In one ear and out the other; is anyone really listening this week? While not everyone is saying they want to say out loud, we have a lot of letters that reveal our character’s true feelings. Our neighborhood ladies also come in clutch this week as they rally around RaRa. The plot points are all slowly coming together, but how many of them are progressing as expected, and how many are surprises?

Everything is Yellow

Our Gangster Private Investigator shows up several times a week at Stylist Mom’s hair shop, until she snaps that his hair is starting to break off. The neighborhood ladies tease them for being together, which isn’t quite true…yet. When he goes in for his check-up at the hospital, Stylist Mom goes with him and nearly faints when she finds out that her customer from Seoul is Dr. Cha’s ex-wife. Gangster PI neatly catches her, and complains, “How can she like that softie?”

Telzeytalks: They make a cute couple, and I notice that they are both wearing yellow, although not quite the same shade.

Clkytta: It’s totally a couple outfit, and he knows it even if she doesn’t. I 100% support this pairing. Her smacking him on the head is adorable; these two just have so much good comedic chemistry. He totally made my heart flutter when he caught her!

MiataMama: Why wasn’t I surprised when Gangster PI reveals that he’s originally from Eunpo and has suddenly decided to move back ‘home’?! I totally ship this couple and can’t wait for them to realize that they are a great match!

Kmuse: These two are perfect for each other and all the salon ahjummas agree. I love the gentle teasing they aim towards the couple.

Creating a Scene

Joon is being kept in lock-down at his house but manages to send a letter to RaRa. She cries when she reads it, which makes Ha Young decide “to go to Seoul and create a scene.” She gets Joon’s address from Gangster PI and drags Seung Ki along with her. Seung Ki is game; he announces himself as “the flying squirrel of Eunpo” and tries climbing over the gate.

Joon hears that his Eunpo friends have come and creates his own scene by pretending to faint so he can go to the hospital, which he thinks would be easier to break out of than his house. The part I wanted to see was Ha Young and Seung Ki sneaking through the hospital, finding Joon’s room, and evading the guards. Sadly, all we get is a conversation as Joon takes Seung Ki’s clothes and leaves him with the hospital pajamas.

Telzeytalks: Ha Young and Seung Ki really come into their own this week. I could stand to have a show about them. I want to see what else Seung Ki climbs over.

Clkytta: The side characters in this drama are just amazing. Ha Young is so fun and diabolical. I could totally be besties with her. I’m shipping these two so much, and I love how everyone keeps speculating about them. It’s super smart to keep their relationship on that are they/aren’t they precipice.

MiataMama: LOL, Clkytta totally called the hospital swap out! Ha Young and Seung Ki sneaking off to Seoul for mission Cause-A-Ruckus was just as much fun as I hoped it would be.

Kmuse: I love how these three characters are now on a more even friendship level after learning about Joon’s real age. They are super cute and cunning.

Reunion

Joon shows up in Eunpo to find RaRa morosely playing his favorite song on the piano and imagining he was there. She weeps through their joyful reunion and then surprises him by saying she has been staying busy to keep herself from thinking about him. He responds, “I stayed in my room and thought about you all day!” She thanks him for rescuing her and he apologizes for lying to her.

Telzeytalks: Poor Joon, he gets no sympathy for having starved himself.

Clkytta: I love it when she tells him that he’s got multiple personalities because he’s picked up some traits from his friends. He’s not the tsundere character we met in the beginning, and his little starvation fit was exactly like Ha Young.

MiataMama: FINALLY, they get the chance to talk!!! I thought it was interesting to see the subtle role reversal here too – RaRa is no longer as weak and clueless as she first seemed when she arrived in Eunpo. While Joon’s return home has caused him to slip back into rebellious teenager mode.

Kmuse: I like that we saw some different layers to their characters. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I started this show. They feel so much more complex now that they have gone through some growth and struggles. I also love how RaRa realizes that their relationship has to change now that the truth is all out there.

A Few Things to Send

Meanwhile back at the ranch…er hospital…Seung Ki is hiding under a blanket as Mom sits nearby, stewing. It’s not until the nurse tries to give him an IV that they pull off the blanket and discover the deception.

As Joon’s Mom proceeds to browbeat Seung Ki, Ha Young pops in and attacks. “It’s all your fault for locking him up!” Mom is nonplussed to have them return the money envelope she had given them. At this point Joon calls up to say he’s coming home. “I’ll send Mr. Kim for you,” Mom says, “I also have a few things I need to send.” So the car drops off Ha Young and Seung Ki, still in his hospital pajamas, and takes Joon back to Seoul. There he mostly cooperates and studies and eats properly, except for once or twice when he escapes to see RaRa.

Telzeytalks: Notice how Ha Young pushes Seung Ki over to make him bow when she does. You usually see people doing that to children. Haha. She completely has Joon’s mom off balance.

