House on Wheels: Episode 8

by stroopwafel

This week our tiny house travelers make their way to a new location, trying to beat the heat. They also enjoy a Hotel del Luna mini reunion that’s punctuated with laughs (some awkward), beautiful scenery, and of course, delicious food.

EPISODE 8 RECAP

We ended on a bit of a cliffhanger last week, as we saw Jin-gu working in the kitchen…but not the results of his efforts. We pick up again with the crew as Jin-gu works on a sauce for the pork.

It looks an awful lot like he’s making gochujang jjigae, which is giving me a flashback to the first episode and his failed attempt to make a proper jjigae.

IU asks if there’s any thing she can do to pitch in but thanks to IU’s mom there’s no prep work to be done. They’re all set with home-grown organic veggies, all cut and ready to eat, plus sauces and kimchi.

IU is so chill and she just hangs with Hee-won and it looks a lot like Healing Camp. Hee-won thanks her for making time in her busy schedule to come out.

Jin-gu isn’t the type to ask for favors, so when he called her up to join them, she said yes. She continues that it’s the sort of occasion when you’re grateful for being asked to help out.

Speaking of Jin-gu being hesitant to ask for help of any kind…cut to Jin-gu asking Dong-il to help him out lol.

IU says she had watched the show before coming, so she didn’t feel any pressure from Jin-gu’s ask. As Hee-won carries on chatting with IU, Dong-il tells Jin-gu to hold his hyungs accountable and to put them to work.

He huffs that Hee-won’s shirking his duties and just being an emcee outside. Jin-gu crashes the impromptu talk show by literally falling out of the house.

After everyone collects themselves, Hee-won teases IU and says that she felt burdened by Jin-gu’s request to film House on Wheels with them. He also says that Jin-gu is quieter than normal, and IU figures he’s a bit burdened by the responsibility of having invited her.

Hee-won pops back into the house and cue…total silence. IU starts laughing and when Jin-gu asks why she’s laughing, she says it’s because people might really think they’re awkward and not close to each other. That just starts another round of even more awkward laughter.

Since IU made the trip out to Mungyeong, she wants to know how far Jin-gu would go for her. “Going abroad…is too far,” he kids, before finishing his thought, “I’d go anywhere, whenever, if you invited me, noona.”

While the youths try to be less awkward, the hyungs are handling matters in the kitchen. Dong-il needs pepper, so Hee-won grabs it for him and gets it snatched out of his hands so fast, you’d miss it if you blinked.

Hee-won insists he can handle it, but Dong-il darkly refers to “the pepper incident” (from the first episode) and refuses any peppering help.

Jin-gu gets called back into the kitchen to check on the mushroom rice. The guys each take a bite and Hee-won is the first to flat out say the rice is raw. Oh no. The trio huddle around the rice cooker and IU tries to figure out what’s happening by observing the huddle. They can’t agree on whether or not the rice is okay to eat, so IU gets a vote and taste. She says it’s fine, and that’s enough for Dong-il (though Jin-gu looks a little uneasy).

Making the opposite observation as Hee-won, Dong-il says Jin-gu’s talking more to IU than he did with other guests and Jin-gu swears they really are close.

Hee-won and IU grill exactly two pieces of beef and take the first bites (heh, Dong-il complains they didn’t even try to offer him a taste). The fire isn’t really taking, and though they get into the groove eventually, the entire process isn’t quite as smooth as it normally is.

At one point, IU steps in and starts cutting up the pork and beef (which earns Hee-won a scolding, for letting their guest work). Jin-gu’s dispatched to handle the grilling, and he’s very practiced at it since he usually manned the grill whenever they had cast dinners during the Hotel del Luna filming.

IU hand-feeds Dong-il a morsel of beef, and he cheerfully tells her it’s still raw lol. As dinner goes on, the smoke gets worse and worse. Hee-won even gets up to wait it out, but Dong-il decides to sit it out, despite the smoke burning his eyes.

After the mushroom rice is served up, it’s mushroom redistribution time, as Dong-il tells the cast to give all their mushrooms to IU lol. After chewing thoughtfully, Dong-il says, “So this is what raw rice feels like.”

IU smiles to herself as she tries to take a bite of rice, and Jin-gu looks so sad as he watches. She assures him that it tastes good, but Jin-gu says, “I’ve seen the face you make when you have tasty food.” When it rains, pours–literally. Not even the clouds are giving the cast a break tonight.

