromise his values to game the system. Remember, his father is a very famous actor, and has offered to pull strings for Jun-ki in the past, but Jun-ki has always wanted to make it on his own merit.

It would be so easy to take the easy road and accept his father’s help, or take the role Hyun-sung got for him, and he almost did it. But I respect Jun-ki for not hurting someone else to benefit himself, even if it means breaking his own heart in the process. I just wish there were a way he could have both the career he dreams of, and his integrity. It’s not fair for the two to be mutually exclusive.

On a lighter note, I’m enjoying Yu-ri and Ki-bong’s hate-friendship so, sooo much. I’m still skeptical that anything serious happened between them that night, but it might be wishful thinking because Ki-bong is so innocent and I don’t want his first time to be something he can’t even remember. I don’t want their first time together to have been a drunken hookup, either. But whatever actually happened, it finally got them to see each other as potential partners, and admit that they care about each other.

Ki-bong’s idea to go on one date and see how it goes is a good one. That way, he and Yu-ri can feel out any potential romance in their relationship without pressure, knowing that if it doesn’t work, they haven’t risked ruining their friendship. I predict that it will go very weirdly, this being the show it is and them being the people they are, but I also think they’ll find that it’s worth it anyway. I think that their big fight is only the first of many, because Ki-bong is incredibly dense and Yu-ri does have a short temper, but as long as they keep being honest about how they feel, they’ll be just fine.

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