Ex-Girlfriend Club episode 9 recap

Side dish: A super nice person gave me a free green tea cream puff yesterday. If you don’t happen to run into the same super nice person, you can try making your own with this recipe from Zen Can Cook.

Episode Recap

PD Kim Soo Jin (Song Ji Hyo) and webtoon writer, Bang Myeong Soo (Byun Yo Han) walk into the restaurant owned by Myeong Soo’s ex-girlfriend, Na Ji Ah (Jang Ji Eun), just in time to see her frying pan catch fire. Myeong Soo moves quickly to turn off the burner, but when he walks away to get something to move the pan with, Ji Ah carelessly dumps water on to the pan. Myeong Soo dives to protect her from the oil spray.

Unsurprisingly, they end up in the hospital, where Myeong Soo gets fussed over by his two other ex-girlfriends, Jang Hwa Young (Lee Yoon Ji) and Ra Ra (Ryu Hwa Young), while Ji Ah looks guilty, and his current girlfriend, Soo Jin looks on angrily. When the nurse comes to ask for his guardian, the ex-girlfriends squabble over who should be the one, but it’s settled when Myeong Soo asks Soo Jin to do it. Soo Jin goes off to fill in the forms looking like she wants to kill someone, while the ex-girlfriends squabble over who will get to stay to take care of him.

Finally, Hwa Young asks why Myeong Soo had called them all together in the first place, and Myeong Soo has no answer. Soo Jin, meanwhile, sits in the hospital waiting room and thinks back to the video that Ji Ah left on Myeong Soo’s camera professing her eternal love for him, and Myeong Soo’s instantaneous reaction to save Ji Ah.

In a different waiting room (I’m assuming), Myeong Soo asks Ji Ah why she was so distracted in the restaurant. Ji Ah explains that she was upset over learning that Myeong Soo had started dating Soo Jin. Ji Ah recounts her litany of regrets, dumping a good man like Myeong Soo to marry a man she didn’t love. Ji Ah realized that being loved by Myeong Soo had made her unable to live in that situation, but her pride prevented her from chasing after Myeong Soo (oh, really?). Myeong Soo looks pained, but only responds by letting Ji Ah cry on his shoulder.

Of course, when the two of them walk out of the waiting room, Soo Jin is standing in the hallway. She looks at Myeong Soo and Ji Ah, then just runs for it. Myeong Soo goes chasing after, and demands to know what she saw to make her run away. Soo Jin accuses him of still liking Ji Ah, because of the video, and the T-shirt, and because of his instinct to protect Ji Ah. Finally, to prove that he likes her rather than Ji Ah, Myeong Soo just moves in and kisses Soo Jin. Ji Ah, who watched this exchange from a distance, turns away and leaves.

Soo Jin and Myeong Soo go back into the hospital waiting room, where Soo Jin holds Myeong Soo thumb (his hand is bandaged), and puts her head on his shoulder. As she closes her eyes, Myeong Soo thinks back to film director, Jo Geun’s (Do Sang Woo) words that the past would stop him from having his happy ending. Myeong Soo tries to dismiss those words, but sounds kind of unconvincing.

Myeong Soo and Soo Jin walk home together, holding hands, and Soo Jin belatedly registers her worry at him getting hurt. He tells her that he’ll stay away from dangerous places since he’s afraid, too. As they hug, Soo Jin asks if they’ll get a happy ending. My brain melts as Myeong Soo tells her that she’s his ending. Dreamy.

Back at the apartment, Soo Jin’s sister, Soo Kyung (Shin Dong Mi) and brother-in-law, Ji Hoon (Jo Jung Chi) are having a serious discussion about Soo Kyung’s newly formed zit. Their worries are interrupted by the arrival of a dreamy Soo Jin, who tells them she loves them, then wanders away. Her fuzzy mental state sets off all of Soo Kyung’s alarm bells, until Ji Hoon points out that Soo Jin is probably dating. When Soo Kyung discovers that Soo Jin is probably dating Myeong Soo, she attacks the hapless Ji Hoon.

At a bridal salon, Hwa Young tries on a wedding dress with her fiancé, Young Jae. Young Jae begins to look pained as she wavers between choices.

Back at Myeong Soo’s studio, Soo Jin, Myeong Soo, and his roommate, Jin Bae (Ko Hyeon) are eating jjajjangmyeon. To Jin Bae’s annoyance, Myeong Soo plays up his injury so that Soo Jin will baby him. When Jin Bae protests that Myeong Soo is fine, Myeong Soo steps up his tactics on the oblivious Soo Jin, causing Jin Bae to lose his appetite.

