MaryMeKpop

Not all good things last and some good things take time. Maybe some things are just not meant to be. Our characters’ lives are ever-changing and evolving in the fast-paced world they live in and sometimes some thing are out of their control. It’s how they respond to these challenges and bumps in their lives that will prove what matters to them and what doesn’t.

Do You Like Brahms? Episode 6: Reffrenando, Controlling One’s Pace

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While at work, our Kyunghoo team receive notice that two of their music professors won’t be able to attend the upcoming audition scheduled for that day any longer. Just as Team Leader Cha is about to give them a call, Sung-jae advises that she rather not. It turns out the two were having an affair with each other and it’s quite controversial. Professor Lee gives things another thought and she pitches the idea of working with Song-Ah in a meeting with her later on that day. She invites Song-Ah to attend graduate school at Seoryeong University so that they can work together for the next two years. Song-Ah is in disbelief upon hearing the news and she never thought this day would come. Now that it is here, she’s grateful and hopeful.

Team Leader Cha explains the rules to the judges for the auditions. Professor Lee and Jung-kyung are there, but Hyun-ho joins shortly afterwards as well which throws the former lovers off. After the auditions, Professor Lee leaves and bids farewell with Hae-na and Song-Ah. Song-Ah is quick to text Joon-young and updates him on how she has good news. Speaking of Joon-young, he receives yet another phone call from his mother who he ignores. He turns off his cell phone as a result. Jung-kyung and Hyun-ho have a brief private chat in the venue after the auditions. She encourages him to leave as she plans on informing Team Leader Cha about their break-up. Hyun-ho wants to have a talk with Jung-kyung first, but Jung-kyung refuses. She’s also not a fan of how he’s still sporting their couple ring even though they’ve separated.

In walks Team Leader Cha who still assumes that the two are together. It doesn’t take long for Jung-kyung to break the news to Team Leader Cha and Song-Ah also overhears the news as she walks into the back of the venue. Jung-kyung proposes that Team Leader Cha change up the programming to their upcoming anniversary party since she won’t be able to play with Hyun-ho anymore. She also humiliates Hyun-ho by questioning whether he really intended on marrying her. She’s sick of him and she doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore. Jung-kyung walks off and Song-Ah leaves as well. Hyun-ho is left alone with Team Leader Cha in the venue. Even though Jung-kyung initiated the break-up, she’s still heartbroken and sad. It’s proving to be difficult for her as well to accept and process the separation and both she and Hyun-ho shed some tears that evening as they reflect on their relationship and history together.

Joon-young receives yet another phone call from Mom. He picks up this time and just like all the other times before, she asks him for some money. They still have debt to pay as a result of Dad’s financial decisions and mistakes. Joon-young at first voices his disappointment and frustration with Mom and he suggests she find other outlets to pay off that debt. After just a few seconds, he calls her again and gives in to giving her some money. It won’t be much, but he’ll send her something. He then checks his bank account afterwards. Jung-kyung stops by Dong-yoon’s workshop and notices a photo of Song-Ah, Dong-yoon, and Min-sung from back in college. She assumes they’re close which Dong-yoon acknowledges. They are close, similar to her and Joon-young. Dong-yoon too still assumes that Jung-kyung and Hyun-ho are a couple so he advises her not to taunt Hyun-ho too much. He may be nice, but he’s not naive. Jung-kyung has no issue in announcing the break-up to Dong-yoon and she shares that they’re no longer together.

Joon-young calls Director Na to discuss with her about the money that she wired to his account. Although Director Na comments that the $20,000 was for the most recent performance that he participated in at her house, Joon-young still can’t accept it. It’s too much money for him. Joon-young even stops by Director Na’s house that evening to return the money to her. Director Na voices her disappointment in Joon-young. He used to not be able to play with Jung-kyung’s Mom’s piano back in the day so she thought he had changed, but she’s disappointed that he’s still the same to this day. Joon-young argues that the keys to the piano has always been too heavy for him. Because of that piano, he was never able to do what he wanted in life and continued to endure all the years of pain. It wasn’t easy for him and he wishes that Director Na would understand that. The serious conversation between the two affects Director Na’s health and she falls onto the ground shortly afterwards.

