We shift gears this week as we put the romance on the backburner and look at more important things. Like the fact that Hong Joo had a job. Huh? I don’t know why that surprises me. For some reason, I felt that waitress kind of fit the character but nope…. our leading lady is a star reporter who has taken a two-year hiatus from her job. Does this new plot twist work? Come join me as I discuss this as well as all my other favorite moments of episodes 9 & 10.

Yoo Beom is a jerk……….again

Every week I am amazed at just how slick and sleazy Yoo Beom is. It isn’t as if he is outwardly a perv or misogynist ass that we are used to seeing with drama bad guys. No, he is so much slicker and, well, just evil, than our usual bad guy.

Let’s look at his actions when being in the elevator with Jae Chan and all their co-workers. He doesn’t simply come out and say that Jae Chan is jealous of his past relationship with Hong Joo but states it in a way that makes Jae Chan sound like a whiny brat. He then leaves the elevator with a poor Jae Chan having to listen to his co-worker’s gossip about his nonexistent love life. Bwahahaha

Jae Chan’s expression when they chat about Hong Joo’s reputation of being a femme fatale is hilarious.

A triangle of visions

Can I just squeal over how adorable Woo Tak is?  He is definitely an unexpected treat… and I am not just talking about how attractive he is.  Woo Tak, always the cop, is writing down all the possible connections Team Psychic might have.  Thank goodness someone is asking the questions we all are wondering.

His findings are as follows

• Hong Joo  has visions about everyone.  Friends and strangers alike.
• Jae Chan dreams about Hong Joo.
• Woo Tak dreams about Jae Chan.

But Woo Tak’s truly interesting realization was that they might be having visions due to their extreme emotions from having their life saved. The connection all of them have is the person that saved them. Jae Chan declares that this can’t be true since the one time his life was saved (as a teen) was a guy….. not a girl. Fade to a picture of Hong Joo during her tomboy phase.

An awkward and religious lunch

Due to all the talk of Hong Joo being a femme fatale Hee Min’s interest has been piqued.  She finagles the work lunch to be held at Hong Joo’s cafe much to Jae Chan’s distress.  After everyone is seated, the four Christian co-workers begin a prayer circle which they use to bicker over a case they disagree on.  Poor Jae Chan just sneaks in between all their arms to share the chopsticks and side dishes. Hahaha.

Things come to a head when they decide to vote on whether to pursue the case or let it go. Whoever gets the most votes wins. Of course, Jae Chan is the undecided tie-breaking vote. When Hee Min starts aggressively snarking at Jae Chan for being a coward and not choosing a side, Hong Joo jumps into the verbal fray.

Hong Joo declares that the true cowards are the ones who declare that they are religious just to look good for the boss. It is statistically impossible that all four people are randomly Christian when it is such a small percentage of the Korean population, therefore, some of them have to be lying. I love Jae Chan’s softening expression as he realizes that Hong Joo has his back.

Reoccurring premonition of death

So it turns out that Hong Joo had been a well-known reporter up until two years previous. We discover that due to a vision of her death, and events connected to her job, Hong Joo had taken a leave of absence to comfort her mother’s fears.

But now that fate can be changed, Hong Joo is considering her future, as well as her need to go back to work.  Needless to say, her mother is not supportive of this decision.  So much so, that she takes away all Woo Tak’s future son in law points when he supports Hong Joo’s thoughts about returning to her career.  Poor Woo Tak.

Save my daughter….please

After watching her daughter mope and angst over her career decision, Hong Joo’s mom does the only thing she can.  She reluctantly agrees to Hong Joo’s decision to return to work and promptly goes to Jae Chan to bargain daily breakfasts in exchange for his watching out for Hong Joo.  Awwww.  This scene was so sweet.

I also really appreciate how this director somehow brings so much depth and sincerity to these type of moments.  Instead of being trite, these moments are just a thing of beauty and make me want to screencap every moment of the show.  It is a true trial to only choose a few pictures to express my thoughts.

I’ll be there for you

True to his promise to Hong Joo’s mom, Jae Chan shows that he is going to be there for our leading lady. Even if that means following her to work, grabbing her hand when she was too scared to cross to the SBC building, and letting her wipe her tears with his tie. Wow. Jae Chan is truly taking the plunge and giving up his attempt to keep his distance.

Jae Chan even agrees that he will walk her to work daily if that is what it takes to keep her safe…….and feeling secure. Awww. What a hero.

And he might be needed sooner than later. When Hong Joo arrives at her desk she sees a new windbreaker. The windbreaker that she was wearing as she died in her dream.

A suspenseful set up

I have to take a second to discuss our new bad guy who happens to be a local chicken restaurant owner. Hong Joo has already had a run in with him when he stole a piece of chicken from her whole chicken meal.

We witness Chicken Guy true nature after being in a car accident in which his friend?? brother?? was killed due to a lack of wearing a seatbelt. Judging from Chicken Guy’s evil laughing expression as the body was cremated, I would bet that this was not a natural death.

My guess is confirmed as we see a street littered with dead cats and kittens. Poor cats and kittens that Chicken Guy had been feeding behind his restaurant.

My Thoughts

Eeek  Those dead kittens brought fear and dread into my soul.  Just taking a wild guess, but he might have something to do with Hong Joo’s future death.

As for the rest of the plot……I continue to enjoy the pacing. The romance isn’t rocketing forward but instead is a steady presence in the background that becomes more and more solid as time goes on. I appreciated that instead of the kiss that didn’t happen last week, we got a deeper connection between our leads. They are learning to depend on each other and see each other beyond just the cute exterior. Which makes the romantic payout, and today’s hug all the more important. This Fangirl finishes this episode very happy and content. Except for the whole cat thing. That is just a level of freaky that I am trying to wash from my brain.

Kmuse

Dramas With A Side of Kimchi