Angel’s Last Mission: Love: Episodes 13-14

by SailorJumun

The clock is ticking on our angel’s important mission, but with each day on Earth, he finds himself becoming more and more distracted. Now that his ice princess has warmed up to him, he genuinely enjoys staying by her side — so much so that he’s beginning to wonder if being her guardian angel is enough anymore.

 
EPISODES 13-14 RECAP

We rewind a bit, back to when Dan had asked Yeon-seo if she could give up dancing for Fantasia for her own sake. From afar, Kang-woo was hiding amongst the shadows and listening to every word. When Kang-woo heard Yeon-seo admit that she hates that Dan doesn’t like her, he clenched his fist.

Dan gets Yeon-seo back home, only admitting that he likes her now that she’s asleep. Afterwards, he goes out again, walking along a bridge, where Kang-woo has been waiting. Kang-woo pushes Dan against the railing and demands to know what his true intentions are.

The two struggle until they go over the railing and into the water. As Kang-woo falls unconscious, Dan finds himself wondering why humans love so foolishly when it only hurts their hearts. Even in a human body, he doesn’t understand.

Dan tries to push Kang-woo up to the surface, but he doesn’t have enough strength to save himself. He sinks deeper, seeing memories of his younger self also falling into water.

He then jerks awake to see that he’s out of the river, being cared for by an ambulance crew. He tells them that another man had been drowning, but when he looks back to the riverside, he sees Kang-woo walking away — perfectly fine.

Dan is taken to the hospital to get a bad gash on his arm treated. There, he wonders if Kang-woo overheard his conversation with Yeon-seo. But would that really justify how roughly Kang-woo had confronted him?

“Of course it does.” Kang-woo reveals himself and states that telling a dancer to quit is like taking their life away. After all, Yeon-seo had tried to kill herself after she lost her eyesight.

Kang-woo warns Dan to resign as Yeon-seo’s secretary and disappear, otherwise Kang-woo will make him disappear. Kang-woo walks away, but Dan catches him outside to say that he can’t leave Yeon-seo now.

Kang-woo scoffs and asks if he actually has feelings now, and Dan replies, “That’s right. I like Lee Yeon-seo. I like her so much more than I thought.” He tells Kang-woo to keep his promise of making Yeon-seo’s happiness the top priority — only then will he disappear. But if Kang-woo makes her suffer in any way, Dan won’t stand still.

Dan heads back inside, looking up and praying in a grumpy tone that he knows his place so he won’t act on his feelings for Yeon-seo. Then seeing that his wound has already healed, he decides to go home, despite the doctor’s protests. The doctor — Hoo, of course — watches him leave, concerned.

Kang-woo broods at home, watching videos of his lover Seol-hee. He tells Seol-hee that he’s so close to finishing his mission but that Dan is really getting on his nerves.

He sees Seol-hee’s smile onscreen disappear as she asks, “Is it really that guy that’s making you waver? Or is it your heart?” Kang-woo blinks and shuts the TV off, thinking he must be crazy.

The next morning, Nina asks her mom about her old ballet instructor Elena. Director Choi reminds her that Elena was kicked out of Fantasia and that she was a crazy woman who even dunked Nina in water to make her envision the ocean. Nina sighs, letting the conversation drop.

Dan goes into the practice room to watch Yeon-seo dance, worried about all the stress she must be under. Chief Jung then bursts in, having received Yeon-seo’s blood test from the disastrous Fantasia Night. She tells Yeon-seo to use it as a bluff when she goes into the company today, rather than resign like Director Choi wants.

They get a call and, speak of the devil, it’s Director Choi. She tells Yeon-seo to hurry up and announce her resignation to the sponsors.

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Dancing in doubt

Yeon-seo has Dan drive her and, on the way to Fantasia, she asks him why he’s being so quiet. At that, Dan surprises her by making a screeching U-turn. (Whoa there, partner; you just got your license!) He takes her to the bridge where she once jumped and surprises her further by climbing up onto the railing.

She cries out and grabs his arm, asking what he’s doing. But he just asks her how she felt when she fell into the water that day — was she scared and lonely? He jumps down, and she yells at him for nearly giving her a heart attack.

