Leaving off where we were at the end of Episode 21 with Ji-ho and In-ha dissolving their ‘brotherly bonds’ for the last time.  (We hope.)  Calling out Ji-ho for not being able to protect his woman by convincing Da-mi that Ji-ho was not Woo-jin’s killer, Da-mi enters the room and calls In-ha out on his incorrect statement.  In-ha blanches and turns to see Da-mi come towards them with eyes a’ blazing and repeats herself that Ji-ho DID NOT kill her oppa!  In-ha looks like he wants to crawl into a hole right then and there.

Walking outside to a bridge overlooking a river (how convenient, plot-point-wise), In-ha flashes back to their earlier conversation where he accuses Da-mi of deceiving him but Da-mi tells him otherwise – he brought on his deception himself.  He gave up the information she needed that he tried so hard to hide by opening his own mouth.

In-ha wonders why Da-mi would do something like that to him – isn’t Yoo In Ha her friend?  Da-mi asks if he’s scared now that she knows In-ha just outed himself?  But In-ha tries to convince her that she’s wrong if she’s going to join forces with Ji-ho, but she disagrees with him… As In-ha swallows hard, Da-mi says she knows who is Woo-jin’s REAL killer, and soon everyone else in the world will know as well.

In-ha grabs her arm (*drink*) and tries to convince Da-mi that she doesn’t know the True Ji-ho – it’s a trap that Ji-ho set up!!  Ji-ho walks over and pulls In-ha’s hand away (*double drink*) and tells him to get a grip; what In-ha wants to believe is not the truth.  How much In-ha tries to convince himself, he should wake up and face the music.  (No pun intended.)

Still standing on the bridge, In-ha breaks out in tears and asks himself how he got to this point… WAE?!?!?  Leaning over the railing and sobbing, the camera gives up a nice close-up on his damaged hand to hammer in the point.  (And we get the first taste of Ji Chang-wook singing “To Fulfill” (Part 6 of the 5F OST) playing in the background.  SQUEEEEE!!!)

Back at Gloria HQ (and as My Precious continues to sing underneath), Ji-ho reaches for a visibly-upset Da-mi and puts his hand on her shoulder.  She decides that’s not a good idea and bolts from the room, leaving a pissed-off Ji-ho deciding his office floor and the manufacturing notebooks should meet up.  Pulling out his phone, he makes a call to Jung-wook and says they should get started now — he’ll call Investigator Kang accordingly.  A single tear tries to escape from Ji-ho’s eye…

At the Millet Store Grand Opening, Nam-joo doesn’t know how to properly thank Jung-wook for setting her up with such a position that she doesn’t deserve.  Jung-wook says she should feel comfortable now because that’s what Woo-jin would have wanted.  Nam-joo says it’s a strange consolation for someone who was out for revenge but ended up not being able to protect her child.

Jung-wook reminds her that she still has Da-mi (yeah, remember HER?) and that she needs to stay strong for her.  Handing her a package, Nam-joo reaches inside and sees that it’s a tape recorder.  Jung-wook explains that this contains the witness statements from the night Yeong-rang killed Chairman Yoo – he had made a copy of it before giving one to Woo-jin the night he was killed.  Jung-wook thinks it’s time they used it to their benefit.

Nam-joo reminds him that the statute of limitations period has expired, so why is he bringing this up now?  Jung-wook says it doesn’t mean the crime has disappeared, so Nam-joo needs to take care of this situation once and for all.

Back at Boosung HQ, Yeong-rang and Attorney Choi are still amazed that Elvin Kim is Gloria Instruments’ largest shareholder.  And with Boosung borrowing a butt-load of money from Geumdan as well?  Whodathunkit.  Yeong-rang turns to Attorney Choi, and with that I know you’ve done something wrong look in her eyes, asks him to fess up why he insisted on borrowing from Geumdan.

Attorney Choi pleads that he only joined hands with Geumdan because they made the first offer, but it does feel like Elvin Kim has Boosung in its crosshairs.  Was there something Yeong-rang did to Geumdan to piss them off?  She denies that statement since there’s nothing for them to be honked off at her about.  Attorney Choi digs in and tells her he can’t understand why Geumdan is hanging over their heads so much these days…

Yeong-rang is still musing over the crappy piano sample, because if they cannot pay back Geumdan in one month, they’ll assume the major shareholder position at Boosung.  Attorney Choi just can’t put his finger on the reasoning, when Yeong-rang jumps up and says she will personally meet with Elvin Kim and put a stop to Geumdan’s involvement at once!

So-yeol enters In-ha’s office and complains about the shoddy state of Boosung now that Team Leader/Double-Secret-Agent Min has left them.  There’s no way they can present such a sucky piano to Hanguk now!  But In-ha tells her to proceed with another sample in front of Hanguk – that will buy them time to come up with a substitute wood.  In the meantime, get ready to burn the midnight oil with him.  Off to the laboratory!

Yeong-rang stomps up to Geumdan HQ and insists to speak with Elvin Kim.  Receptionist Person keeps telling her that he’s in the States and obviously can’t see her, but that doesn’t stop Yeong-rang from bursting into Jung-wook’s office demanding to see the person in charge while Elvin Kim is away.  A voice rises from a turned-around chair that says he’ll meet with Chairman Chae in Elvin Kim’s absence instead.

