It’s getting increasingly more difficult for some suitors to hide their feelings for our bumbling heroine. The final piece of the puzzle comes with its own set of complications, but it’s nothing the director can’t handle.
EPISODE 6 RECAP
From his rearview mirror, Dae-oh sees Ae-jung looking all flustered in front of Yeon-woo. Before he even realizes it, Dae-oh reverses into a puddle and interrupts their moment with a splash. Pfft, he’s in just as much shock as anyone else, muttering, “What did I just do?”
When Ae-jung emerges from behind Yeon-woo to get a good look at the driver, Dae-oh zooms away but she takes note of his license plate.
On their way home, Ae-jung dramatically says that she’s physically fine, but her heart isn’t thanks to the jerk who ruined the mood. She belatedly realizes how this sounds to Yeon-woo and suddenly becomes awkward.
Yeon-woo hands her a book with his confession letter tucked inside, hoping it’ll make her feel better. He comments that it took fourteen years to give to her and assures Ae-jung that there’s no rush to read it.
Ha-nee’s bummed that Yeon-woo’s not home and slips into his empty room out of curiosity. She finds an old notebook from a college parenting class, and flipping past the cover, she comes across a familiar-sounding title: To My Future Baby.
She hesitantly asks Yeon-woo about it when he returns, and he tells her that it was just for a school project. Ha-nee’s misunderstanding dawns on him when he realizes that he and Ae-jung were listed as parents. She stops him from explaining, reeling from the confirmation that he’s not her father.
Yeon-woo follows Ha-nee downstairs to talk and Ae-jung shuffles around uncomfortably when they make eye contact. Both mother and daughter retreat to their own rooms to avoid talking to Yeon-woo. Ha-nee glares at Mom’s copy of the project, upset that it made her excited over nothing.
Ae-jung takes a call from Hye-jin, elated to learn that they’ve successfully scored a meeting with Ah-rin thanks to the impressive Director Cheon. Hye-jin is surprised she didn’t meet Dae-oh, since she’d told him that Ae-jung was seeing a movie.
Meanwhile, Dae-oh aggressively gives his car a good wash, grouchily complaining that Ae-jung should’ve gone home right after the movie instead of looking at Yeon-woo like that. Ever so petty, he rejects her incoming call.
Ae-jung cracks open the book that Yeon-woo gave her, but since it’s obvious that the letter is his confession, she stops herself from reading it.
The next day, Ryu Jin waits outside the school with gifts for Ha-nee. He mistakes another student for her and sighs that he doesn’t know why he’s here, since he’s unsure what to say to her anyway.
Ha-nee’s not at school yet though; she’s busy tossing Mom’s parenting project and tells Dong-chan that Yeon-woo’s not the one. She’s bummed, but isn’t really surprised because he’s too kind to ever abandon her. Dong-chan tries to cheer her up with a drink, but seeing Ryu Jin’s face on the can sours her mood further.
They discover an abandoned puppy and Ha-nee is instantly drawn to it. Although Dong-chan tries to drag her to school before they’re late, she can’t just ignore the puppy – what if nobody comes for it?
Since her family is strapped for cash and Dong-chan’s has “issues,” they bring the puppy to Sukey. They rely on the power of aegyo to convince Sook-hee to take it in until they can find it a permanent home. Ha-nee even volunteers Dong-chan to pick up after the puppy twice a day, and the poor boy can’t even protest against her.
Since Dae-oh won’t return her calls, Ae-jung shows up at his place. She recognizes his license plate and startles him with a menacing glare. Dae-oh cowers when they relocate to a café, but Ae-jung just thanks him profusely for setting things up with Ah-rin.
He brags that he was invited to Cheonmyung’s Night – a prestigious event where prominent members of the film industry will be in attendance. He puffs up with pride as Ae-jung showers him with gratitude, but snaps back into an apologetic position when she flips the switch and demands an apology, lecturing him for endangering the safety of others.
