I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day: Episode 7

by quirkycase

Wow does our boy drop the ball this time. Just when it seems like what he’s wanted for so long is within his reach, he retreats to the frustration of our heroine. But her confusion and irritation turn to concern when old patterns resurface for our withdrawn lead, and she may be the only one able to convince him to stop running from the world and start fighting for his own happiness.

 
EPISODE 7: “The Road to the Cabin”

Eun-seob still hasn’t responded to Hae-won’s confession when the lights are brought back up moments later. While everyone else is gathered excitedly in the yard, Hae-won and Eun-seob stand alone, staring at each other. Hae-won repeats her confession now that she can see Eun-seob’s face. After she prompts him to respond, he says, “Okay.” What?! Duuude.

Hae-won has the same reaction and asks in disbelief, “What?” Eun-seob stands there nervously and is saved by Jang-woo’s arrival. Eun-seob rushes to Jang-woo and drags him away, leaving poor Hae-won confused and alone.

Well, not as alone as she thought since Hwi pops out having heard everything. Hwi is horrified that Hae-won likes her brother (and got rejected) and runs off. Oof, can this get any worse for Hae-won?

Hae-won is quiet on the drive back as her friends chat and laugh. She’s so out of it her friend has to yell her name to get her attention. The girls want the scoop on Yeong-woo. How did things go? Hae-won can’t seem to finish her sentences and trails off before she gives a real answer.

At home, she stands and bangs her head against the wall a few times before yanking her shoes off and haphazardly tossing them aside. She barely makes it up the stairs with her confession and his “okay” on repeat in her mind.

The next morning, Hae-won flies out the door to meet Hwi, ignoring Myung-yeo’s demands that she help clean. Hwi sits Hae-won down for a talk and hands her a yogurt. As a self-proclaimed expert in being rejected, she offers some advice. Hae-won didn’t do anything wrong. All she did was be honest about her feelings.

Even if they did do something wrong, would fixing it make their crushes like them back? Being the most beautiful woman in the world wouldn’t make Yeong-soo like her. Hae-won is clinging onto her every word as Hwi passionately argues that the boys are the ones to blame, so forget about that damaged self-esteem and drink your yogurt. Heh.

Jang-woo pulls up during this pep talk and tells Hae-won to get in. She’s the second person he’s recruited to help with event cleanup. Meanwhile, Hwi races over to the bookshop to mess with Eun-seob.

As they’re cleaning up, Ji-yeon asks Jang-woo why Eun-seob doesn’t have a graduation photo. This piques Hae-won’s interest. Jang-woo isn’t sure what was going on that year to make Eun-seob absent so frequently either. And Eun-seob wasn’t in town for three years after that. Hae-won remembers her aunt’s comment about not seeing him around for a few years.

After Eun-seob came back, he completed his military service before opening the bookshop. Jang-woo admits that, despite being good friends, he doesn’t know a lot about Eun-seob. “I don’t know much about things like what he likes, wants and what his dreams are.” That’s kind of sad.

Ji-yeon recalls Eun-seob saying in class, “Nothing is precious to me.” The teacher was incredulous when Eun-seob couldn’t name a single thing he held dear. Um, did no one think to get the child in therapy?

In the present, Ji-yeon comments she always assumed he was just different, but Hae-won looks bothered. Jang-woo notes that the only thing Eun-seob seems attached to is that keychain in his car. When he lost it as a teenager, he ran around like crazy looking for it.

Jang-woo’s comment that it’s from a metalworking class triggers a memory for Hae-won. She suddenly recalls making a keychain that they were supposed to give to the person who would be sitting next to them. Ooh.

Jang-woo tries to rope Ji-yeong and Hae-won into doing more work, but Hae-won abruptly takes off. Then, when Eun-shil (Jang-woo’s school crush) shows up, Jang-woo starts rambling and rushes off to do more cleanup on his own.

We flash back to high school again. Hae-won threw herself into making the keychain after she got a text from her aunt relaying her mom’s request that she stop sending letters. Her friend told her she didn’t need to work so hard—she’d just be giving the keychain to Eun-seob, the person who sits next to her.

After she’d finished it, she passed it to Eun-seob through the window while they were on opposite sides cleaning. Sure enough, it’s the keychain he inscribed with “Goodnight Irene.” Hae-won smiles as she puts the pieces together.