The look on Yeong-rang’s face is a step short of freaked out, while she demands how Ji-ho and Elvin Kim and Geumdan are all tied together so neatly.  Ji-ho says Elvin Kim is his “business partner,” and that’s about it.  Yeong-rang demands to see Elvin Kim immediately if not sooner to find out why Geumdan is going after Boosung, but Ji-ho tells her to hold her horses as she will meet him soon.  And by the way, Ji-ho hears that Boosung borrowed a butt-load of money from Geumdan… how the heck are they gonna pay all that back within a month?  Ji-ho continues to twist the knife and says that Yeong-rang should tell In-ha to guard the company stock well.  It only takes a split-second to lose everything.  (As he is living proof of that very statement.)

Yeong-rang yells back that Boosung is his father’s company; does he not care if Boosung falls into the hands of a stranger if they fail?  Ji-ho reminds her that Gloria isn’t in the hands of a ‘stranger’… and he’s also his father son, is he not?  Yeong-rang doesn’t like hearing that Boosung fell prey to Geumdan’s dirty money, but there’s no freakin’ way she’s going to lose to a lightweight like Gloria.  Ji-ho reminds Yeong-rang to watch what she says – although she didn’t give birth to him, he’s still SOMEONE’s precious son!  One helluva stare-off commences!

Back at Hanguk University, it’s time for the prototypes to be presented for the Committee’s final decision.  At Boosung’s table is In-ha and So-yeol; at Gloria’s table is Ji-ho and Da-mi.  So-yeol looks over at the Gloria table and is gobsmacked to see Da-mi sitting next to Ji-ho, asking In-ha if it’s true she works for Gloria now?  It’s all In-ha can do to just glare and ignore his fiancee’s blabbering.

The Head Judge asks the Assistant Directors for each company to come forward with their briefings before they get started.  Da-mi approaches the podium first, and explains how Gloria developed their piano with a substitute wood that they could sell to Hanguk for 2/3rds their original cost.  Needless to say, even at such a cheap price, the Gloria piano still sounds great.

So-yeol starts out her presentation by acknowledging that even though their masterpiece piano is on the expensive side, Boosung has developed a new soundboard with a substitute wood where they will be able to supply the student pianos at ONE-HALF their original cost.  The judges will see why the Boosung piano is a superior product after listening to their prototype.  Much judge discussing and note-scribbling ensues, as Da-mi mutters there’s no way Boosung can offer a piano at half the price.

The Head Judge asks the Presidents of each company to come forward, and prepare to play their own pianos as the final test.  One will play a preselected piece, and the other will play the same piece right after in order for the judges to fairly compare the prototypes.  Ji-ho starts off into the opening notes of the Liszt La Campanella, the same piece that Episode 1 started off with 11 weeks prior.

The brothers finish with a flourish, and then spend the rest of the scene staring back at each other… just like they did in Episode 1 as well.  (And is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?)

Yeong-rang is happy happy happy to find out that Boosung won the Hanguk student piano contract, and wants to know more from So-yeol about this alleged substitute wood that they’ve found for their soundboards.   More importantly, this is a great win for In-ha… she knew he could pull this off!  Attorney Choi asks why In-ha didn’t come back to Yeong-rang’s office after the presentation, as So-yeol explains he stayed behind to hammer out the terms of the contract.

Se-yeol tells Yeong-rang that she’s confused and asks her why Da-mi is working with Ji-ho oppa over at Gloria.  Yeong-rang asks what the heck she’s talking about – Da-mi is working at Gloria Instruments?  Attorney Choi rubs it in further by asking if she’s the same Hong Da Mi that is Hong Woo Jin’s younger sister?

That gets him a maldande from Yeong-rang, who is now convinced that Ji-ho has gotten on the Crazy Bus.  If it wasn’t bad enough he’s involved with Elvin Kim, that Ji-ho has to bring in That Family as well?  NO.  WAY.

In-ha meets with the Hanguk Judges and thanks them for choosing Boosung for their pianos.  The Head Judge says it was a no-brainer, since it sounded as good as the Gloria piano but is half as cheap — so they’re going to place a large order right away.  In-ha smugly asks how many were they thinking of purchasing, as the Head Judge says they’ll want at least 1,000 pianos right off the bat.

In-ha flinches ever-so-slightly, and asks why he’s requesting so many.  The Head Judge says it’s time to replace ALL the pianos in the practice rooms… the professors’ offices… the building lobbies… and the alumni are asking to purchase pianos as well.  In-ha stammers all the better, since more is good.  (The Tongue comes out to confirm that.)

As In-ha walks out of the auditorium, he is met by Ji-ho and Da-mi who congratulate him on his complete victory.  Ji-ho goes on to say that the piano Boosung brought to the table was so close in comparison to the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr. that he couldn’t tell them apart!  In-ha asks if instead Ji-ho is embarrassed to lose to Boosung, since Gloria had all the manufacturing notes that In-ha did.  Ji-ho is just happy to hear that the judges also praised the Gloria piano… that alone is promising.

Ji-ho pushes In-ha out the door, saying that if Boosung is going to produce 1,000 pianos, he’s gonna be real busy and fast!  (All this time, Da-mi is attempting to bore a hole in In-ha with her laser eyes.  Hee!)  In-ha runs out of there, as Da-mi then asks what Gloria did wrong – why did they lose?  Ji-ho tells her they didn’t lose anything, since the prototype Boosung presented today was actually the Butt-Ugly Piano Jr. made with the Alaskan spruce.

