My Secret Hotel Episode 15 - Can I get a refund?

And just when you think that this drama might have more open and direct dialogue, it is the 2nd to last episode after all, it jumps straight back into the pool of misunderstanding.  I think the writers have a misunderstanding that we viewers want to see more of this crap.  Song Hyo witnesses Ms Buttinsky dropping off her husband, supposedly from a night out together.  We see in flashback that Sang Hyo actually DID fly to New York after her husband, but was met at the door by a scantly clad Ms Buttinsky who implied that she was sleeping with Hae Young.  Wow, history is repeating itself (what a shocker), but at least we have a better understanding of why Sang Hyo has been so anti-reuniting with her husband.

My Secret Hotel Episode 13 - Stuck in a Continuous Wash, Rinse, and Repeat Cycle

We left episode 12 with Sang Hyo agreeing to live with Hae Young for a week (supposedly to save his poor sick father) and playing house.  All while avoiding her boyfriend Sung Gyeom (I am seriously feeling bad for this poor sucker) who, though bringing it upon himself for jumping into a relationship with a married woman, does not deserve this selfish of a girlfriend.  UGH This girl is getting on my last nerve.  Just choose already and be a descent human being and treat whoever your significant other ends up being, with decency and common courtesy. That means do not talk to, live with, make out with, sleep in the same bed with, (and it should go without saying) DONT MARRY, someone who is not your official boyfriend.  Finally Sang Hyo went one step too far and Sung Gyeom is drawing a line in the sand (This really should have been done 4 episodes ago so we would not have to rotate around this flighty heroine anymore.).  

Sang Hyo has to make a decision, go home with Hae Young (who she is still saying is just someone who she is helping) or go to her supposed boyfriend who is waiting for her?  Hmmmmm what will she do?  Do we even care anymore?

For those of you who still care about our OTP, she chooses to stand up her boyfriend ex-boyfriend and go home with her husband.  A car ride during which she complains about how uncomfortable facing Sung Gyeom is for her.  We are skipping facepalms and going straight to the facewall photo because this girl is just too much.

I actually cheered when Hae Young pulled the car over and chewed her out.  "Stop mentioning him around me.  You know how I feel about you, Don't keep drawing the line like that."  Finally, a whole sentence comes out of our leading man's mouth without her interrupting or misunderstanding.  And surprisingly enough, it is exactly what Sung Gyeom was also telling her.  I wonder if it will finally get through Sang Hyo's brain that she can't continue to treat the men in her life this way.

I am really enjoying dumped Sung Gyeom more than boyfriend Sung Gyeom.  Not only that, but it looks like Picasso might actually win her man by default.  They play a cute game of "Trash Sang Hyo" where Picasso keeps complaining about her "Sang Hyo is not really that pretty, more slightly above average at best" and Sung Gyeom replies "You're right, she is more cute than pretty".  HAHAHAHA  It really is quite cute.  Picasso even admits to her involvement in Sang Hyo's marriage with Hae Young and apologizes, in her own way.  Sung Gyeom just replies "At least you are consistent" although he still looks upset.  He ends the night, brooding in his hotel room.

There was a cute moment between Hae Young and Sang Hyo (I think I might stop calling them an OTP, because saying anyone is Sang Hyo's One True Pairing is a bit of an overstatement since she has the sticking ability of twice used adhesive) when she goes into Las Vegas flashback mode.  Sang Hyo remembers how poking Hae Young used to make him horny.  Phtttt I laughed when he said "My body is erotic all over" Too cute.  I like Las Vegas flashback married couple.  But what is up with Sang Hyo's shirt?  I am pretty sure that wearing a shirt that has the words "Buy Me" all over it is not really the image you want spread out to the world.  Is this a case of Koreans not caring what English words are used in their drama as long as they are English? Or is it really poorly done product placement?  Buy Me could mean buy this shirt, or buy this lipstick, or buy me as a leading lady that deserves a hot husband. In any case the answer is still no.

