Having decided to pursue pregnancy without a partner, our heroine explores her limited options to bear a child in the next six months. She experiences a few hiccups in her investigation, and she finds herself leaning on her support system for comfort, support, and to endure her frustrated outbursts. In her low moments, she also finds comfort and assurance from someone who always seems to catch her at the wrong place at the wrong time.
EPISODE 3: “39 years old but like a child”
As Ha-ri waits for her mother, she watches older women adore their dogs. Ha-ri finds herself being drawn in by the cute pups, but she quickly shakes herself out of the adoration and Yi-sang’s curse. Ha-ri takes her mother shopping, and when they come to a crosswalk, Mom uses Ha-ri as a shield from the large splash from an oncoming car. Ha.
Mom wonders if Ha-ri treated her to a shopping spree as an apologetic gesture and wishes that Ha-ri would cause an accident (read: get pregnant). Ha-ri lights up at Mom’s wishes and makes Mom promise not to oppose her big decision.
She thanks him for stepping in for the photoshoot, offers to buy a meal for giving her a ride, and then bingo — she cancels their agreement to avoid each other. They give each other a high-five, and then Yi-sang swiftly turns around and walks away. What a tease, and he knows it.
Ha-ri runs into the editing meeting late, earning her a glare from Chief Editor Shim. As they go through the proposed items, Hyo-joo also earns herself a scolding for suggesting an unrealistic interview with Won Bin and Lee Na-young about their childcare approach. Ha, wouldn’t we all love for this interview (and cameo). For their column, chief reporter Yeon-ho suggests that they feature Jae-young, and Ha-ri looks surprised. She shares that Jae-young knows nothing about childcare, and Editor Shim likes that he’s an unconventional character.
At the end of the meeting, Ha-ri notices a post on a subfertility bulletin she’s been following. It’s a sperm donor offering to help subfertile women, and Ha-ri looks hopeful.
Ee-tteum arrives and waves at Ha-ri, calling her “Aunt,” so Ha-ri quickly avoids him and goes downstairs to Jambi Studio (directly under Daechae Media — how convenient!). She tries to enter the studio behind Yi-sang, who’s on the phone and doesn’t notice her. As he enters, he accidently opens the door on Ha-ri’s face, and she quickly brushes it off as she enters the studio.
Yi-sang is uncharacteristically friendly and offers to help Ha-ri carry her supply boxes, and Ha-ri grows suspicious of his gestures. She asks how she should interpret this kindness, and Yi-sang says that it’s easier to like than hate a person. Ha-ri remains suspicious, and Yi-sang finally admits that she has a bruise from her forehead from him opening the door on her.
Ee-tteum notices Hyo-joo’s heel injuries and runs off to fetch bandages. He kneels to put them on her, and Hyo-joo pretends to be uncomfortable with his advances. He’s clearly just trying to be nice without any ulterior motives, but a misunderstanding seems to be brewing in Hyo-joo’s mind. She tells him that they should strictly remain work colleagues, and Ee-tteum agrees.
Back at the office, Ee-tteum reports his successful deal on children’s toothpaste to the marketing team Manager Kim, and suddenly, we hear ridiculous dramatic music as Manager Kim notes that he’s missed a deal on toothbrushes. Manager Kim educates Ee-tteum on managing your networks, and on that topic, Ee-tteum reports that he bought bandages for Hyo-joo’s heels. Manager Kim praises him for managing their colleague/enemy editing team network.
Jae-young finally washes up and changes out of his dirty tracksuit (into another tracksuit lol) because Do-ah pooped on him. He finds Ha-ri’s pregnancy outfit in the hamper and stuffs his dirty laundry inside it. As Jae-young helps Mom fold her laundry, he vocalizes his concerns about finding suitable daycare for Do-ah when he returns to work. Mom senses the request coming and starts to complain about her aching back and wrist pains.
In all seriousness, Mom offers to help care for Do-ah occasionally, but she advises Jae-young to cherish the time he has with Do-ah at this age. Mom shares that caring for Ha-ri while working was tough, but she continues to treasure those fleeting memories of Ha-ri as a baby.
