Bride Of The Century Episode 13 (A SqueeCap)

Shuk:  We are  coming down to the end, but the writers are still delivering surprises along with the cute and the angst.  Our Kitten Prince finally gets his head on straight, but will our Evil Women Brigade get what they deserve?

EPISODE 13

Shuk:  Smirky plays The Root of All Evil’s confession to Kitten Prince, and he realizes  this was the axe hanging over his mother’s head. Smirky demands that he schedule another press conference, or the recording will be leaked to the press.  He tells her in an emotionless voice to stop hurting people; but she keeps barreling ahead.  He sneers that they have him tied up, but thanks her for  his decision to clean up the mess he’s made. He tells her to come with him; after all, if he chooses to end it all, they both fall.
JoAnne: Did that seem like maybe she should be a little worried?

Shuk:  While Smirky takes ChoiDad his medicine, Kitten Prince meets up with a sadly diminished ChoiMother, who apologizes for her part in the fiasco.  He tells her that he will bear the burden of the secrets, and not to tell ChoiDad the truth.  He’s more afraid of hurting his father than he is of his own punishment, especially since Dad has been living in his own pain for all these years.
JoAnne:  Is it weak that I sort of feel bad for this woman?

Shuk:  Ahjumma chats with Smirky in the kitchen, gossiping that the couple must have had a fight prior to the press conference. Smirky slams the tray down and gives the older woman a set-down; she needs to know her place as only a servant in the household.  Ahjumma is taken aback; she was just worried.  Smirky sneers at her to mind her own business. She is still shell-shocked when Ahjussi shows up.  She muses that, aside from her appearance,  Miss is completely changed in personality and behavior.
JoAnne:  That woman is a ditz but still.  And it's amazing to me how much I like Na Doo Rim and yet when I see Yi Kyung I want to scratch her.

Shuk:  OppaNotOppa is scrolling through the news  regarding the wedding photos when JangMa shows up in his hospital room. He can barely look at her; he tried hard to  be a good son and older brother, but he didn't know she was this kind of person. She doesn't blink an eye; he can loathe her all he wants if it makes him feel better. Can we all loathe you too, Psycho?  He tells her the release of the photo was a desperation ploy, but she coolly replies that it wasn't the trump card.  Now that Kang-ju has come to his senses, he must get better so he can walk his half-sister down the aisle.
JoAnne:  Her comeuppance better be HUGE.

Shuk: Flunkette shows up in Kitten Prince’s office, and tells him he doesn't have to pretend around her that everything is okay. In a calm voice, he tells her he has no intention of jeopardizing the family business for a fake girl, so everything is fine.
JoAnne:  And I'm also surprised that I ended up liking this skinny little minny.

Shuk:  He brings his dad his analysis of the company and tells him his recommendations.  ChoiDad is agreeable, but wonders if there is something else he wanted to talk about, especially with all the additional time he is putting in at TaeYang. Kitten doesn't say anything.

Shuk: At her insistence, Smirky and Kitten show up at JangOppa’s hospital room. Empty pleasantries are exchanged, but Yi-hyun isn't in the mood and tells Kang-ju to leave. Once he’s gone, he lights into his sister: are you happy with chaining that man to your side? She’s upset that all he can do is yell at her, and wonders why he worries more about Doo-rim than his own sister. She tells him to run far away and take that girl with him.
JoAnne:  She's very jealous of Doo Rim, I'm noticing.

Shuk:  Kitten Prince is wandering the hallway and spots Bubbles.  They have a charged moment staring at each other, until Smirky shows up.  She goes possessive on his arm, and the two of them walk past the girl without a word.
JoAnne: Their sad little smooshy faces...

Shuk:  She woodenly makes her way to OppaNotOppa’s room, pausing to wipe her tears.  Outside the hospital, Kang-ju rips off Yi-kyung's arm now that the performance is over.
JoAnne:  Are you getting the impression that she actually thinks that in time they'll have a real marriage?

Shuk:  Yi-hyun teases Bubbles for the dark circles under her eyes. She fakes anime tears with a tissue, then gives him a present.  It’s his tie; the dry cleaners did their best, but they were not able to completely remove the stains.  He tells her that her warm smile was gift enough, so she shouldn’t feel bad.  He tells her to follow her heart and her path.
JoAnne:  I'm glad they never even gave him a moment's hesitation from always doing the right or generous thing, you know?  What a nice man.

Shuk:  At ChoiEstate, Dad is already suspicious of  his son and his fiancée.  It’s different between them; Ahjussi mentions that his wife is saying that Miss Jang seems to be a different person, and that she overheard a conversation about another woman between the couple.

Shuk:  ChoiDad shows up at work, and after work-related conversation, goes into the reason why he showed up.  Is his son seeing another woman?  Any response is stopped when Smirky showed up, and goes into Brown-Nose mode, and invites him to share lunch.

Shuk:  Outside the office, though, he sees a person that looks like his daughter-in-law happily helping a little old lady across the street.
JoAnne:  I cheered!  It won't be long now!

