An intense episode filled with answers, more questions and a change in mood.
Ep 9 Recap
Nay and Kwan enters Rabin’s room, searching for him. He is nowhere in sight so Nay scolds his disappearance by taking a video of herself on the cellphone she purchased for him. She tells him that should anything happen to her, it would be his fault for being MIA. She threatens to cut his paycheck, but we all know she’s just reprimanding him for fun.
What happens next is really, a violation of privacy. She hands the phone over to Kwan to join the fun, but Kwan notices a picture of Rabin with a woman. Finally, Nay knows what Rabin’s mysterious girlfriend looks like. Nay peers at the picture and we get a flashback of the scenes where Aim and Rabin are at the temple. The bedroom door swings open and Rabin enters with Wichate. He rushes to pluck the phone from Nay’s fingers. Kwan apologizes for being nosy but Rabin had already walked out of the room. Nay follows him while Kwan regretfully says to Wichate that he must be really angry at her.
Wichate explains to Kwan- as they take a walk in the garden- that the woman in the photo is the woman Rabin planned on marrying. Wichate had told Kwan earlier that once Rabin is ready, he would share that story on his own. He surmises that Rabin is still not ready, which is understandable because he is still in pain. Kwan doesn’t understand why he is still in pain but Wichate thinks it is inappropriate for him to talk about it. Kwan is surprise that a cheerful and warm person like Rabin would keep such sadness to himself.
Things are not as cheerful in the car as Rabin drives and Nay glances at him. She asks him if he is still angry at her but he replies that he has no right to be angry at his boss.
“I’m really sorry,” Nay says, looking regretfully at him.
He looks away and shakes his head, “it alright. Some things in the past, if kept to myself, won’t make it any less painful.”
They arrive at a land with white picket fence and mountains stretching before the eyes.
“Aim and I loved each other deeply.”
“Is she the woman on your phone?” Nay asks.
“She was a cop too,” he starts. A flashback of Aim graduating from law enforcement, and Rabin presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. Then he and Aim at a romantic restaurant, and he and Nay standing at the very same one. “Aim and I come here often. She loves it here.”
“No wonder you like to bring me here. It must be because you miss her so? And how come you don’t bring her here?”
She still doesn’t know.
“Or is it because I’m overworking you and you don’t have time for her?”
Rabin looks at the ground and sighs, “no that’s not it.” He turns to her, “we see each other every day.”
Nay is confused. She starts looking around for the mysterious Aim.
“You can’t see her,” he says and he touches his chest, indicating his heart. “She’s in here.”
“Don’t tell me that..” Nay stammers.
“Aim is dead.”
The realization settles in for Nay.
Rabin continues, “even though the person who should have died should have been me.” The guilt sweeps over him as we see the memory from their last encounter.
He is angry that Aim was assigned a dangerous case with him. He begs her to remove herself but she worked too hard to get it. The moment came when she is working undercover, waiting for a signal from the suspects. Wichate and Rabin are watching from the van. The suspect utilizes a child to talk to Aim first. Then they exchange the goods and Aim tries to distract the culprit. The cops rush out of the van with guns in hand. It looks like everything will be ok, but a truck enters the scene and gunfire was exchanged. As any cop would do, Aim risked her life to protect a child.
[I had imagined that maybe Aim died on duty due to corruption etc, but she died risking her life, just as any cop would have done. So for Rabin to be bitter and quit his career is somewhat anticlimactic. But any loss is devastating.]
Nay says, “It is no wonder you like to come here.”
That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Not even teary-eyed because you were touched by the story?
She continues, “I think we should leave, I don’t want to see you much sadder than this.”
[Wow, I had expected something more. It was an opportunity to bond the two even further! But she just dismisses it- when he finally found the gumption tell someone about Aim (I mean it took 9 episodes!) And to waste it with a “let’s go?” How sad.]
Ittiharn is treating the girls to lunch, he’s trying to chummy up with Aor, makes you wonder what kind of plan he is contriving. While he walks back to his car, Don’s dad recognizes him and hides. In the van, a few girls are under the influence of new drugs. Ittiharn decides to pimp them off to a customer, he’s apparently involved with prostitution, drugs and illegal warfare. He wants to get rid of his nemesis before they can come after him.
Don’s father immediately is seen rushing his kids out of the mall. Back in their condo, he warns them about being even more careful. Don reports this to his sister, but Nay is fearless, she said that she’s not afraid. She wants them to be punished. She is only afraid that people who are close to her would be hurt. Everyone prepares for.. Ittiharn’s attack?
