Prepare your membranes for a healthy psychological waxing in this emotionally compelling second installment of Madame Antoine.
Let’s get it.
Episode 2
The opening scene begins with Soo Hyun allowing his brother, Seung Chan, into his home but only on one condition. He must charm his way into the heart of Hye Rim as one of the capable suitors in Soo Hyun’s experiment. Turns out, the man Soo Hyun had in mind from the last episode’s cliffhanger was none other than ex-baseball star and self titled lady killer, Seung Chan. He’ll play the role of the sexy smooth talker.
Seung Chan, grateful as hell that his older brother is finally acknowledging him, asks a variety of questions pertaining to this ‘experiment’. Hye Rim’s level of attractiveness seems to be the most important trait for Seung Chan. Soo Hyun gives Hye Rim’s looks a fair rating of 7/10. When asked what her age is, Soo Hyun replies with “She’s 35,” which triggers a disgusted gagging noise from Seung Chan. Annoyed by his brother’s immaturity, Soo Hyun tells him if he won’t cooperate then he can hit the road. An anxious Seung Chan chases Soo Hyun down then hits him with an ultimatum. He agrees to take part in the experiment but if by chance Hye Rim ends up falling for him, Soo Hyun has to buy him a brand new motorcycle. Soo Hyun leniently agrees, much to Seung Chan’s surprise. He smugly warns Soo Hyun that he’ll regret accepting his offer so easily. He’s a lady killer, after all. Soo Hyun isn’t swayed by Seung Chan’s shameless ego. He tells his brother that he’ll need to compete with Ji Ho in winning over Hye Rim. According to basic statistics, Ji Ho technically has the advantage since he’s much younger and visually appealing.
Feeling threatened, Seung Chan shoots over to where Ji Ho is quietly sitting and asks him his age. Ji Ho admits that he’s only 21, however, he goes on to relay the same exact stats that Soo Hyun previously stated. He has the upper hand because he’s a much younger man. Seung Chan irritability points out, Hye Rim is in her thirties so that makes him a younger man too. Ji Ho channels his awkward swag by caking on the fact that he’s a ‘pretty boy’.
Cutie Ji Ho is cute.
The next day we see Seung Chan packing away his keepsakes in Soo Hyun’s office. He stares down at his old baseball glove nostalgically and officially kisses his sports days’ goodbye. Seung Chan then proceeds to log into Soo Hyun’s computer and comes across an open document containing intricate profiling of Hye Rim, which includes her full name, birthdate and hobbies. That’s so totally not creepy at all considering that this was all obtained in the name of science. It isn’t stalking if science is involved.
*coughs*
The scene jumps to Hye Rim’s apartment where she’s stuffing her face, as usual, while flipping through the pages of her fancy book on psychology. Knocking sounds at her door and she curiously goes to answer. As she opens the door, a basket full of soiled laundry is shoved into her arms. The culprit is Ji Ho. The boy genius explains to Hye Rim that Soo Hyun requested to have her personally wash his dirty clothing. Hye Rim questions why the heck she has to do such a thing like that but Ji Ho reminds her that she told Soo Hyun previously that he can use her anyway he can. Ji Ho cranks up his weirdness by asking the very next second if Hye Rim would go out to dinner with him. Hye Rim stares at the kid as if he had just asked to decapitate her dog and bake it’s rotting remains into a wedding cake.
Despite her blatant disapproval, Ji Ho follows Hye Rim inside her house and suggests that if she won’t eat with him then can she at least take a walk with him? Hye Rim shoots him down by stating how she just isn’t into that ‘cougar’ shit but this doesn’t kill Ji Ho’s determination. He continues to vigorously pester her for a date while Hye Rim repeatedly rejects him. As they bicker, Seung Chan sneaks into Hye Rim’s apartment to watch Ji Ho’s failure in pure amusement. When Hye Rim has finally had enough with Ji Ho’s annoying babbling, she snaps at him with: “You’re not really apart of staff, huh? You’re actually a patient because you’re completely mental!” She retreats into her laundry room leaving Ji Ho standing in the hallway like a doofus. Seung Chan walks up behind an expressionless Ji Ho and tells him to give it up. He won’t stand a chance against a stud like him. Seung Chan knocks on the laundry room door. Thinking it’s Ji Ho, Hye Rim comes flying out ready to spit venom but is taken by surprise when she sees Seung Chan.
Seung Chan charmingly introduces himself as the new hire for the clinical center. Before Hye Rim can even greet him properly, Seung Chan immediately bombards her with his celebrity status by asking Hye Rim: “Don’t I seem familiar?” Hye Rim becomes dazed and starstruck as Seung Chan jogs her memory with his signature “It’s a home run!” tag line. Heavily layering on the ‘Macho Man’ persona, Seung Chan lifts the basket of laundry and offers to wash it without giving Hye Rim much of a choice. Seung Chan silently taunts Ji Ho when Hye Rim’s back is turned, once again out casting the derpy boy genius alone in the hallway.
