Reach of Sincerity: Episode 15

by TeriYaki

Spring is in the air and that means couples everywhere. After the initial joy that Jung-rok experiences after reuniting with Yoon-seo, he learns how lonely it can be to date someone secretly. Determined to protect Yoon-seo, Jung-rok suffers in silence, but that’s not what she wants. Will Yoon-seo have to choose between her career and Jung-rok, or is it possible to have it all?

 
EPISODE 15: “Jung-rok gets jealous”

After Jung-rok and Yoon-seo reunite with that epic kiss, he drives her home. Neither of them wants to part, so Jung-rok suggests, “Can I go home after I see you fall asleep?” While at first surprised, Yoon-seo nods bashfully.

As Jung-rok waits for Yoon-seo to fall asleep, she admits that she spent many sleepless nights thinking about him. Yoon-seo pouts that Jung-rok was probably too busy to miss her but he confesses that he suffered every minute that they were apart.

Happy to learn that Jung-rok likes her that much, Yoon-seo takes his hand, “Let’s promise each other that we’ll never let go of each other’s hands.” Jung-rok promises, “I won’t ever let go. And I’ll protect you.”

Jung-rok explains that’s why he broke up with her in the first place, he meant to protect Yoon-seo during a critical time in her career. He still wants to protect her and proposes that they should try harder to keep their relationship a secret.

Yoon-seo isn’t sure what to think when Jung-rok suggests meeting in the privacy of their homes, where it’s just the two of them. When Jung-rok asks, “Is it okay if I spend the night here,” Yoon-seo’s eyes widen before she nods with a shy smile.

Yoon-seo blinks in confusion after Jung-rok tucks her in and puts up a barrier of pillows. He proudly explains, “I won’t ever cross this line. I promised you earlier that I’ll protect you.” Later, Yoon-seo stares at Jung-rok as he sleeps and whispers, “Thank you so much for protecting me.”

In the morning, Jung-rok and Yoon-seo are in the kitchen when Hyuk-joon rings the doorbell. When he lets himself in, Yoon-seo hides Jung-rok in her bathroom and positions herself protectively in the hallway.

After explaining that Yoon-seo’s schedule was changed at the last minute, Hyuk-joon agrees to wait for her in his car. Yoon-seo and Jung-rok breathe sighs of relief until Hyuk-joon runs back to use the bathroom.

Yoon-seo tries to block Hyuk-joon but he pushes past her in desperation. She follows him into the seemingly empty bathroom and realizes that Jung-rok must be hiding behind the shower curtain.

Hyuk-joon quickly takes care of business but when Jung-rok’s phone rings, he realizes that he’s not alone. Armed with a toilet brush, Hyuk-joon pulls back the shower curtain and yells, “Got you!” When Jung-rok stands up, he turns on the shower and ends up dripping wet.

Now dressed in Hyuk-joon’s soccer jersey, Jung-rok faces the manager with Yoon-seo by his side. Hyuk-joon asks Jung-rok, “Did you sleep here,” and he answers, “Yes,” while Yoon-seo says, “No!” Hyuk-joon lectures the pair about the risky move until Yoon-seo interrupts to send Jung-rok home.

Yoon-seo stomps back and demands to know if it would be better to get photographed on the street. Hyuk-joon would prefer that because then he could make up an excuse, but there’s no way to explain Jung-rok coming out of Yoon-seo’s place.

When Jung-rok gets home, Se-won sees the jersey and assumes that he’s returning from an early game. Once Jung-rok is safely in his room, he looks down at the shirt and laughs.

That night, Jung-rok and Yoon-seo arrange to meet at her place for dinner. A last minute filming change forces Yoon-seo to cancel their plans but Jung-rok already picked up dinner. When Se-won gets home, he finds a depressed Jung-rok alone with two dinners.

CEO Yeon wants to retain Always Law to work with his agency but Attorney Yeon brags that he’s too busy after the Im Yoon-hee case. CEO Yeon motions to the photos of his artists and explains that Attorney Yeon would be included in the year end party and a summer trip to Waikiki. Suddenly, Attorney Yeon is ready to sign an agreement.

With that settled, CEO Yeon mentions the need for on-site legal advisor for Yoon-seo’s drama. Of course Attorney Yeon volunteers, but CEO Yeon knows how his cousin behaves around actors and asks for someone else.

Back at Always Law, Attorney Yeon details the advisor role, “It’s exhausting, it’s a hassle, and it’ll waste your time.” When Attorney Dan and Attorney Choi turn it down, Attorney Yeon magnanimously offers to take the job.

