Our hero, Joo Wan (Sung Joon), begins the story with a voice over saying that the day he was born was the day the first snow of the year fell. Why this is important becomes clear later, as the characters describe the first snow as a time that you’re supposed to be with the one you love. The 7-year-old Shing Shing leaves her house to go to the hospital. Wan describes her walk as “making her own footprints in the snow that no one had stepped on” – something that I think works well to describe how we see the heroine living her own life. She blazes a new path for herself and walks alone, whether she wants to be or not. When Shing Shing sees Wan for the first time, she frowns and moans, “How is he going to live if he’s this ugly?” Heh. Wan tells us that when he was a newborn, Shing Shing said he looked like a sweet potato. And thus we got one of the best nicknames ever: Sweet Potato, what our heroine calls Wan.
Wan says that he grew up in Shing Shing's house and that when he was one, Shing Shing said that he looked like a cooked sweet potato, that he got *uglier,* which is why Shing Shing said that she often covered my face. We see the 8-year-old interacting with little Sweet Potato, trying to cover up his head with a hat and him pulling it off and glaring at her. Later, she’s succeeded, to where most of his face is not visible as he sleeps with his head in her lap. She’s wearing a very happy smile as she looks at him.
We fade from Sweet Potato sleeping with the hat over his eyes to the grown Wan sleeping with a mask on his face, with his v.o. declaring that every time he hears the old saying, “Habits of a one year old will last until they are 80 years old,” he thinks that it doesn’t really seem like a just a far away story. Wan wakes and sits up; he’s been taking a nap at the airport. And I am so happy to see Sung Joon! As he sits up and rubs his eyes, very much acting like someone who *just* woke up. I just wonder why he's sleeping in the airport, who he’s waiting for. He declares that he’s returned to Korea after 17 years. As he glances at the women and girls around him, he thinks that the Shing Shing in his memory is smart, innocent, and kind. He wonders how Shing Shing is now. And a smile crosses his face.
And we soon find out. Shing Shing, aka Shin Joo Yun (Kim So Yun) is walking with two of her co-workers. One of them – Jung Hee Jae (Yoon Seung Ah) – is relating her hour-long make-out session with her boyfriend that took place in various alleys; the couple kept moving to different places to try to get some privacy, but kept getting interrupted. Joo Yun and the other co-worker – Lee Min Jung (Park Hyo Joo) – tease Hee Jae about getting a hotel, but Hee Jae protests that she and her boyfriend can only afford a hotel room once a month, since the boyfriend is poor and still studying for his civil service exam. I’m a little shocked that the drama’s being that light-hearted about a massive makeout session. I didn’t quite expect to see it on Korean television. American television… wouldn’t necessarily surprise me.
Joo Yun declares that they should take from their team dinner money and fund Hee Jae’s motel fee. The other think that’s a great idea and Joo Yun teases that Hee Jae would need to provide a receipt to add for the expense report. The fourth member of their team, Lee Woo Young (Park Yoo Hwan) arrives and asks what they’re talking about doing with the team dinner money. When Joo Yun and Min Jung simultaneously declare they want to donate the money, Woo Young is completely onboard. So these are a bunch of co-workers that get along really well. I’m going to like that. Joo Yun’s lunch is interrupts by a call from her mother, telling her Sweet Potato has returned to Korea. Joo Yun can’t even remember how old he is – which says to me that she made a much larger impression on him than he did on her, since she doesn’t even seem to have kept tabs on him. Joo Yun asks what Sweet Potato does for a living, and when she hears he’s a musician, she declares that he grew up a total delinquent.
We see Wan walking with his guitar, tons of stickers on the case. He’s finally being met by someone and asks why the guy made him wait at the airport for 40 minutes. The guy, who looks to be maybe his manager or something, tells Wan that he’ll be staying at a hotel in downtown while the manager finishes looking for a house rental for him. Wan asks for the convertible’s car keys, which the manager gives him even as he asks Wan why. Wan climbs in the car and after telling the manager to do his best not to call (because Wan Wan’t answer) and to send his schedule via text. He tells manager that if manager bothers him, he'll change his number, because he works better when no one bugs him. As Wan straps on his seatbelt and starts up the car, the manager calls him Allen and tells him that he has a photoshoot in the afternoon. Photoshoot – so is Wan the model or the photographer? Wan ignores the guy, telling manager that he’ll find his way to the shoot, and drives off, with manager running behind him.
