Late-night talks, secret stairwell dates, and forehead kisses abound this week as our couple finally start going out in earnest this time. However, as they enjoy this moment of happiness, misfortune appears just around the corner. Though our leads try to avert their gaze, their doubts turn into convictions, and they learn that nothing in life is guaranteed.
EPISODES 11-12
I fear the dreaded third act slump has descended upon this show, and a part of me wants to run for the hills lest any goodwill these characters have fostered turns into spoiled milk. Though I’ve seen this pattern one too many times, maybe, just maybe, my gut feelings are desperately wrong.
Before I get to the hair-wrenching part of the episodes, let’s start with the good (i.e., Ha-neul and Jung-woo’s romance). Our lovebirds enjoy the butterflies of a new relationship and all the perks that come with it from changing each other’s contact name to talking on the phone all night. Ha-neul even sleeps over at Jung-woo’s place but only to enjoy a snack — completely chaste, of course.
They decide to keep their relationship a secret at work since Ha-neul’s employment may be temporary. As for her family, Ha-neul is open to telling them until Mom stumbles upon Jung-woo in bed with her, but since her face was hidden, she pretends that nothing happened. Thankfully, Mom is no fool (or prude for that matter). She finds her daughter’s insistence on lying a silly over-complication since she already approves of their relationship — heck, she even shipped them before they recognized their feelings for each other! Thus, she invites Jung-woo to her birthday party, and their charade ends as soon as it began.
At work, their relationship remains a secret, but I doubt this will last long either from the way our jealous leads act. While a couple of misunderstandings (fawning coworkers, a last egg roll, and bus mishaps) do cause their first fight, this blows over quickly after one open conversation, and our couple returns to the merriment of sneaky around together for some alone time.
As Jung-woo grows closer to Ha-neul’s family — even experiencing a drinking session with her uncle and brother without her — he shares a little about his own family, too. Unlike hers, his cardiologist parents only cared about themselves, so he learned from an early age that he could never earn their love and looked for it elsewhere. Before Ha-neul came along, his only confidante was Kyung-min, but even before their recent falling out, Jung-woo admits that he always felt something off about him.
He reveals to Ha-neul that he nearly died the night he passed the medical exam and vaguely remembers Kyung-min drugging his drink. At the time, he questioned his memory, but even now, Jung-woo would rather bury the incident than dig up past wounds. He tells Ha-neul that he’s happy, so she drops the subject in hopes that their current bliss stays intact.
With their first paychecks, Ha-neul gifts Jung-woo a rare book on the history of plastic surgery as well as a cute surgical cap, and Jung-woo treats her to her first field trip, complete with shopping, kimbap, and a museum tour. He also planned a photo shoot, and the two of them rent uniforms to recreate pictures of the trips she never got to have. While high school Jung-woo would have balked at the idea of dating Ha-neul, the present-day version wishes for nothing more.
Since every field trip needs friends, Jung-woo invited Hong-ran to join them, and she brings Dae-young along — the two of them having gotten closer recently after helping each other out with parenting. As they grill meat, the discussion turns to friendships, and Hong-ran tells the group that she approached Ha-neul first because she admired her independence. They ask the boys about their story, and after some hesitation, Dae-young launches into a flashback.
The year was 2013, and Dae-young recalls Jung-woo as his friend, junior, and hyung (in spirit, not age). He credits Jung-woo’s support for his current success, and their backstory becomes a backdrop for PPL scenes. Alas, their relationship crumbled when Dae-young fell down the stairs — a combination of a misplaced bag and an ill-timed clap on the back — and their lives switched. Jung-woo went on a volunteer trip in Dae-young’s stead, which shot him to stardom, and one petty argument later, the two friends got into a pillow fight in the middle of the office.
Reflecting on their broken friendship, Dae-young holds himself accountable for what happened and finally tells Jung-woo that he was filing for divorce at the time and felt jealous of his career. They both apologize for holding onto hurt feelings for so long, and their conversation turns to a different topic: Kyung-min. Dae-young asks if Kyung-min does drugs since he saw him with powdered medicine before, but Jung-woo thinks he is clean, though this revelation does fill in some blanks regarding his near-death experience.
