Shooting Stars: Episodes 5-6

by Unit

The theme of this week is rumors, and seeing misquoted conversations of celebrities landing on the tabloids make us wonder how many rumors we’ve believed to be true and how many truths we’ve believed to be lies. With rumors come denials and for some of our characters, we wonder if denial is just a river in Egypt or a defense mechanism to protect their hearts.

EPISODES 5-6 WEECAP

A jealous Tae-sung interrupts Han-byeol and Soo-hyuk’s moment, and in his famous whisper pose, he threatens her with the paycheck deduction if she doesn’t come to his drama shoot. I just want to smack him upside his petty little head.

But he isn’t the only actor good at driving people crazy. Jae-hyun cuts his hair disrupting the continuity of a scene and stresses Yoo-sung out. Dae-soo is also going through it at the hand of his actress, JIN YOO-NA (Lee Si-woo) who insists on wearing a particular outfit to shoot, though it also disrupts the continuity of that scene. All his pleas cannot get her to change her mind, and I wonder if “Yooo-na-ya” is even allowed to do that. Lol.

On the other hand, work never stops for Han-byeol even while she’s on set, and while Tae-sung expects her to concentrate on watching his performance, she’s either on the phone or her laptop. Eventually, he tells her to leave and she happily does, oblivious to his very obvious disappointment.

That evening, Soo-hyuk is still at work thinking about Han-byeol when he gets a call from her concerning work matters. For someone who clocks out by 6pm, he’s only too happy to work overtime so he can spend more time with her. Or should I say spend more time smiling at her and making my heart flutter. At a later work meeting, he even raises eyebrows from the others when he tells Han-byeol she can contact him for work matters outside of work hours. Tae-sung, honey, you’ve got some serious competition!

Finally, Da-hye, the most successful fangirl as far as Shooting Stars is concerned, gets to shoot her first scene with “Tae-sung oppa.” She manages to stay professional during the shoot thanks to Yoo-sung’s presence on set, which calms her nerves — and inadvertently serves as a reminder to Tae-sung that Han-byeol is absent.

A rumor about his smelly hair has Tae-sung almost scrubbing off his scalp and disappointingly, we don’t get a shampoo PPL. But we get an adorable scene of Jung-yeol smelling his hair and giving him progress reports on some secret mission that somehow seems to have roped Bo-in in. It appears that he is conducting a popularity poll between Yoo-sung and Soo-hyuk. And Soo-hyuk, whose rank is rising fast in the polls, just happens to have moved next door to Tae-sung. Aha!

As a favor to her professor, Han-byeol gives a lecture at her university and gets reminded of back in the day when rumors went round that she was dating Tae-sung. Apparently, their famous throwback picture was for a promotional brochure in the university and people just assumed they were in a relationship.

Han-byeol denies it again to the professor, citing the misery the resulting rumors caused her. But from the professor, we learn that Tae-sung, knowing how much the rumors affected her, had paid for the brochures to be destroyed and pledged himself as a promotional lamb to be sacrificed for subsequent brochures even years after their graduation. Awwww.

When Han-byeol relates the story – minus the identity of the male lead – to Ki-bbeum, Ki-bbeum says the guy probably liked her, but Han-byeol is quick to shut down that thought. Denial much?

Ki-bbeum smiles over a text from an actor (cameo by Chae Jong-hyeop) she exchanged numbers with after an interview, but it turns out he texts every reporter who interviews him. Pfffft.

Meanwhile, Han-byeol belatedly thanks Tae-sung for helping her with the promotional brochure and though he acts like it’s no big deal, we see he’s happy about it.

Tae-sung passes on some interview questions to Han-byeol through Jung-yeol, saying she knows him best and can answer them for him. But Jung-yeol, who has been recruited by our resident TaeByeol shippers, happily texts the group with updates. I luff him!

One of the questions is about the most memorable moment in Tae-sung’s life, and when Han-byeol lists out a couple of them for him to pick from, a sleepy Tae-sung remarks that she was part of all those moments. He then tells her not to go anywhere and falls asleep with his head on her shoulder. But she pushes his head off and walks out, clearly affected by the moment.

Soo-hyuk stops to say hello to Han-byeol at work and she notes that they have been running into each other a lot lately. He tells her he moved next door to Tae-sung and suggests hosting a housewarming party for the PR team.

After being dropped off at home, Tae-sung tells Jung-yeol not to come to work the next morning and Jung-yeol thinks he has done something wrong. But Tae-sung just wants him to sleep in and Jung-yeol breaks into the most adorable smile. Awww. He’s so cute!

