Welcome: Episodes 9-10

by selena

The cat’s out of the bag! It’s time for multiple people to come clean. Misunderstandings are abundant but it’s important to clear those up first so that everyone can deal with the consequences of the truth.

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

Sol-ah gifts her lucky ring to Hong Jo, looping it onto his handmade collar. When she looks for the cat later that night, she comes face-to-face with his human form. “I like you,” Hong Jo confesses.

She can’t help but laugh when he declares that the cat likes her too. She jokes that he should tell Hong Jo not to make a mess in his litter box, since it sounds like they talk. Sol-ah casually takes her leave but once she returns to her room, exclaims that her heart almost fluttered.

The real Bang Guk-bong finally arrives and notices the new café across the street. Jae-seon happens to be outside and apologizes – they’re already closed. Guk-bong slips into the house through the balcony and wakes Hong Jo up, but Sol-ah clings onto him in her sleep, leaving him stuck in bed.

A quote by Louis F. Camulti reads, “Cats want to come inside if you send them outside, and if you bring them inside, they want to go outside. Sometimes, they want to do both.” The next morning, the hot water doesn’t run in Sol-ah’s bathroom so she knocks on Guk-bong’s door to ask for help.

She peers into his room and bolts at the sight of long hair draping over the bed. Sol-ah assumes he has a girl over, not knowing that it’s the real Guk-bong. She tries to sneak out of the house but runs into Hong Jo who suggests walking to work together. He’s left confused when she comments, “I guess you’re a guy too,” and leaves without him.

During a coffee break, Sol-ah recalls that morning’s discovery and criticizes “Guk-bong” for having the same taste as all the other guys – a thin woman with long hair. She then catches herself having these thoughts, feeling unsettled.

After work, Sol-ah ends up at Sonamu to meet with Jae-seon who apologizes for his harsh words the other day. Doo-shik filled him in on what Sol-ah went through while searching for Hong Jo, and he now says that he should’ve known better.

“You’re not the type of person who’d leave a cat outside by himself…” he trails off because Hong Jo makes an appearance at the café again so he finishes, “…but you did.” Sol-ah’s dumbfounded by the fact that Hong Jo keeps escaping despite the closed doors. He never goes far and seems to think of Sonamu as his territory too.

Sol-ah asks, “Isn’t it okay? You can also take care of Hong Jo sometimes.” Worried, Jae-seon thinks she should take him home so Sol-ah goes to grab her cat. Jae-seon advises Sol-ah not to approach too quickly, lest Hong Jo be startled and runs away.

To demonstrate, Jae-seon slowly inches his way to Hong Jo who waits until the very last second to zoom off, leaving him on all fours on the ground. HAH. Embarrassed, he sends Sol-ah home first and promises to bring Hong Jo to her.

Jae-seon finds him hiding in the storage area at the back of the café. He searches for treats on a shelf and ends up dropping the contents of a box on the floor, including Sol-ah’s scarf. Hong Jo grabs the scarf in human form, recognizing that it’s his. Knowing its true owner, Jae-seon asks for the scarf back.

Hong Jo tells Jae-seon that the cat returned home, but Jae-seon’s allergies are acting up so he knows he’s still around. Hong Jo advises him not to care so much about someone else’s pet, but Jae-seon sincerely says that he thinks of Hong Jo as his own, “I was the one who found him.”

He shares the story about how he found the kitten abandoned amongst trash, wrapped in the very scarf that Hong Jo is holding. It dawns on Hong Jo that Jae-seon thinks Sol-ah abandoned him. When probed for more information, Jae-seon just says that it’s all in the past. “That’s how it ended between us.”

At home, Hong Jo watches Sol-ah working on her new webtoon and recalls that after Sol-ah’s tearful confrontation, Jae-seon had come up to him and said, “She abandoned you.” He wonders if he’s the reason that Jae-seon’s keeping Sol-ah at arm’s length.

When Sol-ah notices his presence, Hong Jo asks about Beodeul Love. “What if there’s a misunderstanding? Would the two be happy if the misunderstanding is resolved?” Isn’t Sol-ah curious about why he suddenly closed the door?

Sol-ah truthfully says that she used to wonder, but the reason no longer matters. The fact is that he’ll continue to make her wait – he did it for the past 10 years, after all. Having overshared, she changes the topic to him instead.

Hong Jo denies having a girlfriend so Sol-ah wrongly assumes that he lives a carefree lifestyle, asking for a heads up next time. She realizes that although he knows so much about her, she knows nothing about him. Finding it unfair, Sol-ah decides not to let him spy on her anymore and storms off into her room.

