Eighteen Again: Episode 4

by LollyPip

There are pros and cons to getting a chance to do your life over. On the one hand, our favorite dad can start fresh and try to fix the mistakes he feels he’s made, but on the other hand, nobody knows it’s him when he makes those changes. He’s still getting the blame for their problems, and his absence only reinforces their belief that he’s not there when they need him.

 
EPISODE 4: “The boy we loved back then”

As we go back again to the year 2000, we watch as Ae-rin falls head over heels for the handsome young Dae-young. She gives him a gift and confesses that she likes him, but he graciously declines both, saying that can’t date because he has to focus on basketball.

Ae-rin vows to be supportive anyway, but when she goes to the gym to see Dae-young, he’s teaching the new girl how to shoot baskets. Ae-rin calls Da-jung out of class, intending to beat her up, but Da-jung gives Ae-rin and both of her friends a sound whooping.

Later, Da-jung sees Ae-rin being bullied by some actual tough girls. She throws her backpack at them and rescues Ae-rin, and they run together until they make it to safety. Da-jung belatedly realizes that she left her backpack behind and wails that her mom will kill her, and the girls laugh together, cementing their friendship.

Through all this, Ae-rin narrates: All woman also have their first love. He chose basketball over me. I even loved his passion for his dream. But before I knew it, my rival became a dear friend. She’s there when Dae-young runs out on his big game to tell Da-jung that he’ll be there for her and their baby… And that’s how my first love ended.

Eleven years later, Ae-rin had come back to Korea from New York and had attended a high school reunion. She’d been happy to see that Da-jung was as beautiful as ever, but she and the other women were mostly anticipating seeing how Dae-young had grown up. When he entered the restaurant (to the theme song from Descended From the Sun, LOL) they all turn in excitement…

…and are disappointed at how thoroughly he’s turned into an ajusshi. Ae-rin spends the evening getting drunker and drunker, glaring at Dae-young and muttering, “You insulted my memories.”

In the present, Dae-young overhears bully Ja-sung joking that Shi-ah will end up like her mother, but Ji-ho gets in the first punch. He holds his own for a bit, but eventually Ja-sung has him on the floor and breaks a broom to beat him with the handle. Dae-young stops Ja-sung and squeezes his wrist, giving Ji-ho an opening to leap up and tackle Ja-sung.

A teacher stops the fight and drags the boys to the office. When Ja-sung hears that their parents will be called, he looks nervous and accuses Ji-ho of jumping him for no reason. The teacher asks why, but all Ji-ho will say is, “He told me not to put up with it.”

Il-kwon takes over, and he tells the boys that everyone fights while they’re growing up. He calls Ja-sung’s father personally, and he tells him that Ja-sung is causing trouble lately and asks him to come by the school to discuss the basketball team’s starting lineup.

Over at JBC, Director Moon reads the negative comments regarding Da-jung being a mother and repeats to Woong-ki that he wants Da-jung to quit this job before her probationary period is up. In the break room, the youngest recruit, Yu-mi, pretends to feel so bad for Da-jung even though she was just sneering that she should have succeeded when she was young.

Da-jung just says that the commenters have a point, but when she’s alone, she reads the hurtful comments again. She notices that someone is responding to everyone who says something negative with something positive, such as that a woman who has kids and a career is inspiring. The tone of the comments seems familiar — Da-jung suspects that it’s Shi-ah.

She texts the twins, asking how things are at school. Although the halls are filled with gossip about their mother, they both reply that everything is fine. Awww, Da-jung can tell that they’re lying.

Shi-ah waits for Ja-sung in the stairwell and tells him that she’s going to ignore what he said about her, but that she can’t ignore what he said about her mom. She hauls back and punches him in the stomach, and warns him that there will be real trouble if he ever lays a finger on Shi-woo again. Good girl!

In class, Dae-young stares at Ji-ho with new respect, thinking about how much he’s grown. He gives Ji-ho some ice for his face, and when Shi-ah sees it, she texts Ji-ho and tells him to come to the convenience store where she works after school.

Woong-ki announces to the four new recruits that there’s a staff dinner tonight, and he specifically tells Da-jung not to miss it. When they get there, they find out that the baseball player who threw water on Da-jung on-air is there, and they want to film Da-jung throwing water at him in revenge.

