Best Love

Best Love: Episode 1

So fun! You didn t think I d miss this one, right? It s the Hong sisters. I m 6 for 6. Best Love is maybe not their zaniest, funniest drama, but it makes up for that with a hilariously tongue-in-cheek look into their own industry. Write what you know, right? And if they re going to skewer the entertainment biz this delightfully, this oughtta be a treat. It takes a little while to hit its groove it s amusing at first, but I didn t find it immediately addicting. But when the pace finally kicks in, you feel that tug of excitement that gets you in the gut. Woot woot. Oh, man, this brings back memories. Right away we start off with comedy gold: Oldschool girl group, modeled obviously after the sweet, innocent images of the FinKL girls back in the day. The group name is Kukbo Sonyeo or should we just call them KBSN? which means girls who are national treasures. They ve got the youthful innocence, the schoolgirl outfits, and the cute images still associated with the top girl groups today, but which was much more prominent about a decade ago when idols were less overtly sexualized, and more idealized as good girls. KBSN is so popular that they win Number 1 on the live music programs, and are household names. And then, ten years later The industry s a bit different now B-boys and tartlets dominate the pop scene and KBSN s former leader is now a h as-been who s trying to remain in the game despite her declining status. This is GU AE -JUNG (Gong Hyo-jin), who is making the usual television and promotional rounds to keep her profile afloat. Ae-jung is presented as an original idol, akin to a Eugene or a Sung Yuri in the real world, and pitted against a present-day idol in a series of games. She loses each one. Next is a Running Man-like challenge: If she can eat a whole bowl of jajangmyun while on a roller coaster, she gets to come back on the show. Oh, my stomach lurches for you in a sympathy-heave. Maybe she needs some tips from Kim Jongmin. What s hilarious about this is that you know that s actually Gong Hyo -jin on a roller coaster eating jajangmyun. It s so absurd, and that s why it s funny. Understandably enough, Ae-jung doesn t feel so great after failing to complete the eating task. Her brother-manager Ae-hwan offers to cancel her schedule for the day, but she wants to power through. When she moves to buy herself a soda from the convenience store, Ae-hwan reminds her that she s a star, so she corrects herself

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he can get it for her. It s cute that she doesn t have star airs, so he has to remind her to maintain appearances. Elsewhere, super top Hallyu star DOKKO JIN ( Cha Seung-won) sits in a darkened theater at a screening of his newest action flick, Fighter, feeling pretty damn pleased with himself while the theatergoers ooh and ahh. Between Jin, his manager, and the director, it s a surfeit of smug Atta boy s. But that only lasts about fifteen seconds. Soon, the audience tires of the endless fight reel, stretching boredly in their seats. His manager falls asleep. Jin remains in his seat when he s called up to take hi s bow, glaring at the director for ruining the movie. He mimes punching him in the face, which the host plays off as a tie-in to the movie but Jin is mindful of his public image enough to resume his gracious exterior and bask in the fan love. (Aw, I love t his setup already, with the leads being total opposites. Ae-jung is a misunderstood sweetie, while Jin s a pompous prick beloved by the public.) Ha! Afterward, Jin sits in his car, watching Kim Nam -gil in all his bloody sageuk glory (Queen Seon-deok). He s dissatisfied because it looks cool, and he d passed it up to do Fighter. He s pleased, therefore, when his manager assures him that the drama tanked, netting less than 5% viewership ratings (har, meta joke Seon-deok was a runaway hit). It even dragged down its lead actor with it.
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Jin s sniffs at the prospect of doing a drama next, because he s set on making his Hollywood entry with famed director Peter Jackson Jason (har). That makes manager JAE-SEOK look nervous, but Jin s arrogance is a force to be re ckoned with. (I love that the Hongs are poking fun that actors tendencies to overhype their Hollywood potential. Hee!) Jin s van pulls into the gas station, next to Ae -jung s car. Noting the sleek van, she wonders if a celebrity is inside, and when a few passers-by recognize her, she can t help but pose next to it, like a star. From inside, Jin sees the weirdo leaning against his car, and pokes her through the window with a rolled-up poster. Not bothering to show his face, he rudely talks down to her and treats her like a servant, handing her trash to throw away. Ae-jung tries at first to be civil, greeting him as one celebrity to another, but soon grows upset at his high-handedness. Hilariously, the thing he takes most issue with is when she says incredu lously, Just look at this ajusshi! She tries to look inside the car to find out who he is, fighting to slide his window open, which leads to a slap -happy round of childishness. It s great.

Finally he grabs her arm, twists it and autographs it. He tells her to find out who he is if she wants to know so badly.

Then it s on to a PR opportunity with top star KANG SE -RI (Yoo Inna), Ae-jung s former groupmate from KBSN, also Jin s former real girlfriend and current contract girlfriend. What that means is, they broke up a year ago, but have been maintaining appearances for their image s sake.

This date is really a photo op to quiet more rumors of their breakup, and they pose for the cameras and act the part of a loving couple. Their agreement is to remain publicly together until his Hollywood debut, at which point they can state that they drifted apart due to their busy schedules. Se-ri would prefer to carry on the ruse for a bit longer, but Jin isn t interested, telling her there s no use in dragging it out.

At a nearby table, another couple is out on a date: This is YOON PIL -JOO, on a blind date. (Yoon Kye-sang!! Why are you so cuuuute?? He just brings a smile to my face I would have squealed out loud, but I m on a plane and I m forced to contain my glee.) Pil-joo is an Oriental medicine doctor who s rather focused on his work, to the exclusion, sometimes, of social grace.
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For instance: His dinner date recognizes Se-ri, but he just says modestly that he doesn t keep up with the entertainment biz. (Oh boy, is he about to get his world flipped turned upside down or what?) His date sighs at how pretty Se -ri is, to which he answers in a strictly clinical sense that her killer heels are bad for he r figure she ll end up with an uneven butt. HA. But his detailed, uh, examination of potential health problems offends his dinner date. It s flipping hysterical how he explains the properties of a lopsided buttock with a completely straight face, unaware of how his words are getting misinterpreted. Omg. This is the Best. Thing. EVER: At home, Ae-jung s nephew asks Grandpa why his celebrity auntie doesn t do CFs like the oh-so-cool Dokko Jin. Gramps explains that it s not that she doesn t, but that she can t due to her negative image. (Omigod. Is Grandpa wearing a Hyun Bin tracksuit? Er, a Kim Joo-won one, I should say?)

Of course, the nephew doesn t understand the nuances of that, so when Ae -jung comes home, he asks plainly, Aunt, how come you aren t liked much and can t do CFs like that?

They live a modest life, downsized from the luxury Ae -jung had provided when her career was doing great. It s a combination of her career stalling, as well as Ae -hwan s and father s careless use of their funds, that have led them to this state. Contrast that to Jin s state-of-the art bachelor pad, outfitted with top -shelf products. He has all of life s luxuries, fancy furnishings, and so on. He also wears a top -of-theline monitor to check his heart rate. It s hilarious how Jin lives like he s shooting a CF at all times. This is a guy who totally buys into his own hype he certainly spends enough time googling himself. Today he s disgruntled over the negative fan reviews of his boring, tiresome movie. The answer to this setback? His Peter Jason movie, Ninja Assault. (Lol! Ninja Assassin much? I LOVE THIS DRAMA.)

Ae-jung shows up to the radio station for a guest appearance, where she sees a young idol group and greets them. They barely even spare her a glance, an d she gently advises them to keep a positive attitude toward their sunbaes. (This is an issue entertainers have commented on before, and it s considered poor etiquette for the hoobae industry junior to put on airs or refuse to greet a sunbae. Even if the hoobae is the much bigger star. That just doesn t fly in an elders first, Confucian-values-steeped Korea.)

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Now we get a glimpse of the reason for Ae -jung s status as persona non grata, which involves the opinion that she broke up the band. (More meta: Though the public never knows the full story, fans often blame the first member to go off and do other projects when a group breaks up. It s not so much an issue these days, since all idols are spreading themselves thin trying to get as much exposure as possible like their idol status is only a temporary springboard to an acting career anyway but back in the day it was a bigger deal, like when Yoon Eun -hye left Baby VOX to do Goong. Even more meta: I wonder if Yoon Kye-sang has any opinions on this, be cause he always seemed to me to be the odd one out in G.O.D, when he veered off to pursue acting.) Today s schedule is pretty sparse, but Ae-jung has a good attitude about it, saying she ll do her lone assignment perfectly. Aw, I love her already. Why do y ou hate her, fictional Korea? What s wrong with you?? She s so positive and awesome! She s proud of her one statement piece, an expensive designer scarf on loan, since radio appearances are visually important these days. Which is when she bumps into Jin wearing the same scarf. HAHAHAHA.

Not realizing that he s the gas station jackass, she s starstruck and asks tentatively for a handshake. He walks away without acknowledging her. I love how Ae-jung s pleased that they ve got matching fashion senses, while h e dissatisfactorily covers his up, and flings it off once in the green room and throws it back at his stylist. On the other hand, Ae-jung has dropped hers in the toilet. She worries that she ll be held responsible for its cost, since she s not a big enough star that they d let her off the hook. On the other hand, if someone of Jin s stature were to confess to a similar mistake Light bulb moment! Team Bro & Sis skulk outside Jin s green room, and she swaps the scarves. She feels a pang of guilt, but assures herself that since Jin is so famous, the mistake will be easily forgiven. But she doesn t have enough time to escape safely, as Jin returns to the room unexpectedly.

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Ae-jung has seconds to hide herself while her brother stalls him, and therefore witnesses Jin dropping his fan -friendly facade and dipping into his usual sneering tone. He admits that he fakes being nice, but doesn t want to talk about his m ovie injury in his guest appearance, although his manager Jae -seok thinks that d be great for stirring sympathy. Jae-seok hedges again when Jin asks about his audition status with Peter Jason, but finally admits that Jin lost out. And Jin s reaction is ab solutely precious: It s a mix of bluster, ego, and hurt: I really got rejected by Peter Jason? W -why? And a-a-after I sent him that expensive wine? Apparently his lack of English fluency cost him the job to another Asian actor a Chinese star who s also American. (Is this the Kwon Sang-woo/Green Hornet story? Have I mentioned I love the Hong sisters?) Let s just say that the big-time star does not take rejection well. He fumes, and imagines that people mock him for failing after bragging about his big Ho llywood break. He pictures the gossip printed on paper towels, which fly at him as though attacking his hubris.

Ae-jung feels sympathetic for Jin s bad news, and takes back her soiled scarf except that she s caught by Jin, coming out of the bathroom. She comes up with an excuse about being a fan and hurriedly tries to leave. But Jin can t turn down a request for an autgraph his Achilles heel has been pinpointed! and offers one anyway. Problem is, he signs on the scarf without waiting for her say -so her very expensive, loaner scarf and that freaks her out. She wails about the expense, so Jin shoves his pristine scarf her way, saying that he s not about to wear it now. Not after a nobody like her has been seen in it.

They re about to end this unsavory transaction when Jin s gruff speech pattern triggers Ae-jung s memory, bringing to mind the rude bastard from the gas station. She compares the autograph he wrote on her hand to the one on her scarf, and confronts him about it.

She wants an apology, and he has no problem delivering one, all polite words and demeanor. Not that he means it, of course. But his immediate compliance takes the wind out of her sails, and she accepts his apology. Only, now that he s sufficiently appeased her, he wants his sca rf back. And she s reluctant to give it up, and clings to it. So Jin drags her close, warning that refusing to let her go will land her in some danger, speaking with a weirdly slurry tone that makes him sound like a 100-year-old drunk grandpa. He whirls the scarf out of her grip with some fast maneuvering and wrests it free. Jin walks off with the scarf, literally kicking his heels in glee. So. Immature.

On to the radio broadcast, and who should be hosting it but Horan who cheekily cuts to a song she should be intimately familiar with: Ibadi s Chococat. Heh.
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During the break, Ae-jung looks at her ruined scarf and pouts, which Horan notices. And when they go back on the air, Horan asks about the signature, which she s recognized as Jin s. How are th ey acquainted? For appearance s sake, Ae-jung invents a story about getting the autograph for an unni who loves him. But Horan senses more of a story and comments that they seem close, and asks what he s like. Ae-jung answers that he s not quite like the image he projects, and calls him rude, imperious, and demanding. In short, he s a rude jackass. Immediately, she imagines the words of offended netizens appearing on the nearby computer screen, which form a clever visual metaphor by arranging themselves in the shape of a gun, and shooting word-bullets back at her. Unsurprisingly, this is a figment of her imagination, warning her to stay on track. So Ae-jung says confidingly that Jin recently ruptured an eardrum filming his last movie (the story his manager had wanted to circulate), but that because Jin was (supposedly) afraid his fans would worry, he kept it a secret. Hence: He s someone who can t be honest that way.

Everyone falls even more in love with Jin at this disclosure, and captions onscreen show us that Dokko Jin injury now shoots to the top of the search engine hits.

And so does Gu Ae -jung. Her brother exults after the show ends, because Jin s fans are all praising her now. Furthermore, he was with the PD of (real -life) variety show World Changing Quiz (SeBaKwi) during her broadcast, and managed to score her an appearance on it tomorrow. Except for the fact that it s contingent on her including Jin. Gulp.

Se-ri meets with producers in planning Season 3 of a popular variety show, Couple Making, which is sort of like a cross between We Got Married and The Bachelor. With the first two seasons being successes with their perfect bachelors a lawyer, a fund manager they need to match that with their Season 3 pick. But who could be that perfect mix of looks, background, education, and status? I WONDER. Cue Pil-joo, who s visited by his mother at his Oriental medicine hospital. She s a doting mom, but has more ambitious designs for his future than he does. He s the kind of down-to-earth doctor who likes making house calls, but she wants him to live up to his status as well-regarded hospital director. She therefore refuses to consider his desire to leave the hospital for a less prestigious career path.

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Jin decides that the best way to save face from losing the Hollywood debut is to put out the story that he quit the movie, instead of lost it. ( You can t fire me, I quit! ) Now what they need is to get a new hot project lined up for him, quick, so people will believe that he took it over Ninja Assault. His manager suggests he blame it on his injury, since Ae-jung already put out the story. Jin has no idea who Ae -jung is until he s shown her photo, but insists she s nothing to him hardly the close sunbae-hoobae relationship everyone s assuming. He hasn t even heard of Kukbo Sonyeo, even though Se -ri was in it. Talk about a self-absorbed boyfriend, eh? Jae-seok explains KBSN s story: The foursome were popular back in 2001, with Ae jung being the most popular and Se-ri being the maknae (youngest). But at the height of their fame, they broke up amidst lots of ugly rumors in-group fighting, exclusion, bad blood. Ae -jung went solo afterward but crashed, and had a scandal linking her romantically to an actor who was engaged. There was a drunk fighting scandal as well, and her reputation is still stained by those memories today. But if Jin didn t tell Ae -jung about his injury, how did she know? He remembers her lurking near his dressing area, and wonders with dread if she also heard about the Peter Jason movie.

Currently, Ae-jung is juggling two problems, which she discusses with former KBSN teammate Jenny (Lee Hee-jin, former Baby VOX member get it?). The first problem is manageable, as Jenny promises to sell the ruined scarf online. But the second is worse how to get Jin to agree to being her SeBaKwi partner, or to escape being called a liar if she can t? Just then he calls (wanting to know how much she overheard), giving her the opportunity to appeal to him. She tries to soften him up before m aking her request, but he flatly denies it she s so far beneath his level that just asking him to be her phone-a-friend on the variety show is shameless. She replies that she s desperate, which he should understand if he sent Peter Jason that fancy wine as a bribe.

She admits that she overheard him in the dressing room, which infuriates him but what can he do? She s got him by the balls. He threatens to sue her if she spills the story, and she agrees that she couldn t do that: How could I tell people that you got passed over for the other actor, that you sent Peter Jason wine as a bribe, and that you got rejected? Hee. She advises him to just fess up before he looks more a fool later, but he turns those words back on her, asking if the gossip about he r being sponsored by a yakuza are true. Why don t you tell the truth before you look more foolish later? Ohh right you already look plenty foolish now! HA HA HA!

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That old gossip scrapes old wounds, and she bursts out that she yes, the story s true. She s clearly lying, but warns him that if he messes with her, her connections will put him in his place. With that, she leaves angrily and sticks him with the bill. At home, Jin looks up Ae -jung and KBSN, reading post-scandal articles about her losing her fans trust. As he thinks of his mean question and registers that he hurt her feelings, his watch suddenly acts up his heart rate is increasing. Puzzled, he wonders why. Hee. Gee, I wonder! Time for the SeBaKwi shoot. Ae-jung tries to offer up Jenny as he r phone-a-friend buddy instead, but the PD isn t having it, and Ae -jung can t admit she lied. So she works up the nerve to call him one last time, and pleads for his generosity.

Ae-jung tells Jin that she s hoping to appeal to his sense of sympathy for t heir similar plights: The way I feel right now about being ditched by you for this quiz is how you feel about being ditched by Peter Jason for the Hollywood movie. I hope that you understand my desperation.

And maybe he does see the similarity, because that rejection is the one thing constantly on his mind right now, the thing he can t get over, the thing he keeps wondering if he ought to try begging the director for. So while he tosses the phone aside in dismissal, he doesn t dismiss her entirely from hi s mind.

The show begins filming, and Ae-jung waits nervously while the hosts hype up her planned contact Jin s the biggest star they ll ever have had on the show. She sits in anxious fear while they put the call through, hoping this won t end badly. All the while, Jin keeps eyeing his phone, waiting for it to ring. When it finally does, he jumps but lets it keep ringing. And ringing. And ringing. It s awkward, and everyone in the studio wonders why he s not answering. Elsewhere in the broadcast station, in a planning session for the Couple Matching show, Se-ri catches cameras showing the taping, then heads to the studio to see for herself. She s curious and a little jealous that her old frenemy supposedly is chummy with her ex, and the longer the pho ne keeps ringing, the more smug she gets.

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The silence grows in the studio as everyone waits, and Se-ri smirks as the hosts declare this a failure and then, Jin s voice booms through the speakers: Hello? Ae-jung s totally shocked, but the studio suddenl y livens up with excitement. The hosts prod Ae-jung to proceed with the quiz, since time is ticking: She has 90 seconds to describe objects, and he has to guess them. Starting cautiously at first, Jin actually gets pretty into the competitive spirit, pumping his fists when he guesses correctly, all wound up with tension. Jin not only matches every one of her clues, he gets so worked up that his bewildered managers look at him in wonder.

The last word is grapes, and Ae-jung fumbles for a clue with ten se conds on the clock. Finally, she lands on: Bribe! Everyone else is puzzled, but she adds, The thing you gave Peter Jason! Jin s so caught up in the game that he doesn t even register the implications, and guesses excitedly, Ah, wine! Ae-jung prods him to say what it s made of, and he declares, Grapes! He s so thrilled that shouts happily and does a victory chant, pleased to hear that he s the first guest to have guessed every term correctly.

Only the hosts then ask what that last question was abou t, and it s only now that they realize what the heck they ve just done. Oopsie!

COMMENTS So cute! It started off a bit laid-back, but the more we got into it, the more the pace amped up until I was squealing in the end. I m always amazed at how much plot the Hong sisters can cram into an hour, and it s no different here. I love that about them; they keep things moving, and keep you on your toes. I m excited for Best Love in that it s probably the Hongs best drama in terms of talented actors. That s not a slight on the others, because they ve had some damn appealing leads before, but here s a case where all four main leads are not only funny, charismatic, and good-looking, but strong actors. Plus, I m starting to really believe that all good actors really need to take on a strong rom-com role at least once you can be a fantastic actor, but even in a light fluffball drama, it can open up your image and range in a way that you don t get from doing strictly solid actorly projects. That can be as valuable as acting creds. For example, woo Cha Seung-won! I know he s not a total stranger to comedy, but I haven t seen him doing it and he certainly has pursued a different path in recent years Athena, City Hall, Eye For an Eye. Cold, hard, badass dudes. An d yet here, he s like an insecure Narcissus, and it s fabulous. He does affect this weird drawl that I can t decide yet if I like or abhor it s drunk grandpa, seriously but either way, it s interesting. I love that he s going for the unlikable guy, rat her than holding back and trying to still be likable. We ll have plenty of time to fall for him later. And Yoon Kye-sang! Sigh I think this one s gonna hurt, guys. I think this is the Hong sisters drama that may finally get me on the second lead s side. Or , barring that, at least produce a credible love triangle. (I don t see Se -ri putting up much of a fight, even though I think Yoo Inna is great.) But that in itself is a thing to rejoice. He is adorable, and like Cha Seung-won, he takes a familiar character type (haughty on Cha s end, the familiar nice guy on his own) and tweaks it a little, adding that hilarious comic bent of being a nerd about his work. Gong Hyo-jin is, as usual, lively and winning and charming. I love that her Ae -jung isn t actually a bitch, although initially I thought that could have been fun too. Instead, she s the sweet girl with the misfortune to be dogged by her bad image for years. Just the fact that she maintains a sunny attitude despite her down -in-thedumps career makes me feel for her and admire her pluck. She has a luminous quality that brings a geniune spirit to her characters, and that shines through here as well. Love. Her.

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I have a good feeling about this one! *crosses fingers* *hopes I didn t just jinx things for us all* *hides from mob if things take a turn*

Best Love: Episode 2 Yay, funny, punny, and cute! The characters are so clearly defined, drawn for comedy, and the actors are up for anything, making every moment pop with wit and charm. How great is it to have a hero who is completely insecure and a ball of neuroses when it comes to public image, and a second lead who is the direct opposite and clueless to outside perception? I love a drama that zips by in an hour, but I REALLY love a drama that makes me want to rewind and watch it again.

Oh, man. It s bad news bears, as Jin and Ae -jung are made aware of her massively embarrassing slip of the tongue. Horrified, Jin just laughs it off and glosses it over as a gift to the director, and host Lee Hwi -jae congratulates him on getting the movie that he wanted so badly. To top if off, they ask Ae-jung to give Jin a word of encouragement, so she gives him a public send-off to Hollywood: Fighting! Oh, this is gonna be so bad. Back at the office, Jin stares at his phone like it stung him in the ass, WHY did I pick up the phone? It s possibly because you heard me screaming: PICK UP THE PHONE! PICK IT UP! PICK IT UP, PICKITUP, PICKIDDUPPPP! After the show, her brother Ae-hwan congratulates her on the awesome job, that is until she tells him that Jin won t be going to Hollywood after all. Ae -hwan: Oh, that s humiliating. Haha. Yeah, you think? Ae-jung s phone rings (with a KBSN song as her ringtone, natch), and it s Jin. They meet up, and she s either clueless or she thinks h e s nicer than he is, because she actually looks surprised at his anger. Um, the fact that he asked to meet you in a parking garage should be your first clue that you re in for a smackdown. She thanks him for answering the call and tells him to check out t he episode since it should be fun. He tells her through clenched teeth that he won t be catching the episode, since it won t be airing. Ae-jung: Why? Jin: Because you re going to tell them to edit you out. He tells her that he was getting ready to announce that he was dropping the film, but if that episode of SeBaKwi airs, the stories won t match up. She pleads with him to let it go just this once, clenching his fist in desperation. What s hilarious is that he s gone through the trouble of making this e laborate hand gesture to end up in a fist to make a point, but she turns it around on him to plead earnestly. He tries to shake her off, but she apologizes profusely, telling him to just hit her instead, mockingly hitting her head against his fist.

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He hilariously freaks out, not only because she s going overboard but because he s a big star, but he tells her to go ahead and use this opportunity to just clear out of the entertainment biz for good, instead of hanging on. He adds that she ought to edit him out of her life as well, while she s at it. He turns to walk away, thinking that he s made his point, but then turns to ask why she s not running along to do what he said. Ae-jung: YA! Eeee! Banmal so soon? Love it. Love it. Jin: Are you crazy? Ae-jung lays into him, freely taking him to task for treating her dire situation for survival like it s nothing. She says his assy ways are why he was dropped from the film Oh, no wait it s becaus e your English sucks. HAHAHA. That hits him where it hurts. She mocks his random English word usage, with a phrase of her own: You, King ssa-ga-ji [asshole, bastard] very much dirty jjang [best]!! LOL. It s totally nonsensical ( dirty makes more sense in Korean as a bad thing to call someone because it s a way to describe someone s lack of manners) and all the more hilarious for it. That pushes him past the point of reason and he comes toward her, ready to swing his arm, only that s exactly when a group of people walks up, recognizing him. Omg, I love it. He s totally handicapped by his desperate need to appear perfect in front of strangers. They just stand there like that, awkwardly in the middle of a knock -down-drag-out fight, and yet smiling for the people looking on. She mumbles at him through her smile that if he dislikes being involved with someone as low as her, then to never call her again.

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She walks away with a big grin, and he s trapped there, just mumbling under his breath, Where where are you going? in this sing-songy you-are-so-dead tone that is just cracking me up. He lets his anger get the better of him, and follows her out in his car like a madman. It s a low-speed car chase out of the garage, and almost out into the street, but Ae jung panics and breaks, and Jin rear -ends her. It s just a fender-bender and she gets out to see if he s okay, and he stares at her with death rays, Gu Ae-jung. This is the end of you and then he FAINTS. Ha.

News breaks of Hallyu star Dokko Jin in a car accident, and of course his very shrewd agency uses this opportunity to regretfully back out of the Hollywood film, playing up his injuries as far more severe than they are. At the same time, word gets out that Ae-jung was the other party in the car a ccident, and as the media likes to do, they take sides and blame her for his retreat from Hollywood, by virtue of the fact that she s fine, while he s injured. And of course because he s universally beloved. She ends up back in the headlines, but in a nega tive light, and at home her nephew reads the news and asks Grandpa what Ankle Girl means. Oh, Korea and your crazy nicknames. He explains that it s because she s stopping Dokko Jin from going to Hollywood (because ankle-grabbing is a cultural metaphor for someone stopping a loved one from leaving, as in, girl pleading with boy not to leave her, by holding onto his ankles).

She s number one in the news portals as Ankle Girl, and Jenny tries to lift her spirits hey, press is still press, but Ae -jung can t get over being blamed for something she didn t do. They decide to sneak into the hospital so that she can talk to Jin, but getting past all the reporters is no easy feat.
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In his hospital room, Jin practices his English by mimicking STEPHEN COLBERT! Pwahahahaha. Omg, the meta on this show just about kills me. Seriously, Ninja Assault and Stephen Colbert?! Love the Hong Sisters.

There s a big gold-medal-swim-meet about to air, and Ae-jung uses it as her opportunity to sneak into Jin s room, in a sequence th at intercuts the dramatic swim meet with her unnecessarily acrobatic Mission Totally Possible. She cartwheels her way in, just in time to see Jin jumping up and down in front of the tv on his supposedly bum leg, all disappointed that the swimmer won the g old medal (because they re up for the same CF, ha). Uh-oh. Caught red-handed. Er, red-footed. She totally calls him out on being a fakey fakerson, and starts shouting out the truth for the reporters to hear. He grabs her in a hug-meets-wrestling-hold to stop cover her mouth, which is what his manager Jae seok walks in on.

By the way, I can t wait till they give his manager more stuff to do, because he was HILARIOUS in Queen of Reversals as Park Shi-hoo s other-half man-boy-secretary.

Jin sends him to get his agent, and Ae-jung comes home with a new contract in hand, a hush-deal with a promise to get her cast in a new project. She wonders if she can trust them, but Ae-hwan thinks that they have nothing to lose (which is pretty much true). The PDs of Couple Making Season 3 (I love that this show has a horrible title too, which I don t think is coincidence.) have already stated an interest in casting Ae -jung, but their main hitch was Kang Se-ri s disapproval.

Jin s agent meets with Se-ri to nudge her into gru dging acceptance, and then sets up a meeting/audition for Ae-jung with the PD. Only at the same restaurant, Yoon Pil-joo is there with a friend who s about to set him up to interview a friend of his, since Pil -joo is looking for another doctor to take over his clinic. The friend steps outside to take a phone call Which is right when Ae-jung gets ushered in, and told by the agent to go on in first to the meeting Don t you love when you can see the funny coming?
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She steps into Pil-joo s room, he thinking she s the doctor on an interview, her thinking he s the PD giving her an audition. He starts out by saying that he s heard of her skills, and she s surprised, asking, You know what level I m at, right? Haha. She means it in the modest sense, like, you do know that I m a D -list star, right, but he s hearing it like, you do know how awesome I am, right . He awkwardly tells her to just declare the amount of money she wants, since he s heard that she s here because she needs the money. Pffft. She s like, mo ney ? Err? She starts putting together the pieces in the exact wrong way the private room, the liquor, the agent sending her in first and telling her vaguely to take the opportunity, and Pil -joo s money question She wonders to herself if this is one of those situations she s only ever heard about in her mind landing at the sponsor actress shady deal situation.

She asks if he s offering her money, and he says yes. Ae-jung: So you re trying to buy me? For how much? Pil-joo just agrees tentatively, starting to get confused Exactly how much am I worth? How about a billion won then? [Million dollars, give or take.] His eyes grow wide, wondering what kind of doctor asks for that kind of

salary. She starts crying, gone past the point of anger into feeling sorry for herself. Out of spite, she raises the offer to ten billion won, in a fit of emotion over her dire situation and the absurdity of facing this humiliation. What are you surprised because it s too much? If I want ten billion won, will you stil l buy me? She switches down to banmal, and Pil -joo s jaw drops. She starts yelling at him, What is it too much? You said you d give me whatever I wanted! She cries her heart out, legitimately crying out of sorrow for having hit rock bottom this way.

He just doesn t know what to do and awkwardly tries to comfort her. He pours her a glass of water to calm her down, which she takes and promptly throws back in his face. HAHAHAHA. She gets up defiantly, You can t buy me, even with ten billion won. I m a Ku kbo Sonyeo! Don t live that way. You can t buy a national treasure that way! Pffft. OMG. So punny. [Kukbo = national treasure, and her idol group name.] Gawd, I LOVE Yoon Kye-sang in this. He is hysterical, and all he s doing is being the straight-man. But it s his reactions and his innocent character, set in contrast to these very image-conscious people, and his unwitting foot -in-mouth comments they re killing me.
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Ae-jung has a good sorrowful cry in the bathroom, and then decides that she can t let it rest at that. She goes and fills a bucket with water, and carries it back to the room to finish him off in style, only by then her agent comes to take her to the other room. Whoops. She peers inside Pil-joo s room, where she sees him interviewing the doctor, and realizes her grave mistake. They meet eyes through the porthole, but when he steps out to find her, all he finds is the bucket. Heh. Ae-jung steps into the correct room, to meet Couple Making s PD, writer, and MC, Kang Se-ri. They greet each other awkwardly.

Jin and his manager discuss the two girls in question, and Jin notes that they ll both be famous because of him. His manager points out that they were actually famous BEFORE him, since they were both in KBSN together. Jin: Those friggin Kukbo Sisters. They re both totally annoying. HAHAHA. Best. Delivery. Ever. I need a recording of that, please. Ae-jung takes a moment in the bathroom, and Se-ri comes to dig the knife a little deeper. She asks if it hurts her pride to be on a show where she s the MC, and Ae-

jung responds honestly that it doesn t NOT hurt her pride, but she s not in a position to turn it down. Se-ri tells her that when they were in KBSN, she went on a lot of shows riding on Ae jung s coattails, so to just think of this as payba ck. She returns Ae-jung s own words to her from back then: Don t let your pride get hurt, and do well, only her take is delivered with a great big helping of self-satisfaction.

Flashback: Back to KBSN days, when Se-ri had made some mistake. Ae-jung took it more seriously than she did, and slapped her across the face. She instantly felt bad about it, but too late their manager walks in and Se-ri cries, pitting herself the victim in what was probably already a tense group dynamic. Ae-jung gets rushed by reporters, who begin their smear campaign. Back in the present, Jin reads up on Ae -jung and KBSN, and muses to himself that based on the stories, Ae-jung is a total gangster. Heheh. His sympathy immediately goes out to her, reading all the hateful comments to her online, and he gets all worked up in her defense, without even realizing it. Aw. I love how susceptible he is to public opinion, and how it s also the thing that makes him sympathize with her. He gets worked up over one comment, and looks to see what the handle is. The commenter s name? DokkoFanGirl. Heh. He sighs, realizing it s his fans up in arms about her causing his exit from Hollywood.

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He calls her to his hospital room the next day, and shoots her a piece of paper. He s decided to graciously confirm the following: that she came to visit him, apologized, and that he has forgiven her for the accident. He tells her that he can t stand by and watch her get slandered by his fans because then his image gets tarnished alongside hers. Heh. Yeah, and nothing to do with your ACTUAL concern for her. Nope. Nuthin like that. She thanks him sweetly for the gesture, because despite his insistence that he hasn t personally forgiven her, he s willing to publicly forgive her, which will revive her image. She asks for a picture to go along with it, for verification s sake, and though he whines about it, he can t turn off that actor s instinct to smile for the camera.

He approves of the shot and when she smiles and bows before she goes, he can t help but crack a sweet smile. Once she s gone, he picks up fruit and starts reliving their SeBaKwi quiz, Tangerine. Grape! OMG, I didn t know Cha Seung -won could be so cute!

