[RECAP] Doremifasolatido

Cast:

Yoon Jungwon – lead girl (Cha Ye Ryun)
Shin Eungyu – lead boy (Jang Geun Suk)
Yoon Jaewang – Jungwon’s bro
Shin Sohyun – Eungyu’s sis
Kang Heewon – An Asshat
Yoona – Jungwon’s friend
Nari – Keyboardist and backup singer
Seohyun – Drummer
Pupu – A Cat

Doremifasolatido, A Recap:

There is an amusement park! (Pause for my moment of nausea.)

Jungwon, dressed in a dragon suit, is obviously new at this. She falls down while dancing on stage, is chased by kids with pitchforks (symbol? lol), and then someone turns her giant head, so she falls.

She stomps around looking for the culprits and bumps into a gang of loud guys. They pick on her some more. Eungyu is there, doing his disinterested thing, but she is so angry she empties another customer’s soda on him. (The girl she took the soda from looks positively startled.)

The guys are amused (and some of them are wearing furry ears, no points for taste) but Eungyu is pissed.

Jungwon is dragged away by a distraught coworker.

Cut to dojo, a shaved bear man beckons at Jaewang – who’s quite cute, and he’s all like, nooo, but Jungwon looks away innocently at his beseeching look. So Jaewang is thrown into the wall for a demo.

That night, at dinner, he runs away from the table. Jungwon comes up to the patio roof to discover him smoking. She headlocks him and threatens to turn him in. The resulting tussle pitches her into the clothesline and she meets the new neighbours with underwear on her head.

After the awkward introductory conversation, she scans the other balcony and sees the boy from the amusement park, laughing at her underwear headgear. Jungwon is angry and does destructive things to the underwear in her hands. (Btw, JGS’s smile is sooooo cute and his skin – 2 years ago – is either flawless or very nearly so.) Jaewang also takes a closer look at the neighbors and is struck by cupid rather forcibly. (Err, that came out wrong. He’s not in love with Eungyu.) Eungyu has a gorgeous sister who is apparently a vampire of the Stephenie Meyer variety even at night.

Jungwon is slightly miffed that he didn’t recognize her. The next day, she runs home but has to deliver a plate back to the neighbours. She sneaks in and no one’s there, but then she hears Eungyu playing something.

(Ahaha, he’s singing ‘I hate amusement parks’!)

Eungyu’s room is composed of three walls of CDs and books, one desk, one bed, and… it is large, I say. Large! (The city dweller in me is envious. Nice furniture, and is that a Linkin Park poster I see?)

He pauses in strumming his guitar to write it down, looks up and sees Jungwon there. He calls her underwear girl, and invites her in. She is amazed at his CD collection, mostly donated by other fangirls but he’s not interested in them. Or anything besides music, really.

He asks her to listen to a song he wrote: (Dragon Boy Song)

“It wasn’t water, no, and it wasn’t juice,
it was coca cola from the spout of a crazed whale.
Don’t like amusement parks.
Don’t like dragon heads.”

Jungwon almost breaks one of his figurines, so he stops. She restrains herself from getting too angry and slyly gets the back story from him. He’s all traumatized from the attack, lols. He also doesn’t want to see the person who did that even in dreams, ha, we’ll see.

Later that night, Jungwon sneaks out of the house – on the balcony, basically, and he raises a ruckus. She tells him to shush, but he instead shouts for her dad. She has no choice but to listen to his request for her to escort him to school for a week. As a reward, he’ll let her hold his hand. Jungwon is naturally enraged. She encourages him to get her dad – he won’t believe him anyway.

Eungyu gets out a recorder. (Ha for forward planning!)

So now she has to be his porter as well as holding down this job. As she climbs down the fire escape, he introduces himself as Shin Eungyu.

At the store, a poor bag of chips takes Jungwon’s frustration.

The next day, after school, Jungwon waits for Eungyu at the gates of his high school. A bunch of really vulgar girls (oh come on, spitting on the ground was so last millennium) push her around. Jungwon gets hit and punches back. Shaved bear #2 makes an appearance and it turns out the person Jungwon punched was his girlfriend.

The big dude lifts Jungwon off the ground and threatens her, but Eungyu comes to the rescue! Apparently he beat this colossus up before. (And he clarifies that Jungwon’s not his girlfriend lol.)

He won’t even let her take his guitar because he says her neck must hurt. She think he wants to date her.

SEG: Are you serious? Do you know how high my standards are?
YJW: Then have you thought about lowering those standards?

(Her little hop thing is very cute.)

