What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim: Episode 7

by LollyPip

This drama is unusual in that everything that happens in the present is informed by the past. But it’s a past that hasn’t been revealed to the audience yet, so the characters often behave in ways that make total sense to them, while we’re left guessing at their motivations and reactions. But the past is slowly being uncovered, and the secrets it holds are unexpected and surprising, particularly when it turns out that our arrogant, oblivious vice president may not be as oblivious as we thought — in fact, he just might have been playing a long game from the beginning.

 
EPISODE 7 RECAP

Mi-so finds a file filled with the resumes of everyone who applied to be Young-joon’s secretary nine years ago, and she realizes that compared to all the others, she was grossly underqualified. Young-joon enters and asks if she wants to know why he hired her, and says, “Because you’re Mi-so. Because you’re Kim Mi-so.”

Confused, she asks if he knew who she was before her interview, and with a sigh, Young-joon says he didn’t. Mi-so admits that she was always curious why she was hired, because she only applied on the advice of a sunbae but never expected to get the job. She wants to know what he meant by what he said, but he says there was no special reason.

He explains that he deliberately chose the candidate with the least impressive credentials, because that person would go overseas with him and experience a lot of difficulties, and he didn’t think the overly qualified applicants could handle it. So he purposely picked the person who would be so grateful to have the job, they would never quit or be scouted by another company.

Mi-so is disappointed that he didn’t have a special reason to pick her, but she takes in this information graciously. When she’s ready to go home, Young-joon asks if she had fun talking about old times with Sung-yeon, and how it felt to see the boy she’s been looking for, and she says it feels surreal.

After a long pause, Young-joon says tentatively that she probably heard about what happened to him, too, and how Sung-yeon went through his ordeal because Young-joon left him. She says she did, and also learned that he lost all of his memories of that time. She says sympathetically not to blame himself for what happened, and after she leaves, Young-joon stares after her looking infinitely sad.

When she gets home, Mi-so opens the diary she wrote to “Oppa” and reads about her young self’s determination to find him again. Young-joon stays up late, looking at Mi-so’s resume and thinking about her asking him if he knew her before her interview.

He remembers showing up at a employee dinner and spotting Mi-so, who was just a temp, and how he’d smiled to see her. He’d sat beside her and asked if she knew who he was, and when she’d said he was the chairman’s son, and he’d stifled his disappointment. Later he’d specifically asked an employee to find Mi-so and tell her to apply for the secretary job, just so he could hire her.

Back in the present, Mi-so tells Yoo-shik that it was Sung-yeon, not Young-joon, that she was locked up with as a child. Yoo-shik notices that she seems disappointed that it wasn’t Young-joon, but she denies it and asks him not to say anything to Young-joon. After she leaves, Yoo-shik muses that something seems off.

Young-joon’s parents complain that they haven’t seen Sung-yeon much since he’s been home, and he explains that he needed to see someone. Dad asks if he’s talking about a girlfriend, and Sung-yeon says cryptically that that could be the case soon. Mom is skeptical, calling him a playboy, but he says that it feels different this time.

He calls Mi-so and invites her to lunch, saying that they have a lot more to talk about. With a sad look in Young-joon’s direction, she agrees, and she asks Young-joon if she can take her lunch separately today. She’s honest about Sung-yeon’s invitation, and Young-joon wilts as he tells her she can go.

At lunch, Sung-yeon says he couldn’t sleep last night and asks about Mi-so. They discuss how long they looked for the person who comforted them in that scary house, and Sung-yeon asks Mi-so what she wanted to do most when she found him.

She says she’s not sure, but he presses her, asking if he’s her first love. She answers uneasily that it’s not like that, but he asks if she’ll help him recover his memory anyway.

When they leave, they find Young-joon lurking outside the restaurant, saying Mi-so forgot about an important appointment. She argues that Ji-ah was going to attend, but he says it’s her job. Mi-so goes to the car so Young-joon can speak with Sung-yeon alone.

