My Absolute Boyfriend: Episodes 7-8

by LollyPip

Our robotic boyfriend’s one-week trial ends soon, which means that his creator will be coming to get him soon. Da-da is just beginning to like having him around when it’s time to let him go, though she does for his sake. But of course this is a drama, so things don’t go as planned, leaving Da-da with an important decision to make.

 
EPISODES 7-8 RECAP

Bored and lonely, Wang-joon shows up at Da-da’s studio and finds Young-gu there, calling Da-da his girlfriend. Wang-joon asks Da-da who this guy is to her, and she tells him, “He’s my boyfriend.” She asks Wang-joon why he even cares, since they aren’t dating anymore.

She wants to know why Wang-joon is here, and he’s obviously lying when he says he came to get something, then can’t think of anything. He grabs a random pot from the yard, saying that it’s a valuable prop from one of his dramas, ha.

He gives up the ruse and asks Da-da if she really doesn’t know why he’s here. When she doesn’t answer and Young-gu just stares at him, Wang-joon says again that he came for the prop, so Da-da takes pity on his pathetic flailing and tells him to take it and go.

Young-gu follows Da-da inside and asks if she’s okay. She tells him to stop calling her “Girlfriend” and goes upstairs to cry.

When Wang-joon gets home, he cringes at what an idiot he made of himself in front of Da-da. He tries to cheer himself up by telling himself that there’s no way that guy at her house is really her boyfriend.

Soon, it’s the last day of filming for Wang-joon’s drama. Kyu-ri whines dramatically that she’ll miss Wang-joon, while admitting that she was “cheating” on him with Kang Daniel, hee. Da-da goes out for fresh air and runs into Yeo-woong, who wordlessly gives her the coffee she was supposed to be bringing to Wang-joon.

Wang-joon had asked Yeo-woong to look into Young-gu, who he’d assumed was an actor based on the hanbok he was wearing, but Yeo-woong says there were no sageuks filming nearby that day. Wang-joon is watching the CCTV video of Young-gu defending Da-da when fellow actor Hwa-ni got aggressive with her, and he only now realizes that the guy in hanbok, and the guy she said is her boyfriend, are the same person.

Yeo-woong snaps that Wang-joon is acting like nobody else can have Da-da, even though he doesn’t want her anymore. She calls him petty, and he grumbles that he’ll show them petty if they want to see petty. He makes Da-da do his makeup, then complains that he wants something different and makes her do it all over again, multiple times, until filming is running late.

They take a break, and Yoo-jin asks Da-da if she did something to make Wang-joon angry. Kyu-ri worriedly tells Da-da that the fake heart she made for the surgery scene is missing, and Da-da realizes with dismay that she left it at her studio. Kyu-ri fusses that she never makes mistakes like this.

There’s not enough time to go get it, so Da-da tells Kyu-ri and Yoo-jin to set up the rest of the scene and sends a courier to the studio. She calls Young-gu, who finds the heart and gives it to the courier. But Young-gu hears the courier telling Da-da that he can’t get the heart to the set in only thirty minutes, so he borrows the courier’s motorcycle and uses his superior reflexes to race to the set.

The director is more than ready to yell at Da-da again for being unprepared, but Young-gu arrives just in time, looking sexy as hell in the process. While the women (and some of the men, ha) swoon, Young-gu gives Da-da the dummy heart, saving the shoot and her reputation.

Da-da gratefully thanks him for getting there on time, and instead of calling her “Girlfriend,” Young-gu calls Da-da by name for the first time. Awww. He’d knocked his shoulder on a truck in his hurry, and it makes a high-pitched whine, but he tells Da-da it’s nothing.

She invites him to stay so they can ride home together, and tells him that when they’re alone, he can call her whatever he wants. Double awww.

Filming of the final scene goes well, ending with the dramatic shut-down of Wang-joon’s android character. While the cast and crew celebrate, Wang-joon looks around for Da-da, who’s already packing up her things to leave. Kyu-ri asks her about Young-gu, and Da-da fibs that he’s her cousin from Luxembourg, ha.

She’s not interested in going to the wrap party, and goes out to meet up with Young-gu instead. He offers to carry her equipment and tells her proudly that she did well today, and Da-da admits that that’s nice to hear.

Wang-joon catches Da-da just as she’s leaving with Young-gu and asks her to talk. Young-gu asks what he wants, but Wang-joon snarls at him to mind his own business. Da-da sends Young-gu ahead and says she’ll catch up, so he goes, but not without a worried glance at Wang-joon.

Wang-joon asks Da-da if she’s really dating Young-gu, but she refuses to answer. He stops her from leaving with a wrist-grab and says she can’t leave without taking off his makeup, but she says that he hired someone else for that. Wang-joon says she should finish what she started, calling her irresponsible.

Steeling herself, Da-da reminds Wang-joon that shooting has ended, which means she no longer works for him. “So don’t expect me to be responsible,” she says, in a wavering but determined voice. “And we never have to see each other again. It’s really over now.”

She leaves, and Wang-joon goes back to his dressing room, defeated. Among the fan gifts, there’s another black box adorned with dead flowers, and inside is a note that says “break up,” written with what looks like blood.

