Good gracious was this an unexpected turn of events culminating in a wholly awesome episode of Bride of the Century. At this point it’s four episodes left until the end and everything remains thrumming at the right intensity with all plot threads clicking away. It was so delightful of episode 12 to take a turn to the funny courtesy of bickering Doo Rim and Kang Joo, which was just the right amount of humor and levity needed to rein the story back from the edge of “everyone mopes to death”. At this point Doo Rim has been crying way too much for my tastes, which is the typical treatment every heroine gets when push comes to shove in the latter part of a drama. The girl cries and cries because she’s so suffering and/or misunderstood, and in between the crying there is a lot of earnest effort to keep plowing forward. Thank goodness BotC remembered that its heroine is a spitfire who has no problem telling someone off, even if that someone is the man she loves, and she’s wronged him enough to warrant his temper tantrum.

Kang Joo finally discovers the substitute princess ruse, and with it comes another flood gate’s release worth of realizations. He smartly and immediately writes Yi Kyung off as completely full of shit in anything she says, but also remains aware that she and her mom holds a lot of power over this situation so he can’t just kick her to the curb. He doesn’t even know about his grandma running over his dad’s first wife yet, so boy has to get ready for more gut punches coming up. I thought Kang Joo and Doo Rim’s reunion was perfectly staged, with lot of hurt and anger and mistrust, but still tied together with a love that wasn’t fake and can’t be tossed aside now that the situation is more complicated. I enjoy watching Kang Joo struggle with being lied to but also fighting for the woman he still loves. Doo Rim can’t go back to his side yet with Yi Hyun almost dying for her, but I think her consideration for others will only pave the way for the ultimate happy ending that will be well earned and not at the expense of other people’s pain.

Episode 12 recap:

Kang Joo leans in to kiss Yi Kyung like he did that night with Doo Rim. Yi Kyung closes her eyes like a dead fish accepting air, which is when Kang Joo stops and pulls back. He stares at her and then asks “Who are you?” Yi Kyung tries to play dumb and asks why he’s teasing her like this. Kang Joo points out everything about her is different than the Jang Yi Kyung he knows and his memories with her don’t align with what she says.

Yi Kyung argues that if she’s not Jang Yi Kyung then who is she? Kang Joo can’t answer that so Yi Kyung says he’s the one who is not like the Kang Joo she knows. She instead plays the victim card and asks if he’s changed his feelings about her so quickly, and after all they’ve gone through to be together. She’s so disappointed in him. Oooh, this girl is sly. Kang Joo stands up and tells Yi Kyung to leave.

Yi Kyung informs her mom about Kang Joo’s questioning of her identity but President Ma isn’t scared. Even if Kang Joo knows anything, he’ll never be able to find Doo Rim. Plus love isn’t forever and a person’s heart is the weakest. Even if he found Doo Rim, he won’t like the real her.

Doo Rim goes back to the restaurant and Jin Joo grabs her and says there is a big problem. Roo Mi is there and she knows everything so there is no use denying the deception. Doo Rim sits with Roo Mi who confirms that she’s not Jang Yi Kyung and is now back to being Na Doo Rim. Roo Mi reveals she saw through the ruse first and was the one who told Kang Joo’s mom. Because she did, Kang Joo’s mom sent the second batch of men in black to rescue Yi Hyun and Doo Rim, which is why Doo Rim can sit here right now. Doo Rim asks if Roo Mi wants her thanks?

Roo Mi asks how it feels to stop pretending to be a rich girl and be back in her rightful place? Doo Rim says it feels good since it’s familiar. Roo Mi decides to stop being bitchy and asks directly why Doo Rim gave up on Kang Joo? She risked her life to be with him so why is she not telling him the truth. If it was Roo Mi, she would have fought for it since it was already in her hands. Doo Rim wants to fight for it, but because she desires it so much, the desire scares her because it’s like a rolling snowball that keeps getting bigger. That desire and ambition has hurt the people around her and she can’t continue. Love isn’t just about not giving up. When she has no choice but to give up for his sake, that is also love.

Roo Mi asks if Doo Rim will regret it? Doo Rim may regret it for the rest of her life but it’s the price she pays for her desire and overreaching. Roo Mi wonders what Kang Joo will do if he finds out but Doo Rim begs her not to let him know. He’ll be hurt if he knows but right now only she’s hurting and she can endure it. She can’t handle more people getting hurt over this. Roo Mi takes this all in and leaves, passing by Secretary Kim who coming to see Jin Joo.

