Dealing with a huge loss in his life, our hero needs the support of his partner now more than ever. Our couple demonstrates the strength of their bond and the exes are challenged to embrace new perspectives.
EPISODE 27 RECAP
When Hae-kyung learns of his mother’s passing, he’s overcome with grief and the contents of her final letter consumes his thoughts.
Do-hee arrives at the hospital in her slippers and finds Hae-kyung reading his mother’s letter. He breaks down as she holds him tight. Hae-kyung regrets telling Mom to wait until “next time” to say what she wanted to say, because there is no next time.
He laments not being able to hear her final words in person, and that she didn’t get to hear him say that he loved her back. Do-hee assures him, “I’m sure she knows how you feel.”
While Hae-kyung greets people at the funeral, Do-hee thanks Byung-jin for contacting her. He suggests that she go home to change and she realizes that she’s still in her sweats, promising to return in an hour.
Geon-woo calls Do-hee with something to tell Hae-kyung but doesn’t elaborate when he learns about what had just happened. When he hangs up, Geon-woo wonders where Jae-hyuk disappeared to – he’d left his copy of The Great Gatsby behind.
Of course, Jae-hyuk’s waiting outside Do-hee’s place. She coldly reminds him not to show up in front of her ever again, but he asks for just ten minutes to talk. He realizes that she must’ve been terrified by his actions and has finally come to terms that he’s not sane. “The thought that it was really over between us made me lose control of myself.”
Jae-hyuk promises that he’s going to get treated and asks her for one final favor. He acknowledges that they’re truly over now, but he doesn’t want to remain a bad memory. “Please don’t hate me so much,” he begs with tears welling in his eyes.
Geon-woo makes it to the service and doesn’t know how to tell Hae-kyung that Jae-hyuk’s gone. When Hae-kyung realizes that Do-hee isn’t around, Geon-woo nervously admits that Jae-hyuk disappeared, which sets Hae-kyung off.
He yells at Geon-woo for not telling him sooner and tries to call Do-hee. While this is happening, Mom’s portrait is brought out and it reminds Hae-kyung of her advice to make sure he doesn’t lose Do-hee, and keep her by his side no matter what happens.
Hae-kyung’s fully ready to leave the funeral to search for Do-hee, momentarily relieved to hear her voice from the other end of the hallway. He aggressively pulls her outside and uncharacteristically yells that he was worried that she left without telling him, and wasn’t able to reach her.
Do-hee shares that she ran into Jae-hyuk and Hae-kyung says she should’ve called right away. “What if something happens to you again?” When she reassures him that she sent him away, he wraps his arms around her and apologizes for getting angry.
Hae-kyung was so worried that he couldn’t even breathe, and Do-hee shares that she felt the same when she received Byung-jin’s call this morning. She promises to stay by his side from now on and apologizes for taking so long.
Jae-hyuk returns to the studio and plops down on the couch. Taking one last look at the photo of him and Do-hee, he hesitates as he hovers over the “delete” button.
Writer Lee is laid to rest next to Hae-kyung’s father, and Hae-kyung vows, “Mom, I’ll visit often.” Do-hee grabs Hae-kyung’s hand supportively and greets Mom, promising to come often as well.
Their colleagues are also there to pay their respects. Jin-kyu wonders if they should call No-eul considering her relationship with Hae-kyung, but So-ra pipes, “Once you break up, you’re no more than a stranger.” Ever so clueless, Jin-kyu still hasn’t realized that Hae-kyung and Do-hee are a couple and asks why they held hands.
The next day, Jung-hwan wonders how Do-hee and Hae-kyung got together when they hated each other at the start. So-ra answers that people who despise each other tend to become a couple – it’s the formula of love. When Jin-kyu gives So-ra a snack practically shooting hearts from eyes, Jung-hwan teases that it’s the formula of love.
Do-hee enters Hae-kyung’s place with groceries in hand and finds him deep asleep. She checks that he’s okay then allows herself a moment to admire him, tracing the outline of his face. He wakes up to the sound of chopping and sees that Do-hee is cooking for him.