While she sits downstairs uploading the picture and writing the comment to go with it, he receives a call from his agent that Peter Jason has put the offer back on the table. She tells him that since the severity of his injury hasn t been released yet, they can underplay it and go straight to Hollywood. But as soon as he hangs up, he realizes that he just gave Gu Ae-jung the exact wrong thing to post online. He rushes down, hampered by having to use crutches to keep up appearances, and finds her

seconds too late. It s up, and people are already commenting. He crumples in exasperation, and she just smiles wide, not knowing that she s run major interference in his career for the second time since they ve met. The Peter Jason movie is now in the wind as far as he s concerned, because they can t backtrack now and say that they faked his injury. That ship has sailed. And the final nail in the coffin: the wine he had sent to Peter Jason gets returned. Meanwhile, Ae-jung s career is taking an upturn, as she gets booked for more shows and prepares for her stint on Couple Making. Se-ri meets with the PDs and muses that Ae -jung will be eliminated in the first round. They turn their focus to the bachelor, who will be going on mat-seons (marriageminded blind dates) with the actresses. Se -ri and the PD agree that the best candidate is the PD s friend from school, Yoon Pil -joo.

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Se-ri says that she ll try to convince him herself, and the PD warns her that she might suffer a bruised ego if she meets with him. She finds out what he means for herself when she goes to meet him at his clinic, only to have him not recognize her, at all. She suggests lunch, and when he takes her to a restaurant and a table in the middle of the floor, she doesn t order any food, totally princessing out that someone like her can t eat at an open table. He finds out what she means when people start lining up to get autographs and take pictures, and he calls her on her cell phone to give her an excuse to turn away from the crowd. She s impressed at his quick thinking, and he apologizes, never having encountered this kind of situation before. Well, you re pretty smooth, despite your bumbling sweetness, made even cuter by those glasses which just make me happy.

They relocate to a quieter place to have coffee, and he tells her that he has no interest in doing the sho w. He gets sidetracked by his occupational hazard of noticing physical signs of wellness, though, and takes her hand and tells her to stick

out her tongue without so much as a thought, and tells her to stop drinking so much. Heh. On his way home, Pil-joo takes a peek at the roster of actresses that Se-ri left with him, and under Kim So-eun is Gu Ae-jung, who he recognizes right away: It s Kukbo Sonyeo. His cabbie happens to be watching her episode of SeBaKwi just then, and thinks he s recognizing her on t he screen. Pil-joo realizes that it really was her from the other day, but still can t figure out why she reacted that way

Meanwhile, Ae-jung s nephew watches her appearance on tv with amazement, and decides he wants to play too. So he sneaks her phone a nd calls Jin, and without any introduction or prompting, he starts firing quiz questions at him, to get him to name cartoon characters. Unable to squash his desire to answer correctly, Jin starts getting into it, shouting, Pikachu! Pororo! Hahahaha. This is so random and so ridiculous, but I m cracking up. Ae-jung wonders what he s doing and looks down at the phone in horror. She can hear Jin on the other end, demanding to know if Ae -jung put him up to this to mock him.

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She shows up at his hospital suit e, head hanging, to apologize, though she rightly points out that the kid kept going because he kept getting them right. She asks him why he answered her call that day on SeBaKwi, and he admits that he empathized with her for a split second. She s genuinely touched and grateful, and lets him know, and you can tell that he s someone who s not used to simple and genuine sincerity. He can t resist the urge to remind her that their situations are totally different and that she should consider it an honor. Pffft. He s packing his bag to go home, but she points out that he can t really carry all his stuff with his crutches, let alone drive himself with a cast on his leg. So she ends up driving him. Jin the backseat driver: Go slow, be careful, and go fast. What?

She drops him off and thanks him for all the good luck he s brought to her. Ae -jung: You re my gwi-een, [nobleman, like a connection to higher society, someone who's above your station] and he responds, You re my gwi-shin! [a pun on her word, this one meaning "ghost"]. He tells her to stop haunting him, and sticks his crutch out at her and demands that if she wants to do him a favor, she can delete his number and cut all ties. She agrees to do so, and turns to go, but he stops in his tracks when he he ars her ringtone.

He says to himself, It s that song recalling the same KBSN song that was playing during his heart surgery. He can t help but keep getting tripped up by her for some reason, but lets it go for now.

His movie Fighter ends up doing well because of all the good press from the accident, and does surprisingly well in the box office. He goes back to being in good relations with the director (a cameo by director Jang Hang-joon, the PD-writer of Sign who directed Cha Seung-won s film Break Out co-starring Kim Seung-woo.) In good spirits, Jin agrees to do a bunch of interviews and on his drive into the studio, he gives himself a quiz: The best-looking actor in Korea! Jang Dong-gun? No. He has the best style! Cha Seung-won? No. He broke the box office with the movie Fighter! OH Dokko Jin! OMG, it s Cha Seung-won, meta-referencing Cha Seung-won. Pfffft.

At the studio, Ae-jung finishes a program and walks right past Pil -joo, who s arrived to meet with the Couple Making PDs. He notices her just as she gets on the elevator.
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While standing in the hallway, the idol group with no manners walks past her without a word yet again, and so she walks over to tell them, as a sunbae, to greet people properly if they want to do well. (This is such a Korean thi ng. My mother still says this to me daily, as if I m five. Bow properly! ) She doesn t say it with any hint of malice, and even says she s saying this out of affection (her name, ae-jung), but the girls are snooty and take it the wrong way, complaining to their manager (who used to be her manager) that she s harassing them.

Jin arrives in the parking garage and waits for his manager to arrive, and sees Ae jung walk out. She waves, and he points at her, gesturing a big X to remind her that she s not supposed to act like she knows him anymore. She complies, and then, he CALLS HER to tell her to erase his phone number. Hahaha. Oh, boys. Just then, a big van pulls up next to her, and her old manager gets out and slaps her across the face, out of nowhere. He totally cuts her down to size, humiliating her for overstepping her bounds and trying to teach other girls when she s nothing. The sting from the slap and the humiliation are literally palpable.

Being the genuinely good person that she is, Ae -jung doesn t retaliate, but instead tells the girls in the van that they ought to live better and do well, if they don t want to end up like her. Jin witnesses all of this, and the slap gets him out of his car. He watches from a distance as she cries alone, waffling back and forth on whether or not to go over to her.

Just as he turns to get back in the car, her phone rings, and that song triggers his heart LITERALLY. Heh. Hong Sisters and their very literal metaphors. His heart starts beating and he turns back, and she looks up and sees him across the way.

COMMENTS How Friggin Adorable. Cha Seung-won still has moments of weirdness (like he s in a different, more serious drama) but then at times he s so hilarious, it s brilliant. Yoon Kye-sang pretty much takes the cake as the best character, bar none, because the comedy is inherent in the setup. Still, he plays it perfectly, and I m pretty much doing spit-takes every time he s onscreen. I have a particular fondness for Gong Hyo-jin, as I m sure you all know, so s he can do no wrong for me, but I think she s already showing her great capacity for comedy and drama in the first two episodes, and I can t wait to watch her character wade through the crazy that will be Dokko Jin s growing obsession with her. Yoo Inna s doing a good job as well, and though she s the green one, she s going to be really fun to watch, as she gets knocked down a peg, or twelve. I have a feeling that Couple Making Season 3 is going to be the best thing ever. Bring on the reality show parodies and the behind-the-scenes hijinks!

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Best Love: Episode 3

Such cuteness, and acted so well. Often romantic comedies are held together by charm, but not necessarily acting ability it s the situations and the chemistry of the leads that work so we let the acting slide. But then you get a light, funny rom-com acted by good actors (see also: Last Scandal of My Life), and that gives it an extra oomph in the strike-you-in-the-heart moments. Good stuff.

in would love to turn away from Ae-jung in her moment of misery, but as he does, her cell phone rings, setting his heartbeat racing. Such a cute tie -in to link his heart to her KBSN song. Make no mistake, I m pretty sure I m going to get sick of it by Episode 10 (and with the Hong sisters writing this, no doubt they re going to run the heartbeat metaphor into the ground heart? beat? LOVE? get it??), but for now, it s sweet. I love how utterly gobsmacked he looks at his reaction to her. Brother -manager Aehwan comes shouting her name, and Ae-jung can t bear for him to see her in this state with palm mark on her face and nose bleeding, so she hurries to Jin and asks him for a ride. She jumps in his car and ducks to avoid being seen, and calls her brother to say that she ran into someone who offered to buy her din ner. In the car, she makes small talk to avoid the awkward silence. Jin thrusts a water bottle at her reddened face better to address the elephant in the room car than pretend it s not there. But when he sees her rubbing the part of the label with his face on it, he gruffly orders her to turn it around since it looks weird, keh.
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Pil-joo meets with his sunbae to decline the spot in Couple Making 3, citing prior plans. The sunbae PD presses him to reconsider, pointing out all the great date prospects they ve lined up (including Park Shi-yeon, who s got a cameo), and flips quickly past Ae-jung. Her profile briefly piques Pil -joo s interest, but he sticks with his decision.

Upon leaving, he entirely ignores Se-ri, who was expecting some kind of star treatment and follows him out. She s offended when he only now realizes she s Se -ri, which is such a perfect way to take down the vain star a peg or ten. He promises to be more careful in the future that if he sees a beautiful woman around, it may end up being her, so he ll take care. The thing is, he isn t using this as a line it s just his dorky, earnest way and Seri s peevishness dissipates. After he leaves, Se -ri tells the writer that they must get Pil-joo on the show: People call me beautiful every day, but just now I felt a flutter. That man will be the perfect man to make our viewers hearts flutter, too. Ae-jung asks Jin to drop her off so she can take a taxi, but it turns out that both stars are without cash, since they re constantly reliant on their managers. So Ae-jung can t get her taxi, and Jin is all out of gas, and they re stuck till his manager can find them.

While they re waiting, Jin suggests that Ae-jung leave, but he can t withstand the sad puppy-dog look she sends his way, and gives in. She pops out to use the restroom, and sees that the handprint on her face is worse than feared. She asks an ajumma to borrow her makeup, and the woman gapes, immediately jumping to the wrong conclusion: Why are you getting knocked around? Dump him! On her way back to the car, Ae-jung finds herself the object of the ajummas curiosity, all of them assuming she s a battered woman. So when Jin moves to visit the bathroom, she shoves him down out of sight, saying that they think he s the guy who beat her.

Ae-hwan wonders if Ae-jung s lunch date is with Jin, but Jenny dismisses it, saying that everyone has their own level, and those two are too mismatched. Ae-hwan would like to believe optimistically that being linked together might raise Ae -jung s status to Jin s, but Jenny tells him that it s more likely that the guy on top gets knocked down to the lower level. Cutely, Ae-hwan coaches his son to address her as Mom Jenny rather than Aunt Jenny in hopes that she ll eventually become his mother. Jenny reminds him of the whole level issue.

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When manager Jae-seok arrives, Ae-jung s sleeping in the car. For the briefest moment, even he wonders if Jin hit her, and even after getting back a denial, he asks why Jin didn t find out who did it to her. Jin grumps back, If I ask, I have to listen. If I listen, I get involved. And then that ll link us together! Jin gives Ae-jung money for a cab, which she promises to pay back. He snaps at her not to call, then checks her phone just in case. Not finding his name, he demands to know what nickname she input, ignoring her protest to do it herself, and finds what he s looking for: Instead of Dokko Jin, she s written Ddong-ko Jin, which makes me bust a gut laughing. Not only is it punny (hee), it s the kind of thing a grade -schooler would call someone, as ddong-ko literally means butthole. And on yet another level, it s the perfect thing to call him, because he s so immature and also an asshole. HAHAHAHA.

I love that she giggles no profuse apologies here and says she can do what she wants with her phone. Annoyed, Jin hits delete and sends her off. But when he s back in his car, he tells Jae-seok not to drive off just yet, and watches Ae -jung waiting curbside, feeling unfamiliar pangs of humanlike emotion as she self -consciously

touches her face. He starts to open his door, but just then a taxi pulls up and she gets in. She keeps up her lie at home, not wanting to worry her brother, but confides about the slap with Jenny, who worries over the condition of her skin, with Ae -jung s upcoming poster shoot and all.

Jenny takes Ae-jung with her to a fancy acupuncture clinic which is where Pil-joo is introduced to his mother s posh ajumma friends. Jenny oohs over the dreamy hospital director, whose mother brags that he s about to go on a television program called Couple Making. That gets their attention, but they didn t get a good look at him, so they decide to try to steal a glimpse of the fellow contestant another way. His mother hears from an employee that Pil-joo turned down the broadcast opportunity, so she entreats him with one final deal: If he does the show, she ll bac k off completely and let him handle his career however he likes.

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Ae-jung gets herself signed up for a treatment with Pil -joo and finds him good looking until she realizes where she recognizes him from and freaks out in mortification. She hides her face when he comes to treat her, but he recognizes her name on the patient form, and that further embarrasses her. She hurriedly rushes out of the room, grabbing Jenny, and makes a break for it, just as Pil -joo rushes out calling her name. The ladies fret, figuring that if Pil-joo goes on the show, Ae -jung will be cut in the first episode. They re assuming that he ll harbor a grudge like a normal person would after being doused with water, and have no idea that his interest is actually piqued. (Ooh, twisted. What do you suppose that says about Pil -joo, hmm?) Jin perks up as Jae-seok talks with the agency president about Ae-jung getting slapped by her former manager Jang. He tries to appear nonchalant but his ears twitch tellingly as President Moon muses that the two will be bumping into each other quite often since Harumi, one of Manager Jang s current idols, is also on Couple Making. Jin casually rolls his chair closer just as Jae-seok explains that they re whispering because Jin supposedly hates hearing about Ae-jung. Ha. Foiled by his own self.

Ae-jung decides to smooth things over with Pil -joo before the broadcast, and comes to see him again. She s embarrassed at her behavior, though his teasing is completely light-hearted, and apologizes for mistaking him for a lowlife at the bar.

He says that because she never returned, he wondered if she continued to think him a bad person, and is relieved that their misunderstanding has been cleared up. He tells her that his appearance in the show isn t a done deal, and that relieves her so considerably that she can t hide her glee. He s a little surprised at her level of happiness as she warns him that life would be easier if he didn t do the show, and advises him to think very carefully on it.

Jin tries on clothes with a designer, who has agreed to also style Ae-jung since she s affiliated with his agency now. But as he s on his way out, he hears that Harumi is here to pick out clothing and she beelines for the dress set aside for Ae -jung. Manager Jang overrides the designer s protest, saying that Ae-jung has so little status that she has no right to be upset at being bumped for a bigger star. I love that Jin steps in and turns the situation around on them by claiming the dress no explanation, just using his star p ower to pull rank over Harumi. She pouts but picks another dress which he also takes. And a third dress as well. And so on and so on. I love that Jin doesn t explain himself, even though I think most people s initial desire would be for the assholes in the scenario to know immediately why they re being treated this way. But it heightens the anticipation for when they DO find out, preferably in a highly public setting when Ae-jung arrives all dolled up. Plus, their bewilderment is amusing to behold.

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Jin gives him a hint by telling Manager Jang, Your red face reminds me of a face that s been slapped. But yesterday I saw such a pained face that I m not too interested in yours. He throws Jang s own words back at him, saying that even if he takes all these clothes, Manager Jang has no right to be upset, given their difference in status. That leaves Jin sitting on his couch, surrounded by women s designer clothing, wondering why he brought them all home. Clinging to pity as his reasoning, he calls Ae-jung to come pick up the clothes. But he d just ordered her to not talk to him anymore, so she ignores the call and he grumbles, You won t answer? Gu Aejung, you re going to regret obeying me so well! HA. I love Jin and his nonsensical reasoning. (Drive slowly, carefully, and fast!)

Ae-jung is called in for a meeting with producers, who regretfully tell her that she won t be able to go on the show anymore. With Pil -joo out, they ve had to go to a backup, and that guy refuses to participate with any women who ve been embroiled

in scandals. Because no names are named, Ae-jung jumps to the conclusion that Pil joo must have spoken against her. She stews for a moment, muttering to herself, Jerk. Hilariously, the apologetic PD thinks she meant him, and acknowledges, I was a bit of a jerk, I m sorry. Hee! But just then, he gets a call and steps outside to take it and it s Pil-joo, agreeing to do it after all. He looks at a photo of Ae -jung and figures, It might be fun. So Ae-jung is back in, to everyone s relief.

Jin won t accept being ignored, and heads over to (Jenny s?) restaurant to find Ae jung, where he s greeted by nephew Hyung -kyu, who identifies Jin as his aunt s friend. Jin gruffly rebuffs his friendly comments, but is gratified when Hyung -kyu peers at him saying, It s amazing. Naturally assuming the boy is starstuck, this provides an ego-boost until the boy clarifies, How come your mustache is in the shape of a so? PFFFFFFFT. I just about choke on my spit laughing it s a comment made of Cha Seung-won in the past, that his facial hair forms the character for (so), which also happens to mean cow. HAHAHA.
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Jin laughs it off until he glimpses himself in the reflection and sees it. LOL. What s even more hilarious is how, when Ae -jung finds him, he self-consciously overs his chin while asking why she s ignoring his calls. He guesses she re-entered his number into her phone, and she protests that she had to program it to remind herself not to answer it. Keh. Hyung-kyu pops up to comment on th e state of Jin s facial hair, so Jin hurriedly hushes him and says it s a secret. Ae-jung recalls the box of tonic she s holding and offers it to him in thanks for the taxi money he d told her not to repay. She doesn t want to drink it herself, thinking of the jerky doctor who gave it to her.

Ae-hwan and Ae-jung drop by Jin s home to pick up papers from President Moon, and see the pile of women s clothes lying around. Ae -jung supposes there was a woman here, and Jin quickly denies that, saying they re his clothes. They smirk and nod, Ah, I didn t know you had that kind of taste. He barks that they re his but that doesn t mean he wears them, and they both smile and nod again, while imagining Jin sitting around wearing women s clothing and makeup, giving himself pedicures. HAHA. Defensively, he insists that his own clothing

which today is unfortunately gender-ambivalent rather the height of fashion. Snicker.

isn t women s apparel, but

While Jin goes off to find the documents, Ae -hwan can t resist fiddling with the expensive games, and gets his head stuck in a helmet. Knowing Jin would throw a hissy-fit, Ae-jung races up to stall while her brother breaks free of his confines, grabbing at anything she can to prolong their conversation. Like asking where he got his mattress and bouncing on it. Ha, you might want to be careful with the signals you re sending

Jin is just confused, though, and she grabs for distraction #2 a football helmet, which she asks to borrow for the show s first taping. She says sh e s supposed to do a sexy dance and thinks it would be much funnier to do it with the helmet on, to which he asks if she really wants do behave like that on TV. She may have started the conversation to stall, but she s completely frank as she replies, Tha t s how I ll get edited in. As in, nobody would care about her if she wasn t funny or mockable. She says without rancor, If only just a minute more, I have to be seen onscreen to make my living. I ve risked my life on this show. I can do anything. Her words get to him, but he tells her with mild sarcasm to try sticking it out when she s being trampled by hoobaes and old colleagues. She thanks him for his support sweetly.

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Ae-jung arrives at the designer s studio to pick up the dress they re offering he r, and is shocked when the designer tells her that the entire rack is hers. Jin explains it by saying that (supposed) girlfriend Se-ri wears another house s clothes, so he s handing them off to Ae-jung, since they re with the same agency and all. Ae-jung tries on a dress and is so happy that she has her own I Feel Pretty moment, singsonging her old hit while going through old dance moves. Jin overhears and is immediately captivated by the familiar song, his heart starting to pound, strangely moved. (Gah, he plays this moment so well with the perfect mix of confusion, hurt, and anger at himself for not understanding.)

He can t stand it anymore and bursts forward to stop her, but his wrist monitor goes off, signaling his rising heartbeat. He asks, What is this song? Who are you?! He touches hand to heart and asks confusedly why this is happening. Time for medical tests, which turn up nothing. He tells the doctor that his heart rate increase is linked to a strange song, and that it was accompanied by pain on one occasion, thinking of the parking lot slap he witnessed. (I love that he assumes the pain is medical, rather than suspecting a pang of sympathy.)

The doctor assures him that he s fine, saying, Isn t that a simple symptom experienced by everyone? hinting he s just feeling normal romantic pangs. Glad to see someone earned his medical degree.

President Moon presents a stack of scripts for Jin to read, which contain everything but those melodramas you hate so much. Jin wonders purely because it might be helpful to his acting, of course whether the stuff in those movies, like thumping hearts (which he calls cheesy, childish, and exaggerated ) happens in real life. He asks, When your heart races when you see someone smiling or crying, does that mean you like them? What, Jin, are you a robot? I know you think you re above all other people, but not because you weren t, yunno, one of them. He s greatly relieved when she says that it can happen because you find someone funny, or pitiful. That he can handle. But she adds that there are cases when your heart races only when you like a person. For instance, if it races when that you see that person with another member of the opposite sex, you re definitely smitten. Jin laughs it off, saying he s fine then. Suuure.

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Couple Making holds its press conference, where Se-ri and Ae-jung receive a fair share of the attention. They deflect the questions well, saying that meeting again after all those years feels just as comfortable as when they broke up ten years ago. Well, that s not a lie . Asked if they d consider reuniting, Ae -jung jokes that they could rename themselves Kukbo Jamae (national treasure sisters) instead of Kukbo Sonyeo (national treasure girls), earning a laugh from the crowd. It s another bit of meta, not just because Jin had called them Kukbo Jamae erroneously in Episode 1, but because the word jamae is basically what the Hong sisters are called I d venture to guess that the term Hong Jamae (Hong sisters) is better known than their individual names. Plus, it s a way of jokingly advancing their age from young girls to older women. Se-ri grouses with the PDs at being linked with Ae -jung, feeling it an insult since she s so much higher now on the fame ladder. The writer reminds her that she d wanted to include Ae-jung for publicity reasons, so Se -ri agrees to put up with it through the first taping she s sure Ae-jung will be cut right away. The PD wonders if it s strictly necessary to cut Ae-jung at all, saying that she s built up a variety persona as the unlikable one. If she survives the first cut, she could be in it for the long haul. The writer reads Se-ri s displeasure and nervously suggests that it could add tension to the first elimination, and Se -ri likes that idea as well as jazzing up the third season with a twist.

Jin sees the promo materials for the show, and laughingly ranks the five ladies, picking Ae-jung as Number 1 for worst looking. He likes to mock her himself, but it s a different story when Jae-seok says she s Number 1 online as well, in the poll for who will have the best first impression and who ll get booted first. Jin smiles to hear that she s first, until he finds out it s for being booted. He leans forward, trying to look uninterested when Jae -seok whips out his tablet to cast his own vote. Jae-seok wonders aloud who he ll vote for, supposing he ll vote for Ae-jung. Or will it be Harumi? Jin s expression undergoes an exercise of facial gymnastics until Jae-seok casts a positive vote for the pretty young Harumi. Jin grimaces and orders Jae-seok to change all the highlighting in his scripts from yellow to blue. HAHA. Ae-jung takes a positive attitude toward her first taping, saying that even if she s eliminated on the first day in the first impressions cut, at least she ll get to be on the program for 20 or 30 minutes. Except not if Se -ri has her way, insisting that it ll add to the suspense if the first cut is in the first five minutes. The producers feel sorry for Ae-jung, knowing she s the most likely to get the boot.

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Ae-jung is thrilled that she finally gets to use the company s best van for her first taping until Jin steps in and forbids it, saying it s his car. The president has granted its use to Ae-jung, but Jin pulls rank and orders the van reserved for his exclusive use first thing in the morning so he can drive once around the city. Heh. Well, he gets his deserts when he s woken unceremoniou sly by a loud honking, and finds Ae-jung in the van. She jabs a rolled -up poster out the window like he d done with her, mocks him, and drives off. Serves him right. Ae-jung arrives in high spirits, only to be knocked down immediately by Manager Jang, who says snidely that she s sure in a good mood despite the script. She s hurt, but she takes a positive attitude, even though everyone assumes that she ll get cut first. Ae-jung says firmly that she ll last long enough to show her personal talent and do her sexy dance.

Jin hears from Jae-seok that Ae-jung s likely to get tossed immediately, and he calls her to say, Gu Ae-jung, don t do that and just leave. I ll get you CFs, movies, whatever, so tell them you can t do it and come back. Awwwwwwww. That s so sweet! He barks that she shouldn t proceed when humiliation is imminent, and asks if she can t see that. She answers that she does, but that she can handle it. She hangs up, so Jin turns his attention to preventing her demise the only other way by meeting the bachelor to get him to agree not to cut Ae -jung.

Before being introduced on the show, Pil -joo is given instructions to cut the first woman based on his gut first impression, and that everyone s a pro so that no feelings will be hurt. Jin arrives at the station as the taping begins, just as the mystery man is unveiled. Ae-jung s face falls to recognize Pil-joo (still thinking he s the one who hates her), and Pil-joo is given three seconds to form a first impression, after which he is instructed to hand out four roses. The one without a rose goes home.

The first three ladies get one rose each, leaving only Ae -jung with Park Shi-yeon (playing an actress named Kim Hee-jin, not that that s significant what s significant is that Park Shi-yeon has been pointed out as the prettiest, and is most expected to stay). Ae-jung keeps her eyes averted while Hee-jin looks expectant. So it s to everyone s shock that Pil -joo holds his rose out to Ae -jung. There s an audible gasp from the audience. And that s when Jin s heart starts acting up again.
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COMMENTS Yay, feelings already! One of my favorite things about Hong sisters dramas is that they get to the realization of attraction relatively quickly no dilly-dallying for ten episodes while they skirt the topic again and again. No, they cut to the chase, then have fun mucking things up from there. I love this setup of the hero intending to save the day, only to be pre-empted by some other force, or one step too late. It s a scenario the writers have employed several times before, but it gets me every time, because there s something universal in that, isn t there? We want to do the right thing, but we might not get that chance and lose the moment. And then we re too proud or afraid of rejection to admit what we were ready to do, and our impulse to self -preserve overrides the one to disclose. It s human nature; the Hong sisters just know how to distill those basic elements and turn them into hilarious bits of comedy. Granted, they aren t perfect, and they still have a tendency to overdumbify their characters. Like Mi-nam s naivete bordering on clinically stupid, or Gu Mi -ho s innocence veering into infantile. Here we have a 30 -something grown adult not recognizing the signs of attraction pfffffffffffffft. Yeah, whatever, rolls eyes. They re doing something different with Jin in that he s not just cold and aloof; he also seems to be borderline robotic, so maybe that s his thing. I m still enjoying the heck out of this drama and absurdity is fine; it s just somethi ng extra that I suspend disbelief about.

Like I mentioned up top, these actors can sell the whole gamut of emotions. There are some ridiculous aspects of the characters (mostly on Jin s side), but the leads both have that ability to ground their emotions in something real, and that makes the characters really work. Gong Hyo-jin can be playing an utterly slapstick moment like her bar misunderstanding with Pil-joo but the earnestness of her tears comes through even though we re laughing. Cha Seung -won also has that ability, such as when he sees Ae-jung dancing in her dress and feels pained. Such great moments from both actors.

Best Love: Episode 4

I d forgotten how long it takes me to recap a Hong sisters drama, which seems counterintuitive since their shows are so zippy and fun. But they re a lso so chock-full of plot and jokes and asides that I always want to include every little detail, which isn t always possible. Gong Hyo-jin is really the shining beacon of this drama for me, much as I think Cha Seung-won is hilarious and Yoon Kye-sang adorable. They re great, make no mistake, but she anchors the show with her genuineness, playing the straight man to all these wacky characters with humor and heart. Not that we didn t know this of her before, but she just keeps knocking out great performance after great performance, just in case we were in danger of forgetting. Everyone is stunned when Pil-joo chooses Ae-jung over the prettier, better -liked Kim Hee-jin, who s insulted to be thus humiliated. The writer frets, since they d worked so hard to convince Hee-jin to do the show, but that s the nature of reality TV, and why it can be so awesome when it skids off the rails, script or no script. Jin turns away horrified at his own response to Ae -jung, but he chooses the most inopportune place to struggle with denial, because he s surrounded by messages in the form of drama titles: For instance, I Really Really Like You describes his feelings, but he growls that it can t be, not when Ae-jung is The Bean Chaff of My Life (an expression meaning he s blinded by love). Just as he asks incredulously, What the heck is going on? he sees the poster for A Prince s First Love, and finds that he s a Man in Crisis. Oh, Hong sisters I love that they re drama writers who obviously love dramas. Jin scowls when Ae-jung finds him, but the anger fades when he s struck with how You Are So Beautiful. Ae-jung is thrilled that she got her rose and asks for a high five, and he gives her hand an irritated slap instead. Jin bursts out that this makes no sense, that she s the pathetic Gu Ae-jung, and how dare she

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He cuts himself off just as it seems like he s about to say steal my heart. He overreacts to her use of the word like and calls her, hilariously, a lump of unlikability, which is the opposite of the c ommon term used for people who are charm personified. Ae-jung thinks he came here out of worry for her, so he denies it and says he was merely afraid she d pester him if she was cut. He angrily waves her away, accidentally throwing her rose to the ground. Hurt, Ae-jung calls him a meanie. Jin tries to throw away the fallen petals, but one stubbornly static -clings to his hand, and then to the trash can lid. He commands it to fall but it doesn t funny how those inanimate objects refuse to obey the almighty Dokko Jin s whims and finally he collects the last petal and folds it up in his handkerchief. What a budding romantic. Ae-jung and Ae-hwan watch in dismay as the other three contestants sidle up to Pil joo to flirt, asking for his advice on health conc erns that are just an excuse to touch him and get close. (Little do they know that he s probably the only man alive who d find the medical concern more engrossing than the beautiful woman faking it for his benefit.) Oppa urges his sister to join them and s how some leg, or maybe make up a condition needing his attention. Ae-hwan gets things started by clearing out the competition by faking tummy troubles and farting in the women s faces. OMG. Hong sisters never fail to sneak in as much toilet humor as they can, and for that I m sometimes disturbed, sometimes grateful. This is one of those grateful moments. What an absurdly sweet way for a brother to look after his little sister. The other ladies clear out fast (moaning, What did you eat? ), and Ae -hwan waves Ae-jung over to make her move. Pil-joo even smiles when he sees her sitting across the way, but she loses her nerve and hurries off instead. She doesn t have the utmost confidence in her fake-hiccuping skills, so she decides to leave it to a chance coin toss: Heads, she gives it a try. Tails, she buys a beverage. She tosses, and in stepping to catch the coin, she backs right into Pil -joo, who catches it for her. It turns up heads, so she takes that as her sign and hiccups. Pil-joo guesses right away that she s faking, and she cops to it. He notes her tendency to overreact, and she says it comes in handy on TV; she can laugh energetically even if he makes a bad joke, or look amazed when he s being cool. Those reactions are all a part of finagling more screen time, and she s an old hand at that. Aw, that s a little sad. It s amazing that Ae-jung s managed to last in this industry for so long without losing her soul. With the 500 won coin, she offers him a vending machine beverage in thanks for the rose, and he counters that he d like 10 billion won, please that s what she said she was worth in the bar. Turning serious, Ae -jung replies that she wasn t joking about

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that, and that she can t be bought. Pil -joo loses his goofy smile and apologizes, having meant it as a joke, and Ae-jung smiles, explaining that this is her example of reacting with a serious face, which can yield great responses when timed right. It s so adorable to see Ae-jung keeping Pil-joo on his toes he likes her, but he s always unsure around her since he can t always make sense of her reactions. Oh, you two dorks. How I wish you d end up together and be dorky together forever. Sigh. Jin broods alone that night (already with the broody?) and leaves the agency, only to come face to face with Ae-jung and her brother, returning their van. Jin grudgingly gives them a lift home, in a snappish mood throughout the ride, demanding to be dropped off first and generally being a pissypants while the others converse pleasantly. Ae-hwan suggests calling Pil-joo out to eat with them, and marvels at how he s such an all-around stand-up guy. Jin scoffs as even his manager sings Pil -joo s praises, but he starts leaning closer to hear Ae-jung s response to what her opinion of Pil -joo would be if not for the s how. She muses, In my opinion, Yoon Pil -joo is Oh! We ve arrived! Hee. After dropping Jin and the van off at his house, manager Jae -seok leaves with Aejung and Ae-hwan for a friendly dinner at Jenny s cafe. Jin is curious about their conversation but too proud to admit to it, so he tiptoes after them, craning his neck to hear. He grumbles that they didn t invite him along, those punks, nevermind his outward disdain toward all of them. The rose petal falls out of Jin s jacket pocket, and he wonders why he bothered to bring it home then opens the handkerchief to see that the petal has pressed its color into the shape of a heart. At Jenny s cafe, the air is convivial as Jenny recalls the middle school fan who d asked for her autograph on a marriage registration form it had been Jae-seok, and he still has the paper. They joke that if the registrar accepts the form as valid, they ought to go ahead and sign the papers. Ae -hwan looks miserable as he watches Jenny and Jae-seok harmlessly flirting in that noon a-dongsaeng way, feeling threatened. Jin calls to demand that Jae-seok come home immediately to replenish his bottled water supply hey, if he can t be a part of the fun, might as well ruin it, right? Jae seok is visibly disappointed, as is Jenny, and Ae -jung urges her brother to run the errand instead. He refuses he s not about to budge while another man moves in on his crush so Ae-jung offers to pop out and quickly buy the water. Using Jae-seok s key, she enters and stocks the fridge. Seeing the medicinal tonic she d given away, she remarks that she wouldn t have given it away if she d known the doctor was a good man, and pockets one pouch. Just then she spies Jin, but he s

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emerging from the shower in a towel, and she hurries to leave quietly. But she drops her cell phone, and has to duck for cover when he makes his way downstairs. He grabs some water and heads back up safe, phew! and Ae-jung goes to retrieve her phone. Just as Jin is strapping on his monitor and ordering his heart not to race at mention of Ae-jung, her phone rings. Hilariously, he watches his monitor tick upwards as he wonders if he s hearing things. Jin comes downstairs nervously like he s expecting a ghost, and turns his alarm system on before going back up. Ae-jung sets off a motion light sensor and ducks for cover, which causes the tonic packet in her pocket to burst. She grabs a piece of cloth to sop up the mess, not realizing that it s his underwear. Pil -joo s tonic, meet Jin s underpants. LMAO. When she bumps something with a loud crash, she decides to run for it, but the door is locked and the alarm system kicks in. Golf club raised, Jin catches her clutching his soiled underwear and the packet of tonic. After sending the security guard away, Jin asks suspiciously if Ae-jung snapped any photos of him secretly. Grabbing her phone to check, his eyes widen to see one particular name: Perfect Man Yoon Pil-joo. HAHA. There s no Asshole Jin in her log anymore, but he knows she just renamed him and asks for the new nickname. Scrolling through, he finds it literally Lump of Bad Luck (a play on his name for her, lump of unlikability), which can be more loosely translated as pain in the ass or rotten luck. Keke. He calls it just to confirm, and sure enough, his cell phone starts ringing. She offers to delete it, and just then notices the missed call was from Pil -joo, which makes her smile and giggle, to his chagrin. He blames that call for raising his heart rate, and she asks why he monitors his heart is he ill? He just says that he s a special person who likes to exercise total control over his body, which makes her scoff that he s not very good at that. He retorts, The problem is YOU! He wants to live in a comfortable range (heart rate between 60 to 90), but whenever she gets involved, he veers out of the safe zone She promises to stay out of his hair and heads out just as her phone rings. Jin leans over to eavesdrop as she talks to Pil-joo, who asks for his pen back (it was a special gift). She promises to drop by his clinic and pick up more tonic, and Jin exclaims loudly, Leave my underwear before you go! LOL. She covers by attributing the comment to her brother and nephew, but Jin keeps shouting for her to wash all that tonic out of MY! PANTIES! So she washes them while Jin wonders confusedly why he didn t just let her leave. Geez, it s like his head is made of cement. He already admitted he likes her surely he can add two and two? Or one an d one?

