We go back in time again, to Jung Woo (played by Kim Jae Wook)’s confession to Hyun Soo (played by Seo Hyun Jin). As we watch the sweet moments that Jung Sun and Hyun Soo shared, we hear her telling Jung Woo that she’s not happy even though she won the writing contest, because she realized too late that she loved someone, but he left. After his confession, Jung Woo drives Hyun Soo home and asks what the man she loves does for a living, then immediately chastises himself for asking. Hyun Soo offers a meek apology, but Jung Woo says not to be sorry because that would mean this is the end. He tells her not to be scared, because he won’t make her uncomfortable.
He turns up the radio, which is playing Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, the song Hyun Soo played for Jung Sun (played by Yang Se Jong) when she turned him down. Jung Woo seems to sense Hyun Soo’s discomfort and starts to turn the music down, but she stops him. Their hands touch, which just adds another level of awkwardness to the moment.
That night, Jung Woo looks out his penthouse window, flipping his old pocket watch and thinking about Joon Ha telling him that Hyun Soo is very rational about love. He’d said that Hyun Soo wants to marry a man who respects her, and advised Jung Woo to win her trust.
A few months later, Hyun Soo asks Jung Woo why he never offered to contract her as a scriptwriter. He says sadly that she has many agencies who would want her and she feels uncomfortable with him, but she reminds him that he promised not to make her uncomfortable. Jung Woo cracks a tiny grin, and Hyun Soo excitedly points out how sexy his lopsided smile is. It cheers him up, and he offers her a contract right then, which she accepts without hesitation. He tells her not to worry about making money, but to write what she wants to write.
Not long after, Jung Woo goes to Paris, where he meets up with Jung Sun. Jung Sun tells Jung Woo about his plans to graduate school and work for two years before going home, making Jung Woo ask if he even has time to date. Jung Sun turns the question on him, and Jung Woo sighs that he was rejected recently. Jung Sun sympathizes, saying that before he left for Paris he was rejected by a woman who put work before love. Jung Woo is impressed by the lady’s ambition, so Jung Sun says that he plans to find her when he gets back to Korea, offering to introduce her to Jung Woo.
Jung Woo jokes that he might steal her away, but Jung Sun says that he wouldn’t allow that, adding that she’s dating someone else anyway and might marry the guy. Jung Woo looks wounded on Jung Sun’s behalf, and the two friends toast as Jung Sun says in voiceover that he never guessed that they were talking about the same woman. He asks himself, “If I’d known this first, would I have been able to calm his rage a bit? I still wonder.”
We come back to the present and rejoin Hyun Soo as she demands for the director of her drama to be replaced. They bicker until CP Yoo shouts at them to just deal with it, fed up with their fighting. He informs them that if the ratings drop again, they’re both out.
After running their hearts out, Jung Sun and his chefs flop on the grass, dreaming of chicken and beer. Suddenly, a deliveryman shows up with chicken right on cue, followed by Jung Woo.
While the guys play soccer, Jung Woo notes that Jung Sun seems very attached to his staff, and Jung Sun notes that Jung Woo seems to always keep people at a distance. Jung Woo says he’s been hurt a lot in the past, and Jung Sun says it’s an honor to be one of people he keeps close. Jung Woo warns him good-naturedly not to let him down, because then he really won’t be letting anyone close anymore. He tells Jung Sun that a spot just opened up on a cooking competition show, and he’ll be taking the place of a chef who can’t compete.
Hyun Soo sits in a tense stare-down with Director Min, and eventually she asks if there’s any way they can come to an agreement. Director Min says that the only agreement he’s interested in is the one in which she listens to him. Swallowing her irritation, she says that all she wants is some respect, admitting that he’s very good at fixing script problems on the fly. But he just says angrily that he’s going to film this week’s episodes exactly as written and see what happens to the ratings.
On her way home, Hyun Soo gives in and calls Jung Sun. But he left his phone at home, making her wonder if he’s ignoring her to pay her back for not answering his call. When Jung Sun gets home and sees the unidentified number, he can’t help but smile, knowing exactly who called.
He calls back, putting on a stern voice as he asks how she got his number. She confesses that Won Joon gave it to her, then tells him about her fight with Director Min. Still playing it cool, he says that he doesn’t know anything about her business, and when she asks him to just listen, he grumbles that that’s difficult because he’s a man and his instinct is to solve problems.
Hyun Soo laughs at him and says she’ll tell a girl about it instead. He ends the call, but not before telling her not to skip meals when she’s working, which has Hyun Soo grinning and telling herself that he’s flirting with her. She decides to flirt back, and sends him a little note asking, “Will you solve it for me?” It works like a charm, and the following morning they’re out bright and early running together.
