Playful Kiss Episode Recaps

CHARACTERS

Our heroine is OH HA-NI (Jung So-min), a not-so-bright student in her last year of high school, who’s in the last-place class (seventh of seven) of her year. She grew up with a loving father who runs a noodle restaurant (her mother died when she was a child), and the two have an affectionate relationship. Prone to daydreaming, Ha-ni’s fantasies center around Seung-jo, a boy at school on whom she harbors a pretty strong crush.

Ha-ni’s best friends, also in the last-place class, are DOKKO MIN-AH (Yoon Seung-ah) and JUNG JU-RI (Hong Yoon-hwa). Together, the trio is a little bumbling, but good-hearted and loyal to one another.

BAEK SEUNG-JO (Kim Hyun-joong), on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He’s in the No. 1 class and isn’t merely the best student, but positively perfect. In fact, in the most recent exams, he scored a 500 out of 500. Alas, that intellectual perfection doesn’t come with a gracious personality. He’s not just the cold, logical type a la Mr. Darcy but quite condescending to boot, looking down his nose at everyone, not bothering to hide that he finds them inferior. Whatta prince.

His parents are perfectly friendly people, though, and his mother (GEUM-HEE, played by Jung Hye-young) will figure largely in our plot. For now, all we know is that she’s a welcoming, cheerful mother with a lively sense of curiosity about her son’s life.

The guy with the retro flipped-up hair is BONG JOON-GU (Lee Tae-sung), a Busan boy with the thick accent to prove it. He can usually be seen traveling en masse with his posse, the foursome played by rock band Bye Bye Sea who are identified simply as “Bong Joon-gu’s Boys.”

Joon-gu and the boys are also residents of Class 7. While the boys can often be found jamming on musical instruments in between classes, Joon-gu spends a lot of his energies following Ha-ni around, trying to win her affections. She remains firmly fixated on Seung-jo, however, and doesn’t spare Joon-gu much thought.


EPISODE 1 RECAP

We open on a fantasy sequence, set in what looks like an enchanted meadow in a fairy tale. The CG is exaggerated, but it has that overtly whimsical sensibility of Pushing Daisies or Big Fish — dreamy, romantic, and girlish.

In the daydream, a handsome young man dressed all in white comes upon a sleeping girl, kisses her lightly, then walks away. When the girl wakes, she sees a white horse and follows it through the forest to another meadow, where the horse turns back into her mystery man.

He approaches her and leans in. This time, she anticipates the kiss and purses her lips in readiness…

Which is when she wakes up. At school. Late for class. Oh Ha-ni, waking from her latest crush-induced fantasy, races off as the bell rings.

The dream sequence is admittedly very pretty to look at, but since we know it’s a fantasy from the very get-go, it does go on and on. My feelings on the opening went from “This is lovely” to “Hm, I wonder where they’re going with this” to “GRAHH, WHY ARE YOU SO SLOW.”

In class, Ha-ni’s teacher attempts to exert some authority over her sluggish pupils, but this ain’t the last-place class without a reason. Students nap, zone out, and generally slack off. Ha-ni and her friends aren’t worried about their latest grades, though — they’re always at the bottom, so what else is new?

While Ha-ni, Ju-ri, and Min-ah hang out in the lounge, a student comes by and loses a coin in the soda machine. She’s HONG JANG-MI (Jang Ah-young), who’s basically a Mean Girl, despite being younger than Ha-ni.

With a flourish, Ha-ni steps in and kicks the machine to get the soda to pop out, and enjoys basking in the moment. Particularly since it momentarily puts a cork in Jang-mi’s superior act.

Ha-ni moons all over Seung-jo, which seems to be a pretty common occurrence. Her friends are used to it, and only shake their heads when Ha-ni shares her daydream and calls him a spirit of the forest. She goes into raptures over his perfection, saying that now she understands how vampires feel — such is his beauty that it makes her want to bite right into him.

Speak of the devil: Seung-jo makes his appearance, calm and cool as you please, blithely ignoring the squealing of girls who ooh over his entrance.

Ha-ni freezes as Seung-jo approaches, victim to the vicissitudes of adolescent infatuation, and her heart thumps wildly. Jang-mi flutters over to him offers her soda instead, chattering on as though they’re close friends. Apparently their mothers are friends, and Seung-mi tries to use this to ingratiate herself, fawning all over him.

Seung-jo ignores her, but when his coin also gets stuck in the machine, Jang-mi calls out to Ha-ni to employ her fix again. She particularly enjoys putting Ha-ni on the spot, making the latter reluctant to comply but also reluctant to refuse.

So Ha-ni goes up to the machine, studiously avoiding his gaze, and delivers a kick. Afterward she cringes in embarrassment, not wanting this to be his impression of her, but I say there’s something satisfying in the way Seung-jo gapes; he’s not exactly impressed, but eliciting any reaction at all from his stone-faced demeanor is probably an accomplishment.

Seung-jo turns to leave, and Ju-ri, trying to help her friend, calls out her name loudly so that he’ll hear it. Seung-jo turns and starts walking back toward them, and Ha-ni readies herself in anticipation — surely he’ll thank her, or say something? But no, he retrieves his change from the machine.

Her friends urge Ha-ni to confess her feelings, since they’ll graduate soon enough. Despite her earlier embarrassment, Ha-ni bounces right back and clings to the new hope that perhaps Seung-jo isn’t expressing his feelings for her because he doesn’t know hers, and decides a confession is just the thing. But how?

To prove her utter lack of common sense, Ha-ni likes Ju-ri’s joke suggestion about dressing as Gollum and addressing Seung-jo as “My precious.” Min-ah’s suggestion is better, but not by much: a mating dance, like animals.

This leads us into another fantasy, wherein Ha-ni dances in Swan Lake, joined by Seung-jo. Again this goes longer than necessary, but at least the punchline saves it (sort of): Seung-jo partners Ha-ni, lifts her in the air, and then tosses her aside.

Poor girl. Even in her own daydreams she can’t catch a break.

Next up is drawing class, and Joon-gu (whom I’ve taken to calling Duckie in my head) is tapped as figure model. Anyone with half a brain would be totally onto how very much he’s in love with Ha-ni (or at least in grand infatuation), but I suppose half her brain is perpetually fixated on Seung-jo, so she brushes his attentions aside.

That means all his efforts to look cool are wasted, although he doesn’t know it. As the pose becomes harder and harder to maintain, sweat beads drip from his forehead but Joon-gu vows to stick with it, since Ha-ni is looking at him.

Ha-ni does draw, but in a mechanical way as she doodles the words “Confess… mating dance… Gollum…”

Adding salt to the wound is when Joon-gu peers at the drawing at the end of class — to see that she has drawn his body with Seung-jo’s face.

We don’t see much of the teachers in Episode 1, but I suspect they’ll have their own storyline, so let’s introduce ‘em: At left is SONG KANG-YI (Hwang Hyo-eun), and Kang Doo plays the Class 1 teacher SONG JI-OH. Both are “Teacher Song,” but are polar opposites — kind of like Ha-ni and Seung-jo, in fact.

I wonder if their storyline will mimic our main one, since it appears Kang-yi may have a crush on Ji-oh, who is just as cool and superior as his star student.

Ha-ni becomes engrossed in thought, trying to figure out how to confess her feelings to Seung-jo. Dad picks up on it, and understands that she’s got a crush on a boy even though she describes it as the situation of “a friend,” and shares how he made his confession to her mother. (Stealing, by the way, a famous line from I’m Sorry, I Love You.)

So that launches Ha-ni into another reverie — really, drama? Number 3 already? — wherein she corners Seung-jo with her motorcycle gang, looking like a bad girl out of Grease while a pale imitation of “Beat It” serves as background music.

(Gah, these extended fantasies that never end! I love you, director Hwang, but you could really do to watch some episodes of Scrubs. ‘s all I’m sayin’.)

Badass Ha-ni confronts Seung-jo, who backs away meekly, and she recites her line, which offers him the choice to either be with her or die.

And even in her fantasy, Seung-jo picks the coffin. Aw! There’s something really endearing about Ha-ni in this.

Thankfully Dad has more practical advice than her friends, and suggests that a sincere love letter might just work best. Ha-ni decides he’s right, and delivers a letter to his locker, then waits nervously for his response.

When he walks by the lounge and shows Ha-ni no recognition at all, Ju-ri shouts her name loudly, determined to make her friend known. Min-ah joins her, and this time, they have a reaction.

Seung-jo asks, “Are you Oh Ha-ni?” He makes his way back to them, and holds out a letter to her. Students gather round curiously, and Ha-ni barely contains her excitement as she opens it, telling him she hadn’t dared hope for a reply.

Yet as soon as she starts to read, her excitement fades, replaced by crushing disappointment.

Jang-mi has to live up to her designation as Mean Girl, so she swipes the letter from Ha-ni’s grasp, then crows about its contents. Seung-jo hadn’t written her a reply — he’d graded hers! The letter has been marked up in red pen, and he’d given her a D-.

(For what it’s worth, I think this moment would have been better had I not seen it done more cutely in Will It Snow For Christmas.)

Jang-mi positively exults and talks about it loudly for all to hear, while Ha-ni can only stand there, humiliated. Meanwhile, Seung-jo just stands there and tells her, “I’m sorry to say this, but I hate dumb girls.”

Joon-gu — bless him — comes late to the party but has sized up the situation, and confronts Seung-jo for his rudeness. He demands that Seung-jo apologize, to which Seung-jo smirks, “For what, correcting her mistakes?”

Joon-gu retorts, “Do you only see the mistakes? Don’t look at the letters, look at the contents!” (Aw. You’ve officially won me over, ridiculous hair-boy!)

He challenges Seung-jo to fight and takes a swing, but the latter swiftly evades the punch — cool as you please, his hands not even moving from his pockets.

The vice principal interrupts, and as Seung-jo is the golden child, he is dismissed while Joon-gu is called in for disciplining.

Finally, Seung-jo deigns to speak and levels a finger at the board that has been posted of the recent test results — Ha-ni and her friends occupy the lowest status of the school. He points to a second sign, which marks the 50 top students who are admitted to a special study hall each month.

Turning his scorn to Ha-ni, he calls her thoughtless for choosing to waste her time rather than caring about more important things: “I hate thoughtless, impudent girls.”

Ha-ni is devastated. Worst of all is probably the fact that he’s not wrong — she IS the lowest scoring student. Still, she hardly deserves such a drubbing from him.

She takes out her frustration by running around the school, exhausted and stumbling by the time she reaches lap 34. Her friends urge her to stop, but she insists on running two more laps. In a lovely moment of solidarity, they stand up to give her a hand (literally) and support her through her last lap.

Word of Ha-ni’s encounter with Seung-jo spreads through the school, making her the laughingstock. Is it worse to be mocked by your peers, or pitied by the cafeteria and cleaning ladies? Thankfully we’ll probably never have to know, but Ha-ni has to endure.

As she and Dad settle into their newly remodeled house, unpacking their things, he notices her glumness and guesses that the confessing didn’t go so well. He tries to cheer her up, and in the unpacking process he finds an old plaque that had been made when she was a baby — it bears the handprint of her parents, as well as her baby hand and footprint.

Ju-ri, Min-ah, and Joon-gu come over and marvel at the spacious digs and the newly built second floor. They sit down for a delicious meal prepared by Dad, who sighs that Ha-ni didn’t take after him in the cooking-skills department. Joon-gu takes that as his cue to assure Dad not to worry, since he’ll take care of the both of them.

The others laugh at Joon-gu’s over-the-top declaration and tease him, which makes him cry out in an exaggerated gesture and bang his head into the wall. Which sets of a series of creaks… and rumbles…

…and leads to the house crumbling down.

It’s not Joon-gu’s head-butt that causes the damage, but a small earthquake that shakes up the neighborhood. However, where all the other houses experience no more than mild rocking, Ha-ni’s house has inexplicably caved in on itself.

That’s one more reason for Ha-ni to become the focus of unwanted attention at school, and as she walks with her friends the next morning, they catch sight of a strange woman snapping photos of her. And for some reason, passing students keep looking at her and whispering.

The reason becomes clear moments later as they hear Joon-gu on a megaphone, who has taken up a spot at the school’s entrance calling for donations for a needy student. He means well, but one hardly wants to be called pathetic and a charity case in front of her peers, so the girls slink away in mortification.

Alas, Joon-gu spies Ha-in and drags her into the circle, continuing his appeals for donations — just as Seung-jo walks by. She’d like to ignore him, but misguided chivalry drives Joon-gu to engage, and he blames Seung-jo for being the cause of all of Ha-ni’s troubles.

Seung-jo points out that it was the earthquake that felled her house, and Joon-gu sputters in reply, saying that while that’s true, Seung-jo’s guilty of an “earthquake of the heart,” and for hurting Ha-ni.

Seung-jo shrugs and offers to contribute, then, and pulls out his wallet. He starts to put in 20,000 won (about $15), which is when Ha-ni finally speaks up. Indignantly, she tells him to put his money away — she wouldn’t accept his help even if she were a beggar under a bridge.

That affects him not at all, and he starts to leave. But now Ha-ni’s really worked up and she bursts out again:

Ha-ni: “Who are you to look down on people like that? I bet to you, all the kids here just look like idiots, huh? You think you can just mock us. Are you so great? So you have a high IQ? You’re a good student? So you have a good-looking face and you’re tall!”

Uh, that statement took a turn, and Ha-ni realizes she’s started to lose ground here. So she fumbles for a suitable retort, and insists that she CAN study. It’s just that she hasn’t bothered to!

Seung-jo tells her to prove it. What does she propose, and how will she show it?

Gulp. Ha-ni can’t back down now, so she says she’ll score high enough in the next exam to score one of those seats in special study hall. Clearly not believing she can do it, Seung-jo agrees to carry her piggyback for one lap around school if she succeeds.

Internally, Ha-ni does a little giddy dance at the prospect of being carried on his back, then tamps that down to coolly agree.

Thanks to the news broadcast about the earthquake wrecking their house, Dad’s old friend had seen him on TV and called him to offer his house while the Ohs figure out what to do. Dad is thrilled to be reuniting with his old best friend, with whom he’d lost contact after they’d moved to Seoul.

When they arrive, Ha-ni marvels at the grand house; his friend must be a rich man.

Dad (Ki-dong)’s friend is Su-chang, who is married to Geum-hee, both of whom are very friendly and give Ha-ni a warm welcome. When Su-chang notes that she’s “even prettier in person,” Geum-hee has to fess up that she was so curious about her that she couldn’t wait and sought her out at school this morning. Ha-ni recognizes her as the mysterious photographer outside the school.

Geum-hee offers the services of her son to bring their luggage in, and sends him outside to the car where Ha-ni is gathering her things.

And really, it’s no surprise at all when the two kiddos discover just who they’re about to spend the next days, weeks, months, living with.


COMMENTS

A random trivia bit:

Playful Kiss is airing against My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, having started about a month behind it. One of director Hwang In-roi’s previous dramas, as I am sure many of you know, was Goong, which started in January 2006 — a month behind My Girl, which is one of the Gumiho writers’ previous dramas. (I’d always thought My Girl and Goong should have gotten higher ratings, but they were up against each other and no doubt shared much of the same audience.)

On to this drama:

There’s good and bad. When I was first watching it, I thought it was rather ho-hum. The more I watched, and toward the end in particular, I started to like it more and more. I don’t feel that emotional connection yet and the story isn’t as compelling as I’d like, but I am actually pretty hopeful about the show.

One huge detractor is that the first episode seemed like a collection of vignettes describing Ha-ni’s world — it wasn’t driven by a central plotline. I don’t think it’s a bad tactic in theory, but in a competitive television market you really need to establish your premise strongly and quickly, rather than lingering in the mundane moments. The drama doesn’t have to be high-concept like Gumiho, but it would benefit from higher-concept. (I know Playful Kiss is based on a manhwa/drama, which dictates the storyline. However, there are always ways to inject a hook or a catchy plot without dishonoring its source material.)

The problems appear to be both a writing and a directing thing. On the writing front, this episode is very thin on action. What actually happened in Episode 1? SO VERY LITTLE. We spent nearly 45 minutes on a schoolgirl crush. The writer could have condensed a bunch of scenes and would have been better served getting right to the point instead of dawdling.

There were no surprises. We know how this is going to end up — we know she’s going to move in with Seung-jo. So just get there already.

On the directing front, the pacing was sluggish and I don’t blame viewers for checking out quickly. FIVE MINUTES were spent on that intro fantasy when the entire thing could have been just as effective in thirty seconds. Long fantasies would be forgivable if they’re needed to tell a story or flesh out an idea — but as we get the point immediately, there’s no need to drag it out. The drama could have easily shaved 10 to 15 minutes without changing plot.

As for Goong:

The Goong comparisons will probably haunt this show for a good long while, and I suspect that will grow tiresome. So I’ll just say this here and (try to) refrain from belaboring the point in the future.

On the downside, wow there are a lot of tonal similarities between the two dramas. The stories are pretty different, but the execution is, in spots, perplexingly similar. Jung So-min’s styling, the school cliques, the teddy-bear ending frame.

On the other hand, Goong hardly spent any time at the school after the initial setup (which was one thing I missed after the royal stuff got going in earnest), whereas Playful Kiss will be primarily at school. So I don’t mind that similarity so much.

I did enjoy the whimsical feel of Playful Kiss, when it wasn’t veering on overly contemplative. Trendies need more energy than this, and I suspect that PD Hwang’s forte isn’t sassy comedy. Bright side: He has a deft touch with poignant moments, so there’s that.

Goong was elevated by its fusion-fantasy palace concept, and Return of Iljimae as a fusion-sageuk-comic book adaptation, so on paper Hwang should have been the perfect director for fusion manhwa adaptations like this. But I want more zazz, because this has no Big Concept to buoy the mundane school and home scenes. (Mundane isn’t bad — I like this mundane aspect, actually — but it requires more… oomph.)

Goong had pomp and elegance, and therefore it filled that space with its grandeur. Without that, Playful Kiss just has… space. It needs to tap into its energy, and I believe it’s entirely possible. I just hope it comes soon.

Acting:

Jung So-min is ADORABLE. She’s gonna run away with this drama, hands down.

Many of you have noted previously that Jung is very expressive, and that really comes across in the show. That doesn’t just mean she makes exaggerated facial expressions, but that she has a range of them and conveys a lot of subtleties within her various expressions. I’d heard a lot about how this original manga character is super-annoying and was bracing myself for that, but I find Ha-ni quite likable. She’s not smart and she’s a little clumsy, but in an endearing way.

Actually, what I loved most about her character is the way Ha-ni’s infatuation with Seung-jo is depicted. On paper it could be an aggravating premise — a dumb girl chases around a guy who’s out of her league and who dislikes her, wearing him down with her doggedness. However, there’s something very lovely in the way we see her adolescent crush — the heart thumping, the freezing in nervous anticipation, the deluded daydreams that he might like her, the giddy little moments when she thinks he’s about to talk to her. I mean, haven’t we all been there? It totally brought back some memories, and tugged my heartstrings. Boy, I wouldn’t want to be her, but then again, I HAVE been her.

Then there’s Kim Hyun-joong. You know, he doesn’t bother me so much here. I don’t think he was good, but he wasn’t awful, either. He sorta skated by in the middle, not really doing much but doing it in an inoffensive way.

I wonder if it’ll help him to play a guy with a bit of meanness to him, because that’s what makes Seung-jo interesting to me. We’ve seen SO MANY of those misunderstood, cold-on-the-outside, warm-n-fuzzy-on-the-inside heroes that I’m excited just to get something different. Seung-jo isn’t misunderstood — he just doesn’t give a damn about anyone other than himself. I don’t like that on a personal level, but I like that he’s a little different.

ANYWAY. That’s my long-winded way of saying that I had misgivings about the first episode, but I find enough things to like about it to be hopeful for the future, low ratings or not.

Okay, I’ll give you this, Kim Hyun-joong. You are improved. I’m still not entirely sure that the entire range of human emotions is something you feel, but I can see that of what you’re feeling, you are showing. Jung So-min, on the other hand, is pretty much born to do this role. There’ve been a lot of comparisons to Yoon Eun-hye, because of her looks and the Goong similarities, but I think she’s got a different range than Yoon. Yoon is more understated as an actor—naturalistic, because she’s got more charisma than downright acting ability per se. She’s magnetic because she’s her, not X character.

Jung gets a little hammy, for sure, but she’s more in the acting her socks off camp, and because I’ve seen her in Bad Guy, I know that she’s capable of subtlety. She’s delightfully expressive, and totally readable, making her character endearing, even if her bumbling antics are a little staid. I think she’s got quite a career ahead of her, especially if she carries this drama on her shoulders the way she’s doing now.


EPISODE 2 RECAP

Ha-ni reels from the shock of seeing Seung-jo, of all people, standing in front of her. He cocks his head sideways, taunting her like the bully that he is. Heh, well I suppose if you’re going to be mean, I’d rather you own up to it rather than be oblivious to the fact that you’re making her squirm. I have to say, I sort of like him mean, because it’s definitely a step up from bland.

He offers to help carry her bags, but then glibly reminds her that she swore up and down never to receive any of his help. All she can do is shake her head at him, and then privately freak out over this unfortunate series of events.

The family sits down for introductions, and the dads confirm that they were as close as two boys could be. Their friendship is adorable. Mom asks Ha-ni if Seung-jo is disliked at school, supposing that people don’t like his prickly personality and the way he looks down on others. She can’t disagree, so she smiles awkwardly. Seung-jo’s little brother turns out to be a Mini-Me version of him. Great. Just what the world needs. He refuses to greet Ha-ni because she “looks dumb.”

Mom takes Ha-ni upstairs to her new room, which she has redecorated expressly for her. Ha-ni can’t believe such a pretty room is all for her, and Mom squeals in excitement over having a daughter in the house to buy pretty things for, and hang out with. Aw, they’re so cute. At least she’s got one ally in the family.

Seung-jo gripes at her for causing him inconvenience—now that she has this room, the two brothers have to share a room. He tells her to stop bugging him at school, and she declares that she wouldn’t want people to know that they’re living together anyway. He corrects her that they’re not living together; she’s living off his family.

That sends her into a fantasy tirade Matrix-style, where she accosts him with two pink pillows, dressed in black patent leather from head to toe. She pillow-attacks him till he bleeds and cowers in fear, all the while taking out her aggression on the pillows in her room, shouting, “Well I hate smart guys like you!” At that moment, Seung-jo steps out of the bathroom and into her doorway, sending her to the floor in mortification.

