Personal Taste: Episode 10

201 May 2, 2010January 24, 2016

by girlfriday

It’s “Game Over” this week, as our four leads stake their claims and advance into battle. New alliances are formed, old enemies make backdoor deals, and the innocent are lambs to the slaughter. It’s gettin’ good, but it’s also reaching the height of what it can be while still maintaining the initial premise, so I think this episode will catapult us into some revelations and new directions…or so I hope.

EPISODE 10 RECAP

Jin-ho has just popped Chang-ryul to the ground, and he gets back up to go another round. But this time In-hee steps in between them, taking Jin-ho’s side and defending him very pointedly to Chang-ryul. She even goes so far as to take some of the blame: think of what you and I did to Kae-in, and consider that Jin-ho is the friend she needs right now. Oh, the NERVE of this girl. This is of course all a ruse as she just doesn’t want Chang-ryul blurting out that Jin-ho’s straight, thinking that’ll send Kae-in right into his arms.

She sends the two of them in, pretending to be the loyal friend, and remains outside with Chang-ryul. He’s still in hysterics about Jin-ho living with Kae-in, but In-hee shuts him up: “Are you stupid?” Do you want me to answer alphabetically, or in chronological order?

Once inside, Kae-in asks if Jin-ho’s face is okay, and he brushes off her concern, saying she should tend to her boyfriend instead, since she seemed SO concerned. Heh, you’re cute when you’re petty. She realizes her mistake and insists she was just acting, as Jin-ho taught her to, so that she could pull Chang-ryul’s strings. Jin-ho isn’t buying that, since he knows that she’s no actress. Clearly there’s no winning this argument, as what he’s really upset about is built upon layers of lies that you aren’t even aware of.

She starts to walk away to get him an icepack, but he grabs her wrist (no!), making her squirm. Kae-in: “That hurts.” Well, at least someone acknowledged that it hurts. Is it too much to ask to go through one kdrama without a wrist grab? Just one? I thought we were in the clear what with all the cute hand-holding in this drama.

Jin-ho asks her, “Can you really do it? If I say ‘Game Over,’ can you really dump Chang-ryul and walk away?” Kae-in: “Yes. I can. What about you? Can you keep your promise that your best friend in the world will be me?” Jin-ho: “I said I would.” Kae-in confesses to being nervous when she saw In-hee jump to Jin-ho’s defense in front of her, voicing again her concern that In-hee will steal him from her. Jin-ho assures her it won’t happen.

Kae-in: “People’s hearts change. And In-hee is someone who always gets whatever she wants.” Jin-ho looks back at her, tears brimming in his eyes, “I’ll guard my heart. You just safeguard yours.” Aw. You two really need to just cut the wordplay and start making out.

Across town Tweedle Evil and Tweedle Dumb have coffee while discussing the really awkward love quadrangle they’re in. Chang-ryul just wants to out Jin-ho and be done with it (not enjoying the quality time with In-hee either), but In-hee is quick to stop him. Kae-in is only rooming with Jin-ho because she believes him to be gay. How would they benefit if she knew he were straight? Well, he sees the logic in that. She adds for good measure that Jin-ho as sweet best friend is much more appealing than Chang-ryul as backstabbing ex-boyfriend, which he should feel threatened by. She tells him that they’re in the same boat now, since she’s started to love Jin-ho. Do you even know the definition of the word? In your dictionary, is it: to suck the blood of, then take to fancy parties as accessory?

Jin-ho broods in the bathroom, thinking back to Kae-in’s reaction when he punched Chang-ryul, and doubting her claim that it was all an act. Kae-in tries to give him an icepack, but he pushes it away saying that Chang-ryul’s fists aren’t strong enough to do any damage to his face. Ha. So funny that he’s still posturing when Chang-ryul’s not around, and that he won’t even take an icepack because her concern for him comes too late (that is, AFTER her concern for Chang-ryul).

But they’re interrupted, as In-hee strolls her ass RIGHT IN the house. Can we set up some sort of security measures against this? How is one to sleep at night? Can Willow come over and do a de-vamping spell on Sang-go-jae?

Kae-in and Jin-ho stand warily by as In-hee approaches, and Kae-in asks what she’s doing here. In-hee sets down a bag of beer and tells them to drink and feel better about the day’s events. She adds that she would like to join them, but she’s sure that Kae-in wouldn’t like that, so she’s just going to go. OH, okay then. In-hee: “Kae-in, I’m just glad that you’re here for my Jin-ho-sshi.” OH. NO. YOU DI’N’T! Bitch, I will spork your eye out and wear it as a trophy!

