Eighteen Again: Episode 5

by LollyPip

Our young-again dad is discovering that he’s done things he doesn’t even remember, and it’s no wonder his family sees him as a different man than he believes himself to be. It’s not easy to look at himself so honestly, but it’s necessary if he’s going to be able to make the changes he needs to make. No matter how much he may want to fix mistakes he’s made in the past, sometimes the right thing to do is to just let go.

 
EPISODE 5: “First loves never come true”

Three months ago.

Dae-young lounges on the couch, loudly cheering for the Seum Wolves, Ye Ji-hoon’s baseball team. Da-jung rolls her eyes at him as she heads to the table with divorce papers. She thinks about a day back in 2001 when Dae-young had given her the silent treatment, angry that she’d gone to a movie with Il-kwon.

Da-jung had apologized and cajoled, and when Dae-young still wouldn’t speak to her, she’d blurted out, “I love you.” Dae-young had whirled around and asked angrily, “Why would you say that?” Then he’d smiled and added, “I was going to say it first. I love you. Da-jung-ah, you’re my first love.”

But nineteen years later, Da-jung signs the divorce papers and gives them to Dae-young. Again Dae-young asks angrily, “Why would you say that? I was going to say it first.” Then he says it’s not any funnier than her “joke” with the divorce papers, but Da-jung insists that she means it and refuses to accept his apology when it’s clear he doesn’t even know what he’s apologizing for.

They end up in a screaming fight, and Dae-young says in voiceover: There are things that you can’t turn back. From the moment you confess your love until the moment you break up. Words that hurt each other, and the regret that follows. I don’t understand why we are separating.

After hearing both his wife and his daughter saying that he was never there for the family, Dae-young goes for a long walk. Da-jung texts that their final divorce hearing is coming up, and that they’ll be divorced whether he shows up or not, though she asks him to be there to end things properly.

He meets up with Duk-jin at a bar, but declines the soju Duk-jin pours for him, saying that he’s quit drinking. He tells Duk-jin sadly that Da-jung doesn’t need him anymore, and they sit together in silent commiseration. They see Da-jung’s interview with Ji-hoon on the TV, and Duk-jin tells Dae-young that she’s doing fine, so he should worry about himself. Meanwhile, Ae-rin drives Da-jung home from the hospital and hugs her while Da-jung cries a little.

Twenty-four hours before final divorce hearing, Dae-young tells Duk-jin that he can’t go to the divorce hearing, for obvious reasons. Knowing that Shi-ah never eats breakfast, he stops on the way to school to pick up her favorite breakfast sandwich for her and her friends. They dig in enthusiastically, and in the classroom doorway, Ji-ho hides the breakfast he brought for Shi-ah. Awww.

After her second successful interview, Da-jung is now in high demand from the PDs of other shows at work. Yu-mi’s sunbae notes how popular Da-jung has become and warns Yu-mi that only three of the new interns will be offered permanent positions at the end of their probationary period, and right now, Yu-mi is in last place. Later, Yu-mi overhears Da-jung asking Woong-ki for a half day off tomorrow for her divorce hearing.

Da-jung spends his class time trying to figure out why Da-jung asked him for a divorce. Shi-ah’s friend Young-sun gets caught snoring in Il-kwon’s class, and she jokes that she’ll stay awake if he tells them about his first love. Il-kwon says that he went to high school with his first love, and that he’ll always remember the time she went to a movie with him.

He had asked Da-jung to the movie by saying that a whole group of kids was going, but when they got to the theater, everyone else had conveniently canceled. Il-kwon recalls wanting to hold her hand, and wonders how things would be different if he’d done it. He tells the kids that he’s been seeing her again lately, and Ji-ho notices that Dae-young grips his pencil so tightly that he snaps it in half.

After class, Dae-young hears Bo-bae hoping that Il-kwon’s reunion with his first love works out. Da-jung grumbles that first loves never work out, and Dae-young wonders if that’s why he’s getting divorced, but then Da-jung adds that her mother told her that her dad isn’t her first love. He yelps indignantly, unaware that what Da-jung really said was that her father was her first love, like all little girls.

