House on Wheels: Episode 11

by stroopwafel

It’s an island adventure for our tiny house family this week, and while they explore the area, they’re joined by a new friend with a wild laugh. Open-water fishing is on their agenda, and it turns into an all-day opportunity for laughs, more laughs, and some friendly competition.

EPISODE 11 RECAP

It’s a bright, sunny day and the cast has assembled once more to head to Geoje Island. Jin-gu’s never been and Hee-won takes a minute to scoff at his hoobae’s noobness. It’s a well-traveled destination in Korea and, unlike their Jeju trip, they can conveniently drive to the island.

Dong-il’s eager to go fishing — specifically open water fishing on a boat. Hee-won doesn’t look too happy about that, and he’s never even gone fishing before (neither has Jin-gu). Dong-il basks in lording his knowledge and skills over his hoobaes, and he pish-poshes Hee-won’s worries about fishing being boring. Dong-il says that once one person starts to catch fish you get competitive.

Jin-gu says he’s needlessly competitive and Hee-won seems to have a competitive side as well, as he says going to catch a red seabream (they’re notoriously difficult to catch — on Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village, it took Yoo Hae-jin years of fishing before catching one).

Dong-il calls up their guest for this week, Ha Ji-won. They have a quick chat and we get a sampling of her wild laugh.

Hah, the first thing Dong-il says to the others is that Ji-won has a unique laugh. Jin-gu calls it “hearty” which is a great way to describe it. Hee-won says Ji-won’s quick to laugh and you can say whatever and she’ll laugh — even Jin-gu will have her cracking up today. Aw, Jin-gu’s disbelief has me thinking neither he nor his hyungs think he’s particularly funny.

Their new home is on a grassy patch of land right next to the ocean and a pebble beach. But yikes, the path there is downhill, twisty, and narrow. It’s scary, but they make it in one piece thanks to Hee-won.

After parking and unhitching the house, they enjoy the beauty around them. There are mountains on one side, and the ocean on the other. But there’s no time to dawdle; they have to set up before Ji-won arrives.

They’re faster and more adept than ever, and Dong-il says they could teach tarp setting (they’re such pros, and perfectly skilled for a second season — just saying).

It seems like this is the fastest they’ve ever set up house, and it’s also the sweatiest I’ve ever seen Jin-gu get. He looks exhausted from the heat. While they wait for Ji-won to arrive, Jin-gu goes inside for a wardrobe change and Dong-il calls up the boat captain he knows to reserve a time to go out. Conditions are less than ideal due to the strong winds, but they can still go out.

Jin-gu comes out in a new outfit and we get a peek into his suitcase; there are so many clothes and accessories, I don’t even think he can wear them all on this trip. Dong-il and Hee-won are super interested and love everything they’re seeing (Jin-gu’s sandals, for example).

Dong-il tells Hee-won to pick out whatever he fancies and Hee-won thanks “Jin-gu hyung-nim” for his generosity, heh. From a distance, Ji-won approaches and laughs softly to herself as she bounces along the road.

She goes into sneaky-jokester mode and hides behind a wall and calls out to “Ajusshi.” Dong-il’s head snaps around so fast and a laughter-filled hello session ensues.

Ji-won’s only been there a minute, but she seems so cheerful and sweet. When Dong-il tells Hee-won to give her a house tour, she says there’s no need — she can just check everything out from the front door lol.

She thinks the house is adorable, but Hee-won says it’s just uncomfortable. While they talk, Jin-gu silently grinds coffee beans in the background. He does manage to shyly ask if Ji-won wants coffee and she says yes. It’s the first time they’ve ever met, and completely unprompted, Ji-won takes a quick peek at Jin-gu and then tells Dong-il that Jin-gu is good-looking.

Besides compliments, Ji-won’s come with a special gimbap that’s popular in Geoje, and made with tot (a kind of seaweed). The sunbaes debate on whether or not they should make some ramyun to go with the gimbap, and Ji-won raises her hand before speaking, like she’s in a classroom, and says she has something else.

Ji-won’s brought jars and jars of homemade pickled banchan to be served cold, and it’s the perfect alternative to ramyun in the middle of a hot day.

She hops into the house to get bowls for her banchan assortment, and Jin-gu gets his first big laugh from Ji-won when he asks if she wants a big bowl. Her laugh acts sort of like a bat call, because it draws Hee-won in to help too.

Taking charge in the politest way ever, she gives commands in formal speech, all phrased as questions. With all hands on deck, the meal prep is done in no time and they settle down to have tot gimbap with the pickled banchan (which they have like a chilled soup). They eat quietly, just chomping down on that pickle-y goodness.