She leaves, and Kae-in shoves the icepack in Jin-ho’s gut as a response. Ha. Kae-in goes in her room and thinks evil thoughts of how she will wear In-hee’s intestines as a necklace (oh wait…that’s me). Also a note here on In-hee’s use of “my Jin-ho-sshi”: The word she uses is “our,” but it’s not ours like yours and mine. It’s the plural form of mine, which is just the Korean way to say things like “my baby” and “my husband”; in direct translation it’s “our baby,” “our husband,” “our sweetiepie honeyface,” etc, etc, gag.

Kae-in gets a call from Chang-ryul who insists on waiting outside until she comes out to talk to him. She heads out, as Jin-ho watches, knowing full well where she’s going and who’s out there. She meets Chang-ryul, who says he hates that that jerk Jin-ho lives here with her, gay or no gay, but he’ll try to understand. He says he’ll put her wishes first and try to accept it if Jin-ho is the friend she needs right now.

Kae-in looks to be slightly moved by Chang-ryul’s understanding position, but I sincerely hope she doesn’t start to be too sympathetic to his I’m-going-to-put-you-first thing, since now we know that he’s complicit in In-hee’s scheme. I do have to say though, I find him compelling, even as a sad sack who will never deserve our heroine, because he does seem genuinely sorry and trying so desperately to win her back, on whatever terms she sets.

Back inside, Kae-in finds In-hee’s witches’ brew sitting on the stoop, so she decides to get on the passive-aggressive merry-go-round with Jin-ho. She knocks on his door and tells him to drink it, since In-hee brought it for “my Jin-ho-sshi.” He tells her to throw it away, but she insists he not pretend for her sake, and befriend In-hee if he likes—it’s no matter to her, since she doesn’t concern herself with all his comings and goings. Jin-ho takes that to mean she’s implying that HE shouldn’t be concerned with her affairs. Wasn’t she just going out to meet Chang-ryul? Why didn’t she ask him for his advice? Ha. Kae-in stutters an excuse that she didn’t want to bother him. He tells her to do it all on her own then.

Back in her room, Kae-in thinks to herself in voiceover: “More than when I saw In-hee standing at the altar with Chang-ryul, when she called you ‘my Jin-ho-sshi,’ I was scared.”

The next day at work, Jin-ho wants to call Kae-in, and practices what to say: “I don’t know why I’m like this either. If I was narrow-minded, I’m sorry.” But he can’t bring himself to make the call. Meanwhile, Kae-in thinks of what she’ll say when she calls: “Should I just quit? If I don’t get revenge, then we won’t have anything to fight about…” But she doesn’t call either. So in sync but blocked by so much inhibition.

Sang-jun comes into Jin-ho’s office to give him a little nudge—their design deadline is not too far ahead, and he needs to lock down the Sang-go-jae concept soon. Jin-ho sighs and says he’ll take care of it.

After work he stops by the grocery store, and as he buys up supplies, he says to himself, “Why am I going to these lengths…” Um, because you love her? Silly. He comes home to find that she’s not there yet, and then it starts to rain.

Kae-in gets off the bus and sits for a minute, contemplating what to do, then decides to just walk home in the rain, and leaves her diary behind. Jin-ho shows up just after she’s gone, (looking mighty fine in that trenchcoat, might I add), and waits for her. He looks down and sees her diary, and knows she’s already been there. By the time Kae-in realizes she left it behind and turns around to get it, Jin-ho has appeared, umbrella in hand, to shield her from the rain.

They walk home, and Jin-ho chastises her for being unprepared, and Kae-in wonders what he did with his car if he took the bus. He says he went home, which she realizes means he came here to get her, making her light up instantly. He says he doesn’t know why they’re fighting, but they’re both feeling crappy, so he came out as a gesture to clear the air. Kae-in asks why he didn’t bring two umbrellas, since he’s getting all wet, and he simply says, “then we’ll just have to stick close together.” Cheeky! And then he puts his arm around her the rest of the way home.

Turns out Hye-mi and Tae-hoon are stalking them, so they see the two of them in this very couple-like moment, and decide it’s suspicious, but stow it away for future use.