At home, Young-gu’s shoulder acts up again, and before he can do anything about it, he slowly powers down. Da-da finds him unresponsive, and his shoulder is hot to the touch. She calls Bo-won, but he’s thrown out his phone, so she turns to the user manual he left her.

The tablet tells her that a physical impact can cause overheating, and to use the treatment kit to run the automatic restoration system. Da-da is worried, since she always breaks machinery, but she finds the small syringe and injects it into Young-gu’s neck. The syringe turns red, indicating that she got the wrong spot, so she puts on a glove and tries again, and this time the syringe turns a hopeful blue.

In moments, Young-gu is awake again, and he thanks Da-da for fixing him. He takes Da-da on a walk a dark street that she says people avoid because the street lamps are broken, but the lamps suddenly blaze to life. Young-gu says he fixed them so it wouldn’t be dangerous, then they continue on, to the top of the hill behind her studio.

Da-da complains that she can’t see the stars even from here. But Young-gu points down, to the city spread out below them, and says that if stars shine in the night, then there are a lot of stars. He even brought beer, and when Da-da feels how cold it is, she asks excitedly if he has a cooling mode.

HA, Young-gu says he just kept it in the freezer until she got home: “You’ve seen too many movies, Girlfriend.” Feeling grateful to have him around today, Da-da pulls one of the A++ meat grade stickers from her pocket that she took from the store, and sticks it on Young-gu’s sleeve.

It makes Young-gu’s entire day to be acknowledged as an A++ boyfriend. He says he has something for Da-da, too, and holds out the couple ring she threw across the house when Wang-joon broke up with her.

Taking the ring, she says sadly, “It’s only natural for love to become dull when it grows old. I thought I’d be able to calmly accept that when the time came. I must have been looking forward to something childish, like the eternal love that’s in fairy tales.”

Young-gu says that’s not childish, because when you give someone your heart, it’s natural to keep looking for that person. “That is love,” he tells Da-da, but she says he’s programmed to think that way, and that people change. But she thanks him for cheering her up today, and for taking her to see the “stars.”

Young-gu tells her to come see them without him sometimes, too, and Da-da realizes that Young-gu is leaving tomorrow. She pretends to be glad he’s leaving so that her life can go back to normal, and sets off for home. She puts a foot down wrong and twists her ankle, and when Young-gu grabs her to steady her, she’s stunned for a moment before pulling away.

After a sleepless night for both of them, Young-gu makes Da-da breakfast. She gets a call from Bo-won on his burner phone, reminding her that he’s picking up Young-gu today. Young-gu doesn’t seem bothered about it, but Da-da is distracted as she eats.

Before going to Da-da’s studio, Bo-won calls someone and says in English that he needs to speak to them urgently, in person. He shows up to get Young-gu as arranged, and Young-gu places his A++ sticker over his heart, appearing unhappy to be leaving.

Da-da asks Bo-won where Young-gu will be sent next. Bo-won complains about the dumb name she gave his robot, ha, then says that he can’t tell her where Young-gu is going. Young-gu joins them, and he stops to say goodbye to Da-da before following him out, calling her “Girlfriend” one last time.

In the car, Bo-won notices Young-gu staring at his sticker, and he tells Young-gu that first love is supposed to hurt. He says that Young-gu will be reset at midnight when the trial is over, and Young-gu nods.

But Bo-won barely makes it to the end of the street before Young-gu stops him, then yanks the entire AC screen out to reveal a location tracker. Augh — it was Bo-won’s so-called “friend,” In-hyuk, who had his car bugged while they were together, then sold out to Director Go. Bo-won immediately figures it out, so he and Young-gu get out and run, with In-hyuk and Director Go hot on their heels.

They decide to split up, and In-hyuk and Director Go go after Young-gu, but they can’t match his robotic stamina and wind up gasping for air and staggering to a halt. In-hyuk thinks he finds Young-gu, but it’s just Bo-won wearing Young-gu’s jacket. We see that before they ran, they’d switched clothes, and Bo-won had given Young-gu a pair of boat tickets and told him to wait for him at Incheon Harbor.

Bo-won feels betrayed by In-hyuk, but In-hyuk says he has to earn a living somehow. He asks where Bo-won sent Young-gu, and Director Go grabs him and says he’s going to ruin his life over a robot. He reminds Bo-won that their job is done once they hand the product over to the buyer, but Bo-won insists that since they made Young-gu, they should take responsibility for him.

He says that he refuses to send Young-gu to that horrible Diana, and lose him like last time. Director Go promises to talk to the head office for him, so Bo-won says that he promised to meet Young-gu right where they are. Relieved, Director Go and In-hyuk sit to wait — but Bo-won jumps up and bolts, stealing a little girl’s bike and careening downhill at top speed. At the bottom of the hill, he ditches the bike, and runs right into the path of a van.

Back at Kronos Heaven, In-hyuk tells Director Go that he can’t find Bo-won anywhere. They find a receipt for the boat tickets in Bo-won’s car, which gives them a clue of where to find Young-gu. Meanwhile, Young-gu waits at the port like Bo-won told him to do, but Bo-won never shows up.