“It’s too bad,” he says. “If I’d known you back then, I would’ve grabbed your hand as you did for me just now.” He tells her that when she was drunk that he’d suggested she give up dancing. But after watching her practice this morning, he sees how happy it makes her. Whatever she decides, he hopes that she knows she’s not alone anymore. Still rattled by his actions, she merely says that they’re late for her meeting.

Yeon-seo stands before Director Choi, Kang-woo, and all their major sponsors. She looks to Dan for reassurance before bowing and apologizing for her behavior on Fantasia Night. Choi encourages her to resign from her position, but she cuts in that she has no intention of doing that. She wants another chance to prove herself.

One sponsor named Chairman Lee says that one small apology isn’t enough for them to spend their precious money; he’d rather see her kneel down and beg. So Yeon-seo walks over to Lee, worrying Kang-woo. But instead of begging, she asks, “Do you even like ballet?”

She knows that snobby sponsors like them are always falling asleep in the theater. But she intends to change that — with her “Giselle” performance, she is going to make them love ballet. And that, she concludes, is worth their money. They’ll decide who will resign — her or Choi — after the show.

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I’ll make you love ballet

Yeon-seo walks out of the room with Dan, and she finally lets herself breathe. Dan pats her on the shoulder, but Kang-woo comes out and one-ups him by giving her a hug and telling her she did well. Pfft, Dan’s reaction.

They don’t have time to celebrate, though, because Director Choi appears and demands to talk to Yeon-seo alone. She takes Yeon-seo to the theater to chew her out, but Yeon-seo just wants to know how things got to be so bad between them. Was it really all because of greed?

Choi warns Yeon-seo not to patronize her with that word. If it was for greed, she would’ve sold Fantasia by now. The reason why she’s doing all this is because she’s the one who raised Fantasia after Yeon-seo’s parents died. And she refuses to hand it over after all that hard work.

Yeon-seo steps forward, asking when all this started — when Choi and her husband had nothing and Yeon-seo’s father had to take them in? Her voice quivers with anger as she then asks if Choi ever felt any pity when she lost her eyesight. If Choi had only acted differently, Yeon-seo would’ve given up Fantasia years ago. Yeon-seo starts to walk away, reiterating that she’ll prove her worth, and Choi coldly wishes her luck succeeding without the corps de ballet.

Outside the theater, Kang-woo and Dan are having a tense (but kind of funny) conversation of “See, she didn’t need you” and “Well, she didn’t need you either.” Yeon-seo finds them and asks Kang-woo about the dancers, knowing they’re on strike. Kang-woo receives a call just then, and it’s Jung-eun, the dancer he kicked out for wanting to leave early. She’s with the other dancers, Nina included, and she speaks for everyone by demanding Yeon-seo out, as well as Kang-woo’s harsh directing style.

Kang-woo tells Jung-eun that he won’t be accepting any of their demands. And if they don’t show up to the studio tomorrow by 10 a.m., then he’ll be hiring other dancers who would be dying to take their roles. When he hangs up, Yeon-seo insists that she doesn’t want to work with people who were forced to be there. She plans to get the corps de ballet back her own way.

She leaves with Dan, who suggests they call Nina since she’d probably be nice enough to help. They get her on the line, and Yeon-seo reminds her that she wanted this competition to be fair and square, so she could at least mention where they are.

As it turns out, the dancers are doing charity work at a nursing home while they’re off work. Yeon-seo shows up, all smiles, claiming that she wants to volunteer with them. The dancers want her to leave, but Nina urges them to let her be for now. They give in, figuring she’ll be running out after an hour.

Yeon-seo and Dan end up staying all day, and while it does surprise the dancers, they still want nothing to do with her. The two return home late at night, tired and defeated.

The next day, Kang-woo waits in the practice room until 10 a.m., but no one shows up. Meanwhile, Yeon-seo and Dan go to the nursing home for another day of volunteering. All seems to be going well until an old blind woman comes out hysterical and crying for her husband.

Yeon-seo tries to calm her, but the woman keeps screaming that she can’t live without her husband. The husband finally appears, and the woman runs over to him, knocking down a candle in the process. The candle falls into a trashcan and starts a fire, and all of the elders and volunteers hurry to evacuate.

Outside, Yeon-seo takes the blame for dropping the candle, infuriating the dancers. They tell her to leave before she causes any more trouble, and she softly apologizes, saying, “I just wanted to show you my sincerity.” However, they don’t see her sincerity; all they see is a spoiled lead wanting her backup dancers back.