Clkytta: The world is not ready for a grown up Ha Young, she’s going to take it by surprise! I have to point out how much I like Joon’s Mom. She is just like Joon, all crusty on the outside, but she really cares. She’s a good mom, she just wants what is best for him. Her whole world is wrapped up in him.

MiataMama: Poor Seung Ki – he’s a trooper for holding out as long as possible and braving the wrath of Joon’s Mom! Friend or not, I would have called it quits at the mere mention of the IV – needles, eeeek!

Kmuse: Joon’s mother continues to be my favorite character. She is just so delightfully different from what I was expecting.

Blue Mood

Harabeoji tells RaRa how he met his wife, and about their favorite song. They had broken up because he felt he was too poor to marry, and when they met up again in the street, listening to someone playing that song on the piano. RaRa arranges a simplified version of the song for him and puts on a recital for him to play for their friends.

Telzeytalks: I can’t help but notice that Gangster PI and Stylist Mom are wearing matching blue shirts. Everyone else is wearing neutral clothing, so the blue will show up. Are they together now?

Clkytta: MiataMama and I cried buckets this week during Harabeoji’s story time. I want to put him in my pocket and keep him. This whole plot point is just so poignant. Now, I’m not sure that the blue shirts are intentional couple shirts, but I think we all know these two belong together.

MiataMama: The TEARS!!!! OMO – Harabeoji’s story really got me in the feels. . . I absolutely loved how they used the present-day characters to act out the flashback scenes. And can we talk about how handsome Lee Jae Wook looked in that cap, flashing his double dimples?!?! *swoon*

Kmuse: So romantic. I love Harabeoji.

Money Envelopes

RaRa falls on her bike and hurts her hand, so Joon runs down to Eunpo to see her, skipping out on a formal dinner with his parents. Mom finally decides she needs to have a talk with RaRa and arranges to meet. The neighbor ladies are hilarious imagining the usual drama pranks of throwing water or offering a bribe, but things turn out differently. RaRa is conciliating and promises to sort things out, and Mom is appeased. As Mom starts to pull out her usual money envelope, she notices RaRa has already given her an even bigger one. She has sold her car and is repaying all the loans that Joon gave her. After that, RaRa has one last date with him and leaves a very sweet letter saying she is breaking up.

Telzeytalks: All these people going back and forth from Seoul to Eunpo; it never seems to take them very long. So where is it? I found the village of Eunpo about 85 miles south of Seoul on the west coast. That could be it. However, Joon asked RaRa to meet at the ferry to Jeju Island, which would make their town a lot further south. The show was filmed in Mokpo, which is on the southern tip of the peninsula. That’s kind of far for all these quick trips. Let’s just do some handwaving and say this is an imaginary town. (Clkytta: When MiataMama and I watched, we were also speculating where this town is. She said that they were acting like it was 30 minutes away, but from her knowledge of the geography, it should be like 6 hours away!)

Clkytta: RaRa broke my heart here. She is just so good and pure. While she may seem like a ditz, she’s really very thoughtful. She showed up to a white envelope meeting with a bigger white envelope and the whole room fell completely in love with her, even Joon’s Mom. The respect on Joon’s Mom’s face said it all. We have to have this breakup, no one wants this breakup, but we have to have it so we can have another time jump.

MiataMama: The neighborhood ahjummas rallying to protect RaRa from the dreaded kimchi slap was the best! But, I might have teared up a bit when RaRa confessed that she sold her car, JuJu, to pay back her debt to Joon. (I still have my first car, also a convertible, and can understand how difficult it would have been to take that step.)

Kmuse: I love how everyone who meets RaRa really wants to protect her even when it is not necessary. So many great relationships in this drama.

The Benefactor Revealed (Finally!)

We finally find out for sure who the benefactor is! RaRa messages her dodosolsollalasol benefactor that she has broken up with Joon and won’t be logging in anymore. Dr. Cha meets her by the swings to talk and tell her that he had been very depressed but had seen her graduation recital and it had cheered him up and made him smile. She tells him she knew he was the benefactor, she just wondered how he knew the Twinkle song was important.

Telzeytalks: So she was right about the similar wording in the messages and the ribbon on the gift plant. Well, no one paid attention to him when he tried to tell them at the restaurant that day. He tried.

Clkytta: We all knew this, right? I like that he confesses to her during the time when she really needs a friend, and he wants to just be her friend. I really appreciated how he told her that she changed his life. She gave him his smile and laughter back, so of course he wanted to help her when her world collapsed. I tell my daughter all the time that we don’t know just how much other people need a smile and a kind word.

