I’ve written about the Demo Day of Chunsan, Youngsan and the sham shaman. Here’s the link: Start-Up: Ep 10 Demo Day, Part 1

Now, let’s move on to the rest before the new episodes roll in.

1. Chunsan

He pitched “sincerity.”

He told Hana, “Ms. Jung, when you lied to me the other day, it felt like I first rose to the top of the skyscraper and then fell to the ground. I know it didn’t mean much to you, but every little thing you do can make me happy and sad because I’m old-fashioned. I mean it. (returning her hand) So I want you to stop confusing me. Please.”

2. Youngsan

He pitched “justice for his brother.”

He confronted JP, “What you said earlier was cool. That you’ll be Ms. Seo’s plan B. It was so reassuring….You’re such a kind and generous man. Why were you so harsh on my brother?…(JP denied knowing his brother)…Tell me. Why did you kill my brother? … (JP denied it again)… I didn’t expect anything from you, but I thought you’d at least remember him.

3. Shaman

She pitched her business of ancestor-worship to two people:

To Dalmi, she said, “The longer you remain unsure, the less confident you’ll feel. Make up your mind no matter how hard it is so that you can overcome it. You can do this…(Dalmi asked how, she said Dalmi could ask for help)…Your ancestors.”

To JP, she said, “…No, you would have regretted that, too. At least a little bit. There’s no point in regretting it now because there’s a reason for every choice. So just trust your choice. And when your trust falters like now, you get a little help from someone else…(JP asked who)… Your ancestors.”

5. JiPyeong

If JP were pitching himself to me, I think his voiceover at the beginning of Ep 10 would have worked.

He said, “I hoped that she would notice me, and look at me one day. But not with those eyes.”

Dalmi was crying on the phone to Dosan, “Why can’t you answer my question?” And then she looked at JP, “And why is Mr. Han here, not you?”

Then he said, “Regrets always come too late.”

To me, his statement could be interpreted in two ways.

a. He didn’t want to see her ears filled with tears. He regretted making her cry. – I think many of the viewers viewed it this way.
b. He didn’t want her to look at him while wishing that she was looking at Dosan. He regretted that he wasn’t the one that she was looking for. He regretted that he had acted to late to win her heart. He regretted that he wasn’t the one she was crying for. She was searching for Dosan.

I think Choice B is more in line with the epilogue where he admitted to the shaman that he confessed the following day because he wanted to know her answer.

JP’s demo to Dalmi came in two occasions.  He had his love confession on the day after the lies were revealed.

He said, “I have feelings for you, Ms. Seo. I’m telling you this to be honest, not to make you uncomfortable. It’s just how I feel. I don’t expect an answer so don’t let it bother you. I don’t want us to end up avoiding each other because of this. That’s be pathetic. Dig in before the noodles get soggy.”

And then he had the speech on the day before the Sand Box Demo Day.

He told the group, “Put aside all the pressure. Step on stage with confidence. Just show them how excited and enthusiastic you are now, and it’ll be a success. (looking at Dalmi) Don’t be intimidated.”

6. Alex

He made his pitch to Dosan to join his company after chasing him down. I like that the reversal: he was an investor chasing his investee.

Alex: Don’t you feel great today? With a crow cawing and everything? In Korea, it means that a long-awaited guest will visit you, right?
Dosan: (identifying the bird) That’s a magpie. A crow cawing is believed to mean bad luck. I think both are absurd, anyway.
Alex: Don’t you have a minute? I have something to tell you.

And he made his pitch.

Dosan: Silicon Valley? You mean the Silicon Valley in San Francisco?
Alex: Yes, and that’s where the 2STO headquarters are. I’d like to hire you as an engineer for our headquarters.
Dosan: (drinks coffee)
Alex: The compensation will be the best in the industry. 300M a year, plus stock worth 1.5B over four years. (or about $250,000 a year, with $900,000 stock options) What do you say?
Dosan: Well, I’m not sure.
Alex: Mr. Nam. We’re 2STO.
Dosan: And we’re Samsan Tech.

This is ironic. He was tapping his head to indicate, “Use your brains here. This is actually a no-brainer.” lol.

Remember, Dosan is THE GOD of three mountains. lol. (Samsan = thee mountains named Dosan, Chulsan and Youngsan)

Alex: Look here. Work experience at the 2STO headquarters can change your company’s future. Investors will line up with money. They’ll want to invest in whatever you do. Let’s say you write a book about your experience at 2STO. What’s it called? Royalties? You’ll be able to live off royalties.
Dosan: I’m not interested in writing a book. I’m a terrible writer.
Alex: That’s not the point. Are you pushing me away because you think I’m like Chairman Won? He and I are very different people. I’m not trying to exploit you.
Dosan: I know that. But I still don’t want to.
Alex: (pausing for a sec) Fine. How about this? You go back to Samsan Tech after three years. What do you say. I’ll give Samsan Tech wings.
Dosan: (looks at watch) I’m running late.
Alex: Have you no ambition? No dreams?
Dosan: I have dreams, of course.
Alex: I’ll make your dreams come true. (lol. He reminds me of a fairy godmother). I’ll make you successful. (showing the clip again of Dosan shouting “money! money! money!”)
Dosan: Does my dream have to be success? Can’t it be a person?
Alex: What? A person? A person? Who?

