Heart to Heart Episode 10 recap

Side dish: Yi Seok is about to tackle making Green Bean Pancakes, when more pressing matters get in the way. If he decides to try again, he can refer to the recipe found at Food.com. He should take Hong Do’s suggestion of adding ground meat.

Episode Recap

We are teased with a glimpse into the future: a tense stare down between the four leads. Provocatively, police detective, Jang Doo Soo (Lee Jae Yoon) has a wrist grab on anthrophobe, Cha Hong Do (Choi Kang Hee). Her boyfriend, Ko Yi Seok (Chun Jung Myung), and his sister, Ko Se Ro (Ahn So Hee) stand across from them.

In the aftermath of successfully sampling food in a supermarket, Hong Do is feeling confident. She declares that she will become a woman worthy of Yi Seok, though he cannot tell her why he wants to date her in her current state. Yi Seok distracts from the question by proposing dinner at his place. Hong Do giggles as Yi Seok asks jealously about the sides dishes she made for Doo Soo. The couple are being cute when Hong Do remembers that she has her part time job that evening, but she stops short of revealing what work she does.

Speaking of Hong Do’s part-time job, her boss, the Chairman has stabilized at the hospital. He thinks instantly of his date with Hong Do’s alter ego, Oh Young Rae.

Hong Do is preparing to cook dinner with Yi Seok when she receives a call from the Chairman’s butler. She decides not to answer it, but reassures Yi Seok that the caller was not Doo Soo. Yi Seok smolders as he dips in for a kiss, but they are interrupted by another call from the Chairman’s butler, this time to Yi Seok.

Hong Do returns home alone with an armful of groceries to find Doo Soo waiting. He offers her food from his friend’s sushi restaurant again, and you have to wonder if he realizes that there are other restaurants in Seoul. When Hong Do tries to turn the food down, Doo Soo guilt trips her into taking it.

Hong Do finds the dress in a box from the Chairman on her doorstep. She receives a call from the Chairman who downplays his health scare, and asks to reschedule their date. After ending the call, Hong Do finds Doo Soo’s gift of a hair pin with the sushi dinner. Hong Do clutches her head in exasperation at the unwanted attentions of two men.

After attending his friend’s funeral, the Chairman starts thinking about preparing for his death. He also has companionship on his mind as he advises his butler to find someone before he, too, becomes old and lonely.

At the police station, Doo Soo and his partner are dogged by a TV crew looking to cover their hunt for a serial arsonist. Se Ro has also invaded the precinct, claiming to be researching for an acting role, but actually keeping an eye on Doo Soo.

Hong Do and Yi Seok continue to act flirty and unprofessional in his office. He playfully asks Hong Do what she is hiding. Hong Do reveals that she has taken out a loan in order to pay Doo Soo back for the deposit on her house. However, Hong Do continues to hide her part-time job from Yi Seok, though she reassures him that it is not seedy. It is foreshadowing of trouble when Yi Seok warns that he does not like Doo Soo knowing something he does not.

Hong Do and Yi Seok are kissing when the Chairman enters the office. Hong Do retreats into the hallway while hiding her face from the Chairman. The Chairman continues on his push to settle matters before his death, and informs Yi Seok of his plans to marry off Yi Seok to someone with greater morals and means than Hong Do.

On the drive home, Hong Do pines after marriage, and Yi Seok does not seem so adverse to the idea. She thinks that the Chairman will not like her, but Yi Seok reassures her, saying his grandfather’s girlfriend is similar to her. Hong Do frantically denies this. As he drops her off, Yi Seok repeats his request for one of her packed lunches.

Rather than go home, Hong Do goes to Doo Soo’s apartment to return payment. She texts Doo Soo saying she wants to return something to him. Though Doo Soo is on stakeout for the serial arsonist with a cameraman, he is clearly not eager to respond to Hong Do.

When Yi Seok calls, Hong Do lies about being home, but she continues to wait out in the cold for Doo Soo. Long after catching the criminal, Doo Soo finally responds to Hong Do via text, telling her to go home.

Both Hong Do and Yi Seok are suffering excitement induced insomnia when Yi Seok decides to drop by her house just to see her face. As he is turning to go, Hong Do protests, clearly receptive to more than just talk. However, Yi Seok wants to go the chaste and romantic route this time around. (Booo!) He leaves while loudly declaring his love for her. (Awww!)

In contrast to the previous scene’s display of young love, the Chairman wakes up in bed alone. Little does he know that the object of his affections, Young Rae has decided to quit her job, and informs him of this when they meet. The Chairman clutches his chest at the news.

Meanwhile, at the precinct, Se Ro has bought coffee for the police, and brought flowers in a vase for Doo Soo. Hilariously, Doo Soo objects on the basis that the gift might be used as a weapon by criminals they bring in. After Doo Soo’s partner hurts himself walking into a desk corner, a light bulb goes off in Se Ro’s head.

Yi Seok is having a counselling session with mentor, Uhm Gi Choon (Seo Yi Sook). Yi Seok confesses that he has always been scared of his patients finding out that he is a charlatan. Hong Do makes him become the man he wants to be, thus alleviating his fear. His phobia of patients is gone, but he keeps this from Hong Do, wanting her to stick around.

