As My Lovely Girl unfolds like a relaxed cat stretching into the middle part of it’s narrative, the rather unimaginative drama title is starting to feel more and more fitting. Se Na really is quite adorable and lovely, a bit of the no longer a girl but not yet a woman awkwardness about her. Her personality may not have been very engaging right off the bat but there is a comfortable old soul in her. That might be the kicker starter to sell the OTP love line when the drama has so far been more engaging with the alternative connections. Episode 7 treads ground at AnA with Shi Woo still preparing for his solo debut readying to battle Jae Young’s upstart agency fielding the now trio Infinite Power.

There is almost zero fall out from the so-called tough choice on using Se Na’s song or risk losing the lousy investor, once again decisions are easily led to the appropriate ending and everyone moves on to the next moment. Se Na being So Eun’s little sister lands in Hae Yoon’s lap much quicker than I expected and she handles the discovery with raw frustration before rolling right back to her one-track goal of landing Hyun Wook. This episode was the first one that made me warm up to Hyun Wook and Se Na as a couple, their feeling of camaraderie and teasing has the hallmarks of compatibility. It doesn’t feel forced and maybe it always was meant to be a slow burn to sell the idea that Se Na and Hyun Wook could ever really fall in love with So Eun’s memory wedged between them.

Episode 7 recap:

Hyun Wook gets one of his ear ringing headaches and leaves the club to clear his head. Se Na follows and nearly trips on her sky high heels when she tries to show Hyun Wook a jump hop to help his headache. Hyun Wook catches Se Na before she falls and they stand in each other’s embrace quietly. Which is when Hae Yoon and Jae Young happen to step out of the club as well and take in this scene. Jae Young points out this scene seems familiar, just like when Hyun Wook was falling in love with Yoon So Eun.

Hae Yoon doesn’t take the bait and tells Jae Young to tell her what’s so important he wanted to talk to her about. Jae Young watches her head inside before smirking towards Hyun Wook and Se Na that things turned out as expected.

Hyun Wook tells Se Na to go back to the club before walking a distance further to clear his mind after the catch hug earlier. Se Na continues to follow him and claims she doesn’t like the club scene anyway. Hyun Wook suggests she go have fun since this is what young people do so Se Na wonders if he did it when he was younger. Go to clubs and book tables of women? Hyun Wook teases that he doesn’t need to since ladies come to him.

Se Na changes the topic to ask why Hyun Wook stopped writing music since three years ago? Hyun Wook shushes her but she’s really interested in hearing his songs, it would be even better for the company if he started writing again since Jae Young left. Hyun Wook stands up to walk back with Se Na and she asks for one layer of his many layers since it’s cold out. Hyun Wook grouses that he’s cold too and isn’t wearing that many layers to begin with. Oh I beg to differ on that.

Hae Yoon finds Sang Jin and hears that Hyun Wook is not back at the club yet and Se Na is gone as well.

On the walk back Hyun Wook wonders why Se Na got all dressed up like this? To impress someone, Shi Woo perhaps? Se Na retorts that she has no reason to show off for Shi Woo. Hyun Wook drapes his trench over her and Se Na points out that if he continues to be this good to her then she’ll fall in love with him. Hyun Wook teases that all the ladies fall for him since he’s just that attractive. Se Na sasses back that he’s not that attractive.

Hyun Wook claims she hasn’t seen him unleash his full manly allure yet. Se Na wants to see it but Hyun Wook doesn’t think she can deal with it. Se Na takes the moment to thank Hyun Wook for helping her song get selected. He doesn’t take the credit and assures her that the song was picked because it was good. Hyun Wook walks off and Se Na follows with a content smile.

Hae Yoon is pounding her sorrows away in drinks while Sang Jin tries to slow her down. Hae Yoon wants to get drunk so she stops her mind from wandering. She takes out her bad mood on the assistant who accidentally spilled a drink on her earlier, and her mood falls even more when she sees Hyun Wook and Se Na returning to the club together.

Shi Woo is at home and stares at the large portrait of Infinite Power in the living room. He remembers Ra Eum telling him to beat Rae Heon this time no matter what. He gets a text with an MP3 file of the upcoming IP new single and sits down to listen to it. Shi Woo has a sleepless night listening to the song over and over again. When morning comes and the manager arrives, Shi Woo asks for a car to take him to AnA so he can meet with Hyun Wook.

