Recap: The Heirs Episode 5

America was a midsummer night’s dream for Eun Sang, but Tan has come from the land of dreams to make it a reality.

Written before live recap

Last episode, Young Do said to Rachel, “Did you ever wonder why the tiger is not in his cave? Perhaps it was pretending to be a tiger too. Perhaps it ran away, scared it might be found out that it is not really a tiger.”

The tiger (or fake tiger, if we are to believe Young Do) has come back to face the fox and the lion, the lion being Won. Tan came back because he was tired of living alone in that big house and because he misses Eun Sang and his family. What kind of consequences will this decision bring to Tan, his friends, his family, and Eun Sang? Will Tan prove to be a really tiger? Has Eun Sang awoken the beast within? I am incredibly excited to find out. Who’s with me?!

The order will go like this. I can’t post updates while the drama is airing, unless the episode is moving slowly. I will be trying to capture as much as possible while I am watching the episode.  When the episode is over, I will go back to my notes, fix them up a bit and update part by part on each recap post while waiting for the torrents. If you can leave a link here, that would be great. When the full episode is available, I will fill in more blanks and screencaps, and continue to update. Finally, I will leave my comments.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Character Index

 Kim Tan

 Cha Eun Sang

 Choi Young Do

 Kim Won, Kim Tan’s half-brother, President of Jeguk Group

 Lee Bo Na

 Yoo Ra Hael (Rachael Yoo)

 Yoon Chan Young

 Lee Hyo Shin

 Jo Myung Soo

 Kang Ye Seul

 Jun Hyun Joo

Han Ki Ae -Kim Tan’s birth mom

 Kim Nam Yoon- Kim Tan and Kim Won’s father, Jeguk Group CEO

 Park Hee Nam- Cha Eun Sang’s mom

 Yoon Jae Ho- Yoon Chan Young’s dad, Chief Secretary in Jeguk Group

 Jung Ji Sook- Kim Nam Yoon’s second wife, birth mom to neither Tan or Won.

 Esther Lee- Yoo Ra Hael’s mom, RS International CEO

 Choi Dong Wook- Choi Young Do’s dad, Zeus Hotel CEO

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Episode 5

Tan runs downstairs to the kitchen. He stops outside the door, unsure and his anticipation holding him back- what if it is really ES? Tan slowly opens the door, peeking in as Eun Sang’s figure is fully revealed. It is really Eun Sang. Tan turns around, shocked. ES wonders what Tan’s fussing about. She closes her phone and prepares the meat for tomorrow. She leaves the kitchen, and Tan does stands outside the door for a while.

Tan is back in his room.  He’s angry, frustrated, and sad about ES’s mom working in his house as maid. He remembers what ES said about wanting Jeguk to go out business since her mom is suffering. At dawn, he sees ES going to school and thinks “It’s really you, Cha Eun Sang.” He goes to ES’s room and sees how ES and her mom are living.

ES’s mom has left a note in the kitchen that she went to the store. KA comes in happy to see her son. Tan wonders where Won is; he hasn’t seen him for days. KA lies that Won probably on a business trip. Tan says, “I thought I would be able to see hyung everyday if I came to Korea.” KA thinks Tan is too soft, since Won seems to hate him so much. Tan replies, “I like hyung.”

At JS’s office in Jeguk High, JS tells Tan to behave in school. She asks who decided he should come back to Korea- dad or his mom. Tan answers he decided himself. Ji Sook to Tan: “You’re all grown now, kicking out your brother as soon as you arrive. I heard your hyung left the house.” Tan looks surprised to hear his brother is not really on a business trip.

Won offers to buy lunch to Hyun Joo, but she claims she is busy. She only has 20 minutes to give him. Won hands her a gift from America- a wishbone- explaining that two people pull the bone apart together and the person who has the longer part can make a wish. HJ compares it to a Korean icecream bar (it also has two parts), but Won doesn’t know of that.

HJ asks Won to hold the either side when she has a wish later. She explains she doesn’t have one now, since she has graduated from college, has her own room and a savings account. Won: “Then instead of a wish, let’s make it luck.” He hands her the wishbone necklace he brought earlier, telling to wear it for luck. HJ refuses, saying she got sponsored from his family all her life. Won is angry she thinks anything he does for her is sponsorship. “Can’t it be just a gift?” Before HJ can leave without the gift, Won raises his voice- “Shall I just throw it out then?” HJ tries to appease him, saying she will take it, but Won knows she won’t wear it ever, so he gets up and puts the necklace on her.