In the bathroom, Ha-ni sits down the toilet and giggles to herself that it’s warm, and that they’re in a toilet-sharing relationship now. She can’t actually manage to do her business for fear of noise, and when she catches herself cooing over their matching toothbrushes, she tries to talk some sense into herself, that he doesn’t like her and she shouldn’t bother him.

The next morning she can’t believe she’s having breakfast with Seung-jo, as he continues to look at her with disdain. He does seem fixated on her though, despite his cries for her to leave him alone. He may look down on her, but he’s definitely feeling her presence keenly.

He abruptly gets up to go to school early, making Ha-ni chase after him, since she doesn’t know the way to school from his house. She catches up to him, crashing into his back when he stops.

He looks at her like she’s a fly, announcing that they can walk to school together just this once, and tells her not to start any rumors at school. On second thought, to pretend she doesn’t even know him. He makes her walk a few paces behind him too.

Ha-ni sneers at him from behind, swears welling up, as she calls him a jerk under her breath. Finally! Hello, backbone! Nice to see you! She says bitterly that she can’t believe she liked this guy for three years, feeling regret over all the tears she wasted on him. There you go. Good girl.

Seung-jo comes to a full stop on the way to school, insisting that she walk ahead of him, since her legs are short and she can’t keep up. She hmphs at the insult and walks on ahead, and Seung-jo takes note of a trenchcoat pervert hiding in the bushes. Random. I’m sure you’ll make an appearance later.

At school, Ha-ni frets over the midterm test that she has to ace, and decides that she’ll make the class proud and conquer it. Duckie arrives with his lackeys in tow, and asks where Ha-ni’s temporary house is. She hems and haws, and he declares they’ll go together after school, since he needs to know where “his girl” lives. Cute. Why don’t you just date this guy? He’s adorable!

Ha-ni stays behind at school, studying till late, which is unusual for her, or anyone in Class 7. She peeks into Seung-jo’s special study hall, reserved for the top fifty students, and witnesses the special treatment that they get, like A/C and their own computers. She looks at the placement chart, sighing that she’s got quite the distance to travel, from last to first.

Duckie, who’s been waiting all this time for her to finish studying, prepares to escort her to her new house. So Ha-ni, rather than making up a plausible excuse or just saying no, ditches him on the subway to keep him from finding out where she’s staying. Tsk, tsk. Poor Duckie.

She then takes a taxi all the way BACK to school, thinking that Seung-jo is still there, waiting to walk back home with her. Seriously? You’ve known this guy way longer than me, and I can tell you there’s not a chance in hell he’s waiting there for you.

And yup, Seung-jo is sitting peacefully at home, until Mom asks why he came alone, when Ha-ni is unfamiliar with these streets and there are crazy people about. Seung-jo remembers the trenchcoat pervert, and starts to get a little worried as he sits outside. Exclaiming how annoyed he is, he heads out. Aw, Softie so soon?

Sure enough, Ha-ni encounters the trenchcoat man on her way home. He’s quite the bumbling flasher, and resorts to begging her to look, just once. Erm, gross, dude. Who’s going to say yes to that? She loses her shoe in an attempt to get around him, so he picks up the shoe and takes off running.

She gives chase, wanting her precious gift from Seung-jo’s mom back, so finally they strike a deal—he’ll promise to give the shoe back if she promises to look, just once. And then, stupid girl that she is, agrees to it!

She asks for a moment to prepare, and Trenchcoat starts to unbutton his jacket…

…and just as opens up his coat to flash her, Seung-jo appears behind her, putting his hand over her eyes. He turns her around to face him. She’s stunned when she realizes what’s happening, as her heart starts to race.

Seung-jo gives chase and Trenchcoat instantly lands on his knees, begging not to be reported since he’s new at this and has a family. He swears never to do it again. Seung-jo gets Ha-ni’s shoe back, and lets the man go.

He returns her shoe like a proper prince, and Ha-ni asks if he came out to look for her, because he was worried. He claims it was to go to the convenience store. Ha-ni: “But the timing was so perfect.” Seung-jo: “That’s just my bad luck.” She smiles, and scurries behind him all the way home.

Ha-ni stays up late in an attempt to study, but can’t get past the first pages of any of her books. Mom comes in with a late night snack, wanting to bond with her, so they look at baby pictures of her, and then Seung-jo. The best part? They cast a little girl to play the part of Little Seung-jo! Pwahahaha. Brilliant meta.

Mom confesses to wanting a little girl so badly that she raised him like a girl when he was little, but then eventually had to fess up when they were found out at a community swimming pool. Seung-jo was apparently scarred from that as a child. Um….yeah, I should say so, Lady! She thinks that maybe this has something to do with why he’s so cold now. She adds that he thinks all these pictures were burned, but she’s still got the negatives, so she holds onto them. Ha-ni smiles deviously to herself.

The next day at school she can’t stop laughing over last night’s discovery. Just then, Seung-jo appears in the doorway of her classroom, motioning for her to come out. With everyone looking on, he tells her to come outside with her gym clothes. She doesn’t know what’s up, but she complies, and realizes when she takes them out of her bag that their clothes have been switched. Cute. Love setups like this.

With the entire class watching them from the window, they go outside and exchange gym clothes. Ha-ni takes this opportunity to go in for the kill. Ha-ni: “Why didn’t you just wear them? You should be used to girls’ clothes by now.” And with that, she takes out the picture of him as a little girl.

All of a sudden his calm exterior disappears, as he frantically chases her up and down and around a tree, desperate to get that picture out of her hands. Aw, I love it. Kids actually playing like kids! He finally pins her against the tree, at which Mean Girl and Duckie both freak out from their window. After much chasing and hullabaloo, Ha-ni finally tells him he can have the picture back, but at a price.

She asks him to tutor her for the upcoming exam. He reminds her that it’s in a week’s time, and he’s not a god. Pfftt. Is it bad if I like it when you’re a pompous ass? He adds that he’d be a fool to help her, since he’ll lose the bet, and then have to piggyback her too. So she wants his help, and then a piggyback ride? She takes the piggyback off the table, saying that if he agrees to help her, the bet is off. She adds that she’s resolved her feelings for him, and has no desire whatsoever to be piggybacked by him.

“Oh, really?” he challenges her, leaning in close, within kissing distance…

Everyone at the window gasps…

…and then we cut away. Wha?? Why are we cutting away? Listen, in my old-school vocabulary, cutting away in that moment means And Then They Kissed, which is totally not what you are intending to say, Show. And since they didn’t kiss, I want to see her reaction, and his taunting her. Why with the cutting away?

Regardless, I do like that Seung-jo isn’t totally oblivious to Ha-ni, and that he pretty much sees right through her. His manipulative side is actually quite catty, since he’s taunting her on purpose, knowing how she feels about him.

At home, Seung-jo and Ha-ni begin their study sessions. The parents are shocked and pleased, and Little Brother Eun-jo is angry that Ha-ni is monopolizing his brother. It goes about as well as can be expected, with Seung-jo babbling on and on about log x and binary code, and Ha-ni making moon eyes at him.

At one point he snarks that it’s amazing how much she doesn’t know, and Ha-ni counters with, “Do you know everything? Do you know who these people are?” She holds up a picture of Super Junior, rattling off their names one by one. She adds that it’s simply that their interests vary; that’s all.

She plasters post-its all over the house and loses sleep, earning dark circles and the worry of her friends, but at a certain point, when Eun-jo comes in and yells at her for stealing his brother’s attention, she doesn’t even hear him because she’s so focused. Seung-jo looks over at her, impressed that she’s finally learned to concentrate. He cracks a smile.

He falls asleep while waiting for her to finish her practice test, and she thanks him sweetly for helping her, if only because he can’t hear her. Mom comes by later with snacks, and walks in to find them both asleep at the desk together. She squeals from the cuteness, whispering, “Daebak!” while running to get her camera. Haha. I love her.

When they get to school on test day, Seung-jo throws her a nonchalant, “Do well,” as he walks into class, startling Ha-ni but making her smile. She takes the test and when the results go up, she goes straight to look at Seung-jo’s score, relieved that he still scored perfectly, despite losing sleep that week to help her.

Seung-jo, on the other hand, goes right up to check on Ha-ni’s scores first. Oh, you two. He walks away, and Ha-ni catches up to him, telling him that he did a good job. He congratulates her too, which is when she runs over to see that she did actually make it—50th place, earning her a spot in the special study hall.

She runs over to him, so happy and grateful, that when he sticks out his hand, she mistakes it for a handshake. She shakes his hand up and down, thanking him profusely. He pulls away asking what she’s doing, and tells her he’s waiting for her to hand it over…the picture. He snatches it out of her hand and warns her not to tell anyone and walks away.

Too happy to have her mood killed, she shouts at him, “Thank you!” He smiles, with his back turned away from her.

But just before he can get away, Ha-ni’s teacher calls him out for the bet—the one to piggyback Ha-ni if she scored in the top fifty. Ha-ni tries to explain that the bet was called off, but the teacher goes on and on about how proud she is, and how he can’t go back on his word. He tries to ignore her, but then she starts chanting, “Piggy-Back! Piggy-Back!” and all the students join in. Hahaha. This is ridiculous. But hey, if we get a piggyback ride out of it, I suppose Teacher will be everyone’s hero.

Seung-jo looks back at Ha-ni incredulously, as she tries to indicate that this isn’t her idea…

Will he? Won’t he?

What’s a girl gotta do for a piggyback ride?

COMMENTS

Episode 2 was a marked improvement from Episode 1, which really should have been condensed into a twenty-minute intro rather than a series premiere. Ha-ni and Seung-jo are far more interesting with each other, and the hate dynamic is fully in play, making every forced situation with them delightfully awkward in that teenage love/hate way.

I think they have good chemistry, which is surprising, really, since I thought it would be extremely one-sided as far as acting goes. But I actually think that they work well together and that there’s plenty of potential for a cute love story here.

Plot-wise, there’s very little going on in terms of big story moments, which is fine, but makes this feel much more like a daily family drama. It’s actually lacking the sort of narrative urgency of other trendy dramas, which have to go the course of a relationship while getting through all the major story arcs in fewer episodes. Like javabeans noted, this one lacks the high-concept elements that made longer-running series Return of Iljimae or Goong work with more languid pacing.

I don’t mind the mundane stories and the smallness of just following two characters in their day-to-day, but there does seem to be something lacking in terms of story space. It’s possible that it’s humor. While I find everyone adorable and sweet and very pretty, I don’t laugh out loud while watching this. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t think this drama is trying to make me laugh out loud. I just sort of wish it were.

As for the couple who hates each other, forced to live together, and piling misunderstanding on top of misunderstanding? I love that stuff, and get such pleasure out of watching them squirm. Here’s hoping the situations get even zanier, and the actors tap into that energy.

A flawed beginning for sure, but I already like the Duckie / Ha-ni / Seung-jo triangle, and I trust the director, so I’m optimistic that we’re going somewhere…worth going.

EPISODE RECAP

After Ha-ni surprises everyone with her high test score, the students (led by teacher Kang-yi) chant for Seung-jo to live up to his promise of carrying her around the school. The two had privately agreed to nullify that bet, but can’t explain that to the others without revealing that they’re living together.

Ha-ni mutters to Seung-jo not to misunderstand — she had nothing to do with this. He grumbles that she’s a public menace, but sighs and tells her to go ahead and claim her piggyback ride. If everyone’s going to assume he’s a flake, he’d rather just get it over with.

Three-year crush notwithstanding, being called a public menace can go a long way in quashing the warm fuzzies, and Ha-ni refuses. He grabs her wrist (oy), and protective Joon-gu arrives on the scene at just this moment, seeing Ha-ni struggling against Seung-jo’s grasp.

Joon-gu steps in and offers the piggyback ride instead, and while Seung-jo hadn’t been eager to carry her, damned if he’ll be upstaged by this guy. What ensues is a double-wrist-grab competition of whose back she’ll climb on. Oh, that we all had such problems.

Joon-gu’s more aggressive, and (literally) sweeps Ha-ni off her feet to carry her outside. Ju-ri and Min-ah reproach him for interfering, and he’s so dense that he thought he was being helpful.

Now he asks suspiciously if Ha-ni still likes Seung-jo, to which she blurts that she doesn’t. He’s cold and mean and lacks any spark of humanity. She totally hates him now.

Suuure. That totally explains her fit of jealousy in special study hall when another girl tries to flirt with Seung-jo, right?

Ha-ni’s the odd duck out in study hall, where we hammer in the stereotypes inherent in this drama: that all humble, average-brained folks are nice and friendly, while smart people are rich snobs. But how does that explain all the dumb snobs I’ve met? And poor jackasses?

Ha-ni is cheered when Seung-jo rejects the girl’s offer of a soda. You’d think she would have a little bit of sympathy for this predicament, but she hasn’t learned the lesson from her own humiliation and bursts out laughing at the other girl, even pointing a finger literally as she guffaws. Wait, drama, aren’t we supposed to like her?

Ha-ni’s presence in the study hall is such an anomaly that you can practically hear the minds being blown as people try to figure out how she got there. One such example: the vice principal, who takes great pride in Seung-jo as the school’s star pupil and therefore can’t understand how Ha-ni squeaked through.

He asks Class 7′s teacher Kang-yi if she finds that odd, but she answers simply that hard work can yield good results. The other teachers are unconvinced, however, particularly the pretty teacher (whom I suspect will be Kang-yi’s rival, or at least her foil) and Class 1 teacher Ji-oh. They even go so far as to speculate about cheating, though they make no accusations.

Each class has an upcoming outing planned, and Classes 1 and 7 get stuck in an athletic competition at Kang-yi’s suggestion, because she’s determined to prove that her class can beat the snooty Class 1-ers at something. Class 7 isn’t terribly enthusiastic, but are won over with Kang-yi’s bribe of pizza if they win all three events.

Motivated by pizza — and yeah, beating Class 1, although mostly the pizza — the class practices for the competition, performing drills and running through relay simulations. It’s pretty cute how enthusiastic they are, so of course haughty Seung-jo has to rain on their parade by sniffing at how silly they look.

He says indifferently that Class 7 is sure to win, because his class just doesn’t care. Riiiight. You care so little that you have to announce just how little you care, in case they thought you cared. (I sorta love how Seung-jo tries to pretend he’s so superior to Ha-ni, but he can’t resist poking and prodding at her, when a truly indifferent person wouldn’t bother.)

Worse than insulting them is his air of “Oh, we’re so above that,” and Ha-ni has to hold back Joon-gu from launching into a fight. But when Seung-jo goes so far as to call them “pathetic,” she has to speak up: What’s pathetic about working hard? She gives Joon-gu an inadvertent compliment by saying he’s super fast and athletic, which makes his day. She was just saying it to warn Seung-jo not to be so snooty, but Joon-gu is, adorably, thrilled.

What I enjoy about Ha-ni and Seung-jo’s budding dynamic is that Ha-ni knows how to push his buttons right back. She gets a rise out of him by saying the losing chicken makes more noise — effectively calling him both a chicken and a loser. Two birds, one stone.

There’s a cute but ultimately irrelevant scene (which is beginning to be Playful Kiss‘s hallmark) when Ha-ni heads out to the field dressed in a mascot’s costume. She takes advantage of her momentary anonymity to sneak up on a passing Seung-jo and pokes him in the butt. Saucy!

Her brief satisfaction (and getaway) is ruined when she trips. He has to help her up, and flings off her mask to get a good look at the offender.

On to the first event. The two classes line up for a 15-person, 16-legged race, and the smarties (in blue) stumble along badly, since they didn’t bother practicing or figuring out strategy. In contrast, the yellow-vested misfit team marches forward in unity for an easy victory.

Misfit Class erupts in cheers, and Ha-ni and Joon-gu clutch each other in celebration. Seung-jo would very much like not to notice, but he sneers at the sight. Totally what a non-caring person would do, right? I’ll posit that Seung-jo has actually got it pretty bad to be envious (though reluctantly, and in denial) of being hugged by a butternut squash in pigtails.

Seung-jo’s mother arrives during the second event, a team tug of war, taking care to stay out of Seung-jo’s sight. She runs into Jang-mi, who is leading her team of cheerleaders in chants for Seung-jo.

Jang-mi is eager to play up their acquaintance, but Mom’s puzzled reaction shows that Jang-mi hardly registers in her memory. Mom brightens to see that the girl’s cheering for her son, as she was having a hard time deciding who to root for. (This leaves her free to support Ha-ni. Aw.)

The last event is a relay race, which both Seung-jo and Joon-gu are anchoring. Ha-ni is also running a leg, as is her teacher, who enjoys rubbing in her class’s imminent victory to Ji-oh. Although Ji-oh had shared his class’s indifference, he can’t abide Kang-yi’s side bet to call him oppa if he loses. She even teases him about losing on purpose in order to be called oppa, and he shudders at the thought. This gives him new motivation to win this event to prevent such a horrific outcome.

But not without suffering some indignities. Min-ah gives the misfits a nice head start in the first lap, but Ji-oh, determined not to lose, makes up the difference in the next. Kang-yi flails and reaches out as he passes her, accidentally grabbing his pants as she does.

She goes down, and loses precious seconds that she attempts to make up for by throwing the baton at the next runner, Ha-ni. (Impeding an opponent and throwing the baton — nobody’s gonna call cheating? Just sayin’.)

Thankfully, Ha-ni is a fast runner and she blows by her rival, clearing the way for Joon-gu to carry them to victory.

But then, a curious thing happens: Seung-jo smiles directly at her, and this messes with her mind. Suddenly thrown into confusion, the two boys blur together in her mind, and her tunnel vision narrows to one point: Seung-jo.

The sign of an effective bit in a comedy is when it makes you cringe so badly for the heroine’s behalf that it kind of hurts, and you have to pause the video to lessen the impact of the moment. Hypothetically speaking.

With her mind messing with her eyes, Ha-ni misses the hand-off to Joon-gu and instead reaches for Seung-jo. He’s awaiting his own teammate’s baton and doesn’t accept it; as he succeeds in his own hand-off, he thinks, “Idiot.” Ouch. But he’s not wrong.

Seung-jo is the toast of his team, but what warms Mama’s heart is the smile on his face as he takes a moment to bask in the victory.

Ha-ni’s team, on the other hand, is bummed to lose, particularly the pizza. The team clamors for Ha-ni to buy it since she lost the race, at which point Joon-gu totally wins my heart for jumping to her defense. He takes the blame for the race, apologizing to Ha-ni for bungling their hand-off. Aw! Joon-gu, you win one free pass for future boorish behavior with this move. (But just one! That’s one wrist grab or forced back hug — but not both — so use it wisely, buddy.)

His acceptance of blame means the class wants HIM to buy the pizza, then, and unfortunately he doesn’t have a spare hundred bucks lying around to do that. Saving him from the wrath of a pizza-craving horde, Seung-jo’s mother makes her appearance and offers to treat them. Instead of revealing who her son is, Mom introduces herself simply as “Ha-ni’s fan.”

That night, Seung-jo asks Ha-ni about the baton pass, guessing that she got ragged on by her peers. Even so, Ha-ni’s in a good mood, saying that it was all okay because his mother bought them pizza, which surprises Seung-jo.

He sighs that Mom’s always causing trouble, which he means affectionately. Even so, Ha-ni speaks up to say she really likes her, and that his mother’s presence brought her happiness today. Mom, listening just around the corner, is gratified to hear it.

Ha-ni explains that her own mother never came to her school, since she died so young. Her father and grandmother did, and “I was thankful for that, but I don’t think it was happiness.” Today, it felt like her mother came to school.

Perhaps mention of her mother rouses some sympathy in Seung-jo, or maybe it’s just his growing interest in Ha-ni, but in any case it’s becoming clear his feelings are changing. (Albeit against his will.) Example: Ha-ni says she has to help prepare dinner, and he starts to blurt that she should rest. Catching himself, he amends his words to say that she ought to earn her keep since she’s mooching off his family.

Ha-ni interprets Seung-jo’s comment about her costume as more mocking, since a compliment, even a grudging one, is completely beyond her expectation. Therefore she thinks that he told her “You had no ears” (gwi-ob-da) rather than what he really said: “You were cute” (gwi-yub-da).

Dad comes upon Mom as she’s updating her blog with her new photos, and Mom says with satisfaction, “Since Ha-ni’s been here, it feels like real people live in this house.” She takes particular notice of a photo of Seung-jo after winning his race, because it’s been a long while since he’s has smiled like that.

The two families have dinner at Ha-ni’s father’s restaurant, and as usual, Seung-jo is the sourpuss of the group, with little bro doing his best to be Sourpuss Jr. (I’m convinced that his constant iPod fiddling is just an affectation, so he can pay attention while pretending he doesn’t care. When clearly he cares, YA BIG FAKING FAKER.)

Dad thanks Seung-jo for helping Ha-ni with her test results, and Seung-jo politely plays down the compliment. Mom jumps in and says that it’s more impressive that Ha-ni taught Seung-jo how to study, and the parents engage in a round of Thank-you, oh no, thank YOU.

Everyone has a glass of makgulli to toast Ha-ni’s accomplishment… which means Ha-ni gets tipsy. With her tongue loosened, she reveals that Seung-jo’s a big fat meanie who treats her like she’s nothing and called her a public menace who mooches off his family. The guilty look that flashes across his face is pretty gratifying; put that way, he comes off as quite the bad guy.

Ha-ni slurs, “Even if you’re so great, can you just look down on people like that?” This declaration disappoints Mom, who had thought the kids were well-matched and hadn’t realized that Ha-ni hates Seung-jo so much.

Seung-jo retaliates by reciting Ha-ni’s confession letter, which swiftly turns the tables and mortifies her. She reluctantly admits that it’s true she wrote it, but vows that she’s just wiped out every last bit of lingering affection for him.

Ha-ni’s proclamation is tested immediately when Seung-jo is pressed to carry her home, because the half-cup of rice wine hits her hard.

Seung-jo says sarcastically that she got what she wanted in the end with the piggyback ride. That jolts her out of her tipsy haze and she wants to be put down, but he points out that it shouldn’t bother her to be carried since she’s soooo over him, right?

She hurriedly agrees, but Seung-jo can feel her heart racing against his back and can’t resist commenting on it, which makes her pull back self-consciously.

He also teases her about her “severe condition” — will she be able to nurse when she has babies? Meaning, of course, that her chest is flat. Man, he really knows how to hit a pubescent girl where it hurts.

Ha-ni remembers that taunt when she wakes in the morning, now painfully aware of her flat chest. An idea seizes her, and she stuffs her bra with socks, pleased with the more robust silhouette this produces. When Seung-jo’s gaze takes note of her newly augmented chest, Ha-ni smiles with satisfaction.

