A Gentleman’s Dignity: Episode 7

Today’s episode gives a sneak peek into Do Jin’s past and we learn that Mr. Confident also has battles with insecurity and anxiety. His body has a certain reflex to dealing with stress that’s simply mind boggling.

In contrast, Yi Soo is faced with a not-so-happy conclusion to one chapter in her life. She looks forward to a future without the tangles of unrequited love and hopes that a young studmuffin can whisk her away from all her problems. Do Jin, watch your…erm…wrinkles?

EPISODE 7 RECAP

 

It’s the day before Jung Rok’s wedding in 2002 and Do Jin, Tae San, and Yoon follow a crowd of soccer fans down the street to Min Sook’s house to pay their dues as groomsmen and earn access to the bride for Jung Rok.

They wait outside impatiently when the doors open to reveal three women decorated with jewels and fluffy L’oreal hair. Do Jin mutters that this marriage might be the best thing that happened to their group of friends and prods Yoon to sing a song for the nunas. Heh.

The next day, at the wedding, Min Sook finds herself unable to smile for a wedding portrait with friends because the people on Jung Rok’s side are mostly young, pretty women. Bwahah. Yoon narrates that Jung Rok’s marriage was a blessing for everyone except the bride and groom.

Back in the present, Yi Soo replays the kiss again in her head but reminds herself that Do Jin is a bad guy. She wonders what else he could possibly do to mess up her life. She even starts to get a little annoyed at how he kissed her without warning but then consoles herself that at least the kiss was just on the outer lips. Mmmhmm. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

She rummages though her underwear drawer while badmouthing Do Jin except for a short moment when she tries to remember where her kitty underwear went. She later grumbles about certain upper lady parts shrinking from losing weight and the camera pans up to Do Jin’s jacket to show that his pen recorder has been on for the past eight hours. Puahah. Uh oh.

 

Do Jin wakes up and states that today is April 18th. Yet his clock and phone flashes that it’s 7AM on April 19th which shocks him. He heads to his (huge) closet and searches for the pen recorder but can’t find it. He comes out into the kitchen and sees Yoon in an apron putting breakfast on the table. He urges Do Jin to go wash up. Hee! They’re like an old married couple. I love it.

He asks Yoon if he drank yesterday and Yoon responds that they came home together from the bar. Do Jin was drunk so he went straight to bed. Do Jin asks if anything else happened and Yoon coolly responds that Tae San made the mistake of hugging Yi Soo, thinking that it was Se Ra. Do Jin should know; he was there.

Do Jin’s eyes get wider and wonders how Tae San can be unharmed if Do Jin saw him hug Yi Soo. Yoon tells him to listen to his recorder and Do Jin replies that he doesn’t know where it is. Uh…what is going on here?

During a business meeting, Tae San thinks back to last night when Se Ra told him he’s the guy Yi Soo has a crush on. He sighs loudly and everyone shoots him curious looks. He asks that the meeting be postponed and requests a private conversation with Do Jin.

They go outdoors and Tae San asks if he should apologize to Do Jin for back hugging Yi Soo. He wants to know what kind of relationship Do Jin and Yi Soo have exactly.

Do Jin responds that he doesn’t remember what happened last night. He also asks if Tae San saw a pair of heels around the office. Tae San looks at him in alarm and Do Jin calmly states that “it” must have relapsed. WHAT IS “IT”?!

Dong Hyub and his friends walk past the school gates after class and spot Do Jin with his car in the parking lot. They approach Do Jin and Dong Hyub slightly kicks Betty’s wheels while asking for money. Oh no. Don’t do that to innocent Betty, Dong Hyub. You don’t know what will happen.

Suddenly, Yi Soo barks out Dong Hyub’s name when she sees him and Dong Hyub lazily tells Do Jin that he was just joking. He and his posse slip away as Yi Soo’s annoying co-worker drools at the sight of Do Jin.

Yi Soo approaches Do Jin who reminds her that he told her to pick up his calls. She sniffs that she doesn’t check her phone during school and Do Jin shakes his head in frustration. He opens the car door for her and Yi Soo’s co-worker squeals in delight at how dreamy the mystery man seems.

 

They head to Yi Soo’s house and she seems disappointed that he just plans to pick up his jacket. She carefully asks if he has nothing to say to her and he replies that he’s not sure what she wants him to talk about.