Dae-oh turns it back on Ae-jung for committing “public indecency,” and she grows silent when he claims that he was all too familiar with the way she looked at Yeon-woo. Having had enough of Dae-oh’s arrogance, Ae-jung decides to set up some rules for him to follow, and he vows to himself to show her how disciplined he can be.
Bo-hye is noticeably down in the dumps during lunch with her friends. She sighs that life isn’t fun anymore, but the other ladies wonder how that can be when she has everything. She’s not only the CEO of Cheonmyung Entertainment and the chairwoman of a foundation, but also the mother of a sweet and reliable son.
The mention of Yeon-woo makes Bo-hye smile, but she becomes concerned when one of the ladies reveals that according to her son, Yeon-woo’s seeing someone. The women decide that she must come from a great family, as if that would explain why Yeon-woo wasn’t interested in the assemblyman’s daughter.
As Yeon-woo sets up for the PTA meeting, he adds a special message and extra snacks for Ae-jung. He beams when she arrives, but she’s definitely not excited to see him. Her eyes nearly pop out of her head when she finds the “You can do it, noona!” note written on her handout. Ae-jung aggressively scribbles out the message while Yeon-woo whispers words of encouragement.
After the meeting, Ae-jung tries to escape quickly but is tracked down by Yeon-woo in the hallway. He’s definitely missing all the “Do not approach” signals that her body language is giving off, asking if she’s free tonight. Ae-jung tells him that his actions are burdensome before accepting the other moms’ invitation to go out for tea.
Later, Ae-jung runs into Dae-oh on her way to meet with Ah-rin. She’s cautious of his formal greeting and he makes a huge deal out of accidentally making contact with Ae-jung when they both reach for the elevator button. He scolds his own finger, “That’s no way to treat a lady!” Hah, he’s totally satisfied with his performance.
Pulling into the parking garage, Manager Do is pretty fed up with Ah-rin who worries that her makeup makes her look too intimidating. He does a chant to remind her, “Not born in 1987, but born in 1991. Not Go Hyo-shim (her real name), but Joo Ah-rin. Not a bully, but an angel.”
Ah-rin confidently struts her way towards Dae-oh, which is something she’d done before as a high schooler. She was dejected when Ae-jung had run past her and happily jumped into Dae-oh’s open arms. Aw, they were so young and in love.
She freezes now when she realizes that not only is someone already sitting next to Dae-oh at the table, but it’s the same girl from back then. Manager Do runs ahead to greet them, and everyone turns to look at Ah-rin who hasn’t moved an inch. She escapes to the restroom in disbelief that they’re still together, and Manager Do lies that she’s just shy.
Yeon-woo cleans up after class, moping around because of what happened with Ae-jung. Bo-hye notices this and follows him into the gymnasium. She thinks that he’s too good to be cleaning alone, but he matter-of-factly states that he’s just putting away what he used.
He addresses his mom formally since they’re at school, and it seems like she became chairwoman of the school board solely to hover around Yeon-woo at work. He ignores Mom’s attempts to dig into his love life, asserting that he’s busy. Bo-hye’s sweet tone turns icy and she tosses him an invitation, warning him that she’ll cry if he doesn’t show up to the event.
With everyone finally seated, Dae-oh secretly searches Ah-rin up online. He has some doubts about her birth year and looks at her inquisitively. Dae-oh’s touched when Manager Do pulls out a copy of “Love Doesn’t Exist,” and it turns out he’s a huge fan.
Knowing that the novel is based on his first love, Ah-rin asks how he met Ae-jung. Dae-oh’s prepared to answer but Ae-jung interjects that they’re just a normal producer and director who met due to work, and Dae-oh blinks at this simplified description of their relationship.
Although Ae-jung is excited to work with Ah-rin, the actress blatantly ignores her and Manager Do has to take the scenario from Ae-jung’s outstretched hands. Dae-oh encourages Ah-rin to take a look at the document, and Ah-rin challenges, “How badly do you want to work with me?”
