And another bouquet goes flying… it’s always the poor flowers that suffer the most in this Show.

As if everyone was stone-deaf at the end of Episode 16, Ji-ho yells at Young-rang WHY DID YOU KILL MY FATHER?!?   She demands that he not mention such dirty family history laundry ever again, or she’s not responsible for what happens next!  Ji-ho sees right through her innocent act, spilling the beans that there’s a tape out there saying that Young-rang killed Chairman Yoo!

Young-rang scoffs at that revelation, saying there cannot be a record of such a thing that isn’t true, but Ji-ho begs to differ.  He tells her the tape contains a witness to the act… Lee Dong Yi.  Young-rang stops and repeats that name, as Ji-ho calls her out on her hatred for him being brought to the house and for Boosung being given to Ji-ho instead of In-ha.  So tell him now… why did she do it?

Young-rang spits back that he’s speaking nonsense back at someone that put a roof over his head for the past 14 years, but Ji-ho’s heard enough.  Calling her outright despicable, there’s nothing Young-rang can tell him now that he will not believe.  She wants to know who has such a tape saying these things… is it that horrible family of Da-mi’s?  Ji-ho takes a deep breath and figured Young-rang knew all along that Da-mi was in that family, but she turns that phrase and demands to know if her family is now blackmailing Ji-ho.

Fortunately, EvilStep arrives on the scene after hearing that Da-mi’s family may be threatening Ji-ho and calls bullshit — Young-rang’s face right now looks like the gumiho (mythological fox with nine tails) who just ate up 20 chickens!  Ji-ho decides standing there any longer isn’t in his best interests, so he heads up to his room with dagger knives being thrown at his back by Young-rang’s eyes.

A very upset Da-mi is walking away from Ji-ho’s house as In-ha drives by.  He hops out and asks if she’s okay, as she pulls away and tells him to act like she’s a ghost.  Taking the bus home, she finally breaks down as we watch In-ha stalking her from the back seats… and continues to stalk her as she arrives home, standing just far enough away trying to figure out what the hell just happened.  (Probably just realizing that he left his car running in the middle of the street by his house.)

EvilStep bangs on Ji-ho’s locked bedroom door, but he’s not answering.  Da-mi returns home, and she’s not answering either.  Woo-jin keeps Nam-joo from following her to her room by saying to leave her be right now.  Nam-joo wants to ask so many questions, but right now she just feels too much pity for the poor girl.

Da-mi collapses in her room with the OST Part 2 tune playing underneath: “Words I Cannot Hear” by HOMME.  She flashes back to Ji-ho not answering her questions at the end of Episode 16 but instead telling her he’s sorry.  What is she supposed to do now… she’s not confident enough to hate him and cries.  Ji-ho himself flashes back to their last conversation while he stares at her picture on his mobile.  Ji-ho picks up his jacket as if to leave, but stops short.

Young-rang paces in her room wondering how a tape could be made, and by Dong-yi of all people!  Obviously forming Evil Plot No. 126 in her head, she keeps asking herself how did Ji-ho get his hands on it too?

The next day, Ji-ho is reading the papers containing the fallout from his plagiarism and corporate scandals and not too happy over any of it.  In-ha comes barging into his room to tell him he heard about the plagiarism thingy andsays he’s sorry.  But what was up with Da-mi yesterday — she was crying and stuff and he’s never seen her cry that hard before.  So what is Ji-ho doing to her, huh?  Can’t even protect his own woman?  Ji-ho tells him to mind his own beeswax and stomps on out of the room, leaving In-ha to wonder what’s wrong now…

Da-mi is up and already has breakfast on the table, and tells Nam-joo that they need to do some grocery shopping today.  Nam-joo recognizes that she’s in shock and tells her that if she wants to cry, go ahead.  Da-mi instead is just sorry that her mom and oppa had to bear with everything for so long because she wasn’t told.  Nam-joo now decides to tell Da-mi that she was hospitalized for shock after her father died.  That’s why they moved house as soon as she was released, and there was no way in hell her mom was going to put Da-mi through any more painful memories.  They promise each other to not make it any harder going forward.

Yeong-rang tells Secretary Oh to keep tabs on Ji-ho down to the tiniest degree.  He in return tells her about his research on the true owner of the Yeoksam-dong building that she requested, but the papers truly are in Lee Dong Yi’s name.  Attorney Choi helped register it, but he is not listed as the owner.  Young-rang then demands that Secretary Oh find out where Dong-yi is staying in the States ASAP… even if they have to search every state to find that treacherous bitch!

