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Business Proposal: Episodes 7-8

Insecurities are poison for relationships — even fake ones. Our archaeopteryx does his best to prove his feelings are genuine, but our leading lady is faced with a lot of opposition, and she struggles to find the confidence she needs to date him for real.

 
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP

Even though Yoo-ra and her Gossip Gals didn’t get a whole lot of screen time last week, they left enough of an impression that we know they aren’t good people. With friends like them, who needs enemies, right? So when Tae-mu strutted across the hotel lobby and smiled oh-so-perfectly at Yoo-rah and her sidekicks, I was ready for him to show up and show out. And boy, he does.

Over dinner, Tae-mu is cheesier than mozzarella sticks, and the Gossip Gals, who are clearly not lactose intolerant, eat up every line. When Tae-mu professes that his love for Hari is as limitless as his credit card, their approval meters start glowing pink, and the more Tae-mu lays on the charm, the more the ladies want to live vicariously through Hari’s fairytale relationship.

Tae-mu books a suite for the night in order to maintain the ruse, but after a brief fight over who gets to sleep on the couch, Hari worries about the long-term effects of their lie. After all, Tae-mu will have to encounter Min-woo regularly, due to his involvement with their newest product line. Won’t that be awkward for Tae-mu?

But Tae-mu wonders if she’s more concerned with how their fake relationship will be perceived by Min-woo. Surprised that he figured it out, Hari sheepishly admits that she’s over her one-sided crush, and Tae-mu “jokes” that he’s glad his (fake) girlfriend doesn’t want to date someone else.

After a mostly sleepless night, Tae-mu and Hari greet her friends wearing matching outfits. Initially, their plan for the day was to drive back to Seoul, but Tae-mu cancels his meetings when Min-woo has the audacity to suggest that he leave Hari behind to enjoy more time with her friends. Pfft, as if Tae-mu would give Min-woo the opportunity to have one-on-one time with Hari.

Next we see them, they are all marveling as Grandpa’s yacht pulls up to the dock — Take that, Min-woo! — and once they’re onboard, Hari’s friends are eager to hear how the couple met and fell in love. Tae-mu draws upon his real feelings and experiences with Hari to answer all their questions, and while Hari secretly marvels over his acting abilities, Yoo-ra and Min-woo stew in their jealousy.

Min-woo eventually corners Tae-mu for a private confrontation, acting like Hari’s protective big brother whose job it is to scare away the evil rich man toying with her heart. But Tae-mu quickly puts Min-woo in his place. Why can’t Tae-mu’s feelings for Hari be genuine? Does Min-woo think so little of Hari — his friend — that he believes the only reason a wealthy and handsome man would want to date her is because of some elaborate joke?

Unfortunately, the boys are too busy with their pissing — I mean, fishing — contest to notice that Hari is growing increasingly miserable. Her legs buckle from her sea sickness, and Tae-mu, feeling guilty for his obliviousness, insists on driving Hari back home.

It’s very apparent — to us, at least — that Tae-mu’s primary love languages are quality time and acts of service. The crazy workaholic repeatedly rearranged his schedule in order to spend time with her and help her save face around her friends. So when Hari continues to apologize for taking up his time and causing him to miss work, Tae-mu has to spell it out for her: he canceled his meetings because he likes her. He understands that his feelings probably come as a surprise, so he tells her he will give her time to think and respond to his confession.

But instead of winning Hari over with his Boyfriend Bluff, Hari grows more and more doubtful of their compatibility. As fun as it was — from an outsider’s perspective — to watch Tae-mu flaunt his wealth, his actions only reinforced her fear that he was too good for her, and that they live in separate worlds. It was very telling that the moments she seemed the most relaxed and attracted to him (e.g. when he suggested they wear matching outfits and when he revealed he knew her love of dolphins) were moments when he was being just a man, not a flaunting his chaebol CEO status for her friends.

While Hari agonizes over Tae-mu’s confession, photos of their time in Sokcho wind up in Grandpa’s hands. He storms the company castle to confront Tae-mu, who Grandpa assumes is cheating on Geum-hee. Rather than tell the truth and resolve the misunderstanding quickly, Tae-mu fibs, claiming he broke up with Geum-hee. Hoo boy! Grandpa is not happy to hear this news.

Now, I’m not normally a fan of conflicts that can be resolved with some simple truth-telling and communication, but as long as the drama’s misunderstandings keep resulting in laughs — like the scene of Grandpa chasing Tae-mu around the office so he can cane-slap some sense into his grandson — then I guess I’m fine with it.

Speaking of misunderstandings…

Young-seo slept with Sung-hoon. But there’s… uh… just one small problem: she was so drunk that she can’t remember her passionate night with the hunky chief secretary.

And holy hot flashes, Beanies! If those blurry split-second scenes are the only memories that remain of her hot and steamy jaunt between Sung-hoon’s bedsheets, then I can’t say that I blame her for being extremely disappointed in her crappy memory. But in her embarrassment, she bolted from Sung-hoon’s apartment and left him feeling rejected and used. Poor guy, he deserves an explanation.

Thankfully, Business Proposal doesn’t do us — or our second lead couple — dirty and drag out the misunderstanding for long. A few time-skipped days later, Young-seo has a chance encounter with Sung-hoon in their building’s parking garage. He gives her the cold shoulder, but Young-seo follows him to his apartment and admits that she shamefully can’t remember their night together. Sung-hoon is relieved she reciprocates his feelings, and with a stare steamy enough to fog my glasses, he promises Young-seo that he’s not going to let her forget this time — me-ow.

A week passes, and Hari still hasn’t given Tae-mu a response to his confession. For his part, Tae-mu does his best to respect her boundaries, but he really, really regrets telling her to take her time instead of giving her a deadline. Unable to stay away, he decides to pop down to view the filming of the latest promo of her team’s product, hoping he can just catch a glimpse of her from afar. Much to his displeasure, though, she is on set, acting as Min-woo’s assistant.

Sung-hoon latches onto Tae-mu before he causes a scene, but his presence in the crowd unnerves Hari, and her distracted onion chopping leads to an accident. Hari yelps, and blood squirts everywhere! But… it turns out to be a false alarm. Instead of her finger, Hari stabbed a sauce bottle. Whew!

Tae-mu can’t wait any longer, and so he corners Hari, forcing her to voice her rejection. She tells him to go on more blind dates and explains why they could never have a successful relationship, but the more Hari protests, the more her real feelings show. She wants to date him, but she’s afraid.

Tae-mu promises that he won’t let her fears become reality and holds her gaze, determined to get her to believe his earnestness. As she stares back, it’s clear they’re on the precipice of something spectacular, and Hari lets herself fall, leaning forward to kiss him. Much like the first kiss between Young-seo and Sung-hoon, this kiss starts off a bit awkward, but then Tae-mu goes for it. (Yessss!)

But, of course, my celebration was premature. Hari has instant cold feet and calls the kiss a mistake. (Nooooo!)

Our other couple, however, is settling into the cute — but awkward — beginning stage of dating. They’re like babies learning to walk — constantly stumbling and picking themselves back up as they learn more about each other. Young-seo nearly kills Sung-hoon with her first-ever attempt at cooking, and Sung-hoon mistakes his posh girlfriend for Sporty Spice and takes her hiking.

The hiking trip dissolves into a round of bickering after their mountain top discussion turns to the topic of Hari and Tae-mu. Eternally loyal to Hari and unaware of Sung-hoon’s childhood relationship with Tae-mu, Young-seo is annoyed that Sung-hoon takes Tae-mu’s side. She pouts, and stomps off into the woods, where she twists her ankle. Sung-hoon carries her down the mountain, and his chivalry and He-Man strength are enough to placate Young-seo’s earlier ire.

Meanwhile, Tae-mu decides he’s not going to let Hari kiss and run. If she wants to pretend the kiss was a mistake, then he’s going to treat it like a failed business deal, and she must pay his penalty fee — with dinner. Of course, this is all just a ruse for him to spend more time with her and, hopefully, convince her his feelings are earnest.

And his plan appears to be working. Not only does she find herself staring lustfully at his lips when he takes bites of his dessert, but he puts on a piano performance that reminds her of his perfection. But he knows one dinner and a show isn’t enough to conquer her insecurities, so he pays for their meal and recants his earlier offer. Instead of dinner, Tae-mu says, he wants her to repay him with something more valuable: her time.

So for their next date/business transaction, he has her meet him at an indoor theme park, where they check off a few rom-com tropes and buy matching headbands. As cute as those moments are, though, their relationship progresses more, once again, over a shared meal.

When he was seven, Tae-mu’s parents brought him to the same theme park, and now that memory is tied to the taste of corn dogs. Instead of reacting to his story with pity and shallow platitudes, Hari understands that the memory is rooted in happiness, and Tae-mu appreciates her reaction, revealing that he can’t even talk about those memories with Grandpa.

