Your House Helper Recap Episode 1

Your House Helper Episode 1

Kbs’s new drama Your House Helper is touted to be a slice of life romance, starring Ha Seok Jin (Something about 1%, Radiant Office), Bona (Girls Generation 1979, The Best Hit), Lee Ji Hoon (Legend of The Blue Sea) and Go Won Hee (Eulachacha Waikiki). The show is about a man who helps clean your house and in process changes your life too.

Kim Ji Woon, our passionate house helper, cycles his way into a beautiful street. People in their houses are doing their everyday chores and Ji Woon’s voice over goes that he supports doing these every day work such as dusting, throwing away the trash and folding clothes. He says that he understands how hard it is to both, balance work and do the cleaning, so that’s when they can call him as he is a good house keeper. He says that his service is not free and that he is quite expensive.

A feather lands on his shoulder which he crumples and puts in his pocket.

In that street he goes to the house of a grandpa who is his client. The house is a mess.

The grandpa applies ointment for his leg and leaves it on the table unclosed. He throws the band aid wrappers on the floor. Everything out of place in the house becomes animated in Ji Woon’s head and they start dancing around complaining loudly. They scream louder and Ji Woon apologises to them.

He puts on an apron and places everything where they belong. He installs hangers on the wall in the kitchen for utensils and in the living room for the grandpa’s hat and coat.

His voice over says that some people like to keep things where they can see them which doesn’t make them unorganised but that is just their way of organising things.

Grandpa marvels at how effectively Ji Woon cleaned the house and tells him he loves it.

Ji Woon asks him if he used to fight a lot with his wife. When asked how he knows Ji Woon just smiles.

He cooks for grandpa as the weather report goes that there will be very strong winds in Seoul.

He calls the grandpa to eat and goes to the terrace to fold clothes. (The clothes look like they came out of store!)

Grandpa comes by and mentions that the opposite house has become ugly. He noted to Ji Woon that the owner used to love the house so much. He sagely says that both humans and houses get ruined if they are not cared for.

Grandpa tells Ji Woon that it is too big a house for one young lady (Bona) to take care of so Ji Woon should help her. Ji Woon wonders if he gave her his number and grandpa asks him if she hasn’t called even once.

Grandpa says he should approach her first and Ji Woon refuses.

The said girl, Im Da Young comes to her very cluttered garden to dry her laundry. She dumps them one by one on the string in their crumpled state itself. Ji Woon is scandalised at the way she treats the clothes while holding the laundry that he did preciously.

She notices him watching her apprehensively and she lipreads him saying she is exactly like her laundry. All crumpled.  She huffs away muttering what is his problem.

His voice over goes that he is a house helper. He continues that if people need his help they should open their door for him and show him everything but he doesn’t intend on knocking on a door that that doesn’t what to open.

Da Young, who is an intern, gets ready for work but she doesn’t have time to even dry her hair after she slaps on some basic make up. She decides to wear a pony tail but is unable to find a headband. She mutters pass on the headband too and hurries out. Her bedroom dustbin is at full capacity and there are clothes on everything.

Her living room much worse as the couch itself is hidden behind mountains of boxes and other things. She grabs two full covers of garbage. She stops in front of her dad’s picture to say bye and tells him she’ll never say pass on that.

She runs into the street and leaves the garbage near the recycling bin. She sees the poster announcing the day and time at which recycling is collected.

She looks at the security camera and bows an apology saying she is unable to come at those times. She continues that even If she does she doesn’t have the energy to throw out garbage.

Ji Woon passes by and bows in recognition. Once he’s out of earshot she mumbles why he keeps acting like he knows her. She says he’s trying to get her to hire him and continues that she would never.

Her gets sms about her bills as she goes to work in the bus and when she gets down she sees her team leader driving to work in his car. She sprints to her office to get there before him.

Two of her team members run alongside her and dump their bags on her. They explain that the team leader thinks those two pulled an all-nighter. They ask her to keep up with that story and rush into the elevator and go up leaving her behind.

Once the team leader gets to the office, the two guys pretend like they just woke up.

The team leader tells them it’s nothing to harp about as it is normal for copywriters to pull all-nighters. Da Young wishes good morning to him but he just acknowledges her with minimal attention.

Her co-workers ask where their bags are and Da Young shows them the cleaning lady’s cart to their disappointment. The cleaning lady give their bags back quiet astutely while emptying their dustbins. The co workers look annoyed at Da Young since their bags smell like garbage.

The team leader announces they’ll have a meeting. Da Young too is about to go in but another girl from her team dumps the work which she didn’t complete and asks Da Young to do it instead of her. They all have a meeting about their new marketing ideas while Da Young is left behind making calls to some 100 lucky winners.

