by: Raine

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Episode 10 dropped a percentage point to 9.6%. I can’t really blame viewers. This show is suffering from severe multiple personality disorder.

So this website is called “Raine’s Dichotomy“. I think my emotions this episode really embody that. Brain versus heart. I was dreading writing this recap because I really didn’t think I knew what to write besides exactly what happened. My brain was completely appalled. My heart was moved.

Special thanks to Hitomiakiko from Akiko’s Morning Coffee for doing some spot translation for me!

“Love Like This” –  Lee Young-hyun (from the Fashion King OST)

episode 11 recap

It’s another show down. Selfish man versus selfish man.

Jae-hyuk throws the dirty towel at Young-gul and that starts a verbal and a fist fight.

Omigosh, I have to say it. They have busted lips and look very kissable. But the lips are bloody. But the lips…

The chaebol demands to know if Young-gul had fun stealing his girlfriend. Then, he asks Ga-young, for the last time mind you, if she wants to come with him.

Ga-young stares at Young-gul and looks like she wants to throw up some ramyun and soju. When she doesn’t answer immediately, Young-gul starts to freak out. Finally, she asks Jae-hyuk when he wants her to start. The answer: tomorrow.

Young-gul is as shocked as I am. Or maybe I’m not shocked. Okay, I’m not. As much as I wished for it, we all knew she was going to pick one of them. I’m guessing she chose Jae-hyuk because she was still feeling high on the injustice of Young-gul’s decision to partner up with Dragon Jo.

Anyway, Jae-hyuk wants her to leave now, but when she hesitates, Young-gul grabs her things, chucks them outside onto the pavement and stalks into his office. Ga-young is pretty much horrified and heartbroken by this turn of events but has no time to think about it as Jae-hyuk grabs her hand and drags her outside.

Inside his office, Yoo Ah-in makes me want to cry with the extreme anguish he is able to express. I say Yoo Ah-in because he totally outacts this script. Young-gul deserves it. *wipes tear* Gah, Yoo Ah-in, I should not be wasting tears on this show!

Jae-hyuk realizes Ga-young probably has no where to go and suggests his place. Before he can toss his prize into the car, Young-gul grabs her hand.

YAY! Wait, why am I into this show? WHY?! My heart was beating so hard during this scene and when Young-gul popped out again I literally said, “yay”. As you can tell my brain and my heart think two completely different things.

So he grabs her hand and shocks the hell out of all three of them.
‪

‬Young-gul: Ga-young! Where do you think you’re going?!

He’s not in control of himself; he is driven by anguish.
‪

‬Young-gul: Are you really leaving?

Ga-young: *Avoids his gaze*

Young-gul: You’re not going to see me ever again? Don’t you know that I hate him?

He yanks her behind him and she guiltily meets Jae-hyuk’s eye. Young-gul orders her to go inside and she meekly obeys, much to Jae-hyuk’s utter dismay. Both men have tears in their eyes.

Why am I moved by the tears of complete douches? Is it ‘cause they’re hot? Or is it ‘cause the actors are too good for this show? HELP ME!!! And why do I LOVE that Young-gul grabbed her so possessively? *RAWR* But then I HATE that she so blindly obeyed. *Double Rawr* What happened to that spine she grew? Must’ve been made of straw. Or straws; the bendy kind.

Alone, Young-gul demands to know what Jae-hyuk can do for Ga-young. She’s a vice president at Young Young Apparel while she doesn’t even qualify to apply for a job at J Fashion. Jae-hyuk promises to give her the same when the time is right. With a sneer, Young-gul comments that a president should think of his employee and that it must not be like that at J Fashion.

Ouch. That statement packs a double whammy and Jae-hyuk reels from realization and frustration. First, he knows that Young-gul is right. Ga-young would be the lowest of the low at J Fashion, which is a serious demotion from her current position. Second, the president at J Fashion is the oh-so-compassionate Daddy Jae-hyuk who really doesn’t treat his son well.

Young-gul collects her things and goes inside to face her. He forces the motionless woman onto a stool and physically turns her head to make her look at him. With infinite care, he questions her. Was she really going to leave? Where was she going to go? She can’t just leave with nowhere to go. When he left his aunt’s house, he had a lot of trouble, so she shouldn’t ever think of doing it again or he’ll kick her out himself.

She’s crying and I’m falling for his heartfelt words. How did Yoo Ah-in make me completely change my opinion of this character in five minutes? FIVE MINUTES. That’s the power of this show and this is why people keep watching although they don’t know why. Individual scenes are really powerful and Yoo Ah-in kills it. Shin Se-kyung’s big watery eyes kill me. Lee Je-hoon’s manly mad face gets me. Yu-ri…well, Yoo Ah-in does enough work for them both.

