REWATCH: Personal Taste - Episode 2

Ambition provides cold comfort
Park GaIn is facing the worst nightmare of her life, a situation so absurd that it’s hard to imagine any friend could be so cruel. GaeIn is standing at the alter, an intruder at a wedding that should have been her own, where her boyfriend and her best friend are getting married behind her back. “Gae…In,” ChangYul stutters, shocked that she’s had the nerve to actually show up. He’s even more shocked that his bumbling assistant didn’t do his job and bar her from entering the wedding hall. When GaeIn lifts the veil, InHee is cringing, looking more embarrassed than guilty about the situation. She manages a curt, insincere, “I’m sorry.” It is quite possibly the most insincere ‘I’m sorry’ ever spoken by a woman who has just stabbed a friend in the back with a wedding bouquet. GaeIn calls her on it, “That’s what you say to…a stranger on the bus when you…step on their toes…”

Poor GaIn is having a difficult time breathing, speaking, and seeing straight. GaeIn naturally wants to know when it all started but InHee snaps that it doesn’t matter, that she was the woman chosen, not GaeIn, and she simply must get married to ChangYul. It becomes clearer now that InHee’s motivations are less about loving ChangYul and more about sticking it to GaeIn. ChangYul, on the other hand, does feel guilty, to both women. Since his motives are slightly more pure, he promises GaeIn that he will accept whatever punishment she doles out later if she will just leave the wedding and let them marry in peace. On the sidelines, YoungSun has heard enough and jumps up to give the would-be bride a smack to her senses. The punch doesn’t connect and she’s forcibly restrained and hauled out with GaeIn.

In the audience, SangJoon is alight with happiness, “Isn’t that the same woman from before? What kind of crazy but awesome situation is this!?” He’s grinning from ear to ear in confused giddiness, like watching a string of police cars fly by with their sirens on. JinHo snorts, “Obviously it’s a cheating playboy ChangYul situation.” He’s no longer amused, just disgusted. He’s definitely not surprised by the disruption as he’d expected nothing less from a woman who had caused such a fuss over nothing when he’d met her on the bus. JinHo glances toward the exit where GaeIn has just left. There is room for a tiny bit of concern in his heart for the stranger.

Back at the front of the room, ChangYul quickly urges the MC to carry on. The “misunderstanding” is brushed aside and they continue with the wedding ceremony.

GaeIn is still rendered speechless and comatose by the whole thing but her friend is kicking and screaming. “Let go! Let go!” she’s yelling as both women are dragged into the audio-visual room. Secretary Kim is wondering aloud in confusion when GaeIn got her mole removed…when the piece of dirt falls off the picture. He realizes it’s his own mistake. Annoyed, he orders security to keep them in the room as he hurries back. Meanwhile, YoungSun’s little boy is ambling toward the sound system mixing board unnoticed. YoungSun tells GaeIn, “You should consider yourself lucky you didn’t actually marry that guy!” Not only is that true, it’s damn true. But a heartbroken woman doesn’t quite want to hear that sort of thing when she was dumped for another woman, and in such a spectacular fasion. GaeIn says dully, “That man…getting married…was dating me up until only yesterday.” Oops, the overhead speaker has been turned on and the volume cranked up high. Their conversation is now being broadcast to the whole building…interrupting every wedding ceremony in the building.

An innocent bride not involved with the GaeIn, ChangYul, and InHee love triangle looks up surprised by the female voice’s declaration that the man she is marrying had been dating someone else. All the guests of this completely separate wedding are also perplexed. GaeIn’s voice continues dejectedly, “The bride has been a friend for 10 years…to congratulate her…to make her a happy bride…I even built a bed for her.” To make it worse, YoungSun chimes in, “That nasty girl. Of all the many men she has had, why did she have to snatch her friend’s?!” YoungSun goes into more detail about the bride-to-be and her many ex-boyfriends…and is creating quite the havoc between the couple whose only mistake was picking the wrong hall on the wrong day. It’s the bride’s turn to proclaim her innocence, she hasn’t been sleeping around!

