Sangdoo, Let's Go to School

Cast
Che Sang-Doo : Rain (Bi)
Chai Eu-Huan: Gong Hyo Jin
Kang Ming Sheng: Lee Dong Gun
Han Si-Ra / Gong Ba-Lan: Hong Soo Hyun

Synopsis

This is a touching story about a young man who sacrifices his future for the two loves of his life - his childhood sweetheart and his sick daughter. As his sweetheart says: "We should learn to love each other less, lest fate be envious of our love..."

Story

The story begins with a young Sang-Doo, whose uncle leaves him at the doorstep of a rich family. The rich family had just lost their 10-year-old son. Sang-Doo is taught to say that he had dreamt of coming to live with this family as their son. Sang-Doo is left sitting at the doorstep of the house waiting for someone to open the door. He falls asleep and leaves his helmet (made with a pot!) on the floor.

Passers-by mistake him for a beggar and throw money into his helmet. Sang-Doo is insulted when a young girl passes by and drops a lollipop in his helmet. He chases after her screaming that he is not a beggar. Therein begins the relationship between Sang-Doo and En-Huan.

Flashback to the present.

Sang-Doo and his uncle make their living as gigolos. Sang-Doo's specialty is charming rich older ladies (obasans). He wines and dines them and showers them with affection which they lack from their husbands - they in turn would shower him with money and expensive gifts.

Sang-Doo's uncle is accused of "corrupting the morals of young school girls" when he approaches a schoolgirl to "spend time" with him. It turns out that the "school girl" was a teacher and it was her student that Sang-Doo's uncle had contacted. She was out to catch herself a lecher and had taken his picture to expose him. Sang-Doo's uncle pleads with him to steal the hand phone from the "school girl" to prevent her from reporting him to the police. Sang-Doo recognises the "school-girl" as En-Huan (his childhood sweetheart whom he hadn't seen for the past 13 years.)

Sang-Doo steals the hand phone but En-Huan is knocked down by a van when she tries to give chase. He is grieved when he assumes that she had died from her injuries (he sees a woman crying over a patient) but is relieved when he realizes that he had made a mistake and that she had only suffered a minor injury.

Sang-Doo lives with his uncle and seven-year old daughter. He works as a gigolo by day and charms women out of their money to fund his daughter's (Bao Er) medical fees. Bao Er is suffering from leukemia. Sang-Doo's uncle keeps the little girl company most of the time while Sang-Doo works. A bit of the "circle of life" here - Sang-Doo's uncle used to support him in the same way. Sang-Doo's uncle puts up the pretence that Sang-Doo is some young hot shot industrialist and answers his calls for him when Sang-Doo's obasans call. He often tells these women that Sang-Doo is at meetings or overseas in Hong Kong when Sang-Doo is unable to meet these women. It is a juggling act balancing the many women Sang-Doo has to service!

Sang-Doo's uncle practically lives at the hospital and uses the hospital toilet as his personal kitchen to cook his food (!) so that he can keep Bao-Er company.

Bao Er has been a sickly child ever since birth. Her mother Si Ra (Ba-Lan) had abandoned her and left Sang-Doo with the responsibility of raising her. To pay for her hefty medical expenses, Sang-Doo resorts to earning a living as a gigolo.

Sang-Doo becomes a "hero" at the high school En-Huan is teaching at when he saves a boy from committing suicide. He manages to charm his way into a job as a security officer at the school. The school principal is surprised that a a promising young man like Sang-Doo never graduated from high school. Sang-Doo takes on the job to be near En-Huan.

En-Huan does not immediately acknowledge Sang-Doo nor does she reciprocate his love for her. Perhaps it has been a long time since they had seen each other and as she is now engaged, she feels conflicted.

En-Huan's brother, Zhi-Huan, is a student at the school. As he does not recognise Sang-Doo as his "Sang-Doo ge ge" (Big Brother) he starts making trouble for Sang Doo whenever he can. He is jealous that his girlfriend is so taken by Sang-Doo that he engineers to get Sang-Doo fired.

To be close to En-Huan, Sang-Doo returns to the school as a student. Sang-Doo had told the school principal that he had never had the chance to finish high school. The school principal was willing to take him in as a student and he requests that he be placed in En-Huan's class, much to the delight of the girls in his class.

Zhi-Huan continues to make trouble for Sang-Doo. However, Sang-Doo has his own fan club "The Che Hero Club" of which even the school principal is a member! Sang-Doo is very popular with the female population, who shower him with gifts. Seeing the girls showering Sang-Doo with gifts reminds En-Huan of their school days.

