“Someone You Know”
Episode 13 of Shooting Stars starts with Eun Si-woo’s press conference where the reporters are bombarding her with questions one after the other. Oh Han-byeol who is also present as Si-woo’s representative, informs the reporters that they will not be taking any questions but only wanted to present Si-woo’s statement. The veteran actress then starts talking about the ongoing scandals around Gong Tae-sung and herself. Si-woo talks about her lonely childhood and orphan upbringing. She also narrates the journey of her becoming an actress and states that during that time, she met a man whom she later married and got pregnant with. Si-woo finally accepts that Tae-sung is her son. This causes a lot more chaos among the reporters. Si-woo continues to explain how her husband had died when Tae-sung was only one year old. She tells the press that her in-laws let her live her life freely and took Tae-sung in their care as she worked on becoming an actress by abandoning her son. Tae-sung, who is watching the conference from his house, listens to his mother talk about how she was never there for him when he needed her the most. The young actor gets emotional as he hears the regret in his mother’s voice. At the conference, Si-woo mentions that she does not want to cause any more trouble for her son and requests that the reporters correct their mistakes. The reporters ask the actress if she will be making a comeback soon but Si-woo says that she will never return to the screen. Han-byeol cuts the conference and Tae-sung who is back at home gazes at the screen, tearfully. Han-byeol is now at her house as she goes through the news and articles that are finally starting to straighten out for Tae-sung. She then recalls her recent argument with Tae-sung where she promised to protect him by asking him to reveal the truth about Si-woo being his mother. Tae-sung misunderstands her when he claims that she was speaking as his PR Manager when she said it was to protect him when in fact it was to protect his public image. Tae-sung had asked Han-byeol to stand with him as his partner instead of in front of him as his representative. Coming back to present time, Han-byeol pours herself a soju shot, with a green apple candy. Tae-sung does the same thing at his house as the couple drink sorrowfully, away from one another. The episode goes back in time when Tae-sung, Han-byeol, and Yoon-woo are all college kids. Tae-sung scolds Han-byeol for drinking more than Yoon-woo when he is the one who needs to be sad as his family is ousted by the press. Han-byeol clarifies that she is upset too as it was she who had to make the revelation about her friend being Yoon-woo’s PR Representative. Yoon-woo states that he was okay and praises Han-byeol for handling the controversy well. Han-byeol apologizes when she states there was nothing that she could do other than make the revelation. Tae-sung hands her some tissues as she cries and Yoon-woo tries to console Han-byeol. Tae-sung states that neither of them were to blame and tries to put an end to the bickering by pouring them another drink. Yoon-woo adds a candy to his drink stating that Soju is bitter by itself so the three try to drink alcohol that way. In present time, Tae-sung contemplates calling Han-byeol while she hangs her head in silence looking at her screen. The next morning, Reporter Cho Ki-ppeum is at her desk and expresses her shock to see the reporters change their tone about Tae-sung. She then starts with a new story when her boss starts reprimanding her for not having an exclusive article. At his firm, Lawyer Do Soo-hyuk looks up Ki-ppeum on the search engine and reads up her most recent article. Lawyer Do is pleasantly surprised after reading it and decides to praise her via text. He laughs after seeing her recent status update on KakaoTalk (the messaging app). Soo-hyuk sends her a wedding invitation via text and Ki-ppeum is shocked, wondering if it was Lawyer Do who was getting married. As Ki-ppeum is thinking about Lawyer Do’s wedding, he sends another text to her clarifying that it is the wedding invitation of his brother and the actress. Soo-hyuk states that this would make for a good exclusive article. Ki-ppeum is happy and says she is glad for his help. She later contemplates her words and starts assessing why she is glad or relieved by texting the lawyer. Tae-sung too makes it to shoot with his manager Byeong Jung-yeol. The director of the show welcomes him with a cake this time unlike his resigned treatment of Tae-sung the last time. Tae-sung sarcastically thanks the director and blows the candle as he walks to his green room. Actress Baek Da-hye is in her dressing room as she wonders if she too should go out to see Tae-sung making a comeback when he knocks on her door. She runs back to her seat and invites him into her green room. Tae-sung thanks Da-hye for filming extra in his absence to cover up for the lost time. He also thanks her for trusting in him. Da-hye, who is also his No. 1 fangirl, screams in shock