I’m introducing a new drinking game for this show — every time a wrist or an arm or a collar or shoulder is grabbed in anger, everyone slam a shot of soju!!  We’ll be on the floor in no time flat.  *hic*

And doodley doodley doodley, it’s 14 years later.  Ji-ho walks In-ha into an auditorium (you may recognize this place where the SBS promo shots were taken) and tells him he sure has a gift of surprising people… when did he get back and does mom know he’s in town?  In-ha says he just arrived that morning, and nopes.  Ji-ho is glad he at least arrived in time for her birthday party as well (yeah, this doesn’t have any ulterior motives written all over it).  Ji-ho asks if he was hurt that no one greeted him at the airport, but In-ha just glares at him and says not in the least.  His heart is made of concrete now, and he hardly gets hurt anymore, remember?

In-ha deftly changes the subject and calls out Ji-ho on his recent popularity, especially since he’s now won two international awards for his composing.  So how does it feel, Mr. Great Composer Guy Who Is Not In-ha?  Ji-ho tells him that he only just begun, greatly lacking and has a lot to learn.  In-ha’s face starts to cloud up, and asks Ji-ho isn’t this enough — how much more does he need in order to feel satisfied?  Ji-ho thinks for a few seconds and asks back if there is a stage built that holds a satisfied musician; that’s such an impossible struggle.  (WORD.)

Quickly changing the subject yet again, In-ha gets up and asks what’s involved with their mom’s birthday event.  Is Ji-ho playing one of his new and exciting compositions his gift to her?  The camera pans back to In-ha grasping his iced tea glass with his left hand, as we see that it is still badly disfigured from the fire.  Ji-ho looks pained and In-ha chomps down on his ice cubes while surveying the room.

Apparently Boosung Instruments has morphed into some sort of ConHugeCo even bigger than it was 14 years prior, as it is now called Boosung Group.  Rice wreaths in full display, Yeong-rang holds court over the Moving-In Party preparations, checking and rechecking the courtyard for signs of any other stray out-of-wedlock children.

Yeong-rang returns to her lavishly-appointed CEO office with Attorney Choi nipping at her heels.  She reminds him that this move-in party needs to be the grandest of them all.  So on that note, the media needs to be coddled for the most favorable reviews, so hopefully Attorney Choi will not let her down.  Attorney Choi says no worries, because since Yeong-rang was selected The Most Admired Woman In Korean Business, the requests he’s been receiving for interviews are off the charts.  Yeong-rang says that there’s nothing Boosung Group can’t do — within five years, they’re going to be at the top of their game.  And then Attorney Choi drops the bomb that it is now time to find Boosung Group’s new owner.   (Wait.. what again?)

At a restaurant somewhere in the Big City, a pizza is taken out of a wood-fired oven.  (And I put up that picture only because it’s lunchtime and I’m hungry.)  The owner, Louis Kang (Jung Joon Ha) yells at one of his employees in Konglish to huury huury huury!  We see the face underneath the cap, and it’s Hong Da Mi (Jin Se Yeon) all growed up, and she’s the one in charge of flinging pizzas around the place, named Restaurant Louis (catchy, ne?).

The workers sit down to cake and champagne to celebrate Da-mi’s resignation because she’s been admitted into Piano School.  Louis tells her she must succeed so she can be the accompanist for his wedding!  (Which in looking at him, will occur on the Twelfth of Never.)  Louis pulls out a shopping bag and hands it to Da-mi as a present to commemorate her quitting. (Where do *I* sign up for a job like that?)

As soon as Da-mi takes it out of the bag, we see that it’s a pretty expensive designer purse that probably cost at least four months’ rent on a Gangnam apartment.  Bitchy Manager Girl (Yoon Hye Kyung) grabs it out of Da-mi’s hands and squeals and how could he give Da-mi such an expensive present when there are tons of college students that left his employ and received nothing!  (Jealous much?)

Fellow co-worker and ally Do Ri (Han Su Jin) snatches the bag back from Bitchy Manager Girl and tells her there are very few that can earn their own tuition fees like Da-mi did.  Da-mi gets all flustered and tells them not to consider her a ‘college student,’ because she has yet to even take the exam.  Louis starts comparing her as a daughter of Mozart or Beethoven, so quit your complaining.  You win; don’t wuury!  (And that Konglish is gonna get old real fast…)  Da-mi says that she doesn’t need presents like the bag; she’ll just accept his heart instead.  Louis insists that she keep it and become an elegant college student.  Bitchy Manager Girl orders her to blow out the candles so they can get back to work… and since she’s not going to use it, she yanks the bag away from Da-mi.  (I want her killed. NOW.)  Da-mi thanks everyone for their support, and Louis gets all weepy and shows how sad he is that she’s leaving.  CREEPY.

Meanwhile, at the Wedding Chapel… erm, I mean Birthday Party Venue,  Ji-ho scolds Yeong-rang on how late she is arriving for her party, as she asks him why all the fuss this year?  Ji-ho says that she needs to at least have a nice meal, and how cool is this place that a fan of his let him rent for the evening?  Yeong-rang says it’s nice, but what’s up with the Alumni Competition (that Boosung just happens to be one of the  sponsors *winkwink*)?   Ji-ho says he’s so excited that so many top composers are participating that he can’t sleep at night!  He’s presenting three different compositions, but he’s really looking forward to the secret collaboration with Professor Ha.

Ji-ho says it’s time to get started now, and as Yeong-rang looks at him quizzically, he LIFTS HER UP IN HIS ARMS.  (WTF?!?)  She gets all flustered as Ji-ho deposits her in a chair facing away from the stage and orders her not to turn around.  She settles in, not knowing what is going on.

Ji-ho launches into the same piece he played at his birthday party before the fire 14 years prior (Dvorak’s “Hungarian Dance” No. 6 in D-flat minor).  As he leads into the second verse, a second set of hands is seen reaching for the keys… the left hand sporting a pinky ring and burn scars.  All four hands continue on…

As soon as Yeong-rang hears the four hands playing in unison, she jumps up and wheels around to see In-ha at the piano bench next to Ji-ho.  With tears in her eyes, she calls out to him but all In-ha can do at this moment is glare at her and wish ‘Madame Chae’ a happy birthday.  She asks how he and the pinky is holding up, since his face looks all tired and stuff.  Ji-ho says his heart stopped the moment he saw that In-ha had come home; has it really been three years since his last visit?  In-ha says he’s hungry, so let’s eat instead of blabbering.  Ji-ho says he can’t stick around for dinner because he already made plans to meet with a sunbae.  Slapping him on the back, he tells In-ha to have a nice date with Mom today, okay?

