One Adam-12… reporting a breaking and entering in progress…

Yeong-rang enters Ji-ho’s apartment and finds the handkerchief that EvilStep said looked like hers from way back in the day.  Unfortunately, Ji-ho returns home at that very moment and orders her to SCRAM!

But Yeong-rang ain’t budging until she finds out who that handkerchief belongs to, and when Ji-ho finally fesses up that it was from his birth mother, Yeong-rang looks like it’s gonna be Fainting Time again.

She demands that Ji-ho tell her how that came into his possessions, as Ji-ho tells her she looks amazed that Ji-ho actually has a mother that he still thinks about to this day.  The hanky was given to him by Dead Burnt-up Dad, and he was told that it is the only thing that his birth mother left behind for Ji-ho.  So what’s it to you, lady?

Yeong-rang presses Ji-ho to see if he’s hell-bent to look for his birth mother now, but Ji-ho doesn’t bite and tells her it’s none of her concern.  She demands that Ji-ho not look for his mother, since he’s not going to have the happy ending he thinks will happen.  He was abandoned once, and she wonders if Ji-ho could survive another abandonment.

Ji-ho grabs Yeong-rang and says he at least has the right to be happy and know how it is to be loved by a REAL mother… can’t Ji-ho experience being fed hot rice just once in his life?  Yeong-rang tells him to not have such high expectations since Ji-ho doesn’t deserve to know a mother’s love!

That just sets Ji-ho off further, and asks why Yeong-rang is doing that to him.  Yeong-rang asks why Ji-ho hasn’t gotten on the Clue Bus yet, but Ji-ho stops short in asking that the one thing he ever wanted from her was…

Ji-ho orders her to leave NOW, and turns away in tears.  Yeong-rang almost succumbs herself but eventually finds her Inner Bitch, leaves Ji-ho to his misery, and stumbles outside to keep from passing out.

We flashback to Yeong-rang presumably at her last recital before getting married (wearing that gorgeous lavender gown we see in the SBS promo pictures), pounding out a bunch of A-minor chords in no apparent order and rises to thunderous applause.  She reaches over to the piano and picks up a handkerchief with the same embroidery that Ji-ho possesses and mops up her sweaty fake-piano-playing face.

Jumping back to present day and still protesting that it’s such a common pattern, there’s no way that same handkerchief could be the same one that Yeong-rang used to possess way back when.  Ji-ho is having his own crisis, wondering out loud that all he ever wanted to hear from Yeong-rang’s mouth was… that his eomma was sorry.

EvilStep paces until Yeong-rang returns home, and then crabs at her for turning off her phone and making her worry so much.  Yeong-rang decides that going to her bedroom and lotioning up her face (first making sure their brand names face towards the camera) is a better answer.  EvilStep assumes that Yeong-rang now knows the truth after meeting up with Nurse Kang, and that they were the victims of Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s evil revenge plot.

EvilStep surmises this was the first time she was ever beaten by a dead man.  Even if he was on the brink of death, he should have made a pact with the Devil himself to survive.  Tell them the truth of Ji-ho’s birth, and then Man-se can go off in some corner somewhere and officially die!

Yeong-rang jumps up and accuses EvilStep of actually thinking that Ji-ho is her son?  NO and WAY, woman!  Yeong-rang breaks out laughing and tells EvilStep that there is no way in hell that Ji-ho is her natural son… and if EvilStep thinks that he is, then she needs to stop sucking down the makgeolli ASAP!

EvilStep tells her that no matter how much she denies it, Ji-ho is most definitely Yeong-rang’s real son!  Yeong-rang screams that it is not so, when EvilStep calmly tells her that she needs to give up now… Yoo Man Se’s wish came true, and Yeong-rang lost.  Big Time Lost.  He brought Ji-ho into their home as some sort of blood sport to watch them destroy each other – doesn’t she get it now?!?

Yeong-rang covers her ears and demands that Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s name never ever get mentioned in front of her again!  EvilStep reminds her that if she doesn’t want to suffer any further from Man-se’s abuse, she must accept Ji-ho as her son.  Beg him for forgiveness and that you deserve to die!!!  Yeong-rang says that will never ever ever ever happen – she only has one child, and that is In-ha.  It’s always been that way and it WILL NEVER CHANGE!!!  EvilStep reaches into her pocket, and pulls out a copy of the DNA report she had commissioned.  Because she suffers such guilt for sending away a newborn infant, she herself deserves to be hit by lightning and die.

Pushing the papers into Yeong-rang’s hand, EvilStep says that she will leave and find a room somewhere other than their house.  Saying she’s sorry, EvilStep leaves a terrified Yeong-rang alone to read the DNA results… which states that she and Ji-ho have a 99.99943325% chance of being mother and son.  Yeong-rang collapses onto the floor in disbelief.  (Maybe there might be hope in that .00056675%?)