Hong Do arrives at Yi Seok’s office with Thai style fried rice. Yi Seok playfully gripes about not receiving a followup call from Hong Do after declaring his love. Gi Choon arrives with an order for Yi Seok to go to Doo Soo’s precinct. Yi Seok has no choice but to bring Hong Do along to keep up the illusion that she is needed to combat his phobia.

Doo Soo is afraid the serial arsonist will get a reduced sentence if his crime is deemed pathological. However, under the scrutiny of the cameras, they must follow procedure, and have the arsonist receive a psychiatric examination. Yi Seok arrives with Hong Do to do the job. Hong Do attempts to return the money to Doo Soo, and he rejects it so that he has an excuse to see her again. Yi Seok scoffs from the sidelines.

Yi Seok interviews the arsonist, and things appear to be going the perp’s way when Yi Seok diagnoses his tendencies as pathological. Hong Do notes the box of matches in the arsonist’s socks, and this sets him off. When the arsonist attempts to hold Hong Do hostage, an enraged Yi Seok leaps in, and bites his nose, while Hong Do curses at the arsonist. Before the TV camera, Yi Seok explains that he was purposely playing along with the arsonist to draw him out.

Yi Seok runs into his sister who is busy working bubble wrap into corner padding to prevent any further accidents at the precinct. Suspicious that Se Ro might have a relationship with Doo Soo, Yi Seok goes searching for Doo Soo, as Se Ro runs after him.

Doo Soo goes outside to check on Hong Do, and she tries again to return the money to him. Instead of waiting patiently for her, as he had promised, Doo Soo expresses his desire to be with her now. When Hong Do can only apologize, Doo Soo wishes that they could go back to when she was a severe anthrophobe cooking side dishes only for him.

When Doo Soo and Se Ro appear, Hong Do attempts to go to Yi Seok. Doo Soo wrist grabs her, saying he will not give her to Yi Seok. Yi Seok orders Hong Do to come to him, or else he will leave. She extricates herself from Doo Soo and follows Yi Seok as he drags away his struggling sister, too. After placing his sister in her car, Yi Seok reassures Hong Do that he is not angry at her, as she cowers.

Hong Do gifts Yi Seok with a pink scarf that she knitted. He does not like the colour, but he will wear it for her. Yi Seok asks who she would save if he and Doo Soo were drowning, Hong Do chooses him with a kiss. They smooch some more, then Yi Seok compliments her for recognizing the match box in the arsonist’s sock.

The Chairman sits his flustered housekeeper down in his private sitting area. Thinking of Young Rae, he runs the idea of an old man and old woman living together by her. The housekeeper thinks he is speaking of her, and gets all hot and bothered. It is not until the next day, when the Chairman departs, all dressed up for a date, that the housekeeper realizes he meant Young Rae.

Hong Do, as Young Rae, meets the Chairman at a high-end restaurant for lunch. To his disappointment, she is not wearing the outfit he bought her, and she is insistent about today being her last day of employment. Undeterred, the Chairman produces an expensive pearl ring, and asks that they live together. The moment is interrupted by Hong Do’s phone, and the Chairman steps away momentarily.

Hong Do answers a phone call from Yi Seok, and unbeknownst to them, they are at the same restaurant. Another diner shrieks when coffee is poured in her lap, and Yi Seok is confused to hear this mishap across the restaurant, as well as over the phone. He spots the back of Young Rae’s head, asks Hong Do to raise her hands, and Young Rae does exactly as he asks. Yi Seok approaches to come face-to-face with Young Rae. A furious Yi Seok calls an aghast Hong Do by her real name.

Comments

There were aspects of this episode I really enjoyed. The numerous cute moments between Yi Seok and Hong Do were appreciated, as was Yi Seok’s confident declaration of love for Hong Do. I was impressed that Hong Do was so determined to end any obligation to Doo Soo that she got a loan by herself. And, Yi Seok does not pull the typical chaebol move of offering to pay Doo Soo back on Hong Do’s behalf.

Unfortunately, the relationship between Yi Seok, Hong Do and Doo Soo took on an unsavoury vibe. Doo Soo forces Hong Do to take gifts from him, and remain financially obligated to him. The worst was Doo Soo wishing that Hong Do had remained mentally ill so that she could remain entirely his again. As Doo Soo clutches Hong Do like a prized possession, Yi Seok does not swoop in to save her, which is commendable. Instead, he barks an ultimatum at her to come to him or else, and she follows him, ignored like a stray dog. Hong Do’s passivity in the face of such shoddy treatment is not unusual given her character, but it just made the entire situation all the more infuriating.

With the reveal of Hong Do’s deception at the end of this episode, I hope we are not destined to watch Yi Seok descend into all out asshole with none of the cute moments to balance it out. Please do not do that, “Heart to Heart”. To cleanse the palate, here is Yi Seok being grabby with Hong Do in a way that is naughty, because it is unprofessional, but nice, just because.

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Heart to Heart (하트 투 하트)

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