“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

Let me count how many times Taemoo has demonstrated his love for Hari to the three people who mattered the most: his grandpa and her parents.

Grandpa: Did you get into a fake relationship because you didn’t want to go on blind dates? How could you tell an absurd lie like that?

This is good. While the Grandpa is scolding Taemoo, Taemoo and Hari are silently communicating with each other. Taemoo understands that his grandpa already pressured Hari to distance herself from him…like in a soap opera. Hence, he isn’t surprised when she addresses him as “sajangnim” (사장님) or boss. Netflix subbed it as “President Kang.”

Hari: I’ll be on my way now, President Kang.

Taemoo follows her to stop her from leaving.

Note to myself: I think this is good blocking. Blocking is the choreography of the actors’ position and movement in the set. Here, Taemoo makes a beeline for Hari.

He stands beside her, in opposite direction of his grandfather. His blocking says that he’s made up his mind to defy his grandfather in order to be with her.

He gives her a look then turns to speak to his grandpa.

Taemoo: Grandfather. We’re not in a fake relationship.

I believe Hari clutches his wrist to hold him back from arguing with his grandfather. He glances down at her hand, then look steadily at her. His half-smile is…sigh…flawless.

It shows tenderness and reassurance. And look! No smarmy dimples needed!

He grips her hand, then turns to look at his grandpa.

Taemoo: I love Shin Hari.

I get the charm of this actor. He isn’t going to nail his performance in every single scene but when it’s needed – when he must look earnest and unshakeable, he does it.

Next scene:

Taemoo: Don’t be mad at Sunghoon. He’s my secretary. Of course, he’s on my side.
Grandpa: What are you thinking? You must stop this now.
Taemoo: Fine. But…don’t expect to ever have any great-grandkids.

Okay….He likes Hari to be the mother of his children.  I hope he and Hari will talk about many children they want.

Grandpa: What? What do you—
Taemoo: I don’t think that I’ll ever meet a woman I love as much as Hari. So do as you please if you want me to devote myself only to work and never get married.
Grandpa: Are you threatening me right now?
Taemoo: Grandpa, that’s not what I—
Grandpa: What if I say, “Over my dead body?”
Taemoo: You liked her when you met her as Geumhui.
Grandpa: Back then, I didn’t know that it was all a lie. Everything about her has been a lie.

I like the use of the mirror here. It reminds me that his grandfather’s anger about the lies “mirrors” Taemoo’s own anger when he found out about Hari’s deception.

Taemoo: I’m the one who made her do that. I forced her into a contractual relationship. All of this is mostly my fault. So direct your hate at me, and cut her some slack. I genuinely like her, Grandfather.

Comments:

1. Here, we get to see why his Grandpa is against Hari. He’s furious because he was lied to. His intolerance to lies isn’t much different from Taemoo’s. Taemoo was also angry when he found out about Hari’s deception. Perhaps Taemoo and Hari need to apologize first.

2. By calling his grandpa’s name, “I genuinely like her, Grandfather,” he’s invoking their close grandfather-grandson bonds, and appealing to his indulgence. Despite being pushy at times, his grandpa has always bestowed favor upon him.

3. But Taemoo manages to convince him that the deception wasn’t Hari’s idea. It was his doing  Thankfully, his grandfather is reasonable enough to accept his culpability.

Next time they discuss this topic, he’ll no longer cite the lies as basis for his opposition, but the pressure of a public relationship on Hari.

Third scene:

Taemoo overhears his Grandpa planning to send him to New York.

Grandpa: I think I’m going to send Taemoo by next month. So make sure to take care of the house and car in New York. Yes, okay.
Taemoo: Am I going to the United States?
Grandpa: Where have you been?
Taemoo: Tell me. Am I going?
Grandpa: Sit:
Taemoo: You haven’t even talk to me about this. Are you doing this because of Hari? Are you doing to try to pry us apart? Do you think it’ll break us up?
Grandpa: I know. I know that this isn’t enough to separate you two.
Taemoo: So why are you doing this? This isn’t like you.
Grandpa: Okay, so let’s say that I approve of you two. But once people find out that you’re dating, do you think that she’ll be able to come to work? The employee will gossip about it. You might be fine, but she’s just an employee. She won’t be able to endure it. Until it blows over, work at the American branch for two years. If you haven’t changed your mind after that, I’ll approve.
Taemoo: No.
Grandpa: Taemoo.
Taemoo: It won’t matter if it’s two or 20 years. My feelings will never change. Besides I don’t want to be away from her anymore. I’m going to marry Hari.

