Yeah… one look at that Hot Bod and *I* would have dropped what I was carrying too!!!

Back to where we were at the end of Episode 19, Yeong-rang asks Ji-ho why the bleepin’ bleep there is no surgery scar on that perfect body of his?  Ji-ho replies that he basically has a Get Out Of Jail Free Card now that he’s ‘rescued’ his mother from a crazed killer.   And he’s just getting warmed up!

Yeong-rang screams at Ji-ho to leave their house NOW, but Ji-ho aniyos that and says it’s his house and he’s staying put.  She then charges Ji-ho, but he intercepts her raised hand saying she should save her anger for what he’s got planned next, so stay tuned!

She spits at Ji-ho how dare hego against her – he needs to be on the next plane out of Korea, got it?  Ji-ho reminds her that if she kicks him out, her image is going to go into the toilet… is that what she wants?  He also reminds her that she’s never forgot she saved the wrong son from the fire, and then took over Boosung playing the grieving widow.  Boo freakin’ hoo.

Yeong-rang tells Ji-ho that he must have conveniently forgotten that was fired from Boosung, has no stock left and no money to buy any… is that how he’s going to take her on?  Ji-ho smirks and says he won’t need to fight, because she owes her life to him now.

Ji-ho’s parting words leaves Yeong-rang to pace in her room, asking the air again if Ji-ho purposely deceived her?  (I’m guessing the answer to that is NO. DUH.)

Stalker Boy In-ha is looking at pictures on his computer he secretly took of Da-mi when Ji-ho barges in without knocking, so he slams shut the laptop.  Picking up the Composing Competition flyer, Ji-ho waxes nostalgic that it’s already been a year since ‘the incident’ happened.  Has it already been that long since he last stood on a stage?

In-ha looks more than uncomfortable and gets up, telling Ji-ho to leave since he needs to get to Boosung.  Ji-ho tells him that he heard In-ha won all the contests while he was away – does that make him In-ha’s main challenger now?  In-ha reminds Ji-ho that he was unceremoniously tossed from the Music Society, but Ji-ho reminds him that In-ha was the one that did it to him.

In-ha says that he hopes Ji-ho remembers what their dad said to them both – that Ji-ho’s rights were taken away because he deserved the scorn.  If a robber entered a house, it is not truly the robber’s fault; the fault of the homeowner for not locking his door should be borne equally.  Ji-ho kinda agrees with him that it’s his fault… but maybe In-ha should keep his own door locked in the future. *wink wink*  (FINALLY someone with some common sense states something useful!!!)

Dropping the flyer on In-ha’s desk, Ji-ho leaves his room as In-ha says he should get ahold of himself.  Quit feeling so guilty all the time only because Yoo Ji Ho has returned.  But what does Yoo Ji Ho have on him… as In-ha continues to get annoyed all by himself.

Ji-ho tells EvilStep that he needs to go out and be interviewed by the press, so he’ll be gone for awhile.  She worries that he’s too tired after just returning home from surgery, but he says it’s nothing… the immoral son who embezzled public funds came back overnight as a national hero.  How amusing is that, ne?

EvilStep begs to differ about the whole ‘embezzling’ part – if that was true, he should have bought some land or something.  Then Ji-ho goes and gives away the only building left in his portfolio; what the hell, dude?  Ji-ho laughs it off and says he’s done living like a rich person… it isn’t bad living as a poor guy now.

Hearing that news, EvilStep suddenly produces keys to a new car, since Ji-ho’s was impounded by the cops after Woo-jin’s murder.  She says she was the one who initiated the contract… but his mother will be the one to make the payments.  (BURN.)  Saying he’ll be back soon, Ji-ho shoots dagger eyes at Yeong-rang on his way out the door.

EvilStep chastises Yeong-rang to at least some a tiny bit of concern for the poor boy, since everyone’s watching them now.  Yeong-rang says she’s trying her best not to blow her top, but EvilStep tells her she doesn’t have a leg to stand on fighting against someone who has nothing to lose.  Even if she were to be born again she would still lose.

Ji-ho faces the press at Boosung as Yeong-rang, In-ha and Secretary Oh mosey on over to see what all the fuss is about.  They are told Ji-ho is holding his interviews here, which leads Yeong-rang to ask why here of all places?   One of the reporters ask how he is getting along with his family, to which he replies he’s spending a ton of time with them now.  When asked if he will ever return to Boosung, Ji-ho answers that he will eventually – it’s the company his father handed down to him, but not just yet.  He has some things he needs to take care of first.

The reporter wants to know what the deal was with the whole stock embezzling thing, but Ji-ho says there was a mistake and that he GAVE those stocks to his mother!  He will explain in detail some other time, but he was born a musician… not someone who dabbles in stocks and bonds.

Ji-ho looks up to see Yeong-rang and In-ha glaring at him, which leads the reporter to ask for a family picture since it will look nice on their cover.  Yeong-rang begs off saying she’s not dressed for it, but Ji-ho says they should anyway and use it to hang in the living room again.  Since he’s been away from home for so long, he really missed seeing that family picture.

In-ha actually agrees with Ji-ho by saying it’s a good idea; it’s not hard for a family to take a picture together.  Yeong-rang shoots In-ha a look like he’s gone (more) insane, but finally bows to the pressure.  Several gazillion camera flashes later, as Ji-ho puts his arm around Yeong-rang and she looks like she’d rather chew on tinfoil than stand there any longer.