He tells Sung-yeon plainly: “Don’t see Kim Mi-so anymore.” Sung-yeon fires back not to interfere in their business, but Young-joon says that he has more right to have “our business” matters with Mi-so, since they’ve worked together for nine years.

Sung-yeon retorts that Mi-so looked for him for longer than nine years, which he thinks means they’re destined for each other. Young-joon scoffs that Sung-yeon sounds like he’s writing another novel using a too-obvious trope.

On the way to the meeting, Mi-so says she and Sung-yeon are going to the old redevelopment district after work tomorrow, to try and jog their memory of what happened. Hearing that, Young-joon tells her breathlessly not to go, practically begging, but Mi-so says she really wants to go.

Back at the office, bachelor Gwi-nam breaks up a conversation between Ji-ah and Se-ra when he sees them laughing together again. When Se-ra looks away for a second to preen, he glares at Ji-ah and gives her the “zip it” gesture again. Se-ra invites Gwi-nam to a workshop their office is holding this weekend, but he declines.

Team Leader Jung wanders by and says to Gwi-nam, “I heard that you last only a week with ‘that.’” Gwi-nam freaks out and accuses Ji-ah of telling everyone his secret (about only owning one suit), but Team Leader Jung says he didn’t hear anything that should be a secret from her.

Confused, Gwi-nam asks what he’s talking about, so Team Leader Jung says he means the ginseng juice his mother sent to help him work harder. Gwi-nam laughs that of course he meant the juice, and he suddenly decides to attend their workshop, probably to make sure Ji-ah doesn’t talk.

At the end of the day, Young-joon snarks at Mi-so about going to find memories with her dear old friend. He tries to order her not to go through telepathy, chanting, “Don’t go, don’t go,” in his head, but of course she goes. When he’s alone, Young-joon grumps that she should be putting more effort into making memories with him.

He ends up canceling his dinner meeting to go to the gym with Yoo-shik. As they’re leaving the office, Yoo-shik sees Sung-yeon picking up Mi-so and claps a hand over Young-joon’s eyes. Subtle, dude. He holds on desperately while Young-joon threatens to fire him, not letting go until Sung-yeon and Mi-so are gone.

As they walk around the development area nearest where Mi-so used to live, Sung-yeon tells Mi-so that the woman who kidnapped them was the mistress of a married man, and that she had an abortion then was broken up with, so she kidnapped them in anger.

He asks if she recalls how they escaped the house, but all she remembers is holding hands as he walked her home. Sung-yeon doesn’t remember walking her home, or what she called him back then. She says she called him “oppa,” and he asks if she would call him that now, dropping to banmal.

Young-joon takes his frustrations out on a punching bag, but it’s not enough, so he asks Yoo-shik to spar with him. During a break, Yoo-shik asks why Young-joon is upset, and Young-joon says there’s something he doesn’t want taken away from him. He hotly denies that this is about Mi-so, but Yoo-shik snaps at him to stop making up stories, admit the truth like a man, and to go confess to Mi-so.

Mi-so gives Sung-yeon her childhood diary to read, hoping it will jog his memories. Sung-yeon says that he’s always blamed Young-joon for what happened, but that he’s feeling less resentful now, and even feelings thankful to Young-joon now that he’s reconnected with Mi-so.

She gets an emergency call from Young-joon, so Sung-yeon drives her to the office. He wonders if they’re having so many emergencies lately because the vice president is incompetent, but Young-joon says that in fact the vice president is so competent that he’s always under attack. I don’t think they’re talking about work anymore…

After Sung-yeon is gone, Young-joon informs Mi-so that the emergency is that he’s hungry and orders her to make him ramyun. She takes him to a ramyun restaurant, and when he pouts that this isn’t the ramyun he wanted, Mi-so retorts that this isn’t the situation she wanted. She asks why he interrupts whenever she’s with Sung-yeon, saying that she needs to spend time with him to recover her old memories.

Still sulking, Young-joon tells her to bury those memories and live for the future. He asks if her past is so important that it’s worth upsetting the guy she’s in a “some” relationship with, and when she stammers at him, he says that they like each other so that’s what this is. He practically dares Mi-so to deny it, but she can’t, so she just snaps that this isn’t the place for this conversation.

