Oh My Baby: Episode 8

by TeriYaki

Our heroine’s plan to have a baby outside of a relationship hits a snag when she realizes that her feelings for one of the potential donors are no longer just clinical. As usual, she’s open about how she feels, unaware that a wayward notebook landed in her crush’s hands, making him more confused than ever. Reaffirming his resolve to keep his distance from our plucky heroine, the reality is that no matter how hard he tries, there’s no way to escape her.

  
EPISODE 8: “Maybe a misunderstanding, maybe a mix-up, maybe love?”

Upon witnessing the kiss between Eu-tteum and Ha-ri, Yi-sang thinks better of returning her notebook and walks away. He doesn’t get to see Ha-ri’s angry reaction or Eu-tteum’s hasty escape in a conveniently timed taxi.

At home, Ha-ri is still fuming as she brushes her teeth, “How dare he kiss me without my permission. I haven’t been kissed for 10 years!” A flashback to the night that Ha-ri met Yi-sang reminds her that she drunkenly pulled him in for a kiss. Yi-sang’s explanation about that first meeting, “I felt very unpleasant afterward,” suddenly makes sense and Ha-ri drops her toothbrush in shock.

In his apartment, Yi-sang asks his statue, “Only a jerk would read it, right,” but he opens Ha-ri’s notebook anyway. Yi-sang doesn’t like what he sees, a huge ‘X’ through his name compared to a small triangle by Jae-young’s and two green stars for Eu-tteum.

That night, Ha-ri sits in bed with her head buried in her arms. In the morning when Ha-ri looks up, dried toothpaste still on her lip, it’s obvious that she didn’t sleep at all.

As she leaves for work, Ha-ri runs into Jae-young and Do-ah who are on their way to daycare. While they walk together, Jae-young invites Ha-ri to Do-ah’s first birthday celebration and she absentmindedly agrees. Seeing that she’s distracted, Jae-young reminds Ha-ri that she shouldn’t worry about finding a man when the perfect one is standing right next to her. Calling Jae-young a sinner, Ha-ri walks away.

All morning, Yi-sang notices triangles wherever he goes — there’s a coat hanger, street signs and triangle kimbap in a convenience store — all reminding him of Ha-ri’s notebook.

At work, a hungover Yeon-ho suggests soup for lunch but Ha-ri is too numb to think about food. Ignoring her boss’ strange mood, Yeon-ho rounds up Hyo-joo and So-yoon and when Ha-ri’s stomach rumbles, she joins them after all.

During lunch, Yeon-ho asks Ha-ri if she’ll be the next editor-in-chief but she doesn’t hear her and mumbles, “Will he sue me for this?” Everyone at the table listens to a news report about a woman who was arrested for sexually harassing a male employee and when Soo-chul and Yi-sang walk in, a panicked Ha-ri runs out.

When Eu-tteum sees Ha-ri outside Dachae Media, he apologizes for his behavior the night before. Ha-ri asks, “Why did you do it?” and Eu-tteum explains that he overheard her talking about him with Yeon-ho. After Ha-ri informs him that they were discussing sperm donation, Eu-tteum is even more apologetic but she’s no longer angry with him, “I don’t have the right to judge you. I’m no different, which is why I should just die.”

Yi-sang and Jae-young meet Eu-tteum at the local restaurant and are surprised when he announces, “I made a confession in the wrong way…I think I have feelings for Ms. Jang.” Hopeful that the men will help him to confess properly, Eu-tteum calls them ‘allies’ but Yi-sang corrects him, “No, we’re not.”

With a wink to Yi-sang, Jae-young outlines a confession that he knows Ha-ri won’t like. Eu-tteum takes notes as Jae-young describes a public confession with a huge bouquet, accompanied by a dance such as b-boying. Yi-sang chimes in with a reminder that the latest trend is the Bongsan mask dance.

When Jae-young suggests a saxophone serenade, Eu-tteum enthuses, “I majored in applied music and the sax.” Jae-young giddily imagines videos of the confession all over social media until Yi-sang whispers, “What if he looks good doing it?”