Now, at the wedding of the actual guilty party who are also listening to the same sob story, things are looking fairly grim as well. What’s on InHee’s face? Fury. SangJoon slides JinHo a cheeky smile, This is fun. He’s really glad they came! At the same time, the Director of the Daum Art Gallery, Choi DoBin, has had enough of the fireworks and walks out. JinHo and SangJoon follow with the intent to have a word about the gallery project when they realize reps from another architecture firm have been waiting outside with the same idea. They are coldly brushed aside as the director is in no mood to talk business. JinHo and SangJoon get the hint. An obvious approach would not be a good move. JinHo has another idea on getting Director Choi’s attention.

In pirate-broadcast land, the audio is still going. Now YoungSun is picking apart InHee’s lifted and tucked and adjusted plastic face. A mob of angry wedding guests lead by the bride and groom have formed outside the sound room to confront this woman ruining their special day. The bride and groom demand to know why GaeIn is making such wild accusations (looks like the president of A.N. Entertainment company is getting married – sorry, a You’re Beautiful reference). GaeIn and YoungSun try to meekly slide away from the angry mob.

At the same time, InHee has decided too much humiliation has happened today. She is not going to follow through with the wedding after all and so goes marching out with a frantic ChangYul chasing after her. They bump into GaeIn in the lobby, who can’t even meet InHee’s eyes. InHee has completely given up the pretense of acting remorseful and her gaze is now as narrow as a snake’s. “Was that liberating for you?” she spits out, referring to the ranting via the speaker system. GaeIn stutters, “I wish…you’d told me…before…” ChangYul winces at that, his guilt a sincere feeling. Unlike him, however, InHee is unyielding, her expression hostile. GaeIn says meekly, “I’m sorry for ruining your wedding.” InHee replies coldly, “Don’t be, because I won’t feel sorry for you anymore either.” Being an awesome friend, YoungSun steps forward and slaps InHee full on in the face. She deserves a closed-fist crack in the shin, too, but ChangYul steps in and fusses over his almost-bride, “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

Back to JinHo who is scrambling down the stairwell to the parking garage. On the way, he gets Director Choi’s license plate by phone. He jumps into his SUV Benz and screeches through the garage looking for the car that matches the plate number in his hand. When he finds it, he slams his car into it. CRRRASH. JinHo is in the process of putting his business card on Director Choi’s windshield when the man himself shows up. “What are you doing?” the other demands. JinHo apologizes for the accident and promises to pay for damages. Director Choi dismisses him and JinHo works to contain his disappointment, but then the other man pauses and indicates he recognizes JinHo, offering some bait, “I enjoyed your Dream Arts Center presentation. Today isn’t a good time but contact me later.” The barest shimmer of satisfaction manifests on JinHo’s face.

GaeIn, YoungSun, and her little son are walking home still ranting about how much of a backstabbing hussy InHee turned out to be. A friend of 10 years! How could she do such a thing over a man? It’s clearly a rhetorical question as there exists no suitable answer. YoungSun continues to expound upon the bright side, which is that GaeIn has dodged a really nasty bastard bullet. “You must have saved a nation in your past life,” she decides, and she’s right, if she had married the two-timer, it would have been harder to get out of the marriage. She encourages her, “You know what they say, once you get out of a crappy car, a new car will pull up.” Not sure of ChangYul’s vehicle model, but JinHo does drive a Mercedes Benz, but they don’t know that yet. GaeIn is trying to hold it together but her friend’s positivity is not helping and she begs to be let alone.

InHee is calling off the wedding completely. Not only is she humiliated, she accuses ChangYul of only spewing lies whenever he opens his mouth. He argues that she’s not exactly pure and innocent either. But in the end he gives in first and pleads, “Let’s put the past behind us and start anew!” She huffs, “I’m the crazy one here…” To finish that sentence, for getting involved with you in the first place. ChangYul didn’t get slapped by GaeIn that day, but later, he gets a couple of good ones from his furious father. Like InHee, he also can’t believe the humiliations of the day. More importantly, at least according to his father, Director Choi left the ceremony in disgust. When his father leaves, ChangYul hisses at his assistant, “This is all your fault!” Why didn’t he keep GaeIn out of the ceremony like he’d been ordered? ChangYul passes forward the beating onto Secretary Kim.

Park GaeIn is standing at a crosswalk, barely able to get across the street before the light turns red. At that very moment, JinHo and SangJoon are driving by and notice the pitiful figure making her way across a row of honking cars, her body bowing automatically to the angry mechanical sounds. JinHo watches through his rearview mirror and can’t help but feel pity for her. He is human, after all.

