The Liar and His Lover: Episode 10

by Paroma

So-rim and her Liar finally get a chance to freely experience the breathless happiness of opening themselves up to love. Han-gyul has decided to put aside his doubts and to stop making So-rim wait for him. With all his heart, he’s determined to change so that he can make So-rim happy. Amidst the heart-tugging sweetness of held hands and stolen glances, our two lovers realize how hard it would be to date while the world is watching. But what is worth having, is worth fighting for.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

Han-gyul tells So-rim not to hate him. With his heart in his eyes, he confesses that he likes her. So-rim runs into his arms, and they hold each other tightly.

Yoo-na listens to the recording of her song, which came out really well, and asks where Han-gyul might have gone. Her manager guesses that he might have gone to Mush & Co.’s showcase. Yoo-na laughs to herself.

Han-gyul and So-rim walk back, hand in hand. This makes So-rim giddy with happiness, and she refuses to let go, even when she gets a phone call. It’s Soo-yeon, and she wants to know where So-rim is. Han-gyul takes the phone from her and tells his sunbae that he wanted to meet So-rim to congratulate her.

Outside the restaurant, where the Sole team is having a party for Mush & Co., Han-gyul tells her that he better not go in since Jin-hyuk will be there. So-rim is uncomfortable hiding their relationship from everyone, but Han-gyul promises to try hard for her.

Soo-yeon comes out to find them holding hands and grinning at each other. She takes So-rim in and covers for her by telling everyone that So-rim had stepped out to talk to her grandmother. Jin-hyuk and Chan-young seem to both sense that it was a lie.

That night, Mush & Co. travel back in style in Crude Play’s van. They wonder if they’ll have time to eat from now on, and Soo-yeon pointedly says that they may not even have the time to meet people they want to. So-rim smiles awkwardly at her.

But turns out, Soo-yeon wasn’t wrong. In the subsequent days, the three friends are kept very busy by a tight schedule of promoting their album, holding mini-concerts throughout the city, practicing for their recording, and just trying to get through their day without collapsing from exhaustion.

So, Han-gyul ends up waiting for So-rim’s call this time, perking up any time his phone rings and deflating when it’s not her. Oh, how the tables have turned!

Then finally, when So-rim has a chance to look at her phone, it’s 3:00 a.m. in the morning, and she groans because it’s too late to call him back. She sends him a text instead: “I miss you, so much!”

Han-gyul sees the text and bounces on his bed in joy. Ha. Then a while later, So-rim gets a call from him telling her to look out of her window. She laughs to see him outside, and they flirt sweetly until So-rim remembers that she has some free time on Thursday. Han-gyul readily agrees to hang out then, and So-rim can barely wait for their “first date!”

On Thursday, Soo-yeon asks the trio how they intend to spend their off day, and Gyu-sun says that he’ll get an account for his new phone. (Oh dear, so Se-jung still has access to their chats.) Soo-yeon asks So-rim if she has any special plans, and So-rim just says that she’s meeting a friend.

So-rim goes home and tries out different dresses. She inexpertly puts on some lipstick and attempts to purr seductively at the mirror. Hahaha. Thankfully, she gives up the idea. Meanwhile, Han-gyul puts on his usual hoodie and jeans, but then remembers how happy So-rim was about their first date. He changes into a dress shirt, then agonizes over his hairdo. How are these two so adorable?

They meet under a jumbotron playing Mush & Co.’s promotional clips. Their happiness at seeing each other is cut short by Han-gyul pulling out a cap, a face-covering mask, and a hoodie for So-rim so that she won’t be recognized. Then starts the most ridiculous date, as Han-gyul keeps several feet of distance between them. He doesn’t hold her hand, doesn’t share his food, and doesn’t even sit next to her at the movies.

Finally, So-rim huffs that this is not a date and walks away, fully wanting him to stop her. But Han-gyul just looks helplessly after her, afraid of causing a scene that could draw attention to them. Aww, poor guy.

