Protect the Boss Episode 4 Recap

The more dramas one has watched, the less one is likely to be impressed with something just okay, and the more one is likely to see the cracks on the surface rather than gloss over them. I try to keep a comfortable balance between casting a critical eye towards everything I watch (the brain, is good, use it) and yet allow myself to enjoy entertainment that may not be stellar but nevertheless is satisfying to me for whatever reason.

With that said, it’s just mindboggling for me to comprehend just how incredible of a drama Protect the Boss turned out to be. It’s solidly great and I genuinely love it to pieces. Episode 4 continues to showcase the perfect blend of hilarity, tenderness, and storytelling mastery that every episode has thus far delivered. I feel honored to be watching and recapping this drama.

Episode 4 recap:

Moo Won and Na Yoon see Ji Heon standing at the foot of the Viking Ship ride just watching Eun Seol, with a contented expression on his face. Na Yoon starts sputtering once she recognizes Eun Seol as Ji Heon’s secretary. Na Yoon thinks Eun Seol can’t simply be Ji Heon’s secretary. Moo Won says she is definitely not a simple person, and if Na Yoon wants to go up against her, be prepared to find a worthy opponent.

Na Yoon asks what Eun Seol’s family does and Moo Won says he doesn’t know. Eun Seol exits the ride and runs to rejoin Ji Heon. In her hurry, she bumps into Na Yoon unwittingly and Na Yoon’s ice-cream smushes on her own shirt. Eun Seol rushes to Ji Heon, and we see the ride attendant has hilariously locked arms with Ji Heon this whole time per Eun Seol’s request, and Ji Heon shoves him off now. ROFL, I love these tiny little details.

Na Yoon is pissed now and she makes up her mind. She purposely walks over to Eun Seol and then SHOVES HER ICE-CREAM UP EUN SEOL’S BUTT. We cut to OK Corral Shoot Out music and slow mo as Eun Seol, Ji Heon, and Na Yoon stare in horror at the ice-cream that has become butt cream. You can tell even Na Yoon is a little taken aback by what she did, which is so cute, because she totally acted out of impetuousness, and that makes her a little girl that I can feel sorry for.

Na Yoon gets her game face back on and goes “ooopsie, omo, I’m sorry, my hand just slipped” (right up your butt). She offers Eun Seol a napkin and then takes it back. Ji Heon demands to know what the heck Na Yoon just did. Moo Won walks up and Eun Seol spies his ice-cream and takes it, promising to buy him a new one. She walks over to Na Yoon and then SHOVES MOO WON’S ICE-CREAM UP NA YOON’S BUTT.

Na Yoon turns around in shock and distress, while Moo Won stifles his laughter. Eun Seol says she’s sorry, but Na Yoon did it on purpose first. When Na Yoon says “hey you….”, Eun Seol reminds her that she has a name, you know. The two ladies have a stare down. Okay, best bitch fight EVER.

They end up in the bathroom cleaning up. Na Yoon correctly complains that it was Eun Seol that ran into her first, smushing her the ice-cream on her shirt. Eun Seol apologizes for that, but it was an accident and what Na Yoon did was on purpose. Na Yoon tries to insinuate that she’s really close to Eun Seol’s boss, so Eun Seol has to be deferential and polite in the future.

Eun Seol is all like “you’re just someone close to my boss, but you’re not my boss, no?” MWAHAHA, checkmate. Na Yoon throws down her towel at how cheeky Eun Seol is and walks over to grab Eun Seol’s head in her hands and then bitch slap her around a few times. Except this turns out to be Na Yoon’s fantasy, and the real Na Yoon grips her towel tightly reminding herself to not lose her temper (to remember the power of her upbringing of good etiquette). God, Na Yoon is delightful as an antagonist.

Na Yoon asks Eun Seol what her family does? What her family does, Eun Seol repeats curiously? Eun Seol says her dad works off the land, has plenty of disciples, and occasionally hunts pigs in the mountain. Na Yoon takes it to mean Eun Seol’s dad is a real estate magnate and scoffs at that kind of nouveau riche. Eun Seol’s like “errr, what?’