Secretary Kim spots Doo Rim inside and wonders why Yi Kyung is here? Thankfully he’s a little tipsy so Jin Joo is about to explain away Doo Rim as just his drunken mistake. She takes him to the corner pharmacy to get something to drink to clear up his inebriation.

Kang Joo calls Roo Mi to his office the next day and knows that she is aware of the identity of the woman he placed the ring on. She needs to tell him now who she is. Roo Mi is surprised at how quickly he figured it out but she knew he would figure it out eventually. She takes Doo Rim’s ring out of her purse and asks why the ring that should be Yi Kyung’s finger is with Roo Mi? If he didn’t put it on another woman other than Yi Kyung then it wouldn’t be in Roo Mi’s hands now. Would Kang Joo believe her that he placed the ring on a woman who looked identical to Yi Kyung and was acting as Yi Kyung’s substitute?

Kang Joo looks distressed while Roo Mi explains that all this happened because of the family curse. Now everyone around Kang Joo knows as well but they are all keeping the truth from him because the moment he finds out then the pandora’s box is opened. Kang Joo demands to know where Doo Rim is and all Roo Mi will reveal is that she’s done with her job and gone back to her real life and will act as if this never happened. If Kang Joo digs deeper then it’ll only cause more pain for others, and for himself. Kang Joo wants to where she is but this is all Roo Mi will share with him. If he wants to know more, he needs to do his own homework, but do it quietly because if others know he’s investigating then the other side will act before he does.

Doo Rim is by Yi Hyun’s bedside when her own phone rings with a call from Kang Joo. She ignores it and it goes to voicemail. Secretary Kim brings some snacks for Kang Joo and he notices the sweet potatoes. Secretary Kim explains that this is food from Jin Joo’s restaurant and Kang Joo digs back in his memory for when Doo Rim was worried about Jin Joo. He asks Secretary Kim where Jin Joo’s restaurant is and Secretary Kim is surprised everyone is headed there since he saw Roo Mi there recently as well.

Kang Joo pulls up outside the restaurant and walks in to find the dining room empty since it’s not meal hours. He walks through the kitchen and sees no one. Suddenly he hears a girl’s voice humming a song from the back patio. He walks over and opens the door to the back patio where a large roaster sits there and Doo Rim is roasting sweet potatoes.

Doo Rim places the sweet potatoes in the roaster when she suddenly senses a presence and turns around to find Kang Joo staring at her. He calls her Jang Yi Kyung and asks what she is doing here? He grabs her hand to take her away but Doo Rim shakes him off and announces that she is not Jang Yi Kyung. Kang Joo doesn’t believe her, because we know the alternative is a horrifying reality that he married the woman of his heart but he’s officially wed to Jang Yi Kyung. Doo Rim tells him to look carefully and confirm that she’s not Jang Yi Kyung. He asks who she is then? She thought he knew it all when he came, or was he coming to get confirmation? Kang Joo asks if she’s the Jang Yi Kyung he knows?

Doo Rim acts annoyed and says she just wants to live her life peacefully why did he need to come bother her. Kang Joo grabs her hand asks if she is aware of what she did! Doo Rim holds her head up high and says she did nothing wrong, the person who was deceived is the idiot while the liar isn’t at fault. Kang Joo asks why she did this? Doo Rim scoffs at his rich boy mentality and tells him to look around, because she was a substitute she got herself a restaurant and lots of money and now she’s settled for life. She forces herself to smile and look pleased.

Kang Joo asks if she even has a heart? He doesn’t wait for her to answer and says she’s just a substitute so she doesn’t. She can sell herself for money and sadly she was the first person he gave his heart to in his life. Doo Rim calls his nam but he tells her to shut up and never saw his name again. Right now he hates himself more than he hates her who lied to him. Kang Joo storms out and brushes past a returning Jin Joo.

Jin Joo rushes out back and finds Doo Rim crying on the bench. Doo Rim wished that Kang Joo would never find out because it’s too painful, and now there is nothing she can do for him. Jin Joo holds Doo Rim as she cries.

Kang Joo is yelling at his mom in the privacy of his room for keeping the truth from him. Isn’t she supposed to be on his side? His mom was worried he would be hurt but Kang Joo doesn’t buy that excuse. His mom insists she doesn’t want him to be hurt and tells him to erase everything from his heart and mind now. That child thoroughly used him and isn’t worth him being angry because of her. She tells him to buckle up! He’s the Taeyang Group heir and one misstep can bring down the entire family. Kang Joo demands to know what deal she cut with Yi Kyung’s mom, what was the reason she accepted Yi Kyung.