Ji-ho heads out, and Yeong-rang and In-ha just stand there staring at each other for way too long until she grabs him in a bear hug and thanks him for returning after such a long time away.  She’s really missed him, doesn’t he know that?  Anger in his eyes, In-ha pulls her off him while he asks why she didn’t tell Ji-ho that she sent In-ha a plane ticket for his return.  And apparently Ji-ho also doesn’t know that In-ha has quit playing the piano and started composing instead.  Yeong-rang has nothing to say about that, and looks away nervously.

At the gallery where Ji-ho is allegedly meeting his sunbae, he looks over to a piano in the room where two little ones are sitting.  As expected, they start up a four-hand version of “Heart and Soul,” which gets Ji-ho to flashing back about the last day that he and Da-mi spent together getting caught on the auditorium stage and riding home together.  A goofy grin spreads across his face as he daydreams away…

Yeong-rang asks In-ha how his composing is going, because she’s curious.  But In-ha still wants to know why eomma sent for him, when she damn well knew he didn’t want to return to Korea at all.  Yeong-rang thinks maybe a glass (or five) of wine might relax In-ha, so as she pours and tells him to not think about anything stressful, because it’s going to start getting hectic around the family soon.  In-ha asks if it’s true that she created a position at the Company for him; he’d much rather live across the ocean like the loser he is, than live like a bridesmaid in a company where Ji-ho is the owner.

Yeong-rang tells In-ha that although he’s lived his life his way so far, he now needs to start listening to his mother.  In-ha needs to start composing for the Company; he’s survived those nine operations on his hand, so he shouldn’t waste any more time.  Raising one eyebrow and tears forming in his eyes, In-ha asks if Yeong-rang still has a tiny shred of hope for him  — she already has a great son in Ji-ho, so what is she so worried about?  She grabs his hands and tells him he can’t just stop playing piano… it’s in his bloodline and will be until the day he dies.  As she carried him in her womb, the only thing that protected her during that horrible period was the piano.  Whether it’s a curse or it’s his destiny, In-ha must accept it.

Not exactly what In-ha needed to hear right at that moment, he throws her hands off him, jumps up and glares at her, saying he was never born a genius nor did he grow up without troubles.  He asks what gives her the right to interfere in his life?  Without her knowing, In-ha tells her he booked a return ticket back to the States after the birthday celebrations are done… he won’t sit idly by and be compared to such a “genius” yet again.  He’d rather spend the rest of his life alone.  In-ha takes off in a huff and leaves Yeong-rang standing there in the empty hall all flustered and calling after him.

CrazyGran and a gentleman friend are shown watching some caged stuffed birds.  CrazyGran tells the birds that they’re chirping exceptionally today, as the older man says they’re adorable, but he wonders how they feel being locked up all day like that.  CrazyGran asks him if there’s something wrong, because his face looks all worried.  Older Man says that he can’t sleep at night because he is worried… about politics and inflation and… CrazyGran interrupts that she feels like she’s aged 10 years because she’s still worried about her son.  He went on a business trip to Europe, and heard there was a riot there.  (Hunh?)  Older Man tells her not to be worried; he’ll be fine.  CrazyGran says that he’s the only son of the family and the backbone of Boosung Instruments; they’re gonna be in a heap o’ trouble if something happens to him.  Saying that she needs to pee, she orders the Nurse Ahjumma to roll her away.

We see the back of a careworker rolling a food cart down the hall, where she comes across CrazyGran and the ahjumma.  Oh for freakin’ lame, it’s Nam-joo!!  CrazyGran asks if it’s already time for a meal, as Nam-joo shows her a couple of containers that she brought for her meal.  Saying that CrazyGran needs to eat the spinach and black beans she brought so her memory doesn’t fade, CrazyGran blankly stares at Nam-joo and asks who she is.  Nurse Ahjumma says she’s the Food Ahjumma.  CrazyGran’s had enough and tells the Nurse Ahjumma to take her away, but not until Nam-joo leans in and asks if there’s anything special she’d like to eat.  She’ll sneak it in without the doctors knowing.  CrazyGran calls her pabo and insists she came here to get better so she can go home quickly — her son is waiting for her.  As the Nurse Ahjumma wheels her away, Nam-joo says (to no one in particular since the hallway is deserted now) that she’ll make sure CrazyGran recognizes her some day…

In-ha has just told Ji-ho that he’s quit piano.  Ji-ho is aghast, and asks if he told their mom that news.  Still referring to her as “Madame Choi,” he says she probably knows by now because a nine-fingered pianist cannot outdo a genius with ten fingers.  Ji-ho calls bullshit on him and says it’s not because he’s missing his pinky; he’s missing his passion to play.  PASSION?  In-ha spits back and asks what does Ji-ho know about him?  Ji-ho sighs deeply and asks him if he lives, breathes and dreams piano so much that you want to die?  Has In-ha ever practiced without sleeping until his fingers are raw and bloody?  In-ha just keeps making convenient excuses to always blame the fates for making him that way.  If In-ha is going to live that way, than even twelve fingers can’t save him from a life of failure, dammit!!!

In-ha’s face contorts and he yells back FAILURE?!?  In-ha asks Ji-ho if his life has been any more earnest than his; he’s been a genius all his life, so how would Ji-ho know the pain and suffering that In-ha has gone through?  Ji-ho says it’s all about the music, man.  Requiring ten fingers to play 88 keys is a limitation in name only, and right now In-ha is just acting like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum!!  And right on cue, In-ha grabs Ji-ho by his collar and tells him to fuck the preaching… but Ji-ho grabs him by his wrist and pulls it away, telling him to not act so crudely.  Get with the program and start living right; if not for himself, at least for their mother.