At breakfast, Seung-jo tries to teach his brother how to jump rope for an athletic test at school, because Eun-jo’s having trouble. Ha-ni offers advice, but Eun-jo sneers, loath to take suggestions from such a dimwit. Ha-ni, to her credit, doesn’t take Eun-jo’s constant insults to heart and keeps treating him with friendliness.

Demonstrating how to jump, Ha-ni’s skills earn grudging respect from Eun-jo. Seung-jo, always the Debbie Downer of the group, is reluctant to give Ha-ni any props and sits there with his silent grumpyface. I particularly enjoy the Harrumph expression at below left. Totally the face of someone who doesn’t care at all.

Of course, all this jumping has an unintended side effect, which Seung-jo is the first to notice. Something lies crumpled on the ground, and it looks like… a sock?

Ha-ni looks down at her chest, then squeals in protest as she dives to retrieve the fallen sock before anyone else gets to it.

At school later that morning, the kids hang out before class begins, and Ha-ni reaches for her book, not noticing that a photograph flutters down from inside it. It’s the snapshot that Seung-jo’s mother had stuck in there earlier.

And let’s just say that without any context, it’s pretty incriminating: it shows Ha-ni and Seung-jo asleep at the table during one of their tutoring sessions in the previous episode.

As if that weren’t bad enough, there’s no faster way to attract the rest of the class’s attention than to exclaim loudly, “Why are you sleeping with Baek Seung-jo?”

With the photo posted on Mom’s blog, it takes no time at all for the news to spread through the school. Ha-ni tells her friends the truth, while bratty Jang-mi stews in indignation and Joon-gu nurses a broken heart.

As for Seung-jo? Yeah, he’s not happy either.


COMMENTS

I think one of this drama’s charms is also its biggest liability, and that’s the lack of a strong plot from episode to episode. As I noted with Episode 1, this episode is also a loose string of events rather than a plot-driven hour of strong conflict, motivation, and escalation.

There are advantages and disadvantages of this approach. In its defense, I understand that this narrative looseness is the entire point. I haven’t followed shojo anime or manga closely, but I have seen and read enough to appreciate what this drama is doing. As in those types of stories, the overall series is carried by small events collected loosely together in a slice-of-life format, rather than relying on a high-concept hook. That works particularly well in anime with the shorter running times that accommodate smaller conflicts. And in this regard, Playful Kiss feels a lot more like God of Study than Boys Before Flowers.

The interstitial moments with the band Bye Bye Sea also reinforce that vibe, and I find those bits charming.

On the downside, an hour is a lot of time to fill without much conflict. I like vignettes, but I firmly believe that it’s possible to string them together in a way that carries momentum and tells an overall story instead of a ten-minute vignette leading into another ten-minute vignette.

There’s nothing wrong with making an episode around an athletic contest, for instance. It’s okay that the story is a small one — but give it more of an emotional throughline. This is what American television shows do so well. If you have an A, B, and C storyline in every episode, don’t start and finish A, then start and finish B, then start and finish C. You start A, B, and C all at the beginning, then you let them play out over the hour, and hopefully if you’re good enough, the end of the episode will resolve all three points in a surprisingly harmonious way.

Three episodes in, I still don’t know what the plot of this overall drama is. “Guy eventually falls for girl” isn’t a plot, it’s a concept. So what’s the story? I think this lack of momentum is the biggest reason that this drama has failed to pick up an audience, because there’s no urgency. Is Episode 10 going to tell the exact same general story as Episode 1, only in slightly different configurations?

Boys Before Flowers may have been a hot mess in the plotting department, but it did manage to create arcs in its vignettes, and connected episode to episode with an overall story. They didn’t always do it WELL, but I felt like they were heading in a clear direction. I sort of feel like Playful Kiss is paddling in the kiddie pool.

On the upside, this lack of direction can be mitigated by cute interactions, good chemistry, and adorable scenarios. In that regard, I am enjoying watching this drama; it’s not all bad stuff. I just think it could have been so much better.

EPISODE 4 RECAP

Ha-ni’s friends insist on seeing Baek Seung-jo’s house, so she brings them for just a peek from the outside, when Mom finds them and insists they come inside, to Ha-ni’s horror. She’s sure that Seung-jo will be furious. I think you should go with your gut on that one. Duckie has followed them there, and pouts like a sad little duck as he watches them go inside, confirming that she really does live there.

Seung-jo comes home and has a fit, already angry because of the rumors, and annoyed that she’s bringing friends home now to gawk. Mom intervenes, saying that she heard the news, and takes the blame for the picture and the blog. He doesn’t let up, demanding that Mom take down the blog this instant, But she isn’t about to give up her hobbies over her teenage son’s rumor-angst. He yells at Ha-ni to leave him alone and huffs upstairs.

Ha-ni’s friends start to leave to avoid the awkward tension, but Mom invites Ha-ni’s friends on their camping trip to the beach this weekend. Ha-ni worries about missing school, but Mom insists it’ll be fine. Well that should be a fun time.

Duckie calls Dad for some money, desperate to rent Ha-ni a room somewhere so he can get her out of Seung-jo’s house. But alas, that’s not an option to poor Duckie. He gets some unsolicited love advice from a bum via Van Gogh, and it revives his conviction to try his best to win Ha-ni over.

That night Seung-jo still has it out for Ha-ni, and growls at her all over again, still pissy that she’s made their living situation public and generally interfering with his life. She takes it, and cries alone in her room, thinking that she didn’t even cry when The Letter happened, but now she can’t hold back the tears.

Later, Seung-jo stews in his room with his window open, and he can hear Ha-ni on the phone with a friend, insisting that she’s fine, and even defending him, saying that he must’ve been really shocked by the rumors, and that she’d react the same way. This softens his mood a little, since she’s clearly the most understanding person ever.

They each sit at their windows, thinking over their actions of late. How cute that their windows are right next to each other. I love those directorial touches. I remember loving the across-the-hallway antics in Goong.

The next morning Seung-jo wakes up to find that he’s not going to school like he thought…they’re all going camping at the beach for the weekend, and he’s being dragged along. Little Brother Eun-jo has already been kidnapped by Dad and is being held hostage in the car. Something’s wrong when both young boys in the family would rather go to school than play hooky and go to the beach. Were you both dropped on your heads as small children?

The family plus Ha-ni’s friends get ready to leave, when Mean Girl shows up unannounced, ready to join the party. Hey rude-o, who invited you? Duckie goes to school to find all the girls gone, and when he finds out that Ha-ni is at the beach with Seung-jo, he flips his lid. With no money and no way to get there, he uses a sick aunt as an excuse to ask the principal for his scooter, and heads to the beach in glee. A girl stops him in the street to give him a promotional lighter, and when he reads the label, he sees that it’s for a massage parlor. Without thinking, he puts it in his pocket, which I’m sure he’ll come to regret later.

The family heads to the beach in their little camper, and Mom sneers disapprovingly at Mean Girl, who has ingratiated herself with no tact. She suggests karaoke, which Mom shoots down, so Ha-ni suggests they play a word game. They go around, and when it’s her turn, she has to say a four-syllable phrase starting with “baek,” so she blurts out, “Baek Seung-jo, jjang!” (jjang = best) Hahaha. Okay, you got me there, Show. Laughed out loud.

He smiles widely, teasing her that she must’ve wanted to say that badly, since she was the one who suggested the game. She’s embarrassed, but she laughs good-naturedly. When these two are teasing and laughing they’re a-DOR-able.

When they arrive, Mean Girl changes into a skimpy bikini, while Ha-ni wears a cutesy one-piece. Mom tells her that she’s the cutest, and fishes for Seung-jo to tell her the same, but he replies that she looks like a grade-schooler. He nonchalantly walks up to her and hands her a pair of socks, saying, “You need these, right?” Ha. How totally unexpected and funny of you, Seung-jo. You have a sense of humor!

Ha-ni looks at them, not getting the connection at first, and then it dawns on her that he remembers her sock incident from the other day and knows that they’re for, erm, enhancements. She looks over at him in a murderous rage, and mutters under her breath, “God, today I will end that jerk, and go to Hell.” Ha. I love her.

She runs over to him, yelling at the top of her lungs, but trips and falls flat on her face. He asks if she’s okay, but then when he sees how mad she is, he takes off running. She chases after him, and when she falls again, he makes sure she’s okay, and runs away again. Aw, I love it when these two are chasing each other like little kids. So cute.

On his way to the beach, Duckie has some scooter trouble, so he pulls over and takes a peek in the gas tank. It’s too dark to tell if it’s empty (because you can’t look at the gas gauge?) so he takes out that lighter, and peers inside…

Heh. So, not the brightest bulb. Well, that lighter did come back to bite you in the ass. Just not in the way that I thought.

While everyone is resting, (and the two dads are buried in the sand) little Eun-jo starts teasing Ha-ni, so she gives chase, and he ends up going into the water and egging her on to come and get him. He starts to lose control and flails about, and Ha-ni screams for help but she’s too far for anyone to hear her. She braces herself and jumps in after him, but then they both end up struggling in the water.

From a distance, Seung-jo keeps an eye on them, thinking at first that they’re playing around. But then he sees Ha-ni waving her arms in the air and takes off running like the wind. He goes in after them, and Min-ah is right behind, and she pulls Eun-jo out. He sputters out some water, but is okay.

Seung-jo hauls Ha-ni out, and she’s more traumatized than anything else, because she’s afraid of the water and can’t swim. She clings to him in terror, crying, as they fall to the ground and she leans on his chest, crying uncontrollably.

Later as the bbq gets going, Dad has a heart to heart with Ha-ni, saying that he was so scared when she was in trouble and he was stuck in the sand. Aw, I love good father-daughter relationships. At his mother’s behest, Seung-jo brings Ha-ni a cup of water, and Dad lets them talk, thanking Seung-jo for saving her.

Seung-jo chastises her for jumping in when she can’t even swim. She didn’t know what else to do since no one could hear her, and pouts that he’s still admonishing her for stuff when she’s still not feeling well. He sneers that she’s fine and she knows it, making her pout all the more.

Just then, they hear a scream from the campsite, as Duckie appears, blown up and battered. He doesn’t even explain himself before asking, “Where is my Ha-ni?”

It’s time for bed, so the guys go to the tent, as the girls plus Eun-jo head to the camper. Eun-jo stays quiet, but he starts to see Ha-ni in a different light, after her rescue attempt earlier today. Aw, I knew you’d come around, kid!

The dads chatter away in the tent, and Seung-jo sits outside by himself, playing the guitar. Oh, goodness. Here we go. Let’s not all faint at once, shall we, girls? No squealing! I will put my foot down if it gets out of control! Okay…not gonna lie. Kind of hot.

Duckie sits down next to him, begrudgingly impressed that he can play the guitar. Seung-jo asks if he came all this way just because of Ha-ni. Duckie says of course he did, since, “you’re a red-blooded male, and there’s no telling when you’ll turn into a beast.” HAHAHA. Even Seung-jo laughs at that.

Seung-jo: Why don’t you just move into my house then?
Duckie: Do you have an empty room? … Don’t you get any ideas around her. Just remember that I’m always watching you.
Seung-jo: You like Oh Ha-ni that much?
Duckie: Oh, hey….um…when you ask it so…directly…I just…want to make her happy—that’s my dream.
Seung-jo: You do that then. You fit well together, you and Oh Ha-ni.

The camera pans over to Ha-ni, who has heard their entire conversation. She sighs with her hand over her heart. Poor button.

Back at school, a list of universities goes up, and the girls start to stress about college entrance exams, hoping that there’s at least one school in all of Korea that they can get into. Ha-ni insists that they can do it if they work hard, and her friends decide to latch onto her 50th-place-scoring train, aka the Seung-jo Train. They come over to study with her, in the hopes of getting some much-needed help from genius boy.

They run into a problem they can’t solve (Number 1, ha) so they send Ha-ni over to Seung-jo’s room to get the answer. She refuses to go over there out of embarrassment, but they knock on Seung-jo’s door and shove her in there.

Ha-ni asks for his help on one problem, but he shuts her down cold. She argues that it’ll take him thirty seconds, but he says that even that would be a waste of time. Gah, I want to smoosh your haughty nose with a big ol’ dictionary! Ha-ni says that thirty seconds of his time means the rest of their lives to them, which even he can’t argue with, so he solves it for her, literally in 30 seconds.

They move onto the next problem…which leaves them scratching their heads again, so off she goes, back to Seung-jo. Listen, if you had trouble with Number 1, it’s usually not going to get any easier from there on out, if ancient memory serves. She keeps having to go back, later and later, until she’s getting him out of bed late at night. He screams at her to come back in fifteen minutes, so she goes outside to wait, and then he comes storming out and throws the book at them, shouting, “Now don’t step foot in my room anymore!” They look down to see that he’s filled out the entire book, and solved every problem. Heh.

At school the next day, the girls marvel at the solved problems, wondering how nice it would be if he’d explain some of his methods too. Ha-ni balks, asking if they’ve already forgotten what they had to go through to get these answers from him. Their classmates see the book and put two and two together, and all of a sudden, they all want in, on study sessions with Seung-jo. Ha-ni’s eyes pop out in horror, not knowing what to do. Duckie is the only holdout, and when even his lackeys join the group, he sighs and comforts himself with a little squirt of hairspray. Ha.

When Seung-jo comes home from school, he’s greeted by the entire 7th class, eagerly awaiting his tutelage. Seung-jo refuses right away, muttering under his breath at Ha-ni. But Mom grabs him and tries to talk him into it, while Ha-ni hides among her classmates, desperate not to raise Seung-jo’s ire any further. But he catches sight of her, and yells at her to come out.

Her friends pull her out and send her to the front, where she pleads with Seung-jo to teach them, just once. He’s totally exasperated with her, but she pleads so cutely. How could you say no to that face? C’mon!

Cut to Teacher Seung-jo, giving the entire class a physics lesson in his living room. Heh. The best part of this? Hey, I remember that Force = mass x acceleration! Cue trumpets.

After they leave, Ha-ni is in good spirits (especially since all she did during the study session is swoon over Seung-jo). But Seung-jo snaps at her attentiveness in his usual cold way. Mom sees this, and feels bad for Ha-ni, who starts drooping at the shoulders.

Just then, Mom gets a call, and a light bulb goes off in her head. She starts clucking, “Omona, omona,” over the phone and running around in a panic. She makes up an excuse to get everyone out of the house for dinner except Seung-jo and Ha-ni, and tells them to take care of dinner on their own. Aw, how cute is she?

She tells the rest of the family to meet at Ha-ni’s restaurant, where she confesses to leaving them home alone, because there are things between a man and a woman that can only be solved by “staying home.” Keh, keh.

At home, Ha-ni insists on cooking dinner, but of course burns things to a crisp. The look on Seung-jo’s face is pretty funny, as he tries to figure out what he’s about to eat. They scrap her “Hawaiian Locomoco” and Seung-jo whips up some egg-wrapped rice. Can this guy do everything? What’s the fun in a character who’s good at everything?

Ha-ni marvels at his cooking skills, but he simply says it’s because he’s smart. Ha-ni muses that Duckie must be smart too, since he’s a really good cook. The look on Seung-jo’s face spells j-e-a-l-o-u-s, as he snits that what Joon-gu makes isn’t cooking. Ha-ni goes on and on about how good Joon-gu’s food is, which just makes Seung-jo put his spoon down and take the plates away before she can even take a second bite. Ha.

Mom decides to haul the family to karaoke to prolong the kids’ alone time, and Ha-ni gets to studying. She smiles to herself that even though Seung-jo complains, he still helps her with all her subjects. She can’t find her English book with all her embarrassing scribbles about wanting to marry Seung-jo, and she realizes she must’ve left it in his room.

So she sneaks in while he’s sleeping to retrieve it. She almost clears the room without incident, but suddenly Seung-jo darts awake and grabs her wrist just as she’s about to leave. He takes the book as a flimsy excuse to come in here late at night, and pulls her onto the bed (omo!) and leans over her. He says that this must’ve been what she wanted when she came in, and repeats Joon-gu’s words that he’s only a red-blooded 19-year old. What’s he supposed to do? Haha.

Ha-ni panics, and Seung-jo leans in for the kiss…

COMMENTS

Well if that’s not a fantasy sequence I’ll give you my left foot.

I’m not the biggest fan of ending on a fantasy sequence, since either way the resolution is a disappointment, right? Regardless, it’s at least a better fantasy than the ones we’ve been getting, so that’s a plus. I mean, really, what teenager isn’t a raging bag of hormones?

I do really like the characters, and I like the world. There’s something very earnest and sweet about this drama that I like, because it’s not too cool for school, or trying to be so slick that it forgets to be about the human moments. That’s the appeal of a slice-of-life story, and I’m a fan of that type of storytelling.

That said, the episodic nature of the drama in this format (for television) isn’t really elevating it past delivering what’s expected. I keep wanting more—more tension, more expectation, more rise and fall. It doesn’t have to be a faked, manufactured tension. I mean organic stuff out of these characters’ lives, such as someone finding out about a long-harbored crush, or the effect of the rumor mill at a high school. These can be played for a little more dramatic oomph, even if the scale of the stories remains small.

In short, I want the show to take the elements it has, and then inject a few stakes in the game—even if it’s a heightened version of the stakes that we already have, such as pride, jealousy, etc. I hate to be a debbie downer about the ratings, but if there’s no TENSION, then people aren’t going to tune in to see what happens next. There’s a reason we call our dramas crack, right? From one addict to another, what’s a girl gotta do to get the good stuff?


EPISODE 5 RECAP

Turns out Seung-jo’s fake-out kiss maneuver (I almost wrote “meaneuver,” which should totally be a word) is just another prank. He lets it go far enough that Ha-ni thinks he’s being serious and nervously suggests they date first. Oh, Ha-ni. Half the time I want to be you with your adorable facial expressions and ten million hairdos, but then you are so sweetly gullible that I cringe for you so hard it hurts a little.

Seung-jo bursts out laughing at her choice of words, and Ha-ni dashes out of the room, mortified. She leaves behind the reason she went there in the first place — her workbook covered in “I ♥ Seung-jo” doodles, which he smiles to read. You act all cold, Mr. Genius Robot Boy, but you sure don’t hate her adoration, do you?

Tearily, Ha-ni wonders if she really is stupid for liking him even after he treats her like this. But she can’t control her feelings.

On to the Topic of the Day: university admissions. As third-year students, Ha-ni and her crew are worried that with their grades and limited smarts, there may not be any schools that will accept them. With the help of her teacher, Ha-ni tries to find an angle that will bolster her case for admission, asking her father about notable relatives in their family history.

After exhausting the list, they find one spark of hope to cling to: Blood donations, which Ha-ni makes regularly, count as community service. This gives them a school to target: Parang University, with its social sciences department, which is also Min-ah’s school of choice because of its animation department.

That university fervor doesn’t extend to Seung-jo, however. While the other kids study madly and pin their hopes on particular schools, he zones out dully.

When Ha-ni’s computer goes on the fritz, deleting the school application she’d been working on just as the deadline looms, Seung-jo is called upon to restore it. (Thankfully he succeeds.)

Ha-ni knows that Parang University is a long shot, which makes Seung-jo wonder why she flipped out so much to get her application in. Her answer pretty much sums up the dynamic between them and shows why we love her: “I still have to try my hardest.” For her, college is about finding out what she’s good at and what she likes.

Seung-jo asks how you know when you like something, and there’s something sad about the way he says it with genuine curiosity, as though he truly doesn’t understand this thing called human emotion. Ha-ni answers, “When you find something you like, your heart races.”

At that, Seung-jo raises a hand to his chest but sighs when he doesn’t feel anything. Looks like the Tin Man still needs a heart. He says, “I’d like to feel that too.”

Teacher Kang-yi exults to prove her detractors wrong when two of her students — Ha-ni and Min-ah — pass the preliminary round for admission to Parang. They still have a rigorous interview to undergo, as well as entrance exams to take, but this is a promising sign.

A sudden typhoon hits on interview day, however, which is enough to cancel school and keep most people indoors. Ha-ni braves the weather, determined to make her interview come hell or high water. (Literally.)

In fact, most of the intervewees have decided not to risk the storm and don’t show up. One interviewer is sympathetic to their plight, but the snappish lady (and head interviewer, it seems) is not pleased. So a storm hits and these kids just decide to put life on hold until it’s over?

Ha-ni faces the panel nervously, stumbling a little when she’s asked what she’s most interested in and blurts automatically, “Baek Seung-jo!” (Cringe cringe cringe.) But the nice interviewer takes her explanation with an open mind as she amends that she’s most interested in people. With Seung-jo in mind, Ha-ni launches into philosophical musings about how she’s been wondering how and if we are truly able to understand people.

It’s not a bad way to present herself, but the waspish head interviewer asks why they should pick her, and Ha-ni falters, unable to think of an answer. She’s coolly dismissed.

Ha-ni: “You’re right, I’m not really good at anything. Even I’m amazed that I made it past the first round, and I’m really grateful for it. But I think I can say this: If you choose other impressive students with good grades and lots of awards, but those students don’t study because they’re lazy, or they just give up because it’s raining, and you feel like it might be damaging to your school, then pick me. I’m slower than others, but I don’t give up. I stick things through to the end. That’s why my nickname is Noah’s Snail. Please raise this one snail.”

Seung-jo drops a bomb when he announces he’s not going to take the college entrance exam, nor does he intend to go to university: “Because there’s nothing I want to do, and no place I want to go.” He isn’t being a brat; he just don’t know how to live, and doesn’t want to just go through the motions of copying other people. Mom sighs that he has no goals because he’s good at everything, and the adults worry about how to handle this.

Ha-ni tries to talk to Seung-jo, settling for speaking through his locked door, suggesting gently that he at least take the test. What if he skips the test, only to change his mind? She’s always thought that people who have a lot could share a lot, whereas she has nothing to share because she’s so lacking. It’s a sweet way of pointing out that he has a lot going for him without being petulant about it.

The family breathes a huge sigh of relief when he decides to take the exam after all. He’s got a little cough, so Ha-ni springs into action and offers him some cold medicine.

It isn’t until after he takes it that he asks if it’s the kind that makes you drowsy, and to her horror, it is. She urges him to throw it back up, but he just sighs and says this is typical Ha-ni behavior.

Thanks to the pill, Seung-jo drowses through the test, his vision blurring and his head nodding in sleep. When the proctor warns him time is running out, he looks up in horror and starts hurriedly zooming through the test. As a result, the whole school is abuzz with the possibility of their star pupil crashing miserably in this most crucial of moments, and naturally Ha-ni is blamed.