When he drops Mi-so off at home, he says bluntly that he’s handsome, rich, and competent, and he asks Mi-so to stop rejecting him and marry him. He admits that the first time he asked, it was because he didn’t want her to quit, but that this time he really means it. He asks her to date him for real, and she smiles… then says no.

She admits that they’re in a “some” relationship, but she says primly that he’s only saying all this out of jealousy. She tells him that she doesn’t want to start a relationship this way, and Young-joon does that weird nervous sniffling thing again. Mi-so trots inside, leaving Young-joon wondering how many times she’s dumped him, hee.

In the morning, the office team members get ready for their weekend workshop. Ma-eum, Yoo-shik’s secretary, is so happy to be included that she’s bought enough food and alcohol for everyone. Their celebration comes to a screeching halt when Gwi-nam shows up wearing the same suit he wears to work every single day.

When everyone heads for the car, Gwi-nam grabs Ji-ah by the backpack and tells her that he’s going to the workshop to keep an eye on her. He feels like she knows too much about his one suit and tiny apartment, and he says he doesn’t want her telling people how frugal he is. She asks why it’s such a big deal to him, and he says he doesn’t want his image as an attractive workaholic ruined.

At a rest stop later, Gwi-nam is the only one not having any snacks. Se-ra tries to get him to eat some ddukbokki, and she ends up dropping the bite on his jacket. He shrieks, “This is my only suit!” and nearly gives away his own secret, but he covers by saying that he cares for his many suits like they’re all his only one.

Team Leader Jung and Ma-eum joke about how a woman asking a man to come in for ramyun is synonymous for seduction. Mi-so thinks about how she invited Young-joon to stay for ramyun, and she snaps that offering a man ramyun could just be offering actual ramyun. She laughs at herself when they all stare, but she can’t quit thinking about it.

Young-joon spends the morning flying his drone, obsessing about Mi-so’s most recent rejection. He grumbles that he was being sincere, then seems to get an idea.

Despite the workshop being a supposed working weekend, Mi-so tells them that they’re on vacation. They all go for a walk, stopping briefly to let a fumigation truck pass, and they all gasp to see a horror coming at them through the fumes… Young-joon. LOL.

He cheerfully blames his presence on Cheol, who needs to participate as part of the team (HA, Cheol’s looking at him like he’s done lost his marbles). Young-joon says he would have sent Cheol alone, but he thought it would be meaningful to be with his team.

Cue instant panic. They all stammer that they were just on their way back to the guest house to start working, and they hurry to think of a vision statement on the fly. Mi-so brings them some snacks, and on her way Young-joon stops her to say that he’s really here because of her.

He tells her that he couldn’t stay home stewing over her rejection, and he didn’t want her thinking of her “oppa,” so he’s here to make her think of him. He says that his goal for the workshop is to put an end to their “some” and start a real relationship, vowing that she’ll be his girlfriend by the end of the weekend.

Ji-ah nearly overhears that last bit, but Young-joon says expansively that since he’s here, they’ll all be one after the workshop. He goes inside to hear everyone’s vision statements, all of which are horrible except for Gwi-nam’s, which nobody can understand anyway (Ma-eum: “What’s a PPM? I only know 2PM…” HAHA).

Sighing that this isn’t why he came, Young-joon suggests they stop talking, and he gives them each two seconds to communicate their vision to him through their eyes. OMG, his reactions to each of their bizarre glares are hysterical.

He gets to Mi-so, and her furious eye-daggers give him a start. He asks if she’s accurately expressing her vision, and she retorts, “I’m showing my determination to plow through this hardship.”

Young-joon tries to release them all for free time, but Ji-ah pipes up that it’s time for Find the Ribbon. She tells everyone to form groups of two and search for ribbons with the company motto hidden on the mountain.

