Let’s resume where I left off.

So, what’s a meaningful day for Hari and Taemoo?

1. They’re doing something that they both enjoyed.

Hari: eating hamburger
Taemoo: watching her enjoying herself

Taemoo: Is it good?
Hari: Yes. I’ve fulfilled my wish.

She meant this, of course.

Taemoo: I didn’t know that you liked hamburgers so much.
Hari: I didn’t get to eat it a lot when I was a kid.
Taemoo: Why not?
Hari: My family ran a bakery when I was in elementary school. My parents wouldn’t buy me any hamburgers because people wouldn’t buy our bread if they saw me eat them. So I went through a hard time trying to eat them in secret. I’m sorry I shared too much information. You probably aren’t interested.
Taemoo: No. I’m very interested in you, Ms. Shin.
Hari: What?
Taemoo: It’s my duty as the president to be interested in my employees.
Hari: Ah.

2. She opens up about herself.

Getting Hari to open up and talk casually about herself is an important step in transforming their work relationship into a romantic one. Taemoo does a good job of asking the right question and listening to her. He doesn’t ask her complicated questions and he makes her feel at home talking to him.

And Hari responds to him. She becomes radiant and animated when she talks about herself. Although she says she’s embarrassed to tell him her dreams, she does so with a twinkle in her eyes.

Taemoo: I saw that you majored in Food and Culinary Arts. When did you want to become a researcher?
Hari: When I was young, I didn’t really have a dream. Since I like food so much I thought I should major in culinary arts and become a chef. Then I found out in college that there was a job called a “Food Product Researcher.” So, as you can see, here I am.
Taemoo: So do you have a dream now?
Hari: Yes.
Taemoo: What is it?
Hari: It’s a bit embarrassing. Do I really have to say it here?
Taemoo: I’m asking you as your boss. You should answer me as your employee.
Hari: What is this? A job interview?
Taemoo: (just waits for her to answer)
Hari: Fine. I always bought my food when I was young because my parents were so busy. So the frozen food made by big companies was my favorite childhood food. I want to let other people feel the same happiness that I felt when I ate that frozen food in the past.

Hmmm… I’ve seen this plot before in another Kdrama, “Hello, Me.” The male lead is a chaebol in the food industry, and he and the female lead develop a kind of snack that can be mass produced. For the female lead, snacks are her comfort food, or food she associated with her childhood. In this drama, Hari’s comfort food is frozen food.

Surely, she didn’t mean TV dinners, right?

Hari: Not everyone can afford to eat at Michelin restaurants every day. You said that you were developing a kimchi product for the overseas market and that you made several different versions of it. I really identified with you as a researcher.
Taemoo: Is that so? You must have thought I didn’t do any work.
Hari: No. That’s not what I meant. Damn I really dug my own grave with that one.
Taemoo: A lot of things happened that day. But is that the only thing you remember?
Hari: NO. I went to a luxury brand shop and such an expensive restaurant for the first time in my life. I could never forget. How could I?

Taemoo smiles at her then looks away. He sees her shoes.

Taemoo: It was like this that day, too.

I think he’s mumbling because Hari doesn’t mind him. He suddenly stands up and kneels beside her. He ties her shoelace.

Hari: Oh!
Taemoo: Whether you’re Geumhui or Hari, I guess this is the same.

My comments:

a. I think he missed an opportunity to propose to her here.

He didn’t have to give her the necklace, but he could’ve asked her that question he rehearsed in the restaurant, “Do you want to start seeing each other with marriage in mind?”

b. Secretary Cha is mistaken that Taemoo and Hari’s fake dating had set them up for the worst possible relationship. And Taemoo is right that he and Hari did have some romantic moments despite the fake relationship.

The handkerchief moment, the Cinderella shoe incident, and the firework scene were real situations because Taemoo and Hari bonded during those occasions.

c. They just went through a minor “detour” in their relationship. Taemoo was already falling in love with her on the night of the fake anniversary date. However, his discovery of Hari’s deception derailed their progress.

Now, they’re back on track again.

d. That’s the significance of the shoe-tying: he’s come full circle to that Cinderella moment during their fake anniversary date.

