Cairo’s hand flops, the way drama hands flop when a character has lost consciousness on the way to dying. Natalie’s finger presses the bell of his apartment. She’s pounding on his door, calling his name. Panning upward from Cairo’s hand, we see his face; he’s unconscious and his lips are ashen and chapped. Natalie furiously tries to open the door. Another shot of Cairo’s lips and an anxious Natalie. Finally the door opens and she sees Cairo. A knife flops on the floor by her feet. Did he slit his wrists? What’s going on? A shocked Natalie softly says Cairo’s name.
[ Being Happy on Your Own ]
Correction:
[ Actually… Surviving on Your Own ]
Speeding car drives down the highway, with Cairo and Natalie inside. They are both anxious. She asks if they’re going to confess everything. Cairo says that he'll take care of it. She doesn’t want to make things worse. Cairo says that he'll take care of it. She wants him to be careful so that no one gets their feelings hurt. He tells her to leave it to him.
Mom is sitting on the couch at Natalie’s house while Mom gets them some juice.
[ Two Days Before the Incident ]
Mom brings out the tray with the juice on it and apologizes for not having much. Mom apologizes for barging in out of the blue. Mom says that normally she would be working at the store, but today she was feeling lazy. Her lower stomach was hurting, too, and that was probably because she was meant to meet Mom! Mom laughs heartily. Mom doesn’t. Mom tells Mom that she's glad that Mom came. Natalie kept saying she was going to bring home the guy she was going to marry. Mom was curious because there was no news.
Mom apologizes and Mom misunderstands but Mom makes sure that she’s clear: her son has no intentions of getting married. Mom can’t believe it. Mom nods and says that Natalie has expectations… Mom mentions how the couple have been frequenting some undesirable places once in a while. Mom can’t believe that Mom’s implying that Natalie is a slut. Mom meekly apologizes, saying it’s all her fault. Mom supposes that all parents feel the same way... She didn’t want Mom’s daughter to waste her time. Mom declares that she had to do something, so she mustered up the courage to come visit Mom. Wow, that’s really sneaky. She’s on the offensive, but makes it seem like she’s on the defensive instead. That is really sneaky.
Mom wants to know if Mom’s expecting her thanks. Mom declares that she’s perplexed. Shouldn’t Mom be making him want to get married? Mom says that she’s tried everything. Mom says that Natalie has given up on marriage now, because she just wants to hold onto Cairo. Mom says that it’s so sad… Mom’s starting to fume. So it was one-sided? Mom apologizes again. I am really not liking Mom right now.
Mom gets up to leave as Natalie and Cairo rush in. Cairo mutters, “Mom.” Natalie immediately bows deeply and greets Mom. Mom calls Cairo a punk and asks if he’s the restaurant owner? Mom is surprised. She starts to ask, but Mom interrupts and says that she must talk like that because she’s a mom. Mom interrupts and asks if Mom said “restaurant owner”? Mom snaps at Mom, asking if she’s got a problem. Mom sputters that her son is a plastic surgeon. Natalie chuckles nervously.
Before Natalie can say anything, Cairo says that it was Natalie’s idea to lie. Natalie protests but Cairo says that she’s so stubborn. ‘Her own confirmation comes first.’ And ‘Parents shouldn't interfere.’ He also adds that Natalie wanted to keep him a secret. Mom asks what confirmation Natalie is needing. Cairo ‘protests’ that that’s what he said. What more confirmation does she need?
Cairo looks put upon as he quotes himself: “I love you. I need you. I’ll make you happy.” Even when he says all these things, begs and holds onto her, Natalie still needed more. He really had a tough time. He hangs his head as he says it. Natalie hangs her head, too, going along with his story for the moms. Cairo declares that he's wanted to show his respect and meet her a while ago. It's an honour to finally meet Mom. Then he calls Mom, “Mother-in-law,” and drops to the floor to do a formal greeting. Natalie’s mouth drops. Mom does not look happy. I think it’s over how Natalie’s ‘treated’ her son. Natalie says Cairo’s name in a way that tells him to cut it out. He gets to his face and leans toward her, promising to treat her better. He’ll give her everything.
