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Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha: Episode 4

As her business continues to grow, our dentist discovers that not all of her new patients are kind-hearted. A disturbance at her practice strengthens her relationship with her best friend, while also bringing her closer to the town’s handyman. Meanwhile, another couple has become the focus of the villagers’ gossip.

 
EPISODE 4 RECAP

Our fashionista dentist has made the rural streets of Gongjin her personal runway, as a montage of outfit changes hints at the passage of time. Each morning she catwalks to her dental practice, passing Doo-shik on the street outside the cafe. While she continues to channel her inner Seoulite with each new day, he sports a different “uniform” depending on the odd job he’s working.

Hye-jin’s morning routine is orderly, but Mi-sun sleeps late and is a mess of tangled hair. While Hye-jin waits on her roommate to get ready, she contemplates the hedgehog and recalls what Bora said about forming bonds with hedgehogs so that they will lay down their spines and allow you to pet them. She reaches into the cage and — unsurprisingly — pricks her finger.

Hye-jin calls for Mi-sun, whose three-minute transformation is so drastic that Hye-jin wonders if Mi-sun replaced her entire face. Together they walk to work, and as they pass by the cafe, Hye-jin not-so-subtly wonders why “he” isn’t around today. Mi-sun eyes her curiously, but Hye-jin diverts the topic to lunch, suggesting jjajangmyeon.

With their empty lunch bowls stacked in front of them, Hye-jin looks forlorn, attributing her mood to her dissatisfaction with the food. But as she places their empty trash outside the clinic door, she complains aloud to herself, “He’s always around when you least expect it, so where is he today?” Clearly it wasn’t the food that got her down, but rather the absence of a particular delivery man.

In the clinic, Mi-sun spots an old sunbae and crush of Hye-jin’s in the pages of a magazine, JI SUNG-HYUN (Lee Sang-yi). The magazine feature details his rise as a star variety PD. A new patient arrives, and Hye-jin advises him of his treatment options and warns him that the procedure may be expensive.

He assures her that he trusts her judgement, unfazed by the potential expense. The man speculates about patients who throw a fit when faced with the cost of dental procedures, and he asks Hye-jin if she has installed cameras inside the exam room like other dentists. Woefully oblivious to the creepiness permeating the question, Hye-jin cheerily informs him that she hasn’t gotten around to installing cameras since they require all her patients’ consent.

As Mi-sun hands the patient his credit card and receipt, his hand lingers just a little too long on her fingers. Mi-sun is visibly uncomfortable with the touch, but Hye-jin praises the patient’s politeness and willingness to trust her judgement.

Outside the convenience store, Hwa-jung is examining some apples for her mother’s death anniversary tomorrow. Yoon-kyung joins her and the two women discuss Yoon-kyung’s pregnancy. She’s expecting another girl, and her husband is excited to have another shot at raising a daughter who’s less tomboyish than Bora. The women look on as their children play together across the street, and Yoon-kyung slips another apple into Hwa-jung’s bag as an apology when Bora starts chasing Yi-joon around.

Hye-jin and Mi-sun head home together, but they’re stopped by Nam-sook, who invites them to a Gongjin shopkeepers meeting. Both women initially decline the invitation, but Hye-jin changes her mind when she hears that Doo-shik will be attending. The local shopkeepers meet at the cafe and share a round of beers, but Doo-shik is noticeably absent as Hye-jin sits awkwardly, listening as the others joke about the excessive number of village officials.

Because it’s her first meeting, Hye-jin is asked to share a few words on how to potentially improve the shopkeepers meeting. Put on the spot, Hye-jin hesitantly suggests that the group should have a member directory, but Doo-shik arrives and interrupts her. He gleefully produces a copy of the group’s member directory as he insults her lack of creativity. The two bicker while the others look over the directory and are shocked to realize Hwa-jung still has her ex-husband Young-guk’s number listed as her own.

Meanwhile, Hwa-jung and Young-guk are leisurely walking down the street together as they discuss their work. Young-guk mentions “tomorrow” and pauses just long enough that Hwa-jung stops and looks at him expectantly, as though she’s waiting for him to mention the anniversary, but the rest of his sentence is about the street cleaning being performed tomorrow.

Back inside the cafe, the shopkeepers continue gossiping about Hwa-jung and Young-guk’s divorce, and Hye-jin calls them out on having outdated opinions. Doo-shik agrees with her but Nam-sook tries to clarify that she doesn’t judge them for getting divorced. Instead, she just doesn’t understand why they separated when they seemed to have no problems.

The couple at the center of the conversation enters the cafe, and Nam-sook almost chokes on her food. Chun-jae, speaking softly because he has laryngitis from singing, brings them menus.

