Good news — we are halfway through our show! But the not-so-good news is that we’re not totally done with the breakup story. And for our characters, while moving on is difficult, it’s a process they eventually have to go through. Even though it seems like it’ll take them forever to do so.
EPISODES 7-8
We pick up from where we left off last week with Bora’s return to Jinlee publishers. Bora is desperate to sign the book deal but Sang-jin is quite the negotiator, so Bora ends up settling for a lesser figure than she thought. A pity though, because Sang-jin was just as desperate for the deal to push through. The only difference was that he had better bluffing skills. Heh. And through this, Bora (and I) learn a lesson: to be a little more discrete with our desperation.
Soo-hyuk and Bora spend more time together this week as they plan and outline her new book, which is an autobiographical essay of how a dating coach overcomes her breakup. One of the tips she plans to share in the book is how to win back an ex after a breakup. *Rolls eyes* And it’s almost like Bora — and the show, by extension — haven’t learned anything because: 1) why is she still drinking even after being diagnosed with alcohol-induced gastritis last week? and 2) why are we still dwelling on this ex of hers?
In reply to Soo-hyuk, who wants to know the plan to get an ex back, Bora says they need to analyze what caused the breakup in the first place — which is not so bad, except this entire analysis should have been over and done with four episodes ago! I thought they were already at the acceptance stage of grief? Sigh. Maybe it’s time for us to accept that we are never moving on from their breakup.
Admittedly, our scars are part of us. But for these two, it’s like their entire lives revolve around their heartbreak. In a drama where already a good number of the scenes are a little too long, we devote so many precious minutes of each episode to watching Soo-hyuk and Bora go on and on about their breakup tale, that it feels like the drama has no other story to tell. We finally get a rom-com without a murder mystery and this is it? Nah, Bora! Deborah needs to be renamed “The breakup show.”
The good thing about the show is that Yoo Inna is doing an excellent job with selling the Bora character and all her emotions, and that’s why I’m still endeared to her. Even though I find her frustrating or embarrassing sometimes — especially when she starts to avoid Soo-hyuk because he saw her pee on the street while drunk. (For clarity’s sake, he didn’t actually see her do the deed. He was her lookout, and all he saw was the extraordinarily long trail of pee that trickled down the street.)
Soo-hyuk has seen it all when it comes to Bora, and you’d expect that at this point she’d already be used to it. But no, she just has to be all dramatic about the situation. Tsk. As Yoo-jung says, “There’s no use crying over spilled urine.” But hey, while Bora is worried about Soo-hyuk’s impression of her, she has no time to think about her ex. And that is always a welcome development in my book.
Speaking of books, Bora may no longer be writing about dating tips, but that doesn’t stop her from talking about it. Her latest mentee happens to be Jin-ho, and he tells Bora and Yoo-jung about the girl he met at the club and fell in love with (Bomi). In typical noona behavior, Bora and Yoo-jung don’t approve of Ms. Club, but will they come out directly to tell Jin-ho? No. Instead, to Jin-ho’s mortification, they trash talk about Ms. Club right in front of Bomi when Jin-ho comes with Jin-woo to help move around the heavy stuff in Bora’s new apartment (which I think is kinda basic compared to the pretty apartment they moved from). Oops!
Not that it’s any of their business, but there were better ways for Bora and Yoo-jung to express their displeasure over Jin-ho’s crush than to actively encourage him to confess his feelings in public — knowing how much girls hate that stuff. But joke’s on the noonas, because although Bomi hated the public confession (where we see the iKON in him lol) Jin-ho’s sincerity wins her over and they begin to date. Yaay!
Back to Bora, she decides to break up with Ju-wan because she doesn’t want his last impression of her to be the drunken mess that begged him to get back together. But wait, didn’t they already break up? Anyway, for the grand breakup scene, Bora and Soo-hyuk stakeout Ju-wan’s favorite restaurant. And when Ju-wan shows up, Bora coolly ends things with him once and for all. Phew! I hope this is the last we see of him on the show.
Now that Bora and Soo-hyuk have put a rest to the topic of getting the ex back, it’s off to karaoke to celebrate. And there, both halves of our Heartbreak Couple acknowledge the supportive role the other played in their respective post-breakup journeys. Things eventually grow tense as they silently acknowledge each other’s presence in the enclosed space, and like the natural order of things in dramas, they go in for a kiss.
Unfortunately, I did not feel a single thing from their kiss. And I hate not feeling things during kiss scenes. It’s almost like after messing with its pacing — no thanks to the overdrawn heartbreak arc– the drama realized it still needed to tick the kiss off the usual Episode 8 checklist. But as far as I’m concerned, this kiss is way too soon.
Aside from the youngsters, there’s really no healthy relationship in this show. Not the Heartbreak Couple, and definitely not Jin-woo and Yoo-jung. To be honest, I don’t know what Yoo-jung sees in her husband because Jin-woo annoys me with each passing episode. I get a spouse wanting their alone moments from time to time, but hiding a whole secret basement from your wife? Why are you even married to her in the first place? I’m not even going to start with Yoo-jung having to stage an elaborate act to buy a bag for herself. Sigh.
I’ve never seen a rom-com that makes romance seem this unappealing. It’s almost like how Sang-jin makes being an employee of Jinlee publishers unappealing thanks to his kkondae attitude. I cannot imagine having his petty self as my boss, and that is why the staff didn’t add him to the unofficial work group chat lol. But Sang-jin, it won’t be long. You will crumble soon enough.