What Happens to My Family Ep 15-17: Kang-shim and Tae-joo

I don't know how long it'll last, but I've decided to do recaps of/comments on Kang-shim & Tae-joo! They are adorable and quite dumb.

Recap/Comments: Episode 15

Episode 14 ended with Tae-joo dragging Kang-shim to a quiet place in the building. He tore her resignation letter and told her to stay.
It irked me that her stuff was thrown to the ground, and she was dragged forcibly there. But since it wasn't suppose to be romantic or portrayed positively, I wasn't too upset. I just hate it when male protagonists are painted as heroic or cool when in reality their actions are disrespectful and aggressive.

Anyways, episode 15 begins with their confrontation. Tae-joo asks Kang-shim to stay by his side. The meaning of his words don't register to her, so Tae-joo repeats himself clearly: he's lost. He says that this is his way of being on his knees before her and wants her to stay at the company. (Just for clarification: Kang-shim and Tae-joo had made a bet in the beginning that at the end of the month, either she was going to win and make him grovel on his knees, or he was going to make her quit her job at the company.)

The Chairman, Tae-joo's dad, hears about Tae-joo's submission and is overjoyed. All the while, his new wife Baek Sul-hee looks peeved.

After getting back her stuff during a small congratulatory party from the other secretaries, Kang-shim returns to her desk. Meanwhile, Tae-joo is in his office, parked right next to the door. He leans over and tries to hear what Kang-shim might be doing, and on the other side, Kang-shim leans over to hear what Tae-joo might be doing.

Kang-shim knocks on the door (still leaning over, mind you), and a surprised Tae-joo skedaddles to his desk as if nothing happened. They exchange banal greetings, and before Kang-shim goes over today's schedule, she wants to discuss a few more details about their arrangement. A confused Tae-joo asks what she means, and Kang-shim tells him to share any and every detail about his life inside and outside the office with her. She says it'll be confidential and that it's all for the purpose of being a more efficient secretary.

Tae-joo seems okay with the request and asks if his living arrangements are part of the discussion, too. Kang-shim says yes, so Tae-joo makes up some excuses that moving again would be burdensome and tells Kang-shim that he'll stay at the officetel. Kang-shim is delighted to hear the news since she needed him to keep renting the place for financial reasons. Quite happy, she reports today's schedule which isn't anything new, but Tae-joo doesn't seem to think so...

He literally imagines hearts coming from her mouth and has to be snapped back to reality. She leaves his office, and Tae-joo grabs his heart asking why he feels so nervous. Kang-shim plops in her chair and wonders why she feels so awkward. The answer is obviously love, but they're both too prideful to see it yet.

Her phone rings, and it's Tae-joo calling to say that he's about to read the reports. She's caught off guard and can only laugh at his behavior. Tae-joo seems to be giddy and sings to himself as he starts reading the reports.

While Tae-joo is in a meeting, Baek shows up to his office. She saunters in and makes herself at home while I just wanted Kang-shim to show her butt the door! Baek grills Kang-shim for details about Tae-joo's love life which sound inappropriate because it is. Kang-shim says she doesn't know, and Baek has the audacity to criticize her. Kang-shim asks why she wants to know, and Baek lies that she just wants to fulfill her duty as his stepmother and find him a worthy spouse. She takes a final look around the office and wonders aloud when her son, Eun-ho, might have a wonderful office like this. Kang-shim awkwardly smiles, and I wonder how Kang-shim can't see through her facade. Baek screams conniving and greedy! Plus, she needs a reality check, Eun-ho has no place in the company because he's unworthy! That little brat can't even run a restaurant and make friends let alone be a director at a huge company. Baek needs to know her place and stop meddling in people's business.
End Rant.