Back to Joo Yun at work, talking to Min Jung during her phone call with Omma. Omma, when she traveled to the US, stayed with Wan’s parents, so Omma wants Joo Yun to let Sweet Potato stay are her house. For a YEAR. A year? Really? That must have been come inconvenience, for Omma to be suggesting A YEAR. Min Jung comments that this could get awkward because of Joo Yun’s boyfriend, Lee Jung Ho, and Joo Yun can’t believe she didn’t think about that as an excuse. She thanks Min Jung for the idea. They do this thing where the kiss their index finger and then point it into the sky upwards and toward the other person, like it’s a very expensively good idea. Joo Yun then asks Omma for Wan’s number and says that she will meet with him.
Wan drives up to the edge of some water (to a beach). There are wind machines and people in the distance. He comments about how it *isn’t* the Han River – heh. But that’s where people *always* go to be by the water in Seoul. He tries to hear an echo by yelling out to the water – and I conclude that he *didn’t* live by water when he was in the U.S. As he yells, I think to myself how cute and dorky Wan seems to be. Then Wan yells, “It's nice to meet you, South Korea!” And I *really* love him. As Wan looks out at the water, he smiles happily, thinking that he promised Shing Shing that he would return and that he has returned. To Shing Shing's country. Interesting that he’s calling Korea, the land of his birth, Shing Shing’s country. It’s almost as if he equates everything you love about your homeland with Shing Shing, that his memories of her epitomize Korea, the motherland, for him.
Wan’s enjoying his time by the water when he gets a text. And I wonder what they did in dramas before cell phones existed. Nowadays, it seems like you can’t survive without one. It’s Shing Shing, telling him to call her. She identifies herself as Shing Shing, which says to me that she remembers him at least a little, since she’s still using her childhood nickname with him. He smiles and calls her. He bites his lips as he smiles, like someone trying to contain his excitement. She answers and asks where he is. It sounds more like a demand, though, rather than just asking. He teases her and asks her why she’s speaking to him so informally. She retorts, as she walks quickly through the halls of her office building, that she’s been speaking to him informally since the day that he was born. She is not wearing a smile. Wan answers her, asking that even if that were the case, aren't they strangers now? Does she even remember his face? There is clear affection in his face and voice as he asks. She retorts that she doesn't remember it. Except for the fact that it was ugly. Wan laughs.
Joo Yun repeats her question, asking where Wan is. He looks around and replies that he’s where they saw the seagulls together. On her end, Joo Yun looks puzzled and stops walking. With affection, he asks if she remembers going to see a giraffe on a snowy day. Joo Yun makes an unpleased face and mutters, “What is this?” as she glares at her phone. Then she starts ‘yelling’ at him. She declares that she’s busy right now so she’ll get to the point: she hasn't decided whether or not she will take him in. Even though her Omma is saying that “my house is your house,” she doesn’t like it. Wan’s a little taken aback. He meekly asks what she doesn't like it. She replies that she has a boyfriend, someone who spends the night sometime, and must she make *a baby* like Wan listen to her nightly activities every night? She lets out a few moans like she’s in the middle of having sex. Wan frowns on his side of the phone. We both don’t want to be hearing that.
Joo Yun declares that she tends to be loud and vocal and in real life, it's much more intense than what she’s doing over the phone. She tells Wan that she’s sure he doesn't want to have to listen to that every single night. Plus, if he was there, she and her boyfriend would be very uncomfortable. Plus she really, super, extremely, do not like the idea of him coming and leeching off of her! There’s a pause as Wan tried to take in this cold treatment. He’s obviously hurt by what she’s just done. He slowly asks why she hates him. She declares that (1) he’s ugly. (2) they survived back then because of the salary her Omma received for caring for Wan. Thinking about him it makes her think about that time and she really doesn't like it, to the point that it disgusts her.