Hye-jin sneaks off to use the restroom, where she confronts her reflection in the mirror, asking herself why she came to the meeting and complaining that “they talk too much.” She’s startled when one of the stall doors is kicked open and Joo-ri emerges. Clearly having overheard Hye-jin, the teenager hip-checks Hye-jin out of the way to wash her hands and grab paper towels.

Joo-ri hangs out alone, surrounded by photocards of different boyband members. Having recognized the group, Hye-jin tries to awkwardly bond by telling her that one of the members was once her patient. Joo-ri scoffs at the claim and demands proof. Hye-jin tells her they took a photo together, but since she doesn’t have it on hand Joo-ri remains unconvinced.

Hye-jin rejoins the adults, and immediately notices that Doo-shik is absent from the table. Everyone has branched off into smaller conversation groups, but there’s no sign the party will wrap up soon. Hye-jin decides to resort to her killer move: laying her head down and pretending to be drunk.

Though everyone notices that she’s “drunk” her hopes that someone will encourage her to go home stay unrealized. The missing Doo-shik takes the stage. As he sings and plays Lee Moon-sae’s An Old Love, Hye-jin struggles to maintain her drunken facade while sneaking peeks at the crooning dimpled man.

Hye-jin is still pretending to sleep as the others clean up around her. Doo-shik tells them that he’ll take her home, and she remains limp as he loads her onto his back to carry her. As they’re walking, one of her fancy shoes falls off her foot, and she screams internally for him to stop and notice the fallen Cinderella heel. He pauses — and he tells her to stop pretending. Chagrined, she slides down his back and hops on one foot until she reaches her dropped shoe.

Doo-shik complains about having to piggyback Hye-jin before scolding her for having poor social skills. He speculates that she probably doesn’t have any friends and though she denies it, she can only name Mi-sun when he challenges her to list three friends. She walks off in a huff, grumbling about Doo-shik being annoying.

Hwa-jung makes her way home with Young-guk trailing behind her. She asks why he’s following her but he points out that they live close to each other. They bicker over who should be entitled to take the fastest route home but before it gets out of hand, he just tells her to take the bag he’s holding. Inside is a banchan container, and he tells her that he enjoyed the kimchi she gave him. When she gets home and opens the container, she finds a cake inside and she does her best not to smile when she sees it.

Before going to bed, Hye-jin locates the picture she took with Joo-ri’s K-pop idol, June. She unwinds by listening to the Lee Moon-sae song again while Doo-shik hangs out on his hilltop boat into the wee hours of the night.

The next day, Hye-jin arrives at the cafe ready to rub the picture in Joo-ri’s face but she’s disappointed to hear that Joo-ri’s in school lol. She orders coffee from Doo-shik and asks that it be delivered because she’s in a hurry. But as soon as he tells her there’s a delivery fee, she cancels her order. Heh.

Gam-ri is in good spirits despite having some lingering pain as she heals from her procedure. As she makes her exit, the creepy male patient arrives, causing Mi-sun’s smile to drop. After checking the man’s teeth, Hye-jin leaves him in Mi-sun’s care while she goes to the front desk. Doo-shik arrives with the coffee order that Hye-jin canceled; he doesn’t charge a delivery fee, claiming that business was slow so he had time.

Hwa-jung and her son are preparing the food for her mother’s death anniversary. When Hwa-jung places the cake Young-guk gave her on the altar, Yi-joon questions the unconventional addition. Rolled cakes were her mother’s favorite, so Hwa-jung asks if they can make an exception and serve what her mother loved since the memorial is for her. Together, mother and son make a spot on the table for the cake and bow.

After school, Joo-ri begs Doo-shik to make her a cup of coffee, but he refuses, saying she’s had her allotted amount of caffeine for the day. Hye-jin arrives with her picture, and when Joo-ri sees it, her joyful shrieks make Doo-shik wince. Suddenly Joo-ri’s new bestie, Hye-jin is subjected to question after question about June, and Hye-jin seems happy to answer them, so long as they don’t breach doctor-patient confidentiality. Doo-shik tries to join the gush-fest, but he insults June’s looks so the two fangirls shoo him away. Doo-shik shakes his head, marveling at their similarity.

On Doo-shik’s next day off, he ignores his phone and carries his surfboard to the beach. Nam-sook and Geum-chul try to stop him and beg him to pick up odd jobs for them, but he advises them to take care of their own business. Meanwhile, Mi-sun is in a sullen mood, turning down Hye-jin’s offer to have chicken for dinner. The creepy male patient arrives again for another follow-up appointment, and Mi-sun is left alone with him to take a mold of his teeth.

Young-guk and a coworker are headed to lunch when they encounter YOO CHO-HEE (HONG JI-HEE). Young-guk tells his coworker to go ahead without him. It’s been fifteen years since they last saw each other but there’s a frisson of attraction between them. As they catch up, Cho-hee explains that she’s returned to teach at the local elementary school.