The studio’s kind of run down. He invites her in, she refuses but goes in anyway. Once in, she sees Heewon sitting on the couch. He’s shocked, she’s even more so. She runs out.

Eungyu wonders what’s up with her now.

The band (comprising of Seohyun unni for drums, Nari for keyboard, Eungyu for vocals+guitar and Heewon for bass guitar) start practicing – it’s Full of Sunshine. (The JGS version is sooooo nice, I want it now!!! His voice isn’t too bad, actually, for someone who’s untrained.)

The playing is very fake, but hey.

As shown in movie:

Today is another sunny day
Your smile fills up my day
Even if the day makes me worried
You can relax all of me right now
You’re the only one to relieve me of a day’s burdens
My love is always by my side
As long as you are there
I can do anything
Even if sometimes you are difficult
Even if you may get hurt
But I will never let go
I will be always by your side

(Btw, the slashy in me grins at Heewon and Eungyu interacting while playing.)

The song continues to play, Jungwon is shown getting off the bus. The music fades out as she gets home. Jaewang is clearly dead gone for Eungyu’s sister Sohyun and wants to know if pretty girls like cats, etc. He is chased out with a headlock.

Jungwon goes to meet Heewon at this seedy stall place (looks like she knows where to find him). Heewon warns her to stay away, not even letting her ask after how he’s been. He says that Eungyu was a friend who stayed by him even when everything hit rock bottom.

Surprisingly (and differently from the book), Jungwon hits back, saying that he was an asshat who let a friend of 10 years get completely beaten up by a random gang. She says she won’t take any more crap from him. Heewon came prepared, however, and has three ‘friends’ lined up.

Heewon leaves after telling her to never appear in front of him again.

It begins to storm. Jungwon walks home in the rain. (In passing, she is wearing white. I am slightly worried for her.)

She is nearly home but is blocked by a really large umbrella, which lifts itself to reveal Eungyu. Awww. He was waiting for her.

She wonders why he won’t ask her about her running out.

SEG: You were crying. Asking you would make you hurt more, no?
YJW: Me? Cry? It’d be harder than getting a cockroach to cry!
SEG: So what if I were to make you cry?
YJW: What if I don’t cry?
SEG: Then you get one wish.

He hands the umbrella to her and goes home singing. He slips on the ground and recovers in time. Jungwon laughs at his antics.

The next day, Jungwon visits Eungyu’s school but gets her tag taken (she may be a champion at punching bratty girls, but stealthy she is not). Eungyu gives her the guitar and tells her to give it up – the monitor won’t give it back. She, in return, wrestles him into taking couple pictures with her. (Lol, so violent.)

She says in passing that she’s never been to the beach because of work and thus he has to cooperate with her for pictures.

While walking to the studio, Eungyu annoys her with another song. (But he reveals that she is the source of his inspiration!)

At the studio door, they are accosted by Jaewang, who wants to know Sohyun’s phone number. Eungyu tells him that she likes surprises so he should go straight to the house.

Jaewang spots a cat and chases after it.

Heewon comes, Jungwon is awkward. Eungyu is clueless.

Jungwon refuses to go in, throws a fit and leaves. Eungyu is mystified. Heewon runs back out, fully wanting to catch her, but he doesn’t, and watches a blue bus drive away in regret.

Back home, Jaewang introduces Pupu, the new family cat (who is, incidentally, a Salem look-alike). Jaewang promises to reform his playboy ways with Sohyun.

Jungwon shops with Yoona and is tripped upon exiting a store by the three toughs who hang around Heewon. They threaten to kill her if she doesn’t listen to Heewon.

Heewon, meanwhile, gazes longingly at this green electric guitar.

At night, Jungwon makes an infuriated entrance. Eungyu looks like he’s practicing, but really he just stayed there to wait for her – like Jaewang with Sohyun, actually.

Eungyu wants to know why she’s beat up around the face and she wants to know why he’s got a split lip and black eyes. They both lie about the real reason. Eungyu hands her the name tag she lost. She gets all teary. He’s like, I win!

He agrees to be her boyfriend, but tells her not to show up at his school because she has ‘pimples’.

(I wonder though… their houses are pretty far apart. How can they talk like that to each other without the entire neighbourhood hearing them? And really nice houses, but hey.)

Jaewang is concerned because he thinks Heewon is going after Jungwon again. She refuses to talk to him because she wants to savour being Eungyu’s girlfriend. Jungwon sadly looks at old photo album pictures of Heewon and her while Jaewang bangs on her door.

