[Recap] I Never Liked Goodbyes - We Got Married 09.08.13

I never liked goodbyes – This is your Soompi WGM Recap!

(In case you missed it, check out lordbordem’s recap – I Miss One Week and Everything Changes)

Sigh. This was a draining episode. I watched this episode right after dinner and by the time it was through, I was hungry again. Not because the episode was longer, but because I spent so much energy being emotional. But more on that later.

Last week we left off with Jo Jung Chi and Jung In just about to have a fight. MC Danny was particularly excited about watching the real life couple have a go at it. He was to be disappointed when after a few minutes of cold silence, Jo Jung Chi offers the fist bump of peace. Jung In demand that they shake on it instead, but as soon as they do it, the fight is over. This is one chill couple. The MCs point out that when you’re in a relationship for that long you learn to forgive and forget quickly.

They finally arrive to Jo Jung Chi’s hometown. Jo Jung Chi is excited to visit his elementary school. I don’t even want to calculate how old I was when he was an elementary school student(I don’t even think some of you reading this was even born then!). As they walk down the familiar streets, they’re followed by a gang of excited kids that soon grows into a horde of screaming fans. Now they can understand what the idols have to go through! One of the kids even shouts out that his mother was Jo Jung Chi’s classmate, and when it’s confirmed, Jo Jung Chi is tripped out. I would be too if I could even remember my elementary school classmates.

In the safety and quiet of the empty school, the couple resumes their mission of putting together a time capsule. Jung In brings out letters she hadn’t ever shown Jo Jung Chi, and they are as cheesy as the other letters. I think it’s great to end their time on the show with the reminder that they truly did and do love each other. Jo Jung Chi shrieks and gags at the cheesiness of the letters but you can tell he secretly really enjoyed them.

Oh man. This part. I bawled. I had an emotional day, and then to watch this part was just too much for me. I had to cover my laptop so my tears wouldn’t fall on the keyboard.

This venue is a special place for the two because it’s the place when the two realized they loved each other. Jung In remembers how she watched Jo Jung Chi perform and how it felt like they only had eyes for each other. I’m getting emotional again. Must keep going.

Jo Jung Chi then becomes very awkward and tells Jung In to sit down on the stage. He has a song prepared for her, which he sings with his whole heart. At this point, this isn’t another WGM episode. This is a real life boyfriend serenading to his real life girlfriend. When the song ends, he hesitates and pauses and gulps and twitches as he tries to tell her how much she means to him. He borrows a proposal he heard before, but he means every word. He loves Jung In. When he chokes back on his words and fights the tears, it’s as if he’s completely forgotten about all the cameras and the staff members watching silently in the background. He sees Jung In, the woman who makes him want to be a better man. As much as he teases her or pretends like they don’t like each other that much, he genuinely loves her and wants to marry her.

Jung In listens, unsure of how to react. She’s not the type to like flowers to extravagant gestures. She often doesn’t know how to express herself or her feelings towards Jo Jung Chi properly. Through the past letters we can see that years ago she loved Jo Jung Chi like a giddy school girl, and now she is a woman who is most comfortable when she is with him. She gets flustered and stammers because she recognizes the sincerity in Jo Jung Chi’s words and gets frustrated that she can’t show how touched she is. 

The proposal did not go as plan. Jo Jung Chi was not as smooth and articulate as he imagined in his head. Jung In did receive it in the way the proposal deserved. That’s why I cried. It was the opposite of scripted; it was so damn real that I felt a mixture of awe and shame to have witnessed this real couple’s genuine confession of true love. 

“I have something to give you,” Jo Jung Chi says. A ring? He comes out with a much larger box and inside is a handcrafted dish set. Jo Jung Chi made it himself. As Jung In admires the pottery pieces Jo Jung Chi carefully says, “I’d like to imagine our offspring eating out of this. If we have kids, one day. If we get married…” Jung In looks up surprised, “Aren’t we getting married?” The two had agreed it on it before, but Jo Jung Chi wanted to make it official with a proposal. He knew that Jung In would hate a traditional proposal with a ring, so he thought of this instead. Jung In apologizes for not reacting better and jokes, “What if I said, ‘Let me think about it a little..” Jo Jung Chi laughs and jokes that he would have smashed the gift and burned the piano. I think everyone was glad that did not happen. 

Jung In has prepared a gift too! She tells Jo Jung Chi to close his eyes and TADA! A computer! The computer they jokingly betted on a couple of episodes before. Jo Jung Chi is ecstatic; he can’t believe it. He had really wanted a new computer. Jung In, for her part, did not skimp out and got a really nice and expensive computer. Jung In apologizes that the computer isn’t as romantic or thoughtful as his proposal but Jo Jung Chi disagrees and says that his proposal seems lacking compared to this generous gift. They hug tightly and skip off with their new gifts.

Noona’s Goodbye:

If you had told me four months ago that I would be an emotional wreck over an episode of a variety show, I would have laughed in your face. Yet, here I am, truly saddened to think that I will not have Jo Jung Chi and Jung In waiting for me every weekend. I loved this couple. I got signed on to the recap because of Taemin/Na Eun but this couple is what made WGM worth watching. This was my favorite couple.

As soon as their part ended I paused the video to get a tissue and blow my nose. I thought about what this couple meant to me and why I liked them so much. They were real. They are real. They’re going to get married, actually legally married soon. This couple is going to continue on, outside the scripted world of reality TV. Even if I end up on the news in a few months as the random crazy lady who tried to crash a celebrity wedding, I am going to go to their wedding and cry again because I’m so happy for them. They were awkward and sometimes boring, but isn’t that what love in real life actually is like?

