I imagine a Hae Gil Hospital planning meeting 5 years ago: “Guys, guys, listen. Word on the street is the owner just made a deal with the devil. That’s one hostile takeover we need to avoid. Half of our admissions and sixty percent of our revenue come from the operating room, so let’s brainstorm on ideas to be more profitable.”  “We need to do a better job optimizing the performance of the perioperative department,” Ops advises. PR suggests they create a customer satisfaction index and publish it to attract more patients. Accounting proposes, “How about we offer long-term profit sharing with the surgeons to attract and keep the most talented?” IT recommends investing in state of the art technology and improving efficiency in the OR. The team members high five each other and play with their animated slides, preparing to present to the powers that be.

From the back of the room, however, someone silences them with a “Fools!” It’s Larry, the scary Sales guy everyone avoids, but they can’t fire because either he has pictures or he knows where the bodies are buried. “You’re so stupid. Why waste our time with actual planning when I have a better idea?” He throws up a slide of a pretty young 22-year-old heart patient. “See? All we have to do is get Doctor Kang to fall in love with her and have her fall in love with Doctor Kang. As long as they get married, all our problems are solved.  Does anyone have any reasons this won’t work?” The intern whispers,”What if she — ?” but gets shushed.  Nope, nobody can think of any. It’s foolproof. Everyone cheers! Future success secured, they go out to eat to celebrate. What could possibly go wrong?

Episode 11 recap:

Bom-yi sits next to Dong-ha on a park bench; they seem rather calm with each other. He lets out a sigh and she looks at him, so happy. She thanks him for coming to her quickly. He doesn’t think she should thank him, “In a while you’ll think that it would’ve been better if you’d stopped seeing me after we met on Udo Island because it was perfect as it was.” (It was!) Asking if she’s cold, he comments her nose is as red as Rudolf’s and they help each other laugh. He threatens to keep making jokes if she keeps laughing at them, “Because I’ll think you enjoy them.” But she really does.

“We aren’t in a situation to laugh,” he fears, but keeps smiling. When he comments that the night is cold, his offer to wear his jacket is turned down. Instead, she snuggles up against him. “I’m fine. Ah, this is much warmer.” I am sure he agrees.

“Why did you run away from home?” She claims she didn’t run away from home. And he accuses her of being a lousy liar. She admits she had to announce the wedding is off, and because of how important Dong Wook is the hospital, it concerns them more than if were just between them. “Even though you’re an adult, Bom-yi, I’m much older than you so there will be some things I have to take care of. I’ll take care of them one at a time so you don’t need to worry about anything.”  Turning to look at her, gives her look that would melt a January puddle in Buffalo, and she just grins back.

At first very serious, Dong-ha ends up a few steps ahead of Bom-yi again as they stroll along. He turns to look at where she is, then slows his pace to match hers the reaches his hand out for hers.

The clasp is firm, assured, which is exactly how they feel to me. He looks ahead, and she smiles, then he turns to face her (omg) for a few steps. Their eyes hold each other.

When they arrive back at Se-na’s door, he tells her to go in and she wishes him a safe ride home. Then a thought occurs, he gets closer, whispering behind a hand, “Would you like to walk around the neighborhood one more time?”

Her response that surely he must be tired from traveling gets a nod in reluctant agreement. “Go home and get some sleep,” she instructs.

“You’re really going to stay here tonight and not go back home?”  Wisely, she decided it’s better to avoid her mother when she’s mad, since Oma has a tendency to say things she’ll regret later. Dong-ha backs away, so not ready to leave her. She shoos him with her face, and he turns a few more times waving before he’s gone.

Dong-ha waits for his brother outside Dong-wook’s apartment building. Dong-wook, not ready yet to talk to him, walks away, pausing long enough for Hyung to see him hesitate.

Apa sits with Bom-yi outside a convenience store “Is mom still mad at me?” He sighs.  “You saw her. Why are you asking me?”

His “How was Udo Island?” gets no response. He claims he knows everything and Bom-yi doesn’t disagree.  He hesitantly brings up the theory of cellular memory and feels her out on her opinion. Her impassive face gets him to back pedal, declaring he didn’t believe in it either.