Kang Joo’s mom calls Yi Kyung’s mom a snake, a woman as scary and dangerous as a poisonous snake. Which is why he can’t be rash right now. He needs to remember that he carries so much responsibility on his back. She begs him not to tell his dad about this, the two of them will carry this secret to their graves.

Kang Joo gets a background report on Doo Rim and finds out that she grew up in Namhae with her halmoni, is high school friends with Jin Joo, and recently became the owner of a restaurant that was deeded over to her by Yi Kyung’s mom’s construction company. Kang Joo closes the file and storms out.

Doo Rim is cleaning a table full of food and drops it on the ground because she’s so distracted. Kang Joo walks in and he’s back to being the supreme angry ass of the universe. He asks if this is her true self and wonders how Choi Kang Joo could be mesmerized by a woman like her? Doo Rim doesn’t answer and keeps on cleaning up. He’s shocked at how low on the society ladder she resides and now it makes sense that she likes all sorts of cheap stuff. Doo Rim tells him to keep on mocking her, she doesn’t care and hopes he can relieve some of his anger.

Kang Joo is upset at her deception, but he’s even more furious at himself for being so easily deceived. Doo Rim gets up to leave and he tells her that he’s not done talking. Doo Rim is running a business so Kang Joo tosses money at her to close up the shop so they can keep talking. He sees her as a woman who is moved only by money, and accuses her of not believing in the curse at all which is why she risked her life for money because she didn’t believe her life was in danger. If she believed in the curse then she wouldn’t have married him because no one loves money that much to risk their life. Kang Joo won’t let her off the hook this easily, he wants her to remember for the rest of her life what she did to him.

Doo Rim calls him Kang Joo-shhi and he yells at her to not say his name again! He told her not to call his name because hearing it gives him the goosebumps. Kang Joo storms out leaving Doo Rim crying yet again.

Kang Joo arrives at a lunch where Yi Kyung and his mom have already been seated. Roo Mi arrives behind him and she explains that she didn’t know Yi Kyung and Kang Joo’s mom would be here. Kang Joo tells Roo Mi to sit since she knows everyone. Yi Kyung is annoyed and gives Roo Mi the usual death glare. Yi Kyung asks Kang Joo’s mom to go get a massage after lunch. Kang Joo’s mom plays along and says she always envied other moms with daughters since she had two sons. Now she can do mom-daughter activities with Yi Kyung.

Kang Joo interjects that his mom used to do all that with Roo Mi and then snarks to Yi Kyung that she needs to be nervous about her position. His mom has always loved Roo Mi since she was small and everyone thought Roo Mi would become the daughter-in-law of the Taeyang Group. Kang Joo’s mom warns him to stop now and Kang Joo says he was just kidding. Roo Mi is done being used and gets up to leave, with Kang Joo storming off after her. Yi Kyung asks Kang Joo’s mom what is going on with Kang Joo and demands to know.

Roo Mi yells at Kang Joo for the scene he pulled back there and using her as a side character. He tells her to stop being a side character and marry him. She laughs at him and he wonders what so funny? He’s going crazy here! Roo Mi reminds him that he said it had to be Doo Rim otherwise it didn’t matter who he married. Kang Joo says he can’t be married to Jang Yi Kyung now because when he sees Yi Kyung he thinks about Doo Rim. So now it has to be any woman other than Yi Kyung. Kang Joo sincerely asks Roo Mi to marry him, and for once I feel bad for Roo Mi.

Roo Mi gives him a sincere answer “No thank you” and I’m totally high-fiving her. Roo Mi knows that Kang Joo is aware of how much she likes him, but now she feels like it’s just her stubborn persistence. Not every love means getting together, and right now Kang Joo is like a child who is clinging onto his mom’s skirt hem and asking for something that can’t be. Kang Joo knows how ridiculous he is being right now. After he said hurtful things to Doo Rim, he thought he would feel better. But he doesn’t, because that hurt has flied back to him like a boomerang and he hurts. He wonders if ever there was sincerity in how Doo Rim felt for him? He can’t tell anymore.

Roo Mi decides to be the bigger person and tells Kang Joo that Doo Rim asked her to keep quiet about all she did for Kang Joo because it would hurt him to know. All Doo Rim feels is worry that Kang Joo would get hurt.