Wan repeats Joo Yun’s last word: Disgust? She starts to get really cutesy as she tries to jump off the phone, says that he can see how much she doesn’t like it, right, so she hopes that they won't have another chance to talk. She goes to hang up the phone, but Wan calls after her to wait. She sighs and puts the phone back to her ear. Wan, hesitating a moment, tells Joo Yun that he missed her. He repeats himself, calling her Shing Shing. He can’t see her expression: she wasn’t expecting that and is momentarily very unsettled by his declaration. Then the wall comes back up, she rolls her yes and hangs up without saying goodbye. Wan sadly looks at his phone and just stands by the water. This was not the homecoming he’d imagined. I wonder what he was imagining. Definitely not the Shing Shing that he's found.
Joo Yun’s at work and she is obviously very good at her job. While her co-workers/underlings hurry around implementing her plan to sell a medium-length winter coat with a hood, Joo Yun is monitoring things intently. Joo Yun only smiles to herself as the other get excited that they are getting an amazing 700 coats per minute. Elsewhere, her sunbae and boss Kang Tae Yoon pauses to catch her work, pleased that she’s sold out her items again. Joo Yun’s crew is ecstatic over their success, but Joo Yun turns around and tells them they need to stay serious.
Later, however, she stops by her boss’s office and acts like a goofball, dancing on a chair as she celebrates her accomplishment: making a hit again, 5 times in a row! She calls her ability “the hands of God” because all her products she produces segments for sell out. Tae Yoon smiles and enjoys the moment with her, even if he acts cool about it. He almost sarcastically claps in praise of what she’s done and tells her to go see her boyfriend, segment director Lee Jung Ho. She excitedly goes, but first asks Tae Yoon how she looks. He tells her she doesn’t look at all pretty. Unphased, she retorts that she knows that she’s pretty. He smiles and you can tell that they are good friends. I wonder how long they’ve been friends. She calls him sunbae, so it makes me wonder if it’s been for a really long time.
Jung Ho is out on the stairwell. He looks like he’s deep in thought. Joo Yun gleefully jumps into his arms, declaring that they are a perfect team and that she is so happy! She kisses him several times and then asks him why he is kissing her. He obliges. But I suspect that not all is right in Camelot. He just doesn’t seem too happy. They kiss for a bit and she smiles as she calls him ‘darling’ and tells him that his kisses are the best. No smile from him; instead he tells her that they should eat dinner and that he has something to say. I definitely think something’s off.
Later, Joo Yun is will her co-workers. Woo Young says that he saw Jung Ho at a jewelry shop in Cheongdamdong yesterday, buying a two-ring love necklace. The girls think this means that Jung Ho is going to propose and Joo Yun is beaming with excitement. Everything seems to be perfect. And that’s the exact way to put it: seems to be perfect. The older of the women tells Joo Yun that marriage isn't a happy ending but a train ticket to hell. She’s not bitter, is she? When Joo Yun scoffs, Min Jung adds that it’s not that she *can’t* get married, it’s that she *chooses* not to. Hee Jae has looked the necklace up online and it’s *really* expensive. Everyone is giddy with what’s going to happen for Joo Yun. And you know that it’s not turning out this way, especially since Joo Yun’s going to be falling for Wan eventually, who already loves her. I won’t say that he’s in love with her, because he doesn’t know her. But he definitely *loves* her.
Hee Jae wants to know why Jung Ho is proposing with a necklace rather than a ring. Joo Yun pushes that question away, by showing their couple ring and saying that Jung Ho already gave her a ring when they went to Bali. The necklace happens to be the same brand. Of course, it’s kismet. Until it’s not.
Photoshoot. Wan is looking quite dapper. And Sung Joon gets to show off his modeling skills. The man is good at that, too. Se Ryung is his stylist and tells him that it’s almost as if the designer made the suit *for* him. She’s calling him Allen, too. And the suit reminds me of that really hideous one that Lee Min Ho wore in ‘The Heirs.’ Except this one is less tacky. It’s obvious they are friends because Wan asks her what ‘being disgusted’ means. Which to me makes sense, since he’s back from 17 years in America where he spoke English rather than Korean. Hopefully, if he has to use English at some point in the show, which is likely to happen, he doesn’t speak with a HORRIBLE accent. Se Ryung explains that it means that you really don't like something. He off-handedly, with a small smile, tells her that someone told him that he's disgusting. She teases that there's a person who dares to say such a thing without reservation to the great Allen Joo? Almost conspiratorially, she wants to know who that would be. He shrugs and tries to be nonchalant as he replies that it’s someone he *used* to like from a long time ago. Used to, yeah, right. She asks if it’s his first love and he smiles and looks down, which is an answer, ‘yes.’ Aw, Shing Shing is his first love. A definite confirmation of something they’ve hinted at, since she’s stayed in his heart since he was 9.