From a distance, Nam-sook and Yoon-kyung stop what they’re doing to watch the reunited pair. Nam-sook dashes off to find Hwa-jung, eager to report that Young-guk’s first love is back in town. Instead of working at her restaurant, Hwa-jung’s at home, packing away food into containers. When her son comments on the excessive amounts, she tells him that it’s nice to have a lot of food in the house.

After Mi-sun removes the denture mold from the patient’s mouth, he tells her that he still feels some residue on his teeth and asks that she clean it. She hesitates but moves closer to examine his mouth.

Hye-jin yells from the doorway, horrified to see the male patient with his hands on Mi-sun. Hye-jin drags Perv Patient into the lobby, calling him an assortment of justified bad names all the while.

Gam-ri shows up, overhears enough to know what happened, and makes a discrete exit. Hye-jin threatens to call the police, but Perv Patient preemptively calls them himself, making a report that he’s being falsely accused of sexual harassment. Eun-chul and another officer mobilize in response to the call.

Perv Patient brags about his family’s wealth and connections, warning Hye-jin to drop the complaint. He threatens that he has enough influence to shut her clinic down. After hearing the warning, Mi-sun wants to let him go, but Hye-jin is having none of that!

When the pervert insults Mi-sun, Hye-jin goes into scrappy fighter mode and kicks him upside the head. He goes to hit her, but she’s faster and he gets an open-palm smack to his face. While the pervert’s world is still reeling, Doo-shik runs in still in his wet suit and does a flying knee-kick at the other man’s nose.

The patient falls to the floor, and Doo-shik checks to make sure Hye-jin is okay before collapsing in a heap. The police arrive to find them on the ground and Doo-shik gasping for water.

Perv Patient has been moved to the hospital, where he’s milking his injuries and insisting that he’ll be suing for assault. When Eun-chul reminds him that he’ll still be investigated for sexual harassment, the pervert is unfazed and insists there’s no evidence that he did anything wrong.

At the police station, Hye-jin objects to her arrest while Doo-shik gets comfortable in their shared jail cell, advising her to relax. She’s curious to know why he came to her practice on his day off, but he deflects and asks the nearest officer if he can change out of his wet suit and into something more comfortable. The officer obliges and even offers up his own clothes. Doo-shik returns wearing a loud floral shirt and slacks.

Back from the hospital, Eun-chul reports that the pervert’s CT scan looked fine so both Hye-jin and Doo-shik can go. He attempts to release Hye-jin from the cell, but she refuses to leave until the pervert is arrested.

As Hye-jin is mid-protest, Mi-sun arrives and rushes to her jailbird friend. The two friends have an emotional reunion through the bars of the (now unlocked) jail cell, each of them apologizing repeatedly to the other as they sob. Doo-shik and the police officers watch on, amused, and sip their coffee.

Gam-ri makes a beeline for Doo-shik, saying she found a cell phone at the dental clinic. Doo-shik visits the pervert at the hospital, initially acting chummy. The pervert bristles at Doo-shik’s manner but he panics when Doo-shik reveals he has the pervert’s phone — which is filled with peep shots. Doo-shik pins him to the floor, warning that he’ll make sure the pervert pays.

Perv Patient can’t understand why Doo-shik is going to such lengths over this all, does he have something going on with one of the women? Doo-shik doesn’t hesitate to answer that he has something huge going one with one of them (swoon~). The police load the pervert into a patrol car and Doo-shik smiles as he walks away.

Cho-hee arrives at the town hall to register her move. Young-guk is happy to see her and directs her to the forms she needs to fill out. While peeking over her shoulder, he realizes she’s still single. Meanwhile, Nam-sook finally catches up with Hwa-jung and reveals that Cho-hee is back in town.

The two women arrive at Young-guk’s office just in time to hear him declare that he and Hwa-jung are divorced. Nam-sook takes a front row seat to watch as Young-guk gets dramatically defensive when his co-worker addresses Hwa-jung as Young-guk’s wife in front of Cho-hee. Hwa-jung and Cho-hee exchange pleasantries as Young-guk stands awkwardly between them.

Hwa-jung moves on to conduct business with Young-guk’s coworker, and when she turns around, Young-guk and Cho-hee are gone. She returns home and drops the heavy bag she had been carrying and begins removing the containers of food she’d intended to give to Young-guk. She looks defeated as she places them in the refrigerator.

It’s a new day at the dental clinic, and Mi-sun asks Hye-jin for her lunch order. The two women have a moment, with Hye-jin reminding Mi-sun that friends protect each other. While fetching their lunch, Mi-sun crosses paths with Eun-chul. She tries to hide from him, but he spots her and calls out her name. Awkwardly, he hands her his business card and encourages her to hold onto just in case. He advises her not to try to endure things on her own if something ever happens in the future.

