I am so happy that 49 Days is over (with an ending I found fitting and meaningful), so that I can devote the rest of my Wed-Thurs only to Best Love (The Greatest Love). How do I love this drama, I cannot possibly count the ways. Episode 6 introduced the first major moment of emotional angst into the drama, and it involves all three main leads. Start squealing people, because BL is officially kicking into hyper-emotional gear.

Each 60 minute episode keeps me riveted, entranced, and so emotionally engaged I literally started worrying the moment the first big misunderstanding crept into the scene. Our OTP say things they mean, say things they don’t mean, but always they see through each other’s barriers of pride and self-preservation. But when love factors into the equation, suddenly even the most clear-sighted person can turn blind with jealousy and hurt. At such an early stage of the drama, my heart already hurts for everyone involved.

Episode 6 Recap:

Ae Jung tells Jin that she’s scared, and he should be as well if she decides that she wants to be caught by him. What’s going to happen then? Ugh, you two make out like hot bunnies while I say a couple of hallelujahs to the drama gods? Ae Jung says that this is it, and hangs up the phone, looking a bit sad. She walks out of the theater, turning around to look up at the giant Fighter billboard outside the theater.

Jin runs after her, about to call her name but stops himself when he realizes they are in a crowded public place. Ae Jung looks around at all the people and Jin standing there, and turns around to walk away. Which is when Jin runs after her and grabs her hand, in front of all those people walking around them.

Ae Jung looks around in shock, but Jin tells her that he’s grabbed her now. He’s grabbed her tightly, so what is she going to do about it? Is she going to let him grab her, or run away? He’s too ashamed to grab her again, so she has to decide what she wants now. Does she want him to let go? She looks around, worried about all the people in public, telling him to let go.

Jin grabs her hat and puts it on his head, then he grabs Ae Jung and embraces her tightly against his chest. He tells her that he’s grabbed her now, and the only way they wil be recognized is if she makes a scene. He tells her to stop struggling, because he’s grabbed her tightly now. He tells her to come with him. Se Ri stalks into the VIP theater and confirms that Jin was indeed here with someone else, judging by the two drinks. Jae Seok refuses to answer her demands as to the woman’s identity.

Outside in the lobby, PD Kim and Writer Han are discussing the rumors that Jin and Se Ri have broken up. They wonder who the other woman is, and Writer Han thinks whoever she is, she’ll be blamed as the third party that broke up Jin and Se Ri. Pil Joo listens to this, and speaks up that since Jin and Se Ri are already broken up, what’s the problem. He’s told public perception is bound to blame the new woman.

Jin is at a lounge with Ae Jung, telling her that since she’s not Shim Eun Ha or Han Ye Seul, there will be no misunderstanding if they are seen together here. Ae Jung is glad she’s not a top star. Jin tells her to dress better if she wants a scandal with him, but she’s even happier that she dressed down today. He congratulates her on making it so difficult for top star Dokko Jin, despite her shabby dress.

They toast, and Ae Jung asks him if it really is that difficult for him to like her? Jin confesses that other than himself, he’s never liked another person before. On top of that, the person he likes is Gu Ae Jung, which makes it even more embarrassing. Ae Jung reminds him that he was rejected, and he tells her not to mention it again since it’s bringing back bad memories.

She asks if he’s ever considered his confession would be rejected, to which Jin replies that he thought Ae Jung would treat it like manna from the sky and immediately pounce on it and bite. What would happen if Ae Jung bit down? Jin says he would allow her to bite, and the pain might make him return to reality. And if he woke up, wouldn’t he just smack her afterwards? To which Jin says “for sure” and cackles.

Ae Jung is not amused. She tells Jin that she must be Jin’s first love then. How embarrassing for Jin to be at this ripe old age before he experienced a first love. Well, Ae Jung will make sure that first love is unrequited, because she will never, ever like him. Oh missy, them fighting words. Ae Jung gets up and leaves, and Jin smacks himself on the lips for once again saying the wrong thing. He’s like a boy pulling the pigtails of the girl he likes, except he’s a 37 year old major superstar. Heh.

