Come and Hug Me – Recap Episode 5 – 6

Come And Hug Me Recap Episode – 5

Hyun Moo’s trial is being held at the court for giving a serious injury to the kid he was fighting with at school. The judge informs that he already has a criminal record and was under probation. He asks Hyun Moo if he has anything to say for himself. He mockingly says not really. He smirks at the victim’s parents without an ounce of guilt. The judge gives a him a 2-year sentence, and Na Moo looks on with a sense of despair. Hyun Moo is surprised. As he is being dragged away he yells at Na Moo to bring their father. He tells him to make an appeal.

Na Moo waits outside in the corridor to apologize to the family of the victim. The mother comes to strike at Na Moo but is stopped by her family. But Na Moo still obediently offers his apologies when they leave the court.

Back home, Ok Hee is packing her bags. Seo Jin asks if they are running away and she confirms that they are. Seo Jin refuses to leave Na Moo behind but Ok Hee begs her daughter that he can’t live them anymore. When they are about to leave Ok Hee spots Hui Jae’s shirt, cigarettes and cap on the table. With a manic look Ok Hee drags Seo Jin out of the house and starts running at top speed. She backs up suddenly and freezes in fear when she comes face to face with Na Moo. He looks at her bag as Seo Jin runs to him and hugs his legs.

Ok Hee angrily tells Na Moo that if he tells his father he’ll kill both her and Seo Jin. Na Moo asks about Seo Jin and she tells him that he and Hyun Moo are Hui Jae’s kids by blood so they can suffer for his crimes but Seo Jin doesn’t have to live as a murderer’s daughter.

Na Moo looks very hurt at her words but she starts begging him to let them go.  They hide in a bush when a truck crosses by but Na Moo tells her that it’s ok. He tells Seo Jin to go with her mom and that he’ll protect her always no matter where she is. Ok Hee looks ashamed of herself for abandoning Na Moo but Na Moo tells her that she didn’t do anything wrong and to not blame herself. He tells her thank you for living with him these few years and taking care of them. He says “Thank you for being my mother”, tearfully.

Ok Hee cries with her head down but starts to run along with her daughter. The neighbourhood women wonder why she is running but she doesn’t stop to answer. Na Moo sadly watches them go while waving at Seo Jin.

Later, Hui Jae seems to be creating a ruckus wondering where his wife went without telling him. Na Moo stares at Seo Jin’s empty study table in his room.

Next day Na Moo and Nak Won meet under some cherry blossom trees.  Nak Won asks him if its very noisy in his head and if his heart is in pain. She tells him that she is quite sensitive to things like this and wonders if she guessed correctly. The usually quiet Na Moo says yes and she is surprised that she guessed correctly. To check her skills again, Nak Won asks him to look at her differently.

He does and after looking for a while she asks if his look meant that he likes her. She jumps up and down with joy when he confirms again that she is correct. Suddenly, she stops and realises what just happened. She slowly asks him if its true and tells that she was just joking around.

Na Moo gets up and tells Nak Won that she once said that she likes him because he is like a tree (like his name.) He says that to him she is like a real paradise (her name means paradise I think) and that’s why he likes her. He confesses the way he feels and tells her that he likes her very much.

 

Nak Won looks confused for a moment, but starts to smile when she sees his hand that he hurt while saving lucky. She looks up at him only to see that he’s crying. When asked why he replies that he is sorry. Nak Won asks him why he is sorry and he says for liking her.

The adult Na Moo (whom we’ll call Do Jin) wakes up in tears with this memory in mind.  When he gets ready and leaves his room he finds Hui Jae’s auto biography titled “I’m Not Unlike You”, in front of his door.

Ok Hee, who now runs a pork soup shop in Chugae Island is hounded by a reporter. The reporter and her cameraman cautiously help her clean the tables while trying to coax something out of her.  She is asked to give a one-hour interview and is promised that they won’t ever come back. Ok Hee refuses but the reporter continues saying that Hui Jae mentions her by name in the book as the only women he ever loved. Ok Hee pauses for a minute but doesn’t cave. She is shaken when they show the book which has Yoon Hui Jae’s face in its cover.