Kang Joo gets raging drunk and has to be carried back to his room by the housekeeper and the butler. Kang In comes in to take care of his hyung and asks Kang Joo to share if there is something bothering him. Kang Joo mutters that he wants to erase it but he can’t. Kang Joo remembers his wedding with Doo Rim and their vows, their honeymoon, and the morning after how relieved he was to find her alive and well on the mountaintop.

Kang Joo and Yi Kyung have it out openly the next day. Yi Kyung asks if Kang Joo is trying to hold onto Doo Rim? Does he want Doo Rim? Yi Kyung lies that it was Doo Rim who came to them with the idea for the substitution. Doo Rim’s demands grew worse and worse and it was in the process that Yi Hyun oppa got hurt. But Yi Hyun really cares for Doo Rim, he cares for her more than he does his real sister Yi Kyung. Doo Rim will never leave Yi Hyun’s side. Yi Kyung apologizes for lying to Kang Joo during this time. But it was Kang Joo’s mom who used Yi Kyung’s life as a lure in the first place which is why they hatched this plan. Now Kang Joo needs to stop and give up on something he can’t have. They need to work together on their future.

Kang Joo smirks and says Yi Kyung is a really good liar, but he’s here to tell her that he’s doesn’t believe a word she says.

Doo Rim is by Yi Hyun’s bedside and showing him things on her phone while chatting to him. Kang Joo peers in through the window and watches Doo Rim taking care of Yi Hyun.

Doo Rim leaves the hospital and walks by Kang Joo sitting in the waiting area. He calls her a real warrior in risking her life, but the person who really risked his life in this whole mess was Jang Yi Hyun. Doo Rim says Kang Joo has no right to say anything about oppa since he knows nothing. He can say anything about Doo Rim and she doesn’t care, but she won’t let him talk about oppa. Kang Joo hears her calling “oppa, oppa” like she really cares and is surprised that she’s so different than Yi Kyung despite looking identical. She’s got an amazing ability to play two men at once. Kang Joo was like a marionette she played in her hands.

Doo Rim yells at him to live his life well and show her, that is the real revenge he can inflict on her. Kang Joo says she has no right to tell him what to do. Doo Rim is fed up with his woe-is-me victim mentality, he’s the son of a wealthy family so why is he acting like the entire world’s wrongs have been dumped on him. Kang Joo asks if she’s done talking? She’s not, if he’s a director then he has a job he needs to do to collect his salary so he should leave now. Kang Joo doesn’t think a counterfeit has any right to talk this way to him. Doo Rim is done talking since she doesn’t have the time to shoot the breeze with an “ahjusshi” like him. Ahahaha!

Kang Joo goes “ahjusshi”? Doo Rim reminds him that he forbade her to call his name which leaves her with just oppa or ahjusshi, and oppa isn’t an endearment just anyone deserves to be called. She tells Kang Joo to leave now because she’s so busy. Doo Rim walks away and Kang Joo yells “hey, where are you going?” before stomping his feet adorably like the emotionally stunted little boy he is.

Doo Rim and Jin Joo are preparing the restaurant for a private event and have to tell customers that the place has been fully booked. Kang Joo walks in and sits down and announces that he’s the one who booked the entire restaurant for the day. Halmoni comes out and tries to ask Kang Joo to leave but Doo Rim says he’s here for the private group. Halmoni wonders why he’s here early and Doo Rim has Jin Joo drag halmoni inside.

Kang Joo asks for the menu and Doo Rim places his ordered meal in front of him. He takes a bite and spits it out as too spicy. Doo Rim tastes it and says it’s supposed to taste this spicy. Kang Joo cancels the private group reservation because the food isn’t up to par and checks his watch to see that it’s two hours and three minutes and thirty seconds before the reserved time which means he’s still within the two hour window to cancel. Doo Rim asks what they will do with the food for thirty the restaurant bought for the event. Plus they asked other customers to leave! Kang Joo shrugs since that is none of his business.

Doo Rim knows he’s messing with her and he doesn’t even deny it and admits it with a “bingo!” and puts the blame on her for not checking on her restaurant rules. The restaurant allows people to sample the food first and cancel, so he merely exploited that loophole. It’s not his fault for deceiving her, it’s her fault for getting deceived. Right? Kang Joo’s personality is that he can’t get deceived and still go on living as if nothing happened. Halmoni has overheard all of this and looks utterly pissed.

Jin Joo wonders if Kang Joo will keep messing with Doo Rim but Doo Rim figures he’ll stop after a few days. Suddenly halmoni shrieks that she’s going to kick that bastard’s ass and runs out the front door with a bowl of salt in hand. Halmoni tosses salt on Kang Joo and screeches at him to never show up here again or else she won’t let him live. Jin Joo and Doo Rim drag halmoni back inside and Kang Joo is shocked that Doo Rim’s explosive temper is just like her halmoni. He then smirks in a giddy way as he walks away.