Young-joon perks up at “groups of two,” and with a smirk at Mi-so, he says they’ll start immediately. He pretends to think about who to choose as his partner (everyone hides their face while Gwi-nam’s hand shoots up), then shocker of shockers, he picks Mi-so.

Everyone pairs off, and Young-joon announces that the team who finds the most ribbons wins a gift certificate and a tablet. That ignites everyone’s competitive spirits, but nobody more than Gwi-nam, who runs like the wind as soon as the signal is given to start.

Ji-ah follows behind him, whining in annoyance, and he asks if she thinks he’s pathetic for caring about the prize. He says it’s not the prize he cares about, but winning. Ji-ah groans that she doesn’t wanna, until they find their first ribbon.

It’s high up in a tree, so Gwi-nam removes his jacket and solemnly hands it to Ji-ah, then climbs the tree for the ribbon. He suddenly realizes how high up he is — a terrifying four feet, at least — and he starts pitifully begging Ji-ah to help him down. She’s not keen on the idea of being his stepstool, so she fakes a call from mom and wanders off, leaving Gwi-nam stranded.

Back in the city, Sung-yeon reads Mi-so’s diary, smiling at her tiny sorrow over forgetting his name and her belief that he’d come back someday and remind her. He wonders to himself what she’s doing now.

At the moment, she’s plodding through the forest after Young-joon, who wants to talk about how his confession was sincere even though it was influenced by jealousy. Mi-so’s phone rings, and at her guilty expression, Young-joon answers and tells Sung-yeon that he’s with Mi-so.

He hangs up and tells Mi-so to focus on the person she likes, but she says that right now she wants to find her memories. Young-joon asks if she’s going to keep seeing his brother even though he hates it, and Mi-so says determinedly that she is.

Elsewhere in the forest, Se-ra yells at her partner Cheol for getting bowled over by Ma-eum and Young-ok. He mumbles that he’s not as strong as he looks, then tells her that there’s a bug on her shirt. She freaks out, screaming bloody murder, just as Gwi-nam runs past.

Se-ra flails so hard that one of her push-ups falls out of her bra. Cheol realizes that she’s scared Gwi-nam will see it, so he rips off his jacket and heroically throws it onto her falsie. When Gwi-nam is gone, Cheol picks up the falsie inside his jacket and gallantly offers it to Se-ra, then runs off to spare her further embarrassment. What a hero.

Young-joon gets his own hero moment when it starts to rain, giving him the chance to cover Mi-so with his jacket. With their faces only inches apart, Young-joon tells Mi-so to enjoy her nine million won umbrella while she can, hee. They run for cover together, smiling, their argument forgotten.

They watch the rain from under a pavilion, and Mi-so enjoys the view… until she sees a spider. She screams while Young-joon grabs the spider and tosses it away, then comforts Mi-so until she calms down. He gives her a chocolate he got from Team Leader Jung, which reminds her of being trapped in that old house, and Oppa giving her a caramel to calm her down.

Mi-so takes the chocolate and feels better, and soon the rain stops. As they walk back to the guest house, Mi-so tells Young-joon how she’s been terrified of spiders since the kidnapping, because there was a huge spider outside the door.

Young-joon says that when you’re small, everything seems big, so she doesn’t need to be scared of the spider anymore. He tells her about a dog he had as a child, a golden retriever named Big Bang Andromeda Supernova Sonic (Mi-so: “You named him yourself, didn’t you?” snerk). Young-joon says that Big Bang had a strange habit of burying treats and never going back for them.

He thinks that they’re probably all still in his yard even though Big Bang died years ago. But he says that if he dug them up, he might find that they’re rotten. He tells Mi-so that he doesn’t want her to dig up painful memories and suffer like he and his family have suffered.

Mi-so says that she understands, but that she’s always lived for her family, and even has a job that requires her to prioritize someone else. She continues that she’s not used to people being considerate of her, but on that day, Oppa protected her. She says it was the nicest thing anyone ever did for her, and she asks him not to hate her for spending time with Sung-yeon, who showed her that kindness.

