The Heirs

Chapter 13

After outing the truth of his birth to his would-be in-laws, Tan comes to Eun-sang emotionally drained. Without knowing what's going on, she senses his turmoil and mirrors his tears.

Tan repeats her words from California when she'd offered to take his hand and run away when he's in danger, and he asks if those words are still valid here in Korea. She shakes her head no. He looks further crushed at that, but then Eun-sang steps close to envelop him in a hug.

Rachel and her mother go home in a temper-it's an insult to them, and an engagement is out of the question now. Still, Rachel's mother decides to hold off on breaking the engagement formally for a while, because the two Kim brothers are about to launch into a stock-buying spree in a race to push each other out. That will drive up the price of the stock, and Mama wants a piece of that action. How coldly practical.

Rachel berates Young-do for sitting on this important piece of information, but to her surprise he tells her to keep this secret: "It's not a request, it's a warning." Rachel is understandably confused to find him protecting Tan and asks why. He replies, "Because it's the best thing I've done till now. And also the thing I did most to hurt Tan."

Tan brings Eun-sang to Myung-soo's workshop and fiddles with the lock, saying they can spend the night here. He asks where she spent the last few nights, and I don't understand why Eun-sang just doesn't tell him she crashed with Bo-na. What's with all the withholding?

Instead, she asks why he was crying, and they dodge each other's questions for a while (he jokes that his tears are from global warming endangering the penguins). Someone tugs at the door, but Tan assures her that they're in no danger of discovery, because he changed the passcode. Ha. So Myung-soo bangs and yells for a while, then goes away.

Tan grumbles to see Young-do calling her again and answers the phone, calling himself her boyfriend and dismissing Young-do. Then he complains to see the photos from the class trip showing Young-do and Eun-sang together, which gets her eye-rolling at his nagging.

Eun-sang takes out her books to study (making another dig at Tan's last-place ranking that nettles his pride) and he sits watching her back for a long while. Finally he settles down to sleep, and as she watches him sh murmurs, "Dream nice dreams." Only to have him reply right away, "I already am. You're there, in front of me."
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They leave the workshop in the morning and are barraged with flash photos, paparazzi-style. Ha, so Myung-soo camped there all night, half-wild with hunger and cold, and crows that his pride wouldn't let him go before he got his money shot.

They end up riding together to school, and Myung-soo stubbornly refuses to delete his photos. Tan readily admits they're dating and mentions the hugging last night, to Eun-sang's chagrin and Myung-soo's glee.

They walk onto campus side by side, and today he offers her his hand and prods, "Let's try having courage." She hesitantly takes his hand, apologizing for taking so long to do so, causing jaws to drop as they pass.

They're stopped by Young-do, and as usual Young-do tries to stop Eun-sang from leaving while Tan orders her to walk away. Ugh. I have no problem with Tan trying to spare her the drama, but I cringe every time he talks to her like she's a puppy to direct: "Walk straight ahead."

Young-do expresses disappointment over Tan revealing his birth secret himself, because he was looking forward to being the one to drop that bomb. Tan says that it's not too late for Young-do to spread the words and tells him to go ahead; he doesn't intend to swoop in with damage control, either, and will take everything that comes his way.

Rachel corners Eun-sang in the broadcasting room and calls Tan there to have it out with them. She slaps Tan, sneers at him for being illegitimate, then tells him he should be the one clinging to her. Eun-sang takes issue with Rachel's general bitchiness, but Rachel says condescendingly that a classless nouveau riche like her can't understand how bloodline is equivalent to a crown in their class.