Ah, this show. With every episode, it leaves me emotionally (and almost physically) exhausted, yet I'm always excited to come back for more. Because even if our characters stomp on my heart, I know that some way or another, they'll find some way to mend it. Let's just keep it mended for now, okay?
EPISODE 11: "The ugly duckling"
At home, Moon-young uncrumples the paper Sang-tae threw out, and seeing it's a drawing of her with the boys, she bursts into tears. There's then a knock on her door, and she opens it to Ok-ran, who pops a party popper and sings "Happy Birthday."
At OK Hospital, Kang-tae realizes that Ok-ran may be Moon-young's mother, so he races out of there. He tries to call Moon-young, but she's not picking up — she's preoccupied with Ok-ran as she invites her inside.
Moon-young follows Ok-ran as she wanders about the mansion and asks what she's doing here so late at night. Ok-ran reveals that Go Dae-hwan tried to kill her, and that he went on about needing to kill all monsters like her and Moon-young.
So Ok-ran wanted to visit Moon-young, thinking she'd be lonely tonight. After all, Ok-ran says, she's a big fan of her mother. Ok-ran picks up a fountain pen and calls it pretty, and Moon-young warns her not to touch her stuff.
Moon-young grabs the pen but is surprised when Ok-ran doesn't let go. Instead, Ok-ran smiles and says, "We're quite alike. I also hate it when people touch my stuff." Ok-ran whips the pen away, slashing Moon-young's palm. And though Moon-young doesn't seem to register the pain, the action surprises her.
A panicked Kang-tae finally reaches the mansion, and he sprints inside, yelling for Moon-young. He goes into the study and sees the splatter of blood on the floor, from Moon-young's palm. Before Kang-tae can really panic, Moon-young appears at the top of the staircase, safe and sound.
Kang-tae closes the distance between them and holds Moon-young so tight that it takes her breath away (and mine). He's relieved to see that she's okay, which gives her hope, but then he demands to know where Ok-ran is.
Frowning, Moon-young tells him that "that ajumma" already left. Is that the reason why he came — not because he missed her, but because a patient escaped? She lets go of him, saying that his brother, and now even the patients, are more important to him than her.
He starts to argue, but she turns and storms off to her room. She flashes back to earlier, just after Ok-ran cut her hand. She reflexively reached for some scissors, but then she remembered Kang-tae's advice to count to three if she felt close to losing control.
It took everything in Moon-young to count to three and hold back. And with that, she ordered Ok-ran to get out of her house. Though now, Moon-young is wishing she'd just lashed out.
Kang-tae comes into her room and sits by her side to wrap up her wounded hand. But she snaps that her hand doesn't even hurt; his words from before, of them having an ill-fated relationship, hurt much, much more. He said that she isn't an empty can, so why is he still treating her like one?
She's getting agitated, so he grabs her by the shoulders and urges her to count to three if she can't control herself. She does, saying, "One, two," while the intensity between them only grows. They say, "Three," at the same time and omo... Kang-tae surrenders control, cupping her face and kissing her.
They come up for air and look into each other's eyes before going in again (omo x2). Kang-tae pulls away, and this time, he softly says, "Happy birthday. I missed you." He smiles and says that she's turning red, though she blames it on the heat. She points out that he's red too, and remembers that he has a fever.