The next day, Soo Jin rushes through her work so she can take Myeong Soo to the hospital. As Jo Geun comes into the office, she throws a blanket around her head and starts playing sick. Her co-worker, Eun Hye (Kang Soo Jin) is momentarily clueless, but quickly catches on, and tells her to go home early. The heartless Jo Geun barely notices at first, but later brings her medicine and a glass of water. Having timed it to her last meal, he insists that she take medicine immediately. As Soo Jin reluctantly takes the pills, Jo Geun finally relents, and tells her to go home.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Myeong Soo makes sandwiches with one hand, and fends off Jin Bae with his leg (how flexible!).

When Soo Jin arrives at the hospital, she finds Myeong Soo in a beater car. He explains that he’s just purchased it, and instead of going to the hospital, the two of them go on a picnic. It’s pretty adorable in the car as Myeong Soo teases Soo Jin by playing up how terrible the car is, to her consternation. On the picnic, he tells her that he wanted to make food for her, since he’d never done it before, and also to tell her that no one else will ever eat his cooking. Soo Jin is obviously pleased, and the two of them take turns feeding each other.

Back at Ji Ah’s restaurant, Ra Ra is in a panic as Ji Ah packs up to leave on a trip. Myeong Soo and Soo Jin come in just as Ji Ah explains that she has itchy feet again, and intends to visit Brisbane. When Ra Ra asks Myeong Soo why he’s called them together again, he tells her to wait until Hwa Young arrives. It doesn’t take long before Hwa Young shows up, but with Young Jae and Jo Geun in tow.

I can’t tell if Hwa Young is a genius of meddling or whether she’s been trapped in her own lies, but the reason for their presence is to invite Ra Ra and Ji Ah to be Hwa Young’s bridesmaids, since they’re such close friends. Myeong Soo looks like he wants a hole to open up in the ground and swallow Hwa Young as she invites him and Soo Jin not only to the wedding, but also to a wedding photo shoot.

At the park near Soo Jin’s apartment, Soo Jin tries to cheer up Myeong Soo by saying they don’t have to go to the photo shoot, but that she’s okay with going and wishing them well.

Back at the restaurant, with Jo Geun and Young Jae gone, Ji Ah announces that she doesn’t want to go to the wedding. Ra Ra, of course, is keen to do it, since it gives her another shot with Jo Geun who will be Best Man. Ra Ra wonders whether Hwa Young doesn’t have any real friends, but Hwa Young, unfortunately, doesn’t. She begs Ji Ah to do it, only to be met with disdain.

Soo Jin sits at her laptop at home, looking at the file of Ji Ah’s video confession to Myeong Soo. She tries and fails to delete it. The next day, she meets with Ji Ah at a coffee shop to give her back the video. Ji Ah is initially offended that Soo Jin dares to poke her nose in to hers and Myeong Soo’s memories, but Soo Jin reminds her that Myeong Soo is now her boyfriend. The two of them face off as Ji Ah insists on misinterpreting everything Soo Jin says.

On the way to the photo shoot, Myeong Soo whines about going early, but Soo Jin explains that Hwa Young insisted. It all becomes clear when they arrive and Soo Jin is enlisted to be the replacement for the missing Ji Ah. Then, when Ji Ah shows up, Soo Jin’s relief is short-lived as Hwa Young refuses to let her off bridesmaid duty. Meanwhile, Young Jae hands Myeong Soo a tux, so that he also can join the photo shoot, since they’re short a groomsman (do these people have no friends?). Left alone with Myeong Soo, Jo Geun takes great pains to point out that Myeong Soo will now appear in his ex-girlfriend’s wedding album.

In the women’s changing room, Soo Jin attempts to put on makeup as Ra Ra and Ji Ah jockey for mirror space, and fling catty remarks at each other. Hwa Young, meanwhile, steps outside, and immediately runs into Jo Geun. Jo Geun insists that Hwa Young needs to tell Young Jae about her past before the wedding, while Hwa Young insists that she’s trying to find the right moment to do it. They go off in opposite directions, but neither one notices Young Jae coming out of the washroom, having overheard their suspicious conversation.

Young Jae and Jo Geun go into the studio. Young Jae is about to ask Jo Geun something about Hwa Young, but ultimately decides not to. In the next moment, the women all come in and the photo shoot starts. Jo Geun is pretty obviously taken with Soo Jin, and Ra Ra can’t help, but elbow Soo Jin repeatedly out of the photo.

Myeong Soo, meanwhile, goes out into the studio to find Soo Jin alone while taking a phone call, and silently stares at her. When she wonders if she looks odd, he tells her that she looks so pretty he’s speechless. My head explodes into hearts and flowers as they sit on the nearby couch, and he tells her that he wishes it was just the two of them.

