1% of Anything: Episode 10

by HappilyEverAfter

Trouble starts to brew as our couple is hit by misunderstanding after misunderstanding; most issues are neither Da-hyun nor Jae-in’s fault initially, but an unwillingness to take action just exacerbates the problem. Making it worse is the fact that they’re still very much in a business relationship while having very real feelings for each other, so at some point, they’ve got to wonder whether all this trouble is worth it.

EPISODE 10: “Love-Hate: Should I spare them?”

Jae-in and Da-hyun both return to their own homes, but as they settle in, something just seems different. They lie awake at night, wordlessly thinking of one another.

The next day, Jae-in demands that Da-hyun come to the hotel today since he went to her school last time. Da-hyun jokes that she’s going to bring a massive sign with his name on it, and Jae-in chuckles that he’d be fine with that.

Later, as Jae-in escorts his adoptive mother out of the hotel, she mentions that she heard about his dating arrangement from Grandpa. She comments that it must be fun, but reminds Jae-in not to fall too hard for Da-hyun, adding that Jae-in isn’t in a position where he can just marry anyone.

Nodding, Jae-in assures his mother that he already knows he can’t marry Da-hyun and sighs as he sends his mom away.

He finds Da-hyun waiting for him in the hotel lobby, and cheekily asks where her sign is. He tells her that he needs a few minutes before he can leave and asks her to go upstairs with him, but Da-hyun refuses, worrying that Jae-in will have rumors swirling about if she’s seen with him.

She agrees to just stay in the hotel lobby for now, and from afar, Tae-ha’s mother notices the couple. When Jae-in leaves, she takes her chance to strike, haughtily introducing herself as Jae-in’s aunt to Da-hyun. Da-hyun nervously greets her.

Meanwhile, Jae-in assigns loads of work to his employees as usual before heading out to meet Da-hyun. When the elevator takes too long, he rushes down the stairs instead, clearly in a rush to get back to her.

In the lobby, Tae-ha’s mother starts to interrogate Da-hyun, confirming that she and Jae-in were introduced through Grandpa. Tae-ha’s mother starts to ask if Grandpa had mentioned anything about Tae-ha, but just when Da-hyun starts to ask for clarification on who Tae-ha is, Jae-in interrupts.

When he asks his aunt what she’s doing here, she indignantly asks if she’s not allowed to even chat with a guest. Jae-in icily suggests that his aunt leave while a clueless Da-hyun tugs on his sleeve, wondering why he’s being so rude.

Clenching her fist, Tae-ha’s mother grits her teeth and tells Da-hyun that they can chat again at a later time. Da-hyun hesitantly agrees to do so, and Tae-ha’s mother struts off in annoyance.

Thinking that Jae-in’s just being his usual immature self, Da-hyun smacks him on the arm for being so rude to an elder. Jae-in simply responds that he gives the same treatment that he receives. He asks Da-hyun what his aunt had started talking to her about, but is satisfied when he hears that he interrupted the conversation before it could go anywhere.

Da-hyun brings Jae-in to a local restaurant for lunch, but just as they start to enjoy their meal, his phone starts to ring. Jae-in quickly switches it off to vibrate, but Da-hyun looks at him with pity, wondering how he can be so busy that he barely even has time to eat. Jae-in smiles to see her concern for him, but he reassures her that he’s not always this busy.

Suddenly, Da-hyun recalls her conversation with his aunt earlier and asks Jae-in curiously, “Who’s Tae-ha?” Jae-in looks up, alert, and asks if his aunt mentioned something about Tae-ha.

Clocking his reaction, Da-hyun cautiously denies it, saying that she just remembered Jae-in mentioning the name Tae-ha last time. Jae-in answers that Tae-ha is his cousin, and a dark expression crosses his face.

He warns Da-hyun that if she ever meets Tae-ha, she must ignore him no matter what and let him know of it right away. Da-hyun points out that she doesn’t even know what Tae-ha looks like, but assures Jae-in that she’ll never meet with him anyway.

As they leave the restaurant, Jae-in apologizes to Da-hyun for being unable to drive her back home. She tells him that it’s fine, and that she’s planning to take a cab to Hyun-jin’s store anyway. He strokes her head adoringly and pinches her cheek before taking his leave.

