by: Raine

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Yes, that’s Lee Hong-ki with a kitten. My life is complete. This episode still hasn’t shown us that the show is improving in quality, but I’ll be damned if there isn’t a highly addicting…SOMETHING…about it. Call it the appeal of a man with a cat.

episode 2 recap

Yi-hyun drives Doo-rim to his home and she follows him inside with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. When Mommy Jae-ran sees Doo-rim, the uncanny resemblance to her daughter surprises her. And pleases her. And bothers her. She calls Doo-rim tacky after she goes upstairs to settle in for the night.

That creeps me out. I just find this woman creepy. Shouldn’t you be actively looking for your  missing child?

Yi-hyun shows Doo-rim to her room and leaves her to explore, and ultimately, to relax and try to make sense of everything that has happened.

Jae-ran wonders if her husband cheated, but Yi-hyun assures her that Doo-rim’s family history has nothing to do with theirs. Guh, creepy, creepy lady. GUH! Especially when she agrees that this is fortunate for them.

After washing up, Doo-rim let’s her curiosity get the better of her and she snoops around and goes into a room, Yi-kyung’s room. Then she sees the picture of Yi-kyung and, more than noticing that they’re similar, notices how they are different in demeanor. She takes her time checking out the jewelry and makeup. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about. I love makeup!!!!!

Doo-rim sees cotton balls and assumes their cotton candy because of the label on their container…and eats one. SERIOUSLY? Are you dumb? Didn’t you notice when you chewed on it that it wasn’t edible? Yi-hyun catches her choking on the cotton ball and she hurks it at him. He scolds her for being in there…and she deserves it for snooping!

The next day she gets a Yi-kyung make over, smiling at the transformation. She takes off the bracelet and stuffs it into her pocket. When she’s through, she quickly loses the bracelet under a potted plant and then loses her temper at a bunch of rude Seoulites.

Honey, it ain’t just Seoulites. It’s city people in general. I was a huge bitch when I moved from Miami to Fort Collins. Now I’m nicer. At least I think so…

She notices she’s dropped her bracelet and heads to the elevators to check the salon. At the same time, Kang-joo enters the studio and meets Yi-hyun. He’s there for a photo shoot for his mall. After he leaves, Yi-hyun phones Doo-rim who climbs on an elevator, missing Kang-joo by seconds. While he waits for the next elevator, some magical force pulls the bracelet out from under the potted plant and towards his foot. (It was so cheesy. Pfffft!) He hangs it on the plant with a look of distaste. In another missed meeting, she comes off an elevator and he goes on. She spots the bracelet hanging and thinks the person who did that was smart.

A frazzled Yi-hyun finds her and asks if she met Kang-joo. Nope! She was looking for her bracelet, her lucky charm. When she took it off, she lost money and her granny got sick. When she put it back on, she met him and was able to pay for her granny’s surgery. Yi-hyun doesn’t seem to care and ushers her away to teach her about the different kinds of glasses for fancy dinners. He also shows her Kang-joo’s family and she’s excited to meet Kang-in because she’s a Monstar fan. Heh, cute.

She asks him to speak comfortably with her (in banmal. He’s been using jondae with her.) It would be weird if he used jondae at dinner with his dongsaeng.

Jae-ran and Yi-hyun lead a curious Doo-rim to dinner and she makes a pit stop in the bathroom only come face to face with the beauty shop ahjumma, Kim Bong-sook, who stole the neighborhood stash. She’s decked out in expensive clothing, accessories and makeup. When Bong-sook realizes it’s Doo-rim, she shoves her and runs. Of course, a screaming Doo-rim is right on her heels.

Jae-ran and Yi-hyun greet Kang-joo and his family who note that “Yi-kyung” is missing. Kang-joo volunteers to go get her.

Where is she? Chasing Bong-sook. Kang-joo notices the commotion and heads over to check it out. Doo-rim tackles Bong-sook to the ground and takes her wallet. They’re hiding behind some chairs when Kang-joo comes to take a look. He is stopped by Kang-in who asks why he’s not the mall’s model anymore. Doo-rim realizes who Kang-joo is and has another spaz attack in the chair she’s hiding in. She sends Bong-sook off who is more than happy to go.