Da-jung is clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but Director Moon encourages her to do it, and even the player mutters for her to get it over with. Finally, Da-jung winds up… then flicks a few drops at his face. She’s so classy under pressure.

This was all the idea of the team’s manager, who tells Director Moon that they’ve been getting lots of complaints. Director Moon replies that it’s a chance for Da-jung to make a good impression after all the comments about her age and motherhood, and Ji-hoon notices her squirming uncomfortably.

Director Moon asks for an exclusive interview with Ji-hoon, then he calls Yu-mi to their table and gives her Da-jung’s seat, summarily dismissing Da-jung, and starts talking up Yu-mi as their top candidate. Yu-mi plays along, flirting with the manager, and Director Moon says that she will be doing all interviews with Ji-hoon in the future.

But Ji-hoon isn’t having it… he insists that he wants Da-jung to do his interview. Director Moon argues that he’ll look better with a pretty young reporter rather than an old mom, but he just says he’s getting older himself, so the manager decides that Da-jung will do the exclusive.

Dae-young and Shi-woo play basketball together, but Dae-young can tell that Shi-woo is bothered by all the gossip about his mother. Dae-young suggests that Shi-woo call her and see if she’s okay, and when Shi-woo cringes, Dae-young snaps that parents love that kind of thing from their kids. Shi-woo mopes all the way home, but he ends up following Dae-young’s advice.

When Da-jung hangs up from Shi-woo’s call, Ji-hoon is standing right therewith an insincere apology for listening in on her conversation. Da-jung thanks him for calling himself old in order to help her, but she draws a firm line, saying that she’ll help herself from now on.

Ji-ho shows up at the convenience store as promised, and Shi-ah tells him not to fight on her behalf again, but he grins to himself as she patches up his face. He thinks about the day they became friends… he’d been teased on the playground for not having a dad, and Shi-ah had stood up for him against the bullies and even made the biggest one cry.

He finds out that she hasn’t eaten, so he plans to buy her a boxed meal. Dae-young comes in and considers several fatherly lectures about whether a student should be working, but he reminds himself to just be Shi-ah’s friend. He asks if she needs money because she’s in trouble, and she barks that she’s not.

He sees Ji-ho shopping for a box meal and offers to buy it for him, but Ji-ho was planning to buy it for Shi-ah so he declines. Dae-young buys the meal and leaves it behind for Shi-ah, accidentally upstaging Ji-ho’s romantic gesture, awww.

Meanwhile, Ja-sung isn’t having such a great evening. His father slaps him for tarnishing his reputation, and warns that if he does it again, he won’t let him play basketball.

Yu-mi and Ja-young aren’t enjoying the team dinner so much anymore, now that they’re stuck pandering to the bosses. Ji-hoon sees their expressions and starts to go rescue them, but Da-jung gets there first and starts mixing drinks, giving Yu-mi and Ja-young the chance to slip away. Ji-hoon watches Da-jung, impressed with her ability to manipulate the situation to her favor.

By the time the dinner is over, Director Moon has gone from insulting Da-jung to bellowing “I love you!” at her out the window of his taxi, heh. Ji-hoon asks Da-jung if she’s okay after drinking so much, and she says she’s fine. Da-jung leans in, close and swoony, as if to kiss her, but he just whips off the restaurant apron that she’s still wearing.

He hands Da-jung his phone to put in her number, claiming that it’s so he can get her interview questions ahead of time. As he rides home, he scans the comments on their first interview and adds his own, wishing Da-jung luck.

As Da-jung walks home, she’s stopped by a pair of drunk ajusshis who recognize her from television. They try to forcibly make her stay and drink with them, and when she yanks her arm from one’s grip, he accuses her of hitting him. He grabs her wrist again, and this time Dae-young charges in to tell the drunkard to stop.

The guy lunges at him so he twists his arm behind his back, but he lets go when Da-jung tells him to. The guy yelps at his friend to call the police, and Da-jung tells him to go ahead, because it’s all on CCTV camera and she’d like to sue him for sexual harassment.

The drunk guys drag themselves off, but Dae-young insists on walking Da-jung home in case they show up again. Da-jung asks what he’s doing here at this hour, and he says he came to see someone. At her door, Da-jung offers to call Dae-young a taxi but he says he can do it himself, and he tells her not to get discouraged by things like this after finally achieving her dream.

