Doom at Your Service: Episode 10

by quirkycase

Things get weird this hour as our characters behave in all types of nonsensical and frustrating ways. With only 50 days until the deadline, our desperate heroine makes a last-ditch effort to find a solution that will save those she loves. Our lead struggles to get her to open up about her feelings, but our heroine’s long-standing habit of wearing a mask is hard to break. Meanwhile, the saga of the romance writer and the men who invade her life continues.

 
EPISODE 10

After Myeol-mang confesses that he loves her, Dong-kyung suggests they start dating. Soo-ja yells for her, so Dong-kyung promises to call Myeol-mang later and rushes inside with a smile. Her blasé response leaves Myeol-mang disappointed.

We cut over to Hyun-kyu’s bulldozing “confession.” Ji-na is rightfully angry and throws some laundry at him, but he laughs like her anger is cute. I swear, this man is going to make my blood pressure rise.

The next day, Ji-na and Dong-kyung both share their dating woes. Ji-na is shocked to hear Dong-kyung and Myeol-mang aren’t already dating, while Dong-kyung is shocked to hear Hyun-kyu reappeared. Ji-na is embarrassed by the hold Hyun-kyu has on her and calls herself pathetic.

Ji-na changes topics and asks when Dong-kyung is admitting herself to the hospital. Dong-kyung says she has things to take care of first and hedges when Ji-na tries to extract a promise that she’ll go as soon as that’s all done.

After getting an urgent call about work, Ji-na makes sure Dong-kyung has a ride and heads out. Meanwhile, Myeol-mang waits by the phone for Dong-kyung’s call. He’s surprised to find her at his door, instead.

Dong-kyung is a little awkward, but Myeol-mang doesn’t see any reason to be coy. He explains that he didn’t want to waste time waiting around like he usually does. She gets all flustered and tries to keep a distance, suddenly shy of physical contact for some reason. I guess any sort of intimacy only counts if you’re officially “dating.”

At the LifeStory office, Ji-na meets with the sleazy writer who accused her of plagiarizing his work. He clearly called her over just to be his sleazy self and now says she misheard him on the phone. One of his fans accused her, but he won’t let her get in trouble. He compares her to fine jewelry, saying he gets why Dong-kyung has been “hiding” her. Ugh.

The gross man won’t let her get a word in edgewise, completely ignoring all the signals that she’s not interested. When Joo-ik arrives and hears what’s going on, he goes to step in. But Ji-na is doing fine on her own. She pitches a laptop at the sleazy writer and curses him out for his disrespect.

When he calls her a “crazy bitch,” she launches herself across the table while the editors try to hold her back. Right when Ji-na calms down, the sleazy writer starts in on her work, saying nothing good could come from a writer like her. Joo-ik holds her back this time but retorts that the sleazy writer’s ugliness is apparent in his work.

Joo-ik tells Ji-na to go ahead and leave, although she should replace the laptop. Ji-na is horrified to discover the laptop wasn’t the sleazy writer’s but Joo-ik’s.

That night, Dong-kyung and Myeol-mang go for a walk, and Dong-kyung gets all bashful when he calls her pretty. She wonders if that garden of his he showed her is still so lonely, but Myeol-mang says it hasn’t been like that since she visited. They both agree that was the moment that sparked their feelings.

He walks her home for the first time as her official boyfriend. Dong-kyung jokingly wonders if she should ask him in for some ramen (i.e., Netflix and chill) and gets frustrated when he takes it literally. But he’s only messing with her – he’s watched humans long enough to know their euphemisms.

Myeol-mang accepts her joking invitation, but when they get to the roof, her family is already grilling food. Sun-kyung goes to introduce Myeol-mang to Kevin but realizes he doesn’t know Myeol-mang’s name. Myeol-mang uses the name Dong-kyung gave him: Kim Sa-ram.

