Recap: What's Up Episode 12

All is not smooth-sailing in the “What’s Up” world.

Episode 12

 Chae-young informs Jae-hun that Tae-hee is brought to a special VIP room of a certain hotel owned by one of the rich kids…but he won’t be able to get in easily…

Jae-hun saunters into the hotel but is immediately picked out by the lobby manager. He bluffs that he’s an acquaintance of the son of the Hotel’s president, hinting it’s best not to mess with him if he knows what’s good for him…

Tae-hee is looking glum and pouts, clearly uncomfortable to be present at such gatherings. Kang tries to charm her, like a seasoned pro, so much so that even his friends shake their heads at his Casanova tricks. The poker game is interrupted by loud knocks on their door.

A very very pissed Jae-hun is at the door, banging the door with gritted teeth. When the door opens, he walks right up to Tae-hee and grabs her hand. Kang tries to intervene, but Jae-hun stops him by declaring he’s sorry to interrupt their poker game but he’s here to find a friend, and now that he’s found her, he shall take his leave. Tae-hee follows Jae-hun even as Kang calls out to her.

They made it to the hallway before Tae-hee stops.

JH: Don’t do it.

TH: How did you find this place?

JH: I know I’m very cool right now (Heh!) but I’m also very angry. Don’t say stuffs like thank you and all. You can save that for later…J

Tae-hee stops. (What?) She says she can’t leave yet. She’s got unfinished business. Jae-hun assumes the worst and loses his temper, accusing her of being materialistic. With a trembling voice, Tae-hee explains she wants to be a musical actor – it’s the one think she wants to do, the one thing she’s good at, to sing and dance before an audience. She desperately wants to be a musical actor, and for that purpose, she’s trying her best. Dad told her that trying your best means going all out. People always give up easily, using various excuses. She doesn’t want to be like that. That is why if it’s something she can do, she would do it. She wants to try her very best now. She wants to be a musical actor, even if it means she has to return to that room, even if Jae-hun cannot understand her. (I can’t too! )

Disappointed and hurt, Jae-hun lets her be, it’s her life so the decision is hers. He apologizes for meddling in her business, he’s known to do crazy stuffs. T.T (My heart hurts so much for him here). He turns to leave but Tae-hee grabs onto the back of his jacket.

TH: I know you’re going to be even madder if I say this but….Jang-Jae-hun, can you wait for me? No matter how it is, I’m really scared. But if you’re here for me, it’d be really great. Can you do that?

JH: You planning to go back with me?

TH: Can’t I?

JH: I came with a motorbike. It’s going to be cold and uncomfortable. Unlike a posh car.

TH: You came for me on such a cold and uncomfortable motorbike? Twice…?

Squeee!! The meaning is not lost on the both of them…

Jae-hun turns back to her, licks his thumb and tries to wipe away her smudged mascara. Eww and ooo…She tells him to leave it, she can’t repair it either, only Doo-ri can do it. Hah. Anyway, he promises to wait for her and she returns to her boss with a lighter heart.

Tae-hee stands before Kang and the boys, smudged make-up and all, and tells them she’d like to sing for them because they’re potential investors for the musical and therefore it’s of paramount importance that they like her singing. Kang smiles, defeated by her sincerity and naiveté. Phew!

Meanwhile, Tian-ji is red-eyed with anger as he and his buddies camp out in Jae-hun’s room waiting for Jae-hun. Do-sung is scared witless, frantically making calls to Jae-hun.

Tae-hee starts singing and Kang is actually paying her full attention instead of joining his friends. Jae-hun waits for her, as promised, pacing alone in the lobby. Tae-hee sings beautifully, her voice so clear and mesmerizing that before long everyone in the room is enthralled by her song.

The song is actually a duet as we cut to the next scene, with Byung-gun singing seemingly alone

outdoors.

With Byung-gun singing in the background, fantastically I might add, we come back to Tae-hee showing herself before Jae-hun with a smile and running up to him. Then we see that Byung-gun is actually not alone, the ghost is with him, listening to him sing. Elsewhere in the campus, Sun is washing his nosebleed in sink. (Oh no!) Jae-hun and Tae-hee are on the bike, on the way back to the campus.

Byung-gun ends the song with a crescendo, pleased with himself before he notices the ghost who

claps for him, moved to tears. Initially, Byung-gun is pleased to have found his first listener but

when he realizes that he’s the red-tracksuit ghost, he faints. LOL.

