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Personal Taste (the novel): Part 3

What a tangled web we weave…

There are a lot of missed connections and misunderstandings in this next part, so hopefully it doesn’t get too confusing.

 
Chapter 7: “The silver fish vs. the she-cat”

Woo-min remains unaware of In-hee’s designs on Jin-ho, so when she receives a call from her friend suggesting another sleepover, she doesn’t think too much of it. She’s not enthusiastic about a girls’ night — she’s working late — but In-hee brushes Woo-min’s concerns aside and says she’ll be happy to wait up. Jin-ho will be there to let her in, so there’s no need to rush — take her time! Inwardly, In-hee hopes that Woo-min doesn’t come home at all so she can seduce Jin-ho without complications.

Thus In-hee drops by Jin-ho’s office to suggest heading home together. He had dismissed her the last time she dropped by unannounced, but this time she has Woo-min as an excuse so he can think of no good reason to turn her down. On their way out, they are stopped by an angry Hye-mi, who assumes that In-hee is the woman Jin-ho is living with. Jin-ho sighs, trying to muster up the energy to deflect Hye-mi, thinking she’s going to whine about him moving back home. To his surprise, she calmly invites herself to check out his new digs — she wants to see how he’s living.

I have a mental image of In-hee standing off against Hye-mi with exaggerated glares a la High Noon, a tumbleweed rolling by between them. Hye-mi thinks to herself that In-hee looks like a silver fish (a hairtail fish, i.e., skinny and pinched looking), while In-hee mentally calls Hye-mi a she-cat (i.e., wily and sneaky).

At the house, In-hee acts like this is her home and that she’s Jin-ho’s roommate, careful to make these comments out of earshot of Jin-ho. Thus when Woo-min later arrives home, In-hee has to act fast to keep her various lies from entangling. She can’t explain who Hye-mi really is because she doesn’t want to reveal that Jin-ho may be straight, so she takes Woo-min aside to explain that Hye-mi is Jin-ho’s clingy, annoying younger sister. Thankfully for In-hee, Woo-min is tired from work and immediately heads inside for a nap.

Meanwhile, Hye-mi believes In-hee’s lies and asks Jin-ho about his girlfriend-roommate (meaning In-hee). He naturally assumes “roommate” refers to Woo-min. He’s about to say that no, they’re merely roommates, but it occurs to him that this is a way to get Hye-mi to let him go, so he decides to go with the lie. Yes, his roommate is his girlfriend!

Phew, tired yet from all these crossed wires?

Hye-mi would be willing to give up on Jin-ho if he really found a woman he loved, but she really, really cannot stand In-hee and believes she has to save him from making a mistake. This also means she can’t leave the two alone at the house together, so she fakes a stomachache to get Jin-ho to accompany her home. In-hee, suspicious of Hye-mi’s motives, runs interference and volunteers to accompany them to the hospital. Hye-mi insists she doesn’t need the hospital, and urges Jin-ho to accompany her home. And on her way out, she can’t resist sticking her tongue out at In-hee, relishing this temporary triumph.

 
Chapter 8: “Unattainable person”

The next day is Saturday, but Woo-min shows up at work anyway. She’d slept through the whole night and therefore missed all the action, and woke up to an empty house. It’s a little odd that In-hee insisted on spending the night and then left without saying anything. Jin-ho’s absence she attributes to a date with Sang-joon (har), which is an idea that disgruntles her. She has to keep reminding herself that Jin-ho is gay and therefore off-limits, despite her growing feelings.

However, a toothache flares up and strikes with such force that it’s difficult to get any work done, so her boss orders her to stop working and go to the dentist immediately. This presents a few difficulties, because her dentist was actually the cheating ex, Jae-wook, whom she initially met when she’d gone in for dental work. The reason her toothache is recurring now is because she stopped mid-treatment after he dumped her.

An attempt to try a new dentist in the neighborhood yields a run-in with Jae-wook’s dental assistant, who says that Jae-wook is not working today, so she ends up back at the old place. Unfortunately, it turns out he IS here today, but she doesn’t realize this until the dentist begins work and she is forced to sit through the procedure.