Sadly, their bonding is interrupted by an urgent phone call: Hari’s parents are in the hospital! While Mom only sustained a minor grease burn, Dad had to have an emergency appendectomy.

Tae-mu has them moved to a VIP suite, but instead of properly introducing their handsome benefactor as her boss and wannabe suitor, Hari says he’s her coworker. They assume he’s Kevin, which leads to some fun dramatic irony as they complain about Hari’s new boss who makes her work a lot of overtime.

As Tae-mu escorts Hari home, she apologizes on behalf of her parents and their unkind words. He’s forgiving, but he teases that he’s disappointed she would talk about him behind his back. And to think, he gave her a discount for stealing a kiss!

He claims he’s revoking the discount and the full debt of her stolen kiss must be repaid with another kiss. On the surface, Tae-mu’s words sound a pushy, but there’s also a playful undertone. It’s hard to say if Hari is reciprocating his brand of flirting because, in the middle of protesting, Min-woo swoops in and — unnecessarily — tries to save her.

Thanks to some accidental-but-also-kinda-on-purpose snooping, Min-woo discovered Hari was in a contract relationship with Tae-mu. So when he sees them bickering, Min-woo immediately assumes Tae-mu is abusing his power and comes to her defense, punching Tae-mu in the face. Before they attract the attention of the passing police car, Hari deescalates the situation and drags Min-woo away, leaving poor Tae-mu to look after them like a kicked puppy.

When they’re alone, Min-woo claims he’d have saved her from Tae-mu’s evil clutches if he’d known about the contract earlier. Instead of reacting positively to his protectiveness, Hari counters that it’s none of his business who she fake-dates. When Min-woo realizes that her defensiveness stems from her genuine affection for Tae-mu, Min-woo metaphorically kicks her self-esteem, telling her that it would never work out between her and Tae-mu. (Ugh, what a massive underwear stain he is.)

Luckily, Hari’s able to blow off some steam at the company field day, but as much as she’d like to forget Tae-mu, the universe won’t let her. The MVP for the day’s activities will win a dinner with Tae-mu, and Hari overhears her female coworkers gushing about how wonderful it would be to win the prize and share a meal with their handsome boss. Hari’s jealousy is instantly ignited, and she goes Super Saiyan, wiping out all her competition.

Her victory is short lived, though, because the field day is followed by a company dinner, and Tae-mu is noticeably absent. According to Kevin — who knows all the hot company gossip — Grandpa set him up on a blind date with Young-seo’s competitive cousin JO YOO-JUNG (Seo Hye-won). As news of Tae-mu’s blind date sinks in, Hari’s jealousy takes root, and she can’t ignore it.

She hails a cab with the intention of crashing Tae-mu’s dinner. On her way there, she calls him and demands that he ditch his date, and she releases her feelings in a stream of verbiage. When she’s done, Tae-mu reveals that he’s been parked outside her home all night, waiting for her to come home.

They rush to meet each other and wind up on opposite sides of a pedestrian bridge, where he warns that she shouldn’t come any closer unless she’s prepared for him to never let her go. She confidently strides towards him, and she grabs his lapel and brings him in for a kiss. And another…

And I’m sorry, MeloMance, I can’t hear your outro over the sound of my squeeing.

Although this week’s ending left me feeling giddy and satisfied, I did find Episodes 7 and 8 slightly lacking in the drama’s earlier charm. Tae-mu was a bit pushy with the whole kiss repayment plan, but I can empathize with his frustration. The biggest roadblock between him and happiness was Hari’s doubts, and it’s hard to prove he’s sincere when the object of his affection would rather avoid him than trust him. At the same time, I’m glad they addressed Hari’s internal struggle, as it was very important for her character development, and I respect that she was appropriately cautious about starting a relationship with her boss.

But, as much as I appreciate that our leading couple addressed the disparities in their socioeconomic and workplace statuses, I really could have used some more Grandpa to offset the seriousness. The fact that I didn’t get a drama-within-a-drama Boyfriend Bluff scene was also a huge letdown. But are these minor disappointments enough to completely turn me off from Business Proposal?

Hell…

 
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I miss Harabuji, they really benched him these pass couple of episodes. Also how adorable are our 2nd leads. They are so cute together. Min Woo is incredibly annoying, go away sir you had your chance. As for our leads, Huzzah!!! I also miss the drama within the drama, come back with more slaps, we are missing a kimchi slap.

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Grandpa chasing a frightened TM around the desk was the highlight of ep. 7 for me. TM looked genuinely scared, LOL - and like a big ungainly bird trying to run.

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Yes, I miss Harabuji and also the "Geum- Hi" version of Ha-ri...she was a lot more fun. Ha-ri does look like a ghost with her hair all in her face, slouching and hiding everywhere....I just can't take it anymore. I want the Geum-Hi side of Ha -ri to come out, instead of this wilting wall flower. Ugh.

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Me too!
I think Ha-ri resembled the Geum-Hi side more at the beginning. I understand that they are doing away with the slapstick but I wish Ha-ri would be more consistent with the way she was introduced. I also think that the looks "Geum-Hi" was wearing really suited her.

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😂 Thanks for the weecap. I have been refreshing the page all day.

I was scared that the Min-woo (he needs to get lost) misunderstanding was going to drag on when I saw the preview for episode 8, but I'm really happy that it was settled quickly.

A drama where both couples make us swoon and laugh >>>>>>>>

I just want to say for the umpteenth time that I really really really love this drama.

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I agree that we need more of lovely Harabuji 😍

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I've memorized the dialogue with how many times I've replayed these scenes. Ha-ri pouring her heart out to Tae-moo before kissing him was heart-wrenching because she had tears in her eyes, and her voice was quavering. Her head knows it would never work out, but her heart wants more. "It’s been a while" had me melting because he missed her.

Our besties are so alike in kissing men first, then stomping on their hearts by asking them to pretend it never happened. Poor Sung-hoon. I wondered if maybe they didn't sleep together and Young-seo had only slept over or else she would've remembered it. I'm grateful our second lead couple has their own place unlike our lead couple who would need a third hotel room.

I suspect Tae-moo pulled a Young-seo and had someone go in his place on his blind date with Crazy Cousin. My bet is on Sung-hoon because he wanted to make up for not telling Tae-moo that he liked Young-seo at first sight and keeping from him that they were dating, except that'd be cruel because Sung-hoon has a girlfriend and would make Young-seo hate Tae-moo even more than she already does.

The Boyfriend Bluff gave us cringe and cuteness, especially "I'm not exaggerating," and "I'm not getting any sleep tonight." Yoo-ra and Gossip Gals didn't notice Tae-moo switching back to jondaemal when he was genuinely worried about Ha-ri like when the man almost ran into her and when she spilled her wine (Where was the black card flex to buy her new clothes?).

After their kiss, Ha-ri better fuss over Tae-moo's bruised face after getting punched by mind-your-own-business Min-woo, and he fuss over her sprained wrist after winning the MVP dinner. I hope she tells him that he can talk to her about his parents and they can eat corn dogs together.

I loved the role reversal from Geum-hee to "Manager Gye" and can't wait to see how Ha-ri explains the lie to her parents. Let's let Grandpa meet his two granddaughters-in-law, so at least he would still be in-laws with Chairman Jin.

I’m sorry, MeloMance, I can’t hear your outro over the sound of my squeeing.

LMAO Thanks a bunch for your hysterical squeecap, @DaebakGrits!

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Squeecap- A perfect term for writing about this show.

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It is! It’s perfect! Right up there with The Boyfriend Bluff! @daebakgrits, you rule!

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@panshel Awe, thank you! And I love that you call it a squeecap! It feels so appropriate!

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Another fun & awesome recap, daebak! 😆

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Crazy Cousin already knows Tae-moo, so a fake date isn't possible. She'd already told her cousin he has a girlfriend.

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We loved these episodes and, while I wish we had more Grandpa too.

Min-woo is annoying but there has to be some sort of antagonist to have a drama and Min-woo's jealousy over losing his backup plan to our Archaeopteryx is about as harmless and minor a challenge as this couple could get (Grandpa may also become a minor hurdle for a moment but it is easy to see how Tae-mu will be able to handle that: "Its her or no one" and Grandpa being the bottom line guy that he is will decide that it is her).

Young-seo and Sung-hoon are wonderful and their bumps on the road are exactly what one would normally expect at this point in their relationship. They are both learning how to be together- and so far that is going well. The future? At some point they will have to face Young-seo's family.

This show is a romcom done right. It is so well written, directed and acted that it really sets the standard for how to do a rom-com. I hope that other show creators will take full note.

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Lol, I love how your post reads a little bit like a risk analysis memo.

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Long time professional habits are hard to break

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While I was also sad about the lack of harabeoji and Be Strong, Geum-hee, I have a feeling they’ll make a strong comeback in episodes 9 and 10, given the preview. At least, I really hope so.