Shuk:  Smirky is fishing for a compliment; after all, she showed up last minute as soon as Kitten Prince called her in order to smoke-and-mirror ChoiDad.  She sidles up and plays seductress, rubbing her thumb across his lips. He knocks her hands away, and she tells him she was just practicing. Flunkette’s arrival breaks the moment, and he leaves.  Flunkette informs her she will never win his heart, just an empty shell, but Smirky barks back that it’s still more than Roo-mi ever had.  Besides, she might be uncomfortable constantly bumping into her once they are married, so she might want to rethink her job at TaeYang.
JoAnne:  She really does think that in time they'll be ok together.  Wow.

Shuk:  Aww, frenemy bonding moment:  Roo-mi pours out her angst as she pours in the soju at Doo-rim’s place. She is pissed that things are working out for Yi-kyung, and  amazed at how cool both her boss and the girl in front of her are in this situation. Bubbles replies that life goes on, and bad situations just have to be endured. She survived the death of her parents, and, after all, it’s not like Choi Kang-ju even knows her real name. She’s a fake Yi-kyung, not a real Doo-rim.
JoAnne:  You know, not for nothing, but yes.  You don't die from a broken heart.

Shuk:  JangMa drops the temperature down to 0 degrees Kelvin when she visits Kang-ju in his office. He tells her he will show up for the press conference tomorrow. She’s happy, reminding him of the publicity bomb she has over his head.
JoAnne:  Please tell me he's going to do what  I think he's going to do.

Shuk:  Afterwards, she stops by Yi-hyun’s hospital room, and invites him back to the construction company. He’s mild but sarcastic when he guesses she doesn't have anyone else to trust to run the company. She gives a little carefree Maleficent laugh and agrees. After all, their coffers are full thanks to the TaeYang group, and with the press-con tomorrow, all things fall into place. That upstart girl wasn't enough for him to break away from the agreement.
JoAnne:  I thought for sure they'd completely kick him out of that family, so this is surprising.

Shuk:  JangOppa throws on some clothes and a cap and storms Kitten Domain.  I think he needs a revolving door and his own Sno-Cone machine for all his visitors.  He asks Kang-ju if he has any plans for Doo-rim, but Kitten wants nothing to do with that deceitful person. Yi-hyun starts yelling at him: she went through hell and put her life on the line to marry him, even if only for a day.  She loved him more than her own life, but Kitten Prince scoffs that he’ll never believe it.  For that, he gets hauled up by the collar as the injured man gets into his grill.  He walked away from the woman that loves him more than he will ever know,  so don’t resent him if he takes his place in her heart.  With that, he storms out and leaves a shaken chaebol behind.
JoAnne:  Wait, so I was seeing things?  He wasn't planning to expose the Jangs? He was going to go along with it?
Shuk: I think that he thinks it's not worth the effort.

Shuk:  Bubbles is waiting in his hospital room when he makes it back.  She starts scolding him, but he just pulls her into a hug and wonders out loud what he should do with her.
JoAnne:  Both of the guys in this give good hugs.

Shuk:  She’s outside her restaurant when she spots Kitten waiting. She tries to ignore him and walk past but he stops her and asks one final time: Should they run away together and go somewhere far away?  She throws up the Nonchalance armor and calls him crazy, and he wonders if her heart is bulletproof.  She drops the act and sincerely talks.

“You can't disappoint the people who depend on you. You’re going to be an even greater leader for Taeyang Group than your father and grandfather. I guarantee it. You have an incredible amount of confidence and brains. I'll admit, you are a bit rough on the edges but you have a lot more positive traits than bad.”

Shuk:  She pauses for a moment, but before she can say anything else, he pulls her into a tight hug. She hugs him back, tells him the scars will quickly fade as he gets through this, and that she will always root for him. They pull apart and she asks him to leave so she can show him a smiling face.  He turns and does a zombie walk down the hill, while she cries.
JoAnne: This was probably the most convincing speech for Noble Idiocy that I have ever seen. Her love for him and her willingness to sacrifice for his family, who she also loves, came through loud and clear. 

Shuk:  On the rooftop of the restaurant, she speaks to the ghost through the wind that the bracelet was not really meant for her, and leaves it on the railing before going in. Our Dark Lady is sad that she waiting 100 years, and still didn't get the right girl.

Shuk:  The next day she finally tells her Grandma how she acquired the restaurant, and want to return, move back to Namhae, and live an honest life again. G-Ma is on her side, as always, and the decision is made.
JoAnne:  Didn't you kind of expect JangMom to take it back anyway?

Shuk:  Bubbles hands the restaurant deed back to JangMa, who is singularly unmoved at the gesture.  Bubbles asks her not to say anything to OppaNotOppa until he’s fully recovered.

Shuk:  Press-con V2.0!  Same sh...uh...stuff, different day.  Kang-ju starts reading the prepared script, then closes it and tells the reporters that he wants to say his own words.  He explains that they met because of an arrangement between families, but gradually his indifference evolved into love. As he recites this, we see flashbacks of all the amusing and significant interactions between Kitten Prince and Bubbles. He continues that they nearly broke up several times because of his family’s rumors, but she refused to leave his side. They staged their own private wedding with just  the wind and trees as witnesses.  And the name of the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with is.....Na Doo-rim!
JoAnne: Doh!

