I want to thank all the naysayers, Debbie Downers, and make-up artists out there for panning this romcom. If it weren’t for their scintillating and insightful assessment of this show, I wouldn’t have watched it.

Like them, I have a discriminating taste and I will never ever watch a kdrama featuring a rich guy and plucky girl. (Who watches that nowadays?) It doesn’t take a genius to see what a disastrous comeback this will be for Yoon EunHye. (Whhhy, Unnie? Why did you choose a romcom instead of a horror-thriller? You’ll rock the creepy ghost look!) I’m gonna freaking judge the quality of this drama by her glittery eyeshadow and that equally shiny forehead of her co-star. (OMG! Have you ever seen a more Ahjussi-looking lead?) No, I’m not going to give this show a chance when the characters in “When Stars Land” are 100x times more relatable with her faux outrages and his bionic arms, and the romance in “Devilish Joy” is my relationship goals. (I want an oppa like Choi JinHyuk to treat me like an ~ooh-goo-ooh-goo~ baby!)

I’ve got better things to do on Wednesday and Thursday nights so buh-bye, show!!

😈 There! Clapback to the haters.

Here’s my list of Heart-Fluttering Moments for this episode.

1. The hufflepuff kiss

I joked earlier that the kiss was a Hufflepuff (connotation: forgettable and unremarkable) but in a twisted way, WooHyun and YooJung encountered their problem after the kiss because he couldn’t remember whether the kiss happened while she couldn’t remark about their kiss without appearing bold and brassy. The kiss was forgettable and unremarkable. lol.

But yes the kiss is heart-fluttering because it was just what he needed before conking out. He was struggling to get up because he wanted to know where she was. He was about to look for her because he didn’t want to fall asleep without seeing her one last time. Only after kissing her did he fall into deep sleep.

I like the idea that she was his last thought on his mind before he drifted off to sleep.

2. Bringing him his change of clothes

That was just such a wifely thing to do. I know it smacks of sexism (lol. Have you ever seen a TV boyfriend picking his girlfriend’s outfit to wear to work?) but it’s embedded in our collective feminine brain. It’s our right and privilege to select shirt, ties and cufflinks for our boyfriends and husbands.

3. Mirroring each other

We all loved it whenever they exchanged glances because it told us that that they were aware of each other’s presence and conscious of each other’s thoughts. They were turning their fake relationship into a real one.

But what I’m also looking out for is mirroring gestures.  WH and YJ unconsciously mirrored each other’s movements. They synchronized their movements: they looked at each other at the same time and looked away at the same time.

See here? They glanced at each other when their friend teased them, “It’s only possible because you love her. The power of love. It must be nice.”

Then, they both turned away to smile at the friend. They physically seem attuned to each other.

Whenever they adopt the other person’s gesture and body language unconsciously, they appear connected and in love with each other.

3. The thought bubbles

I don’t care if this show is “low-budget,” this was an effective use of “thought bubbles.”

She fretted about his proposal while he worried about her angry reception of his impulsive kiss. I liked how, literally, the other person’s post-kiss reactions figured prominently in their minds

Also, another noteworthy thing about this scene is the change in YJ’s demeanor. Whereas before YJ was so giddy with her secret feelings for ex-boyfriend that she would behave exuberantly and outrageously,

now, she exercised more restraint and discretion. She didn’t blurt out her feelings or call unwanted attention to their relationship. She was more protective of his and her emotions this time around.

In fact, her BFF would point this out later. According to him, she just focused on her “feels” with her previous relationships that she missed the signs of the changing feelings of her then-boyfriends. She was more in love with love than with the other person.

4. Going to his home

I explained that already here.

5. Cooking hi his first home-cooked meal

Food was so central to YJ’s childhood because she associated it with her happy memories of her mother. But he had none of those good memories so this scene was heart-warming.

I liked that she was the first one to make him a home-cooked meal. He was very much like her younger brother who needed mothering from her, too.

I liked that he appreciated her cooking and ate it with gusto. He wasn’t a picky eater, thank goodness.

I also liked that he apologized he couldn’t run with her even though he hated running.

I would have considered it rude if he just sat there gobbling up his food without sparing her any thoughts.