Jae-young knows that Ha-ri was lying and demands to know why she met up with the sperm seller. Ha-ri comes clean and admits that she wants a baby without marriage, so she intended to buy the sperm. Jae-young calls Ha-ri crazy, and she doesn’t expect him to understand her. Ha-ri knows that there are ethical concerns around buying sperm, but she finds it unfair that marriage is the only acceptable ethical way to have children. For unmarried people, there’s no way to bear children.
Ha-ri acknowledges that she was in wrong to research illegal methods, but Jae-young thinks that she’s also wrong to want to raise a child alone. He knows why Ha-ri doesn’t want to get married and that she adores children, but he wants her to live a normal life by getting married and having children. Ha-ri argues that this is her attempt at a normal life.
She says, “I’m 39. I wish that the love of my life would appear like fate, but in reality, I’m just an ajumma. I don’t know how to live a normal life, and I don’t want to stop myself from doing what I can because of what others say. 39 is too young to let life happen to you.” Before they leave the police station, Ha-ri takes off her coat to put over Do-ah and scolds Jae-young for not bringing a warm cover for Do-ah.
At Jambi studio, Yi-sang struggles to appease the children models, and the kids end up in an ice cream fight over whose cone has more ice cream. When the mothers try to break up the fight, a baby starts to cry, and Yi-sang clumsily tries to comfort the baby. He looks desperate for help and lightens up when Ha-ri arrives. She readily takes the baby from Yi-sang and expertly soothes the baby. Yi-sang smiles as he watches her in relief and in awe of her rescue.
Yi-sang continues to observe Ha-ri as she works hard and effectively to draw the ice cream children models’ attention toward the camera. He glances at her slightly as she pours her efforts toward the children, and he smiles. Oh, what are these feelings?
Yi-sang and Ha-ri meet for dinner at the neighborhood chef’s choice restaurant, and Ha-ri stares at him while he pours beer, making him read her mind this time. After a few guesses about dinner on him, he correctly answers by thanking her for helping with his photoshoot today. Ha-ri asks why Yi-sang doesn’t like children, and he says that he has no particular reason.
Ha-ri suggests that he practice getting along with children by helping out with their magazine’s shoots. Yi-sang knows that she’s trying to recruit him, and Ha-ri also knows that he won’t respond to her requests. Ha-ri then asks a personal question, and Yi-sang correctly predicts the question on his motivations for a bachelor life and if it’s because he doesn’t want children. He responds that he never wants children, won’t fall in love, and has never wanted to be a dad.
The next day, Ha-ri notices her empty wardrobe and goes through her laundry, in which she finds Jae-young’s dirty laundry. Furious, Ha-ri marches downstairs and kicks Jae-young before plastering his head to the wall. She yells at him for adding his dirty laundry and stealing things from her room. Before she can punish him further, Jae-young reminds her of his cooperation with her secret brush with crime. At that reminder, Ha-ri suddenly becomes agreeable to Jae-young’s laundry and requests.
When Ha-ri arrives at work, Ee-tteum once again addresses her as “Aunt” and continues to use that title as he talks to her in the elevator. Once the elevator empties out, Ha-ri pushes Ee-tteum into the corner and clarifies that there is no “Aunt” at work, only supervisors above supervisors. She makes herself abundantly clear, and Ee-tteum looks shaken by the sudden lesson.
At the company dinner, Ee-tteum brings the group’s attention to the woman on the news wearing the same outfit as Ha-ri. It’s the clip of Ha-ri denying involvement in the crime and citing journalistic reasons for her engagement. The news reports that after further investigation, the magazine denied any related investigation on the topic.
All eyes turn to Ha-ri, and she actively denies that the person on the news is her. Then, Ee-tteum points out that she has the same bruise on her forehead. Omg, this kid is useless! Ha-ri covers up her face and turns off the TV as she runs away.
Mom can’t believe that Ha-ri wants to live as a single mother after watching her struggle. She still wants Ha-ri to marry. Ha-ri argues that Mom raised her well on her own and that she learned that marriage was difficult by watching her parents fight all the time. She asks why Mom wants her to achieve something that she’s known to be difficult and painful. Mom says that it’s not her fault that Ha-ri can’t marry and that she’s on the wrong path.
