Yup, it’s possible to produce an even Butt-Uglier Piano.  Just leave it to Boosung — they’ll get the job done in less than 24 hours!!

Back to where we left off in Episode 15, as Young-rang attempts a passable fake-play on the Schubert Ständchen, and Our Boys have now been glaring at each other for 23 hours straight.  Finally In-ha breaks the eye-lock and reminds Ji-ho of his promise to give up Boosung to him.  Ji-ho wants confirmation that there are that many Alaskan Spruces willing to give up their lives for In-ha’s pianos, but In-ha is more concerned that Ji-ho doesn’t believe that their father handed down the warehouse to In-ha.  Ji-ho still doesn’t understand, until In-ha pulls out the knife to say that appa trusted HIM more than some kid from a mistress… so hasn’t Ji-ho caught a clue yet?

Ji-ho doesn’t doubt their father handing down everything to In-ha, but he’s not stopping due to some oral promise he made in front of everybody.  Ji-ho still plans on making a proper piano in Chairman Yoo’s honour, as In-ha says that’s all fine and good — he won’t stop him, but he needs to honour his promise to In-ha.

And that’s what we see next — Ji-ho signing away his rights to ownership of Boosung.  Attorney Choi declares it a done deal, so now the largest shareholder turns out to be In-ha.  Young-rang tells Ji-ho that this was not an unfair deal after all; as a small going-away present, she’s going to let Ji-ho remain in his Executive Manager position and he should focus on marketing from now on.  Ji-ho stands up and says he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the Boosung shares or the company ownership… even if he loses everything in the world, he will never give up on his father’s request to make a quality inexpensive piano.

Leaving them in his dust, Ji-ho bolts for the door as Young-rang asks In-ha what he would like to be called now that he’s basically saved Boosung (and indirectly, her hinder as well).  He deserves a reward for all his devious actions, so In-ha goes for the gold as says he would like the Presidency of Boosung.  Young-rang orders Attorney Choi to call a special Board of Directors meeting to announce that fact.  Attorney Choi doesn’t look too happy over that news (since he was bucking for that position himself), as he glares at In-ha (who is off in his own little world right now).

Ji-ho returns to his office in a rage, and then pulls out The Note from Dead Burnt-Up Dad — all rescued and taped up after Young-rang ripped it up in Episode 15.  He complains to the thin air that he’s totally confused exactly WHO his appa wanted to take over Boosung — Ji-ho epically failed to hang on to Boosung and keep his promise to him.  If he truly cared for Ji-ho, why did he give him such an insurmountable task?  What the hell, dude?!?

In-ha returns to the conference room, and while looking at the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr., voices over that the person he really wants to receive congratulations from is Da-mi… does that make him an extremely greedy bastard?  (You mean more than normal?)

Back at Restaurant Louis, Da-mi’s piano wire ring is noticed by Do-ri and she asks if Mr. Piano Prince proposed to her?  Da-mi says Ji-ho made it for her and isn’t it so pretty?  Bitchy Manager Girl doesn’t approve of Mr. Piano being so stingy — if he’s so allegedly rich, he should at least present her with a 5-carat teardrop diamond instead!  Do-ri goes all philosophical and tells Da-mi that since her ring is made of piano wire, it’s not going to break… so Da-mi will finally get her Prince and a happy ending as well! *snerk*  Bitchy Manager Girl is still crabbing about money and wedding presents and breaking up and… argh!

Do-ri asks her since she knows so much about the Real World, what made her leave Louis like that?  Since she knew he was rich, they should have been living with other for much longer than they did, right?  Bitchy Manager Girl snaps back at her, asking why Do-ri didn’t give her anything when she got divorced?  Da-mi and Do-ri just go back to sipping their coffee without a word… and another useless scene mercifully comes to an end.

Ji-ho returns home to EvilStep asking if he and Da-mi want to go see a movie with her?  Ji-ho doesn’t answer and heads to his room, leaving EvilStep wondering what the hell is wrong with him now?  Is Ji-ho is becoming more like In-ha as the days go on?  She heads upstairs to find him packing up a backpack, and he tells her not to worry since he’s just stepping out for awhile.  EvilStep rails on Ji-ho, saying if he’s worried about the wood in Gapyeong, please don’t.  If Boosung was truly meant to be Ji-ho’s, then the piece of wood that Man-se gave him will be his in the end.  Ji-ho says it’s not his to worry about anymore, since Boosung is not under his control anymore.  Ji-ho leaves EvilStep sputtering as to what happened now.

Da-mi picks up her phone and greets whomever is on the other end.  EvilStep packs up a picnic lunch, as Ji-ho asks why she’s doing that when he never told her where he’s going.  EvilStep prides herself on having a sixth-sense, and figures he’s off to the fishing spot where he used to go with his father.  To Ji-ho’s amazement, suddenly Da-mi shows up at the house.  She says that she came upon EvilStep’s insistence that Da-mi play bodyguard for Ji-ho today (hence, the picnic lunch fixings).