“If I don’t marry Dong Wook will the hospital be in trouble?”Apa downplays her mother’s angry words. “Don’t make me sound like a man who’s selling you.” Well now that you mention it, Dad… “Just forget what she said, okay?”

She doesn’t want to avoid the topic, “You cut in line to get my heart, right? That’s why the hospital was in trouble, right?”

When she says she’s sorry, he tells her not to be, adding, “Just don’t do anything you should be sorry for, okay?” Apa will help her Oma understand why she can’t marry Doctor Kang, but about Dong Wook’s brother, he warns, “But you can’t do this. There are some things you can’t do,” suggesting she end it before her mother finds out.

Chez Se-na, Bom-yi sits wistful when a goodnight text comes from Shepherd father. She replies with a hugging emoticon, “Goodnight,” which genuinely intrigues him,

“How does she do that?” His reply, “I don’t know how to do this emoticon so teach me later,” couldn’t be more adorable and she hugs the phone to her chest.

Oma finds Apa on the sofa, “Why are you sleeping here?”

He answers he was afraid she’d be mad at him, too. LOL. Oma starts to look for Bom-yi so he tells her she isn’t there but at Se Na’s place. He wanted to avoid a war within three minutes of them being together.

Apa assures her that he is fine with appointing Dong Wook as a director of the hospital, though Oma guesses, “If he doesn’t marry Bom-yi, he won’t stay at our hospital because he’d feel uncomfortable.”  “Remember what you told me long time ago? You told me to save our daughter first so I chose being a father over being a doctor. That’s my burden. Why should I have to ask Bom-yi to carry it?” Oma tries to take the responsibility. He doesn’t want her to force their daughter to marry Dong-wook for him. It is a question of pride.

What upsets Oma, is she doesn’t understand why they broke up, “I’m not some awful mother forcing my daughter to marry a stranger. She liked him. That’s why she wanted to marry him. Why did she suddenly change her mind? Did she meet someone else at work? She thinks back on her daughter’s recent behavior, “Actually, she has been acting strange recently.”

Bom-yi doesn’t take her mother’s phone call.

Inspecting Se-na’s fridge and freezer, Bom-yi gets mad, “I told you to clean up! I can’t believe a cook’s refrigerator could be this messy.” Se-na has a different view on things. She can’t be too perfect, or a man can’t do anything for her. This is how she satisfies her man’s sense of accomplishment.

Dong-wook gets cleaned up before work, and then scrutinizes his face, wrinkles and all in the mirror.

Not enough time for Botox, he shaves. (Marriage is a Crazy Thing call out. Who thinks we need a scene where Bom-yi does that for him? Show of hands…) It’s really loud and he is really cute concentrating.

When he comes out of the bathroom, Poo-reun waits for him on his bed, “Dad. When did you come back?”

(Wait a minute. There’s a horse in his room?  Did anyone notice that before?)

As he picks out the day’s outfit, he listens. Poo-reun reports she met Unni again, he warns her not to bother her, again and she agrees, again. Before she can leave, though, he asks for her opinion on his tie. “Hey, how old do I look to you?”

“About fifty?” Poker face Poo-reun teases.

Which makes him seriously mad. Softening up, she admits that when he went to her school her classmates all said he looked young and handsome. Aww

“Really?” he asks hopefully.

“No, Uncle Hyung Woo (Park) said that.” LOL. Dad can’t win today. Why is he asking about ties he usually doesn’t care? His reply that “he can’t ignore it anymore” puzzles her.

Se-na gets mad that a car is blocking the front entrance to her building. CEO, snazzy in a crisp, not rumpled suit, gets out of it.

 “Get in,” he says to the ladies.

Se-na refuses the polite offer of the ride, saying between gritted teeth to Bom-yi,  “I’d rather suffer with the bus crowd…than be tortured by you two being lovey-dovey.” She disappears, not that either could see her outside their tunnel vision for one another.

She smiles, he waves her over.

It’s awkward in the car, but sweet. She declines his offer to fasten the seat belt, but can’t stop him from wanting to get closer adjusting the seat since her long legs need more space.

Leaning waaaay over, he ends up reclining the back instead as she protests. ”Wait. Wait!” Then gets herself upright again.  He realizes sheepishly nothing moved where it was supposed to. “It looks the same. That wasn’t the right one.”

“It’s so warm in the car,” she notices.  He tells her he turned the heat on so her nose wouldn’t turn red again. “Are you hot?” (Yes, and you are, too.) “Want me to turn it off?” No, she likes it and they smile.  He asks what she ate for breakfast, then notes, “That’s not enough for you.”  He suggests they grab a bite to eat on the way to work. His proximity allows her to scrutinize him, and she tilts her head, inquisitively, so he mimics her. OMG

“What?””

“You look a little different.” Dong-ha grins like Hyun Bin and rubs his now smooth chin. “I shaved.”

This prompts her to check it out. With her hand on his face, electricity jumps between them. They decide to ditch work and run off together. OK, I made up that last part.

Rather than drive all the way to the entrance together, they separate.

Bom-yi gets out and walks in with Se-na, who disagrees with this tactic. Instead her friend should be announcing she’s the future wife of Hanu Haon’s CEO. Se-na does the longest OPW, sans Oppa, “I envy you.” It sounds like a sheep, and Bom-yi cant.even, and then Se-na repeats it. Bom-yi walks away. “Wait up!”

Dong-ha makes his usual CEO entrance and a minion runs out to park his car. Park approaches, “My love. My darling. My friend. My brother. I missed you,” wrapping his arms around Dong-ha’s neck. “Don’t ever leave me again. Understand?” Dong-ha extricates himself, “Hey, people are watching. What are you doing?”

Their ladies walk up. CEO and she share a secret smile before he goes in, nodding as his people greet him respectively. He is very very very much the man.

Long time no see for Se-na and him, too. “My baby,” he says,  but she greets him coldly, and keeps going in. Park is nonplussed.

Bom-yi’s first task is to clarify the situation with her boss, Meat Mom. ”I have something to ask you. How were you sick?” Bom-yi confesses, “There was something wrong with my heart so I need someone else’s. Fortunately, I was able to find a new one.”

The news moves Mom, “I don’t know who the donor was but she did such a nice thing before she died. So… are you really healthy now?”

We learn more about how Soo-jung’s death affected her, “After my daughter-in-law died, my mind was unwell. That’s why I was strongly opposed to having a sick daughter-in-law. Now I’m worried that I may have hurt you and your mother.” She’s afraid the break up with Dong Wook was because of her, and feels so uneasy, offers to meet with Bom-yi Oma.  “I didn’t break up with him because of you. It’s all my fault.” Bom-yi says. Mom puts her hand on the younger woman’s.

“It’s because I don’t want to lose you.” Aww

In the office, Park fawns as usual, talking about how Hanu Haon’s success  has been attracting entrepreneurs. Dong-ha gets a text and leaves; Park follows in the CEO’s wake begging for advice on his own love life, “Share your skills with me. Please help me…”

Bom-yi called him out because she wanted to see him before leaving, thinking it may not be appropriate to work there. “I met with the plant manager…” He’s curious about what they talked about. “Did you tell her about us by any chance?”  She didn’t want to disappoint Mom, but to stay without being truthful isn’t fair. They decide to find a proper time let her know later, together.  She can find another job, and he says he’s sorry, even though it isn’t anyone’s fault.  She makes a dinner date with him. He wonders how she’s getting home. Bom-yi tells him she can take a bus and he should go back to work. He looks pensive after she leaves.

At the hospital, Apa gets caught leaving Dong-wook’s office, jumping at the sight of the doctor. “Jeez!” he says and skedaddles. Inside, Dong-wook finds a gift with a note on his desk, I wasn’t mad at you. I’m sorry I raised my voice at you anyway. From your best friend. Aww it’s an apple, which is a pun on the word apology.(사과 sagwa)

Dong-wook smiles his handsomest smile.

Dong-wook surprises Ji-won in her office. We find out it’s because this is the first time he’s been there. They take their talk to a coffee shop, where he brings her a café latte. She still drinks that, right?

Because she is awesome, she asks him to get to the point. “If I refuse to become director, what will happen to the hospital?”

