May I Help You: Episodes 7-8

by Unit

As we arrive at the halfway mark this week, little seeds of romance are sown. But we might have to hold off on that for a while, because Pandora’s box is also unlocked and more shocking revelations begin to pop out for many of our characters.

 
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP

She Has Appeared is the title of our first episode this week. And Chung-ha’s appearance sparks some unintentional but cute jealous moments with Dong-joo, especially when she learns the pretty doctor (who she’s met before when Chung-ha saved a homeless man) is Tae-hee’s first love. But I don’t think she has to worry about Tae-hee reciprocating any lingering feelings Chung-ha might have for him, because it appears he’s over it. Or maybe he’s just suppressing the emotions like he’s doing with the memories of his past.

Also joining the ex-lovers in the medical field are nurse So-ra and Dr. Mrs. Chung-ha’s mom, who changes men almost as often as she changes surgical gloves — a lifestyle which Chung-ha is not a fan of. Chung-ha doesn’t really have any other friends, and now that she has traced her way back to Tae-hee’s orbit, she doesn’t intend to walk away so easily.

Proving to be one of the most flexible and naturally-incorporated-into-the-story jobs in dramaland, a Dime a Job service is called to drive Dong-joo to the countryside on a ghost request. And it gets better when Tae-hee drives them into a ditch and they have to spend the night together. As a side effect of the accident, Dong-joo sprains her ankle. And when Tae-hee starts to dish out medical advice, she catches on that he used to be a doctor like Chung-ha is.

But since Dong-joo understands how it feels to deal with unwanted questions since she also had to quit being an athlete due to her ankle injury, she doesn’t push Tae-hee for further details. Instead, she jokes that he was probably a quack since he hasn’t noticed that he’s running a fever. She takes charge of nursing duties for the night and puts him to bed, but their hospital roleplay doesn’t go past this. Heh.

Before Tae-hee falls asleep, he wonders what would happen if he met an understanding woman who made him want to tell her everything. He seems worried about the possibility of becoming too dependent, and dumping his problems on such a woman. But the next morning as they drive back to Seoul, Dong-joo tells him that he can lean on her whenever he’s having a hard time. How sweet of her.

Dong-joo’s boss, Il-seob, also has a hard time when it comes to his family. Because of his profession, his father calls him filthy and an abomination to their family. Ouch! The father also blames him for bringing bad luck to his sister’s kid who has a heart condition. But nothing says “you can lean on me” better than a slap to the back of his father’s head by So-ra, followed by an “Oops! My mistake. Your voice sounded like the ahjussi who scammed our family.” LMAO! So-ra is a clown, but she’s also a girl after my heart.

As So-ra swoons over her growing crush on Il-seob, Dong-joo realizes that she might have fallen for Tae-hee too. But when she shows up at the Dime a Job office for a macaron date with him, her rival in love also appears and the date is over before it even begins. Sigh. I feel bad for Chung-ha because Tae-hee was the one who broke her heart. But then, can she just move on already and stop interrupting cute moments between my ship?

Father Michael was right: first loves are a Pandora’s box! And Chung-ha has come to reopen old wounds — painful ones, at that. Because we come to learn that the boy ghost is actually Tae-hee’s kid brother KIM JOON-HO (Kim Ha-eon), who was hit on a rainy night by dramaland’s favorite truck as he was running to drop off Tae-hee’s ring at a designated location. Nooo!!! Now I need more than a few minutes to get myself together.

As it turns out, Father Michael and Vincent know each other, and Father Michael cashes in on a Dime a Job free errand offer to send one of the kids in the church on a camping trip with Tae-hee. Being a part-time matchmaker, Father Michael also ropes Dong-joo into going with Tae-hee and the boy, and they look like such a cute little family.

Tae-hee is pretty much useless at setting up the camping gear, and he jokes about hiring Dong-joo to work for Dime a Job since she’s so skilled at it. But he soon sobers up as the boy reminds him of Joon-ho. The boy cries as they go stargazing because his dad is now among the stars. But Dong-joo comforts him by saying her own mom is also a star, and their parents up there are watching over them.

Later on as Dong-joo and Tae-hee go on a walk, she teases that he’s so experienced with kids — and that’s when he finally tells her about Joon-ho. Joon-ho also loved the stars, and Tae-hee promised to take him stargazing if he brought the ring over. Unfortunately, the next call from Joon-ho’s phone wasn’t an “I have arrived at the location,” but from the E.R. In the present, Tae-hee cries as he blames himself for being the reason his brother died, and Dong-joo pulls him into a comforting hug.

But the worst is far from over, because from Dong-joo’s recollection of her encounter with Joon-ho’s ghost (when he tasked her with finding the ring for him), he also said she could ask a police officer if she couldn’t find it. But the police officer is none other than Hae-an, who was also present at the scene of the accident, and was torn between attending to a bleeding out Joon-ho or the passed out truck driver (who is currently hooked up to a life-support machine).

I have to say, this drama does an excellent job in handling its reveals. The reveals are smooth and not rushed, neither do they feel contrived or out of place — from Tae-hee as a doctor, to his sibling relationship with Joon-ho, and now Hae-an’s connection to the accident. The details fit in naturally, and they’re in line with everything the story has carefully laid out in previous episodes.

It’s clear that whatever choice Hae-an made that night is tied to his painful rainy day memory. And what’s worse, he seems to actually know the truck driver considering he visits the man in the hospital. Oh boy! I was really loving the bromance between the men in the Dime a Job building. Now what’s going to happen when Tae-hee learns that Hae-an is connected to the accident?

Hae-an is quite an interesting character. He’s more than his country bumpkin persona, and he appears to know more than he lets on. I wonder if he knows that Tae-hee and Vincent are Joon-ho’s relatives. Is that why he also moved into their building? No, I need to stop spinning crazy theories and focus my attention on better things, like holding a prayer circle for the show to not get any more sadder than it currently is — if that’s even possible at this point.

In the meantime, I need this Chung-ha arc to close so that my DongHee ship can sail. Tae-hee already finds Dong-joo comfortable enough to share his past with her, and it cannot get any more “I trust you, and I’m falling for you” than that. Besides, they have gotten everyone’s blessings from Father Michael (the captain of our ship), to Dong-joo’s dad who gifted Tae-hee with a “Thanks for covering for me/looking after my daughter/please continue to watch over her” gift. So these two should just make it official already!

 
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