Oh My Venus: Episode 4

by LollyPip

Now that everyone is being truthful, the power dynamic changes, and Joo-eun finds herself at more of a disadvantage than she expected – that is, if she still wants help getting healthy. The truth leads to a better plan, and a healthier relationship between all of our players. But just as things seem to be on track, a true threat looms, and Joo-eun may need real saving this time.

EPISODE 4 RECAP

We back up a bit to see that when Young-ho drove Joo-eun home, he’d asked if she was surprised about her hypothyroidism. Her stunned expression proves she didn’t have a clue. It’s the reason she can’t lose weight, and also the reason she keeps passing out when she’s stressed.

A bit down to hear it, Joo-eun takes the blame for not finding out sooner, and thanks Young-ho for all his help. She gets out of the car to walk to her apartment, but Young-ho gets out to stop her, deciding to do this thing right. He starts by telling Joo-eun the truth about himself: “I’m John Kim.”

He tells the shocked Joo-eun that her hypothyroidism is why she hasn’t lost weight despite the exercise, confessing that they’ve been having her do the same training as UFC athletes. Joo-eun is so furious she grabs Young-ho by the lapels, asking how he dare lie to a lawyer. And ha, he grabs her lapels right back, but it’s not to yell at her — apparently her bare cleavage is a little too close for comfort.

Young-ho admits to being surprised that she fell for their tricks, saying that he can’t understand her. Joo-eun fires back that it’s because she wanted results so desperately, and she wanted to trust the men. Before she explodes, she suggests they decide whether to work this out legally, or through their emotions.

As Joo-eun storms off, we flash back to Young-ho watching over her at the hospital, when her doctor had told him about her hypothyroidism. It seems to hit Young-ho hard, and he suddenly feels terrible for all the times he pushed her to exercise harder, probably contributing to her collapse. As she sleeps, she snores, and Young-ho gently turns her head to make her more comfortable. He shakes his head, pretending annoyance, but his eyes are so soft as he watches her sleep.

We also see that Woo-shik had come to the hospital — that’s where he was rushing when Soo-jin called him. He’d asked if Young-ho was Joo-eun’s guardian, and I love Young-ho’s answer: “Probably more than you.” When Woo-shik asks his relationship to Joo-eun, Young-ho says that he keeps saving her, but he doesn’t know yet if it’s coincidence or fate.

Woo-shik bristles, saying that he has the right to be concerned about her, but he wants to ask Young-ho for a favor. We don’t hear what it is, but when Young-ho drives home, it seems to weigh heavily on him. He recalls Joo-eun’s texts to “John Kim” saying she’ll believe she can do this since he believes, and how she’d barked at him that she believed their ultra-difficult workouts were for real because she wanted to trust them.

Soo-jin drinks alone, waiting for Woo-shik and taking teensy nibbles of the fruit at her table. Yet another flashback shows us that she also went to the hospital and saw Woo-shik and Young-ho talking over Joo-eun’s bed. She laugh-cries to herself that even in her state, men still flock to Joo-eun.

When Woo-shik joins her, he tells Soo-jin that he went to see Joo-eun, but her guardian was there. Soo-jin noticed that he seems upset by that, though he stammers that of course he was grateful. In a thoughtful mood, Woo-shik says out of nowhere that he thinks, if he were to get married then divorced, that he wouldn’t be able to remarry because he’d feel bad.

Soo-jin thanks him for telling her, and muses to herself that she’s the worse bitch on the planet. Rather than disagreeing, Woo-shik says that he knows how she feels, because he feels like the worst bastard on the planet — to her.

Joo-eun invites Hyun-woo over, and cries about her hypothyroidism. Hyun-woo assures her that it’s not the end of the world, and that surely something good can come of this discovery. In the mood to complain, Joo-eun whines again that her little brother is getting married, and that he asked her to pay for the wedding. Thank goodness, she told him no way.

Joo-eun notices that her pot of poinsettias has moved again — it seems to be in a different place every time she comes home. Hyun-woo swears she hasn’t been moving it, but gets distracted when Joo-eun starts to snore, hee.

Young-ho and Joon-sung spar while Ji-woong cooks, and Young-ho wins again. Joon-sung can tell he’s upset about something, and begs him to talk instead of killing him. Young-ho admits he feels at fault (for Joo-eun’s collapse), but doesn’t elaborate and brings the discussion to Joon-sung’s shoulder. Joon-sung says it’s just an old injury, but Young-ho orders him to get a physical anyway.