Later, we see Seung Chan on the rooftop, airing out the laundry in a tight fitted tank top while cougar Hye Rim keenly watches him with a predatory stare.
Before her gaping mouth can attract any flies, Hye Rim calls Seung Chan over to eat. Seung Chan accidentally knocks her phone off the table as he goes to take a seat. Upon retrieving the device, Seung Chan notices a screensaver of Hye Rim and her daughter, Do Kyung. He cheekily asks her if the younger girl in the photo is her baby sister. Hye Rim giggles and reveals to him that the girl is actually her daughter. Seung Chan fakes his surprise. “Ah! I would have never guessed! You look so young!”
Hye Rim bashfully explains how she had married at a very young age, straight out of college. Seung Chan casually asks if her husband is away with her daughter in the States. Hye Rim frankly tells him that her husband is actually deceased.
Seung Chan quickly apologizes for his carelessness but Hye Rim insists that: “It’s all in the past.” The atmosphere is suddenly emerged in a strange feeling of animosity as Seung Chan silently watches Hye Rim eat with a hollow smile.
We are brought to a scene of Yoo Rim and Ji Ho shopping together at an electronic store. Yoo Rim fills Ji Ho in about her documentary film and how she wants him to be the main star. Ji Ho declines the offer without any hesitation. Yoo Rim frantically tries to get him to change his mind but Ji Ho throws her off focus by randomly asking her what Hye Rim likes. Baffled, Yoo Rim asks him just why the hell he wants to know and Ji Ho answers with a monotonous: “Because I like her.”
Yoo Rim can’t seem to fathom why or how someone like Ji Ho can be interested in a frazzle brained ajumma like Hye Rim. Ji Ho inflates his feelings by saying that he actually loves Hye Rim and wants to know everything about her, frustrating Yoo Rim even further. An idea sparks in her mind of how she can take advantage of the situation. Yoo Rim strikes a deal with Ji Ho, saying that if he stars in her documentary, in return she’ll give him an entire play by play on how to win Hye Rim’s affections. Ji Ho agrees.
Back at the cafe, Yoo Rim is watching Hye Rim tweezering out a few nose hairs and jealously wonders what’s so great about her older sister that peaks Ji Ho’s interest. Hye Rim nags for her to take out the trash on her way out but Yoo Rim hurriedly leaves the cafe in haste. While fussing about what a brat Yoo Rim is, Hye Rim sees Ma Ri struggling on the stairs after being released from her counseling session. The teen loses her balance half way and comes tumbling into the arms of a concerned Hye Rim.
Hye Rim attends to Ma Ri’s wound by soaking the cut in peroxide to which Ma Ri complains that she’s applying too much. Hye Rim assures her that she must apply as much as possible so the gash won’t get infected. She’s been an incident like this before when her daughter fell down the stairs. An ominous Ma Ri lets out a humorless laugh.
(It’s hard to notice at first but Ma Ri is alluding to if or not Hye Rim knew for sure that her daughter actually fell down the stairs or if that was just something she’d tell her whenever she’d come home with any unusual cuts or bruises.)
From that line alone, Hye Rim instantly knows the true issue Ma Ri is suffering from.
Up in his office, Soo Hyun is giving Ji Ho the run down on Ma Ri’s condition. The source of her sudden vision loss must stem from somewhere, all they need to do is figure find out the exact cause. He demands a full background report done on Ma Ri. Hye Rim soundlessly enters the office and interrupts Soo Hyun with a solemn: “She’s an outcast.”
Soo Hyun entertains Hye Rim’s theory by sending Ji Ho out of the room and allowing her to elaborate. Hye Rim describes Ma Ri as defensive and reserved from her aloof mannerisms and standoffish attitude. Just like any other troubled teen, Ma Ri only wants to be accepted. Hye Rim believes this sort of behavior can indicate only one thing. Ma Ri is being bullied.
Hye Rim goes on to say how her daughter was often bullied in the past so the warning signs Ma Ri is displaying raises a red flag to her motherly intuition. Soo Hyun dismissively writes off her theories as mere concerns and nothing more. Hye Rim is quick to set him straight. “You’d rather it be something much more complicated huh?” Before she leaves, Hye Rim tells Soo Hyun that this very well may be his problem as well.
The next scene pans into a gymnasium where we see Ma Ri desperately trying to practice her vault routine but she can’t seem to successfully complete the maneuver. Her failing vision causes her to wipe out every single attempt. This frustrates her but that doesn’t keep her from trying again. Soo Hyun steps into frame with Hye Rim’s previous words in mind. “She’s an outcast.”