How refreshing are Hae Young's parents?  It is amazing to see a wealthy family not disliking their sons orphan wife for once.  Not only do they not dislike her, but are totally supportive of their son following his heart towards the woman he loves.  When they said they would go for a walk, upon catching their son and Sang Hyo getting frisky (or fighting over a cell phone, its all depends on ones perspective) they stole my heart.  Unfortunately their early departure to the US puts a crimp in Hae Young's plans, and being the mature grown up he is, he lies his pants off when questioned by his wife.  SIGH.

I guess that I gave Sung Gyeom too much credit in assuming that he thought it was over when Sang Hyo never arrived on the first floor to meet him.  Instead he goes to talk with Sang Hyo .....again.....and asks if all she needs is a week .....again......... to be done with Hae Young.  Does anyone else feel like we are seeing the same conversation over and over.  Just grow a pair and tell her that she is officially dumped. That her treatment of you is NOT all right, and you deserve better.  But no, instead she agrees to move out immediately now that her in laws are gone, dumping Hae Young........again...........in order to return to Sung Gyeom.........again.  And yet again, the part of me that cares is absent.

Returning to Hae Young's house to gather her things, Sang Hyo calls to find out the pass code.  When he refuses to tell her and hangs up, she starts putting in random codes until she tries their anniversary date, which of course opens the door. HINT: HE STILL LOVES YOU, YOU TWIT.  Hae Young races home, frantic to stop her from leaving him again.  He bursts in but finds all of her things gone, at which point he collapses crying over losing her....again.  We see tears rush down Hae Young's face as a flashback shows us his devastation over coming back to her in Vegas, only to find the house empty sans a ripped photo of the two of them.  The beautiful music from the OST is playing its magic on my heartstrings (if only the writing was as amazing as this OST), and for a brief moment I am sucked back onto team Hae Young.  Because really what is better than an angsty tear ridden khottie pining for his epic love. Sang Hyo walks back into the house, oblivious to Hae Young's emotion meltdown.  He rushes forward, embracing her, still crying and begging Sang Hyo not to go.  "Give me a week.  Please don't leave me".

Instead of being moved by his obvious despair, Sang Hyo tells him to stop, that it is over.  Hmmmm haven't we done this scene already?  Writers, you are just getting plain sloppy now.  She walks out the door and Hae Young is left alone again.

At this point I am just begging the writers to put us all out of our misery.  But the fickle writers are not done with us yet.  We end the episode with Ms Buttinsky butting her big nose back into Hae Young's marriage....again.  Writing a scathing article about their fake marriage and how it was only for the good of the hotel, Ms Buttinsky sets the balls in motion for our couple to reunite.  Because heaven forbid we don't go down this road again......and again.........and again.  Thank goodness we only have one more week so this circle of idiocy will finally end.  I know that this viewer is looking forward to it.

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My Secret Hotel Episode 11 - Ambiguous OTP Hell

Hey all you awesome readers!  Kmuse here, back with the recap for episode 11 of "My Secret Hotel".  I hope you are enjoying the whiplash between Dongsaeng's and my views of this drama.  A lot of what she sees and takes from this show are completely different from how I feel and I am getting a whole different view than if I alone was recapping it.  It is almost like having a wonderful recap version of a debate.  And I admit that I am never going to be able to look at the Picasso girl the same way again.  Well played Dongsaeng, well played.

Last weeks episodes drove me nuts, so much so, that I blame them for the horrible week long kdrama funk that I suffered.  I watched maybe 6 drama episodes during the whole week, and considering I am watching 20 different dramas, that is saying a lot.  Mostly I moped and watched Judge Judy on youtube (did you know you can watch judge shows on youtube?  How awesome is that?).  Yes, that is right, your kmuse took a kdrama break.  The first in the four years since I began obsessing over everything kentertainment.  Luckily after a marathon baking session yesterday, I am back and ready to tackle the insane amount of catch up both in my dramas and blogging....so here we go!