Meeting with Denny Hong, Young-rang askshow the construction at the Incheon apartment complex is progressing.  He tells her that all negotiations with the current residents has been completed and no longer any issues at the site… but why does she look so uneasy?  Is it about the terms of their MOU?  Young-rang doesn’t disagree with that statement, since if something goes wrong, Boosung will have to take full responsibility.  Woo-jin agrees with that statement, and gets up to take his leave…

… until Young-rang inquires about Alvin Kim’s plans to come to Korea (or lack thereof).  Denny says that it’s funny she asked; he does want to meet with her and they are arranging his visit as they speak.  She says she can’t wait to finally meet the elusive Mr. Kim.

Finally leaving her office, Woo-jin walks down the hall until Ji-ho intercepts him with a request to chat.  Of course, Tattle-Tale Secretary Oh comes in to report that very fact to Young-rang.  (And this is the first time that I noticed her desk was made in the shape of a piano!)  That sets her back a step, because why would Ji-ho be meeting with Chief Hong?

Out on the Balcony of Regrets, Ji-ho asks about Da-mi and how she’s holding up.  Woo-jin tells him that’s none of his concern, so stop thinking about her… the best thing Ji-ho can do for her is for him to act like they’ve never met.  Ji-ho tells him that he understands his concern, but the two of them just cannot break up like that!  OH CRAP, listening in on their conversation is Young-rang, who asks who’s dongsaeng again WUT?  Woo-jin tells Ji-ho that Da-mi is stronger than he thinks; there’s no way she will ever abandon her family for Ji-ho.

Woo-jin takes off (for good now, I hope), leaving Ji-ho on the balcony and Young-rang gasping for breath over what she just overheard.  Staggering back to her office, she’s gobsmacked that Denny Hong is Da-mi’s brother?  She digs out Denny Hong’s resume and checks it over again, and after chucking it to the floor, it finally dawns on her that she’s been fished in like a flounder.  Did he approach her intentionally — everything was calculated?  HE DARES TO MESS WITH THE BOOSUNG GROUP CEO?!?  Ripping the MOU into shreds, she’s just added yet another name to her ever-growing shitlist.

Jung-wook has arrived at the Yoo Mansion bearing a gift of meat, to EvilStep’s delight.  Jung-wook wonders what happened to her, since she hasn’t been around the driving range recently.  And what’s this he’s heard about Boosung embezzling public funds again?  EvilStep just sighs and tells him every family has its problems; even the rich ones.  So Jung-wook shouldn’t worry his pretty ajusshi head over it and sit down for a cup of coffee with her.

In a blatant example of Product Placement, EvilStep puts away the Korean National Beef in their LG Side-By-Side Refrigerator and sets the meat controls accordingly.  (Sheesh.)  She makes a verbal note to make sure Ji-ho takes advantage of his largess, since he’s looking so weak lately.  And by the way, has Jung-wook been in touch with Young-rang since their last meeting at the house?  Saying that they met briefly, EvilStep is appalled since Young-rang was going to pull all her hair out if he ever set foot in their house again.  Jung-wook says that they only talked about the past, so EvilStep shouldn’t get her hopes up too much.

EvilStep snorts that it’s just like Young-rang to play impossible-to-get in a situation like this.  She sighs and says what is, it is… but it would have been nice if the two of them had a child together since they’ve snuggled between the sheets in the past.  (Hunh?)  Jung-wook sighs himself and spills that he is not fertile enough to procreate, so he never thought about it.  EvilStep tells him to shut his mouth and not believe those quacks, because she’s had a vision of a child who looks just like him… so he won’t be lonely in his later life.  Jung-wook just stares at her as she goes back to sipping her tea.

Ji-ho returns to his office at Boosung to see Mommie Dearest sitting in his chair.  Young-rang demands to know when Ji-ho found out that Denny Hong and Da-mi were family members, as he says he just found out.  She tells Ji-ho that’s not the problem; it’s that wretched family trying to destroy her and Boosung from the inside out!  Ji-ho doesn’t care one bit, because he’s more concerned about what Young-rang has done to THEIR family!  Jumping to her feet, Young-rang asks Ji-ho if he even believes all that bullshit, because Da-mi’s father was the one that killed Ji-ho’s father — it’s the truth, and she’s sticking to it!

Asking her if she would just tell the truth for once, Ji-ho doesn’t believe her and warns that if she doesn’t come clean soon, then In-ha will find out as well.  Young-rang tells Ji-ho that he’s not in a position to complain like that, since he’s been ousted from the Music Society and has all those criminal charges hanging over his head.  Once his stocks are seized, he’s going to the Poor House — is that how Ji-ho wants to end his life?  Ji-ho reminds her that it was Young-rang’s plan all along anyway to take everything from him so he couldn’t stand up on his own.  Young-rang demands that Ji-ho then keep his trap shut, as he FINALLY says NO.  Since he knows everything now, he has nothing to be afraid of.  So if she’s going to ever repent, go apologize to his father and to Da-mi’s family NOW.  Young-rang smirks and asks if Ji-ho is going to call the police on her, as Ji-ho says why not?  Could be fun!