Back at their office, SangJoon is providing more details about the Daum Art Gallery contract bid. All firms are being allowed to compete for a chance to be in charge of the renovation and expansion. A fair shot at the deal for everyone. Both men are cautiously optimistic and SangJoon praises JinHo’s cleverness in slamming into President’s Choi’s vehicle to get his attention. Yes, that is very creative business schmoozing, indeed. TaeHoon walks into the office and casually asks them how the wedding went. Back to older brother teasing, JinHo says, “SangJoon, toss out TaeHoon’s desk.” SangJoon jumps to do the bidding, “Right away, right away.” TaeHoon is beside himself, “How can you really fire me over a drinking bet!?” He clings onto his desk in desperation as SangJoon makes a show of trying to toss it out.

JinHo and SangJoon barricade themselves in JinHo’s office. Since the walls are glass, TaeHoon presses himself up against it and offers, “I know a way to score the Daum Art Gallery bid!” They don’t believe him but he dangles, “Have you heard of Sangojae?” Turns out, TaeHoon’s got some filial connections to the Director of the Daum Art Gallery and has some inside scoop on the man. Director Choi has always been a fan of the work of one particular architect, a man by the name of Park ChulHan, who is the designer of Sangojae (GaeIn’s father, GaeIn’s home). Ever since Director Choi’s efforts to recruit Park ChulHan failed, he has continued to be interested in Sangojae. This is it! They realize this could be the key, the lead they’ve been looking for in order to gain an advantage in the contest.

At Sangojae, a bunch of loan shark gangsters are loitering at its wooden doors, pounding on it. GaeIn’s assistant, WonHo, is hiding nearby anxiously trying to reach GaeIn, who is too depressed to deal with WonHo and his declarations of love, especially after his attempt to undermine her virtue the night before. He leaves a message basically outlining another disaster. He’s stolen $10,000 from her and sunk it into a fraud and is now on the hook for the amount with people who want to break his kneecaps. Oh, and he’s also put Sangojae in jeopardy, which he used as collateral to take the money out. When GaeIn finally manages to make it home, two envelopes have been slipped under her door. The first is, of course, the wedding invitation. The second is a notice demanding payment or else the house will be forfeited. With friends like these, truly, who needs enemies?

Later that night, GaeIn’s father calls out of the blue, and it doesn’t go well. Her tone is formal and chastised, and not just because of her current dire situation with the house. It’s not difficult to infer their relationship is not warm and fuzzy. Her father informs her that he is coming back home earlier than planned. And the hits just keep on coming. What’s the pain of being dumped by a boyfriend when the family home is about to go on the auction block? Her world is crumbling down piece by piece. She takes a look at her bank account and realizes there’s no hope, she doesn’t have the funds to bail herself out of this mess.

YoungSun comes over to find GaeIn in her ugliest pajamas hunched over a big honkin’ bowl of bibimbap, every miserable Korean person’s comfort food. Häagen-Dazs has nothing on spicy rice in terms of offering a reason to cry into an oversized bowl. She guzzles water straight from a jug. She asks YoungSun for money, but unfortunately, her only friend has none to give. YoungSun advises, “Just ask your father for help.” GaeIn deflates, “How can you even say those words when you know what my father is like?” The next comment is enlightening, YoungSun gripes, “Why did your father love your mother that much?” It’s a sore spot and GaeIn immediately gets serious and frosty. And hurt. When her friend leaves, she can’t help feel sorry for herself. All she had ever wanted was her father’s recognition. She wanted to stand strong and make him proud but here she is again, having screwed up once more. “On a day like this,” she asks the memory of her mother, “it’s ok for me to cry, isn’t it?” She holds a rocking chair from her doll house and sobs quietly to herself.

Still at the office, JinHo and SangJoon are doing some research on Sangojae. The exterior design is deemed to be rather plain to their professional eye, especially compared to Park ChulHan’s other work. The inside could be a different story but they don’t know, no one has ever seen the guts of the house after the architect lost his wife. They aren’t able to discern what exactly appeals to Director Choi about this particular house just by the pictures. Professor Park ChulHan is in England, they know, and his daughter currently resides at Sangojae.

