Witch Amusement: Episode 7

by javabeans

“I have telepathy~!”

SONG OF THE DAY

Casker – “모든 토요일” (Every Saturday) [ zShare download ]

Before I proceed with the recap, I feel I must point out something everyone’s probably already taken notice of, if only because I keep getting distracted by it: Despite the fact that kdramas are generally over-populated with good-looking people, I feel like Witch Amusement has gone out of its way to cast uncommonly beautiful ladies. It’s really distracting. I mean, there’s a good number of good-looking man candy too, which I fully appreciate, but the women are particularly striking, down to the lowest supporting tier of characters.

Top row: Yoo Hee, Seung Mi
Row 2: Sara Han, Secretary Hee Jung
Bottom row: Assistant chef Mari, Song Hwa’s girlfriend

Okay, now that I’ve gone and pointed out the obvious, onward!

EPISODE 7 SUMMARY

At the end of the previous episode, Mu-ryong had just grabbed Yoo Hee out of harm’s way as she stepped blindly into traffic…

After a moment of awkwardness, Yoo Hee asks why he’s here, and Mu-ryong admits he followed her from the hospital. He escapes having to explain further by pointing out that the traffic light has changed, and jogs away along the crosswalk.

As they walk along, Mu-ryong tells Yoo Hee “I told you so” regarding Joon Ha’s general unsuitability. Yoo Hee glares, and Mu-ryong jokes that her eyes are going to pop out of their sockets. Instead, she should open her eyes wider when judging men.

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Seung Mi, on the other hand, has been left alone at their friend’s bar and tries to call Mu-ryong, with no success. So she calls Johnny, who presumably gives her Yoo Hee’s number, because she then calls Yoo Hee.

Mu-ryong realizes belatedly that in his worry over Yoo Hee, he’d forgotten Seung Mi, and apologizes. Realizing the situation is tricky, he fibs that he had to take Yoo Hee to the hospital because she’d fainted. Yoo Hee doesn’t approve of his answer and gives him a swift kick in the side. And then another.

So Mu-ryong goes to Seung Mi, who’s disappointed to see that he’s brought Yoo Hee along. The atmosphere is strained between the three, although Mu-ryong pretends not to notice. While he’s away, the women size each other up, as Seung Mi asks how he’s doing working for Yoo Hee, and how much he still owes her. Yoo Hee asks if she intends to repay the debt instead, prompting Seung Mi’s response: “Why not? It’s not like he’s a stranger. There’s no reason I can’t.”

To rectify the weird group dynamic, Mu-ryong calls Johnny to join them. At first, I was confused that the normally perceptive Mu-ryong was being rather obtuse and inconsiderate — clearly both women weren’t happy to be there — but I think he made a conscious, smart decision to invite Johnny to balance out their group.

In any case, the group goes out to karaoke, which livens the mood. Even Yoo Hee seems to have fun — despite initially sitting by sullenly and drinking, when Mu-ryong goads her into singing (by saying she’s probably a horrible singer), she gets up and dances to a song with Johnny. (Mu-ryong and Seung Mi together are cute in a sweet way, while Yoo Hee and Johnny together are cute in a super-dorky way, which makes it awesome. I love dorky.)

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The next morning, Mu-ryong brings Seung Mi some homemade food, anticipating she’d be hungover. Seung Mi wonders if he also prepared a similar meal for Yoo Hee, and he assures her that he didn’t. Yoo Hee can take care of herself.

Instead, Yoo Hee is treated to breakfast by Johnny, who brings her an assortment of soups and sandwiches. She wonders how he knew she hadn’t had breakfast, and after joking that he sensed it through telepathy, he admits that Mu-ryong let him know. For an instant, Yoo Hee mistakes Johnny’s soup for Mu-ryong’s special clam broth, then realizes she’s imagining things. At the same time, Mu-ryong distractedly wonders if Johnny thought to cook some soup for Yoo Hee, since soup is the most comforting. Uneasily noting his preoccupation with Yoo Hee, Seung Mi asks if he can move out of the apartment — she can’t help feeling uneasy. Mu-ryong assures her that it won’t take long before he moves out: “We just have to trust in Johnny!”