The restaurant. Joo Yun and Jung Ho are eating. Both of them are wearing their couple ring, although Jung Ho’s ring is on is *right* hand. That’s not a good sign. I know the break up’s coming. Joo Yun can barely contain herself, waiting for him to propose. He is not smiling. Wan’s in his hotel, working on his music. Not only does he have a guitar, but he has a nice two-tiered piano. Voiceover by Wan announces that the person who taught him music was Shing Shing. Another way that she’s inextricably linked to his life: she’s the person that taught him about the thing that he loves: music. So every time he composes, plays, he thinks of her. Man. I really hope this is a happy ending. I will be ticked if it isn’t for him.
Joo Yun and Jung Ho are done eating. Joo Yun asks him what he has to say, since in the outdoor stairwell earlier he said that he had something to say to her. She nervously fiddles with her turtleneck, anticipating that necklace he bought. They’re *both* wearing turtlenecks and I’m thinking that the actor playing Jung Ho looks a lot like the second lead from ‘Pasta.’ Then I look at the cast list and it *is* Alex from ‘Pasta.’ He really looks different with that hairstyle. Jung Ho says Joo Yun’s name and then says, “Let's break up.” Her face falls at her complete surprise.
A light, upbeat ditty on the piano. Flashback to Wan sitting next to Joo Yun at the piano as she teaches him about music. And it’s the boy that played Shi Ohn as a boy in ‘Good Doctor!’ I love this kid! He’s so adorable. She’s playing different pieces and asking him what they make him feel/think of. This one he describes as baby chicks are running in the sun, friends, goofing off and playing around. Joo Yun describes that feeling as Joy. The next one is happiness. Modern-day Wan plays the Happiness song. And as I watch this, I think about how this stuff *stayed* with him, after more than 17 years. Man, that’s a deep impression. And how does someone go from having a relationship with him like this to being what she is today? Because she's been cold and mean and here she is so kind and loving.
Wan has been listening to Joo Yun play [flashback] with his eyes closed. Happiness makes him imaging a warm wind is blowing, which cools him off. He’s sweating, but because of the wind, he feels good. He breathes happily, saying that he keeps running out of breath, so he has to breathe through his mouth, so he’s breathing in the wind. It does sound like a really nice memory/image. Then Wan asks what music sounds like pain. Again, modern-day Wan plays the song that corresponds with the memory. It’s heavy and dramatic. And I wonder if Joo Yun still plays the piano, or if she’s forgotten that, too. Flashback Joo Yun looks at Wan after she’s done playing and asks what it makes him think of. He shakes his head, because he can’t think of anything. Lucky kid. She smiles at him and plays again. Still nothing. She reminds him of how he fell off his bike earlier and hurt his knee. Wan nods and points out that it was his elbow, too. She tells him that that’s pain. He replies that it’s pain of the Body. Smart kid! Joo Yun tells him that sometimes there are times where your heart hurts, too. It's different from when you feel pain in your body, but you can't explain it. He asks her where the heart is and she smiles as she shrugs. So he asks her about sadness.
We switch to modern-day Joo Yun. She’s just hailed the waitress and asks for some ice cream. Jung Ho is looking at her like he can’t believe that she just ordered ice cream. Seeing his face, she amends it to two ice creams. He looks from the waitress to her, his jaw saying he’s ticked that she doesn’t seem upset. He can’t believe that she’s not asking *why* he thinks they should break up. She chuckles to herself, almost in disbelief and asks him if she has to know, since with his personality, he will have thought about it enough. She adds that whether it's one reason or a hundred reasons, she has no intention of holding onto a man who says the words “break up.” Jung Ho frowns. What is he expecting? Although it seems like this is part of the problem, this way that she’s cool in their relationship, like she’s not letting him in, giving him her heart. I get the feeling that he’s wanted more and she hasn’t given it and that’s what’s lead to today.