Young-rang paces while holding a piece of paper with the name Kang Jae Hoon and a phone number written on it.  She makes a phone call to this person and asks to meet today; as Young-rang peels out of the parking garage, Attorney Choi watches and wonders where the fire is this time?  (HA!  I made a funny…)

Meeting with who turns out to be Nurse Kang, she is visibly agitated and tells Young-rang she doesn’t know anything and gets up to leave.  Young-rang pushes her back down in her chair and says she knows everything already, so Nursey-kins better spill her guts right now or go to prison for baby kidnapping!  Nurse Kang tells her that her only crime was being caught in the middle of the ‘transaction’ — all she did was send the child to an orphanage upon EvilStep’s instructions!!!  Young-rang is stunned to hear that the child was still alive, and how double-dog-dare her for saying all these years that he wasn’t dead?!?  Young-rang is so upset that the cups and saucers go flying, and demands to know at which orphanage the child ended up.

It’s Party Time, as In-ha knocks down a row of shots to great applause (looks like he’s had a lot of practice at that too).  He tells his friends to drink and be merry tonight, because at long last, he has inherited his father’s position at Boosung Group.  It took him awhile to get there, ne?  And to a round of bravos, they suck down the booze in great amounts with lots of toasting back-and-forth.

In-ha doesn’t shy away from ingesting several of the shots either, but wait… what’s this?  Do I possibly hear… OH YES THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN!!  Taking his turn at the karaoke machine, he launches into the drinking-song-to-end-all-drinking songs: “Drunken Truth” made extremely famous by the singer Kim Dong Ryul.  The oddest thing about this scene is that no one else in the room cares and leaves In-ha to sing all by his lonesome. *sniff*

The massive amounts of booze finally catches up to In-ha and he goes off to the restroom to sober up.  Looking in the mirror, he asks himself why he’s not laughing… WAE?!?!  Today is such a happy day, because Boosung is now all his, so laugh, dammit, LAUGH!!!  (LOL his left-hand scar patch is missing and you can see that one of his contacts slipped down in his eye!)  Staggering back in the hallway to the noraebang room, In-ha stops and steadies himself… and then hears someone call out his name.  Turning around, he sees that it’s Da-mi down the hall as he staggers over and grabs her in a big bear hug.

Mumbling that he’s waited so long to see her again, the camera pulls back and we see it’s actually So-yeol that he’s cuddling with!  She tells In-ha to get a grip on himself; why is he doing this?  He tells Not Hong Da Mi that he’s sorry… he’s done something wrong to her and he wants to turn back the clock to the time when they were both friends again.  In-ha stumbles over to a wall and leans up against it, tearing up and still calling Da-mi’s name… as So-yeol looks on quizzically.  (What is *she* doing there, hm?)

Ji-ho explains to Da-mi about the provenance of the fishing hole, and that he used to go there with his father and In-ha.  Even then, both he and In-ha competed to see who could catch the most fish, as Da-mi says it’s because they’re brothers that they grew up fighting like that.  So don’t think that Ji-ho has “lost” Boosung; think of it as “giving” Boosung to In-ha in a way of making amends to him.  (Is that what you really wanted to say to your boyfriend who just had his livelihood stolen away from him?  Sheesh.)  Ji-ho asks her if she and Woo-jin fought when they were growing up, but Da-mi says nope because he would throw the fight on her behalf because he felt sorry for her growing up without a father.

Ji-ho asks her how hard was it growing up without her appa, as she explains that she’s never really seen her eomma sleep since she held down so many jobs after he died.  Is it wrong of her to wish that she could slow down now and live an easier life?  Ji-ho takes her hand and tells her to come find him if she’s having a hard time.  He will be her rock and never let her cry ever again.  (Famous last words…)  Da-mi wants a hard promise out of Ji-ho that even if things get really rough, they will never break up.  And to show his sincerity, Ji-ho pinky-swears to that request.

Woo-jin returns home to Nam-joo ready to set a table for him, as she says Da-mi is on a date and will be out late, but Woo-jin is annoyed that she’s still seeing “that guy” even after he demanded she break up with him.  Nam-joo asks why he hates Ji-ho so much; he seems like such a nice guy.  (AT FIRST.)  Woo-jin yells that even if Da-mi was to be born again, she cannot be with Ji-ho EVAH!  He orders a sputtering Nam-joo to put a stop to their relationship immediately, or he’s gonna have to step in… and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

In-ha wakes up in a strange car parked at the side of the road, and bolts outside to see So-yeol standing there with coffee.  Asking how he got inside her car, she complains that he should be thanking her instead for keeping watch after he passed out at the noraebang.  Worried that In-ha made an ass out of himself, So-yeol tells him not to worry… but it was interesting seeing In-ha’s true self for the first time.  It’s especially painful for So-yeol to see someone think that she’s someone else, even in a drunken stupor.  In-ha tells her they should leave now, but she’s not done yet.

She warns him about having an obsessive love, since that’s going to hurt the person intended in the long run… even she’s hurt by seeing In-ha act that way.  In-ha takes offense to her words, saying she doesn’t know the first thing about him.  And by the way, So-yeol doesn’t need her help anymore in the Coupling Department — he doesn’t want to show how pitiful he is anymore.  As he takes off down the road, So-yeol decides that In-ha is a more wounded person than she originally thought upon their first meeting.