Now it’s Da-mi’s turn to go slack-jawed, as she wants confirmation that Boosung’s soundboard was not made from a substitute wood.  How can they offer such a high-end piano at such a cheap price?  Ji-ho explains that the more Boosung sells, the bigger a loss they’re going to have to take.  And there’s no way Boosung will be able to fulfill the contract for 1,000 pianos with the wood that remains in the Alaskan spruce warehouse; in fact, it’s pretty much depleted now.  If Boosung doesn’t provide per the terms of the Hanguk contract, they will have to pay three times more as their penalty.  Da-mi surmises that In-ha has just dug his own grave.

In-ha and So-yeol return to his office with the Hanguk contract, but he asks her if she’s said anything specific to his mother.  So-yeol claims she clammed up, but she’s way too worried about this deal.  In-ha asks what is there to worry about – they have more time to develop the substitute wood before construction starts in earnest.  So-yeol asks what happens if that doesn’t happen and they fail?  In-ha asks why would they fail – they have all this expensive German wood worth 30 billion won now, so they need to make that work.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, In-ha demands that So-yeol call in some of her overseas contacts to help Boosung; she’s the Manufacturing Expert and should know about stuff like this.  Why isn’t she helping her fiancé in a time of trouble, hunh?  Put that tiny brain of hers to work and use Professor Ha’s name and reputation if she has to!  In-ha starts to get worried about the timeframe to develop the new soundboard, but So-yeol is more worried about In-ha seeming like he’s going over the deep end.

Nam-joo returns home and grabs the mail before heading inside.  She sees an envelope addressed to her and opens it to see pictures of Da-mi and Ji-ho together at Gloria Instruments.  She’s so incensed that she drops her designer bag on the floor!

She’s even more incensed that she barges into Ji-ho’s office at Gloria and smacks him hard across the face, calling him a selfish bastard who killed her son!  Why the hell did he come back – to torment her further or to take Da-mi away from her?  If Nam-joo would have known that Ji-ho was in charge at Gloria, she would have never approved of Da-mi working there!  Poor Ji-ho just stands there and takes what Nam-joo dishes out at him.

Da-mi hears the commotion and rushes in to stop Nam-joo from beating up on Ji-ho, all the time Nam-joo wants to know why Da-mi is doing what she’s doing.  Isn’t she sullying the memory of her dead brother by holding hands with his killer?  Da-mi tries to explain (without giving up their Evil Plan) that they’re just co-workers – nothing more and nothing less.  The OUCH! on Ji-ho’s face is palatable.

Ji-ho tries to calm down Nam-joo, but she refuses to hear his words.  Da-mi pleads with Nam-joo to go home with her so she can explain everything.  If there’s anyone Nam-joo should beat the crap out of, it’s Da-mi… not Ji-ho.  Da-mi pulls her mother out of there, leaving Ji-ho trying to figure out how the heck Nam-joo found out his and Da-mi’s working relationship.  Does he think it was… ?

Ji-ho returns home to see Yeong-rang lounging on the couch sipping a glass of wine.  She asks if it was Ji-ho’s bright idea to get Da-mi involved in his company because he can’t get over her.  Ji-ho stops dead in his tracks, as Yeong-rang asks if he is going to take revenge for the Hong Family now?  Ji-ho wanders closer to her and asks if she even has the right to say something as filthy as that.  It’s not his fault that they became enemies… does she not have any shame anymore?

Yeong-rang gets up and glares at him, saying that there’s nothing for her to be sorry about.  It’s Nam-joo that is pitiful and pathetic – she’s lost her husband and her son, so she should at least be able to protect her remaining child any way she can.  Will Nam-joo finally come to her senses only after her daughter gets hurt too?

Ji-ho rips the wine glass out of Yeong-rang’s hand and launches it against the sideboard.  With eyes blazing like red-hot pokers, Ji-ho reminds her that he shouldn’t let Yeong-rang live according to the crimes she’s committed.  But because her time is almost up, so she should just crawl into a hole and DIE!!!  He heads upstairs to his bedroom, as the usual sinister smirk forms on Yeong-rang’s face.

Ji-ho slams the door to his room and takes out his frustrations on his overcoat.  Sitting at his desk, he attempts to make sense out of all this by flaring his nostrils and clenching his jaw several times.

Meanwhile, back at Boosung, In-ha has obviously worked all night and fell asleep in his chair.  (Awwwww…..) So-yeol arrives and as she puts her blazer over his sleeping form, she reaches for the plans that are on his lap.  In-ha wakes up yelling ANDWAE! and sweating profusely.  Confirming that she’s friend and not foe, In-ha says they don’t have time for playing around and they need to quickly get on the soundboard construction.  So-yeol blankly stares at him as In-ha returns to what he was doing on the computer before she got there.

EvilStep brings Ji-ho a glass of orange juice, as he wonders why she’s still so nice to him.  He’s not the richest guy in the house anymore, but EvilStep says that even rejected birds of a feather flock together.  That whole ‘blood is thicker than water’ saying is all crap.  Money may be thicker to her, but she must be getting old when she’s found something else she likes better than money.

EvilStep tells Ji-ho that In-ha didn’t come home last night.  Did he and his dongsaeng have a fight?  Ji-ho claims that he doesn’t know what’s up with Little Brother, but EvilStep tells him that if he wants to catch a mouse, don’t burn the house down to do it.  She’s worried about Ji-ho getting hurt in the process, but Ji-ho says he’s not scared of the consequences.