She looks at their team meeting wistfully from her desk wishing she could be in there.

As Ji Woon rides his cycle he sees Da Young’s garbage bag on the street. He goes to a bar and it looks like his office as an older guy (Jo Hee Bong) is on phone with a cleaning client asking why he wants to hire them. Ji Woon mimed NO at him when the client said because he doesn’t want to do it himself.

He yells at Ji Woon to not be so picky. He asks Ji Woon about their VVIP client Mr. Jang (grandpa.)

He asks him to not get cranky with him as his daughter pays them a lot. He asks about a neighbour Mr Jang mentioned and Ji Woon says that his grandpa’s hobby because he is bored making the other guy wonder if it’s a pretty girl. Ji Woon makes him leave the room and the other guy mutters that Ji Woon behaves as if he is the boss.

The bar owner is given a document by his barkeeper who says it was delivered just then. The owner’s expression changes and he puts away the document in his desk.

We see more new characters.

Hye Joo (Jeon Soo Jin), goes to an apartment to deliver food to her friend Yoon Sang A (Go Won Hee.) Sang A is a jewellery designer who strings pearls as a part time job. She searches her floor desperately for some missing pearls. Hye Joon says she can’t afford to misplace them as they are pricey. They both look for it and Hye Joon complains if they can find it among all the garbage piled up on the floor.

Hye Joo goes into a room which belongs to Sang Ah’s boyfriend to look for it despite Sang Ah trying to stop her. This room looks pristine and completely organised making Hye Joo wonder if it’s in the same house. It seems her boyfriend is in New York and Sang Ah is staying in his apartment to look after his cute dog, Ddolbok.

Hye Joo asks if Joon Young her boyfriend knows about the mess in his apartment. She wonders if he even calls Sang Ah and she defensively says he does.

They talk about the jewellery show that Sang Ah has to go to. Sang Ah says the president sent her VIP tickets. Hye Joo tells that he promised to make Sang Ah a vice president but didn’t contact her for months. Sang Ah assures her that it’ll be alright.

At Work, Da Young is still making calls. One of the team member ask her to order lunch for the team but jus says whatever when Da Young asks what they want.

She takes a file she created with elaborate details and brochures of restaurants and has marked who likes what kind of food in her team.

She seems very attentive about each of their needs earning praise that she is too good to be an intern. They marvel at her choices of items they ordered for her.

She goes out and eats a kimbap. The cleaning lady comes by and Da Young gives her a drink for helping her out earlier.

Their boss has come from Germany and the other team members dote on her. She seems like a no-nonsense person and tells them that she came by to add some fresh ideas.

She sees Da Young peeking from outside and gestures her to come in saying she looks fresh.

Sang Ah looks like a totally different person as she rides an elevator to the Jewellery show. There’s a new guy in the elevator and he listens in on her conversation with Hye Joo about how she finally got rid of her debts. Hye Joo wonders why she hasn’t gotten together with her other friend Da Young and So Mi recently. She asks if something happened between them. Sang Ah denies that saying they are just busy with their own lives including herself.

The designer of the show, Tae Hee, seems to be her friend. She invites Sang Ah cheerfully for coming but apologises that she was too busy to send her an invite. Only then Sang Ah learns that she is having her own show.

She tries to move away when people come to talk the lead designer. Tae Hee stops her and introduces her as a fellow jewellery designer and asks them if they’ve heard of ‘Perta.’

They seem unaware of her Sang Ah’s work but Tae Hee says her designs are amazing. A flamboyant guy comes and fawns over Sang Ah and then pulls her away saying he needs a favour.

He too is a designer and asks her to go on the cat walk as his announcer has come down with a stomach problem.  She says that she isn’t a model but he whines that he needs a designer like her to walk. He convinces her somehow by offering her 4 times the pay.

Sang Ah goes into the dressing room where other models are getting ready.

The guy who was in the elevator, Kwon Jin Kook, comes into the dressing room to meet one of the designers. He seems to be her lawyer and the designer asks him to stay till the end as she wants to set him up with someone. He refuses politely.

One of the models and the event worker are arguing over a missing brooch. He asks her who will take responsibility. Jin Kook who was watching comes over and asks her if she went anywhere else. The model says no.

Jin Kook calls out to everyone in the room asking them to spare a minute and help their friend.

Sang Ah finds it and marvels that she is getting good at finding pearls. She gives It to the event guy who seems very grateful. She finds Jin Kook looking at her.

Sang Ah walks the ramp as the show stopper taking Tae Hee by surprise. She looks amazing and once again Jin Kook watches her from the audience.