At the bookshop, Eun-seob thinks of Hae-won’s confession as he makes coffee. Right when he heads out to his porch to read, Hae-won comes bounding up. Eun-seob stutters that he thought she wasn’t working today. Hae-won shares that she remembered something and brings up the keychain. “Is that, maybe, the one I gave you?” It’s refreshing how direct she is.

“No, it’s not the one.” Eun-seob! Must you insist on shooting yourself in the foot? Hae-won pushes, but Eun-seob reminds her he never gave the one he made to her. “It’s that one.” *Sigh* Disheartened, Hae-won accepts his explanation. She starts to ask something when none other than Bo-yeong shows up.

Flowers in hand, Bo-yeong asks if she should wait inside, and Eun-seob says yes. Realizing he had planned to meet Bo-yeong, Hae-won hides her disappointment with a smile and tells him to go ahead. Eun-seob looks conflicted as he watches her leave.

Once inside, he hands Bo-yeong the book she came for. She bought the flowers as a gift. He’s obviously distracted and ends up leaving Bo-yeong inside so he can go search for Hae-won. But his mother sees him and enlists his help carrying something to the rink before he can go after Hae-won.

In the city, Jang-woo is waylaid by his colleague who tries to drag him off to a team dinner. Jang-woo already has plans, so he does his best to get out of it. He even claims he became a vegetarian that morning to avoid having to go.

It works, and he’s able to treat Eun-shil and Ji-hyun to a meal like he promised. Jang-woo gets hella awkward when Eun-shil casually asks if he has a girlfriend. He denies it and further denies having had a girlfriend recently.

They start talking about work, and the women accuse him of being a workaholic. He just finished with the event, and now he’s planning another project. Eun-shil smiles as Jang-woo explains that he loves his work since he gets to see people enjoy what he’s created.

Bo-yeong stays at the bookshop reading (and waiting for Eun-seob) until after dark. She’d wanted to buy “Traveling After a Breakup” at Park Hin-dol’s shop, but she found out Eun-seob had bought the only copy. Eun-seob offered to have it delivered to her once he’d checked the price, but she’d quickly said she’d rather come see it herself before buying. Uh-huh, it’s the book you want to see.

They’d agreed she would come Sunday evening. Bo-yeong had stopped him as he left, asking if Hae-won worked weekends. She’d been relieved to find out Hae-won didn’t since she feared things would be awkward.

When Eun-seob gets back, Bo-yeong asks for more details about the book. He looks like he’d rather her leave, but he sits and tells her anyway. It’s about a couple that decides to go separately on the trip they planned before they broke up.

In voiceover, Hae-won reads a message she wrote to advertise the book club on the bookshop’s website. Eun-seob liked it and suggested adding wishes for a good night at the end. That night, as Hae-won lies despondently on her bed, Eun-seob sits alone outside and worries.

At school, Hwi informs Yeong-soo that she officially stopped liking him two days ago and bids him adieu. Ha! He looks peeved and wonders why she stopped liking him. She claims it’s complicated but boils down to her pride. Yeong-soo finds it strange but denies being disappointed. Hwi gets mad when he thanks her and gets her revenge by scaring him to death when she screams for him to move out of her way.

Hae-won gets a call from Eun-seob, who sounds sick, telling her not to come in. He probably won’t be opening the store for a couple days. After they hang up, she lethargically heads back upstairs but changes her mind and goes to the bookshop.

The door is locked when she arrives, and Eun-seob isn’t answering. Hae-won goes back home to unleash her frustrations on the unsuspecting Myung-yeo. Her poor aunt is bewildered when Hae-won, grasping for something to get angry at, randomly asks, “Why do you have a dog?!” How dare she after how sad the family was when they lost Hodu! Oh my gosh, this is great.

Myung-yeo reminds her he’s Hodu’s son. “Do you have to raise it if it’s a son?!” Her mom didn’t even raise her. Well that took a turn. Ha. Next, she goes in on the dog’s stupid name and how even he probably hates it. After screaming about Gunbam’s name some more, she stomps upstairs as her aunt stares in shock.

Meanwhile, Bo-yeong is at the only café in existence doing some work. Ah, so she’s a teacher. A colleague stops by her table and comments on the unique title of the book sitting on the table: “Traveling After a Breakup.”