Soo-ja goes inside for beer and a bottle opener which she can’t find. As she looks around, she stumbles upon Dong-kyung’s funeral portrait. Dong-kyung finds her sobbing as she holds the portrait, so she slips out to give her aunt a minute alone. Soo-ja comes back outside like nothing’s wrong.

Myeol-mang notices Dong-kyung is upset and likely guesses the reason since he can read Soo-ja’s thoughts. Later, Myeol-mang asks Dong-kyung to share what she’s feeling. She gets defensive, wondering what he wants to hear from her. “I love you,” he responds.

If saying that is too difficult, she can start by telling him that she’s having a hard time or that she’s scared or that she wants to live. Dong-kyung instead tells him goodbye for the night.

Meanwhile, Joo-ik waits for Hyun-kyu at home. When he arrives, Hyun-kyu says he told Ji-na to date him. Joo-ik explains that he thought it’d bring more harm than good if they met but admits he was out of line for keeping it secret. Hyun-kyu is not satisfied with that response and stomps off to bed.

After having breakfast with Soo-ja the next day, Dong-kyung goes to the hospital to find the goddess. Dong-kyung reveals that she’s always resented God and never imagined that being as someone so fragile under the weight of the world. The goddess smiles, saying she’s been hearing a lot of things she’s been hoping to hear lately.

Dong-kyung gifts her a spray bottle for her plants and goes to leave. “You are always the only one who can help yourself,” the goddess says. She encourages Dong-kyung to love to her heart’s desire and live. Myeol-mang was born for humans, anyway.

At the hospital, Dong-kyung runs into Doctor Jung who invites her to his wedding in three months. He asks her to be there. Dong-kyung is surprised to find Myeol-mang standing outside, but he reminds her the hospital is rife with doom.

Wanting to spend as much time together as possible, Myeol-mang drives Dong-kyung to meet Ye-ji at a café. Ye-ji feels guilty for missing all the signs that something wasn’t right with Dong-kyung and says that she’d use her one wish on Dong-kyung’s health.

Dong-kyung apologizes for not saying anything sooner. They both acknowledge this is a new situation for them, so it’s natural not to always get it right. Ye-ji notices Myeol-mang hardcore staring from a nearby table. Dong-kyung tells her to ignore her boyfriend.

They’re joined by their colleagues Jung-min and Da-in. Jung-min worries over Dong-kyung and says he’s missed her. He goes in for a hug, but Da-in pulls him back after noting Myeol-mang’s glare.

Everyone is sad to part ways – even Da-in says she’ll miss Dong-kyung at work. Ye-ji insists that they’re going to stay in touch which Jung-min echoes. When he grabs Dong-kyung’s hand, Myeol-mang says it’s time to go. After the couple drives away, no one can agree on what Myeol-mang looks like.

Dong-kyung lectures Myeol-mang for acting like a puppy guarding its human, but he still sits nearby and watches while Dong-kyung meets with the bratty writer Young. She asks for Young’s autograph for Dalgona, explaining how he’s given her comfort during her battle with cancer.

Young heard that Dong-kyung is sick too and, after finishing his autograph for Dalgona, signs Dong-kyung’s hand. He claims it’s an amulet that’ll protect her. When Dong-kyung asks why he won’t finish his novel without her, Young says he only agreed in the first place out of loyalty because Dong-kyung bought him so much food.

Dong-kyung asks his opinion on how to achieve a happy ending when a character must either choose the person she loves and doom the world or save the world and doom the person she loves. Young’s solution is for the main character to love no one. It’s a sad fate for her but a happy ending for everyone she saves.

Young casts a glance over at the glaring Myeol-mang and guesses Dong-kyung is dating the handsome tteokbokki restaurant owner now. He decides to call her noona now that she’s not his editor and leaves with a smile. Myeol-mang immaturely tries to trip him but fails.

Dalgona is thrilled with the autograph and asks how Dong-kyung is doing. She observantly notes that last time, Dong-kyung looked like someone contemplating whether to choose the happiness in front of her. With sad eyes, Dong-kyung admits that life is wonderful.