Dosan’s answer didn’t come as a surprise since he told the same thing to JP.

He told JP that JP was greedy. He already had a king-size bed in his apartment overlooking the Han River, and he still wanted to sleep in Dalmi’s grandmother’s room. JP retorted that he had a “home sweet home” so why was sleeping there?

Of course, JP was ignorant of the fact that Dosan was hiding from his parents. It was “home angry home” for him.

Dosan said that rich jerks…errr…men were greedy. JP answered the, in some ways, Dosan had more to offer than he did. It then became a battle of who had more, but in reverse.

JP: In some sense, you have more to offer than I do.

There, he goes again, being envious of Dosan.

Dosan: What? What do I have that you don’t?
JP: Lots! So many things! You’re 4cm taller than me.

Do you see what I mean about his envy? To be envious of 4 cm is too petty.

Dosan: But I have a text neck.

He’s saying that his height is nothing to be envious about, because of his bad posture.

JP: You’re younger than me. You’re in your 20s, whereas I’m in my mid-30s.

Dosan: You own a river-view apartment and that crazy expensive watch.

Dosan meant that since JP was older than him, he was able to establish himself professionally and financially. Why should he envy someone young like him for being unestablished?

JP: Jeez, what am I doing right now? Fine! Good for you that you have nothing.
Dosan: That’s right. I have nothing. That one thing is all I’ve got. I have only one thing and that’s everything to me. You’re taking it away from me?
JP: Then let’s change. Take my river-view apartment and that expensive watch in exchange for that one thing.
Dosan: No, thank you.

7. Dosan

As for Dosan, he demo-ed three times.

The first one was rejected.

Dosan: Dalmi, stop crying. Please stop crying. It was just for one day. I just wanted to make your dream come true for one day, and stop.

He was speaking the truth here but Dalmi didn’t get the backstory. Dalmi, Dosan and JP actually had three different reasons to going to the networking party. Dalmi wanted to pretend that she had a boyfriend Nam Dosan, because she didn’t want to lose to her sister.

In her own words, “No, I can’t lose to her. Then it’ll look like I lost to her because I chose Dad. I don’t want her to think that I’m miserable and regret my choice. I was happy to be with Dad.”

Before she left for the networking party, she looked at her music box. Her dad gave both of a music box. She kept hers, while InJae threw hers away.

While she was looking at the music box, JP was looking at the pair of sneakers Grandma bought him. And he remembered that he had a debt to pay her.

In the Sansam tech office, Dosan was reading Dalmi’s letter about the music box.

He was moved by her letter about the unopened music box, and he read her text to him, asking him, “I’m meeting my sister today. Can you come? It was enough for me to know that you were there. I hope you know that.” Her words prompted him to go to the party so he borrowed from his friends and his hair cut.

Thus, Dosan wasn’t lying when he said that he wanted to make her dream come true for one day. He was the only one on that day who started with the goal of making HER dream come true.

Dosan: (continuing) But that day felt so nice that I missed my chance to stop.

And he meant when he turned around because he wanted to “sail off without a map” with her.

Dosan: (continuing) I kept putting it off until tomorrow and ended up wanting to go on as long as I could. Dalmi, I’m sorry, so please…
Dalmi: You’re not supposed to say sorry. You’re supposed to say I’m mistaken. Say that you’re the Dosan I knew. Why are you saying you’re sorry? That means this was all a lie. That means all of this was fake.

Dosan: I’m sorry.
Dalmi: Was it fun? Watching me get excited over those fake letters like an idiot, then announce I’d start a company like you when I was obviously in over my head? Was it fun?
Dosan: It was painful. When you looked at me, when you smiled at me, when you encouraged me. Knowing that I didn’t fully deserve it tore me apart. I wanted to be the person you wanted.

 

I thought that was a good response. Dalmi believed that she was the only victim here of the deception. In reality, Dosan was a victim, too. He didn’t ask to be involved in Grandma’s and JP’s deception. He was also hurt by all the lies.

However, given his guilt complex, he was the only one here who cried on his knees and begged for forgiveness. JP and Grandma never apologized to Dalmi.

It’s unfortunate that he didn’t think that he deserved her attention, smiles and encouragement, when he was the one working the hardest to earn them. Unlike JP, he didn’t question the fairness of the situation; he just shouldered the blame.

Dosan: I wanted to be the person you wanted. But I couldn’t and it was just so hard to bear.
Dalmi: The person I want? I don’t even know who that is.

Like @John_L has commented, this really should be an easy answer for her. Old letters are one thing, and actions are another. But since she cannot, or does not want to let go of her fantasy first love, she finds herself in this dilemma.

The second demo was the public confession. I said that, unlike JP’s confession, this wasn’t a romantic confession, and an admission of guilt.

