Beauty Inside: Episode 8

by dramallama

Dating is no easy feat for our leads under the public eye, especially as they go from fake couple to fake exes, but they’ve never seemed more at ease than with the other. The thrill of dating in secret shows our couple that secrets aren’t always so miserable when you’re in good company. But with an impending transformation amid her filming schedule, Se-kye walks the tightrope that threatens the discovery of her secret by those she’s been hiding from.

 
EPISODE 8 RECAP

After his accident, Do-jae woke up in a hospital thinking that the world had changed around him. The doctor diagnosed him with permanent prosopagnosia, and Do-jae walked through the halls of the hospital seeing the same face on different people. He narrates: “Immediately, I realized that it wasn’t the world — it was me that had changed.”

Do-jae repeatedly practiced the fish recognition exercises with Secretary Jung until he could identify them all correctly. He continues, “It took a long time to recognize the people I love.” At the airport, Do-jae scans the crowd for his mother and recognizes her through other means: hairstyle, clothing, gait, habits. His mother embraces him in relief.

Do-jae admits that while he began to recognize loved ones through other means, he still couldn’t recognize himself. As he wipes away the fogged-up mirror in his bathroom, Do-jae sees a different face on himself with each wipe. He narrates, “It was since then that I didn’t include myself among loved ones that I needed to recognize.”

Returning to the hospital rooftop, we better understand the context of Do-jae’s confession that he hasn’t loved himself since that day. Despite this, he wonders if it’s okay for him to love Se-kye. When he approaches Se-kye, she tells him to prove that he’s being sincere, and he swoops in with a kiss.

As they part, Do-jae holds Se-kye steady, and she asks if he likes her even if she’s not beautiful. He affirms this, and Se-kye thanks him for liking her despite her condition. She asks about the fate of their contract, and Do-jae says that he ripped his copy. Se-kye mischievously notes that she has their only copy now.

They return to the hospital room and confess to bemused Woo-mi that they’ve broken up officially, but they’re actually dating. Woo-mi checks the news about their break-up and looks to the real couple holding hands in front of her. She yells at them to pick one status.

At home, Woo-mi refuses to let Se-kye date a man who makes her starve herself and drink endlessly. On her knees, Se-kye explains that this was because of Yoo-ri, so Woo-mi asks an even more important question: Did Se-kye confess first? Se-kye denies this and says that she even tried to break up. Woo-mi accepts this and texts Reporter Park to confirm the break-up.

The next morning, Director Kim gossips about the break-up to Sa-ra, but she doesn’t entertain his small talk and asks to cut to the chase. Director Kim offers to gamble on Sa-ra’s company, but she rejects his offer because his gamble means nothing to her. Sa-ra smirks that he’s unaware that he’s far below her level.

As Sa-ra walks out, Director Kim taunts her that Gramps won’t be inclined to bequeath his company to an unrelated step-granddaughter and asks if Sa-ra is waiting for that person. Sa-ra stops at the mention of this person, who Director Kim knows to be enjoying himself abroad.

Secretary Jung receives a call from Do-jae’s mother threatening to cut his salary if he doesn’t resolve the break-up. He blames Woo-mi for making Do-jae look bad by stating that Se-kye broke up with Do-jae, but Woo-mi seems satisfied with her revenge against Secretary Jung by giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Do-jae’s mother angrily pulls weeds at Professor Kang’s greenhouse, and she asks her husband to meet with Do-jae because she’s still disconcerted by her previous interaction with Do-jae.

Before heading to the shooting range for production preparations, Se-kye meets with Director Lee and apologizes for ruining the retreat, but Director Lee says that she should apologize to herself for not taking care of her body. Se-kye asks why Director Lee chose Yoo-ri, and he explains that Yoo-ri is different for Se-kye in that she loves herself too much. They each have different issues, and he asks Se-kye to be tolerant.

At the shooting range, Yoo-ri asks Se-kye if she drank so much at the retreat because of break-up. Se-kye scoffs that Yoo-ri is suddenly talking to her formally and returns to shooting practice. As Yoo-ri continues to be nosy, Se-kye audibly mumbles if she should just shoot Yoo-ri but decides that it’s a waste of a bullet.

Secretary Jung blames Do-jae for his mortification in front of Woo-mi and asks when they started to date for real. Do-jae answers that they started dating yesterday, the same day that Do-jae told Secretary Jung to release the break-up news. Secretary Jung’s tantrum about quitting is interrupted by an unexpected visit from stepfather Professor Kang, and Do-jae can tell that his mother sent him there.

As they eat dinner, Professor Kang uses plant metaphors to cheer up Do-jae about the break-up, but Do-jae insists that he’s fine. Professor Kang insists that Do-jae will find a new person and offers to get drinks together, and Do-jae sighs at the misunderstanding.

