Temperature of Love Episode 3 & 4 Recap

As Jung Sun pulls Hyun Soo away from the bus stop, she asks that they not hold hands, and he says that he thought she didn’t see him as a man. Hyun Soo asks if he’s upset that she rejected him, and he admits that of course he is. Hyun Soo marvels at the way Jung Sun talks back, and he counters that she never lets him win once. He lets her know that he doesn’t cling to a woman once she’s rejected him, and she has to admit that she likes that about him. He leads her to the park, where he takes her cell phone and turns on some classical music.

He starts dancing in place, adorably prodding Hyun Soo to practice the dance she wants to do here when she wins a writing contest. She refuses, embarrassed but amused by his silliness. Later, they reach their neighborhood, where they split up to head to their respective homes. Hyun Soo thanks Jung Sun, but she falters when he asks what she’s thankful for, admitting that she’s not sure. As he heads home, she calls after him that it’s because he consoled her tonight.

Hyun Soo’s sister Hyun Yi wakes her the following morning with kicks and insults, demanding that Hyun Soo make her breakfast since she pays the bills. And then later as Hyun Soo is taking out the garbage, Hyun Yi bumps into her and snaps at her in horror for getting trash on her.

Tired of putting up with abuse from her younger sister, Hyun Soo grabs Hyun Yi by the hair to deliver a long-overdue beating, making sure to be a public embarrassment because that’s what Hyun Yi hates most. Conscious of the growing crowd, Hyun Yi begs Hyun Soo to stop, but when she doesn’t, Hyun Yi grabs her and it’s on. The sisters grapple in the street until Hyun Yi trips and falls, right into the pile of trash. Hyun Soo yells that she doesn’t care what anyone thinks because she has nothing to lose… then hides her face in horror when she sees Jung Sun watching from just a few feet away. Oh, that is so embarrassing.

She collects her wits and politely introduces her sister, who’s still sitting in the garbage, makeup streaking down her face. Jung Sun says they show affection roughly, so Hyun Soo drags HyunYi to her feet to prove how very much they love each other. 

At the restaurant, a server runs in with a gift for Jung Sun from a VVIP customer, and the whole kitchen gasps when the gift turns out to be a large box of extremely expensive black truffles. Jung Sun repacks the truffles and runs outside to return them to the giver, Jung Woo, saying that the gift is too extravagant. Jung Woo argues that the truffles are a token of his appreciation as a fan, and when Jung Sun still refuses them, he asks if Jung Sun is afraid to be loved.

Jung Woo tries to explain why he wants to give Jung Sun the gift, and they’re both entertained when everything he says sounds like a pick-up line. They end up bantering back and forth, mostly about Jung Sun’s unusual last name (On) and his extensive knowledge of his family tree, until Jung Woo asks if Jung Sun is telling him so much about himself because he likes him.

Jung Sun says that Jung Woo is weird, and Jung Woo agrees, then directs Jung Sun to look at the name on the business card he gave him. He’s named his new production company “On Entertainment,” and he explains that he chose the name because it means to be awake and alert.

He says that when he learned that Jung Sun’s family name is On, he felt like he’d lost to him. Out of the blue, he offers to finance a restaurant if Jung Sun wants to open one, but Jung Sun politely declines. Jung Woo asks him to at least take the truffles, and since he likes the guy, Jung Sun accepts them.

Hyun Soo’s assistant PD friend Joon Ha intercepts her on her way in to work, saying that they cancelled shooting their drama today. The director meets with Hyun Soo’s boss, Writer Park, unhappy with the violent way she’s depicting the hero, which alters the entire message of the drama. Embarrassed, Writer Park agrees to change the script.

After the director leaves, Hyun Soo waits for Writer Park in the hallway, who tries to save face by insisting that she was totally going to say everything the director said; he just said it first. Hong Ah joins them and jokes that Writer Park works Hyun Soo so hard that she never sees her friend. Writer Park takes it the wrong way, assuming that Hyun Soo has been complaining about her. She says pointedly that she trusted Hong Ah when she recommended Hyun Soo for the assistant writer job.