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He looks genuinely troubled as he tells Ae -jung that he, Dokko Jin, Very Special Person, can t have her coming and going as she pleases. He means this in an emotional sense, but she thinks he s speaking literally and promises not to come back. When she asks for his alarm code, Jin delivers this grandiose speech about how he wouldn t trust her with it but then, beeeeep! It disarms at Ae-jung s guess. He d been prattling on about his safety zone so she tried 6090, and it worked. HAHA. How predictable is he? I love how stunned he looks ( Who are you? ), in contrast to her very mundane attitude of Can I just go, already? He says in wonderment, Gu Ae-jung has disarmed me. HA! Get it? Disarm? Oh, puns. Why are you so cheesy and delightful? Couple Making is off to a strong start, and articles tout Ae -jung s reversal as well as Pil-joo s imminent stardom. Of course, he s so work-focused that he doesn t actually notice anything amiss at the clinic until his nurse points it out. She also asks for an autograph for a friend, and asks Pil-joo if he can hook her up with a celebrity singer to sing at her wedding. He s befuddled at h is fame, but he does mull over the suggestion of recommending a singer. Now, where would he meet one of those ? Grandpa and Hyung-kyu (both wearing sequined Hyun Bin tracksuits, hee) drop by the clinic to catch a glimpse of Ae-jung s bachelor co-star, and overhear his mother bragging outside. Grandpa introduces himself and says his daughter is also on the show, which Mom misinterprets to mean that he s Se-ri s father. Mom assures her friends that Pil-joo must ve picked Ae-jung that fiancé-stealing scandalmonger because the producers told him to. Oh, won t reality be a nice slap in the face. Jin is disgruntled to receive a call from the broadcast station, since all calls should be directed at his management, but he perks up when the caller identifies her self as a staffer on Couple Making. As it turns out, hilariously, the call isn t for Jin the Star, but for Jin the Netizen Voter. He d voted for Ae -jung on the online poll and has won a prize (autographed photos and such), which has been mailed to him. The staffer comments that his name is just like that famous star, so immediately he pinches his nose to change his voice tone. Then he realizes that anyone might stumble across his mail, and races for the mailroom. He reaches it just as Ae -jung finds the box from Couple Making, wondering if it s for her. He snatches it away from her before she can find out what it s all about. Jin complains about Ae-jung s pervasive presence to President Moon, who thinks he still dislikes her and advises him to ignore her. S he gives him an interesting script based on a manhwa titled Mr. Tick-Tock s Lady, saying it s time to lighten up his dark, serious image. Hee. Is this the conversation Cha Seung-won had before signing on to Best Love?

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At the clinic to return Pil -joo s pen (a parental gift), Ae-jung catches a glimpse of a patient leaving with a friend and her baby it s Mina, her old KBSN groupmate, looking happy and healthy (cameo by idol singer Bae Seul-ki). Ae-jung starts to call out her name with a smile, but stops her self as she dips back into a memory: It had been the latter days of their girl group fame, and Ae -jung had been trying to stop Mina from doing something. Mina had begged her unni to let her leave this life and be completely forgotten giving us a possible hint into why Ae-jung may have broken up the group. Pil-joo hears that Ae-jung is here to see him but can t find her, so he goes looking for her. He calls her name, alerting Mina s attention, and Ae -jung grabs him and hides behind him to avoid being seen . Next his nurses come out for a break, and one starts venting about how thickheaded and dense Pil-joo is. That s a little off-putting, but Ae-jung tells him to let them be, and he goes with it but then one nurse complains about how he offered to ask Ae jung to sing her wedding song, which she hardly considers a favor. She says that their boss is oblivious to pop -culture stuff like how Ae -jung is universally disliked, and having her sing at her wedding would have a negative effect.
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Seeing Ae-jung s hurt reaction, Pil-joo covers her hears with his hands (awwwww), which is just about the sweetest gesture ever. It s totally ineffective, of course, since they can still hear the ladies talking, but it s the thought that counts. Ae-jung apologizes for bringing scorn to him by association with her, and assures him that she s fine. She says it s fitting that a wedding song be sung by a bright and likable person, and she wouldn t want to ruin a wedding, cause the bride to cry, and create even more anti-fans. Pil-joo takes her wrist and feels her pulse, which is just his excuse to quiet her ( One shouldn t speak while their pulse is being taken ) while he says, When you feel hurt, rather than forcing yourself to smile, it s much better just to be still like this. The Gu Ae-jung I ve seen is a bright and likable person. I hadn t considered things like celebrity images. I m really sorry for causing you to feel upset. Ae-jung brings up the ten-year anniversary of their debut with Jenny, sighing that if she d faded out of the industry, she wouldn t still be talked about for long -ago fights with group members or an ancient relationship. Se-ri has a (solo) fanmeeting scheduled for that day, so Jenny suggests that the two of them get together, too. Alas, Ae-jung is booked for an appearance outside of Seoul and will be away. Se-ri and Jin sign a 1 billion won CF contract that plays up their couple image, which requires them to continue fake -dating for the year they are contracted. If one side causes a scandal (with someone else), they ll assume responsibility for the fallout. I smell future plot point!

Se-ri proposes that Jin make a special appearance at her fanmeeting to seal the deal. President Moon approves, and notes that Ae -jung s debut anniversary falls on the same day. Which, apparently, is the very next day. Don tcha love how fast time travels in dramaland? Jin arrives at Ae-jung s house and calls her while she s on her way to her appearance, and she ignores the call, figuring he s going to pick a fight. (She s also reprogrammed him as 6090, hehe. Is he going to have a new nickname every time he calls? That s GREAT.) He finds Hyung-kyu outside the house (whom he s nicknamed Ding -dong after the phone quiz they d done together) and asks after his aunt, and hears that she s away. He starts asking questions about the financial state of this house Is it a rental? How much is the deposit? and Hyung-kyu asks if Jin is going to marry Ae-jung. According to Grandpa, people ask these kind of random questions when they re thinking of marrying someone. Heh. Jin heads off in a huff, only to get paper airplanes flown at his head by Hyung -kyu. They re made from cheesy flyers for a disco nightclub, which bear Ae -jung s photo. That nightclub is the rinky-dink location of Ae-jung s appearance, a stark contrast to Se-ri s posh hotel fanmeeting. Ae -hwan apologizes for celebrating her ten-year anniversary at a place like this, but Ae-jung tells him that there s nothing wrong with this, that a true singer doesn t care about the size of the stage. While waiting for showtime, Ae-jung receives a package in the mail, and it turns out that similar packages are delivered to Jenny and Se-ri. There s no note, and the envelope just contains their KBSN CD and a pressed four -leaf clover. Flashback: Debut day for KBSN, who had been wracked with nerves backstage before their first performance. It was Mina who d calmed them down with the four -leaf clover she d picked outside.
Jin pulls up to the gaudy nightclub, which is splashed with a banner touting their Couple Making star appearance. He sighs at how things have come to this, but figures that if he lets this run its course, he ll be able to return to his original place. Like doing something to get it out of his system. Yeah, good luck with that.

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Backstage, Ae-jung chokes on some kimbap and doesn t feel so good, and heads to her car for a break before her performance. On her way out, she runs into an employee dressed up as Dokko Jin, and laughs at his interpretation of Jin s character he s too nice and friendly. She gives him a few pointers on how to sound more like the real Jin, then heads out.

Jin steps out of the shadows to come face to face with the employee, and tells him in dissatisfaction, You re not like me at all. Change. Keh. Ae-jung takes a nostalgic look at the CD and clover, then settles back to rest, eyes closed. Jin finds her sitting there and looks down on her with a pained, heart -in-his-eyes expression. He places his hand on the window as if to cup her face, and she fidgets a little like she s settling into his palm. It s silly and sweet and maybe a little heart wrenching.

COMMENTS You know, it s funny because I m not really feeling the romantic attraction between Jin and Ae-jung (though their bickering is hilarious), but Cha Seung-won is selling it so hard that I can t help but accept it anyway. As in, I don t really think it makes that much sense, but he makes me want to follow wherever he takes us, so I m not questioning it too hard. I actually think Ae -jung has more romantic chemistry with Pil-joo right now, but yes, that s also because they re the more conventional pairing. Two nice people are drawn to each other and start getting friendly it s only natural that the relationship would develop romantically. Plus, they re j ust so darned cute together.
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I do look forward to seeing Jin play spoiler, despite thinking it may hurt to see Pil -joo tossed to the side. (And no, Se-ri is not an adequate consolation prize! At least, not yet.) I like that the mystery of KBSN s past is being given out in small pieces, though I hope it s not dragged out for too long. This episode gave us our first big clue, and I suspect that Ae-jung may have taken the heat to give Mina an out, and perhaps Se -ri s careless comment had been in regards to Mina. Something along those lines fits the pieces we have so far, and is in line with the kind of character Ae -jung is, though she probably had no idea her downfall would stretch out for so long. Perhaps this ll give her a path to public redemption in the f uture, if old rumors get laid to rest.

Best Love: Episode 5

Yay, what a zippy, fun, character-development-packed episode. Plus there are more puns, zany references, running jokes I m nigh drowning in them. In a good way, of course.

It s also the first episode that got to me emotionally, which is GREAT. I love that phase of a drama that goes from pure comedy to emotional attachment, but pre -Big Angst. Eee! Pil-joo accompanies his PD friend on a scouting trip, having turned down an invitation from Se-ri. Paused at a red light, Pil -joo spies the big banner touting Ae jung s appearance at the nightclub. No wonder, then, that he drops in to see her, only to hear (from Fake Dokko Jin, heh) that Ae-jung canceled her performance at the last minute and left. Ae-jung wakes up in the car which is now parked at a different, more scenic locale. She walks out to a dock overlooking an amusement-park castle on the water (as cherry blossoms waft down), and comes face to face with Jin. Trust him to ruin the romance of the moment by pointing out the very romance of the moment, saying, After being in such a pathetic reality and finding yourself here with me, don t you feel like you re dreaming? Well, when you put it that way She s oblivious to the mood lighting and fantasy ambiance, wondering instead what happened to her nightclub performance. Jin tells her he bought it: That performance on the day of your 10-year anniversary of your debut, which you waited for while eating a suffocating chunk of kimbap I bought it.
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She doesn t understand why, and he replies that it made him angry: I don t like you doing that. He concedes that it s understandable she d be confused when he can hardly believe it: There s only one answer to all this. What do you think it is? She thinks for a moment, then lands on it: Dokko Jin, it can t be Do you like me? Jin: Ding-dong. But lest you think he s about to get all sentimental, he adds, Yes. Which is why I feel like a disgrace. Whew! Way to be a charmer. It s like he s channeling Gu Jun-pyo s ego AND sense of boyish romance. And maturity level. Pil-joo, meanwhile, is bothered at the memory of seeing Ae -jung sleeping in her car outside the nightclub which was then driven away by Jin. Pil-joo asks his friend about him, and hears that he s dating Se-ri. Back at the cherry blossoms, Ae-jung confirms that Jin is confessing his feelings for her, using the customary word go-baek. He replies, It s not a go-baek, it s a jabaek. Pffffft! Heh, he s subbed one word for confession with another, but the one he uses is the kind a criminal makes when being interrogated by the police. To pin the blame on her, he says that he d resisted as long as he could, but she kept pestering him until he had no choice but to cop to his (shameful) feelings.

Ae-jung: In any case, you re saying you like me. Jin: How many times do you have to ask? Ae-jung: I just can t believe it. Jin : You may not believe it, but numerically, it s true. HAHA. To make his point, he glances at his heart monitor , grimacing at its 110 reading. Ae-jung takes a look, and as she touches his wrist, the numbers start climbing. She wonders if his monitor s broken, so he tells her to confirm for herself, and holds her ear to his chest to hear the thumping. With a self-satisfied smile, Jin asks if she s speechless with the honor and gratitude of receiving his affections. Is she trembling with the thrill? Ae-jung says, I do feel honored and thankful but I m not trembling. Jin blusters that sure, she can play a little hard to get, only to have her set him down. She turns his words back on him: There s only one answer. What do you think it is? I don t like you. I m sorry. Cruuuuushhhhh. (His ego, I mean, not his over -palpitating heart.) Jin insists that this scenario should be like a dream for her he secured this location and the scenery and the lights. How dare she upset this dreamlike scenario? Matter-of-factly, she responds, Because it s a dream, I should wake up. Dokko Jin sshi, I don t want to feel all aflutte r in my dreams. I have to live diligently with my eyes wide open. She says she ll pretend this dream didn t happen, and he doesn t have to feel disgraced. She leaves him standing alone, feeling his beating heart. Ae-jung drives home, only to have a piss y Jin catch up to her car and cut her off. Omg so immature, this overgrown manchild. He orders her to leave her car behind and get in his, threatening to tell everyone she rear -ended him (snerk) and he ll fake injury, reminding her that he did as much for Peter Jason. Into the car she goes. She offers to keep mum about this, if they could just put it behind them, and will consider today her chance to see some pretty flowers. Growling, Jin offers to tell her flower story to match, and pulls over to explain a tale he calls Camellia. (Which may be based on a gay love story, whose original characters Jin actually twists around to fit his version.) The hero of the tale a guy who had everything good family, background, the works. One day, he looked favorably upon the neighborhood loser, and made his feelings known. But that loser rejected him so how must he have felt? More than just a little embarrassed. But, that loser had a beloved chicken and the rejected hero started to torment that chicken. So what h appened? That loser cried ever so pathetically that she d been wrong, sobbing underneath the camellia blooms.

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I m searching carefully now

Gu Ae-jung, what is your chicken?

Gah! I m starting to think Jin s not just egotistical, but downright unhinged. He plucks a cherry blossom petal from Ae-jung s sweater and says maniacally, Away with today s shameful cherry blossoms of my heart the camellias of revenge are blooming bright red! Uh, this guy IS our hero, right? Later that night, Se-ri calls to thank Pil-joo for the flowers he sent in place of attending the fanmeeting, and invites him to the wrap party. He declines, so she retracts and says that she was just throwing it out there, whatever. Pil -joo asks her if Jin s with her, and she says no; he, of course, is thinking of seeing Jin with Ae -jung, but Se-ri lets his interest flatter her vanity. Jin pulls up to his own house, without bothering to drop Ae -jung off at hers. She stays in the car, feeling miffed at his high-handedness, refusing to go into his house: Do I look that easy to you? Jin: You don t look that hard. He clarifies that he doesn t want her to go inside with him she ought to go home. Perplexed, she informs him that he s a pretty strange person; normally, a guy whose advance has been declined will either walk away coolly, or try to change her mind. Jin replies that he has no interest in either: Instead, he s going to make her (heart) tremble. HAHA. He warns her to prepare herself, because he fully intends to make her heart thump at the thought of him. He means in attraction, right? Cause I can think of a few other emotions that might cause palpitations. Ae-jung just sighs, telling him to have at it; she s got a pretty cool, easy -going personality so she can accept his childish anti cs. I ll consider you at Hyung-kyu s level and let it slide. Recall that Hyung-kyu s her young nephew, also known as Ding-dong. He takes up that gauntlet and tells her, You re quite beautiful tonight. Which elicits this reaction: Hee! That s a line from the Fake Dokko Jin, and he challenges her to make good on her word to accept his behavior (the word they use has the connotation of doting on, or cooing over, as with a child). So Ae-jung accepts that challenge, pats him on the butt, and says in baby -talk how cute he is. He grabs her hand and tells her not to mistake him for Ding -dong, because the methods of doting on a 7 -year-old and a 37-year-old are vastly different. So how bout she try that again, and do it right? He jerks his head toward the hou se, then starts to lean in closer, and closer Ae-jung pushes him away, saying that he s going to give her palpitations. He replies that palpitations can lead to fixation, and One day, you ll find that flowers bloom in the background. In his case, she ll find camellias as his backdrop. Muahaha.

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Omg. Forget the possibly unhinged he s downright dingbatty. He goes home laughing crazily, congratulating himself for making a good rebound from humiliation. That would depend on your definition of rebound. Als o good.

Ae-jung looks up the Camellia story and imagines how it would play out with them. To her shock, despite the poetic, flowery language, the content is unmistakably sexy. (It hints in vague terms at tumbling over with the wind and being buried in camellia flowers.) Ae-jung gasps, wondering what Jin intends. Jin s amusement park lighting event is turned into a PR move by President Moon Dokko Jin romances Se-ri with midnight date! who tells Se-ri that it was better than entertaining more breakup rumors. Se -ri asks if Jin is dating, but President Moon waves that aside, saying that he s not the type to do that kind of thing for a woman.

The story makes the rounds with Pil-joo (who knows Jin wasn t with Se-ri) and Aehwan (who remembers Jin taking Ae-jung away that night). Jenny takes the story at face value, figuring that Se-ri s really done well in her career. Ae-jung asks Jenny if it would be burdensome receiving a co nfession from Dokko Jin if the woman were someone of her level, there d be too much of a gap between them, right? Jenny laughs that that would mean Jin s stock would plummet, akin to stepping in crap. Ae-jung vows not to become that crap.

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At the agency, President Moon wants to speak with Ae -jung and asks her to wait in her office, which is where Ae -jung finds Jin. She vacillates over whether to stay, then decides that she should play this cool and sits down across from him. Jin asks how she slept, and she says she had a good night s sleep. He replies, I couldn t sleep, thinking of you. To be more specific, thinking of your chicken. He s found one such chicken, and shows her the flyer from her nightclub performance: Attending events without the agency s knowledge is a breach of contract. She asks for the flyer, and he stuffs it down his shirt. LOL. And then his back pocket.

Just as she s reaching for it, President Moon walks in and asks Jin pointedly about yesterday s events. Jin answers that he just viewed some flowers, and makes a show of taking out the folded flyer.

Ae-jung looks at him pleadingly, and he prolongs her anxiety before tossing it in the trash, then leaving with a wink. Gah, Cha Seung-won, why are you so sexy when you re not being an eccentric nut or a drunk, crotchety grandpa?

President Moon finds his explanation fishy, but assumes his flower -viewing partner was some other woman. She explains to Ae-jung that this is the first time Jin s scandals have had this melodramatic touch; the Se-ri scandal arose after she followed him around (she had a crush), and they were photographed together by paparazzi, so President Moon figured to use the rumors rather than blocking them. But this time, there s a huge CF hanging in the balance, and a bad scandal could derail things. Turns out President Moon is thinking to give Ae -jung an album, which is great news. Ae-jung vows to not worry about other things (like turning into crap) and to work hard on her career. At the studio, she runs into the Couple Making PD, who comments about seeing her poster at the nightclub. He promises to keep it a secret, but since Pil -joo also saw it, Ae-jung visits him next.

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He makes a comment about never having been to a nightclub before, always having thought studying was more fun. Ae-jung says his mother must be happy to have such a good son, and remarks that she d like a son like that some day. Pil -joo says, To have a son like that, you ll have to marry a man like that. Omo omo! Did our oblivious doctor actually make an advance? Eeee! Ae-jung doesn t pick up his other meaning and just says that men like that tend to obey their mothers, and those mothers won t accept her as a daughter -in-law.

Pil-joo: Men like me sometimes disobey. Ae-jung: How? Pil-joo: We purposely do something our mother dislikes. Ae-jung: Alcohol, smoking, gambling? Pil-joo: No, not that. This is a secret I eat ramen. My deceased father used to say that we should always listen to what our women say and make them happy. But sometimes we don t understand and get angry too. So then, Father and I would cook ramen together. We d eat a ton of that, and eat Mom s food unappetizingly as our sole form of rebellion. That s so adorkable. Ae-jung sighs, I really have to have a son like that, which makes him smile like the cutest little boy ever.

At the CF shoot, Jin and Se-ri pose while muttering under their breaths back and forth about Jin s flower -viewing date. Se-ri says that she should know who it is, and that if she meets a guy, she ll be sure to let him know. She advises him to make sure she s a good catch, Otherwise I won t let you go. Jin mutters back, Even if you meet someone who s not a good guy, I ll be sure to let you go. President Moon and Ae -jung are on their way to a meeting with a songwriter when a call comes in needing attention: Jin has put a halt to the CF b y refusing to proceed. The reason? The ad requires him to shave off his trademark facial hair, and he isn t having it. The others try to persuade him that it ll be a good look for him, and when Jin pointedly asks for Ae-jung s opinion, they all franticall y indicate that she should agree. Caught off guard, all she can say is, Well

Jin takes advantage of that hesitation and reaffirms his refusal. Ae-jung finds him in a green room to try again, this time rattling off everyone s comments about how he d look more handsome without the facial hair, but he s enjoying putting her into this awkward spot and reminds her that he s still looking for her chicken. Lol, if that s some kind of euphemism, I don t even wanna know.
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Jin asks for her opinion of going clean -shaven, disregarding money and CF contract matters. Ae-jung thinks for a moment, then says honestly, I think you d look handsome. Ding-dong! Jin: Really? Then I ll shave. I m doing it because of you. Ae -jung, confused: Then if I told you not to, you wouldn t? Jin: Naturally. In exchange, though, he requires one thing of her. What could that possibly be?

Next thing we know, Ae-jung is standing there awkwardly with bright red lips. The photographer gives her instructions to kiss Jin on the cheek, to leave her lipstick mark. Hee! Ae-jung quickly gets it over with, but not to the photographer s satisfaction. After many dissatisfying attempts leaving subpar lipstick imprints on Jin s cheek, the photographer is throwing his hands up in frustration and Ae -jung s nerves are shot. Jin sees her discomfiture and tells her to close her eyes and stay still, then guides her to kiss his cheek at which point a heart starts thumping. And from the looks of it, it just might be Ae-jung s.

Ly in be res ess y that night, she recalls Jin s ominous words about making her heart thump at the mere thought of him. When washing up, the photo of Ji on hair n product s label suddenly springs to life, jumping off the flat surface like a menacing Thumbelina (-o?). He glowers and vows to make Ae-jung s heart thump. So random and wacky, I love it.
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A phone call arrives from Camellia (hee another change), who s outside, ready to take her somewhere. Ae-jung retorts that she s not about to go anywhere with him, but he laughs, But your heart is thumping right now. You re best off seeing it through the end to confirm it. That s what I did. And we see howwell that worked out for his sanity. But it has a certain twisted logic (if only feelings could actually be worked out of one s system), and Ae-jung tells herself that taking this through to its conclusion will allow everything to return to its rightful place an argument Jin had also used.
¦

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Manager Jae-seok reports to President Moon that he suspects Jin is out secretly with someone again. He has a habit of seeing his movies in the theater on opening and closing day, and today s the last day Figh is screening. Jin always drags Jae-seok along, but tonight he let him off without a struggle. Fishy, fishy In the car, Jin wonders aloud why he likes Ae-jung she of the cheap clothes and poor situation. Not flattered at that, she grumbles, How would I know He replies ? that he has nobody else to discuss this with, actually wanting to discuss the dilemma of liking a problematic woman with the woman in question. Ha. He asks Ae-jung if she has some kind of mystical energy, which might e plain how she controls his feelings. Or maybe she s got some se ual energy. Anything to deflect the responsibility from himself. She returns that she lacks those, but has a touch of the wacko energy in her, so he d best watch himself before she unleashes it on him. He throws her old scandal in her face, laughing that yes, that particular skill made her slap Se-ri and turned her into a washed-up has-been. Ha! Ha! HA! That sours her mood, and she says that he always has to say things meanly, in a ddong-ko way (her early nickname for him, a play on his surname, meaning
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butthole). Though it s not in retaliation, he drives right over a speedbump just as she s taking a sip of flavored water, and the spill stains her white shirt red. Jin actually feels bad this time and hands her a tis sue, telling her to wipe up. She automatically wipes the spill from his car, and he amends, Not the car, yourself. Aw, progress! She s thoroughly out of sorts with him, though, and tells him to forget it.

The writer and PD of Couple Making meet with Pil-joo for a planning session about upcoming dates. The writer worries about the cruise date, which took the most effort to set up Ae-jung can t get that one. Pil-joo asks why not, and is told that the cruise has been planned with an ultra -luxury shoot in mind, and Ae-jung would bring it down with her air of cheapness. Ouch. Pil-joo doesn t like that either, though the producers don t notice as they muse that on the other hand, seeing Ae -jung amid the luxury could be entertaining for the fish out-of-water aspect. The writer suggests that they could make Ae-jung do a Titantic parody to up the humor level. Pil-joo likes that even less, so when the writer checks, You do know what a Titanic parody is, right? he plays dumb and says no. Hee!
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Not only that, but he s actually offended and says in a hilariously miffed tone that he won t eat with them. With a pout, he leaves. That means Pil-joo has to drop by the convenience store for some instant ramen instead, and when he reaches for a bottle of water, he im agines Jin laughing at him from the label and purposely picks a different brand. Se-ri runs into Pil-joo in the lobby and waits for him to notice her, and this time he does. She sees his dinner, and he invites her to join him. She declines, since she has a shoot tomorrow and she s been studiously watching her diet today to keep her looking her best, but he waves the bag enticingly. Eek! Having just eaten a bowl of ramen and resigning myself to the dreaded bloat-face to follow, I cringe for Se-ri.

But it s cute that she gives in, more for her dinner companion than anything else, and takes just one bite. He points out that she left out the kimchi, so she agrees to another bite with it. And pretty soon, one more turns into an empty bowl, soup and all. She has regrets the instant her brain regains control over her stomach, and wails that she s doomed. Bloated face means press scrutiny and internet comments about

how she must ve gotten injections, et cetera. Seeing her worry, Pil -joo calls his clinic and has some medicine set aside to be sent to her first thing in the morning to help with the bloating. Se-ri offers to treat him to dinner in return for the dinner she ate, and that gives Pil joo an idea. He asks for a favor instead, and requests that she nix t he whole Titanic parody idea for the cruise date. She doesn t really know what this is about, but agrees readily enough. That gives Se-ri an idea, and she suggests a movie instead of dinner. Speaking of movies

Jin pulls into the parking lot, and when he goes over a speedbump, he puts out an arm to brace Ae-jung against the (hypothetical) impact, which is hilarious and also sweet, especially since he s feeling sorry for putting her in a bad mood and hyper aware of possible triggers. For the second speedbump, he all but rolls to a stop as he goes over, and she has to smile at that. So. Cute. Jin sends Ae-jung ahead while he waits in the car can t be seen together! and turns down her offers to buy refreshments, saying crabbily that he can t abide noisy snackers. She makes her way to the VIP room just as Jae-seok arrives, armed with camera, reporting to President Moon that he ll be sure to suss out Jin s date.

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Another group is on its way to the same screening: S e-ri, Pil-joo, and the two producers. At the PD s comment that Pil -joo has developed an interest in Dokko Jin, Se-ri s interest and vanity are piqued, since that can only mean interest in HER. While waiting for the others to grab snacks, Se-ri asks why Pil-joo s interested. She pointedly refers to Jin as my boyfriend, because in her mind surely Pil -joo s not concerned about Jin specifically, but whoever it is that happens to be her boyfriend. Life must be grand in the Se-ri Galaxy. Jae-seok sees Ae-jung entering the VIP theater and guesses in shock, It was Ae -jung noona? This throws him into confusion, because he doesn t know if he should report this to President Moon, who s expecting news.

As Ae-jung sits alone in the empty theater waiting for J in, she tells herself, I can come this far. This much is okay. Catching sight of the stain on her shirt, she heads to the bathroom to wash it out. In that meantime, Se-ri arrives with Pil-joo and recognizes Jae-seok, thinking nothing of

it until she registers his shifty behavior and his insistence that she can t see the movie. Immediately guessing that Jin is with another woman probably the same other woman from the other night she corners Jae-seok and pesters him for the name.

Pil-joo wonders what s going on, particularly when he spies Ae -jung in the distance, who hides her face when she spots Se-ri and slinks off. In the lobby, she ducks away again to avoid being seen by the producers. She drops her hat in her haste, and Pil -joo picks it up to r eturn it to her. Thoroughly rattled, she thanks him and asks him to not tell anyone he saw her, then dashes off nervously. Aw, poor disappointed Pil -joo. Eek! I knew this would hurt and it s only the beginning!

Once safely out of view of acquaintances, Ae-jung stops to collect herself and wonders with some self-disgust, What the heck are you doing? And then, to twist your heart even more, next we see Jin sitting in the empty VIP theater, in front of a table laden with all the movie snacks he hates. AW . He looks around wonderingly, sadly, and jumps to answer when Ae -jung calls.

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Sounding stressed, she tells him that coming to the theater was as far as this goes for her. When she says she won t see the movie with him, he protests that he even bought popcorn and potatoes for her. At that (potatoes = his Camellia story!), she replies that the potato is really, really, really frightening. He asks, Did you leave because you re afraid I ll get your chicken? (Which I swear doesn t sound that ridiculous i n Korean.) Ae-jung sighs that yes, she s afraid of herself for not avoiding his tormenting. She wants to be cool and easy -going, but what will he do if she actually asks him to catch her? And as she talks, Jin gets up and stalks out of the movie theater .

COMMENTS Wow, so quickly we arrive at mutual attraction! No complaints here I love when a drama gets going quickly and doesn t drag its feet. We all know where this is heading, so let s get there already, yeah?

I m sort of amazed at how much development occurred in this episode, and that it happened pretty believably. I didn t expect Ae -jung to tune in to her attraction this soon, but I m pleasantly surprised with it. It also makes sense that despite her general like of Pil-joo, Jin s the first one t o evoke a physical, uncontrolled response. I love the way she played her fear of the discovery, because she has every reason to run away, despite the outer benefits of linking her name with his and that she knows that there s enough there to land her in some serious emotional trouble if she allows herself to open that door. In the beginning, I was ready to write Jin off as a hero I just didn t click with I find Cha Seung-won s comedy hilarious, laugh -out-loud funny even, utterly wacky and refreshing, but too exaggerated and manic at times. So while I got where the writing was taking him, I didn t feel completely at one with the emotional throughline. Until halfway through, of course, and then Jin got all decisive and blunt and assertive. I had been feeling a lot of Hwang Tae-kyung (You re Beautiful) similarities with his character, which is enjoyable on one level but also veyr familiar, so I like that they veered away in this episode by making Jin so frank about everything. Tae -kyung was the master of hiding his feelings, but Jin has no qualms about informing Ae -jung that he s shaving off his mustache for her, and that he s determined to make her feel for him the way he feels for her. Better yet, he s not cloying or sentimental about it, but refreshingly matter-of-fact. Once he lays off the manic energy, it goes from unnerving serial -killer intensity to heart-tugging hero stuff. And the Hong sisters are great at taking little moments to show development, like Jin not caring about the water spill in his ca r. And buying all the snacks she wanted. There is hope after all! And on top of that, we have a sweet, thoughtful, adorably nerdy doctor second lead? And I love the heroine for all her genuineness and down -to-earth sweetness? And the rival s bitchiness-to-entertaining ratio is appealingly, thankfully low? It s like I m in heaven.

