Lee Soon-shin is the Best: Episode 30 Recap

by: Raine

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OMG the cute. OMG Jo Jung-seok sings. So that means watch the first half of the show.

Just skip the second half. It has idiot mothers.

AGB Nielson Nationwide had this episode coming in at 27.9%.

episode 30 recap

Joon-ho stumbles upon Young-hoon comforting a crying Soon-shin in his arms. Before he has much time to register his jealousy, In-sung shows up and loudly announces their presence. Young-hoon and Soon-shin are surprised and not-at-all pleased to see them. Joon-ho awkwardly explains that he is there for business, but no one’s buying his lame excuse.

I missed you, awkward Joon-ho!! *hugs*

He gets a call from Mi-ryeong who impatiently demands to know about Soon-shin and reminds him how important this is. If he doesn’t bring Soon-shin, she’ll be very disappointed.

Oooooh, disappointment. So scary…not.

Mr. Waiter apologizes to Soon-shin and then gets kicked out of his chair by Joon-ho. He fusses to make sure Soon-shin eats enough. And then Mr. Waiter asks what they’re all thinking, “Are you here to sign a contract with Soon-shin?” He fervently denies it.

In-sung tries to liven up the mood by having Joon-ho play guitar for them. At first he refuses, but In-sung forces it on him and the applause of the audience makes Joon-ho smile. When Soon-shin doesn’t seem interested, he decides not to sing and Young-hoon takes the guitar.

OMG Lee Ji-hoon singing?! YES! Well, it would’ve been cool but Joon-ho takes the guitar back when he sees Soon-shin is really interested.

AND THEN IT HAPPENS! JO JUNG-SEOK SINGS! *SQUEEEEEEEE* *Hyperventilation* OMG OMG OMG OMG FINALLY!

Soon-shin smiles a moment and then remembers the conversation when Joon-ho promised to play her guitar if she did well at the audition. The memory depresses her and she LEAVE BEFORE HE IS FINISHED! *sob*

A little while later, Joon-ho finds her sitting on a bridge and joins her. He comments that she doesn’t seem impressed by his singing – that’s why he failed. But she ignores the comment, instead asking him to leave her be. He won’t, and he pushes acting again. He knows she wants to do it and tells her the movie is amazing. She’d be happy doing it.

Soon-shin agrees that she loves to act, but it’s not right to make her family suffer so she can be happy. She wants to get back to acting her own way.

YES! That’s what I want to hear.

The next morning Joon-ho is very conspicuously lurking in front of Soon-shin’s tent. When caught by Mr. Waiter, he pretends he’s checking tent safety. Mr. Waiter tells him Soon-shin is going back to Seoul by train, and Joon-ho rushes to the station, barely catching it before it leaves.

He searches for Soon-shin and the HUGEST grin crosses his face when he spots her. She gets all snippy about him following her and he’s all like, “I just want to take the train for fun.” It’s so cute how pleased he is with himself. He rambles on about what good taste Young-hoon has for choosing such a scenic train. Soon-shin jumps on that and agrees, “Unlike someone else, he’s very handsome, gentle and has good taste.” Oooooh, them’s fighting words.

A woman comes by to take their photo and Joon-ho agrees to it and sits next to Soon-shin. He grabs her hand and makes her pose with a “V”. HE IS SO CUTE! He’s smiling happily and teases her about her funny expression in the photo, but can’t stop himself from smiling over it. His smile fades when Mi-ryeong calls, and he ignores her.

GOOD BOY! Ignore the wench! IGNORE!

Yeah, they need to be big pictures. This is…CUTE!

Joon-ho notices that Soon-shin has fallen asleep and adorably shields her face from the sun. I’m dying here. It’s so cute. I missed you, cute. Where have you been all my life? Of course, her head falls on his shoulder and he is so awkward and adorable and pleased. He can’t stop smiling and gets self-conscious all by himself. ACK! CUTE! *cute spaz attack*

When the train stops, Joon-ho makes a snap decision and hurriedly wakes Soon-shin and rushes her off the train. They’ve disembarked at Gooncheon, which is most definitely not Seoul. She is incredulous that he’s dragged her off the train, but he forces her to follow him to take pictures and enjoy the scenery.