HJ asks, “Does it suit me?” Won replies, “Yes. Why is it so hard to just give you a necklace?”

Won is back at the hotel he is staying in and is notified that he has a guest waiting in his room. He calls Secretary Yoon thinking that the guest is his dad, but Secretary Yoon tells him dad at his house. Hotel guy tells Won that his brother is in his room. Won is angry that the hotel let anyone into his room, but the guy tells Won that his dad called the hotel to let Tan in the room. Won gets angry and leaves the hotel. Tan waits and waits in Won’s room.

Tan and his mom eat. ES’s mom comes in with the food. Tan asks his mom if the daughter living in the house is that maid’s daughter. KA tells Tan that ES’s mom has been working in the house for three years, and ES hasn’t lived here for that long. Mom calls ES in to bring more her more wine. Tan hides, nowhere to be seen by the time ES comes.

Outside the house, ES is using a flashlight to find her way back to her room in the dark. Suddenly the he fountain and lights turn on. Tan watches from afar. It seems he turned it on for her! Sweet.

Yoon thinks back to the awkward meeting in the elevator when Esther said she still feels flutters when she sees him. He orders more drinks. Won comes into the bar too and orders too.

Yoon guesses that it was Tan waiting for Won in the room. Won asks if Yoon is friendly with Tan. Will he work with Tan when Tan grows up and takes over the company? Yoon asks, “You’re going to give the company to Tan when Tan grows up.” Won replies, “You never fall for it whether you are drunk or not.” I love their interactions. So much jabbing and testing, but Yoon never falls for Won’s traps.

E comes into the same bar with YD’s dad. Introductions all across. They talk business and YD’s dad makes fun of Secretary Yoon’s cowardice and negativity in an business  advancement in Africa, belittling Yoon and his position. Yoon responds that it is courage that allows lower employees to warn their superiors. Yoon leaves to make a phone call to CY, and E pretends to go somewhere else, but she follows Yoon. “I’m tired of this animal kingdom fight.” YD asks Won, “Who is that man?” Won replies, “A person that makes me mad and frustrated, and sometimes hurts me. He can also do that to you.” YD’s dad doesn’t think so- he is only a secretary.

Outside, E apologizes to Yoon about YD’s dad. Yoon also apologizes. E asks, “For what?” Yoon suddenly kisses E.

It’s English class in ES’s high school, and at the mention of Hollywood, ES gets lost deep in thought. The teacher thinks ES is not paying attention, but she answers her question properly.

After school outside the gate, a crowd of girls have gathered. It is Tan, waiting with sunglasses and his car. Like a shoujo and every high school fanfic! He takes his sunglasses off with flair, acting the part of a drama hero, when he sees ES. The other girls scream. And so do you all your fans around the world, Lee Minho. Tan asks, “Can you guys push the girl who looks like she has healthy kidneys over here?

ES walks forward embarrassed and shocked. Tan: “You look happy to see me.” E: “I’m not happy but surprised.” Tan says he came to see her because he was curious about something. He asks for CY’s Korean phone number. ES asks why. Tan: “Because I developed an interest.” ES: “Why?” Tan: “Why do you think? Because (he) is pretty. (He) won’t leave my head.” ES replies, “He has a girlfriend. You’re old girlfriend Lee Bo Na.” ES doesn’t give Tan CY’s name and leaves. She walks away so Tan tells her to stop, losing confidence as ES continues to leave.

CY calls ES at work and asks about her photo on her SNS. ES sees Tan has uploaded a selfie onto her account. “Tan is very handsome” says the message. Tan is in the café too. He asks for CY’s number. Annoyed, ES gives Tan the number. Tan immediately calls CY and asks for ES’s number. Pfft! CY doesn’t give it. ES hangs up his phone. Tan says he think he will have a reason to call her soon so he should have her number just in case. ES: “What reasons is there for us to contact each other?” Tan: “Who knows? ‘Look upstairs,’ ‘Turn around,’- things like that?” ES turns around. “What do you mean?” Tan: “Are you curious?” He steals her phone and gets her number. “I’ll let you know what I just meant right now. Later.” He promises to log out off her SNS account. He walks away, with ES calling out for him to stop, just like Tan had to do before at her school.