While walking back home, Song-Ah checks on the text message that she sent to Joon-young. He’s yet to reply back to her, but she notices that he’s read it so she comes close to giving him a call. Just then, Song-Ah encounters Jung-kyung and the two awkwardly greet each other. Jung-kyung cuts to the chase and pleads for Song-Ah not to come between her and Joon-young. They have 15 years of history together. Just then, Jung-kyung receives a phone call from Joon-young so she hurries over to the hospital where Grandma is located. Joon-young updates Jung-kyung on Grandma’s surgery and shares that she’ll be alright. Jung-kyung is stressed and worried about Grandma, but she also doesn’t want to be alone at the hospital. She pleads for Joon-young to stay with her; she’s scared of being alone. Song-Ah has a hard time sleeping that night and she’s tempted to send Joon-young a follow-up text message. However, she changes her mind at the last second and decides to just wait patiently for his reply.

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The next morning arrives and Joon-young still hasn’t replied to Song-Ah’s text message. He bids farewell with Team Leader Cha at the hospital and coincidentally encounters Mom as she’s exiting the same hospital. It turns out Mom is also not so healthy and there seems to be a problem with a blood vessel in her brain. After inquiring with the hospital, her surgery is going to amount to $20,000 – the same amount that she had asked Joon-young for. Joon-young finally realizes that Mom had been asking him for money for her surgery all along and he feels bad. Why didn’t Mom just tell him that she needed money for the surgery? Not only that, Joon-young learns that Director Na is still sending money to Dad even after all these years. Mom explains that Jung-kyung was the one who wanted to help; she’s been the driving force behind everything this entire time as she’s fully aware of the financial difficulties Joon-young and his parents have been in. Right at that moment, Jung-kyung leaves the hospital and finds Joon-young talking with Mom. Joon-young walks away when he notices Jung-kyung watching them.

Min-sung invites Dong-yoon out to a hangout with their friends at the restaurant under his workshop. She’ll pretend as if nothing ever happened between them and she vows to not make things awkward. This prompts Dong-yoon to appear at the hangout and Min-sung keeps her promise. Just when one of their friends pitches the idea of introducing her rookie female staff member to Dong-yoon, Min-sung tries her best not to react. She pretends as if she’s fine and she even asks her friend if there are any rookie male staff. Lol. Just as Song-Ah is exiting work, she encounters Joon-young waiting for her in the lobby. While walking back home together, Joon-young apologizes for the lack of responsiveness. He was busy the day before and didn’t have the time to reply to her. Song-Ah is okay with it and she shares the good news that she had texted Joon-young about: she plans on applying to grad school at Seoryeong University. Joon-young is happy for Song-Ah, but he doesn’t give off too much of a reaction.

Song-Ah feels as if something is different between the both of them and she remains honest with Joon-young. She’s not so sure she wants to be in a friendship with Joon-young where he said he would go to her during rough times. She’s not a fan of how he hasn’t been honest with her or how he seems to be hiding things from her. If this is the kind of friendship that he wants, then she won’t do it. All Joon-young can do is apologize to Song-Ah which breaks her heart even more. That was not the type of response that she was seeking or looking for. In fact, she wanted him to fight for their friendship and to also be honest with her on how he felt, but he wasn’t. He didn’t turn things around or do anything to prove that he too wanted their friendship. Song-Ah wants to be a friend he can go to for anything, but that’s not the type of friend that Joon-young viewed her as.

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It’s Song-Ah and Hae-na’s last day as interns. Just when it seems like things are smooth and peaceful, a mom comes barging into the office and complains about her daughter’s rejection at the audition that Kyunghoo recently hosted. It’s the mother of the violinist, Ji-won, who Joon-young collaborated with for their performance at Director Na’s house. She can’t comprehend or wrap her head around why her daughter failed the audition. She even goes as far as to ask the rest of the Kyunghoo team what they thought about her daughter’s performance. She picks on Song-Ah in particular since Song-Ah was the page-turner for Joon-young on that evening of the performance. Song-Ah at first hesitates to answer and she takes a few seconds to come up with a response, but she manages to calm the heated mother down. Ji-won is a violinist with amazing talent so it’s not a big problem if she’s failing auditions and competitions at her age. Instead, Ji-won’s mother should just continue to support Ji-won and let her do her thing. She wouldn’t want Ji-won to hate playing the violin as she gets older. As a violinist herself, Song-Ah understands better than anyone else why this is so important. She’s speaking from experience and she understands the pains and challenges of what being a violinist is like.