Doo Rim is called to the table of a male customer who wants her to pour alcohol for him but she tries to downplay it and says she can’t. He starts to get touchy with her and Kang Joo is sitting outside in his car and looks worried. Doo Rim handles the harassment just fine and twists the guy’s hand and kicks him out. Kang Joo smiles in relief and then asks himself what he’s doing? I dunno, stalking your wifey?

Doo Rim closes up shop for the night and heads out. Kang Joo wonders where she’s going so late at night and of course she’s going to visit Yi Hyun oppa. She walks in announcing herself and then gets to work taking care of him. Kang Joo peers into the room from the window and wonders how Doo Rim can work 24/7 like a bull cow. LOL, she does, doesn’t she? Kang Joo then wonders why he’s hiding since he did nothing wrong to be here.

Doo Rim steps out of the room and finds Kang Joo outside. He claims to be here to visit the patient. Doo Rim leaves to get water while Kang Joo goes inside to check on Yi Hyun. When Doo Rim comes back in, Kang Joo asks if her body is made out of rock and why she doesn’t get a nurse to take care of Yi Hyun. What’s the point of her earning all that money, is she too cheap to spend it? Doo Rim explains there is a nurse but she’s just switching off now.

Doo Rim gets a wet towel to clean oppa’s body and Kang Joo snatches it out of her hands and offers to do it. Since he came without bringing anything, he wants to do something for Yi Hyun now. Doo Rim warns him to be gentle and then walks out.

Kang Joo wipes Yi Hyun’s hand and asks if he plans to just lay here unconscious after finding a substitute and causing all this mess. He can’t even yell at Yi Hyun now. He wants Yi Hyun to wake up so they can have it out. Kang Joo thanks Yi Hyun for protecting Doo Rim from getting hurt.

Doo Rim comes back to find Kang Joo asleep on Yi Hyun’s bed. She nudges him awake and says this isn’t a hotel and he’s bothering the patient. Kang Joo blames her for his exhaustion since he was outside all day. Doo Rim kicks him out so oppa can go to sleep now. Kang Joo is walking out but decides to turn around and pick another fight. He asks if he should called her idiot or rock, what should be call her? Doo Rim retorts “ahjusshi, what are you trying to do now!” Kang Joo says she needs to have manners and he’s the visitor who is leaving so she needs to walk him out. Doo Rim can’t leave the hospital room empty so “ahjusshi” should leave well. They glare at each other like enemy crows and then Kang Joo storms out.

Kang Joo comes home and passes Yi Kyung who is leaving. She asks if this childish revenge game is fun? Doesn’t he know that his every move is reported to her mom? Kang Joo says her side should be okay with anything since he’s married to Yi Kyung now. She warns him that her mom is not touching Doo Rim now but if Kang Joo continues Doo Rim will be in danger and her mom won’t let things continue like this. Yi Kyung is warning Kang Joo not to create problems with his rashness, problems for everyone. Kang Joo smirks at the “everyone” and doesn’t think he’s part of it. The way he sees it, Yi Kyung isn’t thinking like a future female of the house.

Kang Joo goes inside and his mom informs him that tomorrow is the press conference to officially introduce Yi Kyung as the daughter-in-law of the Taeyang Group. Kang Joo glares at her before going to his room. Kang Joo sits in his room and stares at his ring and remembers putting it on Doo Rim at their private wedding and vowing to be with her forever.

The two moms and Yi Kyung are sitting at the press conference and everyone is waiting for Kang Joo to arrive. Secretary Kim informs Roo Mi that Kang Joo is MIA and not picking up his phone. Roo Mi has no choice but to announce to the gathered reporters that this press conference is being rescheduled because Kang Joo got in a little accident on his way back and is in the hospital.

President Ma immediately storms off the stage with Yi Kyung following. She tells her driver lackey to release the pictures now to all media sources, telling Yi Kyung that Kang Joo has declared war. Kang Joo is at the restaurant and drags Doo Rim out. The internet is flooded with news reports of Kang Joo having a secret wedding and being immoral in not announcing it. Kang Joo’s dad is furious and asks his mom where their son is? He asks his wife what happened between Kang Joo and Yi Kyung? His wife claims its nothing like that.

