[recap] Wild Romance – Episode 8

Did I just heard a bomb dropped and exploded somewhere? Believe it or not, this time, the ‘bomb’ didn’t hurt at all. It just left our hearts all warm and fuzzy; some might took a longer time to recover from the shock. That’s the power of words, and Eun-Jae is among the few people whose words have a great influence over us.

Crack. Someone’s heart just broke into pieces. Eun-Jae is left with her world spinning and everything is so distant. Her elbow accidentally presses the bell so rather than say she accidentally pressed it, she asks for alcohol.

Episode 8: Throwing, needless to say, the pickoff.

*[The pickoff is when the pitcher or catcher throws the ball to the defense so they can make the runner stay on a base or tag him. Basically means stealthily interfering with someone.]

Mu-Yeol asks why Jong-Hee is back and she just says she missed them, can’t she do that? Eun-Jae says no, in her head. Mu-Yeol asks if it was a coincidence, but Eun-Jae thinks there is no coincidence and she’s right. Jong-Hee came back after hearing all those nasty comments about Mu-Yeol. Jong-Hee compliments Eun-Jae on her drinking skills and it turns out Jong-Hee has that too. Thus begins the pride contest of who can drink the most alcohol. Jong-Hee drinks hers every femininely while Eun-Jae drinks hers like a badass. I loved that soju glass roll to the mouth move.

Little did they know, there was a third competitor who didn’t want to be left out. Dong-Ah ends up puking her guts out in the bathroom while Eun-Jae freshens up. Dong-Ah mentions how while them two looked like drunkards, Jong-Hee looked like a sleek cat with charm which gets Eun-Jae angry. Eun-Jae ends up supporting Dong-Ah and witnesses the flirting between Mu-Yeol and Jong-Hee (whose using her cute charm). This causes Eun-Jae to fling Dong-Ah away and call for a taxi quickly so Jong-Hee can get out of here. How cute of Tae-Han to try and support Dong-Ah. Mu-Yeol tries to tell Jong-Hee something when she’s in the taxi, but Eun-Jae slams the door and tells the taxi to leave since there are so many cars behind it.

When Eun-Jae gets home, she finds her brother secretly spying on their dad whose talking on the phone. Her brother tells her that their dad has a girlfriend which is why he’s all smiles. Eun-Jae notes how her dad’s heart which had been stubborn on one love for 15 years even opened up for a new one. She bursts into the room and shouts: “Yoo Young Gil, FIGHTINGGGG!” LMAO. It startles her dad and brother.

Eun-Jae looks into the mirror and says to herself that love is about change. She takes one of Dong-Ah’s books titled, The Psychology of Seduction, finally acknowledging that Dong-Ah might have her uses. She starts her transformation by shaping her eyebrows which ends up with her shaving some of it off. She then starts straightening her hair. She also starts putting on some foundation which causes her to get sneezing. Finally she is done preparing and she looks really cute! I was scared they would make her look like some clown.

She enters Mu-Yeol’s apartment and they both circle each other like animals who encounter other strange animals. They both notice the difference in each other – Eun-Jae with her straight hair and Mu-Yeol without his mustache (which I really liked!). They even cut his bangs and I like it when he has that casual slightly gelled hair, now it’s all flat. The housekeeper thanks Eun-Jae for finding Mu-Yeol before Eun-Jae leaves.

She comments on his strong cologne and asks why he shaved off his mustache. He wanted a fresh start with a fresh look which she grumbles about what fresh start? He asks if it looks okay and she says he  does; he looks like a pretty boy. He asks about her hairstyle and she wanted to try something new, is it okay? His response: she looks cool like a man-woman. Ouch. He looks at her and says something’s wrong with her eyebrows which makes her cover her eyebrows quickly, but in her speed, she smacks herself. While she’s in pain, he tries to pry off her hand so he can see it.

