Love is in the air this week, drawing our leading quartet together and creating some sticky situations. Our lovelorn vampire navigates the overlap of past and present, while our pragmatic heroine gets the guesthouse up and running — but an untimely encounter poses a threat to the secret they’ve been trying to keep under wraps.
EPISODES 7-8
Hae-won’s response to Woo-hyul’s sudden embrace may be coyly flirtatious, but it only serves to reinforce the fact that she’s not the Hae-sun he knew. In the aftermath, Woo-hyul is uncharacteristically subdued as he tries to parse through his emotions. He feels like he’s let Hae-sun down by failing to become human, and he can’t bear to see Hae-sun’s likeness without her memories intact.
Unused to this glum, downtrodden version of Woo-hyul, In-hae tries to offer some comfort by bringing him a blood jelly dessert. She points out that his devotion to Hae-sun, and his dedication in waiting centuries for her, can also be a sign of love — it doesn’t just have to be physical signs like a beating heart. Her words strike a chord in Woo-hyul, who hadn’t considered such a perspective before.
It’s all Woo-hyul can do to focus on his goal of heating up In-hae’s blood and becoming human, so he decides to do just that. Playing matchmaker, he pushes Do-shik to take more initiative since In-hae isn’t the type to ask for help. Do-shik takes In-hae furniture shopping for the guesthouse, getting mistaken for newlyweds and reminiscing about their college days over lunch.
In-hae invites Do-shik and Hae-won over to see the house, and Woo-hyul offers Hae-won a bouquet of flowers in apology for their awkward first meeting. The four have dinner together, and Hae-won offers Woo-hyul a prawn when she notices he isn’t eating. Remembering what happened the last time Woo-hyul ate human food, In-hae tries to stop him, but unfortunately she can’t win over social niceties.
Woo-hyul chomps down on the prawn, and his eyes immediately go wide with wonder. Relishing in the glorious taste of the ocean, Woo-hyul winds up grabbing a second prawn right out of Do-shik’s hand, then polishes the entire prawn platter off. In-hae can only huff in dismay, while Do-shik and Hae-won watch with bemused amusement.
Before long, Woo-hyul is drunk as a skunk, and he totters over to Hae-won, calling her “Hae-sun” again and gazing deep into her eyes. Rushing to avert a disaster before it happens, In-hae drags Woo-hyul outside. Woo-hyul won’t sober up, so In-hae ends up having to sock him in the face, and that finally does the trick. Realizing what he’s done, Woo-hyul slumps onto In-hae’s shoulder, needing just a moment of comfort.
Later, the pair go back inside, and that’s when a lightbulb shorts out right above Hae-won, startling her badly. Woo-hyul sprints towards Hae-won at supernatural speed to save her from falling, and In-hae instinctively whirls Do-shik around to face her so that he doesn’t witness Woo-hyul’s vampiric abilities.
Once Hae-won is safe in his arms, Woo-hyul’s vision blurs, then he slumps to the floor, completely out cold. In-hae ushers their guests out, assuring them that Woo-hyul will sleep it off. However, while Hae-won is feeling all fluttery from her heroic rescue, Do-shik has clearly sensed that something’s not quite right.
While the mansion undergoes remodeling, Do-shik offers In-hae a temporary apartment to stay in for a week, and Woo-hyul decides to crash with his vamp buddies to avoid third-wheeling. After In-hae settles in, Do-shik takes her out for dinner, where he ends up admitting to his college crush on her — why else would he have frequented the mediocre restaurant she worked at?
College In-hae was as stoic back then as she is now, repeatedly stonewalling Do-shik’s attempts to start conversation. (Can I just say that bespectacled Do-shik is absolutely adorable?!) Do-shik had been too intimidated to confess back then, so he’s glad that they’ve reconnected.
On the walk back, In-hae lets Do-shik down gently, explaining that she’d rather focus on the guesthouse for now. “Why don’t you love me?” Do-shik doesn’t ask. Instead, he takes it graciously, reassuring In-hae that he’ll continue to help out. Aw, it’s not a direct rejection, but it’s clear that neither romance nor Do-shik are at the forefront of In-hae’s mind.
That night, In-hae and Woo-hyul spend the night at their respective accommodations, but they’re so used to each other’s presence that they end up calling anyway. In-hae asks about his date with Hae-won, and Woo-hyul puffs up proudly when In-hae praises him for not slipping up in front of her.
Before long, the newly-refurbished guesthouse opens for business, ushering in its first guest thanks to Woo-hyul’s handwritten calligraphy flyers. Awesome! To congratulate their opening, Hae-won gifts Woo-hyul a painting along with the car it arrives in. LOL, In-hae considers selling it to claim Woo-hyul’s debt, and Woo-hyul barely manages to convince her out of it.
Having heard about Woo-hyul from Hae-won, Man-hwi shows up to cause trouble. After pushing Woo-hyul’s buttons, he floors his car right at him — activating Woo-hyul’s vampiric instincts. Rather than jump out of the way, Woo-hyul stops the car with his bare hand in broad daylight.
Unfortunately, all that was caught on tape by Do-shik’s secretary. The dinner incident had rattled Do-shik too much for him to ignore, since he clearly felt Woo-hyul speed past him unnaturally fast. Can it be? Do supernatural creatures exist? When his secretary shows him the dashcam footage, Do-shik is finally certain — Woo-hyul isn’t human.
Oh no, Woo-hyul’s secret is out! I’m worried for him, but I’m also excited to see where this will take our story. Now that he’s seen proof of Woo-hyul’s supernatural nature, Do-shik is certainly smart enough to connect the dots with his family heirloom. Do-shik’s heart condition hasn’t been plaguing him recently, but I suspect it’ll start to flare up again, pushing him towards Woo-hyul for better or for worse. (Side note: we ended off this week’s episodes with Park Kang-hyun’s OST, and I am one happy camper!)
Not that Woo-hyul doesn’t have enough to worry about already — he’s just heard from Yang-nam that he doesn’t have much time left. Teetering on the border of mortality isn’t doing his constitution any favors, which means Woo-hyul must drink In-hae’s blood before the night of the blood moon, or else death awaits him.
On the romance front, I continue to swoon over Do-shik, but I love how our OTP can’t help but be drawn to each other. Beyond fate and first loves, Woo-hyul and In-hae share a connection built upon mutual empathy and rapport. Once fiercely independent, they’re starting to learn how to rely on each other, and it’s doing both of them much good.
It was cute to see a glimpse of our alternative pairings this week, but it also reinforced that this configuration isn’t where each of them belongs. Hae-won may speak lines that echo her past self, but Woo-hyul can’t see any hint of his own reflection in her eyes. As for In-hae, she may be grateful for Do-shik’s kindness, but the person she’s the most comfortable with is Woo-hyul. After all, home is where the heart is, isn’t it?