It is complicated, so she shortens it for him. The hospital won’t be able to recover. Chairman Song will withdraw his funds, too. This is unexpected. “I thought you’d leave here without any hesitation.”

“Even if I don’t marry Bom-yi,” he explains, “I still have a friendship with and loyalty to the director. That’s not easy to leave.”  She’s not so sure. “Friendship and loyalty? After your brother got married, you almost left your family. If, and I just mean if your brother and Bom-yi get married, can you still stay at this hospital?” He gives her an uncertain answer, but I take it as a definite maybe.

By the way…she is very curious about something. She didn’t ask previously while he was dating Bom-yi. ”Didn’t you tell me that if you got married, you wanted to live happily with children like your brother’s family?”  Yes, living like his brother’s family with a son and daughter, making others were jealous of their happiness is his wish.

“Can Miss Lee Bom-yi have children?” He explains that if immunosuppression is stable and the transplanted heart functions normally, it’s possible to have a child, but there is always adoption. She looks very surprised. “One of my family, I mean, I know a family, who adopted. It was a lovely thing to watch.”

Ji-won needs air and goes to the roof to think, recalling the rest of their chat.

“Why did you have hard time? You told me that Chairman Song helped you when you had hard time. What was the problem?” “It’s pointless to talk about now. It’s too late anyway.” She told him.

Bom-yi looks around a bookstore. She gets a copy of Alphonse Daudet’s Short Stories and writes a note on a sticky.

Dong-ha meets with his mother at work. Bom-yi didn’t quit Hanu Haon because it would be uncomfortable for her to see Dong-wook’s family. Mom didn’t cause the break-up, either. What does Dong-ha mean? “Did you ask them to break up?” Out in the warm sunshine, Dong-ha brings up a topic guaranteed to cause his mother distress. Bom-yi and he are seeing each other. All the consequences hit her. What about Dong-wook? She thought they had reconciled. “As his older brother, you shouldn’t do this.” Her words echo Bom-yi’s Apa.

What about her parents? They worried about the children when she’d only be their aunt… Jeez. Overwhelmed by the news, she runs away.

Dong-wook drinks a glass of wine, recalling his talk with Ji-won. Can he stay at the hospital if Bom-yi and Hyung get married?

Dong-ha drives up to the restaurant and recalls his mother’s concern that Dong-wook would be hurt. He leans on the steering wheel, picturing his brother’s sad expression.

Once inside, he pauses to look as his lovely girl before going in. She’s talking to someone. His kids. Damn.

Bom-yi confides that they scheduled this dinner a while ago. “I broke a promise with them. They order the correct drinks- juice not soda. Poo-reun and Ba-da hand her a gift. “They’re pills you can have when you hurt.”  “Is there such a pill?” Because Poo-reun was jealous and felt lonely when Ba-da was born, Mom made these for her to use when she was disappointed.“Then why are you giving them to me?”  “You seem to feel bad recently. Since you’ve done so much for us. Ba-da and I talked about it and agreed to give this to you.” Inside the capsule is a tiny note that reads: You’re precious. We flash back to the reunion of runaway bunny Poo-reun and her relieved parents. Tears running down the little girl’s face as her mom repeats, “Don’t cry. Don’t cry, Poo Reum. Don’t cry.”  “Are you really okay giving it to me?” “Of course, mom would be okay with it too, since you’ve been so nice to us.” Uncertain she can such a treasure, she looks at Ba-da, who smiles big, and then at Dong-ha. He maintains his neutrality, and does this very fatherly, manly, sit back thing, which I take as, “You decide.”

During the meal, Bom-yi tends to the kids, babying them the way Dad never would.

Enough so that Dong-ha pushes her to eat.

The mood dims a moment when Ba-da asks when she and uncle are getting married. Nobody knows what to say. Poo-reun swoops in with pizza to change the subject and the adults are grateful.

Once home, the kids have to run in so Ba-da can pee. They bow politely before sprinting into the house.

“I think we should tell Poo Reum about us.” Dad agrees to. She asks why he looks not so good and he admits he revealed they’re dating to his mother.