Young-rang yells that Ji-ho needs to come to his senses and realize that Da-mi is the daughter of their enemy — does it makes sense that Ji-ho gain their side for revenge against her?  In-ha then suddenly enters the room and asks what Young-rang is talking about… Da-mi is what now what again hunh?  OH POOPIE.

Out in the courtyard, Young-rang apologizes and says she should have told In-ha before everything went to hell in a handbasket.  She was more concerned that In-ha would go into shock, so that’s why she kept her mouth shut.  Repeating what he understands that Da-mi’s father killed his father, Young-rang reminds In-ha that he was in surgery that entire time so he wouldn’t remember any of the details.  In-ha says that he DOES remember that a man came to the house yada yada yada, and Young-rang accuses Ji-ho of hiding that fact from the both of them.  In-ha just ain’t believing that Da-mi would have such a father, and Young-rang tries to put a lid on it by calling the whole Hong Family out for being so shameless.  They’re threatening her, ferchrissakes!!!

In-ha almost goes nuts and tells her that makes absofreakinlutely no sense!  They have no reason to do that!!  Young-rang says it’s all about money… they want a ton of money by turning their Thief Dad into a Victim Dad.  In-ha wants to know if Da-mi knows this, as Young-rang figures she must have learned the truth by now.  It’s a Good Thing, because now this is In-ha’s chance to completely get over his weird crush on Da-mi once and for all.  She was even too embarrassed to mention their relationship to his Dead Burnt-Up Dad.  In-ha looks like he’s been kicked in the gut, and asks what Ji-ho has said about this new revelation.  Young-rang says that of course he’s going to believe her family — after all she’s done for him, and he turns on his own family like that.  It was wrong to take in an animal who doesn’t know right from wrong.  But In-ha’s Brain Wheels are spinning in another direction.  If it is true that Da-mi’s father killed his father, then Ji-ho has no choice but to break up with her….

EvilStep meets with Nurse Kang, who tells her that Young-rang visited her and knows everything now.  She had to tell Young-rang where the orphanage was or else the Scary Woman was ready to kill her!  EvilStep can’t believe her ears, as Young-rang always says one thing and then does something else.  So is Young-rang pretending not to know where her child is?  Asking Nurse Kang what the name of that orphanage was, EvilStep heads over there herself.

Thumbing through the adoption documents, EvilStep asks the Mother Superior that the woman inquiring about the baby said she was the maternal aunt?  Mother Superior tells her that if she finds the child, she plans on taking him into her present family.  EvilStep’s eyes land on the name given to the child when he arrived at the orphanage — Song Min Ho — because that’s not what EvilStep listed on the paperwork.  She definitely remembers putting Kim Jung-wook’s name in the father’s block…  EvilStep asks the Mother Superior for the address where the child was adopted out to; since she is the Paternal Aunt, that means she has dibs on being the first to know.  And keep this little conversation a secret between us, ne?

Attorney Choi deigns to meet up with Jung-wook, gleefully rubbing his hands together over meeting the elusive Alvin Kim.  But why was he summoned, since Attorney Choi has finished his work with Woo-jin.  Jung-wook reminds him that he’s the brains of the outfit, so it’s best to deal with him too.  Especially since Jung-wook knows there’s a piece of evidence that Attorney Choi has yet to give up.  Attorney Choi pleads ignorance, but Jung-wook tells him that his proposal will make Attorney Choi sit up and take notice.

Jung-wook goes on to remind Attorney Choi that he’s wanted the President position at Boosung ever since he started working there over 20 years ago… is he not correct?  Attorney Choi takes a deep breath and says he’d rather OWN Boosung Group; not be its figurehead president.  Who else knows the company inside and out but him?  Jung-wook tells him to go ahead and do that, but if Attorney Choi cannot block the sale of the promissory notes in 24 hours, then Attorney Choi will not have a company to rule over any more.  Young-rang will be investigated for the killing(s), so Attorney Choi needs to step in and act like he is Boosung’s Grand Saviour.  Once that happens, Jung-wook will be more than happy to help from behind the curtains.

Attorney Choi asks how can he believe what Jung-wook is saying, as Jung-wook tells him to believe it or not.  But it’s the perfect opportunity for him to show Attorney Choi that helping him out is no skin off his nose.  Easy-peasy!  Attorney Choi sits and thinks for a few seconds, and then tells Jung-wook that he has the blood-stained vest that Young-rang was wearing the night she killed her husband.  You can see Jung-wook’s chin tremble slightly over that (new to him) news, but he doesn’t flinch.

