Dear X Who Doesn’t Love Me: Episodes 4-6
by DaebakGrits
As our love-addicted heroine settles into dating her current flavor of the month, her long-time bestie’s growing disapproval creates a rift in their friendship. Will they be able to patch things up, or will he move on to find love with someone else?
EPISODES 4-6 WEECAP
Now that Hee-soo is dating Joon-young, Shi-ho grows increasingly jealous and disgusted as he watches his best friend (and crush) canoodle with a man she clearly doesn’t love. While part of him wants to avoid her so he doesn’t have to witness the consequences of her poor decisions, he has a hard time staying away because he’s also concerned as her “friend.” So when he’s invited to tag along on a trip to the beach — where the handsy Joon-young clearly has some X-rated activities in mind — Shi-ho reluctantly agrees to join them.
Se-jin is invited on the trip because her parents run the vacation cabin where they’re staying, but she’s also there to even out the numbers and be Shi-ho’s pseudo date. Sadly (for her) he’d rather be the other couple’s third wheel than pay attention to Se-jin. She buzzes around him like a pesky mosquito in heat, and I can’t tell if she’s being overly confident or woefully pathetic in her one-sided pursuit. Either way, she’s annoying, and I wish she’d remained a flat secondary character that didn’t get enough screen time.
During the trip, when Shi-ho has a private moment with Hee-soo, he expresses his growing concerns about the notebook and begs her not to use it again. Already feeling apathetic about her current romance, she promises to ride out her relationship with Joon-young, and once it ends, she agrees to abstain from writing any more magical lyrics. Shi-ho is relieved, and there’s probably a part of him that hopes she will fall for him once she’s finished dating her string of losers.
Unfortunately, what he doesn’t know is that Se-jin has privately told Hee-soo that she has a crush on Shi-ho and is planning to confess her feelings. Hee-soo is noticeably uncomfortable with the topic, but if she has feelings for Shi-ho that extend beyond friendship, she’s not willing to admit it. Instead, she encourages Se-jin’s romantic pursuit, and when Hee-soo accidentally witnesses Se-jin’s love confession, she turns to Joon-young for physical and emotional comfort.
It’s obvious — even to Se-jin — that Hee-soo is unhappy with Joon-young, but Hee-soo doesn’t want to end the relationship, especially once she finds out that Shi-ho agreed to spend time with Se-jin and give her a month to try and sway his heart. The trial run doesn’t seem to be working in Se-jin’s favor, though, because Shi-ho is still at Hee-soo’s beck and call.
Rumors about Hee-soo’s promiscuity have been floating around school, and after she receives texts from a random guy who heard that she will date anyone who asks her out, she contacts Shi-ho — not Joon-young — and shows him the messages. He’s appropriately incensed on her behalf, but his mood shifts when he hears that Hee-soo is hesitant to break up with Joon-young.
See, her relationship has miraculously passed the one month mark without any sign of Joon-young wanting to break up with her, which must mean that he really fell for her, right? Even though she is miserable with Joon-young, she wants to stick it out, believing that his feelings are enough of a reason to keep dating. And then, despite her own jadedness, she wishes for Shi-ho to find happiness with Se-jin.
Well, as you can imagine, Shi-ho is annoyed with her hypocrisy, and he finally reaches his breaking point. He explains that he needs some time apart from her because, as her “friend” he can no longer stand to witness her self-destructive behavior. He can’t keep being her shoulder to cry on — not when she continuously ignores his advice and makes poor choices that lead her unhappiness.
His feelings are entirely understandable, but unfortunately he grew a backbone at the worst possible time because it turns out Joon-young is an asshole. Hee-soo is in such an awful headspace that he’s able to emotionally blackmail her into having sex with him, and if sleeping with a parasite wasn’t bad enough, she realizes the next morning that her period is also late.
Her first instinct is to call Shi-ho, but she hangs up after one ring, remembering that he asked for space. Shi-ho must still be operating on the same wavelength as Hee-soo, though, and that one ring was enough to make him suspect that Hee-soo was in trouble. Much to Se-jin’s annoyance, Shi-ho asks her to call Hee-soo, just in case she needs something. And that’s how Se-jin ends up accompanying Hee-soo to the doctor. Thankfully, Hee-soo’s late period is a false alarm.
Hee-soo returns home to find Joon-young still at her apartment, eating her snacks and being a total bum, but that’s not the worst of it. When he steps out of the room, she sees his incoming texts and realizes that he doesn’t actually love her. Instead, he’s been using her for sex, which is the real reason he didn’t break up with her after the journal’s magic wore off.
A post about Hee-soo on the school forum fuels the already buzzing rumor mill, and everywhere Hee-soo walks, people are whispering openly about her. Shi-ho cannot stand by and watch silently from the sidelines when he knows she needs him, and it’s during their period of reconciliation that we also learn more about how they met, including the fact that Hee-soo was on the verge of quitting school when she met Shi-ho.