Back at Police HQ, Woo-jin is amazed to hear that his being alive is actually helping Yeong-rang and In-ha’s “murder” investigation.  Investigator Kang says that since he didn’t “die,” murder-by-proxy cannot be proven because the law was specifically written for cases such as his.  (Like this happens every day in Korea?)  Woo-jin tells him that the police have all the evidence turned over to them and that isn’t enough?!?

Investigator Kang reminds him that the decisive evidence (the tape recording and the Geundam Contract, for those of you scoring at home) accusing Yeong-rang of being an accomplice to murder is still missing.  Not to mention all the transactions were paid in cash, so there’s no trace of bank account activity.  What are the police supposed to do – make something up?

Ji-ho pedals along, lost in his thoughts.  Hearing Yeong-rang’s statements about being abandoned once should make it easier for him to be abandoned a second time ring in his ears, as he wipes away a tear and pushes forward.

Yeong-rang sips tea while hearing her own voices in her head, mostly Jung-wook’s admonitions that she doesn’t care a rat’s ass about her own son… who turns out to be Ji-ho.  Flashing back to Episode 5, when she and Ji-ho were still on mother-son terms before In-ha returned to Korea, those happy memories are then supplanted by Ji-ho’s discovery of Yeong-rang’s hatred (and resulting face-slapping therein).

Ji-ho returns home from his ride, while Yeong-rang watches him from around the corner.  Running to his front door, she pauses but cannot go in.  Turning around, Ji-ho is standing right behind her wanting to know what her freakin’ problem is by snooping around his house all the time.

As she runs away, Ji-ho demands that Yeong-rang finally confess to ordering Woo-jin’s oxygen mask removed at the hospital.  When she refuses, Ji-ho states that she and In-ha had better be prepared to lose some money, because the shit-storm is going to happen NOW.  When Ji-ho is safely out of sight, Yeong-rang pulls out the DNA report and rips it into shreds, saying the child is not Ji-ho… her child died that stormy night just like she was told by EvilStep.

Returning home, EvilStep grills Yeong-rang on her whereabouts.  Yeong-rang asks bluntly just because she MAY have given birth to Ji-ho, it doesn’t mean that she has to like him, right?  Nothing has changed, she refuses to accept Ji-ho as her son, and she had better not breathe a word to him about his new identity, arraso?  EvilStep wonders why Yeong-rang is “trying to cover the sky with her palm,” and how much longer she can go on in living like the Queen of Denial.

Yeong-rang enters her bedroom to find In-ha waiting for her.  (FINALLY he appears after 17 minutes and 38 seconds!!!)  He says he overheard her and EvilStep discussing that Ji-ho is not Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s real son.  Yeong-rang doth protesteth, but In-ha retorts that if EvilStep said she would bet her life on it, then it must be true.

Yeong-rang tells In-ha that’s a bunch of horse hockey – why else would his father bring that beggar child into their home and hand him buckets of Boosung Money if he was NOT his own child?  She orders In-ha to never bring up that subject again, but In-ha has other ideas on how to find out the truth… and that involves exhuming Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s body to confirm it.  Yeong-rang tells In-ha he’s whacko and why would he do such a scary thing, just based on EvilStep’s words?  She will not give her permission to do that very thing, but In-ha has already made arrangements with the DNA people.  And by the way, isn’t Yeong-rang a bit curious as well?  If Ji-ho has been deceiving them all these years, the two of them can use that information to return control of Boosung back to them.

In-ha says he’ll be back after researching the issue further, as Yeong-rang yells at his back that he can’t do that!!!  She turns and curses Yoo Man-se for being SO EVIL, even after his death!  Yeong-rang’s phone then rings, with Secretary Oh on the other end telling her an emergency Board of Directors meeting is being held right now to remove her as President of Boosung!

Back at Gloria, Da-mi is over the moon to learn that Ji-ho will participate in the charity piano recital.  Everyone cannot wait to see Yoo Ji-ho stand on stage again!  Ji-ho says it may be his Comeback Stage, but this will be Da-mi’s first performance ever.  Even though it will be a bit of a hardship, they need to hit the practice rooms big time now!

When Da-mi asks what date Ji-ho has chosen for the recital, he announces it will be the same day that the Boosung Recital is held.  Da-mi tells him even though Boosung is in the gutter now, does he really have to hold theirs on the same day?  Ji-ho says that all they have to do is wait… because it will be a really great way to make Boosung continue down its slippery slope.

After the Board of Directors meeting, Yeong-rang is convinced she’s on the chopping block.  She needs to transfer her proxy powers to In-ha as soon as possible.  In-ha doesn’t agree, because if the Board ousts Yeong-rang, then they’re coming after him next!  Yeong-rang says that cannot happen since In-ha is the largest shareholder, so she will take all responsibility and he should stop being such a worrywart.

In-ha wants to know what Yeong-rang plans on doing about the Boosung Recital this year.  She wonders why he’s worrying over such a silly recital when the Company is in such turmoil, but In-ha tells her still going forward is the best way to recover their image.  Yeong-rang tells him to chill until the situation has calmed down; and by the way, what pianist in their right mind would stand on a Boosung stage?

