Things get intimately physical in Madame Antoine’s third episode as hidden agenda’s and unexpected feelings coil into each other like a knotted hammock.
Shoot!~
Episode 3
The episode picks up where the second left off with Hye Rim confronting a startled Soo Hyun about his anonymous romancing. She’s out for answers and she wants them served on a cold hard plate of truth. Soo Hyun frantically scans his ‘brilliant’ *coughs* mind for an appropriate response. He damn well can’t possibly admit to deviously plotting revenge against her with his ‘experiment’ scheme this early in the game so he decides to take the desperate route. “I like you.” Although stunned, Hye Rim doesn’t believe his nonsensical garbage for one second; however, Soo Hyun is determined to convince her otherwise. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Hye Rim demands that if he really feels for her as strongly as he claims, then she wants him to prove his devotion through a series of words. He must construct a love diary solely for her viewing pleasure. If he fails to do so, then she’ll know for sure he’s only lying to screw with her head. Soo Hyun is dead set against it at first but he quickly changes his mind when Hye Rim threatens to call the police and report him for stalking (which she totally has every right to do because he was most certainly stalking the hell out of her.)
Soo Hyun creates his little ‘love’ diary expect it’s void of ‘love’ or any type of emotion at all. He pretty much just filled the pages of a children’s workbook with a bunch of asinine, daily life log entries. Hye Rim seethes in vexation.
The scene transitions into the life of an obnoxious spoiled brat singer, Ju Ni, who is in the middle of a stage rehearsal performance. After spitting a slew of nasty insults at the staff, Ju Ni attempts to sing. As the song’s light melody begins to play, the singer becomes dizzy and short of breath resulting in blacking out on stage.
Mi Ran wants to take Ju Ni on as a client but Soo Hyun wants nothing to do with it. He wants to be challenged by patients with peculiar and unique symptoms not some loud mouthed, pampered princess with a clear personality disorder. Mi Ran insists that Ju Ni’s case is indeed interesting considering the fact that the chick faints whenever she hears or tries to sing John Denver’s ‘Annie’s Song’. She also harbors an acute hatred for the month of November. Soo Hyun eventually gives in and agrees to take the case.
The next scene projects diva Ju Ni rolling into the clinical center with her entourage of bodyguards. The main problem with Ju Ni branches from her extreme thirst for attention. She makes trashy passes at Ji Ho and Seung Chan who are both instantly turned off by her flamboyant and unappealing presence from the get go. Oh and, she’s a mega bitch to Hye Rim.
Mi Ran explains to Hye Rim as they watch Ju Ni’s session with Soo Hyun that the singer suffers from historical personality disorder. This disorder causes Ju Ni to lust for attention, trying by any means to receive acceptance any way she can. Ju Ni flaunts her feminine assets to Soo Hyun in order to seduce him but he remains firm. Ju Ni is hella jealous of Hye Rim since she’s able to have the attention of Seung Chan and Ji Ho naturally, as opposed to acting like an attention leech.
Ju Ni decides to stir up some shit for Hye Rim down in the cafe. Well aware of Ju Ni’s disorder, Hye Rim stands her ground with the bratty singer, which leads to a violent outburst from Ju Ni. The two get into an unnecessary hair-pulling match that ends as soon as the boys some rushing to investigate. (Just want to throw out there that Ju Ni’s bodyguards were present during this entire scrabble yet didn’t do jackshit. Talk about useless.) Ju Ni shifts into victim mode and bursts into tears, accusing Hye Rim of attacking her first. But yeah, pretty much everyone, including her useless lackeys’, knows she’s full of shit.
While discussing what a spoiled bitch Ju Ni is, Hye Rim learns from Ji Ho that Soo Hyun has never liked anyone in his entire life and most likely never will. Hye Rim is spiting pissed by this new information and goes to confront Soo Hyun of his lies. Soo Hyun scrambles his mind once again for answers to convince Hye Rim that he’s being sincere. As a last resort of desperation, Soo Hyun pushes Hye Rim up against the wall and huskily asks her what she wants. A breathless Hye Rim replies with: “D-Date…?” to which he accepts then leaves.
