Emergency Couple: Episode 10

by Slappyunni

There’s a cherished law in rom-com dramaland: A jealous hero makes for a childish hero, and amusing hijinks must always ensue. And that is exactly what happens in this episode—along with realizations of what such jealousy must mean. But the childish antics are balanced with those little gestures that speak of earnestness and love, and these gestures begin to make headway on our heroine.

EPISODE 10 RECAP

On the rooftop of the hospital, Jin-hee looks shocked at Chang-min’s jealous outburst. “What are you talking about?” she asks. Chang-min shouts back, “You’re asking because you don’t know? You’re falling for Chun-soo, aren’t you? I can tell just by looking at your face.”

Jerking herself out of his grip, Jin-hee replies, “Whomever I fall for, it’s not like I’m cheating on you…I can understand you might feel uncomfortable but look, I’m okay. Whether you date or marry Ah-reum, I don’t care. I won’t be uncomfortable with it either. Isn’t that how it should be? Seeing as how we’re divorced?”

Jin-hee walks away, leaving Chang-min hurt and confused.

In a stairwell, Jin-hee recalls the conversation where Chun-soo informed her that it was actually Chang-min who averted her dismissal, and that it was therefore Chang-min who deserved her gift. Jin-hee insisted that Chun-soo keep the gift, calling it a token of her respect and thankfulness.

Yong-gyu finds Chang-min busily handwriting information for the after-effects and treatment of meningitis. When Yong-gyu asks who has meningitis, Chang-min immediately replies, “My nephew,” before catching himself. Because Chang-min’s arm aches from all the writing, Yong-gyu suggests simply printing the information. Chang-min’s response: “Hey, punk. If I just print it, there’s no sincerity or good will in the action.”

Chang-min goes to deliver his painstakingly written handiwork to Jin-hee but he stops when Chun-soo pulls Jin-hee aside. Chun-soo has beaten him to the punch again; he gives Jin-hee a drug prescription for Baby Guk. Chang-min watches Jin-hee’s thankful reaction in disgust.

Jin-hee finally notices Chang-min, and he hurriedly hides his plastic baggie of notes and prescription medication behind his back. When a nurse calls for Chang-min, he walks off and throws the baggie into a nearby wastebasket.

Jin-hee comes home to utter chaos. Kwang-soo is shouting in excitement at the blaring TV, Jin-ae is shouting at Kwang-soo, and the entire kitchen is piled high with dirty dishes. As Jin-hee takes all of this in, Baby Guk then starts to cry in the other room. Things only get worse when Jin-ae accidentally drops a baby bottle, splashing boiling water onto Jin-hee’s foot.

Cranky and hungry, Jin-hee limps over to her mom’s spa. She gives her mom the medication for Baby Guk. When her mom learns that it was provided by Chun-soo, she excitedly remarks that Chun-soo must think of Jin-hee as family and gives her a nudge-nudge wink-wink of encouragement.

Meanwhile, Kwang-soo’s got that special gleam in his eye and his bare toes are walking suggestively up Jin-ae’s leg. Noooo, Guk is still awake and right there, you randy people! Think of the therapy bills alone!

Thankfully, Jin-hee’s phone call interrupts them, and Jin-ae goes over to the spa as summoned. Jin-hee demands to know how long they will be staying at the house, which irks Jin-ae into threatening to tell their mom about how Chang-min is Jin-hee’s fellow intern at work.

Jin-hee whacks her sister a few times on the head and Jin-ae defensively points out that she is no longer a child, but a mother. She insists that Guk was no accident but instead, a product of her and Kwang-soo’s love. She then twists the knife by telling Jin-hee that she, at the very least, won’t be getting a divorce after being so crazy in love.

Those last words ring in Jin-hee’s head as she lies awake, while Chang-min drinks alone in his apartment thinking about Jin-hee’s words on the rooftop. As Jin-hee falls asleep, we finally see her memory of how she first met Chang-min.