Jungwon comes to the studio the next day, surprising everyone. She acts all mushy in front of him to piss him off though Eungyu just thinks she’s got water on the brain. it’s really embarrassing, actually, to see her act all lovey dovey.

Heewon turns into a raging thundercloud in his corner of the sofa.

Eungyu sees that her cheek actually is wounded, and not pimply. He drags her out. She won’t tell him, and Eungyu gives her some space. They go to the beach together (thus wrecking all hopes of practice), and while there, Eungyu gives her a necklace made by his fans, for his girlfriend (bet they were hoping they’d wear it themselves).

We cut to Jungwon running hell for leather out of her classroom. Jaewang left her a message, saying, “Come watch me beat up Heewon.”

There is fighting. Heewon’s just taking it.

When Jungwon tells her brother to stop, we see Heewon smile a little. She goes on to say that if anyone were to kill Heewon, it would be her, and the smile disappears.

They do their little angst routine about how she, as a friend, destroyed his father and his family. (But it was a hit and run that killed a child – there is some degree of responsibility in that.)

As Heewon gets up, he staggers. Jungwon is all concerned but he shakes her off, and warns her away from Eungyu again. He doesn’t want to see her smile.

ANGST.

(He just wants her for himself, really.)

As he goes home, the gangsta guys come, and he tells them that if they do stupid stuff on their own like that again he’ll really light into them. Awww, Heewon is sitting in the same bench he shared with Jungwon in the photo… but not feeling sorry for him. I don’t ever feel sorry for guys who expect you to just read their angsty little minds.

Jungwon drags her brother to Heewon’s, the next day, to apologize. His apartment is small and dim and greyyyyy. (Feel the angst, people) The only bit of colour is the family portrait and that’s not making anyone happy.

Heewon says that an apology is no use, that he wants them to disappear, but before Jaewang makes real on his threats to beat Heewon again, Eungyu shows up. Apparently there was a meeting scheduled.

Eungyu is like, huh, you know each other. Explain, please.

Jungwon tries to lie for Heewon, that Jaewang got in a fight with Heewon. Eungyu lectures her on how to take control of her brother, how to treat friends properly etc. Jaewang gets angry, and blurts everything out. Jungwon looks like she wishes she were 25971239 miles away.

Eungyu is disbelieving, then he drags Jungwon out.

He apologizes, saying that he had no idea. Jungwon explains further to him that it was her fault because she reported his father and now he’s in jail and his mother is in hospital. She takes off the necklace and tells him to take good care of Heewon. She leaves.

Eungyu is le frustrated, by the look on his face.

Heewon and Eungyu have a good all-out fight, by the looks, and settle down for a chat in prone positions. Heewon is just annoyed that Jungwon is with Eungyu. But he does admit at last that he doesn’t hate her anymore.

At night, Jungwon is walking home alone. Eungyu is perched at her doorstep. He says that Heewon has forgiven her, that there was music before Heewon, but not without her. He likes Heewon and will continue to be his friend, but he’s working on how to keep the three of them in equilibrium.

He asks Jungwon for a hand up and they end up hugging. (Jungwon, the so-called no tears girl, is a veritable fountain.)

The angst cycle begins again as Heewon visits his mother and father. His mom’s not talking and dad’s depressed. Heewon won’t answer the door when Eungyu knocks again either.

Eungyu has lunch with Jungwon. There’s a big festival coming up that Eungyu takes part in, and he can’t be with her for a while, she’s okay with it – and Eungyu has a cute soda-induced burp moment. (The lack of bass doesn’t seem to worry the band for the moment.)

Meanwhile, Pupu goes missing and Jaewang resolves to not come home while he is missing.

Jungwon goes to the studio, and Heewon intercepts her. Awkward conversation on bench ensues.

Heewon wants to recover what he’s lost, and Jungwon would prefer for him to leave her alone if this is a new ploy to torture her. Heewon is sincere, though, and promptly falls asleep on her shoulder.

Later, Jungwon is in her bed while overlaying music plays. Flashback of her at Doremifasolatido’s practice.

(Waiting for the Time plays)

I should have quietly let you go
As I stood at that place again
Looking at you walking slowly away
Silently crying
In such a cold season
Even if you return once more

They stop playing because they’re refining their pieces for the competition. Nari complains at the lack of a good bass player, but Jungwon steps in to defend Heewon (a bit too vehemently, as it turns out). Jungwon gets a phone call, and says that it’s Yoona. (But Eungyu can tell it was Heewon and is slightly worried.)