Yoo Rim is filming Ji Ho in the library. She tells the wiz kid how boring he is since he’s always going to the library and studying, that’s so not hot. Ji Ho randomly tells Yoo Rim he knows she’s never dated before because her dating advice sucks eggs. Yoo Rim defends herself by saying Ji Ho just isn’t trying hard enough. He surprises her with a quick kiss to the cheek, asking immediately afterward if spontaneous romantic acts like that are as effective as they are in dramas. Yoo Rim gets feverishly flustered and shouts at him not to do such reckless things. “Stuff like that only work on girls that likes the guy back!” yet when he walks away, she almost faints from the rush of butterflies he gave her. God, they are so cute.
Hye Rim and Soo Hyun meet up for their ‘date’, which really is just an investigation mission in order to learn more about Ju Ni. They discover that Ju Ni didn’t get a lot of love as a child so she acts like a giant asshole attention seeker now to make up for that loss.
Soo Hyun ends up having another flashback of the carousel and his mother as he eats ice cream, dropping a dab on the corner of his hand. He tamely begins freaking out yet conceals his discomfort by asking Hye Rim out to dinner. She knows he’s bothered by something but she complies anyway. They go off to dine in a fancy pants restaurant where Soo Hyun really cakes on the charm. Hye Rim fills him in on why it’s so strange to have men take an interest in her. Her divorce was really rough on her and states that if she were to go through something like that again, she’d surely break. Soo Hyun tries not to shit himself with excitement.
When they are ready to leave, they find out there is a blackout in the parking garage. As they ascend up the stairwell in complete darkness, Hye Rim stumbles. Soo Hyun offers his hand to her. She’s swooned into silence. Soo Hyun keeps this noted in his mind since breaking Hye Rim’s pride with love is all he wants to do.
Seung Chan has something he wants to show Hye Rim pertaining to baseball so they agree to meet up later on after dinner. In the meantime, Mi Ran does her best ‘notice me Senpai’ routine on Seung Chan by starting up small talk, which ends in her almost scolding him for being neglectful of his future.
Seung Chan and Hye Rim later meet up at a baseball field and goof around for kicks. Hye Rim notices Seung Chan is always sighing heavily and asks if he’s worried about something. Seung Chan admits that Mi Ran’s words to him earlier sort of bothered him. Hye Rim uplifts his spirits with a simple pep talk, telling him he’s capable of anything he puts his mind to. They share a sweet moment but it’s ruined when Hye Rim receives a phone call from leather throat Moon Geun.
While having lunch together, Moon Geun asks Hye Rim if she had any information to relay about the ‘special experiment’ Soo Hyun is cooking up. Hye Rim tells him it’s merely a silly experiment of finding the ideal type of a woman. Moon Geun believes there is much more to it than that however he is reluctant to ask for himself, fearing that Soo Hyun will try to look for another investor. He urges Hye Rim to rev up the gear in snooping. If she collects a juicy piece of information, she’ll be rewarded handsomely.
Hye Rim puts her ‘operation snoop’ plan in motion and browses the computer at the reception desk of the clinical center. An odd name folder catches her eye. Before she can click on it, Seung Chan comes bursting in and stops her. She doesn’t hide her curiosity about the folder. Seung Chan blabs to her that its nasty, inhuman, disgusting porn and that she wouldn’t be interested. Hye Rim goes along with the lie and tells him she’s totally into that kinda smut but he assures her that she wouldn’t be able to handle porn that gross and that he’ll bring her some higher quality porn later. Hye Rim be suspicious af.
Seung Chan is starting to feel remorseful about tricking Hye Rim. He tells his brother that he wants out of the experiment. Soo Hyun explains that if he wants out, he’ll have to reimburse him for all the money that went into the experiment; it’s in the contract. Seung Chan has no other choice but continue with the charade but sticks it to his brother by gloating about what a great time he had with Hye Rim.
An intimidated Soo Hyun pays Hye Rim a visit in the café to ask about her time with Seung Chan but before she can answer him, an unexpected guest suddenly appears. It’s Hye Rim’s ex husband wielding important news about their daughter, Do Kyung. Hye Rim is rattled by his presence but agrees to speak with him at another location.