Young-gul puts his hand on Ga-young’s knees and promises that he won’t misunderstand her so she shouldn’t misunderstand him either. He retreats into his office and a ghost of a smile crosses her lips.

Choi An-na is giving a presentation and Jae-hyuk is really preoccupied. Then, he rudely leaves to go brood in his office.

I’ve never seen a character brood so much. Not that the Je-hoon lover in me minds. When he sets his jaw like that, *drool*. He broods and I just focus on the hot, because the reason the character is brooding is actually pathetic. He promises to marry another woman and then sets his eye on Ga-young who is obviously not interested. So I set my eye on him and ignore the ridiculousness of his character.

Jae-hyuk frets and worries over Ga-young’s reaction when Young-gul yanked her behind him. He’s also probably worrying about what to do about the fact that he told her it was the last time he was offering to “save” her.

Assistant Kim comes in with some gossip he dug up.

Men are gossips like we are. But they’re covert gossipers. If you have a penis, gossiping must be kept on the hush hush.

Anyway, Kim tells Jae-hyuk that Madam Jo invested five million in Young Young Apparel and is taking out a mortgage on her store to apply for a bank loan so she can invest slowly. Also, Madam Jo’s cut is 60% and Young-gul’s is 30%. The extra 10%, at Young-gul’s insistence and expense, goes to Michael.

Young-gul is smart, keeping the double-edged sword Michael close.

Kim also figures that Madam Jo will later absorb YGM into her own brand name. And, because of pressure from Jae-hyuk, business-savvy Young-gul quickly partnered with Madam Jo. Kim is so impressed by Young-gul’s cleverness that he laughs giddily. When Jae-hyuk shoots him a death glare, he quickly changes his tune. How much can that punk succeed?

Heehee. Finally, Assistant Kim has made me laugh as a good sidekick should.

After a long moment, Jae-hyuk wonders where exactly Madam Jo got her money.

Uh-oh. He’s about to meddle more in business he shouldn’t be meddling in, isn’t he? It must be a chaebol past time. Meddling like an old lady peeping out the window and keeping tabs on the neighborhood.

Madam Jo, who is, let’s not forget, the Dragon Lady, shows Young-gul her factory. He wants to know where Ga-young lived, but before the Dragon can tell him, her evil spawn, Jung-ah shows up. She wants shoes from the show room. When told to greet Young-gul properly, Jung-ah looks a bit guilty and taken aback. Realization that Jung-ah is the girl who reported him crosses his face.

In her office, the Dragon tells Young-gul she thinks they need to break into the Korean market and he agrees. The problem is funding.

Speaking of funding, Miss Go rushes in with some bad news that sends Madam Jo to Jae-hyuk’s office for a little confrontation. After some tense pleasantries, the Dragon cuts to the chase. The limit of her bank loan suddenly decreased. What should she do? He feigns ignorance but she points out she has friends in high places. Why did he use such a tactic on her?

Jae-hyuk decides to tell her the truth: he needs to have his thumb in everyone’s pie so he can later control the world.

Oh, no. That’s not it. That’s just how he acts. In actuality, he wants Young Young Apparel (i.e. Young-gul) out of business. The Dragon points out that Young-gul is a talented president and Jae-hyuk says he’s a bad person, which causes her to cackle.

OMG! This cackle is epic. I rewound it. She needs to cackle more often. It was awesome. I want to cackle like that…oh wait, I already do.

Then, the Dragon proves she’s as clever in business as Young-gul. Even though she asked Jae-hyuk to sue Ga-young, she suggests Jae-hyuk partner with Young Young Apparel. Why? For money.

In her opinion Jae-hyuk can do one of two things.

1. He can sue, but Madam Jo will take Young-gul’s side.
2. Buy out her share of Young Young Apparel for double her investment: ten million. If he waits too long, the price might go up.

Jae-hyuk, you’ve made a formidable enemy. Although he smirks, he’s extremely uncomfortable and broods more. *screencap screencap* But he has the papers to sue Ga-young in his hand.

No… No, you wouldn’t. Would you? Nooooooo!

In his office, Young-gul gets off the phone with Michael after planning a trip to America the next week. Then, he acts all important by called for his chief and assistant designer over the intercom. When Ga-young and Bong sook come in, he hands them portfolios of aspiring designers to look over.

Calls from Japan and China come in and Young-gul answers in each language, making Ga-young make a “oh-look-at-you-aren’t-you-so-special” face. It’s kinda cute. The face fades into seriousness when she gets a text from Jae-hyuk telling her to meet him.