They go to Tae-Han’s office where he gives them the location of Mu-Yeol’s community service duties as well as tell Mu-Yeol that people should not know of Jong-Hee coming back. They leave Tae-Han’s office to find Dong-Su with Reporter Go. It’s all awkward and Dong-Su commands that the both of them to make up. Mu-Yeol should say thanks and Reporter Go should say sorry. They protest like little kids and apologize quickly. Dong-Su even makes them shake hands and they do it reluctantly, even quickly retracting like the other one’s got cooties (hee). They probably had a hard time doing that scene without laughing!

Mu-Yeol changed into workout clothes and walks back into the locker room when he gets a phone call from Jong-Hee. I like how Eun-Jae was taking sel-cas of herself again. They meet Jong-Hee at a cafe where Eun-Jae sits at a different table. Mu-Yeol and Jong-Hee have a casual conversation about how cute Mu-Yeol looks and whether Jong-Hee slept or not. Through this, Eun-Jae was making little snide comments in her head (haha). Jong-Hee asks who Seo Yoon-Yi is.

They go to the hospital where Yoon-Yi is getting discharged. Mu-Yeol asks Jong-Hee if she recognizes him which she shakes her head no. If he was that cute, she would have remembered; Mu-Yeol does a double take at Yoon-Yi and Jong-Hee gets up. When she’s out of earshot, Mu-Yeol asks Eun-Jae if that guy is cute and she replies how could Yoon-Yi compare to him? She gives him the thumbs up and Mu-Yeol agrees, giving a thumbs up back.

The two nurses, who are walking with Yoon-Yi, tell him to come back again so they can have tea together. Jong-Hee walks up and congratulates him on his discharge, but  does he know her? Yoon-Yi is confused and said he doesn’t think so and she says of course he doesn’t know her. So, why did he do it? Yoon-Yi is lost and Jong-Hee takes out a rose. She smacks him across the face with it. Good thing it wasn’t her hand, that pretty face can’t get damaged! Mu-Yeol and Eun-Jae are shocked by her actions.

During the car ride, Mu-Yeol tells Jong-Hee not to see Yoon-Yi anymore since he’s a dangerous guy. Jong-Hee jokes with him and Mu-Yeol says that he’s serious. Jong-Hee bites his hand and asks why he’s angry. Eun-Jae is surprised at Jong-Hee’s action and a little weirded out. Mu-Yeol tells her that he’s not angry, just worried. She pouts a little before returning to a chipper mood. In return, he should buy her dinner! So they go a restaurant where Eun-Jae has her own table. Eun-Jae glares and Jong-Hee and Jong-Hee tells Mu-Yeol. Mu-Yeol says she’s always like that and Jong-Hee wonders if he ever gets bothered by it. Mu-Yeol replies that it used to, but not anymore (hahaha). Jong-Hee leaves to use the restroom.

While she’s gone, Mu-Yeol asks Eun-Jae for an opinion of Jong-Hee from a woman’s perspective. Eun-Jae retorts, how would she know? He said she wasn’t a woman. Mu-Yeol hastily says she’s a woman, now what’s her opinion? Eun-Jae tells him how she’s pretty, charming, stylish, nice, and drinks well, but would a woman like that be single? She’s from England where mating is active, she probably had lots of flings like with Toms or Michaels. Hahaha! This rattles Mu-Yeol for a bit and his mood gets sour, even Jong-Hee notices.

They go to a store where they shop for cups like newlyweds. Poor Eun-Jae has to tag along and witness all of this. She continues her snide comments about how the Red Dreamers will fail in the next season with Mu-Yeol not practicing. When Jong-Hee shouts cutely that it’s a bear, Eun-Jae sarcastically remarks in her head about how she’s able to figure out such a hard animal like that. Mu-Yeol plays along too and shouts that it’s a tiger. They do this funny little fight/dance thing with the slippers as Eun-Jae laughs about how childish it is. They turn to look at her and she tells them to continue; Eun-Jae even mocks Jong-Hee by shouting out cutely that there’s a fork. PFFFT.