As Ma Ri prepares to take another shot at the vault, Soo Hyun makes his presence known by telling her simply counting her steps will get her nowhere. If she can’t see what’s even in front of her, the result will always end the same. Ma Ri scoffs, stating how she’s done this routine thousands of times and that eventually she’ll be able to perform it without even needing to see. Soo Hyun cuts right to the point and tells her he knows something had happened on the day of the competition when her vision first began to blur. Ma Ri hesitates. Soo Hyun presses on and asks if it was the audience that had her spooked. Who was in the crowd that made her so nervous?
Ma Ri, set on being difficult, challenges Soo Hyun by saying if he executes a double spin on the balance beam and lands perfectly, she’ll open up to him. “You’re a psychologist, you have to open the door to my heart,” Ma Ri pretty much wants Soo Hyun to earn her trust if he wants to get any progress out of her. Soo Hyun objects. He tells her he doesn’t need to open anything inside her. She’s the one who can’t see therefore she is the one with the problem. Ma Ri must open the door to her own heart. Soo Hyun can’t possibly get any progress out of her if she’s constantly trying to butt heads with him. His counseling will only work as much as she wants it too. Soo Hyun turns to leave but Ma Ri stops him.
In the next scene, Yoo Rim and Hye Rim are searching through the footage Yoo Rim had taken the day of Ma Ri’s competition. Hye Rim is determined to prove that her intuition was correct about Ma Ri being bullied. Since she already shot off her mouth to Soo Hyun, she’ll surely feel like a total jackass if it turns out not to be true. While scrolling through various film cuts, Yoo Rim asks Hye Rim if she’s aware of the male pop singer, TX. The scene then abruptly cuts back to Soo Hyun and Ma Ri where Ma Ri confesses to Soo Hyun about the current dilemma she’s in. A month ago, Ma Ri had appeared on a recorded joint interview along with the handsome pop sensation, TX. The interviewer had suggested the two to get closer together for the cameras to which they both complied. TX placed his arm around her shoulders while Ma Ri admits to wrapping her arm around his waist. TX’s squad of lunatic fan girls were furious that Ma Ri touched their beloved idol. They virtually attack Ma Ri by blowing up her social media with nasty and hurtful messages. They were even able to get a hold of her phone number, which she had to change twice due to their constant threats and harassment.
Switching back to Yoo Rim and Hye Rim, we pick up to where Yoo Rim is explaining her relation to the TX fan club. The fan club had told her that TX would be there to sing but that was only a lie. Yoo Rim admits she became suspicious when TX never showed up. The two sisters view all the negative comments about Ma Ri spread by this TX fan club. Hye Rim deems these girls as anti-fans.
A teary eyed Ma Ri tells Soo Hyun that she was already super nervous about her routine. When she noticed the TX fan club in the audience glaring down at her in pure hatred, she instantly became discouraged. In her mind, she only had one thought. “I don’t want to see any of them.” And that’s exactly the moment her vision began blurring. Ma Ri distraughtly claims that it was only a brief thought, she didn’t think it would actually cause her lose her sight. Soo Hyun remains silent as she cries away her pain.
The next day, Seung Chan pulls up to the café building on his scooter for work. However, before he can even step foot in the place, Soo Hyun calls him and demands he do some lawn work as a punishment for before. Seung Chan has no other choice but to obey. Meanwhile, Soo Hyun is showing around an elderly woman named Bae Mi Ran, who was actually Soo Hyun’s psychology professor back in his college days. Soo Hyun wants Mi Ran to become a permanent part of his staff for the counseling center. Mi Ran politely declines. She states that she’s far too old to counsel which is why she retired a month back. She insists he continue giving her a tour of his center as he originally intended to.
Some time afterward, we see Mi Ran waiting outside the café for a taxi. She has a clumsy encounter with Seung Chan when a plastic tarp accidently falls on her. Seung Chan is under the impression that Mi Ran is a patient so he begins treating her with extreme care and kindness. Seung Chan informs her that her phone had been vibrating with a message. Her taxi had been cancelled. Seung Chan points out that the message was sent a while ago and that she must not have heard her phone going off. Flustered, Mi Ran defends herself by saying it was because it was on vibrate. Seung Chan bubbly offers to take her to the bus station on his scooter. As they ride along an open road, Seung Chan butters up Mi Ran by complimenting her and invites her to come back to the center for treatment anytime. “I’ll be good to you!”
It’s obvious from the elated smile on her wrinkled face that granny is completely taken with the youthful Seung Chan.
After returning from an outing, Hye Rim receives a frantic phone call from Ma Ri. She’s being forced to compete. Her coaching team promised her they won’t let the anti fans inside but this doesn’t ease Ma Ri’s stress levels. Ma Ri says there is no way she’s ready to compete, she’s practically blind. Hye Rim tries to calm the panicking teen by telling her to get to the center straight away. Ma Ri says she’s already on her way. Just as she ends the call with Ma Ri, Soo Hyun appears and Hye Rim rushes to tell him about how Ma Ri is being forced to compete.