Ji Heon expresses shock at Na Yoon’s uncharacteristic behavior, which Moo Won correctly identifies as caused by running into Eun Seol. Ji Heon concurs, Eun Seol causes people to drop a few notches in proper behavior. Moo Won informs Ji Heon that Na Yoon is jealous of Eun Seol. Ji Heon wonders what she has to be jealous about? Moo Won shrugs and says Eun Seol is very cute.

This gets Ji Heon annoyed and he reminds Moo Won of Eun Seol’s true nature. Rather than say she’s cute, it’s more appropriate to say Ji Heon is cute. Moo Won turns and tells Ji Heon that he’s cute, to which Ji Heon glares at him. They start to shoulder bump each other back and forth. God, they must still be 10 years old.

The ladies rejoin the group and Eun Seol and Ji Heon move to leave. Na Yoon stalls and says Ji Heon has to take her back to the department store or back home. Ji Heon says he’s working so Na Yoon says she’ll work with him since she’ll soon be joining their company’s marketing department. Ji Heon says they will hire based on an open interview, but Na Yoon says the job will be hers in the end because she’s the best at what she does.

Ji Heon says he’ll see her at the interview then and walks away. Na Yoon yells that if he keeps doing this, she’ll lose her temper. Na Yoon says if he keeps doing this, she’ll keep bugging him. Actually, she has a brilliant idea, why not just post a newspaper announcement that they are engaged and to be married. Ji Heon points out that she’s already lost her temper already.

Na Yoon pouts and looks really distressed, telling Ji Heon that he needs to come back to her so that she can return to normal. I really think she genuinely loves him. Poor girl, this is not some power play. Moo Won tells them to talk today, and he’ll borrow Eun Seol for the rest of the day since she has a debt to repay. Ji Heon says he’s not lending Eun Seol because she’s simply useless. To which Moo Won says “great, if she’s useless to you, all the better to lend to me, because I have use for her.” Jesus, this is such awesome dialogue I want to just roll around in happiness.

Eun Seol pipes up in support of Ji Heon, adorably saying that her boss needs someone as useless like her around otherwise he can’t get things done. But Ji Heon snaps out of it and shoves Eun Seol towards Moo Won, saying he can borrow her, he can borrow her forever if he wants. Eun Seol and Moo Won take off and she wonders what debt he’s talking off. He reminds her of the ice-cream incident and she offers to buy him two cones. Ji Heon watches them leave, and notices Moo Won giving Eun Seol his suit jacket to cover up her wet butt.

The Chairman is putting in the backyard while getting an update from his secretary that Ji Heon visited the amusement park today. Grandma pops up from behind a tree and asks why her son doesn’t trust his own son? The Chairman is hilariously startled by her and goes “oh my god, MOM!” and that made me laugh so hard. They are adorable. He asks Grandma if she’s a ninja, wearing black sunglasses and lurking behind trees. AHAHAHA.

She chides him again for not trusting in his own son. When the Chairman asks his mom if she trusts him, she says “of course”. Grandma leaves to eat cold noodles and the secretary finishes his report that the person in charge of the marketing campaign is Na Yoon.

Ji Heon walks into his room and freaks out when he sees his dad inside waiting for him. He tells him dad not to sneak into his room. Dad is like, what sneaking, I had something to tell you so I walked right in. The Chairman asks if Ji Heon met Na Yoon, and whether they reconciled? Ji Heon says it’s none of his dad’s business, and today he went on official work business.

Dad tells him he did well working hard today. The Na Yoon question must’ve really upset Ji Heon, who loses his temper and threatens to quit working or the successor training if his dad asks about her again. The Chairman asks how he dares to threaten him after just one day of work. The Chairman almost reverts back to losing his temper but remembers his vow and decides to just let it go.

But he’s steaming, so when he walks to the door and sees the cardboard cut out of Eun Seol, he hits it and kicks it to relieve some frustration. Ji Heon adorably screams “DAD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” The Chairman adorably goes to pick the fallen cut out up and puts it back into position, asking Ji Heon if it’s alright now? But before he leaves, he warns Ji Heon to keep working hard.

Ji Heon is traumatized to see the cut out had a huge rip and the head had fallen over. He gingerly lays it on the ground and screams skyward about the pain his dad hath wrought on him. He flashes back to stalking Moo Won and Eun Seol at the amusement park and Na Yoon demanding to know if he likes Eun Seol? He thinks to himself that it can’t be and tosses his tape on the cut out. But then he gets all worried about his cut out again.

Moo Won’s mom confesses that her stomach hurts because of all the stress and bad vibes. She knows the next step is for the world to know Ji Heon is the anointed successor, which means her Moo Won will be deemed second best. Moo Won says letting the world know is the right thing to do. Which gives his mom the brilliant idea – if the world knows, it’s good for them because it will show Ji Heon’s unworthiness.

Back to what happened at the amusement park, Eun Seol and Moo Won go on a log ride and get a little wet. Moo Won offers Eun Seol a hankerchief to dry herself, and she offers him his suit jacket back. He declines but notices that his white shirt is see through now that it is wet. He asks if it’s awkward for her, and she quickly says no, she’s perfectly good with it. Then her eyes roll over when she realizes how that sounds, like she loves ogling Moo Won, who laughs at her.

Eun Seol tries to explain herself but gives up. She’s totally nervous around him, especially when he fixes her hair and helps her wrap the jacket tighter around her mid-riff. Eun Seol sits in her room, unable to sleep and just staring at Moo Won’s jacket hanging on the wall. She starts berating herself – what if Moo Won thinks she’s a wanton because of what she said?

Myung Ran asks if Eun Seol likes the owner of that jacket? Eun Seol says its more than like, it’s a lot more than like. She explains that Moo Won is Moo God, on the same level as a deity to her. Just like Myung Ran treats her Won Bin-oppa and Hyun Bin-oppa like Gods, that is how Eun Seol views Moo Won. Awwwwww, so cute. Myung Ran chuckles as she understands – it’s liking someone far beyond Eun Seol’s reach.

Ji Heon lays on the floor next to the cut out and keeps thinking to himself – can it be that I like her? How can it be? No, it can’t be? And so on and so forth the poor boy struggles.

Eun Seol is in a packed bus and when she gets off, she accidentally loses a shoe on the bus. She ends up running to Ji Heon’s house with one foot wrapped in a plastic trash bag. She runs into the Chairman outside and personally thanks him for forgiving her transgressions (unaware that the Chairman didn’t actually forgive her that first time around). He acts all stern with her and warns her to do a good job because he’s keeping an eye on her.

Eun Seol enters the house and marvels that Ji Heon is already up. Did he have a sleepless night? He confirms that he did, but then notices she’s wearing one shoe and one trash bag. He asks her which night club did she lose her shoe at. She says the bus, but he tells her it’s quite a talent she has, losing one shoe. Perhaps she ought to apply to a talent company and it might make her successful.

Eun Seol grumbles that Ji Heon doesn’t understand because he’s never taken the bus. Ji Heon snarks that seeing Eun Seol in an embarrassing state immediately brightens his mood. He thanks her, for being so utterly crazy, unkempt, and shameless, implication being it’s a good reminder that he can’t possibly like a girl such as Eun Seol. Oh Ji Heon, you’re already so gone it’s not even funny.

Eun Seol wonders why he’s already making fun of her so early in the morning. He says since they are up so early, they might as well head to work. He offers her any shoe in the shoe rack behind her. Eun Seol opens the shoe rack and grabs a pair of flat lady loafers. The Chairman is informed that Ji Heon’s successor status has become front page news, which pisses the Chairman off.

