Superdaddy Yeol: Episode 3

by purplecow

Having decided that Yeol is the only man with the qualifications to become Sa-rang’s father, Mi-rae sets out to convince Yeol of the same thing. There’s nowhere he can hide from her, but from the way he tries you’d think she was a gumiho out to seduce him and devour his liver. There are a lot of messy feelings somewhere on the horizon, but for now we get to enjoy an immensely satisfying game of cat and mouse. I can only hope that when the game is over, everyone will feel like the winner.

 
EPISODE 3 RECAP

In voiceover, Yeol explains that there is more to sports than simply being in top physical condition; there are psychological factors too. If a pitcher goes up against a batter who scores off him, for example, it will be harder to face that batter afterwards.

Yeol gives up a home run to a player on the other team, but it’s Mi-rae we see running—or maybe prancing—around the bases, making faces at Yeol. “If you can’t avoid that batter…” Yeol says, and then throws the pitch we saw before, that hits the batter in the helmet and causes the fight that ended Yeol’s career.

In the aftermath of the brawl, Yeol and Mi-rae lie next to each other in the stadium. Yeol explains that Mi-rae is his jinx, the one person he could never beat—though from the way he smiles at her, it doesn’t look like he minds losing all that much.

We return to the present, where Mi-rae asks Yeol to marry her and become Sa-rang’s father. They’re both getting drenched by the rain, and Yeol is practically speechless from the shock.

He blocks her with one hand when she tries to walk closer, and says that she must be crazy. If she has a conscience, she won’t show up in front of him again. He walks away, and Mi-rae says to herself: “I must be crazy… for choosing you to be the father.”

Yeol stalks down the sidewalk, parting pedestrians like a pissed-off Moses forging through the Red Sea. He can’t take it anymore, and screams his outrage to the world…

…And he’s still screaming later that night, in a bar with his buddy Sang-hae. The entire bar grows quiet and stares at him, until Sang-hae stands up and begins announcing the whole story—that his friend received a proposal today, only it was from his first love who cruelly dumped him ten years ago, and is a single mother to boot.

The customers hang on their every word, greeting each new twist with outraged murmurs and spontaneous sympathy-drinking. Sang-hae hilariously starts conducting the crowd with his loudspeaker.

Yeol stands up, so focused on his own pain that he doesn’t even notice his new fans. He declares that he will never marry that woman, not even if it meant becoming king! The bar erupts with cheers and applause.

At their apartment, Mi-rae patches up Sa-rang’s hurt ankle. She points out that Sa-rang has been in a slump lately—performing poorly in school, missing classes, and now even getting injured. “You need rehabilitation,” she says.

Mi-rae explains that she’s found someone who can help Sa-rang run again, and Sa-rang guesses immediately that she means a new father. Will it be Dr. Shin or someone from the hospital? Mi-rae promises that the choice will be up to Sa-rang.

The smell of something burning draws them both downstairs. Mi-rae left the iron on, burning a shirt to cinders. Sa-rang unplugs the cord, and says that Mom seems to be the one in need of rehabilitation.

Yeol pulls back the covers in the morning to find Mi-rae in bed with him (rawr!). She snuggles up beside him and calls him “honey,” and Yeol waits a bit longer than he has to before yelling “Noooo!” Yeol wakes up, snorting about his useless dream.

He gets a text message from Director Hwang telling him to report on time to work. Yeol begins to fold his laundry, only for a hallucination of his mother to scold him for mixing his underwear in with everything else. Mom chides him again when he reaches for his morning beer (yikes), warning him to eat while drinking or he’ll end up like his father.

Mom starts talking about Mi-rae, and how she seems like she will be a good wife and mother. But then Mom disappears, leaving Yeol alone with his beer and his laundry. He looks out the window and sighs, “You’re too late.”

Mi-rae meets with Dr. Choi and explains her decision to switch hospitals and work in a sports rehab facility. Dr. Choi can’t understand why she’s giving up when she’s so close to her big promotion, and doesn’t want to lose his “ace.” He offers a compromise that would let Mi-rae be a visiting physician for three months, after which she could still return to the hospital.

Dr. Shin is just as upset about Mi-rae’s decision, because it will waste all of her hard work so far (not to mention make it harder for him to see her). When Mi-rae suggests playfully that he’s only disappointed about losing a good connection, he replies that it’s because of his feelings for her.

She pinches his cheek and reminds him that she already turned him down. She’s found a father for Sa-rang, she says, which is why she’s leaving. Dr. Shin hopes that Mi-rae is lying, but wonders what to do if she’s telling the truth.