She starts walking again, but Young-joon calls after her, “You can have whatever you want, and know what you want to know. I will understand. You can do everything you wish to do. I will bear it. I am confident that I can bear everything about you.”

COMMENTS

I just love Young-joon’s odd personality; he’s so different from most drama heroes (though I admit a lot of that is Park Seo-joon’s quirky interpretation of the character). At first I thought that his arrogant side was a cover for his traumatized inside, but the more I watch, the more I think that both sides are equally valid. He really is that self-centered and conceited, but he’s also very sensitive and insightful. His observation that Mi-so’s spider probably only seemed huge because she was very small was pretty incredible, and I love how he’s fully embraced his feelings for her now that he’s acknowledged them. He’s utterly unafraid to show and tell Mi-so how he feels, and to follow her around like a (ridiculously confident) puppy to prove to her that she feels the same about him.

However, Young-joon is developing a bad habit of interrupting every time Mi-so spends time with Sung-yeon. Though I recognize that it’s really intrusive of him and I’m glad Mi-so called him out on it, somehow I can’t be mad at him for his bad behavior. He’s got good reason to be jealous — he was well into the process of wooing Mi-so when Sung-yeon showed up, and it’s not like Mi-so wasn’t open to the idea. She doesn’t deny Young-joon’s statements that she likes him and that they’re in a “some” relationship, which tells me that her feelings aren’t the reason she hasn’t accepted him yet. Not to mention, they have a nine-year history, which we now know was started by Young-joon when he recognized Mi-so at that dinner. Yes, Young-joon is acting like a jealous toddler whose brother stole his toy, but part of me feels like he has some right to object that Sung-yeon is confusing Mi-so with all this “fated” nonsense, since she’s given him cues that she likes him.

If Mi-so were receptive to Sung-yeon’s advances, maybe I’d be more upset with Young-joon for constantly interrupting them, but she seems to feel more confusion and discomfort around Sung-yeon than anything else. It’s kind of fun to see the show flipping the old “they met as children, therefore they’re destined to be together” trope on its head. The writer even hung a lantern on it by having Young-joon say that it’s overused and obvious. Just because Sung-yeon and Mi-so (supposedly) experienced something terrifying together as kids, in no way makes him her fated love, or even someone she’s obligated to be friends with. I think she’s confused because she thinks they should feel close after what they went through as children, but she just looks uncomfortable whenever Sung-yeon tries to get closer to her.

Anyway, I just can’t accept that Sung-yeon was the boy who Mi-so was locked up with — I still think that there’s a case of mistaken identity going on and that Young-joon is really Mi-so’s long-lost Oppa. Because if Sung-yeon is the one who was kidnapped, then why is Young-joon the one suffering from nightmares, oddly specific phobias, and an inability to get physically close to a woman? But then, if it really was Young-joon, why is he letting Sung-yeon get away with claiming it was him? I’m beginning to think that Young-joon was the one who was kidnapped and lost his memory, and that Sung-yeon took advantage of that and switched their roles, pretending the kidnapping happened to him and letting Young-joon take the blame. After all, we know Sung-yeon was a bully at that age, and we know that both Mi-so and Young-joon have memory issues regarding what happened, so it would have been easy for a preteen bully to manipulate events to make himself the victim. And besides, how did Young-joon recognize Mi-so in the first place, if he wasn’t the one trapped with her?

But the important thing is how they feel now, and it’s so obvious that both Young-joon and Mi-so are in love. They longing way they look at each other just kills me, but I appreciate that Mi-so, at least, had the willpower to say that this isn’t how she wants to start a relationship. Young-joon’s heart may be in the right place, and Mi-so isn’t even accusing him of not being honest about his feelings, but she does know that he’s not ready to be with her for the right reasons yet. At the moment, he’s driven by desperation not to lose her, jealousy that she’s spending time (no matter how innocent) with another man, and competition that that man is his brother. He’s had nine years to tell her how he feels, but he never did, until he felt the fear of losing her. I love Mi-so for not settling for a guy who never stepped things up because he thought he had her locked down, and who only began to push for more when he thought she might leave.

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