Ji Heon and Eun Seol arrive at work and are immediately surrounded by the media. Eun Seol goes to protect Ji Heon, which is when another reporter barrels into her. Ji Heon pushes the reporter off Eun Seol and demands that he apologize to her. They go inside the lobby and Ji Heon immediately checks her arm to make sure she’s okay, but he totally grabs it and moves it up and down like she’s puppet.

He realizes what he’s doing and quickly drops her arm. He tells her to get use to this happening from now on and not be so frightened. Eun Seol tells him that now is not the time to worry about her. Ji Heon concurs, now is not the time to worry about Noh Eun Seol. In fact, he won’t worry about her, thanking her for clearing his head.

Eun Seol thanks him for shielding her back there, and in doing so, he was just a little bit cool. Ji Heon, who was stalking off, stops when she compliments him and turns around with a happy little boy expression. He smiles at Eun Seol as she smiles shyly at him. But then he realizes he’s turning moony again around her and shakes his head to snap out of it. He wags his finger at her, telling her that he won’t be enticed by her.

The Chairman watches the news and tells his secretary to turn off his phone. The other executive, Manager Park, thinks back to his conversation with Moo Won’s mom where she asked him to convince all the other executives to back Moo Won. The Chairman asks what the reaction has been, and is told it’s the worst possible scenario. Stockholders, while aware of Ji Heon as the possible successor, nevertheless is completely against it now that it has become a reality. They suggest the Chairman release a press statement denying the news but the Chairman refuses, because that would undermine his entire plan to install Ji Heon as the successor.

The secretaries gossip that Ji Heon and Eun Seol are not just an innocent boss-secretary relationship, and snark that the company X-Man cannot possibly be the successor. Eun Seol overhears and walks over, telling them not to gossip about baseless things. The secretaries say it isn’t baseless, Eun Seol does have an odd relationship to Ji Heon. Eun Seol warns them not to speak poorly about Ji Heon, and confirms there is nothing between her and Ji Heon other than professionally. In fact, she doesn’t even see Ji Heon as a man.

Ji Heon overhears this and goes back to his office to brood. Eun Seol comes in and tries to cheer him up, thinking he’s brooding about the public reaction to him being named the successor. He says this is fine, since all he wants to do is eat, play, and sleep all day long. Eun Seol turns to leave which is when Ji Heon gets up and corners her against the wall. He informs her that his ID card starts with the number 1 (which all males have), so if he’s not a man, then what is he?

Eun Seol realizes he overheard her and chastises him for eavesdropping, which belies her calling him not a man in her eyes. Ji Heon tells her to shut up – first she said he was cool this morning, and now she says he’s not a man. Her words are inconsistent! Eun Seol says that the cool was purely a momentary thing caused by the situation. Ji Heon then presses up against Eun Seol even closer.

She asks what he’s doing, and he says this shouldn’t matter since she doesn’t see him as a man. In fact, he doesn’t see Eun Seol as a woman either. The mood then becomes quiet as they look each other in the eyes. Ji Heon grabs his chest, which is beating wildly. Finally Eun Seol head butts him and grabs him for an arm lock. She warns him that if he dares pull such a prank on her again….

Ji Heon says she was nervous back there, she might as well admit it (that she does see him as man). Eun Seol grabs his arm even harder, which he takes to confirm her agitation. She tosses him on the ground and warns that if he ever messes with her again, she will personally break every bone in his body. Eun Seol runs off and Ji Heon watches her leave with a smile, smirking that she was definitely excited back there. Then he wonders if he’s really going crazy.

Moo Won and Na Yoon sit in the courtyard sipping iced coffee and discussing the signing of the contact where she will handle their marketing campaign. Back to their possible arranged marriage, Moo Won says he declined already, he doesn’t want a loveless marriage. Na Yoon sputters and asks why he declined? Moo Won wonders why she cares since she doesn’t want it either. Oh, I think I understand Na Yoon’s weird flirting with Moo Won. She wants an arranged marriage with Moo Won to upset Ji Heon and get him to want her back. She doesn’t really want Moo Won, she just wants Ji Heon to think she wants him, and that will arouse his jealousy due to cousinly rivalry.

