One More Happy Ending episode 7 recap

Episode Recap

Back in their college days, Soo Hyuk (Jung Kyung Ho) and Hae Joon (Kwon Yool) were in the same dance crew, attracted to the same girl, Seon Soo. Seon Soo chooses Soo Hyuk, but when she becomes pregnant, Soo Hyuk is incapable of promising his support. It is not until she dies shortly after childbirth that Soo Hyuk regrets not having given her peace of mind. He falls into a depression, and it is Hae Joon who suggests that Soo Hyuk go to the US to recover. 

In the present day, Soo Hyuk admits to Hae Joon that he likes Mi Mo (Jang Na Ra). Hae Joon tells him that his choice will hurt everyone, and that Soo Hyuk should keep his feelings to himself and keep his distance. Hae Joon does not wait for a response, and returns to his office where he whips his phone to the ground.

Hae Joon’s ex-wife, Yeon Soo (Hwang Sun Hee) witnesses everything, and suggests to Soo Hyuk that they have a coffee. Yeon Soo takes a dig at Hae Joon, claiming that he has never suffered for a woman. She sympathizes with Soo Hyuk, and encourages him to find out who Mi Mo wants. 

Mi Mo is at her desk, remembering Soo Hyuk confessing that he is attracted to her. She is holding the bank book of Soo Hyuk’s son, Min Woo. He had given her five years of saving so that she may find a woman for Soo Hyuk. Her colleague, Da Jung (Yoo Da In) comes into Mi Mo’s office, and Mi Mo asks if she has maternal instinct, which Da Jung disputes since Mi Mo has never had children. Mi Mo convinces herself that Soo Hyuk reached out to her out of loneliness. On her way out of Mi Mo’s office, Da Jung gets a text about her upcoming admission to the hospital.

At a work meeting, Soo Hyuk’s boss is looking for someone to investigate two stars who may be having an undercover meeting in Europe (this sounds a bit like a reference to Lee Min Ho and Suzy). Ah Ni (Lee Chae Eun) volunteers for the job, saying that she needs to get away from someone while pointedly looking at Soo Hyuk. Later, Ah Ni confirms with Soo Hyuk that she did not submit the article about Mi Mo confronting her boyfriend after his proposal to her former Angels band mate, Goo Seul Ah (Sandara Park). Soo Hyuk thanks her and wishes her well on her trip.

Ae Ran (Seo In Young) touches down at the airport and is chagrined to find her player husband, Dong Bae (Park Eun Seok) waiting for her. Over coffee, Dong Bae tries to convince Ae Ran that she should settle down with him, since her age is beginning to show and she’ll need a steady income. Ae Ran tells him to return their wedding gifts, and claims that she has other options. Ae Ran’s other option turns out to be Dong Mi’s (Yoo In Na) apartment. Dong Mi refuses to let Ae Ran in, but Ae Ran overrules her objections and pushes her way in.

Dong Mi goes out to eat cake with her boyfriend, Wook (Kim Min Joon). While he’s in the washroom, his phone goes off, and Dong Mi answers it to speak with someone claiming to be his wife. Dong Mi refuses to believe it, and thinks it’s a voice phishing scam. She tells the caller off, until her boyfriend reappears, and takes the phone from her. Wook explains that the call was from his ex, demanding his child support payments for his two children. Wook’s puppy eyes work on Dong Mi, as he admits to hiding all this in case it put her off. At home, Dong Mi replays the scene for Ae Ran who is unimpressed, accusing Wook of being a conman, like Dong Bae.

Soo Hyuk is hesitant to enter Mi Mo’s office, afraid of having to discover whether Mi Mo prefers him or Hae Joon. A woman on the phone in the waiting room describes a man in similar circumstances to Soo Hyuk, and tells the person on the other end to stay away from the man. Soo Hyuk takes this conversation to heart and leaves before meeting Mi Mo.

After work, Mi Mo finds Hae Joon waiting for her outside, and they go for dinner. She seems distracted, so he reassures her that he will be free of debt in two months. When Mi Mo barely reacts, Hae Joon asks about her volunteer work from the day before. Hae Joon looks downcast as Mi Mo brushes off his question with a lame explanation.

Da Jung’s husband, Gun Hak (Kim Tae Hoon), finds an Angels CD as he packs a suitcase and remembers visiting the set of an Angels photo shoot. He asked Da Jung for her autograph, and when she was about to get everyone else’s autographs, too, he stopped her, since hers was the only one he wanted.

Da Jung comes home, and Gun Hak tells her that he’s going on a business trip. His timing is fortuitous, because Da Jung has decided to grant him a divorce. Gun Hak looks stricken as Da Jung tells him that she’ll be on a trip when he returns, and that he should pack up his things and move out before her return. Later, Gun Hak stands outside his wife’s bedroom, but cannot find the courage to enter.

Soo Hyuk throws back soju in a pojangmacha with his colleague. His colleague commiserates with him, as Soo Hyuk thinks about his regrets in not grabbing hold of Mi Mo before it turned into a love triangle. Soo Hyuk remembers Seon Soo’s brother telling him that he should never find another woman.

After dinner, Mi Mo starts asking Hae Joon about Soo Hyuk, because she feels bad for misjudging him and wants to find him a good woman. Eventually, Hae Joon shuts her up with a kiss, then insists that she stop talking about Soo Hyuk, or else Hae Joon will sulk.

Back at their apartment building, Mi Mo finds Soo Hyuk’s apartment empty, but manages to find him outside, wallowing in his misery. When she asks about what happened between the two of them in his apartment, he fluffs it off. Mi Mo returns Min Woo’s bank book and advises Soo Hyuk not to be so desperate. Soo Hyuk tries to hide his disappointment as Mi Mo promises to help him find someone who will make him happy.

