"Do You Like Brahms?" drama: Episode's thirteen and fourteen recap

 Air Dates: August 31st until October 20, 2020  Monday and Tuesdays at 10:00 pm on SBS

Ratings for these two episodes, 4.4 and 5.8%

Main Cast: The college referred to is Seoryeong University, a very prestigious music school though it does have many other programs.

Park Eun-Bin as Chae Song-Ah.... 'Chae' sounds quite a bit like the Korean word for sorry and she constantly has to tell others it's her real name. Song-Ah is 29 and graduated from the university at 22 with a business degree. However she hasn't had a steady job since then as her first love was playing the violin. After four attempts she was finally accepted into the school's musical program, she's finished three years yet is still not a very accomplished player.

Kim Min-Jae as Park Joon-Young.... He's an award winning pianist and the same age as 
Song-Ah. He too graduated from Seoryeong University and for many years has been touring the world performing concerts. He's a very respected pianist yet has returned to the university for their graduate program but see no reason why.

Lee You-Jin as Yoon Dong-Yun.... Friend of Song-Ah's and went out briefly with Min-Seong. We didn't see him in this first episode as he was in Italy but has just returned in this show. He owns a violin shop though doesn't play much these days.

Bae Da-Bin as Kang Min-Seong.... Song-Ah's best friend who is going to the same college, she's getting her Masters in Chemistry.

Park Ji-Hyun as Lee Jung-Kyung.... She's just returned from America where she tried so hard to become a professor of music at some colleges but failed. She's a violinist whose mother died when she was fourteen, she's been semi-dating Hyun-Ho though she secretly wishes to be with Joog-Young

Kim Seong Cheol as Han Hyun-Ho.... He too has just returned from America and is a talented cello player. He's best friends with Joon-Young and has been dating Jung-Kyung but he's more serious about their relationship than she is.

Lee Ji-Won as Kim Ha-Nae....Also a violinist who is seven years younger than Song-Ah but both have just started at a Summer internship for the Kyunghoo Foundation.

Seo Jung-Yeon as Cha Young-In.... Manager of Song-Ah and Ha-Nae at the foundation.

Choi Dae-Hoon as Park Sung-Jae.... Employee at the foundation.

Ahn Sang-Ein as Jung Da-Woon..... Another foundation employee

Ye Soo-Young as Na Moon-Sook.... Director of the Kyunghoo Foundation and whose daughter died in 2006 who was the mother of Jung-Kyung.

Yoon Chan-Young as Seung Ji-Min.... Very talented younger popular pianist

Baek Ji-Won as Professor Lee.... Song-Ah's professor who is pushing her to enter the graduate program but is more interested in who she knows than Song-Ah's music

  
 Once again the ratings for these two shows translated to a little over a million viewers, there's been very little change to the amount  the last three weeks. Think I mentioned in the last recap how often dramas hit a bit of a 'lull stretch' in the middle, say for episodes 13-16, 15-18, etc. Would have to say this series has come close to that state though not entirely, still feel dramas would be so much more interesting with 24 or 28 shows. So these two recaps for today features four decent episodes though there's been a bit of a slip since the first dozen though it should pick back up by next week.

 What I noticed in these four shows versus the first twelve is something you may too if you view the screenshots. It's how little the characters smiled in these episodes, not that they need to have a grin from ear to ear but everyone has become so gloomy and it gets worse in the next post. In the previous recap Joon-Young's mother needed an immediate operation, she had it and recovered rather quickly. The bill for it will cost $20,000 which Joon-Young doesn't have. It's true he's often bailed out his parents over the years due to his father being an incompetent business man but he's been wondering 'how did I end up with only $3,800 in the bank after playing a hundred concerts a year since 2013'? So as you can see in the top screenshots Joon-Young began to think of ways to increase his income, his being on sabbatical isn't helping his cause. He had asked Cha, who arranges concerts for the Kyunghoon Foundation, to set up a show for him but she can't do it on such short notice. Plus on another downer Cha said he probably wouldn't sell a venue out as Joon-Young's popularity has really decreased the past few years.

 Another option to Joon-Young would be to enter a Tchaikovsky competition, his former instructor Yoon feels like it's not a wise decision but for now it's a go for Joon-Young. However until the middle of the next recap this competition was never discussed nor the condition of the mother. But to me the question that really needs to be answered is what did Joon-Young do with all of massive earnings from the past seven years? Meanwhile things aren't going as well with Song-Ah either, while to him they may be friends to Song-Ah they're not close enough as he never fully opens up to her. To Song-Ah that's what real friends do but Joon-Young has never been that open with most others but you can feel him wanting to with Song-Ah. Would have to say this is one point that's getting dragged out a bit too long plus the potential pair will have more issues to overcome.