In-ha says that after all these years of sponsoring musicians, if they say they will not participate in the Boosung Recital, he’s cancelling their endorsement contracts ASAP and that should scare them enough into participating.  He will get to the practice room and prepare hard for it himself.  Yeong-rang is attacked by a sudden migraine brought on by her poor delusional son.

At Product Placement Central, Nam-joo is showing off the latest Millet outerwear to a customer when Woo-jin shows up to give her the bad news that the police cannot charge Yeong-rang with murder by proxy after all, due to the pesky fact that Woo-jin is STILL ALIVE.  (Damn semantics!)  Woo-jin explains that if In-ha can prove he was just protecting his mother, then both of their charges are lessened in the law as presently written.  (It’s called ‘mitigating circumstances,’ ya doofus.)

Nam-joo wonders where Jung-wook is hiding out these days.  Neither of them have heard a peep in days, and Woo-jin feels like he’s getting the bum’s rush from Jung-wook’s assistant.  Nam-joo states that by Jung-wook staying silent about the whole oxygen mask removal stuff, the situation stays stuck in neutral.

But Jung-wook has other plans, like meeting up with Yeong-rang, who is pissed off that he’s been ignoring her calls for days.  Was he planning on going behind her back and plans on spilling the beans to Ji-ho?  Jung-wook has fire in his eyes when he accuses Yeong-rang of still not accepting the facts, but she’s sorry that she ever went to look for their child and adamant about things being better when she assumed that child was dead.

Yeong-rang says she cannot suddenly develop motherly feelings for her worst enemy, as Jung-wook asks if she is going to continue to hate him still knowing Ji-ho is her son?  Yeong-rang pleads for the two of them to go back to the time before they found out they had a child together, but Jung-wook says that cannot happen.  They have a son together, and that son is Ji-ho.  HER SON IS JI-HO!!!

Yeong-rang says she will still hate Ji-ho to her dying day, because just because you give birth does not make you a mother.  Just because a child is alive, it doesn’t mean that she has to meet them!  She pleads with Jung-wook to just cover this up until the day they both die and pretend that nothing happened, arraso?

That earns her a hard slap from Jung-wook, demanding how Yeong-rang can still call herself a mother – she’s hurt Ji-ho so badly that isn’t she sorry at all?  Yeong-rang says there’s nothing for her to be sorry about, since it seems Ji-ho is the one trying to kill her after she sacrificed everything to raise him over the past 15 years.

He cannot keep a secret such as thing under wraps any longer, as he doesn’t care if Yeong-rang wants to officially come out as his mother or not.  At least Jung-wook can be an absentee father to him at first until Ji-ho comes to accept him.  But Yeong-rang has a hissy fit and orders him not to utter Word One since now is not a good time.  (When is it EVER with this woman?)  She needs time to wrap her head around these new developments, so Jung-wook capitulates to give her a little bit more time – but not too much time – before he goes to Ji-ho himself.

Ji-ho pours some wine for EvilStep, as he wonders why she’s tanking up during dinner.  EvilStep says she hates being sober these days because of the Family Problems.  But Ji-ho has invited EvilStep to dinner to find out more about In-ha’s statement that EvilStep said that Ji-ho is not Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s real son.  That makes EvilStep nearly drop her wine glass.

EvilStep says she’s so shocked over hearing such a ridiculous thing! (*coughcough*)  So if Ji-ho is not his father’s son, does he want to be EvilStep’s son instead?!?  Ji-ho tells her that news doesn’t make sense either, but it feels weird to hear In-ha even utter those words.  So it’s not true, right?  EvilStep says that if she was to pick out Ji-ho from 100 meters away, she could still tell that he was DEFINTELY Yoo Man-se’s son.

She continues to lay it on thick and says he’s the spitting image of his father, as Ji-ho asks if he resembles Dead Burnt-Up Dad that much?  EvilStep nods her approval and Ji-ho feels relieved over being worried for nothing.  She asks him if he still likes his father that much, and Ji-ho says of course he does… if it wasn’t for him, he probably wouldn’t be alive right now since the memories of him are what holds Ji-ho together.  EvilStep still curses his name, to Ji-ho’s surprise.

Yeong-rang opens the invitation to the Gloria Recital to see that it is being held on the same day as the Boosung charity recital.  In-ha is convinced Ji-ho did that on purpose, but why send their family an invitation when they’re estranged?  EvilStep sighs over losing the battle to have Ji-ho back off his ‘family,’ as Yeong-rang asks if In-ha must absolutely continue with the Boosung Recital.

Petulant In-ha wants to know if Yeong-rang has no faith in him either, so fine and dandy, he’ll take care of everything.  He’ll donate the profits, hand out the invitations himself and bribe mobilize all the Boosung employees into helping.  SO.  THERE.  MOM.