Ae-jung answers on Dae-oh’s behalf since he’s at a loss for words, but Ah-rin cuts her off. He eventually says, “I haven’t considered anyone else for this role besides you.” Pleased, she agrees to do the movie – but on one condition: he must re-write the script, since she doesn’t like the female protagonist.
After the meeting, Ae-jung scoffs at her request. Dae-oh can see why she’d be pissed hearing the criticism, and she incredulously asks if he thinks Ah-rin was dissing her. Dae-oh lays out the facts: the heroine is based off of Ae-jung so if Ah-rin thinks the character is “lame,” then that’s on Ae-jung.
“I wonder why he liked a girl like me then?” Ae-jung asks sarcastically, calling the hero a weirdo. Dae-oh doesn’t let her have the last word and sincerely replies, “Because she was charming. That’s why he liked her,” and walks off, leaving Ae-jung affected by his response.
Hee, Sook-hee’s surrounded by puppy supplies and thrusts the receipt at Ae-jung when she saunters into the bar later that night. Ae-jung laughs off her friend’s comment about her raising a dog, but she’s in for the surprise of her life when the kids walk in with the puppy.
Dong-chan jumps between the mother and daughter to protect Ha-nee from getting hit, and Ha-nee squares up to say that she’s going to take responsibility and raise the puppy. Frustrated, Ae-jung yells that she doesn’t know how difficult taking responsibility is.
When Ae-jung reaches for the dog and says they’ll take it to the police or the shelter, Ha-nee cries out, “This puppy doesn’t have a mom or a dad. How can I abandon it again?” Dong-chan tries to escape but Ae-jung barks at him, assuring Ha-nee that she only wanted to know where the boy was going so late at night.
Ae-jung and Dong-chan walk hand-in-hand until they reach his house. He assures her that Ha-nee isn’t being bullied – she’s the strongest one around. Although happy that Ha-nee has a friend, Ae-jung advises Dong-chan to go home earlier so that his mother doesn’t worry.
Dong-chan murmurs that he doesn’t have a mom, so Ae-jung squishes his cheeks and says that she’ll do the worrying instead, then. He lights up at this, and Ae-jung hugs him protectively when a car passes by. Out steps Pa-do, and Dong-chan grabs Ae-jung’s hand, explaining that she walked him home.
Ae-jung ends up in Pa-do’s home as a guest, not a debtor. She marvels at his extensive book collection and relates to the struggle of being a single parent. Pa-do doesn’t believe he’s a good dad because Dong-chan finds him scary and embarrassing.
Ae-jung reassures him that isn’t the case and eagerly invites him to join her at the PTA meetings. Speaking about parenthood makes her feel like they’re friends, and her comment triggers a memory of the mysterious Chinese lady (who also has the neck tattoo).
Her name is Tan Zi-yi and while sick in bed, she’d once suggested that Pa-do be her friend – neither of them had anybody by their sides. Shaken by the recollection, Pa-do makes it clear that it’s time for Ae-jung to go, and she’s offended by his reaction.
She finds Yeon-woo fixing up a shelf at the request of Grandma, but Ae-jung is so awkward that she turns away from the house as if she doesn’t live there. Ae-jung ends up helping, and tells Yeon-woo that he’s too nice. It’s why she feels sorry towards him.
Yeon-woo assures her that his confession wasn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, and tells Ae-jung to take her time. He has a condition though – no matter how long it takes, he wants to stand next to her in the end. She looks at him, conflicted.
That night, she takes out the letter again, but still can’t bring herself to read it. Instead, she reads the bookmarked poem, “Thinking of You Was My Everything.”
Once, when the pair were working on their assignment, Ae-jung had shown him that poem and explained that this is the type of mom she’d like to become. Yeon-woo let slip that the passage describes his feelings for “her,” but didn’t tell Ae-jung who it was.