Stomping into her office, Yeong-rang wants to know which police station the guy who stabbed Ji-ho is being held.  Attorney Choi says he’s over at the Songpa Station, as she divulges that Ji-ho’s injuries are all fakey-fake!!  Attorney Choi and In-ha are stunned to hear this, saying that he would have had to bribe each and every person at the hospital to do that – Ji-ho doesn’t even have two nickels to rub together!

Yeong-rang determines that it’s time to expose Ji-ho for the deceptive little shit he truly is in front of the media and the world.  If she can prove his fake injuries, he will never be able to show his face in public ever again!!!  Attorney Choi says he’ll send someone over to the hospital to investigate, but In-ha waves him off.  Saying that Ji-ho has been away for a year, he’s had a chance to completely prepare his little schemes.  They should put a plan in place first before calling out Ji-ho.  But first, In-ha tells Yeong-rang to go meet with the guy who allegedly stabbed Ji-ho, as she agrees and promises to find a way to make him comfortable enough to rat out his partner-in-crime…

At the Songpa Police Station, she does that very thing, as the investigator asks President Stabber Guy to spill his guts (no pun intended) about his liaison with Yoo Ji Ho.  President Stabber Guy says he doesn’t know anyone by the name of Yoo Ji Ho – he’s just pissed off that he couldn’t kill Yeong-rang like he intended to.  Yeong-rang tells him that if he doesn’t come clean right now, he’s never going to see the outside of a jail cell ever again.  President Stabber Guy tells her to leave if she keeps spouting such nonsense since seeing her face makes him want to toss his tofu!

Yeong-rang and Attorney Choi walk out to In-ha asking how it went in there, but she tells him President Stabber Guy wouldn’t budge.  Attorney Choi says that the Public Defender appointed to represent him is a former Judge at the Supreme Court, so it’s gonna be difficult getting any information out of him.

Yeong-rang says that makes no sense whatsoever – how can a company that went bankrupt afford a former Supreme Court Judge after all?  Ji-ho doesn’t have that kind of capital behind him, but In-ha says that someone is obviously bankrolling his counsel… and if it’s not Ji-ho, then who?

Back at Restaurant Louis, the Three Stooges are reading the Naver articles about Ji-ho’s stabbing.  Louis is amazed that Ji-ho came back as such a devoted son, but Bitchy Manager Girl says it’s not hard if that much money is involved.  She’d kiss someone’s ass like that for some cold, hard cash.  Do-ri is convinced otherwise, and says that Ji-ho must have been sincere in order to protect a step-parent like that.  Louis is still amazed that Yeong-rang’s real son didn’t make an effort to save her either, as Bitchy Manager Girl tells them both to STFU since Da-mi might hear them gossiping about her Precious Ji-Ho.

And being only two tables away, Da-mi apparently screws up a table’s orders and Louis has to run over and bail her out.  Pulling Da-mi aside and asking why she’s messing up orders lately, he orders her to get some air since she’s not looking real good right now.

Sitting in one of the back tables and sighing, Nam-joo joins Da-mi and asks if she’s having a hard time.  Strike that – Nam-joo knows that she’s having a hard time because she’s been there, done that.  She knows Da-mi’s doing her best not to show it because she really liked Ji-ho at one time.  Da-mi says that’s not it; she’s just a little tired right now.

Nam-joo reminds Da-mi that she has to endure it, because every time she thinks about Woo-jin, her heart starts getting clogged up.  He’s not one who should have died like that, leaving his family sad and worried.  When she thinks about that, she feels like she’s committing a sin by still walking this earth.  Da-mi promises Nam-joo that she will not betray her oppa – Ji-ho is dead to her now, so what Nam-joo is most worried about will never happen…

… as we see Ji-ho around the corner listening in on their conversation, looking like he was hit by a bus over Da-mi’s admission.  He pulls the piano wire ring out of his pocket to stare at it for awhile.

In-ha paces inside his office when So-yeol comes to say that five of their best researchers have quit Boosung this month.  In-ha doesn’t understand, since their salaries were raised recently so they had no reason to jump ship.  So-yeol made some covert inquiries, and it seems they were recruited to go work for Gloria Instruments instead.  In-ha wonders who the hell is this Gloria Instruments he keeps hearing about?

Yeong-rang ain’t happy how the research on the Butt-Ugly Piano Version 3.0 has stalled since they’ve lost all their personnel on the project.  In-ha tells her how could they keep them since Gloria Instruments offered exactly twice their Boosung salaries, which doesn’t make any sense to Yeong-rang.  Even at twice the price, there are business courtesies to take into consideration!

Attorney Choi relays the rumour that huge amounts of capital were injected into Gloria Instruments.  When they were looking into taking over Saerin Instruments before, Gloria offered more than 5 billon won to do so.  So-yeol goes on to say there’s more rumours about them starting up a large-scale project along the lines of their own version of the Butt-Ugly Piano.

Yeong-rang yells at them all to FOCUS!  Boosung Instruments is their founding company, so they have the upper hand when it comes to recruiting personnel.  In-ha says that they need to worry more about their advertising and maybe calling in a “name” to promote their products.  Yeong-rang asks who he has in mind, as In-ha says he was in talks with this guy named Jae-yi, who seems to really popular with the kids these days.  He put it on the back burner because he was asking such high promotion fees, but In-ha thinks it’s time to throw some money at him and get him on Boosung’s artist roster now.