At home, Kae-in presents Jin-ho with a wooden apple, saying, “Accept my apple,” a pun in Korean for “Accept my apology.” (This inside joke has the delightful cache of being the only intentionally funny moment in BOF that had me laughing like a fool.)

She adds that she’s sorry for being “narrow-minded” about In-hee, and Jin-ho perks up at the use of the same word he was thinking of in his practiced apology to his phone earlier. He just asks if she knew it was narrow-minded, taking the low road. Heh. Kae-in touts her apology as awesome, but then Jin-ho trumps her: he’s gone grocery shopping to make her dinner. Kae-in becomes a puddle of goo right into his chest, making him smile his thousand-watt smile at her undiscerning love of food.

Oh, puppy, your love for her is just written all over your face, and I think I may never recover.

Young-sun and Sang-jun meet for mani-pedis, where Young-sun asks Sang-jun to model for her, making his entire year.

Back at Sang-go-jae, someone peels an apple, and I’m about to launch into another diatribe—you guys know how I feel about plates of fruit—but then it’s revealed to be Jin-ho! Well I’ll be damned. It’s nice to see a guy peeling an apple for once. Kae-in watches in awe as he peels the apple in his trademark perfectionist manner, and marvels, “You even peel apples well. You can cook, you clean, you peel apples…is there anything you don’t do well?” Jin-ho replies in earnest, “No.” Heh. Kae-in decides he’s lacking in one thing: modesty.

They discuss plans for tomorrow, and Jin-ho wants to clean and catch up on work, while Kae-in wants to go see the Spring blossoms. But instead, they get roped into doing this…

HA. But Sang-jun turns out not to be so good at the modeling, so Young-sun has Jin-ho do some shots too. This one in particular had my coffee coming out my nose:

Kae-in sneaks over to Young-sun at some point and asks if she’s really using Sang-jun as a model for skincare products, and Young-sun fesses up that he’s the Before picture, while Jin-ho is the After. Haha. That’s just mean.

Kae-in gets a call from Chang-ryul, prompting Young-sun to take out her claws, but she denies him a date for today, saying she’ll see him tomorrow. When Jin-ho comes up, she asks him to do another training session with her, and the two of them go off arm in arm. Young-sun and Sang-jun watch them go, and Young-sun picks up on the weirdness. Sang-jun comments that they’re a well-matched couple, and then has to pretend he’s talking about birds.

Jin-ho and Kae-in walk in the park, and Jin-ho asks when the revenge scheme will end. Kae-in throws around some options: when Chang-ryul proposes, she could throw the ring and stomp on it. Or she could just not show up on the day of their wedding. Maybe Jin-ho could come and whisk her away in front of him—she likes that one. Jin-ho doesn’t see why he should do such a thing, but then after a pause he decides he’ll do it. “If it happens like that, I’ll run away with you…because we’re friends.” Listen, you two…this is getting complicated with the fantasy/revenge plot threatening to take over your actual romance, and that’s not even factoring in the gay issue.

They’re almost home, and Kae-in asks if he’ll take her hand like so…and run off with her in front of Chang-ryul. She asks him to promise, and they walk home holding hands, interlocking fingers in the height of adorableness. Only that’s exactly when Hye-mi, Mom, and Tae-hoon pop out of Sang-go-jae. (Do we not have locks on this super-secret house??) Oh, crap. Mom is the fainting kind.

Inside, Jin-ho tries to comfort Mom, but she can’t believe he’d live! With a woman! Kae-in tries to explain that it’s not like THAT, but Hye-mi freaks out in her shrill manner that SHE is Jin-ho’s fiancée. Kae-in’s look of: “you’re who’s what, in the what now?” is enough to get Jin-ho out to her room for a private chat.

Kae-in tries to convince Jin-ho to come out to his mother (oh dear), and to that poor girl Hye-mi (that might work to your advantage, dude). He says this isn’t the time for that, but Kae-in takes it as a sign of reluctance to traumatize his mother by outing himself. She insists that all moms are on their children’s sides and that she’ll understand and accept him. (I sincerely wish this to be true, even for one mom or future mom in the audience—then this show will have done something right.)

But Jin-ho thinks that’s ludicrous (obviously, the most important reason being that he’s NOT actually gay): “You want me to tell my mother that I’m GAY? Are you in your right mind?” And then the doors swing open, and Mom, Hye-mi, and Tae-hoon are standing right outside. Haha. Paper wall is definitely one for the Cons column in my “To Live in a Han-ok House: Pros and Cons” list.