After Hye-young mentions that Attorney Yeon will probably see Yoon-seo whenever he’s on the set, Jung-rok speaks up, “I’ll do it.” A surprised Attorney Yeon asks Jung-rok to repeat himself, so he leans closer to Attorney Yeon’s ear, “I said, ‘I will do it.'”

Attorney Yeon calls for a vote and stunned when he loses to Jung-rok. Jung-rok runs to his office to text Yoon-seo but decides to surprise her instead.

During lunch, Yoon-seo sighs, “Is it because I didn’t see Mr. Kwon last night? I have no energy, and no appetite either.” Hyuk-joon looks over at Yoon-seo’s empty plate and warns that she has a photo shoot coming up.

Later, Attorney Yeon announces the need to keep minutes of their meetings and solicits handwriting samples from the team. Attorney Yeon figures out that Mr. Lee was the only one who voted for him and complains to the others, “I was always so nice to you, yet you betrayed me and chose Mr. Kwon?”

Attorney Yeon promises not to retaliate but announces that everyone will spend the weekend cleaning the office — except for Mr. Lee, who gets a free movie ticket. Haha.

Yoon-seo and Hyuk-joon are surprised to see Jung-rok on set as the new legal advisor. At the first opportunity, Yoon-seo pulls Jung-rok into her dressing room where he explains how he had to compete with Attorney Yeon for the assignment. Jung-rok raises his fists in victory, “I have been proudly elected as the advisory counsel of your drama!”

Yoon-seo hugs Jung-rok happily but they jump apart when Hyuk-joon walks in. After Yoon-seo returns to the set, Hyuk-joon tells Jung-rok that he’s against his presence as legal advisor. Jung-rok gets legal, “Interfering with our relationship all the time like this is an invasion of one’s freedom to pursue happiness and freedom of action…”

During rehearsal for a courtroom scene, Yoon-seo asks Jung-rok about the proper placement of her hands. Hyuk-joon glares as Jung-rok presses Yoon-seo’s hands together, aware that she just wants to be close to him.

Later, Yoon-seo approaches Jung-rok with her script and shows him where she wrote his name, with a heart next to it. Yoon-seo winks at Jung-rok when Hyuk-joon drags her away.

The atmosphere is awkward when Attorney Choi and Dan run into each other in the Always Law kitchen. Attorney Choi asks about Dan’s delivery man but she explains, “I only did that…because I was drunk. But it was nothing sincere.” She apologizes for flirting and breaking their contract.

When Attorney Choi tells her, “You should be sorry,” Dan defends herself, “There was no point in continuing our dating contract with someone who had no feelings for me.”

After Dan leaves, Attorney Choi laments, “She used to look at me with hearts in her eyes. But now, she’s so cold towards me.” He grabs at his chest as if stabbed in the heart.

By the time Dan reaches her office, she’s tempted to apologize for being too mean but resolves, “Let’s get over him.”

Up on the roof, Attorney Choi takes out the dating contract, “It’s time to say goodbye to this chapter in my life.” He sets it on fire but gets burned in the process.

The next time Jung-rok is in the office, Attorney Yeon offers to ‘help’ him by taking over as the drama’s legal advisor. When that fails, Attorney Yeon tries to pump Jung-rok for details about Yoon-seo’s leading man because there’s gossip that they’re dating.

After some online research, Jung-rok learns that Yoon-seo’s leading man is known as the ‘kiss master’.

Intern Jong-hwa, drops off some paperwork for Dan and sees her ukulele. He tries playing it, with help from Dan, just as Attorney Choi passes by. He shakes with jealously when he sees Dan and Jong-hwa with his ukulele and imagines that they’re flirting with each other.

After work, Attorney Choi fumes, “How could she use our ukulele that holds our precious memory to play harmony with another guy?” When Attorney Choi sees Dan leaving work with Jong-hwa, he sends the intern away so that he can speak with Dan, alone.

Attorney Choi asks Dan to return the ukulele and when she asks why, he explains, “You gave me your heart, but you took it away.” A confused Dan has to remind Attorney Choi that he confessed that he felt nothing for her when they were together.

Attorney Choi takes Dan’s hand and places it over his racing heart. He tells her, “Foolishly enough, my heart started beating after you left me. And when I saw you smile with another man, my heart even started hurting.” He asks Dan to date, contract free, and gives her three seconds to answer.

Dan hasn’t answered by the time Attorney Choi gets to, “one”, so he counts down in fractions, “1/2, 1/4…” It’s not until he reaches, “1/8,” that Dan finally gives in and their happy moment is shared with all of the older people exercising in the park.

When Jung-rok leaves work, Yoon-seo honks her car horn to get his attention. Her filming cancelled, Yoon-seo sent Hyuk-joon home so that she could surprise Jung-rok.