Da-da goes to the broadcasting station to return some props, and unfortunately, Wang-joon and Yeo-woong just happen to be there at the same time. The lady in the props department complains about the fake blood on the masks, and Da-da tries to explain that she’s only doing this as a favor to the actual props team, who went on vacation right after wrapping the show.

She stays to clean the masks, so she’s nearby when a reporter asks Wang-joon if the “stalker” found in his house was actually a secret girlfriend. Wang-joon says he doesn’t have a girlfriend, because dating is too suffocating, and a girlfriend would be an obstacle to his success. Da-da tries to hold in her tears, but it’s not easy.

A homeless man objects to Young-gu going through a dumpster in “his” territory. Young-gu ignores him until he finds an umbrella, which he gives the homeless man, saying he’ll need it, then he leaves with a cardboard box to protect himself from the elements.

It starts to pour, and Da-da runs home from the broadcasting station, getting soaking wet. The house is dark and empty, but there are reminders of Young-gu all over the place. Da-da smiles, thinking of him, then tells herself to stop it because he’s gone.

She puts on her glove to use her phone, where she sees a message from Bo-won that Young-gu is at Incheon Harbor alone, and asking her to take care of him for a few more days. He’s still sitting and waiting for Bo-won, and when the rain loosens his A++ sticker and it falls off his shirt, he drops his cardboard box to save it.

A hand holds an umbrella over his head, and he looks up to see Da-da. Aww, she came to get him! Bo-won’s message worried her, and she asks if something happened, but Young-gu assures her that he’s fine. He shows her his soggy sticker and she fusses at him for caring so much about it, but he says very seriously that it’s precious to him because it’s a sign of her approval.

Relieved that nothing bad happened to him, Da-da sighs that she wasted her time and that she’s going home. Young-gu tells her that the one-week trial ends in five minutes, and he’ll be reset, which means his memory will be wiped of her.

He asks what she wants him to do — allow the reset, or stop it. Da-da says she’s sorry, and Young-gu looks disappointed for a moment, then nods and turns away. But Da-da keeps talking, saying that she’s in no position to take care of him, or to think of someone else right now, and that she wants him to find someone better than her.

She tries to tell him to allow the reset, but her voice falters, then the wind whips away her umbrella. Young-gu shields her with his, which puts him very close to Da-da again. Impulsively, she blurts out, “Don’t do it.”

 
COMMENTS

Aw yay, she wants him to stay and remember her! I’m really loving Da-da as a heroine, because she’s just so real. She’s messy in such a relatable way, both emotionally and physically — her clothes fit oddly and her makeup is often smudged, and her house is a realistic reflection of herself and her priorities (and boy, can I relate to housework being low on the priority list!). But despite being a physical disaster, she’s very strongly herself, and she knows what she wants even when she’s heartbroken.

In particular, I love the way Da-da set some firm boundaries with Wang-joon. He’s been acting very strange, breaking up then getting possessive, and I loved how Da-da shut that right down. It would be so tempting to see Wang-joon’s confusing behavior as a sign that he wants to get back together, but rather than get her hopes up, Da-da tells him to stay behind the wall he threw up between them when he broke up with her. She didn’t beg him to change his mind, but instead was the one to remind him that he ended it, so it’s over.

I have a feeling that we’ve already met the person that’s sending Wang-joon the threatening “gifts,” and like many of you, my suspicion is firmly on Eun-dong right now. He’s not supposed to know about Wang-joon and Da-da, but then he says or does something that seems too on-the-nose for him not to know. What I have no idea about is why he would send the threats, because if it’s Eun-dong and he’s trying to preserve his business investment, it seems a lot easier to just… talk to Wang-joon about it? But then, he’d be up against a seven-year-long exclusive relationship in which both parties truly loved each other, so maybe scary threats seem more likely to succeed. And it may not be Eun-dong at all, but right now, he’s my top suspect.

I have a hard time getting a read on Young-gu as a character, though I think that at this point, he’s supposed to be this blank slate, generically perfect man. He’s mostly acting according to his programming, which is exactly what he should do, but at times you can see that he does seem to have emotional reactions. When he was alone just before leaving Da-da’s house, then again when it looked like Da-da would say to allow the reset, Young-gu seemed to be feeling sad, though in front of Da-da and Bo-won he acted exactly like a robot who wouldn’t have feelings one way or another regarding the situation.

But I do think he feels something, or at least, he’s beginning to. I think we’ll see Young-gu’s emotions (or whatever versions of emotions he has) emerge the more time he spends with Da-da, and as she becomes less Girlfriend and more Da-da to him. Until now he’s done the things he was programmed that a perfect boyfriend would do, like make breakfast or bring his girlfriend an umbrella on a rainy day. But as he gets to know Da-da herself, and as she models what it means to be human, I hope to see Young-gu evolve and learn, and become more of an individual. We’ve seen glimpses of it, but I want to see him really break from his programming and start making autonomous decisions. In the meantime, I’m worried about Bo-won and why he never showed up at the harbor, but was able to leave Da-da a message. Was it really Bo-won, or is something else going on?

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