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Best Love: Episode 6 Best Love just gets better and better. It really stepped it up this week last week I was chuckling and enjoying the wacky, and this week I am INVESTED, yo. Like, hardcore. These characters are just so well acted not, perhaps, as well-written (they re familiar types), but the performances really elevate them. Plus, the writing on all other fronts continues to be sharp, witty, and clever.

Jin follows Ae-jung out of the cinema, spotting her outside. After momentarily stopping, conscious of drawing attention to hims elf, he chases her down. Using the words she d used (how she s afraid she would ask him to catch her), he says, I ve caught you now what are you going to do? Will you let yourself be caught, or will

you run away? He warns her that because he ll feel as hamed, he won t try this again. She panics at the thought of being seen, and tells him to let go. Instead, Jin grabs her closer, hiding her face by holding it to his chest. Yeah, that s much less conspicuous. He tells her to follow quietly: You ve been c aught. Se-ri finds Jin s abandoned snacks, which is proof that Jin was at the VIP theater with someone. She demands information from Jae-seok, who nervously keeps his mouth shut while she wails at the prospect of the other woman being more famous than her. Oh, princess. Pil-joo and the producers try to make sense of the pieces, guessing that all the breakup rumors were true, and the couple was just covering it up. Yet this scenario means that if news of Jin s new girlfriend breaks before the breakup is mad e official, the new woman will automatically be tarred with the cheater label, however unfair and inaccurate it may be. That doesn t sit well with Pil -joo, who knows (or at least guesses) the truth.

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Jin has taken Ae-jung to a wine bar and assures her t hat nobody will recognize her here. He can t resist a dig, saying that things might be different if she were Shin Mina or Han Ye-seul two previous Hong sisters leads, heh. Ae-jung asks if it was SO difficult for him to handle liking her, and he replies, I ve never liked anybody other than myself. That it would have to be you was shameful. She says pointedly, That must ve been painful, to have felt such shame and then been rejected. He says he expected her to accept eagerly, which would ve enabled him to put the kibosh on this. The metaphor he uses is biting as in, he thought she d consider this a stroke of unexpected fortune (analogy = find a piece of rice cake) and take a bite immediately. That bite would ve woken him up in pain, and that would ve been the end of that.

As usual, he doesn t realize how insulting he s been until he sees Ae -jung s expression, and his backpedaling is too little, too late. She retorts that this makes her his first love and that she ll guarantee that his first love will forever be one-sided! Hmph! With that, she storms out, and he chases her to take his words back. He admits that the situation called for him to take her out to buy a designer gown and dress her lavishly before bringing her to a place like this, which is a step he d skipped. Let s do that and come back here. Sure, that might work if life had an undo button. (Don t I wish!)

She offers to enact the original scenario he d wanted him awake, and poof! Problem solved.

to accept his overture, jolt

He goads her to do it, then. She replies, Dokko Jin, you sure look easy. Wanna sleep with me? What? I repeat, WHAT?! He s stunned speechless, and she checks, That woke you up, right? I ll be off now. But what if he said yes? WHAT IF HE SAID YES?!

Jin does a post-mortem of the date that night, groaning that he was cool when he caught her But I shouldn t have gone to the wine bar. HAHA. I love that he sits at home and dissects the anatomy of his dates, like a normal person with normal self-confidence worries. He notes that he underestimated her as being too easy, and suddenly things have turned difficult.
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The contestants of Couple Making meet with the producers to discuss upcoming outdoor dates a picnic, hike, cruise, dinner which will be assigned to them without advance notice. Se-ri says that the women haven t established clear personas yet, particularly Ae jung. She suggests a pushy type of character for entertainment value, which Ae-jung accepts without offense. She offers to gamely give it a try, which surprises Se -ri since she meant it as a dig. Ae-hwan suggests that Ae-jung angle for the hiking date, so she can ask Pil-joo to teach her how to ride a bike. Discovering a helium tank amid the props, they test it out and laugh over their squeaky voices. Pil-joo finds Ae-jung while she s still under the influence, and she apologizes for her quick exit at the theater, then laughs at the dissonance of the serious topic and her voice. Pil-joo joins in on the fun, and the contrast of his appearance and his high voice cracks her up. Just as she worries about side effects of the helium, he says more seriously (with Mickey Mouse voice), I was very worried. They have a slightly skewed conversation where she assumes he s talking about the helium: Ae-jung: Right? If you have too much, you might get a headache. Pil-joo: Yes. I worried that you d be very hurt. I hope you won t be. If something

happens to hurt you, come to me. I ll treat you. Ae-jung: Yes. You seem like a really great doctor. Se-ri and the writer spy their friendliness, and the latter speculates that Ae-jung probably won t get cut next, either. Meanwhile, President Moon is still curious about Jin s secret date, as Jae -seok has reported that he didn t see her. Jae-seok tests the waters, asking what would happen if Jin dated a D-lister, and she replies that she d have to send him to work overseas and stamp out the other party. She d do it without his knowledge, since that s her job as manager: I can t let him be ruined because of a loser celebrity.

President Moon tries to pry details out of Jin, but he ain t budging. She tells him she s sending flowers and a cake to Se-ri s shoot in his name, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of them going public with their so -called romance. Jin perks up at mention of Couple Making and decides he ll go in person, muttering about not being rejected (by Ae-jung).

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At the shoot, Ae-jung is the big winner in the chicken battle keeping your balance on one foot while holding the other and the co-host comments that her energy recalls her KBSN days. Ae-jung corrects them that back then, Se-ri was their chicken-battle winner. After one variety show appearance, they d even shot a chicken CF because of it. Aha, this is Ae-jung s revenge! She knows Se-ri would like to keep that CF buried, but the show isn t passing up its chance to dig up an old clip. Put on the spot, Se -ri laughs uncomfortably and grudgingly accepts when the co-host goads her into a chicken battle with Ae-jung. She throws in added incentive, though: If she loses, Ae -jung gets two dates. If she wins, Se-ri will go on Ae-jung s date instead.

Way to make this interesting! Both ladies smile for the cameras, while thinking to themselves that they MUST WIN. Se-ri thinks bitterly that in the old days, I was the chicken leg yet I couldn t grab the chick en leg! What does that mean? Clip time! Flashback to the KBSN chicken CF, featuring a jingle that replaces the words to their hit song Thumping Heartbeat with chicken-related lyrics: My heart forever thumps for Geudae Chicken My heart is full with the love of chicken, that rich taste

With both arms outstretched, I hold out this delicious chicken to you I ll deliver the best chicken Hehehehe. But during the shoot, the director had irritably told Se -ri to give up her drumstick (reserved only for Ae-jung!), and given her a wing instead. Already the group s least popular member, Se-ri had felt the burn of resentment that apparently still stings today. Gah, I love that there s so much angst ABOUT CHICKEN.

Ae-jung wins, knocking Se-ri to the ground. Jin, watching from the sidelines, applauds enthusiastically and Pil-joo congratulates her. When Pil-joo refers to the upcoming date, Ae-jung warns him that her TV personality is pushy, so she hopes he won t be put off by it on the date. I love that Pil -joo is starting to develop his own catchphrase ( I m a TV personality now too! ), which he uses frequently as an excuse to encourage Ae-jung.
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il-joo makes a comment that Ae-jung wants to write down for future use, and she borrows his pen to do it, which is the scene that Jin watches crankily. He notes how chummy they are and sidles up to her after Pil -joo leaves. Jin congratulates her for her chicken act, but she takes his awkward wording as mocking. He tries to compliment her persona, but that comes off soun ding like he s insulting her ( Good job with that pushy act! It ll be a hit! ). Aw, did nobody ever teach you how to talk to women, ever? Or just communicate like a normal human? It s like he s a robot armed with an extra ego chip and Google Translate for a language center.

Frustrated, he stops trying to be flattering and says, I m trying to impress you, so I m doing this difficult thing and trying to praise and encourage you! I wasn t insulting you or sneering at you! Mollified, Ae-jung says it doesn t come out as praise, since he s got a ddong-ko (butthole) for a mouth. HAHAHA. And then she actually extends the metaphor: But try to hold it in, just a little. With your real butthole, you hold it in until you can go to the bathroom, and then you open up . So when you open your mouth, ask yourself if it s okay to open it, assess the situation, and then open it. Oh. My. God. Dying laughing.

She assures him she ll work hard on the show, and make sure she ends up a couple with Pil-joo. Jin: You ll become a what with who? She points out that the program he just encouraged her about is a couple-making show; she thinks her odds are good, since Pil-joo seems to like her. He asks to see the pen, knowing it s Pil -joo s valued possession, and figures that if she lost it, she ll be sure to lose Pil -joo s favor. She agrees, not anticipating that Jin will immediately bury it in a huge pit of plastic balls. He orders, Tell him you lost it, so he ll get mad at you. You have to like me. So quit this show right away. Thus spake the Dokkobot. Ae-jung dives for the pen, but it s a hopeless, infuriating task.

Upon seeing Jin arrive bearing flowers and cake, the producers jump on this chance to save their shoot, as Se-ri s sunk into a bad mood and won t emerge from her room. Pressured into it, Jin agrees to whip up a special event, smiling for the benefit of his audience but grimacing inwardly. Hey, nobody told you to be a slave to public opinion! I love that that s his kryptonite.
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Ae-jung finally gives up diving for the pen, her temper roiling. Out for Jin s blood, she hunts him down, finding him in the dressin g room where he s prepared a romantic spread for Se-ri.

Assuming this is more childishness in wooing her, Ae -jung rails against him for his behavior. His eyes widen and he tries to warn her away, because contrary to appearances, this isn t a private room. He tries to politely suggest they talk this out elsewhere, but she yells, Shut your butthole! (Meaning, of course, mouth. HAHAHAHA.) She demands he return the pen he lost and tells him plainly that she doesn t need his praise or encouragement: And stop hanging around me I will never, EVER like you! hich is when the lights flick on, Se -ri asks what s going on, and the hidden staff emerges. Jin tries to salvage the situation, saying that she must harbor antipathy toward him after their encounter (the car accident) resulted in hate being spewed her way: Even though I apologized with praise and encouragement, are you really unable to accept it? But the FANS [pronounced pan, in place of pen, hee] you ve lost because of me, you ll have to recover through FAN meetings or FAN signings.

That turns her into the bad guy, and the staff assumes she s still being unreasonable.

This story hits the news in the form of a not -very-blind item: Ms. C interrupted Top Star Mr. A preparing an event for Ms. B, raging i n front of shocked staffers. Oh yeah, and B and C were in the same girl group together. Ae-jung mopes a bit at home, and apologizes to Pil -joo for losing his pen, promising to return it when the ball pit is emptied. Pil -joo offers to search for it togethe r, and assures her that it ll all work out. Seeing her anxiousness to recover it, Pil -joo decides that she ll be overcome with guilt if she never finds it. Jin knows Ae-jung is mightily peeved at him for his stunt, and has no luck calling her. So he meets with Se-ri to tell her he wants to put an end to their fake relationship soon, since it s complicating things. Se-ri points out that Ae-jung s the only one who was affected, and marvels at her chronic bad timing. The day of their infamous fight in KBSN happened to be the one day that reporters had been around. Jin asks what she did to provoke Ae -jung, not believing for a second that she was innocent. Se-ri admits to playing a little joke out of pique, then guesses that Jin must hate Ae-jung too. What did h e do to her?
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Jin groans, Thinking that I did the same thing you did makes me feel shameful. Ha! Se-ri gives him the simple solution of just avoiding Ae -jung that s what she did, for ten years after their fight. Jin: Ten years that s too long.

Not willing to wait years to be forgiven, Jin gains entree to the prop room and mobilizes a crew to search for the pen. He s successful, but let s not count out our resourceful second lead: Pil -joo takes a different approach, and buys a replacement. (Ah! If only this isn t exactly what happened in Chun-hyang ) Ae-jung s father drops by Pil-joo s clinic to ask the good doctor for a pick -me-up for his depressed daughter. Pil-joo s mother, thinking he s Se -ri s father, greets him enthusiastically and treats him to a box of herbal medicine, saying that he gets a free sample because he s Se-ri s father. Dad s about to correct the misconception except for the thousand-dollar box he s about to get for free. Thinking better of it (or maybe I should say worse), thanks her on Se-ri s behalf.

Jin pulls up to Hyung -kyu s school to instruct him to get his aunt to answer his calls and if she doesn t, to answer the phone and transfer it to her. Jin s ready to return the pen to melt her anger, though he worries, But I rea lly don t want her to get friendly with that doctor

Jin overhears Hyung-kyu s friends accusing him of lying about knowing Dokko Jin, so he gets out and confirms the claim. Next, he takes Hyung-kyu home so the boy can call Ae-jung to pick him up. Feeling generous, Jin tells him he ll give him 100 autographs and encourages him to tell everyone that they re chummy. He notices the microphone Hyung-kyu s wearing, a toy lie detector, and they test it out together.

When Ae-jung arrives to pick up her nephew, she glares at Jin and accuses him of taking him home just because she s been ignoring his calls. He lies, saying the boy followed him so he was forced to take him in: Do you think I waited in front of your nephew s school and told him to call you just to bring you here? Well, put that way, it does sound crazy He reminds her how she vowed she d never like him, and says he won t grab onto her anymore. He guesses, You re disappointed, aren t you? She denies it, so he holds up the Pororo lie detector and t ells her to prove it.

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Ae-jung says she wasn t disappointed, but the mike turns red and Jin exults, See, it s a lie! Ae-jung shoves it away, and it knocks into his eye. Jin: I ve been hit by Pororo s head. Ae-jung: It s better than saying you were hi t by Gu Ae-jung. At least Pororo s a top star. Aw, that s sad. Ae-jung worries that she s done him injury, and leans in close to take a look at his eye, which sets his heartbeat racing again. She becomes aware of the charged air as he stares intently at her, and he draws her closer, telling her to be the lie detector this time: I find you difficult. You re not the least easy, you re really difficult. Jin can be so sweet when he s not trying so damn hard, and just being honest, even if he s still a got a touch of the Google Translate about him. Jin makes a deal with her if he finds the doctor s pen, will she rescind her comment about never liking him? She concedes, If you find it, I ll forgive you. Jin: Only forgive? Well, you don t like being seen a s easy, so it might feel shameful to cancel those words too easily. I ll have to make it so you can cancel them without being embarrassed. Jin has one request for her while he s away in Japan for the next few days: to feed his fish. He uses the alarm code as his excuse, since he doesn t want to give it out and she already knows it. She s uncomfortable with the idea ( Why should I pop in and out of your world? ), so he tells her, Run the lie detector in your heart. Then, you ll enter my world. At home, Ae-jung gives Pororo a try: I won t ever like Dokko Jin. Alas, Pororo chides her not to lie.

Jin puts the pen into an empty cylinder, then fills that with fish food, figuring that she ll find it soon enough. At the same time, Pil -joo wonders how he can give Aejung the replacement pen convincingly to ease her conscience.

Se-ri decides to upload a sel -ca photo online, prepping with eye drop s to strike a sad pose. Since Jin wants to release breakup news soon, she ll set the stage now and garner sympathy after the news breaks. Ae-jung overhears this conversation, and it prompts her to feed Jin s fish after all, despite initially not intending to. She tells them that she came because she feels guilty about being the cause of Jin losing his 1 billion won CF contract. Ae-hwan works on getting the Couple Making producers to feature Ae-jung s future music video, dropping hints that she may attract a co-star of Dokko Jin s level. Aejung s former manager overhears and takes this to President Moon, advising her to be wary of working with Ae-jung. President Moon is aware of her scandals, but Manager Jang refers to the real reason KBSN broke up, hinting at Ae-jung s culpability.

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President Moon asks Se-ri about the breakup, her interest piqued to hear that Jin asked the same thing. Mention of their impending breakup takes her by surprise, particularly because Jin made the decision after the scandal br oke about the A/B/C ruckus. Putting the pieces together, President Moon first laughs at the ridiculousness of Jin crushing on Ae-jung, but then considers the possibility

The next day, Ae-jung decides to top off the food container after feeding the fish, keeping the pen buried. Haha Jin s plan backfires! That means that when Jin gets home eagerly anticipating the results, he sees the fish food still stocked did she not come by after all? And you ve all been starving? This gives Pil-joo the opportun ity to get the upper hand (however unwittingly), because he sends his replacement pen to Ae -jung, addressed from the MBS studio, making it look like it was found in the prop room. He feigns relief when she returns it, and promises to treat her to a nice di nner in exchange.

Jin drives to Ae-jung s house that night to deliver the pen, and Ae -hwan takes the opportunity to pester him about Ae -jung s upcoming music video, hoping to get Jin s cooperation (no luck on that).

Jin hears that Ae-jung is at Jenny s cafe down the street to meet the doctor, and heads off in a dark mood. Outside the cafe, he parks and calls Ae -jung while watching her through the window. She picks up the call cheerily, thinking he s still in Japan, and answers his questions honestly she s waiting to meet Pil-joo in thanks for recovering the pen.

However, that doesn t sound like truth to Jin, who says extra -meaningfully that she s sure concerned about impressing the doctor. He tells her darkly to keep it up and hangs up. Convinced she can t have the pen since HE has it, he growls, To look good for that man, she lies? Ae-hwan calls Ae-jung to let her know Jin s on his way to see her, and prods her to bring up the music video with him. She shoots down that idea and looks around for Jin, then smiles at the thought that he got huffy after hearing she was meeting Pil joo. She calls Pil-joo to request a raincheck, promising to pay next time, which he accepts graciously despite being obviously disappointed.

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Ae-jung heads off to find Jin, in good spirits and ready to forgive him now that the pen is found. Walking through the neighborhood, she pauses at a vegetable stand potatoes! She thinks, Should I feed the fish, and also feed their owner? Jin mopes in front of his aquarium, noting t hat the difficult Ae-jung found it easy enough to lie to the doctor. So when Ae -hwan calls one more time about that damned music video, he s even more irritated.

Thus when Ae-jung enters happily, expecting some kind of happy reception, he treats her coldly, thinking she s here to ask him to do her music video. She says no, and with a bashful smile adds, I came to forgive you and cancel those words. Awwww! She s taking her first step toward him! Only she s about to get it cruelly rebuffed! Eek, I can t watch! *watches through fingers* When she mentions finding the pen, Jin tells her harshly to stop the lies and cut to her request. Registering his scorn, she asks uneasily what s the matter. Jin: Shall I say this simply? Gu Ae-jung, I ll help you put out y our album and shoot your music video. So sleep here tonight. OH. NO. How terrible. My heart just dropped, just as Ae -jung s surely has. He tells her that she s become easy in his eyes, So let s end this here, easily and quickly!

Tears filling her eyes, she decides, I made a mistake in coming. She reaches for her plastic bag, and out tumbles a pile of potatoes. At least the sight of them seems to bring Jin back to his senses. Pil-joo has gone to Jenny s cafe anyway and eaten alone, and on his way out, he sees Ae-jung sitting on the front stoop, crying alone. Embarrassed, she asks him to pretend he didn t see her, but this time he won t let her slip away and holds her back, asking what s wrong.

Flustered and hurting, Ae-jung starts to cry-babble about being in pain, but that none of his suggested methods are working. He s always known how to treat hiccups and frustration, so what does he advise for situations like this? Pil-joo thinks for moment, then steps forward and comforts her with a gentle hu g.

Jin appears around the corner to see Ae -jung sobbing on Pil -joo s shoulder, no longer angry, still holding his potato. Stricken at that sight, he claps a hand over his eyes and tells himself, Don t watch. You re Dokko Jin.
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He drops the hand, then s laps himself to face the other direction, repeating, Don t watch.

COMMENTS One thing that this drama is doing well is building its angsty moments of conflict with sufficient setup, but without projecting the outcome miles in advance. It s a skill to lay the groundwork well so that when a moment surprises you, it surprises you with how well it makes sense of the pieces, not because it s something that dropped out of nowhere. The Hong sisters have always had a knack for that but I think they re getting even better. One of the ways they do that is with their constant wordplay, which works not only on a punny/jokey level, but also in laying plot elements subtly. (I know! I used the word subtle in conjunction with the Hongs!) For example, there s the whole easy/difficult metaphor, which Jin initially means as She s easy/hard to figure out and which Ae-jung uses to mean Do I look like a pushover to you? But it also comes to encompass the sexual concept of being an easy conquest, and that s why it works when he propositions her out of hurt. I gasped in surprise because I was NOT expecting him to say that I thought he d lash out, predictably but it totally makes sense since it was cleverly built up from Ae-jung s outrageous proposal in the earlier scene.

Then there s the way the potato has evolved out of a seeming throwaway bit. That refers to the guy in the story who torments the chicken, and then Jin buys one (potato, that is, not chicken) that goes abandoned at the theater, and then Ae -jung buys them as a peace offering which go rejected. Note: Thanks to a comment in the last recap alerting me that Camellia is a Korean novel published in 1936. Nutshell version: The girl is rich, the boy is poor. She gives him a boiled potato, he rejects it. Hurt, she harasses his chicken. He harasses hers back and accidentally kills it. (FYI: There s also a Camellia trilogy (2005) that deals with gay love themes, and a more recent anthology (2010) about three different love stories.) I love that a potato has evolved thusly into being an expression of affection one that s staunchly unsentimental, unlike a piece of jewelry, and the very nature of it being a potato keeps it inherently funny and that it works on more than one level of meaning. Things like that make the moments richer, which is great. Granted, sometimes a joke is just a joke, and not everything has to have grand meaning. But when they extend even the silliest bit and draw it into the story in an unexpected way, it gives the moment depth that it didn t h ave initially. Like ddongko developing from a throwaway insult to a pun to an extended metaphor about Jin s potty mouth. How frickin great is that?
59 Best Love: Episode 7 So much cuteness, I can t even stand it. But better yet character growth! Relationship evolution! Hilaaaaarious oneupmanship of the best, most ridiculous kind! Ahh, it s SO GOOD to have a Hong sisters drama on the air. So Jin totally wrecks the budding truce he has with Ae-jung by acting like an ass and propositioning her, calling her easy, and sends her straight into the arms of the good doctor.

He slaps his face away to avoid looking, and finds his body turning back of its own accord, and grabs his sweater to whirl himself back around. He staggers off like some kind of impaired robo t, half of him trying to turn back and the other half forcing him away. How can such a poignant moment be so ridiculously wacky? Oh, right. We re in a Hong sisters drama! At home, he s confronted with the spilled potatoes, which Ae -jung had been intending to turn into curry. Revenge is a dish best served alone? Dad chides Ae-hwan for meddling about the music video and reminds Ae -hwan about the actor Ae-jung had dated back in the day. That had led to the scandal about her using the star as a launchpad for he r own acting career; what if history repeats?

Ae-hwan protests that this time it s different he s sure Jin likes Ae-jung, and that the Se-ri thing is over but Dad barks at him to remember the last time, when Other Dude also liked Ae-jung, but backstabbed her in the end anyway and turned her into a man-stealer.

Ae-jung admits to Pil-joo that she was crying out of embarrassment. She can usually handle being thought of as easy and dirty because she knows she isn t, But today, I felt like I really did come off as easy and dirty, which made me feel ashamed. Pil-joo reminds her of her initial outburst when she d called herself a national treasure (kukbo) that couldn t be bought with 10 billion won, and says, I couldn t do anything when our nation s numbe r 1 treasure was hurt, but when the national treasure in front of me is hurt, I promised I d heal her. (He refers to Sungnyemun, the Namdaemun gate listed as Korea s top national treasure that was destroyed by arson in 2008.) Ae-jung jokes that she was actually Kukbo number 2, in terms of age, which he turns into more punning: Ah, you must ve been the tahb. She misinterprets, saying that they were popular so yes, they were at the top. He corrects her he meant the Wongaksa Pagoda (stone pagoda = seok-tahb) that s listed as treasure number 2.
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Ae-jung: Wasn t that Dong dae mun? Pil-joo: You ll have to study more. Cute.

Jin eats his sad little curry at home alone, noting, Curry without potatoes is disgustingly untasty. But he eats anyway, the potatoes untouched beside him, which is pretty heart-tugging either way you interpret it: Either he s stubbornly convincing himself he doesn t want them, or he can t bear to cut em up and eat them alone. The next day, Jin has lunch with President Moon, who asks if he d agreed to appear in Ae-jung s music video. Jin barks that no, he hasn t made any agreements.

The mood turns strained when Ae-jung joins the party, having been called so that they can clear out the air after the A -B-C fight, since they re all in the same management family. Jin retorts that she s not family, she s a dependent (i.e., moocher), and says pointedly that she s so shameless that saying this to her face isn t likely to embarrass her. Ae-jung agrees, saying that she won t be embarrassed when she can just blatantly ignore him a prospect that alarms Jin. Like a little boy with his pride nettled, he has to strike back, and when Ae-jung declines to order the expensive A Course, he

mocks her about picking cheaply to please the president. (And then looks worried when she doesn t respond to the insult.) President Moon steps out for a moment and is puzzled at the a tmosphere she d actually called this lunch to observe them together and confirm her suspicions, and here they are being all chilly.

When Jin tries to excuse himself, Ae-jung tells him that he can t not when he has to promote her album and appear in h er video. Or is he going to refuse, since he didn t get the sex he so wanted last night? While he gapes at her incredulously, she tells him she d assumed he was writing an innocent novel with all his blathering about Camellia, but given his recent behavior, she s downgraded him to , the name of an adult movie. HAHAHA. She says ominously that he d better do her video: You ve got a butthole for a mouth so when you open it, we know what comes out. But I ve got a bomb for a mouth: When I open it, things ex plode. (Erm just as long as we re not combining the two ) She continues: So about last night s events shall I open my mouth and write a book about it, or shall I sell an album with you appearing in my music video? She advises him to choose the expensive route, not the cheap one, if you want to look good to me.
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She stalks out muttering to herself that she can ridicule him just as much as he ridicules her which is when he chases her down and wrist-grabs her around the corner to ask what she s doing. Is she threatening him into doing her video, or lashing back from injured pride? Whichever it is, just pick one, instead of confusing a person.

(Note: The word confuse refers to feelings, as though he doesn t know how to draw the lines to identify which emotions go where. In dramas, we re almost always talking about a person being confused with romantic feelings.) Ae-jung: What s there to confuse? Think whatever you want. You do that anyway. I treated you like a person to use and mock, didn t I? Then consider yourself used and mocked by me. He grabs her and says, Fine, I ll become someone you can really laugh at, so use me. But do it properly, so you don t confuse me. With that, he tells President Moon that he ll help with the album, and wants all the best people assembled. When she presents the plans to the Gu siblings, they re stunned at the all-star lineup, who are so beyond their level as to be burdensome.

At home, Jin regards his potatoes with the gravity of a general about to leap into battle, telling them that their existence will be decided based on Ae -jung s actions: If she signs that contract, that means she was just going to use him for her career and potatoes become meaningless. With a sideways glance, we see the pot of water boiling on the stove, awaiting use. LMAO. Ae-jung, however, is feeling torn and knows that she s being tested. Her brother pleads with her to think carefully, because while he agrees that it s a difficult place for her to be in, if they can score a hit with this o ne song, they can position themselves for a more successful future. She signs, and Jin takes his potatoes to meet their demise. In goes one, then two, but curiously he s got tears in his eyes and he can t drop the third, which sets off his heart monitor. Deciding that the shock may do him in, he puts it back into its bowl, telling it, Consider yourself in prison. HAHAHA. Oh, why so cute?

President Moon is shrewd enough to know that this is a pride battle between her clients, and asks Ae-jung if signing has hurt hers: If you stuck to your pride and didn t sign, you d have lost your chance but been able to capture his heart. Ae -jung says she has no intention of claiming his feelings, and is in no position to give up this opportunity.
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President Moon tells her she did the right thing because if she d stuck to her pride and continued to rattle Jin s feelings, she would have cast Ae-jung aside: You re quite realistic. Maintain that.

Trust the Hong sisters to draw the parallel before we can: Jenny says that the president s just like all those hard-nosed mothers-in-law in dramas who refuse to give up their precious sons to the heroines. Ae -jung points out that this makes her a non-heroine, because she accepted the deal that heroines always reject. Jenny assures her she did the right thing, and that she shouldn t see Jin anymore anyway since he s treating her like a gold digger. Besides, she doesn t like him anyway, right? Ae-jung agrees, consoling herself with that thought. Until she steps on Pororo accidentally, who chides her not to lie.

Se-ri visits Pil-joo to ask about the anti-bloating medicine he d given her earlier, asking if she could double up to lose more weight. He advises against it, and assures her that she s thin and beautiful already. She fi shes for a few more compliments, gratified when he calls her one of the country s most beautiful.

She demurely says, I am called a national treasure. Remembering his kukbo conversation, Pil-joo calls her number 4 (keke), which she takes the wrong way. P iljoo clarifies that he meant by age, but nods understandingly, Ah, so were you also fourth in popularity? Se-ri happily notes that Pil -joo is very interested in national treasures, and he replies that he s developed quite the interest lately. She drops the tidbit that she ll be breaking up with Jin soon (which is why she wants to slim down more, to elicit sympathy), yunno, just in case that should interest him. Ae-jung s father has decided to end the ruse that he s Se -ri s father and return the expensive Oriental medicine balls. He s eaten three of the ten, but figures it s better late than never, right? Only, when he calls Pil-joo s mother to return the box, he finds her at a grand opening for a barbecue restaurant, and can t resist the pull of free, high-quality meat. Oy! Talk about bringing new meaning to selling your daughter for a cow.

Jae-seok notices that Jin s feeling down because of Ae -jung, but saying that aloud is his folly: Ominously, Jin motions Jae -seok close and says in his best Mi-shil voice (accompanied by eerie Mi-shil theme song!) that managers are human and can make mistakes, But my manager can t.
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Jae-seok is invited along to celebrate Ae-jung s album, which is a conversation that draws Jin s interest; he s particularly gratified to hear that they re trying to lift Ae jung s depressed mood. He figures, At least she has a conscience. Jenny urges Ae-jung to perk up and sing a song, but when she stands, she steps in a wad of gum, just as they notice a fly buzzing in the air. So there she is, stomping awkwardly and flailing at the air and this weird dance is what Jin sees when he arrives with Jae-seok, which stings his pride.

Miffed, he drops a cake box on the table and sulkily takes a seat. Jae-seok makes the monumentally bad call of choosing G -Dragon s Heartbreaker to sing, because Jin chafes at the lyrics that (hee!) hit too close to home: I don t give in, I ve still got uses My body was wrecked because of you, dreams destroyed, heart burned For you, I could fly, I d run to where you are But you said goodbye again and again What s the reason you don t want me? Your annoyed expressions tell me everything and make me sad But I still like you, still ask for a chance I hate your heart that s turned away, your cold gaze

Jin tries to contain his irritation, but finally jumps up with a roar and joins in the chorus:

Yo ma heart heart heart heart heart breaker What did I do wrong? You re ma heart heart heart heart heart breaker no way no way Oh my god. I m dying. And with that, Jin clutches his heart ( Get it? Heartbreaker emotionally AND literally?), overdoing it. He steps out for a break, and Ae-jung follows him to check on him.

He admits to saying some harsh things that day, and suggests that if she were to say that she didn t come to his house just to ask for a favor if she intended to also make him curry he ll be understanding. Oof , it s so sweet when you re grasping at straws. She tells him, You don t have to understand, mumbling that she s just thankful to him, and turns to leave. Jin grabs her shoulder, just as her heart starts to thump.
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Asking for a minute of her time, Jin t akes off his heart monitor and puts it on her wrist: If for one minute you don t go outside the safety zone between 60 and 90, I ll just keep being that person you re thankful to. (Meaning: I ll back off.)

They stand there watching as the numbers climb, hitting 90, then 100. Unnerved, she breaks free and asks pleadingly for him to leave her be: If I want to continue earning my keep, I can t let myself tremble because of someone like you. Please leave me alone so I can live between 60 and 90. There s a logic to that (his very own, in fact) and Jin accepts it resignedly, taking back the monitor without looking. He pulls out the pen and gives it to her, explaining that that s why he d gotten angry because he found the pen in the ball pit, but she d lied to impress the doctor.

Jin: Are you embarrassed now that your lie has been exposed? But I ll understand you anyway, because you have your own circumstances. It s impressive, that a thing like you has turned Dokko Jin into a laughingstock. Don t go sprea ding rumors. He starts to say something about the cake, but stops himself and goes, looking pained.

When Ae-jung opens the cake box, she finds her lost shoe. The other three in the party guess that Pil-joo bought the replacement so Ae-jung wouldn t worry, which makes Jenny ooh over his consideration. Ae-hwan argues for Jin instead, while Jae seok points out that while Jin has the bad personality, women are always drawn to the bad guy.