Mom faints, again, but Jin-ho catches her and insists he’s not gay. To prove it, he puts his arm around Kae-in, and says: “I love this woman. I want to marry her.” Oh my goodness! Everyone including me freaks out, and Jin-ho tells Kae-in to formally introduce herself to his mom, which she does, in a stupor. Are we going to get into a contract relationship on top of everything else? My head is going to burst from Too! Many! Plot! Devices!

That confession threw me for a loop. It’s kind of heartbreaking, even in the midst of being shocking and crazy, because it’s what he really wants but can’t have.

Mom asks if Kae-in loves Jin-ho. He can’t believe this is being asked (because he assumes the answer is no). Kae-in doesn’t know what to say (because she thinks this is all a ruse, since he’s gay). She looks up at him and he eyeballs her to say yes, so she does: “Yes, I love him.” Oh, what a tangled web we weave, Jeon Jin-ho.

Later that night, Kae-in wonders how on earth Jin-ho could have said such a lie to his mother’s face, with no regard for how to follow through on it. Young-sun comes over to try and talk some sense into her about Jin-ho. She’s thought about it all day, and has come to the conclusion that Kae-in is in dangerous territory. To her eyes, it looks like Kae-in is seeking revenge on Chang-ryul just so that she has a project to do with Jin-ho, and not the other way around. Astute, good friend.

Young-sun, ever the loyal one, tries to talk Kae-in out of her feelings for Jin-ho, before she falls any deeper: “Even if there’s no goalkeeper, that’s not a goal you can make.” Haha. Kae-in knows this (it’s not like she’s wanting to change Jin-ho), but she says things just got more complicated….Jin-ho wants to marry her.

Jin-ho, meanwhile, has to run down to the river to…keep Hye-mi from throwing herself in. Pffft. She hasn’t gotten very far, what with all the flailing about and screaming, letting Tae-hoon hold her off until Jin-ho gets there. Jin-ho turns her around: “Hye-mi, listen closely. I have never loved you.” Hye-mi says she can love enough for the both of them. Jin-ho: “Love is not something you do by yourself. The person who loves you…is right here.” He grabs Tae-hoon and puts the two of them face to face. Hye-mi: “I don’t love him.” Jin-ho: “Then what? You’re going to die because of me, who doesn’t love you? Go ahead.” Tae-hoon rushes to her side. Jin-ho tells her to look at Tae-hoon, and she’ll fall in love. He leaves, and Tae-hoon finally gets to step up and hug her.

Back at home, Young-sun can’t believe what Kae-in is telling her. “What are you going to do, if Jin-ho’s mother comes and tells you to marry him?” Kae-in: “Couldn’t I…do it?” Young-sun thinks she’s gone insane. Kae-in: “He can’t bring himself to tell her the truth. If I can be his shelter from the wind…couldn’t I do that?” Young-sun properly flips out: “You’re going to spend the rest of your life being his shelter from the wind…when he can’t even hold you as a woman?” Kae-in: “Couldn’t we…live as friends?”

And then Young-sun puts her finger right on the nose: “That’s just all an excuse! You just want to keep Jin-ho by your side, isn’t that it?” Young-sun wonders why she ever made Kae-in put the room up for rent, thinking she did this to her. It’s a really sad moment, actually, despite the crazy, because between these two friends, Jin-ho is gay, and Kae-in’s gotten to the point that she’s willing to throw her life away just to stay close to someone who can never love her back. Tragic.

Jin-ho comes home, and Kae-in tells him that if he really doesn’t have the courage to tell his mom the truth, if he really wants her to see him live like an “ordinary” man (cringing at the use of “ordinary” or “normal” in this context), then she’ll marry him. “If I can be your shield, then you can live your life without judgment or persecution from other people.” Okay, I get that this sentiment is very above-and-beyond for her, but can we please not advocate the ruse of heterosexual marriage-as-beard by making it some grand romantic gesture? If you really loved him, you would be fighting for his right to live the rest of his life as himself—in front of his mother and the rest of the world.

Jin-ho can’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. He practically shouts at her: “Don’t you have the basic common sense to know that marriage is supposed to be between two people who are in love? How many times do I need to tell you to love yourself more, for you to understand me?!” It’s sweet because it’s so heartfelt—for him, the fact that she’s willing to sacrifice her happiness (not knowing she really loves him), is frustrating because he wants her to be stronger than that. He wants what’s best for her, without even considering that it might be him.