After dinner at her place, Yoon-seo asks Jung-rok to help her practice some lines. When Yoon-seo finds her script, she remembers that it contains a kissing scene.

Jung-rok reads the scene’s lines with Yoon-seo, who acts surprised when he points out that there’s a kiss. Yoon-seo demurely suggests, “We can just skip that part,” but a serious Jung-rok insists, “I agreed to help you practice,” and kisses her like a leading man should. Yoon-seo comes to her senses in her office after imagining the whole thing.

Yoon-seo hands Jung-rok the script and waits with anticipation, but he chooses a trial scene to practice. After a few minutes of Jung-rok’s coaching, Yoon-seo excuses herself to get a glass of water. She mutters, “I thought it’d be romantic, but he’s working me harder than the staff on set.”

Alone, Jung-rok finally discovers the kissing scene and the pages slip from his fingers when he realizes what that means.

The next day during lunch with the team, Jung-rok is preoccupied. Hye-young announces that she booked a nearby restaurant for dinner and Attorney Yeon mentions that the chef is known as the ‘beef master’.

Everyone is confused when Jung-rok argues, “There’s no such thing as a kiss master.” After a flustered Jung-rok excuses himself to get to the courthouse, Attorney Yeon guesses that his ace attorney wants to find love.

The CEO suddenly asks, “Shouldn’t someone in this group be in a relationship?” He suggests that if they can’t find someone outside the firm, to look for someone in the firm.

Attorney Yeon offers to buy spring outfits for any couple in the firm, “So, the moment you become a couple, I hope you hold your hands up and report to me.”Attorney Choi and Dan do just that and Attorney Yeon laughs so hard that he drops some cutlery.

When Attorney Yeon picks it up, he sees that Attorney Choi and Attorney Dan are holding hands under the table and hits his head. Attorney Choi and Attorney Dan pose cutely to remove any doubts that they are a real couple.

Jung-rok smiles when he sees Yoon-seo in front of the courthouse, until her leading man approaches her with a question. Yoon-seo notices Jung-rok and runs over, happy to see him. She glares at Hyuk-joon when he shouts that it’s time to film and reluctantly returns to work.

A very anxious Jung-rok uses his position as legal advisor to watch the kissing scene. He breathes a huge sigh of relief when the director yells, “Cut,” after a car horn ruins the shot. Jung-rok takes advantage of the break to argue that a kiss in front of the courthouse is inappropriate and suggests a handshake instead.

Hyuk-joon drags Jung-rok away and confronts him about his jealousy but he argues that it was good advice. Hyuk-joon points to a couple in prosecutor’s robes holding hands and Jung-rok exclaims, “Kim Se-won.”

Jung-rok sits down with his friends and Se-won explains his actions, “I just got tired of dating secretly all the time.” Yeo-reum agrees with Se-won and asks Jung-rok, “…what should I do? I think I’m taking after Se-won.”

Jung-rok walks out of the courthouse and after he sees Yoon-seo with her lead, he leaves quietly. 

At the team dinner, Attorney Yeon asks when Attorney Choi and Dan became attracted to each other. Attorney Dan gushes about Attorney Choi’s good qualities and he caresses Dan’s face, “You’re such an unpredictable woman.”

Attorney Yeon hands over his credit card for the promised spring outfits and announces, “…if there are any more hidden couples, tell me now.” Intern Pil-gi strikes out with Hye-young, who’s more interested in getting Mr. Lee to say something to Ms. Yang.

Attorney Yeon notices that Jung-rok looks down and guesses that he’s heartbroken because of a secret crush on Dan. Attorney Choi and Dan look up at Jung-rok with genuine pity. I’m dying…

Yoon-seo calls Jung-rok to let him know that she’s on her way home. After she hangs up, Hyuk-joon mentions that Jung-rok was jealous because of the kissing scene. He knows how hard it must be for Jung-rok, who can’t tell anyone about his relationship with Yoon-seo. That’s why Hyuk-joon is worried about the two of them, “You can’t help but get exhausted when you’re in a secret relationship.”

Back at the restaurant, Attorney Yeon is annoyed by Attorney Choi’s and Dan’s cute antics and announces that it’s time to leave. When Yoon-seo makes a surprise appearance, he immediately changes his tune, “We were just getting started.” As soon as Yoon-seo is seated between Attorney Yeon and Jung-rok, Hye-young tells her that Attorney Choi and Attorney Dan are dating.

Convinced that Jung-rok’s low mood must have something to do with loneliness, Attorney Yeon suggests setting him up on a blind date. Yoon-seo informs everyone that he has a girlfriend and Jung-rok is shocked when she adds, “It’s me.”