Back at the clinic, Hye-jin receives a text from Doo-shik. The pervert has admitted his crimes and will be investigated. Realizing that she never thanked him properly, Hye-jin arrives at Doo-shik’s house with a basket of fruit and a bottle of wine. She places the items outside his door, but she has trouble parting with the wine, wanting to keep it for herself. Doo-shik abruptly appears, and she falls to the ground, startled and clutching the bottle to her chest.

Inside Doo-shik’s house, Hye-jin soaks in her surroundings, surprised that his place isn’t a stinky bachelor pad. She spots the photo of him and his grandfather and recognizes it from the photography studio. He shares that it’s him with his grandfather who passed when he was in middle school. He doesn’t have any other family as his parents passed when he was six.

Hye-jin fetches wine glasses, and Doo-shik impresses her with his excellent charcuterie board skills. Hye-jin takes a moment to educate Doo-shik in wine decanting, but once again her assumptions that the town handyman is an ignorant hick are proven incorrect when he schools her on the proper way to serve and drink her beloved wine. (There’s a lot of noisy slurping from Hye-jin lol.)

At the cafe, Chun-jae is on the verge of falling asleep at the counter when two men walk in, Sung-hyun and K-pop idol June. He greets them, and they choose a table in the back.

Hye-jin asks if Doo-shik will sing for her if she asks. He tells her to go home, but she reminds him that they haven’t finished drinking the wine. She comments on his familiarity with the local police officers, assuming he was a troublemaker. Instead, Doo-shik has spent his time doing good deeds (and even won the Brave Citizen Award twice). A series of flashbacks reveal his epic take-down of a purse snatcher and his dramatic rescue of a man sleeping on train tracks.

Hye-jin marvels at his bravery, but scolds him for spending the reward money on others when he isn’t financially stable. They run out of wine, and Hye-jin stares meaningfully at the alcohol on the shelf behind him. He offers her some whisky instead.

Chun-jae asks Joo-ri to deliver a tray of food to the two newest customers. She does a double take when she sees June while Sung-hyun laughs at the whole situation. As she walks away, she turns back one last time and says to herself that the man put in a lot of effort to look like her June. The two men have a laugh at that and Sung-hyun tells him to work harder since people don’t recognize him.

Doo-shik comments that Hye-jin’s already drunk, but she denies it as she sways slightly. She’s not drunk, she just feels like she’s floating on clouds. She admits that she avoids getting drunk because she hates being vulnerable and not in control of her actions.

Hye-jin asks if he ever gets lonely living by himself, but Doo-shik says he doesn’t since the people in Gongjin are like his family. She pries more into his past and it’s only when the conversation turns to Doo-shik having been to Seoul that he sidesteps the subject. He points out that for someone who wanted to draw boundaries she asks a lot of questions. She concedes and allows him to ask her one question, so he asks why she came to Gongjin.

She stalls, fanning herself and worrying that she’s drunk. He tells her not to answer if she doesn’t want to, but she admits that the day she first came to Gongjin was her mother’s birthday. It’s sad, she laments, how your birthday gets erased after you die and only the day of your death gets remembered. She mourns the lost years she could have spent with her mother, and reveals that she visited Gongjin with her family shortly before her mother passed away.

Embarrassed, Hye-jin fans her flushed face, attributing it to the alcohol and not her emotions. She asks Doo-shik if her face is red. He takes his hands, which had been clutching the ice bucket, and cups her cheeks. “It’s so hot,” he tells her.

EPILOGUE

It’s Doo-shik’s day off and he emerges from the ocean, carrying his surfboard. He sits for a breather when his phone rings. He smiles to see it’s Gam-ri but when he hears that there’s a commotion at Hye-jin’s clinic.

Nam-sook, and Geum-chul complain to Hwa-jung as they walk together, thoroughly put out that Doo-shik refused to work for them. Hwa-jung reminds them that Doo-shik has one rule in life: He works when he wants and has fun when he feels like it. Doo-shik sprints past them just then, barefoot and still in his wet suit. They stare in confusion at the sight of Doo-shik breaking his one rule.

 
COMMENTS

Even if she isn’t ready to admit it, Hye-jin has definitely grown attached to our dimpled handyman. I’m not convinced yet that she feels a purely romantic interest in him. Instead, it seemed more to me that she still feels lonely, isolated, and very much aware of her status as an outsider in a close-knit community. Despite their bickering, Doo-jin has become a constant and welcome presence in her new life and someone she can rely on. I can definitely see developing into romance since the spark is there, I’m just not sold yet. On Doo-shik’s part, his attraction and feelings for Hye-jin seem more obvious than ever. He doesn’t bother sugarcoating anything and he may still bicker with her, but his actions speak volumes. There were so many moments throughout this episode where Doo-shik showed he cared, from the small things like waiving his usual delivery fee, to the bigger things like running to help her when a pervert was on the loose.