SangJoon appraises his boss with a shrewd eye and has a brilliant idea, “Wait, wait…if it’s a daughter…that means she’s a woman…bravo JinHo!” JinHo squints in distaste already disliking whatever the other is about to say. SangJoon continues excitedly, “What’s the use of having a perfect face and body like yours if you won’t use it? Let’s use you!” JinHo shoots him an ugh face and dismisses the idea, “Stop talking nonsense.” SangJoon doesn’t think it’s a ridiculous idea and presses on about the beauty of Park ChulHan’s wife hinting that the daughter would likely be just as beautiful. JinHo’s had enough matchmaking for the sake of money and he gets up, “You go on and take a look at Sangojae tomorrow since you like pretty women so much.”

The next morning, GaeIn’s still dressed in her ugliest pajamas and chatting on the phone with a fortune teller who offers her vague and hokey advice from his cubicle while eating instant noodles and charging by the minute. He tells her that someone, not a man or woman, an it, will come from the east to bring good fortune to her and she must cling onto it at all costs. When the doorbell rings she swings open the door and SangJoon is aghast to meet Park ChulHan’s supposed ‘beautiful daughter.’ The dark circles under eyes have their own address on her face, they are that prominent.

But his shock isn’t just due to her slovenly appearance. He points at her, “You’re…the wedding…her!” She covers her face, “No, I’m not!” And slams the door in his face. He stands there lamely holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand and absorbs this new twist. He is also thinking that she isn’t beautiful at all when the door cracks open again and GaeIn inquires hopefully, “Are you from the east?” He’s taken aback by the odd question and answers honestly, “Our office is in Gangnam…” She shuts the door...then opens it yet again a second later, her pale face poking out to give him some advice, still thinking of others even as her world falls apart. She has remembered him as the butt-grabbing-motel-affairing jerk’s boyfriend as seen at the wedding so she advises: “You—ditch the pervert. You’re in for heartbreak.” That last bit makes no sense to him but his mind is already galloping away. Quickly SangJoon rings up JinHo and wails, “We have a huge problem!”

As if things couldn’t get worse for GaeIn, she gets a call from Nice Department Store who she had sold some of her multi-player tables. The manager is apologetic but his decision to accept her product has been overturned by his superiors and he needs to cancel their contract.

Nearby, at the Daum Art Gallery, JinHo has arrived to speak to Director Choi, who is at that moment heading out to lunch with President Han of Mirae Construction (ChangYul’s father). JinHo immediately stiffens, his smile faltering when he recognizes the second man. Upon seeing JinHo, President Han’s own expression heats up but quickly changes to ingratiating exuberance, going as far as calling JinHo a surrogate son. He implores JinHo to visit more regularly. As for JinHo, he looks as if he’d just been embraced by the devil and asked to eat his own excrement. He just stands in place stiffly. Despite the kind words spilling out of President Han’s mouth, Director Choi isn’t a fool and it’s apparent as broad daylight that the two gents aren’t on good terms.

In a fun twist, JinHo’s less than friendly interaction with President Han seems to intrigue Director Choi, in a favorable way. When President Han invites JinHo to join them for lunch, as expected, JinHo declines politely. Director Choi is likewise unsurprised by the answer and takes the moment to make sure that JinHo’s firm is planning to enter the contest for his art gallery’s renovation. JinHo confirms this to be true, which pleases the gallery chief, but not President Han. As ChangYul’s father walks by, he cheerfully reminds JinHo to remember his station in life and to refrain from chasing after unrealistic dreams. That takes JinHo back to a painful memory from childhood when President Han and the little boy version of ChangYul usurped his life, and took over his very home.

SangJoon is suddenly beside him tapping JinHo out of his reverie and gives him the bad news about Sangojae. “That weird furniture-making egomaniac that ruined ChangYul’s wedding is Professor Park’s daughter!” Fate is a sneaky little bitch and JinHo can’t believe his lousy luck. SangJoon wants to throw in the towel, it’s a useless fight, especially with President Han lunching with the Director and playing dirty again. But JinHo’s still worked up about President Han’s parting shot and says firmly, “We haven’t even started yet.” SangJoon warns him that if they fail, this could ruin them completely, the whole entire company. With a squeeze of SangJoon’s shoulder, JinHo says quietly, “We can do this.”