In flashback, a young Jin-hee walks into a university building. Nearby, a young girl falls to the ground clutching at her chest, unable to breathe. Thinking she might be asthmatic, Chang-min, a medical student, asks the girl’s friend to look for an inhaler in her bag. There isn’t one, and Jin-hee now steps in, asking Chang-min where the girl might have eaten her lunch.

He doesn’t know, of course, and Jin-hee pulls up the girl’s sleeve, revealing spots up and down her arm. Jin-hee tells Chang-min that the cafeteria had served buckwheat noodles for lunch, which leads Chang-min to wonder whether there’s such a thing as a buckwheat allergy. Jin-hee replies that some people do react aversely to buckwheat, so Chang-min elevates the girl’s feet in response.

A doctor arrives and confirms that the girl is in anaphylactic shock due to a skin allergy. Chang-min asks Jin-hee whether she’s a dietician, and she says yes, and that today is her first day of work. He further remarks on how they share the same surname, and she smiles flirtatiously while Chang-min, in voiceover, explains how he had fallen in love with that face, that look.

Still in flashback, Jin-hee catches Chang-min vomiting into a sink in the hall after having seen a burst intestinal tract in anatomy class. Holding out a piece of dried fish and a leaf of cabbage, Jin-hee advises Chang-min to take a bite of each if he wants to settle his stomach. He looks dubious, but he complies, and smiles that he does indeed feel better.

When a gurney passes by, the arm of a cadaver slips out and slaps against the back of Jin-hee’s leg. Startled, she jumps into Chang-min’s arms and what do you know, our girl needs more than a few moments to collect herself and let go.

In the present day, both Jin-hee and Chang-min settle into sleep and ask themselves whether their relationship would have ever got off the ground had it not been for those crucial moments.

If only he hadn’t been in anatomy class that day…Chang-min wonders. What if she hadn’t had the dried fish and cabbage with her that day…Jin-hee thinks. What if it hadn’t been for the cadaver?

But both of them smile as they sleep and remember, and I’m amused that burst intestinal tracts, dried fish, cabbage, and a cadaver can serve as harbingers of love.

Jin-hee wakes up the next morning, deeply disturbed that she dreamed of Chang-min, and convinced that she’s going mad. Likewise, Chang-min shakes his head when he wakes up to find himself hugging a pillow.

At the hospital, the two eye each other uncomfortably while waiting for an elevator. They get on, and as the elevator gets more and more crowded, Chang-min finds himself closer and closer to Jin-hee.

Despite having braced one arm against the wall, Chang-min gets pushed hard enough such that Jin-hee’s face gets buried against Chang-min’s chest. They share a moment of awkward physical awareness, and Jin-hee raises her fingers to her lips.

Cut to: Chang-min bent over, his hands in his pockets, walk-hopping down a hallway…trying to disguise…is he trying to disguise what I think he’s trying to disguise? Ahahahaha. I don’t remember seeing this sort of slapstick routine even in high school.

He promptly runs into Ah-reum, who instead of noting the more obvious…er…flag, chooses to notice a lipstick stain on Chang-min’s gown lapel. He stiffens (*snicker*) in dismay but she merely teases that women can tell who did the kissing just by the color of the lipstick and flounces away.

As Jin-hee cleans up a medical tray, she glances at the neighboring wastebasket, and sees Chang-min’s plastic bag of handwritten instructions and medication intended for Baby Guk. She takes it out, and seems both baffled and moved.

She catches up with Chang-min, but Ah-reum interrupts by exclaiming loudly that Chang-min’s lipstick stain is still there on his lapel. Ah-reum moves in and starts to rub at the mark, while Jin-hee rolls her eyes. Clearing her throat loudly, Jin-hee walks between them, huffily pushing them apart with her arms.

Chang-min rushes to Jin-hee, and she says sarcastically, “You two play so well together. She acted like your wife back there.” Chang-min scoffs but Jin-hee continues, “You stood there looking like I’d just caught you cheating!”