Kang-in leaves Kang-joo who finds Doo-rim acting all cool, calm and collected on her hiding chair. He scolds her for skipping his inauguration. She apologizes in very stilted speech and he says her family was the most worried that they’d break up. He asks if she was just with someone, which she nervously denies. They head to dinner and he orders her to never run away again and to buck up. There are others who would take her place if she isn’t made of strong enough stuffs to marry him. That gets Doo-rim thinking that he’s self-absorbed.

Kang-joo gives her one last chance and she says they should head in. Of course, she trips and somehow she ends up in his arms with his lips on hers. How this situation is plausible, no one knows, but I do think their reaction afterwards was worth it. They’re shocked and disturbed and blaming each other. She asks if he did it on purpose, and he says he should be asking the same. Oy vey. Are they twelve?

She decides to head inside to avoid talking about it further.

Lunch is a quiet affair. Doo-rim is pissed that Kang-joo is rude enough to ignore her. She let Bong-sook go to attend the lunch. Her phone rings in the middle of lunch and it’s a Monstar song, which get’s Kang-in excited. He is happy to hear she is a fan, but also surprised since she was a piano major. He thought she’d only like classical music.

HOLD ON A MINUTE! Just ‘cause a person is a classical musician doesn’t mean they can’t like other music! I’m a classical musician! I love classical, but I also like rock, pop, rap, R&B, soul, k-pop….the list goes on.

Anyway, Jae-ran and Yi-hyun shoot her warning looks, but Kang-joo’s Dad looks happy that she’s taken an interest in their family. Kang-in invites her to a showcase before Monstar’s next comeback. While Kang-joo rolls his eyes, Kang-in is happy to have someone take interest in his music since his family does not.

When the meal is served, Yi-hyun silently guides Doo-rim through the proper etiquette. The food is delicious and Dad notices her enthusiasm. He likes that she isn’t picky and when Kang-joo snarks that last time he noticed she doesn’t eat fish, Jae-ran has to stop her from denying it and explains that Yi-kyung doesn’t like sushi because it made her sick when she was younger.

Dad wants to move up the wedding so he can have grand kids.

NOT YET! Need cute hijinx first!!!!!

Jae-ran tries to get out of it, but Myung-hee says that she and Jae-ran will prepare the whole wedding.

The families part ways and leave Kang-joo and “Yi-kyung” together, which neither is happy about.

Kang-joo notices she’s acting weird and wonders why she’s avoiding eye contact. She denies it and stares at him awkwardly. He concludes that she did do something wrong by holding his necktie and, y’know, that thing with his lips. He asks if she’s doing it on purpose and she has to control her temper.

He decides to get back to work, which confuses her. He explains that he just wanted to make it SEEM like they were together for their parents’ sake. Did she really want some alone time?

I do. Do I get a vote?

She denies wanting to be with him and accidentall yspits on him. He wipes it off and leaves her cursing up a storm after him.

Of course that’s the moment that President Kaneko arrives speaking Japanese. Heh. Let me guess, Doo-rim doesn’t speak Japanese.

I’m right. She answers long sentences with the few simple words she knows. It’s not enough and President Kaneko wonders if she remembers her. Luckily, Yi-hyun comes and saves the day by re-introducing himself.

They leave and he explains that he was too nervous leaving her alone and came back. She apologizes for her mistakes and he says that all that is important is that they got through today without getting caught.

Then Doo-rim asks a damned good question: how uninterested must Kang-joo be not to realize his finacee is a different person. She understands why Yi-kyung disappeared if she had to marry a jerk like them. She understands the people in arranged marriages in drama.

That would’ve been funny if there weren’t sooooo many drama cliches in this.

At home, she flops onto the bed, still feeling amped up from the meeting. Then she remembers Bong-sook’s wallet and the kiss. She bemoans the fact that her lips, which she protected for 25 years, were ruined by Kang-joo.