They leave the store arm in arm as a few onlookers see. Jong-Hee flirts with Mu-Yeol and asks he’s able to let her hold onto his arm, i.e., is he single? Mu-Yeol asks  the same question back, does she have a Tom or Michael in her life? She jokes that she got tired of him and dumped him. She tells Mu-Yeol to hold onto her bag which he gladly does. Eun-Jae looks at this all sadly.

Eun-Jae inspects her face in the mirror and wishes she was prettier. She asks Dong-Ah if she was a guy, would she fall for Eun-Jae. Dong-Ah says yes, but when asked which part of Eun-Jae, Dong-Ah replies that she thought this was just a yes or no question. Heh. Dong-Ah demands, which guy is it this time? Even if Eun-Jae doesn’t tell her, Eun-Jae can’t hide it from her, she’s Kim Dong-Ah. She starts her detective skills: it can’t be Mu-Yeol, it’s not Tae-Han because he’s her’s, Dong-Su is married…it must be Reporter Go! Eun-Jae sighs, what would Dong-Ah know about love. Dong-Ah begs to differ, she’s melo expert Dong-Ah; she can even find romance in elementary school textbooks (hahahahhha).

Dong-Ah encourages her to confess, but Eun-Jae is too scared to as a woman. She’s not even pretty or charming. Dong-Ah gives her some advice: love doesn’t look at the overall status. That would be matchmaking. Love focuses on one charm. Eun-Jae has her own charm like jewels. Eun-Jae tries to figure out what charm she has compared to Jong-Hee, but in the end, she is still blown away. Eun-Jae sighs that she has nothing. Dong-Ah cheers her up, even poop has some use, so Eun-Jae will find hers too. Eun-Jae thinks about it and it’s physical strength.

At the gym, Eun-Jae stares at Mu-Yeol while Mu-Yeol thinks about Jong-Hee. A ringtone sounds, but it’s actually for his teammate and not him so Mu-Yeol angrily tells his teammate to change his ringtone. He goes to the locker room where he look at a calendar, trying to figure out who’s birthday he could use as an excuse to go to Dong-Su’s house. Su-Young’s already passed and Dong-Su’s later. He ends up going to Dong-Su’s place to give a present to the little boy for graduating kindergarten, however he didn’t graduate, just moved up a class. Jong-Hee and Eun-Jae laugh at Mu-Yeol’s awkward situation.

Dong-Su gets a phone call that tells him Mu-Yeol is over at the house. He’s out shopping with Su-Young for groceries and he tells her that he knew Mu-Yeol would come today or tomorrow. He knows Mu-Yeol still likes Jong-Hee. Su-Young comments that they didn’t break up because they fell out of love. They link arms and continue shopping. Aww, so cute.

Mu-Yeol and Jong-Hee chat together while Eun-Jae has a play date with Woo-Young. Eun-Jae opens the door of his room with the excuse that if a man and woman are together, they should leave the door open (hahaha). Mu-Yeol and Jong-Hee talk about her current living situation and she asks him to give her a room at his place. Eun-Jae shouts out: “You wicked punk! How dare you challenge me?!” while pretending to reenact something with Woo-Young. Jong-Hee wonders what she should do, hotels are expensive, motels are uncomfortable. Mu-Yeol asks how long she is staying to which she replies that she’s not sure. Should she just not go back? Eun-Jae screams: “Shut up! Before I rip off your noisy mouth!” Poor Woo-Young looks so scared.

The married couple come back and they all have dinner together at the dining table except for Woo-Hyeon and Eun-Jae who are at a separate table. Eun-Jae tries to eavesdrop while Mu-Yeol tells them all about vacancies in the officetel (an office and an apt together, derived from ‘office’ and ‘hotel,’ I believe) that he lives at. Mu-Yeol thinks that she can even just rent per day and while Eun-Jae’s not looking, cutie Woo-Young tries to sneak his veggies to her bowl. Eun-Jae slams the chair with her spoon and Woo-Young quickly withdraws (haha! poor kiddy).