Young-ho ignores his food at lunch, and some prodding gets him to admit that he told Joo-eun that he’s the real John Kim. He also tells the guys about her hypothyroidism, and that they’ve been working her too hard.

Joo-eun’s coworkers giggle over videos of her collapsing on television, not realizing that she’s right there in the elevator with them. She tells her secretary, Hyun-jung, that she’s not okay — she’s got thirteen months left on her school loans, a brother who’s getting married, and hypothyroidism. Of course she’s not okay.

Joon-sung and Ji-woong bring a gigantic plant to Joo-eun’s office (Joon-sung: “I told you to get flowers.” Ji-woong: “This is for fresh air!”) since they feel badly about pushing her so hard. Joon-sung is nervous, but Ji-woong confidently says that Ma’am is really nice, and she loves him.

Soo-jin nervously visits Joo-eun to see if she’s okay, but she makes a comment that the company is worried about her. But before discussing that, she wants to clarify how they’ll address each other — she prefers Joo-eun calls her “Deputy President,” and speaks jondaemal to her at work. Once that’s handled to Soo-jin’s satisfaction (and Joo-eun’s annoyance), she says that Joo-eun will be working from home for a week, until the furor over her on-air fainting dies down.

Before she leaves Joo-eun’s office, Soo-jin makes sure she knows that she’s wearing the same dress as yesterday, and lets Joo-eun draw the conclusion that that implies — that she spent the night with Woo-shik. Later we see the truth of Soo-jin’s night out — she had invited Woo-shik up to her place, but he declined. So she’d brought the dress to work just to make Joo-eun think they’d slept together.

Joo-eun is so busy shooting eye-daggers at Soo-jin, she barely even notices Ji-woong’s attack-hug this time. He notices the chill in the air and immediately takes Ma’am’s side — she’s a lawyer, so whatever she said, sue her! Ha, he even offers to “take care of her” for Joo-eun. Such a fierce little tiger cub.

But Joo-eun puts him in his place, and he quickly kneels to apologize for pushing her too hard in their workouts and lying about being John Kim. Joon-sung joins him with his head bowed contritely, and I don’t know how Joo-eun can stay mad with those two pairs of big, sad eyes pleading with her to forgive them. In any case, Ji-woong’s cuteness eventually gets her to crack.

Joon-sung and Ji-woong take Joo-eun for coffee, but as soon as their order arrives they bail, and she finds herself sitting across from Young-ho instead. She growls that she only forgave them, not him, still angry that he tricked her. Without explanation or justification, Young-ho just nods, “I’m sorry.”

Taken aback, Joo-eun asks why it’s a secret that he’s John Kim. Young-ho answers honestly that he was born into a chaebol family, so if his father and grandmother (I misunderstood, she is his grandmother) find out about his activities outside of the family business, they would be angry. Joo-eun snickers, thinking that he’s making up a story because he doesn’t want to tell her the truth, and he lets her think it for now.

Back to business, Young-ho gestures at Joo-eun’s slice of chocolate cake, and asks if she’s not going on a diet. She basically tells him to mind his own business, and hands him an envelope with a contract inside. But she left the results of a recent physical in there too, and they scuffle over the paper, until Young-ho finally grabs Joo-eun close so he can read the results over her head.

Something he sees makes his eyes pop, and he glares at Joo-eun, calling her wily. He asks if she thinks she’s fooling anyone with those baggy clothes, and rips up the contract. He says that from now on, they’ll be doing things his way (or as he puts it, “your body is mine”), and he leans in reeeeal close to say that they won’t stop until he says they stop. Rawr.

Grandma goes to the temple to pray for someone named So Ji-yeon, I’m guessing Young-ho’s mother, and asks Manager Min how Young-ho is doing. He dryly says that he ordered the guards to stay two miles away from him, so they’re “protecting him from a distance,” ha. They run into the woman who previously brought Grandma porridge, who came to bring Grandma some hot tea this time, but Grandma bristles — she has no right to be here. She asks if Young-hoon is coming back today, and tells the woman to go see him.

Woo-shik’s supervisor asks if he’s found out anything about Young-ho, who’s to be their new boss, but Woo-shik hasn’t learned much. Back in his office, he stews over his encounters with Young-ho, where Young-ho always seems to be with Joo-eun. He starts to text Joo-eun to ask about him, but hesitates — instead he calls Soo-jin, who’s having another massage and ignores his call.

