Yoo Na's Street - Episode 21 (A ThugCap)

Oi, what a roller coaster of an episode! From extremely sweet to extremely sad in 30 minutes, I tell you! The best: Lee Hee-Joon showing off his acting chops. Oh my, this guy can act.
Mary: This episode is the best. For crying.
becca: I watched at school (NOT during class! I am a good student!), and I couldn't let out a single tear because there were two guys sitting right across from me. It. Was. Torture.

Episode 21

Aunt and uncle demand "their" Han-jeong back from Yoo-na. The Girl begs Yoo-na not to tell him where they are, but Yoo-na says it'll be alright. She tells the uncle he may come, but she'll make a complaint on him for abusing a minor. That shuts Uncle up pretty quickly. Scumbag.

Min-kyu leaves Mi-sun's hospital room after dropping off the flowers - is he hurt that there's another man?! Mi-sun runs after him and desperately tries to persuade him that that ahjussi is just a regular at her café. Min-kyu doesn't believe her, of course, and says he's earned himself a penalty fee of $4'500. That's what they agreed on if the other is caught cheating. She wants to know why he really came, but he is angry and mean and threatens to beat her up right here, since the emergency room is so near. Yup, so it WAS him, wasn't it.
Mary: I've got a hospital room reserved with his name on it. ICU.
ICUthereScumbag?
becca: ICUdeadScumbag.

When they get ready for bed, Manbo tells Madame about President Jeong's condition for renting them the new colatec space: goodbye Yoo-na and Mi-sun. Of course, Madame's all for it and promises to handle the matter personally.
becca: Booooo! No!

Yoo-na learns more details about how and why Han-jeong was beaten. The Uncle is an abusive fuck and I hope he has to pay for that. Yoo-na continues bonding with the Girl and they do a face mask together - which scares Chang-man, who comes knocking, to death. He brings her left-over chicken from Axe's treat and Yoo-na invites him in for a drink. There, he meets Han-jeong, also with a mask, and because it frightens him so much, he offers to pay them money for the masks if they take them off. They do. Chang-man is quite curious who the teenager is, of course, but Yoo-na doesn't tell him anything. She even tells him to leave after finishing his beer. He complies, but parts with the words "You dream of me". Meddlesome, but very cute is what he is.
Mary: You know Chang-man thought this was his lucky day, right? When Yoo-na invited him in for a beer? Then Han-jeong was there. Hehe. They are so cute though. I wish they would adopt her.
becca: Awww, they'd make such a cute little family.

A couple of friends join Min-kyu at the karaoke place. So what, he's a professional noona-killer? Why would he go to Bong's place, though?! Well, they are regulars and Yang-sun tells her husband to be nice to them, since they ask for expensive liquor and stuff. He's such a bastard, that Min-kyu ... sucking up to Bong, telling him it was just a lover's quarrel betweeen him and Mi-sun and none of his concern. Bong says fine, he'll keep out of it. I'm pretty sure he won't though.
Mary: Very smart of Min-kyu though to establish rapport with the noraebang. To make sure Mi-sun won't have anyone to turn to for help against him. I hate smart AND evil people. (Except Kang Do-young.)
FOCKER.
becca: Ugh. Min-kyu makes me feel sick. Bastard.

At the apartment, Yoo-na suggests to Han-jeong that she should go to the police station and turn herself in. Han-jeong doesn't want to. But not because she doesn't want to go to juvie - it's because she promised to be there for her little brother's birthday and couldn't. So she wants to go to the orphanage tomorrow and take him to the amusement park. She promises Yoo-na not to run away and then holds her hand to fall asleep.
becca: Aww. Hugs? Not yet? Okay... but later, right? We need more hugs.

Manbo and the Madame go to see the new colatec location. Showing them: "The Son". Manbo and Madame crack me up - and they actually get him a bit interested in the talented theater-playing daughter. Manbo pretends not to be overly happy about the location though - there's no soundproof and it doesn't seem big at all, but I'm sure he's lying.
Mary: I keep laughing at this scene too. How Madame is so curious about The Son and pimping Da-yeong. Not in an icky way though. But an "This boy is so good for my daughter I'll be so glad if they end up together" way.
becca: I just want to grab the poor unsuspecting boy by the shoulders and whisper, "Run!" Then again, I am in favor of anything makes Da-yeong stop whining about Chang-man and Yoo-na, so this could be good.