An agent shows Mu-Yeol and Jong-Hee the officetel while Eun-Jae stands and watches. The agent mistakes the two for a newlywed couple so Jong-Hee plays along and asks her “honey” what he thinks. He uses “honey” as well and Eun-Jae just stands there dumbfounded, she silently calls him a bastard. Eun-Jae’s sad that when they were mistaken as newlyweds, he got so angry. Jong-Hee finds out that pets are allowed and she’s happy that Short doesn’t have to sit out on the porch. Mu-Yeol tries to cover his smile about something.

Jong-Hee walks them into the elevator and once they’re in, Mu-Yeol explodes with joy and laughter. He’s laughing about how the cat’s name is Short and Eun-Jae laughs too, thinking that Mu-Yeol is making fun of the name when in actuality, he’s happy about it because his position in baseball is shortstop. Eun-Jae sarcastically remarks that he must be really happy and Mu-Yeol wonders what’s wrong with her, she seems weirder lately. Eun-Jae warns him that she’s about to get even weirder.

Eun-Jae is sullking at her workplace while Kevin is busy calculating the expenses. She asks him if he ever fell for someone while he was working and he said only once. It was during the 2000 World Cup and he thought she was beautiful, however he only saw her once. He knew his position as a bodyguard and that he will always be behind her…that’s the love of a bodyguard. Eun-Jae leaves with silent tears since she was touched by the cheap love story (haha).

Jong-Hee comes over to Mu-Yeol’s to ask for some milk, but ends up staying for dinner. The housekeeper recognizes her and doesn’t really seem elated to see her again. Jong-Hee asks if she can eat here again since she has nothing to eat at her place. Mu-Yeol happily agrees to it.

Eun-Jae walks inside the gym where she looks at Mu-Yeol with lovey dovey eyes in the mirror, but Mu-Yeol thinks she’s glaring at him. Mu-Yeol asks Eun-Jae about her first love and when she starts to tell him, he thinks she’s just making it up. She tells him her first love had a Song Joong Ki style (mary: ooh cute. may: LOL Eun-Jae!)

She continues her story about how she and her oppa from church went on a date. They went ice skating and ate afterwards, however when he left to use the restroom, he didn’t come back for a while so she went outside where he was being bullied. Eun-Jae kicked all of the bullies’ butts, but her first love got so scared that he ran away from her. It seems like earlier, during the date, she was hiding her true self and being girly. She even snacked on some of the food before bringing it to the table just so she could pretend that she can’t eat those kinds of food well (haha).

Mu-Yeol laughs at her love story and tells her that the oppa didn’t contact her anymore because she showed her strength in front of him (awww) and saw him at his most embarrassing moment. Mu-Yeol tells her to never do that to another guy that she likes and she mutters that she already did. Mu-Yeol starts his story, but she tells him that she doesn’t want to hear it. Other people’s love story makes her cringe and the only reason why she shared hers was because Mu-Yeol told her to. She decides to ask why Jong-Hee and him broke up instead, there must have been a problem and if that problem was resolved. She tries to dissuade him from starting over with Jong-Hee by saying how it would just be leftover feelings and a broken bowl can’t be put back together.

We got our other favorite couple who are doing a stake out. They are spying at Yoon-Yi who got a new job at another bar. the key to why Yoon-Yi did this is in Yoon-Yi’s hands as he’s the one who knows the actual stalker. While Tae-Han tells her all this, Dong-Ah is busy putting on makeup and looking like a bar hostess. Tae-Han doesn’t understand why she’s doing all this and she replies that this is fun because this has nothing to do with her. She asks him to put on the fake eyelashes for her. She leans closer to him and he looks kind of nervous (hehe). She gets out of the car looking like a bombshell while Tae-Han leans back and wipes the forehead on his face (aww is Mr. Robot overheating from all the hotness? Hee).