Leaving Restaurant Louis, Da-mi runs into Ji-ho asking to talk.  She rebuffs him by saying there’s nothing to say, but Ji-ho wants to know if she’s confident enough to end their relationship that way.  Da-mi spins around and asks if Ji-ho has any bright ideas — how can she not be the daughter in her family and he the son in his family?  She’s willing to listen to any reasonable method…

They retire to one of the park benches to try and hash things out, but the silence is deafening.  Since Ji-ho has nothing to say, she’s leaving… but he finally speaks up and tells her he’s sorry.  He has no idea how to ask for forgiveness from her and her family, as Da-mi says the only way to do that is to send his mother to prison.  If she asks nicely with sugar on top, can Ji-ho do that?  Ji-ho goes mute, as Da-mi figures he couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination.  So they need to keep the status quo, and go back to before when they were only strangers.

Da-mi goes on further to explain that being happy even after how she found out her father died will eventually drive her to the nuthouse with guilt.  She’s sad enough, so Ji-ho shouldn’t torment her any longer.  Looking down at her hands, she sees the piano wire ring, takes it off and puts it on the park bench.  Calling her name, Da-mi tells him to stop… don’t call her and don’t come to see her anymore.  By them breaking up, that’s the only way they can continue to live.  Da-mi takes off, as Ji-ho picks up the ring and runs off — but not after her.

At the Boosung parking garage, Young-rang and Secretary Oh run into Ji-ho.  Ji-ho grabs her arm and shoves her into the backseat of his car, and then strongarms Secretary Oh to keep him away.  (Man, he went down like a sack of potatoes!)  Taking off down the road with Young-rang protesting the whole time, Ji-ho finally pulls up to the police station, drags her out of the car and up the steps of the station.  Shaking him off, she demands to know why she’s there, as Ji-ho tells he’s giving her one last chance.  Apologize to his father and live like an honest person for one day by reversing the false charges she made against Da-mi’s father!

Calling him an ungrateful bastard for the 927th time, Young-rang reminds him that she ain’t about to do that ever and turns to leave.  Ji-ho stops her by saying that he’s not going to personally turn in the mother that raised his with his own hands, but he’s not letting things go.  Especially CrazyGran… Young-rang should be especially bowing and scraping in front of her.  Young-rang reminds Ji-ho that his Dead Burnt-Up Dad isn’t the one taking care of CrazyGran — it’s his very much alive Mother who’s taken on that Herculean task.  Ji-ho double-reminds Young-rang that CrazyGran lives in her own private hell thinking that she was the one that killed her own son!  How can Young-rang even go through life… but she triple-reminds Ji-ho that compared to the private hell that CrazyGran put HER through, CrazyGran is living the life of luxury instead.  If Ji-ho wants CrazyGran’s last days to be comfortable, then he needs to basically shut the hell up.  FOREVER.

Ji-ho says okey dokey, he’ll shut up… but maybe he should hand the evidence tape over to the police instead.  Young-rang tells him to go ahead and do that if he’s so confident that will finally land her in jail… give up the evidence and formally ask for an investigation.  Stalking off, Young-rang tells Ji-ho that she’s not falling for any sort of blackmail he puts in front of her.  To our detriment, Ji-ho just stands there watching her walk away.  (YOU. IDIOT.)  But instead of savouring another victory over Ji-ho, Young-rang sits fidgeting in the cab ride home wondering who on earth has a copy of the tape.  It must be someone in Hong Soo Pyo’s family… maybe Woo-jin?

Jung-wook hands a package over to Nam-joo and explains that it is another piece of evidence provided by Attorney Choi.  It’s a piece of clothing worn by Young-rang the night of the fire which has blood all over it.  Nam-joo pleads with Woo-jin to take these last two pieces of evidence to the police to prove that Young-rang was responsible for Chairman Yoo’s death, but Woo-jin flatly refuses.  Since Dong-yi lives in the States now, without her personal testimony, this evidence will be worthless.

Da-mi comes home to listen in on their conversation.  Woo-jin says they need something more tangible to nail Young-rang, and Jung-wook asks if he’s got something specific in mind.  Woo-jin says there’s nothing like hearing it from the horse’s mouth — only Chae Young Rang’s personal confession will be the only way to convince the police, and Woo-jin’s just the person to do it!  Compared to what their family has suffered through over the last 14 years, this should be a walk in the park for him.  Because she has a funny feeling about it, Nam-joo attempts to talk him out of his plans and go straight to the police instead.  Woo-jin says that if they can get through today, then his father can finally close his eyes in peace.

In-ha walks onto the stage in the Boosung Conference Room and walks over to the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr.  He wonders if his prayers have been answered — that if he could not have Hong Da Mi himself, then no one else will have her!  (All that’s missing from this scene is an evil BWAHAHAHA, but none is forthcoming.  Drat.)  Instead, In-ha takes his place on the bench and rips into a spirited version of the Moments musicaux by Rachmaninoff, playing a good chunk while the camera focuses on him, then on Woo-jin thinking, then on Young-rang plotting, then on Da-mi pacing and worrying, then on Ji-ho sitting and staring, then back to In-ha, as he ends the piece with tears streaming down his face.  (Are you all taking notes?  There will be a quiz on this later.)