Episode 10 ends with Hae Young heartbroken.........again........ (the boy needs to learn about romantic signals.  He is really really really bad at that) and we are forced to watch Jo Sung Gyeom serenades a misty eyed Sang Hyo about their epic love.  Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't they only been dating for a week or so?  And most of that time was while Sang Hyo was on her honeymoon with her ex-husband/current husband.  I am pretty sure this love is neither epic, nor really romantic to date.  And wouldn't you learn that jumping into romance and marriage is not the best idea without first learning about each other and you know......dating first?  Looking towards the future is fine. Not rekindling things with your ex husband, I can support that. Doing the exact same thing again (that ruined your 1st marriage) with a different man is not the road to a healthy and solid relationship.  Two kisses does not make a marriage(or at least not a lasting one). 

Poor Hae Young, his attempts to win back Sang Hyo are failing dismally.  Mostly due to the fact that he has this stupid idea that he winning her back means romantic gestures or simply being in the same room with her.  I personally want to give him a copy of "Relationships for Dummy's".  Until he realizes and fixes the problems that originally broke them apart, there is no amount of flowers or horrible singing that can bring her back.  And it is quickly getting very very embarrassing to watch him try.  After the singing disaster, Hae Young goes out with his staff and they do a very poor job in trying to console him.  Beers are drunk, embarrassed sympathy is given, and I actually winced when Hae Young continued to talk about the "war" for Sang Hyo's affections.  I am all for a persistent leading man, but we have moved from persistent, to creepy ex stalker, to sad lonely loser.  Even I am starting to feel that maybe this relationship is not meant to be.

Brooding (as usual) Hae Young sits at home talking to himself about how much he hates Sung Gyeom.  We flash to Sang Hyo's apartment, she is in a skintight sweater dress that barely reaches her legs (what every woman wears at home alone -- insert eye rolling) when who should appear at her door but Sung Gyeom asking to spend the night.  Sang Hyo breathlessly agrees and he starts to unbutton that barely there dress.  One button, two buttons, and Hae Young shakes his head breaking the daydream... HA, he tells himself to not go that far and promptly calls Sang Hyo to make sure she is not in mid-make out with his rival.  I seriously don't understand how these two can act like that embarrassing moment at the restaurant didn't happen, but we seem to gloss over that and Hae Young begins to warn Song Hyo about her Director, "Men who sing Kim Dong Ryul's songs are players".  Phhttt she counters that men who half sing and dance to Park Jin Young songs are okay then?  This shuts our leading man up, but he leaves her with some sound advice (advice I doubt she will take) to not give her heart completely until she knows Sung Gyeom as well as she thinks she knows Hae Yeong.

Hae Young continues his inner movie of Sang Hyo and his rival getting frisky.  He keeps trying to stop from thinking about it to no avail.  He finally flops on his couch and in a dejected voice murmurs "Finding what you lost is so difficult."

Hae Young continues to use cheep school boy tricks to try and woo his lady love.  I am not sure when I have been less impressed.  Rather then coming across as cute and ingenious, they are starting to scream immature and pathetic.  I want to still remain firmly on Team Hae Young, but when he prank calls Sang Hyo, pretending to be a famous actor doing a radio show, I think some of the glitz fell off this prince charming.  Hae Young is unable to keep the ruse going for long and it is turns into another verbal fight when Song Hyo figures out it is her ex. What was funny in episode 1 has definitely lost its bite in episode 11.  I am almost beginning to prefer him moping and holding onto his pillows in misery.  At least then I don't have to be embarrassed by having him as my OTP (one true pairing) choice.

Things are not fairing well for the shippers of the other possible OTP (Director Jo and Sang Hyo) either.  As the drama delves deeper into the deaths of McCreepy and Blackmail girl, Sung Gyeom is looking more and more suspicious.  Especially when we discover he was actually being blackmailed by the hotel's favorite con artist (but then again, who wasn't she blackmailing) and is desperately searching for the mysterious necklace.  Sang Hyo catches him rifling through the dead girls things, not once but twice!  

