I’ll limit myself to six points.

1. The non-consensual kisses

There were two in this episode.

a. The reverse-Sleeping Beauty trope. Yesool wanted to kiss MinHu while he was sleeping to “double-check” her vision of their fated romance. The kiss was averted when he woke up as she was puckering her lips.

b. The Drunk Kiss trope. Methinks Yesool purposely drank a lot to give herself courage to tell MH about her vision.

YS: But Mr. Cha will you really believe me?
MH: (Sighs)
YS: You really, really wouldn’t believe me. I said “really” twice.
MH: I’ll believe you.
YS: You will believe me? No matter what I say?
MH: Yeah.
YS: (poking him) You’ll be pretty shocked, though. You know. I see the future when I kiss someone. I saw it. You and I will be sleeping together in the future.
MH: (Silent)
YS: To be honest, I can’t believe it either. Think about it. You and me doing that. So I wanted to double-check it.
MH: Double-check?
YS: Yes. Can I?
MH: (Silent. Thinks about it. Rubs his throat unconsciously.) You asked for it first, all right? (Then kisses her)

You’ve heard me gripe about the Drunken Kiss trope. Korean drama writers really should desist from using this trope because it rarely portrays the heroine or the hero in a good light. It makes the heroine look naïve and irresponsible while it makes the hero look knavish and exploitative.

In this scene, Minhu knows very well that she’s too drunk to know what she’s doing, yet he proceeds to kiss her because she’s “asking for it first.”

No.

Fortunately, he stops after the kiss and doesn’t bed her like the trash of a 2nd lead in “Business Proposal.”

2. Yesool’s character trait: she needs to double-check everything.

Her cousin and housemate, HoWoo, is Yesool’s foil. HW throws caution to the wind and is carpe diem-ing – or to be precise, she seizes the week or carpe septimana. Given her YOLO mindset, she has no need to double-check anything. She simply plunges headlong into new adventures and romantic liaisons and moves on to the next big thing after a week.

In contrast to HW who lives her life in weekly segments, YeSool attempts to survive in the present with the future in mind. She isn’t “seizing the day.” Rather, she’s seizing the future.

In effect, her third eye has become a hindrance to living in the moment. She doubts the permanence of her relationships and needs to double-check everything to ensure that her vision is correct. Since she thinks the future as immutable, she’s resigned to her fate.

Unfortunately, she fails to consider the possibility that perhaps she’s engaging in a self-fulfilling prophecy. She doesn’t question whether she’s unwittingly sabotaging the relationship because of her dire predictions.

Take for example her relationship with her then-boyfriend PilYo. It could be argued that her expectation of a break-up stirred up her insecurity and jealousy and caused their break-up.

In my opinion, the real test of her love for Minhu will come in a vision of their breakup. If she’s willing to continue a relationship with him, despite her vision of a sad fate, or if she’s willing to defy the fate and alter their ending, then she truly loves him.

3. MinHu is a stalker.

Since he overhears everything that Yesool says and does, he’s always shows up at the right moment to help her. Ordinarily, his behavior would have been called out as stalkerish but since he’s the hero with unusual superpowers, he’s given a pass.

Personally, I don’t mind because I’m aware that the writer is employing the Benevolent Boss/Lover trope here. Meaning, Minhu has Yesool’s interests at heart.

For instance, he knew when to give her a hand with her box of props because he could hear her ending the conversation with the worker. Afterwards, he knew where to find her in the empty event hall because he could hear her taking pictures by herself.

He also knew where to rescue her when the lights went out in their building. He must have heard her when she bumped some furniture in the archives.

And when she left the party, he knew to follow her out of the hotel. For sure, he heard Pilyo proposing to Yesool and expected Yesool to want to get away from the reception.

However, it wasn’t only his sixth sense that warned him of looming trouble. He also had the advantage of knowing her for the last five years. Since he previously dealt with her emotional breakdown, he knew that Yesool’s encounter with Pilyo would have shaken her up. He followed her in case she needed another shoulder to cry on, just like she did last time.

So yes, Minhu exhibits stalker tendencies, but I’ve excused them primarily because he’s rescuing her from trouble, and not attempting to harm her.

4. Yesool is an unreliable narrator.

To be honest, I had thought all along that Yesool was a reliable judge of Minhu’s character. I believed her when she said that Minhu was a sociopath.

So it’s only in this Episode 3 that I’ve realized how greatly she has misrepresented Minhu. Episode 3 shows that he’s been supporting her quietly all these five years.

For example, two years ago, when she rambled about liking the sound of summer rain and wanting to put a bed in the lobby, Minhu not only listened to her, but he also remembered her fascination for the sound of rain.