Hae Joon is drinking alone at a bar when Yeon Soo finds him. She wonders if the cause of his pain is the risk of losing Mi Mo or the love triangle involving Soo Hyuk. Hae Joon thinks back to the last time he lost Seon Soo to Soo Hyuk, and how Soo Hyuk apologized to Seon Soo’s brother after her death, regretting that they ever met. A bitter Yeon Soo notes that Hae Joon was not this emotional when she left him, and predicts that he will let Mi Mo go if she wishes to go to Soo Hyuk.

Soo Hyuk looks at Min Woo’s bank book and remembers the day he gave it to him with an introductory balance of $100. He cries as he reviews all the money Min Woo has saved to buy his father’s happiness

The next morning, Min Woo is as independent as ever. Just as Min Woo is about to leave, Soo Hyuk runs out for a hug. Min Woo turns him down flat and leaves, only to return and run into Soo Hyuk’s arms.

Mi Mo is hallucinating about Soo Hyuk’s hands reaching for hers, and resorts to looking at photos of Hae Joon to steel herself. At that moment, Soo Hyuk walks into Mi Mo’s office to get matched with a woman. Mi Mo covers the fact that she cannot stop thinking about that evening with Soo Hyuk, by peevishly directing him to be more specific about his ideal woman. He begins listing characteristics that match Mi Mo, and Mi Mo is unsettled, but acts flippant.

While waiting outside, Dong Mi gets accosted by an obnoxious man (Yoon Jong Hoon in a cameo) who recognizes her, but Wook intervenes, identifying himself as her boyfriend. Inside the café, she gives him a fat envelope full of cash, claiming that she wants to help even if it goes against his wishes. Wook pretends to overcome his personal objections to take the cash then serenades her. Dong Mi commits this karaoke performance to video, and at home, drives Ae Ran insane by playing it ad nauseam.

Ae Ran is experiencing dropping sales in her online store, and after a run in with a former junior idol bars her access to other idols, she resorts to a promotional gimmick: personal deliveries of purchases. However, it would appear that no one cares to receive a delivery from a former Angels member. That is, until Ae Ran meets her biggest fan; he cries at finally meeting his favourite idol and she cries with gratitude at being appreciated.

Mi Mo has found a woman who perfectly fits Soo Hyuk’s ideal, but he turns her down with a mere glance. A frustrated Mi Mo insists that he give her a chance, and Soo Hyuk simply leaves the date file at Mi Mo’s door. Still, Soo Hyuk eventually surrenders to the idea of blind dates, and waits at a restaurant with better hair for the woman Mi Mo has set him up with.

Dong Mi bring the scarf that Wook gave her to the designer boutique that he supposedly purchased it from, complaining about the pilling. It turns out to be a fake. However, Dong Mi can only think of how ashamed Wook must have felt about giving her a fake. Her girlfriends all disapprove, and Dong Mi deflects attention to Mi Mo’s boyfriend. Mi Mo admits that they have kissed, but she is less than enthusiastic about the experience. Then, it’s time to gather around Da Jung after her Angels collector’s card causes her to cry by reminding her how pretty she used to be.

At work, Dong Mi has just finished chatting with Wook, when she gets a bucket of dirty water poured on her by a woman claiming to be Wook’s current wife.

Mi Mo is at a restaurant with Hae Joon, but she can’t stop talking and fretting about Soo Hyuk’s blind date. Hae Joon finally loses his temper, pointing out that when Soo Hyuk is not physically intruding in on their dates, he is occupying Mi Mo’s mind. Mi Mo apologizes, thinking that as his friend, Hae Joon would not mind speaking about Soo Hyuk. Hae Joon insists that he already told her otherwise, referring to the time he kissed her to stop her from talking about Soo Hyuk. It is Mi Mo’s turn to be outraged about the ulterior motive behind their first kiss, and she leaves Hae Joon sitting alone at the table.

Hae Joon returns to work only to be met by Yeon Soo trying to find out how his meal went, then asking him to look at something in her eye. Mi Mo is stewing over not being chased by Hae Joon after her dramatic exit when she spots the former spouses. As Yeon Soo probes the possibility of reconciling with her ex-husband, Mi Mo suddenly realizes that Yeon Soo is a threat to her relationship with Hae Joon.

Comments

I thought my enjoyment of “One More Happy Ending” hinged on how much of the episode was dedicated to girl time, but Mi Mo, Soo Hyuk and Hae Joon did nothing for me in this episode.

Sure, there was screen time dedicated to the story lines of the girlfriends. The change of heart of Da Jung’s husband, Gun Hak was the least painful development, because it looks like Da Jung needs a break to deal with her possible mastectomy. However, both Dong Mi’s willful delusions about her conman boyfriend, and Ae Ran’s sour face and screeching were just grating. 

Unfortunately, I got no relief from the primary love triangle. Yeon Soo may give Ah Ni a run for her money as most annoying scorned female. She cannot stop sticking her nose in Hae Joon’s business, even encouraging Soo Hyuk to sabotage Hae Joon’s burgeoning relationship with Mi Mo. Yeon Soo does have a point about finding out who Mi Mo wants, but Soo Hyuk chooses not to take this one piece of good advice, and resorts to guilt ridden noble idiocy instead. Meanwhile, both Mi Mo and Hae Joon can’t stop obsessing about Soo Hyuk to the point where they can no longer carry a conversation with each other or even kiss without Soo Hyuk getting in the way.

I enjoy a good love triangle, but not when it is entirely built on strife and bad behaviour. Now that we are entering the mid-point of the series, I think it is unlikely that we will see the return of any fun, playful moments until a few weeks from now. However, it would be a welcome surprise to be proven wrong.

One More Happy Ending (한번 더 해피엔딩)

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