But there’s always time for a birthday celebration! Siwat promises to take Nay to dinner the next day. He tells her to dress and prepare herself for dinner, even though his schedule is pretty packed. Nay is excited and bought a new dress for the special occasion.
Who knew the bodyguard kept a diary? Rabin is writing about Nay’s special day and mentions that even though love may not be physically there, it is still strong enough to keep others away. When he finishes, Nay steps out with beautiful sleeved, long sheathed dress. She spins around and asks him how she looked. He compliments his skills of picking out the dress, and says that the dress is pretty because she is pretty (awe.) They have an awkward, “you’ll have a great evening, the best evening” conversation. Then Don calls and wishes her a happy birthday. They arrange a dinner celebration for a later time.
Rabin also wishes her a sweet happy birthday and that her day is filled with happiness.
Don and Aor are being followed as they made their way to lunch.
The special evening arrived but Siwat gets intervened by Tee. She tells Siwat that his father wants her to take him out to dinner. Siwat calls his father and reminds him that it is Nay’s birthday. Tamrong is unrelenting and says that Nay will understand. He’s clearly aiming to break the two apart. In the end, Siwat follows his father’s orders. Tamrong says to the former PM that his son will never steer away from his orders.
So Nay tries to call Siwat but could not get a hold of him. Rabin gives Siwat the benefit of the doubt that he’s a busy man. Nay tells him that she has already called his office; they said that he had already finished his work for the day. He is MIA intentionally. Rabin tells her to be strong and Nay threw it back at him, “haven’t I been strong all of this time?”
“You have and you’re great but I think you should take it easy,” he says.
She looks frustrated.
“I think you should wait for his call. He loves you, he wouldn’t do this to you.”
As Rabin walks away, Wichate and Kwan are waiting for him. Nobody could have guessed it would turn out like this, otherwise they would have a party ready. Rabin says that even if they put a cake in her face, she would not care. They watch her stand alone in the dark, staring at her phone.
Her boyfriend is having a romantic dinner with Tee! Talk about a passive-aggressive guy! Tee pretends to be the nice person and tells him that they need not finish their dinner, she can explain it to his father later. And she pretends to understand that it is Nay’s special day. But soon enough, it doesn’t last long. She pretends to fake an ankle sprain so Siwat is forced to care for her. The oldest trick in the book.
And Rabin saves the day again.
Nay is sitting on the bench, tearful because her boyfriend broke his promise. She recalled him telling her (in Paris) that he will be there for every one of her birthdays. This time around, Rabin appears with a cake, kneeling beside the bench.
“When did you buy a cake?”
“I made it.”
“You made it?”
“Yep,” he confirms. “Actually, I made it a while ago but kept it in the kitchen. I wanted to wait until you had dinner with Khun Siwat first, then once you return, I would give this to you.”
“You’re not going to sing me a song?”
He hems and haws for a bit but says, “alright, we’ll consider this as your birthday present.. happy birthday to you.. make a wish and blow the cake please.”
She closes her eye blows the cake.
“Thank you..” Nay says with tears in her eyes.
“Khun Nay, this is your birthday. You should be very happy, don’t cry.”
He excuses himself but she stops him. “Thanks again.. you’ve been there for me during all of the important times-“
“It’s my duty-“
“But you are there for me every time I’m sad.”
“I know that wasn’t my duty, but I did it with willingness.”
They look at each other from across the garden. She walks towards him.
“I will thank you again,” she grabs his hand, “I don’t know what else to say besides thank you.”
“Khun Nay, just your smile.. it replaces any gratitude.”
Siwat walks in in time to see Nay and Rabin holding hands.
Siwat walks towards them with a bouquet of flowers, he notices a cake on the table. He tells her happy birthday and that he is sorry he’s late: something urgent came up. And you have to give it to Nay, she says, “an urgent calling? Even a beloved person like myself could not know? And could not get a hold of you?”
“I..” Siwat starts.
Rabin excuses himself.
She has a point there Siwat, you didn’t even call her!
Siwat pulls her in for a hug, thinking that it will make everything better. But Nay could only look blankly over his shoulders.
Rabin leans against his bedroom door thinking about the times he had to console her.
And Nay wasn’t done with Rabin yet. Later that night she came to his door, not realizing that he was at the door and fell into his arms. [Lol, I had to laugh. It’s so typical of lakorns to have the pranangs fall on each other. What, two people can’t hold each other on their own accords? Even though it was contrived, I still liked seeing the sweet moments!]
Both are hesitant to move. Nay pulls away slowly to look at his face.
“I apologize,” Rabin says, taking a step back.