(Personally, I wasn’t sure I understood Mu-ryong’s actions thus far, my Jae Hee adoration notwithstanding, because I would’ve thought he’d be more considerate of Seung Mi’s feelings. But at this point, I start to see his position a bit more clearly. He knows continuing to live with Yoo Hee isn’t ideal, but feels obligation to fulfill his contract by finding her someone who’ll love her. He’s developed enough affection for her that he wants her to be happy — but I don’t think he’s dragging his feet just because he wants an excuse to keep living with her. Rather, he’s doing his best to bring Yoo Hee and Johnny together, so he can back out of the situation cleanly and feel cleared of his obligation.)

Yoo Hee and Johnny make plans to have dinner together, and Johnny muses, “Why are people so afraid of you, when you’re so cute?” If there was ever a doubt as to whether Johnny really likes Yoo Hee, rest assured that this episode confirms that not only is he in luuuurve with her, he seems to have been so for a long time.

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Yoo Hee’s still preoccupied with thoughts of Joon Ha, though, who seems to be going through some difficulty himself, as he’ll have to leave his position at the hospital. Although the director had told Joon Ha could stay, he sees that his daughter is uncomfortable with Joon Ha remaining, now that their engagement has been broken off.

The situation reminds him of a previous incident when he was a student, when he met with Yoo Hee’s father under similar circumstances. The president had told him not to see Yoo Hee anymore, and even though Joon Ha had assured him that they were merely in a platonic senior-junior relationship, the president wanted to make sure they stay apart by sending him to study abroad.

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In yet another sidebar, Mu-ryong’s brother Song Hwa is picked as a candidate to be a model for one of Yoo Hee’s company’s ads. His parents ask the Team Manager if his pay would amount to $37,000, which would enable them to pay off Mu-ryong’s debt. I won’t elaborate more, except to say that despite being entertaining and enjoying the supporting cast, I find these subplots pretty distracting.

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Johnny’s feeling pretty sick, and Mu-ryong tells Yoo Hee she should drop by to check on him. She intends to, but on her way over to see Johnny, she runs into Joon Ha. After brief hesitation, her concern for Johnny is outweighed by her eagerness to go out with Joon Ha.

Johnny’s expecting Yoo Hee, though, and hurriedly works to clean up his place despite being ill. It’s so cute and sad. When Mu-ryong arrives at his door instead, having been sent by Yoo Hee (who was waylaid by “an urgent matter”) Johnny can’t hide his disappointment. Seeing his reaction, Mu-ryong repeatedly calls Yoo Hee to tell her to come over, but she blows him off, wanting to continue her date with Joon Ha.

Therefore, to get Yoo Hee to come visit Johnny, Mu-ryong pretends that Johnny’s a lot sicker than he is. When Yoo Hee arrives to see him merely asleep, she grows annoyed and asks Mu-ryong what he’s trying to pull.

Mu-ryong: “You’re upset, right? But so am I. When someone’s sick, how can you just lie and go out to meet another man instead? What was your urgent matter?”
Yoo Hee: “Well…”
Mu-ryong: “Who does Johnny have? Other than you, is there anyone he can call? You shouldn’t act like this.”
Yoo Hee: “That’s why I told you to come.”
Mu-ryong: “Am I you? Who is Johnny to you? When your man is in this condition, how can you go out with another guy?”
Yoo Hee: “Who says he’s my man? I told you Johnny and I aren’t in that kind of relationship, didn’t I?”

On their way home, Mu-ryong asks her what’s so great about Joon Ha, and why she likes him. Yoo Hee responds that people don’t need reasons to like someone, and Mu-ryong contradicts her: “There’s always a reason. Maybe you communicate well, or maybe he’s handsome, or maybe he makes your heart race. But there’s always a reason.” She might just be confusing her feelings with the past, because he was her first love.

Yoo Hee asks what Mu-ryong likes about Seung Mi, then, and when he hesitates, unable to come up with a quick answer, she throws his words back at him — maybe he’s confusing his feelings with those from the past.