scaring the actor. Da-hye then clarifies that she is in the same agency as him and is Tae-sung’s co-star which is why it is her duty to have faith in him. She jokes that she had a lot in common with Tae-sung which means they should be siblings. Tae-sung jokes and walks away calling her by her name. In shock, Da-hye calls her mother and starts yelling in excitement as she sings a song. In his green room, Tae-sung thinks of Han-byeol and contemplates calling her up. Jung-yeol startles the actor by sneaking up on him. Tae-sung then leaves his phone with his manager and goes to shoot his next scene. Meanwhile, in the break room at Starforce Headquarters, Han-byeol is looking at Instagram photos from when Tae-sung was in Africa. PR Team One’s Mi-nyeo joins the PR Head in the break room and talks about Tae-sung’s tumultuous relationship with his mother, Eun Si-woo which sends Han-byeol thinking. She recalls Ki-ppeum calling her about finding the secret of Si-woo’s real relationship with Tae-sung. Worried that the rest of the media would find out, Han-byeol took the initiative to ask Si-woo to hold the conference. At the ‘World Of Stars’ shoot, Jung-byeol chats up with someone at from work to find out what is happening at Starforce Headquarters. He informs Tae-sung that it was Han-byeol who pushed for the conference with Si-woo. Meanwhile, Si-woo and Han-byeol are talking about Tae-sung when she reveals the secret behind her visit to South Korea. At the same time, Tae-sung visits Han-byeol at the office and the two reconcile after being apart for a while. The couple apologize to one another with a hug. Han-byeol informs Tae-sung that the real reason for Si-woo’s return is that she had early onset of dementia. Tae-sung calls Manager Yu-sung and asks to meet up to clear things out with his hung. The actor confronts the manager and tries to clear things out. Tae-sung states that he is aware his mother is sick and wanted to give her one chance stating that he would hear what she has to say. Meanwhile, Chairman Choi Ji-hoon is helping Si-woo pack the rest of her belongings so that she could completely leave South Korea for the rest of her treatments abroad. She mentions that she does not want to cause more inconvenience to Tae-sung and was going to leave for good when Manager Yu-sung rings the doorbell. Si-woo is shocked to see Tae-sung has come to see her and the mother apologizes to her son. She discusses the movie premiere she took Tae-sung to as a child and claims that she regrets that day in her life the most. Si-woo recalls abandoning him publicly for the first time in her life and never righting her wrongs since. She also clarifies that she was never there for her son when he needed her the most. Si-woo finally apologizes to her son making Tae-sung emotional. The two reconcile and Si-woo finally leaves after giving Tae-sung a hug. He asks his mother to forget the bad memories between them and promises to visit her when he can. Ji-hoon is dropping Si-woo off at the airport when he subtly hints at his feelings for her by offering to move to where she is going. Meanwhile, Tae-sung is outside the airport watching his mother’s flight take off. At the Starforce Entertainment rooftop, Han-byeol stands alone recalling her conversation with Si-woo. Si-woo states that she is glad Tae-sung finally has someone after being lonely for so long. Present day Han-byeol finds Tae-sung hugging her on the rooftop and she praises the actor for finally accepting his mother. At the actors’ dorm, Actor Kang Yu-sung finds Yoon Jae-hyun balling his eyes out over a bowl of ramen. Yu-sung asks if he was okay when Jae-hyun lies that his eyes were puffy because of the breakup scene on the show. Yu-sung asks him about Yu-na and the actor is shocked to learn that his roommate already knew about his secret relationship. Jae-hyun breaks down when a clip of the two breaking up in scene for the ‘World of Stars’ drama plays. The two deliver a realistic scene that bags them praises from their managers. Managers Yu-sung and Dae-soo wonder why their acting seems so authentic but do not make a big deal out of it. Dae-soo and Yu-sung are having lunch when the DS Actors CEO expresses his shock on learning that Yu-sung gave up the script to Ho-young’s actor – Kang Yu-sung when he was pursuing it for his actor – Jae-hyun. Yu-sung smiles remembering Ho-young but Dae-soo is confused. Actor Kang Yu-sung is talking to his dialect coach as he prepares for his upcoming drama. She praises the improvement in his dialect but Yu-sung promises the director that he will be working hard on this role as if his life depended on it. As Ho-young leaves the lesson actor Yu-sung but she runs into a former Starforce Entertainment employee. He informs her that Manager Yu-sung had pulled some strings to make her a Manager at the company in the past. Ho-young confronts Chairman Ji-hoon about the promotion wondering if she had been promoted only because of Manager Yu-sung’s recommendation but he tells her that it was her hard work that had