Mom starts to say something, but Cairo cuts her off, telling Mom that Mom must've come because she’s afraid that Natalie is wasting her time on him. He asks Mom to please be understanding, even if it is uncomfortable. He says that he’ll take Mom home now and bows respectfully to Mom. Then he scuttles over to Mom and makes her leave. Natalie smiles brightly and tells Mom goodbye, calling her Mother. Cairo and Mom leave.
Mom just about faint over the news that Cairo is a plastic surgeon. She declares that it’s a lie!
In the car, Mom declares that it’s a lie. Cairo asks her what she thinks is a lie. She replies that Cairo said that Natalie wanted to marry him; that’s what he told Aunt. Cairo replies that it was a lie. If he said that he was begging and holding on to Natalie, he thought it would hurt Mom’s pride and Mom lives for her pride. She replies by asking him if that’s why he made her look bad back at Natalie's house? To let her die of embarrassment? Cairo responds by asking why Mom went to Natalie's house because he told her to wait and see. Mom sighs, annoyed. Neither one of them look happy as they ride in the car.
Natalie, on the other hand, is chasing after Mom, who has run over to the Chicken Shack to find Dad. Forgetting herself, Mom calls Dad, ‘Honey.’ Mom realizes and covers her mouth with her hands. Natalie protests, asking Mom to listen to her. Mom’s excitement is probably why she hasn’t noticed that Natalie is still wearing a man’s black suit jacket, and Cairo was wearing a white suit. Mom tells Natalie to call Dad. At the same time, Dad writes on his board that they shouldn’t have come. She texts Dad that a visitor came to their house. Natalie protests, but Mom texts that it’s Natalie’s future mother-in-law. Dad is definitely surprised.
Dad is definitely interested now. Natalie waves and says that Mom misunderstood. Mom texts that the guy came too. Dad asks if the restaurant owner finally came to greet them. Mom waves, ‘no,’ and starts to text her reply but she has a hard time spelling surgeon. Natalie starts to say that she lied. Mom cuts her off by declaring that the guy is a doctor. She adds that he’s a plastic surgeon at that. Dad wants to know what’s going on. Natalie tries to get them to wait. Mom adds that Cairo is cute, too. Dad protests that character is most important. Mom responds that he has good manners and the mother-in-law is polite, too!
Natalie notices that her parents are talking to each other. Dad frowns and tells Natalie to move out of the way (so he can talk more with Mom). He also comments on the weird outfit. Heh. He noticed and Mom didn’t. Heh. He tells Mom to tell him about it all, slowly, in detail. Mom starts to tell him, but it’s a very light whisper in his ear. Where we can’t even hear what she’s saying. I guess they’re not fighting anymore. I almost thought they might even kiss each other.
Natalie is tossing and turning in bed. She can’t sleep. She thinks of Rocco putting on her shoes and laughing at her. She sits up in bed and smiles happily to herself, twisting her hair. There’s a text message. She reads it and drops her phone, like it was on fire. She lies back down again.
[ 1 Day Before the Incident ]
In the dressing room at work, Natalie shows Zoe the text she got. It’s from Kelvin, asking if she’s sleeping. What is he doing?! I just want to punch him right now, since he’s being all cutesy. Zoe asks if Kelvin is starting to have regrets about their break up. She doesn’t look too happy. Natalie mutters that there’s no way. Kelvin’s just trying just in case. He texts tons of girls; she’s no one special. Natalie mentions that he gave pricey gifts to some girl at the party, gifts from their store. Zoe thinks about how she was the one that brought them out to Kelvin. She doesn’t Natalie that. Natalie says that now that she has no feelings for Kelvin, she sees him for what he is. She supposes that this is why a person has to be cool about these things.
Cairo is still in bed. Wearing a sweater. Maybe he’s taking a nap. The keypad for his door beeps. He’s not expecting anyone. Mom enters. She’s looking for him. He exits his bedroom, asking if she’s there again. She responds by asking if he’s still sleeping. He sighs. She tells him to wash up. She walks over to his refrigerator and sighs. There’s lots of canned food in it – Spam, Baked Beans. Mom starts emptying the stuff out of his refrigerator. Cairo starts to protest, saying that Mom told him that the flat would be his, if he took Natalie to the house. He took the girl to the house.
