Our boxer has officially reentered the ring, and her highly anticipated return has everyone — but her — hyped. Instead, the girl behind the golden gloves lacks enthusiasm for the very sport she dominates, which leaves her peers frustrated and contentious — especially when her manager begins manipulating key players to set the stage for our boxer’s predetermined fall from glory.
EPISODES 5-6
Kwon-sook’s comeback has finally arrived, but before she faces Ah-ra in the ring, we’re reminded of her pre-match confession to Tae-young: she’s afraid of boxing. Despite that fear, though, she promises to win the match, and Tae-yong responds with words of encouragement: “Don’t get hit even once. Win all you want today.” And with that in mind, Kwon-sook enters the arena without the theatrical drama that usually precedes boxing matches. Instead, when Kwon-sook ducks under the ropes, it’s with a solemn air of determination as the cameras flash around her.
Ah-ra, however, is the complete opposite. As the only ranked boxer of the two competing fighters, she bounces into the ring with an intro video and hype song blasting to amp up her fanclub’s fervor. Her fighting style is as aggressive and flashy as her social media presence, and she immediately goes on the offensive, landing punches and backing Kwon-sook into a corner.
To the untrained eye, it appears Kwon-sook’s three-year hiatus has caused her to lose her edge, but the reality is that Kwon-sook is holding back. It isn’t until Tae-young yells from the sidelines — repeating his earlier words of encouragement — that Kwon-sook begins swiftly dodging the punches Ah-ra throws at her. A switch has been turned on, and once Kwon-sook decides to fight back, the match ends quickly. She knocks out Ah-ra with a decisive punch to the chin.
As Kwon-sook watches an unconscious Ah-ra be carried out of the ring on a stretcher, it becomes apparent that Kwon-sook is as afraid of throwing punches as she is of receiving them — perhaps even more so. Instead of reveling in her victory, Kwon-sook’s concern for her fallen opponent leads her past the eager reporters, down a flight of steps lined with Ah-ra’s silently hostile fanclub, and to Ah-ra’s locker room, where Ah-ra is far from welcoming.
Ah-ra’s mood stems not from her loss, but from the sting of seemingly being the only one who took their match seriously. Ah-ra trained and adjusted her punching style in anticipation of her fight with Kwon-sook, so she perceives Kwon-sook’s restraint as a snub — a sign that Kwon-sook didn’t view Ah-ra as a worthy opponent. And to add insult to injury, Kwon-sook isn’t even happy that she won.
As much as I sympathize with Kwon-sook and her reasons for wanting to quit boxing, it’s equally understandable why a dedicated athlete like Ah-ra would be frustrated in her moment of defeat. From her perspective, Kwon-sook doesn’t respect boxing or her fellow athletes, who remain passionate about their chosen sport despite the gender pay gap and unpopularity of female boxing. Meanwhile, Kwon-sook seemingly squanders her talent, flitting in and out of the boxing world as it suits her and without any awareness of how it affects her struggling peers.
After taking a verbal dressing down from Ah-ra, Tae-young gives Kwon-sook a free pass to skip the interviews with the press and whisks her away to her favorite doughnut shop. There Kwon-sook feels comfortable enough to open up some more about her complex relationship with boxing.
Kwon-sook, as we already know, is afraid of her strength and the “monster” — her father’s creation — that only comes out in the boxing ring. It’s a fear that grew after she injured her sparring partner in what was supposed to be a harmless practice match. Although she felt guilty for causing her friend’s injury, Kwon-sook continued on with her father’s brutal training, never missing a day of practice because she was afraid her mother would get caught in the crossfire of Chul-yong’s anger. It was only after her mother passed away that Kwon-sook felt free to quit boxing and tried to disappear from the public eye.
With each new flashback, I feel more and more guilty for liking present-day Chul-yong. He caused all of Kwon-sook’s trauma, which makes me want to despise him, but in the present he’s just so darn funny and unintentionally charming. Can I rationalize my affection for him by pointing out that he does appear to be paying for his past sins by giving Kwon-sook the space she desires? Eh, probably not, especially since he’s sneaking behind her back to communicate with Tae-young — but I do think his remorse and love for Kwon-sook are genuine. Maybe with time, she can forgive him.