Young-rang pulls yet another slip of paper with a name and phone number on it out of her purse.  Listing the name of the Hope Orphanage in Gyeonggi-do, she wonders if anything would be served by looking for this child.  Thinking that’s probably the case, she crumples up the note but decides since he’s actually alive, she should at least see him once to make sure he’s living a proper life (since he’d be 27 years old now).  EvilStep comes in and asks why Young-rang is not off looking for “that kid” — has she changed up her mind?  Young-rang calmly lotions up her hands and reminds EvilStep that she said In-ha is her only child.  She’s not concerned that she has another child out there…

EvilStep is amazed how nonchalant Young-rang is acting, as she believes she doesn’t have to worry about what her husband would say now that he’s dead?  Shouldn’t she at least go find him and wash the dirt off him now?  EvilStep is concerned that he may be living in someone’s house getting as abused as Ji-ho is at present.  That sets off Young-rang and she yells at EvilStep to keep her mouth shut!  EvilStep’s had enough backtalk, as “that kid” is first and foremost the child of a chaebol president and he shouldn’t be living as an adopted kid in another person’s house.

Young-rang says she’s one to talk, since EvilStep caused all this in the first place.  SHE was the one who sabotaged “that kid’s” life, but EvilStep says that it’s the perfect time to take revenge on Yoo Man Se — if she wants to level the playing field, Young-rang should bring home this child in payback for him bringing Ji-ho home for her to raise.  Threatening EvilStep with bodily harm, Young-rang puts and end to their discussion and pushes past her out of the room.  EvilStep is still amazed that she didn’t even bat an eye upon hearing her son is alive…

It’s sunrise now, and Ji-ho is seeing Da-mi off at her front door.  (They stayed out all night?  That must mean they’re married now!)  She tells him to get home safely and heads inside, but as Ji-ho turns to leave, he hears a voice call out his name.  Turning to see Woo-jin, he recognizes him as Denny Hong from Geumdan Construction, but ottoke?  Woo-jin tells him that he’s also Da-mi’s oppa… and that they need to chat.  NOW.

Taking him to the railroad tracks (hunh?), Woo-jin tells Ji-ho he needs to end it with Da-mi now, but Ji-ho doesn’t understand what he’s talking about.  Woo-jin goes off and yells for him to not ask any questions; just end his relationship with Da-mi NOW because he will never see his sister get hurt being involved with Ji-ho’s family.  If he doesn’t do as Woo-jin suggests, then Ji-ho is going to be in a world of hurt.  As Woo-jin turns to leave, Ji-ho tells him he’s sorry but he cannot break up with Da-mi — what is Woo-jin’s reasoning behind all this?  Woo-jin spins around and asks if Ji-ho actually knows how his father died?  Ji-ho is shocked to hear Woo-jin ask about Dead Burnt-Up Dad all of a sudden, with Woo-jin asking how much Ji-ho remembers about the first in Sungbuk-dong 14 years ago?  Ji-ho stands there all blank, as Woo-jin tells him the day Ji-ho’s father died… another person died in that house as well.  HIS FATHER!!!

Ji-ho says that he has no freakin’ clue what Woo-jin is telling him; why was his dad in their house at that time?  Woo-jin says that Ji-ho just doesn’t get it — Woo-jin’s father was falsely charged with theft and murder because of that fire.  Did Ji-ho not really know his father died with the false accusations hanging over his head?  Ji-ho demands a better explanation from Woo-jin, who is more than happy to provide one.  His father ran into the house on fire to save Ji-ho’s family members, and the person that pinned the liability on his father was none other than Ji-ho’s mother… Chae Young Rang!!!

Dumb as a Rock Ji-ho still doesn’t understand why his mother would frame Da-mi’s appa with murder; she would have no reason to do so!  Woo-jin begs to enlighten him then… since the real person who killed his father… was Chae Young Rang!!  (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!!!)  Ji-ho just stands there and says Woo-jin makes no sense… ottokeyo?  Suddenly dawning on him, Ji-ho grabs Woo-jin and demands that Woo-jin take back everything he’s said about his mother.  Woo-jin says that even though Ji-ho doesn’t want to believe his words, everything he’s said is true.  His family has lived in that hell for 14 long years, and now Ji-ho says that he loves Da-mi?  Ji-ho has no right to even breathe Da-mi’s name, so get the hell out of his face and disappear from their lives.  OR ELSE.

Woo-jin returns home to see Da-mi setting out lunch and orders him to wash up before the fish stew gets cold.  He tells her he doesn’t feel like eating and stomps off to his room.  Nam-joo comes out with the stew and asks if Woo-jin’s still in a foul mood.  Da-mi says it seems he’s really honked off at her these days because she’s got a boyfriend now.  Nam-joo wonders why he’s being such a jerkwad — what is it about Ji-ho that makes him go all psycho and stuff?