With time, she also grew to value their friendship, but unlike Shi-ho, who wanted to take their friendship to the next level, Hee-soo’s pessimistic view of romantic relationships made her fearful that she would lose him if they dated. It appears the seeds of romance have been there all along for Hee-soo, but she’s been too afraid to let them grow.
And why does she feel this way? Well, it’s still a bit of a mystery, but there are enough clues to suggest that her mother died in childbirth. Her father never got over her death, and Hee-soo grew up hearing her grandmother blame her for her father’s unhappiness. With a childhood like that, it’s no wonder she now has a skewed perspective of love and romance — but now that her latest ex-boyfriend is behind her, Hee-soo appears to be coming out of her depression.
Not only is Shi-ho by her side again and eager to burn the journal, but Hee-soo realizes that she isn’t the only victim of sexual harassment at the school, and many of her classmates and club members stand by her side when she goes to administration report her story. Unfortunately, while Hee-soo seems to be gaining new friendships, she’s also gained a frenemy.
After Se-jin’s one-month trial relationship with Shi-ho ends, he officially cancels his dating subscription, and Se-jin’s jealousy takes root. There’d been a few not-so-subtle hints that she was a mean girl at heart, and sure enough, her recent rejection brings out her evil, manipulative side.
She gets Hee-soo drunk in hopes that the soju will loosen her lips and cause her to spill all her dating secrets, presumably so she can use them on Shi-ho. Drunk Hee-soo reveals very little of the truth, but Se-jin somehow realizes that the secret to Hee-soo’s success must be inside her lyrics journal.
At first, Se-jin is distracted by the fact that Hee-soo’s lyrics seem to be about her succession of meet-cutes, but then she notices the dates and realizes that Hee-soo supposedly wrote about Gang-wook’s confession days before it actually happened. It’s odd, but it doesn’t exactly set off alarm bells or reveal the journal’s magic.
Annoyed, Se-jin scratches through Hee-soo’s name on the journal’s title page, and that’s when the journal’s power is unveiled. Painful, bloody wounds appear on Se-jin’s forearm, and as Se-jin’s ink disappears from the journal’s pages, so do the marks on her arm.
Well, that got dark quickly, and it doesn’t bode very well for our heroine that our new antagonist has knowledge of the journal’s power. At least we can be comforted by the fact that the journal was seemingly cursed by Professor Umbridge, and Se-jin will not be able to make Shi-ho fall for her by writing in the journal.
But I can’t say that I’m happy with this week’s turn of events. Se-jin turning out to be a jealous mean girl was painfully predictable, and I miss the dark humor that peppered the first three episodes of this dramavella. Admittedly, I do think the decrease in comedic moments was an intentional choice that reflected Hee-soo’s emotional decline as her relationship with Joon-young became more toxic and the story touched on serious topics like date rape. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch, though, so I’m selfishly eager to see Hee-soo’s character overcome her emotional hurdles and find the confidence to love herself — and Shi-ho.
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Tags: Dear X Who Doesn't Love Me, Han Ji-hyo, Kwon Ah-reum, NCT Doyoung
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1 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 23, 2022 at 11:28 PM
@daebakgrits 😊 thank you I am so glad we get wee caps with this drama.
It is really interesting how they are layering the information about how Heesoo became who she is in relation to relationships. She was closed off until she saw the senior then she decided to break her own defences down and go for a relationship. Initially she feared the person dying as an end to relationships just as her mum died but once she found the strategy of replacement relationships to manage break ups she felt able to accept the joy, even though it was always short term, of a new relationship.
I am concerned that Heesoo’s default once the trap had been set for the man is to give her agency away and leave the men in control of her happiness and eventual sadness when they end things. So when things got uncomfortable this time round she seemed resigned to accept it until he ended the relationship. I wondered how she would manage things if the relationship went down a road she didn’t like and she showed that she felt unable to address it full on until it was really clear it was not done out of ‘love’.
I do wonder whether she will be able to commit to a real relationship where she will need to be able to respond to her emotions, wants and needs and not put the man’s wishes and feelings above her own.
The voice over is interesting who is she talking to? Sometimes she talks about Shiho and sometimes it’s as if she is talking to him. Is this a lost in translation issue or is she initially explaining things to a third person but as he is with her she starts talking directly to him?
I am so mindful of the editing because it’s so abrupt, they cut the songs with the scene rather than bleeding the song across the edits which makes it much more noticeable.
The PPL was so bad with the beauty device, (seen in the closing credits of Why her) who would carry a device like that out the house and use it in a cafe 🤣 that same scene could have been at her at home and it would have made way more sense as she was alone anyway.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 24, 2022 at 2:47 AM
I am intrigued as to why the book was originally on Heesoo’s father’s book case and how did it come to have her name on it?