Na Yoon doesn’t want to see Ji Heon today, because that will just hurt her pride even more. Suddenly Eun Seol runs out and starts sputtering. She picks up a can on the ground and the drop kicks it to relieve her frustration at Ji Heon. Moo Won is impressed while Na Yoon is shocked. When Eun Seol drop kicks a second empty can, it flies right into Na Yoon’s forehead. I swear, I love the physical humor in this drama.

Eun Seol looks in horror and quickly runs over, asking Na Yoon if she’s alright? Na Yoon adorably sobs “why are you doing this to me?” Moo Won checks out her forehead and says it looks fine, no damage done. Na Yoon’s eyes almost pop out of her socket as she wails that there was damage done!

Eun Seol tries to explain that it really wasn’t intentional. If it was, there would be no way her aim would be so perfect it’d hit Na Yoon squarely in the middle of her forehead. Oh Eun Seol, small consolation for the person whose foreheard bore the brunt of your Ji Heon frustrations. Eun Seol tells Na Yoon to go ahead and strike her forehead back. Moo Won starts laughing.

Eun Seol and Myung Ran are at the supermarket when they run into Ji Heon’s former secretary. They recognize each other and the guy still remembers the headlock and pretends he doesn’t know Eun Seol. She apologizes for last time and says he can remember now, her identity has become public knowledge. Myung Ran asks who the guy is, and is told the guy getting fired is the reason why she has a job today. He wishes her luck in the job.

Ji Heon comes home and sees Grandma talking to the dog. He’s told that Grandma is upset because she’s missing a pair of shoes, and we hear Grandma adorably asking the dog why someone would take her shoes. Ji Heon, the perpetrator of the shoe loss, tip toes past Grandma and runs into the house. Ji Heon flops on his bed and thinks back to his interaction with Eun Seol, getting him all confused and moony.

He decides to…..work to keep his mind off her. The Chairman opens the door later and sees his son diligently working. He quickly runs to his mom and informs her that he saw Ji Heon working. The Chairman giggles that he initially thought that maybe he was seeing things. He tells him mom to go check for herself if she doesn’t believe him. The Chairman calls his secretary to convey a board meeting.

At the board meeting, Eun Seol runs into Grandma in the corridor. Grandma spies her shoes on Eun Seol’s feet. Eun Seol sees Grandma’s red crocodile Birkin bag and asks if it’s a fake. She can tell because she has so many fakes of her own. The two bitchy secretaries spy Eun Seol talking with the Chairman’s mother and is peeved that Eun Seol seems to be on such good terms with her.

At the board meeting, the Chairman listens to everyone complain about stock prices dropping due to Ji Heon being named successor. The Chairman announces that he will groom Ji Heon to be a worthy successor, and if Ji Heon proves unworthy, he will personally fire him. Moo Won’s mom mentions how her son is already groomed to run this company.

Grandma speaks up and says that since the Chairman has decided already, she will follow his wishes. Twenty-five years ago, when the Chairman was named successor, back then the company was in an uproar about such a guy taking over. Everyone said the company would go bankrupt in one year. Ji Heon is totally laughing his head off to hear about his dad getting no respect back then. Grandma says that he’s proven to do a good job, even when he has made mistakes. She asks everyone to trust the Chairman this time again.

Moo Won’s mom asks what will happen if there are dire consequences. The Chairman says he will put himself on the line, he will put his position on the line and take responsibility if this fails. Ji Heon looks shocked, and Moo Won’s mom reminds the Chairman that he’s already spoken, so he needs to keep his promise.

The two in-laws run into each other in the elevator. The Chairman keeps following Moo Won’s mom until she agrees to speak with him. He asks her not to do this, he will treat Moo Won right. She thinks it’ll entail tossing a little store for Moo Won to run. He reminds her that back then, his older brother (her husband) got his fair share. He asks her not to be so greedy. She asks him the same thing. The Chairman concedes that she is a truly capable business woman, having rescued her husband’s company from the brink of bankruptcy. He asks for a truce, can’t they just have some peace?