The clinic doctors gather for a meeting, and Ji-hye tells Dr. Hwang (her mother) that she’s against Mi-rae joining their team. Dr. Hwang says it’s only for three months, so she can bear it. Mi-rae arrives a moment later, and asks when Yeol will show up.

“He might not show,” Ji-hye says with some attitude. “Just like he might not accept your deal.” But Mi-rae counters that she will never give up—she’ll even put her life on the line to succeed. She walks out, leaving Ji-hye to wonder why she’s so confident.

At the practice field, Yeol begs Coach Bang for a way out of the deal with Mi-rae. Coach Bang points out that it’s only for three months, so he should just bear with it. Yeol is about to remind Coach Bang of his past with Mi-rae, when the lady herself arrives.

Mi-rae introduces herself to Coach Bang as “the woman who will soon be living with Coach Han.” Yeol sputters that this isn’t true at all, and drags Mi-rae out into the hallway.

He yells at her for putting on a show, only for Mi-rae to insist that she should introduce herself to his colleagues since Yeol will soon become Sa-rang’s father. He storms off angrily, and Mi-rae sticks her tongue out at him and shakes her purse at his retreating back.

Yeol seeks refuge with Sang-hae in the cheerleaders’ practice room, and they talk about the latest development with Mi-rae while Sang-hae ogles the girls. Sang-hae says Mi-rae doesn’t seem like a stalker, and wonders if she has an illness. “Sure,” Yeol says, “an illness that makes her mad because she can’t prey on me.” One of the cheerleaders comes over and cozies up to Yeol, asking slyly if ace pitcher Hyun-woo needs someone to look after him during his recovery.

Mi-rae enters the practice room and sees the cheerleader draped over Yeol. She marches over and pulls the other girl away, then demands that Yeol not be allowed into the practice room anymore because he will soon be the head of a household.

Yeol pulls Mi-rae into the hallway and asks again why she’s doing this. He insists that he’s not single because he was waiting for her, or because he couldn’t find anyone better. He just prefers living alone because it’s comfortable, and Mi-rae should just leave him alone.

Dr. Hwang takes Mi-rae on a tour through the rehab facilities, and they pause in front of an old picture of Yeol and Mi-rae. Dr. Hwang asks why Mi-rae came back after so long, and Mi-rae says that she wants to live with Yeol and rehabilitate him. She thinks he is the most qualified man to become her father’s daughter, though she doesn’t answer when Dr. Hwang asks why.

Sa-rang calls her mother to let her know she will go home early, and isn’t surprised to hear that Mi-rae will be late. Sa-rang walks by the room where the choir is practicing, and climbs up on the shoe rack to peer in the window. She sees Class President sitting next to Bo-mi, and fumes that he should at least buy her a snack since she saved him from bullies.

Sa-rang drops the baseball-glove pendant, which reminds her of Yeol and his advice after watching her scare off the bullies. He says that if you’re nice to people like Class President, they only run away. She should ignore him coldly, which will make him stick to her.

A minute later Class President comes into the hallway and thanks her for rescuing him. “You probably don’t even want to look at me,” he sighs, and Sa-rang disagrees before remembering Yeol’s advice. “That’s right, I don’t!” she says, and limps down the hallway. She counts to three and turns around with a big smile… but he’s gone. So much for Yeol’s masterful dating advice.

Yeol goes shopping with Sang-hae, buying enough beer to float a ship. He thinks he’s going to get fired because he didn’t show at the rehab clinic. Sang-hae invites him to the Family Checkup event anyway, which is a chance for players, coaches and families to get checkups and then mingle at the after-party.

Yeol and Sang-hae reach Yeol’s apartment, but Mi-rae is already inside and cooking up a storm in the kitchen. She chatters away obliviously and tries to get the three of them to eat together, only agreeing to leave when Yeol starts to call the police. She also laid out Yeol’s laundry to dry on the balcony, and Sang-hae notes that his underwear is clean. Yeol watches Mi-rae go from the balcony, and lets out a primal scream.

…And he’s back at the bar, screaming his head off (I’m surprised they let him back in there). He fumes that she won’t get the better of him so easily. “She’s still selfish, she still does things her way, she still only looks at things from her perspective. She’s still…” he pauses, and everyone in the bar surreptitiously leans closer to hear what he’s going to say. “Still pretty.” A chorus of groans rises from the crowd. Yeol says her smile is like a work of art, and the customers groan even louder.

Sang-hae offers some ideas as to why Mi-rae has come back into his life. Maybe after going her own way, she realized there’s no one as good as Yeol. Or possibly her deceased husband was a bad person, or maybe Sa-rang’s father was a jerk who left Mi-rae after finding out she had a daughter. Whatever the case, Yeol seems more curious than he was before. Yeol receives a call from the hospital where his father is staying that causes him to rush out of the bar.