After In-ha stomps up to his room, EvilStep asks Yeong-rang if she’s going to continue turning a blind eye in this situation – her two sons are about to fight to the death, and she’s sitting there without a care in the world?  Tell Ji-ho that he is her son and end this battle now!  Yeong-rang snips at EvilStep to lower her voice in case In-ha can hear her – it was her loud mouth that got In-ha sniffing around Ji-ho’s parentage, remember?

EvilStep counters that if Yeong-rang won’t tell Ji-ho, then she sure as hell will do it.  She can’t sit back and watch her grandchildren destroy themselves, but Yeong-rang tells her to butt out.  If anyone’s going to do any telling, it will be Yeong-rang… and on her terms alone.  (And with that statement, the Gloria Charity Recital Invitation meets an untimely death.)

Jung-wook is apologizing to Nam-joo and Woo-jin about what happened at the trial, and basically for everything that went wrong thereafter, but he had his reasons for doing so.  But since today is the day of the trial, Jung-wook hands over to Woo-jin an envelope containing the testimony of the oxygen mask remover-turned-perjurer-turned-good-guy-again, along with the taped Secretary Oh conversation.

Since the witness will speak the truth now, Woo-jin needs to get it into the prosecution’s hands before the judge’s gavel is pounded.  Woo-jin asks (for hopefully the LAST time) if Yeong-rang’s crime will finally be revealed, as Jung-wook says most certainly yes.  She will get punished for the whole murder-by-proxy thingy and perjury will be the icing on the rice cake.

Nam-joo falls all over herself thanking Jung-wook for his assistance, as he says he should have done this a lot sooner.  Ordering Woo-jin to hit the road since time’s a-wasting, Jung-wook sits back and wonders if he *is* doing the right thing…

Oh for lame, guess who’s been released from police custody!  It’s an extremely pissed-off Attorney Choi, as he walks away from the holding cell rubbing his wrists from where he was handcuffed.  (This obviously will not end well.)

In-ha wants to know how charges were suddenly refiled against Yeong-rang – why did the witness change his testimony all of a sudden?  Yeong-rang tells him to calm down and think of ways to reduce his OWN sentence – it’s going to be next-to-impossible to manage Boosung from a prison cell, dontchaknow?  Why is In-ha not pursuing a new defense?

He asks how he could do that when everything the prosecution says is true?  He ran off and neglected a dying man, not to mention his own bout of lying in open court under oath… how can he escape from the truth?  Yeong-rang wonders what to do now, since everything is her fault.  Eottoke?!?

Both Ji-ho and In-ha decide to perform the Chopin Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, so we get shots of Our Boys practicing as the voiceover talks about the Boosung Recital and its 20-year history will be held at the same time as the First Annual Gloria Recital.  Outside of the fact that each recital will show off the talents of Korea’s top two pianists, the friction between the two brothers is starting to show cracks.  Attention will be focused on which one will come out on top!

Da-mi stares in the mirror at herself all dolled up for the Gloria Recital (while wearing a modified version of the same gown that Eun-jung wore in the original SBS promotional materials), as Ji-ho comes into the dressing room and tells her not to be nervous.  Da-mi still cannot stop shaking since it’s her first time to stand on stage like this.  Ji-ho promises not to lose sight of her, so stop worrying and make with the playing!

In-ha finds out from the conductor that the orchestra has taken a vote and will not be performing with him as planned, and he is none too happy to hear that news.  Conductor Guy explains that they cannot perform together with a director that is up on murder charges, as In-ha begs and pleads with him to persuade the members to return to the auditorium.  Conductor Guy apologizes, but it’s not just him and the orchestra involved here – virtually every member in the Music Society will be boycotting the Boosung Recital as well, so In-ha had been be prepared for the rush of ticket refunds coming his way.

In-ha collars Conductor Guy and asks him how much money Boosung has given him over the years, and now he’s trying to kill In-ha in this way?  How can he perform without a conductor and an orchestra?  Conductor Guy throws off In-ha and says he will continue to decline any sponsorship money from such a dirty company.  He stomps off, leaving In-ha speechless.

Yeong-rang asks about the status of the refund requests, but there will still be Boosung employees attending, no?  Secretary Oh tells her the result of the new trial has taken its toll on the recital, with a lot of the Boosung employees attending the Gloria Recital instead.  Ordering Secretary Oh to bring the car around, it’s time for her to meet up with In-ha at the rehearsal hall.

Except instead her phone rings with Jung-wook on the other end saying he plans on telling Ji-ho TODAY about his newly-found parents.  Yeong-rang goes all batshit, yelling at him that he can’t do that now… he can’t do that EVER!!!

In-ha sits and stews in the dressing room, when EvilStep comes in to see him and give him some moral support prior to his performance.  In-ha wants to know if she came to see him crash-and-burn like this, then she should leave and attend the Gloria Recital instead.  EvilStep tells In-ha that her life philosophy is to be generous to the person that welcomes her with open arms, but she figured that maybe In-ha would be more happier to see her today.