As Da-hyun is browsing the shoes at Hyun-jin’s store, she runs into Joo-hee, who comments snidely that Da-hyun seems to be lasting longer than Jae-in’s other flings. Joo-hee makes a point of telling Da-hyun that Jae-in hasn’t dated anyone for longer than six months, adding that it’s because his wife is already predetermined.

With fake concern, Joo-hee asks if Da-hyun had been entertaining thoughts of marriage with Jae-in and tells her, “I’m warning you now, for your own sake. Don’t fall too hard for Jae-in.”

Da-hyun scoffs, and responds that no one can predict what will happen to two people who are dating. She tells Joo-hee that they’ll be perfectly fine taking care of their relationship on their own and turns away from Joo-hee to try on a pair of glimmering silver heels.

Da-hyun tells the sales-worker that the silver heels are a bit uncomfortable, and as she tries on a more casual pair of shoes, Joo-hee sneers that for Da-hyun, Jae-in is just like the silver heels – neither of them fit her.

Hearing that gives Da-hyun a temporary pause, but she sits right up and looks Joo-hee in the eye. “Jae-in is a lot more comfortable to be with than you’d think,” Da-hyun says, “but it’s not like you’d know anything about that.” Da-hyun adds that shoes are like that, too — you have to try them before you know if they fit. Joo-hee can only glare in return.

As Da-hyun marches down the street outside though, her confident demeanor from before is replaced by angry jealousy, and it seems like she’s not as unaffected by Joo-hee’s comments as she had pretended to be. She doesn’t pick up a call from Jae-in, and that just makes him worry about her getting lost again.

At Da-hyun’s house, Hyun-jin has been filled in on all the latest news about Joo-hee, and she wonders who Joo-hee could be. The conversation is interrupted by a call from Jae-in, but Da-hyun just pouts that there’s no way she’s picking up — Jae-in needs to be punished for things to be fair and square.

Suddenly, she sits up and remembers that there’s a way for her to be extremely fair and square about this. She picks up Jae-in’s call, and when he asks why she didn’t pick up before, she just tells him that she had a lot of things to think about.

He asks what she’s upset about, arguing that she’s not the type to be mad over something like him not driving her home. But Da-hyun just pettily answers that she is very mad about that before hanging up on him.

She sighs that she would’ve never run into that nasty woman if Jae-in had driven her home, and reminds herself that it’s not worth it to get so worked up over Jae-in. She wonders if he wanted to date for six months because she’s just like all the other girls he dated, and tries to convince herself that she didn’t plan on having a long-term relationship anyway.

At that moment, she receives a call, and she excitedly shuffles over to the phone she previously flung to pick it up. Her face falls a little when she see the caller ID though, and it turns out that it’s just Ji-soo. Meanwhile, Jae-in does actually call Da-hyun back, but he gets sent to voicemail since Da-hyun’s currently on the line with Ji-soo.

Da-hyun attends Ji-soo’s performance at SH Mall, thoroughly delighted by his beautiful singing. She’s not the only one, though, and a young lady standing next to her seems positively smitten with Ji-soo. This young lady is Jae-in’s sister Soo-jung, and it appears that she has come to Korea on her own — even going to the extent of lying to her mom back in the States.

After the performance, Ji-soo and Da-hyun run into Tae-ha, who she recognizes from the lost-child incident last time. She explains that she’s Ji-soo’s fan-club president/guardian-of-sorts, and Tae-ha introduces himself as SH Mall’s public relations department manager.

Da-hyun thanks Tae-ha for inviting Ji-soo to perform today, and she even finagles a deal so that Ji-soo can perform at another SH Mall event. Tae-ha readily agrees, and both Da-hyun and Ji-soo are beyond grateful for the opportunity.

As Tae-ha walks around SH Mall, he runs into his father and notes that he’s been coming around the mall pretty often. Tae-ha’s father dismissively responds that he just has a lot of time and ambition because he’s an old man, and urges Tae-ha to get back to his own work.

At night, Jae-in waits for Da-hyun in front of her apartment, ready to talk, but she only greets him briefly before rushing inside her house. She stands behind the door with her arms folded as Jae-in knocks, asking her to let him in his best sing-song voice. Ha.

