OK, So Sa Ran becomes a gisaeng. But then she starts making even crazier decisions! In a nutshell, after Sa Ran joins the gisaeng house, Da Mo tries to date other women but can’t forget her. He finds her and tries to get her to leave the house and marry him. She won’t because she doesn’t think she’s good enough for him. She decides that the only way to get Da Mo to leave her alone is to have her hair raised in a gisaeng marriage! She meets an older, rich, single guest and he agrees to raise her hair…
Now that Sa Ran knows more about her background, she has changed her outlook on life. She didn’t believe in fate before but now becomes very fatalistic – believing that being a gisaeng is the life for her and she doesn’t deserve any happiness or to live a normal life. She decides that she will not hope for anything – love, money, or happiness. In a way, this fatalistic thinking makes her very passive. She makes no attempt to try to find her real parents or to follow her dreams. She’s acting like a victim. And although I think it’s nice that she’s grateful to her parents for bringing her up when she’s not even their blood, at the same time she should realise that they they wanted a child too, since they couldn’t have any of their own.
Her dad is still really annoying me! He’s so weak. First he stands by and lets Sa Ran’s step mother tell her that he’s not her real father, and then he pretends that he doesn’t know where she was found as a baby so she has no chance of finding out who her real parents are. Why is he lying? I don’t get this. Is he afraid that she will find her real parents and leave him? But he is happy to sit back and watch her give up her chance of a normal life by becoming a gisaeng? What is he thinking? And as for her step mother… She is totally selfish too and obsessed with money. She’s happy to quit her job and let Sa Ran support the family. When Sa Ran gets her first big tip from a guest, she goes off and buys everyone presents. She even gets her step mother something too – even after the way she treated her. ooooh!
It’s a sad scene when Sa Ran leaves home to go to the gisaeng house. Her step mother can’t wait for her to go and start earning money. But when Gong Joo comes home and sees her standing there with her suitcase she tries to stop Sa Ran from leaving, but she can’t. Her mother hits her for trying to change Sa Ran’s mind. Son Ja tries to stop her too but she is too stubborn to listen. She feels more obligation to support and pay her father back for bringing her up since he’s not her real father after all.
Da Mo has been pretty clueless and arrogant up to this point. He doesn’t know what’s going on in Sa Ran’s life and thinks she’s just playing hard to get, since he thinks everything just centres around him. Before she enters the gisaeng house, she asks him for her hair clip back. She wants the hair clip to remind herself never to trust a man or fall in love again. Oh dear.
Da Mo continues seeing his new girlfriend and they plan to marry even though he has no feelings for her. She started off feisty at the beginning and I thought we were going to get some good scenes with her after her cat fight with Gong Joo, but her part soon fizzles out. She doesn’t want to live with Da Mo’s parents (I don’t blame her) and so her mum advises her to tell him that they have bought a nice apartment for them to live in after they marry (lucky them). But he insists that they live with his parents as he is an only son. This is strange to me since a minute ago he wasn’t getting on with his dad at all and should be happy to leave home. I suppose this is meant to show his filial piety but also that he doesn’t really love her. If he did, he would probably be keen to set up a love nest with her away from his parents. His parents are not against this either. If she refuses to comply, he says they can call off the wedding as there are plenty of other women out there! Charming.
Da Mo thinks that Sa Ran is playing games and has entered the house to make him come after her. He’s so arrogant! He punches his walk in wardrobe door in frustration. Da Mo goes to the gisaeng house and tries to persuade her to leave. She refuses of course. He manages to persuade the head gisaengs to let him meet Sa Ran one last time before he gives up. They meet by the river and she wears the hairpin that he gave her. (this must mean it’s not good news for him) It’s a very dramatic scene and Da Mo discovers to his horror the real reason why she wanted the hairpin. She refuses his offers of money and help – he offers to start a dance studio for her. She’s angry. He’s not saying he wants a relationship with her. He seems to only want to help her financially because he feels guilty. But he becomes angry when she tells him to visit the gisaeng house as a guest! He slaps her face. She slaps him back. She storms off and he tries to grab her and hug her but she pulls away. He’s left in shock – this is not going as he had planned. Sa Ran is driven back to the house.
Da Mo won’t give up and later turns up at the house with a huge ring and proposes. Sa Ran drags her hand away. Manager No is watching from inside and collapses at the sight of the romance! Sa Ran takes Da Mo inside and explains that she is not angry with him anymore and she will remember him fondly but she can’t marry him.
One day the other girls see what happens if they break the rules when one of the gisaengs is caught keeping a phone and secretly meeting one of the guests. She is wrapped in a blanket and beaten 5 times in front of everyone and told to leave the house. This is like a scene from a Joseon period drama. But her punishment is no way near as harsh as it would have been back then. Back then she would have been beaten 50 times..
But she still refuses. She threatens to call his parents and tell them he is planning to marry a gisaeng. He says go ahead. She calls the number but then can’t speak when his mum answers the phone. He plans to find her real parents but she thinks this will be too hard. She suggests that he could raise her hair – take her as an official mistress and financially support her. He is totally against that as he wants to marry her properly.
The next day Da Mo’s mum talks to Ms. Oh and discovers that Do Mo likes one of the gisaengs. On the way out she spots Sa Ran coming home. She recognises her and takes her to a coffee shop to talk. She discovers what’s been going on between Sa Ran and Da Mo. How he broke up with her but then tried to win her back but she has tried to shake him off. It’s like both women know this can’t work. His mum says his dad will go mad when he finds out and might cut him off completely. Sa Ran has to help her work out a way to stop her son wanting to marry her! OK this is weird! His mother just wants him to get over Sa Ran and is worried that he will be all right. How selfish! She doesn’t spend a second worrying about Sa Ran’s feelings. Unbelievable.
The meeting with Da Mo’s mother makes Sa Ran realise again that they can’t be together. Then she sees an opportunity to really get rid of Da Mo. – The entertainment CEO arrives alone and wants to see Sa Ran. He apologizes for his rude behaviour and she pours him a drink to show there are no hard feelings! After they chat he says he is interested in dating her. She says she can’t because she will get beaten and thrown out of the house. He wants to know if this is an excuse or if she is interested. She says she will think about it! Really? She seems to be flirting with him. She tells him that if he raises her hair then they can have a love relationship but not a legal marriage. He thinks about it and then agrees! First he offers to marry her instead. She suggests he raises her hair and then if they grow to love each other then they can marry! WOW. He agrees to her request and will speak to Ms. Oh about it. He takes Ms. Oh and Sa Ran to see the apartment he has for them. Very grand.