Attorney Choi agrees with In-ha; since the guy is so hot he’s nuclear right now, it would be good to start filming some commercials.  Yeong-rang says to make it so – get him on contract before anyone else does, no matter how much money he’s asking for.  Boosung needs to boost their domestic sales first before Gloria Instruments gets a toehold in the market.

Yeong-rang gets a call from Jung-wook, who asks if she’s okay since she sounds like death warmed over.   She tells him she’s fine; it’s just that there’s been some difficulties at the office.  Jung-wook lays it on thick that she needs to stop stressing so much and let him take care of her… by inviting her to dinner tonight.  (Better hide the knives!)

Ji-ho pays a visit to the columbarium to see Dead Deaf Dad and Woo-jin.  He tells them both to just wait a little bit longer… everything that was taken away from them, he promises that he will put back into place since Ji-ho will never ever ever ever forgive their killers.  EVER.

Da-mi arrives at the bier shortly thereafter, and asks Woo-jin if he’s been well.  She rushed right over from work because she wanted to see him, but sees that someone else had been there before her.  Looking down, the piano wire ring sits next to Ji-ho’s bouquet of flowers, as Da-mi grabs it and runs out of the building, just missing Ji-ho as he speeds away.

Jung-wook receives Yeong-rang at his home, ready to feed her some dinner.  She notices a big red blob in the middle of his living room and asks if it is a piano.  (No, it’s an easy chair OF COURSE IT’S A PIANO YOU SILLY WOMAN.)  Jung-wook says he still plays every now and again, but it doesn’t make a sound since it needs repairs… so don’t touch it!

And by the way, what ever happened to the piano that he gave her back in the day — the one with the initials J.W. on it?  He’s been thinking about it lately. Yeong-rang bites her lip and lies that she gave it to a nephew – it was too old to keep around.  Jung-wook tells her to never mind – dinner is served!

Sitting down to a nice-looking plate of mushroom linguini, Yeong-rang tells Jung-wook that he hasn’t lost his cooking skills.  It reminds her of their days back in New York, when he cooked for her all the time.  But Jung-wook is more interested in finding out what happened at In-ha’s engagement party instead.  How could a crazed killer make his way onto the grounds like that?

He’s happy that her oldest son saved her in that way, since he’s still very fond of Yeong-rang and feels terrible thinking about what might have been.  Yeong-rang tells him not to worry – she’s bulletproof.  Since they’ve found each other again after so many years, nothing bad will ever happen again.  Jung-wook wonders why they both can’t just throw away their pride and live how their hearts dictate?

Yeong-rang says not just yet… and it’s not because of In-ha not approving.  (And we were told this WHEN again?)  Well, maybe it’s a little bit of that and another problem that she needs to solve before they can live freely.  Hopefully when she finds all the answers, she’ll have a special present to give Jung-wook.   He just looks at her with a WTF? on his face.

Ji-ho pulls out his Samsung Galaxy Note III and writes out “Question: Jay?” (Jae-yi /재이) on the screen.  The pianist Jae-yi’s biography comes up on Naver.com, as Ji-ho reads away when EvilStep knocks at his door and reminds him that he has a checkup tomorrow.  She should come with him, but Ji-ho says he can do it since he’s nearly healed now.  EvilStep pshaw’s him and says she’s going anyway whether he likes it or not… but why does Ji-ho look all nervous?

Sung-hee the Snitch Maid reports this fact back to Yeong-rang, who dismisses her with a Well-Done so Yeong-rang can get back to plotting something obviously evilicious.

As EvilStep and Ji-ho get ready to leave the house, Yeong-rang is hot on the phone ordering Attorney Choi to get the police and reporters into place now.  (Ah, so that’s what she’s got planned – a sneak attack!)

In-ha looks over the sheet music for his entry into the Composing Contest with a weak smile, and shoves it into an envelope to mail off to the person in charge.  (And there’s no way this won’t come back to bite him in the butt at all.)

Jung-wook is still trying to persuade Da-mi to join him at his instrument company in order for her to exact revenge on Chae Yeong Rang, since the only proper way to break the bitch is by entering the same playing field.  Da-mi tells him she doesn’t care if her mom objects or that it may be dangerous – if Woo-jin can finally rest in peace, she can do things much worse than that for him.

But like a good filial daughter, Da-mi is worried about leaving her mom alone at such a time.  Jung-wook says not to worry because he has a plan to get her mom out of the restaurant and into another job.  This statement makes Da-mi fret even more.

Ji-ho is asked to come into the examination room, as EvilStep gets up to join him.  He tells her he’s not 10 years old anymore and can handle the examination on his own and goes in.  Just as the door shuts, Yeong-rang comes marching around the corner with the police and a couple of reporters right behind her, startling EvilStep big time.

The police officer asks Yeong-rang again that she’s positive Ji-ho was inflicted with a fake wound to deceive the public, so let’s go in and find out, ne?  The group barges into the examination room as Ji-ho looks stunned to see them there.  Yeong-rang says she had to come because she was worried about her son.  Is there any reason why his guardian should not see Ji-ho being treated?  The doctor says he guesses it’s okay, as Yeong-rang says since Ji-ho is Big News these days, she brought the press to report on his progress and the police guy is there because of the ongoing criminal investigation.  With Ji-ho looking all extra-nervous, Yeong-rang asks if they should get started?

The doctor starts unwrapping Ji-ho’s midsection bandages, all the while Yeong-rang continues keeping that smug smirk on her face.  The doctor pulls off the dressing, and there’s one helluva gaping stitched-up hole in Ji-ho’s tummy!!  Yeong-rang looks like she’s gonna pass out, as the police guy asks how is the patient’s condition?

