Backstreet Rookie Episode 2

Backstreet Rookie Episode 2 Recap

Choi Dae Hyun (Ji Chang Wook) tells his girlfriend Yoo Yeon Joo an emergency has come up at the convenience store and he must go. She wonders why he’s leaving for an issue with a part-timer.

Outside the convenience store, Jung Saet Byul (Kim You Jung) and two friends drink until tipsy. Dae Hyun arrives and approaches the trio. Saet Byul stands and gives Dae Hyun a winning smile. Dae Hyun says he’s firing her. The message isn’t received due to the alcohol involved. Saet Byul passes out. Dae Hyun tells Saet Byul’s friends he recognizes them from three years ago. They find that complementary. They berate him for suspecting Saet Byul of being a thief. Dae Hyun defends his thought process. He returns to the matter at hand, why are they drinking in front of his store? Their answer is to pour him a drink. They dare him to drink it all. Dae Hyun does so. They keep pouring and he keeps drinking.

His girlfriend watches from the taxi surprised that Dae Hyun left her side to drink with these girls. Dae Hyun becomes intoxicated. Saet Byul’s friends surprise Dae Hyun with their revelations about Saet Byul. Then he passes out. Saet Byul’s friends declare that Saet Byul and Dae Hyun passed out in the same manner make them perfect for each other. Just then Saet Byul rouses. She’s surprised to see Dae Hyun passed out. Her friends declare they told him everything about her plans. Saet Byul isn’t thrilled but can’t help asking what Dae Hyun’s reaction was. They state Dae Hyun passed out before he reacted. They notice a woman watching them from a taxi. Dae Hyun’s girlfriend ducks down and orders the driver to proceed.

Saet Byul puts Dae Hyun to bed on a couch in the back room of the convenience store. She watches him sleep. She admits she’s working at the convenience store so she can see him every day. She vows to be the best employee so that he’ll hire her full-time. As she walks away, Dae Hyun holds her wrist and asks her not to leave. Saet Byul is thrilled and agrees to stay a bit longer. He rolls over and cuddles her wrist. Saet Byul loves it. He calls her Yeon Joo. That wipes the smile from Saet Byul’s face. She pulls out of his grasp in anger. She smacks him. He rolls off the couch. She leaves.

Yeon Joo recalls watching Dae Hyun drink with the other women. She struggles to compose a text. She’s dismayed when she accidentally sends her text that reveals she was watching him.

At the school, 3 girls are reprimanded for being late by the director. But when the rich girl arrives late reeking of alcohol, the director gives her a drink to refresh herself. He claims he only wants what is best for her.

Dream…Yeon Joo tells the police officer to keep Dae Hyun locked up. The officer flirts with her. She’s receptive. Dae Hyun tries to intervene from his cell. Yeon Joo and the police officer leave together. Dae Hyun yells at them to let him out.

Dae Hyun awakes and wonders why his nose is bleeding. He wonders what happened last night. He exits the room and finds Saet Byul minding the store. He promises to pay her overtime for staying past her shift. He wonders why his nose is bleeding. She reminds him that he didn’t want her to leave. Dae Hyun doesn’t believe it and tells her to go home. As she leaves a student wearing university garb enters and purchases cigarettes. He’s happy that Dae Hyun makes the sale and leaves. As Dae Hyun drinks a water, he flashes back to drinking with the girls last night. He punches up the receipts and realizes that all the alcohol consumed was not paid for. He sees a deleted message from his girlfriend from 2am last night. He worries she saw him drinking. He wonders why she deleted the message. He wonders if he should ask her or do nothing.

Dae Hyun texts Yeon Joo and apologizes for deserting her last night. He asks about the deleted text. He asks her to call her. Yeon Joo considers then responds with a text suggesting dinner. Dae Hyun is thrilled and agrees.

Saet Byul wakes and cuddles the large stuffed animal Dae Hyun’s former girlfriend returned to him 3 years ago and he abandoned. Then she remembers Dae Hyun assuming she was another woman when he asked her not to leave him. She beats the stuffed animal.