MiataMama: No surprises here. But I’m really thankful that Dr. Cha can be there as a friend for RaRa, to cheer her up in her time of need just as she did for him. I still haven’t forgotten about his case full of pills though – however, maybe things aren’t as serious as we had first supposed? Fingers-crossed!!

Kmuse: Not a shocker. Once again, I love how this drama knows how to develop friendships as much as the OTP romance. Truly memorable dramas are those that are able to do both.

The Business Plan

Ha Young and Seung Ki gather their moms and the other neighborhood ladies to explain their new business plan. They both hate studying and failed their college entrance exams, and would rather start their own business. We see the talk go in one ear of the moms and out the other, but we don’t get to hear what is going on.

Telzeytalks: I wonder how Ha Young can talk her mom around so well, but then I think she could talk anyone around. Notice how well she handled Joon’s mom, who is made of sterner stuff.

Clkytta: I can’t wait to see what this business will be. I loved how everyone thought it was going to be some kind of marriage proposal, but they both recoiled from that idea. They were dressed as “smart” as possible, with glasses as the necessary accessory.

MiataMama: Sorry, but I got distracted doing timeline math – if they’ve finished the CSAT exam, that means they only have about three more months of their senior year of school left. And if Joon is the same age as them, is it possible to avoid a time jump??? I know, I know. . . but the denial is strong over here, lol!

Kmuse: The glasses were classic. I love these two.

Runaway Bride?

Waiting for a check-up at the hospital, Joon overhears one of the doctors talking to Dr. Bang (the one RaRa almost married) about a wedding invitation from Dr. Cha. They are surprised because the picture shows Dr. Cha with RaRa. Joon grabs their phone for a look, sees the wedding is for that day, and immediately runs out. Dr. Bang looks at the phone again and runs out too. The scene switches to Ha Young doing RaRa’s makeup. Then we see Seung Ki at the church filming the neighbor ladies in pink and Dr. Cha putting a ring on RaRa’s hand. As the bride and groom start to walk out, Joon bursts through the door. Seung Ki grimaces as Joon grabs RaRa’s hand and pulls her away. Dr. Bang and Dr. Cha’s ex-wife drive up just in time to see them running down the street.

Telzeytalks: RaRa marrying Dr. Cha so soon after breaking up with Joon is a revolting development. However, I am suspicious. I seem to recall a lot of fake-outs in this show. If this is a trick, it probably has something to do with Seung Ki and Ha Young’s new business which they neglected to tell us about.

Clkytta: There is no way RaRa is marrying Dr. Cha. This is totally something to do with Ha Young and Seung Ki’s business. I don’t know if they are filming an advertisement for a wedding planner or what, but the whole thing was incredibly scripted and professional feeling. There was zero romance. Something tells me that Joon just ruined a lot of hard work for Seung Ki and Ha Young.

MiataMama: There is no way this is real! But it was fun to see Joon come running down the aisle to kidnap RaRa from Dr. Cha’s clutches, lol! (Did anyone else recognize the church from Fiery Priest??)

Kmuse: This has to be a fakeout. I admit I was a bit shocked at this development and am looking forward to our OTP getting back together soon.

Our Thoughts

Telzeytalks: I enjoy this show a lot, but there are so many coincidences! An amazing lot of these people saw RaRa’s graduation recital. What do we know about why everyone has congregated in Eunpo? Dr. Cha was the first person to choose this town and invited RaRa to come through Instagram. What is the chance she would actually show up? Joon happened to see the town advertised on a sign at the bus stop and came, so that is a coincidence. We found out how he met Haraboji after he got to town, and that is reasonable. But how likely is it that RaRa wold hit Joon with her car? Why would Dr. Cha live so close to the people she stays with? The stalker was waiting at an overlook for RaRa to cross a bridge, and we still don’t know how he knew she was coming. I don’t think we will find out.

Clkytta: After reading Telzeytalks comments I just have to say, it’s a small world? I just made myself laugh! I’m still loving this show. I appreciate that they wrote in that RaRa’s friend is the older sister to Jun’s best friend who died. That little connection makes it a noona romance and less icky. She wasn’t just some random person he fell for and lied to about his age. He knew she was the same age as his friend’s sister and he never thought he’d see her again so he padded his age a little. I’m 99% sure we will have another time jump, and I’m guessing a year or more, so that he can get through university and they will meet again as professional young adults.

MiataMama: Um, what was up with that preview for the next episode??? I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see it. Because I’m really just sad that we only have two more weeks left with all these lovely characters. I love how everyone is tied to everyone else, even if it seems overly coincidental. The world that has been created here is delightful and I’ve enjoyed escaping into the story for two hours each week.

Kmuse: So much great character growth this week. Now I need some great romance to finish out the show. I hope if we have another time jump it happens fast and we don’t have to wait very long for some satisfaction.

Until the next song,

The Fangirls

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi