Dating tactic #1357: Always pretend your date is fantastically interesting.
Side dish: Ryohei has inspired me to try baking Pistachio Marble Pound Cake from atkokken.com, which, unlike Ryohei’s outfit, looks super delicious. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Episode Recap
Joo Ho (Joo Ho) is greeted by screaming fans as he gets off an airplane. When they run off, chasing the actual object of their affections, Soo Kyung (Lee Soo Kyung) slaps Joo Ho upside the head as a greeting. Joo Ho, it turns out, is Soo Kyung’s younger brother, a spoiled but struggling actor. Joo Ho and Soo Kyung immediately launch into an argument over her breakup with Phillip, but they’re cut short by a phone call from the speed dating service, to inform Soo Kyung that one of the guys is interested in meeting her.
She agrees to see him, and it turns out to be the guy she rejected for talking her ear off about designer brands. He does the same thing, but this time, she simpers at him instead of leaving. The date ends when he doesn’t have a small enough bill to pay the check, and Soo Kyung picks up the tab.
Back at work, Mi Jin (Kim Mi Jin) and Yu Jin (Sa Kang) lecture her on settling for someone who isn’t her soulmate. Newly cynical, Soo Kyung scoffs at the notion of destiny. With characteristic insensitivity, Yu Jin and Mi Jin urge her to get over her breakup, and go back to her romantic notions.
As if this show wasn’t hilarious enough, we finally get to see Ryohei (Otani Ryohei) at work on the catwalk, in a shapeless black dress with a blazer over top (fantastic!). At the after-party, which is populated by women in prom dresses, Ryohei is back to form in an ill-fitting suit that makes him look like an urban cowboy. To the consternation of the party-goers, Min Ae (Jang Min Ae) dares to criticize the touchy designer, but before it can get ugly, in walks Min Ae’s former high school classmate, Joo Hee (Ha Joo Hee).
As the two of them square off over a terrified Ryohei, we flash back to high school, where a shy Min Ae learns to copy the cool, but idiotic Joo Hee’s moves. She fails at her first attempt and runs away crying.
Joo Ho runs into Yu Jin in a revolving door, and instantly falls in love. He traps her in the door so he can confess his love, but she escapes. Joo Ho follows her into the office, only to be informed that Yu Jin already has a boyfriend. When he persists in making a nuisance of himself, Soo Kyung physically throws him out.
I CAN’T ignore Ryohei’s weird green and white outfit, as he nervously makes dinner for a defensive Min Ae, and a flirty Joo Hee. Yu Jin arrives, and also reminisces about her high school experience with the cool Joo Hee, who turns out to be the source of Yu Jin’s dating guidebook. Joo Hee is inordinately interested in Min Ae’s dating life. Uh-oh.
Soo Kyung and Joo Ho talk about her breakup, with Joo Ho urging her to express her sadness more. Soo Kyung explains that she’s trying to hold herself together until she can forget Phillip.
Soo Kyung ends up on a date with the guy that Yu Jin dumped for Dong Wook (Shin Dong Wook) earlier in the show. He’s not over his rejection by Yu Jin yet, and Soo Kyung commiserates. Pity somehow turns to attraction, as he insists that he’s never cheated on a woman in his life.
Hwan (Jung Hwan), Dong Wook, and Ryohei are having a drink, and Ryohei describes his first meeting with Min Ae. He’d gone to the gym to hit on her, but she made the first move. Mutual attraction = destiny, according to Ryohei. Honestly, I’m not sure what he’s talking about, because it’s hard to read subtitles around that outfit.
On another date with Yu Jin’s ex, Soo Kyung waits at the movies while he buys tickets using every discount and coupon he can find. She looks put off, but that lasts only as long as the end of the date, where he reassures her that he’ll never let go of her hand. He promptly changes his mind when they’re attacked by thugs, and he abandons her to run away.
Soo Kyung ends up in front of a video store, watching a video about soulmates. You’re not going to believe this, but she runs into Dong Wook. They stare into each other’s eyes as the episode ends.
Comments
Post-breakup Soo Kyung is a bit sad, as expected. Her dating adventures aren’t that funny, which disappointed me (in a similar situation, I had some really hilarious dates), and her sadness is too raw even for the self-involved Joo Ho. Min Ae, on the other hand, is still entertaining, especially her panicky defensiveness when she meets Joo Hee, the template for her confident and aggressive persona.
As for Ryohei, it’s really one awful outfit after another this episode, the worst of which is the green and white polka dot explosion, which looks like he filched it from the home of a children’s entertainer from the 1970s.
Also, Yu Jin’s dating guidebook being written by an idiotic high schooler explains a lot.
A couple of Ryohei’s fantastic outfits:
Noonas Over Forks 
Suddenly realise that the actress playing Soo Kyung is Soo Kyung from Let’s Eat. Am finding it very hard to remember the Korean names…they are quite confusing to me.
Haven’t watched this K-drama yet, but have started on Fated to Love you after reading your reviews 🙂
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Well, if you have something better to watch, like “Fated to Love You”, then I’d go with that, though the bad fashion in “Soulmate” is highly entertaining. On the plus side, it’s a shorter watch than most K-dramas since the episodes are only half an hour long (except for the first two), and I was never bored.
For some reason, I’ve only seen Lee Soo Kyung in shows where she’s called Lee Soo Kyung. It makes her name easy to remember 😉
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