The drama delivers this week, picking up the pace (at least a little) and honing in on the longing between our leads. These episodes pack tons of side glances, some tight-jawed tension, and two sleepovers (though it’s the hint of a possible third that has me hanging). This is where I wanted to be when I started this show and I’m back at Week 1 excitement to see what happens next.
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP
Every week I’m torn about what to include in the weecaps because this drama has so much happening both on screen and under the surface. This week we have three major threads to cover, having to do with the love and power relationships between our leads — and the drama is tying and tangling such a tight knot, there won’t be room for much else.
We come in where we left off last week — with a separation and a union. Jong-hyun breaks up with Soo-young without explanation and we see a totally different side of his character. His gleaming optimism disappears, and he clams up, leaves town, and says he’s quitting the bank.
Soo-young is crushed, thinking about the hopeful plans they made for the future. Before Jong-hyun leaves Seoul, the two argue it out. True to her insecurity, Soo-young asks if he’s sick of her already. She learns that his father collapsed and is in the hospital in need of surgery. The cost is so high, Jong-hyun’s life (and positive perspective) shattered instantly. He says, “I thought my life started at zero and all I had to do was work my way up. My life started below zero.”
We also learn that he failed his police exam and has no plans to retake it. He doesn’t need the low-paying security guard job anymore if he’s not going to study and be a police officer. Soo-young listens to all his excuses and then says, “What about me?”
The argument that follows is heart-wrenching. Jong-hyun is humiliated. Their relationship made sense to him when he was on his way up. But if he has no future, how can they be together? He talks about his part-time position and how his family is worse off now than before and says, “This is all I am” — and he can’t stand for her to see him as he is (or as he sees himself). Then he places himself beneath her on the social rungs: “Whenever I see you, I keep forgetting my place.”
Soo-young asks why he’s not holding onto her. Jong-hyun starts to break down and says this isn’t what he wants and it’s not easy for him, but what is he supposed to do? She yells, “Ask me to wait! Hold onto me!” (Oof. Both actors are nailing this scene.) Soo-young’s self-doubt is so deep it’s clouding her ability to really see Jong-hyun or his predicament. And it’s a brilliant portrayal of their power differential. Only later does she admit to herself that he has a hard life ahead of him.
Once Jong-hyun returns to his hometown, Soo-young continues to think of him. One day she sees a police officer in the street and makes the decision to run to the bus station and go see him. She finds him working at a car wash, having used his entire security deposit from his Seoul apartment to pay for his dad’s surgery. He’s polite to her, but wants her to leave. She’s there because she doesn’t want him to give up his dream of becoming a police officer. They’ve switched roles suddenly, and he is the one feeling hopeless — so, Soo-young tries to present him with the same optimism he once presented to her.
She gives him a really nice offer: Come live with me. Work at the bank. Study for the police exam again and retake the test. “Show me that hard work can pay off and make you happy.” It’s a beautiful turnaround for her, but he says he can’t do it. She says she’ll wait for him at the bus station and if he doesn’t show up, she’ll accept that it’s over between them.
That night, at the bus terminal, we see Soo-young’s bus pulling away as Jong-hyun runs out to try to catch it. He chases it, but stops mid-way across the parking lot as the bus disappears around a corner. There’s dead air. Then Soo-young appears, walking back toward him. He runs to her, wrapping her tightly in relief. She hugs him back, smiling, and I feel like for the moment (not forever) these two need each other.
When they get back to Seoul, Soo-young clears a room in her apartment for Jong-hyun and the two begin living together. They’re still dating, but careful around each other at home, mostly staying in their separate spaces. Jong-hyun joins a study group, Soo-young cooks, they seem happy, and I love, love, love this development. There are no cohabitation hijinks. This is just a realistic portrayal of what people do when their backs are against a wall.
Now, on to the story of our union between Sang-soo and Mi-kyung. These two are outwardly adorable (especially to their co-workers, who find out quickly that they’re dating), but they’ve already fallen into a rut of superficial contentment. There’s no passion, which means they don’t fight, but they like each other well enough to stay together. In an ominous scene, both admit that they don’t know each other well, and neither is as good of a person as the other thinks. (I can only imagine what’s coming.)