Jenny retorts that she s not like that, which perks both men up in in terest, who then scramble to offer her refreshment. She picks both their beverages, saying, I want both. Pil-joo apologizes for the lie, perceiving that he s made Ae -jung feel even worse, and wants to fix it. She admits that the pen caused a frustrating misunderstanding but it doesn t seem fixable not when she s already taken the bite (the contract) and isn t in a position to give it back. Ruefully, she tells Pil -joo that the only thing to do in response to the bite is to wake from the pain.

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At home, Jin sighs he wanted Ae-jung to try to explain her actions. It s sadly sweet that he s looking for any excuse to forgive her, but she feels so bad that she can t even offer that up. Awww. So there he goes fondling that potato again, deciding sadly, However I torment or grab or test her, there s only one answer I have to admit it. I ve fallen into a shameful one-sided love. And then! He notices something on the potato a sprout. And since potato sprouts are poisonous, he declares that he must cut i t out.

Except that instead, Jin puts the potato into a wineglass with water. OH MY GOD that s so silly and sweet. Ae-jung contemplates her shoe, practicing a few lines: Dokko Jin -sshi, I didn t lie to you. I came to cancel my words about never, ever liking you. Alas, she decides against actually saying them. Next we see, Jin is dressing in a sharp suit, telling him self that to keep from betraying that he s fallen into a pathetic one-sided love, he has to look even better than usual. He waters his potato, figuring, Whether it s poisonous or not, it s grown this much, might as well keep raising it. Ae-jung readies for another TV appearance, and tells her brother that she wants to talk to President Moon about cutting back their excessive album production budget. Ae-hwan cheers her up with news of a star auction for Couple Making, which will be including one of her pe rsonal items: her sneakers. That makes her hesitate, but she agrees to let them go.

Only, she has second thoughts and decides to retrieve the shoes except she runs right into Jin on her way, who s at the station to discuss a documentary special. After a brief greeting, Jin leaves without attempting conversation. Ae-jung s disappointed but continues on her way, only to be rebuffed by the automatic turnstile because of her frog suit padding. She decides to hop (snerk) the barrier but struggles because of the unwieldy costume which is when she s swept off her feet (literally) by Jin, who reappears to carry her over.

They have a brief, polite conversation about her TV spot, and he s actually quite mellow and restrained, even wishing her well. When he wa lks off, Ae-jung frets, I wish he d gotten angry instead why s he acting so cool? She decides she d better not retrieve the sneakers after all, because she d be tempted to keep wearing them: And if I wear them, I ll want to run to him.

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Pil-joo asks Se-ri to clearly define her relationship with Jin, not realizing how she (mis)interprets that question. She explains that a celebrity breakup carries extra complications, and that they have to take care of image and contract factors as well. Pil-joo guesses that if one side finds a new love interest, that third party can end up hurt. Se-ri warns him to be very careful, assuming he refers to himself, because in her mind it s all about her, her, her. Jin and Jae-seok run into the youngest writer on the Couple Making team, who explains that she s readying the site for auction. Jin recognizes the shoes she holds, and muses glumly that Ae-jung s getting rid of them after he returned them to her.

Pil-joo comes along and also sees the shoes, which the writer acc identally drops. When he moves to pick up one, Jin steps in and claims it. They have a silent showdown as Pil-joo says pleasantly, I think you should entrust that to me. Ooh, fight! Fight! Fight! Jin hands it back to the writer instead, advising her to b e careful with it, because If you drop it, anybody can claim it s his. Pil-joo comes right back with: Please entrust it to me. I m not just anyone, am I? Both men check out the auction site, where Ae -jung s sneakers have the lowest bid by far. Jenny and Ae-jung are aware of the situation (they re at a mere 30,000 won, or about $25) and Jenny wants to put in a bid herself, but is stopped by Ae -jung. Which is when they notice that the price shoots up to 500,000 Pil-joo s bid.

Jin sees the update and r efuses to let the shoes go to just anybody the very special me found them. Boom! 1 million won it is.

not when

Pil-joo sees the price jump, suspects that Jin is behind it, and has a moment of manly pique. 2 million won!

Jin tells himself to butt ou t and not turn himself into a laughingstock but then has the fantasy of Pil-joo romantically returning the sneakers to Ae -jung. 3 million won! Pil-joo guesses, He must really not want me to take them. Then I ll have to take them! The writers watch the climbing prices with shock 7 million! 8 million! Oh lordy, I love these two grown men acting like children. Mine s bigger than yours, indeed! (Bank accounts, I mean! Naturally.)

Just as Pil-joo enters his bid of 10 million, a client enters the office, wh ose child trips over the power strip, shutting his computer off. So what does he do? Races to his receptionist s computer for this emergency only to find the auction has ended. Jin congratulates himself: The special Dokko Jin has won over the just -anybody doctor. HAHAHA! And then he comes to his senses, and turns his victory fingers accusingly against himself: Why d you do that?! Jin pleads for forgiveness with himself, just as his hand attacks his face. OMG. Giggle fits all around.

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Se-ri s curious about the auction winner, who checks out to be some guy in his mid twenties. But the bigger problem, which the writer confides to her, is that the other bidder was Pil-joo. Se-ri realizes, Then the Kukbo Sonyeo he was interested in was Ae-jung unni? Pride wounded, Se-ri gets the idea for her petty little revenge when a reporter comes by asking for info on the auction. She tells him that nobody knows who the winner is, in this age of internet ID s. Why, it could have even been Ae -jung herself. That s the story that breaks, and suddenly Ae-jung is under suspicion for boosting the auction to promote herself. She confirms with the producers that she didn t do it, and they worry that if the real buyer doesn t reveal himself before their shoot tomorrow, where reporters are sure to crowd, it ll be assumed she did it.

Jae-seok offers to step forward, since the shoes were bought with his ID. Jin shoots that down, because it ll still look bad he s a manager from Ae-jung s agency, so the effect will be just as bad. Ae-jung tries to assure her family that it ll be okay, and they encourage her to ride out the false rumors, that she can hold her head up because she knows she didn t do it. But Hyung-kyu asks innocently, What s a sponsor? because people have been saying that Ae-jung bought her own sneakers with her sponsor s cash. And then, Why do they call Aunt a rag?

Ouch. Ae-jung gently tells Hyung-kyu not to use those words, and also reminds him not to tell people at school that she s his aunt, which is kinda heartbreaking. And when she washes out a rag that night, she looks at it sadly with its frayed edges. The next day, the broadcasting building is knee -deep in reporters. Ae-jung apologizes to the producers for the disturbance, while fielding nasty looks from the other cast members. The PD tells her to address the mob before the shoot, which rather seems like throwing a lamb to the wolves to spare himself, in an effort to tamp down the chaos.

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Pil-joo arrives, having read the articles and seen the crowd, and watches Ae-jung apologizing to everyone, feeling for her. On the other hand, Se -ri pushes to have Aejung cut from the show, saying that whenever other variety shows have issues with cast members, they cut them before the matter is even settled. (Ouch, but true.) The writer counters that they know Ae-jung didn t do it, and says that they ll decide after seeing the press s reaction. It s not bound to be pretty: As soon as Ae -jung steps out to address them, she s swarmed with cameras. Overwhelmed, all she can say is that she doesn t know, and tries to work her way out of the crowd.

In the jostling, she loses a shoe, and the reporters pounce to get their shot. Pil -joo grows angry on her behalf and starts to step forward, but Se -ri stops him by saying that his involvement will only make things worse for Ae -jung. Just as things hit their frenzied peak, another figure steps forward and announces, They re here! It s Jin, holding up the sneakers, and the reporters rush to get their photos. Jin joins Ae-jung and poses with the shoes, declaring, The person who bought Gu Ae-jung s shoes is me, Dokko Jin!

The audience oohs at this dramatic turn, and that s before Jin actuallyknee s befo e her to put the shoe on her foot.
 

The reporters marvel, Ae-jung stares at him wide-eyed, and Jin bastard!

inks. Ahh, you se y

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C

N S

I love that the story is moving so swiftly, with both parties having acknowledged their feelings to each other (hers are coded in the heartbeat, but the essence of the moment is understood by both). So now, at less than halfway through, we have plenty of time to mine the other stuff that often gets left out of dramas of this ilk. We flirted briefly with the fandom/fame aspect of a public relationship inYou re Prin ess, and a r Sta ed u t Night), but Beautifu (and a st S anda , and aside from the concept of the Magical Press Conference That Clears Up All Misunderstandings, we didn t get to e plore a lot of the other side of the romance the part where the party has to deal with the fallout of being together. It s one aspect I liked about Star s over, e cept that in that drama, everything was so drearily melodramatic and grim that I had a hard time enjoying the romance once it went public. I love the idea of Jin possibly being brought down low because of his association with the Queen of Unliked Celebs, and while I m not positive that s where the show is going, I look forward to it if it is. Can you imagine, Se-ri getting all the sympathy and our couple dealing with the all that other stuff reputation, image, netizens tearing at them? Plus there s the crafty agency president, who s already made her stance clear. This is a show about showbiz so let s really get into it and integrate that showbiz aspect, rather than using it as mere window dressing to make them
!! ' & % % $ # ( ( %$ " ! # ' " !









celebs in name only. So many dramas incorporate chaebols, stars, and other famous people, but don t really do much with it other than said Magical Press Conference That Clears Up All Misunderstandings. I m looking forward to a rom-com s angsty moments being something other than (1) denial about feelings or (2) meddling others jealousy stepping in, so this should be interesting. Ooh, things are about to get good.
Best Love: Episode 8

Is it possible to love two men at the same time? I really think my heart might explode from trying to decide. I might perish in the metaphor soup that is this drama first, but whadduya gonna do? I love metaphor soup. It s hearty and delicious, and good for the writer s soul.

The reporters swarm as Dokko Jin appears with the glass slipper purple sneakers that are the subject of Ae-jung s latest scandal. He gets down on one knee and puts them on her feet, rising to tell the reporters that he was the one wh o bought them, for the purposes of donating to a show where someone special to him (referring to Se -ri) is the MC.
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The reporters ask why he didn t bid on Se-ri s bag instead then, and he says that he had intended to quietly also donate running shoes as part of the deal. Feigning modesty all the while quoting his own nicknames like Wingless Angel Dokko Jin (pfffffft), he sighs that he REALLY didn t want all this attention drawn to his charitable giving, but OH WELL. Then with a snap of his fingers, three truckloads of the same brand of running shoes appear behind the reporters. Gah. I half want to kick him and hug him at the same time. He actually apologizes for making such a fuss over his donation when he wanted to do so quietly. Keh. It s so clear why he s the golden boy (and such a comment on how the star machine turns) he packages everything for the cameras pitch-perfectly. And then? We see his smug self-satisfaction, as he imagines his wings spreading beneath his halo. HAHAHAHA. Oh, Dokko Jin. Your ego knows no bounds. Safely inside and away from the reporters, Jin checks the reaction online and generally finds it favorable, even considering parlaying it into a CF. Ae -jung says she was shocked when he came, thinking that he was going to announce Jin: That I bought the shoes because I like you? My heart may be slightly broken because of you, but to create a scand al like that? My brain isn t broken. LOL. I love how delightfully honest that is.

She worries that getting entangled with her means that he ll drop down to her level, and finds it burdensome. He counters, I ve decided to acknowledge my one -sided love. Whoa. He tells her not to worry about getting entangled with him because he ll just keep it out of reality (and therefore scandal -free). She tells him not to do things like this (buying her sneakers) anymore, and he answers simply, I ll take care of my own business. That s the upside to unrequited love. I get to do what I want. Heh. That s true. Can t argue with that. He walks out and Se-ri is there waiting for him to ask if Ae -jung s got something on him, to make him act this way. (Note: in Korean, when you have an opponent at a disadvantage, you say you ve grabbed a weakness. ) I love that she s so vain that this is the only logic that fits, in her brain. He says yes she s grabbed one all right, secretly meaning it in the she s-got-my-heart-on-a-leash kind of way. Aw. But to his surprise, Se-ri is smug and carefree because today is the day that Ae-jung gets voted off the island. The PDs ask Pil-joo to oust her, citing that there s no dramatic tension for the other contestants if he just keeps choosing Ae -jung all the way through. That s the reason they give him, but methinks once the scandal broke, no matter how it got rescued, it was enough to stain her image. But they leave the final choice up to him in the end.
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When he comes out of the meeting, Jin is waiting for him. Are they gonna duel? They look like they re gonna reach for their pistols any minute now. Sometimes Cha Seung-won is in a different drama, I swear. I know it s not intentional but sometimes I think he s going to pull out a semiautomatic a nd start lighting up the place. They sit down for a friendly chat between mortal enemies, and Pil -joo notes that he might think what he did today was heroic, but he s just caused Ae -jung more grief. Jin in turn thanks Just Anyone for raising the auction price so high so that he could give so much for a good cause. Pil-joo counters that if he had it his way, he d take Ae -jung away from this world forever. (Omg, I m kind of swooning right now. The implication in his world is marriage, in case the intent isn t clear.) Jin tells him that if he really wants to do something for Ae -jung, who risked everything on this show, to stay in this world, he just needs to give her one flower to keep her on for another week. On the set, Pil-joo apologizes to Ae-jung for not being able to do anything for her earlier today, and tells her that he doesn t know how to protect her in the ways of this (the celebrity) world. I ll just have to protect you my own way. Aw. Love the dorky doctor. So. Much.

Ae-jung tells him that even if he has to cast her off the show today, not to take it to heart or let it weigh on him. Time for the rose ceremony. Pil-joo approaches the ladies with three roses in hand, and with a determined look, goes to Ae -jung first and gives her a rose. The PDs and Se-ri sigh that he doesn t listen, while Jin looks on, pleased, and turns to go. Except then Pil-joo just continues to stand there in front of Ae -jung as he hands her a second rose. Eeeeee! Stompity feet. The crowd of reporters and staff all gasp, making Jin turn around. He stares agape, as Pil-joo then hands her a THIRD rose, like a stubborn smitten puppy. Kills me. Everyone s eyes turn to saucers and the whole crowd freezes, and finally the PDs motion for Se-ri to cut for a break. The reporters swarm the couple, still frozen there. Se-ri steps down from the stage, but stops when she notices Jin, eyeing them tensely. He looks on angrily, muttering to himself that he told the doc to give her ONE flower, grumble grumble, eventually raising his heart rate to danger blinky zone. Se-ri sees this, and the lightbulb FINALLY goes off in her brain. The weakness that Ae-jung grabbed was his heart?
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In the green room, Ae-jung sits down with Pil -joo and asks why he did that, because now it can t be undone, wha t with the reporters and such. He just reminds her that he said he d do things his way. He tells her that she lives in this world where front and back don t match up, and all he can do is watch. So I wanted to take you away from that world. He knew that the only way to do that would be to take one step closer to her, to take her away from the person who keeps pulling her back in. She s shocked to realize that Pil -joo knows about Jin. He looks over at the three roses, and says, This is my honest, my way to tell you my heart. Now, instead of treating you, I ve come to want to protect you first. Gu Ae -jung-sshi, I like you. Marry him, NOW! Dokko Jin, meanwhile, complains to Jae -seok that the doctor went overboard, putting Ae-jung s status on the show b ack in jeopardy. Jae-seok thinks that the show is now peanuts, if you consider that she could become a doctor s wife. Jin reasons that Ae-jung put her life on the line to do this show, because she has to do stay afloat in showbiz to eat and live and if ea ting and living get taken care of waitaminute Heh. It finally dawns on him that Pil -joo DOES have a means to steal her away from him, and it s quite a doozy if he takes showbiz as her means of survival out of the equation, then Jin is, well, S.O.L. is what.

The Couple Making PDs have an emergency meeting to do damage control, and decide to roll with it and turn the next episode into a Will She Accept? concept. Down in the parking garage, Ae-hwan asks Ae-jung if she didn t secretly like receiving them in real life. He means the roses, but when she looks down at them, her eyes wander down to her feet. She thinks of the moment when Jin knelt down to put the sneakers on her, and answers, Yes. Aw. Sneakers for the win. While Ae-hwan gets the car, she paces back and forth, debating the two men in her mind. Two steps one way, then back again. It turns out Jin is sitting in his car watching her, and in his eyes it looks like she s all giddy from receiving the roses. He decides to show her how totally over it he is, by driving right past her, leaving her in the dust. He pulls out swiftly, true to his plan, but then when he pulls up next to her, the car slows to a ridiculous crawl, while he makes crazy determined faces, as if he s speeding past her. HAHA. She looks at him curiously, wondering what he s doing, as he continues to inch forward as slow as humanly possible. God, I love how childish he is. It seriously makes me giggle like a fool. She knocks and asks what he s doing, so he pulls down his window, replying that he s in the midst of zooming by her (HA). But now that she s here, she might as well get in the car since he has something to say. She wonders what it s about, but he doesn t tell her, pointing out, Doesn t tha t make you curious? Get in. Pffft. He wants to tell her a flower story, and she asks worriedly if this is another Camellia tale. This time, he says it s Azaleas, which she recognizes immediately as a reference to the famous poem by Kim Sowol: When seeing me sickens you When you go I will send you without a fuss, without a word Yongbyun s Yaksan Mountain s Azaleas I will scatter by the armful in your path Your parting steps, steps On those flowers Tread lightly as you go When seeing me sickens you When you go I ll die before I shed a tear

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It s probably one of the most famous Korean poems, retold as folk songs and such. The phrase scatter flowers comes from this, and is used colloquially to represent the duality of sending someone you love away letting them go coolly by appearance, despite your ever-breaking heart. You could basically call it the Manifesto of Noble Idiocy. (If this is one of the most famous poems to survive for over a century, you can see why noble idiots are still THE k -drama heroes to this day, yeah?) Ae-jung: You needn t scatter flowers. Jin: No, I WILL scatter flowers. We ll see if YOU can tread on them or not. Ha. Leave it to Dokko Jin to turn a dignified romanticized gesture into a challenge. It turns out he s taken her to an ele mentary school, and he starts to open up about his past. He tells her that he never got to go to grade school like other children because he was always sick. Does that explain why you re still a child? Cause seriously, it explains a lot. Can we send you t o the fourth grade now? She doesn t remember hearing about this before, and he admits that hardly anyone knows that he was a sickly kid. She asks what was wrong, and he tells her that it was his heart, hence the constant effort to live within 60 -90. She wonders if it s true, and then he starts unbuttoning his shirt rawr
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And then he splits it open with a big Rawr! himself, like a crazy lion. My heart is ripped. Heaaaart. Breaaaaak. [in English] Pfft. She jumps back but then sees the scar, and reaches her hand out to touch it. His heart starts beating faster and he takes her hand and puts it on his chest, but that scares her off. She asks why he s telling her all this. Jin: To have it weigh on you. I said I was going to scatter flowers. My heart is the azaleas I ve scattered in your path. My heart hurts sooooo much that it might break with one step can you trample my azaleas? Hahaha. She asks if he s really that sick, and he turns on the dramatics, telling her that he s sooo siiiiick, and pleads with her not to step on his heart on her path to go to that guy. Awwww. It really does start to weigh on her, which he notices right away with a devilish grin my plan, it s working! Heh. But then some kids interrupt the moment with a stray soccer ball and ask him to return it. He can t resist the urge to show off, with an overhead kick into the goal which totally outs the fact that he is in no way sickly. Ha. Brought back to reality, Ae-jung crosses her arms and starts to remember that he bragged about do ing all those stunts in Fighter To be playing innocent azaleas isn t your body too beastly for that? LOL.

Jin: This is just ornamental. Hahahaha. So true of actors, and thus hilarious to admit. She tells him not to try and hold onto her with an old s urgery, but he lays it on thick, insisting that every time she thinks of going to that doctor, she ll have to think of his sick, frail heart and thus feel so bad that she can t go. Siiiiigh. The Couple Making PD asks Pil-joo to do one more show, to hear Ae -jung s answer to his proposal. He says that thanks to him, he s had the biggest ratings of his career. Pil-joo wonders if Ae-jung will agree to do it, and flashes back to her side of their conversation earlier: She says that she would ve understood if he hadn t given her a flower, but now that he s given her three, she doesn t know what to do. He tells her that he doesn t know either, since this is the first time he s ever done this. Aw. He then asks in a panic, Does that mean I might get shot down, right now? Haha. That s so adorable. She smiles at him and asks for some time. They decide on three days, all or nothing. Se-ri comes to tell Pil-joo that Ae-jung was the person who got between her and Dokko Jin, and is surprised to find that he already knows. You knew, and you still gave her all three flowers?! Pil-joo just tells her not to make things even harder on Ae-jung, and leaves. Oh, snap. Later that night, Ae-jung looks up the poem Azaleas and reads it aloud, as Jin tends to his broken heart at home, and Pil-joo ponders the two identical pens that have returned to him. After she reads it, Ae-jung muses, Azaleas isn t a poem about sending someone off well. It means you d rather die than send them away comfortably. Heh. Word. The next day, Couple Making airs (oy, the live shoot system), and the entertainment world is ablaze with the shocking turn. It turns out to be a hit, and the show decides to continue with the couple, giving them their own segment. Yay, finally the We Got Married stuff begins! The agency president tells Ae-jung that this is her chance to break out of her bad image, and that if she dates successfully on the show, it ll revive her career. She encourages her to date him for real too, while she s at it. Dad wonders how to clear up h is little er, misunderstanding with Pil -joo s mother, his guilt now piling up over the medicine and the beef. He goes to the clinic to try and find a good way to break the news, except when they meet, she s so upset about the show that she rails about Ae-jung not being up to snuff.

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That raises Dad s temper, and before he knows it, they re having a shouting match over their two kids, neither being good enough for the other. Well, at least you outed your lie? Jae-seok finds Jin re-watching the last Couple Making episode ad nauseum, and gives him the good news that Ae-jung and Pil-joo will be doing their own docu -dating show, following them on dates. Jin: Dates? Horrified, Jin starts to imagine all the dates they ll be on for the show, all cutesy and romantic, leading all the way to their first night. He screams, bursting his own nightmare bubble, and arches the hell out of his eyebrow in a show of annoyance at Jae-seok for being the bearer of such evil thoughts. Pil-joo, meanwhile, is a nervous wreck at work, sweating bullets while waiting for Aejung to give her answer to his proposal. Ae-jung wonders if she ought to talk out her decision (whether or not to do the show) with Pil-joo, and Jin eavesdrops nervously. He lights up like a little boy when he finds her still at the agency later, autographing pictures for the sneakers they re donating. Omg, it s so cute how excited he is that he gets to hang out with her. Kyah! He lauds her professionalism at the shoot, saying that she kept her cool really well when she received the roses. She smiles, Really? I was shaking so much. That knocks the wind out of his sails in two seconds flat. He grumbles that it must be nice that lying about that pen had its rewards after all, and she doesn t bother to clear it up, agreeing. He starts to sign his photos rapidly in anger, and she notes that they ll be out of here in no time. Uh his eyes dart back and forth hilariously, as he realizes the error of his ways, and then he starts to sign ever so slowly. Hahaha. I love ho w transparent he is. She sees it too, and can t help but smile at the adorableness. Jenny delights in Ae-jung s recent turn upwards, and Ae-hwan and Jae-seok take the opportunity to ask what she d do if, yunno, hypothetically, two men were to fight over her. She sighs gleefully, I d have them both! Jin notices that Ae-jung signs her autograph with a four-leaf clover at the end, and asks what it is. She tells him about Mina finding the lucky clover the day they debuted, and she admits to believing in its luck. He asks why when all four of them started off so well, Ae -jung ended up at the bottom. She says it happened just like the press reported she hit Se-ri, and to this day she feels bad about it and therefore uncomfortable around Se -ri. At the same time, Se-ri goes to visit Jenny, who greets her coldly. Jenny tells her like it is, from her point of view: that Jin likes Ae -jung, but things will work out well with

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Pil-joo. She asks Se-ri to never officially break it off with Jin, so that they stay out of Ae-jung s way. Se-ri counters that if they break up, she s going to pin it on Ae -jung. Jenny marvels at her nerve, asking if she doesn t remember how much Ae -jung took care of her. Se-ri: I only remember her hitting me. Jenny: Why did she hit you? What about what you did to Mina? She adds that Mina collapsed because of her, and that s why Ae -jung got so angry. Se-ri just defensively tells her not to dredge up old stories without any proof or witnesses. Notice that innocent people never say that? Pil-joo sees a patient that night by the name of Han Hye-jin, who he suddenly remembers from that day that Ae-jung hid behind him, not to be seen by her. She confirms it and tells him that her name used to be Mina, and that she wanted to tell him something, because she thinks he ll be an important person to Ae -jung. Jenny shows Se-ri the package that they all received from Mina recently, and tells her that the second she does anything to threaten Ae -jung, Mina won t just stand by. She adds a threat of her own: tha t she will find Mina herself and reveal the truth. Flashback to their KBSN days, when Se-ri had put some sort of medicine in a drink and slipped it to Ae-jung. Only Ae-jung was busy with her mind elsewhere, and gave the drink to Mina when she walked in, complaining of nausea. Mina drinks and instantly collapses. Ae -jung realizes what Se-ri has done and slaps her, only seeing the cameras pointed at them after the fact. Back in the present, Se-ri counters that she was just playing a joke, and that she didn t know that Ae-jung would disband the group like that in retaliation. Clearly there s something bigger behind it, and I m thinking Mina s nausea s a big clue. Pregnancy scandal is a big possibility why Ae-jung took the fall for the whole group, though it s just a theory. Jin asks her what secret led to such misunderstandings, and Ae -jung replies that it s a SECRET. She sighs that she thought she could handle taking the fall on her own, not realizing then that it would lead to ten years of being at the bottom. With a surprising amount of sincerity and empathy, Jin tells her that it must ve been difficult, and that she did a good job of surviving it all. Ae -jung, Are you praising me? With that mouth? Heh. He admits to always being fearful of landing in her pos ition (something she d asked him before) and they share their first real moment of understanding. She gets flushed and puts a water bottle to her face. It s the same one she had used in his car way back when he had found it annoying for her rub her face ag ainst his photo.

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This time he gets up to turn his photo towards her, saying, The side with the picture is cooler. Hahahaha. SO. CUTE. Se-ri arrives at the agency to meet with the president, and sees them being adorable together. She grits her teeth and d ecides to dig her heels in, never letting go of Dokko Jin. She makes her position clear to his agent, that she ll go straight to the cameras and cry the second he breaks contract. Back in his office, Pil-joo gets a helpful tip from Mina about something tha t Ae-jung likes, so he calls her. Jin sees the call from Perfect Man Yoon Pil -joo-sshi and scowls, pretending not to care. She answers and just says Yes three times, and hangs up. He starts to imagine what the other side of the conversation was. Pil -joo: Why can t you come? Is Dokko Jin keeping you there? Ae-jung: Yes. Pil-joo: Is he still hanging on to you, pathetically insisting that he s ill? Ae-jung: Yes. Pil-joo: Ay, that jerk. Just get rid of him and come out. Ae-jung: Yes. Hahahaha. I think I like their relationship in Jin s imagination better than their real one. He sees her checking her watch fretfully, and then tells her to answer yes three times. Jin: I told you that my heart was azaleas, right? Ae-jung: Yes. Jin: I told you not to step on it, right? Ae -jung: Yes. Jin: But you re standing on top of it right now. It d be better if you walked qui ckly over it instead. So just go. Ae-jung hangs her head, Yes, and walks out. She hesitates, and we see that the real conversation was her telling Pil -joo that she was busy and would be running late, aw, but she turns to leave. Jin s heartbroken expression once she s gone just about kills me. He puts their autographed pictures side by side with a heavy sigh.

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Pil-joo waits outside Ae-jung s house with a box of her favorite red bean pastries, the tip that Mina had shared with him. He surprises her with t hem, and she lights up, remembering her favorite bakery from back in the day fondly. He gives her one and she says that luck has to be shared, and shows him that the bread is shaped like a clover, natch. She breaks it in half and gives it to him, and he smiles, asking if that means something good will happen to him now. She thanks him for thinking of her as good luck, but tells him truthfully that in her heart, camellias are blooming, and azaleas are being scattered so much so that she can t really see a clover, despite knowing that it s what is best.

He understands her meaning and adds, looking down at his clover bread, that this really is plain-looking and not the kind of thing to move hearts but that it s the best kind of bread, when all is said and d one. Aw. She says that her heart must ve lost its mind because of the flowers, agreeing that stuff like this [bread] is the best. Ack, I don t know what s worse his heartbroken reaction or her heartbreaking reaction to breaking his heart. Gah. After a moment, he suggests that maybe they extend the waiting period then, for her to answer. He suggests that they do the show as their beginning. And I have nothing to lose. Because if you wait and see, in the end, [holding up his clover bread] things like this are the best. Aaaaaaargh. I love them both! What am I gonna dooooooooooooooo?

At home, Jin looks at his potato plant, talking to it: You re growing faster than I thought. But if you grow poison that quickly, won t you die? He gets up and clutches his heart in pain, surprised to find that he s still within 60 -90. He wonders aloud if unrequited love is poison too, and if he ll end up dying this way. Heh. Melodramatic to the core.
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He goes to see the doctor (his heart surgeon, not the adorkable one) and wh ile waiting around, discovers his penchant for girl group pop music. Heh. The nurse explains that the doc is unique that way he listens to girl groups during surgery, instead of the standard classical music most docs cut to. Jin s eyes widen as he rushes out, dramatic music playing. He mutters that this explains everything. It s just so funny that it s played as this dramatic moment, like he s discovered some mystery that changes everything. Except it doesn t. Heh.

He gets confirmation from the doc that it was the song playing during his surgery, and on the rooftop he flings the CD into the air, declaring that he was under a spell all this time. He shouts triumphantly, Restored! [keuk-bok = restored, revived, also a pun on kukbo = national treasure, aka Ae-jung]. Ae-jung receives the script from the studio on her proposed segment, so all she has to do is decide. On her way out she runs into Jae -seok who mentions that Jin went to the hospital. Ae-jung sits contemplating her feelings, and asks her sneakers :

Ae-jun :You can t step on that person, can you? You re worried that that person is sick, aren t you? You want to see him, don t you? Ding dong! And she rushes off to see him. She hesitates outside his house, wondering if the 60 90 code will still work, and he finds her there. Smugly secure that his feelings were nothing but a he , he calls her phone to make sure. (She s saved his number as Azalea now.) The song plays and he checks his heart monitor. Safely in the seventies. He smiles, saying that everything has returned to normal. He says it s good news for her too. My heart no longer beats faster because of you.
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She wonders why, and says there s only one answer. She asks, Does that mean you no longer like me? Jin: Ding dong. Oh NOES!

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Gah, I love the push and pull of this couple, because there s so much to contend with even beyond just egos and childishness (though that s the amusing part). It s poetic and sad one minute, then ridiculously petty the ne t, but these actors carrythe moments with such earnestness that I get carried along for all of it. Love. Just love. What can I say, other than being so torn over both the love interests is a testament to one of the most engaging love triangles I ve encountered in a long time. Kud I os. now love and hate you, all at the same time.
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Best Love: Episode 9

Did they switch the cameras all of a sudden? Because this episode is GORGEOUS. As if I didn t love this drama enough already. Angst can sometimes be frustrating, sometimes satisfying. This is my favorite kind, when it moves the plot and the emotions, and the character development swiftly along and gives rise to lots of satisfying moments. Plus! For once a Hong sisters cameo is hilarious AND adds to the drama. I love that they continue to improve their skills and keep surprising viewers, even when we ve watched all of their work and know all their old tricks. Jin announces that he s totally over Ae -jung, proud to have conquered what he calls aftereffects from the surgery: The moment I realized it was because of that song, my heart came out of its hypnosis. Disbelieving, Ae-jung has to check for herself, pressing her ear to his chest: See, it s beating! Jin: If it doesn t beat, I die. Ha, true. He adds, It s beating kong-dakkong-dak like normal, it s not pounding all woo-lung-woo-lung~ ~! like before. HAHAHA.
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Then the realization hits him: Are you disappointed? He gloats at this delicious reversal, and she mutters that she was worried about his sickly azalea. Since it s back to normal, well, bully for him. Ae-jung points out that it s odd that his heart would act up ten years after surgery, but he declares that it s not weird, but unjust. (The word he uses doesn t have a direct translation, but is used when you feel like you ve been treated unfairly. Shortchanged by somebody, or fate.) In Jin s case, he feels the injustice of mistaking his heart s pounding for love and shaving off his cow mustache. Looks like both Ae-jung and the cardiologist are smarter than Jin (n ot surprising, if his IQ is on par with his EQ), as the doctor also notes the oddity of a heart acting up ten years later because of a song. He wonders if the song, used initially to revive a dying heart, has now become necessary to that heart. Okay, maybe not so smart then. (Unless OH HONG SISTERS. Are you gonna give us gumiho bead v.2.0, except nonsensical-er?) Ae-jung asks Pil-joo for his medical opinion on a hypothetical scenario: If a person s heart pounds while the person happens to be looking at a certain other person, could he fool oneself into thinking it s love when it s not? She s eager for him to agree that it s silly, but Pil-joo supposes it s possible, and refers to studies about roller coasters causing speeding heart rates that translate into spikes of emotional attachment. If the stimulus repeats, it may be possible for someone to confuse the physical feeling with love.