The Chairman watches the news about Ji Heon’s succession and later he wakes up in bed because he can’t sleep. Ji Heon sits in his room and thinks back to his father’s job is one the line now for him. He gets up and walks over to the Eun Seol cut out, vowing to at least pretend to be competent for the near term. He can’t have his dad become unemployed because of him. He warns the Eun Seol cut out not to bother him and mess with his head during this time.

The Chairman comes in to talk with Ji Heon, confessing that he can’t sleep tonight because he’s so worried about him. We see the Chairman constantly walking into Ji Heon’s office to offer assistance and encouragement, telling him that he believes Ji Heon can do it.

Eun Seol helps Ji Heon prepare his presentation, and she’s a strict task worker, keeping himfrom flopping around and twirling in his chair. Ji Heon sees the word “memory” written by Eun Seol on the white board, which gives him an inspiration about his presentation. He turns around only to find Eun Seol nodding off on the sofa. Ji Heon stares at her softly with a smile. He slides a pillow behind her and leans her back against the sofa. He lifts her legs onto the table and then takes off his jacket to cover her with it. He’s so pleased with himself, remarking that he sure is a great boss.

Ji Heon works all night on his presentation while Eun Seol sleeps. When she wakes up, he shows off his finished presentation that he did all by himself while she blissfully slumbered. She grabs it to read, asking if he did it himself. Ji Heon looks really nervous, and then lets out a silent fist punch of victory when Eun Soel compliments him on doing a good job. He says it’s child’s play, he is quite creative and can do anything if he puts his mind to it. But then he can’t help but tease her because she looks so unkempt waking up in the morning.

Na Yoon meets with Ji Heon and shows him her marketing proposal. He says he’ll look at it. She asks if that’s the entirety of his lackluster response. It totally hurts her pride because she stayed up all night working on it. Eun Seol goes to return the suit jacket to Moo Won after she had it dry-cleaned. He asks if she has time for lunch since he has no plans and will end up eating a sandwich. Eun Seol says yes, but has to call Ji Heon to get permission. He grudgingly gives her permission but she has to eat quickly and hurry up and come back.

Ji Heon is reading Na Yoon’s proposal and she asks who it was on the phone. He ignore her and discusses the project, but she grumbles that it must’ve been that secretary. I love how NON passive-aggressive she is, which is the hallmark of so many second female leads. Ji Heon says he’ll finish reading the proposal at home and moves to leave. Na Yoon warns that he if gets up, she’ll start wailing and pointing fingers at him to cause a scene. She actually starts to cry until Ji Heon addresses her, then the tears stop.

Ji Heon confesses that he was taken aback when he first saw her after she came back to Korea. She did affect him. Na Yoon listens to this happily. But her smile disappears when Ji Heon says he promptly forgot about it. His brain has a reaction to Na Yoon but then immediately forgets about her. He says he’ll contact her after he reads the proposal more carefully.

Ji Heon walks outside and happens to see Moo Won and Eun Seol sitting down at a restaurant. Moo Won asks about Ji Heon’s project and she says it’s going well. Suddenly Eun Seol gets a call from Ji Heon, who asks if she’s dining with his most hated foe Cha Moo Won. She asks if he has an emergency but he just wants to know who she is dining with. She pretends that their phone lost connection, but we see Ji Heon is watching her from RIGHT OUTSIDE THE WINDOW. Ahahahaha. Moo Won looks at her and laughs as well.

Suddenly Ji Heon pounds on the window and Eun Seo turns and sees him, recoiling in horror. Moo Won tells her it’ll be okay. Ji Heon demands that she come outside right now. He ends up running inside, and we see that Na Yoon has caught up to Ji Heon and also spies the other two dining inside. Ji Heon demands that Eun Seol stay away from Moo Won, and Moo Won stay away from Eun Seol.