When the scores come out, Seung-jo is shocked, but not for the expected reason. He muses, “I must really be a genius,” because as usual, he’s performed brilliantly.

Ha-ni is elated, relieved to not be responsible for the ruination of a young genius’s future. It’s super sweet that she exults for Seung-jo, even though her own scores have come out very poor.

Now for the wait. Ha-ni sticks close to her phone, hoping for a call, and slowly her spirits flag. Eun-jo plays a prank on her, making her think for two seconds that she got in, which is just… so… cruel. (Lying in the name of love, going on a revenge warpath, switching babies at birth — those are kdrama conflicts I can handle. But screwing with college admissions? Let’s just say, if somebody pulled a prank like that on me, I’d be in prison right now.)

Min-ah gets her acceptance call, which is further disheartening (for Ha-ni, who is nonetheless excited for her friend). So when her call finally comes, she’s convinced she has failed and thinks it’s another joke. Upon realizing that it’s true — she got in because someone else backed out — she exults.

Seung-jo smiles to himself as he watches her reaction. And isn’t it telling that he only ever smiles at, with, or to Ha-ni?

Seung-jo’s parents give Ha-ni musical tickets as a congratulatory present, and she makes plans to meet Seung-jo’s mother there. (It’s the Goong musical — way to cross-promote, Group 8.)

This gives Mom another opportunity for matchmaking fun times; she tells Ha-ni she’s running late, then sends Seung-jo in her stead, telling him that she got stood up. Ah, way to pull the Mom In Need card, which no Korean boy can resist!

Mom credits her acting for this success, but Eun-jo has caught a whiff of Seung-jo’s changed attitude and wonders if his brother might have another reason…

Seung-jo us being pressured to attend a top school, Tae-san University, but doesn’t understand what the big deal about college is. Ha-ni recites some words her grandmother used to say, which are to live life with a spirit of fun.

He mulls those words over, as though the concept of fun is one that hadn’t been programmed into his bank of simulated human emotions. The word “fun” does seem to appeal to him, at least on a theoretical level since I’m not sure he’s ever experienced it first-hand. Cutely, Ha-ni says that if he went to Parang, she’d make it fun for him.

If this is how we eventually get these two at the same university, I LOVE it! Earlier, I’d assumed his doped-up testing experience would be the great equalizer that would force Seung-jo to consider a lower school like Parang, but if he chooses it… well, you’ve just won me over, Playful Kiss.

Seung-jo picks out a doll from one of those claw-hook machines, and although he tosses it at Ha-ni indifferently, his response proves otherwise. She asks if it’s for her, and he retorts, “Do you think I picked it so I could keep it?”

They are joined by Joon-gu and his posse, who happen to be in the area, and what ensues is the adorablest bit of metaphorical dick-waving ever. I mean, insofar as male posturing can be adorable.

Seung-jo carelessly tosses his crumpled-up cup into the wastebasket, earning him Ha-ni’s admiration. Joon-gu scoffs and follows suit, proving it’s no big deal, which makes Seung-jo pinchy-faced to have his prowess challenged. He gets up, tosses a soda can into the air, then high-kicks it into the trash can. This earns him more wide-eyed wonder from Ha-ni, to his satisfaction.

Joong-gu attempts the same, but no dice. He falls clumsily to the ground, and Ha-ni stifles a laugh. Seung-jo smirks, pleased with himself.

This spurs Ha-ni into one of her flights of fancy, wherein she imagines the boys in a Baroque display of dueling over her affections.

She gets so caught up in the fantasy that she imagines them about to run each other through on their swords and bursts out, “NOOO!” To which both boys look at her quizzically and she lamely covers by turning the “No!” into a round of calisthenics.

Now that Ha-ni’s university future is secured, it’s time for Seung-jo’s next round in the Tae-san admissions process. Recalling Seung-jo’s indifference over college, Ha-ni decides to follow him to make sure he ends up at Tae-san.

She sneaks along at a distance, and a brief run-in with a pedestrian causes her doll to drop from her bag — the one Seung-jo won for her. She looks back to spot it lying in the middle of the crosswalk, and worries over whether to dash back to get it, or keep going.

Seung-jo doesn’t seem to notice he’s being followed, but when he hears a car screeching and hitting something, he stops in alarm. Passersby gasp at the girl who went flying through the air, and he looks back, eyes widening in shock.

Ha-ni ends up in the hospital with a broken leg, attended to by the adults. She’s worried about Seung-jo, and breathes a sigh of relief when Mom supposes that he’s already at Tae-san; he’d left soon after bringing her here.

So it’s with surprise that they all look up when Seung-jo enters the room.


COMMENTS

Finally, some stakes! This is what girlfriday referred to in a previous recap — that it doesn’t matter how small the story is, but we need to feel invested in that conflict and outcome. Till now, we’ve been treated to cute vignette after cute vignette, and this was the first episode that sustained a complete arc from start to finish. There were little cute bits interwoven throughout (like the trash-can duel), which show us that we CAN be cute and slice-of-life and still have a full-fledged plot and progression.

In fact, I don’t think it’s the slice-of-life aspect that was hurting this drama — God of Study was a hit despite a similar smallness of its stories and a vignette-based storytelling format. However, they had an overarching goal propelling the series that drove them from Point A to Point B. Until this episode, we haven’t had that with this drama. I don’t mean we have to focus on university conflicts from now on, but it would be greatly appreciated if every episode gave us a problem to worry about and stakes that defined the characters’ actions.

I haven’t seen or read any previous versions (and mayhap we can please, please lay those comparisons to rest now? Isn’t it getting old?) so I don’t know if this is new or not, but I like that we get some emotional depth in the characters. Ha-ni notes that Seung-jo has his own host of issues with being a genius, because he has no need for school or university or goals. Hence the existential crisis, which is a really interesting aspect to give a kdrama hero.

When I first heard that Seung-jo was a handsome, perfect, smart Big Man on Campus, I groaned at the cliche since that describes practically ever kdrama hero ever. But in making his intelligence a burden, and a problem, his character is given added depth. Ha-ni is also fast becoming the only person who can get through to him (as she did in urging him to take the exam), because she has a knack of framing things in a different way. It’s almost that she’s SO simple that her thoughts are surprisingly insightful in their plainness.

EPISODE 6 RECAP

Ha-ni wakes up in the hospital, with a cast on her leg and a shadow over her mood. Her overwhelming guilt makes her keep everyone at bay, most of all Seung-jo, who doesn’t know why she’s so upset. Duckie and Min-ah come to visit, but she kicks them out, wanting to be alone. Seung-jo stands by her bedside as she cries.

After leaving the hospital, Ha-ni continues to feel so guilty that she can’t face anyone in Seung-jo’s family. She asks Dad if maybe they should move, and he says that they’re more worried about her. She keeps skipping dinner and never coming out of her room, and Mom worries that she isn’t eating.

Seung-jo says he talked to her, making Mom perk up. He says that he thanked her for making it so he couldn’t go to his interview. Mom frowns and takes away his dinner, saying that he can’t eat either. Ha.

Ha-ni decides in a fit of angst to run away from home (where’s she planning to go, the restaurant?) and packs a suitcase with a heavy heart. She sneaks out past the front door, only to find Seung-jo lurking in the yard.

He asks nonchalantly if she’s running away, and when she insists he not stop her, he doesn’t even pretend to try. He offers to carry her bag, in fact, since it looks heavy. He then hands her an envelope from her university, and it’s a full-ride scholarship letter. She reads it, realizing that it’s not for her, but for him.

They’re basically offering him the moon to go to school there, and Ha-ni notes that while it’s such vastly different treatment than what they gave her, he must be getting such offers from every university ever.

He muses that this past year was the most disruptive, crazy year he’s ever experienced, never knowing what to expect and always encountering something new. She starts to say that she’s sorry, but he adds, “…it was fun.” Ha-ni: “So…you’re going because of me?” Seung-jo: “Not because of you. Because of me.” He borrows her own words, saying that until he finds what he wants to do with his life, he plans on having some fun. Aw.

She asks to come back inside, and he carries her bag back upstairs. She asks if he’s known all this time while she was feeling guilty that he was going to the same school as her, and he nods like it’s no big deal. Ha-ni: “Why?” Seung-jo: “Because it’s fun. Why? You don’t like it?” Ha-ni: “No! I do!” Seung-jo: “I know.” Gah. Cheeky!

She does a silent dance of joy by herself to celebrate. How cute are you? She conveys her youthful crush with such embarrassingly true girlish antics—I love her.

Duckie begs for Ha-ni’s dad to teach him his noodle ways, and ends up helping out at the restaurant. Ha-ni picks up a part-time job at a convenience store because she lacks the money to buy Seung-jo a proper present. Shouldn’t you be working at your dad’s?

She tires herself out working late every night, until one day Seung-jo walks into the store. She gasps and hides, not knowing what to do, and by the time he comes up to the register, she greets him looking like this:

Hahaha. He’s startled, especially when she asks him to take his own change, since she can’t see anything with her hood zipped all the way up. Her boss happens to walk in right at that time, so she gets fired immediately.

Luckily, she comes upon a chicken shop with a Help Wanted sign. She starts going on deliveries right away, earning more money than she was before. She heads on one last delivery for the night, and ends up at her own house, delivering chicken to Seung-jo. She doesn’t know what to do, so she greets him one more time, hood zipped up, scaring the beejezus out of him. Hahaha. This gag is hilarious because it’s all visual.

On her way home that night, Ha-ni gets a call from Min-ah, saying that she hasn’t been able to get a hold of their friend Ju-ri for days now. She hasn’t been around much, ever since they both got into the same university, and now she’s MIA. Ha-ni runs all over town searching for her.

She and Min-ah finally find her at school, angsting over what to do with her life. They encourage her to do what she’s really good at and loves, so she decides joyfully to ditch her books and go to beauty school.

Ha-ni finally gives Seung-jo the gift she worked so hard for: a head massager? He rebuffs her as usual, but overhears her telling Mom that she worked part-time jobs to earn the money. He cracks a smile at that, putting the pieces together from that weird night.

It’s graduation day. Already? We sure are moving quickly, Show. The principal announces that both Ha-ni and Seung-jo will be going to Parang University, and Seung-jo takes the stage for his valedictorian address. He gives a nice little speech, ending with Ha-ni’s grandmother’s words, to live a life that’s fun and makes others happy.

Ha-ni then gets called up to join him, to receive their diplomas as representatives for their classes. What kind of a graduation is this? Well, it’s an excuse for them to stand on stage together, and of course Ha-ni fantasizes about it being their wedding ceremony instead. She shouts out, “I swear!” (The Korean version of “I do.”) Duckie objects, Mom objects to Duckie’s objection, and everyone has a good laugh.

To top it off, Seung-jo wants to get off the stage as fast as possible, but on her way down, Ha-ni slips and lands on his back. You should’ve just piggybacked her the first time. Now you owe her double from dodging the first. The universe will always collect on piggybacks owed.

Everyone wants to take pictures with Seung-jo post-graduation, but he pretty much ignores all of them, even leaving Mean Girl’s side mid-shot. Mom wants Ha-ni to go ask him, so she stands near him and looks up expectantly. Aw, I so distinctly remember being nervous to take a picture with a boy I liked. Such a huge deal, for such a little thing.

He scoffs that she has the gall to ask him for a picture after today, so she slumps down and starts to walk away. But he pulls her back and puts his arm around her for a picture. Everyone around them gasps, and while Mom takes the picture, Seung-jo repeats Ha-ni’s words in the convenience store, to take his own change. She looks up at him, horrified, as he smiles devilishly like the bastard that he is. Haha.

The first class and seventh class end up partying at the same restaurant, where Duckie is about to start a serenade for Ha-ni. She stays slumped down in embarrassment, Duckie sings and dances his heart out, and Seung-jo looks on. He laughs at first, looking down on Duckie the way he does, but then when he gets close to Ha-ni during the song, Seung-jo starts to get jealous. Love it.

Ha-ni’s dad gets swamped at the restaurant, so he calls Duckie to come and help. He’s torn because he wants to stay with Ha-ni, but he decides to make the classic second-lead mistake: he decides to help her silently, in the shadows. He goes to the restaurant to play the dutiful son-in-law. Tsk, tsk. You’ll never get the girl that way!

Seung-jo starts to publicly humiliate Ha-ni for disrupting his life and having a crush on him. Okay, that’s just mean. Knowing she likes you is one thing, even if it’s public knowledge, but teasing her for it publicly is awful. He relentlessly points out that she’s written his name all over her books and everyone laughs, at which Ha-ni finally has enough and takes out her secret weapon:

She passes the picture around and Seung-jo freaks out. He snatches it and grabs Ha-ni by the wrist (gah) and drags her outside.

He leans in close, and Ha-ni starts to get scared, so she announces that all she did was get revenge because he took the fact that she likes him and used it to make fun of her in front of everyone. I approve. That deserves bigger retribution than an embarrassing photograph, I say.

She tells him that she’s done harboring her crush, and that with the end of high school comes the end of her feelings for him. She vows to forget him.

Seung-jo: “Forget? You’re going to forget me?”

And with that, he leans in for a kiss. Ha-ni’s eyes widen in surprise, and Seung-jo leaves, turning back to challenge her, “Try to forget me now.” Ack! He adds the equivalent of “neener” at the end, just to make it extra adorable. Gah, how can you be such an ass and so cute at the same time? It hurts my brain.

Ha-ni slides down the wall in utter shock. In disbelief, she thinks to herself, “I. Kissed. Baek Seung-jo.” Her reaction is so great because it’s such a shock wave to her. He may have just kissed her to pull her strings, but it shakes her to her core.

The next morning, she wakes up with a girlish squeal. God, I love that feeling of waking up the morning after something amazing happens. It’s the best feeling in the world.

She wonders what to say, and how to act, thinking about how awkward it’s going to be to see him. He comes out of the bathroom so she’s forced to confront it head-on, but he’s as mean to her as before, like nothing happened. She frowns, confused and hurt that she’s the only one who’s turned upside-down and he’s the same as before.

He dashes off to school without her, and she meets up with Min-ah and Ju-ri on campus for lunch. Everyone’s sporting a new look for college, and they aw at each other’s grown-up changes. Ha-ni blushes at the sight of another couple kissing, and her friends get it out of her that she kissed Seung-jo.

On their way out, Ha-ni almost gets hit by a car. The driver gets out, and it’s our introduction to Yoon He-ra (Lee Shi-young). So far all we know is that she’s an upperclassman, and she’s lookin’ good.

Ha-ni goes to find Seung-jo in his lecture hall, and is forced to do the awkward, “I was just dropping by…” when He-ra appears in the doorway. She asks if Ha-ni is his girlfriend, to which he replies the equivalent of: “As if.”

Ha-ni can’t believe his answer. But…what about…the kiss?

He-ra invites him out for tea, but he declines and leaves. Ha-ni can’t help but smile, and when He-ra sees her reaction, the claws come out. Ruh-roh. It’s the birth of Mean Girl 2.0.

COMMENTS

My hopes were raised by the cohesive story of Episode 5, but they dipped again when we started to race through choosing college, graduation, and the start of university. I feel like the college-application episode was such a welcome neat little narrative box. Now we’re back to the loose vignettes. Sigh.

It looks like Meaner Girl is going to be an interesting character, not least because she’s played by Lee Shi-young, so I’m looking forward to some meaty conflicts there.

We finally got our first kiss, and it was delightfully playful, as promised. Kudos, Seung-jo. You have successfully made our heroine’s heart flutter and die a thousand deaths in one fell swoop. You walk a dangerously fine line between rat bastard and swoon-worthy dreamboat, but I suppose we wouldn’t have it any other way.

EPISODE 7 RECAP

Curiosity piqued by the sophisticated Yoon He-ra, Ha-ni asks Seung-jo about her. She’s surprised to hear that He-ra is their age, and furthermore, she’s at the top of their class, like him. Ha-ni tries not to feel intimidated, and stammers a denial when Seung-jo asks if she’s jealous.

But Seung-jo can read Ha-ni like an open book and decides to have a little fun. He says a little jealousy isn’t out of the question, given that they did kiss. He leans in close, making Ha-ni close her eyes and wonder if this is going to be Kiss No. 2… until he laughs at her gullibility. You bastid!

Ha-ni realizes he was messing with her, discouraged at this indication that the kiss meant nothing to him. Her friends commiserate, but are unable to stick around for their planned lunch date — Ju-ri got a job at a beauty salon, while Min-ah has to eat lunch with her department.

That leaves Ha-ni to eat alone. Although she can’t bring herself to ask Seung-jo to join her, it’s a pleasant surprise to run into him anyway.

Another surprise: The guy behind the counter — who gives Seung-jo an especially small serving of rice — is Joon-gu. He’s taken a job working here, in order to keep tabs on Ha-ni.

Ha-ni finds a table for them, but to her disappointment, Seung-jo joins friends at another table without so much as a word. (To be fair, it looks like he initially intended to join her, but got called over. Still, dude, you can’t even give a teeny explanation? I know, that’s not your style. That would be — gasp! — polite.)

Later, she spies Seung-jo sitting at a bench, and eagerly makes her way to join him. But just as she does, he’s joined by an older student, Kyung-soo, who tries to recruit him to his club. After some resistance, Seung-jo agrees.

Ha-ni is, naturally, curious to know which club it is. It’s why Seung-jo purposely doesn’t tell her, because he knows she’d follow him there.

Being called out on it doesn’t stop her: When he heads to the club’s meeting room, Ha-ni stealthily follows. He’s on to her, and leads her astray, but she eventually finds the right room. This is Top Spin, the tennis club.

Spotting her arrival, Seung-jo doesn’t even look surprised and mutters that she found him after all. To her surprise, there’s another familiar face in the group: He-ra. Seung-jo and He-ra were both champs in the national high school tournament two years ago, explaining how they know each other.

By now He-ra has sized up Ha-ni as a rival, and although she maintains a pleasant tone of voice, her words border on bitchy — that Ha-ni shouldn’t have come since she doesn’t know how to play tennis. Ha-ni replies that she was told that all she needed was interest.

Seung-jo tells He-ra to let it rest, but he can’t have us thinking he’s doing it to be nice, can he? He has to tack on the comment, “She’s a thoughtless girl anyway.”

At the first practice, the gentle and welcoming Kyung-soo takes his place as their training coach. (Shockingly, he’s only a second-year and 21 years old — his older appearance is a key gag with his character.) Ha-ni finds Kyung-soo very kind, but He-ra and Seung-jo trade smirks, because Ha-ni’s about to find out the truth.

Which is? Kyung-soo transforms into a fearsome drill sergeant the moment he gets on the court. He tests the members’ proficiency levels one by one, barking orders and delivering fierce serves that can’t be returned.

Kyung-soo is nervous around He-ra, though (methinks it’s a crush), and gives her an easy serve. She wants a proper one, and this gives her the chance to show off her prowess. Seung-jo is next, and he crushes Kyung-soo. This earns him the others’ admiration but sends Kyung-soo’s temper up another notch, with only one member left: Ha-ni.

Ha-ni’s scared to go out after Seung-jo has pissed him off — particularly since this is her first time holding a racquet — but go she must. She dodges a few balls in fear, and then one flies at her face. She blocks it with the racquet, which recoils into her face and knocks her out.

Funny enough, this impresses Kyung-soo; he praises Ha-ni for her focus on hitting the ball, disregarding her own safety. This guy’s a NUT.

Once he’s off the court, though, he’s back to his mild-mannered self. When the club goes out for drinks, he separates himself from the group, embarrassed of his behavior.

Everyone marvels at how perfect and talented He-ra and Seung-jo are, and speculate that both were very popular in high school. He-ra says she wasn’t interested in dating, spouting off a bunch of Sartre about loving the self and the nature of human existence. Blah blah blahhhh.

And then, Seung-jo completes her sentence for her, continuing the pretentious display of pseudointellectual quotitis. (What? That’s a thing. I sure saw plenty of it at my school.)

Everyone is lost in all this philosophical flim-flammery, particularly Ha-ni, feeling the gulf between her and them. (And this is when I realized why I love this dynamic so much — it’s totally Bridget Jones and that stick insect lawyer bitch Natasha. I’m fine with He-ra running about with her nose in the air because despite painting herself as the Perfect Mate to the Perfect Man, she’ll never beat the Lovable Everywoman because she’s lacking something fundamental. Like a heart.)

The trio’s next run-in takes place in English class, where they’re joined by a fourth — Joon-gu. When the lecture starts, the instructor asks Ha-ni a question, but as she doesn’t understand English, she turns to Seung-jo for help. He ignores her, so she makes a garbled apology in her broken English.

Joon-gu also attracts the teacher’s notice, who asks if he’s a student in this class. Joon-gu can communicate in English about as well as a monkey, so He-ra speaks up and explains to the teacher that Joon-gu’s not a student, and that he’s only here because he likes Ha-ni.

Then she turns to Joon-gu and, with her steely-sweet voice, calls him a public menace. She adds under her breath that she hates stupid guys, which are the same words Seung-jo used to describe Ha-ni.

Ha-ni glumly says to Seung-jo’s mom that Seung-jo must like those pretty, smart, skinny girls — the kind that abound at school. Mom immediately understands that a third wheel has hitched herself along for the ride, and reassures Ha-ni that she and Seung-jo are the type who have to be together to be perfect, like a pot and lid. It’s a cute way to show that they’re complementary, not carbon copies of one another.

Ha-ni drops by Eun-jo’s school to deliver some school materials, where she sees that he has a crush on a classmate. To help him along, Ha-ni approaches the girl and invites her home and, naturally, she and Mom spy. The playdate doesn’t go very well — the girl’s bored and petulant — until Seung-jo arrives.

Suddenly, she perks up, wowed at the handsome oppa. In fact, she’s bold enough to ask at dinner whether Seung-jo believes in love at first sight. Seung-jo hasn’t ever thought about it, but the little hussy says she believes in it now, then requests, “Oppa! Please just wait seven years!” (I presume she’s 13 and means until she’s of age at 20.)

POOR EUN-JO. Mom tries to give him a pep talk, but it just doesn’t have much impact to hear mom tell you how cool you are. Ha-ni asks if Seung-jo even cares how Eun-jo feels, and calls him a player.

This gives her the chance to unload her frustrations about He-ra, and I love that she calls him out for playing around with her feelings — he smiles at her intentionally to confuse her and never is clear on whether he means something or is joking. She grumps, “Go ahead, you guys suit each other… you’re both mean anyway.”

Catching on to the source of her complaint, he asks if this is about He-ra instead of Eun-jo. Ha-ni says they’re the same thing.

Eun-jo lashes out at Ha-ni when she comes to talk to him, saying this was all her fault for asking the girl over. Ha-ni agrees, apologizing for overstepping. Eun-jo is feeling raw and retorts, “What do you know?”

But one-sided love is something Ha-ni knows very well — she understands exactly what it feels like to be ignored by the one you like. She sighs, “Eun-jo, I think that for two people to like each other at the same time is nearly a miracle. One day, will that miracle happen for me?”

She says it wistfully, and Dad overhears from inside, perturbed. With that on his mind, he asks Joon-gu if he really likes Ha-ni that much. Joon-gu explains that when he was always getting into trouble and avoided by the other kids, Ha-ni was the only one who befriended him. There’s a moment that’s a bit sad when Joon-gu calls himself pathetic, working while all the other kids are off joining clubs in college. But he’s intent on building himself up quickly so he can propose to Ha-ni. Oh, Duckie. My heart, it bleeds for you.

Seung-jo brings He-ra home to work on an assignment, and Ha-ni finds herself caught on the balcony outside the living room. She scurries behind the screen to avoid being seen, but alas, the two settle down to work there and she is forced to keep hiding.

The report is on cultural studies and leads to some more philosophical musings about the crux of Nietzsche’s ideas. He-ra has the idea to make their project with a visual medium rather than a written report, and they get out the camera to create some homemade claymation.

Ha-ni sees Seung-jo’s absorption in his project and finds it discouraging — she’s never seen him look like that, and it further highlights the gap between them.

Mom arrives home and hears from Eun-jo that Seung-jo’s friend is super pretty, and immediately her Momdar pings — this must be Ha-ni’s rival, and this automatically means she must be discouraged. (Mom is awesome.) Thus she receives He-ra coolly, much as she once saw through the B.S. facade with Jang-mi. Go Mom!

I’m starting to love to hate He-ra, because she’s so uppity that you can’t help but root for her downfall. For instance, when He-ra finds that Ha-ni didn’t know Seung-jo is only a special member of the club (i.e., he can skip practices), she laughs that they’re not even that close — it means she finds Ha-ni utterly unthreatening: “It’s no fun without any tension.”

Yeah, she’s that perfect bitch who likes to make things harder on herself because otherwise life is so boring, poor baby.

Bothered by Ha-ni’s explanation of her one-sided crush, Dad decides that it’s time to move. He makes this decision with a heavy heart, but feels that it would be best for Ha-ni — he doesn’t like seeing her struggle.

Mom doesn’t take this well. The parents had meant it when they said they wanted the Oh family to keep living with them. Ha-ni’s father answers that this will help Ha-ni give up on Seung-jo faster — they all know that he’s not interested in her.

I love that Mom insists that Seung-jo will come to like Ha-ni, and she clutches at straws by asking if it would be okay for them to stay if Ha-ni married into the family. She just really loves her and her bright energy.

Overhearing, Eun-jo tells his brother that Ha-ni’s leaving, and while Eun-jo says this is good news, Seung-jo’s reaction proves that he doesn’t consider it as such.

Seung-jo heads to Ha-ni’s room to confirm that it’s true, at which point he says (completely unconvincingly, I might add), “Well, I can finally get back to life as normal.”

In a sad voice, she says she hopes so. He leaves her with the words, “Have a nice life.” Not exactly the most charming goodbye, is it?

But even if he can’t say it in words, Seung-jo’s disappointment is clear. I think the above images just about sum it up.

Soon, it’s moving day. Ha-ni and her father ready to leave, and it’s a sad day all around, particularly for Seung-jo’s mother.

Ha-ni thanks Mom for everything she has done for her — from buying pizza for her classmates to inviting her friends to the family trip and just being an overall awesome mom.

Seung-jo studiously keeps his gaze averted — I wonder if he feels partially guilty, especially with his parents so heartbrokenly saying their goodbyes. He says a quick and casual “Bye.”

After the Ohs drive off, Eun-jo exults in getting his room back. Seung-jo asks for lunch, and I love Mom’s response: She whirls around and glares at her boys, saying it’s all their fault. Yeah, I’m gonna bet there was no lunch that day.

I presume that Seung-jo’s light send-off to Ha-ni was his way of overcompensating, since he can’t be earnest for the life of him and he sure as hell isn’t going to admit to any disappointment. But next he goes into Ha-ni’s room, looking around at the empty space, and he finds her doll on the bed, the one he’d won for her in the machine — she has left it behind.

(Worst episode ending ever! Well, not really, but I just wanted more of Seung-jo’s reaction before we cut out, and feel impatient for more.)


COMMENTS

Okay, so girlfriday’s gonna make SO MUCH FUN of me (I DON’T CARE JUST BRING IT ON, WOMAN), but I have never, and I honestly mean never, found Kim Hyun-joong attractive before — yeah, he’s beautiful, but I got no pull from him, no personal charisma — yet his messy perm is totally doing it for me. It’s weird. I know it’s weird. I can’t help it! It’s not that I like Seung-jo all of a sudden (he can still be an ass), but he’s starting to seem like a human now. A human you can rumple and do naughty things with, as opposed to a robot where you can’t. Or shouldn’t. (Really, really shouldn’t.)

It seems that messy hair in dramas (and not just Korean) has come to indicate a messy personality. I’m not saying that people think curly-haired people are messy; it’s just become this narrative shorthand. Some people commented on this straight-curly relationship regarding Lee Seung-gi in Brilliant Legacy. Another one is Hong Gil Dong — in the beginning when he’s a troublemaking wastrel, his hair is a bird’s nest of messy curls, and it gradually straightens as he matures. Whether or not it’s consciously meant to do this for Seung-jo, for me it evokes a loosening of his personality, and I like that.

Also, this episode (the ending, at least) brings us to one of my favorite points in any romantic kdrama — the reversal where the indifferent hero suddenly has to face the prospect of not being so indifferent after all.

Usually I’m dying for the heroine to take the hero down a notch or five after being underappreciated by him for so long — to just smack that smirk off his face and show him that you’re strong and worthy. I’m pretty sure Seung-jo IS trying to be nice to Ha-ni sometimes, but he can’t admit that to her or himself and tacks on rude comments to make it seem like he’s indifferent. He has the luxury of doing that because he smugly believes Ha-ni’s always going to be around, so he can tease and toy with her as much as he wants and never lose her affection.

But I understand that Ha-ni’s not the kind of girl to lash out at him — her very appeal is in how open, sweet, and genuine she is. So if she can’t knock him down a peg, how great for the circumstances to do that for her? She moves out, jolting him with the thought that maybe he can’t just take her presence (and by extension, affection) for granted anymore.

Or at least I hope that’s how the story progresses.

EPISODE 8 RECAP

Ha-ni looks out her window in her room above the noodle shop wistfully. Dad comes up and tells her it’s just a temporary room, while work on the new house is being finished. She puts up a stiff upper lip and heads downstairs, but Duckie and Dad can’t manage to cheer her up.

At Seung-jo’s house, Mom is in a funk over Ha-ni’s departure. Seung-jo tries to convince her to go out, but she doesn’t want to do anything anymore, and nothing makes her laugh. She asks if he’s okay (a little accusingly) and he answers flatly that he finds it peaceful.

Mom: Peace? What is that peace? Is it knowing exactly what to expect? Having everything in the palm of your hand? Isn’t that why you were bored and suffocated before? Isn’t the reason you went to Parang because you disliked that peace?

Duckie gets permission from Dad to take Ha-ni out on a date, in an effort to cheer her up, but she doesn’t answer when he calls. Seung-jo takes out the present he got from Ha-ni before their college exams, and thinks of her.

The next day, Ha-ni announces to her friends that she’s not only left the house, but given up Seung-jo for good. She declares that she’s going to find a really awesome new boyfriend, and says goodbye to Seung-jo in her mind.

They drag her to lunch, saying that she has to face Seung-jo at some point, and sooner is better than later. But everyone stares at them oddly as they walk into the cafeteria. When they walk in, they see why. Duckie has put up an embarrassingly giant banner that declares Bong Joon-gu’s Current Love Mood: “Oh Ha-ni got tired of Baek Seung-jo so she said goodbye!” Okay, worst tweet ever.

The girls fear that Seung-jo will see it and assume the worst, but too late…he’s standing right behind them, and with He-ra at his heels, no less. He-ra further rubs salt in the wound by commenting on the childish ploy to get Seung-jo’s attention, but Ha-ni retorts that she’s forgotten Seung-jo already. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t look happy about it.

At Top Spin, Kyung-soo asks Seung-jo to attend their weekend retreat, and when he refuses, he challenges him to a doubles match: Seung-jo and Ha-ni vs. Kyung-soo and He-ra, and if Seung-jo loses, he has to attend the retreat.

Mom finds out that Seung-jo went to a Top Spin meeting, deducing that he must’ve gone to run into Ha-ni. She puts on sunglasses and goes herself, and runs into Min-ah and Ju-ri, who tell her about the ensuing match, and the fact that Seung-jo and Ha-ni kissed the night of graduation.

They lose the match, of course, due to Ha-ni’s inability to, well, play tennis. Kyung-soo rubs it in that it’s Seung-jo’s first loss ever, and challenges him to a rematch at the retreat, with the same partners. To Ha-ni’s horror, Seung-jo accepts, clearly because it’s an excuse to spend time with her, though he wouldn’t admit it.

He trains her, even putting his arms around her to show her how to swing, and she tries hard in her Ha-ni-esque way. He-ra notes to Seung-jo that Ha-ni seems to be working at it quite fervently (in her condescending tone, of course), and Seung-jo smiles as he tells her that Ha-ni is fun, and there’s a “fun in raising her,” because you can see directly that hard work equals results. She admits that it must be a new feeling for him, since he doesn’t have to try to be good at everything. He notes that He-ra is the same way, which is again a nod to the pot-lid metaphor.

Ha-ni packs for her retreat, and Duckie, taking some advice from Dad, chooses not to follow her, and instead packs her a lunch. He tells her to always think of him as “home”—the place where she can come back to, and he’ll always be there. AW. Ten points, Duckie.

At the retreat, Ha-ni gets singled out for being late, and gets saddled with dinner duty, missing out on training. He-ra also decides to tell her that she’s interested in Seung-jo, and plans to tell him. Why are you even saying this to her, you smug little princess? I can’t wait till he flat-out rejects you. I hope it’s in public.

Ha-ni struggles with dinner prep, so she pouts at Seung-jo to help her. He totally caves, making the entire dinner. The best part is, he lets her take all the credit for it. Cute.

At practice, he works her to the bone, but she doesn’t give up, sticking it through. He of course doesn’t say anything nice to her, but he smiles to himself, impressed by her snail-paced brand of doggedness.

The next day Seung-jo has to attend practice during dinner prep time, so Ha-ni has to go it alone. Everyone’s bewildered at the table full of burnt food, wondering what on earth happened to the master chef (they call her Dae Jang Geum, ha) from last night. Seung-jo gets outed as the culprit.

Later that night, Ha-ni keeps an eagle eye on He-ra, who is about to make her move. She calls Seung-jo outside for a private conversation, and Ha-ni can’t help but follow. She eavesdrops as He-ra tells Seung-jo that she likes him. She asks how he feels, and he doesn’t answer.

It turns out they have quite an audience, however, as Kyung-soo creeps up from behind them, running smack dab into Ha-ni and scaring her. They make enough noise to get caught red-handed by Seung-jo, who uses the opportunity to dodge He-ra.

He grabs Ha-ni by the wrist and takes her away for more practice, leaving He-ra behind. Well there’s your answer right there, Miss Perfect. She looks down in disappointment, then throws a glare at Kyung-soo.

It’s the last day of the retreat and Ha-ni practices hard till the match. She manages to get her serve down, which is a huge accomplishment, and Seung-jo smiles as he watches her. He congratulates her on a job well done and flashes her a smile, and Ha-ni’s resolve melts in all of .5 seconds.

But of course, being Ha-ni, she can’t do anything without incident, so she slips on a tennis ball and sprains her ankle. Seung-jo tends to her sweetly, telling her to get on his back. He’s voluntarily piggybacking you now? You are totally the winner.

He tells Kyung-soo that they’ll play the match another time, and carries Ha-ni away, smiling. Aw. You lurve her! Even He-ra smiles as she concedes defeat…at least for now.

Following more of Dad’s advice, Duckie undergoes a makeover. Kyah, hello, Cutie! You were adorable before, but now you’re kinda manly AND adorable. But Ha-ni has no chance to react, as she gets brought home by Seung-jo, limping from her injury.

Seung-jo’s presence totally steals his thunder, and Duckie slinks away dejected. He takes it hard, but is soon enough back to his usual chipper self, loving Ha-ni from afar. Poor puppy. Your devotion is sweetness itself.

He-ra asks Seung-jo to a movie after class, and Ha-ni follows them. You’re turning into a regular stalker, aren’t you? She sighs that she’s always dreamed of going on a date like this with Seung-jo, picking out what to wear, where they’d go…but now all of those things will belong to He-ra.

She turns around to stay hidden, and lo and behold, Kyung-soo’s here stalking them too. He suggests they join forces, in an attempt to stop the unholy union that is He-ra and Seung-jo. They head into the movie together. (Gah, does everyone get to watch Cyrano Dating Agency but me?)

During the movie, He-ra tries to lean on Seung-jo’s shoulder, but Ha-ni blocks her with a magazine. Heh. They finish the movie without incident, but when Ha-ni sees Seung-jo being kind and friendly with He-ra, she doesn’t want to follow anymore. She asks herself what she’s doing, and faces facts—if they like each other, there’s nothing she can do.

She gives up, not wanting to become any more pathetic. She turns to walk away before her tears come tumbling out, but in her haste she runs right into a large guy with an ice cream cone. The guy freaks out about his expensive jacket being ruined, and starts demanding money from Kyung-soo.

He turns out to be a gangster, and his backup arrives as he starts pushing Kyung-soo around. Ha-ni gets knocked to the ground in the scuffle, and Seung-jo appears by her side, to help her up. He gives Kyung-soo the signal to take care of He-ra, and on the count of three, each of them grabs a girl and runs in opposite directions.

Seung-jo takes off running with Ha-ni, both of them smiling as they leap in step with each other.


COMMENTS

Not as good as Episode 7, which had such a strong emotional beat in Ha-ni’s departure from Seung-jo’s house. But I enjoy her current arc of attempting to get over Seung-jo and put herself first, which is never easy, but important for her to learn. I like that her crush has taken on a more serious tone, as Duckie’s has too. The changeover to college is a nice tonal shift, because the narrative is finally attempting to put more emotional weight behind each significant moment, rather than glibly stringing along a series of cute scenes, as it did in the high school segment.

I think proactive Seung-jo is definitely a step up, even if he’s still kind of emotionally unaware. I sort of wish they’d play up his social ineptness a little bit more, actually, because it would help to tip the scales in his favor. I want his flaws to be…more flawed.

The love triangles are also taking up a lot more real estate, which I’m good with, since it’s really the only dramatic tension we get in this drama. I hope He-ra continues to be a fierce opponent for Ha-ni, because I can’t wait to see her fall off her high horse.

But what I’m really dying for is a main loveline for Duckie. He’s finally starting to step up his game, and I want him to have a fighting chance for Ha-ni’s heart. Seung-jo deserves to be on the bench for a while, stewing in some good old-fashioned jealousy. I want him to know what he gave up and regret it, and realize his mistake when he sees Duckie being there for Ha-ni.

What we need is something to take the tension past lukewarm. I want some turning of the tables, because I want Seung-jo to earn Ha-ni’s devotion, even if he doesn’t need to.

EPISODE 9 RECAP

Seung-jo and Ha-ni lose the gangsters (dudes, it’s just a suit!). Although Seung-jo comments that this is typical of her, he ain’t fooling us — we all saw you smiling as you ran! Ha-ni hangs her head and apologizes for the trouble, and also for following him — she couldn’t help herself. She concedes that if he likes He-ra, there’s nothing she can do about it…

To her surprise, Seung-jo asks what she wants to do next. As in, a fun activity. As in, a date?

This leads to a boat ride, and Ha-ni thinks giddily that this is like a dream. She’s happy to point out that they’re the only people who “look like a couple,” but Seung-jo never passes up a moment to burst Ha-ni’s bubbles, and he tells her that there’s a saying that couples who come here break up within six months. But that shouldn’t matter, since they’re not even dating, right?

Not wanting to jinx herself, Ha-ni wants to leave immediately and stands up in the boat. Yeah, she’s not bright. On the other hand, she gets the immediate exit she was looking for, and takes Seung-jo with her as she topples into the lake.

Seung-jo buys cheap shirts for them to change into, and Ha-ni realizes excitedly that they happen to match. Like couple tees! And may I point out that HE’S TOTALLY LOVING IT? Oh, he pretends Ha-ni’s being silly, but it’s an excuse for him to have his cake and eat it too — he can enjoy her reaction but still saves face by acting cool. I’ll even bet he chose matching shirts on purpose.

Seung-jo explains that he’d never faced difficulties, but after meeting her, it’s like he’s come into a whole new world. (The real one, perchance?) He compares her to a problem he has to solve, musing that perhaps this is like a test — he has to face it, rather than avoiding it like he used to: “I won’t run away anymore… because the answer is there.” How like Seung-jo the (former?) Robot Wonder Boy to equate human emotions to math.

Ha-ni gapes: Is this a… proposal? He chides her for jumping to conclusions, then clarifies, “I’m saying I don’t dislike you.” Coming from him, that’s downright romantic. “Being with you isn’t easy, but I don’t dislike it.”

Overcome with excitement, Ha-ni hugs his arm and thanks him, because she thought he hated her. He already knows she likes him, but there’s something admirable in the way Ha-ni makes a full-on confession anyway. She promises that although she doesn’t know Sartre and can’t cook, she’ll try to be better.

For once Seung-jo doesn’t snark back and says he’ll look forward to it. In fact, midterms are approaching — he’ll confirm her confession with the test results. (If she really likes him, she’ll try hard and improve.) HOW LIKE HIM.

As they walk off, she notes that his smile is a little different today; she feels closer to him than when they kissed.

The other twosome have a much less successful outing, as Kyung-soo tries to work up the nerve to confess his feelings to He-ra. He’s prepared a speech, but her presence makes him stutter and He-ra, sensing what’s coming, excuses herself before he gets to the point.

Hearing that Kyung-soo’s attempt went bust, Ha-ni gives him advice on how to confess effectively and coaches him with some role-playing.

Remembering her kiss with Seung-jo, Ha-ni makes a similar suggestion, replete with the line “Try to forget me if you can.” As they work out the timing of the moment, the other members see Ha-ni faking the kiss part — only, they assume it’s real.

Seung-jo arrives at practice to hear everyone buzzing about Ha-ni giving up on him and kissing Kyung-soo. The bumbling duo are still oblivious to the rumors and happen to be engaged in a wrestling match when Seung-jo sees them. Yeah, that’s the look of a guy who totally doesn’t care, right? (Ha-ni is trying to stop Kyung-soo from approaching He-ra with racquet in hand, because that turns him into a raving meanie.)

The rumors spread all over school, even reaching Ju-ri at the hair salon. When Ha-ni hears how the truth got twisted, she’s horrified — and after they’d had such a wonderful date! She tries to tell Seung-jo that the stories are untrue, but Seung-jo walks away before she can muster the words, while He-ra smirks and “congratulates” her.

Wanting to set the record straight but afraid to pester him, Ha-ni chickens out of calling him. She ends up going to the house, just in time to hear a thud. Letting herself inside, she finds Eun-jo collapsed on the ground, moaning in pain. His parents are out of town and she doesn’t know what to do, so she calls Seung-jo in a panic.

Seung-jo calms her down enough to instruct her how to take care of Eun-jo until the ambulance arrives. At the hospital, Ha-ni is pressed to make a decision about whether to operate on Eun-jo, and after a fearful moment of hesitation, she agrees to it.

Thankfully everything goes well and Eun-jo is expected to recover in a week, as Seung-jo finds when he arrives. Ha-ni is wound up tight, having gone through a big scare, and the air is strained with the misunderstanding hanging between them. She thinks that he believes she’s interested in Kyung-soo, and Seung-jo’s too emotionally awkward to express his feelings.

He (awkwardly) tries to cheer her by saying the doctor praised her reaction to the emergency. She answers that without his help, she wouldn’t have been able to do a thing.

Since words aren’t working so well for him, Seung-jo gently places a hand on her shoulder to stop her exit. Ha-ni starts to explain about the rumor, but he already heard the real story; he moves closer until he’s right behind her, and thanks her.

His gentle response releases the floodgates, and Ha-ni turns to face him and cries into his chest, saying that she was so afraid that something would go wrong. As he consoles her, she thinks of how these “first warm words I’d ever heard from Seung-jo” have dispelled all the tension that had built up inside her.

Seung-jo’s parents hear from Ha-ni’s father that house construction isn’t going so well, which is their cue to persuade him to move back. This time, Mom has a secret weapon: the kiss between Ha-ni and Seung-jo. Now that they know that Seung-jo initiated the kiss, Ha-ni’s dad doesn’t have to worry about her being stuck in a painful one-sided love anymore.

Over the next few days, Ha-ni drops by the hospital regularly to see Eun-jo, who shares a room with a boy named No-ri who has been here for over a year. The foursome — Ha-ni, Seung-jo, and the two patients — bond while studying together and playing games. Although the nurse scolds them for overtaxing No-ri, the boy is happy to have company and tells them that they’ve made things fun for him.

No-ri’s weak health stems from heart issues, and Ha-ni tears up in sympathy over his situation. That gives her an idea, and she tells Seung-jo that he could do something about it — since he’s a genius, he could become a doctor and cure people. He retorts, “If you tell me to become a doctor, do I have to?” Ha-ni eagerly answers yes.

She says it’s the perfect occupation for him, and wants to see him in a doctor’s gown someday. (Aw. If he becomes a doctor because of Ha-ni…)

The foursome have a lot of fun together, but soon it’s time for Eun-jo to be discharged. No-ri keeps a cheerful face through the goodbyes, but Eun-jo’s unable to contain his tears. It’s only after the group leaves that No-ri cries as he watches them driving away. Aw, a little boy with heart problems crying over the loss of his only friends? Cheap shot! Just tear out my heart, why don’t you.

When the three kids arrive home, they’re surprised with the announcement that Ha-ni and Dad will be moving back in. Ha-ni’s thrilled, as is Seung-jo’s mother, while Eun-jo’s first thought is about what will happen to his room. Hearing that the brothers are back to sharing a room makes Seung-jo grumpy, though I’m telling myself that he’s secretly happy — surely he’d rather have to share a room than to have his own and be stuck with that infernally tedious peace again, right?

Ha-ni joins Seung-jo outside, and they do a whole adorable dance of sneaking looks at each other, turning away when they see the other one looking at them, then stealing another glance. This scene, spare with no dialogue, is utterly adorable for the undercurrent of awareness running between them.

Poor Duckie is in for a rude awakening, and both Ha-ni and her father have a hard time working up the nerve to tell him the news. How could they, when he’s so eager to welcome them to the shop and serves them with his very first creation (special dumplings)? When Joon-gu hears that they’re moving back with the Baek family, you can practically see his heart sink.

Ha-ni’s excited to be back and a little nervous, with her relationship with Seung-jo changed but still undefined. He still gets a kick out of poking fun at her, such as when he mocks the (girly, childish) underwear she dropped on her way to take a bath. He further teases her about being flat-chested, asking if she stopped growing before puberty. Ha-ni pouts, but he says that just looking at her makes him want to tease her. (It’s okay, Ha-ni! He’s totally flirting with you. Like a 10-year-old, maybe, but still! Flirting!)

Dad sees them talking in the hallway, Ha-ni still wrapped in her towel, and hilariously, he tells them that while it’s nice that they’re on such good terms, they’re not married yet… Perhaps they could be more careful? Especially with Eun-jo around? Bwahaha.

Seung-jo finds himself thinking more about his future and his place in the world, though he doesn’t yet have any answers. He’s supposed to declare a major in the second semester, and Dad suggests business. Seung-jo summarily dismisses that.

His preoccupation means he walks right past Ha-ni at school without saying a word — either he didn’t see her, or he doesn’t find her as important as his thoughts. (Either fits his character, really.) Ha-ni laments being unable to tell if he’s interested in her or not, with him running so hot and cold. Min-ah proposes one way of testing his interest: the yawn method.

It’s simple: Yawns are contagious — if you see someone yawing, you end up doing it reflexively. Just yawn in lecture, and watch if he follows suit. If he does, it means he’s been looking at Ha-ni.

Ha-ni tests it out — and sure enough, Seung-jo yawns mere seconds after she does. She exults in this little victory… until she notices that all the women in the class also yawn. (They were looking at Seung-jo. LOL.) ‘Fess up — how many of you just yawned right now?

Seung-jo finds He-ra a welcome conversation partner since she understands what it’s like to be so good at everything that she’s never suffered. (Although Seung-jo considers them two peas in a pod, I suspect that she’s putting on an act and doesn’t get him as well as she’s trying to make it seem. There’s something about He-ra’s reactions whenever he brings up their similarities.)

Her smile fades when Seung-jo says that when Ha-ni moved in, she made him consider that the world could have different ideas than he does, and that those ideas could be right and his could be wrong. Those thoughts took him by surprise, and therefore he’s been thinking lately that he’ll have to experience more of the world.

Here’s a small but hilarious scene: Kyung-soo asks Ha-ni for help with the timing of the kiss. She balks, not wanting to revive rumors, so the other senior member volunteers to play He-ra’s part. Smooch!

Their kiss timing is off, so Ha-ni tentatively suggests that Kyung-soo try his confession while holding his racquet. However, that tilts the balance too far in the other direction; it brings a fierce (some might call it crazy) look in his eye, and his kissing partner runs away to avoid being attacked.

At home, Ha-ni is sent to collect laundry from Seung-jo’s room, and she takes the opportunity to look around. She spots a newspaper with classified ads circled — is he looking for part-time jobs?

When Seung-jo enters, she asks him whether the story she heard from a schoolmate is true — is he thinking of moving out? At his yes, Ha-ni asks worriedly if it’s because she moved back. As we know, a pensive Seung-jo is a pissy Seung-jo, and he says snappishly that she shouldn’t make everything about herself.

Mom overhears this conversation, and this leads to a serious talk with the parents. Seung-jo explains that he wants to carve his own path, including working to earn money and what he can do with his life.

His reasoning is sound, and his parents can’t argue with that. His father, in fact, is rather proud and agrees to let him move out. Mom is less thrilled but doesn’t object, either.

Ha-ni, on the other hand, is crushed.


COMMENTS

Seung-jo, you big romantic robot. I may have to upgrade you to cyborg with all your sweet gestures to Ha-ni, although I’m holding off on that because it looks like it may be one step forward, two steps back with the next episode.

But this is about this episode, and here, he’s surprisingly sweet. This is the most open we’ve ever seen him so far, and not only does he mellow his usually gruff attitude toward Ha-ni, he goes so far as to extend a hand and make an effort. It’s not just the hospital embrace, but expressed in little details all throughout the episode. Take the beginning, when they escape the gangsters. After making his “This is so typical of you” comment, he sees that she’s feeling pretty glum and tacks on the comment that she’s pretty fit to keep up running with him. The swipe at her character is thus mitigated with the compliment, and followed by their date, during which he buys her food, matching shirts, and walks her home. Of his own volition.

More than those romantic strides, though, I’m loving seeing more hints of their complementary relationship. When Ha-ni tells him he should be a doctor, you get the sense he hadn’t considered it before, but is open to the thought. Contrast that to his father’s suggestion to go into business, which he shoots down with his usual cool detachment. It’s not that he’ll pick a career to make Ha-ni happy, but that she, again, has that unique ability to make him see the world in a new light. Like he told He-ra, Ha-ni makes him see that his one perspective of the world may not be the only (or even right) one, so he’s more willing to consider her suggestion.

Even Seung-jo can see that that’s pretty special… which is why I’m annoyed at the previews for the next ep. You have a treasure, Seung-jo, and even you recognize it — SO KEEP HER WHILE YOU CAN, DUMMY.

EPISODE 10 RECAP

True to his word, Seung-jo packs up right away and leaves. Ha-ni just watches tearfully, unable to say anything, and Seung-jo gives her one silent lingering look as he walks out. She bemoans the fact that school is now their only connection, and she’s sure that Seung-jo will soon forget all about her. Oh, Ha-ni.

She sees him pass by on campus, but she’s so deflated that she doesn’t even want to try talking to him. She’s back to being scared, thinking that he wants nothing to do with her. Her friends sigh that she’s returned to her high school situation, back to square one with Seung-jo.

Ha-ni continues to zombie out at school and tennis practice, until Kyung-soo offers up a trade: if she buys dinner, he’ll take her to the place where Seung-jo works. She smiles for the first time in a week.

They arrive at the restaurant where Kyung-soo works on weekends, since that’s also where he got Seung-jo a job as a server. Ha-ni meanders about what to order, as Seung-jo appears at the table. He stays strictly formal with her, just doing his job, but the interaction is enough to bring Ha-ni to tears, because it’s been so long since they’ve spoken.

She finally stops him to say hi, and asks if he’s mad that she came. He just nonchalantly says that he expected her to show at some point (smug bastard), and tells her to keep her mouth shut about it at home. Why? What do you want your parents to think you’re doing to pay the rent, standing on a street corner?

While eating, Ha-ni sees a job posting in the restaurant, so she runs over to get a part-time job, only to find that the last position has just been filled—by He-ra of course. She rubs Ha-ni’s nose in it, in her haughty way, making me want to push her face through a row of chocolate pies.

She asks Seung-jo if she can come by again the next day, which he brushes off as unwelcome. He doesn’t say no, but he does remind her not to say anything about it at home. So of course, she goes straight home and blurts everything to Mom. Haha. You are so incapable of keeping secrets. Mom can’t wait to sneak a peak, and plans to stalk him at work tomorrow. Ha-ni realizes her screw up a minute too late (I know you’re not bright, but really, Ha-ni?) and frets over Seung-jo’s imminent anger.

Sure enough, they show up in disguises, thinking that they’re pretty slick. So, you think your genius son can’t tell who you are, because you’re wearing a hat and sunglasses? Silly, silly family. Seung-jo doesn’t even go through the motions of being upset, since this is pretty much par for the course with Ha-ni and Mom.

He-ra shows up at the table to say hi, throwing Mom into a tizzy, “What are YOU doing here?” Hahaha. I love how she never hides her disdain for Ha-ni’s competition. She even coaches Ha-ni to not let He-ra get anywhere with Seung-jo. She tells her to screw pride and just stick to Seung-jo like glue, and make sure she sees him every day. Peas in a stalker pod, these two.

Her friends tell her the same thing, and she wonders if Seung-jo will hate it if she’s there every day. But they remind her that following him around is exactly her style, so she decides to go for it, pride be damned.

She shows up again the next day, studying at the table so as not to completely waste her time. Seung-jo just acts unsurprised and put out, but doesn’t tell her to leave either. He-ra shows up at the table to take her order in a thinly veiled passive-aggressive maneuver (the kind that seriously raises my ire).

When Ha-ni says she’ll have anything, He-ra sends over a ridiculous amount of food. She continues serving her in that fake-nice tone, as Ha-ni camps out until Seung-jo is done. He-ra calls her out on her doggedly obtuse method of chasing Seung-jo around, wondering aloud what sort of guy would like a girl like that. Just you wait and see, Miss High Horse.

Ha-ni gets kicked out at closing time, and barely scrapes together enough cash to pay for the crazy expensive dish that He-ra ordered for her. Evil wench. She waits outside for Seung-jo, but then hides when she sees him leave with He-ra.

She follows behind them, reassuring herself that they must be coincidentally heading in the same direction. But she follows them all the way to an apartment building, where they enter and get in the elevator together. Ha-ni crumples to the ground as she assumes the worst—that Seung-jo left home to live with He-ra.

She cries alone in her room that night, imagining Seung-jo and He-ra in bed together, and wondering if his declaration that he doesn’t dislike her meant anything. She heads to school the next morning, only a shell of the vibrant girl she used to be, worrying the family.

She purposely dodges classes that she shares with Seung-jo and He-ra, and tells her friends that it’s really the end this time. It’s so heartbreaking to watch her be so defeated. Seung-jo isn’t exactly a man of action when it comes to stuff like this, but he does look around for her everywhere he goes, wondering why she’s stopped orbiting him.

Min-ah and Ju-ri can’t stand to see Ha-ni so depressed either, and finally decide to do something about it. They track Seung-jo down on campus, and he greets them with, “Who are you?” They can’t believe his 200-IQ brain can’t remember them, and he counters with, “I erase data that becomes irrelevant.” You really ARE a robot. Gah.

Ju-ri can’t understand why Ha-ni likes this guy. They rail into him for moving in with He-ra without ending things first with Ha-ni. He’s of course surprised to hear that’s he’s living with He-ra, and answers that he’ll be straight with Ha-ni then. The girls tell him to be gentle with her, but to let her down firmly. Min-ah tells him that they’re not asking him to stop liking He-ra; they want him to do the right thing by their friend, who’s loved him unrequited, for four years.

They leave, and Seung-jo’s face? It breaks into a smile. Aw, you LOVE hearing how much she loves you, don’t you, you little punk!?

Ha-ni continues this way for two weeks, eating next to nothing and feeling a mess. She realizes that without her trying so hard to see Seung-jo, they don’t actually cross paths at all—hence, it was all one-sided.

But lo and behold, Seung-jo appears next to her at school, and when she gets up to run away, he asks her to wait with him. He plays it cool, saying that they haven’t seen much of each other. He purposely baits her, saying that he spends most of his time with “YOON. HE. RA.” You are totally trying to goad her, pigtail-pulling little boy!

But they get interrupted by a girl, a high school student who comes up, asking if this is Oh Ha-ni. It turns out that she’s being tutored three nights a week by Seung-jo and He-ra, and goes to their old high school, where Ha-ni is a legend for her 50th place record. She greets Ha-ni warmly, saying that He-ra and Seung-jo talk about her all the time, and that she wants to go to school here next year.

Ha-ni realizes that this is where she saw them go the other night, and blurts out, “you’re not living together?” Seung-jo acts surprised, even though he totally orchestrated this whole meeting, just to prove to Ha-ni that he ISN’T living with He-ra, but Ha-ni doesn’t know that, and just squees silently in delight.

My god, Baek Seung-jo…you are such a weird little robot boy, but it’s adorable the way you want to make it so that she keeps loving you. The only objection I have is that you’re doing all this to keep from having to admit your own feelings, but I will concede that you may not have the proper data for your robot heart.

Ha-ni gets back to her old self, making chocolates for Seung-jo, to the utter delight of Mom. She fantasizes giving him a perfectly wrapped box of chocolates, and in return, he gives her…a diamond ring the size of Kansas? Hahaha. Even in a fantasy, you must’ve laced those suckers with love potion or something.

She heads out that night with her chocolates, but it starts pouring rain, and to top it off, her taxi breaks down on her way to Seung-jo. She shows up at the restaurant sopping wet and trembling.

He-ra comes over to her table, telling her it’s useless to wait for Seung-jo tonight because they have a tutoring session again. She brings her a cup of coffee with a side of sass. I would check for arsenic before drinking.

Sure enough, Ha-ni takes one sip and faints. See! Okay, fine, it’s just probably your two weeks of non-eating combined with getting rained on in your condition, but you should consider checking He-ra’s purse for untraceable poisons.

Seung-jo’s boss lets him off early to take Ha-ni home, making He-ra give Ha-ni the evil eye, but acknowledge her unparalleled steadfastness. Begrudgingly.

They head outside and can’t manage to get a cab, so Seung-jo suggests walking to his apartment and then calling Mom for a ride from there. Ha-ni is of course thrilled to be invited over, no matter the circumstance.

Aw, how cute are these two?

They head to his studio apartment, where Ha-ni confirms that she’s his first visitor and Seung-jo calls Mom to come pick her up. But Mom tells him that she doesn’t feel like it, and promptly hangs up on him. HAHAHA. Love Mom!

Seung-jo gapes at his phone in disbelief and goes to shower. Ha-ni freaks out about being in a situation straight out of a romance novel, and wonders how to act. She thinks to herself, gulping, “But…this place only has one room…and only one bed!”

Seung-jo comes out, putting her on edge, and he asks knowingly if she’s nervous. He gives her a change of clothes and she washes up.

Meanwhile, Mom calls Duckie and asks him to relay a message to Ha-ni’s Dad: that she’ll be spending the night at Seung-jo’s place, and not to worry. Duckie goes into Defcon 1, asking where Seung-jo lives, but Mom doesn’t know, and wouldn’t tell him anyway (Ha), so upon hearing vague references to where Seung-jo works, he runs out to track them down.

He eventually shows up at Seung-jo’s restaurant, rain-weary and freaked out, and then passes out.

Ha-ni sits uneasily, as Seung-jo finishes reading and then goes to bed. She timidly says that she’ll just sleep on the floor then, which he agrees to wholeheartedly, telling her to grab one of his jackets, as he only has one spare blanket.

That’s enough to break the spell, as Ha-ni’s spunk returns. She says that most men would insist she take the bed, but he answers coldly that he’s not in the mood to say those words to her. Ha-ni: “You’re not even a human being!” Yeah, that’d be because he’s a robot.

Cue Ha-ni in bed, and Seung-jo on the floor. Heh. She asks if she can turn the light on—she’s afraid of ghosts. He says he can’t sleep with the light on, but then he turns it on anyway. Aw. Next, she wonders if he isn’t cold. She offers to switch places with him, annoying him to the point that he just gets into bed with her, announcing that they’ll just sleep like this, so that she’ll shut up about it. Well, it’s true that this is what she wanted, but don’t pretend that it’s not what you’re angling for either. You just get to use her as an excuse.

But once they’re in the same bed, they can’t go to sleep, and Ha-ni starts nervously gulping again, which he notices. He supposes that she has a valid reason to be nervous, since anything could happen—a kiss, or something more…

He springs up and Ha-ni does too, lingering for a moment…and then he lies back down, deflating her excitement. He turns his back to her, saying that he’s not going to do anything, so she shouldn’t raise her expectations. Aw, man. What about MY expectations? Gah.

Ha-ni frets that maybe he doesn’t think of her as a woman, but he reads her mind, and assures her that it’s nothing to do with her. He just doesn’t want to fall in line with Mom’s plan for his life, strapping him down to her pre-ordained path for him. Well, I see that in theory, but I don’t really see how your desire to not be Mom’s toy solider is trumping your libido here, college boy. I’m not even sure it makes any sense or is necessary, since they could’ve just sweetly spent the night together and not had sex. That’s not unheard of. There doesn’t need to be a reason involving Mom.

Ha-ni smiles as that comforts her, reminding her that he doesn’t hate her, and she can’t manage to fall asleep from the pitter patter of her heart. It turns out that Seung-jo is wide awake too, smiling to himself. They lie awake like that, adorably nervous and content, and trying not to let it show.

COMMENTS

It’s always two steps forward, one step back with these two. But what makes it enjoyable is that it stays true to real life. Ha-ni is so swept up in her emotions that it informs everything she does, probably to the detriment of her college career, but what girl hasn’t been there, done that? What infuriates me about Seung-jo is that one minute, he’s a robot, and then the next minute, he’s playing her hot and cold like a seasoned veteran. But that’s realistic too, because, well, boys are stinky like that. Pull a girl’s braids, call her names, kiss her, then pretend you don’t know her. It’s the same cycle, from kindergarten to adulthood, with slight variations to account for liquor, and the bad judgments that ensue forthwith.

Hats off to Jung So-min in this episode, who plays everything from severe depression to utter bliss in the course of an hour. She makes Ha-ni’s lovelorn conflicts so palpable that I can’t help but be carried along by her roller coaster ride in trying to figure out how to love Robot Boy. Somebody, please…give this girl a hug.

The morning after is less romantic than Seung-jo’s declaration last night might have suggested. Ha-ni turns out to be a disruptive bed-partner, manhandling Seung-jo while unconscious and stealing the blankets. He sighs with frustration while she remains blissfully asleep.

Ha-ni awakens slowly, remembering happily that she and Seung-jo slept in the same bed. Eyes still closed, she reaches out to feel for him, but he’s already up and a little disgruntled as he tells her about her horrible sleep habits.

Breakfast is a cutely domestic scene, which Seung-jo prepares and Ha-ni revels in. Seung-jo makes nothing of eating together, or getting dressed for the day, or walking out together like the junior version of the happily married couple walking ahead of them, but in my opinion therein lies the sweetness — that comfortable attitude treating this all like it’s mundane. Like you’ve already arrived here naturally in your relationship.

In contrast, Ha-ni doesn’t even try to hide how much she loves it, and jumps to play the part of a wife, picking out a red checked shirt for him to wear. He dismisses the choice and picks another, but I’m betting that red shirt makes a reappearance at some point. (It had better!)

At school, a crowd has gathered in front of a sign. Ha-ni’s jaw drops at the embarrassing declaration, courtesy of Joon-gu:

“Baek Seung-jo at last ♥ Oh Ha-ni. They spent a night of love together! Oh! Ha-ni will definitely be wearing the same clothes as yesterday!”

OMG. Mortifying to the nth degree, no?

The students cast knowing looks at the couple in question, and one of them — Mom in disguise as a nerd, lol — prods Seung-jo to explain what happened. Exasperated, he pulls his mother aside and asks her to cut it out.

School is abuzz with the latest rumors, but Ha-ni has nothing to report to Mom or her friends. Nothing happened.

Even He-ra is uneasy about the gossip, and she makes a roundabout reference to the news, trying to get Seung-jo’s reaction. I dearly wish he’d let her stew in her insecurity, but he cheers her up by saying that she ought to know nothing happened with Ha-ni.

In all the excitement of the night before, Ha-ni has forgotten what she did with her chocolates, which she was never able to give to Seung-jo. She laments the loss, but wouldn’t you know, the box is safely back at Seung-jo’s place.

He opens the box and reads her cute handwritten note:

To: Seung-jo
These are chocolates I made myself, thinking of you. I hope you’ll enjoy them~~ ♥
–Ha-ni!

He smiles at the note and takes a bite of a chocolate… and spits it out. In true Ha-ni fashion, they taste awful. But our little Robot Boy is learning that it’s the thought that counts, and he gives a little laugh.

With exams approaching, Ha-ni tries to study, but realizes that it’s spreading herself too thin to try to prepare for all her subjects. Instead, she’ll focus on English, which is the only class she shares with Seung-jo. (Ergo, she can’t drop out of it.)

She spends late nights studying, and when she shows up on test day, Seung-jo notices her wan expression with some worry. He-ra’s feeling mighty self-confident after being assured that nothing happened between them, so she once again falls back on her hateful habit of masking insults as cheery comments, saying that Ha-ni should probably repeat this level next year.

Ha-ni stares at Seung-jo dreamily through the first half of the test session, marveling and how handsome he looks. To her surprise, he reaches back and swaps papers with her — giving her his finished sheet and taking her empty one.

Best of all is the smile he flashes, which sends He-ra into a tizzy. No, I take that back — best of all is that pissy look on He-ra’s face at Seung-jo’s unexpected gesture. I was a little confused — was he actually helping her on an exam so she could join them next year? But perhaps this is just Ha-ni’s deluded daydreaming… (Note: The editing is rather choppy and confusing in this episode.)

Joon-gu is devastated about the latest development with Ha-ni and despairs that he’ll have to give her up. But he gets some unexpected advice from Kyung-soo sunbae (who sees him looking miserable and gives him some suggestions), and resolves to give it another try, starting with a proper confession of his feelings.

He finds Ha-ni after her test and gravely begins his speech, explaining that he’d almost given up, but decided to stick it through. When her head drops forward, he assumes that she feels guilty, not knowing that she’s actually fallen asleep. Lol.

But no matter, because Ju-ri and Min-ah inform him that nothing actually happened between Ha-ni and Seung-jo, which revives his optimism.

Ha-ni’s in for the shock of her life when a strange student comes up to her during tennis club and asks her to go steady. She doesn’t even know him, much less know how to respond to that, and gapes silently as he talks with Kyung-soo.

This is Kim Ki-tae, who has taken a year off school and is about to re-enroll, making him a sunbae. He tells Ha-ni that he’s known since high school that she likes Seung-jo, but figures he has a chance with her because they’re not officially dating. His self-assured demeanor is not at all shaken at her perplexed reaction, and he asks her on a date this weekend.

Ha-ni’s never been asked out before — she’s always been the pursuer — so after the idea sinks in, she starts to warm to it. Oh, she doesn’t like Ki-tae, but it’s a flattering idea, and she enjoys the attention.

Ju-ri and Min-ah hasten to tell Seung-jo, thinking to light a fire under his indifferent butt, only to get the cool response, “Really? So what?” They say that he might find Ha-ni snapped up by that other guy, but Seung-jo scoffs, “Is that so? I’m not worried.”