Hyun Wook is brooding in the office remembering his dad saying the investor doesn’t like the choice of Se Na’s song as the lead single and wants to take back the investment. He calls the investor’s office to ask for a meeting but gets brushed off. Hae Yoon is pacing her office remembering her conversation with Jae Young last night. He tells Hae Yoon that the investor is moving his money from AnA to invest in Jae Young’s new company. The investor is pissed that IP disbanded and even more upset that Hyun Wook has chosen a newbie no-name songwriter’s song for Shi Woo’s new lead single.

Hae Yoon is going to see Hyun Wook when Shi Woo cuts her off and says his matter is more urgent to discuss with Hyun Wook. He finds Hyun Wook busy trying to schedule the meeting with the investor. Hyun Wook tells Shi Woo to cut to the chase so Shi Woo brings up how Jae Young’s company got investment to pour into Rae Heon’s new single and he wants AnA to do the same for him. Starting with not using Se Na’s song which is a ballad. He wants a song that needs a showcase stage with dancers and flashy outfits.

Hyun Wook suggests that’s not a sign of a good singer. Shi Woo is determined to win over Rae Heon no matter and he doesn’t think Se Na’s song can do that and he doesn’t want to take that chance. Hyun Wook brings up how Shi Woo said Se Na’s song touched his heart. Shi Woo admits that he was touched when he sang Se Na’s song which really surprised him. But that’s not enough and he wants to have his debut be splashy so he doesn’t come to regret it. He leaves the ball in Hyun Wook’s court and walks out past a very concerned Hae Yoon.

Hyun Wook goes up to the roof to think and Hae Yoon joins him to throw in her opinion that not using Se Na’s song is the right decision. She doesn’t want to capitulate to the investor either but they have no choice. Plus Shi Woo has to want the song because if he doesn’t give it his all then it doesn’t matter what song is chosen. Hae Yoon knows Se Na might not take it well and offers to break the news to her but Hyun Wook declines and wants to do it himself.

Se Na is in the recording studio and hears that the final track will be recorded next week. She wants to attend the recording and hears from the mixer that Hyun Wook used to do that and managed to bring out 200% in the singer. The mixer teases her for being a published songwriter when she’s barely out of pigtails but Se Na smiles back and accepts the compliment.

Hyun Wook takes Se Na for a walk by the Han River and hears that she used to come all the time alone and wished to have someone come with her. She can’t believe that person turned out to be Hyun Wook. She’s excitedly talking about the song recording next week when Hyun Wook stops her to break the news that her song has been cancelled as Shi Woo’s single. He apologizes to her as the company president and assures her that the song is good but is not guaranteed a hit.

Se Na tries to act nonchalant and suggest he didn’t need to take her here just to tell her. She suggests bringing Dalbong next time with them since he should like walking by the river. She hurries off to buy them something to eat but starts crying the moment she walks away. Hyun Wook stops her to wipe the tears off her face and pull her in for a reassuring hug.

Hyun Wook’s dad goes out to his garden to tend to his precious “children” plants only to find them all dead under the heels of his angry wife. He decides to do something about it.

Hyun Wook’s stepmother reluctantly arrives at a club for dinner scheduled by her husband. She thinks he’s late only to have the stage light up and he’s at the microphone belting out an Italian opera love song for her. She’s not wowed by the gesture and looks annoyed. After singing Hyun Wook’s dad walks over to sit down and asks if his wife remembers that he sang this song to propose to her? He slides over a 5-carat diamond ring and her face lights up immediately. Man she’s easy to placate.

Se Na sits at her piano brooding while Hyun Wook is trying to make Dalbong shake but he’s not really in the mood. Hyun Wook thinks back to hugging Se Na by the river and sighs that she really wasn’t part of his life plan. Dalbong tries to get his attention and Hyun Wook wonders why Dalbong is looking at him strangely?

Hyun Wook calls Se Na claiming that Dalbong wants to talk to her. He puts the phone next to Dalbong who doesn’t bark so Hyun Wook angrily whispers for him to say something now. Dalbong barks twice and Hyun Wook takes the phone back to comfort Se Na not to feel bad that her song wasn’t chosen because it’s a very good song. He claims that was what Dalbong said to her so Se Na asks Hyun Wook to thank Dalbong for her.