Sadly, their moment is cut short as Young Jae calls them back into the studio. It’s time for the bride and groom to get pictures taken, and Soo Jin surreptitiously takes Myeong Soo’s hand as everyone watches Hwa Young and Young Jae posing. Unfortunately, a snippy remark by Ji Ah pulls Jo Geun’s attention towards their joined hands, and he clenches his teeth in annoyance. When they’re all called in for a final shot, Myeong Soo and Soo Jin let go, in order to take the most awkward group photo ever.

In the dressing room, Myeong Soo comes back in his normal clothes and announces that he’s going to leave. Ji Ah can’t resist poking at him, and tells him that he should stay, since Soo Jin is still there, and couples should stay together. Hwa Young has no idea which couple they’re talking about, and it’s Ra Ra who blithely announces that Soo Jin and Myeong Soo are dating. Hwa Young reacts better than expected, but still tells Soo Jin that she’ll suffer a bit, something she knows from dating Myeong Soo herself.

Hwa Young’s timing is impeccable, as she barely gets the words out before Young Jae and Jo Geun walk in. Young Jae is stricken and leaves the room without a word. Hwa Young chases after him, followed by the rest of the gang. Looking around at everyone, Young Jae comes to the realization that he was the only one who didn’t know about Myeong Soo. When Jo Geun tries to explain, Young Jae punches him, calling him the worst of the lot, and walks away.

The whole gang, minus Jo Geun, ends up at Ji Ah’s house. Hwa Young is inconsolable, and no one has anything useful to offer her, aside from Soo Jin and Myeong Soo, who go out to buy some booze. On their way back, they come across Hwa Young outside Ji Ah’s house. As they watch, she pulls off her engagement ring, and bursts into tears. Soo Jin hesitantly comforts her as Hwa Young cries her heart out.

Back in the house, they’re all dejected as they realize what they’ve lost: Ra Ra will not get a part in the movie, Soo Jin will not get a movie, and Hwa Young’s whole life is basically destroyed. Hwa Young starts drinking, and all three ex-girlfriends bemoan the lack of good men in the world. Ra Ra points out how happy Soo Jin must be since she has Myeong Soo while the rest of them are suffering. This sets off a stream of catty congratulations from the three ex-girlfriends, which proves to be too much for Soo Jin, who announces that she sincerely likes Myeong Soo, then downs a bottle of soju.

The next day, Hwa Young goes to Young Jae’s office, but is stopped at the door by his secretary. And, despite waiting there all day, he never lets her in. In the end, Hwa Young goes to Ji Ah’s bar, where the whole gang has gathered to commiserate.

Soo Jin wonders if she should go apologize to Young Jae, but Jo Geun warns her off the idea. Instead, the group descends into sniping at each other to lay blame. In the end, Ra Ra admits to having started it by announcing that Myeong Soo and Soo Jin were dating. This is the first Jo Geun has heard of their official couple status, and he’s clearly not happy about it. Everyone looks miserable as the episode ends.

Comments

I don’t know if it’s the reduction in the number of episodes, but this episode really moved fast. We went from Myeong Soo and Ji Ah settling things to Myeong Soo and Soo Jin confirming their relationship to Hwa Young’s wedding disaster. And yet, the pace didn’t feel rushed, as we also got some cute moments between Myeong Soo and Soo Jin. Not only did Myeong Soo drop some killer lines on Soo Jin (“You’re my ending”), it was nice to see Soo Jin make some moves of her own. She boldly declared to Ji Ah that her video had no place in Myeong Soo’s future, and announced to everyone that she sincerely liked Myeong Soo. Not bad for someone who was still wavering in the last episode.

In Soo Jin’s shoes, I would have had some trouble feeling sympathetic for Hwa Young, who is the architect of her own troubles. After the revelation that she and Myeong Soo used to date, it became clear that the fact of having lied was more of a problem for Young Jae than Hwa Young being outed as the insane lioness of Myeong Soo’s cartoon (I assume this is the problem? And, not that Young Jae expects his 31-year-old fiancée to have no dating history?).

While Myeong Soo’s default expression seems to be frustration, Byun Yo Han is still a pretty awesome leading man; he can be dreamy when required, and he can also bring the comedy. I laughed out loud at Myeong Soo playing up his injuries to get more sympathy from Soo Jin, while Jin Bae looked on in disgust. And, the scene in the car where Myeong Soo’s flapping hand was the substitute for the AC was priceless.

Anyway, since three more episodes are all we’re going to get, I hope they keep this up till the end.

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Ex-Girlfriend Club (구여친클럽)

 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 || series review