Summary of Gu Dong Mae scenes in Mr Sunshine (ep 1 to 8)

Everything started from Episode 2, yes dear  Dong Mae only started appearing in ep 2 at the 43rd min, leaning on the wall outside the house of Logan James Taylor while his band of brothers ransacked the dead man's place for a coveted banknote. This bank note became the central plot issue of the drama in the first few episodes. He questioned the babysitter if his guys were doing a good job and she was concerned about the broken crockery, to which he said Why should you care, they are not yours. Before leaving, he coolly declared that He never kills anyone whom he cant make money off them.

In the next scene, he briefly saw Eugene for the first time at the Glory Hotel. Hina's hand was bleeding after defending one of her employees so Dong Mae (DM) helped her dressed up her wound while fishing for information about the dead American's wife but she doesnt reveal any information about her guests. (This was the first scene that made me think, DM's weakness was his soft spot for women).

He then appeared in Episode 3, sitting by the window with Hotaru, recollecting his childhood. An elaborate flashback to when he just returned from Japan without mustache (so he decided to grow one after coming back to Joseon?). Next, he took his brutal revenge from the evil ladies who bullied his mother. Coming back to the present time, he caught sight of Aeshin eating candy on the street and overheard the despicable conversation between two men eyeing Aeshin. In the first display of his swordsmanship, he leaped off his balcony barefooted and slashed the hand of one of the men instantly. While Aeshin stared in shock, he finished the men off with another slash. With blood on his face, he turned to look at Aeshin as if to declare to her silently, that was all done because of her.

A more lighthearted scene for him came up next, when he requested the help of the American legation's translator. Here, he spoke eloquently as a mercenary, explaining to Eugene that his men were not paid their wages and he needed to write a message to the American widow.

Episode 4 began for him as he chanced upon Aeshin who was just leaving the Glory Hotel. It's been a long time he said to his Aegissi who looked at him coldly, calling him a traitor. As Aeshin left in her palaquin, he stared after her entourage with sorrow.

Hina handed him his payment for protecting Glory Hotel and briefly mentioned Eugene. When Eugene's room was ransacked, he confronted Dong Mae at the lobby. Dong Mae who was casually lounging replied he was just discussing it with his guys.

As an ardent fan of Aeshin, Dong Mae had to try the candy savoured by her. He frightened the baker who was surprised DM was willing to pay for his goods. A first flashback to how Aeshin saved him came about, him hiding and Aeshin taking him into her palaquin, giving him a lift to safety.

The sweet candy proved too much for DM and he handed the rest of the pack to Hotaru. 

In Episode 5, he appeared much earlier, when a servant of Aeshin's household came telling him that her fiance has returned from Japan. DM paid the servant generously but his mood turned sour. While surveying his territory, he picked on a Japanese man who was too under dressed, accusing the man as the cause of his territory not expanding. 

His anger needed an outlet, so here came the first scene of him in Judo costume flipping one guy after another down on the floor of his Judo hall until his deputy advised him to stop.

A man got to do his job, so the next scene was him talking to Hayashi who assigned him to welcome the evil Lee Wan Ik at the port.  Lee was unhappy that non of the Japanese officials fetched him and Dong Mae had to put on his best diplomatic front to soothe the limping man. On the train to the city, Dong Mae updated Lee about the train was now available twice a day to the city and tried to remain calm when Evil Lee remarked it wont be a bad idea to takeover the Glory Hotel.

This episode ended with the epic meeting of Dong Mae and Aeshin at the bookstore. How Aeshin's nanny Hamante got a fright seeing DM at the shop and accidentally knocked over a rack, sending items all over the floor. Aeshin sent Hamante to look for the shopkeeper and as a responsible good citizen, started picking up the items. Dong Mae followed her lead and started picking up brushes but the shop space was tight and Aeshin's hanbok occupied a large area.

When she swivelled to pick up something, her bright red skirt brushed against Dong Mae's hand and he was instantly affected. Aeshin, horrified by the look in his eyes, began to stand up. No longer able to suppress his long time yearning for Aeshin, he instinctively held onto the edge of her skirt and she yelled What are you doing? and attempted to yank her skirt out of his grip. He held on and replied looking up at her "Nothing, I am not doing anything". Tension starts to build with the intense background music but later a melancholic song came on and we saw another angle of the scene from outside as it continue to rain.

Episode 6 picked up from where ep 5 ended, as Dong Mae told Aeshin No matter how many times he thought about it, this was the only way back to her and let go of her skirt. Aeshin now with tears in her eyes glared at DongMae, who decided to walk out into the rain giving up his purchase. Later when Aeshin returned home, she ordered for her skirt to be burnt.