All I can think is: legal papers. Legal papers. You better not do what I think you’re going to do.

Also, Ga-young has a meticulously placed thread in her otherwise perfect hair. Have you ever noticed how that always happens in a drama. Perfect hair all the time? I wish I woke up with perfect hair.

So Ga-young shows up and Jae-hyuk is drinking. He says he missed her and that she even showed up in his dream last night. Is she like the women who pretend not to notice that a man likes her?

She stares innocently at him with her big doe eyes. *blink blink*

A man is most pathetic when he can’t get the heart of the woman he loves. Ga-young is so close, but he’s in pain because he can’t have her. So he has come up with an evil plan.

No, no, no, no, no. Don’t do it! I still have pity for your character. But if you do this, I will only like this character because it’s Lee Je-hoon. DON’T DO IT!

But he does.

If he can’t have her, no one will. He’s going to submit the paperwork tomorrow. What does he have left to lose? She already told him that he should be ashamed of himself (at the dinner with the four of them in episode 8.) This is payback for the pain he received.

She wants to know why he’s doing this and so do I. What the hell, Jae-hyuk? What the hell?

Well, he’s a jealous little bitch, that’s what the hell. Despite the fact that he was sorry, he doesn’t want her standing gext to Young-gul. When she says all the good feelings she had for him are starting to disappear, Jae-hyuk announces he doesn’t care. He’d rather she be beside him and hating him than by Young-gul’s side.

So you’re going to sue us? she asks and he replies that she’s the one who rejected his offer. He has nothing left that he can do.

Uh, don’t even go there mister. Don’t. Even. Go. There. Are you hoping to enslave her and then pray that she’ll fall in love with you via Stockholm Syndrome?

He says come to work on Monday or it’s the end of YGM. She climbs on a bus and broods. She’s a pretty brooder. Too bad we all know she’s not going to say a word to Young-gul and be a noble idiot.

At Young Young Apparel, Young-gul is happily designing a dress and hides it when Ga-young returns. (*squee* It’s for her!) He pretends to be drinking a beer and when he asks her where she was, she says with a friend before curling up on her bed. He looks concerned, but leaves her to rest.

She broods over Jae-hyuk’s confession. So much brooding. And I can’t tell if I want her to be touched by his confession or not. I’m so bipolar when it comes to this show. I shouldn’t want her to be because he’s a big friggin’ manipulator and user. But I was so happy he confessed…looking hot…

I have a theory and it’s called “The Double Diss Theory”. If a man gets dissed once, it wakes him up and he’s a knight in shining armor. But if you diss him again, you betta watch yo’ back because he gonna get you!

President Jang, Jae-hyuk’s mommy dearest, goes to the spa and finds out An-na is there. Turns out, An-na is with the Dragon, which surprises Jang. She makes several degrading remarks about how An-na can’t afford a place like this without help from her son. But An-na can. The Dragon invites Jang to join them but she has an appointment. At said appointment, she orders An-na and Jang to be closely watched.

These spy games are getting tedious.

Bong Sook gets a massive order from China, which rocks her world, and she runs to Young-gul. Her excitement brings Ga-young and all the ahjummas clambering in. It’s a 4.3 million dollar contract and the room because a freak-out chamber. Young-gul wraps his arms tightly around a flustered Ga-young. “We did it.”

It’s so cute that during emotional moments, he just wants to hold her and share it with her.

A guilty Ga-young tries to call Jae-hyuk no no avail.

He doesn’t pick up because he’s doing some martial art with bamboo swords (shinai). I think it’s Kendo. Thank you Rurouni Kenshin. OMG, I love that manga/anime. YAY KENSHIN. Now I really want to read about the Hitokiri Battousai.

Oh yeah, I was talking about Fashion King.

Jae-hyuk is battling his father who beats the bejesus out of him. Afterwards, Daddy Jae-hyuk says he heard the Dragon asked for $10 million. People always think they have money to spare. What will he do?

Jae-hyuk’s: Destroy them all.

Dad: *evil laugh*

Jae-hyuk: *looks unsure*

Raine: *laughs*

Seriously? Destroy them all? Are you having delusions of grandeur? WTF dude?

In his apartment, Jae-hyuk’s phone rings and he answers it in a bathroom.

Wait. A. Second. He took a shower that was probably broody and we didn’t see it??????????????????????????? *sigh* At least his robe is open at the top.

Anyway, he ignores a call from Ga-young.

Young-gul goes into his office and sees Ga-young sleeping. He wonders why she has been working so hard and takes off her shoes before covering her with a blanket. “Ga-young,” he says softly. “We did it.”

