Since I panned the romance in “When the Phone Rings” as formulaic and makjang, it’s just fitting that I give you an example of a romantic scene I approve of. Let me present you with the “rocky staircase” moment in “Love Scout.” Timestamp: 20:15.

I’ll begin with the backstory.

The heroine Kang JiYoon (JY) is the CEO and ace headhunter of her firm. She seeks out talent and recruits them as candidates for job openings in big companies. Obviously, she has a love-hate relationship with the Human Resources (HR) department. HR loves her when she can assist HR in recruiting a top-level talent for the company. But then HR hates her when she poaches one of the company’s top-level talents to work for a competitor.

In the opening scene, she’s seen persuading a chief designer of race cars to switch jobs late in his career. She points out that he’s unappreciated by his company and that, despite life appearing like an endless lap around an oval racetrack, he can always set a new starting line. Only fear of new challenges holds him back, she said. Her perspicacity leads the man to reconsider her offer to join a different company and jump into the industry of electric vehicles. At his ceremony, she watches with pride that she had a hand in his make-over.

Her next target is the chief developer of wireless technology. Like the race car designer, this man has been with the same company for decades.

He arranged to meet with JY at a Buddhist temple, his favorite spot whenever he has some serious thinking to do. He needs to be convinced that the job switch is the right move. JY goes on her typical spiel.

She points out that his company Hansu Electronics has undercut him by promoting another director instead of him, and not investing research and resources to innovate hardware technology, which is his expertise. She almost succeeds in convincing him to take the offer of her client company when the hero Yu EunHo (EH) gate-crashes their meeting.

EH is a manager in the HR dept of Hansu Electronics. He challenges JY’s offer.

JY: My client will support your research and provide the resource the technology needs. It’s rare to research freely with support of your values and ideals. Here are my client’s proposed terms. I’m confident of this company’s best offer. All that’s left is your decision. I know this challenge is worth facing bravely.
EH: (interrupting) Whom you face it with matters more than where.

The chief developer is flustered to see him. EH hands JY his business card, tells her in no uncertain terms that he’ll do anything to keep the man in their company. When the chief developer quickly makes his exit, EH and JY have a heated conversation.

I’ll copy the sub from viki because the dialogue gives us insight into their values and mindset.

EH: Team Leader Yan is our company’s long-time dedicated member. Stop shaking things up.
JY: If you want to hold onto him, pay his worth. A move worth your value to expand your career, that’s the market’s logic.

She’s correct. If the team leader is valuable to the company as EH claims, then the company should induce him to stay there with a salary increase. It’s tempting for the team leader to switch because, on average, there’s a 15% salary increase when an employee switches jobs.

EH: Values can’t be explained by market logic alone. You can’t understand since you steal key talent and make chaos.

EH makes three errors. First, he comes off as judgmental. JY’s only pointing out a fair business practice: pay your worth. But EH insinuates that her business practice is unethical and that she’s dishonorable. He mustn’t have heard her say that her client will fully support the chief developer’s values and ideals. She’s looking after the team leader’s needs.

Second, he makes hasty generalizations. He accuses her of poaching talent without regard to the upheaval her actions will cause to the team leader, and the company he’s leaving behind. Third, EH is implicitly saying that all she cares about is money. In his eyes, she’s money-grubbing, thieving, materialistic, and unethical. Well….if that’s how he sees her, then there’s nothing to be gain from this conversation, right?

JY: (giving him a death stare)
EH: I doubt Team Leader stayed all this time just for money. An organization’s loyalty and ethics far exceed short-term personal gain.

This is also revealing. It tells me that a) he’s quixotic than pragmatic; b) he values loyalty over money; c) he’s the martyr-type; d) he’ll suffer the toxic environment at his workplace because he somehow thinks it’s “just” punishment for taking a leave of absence; and e) he values the needs of the team/collective before his own, and f) he’s insufferable!

JY: (smirking) How old fashioned! I’m sure you’ll see it differently soon. Companies never take responsibility for individuals.

She leaves him.

Look: at this point, I’m more on Team JiHoon than Team EunHo. I find EH’s rose-colored spectacles exasperating for a grown man, and I can’t imagine a romance between these two leads being relatable.

However, my perspective undergoes a shift in the next scene: the “rocky staircase” moment I told you about.

Let’s continue to the next scene….

Dusk rapidly falls as JY and EH leaves the Buddhist sanctuary. The monks light the lanterns, and the bell begins to toll as they reach the stone staircase going down the mountainside.

JY marches ahead.

With one hand, she clings to the rope handrail, and with another, she holds her phone up high to light her path. Behind her, EH observes her gingerly taking one step at a time. He doesn’t know that she’s being careful because she’s prone to accidents.

Of course, since this is kdrama, her phone conveniently dies on her, leaving her in total dark. But before she can panic, she hears JY’s footsteps behind her. To me, it sounds like he’s deliberately stomping his feet on the stones so she can hear him coming and be reassured.