Hye Rim is worried that Do Kyung might be sick. She brings Yoo Rim along to meet up with her ex husband at a lunch spot. The ex husband tells Hye Rim that Do Kyung will be living with him and his wife in the states until she graduates. Hye Rim is dead set against it and doesn’t even entertain the thought of her daughter even wanting to live with them. Her ex husband left her for another woman when Do Kyung was still only a baby. She’s always despised the other woman’s existence and wanted Do Kyung nowhere near her. The Ex informs Hye Rim that this was actually Do Kyung’s choice. Knowing her mother would react negatively, Do Kyung had written Hye Rim a letter explaining how she wants to live with her father and how his new wife is really good to her. Hye Rim is an instant mess.
Later that night through her tears, she swallows her pride and calls her daughter. She brightly tells Do Kyung that she didn’t need to write a letter; she’s completely okay with it. Do Kyung can sense her mother’s pain and apologizes. Hye Rim assures her daughter that she’s fine but when they hang up, she’s once again rendered a train wreck of emotions.
Soo Hyun finds out about Hye Rim’s ex husband through Yoo Rim. He goes to her apartment in an attempt to comfort her. She humbly asks him to accompany her when she sees off her ex husband. His new wife will be there. She doesn’t want to seem pathetic showing up alone. Soo Hyun agree solely for the sake of wanting to be her knight in shining armor so she’ll fall for him faster.
When they head to the airport to send them off, Hye Rim changes her mind and tells Soo Hyun that she’ll go alone. It’s cowardly of her to ask for someone to be there with her. This is her fight and she should face it with her head held high. Soo Hyun tells her he isn’t leaving; she’s not okay despite how much she insists she is. He’ll stay with her in the distance. Hye Rim chats with the ex husband briefly and asks to speak with the new wife, promising not to be violent towards her. It’s exactly the opposite. She takes the woman’s hand and tearfully begs for her to take care of her daughter.
The next series of scenes shows Hye Rim eating her feelings at multiple restaurants, right to the point where Soo Hyun tries to shed light on her misery by granting her a wish. She jokingly tells him to treat her life like a movie scene.
That night, Hye Rim is alone in her room watching scenes from theAamerican movie ‘Love Actually’. She gets a bit thirsty and heads downstairs to the café where she finds a strange note from Soo Hyun on his diary book instructing her to come outside. He has a romantic movie set up for her, which deeply impacts Hye Rim emotionally. She tells Do Kyung in a narration voice over that she’s happy these days.
Ji Ho and Seung Chan take Hye Rim ice-skating. The two adorably battle over Hye Rim’s affections. When they return, Soo Hyun drops the gentlemen persona and commands Hye Rim to clean the floors of the center. Outraged by his hot and cold attitude, Hye Rim vows to make the floors sparkle so brightly that he can see the reflection of his stupid face.
Seung Chan can’t seem to grasp his brother’s logic. Why be courteous to a woman one moment then an assbag the next? Soo Hyun give Seung Chan a quick lesson on women. “You can’t always give them what they want right away, keeping them at bay. It’s all about the thrill.” Soo Hyun refers to his affections as ‘candy’. He can’t give Hye Rim the candy when she wants it, there’s no thrill in that.
Hye Rim gets set up for testing. Soo Hyun wants to see how her brain reacts to pictures of all three suitors, (Seung Chan, Ji Ho and Soo Hyun.) Soo Hyun decides to give Hye Rim the ‘candy’ right before the testing.
The scene leaves us on a cliffhanger of Soo Hyun, Seung Chan and Ji Ho in the lab watching Hye Rim undergo her testing.
It’s a battle all right.
Again, I want to say just how much I enjoy the romance unfolding between the two main characters. It’s obvious that Hye Rim is falling for Soo Hyun and though he denies it, I believe he’s also having similar feelings for her too. Anyway, Ji Ho is cute and Yoo Rim totally likes him! *kitty face* I’m more than sure Seung Chan likes Hye Rim since he showed regret in misleading her. The further the plot stretches, the more I’m driven to see how the story unfolds, I’m ready!~