Shuk:  The place goes abuzz as the flashing cameras catch the seniors reactions: ChoiMother facepalms; JangMa stands up and shoots eyeball daggers his way. Smirky goes all blinky-eyed. He turns and heads out, but not before he gives the Jangs a little smirk himself.  I love her being out-smirked.
JoAnne:  Someone's gonna lose their shit, you watch.

Shuk:  In the back of the room, Flunkette is all secret-smiley, as her nemesis is humiliated.  At ChoiEstate, the butler hands ChoiDad a dossier containing everything regarding Na Doo-rim. Thanks for being more proactive with your son’s marriage than with your own! The news floors him though, and down he goes, but only to his chair.

Shuk:  Mouse charges into Bubble-House where Doo-rim is packing, and tosses her top-of-the-most-expensive-Samsung-there-is phone, already filled with the story of the press conference and Choi Kang-ju’s confession.  Bubbles is gob smacked.

Shuk:  Kitten Prince arrives as home to find out about his dad’s collapse. He sits with him and apologizes for the mess, but ChoiDad tells him he didn't do anything wrong. There are a lot of obstacles they have to overcome, but Prince is ready.
JoAnne:  I am so glad they didn't kill yet another good dad.

Shuk:  At the office, however, he finds out that his mom had already transferred her stock to Smirky without anyone’s knowledge.  Just something else he has to clean up.  Thanks, Mom.

Shuk:  Smirky is all crazy faced as she goes over the events of the night.  Dark Lady shows up in her cheval mirror, and tells her that one is the Light and one is the Dark.  Guess which one she is! Smirky refuses to believe this, and Lady says she needs to forge her own path lest she ends up as nothing at all. She reacts by shattering the mirror and screaming like a madwoman.
JoAnne:  Le shit, she eez, how you say?  lost?

Shuk:  Bubbles heads out from the restaurant the next morning but a calm and relaxed Kang-ju is loitering outside.  He asks her where she’s going, and  calls out when she ignores him.  She decides to fight: he’s not a child, so how could he create such a big mess that now has to be cleaned up?? Without missing a beat, he tells her this is what he thought every time he had to clean up after one her situations. She yells back that it’s her turn to wonder what’s going on in his head.  And with that, she storms away.  After a smile at her behavior, he just follows her.
JoAnne:  Time for more cute? Yes, I think so.

Shuk:  Her destination is the hospital, where JangOppa is finally getting discharged.  She adjusts his tie, and helps him into the new loafers she purchased, beaming the whole time.  Kitten Prince arrives and is not amused - why can’t he tie his own tie?  JangOppa just says with a smile that she used to do it all the time for him, and she’s better at it.  LOL.  Huffy huffy Prince. They walk out and leave him to follow.
JoAnne:  He's cute when he's jealous.

Shuk:  Grandma and Mouse have a huge spread and a cake to celebrate OppaNotOppa’s release from the hospital.  He basks in everyone’s attention just as Kang-ju shows up outside. He smiles at the scene until Doo-rim places some fish on his rice, then he instantly flashes green and charges inside. Why can’t JangHyung feed himself.  Bubbles is not happy with his behavior, and Grandma wonders why that crazy boy is back. Yi-hyun just smiles and tells everyone he’s there to join the celebration.  Kitten Prince does a formal bow and introduces himself - to dead silence.
JoAnne:  Thinking about a red shoe and that perhaps his name means something to Grandma.

Shuk:  Kang-ju asks for a glass of water, and fetches it himself.  Next to the pitcher, though, are posters announcing the restaurant’s closing.  He grabs one and confronts Doo-rim.  Yi-hyun stands up and realizes it too, and Doo-rim admits she was going to tell him after the party.

Shuk:  Kang-ju tells her under no circumstances will he allow her to leave without his permission,  And for the first time, he uses her name to her. “Na Doo-rim, if you won’t come to me, then I will go to you,”  He apologizes for taking so long, and formally introduces himself, sticking out his arm for a handshake. She still bemused, and, since she didn’t react fast enough for his liking, he pulls her into a hug, right in front of everyone.
JoAnne:  They are so cute it's ridiculous.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Shuk:  Coming down to the final three episodes,  our couple is finally together as their real selves,.  There’s still a lot to overcome, not the least is Smirky The Crazy Woman and her mother the Ice Queen. But no obstacle is too big for them together.  I hope,.
JoAnne:  Of course they'll overcome all the obstacles.  We'll bask in 30 seconds of relief and happiness and then BAM! The Truck of Doom.  F-U, KDrama.

Shuk:  This show has had a lot of fun playing with Kdrama tropes as it played with our hearts, and I find myself looking forward to the final episodes.  I hope for a satisfying explanation of the past, especially with the assumption of birth secrets and twins, and matching Red Slippers. Our players are connected in a multi-generational, convoluted way, and I can’t wait for the final reveal.
JoAnne:  I'm actually quite looking forward to the end myself, and although it sounds like I can't wait to be done with the show, that's not it at all. I'm just really curious.