Alone, he leans against a vending machine and thinks back to the call he got from Soo-yeon earlier. She asked if he was meeting So-rim and had told him about the picture of them that got uploaded a while back. She warned him to be careful, and now he sits alone, with his date in shambles.

He sighs and calls So-rim, who’s on a bus back home. She seems to consider not picking up, but then she returns to the movie theater. Han-gyul’s booked out an entire hall. He takes off her cap and mask and apologizes for fixating on protecting her image instead of complimenting her on how pretty she looks today.

Anger forgotten, So-rim sits down, and Han-gyul hands her a box of shoes. He shows her that he got the same pair in his size so they can feel like they’re walking together, even when they’re apart. Pfft. The cheese, it’s too much! They laugh with each other over his renting out the whole hall and hold hands as the movie begins. So-rim finally gets her perfect date.

Se-jung tries logging into Gyu-sun’s account, but sees that she’s locked out. Worried that he’s found out about her hacking, she calls him out on a date. When they meet, she asks if he’s changed his number. He admits that he has but wonders how she knew. She says that he told her, then laughs that he has a bad memory.

Se-jung points out some food on his face, and Gyu-sun excuses himself to go wash his face. While he’s away, she snatches his phone and puts it in her bag. On his return, she says that something’s come up, so she has to go. But instead of responding, Gyu-sun politely asks for his phone back.

She tries to feign innocence, but Gyu-sun tells her that he saw her putting it in her bag. She pulls it out, claiming that it was a mistake. Gyu-sun smiles and agrees, but I don’t think he believes her anymore.

CEO Yoo has a meeting with Jin-hyuk, Chan-young, and their team about Mush & Co.’s performance on the charts. They had started at twelfth place but sunk almost to the thirties by the third week. CEO Yoo points out that they’re underperforming, and with major idols and bands set to release within another week, Mush & Co. won’t have any chance to regroup.

She notices Chan-young’s disheartened face and reassures him that it’s not the song, but the production that is important for a new band. After she dismisses them, her secretary tells her that Yoo-seok has been trying to get ahold of her. Apparently, he’s still miffed with In-woo and wants to sue him for breach of contract.

Chan-young and Jin-hyuk arrive back at Sole, and Chan-young offers to go up on stage with Mush & Co. to boost their reputation, but Jin-hyuk won’t allow it. Instead, he decides that they’ll release another song next week. Before he leaves, Chan-young promises to write a better song next time. He clearly feels responsible for Mush & Co.’s waning popularity.

CEO Yoo meets Yoo-seok at a bar and butters him up until In-woo arrives. She makes them sit down together and tells them to hash out their differences over drinks. Neither men are in a mood to make up, though. Yoo-seok gripes that In-woo thinks too highly of himself, and In-woo tells him that he’s dull and doesn’t have a voice anymore.

Yoo-seok freely admits to stealing In-woo’s music years ago, but he thinks that he was justified because In-woo’s ethics were keeping their band poor. He hits In-woo and yells that you can’t love music unless you can sell it.

After that, CEO Yoo and In-woo end up at the bar alone, and she apologizes for not foreseeing that outburst. She talks about how flexible In-woo was about handing over his music years ago, but In-woo tells her that the music belonged to the entire band. Yoo isn’t fooled and says that they were clearly written by him.

In-woo smiles and says that he’s only saying what he thought she wanted to hear. She reminds him that she promised to be on his side. He shakes his head and says that she wanted to pull him to her side, then use her dad’s money to control his music. CEO Yoo asks if that would have been so hard, and In-woo says dismissively that he must have been wrong.

Hurt, CEO Yoo gets up and begins to walk away, when suddenly, her heel breaks. In-woo helps her to a seat and picks up her shoe. He takes out a tool box and begins to fix the heel as he reminisces about how she would walk into their band sessions wearing loud heals and would refuse to take them off. Then, seven years later, she walked in again as a CEO of a music company.

CEO Yoo adds that by then, he’d married another woman. He doesn’t look up as he says that his wife was a good woman. CEO Yoo huffs that he’s wasting his time with the show — her driver is waiting outside, and she always has an extra pair anyway.