Yi-sang warns that a one-sided confession may make Ha-ri uncomfortable and Eu-tteum admits, “I think she’s only interested in me because I have a lot of sperm…like 10 times the norm.” Shocked, Yi-sang mumbles, “That’s why he had two stars.”

When Eu-tteum runs into Ha-ri, he asks her to choose between b-boying or the Bongsan mask dance but she’s not a fan of either. After she walks away, Eu-tteum gets goosebumps, unaware that Yi-sang was staring at them through a window.

Later, Eu-tteum gets chills when he asks Ha-ri about her favorite song as Yi-sang spies on them. At the end of the day, when Eu-tteum asks Ha-ri about saxophones, she advises him to abandon whatever he’s planning. Suddenly alarmed, Ha-ri warns Eu-tteum to go inside but he pauses when the back of his neck tingles, as Yi-sang glares at him from above.

Yi-sang is back at Jambi Studio when So-yoon finds Ha-ri’s notebook. In a flashback, we see that Yi-sang carefully chose the perfect spot for it to be discovered. Hyo-joo brings up Ha-ri’s column and asks Soo-chul and So-yoon if they know how she plans to get pregnant. So-yoon thinks Ha-ri has someone in mind so Soo-chul urges, “Then we should help. Ha-ri is so clueless when it comes to seducing men.”

Yi-sang chuckles when Hyo-joo declares that Soo-chul’s moves are sure to be outdated. Hyo-joo launches into an explanation about the art of seduction, “…you don’t make the move. You make the other person make the move,” jumping in fright when Yi-sang pops up from behind a computer monitor so that he can hear her better.

The next day during a photoshoot, Yi-sang stares at Ha-ri and remembers what else Hyo-joo had to say, “Subtly show the other person through your actions that you are interested.” When Ha-ri tucks her hair behind her ears, Yi-sang gets the wrong idea and accuses her of trying to act pretty.

During lunch, Ha-ri stares at Yi-sang’s lips and worries that he didn’t kiss her in Mureung because of her drunken kiss years earlier. When Yi-sang catches Ha-ri looking at his mouth, she nervously munches on a hot pepper.

On the drive back to work, Ha-ri mumbles that her mouth is on fire. Recalling that Hyo-joo said, “If you whisper, the other person will naturally lean over to listen,” Yi-sang suspects Ha-ri of trying to seduce him.

After Ha-ri pops a hard candy into her mouth for relief, an uncomfortable Yi-sang asks, “Must you suck it like that?” Thinking that he wants a candy too, Ha-ri offers one to Yi-sang, confused when he sputters, “…if you keep doing that, things will get dangerous.”

Yi-sang pays another visit to the urologist and when he’s called “too ethical”, he tries to explain, “But I told you. This woman wants kids.” Yi-sang asks the doctor, “I won’t even ask for a star…A triangle. That’s all I ask for. Is that not possible?”

When So-joon and Hyo-joo return from Jambi Studio, Ha-ri learns that Yi-sang is out so she hurries over to search for a background she needs for an upcoming photoshoot. Hoping to get out before Yi-sang returns, Ha-ri struggles with a heavy panel. It starts to fall but suddenly stops, and Ha-ri finds herself uncomfortably close to Yi-sang, who’s behind her holding up the panel. Ha-ri pushes Yi-sang away with so much force that he has to catch his breath.

After checking that she’s okay, Yi-sang turns to go but he eagerly returns when Ha-ri calls his name. With difficulty, Ha-ri admits, “I remember now…That day, when we first met…I finally get why you said you felt unpleasant.” When Ha-ri frets that she could be sued, Yi-sang admits that at the time, he found her kiss consoling. Before he leaves, Yi-sang asks Ha-ri if she really saw him as a man but we don’t hear an answer.

The next morning over breakfast, Ha-ri mumbles, “Well, he’s obviously a man,” but her thoughts are interrupted when Jae-young pounds on her door to remind her that it’s time for work. Ha-ri meets him outside because she had promised to take Do-ah to daycare.

