SHINee’s Minho in KBS Special: Pianist [Explanation/Summary]

So I know most of you Shawol’s have most likely seen Minho’s acting debut in Pianist, a part of KBS’s drama special that spanned over a few weeks, releasing one part per week. I watched it recently myself (recent being yesterday, LOL) and found that I was at first confused. I read comments and found out I wasn’t the only one. After contemplating the movie and it’s ending, it’s become all clear to me. So, here we go!: (Pretty much, I’ll be retelling the whole film along with explaining…)

We start off with Oh Jero, our Flaming Charisma Choi Minho, driving his uncle in a truck, and by the looks of it, they’re quite poor. They’re talking about how the uncle loves girls and women, and Jero is just like, ‘I don’t get what you like about them.’ They stop at a convenience store and Jero goes in to buy a pack of cigarettes for Uncle. While he’s taking out his change in one hand and holding an ice pop in the other, a lady comes in slamming change in the counter and grabbing a pair of stockings. She knocks Jero while she’s at it, making him spill the coins as she rushes to the back to put on her socks. As Jero’s picking up the coins and sucking happily on the ice pop (I’m sorry, it’s just the scene it so innocent and he seems just so… blithe, lol), he glances up and see’s her legs. Yeahhh, he falls for her right then and there, as he’s bent over and just staring at her. When she’s done, she looks out to see him staring at her and he’s just like, *Cough* *Stare* and she’s probably just like *pervvvv*. With that, she rushes out, and Jero forgets about the cigs, much to his Uncle’s dismay, haha. Well, Jero and Uncle are actually in the piano-fixing/tuning/building business. We understand the title of the movie when Jero is at a club/bar tuning a piano. The owner tells him that everyone’s going out for a meal, and once the coast is clear, Jero sits down (at the STEINWAY! piano) and plays. It’s quite jawdropping thanks to the amount of practice Minho put into playing the piano, as he revealed in an interview (source: allkpop.com). But anyways, me being lazy to go through every second of the special, Jero and our female lead Yoon Insa, played by Han Ji Hye, meet once again out on the streets this time, right after Insa has dumped her boyfriend of 5 years. (They got into an arguement about marriage, she’s about to turn 30 and he’s hesitant to pop the question ’cause of parental issues. Honestly, if you’re asian, which I am, parental issues are the reason behind everything. LOL, jk, but like, they’re #1 priority. Just how it is.) So, she’s been left out in the road without a ride (she left her purse in the guy’s car, like, really? you coulda stormed out of his car WITH your purse, but anyways), Jero happens to drive by in his truck. He offers to take her home, and seeing how she has no shoes (she threw them at the other guy while he drove away) he makes some for her with two pieces of red cloth (looks like cleaning cloth for the violin? haha, I’m not sure, but I have one, and it looks the same..) and a stapler. They’re not that bad looking and she calls them cute. Anyways, he drops her off and watches her leave with adoring eyes. Dawww, he’s in love <3 The next day or so, she calls him and asks him to come tune one of the school’s pianos. He doesn’t know it’s her until arrives though, and adorably sneaks looks at her while she’s teaching at the other piano. However, she’s been called a bad teacher (and she’s only a temp). The student today comes in with a recorder and a book of Chopin’s works. Insa is prompted by the student to play a Chopin piece to prove that she really isn’t a bad teacher, but Insa… well, she play’s two chopped up verses and stops. The kid is pretty nice, and leaves the room to allow breathing room. As the student waits outside with her friend, we hear an amazing sound emit from the room, clearly Chopin, being played beautifully. Of course, it’s Jero who’s playing. When he’s done, the kids and teachers who have gathered open the door hurridly and finds the teacher alone at the bench, looking down at the keys. They’re like *o* while Jero is hiding down by the bench, under the piano. ANYWAYS. lalala. Plot development, lol. Then Jero makes the most awkward confessions ever to Insa when they’re at the beach. (He says stuff about “…[wanting to]scratch your back and brush your dentures [when you grow old]…”) The confession is accompanied by a necklace with a ring on it, as he tells her that she can have it as a necklace now, but as a [marriage] ring later. She doesn’t say anything, but lalala *plotdevelopment* her ex comes back. So she goes off with him and tells Jero off as a kid and stuff, sufficiently breaking his heart in one go. [/cue fangirls screaming and fisting at Insa and comforting Minho] He leaves her and goes back to complete the song he’s been secretly writing in his red notebook, which he does when fixing her piano. (Oh yeah, she called him and asked him to fix, but more properly, rebuild, her piano.) He finds her and pulls her back, gets punched by weird boyfriend, but still pulls her back to the piano shop, telling her to come with him “…one last time.” When they arrive, he plays the song he wrote to her, but she just leaves saying sorry. The next day, he drops off her piano at the foot of the steps to her apartment, along with the red notebook. Insa, when she gets the book, goes off to a piano teacher (who previously had rejected him, along with the many other teachers they went to when Insa was on her hunt to make Jero become a pro) and the teacher finally caves. Weird boyfriend asks Insa to marry him, but she says no… (Umm, okay, so you say no to him too?! So then what’s up with you? Breaking Minho’s heart for no reason… JK, I know, it’s not Minho for real, lol) Time is forwarded, and we see a guy in a swallowtail coat walk up a set of stairs. YUP! It’s Jero! But not a pro, just a student having a recital. Still, I mean, having a solo recital? That’s like, on your way to being a pro. During the recital, we catch Insa as a private tutor, now a sucessful teacher, unlike back then. A youngster is caught playing on the piano Jero fixed up and is scolded, but Insa just stands there and looks at the piano lovingly. After the recital, Jero drives that old truck once again by the convenience store to pick up a pack for his Uncle on his way to work. Insa is driving with her (may I say, two-faced?) friend and also stops by the convenience store to buy a pair of stockings. She goes in first and Jero arrives shortly after her, and the movie ends with the inside, but we never get to see what happens after. We don’t know if they talk, get together, marry. Nope, none of that. At first, it was quite upsetting, but we slowly get over it.

When Jero asks Insa to come with him one last time, he just wants to have closure, to have one last memory with his first love before he lets her go. Afterwards, he works hard to pay for tuition, but also studies well to become a professional. With the help of Insa, he realizes that everyone needs to think about the future and that everyone needs to have either/or a dream or a goal in life. On the other hand, Insa realizes that 1. after meeting Jero, she no longer loves that weirdo boyfriend 2. she should stop being a coward about playing piano (she had stopped playing after her two-faced friend pushed her over using status) and worked her way to being a good-earning tutor. The two of them, through their short relationship, taught each other valuable lessons about goals in life (what Insa taught) and not giving up on the things that you truly enjoy in life (what Jero taught). The ending is an open one, where we are free to either come up with our own ending for the two, or just wish them well. To me, it’s kind of bittersweet, since I was kinda rooting for two, but it’s also a good ending because of the age difference. (which was the turnoff of the relationship…)

In the end, the only thing I took from the movie was: I want to see Choi Minho in more dramas. Haha, then it got me thinking, my bias Kim Jonghyun should act too! Maybe… or not… ONEW! hahaha, he should play a funny role. :) It was cool to see him in the musical (GO WATCH! haha, omg, its really cool to see him onstage for something other than SHINee). Anyways, it’s refreshing to see my kpop idols appear on the smallscreen, people like Jaejoong, Eunjung, Yonghwa, Minhyuk, Taecyeon, Siwon, MINHO, Rain, omo, so many more…

Well, thanks for reading my rants and comments! :) xoxo I’m very appreciative of your views :D peaceee!