Joon-sung goes for his physical, and we see that his torso is covered in scars. While he sits attached to monitors, a pretty girl flings back the curtain and peers at him closely, then says accusingly that he’s the Korean Snake, and that he rejected her. Her name is Kang Hee-jin, self-proclaimed Queen of Commercials, and apparently at some point, Joon-sung chose not to do a CF with her.

Joon-sung clarifies that he said he’d think about it, but Hee-jin is ofended that he’d even give it a second thought. Filming a commercial with her should be a no-brainer. But she switches gears when she notices his scars, assuming they’re from surgeries and asking if he’s sick.

After taking Joo-eun to pick up her new medications, Young-ho tells her that when she’s healthy again, she won’t need it. He has to drag her to a clinic to get her porportions and body fat measured, reminding her that her body is his, and she can’t refuse.

Manager Min summons Young-ho to dinner, saying that this mysterious Young-joon is home, but Young-ho declines. The family sits to dinner without him, and the relationships are a bit confusing, but the best I can tell is that Young-joon is Young-ho’s half-brother. Young-ho’s mother was Grandma’s daughter, and his father remarried the woman who keeps trying to get on Grandma’s good side. So Young-hoon is Dad and Stepmom’s son, and Young-ho’s half-brother, but not blood-related to Grandma at all.

With the family assembled, Grandma takes the opportunity to remind everyone that it’s her choice to pass the company to Young-ho, and asks everyone to support her decision. The resounding silence makes everyone’s feelings on the matter crystal-clear.

As Young-ho drops off Joo-eun, she asks him one more time for the truth: Is he really John Kim? He just says she’ll know once she spends time with him. She’s getting over her embarrassment, and vows not to give up, thanking him for today.

Joo-eun is woken the next morning (why does she always sleep on her couch?) by a knock at the door and the ominous sound of, “Ma’am! Ma’am!” She finds Joon-sung and Ji-woong waiting with coffee, and when she tries to close the door, a hand stops her — it’s Young-ho. She tries to shut the sliding door on them, only to have them casually open the other side and let themselves in, ha.

They don masks and gloves to go through her kitchen, tossing nearly everything edible (and a few no-longer-edible things, blech). They replace her junk food with healthy choices, while Ji-woong hilariously dresses up in some of her clothes. Young-ho also calls her out on her bad sleeping habits and caffeine intake, and even her posture. He’s so on-point, she accuses him of being Yong-pal, HAHA. He beckons her close, and tells her that they’re going to start everything fresh, with new routines.

Later as Young-ho works out, we can see that he still wears a brace on his right leg. Interesting. His knee bears the scars of surgery, and at one point he clutches his leg as if it hurts him. He retires to his strange sleeping tank-thing, in a room that looks more like a doctor’s office, and frowns in his sleep.

In the morning, Young-ho meets Joo-eun at her place, presenting her with a big puffy coat “for later.” She gasps at the results of her measurements, but Young-ho keeps it clinical and tells her that her problem areas, her belly and butt, are putting her at risk of things like heart disease. He’s taking her somewhere today, which he warns Joo-eun will feel like she’s been locked up.

And then he takes her to his villa, ha. He tells her to call him Coach-nim, explaining that since she was on TV, they have to do her training here from now on. Joo-eun understands, and thinks it’s also safer for keeping his secret, which takes Young-ho aback for a second that she’s concerned for him.

Joo-eun makes a comment that she’s not tryng to get her beauty back, and Young-ho is incredulous to hear that she used to be beautiful. Oh come on dude, she’s still beautiful! But he just shakes his head when she tells him she used to be called “the Venus of Daegu,” and asks if she’s a pathological liar. HA.

Young-ho catches Joo-eun by the tummy when she nearly tumbles off the treadmill, but he’s unapologetic as he turns it way, waaay up. It looks like it takes monumental effort not to roll his eyes when she can’t even manage one squat, and things get a little personal when he has to put his hands all over her to show her how to do them correctly, and at one point she ends up sitting in his lap.

Joo-eun is grouchy at having to follow Young-ho’s orders, but she dutifully sleeps in bed, wears socks to keep her feet warm, and takes her medicine as directed. Ha, he’s gotten so in her head that she actually sees him following her around her apartment, correcting her when she’s tempted to slack off.