Jungwon uses her marathon sprinting skills and runs to where Heewon is living. It looks like he’s perched on the roof. Return of the emo boy as he gets up and stands on the edge of a tall building. He feels useless to his mother, angsts about his family’s fate, bla bla bla. Jungwon tries being optimist about his mother, but Heewon persists in angst and wanting to commit suicide.

(Hon, if he really wanted to, he wouldn’t have called you. Trust me.)

Heewon: No one understands my pain. I’m all alooooooooooooooooooooooone. (Second sentence is mine.)

(Sevenses: Hands him a guitar and a razor blade just to shut him up.)

Jungwon promises to stay by his side and make him happy, if only he would give her a chance! (And a week to break up with Eungyu. There is much wtf-ing in Sevensesland.)

The next day, Jungwon skips school to drag Eungyu out of music practice. Nari objects, but Seohyun tells Eungyu to go. They go to a magic show, and Eungyu shows off his skills. (So cute! They have such fun that I quaver to think of the angst ahead. Again.)

Among other things, he gets her a rose, dances with her, wows at the cosplay fest (in which he is particularly fascinated by people dressed up as Princess Abdulla and a shiny teapot – this will be significant later) and teases her for being a dragon.

The next day Jungwon wants Eungyu to go out again but he’s got the festival to prepare for and loses patience. (Someone’s not winning the model girlfriend award.) Heewon calls in the middle of a very awkward argument, and she goes.

She’s supposed to pick out clothes to meet Heewon’s sick mom. But Jaewang drives by, sees them, and there is dodging, weaving, running like the wind!

Jungwon makes an excuse and leaves after they catch their breath.

As she comes home, Jaewang and Eungyu are waiting. Eungyu is all nice about her little outburst, and she wants to know if he would forgive her for leaving him – but she doesn’t really say anything, just alludes to it, and Eungyu only asks that if Heewon has a request that she take him with her.

She still looks really worried so Eungyu kisses her. (D’aww.)

Heewon calls her and asks her to go to his place next Wednesday, which is the day of Eungyu’s big concert. Heewon walks by the guitar place and his favoruite one is no longer there. Eungyu practices, Jungwon angsts.

At the concert, Doremifasolatido starts with Waiting for the Time. Eungyu’s searching the audience for Jungwon.

Quietly closing my eyes, I see in front of me
What I once tried so hard to forget
Yours and mine, the song

At this point he sees Jungwon up on the staircase of the venue, and he breaks into the biggest smile possible while still singing (Sevenses: *wibbles*) and once again we use lyrics to express what the characters are feeling (because the actors can’t emote properly). He throws himself into the song.

(JGS is really enthusiastic, but his posing leaves something to be desired.)

Do you still remember
What we experienced together?
Those happy times?
I can only wait
I can say nothing
Watching your tears flow
We can only love each other
Compared with the pain of regretting you
This is easier
Can you not return to my side?

Jungwon cries as she walks away. Eungyu finishes his emo lines and opens his eyes, but he can’t find Jungwon. He goes back to singing but is muchos distracted.

I should have quietly let you go
As I stood at that place again…

And it fades off as we see Jungwon going to Heewon’s place. (Poor Eungyu.) There is a lonely lonely cake with some candles. Jungwon tries to tell Heewon to stop the nonsense, but he vows to erase Eungyu from her mind. (The distant thump is my head hitting the computer desk.)

Heewon lights the candles on the cake and the camera pans out.

We see Eungyu staring disbelievingly at the words Jungwon’s put up on her laundry line : Let’s break up.

Cut to some time later. Jungwon is happily (fake happy) doing class cleaning with her friends. Nari demands to meet with her, and cannot believe she’s like this. Turns out Eungyu wanted the prize money so they could go to the beach together.

Heewon and Jungwon go visit his mother, who is unconscious. Heewon apologizes for troubling her (so let her go you idiot), but remarks that she’s stopped smiling. (More thumping from here.)

Heewon mentions the concert Eungyu’s putting on for his fans. He wants to attend – selfishness aside, wtf? He also goes to visit Eungyu with Jungwon.

(Sidenote: You know that cute kitty Jaewang’s frantic over? Sohyun has it. Sneaky.)

Eungyu is staring out his window, doesn’t even move when Heewon announces himself and only turns around when Heewon tells him Jungwon is here too. Heewon gets out the food he brought and goes in search of cups.

Eungyu turns around, and, woah, he looks awful. Jungwon takes a step nearer, but he stops her when he says, “I was trying to find the best way of sending you away. It might take a while.” He asks her if she can live without him. Jungwon shakes her head, but Eungyu just tells her to go the concert no matter what.