Jae-young brings up Ha-ri’s search for a sperm donor, “What’s your standard when choosing the right sperm?” Ha-ri describes someone young and healthy, who doesn’t drink or smoke, and Jae-young asks if she’s talking about Eu-tteum.

Jae-young wonders if he’s a candidate too and Ha-ri asks, “Would you donate yours to me?” Jae-young suggests that they should just get married but Ha-ri tells him, “Let’s just go, sister.” As Ha-ri walks ahead with Do-ah, Jae-young vows, “Just you wait and see. ‘Honey, sweetheart. My love.’ That’s what you’ll soon call me.”

Jae-young discusses Ha-ri’s situation with an old friend at University Hospital, who agrees that finding a sperm donor will be harder than finding a husband. When the friend insinuates that there must be something wrong with Ha-ri, Jae-young informs him, “She could easily provide for a man on her own. Also, she’s incredibly beautiful and lovely.”

The friend realizes that Jae-young is interested in Ha-ri and asks if his status as a divorced, single father is keeping him from pursuing her. Jae-young’s ex-wife, Jung-won, overhears their conversation as she walks by and she stops to speak to Jae-young.

Jae-young tries to leave but Jung-won grabs his arm to invite him to lunch. He spits, “Don’t talk to me like nothing happened. It makes me hate you even more.” When Jung-won mentions that she wants to be included in Do-ah’s first birthday photos, Jae-young refuses.

Undaunted, Jung-won asks Jae-young if he plans to marry Ha-ri and he quietly confesses, “It’s been on my mind.” When she warns, “Ha-ri will be furious when she finds out that you’re only using her to get back at me,” Jae-young walks away.

Eu-tteum is in trouble when a product scheduled for a photoshoot can’t be found. After some calls, Eu-tteum realizes that he never ordered it and Hyo-joo and photographer Kim Sang-hee can’t hide their irritation. With the child model on the way, Eu-tteum heads for a nearby store.

Hyo-joo picks up Eu-tteum in her car and once he’s successfully secured the potty chair that they need, she speeds back to the studio. During the drive, Hyo-joo vows to make Eu-tteum’s life miserable if she has to reschedule the model. When Hyo-joo threatens him with shopping with her every weekend, Eu-tteum eagerly agrees, and he’s just as enthusiastic when she adds in lunch and a movie.

Luckily, the photoshoot goes off without a hitch but Hyo-joo scolds Eu-tteum anyway, “I’ll only let it slide this once…your personal life shouldn’t distract you like this.” Hyo-joo invites him to confide in her, and with a little prodding, Eu-tteum admits, “I’m trying to confess my feelings to someone.” When he stops short of identifying who he’s talking about, Hyo-joo leads Eu-tteum away from work.

Ha-ri finds herself alone in the office and she takes advantage of the privacy to call Yi-sang and inform him that the infertile couple managed to conceive. Until the pregnancy is confirmed at the hospital, Ha-ri asks Yi-sang to take special care to make them comfortable during the photoshoot. Yi-sang asks about carpooling to the hospital but Ha-ri has an errand to run and promises to meet him there.

Seeing Yi-sang at the hospital, Ha-ri thinks of his question, “Did you really think of me as a man?” They find the infertile couple and Ha-ri does her best to reassure the nervous wife, who has a history of miscarriages.

Ha-ri and Yi-sang are present for the ultrasound, which confirms that the wife is pregnant. The husband squeezes his wife’s hand as she weeps with joy while Yi-sang discretely photographs the emotionally charged moment.

After leaving the hospital, the couple celebrates with a cake, even though the wife confesses that she won’t be able to relax until after the first trimester. The husband encourages his wife to allow herself to enjoy their good news for at least one day.

Ha-ri hands the couple a baby gift and at the sight of some tiny shoes, the husband smiles, confessing, “I feel strange.” The wife has something for Ha-ri, an image from her sonogram, “I feel like it won’t be easy for you…I succeeded, so take my energy.” Yi-sang watches Ha-ri as she gazes at the image of the tiny baby.

After leaving the couple, Ha-ri shows Yi-sang the ultrasound and calls the baby handsome. Yi-sang agrees, “Since the baby was conceived with such desperation, I bet it’ll be pretty.”

Seated in a comfortable spot where they can talk, Hyo-joo guesses that Eu-tteum has never had a girlfriend. She nods knowingly when Eu-tteum admits that he gets asked out all the time, “But none of them lasted very long. They all say they develop a temper once they go out with me.”

Eu-tteum explains that he’s not sure about his feelings but he’s hoping that dating will help him figure them out. Hyo-joo decides to help with Eu-tteum’s confession and after explaining what not to do, pretty much everything that Jae-young suggested, Eu-tteum realizes that he was deliberately given bad advice.

Hyo-joo recommends confessing with a heart shaped ring. Eu-tteum gasps when he looks it up online and sees that it costs $2,500, “That’s a month’s salary.” Gazing at the ring finger on her left hand, Hyo-joo tells herself, “It would fit right there.”

While practicing for Do-ah’s Doljabi ceremony (a tradition where the child is placed in front of various items), Mom places money in the baby’s hand and coaches, “Health is the best.” Mom asks where the ceremony will be held and Jae-young tells her, “At the photography studio.” Concerned, Mom asks about the first birthday rice cake and Jae-young asks, “Do I need one?” Seeing how Do-ah is dressed, Ha-ri tells her mother, “He isn’t prepared at all.”

Jae-young complains while shopping for a dress for Do-ah but Ha-ri explains, “Her first birthday pictures will stay with her forever. She should look pretty.” With a soft look in his eyes, Jae-young tells Ha-ri, “…you look really ugly today.”

After buying Do-ah’s dress, Jae-young and Ha-ri pass a table and are told they can get a $100 restaurant voucher if they spent over $50, but only if they’re a family. Slipping her arm into Jae-young’s, Ha-ri and Jae-young call one another ‘honey’ and ‘sweetie’ until Yi-sang asks, “Are you seriously committing fraud just for free food?”

Yi-sang ends up joining Ha-ri and Jae-young for lunch. Jae-young and Yi-sang race to cut the meat on their plates but Jae-young wins and is the first to set his plate in front of Ha-ri. After taking Do-ah into his arms so that Ha-ri can eat, Jae-young tries to get her to feed him.

When Yi-sang shoves some food in his mouth, Jae-young warns, “Don’t try so hard, Mr. Han. I don’t think you’re it either. Unless you have something to defeat the king.” Ha-ri looks puzzled when Yi-sang admits that he’s not her first choice.

After lunch, Yi-sang stops in front of a poster for a leather crafting workshop, telling himself, “I’ve never tried that.” When Ha-ri’s mother stops and says the exact same thing, the two of them exchange smiles.

At the office, Ha-ri realizes that someone has read her notebook. After double-checking where So-yoon found it, Ha-ri runs to Jambi Studio. Yi-sang confirms that he read her notebook and when asked why he’s not angry, he reminds Ha-ri that she gave his personality five stars.

Ha-ri apologizes for comparing Yi-sang to the others but explains that she only did it because she’d hoped that one of them might help her. Yi-sang calmly replies, “…there’s nothing I can do to help. That’s why I didn’t get angry at you.”

Ha-ri tells Yi-sang the reason that she wasn’t able to answer his question, “I didn’t understand what you meant when you asked me if I thought of you as a man.” Carefully choosing her words, Ha-ri confesses that she has feelings for Yi-sang and warns that he’ll lose her if he can’t figure out his own feelings.

After Ha-ri leaves, Soo-chul urges Yi-sang, “Can’t you just give in? You know you have feelings for her.” Yi-sang explains, “Ms. Jang and I are hopeless. I don’t like kids. But she’s trying so hard to have a baby.” Understanding how deeply his breakup affected Yi-sang, Soo-chul argues that it’s time for him to leave the past behind so that he can follow his heart.

