Shooting Stars – K-Drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

“Scaling Mountains”

Episode 10 of Shooting Stars starts as Oh Han-byeol rushes to Gong Tae-sung’s apartment upon Manager Kang Yu-sung’s request but bumps into Tae-sung’s maid, Kwon Myung-hee, who is on her way out of the building. Han-byeol is caught off-guard as the maid takes a closer look at her necklace, a gift to her from Tae-sung.

As she waits for her car, Myung-hee recalls seeing the necklace in Tae-sung’s wardrobe and figures out Tae-sung is dating Han-byeol. Back at Tae-sung’s apartment, Han-byeol asks the actor if he is okay after his encounter with his mother, Si-woo and Tae-sung says that he wasn’t. The couple embraces each other. 

Driving her home, manager Yu-sung confronts Eun Si-woo about startling Tae-sung by showing up at his house stating that he would not help her if she acted out like this going forth. Yu-sung talks about Si-woo attacking maid Myung-hee but the actress narrates the sinister incident involving the maid at the store stating that the house-help was not an ordinary woman.

A concerned Yu-sung recalls Tae-sung thinking that Myung-hee could have dementia as he complained about his food tasting too salty. Back at the Starforce Headquarters, Yu-sung starts looking up Myung-hee’s resume as he calls Dae-soo, who recommended the maid for some intel about her past. 

At Tae-sung’s apartment, Han-byeol is comforting the actor who is still in shock as he narrates Si-woo’s actions to his girlfriend. Han-byeol comforts him with a hug by patting his back and Tae-sung states that she reminds him of his grandmother who followed the same approach with him when he had a hard time.

Han-byeol is touched but tries to lighten the mood by asking him not to expect any more affectionate duties from her as she walks away but Tae-sung brings her back to her seat with him and the two start making out. 

The article interviewing lawyer Do Soo-hyuk is gaining a lot of traction online which leads reporter Jo Ki-ppeum to bag a lot of praise from her boss. Her colleagues ask Ki-ppeum about the lawyer and she starts singing his praises, stating how he promised to sue anyone that spread false rumors about him.

She sends a quick message to Lawyer Do who responds immediately by praising her for the article promising her a 50% discount for her legal cases in the future and the two virtually flirt.

Tae-sung is taking the stairs again to win his battle against Lawyer Do but Manager Byeon Jung-yeol seems to be too close to giving up. Lawyer Do Soo-hyuk finally states he would be taking the elevator from now on ending the challenge with a win for Tae-sung.

The girlfriend gang, Han-byeol, manager Park Ho-young and Ki-ppeum gather again for drinks as Ki-ppeum celebrates her viral article. Ho-young then talks about her crush on manager Yu-sung, including how she’s letting the band-aid rot on her hand because he gave it to her.

Ho-young then asks Han-byeol about her meal with Lawyer Do and the team leader informs the group that she turned him down. Back in his apartment, Do Soo-hyuk reflects on the recent turn of events in his life as he gets on a call with his mother and clarifies the dating rumors again.

Back at her house, Han-byeol looks at the recent article about Si-woo and recalls the one time when she secretly sat in the theatre watching Tae-sung get emotional watching a movie featuring his mother.

The next day, Tae-sung was at a cologne advertisement shoot but managers Yu-sung and Han-byeol discussed how the actor had been sick all night and still did not cancel the shoot, acting professionally. Back to the present time, Han-byeol wonders if Tae-sung was doing okay.

On the shoot the next day, Manager Yu-sung asks Deo-soo if he has any information about the maid but he states that there was nothing yet.

Kang Min-kyu joins the two and states that actors Yoon Jae-hyun and Jin Yuna were now completely ignoring each other only for the two to be sending flirty texts with straight faces. 

Meanwhile, Myung-hee rings Manager Yu-sung stating that she would be taking the next week off. She believes she hasn’t got caught yet, unbeknownst that Yu-sung is already doubtful of her. She then logs into a Tae-sung hate club and reads the comments from the new dating rumor posted by an anonymous writer from the night before. Myung-hee leaves a comment on the post stating that she knows the female in the photo with Tae-sung.

At the office, Han-byeol recalls the weird reaction from Myung-hee about her necklace. PR manager Kim Mi-nyeo tells her that the necklace was from the brand Tiffany’s which is very rare and pricey.

On the office terrace, Han-byeol talks to manager Yu-sung about her relationship with Tae-sung while expressing her concern about Myung-hee. 

Back at the shoot location of ‘World of Star’, Jae-hyun distributes ice-cream cups sent over by his fans. Tae-sung’s co-star and fangirl, Baek Da-hye is shocked to see Tae-sung take the mint-chocolate flavor.

Tae-sung sends Han-byeol a photo of himself eating the ice-cream and later another photo of himself eating tangsuyuk her way by dipping it in sauce rather than drenching it. Han-byeol on the other hand treats her team to a meal of tangsuyuk drenched in sauce.