Just then, Ae-jung s cell phone rings, and the sound of her ringtone clicks the theory into place that every time it rang, Jin connected it with her. Now she s the one to think bitterly, I feel really wronged. Jin meets with Se-ri to declare the CF back on, assuring her that there ll be no need for more injustice to arise, as he is now free of the weakness Ae -jung had been holding onto. Se-ri asks if this means it s untrue that he likes Ae -jung, and immediately he asks, Who s saying that? I ll sue.

He overhears Jae-seok telling President Moon that Jin was dumped by Ae -jung and is pleased that she says she ll sue any rumormongers, until she admits she s a leetle bit satisfied to see Jin brought low. Jae-seok agrees, since they ve both been on the receiving end of his difficult behavior. President Moon claps: Gu Ae -jung good job! Pouring salt on that wound, Jae -seok confides that even Ae-jung s family isn t that keen on Jin. So what does he do? Bribes Hyung -kyu with ice cream, of course! He assures Ding-Dong that he can speak frankly about what his family says about him.

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But the moment the boy says, Dokko Jin is a butthole firm, That s enough!

he shuts him up with a

Hyung-kyu holds up a strip of magnetic toys and asks, Do you want to be stuck together like this with my aunt? Jin replies, I thought I did, but I don t now. Separating the two blocks, he explains, I thought I was drawn to her by some incredible force, but that s disappeared. Flipping the magnet so the poles repel each other, he demonstrates, See, it doesn t stick! I love that his mode of communication with a 7-year-old is via toy metaphors. How appropriate. Hyung-kyu takes his magnet and holds it up to Jin s necklace, which reacts to it, and says, It sticks! Jin jerks his neck back and says he won t be pulled along anymore.

When Ae-jung comes to pick up her nephew, Jin pulls her aside for a chat. Showing her the magnets, he demonstrates his point: According to rumors, I was chasing you, who didn t like me, and you ran away. The magnet with the stick figure of a girl whirls around and rejects his boy magnet. Turning the boy magnet around, he continues, My situation has reversed. I m going to go on my way. Click! Now the girl magnet sticks to the boy magnet. But look, Gu Ae -jung is pulled along. He asks if she s drawn to him, and guesses from her reaction that she is. She protests that she s not the magnet, and Jin pulls off his heart monitor, eager to see for

himself if she s telling the truth. She refuses, and he gloats that this means she is totally attracted to him. What they don t see is that the heart -rate counter, bereft of a wrist to monitor, starts to blink oddly. When Hyung -kyu takes the magnets away, the blinking stops.

Pil-joo s mother withdraws her objections to his plans to study in China, because it s the lesser of two evils, and tells him to quit the broadcast. He tells her he ll stay, which makes her burst out that she hasn t been able to show her face around after his grand TV gesture with Ae-jung. I love Pil-joo s responses, which are kind but firm he says, Since you re so sincere in your opposition, my feelings must have come across sincere, too. And when she moans about being turned into a loner, he offers, Then I ll hang out with you. Such a good boy, but smart too cause what can Mom say to that? So Mom goes to Ae-jung s house, intending to find proof of her real situation to kill Pil-joo s liking for Ae-jung. She puzzles over the address: A yakuza s girlfriend is supposed to live in a palace. (Ha, Ae-jung lives on Dandelion Road. Hee! What new flower metaphors will that bring?)
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Here she runs into Dad, who confirms that Ae -jung lives here with her family, not in some separate (more lavish) residence. She turns around, worrying, This isn t right. It s much easier to get rid of a girl wit h secrets. The hardest is the shabby kind.

Jin tells his managers that his behavior was spurred by his heart surgery, and President Moon welcomes his return. He tells her to hand off the sneaker donation project to Ae-jung may as well compensate for hassling her, and improve her negative image while he s at it. Jin generously adds the use of his van to the deal, and Jae -seok eyes him suspiciously, testing him: She ll ride that van to go film herself on dates with that doctor. Jin nods approvingly: If needed, tell them to drive it around together. Ae-hwan confirms Ae-jung s acceptance of the reality show with producers, so thankful for this opportunity that he cries. He explains that she d suffered people s curses for ten years and finally has landed her first solo show: As her manager, this is important to me, but as her brother, our Ae -jung is such a good person, please help her do a good job. Aw, it s sweet. It almost makes up for his babbling foolishness at other times.

Jenny has come with him and offers to accompany Ae-jung on events from now on it ll give her a chance to keep Se-ri in line. Ooh, I like this idea. Ae -jung s too sweet to put Se-ri down, but I love Jenny s sassiness, so this could make for some entertaining clashes. Ae-hwan says eagerly, Then after we re married, will we trade places and I ll watch the cafe? At which point an indignant Jae -seok bursts out, No! I M going to watch noona s store! Jenny enjoys this attention, and cheers Ae-jung s good fortune: She s putting ou t an album, and doing a variety show. All she needs is to act, and she ll be a triple crown! Ae-hwan: Who do you think she is, Lee Seung -gi? HAHA. Cue: Lee Seung-gi! Jenny rushes over with stars in her eyes and asks for a handshake. Seung -gi receives her praise graciously, but then Ae-hwan notices that they re both wearing the same scarf. Jenny beams (just as Ae-jung once had), while Seung -gi laughs awkwardly and pulls his sweater over the scarf self-consciously (as Jin once had). HAHA! Jenny, Ae-hwan, and Jae-seok watch Seung-gi walk off, marveling at how polite and well-mannered he is just like his image! Jae-seok sighs that he s the complete opposite of Jin; choking on a sob, he cries, To think, when I first met hyungnim, I thought he was just like [Seung-gi]! Little do they know that as soon as Seung -gi is safely out of sight, he yanks off the scarf with a grimace and thrusts it at his stylist. His voice even changes into that drunk grandpa drawl: Is this something any old dog or fish could wear ?

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Heehee. This may be my favoritest Hong sisters cameo ever. Lee Seung-gi playing Lee Seung-gi, whose real-life image is just like Dokko Jin s golden boy image, whose supposed true backstage personality is just like Dokko Jin s Plus, there s the fact that Seung-gi was originally cast in this role, and now affects a Cha Seung -won-esque nasally growl. AHHH I m in meta heaven. It gets even better when Jin steps out of the elevator, and Seung -gi whips his goodboy persona back into place, bowing respectfully to his sunbae-nim. Jin mentions the program Seung-gi is MC-ing these days, Steel Heart. (Pwahaha! Kang Chul Shim Jang = Steel Heart. Kang Shim Jang = Strong Heart, Seung-gi s real-life show.) He suggests that Seung-gi invite Ae-jung to the show, which Seung-gi smoothly deflects, saying it s up to the writers and producers.

Jin is not to be outdone at his own game, and says that stars like them have pull Or are you not at that level yet? Seung-gi agrees to broach the topic but adds, Is

that so important that it needs my efforts? Jin counters that if Seung -gi does this, he won t steal away his refrigerator CF. That raises Seung-gi s hackles, and he declares, I m Lee Seung-gi! Even you re not somebody who can just steal my CF so easily! In that sneer, he orders Jin, Don t enter my safety zone! Just as they re going back and forth with the You ll do it s and No I won t s, a crowd gathers to gush over their two favorite stars together. Jin gives the 1 -2-3 count, and the men turn on the charm i n a flash.

OMG I love this. I can hear a pouty girlfriday stomping her feet from miles away, cursing the manager who scheduled Seung-gi for an odd-numbered episode. At the bookstore, Pil-joo s eye is caught by instructional titles like How To Win Her Heart and Dating Techniques. Oh, you adorable nerd, you. He hunkers down to read tips like Show her an activity you want to do together using a gift. He thinks of possible activities to do together, a little surprised to catch himself looking at a red bra. Hee! The innocent doc isn t that innocent. But no, he opts for a camera instead, thinking they can take pictures together.
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Team Ae-jung has received the Steel Heart invite, plus other promo activities and Jin s van offer. They surmise that Jin must still be clinging to Ae -jung, and she sighs (hiding her smile) that this is soooo annoying, but she ll have to meet him in person to deal with this. Too bad Pororo knows when she s lying, and declares her annoyed act a fake.

The doctor calls Jin in over worries that his heart isn t working properly, only to have Jin announce that he s perfectly fine. Smart Doctor counters, Rather than liking her because heart pounded, isn t it possible your heart pounded because you like her? Or to rephrase: Is he sure the chicken came before the egg? At home, Jin takes a refreshing drink of Vitamin Water and rubs his face against the cool bottle upon which he imagines Ae -jung s face. He jumps in shock, but a quick glance at his monitor shows he s still at a safe 87 heart rate. He sits down for some mind control time, and hums a meditative tune, which soon turns into the lyrics for Ae-jung s Thumping Heartbeat.

Ae-jung comes to confront him about his motives for helping her is he being capricious with his affections again? He says no: I felt awkward, thankful, and sorry. Awkward for making advances to you, thankful that you turned me down, and sorry for you for liking me after the fact. The things Loser Ddong-ko [butthole] Jin did, the Proper Dokko Jin is straightening out. Ae-jung turns to go in disappointment, but changes her mind, frankly telling him that her disappointment and attraction keep her from leaving: You were right now that the Loser Ddong-ko Jin who liked me is gone, I m disappointed, and now that I see the Proper Dokko Jin, I admit I m attracted. She asks for ten seconds to confirm that he ll remain in his safety zone, and clings to his chest. Going along with it, he holds her tightly. Then he turns her around to back -hug her, while directing her steps toward the stairs that lead to his bedroom.

Panicking, Ae-jung puts a foot out to halt them so he turns her around and pushes her toward the door, telling he r that she can t even throw herself at him properly. She asks, When you were clinging to me, were you intending to stay with me properly? Did you mean to stick with me through the end, without leaving? He considers this, and she deduces that his heart tu rned away of its own accord, without the need for those complicated, realistic thoughts. She goes and his heart thumps. He thinks to himself that he was so busy he didn t have time for those complicated thoughts.

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Jenny hears from Jae-seok about Jin s change of heart (har), and decides she ll help Pil-joo in earnest, inviting him to the cafe that night. Se-ri comes in for an appointment looking tired, dropping hints about the reason for her depression. She reminds Pil -joo that Ae-jung has a bad image and likes somebody else, to which Pil-joo says, I m thinking that if I like her even more, it may work out. All together now: Awwwww. You are in for a world of hurt.

Se-ri says dispiritedly that it hurts seeing him liking somebody else, which I suppose may be true, but sounds suspiciously false coming from her. That s the problem with being the manipulating brat who cried wolf; it s hard to know when you re not being that.

As Se-ri leaves, she recognizes another patient Mina, whose smile turns sour the instant she recognizes Se-ri. From Se-ri s own half-fearful, half-curious response, it s apparent that she feels lingering guilt, and she slowly approaches Mina. But Mina turns her back, and Se-ri falters.

Even Jin is surprised at how unresponsive his he art is to Ae-jung, and taps it curiously, wondering why he s not reacting. Perplexed, he asks, Why do I feel ashamed that it s behaving so properly? He decides he has to restore everything to its original state, and takes out the wine bribe returned by P eter Jason, calling it the origin of all this trouble. He arrives at the cafe, where Ae-jung sits with Jenny and Jae-seok, awaiting Pil-joo. Still stung from earlier, Ae-jung regards him with crossed arms, asking if he s here to offer more compensation.

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He says that he forgot one thing, and announces, Sorry. He repeats it loudly and the word echoes in the air she pointedly ignores it and he tells her that he hopes she can recover from her hypnosis, as he did. He snaps his fingers, saying he can end it with a count to 25. I m guessing Jin never played a doctor in a movie. Or a hypnotist. Instead, Ae-jung pulls the stopper out of the wine bottle and chugs it defiantly. She finishes off the whole bottle in one go, announcing, I m all recovered now.

He worries that she ll spew it right back out, but she says, I won t throw it up. I ll eat up everything that happened with you, digest it all, and turn it into crap. Stumbling, she leaves his table while Jin gapes in concern. Jenny tells him with disdain that he d better leave, since Pil -joo is on his way: He s a truly good man who cares for Ae-jung. Even though Ae-jung lost something precious to him, he was afraid she d feel upset and bought a new one, lying that he found it. That s how much he cares for her. Now he realizes, She didn t buy the pen and lie about finding it? Jenny informs him that that assumption was all his own. Pil-joo is still at his clinic, tending to Se -ri, and mentions her comment about watching somebody like someone else. She thinks he finally understands her hint, but deflates when he guesses she s having a hard time watching Jin liking another woman.

He says that her wan appearance suggests her feelings are genuine, and she sighs, Yes, they are. I didn t know they were to this extent, but if I keep looking at him, I keep liking him. He encourages her to cheer up, and says he s in the same position.

Jenny loses track of Ae-jung at the cafe, worrying that she s wandered off in a drunken state. Jin overhears and recognizes the telltale ringtone when Jenny calls Ae-jung, following it to a bench, where he finds her swaying unsteadily. He asks if she s okay, only to have her repeat his words back at him like a taunting child. Jenny frets that Ae-jung s drinking habit will emerge, which would be a Very Bad Thing. Her old scandal about a drunken fight occurred when she had the bad luck to get stuck repeating the words of an easily offended ajumma, who d spoken rudely to Ae-jung and when Ae-jung repeated the wors back (without malice), the ajumma had created a huge scene.

Thankfully, Jin understands this is just her drunken habit, and asks, Why didn t you explain about the pen? Her drunken garble spouts back, didn t explain. Jin: You didn t trust me, did you? Ae-jung: Di n't trust you. Jin: Then those words about not liking me back you were really going to cancel them. Ae-jung: wassss gonna cancel it. Jin: And you brought those potatoes to give to me. Ae-jung: Brought to give you. Jin: And you came to feed the fish. Ae-jung: I came. Jin: I m sorry. Oh, this is so sweet it hurts a little. He knows she s just parroting after him, but at the same time he also understands that it s the truth. He s purposely wording his questions so she ll confirm his suspici ons, but he can recognize the truth of the words, which only serve to emphasize that he was an ass.

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He holds her to him, and checks his monitor again zone.

which stays firmly in the safe

When Pil-joo arrives at the cafe, Jenny tells him that they ve l ost a drunk Ae-jung. Piljoo steps out to join the search, and finds Ae -jung hunched over on the front stoop. Jin keeps out of sight as Pil -joo attends to her, and quietly walks away looking miserable.

She falls asleep on Pil-joo s shoulder, and he asks her, Tomorrow, you ll take hold of my hand, won t you? He sees her hand resting in her lap, and links his pinky with hers to seal their pinky-promise. Awwwww. How can I want so much for one guy to get the girl, and then a second later want so much for h is rival to get the girl instead? My heart, SO TORN. Between two fictional men. Jin goes home to his fish, realizing Ae -jung had fed them after all, and says, I should ve raised pets who can talk. Haha. He says that a dog would ve barked a response, but accuses them of not making a peep, actually sounding wounded at their betrayal.

Se-ri asks Manager Jang why, ten years ago, he d readily agreed to Ae-jung s decision to break up KBSN. Manager Jang is convinced Ae -jung had been backed by somebody, who d bribed the production company president to agree without a fight. Se-ri s surprised to hear this, but not even Manager Jang knows who it is. Se-ri tests out a new budding suspicion, asking whether Mina would know. Manager Jang says that he has a lot of things he d like to ask her, and that if Se -ri can find her, he wants to be in the loop, promising to make sure that Se -ri s protected.
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Jenny brings a hungover Ae-jung medicine in the morning, left by Pil -joo. She says that she knows why Ae-jung s feeling conflicted, but she wants to see her happy from now on, and will therefore pretend not to know about that source of conflict. Which seems woefully backwards to me, but whatever. Jenny s adorable and loyal, but maybe not the sharpest tack.

Ae-jung sees the Vitamin Water at her bedside and picks it up, holding the bottle to her cheek. She notes, It s cold, and then picks up the packet of medicine, saying, It s warm. OH THE METAPHORS, they are endless. Her Couple Making shoot is today, and as she s leaving the house, she stops short to see that Jin has arrived. Concluding that he s here because he feels uncomfortable after her drunkenness yesterday, she decides that she ll have to put a clean end to everything. She tells her brother to go without her, and he tells her anxiously that he trusts her to show up for the filming. She nods.

Ae-jung tells Jin that she s still hungover from his wine, and asks him to help cure it. That s done with hangover soup, and Ae -jung says that with this meal, she ll treat all of her physical and mental pains.

He muses that they ve never just sat together like this before, and she reminds him that it s because he s always chased her out. She tells him it was good that he did; if he d stuck with her, they d have ended up in the gossip rags. He agrees, saying that the popularity drop wouldn t have been so ba d for her not like it would for him. Ae-jung: If you knew that so well, why didn t you hold back and not let on that you liked me? Jin: I liked you so much that it didn t work. Ae-jung: Did you even really like me? Jin: Yes. You saw me, being Ddong-ko Jin in my pathetic one-sided love. I can say this honestly because that s not the case anymore, but if I hadn t come to my senses, I would ve really hit rock bottom and broken my heart.

She chuckles, and assures him she s not laughing at him: It s just you turned away not because I was pathetic, and you did like me that much. That feels good. He shows her his wrist monitor, saying, Even if you smile like that, it doesn t affect me at all. After all, he s a master of mind control. Amused, she says jokingly that his heart s so very proper that she hates it a little, and playfully bites his hand Im just checking to see how good your mind control is. I ve confirmed that you re not affected at all.
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With that, she turns her attention to breakfa st, saying, I should eat this and get all better so I m not affected at all, either. Gah, I simultaneously love Jin for the way he looks at her with tenderness, and want to hit him over the head for always checking his monitor, like that hunk of metal ha s more power than what he suspects his heart is actually feeling. Oh, you stupid, silly man-child-robot.

The romantic scene is set for today s shoot, wherein Ae -jung is to give Pil-joo her answer. Se-ri tells Pil-joo she doesn t think Ae -jung will show, and he tells her that he s nervous enough already without her making jokes. She says, You were flustered at first, and now you re feeling angry, aren t you? Don t forget that be sure to remember how it feels, to make the explanation easy later.

Jin drops Ae-jung off near the set, and she hesitates before saying: Ae-jung: Just as you spoke honestly to me before, I ll be honest with you now. To be honest, you made me feel aflutter. After meeting you, cherry blossoms bloomed

in my heart, and camellias, and even azaleas. But whenever flowers bloom, they also fall at some point. So even though I was excited and happy, I was afraid to hold out my hand. I could only approach you one step at a time, but fortunately the flowers fell on their own. For showing m e some really beautiful flowers on a nice spring night, I thank you. Throughout this speech, Jin looks completely gobsmacked, and steals several glances at his stubbornly static heart monitor. He can t understand it: It s strange my heart s palpitating She turns to leave, but he grabs her wrist and says urgently, I think something went wrong. I have to confirm it for myself, too.

He surprises her and even himself, I think his monitor is still stuck at 88.

with the kiss. Yet when he pulls back,

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He can t believe it, and says disbelievingly, It didn t have any effect. He disagrees with that assessment, but to Ae-jung s vulnerable heart, those words hurt. She tells him with an edge to her voice, Thank you for confirming that you don t feel anything.

She walks away. Jin can t accept it, and takes off the monitor finally, like a sane person. Running the stopwatch, he starts a manual count of his pulse. And by the time his minute beeps its end, he s at 130 heartbeats. Filming commences, and Se-ri introduces the question of the day: whether Ae -jung will show. Then she turns to Pil -joo, addressing him without her words being caught on the microphone. Se-ri: You re feeling nervous and excited at starting a relationship with Ae -jung unni, aren t you? But I don t want to stand by and watch, so I ll have to tell you. The feeling I told you to remember that s how I feel right now. Because I like you.

Shocker! But that s the moment when Ae-jung appears at the end of the bridge, kicking off the show. Se-ri resumes her MC duties, posing the question of whether Ae-jung is here to accept, or reject. Ae-jung walks slowly toward Pil-joo, but at the last minute stops, turning around to look back

She doesn t see Jin, who s on his way, and turns back to face Pil -joo. While she stands there in place, he looks at her with a serious, tense expression. Finally, she resumes her steps and meets him in the middle of the stage. He steps forward and holds out his hand to her, as Se-ri narrates, Gu Ae-jung, please make your decision.

Ae-jung takes his hand tentatively, almost reluctantly, and joins him inside the heart shaped wreath, the moment commemorated with a bright burst of fireworks. Se-ri watches unhappily, MC-ing in a flat voice, while Pil-joo breaks into a smile.

Jin arrives at the edge of the bridge, just about to call out Ae -jung s name when the fireworks explode. He clutches his chest painfully just as the background song (posted at top) narrates, Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. He gasps out, Gu Ae-jung, it hurts so much. It feels like I m dying.

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COMMENTS Muahahaha! I LOVE angst like this. The kind where you feel for the hero, especially when he emotes his pain so well, but also find it s atisfying because he deserves to stew after his punkass behavior. When you ve got a cocky bastard treating our awesome heroine so poorly on so many occasions, you can t just have her forgive everything in the blink of an eye, and it s gratifying to make hi m experience a little self-inflicted misery. Especially when he was so dumb as to believe his stupid monitor, of all things, instead of his actual feelings! Heh. It s like he s so out of touch with human emotions that he d rather trust science than himsel f it s a wee bit absurd that he s so firmly in denial that he d override his feelings based on some numbers spouted by a machine. But I guess it s fittingly backward, for the man who thought pounding heart leads to love, rather than the other way around. In fact, I d have thought the heartrate-denial eye-rollingly fantastical, except for the fact that it gave us the chance to see Jin entertain growing suspicions that his scientific method, so to speak, is deeply flawed. What starts as puzzled speculation (Why is my heart not responding? ) turns to increasing doubt, and Cha Seung -won plays those moments so well that you feel like you re actually watching someone experience an epiphany in slow motion. A sharper tool hehe might not have been so slow about that motion, but this is our sexy dim bastard we re talking about.

Can t WAIT to watch him suffer in Episode 10. Does that make me sadistic? Wait, don t answer that.

Best Love: Episode 10 It s just the way I like it: Superheroes Over Flowers, as the boys step up their game and leave us all spun around in the process. Will Iron Man get a new heart? Will Spiderman sell his friend up the river for pastries? Will this drama ever stop being awesome?

Ae-jung takes Pil-joo s hand and the fireworks go off, to the great dismay of Se-ri and Jin, who both watch with long faces. Jin clutches his heart in pain and Se -ri can t hide her disappointment, though she has to continue her MC duties for the happy couple. Ae-jung quietly tells Pil-joo that it must be awkward to continue holding her hand like this, and tells him to try and pretend like no one else is here. Pil -joo: I already am. Because that s how I made up my mind from the beginning. I told you that this was real for me. What I m holding now is Gu Ae -jung s heart, who came to me. Oh, swoon. How can a guy be this perfect? It s downright unnatural.

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She tells him that she s sorry for making him jump into such a crazy mess, and he tells her, Now that I ve jumped in and grabbed hold, I m not going to let go eas ily. The shoot ends and everyone starts packing it up, but Pil -joo and Ae-jung stand off to the side, still holding hands. Ae -jung tells him that the shoot s done, so he can let go now, so he does only to switch to interlocking fingers as he holds on tig hter. Omo! Pil-joo: I don t think it s a shoot. I think it s for real. So I m just going to keep holding. Eeeeeeeeeee! He says it with this totally dry look, and then breaks into his trademark dorky smile. Seriously, I think I love him.

Ae-hwan purposely ditches her at the shoot so that she ll have to get a ride from Pil joo, and calls to lie that the whole family is out, so she can take her precious time getting home. She s embarrassed by the blatant lie, but Pil -joo feels bolstered by the Gu family being P-line (as in, Pil-joo Line, aka Team Pil-joo).

He tells her that she ought to get onboard too, and she asks what the benefits of P line are. He names: Safety, comfort, and knowing you won t be shaken. Oh, honey. I already want to give you a consolation hug. Those things are all true, but damn are they unsexy. Jin sits outside Ae-jung s house, wondering what he could possibly say, and cursing at his heart rate monitor (as if it s the inanimate object s fault for not correctly deducing human emotion, heh).

Hyung-kyu finds him there, having run out of Jenny s, and when Jin tells him that he s hurting, Ding Dong invites him in. It just occurred to me that this grown man s only friend is Ding Dong. I would say that s sad, except they seem to be on par, maturity-wise, so match made in heaven? Ae-jung comes home to find Jin sitting in her living room, sipping tea out of a Pororo mug. That visual is just so wrong. He totally overplays the heart trouble to gain sympathy, which doesn t work, so then Hyung-kyu plays the He s MY guest angle. Ae-jung treats him like a playdate then, and tells Hyung -kyu that his friend can play till his bedtime.

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Hyung-kyu asks why Jin s always getting scolded by his aunt, and he explains that he s wronged her, but doesn t know how to apologize. Ding Dong thinks it s easy you just say, I was wrong. I m sorry. But Jin says that what s easy for a seven -year old to say is not so easy for a thirty -seven-year old. That s when Ding Dong passes over his notebook, which has a box at the bottom of the page: The Things I Did Wrong Today. Jin scoffs, You want me to write an apology in a children s notebook? Ding Dong, you re a genius! Heh. He makes a bunch of false starts, clearly very new at this apology thing. A e-jung makes kimbap for Hyung-kyu s class picnic tomorrow, and tells him to pick out what to wear. He shows up in his Spiderman costume, and Jin can t contain his laughter, making Hyung-kyu self-conscious.

Ae-jung scolds him, so he turns to Hyung -kyu and says as Dokko Jin the Fashionista, that confidence makes the outfit. He tells him that he always wanted to be Iron Man when he was little (because of the man-made heart), which is Totally. Adorable. Jin keeps trying to stall Hyung-kyu from falling asleep because he hasn t found his window of opportunity yet, but he s run out of time. As a last ditch effort, he tells Ae-jung that he never got to go on picnics when he was a kid, and asks her to go on a picnic with him tomorrow. Pleeeee -aaaaaase?

Ae-jung: No. Dream on. I will never go on a picnic with you, because between us, there will always be rain. Jin: Then I ll wait, until the rain clears. Then there ll be a rainbow. THIS BIG. Hahaha.

The next morning, it actually does rain, and Ae-jung comforts a totally deflated Hyung-kyu. The doorbell rings, and she grumbles thinking that it s Jin, and opens the door at the height of her annoyance. Only it s Pil-joo, here with the digital camera, as a gift to thank her for showing up last night. Hyung-kyu asks if Pil-joo liked superheroes when he was a kid, and he says that he liked detective comics more. He sees the kimbap that Ae-jung made for his picnic, and offers him a trade anything he wants in exchange for his lunchbox.

Pil-joo takes him to the doughnut s hop, and tells him to get whatever he wants. Hyung-kyu hesitates, and then blurts, Iron Man, I m sorry! Pwahahaha! I love that this kid is old enough to know that he s selling his friend out for a bucket of doughnuts. Love it. And then? Pil-joo pitches a tent in the middle of their living room, and they have a picnic anyway, which is just the sweetest thing on earth. I love that both men know that getting in good with Hyung-kyu is the way to Ae-jung s heart, and that they re both so blatant about it.

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Jin calls, his number saved today as Proper [or Perfectly Mannered], and he happily announces that he s prepared something for Hyung -kyu s picnic because of the rain. He s outside her house, with an RV parked behind him. Aw. It s just kind of perfect that Pil-joo shows up with low -rent tent and Jin shows up with flashy RV. She tells him that there s someone already here, and he heartbreakingly guesses that it s Pil-joo. She mentions what he told her last night that people always forgave him when he behaved badly because he was sick, and adds, But even if you re sick enough to die, it won t matter to me. Oooof. He just sits outside her house in the rain like that, still stinging from her words. The proposal episode of Couple Making airs, and Jin watches it for a while, finally turning it off angrily. He clutches his heart in pain, deducing that with CG and background music, it s extra heartbreaking. HA.

I m beginning to suspect that just as he had confused rapid heartbeat as causing love, he s confusing real heart pain for heartbreak. Stop clutching your heart. It s worrisome! The new segment of Couple Making is a big hit, and Se-ri whines at her MC role now reduced to useless opening/closing and commentary on the happy couple, whi ch is secondary to the real rub losing the man she wants to Ae-jung. She whines that it s just like their KBSN days, playing fourth fiddle and losing everything to Ae -jung. Pil-joo finds her and asks why she said that she liked him the other night, and she gets defensive, saying that if he thinks she was joking, he can take it however he pleases. He tells her that she must ve been joking, to say something like that, at a time like that.

She says that it s because she doesn t like Ae-jung, which is neither true nor false. That s part of it, sure, but I do think that she really likes him, on his own merits, outside of the fact that she always wants what Ae-jung has, or doesn t want her to have him. He tells her that she s a bad person, almost scolding her lik e a little girl. He obtusely just tells her not to play pranks like that anymore. Se-ri cries in the bathroom, amazed at Pil-joo s complete obliviousness toward her feelings.

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She overhears a girl group member (the one managed by her old KBSN manager) sneaking in a phone call to her boyfriend in the next stall over, and muses that idol stars are still dating secretly, same as ever. She flashes back to her idol days, when she was busy crushing on an idol boy (cameo by Brian Joo). Ae-jung had helped her try to sneak him a secret love note, but when they were almost caught by their manager, Ae-jung had run over and chewed it up, to cover for her. She got an ink-stained tongue in the process, and they had a good laugh over it.

She thinks of it fondly now, wond ering if she had offered to help Ae -jung date Dokko Jin secretly like the old days, then she might have had a chance with Pil -joo. She finds Manager Jang scolding the idol star as expected, and he complains to her that managing idol stars love lives is th e hardest part of his job. He compliments her for never giving him that kind of trouble, and she just smoothly says that she never got CAUGHT is all. Heh. He says that Mina was the real trouble back then, cause she was dating the hottest idol boy of the d ay, and their agency was basically at war with his agency, to manage the situation.

He recalls that Ae-jung played a big part in all that, and Se -ri wonders if Ae-jung helped Mina date secretly too. Hm. Interesting. Pil-joo s mom decides to visit Ae-jung s house to see how she lives for herself, and meets her family, discovering that Ae-jung basically supports her father, brother, and nephew. Mother is so not pleased.

Jin s agent tells him that Jerry Heimer (Pfft. As in Bruckheimer?) is doing a new superhero movie and wants to cast him. Looks like he might be going to Hollywood after all. Jae-seok tells Ae-jung and Jenny the news, that he ll be meeting the director and making his decision soon. Ae -jung muses to herself, He ll really get to be like Iron Man. Hyung-kyu goes over to offer Jin some doughnuts, apologizing for accepting them in a moment of weakness. Ha. Jin sweetly tells him that he s only seven, and therefore needn t feel such guilt over snack foods. He tells Ding Dong to eat up, and then exer cise, and then wonders how much he ll grow while he s away. Hyung-kyu asks if he s going somewhere, and he says, I m going to be a superhero.
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Ae-jung cleans up Hyung-kyu s room, and discovers Jin s apology, written under The Things I Did Wrong Today : Saying that I made the mistake of thinking that my heart beating caused me to like you was a mistake. I m sorry. Dokko Jin She sighs, and begs him (aloud, to herself) to leave her alone and go to Hollywood and protect the earth. Aw. Jin picks up his potato plant, tears welling up in his eyes. If I leave you here like this, I suppose you ll naturally wither and die

Jae-seok comes to pick him up the next day for his meeting with Jerry Heimer, except his heart starts racing and he clutches it in pai n. Jae-seok Hospital Finally! Gah, does it take a full-on heart attack for you to go see a doctor? Jae-seok rushes him to the hospital in a panic, Jin clutching his heart in pain the whole way. The doctor examines him and the verdict is in: You re bro ken. Why does everyone speak of him like he s the Dokko -Bot?

The doc tells him that he s rejecting the pacemaker, and Jin asks if he s back to square one health-wise, like he was ten years ago. The doc confirms that he is, and that it s a good thing he s been monitoring his heart rate as closely as he s been lately (thanks to the KBSN song) otherwise he could ve gotten much worse and just collapsed out of nowhere.

He needs surgery, and soon. Jin asks what his chance of survival is. Doc says 50 -50. At home, the potato plant withers, as if magically linked to his heart. Jin sits in a daze, musing, My heart really WAS breaking. He struggles to hold back his tears. People start recognizing him in the hospital lobby, and as he hears their whispers, It s Dokko Jin! He takes a deep breath and puts his star persona back on, which sort of breaks my heart. He puts his sunglasses on like armor, and greets the growing crowd with smiles and signs autographs. Ae-jung goes to Pil-joo s house to shoot a housewarming date, and as they cook dinner together, she encounters a potato with a frown. Pil -joo asks if she likes them, and she says she Really really really doesn t, so he puts it aside. Aw, poor potato.