I guess we’ll find out eventually, as Ji-ho drives up to one of the docks by the river and flashes back to the dinner with EvilStep where Da-mi said her dad died in a fire trying to save someone.  Ji-ho calls no way the two events could be connected, but he’s shaking like a leaf even thinking about it.  Da-mi retires to her room and sends a text to Ji-ho saying that she loves him and to hang in there.  Aja aja aja!!! ♥♥♥  In response, Ji-ho proceeds to Hulk Out upon the roof of his BMW.

In-ha tells Young-rang that Boosung should first register the copyright for the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr., and then ramp-up the manufacturing process ASAP.  Young-rang adds to that, saying marketing should start up full-blast as well, since there are several foreign artists already interested in purchasing one for their own use.  EvilStep loses her cool and asks that they not talk shop at the table PLEASE?  Bad enough they’re always together 24/7 as it is… sheesh!  In-ha apologizes for his rudeness during their meal, and also apologizing for not being a good grandson until now, hands EvilStep her allowance envelope for the month.   EvilStep calls bullshit that In-ha became a human being only after becoming Boosung’s President, as In-ha just goes back to slurping his soup.

Ji-ho returns home from his own unpleasant morning, as EvilStep greets him by asking if he was out with Da-mi all night?  In-ha glares at the mention of her name and Young-rang shoots Ji-ho a look that could melt steel.  With Woo-jin’s revelation that Young-rang was the one that killed his father still ringing in his ears, Ji-ho shakes it off and heads up to his room.  Young-rang calls him stupid for even dating at a time like this, when his affairs aren’t even in order?  In-ha determines that Ji-ho is in a state of shock after finally being defeated by him.

EvilStep goes up to find out what’s wrong with Ji-ho, since it seems like he’s completely lost his mind these days.  Ji-ho says he’s been wanting to ask EvilStep this question for the longest time: How exactly did his father die?  EvilStep thinks he’s jumping the gun a bit since his memorial rite isn’t for awhile, but why does he ask?  Ji-ho wants confirmation that it was only an accident, right?  There was a fire and that’s how he passed away, RIGHT?!?  EvilStep is surprised he can’t remember, but… a man came to rob the house, pushed his father and killed him.  It was later that they found out he was a hoddeok seller, but why would he rob a mansion?  Ji-ho is left to ponder that information.

Attorney Choi reports that the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr. already has 1,000 preorders, but Young-rang is concerned that Boosung will not be able to fulfill that many orders in such a short time.  They’re just gonna have to increase the price in order to just cover their labor costs.  Attorney Choi further reports that the stock price is going back up (which as a major shareholder, makes him happy as a clam), and that Juilliard is also interested in purchasing a Butt-Ugly Piano Jr. as well.  In-ha gleefully states that this is the perfect time to promote Boosung globally, as Young-rang tells him no duh that’s why his father left him the company, ya big dummy!  Attorney Choi also reports that the sales at Boosung’s shopping mall this month are also on the rise, and today is the day for its site visit, so they pack up and head out.

Ji-ho decides to start searching for information on the fire at the Yoo Mansion 14 years prior.  Typing that search term into a Naver clone called wiki.com (*snerk*), an article comes up entitled “The History of Boosung Group: Previous Chairman Yoo Man Se Dead From a Fire; President Chae Young Rang a Suspect.”  Reading the in-depth article which talks about a torn-up will (a real one this time; not some silly note), Man-se succumbing to a cerebral hemorrhage because of a concussion… an intentionally cut phone line and a hairpin?  But what Ji-ho’s eyes fixate the most on is the statement saying “Chae Young Rang a Suspect.”  Pulling out his phone, he calls the Sungbuk Police Department and tells them he wants some questions answered…

The Shopping Mall General Manager gives Young-rang and In-ha the nickel tour, claiming that since the shopping mall has many diverse attractions now, the sales have increased quite a bit after Boosung’s acquisition.  In-ha suggests installing one of the Butt-Ugly Piano Jrs. in one of the common areas — it will be a great promotion to have their shoppers come and play one for themselves.  Young-rang holds back from the group to take a phone call from Secretary Oh, who tells her that Ji-ho is at the Sungbuk Police Department right now asking pointed questions!

Restaurant Louis is getting a banquet table set up by its workers, with Bitchy Manager Girl micro-managing the place settings and barking orders.  Da-mi is hard at work setting out plates, when she turns around and comes face-to-face with In-ha.  She asks him if he was the one making the group reservation, as he concurs saying it’s for treating his employees to celebrate winning against Ji-ho… erm, I mean getting the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr. into production.  Will his being there make her too uncomfortable?  Da-mi coldly says it’s her job to serve their guests and tells him they can be seated now.  (With a little Earth, Wind & Fire playing on the overhead soundtrack.  Ha!)

After the lunch is done, she walks In-ha to the entrance and he thanks her for the meal.  Again, Da-mi frostily replies that there’s no need to thank her since she’s just doing her job, turns on her heels and goes back inside.  In-ha watches her from outside as she and the waitstaff clean off the tables and she looks happy again, voicing over that she only smiles at everyone else… not at In-ha, so why is she being so stingy with her smiles towards him?