In-ha returns to his office to take a phone call from someone inviting him to a birthday party.  Thinking that may be a good thing to take his mind off his troubles, he agrees to meet up later with his friends.  Walking out of the Boosung Headquarters, In-ha walks into the beginning of a thunderstorm (with some really cheesy CGI lightning and everything).  He just stands there, frozen to the spot.

At home, Young-rang sips her tea as the lights flicker and almost go dead.  Her phone signals she has a text; she opens it to find a picture of her blood-stained vest!  Startled, she drops the phone as the thunder and lightning continue.  Then her phone rings with Denny Hong calling, but Young-rang rips him a new one instead for lying to her that he was actually Hong Woo Jin.  Woo-jin drops the pretense and asks if she received the picture he sent her — doesn’t it look just like the vest she was wearing the night of the fire?  Young-rang calls him out to stop playing tricks because it ain’t working.  Woo-jin snickers that she is indeed Chae Young Rang; defiant to the end.

Asking what the hell Woo-jin wants with her, he explains that he sent a cab to her house that she needs to get in right now to come see him.  And come alone if she knows what’s good for her.  Young-rang refuses and orders him to come to Boosung the next day instead.  Woo-jin says that will be too late, because if she doesn’t meet him tonight, everything will be revealed in the morning to the police.  Tossing her phone to the floor, Young-rang stares at herself in the mirror and tells her reflection to get a grip.  She’s too good to lose to a lightweight like Woo-jin — Yoo Man Se was killed by Hong Soo Pyo.  The only way to keep living is to keep telling herself that, as she composes herself and puts on her Evil Bitch Face again.

Woo-jin starts packing up for their meeting as Jung-wook reminds him that Young-rang won’t be taken down that easily.  Jung-wook says that it might be too dangerous, so he’ll go with Woo-jin to their meeting.  Woo-jin politely declines the offer, since it’s all in his hands now.  Instead, he entrusts Jung-wook to take care of Nam-joo and Da-mi while he’s away.  Telling him to be careful, Jung-wook sends him on his way and will wait for his phone call.

Leaving the house, Da-mi is waiting outside for Woo-jin and tries to talk him out of doing whatever it is he plans on doing.  Woo-jin tries to calm her down, because after tonight, their family will become comfortable again.  Not being comfortable with that statement, Da-mi throws a mini-tantrum saying she’s too worried about him and just go to the freakin’ police, arraso?!?  Woo-jin takes her hand and says that this is something he has to do… he promised their father that he would eventually clear his name.  Don’t worry about him, because he’s not scared of anything — he’s SUPER OPPA!! Woo-jin takes off down the hill, as Da-mi stands there and it starts to rain hard.

As Young-rang gets ready to leave, she runs into In-ha returning home.  Asking what’s the hurry, she tells him she needs to go out for a moment and runs out the door leaving In-ha speechless.  Ji-ho drives home in the rain, but Da-mi is calling to narc on Woo-jin going off to meet Young-rang.  She couldn’t stop him from going, so maybe Ji-ho can stop his mother from meeting him?  She doesn’t want anything more to happen between their two families, so hurry!  Ji-ho promises to call her back later with what he knows.

Young-rang hops into the waiting cab and it speeds off, with In-ha right behind yelling after her.  Ji-ho pulls up right after that and runs into the house, leaving his car still running and unlocked.  He tells Secretary Kang that he’s left his car out front and rushes inside.  In-ha comes back to the front gate and sees Ji-ho’s car… just add Car Thief to In-ha’s long list of foibles now!  As he drives off, the security cameras are duly noted in several seconds of film.

Ji-ho rushes inside and asks EvilStep where his mother is, as she replies that the ahjumma said she stepped out awhile ago.  Ji-ho pulls out his phone to call her, with no answer.  He does the same for Woo-jin, with no answer either.  Woo-jin just drives on his merry way, totally ignoring the ringing phone on the seat next to him.

The cab pulls up to a construction site and deposits Young-rang at the entrance.  She wanders inside one of the buildings to find Woo-jin already there, telling her she doesn’t look too good right now.  Demanding for him to tell her why she was called out like this, Woo-jin tells her to chill out a bit first.  Young-rang yells back that his family has latched on to her like leeches, so isn’t it time for them to give up?   Woo-jin tells her to shut her piehole, because even if he killed her right then and there, it still wouldn’t be enough to right all her wrongs.

First holding up the Ziploc with the blood-stained vest in it, Woo-jin then holds up the tape recorder with Dong-yi’s confession on it.  He then orders Young-rang to apologize… get down on her knees and apologize to his father RIGHT NOW!!!  Young-rang says that she did nothing wrong because her husband was killed by his father.  Getting in her face, Woo-jin asks if she’s going to deny everything until the very end — she killed his father, so admit it!  She andwaes and says she didn’t kill him — she’s the victim here!  Woo-jin grabs her by the collar just as In-ha pulls up in Ji-ho’s car.