That time, she lost her shoe and he kneeled to help her slip it back on. He told her to be careful. Now, he just ties her shoelaces for her. In his mind, she needs cosseting, and he’s do it for her.

She looked dazed and bewildered back then.

e. Moreover, to me, this moment tells me whether she’s Geumhui or Hari, he always notices little things about her.

Remember in Episode 2 when he chased after because he was furious that she hit him with her slipper and fled without an apology? He noticed a tear (or was it sweat) trickling down from her cheek, and he realized that she was frightened of him. His anger evaporated then, and he laid her slipper down – like an olive branch – to indicate that he was no longer angry with her.

He’s a great observer of details, and it’s only just dawning on him that personality traits that he liked in Geumhui (e.g., funny, outspoken, sassy, and clumsy) are well and truly in Hari all along.

3. They’re regaining their friendly footing.

He insists on driving back.

Taemoo: Wait, no. I’ll drive from now on. You can ride in the passenger’s seat.
Hari: No. I feel better if I’m driving.
Taemoo: But I don’t like it. Just rest in the passenger’s seat.
Hari: Still, how can I let my boss drive.
Taemoo: Why? When you were Shin Geumhui, you gladly sat in the passenger’s seat. Wasn’t I your boss back then too?
Hari: Well, that’s true but…
Taemoo: Then just get in.

He succeeds in changing Hari’s perception of him as THE boss. Yes, he’s still her employer. But they’ve already reached a degree of informality and closeness that’s too silly to ignore. They can’t pretend that their fake dating didn’t happen. He wants them to continue where they left off.

It seems like Hari’s taken his word for it. She loses her self-inhibition and talks about the gorging herself on food.

Hari: Ugh. I think I had too many hamburger and dumplings. I’m still so full.
Taemoo: (teasing her) Thankfully, your clothes didn’t burst at the seams today.
Hari: (smiling) No, those clothes were too small back then! I’m sorry. Those were expensive clothes.
Taemoo: I want to stop hearing apologies from you, Ms. Shin.
Hari: What?
Taemoo: There are a lot of nice things to say other than apologies. Like how I’m cool, or that it’s fun to be with me.
Hari: Huh? You’re funny.
Taemoo: Aren’t you tired? Get some sleep if you are.
Hari: I’m fine. You must be even more tired since you’re driving.

d. They enter a new understanding. 

I think Hari catches on that Taemoo is afraid of the rain because of a trauma. That’s the reason she runs out to the lobby to take back her phone. She’s concerned about him.

At first, she couldn’t understand why he told her to get out the car when it started raining.

Taemoo: Get out.
Hari: What?
Taemoo: I forgot that I have an important meeting here today. Go back to Seoul on your own.
Hari: Still. How could I go from here to –
Taemoo: Didn’t you hear me?
Hari: Okay.

She was right to be furious with him.

Hari: How could he just leave me on the side of the road when it’s raining. What an awful boss!

Her phone died. Her shoelace got untied again. And her broken umbrella was no protection from the rain.

Hari: (grumbling) My heart fluttered when he tied my shoelaces for me. I must have been insane.

She saw a hotel in the distance. I’m sure it’s the hotel that Taemoo open earlier that day.

Hari: Was hits all part of his grand plan to get his revenge on me? Probably not. He doesn’t have time for that. Then why did he just abandon me on the side of the road when it’s raining.

Then she remembered that he said he disliked rainy days. When she was making up a fake story of their first encounter, she’d chose a rainy day in New York City. He vetoed the idea.

I assume that this is when she realizes then that Taemoo ejected her from the car because he had a panic attack. He probably didn’t want her to see it and/or he was afraid that she’d get into a car accident with him so he dropped her off.

She runs to the concierge to get back her phone which she left for charging. I think she’s worried about him and wants to call him to find out where he is.

But before she can do anything, she encounters her girlfriends. They want to see her boyfriend.

And Taemoo arrives, calling her “chagiya” and introducing himself as her boyfriend.

That’s why this day becomes meaningful for them, just as the Burger Man wished for them. Not only are they making great strides in their relationship because they understand each other better, but this marks the day when Taemoo makes their relationship public.

That’s it for now. Let’s enjoy the upcoming episodes.