Dong-il asks Jin-gu how it feels to meet Ji-won, and he replies that he’s having trouble looking directly at her. We flashback to when they were driving to Geoje and Jin-gu confesses he’s been wanting to meet her for a while.

Aw, Ji-won lets him know that her mom is a big fan. Dong-il asks if her mom ever asks about him or Hee-won and from the way Ji-won bursts out laughing, I’m guessing that’s a no. But she quickly recovers and says her mom likes both of them very much. She goes on for a little bit talking about her fangirl mom, but Hee-won’s not totally convinced.

Ji-won pulls out more gifts, and this time it’s scented soap that Ji-won made herself. Each soap is personalized with a photo of the recipient’s face and she chose scents that she thought matched their personalities. She even included a personal letter to each of them, encased in the soap. Jin-gu has a great photo, as does Hee-won, but Dong-il… He’s in sageuk garb and looks totally spaced out.

Ji-won explains there was a lot of deliberation involved in her photo choices, but she can’t stop laughing as she explains she chose that photo of Dong-il because he looks so cool. Cool Dong-il says the photo’s from a drama scene where he’d just been released from prison. Jin-gu says he won’t use his soap, and instead he’s just going to hang it up. Dong-il: “I want to hang mine up too, but the photo…” (That gets another belly laugh from Ji-won.)

Jin-gu brings out coffee for everyone, which prompts Ji-won to comment that it seems like he does the most work. Dong-il says it’s just the editing, lol.

Hee-won chimes in saying they would have starved without Dong-il’s cooking skills, and his vast network of friends who’ve gifted them food. True to form, even in Geoje, a friend of Dong-il’s is sending over marinated crabs, fish, and eel.

They have some time before their boat trip, so they decide to check out the pebble beach. Their new home is fairly unusual in that there’s a freshwater stream nearby that flows out to the ocean.

They decide to follow the stream, and it’s pretty, but not the most comfortable walk. Ji-won checks out the mens’ feet and says they all have the same sandals. Jin-gu quickly tells her that his are different — his hyungs got couple sandals and left him out. Dong-il says it wasn’t intentional, and that Hee-won saw his shoes on the first day of filming, and then went out and bought a pair for himself.

They make it down to the beach in one piece and Jin-gu takes a photo — it looks like they’re spending the day by a stream rather than the ocean. He switches angles and it’s such a different vibe. They make their way to the water and decide to skip stones. Ji-won strikes a pose… and then basically ends up chucking it into the water. She actually runs away in embarrassment lol.

They buckle up and head off to the local dock. As they drive away, Dong-il appreciates how beautiful the house is, and it is really cool — this little house plopped down in the middle of the grass in-between the ocean and mountains.

The dinner menu tonight is set to be a total seafood extravaganza, and Dong-il volunteers Jin-gu for the position of sashimi chef. Hee-won says he’s not going to eat any of the food from Dong-il’s friends or anything they catch — he’ll only eat the red seabream he reels in. Dong-il: “So I guess you’re not eating tonight.”

Waiting at the dock is a bright yellow boat, and they greet their captain for the day. He gives the gang a quick rundown of fish they can expect to catch, and says the target for today is northern whiting, a fish that never makes it to market because it doesn’t transport well.

After strapping on life vests, they’re off. A flock of seagulls set off after them, which they marvel at. Hee-won says that all that’s left is for him to catch a red seabream.

They set anchor and they end up in a spot that’s right in front of their house. Our fishing rookies get a quick lesson from the captain, and he gives them a peek into the boat’s hold.

It’s already got a lot in there, and it has this really colorful pretty fish (bluefin gurnard, for all the curious fish aficionados out there).

Ji-won is all business, and after a few minutes she actually gets a bite! But when she reels her line in, her bait is gone, and there’s no fish.

While Ji-won is bummed, Jin-gu realizes something is on his line. He quietly reels in and it’s a whiting!

He’s half-surprised, half-grossed out as the little guy keeps flapping for freedom. Ji-won tells him to grab the fish, so he does, but when he makes contact with it, he gets grossed out.

Jin-gu very sweetly, and with the help of Ji-won, unhooks the fish, saying he won’t hurt it… but aren’t they eating these later? The hyungs are having less luck, and Hee-won tells Jin-gu they need to switch spots.