*Raine’s heart melts* Seriously, my theory about dissing is so far holding true. She better not Double Diss Young-gul or it will get crazy up in here.

Young-gul goes into the worship to finish the dress but he can’t figure out what to write on the card, which turns out to be a birthday card.

*squee* He made her a dress for her birthday. *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Ahem.

He waffles between writing “you’re my most important dongsaeng” to “you’re my love forever” to “you’re my Madonna”.

You’re going to get tired of me doing this but, *squeeeeeeee*

He finally figures out what to write and sticks the card on the mannequin before heading to bed. He spots the Michael Jackson jacket of destiny and pulls it off the hanger. Of course he discovers the “LEE GA YOUNG” label and suddenly realizes that she must’ve met with Jae-hyuk that one time she was out all day.

Poor thing is hurt. Wait, what am I saying? That’s the day after he stayed out all night with An-na without uttering a peep and then harassed her for doing the same! But…poor Young-gul. *sniffle*

Are you seeing what this show is doing to me? HELP ME! I need professional K-drama intervention.

The next morning Ga-young wakes to the sound of scuffling in the kitchen and goes to check it out. It’s Young-gul who wishes her a happy birthday and who has prepared a lovely breakfast completely with seaweed soup. Ga-young is stunned into silence and tears fill her eyes. She thanks him and Young-gul looks quite proud of how his actions touched her so.

There’s more to come, he tells her, so why is she crying? Because it’s the first time she’s ever had seaweed soup on her birthday.

Okay, death to Dragon Lady. You raised the girl and never gave her seaweed soup? It’s the Korean equivalent of a birthday cake in the U.S.

Well, Young-gul, happy he could do something for her, brings out the dress he made and she stares in shock. It’s the only one in the world, made by hers truly. She cries some more and tells him she’s really thankful. Then, ever so gently, he tells her he will make seaweed soup for her on every birthday.

Oh. My. Gosh. *squee* *becomes puddle on the floor* *squee* *dies from cute*

Did he seriously just say that? He intends to be with her for a while, even if it’s not romantically for now, that’s still a huge commitment from a man who has never really committed to anyone his whole life.

Young-gul has her open the card, which reads:

Lee Ga-young. Happy birthday. You told me that meeting me is your luckiest thing, right? I also think the same. From your lucky mascot, Kang Young-Gul.

…

…

…

I’m sorry guys. Here it comes. I can’t suppress it…. *SQUEEEEEEE*

She is completely awash with emotion and the poor thing is probably racked with guilt as well. Damn you Jae-hyuk! You’re ruining a beautiful moment of redemption and a heck of a lot of Cute. I needed Cute. This drama was in serious need of Cute.

Ga-young tries on the dress and it’s actually really cute. He fusses over it and is so pleased with himself, but a bit confused by her solemn expression. He asks whether or not she likes it, but she avoids the question and tells him she has to go somewhere.

No… You wouldn’t…not wearing that dress…she couldn’t, right?

Even though the aspiring designers are coming for interviews, she leaves anyway and he’s left stunned and extremely disappointed.by the sudden departure.

*Sob* Come here, I’ll give you a hug. You finally came around and she won’t tell you the truth. Poor thing. Poor thing.

Ga-young did, in fact, head to J Fashion in Young-gul’s dress. I’m telling myself she’s wearing it as a comfort and a shield against the evil Jae-hyuk. Don’t try to convince me otherwise.

Jae-hyuk ignores her presence until she stands before his desk in his office.

That’s his place of power. He brings everyone there. A king on his throne.

Jae-hyuk makes a snide remark about Young-gul sending her awful fast. She tells him she came of her own accord and to stop insulting her president. She came because he asked. She understands his reasoning, but he shouldn’t think he can control other people’s lives to make himself feel better. She apologized once and she’ll do it again if she needs to.

(Such a cute dress, but it needs to be fitted better IMHO)

Design Director Kim comes in and is pleased to see Ga-young who is formally introduced as the girl who got a full scholarship to the New York Fashion School. She’s lucky to meet an affluent designer like Kim. She is to start working right away.

Kim and Ga-young leave Jae-hyuk feeling guilty, jealous and pensive. How do I know this? Because the next move he makes is to tell Assistant Kim to submit the legal papers.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Kim introduces her to the design team, An-na is surprised and extremely unhappy to see her there and Ga-young already has her own desk.

There is a bathroom showdown.

What is up with K-dramas and bathroom showdowns? Handwashing is like the ultimate showdown activity. You insult me, I flick soapy water into your eyes, MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

So An-na confronts Ga-young, thinking she’s using Jae-hyuk to ladder climb. But Ga-young denies it and says that’s what An-na did. An-na does not deny it and tells Ga-young she’s a hypocrite.

