Mini-recap (text only): I Love Lee Tae-ri Episode 15

Game Over!

# Hiya all. Apologies for slacking off just as we reach the last two episodes. I shan’t bore everyone with the details, but suffice to say seeing the episode 1 recap on DB promptly reminded me that I still owe my site 2 more ILLTR recaps. Hihi.

Episode 15

TR: Hwang Min-soo…you’re just a 14 year old?

Even as the words leave her lips, Tae-ri is still hoping she’s wrong. She asks for an explanation for the recording. And instead of denying it, Min-soo tries to calm her and promises to explain. The recording is real and he’s 14 years old. Tae-ri is too overwhelmed by it all that she goes into denial. She walks away refusing to listen to his explanations.

Once outside, she receives a call from Seung-jae who insists on spilling the dirt on Min-soo. Only this time, she doesn’t refuse him outright…

Alone, Min-soo cries, lamenting the timing of the revelation. He never wanted her to learn the truth this way…

Tae-ri meets up with Seung-jae who wastes no time in telling her that Min-soo is supposed to be dead. He died 3 years ago. His body was identified by a fellow trekker. A shaken Tae-ri takes the newspaper cutting from him but stops him from saying more. Whatever the truth might be, she wants to find out herself.

And she finds the one person who would know the truth – Coach! Coach prefers that she finds out who “Min-soo” is from himself. He assures her that “Min-soo” is not a bad person. He is a kind person who loves Tae-ri with all his heart. Tae-ri is about to lose her temper when she notice the writings on the wall – in particular the name Geum Eun-dong piques her curiousity. An uneasy Coach immediately texts Min-soo.

Min-soo reaches as Coach is still stumbling for words (woah…that was fast!) to explain Eun-dong’s name. The two finally sit down for a much needed talk. Min-soo admits he’s Eun-dong, the 14 year old kid she’s been searching for (he’ll be known as Eun-dong again). Tae-ri finds that hard to believe and thinks he’s lying.

He provides proof – the sun pendant he picked up the first time he met her right in front of the museum. Tae-ri recognizes her pendant and berates him for not returning it to her earlier. He fell in love with her. Besides, he didn’t know what the pendant meant initially. Then why didn’t he return it later – he knew how important it was to her!

ED: You said this is destiny. I became like this to meet you. You were clearly my destiny. If I return this, I was afraid you’d find out I am a kid.

TR: I can’t believe all this. No, I don’t believe.

With that, she leaves. Eun-dong tries to give chase somewhat belatedly but Coach wants him to let her be. She needs time. She’s already in too much shock.

Coach wants Eun-dong to concentrate on turning back to his 14 year old life. He should stay away from Tae-ri, who’s hurting right now precisely because of him. A lifeless Eun-dong mumbles unsurely – Tae-ri is hurting due to his presence?

 

Tae-ri paces at home, still trying to come to terms with what she’s learned. But the notion is so incredulous (yeah, only drama viewers like us are so gullible lol)that she couldn’t bring herself to believe even if all the evidence is staring her in the face – Eun-dong’s childish gifts, his past slip-of-mouths. She calls up Secretary Hong to dig up all photos and footages in and around the museum on the day she returned to Korea.

 

Morning. Coach scrambles out of bed to stop Eun-dong from finding Tae-ri. Eun-dong could not be persuaded. He needs to know if his existence will only cause her hurt and if she really wants him gone from her life. Whatever her decision, he needs to hear it from her lips. He steps out of the house but instead of the car, he takes the bicycle instead since he’s no longer Hwang Min-soo.

 

Meanwhile, Eun-dong’s grandpa never gave up looking for him. Armed with Eun-dong’s photographs, he roams the streets asking other schoolkids if they’ve seen his grandchild. Soo-bin and Tae-gi spots grandpa from afar. But even they could not stop grandpa from being run over by a car as he chases after a boy who looks exactly like Eun-dong across the road. Oh no…!

Min-soo receives a call from Soo-bin informing him about grandpa’s accident. He rushes over to the hospital, asking for his grandpa from the information counter. The nurse wants him to fill up the paperwork. Before a conflicted Eun-dong decides to fill the forms, his parents show up so he slips away before he’s discovered.

On the other hand, Tae-ri has found irrefutable evidence that Min-soo is Eun-dong. She sees the footage of him picking up the pendant. Very convenient. LOL.

Eun-dong watches from afar as his parents check on grandpa. Turns out grandpa is there because of something Soon-sim said. She told him that Eun-dong would be near the school gate. (OMG. I so wanna wring that girl’s neck.) Mum blames herself for allowing Soon-sim the opportunity to meet grandpa alone. Dad consoles a hysterical mum who laments how Soon-sim has turned their household upside down with her antics and cries for Eun-dong’s return.