They relocate to a café; Bom-yi stacks the giant (to me) wrapped sugar blocks. “What did your mother say?”  Not much.  Bom-yi is disappointed, though, since had asked they break the news together. “Bom-yi, I like you,” Dong-ha says, “but I don’t need you. I don’t want you to fill in as a mother for my children.” Her face falls. “It’s like you work too hard for them.” To Bom-yi, it feels like a rebuke.

“Don’t be disappointed. You’re still young. That’s why I don’t want to rush anything. I want you to live for yourself but not for my family or me. Do what you want and what you wish and go wherever you want to go cheerfully and happily. That’s how I want you to live.” A sad expression stays on her face. He nods reassuringly.

She hands him the Daudet book and when he reminds her he has one, she tells him this one has a different ending.

Poo-reun is on her spot at the end of Dad’s bed. He begins what feels like a long introduction and Poo-reun stops him.

“I’m not stupid. You and Unni are seeing each other, right?” Ever the considerate one, she worries about uncle, too. Dad sighs and states he’ll take care of things which seems to make his daughter feel better. I guess that is what Dad’s do. Meat Mom gazes at a photo of Dong-wook, Dong-wook and Soo-jung. Speaking to the to the heavens, asks, “Why does God do this to him?”

Se-na chows down on noodles, teaching Bom-yi, “When you’re stressed, spicy food is the best.” It bothers Se-na that Hyung Woo can’t come see her but when Bom-yi offers to leave she warns against it.

“Just let the CEO take care of it. You should just hide in his shadow. You deserve it.” Bom-yi can’t agree, so Se-na lays it down for her, “He’s a widower with children who stole his younger brother’s girlfriend.  He’s even seeing a woman eighteen years younger than him. He should bear it. Don’t think that I’m being too hard…Just think of it as hearing it from me before you hear it from your mother.”

Dong-ha finds Bom-yi’s sticky note in book and we see his memories of them together on Udo. “Stepanette couldn’t forget the shepherd’s sweet voice when he told her about the stars or his warm shoulder she’d rested and slept on that night. So she visited the shepherd again. Now, beside the shepherd and hearing the stories of many stars that brighten the night sky she’ll live with him happily ever after.”

He likes it.

“Our fate is now in Dr. Kang’s hands,” Bom-yi Oma sighs to Apa. She really needs to know why they broke to find a way to reconcile them. Apa shakes his head in disbelief and walks out on her.

Dong-wook is camped out in Apa’s office. “Ms. Chairman is really worried, right? What do you want me to do?”

 “Hey, we aren’t supposed to discuss this. We’re enemies. Do whatever you want.” Dong-wook thinks Apa should be begging him to stay. But the older friend wants Dong-wook to solely consider his own future. “This is scarier than you begging me to stay.” For a moment, Apa wonders if maybe Dong-wook should not give up on Bom-yi, then backs off. They both agree NOT to let Chairman Oma find out about the new couple.

Meat Mom and Bom-yi have a date at a café.

Dong-ha gets a phone call from Apa who just arrived at the Hanu Haon campus. Dong-ha goes into a room to meet Bom-yi’s father. (Oh boy, this is so so so tense, I cover my mouth not to scream.)

Dong-ha defers to the older man when Apa apologizes for calling so suddenly.

“I should have visited you first.” Apa begins, “I’d like to thank you before anything, because of your precious decision, my Bom-yi could survive. I’m truly grateful and I deeply respect you. Thank you.” He bows his head. Silence falls. Dong-ha looks for something reassuring to say, but fails.

Apa finds himself in a situation he never could have predicted but because Bom-yi is a child who worries about her parents more even when she is sick. Because of the connection he and Bom-yi have he thinks her judgment it clouded. She doesn’t even seem to care about Dong Wook. “She seems lost.” Dong-ha tries to get a word in, but can’t.

“Please push her away. I heard that you have a daughter too. Just imagine yourself in my shoes and please try to understand me as the father of a daughter.” Apa is going for the jugular. “Since you’re much older than Bom-yi. I believe that you’ll think wisely and act.” Dong-ha keeps his head down his face unreadable.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier,” Bom-yi begins. They play the blame game. It’s Mom’s fault, it isn’t the CEO’s, it’s Bom-yi’s. “I know that it shouldn’t have happened. I know it with my brain but I couldn’t control my heart.” She doesn’t know exactly what to do, but she will try her best to make things right. Mom sighs.

