Bad Memory Eraser: Episodes 3-4

by solstices

Our workaholic researcher learns more about her lovestruck patient, inadvertently uncovering just how dysfunctional his family is beneath their picture-perfect surface. The weight of sporting fame is crushing his little brother’s shoulders, even as the selfless tennis star tries to push forward with a smile for the sake of everyone but himself.

 
EPISODES 3-4

The drama’s second week picks right back up on the secondhand embarrassment, as Gun follows Joo-yeon around like the cringeworthy lead of a romance manhwa, complete with soft backlighting and fluttery flower petals. Gun’s story of how his first love saved his life at thirteen earns Joo-yeon instant parental approval, but it makes Joo-yeon feel like a fraud.

She lies to Gun that she has a secret boyfriend, and Gun assumes she’s dating her hospital crush YOON TEO (Kim Jae-yong) — except Gun soon finds out Teo is an incorrigible womanizer. To Joo-yeon, the keychain Teo gave her is a sincere birthday gift, and she’s devastated when she accidentally loses it. To Teo, however, it’s a value pack souvenir he gave to every employee.

Gun, despite his jealousy, can’t bear to watch Joo-yeon’s distress. Not only does he pilfer an employee’s keychain to pretend he found Joo-yeon’s missing one, but he also blocks her from witnessing Teo kiss a junior researcher, eventually resorting to cupping Joo-yeon’s face so she can’t turn around. It makes him look like the bad guy who doesn’t know boundaries, earning Joo-yeon’s ire, but he holds on until Teo and his beau separate.

Meanwhile, Shin is still dealing with the fallout of Gun’s suicide attempt. The police collect his statement, but save for some half-formed suspicions about how quickly Shin managed to pull Gun out of the water, they’re ready to close the case. However, the opportunistic agency director HONG JOON-MAN (Han Sang-jin) coerces Shin into renewing his contract, threatening to spread rumors about Gun otherwise.

Contrary to the flawlessly glamorous life we saw our tennis star basking in last week, Shin has been buckling under the micromanaging of his helicopter mom and the weight of everyone’s high expectations. As a result, Shin has developed OCD, and he constantly overcommits himself trying to please everyone. When Joo-yeon fills in for his regular psychiatrist Dong-chil one day, she immediately clocks Shin’s compulsive tendencies, then cuts right to the heart of the matter — Shin’s always worrying about others, but never himself. “Does my opinion matter?” Shin asks, as if already convinced that the answer is no. But Joo-yeon counters that it’s his life — his own opinion should matter most.

Greedy for advertising bucks, Director Hong pressures Shin into wearing a new pair of sponsored sneakers, and in order to protect Gun, Shin has no choice but to agree. Shin wins his match, but at the cost of terribly painful blisters. He quickly hides his bloody socks when his parents enter the room, and when Mom lectures him to live up to his reputation, Shin quietly promises to do better. Noooo, his eyes look so sad. *Sobs*

Later that day, Joo-yeon accidentally bumps into Shin in the convenience store, causing him to drop and crack his boiled eggs. Pouting adorably, Shin whines that it’s a jinx and he’ll lose his final match tomorrow — and so Joo-yeon ends up on a foodie tour with him to break the jinx’s curse. It turns out Shin was doing it all to lift the stressed Joo-yeon’s spirits, and when she realizes he’d once again been looking out for others and not himself, she stuns him by sincerely praising his earlier match. Breaking out into a beatific smile, Shin sticks to his exercise routine by running alongside her taxi. Aww.

That’s how Shin winds up running into Gun at the hospital, and after Gun tackles his baby bro to the ground so he can’t return Joo-yeon’s lost keychain to her (and blow his cover), the brothers share a bonding moment on the grass. Reminiscing about their childhood days, Gun declares that he’s still holding fast to his childhood dream — becoming not just a world star, but the universe’s star. Shin promises to fulfill it in his stead, and in turn, Gun reminds him that he ought to chase his own dream. “Winning isn’t what’s important,” Gun says. “What matters is doing something that truly makes you happy.”

Joo-yeon and Gun’s words linger in Shin’s mind the following morning, and on the competition field, Shin drops a serve. Cue shocked gasps from everyone, who can’t believe the flawless tennis prince could ever make such a mistake. Shin still wins, but when Mom chastises him in the aftermath, he walks out on his scheduled appointments. He’s going to take a rest — by his own decision, for once. Ahh, I’m so proud of him! *wipes tear*

While everyone is preoccupied at the match, Joo-yeon finds herself in yet another predicament — the higher-ups are demanding the important work documents she was supposed to submit. Amidst all the recent chaos, it’d completely slipped Joo-yeon’s mind. Since she can’t exactly ask the amnesiac Gun for her suitcase back, Joo-yeon fibs her way into obtaining the house passcode from Mom — except Gun returns home just as Joo-yeon is wheeling her suitcase out. Oops.

We’ll have to wait till next week to find out how Joo-yeon explains that away, but for now, there’s a bubbly new kid on the block. Joo-yeon wakes up to an uninvited roommate in the form of JEON SAE-YAN (Yang Hye-ji) snuggling next to her, and one grumpy breakfast later, Joo-yeon learns that Sae-yan is Mom’s friend’s daughter. Although Joo-yeon barely remembers, they’d been childhood friends until Sae-yan moved abroad. The vivacious Sae-yan charms the whole neighborhood in seconds with her helpful kindness, much to Joo-yeon’s incredulous vexation.

Despite Sae-yan’s efforts to rekindle the friendship, Joo-yeon is unnecessarily cold to her. Sae-yan laments that Joo-yeon is self-centered and irritable, and to be frank, I have to agree. I’m not entirely sure whether it’s Jin Se-yeon’s portrayal or the way the character is written — perhaps both — but Joo-yeon comes across as petty and oblivious, and not in an endearing way at all.

Still, Mom says Joo-yeon only acts like that to put up a front — she’d witnessed her father’s death when she was just a child. Afraid to go through that pain again, Joo-yeon pushes others away as a self-defense mechanism. Her trauma doesn’t excuse her behavior, but it does contextualize it, and I hope the drama explores this topic with the gravity it deserves.

As for Gun, his juvenile antics belie a thoughtful maturity. Upon learning of Joo-yeon’s feelings for Teo, Gun has been trying his best to look out for Joo-yeon without crossing the line. He even leaves a note urging the overworked Joo-yeon to go home and rest, then signs off as Teo, knowing Joo-yeon would be more inclined to listen to Teo’s words than his. In addition, Gun also sets up his own agency, recruiting Shi-on and scheduling rehab for her injured knee. Here’s hoping he extricates his dear brother from the slimy Director Hong’s grasp soon — Shin deserves to play tennis on his own terms (if he even wants to), and not someone else’s.

 
RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Bad Memory Eraser
• Kim Jae-joong’s Bad Memory Eraser leads him to Jin Se-yeon
• Kim Jae-joong tackles life anew with a Bad Memory Eraser
• News bites: July 14, 2024
• News bites: July 8, 2024