Ron Does Stuff

It’s been a busy past few days for me so I haven’t been able to do anything but work, so I’ve mostly immediately gone to be after everything’s done. But now that I’ve spent most of the day cleaning my minuscule home, I want to relax and not just go to sleep so I am sitting down and doing this thing despite my back hurting from all the mopping.

Let’s watch episode 4!

In the last episode, Sol Hee was doing her best to block the Dispatch people from finding out that Do Ha actually lives in her apartment complex. It works out in a K-drama fashion but if I were these Dispatch journos I would have snapped the photo as soon as Sol Hee started running. But then again, the privacy laws are different in South Korea, I believe? So they may be covering their asses legally as well.

Of course, we get that patented K-drama kilig moment when Sol Hee puts on Do Ha’s face mask for him. It’s amazing how the global coronavirus pandemic has now turned this not so common act outside of Asia into something that can be intimate and even make the audience squee.

Through a series of “mishaps”, Do Ha ends up inside Sol Hee’s apartment and wouldn’t you know it the lights are suddenly flickering! The Dispatch guys also look to be camping outside of the unit Do Ha is supposed to be staying in, so it looks like he has to spend the night in Sol Hee’s room. My, my what could happen now.

Do Ha expertly peels an apple and you know what if someone who looked like that and also good with knives was in my home they’re free to have their way with me. I mean look at that.

Do Ha and Sol Hee start talking, and it’s here that I realize that they’ve never directly said their names to each other. And the show does a great bit of work by having Do Ha tell Sol Hee his real name — Kim Seung Ju. He’s revealing the tru him to Sol Hee…and Sol Hee can tell it’s the truth.

However, another possibility presents itself to Sol Hee as they channel surf. Another fantasy-romance show on the television — how meta! — features a girl who can see ghots, but loses that ability when she touches who I assume is the male lead. Maybe it’s the same with Do Ha/Seung Ju. Maybe with him, she can have a normal life. This idea is further strengthened when Sol Hee asks Do Ha/Seung Ju if he rarely lies and he responds that everyone lies.

Gotta be honest, the conversation that they had that was about the television show heroine as a stand-in for Sol Hee kinda confused me a bit. Was it the translation? Was it my dying neurons? We may never know! I know it was meant to show off Do/Seung Ju as a male romantic lead, but I couldn’t understand it!

Meanwhile, the plot gets the journalists out of the way when they accidentally take a photo of a delivery guy stepping out of the elevator expecting it to be Do Ha. With privacy laws being as strict as they are in South Korea, the two end up in a fight that eventually leads to the police arriving — one of which is Sol Hee’s ex.

As someone who’s spent some time in that same career, and living in the authoritarian times we have now, the policeman staring down the journo didn’t feel very good, even if the journo wasn’t exactly a good guy. And that this wasn’t the intention of the show at all. It’s hard to keep the real world out for me, unfortunately.

ANYWAYS, the show quickly snaps me back into their world when the policeman find out that the package that the delivery guy was delivering was for Sol Hee — and Sol Hee opens the door to find him standing in front of it. The policeman is cute and all, but so far the characterization hasn’t brought you up to Kim Seon Ho levels.

The next day, Deuk Chan confronts his brother about Syaon holding a live at his burger place, eventually finding out that he gave Syaon the general location of where Do Ha is living. Deuk Chan’s brother also insists that Do Ha owes them a lot, talking about an alibi, before Deuk Chan cuts him off. The alibi I am guessing is connected to Do Ha supposed murderous past, although from the way Deuk Chan quickly cuts off his brother I feel like Deuk Chan is the actual killer here. Just saying!

The next day, Sol Hee discusses Do Ha with her colleagues, and they all tell her that maybe the reason he always seems to be telling the truth is because the spirit is telling her that the two of them are meant to be.

Meanwhile, Deuk Chan is at Do Ha’s place apologizing for the fact that his brother was the one that inadvertently sent the journalists Do Ha’s way. Do Ha’s cool about it though, since they didn’t find him out anyway and because Sol Hee helped him keep his secret safe. Of course, the requisite teasing commences, even more so when Deuk Chan meets Sol Hee himself.