A sick Eun-seob calls Soo-jung to have her spread the word that the book club is canceled. Soo-jung even calls Myung-yeo, making sure Hae-won knows. Unrelatedly, she tells Myung-yeo that she found out a classmate named Yoon-taek got divorced, but Myung-yeo gets prickly about it. She states it has nothing to do with her and hangs up. The lady doth protest too much.

Eun-seob’s mom stops by the bookshop and discovers he is sick. She orders him to come home with her and berates him for not calling when he’s so ill.

At Hodu house, Hae-won is now channeling her anger into attempting to chop wood. Since anger is now her default emotion, she’s only further incensed (and concerned) when Myung-yeo informs her Eun-seob is sick. After guzzling some water and throwing the bottle on the ground, she marches to the bookshop. It’s still locked.

Hwi is surprised to find a sick Eun-seob sleeping in her room when she gets home. Their mom is frustrated that, like always, he won’t go to a doctor or take any medicine. Hwi argues it’s a pride thing like how their dad won’t ask for directions. Hwi complains that her mom only cares about Eun-seob.

Jong-pil joins his wife who’s brewing some herbal concoction for Eun-seob. Yeo-jung worriedly says she’s reminded of when Eun-seob disappeared for a while. Just like then, he’s refusing to see a doctor or take medicine. She was afraid she’d lost him back then.

Jong-pil cautions her not to try so hard. “He’ll never say what you want to hear.” Eun-seob keeps everything to himself. Yeo-jung argues she doesn’t need to hear it. Hmm…

At breakfast the following morning, Myung-yeo is worried by Hae-won’s continued despondency. She asks if Hae-won is sick, but Hae-won denies it. They eat in silence.

Jang-woo gets a surprise visit from Eun-shil at work. She’s there delivering side dishes for people in the village. She runs through who gets which side dish and is impressed when Jang-woo repeats it all back from memory.

When he tells her he’s taking the afternoon off, Eun-shil gets up close and personal, wondering if he’s sick. All flustered, Jang-woo assures her he’s not sick. Before she leaves, she sweetly warns him of impeding violence should he keep spreading the rumor that she used to have a crush on him.

Still looking a little rough, Eun-seob sits on his parents’ stoop for some fresh air. He closes his eyes and hears a voice call out, “Jin-ho.” He follows the hazy vision of a woman beyond his parents’ gate. No one notices he’s missing until Jang-woo shows up to drop off the side dishes.

Jang-woo goes over to the bookshop and is startled to find Hae-won peeping in the windows beside him. He fills her in on Eun-seob’s disappearance. Hae-won suggests calling, but he left his phone at home. Jang-woo wonders if he could be in the mountains.

Yeo-jung is busy making calls to anyone who might’ve seen Eun-seob, but Hwi thinks it’s useless. He must be in the mountains; that’s where he goes every time he disappears. Even so, Yeo-jung continues making calls and worrying. Hwi argues that he must feel better now, which is why he went. Yeo-jung thinks the family should go searching the mountain for him once Jong-pil gets home.

Yeo-jung flips out when she discovers Jong-pil is out drinking with coworkers and is too drunk to search for Eun-seob. Worried about her mom, Hwi postpones plans with Hyun-ji. Meanwhile, Jang-woo is on the phone with Hae-won, assuring her that Eun-seob will be fine.

Unable to stop worrying, Hae-won suits up and heads to the mountain. She’d found out from Hwi that the cabin is a 30-minute walk down the trail. When Hwi had realized Hae-won was planning to go herself, she tried to dissuade her. Not only is the trail rough, but it could rain which would be dangerous. Hae-won reassured her she wouldn’t go in alone.

As Hae-won treks alone through the woods, we flash back to her conversation with Eun-seob about when her mom used to leave her home alone and how she felt that same anxiety when she couldn’t get ahold of him. We also flash back to the conversation when Eun-seob had noted how some people never share anything and retreat within themselves, embracing their loneliness.

Hae-won makes it to the cabin and sees a light. We see a conversation between them at the bookshop where Hae-won had commented humans are dumber than animals when they like something. Amused, Eun-seob asked if that was in the book she was reading, “White Night” (the Korean translation of “Journey Under the Midnight Sun” by Keigo Higashino).