Glaring at Ji-ho holding his wrist like that, In-ha flashes back to after he couldn’t move his pinky from his last surgery, and took off to a balcony threatening to jump.  Ji-ho runs after him and orders In-ha to take his hyung’s hand because he understands and wants to help!  (This is where the break occurred at the end of Episode 4 and Our Boys appeared 14 years later.)  What we didn’t see until now is how Ji-ho grabbed onto In-ha to keep him from plunging to a squishy death.  Still screaming ANDWAEEEEEE!!!, Ji-ho holds on to In-ha for dear life, telling him that he’d better not let go because if In-ha dies, Ji-ho will follow him!!  In-ha tells Ji-ho to just let him go and meet his Dad; then maybe he might forgive Ji-ho.

They stare at each other for a few seconds, as Ji-ho attempts to pull up In-ha to safety.  But he struggles and it looks like Ji-ho is losing his grip on In-ha’s wrist…… but then Yeong-rang FINALLY bursts through the doors and shrieks in fright over seeing her precious son hanging on for dear life.  (Those Louboutin heels must have kept her from breaking out in a dead sprint after her sons ran out.)  She helps Ji-ho pull him up to safety…

… and In-ha pops back into the 21st Century, still staring at Ji-ho still holding on to his wrist for dear life.  Ji-ho throws off In-ha’s arm and leaves the room, as In-ha’s eyes finally flood over and he takes out his frustration and anger on a poor defenseless wine glass and an ever poorer defenseless table lamp.  (If this piano thing doesn’t work out, the Chicago Cubs should recruit In-ha; he shows a great future as a relief pitcher!)

Yeong-rang is settled in for the night, but not sleeping deeply as she dreams again of the night of the fire and how she Hulked-out to push the bookcase up against the study door.  Suddenly, her bedroom door opens and a shadowy figure enters the room.  Must be the Midnight Cake Fairy making a delivery, as yet another Paris Baguette creation is set upon the side table and a single candle is lit.  Making his escape, he looks back into the room and we see the outline of his face.  Could it be… ya think so?  Nah… he wouldn’t be THAT bold to just sneak in like that?

Hearing the door close, Yeong-rang bolts upright in bed.  Thinking that she was still in her nightmare, she looks over to the table to see the cake with the candle still burning brightly.  Thinking that In-ha is nearby, she calls out for him.

But it’s not In-ha after all, as the camera pans across him sleeping on the couch in his room… and graphically showing the scars on his lower back to further hammer home the point that this poor boy was so badly burned.  Ji-ho sits next to him and quietly tells In-ha to not quit playing the piano; he needs to beat Ji-ho fair and square on his own terms.  Looking quite pained and muttering all he can do is say he’s sorry for the umpteenth time, Ji-ho covers In-ha with his jacket and leaves his dongsaeng alone.

Nam-joo asks Da-mi if she’s been accepted to Piano School yet, as Da-mi says that she begins lessons in the morning.  She found out that her teacher has had several of his students accepted to Hanguk University, so that’s why she chose him.  Pulling out her bank book, she proudly shows it off to Nam-joo and brags that she’s saved a LOT of money, so there’s no need for her eomma to worry about her tuition fees for now.  Oppa Woo-jin (Jung Eun Woo) says he’s proud of his little sister — she worked hard to pay his tuition to medical school and still raised enough dough for her own?  He looks embarassed, but Da-mi sets him straight by saying at least she and Mom can live with their heads held high thanks to Woo-jin.  Dad should be smiling on their family all the way from heaven, ne?

Forgetting that she’s got fish grilling in the kitchen, Da-mi gets up to attend to it.  That gives Nam-joo the opportunity to say that she’s grown up quite well and it’s time for Nam-joo to start living right.  Woo-jin asks her if the halmoni is still in the same state of not recognizing Nam-joo?  She nods, saying it’s been five years now that she’s been working there but she still remembers nothing.  Making matters worse is that her condition is failing, and that she’s going to pass away without saying anything.  Woo-jin says that there isn’t much time left on the Statute of Limitations (*ding ding*), so something needs to happen soon.  Nam-joo swears that she won’t let that happen without clearing the false charges against their Dead Deaf Dad.  Da-mi returns with the fish dish, and tells Woo-jin that he received a letter in the mail earlier.  Returning to his room, he opens the envelope to see a receipt for something… made out to recipient Hong Soo Pyo, from provider Choi Yeong Rang?  Obviously staring at evidence that could exonerate his father, Woo-jin wonders who sent this to him… the envelope states it came from postal code 0807.

Nice fancy digs that a paid-up life insurance policy bought, as we see Ji-ho in his home studio still working on the ‘secret collaboration’ between him and Professor Ha.  Yeong-rang pops in without knocking, and tells him it sounds nice (Really? From just one D-flat minor chord?), as Ji-ho tells her that more than any of the other pieces he’s presenting at the competition, this one really needs to be kept a secret.  Yeong-rang tells him to make this a successful concert so that even he gets better than Professor Ha.  Ji-ho hugs her and promises to do well as to not be considered a favorite because of his Boosung heritage.  Yeong-rang then tells Ji-ho that the construction costs for the new Boosung Group building came in over budget, and she wants him to sell some of his stock to make up the shortfall — the company reserves are already tapped out from their recent massive expansion efforts.  Ji-ho asks how many shares would fix the problem, and Yeong-rang tells him oh, say… 30,000 shares?  Ji-ho is taken aback over such a request, and says he’ll think about it after discussing things with the Board of Directors because it’s not a matter for him to decide on his own.  Yeong-rang ain’t too pleased to hear he’s not going to give it up at her request.  He apologizes for not giving her an answer right away, but she brushes it off and attempts to leave his room.

Ji-ho wrist-grabs her and tries to explain that he’s never considered anything he ever owned as his alone, because if it wasn’t for her, he’d be dead right now.  Yeong-rang asks him what is it that Ji-ho really wants to accomplish in life?  To just concentrate on making music, or is his concentration on Boosung Instruments alone?  Ji-ho tells her that they’re one and the same — his goals in life are to compose the best music EVAH and to make the best piano EVAH in order to express his best music EVAH.   Yeong-rang asks the best piano what now?  Ji-ho pulls out the wooden plaque that his Dead Burnt-Up Dad gave him made out of the special Alaskan Spruce that was also used to make the Butt-Ugly Piano.  Everything Ji-ho owned up to that point was burned up in the fire, but that piece of spruce survived.  He’s taking that as a sign from his Dead Burnt-Up Dad that Ji-ho has been tasked to make the world’s best piano EVAH.  Yeong-rang looks away with a mixture of pride and disgust on her face after hearing those words.