Tae-sung then gets into the most awkward elevator ride with his new neighbor, Soo-hyuk. He tells Soo-hyuk that he’s very close to Han-byeol, in fact, they’re best friends. And when Soo-hyuk mentions that he was with Han-byeol “up until now,” Tae-sung sends him the death glare.

Han-byeol wishes for some romance in her life, and when Ho-young asks if her heart has ever beat for someone, she thinks about the scene with sleepy Tae-sung. Of course, Han-byeol says she has never had such heart fluttering feelings for anyone and then flushes down her denial with beer.

Meanwhile, Tae-sung goes over his script where the characters begin to date after being with each other “up until now.” He remembers Soo-hyuk’s statement in the elevator and, upset, he flings the script away and tosses and turns in bed all night. Lol.

Netizens spot Tae-sung’s very blurry reflection on a stainless bowl in a picture uploaded by Da-hye during a meal with their staff. (This is totally giving off Changmin and Victoria spoon scandal vibes!)

The picture sparks a dating rumor, and Han-byeol calls Tae-sung to fact check. She says it’s a relief that the rumors are false, and just as Tae-sung is getting happy about it, she clarifies that she feels relief because the PR team does not need to lie. Jung-yeol doesn’t hear the conversation, but from Tae-sung’s body language, it appears like the two had a lover’s quarrel.

To debut, Shi-deok needs to lose his accent and change his name, but in the meantime, Ho-young takes him to visit the filming location. They find out the production needs an urgent replacement for an actor who speaks with the Gyeongsang-do accent and luckily, Shi-deok does.

When the director asks for his name, he goes, “Kang…” and a quick thinking Ho-young darts a glance at Yoo-sung — who’s standing a few paces away — and completes the name. Kang Shi-deok has now become Kang Yoo-sung.

At an interview for their upcoming drama, Tae-sung is asked to describe his ideal type and Da-hye perks up beside him. He says his ideal type is someone he feels comfortable around like a good friend, and the TaeByeol shippers turn to face Han-byeol immediately. Tae-sung has all but confessed to her at this point, hasn’t he?

Soo-hyuk mentions that he’s throwing a housewarming party for the PR team at StarForce and his office manager (Yoo Young-min) asks if he likes Han-byeol. He admits he does, and okay! The love triangle has officially begun.

While driving, Jung-yeol gets a call from his girlfriend, and Tae-sung is surprised to hear that his manager is in a relationship. Me too! This gets Tae-sung thinking about Han-byeol and it drives him crazy.

Ki-bbeum and her fellow reporter/ex-boyfriend (cameo by Oh Eui-shik) stakeout an actress and her boyfriend, and afterwards, they get into an argument over who gets to break the exclusive first. But right in the middle of the argument, they’re bested by the actress who reveals it on her SNS. What’s the difference between reporters and stalkers again?

Tae-sung lies that his TV is broken and comes to watch the premiere episode of his new drama with Ji-hoon and the PR trio. While the others react to the drama, Han-byeol is silent and Tae-sung itches to hear her say something, but he gets nothing. Afterwards, he asks for her thoughts about the drama and she says his character seems cool. He then asks what she thinks about him and she goes silent.

One thing about Tae-sung is his consistency, either in looking for new ways to annoy Han-byeol or about his ideal type which has always been Han-byeol. But in the past, he confirmed a dating rumor between himself and actress, YEO HA-JIN (cameo by Moon Ga-young as her character in Find me in Your Memory), and dashed all of Han-byeol’s hopes. Now I understand why she has set a clear boundary with him — she’s just protecting her heart.

It’s clear that Tae-sung is crazy about her, and at some point, I’m going to need him to stop showing his affection for Han-byeol only behind the scenes. I mean, how is a girl supposed to know you like her if you don’t say it to her face? I bet Soo-hyuk is going to confess to Han-byeol before Tae-sung does. Maybe that’s the wake-up call he needs to act on his feelings.

In other news, I’m so curious about that divorced actress, her relationship with Tae-sung, and what Yoo-sung has to do with all of it. Who is this Yoo-sung guy anyway? And why does he give off this secretive and suspicious vibe?

I hope we get to unravel this mystery soon. In the meantime, I’ve decided to just roll with the thin plot of the drama and enjoy the humor. Shooting Stars has a lot of laugh out loud moments, and maybe that’s all the drama needs.

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Shooting Stars: Episodes 5-6