But since you happen to say that as you’re wearing your Ha-ni-approved, red-checked shirt, I’m deciding I don’t believe you, NOT ONE BIT.

Mom frets over the possibility of Ha-ni falling for the new guy, bemoaning the day when Ha-ni gets “stolen away,” blaming Seung-jo for his lack of action. This will not do.

Officially in courtship mode, Ki-tae treats her with friendly interest, finding her at school and swinging an arm casually over her shoulders. She stiffens and scoots away, but he doesn’t take offense and follows. It’s interesting how he can do that and not come across sleazy.

Ki-tae explains that at first he was provoked by Seung-jo — that hoobae who does everything so well. Ki-tae had first fixated on his pseudo-rivalry with Seung-jo, but in the process he started to notice Ha-ni, since she was always following Seung-jo around. He found her tenacity attractive, and asks her again to date him — she shouldn’t waste her youth waiting for Seung-jo.

He-ra catches sight of their cozy tete-a-tete, and immediately sizes up the situation. She’s thrilled — that takes Ha-ni away from Seung-jo — and enthusiastically pushes the two toward each other. She even skips away in glee.

Mom does recon, spying on Ki-tae, and admits that he’s much cuter than Seung-jo. Ha-ni assures her not to worry, because she’s only interested in Seung-jo.

That thrills Mom, but she jumps to prevent Ha-ni from rejecting Ki-tae right away. Now that her fears have been assuaged, she wants to take advantage of this scenario to stir Seung-jo’s jealousy. After all, he’s feeling too complacent with Ha-ni always around; he needs a little kick in the pants. Rock on, Mom.

I don’t think Seung-jo is jealous, per se, but he doesn’t love this development, either, and it makes him a little more cutting than usual. When He-ra pushes Ha-ni to date Ki-tae, Seung-jo chimes in: “How lucky for you. They say that if one person throws something away, there’ll be another to pick it up.”

Pride stung, Ha-ni retorts that Ki-tae’s just as smart and good-looking as him, PLUS he treats girls much better! Which is, of course, when Ki-tae steps in, pleased at her vote of confidence. He asks Seung-jo to let Ha-ni come to him now, and Seung-jo replies that Ha-ni’s not his, so he can do whatever he wants.

Seung-jo’s comments tickle Ha-ni’s ire, and with a flash of anger she thinks that she may as well go ahead and have a relationship with Ki-tae. (Cutely, she uses the words “have an affair,” as though dating Ki-tae would be cheating on Seung-jo. God, Seung-jo, can’t you just own up to your feelings already? You totally don’t deserve her devotion.)

At the restaurant, Seung-jo is his usual sarcastic self when he takes Ha-ni’s order, thinking she’s going to spend another day waiting around for him. However, she declares that she’s here to meet someone else, which is when Ki-tae arrives. I have to say I love that little look of surprise on Seung-jo’s face when he realizes Ha-ni’s on a date.

Ha-ni pulls back when Ki-tae slings his arm around her shoulders, but that’s when Seung-jo comes around with their drink order, so she ignores him and reacts enthusiastically to Ki-tae’s date suggestions. Seung-jo pointedly interrupts to deliver the drinks, and sets them down a lot slower than he could. Oh, you.

As soon as he leaves the table, however, Ha-ni deflates and drops her cheerful act.

It’s too bad she doesn’t have any interest in Ki-tae, because he’s pretty much the textbook ideal for a kind, attentive date. He looks after her every comfort and makes sure she’s having fun, and she admits that it’s been a while since she enjoyed herself like this.

Hearing that her crush on Seung-jo dates back four years, Ki-tae tells her that he doesn’t expect her to suddenly get over that and like him, but all he wants is for her to think of him a little. At the end of the date, Ha-ni looks around disappointedly, having secretly hoped that Seung-jo would show.

While looking at Seung-jo from afar in the library, Ha-ni decides things can’t continue like this, because she doesn’t want to use Ki-tae. Time to end it.

Ki-tae, on the other hand, urges her to forget Seung-jo, ignoring her attempt to talk to him. He pulls her aside (grabbing her by the neck, aie!), ironically taking the same stance Seung-jo had with the wall kiss as he leans in… and at the last moment Ha-ni squeals, “No!”

That’s when Joon-gu makes his appearance, throwing a punch and telling him to stop pestering Ha-ni. Ki-tae punches back, and this leads to a full-on fight right there amidst the bookshelves while Ha-ni watches in horror and tries to urge them to stop.

Enter Seung-jo, who tells them that there’s no use fighting over Ha-ni. He grabs her shoulder and pulls her close as he points out, “Even so, I’m the only one Ha-ni likes.” With that, leads her along with his hand still on her shoulders.

HA! He can pretend he doesn’t care, but the fact is that he uses the hand-on-shoulder move purposely to signal the guys to back off, because once they’re alone together he drops the hand. She’s feeling miffed at his ego — how confident he must be to declare that he’s the only one she likes. Seung-jo tells her frankly that she and her mother are so transparent.

They have dinner with the parents that night, after which Dad takes Seung-jo aside to ask about his future plans. He suggests that Seung-jo take over his game company, but Seung-jo answers curtly that his father has planned out his whole future without his input.

After that, Seung-jo drops out of sight for a while, and Ha-ni notes that he quits his restaurant job and has stopped coming to tennis club. It takes a while, but she tracks him down to his new job (tipped off by Kyung-soo) as a groundskeeper at a mountain villa.

He’s exasperated with Kyung-soo for telling everyone where he went — in particular He-ra, who pulls up just moments after Ha-ni. Kyung-soo sees this group outing as his chance to make inroads with He-ra, and proposes that he and Ha-ni team up to keep He-ra and Seung-jo apart.

Ergo: couple games, in which he pairs himself with He-ra. Seung-jo sits this one out, leaving Ha-ni and a disgruntled Eun-jo on the same team.

The task is a scavenger hunt wherein the couples must find all seven stamps that have been placed in the forest. There are a couple of funny moments with the He-ra/Kyung-soo pair, not least because He-ra goes hiking in the woods in four-inch heels. At one point Kyung-soo tosses an object in her direction and yells that it’s a bug, which sends her clutching him in fear.

Ha-ni and Eun-jo are both bummed to be stuck in this game without Seung-jo, but Ha-ni tries to make the best of it. A misstep sends her slipping over a small cliff, and she lands in the ditch below. She’s not hurt, but that leaves her unable to climb back up to the main level. Worse yet, they think they hear the howl of a wild animal, which worries them as nighttime approaches.

Joon-gu also works his way through the forest, intent on sticking by Ha-ni’s side at all times. He spots the hat she lost when she fell, and tries to reach for it — and that sends HIM into the crevasse below with an injured leg. He shouts for Ha-ni, and ironically, it’s that sound that makes her cower in fear.

Without a cell phone signal, Eun-jo and Ha-ni settle down to wait for help, and thankfully Eun-jo has come prepared. He shares his blanket with her, and, seeing her shivering, he holds her hands to warm them. It’s cute.

What’s even more adorable, however, is when they think they hear the wild animal approaching, and Eun-jo tells Ha-ni to take cover behind him. Aw! He’s a little boy with the heart of a man.

Seung-jo has remained behind to work, but he’s tipped off that something’s wrong when He-ra and Kyung-soo wearily trudge back and are surprised that Ha-ni’s not back yet. Alarmed, Seung-jo takes off for the forest at a run, knowing something must have happened.

Finding Ha-ni and his brother, he helps them back to safety, and then also finds Joon-gu stranded in the ditch and helps him as well. Joon-gu’s reluctant to accept his help, embarrassed to be at his mercy, and vows to repay this debt.

The next morning, Ha-ni takes a stroll outside, taking a seat at a bench. Seung-jo joins her there, where he tells her, “You should’ve come alone.” He points out, “I thought you liked me and all that. Don’t you know how I feel?”

She starts to say, “I know you wouldn’t think of someone like me…”

He stops her by putting a hand on her shoulder, and then — OMO OMO! — leans down to kiss her.

Only… that’s when Ha-ni wakes up from her daydream, having nodded off on the bench. OH YOU FAKERS. How dare you do this to me and my heightened expectations?

Ha-ni realizes the kiss was just in her dreams, and wishes she’d dreamed a little longer.

But something feels a little different, and she touches a finger to her mouth as she muses, “Still, somehow my lips feel…”

And the camera pans away to reveal Eun-jo, standing at a distance, reacting in shock to something he perhaps didn’t expect to see…


COMMENTS

So the big question: DID HE OR DIDN’T HE?

Also, the little question: That “he” is Seung-jo, right?

At first I wondered if we were supposed to think it was Eun-jo who kissed Ha-ni, based on his reaction — he looks nervous and is breathing harder than usual. We DID see him softening toward Ha-ni when they were stuck in the woods together, but still, I don’t think that makes that much sense. Plus, the ending teddy-bear image shows Eun-jo Bear watching Seung-jo Bear kiss Ha-ni Bear… so there’s that.

Anyway.

This episode (and this entire series, really) made me think how curious it was that you could have a drama without any angst that is still enjoyable. Because, let’s face it: there’s nothing in this drama to worry you, to give you that feeling of suspense or anxiety for the characters. Even if all romantic comedies are a foregone conclusion (boy and girl find love), conflict and narrative tension keep things interesting on their way to achieving Happily Ever After. But in this drama, it’s even more obvious than usual (if that’s possible) how it’ll end, so I feel no suspense, and none of the “complications” are really very complicating.

And yet, despite that, I still find it really entertaining and heartwarming to watch. Hm. It’s interesting.

The relationship between Ha-ni and Seung-jo is developing at a snail’s pace, and I’ll admit there are moments where it gets close to being wearying. Yes, Ha-ni likes Seung-jo. Yes, he likes her back but refuses to admit it. I think it’s time for use to get a little more than that same old, same old — or at least bigger expressions of affection on his part. They haven’t lost me yet, but I do think it’s about time for the couple to be making greater strides as the drama’s finish approaches. I look forward to that.

EPISODE 12 RECAP

Mom asks Seung-jo to move back home and stop giving Ha-ni such a hard time. Seung-jo tells her that he left precisely to get away from her attempts to control him. He notes that she never asked him what he wanted when she brought Ha-ni back into the house, bringing Mom near tears.

After he leaves, she frets that he’s left home to discover his own path, but nothing has actually changed in his life. Dad tells her to wait it out for him to figure things out on his own.

Min-ah and Ju-ri come by for lunch, telling Ha-ni about a high school reunion, complete with a school-uniform dress code. But, didn’t they graduate, like yesterday? Ha-ni gets weak in the knees thinking about Seung-jo back in his high school uniform.

She finds him at school to tell him about it, and he brushes her off coldly, saying that he doesn’t know who came up with such a childish idea, but he’s not interested. Ha-ni mumbles to herself as he walks off, “How can I possibly know what’s in that head of yours?” Yeah, you’re not the only one who’s wondering, as the comments in this thread’ll tell ya.

He hears her and turns around to give her the stink eye, and walks off.

Mom suggests a scheme to get Seung-jo to the reunion. Gah, this is why he’s running away from you. Maybe you want to give the scheming a rest for a while, till he stops pushing Ha-ni away because of your “plans”?

Ha-ni gets dressed in her old school uniform, getting nostalgic for the good old days, even taking out her D-minus love letter and remembering it fondly.

At the event, Ha-ni rubbernecks around for Seung-jo, finding him sitting alone in his regular clothes, complete with sour look of disdain. She heads over and he coughs up her house keys, completing his mom-assigned task with little desire to humor her further. Although it does make me wonder: if you hate being controlled so much, then why do you always do as she asks, knowing exactly why you’re being asked to do it? Not that I don’t know the power of the Korean Mother’s Request For Favors. They’re not requests—they’re thinly-veiled commands from up high, couched in social graces. It’s like if Noriega used words like “please” and “thank you.”

Ha-ni tries to get Seung-jo to stay and have some fun since he’s here anyway, (grabbing his wrist) but he shakes her off and leaves curtly. But not two feet away, when his classmates greet him, he joins them at a table, smiling and chatting like a person not made of inorganic metal parts.

Unsurprisingly, his friends from high school are the cream of the crop smartypants boys from good families, who all went to Taesan University, where Seung-jo missed his interview that day. They see Ha-ni across the aisle and assume that they’re really dating now, making her smile. But Seung-jo, still angry, and well, being Seung-jo and all, flatly denies it, saying, “I don’t keep those sorts of things [girlfriends].”

Ha-ni glares and pouts, then stalks away, and Seung-jo clocks her every move. You passive-aggressive little snot.

At the gathering, Bye Bye Sea gets introduced as Bye Bye Sea, now having officially become a band after high school. While they play, Ha-ni notes that Seung-jo is brooding in the corner, lost in his thoughts. He’s angsting over what to do with his life, now confronted with the fact that his classmates have all chosen majors while he’s still undeclared, and they suggest that he simply rest on his laurels and inherit his father’s company.

The next time Ha-ni looks up, he’s gone. She takes the coat he left behind and heads home, wondering what was on his mind.

Seung-jo heads to his apartment, stopping outside to think over his father’s wishes for him to follow in his footsteps, and Ha-ni’s suggestion that he become a doctor.

Ha-ni shows up behind him with his jacket, (which he totally left there on purpose, subconsciously) asking him to unload on her: “They say that if you share something bad it splits in half, and if you share something good, it doubles.” He smiles at that, and as Ha-ni waits expectantly, he gets up to announce his decision: he will be going pre-med.

Well, duh.

Ha-ni is shocked, though, not knowing of course the extent to which she influences him. He just makes her promise not to say anything to anyone yet. ‘Cause that worked so well last time. She watches him walk away curiously, breaking into a smile when she realizes that she’s the only one on this planet who knows this about Seung-jo. Oh, the power of secrets.

Kyung-soo is planning a Top Spin ten-year anniversary party, and in order to get He-ra to attend, the other club officer (a great side character who I wish we saw more of) tells him to just get Seung-jo to come. For that, he needs Ha-ni, naturally. She doesn’t want to keep using Seung-jo as bait for He-ra, but Kyung-soo pleads with her, and sends her literally into Seung-jo’s path.

She tells him that his dad went to the hospital today for a check-up, and Seung-jo heads home to see the results. He reads the chart and deduces that Dad needs to watch out for his heart health. Mom cuts Dad off from sweets or fried foods, making him pout like she cancelled Christmas.

Ha-ni arrives at Dad’s restaurant to find Joon-gu hard at work on his first official dish that’s going to be served to customers. Dad praises him for his talent and dedication, making Ha-ni see him in a new light. Well it’s about time! She stares at him intently, saying that she’s only known him to be a slacker, but this is the first time she’s ever seen him do anything so diligently. Except love you? But you wouldn’t know about that.

Duckie’s made her a lunch spread fit for kings, and I’m having serious food envy right now. He’s on pins and needles awaiting her verdict, and she takes one bite…”DAEBAK!” Duckie pretty much dies of happiness right then and there.

At school, Ha-ni approaches He-ra with some trepidation, but she asks if she’ll be attending the Top Spin party (No) and whether she’s picked a major. One-track mind, this girl. She’s concerned that He-ra might follow Seung-jo all the way to med school. He-ra, in a surprising moment of clarity that makes me respect her, laughs at Ha-ni’s silliness, saying that she’ll choose her major based on what SHE wants to do…because it’s HER life.

Thank you! Finally a girl with some sense! I know, I normally love to despise this girl, but here she’s a great example for Ha-ni, who’s got some serious growing up to do, in this respect. But then to set the world back on its proper axis, He-ra finishes it off with her trademark condescending bitchiness, petting Ha-ni on the head like a child. Ha-ni frowns as she watches He-ra go, admitting to herself that in this one way, He-ra’s pretty impressive. I certainly hope it encourages you to ask what YOU want to do with your life…other than love Seung-jo, that is.


She runs into Seung-jo on campus, and tells him that He-ra, all of her friends, even Duckie, are all figuring out what they want to do with their lives, but she…isn’t. Well then shouldn’t this be lighting a fire under your ass?

She tells Seung-jo that she does have a dream. It’s to…be his nurse when he starts a little medical practice somewhere. Or to be a stewardess if he becomes a pilot. Or a caddy if he becomes a golf pro.

THUNK. That would be the sound of my opinion of you…dropping so far into the Earth’s core that it came out the other side.

Seriously? What in the WHAT, now? Did you really just say that your Big Life Plan…is to follow Seung-jo around for the rest of your life and be his assistant, his secretary, his token lackey? Why the FRAK did you go to college to get a first-rate education, then??

VOMIT.

I’m ashamed of you right now. I know it’s harsh, but that’s the truth.

Seung-jo smiles and tells her that she’s got unrealistic goals, but they’re her dreams, and very Ha-ni-esque ones at that. He pats her on the back and tells her that the unreachable dreams are ones fighting for.

He gets called home by Dad, who pitches a fit at finding out that he’s chosen to be a doctor. Yeah, that’s not unrealistic at ALL, Show. Dad is heartbroken over Seung-jo’s flat refusal to inherit the family company, so much so that he actually has a heart attack.

Oh, GOD. Really, Show? We’re just careening off the deep end today, are we?

Needless to say, Dad’s stress-related heart condition is enough to get Seung-jo to go in and help run the company in Dad’s absence, and move back into the house. In an amusing bit of meta, the second he walks in, the two women in the office swoon and call him Yonsama. Haha.

Ha-ni relishes playing the housewife (sigh) to Seung-jo while the parents are in the hospital. Eun-jo whines about the abundance of inedible food at the dinner table, but Seung-jo doesn’t make one complaint about her horrible cooking, and eats it, knowing how hard she worked. Okay, that’s adorable.

She calls Dad to ask him how to make an egg side dish, and Duckie overhears that Ha-ni is packing Seung-jo’s lunch. Seung-jo reluctantly takes the lunch that Ha-ni made after hearing that she woke up at the crack of dawn to make it, and smiles when he opens it up.

Duckie comes in, having tracked Seung-jo down at the office, and hands him a new lunch, one that he made instead. Seung-jo lets Duckie run off with Ha-ni’s lunch, since well, he saved him from having to actually eat it. Heh.

Duckie sits in the park with Ha-ni’s lunchbox, eager to taste her cooking, despite his mood sagging when he sees the heart-shaped food. He takes a bite…and wonders if Ha-ni actually hates Seung-jo. HAHAHA.

Seung-jo sits up late that night, and tells Ha-ni that Dad isn’t doing well, and he’ll probably have to undergo surgery. He’ll have to stay at the company, and give up his med school dreams.

Ha-ni tells him that he can’t—it’s the first time he’s ever found something he’s wanted to do. He can’t give that up. But Seung-jo is doing the dutiful thing, and even though he doesn’t enjoy working for his father, he knows it’s the right thing to do. Ha-ni reminds him of his graduation promise—to have fun. Seung-jo says that he’ll have to sacrifice that in order to make others happy (the other half of the promise).

Ha-ni sweetly back-hugs him, knowing that it’s all she can do.

At school, He-ra deduces what Seung-jo is doing to help his family, and goads Ha-ni about not being able to do anything but follow him around and say empty words. That spurs Ha-ni to get a job at the company, and follow Seung-jo to work. Gah, I’m getting really tired of this same plot pattern being used over and over again. It’s the same dynamic and nothing changes.

Seung-jo meets with a potential investor, who takes a liking to him instantly, so much so that he asks for Seung-jo to meet his granddaughter. What, now you have to prostitute yourself for Dad’s company? This is going to a weird place. Did we step into a different drama?

Seung-jo shows up to the blind date, and who should be sitting there? Why He-ra of course. Who didn’t see that coming?

COMMENTS

Well, it looks like He-ra’s pulling out the big guns, but I’m pretty sure this is the move that’ll get her black-balled. I mean, Seung-jo isn’t exactly the corporate-merger-arranged-marriage type. I foresee some angst for Ha-ni, who is faithfully taking care of Seung-jo at home. I’m pretty sure if I were doing that much cooking, I’d be pissed that he was getting his kicks elsewhere with the she-witch from Whoville.

I’m so glad that Duckie has turned a new leaf, and has become passionate about something other than just loving Ha-ni. Note how it’s at that moment that Ha-ni starts to see him differently. That’s exactly what I want for Ha-ni too—to grow and become her own person, find her own dreams and desires. Because right now I see why Seung-jo isn’t shouting her name from the rooftops. Her entire identity is wrapped up in him, and it’s starting to show at the seams.

I know this has been the case for Ha-ni from the beginning, but now that DUCKIE the perennial slacker has found purpose in his life, her lack of such…pales in comparison. I certainly hope that Ha-ni gets the same sort of character development that the male characters are getting, because if she doesn’t, we’ll have WORDS, Show.

To be honest, her lack of oomph on that front kind of killed my love for her in this episode. I’m hoping that it’s part of her arc, and that she’ll be growing. I just want to believe that, because if all she does is fulfill her current dream…I may vomit from the implication that that’s…enough. I frankly don’t have that much hope for her now, which makes the rest of it (her winning Seung-jo in the end) less satisfying, if that’s ALL she’s about.

Duckie’s development highlights again the pot-lid metaphor, because when she began to take him seriously, I thought, wouldn’t it be perfect if the two characters who were so devoted in love…could love each other? But then that’s the whole point—why they’re not meant to be—because they’re both lids. Or pots. Whichever. They’re of the same mold, which makes them redundant, to each other. It’s not necessarily a belief I hold in real life, but I like what the drama is doing with it as a romantic throughline, because it’s a great point narratively. It makes character differences interesting, and not just as motivations for clashes. It’s the puzzle idea—that two people need to be complementary to fit together, not shaped the same way. In that respect I do enjoy the relationship between Seung-jo and Ha-ni, as they continue to complement each other. I just wish that it wasn’t always Ha-ni matching herself to Seung-jo. I want her to form her own piece, and for Seung-jo to try and match her once in a while too.

EPISODE 13 RECAP

He-ra’s grandfather, President Yoon, arranges the seon between He-ra and Seung-jo, to his satisfaction. (A seon is more than a blind date; it’s a formal step toward finding a potential spouse, often arranged by parents or elders.) Despite her light mood, He-ra observes Seung-jo’s reaction closely as she explains that she had been opposed to date initially, until she found out it was him.

She supposes he doesn’t like the idea of being pimped out to save his father’s company (since President Yoon is a crucial investor). Seung-jo explains that he was relieved that it was her, but he only went on the date because he needs her grandfather in order to launch the company’s next game. Shouldn’t she hate that that was his reason?