Joon-ho, you won back all the points you lost when you were trying to force Soon-shin to act. This is so cute and WISE. Keep her AWAY from the witch!

Joon-ho has her take a picture of him posing with…dun dun dun…a wood pile! He pulls off the cheesiest post that makes her laugh. Then he has her pose while putting wood into an outdoor furnace. She can’t help but laugh and I’m dying of the cute and the amazing chemistry. He tries to get her to post again and she runs away! SQUEE!

It starts to rain and then take shelter together, laughing. Soon-shin’s hair is all wet and he helps her fix it. They get all self-conscious and he gets dorkily awkward. I love this. Moar. MOAR!

Soon-shin turns serious and asks why he’s being so nice to her. Is he still feeling sorry for what he did? Or is she pitiful? He says, “just because.” When he looks at her he sees his old self. The self that was happy while singing. And then he gave up and ran away. He doesn’t want that for her; he doesn’t want her to give up because of others. She can do it.

Aw, that’s what she needs to hear! Good, Joon-ho.

Joon-ho abruptly changes subjects and teases that she doesn’t carry a mirror to fix her hair. When she pulls one out, he tells her that she’s beautiful, so she should do her best. She’s pretty enough, at least to him.

AWWWWW! Dying. Of. Cute. *falls over dead*

Mi-ryeong is furious she can’t contact Joon-ho and finds out from Hwang that he just came into the Seoul train station with Soon-shin. She spots the pair and hurries over to them. Joon-ho asks why she’s there and Mi-ryeong tries to drag Soon-shi away. Joon-ho tries to stop Mi-ryeong, but Soon-shin handles it herself. When Mi-ryeong orders Soon-shin to follow her, the young woman tells Mi-ryeong that she can take care of her own future. She leaves despite Mi-ryeong’s furious pleas. Mi-ryeong says if she leaves, she won’t help her again. Soon-shin leaves and Joon-ho stops Mi-ryeong from going after her.

Joon-ho asks to speak with her, but Mi-ryeong doesn’t want more talk. She hollers that she wants to cancel the contract and when he agrees, she looks shocked. He doesn’t want to work with her.

In-sung is blown away when he hears Mi-ryeong’s contract will be canceled – she owns a lot of the company. Uh-oh. Joon-ho shuts him up and swears hhe’ll take care of it.

Yeon-ah visits Soo-jung and Yi-jung. Seems she’s latching onto a new mother figure. Yi-jung badmouths Soon-shin and Yeon-ah tells them about Mi-ryeong decorating a room for her. Tactlessly, Yi-jung observes that Yeon-ah must feel really put out by Mi-ryeong’s real daughter.

Yeah, you think?

Yeon-ah says she will treat Soon-shin like a sister and then asks to take cooking classes with Soo-jung. She is SO latching onto a new mother figure.

Hye-shin is tutoring sexy baker Jin-wook who is getting better in his studies. Jung-ae calls to see if Hye-shin knows where Soon-shin is, but she doesn’t. Instead, she reassures Jung-ae that Soon-shin will come back. Jin-wook comments that Soon-shin runs away a lot; he used to do that, too. He advises Hye-shin to just wait for her and not worry -unless Soon-shin does bad things.

Ruh-roh. Are you talking about yourself?

He tries to distract her with a pastry, but another distracting arrives: a very angry Woo-joo. She has a fit when sees her mother and Jin-wook together and drags her mother out of the bakery.

Wow, she lets her kid boss her around and treat people rudely? Woman, you’re the mother. Act like one! That will give Woo-joo some security and someone to ACTUALLY lean on.

Outside, Woo-joo reveals why she’s upset: she thinks Hye-shin is cheating on her father like Chang-hoon did to Jung-ae. The kids at school tease her for having a cheating grandfather. They asked her if her mother was divorced because her dad cheated. Woo-joo orders her mom not to see Jin-wook again.

It’s a good reason to be upset, but Hye-shin needs to sit her kid down and TALK to her. Not just let her throw fits and make her keep secrets.

Jung-ae calls Mi-ryeong when she can’t get ahold of Soon-shin. She introduces herself as “Soon-shin’s mom” and Mi-ryeong orders her not to introduce herself like that.