Downstairs Jae-ran bemoans the fact that she didn’t have the money to keep the maid and that the house is a mess. Yi-hyun thinks finding Yi-kyung might take longer than he thought. Jae-ran slams her door in his face.

Nice mom.

The next morning Doo-rim kindly prepares breakfast. and ushers Jae-ran into a chair. She feels bad that they can’t pay for help because of her so she’ll take care of cooking and cleaning. Jae-ran isn’t sure, but Doo-rim assures her that it’s fine, then serves a delicious looking seafood soup. Jae-ran tries it hesitantly and likes it. Yi-hyun thinks she’s better than the maid.

Yi-hyun says training begins after breakfast and the first thing she learns is that Yi-kyung really doesn’t like seafood. Doo-rim wants Yi-kyung to try what she catches and cooks, then she’s sure Yi-kyung will like seafood. Yi-hyun explains all the particulars of Yi-kyung’s tastes, which Doo-rim finds peculiar. Why does he know so much about her? If only Kang-joo cared a quarter of the amount he did.

It’s time for Kang-joo’s family tree and the list of Yi-kyung’s friends. He hands her a cellphone with all pertinent numbers in it. It rings and it’s Myung-hee who calls her over to the hanok.

Man, that is one beautiful home.

She is greeted by Butler Jang who is taken aback by her unrefined bow. Hehe. Flipping your hair during a bow isn’t cool? He guides her inside and she takes in the sights. It’s like a palace to her. I can’t blame her. It’s stunning.

Mommy Myung-hee hands Doo-rim the list that Kang-joo spoke about in the first episode, you know, the one that tells her everything she needs to know about him. Doo-rim also gets Kang-joo’s schedule of family events and stuff. He’s a VIP who is meant to do great things, says mom. The woman must do well in order for the man to succeed. What happened during the inauguration cannot happen again. She has to watch herself at all times.

Eek.

So Doo-rim is sent to Kang-joo’s room to wait for dinner. I’m praying for some ghost action. Why? I dunno, it’d be fun!

Doo-rim checks out his room and is uber impressed with the massive closet. AGain, she gets handsy with his things. Girl, didn’t you learn after ingesting that cotton ball? Or maybe your bad memory is because you ingested a cotton ball…

She takes a look at his pictures and picks up his fencing mask. Uh-oh. Please don’t pick up a sword. Please don’t pick up a sword…

She picks it up, plays around with it and then flops on the bed, accidentally hitting the remote and turning onto Beethoven’s fifth. Enter a very angry Kang-joon who shuts off the music and glares at her.

He asks if this is who she really is: reserved in public, crazy in private. Wait, don’t men like that. Lady on the streets and freak in the bed! Or maybe I just listen to too much Usher and Ludacris…heh. Am I getting ahead of myself?

But then Lee Hong-ki takes off his jacket  and shirt and I can’t help myself again! His phone rings and he indicates she should bring it to him. She does and avoids looking at him. Look girl! Look!

Kang-joo calls her on her behavior change and she quickly decides to wait downstairs while he changes. He stops her on her way out, gets really close and wonders if she wasn’t curious about his body.

I AM! However, putting your arm against her neck isn’t what I’d call romantic so stop the chauvinistic crap and be romantic already.

He leans in and the martial artist in her comes out. She shoves him away and he hits the opposite wall. Then she puts her fist in his face and threatens bodily harm if he tries anything. Hehe.

Needless-to-say, he’s weirded out by yet another personality change and she struggles to cover it up. She says they’re not married yet; they should be proper before marriage. Don’t think about anything ‘til marriage! She leaves, thinking that he’s a total pervert.

Honey, I hate to break it to you, but he’s a man. Yes, he’s perverted. About once every 3 seconds.

A random shift to Yi-hyun’s house where he preps her on Kang-joo’s grandfather’s death anniversary. The grandfather founded Taeyang group and it’s the largest gathering of the year. This, as well as everything they are asking her to do, is just too much for her and she protests.

Also, what is she getting for this? Just the money for her grandmother’s surgery? That was never really made clear.