What’s Soo Hyun’s reply?
“I know. I told them to.”
*groans loudly* Why am I not surprised?
Hye Rim is outraged that he’d do such a thing. He knows the kind of pressure Ma Ri is under with the TX fan club’s constant cyber bullying and on top of that, the girl can’t freaking see. How is she supposed to compete in such conditions? Soo Hyun defends his actions by saying they can’t baby Ma Ri forever. Right now, she’s being spoiled. He believes throwing her out there in another competition will be the best thing for her. Hye Rim strongly disagrees with this method. Those anti-fan’s very presence is harmful towards Ma Ri. Soo Hyun isn’t swayed by these words. In fact, he finds it foolish how Hye Rim is coddling Ma Ri. If they continue to do this, she just might eventually scum to her blindness or even become deaf from mental confusion. Can she handle being responsible for something like that? Soo Hyun reinforces his professional dominance by bragging about how he knows what he’s doing. Hye Rim reminds him that she was the one who discovered the actual cause to Ma Ri’s vision loss. This infuriates Soo Hyun for he absolutely despises the fact that a mere amateur has bested him.
The two get engage in a pretty heated argument over who is right or wrong with their actions. Soo Hyun doesn’t think Ma Ri being bullied is the source of her fogged vision. Sure, it’s traumatic for her in a way but most people deal with this by simply sobbing over it. Ma Ri is actually losing her sight. The cause must be something more dire or internal. Soo Hyun believes Ma Ri doesn’t want to see. She’s detached from herself. That’s the real problem.
Ma Ri arrives at the café. She is about to enter inside when she overhears Soo Hyun talking about how Ma Ri is only acting like this to receive compassion and attention from others. Subconsciously, she’s enjoying that kind of attention she’s attracting from it all.
Hye Rim, of course, thinks he’s full of shit. But like the ass hat he is, Soo Hyun shouts: “I’m a professional!” And as we all know, professionals know best. He berates Hye Rim, telling her she can go on using her stupid intuition but he can actually see the where the real problem branches from.
It’s only the second episode yet I could build a freaking house out of all the bricks of pompous fuckery Soo Hyun flings at Hye Rim every time he launches into these ranting sprees.
Ma Ri, no longer able to hold her silence, angrily labels Soo Hyun a lying hack. Through her tears, she makes it very clear that she is in no way purposely forcing herself to lose her vision nor is she doing it for the sake of gaining sympathy from the public. Ma Ri feels betrayed in a way since she opened up to Soo Hyun about her troubles first. He pulled her in and made her trust him only to have him tear her character down when her back was turned. Soo Hyun tries to explain himself, saying he never said she was doing it on purpose, it’s just that on a subconscious level she’s blah blah blah psychology wah wah wah bullcrap to which Ma Ri has heard enough of. Ma Ri turns to Hye Rim and requests that she be the one to counsel her from now on. Hye Rim slightly defends Soo Hyun in a way by saying he’s the doctor not her but Ma Ri sneers in disgust. “Doctor? All I see is a smooth talking quack.”
Later that night, Soo Hyun listens to his answering machine full of angry messages from Ma Ri’s coaching team and parents while he broods in the darkness. He’s boiling with rage. But not with himself. Oh no. He’s furious with Hye Rim because, once again, she made him look like a bumbling idiot.
Soo Hyun flips through the pages of suitors in the printed document on the love experiment he’s conducting on Hye Rim. Ji Ho is listed as Male C. Seung Chan is listed as Male B but Male A remains blank. He ponders this briefly. In a sudden act of spite, Soo Hyun vows to make Hye Rim fall absolutely head over heels for him then he’ll throw her away like garbage. He fills his name in the blank space as the third suitor.
Yeah sure, Soo Hyun. Go ahead and get your revenge by manipulating a woman’s feelings, something you’ve stated before that you’d never jeopardize an important experiment for. That’s not childish at all.
Sarcasm.
The very next day, we see Hye Rim entering her cafe to find two men installing a CCTV. She questions the purpose of it all and they tell her that the counseling center requested it. Hye Rim understands why the counseling center would need it but not in her café. They assure her that it’s all for security purposes. Hye Rim has no other choice but to believe this but in reality, Soo Hyun had it installed so he can full on stalk the hell out of her every movement.
Seung Chan finds Hye Rim in the lounge area of the clinical center and wants to cook for her but Ji Ho has already beaten him to it. Can I just mention how adorable these two are battling over Hye Rim’s affections just for the sake of winning? So Cute!
Soo Hyun walks into the lounge in an eerily upbeat mood. Hye Rim delicately greets him, knowing to be cautious considering what had happened with Ma Ri.
Soo Hyun responses by outright asking her to partake in an experiment. Both Ji Ho and Seung Chan become white as ghosts, wearing panicked facial expression that scream: What the heck is he doing?! He’ll blow our cover!
