ROOMMATE Episode 16

Episode Title:  Begin Again at the End

After the success of the fan meeting, the roommates and Ling Qi gather at a cafe. Ling Qi asks if they want to go on a Taiwanese TV show. Fast forward to the next day where Nana and Se Ho are heading inside a TV station. They meet up with Ling Qi and his friend. They are there as guests on a TV show called 100% Entertainment. They go to greet the MCs, who turn out to be jokers. In their waiting room, they discuss the fan meet. Ling Qi informs them he didn't let the fans know about their appearance on the show today. Se Ho tells them everything will go smoothly today, which is one of his catchphrases. He then proceeds to teach Ling Qi his catchphrase and the accompanying hand gestures.

Se Ho makes a call to Dong Wook to ask how things are going. He pretends he is with a Taiwanese actress who is a fan of his. Se Ho passes the phone to Nana who starts speaking in Chinese. On the other line, the roommates could tell right away that it is Nana. Sung Woo comments that it really is her seeing as how persistent she is. Nana keeps talking in what doesn't seem like Chinese anymore. Seeing how they are caught, Se Ho gets their translator to talk on the phone. Thinking that it is still Nana on the line, Sung Woo tells her to be quiet. Nana chirps in that it isn't her at the same time the translator is talking. Taken aback, Sung Woo is silenced. Dong Wook tries to clean up the situation by promising to meet the actress in the future. In his interview, the PD breaks it to Sung Woo that it was indeed Nana at first before the translator joined in. Again, Sung Woo is dumbfounded.

Nana and Se Ho are being briefed about the show. They are told they will be playing couple games. Nana comments that even in Taiwan, people think they are a couple. While on standby, Nana and Se Ho make up a handshake.

The filming starts and Ling Qi introduces the twosome. The MCs ask about the fan meet. Se Ho shares that he cried a lot after and pretends to get teary eyed on the spot as he recalls the event. His antics causes the others to laugh. The female MC asks Se Ho why he came in a suit while everyone is dressed causally. Se Ho jokes that he always dresses like this, even to the public bath house. The female MC jokes with one of the male MCs that he should learn from Se Ho. This MC jokingly fires back that he will when he goes on a date with Nana. When asked what she thinks about this, Nana answers that MC is fine as he is. The female MC asks Nana to pick between the two male MCs, who are busy fussing over their outfits. With their backs turned, Nana approaches her pick while Se Ho goes to tap the shoulder of the other MC. This MC turns around to see Se Ho and instantly goes to hug him, which causes everyone to laugh. One MC asks if the pair gets along. Se Ho and Nana tells them that they will show them instead of explaining. They go to do their handshake that they made up just before filming. The MCs joke that they must have just learned it. Se Ho jokes that they've been practicing for 6 months and even have over 400 handshakes. They go to do another handshake, which turns out messy, but amusing. Before going to break, the MC announces they will be playing couple games next.

Filming resumes after a short break and the first game is called "Love's hug." Each couple has to break as many balloons as they can between their bodies in 1 minute. The MCs are up first and are hilariously struggling. Despite their attempts, they only pop 2 balloons. Nana and Se Ho are up next and practices with one balloon first. Everyone is surprised at how they popped the balloon so quickly. Their turn begins and they pop the balloons with ease. Their final total is 9 balloons popped in 1 minute. The MCs ask what their secret is and Se Ho answers that it is the power of love. In actuality, it is because they played this game together before when they went camping. The next game is Peppero - which ever pair that can eat a shared peppero stick while leaving the least bit behind wins. The MCs are up first and the song "Oh, My Love, My Darling" starts playing. The MCs leave behind 3.2 cm. The other male MC and the female MC have a turn and leave behind 0.8 cm. With the pressure on, Nana and Se Ho have their turn. In his interview, Se Ho says he wanted to show them how it is done. Se Ho starts chomping away while Nana is frozen. In the end, they leave behind 0.7 cm. In his interview, Se Ho emphasized that their lips did not touch. The roommates are the winners today. They say their last messages before filming is finished.