Heewon comes back, and Eungyu gets out a brand new guitar case. It’s the green one he wanted. (Audience would like permission to hit Heewon.) Heewon takes it and goes off to practise like nothing’s wrong. Apparently Eungyu has a record deal, after the concert, but he’s still not sure if he’ll go, and he looks at Jungwon when he says this. (Audience: He can’t sing without her!)

At the concert, fans chant the name of band, then just of Eungyu. Eungyu sees Jungwon, Heewon sees Jungwon, there have been more cheerful funerals.

Eungyu: We promise to send everyone home crying today!

The opening song’s about a trip to the sea. (Episode 1 – and this time the JGS version is nicer.)

Then they play Waiting for the Time, then Full of Sunshine, then Doremifasolatido (The rapping part is about Pupu! Lol, it’s along the lines of: lost my cat, frantically waiting for you night and day, etc.)

JGS’s ballad part:

Slowly think back, please remember me
Even if it’s only once
I love you
Forever and ever
For me

I want to go to the blue blue sea
I want to fulfill all my promises to you
I promise from this day forward
To only protect you

Eungyu stops singing because he is crying. He apologizes for losing his voice, gets off stage, and goes to talk to Jungwon. He says that everything depends on her answer. Then he whispers in her ear, “I’m sorry I love you.” She tells him to not love anymore.

Eungyu takes off his necklace, gives it to Jungwon.

“This is Jungwon, you have Eungyu. Make sure they are together and happy all the time because they cannot be separated. Take them to the beach together, because I wanted to go to the beach with you.”

Eungyu leaves, slowly. Jungwon starts to go after him, but Heewon stops her. (Audience would like permission to throw him into piranha tank.) Seohyun tells Heewon to let her go because he’s only being selfish now, but he says he will let her go when he feels he can live without her.

We see poor Eungyu staggering toward the lonely, dimly lit door of SAD.

Flash forward to some time later, Jungwon is feeding Heewon’s mom in hospital, she is better. Heewon attempts to get closer to Jungwon, but she’s maintaining a strict distance. She also misses Eungyu something fierce.

Heewon meets with Seohyun, hears the bad news about Eungyu. Heewon debates with himself, but lets Jungwon hear it. So Eungyu was in a car accident, shortly after leaving Seoul. Just to add to everyone’s guilt, he left so Heewon and Jungwon would be happier. There is mentions of brain damage. Jungwon goes to get him.

At a short pit stop on the beach, Jungwon remembers him saying, the saddest thing would be for a loved one to not see each other again, so he won’t die, because he can’t think of her anymore. Jungwon sobs her heart out.

Some time later, we see Eungyu running away from 3 kids, holding a shiny teapot. He calls himself a prince and is purportedly looking for princess Shalala. Jungwon is trying, but he doesn’t recognize her at all. 3 weeks, no progress.

There are quick flashes of therapy that she’s tried, from going to the amusement park, hypnotism and outright reminders, we see that the more significant something is, the more pain Eungyu’s in. He just refuses to remember. The psychiatrist suggests that nothing short of a miracle will bring back the memories.

So Jungwon asks the band members to help with restaging that last concert. Nari objects on the basis of Eungyu’s happiness. Nonetheless, Jungwon plows onward with the help of her brother and friend Yoona. They gather all the people from Eungyu’s old high school.

Heewon’s special little task is to learning the lead singing parts. (Heewon v. 2.0, with empathy and x2 angst.) Nari agrees to help and there is female bonding of the crying variety.

At the actual concert, Eungyu starts getting nervous and shaky, making motions to run away. Junwon and Sohyun hold him back. Onstage, Heewon looks remorseful for turning his friends into this.

During the songs, Eungyu goes a little more crazy, then as Heewon repeats what he did that day, stopping in the middle of the song, Eungyu falls and blanks out.

Heewon does the ‘Sorry I love you’ scene and Eungyu starts to remember, which sends him into a painful screaming fit. Sohyun begs for her to stop, but Jungwon goes on. He repeats the handing over of doll action and Eungyu goes into more paroxysms.

Heewon walks away. To everyone’s surprise, Eungyu shouts for him to stop.

He stands up and does his spiel of pain – “I was sad, desperate, hoping that the next step you would stop me, except you never did. Do you know how that felt, stepping in place and hoping you would come for me?”

Jungwon calls his name. Eungyu comes back to himself. They hug. Heewon looks away.