YS: (in a flashback) The lobby on a rainy day. Isn’t it nice? So why is the summer rain always so loud? I feel like the sound of rain will suck me in. Maybe it’s because I work all night. I want to put a bed here and sleep on it, with the sound of the rain in the background.
YS: (in the present time) You still remember that?
MH: Did it ever occur to you that you’re the one who can’t seem to remember pretty much everything?

I wouldn’t be surprised if her words inspired his nature concept for the Billy bed ad campaign. Both she and Minhu came up with same idea without consulting each other.

Yesool’s version:

MinHu’s version:

They envisioned putting the bed in the most unexpected place — in the middle of a pasture – with nothing but the peaceful sight and sound of nature to highlight the comforts of the bed.

To me, this ad concept was influenced by Yesool’s wish to put a bed in the middle of the lobby and listen to the rain.

Take another example. Three years ago, when she broke up with Pilyo, it was Minhu who sat patiently with her while she drowned her sorrows in soju. Minhu didn’t look like an ill-tempered brute then. And the fact that none of her coworkers had no clue that she dated Pilyo meant that Minhu was the only witness to her breakdown.

To me, Yesool made much of Minhu’s tyrannical disposition that she overlooked those moments when Minhu was quietly by her side as a confidante, rather than a boss.

5. Minhu’s complaint about YeSool had a personal undertone.

On one hand, Minhu seems to complain a lot about Yesool’s work habits. But on the other hand, he seems to be voicing his frustration about Yesool’s treatment of him.

He made three comments that I thought had a deeper connotation.

a. “Yet you can’t even read the signs.”

I’m sure there’s a double meaning here. Outwardly, he’s lecturing her about the mistakes she made due to her oversight. But secretly, I think he’s alluding to her inability to read his true feelings for her.

Ever since he overheard her badmouthing him to her coworkers and making fun of his unsuitability as a lover, he realized then that she has totally misread his intentions. That’s why, after that incident, he sulked and avoided her until the Billy promotion was successfully concluded.

To me, that’s the reason he unexpectedly brought her to the event hall. Ostensibly, they were going to clear up the site. However, since he loathes to explain himself, I suspect that he brought her there so she could hear first-hand from the site manager that he was helping her behind-the-scenes.

He wanted to correct any misconception she might have that he didn’t care about the success of her first PM job.

b. “Did it ever occur to you that you’re the one who can’t seem to remember pretty much everything?”

Again, this sounds to me like MH is nursing a grievance. He probably resents that she persists on painting him as the bad guy and fails to remember the many times when he watched over her.

Like when he brought her to the hospital for her check-up.

Or carried the box of props.

Or helped her down the stairs in the dark.

Or brought her an umbrella.

It sounds like he’s pointing out that she overlooks the good he’s done for her because she has friend-zoned him…or “bad boss”-zoned him.

c. “Just like that day.”

Because she always kept him at arm’s length in the office, I was surprised to hear her beg him to feed her. To me, this is one of the biggest revelations in this episode.

MH: Are you crazy? Get a hold of yourself!
YS: (crying)
MH: Why are you crying? Why? Why?
YS: I’m just…
MH: Why are you crying?
YS: Why are you yelling at me? I was startled as is. Why are you yelling at me?
MH: Sorry. (then pats her)
YS: (whispering) I’m hungry.
MH: What?

YS: (still whispering) Rib eye steak.
MH: Are you crazy?

He’s calling her crazy because it’s a ridiculous moment to ask for steak when she nearly could have died.

However, the fact that he did bring her to a restaurant to eat meat tells me that he has a soft spot for her, and that despite his gruff ways, he’s prepared to indulge her whims.

Moreover, I was shocked to learn that this wasn’t the first occasion that she’d asked him to feed her.

YS: By the way, how did you know that I was here?
MH: (doesn’t answer her)
YS: I’ve been craving meat since earlier. But I was in a bind since I left my wallet and purse at the party.
MH: How come?
YS: Well, I just forgot.
MH: Just like that day.

lol. I like his wry sense of humor here.

I think that, as much as Yesool finds it trying to work for him all these years, he, too, must have suffered a lot since he has to hide his real feelings for her. His frustration only comes out when he makes off-the-cuff retorts like these three examples I mentioned.

6. Last, no skinship allowed?!

We finally get why Minhu didn’t grab onto Yesool’s outstretched hand and allowed her to fall in Episode 1.

It’s because touching her causes him pain.

He held her hand to help her walk in the dark corridor

and down the stairs.

Afterwards, he massaged his hands, and she noticed it.

He quickly dismissed it as nothing.

lol. It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll end up in bed together if body contact causes him pain.

I’ve more comments but I’ll save them for later. Let’s move on. 🙂