So Yi-hyun clears it up for me by offering to open the store that Doo-rim has always wanted to open. She is suddenly willing to go to all the gatherings on the list.

Cut to the death anniversary where she introduced to Kang-joo’s eclectic family. One granny is playing on a phone. Heh. It takes a while to get her attention and finally Dad pulls the phone out of her hand. But this granny takes one look at Doo-rim and starts yelling that she isn’t Kang-joo’s fiancee and that she needs to get out. Butler Jang’s wife, the kindly housekeeper from last episode, quickly ushers Doo-rim to safety.

Doo-rim takes out the trash and comes face to face with Roo-mi who starts in with the bitchy right away.

Can we just cut her from the drama? Guh.

While Doo-rim tries to figure out who the rude stranger is, Roo-mi accuses her of doing hard labor because she can’t think. Doo-rim grimaces as Roo-mi spouts nastiness. Finally, Mommy Myung-hee calls Roo-mi’s name and Roo-mi acts all perfectly with polite smiles, language and behavior. She offers to help and is invited in, stopping only to  glare back at Doo-rim. When she’s gone, Doo-rim checks her phone for info on the witch and also gives us some background: business manager of Taeyang mall. Top of her class at Hangook University. Dad is the attorney general. And she’s Yi-kyung’s best friend. That gets Doo-rim yelling to herself again.

She is caught by Kang-joo who asks what she’s doing. Helping! Then he insults her by asking what she can do besides putting on makeup, eating and shopping.

Dude, you deserve a beating. Instead, she tells him that she’s never met anyone who spouts so many cold things and makes her want to direct all of her attentions onto the next dog she sees. (A dog is better than him.) Ha. That pisses him off and he has to cool down before he goes inside.

Doo-rim helps out inside and offers to cut up a fish for a helpless-looking Mrs. Jang, the butler’s wife. She shows her how to cut the fish and almost gives away her real identity when asked where she learned how to bleed and gut a it. Instead, she says she learned at cooking class, then goes to help with a heavy bag. Kang-joo overhears the women in the kitchen talking prettily about her easy personality and work ethic, nothing like the princess they heard she was. He leaves quietly.

Outside the maids are preparing the meal and gossiping about how lucky the woman is to marry into the family. They also talk about the gossip that floated around after the president’s first wife died. She died in a hit-and-run on their honeymoon. Doo-rim overhears and comes on over to ask about it. Before anything is said, Mommy Myung-hee scolds them for gossiping while preparing the food and warns Doo-rim not to get too friendly with the house help. She’ll have to order them around later and if they’re too friendly it will be difficult.

Wow. Just…wow. Really? That’s how you treat people? Gross.

Mommy Myung-hee leads her to the grandmother who wants to be carried. Butler Jang offers his back, but granny kicks him away. She wants Doo-rim to carry her. Doo-rim does so with a smile on her face. It probably reminds her of her Grams. That is, until this granny pees on her and smiles about it.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Doo-rim takes it all in stride, tells the granny she must be relieved and offers to help her change clothes. Kang-joo saw the whole thing and I think I see him smiling. Just a hint, but it’s there!

Doo-rim gently puts the granny to bed and decides to nap with her since she’s tired from working for the first time in a long time. She worries about her Grams who is, at the moment, eating alone, worrying about Doo-rim all alone in a new city.

Kang-joo walks in where Doo-rim is sleeping with his grandmother and sits down on the bed beside her. She’s cute until she snores. He shakes her awake and she’s startled so she calls him a pervert. Heh. He says it’s not pervy if the woman is snoring as loudly as she was. Then he has her come out because it’s almost time for the memorial. She takes a last look at his grandmother before the ceremony begins.

Afterwards, she’s cleaning up the table when the lights go out. Kang-joo appears behind her and scares her. They tumble over and she lands atop him. The lights go back on and they are caught like that by Roo-mi. What I find more interesting is that Kang-joo looks guilty about it. Does he have something going on with Roo-mi? He accuses Doo-rim of doing it on purpose ‘cause she knew Roo-mi was there.