Sang-soo is more conflicted now than we’ve seen him before. When Mi-kyung tells him she told Soo-young they were dating, he stiffens and wants to know what Soo-young said. His face in these episodes says it all — and he only has eyes for Soo-young.
Mi-kyung is cutesy, kissing Sang-soo in the woods on a hiking trip and happily being teased by co-workers about their relationship, and Sang-soo is visibly uncomfortable each time. When Mi-kyung shows up unannounced at his apartment and says she’s not going home that night, he doesn’t even look excited about it. Their first night together overlaps with the night Jong-hyun moves into Soo-young’s apartment and we get simultaneous scenes (as the show likes to do) of both men making breakfast in the morning and then the two couples heading off to the bank.
There are various moments this week where Soo-young and Sang-soo are seated at the same table in the company of others, looking at each other as if only they understand while everyone else is oblivious. One of these encounters happens when Mi-kyung throws a surprise birthday party for Soo-young — with only the two couples in attendance.
The party is at Mi-kyung’s apartment, where she’s talkative and upbeat (telling Sang-soo what to do all the time and him mostly in compliance). Jong-hyun is happy to answer all Mi-kyung’s questions about his relationship with Soo-young, but Sang-soo and Soo-young are painfully uneasy. These two are bridging the worlds between Mi-kyung and Jong-hyun, and both are picking up on social cues that Mi-kyung can’t see.
At this same party, Soo-young sees a painting hanging in Mi-kyung’s bathroom. It’s the painting Soo-young had loved and visited regularly in a gallery window — the one she introduced Mi-kyung to. Soo-young begins to see that no matter how nice Mi-kyung is, they can’t really be friends.
Later on, Soo-young learns that Sang-soo is the reason Manager Yook apologized to her last week. She thanks him and he says he would have done it for anybody. She says she knows because he’s a good person (interestingly, the exact opposite of how he described himself to Mi-kyung). The tangle of power relationships becomes evident here because Manager Yook knows it was Sang-soo who turned him in. This could mess up Sang-soo’s position at work — but his relationship with Mi-kyung could fix it.
At the same time, Jong-hyun is back at work, still the lowest in rank, with the managers stepping all over him and expecting him to do random errands. In one instance, Sang-soo intercepts a lowly errand for Jong-hyun (obviously because of his feelings for Soo-young). It could mean many things, but I took it that Sang-soo wants to stop Soo-young from witnessing Jong-hyun being treated badly, and he’s in a position to do it.
At the end of this week’s episodes, both Sang-soo and Soo-young are regretting that they can’t be together, but in different ways. Soo-young wants to “protect the one who chose her” (Jong-hyun), while Sang-soo decides he’ll “honor the choice he made” (Mi-kyung), even if he’s deceiving his heart.
In the final sequence, Sang-soo and Soo-young attend a co-worker’s wedding with their respective partners, while gazing at each other across the room. Afterward, Soo-young checks into a hotel room and tells Jong-hyun she’s staying at a friend’s place that night. Sang-soo arrives to the hotel room and rings the bell. Soo-young opens the door and it appears Sang-soo and Soo-young are facing each other. Is this another Week 1 trick where they’re actually at different doors? Or is Sang-soo about to show us why he told Mi-kyung he’s not a good person?
Eeee! This is what I signed up for my friends. Now we’re in the thick of it. These episodes (and characters) became so much more likable to me because the leads are showing their longing for each other. There is more anguish here — and more passion. When they were arguing all the time, they may have been fiery but it was hard to tell they actually liked each other. Now we’ve got Sang-soo beaming with love while watching Soo-young gut a fish, and unbearably miserable when the two catch eyes. Suddenly we’re in the feels zone.
The other amazing thing is how the show finally made me care about Jong-hyun. He’s been a side character up to this point but really came into his own when he ran out to catch that bus. He took a risk, it was the right thing to do, and I swiftly wanted to see how Soo-young and Jong-hyun would fare. They definitely raised the stakes on heartbreak this week (and I’m prepping myself for the torment).
I have some reservations about what’s to come in terms of the social stakes, though. We have new questions this week about how social structures confine people until they make poor choices. And I’m all for going down that path, as long as we don’t end up with a story that confirms the norm rather than questioning it. I will hold off on commenting until we see how things play out next week. In the interim, I’m looking forward to finally getting to see these characters going through things together (both good and bad).