Luckily, IU thinks it’ll be fun to eat out in the rain, and everything on the grill tastes fantastic so all is not lost. Overall, it’s still a good meal and the organic veggies (from the IU family garden) and IU’s mom’s kimchi gets extra compliments. Hee-won and Dong-il say the kimchi saved the day. IU says the rice was good too, and Jin-gu even gets a comforting pat on the back.

Dong-il remembers that they’d bought naengmyun too and calls in Hee-won to help instead of letting their hoobaes do anything.

When they’re alone, IU tries again to comfort Jin-gu by saying that the sauce he made tastes so much better when you dip the pork in rather than using it as a marinade. But that backfires too since they never even tried it as a marinade lol.

The naengmyun comes out and Hee-won gives an ominous warning to IU, “It’s a little weird so don’t eat it right away.” Oh no, the noodles froze while in their little fridge. But as it melts, it tastes fine so it’s not a huge setback.

A sudden burst of rain has Hee-won worried about the tarp leaking, but Dong-il says it’ll be fine. The fact that the tarp is starting to dip under the weight of the rainwater doesn’t inspire confidence, though. Jin-gu keeps looking up at it and says maybe they should tilt the tarp anyway. The hyungs run to fetch raincoats and IU spaces out, enjoying the rain.

Jin-gu sighs and promises to buy IU a tasty meal someday. Aw, IU didn’t even notice anything wrong — she thought they were joking about the mishaps.

In no time at all, it looks like the tarp might collapse from the weight of the rainwater. They get straight to work and IU tries to help…but her arms can’t actually reach the tarp. In short order, the tarp is tilted and no one got drenched in the process. Dong-il brags to IU, “You saw how we didn’t panic, right?” Despite all their work, the rain actually peters off after a few minutes, ha.

IU and Jin-gu tackle the post-dinner clean up, in their jammies, with Dong-il and Hee-won setting up their tent. IU insists on doing the dishes, so Jin-gu sets up her bed.

Dong-il says they look good together, then poses a question for IU. “In the future you’re going to meet someone and get married, right? Out of the three of us, who’s closest to your ideal type?” Without even a second’s hesitation: Jin-gu. Dong-il pretends he’s put out that she couldn’t even pretend to deliberate over her decision heh.

Uh-oh, the house’s water has run out. Jin-gu treks out, pajamas and all, to refill the water tank. But the container is so heavy that he can only manage to hold it up for a few seconds (he physically shakes).

Jin-gu pumps himself up and tries again, and he manages to hold it up for a little longer. He laughs at his state, dirty PJs and filling water outside at night, then calls out for his sunbaes, wondering where they could have disappeared to.

He makes one last attempt, and then goes to look for Hee-won and Dong-il. While he’s struggling, IU goes out to him to see what’s happening. He plays it cool and tells her to leave the container alone as he goes to see how much he’s managed to fill the tank (not much). It’s like he’s trying to cast a spell as he tells IU to leave it alone.

They fill it up a little more, and then he asks IU to go in and check the water level. Jin-gu tries to convince himself that the container is finally getting lighter, but it doesn’t work and he has to drop it again lol.

After the work is all done, Dong-il and Hee-won reappear and get a laugh at Jin-gu’s predicament. Indoors, Jin-gu and IU exchange smiles as they finish washing the dishes.

Dong-il goofs around before hitting the hay and leans his head on Hee-won’s shoulder. He wonders what people would say if they saw him being lovely-dovey with Hee-won. Hee-won: “Go away.”

Before we know it, it’s morning and the eldest are the first to wake up. Dong-il marvels at how different it feels to wake up by the mountains versus the beach. Hee-won concurs and says he likes being surrounded by greenery.

They go for morning walk together, but it gets off to a strange start as they head off in different directions in the fog.

IU wakes up to find the sunbaes gone, so she relaxes outside while we get to listen to one of her songs. (There’s definitely a huge advantage to having a singer guest—you can score the episodes with just her music.)

Hearing the words “IU’s working” seems to be an alarm clock for Jin-gu (she’s moving some chairs around). He literally shakes himself awake and stumbles outside of the house with a major case of bedhead. Hee-won comments, “Whoa, it looks like you went to a salon.”

The group sits down for a pre-breakfast snack of apples, and Hee-won is an impressively good apple-peeler. Jin-gu suddenly asks if IU can split an apple with her hands and her response is a very surprised no.

Jin-gu says he can do it, and it looks like he’s going to fail but he actually manages it. IU takes a piece of his apple. Dong-il is the belle of the breakfast ball and he’s faced with a tough choice: Hee-won’s expertly peeled apple or Jin-gu hand-split apple. There can only be one winner…and Jin-gu’s apple wins!