Jung-wook tries to calm Nam-joo down by telling her not to worry.  Wait for Woo-jin’s phone call, because there’s no way Young-rang can weasel herself out of this situation now with such clear evidence shoved in her face.  Nam-joo is still restless and worries that Young-rang is not there alone after all.  Jung-wook says how can things go wrong when he planned it all himself?  Da-mi then gets a phone call from Ji-ho saying he can’t find his mom and her brother is not picking up his phone.  He’s doing a diligent search, so don’t worry.  Da-mi lets loose on Ji-ho if something happens to Woo-jin, then she really really really will not forgive him…. especially you, Yoo Ji Ho.

Woo-jin holds up another envelope and tells Young-rang to look carefully at it.  This is the contract that she signed a few days ago that Geumdan Construction is no longer a joint guarantor, and that Boosung has full responsibility for everything.  With Young-rang saying the contract is void, Woo-jin then drops the bomb that at 10:00 AM the next day, Geumdan is calling in all the outstanding promissory notes to be paid off… to the tune of 70 billion won.  If Boosung cannot pay up, then they will be forced into bankruptcy.  Young-rang obviously didn’t read the fine print and yells back that will never happen!

Woo-jin offers her a way out to protect her precious Boosung from disappearing into thin air — spill her guts over what happened the night of the fire.  Acknowledge that she was at fault, but Young-rang remains in Victim Mode instead.  Everyone can ask until the cows come home, but her answer will still be the same.  Her husband was killed by his father — the thief and murderer!!  Woo-jin’s done with hearing her lie, and grabs her again as In-ha yells to let her go!!!   He comes running in and gives Woo-jin a right hook that sends him sprawling, asking what the hell Chief Hong is doing to his mother?

Turning to check if she’s okay, Young-rang panics and tells In-ha to get out of there right away!  In-ha wants to know why she’s there being treated like some criminal by that guy?  Woo-jin gets to his feet and notices that it’s In-ha, Young-rang’s precious son that has wonderful timing, because now he can hear exactly what he doesn’t know about his mother.

Picking up the tape recorder, Woo-jin gets ready to push the play button, but Young-rang runs towards him to stop.  Throwing her onto a stack of construction materials, In-ha attacks Woo-jin again but this time Woo-jin is ready.  Asking if In-ha really knows the truth about why their father suffered because of Chae Young Rang, In-ha is also a sinner for siding with his mother!

Back at the Mansion, EvilStep drops her glass of wine and it shatters all over the dining room floot.  Ji-ho comes up and asks if she’s okay, to which she affirms and then orders one of the ahjummas to clean up her mess.  Ji-ho looks towards the front door…

… as In-ha is getting the crap beaten out of that perfect body of his.  A few minutes of fighting scenes go on, as In-ha finally goes down for the count.  As Woo-jin moves in for the kill, Young-rang jumps in front of him and says she will confess, so stop beating her In-ha!!  Woo-jin says fine, spill your guts with everything that happened that night!  If she finally tells the truth, he will let her precious son live (as In-ha is laying on the ground moaning).  Grabbing her by the throat, Woo-jin turns on his own tape recorder and Young-rang attempts to confess… until In-ha wakes up and charges towards Woo-jin to stop him from choking his mother.

Woo-jin goes flying into scaffolding holding several sheets of plate glass, as they come crashing down on him first and then the rest of the framing second.  Woo-jin lies there bleeding out with shards of glass embedded all over his body, as In-ha goes into massive shock as to what he’s done.  Young-rang attempts to call an ambulance but cannot bring herself to dial properly.  Running over to Woo-jin, she orders him not to die and then touches the back of his head… recoiling in horror as her hand is covered in blood!  (And we have come full circle again.)

Turning to In-ha, she asks him why did he do this?  WAE?!?  What’s to become of him now?  In-ha finally comes to but Young-rang shields him from seeing what he did to Woo-jin.  Claiming that he did nothing wrong, it’s all her fault.  In-ha then goes completely bat-shit crazy, clawing at his mother and yelling over and over that HE KILLED A PERSON!!!  Young-rang orders him to get out of there; just go home and pretend like nothing ever happened.  In-ha (for once) disagrees because HE KILLED HIM!!!  Trying to slap some sense into him, Young-rang asks if he’s planning on losing everything just like this — get a grip, boy!  In-ha is on top of the world now at Boosung — does he want to be branded as a murderer and ruin his life?