She explains that Byung-jin told her his passcode, so she let herself in because she was worried when he didn’t answer. Do-hee stutters that she saw that he was deep asleep, but totally didn’t stare, touch, poke, or pinch him. Pfft. He hugs her from behind and mumbles, “I wouldn’t have minded if you did.”
She’s glad that food therapy really does work to comfort people, hugging him from behind and he jokes through his tears that she’s a pretty terrible cook. He promises to remember this meal for a long time and will distort his memory to remember it as a tasty one. She puts a spell on him for good measure, hee.
No-eul arrives at 2N Box and greets Jung-hwan, who figures that she couldn’t make it to the funeral because of her out-of-town photoshoot. No-eul’s actually hearing about Writer Lee’s death for the first time and rushes off, shocked.
That night, Hae-kyung chats with Keanu at the clinic and confesses that his mother’s death hasn’t really hit him yet. Keanu says he’ll feel her void as time passes, but time will also fill that void. He advises Hae-kyung to rest up and get some real counselling, reminding him of his philosophy that the most important thing to curing a person’s heart is love.
Do-hee wakes up alone on Hae-kyung’s couch and a note tells her that he’s at the clinic, asking her to wait for his return. The doorbell rings and Do-hee invites No-eul to wait for Hae-kyung inside. When she tries to leave, Do-hee asserts, “I told you to wait here.”
The psychiatrists discuss Jae-hyuk’s condition – Hae-kyung believes he should be hospitalized but Keanu thinks he might get better sooner than they’d thought, now that he has the will to recover. If not, then he’ll have to quit being a doctor, or Jae-hyuk will either get hospitalized or end up in prison. Keanu thinks they should give him a chance now that he’s getting treatments.
Keanu laughs that it’s awkward to sleep under a roof after all these years (he’s staying at the clinic now). He assures Hae-kyung that despite his history with Jae-hyuk, he’s curing and healing himself with a loving heart.
EPISODE 28 RECAP
“You’re really pretty and amazing. That’s why I was annoyed when you were around Hae-kyung,” Do-hee admits. “Stop acting like you’re okay. Nobody is completely fine after a breakup.”
She comforts No-eul who cries, “But still, I really liked Mother.” Do-hee agrees that Hae-kyung was in the wrong for not telling her, but warns No-eul not to address Writer Lee with such familiarity. Do-hee springs out of her seat when Hae-kyung arrives and quips that she didn’t make No-eul cry.
Do-hee encourages Hae-kyung to work things out and tells No-eul to hit him once and leave, “But don’t stay too long. I’m not cool with that.” Outside the apartment, she compliments herself for being so cool, but can’t help running back to the door to try to eavesdrop, pfft.
No-eul calls Hae-kyung a jerk for not telling her about Mom’s passing. Hae-kyung reminds her that it’s her ex-boyfriend’s mother – he didn’t feel obligated to tell her. He sincerely thanks her for mourning, but it doesn’t change the fact that there’s nothing they can do for each other now.
She insists that they can just be friends and he agrees that it can be a possibility in the future, but not right now. They’re not comfortable with each other yet and moreover, he doesn’t want Do-hee to misunderstand. No-eul notes that he’s really changed and sees herself out.
She doesn’t notice that Do-hee’s standing behind the door, hiding behind her purse, haha! Hae-kyung calls Do-hee so she whispers that she just got home. Hae-kyung opens the door and deadpans, “Did you move here?”
He pulls her inside and flings her against the wall, asking why she didn’t leave – is it because she doesn’t trust him? “Or is it because you didn’t want to go home?” He’s practically breathing down her neck to ask if she wants to stay the night.
Before she can even answer, they’re interrupted by a call from Do-hee’s mom, who worries that a thief has ransacked her place. When Do-hee claims ownership of the mess, Mom orders her to come home immediately. Hae-kyung disappointedly grabs his keys, and Do-hee groans that Mom sure has nice timing. “What a shame.”
Mom chastises Do-hee for coming home so late and before she can even ask, her daughter answers, “No.” Mom gets pretty suspicious especially when Do-hee hides her phone so she can’t see who she’s texting.
The next morning, Keanu receives a gift from Ah-young. It’s a phone, because she’s no longer satisfied with only meeting him every morning and night, but Keanu already has one of his own.