Amused, Chang-min reminds her, “I thought you said you weren’t going to care. See? It bothers you. Wasn’t I right? It would be strange not to be bothered.”

Jin-hee insists that she isn’t bothered, but she’s fooling no one, because Chang-min follows her down the hall with a delighted grin.

Yong-gyu, Ah-reum, and the two married interns step out to grab lunch. Yong-gyu’s good mood is shattered, though, when Ah-reum picks up a phone call and addresses someone as “Mother,” using a more formal term reserved for other people’s mothers or possibly, one’s mother-in-law.

Chang-min’s mom asks his dad for help in getting Chang-min and Ah-reum married. She invites him to a family dinner to meet Ah-reum formally, but he refuses, saying he hasn’t the time. He further points out the irony of asking for his cooperation given that she’s already asked him for a divorce.

Pulling out Jin-hee’s note that was enclosed with her gift to Chang-min’s dad, she asks shrilly why he kept in touch with Jin-hee, and why she would be thanking him after passing her medical exams. Dad insists that it was simply a gesture of respect, from one doctor to another. He lies, saying that Jin-hee’s visit was the one and only time he has seen her over the years.

At the hospital, a hungry Chang-min suggests that they stop to eat, but Jin-hee responds that she has another patient to see. Chang-min pouts with an extra large helping of aegyo, and complains that his stomach hurts.

While eating, Chang-min gently chides Jin-hee for eating so fast; he knows that she’s prone to indigestion. She wonders that he’d remember such a thing, and when she starts coughing, Chang-min opens up a drink and nags her to stop talking while eating.

In his office, Chun-soo finally opens the gift that Jin-hee gave him. Using his glass bookcase as a mirror, he tries on the jacket, and at that precise moment, Ji-hye enters his office.

His look of guilt is hilarious, and he hurriedly takes off the jacket while Ji-hye teases him mercilessly, asking why he has the look of someone who’s wearing something stolen.

Seeing Jin-hee reapply her lipstick, Ah-reum asks whether she was in an elevator with Chang-min earlier in the day. She sees that Jin-hee’s lipstick matches the stain on Chang-min’s lapel, and she bluntly demands an explanation.

Jin-hee counters by asking Ah-reum what she likes so much about Chang-min. Ah-reum replies, “Well…everything. He looks manly, but also has his cute aspects. And I can see hurt and pain in his eyes.” Jin-hee asks whether she’s serious enough to marry Chang-min, and Ah-reum replies blithely that such things are up to Destiny.

She continues to describe her first encounter with Chang-min as unbelievably, indescribably fated. Scoffing, Jin-hee cynically shoots down any romantic notions such as fate or destiny, observing instead that Ah-reum can marry whomever she wants due to her status as a Cabinet Minister’s daughter.

Losing her temper, Ah-reum gets in Jin-hee’s face, shouting in English and asking how she knows. Dropping to banmal, Ah-reum asks again about Jin-hee’s relationship to Chang-min.

Chang-min buys a depressed Yong-gyu some drinks, while Yong-gyu lays out his suspicions that Ah-reum may be married. Chang-min is quick to piece together that she must have been referring to his own mother as “Mother.” When Yong-gyu claims that he’s enamored enough with Ah-reum to marry her, Chang-min assures him Ah-reum is neither married nor divorced.

When Chun-soo and Ji-hye walk into the same bar, Chang-min sees that Chun-soo is wearing a new jacket—the one gifted to him by Jin-hee. Chun-soo drapes his jacket over a chair, and excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Uh oh. That look in Chang-min’s eye makes me think he’s aimin’ to misbehave.

Chang-min says hello to Ji-hye and feigns curiosity about what they’re drinking. Picking up a drink, he “accidentally” (by which I mean, quite deliberately) spills the entire contents on the jacket. Chun-soo shakes out his jacket, and Chang-min turns away and smirks, entirely satisfied with himself.

Ji-hye has something to tell Chun-soo, and while she claims it’s not a big deal, she says that telling him would put her mind at peace. She runs off, however, to take an urgent phone call in English during which she promises to send the results of her own blood tests. When Chun-soo finds her to ask what’s wrong, she merely says she needs to leave right away.