(Note that the drama doesn’t have a character named Jae-wook. It seems that Kim Ji-suk‘s character is based in part on Jae-wook, but will probably not be as slimy, so take the correlations with a grain of salt.)

Thank goodness he waits until the procedure is done to throw himself at her and vow his continued love. Given how he unceremoniously dumped her, Woo-min is more than a little surprised and shoves him aside. Jae-wook hastens to explain that the reason he chose her friend Young-sun (note: he’s with In-hee in the drama) is because he had been drunk one night and mistaken Young-sun for Woo-min. That might have been the end of it but she kept calling and pursuing him, and even said she was pregnant. At that point he had already lost Woo-min and their families both approved of marriage, so he went ahead with their engagement. But he couldn’t forget Woo-min, he swears.

Despite herself, Woo-min starts to soften — the explanation does make sense and Jae-wook seems sincere… until she looks over and sees a photo with Young-sun taken at the cafe where she had her first date with him. His words lose their effect on her and she struggles to leave, kicking him in the groin when he tries to stop her. This sets off Jae-wook’s temper, and he angrily slings insults at her, denouncing her appearance, her character, her worth as a person and as a woman…

…which is when Jin-ho steps in.

Jin-ho has just come out of a meeting with Tae-hoon, who challenges him for Hye-mi’s love. Jin-ho sees that the younger man loves her for real, and thinks that he’d like to meet a woman who inspires him to feel the same way. On his way home, his thoughts turn inadvertently to Woo-min, and he catches himself. Surely he’s only thinking about her because of that ugly bag in the window, which looks just like hers. It’s not because he’s actually, you know, thinking about her all the time, right?

And then he takes a closer look — it actually IS Woo-min’s bag in the window. This is how he appears in Jae-wook’s dentist office just as she is being assailed with insults, which provokes his own temper and sends his fist flying into Jae-wook’s jaw for daring to insult “my woman.”

They leave together, taking a little time for both to calm down. She thanks him and the mood lightens as they regain their composure. Noting that it’s a nice day, they hit upon the idea of going to see a movie together (cutely, they both ask each other out — “If you don’t mind, want to see a movie?” — at exactly the same moment.)

And then here’s my favorite part, perhaps of the whole novel: Jin-ho drops by his office before the movie to take care of a task, so Woo-min waits in the car. To her surprise, he comes back bearing a shopping bag — he has bought her some cosmetics to fix up her appearance since the crying has ruined her makeup, and she’s touched at the gesture. In exchange, she rummages in her bag to give him a gift — a hand-puppet in the shape of a snake. (It’s not named after him, she jokes adorably — it’s Ji-no, not Jin-ho! Even Jin-ho has to admit that the snake looks a little like him, although he’d never admit it aloud.) She made Ji-no as a new character for work, but they’d ended up cutting the puppet out.

When In-hee calls, Woo-min gushes that she and Jin-ho actually have quite similar tastes and admits (for the first time) that she’s sorry that he’s gay. She confesses that she likes him, and catches herself arguing that perhaps Jin-ho isn’t exclusively gay, though she has to remind herself that he’s off-limits.

But she gets a cold dose of “reality” when Tae-hoon comes charging up. Ecstatic, he hugs Jin-ho and exclaims, “I love you, hyung!” He is thrilled because he has finally won Hye-mi over, aided by the fact that Jin-ho had told Hye-mi he doesn’t love her. However, to Woo-min this looks like he’s “cheating” on his longtime boyfriend Sang-joon, so she tells him reproachfully that she’s disappointed in him; she won’t tell Sang-joon about this, but she didn’t know he was this kind of person.

Caught in his own lie, Jin-ho can’t quite defend the situation without outing himself, so he’s left cursing Tae-hoon and his awful timing.