They make menial chatter: is Khun Siwat gone, yes he’s gone.. then, see, I told you he’ll be here.
Nay says that this year, her birthday dinner did not come to fruition since all of the restaurants are closed. Rabin says that the dinner is not more important than the fact that Siwat is trying to fulfill his promise. But Nay begs to differ, she says that there are some promises that is more important than forgetting. Words are not as important as actions. She wanted to stop by his room to thank him again for standing by her through all of her good/bad times. The chemistry exuding between the two, ah!
When she walks away, he whispers, “happy birthday, boss.”
Shortly after, he receives a phone call from Siwat. Threatened aren’t we, Mr. PM?
Rabin meets Siwat the following morning. Siwat explains to Rabin that he has been doing everything according to his father’s wishes. He loves Nay, it’s just that he hasn’t had much time to be close to her. That is why he trusts Rabin, who is closest to Nay. (Is he trying to make him guilty?) He continues and says that he knows Rabin is a good person; he wouldn’t dare do anything inappropriate. [Hey dude, don’t blame other’s for your own failures! He doesn’t take any responsibilities for his actions!] Rabin looks at him surprisingly. He had been the one who defends Siwat in Nay’s eyes. But Rabin is the bigger man, so he says, “if you’re referring to what had happened last night, I can explain.”
“No need,” Siwat says, “I want you to evaluate what is appropriate. Nay has a lot of cumbersome things on her mind, I don’t want her feel deterred based on her proximity with you.”
Wow. Double wow.
He then tells Rabin that for Nay’s safety, he would be the one to take care of Nay.
Back at the house, Kwan peers at Rabin who is sitting quietly in a corner, contemplating.
Rabin tells her that it is his duty to be concerned about Nay but that from now on, he cannot do it anymore. Kwan then asks him if he didn’t have to be Nay’s bodyguard, would he still be concerned about her?
Rabin gets up from the bench, “I don’t know. The time will come where my work is done, right?”
“What do you mean?” she asks him.
“The person who is responsible for caring for Khun Nay for the rest of her life would be Khun Siwat, isn’t that right?”
“But you both can still-“
“It’ll be alright. If you encounter any problems, I’d like for you to talk to Wichate. He’s a good person, a gentleman. I guarantee that he can take care of you and your family better than me.”
Is he saying goodbye?
Kwan wonders what had happened to him.
That night he scribbles in his journal. Nay approaches his door but he doesn’t respond. She brought some goodies for him (it’s sweet she’s always thinking about him..)
But he’s standing against the door.
The next morning, Rabin has gone missing. She finds a letter from him, addressing that he has been working for her for awhile now, has been fulfilling his duty and must now quit. Leaving the duty to the hands of someone who is more worthy. He wishes her well.
Nay could only feel a sadness washing over her at the lost of a great bodyguard, a partner.. a friend.
Everyone wonders why he quit. Nay decides to bring the letter to Siwat who surmises that he must have some reason to quit. Well, duh, it’s because of you, wise guy!
“But without saying goodbye?” Nay asks.
“No one would know the real reason aside from Khun Rabin,” Siwat says.
“That’s it- I want to see him so I can ask what madness passed over him!” Nay exclaimed, still fuming.
Siwat changes the subject and wants to get back to work. He realizes how perturbed Nay is in regards to Rabin’s sudden withdrawal.
Rabin is sitting in a park, replaying his conversation with Siwat earlier.
That ties up episode 9.
Thoughts:
After further consideration, he decided that the direction his thoughts were straying were not appropriate. From one man to another, he withdrew because he is being more than a bodyguard. But what’s the harm in admiring someone one sided? As long as he doesn’t act on it- and clearly we all know that it is a two way street. Siwat was trying to steer him away because he’s threatened and he’s not man enough to win his own girlfriend over!
I think it is interesting that Rabin just leaves without a trace (besides leaving behind a handwritten letter) because he’s so responsible and strong. He faces problems head-on. To see him withdrawing so quietly really goes to show that he has moved beyond professionalism. He’s falling in love with his boss and to him, that is a no no. So he figures, the best way is to leave entirely. Little did he know that she needs him more than just a bodyguard, he fulfills her. I want to see how their paths will cross again and for Nay to realize that she simply cannot live without her great bodyguard!
Siwat’s weak character is the bane of my existence, but goes to show (eventually) that he’s not worthy of love. There are problems between their personalities and unspoken expectations that existed even before anyone else came in between them- but it only grew and created a bigger gap when they encounter obstacles.
Yah, I had my contrivances in this episode, but not bad. It is not a lakorn if it is not flawed, right?