Heart to Heart: Episode 11

by LollyPip

It’s time for Hong-do to pay the piper for her deception, and it says a lot about how far she’s come in her healing that she doesn’t shrink from doing what needs to be done. Doing the right thing goes a long way towards boosting her confidence too, and she even makes a new friend or two because of it. Thank goodness she’s surrounded herself with people who understand and care about her, and are willing to support her as she does the hard work in repairing the damage she’s caused.

EPISODE 11 RECAP

Doo-soo stares dazedly at Hong-do, who stands in a beautiful hazy halo of light. He wraps her in a hug, muttering, “Don’t go… don’t go,” in a small, pained voice, as Se-ro looks on sadly.

We go back to Yi-seok discovering Hong-do dressed as Madam Oh, and they stare at each other in two different kinds of shock. The chairman returns and shoos Yi-seok away, who leaves after telling his grandfather (while looking right at Hong-do) that they have a lot to talk about later.

Once they’re alone Hong-do wastes no time telling the chairman that she can’t accept his ring, and she leaves in a hurry to catch Yi-seok. He’s angry and confused, but he lets her in the car and drives away before his grandfather can see them together.

Yi-seok isn’t open to Hong-do’s apologies yet, but he pulls over so they can talk. He yanks off her wig and accuses her of being a swindler who seduces old men for money, feeling used that she spent time with him and even slept with him while being Madam Oh in front of his family.

Hong-do insists she planned to tell him, but Yi-seok is too angry to listen, unsure whether she planned all this from the beginning. Hong-do loudly swears it was a coincidence, and explains tearfully that she’s been dressing up this way in order to work. Crying, Hong-do tries to get out of the car but Yi-seok locks the door. He tells her not to cry or try to get away, since she’s the one who did wrong.

Chairman Go goes home and stares at the ring he’d bought Madam Oh, and wonders if she declined his proposal because it was too small. I’m gonna say no, because that thing is enormous, but his befuddlement is adorable. His housekeeper comes to discuss a previous conversation where the chairman had asked what she would do if an older, well-off man asked her to marry him.

Upset that he got her hopes up when he was actually talking about Madam Oh, the housekeeper says she would say no, because to start over at her age would just be to invite suffering. She basically calls him a smelly, drooling, demanding old fart who’s too involved in his family’s personal business, ha. Hilariously, the chairman is all, “I don’t drool!” She perks up when she sees that he’s still got the ring, sussing out that he was rejected.

Yi-seok takes Hong-do to his apartment to get cleaned up, though he still has trouble looking her in the eye. She apologizes again, a bit more composed now, and she admits that she only recently realized that what she was doing was selfish. She says this was the only way she could work, but Yi-seok clarifies that it’s not the disguise that upset him. As his patient, he should have known about her coping mechanism, and as his girlfriend, she should have been honest.

Hong-do says that she was ashamed, because she feels he sees so many of her bad qualities and she hated to admit this one. Yi-seok is jealous that she wasn’t ashamed in front of Doo-soo, but she swears he found out by accident, too. Yi-seok doubts everything about her now, and Hong-do promises that she won’t do anything like this again, or lie to him.

Yi-seok tells her never to appear in disguise in front of his grandfather again and that he’ll handle things with his family, and that she doesn’t need to come help him at the hospital anymore. Hong-do asks after his patients, but Yi-seok says he’s not phobic anymore and doesn’t need her. Without looking at her, he tells her to go.

Se-ro talks to Doo-soo at the station, and he seems a bit more relaxed around her these days. Blunt to a fault, Se-ro says she was surprised that his “girlfriend” turned out to be a one-sided love, and asks if they ever actually dated. Doo-soo asks in turn whether she really thinks the two of them could work out after she learned everything, and Se-ro says that she does.

Se-ro tells him that she’s dated a lot, but Doo-soo is the first man that made her heart flutter. She says that it’s difficult that he already cares for someone, but she wants to try anyway. This is the most sincere she’s been with him, and Doo-soo doesn’t give her an answer but he doesn’t reject her, either.

Yi-seok’s mother asks Butler Ahn about the chairman’s collapse, but he says he doesn’t really know what happened. Next she asks if he’s been dating anyone, and Ahn admits that there’s someone but it’s not going well. They’re so cute, giggling like gossipy schoolgirls together.

Their camaraderie is interrupted by Yi-seok’s dad, who arrives with his luggage to move back in and orders Butler Ahn to take it upstairs. He tells his wife to make him tea, but instead she fusses at him for the way he treated Butler Ahn and sails out haughtily.