When Yi-sang gets home, he stands in his window to watch the fireworks over the Han River. He narrates, “I also want to follow my heart and just hold your hand like all the other couples do, Ms. Jang.” Recalling their near kiss, Yi-sang admits, “I wanted to get swayed and get closer to you as if it were a mistake.”

Yi-sang remembers the stamp on his hand and consoling Ha-ri while she cried and accepts the fact that she makes his heart ache. As he remembers Ha-ri’s drunken kiss on the day they met, we see that Yi-sang was shaken, “I was determined not to fall in love again, but you totally made me forget about that.”

On the walk home, Ha-ri stops by the river to watch the fireworks while Yi-sang turns away from his window, “I…want to be happy…I want to be honest about how I feel.”

Ha-ri pulls out her phone to take photos while Yi-sang drives to the river, his thoughts still on Ha-ri, “I’ve been through enough to know that it’s not just me who ends up getting hurt.”

Yi-sang walks to the river’s edge with his camera and while taking photos of the fireworks, we hear his decision, “You may have entered my heart and stirred me up like this. But…I need to…ignore it.” Yi-sang lowers his camera as Ha-ri walks towards him, and he resolves, “I need to make sure my heart doesn’t flutter again.”

Ha-ri stops when she sees Yi-sang and they stare at one another as fireworks explode behind them. Ha-ri asks, “Why do we keep running into each other,” but Yi-sang wants to know, “Why do you keep showing up like this?”

Insisting that their meeting was accidental, Ha-ri bids Yi-sang a goodnight. Yi-sang blocks her to ask, “How can you be this beautiful?” Ha-ri cooly replies, “And what if I’m beautiful? What comes next?”

This time it’s Yi-sang who takes a step closer and as he leans in for a kiss, Ha-ri doesn’t turn away. When their lips meet, Ha-ri’s eyes widen briefly in surprise but then they close, and as she kisses Yi-sang, fireworks fill the sky.

  
COMMENTS

I’m impressed by the fact that we’re being shown infertility from both the man’s perspective as well as the woman’s. While Ha-ri continues to consider her options, it’s looking more and more like Yi-sang has none, which is why he’s insisted that he can’t be in a relationship with Ha-ri. As beautiful as that kiss was between Yi-sang and Ha-ri, and long overdue, what I’ve really been longing for is for him to take her into his confidence, to confess to her that he can’t father a child. I feel like Yi-sang put the cart before the horse with that kiss because he’s going to have to tell Ha-ri the truth sooner or later, which won’t be easy for either of them.

Ha-ri and Yi-sang continue to deal with their issues in completely different ways. While Ha-ri is determined not to give up on becoming a mother, Yi-sang has thrown in the towel and accepted a life of loneliness and isolation. But as we see by Yi-sang’s repeated visits to the urologist, it’s not the life that he wants. Being around Ha-ri and seeing her determination has awakened a spark of hope but something else is holding Yi-sang back. What did the urologist mean when he told Yi-sang that he’s too traditional and ethical? Is there a way for Yi-sang to become a father that he’s not willing to consider?

Interestingly, it turns out that the infertile couple that Ha-ri and Yi-sang are working with are in a similar situation. They must need a sperm donor because the husband is sub-fertile and we learned that the wife has a history of miscarriages. Neither of them is a good candidate for parenthood but they haven’t given up. Will their journey help Yi-sang and Ha-ri find a way to become parents together? I hope so because I’m grieving for that Yi-sang mini-me from a few episodes ago. The thought that the boy is an impossibility makes me incredibly sad.

For comic relief we have the ever-shifting alliances between Yi-sang, Jae-young and the much younger Eu-tteum. That meeting to “help” Eu-tteum plan the perfect confession for Ha-ri had Yi-sang and Jae-young thick as thieves. Even moreso once they learned about Eu-tteum’s super-sperm status. But when it’s just the two of them, such as during that lunch with Ha-ri, Y-sang and Jae-young become cut-throat competitors. It’s understandable and natural when the three men find themselves drawn to the same woman, but as time goes on, it’s becoming obvious that one of them has already won our heroine’s heart.

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