It’s all In-ha can do to keep from breaking down, so EvilStep tells Whiny Boy to not get discouraged and do well.  Humiliation is part of the game when you’re a musician (ain’t THAT the truth!), but where is the conspicuously absent Yeong-rang?

In-ha steps onto the stage, barren except for a grand piano.  The six people in the audience boo at him to get off the stage and hold up signs that call him a “Murderer Pianist” and “The Devil’s Performer.”  In-ha sees EvilStep in her seat, bows slightly, takes his place at the piano, and begins the Chopin Scherzo.

The audience then starts throwing their programs and water bottles at the stage, making In-ha stop in mid-arpeggio.  The rabble-rousers finally leave en masse from the auditorium, leaving EvilStep the only audience member…

… or is she, as In-ha looks up to see Yeong-rang in the audience as well, smiling brightly and nodding to continue playing.  And that he does, with In-ha looking like a man possessed as he deftly rips through the Scherzo with flying fingers.  Finishing with a flourish, the auditorium is deathly silent until EvilStep stands up and starts applauding.

In-ha moves to the middle of the stage to take his bows, and then Yeong-rang starts applauding as well.  But when In-ha looks over to catch her eye, Yeong-rang fades out and it seems she was a figment of In-ha’s imagination the entire performance.  Tears welling from his eyes, he tells Ji-ho that he’s won.

Yeong-rang runs up to Jung-wook’s car and tries to keep him from leaving for the Gloria Recital.  He orders her out of the way, and she refuses to budge one step.  Jung-wook says he’s given her enough time, and it’s up – why hasn’t she told Ji-ho yet?  Yeong-rang says that the day they tell Ji-ho everything, they will fall to the bottom pits of Hell.  She’s begging him to not make Ji-ho’s life even more unbearable!

Jung-wook accuses her of making excuses and not coming forward to apologize at all.  He refuses to see his son living like an orphan after being abandoned by his ‘parents,’ but Yeong-rang tells Jung-wook that even though he officially is Ji-ho’s father, he does not have the right to tell him so!  Jung-wook asks why she is being so selfish and pushes her aside.

Yeong-rang screams that their child will get hurt if he confesses, and that makes Jung-wook stop in mid-car-door-opening.  She tearily tells him that the only thing allowing Ji-ho to keep living is the memories of Dead Burnt-Up Dad.  Does that give Jung-wook the right to tell Ji-ho he is not Yoo Man-se’s real son?  It will shock Ji-ho to his core to find out that who he thought was his father… is not really his father after all.

Jung-wook pulls his hand off the car door handle, as Yeong-rang says once Ji-ho knows all the facts, he’ll be extremely hurt and his hatred will increase.  But that doesn’t matter to Jung-wook, who wants to tell him everything?  Can’t he think about his son and the world of hurt knowing this news will put him into?  Jung-wook ponders that very thought.

Yeong-rang then gets a call from EvilStep, fresh from the disaster that was the Boosung Recital and threatens to be the one to tell her grandsons everything after seeing what In-ha was just subjected to.  Hanging up on Yeong-rang, she looks over at Jung-wook with a HOLY SHIT look on her face.

Ji-ho and Da-mi are accepting congratulations and bouquets after what apparently was a very successful Gloria Recital.  Nam-joo and Woo-jin come up to congratulate them as well, saying she’s sure her Dead Deaf Dad was watching her first stage performance from heaven.  Da-mi says she still feels like she’s in a dream, as Nam-joo thanks Ji-ho for giving her the opportunity to perform.

But suddenly they are pushed aside for the stampeding herd of reporters, who ask Ji-ho if the press has been favorable in his piano playing these days.  Ji-ho aw shucks that off, saying he thanks his Adoring Public for waiting too long.  One of the reporters then tells Ji-ho if he heard about the Boosung Recital Nightmare, but as he gets ready to answer, EvilStep calls out his name.

Yeong-rang frantically races through traffic to get to the Gloria Recital before EvilStep can divulge Ji-ho’s secrets.  It’s just the two of them now, as Ji-ho asks EvilStep why she looks so depressed – did something bad happen?  EvilStep stammers out that she knows who that handkerchief he possessed belongs to.  Ji-ho steps back and asks what she’s talking about… does EvilStep actually know who is his biological mother?

EvilStep nods back that she does, and Ji-ho asks who that person is.  EvilStep tells him that she committed such a grave sin against him for which she should die, as Ji-ho is still confused over what she’s trying to say.  EvilStep tries again but cannot quite get the words out, as we then hear Yeong-rang yelling at her to NOT SAY ANYTHING!!!

Yeong-rang runs up and tries to drag EvilStep away from Ji-ho, until Ji-ho intercepts and orders Yeong-rang to let go of her!  With Yeong-rang almost in hysterics, EvilStep finally finds the courage and tells Ji-ho… that YEONG-RANG IS HIS MOTHER!  (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!!!!)

