Episode 5

Eun oh is looking for Arang when Dol swe catches up to him and asks where he’s going since the funeral is still occurring. Eun oh replies he’s going back to the office and Dol swe thought they were leaving. It’s because of that woman isn’t it?! Dol swe feels betrayed that Eun oh would do so much for a woman Dol swe has not even met (haha bromantic jealousy?). He starts his interrogation, but Eun oh tells him to meet up at the office later before running off.

Joo wal thinks back to when his ring glowed red after touching Arang as he walks around. Eun oh runs back to the magistrate office and finds Arang sitting gracefully like a lady as if she never left. She plays the gentle damsel act as Eun oh scolds her for leaving and wearing a different disguise. He starts searching for the other outfit and lifts up her skirt to see bare legs which earns him a slap on the face. They both are flustered and apologize for their actions.

Eun oh asks for the hairpin, but she left it in the underworld since things that go there can never come back. Arang doesn’t understand his obsession with that hairpin and Eun oh shouts that the pin is more important than an evil spirit like her. She gets offended because she’s human now, but he counters she doesn’t even understand a human’s heart! Maybe with those fake feelings she had, she could pretend to be human which hurts her feelings even more. Arang pushes his sore spot when she says how his mother must have heard those harsh words from him too that’s why she left him (ouch).

Eun oh runs until he gets tired and thinks back to when he first had to leave with his father as a child. Little Eun oh protests about leaving and his mother doesn’t look at him as he throws his tantrum. His mother just closes the door to her room. Then another flashback to an earlier scene when he told his mother that it would have just been better if he never knew her.

Joo wal looks at the painting he had done of Arang in the soldier’s outfit and suddenly takes out a drawer with a dark cloth. He looks at it with a dark mood.

The next morning, Eun oh goes back to find Arang still in the room and clears his throat. Her eyes have purple rings around them and that’s the side effect of not sleeping with  being human. He laughs at her and they finally decide to forget about yesterday’s incident since Eun oh doesn’t do “sorry’s”. He decides to tell her that the hairpin belonged to his mother. She’s shocked because why would she have the pin. Eun oh suggest that they join forces because the time his mother disappeared coincides with when she died also. Arang realizes the reason why he helped her was to find his mother and is hesitant to work together because he could abandon her after his mother is found.

The City Hall trio is happy that the magistrate is leaving and can finally just follow Lord Choi’s orders. They cross paths with Arang and asks who is she to be walking around here so freely. She introduces herself as Arang and they’re confused as to who allowed her in. She states the magistrate did. Plus there aren’t any guards around anyways so they should guard it better (sassy Arang is back!). The trio wonder if she is the guard from yesterday.

Dol swe can’t believe that they’re still staying and asks if it’s about that girl. Is that girl more important than him?! Eun oh just scoffs and the trio, who were hiding, realizes that he’s not leaving. Eun oh announces to them that he’s extending his stay and that his master’s daughter (Arang) will be staying here as well. He dismisses them. Dol swe asks if he meant master as in the quack who stayed up in the mountains and Eun oh counters he’s not crazy. Because of that quack, Eun oh learned martial arts within the year he was there and Dol swe ended up searching high and low for him – his knee still hurts when it rains!

Lord Choi throws a wooden block in anger at Lee Bang and tells his underling to find out why Eun oh is still here.

Bang wool realizes she’ll need to open up a store to tell fortunes if she doesn’t want to starve to death before the General’s spirit comes. She overhears Dol swe’s little monologue of how he broke up a 15 year relationship just for a girl and she spots him as a potential customer. Dol swe is drinking at a shop when Bang wool comes up to him and predicts that he was thrown away by an old friend. He looks up in surprise that she would know that. She “predicts” it was a girl and that reels him in. She understands because she was once plagued by a girl who would come and go also. Her powers are strong today since it’s the full moon and she can predict the future, she just needs a birthday, time of birth and a fee.

He buys into it and hands her a fee so she can foretell the future Eun oh’s  future for him. She tells Dol swe he doesn’t have to worry because with Eun oh meddling in other people’s business, it won’t be long until he’s in the underworld. This gets Dol swe riled up and he shakes her shoulders hard. Who’s going to die?! His young master?! She distracts him before running off.