Hye Rim frankly refuses. Soo Hyun casually accepts her rejection then goes on to remind her that Ma Ri is coming over for counseling soon and wishes her good luck. He leaves and Seung Chan races after him. He wants to know why Soo Hyun risked the experiment by bringing it up in front of Hye Rim. Soo Hyun tells him that they still haven’t gotten Hye Rim’s consent and that’s the most important part. They can hide the objective but they need to be given permission to something, just as he had mislead the elementary teacher into doing. Seung Chan says Hye Rim said no so does that mean they have to stop? Soo Hyun assures him that she’ll say yes soon, he’s sure of it.
We go back to Hye Rim worrying about how she’ll counsel Ma Ri. She has a flashback of a conversation she had with Moon Geun. He asked her personally to keep a close eye on Soo Hyun and the special experiment he’s heard Soo Hyun is running. A light bulb blinks on in Hye Rim’s head.
She struts right into Soo Hyun’s office and demands he helps her counsel Ma Ri. Soo Hyun, being the smug bastard her is asks her: “Why should I?”
Hye Rim tells him that he can’t just freak her out about it then just leave. He must help her. If he does, in return she’ll take part in this little experiment. Soo Hyun eagerly agrees then tells her to sit so they can start immediately. Hye Rim aghast by his easy cooperation. They begin with Soo Hyun asking her a few simple questions. What kind of flowers does she like? What type of atmosphere is she most comfortable in? What style of clothing does she wear? Hye Rim wonders as to why he doesn’t do a background check on her since that seems to be the first thing that he should do. Soo Hyun tells her there is no need for one; he’s already done that. “I was interested in you.” Though suspicious as hell, Hye Rim answers all his questions honestly.
The next step they take is Soo Hyun giving Hye Rim a form to fill out, claiming it to be a server that will determine what kind of personality she is. But the actual motive behind this is him sneakily trying to find out every single thing about her.
The next day, Hye Rim receives an elegant bouquet of red roses with a circle of blue decorated in the middle. The flowers were sent by an anonymous admirer. Hye Rim’s first thought shoots to Soo Hyun. She goes up to his office to confront him but he isn’t there. His many diplomas and certificates suddenly enthrall Hye Rim as she wait for his arrival. Soo Hyun counted on her to do just this. It’s all apart of the long list of steps in making her fall for him.
When Soo Hyun returns to his office, he denies sending the bouquet. She knows it had to be him because he had even asked her what kind of flowers she liked in the survey she took for him. Soo Hyun covers his tracks by stringing up some crap about trying to find her ideal man. Hye Rim suddenly feels silly for thinking Soo Hyun was behind the thoughtful gift then leaves his office flustered.
Soo Hyun smirks in satisfaction.
Desperate for answers, Hye Rim goes to Ji ho and asks if he sent the bouquet. Ji Ho blankly admits: “It wasn’t me.” When she asks Seung Chan, however, the cheeky ex-baseball star tries to take the credit and owns up as the sender.
LOL!
Seung Chan automatically knows it was Soo Hyun who sent the bouquet. He confronts his brother about it but Soo Hyun continues to take the clueless route. Seung Chan says if it wasn’t from him then this experiment is going to get pretty weird since that would imply someone outside from him and Ji Ho are trying to win over Hye Rim. Soo Hyun tells him any outside parties will have no effect in the experiment. Seung Chan still believes it was Soo Hyun, he even goes as far as to make Soo Hyun swear on their parents grave (which is weird because Soo Hyun had briefly mentioned in the first episode that his parents were abroad somewhere. o.o). Soo Hyun coldly swears that it wasn’t him. Seung Chan isn’t surprised. “Oh that’s right, you always hated mom.” Seung Chan apologizes for asking such a silly thing then leaves. Soo Hyun has a sudden flashback of when Seung Chan was first born. Seung Chan is actually his half brother and his father introduces Seung Chan’s mother as his ‘new mother’.
In present time with Hye Rim, she’s wondering with Yoo Rim exactly who sent the bouquet. Yoo Rim also seems to think it was Soo Hyun who sent them but Hye Rim is completely over that thought. She came to the conclusion that it just isn’t in his character to do such a thing. Yoo Rim hangs on the possibility of the secret admirer being Kyung Do’s father. Earlier in the episode Hye Rim told Seung Chan that her husband was dead but in actuality it turns out that he’s very much alive and is off in the states somewhere with his new wife. Hye Rim bitterly tells Yoo Rim it couldn’t have been that bastard either.
Another scene shows Soo Hyun at his home ordering more roses to be delivered to Hye Rim.
Next day, Yoo Rim comes running in the café to inform Hye Rim of yet another bouquet. Hye Rim starts to notice that the pattern of blue roses on each bouquet she’s received so far differ from each other. The blue roses get smaller in count as the days go on. Hye Rim and Yoo Rim squeal like school girls when they realize that the circle of blue roses represents a countdown of some sort. Soo Hyun creepily watches them through his CCTV stalker cam, once again delighted to find his plan working in his favor.
