ROOMMATE Episode 15

Episode Title: A Midsummer Night's Miracle

Dong Wook arrives to the airport after everyone has left. To his disappointment, it is only him and a camera lady. Sistar's "Alone" is playing in the background as he checks in and is on the plane. In his interview, he feels down that not even one or two staff members stayed behind to go with him.

In Osaka, the group is heading to Sung Woo's fan's family restaurant, Omoni. Mr. Hong, who is driving them, tells them how famous this okonomiyaki restaurant is. During the car ride, Kang Joon comments that boxing with Mr. Hong was memorable. Sung Woo jokingly says Kang Joon's "dance" in the ring was memorable.

At the restaurant, Sung Woo is happily greeted by an elderly lady. As the roommates are greeting her, Sung Woo explains that she is like a mother to him. Now in a room, the lady whom Sung Woo called earlier greets them. Sung Woo introduces his roommates one by one. The group sits and chats about her memory of going to Sung Woo's concert with her mother a long time ago. As she is sitting there with the group, she confesses that she has had butterflies in her stomach since the day Sung Woo called her. Sung Woo has been curious to how she has been and has heard about her here and there. The fan tells the roommates about the restaurant. It is her mother's restaurant that has been around for 48 years. She describes it as her home since she was born and raised here. Sung Woo reflects on how he always had a good feeling when he comes to the restaurant. Despite having to renovate 3 years prior, the food is still good.

Both owners (Fan's parents) enter to join the group. The mother has been anticipating their arrival and shares that all of their employees know who the roommates are. Sung Woo thanks them for accommodating them on short notice. He also mentions that Dong Woo should be on his way.

Dong Woo has arrived to the airport. He tells the camera that Sung Woo told him to find his own way to the restaurant. He angrily asks if Sung Woo thinks it is the same as finding a pancake house in downtown Seoul. He ends up asking for directions from his fans that came to greet him. The fans offer to take him there since it is on their way. Feeling very grateful, Dong Wook pays for everyone's subway ticket. During the subway ride, Dong Wook happily chats and takes pictures with his fans. At the station, Dong Wook thanks them again before bidding them farewell. Now outside of the station, Dong Wook comments that his surroundings seem familiar. He ponders if he should take a taxi.

At the restaurant, the roommates are enjoying their meal. Ga Yeon places a piece of chicken breast on the grill. She tells the ladies that she is on a diet. The ladies look on sadly and encourage her to eat some of the vegetables as well. Sung Woo comments that it feels like his mother is taking care of them. Ga Yeon compares it to being at her grandmother's house. Sung Woo points out that their staff hasn’t ate yet. His fan jokingly tells them to enjoy the smell of deliciousness as she fans the smell of their food towards the staff. Sung Woo jokes that they should come back for their 200th day together and the staff can give them half of the allowance since they can just work at the restaurant for room and board. Soon after the owner's family members arrive.

Dong Wook arrives at the restaurant and says "Tada." The roommates pretend to be passed out. Dong Wook asks if they aren't even going to greet him. The roommates jump from their seats and happily greet him. Dong Wook pretends to cry about how everyone abandoned him. After the theatrics, Dong Wook greets each family member. The fan introduces each member of the family. She introduces one of her daughters and Dong Wook looks on curiously. Min Woo tells him that the daughter is studying hotel management in Korea. Sung Woo jokes that he should hire her. Dong Wook informs everyone that he is the hotel king (joke since he plays one in his drama). The fan jokes that she will formally introduce her daughter now.

While the food is being cooked for Dong Wook, Dong Wook recalls all of the expenses he accrued to get there- subway tickets for him and his fans and his taxi ride to the restaurant. Min Woo informs him that Ga Yeon is their treasurer. Ga Yeon states that Dong Wook deserves a low kick (for spending all that money so quickly). Sung Woo tries to alleviate the situation by saying they can just skip one meal. Dong Wook comments that it is different when Ga Yeon is the treasurer.

Dong Wook asks how the family started liking Sung Woo. The fan says it was because of the song "Seoshi" and then proceeds to ask Sung Woo to sing it for her. She even goes to find a bottle that he can use as a mic. The roommates comment that Sung Woo never sings. But for the fan he sings and the roommates listen intently. After the performance, Sung Woo asks if they can stay over for the night. The fan happily agrees.