Yeong-rang then calls the doctor out for being a fake and he needs to take off his doctor’s coat RIGHT. NOW.  Does she have to call the director of the hospital to rat him out?  The doctor gives hell right back to Yeong-rang, as he has no idea what the fuck she’s talking about!  He’s very concerned about Ji-ho, as the wound has an infection – is she insulting his doctoring skills?

Yeong-rang continues to protest, and the doctor says to have her removed.  The police guy asks Yeong-rang if she’s hallucinating – her son saved her life, but she’s spinning tales?  The reporter guy says he’s definitely writing an article on what happened here, and starts clicking away with his camera.  Ji-ho just looks up at Yeong-rang with those puppy-dog eyes again.  BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

After the examination, Ji-ho comes out to make sure the police guy and reporter guy have left, as Yeong-rang demands to know how Ji-ho’s wound appears and disappears on a whim.  Ji-ho tells her that Yeong-rang wants to believe what she wants to believe; he’s just returning to her a tiny bit of what she did to him.

Yeong-rang asks how much longer Ji-ho is going to dig his own grave, but Ji-ho grins and says they’re going to have to wait and see whether that grave will be mine or hers.  He walks away LIKE A BOSS and leaves her there in the hospital hallway fuming like there’s no tomorrow.

Jung-wook takes Nam-joo to their local Millet Outdoor Clothing store, and tells her it’s hers to work at so she needs to quite the hard restaurant work now.  Nam-joo wants to know if this is Jung-wook’s way of paying her back for Woo-jin’s life?  Jung-wook tells her she’s right on the money – he does feel immense guilt since he couldn’t protect Woo-jin when he needed protection.  So can she please help him out to alleviate some of that massive guilt?

Ji-ho meets So-yeol and In-ha in their upstairs hallway, where So-yeol asks how he’s doing and In-ha just glares at him.  With So-yeol placated that Ji-ho is recovering nicely, In-ha wants to know why Ji-ho picked *his* (um, not their?) engagement day for his Comeback Tour since there would be many people around?  Ji-ho just shakes his head and regrets spoiling the day for them, but In-ha is not happy with Ji-ho’s choice of “regret” as way of an apology.

Ji-ho decides to nip their conversation in the bud by saying that So-yeol is a hoobae who he respects very much, so don’t make her unhappy while In-ha stays so unhappy.  Also do not make Ji-ho become ashamed to appear in front of Professor Ha as well.  In-ha takes that statement as Ji-ho thinking he and So-yeol will not be happy, so Ji-ho should take his lecture and stuff it.

Ji-ho suddenly remembers that he has yet to give them his engagement present, so saying that his HYUNG has prepared a wonderful surprise, they should look forward to it.   Brushing past In-ha on his way out, In-ha is barely keeping it together in front of his fiancée.

Bursting into his room, So-yeol asks why he’s being that way to Ji-ho; it’s not like he purposely ruined the engagement party!  In-ha wheels around and tells her to shut up because she doesn’t know the full story yet.  Instead, In-ha says that they should move up their wedding and So-yeol’s eyes grow huge over this request.  In-ha says that they need to have a baby quickly and to prove to the world that they’re the Happiest Couple Evah so everyone can be jealous of them!!!

So-yeol reminds In-ha that ain’t the way a marriage works by just willing themselves to be “happy,” but In-ha grabs her and says he’ll make a better effort to make it possible!  He doesn’t believe in predestination or fate; even a marriage can be made into what he wants it to be.  Grabbing So-yeol in a bear hug, he promises he will make the effort.  Really he will!!

Yeong-rang is complaining to the investigator she hired a year old to find her long-lost baby.   If he has to turn over every rock in America to find that child, THEN DO IT.  But then Secretary Oh comes in to interrupt her tirade by saying that In-ha is a lock on winning the grand prize at this year’s Composing Contest.  Yeong-rang loves hearing that news, since that means In-ha has taken the Daesang for two years in a row!  WOOT!

Everyone gathers around to congratulate In-ha on his unprecedented  back-to-back wins, as Yeong-rang puffs and preens over her widdle boy’s outstanding score.   When did he have the time to compose when he’s running Boosung all day and night?  In-ha scoffs and says he didn’t expect it since there were so many distinguished composers in the running.  Attorney Choi says they need to capitalize on In-ha’s win and feature that in their upcoming commercials.

In-ha says he’s spoken with the pianist Jae-yi and he’s already composed some incidental music for the commercial.  Boosung decided to purchase the rights to all his pieces because they were exceptional.  And here In-ha thought Jae-yi was only a piano player.  Yeong-rang tells Attorney Choi that Jae-yi needs to be put under contract as an endorser to ensure that all his recitals are funded by Boosung Instruments going forward.

Meanwhile, at Gloria Instruments HQ, Da-mi arrives to Jung-wook’s voiceover that he’s handed over the day-to-day operations to a President… and that she should meet him before starting work there.   Being ushered into a conference room, she’s told the President should arrive soon… and he does.  Opening the door, Ji-ho is standing in front of her (with a halo of light and looking SO FREAKIN’ REGAL).  Da-mi looks like she’s about to faint dead away.  (Or as much of an emotion that Jin Se-yeon can muster.)