It turns out Dong-Ah made a mistake about the job offer, they weren’t looking for more bar hostess, but help in the kitchen. Dong-Ah tells the Madam that she’ll do her best in any job that she is given. The woman asks if she even knows how to peel apples, Dong-Ah replies that she even knows how to make little bunnies. Dong-Ah struggles with the apples so Yoon-Yi tells her to peel the oranges instead while he peels the apples.

Mu-Yeol is at home, drinking a beer and thinking about the past. There’s a flashback to Jong-Hee painting Mu-Yeol’s toenails. While she paints them, she tells him that they should break up because she’s making things hard for him. Later on, he will hate her and get tired of her; he would want that to happen. He starts to get up and she tells her not to because it’ll get ruined. She tells him that she loves him too and leaves.

Mu-Yeol’s running at the gym and Dong-Su passes by. Eun-Jae asks him why Jong-Hee and Mu-Yeol break up. It turns out Jong-Hee is bipolar so at times she can’t eat well and would feel nervous. One time, in Mu-Yeol’s third year, Mu-Yeol was at a training camp and Jong-Hee suddenly disappeared. Mu-Yeol went out to look for her without permission and the coach thought of him negatively. Eun-Jae  now knows why his fourth year stats were so low. Jong-Hee decided to break up with Mu-Yeol since he was having a hard time. Eun-Jae can’t say anything bad about her now since she knows the story. She hands Mu-Yeol a towel which he wipes his face with and drapes across her neck (so unsanitary).

Jong-Hee walks out of the officetel and it looks like someone’s spying on her. Mu-Yeol and Eun-Jae are walking out when suddenly, someone grabs Eun-Jae! Mu-Yeol turns around and sees Jong-Hee smiling evilly. They link arms and turn around to see Eun-Jae being carried away by a few men. It turns out to be a dream.

She wakes up and walks into the living room where her dad is mustache-less and ironing a dress shirt. She’s so shocked and her brother saw it before so he’s not as surprised as her. She wonders why her dad is like that and her brother says it’s his fault; he told the dad that if he confessed during Christmas, the success rate is higher. Her dad is fixing himself up in the mirror when she tells him that his face looks bigger, he tries to use Chang-Woo’s beanie which doesn’t fit him (hahaha). She cheers her dad on as he leaves. If things work out for him, that means she can get her hopes up too.

Mu-Yeol is watching Home Alone at his apartment and wonders who he can call to hang out with him. He decides to read and ends up falling asleep. He wakes up and decides to call Eun-Jae who’s also napping. She wakes up in an instant when she hears his voice over the phone. He asks her to come over and she’s super excited, but she decides to play it cool by saying she has things to read. Mu-Yeol tells her to come over before he changes his mind plus he’ll buy her good food. She quickly fumbles to find something to wear. She puts on some lip gloss before leaving.

She gets to his house where she’s disappointed that they’re having delivery. Mu-Yeol tells her that a lot of restaurants are booked. He notices something’s on her lips so he wipes it off, but it turns out to be lip gloss. She’s trying new things since it’s Christmas.

They have lots of drinks and she smiles happily that she was invited here. Mu-Yeol looks melancholic though.

Mu-Yeol: Gullhead, do you think about the oppa from church sometimes?

Eun-Jae: What?

Mu-Yeol: Your first love. The oppa from church.

Eun-Jae: What’s the point of thinking about him, he’s probably living well somewhere…what’s Jong-Hee doing?

Mu-Yeol: I don’t know.

We cut to a scene where Jong-Hee is painting a small angel statue. Someone slides an envelope under the door of her house.

Eun-Jae: Why didn’t you call her? You live so close to each other.

Mu-Yeol pats her head: Gullhead, what you said is right. We broke up because we had a problem. The same problem is still there. Do you…believe in fate? Right here (he points to his pinky), I heard that a red string is tied to the fateful person.

Eun-Jae: So what? Then, what about Elizabeth Taylor? Was she tied 3, 5 times?