Coming from a poor family, En-Huan could not afford to buy Sang-Doo a present for his birthday. Instead, she spent all her spare time knitting a present for Sang-Doo. Her girl friend, who was a Sang-Doo fan as well, was also poor. She brought him fish which she had caught herself as a gift for Sang-Doo's birthday. They meekly bring their gifts to class but are embarrassed when they see other girls showering Sang-Doo with expensive gifts. Seeing this, the two girls are embarrassed and angry at the same time. They vowed never to be Sang-Doo fans again!

Bao-Er is ill and Sang-Doo has to skip school to be with her. He turns up for his class field trip to his and En-Huan's old hometown. Their hometown bear sad memories for them both. For En-Huan it is the shame of having to run away with her mother and brother in the middle of the night as her mother had cheated their neighbours of their money after incurring huge debts and where she had lost Sang-Doo. For Sang-Doo it was where his future was taken away from him -he had become the adopted son of a rich family and was a bright and outstanding student. He was in love with En-Huan and had spent many happy moments with her planning their future together. His hopes and dreams were all dashed when he tried to save an old grammaphone owned by En-Huan's father from En-Huan's mother's creditors. He had struggled with the man and had accidentally pushed him into the river. The man died and Sang-Doo was taken away. En-Huan and her family had left that night without knowing what Sang-Doo had done. Sang-Doo's family abandoned him as they could not live with the shame - they left for America before he was released and he had no home to return to after that. He also learned that En-Huan had left with her family.

Being back in their hometown brings back memories of their time together and they each reminisce about their lost love, still without acknowledging one another. Zhi-Huan plays a trick on Sang-Doo when he learns that he cannot swim. He gets someone to lie to Sang-Doo that En-Huan had fallen into the sea. Without hesitation, Sang Doo jumps from the cliff into the sea. He nearly drowns. When En-Huan learns of Sang-Doo jumping into the sea to save her, she jumps in to look for him. Both of them are hospitalized. En-Huan's boyfriend, Ming Sheng, is upset when he hears their great "love story" from their childhood friend. She asks him that if it is possible to let them be together even for a moment, for their love for one another is too great for any one to comprehend. She is aware of what Sang-Doo had sacrificed for his love of En-Huan.

Sang-Doo and En-Huan recover and they vow never to leave each other again.

For the love of En-Huan, Sang-Doo decides to give up his life as a gigolo and attempts to cut off ties with his old life. He actually confesses to his obasans that he is actually a gigolo, much to his uncle's dismay. Sang-Doo then tries to earn an honest livelihood, taking on odd jobs to make money for Bao-Er's treatment. He even goes to the extent of taking in sewing jobs to supplement his income. He sneaks in time in school to sew beads onto slippers - it is hilarious that even his school principal and teachers join in to help him in his efforts.

Sang-Doo's classmate, Xi Shu is sad and angry when she learns that her mother is neglecting her family and spending all her time and money on a gigolo. Seeing her so upset, Sang-Doo agrees to help her. He goes to the club where his classmate's mother is hanging out with her gigolo and pretends to be the gigolo's boyfriend! Xi Shu's mother is so disgusted that she vows never to see her gigolo again! Unfortunately for Sang-Doo, he is recognized by a bunch of guys as a gigolo (he was going out with a wife of one of their "brothers" and had been beaten up by them). Xi Shu overhears this conversation and is sorely disappointed with him. She tells Zhi-Huan of Sang-Doo's profession. Zhi-Huan is about to tell En-Huan about Sang-Doo hoping to break them up when she reveals to him that Sang Doo is his "Sang-Doo ge ge" whom he had loved and admired as a child.

Sang-Doo soon realizes that reality is cruel and much as he wants to be with En-Huan, his obligation to Bao-Er means that he has to return to his life as a gigolo to earn enough money for Bao-Er's treatment.

En-Huan assures Sang-Doo that she loves him and no matter what he does, she will try to understand. She thwarts his efforts to cheat a sum of money from one of his obasans. He tries to show her a side of him, which he is not proud of, hoping that she would turn from him. Instead, she holds onto him tightly and declares her love for him. He is torn and touched at the same time. His love for En-Huan had kept him alive whenever life got the better of him.

En-Huan's mother had a daughter whom she had abandoned when the girl was about ten. She had left her daughter Si-Ra/Ba-Lan outside her father's house. She was going to kill herself when she met a little girl on the train. This little girl was abandoned by her parents on the train and had held on tightly to her. Because of this, she had the courage to go on living. This little girl turned out to be En-Huan. Ba-Lan turns out to be Bao-Er's mother!