Okay. So he goes from, “I love Hari” to “I genuinely like her, Grandfather” to “I’m going to marry Hari.”

Grandpa: Taemoo!
Taemoo: Then people won’t gossip anymore. So please approve of our relationship.

Comments:

1. As expected, the grandpa stops bringing up the lies. Instead, he raises the issue of Hari’s burden that she’ll have to endure while dating him publicly. He’s doing this because he’s appealing to Taemoo’s emotions. He knows that Taemoo will want to shield Hari from public censure, so he’s exploiting this protective instinct of Taemoo to wedge them apart.

2. The grandpa purposely doesn’t mention the furor caused by the public revelation of Minwoo’s girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend). Taemoo is unaware that, even as they speak, Hari’s in the eye of the storm. His grandpa isn’t talking about a hypothetical situation where Hari’s being gossiped about by their coworkers, but a real problem at hand.

3. The grandpa fails to convince Taemoo to move. In fact, Taemoo’s one step ahead of him because he’s prepared to marry Hari to stop the gossiping.

4. I thought this is noteworthy: the timing. The grandpa intends to ship Taemoo abroad in a month’s time. Did he really expect Taemoo to do nothing for a whole month while Hari is being pilloried on social media and by their coworkers in the office?

Having failed to convince Taemoo to move abroad, the Grandpa shifts his attention to Hari. He orders Hari to either transfer to another branch until the situation dies down, or to resign. Hari refuses.

Hari: I’m not going to resign. Do you know how hard I’ve worked ever since I got hired? The products I’ve come up with? All of them made it into the top five that year. My Bucket List Fish made it into the top three. On top of that, I’m the youngest person to ever be awarded the Mega Hit award. I don’t think it makes any sense for me to resign. (standing up) If love is a crime, then yes, I’m a criminal. But resign? I can’t resign, sir! (bowing down)

lol. This is such a cheesy line.

If the Grandpa harbors any suspicions that she’s after Taemoo’s money, then Hari’s fervent response should’ve dispel it. She’s passionate about doing her best for the company and doesn’t need Taemoo as a meal ticket when she’s doing fine on her own.

Fourth scene:

Grandpa: What are you doing here?
Taemoo: What did you talk about with Hari?
Grandpa: I told her I’d send her to a provincial office. And I told her to resign if she wasn’t happy with it.
Taemoo: Did you…did you have to do this?
Grandpa: You must have heard about the rumors too. You know what she has done to this company.
Taemoo: How is that her fault. It’s my fault. I like her first and caused this situation.
Grandpa: I don’t think you know how serious this is. The board of directors could ask you take responsibility for this situation and ask you to resign.
Taemoo: If that’s what ends up happening, then I’ll take full responsibility, and resign. So don’t do anything to Hari.

Comments:

1. Taemoo makes his priority clear. The Grandpa knows he risks losing Taemoo as the company’s president and alienating him as his only grandson if he keeps pushing Taemoo and Hari apart.

2. It’s interesting that Taemoo is willing to resign for Hari, but Hari wants neither to resign nor give Taemoo up.

3. At this point, I’m not sure whether the Grandpa is a villain or a devil’s advocate. He may be deliberately provoking the couple to test their feelings for each other.

As for Hari’s parents, I like Taemoo declares his intention to marry their daughter by calling them “abeonim” and “eomeonim.” These are a very formal way of saying father and mother, so they may be used for parents-in-laws.

Taemoo: Sorry about this. I’ll introduce myself properly next time. Abeonim. Eomeonim. (bowing)

Even when he’s getting beaten up by Hari’s mother, he remembers to address them with honorifics.

Dad: You referred to us as if we were your in-laws back there, too. Are you and Hari…
Mom: Dating? Mr. Gye? Come on. Tell us. What’s your relationship with Hari? And why did you come to our house? What? Tell me!
Taemoo: (stuttering) That’s, eomeonim…
Mom: (whacking him) Stop calling me like that. You’re damn well over 40 years old. How could you try to date Hari? You think you can do that since you’re handsome? How dare you!

I find it interesting that her mom is very particular about their age difference. She doesn’t like an old man dating Hari.

Dad: Honey, you can’t use violence.
Brother: Go, Hyung.
Mom: Go where?
Taemoo: I’ll explain everything later. Eomeonim. Abeonim. (bowing)

Then by his car, he bows again.

Comments:

1. Earlier, he confessed to Hari that, after telling his grandpa about Hari, he feels relieved and want to tell others, including her parents, about his relationship with her. He isn’t afraid to tell the truth to her parents because he’s willing to marry her.