Looks like In-ha has decided to stick around for awhile, instead of redeeming that return ticket to the States he purchased just in case he needed to flee again from his family.  Surveying his well-appointed bedroom/study/practice room, he sits down at his desk and opens one of the drawers.

Inside is the box that In-ha had in his bedroom THAT SOMEHOW ESCAPED THAT MASSIVE FIRE!! (*headdesk*)  Opening the box, we see little random plastic bits… and a heart-shaped keychain with a jeweled dolphin thereon.

A somber yet soulful rendition of “Heart and Soul” plays in the background while staring at the keychain, In-ha flashes back to he and Da-mi’s first meeting (her with the halo-of-light around her head, and he with the shit-eating puppy love look on his face).  In-ha shyly smiles thinking back to those days, and wonders what ever happened to Hong Da Mi while absent-mindedly chewing on his thumb. *me faints*

The student that was chosen to conduct the ‘secret composition’ is giving an earful to Ji-ho.  Student Conductor Guy is amazed that a noob like Ji-ho is taking him to task for his conducting style, but Ji-ho explains to him that Student Conductor Guy is not expressing the subtle harmonies that Ji-ho has written for the piece through his conducting.  Student Conductor Guy snarks back at him that just because Ji-ho won a couple of composing awards, is his ego is getting in the way now?  Is this really “music” that he wrote — a bunch of notes on a page that looks like he randomly scattered bean sprouts all over, and this is what Ji-ho calls ‘experimental?’  Student Conductor Guy tosses the score to the floor in anger.

Ji-ho orders him to pick it up, as Student Conductor Guy says he doesn’t want to and won’t.  If his score is that amazing, why doesn’t Ji-ho conduct the damn thing himself… and he stomps off the stage.  The Concertmaster stands up and says that Student Conductor Guy is correct; her fellow musicians are having difficulties interpreting his score.  Certain parts are to be played ‘with an open head’ and ‘like a raging wind?’  Can’t you stick to more common terms like piano, forte, fortissimo?  Saying that she can’t play this crap, she walks off the stage as well, which gives the other musicians the same idea…. until a booming voice comes out of the shadows and tells them to sit down and shut the hell up!

Professor Ha (Jeon Guk Hwan) walks out and accuses the orchestra of being low-lifes that can’t interpret music at all.  So what Ji-ho’s score has the sound of a subway train passing, just freakin’ play it!!  Professor Ha picks up the score off the stage floor, takes one look at it and pronounces it a mess — no wonder they’re complaining, since there’s no student at their school with such a high level of understanding that could follow along at all.  Ji-ho just hangs his head, until Professor Ha announces that he’ll be the conductor for this piece instead.  Taking the podium, he orders the members to sit down… and tells Ji-ho to get to his piano and stop wasting time.

Ji-ho launches into the first few chords of his piano concerto (which strangely sound like the opening chords of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”), and as Professor Ha ticks off the bars, leads the orchestra in accordingly.  It’s a very impressive piece, with a majestic sound and fluid scale runs up and down the keyboard.  (But dude, written in C minor? Your fingers have a Death Wish or something?)

As Ji-ho and the ensemble continues playing, Professor Ha looks over at his with a proud look in his eyes, pleased as punch that his star pupil is doing well with this composition.  The back doors to the auditorium open quietly, as a figure in a dashing windowpane checkered suit looks out over the proceedings.  In-ha’s decided to check up on Ji-ho’s little adventure, and what he sees earns the whole stage a Death Glare From Hell.

Back at the nursing home, CrazyGran draws on a pad of paper with a lipstick tube.  Nam-joo enters carrying a tray of hoddeok and tells her whatever she’s drawing looks pretty.  Asking her if she likes hoddeok, Nam-joo tells CrazyGran that she used to stop by her neighborhood to eat these all the time.  CrazyGran gave her a bunch of clothes and bags, remember?  CrazyGran looks up at Nam-joo and tells her she’s too young for her to have lost her mind; why doesn’t Food Ahjumma go find an empty room to take a nap, since she’ll be no good to anyone if she gets sick too… as CrazyGran plops back onto the bed for a nap herself.

Nam-joo leaves the tray of pancakes and turns to leave the room, but CrazyGran reaches for the sketchpad again and says that the child’s name is Da-mi.  Nam-joo spins around in shock as to what she just heard, and asks if remembers giving my Da-mi a piano?  CrazyGran repeats back “piano?” and then remembers she gave one away that was hidden in their basement.  Nam-joo tries to ask her about her husband, but is interrupted by voices coming from the hall.  Yeong-rang is scolding the Nurse Ahjumma for leaving CrazyGran alone, as Nam-joo freaks out and hides behind the windows curtains.

CrazyGran grabs the tray of hoddeok and hides them under her covers saying she’s not sharing with anyone!  Yeong-rang asks where the pancakes came from — everyone knows that CrazyGran shouldn’t be eating sweets because of her glucose issues, as the Nurse Ahjumma wonders if the Food Ahjumma brought these by today.  When Yeong-rang asks for clarification, the Nurse Ahjumma says that the Food Ahjumma takes very good care of her by bringing snacks and spending time with her.  Yeong-rang asks what is the Food Ahjumma’s name, but the Nurse Ahjumma isn’t quite sure… but her surname is Song.  Nam-joo is still hiding behind the curtains but clenches her fist in anger over being ratted out.

Yeong-rang suggests to CrazyGran that since she’s in such a good mood today, they should go for a walk.  She wheels her out to the atrium to look at those creepy caged stuffed birds.  Saying that they’re CrazyGran’s favorite larks, what songs are they singing today?  CrazyGran suddenly goes all lucid and asks Yeong-rang if she’s the crazy one instead — fake birds can’t sing, ya dumbass!  Taken aback, she quickly changes the subject to let CrazyGran know that In-ha has arrived from the States — she remembers In-ha, right?  Her favorite grandson?  In-ha’s name slowly registering in her brain, Yeong-rang tells her that In-ha has returned to assume the CEO position at Boosung Group, and she needs CrazyGran’s help to do that.  CrazyGran says nonsense… Yeong-rang has an older son, so don’t play tricks on her!