Doo-shik was right in that Hye-jin is like the hedgehog, and he’s slowly trying to form that bond so she’ll lay down her quills. What Hye-jin lacks in regard to social niceties, though, she more than makes up for in loyalty, and I loved seeing her come to Mi-sun’s defense. While her physical take-down of Perv Patient was epic and satisfying, I was equally impressed with how she immediately inserted herself physically between her friend and the attacker, becoming a literal shield for Mi-sun so she wouldn’t have to face the pervert. And she may be prickly but seeing her excitement when she bonded with Joo-ri was so sweet. It was its own little journey, and it looks like the next time Doo-shik asks her to name three friends, Hye-jin can add Joo-ri’s name alongside Mi-sun’s.

Despite her strong protective instincts and sense of justice, Hye-jin’s still vulnerable, which is something she goes to great lengths to hide. Her comment about how birthdays are replaced by death anniversaries was poignant and mirrored Hwa-jung’s scenes. For the death anniversary of her mother, Hwa-jung chose to bend the rules and add her mother’s favorite dessert to the ceremonial table. It was both a celebration of her mother and a nod to the role Young-guk once had in the family. I really felt for Hwa-jung in this episode. Her divorce is the source of town gossip, and even her so-called friend sits by and watches the encounter between her ex-husband and his first love as though it is a daytime soap opera. I’m not sure how I feel about the inclusion of their love triangle — if you can call it that — especially since the ex-husband is kind of annoying, despite his thoughtfulness with the cake.

The last minutes of the episode leave me wondering what’s in store for Hye-jin and Doo-shik’s relationship as well as the town of Gongjin. I’d been wondering when we’d finally see Lee Sang-yi and now that we know he’s a variety PD, it can’t be a coincidence that he’s in town with a celebrity in tow. He alluded to a broadcast but I hope it doesn’t lead to clashes with the townspeople. We know that Hye-jin once had a crush on Lee Sang-yi’s character Sung-hyun; will his appearance make her want to revisit “the good old days”? Will Doo-shik’s feelings be clarified by the appearance of a possible love rival? At the end of the episode, I was unsure as to whether Hye-jin was truly drunk or using the alcohol as an excuse to be more honest, but she was definitely reaching out to Doo-shik and attempting to form a closer connection. But with Sung-hyun on the scene, how will that change the dynamic and relationship between Hye-jin and Doo-shik?

I hope that the next episode builds off of the ending scene and we see a slight change in their dynamic. I don’t want the bickering to go away completely, but I also don’t want the writer to have her wake up the next day with no recollection of the previous night for the sole purpose of preserving comedic hijinks. This drama has used a lot of classic, old school K-drama tropes so far though, so I’m betting the next episode may leave the lead couple right back to where they were before their night of wine and whiskey.

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I hated that Doo-shik saved Hye-jin and Mi-sun from the pervert patient. Hye-jin had this with her high kick and slap. She did not need a white knight.

Joo-ri is the biggest brat, but Hye-jin and her bonding over a boyband was awesome. "Look at it over there." I bet Sung-hyun was the PD of Grandma Gam-ri's show.

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I see it more as DS adding injury to the perp rather than saving HJ.

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IMO it didn’t really come across as Dusik being her savior, cuz she obviously had the situation under control with that kick/slap combo XD
But it felt like it was more of a comedic addition, and also to show how much Dusik actually cared and worried about her, despite the way he picks on her. It’s like, whether Hyejin needed help or not, Dusik would’ve come running anyways, because someone messed with his girl.

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yesss!! his hand was shaking when it was hovering over hyejin's cheeks too he was so worried.

I was laughing so much since he just came out of nowhere. a thought even crossed my head that he somehow had a cctv set up in there but thats kind of creepy so im glad they cleared that up with the grandma calling and telling him about the situation there.

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"His" girl. People are not possessions.

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The story definitely moved forward with this newest episode. I think that it is a little too soon for Hye-jin to have romantic feelings for Du-shik- at this point their relationship is where it should be.

The creepy pervert incident was played for all it was worth as our friends embraced though the bars of a cell which had its doo open- a little slapstick never hurts?

But it looks as if Mi-sun's willingness to look for a new romance might just pay off. Eun-chul handing her his business card was not a conscious attempt at flirtation and I am sure that he believes that he was just being a professional- but please note that Mi-sun now has his phone number.

As for our divorced couple and a potential triangle- as well as the PD and the actor who are now on the scene- this is what we need, story arcs and sub-stories to weave a more complicated- and thus more realistic- story.