Team Japan are off to meet Se Ho's friend, Toshi. Arriving to the apartment, the roommates are greeted by Toshi and his wife, Yukie. Se Ho describes Toshi as a brother that was there during the good and bad times. Dong Wook tells the family that Se Ho told them there are two things Kobe is famous for - Kobe beef and Toshi. He tells them Se Ho called Toshi the "prince of Kobe." He then jokes that Sung Woo is the "prince of Osaka."

Everyone congregates to the couch to sit and chat. Dong Wook asks Toshi how he was close to Se Ho. Toshi explains that they met when Se Ho debuted, which was over 10 years ago. Se Ho would fly over for important occasions like his wedding and special events. The roommates start introducing each other. Kang Joon introduces himself in Japanese. Sung Woo shares that Kang Joon started learning Japanese when he first came here. Dong Wook introduces himself as an actor and Se Ho's roommate. Sung Woo introduces himself as a musician, actor, and musical actor. Toshi chirps in that he cooks too. Yukie also chirps in saying he draws well too. Sung Woo becomes embarrassed from their praise. Dong Wook jokingly says all Sung Woo has to do now is get married. Sung Woo fires back, asking if he is really going to say this now.

The roommates start asking the couple about themselves. Toshi does real estate. They start talking about how the couple met. Originally, they met while in language school, but didn't feel anything romantically. 10 years later, Toshi was set up on a date. He took a look of a picture of his date and saw that it was Yukie and the rest was history. Min Woo asks if they really didn't feel any attraction towards each other when they initially met. Toshi can't deny it. Dong Wook can see why, commenting that Yukie is pretty. Ga Yeon compliments Yukie and asks what she does. Yukie shares that she was a flight attendant before getting married. The roommates ask how they feel seeing Se Ho have interest in Nana. Toshi comments that he wanted to ask them about that. To him, Nana is too good for Se Ho. Dong Wook asks if he meant that Nana would be wasted on Se Ho .Toshi instantly agrees, which amuses the roommates. Min Woo asks if there was a cast member they were interested in meeting. Toshi answers Sung Woo, since his favorite song of all time is "Seoshi." Yukie comments that there are a lot of scenes where Sung Woo is cooking. Sung Woo asks her if he should cook for her and proceeds to ask what she wanted to eat. She answers kimchi stew and Sung Woo pretends to be arrogant by saying that is too easy. On the topic of food, Toshi says they have to have Kobe beef while in Kobe. Before leaving to eat, the roommates take a commemorative picture.

At the restaurant, everyone is in good spirits and are conversing freely. The beef is brought out and Mama Shin goes to investigate. He comments that the beef looks like a piece of art. Kang Joon shares a story he found while researching about Kobe beef. The basketball player, Kobe Bryant was named Kobe because his father loved Kobe beef. Dong Wook thinks it is a joke, saying it is like naming a child Hoengseoung because they loved the beef there. Toshi explains that the story was indeed true and that the residents take pride in that. The editors add in their little clip, joking that if only Kobe's father had Hoengseoung beef, then his son's name would have been Hoengseoung Bryant instead.

Its time to eat as the group cheers with beef. The taste is indescribable so they have Sung Woo take the lead. He poetically says it is like coming into contact with sunlight after being in the cold. This earns him a round of applause. Toshi hands something over to Sung Woo and calls him a lonely philosopher. Suddenly, guests arrive- After School's Lizzy and Kaeun (FYI- they are Nana's group mates). Earlier, Nana informed the other team that her group mates were in Kobe and could be their guides. Dong Wook got in contact with Lizzy afterwards and they agreed to go get dinner.  In the present, Dong Wook introduces the ladies as Nana's group mates. Lizzy gifts Sung Woo with her precious Hello Kitty brush since she is a big fan. Sung Woo is confused, but everyone tells him it matches him. Lizzy asks Sung Woo to brush his hair with it and he complies. Lizzy then proceeds to sing songs from musicals, but she ends up singing one from a musical Sung Woo wasn't in.