Kang Joo pulls up outside the family compound and pulls Doo Rim from the car. He wants her to go inside with him now and reveal everything to his dad. His dad will be on their side and fix everything, this is their only chance. His dad has always supported them. Their is their last chance and last opportunity. Doo Rim can’t go in. Kang Joo asks if this is because of Yi Hyun? He knows Yi Hyun cares a lot for her, does she feel the same way about him? Doo Rim doesn’t answer. Kang Joo doesn’t care anymore, he doesn’t care who she likes because he’s keeping her beside him.

Doo Rim shakes his hand off and yells that he’s doing this out of his own greed and desire. Can’t he think of others, why does he only think of his own pain? Doo Rim’s phone rings and it’s from the hospital calling that Yi Hyun has regained consciousness. Doo Rim runs off and Kang Joo tries one more time to grab her arm. She begs him to let go because she needs to leave now. She pulls her arm from his hand and walks away while he looks utterly pained.

Doo Rim runs into Yi Hyun’s hospital room and finds him sitting up. She grabs him in a tight embrace and then he pulls back and asks if she’s okay? He’s so relieved that she’s safe. She yells at him for being an idiot and doing so much for her while she’s done nothing for him. She hugs him again and says “thank you, I’m sorry but thank you so much.”

Kang Joo stands outside and watches Doo Rim and Yi Hyun hugging in the hospital room. He leans again the wall and looks very resigned before walking away.

Thoughts of Mine:

I honestly love Doo Rim and Kang Joo and their feelings for each other and the conflicts they are going through. Their reactions are understandable and way better than I expected. This drama has so many problems beyond Kang Joo’s hurt at being lied to by Doo Rim or Doo Rim’s desire to be with Kang Joo. Those feelings matter, yes, but in the greater scheme of things it’s merely a ripple in the bigger fight ahead. I don’t think Kang Joo either overreacted with his initial anger at Doo Rim manifesting in him taunting her and saying all sorts of cruel things. She wants him to believe that she’s a mercenary no better than a prostitute who would sleep with him in exchange for money. Even worse is her professions of love and eternity, which makes her deception all the more cruel if she was indeed deceiving him. We know she’s not, and in his heart he knows it as well. Which is why he forgave her, he forgave as quickly as a man who claims to love her ought to. He forgave her but couldn’t help but still lash out in little boy ways. It was amusing because we know Doo Rim can take it, and also a bit cathartic because she knows that if he lashes out it’ll hurt less and she wants him to hurt less. That is how she loves him, she loves him by taking on all his burdens in any way she can. Too bad she doesn’t know the full extent of President Ma’s scheme and her ultimate trump card to keep the Choi family in line.

Roo Mi has completely gone to the good side and it’s not a stunning personality reversal if I look a bit deeper. Roo Mi had it out for Yi Kyung, who we know have confirmation to be a mini-witch to her mom’s version of the master witch, and for that I’m rather impressed she dared to angle for her shot with Kang Joo versus the comparatively less suitable Yi Kyung. At least she’s serving her purpose as the bearer of truth and it’s a mantle she wears well. I hope she ends up with a hot boy toy of her own as a reward for being the least horrible of all the horrible female antagonists in this drama. Too bad Yi Kyung is sinking deeper and deeper into the cesspool of her mom’s scheming, but the good news is that no one believes any of the lies she’s spewing and Kang Joo looks at her like she’s a worm that happened to crawl over his shoe. Nice.

I really missed the bickering and banter from the early episodes and it was such a delightful reminder to see it come back but in the context of showing us that Doo Rim and Kang Joo are just that electric around each other. He comes to life around her frustrating ways that are unfamiliar to him, she comes to life trying to keep him in line and be a normal decent human being rather than lofty Choi Kang Joo. They can fight and bicker all they want, and even in the end when Doo Rim ran off to find Yi Hyun, all of that doesn’t worry me. If Kang Joo can get over his feeling of betrayal so quickly, it shows that he admits he loves Doo Rim still and that is enough for him to have the persistence to weather all the challenges ahead. There is no way for Doo Rim to ignore the existence of Yi Hyun laying in a coma and just run back to Kang Joo. It’s not that she’s planning to pick Yi Hyun, it’s merely that Yi Hyun’s plight is more urgent at this time. Kang Joo knows that as well, and he is reacting in such a me-first and do-first style with the way he missed the press conference and is dragging Doo Rim off to confess to his dad. He needs to sit down, get all the facts, and then plan methodically how he’s going to reach his end goal – Doo Rim as his wife forever and punish President Ma and Yi Kyung for their greedy plan.

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