In this slow-burn romance, Yo is recognizing her feelings for Ren, but thinks they are not appropriate. Fortunately, she’s also finding closure with two previous love-interests.

We start off with Yo crying on the phone to Ren about the disastrous almost-date with Yu. Since we remember that he was in the middle of a date with Maki, it seems a little much that the clock goes from 10:00 to 11:30. She’s keeping him on the phone that long? Then he tells her to open the door and voila! He totally came to Nagoya, an hour-and-a-half ride on the Shinkansen! He is there to cheer her up.

Several days later we find her trying to calm her nerves by scrubbing kitchen pots. She keeps replaying in her mind how she woke up at the hotel in Nagoya, lying on Ren’s arm. She was surprised and embarrassed by the sexual attraction she felt at that moment.

Yo accidentally drops her phone into the sink and takes it in to be fixed. Having been told that you can dry out a phone by putting it into a bag of rice, I laughed out loud to see that she put hers into a bag of pasta! Afterwards she stops in at work, and her boss asks her to take over for someone who quit. She says she can’t, so her boss requests a recommendation.

When Yo gets home she runs into Ren, who has come over to fix her Mom’s computer. She feels awkward and brushes him off when he asks to talk. He calls her later, but gets no answer. (Yes, remember where her phone is?)

In a flashback to the evening in Nagoya we find more about what happened that night. We see a huge pile of empty beer cans and more on the floor. Yo and Ren are drinking together and talking about all their failed relationships. Yo admits that she puts up a false front with men because she thinks they won’t like her. Ren accuses her of not being a good judge of men and admits that he always got dumped because no one could accept her as his best friend.

Having become a little tipsy and lost some inhibitions, Ren lies on the bed and invites Yo to make a move. She leans over him, almost kisses him, and is overcome by giggles. Just then Maki calls and Yo runs into the bathroom, asking herself why she is hiding. When she comes back, Ren has fallen asleep. The next thing, of course, is that they wake up together. Ren leaves for the train, and Yo finds a sticky note on the door from Yu apologizing and saying he went home.

Back at work, Yo thinks things over and recommends Yu for the open position. It reminds us how Ren had said he admires her for seeing people’s good points even when she is angry at them. Yu overhears and apologizes for trying to kiss up to her. She responds that he is capable or she wouldn’t have suggested him, but to not to hurt people after this. She is finished with him.

Ai, the ballet shoe girl, comes to work showing off her wedding pictures to everyone. Her new husband, Jo Takao, had been Yo’s old boyfriend. He comes to see Yo and gives her a box of chocolates from Hawaii, saying he just wants her to be happy. Yo is a little uncomfortable with both of them.

She stays late at work with Marie, designing a new line of shoes. They find that Takao did the same routine with the chocolates on both of them. (Marie is the ex-ex-girlfriend.) Ai comes in to pick up something she left and includes herself in the conversation. They end up eating and drinking and talking about how they all met Takao. They bond, and Yo admits she was wrong about Takao and that maybe she’s matured. Now she is finished with him, too.

Ren is cooking takoyaki for Maki and listening to music by a pop band that he once was a member of. She invites him to stay and goes off to shower. He feels that he should tell Yo first if he has a new girlfriend but still can’t get through to her. Then he notices Maki’s marriage book, and finds the page where she wrote about marrying him within a year. He puts it back thoughtfully, and when she comes back he tells her he’s going home. She gives him a key and kisses him, but he doesn’t look that into it.

Out on the street, he sees Yo, Marie, and Ai walking home together. “She’s doing fine without me,” he thinks to himself, and leaves. Yo and her friends talk and laugh, fall down together, and pick themselves up. “It would be nice if Ren were a woman,” she thinks.

In some ways this is all a misunderstanding stemming from hastily said words in high school. Yo thinks that Ren doesn’t see her romantically (although we know he does) and Ren knows that she doesn’t see him that way. She is starting too, though. She may think it would be easier to have him as a woman friend, but my opinion is that they wouldn’t have stayed friends so long if he were.

Until next time,

Telzeytalks

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi