Oh My Baby: Episode 11

by dramallama

Our heroine learns about a critical obstacle jeopardizing her relationship, and she’s forced to reevaluate her priorities. For her, the miracle of having a baby and the miracle of love have always come hand in hand, but this relationship painfully challenges that notion. Our heroine’s distress triggers her best friend to be more protective, and his opposition to her romance brings into question his relationship with our heroine. Is he just a friend? Or is he more than that?

  
EPISODE 11: “More than anything, I’m sorry, I love you.”

Posing for the silhouettes, Yi-sang finally reveals to Ha-ri that having a child is difficult for him. The shocking news of Yi-sang’s infertility hits Ha-ri, and she runs out of the studio. Yi-sang agonizes over Ha-ri’s response, and Ha-ri cries as she tries to process this unfortunate news from the man she loves.

When Ha-ri returns to work, she’s late to a meeting with Manager Kim about their next magazine issue, and she zones out for most of the meeting. Manager Kim begs Ha-ri to find a celebrity model for their next magazine cover to match their competitor’s next cover model (which is Lee Mi-do, heh), and Ha-ri numbly agrees.

Deflated Eu-tteum walks into work, and Hyo-joo tries to confront him about not showing up on Saturday to confess his feelings for her. She dances around her question and asks if something came up on Saturday, and he nods. When they arrive on their floor, Eu-tteum spots Ha-ri and hides from her. Hyo-joo finally realizes that Eu-tteum intended on confessing his feelings for Ha-ri, not her. Disappointed and angry, Hyo-joo throws away the knockoff Gucci slippers that Eu-tteum gifted to her.

In the evening, Jae-young hesitates to go upstairs to see Ha-ri, but Mom encourages him. He decides to stay downstairs and admits to Mom that he’s afraid that he’ll confess to her. He knows that their friendship is over as soon as he confesses his feelings. Mom says that she approves of Jae-young, but she knows that Ha-ri isn’t open to that option, especially since she has a boyfriend now.

Jae-young asks why Mom approves of him, a divorced single father. Mom reminds him that she was also a divorced single parent and says that Jae-young was like a father and older brother to Ha-ri. She was always grateful for Jae-young and came to rely on him. Then, she adds with a hint of resentment that she and Jae-young’s mother had promised to become in-laws, but Jae-young ruined that by marrying another woman.

Mom follows up by asking if Jae-young is waiting for Ha-ri because he thinks Ha-ri’s current relationship won’t work out. Jae-young admits, “Honestly, I don’t want her with anybody. But if Ha-ri insists that he’s the one, what can I do? I’ll have to give up.” At Do-ah’s cries, Jae-young rushes to the bedroom, and Mom watches him sympathetically.

Trying to process his feelings, Yi-sang shoots hoops all night with Soo-chul accompanying him and expressing concern that he’s breaking up with Ha-ri. Yi-sang asserts that he’s not breaking up with Ha-ri and discloses his infertility to Soo-chul. This is a surprise to Soo-chul, and he wonders if this is the reason why Yi-sang broke up with his ex. Yi-sang blames himself for once again sharing his hardship with someone he loves.

On their way back home, Yi-sang decides that he needs to see Ha-ri and runs to her house. He rings the doorbell, but no one answers. Just as Yi-sang heads down the stairs, the door cracks open, and Ha-ri comes outside. Yi-sang apologizes to her, and Ha-ri asks him to share what he didn’t tell her before.

Sitting together at a café, Yi-sang finally comes clean about his painful past relationship with his ex-fiancée. He took a test before their marriage that revealed his infertility, and the three-month treatment failed to salvage his relationship. He shares, “I painfully overcame that hardship, and I didn’t want to you to suffer through the same pain. But I came to like you, and I was afraid that I would hurt you.”

Ha-ri acknowledges that Yi-sang also experienced a similar world-ending moment like her, but she wishes that he would have told her earlier if he didn’t want to hurt her. She says, “It’s hard enough for me to accept my own problems…” and then leaves Yi-sang, who looks more pained.

Mom brings more herbal medicine for Ha-ri and looks satisfied to see that Ha-ri is regularly consuming the fridge supply. She smiles at the sight of sleeping Ha-ri, but she doesn’t see that Ha-ri is crying herself to sleep.

The next day, Ha-ri gives feedback to Hyo-joo on her buzz word-filled report, and Hyo-joo seems particularly distant in her interaction with Ha-ri. She asks Ha-ri to call up her friend with the kids because their models for the toy advertisement bailed, and she pulls So-yoon aside for a chat.

As Ha-ri looks through the hormone therapy list for infertility, she recognizes one of the boxes from her visit to Yi-sang’s apartment. She asks Yeo-ho if men also receive this treatment, and Yeon-ho confirms that men need to receive injections even more frequently than women. Ha-ri looks conflicted by this realization.