Jin catches Ae Jung by the front door, telling her he wants to erase what he just said and start again. He tells her to change into prettier clothes next time to come here, so that she can look like a princess. He wants to take her now to do that. Ae Jung tells him if he has the money to buy her clothes, then give it to her right now. She’ll take care of things and then he can quickly wake up. Ae Jung tells Jin he’s being too presumptuous now – does he want to sleep with her? Her candid words shock Jin into silence and Ae Jung leaves.

Back home, Jin thinks back to how cool he looked when he grabbed her. If only they didn’t go drink wine afterwards. He sighs, by thinking that Ae Jung was easy and telling her everything (thinking she’ll be honored by his affections), he’s mucked it all up. Now it’s gotten so complicated. Oh guy, love is just that, complicated. Ae Jung sits at home and thinks. So does Pil Joo, who looks at a flyer for Fighter and worries about Ae Jung.

At a production meeting with all four contestants, they are discussing the upcoming outdoor location shoot. Writer Han lists the upcoming individual dates – romantic dinner, luxury cruise, hiking, and sweet picnic. Se Ri asks Ae Jung to do her specialty and embarrass herself for audience laughs. Ae Jung agrees, but asks MC Se Ri to help, since its popular for MCs to participate as well. Ae Jung mentions the one-legged rooster battles and asks Se Ri to agree to battle with her if asked.

At the location shoot, Ae Hwan finds some helium and sucks some to talk with a funny voice. He suggests Ae Jung do this on the program as a funny gag. Pil Joo comes by to talk with her and finds out she sucked some helium. Ae Jung tries to explain what happened at the theater, telling him that she had reasons she can’t explain for running off. She asks him to forgive her, and hopes he’s not angry. He’s not, and Pil Joo sucks some helium as well to talk with a high pitched voice to make Ae Jung laugh. He says that he sounds just like a quack doctor writing prescriptions.

Se Ri and Writer Han see them teasing each other, and notes that Pil Joo will probably not eliminate Ae Jung next on the program either. Pil Joo, in a funny voice, tells Ae Jung quietly that he’s worried about her. He’s worried about her getting hurt. He hopes she doesn’t hurt too much. If she hurts, to please come to him. He will minster to her pain. O.M.F.G. Yes, I think I’m due to make this exclamation point about Pil Joo’s sweetness in each and every recap. Ae Jung smiles, telling Pil Joo that he’s a good doctor.

Jin’s agent is talking with Jae Seok about the mystery woman. He lies that he didn’t see the woman. Jae Seok asks what would happen if the woman Jin likes is disliked by the public. Jin’s agent will send Jin abroad and she will destroy the woman’s future in the industry. She will do this secretly, of course, and not let Jin know. She’s worked so hard to build up Jin, she won’t let the woman destroy it.

Jin’s agent asks Jin to go to a location shoot today to attend a celebration to commemorate the one year anniversary of the day Jin and Se Ri announced they were dating. Jin perks up when he realizes he’s being sent to Couple Making Season 3, and offers to bring the cake and flowers personally. Jin’s agent says going personally is important. Jin asks if he’s really that annoying and unlikeable. Jin says his personality keeps getting him into trouble, and it’s getting worse.

Filming commences for Couple Making Season 3, and the ladies engage in a game of one-legged rooster hopping, where Ae Jung vanquishes all her foes. She is complimented on being a Treasure Fighting Rooster, but Ae Jung points to Se Ri as the best back when they were Treasure Girls together. This gets the other MC to suggest Se Ri and Ae Jung do a one-on-one battle right now. Se Ri agrees, but sets the stakes higher. If Ae Jung wins, she gets two dates, if Se Ri wins, Se Ri goes on the date in Ae Jung’s place.