Secretly meeting in their separate cars, Se-kye blames Do-jae for complicating their relationship with their break-up news. He reminds her that she asked him to break their contract first, and she complains that he senselessly took her at her word. Do-jae explains that he’s unfamiliar with this, and Se-kye quickly tells him not to say that because it makes her sympathetic.

Se-kye asks if Do-jae notices anything different, and he notices the earrings that he gifted her. She’s delighted that Do-jae can quickly notice these changes, and Do-jae compliments Se-kye on her good taste in guys as a roundabout compliment to himself. Se-kye quickly snaps a picture of Do-jae, and he tells her to call him when she gets home because he’s worried. Se-kye freezes as he drives away and squeals in glee at his concern.

Texting Do-jae as she enters her house, Se-kye is surprised by Woo-mi, who demands to know where she went with such pretty earrings on. Woo-mi seethes that in this crisis, Se-kye went to see “Uncle,” the nickname she discovered through their interview. She asks Se-kye to tell “Uncle” to cancel their airline interview, but Se-kye suggests otherwise, as this crisis is an opportunity.

The airline company employees gawk at Se-kye’s entrance, and Woo-mi nervously wonders if they’re doing the right thing. Se-kye tells Woo-mi to trust her and glides through the lobby while the company chatrooms erupt with news of Se-kye’s arrival.

Do-jae ignores Secretary Jung’s briefing to respond to Se-kye’s message about her arrival, and he heads out to greet her. All the employees follow Do-jae and Se-kye as they gradually approach each other. Do-jae gives Se-kye a momentary smile, and she blinks in acknowledgement.

In front of their crowd, the two “exes” converse informally like friends and shake hands in their act of returning to business partners. Before Do-jae leaves, he turns to suggest that they grab a meal later, and Se-kye offers to buy. As they part ways, the employees gape at the nonchalance of the exes.

Little do they know, Se-kye and Do-jae are freaking out over text about their former lovers to business partners act, and Woo-mi glares at Se-kye as she lies to the interviewers that she’s messaging a colleague. She assures the interviewers that Do-jae remains a good friend to her.

Secretary Jung tries to get through to Do-jae as he busily texts Se-kye, but Do-jae isn’t listening. When Secretary Jung finally gets his attention, Do-jae fixes his hair in the mirror and tells him that he can leave for the day.

As Woo-mi drives Se-kye home from the interview, she demands to take Se-kye’s phone because she’s making the relationship way too obvious by changing her messenger profile photo to a close-up of Do-jae’s hand. Haaa.

Woo-mi follows Se-kye to her door and warns her not to create any more trouble. Se-kye watches Woo-mi leave from the window and finally sighs in relief as she walks into her house, where Do-jae is waiting for her. He teases her for her door passcode (again 1004, pronounced like “angel”), and she offers to change it to something irrelevant like Do-jae’s birthday. But Do-jae notes that his birthday is relevant to her now.

Se-ke is thrilled by their secret dating escapade and says that she only knew secrets that caused anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. Do-jae says that they can be anxious, sad and lonely together now, and Se-kye suggests that they be together without those things. Hee, they’re cute.

Do-jae notices the broken light and offers to fix it for her. When he unbuttons his top button and takes off his watch, Se-kye squeals in delight and asks him to do that one more time. Do-jae revels in corny masculine gestures and throws off his coat as Se-kye giggles. She finds him attractive, cute, and funny at the same time.

Do-jae asks what Se-kye’s doing tomorrow in hopes that he can skip work and stay with her. She’s surprised by workaholic Do-jae and lightly comments that he must really like her. Do-jae confirms this, and Se-kye’s playful smile drops as she surprises herself with an unexpected thought: For the first time, she wished to transform because that would allow her to stay with Do-jae.

He asks how it was like when she first transformed, and Se-kye laughs at herself, recalling her pleas to all the higher powers. Turning to Do-jae, she says that she’s fine now because after all that resentment, she got what she wished for. Do-jae wishes for her happiness, and Se-kye says that she feels happy right now with him.

Se-kye drives Do-jae home, and when they arrive at his place, they realize that Se-kye has no way of getting back to her house. Do-jae drives her back home, and Se-kye asks if he wants to come inside for ramyun — the Korean version of Netflix and chill, if you will.

When they enter the house, Woo-mi and Secretary Jung are waiting for them in response to neighborhood reports about suspicious activity. They do look a bit suspicious with their black hats, and Secretary Jung and Woo-mi grab the hats to deal with the commotion outside.