Joo Hong and her boyfriend take Se Na out to the street stall to drink her disappointment away. Se Na isn’t feeling that down because this time she has the ahjusshi there to support her whereas in the past she was all alone. The boyfriend thinks it’s Hyun Wook’s job as the company present to be there for the company songwriter. Se Na remembers Hyun Wook hugging her at the river and wonders why her heart is beating faster? Joo Hong knows Se Na is thinking of the doggie flower boy right now which is a clear sign that she likes him.

Se Na gets up and runs off, smiling the entire way as she runs to Hyun Wook’s place. She rings the doorbell and Hyun Wook opens the door to find Se Na standing there. She stares at him and says “I miss you”, and there is a long pause before she clarifies that she’s missing Dalbong. Hyun Wook can smell the alcohol on her breath and doesn’t want to let her in but Dalbong comes out to welcome her happily.

Hyun Wook reads while Se Na plays with Dalbong. He asks if she drank because she was upset but Se Na assures him that she’s fine now because she has him around. Se Na stares at Hyun Wook reading and moons over him until she falls asleep.

Hyun Wook wants to send Se Na home and looks up to realize that she’s sleeping with her back to the bookshelf. He gets up and stares at her intently only to reach out and catch her falling head. Hyun Wook then shifts to sit next to Se Na and let her sleep with her head resting on his shoulder.

Shi Woo is eating all alone and finally can’t take the loneliness and picks up his phone to call Se Na. Her phone rings and Hyun Wook tries to reach around Se Na to around it which is when she wakes up. Hyun Wook quickly stands up as does Se Na. He offers to walk her home while Shi Woo’s call ends up going to voicemail.

On the walk home, Hyun Wook chides Se Na for drinking so much since she’s a woman. Se Na reminds him that he said he doesn’t see her as a woman. Hyun Wook doesn’t but other men might. Se Na changes the topic and tells Hyun Wook to have a new romance so he can start writing songs again assuming that he stopped writing songs after getting his heart broken. Hyun Wook merely says that likely won’t work so Se Na suggests that she’ll have to spend more time with Hyun Wook since she needs to write songs for the company and she writes better with him around. Hyun Wook pushes Se Na to quickly go home and she asks him to tell Dalbong that she’ll be coming to visit him often.

Shi Woo arrives at AnA to find the other trainees rubbing in Se Na’s face that her song ended up not being selected. He steps in and warns the other trainees not to bully and ostracize their fellow trainees. He gets them to reluctantly apologize to Se Na before they scurry away.

Shi Woo thinks Se Na totally finds him easy to punk since she’s so sassy with him but meek as a lamb when the trainees are bullying her. Se Na is letting them take out their frustrations on her and having Shi Woo help her will only make it worse for her. Shi Woo grabs Se Na’s hand as she’s walking away and drags her up to the roof to talk.

Shi Woo asks why she didn’t call him back last night after seeing his missed call? Se Na claims she just got distracted with other thing. Shi Woo wants to know if she’s mad at him because of the song and her confusion is a surprise to Shi Woo that Hyun Wook didn’t tell Se Na that he was the one who nixed her song. Shi Woo takes a deep breath and tells Se Na that he was the one who refused to sing her song. Se Na is silent so Shi Woo wants her to take it out on him. Se Na admits she’s just too shocked because she thought Shi Woo really liked her song.

Se Na meets Sang Jin at a cafe and reveals she knows that he’s good friends with Hyun Wook. Sang Jin asks how Hyun Wook is taking care of Se Na and whether they see each other often in the same neighborhood. Se Na is surprised he knows they live in the same neighborhood. Hae Yoon arrives and ends the conversation.

Hyun Wook’s stepmother is all mollified now and notices her husband all dressed up to go out. He claims to be going to the hospital but instead goes to a shop to see the woman in the picture. She was very worried about him and his hospital stay but he assures her that he’s fine now before handing over a present in a big bag. A photographer snaps a picture from outside.

Hyun Wook finds Se Na strumming her guitar in the agency courtyard and sits down with her. She asks him to show her some chords so they play together with the pretty setting sun behind them. Se Na secretly smiles to be spending time with Hyun Wook like this. Third wheel extraordinaire Hae Yoon walks out and sees Hyun Wook playing the guitar with Se Na and doesn’t look happy in the least.

Hae Yoon calls Se Na and asks to meet with her right now. She immediately tells Se Na that her nickname is Witch Shin because she’s in charge of the personal lives of the trainees at work. Hae Yoon reminds Se Na to watch her personal interactions with Hyun Wook to avoid the other trainees misunderstanding. She knows Se Na calls Hyun Wook ahjusshi in private and warns her not to do that anymore. She needs to act like a proper trainee from now on. Hae Yoon didn’t like Se Na coming in but endured it because she trusted Hyun Wook’s decision. But if Se Na crosses any lines then Hae Yoon won’t hold back and will kick her out of the company.

Hae Yoon leaves the practice room but stops in her tracks when she hears Se Na starting to play a specific song. She walks back to the practice room and asks Se Na how she knows this song? Se Na reveals her unni wrote the song. Hae Yoon is floored to hear that Se Na’s older sister is Yoon So Eun. Se Na wonders if Hae Yoon knew her unni but Hae Yoon quickly leaves the room.

Hae Yoon goes to confirm with Sang Jin about whether he already knew that Se Na is So Eun’s little sister? Sang Jin’s silence is confirmation enough and Se Na demands to know if Hyun Wook coming back to Seoul and agreeing to be President was all because of Yoon Se Na? Sang Jin admits Hyun Wook feels pity for Se Na and wants to help her. Sang Jin thinks its for the best because it brought Hyun Wook back. Hae Yoon hears that Se Na doesn’t know that Hyun Wook was her unni’s boyfriend. Hae Yoon is worried that Hyun Wook may fall for Se Na but Sang Jin assures her that it won’t happen. He asks Hae Yoon to understand Hyun Wook who is dealing with such guilt and this is a way for him to alleviate some of it.

Hae Yoon sits in her bed crying while staring at an old picture of her with Hyun Wook. She calls Hyun Wook as he’s feeding Dalbong but can’t bring herself to discuss what’s on her mind. She just reminds Hyun Wook to dress warming for tomorrow’s company camping retreat.

Hyun Wook ends the call with Hae Yoon and sits down on his chair only to fall asleep. In his dreams Se Na is nestling beside him sleeping with her head on his shoulder while he rests on her head. Hyun Wook then wakes up and finds himself alone before muttering about why Se Na hasn’t come by yet?

Se Na is packing for the camping trip while remembering Hae Yoon warning her to keep her distance from Hyun Wook and behave like a proper trainee. Joo Hong comes by wondering if Se Na came home so late last night because she was with doggie flower boy. Se Na admits she’s stressed about how to address Hyun Woom from now on?

A call comes in from Hyun Wook wondering why she’s at home when she promised to come by to see Dalbong? He tells Se Na to forget about it because he just put Dalbong in a pet hotel since he’s going camping tomorrow. Se Na ends the call and immediately runs out of the house and meets up with Hyun Wook just as he’s going home. Se Na keeps calling Hyun Wook “ahjusshi” and he starts to get annoyed since he’s still very young. She asks what else she can call him and Hyun Wook imagines Se Na calling him “oppa” and shudders at it. He tells her to keep calling him ahjussji.

On the train ride to the camp site, Se Na passes out drinks and purposely calls Hyun Wook “President” in front of Hae Yoon.

Shi Woo is with the songwriter that wrote his now lead single and the guy takes Shi Woo to a club to watch a newbie girl group sing for them.

The agency arrives at the camp site and start to set up. Hyun Wook offers to help but Se Na declines, continuing to call him President and being very formal with him. Se Na gets a call from Shi Woo wondering if she’s having fun barbecuing? She wonders how he knows what she is doing and looks up to see Shi Woo standing in the distance.

Hae Yoon asks Hyun Wook to take a walk and wonders what his plans are at AnA. She wonders if he’s not planning on dating and focus on work, and what his plans are for Se Na. Hyun Wook wants Se Na to debut as soon as possible with another song.

Shi Woo hands Se Na a present of shoes and insists she take it otherwise he’ll throw it away. Se Na tells him to give it to Ra Eum instead and suggests he go try and seduce other women and stop messing with her. Shi Woo scoffs at what Se Na considers seducing and starts advancing towards her which makes her back up.

Hyun Wook and Hae Yoon see this exchange and Hyun Wook orders Se Na back to setting up at the camp site while asking what Shi Woo is doing here when he should be with the songwriter working on his song. Shi Woo doesn’t like drinking during the day. Hyun Wook demands to know why Shi Woo is not working hard when Hyun Wook has agreed with all his demands for the solo debut.