Yoo-na is at the orphanage, but there's trouble: they need a guarantor to be able to take Han-jeong's brother out. Of course, she calls Chang-man (the only acquaintance she has with a clean record). And of course, he comes, even though he should be working. Yoo-na finally tells him who Han-jeong is (without telling him about the diamonds, of course) and he decides to come along to the amusement park the next day, which is the job of a guarantor.
Mary: Pffft. Nice excuse, Chang-man. I also like his running "why not call your ex-boyfriend Nam-su" gag. ^^ And hey, kakashi, Han-jeong's dongsaeng, didn't he play KimJi's hyung in Bori? The awesome kid with a weird hair extension/duck tail who grew up to be not-so-awesome? (nope, not the one)

becca: Her dongsaeng is adorable. They should adopt him, too.

Afterwards, he drops Yoo-na off at the café and takes Han-jeong home. He tries to get information out of her, but she completely ignores him. Hehe. Well, she promised Yoo-na unni after all. But we all know how persistent (if not annoying) Chang-man can get, right? So he changes tactics and starts asking her about music, until she tells him her favorite song is "Good Luck" by Beast. He plays it for her, but when she doesn't talk to him again, he turns it off. Ahahaa, petty. (Heehee)
becca: Ahhhh, they're cute!

Over a drink, Yang-sun advises Yoo-na to leave the Mi-sun thing alone. Ah, yes ... these two women hate each other and in Yang-sun's opinion, Mi-sun deserves this. And, as we know, Min-kyu is a regular at their lounge plus brings new people all the time. Yang-sun asks Yoo-na to leave her Bong out of this, cause this is important for their business.
Mary: I'm slightly disappointed in Yang-sun. Sliiiiightly. Because I noticed that in general, married women are less tolerant of husband-stealers like Mi-sun. I can't exactly blame them.
becca: If it were just the money issue, I'd probably side with Yang-sun. Mi-sun totally deserves that. But the beating is just too much, no matter what she's done.

Axe and Curly drop by Mi-sun's hospital room (they're there for Axe's knee injections) and Mi-sun inquires about the age difference between Curly and his wife. It's six years, but Curly doesn't give a damn about it. So it seems Min-kyu is seven years younger than Mi-sun and she actually thinks about marrying him?! Of course, she's also afraid he'd run away from her if she got old. Yeah, I'm sure he would. Not Curly, though ... he loves his wife more than life itself, it seems.
Mary: This was so sweet, how Curly was so devoted to his wife and just happy to be with her. But Mi-sun... it's so sad that she can't stop thinking of Min-kyu even after all the scumbag did.
becca: I think it was about here that one of the guys across from me started to snore....

Chang-man is called to Manbo and Herring and he hears about the condition for the new colatec. Chang-man finds them "unmanly and quite despicable". And he repeats what he has told Madame before: if the two ladies are kicked out, he will follow them.

OMG how cute is Axe dancing with the Cooking Ahjumma in his room?! And then, she hugs him tight ... and he seems a bit embarrassed.
Mary: LOL at Grandpa's "whuuuuuuuuut?" face.
becca: Hahaha!

When Yoo-na goes to see Mi-sun, she gets super angry at Min-kyu for stealing so much money from Mi-sun, penalty fee, my ass! (plus for going to the karaoke lounge to have fun with other noonas). She vows to make him regret this and calls Nam-su. But his hand is bandaged once again since he had to have another surgery. Well, that means he cannot help Yoo-na. And the poor sod can't even drink any alcohol.
T_______T

Chang-man has bought Han-jeong some pizza - but she's still very reluctant to talk to him. But he's a clever one, this one! He talks about the food they'll have on their outing and also about how excited he is about the trip. The Girl knows why: he likes unni! And ... she also knows that her unni really likes Chang-man. Since a woman understands a woman's mind. Chang-man is so happy, aw.
Mary: And I'm grinning from ear to ear. They are so cute talking about crushes like that.
becca: So. Cute. I couldn't properly squee when I watched, so bear with me for a moment: SQUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah, much better! It was killing me that I couldn't let that out!

He returns to his own room to make sandwiches for the outing when Bong calls him: he is outside. He tells Chang-man everything about Mi-sun and Min-kyu and apparently, a gigolo always beats up his prey at the end, to make her lose hope. So that they don't want to meet again and will not ask for any money back. Catching them the legal way is basically impossible because there's never any evidence. If they don't help Mi-sun, she's in deep shit. And then, Bong says that Yoo-na is sure to take revenge for Mi-sun - which really shouldn't happen. Bong sees three ways out of this: 1) Chang-man will manage to stop Yoo-na; 2) Chang-man leaves her be; 3) Chang-man takes revenge instead of Yoo-na. Oh hell. How convenient that Bong has an envelope with all the info on Min-kyu with him.
becca: No no no no no no no, I do NOT like where this is headed. ㅠㅠ

Poor Chang-man, the guy is going to do it, isn't he .... :( Well, but before that, it's the outing with Thief Girl and her brother. They go to an aquarium and when they stand in front of a huuuuuge window, Chang-man nonchalantly puts his arm around Yoo-na's shoulder. She removes it, but she keeps smiling. The mood is good and Chang-man is so lovable, aw. And he tries everything to get close to his girl.