Ji Heon says his spidey sense tells him that Moo Won has plotted against him in the past and is up to no good in the future. He wants to know if Moo Won is asking about Ji Heon’s project, while Eun Seol apologizes to Moo Won for Ji Heon’s suspicious behavior. Ji Heon grabs Eun Seol by the collar to drag her out, and Moo Won makes him let go. He smiles and tells Eun Seol they can dine next time, but it’ll be twice. Moo Won says to Ji Heon that each time Ji Heon interrupts, he’ll double it with Eun Seol the next time. So he welcomes Ji Heon’s interruptions. Na Yoon just stands there being completely ignored, and she asks out loud what is going on with these guys, is she invisible?

Na Yoon cries in her office and her mom finds her in her foul mood. Mom chides her for crying and for wearing such an ugly outfit. Na Yoon confesses that neither Cha son is giving her the time of day. Mom asks if they both have a woman. Na Yoon nods that they both treat her like air and only care about “that girl.” Grandma is at home and reads Eun Seol’s resume.

The Chairman dines with Grandma and he moves to leave the table, citing lack of appetite. Grandma asks him what she’s always told him as his mother, that leaving food behind means a loss of prosperity. The Chairman asks why she’s threatening her own son, especially when he needs extra prosperity right now. He takes a big bite of his rice and Grandma tells him that he’s getting his prosperity back right now. She reminds him to eat slowly and chew thoroughly. Oh geez, how awesome can they be. *____* I love Grandma and the Chairman.

The Chairman peeks into Ji Heon’s room to see him hard at work. Ji Heon turns and spies his dad outside, asking if he wants anything. The Chairman enters and asks how the project is coming along. Ji Heon smiles and says it’s almost done, and turns his computer to show his dad, who tells him to keep working hard. The board meeting is the day after, and all Ji Heon needs to do is present it at the meeting successfully.

Ji Heon is flustered and asks if he has to personally present and is told that is how things are done at all such board meetings, but since Ji Heon always ran out early, he doesn’t realize it. The Chairman confirms he has to present and just explain his proposal and vision. Ji Heon stands there with his mouth wide open.

He goes to the board room and remembers the last time when he gave a presentation. He immediately notices so many pairs of eyes trained on him and he gets nervous and flustered. Real Ji Heon calls the nervous Ji Heon in his memory an idiot, for freaking out. He has tears in his eyes as he walks out of the board room.

Eun Seol notices Ji Heon’s down mood and drags him to a small restaurant to eat and drunk makgulli. She tells him to drink it in one big gulp. She wants him to cheer up because her job depends on him. He gives her permission to hit him, and she does. Heh. She asks if he will work hard from now on and not give up. He reminds her that he made a promise in public to do it.

Ji Heon takes another gulp of the makgulli and confess to Eun Seol that he can’t do it – speaking in public, doing interviews, he can’t do any of it. He’s someone who shrinks at board meetings and gets slapped around by his own secretary. How can a guy like him be a successor to the company. Eun Seol asks if perhaps he can give a speech without being present? Ji Heon says there is not such thing as a Chairman who doesn’t show his face.

Eun Seol says they will find another way. Ji Heon says there is no other way. Eun Seol shares a story she read, about a man who though he was an idiot his entire life, because his grade school teacher incorrectly wrote his 173 IQ as just 73. Ji Heon says he must be a moron because she can’t even tell if he’s a genius himself. Eun Seol says that since everyone around him kept saying he was a moron, he ended up believing it.

Ji Heon asks if she’s talking about his potential, if so, then she can save it for someone else. Eun Seol says if she believes she can do something, she makes it happen. Her simple wish for now is that Ji Heon presents the proposal at the board meeting. She promises they will find a way. Eun Seol and the driver manage to deposit a drunk Ji Heon into the car.