Ga Yeon brings up the official Roommate question - who would they choose between the two young actors, Kang Joon and Min Woo. As Lizzy is contemplating, she playfully glances over at Sung Woo, who tells her to choose already. Lizzy chooses Kang Joon based on his looks, but says she likes Min Woo a lot. She shares that she was surprised to learn how many people she knew that also knew Min Woo. Kaeun asks if it is okay to choose Dong Wook. Dong Wook responds that it isn't over for him (meaning he still has it). They start talking about ideal types. Lizzy shares that she likes someone who she can be herself around- someone she can fart and poop around and they'll understand. Dong Wook asks if this is okay to say on air and Lizzy wittingly replies that she is only human.

Dong Wook says he heard that the ladies were Se Ho's in laws. Kaeun replies that she likes it. Lizzy comments that she hopes things goes well for the couple. Dong Wook gets Se Ho on the phone and Lizzy calls him brother-in-law. She thanks Se Ho for taking care of Nana. She then jokingly asks Nana if she is enjoying her honeymoon. Nana asks if she is talking nonsense. Sung Woo ends the call by telling them to go rest. The conversation turns to Ga Yeon and her fighting skills. Yukie asks to see a demonstration since she can't imagine Ga Yeon as a fighter. Min Woo chirps in that Dong Wook would also demonstrate. In the middle of dinner, Ga Yeon shows her sparing skills.

After dinner, they are off to Venus Bridge, where they can see all of Kobe from. As tour guide, Kang Joon reads from his phone about the bridge. The group eggs him on to have more flair as a guide. Sung Woo asks him how he feels seeing the view. He bluntly answers that he likes it. He then goes to try to poetically describe it - like seeing a ray of light from the bottom of the ocean. But then he gets stuck and doesn't know how to continue to describe it.

Dong Wook suggests they leave video messages about what they enjoyed most about the day. Kang Joon chooses the owl cafe. While he was talking about the owls, Dong Wook corrects him by saying they were night owls. The ladies ask Kang Joon what the difference between the two were. Kang Joon says they aren't different, they are friends. The group are holding in their laughter after his explanation. Dong Woo jokingly asks who were better friends than- owls and night owls or Kang Joon and Min Woo. He really thought about it for a second and answered Min Woo and himself. Dong Wook calls him out for thinking too seriously about the question and asks how he knew. He than asks if he thought less of the owl's relationship. Ga Yeon tries to ask him something, but he asks her to be quiet as he tries to explain. He says the relationships were like family and that they don't contact each other often and would only meet during holidays. He says they have to meet by default since they are family. He doesn't understand why he is talking about this and tries to wrap up this video, but he stumbles by saying snail cafe instead of owl cafe. After the video message, Lizzy and Kaeun leave. The roommates head back to Toshi's place.

At the apartment, Dong Wook conducts "Roommate Nightly News." The first bit of news is Ga Yeon's upcoming debut. He tries to give her a hug, but she playfully hits him in the stomach.  While this is going on at the kitchen table, the guys are watching them from the living room. Dong Wook asks if Ga Yeon feels any pressure from not being able to train and properly diet for the last 3 days. Ga Yeon says she is using her situation as an excuse. She realized while being in  Japan that she should be trying her best within her situation. She feels like she gained more from being here, growing closer with the roommates. Dong Wook ends the interview by saying she will succeed and the next time he'll interview her, she would have won her match. He then points her to the direction where the boiled eggs are and tells her to have one before going to sleep.

The next news segment is about Min Woo's and Kang Joon's upcoming weekend dramas that are on different networks. Dong Wook comments that they are fated to be rivals. Min Woo and Kang Joon join him and Dong Wook asks them to describe their characters. Min Woo gives a detailed description of his character. When asked about his character, Kang Joon simply says his character's name and that he is a tycoon. Dong Wook asks if they are close after sharing a room for 100 days. Min Woo describes it as more than owls and night owls. Dong Wook then asks how often they talk on the phone and tells them to answer at the same time. One says every day, while the other says once a week. Dong Wook ends it by saying he'll let the viewers judge them. He informs the viewers to watch Roommate then Kang Joon's drama then Min Woo's drama (since they are all on back to back on the same night).