Later that night, Da-hye spots Tae-sung eat pizza with pineapple for Han-byeol knowing full well how much he dislikes it. 

Manager Yu-sung escorts Han-byeol to the building that Myung-hee had listed in her resume and the two discover that she had recently moved. The inhabitant of the flat then calls Myung-hee, reporting that she lied to them as she asked.

The next day, managers Yu-sung and Dae-soo are having a meal together when Yu-sung lies on a call seeking CCTV footage. Dae-soo reveals that he got some intel about Myung-hee.

Dae-soo reveals that the maid was recommended to his artists by a rich woman named Myung-hee, who owned a lot of properties in Gangnam city. Yu-sung rushes immediately while Han-byeol stalks Myung-hee online and discovers a photo of the house helper wearing the same Tiffany’s necklace as her.

Just at that moment, a delivery boy drops three copies of the same necklace for Team 1 members with a sinister note for Han-byeol stating that she is not any special but just as common as the necklace.

A shocked Han-byeol applies for the day off and leaves meanwhile Yu-sung tries calling Tae-sung. Tae-sung is greeted by Myung-hee who came back one last time to bid him farewell and leave him with a hug and a sinister message.

Yu-sung meets Myung-hee on her way out of the building and threatens her stating there will be consequences if she tries to harm Tae-sung. 

At his apartment, Tae-sung is petrified as he fears Myung-hee. Myung-hee drives back recalling the past when Tae-sung rejected her gifts, unlike the other male actors that boasted about her gifts on social media and treated her to meals.

Raged by Tae-sung’s rejection, Myung-hee decides to start working as his maid to make a lasting impact on him so that he could never forget her. Myung-hee then comes back to the present day as she recalls the words she just said to Tae-sung.

She tells Tae-sung that he should have just accepted her presents and that now, he would always remember her whenever he ate salty food. She then leaks a photo from Tae-sung’s house, the drawing Luca sent the actor from Africa as the image goes viral on social media. 

Han-byeol arrives at Tae-sung’s apartment just as manager Yu-sung is changing the password to the door. She tells him about the necklaces Myung-hee sent to her office and Yu-sung asks Han-byeol to stay with Tae-sung immediately leaving to meet with Lawyer Do. Do Soo-hyuk states that since Myung-hee did not do anything illegal with Tae-sung, they can only file a restraining order against her. 

Actor Yu-sung is getting ready for his first award show appearance as manager Ho-young comes to pick him up. Ho-young praises the actor for his outfit and claims that he looks very handsome. Actor Yu-sung tries to pat her on the head like Manager Yu-sung does but is caught off-guard when Ho-young doesn’t react in the same way. 

Later that night, manager Yu-sung is drinking some beers by himself at the office when Ho-young appears. They discuss actor Yu-sung for a while but Ho-young invites the manager to have some drinks with her.

As the two converse, manager Yu-sung tries to pat her on her head but Ha-young asks him to stop doing that as it gives her butterflies, indirectly confessing her feelings for him and rushing out hastily leaving Yu-sung in shock. 

Manager Choi Ji-hoon meets with Tae-sung’s mother Si-woo for a meal as the two catch up over dinner to discuss Tae-sung. Ji-hoon asks her why she was trying to hurt Tae-sung and Si-woo clarifies that she only misses her son.

Back at Tae-sung’s house, he wakes up to see Han-byeol sleeping by his bed. Tae-sung tells her how happy he is to see her and they both embrace. Tae-sung says that he dreamed of their deceased friend, Yoon-woo.

At Yoon-woo’s grave a suspicious man dressed in black states he will avenge Yoon-woo by making Gong Tae-sung pay. He logs into the same hate club as Myung-hee and posts a comment stating he would make leak something about the actor to the reporters.

Tae-sung and Han-byeol who are resting at his house are suddenly shocked as both their phones start buzzing at the same time.

The Episode Review

This episode was centered around the house help, Myung-hee, and really told fans how the lives of celebrities are at risk if their management does not take proper care of artists. While the relationship between Tae-sung and his mother always seemed to bring him down, a new incident has traumatized the poor actor.

Oh Han-byeol is his saving grace and it will be interesting to see how the two manage the situation when their relationship gets revealed to the fans.

Manager Yu-sung really seems to be caring about Tae-sung but it seems like he is hiding something from the actor. Aside from the fact that he had been interacting with his mother, Si-woo, behind his back.

The new dynamic between Reporter Ki-ppeum and Lawyer Do is refreshing and a lot more modest. Formal flirting can be expected from the two in the episodes to come.

Ho-young and her Yu-sungs are a sight for sore eyes where the audience is conflicted between either of the two men. It does seem like manager Yu-sung will reject Ho-young, while actor Yu-sung will appear as a knight in shining armor.

The show is bound to get more sinister with the introduction of a suspicious man who has vowed to avenge Yoon-woo’s death and it seems like Tae-sung is somehow involved in the passing of the shining star – Yoon-woo.