Ji-ho does a double-take at an almost-fainting Yeong-rang and accuses EvilStep of making a really sick joke at his expense.  EvilStep repeats herself, and Ji-ho yells back at her to STOP JOKING AROUND!  Ji-ho wheels around and grabs Yeong-rang, ordering her to tell the truth – that she is NOT his mother!!  Yeong-rang looks up at Ji-ho and says no.  He is not… her son.

Ji-ho looks relieved, as he tells Yeong-rang there is no way someone as evil as she could ever be his real mother.  He runs off with EvilStep right behind, as Yeong-rang then allows herself to collapse onto the floor.

Ji-ho speeds away from the Gloria HQ, as EvilStep just misses him leaving.  He thinks back to In-ha’s words that EvilStep mentioned Ji-ho was not Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s natural child.  Ji-ho also remembers EvilStep’s words about trying to finally forgive Yeong-rang, and Jung-wook’s almost-confession.  Time to go visit Jung-wook!

Jung-wook decides that he and a bottle of scotch have a date tonight, all the while thinking back about Yeong-rang’s words that Ji-ho will be in a world of hurt once he finds out the truth.  His doorbell rings, and a mad-as-hell Ji-ho stomps in.  Jung-wook asks how the recital went, but Ji-ho grabs him by the collar instead and demands to know exactly who Jung-wook is to Ji-ho.

Jung-wook tries to apologize and comfort him, but Ji-ho yells that it just can’t be the truth that Jung-wook is his real father, and stumbles out of there leaving Jung-wook thinking that could have gone better…

Da-mi wanders around the Boosung Shopping Centre and picks out a fugly man’s sweater vest-shirt combination.  Calling Ji-ho after her purchase, she asks if he’s free to meet up, but her face goes all dark when it seems that Ji-ho isn’t his usual chipper self.

As Ji-ho sits on a park bench crying, Da-mi runs up to him asking what happened to get himself into that state?  Ji-ho keeps asking over and over what to do; he finally got back into Da-mi’s family’s good graces and things were going so well, but now what should he do?  Da-mi pulls him into her arms and lets him cry it out.

Back at Ji-ho’s apartment, Da-mi stands guard over a sleeping Ji-ho.  She tells him that no matter what, she will never leave his side again so he need not worry anymore.  Telling him everything will be all right, Da-mi plants a soft kiss onto Ji-ho’s forehead… erm, eyebrow?

Da-mi gets up to leave, as Ji-ho opens his eyes and sits upright in bed.  He apologizes to Da-mi, because due to these new developments, their relationship ends right then and there.

Ji-ho stands at Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s grave and pulls the will out of his pocket.  Asking the air if that piece of paper was supposed to go to In-ha instead of him, he accuses Yoo Man-se of being a lying liar who lies.  Everything that he treasured was supposed to be handed down to In-ha and not Ji-ho.  So why was he taken in and raised when he is not even his child?

EvilStep and Yeong-rang chat about Man-se bringing home Ji-ho for his misplaced revenge.  Granted, if Dead Burnt-Up Dad really hated Yeong-rang, he could have dumped her instead.  So why bring someone else’s child to their home to raise him?  It must have been torture from Yeong-rang to watch that child grow up now knowing what she knows.

But EvilStep wonders if that was Man-se’s intention all along for Yeong-rang to surrepticiously raise her own child.  Yeong-rang pooh-poohs that idea, saying Man-se would have never thought that far in advance.  EvilStep wonders if he was holding Ji-ho hostage so Yeong-rang wouldn’t run off with Jung-wook.  Men Be Funny!

Yeong-rang counters that all their misery came from the hands of Yoo Man-se by his exacting revenge from beyond the grave for giving birth to Jung-wook’s child.  EvilStep admits it was a wrong thing to marry her off to him, since even if Man-se stayed alive, Yeong-rang would never be happy… and she wonders what’s going through Ji-ho’s mind right now.

What’s going through Ji-ho’s mind right now is walking away from Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s gravesite, voicing over that all Ji-ho was to both Man-se and Yeong-rang was for each of them to exact revenge upon him, and leaving behind the will all torn up and the picture of Man-se that Ji-ho had kept with him all those years.

Secretary Oh rushes into Yeong-rang’s office to tell her there’s a big problem – Geumdan Construction is calling in the promissory notes today, thereby blocking all of Boosung Construction’s funding.  Their projects have stopped because of lack of money, and if they do not come up with the money ASAP, Boosung will have to file for bankruptcy!  Yeong-rang wonders how something like this can suddenly happen?

In-ha then rushes in to tell her that Boosung Instruments is being sued for breach of contract by the original soundboard supplier that they pushed aside to use the substitute wood… and they are demanding double damages for Boosung cancelling the contract!

Yeong-rang tells Secretary Oh to gather the bank directors immediately for an emergency meeting today, but he reveals that the banks have been refusing requests for meetings for awhile now.  In-ha grumbles that Boosung will eventually be eaten up by Ji-ho… what are they going to do now?