Instead, he’d asked if his crush would accept his feelings if he confessed with this poem. She didn’t notice back then, but he’d looked at her and recited, “A grain of sand made me think of you. A blade of grass made me think of you. Everything in this world makes me think of you. Thinking of you was my everything.”
Dae-oh gets an “On This Day” notification taking him back seventeen years. He’d written about how he was a genius, having just been accepted to Hankuk University. He stumbles onto another post about a girl he met on a film set on campus.
He was visiting the school when he first met Ae-jung in 2003. She had a great work ethic, but was berated publicly for not having an actor to play a corpse. Back then, Dae-oh had wondered why she’d put up with that kind of treatment.
Ae-jung noticed Dae-oh and charmed him into lying on the pavement with her to play a dead couple. When nobody else was paying attention, she’d smiled at him and whispered “thanks,” and it looks like that’s the exact moment that Dae-oh fell in love.
Grandma finds Ha-nee organizing the trash alone and takes over since it’s dark out. Ha-nee suddenly asks, “Did my dad abandon me?” and explains that someone said there’s a reason why her father left and didn’t return. Grandma’s appalled that someone would say that, but doesn’t answer the question.
Outside in the garbage area, Grandma wonders why Ha-nee has been bringing up her father so often lately. She finds the notebook that Ha-nee tossed earlier that morning and seems to realize what happened.
Ryu Jin holds a press conference, claiming that his loyalty to his fellow alumni is the reason he turned down Hollywood. Heh, he even tells the director that he should’ve gone to Hankuk University instead of Harvard if he wanted to work with him. Then, Ha-nee’s voice calls out, “Dad!”
He tries to deny it, but she declares with conviction that the nation’s sweetheart is her father. Ryu Jin is then confronted by a livid Dae-oh who asks, “How could you do this to me?” Ryu Jin tells him that it was a mistake but now Ae-jung accuses him of calling their beautiful daughter a mistake resulting from their one night together.
Ryu Jin loses it when everyone gathers around him with accusations and wakes up from his nightmare. He gets a text from Ae-jung and is not pleased to learn that they were successful in casting Ah-rin.
Ryu Jin calls out for his manager before remembering their fight. However, someone runs out the door and Ryu Jin finds a sweet note from Manager Myung with an entire breakfast spread laid out for him. He dramatically chases after his beloved hyung and they tearfully reconcile.
When Ae-jung arrives at the gala, the idol group SF9 walks past and she sighs that Ha-nee would’ve loved it here. Meanwhile down at the wine cellar, Ah-rin learns that Ryu Jin will be playing her love interest. There must be bad blood between them, because she wants to back out of the movie, hating everyone that’s involved with the production. Manager Do sighs but figures that of her two nemeses, Ae-jung would be easier to replace.
Ah-rin catches Dae-oh alone gobbling up some cake and kickstarts her plan. With a world-renowned author, a blockbuster actress and a top star like Ryu Jin, she has concerns about Ae-jung and suggests using her company’s production crew instead.
Dae-oh sees through her and states that he has no interest in doing this without Ae-jung. She may not be famous, but she’s competent and saw potential in him before anyone else ever did. To him, Ae-jung’s opinion is the most important.
When he excuses himself from their conversation, Ae-jung adds to Ah-rin’s bad mood by popping up to thank her for the invite. Noticing the cold reception, Ae-jung grabs on to Ah-rin’s arm but is shaken off and flung to the floor.
To her credit, Ah-rin is horrified to see that Ae-jung is covered in wine and reaches out to help her up. However, Dae-oh pushes her away and gently pulls Ae-jung up, wrapping her in his jacket despite her protests. While Ae-jung worries about the mess, Dae-oh takes control and calmly escorts her inside the building.