He adds for her not to worry about Shi-ah and Shi-woo, that he’ll take care of them at school. He tells her to pay no attention to the negative comments, and that he thinks she’s amazing for being responsible. Da-jung replies that her kids aren’t mistakes but blessings, and Dae-young is so moved that it looks like he’s about to tell her who he really is, but she bundles him into a taxi and he loses his opening.

Da-jung checks the mail and finds a letter from Dae-young’s employer with his proof of resignation. He’s been telling her that he’s on a work trip to Busan, but now she knows he’s been lying.

The next morning, while Da-jung is out interviewing Ji-hoon, Woong-ki warns the other three recruits not to let down their guard and get their shows stolen. During Da-jung’s interview, some players behind her and Ji-hoon hit a wild ball which speeds straight at her, but Ji-hoon casually snatches it out of midair then continues talking like it’s nothing.

At school, Il-kwon sends Ji-ho out to tell Shi-ah and Bo-bae to re-chalk the dodgeball court, but Ji-ho notes that Shi-ah doesn’t look well and just starts doing it himself. A minute later Shi-ah collapses, but again Dae-young reaches her first, hauls her onto his back, and makes a run for the nearby hospital.

Thankfully, Shi-ah is only having stomach pains from stress, not that it makes Dae-young feel any better. Nearby is a baby with an injured foot, and her cries remind Dae-young of when Shi-ah was that little and he’d rushed her to the hospital. Oof, you can tell that he’d been more upset than she was, even though she was the one who was hurt.

He reaches out to caress Shi-ah’s head, which is when she wakes up and gives him the stink-eye, ha. He tells her that he carried her here, but she just snaps at him for daring to touch her. Dae-young wags a finger at Shi-ah and says that she’d better be like this with all the other guys, but she just sneers at him.

Meanwhile, Ji-ho sends a text to Shi-ah that he’s covering her shift at the convenience store, aww. When Ja-sung walks into the store, it’s hard to see which of them is more surprised. Ja-sung denies that he was looking for Shi-ah, but I suspect this bad boy has a little crush on the tough girl.

Dae-young calls Duk-jin to tell him that Shi-ah is in the hospital, and as soon as Duk-jin hears Teacher Ok’s voice in the background, he zooms straight to the hospital. He fusses over Shi-ah until he notices that Teacher Ok isn’t there to witness how caring he is. Ae-rin pushes him aside to fuss over Shi-ah instead, but she shows more concern for Dae-young after carrying her, hee.

When Da-jung arrives, she’s upset with Shi-ah for not telling her that she wasn’t feeling well, but Shi-ah says that she’s fine and Da-jung is busy. Shi-ah tells Dae-young to leave now that her mom is there, but Ae-rin argues that he should stay since he carried her. Da-jung thanks Dae-young and jokes that she and Duk-jin might become in-laws, and Ae-rin does a literal juice spit-take into his face… just as Teacher Ok returns. Awww, poor Duk-jin runs off crying that she saw him that way.

Da-jung goes to pay the hospital bill, but the receptionist says it’s been taken care of. She gets a text from Il-kwon, saying that he paid it, which makes her uncomfortable. She decides to call Dae-young, who repeats that he’s in Busan on business.

He’s not worried enough for her liking when she tells him about Shi-ah being sick. Dae-young says she’ll be fine once she gets some rest, but Da-jung complains that he’s never been there when his family needed him. He asks angrily if that’s what she really thinks of him, and she says that from now on, they don’t need him anymore.

Later, Ji-ho visits Shi-ah and she thanks him for covering her shift. He asks what she’s so stressed about, but she claims she’s not stressed. Ji-ho says that she always handles her problems alone, and that even if he can’t solve them, he can still listen if she needs to talk.

She says that she thought her mother had finally reached her dreams, but the fact that she’s married with kids is still holding her back. She complains that her mom made a mistake by marrying her dad, so Ji-ho asks why Shi-ah is only mad at her dad. She says it’s because he’s not there when they need him, like today.

Behind them, Dae-young overhears her say this and silently slips away. Shi-ah continues that whenever she hears her parents fight, she blames herself for being born, and it’s worse now that they’re divorcing.

