Bad Memory Eraser: Episodes 7-8

by solstices

As past trauma and lifelong insecurities resurface, our leads turn their focus inwards to examine what they’ve been suppressing all this while. Their hard work may be paving the path towards career success, but when it comes to love, their wires are as crossed as ever.

 
EPISODES 7-8

Reacting quickly to Gun’s arrival, Shin acts like it’s his first time meeting Joo-yeon. She plays along by pretending to leave work, and on the way home, she explains how she’s monitoring Gun as an outpatient case.

Shin gets chewed out by Mom when he returns home drunk, and the next day, he decides to play hooky by skipping his medical checkup. In a bit of perfect timing, Sae-yan overhears his bluff just as she’s in need of a ride. Her dad cut off her credit card in retaliation for her spontaneous Korea trip, so Sae-yan hops into Shin’s car to use him as a chauffeur in exchange for keeping his secret.

They wind up back in their hometown, where Shin gets roped into helping out in the fields (and tripping over himself, hee). Alas, Sae-yan has no luck finding the person she’s looking for, and her downcast demeanor is a far cry from her usual energy. When she barely responds to his teasing, Shin tries to pull a smile out of her by splashing her with water — only for her to toss him into the creek. His revenge? To drive away without her, all while flipping the bird. These two are such kids, LOL.

Stranded in the countryside with no way of getting home, Sae-yan calls Joo-yeon for help. Our resident doctor just so happens to be in her patient’s car, and Gun offers to drive her there. Not long after they arrive at their destination, though, Joo-yeon’s phone rings with a call from Sae-yan — she’s headed back to Seoul. Aww, Shin came back for her!

This scene really encapsulates just how similar the two brothers are — they don’t like admitting to it, but their actions demonstrate how deeply they care. They’re the type to go above and beyond for others while taking none of the credit, and I really hope their kindness circles back to them eventually.

Since their rescue mission is over, Gun stops at a roadside stall to sate his grumbling stomach. Out of the blue, Joo-yeon opens up about her late father. He’d poured his heart into work, approaching his patients with the utmost empathy and sincerity, only for one of them to fatally stab him.

Witnessing that traumatic scene made Joo-yeon seal her heart — until earlier that day, when she’d seen her apathetic reflection in a patient’s sunglasses. Her dismissive attitude, while a defense mechanism, might be inflicting even more pain upon her patients. She knows there’s nothing Gun can do to comfort her, but it’s still a relief to get it off her chest. In response, Gun notes that it’s the same for her patients — just having someone stay by their side and listen to their woes is in itself a form of comfort.

This advice proves pertinent when Shi-on collapses from nerves at the national team selection. Contrary to common rhetoric, Joo-yeon tells her not to stay strong. It’s okay if she isn’t good enough yet, or if she stumbles — what matters is the act of trying itself. Her best is as much as she can give, and that’s enough. Gun chimes in to reassure her that he’s rooting for her no matter what, and their encouragement has Shi-on stepping back onto the tennis court with a renewed confidence.

Plus, Gun’s come prepared. He knows Shi-on’s current skill level won’t net her a spot, but her strengths make her a formidable player in doubles, where her partner can cover her weaknesses. Shi-on will match up well with a certain player — Shin. Yesss, I love this combination!

Although Shin never plays doubles, he agrees for Joo-yeon’s sake, because Shi-on making the team would allow Joo-yeon to continue observing Gun as the team doctor. With that, Shi-on makes the national team, and after a bout of playing hard to get, Gun officially hires Joo-yeon.

Our leads may be bickering as much as ever, but their burgeoning feelings are beginning to peek through their prickly shells. It’s in the little things, like how Gun buys a charger for Joo-yeon’s flat phone battery but denies it was him, and how they end up in charged moments more often than not. Whether it’s Joo-yeon accidentally falling into Gun’s arms while changing the curtains, or her unknowingly leaning into his personal space, it’s clear both of them are affected by their forced proximity.

Stepping out of the hospital’s insulated bubble is doing good for Joo-yeon, because she’s gradually opening her heart to Sae-yan’s friendship, too. Last week, Sae-yan gave her wish bracelet to Joo-yeon as encouragement, and this week, Joo-yeon makes her one in return, though she downplays the gift. She even ropes Sae-yan in when Shi-on needs an Italian interpreter for her foreign coach, and the pampered rich girl Sae-yan can’t contain her excitement over her first job.

The meeting just so happens to be in the same hotel where the alumni reunion was held, and the location spurs yet another of Gun’s fragmented memories, reigniting the psychogenic pain in his right wrist. Meanwhile, Gun’s childhood friend BANG GUK-BONG (Lee Dal) confronts Joo-yeon, telling her to stay away from the brothers. What drove Gun to his extreme decision was having his first love — on top of everything else — snatched away by Shin. It dawns on Shin that Sae-yan, not Joo-yeon, is Gun’s first love.

He covers for Joo-yeon by acting unrepentant, which earns him a punch from Guk-bong. Though Shin’s words aren’t without merit — he hadn’t known who Gun’s first love was, so how could he have deliberately stolen her from him? After the confrontation, Shin admits to Joo-yeon that he’d been tormented by the guilt of inadvertently ruining Gun’s career. She reassures him, saying that Gun is happy now because of Shin’s decision to push him into the clinical trial, and Shin resolves to work together to protect Gun and prevent his memories from returning.

When a surprise visit by Mom and Dad has Joo-yeon fleeing Gun’s home office without her shoes, Shin finds her huddled outside in the cold. He rushes to his car to get sneakers and a blanket for her, but Gun arrives just then, and she chooses Gun’s slippers instead. Gun picks her up in a princess carry when she complains about the overly large slippers, and they bicker as Shin quietly watches from the sidelines. With a plaintive, wistful look in his eyes, Shin backs off for his hyung.

Unfortunately, our cinnamon roll tennis star can’t catch a break. When Shin tears up the contract renewal document, CEO Hong threatens him with the blackmail photos of the brothers’ scuffle. “That night, you pushed your brother over the railing,” CEO Hong surmises, while a cornered Shin quivers in anxiety.

I’m still insisting on giving Shin the benefit of the doubt, since everything we’ve seen of him so far paints him as kindhearted and self-sacrificing, rather than a vindictive assailant. I think he’s covering up the truth of the incident both out of guilt that it escalated that far, and out of a genuine (albeit misguided) desire to keep Gun happy and safe. Perhaps both their festering resentment boiled over that night, culminating in an outburst that neither could take back.

Now that Gun is being proactive and investigating his memory flashes, I’m starting to warm up to him again. I’m still not sold on the chemistry (or lack thereof) between him and Joo-yeon, but I like that he’s mellowed out beyond the comical caricature of the previous weeks. He’s figured out that he hadn’t been rescued from a fall at home, but from the Han River, and he’s no longer taking his family’s words at face value. I wonder what secrets lie within the old diaries that he used to write in, and what Shin will do with them now that they’re in his hands.

 
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