The future becomes a topic of contention as dreams and reality start to clash. While our elderly student wants nothing more than to continue doing ballet, his illness hinders his progress, and our young ballerino believes quitting might be the best option. Even though his love for ballet remains the same, our elderly student must accept his limits as well as acknowledge his current condition because hiding his troubles will not make them go away.
EPISODE 10 RECAP
Back on the rooftop, Moo-young explained to Ho-bum that his knee was in bad shape, so he hoped that making the team win would be enough to get Ho-bum scouted. Unfortunately, none of his plans panned out since he was arrested for beating the students which got the team disbanded.
All Moo-young could do was apologize, and he blamed it all on his greed. Though he was in no position to say this, he wanted Ho-bum to know that it was not too late. He told the young man that he had talent, and Ho-bum screamed at him, asking why he was telling this to him now.
While walking Chae-rok out, Deok-chul comments on the cold weather and takes off his scarf for him. He tells him to return it tomorrow, but Chae-rok hands it back. He argues that Deok-chul is not okay and asks what he will do if he continues and an accident happens. Deok-chul promises to do better, but Chae-rok yells at him to quit.
Deok-chul watches helplessly as Chae-rok runs away, and he goes back home and sits in the yard. Staring down at his scarf, he contemplates Chae-rok’s words in earnest.
The next morning, Chae-rok practices, but his mind wanders back to his argument with Deok-chul. Seung-joo wonders why they are not having a lesson, and Chae-rok tells him that Deok-chul will be resting for a couple of days. He asks if they will be ready for the audition, but Chae-rok stays silent.
They start off with a light jog, but Seong-gwan can barely keep up with his dad and falls behind. Deok-chul scolds him for his terrible endurance and challenges him to another exercise. The loser is buying lunch, and despite Seong-gwan’s confidence, Deok-chul beats him easily.
Though Deok-chul won, he still treats Seong-gwan to a meal since his youngest is unemployed. Unable to refute him, Seong-gwan eats his soup without complaining. He notices his dad only eating a couple of bites, and Deok-chul tells him that Chae-rok said that you cannot jump on a full stomach.
Speaking of Chae-rok, Seong-gwan asks where he is practicing, and Deok-chul says that he is at the dance school. Seong-gwan thinks his dad should be there, too, but Deok-chul waves his hands frantically and stops him from calling Chae-rok.
Eun-ho texts a message to Chae-rok at work, but her smile disappears when the PD walks in with a frown on his face. Her senior writer tells her that the ratings were abysmal, and everyone is worried about the show getting cancelled.
Ho-bum sits on the sidelines as his friends play billiards, and they wonder why he has been acting weird lately. Thinking back to his meeting with Moo-young, Ho-bum tells the others that this is no longer fun to him, and he leaves the pool hall.
Seong-san and Ae-ran grab lunch together at work, but instead of eating, he spends most of the time worrying about his family. Ae-ran scolds him for fretting even during meals and suggests that he come in for consultations. He balks at her recommendation since he thinks everything is fine and tells her that people will think it is strange.
While they walk back to their offices, another employee rushes to Seong-san and pulls him away. He tells him that they are experiencing a huge principal loss, and the company telephones ring nonstop. Staring at the chaos all around him, Seong-san hangs his head, and Ae-ran watches him in concern.
Hae-nam takes Seong-gwan to her doctor’s appointment, and he asks if she is sick. Despite the occasional dizziness, the doctor tells Hae-nam that she is healthy and does not need to worry. She smiles in relief after hearing the news and tells her doctor that she cannot afford to be ill. Her last comment catches Seong-gwan’s attention, and he stares at his mom with a perplexed look.
On their way home, they stop by for some tteokbokki, and Seong-gwan asks Hae-nam if he should live at home again even after finishing his documentary. Growing quiet, she tells him to live his own life and to stop trying so hard.
Deok-chul sits in the park again, and Ho-bum spots him while on his run. He texts Chae-rok about it, but Chae-rok tells him to ignore him if he seems well. Ho-bum curses under his breath at his detached response, but as he looks up, he reels back in alarm. With gleaming eyes, Deok-chul pops up in front of him and invites him to lunch.
While Chae-rok turns to practice to keep his mind occupied, Ho-bum takes his place as Deok-chul’s lunch buddy. Seeing Ho-bum try again brings a smile to Deok-chul’s face, and he praises him. Ho-bum disagrees, and instead, he disparages himself for ruining his body and getting old. Hearing his worries, Deok-chul says that he wished he had started ballet at Ho-bum’s age, and reminds him once more that he can soar.
As Hae-nam and Seong-gwan enter the house, they smell something foul in the air. She finds the unattended pot burning on the stove, and grabs the handle instinctively, burning her palm as a result.
Unaware of the harm he caused, Deok-chul goes shopping for new ballet shoes. When he comes back home, he finds Seong-gwan bandaging Hae-nam’s hand and hears about the burned pot. He assumes Hae-nam must have forgotten it, and Seong-gwan nearly corrects him before she squeezes his hand.
Deok-chul notices their little exchange, and one look towards the kitchen helps him remember what really happened. He apologizes to Hae-nam, but she tells him not to worry since she burned a lot of pots as well. Deok-chul apologizes to Seong-gwan next, and he stares up at his dad, unable to respond.