The roommates retreat to the third floor where they will stay. Dong Wook makes sure to ask Ga Yeon if she is okay with staying in the same room as the guys. She nods as she has no other choice. The guys use their luggage to make a wall separating the space. As they are constructing the wall, they joke around by saying they can't guarantee no one's safety if they cross the wall. It's lights out and before they sleep, Dong Wook expresses his wish that he and Ga Yeon will become closer.

Clips of Exo's concert in Taiwan are shown, including shots of Chanyeol playing the drums. In his interview, the PD asks if there was one thing that was missing from performing abroad. Chanyeol confirms that they perform overseas quite a bit, but he has never gotten to go outside. Any spare time they have is spent at the hotel. When asked why he couldn't go outside, Chanyeol explains that the swarm of fans would be dangerous and burdensome to everyone else. Earlier at the house when they were planning out the trips, Sora asked him what he wanted to do in Taiwan. Chanyeol answered that he just wanted to go outside. The roommates declare that this will be their mission. Sora suggests disguising him and going to a night market.

It is late at night as Team Taiwan is heading to the hotel Chanyeol is staying at. Before making it in, they are spotted by a crowd of Exo fans hanging out outside of the hotel. There are even more fans inside the hotel lobby. The roommates politely greet the fans as they head to Chanyeol's room. Once on his floor, the roommates notice the many security guards. Se Ho approaches one and informs him they were there to see Chanyeol. They are led to his door where Se Ho calls Chanyeol to open the door in a serious tone. When that doesn't work, he tries calling Chanyeol in a friendly tone. Chanyeol is pleasantly surprised as he sees his roommates. In his interview, Chanyeol explains that he didn't expect to see his roommates until the next day at the concert venue.

Se Ho comes packed with disguises in tow. He shows Chanyeol his array of disguises ranging from paper masks to various sunglasses to beards to wigs and so forth. After trying them on for size, they agree that these disguises don't mask Chanyeol's aura. They ax the disguise and start planning their escape instead. The ladies will leave through the lobby while Chanyeol and Se Ho will leave through the back door. After getting into their respective taxis, they will find a place to meet up.

The ladies leave first through the lobby. Like planned, the fans' attentions are on the ladies as they clear out the lobby. Chanyeol and Se Ho are on the move. Se Ho jokingly tells Chanyeol to hide in the hotel laundry bin like in the movies. They take the elevator down and one of the security guards goes ahead to check the surroundings. Se Ho pretends to as well as Chanyeol hides. Their taxi pulls up and both guys make a beeline to it. Once inside the taxi, Chanyeol ducks down while Se Ho calls the ladies to figure out where to go. Their taxi makes a round to the front of the hotel where the fans are. Suddenly the door opens and a lady enters. Chanyeol is startled, but stays hunched over. Finally, Se Ho tells him the lady is their tour guide. In the other taxi, the ladies don't know where they're going. Soo Hyun asks if they can count their mission as a success if Chanyeol makes it to the taxi. He is getting the fresh air he wanted just by getting into the taxi.

Chanyeol and Se Ho get off at a convenience store. They buy drinks and sit by the window to chat. Chanyeol seems happy and curious. Se Ho comments that on vacation, people usually go outside and explore the surroundings. This isn't the case for Chanyeol. He explains that their routine when they go overseas is rehearsal --> performance --> home. He finds this all fascinating as this is his first time sitting outside in a foreign country. To commemorate this moment, Se Ho takes a picture.

The ladies and Se Ho are back at Ruby's apartment and are getting ready for bed. They take turns washing up. Se Ho leaves his little space, which is right next to the bathroom, so Nana wouldn't be uncomfortable when she was washing up. Not able to find a space to hang out, Se Ho retreats to Nana and Soo Hyun's bed. Soo Hyun finished washing up and is now drying her hair with the fan in Se Ho's space all the while wearing a sheet mask.  Se Ho goes back to his area to lie down. Both Se Ho and Soo Hyun can't figure out where the light switch is. So Se Ho tries to sleep with the lights on. Nana emerges from the bathroom and finds the light switch. After turning the lights off, Nana quietly uses the fan to dry her hair off.