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Jin accepts the movie deal, and tells his agent that he l l go to Hollywood after the MBS Daesangs, where he s up for a Best Actor award. He declares, I will remain at the height of coolness. Implication being that he d like to die leaving behind the best version of himself. Gah, now I M broken! His agent then meets with the Couple Making PDs, who tell her that they managed to get Ae-jung onto the Daesangs as a presenter, to bolster their show and improve her image. They ask for the agency s help in glamming her up for the event. They also add that they d like her to switch cell phones to a new brand so that she and Pil-joo have matching couple phones, and President Moon notes that it s the same one that Dokko does the CF for, while pointing out its features , and the metaon-meta product placement in this show just about kills me. It s smart to hang a lantern on it because it s so blatant (and best to acknowledge that you re selling your airtime rather than pretending that we re dumb and don t notice, like most shows) but damn, it s getting ridiculous.

It s time to pick out awards show couture, and Ae -jung runs into Jin, literally gobsmacked by his be-tuxed hotness. He chases after her and notes that she cleans up nicely too, though gotta say, nothing beats Cha Seung -won in a tux. Siiiigh.

He tells her that he heard she was presenting at the awards, and asks if it isn t the Best Actor category. Ae-jung: No, as if. Best Child Actor. You re not going to win in that category, are you? HA.

She worries about tripping on the red carpet, and he takes h er by the shoulders and raises her chin. Jin: You walk the red carpet by confidence. Aw. He tells her to think of herself as the best in all the world as she walks. She says that she doesn t look cheap today, so she ll have to pretend to be all that, and he looks at her sincerely, You didn t when you were wearing the frog either. Of all the frogs I ve ever seen, you were the most luxurious. Keep running hard.

He stops to ask how he looks, since he s got to look the best, today of all days. She looks him up and down and says that he looks handsome, adding that even when he was petty and clingy Butthole Jin, he was still handsome. Jin: Remember me that way. Waaaaah. No dying! No remembering, no leaving, and no dying!
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It s awards show time, and Jin wal ks the red carpet with flair. He joins Se-ri in her dressing room and tells her that he ll be announcing his Hollywood movie as he accepts his award. Ae-jung arrives and Pil-joo stops in to cheer her on and calm down her nerves. She and Jenny run into Mana ger Jang with his idol girls, and when she offers up a nice greeting for them to perform well today, he sneers that she s telling the girl who got booted off of Couple Making because of her, to do well. He belittles her for overstepping, and says that she s not at the level where she can do anything and be forgiven for it. Ae -jung takes Jin s advice to heart, and says, Today, I won t hang my head for no reason, and walks away, head held high.

But Manager Jang is a petty rat bastard, so he decides that h e s going to get his revenge. He purposely spills his coffee all over her white dress, and chides her for being dirty, and playing dress-up. A PD scrambles into Se-ri s dressing room to ask her to fill in and present the Child Actor award, and Jin perks up at that, realizing that something s wrong with Ae -jung.

He sees Jenny arguing with Manager Jang, and then finds Ae -jung sitting at the bottom of the stairs, alone.

He looks at her tenderly and sees that her arm is burnt from the spill. She just puts up a brave front, saying that dressing up like this doesn t suit her, and that she should just stick to frogs. That just kills me even more, when she s all stiff -upperlippy that way. The awards show gets underway (with footage from the actual Korea Film Awards, with Song Yoon-ah as MC, and the likes of Won Bin, Kim Tae-hee, and Song Ye-jin giving unwitting cameos).

Jin walks out and discovers Manager Jang laughing about his evil petty vict ory over the phone, and follows him into the stairwell with a determined look. Once no one else is around, he socks him with a punch, and Manager Jang goes down. Damn, that s satisfying. Ae-jung comes home and Pil-joo tends to her wound, wrapping it in a b andage. They come out to see breaking news, that Dokko Jin did not attend the awards, and now speculation over bad blood between him and the director of Fighter is blowing up.

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Jae-seok gets bombarded at the agency, and President Moon tells him to fend the m off, while she takes care of the real problem She s at the hospital, where Manager Jang is being treated in the emergency room. Holy crap. He beat the bloody hell out of him. Oh, dear. This is bad. Bad, bad, bad. I thought it was just one punch, but it looks like he went to town in a rage, and we all know how Manager Jang is going to twist this whole thing around. Eek! Jin is holed up at home but unreachable, so the agency asks Ae -hwan to sneak him out while he can. He tells Ae-jung that Jin hit somebody, and worries if he ll listen to him, if he goes over there. Ae-jung offers to go instead, because there s something she needs to confirm.

She heads over to his house, and finds the lock code the same. He comes out, weary but looking perfectly fine (looks like he did all the hitting, which is kind of worse, if you think about how the press is going to spin this). She asks what happened, but he tells her that he has no interest in having a press conference with her, and says he s tired. She chastises him for messing up,

reminding him that he s supposed to go to Hollywood and fulfill his lifelong dream to be a superhero and protect the earth. Jin: I m not going. Instead of the earth, which spins fine without my protection, the thing I have to protect, while looking totally cool and awesome, is right here.

SPLAT. *jumps ship, hangs head for being so wishy -washy.* He takes a step closer to her and adds, I was so severely awesome today, that I m tired. Ha. He leans into her for a hug, almost propping up his tired body on hers. She asks what he s doing, and he holds on, Stay still. So I can keep being awesome. HA. He sighs with his chin resting on her shoulder, I need strength. Rechaaaaarge.

COMMENTS Oh, I ADORE the superhero metaphor for this episode. It s so fitting, not only in the hero-protects-the-heroine way, but because the grown men in this drama really are like seven-year old boys, playing Spidey and Iron Man, thinking that the world spins because of them. This is a heroine who doesn t need protecting, but I love what it means for him to TRY. He s finally putting something on the line, not to win her, but for her benefit alone. I like that something s finally putting Jin s stardom in jeopardy because I actually want to see him lose something to love her. Otherwise it s too easy and it s just a Cinderella tale with nothing at stake for him. Now he s actively putting his career on the line to be by her side, not just losing popularity, but in a real, all -in, rock-bottom kind of way. In fiercely protecting her pride, he s about to lose everything that makes him Dokko Jin, and that, to him is everything. I love watching a character gro w up in the course of a drama, and though Jin s got miles to go before he sheds the bedspread cape and superhero underoos, he s definitely winning my heart in the process.

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Best Love: Episode 11

Oh the angst, it hurts so good. Despite some of the more outrageous aspects about this drama (which are many), the characters feel earnest, their bond sincere, and their conflicts rooted in genuine emotion. My heart twists for them, and exults in their petty victories. Which is to say that no matter the outlandish behaviors of some (namely a certain Mr. Dokko Jin), I m hook-line-sinkered into this conflict and relationship, because it makes me FEEL. And I m grateful to dramas that do that.

Jin tiredly holds Ae-jung, needing to recharge after his day, and tells h er that even a cell phone needs the minimum charge in order to operate. He asks to hold her just long enough to recharge one bar. She pulls back, reminding him that he should leave and escape the inevitable mob of reporters. He turns instead to the kitche n, saying, You cut off my charger. I ve got to charge my batteries with food, at least. He asks her to make curry for him, insisting that he needs to eat curry right now. Aww. She s not about to indulge him and turns to leave, but he points out that she can t just go out amidst the paparazzi. They re not going to leave until they catch a glimpse of him, and she may find herself locked up here with him for as long as three days. Gee, I wonder what they could do? (Oh, I know you re all thinking it.) Seeing her concern, he shares his home s secret exit with her: He s got a hidden escape route, like Batman has his Batcave, and it s via the yellow car that sits in his living room as decoration. But before he reveals how to operate it, he needs to eat: So make me curry. Then I ll tell you everything. Ha. Yes, the Hong Sisters are kind of going wild and crazy with the sheer number of metaphors let loose in this drama, but I do love that it makes even the most innocuous statements touching. His fixation with c urry is making me squee. While she chops onions, he looks at the bandage on her arm and starts to blow on it, telling her he s treating her injury. Ae -jung asks if this is why he hit Manager Jang, and tells him to go blow on the manager s injuries rather than hers. She instructs him to bring potatoes, and he replies, No! In this house, we don t kill potatoes. Oh my god. Why is that so sweet? He says that if one wants to eat fish, one doesn t just pluck one out of the aquarium so in the same way, Potatoes are for growing. After eating their potato-free curry, they sit in the car. Ae-jung humors him about the secret exit, as though to speed up this process of leaving. He s content to linger, though, and he asks if she has any places she d like to go together: I have a lot of places. No if I m with you, it feels like I d want to go anywhere.

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How she can scoff at that instead of, oh I dunno, jumping him on the spot, I have no idea. Ae-jung calls the both of them crazy and starts to get up, but he st ops her and says, I m not crazy I m broken. He touches his chest to indicate his heart, which is as broken as the car they re sitting in, which keeps pounding past his safety zone: I ll keep chasing after you, like a car that s broken. So you keep run ning away, staying sane like you are right now. Worried, she asks if his heart is fixable, and he answers that it is and when it s fixed, he s going to zoom right past her. Since his response doesn t betray how serious his condition truly is, she answer s, Fine, then follow me around, and I ll avoid you. Since the car s broken, it ll come to a stop at some point. Oh honey, if you only knew. Pil-joo arrives at Jenny s cafe to ask about the situation with Manager Jang, and why he treats Ae-jung so badly. Both Jenny and Ae-hwan acknowledge that Ae-jung was the one to initiated the group breakup, but they don t know the particulars either. Jenny speculates that it had something to do with Mina, which triggers Pil -joo s memory of Mina confiding that Ae -jung had rescued her. Jenny tells Pil-joo that Jin s current controversy is linked to Manager Jang (and therefore Ae-jung), and also that Ae-jung has gone to see Jin. Pil -joo can connect the dots of what that implies.
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Jin heads off to address this mess, emerging from his house to tell the swarm of reporters that he ll explain later. It s off to the hospital for him, where he delivers a respectful apology to Manager Jang, who says that he won t be so easy to forgive the next time.

Jin replies that neither will he, if he hurts Ae-jung again. Manager Jang scoffs that Jin s image, however rock-solid till now, won t hold up if he continues acting this way, and insinuates that he might cause trouble for him. Jin challenges, Try it. If you mess with a rock mountain, you could find yourself buried in a landslide, and die. Jin leans in close and then blows a wimpy puff of air toward him (to treat the wound), saying, I m only doing that because she told me to. You should feel honored. Hee. I love how half -assed his gesture is, but also that he bothered at all. Manager Jang wonders what Ae-jung means to him, to which Jin answers, She s a powerless colleague from my agency. I m Dokko Jin, overflowing with a sense of justice, and you re a bad [mouths bastard] who hits women. I m done here. If you spread stories, I ll sue. Fear of god = effectively delivered. Manager Sleazeball could make trouble, sure, but he has to contend with the trouble of fighting a new, bigger enemy

President Moon tells Jin that they re put ting out the story of his chronic heart problem as damage control. She s annoyed that he ruined what should have been the crowning moment in his life, and peevishly shoves him his trophy from the Korea Film Awards. Saying that distance will improve the situation, she figures the Hollywood film will be just the ticket. He shocks her by saying he s not going to go be a movie superhero: I m going to be the Dokko Jin of justice who protects his fellow agency -mate. She bursts out that Ae-jung doesn t even like him, but that doesn t faze him. At home Jin places the award next to his potato, which he s taken to speaking to now, and pats it affectionately. He wonders if it ll soon flower (ahhh! flowers AND potatoes, in the same crazy mixed metaphor?), and asks, Wait does that mean the poison will disappear?

Heart surgery is the official story explaining Jin s absence from the ceremony. Se -ri had never realized his scar was from heart surgery, to which he points out that their relationship wasn t characterized by talk so much as it was by body language. Rawr. Referring to his incident with Manager Jang, Se -ri asks interestedly, Do you like Gu Ae-jung that much? She offers to let go of him if he s going to pursue her, and since he doesn t know of her ulterior motive (i.e., Project Free Pil -joo), he says suspiciously, We re not the type to wish other people well without reason. Ha. True, that. Se-ri explains that she likes Pil-joo, so it s in her own interests that Jin and Ae -jung work out. Jin, however, says that he can t be with Ae-jung (thinking of his whole I might-die problem), and instructs Se-ri to leave that anybody doctor who s nice to Gu Ae-jung alone. Oh, something about the selflessness of that thought kinda hurts me, in the heart area.

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Se-ri goes to Pil-joo anyway to tell him about Jin liking Ae -jung, trying to get him to let go. Pil-joo, who has wised up to Se-ri s mean-spirited tendencies, no longer sees her with kind eyes and tells her that her so -called pain about him is just her mean nature, which this clinic doesn t treat. Oh, snap. He just told her to get lost, in the nicest possible way. He guesses, Your words last time [about liking me] were just jealousy born of your bad temper, weren t they? Se-ri points out that jealousy arises out of liking him, and asks if he feels jealous about the whole Jin/Ae-jung loveline. Pil-joo admits that he does, and apologizes for speaking harshly to her.

At the agency, Ae-jung is busily signing autographs when Jae-seok brings in promo materials for Jin s upcoming ad campaign. Ae-jung looks at the cardboard cutout of Jin, imagines it laughing at her, and tells it crossly, Don t look at me. Deciding to turn it away from her, she gets up then takes out some of her aggression on Cardboard Jin, kno cking into it and grumbling, Completely mean, always doing what you want, you broken Butthole Jin. Why do you keep tormenting me? Why?! Oops. She accidentally marks a dot on his cardboard face with her sharpie, and tries to rub it off. Which looks like a n entirely different activity from his vantage point.

Hee! Well, that s certainly gratifying. Feeling smug, he says knowingly that she must be taking out her repressed ardor for him on the cardboard cutout. Posing like the ad, he tells her to go ahead a nd do as she wishes to the real life version: Don t touch, just admire. Ae -jung: That s not it! I was just erasing the mark. Jin amends: Okay, you can touch once. Greedy. To his disappointment, she doesn t take him up on his offer to feel him up; in stead, she gives him the cold shoulder, assuming that he s just playing around with her again.

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Jin:: Then whatever I do, you have to ignore it as joking around. If I said I wanted to put out dating rumors in tomorrow s paper, it s a joke. Ae-jung: Ding-dong. Jin:: And if the day after tomorrow, I said to marry, it s a joke. Ae-jung: Ding-dong. Then, with a bit of a choke: Jin: And if the day after tomorrow, I disappeared saying I m dying, that s a joke, too. Oh, man. I know they re not actu ally going to kill him off, but the fact that HE thinks he s going to die is just ack! So heart-twisty. Meanwhile, Manager Jang stews, unable to (or afraid to) talk freely about Jin s attack but too indignant to just stand by idly. He asks his manager frie nd for info on an old client, the idol group leader who d dated Mina back in the day, thinking that he ll lead him to Mina: Then I ll find someone s weakness.

Jin watches Iron Man at home while explaining to Jae-seok that he can t go to Hollywood because there s a thing (or a person) he s provoked: The crumbling mountain has to stand its ground and be scary so that it won t be messed with. (Jin occasionally talks and acts, and thinks like a 7-year-old, but when he says something particularly thoughtful in that childlike way, it s simultaneously cute and moving. I just love that odd juxtaposition in his character. The Hong sisters are masters at this dissonance, packing the bluntness of the words with added impact.) Jae-seok nervously asks about the results of the hospital visit, and Jin says cryptically, You may not be my manager for long. He reminds Jae-seok who catches on to his meaning with tears in his eyes that his manager must be perceptive, and tightlipped. Meaning: I m dying, but you can t tell anyone.

Jin s doctor debriefs a room full of doctors on Jin s surgery, outlining the circumstances of the heart that, ten years ago, began rapidly deteriorating due to a virus. It s acting up again, and another surgery is required. There s a d evice in his heart (not a medical pacemaker, but a mechanical graft) and because of the nature of the surgery, survival odds are only at 50-50. Because of Jin s celeb status, the procedure is to be conducted under top -secret conditions.
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He tells Jin that surgery will happen within the month. The process will stop his heart, and Jin surmises that in a worst-case scenario, it won t resume again. (More metaphors!)The doc tells him to think positively after all, ten years ago he had the song cheering him on, but now he s got the song s originator by his side. Jin answers, It s too selfish to keep her by my side, so I m holding back.

At home, he moans pathetically, I miss Gu Ae -jung. His heart starts to pound, so he orders himself to hold back, saying, Even if you want to see her, you ve got to resist three times. His heart thumps defiantly, and he sighs again, I miss her. Thump! Thump! He concedes, I-miss-her-I-miss-her, there, I resisted three times! He gets up to go to her, but it s like his id and superego have taken up residence in opposite sides of his body and fight it out to alternately push him toward the door and keep him home. Finally, he strikes a bargain with Id and Superego to stick it out another half-hour: Sigh. Still, I miss Gu Ae-jung. Next thing we know, he s lurking around the Gu house armed with the excuse, I resisted 300 times. I need recharging.

Instead of Ae-jung, though, he finds Hyung -kyu at home alone, who asks for his help retrieving his game from a tall shelf. That brings him inside, where Hyung -kyu asks, Did you come to sneak a look at my aunt? Jin: No, Ding -dong. Stealing looks is what pervert stalkers do. I came to see her officially. Jin takes a look around, pleased to find his Vitamin Water stocked in the house sitting right next to the doctor s tonic packets. He scoffs, It must be because of these that her face looks so worn out these days.

Catching a sight of her room, Jin can t resist a peek but his virtuous foot stops in its tracks, and he asks himself if he s a pervert stalker, to sneak a glimpse. He satisfies this moral quandary by deciding that knocking first is the polite thing to do, and enters. Dude, he is so 7 years old. He picks up her jar of face cream, and the familiar scent perks him right up. Deciding to take a little with me, he dabs it on his upper lip, right under his nostrils, and inhales deeply. Omg. How can this be so creepy and sweet at the same time? Just then, Ae-jung comes home and calls out for her nephew, sending Jin panickin g. He twists his ankle as he steps on the tonic packet that drops to the floor and scrambles to wipe it up with a pair of her shorts. Puahaha!
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He hurriedly tucks the shorts into his pocket oh, that s not going to look weird and ducks out of sight, planting his tonic-soaked feet in incriminating splotches on her bed as he dashes for cover. In her room, Ae-jung starts to change out of her shirt, and Jin dutifully covers his eyes with his hand which lowers to unblock his view, ha. I m beginning to think his right side is the ethical one, and his left one thoroughly unprincipled. Alas, Jin lets out an exclamation by accident, and Ae -jung sees the footprints. Who s there?! Deciding to out himself, Jin calls out to her and urges her not to run a surefire way to get her running and in his panic, he claps his hand over her mouth and identifies himself.

He explains that he came to visit and just ended up hiding, but asks her to keep quiet to spare him some humiliation.

She nods agreement and he sighs in r elief until Ae-hwan enters and starts calling out her name. Thinking fast (but not very well), Jin ducks underneath the bedcover, and Ae-jung pretends she s lying down alone. Big Bro seems to buy it, but then Ae -hwan spots Jin s tonic-stained feet peeking out from under the covers, which makes me think we re going to get the same scene recently seen in Baby-Faced Beauty, until he lets it drop, chiding, Wash your feet. Phew, safe for now!

But Ae-jung starts sniffing around, recognizing the scent of he r cream, and asks accusingly if Jin used it. He starts to explain himself, only she spots her shorts sticking out of his pocket, which bear his tonic -stained handprints. Right on the asscheeks. HAHA. Irritated, she leads him to the roof exit to avoid bein g seen by her family. He s favoring his twisted ankle, which she tends with a cool wrap. She asks why he came here, and he answers, To recharge. He takes her face in his hands and leans in close until their foreheads touch, and tells her to stay this wa y till he can fill up one bar.
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She asks with concern if the brokenness (of his heart) is severe, and he answers that repairs are in the works. He sighs, I wish I could take you home and keep you as a recharger. Gu Ae -jung, I told you I was broken. You ll have to wait for a month while I m repaired will you stay with the broken me during that time? (I just adore the image of him holding her face, while she holds his injured ankle, as they sit there together.) Ae-jung:: How can you ask that of me? Just one month? It s not even love, but that you re broken. For one month? Jin: Yes, just stay with me for that long. Ae-jung: You said you d zoom past me once you re fixed. Why are you acting this way? Jin: Think of me as a broken car and block the wheel, in case I crash somewhere. Because my battery is low, I might stop running before the month is out, so recharge me and stay with me. I ll really be good to you. Ae-jung: Then tell me properly: I like you, so stay with me.

But that s asking too much, in his broken logic where he s about to die, and he tells her that he can t say that. Exasperated, she declares, If you don t want to be hauled off to the junkyard, just go! Pil-joo s mom is in the running for having the lowest usefulness -to-aggravation ratio in this drama, or maybe ever, because she complains to the Couple Making PD that her son s on-air shenanigans have made her a social outcast. She wonders whether Ae-jung may have gone after Pil-joo aggressively, or if Pil-joo was coached to act a certain way, but the PD says that Pil-joo s affections are genuine, and that all they can do is request Ae-jung to go along with it, for the sake of the show. Quite ironically, it s Ae-jung who isn t feeling the love. Mom then goes to the Gu family to confirm, So you re saying that she thinks Pil joo s a good man, but doesn t like him? Ding -dong: Ding-dong!

Ae-jung goes to Pil-joo, feeling sorry to his mother: I feel like I m making her worry groundlessly that you and I may take this all the way. He tells her seriously, It s not a groundless worry. When I started, I was ready to take this all the way. All this has taught him a lesson: That if a heart is full of another person, I can t claim it. He asks that if she has even the smallest care for him, to let the other person go.
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On the career front, President Moon is confident that Ae -jung s career is due for a revival, with her demo ready and a CF offer coming in, albeit a small one. Therefore, she has a favor to ask, and calls upon Ae-jung s commendable grasp of reality: Please convince Jin to go to Hollywood. Since Jin has a fierce sense of pride, Ae -jung should try provoking it and cut him loose.

That night, she thinks over her quandary, dissolving into sobs as she drops her sneakers into an envelope for clothing recycling. And as she cries, so does Hyung kyu. Manager Jang gives Se-ri the news that Mina has changed her name to Hye-jin, and that she d reportedly married and moved to America. He s not sure whether she s currently in Korea, bu t Se-ri is, and promises to find her. To that end, she goes to Pil-joo s clinic where the nurse confirms that Han Hye -jin is a patient. This has got to be overstepping the bounds of ethics, but Se -ri s got her star power to trample over that pesky red tap e, and while the nurse won t convey Mina s phone number, she offers up her next appointment time, so Se -ri can come by and meet her.

Thankfully, Pil-joo sees Se-ri leaving and asks the nurse about it. Putting two and two together, he figures that Se-ri must be looking for Mina who, he recalls, was quite keen to remain unknown. To Jenny he goes for clarification, and she confirms that Mina and Se -ri weren t close, and won t be eager to meet. On his way out, he comes across Hyung-kyu rooting around in the recycling bin. He asks for help retrieving something his aunt threw away, which I have to save. Aw.

Pil-joo finds the shoes, but cautions Ding -dong that his aunt won t like him returning something she threw away. Ding-dong protests, She didn t throw it away because she didn t like it! My aunt was crying when she threw it out. And then the boy actually goes and washes the shoes by hand. Awww. Would that we all had such devoted cheerleaders in our lives. The world would be a better place.

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At the agency, Ae-jung uses Jin s cardboard cutout as practice for the real deal, requesting, Please don t shake my resolve anymore. Jin walks in as she continues, I really want to give it a good shot with Yoon Pil-joo. If only you weren t in my life, I d be fine. So get lost. He asks her to come over to his house, because he has something to show her. She replies, Thinking about it, whenever you say to come, I have, and whenever you say go, I have. I think I ve obeyed you too well. To his surprise, though, she asks him to a picnic. Ae-jung: If you want to go, will you wait for me this once? Jin: If I wait, will you come? Ae-jung Can t you just wait, regardless? If you re interested in waiting and going to a picnic with me, wait in front of my house today. Jin: I ll wait. So come.

While waiting for their next Couple Making shoot to begin, Pil-joo guesses that his words the last time were burdensome to her, which is the kind of thing you sa y when one side has feelings that aren t reciprocated. She tells him it was a good thing, and that she needs to feel that sense of burden. She requests his help, so that I don t go running to him. Hold me back. It s the kind of request that makes me hurt on Pil-joo s behalf, but even sadder, he thanks her for making that decision.

Driving that knife deeper into our hearts, Jin dresses for his date with anticipation, stopping to talk to his pet potato: Potato, today I m risking the rest of my life and going to wait for Gu Ae-jung. He gives it a little thumb-kiss goodbye, which: Aw. And, OH NO. This next part is gonna break MY heart, isn t it?

Pil-joo picks up Ae-jung s phone and sees that she has a new message from someone now renamed Under Repair. Clicking on the text, he sees a photo of Jin s potato plant. He tells Ae-jung frankly that he d confused her phone for his, and that she s received a text from that person. She asks him to erase it, preferring not to have her emotions confused by reading it. Nooo, don t do it! Be the bigger man! Augh, why is your finger on the confirm delete button? Is it naive for me to hope that you didn t actually press it? Filming commences, featuring the couple working on a jigsaw puzzle. Pil -joo reaches over and guides Ae-jung s hand to the right spot, saying, I ll help you. If it s difficult for you, just follow me. Oblivious to the fact that Jin pulls up to the Gu house that evening to await, per his instructions, Ae-jung and Pil-joo go out to dinner at (where Miss Ripley plays in the background, haha!), then a movie. The day s almost over by the time Pil -joo walks Ae-jung home.

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Jin is still in his car, having waiting steadfastly all night, and all three tense to see each other. Pil-joo makes good on his promise to help by taking Ae-jung s hand, and when he sees her hesitating as she locks eyes with Jin, he extends his other hand to her and leads her inside the gate. Once inside the courtyard, she takes her hand back and starts to cry. She asks, half hopefully, half-dreading, If he has pride, he ll leave now for good, won t he? It s all over now. I m sorry. It must be hard for you too. Pil-joo has noted her conflicted emotions and now spots the shoes Ding -dong had rescued. Finally he can t take it anymore either and pulls out the cell phone, telling Ae-jung that he hadn t deleted the message after all. (Ahhhh! I am simultaneously hurting for you and impressed with your decency, which in turn makes me hurt for you even more. I WANT A PIL-JOO. Drama gods, haven t I earned one??)

With a heavy sigh Pil-joo goes, leaving Ae-jung to read Jin s message, which comes with accompanying potato photo:

Jin: Gu Ae-jung. I ve raised the potato you brought me. Potato sprouts are poisonous, but now that I ve raised it this m uch, I think it will flower. Because I m broken, I can t hold onto you properly so this time, come to me. So that I can move without stopping, come recharge me.

How s a girl to resist that? (Answer: Not at all.) Ae-jung finds Jin resting in his car, eyes closed, and puts up her hand to the glass, in an unconscious mirroring of his move in Episode 4. He opens his eyes, revealing his tears, as Ae-jung says, You mean bastard. Recharge. Jin takes her hand, then lifts himself out the window to kiss her.

COMMENTS If you ve seen a Hong sisters drama (or seven), you ll recognize that we ve now entered the part marked by separation angst. Maybe the end of this episode suggests that we re out of troubled waters, but I m thinking not. And this is perhaps the part where we have to contend with the Funny taking a backseat to the Conflict, which depending on the execution can be compelling (Hong Gil Dong) or tiresome (My Girl). To be honest, this part isn t typically my favorite stretch in a drama s run but on the upside, with this show, I m happy to go with the source of that conflict. Namely, Jin s bum heart. A drama particularly a trendy, and a rom-com at that needs to manufacture conflict to keep the tension alive, and since we re all familiar with the pattern of a rom-com s development, our satisfaction with its treatment lies ultimately in the credibility of that angst and the execution thereof. It s why, despite the obviousness of the plot arc, we still find a vast range in a drama s success rate in pulling off said plot arc. Lie To Me, for instance, entered this phase this week as well, but as it failed to introduce any semblance of real -world logic into its separation (he s going with the woman he no longer loves because he doesn t want to hurt her, but is, as a consequence, hurting the woman he currently loves), it still falls shy of emotional resonance for me. What I like about this turn is that I know it s a plot manipulatio n, but I m still completely invested in this relationship, mostly thanks to the wonderfully committed, sincere performances of the three main leads. In the hands of lesser actors, I d say this conflict is nothing special but with these three, my heart bleeds for them. I m confident that Jin will emerge victorious ( 49 Days this ain t), but his fear that he ll die comes off as credible, and that in turn binds me to his angst. With Gumiho and Best Love, the Hong sisters have really upped the ante, moving pas t mere family interference to true life-and-death dilemmas. That we should feel Jin s

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fear despite being assured of his survival (at least, for me) speaks to the solidness of this conflict.

Best Love: Episode 12 This time it s Beauty and the Beast, starring Dokko Jin as both Beauty AND Beast. Sigh. You really are the most beastly princess who ever doth grace this land. It s a wonder how you keep from swooning at your own reflection. Oh wait. You don t. The 30 Days begin, potatoes grow, and everyon e gets a bit handsy, though it s not who you think. A little bromance on the side never hurt anyone, right?

EPISODE 12 RECAP

KISS. *rewind*
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Meanwhile Pil-joo walks away, having done the right thing, but losing the girl in the process. Poor Perfect Man Pil-joo. That s the saddest back I ve seen in a long time.

Jin and Ae-jung drive around and realize that there aren t very many things open this late (technically untrue in Seoul). Jin starts to hint that people aren t out at the movies they re at home. And people aren t out at restaurants they re eating at home. We could go to my house. Time, he s not a -wastin . She looks over at him suspiciously, and he s quick to say that they could watch a movie and eat there, and also, I have something to show you . Um I m trying really hard to suppress my inner twelve-year old. Ae-jung s thinking the same thing I am, because she shrinks back a little. Jin: My POTATO. Pfffft! Is that what we re calling it now?

He sees what she was thinking, and adds, What, did you think I meant I was going to show you me? Okay, I can show you if you want and playfully starts taking off his jacket. Heh.

She decides they should just go for a drive, and he pouts, declaring that this is the most boring picnic ever. She feels bad , so she slides her hand along his. (Purrrrrr.) The way his face instantly lights up is so cute.

He starts the car and notices that the gas tank is near empty, and like a dog with a bone potato, he declares that they ll just have to go home then. She matter-of-factly tells him to stop at the gas station just down the block, being a total killjoy. She covers herself with a blanket to keep from getting recognized, only to be peered at more conspicuously once the gas station attendants notice Dokko Jin. They speculate out loud that it s a woman and that it must be Se -ri, which makes them both uncomfortable, on top of the fact that she already feels like she has to hide herself to keep his image intact.

He does the only thing he can think of, and silently cla sps her hand under the blanket. Once they leave, she jabbers on nervously that the blanket saved them, and he tells her, like he s done before, to just stop trying to deny the awkward it s only more painful for him to watch.
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She tells him to pull over and he gets scared that she s going to leave. She decides that they should just pick up some food at the convenience store and have a picnic at his place after all. Return of devilish grin. Jin: Okaaaaaaaaay. At home he shows her Pet Potato, boasting that it s extra special because it s handgrown by the illustrious Dokko Jin. She asks why he only grew one; what happened to the other potatoes? He hangs his head in memoriam: They were executed. HA. She wonders if it ll really flower, and he promises to take her potato-flower viewing. I love that the flower and potato metaphors have gotten married. They re having metaphor babies. He does that really cute and lame I m just reaching for that thing just past you, oops did I just graze your hand . He takes her hand and then leans in for a kiss, and she shyly looks over at him. Gah, why are you so hot when you re gettin your moves on? They re inches away from smoochy heaven when the doorbell rings, ding dong. Jin growls, What ding dong is this?! Hee.

It s Jae-seok, who stumbles in red-faced and about thirty sheets to the wind. He wails that he was so upset thinking about hyung that he drank a little. And then he globs onto Jin, manhandling his chest, saying, These feelings that I can t tell anyone about

Oh. My. GOD. Pwahahahahaha! Ae-jung watches them, eyes growing wide, as she mouths, feelings ?

This is the best thing ever. What s a better cockblock than a gay lover interrupting to confess his feelings? Jin tries to pry him off, but Jae -seok just comes back full force, backhugging him and fondling him with what can only be described as sexy man touching. Jin even seems to like it, though he quickly realizes that Ae -jung is jumping to the wrong conclusion. Or the right one, from where those hands are g oing. He tells her that this isn t what it looks like, which is just never the thing to say in that situation. Jae-seok starts peeling back his shirt and Ae-jung gasps, averting her eyes. Jin realizes that this is starting to look really bad, and starts to jump around with Jae-seok still clinging to him, like he s got ants in his pants. That does NOT look any better. Pffft. He slaps Jae-seok s hands to try and get him to cut loose, and Ae -jung stops them, making her presence known to Jae-seok. He just lowers his head in embarrassment, I m not supposed to let Ae -jung noonim see this. This just gets better and better.
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Ae-jung so sweetly tells him that it s okay, If your heart leads you there, you could like him. Jin insists that that s not what this is, tr ying to shove him away. He just comes back and grabs his leg pitifully, just like a shunned lover. She tells him not to be so mean, when Jae-seok s clearly come all this way to confess his feelings. Aw. I love that she empathizes with him. It s so cute. Jin finally hauls him upstairs to put him to bed (rawr) and throws him on a recliner. In a drunk-sleepy stupor, he mutters: Jae-seok: Don t die. You can t die. Don t die hyung -nim. You can t die. I ll do better. Gah, now I m all choked up. It s that classic way the Hong Sisters turn an uproariously funny moment on its head with a heartfelt confession that gets me every time. Jin looks at him with a sigh, tears welling up. He looks down to see Ae -jung smiling at the potato, and then the tears really start to brim. She tells him to take care of Jaeseok and that she ll go now since she s seen the potato. Jin: I m sorry. Oooof. She doesn t know what he means by it of course, and he recovers by telling her that he s sorry she only got to see the potato and no t what she really wanted to see. Oh, you cheeky.