Jae-hun and Tae-hee has finally reached the campus. Jae-hun lifts her down from the bike and

helps her remove her helmet. He stifles a smile when he sees her all mussed up, grinning at him.

She returns his jacket and he awkwardly tells her to go in, unable to resist a smile. Tae-hee waves

goodbye enthusiastically while he tries to stifle another smile. OMG. This whole sequence? –

sweet!!!!!

Day. Winter. Jae-hun bumps into Sun in the laundry room. Sun’s here because he doesn’t own a washing machine while Jae-hun here because….he’s been punished to do the seniors’ laundry twice a week for two months, because of the motorbike fiasco. Sun remembers his staircase punishments and comments, “So this is season 2?” LMAO.

The two chat while waiting for the laundry to be done. Jae-hun is amazed to hear that Sun has quit drinking for about 5 months and teases if Doo-ri made him do it. Hah. He gets whacked for that jibe. Sun in turn asks him about Tae-hee’s contract and his conflict with her. Jae-hun is impressed Sun seems to know everything, wondering aloud if Doo-ri told him. Muahaha. He tells Sun that Tae-hee has signed the contract and Sun asks him to get Tae-hee to show him the contract. Aww…he cares.

Bolstered by his attitude, Jae-hun confides how impressed he is with Tae-hee. She’s so tiny and muddle-headed – Sun adds no sense of direction, crybaby, petite and foolish to that list – but she’s so confident of her dream, including what she must do or what path to take, she has targets for everything. Jae-hun admits that his target used to be to attend University, he had thought that he’d figure everything out here. Like a videogame – once you level up, you should be able to figure out the next level. Hah. Sun laughs. Jae-hun takes offense, especially since he’s not the kind to confide easily. Sun tells him that it’s just the beginning – when he starts to know things he didn’t know before. I don’t think Jae-hun gets it yet…it’s kinda deep, but he changes the topic. Asking Sun why he quit drinking, thinking it’s a pity since he figured they could have a booze binge one fine day. He answers seriously, “I want to live a little longer…” It’s Jae-hun’s turn to laugh since he thinks Sun is joking. But I’m getting uneasy here, that’s not very reassuring…

The class is practicing a song in Jang’s class, but Byung-gun is looking mighty listless. Not the energetic Byung-gun we’re accustomed to. He didn’t even respond when Jang comments on his inability to sing along. Doo-ri explains on his behalf, “He saw a ghost that’s why.”

Byung-gun complains about the ghost to Ms Secretary and Assistant An, worried he’s going to be possessed, wondering if it’s a good thing – at least he won’t be afraid of ghost and he can sing well. Sensing their disbelief, he tries to convince them he truly saw it, even if he did faint, no the ghost made him faint for about 10seconds, err… no, 30seconds max. LOL. Ms Secretary and Assistant An tells Byung-gun in confidence that the ghost possessed strong powers – he’s known as Daebak Singer. In fact a few of the famous graduates from the school has benefited from encounters with that ghost. They chide him for fainting in his encounter with the ghost, therefore possibly missed the opportunity…Byung-gun is visibly upset by now, feeling sorry for himself for not making the most out of his chance encounter. They are just playing a prank on him but poor Byung-gun believed them….Awww…it’s a little mean, but he’s so adorable. J

Prof Yang is busy finalizing the cast for her musical. The first part of the NYMF Competition consists of the preliminaries. A panel of judges will visit schools and musical groups to select teams for the preliminaries. Only 8 teams will be selected nationwide. Competition will be tough. Prof Yang only received the “consolation prize” the previous year which is given to teams that was dropped from the preliminaries.

Doo-ri shows up unannounced as Ms Secretary is explaining the structure of the competition to Sun. Doo-ri expresses her displeasure at him smiling to other women. LOL. Sun appears immuned to her frankness, in fact indulging her like a spoilt child. J She wants to sign up for the audition of his musical.

The posters are up, recruiting students for the musical. At one end, we have a professional looking poster, while at the other end, we have a decidedly cruder-looking poster (which misspelled the name of the competition LOL). No prize for guessing which is whose.

Chae-young is testing Prof Yang’s resolve not to recruit professional help, preferring to use her own students by suggesting that Sun might have an unfair advantage due to his previous connections to these judges. She implies that it’s best that Sun’s team is dropped from the competition, volunteering to see to it that they are. Chae-young ah….when are you gonna learn. Your fake smile is really irritating, as is your unscrupulous tactics. Sigh.