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This episode Mi-sun was MVP for me. From the beginning when she came out with a full face and styled hair in three minutes to her line that "A good best-friend is worth ten boyfriends". I appreciated how the writer highlighted Hye-jin's friendships. This episode proved that she's someone capable of maintaining a life-long, loyal and deep friendship. And when left to her own pace (and not pushed) she can also form new friendships. Hye-jin is definitely not the life of the party (I'm definitely stealing her "i'm drunk so dont engage me" trick) with a lot of friendships, but the one she has is deep and well-tended.

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I couldn't understand why Mi-sun had kept quiet when she was being sexually assaulted. It's not like their clinic was struggling since they had plenty of other patients.

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The usual reasons - you don't want to be a victim, self-pity and shame because the perv got one over you. You know you're not to blame and you should speak up but it's not easy.

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I was expecting Misun to jab that descaler into Perv guy's bad tooth. On accident, of course. Do not mess with your dental hygienist.

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I really liked this episode!

I like the nuanced writting like HJ could protect her best friend and herself but felt relieved when DS came because this kind of situation takes a lot of energy between the anger and the frustration. She has not a lot friends but she has one for the life and she's trying to bond with others even if DS was the trigger :p

I think it happened something when DS left the town because he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

I forgot about the second male lead...

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Same. I quite enjoy this episode. There are so many great scenes here without being preachy.

1. The opening montage. So good, and what it essentially mean for our FL.
2. The shoe comes first over oppa. 😊
3. Namsook putting the banchan she made in the fridge. That hurts.
4. The way we see very little of the assault. I took it as assault starts out as simple gestures by the predator. It can be difficult for the victim to speak up about it. And that it gets repeated. I think that speaks volume on how some assaults happen in real life.
5. Mi-Sun and Hye Jin in the jail scene. It's odd that they talk about the assault in a slapstick way, but it still worked for me. That no matter what, reporting assault is important and friendship comes first before business.

This I found out from comments.
6. The touching of the hedgehog in the beginning, along with the end scene.
7. Naming numerous friends vs just having one.

This was a good one.

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I see Hye-jin falling for Douche-sick tho. She wonders where he is, misses him when he's not there, and goes to a meeting just because she heard he's gonna be there. I just don't get why she can't be kinder to him tho-- but uses ploys like drunk pretend sleeping, and bringing wine to his place (and getting drunk alone with him, too!) Is this city girl Hye-jin flirting? Because it's a turn off. I'm glad Douche-sick is a good guy and doesn't take advantage of these kinds of situations.

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Interesting perspective - I thought the play-drunk thing was so that she could be dismissed from the party, but no one paid her any mind, so she prob felt like she had to keep the act up till the end to avoid the embarrassment - which inevitably came anyways since Dusik saw through her ruse.

The wine thing - honestly I felt like that was such a relatable moment - I’ve debated keeping gifts that I originally planned to give someone else bc it seemed too fancy or overboard, or it was something I personally wanted (guilty XD) - again, Dusik just happened to catch her in the middle of that contemplation, and since we know he’s attracted to her too, there’s no way he was gonna send her away.

I think they’re both equally attracted to each other - for Hyejin, I feel like it’s subconscious for now, but she’s slowly becoming aware of how much she’s actually interested in him. For Dusik, I think he’s the one who’s well aware of his feelings and is intentionally putting up a front, either to protect himself or because he enjoys seeing her get riled up by his teasing, or both.

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Thank you for the recap @daebakgrits .

My heart goes "thump thump" whenever Du Shik flirts with Hye Jin. First it was the "Your face is the signature" line, now "It's so hot" ❤

He clearly is smitten, but we can't say the same for our girl Hye Jin. The thought that he is handsome din't even cross our FL's mind until her dentist friends mentioned it in group chat. It would be interesting to see how and when she will be falling in love with him because from the previews for next episode, she seems like a no-nonsense girl, who doesn't like feeding rumours.

I know there are no secrets in towns like Gongjin, but Nam Sook dropping the news about Hwa Jung's ex husband and watching the entire sequence with popcorn in hand, though intended to be funny, was annoying. The relationship chart says Nam Sook and Hwa Jung are frenemies but people meddling with other person's personal life is tiring and adding fuel to fire. I feel this is a major reason why city people prefer seclusion and don't openly mingle with any new comer in the neighbourhood.

On the other hand, being nosy also has its own set of advantages. Granma, Gam Ri immediately rings up Du Shik after noticing the commotion at the clinic, but would this have happened, if scene had taken place in a city? More often than not, people just gather around and be a silent audience instead of calling a police (or ambulance in case of injuries). It was a good thing Hye Jin was able to defend herself and her friend, but in real life this is not the case as there is no one to diffuse the situation.

I like how this drama counter balances every scene. Looking forward to more episodes.