In-woo puts the fixed shoe before her, saying that sometimes you miss the shoe that you’ve grown comfortable in. She looks at him for a long time, then asks if he wants to release an album with them.

Jin-hyuk and Yoo-na wait in his office as the day’s top songs are updated on the charts. Their anxiety is rewarded when they see that her song is sitting on No. 1. Han-gyul checks the charts too and calls So-rim up to ask her to listen to his song. Her reluctance is obvious, and she explains that she’s jealous that he wrote a song for Yoo-na.

Han-gyul protests that he’s jealous of her working with Chan-young too, but they should keep their work and personal lives separate. So-rim argues that their situations are not comparable, since Yoo-na is his ex, while Chan-young is just her partner at work.

Her words seem to stay with Han-gyul, because when Yoo-na calls to invite him to a celebratory dinner, he tells her that he can’t be alone with her. Heh. Good man. He doesn’t explain why, but Yoo-na can guess.

When So-rim returns to Sole Music from a photoshoot, Yoo-na stops her in the hallway and asks if she’s heard her new song. Chan-young spots them together and ducks behind a wall to listen. So-rim admits that she hasn’t, and Yoo-na tut-tuts that she must be jealous because her own song isn’t doing too well.

Chan-young’s face falls at this, but So-rim speaks up. She tells Yoo-na that she’s jealous because Yoo-na had once spent time with Han-gyul, and she can’t do anything about that. She makes it clear that she loves her own song, and Yoo-na shouldn’t speak harshly about it. Chan-young’s face get this odd look of both hope and heartbreak.

When he gets to the music room, the band is practicing his song. He watches them for a while before entering the room. The three greet him cheerfully before taking a lunch break. Chan-young promises to work hard and says that they’re in the same boat for the next three years. The three friends are touched, and they start chanting his name until he begs them to stop.

Jin-woo mentions how much he wants to see the sea and that he’s looking forward to the end of promotions so he can get away. Chan-young asks if they want to do it together — a getaway disguised as a team-building excursion. They cheer loudly.

Jin-hyuk meets with CEO Yoo to tell her that Mush & Co. will appear on a special episode of a show called Music Sketchbook. The producers only want Crude Play to close the episode in exchange. CEO Yoo likes the idea, but then she asks for So-rim after their promotions are over.

Her idea is to pair So-rim with another band to make the best use of her voice. Jin-hyuk points out that taking the vocalist out of a newbie band would spell death for Mush & Co. CEO Yoo seems unperturbed by the idea, pointing out that Jin-hyuk just cares about So-rim too.

At his reluctance, she says: “I don’t understand you. Sometimes you are a musician, and sometimes you are a businessman.” (You stole my words!) She adds that this waffling is the reason he can’t succeed. She reminds him that Crude Play is a time bomb and tells him to just focus on them. When Jin-hyuk gets in his car at the end of the meeting, his face contorts and he yells out his frustration.

Then he gets a call from a drunk Yoo-seok and goes to placate him at a bar. He whines about In-woo before complaining about CEO Yoo’s attitude. Jin-hyuk listens with interest as he tells him about CEO Yoo releasing In-woo’s album.

In-woo texts with So-rim while sitting at his own bar with Han-gyul. His son is amazed that they are such good friends and wants to see the texts, but In-woo hides them from him. He tells Han-gyul that friendships are unpredictable and that you never know how they might pan out. Han-gyul seems to hear more than his father says, and asks if he’s seeing someone.

Mush & Co. and the Crude Play boys sit together, whispering fiercely. When Chan-young comes in, So-rim instantly starts crying, while Shi-hyun, Yoon, and In-ho rake him over for taking the kids out on a holiday when he’s never suggested one to them. Chan-young tries to soothe egos, when Yoon suddenly declares that they decided to go on the same trip. Everyone yells in glee while Chan-young collapses on a beanbag, realizing that he’s been had.