It is morning in Osaka. The roommates plan to freshen up at a local hot spring since there isn't a bathroom where they are staying. Before separating by gender, they make sure to check the prices. Ga Yeon goes off by herself. She relaxes in what she called an iron pot. The guys are at the outdoor bath. They decide to play games - old versus young. The first game is palm pushing - try to push over your opponent without falling over. Kang Joon beats Dong Wook in this game. The next game is suggested by Min Woo which is water slap on a smiling face. The objective of the game is to keep smiling even while being slapped with water. The teams practice first before beginning. During practice, Kang Joon maintains a smile as if everything is all good. Dong Wook's expression turns to angry after being water slapped. Sung Woo gives it a try and comments that this feels dirty. The game finally begins with Dong Wook versus Kang Joon. Dong Wook maintains his smile. He comments afterwards that it felt like a car accident or someone punching him. During Kang Joon's turn, his expression changed slightly, which is enough for it to be considered a win for team old. The next round is Min Woo versus Sung Woo. Min Woo is up first and maintains his smile. He gives Sung Woo a hard water slap, which is heard loud and clear. Despite the slap, Sung Woo smiles on.

It starts to rain and the guys continue to have fun. Min Woo and Dong Wook joke around quite a bit.

Ga Yeon reunites with the guys at the spa. They all enter the sauna room together. After their time at the hot spring, the roommates go to the counter to pay. Their total is 15,000 yen (159,000 won). The team is confused as they check the prices again. The sauna was an extra cost and so was Ga Yeon's iron pot. It turns out the iron pot is actually a family suite, which costs them more. After accepting the total and paying, the roommates are greeted by a crowd of fans outside of the establishment.

Before setting off, the roommates pack and clean up the space. Outside, they are saying their goodbyes to the family. Sung Woo gifts them with his homemade fried pepper paste and bulgogi. Sung Woo notices Dong Wook on the other side with the family and playfully asks if he is staying. The fan jokes that Dong Wook is her new son-in-law. Continuing with the joke, Dong Wook tells the roommates goodbye and to please come again.

The roommates in Taiwan are still asleep as Ruby's father is preparing breakfast. Se Ho is the first to wake up. He jumps up when he sees that it is 10 AM. He runs into Ruby's parents in the living room area by surprise. Ruby wakes up the ladies for breakfast. Everyone has gathered to the table and starts introducing themselves. Ruby introduces her father as a lawyer with many years of experience. After the introductions, everyone starts eating. Se Ho asks if Ruby's father prepared the breakfast. The father answers yes and asks if the food is good. The scene of them eating the homemade soup from the day prior is shown. Se Ho lies that the soup from before was good. The father comments that he left some behind though. Se Ho starts trying all of the dishes and comments that they were all good. After breakfast, they take a picture together before cleaning up.

After breakfast, the roommates are doing their own thing. Nana is showing Ruby and her mother the Catellena music video. Afterwards, Nana shares she has a gift for them from her group promotions. She reemerges with two headbands - one hamburger set headband and a bibimbap headband.  Both mother and daughter are surprised and try them on. In her interview, the mother was asked if she thinks she can wear it normally. The mother responds while laughing that she believes she can't.

Se Ho is out to check the venue for his fan meet, which turns out to be a huge outdoor plaza. Being there makes him have second thoughts, but he decides to just continue with it. He starts hanging up posters dejectedly.

Team Japan is leaving Osaka for Kobe. During the ride, they discuss what Kobe is known for. Dong Wook asks Ga Yeon if they can eat Kobe beef. Ga Yeon answers that she will consider it. Sung Woo interjects that she can't answer like that after spending money on the family suite. Ga Yeon claims that she never done anything luxurious before, but she did it for the first time at the bath house.

The roommates make it to the Chinatown in Kobe. Kang Joon led Dong Wook and Ga Yeon to an owl cafe. They are surprised to see an owl as soon as they open the door. Dong Wook tries petting the owl before it starts to jump. A worker tells them the correct way to approach the owl. Every time the owl moves, the group gets scared. The group heads to the next floor and is greeted by different types of owls. The first one they encounter has big sad eyes. Dong Wook jokes that the owl must have suffered a break up and proceeds to give it advice on how to overcome it. Kang Joon tries to get close to the next owl by forming a heart with his hands. The owl sees this and looks away. Kang Joon tries to pet it, but becomes scared. The next are a pair of cute owls and a smiling owl. Thinking that it is friendly by its smile, Kang Joon tries to pet it, but the owl tries to bite him. Before leaving, the group takes pictures with owls and even tries holding them.

