What happens when a couple has two different ideas of what a successful relationship looks like, and two very different end games in mind? As the heatwave continues, so does the discord between our couples — especially when the word “marriage” gets thrown into the mix.
EPISODES 9-10 WEECAP
We pick up with Ha-kyung and Shi-woo happy and cute at the bar together, but a proposal at the restaurant — accidentally started in front of them — makes for an interesting mishap. However, Shi-woo’s response isn’t the one we’d expect; instead, he makes a negative comment about marriage, and Ha-kyung doesn’t miss picking up on it.
Before they can talk it out, she’s confronted by Ki-joon at work for her obvious dating of Shi-woo. She denies it (somehow), and the whole exchange is as annoying as we can imagine, what with Ki-joon being a pathetic jerk and all.
From here, Ha-kyung sounds the alarm over IM to Shi-woo, and the two have a hilarious rapid fire IM exchange that doesn’t escape the notice of KIM SOO-JIN (Chae Seo-eun), who from that point on is suspicious of the pair.
Ha-kyung wants to date even more secretly now, so they come up with a weekend camping date. Unfortunately, Ki-joon is on their tail trying to capture incriminating evidence. It’s played for laughs, but at this point I’m out of good humor for this character. Ki-joon misses his mother’s birthday meal with Yoo-jin, criticizes her for shopping for herself when she’s spent her bonus on a designer purse for his mother, and his whole weekend revolves around Ha-kyung. It’s pathetic to the point of being boring. Ki-joon, get a life!
Another strange event in this week’s episodes is that both couples seek the other out to talk about their exes. While Ki-joon and Shi-woo are working on their weathery business, it turns into a rare moment of maturity between them, and Ki-joon tells Shi-woo that Ha-kyung doesn’t date without the intention of marriage.
Meanwhile, Ha-kyung seeks out Yoo-jin, because she’s a bit bothered by what she thinks is Shi-woo’s anti-marriage perspective. And sure enough, we learn from Yoo-jin that Shi-woo is something of a misogamist; she broke up with him because he doesn’t believe in marriage. We also learn that Yoo-jin married Ki-joon because he was the first man that wanted to marry her.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Yoo-jin, but the more we see of her, the more I like her. I feel sorry she got saddled with Ki-joon; hopefully he can get his act together soon.
If there’s one thing that’s refreshing about this show, it’s that the main couple communicates beautifully about everything, and we get to see them genuinely working through the bumps they hit. The marriage talk is a perfect example of this. Ha-kyung says she sees marriage as the outcome of dating, while Shi-woo sees it (and the family one marries into) as a burden. “What could our ending be if not marriage?” muses Ha-kyung. It’s an interesting conundrum for them.
While this is playing out in the background, Ha-kyung’s mom makes a surprise banchan delivery visit, and learns (with the expected amount of horror) that two grown men are living with her daughter. Conversely, she likes what she sees of Seok-ho, and immediately puts on her matchmaker hat. Too bad she has the wrong daughter in the hot seat. (I’m really liking the Seok-ho + unni pairing. Penguins! lol)
The marriage question continues to play out through Episode 10 as well, and Ha-kyung and Shi-woo get two different images of married life. Ha-kyung hears from Myung-joo, who unhappily tells her to stay single and be free from the burden of a family, while Shi-woo sees the huuuuuuge smile Dong-han gets on his face talking about being a husband and a father. He encourages Shi-woo to experience those things, and I love this moment (especially considering Dong-han is so positive about family when his own situation isn’t optimal). But also, I’m pretty sure I know where we’re going next.
Sure enough, just when Shi-woo gets a different vision of what marriage could look like (and learns from Yoo-jin what it might be like for a man to say he’s not interested in marrying you), so does Ha-kyung. Except they are opposite reactions, both moving towards the other’s stance.
We can see Ha-kyung second-guessing herself, and, when Mom comes to visit with more demands, Ha-kyung boldly declares that she’s never getting married. I can see why Mom drives her to this point, and I can see how the advice Ha-kyung and Shi-woo have received/absorbed from their elders impacted them — but also, how do you change your stance on something so serious after just one instance? Are they trying to please the other, or please themselves?
Either way, change is on the horizon — as our episode closes, Yoo-jin leaves with a suitcase saying she and Ki-joon should spend some time apart, and Ha-kyung selects Shi-woo for the extended work stint on Jeju. Whomp whomp.