Now I am not saying that she should be leading the villagers with pitchforks and torches to string him up.  But at least hesitate over your future infatuation with the guy.  And then she actually says Sung Gyeom probably has a reason for his mysterious and possible felonious actions?  If this was a horror movie she would be the next victim because it is just stupid to excuse this type of behavior with a murderer running lose.

"I don't care if you call me clingy, I don't care if you call me cheesy, but Sang Hyo, seeing you with someone else is driving me crazy."  Usually these words would just be more of Hae Young's selfish monologue about his love for Sang Hyo.  But finally something he said felt sincere to me.  Beyond all the huge gestures and jealousy moments, this scene touched my heart the most.  His despair over the situation that he finds himself in is just heartbreaking.  And just like that I am back cheering for team ex husband.  My feelings were compounded when a drunken Hae Young had a conversation with an imaginary Sang Hyo (why do I always like dream Sang Hyo more than real Sang Hyo - she just seems to have more personality) where he finally comes to grips with letting her go.  

But this is episode 11 and we still have five more to go so of course this is not the end.  Hae Young is awoken by an unexpected telephone call from his parents.  His parents who think he is blissfully remarried with his first wife.  His parents who can't hear about his failed marriage because of his dad's heart condition. So Hae Young's self revelations are chucked out the window and it is off to Sang Hyo's to beg for her help.  After some serious guilting, Sang Hyo eventually agrees to move into Hae Young's house for a week after which Hae Young's parents are traveling to the US.  So now we not only have a forced marriage but a forced cohabitation situation because this show just refuses to let either of the possible OTP's die.

Now that the recap is completed, lets discuss the ambiguous OTP (one true pairing) concept that TvN seems to want to ram down our throats.  I once thought it would be delightful to have a drama where you truly did not know who was going to end up with who?  Think of all the fun story lines that could be told?  How exciting would it be to never know what is going to happen?  I take all that back.  It sucks, it sucks like a black hole of angst that is this drama.  When you have a limited amount of time with a set of characters, you try to figure out the patterns of the romance and relationships.  For example, they meet in episode 1, have some romantic glimmerings by 4.  Episode 5 through 10 are plot movement bringing them closer together followed by some kind of angst taking them apart in episodes 11 through 14.  Finally we get happiness, connections, and closure in the last two episodes.  There might be small changes, but that is the basic timeline.  When you add in two male leads to the story it messes everything up.  Writers are trying to juggle two story lines and making both possible.  They also try to make both men likable, because who would want the leading lady to be with a total jerk.  But by doing this, they are never able to really flesh out either scenario and limit both relationships.   And then this also splits the fans by making them pick a lead.  I am sure you all remember the ship wars of Reply 1994?  Friendships and fans were separated by whether you were Team Trash or Team Chilbong.  Profile pictures were changed, words were exchanged, and most people came out of the experience feeling a bit battered if not all out bitter.  A lesser example is the drama "Surplus Princess" which again tried for the who will she end up with crap concept.  This time people were not going to go for it, ratings tanked, and a whole four episodes were cut from the already short drama.  TvN is going for the trifecta by doing a similar style with My Secret Hotel.  What could have been a clever and quirky drama has become mired in lead couple hell. We are constantly ping ponging back and forth between the two men's love lines, and am getting sick of the writers trying to win me onto either team.  It just makes the leading lady seem shallow (or at least she will if she switches guys again) and leaves a sour taste in my mouth.  So let's just leave vague OTP's as a fantasy concept since, just like chicken and waffle potato chips, they should just not exist. 

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My Secret Hotel Episode 9 - So Many Questions. So Much Frustration

This episode was chock full of questions and few answers.  Personally, this blogger is getting a bit frustrated with the character development of the three leads, as well as the romantic story as a whole.  What is going wrong?  Why am I not connecting in like I want to?  To try and answer this question, let's go through this episode and throw out some of the questions I am sure everyone is asking.  I can't be the only one out there cranky at the leads.