She turns around and sees him holding his phone at an angle to light can reach her side. One would think that she would breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of him. But nope, she looks away when he passes her. She neither budges nor greets him. She clearly isn’t going to acknowledge him and ask for his help because to do so will mean humbling herself. After their spat up the mountain, she refuses to lower her dignity to the man who ruined her job offer.

So, he passes her by without acknowledging her either.

However, after he’s taken several steps down the staircase, she sighs audibly. To me, that is a sign of resignation; she knows she must swallow her pride and talk to him if she plans to reach civilization that night.

The curious thing is just as she sighs, EH stops on his tracks to turn around and face her. He momentarily blinds her with the flashlight on his phone, and she hisses in annoyance. He lowers the light to shine it at her feet.

Then they look at each other.

There’s an incongruous Pokemon (is this Bulbasur?) sticker on his phone.

Without saying a word, he signals her with his eyes to go on walking. And, without raising a fuss, she obeys him. It must have been the sticker that reassured her that he didn’t intend to let her tumble down the stairway.

She treads carefully but steadily on the uneven stones. When she reaches his level, they exchange looks. Though no words are said, he appears to understand her wish to maintain silence. They’ll walk down the mountain together, but they’ll keep their distance.

At first, he follows her, and from behind, merely lights her way. Then, he gradually inches up to walk alongside her. Finally, he matches his pace to hers. To me, the progress of their walk foreshadows their relationship.

At the end of the stairs is a gate with a Chinese marker that viki subbed as, “The Nondualism Gate (Separation is an illusion.)”

As you all know, I’m not Buddhist. But I interpret this slogan to mean that the concept of dualism, that is, you versus me, me versus the world, man versus woman, headhunter versus HR manager, etc., is false. Despite the outward differences and distinctions, everything is one and interconnected.

Once JY and EH cross the gate, he turns off his phone.

Ha! If he expected thanks from her, then he was more naïve than I thought he was. JY is the type who would die before giving thanks. Her reticence to show gratitude isn’t due to her arrogance, but more due to her humiliation. She prides herself on being strong, self-sufficient, and independent, but, in this instance, she awkwardly needed the help of someone she just dismissed as foolish, business- She must keenly feel humiliation; she’s eating humble pie.

Thus, instead of saying thanks, she tells him, “Let’s never meet again.”

In response, he stares intently at her, then looks behind at the sign on the nondualism gate. I think he’s subtly signaling her to pay attention to the sign because it contradicts her demand. Lol. She’s bidding him never to meet each other again but the cosmic world is saying they’re bound to meet each other again because “separation is an illusion.”

I find the situation deliciously ironic.

Then, without saying anything more, he leaves her. She looks at his business card again and says his name, Yu EunHo.

Now do you see why I think this moment is romantic?

1. The setting. The darkness cloaks them so they’re in a world of their own. I don’t need a narrow hospital bed or Namsan Tower like in “When the Phone Rings” for romance. I don’t need tango sequences and exploding lights like in “My Demon.” I don’t need the ritz and glitz like in “King of the Land.”  And I don’t need glamping like in “My Lovely Liar.” I just need the couple to be in the moment as simply and honestly as possible.

2. Emotional vulnerability. Ditto. I don’t need JY or EH writhing in pain or crying copious tears to show emotional vulnerability. The fact that JY looked intently at him when she reached his step indicated that she was wondering whether to trust him or not. She didn’t like the feeling of being helpless and needy (and vulnerable) in front of him of all people, but she had no choice. She had to trust that she was in good hands.

3. Symbolism. Remember the first thing he uttered in her presence? “Whom you face it with matters more than where.” Well…that’s the whole point of this walk down the rock stairways. It didn’t matter that she was walking on uneven and perilous ground, she was with him. She was facing the challenge with him. Not tell me a symbolism or two from HeeJoo and SaEun’s many encounters.

4. Inner connection. No words were communication as JY and EH walked down the mountainside, but they were in tune with each other. Their steps were in sync. They respected the silence. They understood the mission to remain near but apart. And whether they were prepared to admit or not, that experience was something to remember. As simple and low-key as it was, it bonded them.

5. Tension. The tension in this scene comes from her bad temper and their unspoken words. She refused to talk to him, and he restrained himself from showing amusement, ridicule and impatience at her self-imposed silence. If they had talked to each other to pass the time as they went down the steps, this scene would have been half as romantic.  The adage “Less is more” definitely worked in this instance.

6. Something cosmic. I like how this scene incorporated the Buddhist temple (and the gate) into the story. It made me think that something was about to happen to JY and EH that was bigger than them. And isn’t that the whole idea of romance? That one’s fate is written in the stars?

7. Jane Austen. To me, this scene is textbook Jane Austen. The couple displayed an awareness of each other that transcends the physical. EH didn’t accidentally brush up against her or graze her skin. It was all eye contact and – of course, the light shining at her feet.

These are the things I look for in a romantic moment.

I’ll prep my First Impressions of this kdrama, then I’ll start watching Lee MinHo’s show.