Joo Yun stops smiling to ask whether he’d be caught if she grabbed onto him. He responds by asking if she really thinks that’s why people do it, because they think it will work, rather than because the person that they’re grabbing is so important that they have to hold onto them. Whether they catch them or not, it’s the feelings that matter. Joo Yun stops him to say that to her, things like feeling aren’t important. Jung Ho huffs in disbelief that she’s still being cold, throws his napkin on the table and leaves. She sighs as he leaves, clearly not as dispassionate as she’s putting on.
The flashback moves onto sadness. As present day Wan plays, past Joo Yun voices over that sadness is when you part from someone, your heart hurts and the pain grows deeper. There's something that gets clogged up in your heart, and you call that sadness. Wan asks why people part. Joo Yun says that some people part because they don't like each other, but some just can't see each other, even if they want to. Hmmm… is this what happened for her? When Wan left? Is that part of why she turned out this way, because this little boy who adored her was gone? Present day Wan declares that Shing Shing is a woman who raised him, the woman who taught him to play the piano, the person who taught me about the heart. Wow. That’s some legacy. It makes me wish that I had someone like that.
Present day Joo Yun eats her sundae and tries to act like she doesn’t care that her relationship just ended, that it’s no big deal. She thinks that there's no reason to be sad or hurt, because a relationship coming to an end is natural. But, she didn’t always think like this. Flashback to her first love, who tells her that both she and Se Ryung and aren't his type, because he loves rock and roll them most. He does the stupid rock hand sign, too. He totally doesn’t care that he’s crushing her heart. Jerk. And it’s a jerk played by John Park, an American who was a semi-finalist on the 9th season of ‘American Idol’ and was runner up in Korea’s equivalent to the show, ‘Superstar K2.’ He’s currently taking a break from studying at Northwestern to be a kpop star. And knowing this, it makes this scene really funny for me, especially the hand sign. Not funny in the moment, but funny in his performance. Joo Yun is completely devastated as this jerk, John Park, tosses her aside. The voice over says that she thought the sky was collapsing and that it was like that the second time, too.
Here, the guy, Doo Sang Wook, the actor who played Kim Do Han on ‘Good Doctor,’ is dumping her because he’s going to study abroad and *then* he’s going to have to go into the army, so he won’t be around. He caresses her hair and tells her that it wouldn’t be fair and she’s to pretty to wait for him. It’s all very much a scene from a melodrama. She’s there pleading with him, telling him that she’ll wait for him, and he’s self-sacrificing as he tells her he can’t do that to her. He hugs her and nobly tells her to go live her life, meet a good person, date and get married. And she should go inside her house so he won’t show her his back as he walks away. She tearfully obliges, but comes out moments later, crying that she *will* wait for him, because there's no way that there would be another man who would be just as good as he is! He’s already left, so she runs down the hill to chase after him, only to discover his happily stuffing his face with fish cakes from one of those food carts. Her face falls, destroyed by the disappointment, and the voice over declares that the back he didn't want to show her, she saw it. While she was falling apart in her sadness, he was filling his stomach with fish cake.
We see Joo Yun dejectedly walking as the voiceover declares that a month later, she found out that he was lying about studying abroad, too. That’s way harsh. She voice overs that after that break up, she realized the main principle of dating: Love and break ups are just about *playing* with emotions. Joo Yun pauses to look at the tv where her former friend, Se Ryung declares that while boyfriends may come and go, the money she gets from selling the couple rings they’ve given her will last forever. She waves at the camera, declaring that she’ll use the money well. Joo Yun looks at the television, with a sad, betrayed look on her face, and the voiceover declares that Oh Se Ryung was someone that Joo Yun once thought of as a friend, someone who Joo Yun was afraid of becoming like if she gave up on love.
Next, we see Joo Yun climbing out of some guy’s car, telling him she wanted to break up with him because he basically was using her to have sex. Even as she’s telling him she wants to break up, he keeps trying to come up with excuses to try to get her to go into the hotel. She’s pissed because he just sees her as a sex object; he doesn’t care or love him. He agrees to break up, but wants to sleep together one more time. It’s pretty sad how he’s begging. But the look on her face says it all. She can’t believe that this is all there is, that this is all love and dating is, her being a thing to be used and discarded. As she looks at him, she thinks of Se Ryung and realizes that she’s just as jaded as Se Ryung was when she was selling those rings, that in spite of everything, love just sucks. So she goes in to have sex with the guy, just out of spite.