Yeong-rang asks CrazyGran if her memories are finally starting to come back.  Does she remember much; does she know where her son is right now?  CrazyGran glares back at her and says that Yeong-rang locked him away in a dark closet.  It’s written all over her face that she’s guilty as hell for his demise, so that’s why CrazyGran hateshateshates her big time.  When Yeong-rang asks what the heck she’s talking about, CrazyGran says Yeong-rang thinks she’s got the world in her hands now.  Nothing is ever free in this world, except the cheese in a mousetrap.

CrazyGran’s had enough of that conversation, as she turns away and peels out of there, telling Yeong-rang to EAT MY DUST!!  Of course, our favorite eavesdropper is right around the corner to hear that entire conversation (and I assume figure out some new ways to screw things up).

At the outdoor arena of the medical school that Woo-jin attends, he holds out the Mystery Envelope in his hands and asks who is the person at postal code 0807?  If there is a person behind the scenes wanting to yank his chain, then he’s succeeded.  As he flashes back to his father dying at the hospital, and then his mother being manhandled enough for her to lose the baby, Woo-jin vows to find out why.

Nurse Ahjumma wheels CrazyGran out for a little Vitamin D.  Nam-joo pushes a package with a few hoddeok into CrazyGran’s hands, and tells the Nurse Ahjumma that there is something important she must ask the halmoni.  Palming her a couple won as a bribe, Nurse Ahjumma tells her that if the Madame finds out, all hell’s gonna break loose.  CrazyGran munches down on a pancake, as Nam-joo leans down and asks CrazyGran to listen carefully to what she’s going to say, because her words will bring a dead person back to life.  (Hah, I’d pay good money to see that!)

Nam-joo whips out the picture of Dead Deaf Dad again, along with a tape recorder.  She asks CrazyGran if she remembers that person in the picture.  He was Da-mi’s father; he was deaf and mute — when was the last time you saw this person?  CrazyGran stars at the picture, and says she saw him last at a cart in their neighborhood.  Nam-joo then asks what happened that made him to run up to CrazyGran’s house that night?  CrazyGran flashes back to lighting the candles on her birthday cake, waking up with the fire raging, and then running out to grab Dead Deaf Dad to come help save her son!!  CrazyGran retreats and says she doesn’t know anything!!!  Nam-joo yells at her to get a grip and tell her this man is not a thief or a murderer!!  CrazyGran rubs her hands together, begging for forgiveness and asking to go home.  Nam-joo is not going to let her leave until she gets her answer, but then CrazyGran starts choking on the hoddeok that’s apparently lodged in her throat.  Nam-joo beats on her back to Heimlich it out…

Nam-joo is hauled in front of the nursing home owner getting her butt chewed a new one.  She demands to know why she would try to help out a patient from choking — what would happen if she did something wrong?  Nam-joo just stands there hanging her head, as the owner says the family is ready to make a complaint against her and the nursing home.  And then (ta-da!) Yeong-rang and Secretary Oh arrive right on cue, as Nam-joo attempts to hide her face from them.  Yeong-rang asks if by any chance, this is the Food Ahjumma, as the owner tells Nam-joo to hurry up and apologize.  Yeong-rang says she’s not looking for an apology; the nursing home must accept the responsibility for such a calamity and Nam-joo is dismissed from the room.

Leaving the nursing home, Nam-joo sees an ambulance take off.  Running back to CrazyGran’s room, she sees it stripped bare of its possessions.  To make matters worse, Nam-joo is confronted by the owner crabbing that the financial burden put upon them by one of their richest patients leaving is not going to be just settled alone with firing her ass.  Nam-joo goes pale… Yeong-rang sips her tea and tells Secretary Oh that it was definitely ‘that woman’ — she could recognize her soul-less eyes with one glance.  Secretary Oh gives her some backstory on how she lost her baby the day of their last confrontation outside the Boosung offices, so obviously she approached CrazyGran for some sort of retribution.  Yeong-rang orders Secretary Oh to report back on Nam-joo’s every movement.  If she still cannot believe that Dead Deaf Dad is not a murdered, they’re going to have to be on their toes.  Yeong-rang then wonders what happened to her piano that CrazyGran gave to that family; she never had the chance to get it back because the Songs moved so quickly after the investigation was completed.

Da-mi and Woo-jin escort Nam-joo out of the local police station, as Da-mi scolds her for doing this all on her own… guess she considers her children worthless?  Nam-joo is still in shock, but asks how were the kids able to settle the charges against her?  Da-mi didn’t give them all that money she was saving for college?  Da-mi lies through her teeth and says she explained their situation and they were quite understanding, so don’t worry about it.  Woo-jin says that he’ll go flag down a taxi, and then Nam-joo chirps back that she’s not an invalid and don’t waste anymore money… she can walk just fine.  That’s when Woo-jin finally explodes and tells Nam-joo to quit holding back; if she’s in pain, she needs to scream out in pain, dammit!  Stop holding everything inside like a fool!  And by the way, riding in a taxi today is not going to ruin the world.  (I luff this boy!!)

We see how much Da-mi lied through her teeth, as she opens her bank book to show a zero balance and closed account.  She starts tearing up thinking about how she just tossed away her tuition money for her stupid mother’s bail fees, when Woo-jin comes over and says he’ll find a way for pay for her piano schooling by any means possible.  Da-mi says she’s made up her mind not to go to college; all her friends told her it’s just a waste of time when you could be out in the world making money instead of studying.  Woo-jin tells her to shut up and only listen to her Wise Oppa from now on.  Whatever happened to her dream to play piano all day and night?  Da-mi says no matter how much she lives to play the piano, bailing Mom out of jail was more important to her.  She’ll still have time to make lots of money so she can make her eomma proud.  (Poor dumb dope.)

Nam-joo holds Dead Deaf Dad’s funeral portrait in her hands, and apologizes to it, asking for a little bit more time.  If she has to search every freakin’ nursing home in the world, she’ll find CrazyGran to clear his name… even if she has to go to hell and back to hear CrazyGran’s confession.  Woo-jin overhears this conversation and just shakes his head in disbelief.

