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Love & Marriage: Episode 8

Romance lovers are gonna love Episode 8. Prepare yourself for a cutesy episode, with lots of giddy-sweet moments.

SONG OF THE DAY

Casker – “고양이와 나” (Cat and me) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 8 RECAP

Kang-hyun faces off with the Rich Loner, who bristles at her for standing up to him. (I don’t know his name — I don’t think they’ve used it yet, but they’re calling him Cash King, so that’s what I’ll use for now.) Then Cash King deflates, losing his anger. Nobody understands him, he says — all those stories about him are exaggerated or false. His wives died on him, his two live-in girlfriends left him. Rumors may say he cut off his fiancées without proper compensation, but they’d actually only approached him for his money.

The truth is, he may have $50 million in cash, but he has nothing else. He didn’t want to be burdened in assets and sold off everything. Now all he has are his dogs: “Like you said, I’m going to live with my dogs the rest of my life and die.” In a macabre mood, he says he’ll die alone and be found half-eaten by the dogs (Bridget Jones he is not, but the fears are similar).

Understanding the real picture, Kang-hyun asks, “Were you that lonely?” He nods sadly, and says that’s why he decided he’d give it one last shot with her company. He was drawn to its name: Last Love.

Feeling compassion, Kang-hyun takes a new approach, and tells him she’s going to find him somebody within the year. With her trademark enthusiasm, she assures him that she can do it, with a few changes in strategy — first of all, he’s going to enroll in their services as a regular client, not a VIP. That means no hiding behind money — he’ll have to do the dating dance just like a normal member.

Maybe her optimism is contagious, but by the time she leaves, the Cash King is feeling hopeful. As she’s leaving, she comes clean about her own unmarried status, telling him she’d lied previously.

But he tells her, “I don’t care. I’ve found in life that sincerity is more important than experience. Passion like yours is more important than clumsy experience — it can move the world, and people’s hearts, too.”

Kang-hyun is touched by his faith in her, and starts to strategize.

Kang-hyun’s mom is still hanging out at Kang-hyun’s apartment and does that nosy ajumma thing by telling Kang-hyun’s friends with an air of superiority that they’d better get their acts together. At their age, they should be chasing careers or getting married. After all, she points out, look how well Kang-hyun is doing with her good job and her soon-to-be-successful boyfriend.

This prompts Hee-soong (the quiet, dour one) to burst out that Kang-hyun and Kyung-hwan broke up. Soon-young tries to do some damage control, but it appears Hee-soong thinks the jig has gone on long enough. (Personally I think she was out of line, but her motives are well-intentioned and Kang-hyun isn’t angry. I suppose no harm, no foul?)

Intending to find out the truth, Mom goes to Kyung-hwan’s office to hear from him directly. He’s unavailable at the moment, so she waits in an empty room, and when Hyun-soo passes through, he takes her for one of their clients. (She self-consciously covers her bruise — no doubt he assumes it’s husband-related, not knowing it was an accident.) He asks how long she’d been considering divorce, and Mom answers that not a day has gone by that she hasn’t thought of it. This is the first time she’s talking to a lawyer about it, though.

Hyun-soo counsels Mom that since she’s been married 27 years and expects to live 30 more, it behooves her to think of the life she has yet to live. Does she want to live it miserably?

Things have been strained between Kang-hyun and Hyun-soo after the scene at the hotel, with Kang-hyun too mortified to face him after being outed as a liar. She avoids him at work and sits alone on the rooftop, though she imagines he’s there by her side, giving her encouragement.

One misunderstanding is cleared, though — she had been bothered by the possibility that Hyun-soo was just playing around with her. When she overhears Sung-ho talking on the phone, she finds out that Hwa-young is staying at the hotel because Sung-ho felt uneasy at the idea of his cousin staying somewhere all alone.

Hee-soong gives Kang-hyun a pep talk about her feelings for Hyun-soo, telling her that she’s got nothing to lose now that everything’s out in the open. She urges Kang-hyun to “act like Kang-hyun” and confess her feelings for him openly.

Kang-hyun warms up to the idea, and to encourage her, Hee-soong gives her a free package of kimbap (she’s a clerk at the convenience store). Kang-hyun notices it’s the most expensive kind, but Hee-soong assures her that it just passed its expiration date, so it’s free.