 
Chapter 9: “Troubled waters”

Hye-mi arrives at Woo-min’s house with Tae-hoon, ready to announce that they’re together now. Woo-min’s the only one home and receives the two thinking they are Jin-ho’s sister and his gay admirer, based on her previous encounters. The conversation that ensues is therefore rife with multiple crossed wires, thanks to In-hee’s and Jin-ho’s misrepresentations:

Woo-min assumes that since Tae-hoon and Hye-mi are here together to see Jin-ho, they must both know that he’s gay. Hye-mi, on the other hand, still thinks this is In-hee’s house.

Hye-mi and Tae-hoon talk about Jin-ho’s relationship in disparaging terms. They mean In-hee, but Woo-min assumes they’re talking about Sang-joon. She pleads with them to be understanding of his relationship, because it’s one that has required a lot of courage for Jin-ho to be in.

You can see the cause for confusion.

Thankfully, Hye-mi understands that there’s some wrong information in the mix, and clears a few things up. In-hee must have lied, which means that the roommate Jin-ho said he is dating must be Woo-min. (Woo-min, however, remains in the dark and continues in her mistaken beliefs.)

Sang-joon, meanwhile, talks to Jin-ho about their museum project. Jin-ho makes excuses that he can’t move out yet because he has to do more research on the house, leading Sang-joon to see through his flimsy explanation and guess that he likes Woo-min. Jin-ho has to admit that he has some feelings for her, but thinks that Woo-min only sees him platonically.

Sang-joon suggests that he get everything out into the open by inviting Woo-min as his date to a business party thrown by their museum contacts — that way he can confess to her AND make things clear to Kim Sung-han, the planning director. (Jin-ho fears telling Sung-han directly that he’s not gay because he might offend him and endanger his project. Therefore, he needs a way to let him down easy.)

Jin-ho chickens out and goes to the posh hotel party without a date, where he runs into In-hee, who’s there through her own connections. She sidles up to him flirtatiously, but he introduces her as his roommate’s friend. Making it clear to her that he’s not interested, he excuses himself from her company.

However, he then finds himself being approached by Sung-han, whois on a mission to talk to him alone and — gulp — probably make a romantic advance. Jin-ho hurries away to the elevator, which opens just as Sung-han arrives and starts to call his name. And out steps a most welcome sight: Woo-min, dressed up prettily for the occasion. He grabs her and kisses her.

She has been sent here by Hye-mi (who is happier to pair him with Woo-min than with In-hee), and although he apologizes quietly for the kiss, they soon get lost in the moment. They resurface for air and come back to their senses in front of an amused crowd of onlookers, then escape, giggling, to continue their makeout session elsewhere.

Things are a little awkward as they try to figure out what to do now, just as they witness a handful of couples escaping from the party and hurrying up to rooms above — the party IS at a hotel — with some barely making it to their rooms before getting indecent. This embarrasses her, and brings her mind uncomfortably close to the tricky topic of sex. So when Jin-ho says he has a confession to make — wanting to come clean about his lie — she tenses, thinking that he’s going to say he loves her just to get sex. Hey, it may be a bit of a jump in conclusions but her past experiences have all ended up here.

Dully, she interrupts and tells him she knows everything so he doesn’t have to continue. Jin-ho interprets this to mean that she knows he faked being gay, and apologizes for lying (which reinforces her suspicion that he is lying about his feelings for her). He’s confused at her reaction, though — doesn’t she like him?

Confused and disappointed, Woo-min breaks away, thinking he’s sweet-talking her. On her way out, she runs into In-hee, who is still smarting from being brushed off by Jin-ho. She drives the nail in the coffin by acting the “concerned” friend by warning her of some ugly rumors that are swirling about Jin-ho: he’s known for being a player and a boyslut. The words have their intended effect, and Woo-min goes home feeling dejected.

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I'm sooo tempted to read this recap but I don't want to spoil the drama just yet. Of course, that doesn't stop me from scrolling down, looking at all the photos and glancing over at some of the descriptions.

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I'm soooo looking forward to their first kissing scene there!!!
BTW, the 1st pic is just LOVE!
Thanks so much JB for the translation!