Mu-Yeol: It isn’t about how many times a person gets married or dates. It’s not about whether the things go well for the couple or not. It’s not like that. Just…could she be the one? Stuff like that. Even after you break up with that person…and it’s ended, it’s still not over. It doesn’t seem like this is the end.

Eun-Jae: There’s no such thing. It’s just having leftover feelings.

Mu-Yeol: You’ll meet someone later too.

Eun-Jae: Even if I meet someone like that, it’s not fate. If we meet, we meet. If we break up, we’re done. What’s fate?

Mu-Yeol: There is fate. Everyone has one. People just let go because it’s tough.

Eun-Jae: I said there’s no such thing. Even a love that seems more important than death gets forgotten over time.

Mu-Yeol: What do you know about love?

Eun-Jae: You think I don’t know? I learned that love is critical when I was just 9.

Mu-Yeol: With who? Your neighbor?

Eun-Jae: My mom had an affair and our family was in chaos. Ahjummas would come and pull our mom’s hair, totally shamed by our neighborhood. But my dad said he’ll forgive her, he loved her. But my mom said she didn’t need anything, not even her kids. She packed and left because my mom loved that man. How could I not know love? I’m full of inherited genes for love like that! Listen, my mom, who believe that guy she had an affair with was her fate, ended up breaking up with that man. And my father, who has been waiting for my mom for 15 years, is meeting another woman now.

The dad nervously waits at a restaurant table. A woman enters the room and it’s Eun-Jae’s mom!

Eun-Jae: After not being able to forget for about 7 or 8 years, how can you talk about fate? How frustrating…

Mu-Yeol: Hey Gullhead, what’s wrong with you? Why are you so mad?

Eun-Jae: It is very troublesome to me if there is something you can’t forget.

Mu-Yeol: What is?

Eun-Jae: I don’t know where everything went wrong, but I started to like you.

Mu-Yeol sits there speechless and she breaks the silence by saying she likes him again.

Eun-Jae: If there’s something called fate, my fate is you.

Bam, and it ends though there’s a little tidbit of the cat ripping up the envelope that was placed under the door. At the back of the photo inside the envelope, there’s a sentence: “Please go back!”.

Comments: 

mary

My reaction after that cliffhanger:

It was a crazy way to confess to someone, especially after spilling her guts out about her mother’s affair. It probably wasn’t the right time to, but I can see why the writer would want that; it’s because Eun-Jae is at her most vulnerable ever. She just opened up her heart for Mu-Yeol right then and there and on Christmas too (when the success rate is high).

Jessica’s acting was not bad in this, I liked it. Not just because I’m slightly biased (my friends call her beast!jessica when she gets angry haha), but she has potential. Especially after that quiet moment when she’s painting his nails, I could see the emotions she’s trying to portray. Is she the best? Nope, but she just needs more experience.

may

Well..I’m here to spazz about Eun-Jae. Because she’s an awesome girl who knows the things she has to do when the need arises.

The confession made by her was pure awesome. Hands down, I’m rooting for her, come hell or high water. Maybe that would be a great surprise to Mu-Yeol, who’d be thinking about “How come this tomboy likes me? Impossible!”, but she bravely expressing her feelings towards him, despite the knowledge that there’s probability about him rejecting her. Yeah, she is brave to do so, while I’d never do that to my crush. Okay, now I’m pouring my heart out. hehehe. Some people (including me at times) are not that happy to see Mu-Yeol hovering over his ex and leaving Eun-Jae behind, but she’s so hilarious until I’m quite assured that she can go through it. Especially the scene where she re-enacted Jong-Hee’s cuteness (“Ah, it’s a fork!” LOL). I’m actually worried about what her reaction might be after finding out about her mother’s return. May she be safe from any harm, be it physically or mentally.

Another girl that I’m worried about: Dong-Ah. She seems overly engrossed in the mission to find out who’s the stalker, and I can’t shake away the feelings that she might encounter something dangerous in her quest. Manager Kim, I hope you’re always close enough to save her from any harm! Please, I beg you, Mr Robot! Protect your life Battery!