The ending credits show Jaewang finding out Pupu was kidnapped because Sohyun was jealous, on the roof, Jungwon and Eungyu are having some long-awaited couple time.

[RECAP] Baby And I

What do teenager boys do?

Eat ramen noodles and…

check out hot mamas on the street?

No, not he.

This, this, this, and this…

… are not his cup of tea. He wants, this:

a REAL mama.

So Joon-soo approaches her, holds her hands in his, looks her in the eye, and begs, “Please, give me some breast milk.”

Joo-soo may not be the best student at school, but he is no pervert. He’s doing it because of…

this little picky trouble maker.

It all began a week ago when Joo-soo took down a dozen guys single-handed to save his two best friends’ rear.

Of course, behind the short-lived glory is a beating from dad and a reproach from mom. “I wish you have a kid just like you so you know how hard it is to be a parent.” is the curse his mom resentfully cast on him before leaving him to be.

Life starts to change. When he returns home one day, both his parents are gone like a puff of smoke, leaving only a tape and a letter on the desk. He pops the tape in TV and sits back to watch the soap:

The sitcom video is silent, narrated by the large cue card mom is holding listlessly. Ever since the recent gang fight, both dad and mom have lost all faith in Joon-soo. They decided to leave until Joon-soo magically clicks and turns good. (Oh, did I roll my eyes too loud?) Before leaving, they have taken away Joon-soo’s credit card, but they did remember to leave him some money to survive.

What?! Mom and dad, not at home? That means… time to… PARTAY! He calls up his friends to tell them about the party he’s ready to host and drops by the supermarket to pick up some liquor.

Joon-soo stands in front of a rack of wine, contemplating what to buy for the party. When he finally decides and turns to put the bottle in the cart, he nearly jumps in surprise — a baby has fallen from the sky and landed in his shopping cart.

Attached is a letter addressed to Joon-soo himself, telling him that the baby cannot live without his father and he must take care of little Woo-ram.

Getting over the initial shock, Joon-soo sets off to look for the kid’s mother the following morning.

And he gets slapped by all eight of the potential mothers, though only four are shown here. But, ouch!

Joon-soo’s day is not over yet. Little Woo-ram is crying and throwing a tantrum because one, he does NOT like powdered milk and two, sitting on poop-filled diaper does not feel good. Thank goodness, there is always Kim Byeol to offer a hand with the baby. Who’s Byeol? Ahh, she’s the quirky, mushroom-haired girl who always walks around in a white chicken costume — the one with 8 siblings.

The first time Joon-soo and Byeol met, Byeol was standing in front of the school like a piece of marble mascot. Joon-soo nearly drove into her.

When Joon-soo took off his helmet to yell at the girl he almost killed, he immediately dazzled Byeol into deciding to attend the same school. And so, begun the Byeol-permeated days.

Her presence is so pervasive that whenever Joon-soo attempts to smoke or drink or anything with his friends, Byeol will pop out of the blue and recite to him, rapidly and incessantly, a research result of some sort to dissuade him from doing x y z. Often times, he gives up on x y z just to get her off his back. It works and they manage to co-exist in their strange ways.

Byeol may provide a partial solution to the baby problem, but once she’s gone, Joon-soo is back to his OMG-I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-the-baby, someone-get-him-out-of-here-!!! craze.

hmm, pink bed sheets!

After enduring a whole night of wailing, Joon-soo decides to abandon the baby. He puts on a cap to disguise himself and sneaks out in the dark with the baby. Waiting until nobody is around, Joon-soo brings the baby to the trash pile by the pole. He whispers sorry softly and looks around for signs of human — throwing away a baby is not something you want other people to see you do. The tiny baby twinkles his large eyes at his young father. As Joon-soo lowers Woo-ram slowly to the ground, Woo-ram pouts his mouths to cry. But before the baby makes a sound, another voice beats him to it, “Hey you with the cap,” Joon-soo freezes instantly and looks around nervously. And then he sees it, a security camera angled right at him. The voice continues, “Special trash needs to be thrown elsewhere, please abide by the regulations.” Embarrassed now, Joon-soo makes up a lame excuse of trying to find reusable products thrown away by lavish people and runs away hastily with the baby and a rusted pot for shield.

When trashcanning the baby is rendered impossible, Joon-soo turns to the orphanage. Before he can put down the baby, Joon-soo bumps into another man trying to do the same. He ends up buying the other man beer and listens in silence to the man recounting his tragic life story with a handful of tears. Baby throw-away is officially off.

