Jealousy spurs some fiery reactions today, as Joo-yeon embarks on a new relationship, sending our love square into a confusing mix of pettiness, pride, and sudden clarity. It’s easy to be zen about it when losing the love your life in theory; it’s another thing entirely when she goes running into someone else’s arms.
EPISODE 11: “I don’t want to lose you”
Joo-yeon leaves her date with a new boyfriend and a skip in her step, and Wan runs down to wait for her in the street with his bouquet of handpicked flowers. Agh, stop smiling like that. It hurts.
He surprises her with the flowers when she rounds the corner to come home, and says it’s their hundred-day anniversary since he moved into the house. “Thank you for living with me.”
She smiles as she takes them. When he asks about dinner, she says she ate already and carefully adds, “With Kang sunbae…” And then she hesitates again before telling him about the confession.
Wan: “Without flowers, a ring, or an ‘I love you’? What did you like about that?” She says it just felt grown-up: “I’ve received flowers. I’ve received rings. I’ve been told ‘I love you.’ I’ve done it all before. It’s all fake anyway. It just passes and then it ends.”
She wonders if she’s too much of a realist now, or it’s because she’s had enough bad relationships that her expectations have vanished. Wan smiles and says lightly that it’s okay—he’ll give her all the flowers, rings, and declarations of love that she needs, acting like he’s totally fine.
But in voiceover he admits, “That was what I said, but I wasn’t okay at all. I wanted to ask: Why wasn’t it me?”
The next night she comes running home from the freezing cold after a date in the park with sunbae. Wan can’t help being annoyed at Tae-yoon’s lack of consideration, and needles that he was planning to be the bigger person and all, but he’s going to cave to his pettiness just once and ask—what on earth does she see in that guy?
She thinks about it, and recalls an earlier work conversation with Tae-yoon, when he just tosses out a “You look pretty today,” sandwiched in between dry work talk. She smiles now to think of it, and says she just likes that sort of thing.
Wan isn’t impressed, calling Tae-yoon’s moves playing hard-to-get. “Is that what you like? I can do that!” Ha, that’s so cute that you think you can.
He asks for other reasons, and she says there isn’t one, but that’s what he taught her anyway—that it’s love because there is no reason. Wan pouts, “I didn’t teach you that so you could like that guy.”
And then she adds that she also likes how uncomfortable sunbae makes her feel, which Wan taught her means she’s all aflutter with feelings. He grumps at her using everything he taught her to like someone else, and then later while they wash dishes, he tosses out a casual, “You look pretty today.” Ha.
She looks at him like he just called her an alien, and he tries to be as cool as humanly possible: “What, I was just trying it out…” And then he scurries away before dying of embarrassment. He collapses on his bed with a sigh, and decides he’s weak at love triangles because he’s never been in one before. Did you just brag in your voiceover?
The next day, Tae-yoon comes into the office after scouting a jewelry show, and surreptitiously hands Joo-yeon a pair of earrings. But when Hee-jae sees them, he makes the excuse that they’re a sample to look at for a possible sale, and ends up letting Hee-jae have them, much to Joo-yeon’s dismay. At least he texts her later and chides her for opening them in front of everyone.
Min-jung sneaks away to the bathroom to take a nap on the toilet, and sighs to Joo-yeon that she can no longer control her body. Min-jung tells her that she’s decided to keep the baby, consoled after Min-seok’s confession that he’s a good person.
Joo-yeon thinks she should consult him about the baby, but Min-jung nixes that idea right away, saying that they expressly sought each other out in the beginning because they didn’t want marriage.
Tae-yoon calls for a late-night work session at his place tonight, and Joo-yeon reads between the lines, remembering that he said the same thing when he took her to the musical. She has a momentary panic when she can’t remember what underwear she put on this morning, but then recalls it was sleepover-approved.
Her excitement only makes the reality that much worse, when she gets to his apartment… and he really does just want to work. Wah waaaaah. He realizes she was expecting a date and finds it cute that she’s mad, and pinches her cheeks to get her to smile.
They end up working over takeout food, and then Joo-yeon starts to wonder to herself if they’ve been sunbae and hoobae for too long to just declare that they’re a couple and suddenly become one. “I became nervous at the thought that maybe we could never have that feeling, like your heart might burst just from being together.”