I do agree that these episodes were mostly missing the playfulness of the previous episodes, but I do think it was necessary to address the roadblocks dealt with here. Min-woo is a piece of work and I’m so, so glad both Tae-mu and Ha-ri called him out for his hypocrisy. I think I may have cheered out loud when Ha-ri told him to mind his own business. I found that to be surprisingly unusual for most romcom female leads. Many of them tend to be quite forgiving of the pushy-male-friends-they-liked when they start acting like absolute asses. And I totally agree with Tae-mu that the reason Min-woo never asked out Ha-ri was because he saw her as “beneath” him. He liked the attention of a Ha-ri crushing on him, but never respected her enough to consider her as an actual romantic partner. Ugh, men like him are the worst.

Anyways, uhhh, what is there left to say? 1) Loved harabeoji chasing Tae-mu around for allegedly cheating on Geum-hee. My boy truly looked like a scared prehistoric bird there. 2) Sung-hoon and Yeong-so are HOT and adorable, but maybe need to communicate more about exactly what our awkward prehistoric bird’s real relation to Sung-hoon is. 3) Tae-mu saying his love for Ha-ri and his credit card are equally limitless was hilarious. I could go on and on, but you get it.

Even on “slower” episodes, my love for Business Proposal is just like Tae-mu’s credit card and his love for Ha-ri: limitless. Thanks for the continuing great recaps, @daebakgrits.

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Respectfully, I think you might have misunderstood Taemoo and Minwoo’s conversation? Only because that scene was an absolute delight for me. Min woo asked Taemoo why he was dating Hari when ‘a man like you could have any woman’. Taemoo - ‘are you trying to say Hari is beneath me? I guess you’re the kind of guy to date people based on ‘levels’’. And the killing line - ‘don’t you casually decide the ‘level’ of my woman you asshole’ - I squawked like an archaeopteryx myself!

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You know what? Fair. That’s a much better understanding of the scene. I don’t think I worded my sentence all that well. Still think Min-woo is an asshole and good for Tae-mu for calling out his bullshit. Ha-ri is a gem of a woman, and any man - hotshot chaebol or homeless hack - would be blessed to have her as their girlfriend.

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Oh, interesting. I thought @ladynightshade made a great point that I missed, I honestly think that Min Woo has, at least subconsciously, always thought he’s too good for her.

And another point for @daebakgrits, Min Woo is absolutely an “Underwear Stain” 🤢

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While I agree overall with @haru about what TM means in that interaction, I also think @ladynightshade is right that Minwoo looks down on HR. He seems to think she's a fallback position that will always be there for him if it doesn't work out with someone better.

If TM said something like "don’t you casually decide the ‘level’ of my woman, you asshole," Netflix's subtitles didn't include it - but TM's tone of voice and reptilian stare sure did!

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Ok I had to go back and double check. I guess my brain added the ‘you asshole’ bit itself lmao, but the rest of it was definitely what he said. He did drop into informal speech for that bit.

My Korean is not amazing, but it’s good enough to cause frustration at Netflix’s subtitles when I catch a hint of something good, for sure.

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I don’t think @Haru’s point about Tae-mu telling Min-woo that he doesn’t decide the “level” Ha-ri is, negates my reading of the scene as Min-woo also never respecting Ha-ri enough to consider her as girlfriend material. That underwear stain (fantastic work here, @daebakgrits!) exposes his own high horse and instinctual disrespect of Ha-ri and Tae-mu calls him out for it and tells him he was no right to decide what “level” his girlfriend is. It’s a great scene. There was a lot happening and it’s interesting to see which perspective individual viewers immediately pick up on during the first watch-through.

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@ladynightshade I'm loving how Underwear Stain, is catching on because that is exactly what he is! In terms of K-drama antagonists, he's a small fry, but we've all met some version of Min-woo in real life, so it's a thrilling to see our hero and heroine put him in his place. Vicarious justice porn!

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Oh man, it is SUCH a good insult 👍🏼

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Is the no-limit credit card that TM is flashing around the AmEx Black?

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It's a Visy -- not Visa -- Visy VIP Premium Gold Card.

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That card sounds fishy doesnt it? *pun intended

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LOLLLL! I went to check out that scene again, the card no. is clearly visible too! I'm amazed at the details in most Kdramas! But if it's a gold card, the card color should be gold, right? Haha

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Actually most no limits card is BLACK color except those special issue Platinum card. If i'm not mistaken.

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Unfortunately found myself in Team Disappointed after neither confession came off as romantic in Ep7. (Haven't watched Ep8 yet.)
There is something icky about SH kissing YS when she's obviously drunk and would have been better if they were both sober. There are plenty of things, like a bad vomiting joke for example, that could have been embarrassing enough for YS to want to avoid SH. Instead it being because she blacked out just took me completely out of enjoying the show.
I also can't understand why TM can't give Hari more room or even a foundation where she feels like things are possible. Why is it hard to have a conversation about why she's hesitating instead of pushing her to the answer he wants right away?

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Being so wasted that you can't remember the night before is not cute and very dangerous. Even though Sung-hoon's "From now on, I'll make sure that you never forget" could be interpreted as they didn't sleep together, and from today on, they will?, I hope Young-seo's memories come back to her.

In the webtoon, Ha-ri actually kisses Tae-moo while drunk, so thank God drama Ha-ri was sober. As for giving her space, he did give her a week. That's about the best he can do.

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Honestly, I took "From now on, I'll make sure that you never forget." as the indication they did sleep together. It would be nice if the show had the characters starting to drink less.

It was a week, but neither of them talked to each other. TM's just shown good insight into people that when he went to talk to Hari I was a bit surprised he didn't pick up on her hesitancy and try to troubleshoot it. Maybe I just wanted to see her swoon. If I looked at TM's confession more like a business negotiation, it makes a lot of sense because he doesn't want to waste time and therefore pushed the terms that he wanted. But that's his wants, not necessarily hers. Hari just stopped being worried about him potentially firing her. She's also shown discomfort as he spent a lot of money as her pretend BF. So, as much as she thinks he is handsome she's also not put him in her radar. Had hopes that TM would have waited until Hari had shown more interest.

Doesn't help with the: "I'm going to keep asking you out until you go out with me," kind of confession. They always make me bristle (and I'd wish they'd been left in 2011) because I find them really disrespectful.

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I feel the same about the "will keep trying until you say yes" type of confessions - people think it's swoon-worthy because in this case a rich, handsome man is saying it, but if he was just some dude you were completely uninterested in then it would be creepy af

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You must have missed everyone swooning over Do Hyeok saying the same thing in Nevertheless even though the FL had just rejected him. All because the ML was not professing eternal love to the FL after knowing her for barely 3months.

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In many ways, sober guy having sex with a drunk woman is rape. She cannot and is not giving consent. I know that this is not that kind of show, but I cringed a bit when I saw that.

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My re-watch of eps 1-6, while very enjoyable, only made me appreciate the cast/crew/writers even more.
Each episode is chucky-jam-full of tropes and cliches. What makes the show sparkle is the intelligent reversal or blatant showcasing of each one. It's like the writers decided to slide up alongside each trope and *wink, wink; nudge, nudge * it.
How many times have we seen a couple walking on a strangely deserted beach in Kdramas? This show decided to add a top chef food truck ordered up specially by the ML as the cherry on top. Or the "face mask scene" but it's grandpa wearing a ridiculous lion mask. Every episode has dozens of tropes all tweaked and burnished 'till they shine.
Now I'm kinda bumming we have only four more to watch (and re-watch) but extremely grateful for the ride.

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Sung-hoon mistakes his posh girlfriend for Sporty Spice and takes her hiking.

LOLLLLL!!! Oh your perfect description!!! @daebakgrits

I really like that the writer doesn't drag things out to prolong the angst or tension. Example: Tae Mu clearly confessing his feelings to Hari instead of hiding them.

So far, the angsty scenes haven't been bad. Not frustrating or too lightweight. Min Woo.... He has no chance. He doesn't bother me. I'm more concerned about the contract leaking and what a scandal it would be. But still, our couple is so strong individually that I'm not too worried about them.

I like how Hari gradually realized her feelings (and appreciation of Tae Mu's lips, hah!).

It was freaking awesome how Hari handled Min Woo too.

There were less jokes and playfulness in these episodes, but I still enjoyed them nonetheless. It was necessary for the OTP to have some time to seriously consider their feelings. The show was funny with the extra, over-the-top wind effects on Hari though and Tae Mu's cheesiness at the beginning cracked me up.

(Ugh, what a massive underwear stain he is.)

(@daebakgrits referring to Min Woo)

/dead/ 😂😂😂

I also love how you made used of that big ol' NO screencap. ;D

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A recurring motif amplified in these two episodes: heartbeats, his and hers. I first noticed TM's heart pounding in ep. 5, when HR gets in his face in the corridor and demands detailed ravioli feedback, and there's a heartbeat-like echo in the electronic music when he spots her outside the restaurant where she's supposed to meet Grandpa. Maybe there are earlier examples, but I haven't gone back to look.

In ep. 6, it's not clear whose heart is pounding when they're unexpectedly face-to-face in the movie theater, but mine definitely is.

HR's heart beats louder, starting in ep. 7:
- In their hotel room, when he removes his coat and she sees the muscles flexing in his broad back. (I'm right there with you, girl.)
- When she thinks, “I’m not going to get any sleep tonight” with him in the next room.
- When he reaches out to help her onto the boat.
- When she’s in her room at home that night, thinking about his confession.

Their hearts finally sync up in ep. 8 with a split-screen scene of them lying in their separate beds, thinking of each other. Awwww. I love a heaping serving of split-screen cheese, and this one is especially delicious because of their mirrored poses and their gazes slowly rising to look into the camera as if meeting each other's eyes. Thump-THUMP!

Coda: that electronic heartbeat echo is back when HR practically goes into a trance watching TM's lips at Revenge Dinner #17 or whatever we're up to now. I absolutely did not replay that scene twice at 50% speed to be certain, no indeedy.

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Whoa.. I noticed some of the heartbeats but I didn't notice most of these. Good ear!

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Woah such attention to details! Now i need to go hunt these moments.

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I noticed all of them too. This drama has better background music, the heart thumping, the cat me-ow shrieking, the wolf howling, the dog barking, the archeopteryx 😆😆😆... The production team put such a great effort on giving the amplifier to the ambient thru small details: the poster of original webcomic, the book promotion (You and Me: A book for those hiding their feelings), the kissing painting, etc.

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I think I definitely like the chemistry between the second leads more than the first ones. The spark is missing between the first leads. I am afraid I think Tae Moo's acting is not consistently good. Sometimes he has decent expressions, sometimes they are off. May be its just because Sung Hoon is objectively hotter, atleast in my eyes :P.

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I am not going to argue that this show as the best K-romance ever, but it sure is enjoyable. Like everyone, I was missing Grandpa and the drama within a drama, but still there were just so many amusing moments. Tae-mu "Like this credit card my love for you is unlimited" and then him playing some sort of saccharine theme on the piano as she came out of the bathroom--hilarious.

And then at the end I really appreciated the reference on the bridge of my least favorite scene in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, when Young-Joon says to Mi-so "if you come through that door, I won't maintain control" (or something like that) making their first sexual experience sound like something rapey. Tae-mu's "If you cross the line I won't let you go" is a lot more romantic and what the Secretary Kim line should have been.

Anyway, as I said, maybe this is not the greatest k-rom com ever, but I wish there were more shows as fun and clever as this one. Also @daebakgrits your recapping of this one is as enjoyable as the show. Thanks!

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Good point about the WWWSK scene - that made me uncomfortable back then, too, even though the subsequent kissing etc. was super-hot (for kdrama) and clearly reciprocal. But I've seen enough variants on that "if you take one more step..." line in a bunch of dramas, all the way back to Dal Ja's Spring, to consider it a trope on its own.

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Thanks--I'm sure I've heard varients of this as well in other rom-coms--I just was always bothered by this one in Secretary Kim and so my mind leaped to that with Tae-Mu's line.

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Also, while no one might be interested, I made white kimchi ravioli, and while I know my version would not have passed Tae-mu's (petty) criticism, it was actually pretty good! I used a white kimchi recipe I found on the internet, and then because I'd read that white kimchi sometimes has jujubes and chestnuts, I put a coarse ground mixture of that in the white kimchi ravioli filling. For the ravioli dough I used the New York Times recipe, and then for the sauce I made a romesco sauce with pine nuts (again something I read is often in white kimchi) adding a little fish sauce and gochugaru for a "korean" flavor.
The reception, though, was pretty comic--me, nerdily enthusiastic, my wife, who watched the show, indulgent, and my son who ate it with us said "It was fine--but why are you doing this again?" Anyway, if anybody else tried this, I'd love to hear your recipe!

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This makes me want to try cooking Kimchi Ravioli, but it seems too complicated recipe for me.

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I guarantee you, nothing I make is too complicated! But I did use ingredients like pre-cooked chestnuts, jujubes, and pine nuts. It definitely would not have passed Tae-mu's demand for 25% less cost!

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Jujubes and pine nuts are not easily found in my area. I need to order it online from faraway country. Probably I just need that instant kimchi ravioli by Tae Moo Go Food available ha ha ha PPL not withstanding

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Funny you should mention that! I was thinking that I was making my dinner table into a PPL for Go Food. By the way I got a lot of the ingredients at my local H-mart, the wonderfully stocked U.S. korean food chain, where I also picked up some Kopiko candy...just what I needed for a little late morning boost . Oh, and there also just happened to be a subway nearby, where I had a delicious sandwich!

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Kopiko is originally from my country 😅 I've been eating that since my childhood.
Subway just opens their chain store here, people are lining. I guess I'll wait till the euphoria comes down a bit. What K dramas do to our lives 😆

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Seriously? You are a mensch. Wanna try this recipe myself. Can't handle cabbage but love me some cucumber kimchi.

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I blanched the kimchi ingredients prior to brining them because I didn't want it too crispy for the ravioli, so I don't know if cucumber would work--but I love cucumber kimchi as well!
Also, I should credit the site which provided my main guide to making white kimchi: https://mykoreankitchen.com/baek-kimchi-non-spicy-white-kimchi/

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Here, here. How I look forward to @daebakgrits' squeecaps only second to the actual show. Mille grazie.

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I LOLed when Hari said Taemu is such a good actor. That brings meta out of meta. If Taemu isn't played by AHS, I probably didn't laugh this much. Good job writer!
The scene when Sung hoon wants to kiss Young-soo on doorway, and he takes his glasses of....... I mean he does that like Superman esque, I just wee.... 😲 I need Kim Min-kyunas ML ASAP

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Even with all the hilarious lines uttered by Tae Moo, I think the very best line was by Sung Hoon, “I’ll make sure this time you won’t forget”

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Third try to echo your sentiments. Sexiest line I ever heard in a Kdrama.

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It sure was that.

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Right? 🔥🔥🔥

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@pohonphee YES! I was squeeing with the Superman feels too haha what a great moment

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Oh my God I just realized the meta!! Honestly didn't understand some of the criticism toward AHS - this is my first time watching him in a drama and I must say he did a good job! Not excellently like Sejeong but I must say it is solid and I'm sold, particularly from episode 3 onward. Now I'm looking for his crumbs on Youtube and looking to watch his past dramas lol

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This drama is so well paced

Ha-ri only had one episode to agonize over her growing feelings for Tae-Mu, and once she decided that she wanted to be with him she went for it. Other dramas would have dragged this out for 5 episodes

Tae-Mu's Confession was straightforward and to-the-point, i loved it, it was also perfectly in line with how his character is written.

Our second couple got a bit more screen time this week and they brought the cute and the funny.

Ha-ri telling Min-woo to stay out of her business immediately after his outburst had me cheering.

Young-seo's cousin and aunt both speaking "Korenglish" is another one of my favorite gags

On a more superficial note:
Whoever does the styling and costumes for Grandpa deserves an award, he always looks so damn sharp.

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Things I liked (among others):

Ha-ri just shutting Min-woo down and not offering excuses or justification for the contract. Go away and take off some of your lipstick, Min-woo (seriously. So much lipstick it was distracting).

That Tae Mu didn’t go on the blind date and was just waiting for her.

The return of the archaeopteryx hologram ❤️

Ha Ri’s parents mistaking Tae Mu for coworker.

Things I didn’t like:

If you’re going up a mountain, and you’ll be dressed appropriately, i respectively suggest that you tell your partner where you’ll be going so she can do the same. Let her at least be comfortably dressed for the hike, even if she hates hiking.

I didn’t like the scene where Ha Ri rejects Tae Mu and he’s like “I’ll keep asking till you say yes”. It might have been lost in translation but it landed on the stalky side for me instead of swoony. On the whole I feel like the pacing has been great in this drama but they haven’t paid quite enough attention to Ha Ri actually liking him back for me to feel like she was reluctantly turning him down.

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*respectfully not respectively 😒 this is what happens when you don’t read what you’re writing

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I agree with you about the hiking, but Young-Seo sure made him pay, with the carry down the mountain! And I think his apology at the end wasn't just about the Tae-mu misunderstanding.
As far as Tae-Mu, he is very awkward, and obviously not at all good at everything--especially in wooing Tae Mu. But again, I agree, I was never convinced until the end of the last episode that Tae Mu was really falling for him. On the other hand, that attempt to get the MVP in the sports competition was a funny scene. Maybe the swoony in this rom-com takes a back seat to the winking at the tropes, which is fine for me in this case. (Other shows, maybe not!)

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I feel the same way about Ha-ri liking Tae-mu back. We got to see how he started to like her (he was drawn to her honesty and her passion for food and her work), but I had some trouble seeing what made her like him back.

From Ha-ri's perspective, the show seemed to focus more on certain mood-driven moments: the accidental proximity when Tae-mu adjusted her seat in the cinema, him tying her shoes on the beach etc.

This would be less of an issue if their relationship were set up as an "attraction at first sight" situation like Sung-hoon and Young-seo's romance. But for Tae-mu and Ha-ri, I think we needed to see more of the emotional connection they are building that transcends their outward social standing, especially from Ha-ri's perspective.

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As @daebakgrits said, taemu language of love is act of service, and its what make hari fall for him. Her whole life she works herself to the fullest and what she got in return is just something meh.
She is the family breadwinner, so as much as her family adore her, they still basicaly her burden. Youngseo loves hari so much, but still youngseo would put herself first then hari would come close second. Then taemu come and treat her like a queen. Poor girl finally know how it is feel to be cherished to the utmost...

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Word! Who wouldn’t and what a contrast to her years of crushing on Min-woo. Ha-ri’s prompt action in putting Min-woo in place shows she’s done the heart vs head analysis down pat.

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I see how this could be a possible reading, especially from our more distanced perspectives as the viewer (where we get to see things that individual characters may not). But while Tae-mu's acts of service are there, I do wish the show did something more to actually guide us through Ha-ri's own reactions to them, and not through the viewer's own inferences about the possible reasons she came to like him.

For example, in episode 4, she mused to herself that Tae-mu had an unexpectedly sweet side when he drops by to give her medicine for her black eye. Such moments give us important insight into Ha-ri warming up to Tae-mu, but they were comparatively sparse in the lead-up to the confession scene.

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I agree w/ what you said about Hari's reciprocated feelings. I feel like she had a couple moments where her heart fluttered but I would have wanted something a little more. Your comment about Minwoo's lipstick...LOLLLL

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Knowing that SBS is a public channel, I didn't expect that hot kiss and the drunk makeout scene between Sung Hoon and Yeong Seo. If their relationship is hot, Ha Ri and Tae Moo's relationship is swoon! I am not complaining about the lack of sexiness in the leads kiss, but I would suffice if the show can get Tae Moo to make Ha Ri blush by acknowledging Samantha and Rachel in a wordplay😂🙈 and the rest can be left to viewers imagination. Pardon my crude attitude!

In the remaining episodes when they reveal the farce surrounding Shin Geum Hi's identity to grandpa and Kevin's identity to Ha Ri's parents, I hope, it culminates in a delightful scene of granpa boasting about being in laws of a family running chicken diner, unlike the fictional drama that he loved watching.

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I watched ep 7 thinking, in order
1) SQUEEEEEEEE
2) wow, I haven’t squeeeee’d in a long time
3) why is this ultimate cornball stuff so thrilling? What is wrong with me?

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@bbstl I'm with you in spirit, squeeing along side you! I'm pretty sure I was so high pitched that I reached that level of sound only dogs can hear.

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I think regardless of Min Woo intention, Min Woo has a point questioning Tae Moo's Intention. I Mean, What's with Fake relationship contract means? You has a point to doubt Tae Moo's motive. And He is a chaebol, can date any woman, and often chaebol and common girl will has many stigma and just like her office worker said, there is a huge chance who he date different of who he will marry.

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I actually understood his earlier concerns about the contract and whether Tae-mu was powertripping Ha-Ri. But when he said that Ha-Ri and Tae-mu will never work, his tone implied that Ha-ri isn't at Tae-mu's level and it only reminded me of his earlier piss-off with Tae-mu at the yacht. And I'm like NOPE. Who are you to go around dragging down our Ha-ri like that??? You had your chance. And it pisses me to no end that he wants to keep Ha-ri as his fall-back plan b. Grrrr

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If it weren't for his apparent looks of jealousy when he found out that Hari went to that concert with a guy and being upset instead of his friend getting a bf, I would have seen his comments about status in a different light because he doesn't know if Tae-mu was a nice rich person or a bad rich person. Whether he was consciously doing it or not, Minwoo has always kept Hari as his backup, his spare tire.

Yeah the fake relationship contract and overhearing Tae-moo suggesting that Hari pay with a kiss -- looked really bad.

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I looove this show. I honestly watched this because I love Sejeong but this became my reward for myself each week. I find myself smiling, laughing, and squeeing every episode.

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Really disappointed in the superficial Min-Woo. I wish he'd had more valiant reasons for not being with Ha Ri if only for the fact that Ha Ri loved him ... how can Ha Ri have misjudged his character for the last 7 years? And given Yoo Ra's 'annoyance' with everything Ha Ri does, I think we're going to find that Yoo Ra gets back together with Min Woo only because Yoo Ra does not want Min Woo with Ha Ri. Ugh! ... these surreptitious villains emotionally scarring our beautiful Ha Ri are killin' me!!

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And Min Woo looked genuinely sad, not just jealous, when he found out after Young Seo bragged about Ha Ri's 'boyfriend'. I thought he'd be a bigger person.

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I love how the show matryoshka-dolled a bunch of boyfriend cliches within Tae-mu's Boyfriend Bluff act. (The animated dollar bills tossing its kin in the air? Priceless.) It makes the flaunting enjoyable, because it's meant as a dig at Ha-ri's superficial friends. Grandpa's hot pursuit of Tae-mu was a perfect way to cap off the whole ruse.

That said, I do share the view that this week's episodes lacked a bit of the show's earlier charm, but my main issue was the way they executed Ha-ri's confession.

Ha-ri is absolutely justified in her discomfort and fears at the different worlds she and Tae-mu occupy. DaebakGrits made an excellent point that the Boyfriend Bluff only served to remind her of this.

I only wish that she had a chance to bring this up without Tae-mu first asserting that no matter what she says, he'll confess again and again until she accepts him. That was an unironic use of a tired rom-com cliche: the male lead refusing to respect his love interest's boundaries, passed off as a persistence that's supposed to be seen as romantic.

Without that comment, his sincere promise that he'll do his best to work through any issues that come their way would have been romantic enough.

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I also wanted to add that:

1) I melted into a puddle at the way Young-seo looked at Sung-hoon after he set her down on a bench. She even got the golden sunset backlighting treatment!

2) Kim Young-ah and Seo Hye-won absolutely nailed their comic performances as Young-seo's aunt/ cousin respectively. I was amazed by how I could tell they were mother and daughter even before the fact was revealed, just by the way they ostentatiously mix English and Korean together.

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It must have taken a lot of moral strength for Sung-hoon to resist her suggestion that they really should go straight home rather than taking her to the hospital to check her ankle. It was a great way for the show to demonstrate that he already cares very deeply for her.

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I find logic in Tae-mu's insistence that that he will keep it up until she gives in.

First, he is truly motivated for two reasons- He has found a woman who he can actually love- who engages him emotionally even when she does not mean to. Second, the alternative would be someone like Young-seo's cousin. Given the high stakes he cannot give up.

Second, he realizes that bulldozer plus battering ram is the only thing that could work on Ha-ri precisely because her awareness of their different backgrounds cannot be conquered in any other way.

Think about it: We all cheered when Tae-mu told Min-woo, in no uncertain words, that Ha-ri is good enough for him or anyone else. But how can he convince Ha-ri of this? By committing to keep on going until she gives in. He knows that if someone like him keeps it up long enough that Ha-ri will actually finally get the message that she really is good enough. It is not enough to simply say it- it his actions that prove it. Actions really do speak louder than words. And, by telling her what he is doing- and then doing it- she can learn to trust him.

Is this heavy handed? Absolutely. But it is also the only thing that will work.

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You make sense there. It feels heavy handed to American culture, but if we realize that she's turning him down not because she doesn't like him but like you said, she doesn't feel she's worthy of him. And of course with 11 blind dates under his belt he recognizes the person that completes him.

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It makes even more sense when you realize that she has also been beaten down by Min-woo's treatment of her in the past. Watching her long time crush being with another woman means that she has come to see herself as a second fiddle. If someone like Tae-mu keeps on pursuing her she has to come to see herself in a different light.

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I really wouldn't mind reading his words this way, but I think the problem then is the order in which the lines were scripted. If Ha-ri had admitted that the difference in standing was her main reason for saying no, followed by Tae-mu saying he would keep confessing until she changed her mind (or became assured enough to agree to date him), then I wouldn't take as much issue with this line.

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In the Korean setting for the show Ha-ri does not have to say these things in the first place: It is already understood by everyone. Tae-mu already knows this even without her saying it. And she knows that he knows it.