He explains that he recently turned it on for the first time in years because he wanted to send her messages like “See you later,” or “Wait for me.” They exchange numbers so that Ah-young can call him whenever she wants.
Later, Ah-young drags Do-hee into the office so that they can catch up on each other’s lives. In typical Ah-young fashion, she says that Do-hee should’ve killed Jung-hyuk for what he did, regretting hiring him in the first place.
Do-hee admits she was angry, embarrassed, and upset, but felt bad seeing how sick he is. Ah-young calls her a fool and asks if Hae-kyung’s okay. Do-hee smiles sweetly at the thought of him, and the cheesiness earns her a pillow to the face, hah. She explains that Hae-kyung found a doctor to treat Jae-hyuk and Ah-young yells, “What kind of a nut would help a jerk like him?”
Keanu is that nut, and is happy to hear that Jae-hyuk has been doing his best to accept his illness and has been evaluating his wrongdoings. He tells Jae-hyuk that the thing about delusional disorder is that once the delusion breaks, it hurts.
He gives him an example: a mother lost a child, but started having delusions of her baby being alive. It’s an illness that needs to be treated, but she’ll be sad once reality sets in. Keanu explains that it’ll be painful, and Jae-hyuk sniffs, “Then, wouldn’t living in delusion make me happier?”
Keanu answers that it might be the reason why some people want to live with their delusions. However, to live in the real world, they need to leave the fake one. Jae-hyuk grows emotional as Keanu accurately pinpoints that Jae-hyuk’s fake world is one where he can’t live without Do-hee, and where he’s worthless without his father’s approval.
“Right now in the real world, I see a smart and handsome young man in front of me.” Jae-hyuk breaks down when Keanu says there are many things he can do in real life. He sniffs, “Do you think I can do it?” and Keanu nods that they should give it a shot.
No-eul meets with Reporter Kim who’s still waiting for that hot scoop she’d promised. He speculates that she and Hae-kyung called it quits because of her mother’s debt, and suggests an exclusive interview with her mom instead. No-eul warns that things will get messy if he writes about Hae-kyung or her mother, so he backs off.
So-ra spots Do-hee’s smitten smile from a mile away, and sighs that she should join a dating app to find her soulmate without knowing his name or profession. Jin-kyu butts in to say that there’s a high chance that they can be married, a con artist, or a murderer. So-ra freaks out when Do-hee suggests that Jin-kyu probably likes her.
Mom shows up at work and instructs Do-hee to meet with a blind date that she has set up for her, that night at 7PM. She claims that he’s perfect for Do-hee and because she doesn’t have his contact information, Do-hee will have to apologize in person if she doesn’t want to go on the date. Sneaky!
Ah-young calls her “Prince of the Parasol” and they shyly giggle about how awkward it is to speak on the phone. She goes to meet him at Hae-kyung’s clinic, but when she describes Keanu as a homeless-looking but kind of handsome, very muscular man, Byung-jin has no idea who she’s talking about.
Keanu makes his entrance and it takes her a moment to process his real name and occupation. She asks if there’s anything else she doesn’t know, and admits she doesn’t find him as attractive as a doctor. Keanu asks if she prefers the poor and unkempt version of him which triggers her to declare that she hates men who like to show off and leaves.
Do-hee shoots Hae-kyung a quick text before heading to the café to meet her blind date. She apologizes to the guy, explaining that she can’t go on a date because…
“She has a boyfriend,” Hae-kyung finishes. He was planning to surprise Do-hee but witnessed her running off to the café and followed. He joins them on the “date” and the other guy reveals that he actually has a girlfriend too and only agreed to this because he didn’t tell his parents about her yet.
Hae-kyung chokes on his drink when Do-hee admits she’s on the same boat, and asks if she’s ashamed of him or something. They have a little lover’s spat and Do-hee tries to aegyo herself out of it, not realizing that the other guy is long gone, haha.
Their smiles disappear when they see Jae-hyuk from across the street. Hae-kyung calls Keanu who reports that there’s a possibility of self-harm, as he’s learning how to face reality. He warns Hae-kyung not to arouse him.