Hye Rim and Soo Hyun meet up later to go over the details of Hye Rim’s counseling session with Ma Ri. Soo Hyun breaks the news to her saying he can’t be there with her. All sessions must be completed one on one. Hye Rim protests against this by claiming that she can’t possibly counsel Ma Ri by herself. She threatens to quit partaking in his experiment if he refuses to help but Soo Hyun tells her she already gave her consent so there is so backing out now. Hye Rim blabbers on and on about how under qualified she is and how Ma Ri was Soo Hyun’s patient to begin with, it isn’t fair how she’s suddenly thrown on her like this. Soo Hyun shuts her up by saying there is one solution to this problem.
He can secretly feed her information during her session with Ma Ri. He takes her to a one-way room in the back of the office where a full view of the counseling room is visible. Soo Hyun explains that as she counsels Ma Ri, he’ll be behind the scenes watching them the entire time. He then hands her an earpiece so that he will be able to coach her on exactly what to say. He brings up the fact that this session is very crucial to Ma Ri’s recovery so this must go well. Hye Rim is hesitant in taking the earpiece. Soo Hyun gently assures her that he will be right there helping her, taking her hand sweetly in his then closing her fingers around the ear piece. It’s obvious this little gesture of affection causes Hye Rim’s heart to beat faster.
When the time for the session to begin, Ma Ri and Hye Rim start out awkwardly silent. Ma Ri fidgets anxiously in place while Hye Rim is at a loss for words. Ma Ri impatiently asks Hye Rim if she’s going to counsel her or not, they are wasting time just sitting there staring at each other.
Hye Rim on a whim asks her what song she’s listening to. Ma Ri tells her it’s a song called ‘Run to the skies’ by Lee Jeok. It’s her favorite. Hye Rim asks her how she feels when she listens to it and Ma Ri says it sort of motivates her. When she listens to it’s lyrics, she feels as if she’s being cheered on. When Ma Ri isn’t looking, Hye Rim turns to the one-way mirror and frantically mouths some gibberish to Soo Hyun, signaling to him that she’s at a dead end. Soo Hyun guides her by telling her to ask how Ma Ri is currently feeling. Hye Rim parrots this to Ma Ri word for word. Ma Ri is taken to a place in her mind, thinking of her feelings in images. She’s in the mountains, resting on a bridge. She sees someone else walking. It’s her. Ma Ri says she hates herself. She knows people are sick and tired of her for being so difficult and she hates herself for it. Hye Rim is triggered by these words as she too is taken to a place, a memory of her ex husband. She thinks of the day he left her for another woman and how much pain and grief it brought her. Once upon a time, Hye Rim felt just like Ma Ri. She hated herself too. Soo Hyun soothingly snaps Hye Rim out of her day dream by saying she’s pretty. Of course, he’s only feeding her information to tell Ma Ri but Hye Rim can’t help but feel as if he’s speaking to her too. She recomposes herself and replays the information to Ma Ri. She may be stubborn but she’s also a hard worker, cute, charming and bold. These uplifting words bring Ma Ri brief happiness.
After a successful session, Hye Rim goes to the one-way room looking for Soo Hyun but he isn’t there.
Soo Hyun had gone off to the airport to greet Mi Ran. She eventually caved to Soo Hyun’s offer of her joining his center. She tells him that she’s already sick of being retired, work will do her some good.
When entering her new office, she goes looking out the window and sees Seung Chan’s scooter, recalling his heart throbbing words of: “I’ll be good to you.”
Seung Chan finds her; surprised that she has actually returned but then tells her patients aren’t allowed to be in this part of the center. Mi Ran happily explains to him that she was never really a patient. She’ll be working at the center a staff member. Seung Chan automatically thinks she’s a nutcase and frantically calls for his brother. Mi Ran calms him down by explaining that she was Soo Hyun’s psychology professor. The rest of this scene is filled with cringe worthy moments as Seung Chan realizes his mistake.
Meanwhile, Hye Rim goes around searching for Soo Hyun but she can’t seem to find him anywhere. Also apart of the grand plan. ‘Lay low, drive her crazy trying to look for you.’ All of Hye Rim’s bouquets on laid out on the cafe’s counter, arranged in the proper count down order. She starts to think about Soo Hyun. Could it be him? But in the next second she denies it again. No way, it can’t be him.
At his place, Soo Hyun, Seung Chan and Ji Ho are checking in on their progress with the experiment so far. At this point, Seung Chan and Ji Ho now know Soo Hyun is the third suitor. Soo Hyun isn’t pleased to find out that Seung Chan only sees Hye Rim once a week. He must work harder than that if he wants results. Seung Chan tells him that Soo Hyun doesn’t even have his report yet. Soo Hyun defends himself by stating his report is in his head. Seung Chan accuses him of going against the rules. Ji Ho agrees and says it’s not fair how he’s the only one who can watch the security footage of Hye Rim. They should all have access to stalk her, right?
