Dare to Love Me: Episodes 9-10

by starrygazer

The romance is picking up pace and I am totally here for it. There’s a pinch of our mystery plot thickening. A dash of our second couple clashing with a little jealousy mixed in. And a whole dollop of our leading couple mooning at each other. The over-the-top humor and swoony moments this week are enough to distract anyone from a hard day.

 
EPISODES 9-10

Last week, we left our leading couple in a back hug. And in the aftermath of this, Hong-do does not know what to do with herself. She decides to go and see how the funeral is going, worried about Yoon-bok. (Yoon-bok had gone back to his mum’s funeral to support his sister.) Bumping into him outside upon his return, Yoon-bok apologizes for not contacting Hong-do and making her worry. Of course our heroine tells him not to worry and asks if she can do anything. He asks her to stay by his side, pleasantly surprising Hong-do and she agrees to do so.

On our hero’s new journey to live freely, he goes over to Hong-do’s place to ask Hong-hak for a job as his apprentice drawing webtoons. Yoon-bok hilariously copies everything Hong-hak is doing, just trying to find where he fits in the world. Hong-do has noticed the way he has changed and is daring to think to herself that she may be the reason why. At one point, she berates Hong-hak for stifling Yoon-bok’s exceptional creativity, haha. This leads to Yoon-bok following her out to give her his scarf because it’s a cold day. And Hong-do is nearly beside herself!

At the office, Hong-do is busy freaking out — she’s squealing about what has just happened, nuzzling into Yoon-bok’s scarf, and debating if he actually likes her or is she looking too deeply into his actions. Then she’s caught by a mocking FRANKIE, Camille’s right-hand man (Lee Myung-ho).

As for Yoon-bok, he’s waiting for Hong-do at the bus stop after she finishes work and pretends he was sent by Hong-hak to draw something. They then head home together and eat with Hong-hak. In Yoon-bok’s typical thoughtful manner he sees her cutting up fruit and asks for a plate… only to have to reach over her to help get it. They’re both so flustered being so close to each other — it’s so cute.

Hong-do passes by a cafe offering readings on her way home the next day and decides to go in. Why not? She sits down and is shocked to see Hyang-ki in front of her. Hyang-ki explains how she was blacklisted after what happened with Hong-do’s design and she decided to put her other great talent to use: listening to people. Haha. She tells Hong-do how she and Do-young broke up. He told her that she was fake and Hong-do was the real deal. Wow! They have a nice bonding moment over how he said the exact same thing to Hong-do. Snake.

Hyang-ki apologizes to Hong-do about everything that happened and asks what’s bothering her. Hong-do explains all the sweet things Yoon-bok has done for her and why she is confused. Hyang-ki is absolutely adamant he must like her. But, as Hong-do arrives home, she overhears Hong-hak asking Yoon-bok directly if he likes his sister. Hong-do hides to eavesdrop, and her bubble is well and truly burst when she hears him say that the way he treats her is all out of respect. Hong-do retreats to her cocoon in her room and does everything in her power to avoid Yoon-bok. The next morning she goes to work early, and runs away from Yoon-bok when they bump into each other, telling him she is too busy to talk over text.

Up until this point we are not sure how this is going to play out. Imagine my delight when Yoon-bok decides to go to see Hong-do at work, because she’s working late. She is asleep, so he quietly sits next to her and remembers all their moments of close proximity and I think the penny finally drops for him. Yoon-bok realizes he likes Hong-do. *Fist pump!* They mirror each other sleeping on the desk and when they wake Hong-do tries to escape. Yoon-bok gently grasps her hand and tells her not to go. He stands up and tells her he likes her and slowly kisses her. Swoon!

Our OTP is adorably awkward with each other on the walk home. That is, until Hong-do stops and takes his face in her hands to reciprocate the kiss properly. This lovely kiss is a stark contrast from the “goldfish kiss” of earlier, now that Hong-do has gotten over her shock. Once home, they excitedly text each other about meeting up tomorrow. Hong-do can’t sleep and Yoon-bok stays up looking for dating spots. So cute.

On the date, Yoon-bok takes Hong-do to a lake where it’s quiet so she can relax her mind and body as she works really hard. Hong-do shivers and Yoon-bok pulls out a blanket, telling her he doesn’t want her to catch a cold because he’s underprepared on his first-ever date. Hong-do is shocked, but Yoon-bok explains that as successor of the village he didn’t realize how nice it would be to enjoy watching the scenery with a loved one. “This is like heaven to me.” On that sweet note Hong-do wraps her arm around his and tells him that this makes her happy too. He adorably thumps his hand over his chest telling his heart to calm down. *Ahhh cuteness overload*

The next day, Yoon-bok arrives at Hong-do’s workplace to pick her up: he’s just in time to see Do-young there waiting for her too. Do-young goes towards her, arms open wide — huh!? — and Yoon-bok intercepts the hug. (This had me giggling).