Wow, I hate how everything comes to money. I’m confused, though. An-na said she loved Jae-hyuk. I think she does. Is she posturing? Probably.

In his office, Young-gul broods over Ga-young’s actions and finally decides to call her. But she left her phone on the sofa. He checks the calls and see there are a shit ton to Jae-hyuk. Then he sees Jae-hyuk’s text that tells her to meet him and Young-gul realizes the friend she met the night before her birthday was Jae-hyuk.

The ahjummas gossip about Young-gul and Ga-young. One of them heard a few stories from a neighbor about Young-gul leaving with An-na and then Jae-hyuk trying to take Ga-young away. This morning the neighbor saw Ga-young leaving in a nice dress and when he asked her where she was going, she answered, “To work.” Is she working for the rich guy, the ahjummas wonder. The gossip session breaks up when Young-gul comes out.

He’s headed to J Fashion where Director Kim is reviewing Ga-young’s sketches. He wants her to keep drawing. Young-gul overhears the conversation and looks hurt and frustrated. He’s about to leave when he suddenly decides to pay attention to Jae-hyuk who is in a meeting.

An aside: Lee Je-hoon smiles FOR REAL and it’s beautiful, so there’s a picture montage of it at the end of the recap.

Back to the story. Young-gul barges in on the meeting, shoves the three guys on the sofa over, plants his tush on the cushion and gets down to the issue at hand. Jae-hyuk needs to get it straight. Young-gul may have liked An-na at first; she’s beautiful. But she rejected him and he gave up. He doesn’t hang onto women who aren’t interested. It ain’t his style.

Hear that Jae-hyuk? Yeah, that was aimed at you. And yeah, you deserve to be mortified in front of your colleagues.

So Jae-hyuk needs to stop seeing Young-gul’s employee and giving his woman a hard time. She’s so hurt, that she confides in “trash” like him. Jae-hyuk needs to make sure his woman doesn’t come to see this trash.

Jae-hyuk asks Young-gul to leave, but he’s not finished. Why does Jae-hyuk keep chasing his employee when he asked An-na to marry him? Ga-young is only 21, naive to the ways of the world and of men. Young-gul knows that Jae-hyuk did something to make her come work at J Fashion.

PHEW. I was sooooo worried there would be another misunderstanding. There will probably still be one, but not over that particular issue.

Anyway, Jae-hyuk won’t tell Young-gul what he did, but Young-gul will find out soon enough. *sob* Young-gul says he’s not the same man. Jae-hyuk doesn’t care. It’s only the money that’s changed and it doesn’t how much money people like him make, they’re still trash.

It’s time for Jae-hyuk to finishing lining up his chess pieces. He calls An-na to ask if she introduced Young-gul to Michael. No. Should he invest the $10 million into Jo’s company? An-na wants to know why she’s asking him and he says his mother told him she and the Dragon are close. An-na says his mother must talk about people she meets at the spa.

Then, Jae-hyuk pulls out his nasty, nasty trump card: she doesn’t know this because she didn’t grow up in a normal home but, there are no secrets in families.

O_O

The words cut deeply and An-na takes a shot. He asks why she introduced Young-gul to Madame Jo and it was because she wanted to help him. Jae-hyuk deduces that An-na lied about falling out of love with him.

An-na: You asked me to marry you but went to America to see another woman. What can’t I say to a man like that?

He tells her she shouldn’t act like that towards someone who gave her everything. There will be a report at the police station tomorrow so rrom now on, she needs to listen to his orders.

OMG he’s on a flippin’ power trip. I hate vengeful Jae-hyuk. Hate. Hate. Hate.

In another bit of product placement, Young-gul checks out a KIA and test drives it. He gets a phone call and whadduyaknow, it’s the prosecutor’s office letting him know that a case has been opened against him!

 Comments:

Yoo Ah-in is such a powerful actor. He made me want to cry. And how does he look hot while looking anguished all at the same time. I may be fawning over Lee Je-hoon, but that doesn’t detract from the awesome hotness that is Yoo Ah-in.

Questions: What happened to loan shark Tae-san? His girlfriend? Young-gul’s backstory? The kiss with Ga-young seems to not be an issue at all.

I’m only going to say this: Ga-young, stand up for yourself. Jae-hyuk, stop spiraling out of control like a teenager. You’re a big boy now.

Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Character introductions.

Fashion King Episode 11 Screencaps.

(A smile and laugh this genuine are so rare in this show. He has a rather broody, miserable character. So I had to document every detail…)