Mom asks if keeping the place is his goal. He replies that he wants to keep Natalie. She moves on to his instant ramen and other dry goods. She puts all the instant food in a bag so she can pitch it. Mom replies that she can’t believe that words like that are coming out of his mouth. He wants her to believe that? Cairo tells her that believe it or not, Natalie frequently visits his flat, too. Mom needs to respect his privacy so he can get married. Mom says that she can tell he never has guests by looking at the condition of his kitchen. She’s a smart cookie.
Cairo tells her that he was home relaxing for a change. Mom just got lucky. If she keeps barging in, she might get more than she bargained for. Mom replies that she can't take her son's rebelling anymore. Cairo sighs with frustration. She tells him to stop it. Cairo replies that she should stop it… the whole thing. Mom sighs and replies that she’ll come at dinner time. She dumps all his instant food in the trash, declaring that there’s no real food in the house. Mom leaves.
Kelvin’s at his restaurant. He’s texting Natalie, telling her good morning, asking what she’s doing… if she’s busy. She doesn’t answer back. He’s not happy. He sighs, pouting. He looks out at the street and Natalie is riding in his direction. It could always be to visit her boyfriend, who works right by the restaurant. He, of course, thinks that she’s there to see him. He primps as he waits for her to arrive. Then he pretends to read a book.
Natalie enters the restaurant carrying a bag. She looks around and spots Kelvin. She asks him where Rocco is. He wasn’t expecting that one. Rocco’s in the kitchen. Natalie replies that she’s going in then. Kelvin definitely doesn’t like being ignored.
Rocco intently watches the chef make some food. That pasta looks good. It's making me hungry. Natalie greets him, but he’s distracted by the chef’s cooking. She’s brought his jacket. He tells her to put it over there. She asks why he’s eating standing up? Almost irritated, he replies that he always does. Natalie asks if he can go out for a while, since he said he’d eat with her. Rocco replies that he’s done eating. She tries to get in his eye line, but he steps to the side so that he can still watch the chef. She tries to keep talking but he tells her later and totally shuts her down. He doesn’t even acknowledge her leaving. But he notices that the chef used grated cheese.
Natalie is a little discouraged as she leaves the kitchen. Kelvin steps into her path, with a frown on his face. He tells her that she can stop making excuses to come see him. If she misses him, she can just come see him. It’s okay to do it. Natalie blinks at him as if she can’t believe he just said that.
Cairo is leaving his office and he gets a text from Aunt, saying that Mom is on the move. He needs to give her 50,000 won for the info.
Kelvin is chasing after Natalie as she leaves the restaurant. He tells her that he’s being sincere this time because he really feels bad for her right now. Cairo hears as Natalie tells Kelvin that she is so thankful to him that she’s crying. Love sarcastic Natalie! He tells her not to be like that and put on a show. He’ll try to put her in his heart again. She turns around to glare at him as she asks him how he dares to like her! Cairo walks up and puts his arm around her, declaring that, yeah, Natalie’s his girl. Kelvin can’t think of a retort. Cairo turns to Natalie and says that they planned to head back to his place, so they should go. She doesn’t catch it, but Cairo gives her a meaning-filled eyebrow raise and she gets it. She agrees that they should go. Leaving her bike sitting out unlocked on the sidewalk. It takes a minute, but Kelvin realizes what they said: Cairo’s house! And he doesn’t let anyone go there!
A car chase ensues with Kelvin chasing after them. Natalie groans about him chasing them. Cairo declares her revenge a success. He smiles. She’s annoyed. They reach Cairo’s apartment building. Kelvin finds them in the parking lot. Cairo sighs like he’s annoyed. Kelvin jumps out of the car, annoyed. He throws his sunglasses into the backseat and asks if they’re putting on a show, an act to screw him over, right? Cairo replies that they came back to his place because they *didn’t* want to show him. They came to be alone. He puts his arm around Natalie and they start walking toward the entrance to the building.
Kelvin makes a face of extreme frustration. He whips off his neck scarf and declares that there’s no way. Cairo never has visitors. Especially girls. Especially Natalie! They want him to believe that? They go through the doors and Kelvin yells after them that he’s not finished talking! They glance over their shoulders, still walking arm and arm, Cairo with a small smile on his face, and keep walking. Kelvin just stares at them through the glass door. Kelvin laughs and tells himself that Natalie is playing hard-to-get.
