After all the messy “some” relationships I’m presently watching in “Love in Contract” and “Love is for Suckers,” it’s comforting to return to the sweet and rustic romance of “Once Upon a Small Town.”
Here’s a link to my explanation of a “some” relationship: Bitch Talk: On “Some” Relationships
After sharing a kiss, JiYul and JaYoung know there’s nothing ambiguous about the way they feel for each other.
The notion of starting a “some” relationship with her doesn’t enter his head. It only takes a couple of words and an exchange of grins to establish that they’re officially dating.
JY: We have to keep this a secret, right? Us, dating?
JaYoung: Date. Dating?
JY: (grinning)
JaYoung: (grinning back) Dating.
And that’s how easy it is to start dating.
JaYoung: (continuing) You know how this village is. If word gets out that we are dating, they’ll probably start preparing for our wedding.
JY: (smiling)
JaYoung: Everyone we run into will have something to say. So we should try our best to keep it a secret.
JY: (smiling) Okay. I think I’ll be fine with whatever they do or say. But since you want to keep it a secret, I’ll do my best as well.
I’m glad that it wasn’t JiYul who suggested that they keep their relationship secret. He originally decried the country folks’ lack of boundaries, so I thought he would insist on secrecy. But JaYoung is now the one taking exception to their nosiness.
JaYoung: You’ve never had it happen to you. Once you do, you’ll probably feel different.
JaYoung must have a short memory. Has she forgotten that when he first arrived in town, everybody he ran into DID have something to say to him? In fact, some of them – the women – barged in his house and had “something to say” about what he should eat.
He holds her hand to reassure her.
JY: I don’t think I will.
JaYoung: (glances at him)
JY: Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. I mean it.
JaYoung: (nodding)
JY: I guess I’ll call you after work.
Then, he reluctantly leaves her.
Sigh. Young love!
JaYoung: This is bad for my heart. This dating thing. (giggling) Dating. Oh, gosh.
This is how a girl looks when she’s dating. She’s giddy, happy, and content.
In contrast, girls in a “some” relationship are anxious, confused, and insecure.
Exhibit A. She looks like death warmed up.
Exhibit B. She looks like a harpy.
To me, this Episode 11 is like a primer on what to do when you want to keep your relationship under wraps in a small town. Let me list a few pointers.
1. Hide it from colleagues.
JiYul’s assistant notices that something is strange about him. He had new clothes brought to him from Seoul and asks for old medical records when he’s about to leave the country practice and return to the city. She’s surprised by his new outlook, but assumes that Huidong has simply grown on him.
Meanwhile, JaYoung’s coworkers think there’s something strange about her, too, because she’s smiling to herself and she puts off helping somebody because she’s getting off work. That’s never happened before. When JiYul drops in to ask for her help, her boss catches on and quickly lets her leave to help JiYul.
2. Go on car dates.
Four hours driving to Seoul plus four hours driving home to Huidong equals eight hours of being in each other’s company. What typically would have been a tiring trip provides the new couple a perfect opportunity to get to know each other better.
JaYoung: I have a question.
JY: What is it?
JaYoung: (smiling) Have you ever brought someone else there?
She means the midnight snack bar where he treated her out to a sandwich.
JY: Let’s talk about something else. I don’t think this could end well.
JaYoung: What?!
He refuses to answer the question because it may incriminate him. Personally, I like that Jiyul doesn’t bring up his past relationship. Because he cut ties cleanly with Min, I don’t think the past has anything more to do with what’s happening to him and JaYoung in the present.
JY: Anyway, Officer Ahn.
JaYoung: Yes.
JY: You look cute in that T-shirt.
JaYoung: This?
JY: It’s not from your middle school days, is it?
JaYoung: That shirt?
JY: Yes?
JaYoung: Is it the same one as back then but in a different color?
Lol. He implies that her taste in clothing hasn’t changed since she was in school, so she clapbacks that HIS taste in clothing hasn’t change much either. He wears the same outfit but in different colors. He’s about to explain that it doesn’t matter what he wears for work when she brings up Sanghyeon.
JY: I mean, when I work at the hospital…
JaYoung: Sanghyeon. Sangyeon dresses really well.
JY: Sanghyeon?
And he stops talking and makes an emoji face.
lol.
JaYoung: Why did you stop talking? (shaking his shoulder)
JY: (laughing)
JaYoung: When did you start liking me?
JY: It wasn’t exactly love at first sight. I gradually grew to—
JaYoung: “Wasn’t exactly love at first sight?” What do you mean??
They’re learning that the best part of a journey is being together. It doesn’t really matter where they’re going or how far the trip will take, as long as they’re traveling with someone they like and who likes them back.
3. Visit his workplace after office hours.
He wants to reassure her that a long-distance relationship isn’t going to be difficult.
JaYoung: (rubbing his wall poster) This guy looks like a handful.
They both laugh and sit together on his desk.
JY: It’s not that far, don’t you think?
JaYoung: Honestly, you can’t say it’s not that far. It takes over four hours. (checking her phone) Look at this. Today is already over. It’s past midnight.
He’s downplaying the distance, but she doesn’t want to sugarcoat it. He takes the hint and promises to do better next time.
JY: I supposed we should have left a little sooner.
JaYoung: But those four hours did feel very short. I almost didn’t want it to end. I’m really okay. If eight-hour round trips were going to be a problem, I wouldn’t have started it.
JaYoung clarifies that she isn’t complaining. She thinks that time is relative. She enjoys being with him so four hours isn’t long enough.
He stands in front of her and holds her hands.
JY: I brought you here to shake off your worries, but I guess I was worried about nothing, Ms. Ahn JaYoung.