Eun-dong finds Soon-sim, demanding to know what she told grandpa. Soon-sim is equally surprised to learn that grandpa is injured but swears she said nothing of his physical change. Flashback. She tells grandpa she’s willing to go through another engagement if it will bring Eun-dong back. She hints at his changes –he might be taller, with broader shoulders, nicer voice, in general a handsome guy. A skeptical grandpa wonders if she’s seen Eun-dong. End of flashback.

Eun-dong is furious but Soon-sim insists the fault lies with him. He shouldn’t have kept his identity a secret. No secret lasts forever. He should just come out with it and tell everyone the truth. (I would have agreed with her rationale if I didn’t know she had a more selfish reason for this!). Eun-dong loses his temper. Would they have believed him if he told them the truth? He still hasn’t figured out how to revert back to his original self. Grandpa would not be able to handle all that. Has she even considered what he’s feeling right now? He warns her not to torture his family again with his matters. Soon-sim is contrite and silent as he stomps off.

Tae-ri finally decides to call Eun-dong…

Elsewhere, Coach has gathered the remaining musketeers and proposes that they return Eun-dong to his family. His grandpa might not be gravely injured this time but in time, the family will face more problems. Soo-bin is against the idea, claiming it’s much cooler that Eun-dong gets to enjoy adult life. Tae-gi supports the idea just because he finds it tiring to hang out with Soo-bin alone. Hah. Coach brushes off their trivial excuses and insists that Eun-dong suffers most out of this. He’s a child in an adult’s body – how difficult must it be for him to pretend as one?!

Soo-bin asks if the project to save Tae-ri is off. Nope. Coach explains that helping Tae-ri is the first step to return him to his old self. Based on Eun-dong’s stubborn disposition, he will never agree to leave Tae-ri in the dust. The boys gives coach the thumbs up (One from me too!) as they deliberate on how to protect Tae-ri.

Eun-dong meets up with Tae-ri who’s been waiting for him in the ice-cream café where they first dated. She stares at him for the longest time, and discovers he does resemble the child a little. And after she’s thought about it, she also finds that he’s never lied to her. He told her once but she never quite understood his meaning. She’s been happy meeting him because she felt special around him. Everything he’s ever done for her felt as fresh and sweet as the first bite of ice cream. And it felt like that because he is a child, not because of him. And to answer his question, his existence cause her a hurt she wishes to forget and she wants to put an end to all that now. Awww poor Eun-dong, that’s two rejections in a year.

Seung-jae’s reporter sunbae shows him a copy of tomorrow’s headline. Seung-jae is grateful for his help but sunbae is feeling rather pleased with his masterpiece. It’s not everyday he gets to decorate the front page and he’s got Seung-jae to thank for that.

Eun-dong is still brooding in that ice-cream shop long after Tae-ri’s left. Meanwhile, Tae-ri calls for Coach, to share a drink. She needs her courage tonight. Then she starts asking questions. How? Coach cannot give her a definite answer but surmises that it’s got something to do with the Sun Clock since the clock emitted a weird light the first time Eun-dong hugged her. Hearing this, everything Eun-dong has done makes more sense to her.

She realizes that he must have suffered a lot. Coach elaborates that Eun-dong had only approached Tae-ri in the beginning to change back to himself. However, after a while, he refuses to change back because he wanted to stay by her side. But Coach maintains it’s only right that he reverts back to his old self. Tae-ri asks softly if there is anything she can do to help…

As expected, the headlines give VP a headache. And that’s not all, Soo-bin shows up in his office, bags and all, and tells VP that he’s leaving home (LOL). He couldn’t believe that his dad has been trying to steal the museum from Tae-ri just because she’s adopted. He’s further disappointed when Dad tries to gloss over everything and make amends by offering him more pocket money. He leaves VP, citing communication breakdown. LOL.

Tae-ri and Secretary Hong are also pleasantly surprised by the headlines. Hong denies it’s her work but they both agree that their plans should be put in motion. Tae-ri gives a call to Paul.

Elsewhere, Eun-dong has fallen ill. He’s having some sort of identity crisis. He’s feeling rather down living as he did. Because of him, grandpa has been hospitalized and yet he couldn’t even be his guardian. Because of him, his woman is hurting and yet he could not comfort her. Even though he’s got an adult body but he’s feeling pretty useless.

Just then, Soo-bin shows up. He explains that he’s run away from home. Eun-dong is suffering so much because of his dad so he’s decided to take it into his own hands. His dad would surely give up on the museum if he finds his son missing. Before Eun-dong and Coach digest this unexpected turn, Tae-gi arrives next. LOL. He’s kicked out of home by his mum for spending the whole night in a PC bar. He was trying to promote the museum thru SNS, it was the only thing he could do. A moved Eun-dong grabs them both in a hug, feeling sorry for dragging them into his mess. Feeling sorry that he is the only one who grew up suddenly.