Ji-ho returns home to see Young-rang on the couch reading.  He starts heading up to his room, but stops short.  Turning to Young-rang, he wants her to answer a question… about his father’s death.  Is there something that has been purposely kept from him?  When she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Ji-ho asks to hear more about the man who (allegedly) killed his father.  Word on the street is that he was falsely charged… which makes Young-rang jump up and tell Ji-ho he’s so full of shit that he’s floating.  What gives him the right to speak like that?

Ji-ho continues that said (alleged) thief also died in the fire, so anyone who would know the truth is dead.  Young-rang tells him to shut his trap, and if he ever brings up something like that again, she will live the rest of her life gladly never seeing Ji-ho’s face again!!  After she stomps to her room, Ji-ho says he hopes the rumours are not true, because if she turns out to be such an evil person, he’s going to lose his mind!

Young-rang thinks over and over who the hell would be feeding Ji-ho such nonsense.  Could it be….?  A bell rings at the Hong Residence, as Nam-joo thinks it’s Da-mi returning from the store, runs to open the door.  Instead, it’s Young-rang and she backs Nam-joo inside, screaming that Young-rang gave her one last chance to just go away.  Nam-joo yells back that Young-rang has some balls to just walk in and order her around like that, but Young-rang will not leave until she finds out what Nam-joo has told her son.  Nam-joo has no freakin’ idea what she’s talking about — tell what to who’s son again?  Young-rang screams that she’s just putting false ideas into Ji-ho’s head and that’s why he went to the police station?

Nam-joo asks why she would be meeting Young-rang’s son?  What about Ji-ho now?  At that moment, Da-mi arrives upon that little happy scene, and Young-rang is stunned to see her there.  Nam-joo asks if Da-mi knows this person, and she finally admits that Young-rang is Ji-ho’s mother.  And admits that Nam-joo is Da-mi’s mother as well.  Alrighty, secret’s out!!!

Young-rang mulls over this new information in her car, not believing that the same girl that In-ha and Ji-ho both like is Hong Da Mi… the daughter of Hong Soo Pyo?  She can’t believe her rotten luck and needs to figure out things, while flashing back to Ji-ho asking her that since that man died in the fire, there’s no one to substantiate the truth?  Young-rang comes up with a cunning plan to shut someone’s mouth before Ji-ho suspects her further of being complicit in his father’s death.  It’s time to end it all here.

Attorney Choi joins Young-rang in her car, wondering why she’d come all the way over to see him.  Handing him an envelope, she tells him that tomorrow will be the time to expose everything; hand over all the documents to the police, and circulate what’s in that envelope to the reporters.  Attorney Choi opens it up to see that it’s the press release from when Ji-ho hauled off and slugged In-ha after the whole Composing Contest Conundrum.

But returning to his house, he’s been meeting with Woo-jin who still wants the tape recorder in exchange for getting the Geumdan MOU signed by Boosung.  Attorney Choi basically tells him to pound sand, since that deal still has strings attached.  Woo-jin begs to differ, because isn’t Attorney Choi a teensy bit curious to know exactly what Geumdan is going to do with that contract?  Ya know all the stocks that Attorney Choi holds in Boosung Construction — in a few days, it looks like those stock are going to be worthless scraps of paper instead.  Attorney Choi goes white as a sheet and now demands the details, as Denny explains that the $10B won construction costs are being held in promissory notes that will be called in to be paid back immediately.

Attorney Choi still cannot believe his ears, as Woo-jin explains that the subcontractors will need to be paid for their work… and those subs are all Geumdan Construction workers.  Didn’t Attorney Choi realize that when he vetted the contract prior to presenting it for Young-rang’s signature?  All Woo-jin has to do is make one phone call at 3 PM this Friday to call in the notes, and Boosung Construction being unable to raise that much cash so fast… will go bankrupt.  So Attorney Choi, the fortune you’ve worked your entire life to gather will disappear into thin air — you okay with that?  Attorney Choi starts to protest, but Woo-jin cuts him off to remind him there’s no escape plan for him now.  Except — if the tape recorder is turned over to Woo-jin today, he will buy some time for Attorney Choi to move all his stocks into something not-so attached to Boosung’s profits.

Nam-joo is pretty much in shock hearing the news that Ji-ho is Young-rang’s son; why didn’t Da-mi tell her sooner?  Da-mi claims his background wasn’t important to her, so she decided it wasn’t important to tell her mother either.  Nam-joo breaks down and asks why of all families, did Ji-ho have to come from Young-rang’s?  WAE?!?!  Da-mi is confused as to why and demands to know why they can’t stay together because his mother is the Chairman of Boosung Group?  Woo-jin comes home and finds his mother near collapse, as Da-mi asks if he knows the reason why she’s acting so goofy and stuff.  Was the reason Woo-jin was against her relationship with Ji-ho was because he’s a chaebol son?  Will everyone just stop crying and tell her the truth now?!?