The next day — and yes I am aware that I just wrote “the next day” a couple of paragraphs back but it’s not like I’m writing this for the Pulitzer Prize or anything — Do Ha is at the market and we get a flashback during his time as a “murderer”. Turns out that people were vicious to him, literally beating him up on the street and no one did anything. But wasn’t he cleared? Sure, you might still think he’s the murderer but surely beating someone up in public is still a disturbance?

Anyway, Sol Hee is trying to find a way to get Do Ha alone so she can ask him the right questions and figure out if her powers work on him or not. Fortunately, Do Ha happens to pass by in front of her tarot card shop and there’s a cute sequence that happens where Sol Hee successfully gets Do Ha’s number. Let’s see what’s going to happen at dinner when Sol Hee gets her plan going!

Elsewhere, probably in Hapcheon where Do Ha’s mother is a politician, machinations are happening. It looks like Do Ha’s mom is up for a provincial governor nomination, a position she might get if Do Ha manages to remain a secret. She tries to dismiss the case as a non-issue in front of the party mate she’s having lunch with, but the party mate insists that it will remain an issue so long as there is no body to be found. To which Do Ha’s mother suspiciously replies that the fish would have probably eaten all of it by now. My goodness the mothers in this show are horrible!

Sol Hee has got an uncomfortable meeting of her own when her policeman ex — Kangmin — shows up at her tarot card cafe and apologizes for whatever happened to them in the past. He says that him appearing in her life again isn’t a coincidence, as he’s asked to be transferred here precisely because he heard that she was here. He then asks her if she has a boyfriend, and Sol Hee lies and says yes. And then, Do Ha enters the cafe, plays along with her lie, and holds her hand. Any K-drama follower knows that this happening in episode 4 is quick.

They walk home holding hands and Do Ha asks about Sol Hee’s ex, to which Sol Hee replies that Kangmin is a good guy. Do Ha then says what I often scream at the computer whenever I’m watching certain K-dramas: Just be straightforward with him.

Over in idol world, Syaon attempts to tail Deuk Chan but is quickly found out. Deuk Chan then delivers a bombshell — Do Ha doesn’t want to work with Syaon anymore. This actually works on Syaon, and we find out it’s because during her trainee days it was only Do Ha who believed in her talent and supported her debut. To now hear that he doesn’t want to work with her anymore? That’s a shot to the heart.

Chi Hoon — Sol Hee’s bodyguard and oh my goodness why do they never mention all the names — is at a Syaon fansign and immediately notices that she’s been crying. He tries to remind her that they both met at the convenience store when they had that fan truck protest in front of the hospital, but she rebuffs him. He then rattles her by saying that he can tell that she’s been crying. Maybe I am just being extra sensitive here but why do male idol fans get this treatment but female idols fans don’t? Or maybe I just haven’t seen enough dramas!

Meanwhile, Sol Hee finally finds a restaurant where she and Do Ha can have dinner without a lot of people around. Do Ha accepts the invitation and as they eat braised monkfish — that’s the name Sol Hee called the dish they zoom in on Do Ha’s lips.

Sol Hee asks Do Ha to lie to her and tell her she’s pretty, but turns out him calling her pretty isn’t a lie because he really thinks that. She tries a couple of other questions but Do Ha answers them truthfully, and when she asks one that he may need to lie about, Syaon calls and interrupts the conversation.

And it’s here that Syaon really makes herself the girl who doesn’t get the male lead because she emotionally manipulates Do Ha into thinking that she’s going to end her life because he doesn’t want to work with her anymore. She probably knows about his past and using that against him is a low blow. It’s enough to give him a panic attack and I officially hate Syaon now.

Seeing as he’s in no state to drive, Sol Hee steps in and drives him to Syaon’s fansign event. They find Sol Hee at the beach and the state she’s in brings back a lot of Do Ha’s anxiety from the past. Add to that the fact that she’s lying about wanting to end her life — Sol Hee can tell — and they’ve pretty much turned her character from a mild annoyance to full-on horrible. I was literally shouting at the screen during the whole thing I was so heated.

Sol Hee drives Do Ha home, who’s remained asleep during the whole trip. Once they arrive home, she tries to wake him up but he’s caught up in memmories of his past, where he apparently confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend but then recanted the confession. While still asleep he says that he didn’t kill her and Sol Hee recognizes that it’s a lie. Cliffhanger!