Soo Hyun says he doesn’t want to jeopardize the experiment by being careless. They will both be disqualified if Hye Rim doesn’t show any type of interest in them soon so they must kick it into high gear.
At the 2015 Asian world championship, we see the anti fans walk into the competition with signs reading: TX is mine. Ma Ri is nervous. Her coach is speaking to Soo Hyun, informing him that Ma Ri doesn’t seem as agitated as before and is more relaxed. The counseling has definitely been working to heal her, nerve wise at least. Soo Hyun notices the anti fans and the coach says they couldn’t keep them from getting in. Soo Hyun knows these girls will be a problem and thinks fast of a plan to take care of them.
Hye Rim is also at the competition, worriedly eyeing the anti fans. Soo Hyun calls her asking for a favor.
The next scene shows Hye Rim scrambling to find Yoo rim who had gathered together the anti fans in a room as Hye Rim had instructed. When they enter the room, the anti fans, who are no more than a bunch of school children, happily greet Yoo Rim. They are friendly towards Yo Rim because she shoots footage of TX for them. Hye Rim introduces herself to the group as Madame Antoine.
Ma Ri is in the locker room preparing herself mentally for the competition. Soo Hyun comes in with an mp3. He urges her to listen to it. Ma Ri wants nothing to do with him. Soo Hyun gives her of an inspiring story of a chinese pianist who was able to play a piano piece perfectly after a seven year imprisonment. He was able to do so through diligence and mental practice. He gives her some helpful advice of simply looking within herself for the confidence she seeks.
We cut to Hye Rim spouting gibberish in French. Like seriously, she’s saying the most random stuff, yet to the room full of Korean girls have no freaking idea what the hell she’s actually saying. Hye Rim uses her insight to make some predictions about the girls to get them to believe she is psychic. As expected, Hye Rim hooks them in by their ignorance and scares them by alerting them of a ‘ghost’ that is haunting them. To fix this ‘haunting’ problem, they must listen to her.
We cut to the competition where Ma Ri enters the gymnasium, tensing up when she sees the anti fans in the crowd. When it’s her turn, Ma Ri goes up to the mat, stumbling a bit but she catches herself. She finds her courage through Soo Hyun’s words. She breathes deeply as the classical song he had her listen to rapidly plays in her mind. Gradually, her vision adjusts from blurry to clear.
She’s relieved. Now that her vision is fully restored, all she needs is some encouragement. That’s where the anti fans come into play. Hye Rim warned them that the ghost won’t go away unless they sing a song for Ma Ri as she competes. If they refuse, the ghost could end up affecting TX’s career. Not wanting to ruin their hubby’s fame, the anti fans reluctantly agree. They begin singing ‘Run To The Skies’ for Ma Ri. Thankfully, the real song begins playing over the god awful wailing noises the anti fans were making right before my ears began bleeding.
Ma Ri’s confidence has returned. She’s now all fired up and ready to compete. She vaults and lands perfectly. Everyone cheers in joy and honestly, it’s such a heartwarming moment that I almost cried. Almost.
Overwhelmed with emotions, Hye Rim rejoices. Soo Hyun is pleased.
Later that night, Hye Rim boasts about how she received another bouquet of roses but Yoo Rim wants to forget about the roses for a minute. Right now, she wants to talk about Ji Ho. She thinks that Hye Rim is being a bit harsh with the kid, all he wants to do is spend some time with her but she keeps shutting him down. Hye Rim rants about what a random weirdo Ji Ho is and how he always seems to materialize out of nowhere. After some thought, she then realizes that Seung Chan is the same exact way. Both boys are always wanting to eat with her and are quick to utilize themselves to her in anyway. Yoo Rim says it’s because they really like her. Hye Rim refutes this idea. She’s much older than them, there is no way they could be interested in her romantically. Yoo Rim says that must be the case, and what so wrong with that anyway? Younger men are totally into her and she should take advantage of this pronto.
The next scene we see the four of them off to a great, elaborate trip to the…..grocery store. Seung Chan actually wanted to go the amusement park but Hye Rim said they are still on the clock; a trip to the store will be just as fun. She’s finally embracing her inner cougar yet she ends up letting them woo her with a boring trip to the freaking grocery store? Um, dafuq?
We are briefly shown a scene of Soo Hyun ordering another bouquet of roses, with the absence of blue.