The boys wonder if Han-gyul would like to come, but they figure that he’ll refuse in favor of working on the band’s music. They call him, and predictably, he scolds them for wanting to play instead of working hard. But as soon as In-ho mentions Mush & Co., he does a complete flip and pronounces his utter readiness to take a holiday. So-rim grins at the news, and Chan-young observes her happiness.

The two bands and their managers end up at the beach. The boys gang up on Han-gyul and dunk him in the water. It’s a long day of carefree fun, and everyone takes full advantage of their time away from work.

Yoo-na and Jin-hyuk have lunch with CEO Yoo, who congratulates Yoo-na on her success. She tells her that she’ll talk to Musical Sketchbook and make a place for Yoo-na on their show as well. Jin-hyuk’s mouth thins at this meddling, but it gets worse when CEO Yoo tells Yoo-na to come to Who Entertainment.

Yoo-na notices his expression and tells CEO Yoo that Sole Music suits her brand of music. CEO Yoo asks if it’s because of Han-gyul and assures her that Jin-hyuk will let him produce her music no matter which label she’s under.

The gang at the beach decide to play dodge ball, and the losers will be forced to cook and clean. Since there are just two girls, they decide to play ladders to see who gets paired with them. Soo-yeon says she’s fine with anyone except Shi-hyun. But when Shi-hyun gets paired with her, he’s clearly beyond pleased.

When the game starts, she tells Shi-hyun to lose quickly, but Shi-hyun wraps her arms tightly around his waist and says: “I can’t let a lady get hit with a ball.” Even Soo-yeon has to smile at that.

Chan-young and Han-gyul get paired together, and Chan-young makes it clear that he’s trying to get Han-gyul hit so that they can end the forced closeness. But Han-gyul changes the rules by saying that if a team member gets hit, then both are out. Everyone agrees, and Han-gyul pulls Chan-young into a bromantic backhug. Hahaha.

The two get competitive then, wanting the other to get hit. At one point, the two keep pushing each other in front and fall on the group in a heap. So-rim — revved up from the game — hits their heads with her ball and yells in glee that she got both of them.

The two end up on kitchen duty, but we see that Han-gyul’s the one doing the cooking. Finding him alone, So-rim walks up and tells him that she missed him. He asks if she wants to go to the beach at night and light firecrackers. She agrees, and they make plans to sneak out after everyone goes to bed. Chan-young walks in, and Han-gyul smoothly pretends that he’s teaching So-rim to cut vegetables.

But Chan-young clearly senses their plans, because after dinner, when So-rim and Han-gyul try to leave their table, Chan-young stops him and gives a lecture about band unity. So, he’s stuck sitting at the table while So-rim makes sad faces at him from the other end.

She texts to ask if he remembers their plans, and he texts back that he’ll stay “alive.” Unfortunately, Shi-hyun initiates a drinking game, and Han-gyul is out like a light after the first drink. So-rim groans to see him carried into the resort like a sack of potatoes.

Back at the table, they start the “real” drinking, and the next one to lose the game is Soo-yeon. Shi-hyun offers to be her black knight and take the drink for her, but she grabs the glass and glugs down the drink. The boys watch, stunned, as she pours herself another glass and finishes that off too.

So-rim sits alone with a sparkler and grumbles about Han-gyul’s incomparable stupidity under her breath. Chan-young finds her among the hedges and tells her not to wander out to empty pathways. “I don’t want you to,” he says with clear possessiveness, which takes her aback. He asks for a sparkler of his own to light. Then, as the fireworks crackle, he notices her closed eyes and guesses that she’s making a wish.

She admits that she couldn’t think of one this time, since her last wish came true. Chan-young asks glumly what that wish was, even though he seems to remember well enough that she’s wanted “to be liked.” So-rim just smiles, until she singes her hand on the sparkler.

Jin-hyuk visits In-woo at his bar as he practices with some musicians. He asks In-woo if he knows why CEO Yoo offered to release his album. In-woo says he doesn’t, and Jin-hyuk speculates that she might be trying to compensate him for helping Yoo-seok steal his songs. He calls her shameless and offers to help In-woo get his songs back.