Returning to his room, Woo-jin pulls out the receipt again, along with withdrawal papers for the medical school he attends.  (I like the nice touch of the human brain model sitting on his desk to further hammer in the point that he goes to medical school.)  Tearing up, he looks into the distance and sighs heavily.

Back at the McMansion, Yeong-rang and EvilStep are eating breakfast.  EvilStep starts complaining that isn’t it boring for her to keep eating alone all the time?  Even though In-ha has returned home, the youngsters don’t want to be seen eating with them old farts.  Yeong-rang says she used to it by now, so EvilStep can take her time eating; she’s going upstairs to see In-ha first and then go to work.  EvilStep is there for another reason, actually… she’s signed a contract on her place and escrow closes soon.  For Yeong-rang’s sake, she will try not to bring too many possessions to the house.  Yeong-rang tells her like hell you’re moving into this house — EvilStep has pretty much already taken her for everything she had before now.  EvilStep asks her if she’s the pot calling the kettle black, as she’s doing the same thing now with her stepson by assuming the Boosung President position for saving Ji-ho.  Even though she’s winning all the Step-Parent of the Year Awards, what will happen when Ji-ho finds out the truth?  Grabbing Evil-Step’s arm, Yeong-rang asks her why is she doing this, as EvilStep claims that her mouth is akin to an ATM machine — it only works when you put money into it.  (BWAHAHAHA!!!)

Yeong-rang brings breakfast up to In-ha; seeing a binder of music open on the table, she starts pawing through it, where there are several scores written out.  Yeong-rang asks him if he composed all these hits for these famous people?  In-ha grabs the binder from her and tells her it’s nothing special… just leave him alone.  Yeong-rang wants to know why are these not special?  His instructors all sent recommendation letters for him; doesn’t this prove In-ha has a talent in composing?  In-ha looks up at her and asks what again about the recommendation letters?  Oh and by the way, he’s leaving on a jet plane tonight… and never coming back.

Yeong-rang orders him not to go; he needs to stay with her until she dies.  In-ha leaps up and asks her how much more does she want to see him be overshadowed by that jerk?  He doesn’t care if he loses to everyone else in the world… he just doesn’t want to lose to Ji-ho anymore and be ridiculed because of that.  Yeong-rang tells In-ha that there was never a single moment when she didn’t love him, as In-ha loses it and yells at her for being a liar.  As soon as Ji-ho was brought home, In-ha stopped being happy.  He never felt like he was ever loved after that point, and does she want to know the reason why he needs to leave?

Ji-ho is walking past In-ha’s bedroom, just in time to overhear him say that if he doesn’t leave, he’s afraid that he’s going to kill Ji-ho.  Ji-ho’s face goes all dark, but he continues to listen.  In-ha tells Yeong-rang he’s taking pills for depression; at least three times a week he wakes up from nightmares where he’s in the middle of the fire raging around him again.  He can’t ride on an airplane or the subway without passing out, and when he goes inside a building, he searches for the nearest exit out first.  He’s scared of the dark and other people, and hates it so much!!  That’s too much for Ji-ho to hear, as he walks away quickly (and loses the opportunity to overhear Yet Another Important Plot Point).

(Hang on; need to grab some kleenex first.) Breaking down in sobs (with that ever-so-adorable Baek Dong Soo ‘chin wiggle’), In-ha is most despondent over being betrayed and basically left for dead by the parents who gave birth to him, so where else can he go in the world to find love and be loved?  He’s a son that has been abandoned by his family!!  In-ha attempts to leave the room, but Yeong-rang stops him by asking if he wants to know the real reason why she saved Ji-ho the night of the fire?

That stops In-ha dead in his tracks, as she recounts the whole ‘giving of the bunny pajamas’ scene.  Doesn’t he remember the bunny pajamas she gave him as a gift?  Because she assumed In-ha was the child inside the bunny pajamas, she grabbed him first.  In-ha thinks back and finally remembers him giving the pajamas to Ji-ho the night after his birthday party.  Yeong-rang tells him it wasn’t Ji-ho she was saving; it was supposed to be In-ha!!  He pauses to let that sink in a bit… as we see Ji-ho leave the house with a pained expression on his face.

Louis sputters over hearing the news that Da-mi will not be heading off to piano school as originally planned.  Da-mi fibs that after thinking about it, she got nervous and decided that college wasn’t for her.  Do-ri tells her that makes no freakin’ sense, and Bitchy Hostess Girl tells her that Da-mi was called out for being a horrible piano player, right?  Louis elbows her to shut the fuck up, as Da-mi asks if she can return to her job?  She’ll do anything no matter how low or scuzzy.  Louis tells her that they’ve already hired a kitchen assistant and another server, but all they need to do is find someone to oversee the kitchen.  Louis then gets the bright idea that Da-mi could be in charge of the pasta… does she think she could do that?  Da-mi lights up, grabs his hands and thanks him profusely!

Bitchy Hostess Girl slaps her hands off of Louis’s and calls her out for being fickle.  (Just what exactly is their relationship, eh?)  Do-ri is over the moon to have her chingu back at the restaurant; she goes away for a day and comes back to be promoted to Pasta Chef?  They celebrate this news with a ton of girly hand-slapping and squealing.  Louis interrupts that happy moment by saying that if Da-mi doesn’t do a great job, she will be fired.  Handing her an envelope, Louis says it’s the new recipe he’s been working on and she needs to hurry to the Cooking Academy to learn how to cook it.  Since it would be faster than taking the bus, Da-mi asks if she could borrow the Boss’s bicycle.  With a warning from him that the brakes are not working properly, he sends her off with it.

Obligatory Bike Riding Along the Han River by our Leads Scene is shown, as we see Ji-ho studying his Secret Composition while riding, and Da-mi riding off to the Academy.  More not-paying-attention by Ji-ho, as he continues to read his score and then veers into Da-mi’s bike lane.  She tries to stop with no brakes, but they collide anyway.

They hit the ground and their respective papers go flying everywhere, but both kids come up swinging with complaints against the other for not looking where they were going.  Ji-ho says that his hand is hurt, as Da-mi spits back that her knee is hurt!  Ji-ho snorts that she must be some type of loser for not apologizing, tells her to move away and takes off.