Out of shape, Hyun Soo gasps that she’s going to work after their run. Jung Sun says that filming a drama looks like a lot of hard work from what he saw, and she asks if he was surprised to learn that she was the writer of the drama he filmed the scene for. When he freezes up, unable to think of a quick answer, she figures out that he knew before he agreed to do the scene.
When Hyun Soo needs to take a break, Jung Sun nags that she never changes, making her pout that she wants to be someone who betters herself constantly. He says it must be hard to be a writer and constantly have to get higher ratings, but Hyun Soo says she’s not after fame or high ratings; she just wants her dramas to help people get through their day with a little happiness. Jung Sun calls that a lie, because if it were true then she wouldn’t be struggling. Hyun Soo pouts that he’s gotten prickly, but Jung Sun says he’s always been like this, adding, “Have some interest in me.” Hyun Soo is taken aback, and Jung Sun just runs ahead without her.
In another part of the park, Won Joon gathers the chefs together for some team-bonding jogging time. They run into Jung Sun and Hyun Soo, and Won Joon introduces Hyun Soo as the writer of Unruly Detectives, which impresses the guys. They all go for lunch, where the boys immediately start shipping Jung Sun and Hyun Soo. Ha Sung wonders what the deal is with Jung Sun and Hong Ah, but perceptive maknae Min Ho says confidently that there’s nothing between them, so Ha Sung sets his sights on Hong Ah (played by Jo Boa) himself.
The normally taciturn Kyung Soo practically gushes over Hyun Soo as they eat, as he’s a big fan of her drama. Hyun Soo seems comfortable with Jung Sun’s coworkers, and he definitely notices how well she fits in.
Hyun Soo’s assistant writer Kyung calls Hong Ah when she doesn’t show up for work, saying that they ought to be there to support Hyun Soo even though there isn’t much for them to do. Hong Ah says she’ll come in once she runs an errand, though she refuses to tell Kyung what she’s up to. Joon Ha is with Kyung, playing video games on his computer, and he charms her into making him some food. She complains the entire time, slapping her own hands for giving in to him, while he beams at her like she’s the cutest thing ever.
She says he has bad taste in women, mentioning his ex-wife, then feels guilty when his face falls. She offers to make him an egg, unaware that he’s just upset because his video game character was killed, ha. Hong Ah goes to see Jung Woo and gives him the scripts she wrote for a daily drama, which she’s submitted to a writing contest. She practically orders him to produce the drama, saying that she’s a faster writer than Hyun Soo, and her story is more interesting.
Jung Sun arrives home after filming his scene for Hyun Soo’s drama to find Won Joon reading about the actress who’ll be judging him on the cooking show. He asks Won Joon to put together a list of dishes she likes so he can prepare for the show. Won Joon asks if Jung Sun and Hyun Soo are dating, but Jung Sun says that he’s focusing on Good Soup. Won Joon asks what happens if Hyun Soo gets away, and Jung Sun says she got away once already, “So I’m not going to start things easily this time.”
Jung Sun’s mother shows up at Good Soup with her artist boyfriend Daniel, and Jung Sun meets with them up on the roof. Daniel says that Jung Sun will be famous once he goes on TV since he’s young and handsome like he was in his youth, and of course his mother takes credit for his good looks.
Daniel thanks Jung Sun for sending donations to his exhibits, but Jung Sun goes silent, having done no such thing. His mother nervously tells Daniel to drop the subject, and Daniel figures out that the money must be coming from her.
She admits to Daniel that the money comes from Jung Woo, justifying it by saying that Jung Sun and Jung Woo are practically brothers so it’s the same thing. But Daniel is embarrassed that she would arrange something like that behind his back, and he stomps off in a snit. She rolls her eyes and sighs at what she puts up with to be with a man.
Jung Sun’s mother goes back inside, where he silently points her back upstairs to yell at her in private. He says that he only knows of one place where she’d get money, but she lies shamelessly, claiming that the money came from Daniel.
Jung Sun asks why she even needs a man, and why she can’t just live alone. His mother says that she doesn’t want to—Jung Sun won’t live with her, but men are different because they love her, at least for a little while, and at a very hot temperature at that. He says she’ll get burned, but she says men and women live together based on the short time when they were hot. “All relationships fall flat. But with a man, for a time, things are hot,” she says. Seeing that this conversation is a dead end, Jung Sun asks again where she got the money. She insists that she didn’t borrow it from anyone, indignantly asking him why he can’t trust her.
When Hong Ah finally shows up to work, she brings a skincare gift for Hyun Soo, quipping with thinly veiled animosity that Hyun Soo shouldn’t let her skin get bad just because her drama is failing. Damn. She asks Hyun Soo to take her off the assistant writers’ credits for the drama, and though Kyung objects, Hyun Soo easily agrees.
