Watched episode 3 of The King 2 Hearts, check. Still rabidly crazy about this drama, check. Don’t have time to write a full recap but love it so much I need to write something, check. I’m seriously swooning left and right over the continuing and building chemistry between Jae Ha and Hang Ah. I’m thrilled that the drama is willing to have them develop their interest in each other so quickly. I can feel and understand why they are intrigued by each other and that can grow into romance. They are such strong-willed individuals that they are just brimming with passion and I love it. They may say hurtful things to each other, but when push comes to shove, they stand up and protect each other. They are simply OTP gold.

Episode 3 baby recap:

Jae Ha, bristling from a multitude of ways Hang Ah has been putting him in his place since he met her, uses the first available weapon to retaliate. He takes her personal revelation about hoping to find a man who would want to be with her and jeers that no man could possibly want her since she’s fit for only driving tanks and military combat. In Jae Ha’s eyes, Hang Ah is not even a woman. Hang Ah’s eyes show how hurtful Jae Ha’s words were, and with her tears silently falling, she just walks away. It’s clear Jae Ha was expecting a verbal sparring match with her, and this takes him aback.

During a group strategy lesson, Hang Ah apologizes to the team for her personal issues – she wants to quit because she joined this exercise for the wrong reasons. Jae Ha confirms Hang Ah asked her supervisor to find her a man in exchange for doing this training and suggests they all let her quit so she can go find a man. But the other team members all support Hang Ah and tell her that they will be there for her. When Hang Ah is working at at the gym, Jae Ha tries to be nice to her but she just breezes past him. Some words are just so hurtful it can’t be brushed aside so easily. Crazy dude Bong Goo gets an update about the WOC, and looks like he’s planning something to disrupt it.

Hang Ah and Jae Ha are sitting in their room, and Jae Ha tries to talk with Hang Ah. She actually is cordial and asks him for advice about men. Jae Ha tells her that all men are the same, they want cute girls who make them feel needed and strong. Hang Ah understands that, and then she tells Jae Ha that all girls are the same, they want men who are strong and reliable. And Jae Ha is not that kind of man, the women like him because of his status, not because he is the kind a man they want. She derides him for being a useless prince who is actually afraid he’ll never find a woman who loves him. Ouch. Jae Ha stands up and takes off his jacket, indicating for Hang Ah to follow him. Rawr, pissed off Jae Ha is hella sexy.

Jae Ha takes Hang An to the gym where he gets on the treadmill and tells Hang Ah that they ought to prove right here who is stronger. Hang Ah takes up the challenge, the winner gets a wish granted. Jae Ha’s wish is that Hang Ah quits the training. Their treadmill challenge makes them miss a WOC team class, but the remaining four team members run out of that class when they hear an explosion. Turns out a soldier has been injured in another gym when he got off the stationary bike and a bomb went off. An alert goes out and the bomb squad is brought, but Hang An and Jae Ha continue running. Suddenly everyone arrives at their gym and tell them that a bomb has been planted in the treadmill and if they get off or stop, it’ll detonate.

Jae Ha and Hang Ah continue to run while the bomb squad tries to defuse the bomb. Jae Ha can see Hang Ah fading and he suggests that she sing ta song to buoy her spirits. She sings, and soon all the officers in the gym join in the chorus to keep Jae Ha and Hang Ah running on the treadmill. Their running goes from daylight hours into night time and both are exhausted. Hang Ah helps Jae Ha stayed focused and endure. The bomb is finally disarmed and Hang Ah slips off the treadmill and collapses.

When Jae Ha wakes up, he’s in the infirmary connected to an IV. He turns around and sees Hang Ah sleeping in the bed next to his, and her ankle is bandaged. She’s been running on a bum ankle since she slightly injured it that night she came back from meeting her friend and was subjected to his “fake” proposal. Jae Ha gets up and walks over, reaching out to touch Hang Ah’s face. She suddenly wakes up and he pulls back. They still act like they are annoyed with each other. The King is informed about this bomb incident. Bong Goo schedules a meeting with King Jae Kang and makes his threats known. He’s reported this bomb incident to the UN.

The UN forces arrive and demand to search the entire facility, claiming that the South Korean Prime Minister has permitted it and the King has tacitly agreed. Jae Ha is dragged to meet with them. The UN forces are rude in their search, clearly believing that they will find signs that the bomb was planted internally. When Hang Ah’s room in searched and her locked bag with her underwear is found, she is told to open it. When she refuses, she is taken to the meeting room where Jae Ha is meeting with the UN officials.

Hang Ah finally has no choice but to open her bag, which is when Jae Ha stands up and takes her hand and the bag before walking out. He tells the UN forces they have no right to be here, and he wants them out now. Both the King and Hang Ah’s dad hears about this, and wonder if maybe Hang Ah is the North Korean girl for the marriage alliance with Jae Ha? Team WOC does training and Jae Ha loves getting complimented for his hard-ass behavior towards the UN folks. Too bad Hang Ah takes him out with a fake shot to the heart and he has to be zipped into a body bag. After she zips him in, Hang An softly says thank you.

Poor Kang Seok is now mesmerized by SNSD and their legs, LOL. When Jae Kang subtly broaches the topic of marriage with Jae Ha, he’s not happy about a possible alliance marriage, and he is definitely not interested in Hang Ah. When she’s asked by her dad the same thing, she also makes her dislike of Jae Ha known to her dad.

Hang Ah decides to flirt with Shi Kyung as a way to avoid getting selected to marry Jae Ha. She sees Shi Kyung and others outside in the snow and she runs over and starts a snowball fight. We hear the song Shi Kyung sung while playing his guitar as the background music. The team members have a good time playing in the snow. Jae Ha walks out and sees it, and he immediately gets annoyed. He collects snow in a bucket and walks over to dump it all over her head. He asks why she’s being all coy, and she sasses back that she’s learning to be cute like he told her all men liked. She asks Jae Ha if he’s jealous right now before flouncing off. Jae Ha stares at her looking exceedingly frustrated.