In the supply closet, Hyo-joo tells So-yoon that she’s definitely leaving this job, but So-yoon doubts that it will happen because she’s made this claim many times prior. Hyo-joo says that she has no reason to stay anymore, and So-yoon also seems keen on moving jobs. She initially wanted to work here, but things aren’t working out so smoothly.

Yeon-ho joins their supply closet gossip and adds that she keeps getting calls about their magazine because other competitor magazines have discontinued. So-yoon decides that she needs to start looking for a new job and says that the rumors about their struggling company don’t seem like just rumors.

Hyo-joo finds Eu-tteum staring at his ring at the convenience store and glares at him. She joins him after buying a beer and chugs it, which makes Eu-tteum concerned, which in turn irritates Hyo-joo. She knocks her hand on the trash can while throwing out the beer can, and Eu-tteum’s concern once again angers Hyo-joo.

Eu-tteum explains that he’s concerned because he knows her, and Hyo-joo calls him a bad guy for caring for everyone and not knowing that he’s a bad guy. She accuses him of being considerate and making her misunderstand his gestures. Hyo-joo is embarrassed and starts to cry, which causes her mascara to smudge. Eu-tteum thinks that she’s crying because of her mascara and urgently tries to find new mascara. Haha.

Ha-ri hesitates in front of Jambi Studio, and Yi-sang catches her lingering when he returns from his run. She pretends that everything is normal and enters the studio to set up their next shoot. As Yi-sang runs through some test shots, Ha-ri watches him with a longing look.

Yi-sang cuts through the tense silence and takes Ha-ri’s hands. He tells her that he won’t hurt her and promises to do everything he can to find a way. When Ha-ri reminds him of his painful break-up, Yi-sang tries to remain hopeful about love. But Ha-ri lets go of his hands and says, “You will agonize because you can’t do this for me, and I will agonize because I can’t expect you to do this for me.”

Ha-ri knows without the need for a child, they would have no problems and Yi-sang wouldn’t need to endure another painful process. Yi-sang tries to hold onto Ha-ri, but she pushes him away. As she walks away, she regrets, “Maybe we shouldn’t have started this relationship…”

Yeon-ho finds Ha-ri and Hyo-joo away from their desks, and So-yoon comments that Hyo-joo has disappeared. Yeon-ho suspects that Hyo-joo is probably drunk somewhere, but Eu-tteum abruptly interrupts them and denies that Hyo-joo is drunk. He claims that they have been cleaning the storage closet and grabs Hyo-joo’s bag before returning to the closet.

As Yeon-ho suspected, Hyo-joo is completely drunk, and she’s hilariously sprawled out on a shelf. Eu-tteum tries to wake her up by shaking a baby toy in front of her, but she only spews out nonsense about wanting one more drink. Eu-tteum manages to drive to her home, but she refuses to let him know which apartment number.

As a last resort, Eu-tteum takes her to the police station, but the police only have her Busan address on file. Since he doesn’t know Hyo-joo’s address, Eu-tteum asks for permission to spend the night at the police station. He puts his jacket on Hyo-joo, and she curls up with her head on his lap.

Jae-young drops by Ha-ri’s house to check in on her and claims that he’s just there to watch TV. He notices Ha-ri’s sad mood and advises that she shouldn’t date if she can’t handle it. Ha-ri erupts in anger and says that people don’t date with an advance warning that you could get hurt. She slams her bedroom door, and Jae-young looks bothered by her response.

Jae-young calls Eu-tteum for Yi-sang’s phone number and meets Yi-sang at his apartment. He demands to know why they’re having serious issues and advises Yi-sang not to waste Ha-ri’s time or emotions if they won’t work out. Yi-sang asks for his support of Ha-ri’s love, but Jae-young can’t consider supporting them when Ha-ri looks so upset.

As someone close to Ha-ri, Jae-young says that he’ll continue to meddle in their relationship, and Yi-sang accepts this. Jae-young adds that he wasn’t fond of Yi-sang since the beginning and says that he’s objecting their relationship so that Ha-ri seriously reconsiders this relationship.

Yi-sang asks, “Are you objecting as a friend or as a man?” He challenges Jae-young to make his position clear. Jae-young vows to see how Yi-sang and Ha-ri turn out, and Yi-sang isn’t fazed by this.

Hyo-joo wakes up and looks mortified to find herself at the police station sleeping on Eu-tteum’s lap. When Eu-tteum wakes up, Hyo-joo continues to cringe over her drunken behavior, and Eu-tteum smiles at her in amusement.

