Koo Kyo-hwan’s “hideout ban” has finally been lifted, thanks to Go Youn-jung.
Episode 5 of JTBC’s weekend drama We Are All Trying Here, aired May 2, followed Hwang Dong-man (Koo Kyo-hwan) after the police station incident as he declared his withdrawal from the so-called “Group of Eight.” Park Kyung-se (Oh Jung-se), unable to hide his frustration, questioned why Dong-man treated him so harshly. Dong-man’s reply, “You hated me first,” left him frozen in place.
'We Are All Trying Here'. Photo by JTBC.
Kyung-se later confessed his long-hidden insecurity to senior filmmaker Park Young-soo (Jeon Bae-soo), admitting even his wife Go Hye-jin (Kang Mal-geum) did not know the truth. Though once inseparable friends, the fracture between them began with Kyung-se himself. His acclaimed debut film Bottle Opener of Lust had actually been inspired by Dong-man’s real-life story about drunkenly tearing apart a refrigerator door after discovering a bottle opener he had gifted to his crush attached to another man’s fridge.
Ever since, Kyung-se had lived haunted by comments saying his debut remained his best work. More than anything, he feared Dong-man might someday remember the story and confront him. Terrified that Dong-man’s natural talent could surpass his own, he unconsciously wished for his friend never to debut at all. Park Young-soo, fully aware of the brutal hierarchy of the film industry, responded with bitter irony, calling it “a confession beautiful enough to applaud.”
'We Are All Trying Here'. Photo by JTBC.
Young-soo later gathered the Group of Eight at the hideout and openly criticized their hypocrisy. Though they constantly used Dong-man’s bizarre behavior and emotional chaos as inspiration for scripts, they continued treating him like a failure.
He specifically pointed to Dong-man collapsing from breathing difficulties at the police station, wandering emergency rooms, vomiting, and even digging through a drain for a lost 500-won coin — insisting someone was probably already trying to turn that humiliation into material. Furious that nobody would properly acknowledge the “muse” of the group, Young-soo declared that every story connected to Dong-man now belonged exclusively to him unless permission was granted.
Listening silently, Byun Eun-a (Go Youn-jung) firmly opposed Dong-man rejoining the group. Instead, she declared she would “keep him to herself,” promising to help him rediscover the value he possessed as a creator. Her words became one of the episode’s emotional highlights.
Go Hye-jin, witnessing Eun-a defend Dong-man so openly, became visibly excited. When Dong-man awkwardly insisted, “I’m the only one who likes her,” Hye-jin laughed it off, arguing Eun-a was obviously taking his side. She then fulfilled her promise to lift Dong-man’s ban from the hideout once he finally found someone romantically interested in him.
The episode’s epilogue delivered another emotional payoff. Dong-man, previously humiliated by his uncle’s demands to recruit a celebrity singer for a wedding, finally had his moment of redemption when top actress Jang Mi-ran (Han Sun-hwa) unexpectedly appeared at the ceremony and passionately performed Psy’s “It’s Art.”
Moved nearly to tears, Dong-man quietly confessed, “I don’t even hope for success anymore. I just want to make one film and overcome this feeling of worthlessness, even a little.”
Episode 5 recorded 2.5 percent nationwide, marking a new personal best for the series.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
* This article was manually prepared as a translated piece and later proofread and reviewed with the assistance of AI.
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