Tan calls ES immediately, saying that he will call her soon; he has someone to meet today. ES asks how long he is staying in Korea. Tan: “Why? Do you hope I don’t leave?” ES: “So I can buy you a meal.” Tan smiles, pleased. “Then you’re the one who kept me here.” ES just hangs up.

Yoon is food shopping and Tan has joined him. Tan tells Yoon that Won seems to have known it was he waiting for him at the hotel. Yoon: “The president is not a easy guy.” Tan: “I’m sorry for putting you in an awkward situation in the middle.” Yoon says he is okay. He’s not that much of an obedient guy anyway.

Tan confesses that he doesn’t know what to do. Yoon: “Of course. Because it’s not your fault.” Tan: “It’s not hyung’s fault, either.” Yoon: “Right, it’s your dad’s fault.” Tan is first surprised and then he laughs. He wishes his dad heard this. Tan says CY must be happy to have Yoon for a father. Yoon replies, “CY must think you are lucky to have the CEO for a father.”

Tan is home and says hello to dad and leaves. Dad gets spy photos of Won and Tan. He sees Won with HJ and Tan with ES. Dad seems to have been keeping an eye out on Won and HJ for some time. About ES, guy (Jung) explains that ES didn’t seem to have purposely approached Tan in America. He also notifies the dad the ES stayed over at Tan’s house in the US for a while. He also sees most recent photo of Tan’s visit to ES’s school. Dad says he is embarrassed in front of Jung since he only two sons are acting this way. Ugh, the dad is a creep who is going to do anything to keep his children within their class status and others out.

Home, ES’s mom sees that ES has merely written that she hopes to get a job as her future dream, and has not listed any school she wants to get into for college.

Morning. MS passes by Tan on his way to school and is happy to see him. They exchange greetings like old friends. MS asks Tan he didn’t move, right? He saw a girl..MS leaves in a hurry to go to school before he is late.

Tan is about to enter his house, but ES comes out. ES drags Tan away saying, “Let’s go before the second son comes out.” Tan: “That handsome guy?” ES stops and she asks if he lives around the area. He says yes. “Do you want to know where? If I told you, you’ll be surprised.” ES is about to tell him why she lives in that house where she just came out from, when Tan says he is not curious. All he wants to know is when she is going to buy him a meal. ES: “When it is time.” Tan complains, “When is that?” ES: “You said you would call, but you didn’t.” Tan smiles, “You waited for my call!” ES leaves, embarrassed.

MS tells BN that Tan is in Korea. MS takes picture as BN is completely shocked. He tells CY to be nervous. BN keeps pretending that she doesn’t know Tan. CY finds this cute and teases her as she runs away, listing all the K-Pop songs titled “Lies.”

BN goes to R asking if Tan is really here. Looks like R just found out. R pretends she knew.  BN is mad that R didn’t warn her beforehand because she is worried that CY will break up with her. BN leaves and R calls Tan (US phone). No one picks up.

YD is at R’s locker waiting. He asks if Tan is really here. R is annoyed, and YD guesses that R didn’t know either. R asks if YD is worried that he will lose his place. YD says he wants to make sure he sees Tan “the friend he misses.” Tan calls R back, knowing she called because he found out he is in Korea. He tells her he is here and hangs up. She pretends Tan didn’t hang up in front of YD. However, YD can tell, it seems. After R hangs up, she asks if YD has anything to say since she will see Tan after school. YD smiles, saying, “I don’t think you will be able to see him. Just in case, though, ask Tan if his mom is doing well.”

KA comes into the dad’s room and thinks ES’s mom is ratting on her about trying to trap JS.  ES’s mom writes that dad is talking about something else. Dad was asking about how long HN has worked here. He asks about her daughter, and finds out the ES does really well in school. Dad wishes to sponsor ES so she can go to Jeguk. KA objects a little. ES’s mom thanks the dad.