Ji-ho strides up to her and asks if she’s been well, and all Da-mi can squeak out is to ask why he’s there.  Saying that he’s the President of Gloria, Da-mi says no fucking way, dude!  This is the company that Jung-wook invested heavily in – why would he put Ji-ho in charge of it, hunh?  And like he’s overheard their conversation, Jung-wook enters the room and says he’ll explain everything.

Da-mi still wants verification that Ji-ho is really the President of Gloria – why him, fer chrissakes?  Did Jung-wook forget who Ji-ho is?!?  He’s the one… but she can’t bear to say it out loud, as Ji-ho turns away.  Jung-wook tells Da-mi that Ji-ho wasn’t the one that killed Woo-jin; there was another suspect that pulled his plug.

Standing outside the conference room, Ji-ho waits and waits with his right hand tapping the glass railing (and you can see a tiny scar from where he decided to impale himself at the police station in Episode 17).  Ji-ho just stands there thinking and thinking and thinking…

… as Jung-wook tries to explain who actually killed Woo-jin.  That throws Da-mi into shock hearing that her stalker In-ha was the culprit.  Jung-wook says that they have some witness testimony that says it is so, but nothing critical or definite just yet.  He apologizes for not telling her sooner because of that missing piece of evidence.  Da-mi finally wakes up and wants to know why Ji-ho was the only one being investigated for a crime he didn’t commit, as Jung-wook tells her he was framed big time.  It was Chae Yeong Rang who called Ji-ho to the accident scene in order to cover up for In-ha.  Da-mi says that doesn’t make any sense – even if she’s his stepmother, she wouldn’t have done something so EVIL.

Jung-wook says it is true, and he has the black box film from the taxi Ji-ho arrived at the construction site scene to prove Ji-ho’s innocence.  Da-mi yells at him to go to the police NOW – why isn’t he reporting this to the police?!?  Jung-wook says they need proof positive that it was In-ha, but all the normal evidence – the CCTV in front of the Yoo Mansion, the fingerprints at the accident site – they cleaned everything up good.

Da-mi still cannot believe her ears, as Jung-wook says they must move slowly in their investigation or Yeong-rang will come up with yet another alibi to cover for In-ha’s misdeeds.  They need to have conclusive evidence against In-ha first!  Still not grasping the situation, Da-mi yells that she doesn’t care which of those rotten people it is – they are still all the same enemies to her family!  Jung-wook disagrees and says it is imperative that Da-mi and Ji-ho team up to bring down the Yoo Family.  He realizes it will be uncomfortable at first, but they both have a common target for their hate.

Da-mi says she doesn’t want to do this because it’s too scary for her to be involved with those people again, and stomps out of the room.  Leaving the building, Ji-ho grabs her arm (*drink*) to stop her, as Da-mi says that he has no right to call out her name.  Ji-ho apologizes and agrees that he shouldn’t appear in front of her, but Da-mi calls him out on disappearing and reappearing like nothing ever happened.

Even if Ji-ho knew he was innocent, it was like he thought himself a sinner to run away like that.  He could have at least told her he wasn’t the suspect and that she should trust him.  But he didn’t.  WAE?!?  Ji-ho just stands there and watches Da-mi cry, saying nothing.

At some swanky restaurant, the Yoo Family is meeting to congratulate In-ha on his almost winning the Composing Daesang.  But EvilStep has another idea why In-ha ascended to the Top Dog position – it’s because there’s no Ji-ho to stand in his way!  At least In-ha shows a modicum of talent regardless, so BRAVO.

So-yeol asks if they’re waiting for someone, as Yeong-rang says she invited a guest.  And right on cue, Jung-wook shows up saying that it’s not his place to be there, but he wanted to congratulate In-ha for his Daesang prize.  EvilStep is besides herself with glee, and spills the beans that since he will become part of their family soon…

Yeong-rang looks over at In-ha, who is pretty pissed off since his celebratory dinner just went into the crapper due to Jung-wook’s presence.  Making his excuses to leave, Jung-wook gives his congrats but EvilStep demands that he stay, Almost Family Member!

In-ha wants to know what EvilStep means by that, since he will have one and only one father until he dies!  EvilStep accuses In-ha of going through puberty again; can’t he at least allow his mother a shred of happiness in her golden years?

In-ha turns to Yeong-rang and tells her that even if he did permit it… his father never will.  In-ha says that when she dies, his mother will even be buried in the same grave as him.  He promised his dad that he would make sure it happened.  And Tantrum Boy is outta there!

So-yeol runs after In-ha, leaving Yeong-rang wondered WTF that was all about.  Suddenly In-ha is stopped by the music played by the pianist at the restaurant – where has he heard that piece before?  Turning around, he rushes back to the piano and grabs the sheet music from the piano (and where have we heard that theme before), asking the pianist where he got this score?!?

In-ha pulls up the pianist out of his chair and is astounded to see that it’s Jae-yi!  Yeong-rang rushes over as Jae-yi asks In-ha what the hell he’s doing?  Why does he have a copy of In-ha’s score that has been nominated for the Grand Prize?  Jae-yi calmly asks In-ha why he’s throwing a tantrum over somebody else’s piece of music?  Does he look that pathetic to be copying another person’s work?!?

In-ha grabs Jae-yi and asks him why he’s being such a jerk, until Yeong-rang pulls him off and scolds him for basically acting out in public.  In-ha tells everyone that the score he submitted to the Composing Contest has been leaked; don’t they realize he could be called on the carpet for plagerizing?  Overhearing everything, Jung-wook just sits back in his chair and smiles…

Da-mi and Ji-ho are out on a park bench, where Ji-ho attempts to explain his year-long absence by saying there’s no way he wanted to rot in prison.  Da-mi doesn’t care one bit – she’s lost her brother, remember?  Everything is not going to be like it was before.

