Gun congratulates himself on his awesomeness.
Side dish: Where else would you eat snail, but at a French restaurant? Batifole is not only delicious, but has the added benefit of being located where the Chinese restaurant scene in A Christmas Story was shot. Not to worry, the food is better than the website.
Episode Recap
In bed with Mi Young (Jang Na Ra), Gun (Jang Hyuk) manfully resists his carnal impulses, then spends the night watching Mi Young sleep like a log. The next morning, he goes for an energizing jog and runs into Daniel (Choi Jin Hyuk). The two proceed to have a race, only to collapse by the end. Physical pain makes for excellent male bonding as the two call a truce.
To apologize for pretending to be a priest, Daniel takes Mi Young to see his design exhibit, where his presence causes a media frenzy. Mi Young realizes for the first time that Daniel is pretty famous, as she escapes through a back exit.
Back at the parenting class, Mi Young and Gun have such a nice time that he decides to show her around his office. Unfortunately, Se Ra is there, waiting to surprise Gun. Gun is about to tell Se Ra the truth, but Mi Young stops him and pretends to be a secretary, not wanting to hurt Se Ra’s feelings.
A troubled Gun goes to visit Se Ra’s hotel room where she asks to marry him as she falls asleep. He leaves her with a note saying that he has something to tell her.
The next morning, Mi Young is rescued by Daniel from obnoxious reporters who appear as she leaves the house. Gun, meanwhile, is prevented from telling Se Ra the truth by an emergency call from Mi Young’s mom, who turns out to have kidney stones.
On their way back from visiting mom at the hospital, Gun and Mi Young run in to Se Ra outside their house. Gun finally tells a devastated Se Ra the truth. Gun is equally devastated, and spends some time locked up in his room weeping through his insane laughter.
Gun is cold to Mi Young when he emerges, but she has no time to dwell, because Grandma takes her to a party. She’s introduced to everyone as Gun’s new bride, but the minute Grandma leaves her alone, she gets water thrown in her face, followed by a drunken Lawyer Min publicly humiliating her. Like a proper white knight, Gun shows up just in time to sweep her away, after demanding (and getting) applause from the crowd for his awesomeness.
Gun and Mi Young end up on a bridge overlooking the river, where Gun thanks her for being with him, as fireworks go off in the night sky. It looks like a big kiss is coming, but he pecks her on the cheek instead. I’m confused as to how we got here, just like Mi Young. In the final scene, we flash back to her telling Daniel that she’s afraid of accepting Gun’s kindness towards her, because then she’ll be unable to let him go.
Comments
Only 만: So this wasn’t one of my favourite episodes, though not because this was a more serious episode, what with Se Ra’s return.
Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다: Well, I was getting a little tired of watching Mi Young get abused and humiliated. They really piled it on in this episode. Even Mi Young admits to Daniel that she should stand up for herself. I wish she had followed her own advice.
만: Agreed. She doesn’t seem to have grown. No wonder Gun likes her; he can be a knight in shining armour for her, because she apparently can’t defend herself at all.
중국어 캐나다: On one level, I understand that Mi Young believes that she deserves the scorn of others, because having a one-night stand with another woman’s boyfriend is egregious to her. Yet, I wish Mi Young was capable of leaving the room, instead of standing there and taking the abuse.
만: I get the feeling she would have taken the abuse regardless, because it’s not in her personality to stand up for herself. I’m not sure why, because she seems to have a super-strong mother and sisters. Honestly, watching Gun rescue her felt kind of … deflating? I was expecting more.
중국어 캐나다: It felt repetitive, because we have seen her being saved by Daniel and Gun before. And, from Lawyer Min, again!
만: I was convinced Mi Young was imagining this scene while I watched, because, like you said, it was so close to what already happened in the beginning. Plus, the scene directly after it, of Gun being all lovey-dovey with fireworks and music, played entirely like a fantasy.
중국어 캐나다: I was thinking exactly that while watching the fireworks, “Is this Mi Young dreaming?” It did not seem real, because it felt premature. Gun just lost Se Ra, and was obviously devastated by the experience, and he is already making grand, romantic gestures to Mi Young?
만: His devastation made sense. He’d been with her for six years, he wanted to marry her, and events with Mi Young happened really quickly. Having to break up with her should rightly have been devastating. Instead, he cries a bit, puts her picture away, then gets back to the business of rescuing Mi Young and setting off fireworks.
중국어 캐나다: Where do the writers go from here? Will Gun’s family curse rear its head, and place his life in danger? I really hope that is not where they are headed as a result of rushing Gun into committing completely to Mi Young. However, I will say that Mi Young spelling out her fear to Daniel in the final scene that she will come to expect too much from Gun redeemed her a bit for me.
만: Only a bit, to be honest. Listen, I wasn’t expecting a complete 180 on her personality, but, like you said, just the ability to leave the room by herself. Obviously there’s been no progress on her crippling insecurity, except now she has two guys who are willing to rescue her, so that should provide some fodder for the next 12 episodes.