They follow her into the kitchen asking about his final victim and mentions that he was caught because his son reported him. The reporter switches her mic on and asks about the son. She wonders if he’s a senior and if he’ll visit her before he graduates. Ok Hee knocks away the reporter’s hand and yells why he would visit her. She kicks them out of her shop and threatens to pull out all their hair if they even mention her son’s name or even his initials in their article. She continues that she ‘ll also sue them.

The reporters look terrified and wonder whether living with a killer made Ok Hee that violent. They get a call with a better scoop that Hui Jae’s son who never visited him in prison is graduating from the police academy. She tells her camera man that Hui Jae’s son looks very handsome like an actor so this story sounds very pretty already.

At the Police academy, Do Jin is practising Kendo, a Japanese martial art, with his friend Jong Hyun. When Jong Hyun falls, Do Jin puts his hand underneath him to protect him from getting hurt. Jong Hyun complains that his chivalry is embarrassing him and they playfully hug each other on the floor. Do Jin winces a little because of his hand. As Do Jin is about to leave, he sees a girl, Yeon Ji, sparring with another male student from the academy. Later she asks Do Jin if he’ll help her practise because her current partner wants to spend more time studying.

At night Do Jin sees her practising on her own at the gym. He asks her if the reason she is practising with men instead of women is because she has to fight men in the real world. She nods in confirmation. He agrees to help her and asks her to treat him like a cruel criminal from now on. So that it’ll make her stronger as they fight. She asks Do Jin why he is helping her when he doesn’t even know her. Do Jin says he’ll go back if she doesn’t want to.  Yeon Ji stops him and accepts his help and asks him to lend his body. They start sparring and we see that Do Jin is almost twice as tall as her.

Elsewhere on a shooting set, the adult Nak Won (whom we’ll call Jae Yi) is fiming a Korean independence era sageuk drama. She plays a supporting role, Yoon Deok, and her scene is with the lead actor who asks her to run away with him. It involves a lot of hugging and looks like a goodbye scene. The director yells cut and tells them that they did a good job. When the director tells Jae Yi her part is over she asks him if she can do it one more time. The director tells her its fine but she insists to do another scene earning a weird look from the lead actor. The director tells her that there is a possibility that this scene may get omitted from the final print.

Jae Yi’s face falls at that bit of information. The next scene is to be shot with the lead actress who plays ‘Se Kyung’ and Jae Yi looks sadly as they give more importance to that scene. As she walks away the lead actor asks her if she isn’t being a little too much for a supporting actress. She grits her teeth and tells him that she is the leading actress of her life. He continues to ask her if he made her heart flutter during that scene and that’s why she wanted to shoot it one more time. Jae Yi rolls her eyes and says he thinks too much of himself and walks away.

The director waves her away unimportantly as she says bye and concentrates on shooting the main lead’s scene. She goes to watch the scene in the monitor. It is similar to the scene she shot and Jae Yi looks at the scene dreamily as everyone praises Se Kyung’s acting.

Do Jin receives a lot of messages from reporters asking if he could do an interview with them. Do Jin deletes them without a pause. He receives a voice message from a reporter Park Hee Young, who tells that she is going to visit his father. She also requests him to meet her this time as she s been getting interview requests. She sounds like she has met him when he was younger. Do Jin get a very pensive look on his face as his eyes wander off to his father’s auto biography which is still lying in front of his door.

Come And Hug Me Recap Episode – 6

In her tiny pink car, Jae Yi drives back home. She gets a call from her manager who is in the hospital to reattach his bones. He tells her that his bones are reattached and he’ll be back in a week. They both joke that he’s like a wild animal for recovering so quickly. He startles everyone in the hospital with his maniac laughter. After he cuts the call, the nurse asks him why he lied to Jae Yi that his bones are attached. He replies that he feels bad for being bedridden. He takes his phone and goes on to post good comments on the internet about Jae Yi.

Jae Yi’s brother, Moo Won messages her asking about her day (he still calls her Nak Won.) She replies that her day was good and wishes him the same. He smiles after reading her message and starts studying again.