Thankfully, Hong Ah manages to compliment Writer Park into a better mood. Once she’s gone, Hong Ah tells Hyun Soo to just endure it, since there’s nowhere to go if she’s fired from an assistant writer’s job. To blow off steam, Hyun Soo and Hong Ah go for a joyride in Hong Ah’s convertible, Hyun Soo hanging out the open top and singing along to Girls’ Generation’s Twinkle at the top of her lungs. After they settle down, Hong Ah admits that the lawyer she’s dating is stressing her out. Hyun Soo tells Hong Ah that she thinks too much, which Hong Ah says is the reason she wants to be a writer. Hyun Soo is envious that Hong Ah’s wealthy family happens to respect writers.

At home, Hyun Soo finds a package on the table, but it’s been delivered to the wrong address. It was supposed to go to Jung Sun’s place, so rather than send it back through the mail, Hyun Soo decides to take it to him personally. Jung Sun is at home, hoping for a reply from the famous French chef Alain Passard, whom he emailed recently. He’s disappointed, though he gets a chat message from Hong Ah asking his address. For a guy who claims that he can’t afford a cell phone, Jung Sun’s apartment is pretty darn fancy.

Hyun Soo makes her way to Jung Sun’s place, where she finds him waiting in the street for her. She drops off the package and turns to go, but Jung Sun calls after her that he’d like to make her something to eat. She declines, so he teases that she’d probably feel pressured since she sees him as a man, which has Hyun Soo marching back, laughing at his cheek. But it works, and Jung Sun gets Hyun Soo to come up to his balcony. She’s curious about what’s in the package, so he shows her that it contains spices from France.

In his dark office, Jung Woo talks to someone on the phone in Japanese. They’re discussing someone, and Jung Woo says that they’re good-looking, but they have no charm and aren’t fit for their group. The person on the other line says he’ll keep looking for candidates. After they hang up, Jung Woo tells himself that this is a new beginning, and that he’ll win, because he always wins. 

Jung Sun carefully slices one of the truffles that Jung Woo gave to him, explaining to Hyun Soo that they’re very rare. She asks him how much he makes per month, honestly revealing her own (very low) salary, and she pouts when the number he rattles off is nearly twice what she makes. She notes that his apartment is much too nice for what he earns, but he says that he spends everything he makes and doesn’t save. He tells her that he’s been taking care of himself since his parents divorced when he was fifteen, and she lets the subject drop.

Hyun Soo tries a bite of truffle, and he anticipates her disappointed reaction (they’re sort of earthy). She laughs at herself when he explains that they don’t taste like much by themselves, but when he puts some on a piece of bread with cheese, Hyun Soo finally appreciates the taste.

Jung Sun walks a very tipsy Hyun Soo home, and on the way she trips over her own feet again. Jung Sun asks if she’s drunk, but she cutely slurs that she falls all the time. She recounts the saying that you might as well rest if you’ve fallen, and considers lying down in the street. Jung Sun asks if she’s flirting with him, which succeeds in getting her back on her feet right away.

She insists indignantly that she’s never flirted in her life, but Jung Sun says that she may have just been hiding that side of herself. Hyun Soo accuses him of speaking like an old man, telling him to act his age, so he complies by calling her “noona.” She doesn’t like that either, saying that it makes her feel old.

Jung Sun switches to calling her “Hyun Soo-ya,” but she laughingly shuts that down as well. She tells him to call her “Hyun Soo-sshi,” which is familiar but not too familiar.

On a roll, Jung Sun asks for Hyun Soo’s number. She relents, saying that she’d give it to him, but she hasn’t got a pen. He says he’ll memorize it. They stand there smiling at each other, as if acknowledging that they’ve crossed some sort of threshold together.

Jung Sun grins his way through his workout the next morning, while Hyun Soo turns on some music to help herself wake up. She bops around the living room until Hyun-yi bellows at her to turn the music off. On his way to work, Jung Sun stops at a phone booth to call Hyun Soo and invite her to eat with him, and she says that she wants to interview him.

Hyun Soo meekly asks Writer Park for the day off, who reluctantly says she can go. She waits for Jung Sun at the bus terminal, dolled up in a pretty red dress, and she nearly jumps out of her skin when she finds him standing just inches behind her, admiring her. Ha.

She’s surprised to learn that they’re going all the way to Beolgyo just for cockles, so Jung Sun explains that he likes to eat food in the place that it’s from. On the bus, Hyun Soo offers to share her snacks, and although he says he doesn’t care for them, Jung Sun takes some to be polite. Hyun Soo sighs and says she’s happy, enjoying the ride and her first day of rest since becoming an assistant writer. She asks him if there’s anything special about a man who eats rare steak, which is what she plans to title her next project, and asks him to think about it.