Joon-young spends some time with Mom as she prepares for her surgery at the hospital. Payment for the surgery has been taken care of although Joon-young doesn’t necessarily explain how or where he got the money from. Later on that day, he meets with Professor Yoo and learns that Professor Yoo will make time for him in the second semester at school for piano lessons. All Joon-young will have to do is submit a request form and the deal will be done. Our Kyunghoo team go out to celebrate Hae-na and Song-Ah’s successful internship at the company. Hae-na’s not so sure what her graduation plans are just yet, but Song-Ah has an idea. She shares that she plans on applying to graduate school at Seoryeong University which shocks Hae-na. The rest of the team can sense the rivalry between the two interns, but they quickly interrupt the awkwardness by making a toast.

Joon-young stops by the convenience store to visit Hyun-ho and updates his best friend on his mother’s situation. Although Joon-young is glad that his mother’s surgery has been paid for, he doesn’t feel so great borrowing money from Director Na in order to do so. He’s played in so many competitions and performances over the years, but he never made all that much. Back at the celebration party, Da-woon expresses excitement for the upcoming anniversary party that Joon-young will be performing at. She even pitches the idea of inviting Joon-young to join them since she’s a fan. This prompts Team Leader Cha to give Joon-young a call and ask him about his performance with Jung-kyung and Hyun-ho for the anniversary party. Turns out that Joon-young doesn’t know about the break-up news yet so Team Leader Cha fills him in on the news while Hyun-ho is occupied with a customer inside of the store. When he returns, Joon-young follows up with Hyun-ho on the breakup. Hyun-ho lies that he and Jung-kyung just had a fight, but Joon-young isn’t convinced. He even calls Jung-kyung for confirmation in which she admits that yes, she and Hyun-ho are no longer together.

Joon-young is conflicted with the news and he finds it ridiculous, but there’s nothing that he can do about it. All Jung-kyung can think about is Joon-young and after a night of drinking at the bar, she finds herself in front of Joon-young’s place. Joon-young worries for her and he sends her the code to his place. He’ll make his way back home so she would wait inside his apartment for him first. Our Kyunghoo team have a conversation about their love lives. Hae-na’s relationship with her boyfriend is going well so far so Song-Ah has a situation that her “friend” is going through that she wants advice on. Song-Ah’s “friend” (aka Song-Ah) is in a situation where the boy she knows only contacts her when he’s lonely and stressed out. He claims that he’s happy when he sees her or spends time with her, but he never goes into details about what exactly is stressing him out or what is happening to him. She’s not so sure how to describe the relationship, but Sung-jae shares his thoughts on the situation. The boy definitely likes Song-Ah’s “friend.” It shows that he cares about her and keeps thinking about her and wants to lean on her during rough times. Song-Ah is surprised at Sung-jae’s feedback and she gives thing another thought.

After the celebration hangout, Song-Ah bids farewell with Team Leader Cha. Before getting inside the taxi, Team Leader Cha comes close to asking Song-Ah a question. However, she changes her mind at the last second and they go about their separate ways. Song-Ah walks towards the apartment complex that Joon-young lives at and notices that the lights inside his unit is on. She is tempted to send him a text message asking him on his whereabouts, but she refrains from doing so. Just then, she catches Jung-kyung exiting the apartment complex and entering a taxi all by herself. Song-Ah assumes it was Jung-kyung who Joon-young was spending time with which could explain as to why he didn’t show up to their celebration hangout. Not too long afterwards, Joon-young rushes into his apartment only to find it empty. The only thing he does find is a written note from Jung-kyung pleading for him to not take too long and to come to her when he feels ready. What Song-Ah isn’t aware of is that Jung-kyung found notes inside Joon-young’s place dedicated specifically to Song-Ah. It’s a complicated love triangle between our three characters and they’re each heartbroken because of all the misunderstandings.