Still feeling salty, Dae-young ignores Da-jung when he passes her on the street after school, but he caves when he sees that she’s carrying heavy bags. He helps her carry them to a café, then decides that he should tell her who he really is, so he follows her inside. He’s shocked to see her with Il-kwon, and when he sees Il-kwon hug Da-jung, he thinks that maybe she wants a divorce because she’s having an affair.

Luckily, he stays long enough to see Da-jung push Il-kwon off and tell him never to do that again. The reason she’s there is to pay him back the money he spent to cover Shi-ah’s hospital bill, stating firmly that she’s not comfortable taking money from him.

Il-kwon tells her that she can call him after her divorce whenever she needs a man around, and starts asking personal questions like whether Dae-young cheated or if she just stopped loving him because he’s uneducated and works a menial job. Offended, Da-jung says that Dae-young was a good family man and abruptly leaves.

We see the truth about their one not-date… Il-kwon had gotten handsy, and Da-jung had walked out of the movie theater. Not only that, but on the night they reconnected and Il-kwon had met up with his friends, they’d all bet on how quickly he could seduce her, though Il-kwon hadn’t thought that seducing a middle-aged mom would be very difficult. Everything he’s done since then has been an attempt to win the bet.

The time limit is up, and Il-kwon tells his friends that he lost. They tease him for losing his mojo, but he says that he chose to lose because seducing a divorced mom felt like self-torture. He proposes a second bet, and this time his target is a teacher at his school. Oh, you absolute ass.

Duk-jin and Ae-rin end up at the same restaurant, and Ae-rin makes Duk-jin sit at the next table, ha. She asks how Dae-young is so busy lately, and Duk-jin snaps that her friend is divorcing Dae-young for working hard. Ae-rin reminds Duk-jin of “the reunion,” her proof that this is all Dae-young’s fault, but Duk-jin doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Neither of them were at the reunion, but Ae-rin heard about it from a friend, and she tells Duk-jin what happened. Duk-jin goes home to Dae-young and asks, “How could you do that to Da-jung?” but Dae-young doesn’t remember, so Duk-jin sits down to tell him.

It was four months ago, and Dae-young had gotten to the reunion before Da-jung and had a lot to drink. It was clear that his classmates were all much more successful than him, so by the time Da-jung arrived, Dae-young was drunk and upset. Oh nooooo… that was the night that Da-jung bought him the electronic cigarette, and Dae-young had yelled that he regretted their life together — in front of all their high school friends.

Duk-jin informs Dae-young that because of that night, Da-jung no longer feels that she can trust him. Dae-young looks devastated, but there’s nothing he can say in his defense: When I said I regretted meeting Da-jung, I wasn’t being honest. But it’s true that I blamed her. If I look back, it was all my fault.

So, on the morning of the divorce hearing, Dae-young shows up in court and announces that he’s Hong Dae-young’s proxy. He reads a letter aloud to Da-jung that’s supposedly from Dae-young:

Da-jung-ah, I don’t think I can tell you in person. I’ll do as you say when it comes to custody and child support. I finally realized why you wanted to get a divorce. I regret what happened at our high school reunion, but I won’t make excuses. Da-jung-ah, you’re an amazing person, and you’re more than I deserve. I don’t want you to be discouraged. I want you to be bright wherever you are.

Don’t get hurt. Don’t overwork yourself. To be honest, I don’t want to let you go. Of all the decisions I have to make in life, I will regret this the most. But I hope you can leave without regrets. I’ll be the one to regret it. I’m sorry. Thank you. Be happy, Da-jung-ah.

Dae-young walks out of the courtroom, turning back once, but Da-jung doesn’t look at him. She finally looks up as he’s walking out, but he’s already gone.

Da-jung goes home that night and tells the twins that she and their dad are officially divorced. Shi-woo takes the news stoically, but later he goes to the basketball court and lets himself cry. Shi-ah hides in a booth at a game arcade, where the noise covers the sound of her sobs.

Da-jung thinks about everything she’s sorry for, then decides that she has to let Dae-young go without regrets. She calls her mom to tell her the divorce went through, and she apologizes tearfully.

When Da-jung goes to work the next morning, Woong-ki seems sympathetic, though he makes it clear that she can’t let her personal life interfere with her work. Yu-mi asks to call Da-jung “unni,” then takes a selfie of them together, saying it’s to commemorate their new friendship. She immediately posts it online with a comment on how well Da-jung is holding up after her divorce.

