One Spring Night: Episodes 3-4

by TeriYaki

What happens when a chance encounter causes a spark in a safe, but boring, existence? That breath of fresh air highlights Jung-in’s stale relationship and she has to figure out what to do about it. Ji-ho can’t seem to forget Jung-in either, but his priority is his son. Their worlds are set to collide thanks to a cute five-year old who’s never had a mother.

 
EPISODE 3

The basketball game resumes and Jung-in stands when Ki-seok fouls Ji-ho, knocking him to the floor. Jae-in reassures her, “Don’t worry. That’s not your boyfriend.” Jae-in singles out Ji-ho and confesses, “I find him attractive.” She asks if she should hit on him but Jung-in reminds her sister to behave.

After the game, Ji-ho’s friend invites Ki-seok to join the team for dinner. Jae-in blurts out, “We’ll join you guys,” but Jung-in doesn’t want to make the team uncomfortable. When Ji-ho walks by, Ki-seok makes it a point to invite him and Ji-ho’s friend pulls him aside to convince him to come along, but Ji-ho doesn’t need any convincing.

At home, Seo-in opens a hidden safe and removes a binder. She pages through photos of injuries (hers?) and adds another photo just as the doorbell rings. Seo-in hastily returns the notebook to the safe before letting her mother into the apartment.

Seo-in pours coffee while Mom complains about how much her daughter has changed since she got married. Mom wonders if it would be better if Jung-in and Jae-in don’t get married.

Seo-in advises, “About Jung-in. Don’t let her get married.” When Mom asks if she means forever, Seo-in asks, “Why not?” Mom confesses that she’s old-fashioned and still believes in marriage. Mom makes Seo-in uncomfortable when she brings up how difficult her life has been and is encouraged to focus on Jung-in.

During dinner, Jung-in’s chopsticks fall to the floor and Ji-ho wordlessly replaces them with a clean set. Later, when Jung-in ventures into the snow for the bathroom, she walks past Ji-ho, who’s on the phone.

Ji-ho stops Jung-in and whispers that the bathroom is occupied. While she waits, Jung-in overhears Ji-ho’s conversation, “What did you say, Eun-woo? Daddy couldn’t hear you.” Ji-ho promises to see his son in two days and when Eun-woo asks if he’s been drinking, he glances at Jung-in before lying, “No, I didn’t.”

Ji-ho is still outside when Jung-in emerges and on the walk back to the restaurant, Ji-ho confesses that Eun-woo doesn’t like him to drink. Jung-in doesn’t like lies, so Ji-ho urges her to go inside first so that they won’t have to lie.

When Ji-ho returns to the table, he’s happy to see that his other friend has joined them. Jae-in keeps Ji-ho’s friends straight based on their occupations, the newly arrived friend is a civil servant student while the other works with Ki-seok.

Ji-ho’s friends want Jae-in to guess what Ji-ho does. Jung-in is the only one who makes sense of the friends’ vague hints and lies that she must have overheard what it is he does. Ji-ho backs up her story, “I mentioned earlier that I’m a pharmacist.”

When Ki-seok’s coworker calls the Lee sisters gorgeous, Jae-in claims that she’s the prettiest sister. Jung-in stiffens when Ki-seok throws his arm around her and insists that she’s the prettiest.

At home, Jung-in’s mother interrupts her calligraphy practice to ask her husband to be less overbearing with their grown daughters. He accuses her of coddling them and promises to marry Jae-in off as soon as she returns. Mom is more concerned about Jung-in and asks him to give her more time.

Mom walks away after Dad belittles her hobby, but returns when he yells, “Hey!” He backs up as she reminds him that she has a name and when he falls, Mom tells him, “You’re pathetic.”

After dinner, the party moves to a noraebang. Ji-ho and Jung-gin chose the same song and both reach for the microphone when it starts. They’re encouraged to sing it together but Ji-ho has to step out for a call. He returns long enough to speak with his friends and then leaves.

