Side dish: If you insist on traveling via public transit like Eun Chan, you’ll appreciate some commuter-friendly bean recipes. Here’s a Recipe roundup: A bunch of beans.
Episode Recap
After getting gussied up by professionals, Eun Chan attends the art exhibition opening party with Han Seong, only to belatedly realize that the artist is Yoo Joo. When Han Gyul arrives, Eun Chan fights awkwardly with Han Seong to keep her face hidden out of fear of getting recognized.
Han Gyul is obviously disappointed to discover that Han Seong and Yoo Joo have reconciled from their last fight. Eun Chan also regrets attending, and cries all the way home on public transit about the happy couple
Han Gyul invites Eun Chan to his place on the pretense of having her order pizza for him. After passing his coffee bean identification test, she gains access to his secret playroom. They both decide to give up on their respective crushes. When Eun Chan passes out, Han Gyul tenderly touches her face before becoming alarmed at his own actions and kicking her out.
At the coffee house, Han Gyul enjoys messing around with Eun Chan and finding excuses for skinship, which everyone else notices. Min Yeop reveals to Eun Chan that he has seen Han Gyul frequently staring at her. Mr. Hong declares that love is in the air.
Han Seong goes to meet up with Eun Chan when she gets off work, feeling that she has been avoiding him since the exhibition opening. He apologizes for letting her go home alone. Eun Chan tearfully confesses to liking him, but has decided to get over it, and immediately feels better after unloading.
In other news, Eun Chan’s mother goes on a movie and dinner date with Mr. Ku, but refuses to go steady with him. Sun Ki is trying to track down a former girlfriend. Ha Rim has a hard time sleeping in the filth of Mr. Hong’s apartment. Han Gyul’s grandma is starting to suffer loss of appetite and vomiting from her stomach cancer.
Eun Chan’s sister, Eun Sae creates a video about the flower boys of The First Shop of Coffee Prince, uploads it onto the internet, and brings mayhem down on the coffee house. At the end of the coffee houses’ first month of business, the staff are happy to receive their first pay cheque.
Han Gyul becomes concerned about his growing fixation on Eun Chan and seeks out therapy. When he meets up with Yoo Joo, he asks to hug her to reassure himself that he is still heterosexual. Yet, his thoughts return repeatedly to good times with Eun Chan.
Eun Chan reports Han Gyul’s weird behaviour to Han Seong, and he suggests that Han Gyul might have feelings for her, which Eun Chan denies. After exercising together, Eun Chan showers at Han Seong’s and runs into Yoo Joo, revealing that she is a woman. Yoo Joo seems concerned by Han Seong’s deceit, but is friendly towards Eun Chan.
After being repeatedly hounded by Han Gyul, Eun Chan finally loses her temper. She starts blowing her bangs, and the action bothers Han Gyul enough for him to drag her to a dark corner of the coffee house. He forcibly hugs her in a bid to test his heterosexuality, and fireworks explode in their heads.
Comments
Only 만: Things started really ramping up between Han Gyul and Eun Chan in this episode, and I loved it.
Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다: But, first, Han Seong had to get swept aside in Eun Chan’s affections, and Yoo Joo’s art opening did the trick. This event served an important purpose in propelling the lead couple’s story, it was super entertaining, and Yoo Joo’s art wasn’t bad either.
Only: I found Eun Chan’s attempt to hide her identity at the art exhibition ridiculous and over the top. She would have probably passed undetected if she acted normally. In fact, I’m amazed she wasn’t recognized thanks to how weird she was acting.
Junggugeo Kaenada: I actually laughed out loud at Eun Chan’s antics at the gallery. Han Seong was amazingly patient with her. And, Yoo Joo’s amused reaction to this unexpected guest of her boyfriend was the cherry on top.
Only: The mood quickly changed after Eun Chan left the gallery. Her breakdown on the public bus was heartrending. Kudos to Yoon Eun Hye for making that scene work. Fortunately, this low brought us to Eun Chan and Han Gyul bonding over their shared heartbreak.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Yes, their pizza night demonstrates two of the strengths of this drama: the chemistry between Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun Hye, and the PD’s trust in their chemistry. They let the scene simply play out between them. Then, they topped it off with the intense moment when Han Gyul gave in to his growing feeling for Eun Chan, and caressed her face.
Only: Han Gyul is disturbed by his growing feelings, but fortunately for us, it doesn’t stop him from pestering Eun Chan at work like a school boy with a crush.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Normally, I would be against mixing work with pleasure, but his harassment of Eun Chan was super entertaining, in part because Eun Chan was pretty oblivious to his attraction. What was less amusing was Han Gyul’s idea that he could fix his homosexual attraction towards Eun Chan with therapy, though I still laughed when he found such relief while hugging a confused Yoo Joo.
Only: Yoo Joo demonstrated a lot of patience with the cousins in this episode. First with Han Gyul testing out his heterosexuality on her, then with Han Seong keeping Eun Chan’s sex a secret from her.
Junggugeo Kaenada: Yoo Joo is obviously disturbed by Han Seong’s deceit, but she does not place the blame on Eun Chan. Her congenial attitude towards Eun Chan is the reason why I tend to be forgiving about Yoo Joo’s selfishness towards the cousins. It is rare to see a second female lead who doesn’t treat the female lead like a rival while placing the men on a pedestal.
Only: We’ll have ample opportunity to discuss Yoo Joo’s selfishness in future episodes. However, I think it is mandatory that we take this opportunity to highlight Han Gyul’s hug with Eun Chan. Their heads exploded into hearts and flowers, and so did mine.
Junggugeo Kaenada: So much intensity from a mere hug! Gong Yoo really worked his character’s inner conflict to bring about this moment.
Only: Of course, Han Gyul and Eun Chan’s inner battle between desire and caution only ramp up from here. I can hardly wait.
Noonas Over Forks 