Jae-hun is eye-ing Do-sung anxiously. Do-sung thinks he wants to copy his homework. Hah. But Jae-hun informs him he’s bought two tickets for the musical, Hero. Do-sung thinks Jae-hun’s inviting him but Jae-hun comes right out and admits he intends to invite Tae-hee, wiping the smile off his face L. Do-sung consents to them going together, albeit sulkily, ignoring Jae-hun thereafter. Jae-hun thinks it’s best to come clean, telling him to come along if he’s unhappy about it.

Do-sung sulks alone and shouts at the unfortunate party who calls him on his phone. J Turns out it’s Soo-bin and Chae-young. Chae-young informs him about Prof Yang’s audition and tells him to apply for it – she’s already notified Yang on how talented he is, so he should be readily accepted. Do-sung thanks her but isn’t keen on joining. Thinking he’s unaware of the benefits, she tries to impress on him how promising the participation would be – he could be famous! Which of course is Do-sung’s worst nightmare. Chae-young is confused at his lack of interest but Soo-bin says it best, “See! Not everyone is like you, Eun Chae-young.”

Reluctant to give up on him, Chae-young continues to convince him, dangling carrots like introducing him to her producers and all. But Do-sung remains firm in his conviction. Desperate, she suggests he’s refusing because of Tae-hee. Do-sung gets upset at the mention of Tae-hee and tells Soo-bin that he’s not too fond of Soo-bin’s music which he deems “too calm”. Once he’s gone, Chae-young tells Soo-bin that it’s in her character to crave for things she cannot obtain. She knows it’s probably unhealthy but she can’t help it. (If you say so!) But Soo-bin is lost in thoughts, considering Do-sung’s comment about his music…

Jae-hun makes arrangements to pick up Tae-hee, all pumped up. On the other hand, Tae-hee is being briefed by Secretary Oh. She’s given a handphone with all necessary contacts and a daily planner recommending her daily calories intake. Tae-hee is surprised to learn she’s expected to lose weight. (Yeah, me too! She’s already so tiny!!) He’s also arranged for a camera test and an appointment with the plastic surgeon! (What?) Tae-hee is not too fond of hospitals…He reminds her of the company’s substantial investment in her…and sees Jae-hun approaching the table.

Jae-hun signals for them to continue, he’d wait. But Jae-hun’s presence reminds Oh of another problem. Oh asks for Tae-hee’s handphone, claiming “self-management” is something the company emphasizes on greatly. Tae-hee refuses, because her diary is in there. But Oh is not interested in that, he reminds her of the terms of her contract – she’s to protect her health, personal safety and private life! Dang it, the no-dating clause! Tae-hee surrenders her phone. Oh’s parting advise is for her not to divulge her new number to any friends, especially male friend. He’d checked on her a week later.

Tae-hee is walking briskly, distracted, when she joins Jae-hun later. Jae-hun calls out to her, asking her what’s the urgency. Well his exact words were: “Park Tae-hee, why are you walking so fast with those short legs?” J Tae-hee forces herself to smile for his benefit and retorts: “Why are you so slow? For someone with such long legs?” He asks if she’s free on Friday after 5pm. They only had class in the morning, so Jae-hun asks to meet up in front of the hostel. He shows her the Hero tickets, lifting it high beyond her reach, saying: “The tickets are mine, you just have to follow me.” Gah…such a tease. J Tae-hee agrees readily, muttering to herself : “They just said not to tell others my number, but they didn’t say anything about not going for a date! Hmmpt!” OOooo I didn’t know she had it in her to be rebellious. J Jae-hun was a little embarrassed/surprised when she used the term “date”. Hah! So cute.

She asks him for a favor – dad once told her to introduce him her first date so that he could tell him the following: “Please take care of my daughter. Curfew is at ten. I’ll be watching you…” Jae-hun is more interested in the fact that this would be Tae-hee’s first date. Woohoo. Tae-hee admits she’s a little slower than others. So what? Haha. Jae-hun tells her the musical ends at ten, so they can’t make it back before her curfew. That doesn’t bother Tae-hee who thinks dad will be accommodating. Jae-hun considers getting a haircut and wearing a coat – for a good first impression. Tae-hee pretends to puke. So adorable, these two.

But their problems keep piling up. The driver of the lorry who hit Tae-hee’s dad finds Detective Jang, explaining it wasn’t his sleepiness which led to the accident. And he’s found a witness to prove it. Oh dear.