When they arrive at their destination, Hyun Soo twirls with happiness at the beauty of the place, then trips over her own feet again. Jung Sun catches her and says to be careful, and they head to the restaurant for dinner. Hyun Soo is mystified by the way Jung Sun wafts the scent of their soup towards himself before eating, but she gives it a try and admits that it makes the food taste better. After dinner they want to visit some art galleries, but they’re all closed.

They settle for a tea shop, where Hyun Soo asks Jung Sun again if he’s thought of anything unique about men who eat their steaks rare. He says it’s more about preference than personality, which has her grumbling that he’s being difficult, because she needs personality traits for her character. He tells her to be more creative with her story ideas instead of trying to change facts.

They head back to the bus station, but the drivers happen to be striking that night and the buses aren’t running. Their only option is to take the train back to Seoul, but they can’t reserve tickets over the phone. Jung Sun leads Hyun Soo somewhere, and she grows wary when she sees that they’re surrounded by motels and drunk people. He doesn’t say anything, but finally leads her into an internet cafe and reserves tickets for the last train.

He takes an extra minute to check his email, telling Hyun Soo that he applied to be an intern at Alain Passard’s restaurant and he’s waiting for an answer. She asks if that means he’d go to France, and he says that he’s going to France even if he doesn’t get the job, because he hasn’t finished his schooling. There’s no email, which makes him sad and her happy.

They run to the train platform, smiling wide as they run side by side, and make it onboard just in time. Jung Sun falls asleep on the train, and he wakes to find Hyun Soo gone. Worried, he goes looking for her, eventually finding her in the compartment between cars, enjoying the view. She says again that she’s happy, and Jung Sun decides that it’s easy to make Hyun Soo happy.

She doesn’t answer, and the train lurches, causing Jung Sun to catch himself so he doesn’t crash into Hyun Soo. The closeness makes them even more aware of each other, but Jung Sun backs up respectfully.

Hyun Soo says that it wasn’t Jung Sun who made her happy—she chooses to be happy on her own, and given the same events, the way she accepts them is what determines how she feels. Jung Sun replies that he’s going to take her advice to act his age, because he’s usually serious and responsible. But he decides that today he wants to act like a 23-year-old, so he tells Hyun Soo, “I want to kiss you.” 

He asks if he needs to take responsibility for a kiss. With a smile, she tells him no, and he says that he doesn’t know if what he’s feeling is love. Hyun Soo says that with honesty like that, he’ll never get a woman to kiss him, because women like to fantasize that men kiss them because they’re in love. Jung Sun just puts his hand on the wall behind her head and tells her that she can avoid the kiss if she wants.

Hyun Soo doesn’t avoid him, and she lets him kiss her. It’s tentative and sweet, a perfect first kiss, then Jung Sun pulls back to gauge her reaction. When she doesn’t move away, he touches her lip softly and cups her face in his hand. He kisses her again, and this time he doesn’t stop.

Jung Sun is all smiles as he walks home later that night, but his smile fades in an instant when he sees his mother waiting at his building with her luggage. He’s unhappy to see her, his expression wary as she says she missed him and thanks him for always protecting her.

Her words dredge up an unhappy memory of a time when Jung Sun was a teenager and his parents were still together. His father had complained about dinner, whacking Jung Sun’s mother in the head with his spoon over and over.

Finally Jung Sun had grabbed his father’s arm, stopping the abuse. That was the moment that his mother had said that she wanted a divorce.

In the present, Jung Sun doesn’t speak a word to his mother; he just gives her a room to sleep in and leaves. She says to the empty room that she knows he’s mad, but she’s still his mother, so she’ll be understanding.

The next morning, Hyun Soo’s coworkers are surprised when she shows up at work, because Writer Park told them that she quit. Hyun Soo is shocked when Writer Park says that when Hyun Soo asked for the day off, that she was actually quitting, because she was showing her lack of commitment.

In her tirade, Writer Park inadvertently reveals the real reason she’s turned on Hyun Soo—because the drama director voiced the same objections that Hyun Soo had expressed about her script. She accuses Hyun Soo of only pretending to be kind and hardworking, yelling that Hyun Soo will succeed as a writer because evil people like her always survive in this industry.

With tears in her eyes, Hyun Soo tries to defend herself, but Writer Park is having none of it. She kicks Hyun Soo out of her office, though she does promise not to spread any bad rumors about her. Hyun Soo barely manages to get to the privacy of the elevator before she gives in and sobs.

As she makes her way home, her future self narrates that in that moment, she could only think of one thing: that she had to see Jung Sun. As she starts to run down the street, she narrates that it wasn’t until later that she realized that her thinking of him in a moment of desperation—it was love.

Jung Sun wakes to find his mother laying out a lavish breakfast, but he continues to ignore her. Frustrated, she blurts out a demand that he pay her back the money she spent to find him.

He finally speaks, saying that he didn’t ask her to look for him, especially since he’d gotten rid of his phone and disappeared. Suddenly she’s all wide-eyed innocence, but Jung Sun tells her to cut the good mother act.

His mother wails that they’re faaamily, and that they’ll be punished if they separate. Jung Sun spits that he’d rather be punished, because being with her is a punishment in itself. Her hand flies out and slaps him, and though she immediately apologizes, Jung Sun orders her to be out of his house when he gets back.

Mom screams like a madwoman and shoves all the food off the table in a rage. She turns on him angrily, demanding to know who the woman is that turned him into this person, and he screams at her to stop.

She says that she saw how happy he was last night and asks if he loves this woman that much, when he looks at his own mother like she’s disgusting. She sinks to the floor, wailing that she’ll die without him.

Unable to watch this anymore, Jung Sun storms out of the apartment. He runs down the street with one thought on his mind—that he has to see Hyun Soo. He thinks to himself that he knows why he needs to see her so much right now, and he finds the nearest phone booth and dials her number.

At the same time, Hyun Soo is running to Jung Sun, and she makes it all the way to his apartment. She catches her breath and rings his doorbell, unaware that the person inside isn’t him, but his mother.

COMMENTS

I love that both Jung Sun and Hyun Soo’s first thoughts when something horrible happens is to run to the other for comfort. It says a lot about how they feel about each other already—even though they don’t have a formal arrangement, they’ve quickly become each other’s person to go to when they need support. But the speed of it also concerns me, because we know this is a flashback and that this phase of their romance won’t last.

They’re already starting out at very different temperatures—Jung Sun is blazing hot, ready to jump right into a relationship without carefully considering if they’re right for each other, while Hyun Soo is much cooler with her rejections and her reluctance to date a man younger than she is. I have a feeling that a lot of that is due to their differing stages in life, since Jung Sun admits to not being very experienced, while Hyun Soo seems very defensive about not wanting to be looked down upon. They’re beginning this relationship at very different places in their personal and professional lives, which affects how they feel, not just about each other, but about themselves and dating in general.

There are so many little red flags that point to this being the wrong time for Jung Sun and Hyun Soo to be together, and I already feel sad for them, knowing that they’re going to fall in love, then suffer a painful breakup. They obviously like each other a lot already, but other than physical attraction and a certain fascination with each other, they’re almost completely incompatible. As I said before, their personalities are polar opposites, but that’s only the beginning.

Right now they find it fun and silly to disagree with each other just to be ornery, their verbal banter a way to feel each other out and get to know each other better. But that tendency to nitpick and fight for the upper hand could become a habit that will cause a lot of hurt when they aren’t playing around anymore. They’re outspoken when they disagree, which is a good thing because it shows that they’re both honest people who don’t hold back what they’re thinking… but again, that can turn nasty once the first bloom of romance wears off. And I’m concerned that Jung Sun might be hiding something important from Hyun Soo, because he seems to be living more lavishly than his modest chef’s salary would allow.

But there’s also a lot that I can see that gives me hope that after they break up and reconnect in the present, they’ll be able to make it work. They’re both decent, motivated people, who have their life priorities firmly in the right place. They obviously just like each other a lot, which in my opinion is just as (or more) important than love and physical attraction. Neither is afraid to speak their mind even when they know the other will disagree, which tells me that they are strong and confident individuals who will fight for their relationship, but won’t allow themselves to lose who they are in the process.

I like the other characters too, though we don’t know nearly as much about them yet. Jung Woo in particular is fascinating, and another example of someone who seems to have two very different sides to him. He comes across as very open and friendly, and he’s generous to a fault without seeming to attach strings to his gifts, but his motives are mysterious. It’s not that strange for someone with gobs of money to decide to start a drama production company, but why is he pursuing Jung Sun? And who was he talking to on the phone about someone being unsuitable for their group? The show has started out relatively simple, but I think that we’re going to find that there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than we know right now, especially when it comes to Jung Sun’s enigmatic admirer.

Temperature of Love Episode 1 & 2 Recap & First Impression

SBS’s newest romance drama Temperature of Love sets an easy, comfortable pace as it introduces us to a couple who struggles to get to the same “temperature” in their relationship. A successful romance takes more than attraction, and our lovers have very little in common, making their road to love look like it will be an uphill battle. But these two seem destined to disagree and bicker their way into love whether they like it or not, and who can blame them with this much chemistry crackling between them?

At a shopping mall promotional event, a chef stands on a stage surrounded by rolling cameras, deftly preparing food. Nearby, a woman pours herself a tall glass full of soju with a resolute expression on her face. She considers it for a while, but doesn’t drink it. The chef, whose name is On Jung Sun (played by Yang Se Jong), puts on an impressive performance, but as soon as he starts to speak, the director yells, “CUT!” He tells Jung Sun to show more of his personality instead of just parroting the script, telling him to ignore the writer’s words entirely, but Jung Sun disagrees.

They start the scene again, but this time he’s interrupted by the woman who had poured herself soju, Lee Hyun Soo (played by Seo Hyun Jin), who is the show’s scriptwriter. She demands that they follow the script or stop filming. The director asks if she’s written the next script, but she fires back that there’s no point to her writing something they won’t use.

The director argues that they have to be able to make edits, but Hyun Soo yells that as the writer, she should know about those edits so that the story makes sense and has continuity. They both have a point, but they’re too angry to listen to each other, devolving into screaming personal attacks in front of the entire crew and audience. The director asks if anyone on the cast and crew agrees with Hyun Soo, and she gets teary-eyed when not a single person speaks up in her defense. But just as she’s about to back down in shame, Jung Sun speaks up from the stage, saying that he’s on her side.

He steps off the stage, and Hyun Soo stares at him in disbelief. In voiceover she says, “I saw him again. It had to be a time when I’m behaving disgracefully. I never forgot about him for a second. I desperately wanted to see him again, even if by chance—my first love that disappeared at the end of my youth, at the age of twenty-nine.”

Hyun Soo turns and flees, and Jung Sun runs after her.

Throwback to five years ago.

Ji Hong Ah (played by Jo Boa), Hyun Soo's friend, tries to talk Hyun Soo into joining her at a restaurant to meet someone called “Nice Soup,” but Hyun Soo isn’t interested. Hong Ah says that Hyun Soo has chatted online with him, but all she remembers is that his terrible spelling turned her off. Hong Ah hangs up when “Nice Soup,” who just happens to be chef Jung Sun, brings her food and asks grouchily why she’s here. She says she wouldn’t have to come in person so often if he had a cell phone like normal people. She invites him to come to their running club after work to meet “Jane” (Hyun Soo’s online handle). Jung Sun says that he joined the running club to run, not to socialize.

The well-dressed man, Park Jung Woo (played by Kim Jae Wook), stays at the restaurant for a long time waiting for someone. Eventually he’s joined by Joon Ha, a hoobae from college, who jokingly pretends to kneel in apology before sitting. He asks Jung Woo why he’s suddenly interested in starting a drama production company. Jung Woo says that this is just how he wants to spend the money he’s accumulated, so Joon Ha, an assistant PD, advises him that the secret is to hire good, competent writers.

When Jung Woo asks for recommendations, Joon Ha says he doesn’t know any star writers, but he does know one writer who will come running if he calls—Hyun Soo, who left a good salaried job at a big company to be a writer. But Jung Woo declines, saying that people like her aren’t realistic and he wants to produce realistic dramas.

On her bus ride home, Hyun Soo gets several texts from her sister, demanding that she stop for groceries on her way home. She snarls at her phone, then gets another text, this time from Joon Ha asking her to meet with him tomorrow. She sends back a vulgar emoji, which Joon Ha shows to Jung Woo, who cracks a smile and decides to meet her after all.

When he’s done for the day, Jung Sun takes off for home on his bike, stopping on the way to feed treats to a street kitten that’s been set up with a fancy bed. Okay, I officially love him and this scene so much. He hears a noise and turns to see a woman crouching to pick up a can of vegetables that she dropped. The woman is Hyun Soo, who gathers her things again and continues on her way. Jung Sun jumps on his bike and passes within inches of her, both of them unaware that they’re about to change each other’s lives.

When Hyun Soo lugs her heavy groceries home, she finds her sister Hyun Yi lying around watching TV. Hyun Yi gets up and digs through the groceries for the pads she demanded, ordering Hyun Soo to exchange them when they’re the wrong kind. Hyun Soo argues that she pays for all the food and does most of the chores. But Hyun Yi counters that she hasn’t been able to pay her half of the bills for several months, and this is why Hyun Soo shouldn’t have quit her cushy job at a huge company to be an assistant writer.

As her sister launches into a long, nagging lecture, Hyun Soo imagines popping the top off the ketchup and dousing Hyun Yi with it, ha. Hyun Yi calls her on it and continues her tirade, even stealing half of Hyun Soo’s dinner. Hyun Soo grits her teeth and tells herself that her sister just suffered a breakup and that she should be understanding.

That night, Hyun Soo heads to the running club meetup. While waiting for Hong Ah, she eyeballs the guy warming up next to her, who has a long, jagged scar on his upper arm with an equally long, jagged tattoo next to it. She sees the bandage on the guy’s hand and wonders if he’s in a gang.

It’s just Jung Sun, who catches Hyun Soo staring. Hong Ah and their mutual friend Won Joon join them, and it’s awkward when they’re introduced to each other as “Jane” and “Nice Soup.” Won Joon puts Hyun Soo’s phone in his pocket for safekeeping, and the run begins.

Hyun Soo is admittedly the weakest runner, gasping and struggling to keep up with the others. Despite claiming that he’s not here to socialize, it’s Jung Sun who hangs back with her when she flags, encouraging her to keep moving so she doesn’t lock up. She tells him there’s no shame in quitting, but Won Joon yells that there’s a beer in it for her if she finishes the run and she finds her second wind. She tells Jung Sun not to run behind her, that she’ll motivate herself thank-you-very-much, then she gapes when he’s all Okay, and runs on ahead. LOL.

Before long, Hyun Soo is lagging way behind, and she’s distracted by a pretty hanok house. She stops to marvel at it, and although Jung Sun sees her there, he doesn’t say anything and keeps going. But later on when her friends notice that she’s no longer with them, Jung Sun is quick to volunteer to go back for her, and he turns around.

Jung Sun grows worried when he doesn’t find Hyun Soo in the last place he saw her. She’s gotten herself turned around, distracted by things like broken streetlights and CCTV cameras, imagining possible scenarios for the murder scene in the drama she’s working on. They both wander through the streets, Jung Sun looking for Hyun Soo, and Hyun Soo looking for anything familiar. She gets spooked again by a drunk man in an alley, and Jung Sun begins to grow seriously concerned when he can’t find her anywhere.

Eventually Hyun Soo stops, enchanted by a tiny flower growing out in the middle of a wall. She finds the flower’s will to survive impressive, and promises to live her life the same way. Jung Sun finds her there and breaks into a beautiful smile in relief. But then he scares her half to death when she sees his shadow sneaking up on her. In her flustered state, Hyun Soo calls Jung Sun “jagi” (which can also be a term of endearment between couples), then she backpedals and insists she didn’t mean it that way. She yells at him for teasing her, wailing that she was so glad to see him that she nearly ran into his arms.

Jung Sun seems a bit shaken by that, and he just stares at Hyun Soo as she rattles on about being lost and scared. Finally he snaps out of it and says that Hong Ah and Won Joon are waiting for them. Hyun Soo asks to borrow his phone, but Jung Sun says he doesn’t have one. When she asks why, he says he can’t afford one.

Hyun Soo points out that he’s wearing expensive running shoes and a fancy watch, but he just snaps that they obviously disagree on how to spend money. She says that she respects other people’s values, and when Jung Sun asks why she’s not respecting his values then, she points out his habit of nitpicking her words. He tells her not to nitpick his values, and they go round again until he maneuvers her right back where she started. Jung Sun grins, enjoying Hyun Soo’s annoyance, and she can’t help but smile back.

They start heading back, but it begins to rain, sparking another argument about whether you stay drier if you run faster through the rain. Jung Sun wins again, even calling Hyun Soo dumb for believing that you get just as wet either way. She asks if he’s younger than her, hoping to play the noona card, but he refuses to tell her how old he is, hee. Suddenly Jung Sun stops and asks if Hyun Soo wants him to hold her hand. Hyun Soo refuses, and he blusters that he didn’t want to run while holding a stranger’s hand anyway. 

They both end up running for cover when the sky starts to pour. Jung Sun looks over at Hyun Soo as she wrings the water out of her clothes, and he’s struck by her all over again. She catches him staring, and he doesn’t even bother to hide his fascination.

Hyun Soo tries to break the tension by talking about her work, but Jung Sun asks out of nowhere, “Do you want to date?” Hyun Soo calls him crazy since they don’t even know each other, but he’s undeterred. He asks what he needs to know about her to ask her out, and admits that he’s twenty-three and has already served his army duty.

Hyun Soo interrupts him, assuming that he’s only asking her out because of her looks, but Jung Sun says very earnestly that he finds her pretty, but he doesn’t ask out every pretty woman. He swears that he’s serious, but Hyun Soo cheekily asks how he can be serious when they only met five hours ago, and have only talked for a few minutes. 

Jung Sun answers that it took him one minute to decide that he wanted to be a chef. Hyun Soo counters that he’s just feeling physical attraction, but without missing a beat he says that that’s why he’s not taking this lightly, though he disagrees about the physical aspect. Charmed despite herself, Hyun Soo gives him credit for being a smooth talker, and admits that she would have fallen for him if she were younger. Jung Sun just says, utterly serious: “Then fall for me.” 

When Hyun Soo asks why he wants to date her, Jung Sun says in banmal that his heart feels pulled to her. She calls him out for speaking casually, but he says that she started it, and she realizes that she didn’t even notice. Switching back to jondae, Jung Sun asks if she’s mad that he asked her out, and Hyun Soo admits that her pride is wounded at being asked out by a younger guy. He wonders what’s so great about age and says he doesn’t have the power to get any older.

She accidentally turns her ankle while walking, and Jung Sun catches her and puts her back on her feet. There’s a long, charged moment as they stare at each other, then Hyun Soo tries to pull away. But Jung Sun tightens his grip on her arms, and asks if she really doesn’t feel anything.

Hyun Soo can’t lie with him looking at her that way, so instead she asks how he can ask out a woman without even knowing her name. Hong Ah and Won Joon pull up in the car at that moment, but Jung Sun refuses to be distracted and introduces himself. He asks her name, but instead of telling him, Hyun Soo turns down his offer to date.

At lunch, Jung Woo returns to Jung Sun’s restaurant and orders the special. While Jung Sun is cooking, the chef advises him to season it a bit more, but Jung Sun disagrees and insists on serving it his way. Jung Woo tastes the dish and sends it back to the kitchen unfinished, and the disappointed chef tells him that the meal is on the house since Jung Woo didn’t enjoy it. But Jung Woo says that he actually liked it a lot, admitting that he didn’t finish it because it would’ve been a hit to his pride to gobble it up.

Over their much humbler lunch of cup ramyun, one of Hyun Soo’s coworkers hears that she’s one of the winning nominees in the writing contest that Hyun Soo entered. Hyun Soo gets a call immediately afterward, but it’s just her sister. Hong Ah stops by the restaurant and tells Jung Sun that she invited Hyun Soo here to cheer her up for not being nominated. She asks him to cook something spicy that Hyun Soo would like, but he snaps that he can’t just cook whatever he wants.

Meanwhile, assistant PD Joon Ha stops by Hyun Soo’s office and tells her that her contest entry made it to the semi-finals, adding that she’s going to meet someone special very soon. They go somewhere for drinks, where they argue over who’s more responsible for a drama’s success, writers or directors. HAHA, they’re sitting right at Jung Woo’s desk as if he’s not even there, and eventually he breaks in to offer Hyun Soo a job.

She asks why he’s offering, but she doesn’t even wait for an answer and stands to leave. She refuses to shake Jung Woo’s outstretched hand, totally leaving him hanging, and stomps out after one last withering glare at Joon Ha. Joon Ha apologizes to Jung Woo, but Jung Woo just grins and says that Hyun Soo is rude enough to be a successful writer.

Hyun Soo heads to Jung Sun’s restaurant, but she balks at the menu prices. She talks Hong Ah into leaving, promising to come back and treat her friend to lunch when she’s a successful writer. They end up at a pojangmacha instead, and Hyun Soo gets good and drunk on soju while Hong Ah furtively texts with a man who’s anxious to see her. Jung Sun is supposed to come meet them, and he shows up just as Hong Ah is getting picked up by her date. Hyun Soo’s not happy to see him, but Hong Ah leaves him to take Hyun Soo home, and he promises not to ask her to date him again.

She’s terrible with directions and goes to the wrong bus stop despite his suggestion that they go the opposite way. He follows her indulgently, only revealing that he also lives in the same neighborhood after she’s gotten them way off track.

A bit more sober now, Hyun Soo finally tells Jung Sun her name. She says sadly that it sounds like a boy’s name, and Jung Sun counters that his name sounds like a girl’s. Hyun Soo starts talking about writing, and how she thought she’d become a writer quickly because she’s always succeeded before.

Getting teary-eyed, Hyun Soo sobs that she loves Yeouido, and that she wanted to win that writing contest and dance in Yeouido Park. She says that she feels like a moth that flies into a fire knowing it will die: “But I still want to go into that fire.” Jung Sun listens thoughtfully, then he takes Hyun Soo’s hand and pulls her to her feet.

Jung Sun takes Hyun Soo to Yeouido Park and tells her to practice her victory dance. She calls him crazy and he smiles, and they both stand there for a long moment. With a look of wonder in her eyes, Hyun Soo takes a single step towards Jung Sun.

COMMENTS

What a sweet beginning. I really love the leisurely, simple feel of the world Temperature of Love set up and the way it introduced its characters. Nothing felt rushed, yet we got a good introduction established and managed to set our leading couple on a romantic journey that looks like it will be as heart-tugging as it is contentious. So far, so good.

After I saw these two on Romantic Doctor Kim, I ever wished there will be triangle love between them and Yoo Yoon Seok, but I got better one! These two become the main lead and it turns out that he and Seo Hyun Jin have fantastic chemistry—these two just light up the scene whenever they’re together. To give credit where it’s due, I think Seo Hyun Jin is one of those actors who creates chemistry with whomever she’s paired with, but this match-up feels special. I like the way that Jung Sun and Hyun Soo can clash one moment, then the next moment is charged with so much attraction that I feel like I should look away and give them some privacy. Their bickering nearly gives me whiplash, but you can feel their interest in each other even as they’re fighting for the upper hand. It’s like every little disagreement is their way of sizing the other up and taking their measure, and then they both grin like they like what they see, and I can’t help but be drawn in. It’s a way of getting to know one another that I haven’t seen in a drama before, and I like how each of their interactions feels charged with several emotions at once.

I really like this concept of the two people in a couple being at different “temperatures,” different places in their relationship, and getting a second chance to do things over. And I can already feel some of the issues that are going to cause Hyun Soo and Jung Sun problems the first time around, because they’re just such wildly different people. He’s driven and professional, while she’s impulsive and flighty. Jung Sun is very precise in the way he expresses himself, while somehow still managing to be disarmingly earnest, and Hyun Soo tends to blurt out every thought that crosses her mind. It’s true that opposites attract, and you can see why these two would find each other fascinating, because they see in each other something that they don’t possess. But such divergent personalities are naturally going to clash a lot, and although they find each other attractive now, they’re already establishing a pattern of bickering that can quickly become a serious relationship issue.

I really like they way Jung Sun and Hyun Soo are characterized—neither of them is a typical drama “type” that we’re used to seeing. Jung Sun is very reserved and self-possessed, always in control of himself even in the face of aggressive opposition, but he’s also unafraid to follow his feelings on a whim and see where they take him. And Hyun Soo, who seems like a free spirit who lets her temper run away with her and takes the time to notice the small moments of beauty in life, is oddly reserved and protective of her emotions. I like how complex and unpredictable they both are, but their ways of approaching things are so very different, it’s easy to see how they’re going to have trouble getting on the same page emotionally. Watching them meet again in the present and work to overcome these differences is going to be a lot of fun.

I’ve been burned more often than usual lately with dramas that started out strong, with talented casts and interesting premises, that just couldn’t keep the promise that their first few weeks made. But I think that Temperature of Love has everything going for it, and every excuse to be great. Aside from the star-studded cast, from the leads all the way down to small supporting roles, I really like that the story keeps things simple, with just a few mysteries to make us wonder what surprises may be in store. In particular, I’m interested in what plans Jung Woo has up his sleeve, both for Jung Sun and for Hyun Soo. And the way the scenes are shot is very interesting, with creative use of light and angles. I particularly like how certain beats between Hyun Soo and Jung Sun shift to black and white for a few seconds, as if to punctuate that these are the pivotal moments that matter, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem now. It’s obvious that the writer and director love the story they’re setting out to tell, and I can’t wait to see how they tell it.