Hong-do goes home to find Doo-soo waiting for her, and he asks if he’s sure she won’t regret choosing Yi-seok (seriously? How many times does she have to tell you?). But at least he knows her enough to know that her feelings won’t change even if she does regret it.

He says that he’ll try to resolve his own feelings, and asks for her patience if it takes a while. He promises not to bother her anymore — he won’t call her or come here again. He asks her permission to say goodbye and leans in for a sweet gentle kiss, then he goes, looking like each step further from her is a struggle.

Yi-seok goes home as late as possible to avoid his father, and sits Se-ro down to talk about her crush on Doo-soo. He tries to order her never to see him, but Se-ro says she can tell this is the first time Doo-soo has ever liked a woman, so she understands that he’s having a hard time.

She refuses to discuss it anymore because she knows he’ll just mock her, and tells him to worry about his own girlfriend. Something tells me Yi-seok’s blustering and orders aren’t going to work on his strong-willed sister, hee.

Chairman Go is lying in bed, thinking sadly about Madam Oh, when Yi-seok comes in to talk. He calls his grandfather a romantic for being lovesick, and says that Madam Oh must have her reasons for rejecting him. He tucks his grandfather in sweetly and leaves him to mope.

Hong-do also lies in bed, thinking that her going out in the world only resulted in her hurting people she cares about. In the morning she decides to go to the office one last time, just to return the clothes and see how Yi-seok is doing.

Yi-seok tells Dr. Uhm about Hong-do’s double life, which Dr. Uhm finds hilarious. I love her so much, and the way she can’t keep a straight face through this whole conversation. She teases Yi-seok that his grandfather is going to steal his girl, but Yi-seok isn’t amused. He’s worried that Hong-do only likes him because he’s her doctor, concerned that what she feels is only transference, and Dr. Uhm clucks that she told him not to date his patient.

Dr. Uhm tells him to think of Hong-do as a phobic patient and he’ll be able to forgive her actions more easily. She gives him some information for a seminar he should attend today to help him understand Hong-do. After Yi-seok leaves, Hong-do arrives just to see him, but the office is empty. She texts him, asking if he’s coming to work and how he’s feeling, but she gets no answer even when she tries calling.

Hong-do goes to the Go family home to try to catch a glimpse of Yi-seok, but instead she runs into Se-ro on her way out. They go for coffee and Se-ro, direct as ever, quickly brings up the confrontation outside the police station. She seems to genuinely like Hong-do, happy when she agrees to let Se-ro call her “unni,” and she admits that she was jealous of her that night.

Se-ro says she can tell that Hong-do really likes her brother, and Hong-do tells Se-ro that she loves Yi-seok, and hopes he gets a chance to know it. Se-ro smiles that her brother has finally found The One, and tells her new unni that she told Doo-soo she likes him but that her timing was off. She says they’ll work it out though, then pointedly asks if Hong-do plans to change her style.

After they leave the coffee shop Se-ro calls Yi-seok, and tells him cryptically that she met with someone that she thinks is hurting pretty badly. She says he’s lucky, because this person said they hope he finds out that she loves him, even though he doesn’t deserve it. Ha. She tells him that he’d better treat this person well and stop avoiding her calls, and he grins to himself when he realizes that the person who said she loves him must be Hong-do.

Hong-do goes back to the clinic to wait for Yi-seok, where Dr. Uhm tells her she sent him to a seminar and he probably won’t be back today. She agrees to give Hong-do the seminar location, and they sit to talk for a moment. Dr. Uhm tells Hong-do that Yi-seok told her about her grandmother disguise, and reveals that he’s being treated by Dr. Uhm.

Cavalierly throwing doctor/patient privilege to the wind, Dr. Uhm tells Hong-do that Yi-seok has an inferiority complex and that he’s spent his life trying to be like his deceased brother. But she reveals that that’s all disappeared since he met Hong-do, because he loves her, and that his genuine, insecure self is emerging. With a conspiratorial grin, she tells Hong-do that Yi-seok is unhappy because he thinks she’ll discover that he’s wearing a mask and leave him.

Hong-do drives to the seminar as Dr. Uhm’s next words replay in her mind, that Yi-seok needs to let go of his complex and learn to become himself. She had advised Hong-do to love him unreservedly, and Hong-do’s determined face shows that she plans to do exactly that.

Se-ro delivers rice cakes to the police station as thanks for letting her observe them, and Doo-soo pointedly ignores her while Detective Yang wheedles for a farewell party. Even mention of her new friendship with Hong-do doesn’t get a reaction, other than to drive Doo-soo from the room.