On the rooftop, Hong Jo tells the grandma stray that 10 years is a lifetime to a cat. Because of his involvement, Sol-ah and Jae-seon’s love can’t be realized. As the only one who knows the truth behind the misunderstanding, Hong Jo knows that he should tell them for Sol-ah’s sake, but wonders what’ll happen to himself as a result.

Guk-bong returns to the household, ready to meet Sol-ah. However, out of spite, Sol-ah had put a sign on her door that says, “Bang Guk-bong, do not enter!” That night, Hong Jo watches Sol-ah sleep in his human form. When she sleepily reaches out for him, he sticks his head out for her to pet.

After a morning jog, Guk-bong notices that the entrance light is out and takes it upon himself to change the bulb. Hong Jo runs into him then, and seeing that he’d come out of Sol-ah’s room, Guk-bong assumes that Hong Jo is her boyfriend. Hong Jo freezes when he realizes that the ruse is up – the real Guk-bong is back.

Later that morning, Guk-bong cooks himself breakfast but leaves it on the table, running upstairs with an upset stomach. Sol-ah just misses him and at the sight of breakfast, thinks that Hong Jo made it for her as an apology. She happily digs in while Hong Jo stands guard, hoping Guk-bong stays upstairs.

Sol-ah’s bathroom still has no hot water running, so she asks to use Hong Jo’s. He frantically tries to stop her, knowing that Guk-bong is inside. Physically blocking the door, Hong Jo begs, “No, don’t do this!” but she manages to get through and finds nothing but a stench that she thinks Hong Jo was trying to hide. Heh. As she showers, Guk-bong exits his room and heads downstairs, only to find that his egg yolks have been devoured.

Hong Jo rushes Sol-ah once she’s ready, going as far as putting her coat on for her. He sighs a breath of relief once she’s gone but becomes increasingly stressed each time Sol-ah returns to grab something that she’d forgotten. He fixes her lipstick and pushes her out the door one last time before Guk-bong gets downstairs and misses her again.

He promises Hong Jo that he won’t tell his parents that they’re living together, but wonders if it isn’t uncomfortable for them to hide their relationship. Talking about something else entirely, Hong Jo meekly says that he didn’t mean to hide it in the beginning, but he likes her and wants to stay by her side.

Guk-bong understands how he feels. “You’re hiding it to protect something, but if you hide too much, you can’t protect anything.” Hong Jo promises to stop and says he’ll leave, apologizing to a confused Guk-bong for intruding.

Sol-ah arrives at Nalsaem Design and realizes that she forgot her phone. Not only that, but she’d apparently commuted to work looking like The Joker, with lipstick smeared all over her face thanks to Hong Jo.

Doo-shik hands her a vitamin drink, and because it was buy 2 get 1 free, Ji-eun finds one on her desk as well. She barely even warms up her seat before Vice President Park whisks her away for another morning tea session.

When Doo-shik meets someone at the lobby to hand over a document, he witnesses Ji-eun sliding a white envelope to the vice president. They make eye contact and Doo-shik looks at her suspiciously before heading back upstairs.

Turns out Ji-eun had been tasked with designing Vice President Park’s nephew’s wedding invitation. She now wants one for her child’s teacher as well, asking Ji-eun to change the names on the one she has already designed.

Later, Vice President Park assigns Sol-ah to re-design a project that Ji-eun was in charge of. When Sang-kwon points this out, the vice president just says that Ji-eun shouldn’t have to handle something so minor when she’s working on a bigger project. Feeling uncomfortable with the situation, Ji-eun follows Vice President Park outside but is unsuccessful in speaking up.

Returning to her seat with her head hanging, everyone besides Sol-ah heads to lunch and Ji-eun notices that her precious vitamin drink is gone. Doo-shik had taken it back and now stares her down as he drinks it, upset that Sol-ah can’t even eat lunch because of her.

Hong Jo wonders how long it took Grandma Stray to adjust to the outdoors, hoping it’ll be quick for him since he started out as a stray. Exhausted from hiding his identity, he sets off to Nalsaem with Sol-ah’s phone. Once there, he clutches his chest sadly. “It’s weird. I’m hungry, but why is it my heart that feels empty?”

He sits next to Ji-eun on a bench, who notices him staring at her juice box and offers him the rest. As he sips, tears fall. Hong Jo feels heartbroken thinking of Sol-ah and laments, “Your heart must’ve felt so empty for 10 whole years. You must’ve felt so lonely. It must’ve been so difficult.”

