Side dish: Bong Soon and Min Hyuk were forced to eat breakfast twice. Good thing they didn’t have Double Chocolate Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce at either of their meals. It would have been too much of a good thing.
Gook Doo (Ji Soo) ignores Bong Soon’s (Park Bo Young) show of strength after he takes away the gangster who confronted her. Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik) walks Bong Soon home, promising to let her join the Planning and Development Team of his company after she catches the Dobong-dong kidnapper.
The next day, Bong Soon receives a new laptop from Min Hyuk for her to start her game proposal for the Planning and Development Team. Min Hyuk has placed his photo as the desktop image, which Bong Soon changes to a photo of Jo In Sung.
The Special Investigation Unit takes over the investigation on the Dobong-dong kidnapper after he claims a fourth victim. Gook Doo’s team finds themselves continuing their investigation in an unofficial capacity. Little do they know, the Dobong-dong kidnapper has them under video surveillance. Bong Soon becomes determined to beat the police in finding the kidnapper and eagerly resumes training with Min Hyuk.
Gook Doo admits to ex-girlfriend, Hee Ji (Seol In A) that he has loved someone else from afar for a while. Meanwhile, Kyung Shim gives Bong Soon pause by suggesting that just as Hee Ji’s feelings for Gook Doo have changed, so could Bong Soon’s feelings for Min Hyuk.
Min Hyuk decides to keep his brother’s responsibility for the harassment against him a secret. Instead, his father wishes to announce Min Hyuk’s engagement at the next shareholders’ meeting. In anticipation of the engagement, Bong Soon gets invited to have breakfast with Min Hyuk’s family where she amuses his father by calling Min Hyuk a weirdo.
After breakfast, Min Hyuk brings Bong Soon to visit his mother’s memorial so that he may introduce her. Then, they discuss the possibility of a man and a woman staying friends, and Min Hyuk draws in close to Bong Soon while claiming that single step can change a friendship into something more. Bong Soon finds herself comparing her relationship with Gook Doo with her relationship with Min Hyuk.
After Bong Soon’s latest beat down of three of Baek Tak’s thugs, he enlists a Steve Jobs styled expert (Yoon Sang Hyun in a cameo) who comes up with a voice-phishing scheme to draw Bong Soon in.
Thinking her mother has been kidnapped, Bong Soon is tricked into a showdown with Baek Tak and his gang. As Gook Doo and Min Hyuk race to the scene, Bong Soon learns the truth and decides to teach the gangsters a lesson in humility.
Episode Review
Only 만: It’s episode 8 and we’ve reached the halfway point of the show. How did you feel about this episode?
Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다: Unfortunately, this episode focused too much on what I did not care as much about – Baek Tak and his sad gang – and not enough on what I really wanted to watch – the burgeoning relationship between Bong Soon and Min Hyuk.
Only: I couldn’t even enjoy the cameo by Yoon Sang Hyun, because it was back to Baek Tak and his soldiers. And, thanks to that, we get a super-fast training montage instead of Min Hyuk helping Bong Soon gradually, over a longer period of time. Not only do I feel cheated, I’m not even sure how much time is supposed to have passed.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Well, enough time for the Dobong-dong kidnapper to claim a fourth victim. It’s funny how even that story line has become secondary to Baek Tak’s bid for vengeance. What I don’t understand is why Baek Tak continues to underestimate Bong Soon.
Only: Maybe Baek Tak is like the first boss in a videogame, not super smart, but with a big army. Now that she’s trained and levelled up, Bong Soon can defeat him and then move on to the final boss, the kidnapper. Then again, maybe I’m taking this videogame metaphor too far.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Game developer wannabe, Bong Soon would approve. But, enough about Baek Tak. What did you think about the progress in the relationship between Bong Soon and Min Hyuk?
Only: I was glad to see some progress in that Bong Soon seems to be realizing that Min Hyuk isn’t gay and that realization has changed the way she looks at him.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Bong Soon does seem more self-conscious around him, though I’m glad she hasn’t suddenly become shy. What I really appreciated was Min Hyuk taking a step to becoming more than friends with Bong Soon without resorting to a surprise hug or kiss.
Only: I think we could harp on for hours about how much we dislike surprise hugs or kisses, so I agree with you there, though I did find it odd that he would talk about his feelings in the abstract instead of directly.
Junggugeo Kaenada: True. Min Hyuk’s words could easily have been misconstrued as support for a relationship between Bong Soon and Gook Doo. Luckily for him, Bong Soon is aware that Gook Doo has been incapable of turning their friendship into something more. Though, that may soon change given Gook Doo’s realization of his feelings for her. The thing is, I am not entirely convinced of Bong Soon’s attraction towards Min Hyuk; her words rang hollow when she was listing his positive qualities to his father.
Only: Both Kyung Shim and Gook Doo pointed out this episode that Bong Soon is like a kid; she can’t conceive of the idea that she would ever like someone other than Gook Doo. And she’s so straightforward that Min Hyuk being gay would have been enough for her not to consider him at all. It wasn’t subtle by any means, but I guess this episode is the turning point for her feelings.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Unfortunately, Bong Soon still acts like a kid when it comes to reckless behaviour. She did everything wrong in falling for Baek Tak’s trap: not waiting to find out if her mother was safe, not sharing information with Gook Doo nor Min Hyuk, and just running head first into an unknown situation. She may have mastered her powers and fighting, but she still comes across as a dumb jock.
Only: Why the hell would she go flag down a cab when she knew that Min Hyuk was outside her home? Nothing made sense about her headlong rush into danger. Maybe the next level of training will be to take a second and think things through.
I love your reviews of this show. I agree with all of your sentiments here. I also wonder if the issue of her strength having negative side effects will come up again. Occasionally she shows off in these fights. Will that causes her to weaken? Gook Doo is starting to make me waver. He was so earnest during that breakup.
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