Ji-won gets a bite and quietly whispers to the camera that there’s something there. She then tries to lift her line out of the ocean, and tries a second time with a little jump. It’s adorable, but I don’t know what she expected to happen. Jin-gu helpfully reminds her she needs to reel it in, but aw, there’s nothing there. All these fish keep dining and dashing on her, boo.

Wow, Jin-gu’s on a roll, and he reels in another fish! (And his hyungs officially want to switch spots.) Heh, Dong-il and Hee-won do team up for some banter though:

Dong-il: “Jin-gu’s been rubbing me the wrong way today.”
Hee-won: “Jin-gu’s been rubbing me the wrong way from the very start.”

At long last, Hee-won gets a bite too and he seems to use up all his energy reeling it in. By the time the fish is out of the water, he’s beat, but happy about the first fish he’s ever caught in his life. With one fish on the scoreboard, Hee-won’s full of confidence and hyung-annoying energy. Hee-won says fishing’s no fun because it’s too easy — the fish jump on whenever he casts. Not that he’s directing his comment to Dong-il or anything.

The captain pulls anchor to move spots and Hee-won starts to tell the tale of his catch, which Dong-il interrupts to talk about how many more fish they should catch before calling it a day.

As soon as they stop at their new fishing spot, Jin-gu catches another fish. The others are all jealous, especially Dong-il and Ji-won. Ji-won can’t understand why she’s having no luck when she’s right next to Jin-gu.

Hee-won suggests they dip their reels into the hold, haha. For Ji-won, there’s no need as just then she gets another bite and reels like crazy. It’s a big one! So now everyone’s caught something except for Dong-il. Hee-won takes the opportunity to tease him a little more, and the sad background music with the present sad Dong-il and past boastful Dong-il is cracking me up.

In quick succession, Ji-won catches a second fish, and then Jin-gu catches another one. Dong-il grumpily grumps that his neck hurts from turning around too much. He barely finishes his sentence when Hee-won reels in another fish.

Grumpy Dong-il says he’s lost his touch and that it’s the first time in his life he’s ever not wanted to fish. Just then, Hee-won manages to catch two fish at the same time.

Ji-won and Jin-gu are all a flutter and Hee-won gets a small round of applause. Dong-il acts like he’s over it, but Hee-won gets a congratulatory butt pat from him for a job well done. Aww, Happy Hee-won turns into Teary Hee-won and when Dong-il asks why he’s crying, Hee-won replies that it’s because he’s just so happy.

Dong-il has an emotional moment himself as he pines away for an octopus to end up on his line. The captain says they’re definitely out there and shows off an octopus he caught earlier. Dong-il asks the cap’n to hang that one on his rod and I really think he’s only half-joking.

Dong-il says he’s tired and wants to go home, and then tells Hee-won not to look at him with those pitying eyes because it makes him feel worse. I know he’s in a bad mood, but it’s so funny. However, he hasn’t given up entirely, and he vows to catch an octopus.

They’ve been fishing for a while and Dong-il says he’s hungry, so the captain says he’ll show them how to make sashimi. The captain takes out one of the fish Hee-won caught and, no surprise, says the first step is to kill it. Ji-won turns around saying she can’t watch (but she keeps peeking back lol).

Jin-gu apologizes to the fish, and then does the deed. Under the captain’s supervision, Jin-gu does a great job slicing up sashimi and Dong-il looks so proud of Jin-gu’s skills.

All the while, though the others have stopped fishing, Dong-il stands at attention with his fishing rod. Knowing the group wanted to have octopus ramyun, the captain asks Dong-il if he’s sure he can catch one. After a pause, Dong-il asks, “Can I borrow yours?”

They’ve had sashimi, so next up is sushi, and it’s time for Dong-il to shine again. He’s really good at this, and he does a little sushi shaking performance before feeding Ji-won. He then proceeds to feed everyone by hand before taking some himself.

Ji-won calls Dong-il’s sushi performance a magic show, and Hee-won busts out laughing. “I like our hyung-nim so much. He’s the most lovable person in the world.”

They top it off with octopus ramyun, and just sit and enjoy the night view of Geoje from the ocean.

Back at the tiny house, they they all look so, so tired. Jin-gu is actually sleeping, but it kind of looks like he’s nodding in time to the music.

Hee-won wants nothing more than to do nothing, but when Dong-il remembers that Ji-won had another gift for them — outdoor lights — everyone gets up to set them up.

Dong-il announces that it’s time for the lighting ceremony, and flips a switch. Nothing happens. Hee-won steps up to figure it out, and the lighting ceremony ends with a colorful show. Dong-il says they’ll listen to one more song before starting dinner, and we get a preview of the feast ahead.

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