His words strike a chord with Ji-eun and she starts to cry as well. Sol-ah finishes up her design and takes a break, spotting the pair through a window. She gasps that Ji-eun is the woman “Guk-bong” slept with, watching Hong Jo wipe away Ji-eun’s tears.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

Hong Jo returns Sol-ah’s phone and she waits in anticipation, thinking that he’s about to reveal his relationship with Ji-eun. It’s a big moment for Hong Jo when he finally confesses, “I’m not Bang Guk-bong.” He walks away listlessly, but Sol-ah didn’t take him seriously.

During a meeting for their project, Sol-ah shoots daggers at Ji-eun as she wonders how the two became close. Ji-eun inwardly sighs that Sol-ah must hate her. Caught in the middle, Doo-shik suggests taking a break to chat.

Sol-ah immediately asks if Ji-eun is seeing someone, which she denies. She continues to probe, “Do you have feelings for someone I know?” and her hand unintentionally gestures towards Doo-shik. Thinking she’s been ousted, Ji-eun asks to not talk about personal matters at work.

When Doo-shik excuses himself, Sol-ah suggests that they be friends outside of work. Ji-eun agrees to hang out tonight, so Sol-ah excitedly lets her pick a location. “I’ll meet you anywhere!” Cut to: Sol-ah standing in front of Sonamu in disbelief.

Inside, Jae-seon spots Hong Jo staring at him from the storage area and successfully pets him this time. When he’s called away by a customer, Hong Jo transforms and grabs the scarf from the box, placing it in a visible area on the shelf.

Sol-ah arrives and upon hearing that Hong Jo’s here, heads towards the back. Jae-seon joins her as she discovers her scarf, and she asks how it came into his possession. He doesn’t evade the topic this time, laying out the facts as he knows it – he’d found Hong Jo as a kitten with her scarf, out in the garbage dump where she’d abandoned him.

Hong Jo listens as Sol-ah explains that she gave her scarf to a lost boy whom she ended up losing sight of. While Jae-seon processes this information, Sol-ah has already concluded that the boy must’ve been really kind – he was cold, but still gave Hong Jo her scarf.

Finally understanding his actions, Sol-ah’s demeanor becomes cold. Jae-seon realizes he was mistaken, but she firmly states, “You always do things alone. You think alone, and always draw conclusions alone. You never ask me. That’s who you are, and that’s the way you treat me.”

Despite tears forming, Sol-ah holds her head up high and criticizes Jae-seon for not telling the truth when she asked him to be honest last time. He used the abandoned kitten to push her away, afraid to open up and fall in love. Pained, she realizes, “You pushed everyone away like that, didn’t you?”

Sol-ah’s still running high on emotions when she meets Ji-eun outside, having forgotten about their hangout. Not in the mood for coffee, the girls end up drinking elsewhere. By the time we catch up with the pair, they’re already eight beers deep and Sol-ah drunkenly finishes telling the story about her and Jae-seon.

Ji-eun notes that Jae-seon must keep a lot of thoughts to himself, and her accuracy gets Sol-ah excited. “I knew it. A cat knows another cat so well!” Ji-eun asks if Sol-ah isn’t happy that the misunderstanding was resolved. She’s unsure, and is more dumbfounded than anything that Jae-seon was more alone than she thought.

Being called Sol-ah’s friend makes Ji-eun adorably happy. Finally noticing that Ji-eun’s still sober, Sol-ah orders soju and pouts that their coworkers seem to have the wrong idea about her and Vice President Park. Ji-eun confirms that she didn’t get hired through connections and didn’t mention Beodeul Love either, which doesn’t surprise Sol-ah.

They move on to the topic of guys, and Ji-eun shares that like Sol-ah, she’s had a crush on someone since high school. They recently met again and see each other every day, “But even when we’re together, it doesn’t seem like I’m with him.” Sol-ah agrees that he comes and goes like the wind, confessing that she saw them on the bench.

Sol-ah’s surprised to learn that she’d only met Hong Jo today, then gets up to leave when Ji-eun doesn’t open up about who she actually likes. After downing another drink, Ji-eun blurts out that she likes Doo-shik, audibly giggling in excitement at saying his name. This gets Sol-ah’s attention, and she sits down to continue drinking.

By the time the two leave, they’re completely drunk and are acting like they’re the best of friends. Ji-eun insists on walking Sol-ah home, but Sol-ah calls her a cab and struggles to take a picture of the license plate, continuously taking selfies instead. Pfft, I’m loving this so much.

Sol-ah compliments herself for not looking drunk while walking home and hangs her purse on a railing to check her belongings. Although she has everything, she ends up leaving her bag behind. Passing a convenience store, Sol-ah attempts to telekinetically move a table that’s in her way, screeching in wonder when the table is pulled away.