Da-hyun eventually opens the door, and as soon as Jae-in gets inside, he sits her down and demands to know what’s going on with her. He points out that he won’t be able to resolve the problem if he doesn’t even know what the problem is, but Da-hyun only asks about all the women he’s dated. Does he have a rule of dating them for at least a month, but no more than six?

Confused, Jae-in asks if Da-hyun’s actually jealous or just testing him, and she replies that she’s testing him. She tells him that he’d better not be cheating on her, but Jae-in reminds her that he’s busy enough dating her as it is — when would he have the time to date someone else?

He tells her to just call him instead of imagining this nonsense on her own, and starts bringing up his own grievances — why doesn’t Da-hyun pick up his calls? Why is he always the one to call her first? Da-hyun mutters that she’s busy, and knowing that she doesn’t really have a point, she huffily gets up from the seat as Jae-in responds that he’s much busier than she is.

It seems that they’ve somewhat made up though, and before Jae-in goes inside his car, he looks up to Da-hyun at the top of her rooftop apartment and waves cutely. She turns away at first, still petulant, but smiles when she sees him wave a second time. She gives in, waving back — and with that, Jae-in drives off.

The next day, she gets an urgent call from Hyun-jin, who tells her to look up the news. Hyun-jin threatens that she’s going to kill Jae-in, and a confused Da-hyun immediately checks the news.

What she reads has her in shock — the articles are all reporting that Jae-in and Joo-hee have plans to get married. Hurt flickering in her eyes, Da-hyun tells Hyun-jin that she’ll be the one to kill Jae-in.

Jae-in gets the same call from Lawyer Park while he’s on the road, and Lawyer Park just tells him to check the news as soon as he gets into the office. Lawyer Park sighs as he reads the article describing Jae-in and Joo-hee as the new power couple of the financial world.

At home, Da-hyun bitterly wonders how Jae-in has the audacity to get engaged right in front of her face.

Meanwhile, Jae-in’s office is flooded with phone calls, and Employee Kang stops him from picking them up before he reads the news. Jae-in’s shocked when he reads the articles, asking indignantly why he would be engaged to Joo-hee in the first place.

He tells Employee Kang to release a statement letting everyone know that the rumors are false. They agree that this issue needs to be handled by the main branch, and just then, Jae-in gets a call from the secretary of SH Group. Jae-in explains that everything is false and says that he will look into who started the rumors, asking the main branch to deal with the media in the meantime.

Jae-in makes frantic phone calls to Da-hyun, hoping to have a chance to explain everything, but she doesn’t pick up. At school, Da-hyun puts on a cheery façade for her students, though it’s clear the news is weighing heavily on her.

Jae-in runs into Joo-hee at the hotel lobby, where she calls out to him. He reprimands her for even being here when she knows what the situation is, and she responds that the situation isn’t that bad.

When Jae-in tells her that she’s really the worst of the worst, she egotistically says that she’s the one who saved him from marrying her last time, so he owes her at least this much. Unfazed, Jae-in tells her that he doesn’t owe her anything — she was just as opposed to that marriage as he was back then.

Concerned that rumors will spread if they’re seen having a conversation in public, Jae-in brings Joo-hee to a conference room and demands that she release a statement relaying the truth to the media.

Joo-hee asks why they can’t get married, and confesses that she’s in love with Jae-in. He scoffs to hear that, and asks if she would still love him if he weren’t in line to inherit SH Group. He clarifies that she loves SH Group, not him, just like she did three years ago.

Joo-hee admits that she wants control over SH Group, but says that she wants Jae-in, too. Jae-in retorts that he’s not her toy, and he’s not about to let her manipulate him any way she wants.

He adds that he doesn’t want Joo-hee to call his name anymore, but since there’s no nickname for her to call him by, he wants her to just stop calling him entirely.

Aggrieved, Joo-hee threatens to be as vicious and ruthless as Jae-in, and he closes in on her, daring her to go through with her threats. He says he’ll pretend not to hear what she just said, and as Jae-in walks out of the conference room, Joo-hee follows closely behind.

Just as they’re leaving, Jae-in runs into Hyun-jin’s brother, Sun-woo, who glares to see Jae-in with Joo-hee. Sun-woo comments sarcastically that Jae-in must really be a skilled player, and Jae-in has nothing to say as Sun-woo walks away.