A new problem soon surfaces: Joon-soo is still a high school student, how can he attend school with his baby son hanging in front of him? But Miss Cho, his teacher, has called and threatened for him to show up at school. Her words are the holy decrees that no one dares to defy. Although unwillingly, (times that by 100,) Joon-soo eventually shows up at school with little Woo-ram. Of course, with a baby as cute as Woo-ram, there is quite a stir in the classrooms.

One day when Joon-soo is at the hospital (for God-knows-what reason), he overhearing one of his best pals’ urgent discussion with the doctor regarding his mother’s illness. Joon-soo sells his motorcycle and gathers some money to help his friend out.

Without a viable means of transportation, Joon-soo resorts to taking the subway. Leaning back on the subway seat and bouncing rhythmically with the motion of the viehical, Joon-soo soon falls asleep… …

When the subway comes to a sudden halt, Joon-soo’s eyes snap open and still disoriented, he hops off the subway and walks away. Then, it suddenly hits him…

Baby Woo-ram is still on the subway! But hey, this is the PERFECT chance to get rid of the baby for-everrrr. He decides.

Except when he gets home, all around him are the living reminders of Woo-ram. (Oh gosh, baby shoes, baby clothes, baby-anything is cute! On a second thought, not baby feces.)

Finally, when guilt, responsibility, and the dormant feeling for the baby nags long enough, Joon-soo finds himself in the subway station, reclaiming the baby (with much exaggeration).

Once Joon-soo tastes the flavor of losing the baby, he starts to appreciate Woo-ram’s existence. From then on, Joon-soo runs around during his free time, knocking on doors, begging for breast milk. At night, he works as a waiter and a flyer boy to earn a few extra bucks to cover the living expenses — well, it couldn’t have been easy raising a baby on your own. Besides, the allowance dad and mom left has been exhausted to the last dime by now.

Time elapses likes this for quite awhile, soon it’s finals time. The school coordinators decide that the presence of a baby will disrupt the students’ ability to concentrate on the exam, therefore Joon-soo must be suspended from school.

Joon-soo doesn’t like the idea too much, but what can he do? Oh, right, he can have a drink, get drunk, and embarrass himself in front of his baby kid.

After lash out some of his frustration, Joon-soo returns home and meets Byeol’s dad. The dad thanks Joon-soo for being such a good friend to his daughter and for inspiring her to return to school. He reveals Byeol’s past…

… Byeol has always been a little, er, different. As early as elementary, her insatiable hunger for knowledge has stood her out from the rest of the kids in class. By middle school, she became the most feared student on campus. Teachers fled from her, classmates berated her for being an (ass-kicking) stuck up. Finally, she’s fed up. She handed in a letter to the principle and excused herself from school all together…

When Joon-soo returns home to his bag and a post-it of encouragement on the door, his impression of Byeol takes a spiral turn. (Umm, I smell hints of romance.)

He enters and stops short at the family portrait. He is suspended, penniless, burdened with the responsibility of raising a child, and he misses his parents terribly. Life is hard.

Watching daddy feeling blue, the baby is infected with a knowing sadness. He begins to cry. And so, the father and son shed tears of loneliness together in the empty family corridor.

Since mom and dad left Joon-soo to live on his own, they have been spending all their time at the spa. On this particular day, both Joon-soo and Byeol’s parents happen to be at the same place. A cat fight between the ajummas brings the two families together. As they sit at a tatami, filling each other in on their lives, Byeol’s dad reveals that his oldest daughter is helping her high school guy friend babysitting his motherless baby boy. “WHAT?” Joon-soo’s father passionately pounds the wooden table, “A junior in high school, already a father? And he doesn’t even know who the mother is?!” Distantly, a man jumped and spits out a mouthful of noodles he’s happily eating. Oh sweet, sweet irony.

After meeting with Byeol’s family and seeing their 8 children, Mama Han slips back home to see her son. Instead, she sees Byeol holding an angelic baby and immediately reaches the supposition that papa Han has impregnated another woman behind her back. The result of her hasty conclusion –

Meanwhile, Joon-soo is having a rough day. He tries to find himself a job but none will have him so long as the baby is with him. At the end of the day, he’s exhausted, unhappy, and hungry. With the little of what’s left of his estate, he buys himself a carton of white milk. (He can’t afford chocolate milk.)