That night, Yeon-seo and Dan sit out in the courtyard, and Dan asks why she covered for the old woman. She explains that she didn’t want the poor woman to get kicked out, and he notes that she’s gotten a lot nicer these days.

Dan assures her that the dancers will come around eventually; they, more than anyone, understand her desire to get up on stage as a lead. “A lead?” she repeats, thoughtful. He smiles, and his hand inches toward hers, only to pull away.

The next day, the dancers head into the nursing home and find Yeon-seo and Dan talking to the old married couple from yesterday. Yeon-seo is showing the grandma how to use a voice-activated app, and the way the grandma’s face lights up when the app calls her hubby is adorable.

The grandpa thanks Yeon-seo, feeling guilty for having her take the blame for his wife’s mistake. The dancers overhear this and call out to Yeon-seo, who, upon seeing them, tells them that she has Kang-woo waiting for them inside.

Once Yeon-seo has Kang-woo and the others all together, she announces that she wants to hold auditions for the “Giselle” show, meaning anyone could get the lead. And if Yeon-seo has to start over as a part of the corps de ballet, then so be it.

Kang-woo takes her and Dan outside, saying that she’s the only Giselle for him. But Yeon-seo wants to do everything fair and square, and she’d appreciate his support. She holds out her hand, but he doesn’t take it.

Dan tries to ease the tension by doing a group cheer, which is when Kang-woo notices Dan’s arm — the arm that miraculously healed. Oh crap…

Elsewhere, Nina finds her old instructor Elena again and begs for her help; she wants to get rid of her nice character and become a new ballerina. As Nina explains that she’s determined to beat Yeon-seo, Elena seems to see a spark in her.

That night, Kang-woo follows Dan as he goes into a grocery store. Inside, Dan runs into Hoo (disguised as an ajumma), who sees that he must be shopping to cook for Yeon-seo. He tells Dan that he shouldn’t be wasting time; he only has two months left to complete his mission.

Dan knows that, but he insists that Yeon-seo’s happiness is vital in her progress to find love, so he’s focusing on that first. He stalks off, leaving Hoo frustrated. And it’s only then that Hoo realizes someone was watching them.

Later, Kang-woo reluctantly approaches the church, remembering all the odd things Dan has ever said. He goes inside and sits down for a confession, and on the other side of the viewing window is Hoo as the priest.

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Do angels exist?

Kang-woo ignores Hoo’s blessings and asks what would happen to an angel if a human were to discover their identity — surely, there would be grave repercussions. Hoo orders him to leave if he isn’t here for a confession.

Hoo sighs in relief to hear Kang-woo exit the confessional, but when he opens his door, Kang-woo is standing right there. And Kang-woo smirks, recognizing Hoo as the monk from the Buddhist temple. His smirk drops as he turns and walks away.

At Yeon-seo’s estate, she walks in on Dan attempting to cook her dinner. She offers to help, but since she can’t cook either, they both end up making a mess. When Dan accidentally drops a pot of boiling food, he picks Yeon-seo up and places her on the counter so she won’t hurt her feet.

He then leans very close, making her flustered, and asks in a low voice, “Agasshi, do you want to eat ramen?” LOL, Yeon-seo narrows her eyes because Do you want to eat ramen? is pretty much the equivalent to Do you want to Netflix and chill? But, of course, the naive Dan meant actual ramen.

Yeon-seo goes to bed smiling at the thought of Dan, while in Dan’s room, he’s dreaming of his younger self meeting Yeon-seo. She’d seen him standing on top of a cliff (about to jump?) and saved him before he went over. She later introduced herself as Yeon-seo, but before he could say his own name, Dan wakes up.

Dan immediately runs over to the church and asks Hoo what this dream could mean — could it be that he subconsciously longs to become human? Hoo’s expression darkens, and he orders Dan to follow him. Now daylight, Hoo takes him to the nursing home, to see the old married couple. And the grandpa shakes with fear the moment he sees Hoo.

The couple run off to a field, but Hoo catches them and tells the grandpa — referring to him as Angel Noel — that he must face his punishment for refusing to send his wife to Heaven.

Dan looks on with shock as the defeated Angel Noel asks for one last goodbye with his wife. Hoo nods, and the couple then cling on to each other, the grandma crying for her love not to go.