Thank you WGM producers for giving us a break by putting the light hearted double date episode in the middle. I already knew that I’m going to have to say good bye to Jinwoon and Go Joon Hee too, but it’s nice to watch Key scream like a banshee again. Last week, Taemin and Na Eun went on a double date with Key and Jung Eun Ji. The latter actually hit it off really well, even if Key is awful at riding roller coasters. Look at that face.

After screaming while riding the roller coasters, the couples ride the ferris wheel. It would be more romantic if they didn’t feel like they were riding a hot steel cage of humidity and sweat. Taemin and Na Eun can’t enjoy the ride at first because they feel like they’re boiling. When they sit down Taemin complains that they can’t even touch each other because it’s too hot but then Na Eun shyly, yet resolutely, slips her arm around Taemin’s. “Too warm?” she asks. “Yes, but let’s just stay like this,” Taemin answered back with a goofy grin. This physical development does not go unnoticed by the older couple.

Meanwhile…Key and Jung Eun Ji ride the ferris wheel mostly in silence because they just met each other so it’s still awkward. They mention that this is their one and only date, which is disappointing. Eun Ji asks if Key had ever ridden on one of these before with another girl, and Key answers that he’s never actually been on an amusement park date before. Eun Ji gives him the benefit of the doubt (the boys of SHINee tend to lie!) and then asks if they will keep in touch after this. “Won’t it be weird to see each other on music shows again?” she asks. Key reassures her that at the very least, they have gotten to know each other.

This double date has done wonders for the young couple. On this night they fed each other ice cream, held hands as they shot up to the sky, and then linked arms more than once. It looks like Na Eun is becoming braver and more comfortable around Taemin. Taemin is having the time of his life because he is getting the skinship he wanted so desperately in the past. Has he been forgiven for all the foolish mistakes he made in the past?

The double date was fun but next time they want to go on a date alone. I guess they really did see Key and Eun Ji as a third and fourth wheel.

Noona’s Goodbye:

So Key and Eun Ji went on this date knowing that they need to milk it for what its worth because who knows when they will be able to do something like this again. Having the two there reminds us how lucky celebrities are to be on this show. It’s not easy to date as a celebrity, more so as an idol, but Taemin and Na Eun are lucky enough to do it almost every week. No wonder all the other members keep saying how jealous they are. 

Key and Eun Ji were a surprisingly well matched couple. I suspect they only got on the show because they were the best at variety out of their respective groups but it turns out to be the right choice. Many times they were more enjoyable to watch than Taemin and Na Eun because it felt like it was an actual date. Taemin and Na Eun are contractually obligated to be a couple, feelings or not, so watching them try is endearing but not always refreshing. Watching Key get embarrassed or Jung Eun Ji surprised was a welcomed breath of fresh air to the segment. I do hope that we see more interactions between the two of them again.

Ah, here we go again. Another good bye. Jinwoon and Go Joon Hee don’t even bother starting off like a normal episode. Right away the atmosphere feels different, and as soon as Joon Hee sits down in front of Jinwoon, she starts tearing up. She can’t look at him in the eyes or even speak full sentences. Turns out a week earlier they were informed that this would be their last date. They had been a couple for seven months. They knew this day would come but that didn’t make things easier when it actually did.

For their last date Go Joon Hee prepares a special gift. It’s a box of socks and each pair of socks represents a memory. The two agree that they had a lot of great memories during their virtual marriage. Jinwoon even says that the time when he tried to teach her how to drive wasn’t too bad. I think Jinwoon and Joon Hee really did enjoy being married to each other and had a good time in all their dates. 

Jinwoon’s gift to Joon Hee is the song they wrote together. It’s a simple but heartfelt ballad that really suits Jinwoon’s voice. When the song is over there is not much to say because both of them are too emotional. Jinwoon asks Joon Hee to look him in the eyes, but she can’t in fear of crying even more than she already is. They hold hands tightly and quietly enjoy their last moments as a married couple together. 

Jinwoon excuses himself while Joon Hee tries to stop her tears and fix her makeup. She pouts silently as she waits until a staff member tells her to look out the window. The curtain are pulled and Joon Hee can see Jinwoon out in the yard, standing next to a tree with bright red and orange leaves. The couple had spent three seasons together so Jinwoon brought fall to her so that they could spend all four seasons as a couple. This is the last straw for Joon Hee. She sobs, touched that Jinwoon remembered that she offhandedly remarked how nice it would be to spend fall together with him. Even during the interview she tears up as she expresses her appreciation for the final and thoughtful gift. 

Noona’s Goodbye:

This was actually my least favorite couple. I felt like they were a stereotype to what a WGM couple should look like: a handsome idol with a beautiful B-level actress. However, I couldn’t deny that they looked good together and despite the age difference, treated each other like a real couple. Jinwoon had been my favorite member of 2AM before, and because of the show I grew to like him more. He seems like a really easy going and fun person in real life. I initially was worried that Go Joon Hee would be the typical hard-to-like actress but I enjoyed discovering how 4D she was. Even though out of the three couples they were my third, I really did enjoy this couple. Their good bye seems sadder because unlike Jo Jung Chi and Jung In, these two will not get married in real life. This is really the end, which is probably the reason why Go Joon Hee couldn’t stop crying. She knew that the fun dates and the romance, scripted or not, with Jinwoon was over. 

Jo Jung Chi, Jung In, Jinwoon, and Go Joon Hee will be replaced by two new couples which you can read about here. I have my reservations but I’m saving my judgement for when we are officially introduced to them.

Which couple will you miss more? Are you looking forward to the new couples? Leave a comment below and always, talk to Noona! Follow her on Twitter  or send your questions/feedback via email.