EvilStep tells him she won’t stop Ji-ho from punishing Yeong-rang to the extent that he can, but be warned… if both of them are in trouble, she will protect Yeong-rang over Ji-ho.  EvilStep may hate her to death, but because she is Yeong-rang’s mother, the one person who will accept her can only be EvilStep.

She wonders how funny that sounds to someone who mooched off Yeong-rang her entire life, and leaves Ji-ho standing there feeling his blood pressure ping off the charts.

Nam-joo is stunned and cannot hold her water glass while speaking with Jung-wook.  He apologizes for having to show her the taxi’s black-box footage, but that was the only way he could finally convince her that Ji-ho had nothing to do with Woo-jin’s murder.  Even though the footage does absolve Ji-ho, Nam-joo still does not want to continue crossing paths with his family.  Jung-wook reminds her that he technically is not part of the Yoo Family, since he’s already been abandoned by Yeong-rang.  All he’s asking for is Nam-joo to understand all the pain and hurt and framing for murder that Ji-ho has gone through.

Jung-wook begs for her to forgive Ji-ho, as she still cannot comprehend how someone like Evil Yeong-rang is still walking on this earth without being afraid of the heavens.  But in the meantime, she will take the tape recorder to Investigator Kang at the police station and Da-mi will join her there shortly.

They finish up their drinks, as the camera pans over to EvilStep trying to be inconspicuous.  She voices over that her seeing all three of them at the shopping centre was not a fluke.  But how do they all know each other?  Is Jung-wook cheating on her Yeong-rang already?  Is she seeing her Meal Ticket slowly disappearing in front of her eyes?

At the police station, Investigator Kang listens to the tape, but apologizes that he can’t do anything because the statute of limitations has expired, along with the timeframe in which they could pursue a civil lawsuit.  Nam-joo is satisfied with that, since her main intention was to clear Dead Deaf Dad’s name regardless of what the law says now.

Investigator Kang says that he was also in charge of Ji-ho’s investigation one year prior, and that he had made a promise to Ji-ho to find Woo-jin’s real killer.  And Investigator Kang always keeps his promises!  (Me thinks someone’s been reading too deeply into the Canadian Mounted Police Manual…)

Yeong-rang rips into In-ha over the 1,000 piano order for Hanguk and asks why the soundboard sample is still in research mode.  In-ha says he will start on production soon and will get them all completed by the deadline.  Yeong-rang reminds him of the boatload of Boosung funds invested in their little scheme, so was he lying to her about the new-and-improved soundboard?

Attorney Choi comes rushing in to tell them both that the substitute wood that In-ha planned to use for the new soundboard is not available and that production has shut down completely.  Yeong-rang looks like she’s gonna faint, as In-ha tells her that the prototype he submitted in the Hanguk presentation was the one with the Alaskan spruce soundboard.  There was NO WAY Boosung was going to lose to Ji-ho, so he did that to protect Boosung’s interests.

Yeong-rang demands that In-ha tell her what’s up, well knowing that they only have enough Alaskan spruce to only produce a shade under 100 pianos… how did In-ha think they were going to spit out 1,000 with the wood left in the warehouse?  In-ha is still hell-bent on blaming That Jerk Ji-ho for their troubles, since he was the one that leaked the false documentation on the substitute wood – and In-ha bought it hook, line and sinker.

Yeong-rang returns to her office with Secretary Oh and asks to be left alone.  Secretary Oh tells her he just received a call from the police station saying that Nam-joo brought them a copy of the witness tape and asked to have the Seongbuk-dong fire incident reinvestigated.  Yeong-rang reminds him that they’re wasting their time, since the statute of limitations is long over for that case.  Secretary Oh tells her she has nothing to worry about, since there will be no arraignment due to the statute expiring.  Yeong-rang wonders how long that woman is going to keep beating a dead horse (no pun intended?).

Jung-wook and Ji-ho are engaged in a friendly gave of chess, where Ji-ho quickly checkmates his opponent.  Ji-ho asks him why he seems so preoccupied these days, but Jung-wook quickly pooh-poohs that thought.  Ji-ho tells him to relax since the next steps are all in Ji-ho’s more-than-capable hands.

Jung-wook thinks back to the time Yeong-rang told him about the baby she had once returning to Korea.  He then tells Ji-ho about the fire that took place the night after Yeong-rang stood him up at the altar, and then how he found one of her earrings in the driveway of his torched house.  Payback may be late in coming, but it will get there eventually…  Ji-ho is stunned to hear this new piece of gossip.

EvilStep comes over to see Yeong-rang to tattle on seeing Jung-wook with Nam-joo at the coffeeshop earlier.  Asking how much she really knows about Jung-wook after all these years, EvilStep asks if she remembers how much cash she burned through just to get rid of Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s mistresses?  If she’s sure about being with Jung-wook now, just ring him up and make it official!

Yeong-rang wants to know exactly who the hell EvilStep is talking about, as EvilStep states she wouldn’t come to see her without evidence in her hands!  EvilStep whips out her mobile and passes it to Yeong-rang, saying she expects her ‘finder’s fees’ deposited to her account by the end of the day.  (Might as well pad that bank account while you still can, girlfriend!)