They put Nam-joo to bed, as Da-mi is still demanding to know why their mom went all mental like that.  Woo-jin says to leave things alone and they’ll talk tomorrow, but Da-mi wants to know the scoop today!  She’s going to go crazy if she’s not told why he and her mother are against her relationship with Ji-ho!  Woo-jin takes her hands and says everything will be okay in the end.  (HA.)

Ji-ho comes downstairs just as Young-rang returns home.  Glaring at each other, Young-rang voices over that her relationship with Ji-ho will finally end today — if he would have just stayed put and not provoked her, she wouldn’t be sending him to hell soon.  So have a nice trip!  Ji-ho sends off his own voice-over, asking her where the end of her evilness lies.  Don’t get him near that cliff if she wants him to have at least one happy memory of their life left… and he takes off.

With the Lim Seong Hee OST Part 1 playing underneath, Ji-ho walks down the riverside path and flashes back to all the happy times he had with Da-mi, especially the moment he realized who she really was at the concert hall and their last meeting at the fishing hole. And the kisses… let’s not forget the kisses!!  He asks Da-mi what it is he should do now… as Da-mi walks down the same path in the opposite direction, just missing Ji-ho by a nano-second going the other way.

The next day, Ji-ho is meeting with So-yeol when the police arrive to escort him down to the station to discuss his embezzlement of company funds.  Ji-ho has no freakin’ clue what they’re talking about, as the lead cop says they’ll talk everything over at the station.  Ji-ho gets escorted out as the Men With Blue Boxes start tearing apart his office looking for documents.  Right about that time In-ha returns to Boosung with his entourage and is told of the situation… but he doesn’t do his usual Happy Dance over this news.

At the police station, Ji-ho still maintains his innocence, while riles up the investigator.  Throwing a huge file at him, it clearly shows that Ji-ho is being accused of faking all the cost invoices for the research and development and production of the Butt-Ugly Piano, Jr.  As if that ain’t enough, the police has evidence that his shares from the Cultural Foundation (which he signed over to Boosung ages ago) were deposited into a Swiss bank account, so now there’s evidence of a slush fund as well.  Ji-ho says everything is not true and demands to see his attorney ASAP!!

Lounging in a chair savoring her latest victory over Yoo Ji Ho, Young-rang enjoys a glass of wine while the the Dies Irae from Verdi’s “Requiem” plays in the background.  In-ha barges in to ask if she’s heard the latest on Ji-ho, but she silences him with a single SHHHHH.

Da-mi is finally told the tragic history between her family and Ji-ho’s family.  She isn’t grasping the concept, as Nam-joo says they needed to hide this from her since she was too young at the time — the pain would have too great to bear, so she’s sorry for having to lie to her for 14 years.  Da-mi does remember the fire and her appa died trying to save someone, but what about the false charges?  And why is Ji-ho connected to all this, huh?

Woo-jin reiterates that Ji-ho is Chae Young Rang’s son, and she was the one who falsely accused their father of being the thief… doesn’t she understand?  Obviously Da-mi doesn’t, as she accuses Woo-jin of lying just to make her mad.  Turning into the Queen of Denial, Da-mi needs confirmation that will only come from Ji-ho’s mouth, so she runs out to find him with Woo-jin close behind.

Ji-ho is still at the police station when he receives a call from Da-mi but doesn’t pick it up.  She keeps trying to call him as Woo-jin runs after her, but he stays back to read a text from Attorney Choi saying that he’ll give in to Woo-jin’s demands — exchanging the tape recorder for the Geumdan Construction plans.  Still not getting through to Ji-ho, Da-mi texts him saying she needs to talk to him and she’s heading over to Boosung now.  But before she heads over, Da-mi notices the newspaper for sale stating that Yoo Ji Ho has been kicked out of the Music Society because of the plagiarism against In-ha.

Young-rang tells Attorney Choi it’s time for her to show all their cards so that they can turn Ji-ho into a penniless beggar; there will be no way he can weasel out now.  Attorney Choi says he’ll hold down the fort while she’s gone.  (Geesus, what the hell is she wearing around her neck?  Looks painful.)  Attorney Choi gives his own voiceover saying that after Ji-ho is taken down, she will be next…and there will not be a way out for her either!

Young-rang arrives at the orphanage to where her child was allegedly shuttled off.  She tells herself that all she’s gonna do is check up on his status.  If he’s living well, all she has to do in the future is send him some rice.  Anonymously, of course… (And the orphanage is the same one used in “Smile, Donghae.”  My head has officially exploded now.)

Meeting with the Mother Superior, Young-rang is asked if she’s been looking for him all these 26 years?  She says she’s actually the child’s AUNT, having been told of the child’s existence on the mother’s deathbed.  Young-rang goes on to say that if the child can be found, she plans on taking him into her home.  Looking through the file, the Mother Superior claims that the boy was already adopted after celebrating his first birthday at the orphanage.  Passing over the file to Young-rang, she sees the last picture of the child in his first birthday hanbok… and then steels up the reserve to ask for the address of his adoptive parents.