Tae-joo gets up to leave for the day, but remembers to tell Kang-shim every single detail from buying groceries, cooking dinner, and going to bed early because he couldn't sleep last night. (Because we all know he couldn't sleep because he felt bad towards Kang-shim! D'aw) She's taken aback because this obviously isn't what she meant by sharing information (she was thinking more about contacts and meetings, imo), and this new Tae-joo is way more than she bargained for!

While Kang-shim waits for the bus, he calls and asks what cut of meat he should buy. While getting in her pajamas, he calls to ask about how he should cook and season the meat. Whether she's brushing her teeth or in the middle of dinner, Tae-joo keeps calling and Kang-shim answers. I found it quite hilarious how honestly Kang-shim kept answering his mundane questions. She's miffed by the whole situation, but there doesn't seem to be any antagonism from either parties.

Episode 16

Kang-shim is asleep when her phone starts ringing. Unsurprisingly, it's Tae-joo who's reporting that he's off to bed now. He also gives her a quick rundown of when he'll wake up and his morning schedule. Kang-shim growls on the inside but ends the call amicably. Tae-joo looks pleased with himself and says this whole sharing business is actually quite easy and nice.

A hilarious side bit, Seo-wool makes juice early in the morning which Kang-shim mistakes as her phone ringing. She unconsciously picks up the phone and addresses the director only to find out that it was a false alarm.

At the office, Kang-shim asks Tae-joo what he plans to do Saturday in an attempt to know if he's seeing anyone. He says nothing special and asks what she plans to do. She says she usually just listens to music and reads a book over the weekend. He quips, "Basically you don't have plans."
Then he proceeds to ask her to come over. There's a noise problem at the officetel that might make him want to move out. Kang-shim begrudgingly agrees; though when they're both by themselves, they scoff at each other. Tae-joo sees through her lies and says she probably just sleeps through the weekends (which is so true), and Kang-shim complains that he should solve his own problems.

Kang-shim goes over to the officetel, but Baek also happens to be outside and notices her going in. Inside, Tae-joo has prepared dinner for two with wine and candles. He says he bought the meat she likes while he bought himself the other cut. He also cooked and seasoned it to her preference. Hahaha, they're faux-dating. It's totally a romantic gesture, and if it were anyone else besides these two, I'd call them out for dating. However, Tae-joo and Kang-shim are just too prideful enough to be ignorant of their feelings and even possibly consider themselves "dating".

Too ruin the moment, Baek rings the doorbell. While Kang-shim doesn't care, Tae-joo wants her to hide. He wants to keep their housing situation a secret and doesn't want Baek to misunderstand this situation. He tells her to hide in his walk-in closet and goes to greet Baek. He only opens the door a crack, but she shoves herself in against his protests which is completely rude and inappropriate.

Baek starts snooping around his home much to his displeasure. It appears that the two are safe, but as Baek closes the closet door, she sees a pair of heels peeking behind the door from a mirror across the room. She smirks to herself, the she-devil, and pretends to see nothing. She begins to tell Tae-joo to look favorably upon their marriage to which I say she needs to act respectfully first if she wants any approval! Her talk falls on deaf ears because Tae-joo keeps throwing nervous glances towards the closet. Baek takes note and leaves.

Tae-joo hurries to the closet to tell Kang-shim that it's safe now. However, she's fast asleep on the floor. He tries to get her to let go of her shoes and be more comfortable, but that only makes Kang-shim lean on his shoulder. He freezes and becomes aware of their proximity. He unconsciously leans forward lips puckered but snaps out of his daze. He abruptly gets up which jerks Kang-shim awake.

She asks if Baek is gone, and he huffs all uppity that she left a while ago. Still flabbergasted, he leaves the closet and chugs his tea in an attempt to calm his nerves. Kang-shim bids farewell and mutters aloud how unlucky that future wife will be. Oh honey, we all know it's you! (and you'll wear the pants in the family and have him cook dinners)

Episode 17

Kang-shim, with luscious hair, attends her brother's wedding. Tae-joo waits for Kang-shim who arrives in a taxi, her hair pulled into her usual and perfect ponytail. He apologies for making her come after a wedding, but he couldn't meet with Baek by himself because it's too uncomfortable! Don't blame him. I'm surprised he's even meeting her at all. Our Tae-joo is really maturing.