Ji-ho reminds her that he’s going to put everything back in its rightful place – he will show the person that made him into Mawang how she’s going to rue the day she even messed with him.  That’s why Ji-ho returned, and after he’s all done exacting his revenge, then he’ll ask for forgiveness.

But until then, even if he and Da-mi cross paths at Gloria, they should treat each other as colleagues.  Ji-ho has too much to accomplish in a short time to have to bother walking on eggshells around her.  Da-mi says for him not to bother getting revenge on Woo-jin’s death… because she’ll take care of that herself.  Alone.  By herself.  Not with your help, buddy.  (You get the picture.)

Ji-ho rides through the park while listening to the news report about In-ha’s plagiarism of Jae-yi’s previously-copyrighted score that In-ha submitted to the Composing Contest.  The news reader was stunned to hear that Jae-yi was the Boosung Spokesperson, which makes this situation even more of a head-scratcher.

Yeong-rang reads the papers with the same news, as In-ha and Attorney Choi just hang their heads.  She can’t believe it, and In-ha says the same thing, because how could the two melodies be the same?  It’s un-possible!  Yeong-rang orders Attorney Choi to stop the press from reporting and find out why Jae-yi’s people are being so stubborn!  Attorney Choi reports that since Jae-yi is really popular these days, it’s gonna be difficult, especially since he’s already registered the copyright for the piece.

Because it gets all fuzzy and stuff, In-ha suddenly flashes back to what happened in Episode 14, where he pulled the same stunt on Ji-ho, where he pleaded with In-ha to tell everyone that a main melody cannot be the same for a plagiarized piece.  In-ha registered his copyright first, so that means Ji-ho MUST have copied In-ha’s work!

As Ji-ho wheels up to the front of Boosung, of course In-ha is there to greet him (and not warmly, I might add).  Telling Ji-ho that he knows he was thrown under the bus by him, Ji-ho wants to know why In-ha’s got his panties in a wad… did something unfair happen to poor little In-ha again?

In-ha hauls off and lands a right hook to Ji-ho’s jaw and he goes flying.  Ji-ho gets up, saying he’s seen this scenario before.  In-ha asks why he did this, since he knows that music is all In-ha has in his life.  Ji-ho just sneers at In-ha and says he won’t be able to stand on a stage again… he won’t be able to play the piano again… he hopes In-ha can now feel what it’s like for that to happen, since the opportunity will not come around often.

In-ha grabs Ji-ho’s shirt with a look in his eyes that say he’s going to beat the crap out of Ji-ho, until he’s stopped by camera shutters and flashes going off in their direction.  (Payback’s a bitch, buddy!)  The reporters run up to In-ha and ask about the plagiarism scandal and why he hit his hyung and stuff.  Ji-ho just casually wanders away from the growing mob, hops on his bike and shoots In-ha a look over his shoulder.

Stopping a few yards down the bike path, Ji-ho flashes back to a repeat performance of Ji-ho entering In-ha’s bedroom to take his contest entry, hand it over to Jae-yi, Jae-yi playing the piece, and In-ha going all mental over hearing his score being played.  But this time, Ji-ho is not smiling.

Yeong-rang goes to plead in front of the Composing Contest director that it makes no sense for In-ha to be charged like that – he’s not lacking for anything already being Korea’s top composer!  The director says the same thing back to Yeong-rang – it made no sense for Ji-ho to be charged last year for copying In-ha’s piece of music, because Ji-ho was far from lacking since HE was Korea’s top composer at that time!

The director says that it doesn’t help about the articles saying that In-ha attacked Ji-ho.  In-ha wouldn’t be jealous of his hyung now, would he?  Yeong-rang takes major offense to his assessment, and threatens to pull Boosung’s donations to the Music Association if he keeps up with those statements.  Asking Yeong-rang if she’s threatening him now, the Director says that they’re going to check the Ji-ho plagiarism case from last year.  He gets up and leaves her, mouth wide open.

Ji-ho dares to have coffee with Yeong-rang, who asks what the hell he was doing for the past year in the States.  She has confirmation from her contact there that he had arrived at least, as Ji-ho says he had better things to do in Korea than run away to the States.  Yeong-rang snorts that those ‘better things’ was to get his dongsaeng ousted from the Music Association?  And here she thought Ji-ho promised to not attack In-ha ever again…

Ji-ho calmly states that since he was unfairly framed for murder, what’s so unfair about being framed for plagiarism?   That sets off Yeong-rang, and the contents of her water glass meet up with Ji-ho’s face.  He just laughs it off as Yeong-rang threatens to put Jae-yi in prison if he doesn’t fess up to being bribed.  Ji-ho reminds her that Jae-yi is the spokesperson for Boosung Instruments – does she really want to mess with Boosung’s image that way?

Yeong-rang asks him how far Ji-ho is gonna go with this, as he answers that all he wants to do is stand on a stage again and then he will reveal the truth.  And all In-ha has to do is answer to his own manipulation of the truth.  He doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.  Yeong-rang says that she doesn’t care that Ji-ho hates her guts, but don’t put In-ha through the wringer.  Ji-ho says nopes, he’s an orphan now – he has no brother to protect.  She made him like this, after hating him and stomping all over him, and she didn’t think it would come back to bite her in the arse?  If she thinks this is painful, then he’s just getting warmed up!