At school, Da-hyun still refuses to pick up Jae-in’s calls, so Jae-in just misses her when he gets to her school.

He manages to catch her as she’s making her way home, and they relocate to a playground nearby. He starts to tell her not to watch the news or go online for the time being, but Da-hyun just says it’s too late — she’s already done both those things.

Jae-in curses, and Da-hyun snaps that he really has no redeeming qualities at all — he curses all the time, and he goes off to get engaged with some other woman on his own. Jae-in insists that he didn’t get engaged, but Da-hyun just angrily pulls out the contract and points to the clause that says they’re not allowed to cheat on each other.

Jae-in yells that it’s not like that, and Da-hyun asks if he wants to see the screenshot that she took of the news article. She asks why he’s getting upset when he’s the one in the wrong, and Jae-in softens his tone, asking if Da-hyun really thinks he’s the kind of person to get engaged while he’s dating her. Da-hyun turns away and bites her lip; conflicted, she tells him that she’s not sure anymore.

Jae-in drives Da-hyun back home and asks her to just ignore anything that doesn’t come from his own mouth, begging her to just trust him. Da-hyun protests that he has to do things that make her believe in him, all while mumbling that she doesn’t know what’s gotten into her.

She says that the contract period will be over soon anyway, and then it won’t even matter to her that he’s engaged to that woman. At that, Jae-in just pulls her in for a long hug, telling her not to get ahead of herself.

Jae-in promises not to hurt her until the contract period is over, and asks Da-hyun to please pick up his calls from now on. She laughs and tells him to get home safe. From above, Hyun-jin is giddily watching the two lovebirds, just waiting for Da-hyun to get upstairs so she can tease her about it.

Da-hyun hesitatingly tells Hyun-jin that she’s developed a type of love-hate for Jae-in as she asks her friend what to do. Hyun-jin advises Da-hyun to date as passionately as possible in the time that she has left so that there are no remaining regrets.

Da-hyun asks what she’ll do if she can’t bear to break up with him afterward, and Hyun-jin wonders if Da-hyun is worried about breaking up with him, or if she’s worried about not breaking up with him.

Hyun-jin tells Da-hyun that there’s no need to worry about the future so much — and besides, breaking up with someone isn’t really a big deal. “Out of sight, out of mind,” she says reassuringly.

Da-hyun thinks it would be nice if things were to turn out like that, and Hyun-jin pulls Da-hyun in for a hug, patting her back comfortingly.

In the car, Jae-in thinks back to his conversation with Da-hyun just earlier, when she had said that the contract period would be over soon anyway. He smacks his steering wheel in frustration.

At the hotel the next day, Employee Kang reports to Jae-in that the journalist who reported the news refuses to give up the source. Fearing that there was some kind of stock manipulation in play, Jae-in tells Employee Kang to keep an eye out on the price shares of Hanjoo Chemicals, Joo-hee’s family company.

At home, Da-hyun looks over her calendar, and Hyun-jin comments that it must be difficult to date on such a fixed schedule. Hyun-jin notes that Jae-in would probably come running if he heard that Da-hyun was planning on seeing Ji-soo, and Da-hyun slyly grins as she says that’s why she hasn’t told him.

At the orphanage, Ji-soo is mesmerizing everyone with his voice again, and as soon as he finishes his performance, all the children run over to him for a big group hug. The orphanage director shows up with Tae-ha in tow, and Da-hyun is plenty surprised to see him.

Tae-ha explains that SH Mall has been looking into doing philanthropic work lately, and he thought that the orphanage would be a great start. The orphanage director mentions that he’s even providing scholarships, prompting Da-hyun to earnestly thank Tae-ha.

Noticing the time, the orphanage director suggests that Da-hyun should get going soon since the trip back home takes her so long. Tae-ha offers to drive her back, and although Da-hyun politely refuses at first, the orphanage director insists that they go together.

In the car, Da-hyun gets a phone call from Jae-in, who asks where she is. She whispers into the phone that she’s on her way home from the orphanage and quickly hangs up when he offers to take her home.

Tae-ha comments that the phone call must’ve been from the boyfriend that she mentioned last time, and Da-hyun nods. Tae-ha asks if she had plans to marry him, and her shocked expression has him immediately apologizing for asking such a personal question. Da-hyun tells him that it’s fine, and explains that she and her boyfriend are just dating for now.