Assistant Guy rushes into Jung-wook’s office with the gleeful news that Boosung Group just filed for emergency creditor protection.  Jung-wook doesn’t understand, because he gave explicit instructions to not call in their promissory notes… but wait a minute.  Did Ji-ho possibly…?  Assistant Guy says that if Boosung cannot cover the 45 million won extended by the promissory notes, they will eventually have to file for bankruptcy.  (In fact, he says that a little too gleefully.)

Jung-wook heads over to see Ji-ho to ask what the hell he’s doing calling in the Boosung notes.  Ji-ho counters with doing exactly what Jung-wook intended to do in the first place until he got cold feet – now all they have to do is sit back and watch Boosung slowly fall down.

Da-mi arrives with a list of companies bidding for Gloria to buy their supplies and is surprised to see Jung-wook sitting there.  But how is Ji-ho feeling today – is everything all better?  Ji-ho says he’ll look over the paperwork and call her back, dismissing her curtly.  Jung-wook checks his phone to see that Yeong-rang is calling.

He meets her at their lakeside bench, where Yeong-rang tells him that Boosung filed for bankruptcy today.  Jung-wook feigns ignorance by saying he was too busy to read the news.  Yeong-rang says she’s tired of everything, and just wants to walk away and live a carefree life now.  Jung-wook asks if she’s going to abandon Boosung after all these years, but she plans on leaving a few subsidiaries intact and downsizing the rest for In-ha to handle by himself.

Then… Yeong-rang asks Jung-wook to leave with her, off to America like they talked about before all hell broke loose.  They could live simply and play the piano every day, so can’t he take her back to the States?  Jung-wook cannot believe his ears – is she actually talking about abandoning Ji-ho after he found out about his real parents?

Yeong-rang says that discussion is dead and buried (no pun intended?), because she knows Ji-ho inside and out.  He will never accept her or Jung-wook no matter what.  Jung-wook asks if he looks like a pushover – go back to the States and be deceived by Yeong-rang?  Live with the same woman who set fire to his house in order to kill him?  Does she intend for him to be the laughingstock of all mankind?

Yeong-rang doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about; what’s this about a fire at his home?  Jung-wook relays that on the day she left him, a fire broke out in the house they shared and it wasn’t an accidental one!  Her earring was found at the scene, so how can she sit there all innocent-like and stuff?  Yeong-rang says there’s no way that was her fault since she immediately left for the States… but the time that they lived together, she was totally sincere in her feelings for him.  She did her best and she really loved him, but she’s not lying when she says she knew nothing about a fire at their home!

Jung-wook offers Yeong-rang an ultimatum – if she wants him to take her to America, then she needs to admit her crimes.  AND acknowledge Ji-ho as her son.  But until that happens, she must never leave Korea.  And with that, he’s off.

Jung-wook returns to Geumdan HQ, but passes right by Attorney Choi, who pulls out his phone and calls Jung-wook, telling ‘Elvin Kim’ that he needs to meet with him right now.  Yeong-rang arrives at Jung-wook’s home, where the ahjumma tells him he hasn’t returned home yet.  She says there’s something important she wants to tell him, so she’ll wait and then dismisses the maid back to her work.

Looking over at the big red elephant in the room, Yeong-rang pulls off the cover to see the piano that she thought she gifted over to Dead Deaf Dad’s family all those years ago!  Flashing back to their earlier conversation where Jung-wook asked what happened to the piano he gave her, Yeong-rang gets a message from Ji-ho summoning her to a meeting with Elvin Kim where her appearance is demanded!

Ji-ho pulls up in front of Geumdan, as we hear Jung-wook’s message that he wanted to discuss something important about Boosung with Ji-ho.  But Jung-wook is surprised to see him there, as it becomes apparent that was NOT Jung-wook who messaged him.

Yeong-rang arrives shortly thereafter, also wondering why she was summoned to Geumdan as well.  And being the smarmy weasel that he is, Attorney Choi saunters in and is glad to see everyone finally gathered together.  He walks over to Jung-wook and sticking out his hand, says that it’s high time that he finally met… Elvin Kim.

Yeong-rang is dumbstruck – who is this Elvin Kim Attorney Choi speaks of?  Ji-ho looks pained, Jung-wook looks like he wants to crawl into a hole, and Attorney Choi looks like the cat that just ate the canary.  And there we end Episode 26!

Air Date:  11 November 2012

Ratings:   AGB Nielsen Nationwide 13.5% (8th) / Seoul 14.3% (7th); TNmS  Nationwide 13.3% (8th) / Seoul 14.7% (7th)

Flowers and Brickbats

Yes, I’m back.  Finally returned to Rancho Disrepairo and what resembles Real Life.  I had actually finished this recap before I left for my trip, but had yet to add in the screencaps and music discussion thinking hell, I’ll just finish this up on the plane ride out there or during the first couple days after I land.