Posing as a couple, Woo-mi and Secretary Jung apologize to the neighbors about arousing suspicion with their hats. She explains that Secretary Jung’s face provokes disputes and apologizes for not fully covering it. After the cops and neighbors leave, they gag about their couple act as if the other has cooties.

Sa-ra collapses on the couch after work and wonders if there’s an invention that would take off her make-up. That invention comes in the form of Eun-ho, who places cotton pads with makeup remover on Sa-ra’s face. He explains that he’s done this for Se-kye after she passes out drunk, and Sa-ra accepts his help because she’s too tired to move.

Eun-ho asks why she’s tired, and Sa-ra explains her complaints about the tasteful breakup and Director Kim. Sa-ra wonders why she just told Eun-ho this because she usually doesn’t share her thoughts. Eun-ho answers that it’s because he’s listening to her and she hasn’t had someone to listen to her. She opens her eyes in alarm as Eun-ho sweetly offers to listen to everything.

Sa-ra sits up and accusingly asks what he wants from her. Eun-ho marvels at Sa-ra’s business instincts, and he requests a donation. She asks what he’ll do for her in return, and he says that he’ll flash his money-making smile.

The deal goes through, and Eun-ho helps deliver the donation to the church. He notices the dismal young mother — the woman that Se-kye and Do-jae saved from the oncoming truck — and he overhears ajummas talking about how the mother donated the heart of her dying child.

The priest asks if Eun-ho has deciding which calling to follow, and Eun-ho responds that he’s decided a long time ago. When Eun-ho turns to grab more boxes, he finds his father waiting to talk to him. Eun-ho’s father tells him to come home, and Eun-ho asserts that he can’t live in accordance to his mother’s wishes.

Woo-mi argues with the production staff about the week-long break for Se-kye in their contract, but they can’t seem to accommodate it with the busy filming schedule. As Se-kye and Yoo-ri get their make-up done, Yoo-ri suggests that Se-kye drop out of the movie to make everyone’s lives easier.

At the pojangmacha that night, Se-kye decides that she’s going to work as long as she can before her transformation for the sake of the production. Woo-mi decides to help Se-kye last as long as possible and promises to kidnap her from set if she senses the transformation.

They raise their glasses to Se-kye finishing her scenes in one cut and earning them free time, and Eun-ho suggests that Se-kye volunteer with that free time. Se-kye claims that she’s too busy and doesn’t want to donate because Eun-ho keeps nagging her.

Eun-ho shares that the young mother that Se-kye saved donated the heart of her dying child, and Se-kye notes that it’s hard to commend her for such a tragic yet life-saving deed. Se-kye admits that she occasionally remembered the young mother’s empty eyes, looking at the world as if it had ended.

Woo-mi and Se-kye continue to drink, but Eun-ho leaves early, since he’s living in someone else’s house. Once Eun-ho is out of earshot, concerned Se-kye decides that they need to follow him. The two trail Eun-ho to Sa-ra’s house and suspiciously try to peer inside.

When Sa-ra hears Eun-ho enter, she sits up straight from her lounging position and changes the channel. Se-kye’s dog suddenly runs off, and they follow it outside to Se-kye and Woo-mi. Se-kye heard about Sa-ra looking for her weakness, but it seems like Se-kye has found Sa-ra’s weakness.

Sa-ra looks abashed at being caught, but Eun-ho steps in and says that he’s not Sa-ra’s weakness because he’s leaving the house. He sternly tells his friends that they’ll talk tomorrow, and he takes Sa-ra back inside.

Inside, Eun-ho gives Sa-ra the remaining money for the broken chandelier, saying that the cost of the chandelier was cheaper than expected. Sa-ra asks if he’ll still come at her request, and Eun-ho offers to come if she calls him. Though she’s referencing housework, it also seems like she’s expecting more.

Sa-ra asks when he knew the cost of the chandelier, and he admits that he knew from the beginning. That means they both went through the trouble of cohabitation despite knowing that the chandelier was affordable enough for Eun-ho to compensate with money. Sa-ra scoffs at the reckless youth these days and says that she’ll call him.

As Sa-ra looks over documents that night, she tries one of the chocolates from Eun-ho. She comments that it’s too sweet — in reference to the chocolate and possibly Eun-ho. The next morning, she finds that Eun-ho has prepared breakfast for her, and she eats it even though she doesn’t usually eat breakfast.

As Eun-ho silently eats his hangover pho with Woo-mi and Se-kye, Woo-mi asks if he’s dating Sa-ra. Eun-ho chokes on his food and calls her rude for asking. Woo-mi tries to press on for details, but Se-kye stops her and explains that they followed him out of concern. He knows this, so he’s not making a big deal out of it.