As they greet Baek, she's clearly disappointed at seeing Kang-shim and doesn't hide it. Quick on her feet, Kang-shim tells Tae-joo that he has a meeting with the PR team in an hour. You can see the light-bulb go off in his head, and Tae-joo plays along with a stilted answer and an awkward smile. Baek sees through it, but just then, the other party joins. The woman turns out to be Tae-joo's college junior, so there's a certain level of familiarity off the bat.

Kang-shim gets relegated to another table and watches in disbelief at him. She scoffs at how he's enjoying himself and laughing like an idiot. When she turns away, Tae-joo looks over to Kang-shim who's sipping her drink, and he looks positively gloomy. They both don't know how much the other is thinking about them which makes it even more endearing and pathetic. Endearing because they both don't want to be there and in reality would rather be with each other, and pathetic because neither will acknowledge their feelings so they wallow in self-pity.

Baek and the other mother leave the table, glad that the kids seem to like each other. When the other lady leaves, Baek confronts Kang-shim and asks why she's still here. Kang-shim reminds her that there's a meeting, and Baek tells her to cancel it, if it even existed in the first place that is. Zing! Her barbed comment doesn't go unnoticed by Kang-shim, and to make matters worse, Baek tells her that she knows Kang-shim was at Tae-joo's place because she saw her heels in the closet. Kang-shim tries to explain, but Baek bulldozes through the conversation telling Kang-shim to basically know her place. She leaves, and a bewildered Kang-shim throws death glares at Tae-joo who looks like he's enjoying himself.

In reality, Tae-joo keeps glancing down at his phone, and his junior asks if he's waiting for something. He tells her that he has a meeting coming up and is waiting for a call about it.

Right then, Kang-shim texts, "Today's sudden meeting has been cancelled."

Suprised, Tae-joo looks over to her table and notices it empty. He quickly texts back, "How could you suddenly do something like this! You promised to help, Chief Secretary Cha!"

She texts, "Have a good time, Director! Signing off."

He starts texting an angry reply when his junior asks if he's dating. He's genuinely shocked and asks what she means. She says he looks like he was just blown off by his girlfriend. Everyone else sees it; you guys need to fess up and smell the roses!

Kang-shim devours a plate of spicy chicken, and her noisy cousin Young-sul comes to ask her what's wrong. Kang-shim starts to complain about Tae-joo calling him a little kid and feeling like his mom. Or if we're honest with ourselves, maybe a girlfriend with a super clingy boyfriend, is all I'm saying. She complains about his calling and over-reporting. Hilariously, animated Tae-joo's pop up next to Kang-shim as she recalls his daily reports around the clock.

"Are you two dating?"

Kang-shim blows her top off at her cousins question and scolds her for always reducing things to romance. Young-sul calls bull and says if you replace secretary with girl and director with boy, then anyone would think she was talking about dating. She has a very valid point. Young-sul might be lazy, noisy, and immature, but she's actually quite keen about romance. Kang-shim leaves ticked off ignoring the huge pink elephant in the room... because, yes, it does seem like you two are dating.

Tae-joo and Kang-shim are both in their rooms talking aloud that dating would be absurd. How ridiculous! Then we see Tae-joo taking off his tie and admitting to the camera that it's true, he lost his senses for a moment when she was sleeping. He's a healthy man, he could be shaken for a moment! 

Cut to Kang-shim squeezing toothpaste. She admits to her heart fluttering a bit when he asked her to stay by his side, but so what! She's not a jewel, she's a woman who could waver for a moment.

Back to Tae-joo furiously pumping some lotion and lathering his face. He firmly states that it's still ridiculous. Cha Kang-shim is out of the question!