Ji-ho waits at the school gate for Shi-ah, who’s late as usual. When the bell rings and that one cranky teacher starts to close the gate, Ji-ho kneels to tie his shoe and stalls, giving Shi-ah time to slip through. Once inside the school building, he notices bully Ja-sung staring at Shi-ah again, but Ja-sung doesn’t approach her. Later, Shi-ah is napping on her desk between classes, and Ji-ho closes one of the window blinds to block the light from her eyes.

The news slowly starts to circulate at JBC that Da-jung got divorced, thanks to Yu-mi’s little trick. Yu-mi pretends to be oh-so-sorry, but Da-jung says that it was bound to get out eventually and there’s nothing she can do. Ja-young squints suspiciously at Yu-mi, unconvinced that this was an accident.

Dae-young stays home from school, and in a weak moment he grabs a beer from the fridge. He answers the doorbell to find Teacher Ok there, shocked that an underage kid appears to be drinking. Unaware that Teacher Ok is standing there, Duk-jin wanders over and tells Dae-young that he deserves a drink, obliterating Dae-young’s excuse that the beer was for his “dad,” lol.

Teacher Ok asks to speak to Duk-jin in private — she wants to know why “Woo-young” is skipping school and drinking. Duk-jin says it’s because of divorce, then backpedals hard and says he has no idea, making Teacher Ok question whether he’s really unaware or if he doesn’t trust her. She says she’s disappointed in him and tells him to make sure “Woo-young” goes to school and addresses his drinking issue.

Teacher Ok heads home to her apartment, and whoa, she’s converted one of her closets into a gaming den — she’s a gamer chick! She changes out of her ladylike school clothes and into sweats and a hoodie, and heads out to a PC room. One of her online buddies is ingame, but he grumps that he’s not in the mood for a match because he made a blunder in front of his crush.

Awww, of course it’s Duk-jin! He asks Teacher Ok what gifts women like to receive, so she recommends something limited edition like a gold helmet, since there are only three of them in Korea. Luckily, Duk-jin just happens to have one of those.

When Dae-young goes back to school the next day, everyone is talking about Shi-ah and Shi-woo’s parents’ divorce. Dae-young feels bad, having been focused on how he feels and forgetting about how this is affecting his children.

He spots Shi-ah taking out the classroom trash, and he watches as Ja-sung approaches her. Ja-sung tells Shi-ah that he heard about her parents and Shi-ah goes on the defensive, but Ja-sung only says that he knows how she feels because his parents are also divorced, and he advises her not to let it get to her.

Apparently, Ja-sung was there when Shi-ah was crying at the arcade, and he’d purposely led his friends away to give her privacy. Aw, there’s a nice guy in there somewhere.

Ae-rin calls Da-jung, and she can tell from her voice that she’s been reading the negative online comments about her divorce. She’s got some legal documents for Da-jung, so Da-jung says she’ll come by Ae-rin’s office after work.

Duk-jin shows up at school to present the limited edition gold helmet to Teacher Ok, who realizes to her horror that he must be the guy she’s been talking to online. She wants the helmet like burning, but she doesn’t want to encourage Duk-jin, so she says she can’t accept gifts at work.

Il-kwon shows up to talk to her, and Duk-jin quickly puts on the helmet and escapes. Il-kwon blocks Teacher Ok from leaving the room and touches her hair, lying that she had something in it, and thoroughly creeping her (and me) out.

After school, Dae-young checks in on Shi-woo (who says he’s okay) and they make plans to practice for basketball team tryouts together. But Shi-woo and Shi-ah are surprised at the school gate by Dae-young’s father, their grandfather. It seems from Dae-young’s reaction that Dae-young hasn’t seen since his dad since Da-jung got pregnant and his father beat him, accused him of ruining a young girl’s life, and disowned him.

For a moment, it looks like Dae-young’s father recognizes him. Then he just makes a joke that Dae-young doesn’t look like a kid who listens to his parents, and leaves with the twins. He takes them to eat, having heard about the divorce, but they tell him not to worry about them.

