Saturday, February 28, 2009

KaRaKkong: 1

The episode begins with a collage for two couples, the male participants clearly visible but the female participants are somewhat covered. The first couple is introduced as they travel to meet each other for the first time.

PD: Who is your ideal guy?

Female: Jo In Sung.

Female: A gagman? Or a singer?

PD: Who do you hope it will be?

SR: I hope it's someone pretty. Someone healthy.

SR: I had a nightmare last night.


He walks into a basketball court, and looks around, a little confused. A paper plane flies in and lands on the floor, when he walks to it and opens it up. His first mission is revealed, he is to score 28 hoops (his age) in five minutes, after which his bride will appear.


He tries his best to get the hoops needed and he finally succeeds!!!!!!! He sits down on the floor and slowly waits, anticipating the arrival of his bride.

And here she comes...

And he looks on...


She bows in greeting at him before they shake hands... and she feigns arm wrestling with him...

It's Kim Shin Young!! He lifts the veil off her face after she hints it at him and they both look at each other for the first time, obviously awkward.

Private interview:

SR: Initially, I was totally surprised. I thought that she would be either a singer or an actress.

They both look at each other as he starts laughing in disbelief.

SY: Was it a mistake for me to come here?

SR: No.

SY: It wasn't right?

SR: No. It's nice meeting you.

He then asks her if she's ever been to a basketball court and she said once, as a cheerleader when she was a shooting a program. He asks her to show him her cheers, and she complies! He then asks if she saw him shooting hoops and she said she didn't when he starts showing off his moves in front of her. She's impressed till he tells her to shoot hoops as well. She has to score at least one out of three hoops, failing which they'll go their separate ways after a glass of soju instead of getting married.

Private interview:

SY: I felt like he didn't like me as a woman. And that made me upset, being a woman.

She tries the first time, and fails.. when he tells her to step forward as she is too far away. She walks closer before she turns away to take her heels off, telling him that she wore 20cm heels that day and he stands by it to see how tall they actually are. She is embarrassed as she tells him that she put in extra effort as it was a special day.

She tries again and fails when he says in his private interview that he was expecting her to score.

SY: *mumbling to herself* It took me two hours to get ready. What am I to do if my marriage life ends in such a short while?

SR: *laughs*

She tries for the last time and fails again... when she starts begging him for another chance. She begins trying really seriously, as he watches her preparing for the last shot. She throws, looking in anticipation, and... she scores!

He tells her that she seems really uncomfortable standing like that so he suggests that they sit down for a while and goes to bring her a chair, impressing her greatly.

They sit together and he asks her what her first impression on him was.

SR: What did you think when you first saw me?

SY: You are tall... *looks away* I was pretty surprised. *looks away again*

SR: Are you looking at the distant mountains?

SY: *laughs*

SY: I've been caught. It's just that it still feels unfamiliar. *looks away again*

Private interview:

SY: How can I look at him in the eye when we're meeting for the first time? I couldn't. I was nervous, honestly. His eyes looked like that of a cow and I was expecting him to start mooing if I stared at him.


They sit together talking finding about their ages when she suggests that they have nicknames for each other. She wants to be called Kakkong as she thinks it sounds cute, and in response to her nickname, he should be called Rakkong.



He asks her to do her Kang Ho Dong imitation, and she complies, making him laugh. They start playing with the basketball and he shows her his moves when she tries doing the same, only being the adorably funny person she is, it becomes a gag. They compare their hands and he comments that her hands are like those of a child.

Another paper plane flies in and they read their mission together. They are to be married for the day, and need to get wedding gifts, take their wedding photos and go on their honeymoon.

They step out and when he sees her shivering from the cold, he takes his jacket off and puts it on her, winning her heart even more.


They find their wedding limousine and step inside where they find a CD with the recording of a wedding ceremony. They play it and find it amusing when they don't respond but the officiator on the CD acts like they did everything and is extremely enthusiastic. The CD plays on as he asks her what song she wants him to sing for her. They are interrupted by the overly enthusiastic officiator, and he starts singing 'I'll give you my everything' by Lee Seung Gi as he sneaks glances at her and finds her looking at him, completely impressed by him.