Dae Hyun senses someone is badmouthing him.

Ha!

Over dinner Dae Hyun admits her was craving something spicy. She asks if is due to his excessive drinking. She points out that if he wanted spicy, he should have said something before they ordered. On the defensive, Dae Hyun apologizes. Dae Hyun asks about the deleted text putting Yeon Joo on the defensive. She asks why he didn’t respond. Dae Hyun claims he was busy then fills his face with food.  Yeon Joo realizes Dae Hyun won’t admit the truth of the previous evening. Dae Hyun is relieved that he won’t have to admit what happened last night.

Dae Hyun drives Yeon Joo home. He reminds her that she’s yet to meet his parents. He believes that he should meet her parents first. Yeon Joo doesn’t want to talk about it. Dae Hyun points out that they agreed their parents should meet last week. She puts him off. They get on the topic of last night. Dae Hyun claims he founds the girls drinking and kicked them out. Yeon Joo smiles knowing that isn’t what happened at all. Dae Hyun wishes her a good night and leaves.

Yeon Joo arrives home to find her mother excited about new artwork. The maid informs Yeon Joo her bath is ready.

Dae Hyun’s mother returns home tipsy. She sees her husband is enjoying a massage chair that he paid for with a credit card. She yells at him to pay off his debt. She hits him. She demands he return the massage chair. She bemoans her choice in husbands.

Dae Hyun approaches the convenience store and can’t help but notice the abundance of customers when Saet Byul works. He watches her have fun with the customers inside the store. Her overhears the male customers discuss how pretty Saet Byul is.

Flashback…Saet Byul’s friends tell Dae Hyun that Saet Byul is working for him because she can’t forget their kiss 3 years ago, which was Saet Byul’s first kiss. Dae Hyun doesn’t believe them. Saet Byul’s friends tells her that Saet Byul likes him. They state that kiss was Saet Byul’s ONLY kiss. Dae Hyun is shocked.

Dae Hyun and Saet Byul lock eyes and communicate via gestures. Dae Hyun makes his way into the store and watches Saet Byul interact with a customer including kissing a dog. Dae Hyun knows her last kiss wasn’t him. The customer with the dog finds Dae Hyun attractive. But he’s NOT happy when the dog kisses him. The customer gets upset and declares she won’t becoming back. Dae Hyun tries to make amends but she rushes out of the store upset. Saet Byul can’t believe that Dae Hyun just blew it. Dae Hyun is more upset that Saet Byul kissed the dog. He orders her to approach him. He demands that she explain what happened last night. He says drinking with friends on the job merits firing. Saet Byul points out she’s increased his sales. Dae Hyun declares her friends didn’t pay for what they drank and ate. Saet Byul declares they put the money in his pocket. She reminds him he did a hula dance around her friends and they tucked the money in his pocket.

Flashback…Dae Hyun does a hula dance. Saet Byul’s friends put the money for their purchases in his back pocket.

Holding the money now complete with the memories, he offers to give her friends a cash receipt. Saet Byul states they don’t want one. Dae Hyun gives her a warning for drinking on the job. He exits to the back room. Saet Byul gripes that Dae Hyun was willing to hula for her friends but is mean to her.

In the back room, Dae Hyun can’t believe what he did last night. Saet Byul calls him to the front of the store. A police officer and the student are there. He confirms he sold the student cigarettes. Then he realizes the student is younger than his college garb led him to believe. He isn’t happy. The student apologizes.

At the police station, Dae Hyun is told the student stole the college garb. He will receive a misdemeanor for selling cigarettes to a minor. Dae Hyun knows the convenience store will be suspended for two months from selling cigarettes. He recalls the video on checking student IDs.