At the ex-newlywed’s home, ChangYul is fielding calls from friends and family that missed the excitement of his disastrous wedding day, including his mothers. He pretends the wedding went on without a hitch. Call after call comes in and ChangYul continues to lie through his teeth. He’s good at the lying as he’s had a lot of practice. We find out through exposition from Secretary Kim that President Han is just like his son in that he’s quite the player and has had seven wives! When later ChangYul goes to see this father, he’s informed that JinHo is also going to compete for the art gallery project. Even though they both agree that JinHo’s playing out of his league, their body language is one of concern. They acknowledge JinHo’s talent as an architect and are not confident they can beat him fairly. Unfortunately, Director Choi is not the type to take bribes. President Han warns his son that he’d better beat JinHo otherwise he’ll be banished to the Chinese branch.

Outside with his assistant, ChangYul shows his lack of confidence in his own talent by ordering his flunky to find some dirt on Director Choi to use as leverage. Strolling away, he mutters to himself with a smirk, “You better keep your guard up, Jeon JinHo. Let’s really go a round this time.”

JinHo is standing at Sangojae’s doorstep waiting for its owner to come home when GaeIn goes darting past him in chase after her thieving assistant. At first he’s not sure if he should stay his ground or follow but opts for the latter. He catches up with her and comments idly as they jog, “You sure have your issues with men.” She’s startled by his unexpected appearance and trips, twisting her ankle in the process. Splayed out on the ground, she begs him to nab the fleeing man. It looks like JinHo is going to refuse but he starts to run, probably thinking of earning some points with her in regards to getting a peek at Sangojae.

She limps after both men. They all eventually hit a dead end in the alley ways. She’s grappling with WonHo, demanding he return her money. “What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?” she wants to know. JinHo stands apart, awkwardly, his gaze averted. She notices him again and is once again surprised by his presence. “But why are you here?” She’s really confused. He can’t quite hide his annoyance. “Thank you,” he suggests instead. “Huh?” she returns. He informs her, “You wanted me to catch the guy and I did.” She gets it. “Thank you,” she obediently says. She then turns her attention back to her backstabbing assistant. JinHo closes his eyes and prays for patience.

She wails at WonHo that he’s ruining her life. WonHo’s stomach responds by grumbling. Concern for him overrides her anger and she says in a resigned and maternal tone, “Haven’t you been eating?” They relocate to a noodle shop where GaeIn and WonHo are at one table. GaeIn watches WonHo eat his bean sprout soup like a starving man. JinHo is at a nearby table and he can’t believe what a sappy doormat she is—that’s what his non-expression conveys. He’s writing furiously on the pad in front of him, his face carefully controlled and ambivalent as always, but all he’s doing is scratching pen against paper in frustration. He’s listening to their every word and catches her whine, “I even had to put up InHee’s old room for rent to make money.” That definitely catches JinHo’s attention. He’s not a dirty player but he’s also a guy not above slamming his fender into another person’s car for attention, so he’s certainly not going to pass up an opportunity to reside at Sangojae and study it to his heart’s content. WonHo heads to the bathroom and, of course, takes off fleeing after the free meal.

JinHo watches as the skinny punk dashes out of the restaurant and again he’s thinking, this idiot woman! He can’t believe she’s so dense. He swivels around in his seat and stares at her. This is not being kind-hearted…this is stupidity! And so, he blurts the thought out loud: “Are you stupid?” She looks up. “Can’t you see he’s running away?” he hisses. She denies that he’s running away, that WonHo will come back…but of course the figure running down the street contradicts her claims that he’s trustworthy. JinHo wants to know if she’s always been so naïve, to which she glumly agrees, “It’s my character flaw.”

He notices that she is still limping in pain from the earlier fall so he suggests going to the hospital for treatment. She doesn’t want to waste money since she doesn’t even have any to waste, but he insists. After the treatment, she can’t figure out why the arrogant condescending butt-grabbing stranger who coldly dumped his gay lover is being so charitable towards her, even going so far as paying for her medical bills and then offering her a ride home (in his nice car, by the way). When she confronts him about his motives, he again advises her that this is yet another situation where she should just use her nice words: “Thank you.” Their gazes lock, his is slightly amused, hers is stubborn. “I’ll pay you back,” is all she’s able to manage. He almost-smiles as he hadn’t expected gratitude anyway.