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Actually Hyejin did think he was rather handsome the first time they met each other. Watch the scene again. Shin Mina herself said so in the Ep 1 & 2 commentary video.

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where to find the commentary videos? :0

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Another Solid Episode.
I really like that they made Hyejins character someone who could stand up for herself and her friend which is a huge improvement from the one in the movie.
But I like that they made her faint only after she saw that Dusik is there, even in situations where you can handle it, it helps to have someone be that safety net for you. This little detail show how much more trust Hyejin has for Dusik now.
Another thing I liked was how they started the episode off with Hyejin only being able to list out Miseon as her friend and end the episode showing how you only really need 1 loyal caring friend to make all the difference.
"One good friend is worth 10 boyfriends"

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the friendship line really hit !!

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Guy gives girl his card -- a piece of paper with his phone number. Anybody else thinking of Sticky Note Guy?

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I loved this episode for two reasons:

1) I think it wonderfully depicts that beggining stage in a romantic relationship when all you want is to see and be around that person. And while Du-shik's lack of hesitancy in admitting his interest in HJ had me swooning, I hope this stage continues for a few more episodes because it's just so entertaining to watch. 🤭

2) I loved how they subverted Du-shik's words that you need a lot of friends. Yes, Hye-jin has only Mi-sun, but both of them would gladly give everything up for each other. One really great friend is more precious than twenty people you can make small talk with. 💃💃

This show hits all the right notes for me, the weekend never comes fast enough 😭

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Hometown Cha Cha Cha continues to be a general sponsor of My Bisexual Panic™

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This is the most relatable comment I’ve seen on this site. This show is peak bisexual panic for me.

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Really hope they go for a more slow burn romance rather than the fast one as personally it gets boring quick after...

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This episode was so funny and sweet.

I love Hye-jin and her friends Mi-sun, Pyo Mi-sun and Pyo Mi-sun. The jailhouse reunion was funny but the situation also added depth to their friendship for me.

I don't know if Hye-jin has romantic feelings for Doo-shik yet but the ice melted, literally and figuratively. I hope they continue to bicker because it cracks me up.

I enjoyed Hye-jin pretending to be drunk and then sheepishly hopping off to save her shoe.

Lee Sang-yi finally arrives, and he's a college mate of Hye-jin's. Can we get a bromance instead of a love triangle.

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I love this show! Sure it’s got a lot of tropes that some may find hard to digest but it’s happy and most importantly hopeful.

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I liked this episode, it was sweet. What I didn't like was the director playing the jail scene between HJ and MS for laughs. It wasn't funny. It was sweet and meaningful. I love love how she protected her friend at the potential risk of her job. Nobody comes between MS and HJ. I also loved the line about a best friend being worth 10 boyfriends because facts. As for DS, it is very obvious to anyone with eyes that he obviously likes HJ, except for probably HJ. I also agree, I don't think she is crushing yet she is getting there. He is getting better, not as rude to her, his toddler tendencies transitioning to adult sensibilities.

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I thought it was interesting how they wrote that scene - like half of me was tearing up seeing Misun and Hyejin crying about that horrible situation, I imagined how I’d feel if that happened to my friend. Meanwhile, the other half of me was chuckling at the clueless looks of Dusik and the officers, because I could imagine how awkward it probably felt from their perspective. I actually felt like the writing did pretty well at depicting how there were literally a million things happening at once in that scene, and I simultaneously felt them all lol.

And I agree, I’m still trying to wrap my head around Dusik’s childish tendencies - cuz like, he’s the one that’s liked her from the start, but he keeps being oddly cold to her, I don’t understand!! Even in the jail scene, he was flat out ignoring her - like sir, you literally just burst into her office barefoot in a rash guard sending a flying kick to a pervert on your “sacred day off” and then you’re back to treating her like a two-year old??

I’m honestly kinda looking forward to a little second lead tension so Dusik can cut the “hot/cold” mess and own up to his feelings. I hate that often with male characters, the thing that gets the romance moving is, nope, not their feelings for the FL, but the threat of another guy stealing her away.

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Lisssen....your whole second paragraph is me in my head in that scene, right along with the "like sir"😂😂😂😂. I hope there isn't much of a triangle at all becaus eI don't like them, but I agree 100% with your sentiment.

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I too hope that the 2nd lead isn't mainly there for a love triangle. I feel like when that's their main purpose, it tends to diminish their potential as a character.

As he's also from the outside, he could be another fun addition to the current mix of country/city folk, offering his own unique perspective in this growing community.

And in regards to his interactions w/ Doo-shik & Hye-jin: I want him to have a bromance w/ Doo-shik and a (mutually) platonic relationship w/ Hye-jin. He and Hye-jin do have some shared history, but it doesn't need to lead to a romance (pls writers!)