Dae Hyun returns to the store to check the video to determine if he checked the student’s ID. Saet Byul finds him in the back room doing this. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know exactly when the incident occurred. He downloads several months’ worth of videos. He bemoans the tedious task of checking the video. He sends Saet Byul to the front of the store while he tackles the task. He watches and watches and watches. Saet Byul sits outside the store. Dae Hyun joins her outside. She asks if he found the video in question. The answer is no. He asks her not to tell his family. He wants to handle this issue on his own and not worry his parents.

Dae Hyun’s parents argue about the possibility of Dae Hyun liking Saet Byul.

Dae Hyun falls asleep searching the video. Saet Byul enters the back room and offers to relieve him. He tells her to go home. She says she can’t leave until the video is found. Han Dal Sik (Dae Hyun’s friend) enters the back room startling Saet Byul. Dae Hyun isn’t surprised and tells her Dal Sik is Korean. Dal Sik informs her they been friends for many years. Dal Sik offers to take over for Dae Hyun so he can go the sauna. Dae Hyun thanks his friend. He sends Saet Byul to the front and leaves for the sauna. Dal Sik scours the video.

The question MUST be asked. Didn’t the police identify WHEN the student purchased the cigarettes to charge Dae Hyun?

Dal Sik is startled when Saet Byul’s friends find him sleeping in the back room. They inform him they’ll take over the task he fell asleep doing. They bicker. That leads to fighting. Dae Hyun and Saet Byul burst into the room to break it up. Saet Byul yells at her friends. They defend their actions. Dal Sik nose bleeds. He gets upset. Dae Hyun orders Saet Byul’s friends to leave.  But Dal Sik and the friends go at it again. This time Dae Hyun gets his hair pulled and he yowls. He pulls Dal Sik out of the convenience store. Saet Byul berates her friends for their actions. She orders them to check the video footage. In the front of the convenience store, Dal Sik complains about the physical actions of Saet Byul’s friends. Dae Hyun gets a call from Yeon Joo. She wants to meet him right now. Dae Hyun it isn’t a good time. She counters that she doesn’t have much time for him today. Saet Byul overhears Dae Hyun states he’ll be there shortly. Saet Byul demands to know what could be more important that finding the video in question. Dae Hyun promises he won’t be gone long. He leaves. Dal Sik follows. Irked, Saet Byul tells her friends to go home.

Dae Hyun finds Yeon Joo next to her disabled car. She thanks him for handling the mess and gets into the taxi that he took as she’s late for a meeting. Dae Hyun frets that he doesn’t have time for this.

Saet Byul sees Dae Hyun’s mother kissing the cigarettes as she stocks them. She explains that cigarettes are a crucial part of their sales. Saet Byul sighs.

In the tow truck, Dae Hyun spots the student. He orders the tow truck driver to stop. He exits. He informs the clerk at the convenience store that the student is underage. He demands to know when the student bought the cigarettes from him. The student tauntingly won’t say. Dae Hyun grabs him and says this is important to his family’s well-being. The student points out that the convenience store can sell other items just not cigarettes. Dae Hyun is frustrated and wants to hit the guy. Saet Byul calls him declaring another issue has come up. She screams and hangs up. Dae Hyun is forced to leave the student behind and leaves. The student tells the clerk his ID is legit. He buys the cigarettes. Saet Byul’s friends see the student stride out of the convenience store cigarettes in hand. Via video chat, Saet Byul order her friends to follow the student.

Saet Byul corners the student pointing out she has nothing to lose. She isn’t happy that she might not get paid because of a jerk like him. She demands to know if he’s rich. He pulls out his phone threatening to call the cops. She grabs the phone and removes the lollipop. She makes the student aware that cigarettes sales are over half the income of the convenience store. She orders the student to share the date. The student spills.

Saet Byul rushes to the store and tells Dae Hyun she found the date and time from the student. They look up the video. It shows Dae Hyun ID’ing the student. They download the video. This should mitigate the two-month ban on selling cigarettes. Dae Hyun notices a cut on Saet Byul’s hand. He tends to the wound. Saet Byul stares at him touched by his kindness.