Joo Yun declares that by the end of the fifth relationship, she never gave any passion to her relationships and during any breakup, she didn't cry. Present day Joo Yun gathers up her stuff and starts to head out of the restaurant when she’s hailed by the maitre d’, who tells her the Jung Ho was classy enough to leave *her* the bill. She is testy as she pays it, and is really ticked when she sees how *much* it cost so their small meal. I would be ticked, too, since Jung Ho picked the restaurant and took her there to break up with her. And then he sticks her with the tab? I don’t care if you’re upset that she’s not more upset, that’s really a sleazy thing to do. You’re better off without him, especially because you have Wan in your future! As she pays, Joo Yun declares that each time you date and the relationship ends, you realize something. The lesson this time: she should have gotten up first. As Joo Yun walks away from the restaurant, she thinks that she didn't understand. There were things she wanted to ask, but she didn't ask… She looks at the falling snow and thinks that there's only one reason for all breakups: The passion of dating has come to an end.
Woo Young exits the studio and takes some selfies of him with the snow falling. He posts them on Twitter. Then he reads his news feed and sees that Joo Yun has been dumped. He texts Hee Jae, who is in the middle of getting it on with her boyfriend. It’s their monthly trip to a hotel. Hee Jae is concerned, but not enough to stop making out with her boyfriend. Min Jung also sees the post and gasps. She’s also concerned, but not enough to distract her from her own romantic dalliance: hooking up with a guy that she’s been chatting with for the last 6 months. They’ve never actually met, since they met online.
Joo Yun is still distracted, denying that she’s upset about the breakup. Sweet Potato calls again and she testily answers the phone. Wan is sitting by the window, watching the snow fall. He tells her that it’s snowing and that people are saying that this is the first snow of the year. Aw, just like the day they met. This guy is killing me. Joo Yun wants to know why she should care if it’s snowing. He asks her what she thinks about them meeting. She replies that this is the kind of day that you should be with someone you love. Which is why he’s calling. So sweet! He tells her that he knows what that word “disgusted” means now. She snaps that if he now knows, then he shouldn't have called her. He replies, telling her that it seems like she has changed a bit. He’s thought about why Shing Shing has become a woman like this… She told him earlier in the day that she had someone who she loved, but that was a lie. Whoa. She stops in the middle of the street.
Wan continues that if she had someone that she loved, and if she was receiving love, then she would be a person that cherishes memories better. Wow. He’s not only sweet but insightful, too. He continues that she should break up with the guy she’s dating, because it's not real love. She can’t help but tear up and start to cry. He tells her that even if she doesn't want to meet, they will end up meeting soon because he’s a person who keeps his promises. He reaches over and fingers a Post-it with her address on it and smiles full of love for this person who has meant so much to his life. He smiles and tells her that he said that he would come find her, so he will see her later. Then he hangs up the phone and smiles again as he thinks about this woman he loves. Joo Yun basically lets her phone hand drop and she stands, stunned, sad, in the middle of the street. She just stands there as the snow falls and the cars drop by, because Sweet Potato has called her out and described her life perfectly.
Next thing we see, Joo Yun’s gone over to Sunbae Tae Yoon’s house. He’s surprised to see her, but she just pushes past him to walk inside. He protests, asking what she would do if he was with a woman and she fires back that she knows that he *doesn’t* have one. She grabs some wine and he doesn’t want her to drink it because it’s so expensive, until she tells him that she just got dumped and then he’s all in. Later, they’re sitting – well, she’s laying – on the couch, watching a rival shopping network. She’s still reeling from getting dumped, but she thanks him for helping her momentarily forget what’s happened. From the way that they interact, they seem to have been friends for a very long time. Hopefully they won’t do the best friend love triangle thing… They are less than my favorite. Almost as one, they react to a really bad product selling out and complain together as they continue to watch the channel.