Jung-in turns off the music to ask about Ji-ho but all his friends will say is that he has a family matter. The party gets going again when the future civil servant sings next and impresses Jae-in with his voice.

An anxious Ji-ho asks his taxi driver to go faster. He’s dropped off at a hospital and runs to find Eun-woo, who’s asleep with his grandparents by his side. Ji-ho’s father says the doctor suspects gastroenteritis but they’ll know more once they get his test results.

Later, Ji-ho’s father complains that his mother shouldn’t have called but Ji-ho defends her decision, “I should know. It’s about my kid.” Ji-ho sends his parents home to rest and sits with Eun-woo, who opens his eyes and asks, “Has it been two days already?”

Ji-ho urges his son to speak up whenever he’s in pain but the boy insists, “I feel totally fine now that you’re here.” Awwww. Ji-ho promises his groggy son that he’ll stay by his side so that he’s never sick again.

Seo-in runs into a colleague at the broadcast station who just saw Shi-hoon. He insists that Seo-in must visit him and leads her to Shi-hoon’s set. Seo-in cringes when Shi-hoon puts his arm around her as if everything is fine.

After Seo-in leaves, Shi-hoon chases after her and tells her to wait at home so that they can talk. Seo-in walks away without a word.

Young-joo complains when she and Jung-in have to sort through a stack of posters for an event. Ha-rin carries in more posters and Jung-suggests choosing a concept to make their selection easier.

Jung-in jots down some ideas and comes up with, “The last snow,” surprising Young-joo with her sentimentality. Starving, Young-joo asks to grab something to eat and the trio heads out.

EPISODE 4

Ha-rin stops to talk with a cute five-year old girl on the way out. Jung-in watches the girl walk away while Young-joo tells her friends that kids are scary because they’re so pure and innocent. She worries, “What if I hurt them,” and asks Jung-in if she feels that way too.

At the hospital, Ji-ho’s mother insists on staying with Eun-woo so that Ji-ho can get back to work. Ji-ho is thinking about moving back home but his mother reminds him that the commute won’t allow him any time to see Eun-woo.

Worried about Ji-ho, his mother asks if he ever dates. Ji-ho answers, “Occasionally,” and when she asks if he’s met anyone special, he tells her, “No, not yet.” Ji-ho smiles when his mother assures him that his soulmate with find him and then teases that she needs to find him soon.

During coffee with Ki-seok, Ji-ho’s friend gets a text that a team member can’t play. When Ki-seok asks what happened to Ji-ho, his friend explains, “This is top secret. Actually, he has a kid.”

Ji-ho’s friend spills all of the details — Ji-ho’s college girlfriend got pregnant but kept the news to herself and disappeared. She returned eight months later and moved in with Ji-ho’s family. One day when she vanished and Ji-ho took a leave of absence to search for her, but she had gone abroad. Even though Ji-ho got through it, he was distraught for a long time.

When Ki-seok expresses pity for Ji-ho, his friend comes to his defense, “Who cares if he’s a single dad? He makes good money, and he’s healthy…Everything else is fine.” Ki-seok doesn’t agree, “How is that fine? What woman would like that?”

After work, Jung-in walks Ha-rin to the bus stop. When Ha-rin’s bus pulls away, Jung-in notices a pharmacy across the street.

A taxi stops near Ji-ho’s pharmacy and Jung-in hesitates before paying the driver. Eventually, Jung-in wanders close enough to peek inside the pharmacy and doesn’t see Ji-ho walk up behind her. She’s startled by the coincidence and walks into the pharmacy without saying anything.

Ji-ho goes inside to tell his boss that his son is much better and that he’ll be at work the next day. After he leaves, Jung-in gets a text, “I’ll wait for you at the corner.”

When they meet, Ji-ho asks, “Did you come here to see me,” and Jung-in doesn’t deny it. With the pharmacy about to close, Ji-ho suggests going elsewhere so people won’t talk about her.