Cut back to Kang-shim who's getting a glass of water. Of course it doesn't make sense, Moon Tae-joo... yeah right!

These two, they're like peas in a pod. Even their denial is the same!

While our two lovebirds are busy ignoring the truth, the Chairman is getting told lies. Baek tells him that Kang-shim and Tae-joo are in a relationship which he says is absurd. She insists that it's true and that she saw it with her own eyes. 

Kang-shim and Tae-joo both stare at their phones and sigh simultaneously. She wonders if he's going to call, and he wonders if he should continue sharing information with the "traitor".

They both get sucked out of their reveries as their dads knock on their doors. The Chairman barges into Tae-joo's place and starts looking into the rooms. He tells him to get married to the girl he saw today, and Tae-joo firmly says no. The Chairman asks if Tae-joo doesn't plan on marrying, he better not use his position to play around with women irresponsibly. With that, the Chairman leaves as abruptly as he came, and Tae-joo stares dumbfounded, none the wiser at what that was all about. 

Kang-shim gets a similar confrontation from her father who's been told that she might be dating the director. Kang-shim shoots daggers at Young-sul and calls it all baseless rumors. Young-sul argues that it isn't nonsense and as a more experienced person, she should know. This rubs Kang-shim the wrong way as the two start to get terse. However, Young-sul brings up Kang-shim's ex-boyfriend, a taboo topic, so Kang-shim retaliates by calling her cousin a leech, another taboo topic. By now both girls are seeing red, but it's Young-sul who grabs hair first. Kang-shim isn't a pushover and the two brawl right there in the living room. Younger brother Dal-bong hears the ruckus and comes down. He interferes in the fight as Aunt Cha and Daddy Cha try to separate the two girls. Dal-bong gets his hair pulled for his efforts, and Kang-shim tries to get in a last kick before the two are finally separated.

Let me just say, go Kang-shim!!

In her room, Kang-shim's still fuming at her cousin. Dal-bong asks if they want to keep acting like kids to which she chucks a pillow at his head. So funny! Kang-shim tells her dad to stop listening to Young-sul and that she's never going to marry. He apologies for his mistake and leaves since she wants to be alone. Kang-shim stares at her silent phone one more time before huffing and puffing in her bed.

At work the next morning, Kang-shim meets with the Chairman to dispel any misunderstandings. The Chairman awkwardly laughs and asks if it's about the "heels". Kang-shim explains that she owns the officetel Tae-joo is living in, and she only went to his place to solve a complaint he had. She tells him that Tae-joo wanted to make her ownership a secret which is why she's only telling the Chairman. He laughs and says that explains everything. He also adds that "he's saved" which makes Kang-shim feel weird despite clearing up the situation. Well, I really hope that the Chairman wouldn't be against Kang-shim because of her background but his current behavior isn't instilling much hope in me. I'm with Kang-shim on this one, something feels off.

As Kang-shim is in the office just back from her meeting, Tae-joo comes in looking annoyed. He asks if she's no longer greeting him at the elevator, and she tells him that she had something to do. He asks if she had something to do yesterday, too. Someone's being petty!

She informs him that the original plan was a meeting with Baek. Anyways, it looked like he was enjoying himself. He scoffs at that but then his tune starts to change. He gives a side glance to Kang-shim and smirks. "That's why you're mad."

He says that him being with a marriage prospect made her mad. She says that she has no reason to feel mad about his meeting. He continues his taunts and says that she left like that because she didn't like seeing him enjoying the company of another woman. She tells him that he's over-thinking it, and she didn't leave for such a reason. Tae-joo teases that it seems like she's the one overacting because her true feelings were found out. He's so childish, and she's quite cute all flustered.

Suddenly, Tae-joo recalls his junior's words about dating, and Kang-shim remembers Young-sul's questions about dating. They both abruptly act tense and formally. Retreating to their desks, both of them shake their heads and say it could never happen. Oh foolish lovebirds, it's already started!