For breakfast, Dong-il’s plan is to try to resuscitate last night’s mushroom rice and make kimchi jjigae with the yakdol pork. The whole gang is really efficient this morning and the cooking is done in no time.

Thanks to Dong-il’s skillz, the rice has been revived and the breakfast is just good old-fashioned home cooking.

Jin-gu refers to a guest who will be visiting today, and Dong-il instructs them to clean up and offer a proper welcome while he and Hee-won shop for rice cakes and supplies. Aw, they knew that IU loves rice cakes so they’re going out of their way to stop by a shop that Dong-il knows.

IU and Jin-gu totally look like newlyweds as they bustle about getting ready for the guest. IU takes charge on setting up the tarp and Jin-gu has a quick freak out session about a bug, not that he’s scared of bugs at all.

Once the tarp is up, IU leans back and rests. All the while, Jin-gu can’t stop himself from looking up at the tarp and smiling; it’s so obvious how proud of himself he is for managing the tarp. IU catches him just taking it all in and he admits laughingly that he’s very impressed with himself.

IU chills and stares off at the mountains until Jin-gu returns, in fresh clothes and with the LP player in hand. They turn on some music and from a distance, we see someone running towards the house.

The new guest is none other than Pyo Ji-hoon, a.k.a P.O. of Block B and Hotel del Luna fame.

Jin-gu and IU head into the kitchen to make brunch for Ji-hoon — a gochujang pork rice bowl. I half wonder if Ji-hoon is a Man-Chan shipper, because he watches them so contentedly and then takes a quick photo of them cooking.

The finished rice bowl is huge (and looks amazing). Ji-hoon digs in and he is such a good eater, just super enthusiastic. IU watches him take huge bites and licks her lips a little as she watches lol. In the end, she and Jin-gu have a second breakfast and all three of them end up eating together.

When the sunbaes arrive, bearing sweets and food for lunch, Ji-hoon runs over to them to say hello and introduce himself.

After another snack break, they pack up to drive to Seonyudong Valley, where they plan to have lunch in the heart of the valley, next to a beautiful stream.

The running water looks very cooling and when IU asks if Ji-hoon brought a bathing suit, he shares that he’s already wearing his bathing suit under his clothes (and overshares that it keeps riding up).

Jin-gu says one of them should recreate a legendary variety moment — when Dong-il floated down a stream in Dad! Where Are We Going?.

The spot where they eventually stop is pretty familiar to both Hee-won and Jin-gu, as they’ve both filmed there. Their dads sunbaes leave them to hang out while they cook up chicken baeksuk.

Aw, Jin-gu sidles up to Dong-il to make sure they don’t need help before he relaxes. While they cook, the youngsters sit by the water and have some fresh fruit (courtesy of Ji-hoon).

The young trio quietly dip their feet into the water and chat. But back at the tiny house, the sunbaes are having a sauna experience thanks to the giant boiling pot of chicken.

Jin-gu’s devious maknae side is starting to poke out as he splashes Ji-hoon, and IU gets caught in the crossfire as she wades across the stream.

Dong-il and Hee-won look so tired as they watch the three of them splash around. Dong-il concludes that, “If you’ve come on a trip like this and you see people playing around but have no desire join in, that means you’re fifty or older.” The spry 49-year-old Hee-won tells him he’ll be right back lol.

They’re still manning the baeksuk and Hee-won grumps at Dong-il about all of his mosquito bites. Dong-il: “What, I didn’t tell them to bite you.”

Just to be an annoying hyung, Dong-il starts doing an incantation of all the most annoying places you can get bitten: tip of your nose, forehead, thumb, side of your finger.

The dynamic duo continue to entertain themselves while waiting for the chicken. Their next game is an impromptu quiz session, with Dong-il giving science questions.

Dong-il: “Name a difference between a butterfly and moth?”
Hee-won: “Their wings.”
Dong-il: “Correct!”

After a long hot wait, the baeksuk is done and Dong-il gathers everyone together at a prime spot next to the water. IU takes a bite and actually laughs at how good it tastes.

They’re so busy eating they almost forget to talk, but Jin-gu makes sure to feed Dong-il since he’s busy cutting up and doling out chicken.

Hee-won offers to take over, but Dong-il says it’s too late; Hee-won should have offered earlier, ha. Jin-gu gets a drumstick and he manages to clear the meat off the bone in one bite. Whoa.

The cast and friends end their time in Mungyeong on a high note: with lots of food and in each other’s company.

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