Set in the world of fashion, Fashion King attempts to capture what it would be like to play in this worldwide game. I've written my first thoughts on this drama on a first take. This time around, I won't just be first-taking but also recapping. Wish me luck.
Because this is my first attempt at recapping, things might be glitchy and I may have missed out on a lot of factors. That's why feedback would be welcomed. Also, this recapping may be heavy on commentary, because I like to comment on things as I have for the past 90 posts. Hopefully not as much. I'll also start at the 3rd episode because if I were to go back, it'll be too inconvenient for me. The first two episodes can be read at Dramabeans. I will try to have recaps ready on the weekends as I have to wait for the subs to come out. So here we go!
THE EPISODE
We're left off as Young-gul (Yoo Ah-in) tries to make Jae-hyuk (Lee Je-hoon) lend him some money, or at least feed him. That's the least he could do as a so-called high school friend, right? Well Mr. Big Shot doesn't think that spending a dime on someone like him is worth it. Seeing him a threat, security drags Young-gul out of the meeting room as Jae-hyuk coolly turns around as said, in choppy Konglish, "It's not a big deal".
But of course we just know that Young-gul wouldn't leave there empty handed as we see him gleefully holding Jae-hyuk's wallet. Good going, sir. And out of the fine leather wallet comes out at least 10 fresh-off-the-press Benjamins. While he has his hands on the wallet, might as well rummage through the extremely private stuff, like a ticket to a Michael J. Lauren (why do they have use the same last name as another famous fashion star?) fashion show, Jae-hyuk's American drivers licence (which Young-gul flicks at the photo, nice), and a photo of a hot chick. "Forever my love, Anna" is what was written in the back of the supposedly-old-ish photo.
As luck would find him, well, it leaves just as fast. Just when he had his guards down, another fellow pitpocketer snatches the wallet right out of his hands. That's what you get when you sit down in the middle of a ghetto alley (or a neon graffiti-ed part of town) with a thousand dollars in your hands. And they were chasing each other for hours it seems, as the sky turned from a bright sunny afternoon to a looming dusk, until Young-gul's 3-days-without-food legs gave out. Don't worry, even if you didn't get the cash, you still managed to get the photo of the girl.
Jae-hyuk comes homes to his house and noticed that his wallet has been stolen by Young-gul. That bastard! is what Jae-hyuk is probably thinking. Turning on the TV to a Korean channel (I would've went straight to Nickelodeon, 's what I'm sayin') he sees the news coverage of Kang Young-gul being the most wanted man of the hour. Flashback and Jae-hyuk realizes that all the things Young-gul said was actually true.
After an unsuccessful day of trying to get money, both nicely and by force, out of Jae-hyuk, Young-gul is stuck to square one as he has to squat low being those people who rummage through trash for food. Cut to Ga-young (Shin Se-kyung) as she writes a thoughtful e-mail to Young-gul thanking her for being a great person to her. Still with the same sad, pitiful, classical music, we come back to Young-gul who is stealing food from a convenience store which leads him to eat said stolen food on a park bench overlooking Manhattan as he cries over what crap life has brought him.
I guess crying is a token in dramas. When Young-gul was throwing trash on a bin nearby, he spotted a pile of jackets. He looks in the pockets and finds a two dollar bill. It turns out the jacket was in fact an Italian jacket, which equals money, money, money. What is an expensive Italian jacket doing in a dump anyways? Weird, I know. More like ungrateful, but I digress.
Later he heads to a PC-bang place of sorts, which I'm surprised he found and was able to pay for, and checks his email where he finds out, yes Ga-young is already at NFS. He sits on the stairwell looking desperate as ever and, with drama magic, Ga-young comes out. Aww... Cue the "ZOMG I've searched throughout the country where have you been" music.
Ga-young takes Young-gul back to her place where his unruly scent shocked her roommate, Bong-sook (Yoon Chae-young). This just leads to yet another shirtless Young-gul scene which, although I'm not complaining, seems a bit desperate on the drama's behalf if you ask me. After ogling over Young-gul's hot bod, Bong-sook confronts Ga-young about the criminal status of Young-gul and asks her to do something about it. Instead of calling the police or the embassy, she decides to move out and take Young-gul with her instead. But they'll stay for now.
And we see Young-gul sleeping on the couch in pink and white polka dot pajamas. This drama is starting to be very Yoo Ah-in fan service centered. That's good, as I'm his fan, but unnecessary plot-wise. Come on, drama.
Ga-young is then seen in offices of J Fashion where Jae-hyuk works. She came by to say thanks for helping her out getting re-accepted into the school. To prove she means it, she offered to treat him for dinner, which he agrees to, and,as an added bonus, gave him a shirt with his name stitched on the sleeve. Is that supposed to signify something more, eh?
Later that day Ga-young was waiting in a small cafe when Jung-ah (Han Yoo-yi) steps in instead. When she's around, you know there's trouble. Turns out she's there because Jae-hyuk thought it'll be awkward if he was alone with Ga-young. Through their conversation, you just know these two didn't grow up best friends. Butting in their conversation, Jae-hyuk asked Ga-young up front if she knew Kang Young-gul. Well, you're in luck, because that's exactly why she wanted to see him. She asked him if by any chance he could help her out with getting Young-gul out of trouble. Bad move, missy, and Jae-hyuk storms out of the cafe. One cool thing, as their conversation heated, all of Jung-ah's attempt to join was ignored. Way to go.
Back in the apartment, Young-gul proved to be one helping hand as the irresistible cute guy that brings in the money. If I were them, I'd come as often as I could. Seriously. But the happy, chirpy apartment becomes gloomy when the police called. Uh oh.
That police call definitely shook up some feathers as Ga-young and Young-gul went out to find their own apartment. It's a studio with a single bed but a living space nonetheless. Money is also tight as the only source they have is from Ga-young's scholarship money. Even if you don't have money, might as well re-decorate your place, right?
Since they needed to get money, Ga-young returns to Bong-sook to see if she still has work for her to do. You know, for extra cash. And it ain't that bad for Bong-sook either, as Ga-young had proven herself to be a big reason why Bong's clothes has been selling like hot potatoes.
Young-gul is now selling his knock offs right up to the people themselves. This man takes door-to-door marketing to a whole new level. Just then one of the man stops him and said that Young-gul was stealing his design. Instead of scolding him to hell, the man gives him his business card. "You'll hear some good news." Good news we are looking forward to then!
In the apartment, as she was finishing up some orders, Ga-young confronts Young-gul about her meeting with Jae-hyuk. And boy did that stir him up. Despite her good intentions, he scolded her for making him seem like a desperate loser. Well, that's what he seemed like in the beginning begging for money, right? But male pride is an odd thing, my friends.
Just as he was about to be a sassy pants in the bathroom (just kidding, I just wanted to say that), he remembers the card that man gave him. Michael J. Lauren. And the light bulb flickers and shines. Dude going to call that dude. Fast forward and Young-gul is walking through a pretty swank office. He is guided to the back, meets a couple of shirtless male models, and enters a pretty swank glass-walled room equipped with limited furniture and a bath tub. Yes, a bathroom where you have no privacy. He is then asked to relax, take his jacket off, and take a bath.
Although confused, it doesn't hurt to take a bath in a pretty sweet bath tub so he jumps right into the bubbly. In comes Choi Anna (Yuri) with a rack of clothes, just marching in without care. She then asks him to get out and show her his junk. She didn't say that exactly, but who could've known with that kind of accent? A little jokey there, but completely true. He stands up all naked, with a bowl of fruit appropriately placed in front of his man things. She mutters in Korean how why all the hot dudes are gay, which Young-gul answers in Korean also how he's not gay. "What in the world are you doing here then?" is sort of what Anna says after. He doesn't know either. Pissed off that he's not gay, she just leaves. Just like that.
As he was on his way out, he sees Anna who was having trouble zipping up her dress. He casually walks up to her and zips the dress. He tells her that the clothes he's wearing is what brings him there. Not sure what that means exactly, but perhaps it's because it was a precise copy or something. Feeling convinced, she tells him to come with her to the party where he'll get to see Michael J.
In that party, there was none other than Jae-hyuk trying to kiss up to Michael, but with no luck. But Michael welcomed Young-gul with open arms. Jae-hyuk must be so jealous of the new kid. Young-gul is still in the same line of work, even though his is in the lower, cheaper line.
After an apparently successful meet up, Young-gul comes home with Anna as she wants to see the man in action in his work space. I guess she was expecting something more, because she is surprised to see only a small studio with one assistant. Nevertheless she is impressed with the work he has put out. Ga-young isn't all too happy with how he was undermining her even though those stitches he was bragging about was her work. Anna asks Young-gul for his phone number and he scrambled downstairs to write down the number of the public phone booth. This is going to end up in comedy.
While Young-gul was out, Anna asks Ga-young if the two were a couple. She got flustered and answers no in an awkward fashion. Ooh, I see the love seeds growing. But apparently Young-gul was impressed with the coolness that is Anna and asks her out for a drink, which she shrugs off.
Coming home from a jog and an awkward flashback moment, Jae-hyuk stops by Anna's apartment and asks her out for brunch. You know, those things couples do. But instead of a good, lovey-dovey atmosphere, well, it's kind of awkward. Jae-hyuk straight up asks Anna about the offer he made the other day. Anna fires back if he wants this only because of professional reasons or because of personal reasons, which he blatantly answers both. He then asks her if they just start again from the beginning, which she answers "Wipe your mouth." Literally and figuratively. It would've been fun if he had mustard on his lips instead of just oil.
The relationship of these two is so unwanted by the people in J Fashion that Jae-hyuk's own manager himself has to ask Anna to step away.
We come back to Seoul to Madam Jo's (Jang Mi-hee) place where the detective we saw earlier came to report Ga-young's involvement in the Young-gul case. Madam Jo doesn't really care about any of this until she hears that Ga-young may have the possibility of getting deported from assisting a criminal. Those words sounded sweet to her ears. She calls Jung-ah for reasons you know what.
Ga-young was coming out to class when Jung-ah oddly approaches her in a friendly matter, which I suppose is never. Jung-ah wants to offer Ga-young a car ride home, which Ga-young refuses (duh). But because perhaps Jung-ah was being extremely bratty, she ended up going back to Ga-young's place. But instead of her place, they go to Bong-sook's. Perhaps to drive her away. But Bong-sook's a good friend and she knows that Jung-ah is a common enemy. Jung-ah searches the apartment and sees that there's only one toothbrush. Questions, questions. With no luck, Jung-ah decides to just go home.
Young-gul is standing outside his apartment waiting for that phone call. He waits and waits and waits but the man gotta pee. So pee he does. But this is a drama after all and the phone just has to ring as he goes inside. After shoving a man ("I just saved your life, son!" lol wtf), he answers the call and Anna was on the opposite end.
It seems like Young-gul is Michael's new muse or something because he so looks chipper whenever Young-gul shows up, even halted the shoot. Maybe Michael was gay for him after all. He is so darn adorable. The two sat down and discussed a few matters, including the misunderstanding of his name (perhaps Young Girl is a code word in the MJL offices?). Michael then offers Young-gul to buy his designs. Which doesn't sound all too bad.
THE COMMENTARY
This episode is definitely a lot better than last week's, maybe because it's more about our four main characters and away from the evil stepmother territory. I won't say that it's an amazing episode, but it was better and that's improvement within itself. The characters are a lot clearer this time and they've all met each other. Which is good for the drama.
I definitely want to salute Mr Yoo who is probably the sole reason I'm watching this. Thank goodness I wasn't only watching for eye candy, even though there's a lot. He definitely proved himself a great actor in which he showed a lot of different emotions very well. Lee Je-hoon is the second best as he was just as bratty, but still charismatic and fragile at the right moments. Shin Se-kyung did well, altough I think she looks a bit awkward playing cutesy roles after many heavier ones. And Yuri, well she was definitely better than another fellow SNSD member who was in a drama starring Lee Dong-wook. I didn't say any names, you know. I've heard some people say Yuri was a bit stiff, but Anna is a person who has that sort of character. That cool, chic girl that works as a designer. There were some off moments, but I'm going to be nice. She did a good job as a newbie. I hate Jung-ah a lot more. Like deep hatred for the character and the actor (sorry, girl). She's just plain annoying. That nasal voice, shivers.
One of the things that annoyed me the most was the music. It is damn loud. It's also too manipulative over the mood they're trying to set. I feel like we could use less music. But then I remembered this is a drama after all. But, the type of music is so different from one another. This isn't a good thing, because even with the music they're confused of the genre.
The drama got a bit more interesting here, but it's still not that promising drama I was expecting. Was my expectation too high? I see that this drama can be better with time, but it's a slow pace and they're taking too many short cuts. Just start playing the game right this time please.
Recapping is definitely difficult. It took me literally all day, and then some, to do this! It was on and off, but still. Perhaps I'll learn with time. I will comeback tomorrow with the 4th episode, so look forward to that.
Question, did I blabber on too much? I feel like I'm a little too detailed. But I feel like if I miss out a scene, some of the plot might be missing which sort of sucks. Is it better to be more detailed but super long or shorter but less detailed (and less comments)? It would suck if I couldn't comment on every little thing. But that's why I'm asking you. Answer please! It will be the benefit for your eyes, I promise. Hopefully.
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