On the way home in his Benz, he brings up the issue of renting the available room at Sangojae. She’s immediately suspicious that JinHo has been sent by her father to spy on her. “I read the name of your house above the front door and I don’t know your father,” he lies. He explains he is coincidentally in the market for a place to live and he overheard her tell WonHo about the room. She gives him the evil eye, still very suspicious of him. Her tendency for wariness is wasted on the wrong people, clearly, as she lets the wrong ones in but wants to keep the right ones out. He’s got an answer for all her queries and she’s eventually satisfied that he’s merely an upstanding citizen looking for a room to lease. But she still doesn’t want to give him the room. No outsiders allowed, she explains. Which is odd, as how else is she going to rent out a room? He points out this exact contradiction, and after seeing the eviction notice on her door, indicates her financial situation doesn’t allow her the luxury to refuse his offer. “How can a woman living alone let a man in?” she throws back. “Tsch,” he snits, “Who exactly is the woman? You?” Snicker.

She doesn’t have time to feel offended as the door opens and YoungSun wants to know what happened with WonHo. When she catches sight of JinHo, her eyes widen as she registers his familiar pretty face. “From the wedding…you’re that guy on the…aren’t you?” JinHo doesn’t recognize her as readily as she does him and he’s a little confused as to what the woman is referring to. His focus returns to GaeIn and on his goal to move into Sangojae, “Please reconsider—” The door slams in his face. He turns away in defeat but the door opens again and this time, it’s YoungSun. Her wide eyes peer at him admiringly. He frowns at her. “I don’t know what all this is about,” she tells him conspiratorially, “but I’ll work it all out with her for you so you just wait right here!” When she shuts the door, he’s even more confused but he shuffles his feet and decides to wait obediently.

On the other side of the Sangojae doorway, YoungSun wants to talk about the man outside who wants to rent the room. “It’s perfect! You have a room, that man has the money. Why not?” GaeIn says it’s obvious why not! “How can I live in the same house with a man!?” she points out. The friend rationalizes, “You know that guy. It’s not like he’s a man that’s ever going make a move on you! You probably look like nothing more than a piece of rock to him.” GaeIn is intrigued, “You really think so?” YoungSun is positive. “Of course! And,” YoungSun goes for the kill shot, “What’s so good about a female tenant anyway? They’ll just betray you behind your back like InHee. And men? Look at WonHo and ChangYul!” Basically, she’s saying the breed of Gay is the best way to go, the enemy you don’t know is the enemy worth taking a chance on. “Besides, you can kick him out later if doesn’t work out.” Next, they take a moment to discuss the merits of a gay best friend—the cooking, the shopping, the facials! Ah, what great possibilities! That’s the most tempting for GaeIn, as she’s a bit short on friends these days.

JinHo is leaning against the hood of his car, wondering if he should stay or go when the door creeps opens. YoungSun whispers, “Hey, come in, come in!” He looks at her in genuine surprise. “Hurry, hurry!” she urges. He gives her a small bow in gratitude…still unsure why the friend is even on his side. He catches GaeIn’s eye, who’s sulkily watching him, but she doesn’t seem to resist his entrance. It’s a pretty house and JinHo soaks it in as he slowly makes his way into the courtyard. It’s a hanok style home with splashes of contemporary comfort. His eyebrows furrow as he also notices the mess. He feels the stares of the women and glances over at them. They are blatantly ogling him. YoungSun is positively beaming in delight. He frowns, confused and also not liking the twinkling glint in the friend’s glances. But he’s in and that’s the most important part.

When he returns to his office, SangJoon is already anticipating failure but JinHo tells him he’s renting a room at Sangojae, a nice side benefit being he gets to evade HyeMi’s lecherous claws on him. SangJoon is impressed beyond words by the cunning of his boss. The duo at M Construction is pleased with the arrangement but so is YoungSun, who is at that very moment congratulating GaeIn for scoring such a good-looking tenant. In fact, she gives GaeIn a life lesson: when someone is that good-looking, you have to forgive them everything they do. GaeIn admits he did have very firm buttocks. If JinHo could hear the turn of this particular conversation, he would most definitely rethink his decision to move in. But unlike her married friend with an interest in hot young things, GaeIn really isn’t interested in men, gay or good-looking. She just needs the money desperately enough to let a man into her home. It’s not ideal but she recognizes the need for it.