Ji Heon pulls Eun Seol into the backseat with him, instead of the front where she usually sits. During the drive home, Ji Heon turns to stare at Eun Seol. She asks what he wants? He murmurs that it feels like he’s totally head over heels. Like a cosmic rock (i.e. the crazy Eun Seol) has lodged itself into center of his brain.

Eun Seol is confused about all this rock in brain talk and he points to her head and says a rock is lodged right here, a place that controls the emotions. He smiles at her and calls her a rock. He leans into her shoulder and rests.

Eun Seol does an online search on brain nerve centers that control the emotion and asks Myung Ran what it means when a rock smashes into it. Myung Ran asks who is talking about this? Eun Seol says it’s nothing. In fact, she knows nothing about it, and she wants to know nothing going forward as well. Eun Seol changes the topic to finding a solution for Ji Heon’s presentation and she hits herself on the head to come up with a solution.

The board has convened but Ji Heon is nowhere to be found. We see Eun Seol get out of a cab and race to the office carrying a big bag. Moo Won gets up and does his presentation first to warm applause. Next up is Ji Heon, and the presentation is about to be tabled for the next meeting when a breathless Eun Seol runs in. She apologizes to everyone and brings a tablet to the front.

Suddenly Ji Heon’s face is projected onto the screen. Ji Heon apologizes to everyone for being late, and asks that they start the presentation now.

Thoughts of Mine:

Can I say how much I am loving all four main characters. Let’s go with the two second leads first. I was fully expecting rich haughty bitch from Na Yoon, who instead is turning out to be emotional, immature, and adorably…..real. With her insecurity, issues with Ji Heon that she hasn’t been able to let go, and her tendency to be so damn expressive about how she feels. She’s like the bitchy second female lead that stands up for what she wants in a way I can accept and understand. Thank god Wang Ji Hye is not being asked to reprise the In Hee Bot from Personal Taste, or go the way of the insane and unreal Yoon Joo from My Princess.

We can all dislike Na Yoon or hope she doesn’t succeed in getting Ji Heon, but at least we can laugh at her attempts and perhaps pat her on the head afterwards and tell her there are other men out there other than a juvenile and emotionally-stunted man-child with psychological issues and a wads of cash. I thought the ice-cream battle between Na Yoon and Eun Seol was priceless, and something I have never seen before in any K-drama. I love how impetuous Na Yoon can be, she’s not cold or calculating. Eun Seol shoving the ice-cream into Na Yoon’s butt was equally awesome, but much more expected. Why do I hope that these two ladies become frenemies and then friends.

Moo Won is still a cipher, at least relative to the other three leads. But I chalk that up to him being genuinely conflicted about what he wants. On hand he must feel shafted because by all accounts he’s the worthy successor to the company, and the one who actually wants the job. Right now Ji Heon kinda wants to just so Moo Won can’t get it, a cut off my nose to spite my face thing. On the other hand, there is probably lots of cousinly bickering and rivalry between them growing up, and that continues to drive them even when they are adults. But I don’t worry about them, because right now they are competing out in the open, and that is something I can respect and appreciate. May the better man win, I say.

I appreciate how quickly the plot moves forward with respect to Ji Heon’s training and progress as the successor of the company. The plot is used to move all the relationships forward, so there are no lags to allow for exposition or plot filler. The Cha family feels like a real, squabbling but ultimately united family, that just happens to be rich. Their characters are not written as rich stereotypes, that’s for sure. The Grandma-Chairman-Ji Heon three generational affection is just brilliantly conceived and executed.

As for the OTP, it’s their friendship that drives this ship. Even if I know the romance will be amazing when it arrives, I’m actually loathe to let go of this early phase where they are engaging in the most basic of all inter-personal relationship formations – using actions to show their true intentions. Ji Heon can see Eun Seol’s true desire to help him even as she doesn’t put up with his bullshit, and Eun Seol actually believes that Ji Heon can be more than what he currently does with his life. I already know that watching Ji Heon mature and succeed is going to be so worthwhile and satisfying.