JaYoung: Of course.
JY: I’ll do better so that eight-hour round trips feel like nothing. (then he compliments her) You’re so pretty. How did you get so pretty?
JaYoung: (stomach growling) I think I’d be even prettier if I had something to eat.
If this were a 16-hour drama, I’m sure the writer would’ve created more obstacles for this long-distance relationship. But since the whole point here is to show that the princess has fallen in love in a storybook fashion, the problem is easily overcome with “positive thinking.”
4. Eat at night food stall in Seoul where there’s no chance of meeting anybody familiar.
He teases her again, saying, “You really did get prettier.”
He’s teasing her because he hasn’t forgotten what she said earlier evening. She admitted that he was getting on her nerves, acting like a jerk. He wants to make good on his promise that he’ll stop being a jerk, and that he’ll behave sweetly and say only nice things to her.
JY: You must have wanted to hear me say I liked you. I should have told you sooner.
JaYoung: Aunt Yeonghong used to warn me to be careful with men from Seoul. She said that they are all a bunch of smooth talkers. Maybe I should reconsider this before it’s too late.
JY: (wagging a finger) It’s too late. You can’t take it back.
JaYoung: (laughing)
He’s making up for his mistake in not telling her that he likes her sooner.
5. Make encounters coincidental.
a. After their trip to Seoul, he texts her.
JY: Did you go to work? You must be so tired.
JaYoung: I’m fine. This is my first time texting you. It feels strange.
JY: Shall I make it even stranger?
Then, he pops up at the police station to ask her to go home with him.
He wants to drop off a heavy delivery of dog food for Nurunji at her place because it’s too heavy for her. Of course, it’s just an excuse for him to see her again and to give her time to sleep.
He’s proud of himself for managing to hoodwink her police colleagues.
b. On a dinner date in town, he’s seated at the table first, and she follows after him. They pretend to meet each accidentally.
Restaurant owner: Have a seat.
JaYoung: Oh gosh! Hello, Doctor Han.
JY: Oh hello. Fancy meeting you here.
Jayoung: Are you by yourself?
JY: Yes, of course.
JaYoung: I see. Shall we sit together then?
JY: Shall we?
Restaurant owner: (suspicious) Weren’t you expecting somebody?
JY: Apparently not.
Restaurant owner: Well, then sit down.
Jayoung: All right. I’ll have what he’s having, Auntie.
Their plan would have worked out if JiYul hadn’t been too thoughtful of a boyfriend. He should have told the restaurant owner to clear away the extra dinner service, and ordered only one bowl of soup. Because of his mistake, the restaurant owner assumed that he was dining with a friend.
I don’t think they really fooled anybody, though.
6. Bring an big ugly bag.
Nobody would think that she went out a hot date when she toted a trash bag with her.
7. Create pet names.
JiYul doesn’t like JaYoung calling him “Doctor.”
JY: When will you stop calling me “Doctor”?
JaYoung: We can work that out over time.
JY: You said you’d rather die than call me oppa.
I’ve a feeling that he secretly likes being called an “oppa.”
JY: (continuing) How about “babe” or “honey”?
JaYoung: (shoving him) You must have gone mad from driving all night!
They laugh off his cheekiness.
Later, JaYoung brings up the idea of pet names for each other.
JaYoung: Should we make pet names for each other? Something no one would suspect.
JY: You’re really a cop. You’re really thorough, Ms. Ahn.
She’s pleased with herself. But methinks JiYul is half-expecting her to use the terms of endearment, “jagi” and “heoni” that he suggested.
JaYoung: Since you’re a veterinarian, you can use animal names to stay under the radar. What would be good?
JY: I don’t know. No matter how hard I think about it, I can only come up with things like “cutie” and “sexy.”
Does he think she’s cute and he’s sexy? Or does he think she’s both cute and sexy, and he can’t make up his mind which one to call her?
JaYoung: (hitting him) Are you insane? Hey, you have a mole here.
JY: Right. You also have one on your nose. Right there.
JaYoung: Then, we should just go with Dot and Spot. They totally sound like puppy names, don’t they?
But later, when they visit Sanghyeon, Jiyul notices that he too has a mole. So he tells JaYoung that they need to change their names.
I think that after they started dating, he shows his jealousy of Sanghyeon more openly. Previously, he pretended not to care when Sanghyeon displayed his close friendship with JaYoung. But now, that they’re dating, he makes a mountain out of a small molehill mole.
8. When all else fails, there’s bribery.
They should have taken a page out of the kids’ book and been prepared to bribe anybody who discovers that they’re dating.
The kids inform them that they started dating.
Boy: Since it’s all thanks to you, she said we should tell you about this. Please keep this a secret from the other grown-ups.
Girl: It’ll be such a headache if others find out. You know how people are like here. (offering the candies) Here. Have these. They taste fun.
JY: Thanks.
Boy: Okay then. Have a good day.
I like that the young girl take the lead here. Unfortunately, JaYoung can’t take the lead because dating feels like an unknown territory for her. She tells JiYul so.
JaYoung: It must be nice. You’re so relaxed about all of this. You’re really good at this. Maybe I should have taken some kind of crash course lesson on dating. I’m the only one who keeps acting all awkward.
JY: Look here, Officer Ahn. I am not relaxed at all, okay? Looking at you like this, I’m surprised by how totally out of control I am. I’ve never once come to a girlfriend’s workplace just because I missed her. Rather, it’s really…
He’s about to kiss her when the kids show up.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Though this kdrama isn’t going to win any acting or script award, it’s a winner for me because it allows me to look at the innocence of young love through rose-tinted glasses again.