Surprisingly, after opening up some more about her relationship with her father, Kwon-sook leads Tae-young to her father’s restaurant, where Chul-yong and Tae-young do their best to pretend they don’t know each other (hah!) while Kwon-sook satisfies her post-boxing match craving for her father’s galbitang. But, of course, after Chul-yong asks Tae-young to meet him in the alley behind the restaurant for a little beatdown session, their secret alliance is exposed. (LOL at Tae-young’s forethought to fashion some makeshift armor.) Kwon-sook is not happy with her father meddling in her new boxing career, and she forbids them from communicating. About that, though…
The next day, Kwon-sook celebrates her recent victory with a camping date with Jae-min, and Chul-yong and Tae-young follow them to their camping spot. I’m not a fan of them going against Kwon-sook’s wishes, but if it weren’t for Tae-young and Chul-yong stalking the young lovebirds like a pair of human Airtags, I’d have fallen asleep during this stretch of the drama.
Please, someone explain to me how Jae-min can be so smarmy and so achingly boring at the same time? Seriously, if Jae-min is going to be a scheming liar, he should have the decency to be charismatic. Instead his good-guy façade is boringly vanilla, and I’m downright resentful of how much screen time he got this week.
While Kwon-sook frets over the possibility of getting her first kiss and bemoans the blandness of her diet, Tae-young’s match-rigging debt collectors are breathing down his neck. Not only does Tae-young owe them interest ASAP, but they’re growing impatient that Kwon-sook’s next boxing match — the money-making match — has not been finalized.
Relax, Bad Guys — give Tae-young time to work his magic. And by “magic,” I of course mean the use of dirty, underhanded tactics to force HAN AH-REUM (Chae Won-bin), the current reigning champ, into a situation where she has no choice but to fight Kwon-sook or forfeit her title — again.
Yeah, this is a particularly sore spot for Ah-reum, who was poised to defend her championship title against Kwon-sook three years ago. But when Kwon-sook dropped off the face of the planet and left Ah-reum without an opponent, Ah-reum lost her championship belt. Now, three years later, after clawing her way to the top again, history is repeating itself thanks to Tae-young’s machinations. The unjustness of the situation leaves Ah-reum very emotional, and Kwon-sook tries to justify her involvement with the knowledge that, this time around, Ah-reum will defeat her and keep her title. Because, well, as we all know, Kwon-sook intends to throw the match.
Although Ah-reum is initially adamant that she will not fight Kwon-sook — even if it means losing her title — she ultimately decides to go forward with the boxing match. There’s a lot for her to gain if she defeats Kwon-sook: not only will she regain her title, but there’s also a chance she could be recruited to box overseas. Ah-reum and Soo-yeon, her agent, fist bump and agree to do their best and advance their careers together. Their determination would be extremely inspiring if, you know, it weren’t for the insider knowledge that their opponents are planning, at that very moment, to hand them their dreams on a silver platter.
Kwon-sook is literally training herself to convincingly pull her punches and lose the match, thus undoing years of programming hardwired by Chul-yong’s intensive coaching. She spends the remainder of her time with the soul-suckingly boring Jae-min, who went so far as to sign up for one of Ho-joong’s beginner’s boxing classes in order to circumvent the restrictions Tae-young has placed on Kwon-sook’s schedule. And it’s after one of Kwon-sook and Jae-min’s private one-on-one boxing matches that Kwon-sook finally gets her first kiss — and Tae-young has the misfortune of witnessing it.
Poor, poor Tae-young. He spent days trying to dry out and fix Kwon-sook’s cell phone, which got soaked after Tae-young playfully pushed Kwon-sook (and her phone) into the ocean, but Jae-min swooped in with a brand new Samsung and got rewarded with a smooch. What did Tae-young receive? Disappointment and a parking lot beating by the match-rigging bad guys who showed up to collect their interest payment.
At this point in our drama, I dislike Jae-min so much that I’m starting to ship Tae-young with Kwon-sook even though I feel like their (emotional) age gap is a bit too wide to convince me that they will be anything more than manager and athlete. Kwon-sook, despite her ferocity in the boxing ring and difficult upbringing, is adorably naïve and inexperienced, and her puppy-love romance with the untrustworthy Jae-min only highlights her youthfulness. In comparison, Tae-young is a jaded Millennial — experienced in romance, failed dreams, and bad decision-making.
With or without romance, though, I keep tuning in each week for the rich and layered characters. No one — outside of maybe our scary match-rigging bad guys — is wholly good or evil, which makes them slightly unpredictable as they forge new bonds and face additional conflicts. This week, I even found myself disappointed in Kwon-sook after seeing boxing from Ah-ra and Ah-reum’s perspectives. As Kwon-sook becomes more immersed in a boxing world that doesn’t include her father’s dominating presence, I’m curious to see how she will evolve. Will the passion and spirit of her peers trigger a new appreciation for boxing and cause her to embrace her talent, thus ruining Tae-young’s plans? Or will she continue to chase after a normal life and (*gag*) Jae-min?