They end up at a small cafe and Ji-ho tells Jung-in about Eun-woo. Jung-in explains that she was worried when Ji-ho left so abruptly, “I was going to forget about it, but here I am.” Ji-ho wonders why Jung-in didn’t just text but she reminds him that he doesn’t reply. Ji-ho explained why he ignored her but now that he’s moved on, it won’t happen again.

Jung-in wants to know why Ji-ho thinks people will talk about her. Ji-ho sighs and explains how people react because of his situation, “Who is the woman next to such a man? What’s her story? Is she a single parent too?”

Jung-in tries again, “You said you moved on. We can be friends then.” Ji-ho doesn’t want her pity but Jung-in calls his fear some kind of victim mentality. Ji-ho asks about her boyfriend and Jung-in draws a clear line, “From here on out, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t assume or worry about things I don’t mention.” Jung-in is surprised when Ji-ho agrees to be friends after her warning.

Ji-ho runs to his car and has to catch his breath before picking up Jung-in. When Ji-ho doesn’t open her door, Jung-in has to get in on her own. Haha. Jung-in sees some sparkly dinosaur stickers on the compartment between the seats and pulls out her phone to get a picture.

Ji-ho stops in front of Jung-in’s building and looks in his rear view mirror. He tells Jung-in that her sister is with someone that looks like his friend, Young-jae. They turn around to look out his back window and Ji-ho smiles when he sees his friend laughing.

Jung-in is annoyed and complains about Jae-in and Young-jae as she unbuckles her seatbelt. Ji-ho has to stop her from getting out of his car in front of her sister and his friend.

When Jung-in gets home, she lets Jae-in know that she saw her with the Young-jae. Jae-in says that they’re just friends but Jung-in argues, “Someone your age shouldn’t be his friend.” Jae-in lectures her sister that age shouldn’t matter between friends.

After her visit with Young-jae, Jae-in is even more interested in Ji-ho and Jung-in glares when her sister mentions making a move. Jung-in reminds her sister of the mens’ connection to Ki-seok but Jae-in doesn’t care. Jung-in may not be able to date someone in that group, but Jae-in can.

Jung-in’s father walks out of his office and catches Chairman Kwon barking at an employee about the budget. Chairman Kwon criticizes Jung-in’s father for approving the budget in the first place and Dad vows to do better.

When Jung-in’s father reminds Chairman Kwon about the that meal that he promised, the chairman explains that he has other plans and leaves without saying good-bye. Troubled, Jung-in’s father returns to his office to call Ki-seok and the men arrange to meet.

Ki-seok calls Jung-in and she guesses that her father wants to talks about marriage. Ki-seok picks up that Jung-in isn’t excited about the prospect of marriage and wants to know, “Is it marriage you hate, or just me?” Whoa.

Jung-in tries to explain, “I don’t want to get married just because we’ve been dating long enough.” Ki-seok senses a change in Jung-in and asks if there’s something she hasn’t told him, but she denies it.

The couple agrees to meet after work to continue their conversation and Ki-seok promises to take care of Jung-in’s father. After he hangs up with Jung-in, Ki-seok calls her father to reschedule, blaming a last minute meeting.

Ji-ho is on the phone outside of the pharmacy and when he walks back inside, his boss says that he can go home if he’s worried. Ji-ho tells her that Eun-woo was discharged and is playing at home.

When his boss complains that they’re having a slow day,Ji-ho calls it a good thing since fewer people are sick. His boss predicts that if he ever opens a pharmacy, it won’t last three months.

Ji-ho wants to know how much it costs to open a pharmacy and his boss guesses that he’s thinking about it. Ji-ho admits that he’s thinking about moving back in with his parents. Ji-ho’s boss confesses that she had her mother move in after her divorce and regretted it.

Ji-ho’s boss warns, “Once you move back home, Yoo Ji-ho will be gone. You’ll only live as a son and the father of your child.” Ji-ho is silent as she adds, “I want to tell you to be selfish. You have the right to live a happy life.”