Tae-mu has made it clear that he does not just want to date her. Plus he is desperate- that is why he is doing things that he normally would not do. As he sees it he has exactly one shot at having a happy future at this point and he is not going to miss that chance.

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While I agree with you that this line in another show would be bothersome, I'm not sure why this couldn't be reference to another romance trope, the persistent lover wearing down his love's resistance. After all, there are not too many unironic lines in this show.

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Anyone noticed that AHS’s ear was super red while kissing KSJ?

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Oh my g-d, the red ears on men in kdramas! 😆 What's wrong with these people? They live in a cold-winter country! Hats exist for a reason!

I noticed red ears repeatedly throughout this show and in a few others filmed largely in winter, especially poor freezing Junho in Just Between Lovers. I feel so bad for the actors, and find it especially annoying because the solution (hats! they're normal! and can be cute!) seems so obvious and wouldn't be a distraction on the level of flaming Warning Beacons of Gondor intruding into my romantic fantasy.

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😂 Warning Beacons of Gondor, love it.

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Totally agree on Jun Ho in JBL, actually they all looked like they were freezing in that drama.

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Followed up a squee with, "oh dear look at his poor cold ears". Instead of those cutesy headband things, characters should invest in ear muffs that don't mess up their hair.

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Excuse the essay in advance, I unfortunately have to rant a bit, and it's not going to be pretty.

Unfortunately, for me, Business Proposal, and specifically, Tae Mu, dip their toes far too often into toxicity for me to be as smitten with this drama as I was initially. Just when the power dynamic seems to be becoming a bit more even (or as even as it could be, considering their employer-employee situation), Tae Mu hears something he doesn't want to hear, and immediately goes back to throwing his power and entitlement around.

I think in media like this, when we see the pushy/entitled/etc. male lead, we dismiss it because we, as an audience, know that his feelings are reciprocated. That the female lead shares his affections, but just is too shy/insecure/in denial/etc. to vocalise them. Because we see both of their perspectives, we don't feel like there is any harm being done. His pushiness is just helping their love out of its shell. But when we put ourselves into the show itself, and try to view the events from the characters' individual perspectives, it gets a whole lot ickier. Because sure, Ha-Ri likes Tae Mu, but HE doesn't know that. All he knows for certain is that:
A. He is her boss
B. He has a history of pressuring her into doing things she doesn't want to do under threat of being fired/having to pay him a fee she can't afford/being emotionally indebted to him. (A habit which, if anything, kind of reaffirms her doubts about them being on the same 'level'? The power imbalance is massive).
C. She (initially) verbally expressed a desire to remain as co-workers.

He might have a hunch that she's hiding her feelings, but in the end, that hunch is not a good enough reason to override what has been vocally asserted by the other party. ESPECIALLY if that other party is one whom you wield power over in another way, such as is their situation.

And I know, I know. It's just a cute tv show (and it IS very cute), and it's not supposed to be that deep. But I am so exhausted by media portraying male entitlement, and abuses of power as romantic. As the cutesy, endearing means to a perfect happy ending. But we can have shows be cute and cheesy and fluffy and endearing without romanticising red flag behaviours.

Phew, sorry guys. I'm only this annoyed because I really love so many parts of this show!

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Agree. I can see how it is annoying IRL when I say No it means No.

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I think in episode 8, he knows exactly Hari likes him back. Based on her reaction when he appear after a week not bothering her. His reaction indicated he knows she like him back,and it's no longer about she like him or not. that's why he assure her to keep confessing to her until she is ready to say yes. That's he is persistent to have dinner with her. I think I'm more bothered by his reaction after he found out she is her coworker. It's very uncomfortable to watch him torment her.

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*His employee.

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You have expressed exactly my sense of What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, and why I could never warm up to that rom-com favorite. And I like this show to the degree it makes fun of that common rom-com theme. So I'm a lot more tolerant of this show, which is very self-aware of that issue, than others.

Now, I know one could make a strong argument, as you are, that the very repetition of this theme of male prerogative, even in fun, is validation of it.
But, on the other hand, the very premise of this relationship is kind of absurd, so the aftermath seems less serious to me.

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I think that is one of the reasons I'm genuinely disappointed in the show rather than just judging it from a distance, haha. Because it has been relatively self-aware, and even occasionally underhanded Tae-Mu's behaviour with that same expression of self-awareness (like when multiple characters actually point out that he was being an ass with the whole ravioli debacle).

The problem is, by giving the romance the exact same outcome as in any other generic 2000s kdrama rom-com (he bullies her, falls in love, she says no, he persists, she relents), it winds up feeling, to me, like they gave up on their own joke midway through. They lampshade the trope, and then just... continue on exactly the same as any other romcom.

And yes, the premise is definitely pretty wacky and silly, but so is Twilight, and that story nonetheless provided a lot of young girls and teens with an unhealthy notion of 'romance'.

Thankfully, most of us aren't teenagers, and we're old enough and mature enough to know better than to ever excuse this behaviour rl as we might on screen. But I still will grieve for what could have been my fluffy romcom masterpiece.

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I agree with the general theme of your criticism--I guess I'm willing to cut this show some slack because of its jokiness--and also, we'll see what happens in the next 4 episodes, to see if that issue is addressed at all. I'm thinking it might be.

In fact, considering it, it would have been much funnier if they had the same tropes except reversed the genders--had the woman being the chaebol ceo and the man as the employee.

But as always with these chaebol fairy tale romances, I guess what tempers the sexual harassment aspect of it is that the ceo is not just pressuring the employee or secretary to be his mistress (as sadly might happen in real life) but also offering a lifestyle of wealth and luxury in marriage. So just speaking hypothetically of Hari, this might be a form of calculation in love that she might make--its own type of business proposal where the woman actually is an equal partner.

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I'm not sure if I agree that it would be funnier with the genders swapped (sexual harassment is pretty gross regardless of the party doing it), and regardless of if the harasser in question has a longterm relationship in mind.

But I do hope your instincts turn out to be right and they do address it! I was sort of expecting them to address it in these episodes, so that also factored into my disappointment. Then again, I definitely have a habit of counting my chickens before they're hatched, and would love to be proven wrong.

I also do want to add to anyone reading this thread that I am absolutely not knocking fans who are enjoying this show! I completely get the hype! It's adorable and suuuuper cracky, and I'm so happy it is brightening up y'all's Mondays.

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This is always The problems in story where there is an obvious power imbalance (this, The Red Sleves, ans many more). When it is the woman who has more power, people think it sexy and woman empowerment, but if it is reversed, people will complain. IMHO, it is just away drama writer use woman's fantasy, as drama is form of entertainment and mostly drama audience are women, that there is some man with all ideal characteristics will save the day because real life is hard and lonely ha ha ha
If it were me IRL, I will always question whether I really love this man with all his ideal characteristic, who loves me, saves my days, devoted to me even I continously say no, OR I am just being greedy and just want feeling better about my self (it is not that wheter we are equal/ at the same level or not, all human are the same and equal what are you talking about? 😃)? If he is not that perfect, will I still love him? If I dont still love him or love him the same? Is it love that I feel after all? Dun, dun, dun.....
But anyway Love is about learning he will have to learn to love her without feel owning her, she will have to learn to love him without feel she being owned. I guess 😃

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@pohonphee I know you are talking hypothetically, but as a male in real life I had to ask similar questions after my future wife turned me down, very nicely, the first time I asked her out. I was smitten, but should I persist? If I attended her athletic competitions (I asked her if she minded--she said okay but..) would I be seen as a stalker? If only I had been a chaebol, I would have impressed her with my yacht!

But I found real life dating really hard, and so as long as the ML in a show isn't malevolent or too domination hungry, I guess I will be too understanding of their behavior, hoping that the strong women often portrayed in k-dramas will decide in their best interests!

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Honestly, you should persist if you like her that much, but not like Tae-moo. It will annoy me. 😆 I don't need Yatch to be impressed.

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What about a credit card unlimited as my love?

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@hacja 😂 The card itself doesn't impress me, but if he can tell limitless jokes like that, it will be impressive ha ha ha.

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You are 100% right. On conscious level I completely agree with you. The test I use when my head is in charge is imagining that the persistent drama character with questionable behaviour is not a ML, hot and secretly liked by the FL. So is the behaviour in question still ok? And often the answer is nooooo… I could make a long list of unacceptable tropes. Infamous wrist grab, forcefully kissing FL and claiming that makes a person her boyfriend, forcing a relationship on FL if she doesn’t have another boyfriend (what!?), entering her home without permission and/or when she is not present, choosing what she can wear, eat, say, do… And these things are supposed to prove affection? Huh?
But, I realised that k-dramas make me forget all my morals. I can still enjoy them and laugh. Cringe here and there. Drop some.
I think Tae-mu is quite benign on bulldozer-k-drama-MLs-who-don’t-take-no-for-an-answer scale and more respectful than most. Counting down to Monday.