Shi Woo claims to be apologizing to Se Na and is serious about it, his intentions towards Se Na are not a joke. Hyun Wook warns Shi Woo not to go there, don’t have any interest in Se Na because Shi Woo is an entertainer and needs to focus on his career. Shi Woo just stares until Hae Yoon interjects and urges Shi Woo to go back to Seoul now. Shi Woo walks off while Hyun Wook wonders to Hae Yoon how to control Shi Woo. Hae Yoon wonders why Hyun Wook got mad like he was jealous. Hyun Wook claims he’s just doing his job and walks off.

Hyun Wook runs into Se Na later that night and she explains to him that Shi Woo was trying to apologize to her earlier. He felt bad that her song was not picked because of him. Hyun Wook doesn’t want her to explain if she’s worried about him misunderstanding. During her time at AnA, he doesn’t want her to get involved with Shi Woo or anyone else. Se Na pauses before asking “Does that include you, ahjusshi?” Oh my she’s a bold one!

Thoughts of Mine:

Se Na taking the initiative with Hyun Wook works for me. At most he’ll make excuses to see her but one of them needs to kick start their too comfortable and antiseptic relationship. Because they get along so well with hardly any conflict, its hard to explain why they don’t already press forward in their romantic stirrings beyond Hyun Wook’s guilt. Se Na could be the wallflower type when it comes to romance but thankfully she’s mellow but not an emotional blockhead. Once she realizes she likes Hyun Wook, she does all the right things to spend time with him without ever pushing things too hard beyond what he is willing to allow. She also absorbs Hae Yoon’s warning to stay away from Hyun Wook and puts on the correct show in public without actually abiding by it in private. Good girl! He’s clearly a man in her eyes, a very attractive man that she can tease and be herself around without need for her guard up.

Shi Woo continues to do his thing, all of which works for me, but I worry how hard the poor boy’s heart is going to get broken when he falls for Se Na. I like that he’s stepping up and making the effort to think about his solo career, what it needs and how to go about it, and doesn’t have a problem with making hard decisions even if he cuts Se Na’s song loose in the end. Shi Woo clearly doesn’t have a chance since Se Na just doesn’t like him like that. Sure she can grow to care for him as a good friend but that pitter patter falling in love moment has already gone to Hyun Wook. I don’t find that weird at all, Hyun Wook is almost perfect towards her, warm and caring when needed and stern and demanding as required. If So Eun was alive then Hyun Wook would just be her brother-in-law and he could do the taking care of her part without anything more between them, but without So Eun then the added layer naturally manifests itself in a way that feels more and more natural.

I was hoping Shi Woo’s solo debut would happen in this episode to keep that development going. Instead most of the time was devoted to Se Na and Hyun Wook’s off-duty hours together in his house or running between his place and hers. At least that means no Ra Eum and Rae Heon in this episode which is the upside I suppose. Dalbong got more screen time again (yay) but he’s clearly deteriorating fast what with not having an appetite and not being as interested in doing things. I hope the drama doesn’t time his cancer death with some sort of cathartic moment like Hyun Wook finally letting his memories of So Eun go and openly loving Se Na back. I love Dalbong and his uncomplicated presence in this story, his furry cuteness represents the effortless parts of MLG that keep me coming back for more like a dog getting its belly scratched.

I’m so perplexed by Hyun Wook’s dad it’s bordering on the absurd. Did he cheat on his wife with the trainee in the picture, and then manage to mollify his pissed off wife with an operetta and a 5-carat ring? That’s it? Then he goes back to keeping a second family on the side, which is what I assume still is what’s happening? That side plot is so awkwardly shoehorned in it’s not even funny, and I assume it exists to paint daddy in an even worse light and give Hyun Wook more problems on his plate later on. Visually the pretty scenery and nice musical accompaniment go a long way to gussy up a scene so even trite and rather repetitive Se Na-Hyun Wook spending time together interludes take on a glossy feel. It helps that they always have this light banter going, a rat-a-tat-tat back and forth that isn’t all that creative but at least doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out stupid dialogue. I wish I cared about Hae Yoon even one whit to feel bad for her always losing Hyun Wook to the Yoon sisters but honestly she needs to move on for her own self-esteem and emotional health. Good for Se Na in not being a pushover or that easy to manipulate, since she wants Hyun Wook then I’m all for her to get her man through whatever means it takes.

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