On her way out, Doo-rim glances back, wondering what happened and we’re treated to a closeup of an old photograph that focuses on a smiling young girl. The ghost perhaps?

Jae-ran pulls a talisman out of her pillowcase and wonders where her daughter is and how she’s doing. Hrm, this caring side of her doesn’t fit the other stuff we know about her. Blech. Yi-hyun informs her that Doo-rim is fine and the death rites just finished. He asks what the talisman is: to help with harmony between bride and groom. She crumples it up, thinking it useless.

Roo-mi asks Kang-joo if he’s going to marry Yi-kyung. She’s the woman his family wants him to marry, he replies. It doesn’t matter as long as your parents approve? she asks, hurt. He agrees although he face clearly says that he doesn’t. Why would he marry someone without love? she wants to know and he says feelings like those don’t really exist. Roo-mi knows that his past has made him think that way, but before she can say more, he stops her. He doesn’t want her to act like she understands, but she feels like she’s been with him long enough to do so. Kang-joo never asked her to stand by him for so long.

That makes her try a different tactic. If it doesn’t matter who he marries and if love doesn’t matter, isn’t she a better choice? Doesn’t he know how she feels about him and how’s she’s felt since childhood? He tells her it’s time to stop now. Roo-mi goes in for one last backhug, which, of course, Doo-rim sees and gets caught spying by Kang-joo and Roo-mi.

Thankfully, he has the decency to look guilty, which Roo-mi calls him on. How can he look guilty when she’s standing beside him. I think she’s out of line, and so does he, ‘cause he tells her to watch herself. “Yi-kyung” is his fiancee, the person chosen by his family.

Doo-rim tells herself that Roo-mi is sly and wonders if Kang-joo will fall for that. Then she tells herself it has nothing to do with her. She looks forward to it being over.

However, the ghost that floats across the screen smirking tells me that it’s not quite over yet… Yeah, it’s that girl from the old family photo. Wait, I think Doo-rim saw her. She asks another maid servant where she went, but she didn’t see the girl. That maid was coming out from the family shrine where Doo-rim decides to go. Naturally.

Seriously, girl. You need to put a cap on your curiosity. You don’t got nine lives.

It may not be a shrine, actually. I’m thinking it’s the bridal chambers from the first episode. In any case, there is a creepy ghost smiling as Doo-rim enters. Moments later,  Kang-joo enters the enclosed area as well and finds her underneath the porch. He demands to know why she’s there and…she’s found a kitten! D’AW!!!! But sadly, the mom died and she asks him to dig a grave for her.

Where did that shovel come from?

Anyway, Doo-rim cuddles the kitten while he huffs and puffs that he is the heir to Taeyang Group (ie he doesn’t do shoveling), but Doo-rim doesn’t know what being an heir has to do with shoveling. Amen sister. Her challenge incites his competitive spirit and he begins. Only…he can’t get the shovel in. So she hands him the kitten (and he kinda squeals, heh) and shows him how it’s done while complaining that there isn’t much he’s done besides eating, wiping his poop and using a pen with his hands.

Wow, colorful comeback for earlier.  He’s properly insulated. Then he and the kitten watch as she finishes burying the kitten’s mom and promises to be the kitten’s mom instead. Cute. Then she leaves him and he’s wondering what the hell just happened.

Honey, you just had your first taste of being whipped by your woman. Enjoy it. It’s going to keep happening.

Also, because I’m a proud cat mommy, here is a gratuitous shot of my babies, Timmy (the tabby) and Momo (the Siamese):

EEEEEEEE! Cuteness!!!! Those are my BABIES! EEEEEE!

Okay, back to the recap.

Myung-hee serves Dad some tea. He’s please with “Yi-kyung” who is respectful and thoughtful.

That comment makes me think we should’ve gotten to know the real Yi-kyung more before she ran away. I have nothing to compare that statement to.