DISCLAIMER:
I am having the hardest problem blogging this episode.  Could be lack of sleep.  Could be my anger at Sang Hyo for not being the character I had hoped she would be.  Could be I am distracted by the surprisingly sexy body of Sung Gyeom.  Whatever it is, please forgive my lack of wit in this recap since I seemed to have misplaced it.  To make up for it, I surfed the web (trying to avoid having to watch the episode) and found all kinds of miscommunication cartoons.  Because if there is one thing that this drama excels at, it is miscommunication...........and they are much funnier than I am.  Especially at 2 am.

Question #1 Why Don't we have 60 minutes of Hae Young narrating romance novels to us viewers?  I have to imagine that there are a lot of women who would tune into listen to him talk about heaving bosoms and chiseled jawlines.

I don't know why, Hae Young's voice in the opening scene was swoon worthy.  The longing, the huskiness, so much sexy vocal overload for this poor blogger.  It is almost jarring when the rest of the cast speaks because I want to yell at them to shut up so Hae Young can vocally brood some more.

My favorite melodic vocal moment came when director asked Hae Young why he married Sang Hyo.  He replied (in his oh so very very sexy voice) "The first or the second time?  The first time because we were madly in love.  The second time to win back the woman I am madly in love with."  WOW Swoon moment.  Why can't Hae Young seem to say anything like that when Sang Hyo is actually around.  For the love of Pete, say that and Sang Hyo is bound to fall at Hae Young's feet.  Or more likely she will misunderstand and think he is just saying that to save face, or because he likes to hear himself think, or for a ton of other reasons.  This girls ability to make up problems is legendary.

Question #2 - What Happened in Vegas?

Poor Soo Ah is in her bed crying about her boyfriend's disappearing act (he ran when he realized that he could not keep her while living in poverty).  Soo Ah tries to receive comfort from our cranky leading lady, asking if she thinks that her boyfriend will be back?  "If he comes back I can forgive him, even if it takes a while." (Awww.  Soo Ah is just a tad simple minded, but she can be sweet sometimes as well.)  Rather than console her, Sang Ho bitterly says to dump him, "they never come back.  Move on".  Hmmm  I think I am starting to see what went wrong with your first marriage.  And guess what, it was not him, it was you.

Then we finally get the flashback we were waiting for.  What went wrong in Vegas? Did they have a horrible fight?  Did Miss Buttinski ruin their marriage (that is my running theory)?  In flashback we see that Hae Young leaves her with no words, only a plane ticket in her name: destination New York, and an address.  I guess Sang Ho goes into a her depressed stupid place, since the time lapse indicates she sits on the floor "waiting" for days, until she finally passes out.  Really?  That was the extent of your "great love"?  No phone call, no communication, no anger?  Sigh... I am really starting to get pissed off with the writers for creating situations that just don't make sense.  Seriously?  Who can even relate to that kind of extremity.

Question #3 Why Can't the OTP (one true pairing) be Hae Young and Sung Gyeom?

The one highlight of the episode came about when due to a mix of jealousy on Hae Young's part, the two men ended up spending the night in the same suite.  What followed was the most hilarious and immature show of male posturing that I have ever seen.  When Sung Gyeom picks a bed, Hae Young scoots onto the bed forcing the director to end up on his lap.  Hahaha My expression was probably similar to our 2nd leads.  Who does that?  This was also the scene that I mentioned earlier where Hae Young waxes poetic about his love for Sang Ho.

But the true magic happens as we watch Sung Gyeom brood, staring into the mirror, while in the shower....phhttt  Don't get me wrong, the guy has some amazing eye candy from the neck down, but who stares at themselves in a mirror while showering?  What hotel provides creepy mirrors in the showers?  That is one step away from having rotating heart shaped beds and mirrors on the ceilings.  But I digress, here we are brooding, showers, lots and lots of exposed skin... and the visuals go on, and on, and on.  

Finally Sung Gyeom goes back into the bedroom and even Hae Young is taken a back.  Hahaha he starts an argument about how Sung Gyeom must never work since he must spend all his time working out at the gym to have that body.  Sung Gyeom just smirks as he lathers lotion into his abs........Ummm you sure are taking your time with that lotion there boy.  I am pretty sure he is enjoying one upping his rival, but it is short lived when Hae Young comes over, looking down his nose at
Sung Gyeom, and calls him short.  HAHAHA These two are hilarious.  Why do they have so much chemistry with each other and so little with our leading lady.

