Couple problems abound this week, as old ties, new quarrels, and ignored phone calls create a lot of tension. So does the weather, which is hot and humid, putting everyone in an irritable mood — not the best for when you have an ex showing up drunk on your doorstep, a husband that ignores your calls, or a new boyfriend that’s getting petulant.
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP
I might have been convinced last week that Shi-woo would jump at the chance to move in with Ha-kyung, but he kindly turns her down, and spends much of Episode 7 looking for a place to rest his head. This means nights spent in his car and motels that bring up bad memories — all because he believes in taking responsibility for his own life… or does he just not want to squat at his older girlfriend’s swanky apartment?
Their differing viewpoints on whether to move in together here also echo the differences in their personalities: Ha-kyung doesn’t want to waste any more time after her 10-year dead end and thinks cohabiting would be the most efficient way to date; Shi-woo takes the opposite stance that efficiency doesn’t matter. It’s effort that makes a difference in a relationship.
On the other side of the coin, we have Yoo-jin and Ki-joon, both more than a little disenchanted with each other after their marriage and cohabitation began. While Shi-woo claims that cohabitation doesn’t impact a relationship, we see the opposite in our secondary couple, and Yoo-jin outright says that Ki-joon has changed. When they finally talk about it, I actually really like where this plot line goes.
Yoo-jin is honest with Ki-joon about the man she fell in love with as opposed to the one she’s saddled with now. Yoo-jin might suck as a character, but she liked very righteous things about Ki-joon: a man who was mature, decisive, responsible, competent, etc. Now, she sees none of that and is frustrated. It seems to hit Ki-joon hard, as if he knows he’s a tool and hates himself for it.
To his credit, he seeks advice from the lovely Myung-joo (possibly the most mature and grounded person in this drama) and she tells him (a.k.a. his friend) to try to win back his wife by showing her that he is all of those things she saw in him. The fact that Ki-joon tries this, is successful at it, and Yoo-jin perks up again, was a nice little vignette. But clouds keep rolling in.
While the office is dealing with angry citizens and ozone layer warnings, Shi-woo winds up following Dong-han’s lead; before long the two are squatting in the night shift bunks, showering at the office, and living together like two campus bros. It’s all well and good till people start to complain, Ha-kyung finds out, walks in on them dressing (lol), and then takes them — with their metaphorical tails between their legs — to stay temporarily at her apartment.
But it’s not that simple, because an extremely drunk Ki-joon has appeared at her doorstep, and he’s shocked to see half the KMA in her living room. Upstairs neighbor SHIN SEOK-HO (Moon Tae-yoo) has finally ditched the smelly banchan, and he’s there too (after causing unknown emotional torment to Ha-kyung’s sister over the number of toes a crocodile has).
It’s a chaotic and humorous scene, only made better when Ha-kyung, in loungewear, drags Ki-joon outside by his tie.
The humor quickly turns sour, though. Ozone warnings make way for the unpredictable rainy season, and as Shi-woo ominously says in voiceover: “We become victims of the mischievous weather when we least expect it.” Said less poetically: it’s hot and humid, everyone’s cranky and on a short fuse, and all sorts of mayhem happens.
The first is Ha-kyung in a fender bender, creating a kerfuffle with Ki-joon, who’s changed the insurance on their one-shared car. He winds up going to the accident to pick her up. As petulant as Ha-kyung is, Shi-woo is more petulant — he’s getting more and more frustrated by having to keep his relationship under wraps; he’s also jealous when Ki-joon “saves” his woman instead of him.
It’s not only hot outside, but the A.C. at the office is broken, too. Everyone gets so hot and bothered that Ki-joon winds up punching Shi-woo in the middle of a press conference, which would be tragic if only it wasn’t so funny. Ki-joon’s found out that Shi-woo once lived with Yoo-jin, and Shi-woo’s mad that Ki-joon is still such a part of Ha-kyung’s life — like their director says, “I thought you were a couple of nerds, but you know how to fight.”
Gossip, of course, is the result of this, but it’s mostly around the Yoo-jin/Shi-woo/Ki-joon love triangle (as it were), because no one knows about Ha-kyung. Yet. Just as things get to such a pitch that you think everyone’s going to go crazy, the A.C. comes on, the work day ends, and Shi-woo and Ha-kyung go to their favorite bar for dinner.
She bandages his face, they communicate like adults about their emotions, and Shi-woo goes into the swoon zone and says he’s falling hard for her. This is the first scene between these two that actually gave me the butterflies — they finally feel like a drama couple to me!
…And they look like a couple, too. And who is watching from outside in his car like a private eye but Ki-joon, who’s had a sneaking suspicion or two or three. He’s pissed, and rushes home to tell Yoo-jin, so in addition to the baggage they’re already fighting over, now they have yet more to deal with. They’re the ones that cheated, but their exes are the happy ones. Is that karma or is it karma?
Despite enjoying the character moments and sprinkles of humor we had this week, this drama is starting to feel a bit episodic. We’re presented with a new weather event, and an emotional event in the lives of our couples, and then watch both play out for the course of the episode. It’s not that it’s a bad setup, and it works for this story, but there’s something about how the drama is written that makes these episodes feel more discrete than they actually are — maybe because the plot events are tied so thematically to the weather forecast.
Anyway, episodic or not, our secret romance doesn’t look like it will remain a secret for much longer — I’m not convinced that Ki-joon will be able to keep calm about it. And I’m not convinced that Shi-woo won’t slip up soon as well. I’m expecting him to rush to protect or defend her at one point, and blow their cover. Who’s with me?