Bao-Er's mother Ba Lan was a wayward teenager. She had no family and had to fend for herself. She had eaten at a shop and could not pay for her meal. The boss of the shop threatened to send her to the police. Annoyed by the scene and perhaps taking pity on her, Sang-Doo pays for her meal before returning to his. Ba-Lan is grateful. She follows him and sees him sleeping on a park bench. He is drunk and she brings him to a hotel room. She puts him on the bed. To "repay" his kindness, she decides to sleep with him. She strips and lies down beside a drunk Sang-Doo who calls out En-Huan's name. Ban-Lan appears later, pregnant and approaches Sang-Doo at a billiard hall. She tells him that she is having his baby and will be abandoning the baby. He is angry and upset by her decision although he has no feelings towards her.

Back to the present. Just when En-Huan and Sang-Doo share a tender moment with Bao-Er outside the hospital, Ba-Lan appears and announces to Sang-Doo that En-Huan is aunt to Bao-Er.

En-Huan and Sang-Doo spend the day together doing all the things a couple would do when courting. Night falls and they relunctantly part. Sang-Doo tells En-Huan that if it is a choice between Bao-Er and En-Huan, he would choose Bao-Er as he cannot abandon her even if she wasn't his daughter.

Ming Sheng learns that Bao-Er is not Sang-Doo's biological daughter. He tells Sang-Doo that Ba-Lan had deceived him all these seven years. He can now leave Bao-Er and live a new life with En-Huan. Sang-Doo is torn. He never saw Bao-Er as anything either than his own flesh and blood and had sacrificed everything he had for her. His uncle persuades him to give up his life as a gigolo. He tells him that En-Huan's mother is willing to bear the burden of Bao-Er's medical bills. Sang-Doo is not prepared to give Bao-Er up nor his sense of responsibility towards her even though she is not his biological daughter. He sneaks out to meet one of his obasans but is found by his uncle who exposes his plot in front of the woman. She is so humiliated and angered that she reports Sang-Doo to the police!

Ming Sheng looks for Sang-Doo at his home. He tells Sang-Doo that he has decided to leave for the US without En-Huan. He says that En-Huan and her mother have taught him what love is. He urges Sang-Doo to look for En-Huan at the church where Ming Sheng and En-Huan are to be married the next day -- Ming Sheng does not intend to turn up and he does not want En-Huan to wait for him in vain. He tells Sang-Doo that he will return in a year and if En-Huan is alone then, he will never let her go!

Morning breaks and the police have caught up with Sang-Doo. Sang-Doo manages to escape arrest. His desire to see En-Huan is great. Sang-Doo arrives at the church and tells En-Huan that Ming Sheng had decided to leave her. He asks that she spends 3 hours with him and that he will never bother her after that. En-Huan is still feeling hurt and is cold towards Sang-Doo. In her anger, she even tells him that she is tired of their relationship and that it was over between them. She did not want to see him again.

They spend the few hours together and he walks her home. En-Huan is unresponsive throughout. They meet her mother halfway and she invites Sang-Doo to their home for dinner. to En-Huan's annoyance. Sang-Doo follows them home and En-Huan's mother cooks many dishes for him. It is her way of thanking him for all the sacrifices he has made for their family. In fact she feels so grateful that she says that she could never repay him in her life time and that Zhi Huan will repay him on her behalf and if that wasn't enough, Zhi Huan's children and his children after that would repay him.

Sang-Doo eats with a heavy heart but tries to lighten the mood by smiling and complimenting her cooking. He inadvertently removes his handcuffed hand from his pocket and sees his handcuffs. They understand what it means and are grieved. Sang-Doo takes his leave but En-Huan's mother urges him to stay the night so that she can cook him breakfast and lunch. He can leave after lunch, she says.

He spends the night in Zhi-Huan's room. He gets up in the middle of the night and spends the rest of the night sitting by En-Huan's bed watching her sleep. He kisses her at dawn before he leaves. He goes to the hospital to see Bao-Er and tells her that he will be going to a faraway place and that Bao-Er should be good and not asks for him --otherwise he will not come back to her. She promises him. Sang-Doo finally breaks down in the bathroom -- his uncle tells him to cry all he wants. He then turns himself in to the police who are waiting outside the hospital for him. In the meantime, Zhi Huan tells En-Huan the truth about Sang-Doo and she rushes to the hospital only to see him being taken away. She runs after the car and tells him that she is not tired and that she will always love him.

Life returns to normal after Sang-Doo's incarceration. The high school holds a blood drive for Bao-Er. Shuxin is found to be a suitable bone marrow donor for Bao-Er and they carry out the operation successfully.

En-Huan visits Sang-Doo and tells him that everyone is all right. She asks after him and he tells her that his hope is renewed every morning because of his thoughts of her. He would hear her calling out to him each morning and even if the day is unbearable, he reminds himself that it would be better in the morning. This keeps him going. En-Huan is sad and she tells him that perhaps they should learn to love each other less lest fate be envious of them.