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i hate inhee. >:l haha, i thought
i was gonna hate hyemi...
i like how the author did this,
using the 'friend' to ward off the other
girl's hate off of the main character ^^
anyhow, i love the storyline so far xD
thank you javabeans! i love your recaps!! :D

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Noooooo! I hate misunderstandings, especially when they last this long. I hope the drama manages them better. I can't wait. Thanks, Javabeans!

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Wow, I have been waiting for this since last week. Thanks JB and now I'm hooked on this novel. Waiting eagerly for next installment.....

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omg ...that kiss...cant wait nw

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so excited for this drama to air!!!!!! hate that in-hee girl!!
what a manipulative b-i-a-t-c-h!!! and you call yourself a friend?!
ok i,m getting a little carried away...hehehe need to stop now...
thanks JB as always!!!!:D

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this is making me feel sad. have to wait 2 months for this drama to end, that is a long timeeeeee

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Oh my ... I hate the misunderstandings part too
but I can't wait to watch the drama

thanks alot Javabeans ♥

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Thank you Javabeans!
Been waiting for this the whole weekend!

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when is Personal Taste airing? am gonna watch this drama for sure!!!

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been waiting for this... THANKS JB! c",)

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I like this story so far but aren't there far too many misunderstandings and cross wires???

Thanks, JB, for this novel re-cap for those of us who can't wait.

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Thanks - this could turn out to be a very good drama.

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Once again thank you so much for doing this recap. I can't wait for the drama! I'm sure these 2 leads will do very well!

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Shocks.. I want to "touch" him so bad. How can I stop myself?

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ohmygosh so confusingg!! I think I'm going to dislike this part of the drama where Woomin is COMPLETELY misled and doesn't understand whattheheck is going on!
But after that...this drama wld be totally cute (:

And for some reason, now that Lee Minho is cast for this role, everytime his character is mentioned in your recap, I automatically imagine him. He just suits the character so well, don't you think? :p

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I'm not worried of their acting capabilities (LMH & SYJ) I'm more worried about how the PD and scriptwriter will turn this into an enjoyable show. since I haven't heard anything about both reputations.

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Read that the scriptwriter has changed to the author of this novel? Can anyone confirm?

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Thanks Javabeans! I had been waiting for this recap for the whole week. Yikes! this is really a mess. Too many miscommunications and misunderstanding. I saw teaser 2 of this drama. It looks like the drama is diverging from the book. Oh god please don't let the scriptwriter mess it up LOL. I want this drama to blow my mind away because it has a lot of potentials.

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I started reading your Part 3 re-cap ( took you long enough ) :)
and then I realized about five sentences into it, that I had ~ NO CLUE.
So I had to start again........reading........each........word........very........slowly.

Let's see: The project director thinks that Lee Min-ho is gay, but the evil
girlfriend is suspicious, the "arranged" girlfriend knows better than that,
but starts to fall in love with the other guy, and while all of this is going on
the dentist wants to re-connect with his old girlfriend who is starting to
have feelings for her roommate???

Do I win a cigar???
Am I even close???
I need to go lay down. :) :) :)

I figure that by the time you've finished writing all of these re-caps for us,
your brains will have definitely fallen out. I hope that you will recover in
enough time to watch "Personal Taste" when it's finally shown on TV.

SO ~ GET WELL, JAVABEANS ~ AND THANKS FOR THE RE-CAPS! :)

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OMG. 1ST PICTURE. MY LEE MINHO ADDICTION JUST STARTED ALL OVER AGAIN!

Seriously, he doesn't look so good in the recent pics i've seen, but damn. damn. damn. he's fiiiiiine there.l

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Love the recap - dont even want to watch the drama just want to read what you have written

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I hope the drama will follow the novel VERY closely cause the Novel sounds so awesome in itself! Can't wait to see the possible Elevator Kiss Scene =)

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Thanks JB!
All the more revved up to watch it now.
Lee Min-ho playing a ''boyslut''! Diiiied! xD

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The plot sounds so fun with all the crossed wires, and I had to really concentrate to keep everything straight as I read your superb recap! You summarized these chapters so succinctly. You are a very talented writer. Thank you for all your effort!