He retrieves the jacket and assumes that she was thankful for its warmth. She stops him before he leaves and inquires if she’s just supposed to ignore what happened last night. He asks if something important took place and she responds that the event might be insignificant to him but she takes these things very seriously.

Do Jin wonders if they slept together (d’oh) but before she can respond she gets a phone call from Tae San. Do Jin takes her phone and informs Tae San that he’s with Yi Soo right now. They’ll talk when he gets back to the office. He leaves after returning her phone and she stands at the door fuming at his nonchalance.

At the office, Do Jin glowers at a working Tae San as he listens to the moment when Tae San hugged Yi Soo. Tae San gulps nervously and tells him to just listen to everything first. Hee. Why does Do Jin look so cute in those headphones?

He gets to the part where he kissed Yi Soo and an “oh crap” look crosses over his face. Tae San asks what’s wrong and Do Jin replies that he thinks he made a mistake today. Yeah you did. I want to shake you by the shoulders until your memory comes back.

 

Yi Soo and Yoon meet in a park and Yoon tells her that Do Jin’s pen is a recorder because he suffers from short term memory loss when he gets stressed out. He can forget an event that happened a couple of minutes ago as well as an entire day if he’s really anxious.

Yoon explains that Do Jin and Tae San’s company went bankrupt three times. Do Jin lost his pride the first time it happened, his car and house the second time, and his self-worth the last time.

Yi Soo soaks in this information and carefully says that she would have never thought to label Do Jin as an insecure man. Yoon replies that even the most confident people have their own problems. She nods in agreement and then remembers the private conversation she had with herself the night before. She hurriedly says goodbye before running off.

Do Jin visits the doctor who shows him his MRI scans. The doctor claims that nothing is wrong with him and blames it on stress. He inquires if Do Jin has been feeling angry, anxious, or depressed these days.

He replies that he’s been battling all three. He claims that he’s recently started to pursue an unrequited love. The doctor lightly warns him to fix the love disease soon; unrequited love is very hazardous to one’s health.

As he walks out the door, Do Jin calls the doctor irresponsible because the patient has to take care of his own disease in the end. Why do I get the feeling that this won’t be the last time we see this doctor…

Yi Soo tries to call Do Jin and prevent him from listening to the recorder. Meanwhile, he sits in his apartment and is greatly amused by her grumbles about underwear and surprise kisses. Suddenly the recording gets quiet and he hears her starting to change.

He thinks of her changing right in front of him and moves around trying to get a glimpse of imaginary Yi Soo’s nekkid body. Woah there. It’s starting to get X-rated up in here.

The doorbell rings and he quickly turns the recorder off before letting Yi Soo inside. She asks how much he’s heard and he lies that he’s at the kissing part. She grins, relieved that he hasn’t listened to everything yet and cheerily reconfirms that they kissed underneath the cherry blossoms.

 

He laughs that his lips must have been fantastic enough for her to remember the kiss so well and she clears her throat to avoid responding. She tries to steal the recorder but he grabs it first. They play a short game of keep away before they fall onto the couch and end up in a very sensual position.

Do Jin grabs her collar to keep her from getting up and tells her that she must know of his strange illness if she talked to Yoon. He assures her that he didn’t forget anything on purpose and she nods her comprehension while commanding him to let go of her collar.

He comments that she should stop moving or he’ll be able to see her kitty underwear and her eyes widen in shock. So he did hear everything! He smiles and says that she really does fit his style; he’s always preferred Catwoman over Wonder Woman. LOL. Oh goodness. How can he say these things with such a straight face?

She puts her head on his chest to cover her red face and his heart pounds at the close contact. She tries to run away but he grabs her arm and mutters that she causes him so much stress.

His grip loosens after he shoots her one of his smoldering stares and he starts to tell her to go when she bolts towards the door. He said he didn’t finish talking and she cuts him off by replying that she knows he won’t let her leave if she stays longer.

He smirks and replies that he was going to say she should leave before traffic gets bad. She rushes out the door in embarrassment and he quietly states that her assumption was correct; he doesn’t want to let her go.

 

Yi Soo does her mortified monkey dance outside Do Jin’s apartment and looks up to the heavens to ask if she can embarrass herself any more. Hehe. After she returns home, she receives the red dress from the dry cleaning lady and calls Me Ahri over to return her gift.

She claims that the dress is too expensive to hang in her closet and Me Ahri assures her that the dress is less than a hundred dollars. Me Ahri also informs Yi Soo that she doesn’t have money; it all belongs to her parents and she’s just mooching off of her brother for now.