Hyun-soo is distracted throughout dinner with Hwa-young, zoning out to dwell on her mother’s words about leaving Hwa-young alone. He’s so lost in thought that he doesn’t even notice that his food is spoiled (ah, do you see where they’re going with this? lol) — Hwa-young brings it to his attention when she tastes it. This reminds her of a similar occurrence back on their third date — he’d been eating spoiled food without noticing, which made her feel sorry for him. It was then that she thought, “I’ll have to watch over him for the rest of my life.”

Seeing him revert back to this behavior makes her feel bad for him all over again, and she suggests giving their relationship another try. At this, Hyun-soo pauses, then tells her he it’s a bad idea for them to meet so often because it muddles up their feelings (read: HER feelings).

He says this gently but firmly, and Hwa-young is disappointed. As they leave, she suggests taking him to the hospital before he gets sick from the food, but he says he’s fine. Preferring to walk, he sends her off in a taxi, telling her that they should be more mindful of giving each other space (read: HIS space).

Hyun-soo receives a text from Kang-hyun, which apologizes again for her lie and asks him to meet her at the elephant exhibit; she has something to tell him.

Hyun-soo hesitates, not sure how he feels about meeting her. Instead of heading over to the zoo, he returns to his office and contemplates the text. Hye-sun drops by (picking up on his disturbed mood) and advises him to start dating again: “I want you to be happy. You’ve always lived for someone else, struggling with the heavy burden, like you’re afraid of being happy. You should be happy now — I hope you can meet someone who will make you feel that way, and be happy together.”

At the zoo, Kang-hyun is practicing her speech when her stomach starts acting up, which she attributes to her nerves. However, the feeling only intensifies, and she rushes off to the bathroom. Once in the stall, she finds herself without toilet paper (or rather, one measly square, which may actually be worse — mocking you with its puniness as you try to figure out how to maximize its use). What now?

Kang-hyun is stuck in her stall when Hyun-soo arrives — and I love that he comes running. He calls her to find out where she is, but she’s so embarrassed she hangs up on him. But out of desperation, she’s forced to text Hyun-soo an SOS message asking for toilet paper.

Uncomfortable with the idea of breaching the sanctity of a ladies’ toilet, Hyun-soo makes his way in slowly, drops the pack in front of her stall, and runs out before he can be seen.

When Kang-hyun emerges, she thanks him and starts in on her speech — only it’s a little rambling because she’s been taken off-guard — and she starts to confess her feelings… but is forced to rush off when pains assail her stomach again.

When she returns — waving at him to keep his distance, not wanting him near her in her condition — she barely has a chance to start her speech again before she must rush away again.

While waiting, Hyun-soo remembers all the time he spent with Kang-hyun and considers Hye-sun’s suggestion to open himself to love. By the time Kang-hyun returns, he seems to have made a decision, and approaches her to resume their conversation.

Kang-hyun, on the other hand, feels weakened and ill, and tells him, “I’m sorry, I’ll have to confess next time.”

So Hyun-soo grabs her hand and says, “Then I’ll have to be the first to confess today, too.”

(I have to note: It looks like one of those kisses that looks great on film but would be terribly awkward in real life. It would be great if all big dramatic kisses felt as nice as they looked, or vice versa.)

Kang-hyun thinks, “If the first kiss is sweet, it’ll turn to love.”

With that out of the way, Hyun-soo carries Kang-hyun to the hospital.

On the way, he starts feeling sick to his stomach, too, and by the time Kang-hyun has been treated for minor food poisoning, he looks so awful that the doctor treats him, too.

Hyun-soo’s food poisoning turns out to be much more serious than Kang-hyun’s, which means she is first to recover. When she’s feeling back to normal, she drives Hyun-soo (who’s still ill) back to his hotel.

Kang-hyun puts Hyun-soo to bed and tends to him. When clearing away his clothing, something drops to the floor, and she picks it up — his passport. Noting his birthdate, she muses that she’ll have to get their compatibility forecast taken.

In the morning, Hyun-soo awakens feeling much better, and spots Kang-hyun curled up on the floor, asleep.