She yells at him to stop everything now, but Ji-ho says he wouldn’t have returned if he planned on stopping.  So stop looking at him with pleading eyes; his heart has already hardened so nothing she can do will make him go away.  Ji-ho gets up and leaves her to sit and stew for awhile.

In-ha stomps into his office demanding to know why Ji-ho’s made an appearance.  Ji-ho pulls out the Joker Card left to him by EvilStep and tells In-ha he knows exactly how he pulled off Ji-ho’s plagiarism nightmare.  In-ha takes one look at the parking ticket and says he doesn’t remember since it was so long ago.  Ji-ho figures that would be his answer, so he had photos pulled from the CCTV at the Yeoudo Post Office.  The best one is of In-ha holding an envelope with Ji-ho’s score inside.

In-ha says he was there to register his composition for the contest, but Ji-ho begs to differ as In-ha’s piece was registered at the Gangnam Post Office last year… and he has the picture to prove that as well.  In-ha is amazed that CCTV material from a year ago still exists, so it’s proof that this was all made up.  Ji-ho says he retrieved this evidence a year ago, so it’s valid and solid proof that even back then he could still prove that Ji-ho didn’t plagiarize In-ha’s score.  But he didn’t because he thought In-ha would get hurt… because In-ha is his dongsaeng.  In-ha’s lip trembles and he asks what Ji-ho wants him to do.

Ji-ho says the only thing he can do to defend his last shred of pride as a musician is to reveal the truth on his own.  He’s called a press conference for 1:00 PM, so In-ha needs to fess up and ask for forgiveness.  Ji-ho leaves In-ha to think about it, but In-ha throws a mini-hissy fit instead.

And doodley doodley doodley, it’s 1:00 PM and like Ji-ho promised, the press is there to hear In-ha’s explanation of the plagiarism scandal.   Yeong-rang wants to if there is no other way to get In-ha out of his latest troubles, but Attorney Choi says that Ji-ho has already contacted the reporters.  In-ha tells them to stuff it; it’s a situation he created and he will take care of it on his own.

In-ha readies himself for the grilling as Yeong-rang and Secretary Oh look on.  Of course, Ji-ho has to see this for himself and saunters into the conference room like he owns it.  In-ha almost faints, but starts the press conference anyway by saying that his hyung’s plagiarism scandal was all fakey-fake since Ji-ho did not even submit a score for the competition.  Much reporter rhubarb ensues.

Remaining defiant, In-ha insists that the piece he submitted to this year’s competition is 100% crystal-clear his own work, and the press must believe that.  But suddenly appearing is Jae-yi, who says that In-ha is lying again because the copyright is already registered and In-ha definitely plagiarized Jae-yi’s score!

In-ha jumps up and calls Jae-yi out on being a liar, and why is he doing this to him?  Jae-yi calls out In-ha on being the liar – last year, In-ha drove his hyung into a plagiarism scandal and this year In-ha stole someone else’s score.  Does that give In-ha the absolute right to be a musician at all?

Of course, them be fighting words and In-ha jumps off the stage to grab Jae-yi by the collar and shake the truth out of him that Ji-ho was the one that put him up to this, right?  The photographers are having a field day with this new development, as Yeong-rang runs up to be a human shield in front of the boys to stop them from the picture-taking.  Ji-ho curls his lip in triumph.

After everyone leaves, Yeong-rang wants to know why such a famous pianist would want to join forces with Ji-ho.  It’s definitely not for the money, since Jae-yi is already popular and rich.  In-ha suddenly has a flash of brilliance, saying that maybe Jae-yi received a Ji-ho composition in return.  Would the music that Jae-yi is playing in their Boosung commercial actually be one of Ji-ho’s, since it was weird to see Jae-yi release a score so quickly?

The light bulb goes off over Yeong-rang’s head as she just realized the music that Boosung has spent millions of bucks on is actually a Yoo Ji Ho composition!  NO.  WAY.  Stunned looks all around!!

In-ha decides to take out his frustrations by drinking himself into a coma.  Ji-ho arrives and pours himself a drink as well, with In-ha asking if he came over to gloat.  Ji-ho reminds him that he let In-ha confess his own crime with his own hands.  In-ha wants to know why Ji-ho did what he did, as Ji-ho says it’s In-ha’s turn to live as a composer with the stigma of plagiarism hanging over his head for a year at least.  Isn’t that the fair thing to do?

In-ha instead wants to know the real reason Ji-ho came back to Korea – is it to regain control of Boosung for himself?  Ji-ho reminds In-ha that since he has nothing to his name any more, he needed to do something to occupy his time.  In-ha tells him he’s not going to take this lying down now that Ji-ho has shown his true colors.  He’s already lost his name in the music world, but he’s not going to lose Boosung in the process.

Ji-ho tells In-ha to bring it, since a one-sided fight is never any fun.  In-ha counters with damning Ji-ho’s birthright, saying that he was born with bad blood coursing through his veins.  It was that bad blood that brought him to their house and ruined it!  Ji-ho says nuh-uh – the people who really ruined a household were In-ha and Yeong-rang instead.  In-ha’s expression grows dark, as Ji-ho tells him it’s a good thing he came back to see that In-ha is still tormented about that night… at least he still shows signs of being partially human.