Dong Wook asks who'll report the news on him. Sung Woo is heard in the background, saying he'll do it. Dong Wook bows to both sides (although no one is there) and the news is finished.

Team Taiwan spent their day at a hot spring and returned back to Ruby's place for their final night. They find the gifts that Ruby left out for them. The roommates leave video messages for Ruby, her parents, Ling Qi, and the fans, thanking them for their hospitality.

It is departure day. Dong Wook is up first since he is leaving before the rest of the group. Sung Woo is in the kitchen, looking for ingredients to make breakfast. Th rest begin to wake up except for Kang Joon, who gets hit by Ga Yeon as a wake up call. Sung Woo is diligently making soybean paste soup from the ingredients he found. He goes to taste it, but the flavor is off. In his interview, he blames it on the ingredients, saying they weren't all there and weren't like the ingredients he would use. Instead, he opts to make fried rice with daikon slices. Kang Joon tastes the soup and comments that it is really good. He tastes spoonful after spoonful.

Ga Yeon goes to a convenient store to buy breakfast since she can't eat with the rest due to her diet. She is super impressed by the hunk of crab meat sold there. She comments that it would've been  a good snack. Through her will power, she sets it back down.

Kang Joon informs their hosts that breakfast is ready. The menu is fried rice, soybean soup, and spicy fried noodles. Sung Woo watches as the couple digs in. He gives a sigh of relief when he hears them complimenting the meal. Sung Woo warns them that the spicy fried noodles were actually really spicy. The couple gives it a try, but comment that is so spicy that it hurts. Kang Joon presents to them a present from the roommates. The gift is various Korean foods and seasonings.

Nana is bonding with Ruby and her mother. She compliments the flowers at the house. Ruby's mother asks if she would like to go to a nearby flower market that she goes to. On the way there, they stop by a jade market. Ruby's mother wants to buy Nana a ring as a present. In her interview, she explains that she heard that friends have matching  rings in Korea and that she wanted to gets rings for Nana and Ruby to commemorate their new found friendship. The trio make it to the flower market soon after. Nana says that she is going buy Ruby's mother a gift. As they look around, Ruby points out a fragrant flower and comments that her mother likes these. Nana takes a bunch and purchases it for Ruby's mother,

The plan for the roommates in Japan were to meet up with Lizzy and Kaeun at Shin-Kobe Station. At the station, the roommates are greeted by Lizzy and Kaeun, who are acting as their tour guides for the day (named LiKa Tours). Lizzy tells them they are going to Nunobiki Herb Garden. They get into a cable car that will take them to the top of the mountain. They get a nice scenic view of the mountains and Kobe skyline as they ride to the top. But Kang Joon can't really pay close of attention to it since he is scared of heights. As he is desperately holding on to a bar and making noises at each bump, Sung Woo asks him how he even bungee jumped prior to this. Kang Joon admits that he wouldn't have if it weren't for the show and the cameras rolling.

At the top, they take a picture to capture the moment, along with some silly pictures. They explore the garden as they eat ice cream. Sung Woo suggests they split into teams to reenact some famous drama scenes. He splits them into teams and lays out his criteria for judging- most entertaining and close to the original. Up first are Kaeun and Kang Joon, who reenact a scene from Kang Joon's previous drama "Sly and Single Again." It is a serious scene that involves a back hug. Both are serious while acting it out, but end up bursting in laughter after the back hug. For Min Woo and Lizzy's turn, they ask Sung Woo to come up with a scenario for them. Sung Woo suggests acting out a woman, who is a player, that clings on to her man, who turns out to be a cheater. Their scene turns into a comedy as they keep the scene going by just saying whatever. Min Woo pretends to take pictures of women passing by as Lizzy tries to get his interest. Min Woo cracks a lot of jokes that has the rest laughing. After they finish, they suggest that Kaeun and Kang Joon give it a try. Kang Joon tries to act as a bad guy, but bursts out in laughter. They give it another try. Kaeun is extra clingy and takes every action, good and bad, as a positive even when he tells her to go away. But it doesn't take long for Kang Joon's bad boy act to fall apart as he bursts into laughter again. Sung Woo gives out his verdict and gives the win to Kang Joon and Kaeun. Ga Yeon presents the couple with their prize - money.