Yeong-rang plays the video of Jung-wook meeting up with Nam-joo at the coffeeshop earlier that day.  Asking for confirmation, EvilStep asks back if Yeong-rang knows this person.  By the stunned look on her face, I’m thinking she kinda does…

Jung-wook meets up again with Nam-joo, who tells him that Yeong-rang requested to see her, probably due to her finding out about the reinvestigation.  Nam-joo thought a little muscle would be good just in case… and right at that time, Yeong-rang stomps in and asks them both what exactly is their relationship.  Jung-wook has his BUSTED face on, but lies and says she’s a regular at his coffeeshop; they can’t meet and chat for what reason again?

Nam-joo excuses herself as Yeong-rang yells after her to stop… but fortunately, she hightails it out of there.  Whipping around to confront Jung-wook again, she asks him what the hell he’s thinking by meeting That Woman?  Is he pabo or what?  Jung-wook says again that she’s a frequent customer at his coffeeshop; nothing more and nothing less.  If Yeong-rang is going to act like that, then he’s really disappointed in her jealousy.  He stomps out of the coffeeshop as well.  (And I just noticed that there’s no other single soul in that coffeeshop.  Kinda like the Caffe Bene I visited on my last trip to Los Angeles…)

She follows him outside still begging for an answer.  Jung-wook says there’s nothing for him to explain and why even bother, since she’s not believing what he’s saying anyway.  Yeong-rang finally capitulates and apologizes to him, saying that That Woman is horribly entangled with her family somehow.  When Jung-wook asks what she’s blabbering about, she tells him to stop meeting her ever again because it seems That Woman must have had an ulterior motive if she’s been coming there for over a year.

Jung-wook says that Nam-joo doesn’t seem like such a bad person… she found out he lived alone and brought over some banchan to share with him.  They had a few meals together, but that’s it.  Now that Jung-wook knows the situation, he will distance herself from Nam-joo in the future.  Yeong-rang seems to accept his words…

… until she shows up at the front of Nam-joo’s house to confront her.  Yeong-rang asks why she keeps hanging on their family like a leech by opening the reinvestigation, and now going after her Jung-wook?  UNACCEPTABLE.  Nam-joo reminds her that it ain’t over ‘til it’s over – and it ain’t over by a long shot!  Yeong-rang gives her one last warning to leave Seoul for good – go live on some island and never come back.  If Nam-joo can promise that, Yeong-rang can give her all the money she’ll ever need.  Nam-joo yells back that she wouldn’t even blow her nose in all that dirty Boosung money; think again, sister!

Nam-joo asks why should SHE leave Seoul – she’s not the one who committed a crime, so she has nothing to be ashamed of.  So take your shiny chaebol hinder and get it out of her sight PRONTO!  Then Yeong-rang plays the Da-mi Card, saying that if Nam-joo isn’t afraid of what will happen to her daughter, then she asked for it.  Yeong-rang walks off leaving a seething Nam-joo in the middle of the street.

When she returns to livery car, Yeong-rang tells Secretary Oh that there’s something he must take care of immediately… as she sits and puts her Dastardly Thinking Wheels into motion again.

Da-mi is working away at Gloria when she gets a text from Ji-ho saying that she needs to meet him at their second factory for an urgent consultation.  Wondering what second factory he’s talking about, she pulls up Naver the Wiki browser to look for directions to this place.  (And yes, I Googled the address shown on the screen.  Of course it doesn’t exist in real life.)

And like a dumb little bunny, we see Da-mi wandering around a dark and deserted warehouse looking for Ji-ho.  Calling out his name, she puts her purse down and wanders off.  Of course, a shadowy hand grabs the purse and locks the warehouse doors behind her, while she yells (not quite at the top of her lungs) for someone to let her out.  (*sigh*)

Yeong-rang drops in a CD with a label that says ‘Bowers and Wilkens’ but the speakers blare out the Coronation Anthem from Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” instead.  Telling Secretary Oh that Da-mi just needs to be shaken up a bit, she’ll be found in the morning when the employees come in to work.  Yeong-rang needs to put the Fear of God into Nam-joo to make her back off.  And with the Rejoice… rejoice from the chorus plays away, Yeong-rang leans back in her chair to saver her victory.

Ji-ho returns home to EvilStep and In-ha sharing some fruits.  EvilStep invites him to sit, but all Ji-ho wants to do is go upstairs and rest.  As he starts up the stairs, In-ha orders him to stop and wonders how long Ji-ho is going to act all unknowing and stuff.  In-ha tells him that the trees Team Leader/Double Secret Agent Min told him to buy cost Boosung over 30 million won in the end.  EvilStep just about faints hearing the words ’30 billon won.’

In-ha asks if it was Ji-ho’s intention to use those trees for firewood?  In order for Boosung to fulfill the Hanguk contract, they’ll need to make pianos from dawn to dusk ASAP.  But the Alaskan spruce supply is depleted and the substitute wood is no good – what is In-ha supposed to do now?  Ji-ho asks him what about if the substitute wood was perfect — Gloria Instruments would have been ruined.  Regardless, business is war; if one survives, the other will die.  If Ji-ho professes mercy and saves Boosung somehow, surely In-ha will find a way to kill him again.  That is the main reason why Ji-ho can’t help him.

Ji-ho finally does head up the stairs, leaving a sneering In-ha to run off after him and EvilStep wondering out loud what the heck just happened in front of her face!

Nam-joo keeps trying to call Da-mi, but her phone is turned off.  Jung-wook runs in and confirms that she’s been out of touch since the early evening.  Nam-joo is besides herself – first Yeong-rang comes to bitch at her, and now… wait a second, dude!  There’s no way Yeong-rang could do anything to Da-mi now, could she?  Jung-wook promises to look for her, so if she could just calm down…

Da-mi is still pounding away on the locked warehouse door like a ninny and yelling for someone to hear her.  Finally giving up on that, she sits down in a doorway to wait to be rescued.  (Some nice camera work there with all the lights and shadows.)