Sung Woo and Min Woo are exploring the food market. They try some foods and have a look around. What catches their eye is a toy that repeats what is said. They find it very amusing and Min Woo suggest they purchase it, but they don't have enough money. Min Woo jokingly pretends to barter with the toy and comes to an agreement.

The ladies are in Jiu fen, which is in northern Taipei to sight see. To them, this area is known from the movie "Spirited Away." One place they had to see was the tea house, which was the inspiration for the hot spring in the movie.

Se Ho and Ling Qi meet up at a cafe to discuss the fan meeting. Se Ho thanks him again. While talking more about it, Se Ho is visibly nervous. He even tried to call it all off. Despite the nervousness, they plan on. Ling Qi asks how he wants to be introduced. They decide on "Main Se Ho." Ling Qi suggests Se Ho gives a performance and offers to teach him a one of his dances. On the spot, Ling Qi teaches him the dance, which Se Ho picks up quickly. Se Ho even teaches Ling Qi his dance. After the meeting, they start promoting on the streets by handing out posters. Soon after, they leave for the fan meeting.

On the way there, Ling Qi asks Se Ho how he feels. He assures him he is okay. Se Ho shares that he doesn't feel nervous since it isn't in Korea and that he doesn't have high expectations. He is more curious to how many people will show up. Ling Qi comments that it is more about having fun than the number of people there. Se Ho says he is amazed that one person recognized him. Ling Qi expresses it would have been nice if the roommates were coming. Se Ho explains to him that he told the roommates that he was going to do this himself and for them to just enjoy the trip.

With only fifteen minutes before they arrive, the car ride is quiet. Se Ho has mix of emotions. He shares that his mind is blank right now and that he just wants the time to go by quickly, but on the other hand, he wants the event to be a success, which makes him feel greedy for wanting it. He still has second thoughts. The car ride becomes quiet again before Ling Qi breaks the ice. He believes Se Ho made a brave choice in having the fan meeting and that this will bring up his popularity. Se Ho thinks that they are different. All singers have to do is perform to gain an audience outside of their homeland, but for comedians, it is hard to break through overseas. Ling Qi shares that he just returned into the industry recently after going through hardships. Comedians can gain humor from their own up and downs as well. That seems to be the reason why he was eager to help Se Ho.

They arrive to the venue and Ling Qi takes a quick peek outside. Se Ho is blindfolding himself and puts on his headphones. Ling Qi leaves first to greet the crowd and asks them to stay quiet as Se Ho makes his way. Slowly, Se Ho is being led to the stage. What he doesn't see is the line of fans on either side of him. Now on stage, Ling Qi introduces him as Main Se Ho and asks him how he feels. Se Ho says that there is no one there and that he feels a bit nervous. He is asked how many people he thinks is in attendance. Se Ho says he can't answer since the only thing he can hear are the cars passing. Ling Qi asks why he decided to have a fan meeting in Taiwan. Se Ho explains that he heard Roommate is loved here and that he wanted to see if anyone would recognize him. Before getting to see the audience, Ling Qi says he'll have the audience clap so that he can get a feel as to how large the crowd is. As he is counting down, Ling Qi signals to the crowd not to clap. After the countdown, only Ling Qi is clapping. Se Ho deducts that only 6 people showed up. The crowd laughs a bit and Ling Qi shushes them. It is the time for Se Ho to take off his blindfold. They start the countdown, but Se Ho stops them because he was nervous. They start the countdown again and this time Ling Qi stops it. He asks Se Ho if he has anything to say to the roommates, especially to Nana. Se Ho says that he was nervous to go on the trip with Nana, but he is having fun. He hopes they can be good friends and make a lot of memories. Ling Qi counts to three for him to remove the blindfold, but Se Ho says he can't do it.

Now is the real countdown. On three, Se Ho removes the blindfold and is in complete shock as he sees the plaza filled with over 2,000 fans. After the shock, Se Ho greets the crowd before he starts to tear up. 6 hours before the fan meeting, there were already some fans waiting. By 6 PM, the plaza was filled. The time now is 8:30 PM.