Dae-young lurks outside the restaurant, and he follows his father to the bus. He rides a few seats behind his dad, looking like his adult self for a bit as he sadly watches his dad start his night shift driving a bus.

He gets a call from Duk-jin, who tells him to hurry to his office, though he won’t say why. Ye Ji-hoon is there singing a contract to be in Duk-jin’s company’s ads, and Duk-jin wants to surprise Dae-young. But Ji-hoon can’t stay, so he signs an autograph for Dae-young, though Duk-jin hilariously can’t decide which name to have him sign.

On his way out, Ji-hoon runs into Da-jung in the elevator. They’re talking outside when Dae-young arrives, and he hangs back to listen. Ji-hoon mentions that people keep asking him about the article, and Da-jung assumes he means the one about her divorce, but he’s talking about their interview. Ji-hoon says he read that one too, and he congratulates her on her divorce.

Da-jung finds that strange, but Ji-hoon says lightly that whenever another player makes their debut or switches teams, they do well with his blessings. He says that a divorce is like a new start, and Da-jung seems cheered, since she’s mostly hearing only criticism.

Annoyed, Dae-young intercepts their conversation so Da-jung introduces him as her friend’s son. She steps away to take a work call, and Ji-hoon stiffly invites Dae-young to go if he’s busy. Dae-young returns the sentiment, telling Ji-hoon that he’s free to go, but Ji-hoon declares that he’ll be leaving with Da-jung.

Da-jung takes offense to Ji-hoon’s use of banmal, telling him not to be so casual when they’re meeting for the first time. Ji-hoon laughs at such brazen behavior from (what he perceives as) a kid, and when Da-jung returns, the two guys are glaring daggers at each other.

Epilogue.

Somewhere, there’s a dark room with photos of Dae-young all over the walls. A mysterious person records “observation reports” on Dae-young, including where he goes, his emotional state, and who he meets.

 
COMMENTS

It’s amazing how one episode can completely flip your opinion on certain characters, isn’t it? So far, I’ve viewed Il-kwon as a sincere, but relatively harmless, suitor for Da-jung’s attention, but now we’ve seen the truth — he was only after her to win a bet. Now it makes sense why Da-jung seemed to treat him with contempt, after the way he behaved on their one not-date. I don’t believe for one second that there was ever a group planned for that movie — he maneuvered her there. Il-kwon started out with unsavory intentions, and he still has unsavory intentions, and Da-jung (and Teacher Ok) will do well to stay far, far away from him.

And then there’s Ji-hoon, who I’ve thought was pretty sleazy until now, since he clearly dates around and treats women as disposable. And I think that he started out interested in Da-jung in the same way, but now he’s seeing her integrity and grace under fire and is developing a real respect for her. I don’t love the way Ji-hoon continues to flirt when Da-jung has made it clear that she’s not interested, but at least he’s honest about the kind of guy he is. And I do believe their encounters are genuinely accidental and he’s not manipulating the situation for personal gain.

While we’re on the subject of men, I wondered last week why Da-jung wants to divorce Dae-young when most of what we’ve seen has been him being a loving, present husband and father. But we’ve really only seen his perspective, so of course he wants to remember only the good moments. Now it makes sense after what he did at their reunion… saying such hurtful things to Da-jung at all was bad enough, but saying them in front of all their old friends was unforgivable. At least now I understand why Da-jung wants the divorce — she believes it’s what Dae-young wants. And he gave it to her because he realized that no apology would ever make up for what he did and said. If they have any chance of getting back together, they’re going to have to start fresh, but that’s not going to be easy with Dae-young looking like a teenage boy.

And for now anyway, Dae-young has vowed to give Da-jung her freedom, which I think is a fantastic idea for them both. They’re never really gotten to live the lives they’d hoped for, and now they both have room to see what life is like when they have options. Dae-young is literally a teenager again, and basketball team tryouts are coming up soon, so he’s going to get a second chance at his basketball dreams. And Da-jung is finally getting the recognition she deserves as a news anchor, so long as she can avoid another scandal. We’re only five episodes in, and I’d love to see them each pursuing their dreams separately for a while, before inevitably being drawn back to each other (as they will surely be, because it’s obvious that they do really love each other).

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