When Hong Ah offers to buy dinner for them to eat while they watch today’s episode, Kyung thinks something good must have happened to her. But Hyun Soo says that Hong Ah always spends money when something bad happens, and she offers to buy instead. They settle in to watch the show, which is the episode Jung Sun appears in. The main character is chased through the mall by a gang, but he stops in front of Jung Sun while he cooks, moved by his statement that the dish he’s cooking reminds him of his mother.
The character’s pause allows the gang to catch up with him, but he manages to break away and lead them out of the mall and… to a beach? In the middle of the city? Even Kyung wonders how they suddenly got to the beach, as the main character takes on the entire gang alone, and the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
Hyun Soo tosses and turns all night, worried about the episode’s ratings. She goes online and just happens to see Jung Sun’s supportive message, and though she doesn’t know it’s from him, she gains a tiny bit of courage from it.
In the morning, Director Min sends Hyun Soo the ratings then calls her to say “I told you so,” because the ratings dropped when he shot scenes exactly as she wrote them, then went up for the ending fight scene that he changed. Jung Woo calls Hyun Soo later, and when she apologizes that he’ll probably lose money because of her, he tells her to think of herself first.
She thanks Jung Woo in a quiet voice and then admits that she’s scared, and he asks if she’s being a woman to him right now, eager to accept it if she is. She quickly says no. He tells her to keep looking ahead so that she can get up when she falls, which chokes her up.
Kyung worries about Hyun Soo when she sees the ratings, and Hong Ah adds that Hyun Soo will end up taking the fall because she made a public scene on the set. Hyun Soo arrives at work, deflated and tired, so Kyung gets her some tea.
Hong Ah gets a call, and her eyes go wide when she learns that she’s won the drama contest she entered. Hyun Soo is genuinely happy for her, though Kyung is a bit jealous, so Hyun Soo starts to explain that writing competitions are as much luck as talent, trying to encourage her. Hong Ah interrupts to bark at Hyun Soo to focus on congratulating her, feeling that she’s belittling her hard work by calling it luck.
Hong Ah leaves to spread her good news, stopping to thank Hyun Soo for letting her go since it’s such an important day for her despite what Hyun Soo is going through. Hyun Soo says that’s why she likes Hong Ah, and that she would’ve felt bad if her misfortune had dampened her happiness.
Hong Ah goes to Good Soup first, but Won Joon tells her that Jung Sun is filming his competition show today. He walks her out, and he’s thrilled for her when she tells him that she won the contest. He spins her around, then tells her cheerfully to be a nice person now, hee.
Hong Ah calls Jung Sun as he’s preparing for the show. His congratulations is a lot cooler than Won Joon’s, so she demands that he treat her to a meal later. Jung Sun agrees and then steps into the green room, where he’s stunned to see that his old boss, Chef Lee, will be his opponent on the show.
CP Yoo visits Hyun Soo and tells her that he’s going to hire a second writer. He asks her for recommendations, and she promises to give it some thought. The situation is only getting worse on the drama set, with the lead actor now refusing to shoot his scenes.
The actress who’s judging the cooking show (cameo by Choi Hwa Jung), asks the chefs to make a bouillabaisse, a French seafood stew, wanting to be reminded of her honeymoon in France. The host tastes the two dishes, clearly favoring the one made by Jung Sun’s old boss. Jung Sun looks disappointed, but he keeps working, dropping a steak in a hot water bath to cook.
But a cameraman accidentally kicks the power off to the water bath, so that when he’s ready to plate the meat, it’s still raw. With only a few minutes left, Jung Sun scrambles to complete his dish, while Chef Lee finishes with time to spare. Jung Sun barely manages to hit the bell just as his time is up.
The actress tastes Chef Lee’s dish first, and she praises it lavishly. Next she tries Jung Sun’s dish, and she makes an odd face when she tastes it. The host says that Chef Lee used to be Jung Sun’s teacher, but Chef Lee clarifies that Jung Sun was just his line cook.
The actress is asked to make her decision, but we don’t see who she chooses. Later, as Jung Sun is cleaning up, she approaches him to say that while Chef Lee’s food tasted better, Jung Sun’s made her happy, as though she were young again and with her husband in Paris. Jung Sun thanks her, saying that that’s why he cooks, and that’s when we see the winning pin on his shirt.
Jung Sun runs into Jung Woo on his way out, and Jung Woo congratulates him on his win. When Jung Sun asks about Unruly Detectives, Jung Woo tells him that the studio wants to add a new writer, and he’s on his way to drag the leading actor back on set, even if he has to beat him up to do it.
He brings up Hyun Soo and how she and Jung Sun seemed close, saying offhandedly that it would be nice if Jung Sun cooked her something to cheer her up, thinking that’s the last thing he’d do.
Hong Ah is at Good Soup waiting for Jung Sun to treat her to her congratulatory meal, but he calls to say that something came up and he can’t make it. He says he’ll make it up to her later, but she just asks who he’s going to see instead.
