Love Actually
Episode 13 of Our Beloved Summer begins with Choi-Ung and Yeon-Su spending time together while they’re dating. Embracing Yeon-Su’s way of life is something Choi-ung’s not accustomed to, but he remains determined to embrace this. Both he and Yeon-Su remains cautiously optimistic over their future. While Choi-ung keeps his fantasies to himself, Yeon-Su searches online for relationship advice, determined not to make the same mistakes again. Meanwhile, Ji-Ung shows off the first draft of the documentary to the team. Ms Kim is happy, as are the others too who decide to run with this – after a bit of editing of course. While the gang all want to go out and celebrate, Ji-ung remains guarded and trying not to let his emotions get the better of him, snatching up his phone and leaving the room. Elsewhere, NJ prepares for the 10 year anniversary for her fans, deciding to film a special video for them. During her interview, she’s asked about her dating life and what’s happening regarding Choi-Ung. She reaches out and asks the public not to jump to conclusions, and points out how she’s grown distant with Choi-Ung as a result of this. Eun-Ho ends up seeing this broadcast while he’s over at Choi-ung’s place. He speaks to his client and mentions how concerned he is. Not necessarily with NJ but more so with Yeon-Su. After all, he was there to see the state Choi-Ung became after the break-up. He’s concerned things could end up ugly again. In order to make him feel better, Choi-Ung agrees to talk to Eun-Ho about a raise. While Eun-Ho immediately jumps in with 30% but Choi-Ung’s incredulous look sees him instantly drop his own offer to 20. That night, Choi-Ung waits for Yeon-Su outside work. He’s chivalrous and helps her into the car but Yeon-Su is not herself. After asking one of her work colleagues for dating advice, Yeon-Su hilariously takes this wildly out of hand and Choi-ung can sense it. Eventually the pair air out their problems, with Yeon-Su pointing out the articles she’s been reading, Choi-Ung holds her hand and implores Yeon-Su to be herself, admitting that she’s unlike anyone else and they should redo their date again, properly this time. And they do just that, heading to Sol-Yi’s restaurant instead. In the morning, Choi-Ung messages NJ and thanks her for the article and what she said on the interview. Despite it taking days to message back, NJ tries in vain to stop herself from replying immediately, given her keen interest in him. So to stop herself, she goes to extreme measures to hide her phone. Ji-Ung remains obsessed with his documentary. He works long hours, refuses to leave the editing room and pushes away everyone who tries to check up on him. That is, until Yeon-Su arrives. She calls him out for skipping meals and grabs his hand, forcing him outside to go and eat dinner. Ji-ung admits he’s a mess but does his best to be polite with her. Through it all though, he struggles to open up and tell her the truth about how he feels. Meanwhile, Sol-Yi heads out on her blind date but it doesn’t go to plan. It’s slightly awkward, especially when the older guy tells her he didn’t realize what the time was (despite it being really early.) The thing is, Eun-Ho obviously has the hots for her and this causes a bit of awkwardness before she heads out for a date. When Sol-Yi rushes back to her restaurant, believing she’s forgotten about the clams, Eun-Ho is there helping to sort them out. She immediately starts looking at him in a different light, even suggesting that they drink all the soju in the fridge together and eat clam stew. NJ eventually heads over to see Choi-ung in person. She only came over to talk about the interview and clear the air, but things are awkward between them after her confession about likin him. NJ makes a stand and decides that she’s going to reject him outright. That also means no longer being friends with him, given her feelings. Just before leaving, NJ tells him to ring her if he and Yeon-Su break up again. As she turns to leave, NJ clearly looks disappointed. Meanwhile, Ji-Ung heads back to the editing room with Yeon-Su after eating. Only, while he stares at her, Chae-Ran shows up with takeaway. She sees the pair together in the editing room and she’s crushed. Yeon-Su later visits Choi-ung at his house and finds a brochure for an architecture school in his book. Choi-Ung has his reservations about going, and even admits that he doesn’t have a university degree. The only reason he went in the first place is for her, and besides, he hasn’t needed it to make his career a success. For Yeon-Su though, she’s pretty shocked by this turn of events. As the pair sit together, Choi-Ung asks openly about exactly why they broke up in the past. During the epilogue, Chae-Ran calls out Ji-Ung’s affection for Yeon-Su and likens it to Love Actually. In particular, the infamous scene with the placards. She asks how his story is going to end but Ji-Ung simply tells her he’s in a documentary, not a movie.
The Episode Review
Our Beloved Summer returns with another decent episode, one that sees Yeon-Su and Choi-ung trying to navigate those early weeks in a relationship. Everything is perfect, nothing can go wrong but niggling feelings about the past continue to play on both their minds. The real elephant in the room here though is exactly what happened that led to the break up in the first place. After so many episodes, it’s about time Choi-ung learned the truth and hopefully now Yeon-Su has the courage to open up and discuss this with him. Meanwhile, Ji-ung continues to just hang around and mope his way through these episodes. I know it must be difficult for him, seeing his best friend with Yeon-Su but he’s missing out on the best thing in his life right now – Chae-Ran. Hopefully he sees sense before the end of the season and the pair do end up together. Alongside this, the NJ subplot looks to finally come to a close after not really going anyway. The commentary about celebrity culture and how difficult it must be for her to find love is welcome, but it never really materialized into a love triangle, beyond a few misunderstandings. Despite all that though, Our Beloved Summer has been a decent watch and the ending hints that we’ve got plenty more drama to come going into tomorrow’s follow-up episode.