He starts to read a chapter on homicide and his memory flashes back to a young boy about 10 years old. He stands there with a bleeding forehead and a knife which he drops in shock. There is at least one person lying limp on the floor, a fire and also a family photo.

The adult Moo Won shakes himself out of the disturbing memory and looks at a picture of him and Jae Yi at a graduation. It calms him down a little.

At the Jae Yi’s drama set, the lead actress Cheong Se Kyung is getting ready in a make-up room. When her staff ask her about her beautiful skin she replies that’s something she was born with and it has to be maintained. In the corner of the same room, Jae Yi is fast asleep unaware of her surroundings. Se Kyung is irritated because of the snoring and complains to her hair and make-up staff.

A guy from the set comes looking for Se Kyung and Jae Yi for a television interview. Se Kyung deliberately makes Jae Yi miss the interview by not telling them she is asleep in the very same room. She intimidates the make-up girl who tries to help Jae Yi and tells that she won’t be missed because she is only a supporting actress.

Do Jin is supervising the march of a police troop in the grounds, while Yeon Ji (his training partner) admires him from the stands.

Back at the makeup room Jae Yi is finally found and informed that she has an interview. She runs to the set where the interview is being held. She reaches there moments before the end of the interview and her face falls. The interviewer asks the rest of the cast about their promise to give out free hugs if their viewership touches 20%. Se Kyung cunningly replies that Jae Yi will do it and that she will also be bringing out a coffee cart to support a movie that Se Kyung is working in.

After the interview is over, Se Kyung tells Jae Yi that she was fast asleep and wouldn’t budge even when they tried to wake her up. She gives Jae Yi her card to go drink coffee at a café which is a twenty-minute drive from their set.

Jae Yi hops into her pink smart car and drives to the café. She takes her anger out on a fellow driver. When she reaches the café, she lists out a ‘to go’ order at super speed to the barista. People at the café wonder if she is an actress as her independence era costume attracts a lot of attention. She introduces herself sweetly to them as a drama actress and asks them to take a selfie with her. Soon, more people come along and she excitedly shoots pictures with them.

When she is about to leave with her coffee she sees the news about Yoon Hui Jae’s auto biography ‘I’m Not Unlike You’. She listens to it stricken as the news says that Hui Jae has described his murders and how he regrets them. As another person tries to click a picture of her she drops the coffee in shock.

At the Police Academy, Do Jin is sparring with Yeon Ji. Once they are done, he informs her that her skill has improved. He gets a call from Seo Jin, his little sister, and starts taking to her. Yeon Ji watches him with interest as he her tells that he misses Seo Jin and their mom. On the other end, mom looks at Seo Jin with concern as she talks with her brother.

Do Jin walks back to his room where he once again finds his father’s auto biography at his door. He goes to sit in front of the cool drink machine and stares at the book for a while. He starts to read it and the first page quote says “If you want forgiveness, forgive first.” Hui Jae has started his first chapter with the apologies to the families of the victims and says that something like that should never happen in Korea.

As Do Jin reads the book, we see that in jail when everyone is asleep Hui Jae is still awake sitting cross legged on the floor. Do Jin goes to the contents page of the book and he shuts it suddenly when he sees a chapter called, ‘That Day.’

We flash back again, this time to actress Jee Hye Won’s living room. Na Moo/Do Jin is on the floor and a bleeding Hui Jae tells him that this is what he should have done and it is what makes him Yoon Hui Jae’s blood. He continues that Na Moo is more like him than his older brother Hyun Moo. In the present, Do Jin drops the book in horror after reliving that memory. He looks at Jae Yi’s face printed on the cool drink machine and once again he is reminded of those old times. The time she said that he should come to her whenever he feels that his pain is too much to handle.

He remembers another moment from his past. On the heavily slowing hillside, which is swarmed with police, a grief-stricken Nak Won is brought in a car along with Moo Won. She spots Na Moo sitting crouched, guiltily, on the cold road. She gets down from the car and stares at him with accusing eyes. Na Moo looks up at her but puts his head down unable to face her. She walks up to him angrily and stops at a few steps in front of him. This time when he looks at her she goes down and hugs him. She cries holding his hand and Na Moo starts to tear up.