Back at the foursome outing, Ji Ho wildly parks the car. Hye Rim announces that she needs a cart and Ji Ho automatically volunteers to get one. As Hye Rim and Seung Chan head inside the store, Yoo Rim scolds Ji Ho for continuously playing the role of a lackey boy. That’s what losers do. If he wants to win over her sister, he must be more assertive. She proceeds to whisper him some bad dating advice. Yoo Rim voices just how much women are crazy about muscles. So, Ji Ho attempts to display his strength by trying to lift a heavy bundle of printer paper. But his limp noodle arms can barely even lift the crate two inches off the ground. Macho man Seung Chan comes to the scene and lifts the bundle with ease. Ji Ho takes another crack at ‘wooing’ Hye Rim by following Yoo Rim’s dumb advice of smiling like a little boy. Women dig that innocent little boy smile. He gives this a try but his wiry thin lips only succeeded in making him look severely constipated. Yoo Rim isn’t pleased that he bombed so hard after following her instructions.
In the parking lot, Hye Rim challenges her boys to a race. She gets them to play ‘rock paper scissors’ for the one to push the cart she’s in and the loser will have to push the cart of groceries. Ji Ho wins. She tells them to make a bet on who would win a race to the car and the two agree on granting Hye Rim a wish. She giddily gives them the go and they take off. Ten seconds in, Ji Ho is in the lead. Seung Chan soon ditches the chart of groceries to help push a wildly cheering Hye Rim, much to Ji Ho’s displeasure.
Wondering just how they later managed to get a hold of that abandoned chart since the scene showed it spiraling off screen, most likely crashing into someone’s car. Plus, I have no idea where they were running so hard to. Ji Ho only parked like two feet away from the entrance. Lol.
They get back to the café giggling and raving about what a great time they had at the basic ass grocery store. The competitive duo of Ji Ho and Seung Chan head up to their workplace while Yoo Rim and Hye Rim stay below in the café. The nameless girl, who was in charge of looking after the café in the sisters’ absence, tells them another bouquet of flowers arrived. This time, an envelope is attached. Inside is a concert ticket. Yoo Rim says the mystery guy must want to meet her there if he personally bought her a ticket. Hye Rim asks what she would do and Yoo Rims admits she wouldn’t go. The whole thing seems sketchy to her but Hye Rim is way too curious to let fear get in the way.
Later that night, Hye Rim attends the concert, hoping to finally meet the man who has been anonymously romancing her from afar. We also see Soo Hyun walking around, looking as if it could be at the entrance to the concert hall. Of course, this scene is only to tease us. Soo Hyun never planned on meeting Hye Rim at the theater. He purposely stands her up.
The next day, Soo Hyun is questioning Hye Rim about last night’s events. She had told him of how she had been stood up and he asks her how it make her feel. Hye Rim is suspicious as to why Soo Hyun must know this. He assures her it’s only for research. When they get back to questioning, Soo Hyun asks her again how she felt when the man stood her up, but this time specifically adding: at the musical, to his sentence. Soo Hyun unknowingly has gave himself away to Hye Rim for she never disclosed to him exactly where she was stood up.
Soo Hyun enters inside his office and is scared shitless by a zombie like Ji Ho awkwardly standing in front of his desk. Ji Ho tells him that the flower company called and is wondering why he isn’t ordering anymore roses. Ji Ho now knows it was Soo Hyun all along who has been sending roses to Hye Rim. Soo Hyun snipes to Ji Ho to keep his trap shut about it but Ji Ho says he will, only if Soo Hyun shares with him about what he’s planning to do with Hye Rim. He believes his teacher is running a psychological simulation. “It will help with my studies.” Soo Hyun complies and breaks down to an eager Ji Ho about how the roses were used to get Hye Rim excited. The countdown method helped with that. He goes on to tell Ji Ho that he must melt the woman with an apology letter after never appearing before her (which would be when he stood her up at the concert).
The next scene shows Soo Hyun entering an extravagant dinner hall where he anonymously invited Hye Rim to dine with him. He plants a small envelope that will explain his whereabouts since he doesn’t plan on staying. Soo Hyun requests to the waiter to play dumb if Hye Rim asks about him.
When he pulls on the door handle to take his leave, a stern faced Hye Rim is standing on the other side, waiting for him.
She’s caught him red handed.
Whelp.
Gosh, I have so many freaking feels for the Hye Rim/Soo Hyun couple and this is still only the beginning stages! They spark up so much exciting chemistry with every scene they’re in together that it honestly makes me super anxious for what’s to come. I’m curious as to see how things will unravel between Seung Chan and Mi Ran. Mi Ran is clearly smitten with Seung Chan but seeing how Seung Chan was nearly against romancing Hye Rim because of her older age, I know he wouldn’t even consider a romantic thought about granny Mi Ran. Ahaha, it’s still totally sweet to see her blushing like a young maiden over him though. The true couple I’m rooting for is Ji Ho and Yoo Rim. They’ll end up together, I just know it! I feel it in my soul! Ah, but we shall soon see in the future episodes as the plot thickens.~