Ling Qi asks him how he feels. Se Ho can't get his words out and could only say "wow" and "thank you." He shares that he has never felt like this before and asks how he deserved to have fans like this. He shares that he came to Taiwan when he was a kid and has been meaning to come back. Feeling grateful, he bows to the crowd.

Ling Qi suggests that he performs. Together, they dance to Ling Qi's song. Se Ho even shows off his break dancing skills and finishes off with a part of Exo's dance. They proceed to dance to Se Ho's song afterwards. Next, he starts taking audience requests. One fan has her phone flashing her request - "Love is an Open Door." Se Ho laughs at the request and happily complies by singing a bit of the song. Afterwards, some of the crowd starts chanting "Nana." Se Ho explains that Nana would have been here if she knew that the crowd was going to be this big. He gets egged on to call her. As soon as she picks up, the crowds cheer and start chanting "Nana." Se Ho asks her to greet the fans. Nan greets the crowd in Chinese, which causes them to cheer again. Se Ho asks where she is at and Nana answers that they are on the way there. Se Ho asks how many minutes away, but Nana hangs up on him.

Se Ho is informed by the staff that they have to end their meeting at 9 PM since the event is at a public park. Se Ho breaks the news to the crowd, who chant for him not to go .He assures them that he'll take all of the gifts back to Korea. He explains that he thought only 5 people would show up and apologizes for not preparing more. He takes pictures of the crowd. Afterwards, he tells them he is going to print these pictures on a shirt and promises to wear the shirt on the show.

With only 10 minutes left, the ladies arrive and the crowd goes wild. Ling Qi introduces them individually and asks how they feel to be here. Sora says that she would have dressed up if she knew there was going to be a huge crowd. Soo Hyun shares that she feels moved and tells the crowd "I love you" in Chinese. Ling Qi asks Nana if she thinks Se Ho looks more handsome tonight. Nana thanks everyone for coming and says Se Ho is always handsome. The crowd chants for them to kiss. Se Ho goes in to kiss Ling Qi on the cheek instead. Nana asks the crowd to help their show grow. Catellena starts playing and Nana gets in position to perform. Soo Hyun and Se Ho join in as her back up dancers. This concludes the fan meeting.

The crowd doesn't want to depart as the roommates share with the camera how they feel. All felt touched by the fans for coming. The next day, there were a lot of articles in the local news about the fan meeting.

Thoughts:

Dong Wook joins the trip (yay). The way he treated his fans that helped was a pleasant site. Hopefully now that his drama has finished, he can be more present for filmings.

Sung Woo's fan and her family were very kind to feed and house the roommates for one night. The fan seemed more like a friend. She was also funny. I found it hilarious when she played along with the "hotel king" joke and said she was going to formally introduce her daughter to Dong Wook.

Ga Yeon as treasurer was cute, especially when she said Dong Wook deserved a low kick for spending so much money. 

Seeing the roommates plan Chanyeol's escape was both fun and sad at the same time. His disguises were hilarious. I didn't realize Exo's overseas schedules were like this though. It seems like all they do is work when they go abroad, which is sad. They should at least be able to go out a bit to explore. But despite this, Chanyeol doesn't make a big deal out of it and smiles. His explanation to why he can't go out shows that he is thoughtful. Seeing Chanyeol smiling and full of curiosity at the convenience store was endearing. You can tell that despite it just being a convenience store, he is grateful to be outside in a foreign country for once.

[I can understand fans being excited when a singer they like comes to their country, but I think they should give them space to enjoy their free time (that way the singers will look forward to coming back to perform instead of seeing it as just another workplace).  Just a thought.]

Se Ho's first fan meeting was a great success in my opinion. With only one day to organize it, they did a good job and the turn out was greater than expected. I loved how on board and supportive Ling Qi was. He seems like a good guy and I'll definitely look up his music soon. I think Se Ho underestimates his popularity a bit. He was in "My Love from Another Star," which was loved not only by Koreans, but by K-drama fans worldwide. He is on Roommate, which has its own international fan-base (despite the show not being popular in Korea). Plus he is funny and humble - what's not to like?