Our demon has come to a very troubling conclusion: his heart, it seems, may not actually be made of stone. Or, perhaps, 200-year-old ice cream. Either way, this is the worst. Meanwhile, our heroine is fed up of this hot-and-cold obnoxiousness. Trouble is, she’s got a mountain of corporate sabotage to deal with before she can fix her love life… and it’d be easier if everyone stopped conflating the two!
EPISODES 5-6
Our heroes are suffering from serious post-tango regrets. The realization that he might have — ugh — feelings for Do-hee has hit Gu-won like a truck, and no amount of angsty shower scenes can express his discontent. Meanwhile, Do-hee is aggressively channeling her own woes into the world’s angriest skincare application. Gu-won totally cold-shouldered her after the dance. How’s she meant to decipher all these weird mixed signals? He’s like — like a hot iced Americano! Time to forget him and move on… uh, after this one last shot.
And so, Do-hee drops in at the Sunwol Foundation to test if Gu-won looks even slightly pleased to see her. She ends up with a sword at her throat, courtesy of a thoroughly ticked-off Ga-young. Our girl gives as good as she gets, not-so-trusty taser at the ready! But after a deeply awkward stand-off, during which Do-hee loftily insists she has a special relationship Gu-won, she is brought to his office. “Special relationship” is a bluff that pays off poorly. When Gu-won emerges, still ostentatiously shirtless, he’s in full iced-coffee mode, treating Do-hee with flat indifference. Ga-young smirks. Sorry to bother you, Do-hee snaps. I clearly made a mistake.
Gu-won is triumphant. Nobody noticed his disastrous crush! That went great. The next day, Do-hee storms through the office with a deadly expression, while Gu-won exercises his customary levels of charm and tact by throwing tantrums over instant coffee. But keeping his distance proves tricky. Bok-gyu decides to surprise his boss with drinks, disguised in a motorcycle helmet. Not the wisest choice with an acid-flinging assassin on the loose. With a flying leap, Do-hee’s ever-faithful SECRETARY SHIN (Seo Jung-yeon) wallops him across the head with an iPad, whilst Gu-won rushes instantly to Do-hee’s side. It’s passionate, heart-pounding hate at first sight for Bok-gyu and Secretary Shin — and disaster for Gu-won. He messed up. What if Do-hee noticed that he cares?
Well, sadly, she’s a tad distracted. Suk-min is rallying the corporate troops against her — he’s blackmailed Mirae’s board into voting for him as acting chairman. With no spouse to fulfill the terms of Madam Ju’s will, Do-hee is powerless to stop this. Don’t rush into marriage, Suk-min advises, with maximum smarm. You could end up with entirely the wrong person. Here, his wife, KIM SE-RA (Jo Yeon-hee) gives him a sullen look… and hoo boy, there’s no end to the dysfunction there, huh? Meanwhile, Do-kyung — whose hobbies so far consist of dodging manslaughter charges, and finding new locations in which to smirk creepily — gives Do-hee a knowing look. Nice tattoo, he says.
As ever, Do-hee’s only ally in the family is Ju “my second-lead senses are tingling” Seok-hoon. Gu-won, of course, sees him fawn over Do-hee and immediately greets him with a death glare. He’s left to sulk by himself while Seok-hoon and Do-hee talk in the car. However, for once, this has nothing to do with awkward flirtation; Seok-hoon has discovered some numbers in the Mirae records that don’t add up. A ship was purchased on paper from a virtually non-existent company — classic sign of fraud.
Ultimately, this gets our heroine nowhere. No lawyer will touch a case against Mirae. The only option is to date her way out of this mess! And so, she reschedules with the blind date she accidentally stood up: a man who handily happens to be a prosecutor. Sadly, this particular Prince Charmless proves less-than-ideal dinner company. His interests consist of tortuously bad pickup lines and rampant social climbing — and woe betide you if you’re sitting within splatter range of his wine-tasting. Gu-won lasts five minutes before losing patience and magicking a lobster into clawing the poor guy’s face. Still, Do-hee is determined to martyr herself. As her date emerges bloody-lipped and shellfish-traumatized, she casually proposes marriage.