I am also intrigued as to why she was so isolated from her mum’s side of the family as I assume the grandmother was her dad’s mum and was involved in her care because she was girl and so young so her dad working and mourning could not cope. I would have thought unless her mum was an orphan her family would have been keen to support their grandchild/niece etc as their link with their dead daughter/sister.
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2 Bob
July 24, 2022 at 7:48 AM
Its telling that I rushed to watch episodes of this modest mini-drama as soon as I realized it was up but I have yet to watch the finale of the much higher profile Yumi's Cells. I'm enjoying the brooding, sometimes transgressive tone of the drama. Its a fairy tale, and fairy tales traditionally are quite dark.
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3 pliplipli
July 24, 2022 at 8:01 AM
this drama def gives me the fairy tale vibes, sirens, little mermaids, and their relationship with men, in general, lol I don't know a lot about these stories to know if there's actual any reference to that theme, it's just the vibe I get while watching. It's dark, melancholic, just... really quiet? it's an interesting watch
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4 booming system up up
July 24, 2022 at 10:15 AM
Yayy! Another weecap, kinda bummed the second FL is mean but still this weecap was a good read, interested in seeing how this wraps up.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 24, 2022 at 10:54 AM
So the second female lead watches the man she fancies all eyes on his friend, and decides now is the time to try to distract him. I never understand how these characters’ minds work if they think it’s so easy to switch, why don’t they switch their own feelings onto someone who is not in love with someone else instead of getting bitter.
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5 Mike
July 24, 2022 at 2:20 PM
Don't knock Se-jin too much for investigating. Remember, Hee-soo remains the villain of this story despite her sympathetic backstory, using sorcery to rape multiple men.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 24, 2022 at 2:50 PM
Is Sejin investigating for the sake of the men or to use to get the man she likes to like her back? She forced him to get to know her over a month because he felt exposed during a panic attack. Cornering someone when they are in a vulnerable mental state is no better than deluding someone to believe they want a relationship with you through magical means.
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Mike
July 24, 2022 at 6:18 PM
Whats the difference between what Hee-soo is doing to random boys and some dude roofying a girl's drink at a bar so he can take her home and molest her? Hee-soo's behavior is VERY problematic and deserves to be exposed. The script got flipped the last episode when she realized the guy she was cynically using was doing the same to her. I thought she was hesitating to report him because she knew she had done the same to him.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 24, 2022 at 9:02 PM
Yes and the fact she has now got a reputation for having multiple men and thought she would be called out as asking for it which is the usual approach. In this case how she got the men makes her guilty too. She saw his popularity as a badge of honour so if she could be seen as winning him over then she would have achieved something.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 24, 2022 at 9:18 PM
I have been wondering about the message the drama wants to raise and I think it is intentional that it is a woman and she is using magic rather than drugs. I also think it’s important that it is a prolonged period and is portrayed as the men feel love rather than lust. The lack of consent and the men’s reaction when they come round being varied has also been interesting the only common factor has been their confusion.
It would have been hard to keep the viewers if all these factors weren’t present but it is a fine balance to provide the vehicle to raise ethical issues.
On a side note, I am surprised that the first time round the girl who the senior really liked was still interested after watching him confess in public and cut her off for a month.
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Scottie
July 25, 2022 at 11:49 AM
Thanks for pointing out what should be the obvious. I also am extremely uncomfortable with Hee-soo's behaviour. Just because she is inexperienced and unsuccessful with dating boys without magic does not give her the carte blanche for manipulating/drugging the men she fancies.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
July 25, 2022 at 12:25 PM
I don't think she even fancies them, she just wants to be ‘loved’ and to her that seems to be treated as special/being noticed so any okish man will do as they showed they were all different in looks and temperament.
Do you have a theory about the message the drama wants to portray? Trying to describe this to someone else it seems a weird concept for a drama.
Have you seen Queen of the ring? It’s one of the Three colour fantasy series. It’s a web drama similar idea when she is wearing the ring the man sees her as his ideal woman and everyone else sees her as she actually is. That covered a lot of the ethical issues.
Scottie
July 25, 2022 at 1:36 PM
I am not familiar with web dramas, but it sounds like an interesting premise.
Agree that she wants to be popular for once and to have what the pretty and popular girls have - the admiration of attractive men.
I am not sure that the writer is fully aware of how much the main character's behaviour is predatory. We are given plenty of reason's to like her and feel sorry for her, because of her difficult upbringing and because she had been protecting her school friend. The men she is using are not shown in the same likeable way even though they are victims. The writer does not see them or want them as victims. It will all probably end with Hee-so recognizing her error and finally her true love. That will be the 'happy' end.
6 Toodlepip
July 25, 2022 at 3:49 AM
I love the slow pace and dark element of this drama. It really is fairy tale like in it's telling. I'm surprised that the guys being dated for a month are not portrayed as feeling used by HS as it would definitely be the other way round. A pity we get friend turned mean girl. Thanks for the recap @daebakgrits!
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