With Chun-soo off in a stairwell talking to Ji-hye, and Yong-gyu distracted by his drunk-texting, a watchful Chang-min senses his opportunity. In a stealth maneuver that would impress all the wild poodles of the Serengeti, he nabs Chun-soo’s jacket from the empty chair and brings it back to his table, only to beat and punch the hood of the jacket repeatedly in a childish and highly amusing fit of rage.

When Chun-soo returns for his jacket, Chang-min hurriedly stuffs it into his bag. Chun-soo catches Chang-min’s obvious smirk, but Chang-min turns away, sits down with his back to Chun-soo, and places a nonchalant elbow on the table. He couldn’t look more suspicious if he tried.

Chun-soo asks whether Chang-min took his jacket, and he denies it. A drunken Yong-gyu is no help either. With false solicitousness, Chang-min offers up his own jacket to Chun-soo, but when Chun-soo barks that he’s fine and turns away, Chang-min laughs to himself in triumphant glee.

Getting off from work, Jin-hee finds Chang-min waiting for her in his car. He insists that she hop in, saying that he has something to tell her. As they drive, Jin-hee asks him where they’re going, and he replies with fake seriousness, “I’m kidnapping you.”

Jin-hee’s phone rings, and Chun-soo is on the line asking her about her patient, who is still suffering convulsions and whose blood test results are suddenly abnormal.

She offers to return to the hospital, but Chun-soo tells her there’s no need for her to come. Jin-hee screams at Chang-min to stop the car, but he argues that she shouldn’t have to go back. Distracted, Chang-min notices a red traffic light only at the last possible second, and he slams on his brakes.

Jin-hee jerks hard against her seatbelt and clutches at her chest. Chang-min pulls over, and he finds that she’s badly bruised.

Despite being in obvious pain, Jin-hee can only think of returning to her patient at the hospital. When she can’t even raise her arm, Chang-min begins to suspect that she has a fractured collarbone.

Racked with guilt, Chang-min grabs supplies out of the trunk and fashions a sling elevating Jin-hee’s arm. After unwrapping his scarf from his own neck, he uses it to tie the makeshift sling in place.

Chun-soo sees Chang-min bringing in an injured Jin-hee and walks over in alarm. Jin-hee explains that she’s hurt and Chun-soo shouts, “Do you think I can’t see that you’re hurt? How did it happen?” Jin-hee explains and Chun-soo orders Chang-min to get an ice pack and painkillers.

Angry to see Chun-soo’s obvious concern for Jin-hee, Chang-min walks off to do as he was told. Jin-hee asks about her patient and Chun-soo barks, “Who’s worrying about whom right now?” Examining Jin-hee, Chun-soo confirms that Chang-min’s diagnosis was correct: her collarbone is indeed fractured.

As Chang-min wraps a bandage around Jin-hee’s shoulders, she giggles, saying that it tickles. He tells her to stay still, but when she yelps in pain, he’s instantly alarmed, only for Jin-hee to dissolve back into giggles over being tickled.

She tells Chang-min to go home, but he insists that he’ll stay, since he considers himself at fault. He tucks her into bed and tells her to sleep. While Chang-min steps away to get some supplies, Chun-soo comes by Jin-hee’s bed to check her chart. Chang-min returns, and he asks with obvious annoyance why Chun-soo is there.

Chun-soo orders Chang-min to stop dosing her with painkillers, but Chang-min protests that she needs to sleep comfortably. Chun-soo responds, “If you were going to be that worried, you should have driven better, instead of making her like this!”

Glaring back at Chun-soo, Chang-min asks, “Are you getting angry with me right now?” When Chun-soo replies in the affirmative, Chang-min then asks, “Why? Are you interested in Jin-hee?” Chun-soo demands that Chang-min follow him out.