But then he holds her hand as he drives her home, and she decides that small steps are good too. He walks her to her door and lingers there holding her hand, and she wonders if it’s finally time for a kiss.
She thinks back to a conversation at work where Min-jung talks about the excitement just before a first kiss, and why that anticipation is the best feeling. Hee-jae agrees, but then calls it the worst disappointment when it doesn’t end in a kiss.
Joo-yeon narrates that a woman in her thirties can’t be without some dating know-how, and demonstrates her surefire move: a tiny peck on the lips, then a sudden withdrawal, as if her lips are afraid to touch his, and then a childlike smile: “There is no man who stops there.”
Speaking of Sweet Potato, he arrives home with a giant stuffed giraffe in tow that night, and happens to run into Tae-yoon on his way down the steps. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Wan instinctively hides the ginormous giraffe behind his back, which is the most hilariously futile gesture ever. I’m dying.
He so clearly wants to be seen as a man, and there could not be a worse way to run into Tae-yoon right now. He tries his damnedest to speak coldly, all while hugging this giant giraffe behind his back as if it can’t be seen. I love this scene so much.
Tae-yoon chides that Joo-yeon’s tastes don’t skew that young, and Wan counters that he didn’t buy this because he’s a childish person, but because they share a memory attached to this giraffe. “It’s a giraffe with a story, this giraffe.” Hee.
Tae-yoon asks if he likes Joo-yeon, and Wan says yes right away without hesitating, adding that he likes her very much. That just makes Tae-yoon laugh, which peeves Wan even more—he said that to make him nervous, so why is he laughing?
It does the opposite of what he intended though, and Tae-yoon wonders if it doesn’t make Wan nervous to let his feelings be known to the whole world like that. He doesn’t think of Wan as a contender in the least, and rubs it in that he’s the one with the one-sided love.
Wan asks him why he’s dating, and nags him to stop sending Joo-yeon home freezing or crying. That raises Tae-yoon’s hackles and he says she must not tell him everything because there are good moments too. Why do I get the impression you’re more interested in winning this argument than in Joo-yeon as a person?
Tae-yoon suggests he can move out if he’s uncomfortable, and Wan runs out of articulate arguments, so he just declares that he’ll do what he wants in banmal like a kid, all while holding his giraffe. He stomps away and then gets crankier when he reaches the gate and thinks that this is the perfect spot for a kiss.
Inside, Joo-yeon frets about the serious lack of kisses in her life, wondering if she’s not attractive, or if he’s still hung up on Se-ryung, or if he even likes her. She sighs that she’s back in dating hell.
But then Tae-yoon texts her that next time she should close her eyes so that he has a chance to kiss her, and she beams. Hm, I can’t shake the feeling that these are excuses.
Wan comes in and presents her with the giraffe, and she lights up and sticks her hands out. He asks first whether or not it’s childish, but is appeased when she clearly likes it, and hugs her in relief.
Se-ryung is waiting outside Tae-yoon’s door when he arrives home, and he reminds her that he didn’t want to see her outside of work anymore. She knows he’s sick of her now, but says that eventually the same will happen with Joo-yeon—they’ll date, they’ll fight, they’ll make up, and things will cool.
She asks if he’s still going to go to Joo-yeon anyway, and Tae-yoon replies stoically that he will. He leaves her out in the hall, and she struggles to hold her tears back.
Woo-young walks Hee-jae home that night to see what her commute is like, and offers to start picking her up in the morning. He takes her hand as they walk, and then points out a streetlamp up ahead. He tells her he’s going to kiss her under that streetlamp, and gets closer and closer.
But once they’re actually there, she suddenly can’t and pushes him away. He wonders what happened and regrets the advance warning.
Joo-yeon prepares to give a big presentation at work, and Tae-yoon gives her a little hand-squeeze behind the podium after passing the stage to her. His boss warns him again that Joo-yeon will be nipping at his heels in no time, and tells him to be careful. He assures her that Joo-yeon won’t ever stab him in the back, and why do I get the feeling that you’re dating her to insure yourself against that very thing?
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