Dosan: (to Injae) Apologize to her. You did steal it. You were so insignificant that you had to steal her memory. You’re not confident. And you put on a show to hide that. Isn’t this tiring? It must be.
InJae: What do you know?
Dosan: I know it well. I’ve done the same thing.

He meant that he’d stolen Dalmi’s precious memories of her penpal by going along with the deception plan of Grandma and JP. He should put an end to it earlier.

He couldn’t tell her that he wasn’t the old, letter-writing Dosan because he wasn’t confident that she would like him for who he was. And he found it tiring.

The interesting part here is, even when the truth came out that he wasn’t the letter-writer, he still WAS TRYING to go live up to her dreams and expectations.

Remember the piggyback ride? He was acquiescing to Dalmi’s demand.

Dosan: You could have told me. Why suffer alone?
Dalmi: Am I suffering? Why?
Dosan: You probably don’t remember because you’re drunk. But you said that you feel like everything’s fake. That you’re losing confidence.
Dalmi: Really? Without confidence, I’m nothing.
Dosan: Yes, you’re nothing now.

lol. I found this funny. I interpreted his remark in two ways: one, Dalmi was indeed lacking in self-confidence, so she was nothing. Two, he just had to fix Dalmi on his back because she was slipping off. Therefore, she couldn’t be a “nothing” when she weighed “something” heavy.

Dosan: (continuing) So how can we get your confidence back?
Dalmi: Should I tell you? Put me down.
Dosan: Okay.
Dalmi: (stumbling) Can you show up like that time again?
Dosan: What?
Dalmi: You know, like at the networking party. You erased the most miserable period of my life. That day, you were my trophy, my pride, my comfort, my wings. You were my dream. Show up like that day again. It’ll give me back my confidence, and I’ll be myself again.

I’m sure you know what I’m going to say about this, right? It’s not healthy to be somebody’s dream. I wrote about this previously. It’s tiring to love someone whom you have to LIVE UP TO. It’s better to love someone whom you can LIVE WITH.

Dosan: You won’t remember this when you sober up.
Dalmi: I’m not drunk.
Dosan: (smiling) Okay.

And to please her, he ran all the way to Youngsan’s apartment to borrow a suit. And when he returned, she was already gone.

To give her confidence, he still planned to wear the suit for her, like she requested. Thanks to InJae (yes, THANKS to InJae, ironically enough), he realized that it wasn’t good to be somebody’s pride. He told his father that he found it tiring to be his pride and trophy. His poster child, literally and metaphorically.

He wanted to be accepted for who he was. To his father, he wanted to be a son.

To Dalmi, he wanted to be just a boy who likes her very much.

So, the third pitch came right before the demo. His inspiration for his pitch was the suit.

Dosan: Do you remember the suit I wore to the networking party? I was going to wear that today.
Dalmi: Oh, that suit. You looked fabulous that day. Why didn’t you wear it?
Dosan: But that wasn’t me.

He was offering her a reset of their relationship. This time, he wanted them to be real to each other. He wasn’t a trophy, he wasn’t a hotshot, a dream. He was just Dosan.

Dosan: (continuing) Dalmi, I don’t want to confuse you anymore. So please forget everything you’ve known about me so far.
Dalmi: Forget everything I’ve known about you? What do you mean?
Dosan: I’ve never written letters to you. I’ve only known you for a few months. And this is how I dress. Playing Go-Stop was never my dream. My birthday isn’t May 7. If you’re confused about your feelings for me, let’s pretend nothing happened. Let’s forget everything. I don’t want you to suffer because of that.

Don’t you think this part is sad? I found it sad and I’ll tell you why.

One, although he didn’t write the letters she received, he remembered those letters she wrote to Dosan. He remembered her words, like the “music box,” and “sail off without a map.”

Two, he’d known her only for a few months, but he also worked hard to make all those days count for her. Like this one:

Three, he couldn’t afford the nice suits JP owned, and he had to swallow his pride to borrow them.

Four, playing Go-Stop wasn’t his dream. (It wasn’t JP’s either. He was faking it. lol) But she didn’t know his dream.

Five, she didn’t even know when his real birthday was.

It’s sad because there were times when, in order to make her dream pen pal come true, he had to make his real self disappear. But mind you, he wasn’t blaming her. He’d taken full responsibility for making her suffer with the lies.

Dosan: But let me tell you one thing. Samsan Tech couldn’t have gotten here without you. It’s not fake. It’s a real achievement that you made. I’m confident of that. So never question it. (then Dalmi had to go.) Dalmi. You can do this.
Dalmi: I can do this.

There you have it. Dosan’s pitch. Now, you might wonder what was he pitching anyway? I’m sure maybe of you think that he was demonstrating his love, just like JP was.

Me? I think he was talking of something else. He was pitching authenticity. He wanted them to become real to each other. To encounter each other with no more lies and deception. To live with confidence and assurance that they’re being true to themselves.

They really can’t love each other until they’ve first learned to love themselves.

*******

Must end here. Will edit tomorrow.