 It's mainly a musical drama with a backdrop of romance, three possible relationships and for now zero are working out and are worse than ever. If you've read any of the previous recaps you know that

Jung-Kyung has broken up with Hyun-Ho after eight years and she really tore into him with some uncalled for vicious barbs. Both are gong for an open professor's seat at Seoryeong University, she's going against her grandmother's Na's wishes while Hyun-Ho has the backing of the woman. There was a seminar for the position and both attended, what happened after was a another brutal confrontation. The pair were bickering so loudly that Joon-Young entered the hall as he had been standing right outside. His presence may have made matters worse as a lying Jung-Kyung told Hyun-Ho she had slept with him in NYC!!!! An infuriated Joon-Young told his best friend Hyun-Ho it was a lie and think he knew that but Jung-Kyung wouldn't take back what she said, by the next episode she did. However who should be overhearing everything but Song-Ah and now her possible relationship with Joon-Young is lower than ever as she fled the from him in more in sadness than fury.

 Bit of a longer opening than usual but that should make the other two segments shorter. Will discuss Dong-Yun and Min-Seong now as between them must have had less than five minutes of screen time as their roles have diminished. The pair really can't stand each other these days, more Dong-Yun than her. Personally can't understand why they can no longer be friends, they had been for a decade but because they slept together one night are now so cold towards each other? In the above screenshots are the trio of Kyunghooon Foundation employees talking about Joon-Young and it isn't good news. The foundation controls his activities in Korea but now his American agency is planning to take complete control of Joon-Young's career and they have the upper hand. That'll remain unknown to Joon-Young

 until the next recap but perhaps it'll be for the nest as his career is in such a decline and he's only 29 in age, his American manager is named Chris.

 Song-Ah truly does care about Joon-Young, yes they have their differences but she can't completely shut him off. He did talk with her a bit after the incident between Jung-Kyung and Hyun-Ho, she does believe Joon-Young about him saying the pair never slept together. Think Song-Ah realizes what a cruel woman she is but wait until the next recap when they have to be together! Meanwhile Song-Ah is still attempting to enter the graduate program at Seoryeong University, she's a senior but is still ranked last in her violin class. Her professor Lee is the person pushing Song-Ah to enter the Master's program but seems she could care less about Song-Ah's playing. Lee has never once given her advice on playing and seems to be using Song-Ah to get to know Joon-Young much better.

 We don't see Hae-Na as much as we did in the first ten shows. She was an intern with Song-Ah at the foundation and thought she was a decent violinist but perhaps not good enough. Hae-Na was turned down for the graduate program at Juilliard University to the dismay of her boyfriend. She was so upset she cancelled out on helping out Jung-Kyung at an exam the following day, she told the professor Lee that she was sick. So Lee ended up recruiting Song-Ah though failed to mention(on purpose?) who she would be playing for. Hae-Na also seemed to have become good friends with Song-Ah but once she heard a rumor she may be dating Joon-Young she's been giving her the cold shoulder. Perhaps she's learned her ways need to be changed but probably not as Jung-Kyung showed up at Hyun-Ho's apartment one night, she did say they she never slept with Joon-Young and could they possibly talk? To Hyun-Ho's credit he turned her down and the pair now seem to be completely finished.

 While it's so true that Jung-Kyung is such a devilish woman we know she does have reasons for the way she is though it doesn't excuse the way she treats others. We do know at the age of fourteen she lost her mother who died in a car accident but to date nothing has been talked about regarding her struggles, perhaps we could understand Jung-Kyung a bit better knowing that side of her. Don't know how they got started but the rumors about Song-Ah and Joon-Young dating have become full blown. Actually even more so in the next show, not sure why as we've never seen the pair kissing, hugging or even holding hands. The pair were questioned by Song-Ah's professor Lee about the rumor which both denied but to the dismay of Song-Ah he went overboard with his denial.

 Almost forgot to include it but there was one detail that was left out about that possible final meeting of Jung-Kyung and Hyun-Ho. A bit earlier in the day both had a tutoring session with a young student that was supposed to help them out in their quest to be a professor at Seoryeong University. Those two sessions were the complete opposite of one another, during his Hyun-Ho really encouraged the student and gave them some helpful advice. However Jung-Kyung's was a failure as the female violinist wasn't good enough for her so she said no more sessions after that one! Guess something simple like shows better the differences between the pair.

 In the final scene for these two episodes Song-Ah and Joon-Young left the college building together after that encounter with professor Lee. Song-Ah was just furious with Joon-Young and once again he couldn't understand why. His problem has been trying to protect Song-Ah too much and in the process never has taken her feelings into account. What infuriated Song-Ah was how vehemently he denied the rumors of them dating, he could have just said the stories were false but went overboard with how he presented himself. Of course Joon-Young hadn't realized how he came off sounding, his heart is usually in the right place but yet he constantly flubs up his good intentions.

 Sometimes when I write up a recap the episodes are a bit better than first thought. Not that these two were as solid as the first dozen but not as bad as I originally thought. Nothing else to add in so here's plenty of screenshots from these two episodes and the the next post as the recap for shows 15-16.