One year later - Bao-Er has successfully recovered from her operation. Ming Sheng returns from the US with a new outlook and attitude. In fact, he dresses and looks like Sang-Doo! Sang-Doo's uncle waits for Sang-Doo at the prison gates. As he is on the phone, he does not notice Sang-Doo behind him - Sang-Doo takes the chance to make fun of his uncle.

En-Huan has brought Bao-Er to meet Sang-Doo. She asks Bao-Er what she would say when she meets Sang-Doo. Bao Er replies that she will tell him that she knows the suffering that he had gone through to save Bao-Er's life. They meet Ming Sheng alone the way. En-Huan does not recognize him as he has changed. Ming Sheng explains that he has come to receive Sang-Doo. Ming Sheng asks Bao-Er for a kiss and she shyly obliges. The three of them continue to walk hand-in-hand to meet Sang-Doo.

Sang-Doo and his uncle spot the trio and his uncle remarks that they look like a happy family. Sang-Doo is sanguine and he turns to leave just as he spots En-Huan smiling and waving at him. Perhaps it is because he remembers what Ming Sheng told him a year before that he would never let En-Huan go this time if she was still alone when he returned.

En-Huan is panic stricken when she sees Sang-Doo leaving and attempts to run around the road to stop him. She does not see a truck coming at her. Sang-Doo tries to save her and runs across the road and grabs her. The truck hits them and they are both left holding each other lying bleeding on the road.

Next scene - En-Huan's mother's restaurant. She is carrying a baby - a little girl named Zhen-Er. Ba-Lan had agreed to marry a widower who was prepared to fulfill her conditions of marriage -- (1) he would shoulder all Bao-Er's medical bills and (2) he would pay off the mortgage on Ba-Lan's mother's restaurant. Ba-Lan's mother had been cheated of all her money by a friend. She sees this as retribution for running off with the tontine funds many years ago.

Sang-Doo's uncle is in the shop too. He tempts En-Huna's mother to play a game of "Go" with him. Ba Lan walks in and grumbles that she will not leave her baby in her mother's care if all she is interested in is gambling. Her mother protests. Just then, Sang-Doo's uncle announces - "Our Sang-Doo is here!" A man and a young boy walk in. The man greets En-Huan's mother. He is Ba-Lan's husband and he has brought their family portrait. He unveils it - it shows Ba-Lan's new family with Zhi Huan and Sang-Doo's uncle.

Bao-Er's narration comes on. She writes a letter to Sang-Doo and tells him that she has a new sister and a new father. She knows that he has suffered because of her and apologies that she cannot remember what he looks like. She hopes that he is happy.

Next scene - school courtyard. Sang-Doo is punishing 3 little boys in the courtyard. En-Huan tells him that he has to be patient with the boys. Sang-Doo disagrees. As they bicker on, En-Huan suddenly feels contractions. Sang-Doo and the boys rush to her side. Sang-Doo carries her away.

Next scene - Sang-Doo and En-Huan take a walk in the hills with their new baby. They look blissful and happy at last.

Review:

I had just finished watching "Full House" and am even more impressed with Rain's acting in this series. Other than the fact that he does not really look that much older than his classmates who are supposed to be 10 years younger than he is, the story line is quite credible.

It is an emotional roller-coaster from the begining. The story gets you wondering why Sang-Doo never expresses his pain to En-Huan. Sang-Doo is conflicted from the beginning from his love for his daughter Bao-Er to his love and longing for En-Huan. He loves En-Huan but has accepted his lot in life. You feel his pain and the yearning he has for happiness.

En-Huan loves Sang-Doo but the depth of her love is nothing compared to his. While she feels inferior to him because of her background, it stems more from her lack of understanding of Sang-Doo. She assumes that since he is from a rich family, he would never take a second look at her. She feels inferior throughout their courtship during their teens, not realising Sang-Doo's actual background. She assumes that he is toying with her when he becomes a security officer at her high school and when he later enrols in the same school in her class to be near her because he is rich. She only learns his plight much later. I believe if Sang-Doo had explained his situation to her at the start, their relationship would have been a lot smoother. Then again, Sang-Doo seems to have accepted his lot in life and probably does not want any pity from her - he wants her to love him purely.

The ending is sweet. I couldn't help but get annoyed at Bao-Er for saying that her impression of Sang-Doo was fading. You almost feel that Sang-Doo's suffering and sacrifices had all been in vain. Had he not taken on the responsibility of taking care of Bao-Er, he might have made himself a better life. I would like to believe that Sang-Doo and En-Huan finally found their peace and were happily living their lives together at last.

The bittersweet drama tugs at your heartstrings and is definitely a must-see for all Rain fans (well - he only has 3 dramas to date!).