So Se-ro approaches the weak link, Yang, and reminds him that she promised to set him up with her pretty friends if he helps her. He offers to get Doo-soo out later that night, where Se-ro can “accidentally” run into them.

Yi-seok struggles to stay awake during the bland seminar, and he jumps out of his seat when Hong-do texts that she’s just outside. His smile when he sees her is just lovely, though he pretends to be standoffish when she runs to him. She apologizes one last time, and he calls her a con artist and pinches her cheeks. He grumps that he can’t bring himself to fire her or break up with her, and grabs her close like the huggy-bear that he is.

Hong-so assures Yi-seok that she believes in his feelings for her, because he knows the worst about her yet likes her anyway. He says seriously that the man she’s looking at may not be the real him, and looks worried as he says that the real Go Yi-seok may not be as cool as she thinks. She reminds him that her first impression of him was bad too, but that she likes him anyway. Both feeling reassured, they kiss and make up.

Yang practically drags Doo-soo to a restaurant that night and orders enough for three people, making Doo-soo wonder why he’s being so weird. He figures it out when Se-ro shows up, and it’s obvious what they’re up to because their acting is horrible.

Yi-seok gets a designated driver to take Hong-do’s scooter home and drives her himself, smiling when she nearly falls asleep in the car. He thanks her for exhausting herself looking for him all day, and tells her to sleep. So sweet.

At the restaurant, Se-ro has to kick Yang to get him to leave her and Doo-soo alone, and Doo-soo gives in to his curiosity about her new friendship with Hong-do. She says that she can tell why he likes Hong-do, because they’re very alike, but tells him that Hong-do’s feelings for Yi-seok are real.

Doo-soo says that he knows it, but that there’s something wrong in Yi-seok’s heart, which is why Hong-do can’t be with him. Se-ro says that from what she sees, Doo-soo is more like an oppa to Hong-do, the way he looks out for her. Interestingly, Doo-soo looks like this may have hit home a bit.

A while later Yang has to piggyback a very drunk Doo-soo to his car, and Se-ro offers to drive him home. On the way she sings to an unconscious Doo-soo, since (she thinks) he sang for her the time he drove her home drunk.

Yi-seok drops Hong-do off outside her place but calls her right away because he misses her. Cute. Se-ro gets lost and can’t wake Doo-soo, but she stops to ask directions when she sees Hong-do walking home. The sound of Hong-do’s voice rouses Doo-soo, and he gets out and walks right past Se-ro, grabs Hong-do in a hug, and slurs, “Hong-do-sshi, don’t go. Don’t go.” His voice breaks on the words, and Se-ro sighs that this is complicated.

At home Yi-seok asks Butler Ahn about his grandfather, but he’s really not doing well and Ahn suggests that Yi-seok take him to the hospital in the morning. He says that he thinks the chairman’s friend’s death affected him more than they realized, and Ahn had hoped that being with Madam Oh could ease some of his burden.

Yi-seok goes to his room to call Hong-do, saying that he thinks she should come to the house tomorrow as Madam Oh. He says his grandfather is sick but that seeing her could help, and to consider it repayment for her deception.

Hong-do, dressed as Madam Oh, visits the chairman in the morning but he just gives her a generous severance and says he doesn’t want to talk. Hong-do says that she’d enjoyed working for him and apologizes, but refuses the severance. The chairman muses that he feels most lonely when he feels old and tired, but that with her he never felt that way. After she leaves, he massages his aching chest.

Yi-seok intercepts Hong-do while she’s still on the grounds and tells her she did well. He starts to lead her out, which is when the chairman decides to peek out the window for one last look. He sees his grandson and Madam Oh looking very friendly — maybe a bit too friendly — which rouses his suspicions.

Curious, the chairman lingers outside Yi-seok’s room and overhears him on the phone with Hong-do. Yi-seok mentions that “he” is feeling better and asks how she got so good at the Jeolla province dialect. But when the chairman hears Yi-seok ask where she got the name “Oh,” and exclaim that she’s been living the life of her dead grandmother Oh Young-rae, he clutches his chest and his knees give out.

Thank goodness the chairman manages to stumble away before he hears Yi-seok invite Hong-do to his apartment for “that thing I promised to do.” Rawr? Hong-do is still saddened at having hurt the chairman, but promises to come over later.

Doo-soo is woken by his ringing phone, still sleeping on the floor of his entryway where he passed out the night before. It must be Yang, since Doo-soo says he won’t be in to work today. He finds the mittens that Hong-do made and puts them away with the rest of the items she knitted for him, determined to finally put away his feelings for her, too.