Ji-ho is limping while walking alongside Da-mi’s bike, looking at his busted-up hand and cursing her for leaving him with a piece of junk.  As he looks for her, he opens his envelope to see the pasta recipe from the restaurant Da-mi was to work on at the Academy.  He mutters that he must find that music score first or else he’s gonna be up the creek without a paddle from Professor Ha.

Arriving at the Cooking Academy, Da-mi is able to come to a complete stop without any signs of brake failure.  Grabbing the envelope from the basket, she notices that it’s a lot heavier than the one she put in her basket.  Pulling out the papers, she sees that it’s a music score.  Walking back to the bike, she suddenly realizes that the bikes were switched after the accident!

In-ha asks Yeong-rang why she never told him about the night of the fire until now — he would have lived his life quite differently. Yeong-rang says that there is never a ‘perfect secret’ in the world; if she had told In-ha back then, then Ji-ho would have found out as well.  Until Boosung is back in their control, In-ha is not to make Ji-ho suspect anything.  Boosung was supposed to be In-ha’s inheritance — she has held it together just waiting for the day that In-ha would return.  He asks what he needs to do to make that so, as Yeong-rang tells him he needs to be a better composer than Ji-ho and surpass him in every way.  And oh by the way, In-ha needs to recreate that Butt Ugly Piano.  In-ha glares over at the monstrosity and tells her he can do it.  Although he failed as a pianist, he is confident to surpass him as a composer.  In-ha will make sure he steals Professor Ha’s Best Pupil Ever Award from Ji-ho as well.  Yeong-rang asks one last thing from In-ha… she’s been waiting to hear it for 14 long years, so can’t he call her Mom from now on?   In-ha does just that — dissolves into tears and calls her Mom, and then they collapse into a weeping hug fest.

Closing Time… one last call for alcohol, so finish your whisky or beer.  All of a sudden, a group of thugs enter the bar and start fighting away.  A few minutes of glass breaking and chairs being smashed against bodies, and then we see a shadowy figure walking through the aftermath.

Calling out to the Head Thug kneeling on the ground, we finally see the guy’s face — it’s that elusive J.W. guy, who asks Head Thug which construction company he’s working for.  When he replies he’s working for Boosung Construction, J.W. tells him that not any more he is… he’s been relieved of his duties.  And if J.W. finds out that he’s violated the terms of this order, he will split his head wide open.

J.W. asks his assistant if they have located the property that Boosung Group will be bidding on.  He answers in the affirmative, saying the complex is 30,000 pyong (almost 25 acres) near the Port of Incheon.  J.W. instructs him to go buy the land out from under Boosung Group, and then do nothing else until he gives the command.  J.W. stops Assistant Guy with more instructions to go recruit a man to work for their company.  Make sure it’s the right choice, though, as this person will end up confronting President Choi in person.  That leaves J.W. to go sit at his fancy desk and steam for awhile…

Yeong-rang has come to see Professor Ha with a letter of recommendation for In-ha.  He dismisses it, saying he doesn’t take recommendations from someone else when he doesn’t even trust himself.  Yeong-rang reminds him that he knows Professor Jung very well, being one of his classmates and all that.  Professor Ha says that his head is about to explode, so what does she want him to do?  Yeong-rang asks for him to take a look at the score she has brought.  Boosung has sponsored numerous musical events along the line, but she’s never ever asked for any personal favors.  Sighing heavily, Professor Ha picks up the binder full of music sheets, and asks where In-ha studied.  She tells him that he entered the Hanguk School of Music, but couldn’t finish a term before he had to leave.  It’s been about a year since he began to start composing.  If it is at all possible, she’d like to enter him in the Alumni Concert coming up — can’t he participate since he’s an ‘alumnus’ of the School?

Professor Ha calls her out on presenting someone to him that has only a year of composing under his belt — she should know this, being a musician herself!  He flips through the pages, until his eyes catch on something recognizable.  Yeong-rang reminds him that Professor Ha wrote a piece like it as his Graduate Thesis and became famous from it.  She is confident that he would be the best to make a judgment as to the abilities of her In-ha.  Professor Ha tells her to set up In-ha with an appointment; he’s the son of the biggest musical sponsor in the nation, he could at least buy him a meal…

Ji-ho thumbs through the restaurant papers and tosses them aside to take a look at his wounded hand instead.  In-ha wanders by on the way to his room and asks Ji-ho if he’d got into a fight or something.  Ji-ho tells him he wishes it was that, but he fell off his bicycle.  In-ha reminds him that he has a concert soon; does he think he’ll be alright?  Ji-ho says big deal if he is or isn’t — he’s still doing the concert.  But what about In-ha — what does he plan to do now?  In-ha says he’s not sure… grinning a wry grin, he suggests that maybe In-ha should follow around the Genius Composer and learn how to compose?  Ji-ho tells him whatever he plans on doing, just don’t get away from music.  In-ha is his biggest rival in life, and Ji-ho doesn’t want to lose such a wonderful opponent.  In-ha tells him it’s on, bro!

Back at the restaurant, Da-mi is practicing the purloined score at her station, wondering who wrote such a wonderful piece?  Louis saunters over to her, saying that he needs her for a special mission tonight.  He has a friend who owns a restaurant, but their accompanist had an accident.  He was asking Louis if he knew anyone, and he recommended Da-mi to play there tonight.  Da-mi gets all flustered and tells him she’s not qualified — she’s not even a college graduate!  Louis tells her not to worry; he told his chingu Da-mi attended the Berklee School of Music in America.  Da-mi says she’s not going… no way!  Louis says that he’s already promised him she’d appear, so huury huury huury!!

Da-mi arrives at the restaurant and meets with the owner, who praises Louis for sending over a pianist who studied abroad.  He explains that his customers are from the elite class and expect nothing but the best, and invites Da-mi to go ahead and sit down at the piano.

Over at one of the tables sits In-ha and Professor Ha tucking into a meal.  Professor Ha asks In-ha if he really knew what he was doing when he wrote a score comprised only of percussion instruments.  In-ha says you bet he did — he wanted to express a unique tone by utilizing percussion to play a prominent part, instead of always being in the background like in normal orchestras.  Professor Ha mentions that he reviewed the score and that there was something odd about how In-ha had composed the left-hand melody of the piano part.  In-ha explains there’s a reason for that… it’s a piano concerto specifically written for nine fingers.  Professor Ha looks stunned, as In-ha explains how he cannot fully use one of his fingers because he was badly burned in a fire when he was a child.  To this day, he still cannot overcome this handicap, so he decided to write music to be played with nine fingers instead.