The next day, her team is waiting for Joo Yun. They’re worried about her mood and she’s acting like nothing is wrong. She’s all smiles and announces that she has invitations to Michel Jang's party to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of the launching of his brand! Her team is ecstatic. Woo Young tells Joo Yun that there’s something else amazing about this club party that they’ll be going to: Allen Joo will be DJing. And I laugh for a few reasons: (1) the picture he’s holding up is from one of Sung Joon’s real life modeling shoots, which I know because I am a dork, and (2) because Joo Yun has no idea that Allen Joo is Sweet Potato. Even when she sees a picture of him, she doesn’t recognize him. Hearing about Allen Joo gets Hee Jae even more excited but Joo Yun is completely clueless as to who Allen Joo is. They are all to eager to fill her in: Allen Joo is a genius composer whose song, “Now and Forever” went to number nine on the Billboard Charts. I wonder if it was about Joo Yun. I bet it will be and her listening to the song will move her heart. At least, I hope they do that. It’d be a nice touch.
At the party, they are all styling and Wan is rocking the house. Joo Yun and the gang go out on the dance floor and rock out to the beats he’s laying down. As he mixes, he looks up from his music and sees her. Wan isn’t sure if it’s her, so he takes a break to check it out.
Joo Yun and the gang have taken a break and have gone to grab some drinks. Wan enters, looking for Joo Yun and when he sees her, he stops and stares, a slight smile on his lips. Woo Young notices that Wan’s looking. They girls give him the alluring eyes and they realize that he’s looking at Joo Yun. Her reaction? Play it cool and act like it’s only natural he’s interested. And I roll my eyes.
As Wan starts walking toward Joo Yun, Se Ryung arrives and hands him some champagne. He smiles and takes the drink. Joo Yun loses her smile. The girls (minus Joo Yun) gossip about Se Ryung and how she has a reputation of being easy and using men. In school, she was known as ramen cup, because she would invite boys over to enjoy a cup of ramen. And, of course, we all know that they didn’t *just* eat ramen. At least that’s what they’re all thinking. She really doesn’t look that loose and with such low self-esteem. Not that being promiscuous equals low self-esteem; it’s just the connotation and assumption of how they’re talking about it. Wan keeps staring at Joo Yun, who has completely lost any of her alluring eyes. I’ll bet she’s thinking about what she was thinking about before: how she’s lost that idealism about love and become like this woman that she hates: someone jaded and cold.
Se Ryung sees Joo Yun and gets her attention. Now that Se Ryung’s turned around, we see that *she’s* wearing the necklace that Jung Ho bought. Not that it’s necessarily *the* necklace he bought, but of course Joo Yun’s going to think it is. Se Ryung tells Wan that she almost didn't recognize Joo Yun and calls Joo Yun her friend, a classmate from high school until college. Wan smiles in Joo Yun’s direction. Being describes as Se Ryung’s friend is enough to bring out Joo Yun’s claws. She walks over and declares that Se Ryung was right about the classmate part, but they are not friends. Then Joo Yun adds that even if Se Ryung gives her lips to anyone, she should speak correctly. Ouch! That’s a way to call her a whore. Dang!
The gang is as stunned as I am at how Joo Yun just called Se Ryung a whore. But Se Ryung isn’t phased. She smiles and pleasantly agrees that Joo Yun’s right; they used to be friends. Se Ryung asks why Joo Yun’s face has gotten so hard and Joo Yun retorts that she wasn't always like this, but her expression must have hardened after looking at Se Ryung. When she (Joo Yun) sees people who aren't even human-like, her face tends to harden like this… because she’s naive and innocent. Dang… she’s still totally bitter over what happened between them. Wan is taken aback at Shing Shing’s behavior. He can’t believe that she’s this hard now.
Se Ryung asks Joo Yun if she’s not happy to run into each other. Joo Yun can’t believe she would be. Se Ryung replies, still treating the past like the past and asks what reason shouldn’t she have to be happy; it's been a long time since they’ve seen each other. Joo Yun calls Se Ryung easy (a whore) again and asks Wan if he knows what “easy” means. Defending his friend, he tells Joo Yun that he doesn't, but he can tell that Joo Yun is a rude and cranky person. He’s not happy at Joo Yun’s behavior and there’s a scolding tone to his voice. Joo Yun laughs to herself and sips some champagne. There’s a hint of a reel to her expression as this random guy has called her out.