Cue a deeply affronted demon. Viciously, Gu-won announces that he won’t have to deal with Do-hee if they catch the assassin. And so the mob boss from last episode finds himself facing the terrifying, tango-dancing couple of his nightmares. Tell me, says Gu-won, holding up a sketch of the assassin, if you’ve seen this man. When the guy refuses to budge, Gu-won grins. I guess, he says, I’ll take it out on you. With horror-movie grisliness, all the knives, forks and plates in the room rise into the air, hurling themselves in his quarry’s direction. Seconds prior to impact, Do-hee snatches her wrist from Gu-won’s grasp. They clatter harmlessly to the floor. What is your problem, she asks him, disgusted. You, he snaps back. She looks at him, stung. Then let’s stop, she says. You are no longer my bodyguard.
This one’s a fight with no easy resolution. Fuming and — dare I say — heartbroken, Gu-won walks away. Exhausted and definitely heartbroken, Do-hee returns to her apartment. She’s entirely unprepared for what she finds. Distorted record music trickles in from the distance. Moments later, a man with a familiar rash on the back of his neck seizes her with a handkerchief soaked in chloroform. Goaded into action by his online contact Abraxas, our assassin (Kim Seol-jin) has finally made his move.
When Do-hee wakes, she’s hanging from the top of her balcony at a dizzying height, secured by two lengths of cloth. Above her, the assassin of many faces brandishes a knife, beside himself with glee. He makes short work of the first restraint. She cries out for mercy, but he’s already working on the second. However, just as it begins to snap, a hand seizes her wrist, and she hangs suspended — as Gu-won looks down at her.
Turns out, Do-hee pressed the emergency contact button on her phone. Gu-won sped to the scene. Now, as the assassin lunges, he and Do-hee both plunge from the balcony. The cross glows. Space collapses. As they reappear in the stairwell, Do-hee dissolves into tears, throwing her arms around Gu-won — who, after a moment, hugs back. Meanwhile, her second emergency contact, Seok-hoon, watches morosely.
Afterwards, our heroes cycle through the CCTV footage. To their surprise, they realize the assassin has a completely different face to the man who first abducted Do-hee… but the same bloodied neck. Is this why Gu-won couldn’t find him — because he can alter his appearance? Rattled, Do-hee wanders back onto the balcony. It’s a pretty morbid move, but she’s caught up in the thought that she really, truly could have died.
It’s here that Seok-hoon finds her. You don’t have to fight this alone, he says, extending a hand. Marry me. Promptly, a voice emerges from behind him: how about you marry me instead? Gu-won has thrown his hat — and his hand — into the ring! There’s a long silence. It’s a lot of pressure, and Do-hee is kind of super traumatized! To Gu-won’s evident shock, she asks if she can have time to consider. (Our demon looks at his hand with a perplexed, “is this thing on?” sort of expression.)
The next day, Do-hee sits musing in her office, when Seok-hoon shows up with a flowerpot. It’s so awkward that they both end up collapsing into giggles. Gu-won, who looks as if he is barely holding back from homicide, guzzles cup after cup of horrible instant coffee and seethes. At one point, he brandishes a cluster of sugar sachets as if he intends to present them to Do-hee like a bouquet. Mercifully, he does not. But in the quiet of the car, Do-hee finally gives voice to the overwhelming question: why did Gu-won propose? Just because, Gu-won answers, sullenly. But then he adds — because I don’t want you to die.
Next thing we know, Do-hee is announcing triumphantly to Madam Ju’s family that she’s getting married… tomorrow! It’s not long before she’s posing for one last Mirae F&B YouTube ad in a wedding dress picked out by Secretary Shin — and looking stunning in the process. Still, the Madam Ju in her mind’s eye is predictably unimpressed. Do-hee imagines her scoffing. Couldn’t you have picked out something more elegant? She teases Do-hee until she’s half-laughing, half-crying. Where in the world, asks Do-hee, did you go? And why did you leave me alone? Madam Ju softens, meeting her eyes through the mirror. Where would I be, she replies, other than in your memory?
Do-hee makes her way up the aisle… where, of course, it is Gu-won who waits for her. As they stand before their friends, the press, and Madam Ju’s scandalized family, the two recite their vows — whilst the secret contract they’d made beforehand plays over them. They will playact the ideal couple in public. They won’t intrude on each other’s private lives. They will cooperate with one another. And, most importantly, the contract shall expire when both parties have achieved their goals.