He-ra doesn’t intend to force things with Seung-jo, but suggests that they give dating a try: “Let’s just take the opportunity with each other.” To her surprise (and glee), he agrees. Am I gonna have to call you Gigolo Seung-jo now?

When he gets home, he’s a little defensive as Ha-ni hesitantly asks about the date, and whether he’s going to marry He-ra. Seung-jo answers with a casual “Sure” — isn’t that what a seon is for?

Crushed, Ha-ni takes Seung-jo’s words to heart. The next day at school (where she has gone instead of working at the office), her mood is glum as she tries to come to grips with this.

He-ra sends a girlfriend-y text, and tellingly, Seung-jo picks up the phone to send a text of his own — to Ha-ni.

Of course, he can’t ever do a nice thing without undercutting it (that boy has spikes of steel guarding his heart, or maybe it’s his pride) so the text tells Ha-ni that he’s deducting her pay for her absence. I know, it woulda killed you to just say a simple “Hi,” right?

Joon-gu calls Ha-ni over to try a new dish he’s concocted, since he always wants her to be the first to try his creations. In light of her heartbreak, Ha-ni seems to appreciate his unflagging devotion even more than usual and thanks him, saying, “Hearing you talk like that makes me feel like a valuable person.”

Joon-gu hems and haws as he nervously tries to ask her out on a date. And while Ha-ni feels no romantic spark, she has been seeing Joon-gu through new eyes lately — at least she’s not taking his devotion for granted anymore! — and agrees to go out with him.

The date takes them through the standard activities (lunch, a movie, street shopping, etc.), and despite Ha-ni’s subdued mood, she enjoys herself.

At one point, she smiles up at Joon-gu happily, thanking him earnestly: “You’re a really good person. I already knew that, but these days I’m feeling it again.” Aw. I know these two can’t be, but this is the first time I’ve really wished they could make it work, because Ha-ni deserves a guy who adores her, who cares more for her well-being than he does for his own pride/image/status.

Speaking of whom… Seung-jo hears from his brother that Ha-ni went on a date today, and while he doesn’t react (much) to the news, Eun-jo sends him a curious look.

Seung-jo heads out on a date of his own, but little details trigger memories involving Ha-ni — a fact that doesn’t escape the notice of He-ra. Of course, coincidence dictates that the two couples run into each other — Ha-ni and Duckie arrive at a cafe on the river just as Team Genius Robots are leaving.

Seung-jo subscribes to “the best defense is a good offense” school of thought, and lashes out at Ha-ni by telling her that she and Joon-gu don’t fit in at a place like this — they’re better suited for the kiddie arcade. The problem with this (well, other than the obvious part where HE’S AN ASS) is that Ha-ni is so defeated that she doesn’t fight back, and concedes the point to him, turning to leave with Joon-gu.

Seung-jo’s just trying to get a rise out of her, and because he’s about as emotionally developed as an eight-year-old boy, he calls her back just so he can say with derision, “You sure look good together.” (Again, this doesn’t have the intended effect, since Joon-gu’s pleased with the comment.)

He-ra’s pretty sharp, and at the end of the evening she notices how Seung-jo holds the car door open for her when he would’ve tossed a rude comment if it were Ha-ni. She asks why he’s so mean to Ha-ni, and comments that it’s strange that she almost wants him to be mean to her as well.

As Ha-ni and Joon-gu walk along the river (he must’ve missed the memo that No good news ever happens at the river), he screws up his courage to make his big move… and asks Ha-ni to marry him. Oh, Duckie. As if the huge (physical) space between you weren’t already a huge sign that this is not meant to be…

Joon-gu says earnestly that he can wait for her — but even so, Seung-jo has someone now, and it’s time for Ha-ni to stop staring at his back. “If you just turn around, I’m here.” Sigh, this love triangle is just so tragic. (Or it would be in a drama that prized, yunno, drama.) You can’t fault him for hoping that she’ll turn around, even though the very same hope is what keeps her back turned away from him.

Mom intercepts Seung-jo when he arrives home that night, telling him he doesn’t have to date He-ra for the company’s sake. He laughs at that, albeit humorlessly, saying that that’s not why he’s doing this. Casting a glance upstairs, as though he wants the words to sting Ha-ni, he says, “It’s because I like [He-ra].”

While I don’t consider Seung-jo malicious here, it’s that thing a person would do to hurt the person in return for hurting you — even though the reason they hurt you is because you hurt them first… Sigh. People can be so silly and cruel. Why do we suck so much?

Upstairs, Seung-jo tosses out the comment, spoken with an edge to his voice, that she sure looked like she was having fun on her date. Ha-ni answers in kind, telling him that it was fun and her date was nice — he didn’t make fun of her, unlike somebody else.

Too bad she can’t make her heart follow her mind: Ha-ni understands that Joon-gu is the nicer, more thoughtful guy for her, but he just doesn’t make her feel those butterflies. Her friends prod her to think seriously about Joon-gu’s proposal, because he’s better for her than Seung-jo. Faced with reality, Ha-ni starts to consider that maybe that romantic excitement isn’t necessary, and concedes that Joon-gu’s very comfortable, “like family.”

As she walks along considering the proposal, she runs into He-ra and Seung-jo on a shopping date together. He-re greets her cheerily, but Seung-jo surprises them all by inviting Ha-ni along to dinner with them. Uh, awkward?

Thus the trio end up at Ha-ni’s father’s restaurant. When Joon-gu serves them with tips for how to eat the dish correctly, Seung-jo can’t resist shooting a barb at Ha-ni at how great it must be that her boyfriend knows so much.

When Dad is released from the hospital, He-ra drops by to pay her respects. Mom, being firmly in Ha-ni’s camp, is delightfully aloof to her, greeting her with an indifferent “Oh, have we met? Perhaps you seem familiar. You must not have made an impression.”

He-ra isn’t intimidated, and nothing Mom says ruffles her good mood, not even when Mom lays out all Seung-jo’s faults, calling him selfish and haughty. She adds, “Seung-jo looks smart, doesn’t he? But he’s really stupid. He doesn’t know his own feelings.”

Mom’s strategy is about as smooth and subtle as a tap-dancer on crack, but funny enough, this is the one thing that seems to make an impact on He-ra — she recognizes the truth as Mom states that Seung-jo treats a person colder and meaner the more he likes them. Feelings aren’t easily solved like math problems, and he’s afraid of his being found out.

Afterward, Seung-jo faces off with his mother, calling her tactics childish. Although Mom takes him to task for lacking basic decency in bringing He-ra home when he knows how Ha-ni feels, Seung-jo insists that she stop interfering in his life now.

Despite her earlier conviction, Mom starts to feel doubt — she’d truly believed Seung-jo liked Ha-ni, but perhaps she was wrong. If that’s true, she fears she has wronged both Seung-jo and Ha-ni by forcing them together, and wrings her hands in guilt.

Eun-jo — who has been observing all this with a sharp eye — finally speaks up in order to get his mother to stop crying and announces, “He does like her.” He refuses to give any further explanation, but he asks Seung-jo if he really means to marry He-ra. Seung-jo replies that He-ra suits him and that he’ll probably grow to like her, but he doesn’t sound convinced so much as he’s trying to convince himself.

Little Bro is smarter than that, and doesn’t buy that at all — especially in light of the scene he witnessed in a previous episode. Now we see the scene from the woods, where Seung-jo had come upon a sleeping Ha-ni and kissed her. Eun-jo decides that his brother definitely does like Ha-ni, no matter what he says.

Thinking more about the proposal, Ha-ni asks her father how he’d feel if she dated Joon-gu. Dad answers essentially as her friends did — that Joon-gu is devoted to her and wouldn’t be a bad match.

Understanding that He-ra is the girl Seung-jo is thinking of marrying, Dad sighs that they shouldn’t have moved back to this house. Things will only continue to grow more awkward if they keep living here, and this is a good chance for them to think it over.

Seung-jo puts in a rare appearance at tennis club — looking around for Ha-ni, of course, only to be told that she’s been busy dating her boyfriend lately.

As he leaves, Min-ah and Ju-ri run into him and talk extra-loudly-on-purpose to make sure he hears that Joon-gu proposed to Ha-ni, and that she is supposed to give him her answer today. Seung-jo doesn’t give them the satisfaction of reacting, but this news does NOT make him happy.

Joon-gu treats Ha-ni to more new dishes, and hesitantly brings up his proposal from the other night, wondering if she’s thought it over. In spite of his willingness to be patient, he’s frustrated by her request for more time and reminds her that he’ll always be here for her, like a home — but a house that stands empty too long is no good, either. Better an empty house than one that caves in around you, I say.

A clap of thunder sends her recoiling in fright, and Joon-gu grabs her to make sure she’s safe — and that closeness prompts him to attempt a kiss. Ha-ni resists, but he’s caught up in his emotions and tries to move in anyway, and in the almost-struggle they both fall to the ground. Ha-ni shoves him away.

Joon-gu asks sadly if that means she’s saying no to him. Feeling guilty and upset, Ha-ni blurts out that she’s sorry and rushes out into the rain.

(Sigh — and you were doing so well, Duckie! Patience was suiting you so well, and then you had to go and get all Traditional Second Lead on us and try to force your suit. Don’t you watch dramas, ever?)

Ha-ni beats herself up about it on the way home, feeling guilty for raising Joon-gu’s expectations and then hurting him.

She finds Seung-jo waiting for her at the bus stop, and he gruffly offers her the cover of his umbrella (with a sharp look and the backhanded comment that he knew she’d be foolish enough to be without an umbrella).

As mean as ever, Seung-jo brings up Joon-gu’s proposal and prods her to explain. Losing patience, he snaps, “So what did you tell him?!”

Ha-ni retorts that her answer has nothing to do with him, and adds — to his shock — that she’s going to move out. She doesn’t want to be a hindrance to Seung-jo’s relationship, and now she’ll turn her attention to helping her father and Joon-gu. It all works out, since Dad likes Joon-gu.

Seung-jo looks at Ha-ni sharply and asks, “Do you like him?” Irritated at her yes, he asks if she is just going to like whoever likes her back.

But Ha-ni has tired of this one-sided love, and wants to be with someone who likes her back. She states, “I like Joon-gu.”

Seung-jo fires back, “You like me.” It’s both a statement and a command, and he follows that with the declaration that she can’t like anyone other than him. Frustrated, Ha-ni admits angrily that he’s right — she does still like him — “But what good is that?” After all, he won’t have anything to do with her, and he treats her like—

Dropping the umbrella, he grabs her in a kiss.

Pulling back, he instructs Ha-ni not to say that she likes anybody but him. Mollified, Ha-ni nods in agreement, then notes that this is their second kiss.

Smiling, he gathers her to his chest and corrects her: “It’s the third.” And then he adds, “It’s okay, you don’t have to count anymore.”


COMMENTS

Okay, you got me there. Pretty awesome way to get Seung-jo to man up and make his confession, finally. It’s been mighty frustrating to watch Ha-ni pine over Seung-jo all this while, and while WE know that her love isn’t futile, SHE doesn’t. It’s been nearly painful at times to see her entertaining flimsy hopes in the face of such blatant (outward) disinterest.

I don’t actually have a problem with Ha-ni’s constant following around of Seung-jo, and I’ve long accepted that her persistence is just a part of her nature, so my issues with her weren’t based on that. What gets me is the idea that she has no sense of self without Seung-jo, that she doesn’t value herself as a human being if/when apart from him. There’s a sweet moment in this episode when she thanks Joon-gu for liking her so much, because it makes her feel “like a valuable person,” but that kind of thinking is like a slap in MY face, as someone who loves Ha-ni’s character for her heart and life. It hurts that she would buy into the idea that she isn’t worth a concern if she isn’t liked by a guy.

I was pretty irritated with Seung-jo in this episode, even though I knew that Big Moment was coming at the end of it (thanks, spoilers!), and I think you only get so many passes for being a socially awkward genius robot who treats people like crap due to a lack of artificial emotional intelligence. He gets some sympathy for being emotionally stunted, but let’s face it — the boy’s got a pretty privileged, cushy life. At a certain point you pass being a mere misunderstood hero to plain jerkface poopypants, and Seung-jo has long crossed that line with me.

(On a perfectly shallow note, I am willing to entertain the idea that I am possibly less forgiving because Seung-jo’s perm is straightening out. For some insane and unfathomable reason, without that head of messy curls, I just don’t find him as appealing. I KNOW! It’s weird.)

(Now, if only the sound in the ending scene were anywhere near halfway decent. Gah, I haven’t heard such atrocious sound engineering in a drama in perhaps ever — and certainly not at such a crucial moment. Can we get on that, drama crew, and fast?)

EPISODE 14 RECAP

Seung-jo’s jealousy-fueled, rain-soaked, you-can’t-love-anyone-but-me kiss leaves Ha-ni (and everyone else) a puddle of goo. At home, Dad is announcing their departure from the house, throwing everyone up in arms.

Just then, Seung-jo and Ha-ni arrive home, sopping wet. Mom sends them upstairs, but Eun-jo rushes up to his brother: “Oh Ha-ni is leaving!”

At that, Seung-jo does the unimaginable. He takes Ha-ni by the hand, sweetly interlocking their fingers, and announces that they have something to say. Omo! So soon?

Seung-jo: I want to marry Ha-ni.

Cue trumpets, dancing pandas, and stockpile of confetti. I seriously thought we’d be in for some more roundabout angst before he actually admitted the consequences of the Big Kiss, but hey, I’m all for forward movement. Bring back the Cute!

Mom squeals louder than twenty fangirls on speed, hugging Ha-ni and jumping up and down. Her statement to her son cracks me up: “Baek Seung-jo, why are you so awesome right now?” Hahaha.

Upstairs, Seung-jo says goodnight and Ha-ni stops him for a moment, scared that when they wake up, he’ll go back to being cold Robot Boy. He backhugs her (Who are you?) and casually tosses out, “Should we sleep together then?” Kyah! She buries her face in his chest, saying how much she likes him and that she never even imagined he’d like her back. Seung-jo: “Neither did I.” Heh, it’s dense, but totally honest.

Back at the restaurant, Duckie laments his stupid pushy move on Ha-ni earlier. Yeah, that was your downfall, buddy. He packs a lunch for Ha-ni and heads to campus to apologize…only to find a poster announcing Ha-ni and Seung-jo’s promise to marry.

Okay, what is with the convenient announcements all over school, all the time? I get that it’s cutesy, but as a plot device, (as in, a way for people to find out important things) it’s lame.

Elsewhere on campus, Seung-jo breaks the news to He-ra, who shows her disappointment, but basically acknowledges that everyone knew he liked Ha-ni, but him. She even understands exactly why it was so hard for him to realize it—because Ha-ni was the first problem he’s faced that he couldn’t solve easily, unlike everything else he’s ever encountered.

Seung-jo admits to having a really hard time with it, but now that he’s surrendered completely to Ha-ni, he’s happy. And it shows on his face. I’ve never seen him smiling so much, in all of the previous thirteen episodes combined.

He apologizes to He-ra, and admits that he really did think they were a good match, and that he felt comfortable around her. He-ra puts two and two together: he ran away from the discomfort of his feelings for Ha-ni, and took shelter with her, where he felt comfortable. Ouch. He doesn’t deny it, and she plays it cool, congratulating him even while her heart is breaking, which makes me respect her all the more.

Ha-ni laments not being able to tell Duckie herself, but he’s hurting too much to take her calls. He-ra takes out her heartache on a few hundred tennis balls, and Kyung-soo steps up at just the right time, as a shoulder to cry on.

Duckie takes to the river for his bout of angst, complete with beer and a song. Ha-ni’s heart weighs heavy all day too, knowing how Duckie must feel. She comes to Dad’s restaurant after closing, and when she appears, Duckie braces himself for impact. He tries so hard to put on a brave face, to keep her from saying the words out loud…it breaks my heart.

Just then, Seung-jo walks in, declaring that he likes Ha-ni, and asking for Duckie to let her go. That just raises Duckie’s ire, knowing how badly Seung-jo has treated her for four years, but then Ha-ni finally speaks up, and puts the nail in the coffin. Ha-ni: “Joon-gu-ya, I’m sorry. I’m sorry and I’m grateful.”

She starts to say the rest, but Duckie turns around, telling her to stop. He gets it. He knows. He’s always known, of course. With his back turned, he says, trying to lighten the mood, that Ha-ni has horrible taste in men, and that even if she regrets it later, he won’t go back to her. Aw, your stiff upper lip is killing me, Duckie.

He turns around with these words: “Baek Seung-jo, don’t forget that I’ll be watching you. If you make Ha-ni cry, I’ll make you cry blood.” Seung-jo takes the warning to heart, and Ha-ni looks up at Duckie, so sorry to cause him this much pain.

Dad returns to the restaurant to find Duckie a mess, and comforts him with soju. Duckie finally lets himself cry, saying that he wanted so much to call Ha-ni’s dad “Father.” What a great dad, to be at Duckie’s side through all this.

He-ra’s grandfather is about as happy for the couple as you’d expect, and he decides to pull out of the investment without any qualms. But Seung-jo shows up at his office to convince him otherwise. And then…he decides to invest and save the company. Gee, sap all of the dramatic tension, will ya? Is it too much to ask for Robot Boy to have a hard time at anything? Sigh.

At home, Dad announces that it’s time for Seung-jo to leave the company…and go pre-med. As his last duty for the company, he launches the new game. As He-ra and Duckie watch in the wings, He-ra is reminded of his awesomeness and Duckie is spurred on to become just as impressive a man.

Ha-ni receives her grades, and it’s bad news all around. She whines to Seung-jo that she thought she had brought her scores up enough to get better final grades, and he just replies that she must’ve miscalculated. Haha.

She looks to him for answers, and he just tells her that she got herself into this mess, and she has to work to get out of it. Defeated, she asks if maybe she should drop out.

WHAT? I’m seriously reaching into my screen to slap you upside the head right now.

Seung-jo nips her pity party in the bud, pointing out that while other students poured their sweat and tears into studying, she’s wasted all of her time in fruitless pursuits. He asks pointedly what she’ll do if she doesn’t go to school…have more time to follow him around? Damn. Straight shooter. He basically tells her to get off her ass and work hard at something, otherwise she’ll have nothing.

OH. THANK. GOD.

Baek Seung-jo, I have never loved you so much until now. LOVE. Fluffy bunny love.

Such a relief, because I really didn’t want to end this series hating where they took the characters. I know y’all think I’m hating on Ha-ni because she’s not going to be a high-powered doctor or lawyer instead of a stay-at-home mom or something, but that’s not why I’m angry with her. It’s because of this, right here, that Seung-jo is pointing out—that to her, it doesn’t matter what she does. And THAT is upsetting. If her dream in life was to be the best mom in the world, that’s an admirable dream. But it’s not—it’s to be whatever, whenever, as long as it’s with Seung-jo. It’s her lack of self that makes me angry, because I love her, I adore her…I want her to love herself.

If her goal in life was to be a golf caddy, I wouldn’t care. But the fact that she thinks there’s no difference to her, whether she’s a golf caddy or a nurse…is why I was so reviled at her so-called “dream.” Because that’s not a dream. It’s a lack of one.

Love is sacrifice and devotion, sure. I don’t discount that. But to me, true love? Is what Seung-jo is doing here—making her BETTER, the best version of herself. Because that’s what he wants for her. Because that’s what she should want for herself.

But Ha-ni, stubborn girl that she is, just gets mad at Seung-jo for pointing out her faults, and threatens to move out. He does the exact wrong thing, laughing that she’s got nowhere to go. That just fuels her defiance, and she leaves, declaring that she’ll go to another man. Mom worries, but Seung-jo tells her that it’ll be good for her, to be away from him for a while, and to focus on herself. Amen. To quote Mom, how come you’re so awesome all of a sudden?

Ha-ni heads over to her girlfriends, who give her the best kind of support—beer and girltalk. She stays at Min-ah’s house, and although she misses Seung-jo like crazy, the second she spies on him at school and sees him smiling without a care in the world, she decides to stand her ground and not return home. Look at you, growing a spine.

Mom frets over Ha-ni, but Seung-jo insists that they let Ha-ni deal with this on her own.

Ha-ni wanders the streets for a while, having been kicked out of Min-ah’s house because of visiting family. She walks and walks, finally letting the anger subside, and coming to a conclusion. Perhaps what Seung-jo said was right: she’s always lived for him, and never thought about what she wanted for her own future. She decides that she can’t return like this, and that she wants to marry Seung-jo as someone who is equally impressive and worthy.

SUCCESS!!!

You did it, Show! See, people—ask and you shall receive. I think my fight with Show mirrors Seung-jo’s fight with Ha-ni. I had to push, for it to struggle and come back around.

Ha-ni takes a job a local restaurant, and after finding out where she works from Min-ah and Juri, Seung-jo shows up for lunch. Ha-ni tells him that she’s thought long and hard about what to do with her life, and what she wants to be. She’s come to the conclusion that she wants to help Seung-jo and be by his side, so she’s decided to become a nurse. Well, that’s no surprise to any of us, but it’s still a mighty step up from freshman college dropout and professional stalker. I approve. Loving Seung-jo has helped you find your dream, which is very different from loving Seung-jo being your dream.

Seung-jo smiles and holds her tight, telling her to return home now. She sighs in relief, saying that she truthfully missed him like crazy. He knows, and makes it all okay with his embrace.

Once home, the family is back to its usual bustling chitchat, until Mom declares that everyone needs to clear their schedules for next Wednesday. What’s next Wednesday, you ask?

Why Seung-jo and Ha-ni’s wedding of course.

Bwah?

COMMENTS

The turnaround in this episode couldn’t have come any later. I would’ve broken up with you, Show. You guys know my patience is oh-so-thin for the kind of crap that went on in 12. Thankfully, Ye Drama Gods are whimsical but benevolent, and I was allowed to keep all the hair on my head this week.

I would like very much to thank Robot Boy for taking Ha-ni to task, and for turning out to be a rather excellent boyfriend, especially considering how much of a jerk you were for the entirety of your emotionally-stunted adolescence. I really thought that at the end I would just have to concede that you never truly earned her love and won her anyway, but sweetie pie, you TOTALLY earned her love this week. Bravo. Your gold star is in the mail.

I was rather impressed at Duckie and He-ra as well, despite their conflict being a little too easily swept under. But this isn’t their story, so I didn’t expect to even get the kinds of moments that we did, and I appreciated that they didn’t just disappear as characters the second that Ha-ni and Seung-jo stopped needing them as romantic obstacles.

Well I wasn’t expecting a wedding so soon, but I guess that’s where we’re headed in the last week. Not the most exciting cliffhanger to get us to the final stretch, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of shenanigans before they make it to the altar.