Upstairs, Natalie is fuming. Kelvin’s the one who ended things. What’s his problem? Cairo replies that she wanted to end their deal. What's with her? She asks him to help her until things are cleared with Kelvin. As he keys in his code, Cairo replies that Kelvin said the same thing, to get rid of him. Natalie smiles slightly, uncomfortable. She declares that she gets it now. He deserves to get sued as a stalker! Cairo opens his door and motions with his head for her to go inside. She says that it’s just until Kelvin leaves.
Inside, Natalie marvels over his bachelor pad… how clean! Cairo declares that he’s an intentional bachelor. It's not like he can't get married. He chooses to stay single. She sits on the back of the sofa (the wrong way). She wonders if anyone really lives there. He yanks her off the couch – while she protests – and tells her not to mess with anything as he fixes the couch cushion she put of place by sitting on it. He’s anal retentive… Imagine that!
Natalie spots an old-fashioned coffee grinder. She grabs it and starts cranking on it, asking for some coffee. He rushes over and grabs it out of her hands, telling her that it’s just for display! He puts it back and fixes the other stuff on the shelf so that it’s spaced correctly again. She spots a phonograph, runs over and touches it as she ogles. He runs after her to put it back in its spot. I had no idea he was Sheldon. She picks up one of his records. He rips it out of her hands, telling her just to look with her eyes and not to touch! He reminds me of Kermit the Frog when he does. Heh. He blows on it to get rid of her finger prints. Like that works.
Natalie spots Cairo’s fish tank. She runs over to it, crying, “It’s Nemo!” She puts her hands and her face up against the glass as she tells Nemo hello. He pries her away from the glass and starts polishing off her finger prints. He tells her that his name is not Nemo and he’s a clown fish. She glares at him and jaws the tank several times in retaliation. She moves on to his massage chair. Happy she jumps into it and turns it on. He runs after her and sinks to the floor, moaning that he had it set just right. He smacks the chair as he protests that the strongest setting isn't the best. She ignores him, declaring that she just can't feel it. She strips off her socks.
Cairo picks up one of her socks like it’s dirty and declares that he hopes that she doesn't have athlete's foot. She replies that it’s only natural since she’s standing all day long. He throws a sock to the ground, like it’s diseased and glares at her. He commands her to get off! She tells him to stop. She worked hard to keep him a bachelor. That gets her focused. She looks at him and asks if he has any idea how much a sacrifice that was? It was finally going somewhere.
Jump back to the night before at the auction. Natalie quickly gets off her phone and tells Rocco that she’s sorry. They need to eat another time. Then she’s off and running. She yells at Cairo to hurry! He runs past her, even more in a hurry. Which makes me laugh.
Natalie declares that Cairo ruined everything. It's all his fault! He replies that she means his mom. She stops looking at him again. The keypad beeps. Cairo realises who it is. He mutters that she's here to ruin everything. She realises who it is – Mom – and starts to freak out. Mad dash, with Cairo sliding and flopping across the floor. He grabs her and shoves her into his room. He throws her under his covers. She doesn’t know what he’s thinking. She starts to struggle to get out of the bed. He struggles to keep her there, smacking her several times to stay still. He strips off his shirt and makes sure that her feet are showing.
Mom has seen Natalie’s shoes. She’s carrying a lunch pail. She spots Natalie’s socks. They’re definitely not Cairo’s socks. I can’t see him wearing that green of socks. Mom puts the food on the counter and sides. She turns around as Cairo exits his bedroom. He greets her, remarking how she came. He moves so she can see Natalie’s feet and then pretends that it was an accident, shutting the door and apologising. Way to make Natalie look like she’s easy. He smiles, acting uncomfortable and said he told her not to come. He’s so sorry. He didn’t want her to see that side of him. Mom replies that she didn't see anything. She quickly leaves.
After Mom leaves, Natalie asks what he did. He says that he hid her so that things wouldn't get awkward. She doesn’t buy it. She asks why he took his clothes off? He retorts that she did it first. He throws her socks at her. She huffs and says that Cairo just brought her there to chase Mom away. She protests, because Mom brought food for him; how could he? He just puts his shirt back on. She grabs her socks and starts to put them back on, declaring that she wants to stop now. He needs to tell Mom the truth.