Downstairs, Da-jung tells Ae-rin that Dae-young lied about where he is, and that he actually quit his job. Ae-rin is surprised, since Dae-young has never been a liar, but Da-jung says that lately he lies about everything, like his situation and his feelings.

Having heard twice in a few minutes that he’s never been there for his family, Dae-young walks the streets, dejected. He gets a text from Da-jung reminding him that their final court date is looming, and he just hangs his head and sighs heavily.

On the date, Dae-young isn’t there when the judge is ready to rule on the divorce, and Da-jung swallows her disappointment. But suddenly the doors open and he strides in, even though he still looks like his young self. Looking Da-jung right in the eyes, he declares, “He’s here… Hong Dae-young.”

Epilogue.

When Ja-sung and Ji-ho were caught fighting, all that Ji-ho would say in his defense was, “He told me not to put up with it.” He’d been thinking about that day when Shi-ah beat up the bully for him, and we see that Dae-young had shown up at the playground.

He’d taken Ji-ho to the zoo with Shi-ah and Shi-woo, and Shi-ah had promised not to let him get bullied again. Ji-ho had said that violence is bad, but Shi-ah said that her dad told her not to put up with it. Dae-young had clarified, “Ji-ho-yah, violence isn’t the right way. But there are times you shouldn’t put up with bullying… when you need to protect something dear to your heart.”

Ae-rin continues her voiceover from the beginning: The boy we loved back then was a memory to someone. To someone, he was her present. And to someone, he was a dream. Years later, the boy from the past became an ajusshi with two kids. But he was still the same boy.

 
COMMENTS

So now we’re seeing that, not only has Dae-young been a pretty good father to his kids, but he’s also been a memorable surrogate father to at least one other child who really needed one. We don’t know much about Ji-ho, but he was starved for fatherly attention when he was younger, and Dae-young just effortlessly fell into that role for him. Dae-young comes across to me as a natural father, with his instinct to care for his children and take on their problems as his own, so it doesn’t surprise me that Shi-ah’s timid little friend got the same treatment.

All that said, I felt bad for Ji-ho in this episode, the way he kept getting upstaged by Dae-young. Of course, we all know Dae-young is her father, but to Ji-ho, this new guy just showed up and now he’s making moves on the girl he’s liked forever. Hopefully this inspires Ji-ho to step up and be more obvious about his feelings for Shi-ah — not because Dae-young is really a rival, but because Shi-ah is kinda dense and won’t know how he feels unless he’s really, really blunt about it.

In fact, I really appreciate how well 18 Again is letting Dae-young appear to be a romantic interest to the other kids while never actually crossing any lines, or really even getting close to them (unlike some shows, you know who you are). Dae-young’s paternal love for his children is so palpable, and Shi-ah’s disdain for him is so clear, that there’s never any question of her catching feelings for her own dad in disguise, not even for misguided comedy’s sake. Likewise, Dae-young’s interactions with Da-jung are layered with so much emotion on his end, but Da-jung keeps him so firmly in the category of “my kid’s friend” that there’s no icky worry of her finding a teenager attractive. We get to see Dae-young’s struggle with watching his soon-to-be-ex-wife realizing her dreams without him, without having to wade through a quagmire of questionable relationships.

I do admit that I’m confused why everyone says that Dae-young isn’t there when they need him, because all the flashbacks show the complete opposite. And aside from pretty general teenage problems, Shi-ah and Shi-woo seem to be doing okay. Shi-woo admittedly has a huge challenge with Ja-sung bullying him, but instead of standing up for himself, he just shrinks and pulls away from everyone. But Shi-ah has friends and an abundance of self-esteem, so she appears to be doing fine. It makes me wonder — exactly how did Dae-young’s life take such a wrong turn that Da-jung decided to divorce him? Because I’m just not seeing it. Yes, Da-jung and Shi-ah have both said he wasn’t there when they needed him, but everything we’ve seen proves that he has been there, so I can’t help but wonder if there’s some big revelation we just haven’t been shown yet. Besides, it only strengthens my opinion that he’s always been a good husband and father to see that, once he did get a do-over, he decided to use it to help his wife and kids in a way that he couldn’t before. Initially, I assumed that this drama would be about Dae-young learning to appreciate his wife and children, but the more I watch, the more I think it might actually be the other way around.

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