Private interview:

SY: It was really great. He was really cool. It felt like he really became my man.

She reminds him that they needed to get gifts when he points out that even if they didn't look, it seemed like the gifts have already been prepared for them. He takes the gift box, opens it and finds photo frames inside attached to a chain. They are to take their wedding photos and stick it inside the frames. She then suggests going to a photo cafe that her friend works at and he agrees.


They walk out and see a group of people on the streets who wave at her when she begins announcing her marriage.

SY: I got married!

People: What?

SY: I got married.

Person: Oh, really?

Person 2: Ah, she's just bluffing!

SY: *at a loss for words*

SR: *laughs*

They sit together as they discuss their costumes and he begins calling her by her nickname, getting used to it when she tells him that she likes Popeye.

SY: I think that this is the prettiest, because the kind of man I envision is someone who can protect. He's a hero that will appear whenever Olive calls for him.

SR: Mmm.

SY: Have you ever thought of something that you wished could be taken care of for you?

SR: I wish that my meals would be well taken care of.

SY: Ahh, meals..

SR: I haven't had breakfast for fifteen years.

SY: Really?

SR: I want to eat breakfast, if I do get married.

Private interview:

SY: He said breakfast. That surprised me. My own personal belief is that if you can't prepare breakfast for your husband, then you're not a woman.

He then asks her what she hopes that her husband will be able to take care of and she says that she has three things that are on her list of nos. One is to have pepper powder stuck on your teeth, two is to have nostril hair and three is to have gunk in your eyes.

He begins checking to see if he falls into any of those categories when she wipes her eyes and finds that she has gunk in hers instead.

Private interview:

SR: She was very strict about it, that that cannot happen at all. *checks eyes*. Yeah.

SY: I think my husband has a lot of body hairs. I was hoping that I wouldn't see any nostril hair, lucky for me I didn't. But I saw his chest hairs under his shirt. Really. Which is why next time, I hope that he will get rid of them using laser.


They both try on the Popeye and Olive costume, looking absolutely adorable as they pose for their wedding photos together.




They try on other costumes as they photograph themselves, having fun together when they finally sit down and put their photos into their photo frames before putting it around each other's necks. This is their wedding gift to each other.

The last thing for them to do is to go on their honeymoon and she suggests walking along Myeondong, and he agrees. They reach Myeongdong and she starts saying that she always wanted to walk the streets hand in hand with her boyfriend and that she was jealous of those who did that. Hearing that, he looks down at her and reaches for her hand much to her surprise. And delight.

She keeps mentioning how cold it is, and he tells her that if it's really that cold then he should do this. And puts his arms around her. As she smiles happily.

SY: This is really warm.
SR: Warm? *smiles*

Private interview:

SR: I always thought of her as someone strong when I saw her on TV. But really, she's very cute. And she makes you want to keep on covering her...

SY: Honestly I thought he was just going to hold my hands, but he hugged me. And honestly I wondered for a while if he was a randy man. *laughs*

She then tells him that she always wanted to hear someone shout out loud that he loves her on main streets like Myeong Dong, and he smiles as he hears her wishes before he steps back and shouts "Shin Young-a, I love you!" and she beams and beams away.

Private interview:

SR: I dreamt of saying something like 'Shin Young-a, I love you". I'll be getting married at a late age so...

*Captions read: So it wasn't your true feelings*

They enter a restaurant together and sit down for a meal when she tells him that if they do live together in the future, she'll definitely cook for him as she can't really eat food outside. He looks at her seriously and tells her that meals are very important to him, surprising her.




She prepares food for him as they talk and they begin feeding each other. She asks for him to feed her from his bowl as he has a huge portion. They begin talking about her love for meat when she reaches over and starts to pull the meat off with her fingers for him. The meat is too hot and he tells her not to do it with her fingers when she says that it tastes better that way. He watches her as she prepares it for him and feeds him. He tells her that it's yummy and she begins to prepare his rice for him and tells him to eat it with radish kimchi after he's eaten all the meat, reinforcing the whole time that she's good with cooking and food.