He sits down and drinks away. Then he looks down and sees the baby staring at him — at the carton of milk — while sucking vigorously on his pacifier. A little embarrassed at just remembering that the baby has starved all day with him (and magically not crying, although the kiddo is frowning a little — but then again, when Moon Mason isn’t crying or smiling, he’s frowning. In the movie that is.), Joon-soo dips his pinkie into the carton of milk and feeds his little boy.

But luck is just not on daddy’s side today. Joon-soo shifts around to find a better position to feed the tiny baby but tips over the milk instead, causing its content to spill everywhere. Joon-soo picks the carton up and curses under his breath.

His curse is echoed by a drunkard. The drunkard throws his arms in the air, swearing to live better without the woman that broke his fragile heart and falls onto the footsteps, unconscious. Joon-soo looks at the starving baby then at the man’s protruding wallet. To hell with it. He snatches the wallet from the drunkard’s back pocket. Holding onto the baby, ready to sneak away. The unconscious drunkard suddenly comes to life and grabs onto his pant leg. Joon-soo gives a yell of surprise and runs away as if caught on fire. The man chases after him just as frantically, yelling and moaning, “Why did you take my wallet? Why did you take my wallet?” (This is hilarious in a sardonic way and I can’t stop laughing.)

Amidst the tumbling and escaping, Joon-soo halts a cab and without looking, he jumps into it and hollers for the drivers to get on. The cops in the front seats turn to look at him, one of them throws back a meaningful glance and says, “Let’s go.”

Whenever something comes up, Joon-soo always calls Miss Cho. Last time it’s the subway station, this time, the police station. And each time, she’s mistaken as the mother of the child; each time whispers and stealthy glances were tossed at her for rearing a child with a man half her age. It drove her nuts. This time, she’s had enough. After trying to clarify for the nth that she is NOT the baby’s mother, or the teenager’s lover for that matter, she gives up all attempts at explaining and screams for all she’s worth. (If she had her stick with her, she would definitely chop that cop in half right there and then.)

After bailing Joon-soo out, Miss Cho gives him some money and leaves with a sigh. Holding money, Joon-soo buys two cans of powered milk for the baby and asks the cashier for a pack of cigarettes. Then on a second thought, he asks the cashier to replace the cigarettes with another can of powered milk. (The baby smiles at his change of heart.)

By the time he returns him, mom and dad are already waiting in the living room. With a handful of tears (and snot), Joon-soo confesses the origin of the child as well as his attachment to the baby.

The next day, papa Han brings his son to school to reenlist him; mama Han stays at home to look after the baby. Unfortunately, mama Han caught the flu and infects the baby with it. When Joon-soo hears the news, his concern for the baby overrides his appreciation for his mother’s effort to take care the baby despite her age. He yells at her and storms out of the room. Later at night, his father preaches explains to him that when a child is sick, parents are the ones hurting the most. They are tormented with the guilt of not have taken better care of the child and they wish desperately that the pain could be transferred to them.

Considering his lack of gratitude, Joon-soo enters his parents’ room and digs out his mother’s diary that chronicles the events from his birth to development. Reading it and recalling his recent experience as a father, Joon-soo realizes how difficult it is to be a parent, a tear of understanding trickles down his cheek.

That night, the friend whom Joon-soo sold his motorcycle to help calls him out and reveals to him that the baby Joon-soo is calling his own is in fact, his. His girlfriend left the baby at his doorstep with a brief note saying that raising a kid on her own is too much for her and flew back to America. The want for his child to grow up in a rich family plus the pressing poverty causes he to force feed the child to Joon-soo. (What a bastard! But then again, I wouldn’t mind it if the baby is that cute.)

Furious at being tricked (which I still find funny), Joon-soo gives his friend a beating. And then, life resorts to the way it was, before the baby arrived from nowhere. Except, it feels like someone has punctured a hole in Joon-soo’s life — something is missing.

Denial, anger, silence, nothing can hide Joon-soo’s inner desire to see Woo-ram. Yet nothing can break his infuriatingly dogmatic insistence that Woo-ram is not his son, and therefore he has nothing to do with that child — until he hears the news that Woo-ram will be sent out of the country for adoption.

He secretly goes to see Woo-ram but he still doesn’t have the courage to admit his love for the baby.

So the day for Woo-ram to leave arrives.

aww the baby doesn’t want to go.

Joon-soo finally realizes that he doesn’t want to lose the baby and speeds to the airport. After a wild airport breach, the baby stays.

And now, lucky Woo-ram has two fathers to fight over him.

And did you know, when Joon-soo’s father was a junior in high school, Joon-soo’s mother left baby Joon-soo at his father’s door as well? (A little overused, but I don’t mind too much.)