At the hospital, Yeol learns that someone else has been listed as his father’s guardian, and that person has authorized Dad to be discharged soon. Yeol looks into the room, and who but Mi-rae is there at Dad’s bedside. When Yeol opens the door, it triggers a gut-wrenching flashback to his mother’s death, when he arrived just after she passed away.

Yeol leads Mi-rae out into the hallway, where he sinks to his knees in front of her. He admits that he lied before—the truth is he never forgot Mi-rae, and he’s still single because he could never meet anyone as good as her. Yeol reminds her of that day ten years ago, when he begged her the same way.

“Everything stopped for me that day,” he says, getting to his feet. His mother died, Mi-rae left, and he stopped being an athlete. His dreams and aspirations all crumbled, and his wounds are still as fresh as if they occurred yesterday. For all of those reasons, Yeol asks Mi-rae to stop looking for him and to leave him alone.

Dad comes out in his wheelchair in time to block Yeol’s escape. He says he approves of the marriage, since it’s unlikely that Yeol will ever meet a woman like Mi-rae. He even likes the fact that she has a daughter, since he’ll gain a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter in one fell swoop. Yeol can only stare, dumbfounded, as Dad calls Mi-rae over and clutches her hands gratefully.

Mi-rae drives home, troubled by what Yeol said to her. She is so affected that she starts to drift in and out of consciousness, and consequently in and out of her lane. The other cars blare their horns, and thankfully Mi-rae manages to pull over to the side of the road.

Mi-rae starts to cry as Yeol’s words repeat in her mind, and her illness may be kicking in as she looks on the verge of throwing up. After regaining control of herself, she promises that she will fix Yeol so he can love and dream again—because that’s the only way she can leave Sa-rang in his care. She dries her tears and gets back in her car. “And if I fail,” she says with renewed determination, “I’ll throw you away again.”

Yeol goes to the batting cage with Sang-hae to relieve his stress. He is plagued by Mi-rae’s offer of a “rehabilitation marriage.” Sa-rang needs a father and Yeol’s father’s final wish is to see his son married, so they both benefit from a trial marriage. Yeol practices batting until he collapses, then snarls that he has to know the “real reason” and runs off.

He goes straight to Mi-rae’s office at the hospital where he runs into Dr. Shin, who thinks at first that Yeol is out to harm Mi-rae and shouts a warning. Yeol clears up the misunderstanding and asks about Mi-rae—this is sad news for Dr. Shin, who realizes that Mi-rae really did have someone in mind to become Sa-rang’s father.

Dr. Shin says he doesn’t know anything about Mi-rae’s past, but he’s sure that she didn’t choose Yeol out of love. Goaded by Dr. Shin’s tone, Yeol replies that he knows why she didn’t choose Dr. Shin: He’s too young and naïve, which is a style Mi-rae doesn’t like. Once out of sight, Yeol grumbles about Mi-rae searching for him when she was already grooming a young doctor to be Sa-rang’s dad.

Yeol and Sa-rang run into each other in the elevator. Sa-rang greets him as “kidnapper” and starts screaming, so Yeol has to reassure the concerned bystanders before taking Sa-rang to the hospital cafeteria for pizza. Sa-rang came to visit Dr. Shin, and when Yeol teases her for always running around alone, she fires back that he seems like the real loner.

Sa-rang goes on to complain that Yeol’s advice didn’t work—she ignored Class President, but he didn’t stick to her. Yeol says it worked for him, since there’s a woman who won’t go away no matter how he insults her. Sa-rang calls him cowardly for talking behind her back, and says that she would like it if someone would stick to her like that.

After saying that she hopes they won’t meet again, Sa-rang limps away proudly… and then we see Yeol walk with her to the bus stop, where he takes a look at her injured ankle and recommends that she go to a rehabilitation clinic. He gives her his clinic’s business card, and leaves her running shoes when he walks away.

Mi-rae visits her hoobae at the hospital to pick up a prescription for pain medication. She reminds the doctor to keep their meeting a secret. She’ll reveal everything at the right time, but it isn’t now.

In the hallway, Mi-rae runs into Dr. Shin. After he expresses his hope that she’ll come back in three months, she cautions him against letting his emotions show so easily. A doctor needs to have a poker face, or else his patients will worry.

Dr. Shin wants to know if Yeol is a trustworthy person, and Mi-rae replies that she’ll make him trustworthy. She declines Dr. Shin’s offer of a farewell dinner, because she already has an appointment. Dr. Shin watches her go, muttering that he can’t trust Yeol.