Outside, Dong-kyung catches Myeol-mang smoking and swipes the cigarette from his mouth. After she lectures him, he asks abruptly, “Do you want to get married?” He assumes it’s the next step after dating for people who want to live together forever.

Myeol-mang isn’t sure about forever, but he’d like to live and die like a human with her. Dong-kyung thinks he’s skipping some steps – there are necessary things to do before marriage. She takes him to the columbarium to meet her parents.

Myeol-mang formally introduces himself as her boyfriend and admits his proposal was rejected today. He asks for permission to marry Dong-kyung and promises to make her happy for the rest of her life. Dong-kyung jokingly pretends her father refused, arguing she can’t get married now.

Myeol-mang watches her deflecting and observes it’s sad that she always holds back what she truly wants to say. She again deflects and cheerily argues that’s nonsense.

Next, Dong-kyung buys him a birthday cake for his first birthday celebration, but she draws the line at singing. She has him make a wish and blow out the candle, saying she’ll fulfill any wish except for marriage. His wish is for her to live.

Dong-kyung argues she’s already living well thanks to him, so Myeol-mang amends his wish to her living happily for as long as possible in this world amongst everyone she loves. Sometimes, he’d like her to think of him.

That night, Dong-kyung crosses items off her bucket list, all of which are about her friends and loved ones. There’s only one item left on the list. At home, Myeol-mang broods over Dong-kyung saying that everyone who treats her well leaves eventually.

The next day, Joo-ik goes over to Ji-na’s. She confirms that he left the red umbrella she found at her door. Since Joo-ik took back the umbrella he gave her long ago, he thought he should replace it with something. Ji-na then offers to pay for his broken laptop, but he says it’s not necessary.

Ji-na vents that everyone seems to think she’s easy these days. Joo-ik catches her drift and asks what Hyun-kyu did. Speak of the devil, Hyun-kyu picks that moment to call Ji-na. Joo-ik tells her not to answer it until he’s said what he came to tell her.

Joo-ik finally comes clean. He lives with Hyun-kyu, and they’ve known each other for years, even before Joo-ik kissed Ji-na. We flash back to that day in the rain and discover Joo-ik has been running interference for almost a decade.

After the kiss, Ji-na ran off. Contrary to what Joo-ik told Ji-na, Hyun-kyu was not yet in Japan. Joo-ik caught him heading out to the store and convinced Hyun-kyu not to leave yet so he wouldn’t run into Ji-na outside.

Not holding anything back, Joo-ik now admits that Ji-na and Hyun-kyu could’ve met that day had he not kissed her. He did it because he hoped those two wouldn’t cross paths again, and he doesn’t regret his actions.

Joo-ik, deciding he knew what was best for a stranger, was sure Ji-na needed Hyun-kyu gone to live her own life. He was helping, apparently, because he knew what Hyun-kyu was like even if she didn’t. “I knew everything, yet I still liked him, that trash.” Wait, now I’m lost. Is he in love with Hyun-kyu too? This tangled triangle gets more dramatic by the second.

Ji-na wants to know why he’s confessing if he’s not apologetic. Joo-ik wants out of this mess (that he created) and hates that he’s starting to feel bad. God forbid he be sorry he manipulated the course of people’s lives without their knowledge or consent.

At home, Dong-kyung stares at her final bucket list item: parting. She quietly wheels her suitcase out and blinks back tears as she looks at her sleeping aunt and brother. To save everyone, she needs to not love them. Uh, isn’t it a little late for that?

Myeol-mang is waiting outside, having anticipated her plan. All day, she’s looked like she’s saying goodbye. “Let’s break up and never see each other again,” Dong-kyung says. She then immediately contradicts herself by saying they should get married after they survive. What?

She’s apparently been planning this since she told him they should date – it’s the only way she can save him. (Or maybe you could’ve tried not dating him at all?) Dong-kyung is going to try to forget him and everyone she’s ever cared about because why not.

