Side dish: When you have an excess of coffee beans, you throw a fit. When you have an excess of ripe bananas, there are plenty of uses for them. Don’t Toss Them! 10 Uses For Ripe Bananas.
Episode Recap
The excess of coffee beans is resolved when Mr. Hong roasts them, and the coffee house team scrambles to sell them to other coffee houses. Han Gyul is relieved, but becomes incensed again when Eun Chan acts sulky. In a fit of anger, Han Gyul fires Eun Chan over her attitude, and Min Yeop finally confesses that the ordering fiasco was his fault.
Yoo Joo cheers up a teary Eun Chan, but when Han Gyul attempts to rough house his way out of apologizing, Eun Chan storms out. Eun Chan runs into Han Seong walking his dog, and they have beers together while Eun Chan attempts and fails to describe the nature of her relationship with Han Gyul.
Waffle street vendor, Sun Ki joins the coffee house after his food cart is shut down, just in time to partake in the staff dinner at a BBQ restaurant. Everyone watches Eun Chan eat with a mixture of horror and amazement. She and Han Gyul still remain prickly with each other, but he becomes alarmed when a drunken Min Yeop kisses Eun Chan on the mouth.
Driving home, Han Gyul tentatively asks Eun Chan if she enjoyed the kiss, and Eun Chan provocatively claims she enjoyed kissing Han Gyul more. Han Gyul announces that he can’t wait to return to New York, prompting Eun Chan to worry.
At the grand opening of the coffee house, Eun Chan’s mother, sister, Eun Sae, and their friend, the butcher, Mr Ku attend. Min Yeop lavishes attention on Eun Sae who only has eyes for Sun Ki. Eun Chan’s mother flirts with Mr. Hong while Mr. Ku frets. Han Gyul’s family arrives and Eun Chan is intimidated by how wealthy they are. Eun Chan learns that Han Seong is Han Gyul’s cousin, and begs him to keep her sex a secret.
After the massive success of the grand opening, the coffee house suffers a dry spell. Han Gyul catches his staff playing hooky and challenges Eun Chan and Min Yeop to a game of basketball, before everyone frolics in the park fountain. However, Mr. Hong is worried about meeting Han Gyul’s grandma’s profit goals, and ends up arguing with Han Gyul about his marketing strategy. Word of the coffee houses’s slow business reaches Han Gyul’s family, raising the personal stakes for him.
Han Gyul spends his birthday working overnight at the coffee house and wakes up to Eun Chan blowing in his face. The sight is provocative enough to jolt him awake.
Comments
Only 만: This is my favourite episode so far, thanks to all the shirtlessness.
Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다: You know, I totally forgot about the shirtless basketball pickup game. It pleasantly surprised me when I rewatched episode 4, like finding cash in your pocket that you had forgotten about. I don’t know how Eun Chan was not distracted by all that glistening bare chest.
Only: Much as I’d like to go on and discuss their frolic in the fountain next, we should probably talk about everything else that happened in this episode. Like Eun Chan taking responsibility for screwing up the coffee order, but then getting angry when Han Gyul didn’t immediately forgive her.
Junggugeo Kaenada: It did annoy me that Eun Chan was so sulky about a situation that she created, first with her mistake then by claiming culpability. The only upside of the mess was that it gave us a chance to see what makes Yoo Joo so attractive to Han Gyul and Han Seong. She coaxed Eun Chan out of her hissy fit with her flasher story, and she was reassuring when she thought Eun Chan was gay. It was a nice moment, and a welcome change from the one-dimensional hated second female lead.
Only: I do like that Yoo Joo isn’t an insanely fixated malicious second lead, and it was nice when Han Gyul spoke affectionately about her later, when he said that he liked that she couldn’t be pinned down. On the other hand, there was an obvious change in the way Han Gyul looked at Eun Chan in this episode.
Junggugeo Kaenada: You’re going to have to jog my memory, because what I remember most is Han Gyul dropping Eun Chan the moment Yoo Joo called him. That was so shameless that I laughed.
Only: When Min Hyeop got drunk and kissed Eun Chan, Han Gyul became weirdly possessive given the situation. And, the way he looked at her when she wished him happy birthday was pretty swoon worthy. It’s clear that there were some budding feelings there.
Junggugeo Kaenada: While Han Gyul is struggling with his growing attraction towards Eun Chan, I can understand why Eun Chan is crushing on Han Seong. Lee Sun Gyun has a sexy voice, but frankly, he’s a strange looking guy. Yet, he demonstrated an understated charisma in this episode. I loved how perplexed and amused Han Seong was when Eun Chan frantically tried to get his attention then begged him to keep her sex a secret from Han Gyul.
Only: Han Seong seemed so relaxed and charming this episode. This is one of those times where my memory of the show differs from the reality. From what I remember, Han Seong is pretty much angry all the time. I’d forgotten what an easy rapport he had with Eun Chan.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Really, Han Seong should be happy all the time what with the life he leads. He and Yoo Joo are a fantasy couple: rich creative types with amazing bachelor pads. It is interesting that in this episode, Eun Chan reveals to Yoo Joo that she enjoyed art in school, but never pursued it as a career, because she had to support her family. It highlights the class difference between Eun Chan and Yoo Joo, though not in any critical way.
Only: Agreed. Both Yoo Joo and Han Seong seem oddly tortured given how carefree their lives are in comparison to someone like Eun Chan, who’s supporting her family.
Junggugeo Kaenada: But, enough about class wars. Let’s talk about that fountain scene.
Only: I don’t know if it worked as a bonding exercise for the waiters, but I did enjoy it, especially how willing Sun Ki was to join in, given how generally hostile he was the rest of the time.
Junggugeo Kaenada: I suppose that is what makes Sun Ki a lovable character; those unexpected moments when he is not an antisocial asshole. I did notice that the times when he shows that he is capable of bonding with the others increases in frequency as the series goes on.
Only: Maybe he’ll even crack a smile in the next episode.
Noonas Over Forks 