Hae-kyung approaches him carefully while Do-hee hangs back and meets Jae-hyuk’s empty gaze. We don’t get to hear the guys’ conversation, but Jae-hyuk makes a run for it and Do-hee shrieks when Hae-kyung pushes Jae-hyuk out of harm’s way and is hit by an incoming car in his stead.
Jae-hyuk is motionless on the sidewalk and Do-hee sobs, crying for help as she cradles a very bloody and unconscious Hae-kyung in her arms, begging him to wake up.
COMMENTS
I can’t believe they’re doing this to us! Hae-kyung saying he’d die for Do-hee made me really unsettled for the remainder of the episode, but I wasn’t expecting this kind of outcome. He needs to be okay, do you hear me, Show?! I agree with @LollyPip and would like to commend Lee Ji-hoon for his excellent acting. His body language and facial expressions really show the complexities of Jae-hyuk’s mental illness, and I appreciate that they are not downplaying the fact that the road to healing is not linear. What’s important is that Jae-hyuk has fully recognized that he needs help, and is actively seeking to be better. However, he was left so broken that he saw no other solution and he looked so empty when he locked eyes with Do-hee before running out into traffic. Hae-kyung was right in suggesting that he be hospitalized, to protect himself and others around him. We all hate the exes, there’s no doubt about it, but I really do feel for Jae-hyuk and sincerely do hope that he will find his own happiness; one that’s not tied to Do-hee nor his father.
He and No-eul both received some genuine advice in this episode. Keanu has removed his bias (I’d still be angry that Jae-hyuk single handedly ruined my family, so I applaud Keanu for being able to do this) and is sincerely trying to help Jae-hyuk through his struggles. Jae-hyuk hearing that he’s a capable young man was a sort of affirmation that was never given to him in his life, which is why those words affected him so much. Similarly, Do-hee was the bigger person and consoled No-eul, giving her genuine advice like an older sister. I love that Do-hee speaks out against things that are inappropriate, drawing hard boundaries but still understanding that No-eul is hurt and needs to heal. Do-hee has no obligation to help No-eul, but she does anyway because she’s selfless and trusts that her relationship with Hae-kyung is strong enough to not be affected by his ex. No-eul needed to hear that it’s okay not to be okay with the breakup, but that it doesn’t give her the right to overstep her boundaries. She doesn’t seem to have many female role models she can look up to, which is why I think she was so drawn to Do-hee when they first met. This would’ve been a nice way to wrap up her story within the show, but with Hae-kyung’s accident, I’m afraid that she’ll be back for more.
Hae-kyung has noticeably become more forward in his interactions with Do-hee. We all swooned over how gentlemanly he was around Do-hee, respecting her space and feelings. But he’s since learned that being overly considerate can put a strain on a relationship, and is no longer holding back on his emotions. I don’t blame him for not tip-toeing around her anymore, because he shouldn’t need to be so cautious. It’s very human to show anger and jealousy; it’s how one deals with their feelings that makes all the difference. It’s like their roles have been reversed now, and Do-hee is the strong and stable partner that is giving Hae-kyung reassurance that she’ll be there for him no matter what. It has allowed them to really enjoy each other’s company again, which what we, as the audience, really want to see.
Now that we’re reaching the end of its run, I have to admit that I’m a little disappointed if we’re looking at this show purely as an adaptation of the popular webtoon. Besides the names of the characters, nothing else is the same as the source material, and it doesn’t really have the same spark that the webtoon was known for. While I understand that they had to add something in there to spice up the story and have enough material to last 16 episodes, I feel like they overdid it. The webtoon focuses on Hae-kyung and Do-hee’s growing connection that began with their dinners as two strangers. It’s a story about two people that would never have met if not for a misunderstanding that brings them together for a meal at a restaurant. They learn about one another through the stories of their pasts, and slowly develop feelings, but their past never overshadowed their relationship which is definitely the biggest complaint about the show. I do appreciate how well-written the characters (minus No-eul) are though, and want to give credit to the show for depicting the fact that boundaries need to be set, and showcasing a very mature and healthy relationship. I don’t know what to expect during finale week, but here’s to hoping that it wraps up nicely without a ton of distractions!