2. Also, he doesn’t like to lie to her parents again, just like he did at the hospital when Hari introduced him as Mr. Gye. He would rather get beaten up for who he is (i.e., Hari’s boss who’s in love with her) than be praised for somebody he isn’t (i.e., Hari’s thoughtful coworker Mr. Gye who paid for the hospital bill).

3. He’s establishing his real identity with them. Since he intends to be Hari’s husband in the future, he’s re-introducing himself to her parents as their in-law. He starts as he means to go on.

However, for now, this is a unilateral decision. He hasn’t told Hari yet. His grandpa and her parents know about his future plans to marry Hari, but he hasn’t formally asked Hari to marry him because their phone conversation was cut off.

Calling in his marriage proposal:

Hari: (not recognizing the phone number) Hello?
Taemoo: Hello. Is this Ms. Shin Hari?

Lol. He’s teasing her already. He pretends not to know who she is.

Hari: (confused) Who is this?
Taemoo: I called you to remind you of something important. Can you guess what it is?

He doesn’t want to sound “needy,” so he pretends that he’s calling her on an official business matter.

Hari: (smiling) What are you doing, Taemoo?
Taemoo: What do you think? I’m calling the girlfriend who’s been ignoring her injured boyfriend.

He doesn’t want to sound “sulky,” so he pretends that he’s complaining about her neglect. But he can’t be annoyed with her for long.

Taemoo: I thought you would drop by after work.
Hari: I’m sorry. I’ve been all over the place today.
Taemoo: Do you know who I’m with right now?

He tries to make her jealous.

Hari: (immediately riled up) What? Who are you with? Who?
Taemoo: A friend. You probably know this friend, too.
Hari: Me? A friend that I know? Who is it?
Taemoo: I have a friend like that. A thoughtful friend who listens to me by my side whenever I’m feeling angry. Actually, she looked a lot like you, now that I think about it.
Hari: So that friend must be really pretty, right?

Hmm…the doll’s hairstyle does look like Hari’s.

Taemoo: No. She’s really ugly.
Hari: What? Hey!

Lol. In effect, he’s calling her ugly. She doesn’t mind that he’s with somebody who looks like her (it’s a compliment because it means she’s his “type.”) but she’s upset that he thinks her ugly.

Taemoo: That friend is the thank-you gift that you gave me when I went to that concert with you. It’s a worry doll. It’s a doll that I can talk to about my worries.
Hari: I see. (sighing)
Taemoo: (instantly picking up the sound) Why are you sighing? Is something wrong?

Yes. She’s sighing because she has a lot of worries and she wishes that she had a worry doll, too.

Hari: No, I just…I just yawned like that.
Taemoo: You’re yawing while talking to your boyfriend? That’s a bit harsh.
Hari: No. I didn’t sleep very well last night.

Because she slept by his bedside.

Taemoo: You didn’t? I heard you snoring.
Hari: I don’t snore! (pausing) Did I really snore?
Taemoo: (teasing her again) No.
Hari: (annoyed)
Taemoo: Hari. Do you know?
Hari: Know what?
Taemoo: I honestly feel so relieved right now. I’ve been feeling bad about keeping our relationship a secret from my grandfather. But now that I don’t have to hide it any longer, I feel so relieved. From now on, I want to tell everyone about it, and meet with you without hiding. So to do that, Hari…
Hari: Yes.
Taemoo: We should get married…

And the phone ended.

Comments:

1. This is the weirdest marriage proposal ever. He’s proposing from a phone booth. Lol. He should wait until they’re face to face. He sounds like he’s winging it.

2. This is the weirdest marriage proposal ever. He wants to marry her because he doesn’t want to date her in secret? Huh? That’s a big leap from dating secretly to announcing marriage. Dating is dating. Marriage is marriage.

3. This is the weirdest marriage proposal ever. I get that he’s making sure that they’re on the same page and have marriage in mind. But I think there’s a better way of asking her to think about spending the rest of their lives with him.

This is the weirdest marriage proposal ever. Period. I’m glad that the phone cut off because she heard him.

Now, here are the gifs that I KNOW you’ve all been waiting for. Consider them your reward for slogging through my long commentary.

I’ve two versions:

The panoramic one, courtesy of dubudoughnut’s tumblr.

source: dubudoughnut’s tumblr

And the tight shot, courtesy of devildrusje’s tumblr

source: devildrusje’s tumblr

If you’re going to save these gifs, please credit the ORIGINAL source. Don’t mention me because I’ve nothing to do with them.

Enjoy!!!