 The auditions are underway. As expected, Prof Yang’s audition attracted great interest from the students. It’s the complete opposite scenario at Sun’s audition. Sun is sleeping, not particular bothered. Bored, Ms Secretary heads out of the hall and finds Doo-ri lounging against the wall. Doo-ri tells her to leave, she’d take over from her. When the secretary questions her ability, she replies: “Sun Woo-young is my man, so I’d do what I can…” Speechless, she shoves the paperwork at Doo-ri and leaves. J Doo-ri happily goes to find her darling, who still fast asleep.

Meanwhile, we see why Sun’s audition is such a quiet affair. Chae-young catches Ji-eun just as she is going into Sun’s audition, feeding her lies about how Prof Yang is so impressed with her and encourages her to audition there instead. Grrrr! That’s so sneaky!

Doo-ri covers Sun with a jacket and positions herself right next to him, thoroughly enjoying the intimacy of the moment. Without opening his eyes, Sun asks what she’s doing. Somewhat bashfully, Doo-ri explains she’s taking over his assistant’s tasks. She updates him – Tae-hee can’t attend because she has got training with her company and according to the list, there should be 7 other applicants excluding her…but they’re not here yet. She wonders if she should contact them. Fully awake now, Sun tells her to audition, since she’s one of the applicants. But Doo-ri asks to sit with him a little longer, she wants to savor their time alone.

Sighing deeply, he asks if she knew of Eun-hye, the woman he loves. Doo-ri’s expression changes to one of hesitation and dread.

SWY: Did you also know she’s dead?

DR: Yes.

SWY: That I want to follow her in death, did you also know that? I fear she would forget me soon in that other world, which is why I want to follow in her steps quickly, because I fear she’d hook up with another guy. My heart is very restless.

DR: Is that why you kept drinking?

SWY: Did you know Park Tae-hee is her niece?

DR: I told you…I know lots of things…

SWY: Do you also know I came to this school because of her?

DR: Is that it? (Her face turns somber again…)

SWY: Yes. Because I feel sorry to Eun-hye, I want to make amends through her niece. And because I want to see how Eun-hye’s favorite niece looks like.

DR: So?

SWY: Don’t you understand? Oh Doo-ri… No matter what you do, there’s no place for you in my heart. Go find another guy. It’s meaningless to hang on to me.

Sun thinks he’s being kind, but Doo-ri accuses him of being weak. He’d need to do better if he wants to get rid of her. Still, it hurts. She places her hand of her heart and tells him it hurts.

They’re interrupted by Jae-hun who has come for audition, complete with a MR this time. He notices the strained atmosphere and asks if he’s intruding. Sun throws a mineral bottle at him and Jae-hun gets wet, because the bottle was open. Heh.

A well-dressed bespectacled young man approaches Do-sung enquiring about an engineering student named Kim Byung-gun. Uh-oh. Do-sung is left confused, but before he could answer, his uncle signals at him urgently from outside. And the troubles start snowballing….

As we see the Musical first years singing in Prof Jang’s class…several things happen at once.

Do-sung follows his uncle back, because Mum is about to visit in 2 hours. Do-sung is worried about Mum finding out. However, I would say he has a bigger problem - that irritating reporter is on their tail!

Byung-gun is avoiding calls from the young man, most likely his brother….

Tae-hee is having a tough time in training at the company…

Detective Jang reviews the case notes of the accident and recognizes the motorcycle as the one Jae-hun hijacked…

The song ends with everyone smiling happily. But it’s not a good sign for these kids. For some of them, it might be the last time they smile like this, with naught a care in the world. Which makes this scene especially poignant…With all the troubles converging on them, it feels like an avalanche is forthcoming…

Tae-hee packs her father’s picture for her date with Jae-hun. Jae-hun nervously practices his greetings. When they meet, Tae-hee introduces him to dad and slowly removes the photo frame from her bag while Jae-hun waits breathlessly…

Thoughts:

The cat is finally out of the bag, or more accurately the photo is out of the bag. What happens now? Will Jae-hun confess or will he be so shocked he’d retreat with the noble idiocy thing. I have no idea how they’re going to resolve everything and it’s so worrying to see all the troubles surfacing simultaneously. I know I said I wanted to see more of Do-sung and Byung-gun…but all at once? Let’s not forget about Sun with his mysterious nosebleed and cryptic talk, which most of us are bound to link to the grave opening sequence. And it’s looking more and more likely too. Just thinking about it makes me sad…

I feel like protecting all these kids, well bar one, by locking them in the school, away from the real world, away from their troubles. It’s so disheartening to watch them struggling so much. After spending twelve episodes with them, all the characters feel so dear to my heart, like a group of close friends. And I’m already dreading the coming angst T.T