Back to his daily work, Dong Mae was present as witness when Lee Wan Ik signed the house purchase contract with the American widow at her place. He briefly chatted with Eugene about searching the house. 

In the evening, all our main male leads finally met at the Glory Hotel. Hui Seong tried to introduce himself to Dong Mae and the atmosphere froze when Hina announced to all that Hui Seong is the fiance of Aeshin. Later, they met accidentally at the bar and Hui Seong insisted on drinking together and started asking the classic question of - Who would you save if so and so both fell into the river. 

DongMae first scene in Episode 7 was relaxing in Hina's room with coffee. However, he soon got back into brooding when Hina mentioned Aeshin's name. Hina went on to reveal that she was Lee Wan Ik's daughter and her Korean name was Lee Yang Hwa. When Dong Mae stood up to leave, he informed her that he was just about to go meet her father.

The focus of the discussion with Lee Wan Ik was still about the missing bank note and Dong Mae got really insulted when Evil Lee called him a butcher. Dong Mae slammed his wine cup on the table and told Evil Lee that their deal was off. (in this scene, you can see from DM's eyes that he didnt concur with what Evil Lee was doing, selling off Joseon). 

Hina's employee came telling DongMae that she saw a letter with English words in Eugene's room which triggered DM to search Eugene's hotel room. He found the letter and proceed to read it out loud for Eugene much to Eugene's surprise. DM was disturbed by the handwriting and in the next scene at his Judo Hall, he told his henchman while heaving heavily in sweat that he recognised the handwriting. 

Flashback to when he saw Aeshin visiting the bookstore (was he waiting in the cafe opposite purposely?) and coerced the shopkeeper to hand him Aeshin's purchase order. That was how he got acquainted of Aeshin's handwriting (as a fan, he probably stared at it everyday). 

This ep ended with the three guys meeting at the hotel's backyard and HS clever deduction that all three were involved with Aeshin.

Future scenes of each men with Aeshin was shown and the viewer's interest were piqued, would Aeshin walked the streets of America with Eugene? Why did HS laid on her knees? How did Dong Mae made Aeshin willingly give him a coin.

Episode 8 continued from the last ep of the three men in the backyard of Glory Hotel. Sensing the hostility between Eugene and HS, Dong Mae rubbed it in by wishing for them to fight and only one to survived.

Later that night, he was missing Aeshin again while walking pass the candy store and commented the candies were so sweet, they are bitter. When he reached his base, the owner of Hwawollu came to see him with a desperation to sell the establishment. Dong Mae as a shrewd business man, bought over the place for cheap and we got to see him walking through the one-stop entertainment complex like a boss.

More work came his way when Minister Hayashi order him to catch the runaway geisha at Jemulpo port. As usual, DM negotiated for advance payment claiming that he kept being assigned to find things that might not exist. He swiftly got to work and his men interrogated a ticket seller to confirm that the geisha was indeed leaving Joseon by ship to Shanghai.

At the port, DM soon realised that the information they received was too perfect and quickly figured out the runaway would be escaping via a land route. A gunshot fired into the air started a chaos and everyone tried scrambling to safety. DM yelled for his guys to leave for the railway but the guys got distracted by the chaos and were split up. DM looked around for the telephone building and dashed for it, but Aeshin in her superhero attire spotted his intention and got to the phone first, damaging it with a shot. While smashing the mangled phone out of frustration, DM saw a figure in black on the roof and gave chase rightaway.

DM sprinted along the shops while the figure in black jumped from roof to roof. Along the way, DM picked up a rifle and hop onto the top of a house to get a good sight of his target. As Aeshin ran to flee, she turned to look at her predator and their eyes locked for a second. DM frozed and was disturbed by that familiar pair of eyes.

Taking aim at the figure in black and setting the rifle ready, a moment of unusual hesitation came over DM and in that split second of going for a deadly accurate shot, he aimed lower and pulled the trigger. Aeshin came tumbling down the roof but was buffered by stacked goods and got away before DM went over to the empty bloodied spot.

The Jemulpo scene is one of my favourite scenes and I wanted to give the director a standing ovation for his cinematography. It looked like a movie and will go down in drama history as one of the most outstanding action scenes.

DM had to be sure who he shot and camp early at the railway station the next day. While chanting his prayer for Aeshin not to come and fiddling with his sword, Aeshin appeared with her servants.

"Moved away before I killed you."
"Wont I be faster, Aegissi?"
"I dont think so, I will be able to do it, but you wont bare to do it."

Shocked with the realisation that Aeshin knew of his feelings, Dong Mae stared in despair at the railway tracks while the train left.

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Korean blog ep 1 to 3 with gifs

Korean blog ep 4 to 6 with gifs

Korean blog ep 7 to 8 with gifs