Se Ryung tells Wan that “easy” has a better meaning than being “stiff and hard,” – jab at Joo Yun – so he shouldn’t pay too much attention. Wan looks at Joo Yun and thinks, “There's no way that Shing Shing has changed this much.” He thinks that the woman before him is just a woman who *resembles* Shing Shing. He’s really disappointed that it’s not Shing Shing, even though this woman is acting cold and hard and not like Shing Shing at all. Se Ryung asks Joo Yun if she’s happy living so stiffly. Joo Yun responds by asking, a hurt look on her face, if Se Ryung is happy living like the way she is. We all know that what she’s referring to is Se Ryung using men and betraying friends. Joo Yun looks over at Wan, who is looking at her. Se Ryung tells Wan that she thinks Joo Yun wants to ask him if he’s happy that they’re dating. Even though they’re *not* dating. Se Ryung is just baiting her. Which I don’t quite get, but it’s probably her how defense mechanism to deal with hurts from the past, acting like they just don’t matter.
In response to the question, and because this *isn’t* Shing Shing, Wan sighs and reaches over and kisses Se Ryung on the forehead, putting his arm around her protectively. Then he looks back at Joo Yun with a look that says, ‘That an answer for you?’ Se Ryung smiles at Joo Yun, as if saying “See?” Joo Yun laughs like she can’t believe it and chuckles, “You're kidding me.” My bet as to what she’s thinking? Here’s another guy I find attractive that Se Ryung’s stolen. Again. And the guy’s happy to just go along, not realizing what type of person Se Ryung is. Wan is *not* happy at how obnoxious this woman is being to his friend. And at least he’s loyal. I so like him. Se Ryung smiles, almost as if to say, “What are you going to do now to make things more uncomfortable? How much longer are you going to hold this grudge?” It really makes me wonder if Se Ryung somehow tried to repair this relationship before by Joo Yun won’t let it go. Not that I blame her too much, since Se Ryung did betray her and steal her first love.
Joo Yun raises her champagne flute and gives them a toast, telling them to be very happy. Wan still can’t how rude the Shing Shing look alike is. Joo Yun leaves, with Se Ryung smiling after her. Wan asks Se Ryung if she did something wrong to the Shing Shing look alike. He doesn’t sound very happy. Se Ryung sounds philosophical as she muses, “I know, right? She lives her life with difficulty, Shin Joo Yun.” There’s a flash of “oh, crap” on Wan’s face as he clarifies *who* Se Ryung just said. When Se Ryung repeats that she was Shin Joo Yun, Wan is even more shocked, because it *was* Shing Shing. He just treated Shing Shing like that and Shing Shing has become so cold and hard. It was Shing Shing.
Joo Yun gets into a taxi as Wan has gone outside to catch her. He starts to run after her as the taxi drives away but isn’t able to catch it. Joo Yun tries to stay stone-faced and not cry as she rides and Wan is hurt… that the woman was Shing Shing, that she’s become so hard, that life has done this to her, and he just helped her feel like crap. He looks like he wants to cry, too. And the episode ends.
Thoughts
I won’t really muse too long, because I watched the first two episodes back to back, but some of the things that stick out to me, rewatching the episode, is how *much* of an impact that Joo Yun, aka Shing Shing, had on Won, how much he carries her around in his heart. It seems like pretty much everything he is, is because of her. And she, because she didn’t have that same love to carry around, has become cold and hard.
I wonder over her relationship with sunbae Tae Yoon. It doesn’t seem like he likes her, just that he views her as a kid sister. And she treats him like an older brother. I like their friend dynamic, even if he is her boss.
Se Ryung is quite a mystery. She seems very happy-go-lucky and I wonder if they’re going to keep her that surfacey. I hope not, because I have a suspicion that she’s hurting a lot on the inside, just not able to do anything but live life.
And I will be very interested to see how Wan reacts to dealing with this cold Shing Shing, because she’s so *not* the woman he dreamed she would be, or the person that she once was, when he loved her. I remember some things from the next episode that give these statements more weight, but they’re true even from what I’ve just already seen.
That was a quick 45 minutes!
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