Hye Joo sees Sang Ah’s ramp photos on what looks like Sang Ah’s SNS page. She is at her other friend So Mi’s nail salon. So Mi (Seo Eun Ah) is getting an earful from a neighbour who is complaining that her salon is always loud. She stammers and is unable to talk to him confidently. She sighs heavily once he goes away. She goes into her shop and complains that he is a jerk.

Sang Ah sends her photo from the ramp to her boyfriend Yong Joon. She sends him a message saying she feels really down today and tells him to reply. It looks like he is reading her messages but isn’t bothering to reply. She yells in frustration that he should at least not read the messages.

Da Young is asked about her opinion on their new ad concept for a vaccum cleaner by her boss. She tells her that people already know it’s an expensive product and they’d rather want to hear about how it has improved instead of spending money after watching a touchy advertisement about parents. The tired team members watch her disinterestedly.

They say that their marketing client likes touchy advertisements. Their boss just lets them off the hook saying she’ll go to the meeting. After the others leave she asks Da Young t put together a proposal for the vaccum cleaner ad. Da Young looks at her in awe and thanks her for the opportunity. Her boss brushes it off saying it’s just practice.

As they leave the office it’s really windy and Da Young’s phone pings with more bill messages.

Da Young calls Hye Joo and asks her for some loan. Hye Joo says at this rate she’ll lose her father’s house to debt. She asks Da Young to rent the other rooms in her house so that she’ll earn some money.

Hye Joo is seated at her accessories shop and her friend (Bang Chul Soo) brings her something to eat. She aks them if they have any money left and he says no. Hye Joo is frustrated that she is unable to help her friend.

Da Young goes home and finds a whirlwind filled with garbage. It looks like something out of a ghost movie. The bar owner fights his way out of it hilariously as if doing a jazz dance. He tells Da Young that the plastic bags are attacking him in groups.

She goes home and contemplates on the idea of renting her house. She convinces herself to do it after thinking about the mounting bills. She posts an ad online.

Her door bell rings in the morning and its Jang grandpa who angrily gives her the garbage she left at the recycling area yesterday. He complains that the street is a mess because of her. She is surprised to find the garbage on her doorstep and wonders how it came here.

Da Young remembers seeing Mr Kim (Ji Woon) while she was throwing the garbage. She cleans up the trash and some kids throw things in it and runaway laughing. She screams Ji Woon’s name. She determines to get back at Mr. Kim for this.

A lady throws water at Ji Woon thinking he is a perv with a camera inside the bathroom. A building owner comes over and explains that he is cleaning. Ji Woon asks her to apologise but she asks him why he has a camera. He tells her that it’s a device to check germs.

The building owner asks him to take it easy and not check for germs and all. He gets cranky and tells her that she should have hired someone else if she wanted to take it easy. He tells her that he chose to come here because he heard that she wanted to cherish the building she bought with all her life savings. She tells him it is all true but she just wanted her building to be clean but she doesn’t understand if there is any difference as it is just cleaning.

Bar owner yells at him at their place to just do his job. Ji Woon says no one takes it easy if something is precious to them. Bar owner says he is tired of this and complains that it is hard to watch him sleep in this tiny room instead of going home. Bar Owner mutters to himself why Ji Woon is stubborn and hasn’t gone home in 5 years.

Da Young gets a lot of responses for her online ad and they all want to come see her house.

Ji Woon goes to clean a small apartment in a building. A tired mother of two young kids lets him in. She looks at him relieved. The house if filled with toys. Ji Woon takes out his tool bag, puts on his apron and gets to work.

He arranges the toys and books. He sorts out the clothes that are lying everywhere and proceeds to do the dishes. He clears out the kitchen surface and sprays it down to wipe it clean. Inch by inch he organises every single corner of the house. Once he cleans the living room he hangs the family picture on the wall which was lying on a corner earlier. He smiles at it happily.

The mother and her kids sleep in the bedroom while Ji Woon leaves a note for them before leaving.

At night, the dad comes home from work and reads the note. Ji Woon wrote that this house doesn’t have two things, there’s no time for your wife and no separate space for you. The dad sees that Ji Woon has created a separate corner for him with a table and a chair.

He eats dinner with his wife and he says that it looks as if a ghost came in and cleaned the house. The mom replies that it feels more like a fairy to her or like a god of cleaning.

She apologises to him for breaking his drone and he tells her that he has applied for paternity leave.

One by one we see that every apartment in that building looks clean and the families in them are happily spending time together. Except for one apartment which looks dark.

Ji Woon stands at its door and his voice over goes that there is no way he can open a closed door and he doesn’t have the courage to even knock it. He tells that it will be that way until the person comes and opens the empty apartment.