Yeol dreams once more about Mi-rae waking up with him, but it turns out to be Sang-hae, who has snuck into his apartment to beg Yeol to stay on as rehabilitation coach. If he quits, the Rehab coach position will be retired permanently, and all of the aging and injured athletes will lose their chance to stay on the team. Sang-hae asks Yeol to at least come to the Family Checkup dinner, since it will be the last day for the injured players.

At the Family Checkup event, Coach Bang tells Ki-tae that he went too far by getting rid of the Rehab Coach position. But Ki-tae insists that he’s only being a professional, and in any case Yeol was the one who abandoned the injured players first by not showing up to rehabilitation training or the Family Checkup dinner.

Yeol throws practice pitches alone, debating whether to accept Mi-rae’s offer or not. He doesn’t know if she loves him or if he can trust her, and since he’s alone now he wants to be certain. He’s not sure he can recover if she hurts him again, and he doesn’t want to pitch the final innings of a losing game.

Yeol has a flashback to his days as a player, when Coach Bang tells him the only way to keep him on the team is as a relief pitcher to take over when the team is losing. Just then, Mi-rae shows up at the stadium, together with Yeol’s mother.

Mom tells Yeol to be a pitcher, no matter how embarrassing it is to close a losing game. He is happiest on the field, so he should go for it. Mom hands him the silver glove necklace that we saw before, saying that Mi-rae gave it to her. She urges Yeol to wear it when he plays, as a talisman to protect him and bring him luck.

In the present, Yeol goes to his old locker room to search for his pendant (which we know Sa-rang hasn’t given back yet). As he’s rummaging around, his old phone falls to the ground. It has a picture of himself and Mi-rae on the back, and when he checks the phone he finds one voice message recorded there.

Mi-rae walks into the Family Checkup dinner during the singing competition. She takes the microphone and announces that Han Yeol will continue to be the Rehab Coach, and she promises as a member of his family that he will attend rehabilitation courses at the clinic so he can help the injured players.

We hear Mi-rae’s voicemail from years ago, as Yeol remembers the good times with Mi-rae. She says that she can delay her study abroad, or even decide not to go. She doesn’t think she’ll meet someone as sincere as Yeol again, and has reconsidered his offer. Even if they come to regret it 100 percent, she wants to marry him.

Yeol arrives at the dinner, bringing everything to a halt. He leads Mi-rae out into the lobby, away from the players and coaches and their families. “I’ll accept your proposal,” he says. Whether a rehabilitation marriage or a real one, he wants to try living with her. Just then a child’s voice rings out, and we see Sa-rang coming in the front door, with the clinic’s business card and Yeol’s lucky pendant. It’s a three-way standoff, as the members of our makeshift family stare at each other in shock.

 
COMMENTS

I honestly love this show. I know it’s going to break my heart even if it does everything right, but that’s fine. Better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all, right? At least I hope that’s true, because unless the writers pull some divine intervention, I don’t see how the little family Mi-rae is about to form can survive intact.

And that’s a shame, because I’m digging the family dynamic that only started to emerge near the end of this episode. I especially like how Yeol and Sa-rang cross paths several times before meeting at the end. They have a chance to get to know each other, and I liked the inverted nature of their thwarted romances: one likes the boy who won’t give her the time of day, while the other can’t fathom why his first love has suddenly returned and won’t go away.

I certainly don’t think that the solution to all of Sa-rang’s problems is to suddenly have a father, but I think that the two of them have a great vibe together already. More importantly, they complement each other as individuals, and I can’t wait to see how they are when living under one roof. I predict hilarity, but also growth for Yeol and grudging acceptance from Sa-rang when she realizes she can rely on him.

I almost wish we hadn’t learned that Mi-rae had second thoughts about leaving Yeol. I absolutely respected her decision to leave, and I rather like the idea that she would return to Yeol only for the sake of her daughter, not because of any lingering feelings. Strangely, I much prefer the Mi-rae who vows that she’ll pitch Yeol a second time if he doesn’t measure up, to the Mi-rae who had second thoughts about getting married.

In any case, it’s clear Mi-rae is going to encounter problems, both from her conscience and from her heart. We know that her primary motivation is making sure Sa-rang has someone to protect her—in the pursuit of that goal, she’s willing to step all over Yeol and even break his heart again. That’s pretty cold, but it’s understandable given her motivation and the short span of time she has in which to make things right.

But what happens if Mi-rae starts to recover her old feelings for Yeol? Once she starts falling for him again, it will be harder to deceive him and then leave him behind. No matter how I look at it, there’s a lot of heartbreak down the road for everybody, even though watching Mi-rae toy with Yeol is (for me, at least) by far the most satisfying part of the show. And if that makes me a horrible person, well, so be it—but I have a sneaking suspicion that Yeol himself doesn’t mind as much as he lets on.

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