In-ha goes into convulsions and says over and over he needs to confess, but Young-rang tells him to calm down and she will take care of everything.  His car is still outside, right?  She pulls him to his feet and drags him outside to see a strange car that is not In-ha’s.  Asking what Ji-ho’s car is doing here, In-ha says he was in a hurry so he “borrowed” it instead and he doesn’t think Ji-ho knows that.

*DING*

The light bulb goes off over Young-rang’s head, as she tells In-ha there’s a way out of this.  In-ha just stares at her like a deer caught in the headlights.  You can see the Plotting Wheels spinning 100 mph in Young-rang’s head.

Ji-ho paces in the living room until he gets a text from Woo-jin saying he needs to meet him at the Incheon construction site ASAP.  Running out to find his car gone with Secretary Jang right behind him, he thought that Ji-ho had taken the car out again so he didn’t think it necessary to go on a search for it.  Ji-ho takes off down the hill and fortunately is able to hail one of those all-night Korean cabs that roams around their posh neighborhood.

Dropping him off at the construction site, Ji-ho is startled to see his car in the driveway.  He calls out for Woo-jin and sees him lying outside the building in a puddle of debris.  Trying to shake him awake (yeah, just move his broken spine around a bit more…) with no luck, a flashlight shines in Ji-ho’s face with a security guard’s startled face on the other end.

Arriving home, Young-rang drags In-ha upstairs to his bedroom, but one of the maids sees them first.  In-ha barely gets to his bed before panicking, as Young-rang pulls out a change of clothes from his closet.  Ordering him to go and meet his friends like he originally planned, he needs to put on a happy face.  Drink, dance and don’t think about what happened, but In-ha can’t think about anything else but that HE KILLED SOMEONE!!!  How can he just dance like that?  Young-rang says it will be the perfect alibi but In-ha is more intent on confessing.  And shaking in fright.

Young-rang reminds him that if Woo-jin’s death isn’t covered up, then they will both die.  Does In-ha want to lose everything he’s gained back to Ji-ho again?  Then fine — act like a little wussy boy instead.  As he thinks about it, Young-rang returns to her room and pulls out her phone.  Telling the person on the other end (Ji-ho?) that they need to come home soon, she finally collapses in sobs.

As Woo-jin is loaded into the ambulance, Ji-ho is told by the police that he needs to come with them to the station.  Back at the Hong Residence, everyone waits nervously for Woo-jin’s phone call.  But what arrives instead is a call from the hospital which makes Nam-joo pass out.  Trying to hold her up, Da-mi demands from Jung-wook an explanation.  He runs out saying he’ll take care of things…

Young-rang takes the opportunity to turn her backyard into a smaller version of Burning Man, as she tosses the the Geumdan construction contract, her blood-stained vest, In-ha’s clothing and the tape recorder into the fire bin.  (Geez, I bet that smells REAL good.)  Flashing back to her going back inside the building to grab the damning evidence, Woo-jin’s phone suddenly rings.  She gingerly pulls out the phone to see Ji-ho calling him.  Back at the fire, a look of calm comes over her face as she tells herself this little incident is not going to ruin In-ha’s life.  She will make book on that!!

And as directed, In-ha is at a club sucking down scotch after scotch.  He attempts to do a little dancing, but mostly drunkenly stumbles into people.  One guy on the dance floor pushes him away, as he falls onto the floor and decides it’s a better place lying down than standing up.

At the police station, Ji-ho is getting the Second, Third and Fourth Degree from the investigator in charge.  Saying he was the only person at the scene and rattling off other allegations, Ji-ho tries to profess his innocence.  The investigator tells Ji-ho that everyone knows those two were not BFFs and were recently seen fighting, so what’s the deal?  Ji-ho knows where this line of questioning is heading, so he just sighs and puts his head in his hands.

At Boosung, Young-rang complains to Attorney Choi that the initial leasing prices for the Incheon apartments have been calculated too low.  They should call Denny Hong and do some recalculations today, so she orders Attorney Choi to go set up a lunch meeting to hammer out a new deal.  Secretary Oh runs in to tell Young-rang that there’s a big problem, as Young-rang uncharacteristically yells back how dare he interrupt an important meeting!?!  Secretary Oh goes mute and Attorney Choi wonders why she’s screaming, when the phone rings with that very same information.  Asking what the caller means by saying that Ji-ho killed a person, Young-rang puts on her best makjang face for the camera.  And there we end Episode 17!