She continues that she just wanted to thank Yi Soo for looking after her and sending pictures of Yoon from time to time when she was abroad. Yi Soo responds that she’ll take the gift then and admires the dress while thinking of the event in the dorm bathroom. Heh. The sexy dress now equals a sexy Do Jin.

Se Ra completes a photo shoot for a clothing brand and goes out to have drinks with friends. She wills her phone to ring but then ignores it when Tae San calls. Her friend urges her to pick it up and she replies that Tae San won’t look for her if she answers. Ugh.

Tae San later barges into the bar Se Ra is at and she holds out her hand like the princess she is. He whisks her away and holds her hand while walking. He stops about 100 feet outside of her house to avoid running into Yi Soo, which incites Se Ra’s jealousy.

She accuses him of avoiding Yi Soo because he’s afraid of developing feelings for her. She then demands an apology for his “infidelity” but he ignores her request. Yi Soo calls right then and Tae San agrees to talk with her somewhere. He abruptly leaves and Se Ra wells up with tears.

 

Yi Soo meets Tae San and explains that he shouldn’t worry about mistakenly hugging her last night. She’s more worried that Se Ra might be upset and tells him to make her feel better, even if he has to bring up Yi Soo’s faults.

After a moment of silence, Tae San slowly says that he really likes Se Ra. Yi Soo’s smile falters a little but she forces herself to reply that she knows that he does, in an upbeat voice.

Tae San murmurs that it seems everyone but Se Ra knows that she’s the one he loves. Sigh. That was so passive-aggressive! So now you’re knowingly crushing Yi Soo’s heart? Oh Tae San. Yi Soo isn’t going sabotage your relationship and you know that. I’m disappointed in you.

Se Ra downs a shot of whiskey as Yi Soo comes home after her meeting with Tae San. Se Ra bitterly says that Yi Soo should just keep her jacket. A passive Yi Soo replies that the whole situation was just a simple mistake.

Se Ra gives her a sour smile and asks if the gloves under Yi Soo’s bed and Tae San’s high school picture in her notebook are also “mistakes.” Was Yi Soo just biding her time until Tae San and Se Ra broke up? Pft. Please drop the drama queen act.

Yi Soo stammers that she’s sorry for not guarding her secret more closely. But in her defense, she wasn’t planning to do anything or expecting anything to happen. Se Ra snaps that she did her a favor then; she told Tae San about Yi Soo’s crush yesterday.

 

Yi Soo starts to tear up and she admits that she was going to confess to Tae San the day she bought the gloves. However, he had asked for Se Ra’s number before she could say anything. She continues that Se Ra should have at least kept the secret from Tae San; that was her last source of pride.

Se Ra looks away guiltily and Yi Soo expresses that she should have thought to confess to Tae San before she came home then. At least her pride would still be intact. Yi Soo challenges that maybe she should try stealing him away. She leaves after telling Se Ra that she doesn’t want to see her face anymore tonight.

The next day, Yoon comes out from his office to see Colin asking Me Ahri out to dinner. She giggles at his show of chivalry but stops when she realizes Yoon is behind her. He walks past her without a word.

Colin takes Me Ahri out to a chicken restaurant and he eagerly asks if Tae San is married. She shoots him a curious look and then states that he seems both interested and uninterested in her.

She wonders if he’s pursuing her because she accidently told him that she’s rich when she was drunk at the club. He says no and she smiles, thinking he approached her because she was pretty. Colin rolls his eyes and then asks her to talk after swallowing her food. He has a weak stomach. Kek.

Yi Soo drives home but stays in her car to watch a baseball game on her phone. Do Jin shows up in Betty and he catches sight of Yi Soo outside. He parks and gets into Yi Soo’s car which startles her.

He tells her that she still hasn’t picked up any of his calls and she responds that she rarely checks her phone after work. She tiredly asks why he’s here and he presents her with a new laptop. She thanks him quietly and also returns the 30,000 won that she borrowed.

Do Jin notices that something is wrong and she explains that Se Ra told Tae San about her unrequited love. She says that it’s officially over now and accepts the laptop on the condition that he stops coming to see her.

 

He responds that he never agreed to something she decided on her own. She ignores him and declares that he’s confident, cool, and good-looking but he doesn’t interest her. She wants to date younger men from now on. HAHAHA. He blinks his eyes in disbelief.