중국어 캐나다: About the only thing I consistently loved in this episode was Jang Hyuk’s acting. The flood of emotions running over his face during the various complicated scenarios he found himself in was as riveting as his moments of insanity.
만: He’s given the insane Gun quite a bit of depth, which I’m beginning to notice is lacking in Mi Young. His struggles in the scenes with Mi Young and Se Ra were really well done.
중국어 캐나다: To be fair, I don’t know if there is enough for Jang Na Ra to work with. She is the straight man, and she is being written as the damsel in distress. I am pleasantly surprised that Jang Na Ra does not react in the way I expect. For instance, when Mi Young was in bed with Gun, she was aroused, not embarrassed.
만: No, it’s true that Jang Na Ra isn’t being given the same level of material to work with, and the character of Mi Young isn’t in Gun’s league. Hopefully, they correct that imbalance over the next 12 episodes, and give her an equal amount of depth. Maybe even an insane laugh of her own.
중국어 캐나다: I don’t know. Mi Young is very quiet; probably fulfilling her end of the bargain with Gun not to disturb him. Meanwhile, Wang Ji Won is showing the same breezy appeal that she demonstrated in the horrific “I Need Romance 3”. How did you like Se Ra in this episode?
만: I still like her. I like that she put him in a choke hold. I even like that I was sad when she put him in a choke hold, because I still like her character.
중국어 캐나다: Thanks to the chemistry between Jang Hyuk and Wang Ji Won, I actually believe in the relationship between Gun and Se Ra. When they are together, they convey the ease of a long-time couple, but there are still sparks. So, their break up is especially tragic, because you understand what is being lost.
만: It’s true. I’m glad that Se Ra isn’t a character that I have to hate, and that’s due in part to Wang Ji Won’s easy charm. But, since we’re on the subject of second leads, let’s talk about Choi Jin Hyuk and his running outfit.
중국어 캐나다: Yes, on to something more frivolous. Choi Jin Hyuk looked like a hulking orange monster running beside the sprightly neon yellow Jang Hyuk. The wardrobe department really likes dressing the men in vivid colours.
만: Which I love! How fun were they, racing each other in bright yellow and orange? It was fantastic! The male bonding after they’d crippled themselves was icing on the cake.
중국어 캐나다: Of course, the race served to demonstrate once again that Gun is a weirdo and a jerk, and Daniel is competitive, but finds Gun amusing. I am looking forward to the progression of their relationship.
So, I have expressed my fear that Gun’s hereditary health problems may pop up in the coming episodes. Where do you think “Fated to Love You” will go next week?
만: I think the ending with Mi Young confessing her fears is probably a clue. I suspect we’re going to focus on Mi Young a bit more.
중국어 캐나다: And, we will see her slap Se Ra’s bitchy friend with the back of her hand?
만: Maybe not in the next episode. They should save any backhanded slapping for the finale.
Fated to Love You (운명처럼 널 사랑해)
Noonas Over Forks 
I agree that the episode felt surreal, especially the second half. Almost as thought we had to be reminded that she’s a chronic doormat, he can be charming, and now that we’ve been reminded of this, let the fireworks begin. I think Mi Young is going to have a scare with the baby, and if I were writing this show, she would miscarry. Imagine the maniac laughter from Gun as he tries to deal with that. Muhahahahahahaha!!!
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You really zeroed in on a major concern going forward with this drama-the doormat damsel character that is Mi-young. This is nothing new to k drama however so it’s expected. In the midst of all the crazy this drama is certainly sending messages-pro life, pro marriage for procreation, career women, while not bad people, are not ideal mates, and that the quiet mouse like woman with no burning ambition that is self sacrificing IS the idea mate. Mi-young’s personality is not such that we are going to see the character suddenly hike up her ovaries, throat punch her attackers, and grab the guy she wants by the lapels and kiss the crap out of him. The small appearance of self worth we see in Mi-young, that she quietly stands up to Gun, that she was firm with the lawyer player about how he made her feel when she found him with the other woman, these small strengths show us her potential of self worth and agency, but I don’t expect we will see major growth. Her self worth revolves around Gun’s support and opinion of her, and that just does not cut it for me in 2014. I would have had ten times more admiration for this character if she’s packed her shit and left for real, moved back in with her friend and got a job, and said to Gun, this whole sham is not working for me. Ultimately Gun married her for more than just a sense of duty–it WAS politically beneficial to him with the company. Mi-young does not get that she does hold power in the dynamic there. The only positive on cramming the traditional gender roles message down our throats is that the male character, while yes, Gun the dominant personality, he is portrayed as a much more openly empathetic and caring person rather than the arrogant controlled chaebol with the heart of gold. That is good stuff.