As they drive in to work, Kang-hyun wonders if they ought to go public with their relationship. She admits that Kyung-hwan is her ex (Hyun-soo guessed as much) and would like to tell him herself, since she knows from experience that hearing about your ex from someone else can be painful. Hyun-soo answers that he could use some time as well (to break the news to Hwa-young). This means their relationship is a secret for now. (Possibilities for pesky complications, let me count the ways…)

Still, that doesn’t mean she can’t get their compatibility scored, using the excuse that it’s for a client couple. Already in such a good mood that her co-workers raise their eyebrows in bewilderment, the favorable reading makes Kang-hyun positively giddy. She and Hyun-soo are quite compatible, and forecast to be a great marriage pairing.

Kang-hyun wants to take a photo with Hyun-soo, but he’s uncomfortable with pictures in general and shies away. Since they’re still a secret couple, Kang-hyun hits upon a compromise — foot pictures!

(While looking at their feet, Kang-hyun makes a playful comment about toes indicating the life span of one’s parents. He tells her how his mother died while he was in middle school and his father a couple years after that. Kang-hyun feels sorry for bringing up a painful topic without realizing it, although Hyun-soo is calm about it as always — he’s come to terms with it a long time ago.)

They plan to have their official first date on the weekend, and think up options for first-date activities. Hyun-soo suggests fishing (how romantic, huh?), to which Kang-hyun happily agrees (since that means she gets to eat her favorite ramen again). Her cheerful agreement contrasts sharply with Hyun-soo’s memory of Hwa-young reacting to a similar suggestion — she disliked fishing and tried to coax him to accompany her golfing instead.

Kang-hyun’s friends don’t react as positively to her relationship as she’d expected, though, since they’re suspicious of Hyun-soo’s motives for keeping their relationship secret — is he cheating, or is he ashamed of her?

The friends mean well, but Hee-soong’s words in particular throw a wrench into Kang-hyun’s happiness, since she suspects Hyun-soo of being a womanizer. She also pegs him as having intimacy issues.

Hwa-young avoids an obvious attempt by her mother to set her up with the doctor, and thinks gloomily about Hyun-soo’s caution not to see so much of each other. Sinking into depression, she ignores her phone calls, and Hyun-soo’s in particular, finally dropping her phone into the pool. Thus Hyun-soo can’t get a hold of her to tell her his news.

Kang-hyun’s mother calls Kyung-hwan to demand to know why they broke up. Caught off-guard, Kyung-hwan stammers, not knowing how to respond, and fakes a reason to hang up. (Isn’t our baby Kyung-hwan such a manly man?)

Kang-hyun’s father takes the news even worse than Mom, since he really liked the guy and had thought of him as his son-in-law. He suggests to Mom that they figure out a way to get the kids back together.

Bothered by her friends’ suspicions (oh, pernicious friends! Obviously they care about her, but their misguided actions are ruining a good thing. It’s rather reminiscent of Persuasion), Kang-hyun does the equivalent of googling (i.e., Navering) and looks up symptoms of intimacy issues. On the surface, the signs fit Hyun-soo — giving short explanations, making himself seem pitiful to get the girl’s sympathy, disliking taking pictures (which are hard proof of the relationship), liking physical contact, etc.

Then again, she’s instantly cheered up one text message later, when Hyun-soo suggests they meet for lunch. She texts back an affirmative and is ready to shoot out the door, only to be stopped by Sung-ho wanting lunch company. Unable to shake him off, Kang-hyun is forced to bring him along, and it’s cute the way she and Hyun-soo try to act as though they’re meeting by coincidence.

On the way to their weekend date, Kang-hyun asks him whether he’s ever been embarrassed of her, thinking of Hee-soong’s warnings. He doesn’t know what she’s talking about, so she refers to all the mistakes she’s made and how she’s embarrassed herself in front of him, but he answers that he thinks of her actions as part of being a talented couple manager, and recounts all her successes. (He’s a glass-half-full type of guy when it comes to her.) Good answer, dude.

Hyun-soo suggests a short coffee break before heading out to the lake, and they end up at an airport. He explains that coming to the airport cheers him up, and Kang-hyun’s upbeat mood turns a little pensive as she reads between the lines when he says he likes watching people leaving because it makes him feel as though he’s leaving, too.

But their date is aborted when Hyun-soo receives a phone call telling him his brother has been sighted.

Hyun-soo is immediately alert, apologizing to Kang-hyun while taking her to the racegrounds in search of his brother. She assures him she can amuse herself alone, and he goes off with investigators to scour the grounds.