She encourages him to eat the kimchi but reminds him that it's okay, as long as there are no traces of pepper powder on his teeth once he's done, making him laugh.

She tries to keep her eating habits at bay, but she can't bear to see the meat on the bone so she takes it and hides under the table to eat it, away from his eyes, making him laugh at her.

SR: What did you do?

SY: Nothing, it seemed like there was something below there. *avoids*

SR: *looks at her* *smiles*

Private interview:

SR: She went under the table with the meat. I could see her head bobbing although I couldn't see what she was doing. I don't know what she did. But she was cute.

The ajumma comes over with more kimchi and a present for them. A present in the form of a mission. They are to determine together if they want to continue their marriage life with each other by getting off at the same destination together.

SY: Oppa, what do you think about me?

SR: What about?

SY: Just that, we've spent a whole day together. So what do you think?

SR: Honestly, it was rather unexpected right, our wedded life today?

SY: Yes.

SR: And we haven't actually experienced life as a married couple right? I still don't really know.

SY: Okay, okay.

They sit together for a while more as she says that they now have to decide if they are to continue their married life together, or to just end it all with this meal and he nods in agreement as he watches her.


They head off to the subway station before deciding that they would both sit in different compartments for ten minutes, giving them both time to think their relationship through before deciding. They agree on a stop and both head their different ways after a handshake and a hug.




The both of them ponder the entire journey, thinking about what they did together today, looking around as they wait for their stop, unsure if they would both get off or stay on the train.



The doors open and Shin Young looks at it for a while more before she rushes out of the doors that are about to close. She keeps her back turned until the train starts moving again and she looks ahead in anticipation, hoping to see him at the other end... only to be greeted with emptiness. He is nowhere to be seen.

SY: *resigned* He didn't come off.

She still has a smidgen of hope as she peers around, looking for him but there is still no sign of him anywhere. She begins calling out his name but to no avail. She thinks she sees him when she realizes that it's merely another ajussi. And she finally gives up.



Pulling off her eyelashes and kicking off her shoes, she moans her fate as she feels like the jilted wife. She keeps repeating that she knew this would happen and she looks so sad as she screams out in the tunnel, disappointment written all over her face.

SY: *disappointed* Ah, this is so embarrassing. So embarrassing.

However, as she moans her sad fate, she fails to realize that somewhere from far behind, is someone walking towards her. Someone she thought let her down. Someone who was watching her all this while. Someone known as Song Ruk.

Sensing something amiss, she turns back. And sees him.

He smiles as he walks towards her.


And she finally breaks out in a huge smile again.

Before she begins worrying about her eyelashes.

He begins calling for Kakkong.

And Kakkong begins calling for Rakkong.


She begins skipping towards him, as she cheers, happy to see him. Happy that she was not thrown away for not fiting into the usual mould of a preferred wife.

Private interview:

SY: It felt like Superman took me in his arms after falling down with such a blow.

SR: I think she's curious about me, the same way that I am curious about her. Although I know that she's cute, but because she said that she would cook good food for me. I want to see if she really is a good cook. If we became close, would she start hitting me? Just joking, but I really wonder what it would be like if we became close. I curious.



SR: Were you waiting long?
SY: Yes, Oppa. Did you fall asleep?
SR: *laughs* Yea, I did.
SY: So you were sleeping.
SR: I'm sorry.
SY: It's okay Oppa. Let's live well together from now on.
SR: Okay.

SR: Where did your eyelashes go?

SY: Eyelashes? They knocked off work already.

SR: Knocked off work? You didn't pull them off because I was late?

SY: No, only a bad tempered person would do that.

SR: But I saw you doing it.



They shake hands as they agree to live well together, and she tell him that she'll cook for him and he says that she has to when she tells him that he too has to follow her three criteria for a man. He tells her okay and they hug for a second, all the while holding hands as they both watch a new train going past them, signalling the end of their first meeting and the beginning of their new life together.