He thanks her and asks why she did this for him. Saet Byul points out she cares about him more than his girlfriend. She reminds him he promised to hire her as an official part timer if she resolved this issue. Dae Hyun claims he doesn’t remember. Saet Byul mimics him. Dae Hyun claims not to remember but in a teasing way. They grapple for her badge. They end up close together. They lock eyes. Dae Hyun pushes her back. He starts to ask if 3 years ago if that was her first kiss and Saet Byul knows it. Then Dae Hyun reverses course and babbles about her lack of performance. He exits to the front of the store.

Nice! Banter and proximity!

He watches her work.

Flashback…Dae Hyun’s writing is belittled by his boss. His coworker admits he wrote the item in question.

Dae Hyun thinks to himself he wasn’t able to see Saet Byul for who she really was. He calls Yeon Joo. She thanks him for helping her. He tells her he’ll return the car when it is fixed. He tells Dae Hyun he won’t fire the part-timer like he said. He admits he was wrong about her. Yeon Joo thinks he’s wrong. Dae Hyun asks her to respect his decision. He notes when he worked for her, he respected her decisions. They hang up.

Yeon Joo’s boss and/or coworker invites her to dinner since they are both working late. He asks how her boyfriend’s convenience store franchise is doing. She points out that he that data is easy to know. He tries to turn the conversation to personal. She keeps it strictly business.

Saet Byul laughs when her friends send her a video of Dae Hyun dancing in the store. She begins to dance.

Dae Hyun dances in his room.

Saet Byul dances in the store.

Cute, cute cute!

Dae Hyun wonders if Saet Byul is partying with her friends again. He pulls up the store video. He watches her dance. He recognizes HIS dance.

Cute!

My Thoughts

The dancing at the end was darling! Writer Son Geon Joo offered up a cute, fun, focused episode derived from the webcomic written by Hwalhwasan and Geumsagong. Why Saet Byul wanted to work for Dae Hyun seems to be straight forward. The kiss she gave him 3 years ago was her first and only kiss. Not sure that is compelling, but that’s the explanation so far. What worked in this episode was the production values (again), the writing, the secondary characters leaned towards quirky versus annoying, and the hint of chemistry of our couple.

Choi Dae Hyun (Ji Chang Wook) avoided the 2-month selling ban thanks to Saet Byul. Dae Hyun seemed a bit stronger this episode. He’s a bit of a wimp with his girlfriend who we learned was from a wealthy family. She’s avoided the meeting Dae Hyun’s family and introducing Dae Hyun to her family for over a year. That’s a red flag. I liked that she kept it professional with her boss or coworker that invited her to dinner. Did she spy on Dae Hyun because he ditched her at the gym and that was unusual? At the point, she takes Dae Hyun for granted but isn’t someone to hate. Dae Hyun was ready to fire Saet Byul though it wasn’t necessary. He can’t help but notice she’s beautiful, but he is true to his girlfriend, though there was a moment of playfulness and sizzle in the back room of the convenience store.

Jung Saet Byul (Kim You Jung) has spunk, charm, and determination. She seems to have never forgotten her first kiss and encounter with Dae Hyun to the extent that no other man has kissed her in the last 3 years. Her two best friends were supportive though she is clearly the leader. I liked her firm conversation with the underage cigarette buying student. I can’t believe the police didn’t have the time/date that the student was sold cigarettes, how else could they have charged Dae Hyun with the misdemeanor? Saet Byul went the extra mile for Dae Hyun multiple times in this episode. I like this character and that is in large part due to Kim You Jung’s portrayal. When Saet Byul worked there was an uptick in male traffic in the convenience store similar to Dae Hyun’s popularity among female students. Both these actors are beautiful and appealing.

This video of the first OST “Something” sung by Kang Daniel shows why this couple might have “it”:

I rank this episode as good, 7 on a 10-point scale.

About KJT (aka kjtamuser)

Asian drama fan. I watch and blog dramas on https://kjtamusings.wordpress.com/.

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