In-ha pleads for Ji-ho (acting on Geumdan’s behalf) to extend the due date for the Boosung loan payoff.  Since he’s Elvin Kim’s right-hand man, surely Ji-ho could help get a request like that granted, no?  Ji-ho tells him sure Elvin Kim can, but Ji-ho doesn’t have that sort of authority.

Anger rising as usual, In-ha reminds Ji-ho that the Boosung stock will have to be turned over to Geumdan if that happens, and he doesn’t want to see the company go down in flames because of his stupid mistake.  Ji-ho tells In-ha too bad so sad, and In-ha then has the gall to blame everything since the dawn of time on Ji-ho’s dirty tricks.  Ji-ho reminds In-ha that compared to what HE did, Ji-ho hasn’t even started teething yet. (BURN.)  Ji-ho asks In-ha how long he’s going to play the Victim Card.  Isn’t there a way for In-ha to be less cowardly and somehow fix his mistake himself?

While In-ha mulls that over, Ji-ho gets a call from Jung-wook who tells him that Da-mi’s gone missing.  Jung-wook says the CCTV showed her leaving the office at 8 PM, but they haven’t heard a word from her since.  Ji-ho says he’s on his way to the office now, leaving In-ha to wonder why Da-mi is missing… and then the light bulb goes off over In-ha’s head.

Ji-ho bursts into Da-mi’s office to find it empty.  He tries calling her mobile again, only to find it still shut down.  As he leaves the office, Ji-ho notices her laptop is still on with the screen showing the Gloria Warehouse No. 2 street address.  (Ah, so dumb little bunny actually showed some smarts there for once!)

With the OST Part.1 tune playing underneath, Ji-ho screeches up to the warehouse and starts yelling for Da-mi to answer him.  He comes upon the locked doors but fortunately there’s a sledgehammer leaning up against a side wall.  Ji-ho blasts out one of the locks and runs inside, still yelling her name.  Meanwhile, Nam-joo is in a cab, rushing to get to…

Yeong-rang calmly sits and arranges YET MORE FREAKIN’ FLOWERS, as Nam-joo barges into the house to confront her about her missing Da-mi.  Yeong-rang is nonplussed and yells for security to come take her away, as EvilStep and In-ha come downstairs to see what all the commotion is about.

Screaming that if one hair on Da-mi’s head is touched, Yeong-rang is gonna die by Nam-joo’s own hands.  Yeong-rang calmly tells her that she knows nothing about what she’s going on about and orders the maids to drag her out of their house.  EvilStep is still horrified to see That Woman actually inside their home… why is this such a nightmare?  In-ha just stands there sloooowwwwlllly processing what he’s just witnessed.

Ji-ho’s still running around the warehouse looking for Da-mi, when he finds her slumped against a wall.  (She’s been there for barely four hours and she’s passed out already?  Weaksauce.)  Trying to shake her awake and failing, he picks her up like a sack of potatoes and carries her out to his car.

Yeong-rang paces in her bedroom, as In-ha comes in to ask what happened to Da-mi.  Yeong-rang still claims she has no clue as to what’s going on, when In-ha interrupts and reminds her that he said that if any harm comes to Da-mi, the words I Will Never Forgive You will rain down on her head.  Yeong-rang tells him he’d never do that to his mother and walks towards him, but In-ha orders her to not come any closer since he’s really scared of her now.

At Seoul University Hospital, Da-mi is hooked up to Korean Drama Trope No. 705 – the magically-restoring IV drip.  Ji-ho holds her hand in a death grip, and then tries to touch her cheek, but suddenly pulls away and just in time since Nam-joo arrives and pretty much pushes him out of the way to sit next to Da-mi since MOMMY’S HERE NOW.

Ji-ho says Da-mi will be fine after she rests a bit, and that now that she’s there, he will take his leave.  As he walks away, Nam-joo actually thanks him profusely for saving her daughter.  It’s all Ji-ho can do while leaving to not break down completely… but he steels himself and heads on out of the hospital.

A door opens into a room where we see a man’s shoes walk towards someone asleep in bed.  His hand clenches into a fist, and with nostrils flaring and jaw tightening, it’s Ji-ho looking down on Yeong-rang.  Sleeping.  With an eye mask on and the room lights still burning.  Whatever.

At Boosung the next day, the switchboard operators are having trouble processing all the phone calls that have suddenly hit their offices.  Even Secretary Oh is trying to contain the press calls that have multiplied.  In Yeong-rang’s office, Attorney Choi tells her and In-ha that Maid Dong-yi’s tape that she killed Chairman Yoo by pushing him has been released on the Internets and the reporters are having a field day with this news.  But who would do such a thing?

Yeong-rang is convinced that it’s either Song Nam-joo or that Ji-ho is helping her from behind.   Attorney Choi is not convinced that Ji-ho has the balls to do something like that, as In-ha just sits and fumes.  Yeong-rang says not to do anything about the rumours except to say that it is all a fabrication by their competition to defame Boosung.  In-ha stares back at her with his patented ‘yeah, right’ face painted on.

Nam-joo and Da-mi return home with Jung-wook, where Da-mi complains that she needs to go to work now.  Nam-joo threatens to sit on her to make Da-mi stay home and rest, and Jung-wook tells her to listen to her mother.  He’ll inform Gloria that she’s taking the day off, and now that Da-mi is relieved, Nam-joo goes to fetch her a glass of water.

That gives Da-mi and Jung-wook the chance to chat, as Jung-wook asks her what she remembers from the day before.  Da-mi recalls the text message from Ji-ho, going to the warehouse, and being locked up.  Jung-wook tells her it has to be one of Yeong-rang’s Evil Plots, so she must be on extra guarded high alert from now on, especially after what happened to Nam-joo earlier and Ji-ho coming to rescue her.  Da-mi lets out a deh?  Who came to do what again?  (Apparently she was too weak from hunger to see Ji-ho come to save her…)

As Ji-ho scrolls through the latest online news, the Boosung press release states that the vicious rumour is a slanderous scheme by a competitor, just as they were instructed to write.  He’s not buying the ‘slanderous scheme’ part, and is she certain she’s going to go all the way with her plans?  Ji-ho picks up the phone to call someone to meet him.

Attorney Choi tells Yeong-rang that the rumour ain’t going away anytime soon, so maybe she should personally deal with it now?  Calling Secretary Oh into her office, she asks him on the whereabouts of Dong-yi right now.  Secretary Oh says that she’s no longer in the States and just returned to Korea.  Yeong-rang says that’s so nice of her – now she can come forward in person and tell the world that it’s not the truth.

Yeong-rang orders Attorney Choi to make the preparations for a press conference, while Attorney Choi looks more and more nervous over her request.  Yeong-rang says it’s past the time for her to meet with Dong-yi properly.

But Ji-ho has gotten to Dong-yi first, as they meet and discuss what to do next.  Dong-yi pledges her support to Ji-ho where needed, but she’s still not too happy about her voice getting plastered all over the Interwebs like that.  With tears welling in his eyes, all Ji-ho wants for her to tell the truth how his father died in the study that night – can she do that?  Dong-yi smiles, but says nothing.

Ji-ho leaves the café and offers to take her to her hotel.  Begging off by saying her “sister” is coming to pick her up, Dong-yi hops into a waiting car which takes off and parks around the corner out of Ji-ho’s sight.  Of course who else is in the car but Yeong-rang, who makes pleasantries but gets straight to the point.  There is something Dong-yi must help her out with, and that’s come to the press conference tomorrow and say the voice on the tape is not hers.

Dong-yi reminds Yeong-rang that their deal has already expired, and there’s nothing more she can do for her and Boosung.  Yeong-rang gets impatient and tells Dong-yi to name her price.

At the press conference, it’s a packed house.  Attorney Choi starts off by addressing the false rumours being spread that are affecting Boosung’s image, and more importantly, their piano sales and stock prices.  So on that note, they’ve brought in Lee Dong-yi to refute those rumors.

Dong-yi heads up to the podium and sits in the middle.  Just then, Ji-ho arrives on the scene as In-ha continues glaring at his back.  Yeong-rang smugly smiles at Ji-ho in return.  Dong-yi opens her big mouth… and lies her head off by saying that is not her voice on the tape recording.  She had the day off and was not at the Yoo Mansion the day of the accident.

The reporters go apeshit hearing that revelation, but Yeong-rang refuses to take any more questions and the three of them leave the room.  But In-ha remains in the back, and since he has also heard the tape himself, realizes yet another cover-up has been orchestrated by Mommie Dearest.

Feeling quite satisfied, Yeong-rang and In-ha return to her office with Secretary Oh right behind them with an envelope that just arrived from Geumdan Construction.  It seems their loan due date was pushed back a month and they can now finish the Hanguk contract with ease.  Doesn’t In-ha feel good now that two thorns have been pulled out of their sides?  In-ha is still not convinced that it was Ji-ho who helped him with his request…

In-ha and Yeong-rang return to the conference room to see Ji-ho standing there.  Yeong-rang gloats to him that Ji-ho must be disappointed to see things not turn out his way for once.  Ji-ho begs to differ, since he wanted to hear her say she’s sorry for the first time ever for killing his father.  At least to say she’s sorry in front of him and In-ha as well.

Yeong-rang says there’s nothing to say; it is already over and Ji-ho lost.  He should not waste his energy on something that isn’t supported by witnesses and hard evidence, so hurry up and sign the contract extension.  Ji-ho says nopes – he won’t sign unless Yeong-rang apologizes to him and In-ha first.  Yeong-rang still protests that she didn’t kill In-ha’s appa, as Ji-ho asks if that’s such a big thing to admit.  The statute of limitations has expired, but Yeong-rang demands to know why Ji-ho has made such a silly request of her.

In-ha finally gets fed up, yells at the two of them to stop arguing, and for Yeong-rang to just fess up for once.  He may hate the sight of Ji-ho, but the truth is the truth.  It’s the right thing for Yeong-rang to do and apologize to them at least once.  Yeong-rang asks him if anything will change if she apologizes – will that make his dead father come back to life?  Will they reconcile?  Will Dead Burnt-Up Dad finally forgive her?

Ji-ho softly says that with an apology, they could finally hold their heads up in front of their dead dad.  Turning towards Ji-ho, Yeong-rang says FINE.  I killed your father, after suffering from Mr. High and Mighty for 10 years.  It was that one day that she finally decided to speak her mind and pushed him into his desk… is that so wrong?  Was it such a sin to have asked him to rewrite his will because she was concerned for her own child?