Dad thinks she’s compatible with Kang-joo, but Myung-hee isn’t sure yet. Dad is annoyed at her hesitation when she picked Yi-kyung. Does she still have lingering feelings about Roo-mi? Hrm, interesting. Myung-hee says very matter-of-factly that Roo-mi wasn’t meant to be a part of their family and it’s disappointing. Then she says: do you think I did that to your first love? Apparently she’s asked this before because Dad gets frustrated with her. He says it’s in the past, but she worries about Kang-joo and I think her motivation in choosing Yi-kyung just became clearer.

Did she not want Roo-mi to be the first wife because she didn’t want her killed by the curse? Is Yi-kyung her choice for sacrifice?

Dad warns her not to mention these things to the kids. So they don’t know about the curse?

Myung-hee unlocks a box and takes out a journal and a red traditional shoe. Belong to his first wife,  did they?

Kang-joo drives Doo-rim home and wakes her up by braking hard. He tells her to wipe the drool from her mouth. I think he’s super amused by her. Hehe. She defends that she’s tired and he is surprised she’s pretending not to have seen or heard anything earlier. Then a tad guiltily he starts to bring up the Roo-mi incident from earlier. But cat pee gets in the way and makes her holler. He’s frustrated by the lack of attention she pays him and I think that she blocked his sincere attempt to apologize. Instead he tells her to be on time for their interview in the morning.

She slams the door aggressively and he drives away in a tiff.

Then she has to deal with bringing the kitten home. Apparently Yi-kyung is ridiculously allergic to cats and dogs and gets scolded by Yi-hyun for bringing one home. Did she not read the list? Doo-rim assures him that Kang-joo doesn’t know anything about Yi-kyung so there ain’t nothing to worry about. But Yi-hyun is worried. He worries about when his sister returns. Doo-rim is properly chastised and is thoroughly reminded that she isn’t Na Doo-rim, but Jang Yi-kyung. She asks to keep the cat until his sister returns.

In the morning, Dad is no where to be found because he’s off in a snowy field remembering his dead first love. It might be her grave because Dad bows to an older man.

Doo-rim shows up for the interview and Roo-mi ignores her. They meet up with Kang-joo who gives her a once over and asks that she remove her lucky bracelet so that her necklace will be the highlighted accessory. Instead of taking it off, she rolls it up higher so it’s hidden.

Suddenly, the employee he fired in the first episode storms up, angry as hell fire and armed with a tomato, which she hurls at Kang-joo’s head. At the last minute, Doo-rim jumps in front of him and takes the hit, shocking everyone…except me. That was so obvious. But the look on Lee Hong-ki’s face is priceless

 Comments:

I don’t know what it is with this show. It’s not good. But I’m really into it. There is something so charming about Yang Jin-sung and her interactions with Lee Hong-ki that are priceless. She is totally making the show worth it for me and I’m interested in how this ghost making brides die thing works.

One major complaint on the filming side. There are glaring lights everywhere. Characters are always blasted by back lighting. It’s really distracting and frustrating when I’m trying to watch facial expressions, but they’re washed out by horrid lighting. Or taking screencaps. That’s impossible, too!

Now for the story, like I said before, it’s strangely engaging despite how many gaping plot holes there are. The intrigue lies in the character interactions and of those interactions, the only ones I’m invested in are the interactions between Doo-rim and Kang-joo and Kang-in with both of them, although we haven’t gotten much on that front.

I’m really wishing we’d had more time with the real Yi-kyung because everything we know about her comes from her brother, Yi-hyun. I kinda felt like that in You’re Beautiful as well. The real Go Mi-nam was too much out of the picture for me.  I also find is as peculiar as Doo-rim does that Yi-hyun knows SO MUCH about his sister. Are they really related? Are we going to have the Seasons Dramas drama hit us?

Dad’s involvement with the curse is minorly intriguing as well, but mostly because Mommy Myung-hee is so caught up in it.

Mostly, however, this story is still in the set up stages. I’m waiting for the ball to really get rolling, which may also be when this thing starts to fall apart because it’s stitched together so haphazardly. We’ll see. For now I’m hoping and praying for couple cuteness and for more kitten screen time!

Recaps 1

Character Introductions