Awww, I totally sniffled my way through this ep. By some kdrama standards, this isn't too much angst (compare to protagonist of Time Between Dog and Wolf, with PTSD, torture etc or the terminally ill heroine of Snow Queen) but that makes it more 'felt' to me - not to mention I got so ridiculouslt invested in these characters!



When we last left Jae Bin and Sun Hee, they were clutching each other in a dark basement, with Sun Hee offering comfort and Jae Bin taking it.





And then he drives her for a meeting with his brother and her sense of something being majorly wrong deepens because he isn't protesting or being jealous or anything.





After dropping her off, he rushes to confront Secondary Girl. That scene made me so ANGRY at Secondary Girl I can't think straight - she basically confirms it all - Hoon is not his nephew but his kid, and she wanted to ditch (both Jae Min and the unborn child) so Jae Min's older brother took the kid and pretended it was his because of the fact that Jae Min's rising career would have been over if he was seen as a single father. Jae Min, justifiably, is falling apart. Secondary Girl? "Clearly it means you will take me back, right?" (paraphrase) OMG - what? First of all, he hasn't seen you for 15 years, so I doubt there is much loveleft, second her sheer incomprehension that this is about the worst time to bring this up is - insane. I love that he tells her he can understand her leaving their son (he is better than me) but he wants her out of their life. OMG YES. She acts wronged. ARGHDIEDIEDIE.





Sun Hee cancelled her date and followed him because she is so worried for him. He sees her and they drive off together and he tells her it's good to have a friend like her and I go 'oh no!' That is so him pulling back because his life is totally falling apart - he said earlier he wanted to be more than friends but clearly he is taking it all back. No wonder - he's just gotten the most tangible proof that his status makes normal relationships impossible, not to mention his head must be so screwed up right now. He even refuses to talk to her about what is bothering him in the least, but he can't help but hold her hand for comfort.









And next day he plays hooky and 'kidnaps' Hoon and goes on a trip with him, trying desperately to bond (it managed to be not only sad but also funny as Hoon thinks his Uncle is insane, not to mention prim-n-proper Hoon has little in common with his normally laid-back, laddish Uncle).



Sun Hee and her daughter Mi Ran do join them (long story). Look at them being all happy family!











But of course she knows something is majorly wrong and he won't say. I do love that thinking back later she guessed the truth but then rejected it as too far-fetched. I love that she guessed - I hate dummy characters. (I also loved that when Secondary Girl was all 'do you know who I am to Jae Bin,' her response was 'I don't care to know.' OMGYAY. I love how she totally stands up to anything - she is not some gutless wonder).



Major awww and sniffle:







Next morning he is all remote with her - not rude or anything but behaving in a polite way to stranger. He is shutting down.



And we aren't even going to get into his confrontation with his brother - he leaves for work because, he says, it's the only thing that's been left to him to do. OMG.



I love that his pulling back made her reevaluate - she was taking him and his unabashed admiration for granted so much before but having it yanked away makes her confront her own feelings. She writes him a hidden message, the way he did earlier (this ep is full of role reversal - she does all these things he did to get through her walls earlier).



In a lovely bit of parallelism, he is also scribbling on the window "What are you doing now?" (about her).





But he can't really allow himself more than that and thus we get to the last scene of the ep and which tore my heart out and danced on it with cleated boots.

Sun Hee: "You're home. Today was hard, wasn't it?"



Sun Hee: "Let's go inside."



And she does what he did when she was depressed after her husband turned out to be a bastard. She spreads her arms and dares him to cross a line she draws in the dust: "You can't cross the line until you smile."



Sun Hee: "Song Jae Bin, flash me one of your famous heart-stopping smiles."





Jae Bin: "I'm tired."



Sun Hee: "Okay, then at least give me a bittersweet smile."



Jae Bin: "Stop it."
Sun Hee: "Your fan is asking. Can't you smile just once?"
Jae Bin: "Sun Hee,"
Sun Hee: "Yeah?"
Jae Bin: "You told me, at 39, you couldn't just focus on me. I…After leaving Jang Dong Chul behind, I understand what you mean now. To you, Song Jae Bin is a dream. But to me, Song Jae Bin is reality. Move aside."





Sun Hee: "No. Until you smile, I can't step aside." (I love how throughout this whole exchange she just won't give up). But he walks by her anyway.



Sun Hee: "Dong Chul, I'm crying. When my tears stop, then go. Dong Chul."







Jae Bin: "Hong Sun Hee. I said if you cried, you're fired. You're fired. Move out of our house." (Side note of shallowness: he is about 18 heads taller than she is. YESSS!)







*bawls*