Bar Keep is talking to the bar owner about where JI Woon is. He tells that the baby’s mother kept crying and he sent Ji Woon because he goes to places that are sincerely in need of his help.

Bar owner worriedly tells him that he can’t believe Ji Woon went to that apartment and it seems like he already told the bar keep that he shouldn’t take up jobs from that building.

At Da Young’s office they get good news about their meeting from their boss. They celebrate and decide to go out to dinner. Da Young looks hopeful but they don’t even spare her a look and run outside in excitement. Da Young looks dejected to be left alone in the office at night. She works on the proposal her boss asked her to prepare.

One of her co-workers, Choi Na Ri, call her on the phone and ask her to bring a shopping bag from her desk to where they are. Da Young looks inside the bag and sees a new handbag.

She takes it to her co workers who are at the karaoke. The Guys drag her in and ask her to sing for them. She looks like she doesn’t want to. One of her female co workers say that may be if she sings well she might get offered a full-time job.

Da Young sincerely tells them that she has only six more weeks left and that she hopes to become a full-time worker in their company. They ask her to stop talking and sing. She sings a song and they all have a good time.

The girl who made Da Young bring her shopping bag, Na Ri, throws up in some bushes. Da Young helps her as she is drunk and Na Ri tells her that the other lady from their team, Jang Mi, told her that interns rarely get a permanent position. She yells and goes on about why they have to be so mean, hiring and then just dumping the interns.

The other girl puts her in a cab while saying that it is not any of their business and that is just the way it is. She leaves in the same cab after asking Da Young if she is coming too. She asks as if it’s a formality. Da Young says no. After the cab leaves Da Young realises that the shopping bag is still with her.

Ji Woon cycles his way back after the day’s work.

Da Young walks on the side walk of a bridge looking rather lost. She sees the suicide helpline phone and picks it up. She asks the person on the other end if she can say anything she wants to them.

The lady on the other end kindly says she can tell anything.

Da Young says she is hungry and that she had to sing and dance on an empty stomach. She tells that her team went to eat and didn’t even realise she was working alone in the office. She says that they act like they need her desperately when they want things done but leave her out of everything important as if she isn’t even there.

Ji Woon is on the same side walk on the bridge. He sees himself standing on the ledge of the bridge leaning forward, ready to jump. A voice over goes asking if they should die together or live together. It looks like a dark memory from his past.

He hears Da Young’s voice talking into the suicide helpline phone about what gives her a hard time. He comes back to his senses and looks at her. Da Young cries and says everything gives her a hard time.

The helpline asks which thing gives her the worst time? Da Young says people.

She sees Ji Woon standing a little distance away and tells that it is Mr. Kim. She tells again that Mr.Kim keeps giving her a hard time.

Ji Woon gets annoyed at her and turns around to walk away. Da young drops the phone and runs behind him saying she has something to say to him. But two police officers stop her and ask her if she was the one who called the suicide helpline.

She tells them she wasn’t trying to commit suicide. They tell her they can speak more at the police station. Ji Woon watches them trying to take her away while she keeps protesting that she didn’t come to commit suicide and she was just talking to that lady. Ji Woon watches her being taken away in the police car.

Thoughts

Very new and refreshing story board. It certainly stirs the organising part of your brain and makes you want to arrange thing better.

There’s a lot of unsaid stuff that goes on but you just feel it. Like that husband and wife, you could tell that it was tense them and when he tells her he applied for paternity leave you know it.

It feels like Ji Woon can see what’s happening in the house just by looking at the mess in it.

Whether it is OCD or he genuinely wants to help people for a living is yet to be seen. He does seem like he hit rock bottom once.

I think we can expect all of the girls to come together and live at Da Young’s place.

Sang Ah and her dog are both adorable. We saw her last in Eulachacha Waikiki, another share house drama and I loved her in it. I want the dog too to come and stay at the house.

Hye Joo seems to be the glue between all the other 3 girls for now whereas the nail salon girl So Mi had very little screen time. She seems to have some issues with nerves but it’s too soon to tell.

Then there’s the lawyer that seemed interested in Sang Ah.

At Ji Woon’s side we have the Bar owner and the bar keep. Plus, that hilarious grandpa. They all seem very nice but owner looks like he is hiding something from Ji Woon.

Da Young’s co workers are downright horrible but her boss looked like a strong lady who appreciates good work.

The last scene was so sad, relatable and yet funny. It has happened to all of us one time. We’ve been left out of things, made to feel unimportant or invisible and have been hungry when they totally forget to invite you to eat. It has happened to all of us at least once. If not consider yourself lucky.

This show has a good start. If it could combine every person’s story successfully, then it’ll surely be a great ride.

Grey Husky