*punch*<–me punching Mi-ryeong in the face

Mi-ryeong gives her attitude when asked where Soon-shin is and tells Jung-ae that Soon-shin won’t do the movie because of her. How will she take responsibility for that? It’s all her fault.

She shouldn’t. Soon-shin shouldn’t’ be doing a movie with YOU. You’re EVIL!

Jung-ae feels guilty and when Soon-shin comes home she immediately tells Soon-shin to accept the movie offer. Soon-shin furiously says she won’t do it.

Seriously, the way everyone but Joon-ho pushes her is so selfish. Jung-ae feels guilty but she doesn’t see that Soon-shin values her family more. She has to take that into account.

When she heads into work, idiot Gil-ja tells Jung-ae to let Soon-shin go to Mi-ryeong because she will anyway. NO SHE WON’T. Well, now she will with everyone shoving her towards Mi-ryeong as though they don’t want her. Guh, these people are all dumb. They’re supposed to be family and friends, but they treat living with someone your whole life as less of a tie than blood. Mi-ryeong ABANDONED Soon-shin and only wants her as a possession.

Gil-ja tells Jung-ae to forget Soon-shin and care for the kids she gave birth, too. Her husband is trying to shush her, but she keeps talking. Then she starts in on Yoo-shin for drinking and dating.

Wow. Jung-ae doesn’t need a friend like her.

Gil-ja finds Yoo-shin for another tense meeting. She asks again if she refused Chan-woo’s proposal and Yoo-shin agrees. Gil-ja doesn’t want to ruin her relationship with Jung-ae over this.

Uh, you’re already a sucky friend.

Yoo-shin assures her they broke up, but looks super depressed about it.

When Gil-ja leaves, she phones Yi-jung to come over. *eyeroll* Yi-jung is nervous about getting caught by Chan-woo who is avoiding her despite the fact that she really likes him. Gil-ja assures her that she will help her get Chan-woo. Yi-jung admits she wants to marry him, which makes Gil-ja really happy.

Yoo-shin drinks at a pojangmacha, trying to drown her sorrows and feelings for Chan-woo. She remembers all the time she spent with him after he came back from the army. She babbles that she’ll be able to forget him, but it’s obvious she’s hurting. When she glances up, she sees him smiling at her and thinks it’s another memory. She reaches out to poke his nose to see if he’s real and he pokes her right back. It is so cute how surprised she is and how happy he is to see her.

He tells her she can’t run from him; he’s been following her for over 20 years. She wonders what he likes about her. She always gets mad at him. He tenderly looks at her and says she takes care of people despite her tough exterior. He knows she cares about her mother the most.

Then she says, “I’m not going to make you breakfast and I’m going to give all of my salary to my mom. I’m not going to become some nice wife that supports a doctor husband.”

Chan-woo beams at her as she cries, complaining that he’s a doctor and Gil-ja’s son. He sits next to her and puts his arm around her so she can cry into his shoulder.

That is so cute. So cute. More cute! YAY! Please give me more of this and less Mi-ryeong.

Gil-ja waits for Chan-woo to come home and it’s 4am. She demands to know who he was with and he lies that he was with his co-workers.

The next morning at breakfast, Woo-joo asks if she’s really Song Mi-ryeong’s daughter because her friends say that Chang-hoon cheated to have her. Granny leaves the table and Soon-shin feels like crap.

Joon-ho, on the other hand, is looking at the picture of him and Soon-shin. D’aw. But his mood is ruined by In-sung who brings news that rumors are going around. Soon-shin’s adoptive mom turned down the movie and is demanding money from Mi-ryeong.

Jung-ae, Granny and Hye-shin are leaving a jimjilbang when they hear two women gossiping about Soon-shin and how she got mistreated Jung-ae and how Jung-ae won’t let her be taken by Mi-ryeong.

Gossip is so cruel. Why would a mother want her child taken? Again, adoption doesn’t make  you a “fake” mother.

Then they start gossiping about Chang-hoon being a cheater. Granny confronts them and has to be stopped from beating them.