In-woo says it’s all in the past, but Jin-hyuk argues that Han-gyul is still traumatized by that past and is extremely sensitive about his music. He claims to feel duty-bound to help In-woo, who is his senior and father to his best producer.

So-rim wakes up early next morning to a text from Han-gyul. He asks her if she wants to see the morning sea. She runs out to see that Han-gyul is waiting with a bike for her.

Jin-hyuk calls Chan-young, who’s up and about despite his hangover, to tell him about Mush & Co.’s scheduled appearance on Musical Sketchbook. Chan-young is thrilled, until he sees Han-gyul cycling down the beach path with So-rim.

So-rim has her head pressed against Han-gyul’s back and a happy grin pasted on her face. She asks him to sing, and Han-gyul remembers how she described the experience of listening to her mother sing with her ear to her back. He starts singing, but after a few lines, So-rim stops him by saying that it’s too fast.

Han-gyul claims that that’s impossible since he’s a walking metronome, but So-rim tells him that it’s his heartbeat that’s too fast. Han-gyul falls silent, then admits that of course it is — he’s with the girl he likes.

Han-gyul says that So-rim has changed him, and adds that he can no longer hide his feelings. So-rim says that she’s liked him from the very beginning, and likes him even more so now. Han-gyul stops the bike at this and turns to look at her. Her smile falls away as he closes the distance, and their lips touch in a kiss.

 
COMMENTS

I’m not one to gloat, but I’m totally gloating here. You may have gotten the episode with the cute confessions, SailorJumun, but I got the one with the hilarious first date and the kiss! Our “shiny boy” here is sure making all the right moves in this relationship. It’s like Han-gyul said — when he fixates on something, everything else falls away. And right now, he’s focused completely on how to be the best boyfriend to So-rim. It’s perhaps the first time he’s channeling his inner obsessiveness to further his own happiness, and it’s wonderful to see how it makes him smile.

Chan-young, meanwhile, is quickly losing my sympathy. As much as I empathize with his need to belong, I can’t help but dislike his possessive behavior towards So-rim. He’s gone from sulking to deliberately creating impediments in So-rim and Han-gyul’s relationship. Of all people, he would know how hard it is for people to date in his industry, but he thinks nothing of So-rim’s happiness. It was the same with his music. As their producer, he should have wanted Mush & Co. to have the best song for their debut, but it was more important for him to further his own ends. I might feel conflicted about Jin-hyuk, but at least with him, a person knows to be wary. Chan-young’s pettiness hurts more because he makes people want to trust and befriend him.

I’m glad CEO Yoo voiced what I’d been wondering for weeks: Why does Jin-hyuk oscillate between his good guy and bad guy personas so frequently? Commit to your evil, man. Or choose the halo. Between his manipulations, he goes and does something that makes me think that he’s still got a shred of decency left. While his conflicted, ruthless character appeals to me, I want him to finally become the mentor he clearly has the potential to be.

Every time he’s chosen to do good, it’s been the right decision. But the competitiveness that drives him to shoot himself in the foot is beginning to slowly unravel him, along with the band he spent five years propping up. He clearly wants to one-up CEO Yoo in a bid to prove his worth, but that’s a self-destructive path. CEO Yoo has the support of her father and is much more savvy in the industry than he is. Jin-hyuk has to let it go and figure out how to do what’s best for the artists under his protection.

The two other romances in the story finally got some development in this episode. In-woo and CEO Yoo’s story turned out to be more angst-filled than I had expected, but I think Han-gyul is right in thinking that In-woo is sticking around just for her. Whatever kept him away, he seems to finally be ready to give their relationship a go. I find that I really like CEO Yoo when she’s with In-woo, and I’m rooting for them. I also badly want some flashbacks to Shi-hyun’s high school crush on Soo-yeon, because they are utterly adorable together. There’s also a solidity about them that makes me feel that no matter how Shi-hyun’s career as a musician goes, Soo-yeon will always be a pillar of strength for him. The only sad thing is that we don’t get nearly enough of the two on screen.

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