As Hong-do and Yoon-bok walk away from him hand in hand, Do-young shouts that Hong-do is an easy woman who will take any man’s hand. Yoon-bok stops, sweetly covers her head with his scarf, and tells her not to look as he strides over to Do-young (who is hiding behind his hands, haha). Yoon-bok deletes her contact information and photos off Do-young’s phone, telling him not to look at her with his “rude eyes” and not to talk to her with his “foul mouth.” Meanwhile, this is being filmed by onlookers who reflect my sentiment of how cool Yoon-bok is! He goes back to Hong-do, takes her by the hand, and leads her away. *Swoon*

Checking in on our second couple, they are having coffee together. Hong-hak can’t bear to look at the comments on his new webtoon, so Yoon-ah takes a look and makes him read them himself. He’s so happy that they are positive he goes to hug her and she jokingly shoves a croissant into his mouth. Since he’s a “strong man” now, he attempts to defend a woman from her lousy boyfriend in the restaurant, but winds up getting punched. Not to worry — when Yoon-ah sees, she’s enraged and she knocks this guy clean out. Then he have a cute mirroring moment from a previous episode as Yoon-ah puts ointment on Hong-hak, and is trying to make him feel better. They laugh together and you can feel how their relationship has become closer.

There’s another cute scene of them later when Hong-hak steals a coupon off Hong-do’s dresser for Hyang-ki’s cafe. He heads over there and invites Yoon-ah to join him, but before Yoon-ah arrives Hong-hak is filling Hyang-ki in on the injustice he saw and she is lapping it up. Hyang-ki is telling Hong-hak she loves his webtoon, and is really laying it on thick. He’s so talented and has a great personality… Can he draw a logo for her business? On the way out Hong-hak is embarrassed to pay with the coupon, and under the watchful eye of Yoon-ah, Hyang-ki whispers in his ear that it was all on the house. I am chortling looking at Yoon-ah’s expressions throughout this whole exchange. She is not impressed. (Im Young-joo has great comic timing!)

Speaking of characters growing closer, it has been lovely to see Yoon-bok and Yi-bok reconnect over these two episodes. However, this newfound connection has Yoon-bok worried for his sister’s safety. Whilst he is at the police station telling the detective that he won’t be working on the case anymore. Yi-bok comes in and calls out “Sunbaenim.” The cat is out of the bag now. He knows she’s a cop and he knows she’s undercover at Seongsan Hall. Now Yoon-bok can’t help but keep an eye on how things are going with the investigation. Yoon-bok also warns Yi-bok about the link to their father’s death and how Gamjjok has a burn on his arm.

Yi-bok suspects Joon-ho at Seongsan Hall, as he is the only one that wears long sleeves and she’s checked all the other male employee’s arms. Joon-ho looks even more shifty when we see him making what looks like a duplicate of a Joseon hand fan in secret. He plans to switch it with the real fan whilst he’s in Seongsan Village (under the guise of collecting ingredients for Seongsan Hall), but he hears Grandad Shin tell the guards to check everyone going in and out. Joon-ho ends up hiding the fan in the bottom of one of the shoe boxes for Camille’s upcoming event to smuggle it out. Meanwhile, the police are keeping watch on some Chinese nationals who are possibly there to traffic the relics, and they are headed to Seongsan Hall on the day of Camille’s pop-up shop.

Unfortunately for Hong-do, she is the one transporting the shoe boxes with the hidden fan inside. Her car is rear-ended and when she gets out to see what happened, she is hit over the head. While she’s in and out of consciousness she sees someone open her trunk and take what looks like a box for a hand fan out of a shoe box in her trunk. She tells Yoon-bok this as they drop off the rest of the items for the pop-up shop. Yoon-bok wants to take Hong-do to the hospital, but he sees Yi-bok follow the three Chinese nationals into Seongsan Hall and he follows her. She tries to stop them leaving and is knocked down before they escape. Yoon-bok and the police are looking for them and Gamjjok when they hear a cry.

Surprisingly enough, a man who has been wrestled to the floor by a very smug Joon-ho, who announces that he stopped this man because he asked for the back door and he has a Camille bag with him. He is definitely the culprit according to him *eye roll.* At the station, the police are interrogating this poor man who insists Joon-ho jumped him. Yoon-bok is suspicious, thinking that it’s possible Joon-ho lied. When Yoon-bok goes to see Joon-ho, who is currently writing a statement, Joon-ho’s superior attitude is really grating. He’s brazen, saying who would have known they would make the deal at Seongsan Hall? Who would have thought he would steal Yoon-bok’s thunder? (Urgh.)

All of this just makes Yoon-bok more suspicious. Why is Joon-ho so sure they were making a deal there when the police were just assuming? Yoon-bok decides to steal the key card to access Joon-ho’s home out of his wallet. As our episode comes to an end, Yoon-bok breaks in and searches Joon-ho’s closet, finding a print out about the hand fan that was switched. This is all getting very dodgy.

 
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