We see the present Do Jin remembering Jae Yi’s words that she ll like him forever whatever may be the case. But then his eyes rest on Hui Jae’s book which reads “I’m Not Unlike You.”

In Jae Yi’s Smart car, her manager tries to get an article about her published but the reporter hangs up uninterested. Jae Yi is on her way to set up the coffee cart for Se Kyung’s movie. Both Jae Yi and her manager know that it’ll only benefit Se Kyung and not them in anyway, but they are still excited that many reporters will be there.

Se Kyung’s movie is being shot inside the police academy. As expected there are many reporters in the front gate. Only, they want to interview a student of the academy but the security won’t let them in. The reporter who got chased out by Ok Hee is here too with her cameraman and they enter the campus under the pretence that her nephew studies there. They memorise Do Jin’s face from their phones and start searching for him.

Se Kyung is acting as a Police officer in the movie and Jae Yi’s coffee cart arrives right during the break. Jae Yi and her manager are stuck outside the gates unable to gain entry. When her manager is unable to convince the police at the gate that Jae Yi is also an actress, she decides to take measures herself. She re-enacts a whole commercial hilariously and somehow gets in.

As Jae Yi gets her coffee ready,  Ji Hyo (the reporter), and her cameraman arrive. They start questioning Jae Yi and her manager requests them to write a good article about her. Once he leaves she asks about her coffee cart. When Jae Yi answers that she came because of the 20% viewership pledge and to support her co star Se Kyung. Ji Hyo asks her if it’s her first time there and if she doesn’t have any other reason to visit or if she has an old friend here. Jae Yi confirms it is her first time there and she doesn’t know anyone.

Ji Hyo wonders out loud that she really doesn’t seem to know. She than goes on to ask about Yoon Hui Jae and asks her if she is Jee Hye Won’s daughter Gil Nak Won. Jae Yi freezes on spot and says nothing. Exactly at that moment Se Kyung comes near her with a storm of reporters. She holds Jae Yi and praises her to the reporters for making such a long trip. She tries to hug Jae Yi but Jae Yi stands there uncomfortably as if trying to hide in a shell.

As Se Kyung wonders what is wrong with her, Jae Yi tries to get away from the reporters. They are still unaware of the Hui Jae situation so they ask her about the coffee cart. Ji Hyo swoops in front of her and bluntly asks how she feels about Yoon Hui Jae’s biography and being the family of a victim. Jae Yi’s eyes flare up in anger. She asks Ji Hyo to shut up and other reporters wonder if it’s true. Jae Yi stumbles to the ground trying to get away from them.

Ji Hyo, goes down to the ground and tells Jae Yi that it is good for her to get noticed like this if she is going to become an actress like her mother. She audaciously tells that it isn’t bullying and she’ll print Jae Yi’s side of the story. Jae Yi leaves the ground with what is left of her energy and tries to move away from them. She trips again but this time Do Jin catches her.

When the reporters start clicking away, he holds her protectively and tells them to switch of the recorders and not to take photos. She looks up at him curiously as he looks down at her.

Thoughts

Come and Hug Me make me want to go and hug the leads with their sad eyes. I have decided to address the younger couple as Na Moo and Nak Won and their older versions as Do Jin and Jae Yi to avoid any continuity issues. Ok Hee leaving Na Moo and running away with her own child looks cruel but it looks like there is more to the story so i am still reserving judgement on her. Na Moo opening up about the way he feels to Nak Won was quite beautiful to watch. He knows nothing good can come out of it knowing what his father is. So that desperation is visible in his eyes when he cries that he is sorry for liking her.

In the present however, he looks much more peaceful and friendly than his past self but the question is how long that will last. Both the main characters have found some joy despite their horrible past, so what is looming over them? We ll wait and find out.

The cherry blossom scenes are a treat to watch. The crew has made good use of the spring summer seasons.

-Grey Husky

Come and Hug Me 7 – 8 Recap