Air Date:  13 October 2012

Ratings:   AGB Nielsen Nationwide 9.4% (14th) / Seoul 10.4% (11th); TNmS Nationwide 10.1% (8th) / Seoul 10.4% (10th)

Flowers and Brickbats

Yup, we all saw that train coming right down the tracks — yet another “let’s set up Ji-ho for failure” episode.  Ho freakin’ hum.  LOTS of grumblings on the Interwebs about how the Writer-nim has tuned Ji-ho into more of a wussie than anticipated; yes, we all know he’s supposed to be the Nice Guy of this series, but I felt they’ve taken it too far.  But an actual promise of SOMEONE finally realizing his so-called ‘family’ ain’t all they’re cracked up to be?  Be still, my beating heart!  We all know Joo Ji-hoon is capable of pulling out all the stops on acting like Evil Incarnate (see his role in “Mawang” if you do not believe me), but asking to play against type in 5F may have stalled the flow of the story somewhat.  I’m not calling it miscasting by any stretch of the imagination, because I missed him portraying another soft-hearted lover boy character like Prince Shin in “Goong.”  So don’t start sending me Hate Mail, okay?

You may notice how dramas in this genre go in cycles to feature one or two specific characters and their plot development.  This time around, we get to see more of Woo-jin’s Epic Revenge Quest for his family and redemption for his Dead Deaf Dad.  I felt like his character was spinning his wheels for awhile, but finally found his groove in Episodes 16 and 17.  And then the Writer-nim throws him through a plate glass display — so now that Jung Eun Woo has hit his acting high mark, he gets to take a nice long nap in a hospital bed instead.  Geez.  I still wonder if there were any lasting feelings from their rivalry during “Smile Donghae” as Chang-wook and Eun-woo were duking it out in the warehouse scene.  It was a sweet little piece of meta regardless.

And yet another tour de force performance for Ji Chang Wook in Episode 17.  Your mother may be the Bitch From Hell, but a son will protect her no matter what… even to the brink of his own insanity.  In-ha is already such a fragile boy, and I was waiting for that one event to push him totally over the edge.  What I’m not thrilled about with his character development is what exactly happened in those 14 years after he threatened to jump over the hospital balcony railing.  How long was he in his self-imposed exile overseas?  Outside of ruminating on his hatred for Young-rang over saving Ji-ho from the fire instead of him, what else did In-ha do to himself while away?  It was mentioned that he made some sort of name for himself in the composing world, but other than that, nothing else was touched upon.  That would have been a nice plot point to have him flashback to earlier years, along the lines of a post-traumatic stress disorder coming out into the open showing us why In-ha morphed into such a beast.  Another wasted opportunity by the Writers!

I bet the only reason for the slight up-tick in ratings numbers was because (according to my friends in Korea) this episode was promoted to death the week prior to its airing.  You could not turn on SBS or any of its affiliates and not see a preview for ‘Five Fingers’ for days.  Or maybe the Beef Promotion did its magic.  Whatever floats your boat… but it seemed to have worked in its favor and I shouldn’t complain, right?

And speaking of the product placement in this show, I was appalled to see the blatant Presenting of the Meat from Jung-wook to EvilStep.  At the time this episode was filmed (10-12 October 2012), the Korean Beef Council was having a major PR blitz over the 13-14 October weekend to get the public to buy and/or consume mass quantities of nationally-raised meat and meat by-products.  Several other dramas airing over the same weekend had the same beef placement in them as well.  Granted, a drama lives and dies these days by the amount of commercial time sold before and after each episode, and the number of products featured, because this is their main source of income to fund the production.  Just by looking at the lavish sets and the expensive clothes the characters are wearing, you can tell this ain’t no cheap cable offering either.  But that was beyond the pale, people.  Hmpf.

Music Nerd Ramblings:   We finally get to hear the OST Part 2 offering here:  “Words I Cannot Hear” by Homme.  Homme is a collaboration put together by Jin Young Park (JYP) and made up of singers Lee Hyun (from the boy band 8Eight) and Lee Chang-min (from the boy band 2AM), with several well-known hits underneath their belts.  Unfortunately, this is the last tune we will hear for the next 22 months from Lee Hyun, as he reported for his Korean National Military Service on 8 October 2012.  See you in two years, Hyun-ssi!!

My absolute favorite scene in this Episode was when In-ha started playing the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr. in the conference room.  From one of the Six Moments musicaux by Sergei Rachmaninoff, featured was No. 4, the Presto in E-minor.  From 1896, the Moments were written to showcase various forms of musical forms, such as a nocturne, a barcarolle, an etude, plus theme and variations thereof.  Rachmaninoff specifically penned the Presto to be indicative of the works of Frederick Chopin, who was a huge influence on a young pianist such as he.  These pieces were meant to be performed as stand-alone works and are usually not heard together in a group.  It was a delight to hear this piece, as it is one of my favorites and made me pull out my sheet music to give it a go.  EPIC FAIL at that, because it’s been over 20 years since I tackled the piece… my fingers gave up just a few stanzas in.  Oh well.  Sadly, I think we’ve moved far away from any music-based entries for the next few episodes.  And for as much Chopin that’s been performed on this Show, his Estate should have been given an end credit in each and every episode.  Hee.

Now that life is settling back into a normal groove again, it’s time to take on Episode 18.  NEXT!!!