She nearly falls over at one point and Hong Jo appears, breaking her fall. Sol-ah springs back up in slow motion, deeply impressed with her sense of balance. He continues to protect her from behind and when Sol-ah unknowingly leans on his chest, he puts her purse around her neck. Not knowing if he can ever appear before her again, Hong Jo wonders if it’ll be okay to keep watching her from behind.

When Sol-ah gets home, she notices the light is fixed and the contents of a letter sobers her up a bit. She calls out for Guk-bong, shocked to come face-to-face with a stranger in her own house.

Meanwhile, Hong Jo visits Dae-sung to say farewell, explaining that he may not be able to see him again because of a lie he told. Dae-sung explains that between people, white lies can sometimes be acceptable. Hong Jo muses that if he were a person, he wouldn’t have to tell these lies.

Jae-seon, who’s been brooding by the window, watches as the real Guk-bong exits Sol-ah’s house and heads into Sonamu. He introduces himself as Sol-ah’s stepbrother, and he’s here to pay for her coffee in advance to celebrate becoming a family. This leaves Jae-seon very concerned when he sees Hong Jo walking into the house.

When Hong Jo enters, Sol-ah confronts him. “You’re not Bang Guk-bong, are you?” She emotionally asks why he did it and Hong Jo can only apologize, wishing he were Guk-bong. Sol-ah sticks out a piece of paper – a notice of a legal name change. She’s actually just upset that he changed his name to “Bang Cruise,” wailing that she liked his name.

Backing up to when Sol-ah met the real Guk-bong, she’d concluded that he was either Hong Jo’s friend or lover. When the long-haired man shared that he’s leaving to stay with his girlfriend, she’s a bit too happy that he’s not Hong Jo’s partner. Guk-bong had told her that the guy she’s living with should stay – he’d talked about leaving earlier.

In the present, Sol-ah whines, “You got a global name, so you’ll move abroad now?” She pokes fun at Hong Jo for not knowing that “Cruise” is Tom’s surname, not his given name. Sol-ah begs him to continue being Bang Guk-bong, though it takes on an entirely different meaning to Hong Jo, giving him hope.

Before passing out, Sol-ah asks him not to leave. Jae-seon makes his way into the house and cushions her fall before Hong Jo can react, and he asks, “Who are you?”

  
COMMENTS

I know that this show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m having an absolutely great time watching it. It’s difficult to capture the true essence of the funny moments in a recap, especially because of how miniscule some of these moments are. For example, when Sol-ah ended up at Sonamu after Ji-eun picked it as their meeting place, she looked so defeated and the sound of a cold breeze in the background somehow had me in stitches. At some point during the episode, Sol-ah commented that Hong Jo had soft hair and must’ve showered, and he very briefly started to say that he grooms, and that also set me off. They’re very understated moments that add a little bit of fun into the show.

I think L is doing a good job. There are probably mixed opinions, but his portrayal of Hong Jo makes me believe that he’s truly a cat in a human’s body. I like the little details, like the fact that he uses his knuckles to wipe away Ji-eun’s tears (and also in the first episode when he nudged the unconscious Soo-pyung), imitating a cat’s paw. There’s an air of innocence to him that just works with this role. Shin Ye-eun is also working wonders with her animated reactions. I never feel that it’s too over the top, just enough to be funny and endearing. She balances it out very well with her more emotive acting, and I really feel for her every time tears start to well up in her eyes. The entire drunken walk home had me cackling and if you’re only keeping up with the recaps, then I urge you to PLEASE watch that scene because it deserves to be seen by everyone.

I’m really happy that after discovering the truth behind Jae-seon’s disappearance, Sol-ah was angered and was able to eloquently put into words why it was all types of wrong on Jae-seon’s part. Her words really seemed to affect him, like he finally realized what he was doing. On the bright side, I believe this is the most we’ve heard Jae-seon speak in one episode. I’d call that a win, and am looking forward to him being more proactive when it comes to Sol-ah, even if they only end up as friends. She deserves that much, at the very least. I really do think that Jae-seon is a sweet guy, just based on how much he cares about Hong Jo. He probably believes that a cat is the one thing that can’t betray him (little does he know, he probably purposely leaves him hanging every time he tries to pet him), and therefore directs all of his care and attention onto Hong Jo.

I was waiting patiently for Ji-eun to blossom out of her shell, and boy, she did not disappoint! She was adorable in this episode and I’m happy that the two girls got to bond. Ji-eun’s meek demeanor has everyone talking behind her back, and I am ecstatic that she has someone like Sol-ah on her side now, who will surely stand up for her now that they’re friends. Doo-shik is still as clueless as ever so Ji-eun’s going to have to channel some major “dog” vibes to be more direct so that he understands how she feels!

 
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