Noticing Eun-ho’s subdued mood, Se-kye offers a donation, to which Eun-ho immediately nods in acceptance. Woo-mi checks if Se-kye’s drunk, and Eun-ho confirms that she isn’t because she hasn’t offered to buy him a house. Hee, these friends.

Se-kye and Woo-mi arrive at a completely empty movie set, and they find the staff enjoying the feast sent by her “fan.” The staff applaud Se-kye when she arrives, and Woo-mi marvels that Se-kye’s “Uncle” is something special. Se-kye can barely contain her happiness.

As Do-jae walks into his office, he’s so engrossed in the photos from Se-kye that he doesn’t notice Gramps there. Gramps scolds Do-jae for breaking up with Se-kye and advises Do-jae to give her what she most desires. To get Gramps off his back, Do-jae lies that Se-kye only wishes for him not appear in front of her.

Se-kye finishes her second-to-last scene with Yoo-ri, and Woo-mi worries about Se-kye’s looming transformation which could come at any moment. Se-kye insists on staying through the last scene, and Yoo-ri tries to eavesdrop on their conversation.

In the final scene, Yoo-ri and Se-kye face off with their guns pointed at each other. As the cameras circle around them, Se-kye suddenly feels a pang and momentarily loses focus. Fortunately, Director Lee calls the final cut, prompting Se-kye to run away from set. When Woo-mi follows her into the van, she finds Se-kye transformed into a young boy.

On set, the staff scramble over a last-minute callout by a child actor, and they decide to cast any child on the streets because the role has no lines. A staff member spots Woo-mi with lil’ boy Se-kye, and they quickly carry him over to the set despite Woo-mi’s protests.

Lil’ Se-kye stands silently in place as another child actor robotically delivers his lines, much to Director Lee’s distress. They can’t get past this scene with the stiff acting, so lil’ Se-kye steps in and tries to coach his friend through the scene. Director Lee likes what he sees, so he changes up the roles for lil’ Se-kye to deliver the lines.

Lil’ Se-kye expertly acts out the emotional scene, and the staff applauds after the final cut. Another agent tries to cast lil’ Se-kye, but Woo-mi tells him to back off — Lil’ Se-kye is hers. Driving back from set, Woo-mi expresses relief that Se-kye can rest while the production travel to shoot for the next week because she’s in a supporting role.

When they enter the house, Woo-mi carries lil’ Se-kye on her back covered in her coat, and they make it inside without being exposed. As they celebrate their successful shoot, Woo-mi doesn’t allow lil’ Se-kye to eat the spicy ddukbokki to save her little kid stomach; they cheers with little yogurt drinks instead of soju.

Se-kye receives a call from her mother, and she has no other choice but to reject it. Then, they hear the unsettling sound of someone entering the house and freak out because they have haven’t invited anyone. Woo-mi and lil’ Se-kye rush to hide, but they’re caught by Se-kye’s mother. Looking at the boy curiously, Se-kye’s mother approaches them and asks Woo-mi who this kid is.

 
COMMENTS

Though this episode didn’t feel as stirring as the previous one, the mellowed out emotional beats and the lighter moments were a nice upswing from the charged mood we left off on. I noticed that these transitions from breezy to emotional to playful don’t feel jarring because the story takes the time to develop layers within its characters and build rapport with their counterparts. The flashback introduction facilitated by Do-jae’s monologue was a great example of illuminating the layers of a character. I found the writing really poignant in framing Do-jae himself as the exception to all the loved ones he began to recognize, and that’s in the back of my mind as I watch Do-jae engage in his relationships.

Of course, the rapport between the characters is where the show truly shines. Building that contentious and humorous rapport between Se-kye and Do-jae prior to their affectionate rooftop confession allowed the melo-like mood to easily shift back into rom-com gears. I found it adorable how Se-kye and Do-jae reveled in all the corny shenanigans of dating in secret, and I love the giddiness in their relationship. I was expecting and wanted more Do-jae and Se-kye cuteness, but I appreciated the shift in focus to Eun-ho.

I’m curious about Eun-ho’s resolve to become a priest, and I trust that we’ll get more backstory as the series continues. He hasn’t been much of an open book — even cold and distant Sa-ra has been more open on screen. I’m hoping that further elaboration on Eun-ho’s story will sort some of my confusion and growing frustrations with the opaque relationship between Eun-ho and Sa-ra. I can tell that Sa-ra is interested, as she’s never really had someone take care of her, let alone listen to her. Eun-ho clearly indicates that he isn’t interested at all because he’s determined to become a priest, but I need to understand his motivations to get behind his character. Yes, your smile is charming, but I’m no Sa-ra and cannot be bribed to blindly support you without some answers.

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