It’s the start of the second semester. From conversations with her friends to seeing Joon-young’s fans surround him in the hallway, Song-Ah is reminded of Joon-young everywhere she goes. Joon-young finds Song-Ah walking outside and he catches up to her. Upon reuniting, he notices tears in her eyes and checks up on her. Is she okay? Is there something wrong? Although Song-Ah lies that she’s okay, she knows that deep down she isn’t. She’s not okay. Her attempts to forget about Joon-young and to get over him was a failure. She turns back around to face Joon-young and confesses her feelings to him. With tears in her eyes and a trembling voice, Song-Ah admits that she likes Joon-young. Joon-young can only stare at Song-Ah upon hearing the confession and there’s a heavy silence that falls upon the two. For Song-Ah, it’s now or never.

My Thoughts:

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Why do I have this ugly and nerve-wracking feeling in my stomach upon watching that ending scene? Something inside of me tells me that Joon-young is not going to accept Song-Ah’s confession because he’s in a relationship with Jung-kyung or has become a lot more involved with Jung-kyung. Even when I watched this episode the first time around and just skipped around for scenes of Song-Ah and Joon-young, I could already tell that something was up with Joon-young in that ending scene. I have a bad feeling and I hate it, but I also know that Joon-young and Jung-kyung could definitely have found their way to each other. Joon-young still had complicated feelings for Jung-kyung, Jung-kyung was still very much in love with Joon-young, and Song-Ah had ended her friendship with Joon-young. I could see how Joon-young and Jung-kyung got closer once his friendship and interactions with Song-Ah ceased. He also doesn’t feel as obligated to stay secretive with his feelings towards Jung-kyung anymore especially since she and Hyun-ho are no longer together.

Even with the limited scenes between Joon-young and Song-Ah, I’m surprised that I still found this episode to be quite smooth and enjoyable. I was afraid that a lot more serious and political stuff was going to take place, but it was still intriguing and interesting to watch. Of course, I am definitely looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen to Joon-young and Song-Ah, but I’m also just quite glad that the drama can still remain a good watch even without their adorable scenes. In regards to their friendship, I can understand where both Song-Ah and Joon-young is coming from. A part of Song-Ah’s decision to end their friendship stems from the fact that she had feelings for Joon-young and she felt as if he was just using her and as if they weren’t going anywhere. He only wanted to meet with her when it was what he needed or when it was convenient for him which was not the type of friendship that she wanted. I could see how it made Song-Ah doubtful about the type of relationship that they had with each other and whether he was ever genuine about it at all.

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At the same time, Joon-young has a lot going on in his life and he doesn’t always have the time or the want to share everything with Song-Ah. In this episode, it seemed as if Song-Ah felt entitled to a very small extent in that she wanted to know what happened to him or she wanted to know how his day was. I feel horrible for saying such a thing about Song-Ah because I totally get where she’s coming from and the type of friend that she wants to be for Joon-young, but at the same time, she also has to respect his wishes and wants as well. Just because he said he would go to her during rough moments in life does not mean that he’s ready at that time to pour everything out to her. For Joon-young, he’s a quiet and reserved guy who admittedly does feel better when he spends time with Song-Ah. I get that that can be confusing for Song-Ah (especially as she’s developing feelings for him), but it’s also his way of coping with everything that’s happening in his life. When the time is right and he feels better prepared, he’ll open up to her about everything going on in his life and I think that’s something that Song-Ah should respect (of course, if they had a conversation about this in the first place, then maybe there wouldn’t be all these misunderstandings. Also, speaking of misunderstandings, there were sooo many misunderstandings and assumptions in this episode between Jung-kyung, Song-Ah, and Joon-young and I hated it).

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Even with the breakup in their friendship, I didn’t feel as heartbroken about it as I thought it would. Things had been going so well for Song-Ah and Joon-young which was great, but as we all know, not everything is going to last that well for long. Add Jung-kyung into the mix and I could see why their friendship went downhill. I don’t blame one person or the other and I know that the two will eventually make up and will resume right where they left off. I also appreciate all the other details in this episode that focused on our characters and their lives. From Joon-young’s complicated situation with Mom to Song-Ah’s response with Ji-won’s mother, we viewers never forget about the challenges and personal issues that each of our characters are going through in their respective lives. More than that, we also never forget about the strength and determination that they possess in overcoming these bumps and everything else in between. Conflicts and hard times may come and go, but the strive to survive and thrive will always stay.