Kae-in gets up, tears in her eyes, saying: “But you’re someone who can’t marry the person you love.” Aw, tear my heart and serve it to the birds, why don’t you. She adds, “Even though you can’t love me as a woman, I think I could go forever…with you.” Jin-ho drops the formalities and speaks to her in banmal: “This is why you’re always a victim. Because you say stupid things like you’ll marry your gay best friend.” Kae-in admits she may do stupid things, but Jin-ho thinks of her as his best friend in the world, and for that friend—she could do anything.

Then Jin-ho drops a bomb: “Let’s not be friends anymore. I’m so weary; I can’t do this.” He leaves Kae-in stunned, lost as to how she went from future beard-wife to ex-friend. It’s the same phrase he had said to Eun-soo in flashback, when he wanted to be more than friends…but this time he means it as goodbye.

Jin-ho goes to his room and broods aloud: “You should have asked if I could love you as a woman…stupid girl.” Dude, are we really going to brood that semantics was the reason you didn’t tell her that you’re not gay? Really? Do you think that just because you’re cute and teary-eyed that you’re going to sneak that one by me?

The next day, Young-sun goes to Do-bin’s office to do a little matchmaking. She invites him to Sang-go-jae for dinner, using his kindness to Kae-in as an excuse. Do-bin’s really awkward sense of humor comes to the fore, as he and Young-sun chat, and mostly it’s cute because he really does seem like someone who’s lonely at the top.

Chang-ryul gets blown off once again by Kae-in, and goes to see his father, who happens to be on the phone with Kae-in’s dad. He tries to invite himself over to see the professor, using the kids’ marriage as an excuse, but that doesn’t fly, as the professor is busy, and planning to come back to Korea soon anyway. Chang-ryul gets mad that his father keeps getting involved in his love life, but Dad doesn’t care, since they’re running out of time.

MS Group has turned over all the decision-making to Do-bin, so Dad wants some assurance they’ll beat out Jin-ho, and Kae-in’s father is the key. Chang-ryul doesn’t see why they can’t just come up with a better design and win the contract; Dad is like, why on earth would we skip a shortcut and go the long way around? Haha. That says everything we need to know about a character in one statement, doesn’t it?

Chang-ryul goes to find Kae-in at the museum to talk. He knows they’re just friends, but does she have to live with Jin-ho? She comes to Jin-ho’s defense, saying that the only way she got through the last rough patch (ahem, that means YOU) was because of Jin-ho. She tells him that she’s not ready to open her heart yet, and right now, her friend Jin-ho is more important to her than Chang-ryul. That’s a serious blow to Chang-ryul, who can’t even stand Jin-ho being near Kae-in, let alone being her first priority above himself. He slinks away, feeling defeated.

He runs into In-hee, and asks her if she’s confident. Um…I’m pretty sure she had her heart surgically removed and replaced it with more confidence. She replies yes, she’s confident that she can make Jin-ho hers. Chang-ryul shares his fears about Kae-in and Jin-ho, and tells her that this time, he doesn’t want to fail at love.

Young-sun calls Jin-ho to make sure he’ll be home for dinner. Sang-jun gets upset that unni didn’t invite him, but they get interrupted by a call from Chang-ryul. Jin-ho goes down to the river, under a bridge, to meet him. Under a bridge? Are you going to kill him for the blood money?

Chang-ryul says that this is the first time he’s ever waited for Kae-in, and now he knows what it felt like for her. He tells Jin-ho that he did a background check on him and knows that he’s not gay. Yeah…how does one do that kind of background check, exactly? Anyway, Jin-ho knows he’s caught.

Chang-ryul says he was going to tell Kae-in that Jin-ho is a bastard who’s pretending to be gay to use Do-bin, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to hurt her, and make her lose her friend, who she really needs right now. (Well, it says something that he’d rather protect Kae-in than just out Jin-ho to get what he wants.) He demands that Jin-ho move out of the house, right this second, friendship in tact, making a clean break from Kae-in.