Flowers and Brickbats

I WILL FINISH THIS DRAMA.  I WILL FINISH THESE RECAPS.  Come hell or high water, I WILL FINISH, dammit!!  When I was ready to jump into Episode 22’s recap, I realized that I had never grabbed the raw off the Interwebs when it was originally distributed.  Once I finally found one, it took over 10 DAYS to completely download.  Yeesh!  Granted, I could have watched it on any of the streaming sites in order to bang this out, but I wanted a copy for my archive and especially needed one for proper HD screencaps.  So apologies for taking my sweet time yet again — that damn perfectionist in me will never give up!

They’ve been few and far between during this show, but even I have to admit that was one amazing cliffhanger!  Ohmygawd the looks on In-ha and Yeong-rang’s faces were priceless – PWNED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE, BABY!!  Putting Ji-ho and Jung-wook’s brains together for these situations was a stroke of genius, and my hat is off to the writer who came up with these evil plots.  I’m sure things will fall further down the rabbit’s hole as we come screeching towards the finale, but for now I’m having a fun time watching all the twists and turns unfold.

Also, I don’t know if it’s the HD cameras amplifying every little pore on our actors’ faces, but the mains all look like death warmed over in this episode.  We’re feet-first into the last third with the Live-Shoot System, and it’s starting to show big time.  Big bags are starting to show up on both Joo Ji-hoon and Ji Chang-wook’s eyes, and Chae Si-ra looks like she needs a facial or three to rid herself of the sallowness in her cheeks.  I remember several tweets from My Precious around this time posted at 3:00 or 4:00 AM saying that they were just wrapping up filming and he was heading home.  That kind of life is not sustainable over the 14-16 week filming period, but that’s another soapbox for another day.

Music Nerd Ramblings:   I guess I never fully talked about the piece in my Episode 1 recap as I was still fleshing out how these posts were going to be formatted.  So I guess now is a good time as ever to discuss.  Featured during the piano prototype competition at Hanguk University was the La Campanella (“The Little Bell”) by Franz Liszt.  This is number 3 of six Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141 in G# minor.  This piece is noteworthy for its use of both hands jumping between intervals larger than an octave and several 1/16th-note technical drills, as was typically Liszt’s style when he wrote this in 1838.  This arrangement for this show was made for four hands in order to show the dynamics and tension between the two brothers trying to compete and one-up each other.  It was nice to hear it again, if only for a nice riff-back to Episode 1.  But if the Music Director ends up using it for a third time, I’ll feel like the PD-nim is thumbing his nose at the casual K-Drama Watcher:  “We’ve bought the rights for this tune, and we’re gonna use it to death, dammit!!!”  The interesting thing I found during this scene is In-ha’s Boosung piano was in a white casing, while Ji-ho’s Gloria piano was in a black housing.  Nice little turn on the ‘good guy-bad guy’ adage, don’t you think?

We are also treated to a snippet of George Frederic Handel’s Coronation Anthem entitled “Zadok the Priest” (HVW 258).  “Zadok” is one of the four coronation anthems which were composed in 1727 to celebrate George II of Great Britain ascending to the throne, and this same piece is sung at every subsequent British coronation ever since, traditionally played during the anointing (crowning) of the soveriegn.  We had a nice discussion of the use over on the Soompi forum, and I found quite enjoyable to have this piece featured in a K-Drama.  Yeong-rang thinks she’s now the Queen of the World after putting Da-mi’s family through a kidnapping?  Think again, girlie!

The last tune of note is the release of “To Fulfill” (채운다) (or “Fill Up,” depending on which translation you prefer) sung by Ji Chang-wook and released as Part.6 on the 5F OST.  What’s different about this release was that it jumped ahead of Part.5 being premiered (“So Much I Could Die” by Position) because the PD-nim decided at the last minute it would be a better choice to play under In-ha’s ‘Come To Jesus’ moment at the bridge than the Part.5 tune.  Therefore, Hub Entertainment and Loen Entertainment (who produces all the OSTs for SBS) bum-rushed the tune onto Episode 22 accordingly (and with JCW stating that he had just finished the song the day before the show aired on 28 October).  Regardless, me likey very much — you can tell that his singing voice has improved greatly since his WBDS OST offering, which I thought was too overproduced to feature his high baritone voice.

And now that we’re into the final third of this production, I need to profusely complain about one of the other pieces of incidental music often featured therein:  “Solitude Waltz – Ji-ho’s Theme” (지호의 Theme – 고독의 왈츠).  The piece starts out in a minor key, but abruptly changes direction into a lighter, more happy-like piano and string transition (while still remaining in the minor key).  This tune is played whenever a character is going through a crisis of character, so with this being a melodrama and everything, shouldn’t you feature something a little bit more heavy or heart-clutching-inducing, hm?  I find this tune rather schizophrenic in its use and treatment.  So there.

There is another impressive piece played around 41:14 in this episode featuring a string ensemble that sounds rather Mahler-esque in its treatment.  Again, the OST Producers really missed the mark by not releasing a second disk just featuring the incidental music from this show — SBS and Loen did that very thing on the OST for “Warrior Baek Dong Soo” so I know it could have been a possibility.  But maybe with all the troubles hanging over this production since Day One they decided to not rock the boat by asking for more funding.  Their loss!

Episode 23 is all cued up for watching, so I’m gonna plow through while I still have the strength and before Real Life interjects again.  See you all on the other side!