Annoyed, Hae-won had asserted that humans will continue forward even to their deaths if they like something. “How stupid,” she announced before walking off, making Eun-seob chuckle.

In voiceover, Eun-seob answers that they can just stop liking something then and give up on the happiness it offers. Hae-won searches through the cabin, as Eun-seob’s voiceover continues. Not being happy doesn’t equate to being miserable. You can’t lose what you never had.

Hae-won stands staring at the cabin, willing Eun-seob to appear as he narrates, “You can disappear from that person’s side forever.”

 
COMMENTS

Where the heck did Eun-seob go? I thought for sure he’d be at the cabin. He’s still likely in the woods, but it’ll be hard for anyone to find him if he’s gone too deep. But let’s talk about poor Hae-won for a minute. Not only did she bravely confess her feelings and get that lukewarm “okay” in return, but she even had a witness to that exchange. How horribly embarrassing. But Hwi being supportive and dishing out advice was adorable. I loved her impassioned pep talk about standing tall and moving on. If there’s one person I think will be fine in life, it’s Hwi. She’s got it together better than most adults.

Hae-won cracked me up this episode with all her misplaced anger. I don’t even think she knew who or what exactly she was mad at, but she didn’t let that stop her. She stomped around like an angry teenager whose parents were ruining her life, ugh. When her eyes landed on the dog and she just went off on her aunt for the audacity of raising a dog, I died.

Although it was misdirected, I get her anger. Eun-seob’s response to the whole situation was infuriating. Watching his handling of everything to do with Hae-won was so exasperating. Hae-won was doing all the hard work and giving him every opportunity to be honest. (In the words of Floetry, “All you gotta do is say yes…”) But Eun-seob just had to complicate everything and lie about his feelings so he can … not get what he wants? According to the blog post during the credits, even he couldn’t believe he’d messed things up so badly with that “okay.” I get freezing in the moment, but he didn’t even try to fix things later. I wanted to throttle him when he lied about the keychain. She gave him the perfect do-over, but he bungled that too. Is he so dead set against his own happiness?

I really hope we delve more into his past next episode because not knowing his motivations and reasoning is getting frustrating. He’s gone from mysterious to opaque, and now it’s starting to feel like information is being withheld a hair too long. He’s so closed off, and we have almost no window into his mind. Even Jang-woo, his closest friend, doesn’t know basic stuff about him. That comment Eun-seob made in high school about nothing being precious to him was concerning. Of course, we know he values Hae-won, even if he’s currently sabotaging himself and lying about it. He’s clearly got a lot of emotional baggage, but I’d like to know what it is so I can root for him to overcome it.

That conversation between his parents was interesting. What exactly is it that his mom wants to hear that he’ll never say? I’m becoming more convinced, though, that Eun-seob is adopted or at least he hasn’t always lived with this family. First, we had that picture of him and the man in the woods, and now we see him hallucinating that woman calling out “Jin-ho.” According to his mom, Eun-seob has a pattern of getting sick, refusing medicine and disappearing. Does that mean he also saw this woman and “followed” her the last time he went missing? Maybe he wants to see these visions which is why he won’t take medication. Or he’s just stubborn, like Hwi posits.

One thing I’m not clear on is if the time he went missing for years and the time he got sick and disappeared are the same or two separate occasions. I’d think his dad and sister would be more concerned if he’d disappeared for years the last time he got sick and went missing. Then again, according to Hwi, he wanders off a lot. I guess it’s hard to know when to be concerned with him. It seems like he’s put his family through it over the years. This time, though, he’s also got a determined Hae-won looking for him, and she won’t let him retreat into himself or give up on his own happiness that easily.

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day
• A quiet moment for romance in new teaser for JTBC’s I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day
• Melancholy new promos for JTBC’s I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day
• Park Min-young plays piano in I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day teaser
• Seo Kang-joon and Park Min-young bundle up for JTBC’s I Will Find You When the Weather Is Nice
• I Will Find You When the Weather Is Nice holds first script reading with Park Min-young and Seo Kang-joon
• Casting continues for JTBC bookish romance I Will Find You When the Weather Is Nice
• Park Min-young, Seo Kang-joon considering JTBC bookstore romance