ES finds out that she is transferring to Jeguk. ES is mad about this decision. Even if she gets a scholarship, they can’t afford the uniform or lunch money. Mom says she will get the money somehow. She explains to ES that she needs to graduate from Jeguk High at least so she can get a job later even without going to college. ES’s mom tells ES to lie and say her family was originally rich but her dad’s business fell through. At least this is better than saying her mom is maid.

ES and Tan’s dad talk. Dad tells ES that she shouldn’t feel satisfied living in that room, when ES says she wants to live according to her means. He tells her that Jeguk offers a chance to study abroad to scholarship students. ES perks up on that.

YD is back home, and finds out from maid, he has a dinner appointment.. He calls R to confirm. R tells him to not complain and just come out. YD tells his dog that his dad treats him as if he is less than a dog. Should he act like a dog then?

YD’s dad is late. He snarks to complaining R that her birth dad must have arrived to his appointments on time. E gives YD a dog collar as gift. She’s heard he likes his dog a lot, and saw the dog when she went over last time to his house. YD tells E that it was during junior high that his mom ran away and his dad has all those women. YD brought the dog with the money all the women gave him to him as allowance. He trained the dog to bite the women when they came over. “If you feel left out, you can give your part for the dog.” Ha! YD is so mean.

YD’s dad comes in, and E says to the dad that YD has to leave because something came up. R takes this chance to leave too.

R asks for a ride. She wants to get a new  uniform. Won takes her, since he owes her for helping him leave.

ES is at the uniform place. The uniform costs about a thousand dollars. R sees E outside. R asks why ES is not avoiding her. ES says she doesn’t have a reason. R: “Even if Tan is here like I foretold?” ES doesn’t say anything. R: “No reaction? Then you know Tan is here. I warned you in the US thinking that you might act like this, so why don’t you understand?”

E just says “Are you done?” and takes R’s name tag. She says to R “If you want the tag, then call me, since you know my number.” YD blocks her path at first but when ES asks if he is here to help R, he just moves out of the way in reply. R yells at YD for letting ES go, but YD tells her she lost and so she should just buy the uniform like she came here for. He leaves, saying something just came up.

YD chases after ES and asks what her relationship is with Tan and R. She replies nothing, YD is curious to know why she took R’s name tag then. ES asks how that is any of his business. YD basically threatens her that he is not asking. ES is not scared. YD explains he just wants her to answer one question properly, since it seems they are on the same side. ES says she is seeing him for the first time. YD tells her he has seen her before. YD says ES is the first person he ever saw to make R that angry that fast besides him. ES tells him to move, because she doesn’t want to get involved with them. He jokes around with her, asking if he has blocked this huge road for her. Before she leaves, he says, “I can get your phone number from R, right?” Aw man, I want more of these two. 

ES calls CY. Next day, CY and ES meet. ES asks for info on Jeguk high. She tells CY that she is transferring. CY doesn’t look happy. He asks ES if she wants to go to Jeguk High. ES reveals she was jealous of CY going to that school. “Still, is it something I shouldn’t want?” CY tells her of course not. A lot of things can change or fall apart. Still, it is a bigger world. “Welcome, Cha Eun Sang.” ES: “It sounds like you’re giving me permission. Thanks, Chan Young.” CY still has a worried look on his face.

Tan is in wine cellar. He finds a box of his old stuff, which includes “The Great Gatsby” book given to him by BN when they were dating. ES comes down. Tan hides. ES is talking to CY. She has paid back the airplane ticket money. “Now I am really saying goodbye to America.” ES thinks about her midsummer night’s dream note. She answers CY “America is too far away from a maid’s room” when he suggest she can go again.

ES is outside, wondering about the electric bill for the house. All the lights are on again. Tan calls her (ES looks a little happy) and says “Hello Sidney” (like the movie Scream). He tells her to look upstairs. ES sees the dream catcher. Tan says turn around. ES sees Tan.

Tan walks over to ES. She asks how are you here. Tan says think about it. ES realizes that Tan is the second son. She asks him. Tan confirms. She asks about the time they met in front of the door. “You knew that I lived here.” Tan: “Yes.” E: “You knew I lived here in the maid room.” T: “Yes.” She turns around.