kept her in the position. On her way out of his cabin, Ho-young gets a call from her senior-turned-crush Manager Yu-sung and he asks her out to dinner after seeing her noticing the worry on her face. At dinner, she confronts him about the promotion and Yu-sung clarifies why exactly he pushed for her promotion. Yu-sung states that it was purely based on her talent and that he had no other intentions. He tries to cheer Ho-young up and recalls being fired from his previous job as a manager. As they are walking out of the restaurant, Ho-young tells Yu-sung that she was willing to get over her crush on him. She says she does not want to make things awkward between them as she wants to work at Starforce for a long time. Ho-young claims her one-sided feelings would make things awkward between them. Yu-sung stops her aimless thoughts and confesses his feelings for her too. The next day, PR Team One is preparing for the death anniversary of Late actor Lee Yoon-woo who was Tae-sung’s long-time friend. The team discusses why the actor must have ended his life when Han-byeol walks in. She recalls the day the incident took place and receiving a call from Ji-hoon about Yoon-woo’s death after not hearing from him all day. A frantic Han-byeol cries on her way to the hospital. Back to the present day, Tae-sung and Han-byeol visit the late actor’s grave and talk to Yoon-woo. Tae-sung tells their late friend that he and Han-byeol are dating and the couple recalls the trio’s past friendship getting emotional. On their drive back, Han-byeol asks Tae-sung about naming the African child, Luca after Yoon-woo’s baptismal name. Now, Tae-sung is at his house when he sees another red envelope on his door. The note inside the envelope reads “Remember, you killed Yoon-woo,” making the actor worry. He visits his next-door neighbor Lawyer Do with a box full of snacks. The duo bicker for a while but Tae-sung ends up thanking Lawyer Do for his work in saving Tae-sung from legal trouble involving his anti-fans. Tae-sung asks Lawyer Do to make him coffee – a decaf latte and the lawyer ends up accepting the offer. As Tae-sung drinks the coffee, Lawyer Do asks about Tae-sung’s long face and the actor reveals the secret behind the red envelopes. He reveals to have known the sender of these notes all along and recalls that it is Manager turned Bar owner, Yoo Ki-nong. At the same time, Ki-nong shares a message on an anti-fan chat against Tae-sung claiming that the actor had killed someone. Chairman Ji-hoon visits him and they recall hanging out together in the past when Yoon-woo was alive. Back then, Tae-sung and Yoon-woo were friends and Ji-hoon and Ki-nong managed the two actors respectively. The four take a fun photo at the beach. Tae-sung is now at this psychiatric appointment recalling his anxiety caused by flashing cameras and remembers being ignored by his mother at the movie premiere when she walked around flashing cameras. The psychiatrist asks if there was any other recent incident that stirred the past memory, leading to Tae-sung recalling being overseas at a fan meeting and being told the news of Yoon-woo’s death when reporters were flashing cameras in his face trying to catch his reaction.
The Episode Review
So far, all things in the life of Tae-sung are faring well. He has reconciled with his mother, and his relationship with Han-byeol seems to have settled down but still a secret due to his position as a public figure. Tae-sung also is not lonely anymore as he finds a new friend in Lawyer Do Soo-hyuk. Lawyer Do and Reporter Ki-ppeum on the other hand are also testing waters with their feeling for each other. For now, nothing is set in stone but it seems like things are getting serious between them as he shares his brother’s wedding invitation to give her an exclusive. Lawyer Do is really the perfect definition of the “mean to everyone except me” trope but fans are here for it, obviously. Talk about art imitates life with Jae-hyun and Yu-na’s on-again-off-again relationship. The couple dates in real life when their characters date on-screen and breakups happen in sync too. It is great to see Jae-hyun and Actor Kang Yu-sung bond in the dorms because everyone deserves to have friends, even at work. Actor Yu-sung may have not gotten over his crush on Manager Ho-young but he gives off the non-toxic vibe where he is no longer pursuing her but trying to put his crushed feelings into his work and bettering himself as an actor. Phew, Manager Kang Yu-sung has finally realized his feelings for Ho-young and there is a new couple on the show! Watch and learn, Lawyer Do and Reporter Ki-ppeum. It seems like things are finally working out for Tae-sung but he is the main lead so there has to be drama. Former manager Ki-nong is here to avenge the death of Yoon-woo but people need to realize, that Tae-sung was not the one who caused the actor to take his own life. Ki-nong should actually blame himself for not looking out for his own actor than blame Tae-sung for not being there for his friend and colleague.