The time has come for the roommates to leave. Team Japan bid their farewells to Toshi and Yukie. In their interview, the couple expressed their joy of having met the roommates and having them stay over. Team Taiwan also said their goodbyes to their host family. Ling Qi met the roommates at the airport to say goodbye as well.

Everyone is back at the share house, exchanging gifts that they bought for each other. They are back to their daily lives. Ga Yeon is off to training. Se Ho is enjoying his bed which now adorned with a blanket and pillow of his face and the Taiwanese fans behind him. Sora pays Ga Yeon a visit at her training center. She is shocked to see Ga Yeon on the ground as she is being punched. She worriedly watches as Ga Yeon is fighting with a male opponent. She is struggling underneath her opponent as her coach tells her opponent to keep punching her. Little by little, Ga Yeon was able to break free from her position and stand up. The coach calls time and Ga Yeon lays on the ground. Her coach keeps pointing out what she is doing wrong before beginning the next round. Ga Yeon is back underneath her opponent, who hitting her more gently this time. She tries and tries to get out from underneath to no avail. Frustrated, she lets out a shout. The round ends with her not being able to get out of the position. Sora watches on as Ga Yeon gets picked on by the coach. Her break doesn't last long as they go into the next training session, which is punching a punching bag as she is trying to be pulled away. Again, Sora watches on with a worried look. This session is done, but the training continues on without much of a break. Ga Yeon, along with her fellow trainees are struggling as they continue on.

Sora asks one of the fighters if Ga Yeon usually trains like this. The fighter explains that she has been training more to build up her stamina for her debut. He asks Sora why she came. Sora explains that she was curious about Ga Yeon's training. She comments that it must be hard for her since she doesn't train with other females. The fighter agrees. Sora goes back to observing Ga Yeon's training. When she has a break, Ga Yeon goes to greet Sora. Sora asks if she is okay. Ga Yeon assures her that she is. Sora gives her advice, telling her to punch a few times before escaping. She shares that she felt hurt watching Ga Yeon unable to escape from her position.

After the training session ends, Ga Yeon introduces Sora to some of her friends. Sora asks them if there is anything she should do for Ga Yeon as her roommate. Ga Yeon bluntly tells the guys to each say something. One friends says she is fine just as she is. Another asks Sora to stop Ga Yeon from touching her phone all the time. This earns him a punch from Ga Yeon. They sit to chat a bit as Ga Yeon introduces her friends one by one. She fumbles a bit by saying the wrong surname of one of her teammates. Sora comments that as the youngest member of their roommate family, Ga Yeon acts like the oldest around her teammates. One of her teammates says that her one flaw is that she is too manly. Sora begs to differ, saying that she is feminine. Ga Yeon points out that she has to be more manly and less feminine at the training center. One teammate comments that seeing her on TV is strange since she is more dolled up than when they usually see her. The same teammate shares that Ga Yeon is actually soft hearted and tends to keep things to herself. When she injured her shoulder, he could tell that it stressed her out even when she didn't vocalize it to him or the others.

Sora treats Ga Yeon and the guys to a meal at a barbecue restaurant. She explains that she wanted to treat them to something nice since they are all on diets. Ga Yeon warns her that she'll regret it. Sora asks the team how much they usually to which one teammate answers 6-7 meals a day. To get a better feel, she asks how much pizza they eat in one sitting. They all answer 1 box each. Ga Yeon tries to explain that it is because they are all still growing. One teammate pipes in, asking if it okay for them to eat as much as they want. Sora assures them it is okay. The guys order away and Sora watches nervously. They get to cooking before really digging in. The team eats til there is no meat left.

