Although we have some cute moments today, we are coming to the part of the story where our characters are getting into more difficult times. Min Ho, Yoon Joo, and the Chief, in particular, are running into their shortcomings and the consequences of their past. They come out of this episode with flying colors, however, and we get to see them at their best. SPOILERS COMING UP.

Episode 7 High Points (Remember there are SPOILERS)

Bo Young ropes Min Ho into helping Dr. Ye film a treatment video. He wants to get out of it but she grabs him from the back to stop him, which is pretty unusual behavior for her. She asks him not to tell Dr. Ye that she liked him, but he becomes very snide; saying she’s not good enough. Giving him a dose of his own medicine, she tells him she’ll give up on Dr. Ye. “Just kidding!”

A patient and her husband object to Dae Bang’s blunt speech, create a scene, and threaten to report him. He worries for the rest of the episode about what he should have said. Joo Yong finally asks him, “What’s the use of regretting it now?” Ha. Lots of us worry about things we have said.

When Yoon Joo goes to the grocery store, she nostalgically watches couples shopping together. A strange man sees her with some surprise, watches her for a minute, and then avoids her and leaves. She doesn’t notice him at all.

Episode 7 Poetry

We get a couple of shortie poems here. Bo Young sends one to Dr. Ye and tells him this is her favorite poet. He looks up the poet and finds a museum about him. This first one is about the feeling of belonging.

The Cricket and I by Yoon Dong Joo

The Cricket and I had a chat on the grass.
Cricket, cricket, cricket, cricket.
We promised to keep our chat a secret between the two of us.
Cricket, cricket, cricket, cricket.
The cricket and I chatted under the bright moonlight.

During the filming of Dr. Ye’s video, Min Ho gets upset because he thinks Bo Young is enjoying the proximity too much. He suddenly quits filming, claiming she is smiling too much, and that it’s not realistic for a patient. He takes her place and lets her handle the camera. After that, they go to the museum and to dinner. Dr. Ye says poetry comforts him, and Min Ho counters that Bo Young’s funny antics comfort him, and tells about the silly things she has done. In the car on the way home, they hear a very apropos poem about jealousy.

Jealousy by Jung Ho Sung

The Fall rain only loves the withered leaves.
I felt so jealous that I tumbled about in the withered leaves
until the Fall rain stopped.

This fits so well because Min Ho didn’t care about Bo Young, thinking she was withered leaves until the Fall rain (Dr. Ye) came. Then he wanted to be a spoilsport.

After Dr. Ye drops them off at the dorms and drives away, Bo Young hits Min Ho on the back and tells him he’s a jerk. He responds, “ Don’t like him”, and suddenly grabs her in a hug.

Episode 8 High Points

The next morning Nam Woo and Joo Yong reenact Min Ho hugging Bo Young and getting pushed away. He tries to cover up and make excuses, and finally apologizes to her, which Yoon Joo overhears part of. She asks Bo Young about it in the elevator in front of Dr. Ye and gets angry when Bo Young snips at her. In revenge, she gives Bo Young extra patients, but Dr. Ye finds out and makes her take some of them.

He takes Bo Young to lunch to cheer her up and admits that he too had worked with someone he had dated and they had been talked about. On the way back, they pass a little girl with a cotton candy bunny so they get one and eat it as they walk through the cherry blossoms. Do you want to guess how many times she daydreams about eating cotton candy?

To You by Lee John Hwa

You’re everything.
All paths lead up to you,
All songs are meant for you
And I’m blinded by your light.
I can see only you in a crowd of countless people in the plaza.
I see you in every flower along the streets.
I see you in the coffee I make time to drink.
I can picture you along the mountain hills where the sun sets.
Everything in this world looks different now,
And “waiting” no longer exists in my dictionary.
I’m always close to you.

Dae Bang’s friend repeats a rumor that Dr. Ye could take over the therapy unit, and the Chief and Dr. Park overhear it. Dae Bang texts Dr. Park that he has something to say. Then that he doesn’t. Then that he does. Then no. The Chief and Dr. Park discuss it all day, and then finally the Chief confronts Dr. Ye and asks him to please look after the staff if he becomes the next head of rehab, and not fire anyone.

Dr. Ye gets back at Min Ho for repeatedly embarrassing Bo Young by putting him on the spot in the clinic. To cheer himself up, Min Ho takes Nam Woo and Joo Yong to a club, where they run into a Bo Young look-alike. (Who has the real name of the actress!) Min Ho dances with her and then accidentally calls her Bo Young.  He admits to his friends that he really does like Bo Young.  Later on though, he sees her looking happy with Dr. Ye and decides to leave her alone.

One of the patients Yoon Joo takes over from Bo Young is a pregnant lady who hurt her leg in a traffic accident. Yoon Joo is careful with her treatment, and the woman and her mother are very friendly. Later, in the hospital room, she meets the patient’s husband. It’s the man who had watched her in the grocery store, and it’s her ex-husband. She keeps up a cheerful front for him and for Bo Young and the interns. But once she is at home by herself she pulls out her wedding picture and overflows with tears.

Dr. Ye finds Bo Young’s USB in his car and calls to say he’s returning it, then calls again to cancel. Wherever he is going, he meets up with the mystery woman who has been calling him.

Episode 8 Poem

The Point of No Return by Kim Chul Hyun

Leaving the person you love
And turning around as if you no longer love them.

Hiding the pain in your heart
And turning around as if it doesn’t really hurt.
Hiding your unwanted parting
And turning around as if it doesn’t matter.

Holding back your tears and turning around
As if you’re not weak.

If you love that person you can’t turn back
Because you love them.

These three have something in common in that they are hurting and trying to keep others from hurting as well. Yoon Joo left her husband because he wanted children and she couldn’t have any, and she wants him to have a good life. Min Ho wants to let Bo Young be happy with someone who treats her well. And the Chief has a fatherly feeling for everyone in his department and feels like a failure for not being able to protect them. It is interesting that the conflicts in this drama are all about the strivings of good people.

What were they thinking?

Yoon Joo thought her husband was better off without her? Usually, we feel like there are better options than noble idiocy. What if she had been truthful with him? She is a person of contrasts, the way she can be teasing and silly on the one hand and strong and supportive on the other. Is Min Ho thinking about himself as an adult for the first time and how prepared he is (or isn’t) for life? Is he starting to see past the pain his family gave him and realize that other people have feelings too? Is he growing up, in fact? The Chief is an interesting mix of responsible and informal. Does he feel caught between trouble at work and trouble at home, since he hints at not getting along with his wife?

There, I’m almost caught up! Have you started watching this yet? If not, please do! It’ a nice change from watching heavier dramas, and it’s great to have no real villains or murders or revenge. It is drama rehabilitation therapy. With poetry.

Telzeytalks of Dramas With a Side of Kimchi