Apa has gone. Dong-ha stares into space.

Se-na finds Bom-yi  is on her way out to go home, but again counsels her friend to stay. She reports that Apa visited the CEO at Hanu Haon. She has a bad feeling.

Dong-ha calls Bom-yi out to the hall Se-na’s door. He lights up when he sees her. She isn’t as happy with him.

“You don’t have anything to tell me?” He doesn’t.

Inside, Se-na gets her Honey on the phone and invites him over now that Bom-yi is leaving. Bom-yi’s mother is on the other line looking for her daughter; she asks for the apartment number. The Chairman scares the piss out of Se-na who desperately dials Bom-yi’s number.

“Why aren’t you telling me about my father visiting?” Bom-yi can’t meet Dong-ha if he tries to take care of everything alone and suffer alone, and if he hides everything from her. “What am I to you, Mr. CEO?” Other people don’t concern her. “The only thing I’m afraid of is you becoming unhappy after meeting me. If you were happier before you met me. That’s what I’m most afraid of.” His eyes prove us that is not the case for Dong-ha. She gives him her puppy face, and then hugs him. “I’m not too young. I’m not a child. I want to be a woman who can comfort you when you have hard time and when you’re lonely.”

He puts his arms around her.

Oma starts her way down the hall towards them…areyoukiddingme?

Dong-ha spots the woman and separates from Bom-yi taking her hands in his and telling her he’s sorry.

 Oma arrives at the door, and is just about to knock when she hears Bom-yi’s voice,

“Don’t ever hide anything from me. Let’s do everything together from now on.” Shocked, she takes in the sight of the decrepit but horny old man hanging out of his van window tempting her 8-year-old daughter with a lollypop.

The offender feels her eyes on him; Bom-yi turns in the direction he is looking.

“Mom?”

Oma and Oma Enemy Number One look at each other. The battle is on.

Thoughts:

Brilliant! The writers used a screen play to fools us. (Can you guess I have been watching a lot of my son’s highschool gridiron football games?) At first we concentrated on Meat Mom being all shaky-fist, trying to stop her from advancing, but it’s Oma with the ball running down the defense now. She’s fast on her feet, strong and capable of dragging the pile of Team Bom-ha on her back for the distance. I won’t feel too much sympathy, though, when she eventually gets brought down. How can I? The fault lies with Oma that her daughter fears more than needs to confide in her. Yes, poor Oma had to be the enforcer at home during all the emergencies and surgeries and treatments and waiting for a miracle. It fell to Apa to encourage and nurture. Still, Oma had the same opportunity, the same time to get to know her Bom-yi rather than treating her like a hothouse flower.

(NB It is absolutely not my parenting style to protect my kids from making mistakes. We should encourage them. On the wall in my office is my favorite Edison quote: I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Whether it is love, school or career, you improve the most learning to recover from failure.)

Oma and Apa didn’t have the benefit of spending that last delightful ten episodes falling in love with Dong-ha, as we did. Though maybe we shouldn’t share with them how hot CEO is… It will probably take the next five to convince Oma, at least, not to have him arrested. Apa? I think he will come around sooner. If Apa really wants the best for his daughter, he will recognize Bom-yi could never do better for a partner than Dong-ha. Their hospital, poor dears, seems to be a goner, though, unless Dong-wook comes through again as the hero. Is it my imagination, or is Lee Joon Hyuk getting progressively hotter as we go? Of course, he loves Miss Bae. Of course they will be happy together.

Watching uri Bom-yi♥Dong-ha’s breathless first moments together is great. I need you all to gush with me about all the scenes! Watching Bom-yi evade control by the older Dong-ha is awesome. The strong will she needed to get out from under her parents is still very much at play with her new lover. Watching them compromise who is the boss of whom and when makes me very happy. Honesty wins every time over going along to please, and Dong-ha is smart and kind enough to know when to admit he made a mistake. Let’s see how these two use their negotiating skills now to win over their parents.