The next morning, Mom runs into Yi-sang in front of her house. Yi-sang explains that he’s waiting for his girlfriend, and they’re delighted to find out their connection with Ha-ri. Jae-young finds them holding hands gleefully, and Mom quickly separates from Yi-sang. She explains that they’re both attending leatherworking classes and tries to downplay their relationship.

Yi-sang doesn’t help her by saying that she just called him her son-in-law, and Mom tries to neutralize the playing field by addressing them with the same formality. She sneaks out of the awkward meeting by announcing that they should all go to work now, since Ha-ri has already left for work. As they walk together, Yi-sang tells Jae-young that Mom just called him her son-in-law. Jae-young competes that with Mom’s approval, and they part ways.

A celebrity, Jeon Tae-hee, is spotted entering Jami Studio, and the editing team informs Ha-ri about Yi-sang’s connection with this celebrity. Yeon-ho and So-yoon regret treating Yi-sang like a simple photographer, and Hyo-joo does a major touch up to her make-up before joining the audience. Yeon-ho tells Ha-ri to seize this opportunity to recruit a celebrity for their cover photo.

In the studio, the editing team marvel at Jeon Tae-hee’s beauty, and they notice other assistants getting touchy with Yi-sang. They all jump up in alert, and when Ha-ri enters the studio, they signal to her about this inappropriate behavior. Ha-ri ignores their call to action and maintains a formal distance from Yi-sang.

The editing team cheers on Ha-ri as they leave, and Ha-ri cheerfully approaches Jeon Tae-hee as she prepares for the next shoot. Jeon Tae-hee recognizes the magazine from their previous attempts at recruiting her, but she politely declines. She says that she only works with reporters she knows because interviews often end up being made-up stories.

Ha-ri isn’t one to give up so easily and offers to be a reporter that Jeon Tae-hee knows. She recognizes that they both have preconceived notions of each other’s jobs as a reporter and as a celebrity, and she proposes that they have a conversation to get to know each other. Jeon Tae-hee is still hesitant and says that she may consider this interview with Yi-sang’s endorsement. She asks about Ha-ri’s relationship with Yi-sang, and she struggles to find the words to describe her and Yi-sang.

Yi-sang interrupts and says that he shouldn’t be considered in Tae-hee’s decision-making, but he shares his endorsement of Ha-ri. He says that Ha-ri is the best person he’s worked with and has gained the skill of moving people after working with many mothers and babies. He adds, “You don’t need to make yourself known. Even if you don’t say much, she’ll know you.” That endorsement seems to convince the hard-to-get celebrity.

Jae-young calls Eun-young as she’s applying for jobs and offers to buy her dinner. When they meet up, Jae-young asks if Eun-young has heard anything about Ha-ri’s relationship, but she knows nothing. Then, she reminds him of her warning to get a handle on his feelings for Ha-ri, and Jae-young asks why Eun-young is against him with Ha-ri.

Eun-young says that he hates that Jae-young doesn’t even know that he hurt Ha-ri, and we flashback to when Jae-young’s resident days. He called Ha-ri to bring clean underwear since he hadn’t been home in a month, and Ha-ri warned him that Jung-won wouldn’t be happy with her doing this. Jae-young was trying to be considerate of Jung-won, who also hadn’t had a break.

When Jung-won checked in on Jae-young, she offered to bring him some clean clothes, but Jae-young informed her that Ha-ri was bringing him clean underwear. Jung-won stormed out in anger, and Jae-young tried to get her to understand that they’re just friends and pretty much family.

Jung-won still found their closeness unacceptable and predicted that their marriage would feel like a three-way relationship. When Ha-ri arrived with Jae-young’s clothes, Jung-won walked away in frustration, and Jae-young chose to chase after her. After dropping off Jae-young’s clothes, Ha-ri walked outside and overheard Jae-young’s conversation with Jung-won. He told Jung-won that she was more important to him, and he promised not to see Ha-ri again.

Back in the present, Eun-young says that while Ha-ri understood Jae-young’s position, him severing ties with her was still hurtful. Jae-young looks guilty about cutting ties, and Eun-young says that he should have made his marriage work after hurting Ha-ri like that.

When Jae-young returns home, he goes upstairs and collects his laundry. He tells Ha-ri that she shouldn’t have done any of his laundry and asks why she’s understanding of him. He apologizes and covers his tearful face as he goes back downstairs.

The next day, Eun-young brings her twin sons to the studio to fill in for the child toy models. Her sons keep posing for the camera, and Eun-young almost erupts in anger trying to convince them to act naturally. Yi-sang passes by, and Eun-young recognizes him as Ha-ri’s boyfriend.

Eu-tteum changes the play table and hides gummies in the structure to distract the boys from posing from the camera. Hyo-joo watches him in admiration of his intelligence, which I will acknowledge this one time because the gummy-finding game works!