They are married more or less without a hitch. Granted, Gu-won takes issue with the announcement that the bride and groom are to walk back down the aisle, to symbolize their lifelong devotion. Look — his life is very long! This is hastily amended to, “the bride and groom will now walk down the aisle together… symbolizing nothing.’” Thus, they proceed to walk entirely non-symbolically through the crowd, as the Noh siblings glower, Seok-hoon looks stricken, and Secretary Shin and Bok-gyu attempt a no-holds-barred competitive cheer-off whilst giving each other the stink-eye.
Do-hee insists that they will not kiss for the wedding photos. That is, until one reporter asks if it’s true that this marriage is purely for the inheritance — at which point, she announces that yup, kissing is fine. Gu-won baulks, but in a pleasantly lethal undertone, she reminds him of the contract. By way of response, he sweeps her into his arms, leans in close… and presses his finger between their lips, angling them away from the crowd, so that by a very technical margin, no kissing took place.
Nor does anything else along those lines — though they are now sharing Do-hee’s hilariously messy apartment. Gu-won proves to be an exemplary fake spouse: with a snap of his fingers, he banishes every bit of dust and clutter. The two proceed to take separate showers, then awkwardly stutter at each other from across the hall — only to retreat to their (separate) bedrooms. Very, very separately. Alone, each turns to face the opposite, empty pillow. Goodnight, Jung Gu-won, says Do-hee. Goodnight, Goodnight, Do Do-hee, replies Gu-won. Adorable.
In the morning, Do-hee is all business. She’s determined to investigate her latest murder suspect: Do-kyung. Helpfully, Gu-won teleports them into a bathroom stall of a wrestling gym — where outside, the world’s creepiest corporate heir washes his face and grumbles about the guy he’d almost suffocated whilst sparring. Certainly, he’s not murder-averse. Our intrepid heroes follow him out, ducking clumsily behind corners. Okay, so they suck at this. Do-hee gets points for enthusiasm, if not skill. Gu-won gets negative points for dragging them to buy coffee mid-stakeout.
They tail Do-kyung to the underground, where he approaches a series of lockers — the same ones our assassin had used to deposit a mysterious paper bag. When he opens it, though, it’s empty. Gu-won and Do-hee peer at him, perplexed, from a nearby photo booth. Unfortunately, they’re hampered by the fact that they are still absolutely dreadful spies. Do-kyung immediately grows suspicious. He creeps towards the booth, as our heroes tremble. In a flash, Gu-won remembers signing the contract promising to cooperate with Do-hee’s aims. Well, it’s clear what that means! Decisively, he takes Do-hee’s face in his hands — and pulls her into a kiss… this time, very much for real.
Well, this was an utter delight. I cannot get enough of watching these two incredibly attractive dumbasses bicker, self-sabotage, and yearn. This drama is merrily assured of its own cleverness, at the same time as unabashedly wallowing in some of the oldest — and best-loved — tropes in the book. Like Gu-won’s fancy hand-poured coffee, it’s the perfect blend. I’ll never be bored of watching our heroes sulk and act out: Do-hee stone-facedly sitting through that awful date rather than admit she regrets it; Gu-won treating Do-hee’s employees like vaguely irritating scenery… the pettiness gives me life. At the same time, we get to see them be heart-breakingly vulnerable — almost always while the other isn’t watching. I love how the only place they’ll really talk honestly is when they’re guiltily stealing glances at each other in the car.
Meanwhile, the mystery that is Ga-young deepens. I’m convinced there’s some past life rivalry shenanigans going on with her and Do-hee — that sword versus gun confrontation was way too dramatic not to be meaningful! Plus, it’s got to be significant how both women hurt their hands in the same place last episode. There’s more to our sword-wielding second female lead than meets the eye — of that I’m convinced. This show is gloriously fast-paced, but I trust that there’s time for it to pull all these narrative threads together. I also love that our leads are already well aware of their own romantic feelings, at the same time as having miles of character development to go before they can even slightly deduce what’s going on in the other’s head. Bring on more car ride conversations — these beautiful dorks are going to need it!