“I was with you for a long time,” Noel says, on the verge of tears himself. “I’m so glad I met you. I won’t forget you, my Mi-ok.” Hoo steps toward them, but Dan snaps out of his daze and begs Hoo to give them more time. Hoo forces Dan out of his way, and Dan helplessly watches as his sunbae makes Noel disappear from the grandma’s arms.

Hoo gives Dan one last warning to wake up before teleporting out of there, but Dan isn’t listening. He watches the grandma sob her heart out, reaching for empty air, and then imagines the woman as Yeon-seo.

Dan takes the grandma to the hospital, noticing that she’s clutching Noel’s handkerchief, the feather now black.

Shaken up, Dan runs all the way back to the estate and into the kitchen, where Yeon-seo has made them both breakfast. Before she can get a word in, he says that he has something to tell her: He wants to quit being her secretary and move out.

   
COMMENTS

Okay, we’re back on track! As expected, this show does best when it focuses on our Tragic Trio (with a little bit of Nina, since she’s a cool cookie too). We had the right amount of everything I wanted — some powerful moments for Yeon-seo, some enlightening moments for Dan, and some, er, complicated moments for Kang-woo. Our second male lead is showing serious signs of a mental breakdown, as he can’t seem to figure out what’s what anymore. Or, who’s who, more like it.

I wish we could get a scene of the first time Kang-woo actually saw Yeon-seo after losing Seol-hee. That way, I could get a better understanding of where his head is at. I can imagine his first sighting of her being extremely emotional, especially when he had to pull back and realize that they were different people. But since he’s spending so much time with Yeon-seo, the line between Yeon-seo and Seol-hee is starting to blur. Whether he’s aware of it or not, he’s developing feelings for Yeon-seo. Unhealthy feelings stemmed from lost love. The intensity of all this is concerning, to say the least. So now the very unstable Kang-woo knows of Dan’s secret. What he plans to do with that secret, I have no idea. He seems to know a lot more about this angel business than Dan does, so he’s got the advantage now.

Having rewatched episodes 11-12, I’m nervous about how the writer is dealing with theology. Whenever we get too heavy into angel histories or regulations, it’s hard for me to piece things together. This could just be me, since I’m not the most religious person, but even so, it’s this writer’s job to make it easier to digest. Maybe everything will come together later, but as of now, there’s way too much confusion. First of all… *clears throat* WTF WAS WITH HOO SUNBAE?! His character has been more cryptic than Kang-woo lately, and that’s really saying something. I can’t figure out how much he knows about Dan and how much he actually cares. I mean, did he really have to teach Dan a lesson by separating that poor couple? Sheesh, crush Dan’s heart and throw it in my face, why don’t you.

I have to believe that Hoo isn’t as ruthless as the black and white angels who punished Kang-woo. He obviously cares about Dan as a hoobae and as a friend, so I’m sure he doesn’t want to see Dan disappear. That said, I wonder if Hoo had a similar relationship with this angel Noel. Perhaps he had similar relationships with several angels like Noel, like Dan, and he’s tired of watching them throw their lives away. There’s something there that we’re not getting, and I really, really hope that the writing doesn’t fail us once we do get it.

The bottom line is that Hoo’s demonstration successfully jolted Dan out of his happy dream with Yeon-seo. He was already hesitant around her, but now that he’s seen what their future could look like, I guess he thinks that just being around her is risky. However, seeing their future didn’t and won’t change the way he feels about her — if anything, it only made him realize how important she is to him. And as he’s said throughout the past few episodes, her happiness comes first. So where does that leave him? Where does that leave his mission? Will he continue the mission while keeping his distance or will he abandon the mission completely?

On a lighter note, I loved watching Yeon-seo put her stubbornness to good use. Her social skills are lacking, due to her upbringing and past trauma, but she settled the issues with the corps de ballet wonderfully. It was great to have our ice princess actually get her hands dirty and do some hard work, but it was even better to have her consider the dancers’ feelings. Things are rough between them now, but I’m sure that Yeon-seo will develop a strong bond with her crew in no time. We’ve had a lot of build-up for this “Giselle” performance, and now that Nina has taken it upon herself to get a personal coach, I’m pumped. I can’t wait to see more beautiful ballet scenes. And while we’re at it, Writer-nim, more cutesy ramen scenes. You can’t just giveth and taketh away.

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