A few days later, Joon-sung drives Joo-eun to the villa (hee, she even hides in the car), and he thanks her for keeping their secret. They seem comfortable with each other now, and more relaxed. Young-ho finishes his workout and spots Joo-eun on the treadmill, and smiles when she falls asleep on the drive home. Than he smacks her to wake her, ha.

She’s happy to report that she’s lost five kilos (about eleven pounds), though Young-ho bursts her bubble by saying that it’s probably from the medicine. But he smiles to see her bounce up her stairs, already moving easier. He starts to pull away, but something catches his eye and he screeches to a halt.

In her dark apartment, Joo-eun barely relaxes before the doorbell rings, but nobody responds when she calls out asking who it is. She opens the door to find a strange man holding a pot of poinsettas, confused when he seems to think she should know him.

He pushes his way in and drops the flowers, his face hardening. Joo-eun trips, frightened, and brandishes her umbrella at him — which he promptly snatches away. He advances on her while asking why she’s so scared, and crouches down to get right in Joo-eun’s face, still expecting her to know him.

She tries to call for help but can only whisper, “Please save me…” But it’s enough, as Young-ho bursts through the door to confront her aggressor.

COMMENTS

Okay, the saving thing is getting a bit over-the-top. I can believe that Young-ho was at the right place and time to save Joo-eun from a couple of frightening or embarrassing situations, but this is getting a little silly. It’s hard to believe that she needs saving that often, or that Young-ho just happens to be right there every time. It’s not bothering me that much, but I just had to point that out.

I’ve said it before, but I really appreciate that the focus of this drama isn’t “overweight girl wants to get thin to be accepted by others (and get a man),” but is all about being healthy and accepting yourself as you are. Joo-eun’s hypothyroidism is a nice surprise, because it gives lie to the idea that only weak people with no self control gain weight. Sometimes it really IS a health issue, and not just about having willpower. I love that Young-ho takes responsibility for pushing Joo-eun too hard, when he had seen the signs and should have put the clues together, and takes Joo-eun on as a personal project. It’s much more fun that he’s doing it because he wants to, rather than because she’s blackmailing him. I appreciate too, that their relationship is honest now, which will allow them to become closer that much easier.

Speaking of honesty — strangely, I don’t actually think Woo-shik is a bad person, or as shallow as he originally seemed. He may have initially sought Joo-eun out because she was pretty, but he stayed with her for fifteen years, many of those years after she gained weight. I’m sure we’ll learn more about why he decided to break up with her, though I’m pretty positive that it was initiated by Soo-jin. She doesn’t just want revenge on Joo-eun, she actually wants to BE her, and part of that involves having the man she’s been with for so long. But one thing we know about Woo-shik that he’s honest — he tells Soo-jin right away whenever he sees Joo-eun, and doesn’t keep secrets from anyone. He actually cares about Joo-eun’s mother, and it was his idea to tell her immediately, and together, that they broke up. He rushed to Joo-eun’s side when she collapsed, wanting to make sure she was okay. I do think he’s a decent person, and even if he broke up with Joo-eun because he fell out of love for her, or met someone else… well, that happens to a lot of people and doesn’t make them a villain. Even Soo-jin said to Joo-eun that they hadn’t done anything to be ashamed of, while she and Woo-shik were still together. Though it seems, from some things he’s said, that Woo-shik isn’t ready to jump into another relationship, and regrets dumping Joo-eun.

Soo-jin is a tougher nut to crack, because she seems to flash back and forth from seeming to be a normal person, to being a really nasty piece of work. I’d like to think that it’s because being nasty takes effort and isn’t her default these days, which would mean that there’s still something in her to redeem. There’s no doubt that she’s deliberately setting out to hurt and belittle Joo-eun, but it doesn’t make her happy — she doesn’t even really seem to like Woo-shik, other than as something to take away from Joo-eun. And a couple of times when Joo-eun was genuinely hurt by her actions, such as passing out on television, Soo-jin seemed honestly horrified and regretful. I find myself hoping that she’s not too far gone that she can’t be affected by Joo-eun’s wonderful personality anymore, and that even she’ll be changed by proximity to such a determined, positive person.

But what makes this show, for me, is the relationships between Joo-eun and her boys, as they help her achieve her health goals. Now that the truth is out and there are no more secrets, they all seem much more relaxed around each other, and even stone-faced Joon-sung is joking and teasing Joo-eun. I could honestly get rid of everything else and just watch those four work out and have fun together, they’re all just so cute.

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