Ha-ri yells that she’s foregoing marriage because she doesn’t want to live like Mom. Ouch. Jae-young tries to intervene and table the discussion for later, but Mom is already hurt. She tells Ha-ri to leave and live a life unlike her mother, and Ha-ri storms out.
In the heat of the moment, Ha-ri’s walked out in slippers and walks aimlessly in the neighborhood. She looks at the ground as she crosses the street and nearly walks into a truck, but someone gruffly saves her by pushing her forehead back. Ha-ri looks up and finds Yi-sang, yet again witnessing another low point. She tries to run away but trips on her slippers, and Yi-sang comes to help her up. Then, Ha-ri bursts into tears.
Yi-sang looks uncomfortable but tries to comfort Ha-ri by gently patting her back. Puzzled by the gesture, Ha-ri looks up from her sobs and asks what he’s doing. Yi-sang explains that Ha-ri taught her to pat a crying baby, and Ha-ri asks if she’s a child. “You totally seem like a child,” he responds.
Yi-sang says that there’s nothing great about growing older, but the one thing he’s gained is an eye for people. He says that even if the strange lady on TV was Ha-ri, he knows that she’s a good person. Before she can thank him, Jae-young interrupts and approaches them with Ha-ri’s shoes in hand. He greets Yi-sang and then proceeds to scold Ha-ri for storming out of the house after fighting with Mom.
Jae-young makes Ha-ri change shoes and stops himself from helping her put on her shoes. Huh, what just happened there? Then, he tells Yi-sang that they live together, and they head back home. Yi-sang doesn’t look the least bit bothered by this and only looks back briefly to see the two bickering before continuing on his run.
When they get home, Jae-young sincerely expresses his support for whatever Ha-ri wants to do, no matter what others say. Jae-young then shares that he left his job at the hospital and gave up his goals for professorship, since that would be impossible while caring for Do-ah. He plans to open up his own clinic with the money from selling his house, which explains why he’s living with Ha-ri now.
Jae-young admits that he was living irresponsibly after his divorce, and he came to rely on Do-ah. He admits that he can’t fully understand Ha-ri, but he empathizes with Ha-ri’s desire to be a mother, since he knows the sentiment as a father. She’s just making it work with how her life is turning out.
Ha-ri looks comforted by Jae-young’s empathy and offers to feature him in her magazine as a clinic opening present. Jae-young only agrees to this if Do-ah also gets featured, but Ha-ri breaks it to him that Do-ah is only cute to them and blames his genes.
COMMENTS
Though the show is unfolding a bit differently from my expectations, I’m still really enjoying it. I expected more conflict and focus on who would be the chosen baby daddy and maybe that’s still to come, but I actually don’t really care about that as much. This story is about Ha-ri, and I love that this show reminds us of that in every episode. Our focus remains on Ha-ri taking life by the reigns, deciding how to manage her circumstances, and not letting life pass her by. She’s decided that 39 is too young to be complacent about her life path, and even with the obvious hardships ahead, she’s going for what she wants.
Ha-ri’s monologue to Jae-young at the police station perfectly captured her dilemma, and it was the honesty in her explanation that made her approach both sorrowful and beautiful. She can’t make sense of the legal restrictions barring her from pursuing her own happiness, so she’s left with very little options, including illegal ones. I was unfamiliar with such restrictions in Korea — that you need to be a legal couple to be a sperm recipient — and the rationale puzzles me. There are many other factors other than marriage that determine good parenting, and both traditional and untraditional coupling and parenting come with challenges that are hard to rank. I think Ha-ri’s desire and readiness to be a mother challenges these ethics embedded into law, and I appreciate her attempts to navigate the system and life she’s confronted with.
The confrontation with Mom was tougher to watch, and I can see why Mom wants Ha-ri to get married. Having experienced single motherhood, she ranks that as a very difficult challenge. She values good companionship and partnership, and she wants Ha-ri to experience this when raising a child. It was a low blow for Ha-ri to tell Mom that she doesn’t want to live like her, and I want to take a moment to appreciate all mothers everywhere for bearing with petty and hurtful outbursts from their children and forgiving them. Bless you all.