What I like about the hero Kang HuYeong (HY) is that he isn’t in denial about his feelings for Lee HongJu (HJ). The previous episode ended with him hinting at her that he had feelings for her.

HY: I’m sorry, but mine has already started to thaw.

Outwardly, he was talking about the bag of frozen dumplings she’d given him. In reality, however, he was low-key confessing his feelings for her. It’s too bad then that she was so plastered that she didn’t connect his words to her earlier exhortation to him.

HJ: Do you remember? I put a book in your bag so Mr. Bok Nam couldn’t confiscate it.
HY: “My Avant-garde Love”?
HJ: Bingo! You must really be Kang HuYeong. There’s a line that goes like this in that book. “Your first love is special because it happens only once in life.” So, what is first love? It’s frozen food! You have to keep it frozen. You can’t keep it fresh like it was in the beginning. But if you take it out and thaw it? No, you can never. You can never thaw it.
HY: What happens if you do?
HJ: Then…it ends up expiring. You can never again remember it as it was. So Kang HuYeong you should never meet your first love.

In this episode, he clearly disregards her warning and finagles an all-day date with her at an amusement park, a hanok village, and the Han River park. Although these venues are commonly used in kdramas to stage a dating trope (e.g., sharing cotton candy, having skinship in a photo booth, or admiring the fireworks), I like how the show manages to give the story a unique spin.

For instance, at the theme park, HJ spies him napping on a park bench and immediately buys him an energy drink. This scene might look inconsequential, but it adds to the verisimilitude of the story. After all, HY must still be suffering from jetlag so he dozes off whenever, wherever he can. And only HJ notices and does something about it. Moreover, I think his habit of dozing off makes for a great counterpoint to her habit of dozing off back when they were in high school. Their first meeting happened when she overslept on the bus. And he wrote the book recommendation for her while she was sleeping in the library.

Then, at the hanok village, HY indulges her in her wish to dress up as Joseon king and he as a eunuch. She nags him – like a long-time girlfriend— to take good full-length photos of her, instead of just focusing on her facial expressions. Also, he’s fascinated by the graceful way she ties her hair up. Moments such as these tell us that, contrary to her fear that seeing his “first love” would kill off that feeling, being in the company of his “first love” allows him to discover new things about her to fall deeply in love with.

Last, the side trip to the Han River park. The customary thing to do here is to have fried chicken and beer delivered but since it’s pouring rain, they decide to stay inside his car. Well, one thing leads to another and pretty soon they find themselves in this position.

This moment should tell us that no matter how hard HJ tries to keep everything jovial between them, she isn’t impervious to him.

Moving on to the other highlights:

1. His-and-hers recollection of her letter deliveries for her BFF, Kim Hye Jin

In her mind, it was an exercise in futility to wait for him outside the boy’s restroom, jog alongside him on the track, and ambush him in the library stacks. He wasn’t normal because he ignored all of HyeJin’s 10 letters. He even ignored her last-ditch effort: a public declaration written on his classroom’s blackboard.

From his perspective, however, he didn’t want to reply to the letters because he believed that his silence should have indicated the obvious answer to her BFF’s question. Instead of outright rejecting her BFF, he wanted the BFF to take the hint. Additionally, he found that he was enjoying his surprise encounters with HJ when she delivered the love notes. When he was told that she was outside the boy’s restroom, he took a moment to groom his hair. When she jogged beside him then, then took a tumble, he was first concerned then amused by her clumsiness. And when she surprised him in the library stacks, he couldn’t help admiring her cheek, not to mention, her determination.

By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual letter writer was HongJu herself, and not her BFF, HyeJin. Note that all the letters were signed “HJ,” and both HongJu’s and HyeJin’s initials are HJ. And she took it personally when HY didn’t reply back.

HJ: You…you…why won’t you writer her back? Text her if you’re embarrassed to write a letter. Talk to her in person if you’re too embarrassed to text. She confessed her love. You need to respond, at least.
HY: Why are you telling me that?

That’s true. She seemed more upset than her friend.

HY: Are you Kim Hye Jin?
HJ: (at a loss for words)
HY: No response is also a response. I don’t need to explain the meaning, right? (turning to go)
HJ: (yelling) Yah, Kang HuYeong!
HY: We’re in the library.
HJ: It’s because she likes you. She’s shy because she likes you, and because she likes you…she knows what it means, but she wants to ignore it.

Meaning, the BFF was being obstinate and was in denial about his lack of interest in her because in her romantic/delusional world, she believed that her affection was reciprocated. HJ was pleading for his understanding. She wanted him to show a little bit of empathy here. Methinks she was asking him to let her friend down gently but unequivocally so she could move on.