But alas, this is dramaland...so a love triangle is probably on the horizon :')

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My favourite part was the scene between Hye-jin and Mi-sun at the police station. Rather than finding it funny I found it really touching and sweet. Moarrrr strong female friendships in kdramas please

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Am I the only one who was a little scared of Dooshik when he went to see the pervert in the hospital? I have watched a lot of Kim seon ho dramas and this is the first time I have ever thought of him as scary. After that scene, I am ready to see him as the bad guy in a thriller.
Mi seon and Hye jin are friendship goals.

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i felt scared too...
rumor has it he was cast as main in an action/thriller movie by park hoon jung after hometown chacha so we might not have to wait too long to see that happen

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I've this theory that a lot of romantic lead guys are better in non romantic roles. Ex. Jung Hae In, Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Woo Bin, and etc. Kim Seon Ho showed me that side in Catch the Ghost (That Boxing Scene!!). Him hopefully doing Sad Tropical, makes me excited to see his transformation!!

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I had the same thought! He would be perfect as a psycho killer.

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Personally, Kim Seon-ho kinda look like/ reminded me of Park Ki-woong, a sweet faced actor with expressive range, and used to play villains.
I was still pretty traumatic with Park Ki-woong’s role in Gaksital (sweet character turn evil villain) and Kim Seon-ho in this hospital scene kinda gave me the vibe.

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Finally Lee Sang-yi showed up!
I really hope there will be no love triangle...

I love Please Don't Date Him reunion!
Lee Si-hoon was fantastic playing a super pathetic ex-boyfriend (of the heroine) in there, and in this, he is a pervert.
Please give him a normal person role...

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I really enjoyed the last 2 episodes.. waiting for Saturday! I only don't like that Hye-jin is still on the backfoot.. like that wine drinking incident. But other than that its pretty cute!

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on the backfoot.. is that a metaphor? first time i heard it!

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To my great surprise I'm finding the characters in this series more insufferable than ones in 'Revolutionary Sisters'. The more I watch the more I feel "I just don't want to spend time with these people." Has the director ever directed a comedy before? I recall watching one scene without out a hint of humor in it, but it had an overlay of 'We're watching something funny' music. It was like being prodded in the ribs with a stick.

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Enjoyed watching this episode so much - a friend in need is a friend in deed. It also showed the progress of dushik n hyejin relationship, she's got 2 friends now, no, 3 friends plus (grandma gamri n villages folks). Nice to see Dushik agrees with hyejin view on divorce. Hope there be healing for the divorce couple.
Hyejin is so cute n curious about dushik - her energy level went down if she did not see him but when he is so closed together in the cell, she panic while dushik needed to recharge. After he got out, he told the officer to give coffee to hyejin as well but hyejin refused to get out. Mi sun n hyejin at the station was touching.
At the hospital, dushik is in naughty mode teasing the pervert n taking him down (in catch the ghost, his fight scene is awesome).
The ending of this episode is so sweet n i am so curious about dushik. His knowledge of how much caffine joo can consume n the way he can handle wine, is he the guy that run so fast only to face a cliff. And he is generous to buy a fridge for the town centre with his reward money. During this pandemic, in my country, some people begin to create groceries station for the needy ( think some people may have the idea or might have watched 3 days a meal or other korean show where people leave groceries in the town centre fridge for people to take them or exchange).
Dushik cold hands cupping hyejin looking at her so tenderly is so sweet. Looking forward to further development - friendship courtship love. And comedy as well from dushik n sung interaction. Heard episode 5 will have crazy fun. Yay homecha jjiang.

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This episode was quite good. There was more funny bits than "was this put in here to be funny" bits.
I hope the chief and her ex-husband don't rekindle. Everything between them so far has shown it was a good idea they divorced in the first place.

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cute and fun but I wished they did not use sexual harrassment as a plot .. maybe some roughhousing customer or what not especially if they pulled in some gags over the jail scene between women where they just fought a sex pest .. aside from that... the show is good frothy fun .. pina coladas on the beach and my order of fresh seafood is coming which is to say i am having fun in this little seaside town of Gongjin..

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Ngl, the whole sexual harassment plot was a good way to highlight a vital issue. However, I did take some issue when the jail scene played out in a comical way. Like just before, Mi-sun was harassed. And now, some comical music is playing over a serious bonding moment. It just felt off/a bit unnecessary to make that into a humorous scene.

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Yeah. And the whole writer scandal came out. Welp….

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It was Hometown (which is also on tvN), thank goodness it wasn't this show. Whew! But yeah, I read somewhere that an article came out after Ep 10, that criticized the writer for making Hye-jin a damsel in distress, & having her be saved by Du-shik when that occurs. Some said it was merely plot coincidence, and others said it was a bit like the old 00's rom-coms were w/ that outdated trope.

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