Yoon-seo doesn’t get the response that she expected when everyone bursts into laughter. The laughing stops when Yoon-seo hits the table and insists, “I’m serious.”

Yoon-seo makes a heart with her fingers and tries again, “Mr. Kwon and I are really dating.” Yoon-seo sees Attorney Choi’s and Dan’s clasped hands and holds up Jung-rok’s hand as she shyly confesses, “I like Mr. Kwon very much.”

Distressed, Attorney Yeon reaches for some meat on the grill with his bare hand. He screams in pain and blames the tears in his eyes on his injury. Attorney Yeon insists, “Gosh, I’m so happy,” as he escapes to the bathroom.

After dinner, Ms. Yang and Mr. Lee pass some forsythia flowers. Mr. Lee explains their meaning but it sounds more like a confession, “My love is deeper than yours.” He asks Ms. Yang to eat with him someday and she agrees, “Sure, let’s do that.”

At her place, Yoon-seo serves wine to celebrate the fact that she and Jung-rok shared the news about their relationship. Jung-rok asks Yoon-seo if she’s okay but she wants him to be okay too, “If you’re not okay, I’m not okay either.”

Yoon-seo brings up the kissing scene and even though Jung-rok doesn’t want to discuss it, she wants to deal with it. Yoon-seo explains that she didn’t actually kiss her leading man and wants Jung-rok to understand that actors and actresses are good at making something fake look real.

Jung-rok wonders, “Then what if you really want to kiss someone?” Jung-rok brings Yoon-seo’s face closer and asks, “Is this how you do it,” and then proceeds to kiss her.

When they part, Yoon-seo and Jung-rok stare into each others eyes. Jung-rok lowers Yoon-seo onto the sofa and asks, “Is it okay if I cross the line today?” Yoon-seo answers his question with more kisses.

 
COMMENTS

I’m seriously going to miss this drama and all of the cute and quirky characters from Always Law. I’m especially going to miss the chemistry between Lee Dong-wook and Yoo Inna and I hope that this isn’t the last time that they appear onscreen as a couple. My only complaint about their pairing is that we didn’t get to see more of Lee Dong-wook’s smiles since Kwon Jung-rok was such a serious character. The next time that Lee Dong-wook does a romantic drama, I hope that he gets the chance to laugh and smile lots more.

At this point in the drama, I’m impressed that the characters still are so well defined. True to his nature, Jung-rok is still on the slow side and always a step behind Yoon-seo in the romance department. Her obvious disappointment when Jung-rok sets up that pillow barrier and goes to sleep is hard to miss, but somehow he does! He’s alone with Korea’s goddess but promises not to cross the line. Yoon-seo ends up frustrated by Jung-rok’s slower pace more than once, but it looks as if they’re finally on the same page by the end of the episode.

Of course, the reunion between Yoon-seo and Jung-rok isn’t the only highlight. Attorney Choi and Dan get back together as well and manage to annoy Attorney Yeon in short order after announcing that they are a couple. Words don’t do this couple justice because they manage to communicate so much in a matter of seconds. Great performances by Shim Hyung-tak and Park Kyung-hye make Choi and Dan one of the most unusual and memorable couples that I’ve ever seen. What I liked about their reunion was the fact that Dan didn’t crumble the second that Choi wanted her back. The normally impulsive Dan holds herself back and it makes Attorney Choi sweat. It’s a great example of Dan’s personal growth.

While it’s a relief to see Jung-rok and Yoon-seo back together again, it’s not all cuteness and happiness. At least not yet. Jung-rok is still determined to do the noble thing and insists on protecting Yoon-seo’s career by keeping their relationship a secret, even though it makes him miserable. To her credit, Yoon-seo catches on that Jung-rok is suffering, thanks to Hyuk-joon who appears to really be on their side, and she makes the first step in publicly acknowledging their relationship. It may seem like a small thing to declare their feelings in front of friends, but for Yoon-seo, it’s a huge. And the smile on Jung-rok’s face when Yoon-seo held up his hand is proof that she make the right call.

That decision is just further proof of Yoon-seo’s growth. She’s more confident and courageous than that first day at Always Law. Yoon-seo loses almost everything but she survives and meeting Jung-rok helps her to realize that she’s capable of more than just looking pretty. Jung-rok didn’t even know that Yoon-seo was a celebrity and he didn’t care. It’s through her hard work and sincere efforts that Yoon-seo earns Jung-rok’s love and respect, and she treasures not only his opinion, but the man himself. Now that Yoon-seo has taken that first step of acknowledging Jung-rok as her boyfriend, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

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