HJ: (sighing) Have you ever even liked someone?
HY: (sighing back) Do I need to answer such a childish question?
HJ: You think you’re really smart, don’t you? But no. You know nothing about love. I would never fall for someone like you!

Huh? Why did she suddenly make this about herself? Why did she personalize it? She should have said something like, “My friend should never have fallen for someone like you!” Her outburst must have struck a chord in him because he approached her.

HY: Looks like you’re her representative. Go tell her…to study Korean if she has time to write letters.
HJ: (stunned. She moved to kick him)

Seeing her reaction, I began suspecting that HJ had been the ghost-writer of her BFF’s letters. HY was saying that the letters had so many grammatical errors that seemed unlikely that a Korean wrote them. She took this insult personally, and wanted to do him bodily harm. She stopped herself in time.

HJ: What I said just now has nothing with HyeJin. I’ve been overreacting because it is about my friend. Don’t misunderstand her. Whatever your answer is, respond properly. (walking away)

2. The book, “The Avant-garde Love”

First, the title of the book was “The Avant-garde Love.” She was a prime example of somebody unorthodox, original, and quirky.

Second, I like that he ended up writing the book recommendation for her. He overheard their teacher scolding HJ for requesting the book. The teacher ordered her to write a proper recommendation and demanded that it be written at a 12th grade level.

So when she was sleeping, he revised her work and added his words to hers. His work probably persuaded the librarian to acquire copies of the book.

I liked this scene because he showed his romantic side. Despite showing disdain for the type of books she liked, he helped her get the book in circulation because he knew it mattered to her.

3. The miscommunication at Han River park

HJ: Eating fried chicken by the Han River was meant to be the highlight but it won’t work today.
HY: I know.
HJ: Let’s go to the restaurant if you’re hungry.
HY: It’s okay. I still got to see what I wanted to see.
HJ: Did you want to see the Han River?

Flashback to her drunken monologue about not meeting his first love. He meant that he wanted to see her and spend the day with her.

HY: Lee HongJu, what you told me on Friday—
HJ: (interrupting him because she was embarrassed) Ugh! I’m so sorry. I crossed the line that day. I shouldn’t have said that.
HY: (confused) What do you know?

Here’s where the confusion began. They weren’t on the same wavelength. He thought that she was referring to her advice not to meet his first love.
HJ: How could I have said that without knowing?
HY: When did you know?

He was asking her when she discovered that she was his first love all along. He didn’t know that she was talking about something else entirely.

HJ: It was…when we first met.
HY: (furiously denying) I didn’t then, okay?!
HJ: I’m sure it started then.
HY: You did that to me when you knew?
HJ: I said I’m really sorry. But think carefully. About 50% of it was compliments. “A smart preschooler.” That means you’re a genius. I know you might be offended since it could mean that you’re immature. That’s why I’m apologetic for that comment.
HY: Wait…hold on. So when you said you knew everything….

It finally dawned on him that she was talking about something different, and that she didn’t remember her remark about first loves.

HJ: (gasping) Did I say something worse than that?
HY: (laughing in relief)

My comments:

a. This dialogue tells me he knew that he was in love with her but for some reason, he kept his true feelings hidden from her. He left for the US without revealing his secret. He’d been honest with himself, but not with her.

b. His action is the opposite of HJ’s ex-boyfriend Bang JunHo’s action. JunHo dumped HJ. Meaning, he made his feelings known to her before running away.

c. HY brought her to the Han River park because he wanted to continue their talk about first love, and most probably, to finally own up to it. But she thwarted his plan when she began apologizing for calling him “expressionless and disloyal,” “inhuman” and childish. It became apparent to him that she had no memory of their “first love = frozen food” talk. He had to drop it and wait for another opportunity.

4. This scene

I liked the way he took charge of the situation and let JunHo know that HJ was in a serious relationship with him.

HY: Lee HongJu, I’m glad I ran into you. The hairtie you left last night is in my car. Take it with you.
HJ: Yes, that’s my favorite. Let’s go.

Ha! If you were JunHo the ex, you’d start imagining what kind of hanky-panky was going on in that car that caused HJ to let her hair down. Was HY running his fingers through HJ’s hair? She didn’t even notice that she was missing her “favorite” hair tie.

In other words, HY is claiming HJ as his girl. It doesn’t matter to him if HJ went out with JunHo before because he’s the one dating her right now.

I thought the couple made a great exit.

Okay, that’s it for me. I’ve to begin my write-ups for the other shows I missed.