The two girls commence their head-to-head battle. Se Ri remembers filming a fried chicken CF as a Treasure Girl 10 years ago. During the commercial, the chicken leg Se Ri is holding is given to Ae Jung to hold instead. Ae Jung asks Se Ri if she wants to stand in the front, but Se Ri declines and stands in the back because she’s just a chicken wing. Set to the Stars Wars theme, the two ladies battle and Ae Jung wins. Jin is watching and claps his hands happily for Ae Jung.

Pil Joo comes over to bring Ae Jung a drink. He compliments her on her strength. He asks if she knows how to ride a bike (for one of the dates, I assumed), and she says not yet. But her character on the show is someone who is persistent, so she’ll keep bugging Pil Joo to teach her. He tells her to bring it on, he’s a celebrity now. Pil Joo tells a joke about how an Oriental medicine doctor can become a celebrity.

Ae Jung wants to write his jokes down but can’t find a pen, so Pil Joo lends his pen to her. Jin arrives to see this exchange. Pil Joo’s jokes make Ae Jung laugh, and Jin seethe. Ae Jung realizes he lent her his special pen, and he asks her to take good care of it and return it. Pil Joo goes to take a call, and Jin comes and sit down next to her.

Jin pays her a compliment about winning the rooster battle, but his attempt to be funny falls flat and makes Ae Jung wonder if he’s making fun of her. Jin wonders why she laughed at Pil Joo’s jokes but not as his. Jin next tries to encourage her, and she thinks he’s mocking her. Jin finally gets upset that all his attempts to compliment her, make her laugh, and encourage her are taken the opposite way by Ae Jung.

Ae Jung tells him to just watch the show if he wants to support her. Ae Jung tells Jin that if he can’t say the right things, he should just refrain from talking. Jin is upset but restrains himself, telling Ae Jung that even though he has a nasty retort for what she just said, he’s going to refrain from saying it. Ae Jung thanks him for his support and encouragement, telling him that she will work hard and be the final contestant remaining……and become a couple with Yoon Pil Joo.

Jin’s face immediately freezes, and he asks Ae Jung to repeat what she just said. Ae Jung says to become a couple with Yoon Pil Joo, because this show is called Couple Making. Jin asks to see the pen from Pil Joo, and Ae Jung tells him this pen is very special to Pil Joo. Jin runs into the ball pit and throws the pen inside. He tells Ae Jung to inform Pil Joo she lost his pen, have Pil Joo get mad at her and eliminate her from the program.

Jin wants Ae Jung to like him, so she needs to stop doing the program immediately. Jin then jumps back into the ball pit and messes the balls around a few more time to hide the pen more thoroughly, before walking way. Ae Jung jumps in, asking herself how she can find the pen. Jae Seok is setting up the anniversary party, and is told Se Ri is in a bad mood since losing the battle and is sequestered herself away in the nanny van. They think Jin’s presence will cheer her up.

Jin comes stalking in to yell at Jae Seok, but immediately gets nice again when he see a lot people in the room. He wants to leave, but is asked by the staff to some something special for Se Ri to cheer her up from her bad mood. Jin agrees, to the applause of the staff, and he’s gritting his teeth in frustration to Jae Seok. Ae Jung is all messy and dirty for digging through the pit for the pen, and she ends up losing one shoe.

She is so pissed that she stalks through the studio, with one shoe on, and finds Jin at the dressing room. Jin is inside holding a rose between his mouth, flowers in his hands, and a red ribbon around his neck. He can tell she is upset but asks her to leave for now and they can talk later. Ae Jung tells him to shut his ass, and while he keeps telling her calmly to leave.

Ae Jung keeps yelling at him, telling him to find the pen that he lost, and that no matter what she will not like him. Suddenly the lights turn on, Se Ri walks in asking what is going on? Ae Jung looks around at the party display, and sees the staff of Couple Making all emerge from where they were hiding. Jin pretends that Ae Jung is mad at him (still) and he promises to do what he can to make it up to her. Everyone thinks Ae Jung is so weird, and Pil Joo walks by and sees this.

The media reports on how A male star was preparing a surprise party for B female star, when C female star came and disrupted the party. C female star always had it out for A male star, and was formerly in the same girl group as B female star. Jenny bemoans that everyone who reads this anonymous gossip will know that C female star refers to Gu Ae Jung.

Ae Jung is laying in bed moping, and refusing to answer Jin’s phone call. Jin is outside her apartment. He wants to sent her apology text, but doesn’t because he thinks it’s Ae Jung’s fault by saying she would never ever like Jin. Ae Jung is explaining to Pil Joo how she lost the pen, and he tells her not to worry and they can look for it together. Ae Jung starts thumping her chest and Pil Joo tells her not to do it so hard.

He explains that there is a node in that area, and striking it can help release stress, which Ae Jung was inadvertently doing. He tells her that people always find their own way, and that everything will be fine. The most important thing in treatment is hope, and Ae Jung thinks Pil Joo gives people hope in his treatment.

As they are walking through the studio, Ae Jung asks the cleaning ahjusshi if he found the pen. The ahjusshi blows her off since she’s such a minor celebrity. Pil Joo thinks to himself that if she can’t find the pen, she’ll feel even worse. Jin is having dinner with Se Ri and discussing their situation. Se Ri thinks that since Ae Jung is being blamed for what happened, everything will blow over.

Se Ri notes that Ae Jung has a knack for picking the worst times to lose her temper. Jin asks when, and is told back in the Treasure Girls days, Ae Jung got mad at Se Ri right at the moment a bunch of reporters arrived. Jin asks what Se Ri did wrong that day, she must have done something wrong for Ae Jung to lose her temper. Se Ri claims she did nothing wrong, just like Jin did nothing wrong but Ae Jung got mad at him. Jin says he did a little something wrong.

Jin asks again what bad thing Se Ri did, and she finally confesses that she pulled a practical joke was all. Se Ri asks what Jin did, since he doesn’t like Ae Jung either. Jin realizes that he did the same bad thing to Ae Jung, and feels appalled by it. Se Ri says that Jin should just avoid Ae Jung in the future since he doesn’t like her. Se Ri says that since that incident, 10 years went by before she saw Ae Jung again. Jin’s eyes widen, 10 years is much too long. He tells Se Ri that they will clear up their situation in the near future.

Jin goes to the MBS prop room, and the same cleaning ahjusshi is solicitous and allows Jin inside to search. Jin summons an entire staff to search for the pen, amidst the background music from Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (which was also used in The Good, The Bad, The Weird – I half expected Jung Woo Sung to pop up with a rifle any moment). The pen and Ae Jung’s one lost shoe are found and presented to Jin. Pil Joo goes to a store and buys the exact same pen.

At the clinic, Pil Joo’s mom is gossiping with the nurses about the A, B, C news article. They deride Gu Ae Jung as a disrupter, and Pil Joo mom reminds herself to tell Pil Joo not to get too close to Ae Jung. Ae Jung’s dad arrives to meet with Pil Joo, and his mom continues to mistake him for Se Ri’s dad. She walks up to him, telling him she read the news article and feels so bad.

Pil Joo’s mom invites Ae Jung’s dad to sample some expensive medicinal supplements, telling him that she wants to treat Kang Se Ri’s dad. Ae Jung’s dad wants to clear up the mistaken identity, but once he’s told about how expensive the supplements are, he can’t bring himself to tell the truth so he allows the misunderstanding to continue.

Jin goes to the elementary school to wait for Ding Dong. He tells Ding Dong that his Aunt is refusing to take his calls, and wonders if she’s home today. Ding Dong says his Aunt is home all day today. Jin tells him to make sure his Aunt answers the phone. Jin thinks to himself that to see Gu Ae Jung is harder than picking a star from the sky. Jin looks at the pen, wondering if he returned it to her it would erase her anger with him. But he really hates seeing her get closer with the doctor dude.