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The next day, Mu-ryong runs into Sara Han at the restaurant, who’s surprised to see “Dr. Chae” working as an assistant chef, and calls him “Yoo Hee’s boyfriend” — which Seung Mi overhears.

Mu-ryong chases after Seung Mi to explain that the boyfriend thing was fake, but she just tells him, “Fine, I understand. But please, move out of that house.” If necessary, she can even pay the debt. But Mu-ryong is firmly opposed to that idea.

With her newfound discovery, Sara tells Yoo Hee that she found out Mu-ryong’s a fake. Caught, Yoo Hee admits that he was her fake boyfriend, and Sara says in surprise, “What? I thought the lie was that he wasn’t a doctor, but he’s not your boyfriend either?”

Sara can’t accept seeing Yoo Hee living such a pitiful existence, and offers to find a man for her. What about Joon Ha? She should just grab onto him, instead of just standing by like before: “Just confess your feelings!”

So Yoo Hee tries, but doesn’t know how to broach the subject to Joon Ha.

She asks Mu-ryong for advice on how someone would go about confessing her feelings for someone. Mu-ryong gives her an example of how to say “I love you,” but Yoo Hee still doesn’t know how to actually say the words. So Mu-ryong advises, “Then practice until you can bring yourself to say them.”

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Joon Ha meets with the President, who senses that Joon Ha and Yoo Hee are becoming reacquainted, and warns him not to meet Yoo Hee anymore. He’s become a capable doctor and can meet many other outstanding women — but Yoo Hee won’t do. Joon Ha isn’t pleased, but we see he doesn’t feel he’s in a position to stand up to the president, who did send him abroad and financed his studies, after all.

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Seung Mi arrives at Yoo Hee’s place, to Mu-ryong’s surprise, and has something to discuss with Yoo Hee. She hands Yoo Hee a check for the $37,000, which upsets Mu-ryong enough that Seung Mi sees that she’s overstepped her bounds. She tries to explain, nearing tears:

Seung Mi: “I didn’t do that intending on hurting your pride. It’s just that you, living there…”

Seung Mi: “I acted too rashly. I’m sorry.”

She cries, Mu-ryong hugs her, and I’m not sure I follow the logic of any of this. It’s all backward. Meh.

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Yoo Hee takes a combination of Mu-ryong’s and Sara’s advice in attempting to confess her feelings the next time she and Joon Ha go out. “Don’t rush, but try to set the right mood first.” “Don’t beat around the bush, and just grab the chance when it comes.”

As she’s about to tell him how she feels, Joon Ha tells her it looks like he’ll be leaving his hospital. She asks if that means he’ll have to look for a different hospital, and Joon Ha tells her he’s thinking of going back to the States.

Yoo Hee flashes back to when they were students, and remembers how she felt when Joon Ha told her he was leaving to study abroad.

So this time, she doesn’t let the chance slip by, and tells him:

“No, don’t go. Let’s date.”

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Additional comments:

I dunno. They’re starting to lose me a little on the story end of things… Somehow it feels like they are just trying to do too much, with too many characters, and too many subplots. It takes away from the main story, to the extent that people who haven’t been watching along aren’t sure who the ultimate romantic pairing is supposed to be. In fact, I’m watching along carefully and even I’m a little unclear.

On one hand, that’s not strictly a bad thing — it keeps things different, and interesting. But on the other hand, it muddles everyone’s emotions. I wonder if the writers are so enamored of all their characters and actors (and who wouldn’t be?) to really get their hands dirty and muck things up (in a good way, I mean). They want to service everyone, and give everyone a romantic hero edit… but that doesn’t necessarily work when you’ve got one couple at the core and they’re still far from gettin’ groovy with their feelings for each other.

Also, regarding Mu-ryong continuing to stay with Yoo Hee, and not taking Seung Mi’s money…. I understand the money issue, and the pride issue… but I also feel like Mu-ryong’s insistence on completing his contract is a writing contrivance. I understand it — but I don’t buy it. And that seems to be one of my growing concerns about this drama. I want to like everyone (and I do) so I don’t blame the characters for their confusing actions; I blame the writers more.

Well, at least it’s still fun enough that I’m not TOO bothered by it. It just leaves me scratching my head at certain points….