Jung Sun arrives at Hyun Soo’s place, where she’s waiting outside for him. They greet each other shyly then go inside, where she spills the tea she’s trying to serve him. She protests when Jung Sun offers to clean up, but he tells her to let the person who’s better at the job do it, and to stick to what she’s good at.
Hyun Soo relents, sitting heavily and muttering that she doesn’t think she’s good at anything. In a faraway voice, she says that writing is what she does best, but look how that turned out. Jung Sun gives her that look of his, then reaches out to grasp her hand, and Hyun Soo starts to cry as she admits that she’s scared.
Jung Sun wipes her tear away with his thumb, and Hyun Soo leans into his hand for just a moment before pulling it away. She laughs at herself wryly for acting like a woman so that he’ll console her, and without a word, Jung Sun stands and scoops her into his arms.
He carries her to the couch and lays her down, bringing their faces close together, and their world goes black and white. They freeze for a long moment, their eyes never wavering from each other, and the color comes rushing back. Jung Sun asks Hyun Soo, “Are you scared?”
Outside, Hong Ah walks up the stairs to Hyun Soo’s apartment and reaches up to ring the doorbell.
COMMENTS
Personally I think, Seo Hyun Jin's character here as Hyun Soo is soooo selfish when it comes to love. Alright. I know, but can she consider Jung Woo's feeling when he confessed to her but end up with being rejected, nah, not at all, not even rejected but he heard she loves someone else. Can she be more considerate at least? Well, it's not wrong to reject him, but I think it should be smoother. It's just I don't quite like how she settled the confession just like that.
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it many times, but this couple has some serious chemistry. I almost don’t even notice when they have a charged scene but no kiss, because the energy between them is so intense whenever they get close, they may as well be kissing. I love how drawn they are to each other, both emotionally and physically, as though they genuinely can’t help but end up together over and over because anything else would be an insult to Fate.
Not that it’s entirely up to chance, because I’m now fully convinced that Jung Sun has been planning to get Hyun Soo back all along. I had hoped that he was playing hard-to-get on purpose, but hearing him tell Jung Woo in Paris that he planned to find the woman he loved when he came back to Korea just confirmed it, at least for me. He always intended to get her back. And normally I don’t approve of playing games, but I think that Jung Sun is mostly just playing it smart—he knows Hyun Soo, and he knows that she doesn’t value things that come too easily. He was too easy when they first met, wearing his heart on his sleeve, so now he’s forcing her to see the value of his feelings by holding them back a bit.
But it’s cute how he’s not really doing a very good job of it, and even Hyun Soo knows it. Jung Sun gave himself away when he rejected her on the rooftop, then turned right around and offered to make her breakfast, then later when he told her not to skip meals. Hyun Soo knows that he shows affection by feeding people, so his concern about her eating was a dead giveaway. And that little smile when Jung Sun saw that Hyun Soo had called him just killed me dead, plus the fact that he called her right back. But the biggest giveaway is his utter weakness in the face of her tears, which pretty much melted him on the spot.
I didn’t think that Hong Ah could get much worse, and when she won the contest I actually assumed for a few seconds that she might even let go of some of her jealousy and resentment of Hyun Soo. But then she got all snippy when Hyun Soo and Kyung didn’t give her enough attention, and even though I do think she had a point about Hyun Soo devaluing her win in an attempt to make Kyung feel better, she did it in a really childish, “Hey, this is MY moment, pay attention to MEEE” way. She’s just incapable of seeing the world in any way except the way that she wants it to be, and it’s that complete lack of empathy that’s going to cause a lot of problems down the road.
I just love how this show takes things we’re used to seeing in dramas and uses them in unexpected ways, creating a very unique feel to the events. I’ve talked about the way that important emotional scenes are marked, not by musical cues, but by a moment of slow motion black-and-white, and the way flashbacks are used to add extra information that gives the audience deeper insight into the characters and their motivations. But I also appreciate how voiceovers are being used to introduce a vague sense of foreboding, as if everything between these friends is about to go horribly wrong.
In the previous episode, Hyun Soo said in voiceover that she didn’t initially know why Hong Ah began to hate her, but that she would learn why in time. While she was saying this, we were treated to a montage of happy moments between the two friends, before their feelings for Jung Sun started coming between them. Then the show did it again in this episode, showing us the friendly times between Jung Sun and Jung Woo, while Jung Sun talks about whether he could have calmed Jung Woo’s rage if he’d known sooner that they loved the same woman. Both of these moments, showing us happy scenes while telling us that things are about to explode, make me more than a little concerned about the friendships and whether they’ll be able to survive Jung Sun and Hyun Soo’s romance. Not only would it be terribly sad to see them both lose a close friend, but the last thing they need as they fall in love again is the complication of knowing that their love is hurting people they care about.
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