JinHo and SangJoon are arriving to sign the lease papers. Before they knock on the door, SangJoon has some words he wants to impart. “I think that woman is interested in you,” he says, “why else would she let a man move in with her?” JinHo could care less about GaeIn’s motives. But SangJoon warns him about the dangers of a woman in lust. “Guard your body! Make sure to leave the door wide open at nights!” Basically, SangJoon warns JinHo about giving her an opportunity to molest him. Since JinHo’s had had quite a few encounters already with GaeIn, he’s not at all under the impression she likes him and shrugs off SangJoon’s warnings, “Stop saying weird things.” SangJoon reminds him, “She copped a feel of your ass!” JinHo is exasperated, “Hyung!”

During the paper signing, YoungSun is in heaven as she soaks in the visual of the two well-dressed men, who she believes is an urban gay couple. She says, “You two must have been together for a very long time.” SangJoon’s exuberance matches YoungSun’s, he happily agrees, “We have. This kid can be kind of finicky so he’s not easy to handle but…wait, how did you know we’ve been together for a long time?” YoungSun giggles, “Well, you see, I’ve got a bit of an interest in him.” Meaning she has interest in JinHo as a model, but SangJoon misinterprets the words as he sincerely believes all women fall madly in love with JinHo upon first sight (from well-established, prior experience, I’m sure). He slaps a friendly hand on JinHo’s thigh, “Now, you’re not allowed to be interested in my JinHo.” JinHo scolds his associate testily, “I told you to stop saying weird things.” YoungSun’s eyes positively pop out of their socket in pure joy at the affectionate gesture—at the skinship. “Oh, you two are so meltingly cute!” They are confused by that but without really understanding the meaning behind the words, they don’t know how to respond.

GaeIn gets to business and tells him no photos are allowed of the house. They will share the fridge and laundry machine. She thinks that’s it but JinHo’s got his own set of rules. He wants the messy pig pen of a house to be kept clean, he doesn’t want her to touch any of his food, and he warns her about accidentally mixing her dirty laundry with his. SangJoon starts fidgeting at JinHo’s rudeness. GaeIn’s temper flares up, as it doesn’t take much to get it going, and she tells him if he ventures in any areas of the house that he’s not allowed, she’ll cut it off. “Excuse me?” he snaps. “Exactly what are you going to cut off?” he challenges. She snaps back, “Any part that crosses the line!” The two cohorts who desperately want this merger to happen for their own selfish reasons start laughing hysterically while JinHo and GaeIn shoot invisible arrows at one another with their minds. In the end, it’s SangJoon and YoungSun who clasp hands and seal the deal.

In his new room, SangJoon whines at his boss, “Hey man, what are you doing poking at her temper?” JinHo is busy unpacking and knocks his leg against a sharp corner of his desk. SangJoon wants to attend to JinHo’s invaluable leg. “Take it off, I’ll put medicine on it for you,” he says. JinHo wants to leave it alone but SangJoon sees no reason to feel shy, as they’d been friends for so long and have seen each other’s everything. They’re making misleading noises inside the bedroom and YoungSun is literally glued to the door, as if she’s a three year old at a candy factory listening to the sounds of chocolate being stirred. GaeIn comes to pull her off the door but catches some of the talking in the room and is scandalized at the racy nature of their language—“I’ll be more gentle next time!”

Giggling, YoungSun is jealous beyond words at GaeIn’s good fortune. R-rated hunky hanky panky right in her own home, it’s better than pay-per-view! GaeIn, on the other hand, just feels sorry for SangJoon as she knows JinHo is a player, as she’d seen him with his ex-boyfriend at the motel a few days earlier. “He was this big beastly guy!” she describes TaeHoon and she predicts JinHo will dump SangJoon soon enough as well. YoungSun really wants to see the beastly ex-boyfriend. GaeIn says she’s not going to allow JinHo to parade his string of boyfriends in and out of her house. When SangJoon leaves, YoungSun asks JinHo, “What about your other man?” GaeIn covers her mouth before she can say more but YoungSun manages through the fingers, “Keep going on the road you’re traveling—they say love is a fluid thing—!” JinHo is, naturally, completely perplexed. He chalks it up to the behavior of crazy women and retreats into the protection of his rented room.

ChangYul is still in the ex-newlywed home going through the wedding album and depresses himself. He has already crawled into bed when InHee comes home, crawling into bed next to him. They’re both shocked to find the other at the house. Neither of them have a place to live anymore. She was kicked out of GaeIn’s pad and he was kicked out of his father’s house. They’re in matching pajamas and their tempers are equally matched as well. Their love has definitely lost its luster…if it had ever really burned. For him, maybe—for her, doubtful.

