My Dearest Nemesis: Episodes 7-8
by Unit
The second half of our show kicks off with denial and acceptance of feelings, secret dating, suspicious grandmothers, and unearthing of other secrets.
EPISODES 7-8
It turns out that Joo-yeon didn’t teleport to Soo-jung by the power of the plot. He actually called to know where she was, before dragging her into the changing room to talk about their drunken kiss. He apologizes for forgetting the kiss, but says kissing her wasn’t a mistake. But now that Joo-yeon’s feelings for her are out in the open, Soo-jung enters denial mode about her own feelings. Cue: avoiding him at work, reconsidering her stance by drawing up a pros and cons list, and reconsidering her reconsideration when Joo-yeon is officially introduced in the media as Yongsung’s likely successor.
The official announcement is a reality check for Soo-jung, and she reminds Joo-yeon about the class gap between them. “Can you hold my hand and stand in front of people and the chairwoman?” she asks, but he doesn’t have an answer. Soo-jung is not interested in getting fired so she decides to swallow whatever feelings or non-feelings she has for Joo-yeon. And since misery loves company, Joo-yeon and Shin-won bond over their rejection by their respective love interests.
At work, Joo-yeon overhears that Soo-jung has lunch plans, and he tails her to the restaurant to crash the blind date he assumes she’s on. But to his surprise, Soo-jung is dining with her dad and Soo-bin, and I guess it’s “meet the family” time. Just kidding, it’s Soo-bin who wants to introduce his girlfriend to his dad and sister. But something comes up for the girlfriend and she can’t make it, so Joo-yeon is the sole recipient of this meet the family opportunity. Heh. Dad falls for Joo-yeon’s charm, but Soo-bin has reservations and corners our charming dragon outside for a Racket Boys reunion to confirm the genuineness of his intentions towards Soo-jung. Soo-bin is unimpressed by the chaebol heir, and warns him not to mess with his noona. In turn, our chaebol dragon assures lil bro that his intentions for Soo-jung are very serious.
While Joo-yeon is busy endearing himself to Soo-jung’s family, his housekeeper unwittingly snitches to his grandmother that she’s not allowed into his study. A curious Grandma schedules an impromptu visit to Joo-yeon’s house, and his chief secretary, SECRETARY KWON (Kim Young-ah) — who used to be Grandma’s secretary — goes against Grandma’s instructions by informing him about the visit beforehand. Soo-jung notices Joo-yeon’s panic after receiving this information, and she suggests they buy time to empty out his dragon lair before Grandma arrives. They task Shin-won and Ha-jin to stall Grandma at different places on her way to the house, but Grandma still arrives before they can clear out the lair. Uh-oh.
As Joo-yeon escorts Grandma into his study, we hold our collective breath and pray she doesn’t spot the hidden entrance to the dragon lair. What Grandma finds is a framed photo of Joo-yeon and his parents — that he planted in one of the shelves — and she assumes the picture is his big secret. In a way, it is, since his longing for his parents is supposed to be a secret. Yunno, because a child who killed his parents has no right to miss them (Grandma, 2025). Tsk. Grandma slams the frame to the floor and storms out of the house, leaving behind a broken Joo-yeon and hundreds of shattered glass pieces. Sigh. Is anyone in need of space tourists? Because there’s someone I’d like to send. And no, she doesn’t need to return to earth.
Meanwhile, Soo-jung — who was hiding in the dragon lair the whole time — overhears the entire exchange. After Grandma leaves, Joo-yeon opens up about his parents’ death, Grandma’s blame game, and his need for the lair to maintain sanity in the chaos. “Even though no one loved me, I felt fulfilled,” he says, and that’s why he was happy when Soo-jung told him to freely enjoy his hobbies to his heart’s content. “I like you,” Joo-yeon confesses. “I’ve hidden things I liked for a long time because they were a secret, but I like you so much and I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it a secret.” Great! Now my heart is breaking for him.
I’d have folded immediately after Joo-yeon’s confession, but Soo-jung has to go home first to ponder on it. After thinking back to all the times she has spent with him and his thoughtfulness and genuineness in every moment, Soo-jung decides to take a step of faith. She runs back to Joo-yeon’s house, but he’s not at home because it is K-drama 101 to toss the desperate party into an unwilling game of hide and seek. Soo-jung and Joo-yeon finally run into each other outside the department store, and she asks if he and his succession plans will be okay if their relationship is exposed. “I think I’d be okay as long as I have you. As long as you like me,” Joo-yeon replies. Soo-jung confirms that she likes him, and they kiss as the fountain lights up and dances behind them. Aww.
For obvious reasons, Soo-jung and Joo-yeon have to date in secret, and they swear that they are pros at keeping things hidden at work. Narrator: they are not, in fact, pros at keeping things hidden at work. To Soo-jung’s credit, she tries to maintain the secrecy, but her transparent dragon of a boyfriend doesn’t even attempt to pull his weight. Pfft. I chuckled at the crying baby sound effect whenever Soo-jung fake-scolded Joo-yeon in public, and it was cute that she made it up to him by memorizing the names of his fav comic characters. Now if he can stop rizzing her up at work… we’re trying to not get caught here!
Now that our OTP is officially an item, it’s time to check in on our secondary ship. After a very random Yoon Park cameo, Ha-jin and Shin-won run into each other again at a wedding — and here we learn that after a 10-year relationship, Ha-jin’s ex husband cheated on her less than a year into their marriage. It explains why she’s not interested in going into a new relationship, but Shin-won says he’s sincere about his interest in her. She proposes they have sex again, but he refuses because as much as he wants that, it’s not all he wants. Ha-jin then changes her mind and agrees to date him. She likes him, he likes her, they’re happy together, and “the purpose of a relationship is to be happy.” Okay.
Ha-jin tells Soo-jung that she’s dating Shin-won, but Soo-jung is mum about her relationship with Joo-yeon. Meanwhile, Shin-won can totally tell they’re dating from Joo-yeon’s body language, but he can’t bear to separate them because it’s been a long time since he has seen Joo-yeon look this happy. Besides, it’d be a while before Soo-jung and Joo-yeon find out that they’re each other’s first loves, right? Narrator: it would not, in fact, be a while before they find out.
The week ends with Joo-yeon coming to Soo-jung’s house to see her because he desperately misses her read one of his comic books (because he moved all the items in his dragon lair to Soo-jung’s house in case of any more impromptu visits). Soo-jung goes to pick up said book from the attic, but what does she find? Why, of course, it’s the couples chain that her first love proposed to her with all those years ago. Da-dun! “You’re Black Dragon aren’t you?” she confronts Joo-yeon, and we shall hear his acceptance or denial next week.
It took only eight episodes, but finally, the truth is out! Phew. Cue: the five stages of angst, awkwardness, and hopefully a quick resolution to this hiccup, so we can put it behind us and move on. Some drama is already brewing in the office with that annoying coworker who accused Soo-jung of seducing Joo-yeon so she can climb the ladder. Then there’s Grandma whose suspicion radar has reached maximum level after the Secret Study incident. It’s left for us to start a prayer circle for Soo-jung and Joo-yeon’s job stability. Because Grandma doesn’t seem like the type of person to let things go with an envelope of money.
RELATED POSTS