Ga Yeon's diet is brought up. The guys comment that they feel bad about eating near her and how she can't go out for a drink. Her teammate wants her to go out and enjoy things instead staying in her little world of training. Ga Yeon expresses that she loves training with her team and that everyone is choosing to train. She explains that since there are few female fighters in Korea, it drives her to do this. After their conversation, Ga Yeon shares that she has go back to her evening training session. Sora goes to pay the bill, which ends up being 868,000 won. Sora couldn't believe they ate this much, but the cashier tells her they ordered 16 portions. The camera pans in on the computer, which shows they actually ordered 22 portions.

Ga Yeon leaves Sora a video message, thanking her for taking the time out to watch her train and for buying them dinner.

Se Ho goes to buy a cake to celebrate the end of Dong Wook's drama. At the drama wrap up party, Dong Wook introduces his co-star, Lee Da Hae. He asks her if she'll visit the roommates at their share house. She declines, saying there are  a lot of women there. Dong Wook jokes that he'll get rid of them. She proceeds to throw him under the bus, saying he really gets along well with women. After joking around, they go back into the party. Se Ho arrives later to Dong Wook's surprise. Dong Wook questions why he is here. Se Ho says it was to see Da Hae again, who then proceeds to greet him. Dong Wook breaks up their little moment. Se Ho tries to give her the cake and Dong Wook asks where his cake is. Se Ho jokes that he didn't get him one. Dong Wook pretends to be hurt before Se Ho spills that the cake is actually for him. Dong Wook introduces Se Ho to all of the cast mates and staff one by one (FYI there are a lot of staff members).

After greeting everyone, Dong Wook asks if Se Ho ate. Se Ho says he is on a diet. Dong Wook and Da Hae look at each other as they're planning something. Da Hae tries to feed Se Ho, who ends up accepting the food. Suddenly, the director comes over to ask where Nana was. He explains that since Se Ho has something going on with Nana, Dong Wook's mother started worrying about her son. The director starts praising Dong Wook about how he brought the cast together and doesn't complain about anything. Se Ho informs the director that he has been a part of a few projects, hinting to him to cast him. He even informs him that Nana would like to try acting. Dong Wook finds it hilarious since the director does shows for a rival TV network ("Hotel King" was on MBC while "Roommate" is on SBS). Hilariously, the director shows off his fan boy side and looks into the camera to ask if things are actually bad between Kang Joon and Min Woo.

The duo interview another staff member, who shares how Dong Wook started drinking after joining Roommate. He (jokingly) continues to tarnish Dong Wook's image by explaining how he has a temper on set, going off every 5 minutes. All Dong Wook could do is laugh at the staff's antics. Next, they interview two female cast mates and ask how they would describe Dong Wook. Both agree that he is a man's man. They also joke that he talks harshly. Last up to be interviewed is Da Hae. Se Ho asks her if she felt nervous filming the kissing scenes. Dong Wook tells him of course he was. Da Hae questions if that was the way he acted when nervous. He laughs and asks what she means. Da Hae explains that he would ask without any emotion how they should do the kiss. She sees him as casual around women. Before their bed scenes, she explains that Dong Wook would play games on his phone. For the last question, Dong Wook asks her how it was working with him. She recalls that she partially took the role to work with him again.

After the interviews, Se Ho shares that he has a plaque to award Dong Wook to which he found highly amusing. Se Ho reads aloud what he had engraved into the plaque. He thanks Dong Wook for being his roommate. Se Ho presents him with the plaque and they do the obligatory "award accepting" pose. In the end, they cheer "we're forever partners in crime."



Thoughts:
So ends their vacation (and 2 hour long episodes....thank goodness).The vacation was a nice watch, but the editors really stretched it.