Seong-san stays in his office despite the late hour and waits for a response from the head office. In the middle of his work crisis, he receives a call from Seong-gwan who needs to meet him right now. Unfortunately, another work call pulls him away, and Seong-san promises to call his brother back.
After finishing his practice, Chae-rok looks over at Deok-chul’s locker and finds his ballet shoes inside. Seung-joo drops by the changing room to tell Chae-rok that he spoke with Deok-chul and told him to come back. He ignores Chae-rok’s protests and says that enough is enough.
Seung-joo meets Sori at the bar, and she asks how Deok-chul is preparing for the audition. He wonders how she figured it out, and she points out that she knows almost everything about him. With no point in keeping it a secret, Seung-joo admits to feeling curious about Deok-chul’s performance, especially given his age.
Sori mentions ballet dancer Maya Plisetskaya who graced the stage even at the age of seventy, and describes that particular performance as beautiful. She wanted to dance until she turned into an old lady, too, and Seung-joo asks why she retired. Seeing his genuine confusion, she sips her wine in exasperation.
Deok-chul sits in the dark, and memories of all the trouble he caused to those he loves play over again in his head. Recalling Chae-rok’s words, Deok-chul whispers into the night, “I’m scared, too.”
In the morning, Deok-chul dresses up and takes the bus by himself to visit a nursing home. Afterwards, he stops by his friend’s grave and asks how he is doing. He wanted to share the news of his illness, and he tells his friend that he thought he could do it.
Chae-rok gets his leg checked out at the clinic, and Dr. Oh asks about Deok-chul. He wonders if he spoke too bluntly the last time they met since he told Deok-chul to quit ballet. Sounding deflated, Chae-rok says that it is fine and shuffles back to the studio.
Seung-joo hands Chae-rok the official invitation to the international competition and tells him to prepare well this time. He asks about Deok-chul as well, but before Chae-rok can answer, Se-jong knocks on the door and interrupts their conversation.
COMMENTS
The show portrayed the two brothers as having a distant and antagonistic relationship, and most of the times, they would clash because of their personalities and beliefs. As the oldest, Seong-san is pragmatic and aggressive. He thinks there is only one path to success and sees all other ways as impractical and foolish. On the other hand, Seong-gwan is the youngest and quietest of the children. He is nonconfrontational and tenderhearted. He feels misunderstood by his family who does not seem to care about his struggles and views his choices in life as a rebellion instead of a legitimate response to burnout and stress. Consequentially, the brothers always argue when they meet because Seong-san does not try to talk with his brother but down to him as his elder, and given Seong-gwan’s personality, he shuts him out and runs away.
However, the two brothers are much more complex than initially shown and neither of them necessarily fit into neat labels. While Seong-san is brash and oftentimes overbearing, he does show a strong sense of responsibility as the oldest, and he resembles Deok-chul in the way that he acts tough for the rest of his family to shield them from his own pain. Though the two brothers may be fighting now, it says a lot about their relationship when Seong-gwan turns to Seong-san in his hour of need. He becomes the little brother again, and Seong-san steps up to the role and tosses everything else aside to help him. I still think Seong-san’s perspective of the world is outdated and problematic, but he is not really a “bad” son or person.
When Seong-san found his dad at the grave, his initial response is patient and kind. He minimizes the situation to keep Deok-chul calm while still pointing out that he made everyone worried. He could have been angry at him for disappearing without a word, but Seong-san is simply relieved to see that Deok-chul is safe. However, his façade quickly breaks when he hears his dad call his name, and we see that Seong-san is just as terrified about the future as everyone else. He may act like the responsible one and think that he needs to take care of his parents, but in reality, he still views Deok-chul as his everlasting and strong pillar of support.
The final scene this episode was a mirror of last week’s ending where Chae-rok danced for Deok-chul to help him remember. This time, though, Deok-chul is the one dancing for Chae-rok in order to get his feelings across to him as well as prove to his young teacher that he can still dance. Ballet has become a way of communication for these two characters, and through it, they are able to convey what they cannot always put into words. It helps them reach the other person when something intangible separates them, and in Deok-chul’s case, it was his way of breaking down Chae-rok’s barriers to get him to see him as his student once again.
I thought it was fitting in that moment to hear Deok-chul admit his fears to Chae-rok because of the contrast it provided to the earlier scene. When Chae-rok first confronts him, Deok-chul acts brave and downplays his illness. He says that he is fine and can do better, but in reality, we all know that this is wishful thinking. It takes a while, but eventually Deok-chul realizes that he needs to accept his condition in order to move forward. While his desire to do ballet is the same as before, this time Deok-chul is not pretending that everything will be okay and acknowledges his illness and emotions. The key difference is that Deok-chul still wants to continue despite his fears, and I think Chae-rok realizes in this moment that he wants to support his dreams even if the risks are high.
While Chae-rok was the one who told Deok-chul to quit, he clearly did not mean it and missed his elderly student every waking moment. After their argument, Chae-rok never once smiled, and his general aura turned gloomy. He might have seemed more dedicated to ballet on the surface, but one look at his face made it clear that he was going through the motions in order to distract himself. Deok-chul has burrowed his way into Chae-rok’s life to the point where everyone around Chae-rok now expects the two of them together. Even if Deok-chul did not dance for him that night, I believe Chae-rok would have eventually found his way back to him because the two of them have become inseparable. Their relationship has evolved from a one-sided manager’s devotion to his star to a reciprocated love and respect between two individuals with a shared passion.