In-ha and his posse get ready to leave Boosung and runs into Da-mi, whose has one of those “geez and I have to run into YOU?” faces on.  Telling his group to move along, he says that if she’s there to see Ji-ho, he’s not upstairs.  Da-mi says she’s actually there to see In-ha and yells that he didn’t have to take things this far; she told him to not make trouble for Ji-ho anymore.  Isn’t it enough that In-ha stole the Company and the Butt-Ugly Piano production away from Ji-ho?

In-ha has no clue as to what she’s saying, until she hands him a copy of the paper with the plagiarism story.  (She left without her purse, so did she even pay for that paper or just steal it?)  Da-mi tells In-ha she thought he had changed and she was attempting to be his friend again, but did he have to take Ji-ho’s music away from him too?  She calls him an evil sonofabitch and stomps out, while In-ha wonders if his mother had anything to do with this latest escapade…

Attorney Choi tells Ji-ho that even though there’s an indictment against him, he is freed on bail for now.  Telling him that the investigators are far from done, Ji-ho rises up and grabs Attorney Choi by the collar and accuses him of doctoring his documents.  Ji-ho turned a blind eye against the bastard for his past crimes, and this is how he’s stabbed in the back?  Attorney Choi leans in and saves the best for last — there’s also a charge against Ji-ho for bribing the Board of Directors with stock options… so good luck getting out of this little scrape.  Ji-ho screams to have his mother brought there NOW!!!

But she’s in the process of leaving the orphanage instead; making it back to her car, she pulls out the first birthday party picture and then breaks down.  Young-rang asks the picture where the child is now — where and who is he living with now?  Does he hate his parents for doing this to him?  Boo hoo freakin’ hoo…

Attorney Choi hands over the tape recorder to Woo-jin, saying he only gets one chance, so use it wisely.  Woo-jin counters, saying he’s not a doofus and Young-rang will soon be investigated anyway.  Woo-jin asks Attorney Choi if he’s closer to taking over Boosung Group, but Attorney Choi backpedals by saying they don’t have enough of a friendship to share such secrets.  They’ll each get what they want in the end, right?  Woo-jin agrees and takes his leave… as Attorney Choi pulls out of his jacket pocket what looks like another tape copy of Dong-yi’s confession.

Ji-ho paces in front of Da-mi’s house waiting for her to return home, but runs into Woo-jin instead.  Reiterating that he never wanted to see Ji-ho’s face again, he orders Ji-ho to leave before she gets there.  Ji-ho stands his ground by saying he must talk to her ASAP, but Woo-jin tells him he is not to come near his precious little sister ever again.  Ji-ho asks him why he needs to break up with Da-mi just because of some random words coming out of Woo-jin’s mouth?  But Woo-jin conveniently left out of his explanation to Da-mi how Ji-ho’s father was killed, so they need to end everything right here and now!

That proves to be too much for Ji-ho, who hauls off and slugs Woo-jin asking for the evidence of how Young-rang killed his own father.  Woo-jin tells him it’s probably time for him to hear it with his own ears; it may be cruel, but maybe now Ji-ho will believe what Woo-jin has been trying to tell him.  Throwing Ji-ho off him, Woo-jin pulls out the tape recorder to tell him he has a tape of a witness to the night of the fire… Lee Dong Yi, who worked as a domestic at the Yoo Mansion.  Ji-ho listens to her confession but still can’t believe what he hears.  Going all Mawang in the alleyway, he screams ANIYA!!! over and over and collapses to his knees in shock.

In the meantime, Da-mi is waiting over at Ji-ho’s house for him to return, which he does eventually.  Chiding him for not calling her back all day, she’s wondering why he can’t look her straight in the eye.  But they need to talk about the allegations her mom and brother made about Ji-ho’s mother, okay?  She wasn’t the one who falsely accused her father, right?  Ji-ho refuses to answer, as she yells at him to say something — tell Da-mi that he father did not die at his home!!  All Ji-ho can do is apologize to her, as she goes off on him looking for some confirmation that everything is just a lie!!  Not getting a word out of Ji-ho, she leaves him crying in the driveway.

Ji-ho barges into the house to see Young-rang calmly arranging Vase of Flowers No. 167 (in a series).  Telling her that it isn’t sufficient for him to lose Boosung Group and it isn’t enough that he gave everything over to In-ha, does Young-rang have to go that far to accuse him of what he’s accused of?  Is there anything else she wants to take away from him?  Is it because Ji-ho finally found out the secret behind his father’s death?!?

Young-rang’s hands shake as she finishes inserting the last rose, and glares at Ji-ho by telling him to shut his dirty mouth.  If he brings up that subject one more time, it’s his own death warrant he’s signing!!  But Ji-ho refuses to go quietly, and he WILL keep asking until the day he dies… why did she kill his father?!?  WAE?!?  Launching the flowers across the room, Ji-ho says he’s going to ask one more time — WHY DID SHE KILL HIS FATHER?!?!  And with yet another Stare-Off, we end Episode 16!