Cranky and confused, Chairman Go takes his mood out on Butler Ahn, ordering him to find information about Oh Young-rae. For once he’s not interested in discussing things with Ahn, and just yells until Ahn retreats from the study.

That night Yi-seok makes dinner for Hong-do, and tries to cheer her up by saying that his grandfather probably feels better now after getting closure. He wonders out loud why he got over her deception so fast himself, telling her that his heart melted when she showed up at the seminar. Awww.

Hong-do says she feels apologetic towards both of them for making their lives difficult, and had even wondered at one point if she should just stay home and avoid them. Yi-seok says she can’t let fear rule her, and she confirms that she was too afraid of never seeing him again to actually do it. Yi-seok admits he doesn’t feel good because his grandfather may have lost his last chance for happiness, which doesn’t help Hong-do’s guilt any.

Then just as they sit to eat, Yi-seok gets an angry call from his grandfather. He yells at Yi-seok for daring to deceive him, and orders him home immediately. Knowing they’ve been found out, Yi-seok can only look at Hong-do, scared to discover what happens now.

COMMENTS

Aaand… the second half of the jig is up. And again I’m glad, because now the story feels like it can move forward, and my favorite part of any drama is when the secrets come out and there’s no place to hide anymore. Now Hong-do, and Yi-seok by extension, will have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of Yi-seok’s family. I actually like the timing of this in regards to their relationship, because just as they’ve finally formed a strong bond and agreed that this is something special, they will have to not only do their best to repair the damage that’s been done, but try to do it without losing their own newfound love. It’s going to take a very delicate balancing act on both of their parts, especially if Yi-seok has any plans to marry Hong-do, which wouldn’t surprise me one bit after his delighted reaction when Hong-do mentioned marriage before. But after everything they’ve been through, and after confirming that they plan to stay together and love each other no matter what negative sides they may find, I think they can do it.

I love so much how Yi-seok has been able to let his guard down with Hong-do, and admit that he’s not really the person he’s always pretended to be. When I think of that haughty, disconnected man in the first episode, who barely listened to his girlfriend and only cared about things that directly affected him, I can hardly believe this is the same guy. Props to Chun Jung-myung for playing Yi-seok’s transformation with such subtlety, and with such a deft hand, that I barely even noticed the changes until they’d already happened. Knowing Yi-seok’s childhood loss and the trauma of feeling like the “better” twin died, I can see how he would create almost an alter-ego that mirrors the man he assumed his hyung would grow into. And I can see why he kept a wall up to keep anyone from seeing the real Yi-seok inside, since he always felt that he was lesser than his brother. I love that his admiration for Hong-do’s bravery and spirit, and her equal acceptance of his good and bad qualities, are what’s allowing him to admit his weaknesses and relax into himself. Because whether or not Hyung would have been a great man, the true Yi-seok is someone with a great capacity for compassion and love, and that’s wonderful and perfect all by itself.

I’m liking Se-ro more and more, as she gets more screen time. She’s direct, honest, and even though she’s a bit forward, she’s never forceful in her efforts to win over Doo-soo. She understands him shockingly well — in fact she may be the only person (besides Hong-do) who understands that his bad behavior towards Hong-do doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, it just means he’s hurting and confused. First love is a bitch, and Se-ro is generously accepting that Doo-soo has some working out of his feelings to do before he can consider her as a woman. I really like her for this and for shining some light on Doo-soo’s situation, and for being willing to help him work through it.

I think that Se-ro hit the nail on the head when she said that Doo-soo acts more like an oppa to Hong-do than like a man in love with her. He’s constantly saying how he can’t stand for her to get hurt, which is very oppa-like, but he never says he cares for her or wants her to be happy no matter who she dates. I can see how someone without any relationship experience could get the feelings confused. Doo-soo only realized his feelings for Hong-do when she stopped being his ever-present shadow, and I’ve said before that his behavior looks more like possessiveness than love. If what he’s feeling is possessiveness, and what he’s acting out is more like an over-protective oppa, it makes perfect sense to me. It was very insightful of Se-ro to figure that out — this girl is one smart, mature cookie, and Doo-soo would do well to give her a chance.

Whether or not he does, though, I do hope that now that he’s had a chance to say goodbye, Doo-soo finds a healthy way to move on. I’ve said before I don’t think he’s a bad person, and I still don’t. I just think he doesn’t know how to deal with such a strange situation. And it’s hard to watch him hurt so badly, just because I do think he’s basically a good man. At this point I’m just as interested in seeing him open himself up and be vulnerable to a woman as I am to see Yi-seok do the same, and I think that once they both stop trying so hard to be top dog, there could even be a nice little bromance in it for them.

 
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