Side dish: If you want to look as dreamy as Seo Woo when you cook, try this recipe for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio from Serious Eats. It’s hard to screw up and it’s pretty tasty.
Episode Recap
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As Ha Won (Park So Dam) collapses in tears in front of her mother’s urn, Ji Woon (Jung Il Woo) races to her side. Ha Won tries to play it cool when Ji Woon shows up, but when he tells her that he was worried that she was in pain and hugs her, Ha Won cries her eyes out in his arms. Later, Ji Woon confesses that he was also thrown into turmoil when his real background as the Chairman’s grandson was revealed. The two of them bond over their complicated family lives.
Meanwhile, Hyun Min (Ahn Jae Hyun) and Seo Woo (Lee Jung Shin) are perturbed to learn of the visit from Ha Won’s erstwhile father, while Hye Ji (Son Na Eun) mopes over Ji Woon’s rejection, and Ha Won’s stepsister, Yoo Na (Ko Bo Gyeol) switches targets from Hyun Min to Seo Woo.
The Chairman still believes that his wife, Hwa Ja (Kim Hye Ri) is cheating on him, and gives her a chance to confess. Hwa Ja shiftily avoids the question, but only because she’s hiding something else.
Back at the house, neither Seo Woo nor Hyun Min can stop themselves from trying to take care of Ha Won. Seo Woo does the right thing by feeding her, but Hyun Min’s concern is interrupted by the sight of the track suit that caused him to mistake Hye Ji for Ha Won.
Ji Woon decides to clear the air with Hye Ji, and explains that he has feelings for Ha Won. Hye Ji is angry at him for what she perceives as his sudden about-face, but Ji Woon points out that she was basically using him to get over Hyun Min, and she would have been unsuccessful anyway. Hyun Min overhears this conversation and thinks back to his return from the US, when he unequivocally rejected Hye Ji’s happy greetings.
As Ji Woon leaves the house, he runs into Kang Young Jin, Ha Won’s erstwhile father and takes him out for a meal. Unable to resist, Ji Woon gives him some money, much to Young Jin’s predatory glee.
Meanwhile, Yoon Sung (Choi Min) is hot on the trail of Hwa Ja, as he spies on her for the Chairman. When Hwa Ja meets with the Chairman’s lawyer and obtains a copy of the Chairman’s will, Yoon Sung confronts her. Hwa Ja claims that all of her actions were for Yoon Sung’s sake, but Yoon Sung is too devastated to listen. As he walks off, Hwa Ja calls someone to set up a meeting of the Haneul Group board.
Inspired by her childhood memories of Young Jin’s kindness, Ha Won goes to dinner with him. When Ha Won steps out to secretly buy Young Jin a present, she catches him going through her bag. Later, her suspicions are roused when Young Jin admits to taking money from Ji Woon, and Ha Won leaves in a hurry.
Hye Ji is moping in a bar when she’s approached by a flirty guy she knows. He’s surprised to find Hye Ji receptive to his come-ons, but it’s not long before someone else in the bar alerts Hyun Min to what’s going on. Back at Sky House, unable to make up his mind, Hyun Min wonders if Ji Woon is going to pick Hye Ji up. Ji Woon is too preoccupied with Ha Won, and tells Hyun Min to take care of Hye Ji himself if he cares so much about her.
Ha Won runs into Ji Woon on her way back from dinner with Young Jin. She dashes Ji Woon’s hopes of a romantic drive when she tells him to stay out of her business next time, rather than making her feel even more pitiful for having a terrible father like Young Jin. Ji Woon is so taken aback that he can’t say anything as she walks away. The next day, he goes to Young Jin’s construction site, and picks up a cup that Young Jin had just thrown away.
In an interview at a radio station, Seo Woo confesses that his first love is currently passing him by, and describes Ha Won to a tee. On his way out, Yoo Na attempts to engineer a casual meeting but is overrun by Seo Woo’s fans, including Ha Won’s friend, Ja Young (Cho Hye Jung). When Ja Young points out Yoo Na to Seo Woo, he signs her book with a note to be nicer to Ha Won, prompting Yoo Na to throw a tantrum.
A day later, Hyun Min still hasn’t made up his mind to go after Hye Ji, too eaten up by the guilt he feels over her brother’s death. In flashback, we see Hye Ji’s brother hit by a car in the middle of playing with Hyun Min.
Ha Won meets with Young Jin to return the fees he paid for her mother’s columbarium. Ha Won tells Young Jin she can’t acknowledge him as her father, and when Ji Woon shows up with a DNA test, we find out why: she can’t believe that her mother would have loved such a lowlife (oh, Ha Won. Life has many lessons to teach you). When Young Jin tries to blame his pitiful state on the fire that destroyed the apartment building and killed Ha Won’s mother, Ha Won is having none of it: she tells him that his sad life is his own doing and walks away, with Ji Woon following behind.
Hye Ji goes for a date with the guy from the bar, but Hyun Min unexpectedly cuts in. Hyun Min reveals that the guy already has a girlfriend, and drags Hye Ji away. When she demands to be let out of Hyun Min’s car, Hyun Min goes to a convenience store and chugs a beer, forcing Hye Ji to drive him home. Unfortunately, Hye Ji hasn’t driven since she got her license, and Hyun Min practically climbs the walls of the car as Hye Ji slowly and painfully drives them back to Sky House.
Meanwhile, Ji Woon takes Ha Won for a drive in the country. Ji Woon apologizes for stepping in instead of letting her handle the situation with Young Jin, and Ha Won apologizes for being too harsh with him earlier. When they go for a walk in a field of windmills, he gives her the White Day chocolate he bought her, but the box is empty. Ha Won is unimpressed with his lame explanation that the chocolates melted, but when Ji Woon confesses that she’s the one he likes and not Hye Ji, Ha Won is speechless. He tells her that he’ll come to her from now on, and kisses her. Back in Toronto, my head explodes into hearts and flowers as she kisses him back.
Comments
This was a pretty satisfying episode.
We could spend more time talking about that kiss, but let’s start with Hye Ji. I’ve spent the past 11 episodes wondering if this character exists solely to drag down the story, and her actions in this episode didn’t help at all. So, when Ji Woon bluntly told her that he was being kind to her because she had been kind to him, and that he had feelings for Ha Won, I practically cheered. Not only because Ji Woon was going after what he wanted, but also because I didn’t have to sit through four more episodes of boring love triangle angst brought on by Hye Ji acting like a lunatic. Now, if we could get Hyun Min to talk about his feelings, we might be on to something.
As for Hyun Min, I can’t say I approve of his half-assed noble idiocy, or whatever you want to call it, but at least Ahn Jae Hyun made it entertaining to watch, for a change. In fact, this show has convinced me that Ahn Jae Hyun should always do comedy, because he’s brilliant at it; I laughed pretty hard when Hyun Min lost his mind watching Hye Ji drive.
We still have four episodes to go, so I’m going to predict that a lot of the remainder is going to be taken up with a couple of things: first, the drama between Hwa Ja, Yoon Sung and the Chairman. Here’s hoping that Hwa Ja isn’t as much of a jerk as she seems right now, and that Yoon Sung gets some love. Second, with finding Ha Won’s real father. Hopefully, she’s not related to the Kang cousins, because that would be super awkward after that kiss.
Noonas Over Forks 
Part of me is hoping she is related to the Kangs and becomes the heir with Yoon Sung swooping in to carry her off to be appreciated and supported properly as she deserves in their epic romance, but I know it will never happen. They could be the Queen and King of the Kang empire, taking the business world by storm, while being hopelessly in love with each other. There could be unicorns and rainbows too. I wouldn’t mind.
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