Joon-ho goes to visit his ex-employee Mi-ryeong. He confronts her about the rumors and tells her she should help them by doing an interview. She answers, “Why should I?” He tells her she’s the only one who can fix it, but she says it’s all true. Soon-shin was mistreated by the family.

And in a way, that is true. She was looked down upon. But you’re worse, Mi-ryeong. You’re worse.

Joon-ho stands up and orders her to prepare for the interview. Then he leaves while she pitches a hissy fit. Hwang tries to calm her as she swears off Soon-shin. Then she cries that Soon-shin is so mean to her.

Boo-fucking-hoo.

Hwang says she’s obsessed with Soon-shin. Does she feel inferior to Jung-ae? Is she worried about being looked down upon for abandoning her daughter? She already abandoned her – why does she want to become a mother so badly now?

Mi-ryeong admits she never really forgot about her and always hoped she was fine. But now that her daughter is in front of her, she doesn’t know what to do.

Now if only you showed that side to Soon-shin…

Chan-mi informs Soon-shin about the rumors floating around. Jung-ae stopped her from acting; she was mistreated by the family and the family demanded money. Refusing the movie started all the rumors.

Why doesn’t she just tell the public that Mi-ryeong abandoned her and she wants nothing to do with her?

Soon-shin hurries to the chicken restaurant to check on the victim of the rumors: her mother. People recognize her and start gossiping. Jung-ae tries to send her home as the gossipers say that Jung-ae forces Soon-shin to work there. Soon-shin angrily faces them and when Jung-ae tries to stop her, the tray crashes to the ground. Jung-ae cuts herself.

At home, Soon-shin cares for her with tears in her eyes. She apologizes and asks if Jung-ae will hate her. Jung-ae snaps: this is why she told her to leave before this happens. Go live her live the way she wants with her real mother.

Soon-shin is absolutely stunned, as she should be. Jung-ae thinks she’s being an idiot.

I’m so furious right now. I’m more furious at Jung-ae than when she shunned Soon-shin. She SHOULD be fighting for Soon-shin, who treasures this family more than acting. Now she’s being a noble fucking idiot. At least I’m telling myself that. ‘Cause if she believes her words, I will hit her over the head with a bat.

Soon-shin lies in bed and her eyes are dead. Mi-ryeong is also lying in bed when she receives a visitor: a lifeless Soon-shin. Mi-ryeong hopefully asks her if she changed her mind. She regretted giving up an opportunity. In a monotone, Soon-shin asks what she should do. Mi-ryeong yaps about feeding her and decorating Soon-shin’s room so they can be together. She wants to do everything for Soon-shin. Doesn’t Soon-shin know how sad she was when she avoided her.

Soon-shin says that if that’s what Mi-ryeong wants, she’ll come and live with her and let Mi-ryeong do what she wants. Mi-ryeong starts crying from happiness; Soon-shin looks like she’s dying.

Comments:

I hate Mi-ryeong. I get that she honestly thinks she cares about Soon-shin. But it definitely is in the most selfish of ways. She doesn’t even NOTICE that Soon-shin is absolutely devastated. She may want to do right by the situation, but she’s not doing right by Soon-shin. NO ONE IS. Joon-ho needs to man up even more and stop Mi-ryeong. Jung-ae needs to put her foot down and get Soon-shin another opportunity to act. “Smart” former lawyer Hye-shin should work out legal options to ensure their family is okay and to keep Mi-ryeong away. So many things that should happen.

I seriously hate the forced living together. I wonder what the family will do after they find out Soon-shin isn’t Chang-hoon’s daughter. They didn’t really do right by her before this whole thing happened.

And what is with blood relations trumping everything. I do understand that blood in an indelible bond. I do think she should have a relationship with Mi-ryeong. But Mi-ryeong doesn’t OWN Soon-shin or “deserve” her because she bore her. Blah, it’s all mishandled.

Just give me romance instead. Yoo-shin and Chan-woo. The baker and Hye-shin. The baker and Woo-joo…yes, I’m still holding out for Woo-joo warming up to him. And more Joon-ho adorableness. And singing. And cuteness. And omg. I want to just play the first half of the episode twice and skip the second half. Wasn’t this supposed to be a rom-com? Where’s the rom…and the com?

Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Character introductions.