6. Doing his laundry

I don’t get why HE felt uncomfortable. His boxers were clean anyway, right? And they were the right size? (Neither small nor too large.)

I think doing the guy’s laundry (or girl’s laundry) is a sign of being in an exclusive relationship so yeah…heart-fluttering. lol.

7. Commenting on her bare face

He knew she had hastily put on make-up for him so he put her at ease by saying that her brace face was still considered beautiful.

I also like it because it showed that he could joke with her younger brother in a conspiratorial manner while defending her.

8. His-and-hers discovery

I don’t care if this is a cliche. I much rather that the director filmed them like this — staring at each other wordlessly — instead of blabbering useless vowels like  aahhh…errr….iikkkss…oooh….uhhh!  

This way, the point of this moment is that they could reach other’s minds.

9. The hallway walk

These are weird camera angles but they serve a purpose.

This camera shot is called the Dutch Angle or cant angles.

While watching these scenes, the viewers get the sense that the director screwed up. I personally wanted to reach into my laptop and fix the tilt of the camera so it would be level. I wanted the floor to be parallel to the bottom of the frame and the vertical lines to be go straight up and down. lol.

But these scenes are purposely shot to recreate the tension of the characters. The perspective is askew to reflect the off-kilter lives of the WooHyun and YooJung. They made a mistake and now they feel tension and their relationship is off-balance.

They had to wait again outside the closed doors and couldn’t call each other up on the phone.

And they had to busy themselves with activity — exercise for her, Legos (lol, I told you he has a Legoworld) for him.

So why do I like this scene then?

Because our couple didn’t need to million-dollar budgets, breathtaking landscape, and panoramic shots to show estrangement. Distance and space didn’t separate them. There was only a short hallway between them. Plus, they had cellphones to connect them.

It was their silence on the issue of the kiss that was keeping them apart.

10. The corridor walk

They were aware that they needed to talk about the kiss.

YJ: What were we feeling back then? The both of us.
WH: I need to tell her how I feel. I want to tell her why I did that, but…Honestly, I’m not sure.

I like this scene because a) the paparazzi said they had the “good vibes” of a real couple, and b) they actually looked like a couple that Dispatch would feature in a scandal. lol. When art imitates reality…

11. Bragging about his girlfriend

He bragged to his mom that YJ prepared a lot of things for her and stayed up all night to do that.

He also bragged to his fake dad/YJ’s dad that his girlfriend was spoiling him. Awww.

12. Making her feel jealous

Jealousy scenes are always fun in kdramas.

I like the direct way she asked him if he had any feelings for the woman his mother had wanted him to marry. But I liked even more the little earnest head shake of his to deny liking the girl.

I swear he looked downright scared of her! 

But he soon teased her that Wannabe Wife was “pretty in her own way.” She expected him to answer that the other woman was ugly especially since his mother praised her great beauty.

But he was only joking, of course.

13. Her letter to his mother

She could hardly diss his mother knowing that he’s the only real family he had.

“My mom passed away in an accident when I was 8. My memory of her face is even fading now. I’d want to do everything I could for her if she was alive. Please think of yourself as my mother in her stead and accept my gift.”

Besides, WH’s mother might be the nastiest woman on earth but she did one thing right for which YJ should be eternally grateful. She gave birth to him.

14. On being petty cute

15. His Jealousy Revenge

This is why we knew he hadn’t dated before. How could he reach the age of 32 without knowing these basic dating games?

He was going to make her jealous by pretending to like a) a girl group, b) an actress, and c) a model. But I think it was BFF’s observation that did the trick. What an apt metaphor!

“Even if there’s a flag in the hole, the golf ball goes in.”

15. Calling Guy Smiley “donsaeng”

I like how he acknowledged being part of YJ’s family circle. GS always called him Hyung so it was about time he started calling GS “donsaeng.” It’s good to have an ally.

16. The truth or consequence game

************

Overall, I think this was a fun episode to watch. It continued to be fun primarily because I focused on the OTP and ignored the annoying subplots involving the wannabe wife, corporate power struggle of the father and the stepmother and looney tunes mother were kept at bay. For me, these characters were peripheral to the romcom. I was willing to sit through a few minutes of their scenes to enjoy the rest of the show.