Tae-ri informs Paul that public opinion is swaying in their favor. If they can figure out the cause for the Sun Clock’s breakdown, it is possible to turn it into a national treasure. Paul has found that a similar breakdown occurred a few hundred years ago. The only thing they can do now is to find out similarities between the two events.

VP holds an emergency meeting with his counsels. Their shares are dropping fast as a result of the day’s headlines. The Group’s image is dragged through the mud and there’s nothing they can do but wait out the storm. Until then, the museum should be left alone.

Coach and the boys are also aware of the winds of change. Eun-dong is concerned for Soo-bin who assures him he’s fine. He hurts a little for his dad but for his bestie’s sake – it’s worth it. Eun-dong finally realizes who he is, and what he can do. Now it’s up to them to find a way to promote the museum. Pamphlets? Nah! Eun-dong suggests a flash mob – where a bunch of people agrees to meet up at a certain time in a certain place and get crazy. For that, they’d need an artist though. The AppleHead! Eun-dong admits he can’t manage that. But Coach takes over. LOL. His darling Hong-sil of course.

He video calls Hong-sil. Soo-bin and Tae-gi in particular are impressed that Coach and Hong-sil are on first name basis.

C: Hong-sil shi. This is Hwang Min-gook.

HS: Is there someone there? Today you speak with aegyo like a shy little puppy… J

C: Hahaha. What shy puppy…? I’m a manly man.

HS: That’s why I say you’re charming. (pfft!)

C: (Clears his throat). I don’t have time now so I’ll make it short. Let’s meet up at 3pm tomorrow in front of the museum. Invite the other members as well.

The boys go“woah” and Coach swells with pride. Hahaha. So everyone starts to post about the flash mob online, creating buzz in the internet community, which also reaches Soon-sim. Will she acquiesce?

Tae-ri is still trying to figure out what caused the Sun Clock’s breakdown. She realizes Eun-dong’s hug might be a reason, but there should be something else. Especially since she’d hugged him later without causing any change. There was a blackout the day he hugged her. What could it be? What happened that day?

It’s flash mob day. The boys come prepared with a solid sound system. Hong-sil turns out with two other members and on the strike of 3pm, they turn the inside of the museum into a massive dance floor with all the gathering crowd joining in. Soon-sim spots Eun-dong who’s busy capturing the scene with his handphone’s video camera and approaches him. Eun-dong is surprised to see her. Well, she can’t be absent from AppleHead’s activities if she’s the leader. She apologizes regarding grandpa’s accident. He pats her on the arm with a smile and thanks her for coming. Atta girl, for once I approve.

Eun-dong and gang reveals the giant banner they’ve prepared : “Restore DaeDong Museum! AppleHead and fans fighting!” Eun-dong thinks to himself: “Tae-ri, are you watching this? This is the last thing I can do for you.”

Tae-ri is busy brushing up on astronomy. She learns that there was an unexpected moon eclipse on the 28^th of May at 8pm. Thank goodness for Secretary Hong who alerts her of the video on the flash mob. Tae-ri caresses the image of Eun-dong on her screen with the saddest expression. (I think for once I feel for her…T.T)

VP also sees the same video, though predictably with a different reaction. His underling thinks the hallyu stars are self promoting through some meaningful events. VP receives a text from Soo-bin though which reads: “Dad, are you watching this? Just walk away coolly from the museum. I believe in you dad!”

There’s one more secret – Seung-jae’s! He stares at a photo of a man with a toddler and drives away resolutely. Surely he’s gonna tell now. It’s the last freaking episode already.

Paul has also been reading up on the eclipse. And comes up with the same conclusion. The change has to happen on the day the sun and the moon becomes one.

Tae-ri is also on the road. She turns on the stereo which reports that a moon eclipse is going to take place this weekend. Legend has it that if one makes a wish on the day of the eclipse, a wish sincere enough to move the Sun and the Moon, that wish will come true. Tae-ri stops her car by the road and remembers how she wished for a true friend, to envelope her hands in warmth. And also how Eun-dong offered to hold her hands in the dark. She thinks her wish caused his change.

And when she looks to the front, she sees a 14 year old Eun-dong. She lurches forward and looks again – it’s Eun-dong alright but still the 25 year old one.

Thoughts:


Oh yeah. We're one step away from wrapping everything up and I have a feeling it's gonna be a bittersweet ending. I've already spoiled myself a little with some itty bitty spoilers but I think I should be satisfied with the ending they dish out. But hey more on that in the last recap. I should have it up by tomorrow J