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thnks!!!! love reading these!!!!!! XD cant wait for it n e longer!!! GAAAAAHHH!!!!!

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As always Dramabeans, you rock my world. Thanks for taking the time to translate and make it easier for us non Koreans. Though I am trying to study Korean, I am sorely sorely lacking. Awesome! You made my morning! Komapsumnida!

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One more week to wait for the drama
Thank you very much

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awesome - thanks for the summaries!

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Teaser # 3 came out this morning.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkp2E8BoBZo OMG, it's damn funny and LMH looks smexy

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I too picked up the book last week after reading your first post. I'd have to say that the first couple of chapters are very entertaining and I have found myself laughing out loud after reading certain parts. It does seem to me that depending on how this is written, some of the characters could begin to get a little irritating depending on how they're portrayed. Hyemi could get to be a little too clingy, which might get old fast. But I particularly like that in chapter 7, she has moments of self-awareness that show her character to have at least a modicum of thought. I'm glad that she's not just hanging on for dear life or a pure antagonist like Inhee, who I can't say at the moment has too much charm. The only saving grace is that Woomin is aware that her friend is up to something and understands the dynamic of their relationship, so there's likely to be less grief in that part of the story.

I'm anxious to keep reading and even more so for the actual airing of the drama next week. Thanks for the recaps!

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ahhh !!! so confusing i think when the drama is on it the fog will clear but till then i don't really have the faintest of ideas of whats going on lol !!

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i cant wait for the part 4 of this recap...i love reading them! thanks!

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Damn it I couldn't hold out any longer and read everything. Oh well...I hope the drama is just as fun :)

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I'm enjoying the summaries. Is it possible to get a copy of the book in English? I really really want to read it. Even if it's not I'm looking forward to more of your summaries. It all seems to be getting more interesting.

Thanks for the summaries!!!

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I love to read your writing
I check twice a day for the part 4, thank you so much !!!

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@bietvui: heheh that makes 2 of us....i do check the site 2x a day for the part 4.....

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hi! where's part 4 of the novel? please post it..it would be helpful to those who would like to read the novel but could not because they don't understand korean language. please please read the novel and summarize it and post it in your website. :)

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WHEN IS PART 4?! it's awesome, I'm going to read this in Korean (when i go BUY it there xDD) and I'll watch the drama later on :P

but... right now... I'm waiting for... PART 4 :D

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ayiiee~~~~ i got tempted reading this delicious post.....What I read will be stuck in my head forever and I cant continue watching this drama because I wont get excited anymore~NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

must watch queen seondok again to forget....yes2x.....dokman ^infinity.... p_p

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ahh i can't wait for part four!!

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T__T so sad......still no part 4.....

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umm one question is this a manga or a novel
plzz reply !!!

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JB really hope you will do part 4 soon. It's really nice reading the novel. It's attracting me more than the drama itself in fact.

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I've just finished watching the first 6 episodes of the drama and I think they're quite good. The chemistry between the two leads is starting to rise up. Lee Min Ho did a good job but Son Ye Jin was incredible. And to tell the truth, I did not see the gap of age in the appearances between these two actors, they really don't have to change the ages of the characters to match the real ages of the actors. Anyway, compare to Son Ye Jin, Lee Min Ho is a bit lack of confident and natural in acting. But I believe that he will do better in the next episodes.

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Please publish the next parts already, pretty please... I think it will not really spoil the drama since they scenes are different. May be they just pulled out the concept from the novel. Can't wait to read the fourth part.

Thanks for this, btw!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to translate from korean to eng =)
really enjoyed it =)
Please do part 4 hahahaah really wanna know what's gonna happen next awwww wish the book would come out in english

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thanks for translating!
wow the book is just as good, if not better than the drama :]
are you going to continue finishing off translating the story?

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part fourrr?

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