Natalie says that she’ll tell her family too. She hasn’t told her family yet? Cairo declares that Mom loves him. She barks at him that she’ll tell them, causing him to step back slightly. She huffs and he snaps his fingers at her.
Chicken Shack. Mom and Dad are telling people about Natalie’s upcoming nuptials. They’ll be sending out invitations soon, so the customers will have to come. It looks like it’s Mom’s friends. They tease her about how she’s going to get wrinkles, smiling that big. Natalie enters and hears. She sighs. Her parents spot her and make her join them. She can’t tell the truth and make her parents look bad.
After leaving the Chicken Shack, Natalie feels like drinking. Not a good idea. She always seems to end up drunk. She calls Zoe. Zoe says she can’t today, she has something going on at home. Natalie says she understands. Natalie thinks of Rocco and how – when he was basically ignoring her – he said that he would call, since he has her number. She looks at her phone and almost indignantly asks when he’s going to call. She sighs. She heads over to Bon Café. She squats down so she won’t be seen by Kelvin.
Natalie looks through the window in the door, searching for Rocco. Instead, she spots Kelvin with a girl. We only see her back but she suspiciously looks like Zoe. I am really starting to not like this girl. Kelvin hands the girl his credit card. Natalie can’t believe that he’s giving a mystery girl a credit card on top of pricey gifts.
Inside it *is* Zoe with Kelvin. She tells him that she’ll refund the cost of the wallets for him. He tells her that he could have gone to the department store. She didn’t need to come all the way there. She replies that Natalie would feel uncomfortable if she did that. Kelvin takes that as a sign that Natalie’s still hung up on him and concludes that her feelings are probably still hurt. Zoe laughs and asks him if Natalie ignored his texts. Kelvin chokes on his coffee. He burns himself. Kelvin says that Natalie is playing hard-to-get. She never used to. Zoe just smiles because she knows he’s fill of it. Zoe’s sure good at making plausible reasons to be there, but I definitely think she’s after Kelvin. Why would she lie (1) about where she was, and (2) about Natalie being hurt seeing him. Natalie definitely told her that she has realized that Kelvin is a player and doesn’t want him back.
Natalie pokes her head in the door and then sneaks in the restaurant. Crouched over, she starts to walk across the café, hiding her face with her hands. Back at the table, Kelvin says that Natalie was a girl who was always by his side. He looks over and spots Natalie creeping across the floor. It’s not like she’s not visible at all. She isn’t even hiding behind the counter that’s there. Smiling, he says her name. She stops. Zoe looks and then turns her face the opposite direction to hide it. Because she knows she’s being a lousy friend.
Kelvin declares that Natalie came back! Natalie cringes but then stands up, facing him. She points at him and declares that she’s not there to see him, so he shouldn’t misunderstand! Kelvin has a big smile on his face. Zoe stands up and looks sheepish as she says ‘Unni.’ Natalie starts to ask when the pair… but her voice trails off. Betrayal sucks. I bet she’s imagining that Zoe’s been going behind her back even before Kelvin broke up with her, or maybe that’s *why* Kelvin broke up with her. Natalie quickly leaves the restaurant.
Kelvin’s face falls and he calls after her to wait. He starts to run after her, but Zoe grabs his arm and tells him to leave it. Natalie’s the one that started it all. An eye for an eye and two can play hard to get. Kelvin tells Zoe that he hopes Natalie doesn't hate her because of him. Zoe smiles and says that it’s okay if those people she cares about end up happy. Wow. Did I call a spade a spade. Another little hint that she likes Kelvin. And nice that she cares more about him than Natalie. Zoe sweetly says that misunderstandings can be resolved. She smiles at Kelvin.
Natalie’s leaving the restaurant. Rocco is getting out of a car. It’s the woman who bought him at the auction. He leans into the window. Woman says that she laughed so much today. Rocco says that it’s just a complimentary service, since she spent so much on him. Woman notices Natalie staring at them, which gets Rocco’s attention. He turns around to look at her. He looks awkward. They awkwardly look at each other. Rocco doesn’t say anything. Natalie feels dumped. She leaves. He sighs, disappointed.
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