She goes on to say that younger men with great comedic timing are especially charming. He sits back in his seat speechless and ends up pondering over her words later that night. Yoon sits on the other side of the couch from him, recalling the scene with Colin and Me Ahri from the afternoon.

 

Yoon suddenly spits out the word “younger” and Do Jin instantly sits upright, wondering how Yoon knew he was thinking about that exact word. Bahah. Do Jin then assumes that Me Ahri must be meeting a younger man now, which is how she influenced Yi Soo into falling for fresher meat.

An offended Yoon shouts that Yi Soo is the teacher. Therefore, Yi Soo must have been the one who taught Me Ahri about dating younger guys. He also picks at how little Do Jin knows about Yi Soo. In return, Do Jin asks why Me Ahri is going out with a younger boyfriend if Yoon knows everything about her. Hee.

Yoon scoffs that Do Jin can’t even be annoyed with Yi Soo because he likes younger women like Girls’ Generation. Do Jin starts to mention someone doing a dance for an autograph from Soo Young and mocks Yoon’s “Genie” leg move. Yoon quickly yells at him to go to sleep. Keke.

At the Im household, Me Ahri slams down a basket of laundry and rebukes Jung Rok for using six towels a day. However, Tae San scolds her for putting out so many towels at once; she should go hide all of them right now. Hehe.

Tae San demands that Jung Rok stop stealing his underwear as Jung Rok arranges to meet Min Sook at a local church to talk. Min Sook later finds Jung Rok kneeling in front of the altar when she arrives.

He confesses that he’s a sinful man for meeting and loving his wife, and then leaving her alone all the time. She lets out a sarcastic laugh and tells him that erasing her from his heart is just as bad as when he goes off with other women. He’s stil banished from home. I’d say you deserve that.

 

The boys head to a bar to celebrate Yoon’s birthday and are surprised to see Me Ahri there with a cake. Jung Rok also shows up with two models. After some light conversation, Me Ahri lights the candles on the cake and urges everyone to make a wish.

One of the models laughs that forty-year old men must still have an urge to blow out candles like little kids. Me Ahri calls the lady out on her rudeness and Tae San quickly demands that she go home; it’s past ten.

She bursts out that Tae San just doesn’t want her here because he knows she really likes Yoon. Tears stream down her face as Tae San starts to drag her towards the door. Just then, Yoon grabs Tae San’s arm and stands up to demand that he let go of Me Ahri. Oh snap.

Comments:

I had a slight panic attack when there was all this talk about Do Jin’s memory loss in the beginning of the episode. I feel like we haven’t seen the end of this “disease” yet and it’s making me really nervous.

For now, we’re told that his memory loss is caused by stress but I worry that we’ll slip into a sob fest about the end of Do Jin’s life later on. The memory lapses could just be an indication of how Yi Soo affects Do Jin but I believe there’s more to the disease.

It just doesn’t seem logical to emphasize the pen recorder throughout the drama and then clean up the significance of it in one episode. I’m not ecstatic that we have this memory problem and I pray that my expectations are wrong. Gah. Amnesia plots really need to be put to rest.

I haven’t written much on Colin because we’re given so little of him. There are times when I really wish that a more experienced actor had taken this role. Colin could be a complex character but the idol who plays him, Jong Hyun, is still awkward onscreen. ::ducks from CN Blue fans::

You can argue that he hasn’t been given much to do yet and I agree that I can’t judge him too harshly yet. However, I can’t help but notice his stiff line delivery and Jong Hyun doesn’t exude the whole mysterious, cool vibe that Colin is supposed to have naturally. I am willing to give him a a chance to redeem himself when the “who’s your daddy” plot unravels though.

 

The story arc of Yi Soo’s secret crush is finally starting to wind down which is great. The sooner she moves on from Tae San, the sooner she realizes that Do Jin is genuinely in love with her. The scene on the couch was sizzling with chemistry and it’s amazing how expressive Jang Dong Gun’s eyes can be.

The discussion about younger men between Do Jin and Yoon was done mostly for laughs but I like that we’re pursuing their anxiety about age. It’s mostly women who deal with constant pressure to look younger so I like this reversal that we’re heading into. Do Jin hasn’t even realized Dong Hyub has a crush on Yi Soo. Hehe.

Note: I’m going to save comments about the Yoon/Me Ahri couple for the next episode. Trust me, I have a lot to say about them but I want to see how this last scene plays out first.