YEAH RIGHT.

As soon as I hit the ground at Narita, I found out my quick hop to Incheon was cancelled and Asiana was frantically trying to get me on their next flight out.  Since I had a can’t-miss appearance at 4:00 PM in Jongno-gu the next day (22 June), I was freaking out big time over possibly missing my big chance at the fan meeting!  But everything eventually worked out and I’ll relay those details in another blog post about the trip soon.  Yakseo! *pinky swear*

This was the second episode that aired on the Sunday when I was still in NYC after the Big Bang shows.  I vaguely remember watching part of it in our hotel room, but it made no impact upon my brainwaves.  So even though watching this felt like the first time, I didn’t feel the need to re-watch a second time to catch all the details because THIS EPISODE BORED ME.  Compared to Episode 25, which had so much going on and going for it, this outing was draggy and seemed like a filler episode with several flashbacks stuck inside to pad the 1:06 timeframe.  When I end up nodding in approval because the main female gets slapped, then my mind has shut down.

I speak from experience that Hell Hath No Fury Like a Lawyer Wronged, because I was wondering when the police would finally release Attorney Choi for lack of evidence and then have him come after Jung-wook with fire blazing in his eyes for being framed.  I still scratch my head thinking about why Jung-wook picked him to be the trial’s patsy when he had so many others at his disposal.  Personally, I would have thrust the blame onto In-ha since he had the most to lose if Woo-jin ever woke up from the accident at the construction site.  But since Jung-wook needed to stay on In-ha’s good side (does he even have one?) in order to keep hanging around his mother, Jung-wook must have figured out the best way to buy some time to continue with Evil Revenge Plot No. 705 was to transfer that scheme to Attorney Choi instead.  I gotta give the writers some credit for keeping Jung-wook just as conniving as Yeong-rang; sometimes even more so with the insane level of detail put into his plots!

And after 26 episodes, Chae Si-ra still continues to develop her character, giving her even more depth with her new conflict finding out Ji-ho is her lost child and the intense hatred she harbors for him.  The cracks are barely starting to show in her facade, but as EvilStep put it in an earlier episode, “no matter how far you run, you can never lose a mother’s feelings for her own flesh and blood.”  On the other hand, I’m a bit peeved seeing how Ji-ho reacted over hearing that news flash — the boy is quite volatile already with his hatred towards Yeong-rang, and all he can do is just run off and cry on a park bench?  And to let Da-mi come to him after the bomb was dropped, even knowing that had to be the total end for their relationship?  I felt those scenes quite forced and kinda squicky.

But In-ha… my poor, delusional, precious In-ha…  that recital scene just broke my heart into tiny leetle pieces.  He worked so hard all his life to gain his mother’s love, only for her to desert him at a such critical time in his life and career.  You can see the pain in his eyes in thinking that Yeong-rang must have decided to go to Ji-ho’s recital instead, and since basically all Yeong-rang had done for him was to use In-ha as a pawn in her shady dealings, that was the precise moment when his soul left his body for good.  If you were wondering why so little of Chang-wook was seen in Episode 26, he was actually down in Busan filming the Speed music videos at the same time Episodes 26 and 27 were being filmed.  And you all know how well that turned out!  *squeeeeeeeeeeeee*

Wrapping up, that last scene with all four protagonists in the same room together was classic.  If it was turned into an oil painting, it could have been titled “Still Life With Backstabbers.”  Hee!

Music Nerd Ramblings:  Only one tune of note to extrapolate upon… and of course it has to be a Chopin piece!  (Did the production company have to pay a gazillion in royalties to his estate or what?!?)  Both In-ha and Ji-ho chose for their Battle Not-So-Royale the Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39.  The third of four scherzos written by Chopin, this piece was finished in 1839 and is particularly difficult to perform due to its many arpeggios, almost turning the piano into a harp with the pianist’s fingers continually running up and down the octaves.  Sadly, we are only treated to the introduction to this Scherzo in the episode, because it is a very lyrical piece that moves into D-flat minor stanzas before returning to C-sharp minor and finally concluding in C-sharp major.  It’s a truly beautiful piece and I hope you all can track down a copy and listen to it for yourselves.

As an aside, I just happened to be wandering around Yeoksam-dong to locate the Raum Centre, which is the location featured throughout this Show as the Boosung Headquarters because they give free tours of the complex on Thursdays and Fridays.  Just my luck on the day that I was there, Kim Jae-won (“May Queen,” “Can You Hear My Heart” and now seen in “Scandal”) got married and his wedding ceremony was being held at the Raum Centre.  In fact, his press conference was out on the same grassy area where In-ha and So-yeol’s engagement ceremony was staged.  Security was so tight around the venue that two square blocks were cordoned off and no one without an invitation was being let through.  Since I was leaving for Japan the day after, I had no time to go back and so there went a missed opportunity to visit another 5F filming site!  *waaaah*