Mary: That "Aigoo~ I fell" sequence was hilarious. Especially since Yoo-na looks like she's gonna punch him.

becca: So cute so cute. I'm just sitting here with the biggest grin on my face.

While watching the siblings being darn cute on the ice field, Chang-man asks what will happen to the kids after this. He learns that Han-jeong has to turn herself in for stealing. And with that, the mood turns sad and VERY sad when they're at the orphanage and Han-jeong's little brother won't stop crying, until his sister reminds him to get him as soon as she turns 18.

becca: Oof. Will we see her again before the drama ends? I hope so. I like her.

And then, they are at the police station. Han-jeong knows she's likely to get two full years. She is so brave... until she isn't and runs back into Yoo-na's arms for a hug and sad, sad tears. During the car ride back, Yoo-na cries as she tells him about her own time in juvie, when she was 16 too.

becca: *blinking back tears* Hugs all around! *sniff*

It's the next morning and at breakfast, Manbo and Madame discuss the Chang-man-issue. Manbo says let him leave if he wants to leave. Madame will tell Mi-sun when she gets back from the hospital today. Packing her things there right now is Yoo-na, who turns really vicious on Min-kyu when he calls and demands his penalty money. Mi-sun needs a few brain cells back from her libido, quickly, please. 

Chang-man ... oh no. He is checking out an apartment building, paying a lot of attention to CCTV cameras. In his head, he hears Bong's words ... there is a type of human who doesn't give a shit about the law. The only language they speak is violence. And in the evening, Chang-man waits in the parking garage for Min-kyu. He puts on a mask and assaults him. After a few hits, Min-kyu bolts, runs and hides behind one of the cars. But he is just waiting for his chance to get back at Chang-man! It's a very messy fight :( finally, Chang-man takes off his mask (because he can't breath?) and follows Min-kyu outside, into the pouring rain, where he hits him until the young man begs to be spared.

Mary: This fight scene looked dirty and uncoordinated. No cool sound effects and fancy camera work. It really is just the two guys trying to beat the shit out of each other. I watched this scene lots of times and didn't think "Wow Chang-man is so cool". It's like the director is saying, "Look, this is how fights go. This is what Chang-man had to do. There is nothing glorious about beating someone up, even if you think you had a good reason to do so."

becca: This scene reminded me of the (even longer and starker) fist-fight in a movie called The Big Country: it's just a long, bloody, knock-down, drag-out fight. Nothing stylish or attractive about it, like Mary said. It's just there, and we have to watch it.

"Open your eyes and look", says Chang-man, "you know me, right?", and Min-kyu says that he was wrong. But Chang-man continues hitting him until he's totally spent. After some moments of lying there he sits up and starts crying. Because Min-kyu looks so pitiable - and because he himself feels so miserable. This world makes him sad, so he cries. And believe me, so do I, Chang-man.

becca: And now I'm crying, too.

Comments

What a horrible, horrible, painful ending scene! Poor Chang-man, I totally understand why he would do something so bad and I totally understand that he would cry afterwards. Shame on Bong for getting him into this! Stop taking advantage of this guy's good nature, people. And shame on Chang-man for believing Bong! You should at least have talked to Yoo-na first, you idiot.
Mary: You can totally see Chang-man's stupidly innocent heart break after what he did.
becca: I want to give him the biggest, most comforting hug that I can, but the sad truth is that it wouldn't fix anything. This is terrible.

Almost sadder even was the double farewell scene: first at the orphanage and then in front of the police station. I am sorry to see Han-jeong go already - she was a great character. I wonder what happens to Yoo-na now, because that Girl is like a ghost from the past, Yoo-na's own ghost - and a dire reminder of unpleasant things passed and futures destroyed. Will she learn? Does she have options? Or is Chang-man slowly but truly becoming tainted forever by this world of (half)criminals?
Mary: I'm sorry, Show. I want the interfering, always-on-the-good-and-right-side Chang-man back. But we can't have him back, right? There's no turning back from this...
becca: I hate it when you're right!