In a stairwell, Chang-min repeats his question. Chun-soo replies, “Yeah. I’m interested. What are you going to do about it?” Noting Chang-min’s surprise, Chun-soo continues, “Why? Is there a reason I can’t be interested?” Chang-min recovers and fires back, “Yes. You can’t be interested. Because I’ve gotten to like her. So take your interest elsewhere.”

A resident delivers the results of Ji-hye’s blood test to Chun-soo, saying that she needed to have it sent to an American hospital urgently. Chun-soo says he’ll take care of it, and wonders what this could mean.

Meanwhile, Chang-min watches over a sleeping Jin-hee, and he thinks back to their happier times before their ill-fated marriage. In flashback, we see young Jin-hee wake a sleeping Chang-min in an empty auditorium. She’s brought him coffee, and they toast with their paper cups and smile.

He burns his tongue on the hot coffee, and when she fusses over his lip, he smiles and kisses her. And let us offer up thanks for cable TV, ’cause there’s lip motion and everything.

In the present day, Chang-min glances over at Jin-hee’s coat, and is surprised to see his handwritten note and prescription for Baby Guk in her coat pocket. Staring at Jin-hee, he thinks to himself, “Jin-hee. What should I do? Do I need to start over from the beginning?” Leaning in slowly, he plants a kiss on sleeping Jin-hee.

 
COMMENTS

OK, I won’t lie. Non-consensual kisses give me the serious heebie-jeebies. I know, I know…I’m to believe that other law of dramaland: that kisses can somehow be passionate, yet chaste, and that heroes never, ever push the envelope into more offensive territory.

That aside, the pacing of this show, which was decidedly too slow in the first several episodes, has picked up steam. All the milestones that we’ve grown to expect in a romantic comedy are coming on fast and furious now. Jealousy? Check. Hilarious antics resulting from said jealousy? Check. Hero marks his post to warn off other alpha male? Check. Hero starts making the gestures that count? Check.

And therein lies a little problem for me. We weren’t just promised a romantic comedy. We were promised a story about a couple who got together, fell apart, and presumably will get it right on the second go. Such a story can have certain advantages. We might get to see the hero and heroine fall for each other not once, but twice! Double the pleasure, double the fun. And the drama IS starting to show us flashbacks of our lead couple’s happier days and I’m hoping that we’ll get more substance on what really drew them together, other than pretty smiles and grope-happy cadavers.

But a story about a couple that gets it right the second time also has to show me two things. One, what went wrong in the first place? We know that it went terribly wrong, but why? I can’t say that I’m satisfied with the explanation that the heroine was overly emotional and the hero financially stressed. Two, the storyteller needs to show me that both the heroine and hero are now new, improved versions of their previous selves. Our heroine, whether by dint of the writing or Song Ji-hyo’s performance, does show us that, whereas Chang-min needs to show more growth for me to believe that whatever mistakes they made on the first go-around won’t be repeated.

In short, we’re at the midway point of this drama’s run, and I find myself shaking my head a little at the telling signs that we are not in the hands of an expert, subtle storyteller. And yes, I’m looking at the writer. “What is that?” Jin-hee has to ask (while looking at a covered body on a gurney). “Oh that’s a cadaver, as in a dead body,” replies Chang-min. Really? Why not just pitch a sign over the body that says DEAD BODY for us to understand that it’s a…dead body.

For me to eventually close the book on Jin-hee and Chang-min with a sigh of satisfaction, I need security that the second go-around is the final go-around, their final happy ever after. I need to be assured that they can now safely gird themselves from falling back down the rabbit hole of relationship failure and a trashed apartment. And I need Chang-min’s mom whisked away onto a different, sound-proofed planet. Show, you’ll do all that for me, right? Right?

RELATED POSTS

• Emergency Couple: Episode 9
• Emergency Couple: Episode 8
• Emergency Couple: Episode 7
• Emergency Couple: Episode 6
• Emergency Couple: Episode 5
• Emergency Couple: Episode 4
• Emergency Couple: Episode 3
• Emergency Couple: Episodes 1-2