Ae-jung continues to worry about leaving behind a flustered Ah-rin, not at all concerned about herself. Dae-oh can’t hold his anger in anymore and tells her not to worry about others, asking if she enjoys being looked down on.
Ae-jung figures something must be irritating him again and he answers that he’s furious because bad things keep happening to her. She reminds him of their rules but he doesn’t intend to follow them anymore, declaring, “I’m going to follow my heart from now on.” Dae-oh looks at her in the eyes and confesses, “I still love you.”
Earlier that evening, Dae-oh watched fondly as Ae-jung chatted with Ha-nee and Grandma on a video call so that her daughter could see SF9. Ae-jung had whispered that she’s a nobody at this event, but her family backs her up and says she lacks nothing…except money. Hee. Ae-jung promises that in ten years, everyone here will want to work with her.
COMMENTS
As @lovepark mentioned before, Ae-jung has been coasting through purely based on luck. More than anything, I want to see her excel at her job but time and time again, she relies on her connections (and mainly Dae-oh) to succeed. We keep hearing about how competent she is and I truly do believe that she must be good at producing. However, she bends over backwards for everyone like accepting impossible contract terms (which Dae-oh already called her out for), and willingly accepts being looked down on (which he also shared his frustrations on at the end of this episode). Basically…I can’t really blame Dae-oh for being so frustrated with Ae-jung because I share the exact same sentiments. If Dae-oh’s looking at Ae-jung through the lens of a lover, then it must be even harder for him to sit back and not do anything.
I love that he knew exactly what Ah-rin was doing and made it very clear to her that Ae-jung was not disposable. He handled the very public incident with tact, and I swooned at how gentle he was with Ae-jung during that whole exchange. He just needs to continue doing that! Perhaps it’s the fact that we know Ae-jung is more than capable of standing up for herself that makes it harder to watch her treat Ah-rin as if she could do no wrong. She’s a perceptive woman, so I don’t believe that she doesn’t see what’s going on. I feel like the years she spent working her way up must’ve conditioned her to default to being a pushover in the workplace, and my hope for Ae-jung going forward is for her to find her self-worth. She’s already got Dae-oh, Ha-nee, Grandma, and Sook-hee actively vouching for her! Also, how cute was that video call!?
Yeon-woo ticks pretty much all the boxes – he’s caring and only has eyes for Ae-jung. However, I still can’t find it in myself to truly ship them together and I can’t pinpoint why. It really bothered me that he told Ae-jung to take her time, but in that same sentence, also said that the “condition” for not rushing into it is to let him be next to her in the end. He basically gave Ae-jung no choice but to accept his love, which is exactly what his mother tries to do. Bo-hye’s overbearing and annoying, but it’s plain as day that everything she does is out of love for Yeon-woo. It doesn’t make her actions okay, and Bo-hye doesn’t realize that everything she does pushes him further away. I hope that he doesn’t take a page out of his mother’s books, but he’s already inserting himself into places he doesn’t necessarily belong (like the PTA) just to be with Ae-jung even when she doesn’t welcome it. As the son of the CEO of Cheonmyung Entertainment, I imagine it’d be very easy for Yeon-woo to make himself relevant in terms of Ae-jung’s work life too.
Ha-nee is getting more and more invested in getting answers regarding her father. It’s heartbreaking to know that she thinks she was abandoned. She’s crying out for help, but nobody is giving her straight answers. Whatever happened in 2006 has nothing to do with Ha-nee, and if she’s curious about her father, then she deserves to know that at the very least, he didn’t leave her. If Dae-oh really is the father, I think I’d be really upset because it means that a single misunderstanding between two adults cost Ha-nee a dad. It would also mean that he lost the chance to watch his daughter grow up and be present for all her milestones. Judging by how adorable Dae-oh was in the previous episode waving at Ha-nee, he would’ve been a very loving father. So the question is…do we hope he’s the biological dad, or is it better that Ha-nee’s father really is dead/somebody else? I’m undecided.