Ding Dong’s friends don’t believe that the guy he just spoke with is Dokko Jin. Jin speaks up and yells out the car that Ding Dong is not lying. He gets out of the car and saunters over to the two elementary school kids. He announces that he is Dokko Jin, and tells the kids to take a few pictures as proof. He wants them to tell the entire neighborhood how amazing Ding Dong is. Omo, the faces Jin makes in those pictures are priceless.

Ding Dong calls Ae Jung and gets her to agree to come pick him up. He tells Jin that Ae Jung made him promise never to reveal to his friends that his Aunt was a celebrity, because of her reviled status. Jin tells Ding Dong to go spread the word that he is close to Dokko Jin. In fact, Jin will send 100 autographed pictures to Ding Dong’s class.

Jin suddenly notices the Pororo toy microphone around Ding Dong’s neck, and is told that it’s a lie detector. Jin asks to see it, a toy that turns red when someone tells a lie. Jin tries it out, asking Ding Dong to say that they are close. Ding Dong says it and the mic does not light up, which means it’s the truth. Jin is pleased.

Ae Jung arrives at Jin’s house to pick up Ding Dong, glaring at Jin on her way in. Ding Dong is passed out on the sofa, and Ae Jung accuses Jin of swiping the kid to force her to come meet him. Jin lies that he ran into Ding Dong randomly and the kid begged to tag along with Jin. Jin asks Ae Jung if she can possibly imagine that he would specifically wait outside the school for the kid, and then purposely bring the kid here to lure her here? Well, it does sound insane, but for the fact that it was exactly what you did, Jin.

He tells Ae Jung that he would never do that for a woman who announced that she would never like him. From now on, he will not grab her anymore. Ae Jung says fine, but Jin notices her slight face fall and points out that she’s disappointed that Jin’s not going to grab onto her anymore. She says no, that is not true. He tells her not to lie.

Jin pulls out the Pororo lie detector, and tells her to say it again. In fact, he tells her to say it again, and swear she’s telling the truth, or else Ding Dong will grow up with the same chubby physique he currently sports. If Ae Jung wants Ding Dong to have a great body like Jin when he grows up, then she needs to tell the truth. Ae Jung says no again and the lie detector goes off.

Ae Jung is so annoyed that she shoves the lie detector in his face by accident. Jin can’t believe top star Dokko Jin got injured by Pororo. Ae Jung says it’s better than being injured by her, at least Pororo is also a top star. Haha, so cute. Ae Jung tells Jin to get closer so she can look at his face. When he leans in, his heart starts to beat faster. Ae Jung tells him to look left and right so she can see if it looks okay.

She tells him that he looks fine, but then gets embarrassed when Jin stares at her intently. Jin grabs her and asks her to wield the lie detector this time. Jin says that he thinks Gu Ae Jung is very difficult to get close to, and is not an easy woman at all. Ae Jung looks down in embarrassment and Jin smiles at her. Jin asks her whether she can retract her declaration that she will never like him, if he finds the pen for her. She says that she will at least forgive him.

Jin realizes that Ae Jung’s pride won’t let her easily retract what she says, so he’ll find another opportunity for her to retract her words without feeling bad. Jin tells her that he’s going to Japan tomorrow for Fighter promotional activities. He asks her to come feed the fish. She asks why it has to be her? Because she is the only one who knows his code, and he won’t tell anyone else. He leans in and asks her to turn on the lie detector machine in her heart. If she does so, then she can walk into his world. Ae Jung blinks a few times and Jin smiles at her.

At home, Ae Jung looks at the Pororo lie detector test and remembers what Jin asked of her. She says again that she will never like Dokko Jin, and the lie detector goes off. Ae Jung throws it on the bed in shock. Jin puts the pen in a canister and covers it with fish food. Once Ae Jung feeds the fish, she’ll naturally find the pen. Pil Joo looks at the new pen he just bought, wondering how he’s going to pretend that he found it to relieve Ae Jung of her guilt.