Da-mi starts playing the score which Ji-ho had written, which basically stops everyone in their tracks and for Professor Ha to sit up and take notice of how familiar it sounds.  Professor Ha looks pissed off, but In-ha just shoots love darts out of his eyes at Da-mi… Professor Ha pulls Da-mi over to their table after she finishes her performance and grills her over where she found that piano music she was playing tonight.  Da-mi hesitates, but then tells him she picked it up on a street.  He asks her to show him that music; it’s very important.  Making his excuses, Professor Ha tells In-ha that they should meet for dinner again soon, and he stomps off with the piano score in his hands.  In-ha calls after him, but then after glaring big time at Da-mi, takes off himself.

Back at Boosung HQ, Yeong-rang is attempting to calm down the Professor, saying it must have been an honest mistake for Ji-ho to lose the ‘secret composition’ like that.  She’ll take care of things herself… but Attorney Choi interrupts their chat by showing her the video that someone posted online. (On a webportal called “Tube”?  Oh for lame.)  It already has over 20,000 views, so he’ll have to make a request to delete it.  Yeong-rang tells him to wait — maybe they should report this to the media, and the headline should read “Most Important Score of the Biggest Music Concert in the Nation is LEAKED!”

Ji-ho runs willy-nilly into the rehearsal auditorium to find it deserted.  Finding the concertmaster in the hallway, he asks her where everyone went since the rehearsal is supposed to be at 2:00 PM.  She is hesitant to tell him, but… Ji-ho burst through the doors of the replacement auditorium and yells out why the rehearsal venue was moved without him being told?!?

Professor Ha appears from the wings and tells Ji-ho that this rehearsal is only open to those who are participating.  A composer who is that careless as to lose such an important piece of music cannot be his disciple.  His performance is cancelled, so GO!  Ji-ho reminds him that the performance is tomorrow, but Professor Ha tells him he doesn’t need to worry about such things… he’s already found a new composer.  And right on cue, In-ha walks on stage.  Saying In-ha… ottoke…?

Leaving us with another pretty shot of Our Boys glaring at each other, we end Episode 5!

Flowers and Brickbats

Apologies for the length of this one, since it was such a talky episode — my usual method is to watch the raw once all the way through without stopping, then a second time to grab screencaps, and then a third time (with subs) to get the basic jist of the dialogue.  Episode 5 forced me to watch it a FOURTH time, because I felt I wasn’t doing this episode justice by not overturning every stone.  And then when I was finally done typing, this recap was well over 11,000 words.  I had to bring out Mr. Editor Tool to bring this down to a reasonable size — this Recapping Bidness be hard!

Quite a bit of character development via the PD-nim jumping with both feet into the Revenge Plot.  Several media reports released after this airing took the production to task over going straight into evilness and not spending any more time on the backstory of how the boys got to be where they got to be (foolishly comparing the plot line to “May Queen,” which spent six episodes with their younger cast).  Sorry Media Trolls, but the kids’ story was pretty much at an end — this writer is known for not spending a lot of time with child actors in wanting to get to the meat of the show, which is for the Holy Evil Revenge to kick into gear.  There’s 30 episodes and bits and pieces will be shown as time goes on (as they have already).  I find it quite annoying to keep time-jumping unless a show does put forward a definitive “OMG, so THAT’s what happened!!” plot point, and not turn an episode into a ‘clip show’ with lots of flashbacks.  That’s just laziness on the Production’s part.

We’ve already discussed this in detail over on the Soompi Forum, but WTF was up with In-ha capitulating like that?!?  His mother didn’t tell him for 14 YEARS why exactly she saved Ji-ho over In-ha?  And then all she has to do to keep him from leaving her and Korea forever was to finally tell him?  And he falls right into line by trusting implicitly everything she said, and finally accepting her back into his heart with that earth-shattering piece of news?  JUST LIKE THAT?!?  I totally call bullshit, unless the Writer-nim is leading us into one of the following scenarios:

1.  In-ha truly did not know, and has spent the last 14 years formulating his Evil Revenge Plan™;

2.  In-ha actually did know, being told by one of the evil characters (pick one; there’s several to go around), and has spent the last 14 years formulating his Evil Revenge Plan™;

3.  In-ha, being no slouch in the Brains Department, hired a private investigator to do some digging, and with that information has spent the last 14 years formulating his Evil Revenge Plan™; and/or

4.  In-ha does know, being told by Ji-ho who hears the news from one of the evil characters and BOTH have spent the last 14 years formulating a Tandem Evil Revenge Plan™.

25 Episodes to follow, and I guess we’ll see which one turns out to be the winner.  Anyone want to place bets now?  I’m personally going with Scenario #4, because it’s the most funnest one to imagine!

Another jarring (to me, at least) point was that the production is treating the woman in the cello’s first chair position as the Concertmaster for the student orchestra that Ji-ho uses for his ‘secret composition.’  I hope that’s just an oops on their part, because it is a worldwide tradition for the leader of the violin section to always be the Concertmaster (the person entrusted to ensure the rest of the orchestra is properly tuned, scores are distributed, and basically acting as the Conductor’s assistant).  Not that there’s anything wrong with utilizing a cello player for the part, but I just found it strange (sorry Raine…).

Also, you guys may recognize Restaurant Louis as the same one used in several other dramas, most recently KBS’s “You Who Rolled In Unexpectedly/My Husband Got A Family.”  Its real name is BlackSmith, and is a franchise spun-off at the end of 2011 by the well-known Caffé Bene coffeehouse chain.  But this location in Sinsadong is actually owned by Song Seung Heon (most recently seen in “Time Slip Dr. Jin” and who we lovingly refer to as “Mr. Hand Towel”), who is known to take a hands-on approach to running the place and is seen there several time a month testing recipes in their kitchens.  Well dammit… just another spot to put on my Bucket List when I finally get over there next year!

Thanks for all the kind comments — you know this is a labour of love, and it looks like in a few weeks I’ll have a lot more time on my hands to crank out these recaps faster.  On to Episode 6!