Meanwhile, his brother actually sees Kang-hyun and pegs her for a novice, approaching to give her some “tips.” He isn’t trying to make money off her, but I think he’s just amusing himself at her expense, telling her with mock authority which numbers to pick.

In a funny twist, Kang-hyun rejoices over the money she wins, and asks how much he won. He didn’t, because he didn’t take the advice he’d given her, lol.

After looking all over, Hyun-soo gives up, figuring his brother must be long gone. He makes his way to meet Kang-hyun, not (yet) noticing that his brother is right in front of his eyes…

 
COMMENTS

I think my love of Kim Ji-hoon is probably largely residual affection from Flowers For My Life, which is a drama I adored. That isn’t to say I don’t like him here, but I think Hyun-soo’s character is kinda flat as far as romantic heroes go. Because I’m not really taking Love & Marriage seriously — it’s great, zippy fun but not a drama you watch for meaningful themes or introspection, if ya know what I mean — this doesn’t bother me a lot.

It does, however, make me impatient to see Kim Ji-hoon in a role that actually stretches his abilities, because I think he’s been playing in his comfort zone in his past few dramas (Why Did You Come to Our House, Golden Age of Daughters-in-Law). While he wasn’t a scene-stealer in Flowers For My Life — hard to do when you’re acting with Kang Hye-jung and Cha Tae-hyun — there was enough there to make me think he could be good if he challenged himself more. I want to drool over him as much for his acting as for his pretty, pretty face (and ze hot bod, of course!).

 
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ah thanks!!

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Was waiting for your recap to come out since y'day! Thanks for a great recap as usual... this episode upped my happy-giddy-hormones somemore. Ah... the thrill of a new budding love relationship. I don't mind that the role hasn't stretched Kim Ji Hoon yet but he fulfills visually and his charisma and chemistry with Min Hee is great. Good pairing for this romance dramedy.

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AAAAAAAH Whyy is the recaps on noooooow......that I'm finally home~ WHYYYY! I've been refreshing your page the whole day but nothing. Earlier I had night class (COMP SCI), so I know a recaps of LOVE MARRIAGE ep 8 sure will wake me up..........still NADA! But now that I'm home it's onnn...oooh the torture~

Nonetheless~ THANK YOU MUCHO! ^_____^ I've been counting the minutes for this recaps~

Honestly, lame to say but I got all shy and giddy watching this episode. And that's w/o understanding a lick of Korean. Such a cute episode, however, I like the second kiss better it was sweeeeeeeeet. But first...umm her position was kinda awkward in my opinion.

I can't wait for the next episode puuuuhahah things are going dowwwwwwn DUN DUN DUN~

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Thanks for the recap.
Yes, I love this episode full of sweet moments. Cute....cute....kekekeke

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thks lots for the recap!!!
i've been waiting for it all day
And i started to watch this show after reading your recaps on the
first episode. and i like kim ji hoon too:)

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thanks so much! always look forward to the recaps and now that im on break maybe i can actually watch some of the episodes =]

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kumsamida
thanks for all your hard work

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i'm almost caught up and really loving this series...after a long time something light like this has really got me hooked :) And I love Kim Min Hee as much as I love Kim Ji Hoon in this...initially I wasn't too sure about her but I've really come to love her smile, and she's just a real kind of girl (loves her job, is capable, but makes mistakes, and doesn't always look great and perfect). Its been a while since I loved the actress as much (maybe even more) than the actor ;). Plus all the side actors pull their weight well too.

I'm glad they didn't make a big stretched out deal about the 'truth' coming out, I figured at some level everyone kind of knew. And this episode was oh so cute, though so much romance this early on means obstacle-filled roads for our heroes. Somewhat predictable about where the story goes, but they've been good in doing twists and presenting everything in a new way so I'm looking forward to the next eppie :)

Cute feet scene :)

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thanx u so much :x:x . gosh, they re so sweet :(( :(( :((

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Finally the infamous hyung shows up. Like Hyun-soo, I thought he was dead. He looks like the crazy king in Hong Gil Dong. And looks like he might cause some trouble or not. Anyways, cute episode. It was an awkward first kiss of the two but the second one saved it. And I thought taking a picture of their feet instead of their faces was unique and creative.