Se-Ra, I see a lot of negative comments floating around from viewers, crit-ing her for making her work a priority over a marriage proposal. While her execution was poor, I have a lot more respect for a woman for pursuing her dream that she’s work like crazy for, than for Mi-young for saying oh gees I need to marry my baby daddy because culturally our mores tell us that is the ‘right’ thing to do. And frankly not all of it is Se-Ra’s fault. Gun seems to have had expectations of a life that a professional dancer could not fulfill. Whether Se-Ra turns into the typical not very nice 2nd lead going forward is another story, but at this point she is not a character that should be demonized. I find it disturbing that many viewers are demonizing her for making her career needs a priority.
I agree totally with the surrealism of the final scene of this epi–i was flabbergasted. I sincerely hope it was a Mi-young dream. While a fantasy, at least she might be acknowledging that she has feelings for Gun if it is a dream. if not a dream it’s cast Mi-young further into a no agency female role. Oh, Gun’s decided to ‘come to her?’ Really, at what point has Mi-young said she wanted the marriage to be real? Yes, I know that I am asking too much lol.
And thank goodness someone besides me though INR3 was horrific lol.
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I don’t know if my outlook is as negative as yours on Mi Young. Her willingness to take abuse and her low self-worth seem borderline pathological, which seems to me that they must be building up to an explanation, or some level of growth. If they’re not, and they end up concentrating on something lame like Se Ra’s revenge or, I don’t know, amnesia or whatever, then I’m with you, and we can write this drama off together. But I think that the next 12 episodes will show Mi Young gaining some level of independence, and backbone. Or at least, I hope so.
I’m not sure what the hate for Se Ra is about so far. I’m with you again: my issue is with her execution, not the decision itself. Calling Gun before getting on that flight would have been easy, or even putting off the flight to New York by a day and going to Macau to explain things (recall that Gun is fantastically rich and can get her where she needs to go if it comes to that). Other than that, I can’t fault her choices, and I don’t know if Mi Young should be lauded for throwing away a job she didn’t like to marry Gun, versus Se Ra wanting to hang on to a dream she’s had (and worked towards) since childhood.
As for INR3, let us never speak of that again. *shudder*
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I totally hope you are right and they develop the heck out of Mi-young’s character.
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That’s it! I nominate you for new head writer!
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Hi. I think the drama shows that Mi Young is self aware and the point if it is that she will change for the better. She will become more assertive. I don’t agree that Geon expected too much from Se Ra. Are we forgetting that he didn’t leave Se Ra for Mi Young? Sleeping with Mi Young was not his choice. Marrying her was but it was done under great pressure and for the baby. Now he is liking Mi Young he respects her and his hormones respond to her. Well, he is not an object lol! Anyway, his expectation from Se Ra was just what anyone expects from a lover, to be able to be with that person. Who can commit to an eternal long distance relationship?
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Hi. I think the drama shows that Mi Young is self aware and the point if it is that she will change for the better. She will become more assertive. I don’t agree that Geon expected too much from Se Ra. Are we forgetting that he didn’t leave Se Ra for Mi Young? Sleeping with Mi Young was not his choice. Marrying her was but it was done under great pressure and for the baby. Now he is liking Mi Young he respects her and his hormones respond to her. Well, he is not an object lol! Anyway, his expectation from Se Ra was just what anyone expects from a lover, to be able to be with that person. Who can commit to an eternal long distance relationship?
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At first I was a bit disappointed by the second have of the episode, but after giving it some thought I’ve come to accept it. I didn’t like that Miyoung stayed to take it all in, but it is consistent with her character so far. She’s probably never been to a charity event like this, so it must have been very overwhelming. Another thing is the rumors that where being spread. Not only where they true, she had also met Sera for the very first time. She must have felt extra guilty this day, even if she was not entirely at fault. So I get that she couldn’t speak back or defend herself at this point; while I do hope she’ll get more assertive in the upcoming episodes, I know it’s not easy to just change; it takes time to build inner strenght. More than being disappointed by Miyoung I was disappointed that the writers chose to have Gun ‘save’ her again. I’d rather that his grandma came back than have him do the saving, but after giving it some thought, I think it was an effective way to end the rumors. I guess the writers thought it was best to do it in this manner. There where some genuine smiles after his speech, and the second round of applause seemed more wholeheartedly.
As for the brigde scene. I didn’t take it as a declaration of love or a romantic gesture. Nor as an attempt to turn their marriage into a ‘real’ one. Instead it was Gun’s way of apologizing for his behaviour that morning (ignoring her). He just explained that he didn’t ignore her because he didn’t like her (as in he didn’t blame her for the situation), and when he said he was ready to face her, he meant to say that he’ll uphold his promise (they will stay together for the 10 months the contract stated), and won’t go back on his word now that Sera is back.
I wouldn’t say there’s no attraction from his side, but I don’t think it’s love as of yet. At least not that he’s aware of.
This is just my opinion of course;)
Please excuse any mistakes, English in not my first language
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LOL on “Gun congratulates himself on his own awesomeness.”
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Thanks to your comment, I will also congratulate myself on my own awesomeness.
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LOL again!
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