Tan to ES: “Cha Eun Sung. By chance, did I miss you?”

ES doesn’t answer as the tears overflows from her eyes. She just goes in to her room.

KA brings Tan’s uniform and tells him to do well in school since ES always places within fifth place in school. Tan finds out that ES is coming to Jeguk High.

Nice school.

Next day, ES is at Jeguk high and is surprised about what these rich kids talks about. She looks around, amazed.  R sees ES. BN sees ES. Both BN and R find out that ES has transferred. MS introduces himself to ES. Kids rush outside. MS goes to find YD.

Tan is here. He stands outside the school and everyone piles out- CY, BN, R. Tan to BN: “Long time no see.” To R: “Even without you looking at me like that, everyone knows we are engaged.” T says to CH: “The boyfriend of my old girlfriend. What are you doing here? [Are you here because of] preferential treatment for employees [of Jeguk group].” BN about Tan: “Of course. He’s that type of guy.” HS from the roof says, “In the school of satans, the lucifer has arrived.”

YD comes out. Stare down with Tan. MS comes out too late to tell YD about Tan- “Oh, you’ve met already.” Tan: “I’ve missed you, friend.” YD: “Welcome.” Tan: “Loosen up. I’m not going to do anything right now.” YD: “Let’s just say hi now. You’ll scare the kids.”

ES walks into the crowd without realizing, while texting CY.

Where is EP 6??? Will translate preview asap.

Preview for Episode 6

CY: In this place, there is a strict rank.

ES: Rank?

MS: Who’s side is our ES on?

Tan: Why don’t you sit somewhere else?

YD: Now I feel like eating.

YD with aegyo: Eat a lot, transfer student.

Tan: Transfer back to your old school.

R: You arrogant b*ch. Don’t let your name and Tan’s come from other kids’ mouths as a set.

ES: You may not believe me but I want the same thing.

Tan: Did you cry?

ES: Can you pretend that you don’t know me?

Tan: Stay next to me.

Tan’s dad: This is my second child.

Tan: I didn’t come here on purpose.

Won: See what happens when you move without knowing anything.

JS to KA: Don’t you know that you and I can’t be seen together?

KA: Am I Rapunzel?

YD: This is your chance to leave before the words “Only being the child of mistress…” come out of my mouth.

Tan: There is no more hope for us being friends.

Comment:

Things are getting more and more exciting by each episode. I am glad that Tan didn’t hide the fact that he was Jeguk’s son for very long, keeping the story moving. Initially, though, I wondered why Tan revealed it that night of the wine cellar hideout. Upon rewatch, Tan seems to have made that decision after hearing Eun Sang saying goodbye to America forever and saying it is too far from her maid’s room. America was a midsummer night’s dream for Eun Sang, but Tan has come from the land of dreams to make it a reality. Tan reveals himself to her, bringing America and everything associated with it back to her. It’s not a midsummer night’s dream, but a reality that has come to face her in all its possibilities. Eun Sang might not have wanted to have any hope in that dream, but Tan is opening up the possibility by being there for her to grab onto him. While the distance between them is figuratively still far because of their different status, physically, they are closer than ever.

Hyun Joo and Eun Sang are developing into characters with striking parallels. Eun Sang is receiving support from Jeguk, just the way Hyun Joo did. We are getting the hint that Daddy Kim did everything he can to make sure that Hyun Joo knew she was being supported by Jeguk; therefore, she felt obligated to not get involved with Won. She was made to know her place and situation by Daddy Kim, and it seems, despite what he actually said to Eun Sang, that he is doing the same thing to Eun Sang. How will Tan deal with his dad differently from the way Won dealt with him? And how will this prove to be both a wake-up call to Won and/or a defeat?

Tan and Young Do both seemed to have been mean bullies when they were friends in junior high school, ruling over their classmates. Young Do carried on after Tan left, and Tan doesn’t exactly seem to have gone soft over the years. Yet, that is what makes it interesting to see how his relationship with Eun Sang will change how Tan relates to his friends.

One of my favorite relationships is between Won and Yoon, who, despite their constant struggle to one up one another, have a foundation of mutual respect. This is unlike Young Do and Rachel’s relationship, which is underlaid with mutual disdain. The two can freeze the sun with their snark.