He fights back the tears as he jokes that he can t just strip down anywhere, due to his CF contracts non-compete clauses. Ha. She tosses back, It s too bad. I thought I d get to appreciate that head -to-toe pretty body that earns millions in CFs. He offers her a sneak peek, but for some ungodly reason, she turns him down. WHY? Once she s gone, he says aloud, I m the world s worst, most selfish bastard. Aw. And at home, Pil-joo sits staring at the world s saddest pot of ramen. Double aw.

Jenny and Ae-hwan wonder where Jae-seok ran off to, sensing that something s weighing on him. She decides that it must be his crush on her turning to angst, and wonders if she should start seeing him as a man. Ae-hwan s quick to put the kibosh on that, declaring himself as Jenny s man, ever since That Night. Apparently there was rain, wine, and kissing, though they ve clearly come to different conclusions about what it means. At her rejection, Ae -hwan runs out, whining, Don t drink wine with Jae-seok! Heh. Jin decides that it s time to tell President Moon about his heart surgery. She takes the news like the trooper that she is, even refusing to cry in front of him because it doesn t suit their style. She tells him that she ll take care of everything, and just to believe that he s going to live. She asks what his plans are, in starting up things with Ae-jung, knowing that if news of their relationship breaks, it ll be bad for both of them. Jin: Yes, it ll be the worst [ che-ack] scandal. But if this is the end for me, it might not be the worst, but the best [ che-go]. If I die, it ll render everything beautiful in retrospect. If I say I like Gu Ae -jung and live, I plummet. If I say I like her and die, it s beautiful. That s why I m going to protect the best image, and if something goes wrong, I m going to give it all to Gu Ae -jung when I go. So sad, and quietly heroic, in his own way. It s the best of what he has that pristine public image and that s what he ll leave to her if he can t be by her side. I love the use of che-ack/che-go as the reversal of perception in his world life and death mean opposite things to their personas in the ass -backwards celebrity-verse. Ae-jung goes to see Pil-joo at home after finding out that he s been out sick from work. He s nearly completed the puzzle that they started together, and down to his final piece, which he can t seem to locate. She comes in bearing a basket of fruit, worried that he s only eating ramen, which is clearly the case. But as she sets her basket down, he spots the final puzzle piece, and accidentally sends the fruit flying, which she misconstrues as him venting his anger at her. She makes a move to get up and go, and in an effort to stop her, he accidentally steps on a banana and trips her, further making him seem angry (though in a really, really petty way, even for the man-children in this drama).

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Thankfully, he manages to stop her and explain before she gets to the door, and in his Perfect Pil-joo way, tells her that he s okay, and that they ll figure out the show one step at a time. She apologizes and thanks him, and he puts up a brave face in fr ont of her, insisting that he s just playing hooky from work is all, and sees her out with a smile. But once she s gone, his face betrays his crushed little heart, which kills me. He finally cleans up the remnants of his broken -heart-ramen bender, and says aloud as if trying to convince himself, that just like the puzzle, he s put back his feelings, one piece at a time. Ae-jung gets a gig as a Section TV reporter, and Jin wonders if she ll be okay having to chase down other celebrities amidst their scandals. She figures she ll have to adjust, since she won t be doing Couple Making much longer. Jin can t hide his glee at that news, taking jabs at Pil -joo, and when she defends him, he muses, You must really like me, if she still chose him over Mr. Perfect. Without flinching, she answers sincerely, Yes, I do. That catches him off guard and he answers that she s not supposed to like him too much. She s quick to reply that she has no intention of asking him to prolong their time together or insist that he give sincere confessions. I m just going to enjoy it as I please. He wonders why she brought Ding Dong along then, if she really plans to enjoy herself. She reminds him that they re besties, so they re free to play. He tries to get Ding Dong to stop watching Pororo and go play outside, but he declares that there are 30 episodes in total. After an unsuccessful attempt to hide the remote, Jin tells him to just watch what he likes. At seven years old, it s okay to be self-indulgent. Careful what you say to a room full of drama addicts, mister. Ding Dong thinks better of it and decides that he can just watch one episode a day, for 30 days. That s what we all say at the beginning. Jin tells him to just watch them all at once. Ding Dong, no one is guaranteed t he time it takes to watch 30 episodes, one a day. So watch them while you can. I m being self-indulgent too. And he looks over at Ae -jung. Awwwwww. Melt. Jin and Se-ri decide to go public with their breakup, handled of course like a cold hard business deal between agencies. They each promise not to cross the line, to try and garner too much sympathy in either stars direction. Makes you wonder about every celebrity breakup ever, right? Se-ri tells him that her image benefited greatly from being his girlfri end, and wonders how far his image will crash if linked to Ae -jung. I do like that she stays classy about this breakup. That s a huge relief.

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She asks for a goodbye hug and he refuses, I have an exclusive charger. If you touch me, I ll short circuit. So cute. He tells her that she ought to grow a potato. It ll help. Heh.

Pil-joo tells the Couple Making PD that he wants to pull out of the show, citing his family s opposition to his appearance on tv. Aw, protecting her from getting flak till the end. Ae-jung begins work on her new show, Star Date, and gets a call from Jin, now saved as Charge. She tells him about her new show, and he gets a bright idea. That sounds like fun. Let s go on a date. He hangs up and the next thing she knows, his office has called to offer an exclusive interview, for Star Date, right now. Ae-jung gets rushed off with her crew, and there, in the guise of a star interview, they go on an adorable date.

They feed each other rice cakes and play arcade basketball, and he stops t o buy her a necklace (in the shape of a heart though I was hoping for potato). At the last stop they do the closing, and she asks him to give a farewell to the audience.
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He surprises her by announcing that he has something to say, and tells Ae -jung to ask him about his relationship with Se -ri. She does, and he gives the official position, that they ve long since broken up and decided to remain friends. Se-ri does her part to confirm the story, and appear appropriately distraught in front of the cameras. Ae-jung s first day on the job is thus a hit. Jae -seok asks why Jin made the announcement in an interview with Ae -jung. He wistfully says that he wants to leave behind proof that she was by his side. Heart. Breaaaaaaaak.

Manager Jang is headed overseas with his girl group, and happens to be flying out just as Mina s husband is flying in. He runs into them by chance, and Mina panics, clearly not wanting her past to collide with her happily married present. He smoothly exchanges business cards with her husban d and tells her with veiled pleasantries that she should really call him, unless she d prefer he contact her husband. Pil-joo looks at his completed puzzle and tells himself that everything s in its rightful place now, and he can t shake things up. Poor p uppy. He gets a call from Se-ri, who asks him to join her Newly Single Party (of which she is the only attendee, which I guess really makes it a party of one).

He tries to blow her off, but she tells him that she ll just get wasted alone, and he can choose whether or not to come and leave her to get totally wrecked on her own. Oh, you wily passive-aggressive flirtatha. She realizes that it s no use getting trashed if no one s going to show up to take care of her, so she packs it up in defeat. She gets up to go, but sees Pil-joo come in and ask after her, so she races back to her table to appear sufficiently wrecked. Too bad he saw her running in, and blatantly tells her so. HA. Now with her cards on the table, she confesses to having a hard time of it, wo ndering if he doesn t feel the same. He tells her that he s over it now and she scoffs. You said you were the same as me. That your insides were flipped over. Then you can t be over it. You just wish you were.

Oh, the truth hurts. She cries and he walks out in a daze, looking at the puzzle again in his car. He runs his hand over it, as he says, I put it all away. I thought I did A tear falls, and he starts to cry. No, I can t take Pained Pil -joo. It s too much. He thinks of all his encounters with Ae -jung, confessing aloud, I didn t put any of it away at all. Oh, it s killing me that he actually thought he was over her, only to have to start all over again.

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Ae-jung calls to see if Jin s still locked in at home to avoid the paparazzi. He tells her he feels like a princess in a tower, and wants to be rescued. So cute. Ae -jung: Isn t your body a little too beastly to be a princess? You can be the beast in the tower. The potato-growing beast. Jin: Princess or beast, just rescue me. Aw. He concedes to a recharge then, and asks her to sing him her song. She tells him to just download it (heh) and reminds him that his heart is no longer under its spell. He challenges her that if she regrets it, to use magic the kind that makes miracles happen. Oh, pain. She casts a spell: Potato-growing mean bastard Dokko Beast, change into a good princess! They hang up and he talks to his potato, clutching his heart, Please He takes his heart surgeon out to dinner, and hilariously asks if he s still the top surgeon around (like he s gonna say no). The doc insists that he s still the best, and that he ll save him. Jin sincerely tells him that he desperately wants to live, and then takes away his wine, declaring him on mandatory sobriety until the surgery, just in case. Ha.

Pil-joo goes out to dinner with Mom and Uncle, who actually do oppose his tv gig, and he tells them that he ll be wrapping up the reality show, to their delight. Uncle, who happens to be a doctor himself, runs into Jin s heart surgeon and they gre et each other warmly as colleagues. Uncle comes back to the table and when Mom wonders why he didn t introduce the rest of them, he says that the heart surgeon had a prior engagement, with Hallyu star Dokko Jin. Errr? Pil-joo looks up curiously.

He goes to see Jenny, who asks him to hold onto Ae -jung instead of letting her go. She tells him that she s only going to be with Dokko Jin for a month, while he s broken, and then he ll pass her by. She declares Jin a bad person (because from her point of view, he s being completely clear that he only intends to love her, then leave her, free and clear). But Hyung -kyu jumps in to defend his friend, saying that Jin isn t a bad person. He s Iron Man! When Pil-joo asks what he means, Hyung-kyu explains, He has an artificial heart, just like Iron Man.

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Ruh-roh. Pil-joo puts two and two together, and goes to see Jin s heart surgeon to ask hypothetically what the survival rate of that kind of operation is. The doc says there s no rate to speak of. It s just life or death. He heads over to ask Jin himself about his heart. Pil -joo: Ae-jung doesn t know, does she? Tell me for sure. Is it possible you ll die? Jin: I ll tell you for sure. I can also live. Should I tell you something I m more sure of? If you tell this to Gu Ae-jung, Any Oriental Doctor You die. FACE-OFF.

COMMENTS Yay, Pil-joo knows! I don t care so much about the coincidences involved in his finding out (though clunky they are), because SOMEONE has to know and spill the beans, otherwise Ae-jung stays in the dark and Jin keeps being a noble idiot in secret. I sort of love that despite being a rival for Ae -jung s affections, Pil-joo repeatedly helps their relationship along, in spite of himself. It s so fitting for his good puppy character. Sad, but perfect. I love that without being precious or self -important, this drama draws back the curtain on the celebrity machine that drives the entertainment industry, especially in

such a star-conscious society as Korea. Despite the hijinks, the world is drawn in the most realistic way that I ve seen in dramas in a long time not over-simplified, and not over-dramatized. It s a business, through and through, and the drama makes it clear that the people who live inside that fishbowl sacrifice a great deal in retu rn for public sentiment. That sentiment becomes a commodity for stars something they get to trade on, like cigarettes in jail or the latest Pororo toy in grade school. It s what puts meaning behind Jin s gesture to protect his image and then give it to Ae -jung, as he goes. It s the best of what he has, and the best that he can give her. I m happy that it looks like Ae-jung is poised to find out soon, not that it stops the angst-a-whirl for her to know, but because it gives her a chance to comfort him, and actually recharge his hope for survival.

Best Love: Episode 13 I m sort of in love with how the metaphors have blossomed (ooh, metaphor!) by this point. Rather than just sprouting up in haphazard patterns, they ve actually managed to work their way together and grown into a whole new thing, proving that the sum is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. 121

Ae-jung is about to go to Jin, and potentially straight into the showdown currently in progress between the two men. (Pil-joo asks if Jin might die; Jin warns him not to say a word to Ae-jung.) However, she finds Mina in front of her house, who asks her, Please save me. Flashback: Mina had met with Manager Jang to keep him from making good on his veiled threat to spill the beans to her husband. He d asked for the reason behind KBSN s breakup, because if not for Ae -jung s insistence, they could have recovered and continued. What s Ae-jung s secret? Was she in a sponsor relationship? Mina had kept up the cool, detached act and said she s forgotten everything from her former life, but Manager Jang had rattled her nerves by asking, Then was the problem with you? He d warned that even with a new life and name, one story could bring her back into the spotlight. Mina asks Ae-jung to keep her secret, apologizing for hiding behind her again but afraid of ruining her current happiness. Ae -jung is torn, telling her I have something I want to protect too, and sighs that she wishes she were Superwoman so she could protect everybody.

Jin comes by to find Ae-jung feeling down after that conversation. He requests that she sing her old song for him, but she says she s done singing that one, because she s

putting those days behind her. Her new song has come out, though, and they sit there cutely listening to it. They note that the demo singer s pretty awesome (Baek Ji-young, singing I Can t Drink, posted above), even better than Ae-jung. She teases she was never known for her vocals anyway; it was her looks and body: Don t you like me because I m pretty? He joke-grumps back at her, Forget it, I d rather not see you. By which he really means, I d rather by lying down with you on top of me , and no that is not a euphemism but quite literally what happens. She says lightly that if he s so broken, shouldn t his broken mouth follow suit by telling her she s pretty? (Meaning, as long as you re broken, you may as well stay out of character and shoot me a little praise.) But he lies there with tears in his eyes, agreeing, Yes, I m broken. He thinks back to his conversation with Pil-joo, who had told him the kind thing to do for Ae-jung is to cut her loose, so she s hurt less and can recover quicker. I m mightily relieved that it s Mr. Second Lead who says this, because this has been a favored tactic in a few early Hong sisters dramas I ll leave you now to spare you greater hurt later and while the cliche has been effective in its day, I m happy to see it fade away.
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Jin had countered by telling Pil -joo that because he s a star, he can t disappear quietly, nor will he be easily forgotten even if he dies: Through Dokko Jin s image, I ll remain in the public eye and continue to hurt her. I do love that this is spoken without ego because it s totally true it s the fate of the star whose image surpasses the reach of his physical life.

Now, Jin complies with her joking request, and tells her, Gu Ae -jung, my eyes are broken so you appear as the most beautiful woman to me, and my mouth is broken so these words just spill out. I adore you to death!

Ae-jung loves it, and says contentedly that he must ve spilled some oil, and Because you re so greasy, I m about to slip. (The word for greasy also means cheesy, as in dialogue.) He asks, Since I m already greasy, should we spark a fire? She considers it: Should we play with fire and set off some fireworks? Ahhh, more metaphor mating! And it s about actual mating! My inner word nerd is ecstatic. Even more than the metaphor play, I love the double entendres built into the conversation: Ae-jung decides against playing with fire, because she can t take responsibility for him through the end (taking responsibility is used as a euphemism for lots of things, and in this case suggests a man marrying a woman after sleeping

with her, rather than leaving her after sex). So rather than loving and leaving, she decides, I have to protect you. Thinking of the other meaning (heh, boys!), Jin says, You don t exactly have to protect me But she promises, I m definitely going to protect you. And neither of them is immune to the serious turn of the moment, tears springing to both their eyes. Thinking of the other meaning (heh, boys!), Jin says, You don t exactly have to protect me But she promises, I m definitely going to protect you. And neither of them is immune to the serious turn of the moment, tears springing to both their eyes. Ae-jung tells him that once he s fixed and therefore zooms past her, she won t grab onto him so if one day she wakes up and comes to her senses, don t grab onto her, either. She asks for a pinky-swear, and he obliges. It s so sadly sweet that they re both talking about the same thing, and yet completely different things: He s thinking of his potential death, and she s thinking of him leaving her, and both are just torn up about it but putti ng on a brave front. Aggggh, this kills me. As Pil-joo drives home, he thinks of his conversation with Jin, who had declared that pulling back to spare Ae-jung pain isn t possible but what he can do Is to give her more love to help the recovery. That s why I have to stick by her side for every minute, every second that I can, and to see her just one more minute, one more second. This may be the last of my time just leave it be. When Se-ri apologizes, Pil-joo says she was right (that he wasn t over Ae-jung). He feels like he s just come back from a strange land, and asks if Se-ri is familiar with the manhwa Paul s Miraculous Adventure (whose Korean title includes the words strange land ). He explains the story of Paul, who finds a portal to a land o f wonders and meets its evil ruler, who kidnaps his friend Nina. He tries to rescue her, but is unsuccessful. Se ri: All manhwas are like that. If he saves Nina, the story s over. But Pil -joo says no, because there was one time that he succeeded in saving her only to have Nina say that she felt sorry for the ruler, and she returned to his land. Pil-joo wonders, Let s say Paul were to go argue with the ruler to ask him to let go of Nina, but was told that Nina was happy here so he shouldn t interfere. T hen Paul wouldn t return to the land of wonders again to save her, would he? And if he were to keep going back to save her, Paul would be a really strange kid, wouldn t he? Se-ri knows he s talking about himself, and asks who she is in this story. He thi nks, and names the character who d initially been with the ruler, who ends up friends with Paul. She likes that.

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Ae-jung is surprised to hear that Pil -joo has requested an end to the Couple Making program, and admits to the producers that Pil-joo had made up an excuse to spare her, but that she was who ended things with him. Manager Jang informs Se-ri that Mina who wouldn t say a thing, but figures that a good shake-up will get her to open her mouth. Se -ri asks uneasily if Manager Jang means to mess with her as well, and is told that if Mina reveals the truth about why Ae-jung slapped her, Se-ri s bound for trouble, too. He insinuates that Se -ri can stay on his good side if she does one thing for him: Say that Ae -jung was the cause of her breakup with Jin. Se-ri tries to find Mina, but she has skipped out on her latest appointment and changed her phone number. At the clinic, she runs into Pil -joo s mother, turning all sweetness and light when she realizes who this is, and this gives her an idea. Se-ri sighs about the demise of Pil-joo s show, saying with mock regret that the producers were partially to blame, because Ae-jung already had another man and since he s also a celebrity, the relationship was kept secret. She feigns innocence and does the whole Oops, I shared too much. You ll keep this a secret, won t you? trick designed to get the news spread as far and wide as possible. All things considered, it s a shrewd move on Se -ri s part, because she s managed to oblige Manager Jang s demand, yet kept her name out of it, to keep Pil -joo from getting angry with her. As it is, Mom storms into the producers office to berate them for putting Ae -jung on the show when she was already dating someone. A reporter overhears (not too hard, with Mom s shrill voice), and approaches for an interview, smelling a scoop. Jin helps Hyung-kyu with his homework, to clear his schedule for a family picnic where his role will be fire extinguisher. Haha. If you don t trust yourself not to burst into flames, I guess it s wise to keep a damper nearby. He instructs Hyung-kyu in a signal that means he is to leave him alone with Ae -jung, which is a combination of hand gesture and verbal cue. The two parties arrive separately at a rest stop, Jin with his manager and Ae -jung with her nephew. The couple talks on the phone while picking up lunch, and they send Ding-Dong back and forth as errand boy. Ha. That s not conspicuous AT ALL, the boy scuttling back and forth between the tables of two famous celebrities (I know it s not intentional since the song playing is a frequent player in the background music rotation, but I do love that it sings Hold my hand as they look at each other sweetly, totally unable to touch.) Trouble brews when news hits the internet thanks to meddling Mom s interview about Ae-jung s secret boyfriend, painting Ae -jung as a lying seducer who hoodwinked Perfect Man Pil -joo in the name of scoring airtime for herself.

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Ae-jung is unaware of this latest development as a couple of women from the next table recognize her, and speculate that she s here to meet her boyfriend. Thankfully, Jin is no longer sitting nearby as he s gone to the store to pick up snacks, and Jae seok manages to find him in time to caution him to go home quietly before people catch wind of his date. However, Jin isn t swayed by the warning and tells Jae-seok not to tell Ae-jung the news, preferring to keep their date despite the situation. He gives Hyung -kyu their agreed-upon signal and continues on his picnic with Ae -jung. Pil-joo s clinic is mobbed by reporters frothing at the mouth for juicy details. Unfortunately, his explanation actually adds fuel to the fire, despite his best intentions: He says that he and Ae-jung quit the show after mutual agreement, that he did have feelings for her but that she was entirely honest with him about the situation. The media version twists this into: The poor doctor betrayed! Perfect Man confirms that he knew about the boyfriend! Pil-joo asks the producers to fix this, feeling sick that his words ha ve made things worse, but they can t do anything about it. He turns to Se -ri, who says the same thing, and asks him not to go running into that land of wonders. After all, Nina s got that ruler man to help her, right?
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Speaking of whom Jin confiscates Ae-jung s phone for the day, unintentionally reinforcing Pil-joo s own strange-land metaphor by telling her she s barred from communicating with other worlds until their picnic is over. At the office, the team of managers works damage control, even as public opinion turns more strongly against Ae-jung. Speculation runs rampant over her famous boyfriend, with some wondering if she s in an adulterous relationship. in drives out to the countryside, where they can escape people s prying eyes, and sets up their picnic by a rice paddy. The farm, the view, the conditions all are less than ideal, but the couple doesn t really care. There s a cow nearby, and Jin warns it jokingly to keep its mouth shut about their date, Or I ll sue. Ae-jung says he should talk to it in cowspeak, not humanspeak, so Jin obliges her and moos the message absurdly and adorably. He suggests taking a photo together, but Ae -jung thinks it would be unwise to leave any evidence. To which he says, Just one photo. I want evidence, that we had a picnic here. How much do I love that they take a photo with the cow? They set up a timer and get their poses ready and at the last moment, Jin swoops in and kisses her instead.

Ae-jung remarks that despite the lack of ambiance, it s not so bad here after all, and suggests having more dates at rice paddies. He offers to call up Section TV to do another date interview in a place she likes, but she says that would be too obvious. That s his point, so he asks, Then should I do an interview with Section TV and tell them I m Gu Ae-jung s man? At least then, they could have proper dates rather than hiding out on farms. Ae-jung knows he s partly serious about this, but she dismisses his offer as joking, then stops by a store to buy him a cool drink. While she s gone Jin gets caught by an excited grandma who recognizes him and asks for a photo she can show all her friends and send it to her relatives in Seoul which makes his pride die a little on the inside, yet his star nature can t squelch that impulse to smile prettily for the camera anyway. I love that he can t turn that switch off in his brain, to not be the cool top star. It s funny, but more importantly it s clever; it fits right in with our recurring motif about the value, both monetary and other wise, of image. In Jin s momentary absence, Ae-jung sneaks a look at her phone, and discovers the storm brewing in Seoul. She calls Jenny, who fills her in and warns her that if she s seen with Jin, the news will explode. Ae-jung guesses that Jin knew abo ut the scandal all day, and while she s not upset with him for hiding it (he says he didn t want to ruin their picnic), she does declare the picnic over and decides they ll return to Seoul right away. She also tells him firmly that his crazy idea to announ ce their relationship is out of the question. Jin muses to himself, If you want to protect Gu Ae -jung, you ll have to talk about this, indicating his heart. Thankfully they make it back to Seoul without further incident, and Ae -jung tells Jenny that Jin wants to go public. Jenny says that unless the announcement is accompanied by Big News say, wedding plans it won t help much to just say they re dating, given the circumstances. Ae-jung s used to scandals, but Jenny warns her that this time feels di fferent and of course it would be, with Se-ri and Manager Jang both actively working against her. Manager Jang spreads entirely invented stories to reporters, saying Ae -jung had betrayed her KBSN sisters back in the day by trying to ditch them to go solo . He also points out how well she s been doing all of a sudden, planting the idea that Ae-jung has a sponsor, like she allegedly did ten years ago. To cap that off this round of mischief-making, he advises them to look into the reason for KBSN s breakup, j ust for funsies. To stanch the bleeding and reverse the tide of public opinion, President Moon sets up an interview for Ae-jung, since they can stop the sponsor speculation if they lay everything bare to the audience. Meaning: Show them her shabby house , where

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she lives with her family, and explain that they got there through her father s failed business venture. Put on camera how hard she and her brother work going from event to event, and set the record straight about the nephew rumored to be her secret child, when in fact she s raising him after his mother left. Explain the reason she slapped Se-ri, and reveal whatever it is she s hiding for Mina. Ae-jung understands that doing this may rehabilitate her image, but would invite scorn on her family: Are you telling me to sell my family and friends? President Moon tells her calmly that she has to do it to survive, but if she doesn t, This is where it ends. I m pretty sure that President Moon knows Ae -jung won t do it, so she has one last request: If you choose to end things here, don t drag Dokko with you. This one isn t a request, I m begging you. With the surgery date approaching, Jin meets with his doc tor, who assures him that preparations are going well. The doc has also been following the news about Ae jung, and warns that if Jin is linked to her scandal, he ll take a fall too. Jin answers that he s trying to find a way to protect her regardless of hi s surgery results, which is to say, a solution that will not depend on either his survival or death. (Which, phew! All that talk about his death lifting her up was not the most reassuring stuff.)
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He reminds the doctor of the saying, Even if we have to ro ll in dog shit, this world is a better place. He says, These days, I ve been rolling around in shit enough with that woman to make me insane, but I want to live. Meaning: no matter what hardships we have to encounter, I want to live here with her, rathe r than leave for the afterlife. The effects of the gossip are quick and severe, though. Hyung -kyu overhears neighborhood ajummas talking scornfully about Ae -jung and sobs (while clutching his superhero-themed snacks, aw), and Ae-hwan reports the bad news that Ae-jung will have to take a break, and her album put on hold. Ae-jung feels the indignity and asks her family tearfully, What did I do wrong that the whole country hates me? Did I do something that despicable? I was just doing my work diligently, smiling even when I felt hurt, and keeping that smile on my face. Is that a crime? Oh, this is breaking my heart. Se-ri, I hope you re happy, and after this stunt I m revoking any thoughts of possibly, maybe, wishing you well with the sweet doctor. BOO, you. Pil-joo tracks Mina down to deliver a semi-satisfying smackdown (which is only semisatisfying because Pil-joo is a reasonable and nice human being who s above coarse words, even if they may be deserved). He reminds her that she d called Ae -jung her savior. How can she ignore Ae-jung now, and only focus on her own happiness?

Mina answers that she can t do a thing, other than ask Ae-jung to continue keeping her promise not to talk about the events of a decade past. Pil -joo isn t satisfied with that: How can everybody be so selfish? Why are you all standing in the background while she gets hurt alone? Do none of you have anywhere else to hide? Ack, and here I thought my love for Pil -joo couldn t be any stronger. That s my lesson of the day: Never underestimate the power of love. ( For hot fictional characters. But who says that the imaginary nature of the object means it can t be love? ) Ae-jung sits with Jenny at the cafe when two reporters come by, and slips away to evade notice. Jenny shoos her away, but ruins her escape by mouthing oh -soconspicuously at her to run. Naturally the reporters notice Ae -jung and descend upon her eagerly, ignoring the fact that their pursuit causes Ae -jung to fall to the gravel. She s so caught off-guard that all she can do is mumble, I don t know, and this is the scene Pil-joo sees when he arrives. Angrily, he steps in and tells them she has nothing to tell them, not caring that they recognize him, and escorts her away. As he treats her scraped knee, he tells her that she shouldn t just leave it alone. Either she misunderstands his meaning or she deliberately responds that way, because she says she ll just let the scrape heal on its own. Pil -joo can t contain his frustration, telling her that she always leaves things alone and tries to heal on her own: That s why you end up with scars that stay with you for years! Ae-jung goes with the metaphor although they clearly aren t talking about her scrape anymore: But what else can I do? If I dig deeper, it ll get infected and m y leg will become useless. Pil-joo entreats, Come out. Leave this strange land that only hurts you. Dokko Jin and entertainment industry may have moved you to excitement, but you were always hurt it hurt you and you re always preparing yourself to be hurt! If you need, use me to escape it. I ll help you run far away. Awwww. I LOVE that the strange land metaphor has seemingly, out of nowhere, meshed with his earlier wish to carry Ae-jung out of this crazy, mixed-up, backwards showbiz world. Ae-jung tells him, If I leave now, I can t protect it. Even though I m hurt, there are things I have to protect. If I run away, I can t protect anything. (In Korean, the first sentence doesn t need a pronoun so she doesn t specify what she s protecting, but we understand that she really means I can t protect him. ) That night, Jin sends her the photos of the kiss on the farm, with the subject title Promise for the next picnic, and she decides, Let s protect [him]. With that, Ae-jung gives her decision to President Moon: She can t hurt the ones she loves, so it would be best to end things (i.e., her career) now. President Moon urges her to reconsider, because it s not like she can just get another job in the real world, but Ae-jung won t sell out her family.

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With the furor over Ae-jung turning to the old KBSN breakup, the Couple Making writer sighs in relief that their show has been spared, since the arrow struck a different target. Se-ri seems to be feeling pangs of a woefully undersized conscience, saying, Ae-jung unni always gets hit by the arrows. And while Mina reads the articles with a heavy heart, she can only say, I m sorry, Ae-jung unni. Yeah, how s that happiness when it s been bought with the tears of your long -suffering unni? At the agency, Ae-jung prepares to make her official statement which is that she can t make any statement about the scandal. She fights angry, hurt, sad tears while rehearsing the words announcing her withdrawal from the industry. Jin arrives at the agency intent on taking the fall alongside Ae-jung, which President Moon urges him not to do. Yet he declares that he s doing this So I can live. He tells Ae-jung to forget about the other stuff in the scandal, and talk only about him: Just talk about you and me. To everyone. She thanks him for the thought but assumes he s not being serious about it. He counters: Jin: What I said isn t a joke. Telling you to reveal that we re dating isn t a joke. And being prepared to beg you to marry me right away isn t a joke. Ae-jung: Thank you for not joking. Jin: And this is the most serious one: I might die and disappear. That s not a joke, either. Gu Ae-jung, I m severely broken. I may not be fixable. Interpreting his words in a slightly skewed way, she asks if the reason he s okay with going public is because he might die. He just tells her, to her growing disbelief: Jin: The saying about this world being better even if you re rolling around in dog crap right now, I can feel it down deep to my bones. But even if I have to l eave this world, I can t leave you to struggle alone in that crap alone. Ae-jung: Tell me you re joking. Jin: You have nothing else to sell. Sell me. Dokko Jin is tremendously expensive enough to cover up anything, and I m giving him to you. Sell him. Ae-jung: Tell me you re joking. Jin: And to do that, make me your man. Ae-jung: I said, tell me you re joking!

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COMMENTS I suspect that Mina s going to have to come out at some point, because otherwise what s the point of her being a character, right? I m holding out hope that she does the right thing, although I think it ll probably be at a non -critical moment, so as not to undercut the huge freakin deal that is Jin s grand gesture (more on that in a sec). I look forward to that, cause I m hating her a little bit right now.

Ae-jung s the kind of woman who makes decisions based on what she can live with, so if she had to do everything over again I m pretty sure she d pick the same path. But knowing it s the right thing doesn t make it any easier to have taken that road, and I liked seeing her reluctance to continue shielding Mina not that she would ever have gone back on her word, but that she acknowledges that Mina s asking a lot of her. Cause she is, and it takes a leetle bit of the aggravation off of Ae-jung being so quietly suffering. Which is why I LOVE Pil-joo in this episode, even more than previously, because he actually got mad and yelled and was a great wonderful horn of common sense. His exasperation was so satisfying when he basically asked, incredulously, What is wrong with you people?! I love his angst about wanting to help Ae -jung and being utterly unequipped to do so not just because she loves Jin, but because she s actually IN this strange land where he doesn t understand the rules and he s in danger of doing more harm than good, and he can t help her until she s back in his world, but he can t force her out, and that manhwa metaphor was just so perfect for this conflict, even as it came totally out of nowhere. This is what good writing does if a drama makes sense along every step of the way, even new introductions will work into the story with logical clarity, fitting it even more tightly together rather than feeling like jigsaw pieces jammed into the wrong puzzle. We ve mentioned before the way this drama, which on the s urface is so lightly comical about a crazy couple in love, actually manages to work in some deeper insights. Sure, you ve got your low -brow sight gags and such, but there s also a level of cultural commentary that we don t get in a lot of trendies, or even dramas in general. The idea that image is worth something tangible, when the very nature of image is so inchoate and ephemeral that s kinda deep, man. And that in their strange land within the showbiz bubble, it s a commodity traded regularly, bartered between parties and assigned numerical value. It s fascinating, and it s weird, and it s entirely moving that Jin s offer in this last scene is honestly the most valuable thing that he could ever offer her not his physical body but his image. It s worth big bucks, but more importantly, it wields great power, and he s vesting it into her hands. GAH, that s so cerebrally sweet that it kills me, in a good way.

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