Dressed in a baggy sweatshirt, Jung-in answers her door and lets Ki-seok in. They sit together stiffly to talk but Jung-in doesn’t have anything more to say. Ki-seok reminds Jung-in that once the subject of marriage comes up, many couples get cold feet, but he’s worried that her reaction is worse than that.

Jung-in doesn’t know what to say and Ki-seok wonders why a woman who usually knows what she wants is suddenly so vague. Ki-seok isn’t prepared when Jung-in suggests, “I think we need a break.”

Ki-seok insists that it’s only a matter of time before they end up married but Jung-in argues, “If marriage was my only goal, I wouldn’t have stayed with you.” After a long pause, Ki-seok asks, “Are you sure that there’s nothing else going on?” When Jung-in answers, “I’m sure,” he agrees to give her some time and they hug before he leaves.

Ji-ho takes Eun-woo to a park, although the boy would rather go to the zoo to see dinosaurs. While Ji-ho watches Eun-woo on the swings he texts Jung-in, who texts back that she’s at work. Ji-ho asks what she does and Jung-in smiles as she types her reply.

Young-joo sees that smile and assumes that Jung-in and Ki-seok are back together. When Jung-in gets another text, she panics.

In the car, Ji-ho tells Eun-woo that they’re on their way to see some dinosaurs.

At the same time, Jung-in rushes to the archive section and uses the photo of Eun-woo’s stickers to select a few children’s books.

Jung-in ducks into a restroom to fix her hair but walks out after she realizes what she’s doing. Eun-woo runs off as soon as he walks into the library and Ji-ho is alarmed when he hears a gasp.

Ji-ho finds his son with Jung-in, who asks the boy, “You’re Eun-woo, right?” Jung-in wants Eun-woo to guess who she is but she’s not prepared for his answer, “Mom?”

 
COMMENTS

In theory, Jung-in and Ki-seok should be a perfect match and there’s nothing actually wrong with their relationship. But in reality, there’s no chemistry, no passion. While Ki-seok is willing to make a commitment, Jung-in is suffering from a vague unease that grows with each passing day. Recognizing that her disinterest in her future with Ki-seok means something, Jung-in finally makes a decision and asks for a break.

As typically happens, Ki-seok is shocked that Jung-in wants to break up. Convinced that she’ll change her mind once he gives her some space, he agrees to pause their relationship. But what happens if she moves on, or just wants to make the break permanent, will he be able to accept that? After seeing more of Seo-in’s husband Shi-hoon, I’m a bit worried that Ki-seok may make it very difficult for Jung-in to walk away.

Interestingly, Jae-in is interested in Ji-ho, which only heightens Jung-in’s interest. It’s tough to forget a man who’s caught your interest when your sister wants him for herself. But Jung-in is very careful to make it look as if she has no connection with Ji-ho as she tries to dissuade her sister from going after him and tells Ki-seok that there’s no particular reason for their break. Jung-in has convinced herself that Ji-ho is just friend material but her actions betray her, such as expecting him to open her car door and freshening up before he shows up at the library. That’s not “friend” behavior.

Unfortunately, Ji-ho comes with lots of baggage, even if little Eun-woo is one of the cutest five-year olds ever. Dating a man with a young child is particularly challenging, especially one who has never lived with a mother. Jung-in stumbled into his reality when she playfully asked him to guess who she is. It makes sense that a motherless child would imagine someday meeting his mother and as sweet as Eun-woo’s inquiry was, it was also heartbreaking. Young-joo is right, hurting a child is frighteningly easy to do and Jung-in is going to have to think long and hard about her “friendship” with Ji-ho.

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Angel’s Last Mission: Love, One Spring Night
• Falling in love One Spring Night in MBC’s melo romance
• A walk among falling flowers in MBC romance melo One Spring Night
• First look at Han Ji-min and Jung Hae-in for MBC melo Spring Night
• Pretty Noona cast and crew may reunite for another warm melodrama