After the photoshoot, Ha-ri and Eun-young take the twins to a playground, where Eun-young excitedly asks for update on dating life. Eun-young notices Ha-ri’s loaded silence and asks if something’s wrong. Tearing up, Ha-ri says that everything was going well, that she wanted to be with him and missed him as soon as they parted. She shares, “Of everything, the best things came from the effusiveness between us. The way we touched without reservation, the small intimate gestures that acknowledged that we belonged to each other. It was nice to be loved.”

Eun-young listens as her friend continues, “It was nice to be acknowledged even when I felt smaller. He was my person who saw me. What do I do now, when he also has difficulties having a child like me?” Eun-young looks shocked by this information.

Jae-young runs into Yi-sang in his clinic building and notices that he’s exiting an infertility clinic. He realizes that this was the issue causing hardship for Ha-ri in her relationship with Yi-sang. Jae-young chases down Yi-sang and tells him to end the relationship. He knows that Ha-ri is too soft-hearted to leave him, and he pushes the burden of the break-up on Yi-sang.

Angry on Ha-ri’s behalf, Jae-young yells at Yi-sang that he shouldn’t have started the relationship if he knew about this problem. Yi-sang says that he started the relationship because he doesn’t intend on ending it, and Jae-young calls him selfish for clinging onto Ha-ri. Yi-sang counters that argument by asking if Jae-young is qualified to be with Ha-ri, and Jae-young can’t respond.

Jae-young confronts Ha-ri later that night about Yi-sang’s condition and tells her to leave him. Ha-ri asks if leaving people is easy for him, and Jae-young responds that leaving Ha-ri and Jung-won was both difficult. He claims that he couldn’t let Jung-won go back then because he thought he would painfully regret his decision. But now, he regrets leaving Ha-ri.

Laying out Ha-ri’s priorities, Jae-young asks which is more important: a baby or Yi-sang? Ha-ri can’t decide, and Jae-young warns her that being with Yi-sang will make her life more difficult. He asks, “Are you confident that you won’t be regretful, like me?” Ha-ri’s phone rings, and it’s Yi-sang calling. Jae-young grabs her before she leaves, and Ha-ri tells him that right now, she wants to see Yi-sang.

Ha-ri meets Yi-sang and asks what they should do. Yi-sang asks that they work through this together and vows to do everything he can. Shaken by uncertainty, Ha-ri tearfully asks, “What if there is no miracle? What if I’m wrong?” Yi-sang insists that they need to see this relationship through to the end, but Ha-ri has lost confidence.

Heartbroken, Ha-ri turns around and walks away. Yi-sang calls out after her and asks if she’s fine with losing him, but she continues to walk away. Then, she remembers Yi-sang asking who she’d pick between a baby and lover, and Ha-ri had responded that she wouldn’t let go of someone she loves because love is also a miracle to her.

Ha-ri stops and turns around to run back to Yi-sang, who’s turned away in distress. She embraces him and responds that she’s not fine letting him go.

  
COMMENTS

With more background on Jae-young and Ha-ri’s history, I think we’re given more reasons to sympathize with Jae-young. He’s clearly been through tough times and made bad decisions that hurt his friendship, and he’s having trouble accepting the consequences of his decisions. And just as he’s trying to pick himself back up and be a good father, Jung-won, who abandoned him and Do-ah, shows up and triggers his pain. I haven’t been a fan of Jae-young’s tactics and overprotective nature, but I can understand that he’s still processing all the regret, pain, and trauma from his past relationship.

That being said, I found Jae-young to be even more frustrating in this episode than previous episodes. He can’t decide whether he’s going to remain a friend or confess his feelings to Ha-ri, and his hesitance is starting to manifest as unwelcome meddling. He comes across as defensive, insecure, and overprotective, which are all obvious to Yi-sang. In contrast to Jae-young, Yi-sang is secure in his commitment to and pursuit of love. Though he also made some questionable decisions around disclosing his infertility, I think he’s owning up to his mistakes and gently convincing Ha-ri that he’s committed to making her miracles come true.

I wish we were privy to more of Ha-ri’s thoughts in this episode. I think this show shines when Ha-ri is at the center — not just brooding on the side — and we got a glimpse of that with the heartfelt reflection that Ha-ri shared with Eun-young on being in love and being loved. Her honesty and courage make up the best moments in this show, and I think this episode suffered from shifting the focus on the tension between Yi-sang and Jae-young. But a dull episode can still have highlights, and the Hyo-joo/Eu-tteum comic relief was definitely a highlight. Hyo-joo’s drunk coping of unrequired feelings paired with Eu-ttuem’s dim interpretation of mascara causing sadness was hilarious. Nothing sadder than smudged mascara, according to Eu-tteum’s misplaced empathy.

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