Dong-kyung confesses that she’s started to love Myeol-mang. (I guess she’ll start not loving people tomorrow.) She apologizes for loving him and thanks him for everything. She returns the bracelet and walks away, leaving Myeol-mang devastated.

She goes to brood at her spot by the sea, determined to be lonely to save everyone she loves. So Dong-kyung stays in her childhood home filled with memories of the people she loves and spends her days reminiscing. You know, to forget.

Dong-kyung sits by the sea and crosses off “parting” from her bucket list. Now she wonders what the point of life is if you run from everyone you love. As she’s giving herself a pep talk, Myeol-mang appears. Did she think she could run from him?

He takes her hand since it’s almost midnight, but she shakes him off. She told him they weren’t to see each other again. Myeol-mang accuses her of not once saying what she truly feels since she was 10 years old. “Say it all to me.”

Unable to hold it in anymore, tears fall down Dong-kyung’s face as she whispers that she wants to live. “I want to live with you, Sun-kyung, Aunt, and Unni. I really, really want to live with the people I love,” she wails. Myeol-mang holds her and lets her cry it out. He says he wants the same. “I want to live, and I want to die together.”

 
COMMENTS

What the heck? I don’t even have words for the ridiculousness of Dong-kyung’s plan to unlove everyone in 50 days by going to her childhood home and reminding herself of them constantly. Beyond the terrible planning of details, wouldn’t the fact that you’re leaving to save everyone because you love them negate the whole thing? The plan was so nonsensical it was impossible to feel sympathy for Dong-kyung’s self-imposed and pointless loneliness. They did Dong-kyung’s character dirty this hour because she is smarter than that. And it wasn’t just the awful plan. Her behavior this episode made little sense overall. If you know you’re going to leave and try not to love anyone, why in the world would you agree to date someone only to dump them days later? It felt particularly cruel since she’d explicitly asked Myeol-mang to love her in the first place! Then, there was her odd coquettishness with Myeol-mang after she suggested they date. They’d clearly been a couple for a while, even if they hadn’t labeled their relationship. I wish dramas would stop treating their adult female characters like children who blush at handholding. Dong-kyung has had boyfriends before, and she and Myeol-mang have kissed multiple times, slept in the same bed, and held hands daily. It makes no sense for her to be all shy just because the word “boyfriend” is thrown into the mix.

You know what else didn’t make sense? Joo-ik. I’m liking his character a lot less knowing that he’s been so manipulative for years. He has no right to interfere in Hyun-kyu and Ji-na’s lives. If he wants to give advice to Hyun-kyu who is a close friend, have at it. But the way he involved himself was so deceptive and kind of creepy, especially since Ji-na was basically a stranger. And why was he so aggressively unapologetic toward her? He issued his confession almost like a challenge which made the whole thing bizarre. I’m not even sure what Joo-ik is trying to accomplish. He says he wants to disentangle himself, but then why would he enter into a contract with Ji-na that ensures he’ll see her regularly? I swear, logic has left the chat at this point. Poor Ji-na. That girl needs to get the hell out of dodge. I say we just let Joo-ik and Hyun-kyu pair up and leave everyone else out of their drama and toxicity. No one else needs to be stuck with all that.

On a positive note, I am glad that Myeol-mang finally got Dong-kyung to express her emotions. Watching her deflect and throw up a wall any time things started getting too real was both sad and frustrating. It was a relief to see her cry and let everything out for the first time since she was a child. In that way, she and Myeol-mang are complete opposites. He’s been blurting out his feelings without the slightest hesitation. His directness and lack of couth came in handy since he has no qualms bringing up awkward topics and pointing out how Dong-kyung shuts herself off. Hopefully, he can get her to give up this senseless plan so they can try to find a solution that works. Of course, he’s probably just going to try to sacrifice himself. At this point, I don’t trust anyone’s decision-making in this drama. Soo-ja seems the most sensible, so I vote we involve her and see if she can tamp down on this chaos.

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