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can't wait to watch this episode!.....her hair seems to be getting better as the drama progresses...or maybe I'm just getting used to it? i dunno

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i am taking an uneducated guess b/c i've only seen up to ep 4
but to me
kang hyun? (i can't spell names, the girl) and the guy kinda remind me of Carrie and Mr.Big in Sex in the City. Something about it says it all.
"Look at me I'm down on my luck!" is very Carrie sometimes and Mr big is successful and all that just like that the guy...
and her hair looks great now !
it doesn't bother me no more
(only looking @ caps and not reading..)

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thank you so much for the summary- i didn't get a chance to watch this episode! This is such a feel-good drama! And isn't the brother- the king form Hong Gil Dong? Hahaa the actor's playing another reprobate character. I don't get how Kim Ji Hoon end up eating spoiled food- that either means the restaurant/hotel sucks despite the expensive looking interior. Those screenshots of the kisses look soooo romantic- especially since Kim Ji Hoon's got the really old-school 1940s? look. love it!! And I don't blame Kyung-hwan for dodging Kang-hyun's mom- that lady's pretty intimidating!

I think Hyun-soo's character's a bit flat, because he really is a dull kind of guy- the type of guy who'd rather chill at home than go out to the bar with friends and he had planned fishing as a good first-date activity! I don't think he even has any friends except for the boss lady. And he seems to also take things in stride- which is a bit of a relief from those angsty guys, who would get a faraway look in their eyes and have flashbacks of their painful memories- all with sad music in the background emphasizing how much their lives had sucked (biggest example is Kim Seung Soo's character in Why Did You Come to My House- though what happened to him was pretty horrible). Hyun-soo seems to be the type of guy who would go "It sucks to always clean up after my crazy brother. Oh yeah. I need to do laundry tonight so I'd have something to wear for tomorrow. And then I'll watch the 11 o'clock news before I go to bed"

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thank you sarah.. love love love this series so much :)

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have been checking your blog religiously for this update~ thanks for the great insight in this squee-licious epi! :)

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Thank you!! The feet scene was so cuuuuuuuuuuute! Interesting that Kang Hyun's feet seem to be more callused than Hyun-Soo's. :D

With an episode this sweet, the next one will probably involve all sorts of bad things happening... alas...

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I just think this drama is the cutest drama I've seen in a very long time. After so many heart-wrenching and rather mentally irritating dramas, this one is a breath of rose scented giddy gas filled air. I can't get enough of it.
And as for Hyun-Soo's character, I see that it is a flat character and yes, he can be seen as this stiff boring guy, but to me that is why it feels like a treat when he smiles. Not the simple line across his face, that he seems to genuinely and freely give but an actual light that appears when he smiles at (or with) Kang Hyun. That is truly something special.
For him, I think that this "raw" expression is rare. Also in many ways this seems to sneak up on him, though he welcomes it. I find in him a strangeness and a culmination of attributes that seem to be boring and aloof, indifferent and disinterested...Then I see that there truly is so much more that he is saying through all those things including his kindness(though I don't believe even he knows it).

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WWWAAAhhhhh episode 9 is so cute- the secret romance...
loved it. go watch it NOW.

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Luved the new spin on "HIS" and "HERS". Great re-cap, as always!

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thanksssssss for the recap! :D loved it like always!
this drama is entertaining and cute! love the two leads! and kanghyuns two friends!
oops.. kinda indulged in exclamation marks.. i guess i cant hide how much i like this drama and your recap!

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thank u for your great commentary and summary, your introspective opinions are brilliantly funny and i agree w/ u about Kim JiHoon needing to find roles outside his comfort zone, he is incredible eye candy no doubt about that, he should do
something edgy, cuz he can be pretty devious and scary if given the right character.....i will continue to rely on your comments re: this drama thanks again

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Javabeans, I love your recaps, they truly are the best. I started with your recaps of Coffee Prince when I was too impatient for the episodes to be subtitled and I found that your recaps were honest, well-written, and beautifully narrated. I love all the personal touches you add!

Thank you so much for commenting and recapping these dramas, I can only imagine how much time you put aside for all of them.

Cheers.

Priscilla

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thank you very much for the recap..it's so interesting although just only by reading the story..i cant wait to c the drama..but where can i see a full drama of episode 8 onwards and wit 100% english subtitle..? thanks :)

Kamsamida..fighting!

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 this drama!!! 

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