Da-hyun suggests that he just stop somewhere in her neighborhood, but Tae-ha insists on taking her to the front of her house. When Tae-ha pulls up in front of Da-hyun’s house, Jae-in is already parked in her driveway waiting for her.

Stunned to see Da-hyun and Tae-ha coming out of the car together, Jae-in approaches the two of them and calls out to Da-hyun. She turns around in surprise, and Jae-in’s eyes narrow when he confirms that she was with Tae-ha this whole time.

 
COMMENTS

I’ve held off talking about Joo-hee for a while now, but her obnoxiously entitled attitude really shone through in this episode, and I wouldn’t put it past her to have been the one who released the engagement news in the first place.

I’m not sure why she keeps chasing after Jae-in when he’s told her time and time again that he has zero interest in her, and it makes me wonder if she’s oblivious to his palpable disgust for her, or if she’s just choosing to ignore it. How can she possibly expect to be happy with Jae-in if he outright despises her?

Her threat to start being vicious was so outlandish — does she think that what she’s been doing can be considered as playing nice, especially when she went out of her way to “warn” Da-hyun at Hyun-jin’s clothing store?

I can’t imagine why Joo-hee thinks that she’s in love with Jae-in when all she does is ignore his feelings and offer up her family’s money. It’s insulting that she thinks she can buy Jae-in’s feelings with her wealth, and her idea of love is so warped that I wish I had a better understanding of why she supposedly loves Jae-in all of a sudden.

Then again, I’m not sure I want her to have any more screen time than she already has now. If Joo-hee does have to show up, then at least let there be scenes full of moments when Da-hyun knocks her down a peg or two.

Speaking of Da-hyun, though, I’m a little disappointed that she hasn’t been handling the situation with Joo-hee more maturely. I understand that it’s natural to be jealous, but it’s so unfair that Jae-in has to take all the blame for Joo-hee’s actions, especially when he probably hates Joo-hee more than Da-hyun does.

Da-hyun’s refusal to pick her phone all episode was just extremely petty on her part, because she didn’t even give Jae-in a chance to explain. While I understand that she may not completely trust what Jae-in says — especially given that he’s not really doing a great job of convincing her — I wish she would at least let him try to explain before continuously ignoring his calls.

If his explanation is unbelievable or unreasonable, then it makes sense to give him the silent treatment, but she really needs to give him an opportunity to explain in case everything is just a misunderstanding.

Jae-in, on the other hand, has matured so much since the beginning of the show. I think he needs to give Da-hyun something a little more convincing to go on than just “Believe me and only me,” but it’s obvious how seriously he’s taking this relationship in constantly calling her just to clarify things.

Their contract period might be over in just a month or so, but that doesn’t mean Jae-in’s willing to let their relationship spiral downward just because everything is almost finished. In fact, he’s working harder and harder to maintain their relationship, and it makes me wonder how Jae-in thinks he’s going to be able to break up with Da-hyun if he’s this devoted right now.

That being said, it was a little disheartening to see Jae-in acquiesce so easily when his mother told him that he wasn’t allowed to marry Da-hyun; he had been so forthright with his affection for Da-hyun that I imagined he would fight harder for their relationship.

It makes it a lot harder for Da-hyun to believe in him when he promises never to hurt her… and then adds the contract’s looming deadline to that promise. I understand that his future isn’t under his control, and that he’s trying not to make some grand promise that he can’t fulfill in order to prevent Da-hyun from getting even more hurt later on, but I hate the fact that he’s not even really trying to fight it at this point.

Perhaps he knows that the fight would be useless, but in the slim chance that he comes out victorious, can’t he try and just hope? I would like to think that his relationship with Da-hyun is not just something that he can easily give up, and I’m waiting to see how he’ll take action to save their relationship.

Meanwhile, let’s just hope that Tae-ha doesn’t manage to swoop in and steal Da-hyun’s affections through his connection to Ji-soo. I’m still not entirely sure where Tae-ha lies on a morality scale, but for the time being, it seems that he’s not totally in cahoots with his father. Am I expecting too much when I hope that Tae-ha doesn’t turn out to be as bad of a guy as we initially thought?

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