As the leads dig deeper into their duplicitous ex-mentor, we learn that Jung-woo’s former anesthesiologist is blackmailing Kyung-min about a seventh hidden camera he planted. Meanwhile, Ha-neul does some sleuthing on her own and discovers that his in-law’s pharmaceutical company has ties to Macau — the same place Jung-woo’s victim resided — and may be involved in a scheme to manipulate stock prices. Cementing her suspicions, Ha-neul remembers seeing the VP of the company at Jung-woo’s trial and sees CCTV footage of Kyung-min stalking Jung-woo the night he moved into the rooftop.
All clues point towards something nefarious, so Ha-neul confronts Kyung-min. Though she wants to speak to him in public, given the sensitive nature of their discussion, she agrees to talk privately in his car. She calls him out on his shoddy dissertation and lays out all her findings, ending with the crux of their confrontation: is he involved in Jung-woo’s medical accident? Kyung-min turns to her, eyes wide in fear, and in his distraction, he veers towards oncoming traffic. Though he swerves the car away in time, the moment they both let their guards down, another truck crashes into them.
I wasn’t expecting the Truck of Doom to make its appearance, and I, for one, am disappointed. It feels like a plot device to manufacture external tension when the show should instead be spending more time exploring the characters’ internal conflicts and motivations. After the way the show dealt with Jung-woo’s case in Episode 7, I hoped that the focus would be on the inner struggles of the leads. While it was obvious that the case wasn’t over from a narrative standpoint, I was impressed with how the writer subverted expectations by showing the toil it had on Jung-woo rather than highlight his triumph. There’s a chance the writer could also be using this traffic accident trope to turn it on its head, but at this point in the story, some of the more consistent failings make me question the future direction of the show.
As many have pointed out, the show isn’t anywhere near perfect. There’s a lot of questionable medical choices, conveniently overheard conversations, and a clear lack of awareness on the show’s part concerning some problematic cultural trends, particularly in regards to the excessive drinking. When the characters are constantly getting drunk — not just enjoying a glass of wine but chugging champagne to the point of blackouts — it calls for an intervention not another drinking scene. I’m also not looking forward to Kyung-min’s story. There are elements that could make him a fascinating antagonist and a wonderful foil to the main characters, but so far, he feels one-dimensional and boring. He comes across as a greedy man who uses others for his own gain, and I’m assuming he has always harbored some sort of jealousy with a dash of inferiority complex towards the more well-off and intelligent Jung-woo and Ha-neuls of this world.
With that being said, I’m still enjoying the show because the reason I tune in every week is for Ha-neul and Jung-woo. The show has a chill vibe that feels like comfort food, and I think this week contained a lot of adorable moments between the main couple. It was cute to watch them get excited about their new relationship, and I love how they both match each other’s jubilant energy. The petty jealousy at the beginning was a bit over-the-top since Ha-neul was the one who established those rules in the first place, but as usual, the show dealt with it quickly by making the characters talk to each other. It just proves that most conflicts can be resolved through honest conversations, and thankfully, our leads are learning how to communicate and be open with each other.
My favorite moments of our leads were the way they used their first paychecks to buy the other person gifts. Ha-neul’s book and scrub cap were funny but also thoughtful because it reflects her practical side alongside her nerdy one. It’s only made better by Jung-woo’s reaction because he teases her for being overly studious but humors her every time because seeing her happy makes him happy. Jung-woo’s gift was also reflective of his character and how he continuously tries to give Ha-neul experiences through acts of service. It wasn’t about the monetary value of his present but the small details from packing kimbap (a field trip staple) to staying up with friends.
In a way, these two episodes were the calm before the storm, and while the impending issue may be related to Kyung-min, I do think the bigger message is about willful ignorance and neglecting one’s health (not just physical but also emotional). Because the characters were so happy, they essentially buried their heads in the sand, hoping that their issues would magically disappear. However, as we saw at the end of Episode 12, the problem that Kyung-min poses won’t simply go away if ignored, so for our characters to truly heal, they also need to face the underlying problem. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and think everything is fixed, but happiness takes time and work. While love is great, in some cases, it can even make things more complicated. However, if Ha-neul and Jung-woo continue building their relationship on trust and communication, I want to believe that they’ll be able to help each other get better rather than tear each other down.