Ae Hwan asks his son if it’s true that he went to Dokko Jin’s house. Too bad Ding Dong didn’t hear what Ae Jung and Jin talked about to tell his dad. Ae Jung goes to the studio and overhears that Jin is planning to announce that they have broken up. Se Ri is starting to lay the foundation for it by appearing sad in her Me2Day pictures. Ae Jung hears that by breaking up with Se Ri, Jin is going to lose a massive endorsement.

Ae Jung goes to Jin’s house to feed the fish. She tells the fish that their master is about to lose a major endorsement, and it would hurt him if they starved. At the studio, Ae Hwan lets slip to the producers of Couple Making that Ae Jung is planning to release another solo album. Ae Hwan boasts that they will get a top star to do the MV with her, someone like Dokko Jin.

Ae Jung’s former manager overhears this and goes straight to Jin’s agent. He tells her not to invest in Gu Ae Jung. He tells her that there is more to the dissolution of Treasure Girls than the public knows. Jin’s agent goes to speak with Se Ri, and finds out that Jin is planning to break up with her. Jin’s agent asks Se Ri what Ae Jung and Jin talked about in the studio. She hears that Ae Jung announced that she will never like Jin. She wonders if it’s possible that the woman in question is Ae Jung, but dismisses it as not possible, but is slightly worried.

Ae Jung feeds the fish, but decides to refill the canister with more fish food. Jin is back in Korea, and wonders if the fish food amount has done down. He comes home happily but his face falls when he realizes that the food amount didn’t go down. He pulls out the pen from inside the canister. Oh no, please god, let there be no protracted misunderstandings, argh.

Pil Joo’s brilliant idea is to mail the pen to Ae Jung, and have it sent from MBS prop department. Ae Jung gets the package, opening it up to happily find the pen. Oh god I want to cry for how adorable these two guys are towards her in their own way. Ae Jung happily returns the pen to Pil Joo, who pretends to be happy to get it back. He tells her not to feel bad anymore, okay? He asks to treat her to dinner at her friend’s restaurant.

Jin is outside Ae Jung’s apartment, wondering if he has to personally return the pen. He’s about to call her when Ae Hwan comes out, telling him that Ae Jung is at Jenny’s restaurant right now. Ae Hwan tells Jin that Ae Jung is waiting for the doctor right now, because Ae Jung lost something of the doctor’s but has now found it. Jin looks at the pen and realizes something doesn’t match up.

Jin calls Ae Jung from outside Jenny’s restaurant, and she happily answers the phone, telling him she’s waiting to have dinner with Pil Joo because the pen has been found. Jin compliments her on working hard to find the pen. He hangs up the phone and looks at the pen again. He thinks that she’s lying to him because she wants to impress Pil Joo. Ae Hwan calls Ae Jung to tell her that he ran into Jin outside their house. Ae Jung realizes now that Jin is back and not still in Japan.

Ae Jung thinks that Jin is annoyed she’s having dinner with Pil Joo which is why he didn’t show himself. Pil Joo is primping for the dinner, and is about to leave when Ae Jung calls him to reschedule. The poor boy is disappointed. Ae Jung happily heads to Jin’s house, telling herself that she wanted to forgive him after the pen was found, but she’ll forgive him now anyways. On her way she sees potatoes (reminding her of the folk tale Jin told her), and she buys some because the fish need to be fed but so does their master.

Jin is staring at the fish, bemoaning how mean Ae Jung is towards him, but how easily she lies for Pil Joo. He wonders if he’s exposed his weakness too much to Ae Jung. Ae Hwan calls Jin to ask him to do the MV, telling him that Ae Jung is too embarrassed to ask him. Oh brother, please stop mucking things up.

Ae Jung happily comes inside the house. Jin asks about her dinner with Pil Joo, and Ae Jung says that she cancelled since Jin came all the way to her house to see her. She asks Jin what he wants to talk with her about. He says that he has nothing to talk with her about, but doesn’t she have something to ask of him. Is she here to ask him to do the MV? Does he look that easy to her?

Ae Jung smiles and says that’s not the case. She’s here to forgive him and take back what she said, because the pen has been found. Jin is pissed, telling her that he will help her release the solo album and star in her MV, all she needs to do is spend the night with him. She can be that kind of an easy woman, right?

Ae Jung’s face falls, telling Jin that she shouldn’t have come. She gets up and grabs the bag of potatoes but spills the bag and the potatoes tumble out. She runs out of the house, leaving Jin holding a potato and looking towards the door. Pil Joo ended up having dinner by himself at Jenny’s restaurant. When he comes out, he sees Ae Jung crying outside.

She tries to walk away, but he grabs her hand. He asks what is wrong? She says that she doesn’t feel well so the tears keep falling. Pressing down on her wrist and thumping her chest doesn’t help. So what can she do to feel better? Pil Joo says in this situation, this would help, and he reaches over and hugs Ae Jung.

She sobs into his shoulder, telling him that she feels so embarrassed right now. Pil Joo has a very upset look on his face, like how dare someone make Ae Jung feel bad. Oh damn, he’s going to fight Jin to keep her safe. Jin is just around the corner and is watching this hug. He slaps a hand over his eyes, telling himself not to look, he is Dokko Jin. He slaps his face to turn his body around, telling himself not to look.

But Jin sees it even if he covers his eyes and turns around. He sees it in his eyes and in his heart. He sees Ae Jung in pain, in the arms of another man, because of him.

Thoughts of Mine:

Wah. Waaaah. Waaaaaaaaah. No, you didn’t just say that to her, Jin! How could you?!?! How could you lash out with your anger and not see the way she happily walked right into your house like she felt comfortable there. The way she cancelled on poor Pil Joo and came running over to see you, of her own accord. I know there is the stupid pen misunderstanding and doofus Ae Hwan and his stupid MV request, but can’t you see the truth before you? Well, okay, you probably can’t, because you are a love moron.

I know Jin understood the moment he saw the potatoes, nay, even before that, the moment Ae Jung’s face collapsed in hurt, that he was 100% a jackass. I was howling at the screen, praying Jin wouldn’t let his hurt out on Ae Jung, and bam, he went and did it. But oh what a moment, one that really was necessary on so many levels.

First off, Pil Joo-the-perfect, who spent the entire episode trying to cheer Ae Jung up and thinking of ways to look out for her and take care of her, all surreptitiously. Not only does Pil Joo know that Ae Jung is the unknown woman involved with Jin, he also knows what danger lies ahead for her if it were to be revealed. He wants to protect her, but who is he to get involved if Jin and Ae Jung are a couple in love. He doesn’t know anything about that relationship, other than it requires Ae Jung to sneak around and always receive ridicule.

But his seeing Ae Jung hurt (and he clearly know why she’s hurt) is going to change something about his intentions towards her. Rather than be a good friend, dropping hints here and there, and possibly hope that he can pursue her, I see him actively stepping up to be Jin’s rival. From the very beginning Pil Joo has seen Ae Jung be reviled by the public, and now he’s seen Ae Jung’s hurt and vulnerability in private. He’s not going to let her go be with a man that hurts her.

For Ae Jung, this was the turning point in sussing out her feelings for Jin. He’s ridiculed her from the moment they met, demeaned her and made hurtful remarks. But she always sasses right back at him, never getting emotionally hurt, always putting him back in his place. It’s her 10 years in the industry where she grew a Teflon exterior to block herself from getting hurt by public perception. She used to treat what Jin says to her that way, until now. Her personal hurt was immediate, and that is because she’s let down her guard with Jin and started to open her heart to him.

Now that more and more people are either cluing into Jin and Ae Jung’s unique relationship, I foresee all the troubled waters ahead. I especially worry about Jin’s agent turning into a huge roadblock for the couple, what with her interest in protecting Jin’s status and her control over Ae Jung’s entertainment career. You know, the road ahead for Ae Jung is so much easier with Pil Joo, in every respect. And yet once she falls for Jin, I can see her being as brave as she’s been to last in this industry, and throw her pride out the window to be with him, in any way possible.