Air Date:  7 October 2012

Ratings:   AGB Nielsen Nationwide 8.4% (15th) / Seoul 8.8% (16th); TmNS Nationwide 9.6% (16th) / Seoul 10.9% (13th)

Flowers and Brickbats

This is another one of those episodes where I wrote up this section first because it was just short of being perfect!  Unfortunately, the Korean viewers were just about to throw in their collective towels watching Ji-Ho keep getting pounded further into Wussieville: Population HIM.  How many more times were we going to subjected to Ji-ho alllllllmost catching a clue that his stepmother and sibling were Evil Incarnate and do something about it?  This is Episode 16, ferchrissakes!!  If he’s going to start plotting his own revenge, he needed to step it up or the ratings will stay in the single-digits for the rest of the show!  But obviously the writers heard our collective pleas, because if the light bulb finally went on over Ji-ho’s head in Episode 16, just wait until you see Episodes 17 and 18!  BWAHAHAHA!!!

Also making several of the live-streaming watchers simultaneously headdesk during Episode 16 was the way Da-mi handled The Big Reveal about the circumstances on how her father died and the cover-up that Young-rang continued to perpetuate.  Speaking of Wussieville, I would have expected something more out of her character than just sitting there with one tear rolling down her cheek.  Really, Show?  The character was (allegedly) supposed to be a spunky/slightly flawed/take-no-prisoners-type of character — I was expecting Da-mi to go all mental (or worse).  At the most, at least join Woo-jin right then and there in his Holy Evilicious Revenge Plot.  And since we are already at Episode 16, I’m not that thrilled over Jin Se Yeon’s acting so far.  Yes, she’s very beautiful and everything, but her presence is just not grabbing me like I expected it to.  Although her first meeting with Ji-ho after the bike crash showed some promise that she was a gal who spoke her mind, I haven’t seen anything since Episode 7 that makes me change my mind.  Show an emotion other than being all wide-eyed and smiley all the time, dangit!

Going back and watching after so much time has passed, I caught the first spark of a potential romance between In-ha and So-yeol when she took his drunken self out of the noraebang to sober up.  At that time, it’s obvious he didn’t care that much about her as she started to at that moment about him, as he was still pining away for Da-mi.  This new development may kinda serve as a plot point and sorta explain some of the scenes in future episodes (upon first viewing, we were all sitting there going WTF?!?).  As my late dad used to say, “I wouldn’t have put them together with spit and bailing wire.”   I do not understand the methodology behind this, but let’s just roll with it, okay?

I bet your brains were hurting the first time watching all this talky-talk about stock options and construction contracts and promissory notes and what-not.  Me to the rescue, since what is being discussed is basically what my career has concentrated in for the past 20 years or so.  A few of the Korean terms were unfamiliar to my ears so after some research, I tried to put the terminology into plain English to make it understandable.  What I am scratching my head over is the unknown time period that was supposed to have occurred between the initial signing of the Geumdan Contract and the time Woo-jin told Attorney Choi of the balloon payment becoming due.  This whole calling in of the promissory notes so soon after the execution of an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) is not a common method, but since this was all dirty money being passed around, who knows what the writers were thinking outside of “Let’s throw some construction contract terms in the script so it sounds like we know what we’re doing!”  FAIL.

Music Nerd Ramblings:  We get to hear a little bit more of the Schubert piece from Episode 15, but the music I was doing the most fist-pumping over was the song that In-ha decided to sing as his own personal Number 18 at the noraebang — “Drunken Truth” (취중진담/The Truth In Wine).  Originally sung and made hugely famous by balladeer Kim Dong Ryul (김동률), this tune is the song normally attempted by drunken Korean men who have just broken up with/been dumped by/suffering from serious unrequited love with the woman in their lives.  A comparable English-versed tune doesn’t come to mind right away — any suggestions?  Regardless, how can you not love a song with lyrics like these:

You’re right, I may be drunk/This may be a mistake/When morning comes, I may act like I don’t remember/and be uncomfortable near you.

We are also treated to a snippet of the instrumental version of the HOMME tune from the OST Part 2 (“Words That You Cannot Hear”) in the scene when In-ha and So-yeol are conversing outside So-yeol’s car after his night of drunken debauchery… but it was so short!  As is with most contracts with KDrama production companies, it is a no-no to feature a work prior to its official release by the artist’s management company.  The HOMME release was due to be dropped on 12 October, so that’s why we were only given a tease of the new tune during that scene.  Stupid Music Rules!! *grumble*

And in the scene where Young-rang decided it was time for a glass of wine and gloat over her apparent smackdown over Ji-ho, a part of the Dies Irae from Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem was featured.  In 1868, Verdi and several other Italian composers wrote the Requiem in honour of Gioachino Rossini’s death.   But even written by one of the most prolific opera composers of the Romance Period, the Requiem is not classified as an opera per se, but features several operatic themes throughout.  The Dies Irae is the second movement and the largest section of the entire work, utilizing a full chorus, four soloists, and orchestra.  The Requiem is also one of those showpieces that every choral society should include in their repertoire, and even though it ain’t no walk in the park, I have been privileged to have performed in a few productions during my salad days.

Off to have my hands massaged a la In-ha a few episodes back, and then it’s time to tackle Episode 17.  Stay tuned!