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Another superb "squeecap" @daebakgrits! I so love experiencing your boundless enthusiasm for this show!

Agreeing with all the comments about Min-woo here - at first, I couldn't believe Hari wasn't more angry with him for going through her drawer in her bedroom and finding the contract - NOT OKAY, SIR; does privacy have no meaning for you? But, thanks other beanies, for pointing out that this just underlines how small his threat is to Hari and Tae-mu - although she did have a crush on him, he's such an self-entitled loser that she won't waste the energy on bawling him out (although that would have been a GREAT moment for a kimchi slap...).

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@daebakgrits, i think youre a bit confused here, girlfriend.
Sunghoon didnt mistake youngseo's poshspice as sportyspice; instead he noticed her lack of stamina and wants to train her to be in a better shape. (Wink, nudge, blushed, 🙈)
Seriously. Between SH and YS, its hard to tell who has dirtier mind. (Or maybe its me the dirties one 😹)

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Haha!

I think it’s both ladies 😆

SHR - when she was momentarily excited by the thought of what was going to happen once they go into the hotel room during their 1st meeting in ep 1 and lusting at KTM lips when he was eating that dessert.

YS - telling SH right in the face how hot he was at that hike and being SO disappointed that she couldn’t remember their first hot steamy night together hahaha

Also love that both were the ones who initiated the first kiss with their men.

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Yes, both women did kiss their men first.

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By SH i honestly mean Sunghoon. But youre right. Shin Hari isnt that innocent either 🤣🤣. In fact, between this four, Kang Taemu is the pure one. Whne talking about craziest thing Hari has said to him, we would instantly think about Samatha and Rachel, but noo~~ he thinks about how geumhee said shes prefer threetiming or fourtiming instead of two 😅.

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Kim Se-jeong killed it in the lip scene. When Tae-moo snapped Ha-ri out of her dirty thoughts, she had to wipe off her drool and sing the national anthem to calm herself down. Ahn Hyo-seop was eating that dessert so seductively too.

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@nilsche Hahahaha! How could I forget the implications of better...stamina!

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Heh, that would have been funny if Grandpa was watching Shin Geum Hui get the boyfriend bluff treatment as well. I would love to hear what he would say about his favorite drama.

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As much as I was happy that Young-seo and Sung-hoon ended up kissing and more, after last week, I can't help but remember that Young-seo was completely drunk (she couldn't stand by herself), and Sung-hoon, completely sober (and he knew she was completely drunk). How is that acceptable for a sober person to end up in bed with a drunk one??
(yes Young-seo would have consented, but she was not in a state to actually give her consent)

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This is one dark spot of this fun show.

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Unfortunately, sober men sleeping with drunk women happens in more shows than we care to think: Nevertheless, You Drive Me Crazy, Witch’s Romance.

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In a show recently (Hometown Cha-cha-cha?) a hero said something along the lines of “I don’t take advantage of drunk women” and my immediate reaction was “yes king!!” and then realized just how low the bar is. Like, wow. That should be the norm, not something worthy of praise. 🤦‍♀️

Totally forgot about Bit-na and that one dude in Nevertheless. I never saw the appeal of his character because of exactly that. Why are drama fans so quick to excuse this? Ugh.

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in the drama 1% of anything, the male lead was waiting for the female lead to be sober, before jumping on her!
But I agree, that should be the norm...

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I remembered another one -- Work Later, Drink Now. All these women were so wasted that they can't remember ​what happened the morning after and had to piece together fragmented memories or walk of shame, and it's like, why do writers not see this as problematic?

I don't think Tae-moo would take advantage, but I'm worried for Ha-ri because that girl is a lush who regularly gets so drunk the police would send her home or her brother would find her passed out in a park. Especially since in the webtoon, Ha-ri was drunk when she ​kissed Tae-moo, which has been the best change this drama has made.

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Yes, Marion, I was thinking about 1% of Something as well. ML in that one is a real bulldozer, but drunk FL is safe with him, and she knows it. How refreshing!
Although I find Sung-Hoon really sweet, my alarms were blasting like crazy at that kiss-to-bed scene. I think that one was crossing my boundaries.

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Yes, and I believe that that exact practice is considered sexual assault in many of not all places.

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I would actually say it's called a rape, since it's a sexual act without the consent of one of the two. And since, we tend to consider that she can't give her informed consent, while being completely drunk...

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I didn’t like it either. He’d also been drinking but not nearly on the same scale (1 bottle in front of him vs 4 in front of her at the bar) - I really expected it to end up as a “you don’t remember because nothing happened” situation but 😕 it’s things like this that take me out of wholeheartedly enjoying the drama.

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This was troubling for me, too. They clearly took the time to show that Young-seo remembered being an enthusiastic participant at the start of their hook-up, and I guess that was designed to show us she was able and happily willing to consent. But then they undercut it with her lack of memory of the actual experience.

More than the consent issue, it's hard to ignore the fact that blacking out after drinking is not normal. I know kdramas in general play fast and loose with the effects of alcohol and glamorize heavy drinking, so it's not as if BP is unique on this front. And I still love this drama--and second couple--a lot. But it would have been better if they'd come up with a less problematic short-term conflict than Young-seo being so drunk during their first night together.

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All that i can think of when considering the 2nd leads are, THIS is how all the k celebs get pregnant and announce the wedding lol
I personality think dudes like taemoo who consider a girl with the intention of marriages in mind.
But at the end if the day, this is a drama and i guess there are people who are like taemoo and sunghoon

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I do think he was a little drunk himself--not enough to excuse the behavior, of course. But they had something a relationship before, so it wasn't a stranger/one night stand situation--again not excusing it, just that it seemed a little less exploitative because they both really liked each other.

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I think it's actually the worst thing, because they make it seem like nothing is problematic, since "but they had somehow a relationship", like alcohol just sped up things. If they wanted to go that way, they should have made both of them clearly drunk...

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Ok. Granted I haven’t finished reading the whole recap, but let me do this first.

@daebakgrits Me-ow 🐈!

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I binged this over the weekend and now I'm all caught up. I quite like it. I have a feeling that Tae Mu sent Sung Hoon as his replacement on that blind date with the crazy cousin which will cause some trouble for both couples, because I can't see Grandpa being an obstacole for the next 8 episodes. And speaking of Grandpa I miss his kdrama, I hope we see more of that show within a show.

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The good news - for pacing - is that there are only four more episodes. The bad news - for squeeing - is that there are only four more episodes.

So far this has been darn near perfectly set up as a 12-episode show, as there wouldn't be nearly enough conflict remaining to last another eight episodes. I'm increasingly hopeful that the writer can carry the momentum to the end.

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YES! I agree with this dilemma. I'm happy that they chose 12 episodes instead of 16 for this story so that we're spared of the unnecessary fillers (looking at you, noble idiocy). But I'm also sad that I only have 4 weeks left of chaotic squeeing. ABP is what gets me squeeing KYAAAHHH while 25-21 has me screeching AWWW and YIEEE in high pitch. So sorry, neighbors. They must be wondering what's going on in my room from Saturday to Tuesday midnights. 😆

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I went in not knowing anything about the drama so thanks for clarifying that it's only 12 episodes. That gives me a lot more confidence in the pacing and the drama's ability to finish on a strong note. Despite that my reaction was a big Noooo! when I read your reply as 4 episodes means there is so little left. I need more.

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Hum... Tae-Mu is showing too much his fortune in every way possible... I guess it must be kinda sexy, but I find him exhausting. AHS's acting doesn't help. When he jus stands, he looks great, but as soon as he speaks, he sounds like a robot or Haram.

Kim Se-Jung is really great in this role. I liked Hari didn't hide her feelings for too long and was clear with MinWoo. She should be the same with her family...

I really like the second couple, they're on fire.

I agree with @pohonphee Kim Min-Kyu was very Superman-esque with his glasses!

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Although I haven't watch him in RLS (as HaRam)...but I did see his radio talk show in YT. He did talking about all his past works, which are more on serious note and this is the first time he is doing rom-com/ easily scripted drama.

He may be lack of expression needed for romcom ML but he is exactly the portrayed KTM in the webcomic version. He said in the radioshow that his previous drama did took an impact/tolls towards his heart and this drama is actually relaxed him a bit.

I gave him much credit and leeways for his first rom-com and gladly I do not have anything in my mind to compare him with his previous works nor any rom-com ML (like mentioned by many viewers on his similarity with WWWWSK- which I didn't watch this show either 😅). The only comparison I have is his character itself in webcomic, but I'm sooooo glad the drama didn't follow 100% comic storyline ( my rating for the comic: a trashy one 🤭😆).