Young-sun has prepared a nice spread for her debut at matchmaking, and Do-bin arrives, spiffed up and basket of flowers in hand. Your mother raised you right. Kae-in is surprised to see him, and then Jin-ho walks in…

Commence most awkward dinner ever, where two parties of the love triangle are under the impression the man they both love is gay. It’s beyond awkward, especially when Young-sun pulls the old phone call—”something BAD happened?”—move, dragging Kae-in out to find her missing son. Kae-in, being dull as a nub, thinks they’re really in an emergency, which Young-sun is quick to disabuse her of, once they’re outside. She tells her it’s the only way she’ll let go of Jin-ho and move on.

Inside, the two men completely freeze, as Do-bin realizes that Jin-ho wasn’t complicit in this dinner and feels cornered. He graciously offers to leave, but does betray his deep affection and vulnerability in a slip, calling him “my Jin-ho-sshi,” using the same words that In-hee did earlier. He blushes, embarrassed, and it’s so sweet, this boyish crush he has, that I’m going to cry when he gets his heart broken. Bad Jin-ho!

He paces in the yard, waiting for Kae-in to come home. She finally arrives, and he tears into her. “You said you would even marry me, but I guess you got scared? Did you think your life would become a joke that way? Did you think that you could solve the problem easily by pushing me off onto Director Choi?” Uh-oh. Them’s fightin’ words. Kae-in tries to explain that’s not what this is, but there’s no use. You’re not allowed to be upset at mistakes she’s making when you’re playing with a full deck and she isn’t! I’m talking here about levels of knowledge, not sanity.

Jin-ho declares that he’s moving his stuff out this weekend…and he’s leaving right now. And thus, the separation begins.

At the office, Sang-jun tries to talk some sense into Jin-ho who has been sleeping there the last two nights and not eating anything. He thinks back to Chang-ryul’s ultimatum to leave Kae-in’s side, and says to himself, “Are you satisfied? Not even leaving her as a friend?”

Just then, In-hee slithers into his office, inviting him to a musical, adding that Kae-in and Chang-ryul will be in attendance. Jin-ho says it has nothing to do with him, but In-hee tells him that Kae-in is thinking of going back to Chang-ryul. Won’t he be a true blue friend and show her that it’s okay for her to move on by accompanying In-hee to the play? Aargh….please see through her plan, please see through her plan. Damnit. I hate it when the smartest person in the room is also the evilest.

The four of them run into each other at the musical, of course as planned by In-hee and Chang-ryul. And their seats are right next to each other. The whole date is played out with no dialogue, but you can tell exactly what’s going on with each character in every little moment.

During the musical, In-hee steps up her game, whispering in Jin-ho’s ear, and then fondling his hand for Kae-in to see. Aaack! Get your grubby paws off of him! Jin-ho squirms, but he lets it happen, taking In-hee’s advice hook, line, and sinker.

Finally Kae-in can’t take it anymore and runs out of the theater, and Chang-ryul follows after her. Jin-ho and In-hee catch up to them, in earshot but in the background. Kae-in tells him, “I can’t do this anymore. I was going to get revenge. Just as you threw me away, I wanted to do the same to you. But…I’m not going to. I can’t do it anymore.”

That’s the thing Jin-ho’s been waiting to hear, all this time. Chang-ryul says it’s okay, that they’ll start over, no matter how it began. Kae-in: “You can’t change me. You don’t know…to whom…my heart has gone.”

Jin-ho hears this and walks right over to them, grabbing Kae-in by the arm and turning her around. He says, full of meaning, “Game over.”

And then? Omo. He lays a kiss on her…that is so EPIC that it kills me dead. No punches pulled, no sneaky angles—just a full-on, no-one-else-exists-right-now-but-you-and-me kind of kiss—that makes me think I fell asleep and dreamed it into existence. Gah. Can squee be an understatement? Cause it kind of feels like one now. Will someone please peel me off the floor?

I’ll be honest—that kiss saved this episode, because it was starting to feel too heavy for its own britches at a certain point. I was begging for some levity in the latter half, hoping against hope that we wouldn’t end on some angsty run-in schemed up by the exes. We did end up in In-hee’s trap, only the result was delightfully and unexpectedly smoochy, and in In-hee’s smug little face to top it off. Points for that.

So far the romance is progressing nicely, although I’m starting to get Coffee-Prince-anxiety. Early on, the gay was a misunderstanding that devolved…but now Jin-ho is a LYING LIAR WHO LIES…and it’s going to take some time to redeem him, if we want any satisfaction in their eventual togetherness. I’m going to be watching the next few with my hands over my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable doom and gloom of the Not Gay. Good thing that kiss is seared into my brain…