The full moon appears and Arang is in her quarters, contemplating what Eun oh said about Arang and his mother being connected. She decides to help him out since they are each other’s only clue. She goes out and finds Eun oh in the courtyard. She decides to help him and he suggest they make a promise by eating two peaches together. She freaks out because peach blossoms are dangerous, but is happy when she touches them and doesn’t get hurt – she’s really human! She eats the peach and exclaims how it’s delicious (Miho flashbacks hehe) as he smiles at her. She asks him how long he’s been a mama’s boy which gets him a bit angry and she walks off.

Our dark prince, Joo wal, stands in front of a window which opens to reveal a woman’s back (hmm…kinda looks like Eun oh’s mother). She ask if he’s ready and that she has high expectations for this one. The window closes and he picks up an object from the floor.

Eun oh thinks back to Arang’s question of him being a mama’s boy even before his mother’s disappearance which leads to a flashback. Little Eun oh came back from school, beaten up, and tells his mother how the kids call him the son of a slave and tore up his book. They also warned him never to go back to school and she just listens stoically. She finally tells him that today is her entire family’s death anniversary and how she isn’t going to leave the bastard that caused this alone. She finally faints from frustration and stress.

Joo wal breaks into Arang’s room and is about to kill her with a dagger when she mumbled in her sleep about peaches being sweet. Eun oh’s standing in front of a room, not knowing anything that is happening. Joo wal stabs Arang and sticks a yellow paper on her neck which dissolves into her. Her eyes open to see the almost blurry figure of her murderer before she closes her eyes.

Up in heaven, the Jade Emperor’s instrument makes a funky sound and the Jade Emperor (sporting a new hairstyle) states it has begun.

Eun oh walks over to Arang’s room to find her missing and he wonders if she still thinks she’s a ghost or something. He finally notices something is off and sees the blood on the futon. He follows the trail of blood until it leads to a dead end. He shouts “Memory Loss” but gets no answer.

Meanwhile, Joo wal has taken Arang to a dense forest on horseback. The dark cloth Joo wal was looking at earlier is tied to a broken tree branch. He sets her down in an abandoned-looking house. He takes off the mask and gets a better look at Arang who looks like his dead fiancee. He’s about to touch her, but then walks away. He stands by a tree and a flashback occurs.

It’s little Joo wal standing by the tree in the daytime. A mysterious woman walks up to him and slips the ring he has on now. She says from now on, his name is Choi Joo wal. During every full moon in a leap month, he has to bring a girl with a pure soul. The ring will glow red if she has a pure soul. Little Joo wal takes an unsuspecting girl into the forest.

The flashback ends and a woman whose face is covered by a laced hat asks if he brought the girl. He says yes and she uncovers her hat and oh my gosh it is Eun oh’s mother!! She had waited a long time for this and asks if her soul has been locked in (I’m guessing that’s what the yellow seal was for). Eun oh’s mother (or possible look a like) is excited because Joo wal told her Arang had the soul of a newborn baby. Eun oh’s mother licks her lips and walks ahead of him (is she a gumiho-like being?).

They opened the door and find the room empty. Arang runs in the forest, finding it hard to breathe. Joo wal is shocked because he was sure Arang was dead. He runs off looking for her.

Arang continues running and her mouth gets covered by someone. It turns out to be Eun oh who was still looking for her. Arang falls and tells him how someone stabbed her and dumped her in the mountains. He carries her back to his place and lays her down on the bed (no one’s going to call for a doctor?).

Eun oh’s mother fiddles with her ring impatiently and Joo wal reports that Arang is gone which earns him a slap from her. He bleeds and stutters that he was sure she was dead. She slaps him again and calls him a useless bastard. She reminded him of their agreement: she takes the soul he gives her and he gets to live a good life and not go back to being that sickly little boy. He falls to his knees and another flashback occurs.

Little Joo wal is in rags and steals food from a cattle’s trough as little kids taunt him about that. Aww poor little Joo wal.

Eun oh wakes up the next day, he slept near the door, and looks at Arang’s wound which is almost healed. He wonders what kind of person Arang is really.

Bang wool sets up shop bright and early and looks at her lunch which consist of kimchi. She chants to herself that it’s meat (haha). Dol swe spent the night at the tavern and crosses paths with Bang wool once again. Bang wool tries to escape, but he blocks her way, asking if what she foretold last night was true. She moves away and at the same time, some lady tosses water at Dol swe accidentally. Cue slow motion camera of Dol swe shaking the water out of his hair and he unties his hanbok a bit to show his chest and abs. Bang wool watches all of this shyly (someone has a crush!). Dol swe walks away angry.

The city hall trio brings in some old clothes that used to belong to a damo (female detective) and talk amongst themselves about how there used to be so many damos here while Eun oh inspects the clothes. With the seamstress gone, these were the only extra left. Eun oh asks about the mountains where Arang was dumped at. The trio tells him how there was a legend of ghosts wandering there so no body even dares to bury people there.

Eun oh walks off after that as the trio glare at him for leaving without hearing the whole story. He drops off the clothes at room where Arang is sleeping and places her shoes outside neatly. He turns around and gets scared by a suspicious Dol swe. Dol swe eyes Arang’s shoes and his room. He quickly runs in and finds Arang sleeping there and Eun oh covers his mouth before he gets noisy. They exit the building and Dol swe asks if they slept together. Eun oh just says yes and Dol swe gasps loudly (reminds me of gossiping mothers). Dol swe threatens to blab all this to Lord Kim (Eun oh’s father) which makes Eun oh glare at him.

Eun oh and Dol swe journey into the mountains to look for a suspicious cottage. Dol swe thinks Eun oh plans to marry Arang and tells him Lord Kim won’t approve. They find the suspicious place and Eun oh spots the blood on the yellow cloth. He finds it weird no ghosts are in a place like this and Dol swe freaks out, wanting to leave. Eun oh tells Dol swe to look for anything suspicious. Dol swe opts to stand guard outside and wonders if Eun oh had forgotten about looking for his mother. Eun oh wonders why anyone would hurt Arang since she couldn’t have created such a grudge so quickly unless the person who did it knows her. However, they couldn’t possibly know that she was alive again since it’s impossible. Something catches his eye and it’s his mother’s hairpin.

Comments:

Due to the fact that my brain is still blown by the new development, I have ask my wonderful recapping partner, May, to comment on this hehe! I hope you enjoy her comments! ^^

may’s taking over

This show never fails to make me laugh and the next thing I know, my heart’s racing, dreading what’s coming next! Such a great drama! If it can keep up being awesome till the end, I have no doubt that this show is going to be one of my favorites this year!

At this point, I like to see how Arang and Eun oh interact with each other. They might not be the best teammates in the world, but they both realize that they only have each other in order for them to find the answers they’ve been looking for in these years. Although they fight almost every time they meet, they always find their way, coming back in peach peace with each other. This reminds me of how a family should behave, and I’m amazed at their speedy progress in their interaction. It does help a lot when Arang has encountered a lot of things during her ghost life, so that she’s not that weak though she has to deal with the whiny Mama Boy Eun oh. Haha. On Eun oh’s side, he’s already dancing on the line, between falling and not falling for the cheeky Arang. He’s taking good care of her and it’ll be just a matter of time before he’ll come to admit his feelings. I’m rooting for them!

Ah, Joo wal…can I hug him?

He’s so different in this episode. Unlike his usual proud self, strutting around and even dare to mock his father Lord Choi, he’s showing another side of him in this episode. Poor boy. He had such a hard childhood, and no wonder he’s so keen in changing his own life. Even if that means devoting all his life into searching for pure soul to be presented to his ‘real’ master. The look he has in his eyes when the mysterious woman threatens him shows how vulnerable he is, the sickly boy behind the grown up him. I actually feel bad for him, plus he’s contemplating on whether he should stab Arang or not at first. Another big question…does he remember her as his fiancee Seo rim?

She’s just creepy but an interesting character. What is her real identity? Was she a human to begin with, or she’s not a human at all? If that’s the case, we might have found the reason and logic whyEun oh can see the ghosts around him…

I don’t know why I’m so excited over these two. Yeah, I was jumping around feeling giddy when they first met! I can’t wait or them to get closer…and join their heads together in dealing with the headache source that is team Eun oh and Arang.

To Jade Emperor: forgive me for saying this, but your hairdo makes you look like a girl. Is that one of your servant’s doing? Maybe she’s jealous of your beauty….

This is just a random tidbit: I was curious why Arang was so scared of the peach Eun oh offered to her and I looked around for the explanation. Peach is the fruit that symbolizes longevity and and immortality, hence it’s a strong ghost repellent. Not just the fruit, even the tree is effective in chasing away the ghosts. So that explains why Arang and Moo young were hurt even by the small peach blossoms.

Oh…that’s a very long comment from me. hehe ^^;