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@daebakgrits, thank you so much for your wee cap, it has brightened my Thursday morning! Particularly loving your reference to the 'fishing' contest! 100% agree with you, I missed Grandad and the drama-in-a-drama fun of previous weeks, but was glad to see my phone archeopteryx back. Also loved SHRs fixation on KTMs lips just before the kiss and again over dessert- can't say I blame her....so much to love with this show!

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RE: ...Episodes 7 and 8 slightly lacking in the drama’s earlier charm

I feel this too. I think it could be because the charm was in Shin Geum Hee. Her only worry then was not to get her real identity exposes. Now with Hari as her own self, it's more of a staff-boss relationship. I prefer it when Hari as Geum Hee addressed TM as Tae Mu ssi. Perhaps it's normal in the Korean culture to always call your boss by the title all the time, even in private (Hari calls him Sajang-nim, right?), but I'd prefer it if they are less formal and more intimate outside of work, like how TM called Jagiya in front of her friends 😙

On another note, while waiting for the new eps, I checked out AHS's past work, some of which I've already watched before but I only remembered him in Still 17. I'm now watching Romantic Dr Teacher Kim 2 - AHS is charming there but I'm not loving his hair style, haha. I'm not into period dramas, so unlikely I'll watch Lovers of The Red Sky (is it worth my time, Beanies?).

Oh, in last year's SBS Drama Awards, AHS and Kim Se Jeong were the presenters for Best Couple award, which was won by AHS and Kim Yoo Jung... it was quite funny, the MC teased him on how he's caught between his 2 leading ladies. Go check the vid out in YT! 😁

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LOVERS OF THE RED SKY is a bit messy but very watchable, largely thanks to the efforts of the FL Kim Yoo-jung who is one of the very best actresses out there.

Part of the problem was the confusing and perhaps overly complicated fantasy world. Beanies had the advantage of a sort of guidebook assembled by Sicarius the Queen of Melonia and posted to her fan wall- it went a considerable way towards reducing the confusion.

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@OldLawyer Thank you! Confusing, complex fantasy world doesn't sound good! I guess I'll just watch whatever short vids of Lovers of the Red Sky available in YouTube :)

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I didn't like "Lovers of the Red Sky" at all (slow, confusing, waste of chemistry between the leads) but ironically thought AHS was good. I typically think he's better at comedy, and LRS is absolutely not a comedy. But he played the brilliant, reserved character very well, and I do wish the story as a whole, but especially the love story, had been stronger. I'd totally watch a re-do.

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@LaurenSophie Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)

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Episode 7 launched both relationships. The OTP fake BF scam quickly turned into a real one because Tae-Moo was HONEST to HR. How refreshing but to get their was some final authority control over HR's job. The second OTP was even better; an immediate joint confession and re-take of their first time together was the right timing and bonding for their relationship. In fact, their bickering and making up is very nice change of pace reality that grounds the show.

Grandpa on relationship rampage is always fun and endearing but the last blind date was handled as a mystery. He still is status conscious about his future daughter-in-law, but I can see him falling for HR and meeting her parents at the chicken shop - - - falling for their food to make it a franchise so everyone has a happy ending.

Adding a nosy aunt as a new character seems out of place. It just adds more awkwardness instead of humor.

And I still don’t like the chef’s proprietary attitude toward HR’s personal life. He had his chance in the past. He has a GF. The idea of a love triangle when there is no chance for one is a little ridiculous.

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Aside from the blacking out issue I posted about below, I really enjoyed these two episodes.

This drama never lags or loses my attention, and yet there's still time for character development and even poignancy. I really felt for Hari when she told Tae-mu that she wanted him to stop being so wonderful because it was only making her want something that would never be possible. And she's not being illogical here. It *is* difficult to imagine a relationship like this working out between boss and subordinate. When she finally gave in and kissed him, it was both sweet and a little sad because it was clear she wasn't ready to fully trust him or their relationship. I enjoyed seeing Tae-mu have to try to see things from her point of view, especially now that he's determined her hesitancy doesn't stem from a lack of affection on her part.

Shallow, but I like the way the kisses are portrayed with both couples--they're natural and passionate without any of those awkward wide-eyed moments. And I also like that the second couple's decision to sleep together so quickly wasn't portrayed negatively or as a one-and-done thing. Their physical attraction was clearly the start of their attachment to each other, and it makes sense that they wouldn't hesitate to consummate, and continue to do so, lol. But now their bond can deepen on an emotional level, too.

Like everyone else, I missed Grandpa and hope he'll be more prominent in the future.

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As always, i LOVE DaebakGrits recaps, such a joy it is to read and I laughed so hard at the “hell” “NO” lolol
Anyhoo, business proposal has my whole heart, we get to have romantic-cute and romantic-hot relationships all in one drama, do we need to ask for anymore?
And i loved how different the workholic taemoo we all saw in the 1st episode has become the clingy fake bf now. And i love how hari has stopped caring about how people perceived her and her feelings and is willing to listen to her poor heart that longs for taemoo’s.
BP is a drama that is the definition of short and sweet and we are all here for it🥰❤️

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Can I just say that I love, love, LOVE your recaps, @daebakgrits? It really completes the ABP experience. Lol
And yes. I resorted to downright screaming into my pillows these past 2 episodes. And flopping life a fish out of water on my bed. Hahaha! Yes, yes, AHS can improve on the acting department but Tae-mu is too swoony that I'm choosing to shrug that hitch off. Ahhh.. Even now I'm feeling sad that we only have 2 weeks left of both my current favorite shows: ABP and 25-21. 🥺
So I'm savoring it while it lasts. Rewatch! 😆

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This week episode highlights for me:
1. KTM playing Yiruma's masterpiece on piano...drooling so much, kyaaa 😍
2. CSH's line...hahaha, good things they are not following webcomic scene 🤭🙈 (way too racy/sexy y'all 😬)
3. Hearty conversation between KTM and SHR about food childhood memories 🥰

With 4 episodes left, I will definitely missed Mon-Tue drama slot soon.

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1. Tae-moo playing Yiruma's "River Flows in You" on the piano had me swooning. Did he time that perfectly for Ha-ri to see after she ​got back from cooling herself off?
2. "I will make you remember. Everything."
3. I loved their conversation about food nostalgia, which they should incorporate into their mandu project. Also, kimbap should be next on their menu.

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I nearly fell off my chair laughing when he began playing that song! "I do everything well. Look: I even play the piano!' Also it has to be a meta reference to the scene in Twilight which makes it even funnier. Is there a trope they aren't going to use in this show?! I'm enjoying this so much!

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Kevin = Gye Bin

Kill me now 🤣🤣

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Sooo am i the only one who thought Young Seo had a few crazy (crazier?) cells released when she started dating?

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Certainly, something was released- but I am not sure it was crazy. Young-seo has actually been avoiding any serious dating until now. Then suddenly she finds the guy she falls for- you could say that a lot of repressed longings have been released. But, as we now know, you can actually say the same thing about her man. It would be more accurate to say that they are crazy for each other.

And the way their characters are painted they will probably stay that way - permanently. This is rare but it actually does happen. I have seen it- though only rarely. That is why I actually find this couple believable.

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My weekly LOL! Especially that dodge-ball scene! Had to replay it! I'm glad we don't have to do such team building exercises in my field. I really like how this drama lets the girls feel sexual attraction for the guys.

I sort of wished they didn't bring the slept-with-you-while-drunk-and-don't-remember scene from the webtoon since the webtoon sort of balanced it with an even more aggressive Young-suh. I was expecting them to go with the more comedic trope of "nothing happened. you were drunk and threw up on yourself so i changed you." *cue embarrassment*

I've been watching kdramas for almost 20 years. I wonder which is the first kdrama to have a chaebol flashing his wealth/black card and saying cheesy lines.

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I guess there're just a few things that i don't understand. Is Hari supposed to be unattractive? Is that why they think she is not on Minwoo's level? Is it the "ugly duckling" trope where the gorgeous guy (Taemu) is dating the plain Jane? Because i didn't think Minwoo was at all attractive, it took me some time to see that might be what they meant. Why was she letting those losers that she called friends crap on her? That didn't seem to be who she was, but then Yeongseo had to defend her because she was such a spineless creature. Not like Geumhi at all. As Geumhi you could totally see why Taemu would go for her, but then she seemed to lose her charm and her looks. Not saying she wasn't a nice girl, but Hari became a totally different human being and it seemed like they were purposely making her very plain. That's when some of the shine came off for me. Also... There are plenty of successful office romances, you just set it up so that it is not a direct report, but maybe in Korea they are more strict? To me it didn't seem like it was the boss/employee relationship that was the problem so much as a feudal class system that was being referred to. Plenty of people date their bosses. Taemu already set up the perfect way for them to work together when he told her he wanted to work with her on a special project. I think the best thing would have been to move everyone to the US with Harabuji where this is not so much of a problem, but maybe it would still be a problem at a Korean company in the US? Any cultural education would be appreciated here.

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