Episode 12 Synopsis and Analysis

Dong-man asks Ae-ra if she wants to sleep over tonight, making Ae-ra surprised.

They run right into Landlady Hwang and her son, Nam-il. She tells Dong-man and Ae-ra to play like children and not adults, and go back to their own homes.

–

Joo-man helps Ye-jin carry a heavy box into her apartment. He drops the box on his toe and hurt himself. Suddenly Ye-jin’s mother knocks on the door. Ye-jin shoves Joo-man into her closet promising to let him out when her mother leaves.

–

Landlady Hwang and Nam-il follow Dong-man and Ae-ra downstairs as Ae-ra grumbles that the landlord has no right to dictate what they do. Landlady Hwang said they neither have the right to trespass on the roof. Ae-ra whispers to Dong-man that she’d shower and come back. Ae-ra tells Hwang that being told not to do something only makes a person want to do it even more. Nam-il laughs says that he can see the resemblance, and why his mom decided to stay here.

Dong-man runs around his apartment and cleans up to prepare for Ae-ra’s visit. Meanwhile Ae-ra gets changed and heads back to Dong-man’s place.

Yet, It turns out they just sit on Dong-man’s bed drinking soju. Finally, Ae-ra leans over to kiss Dong-man. Dong-man confesses that he really likes Ae-ra. He says that he’ll just hold her all night and lies down, pulling Ae-ra into his arms. He kisses her forehead and hugs her close, and they fall asleep curled up together.

–

Ye-jin’s mother falls asleep on her couch, so Ye-jin sneaks into the closet to find Joo-man fast asleep on the floor. She sighs when she sees his still-bleeding toe. Suddenly she hears his phone ring. It’s Seol-hee.

 

The next morning Seol-hee comes to look for Ae-ra, telling that Joo-man didn’t come home last night. Ae-ra decided to go to Ye-jin’s place with Seol-hee to look for Joo-man.

Ae-ra drags Seol-hee to Ye-jin’s building. Ae-ra says that as the girlfriend, Seol-hee should not have been afraid.

Seol-hee tries calling Joo-man again. The vibrating wakes him from where he’s sleeping on Ye-jin’s closet floor. Joo-man checks his phone and sees forty-two missed calls from Seol-hee.

Ae-ra and Seol-hee wait outside, since Seol-hee isn’t sure that Joo-man is here. Seol-hee tells Ae-ra that she’s always had the same dream—being a good mother. Ae-ra agrees that it’s a wonderful dream, and that Seol-hee can just find someone else to share it with. But Seol-hee says, “He’s my world”.

But as they cross the lobby, they run right into Joo-man on his way out. He explains that he just fell asleep. He says that nothing happened, but then Ye-jin runs up with his sock.

Joo-man swears that he didn’t cross a line. But Seol-hee says it, “Let’s break up” and walks away.

As they wait for their bus, Ae-ra takes Seol-hee’s hand and thinks back to her own childhood, when nobody else wanted to be the tomboy’s friend, and her dad didn’t know how to do it, but sweet-hearted Seol-hee had taken care of her.

–

Dong-man is shocked when Ae-ra tells him about Seol-hee and Joo-man’s breakup, though he gets stuck on whether Joo-man slept with Ye-jin or not. On the way home Dong-man tells her that he’ll have to fight Tak-soo one day.

Ae-ra is firmly against Dong-man fighting Tak-soo again. Dong-man promises that he won’t lose, but Ae-ra says that she likes him so much that if someone were to shoot at him three times, she’d take two bullets.

–

Dong-man’s father comes. He wanders around Dong-man’s apartment criticizing everything, Dad asks why he’s home during the day, guessing that he’s unemployed. Dong-man says that he’s working, but he avoids telling Dad about his fighting.

Dad starts the When I was your age I worked hard lecture, but Dong-man snaps that Dad never paid for his tuition or rent. Dad says defensively that he raised his children with all his strength, but Dong-man asks angrily if he should live like that, and have a child who will resent him for being poor.

–

Back home, Joo-man opens a package of health supplements that Seol-hee previously ordered for him. Seol-hee comes and asks him to pack up her things. She tells Joo-man that cheating is cheating, and that degree doesn’t matter. She leaves him sobbing on the stairs.

 

Dong-man asks Joo-man why he let himself be swayed when he loves Seol-hee so much. Joo-man has nothing to say for himself.

–

Dong-man’s mother calls him, nearly frantic because his father just spent a lot of money at a bar and isn’t answering his phone. Dong-man goes to the bar, where he finds his father with his new boss. The boss talks down to Dad and says that he brought him in over all the younger men in his department because of his connections, but that he’s disappointed that Dad has too much pride to use them. Dad sits stoically, saying that he’ll try harder, and it reminds Dong-man of his own boss at his exterminator’s job who would abuse him.

 

He follows his father home at a distance, thinking that Dad has never kept the same pace as his family. Dong-man realizes that his father’s different pace was always for the good of his family. Dong-man calls out to Dad and suggests a drink.

The next morning, Dong-man brings his dad to the training site. Coach says that he worked hard morning and night, and Dong-man replies that he knows Dad doesn’t approve. But Dad tells Dong-man not to live like him, surprising his son. They relocate to a park, where Dad says that it’s too late for him to be a pilot, but that Dong-man is still young enough to chase his dream.

–

Ye-jin takes her aside to apologize for what happened. But then she ruins it by adding that her feelings for Joo-man are sincere and she wants to try dating him. Seol-hee keeps her cool, telling Ye-jin to do whatever she wants because they’ve broken up. But then Seol-hee picks up a full glass of water, and this time she actually does throw it in Ye-jin’s face.

While Ye-jin splutters in shock, Seol-hee says that she hopes that one day, Ye-jin will be in her shoes. She hopes that those eyes that claim to be innocent will overflow with tears. Ye-jin gasps that Seol-hee is mean, but Seol-hee just says calmly that Joo-man liked her a lot, unlike the vague excitement he feels towards Ye-jin now.

As scenes of their romance flash across the scene, Seol-hee says, “He was crazy about me.” She tells Ye-jin that Joo-man remembers all of the passionate moments they shared, adding that if she dates him, she hopes that those memories haunt Ye-jin.

–

When it’s time for Dad to take the bus home, Dong-man runs over to give him a bag and asks him to call and talk once in a while. Dad gets on the bus, not giving Dong-man another look, but he opens the bag to find some cash.

–

Dong-man runs straight to Ae-ra, telling her that he’s going to fight Tak-soo. He says that nobody can beat someone who’s having fun, and that if growing up means your dreams fade, then he’ll give up on growing up. He says that it’s pointless to pretend to be grown up for others, and that if you save it, you lose it. He looks her right in the eyes and tells her, “I love you.”

He covers Ae-ra’s face with kisses, then he yells again, “I love you, Choi Ae-ra!!”. That marks the end of this episode.