Yeong-rang downs another painkiller as Attorney Choi wonders why she’s taking so many these days.  She says it’s from trying to mitigate In-ha’s disciplinary decision through her network of contacts, but she thinks it’s all for naught according to the feedback she’s receiving.  So why is he there tormenting her as well?

Attorney Choi says that a presentation is to be held today at Hangkuk Music University to select the company who will provide their student pianos for the next few years.  Yeong-rang says that Boosung has provided their pianos for the last 20 years; why are they looking at a new supplier all of a sudden?  Attorney Choi surmises it’s because Gloria Instruments contacted Hangkuk with a proposal of their own.  Well, how cheeky of a newbie company wanting to take on an established one like Boosung.  THE NERVE!

Attorney Choi says their Development Team is putting together the proposal materials for the presentation, but In-ha isn’t pulling his fair share towards being fully prepared. He came by to rat him out tell her that fact, as Yeong-rang says they have no time for a presentation.  She needs to meet with Hangkuk personally and get a leg up on the RFP ASAP PDQ.

And that they do, meeting with the Music Director who tells them that since Gloria Instruments approached them with such a sweet deal, they had no choice but to listen.  Yeong-rang reminds him of Boosung’s long-standing relationship with Hangkuk University and it’s sad to hear his words, but hey why not!  Bring on a little good-faith competition, arraso?  In-ha asks who will be representing Gloria Instruments, as the Music Director says their President should be arriving shortly.

And that he does, while a familiar set of shoes and slacks enter the room.  A total slow-burn of both Yeong-rang and In-ha’s faces as they look over to see Ji-ho entering the conference room and introduces himself as the President of Gloria Instruments.  Ji-ho turns to face a stunned Yeong-rang and In-ha, and that’s where Episode 20 ends itself!

Air Date:  21 October 2012

Ratings:   AGB Nielsen Nationwide 10.8% (8th) / Seoul 11.0% (8th); TNmS Nationwide 9.7% (14th) / Seoul 10.9% (10th)

Flowers and Brickbats

Oh man.  This was a hard episode to slog through.  I was usually not very awake when 5F aired live; the show premiered at 5:50 AM (Pacific time) initially, and then jumped back an hour to 4:50 AM when the clocks turned back on 31 October.  So there were large chunks of plotline that never made it onto my radar at the initial airing; it was thanks to my chingu overseas and on the Soompi thread that helped fill in the blanks until I could get around to another viewing.  I didn’t think that it would be three months later before that happened.  Ah life…

Soooooo much plot exposition laid out like cards on a table, but I felt this episode was on the slow side.  A few bright moments, but mostly the Writer-nim jumped with both feet directly into the K-Drama Trope Pool.  You would think that at the end of the second third of the drama, there would be more momentum towards Ji-ho’s Evil Revenge Plot ‘N Stuff.   And then I remember there’s 30 episodes total, so we’re gonna be subjected to a bucketload of padding going forward.  Makjang with a Capital EMMMMM!

But I vividly remember the scene where Ji-ho was being examined by the doctor and Yeong-rang hoping to expose his lies for all to see, where I actually jumped out of my chair screaming YES YES YES!!!  I also did that again at the end of this episode, fist-pumping my little heart out… until the next-door neighbors started banging on our common wall yelling at me to shut up.  Kill-joys.  Hmpf.

Let’s discuss the semantics in Gloria vs. Glory.  Yes, I realize that every piece of printed material plus the signage inside and outside of their corporate building reads “GLORY.”  But that is not what the actors are speaking when they reference the company.  The Hangul caption reads “글로리아” for “Gloria,” and you can definitely hear the participle ‘-ya’ spoken at the end in pretty much every reference (if you listen hard enough).  But since I don’t live in Korea and am not one of the script editors on this Show, I can only sit down and shut up about the obvious glaring mistake.  Double Hmpf.

More meta in this episode than in the others:  The excellent riff-back to Episode 14, where there In-ha asks Ji-ho if he looks so pathetic to be copying someone else’s piece of music (after Ji-ho was accused of plagiarizing In-ha’s composition).   But this time around, the same exact words spoken back to In-ha made me giggle uncontrollably.  Also, the building where Gloria Instruments houses their corporate headquarters was also the same building used as the Mok Yeong Corporation headquarters in “Bachelor’s Vegetable Store,” which starred Our Hero Ji Chang Wook (In-ha) and Jeon No Min (Jung-wook) as the Fake Dad.  I wonder how funny both of them felt filming in the premises again after finishing up this past March.

Music Nerd Ramblings:   Sadly, nothing much worth noting for Episode 20, so not much to discuss here.  But I must call a resounding BULLSHIT on the score that In-ha submitted to the Composing Contest.  Here is a man with a disabled left hand, but the piece he’s written appears to have a heavy bass line throughout (it kinda reminded me of a Bach fugue upon first blush).  Unless In-ha is still trying to convince the Music World that a four-fingered pianist can still perform a complex work such as his, I’m not impressed.

Also, at 44:00 into this episode, we are treated to another variation on the 5F Main Theme; this time, Jae-yi the pianist at the restaurant who was playing In-ha’s Daesang-winning composition tickles the ivories with a jazzed-up version instead.  So that makes three different variations on the Main Theme so far… can we only hope for a fourth?  Unfortunately, none of the variations ended up being released on the 5F OST.  Another opportunity wasted.  Triple Hmpf.

Crap.  10 more episodes to go?  Jeongmalyo?  I’d better go stock up on Red Bulls and Sudafed and get cracking then.  AJA AJA AJA ME FIGHTING!!!