At Sangojae, JinHo is roaming the grounds in the dark, an animal scoping his new territory. He stumbles upon a study with blueprints lying around. His phone rings. He glances at the interruption and ignores it. With good reason. It’s HyeMi trying to figure out where her man has hidden himself. JinHo is snooping in secret but when his mother calls, he can’t ignore this one. He whispers, “I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you back later.” From behind, another whispery voice asks, “But will you explain yourself right now?” He jumps at GaeIn’s sudden appearance. Like a scene out of a horror film, she pulls out a chainsaw and gives it a good revving. He screams like a little girl and runs out of the room in fear. She makes a face and wonders, “Did I go too far? What a scaredy cat.” Back in his room, nerves settled, he realizes he’s been had and she got him to react like a ninny. He scowls at his own faintheartedness. He sits down at his desk to attempt some work since his first night of snooping was a failure. A moment later, he’s interrupted by female screeching outside.

Kim InHee as shown up. With quite a bit of nerve, she declares, “I’m tired, let’s go in” and waltzes past GaeIn. Understandably, GaeIn can’t believe what she’s seeing. Neither can the heavens looking down at the two women. “I need your permission to come back into my own home?” she challenges flatly, then huffs, “I ended it with ChangYul. That makes us all settled, right?” GaeIn can’t believe her ears. “It must be nice to be as cold-hearted as you,” GaeIn says. InHee smiles, “Let’s not do this over one guy.” She picks up her bags to enter ‘her room.’ InHee is quite the amazing here as she disowns any wrong doing she may have committed but points out GaeIn’s act of ruining her wedding. Her sense of self-absorption is quite impressive and GaeIn finally sees her friend clearly, a selfish woman of brazen cruelty.

When GaeIn accuses InHee is behaving the victim, as if she were the one who had her boyfriend stolen, InHee’s expression contorts and she laughs, “Boyfriend? You really are ridiculous!” InHee tells her icily that not for a single minute was ChangYul ever GaeIn’s boyfriend. GaeIn is crumpling, her insides, her face. It’s all there to be destroyed. InHee goes on ruthlessly, “You’ve never been loved so you don’t even know how to love. At least I don’t mistake pity for love like you!” InHee has come the Sangojae expecting her doormat friend to accept her easily, when that didn’t happen, she resorts to what she does best, get defensive and attack.

When the hair-pulling starts and the noise decibel starts to increase, JinHo decides he’s tolerated enough. He shuts his book and puts down his pen. When he opens his bedroom door, the women pause their cat fight to stare at JinHo, who glares back at them with his head tilted. He’s definitely surprised by the identity of the midnight guest. His eyes are glued on GaeIn, not actually asking in words but asking with his eyes why the man-stealer is at the house. “Did you come out to watch or something?” GaeIn snaps when he continues to stand there. Adopting her tone himself, he says, “Let’s be more quiet. Are you the only one living here?” He’s a delightfully prissy tenant! But one with a legitimate point. He goes back into his room.

InHee, on the other hand, can’t believe GaeIn’s leased out her room, especially to a young stud like JinHo. It’s not proper. JinHo doesn’t want to listen to the fight outside, but really, they’re arguing about him so of course he can’t help but pay attention. His brows are stitched together so tightly they could have been one brow. GaeIn is yelling, “Why? You’re interested him too now? You want to steal him from me too!?” InHee snorts, “I’ve never stolen anyone, they all came on their own.” GaeIn is adamant as she points toward the direction of the bedroom, “But not that man. You won’t ever be able to seduce him!” InHee thinks different and arrogantly tosses out, “I just need 10 minutes.” GaeIn is pretty confident on this one, “Not even with divine intervention, you won’t ever get that guy!”

JinHo is in his room listening to the ridiculous exchange about whether or not he is seducible. He’s trying to hold onto his patience, really trying to ignore something that’s none of his business even though he’s the ping pong ball being bandied about back and forth between the two women. “You’ll never get him!” GaeIn is hollering. InHee hears a challenge, “We’ll see about that!” GaeIn drops the grenade and screams, “That man is GAY!” JinHo’s head jerks up and eyes widen. Mouth agape, he turns to stare at the door between him and the proclamation that he’s gay: WHAT!?