Question #4 - If you got married for the hotel, then doesn't it look bad to break up with the "love of your life" two days after the wedding?

Seriously?  There is a major plot hole here if we are supposed to believe that Sang Ho is ditching her marriage two days after the actual wedding.  Does she think no one is going to check up on their marriage (especially with Miss Buttinski in the mix)? 

Does our dim heroine think that dating and kissing Sung Gyeom is the way to prove that she has a real marriage with Hae Young?  It is going to come across as a marketing ploy which will be horrible for the hotels reputation.  What about the three month divorce curse that was the whole point of starting the publicized wedding?  If she gets divorced now, how does that continue to help the hotel?  I am willing to accept the insanity of a forced remarriage pushing our OTP back together. But what is the point when it only ends up pushing them farther apart.  When we have Sang Ho making out with Sung Gyeom as a cliffhanger then obviously we have a problem with the writers selling me on our OTP. 

My Thoughts:
The writers are dropping the ball on character development this week.  I need to believe that this could somehow be real people dealing with these problems, but instead I get a lot of situations that came across as false.  Why wouldn't Sung Gyeom be more upset with Sang Ho's selfish actions?  If my girlfriend married someone else and went away on a honeymoon, I would be a tad bit pissed. Also why would Sang Ho ditch the marriage ruse when it was saving her career.  Why would you sit alone in an apartment and not TALK with your husband about why he has to go to New York.  So many things were just stupid and frustrating to me today.  I know that the writers are somehow going to turn things around, but while they take their time in doing so, I am losing patience and interest.  Crossing my fingers that things pick up next week.  Until then I will at least go back and enjoy the brooding shower/mirror scene since that was sexy and funny all at the same time.

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Nam Sang-Hyo

Koo Hae-Young

Jo Sung-Gyeom

Y

eo Eun-Joo

My Secret Hotel Episode 7 - Signs You Should Pull A Runaway Bride.

Where to begin?  This episode was jam packed to the gills and I can honestly say that a good 2/3rds of the episode I was shaking my head and yelling "what?  what?  WHAT?" at my computer screen.  And that was with my husband still awake and giving me the "my wife is crazy and it is all kdramas fault" look, that I usually try to avoid.  There was so many interesting, odd, and essential plot line in this episode, that I am actually going to break my blogging rule and give you more of a play by play of events.  Because when you have this much confusing crazy unexpected plot twists, you just have to break a rule or two.

But before we get to the interesting stuff, there is the pesky engagement that shouldn't be.  This sucker needs to be nullified ASAP.  So let's discuss the facts, and why this group of people should all be pulling a "Runaway Bride" about now.

I tried, I really tried to see what you all see in Jo Sung Gyeom, but I think I am a lost cause.  I just keep getting visions of control freak boyfriend from him, and his constant time related ultimatums don't help at all.  Preparing to leave for some kind of work related weekend, he hunts out Sang Hyo in order to affirm their new dating relationship. And also order her to get over Hae Young by the time he returns. He then has her fix his tie (symbolic sign of commitment - I see the tie more as a metaphor for emotional bondage's of doom) and heads off, comfortable that his woman will be waiting when he returns.  

All I can say is if you start the conversation with the sentence "You keep avoiding me even after agreeing to date me." that says something you control freak.  Run away Sang Hyo while you have a chance.

Moving on to our, soon to be married couple, Heo Young and Soo Ah, are also having a case of cold feet.  For the last six episodes I have not been a a huge fan of the bride.  At best, she has been dense and bubbly, at worst she has been the typical chaebol entitled heiress who treats her peons like crap.  But I guess the writers wanted to give her a good send off (oh please let her be gone for a while) allowing her to pull her own Runaway Bride (we have to free up the groom somehow without making him a total jerk for jilting someone at the last second).   

Soo Ah calls her groom on the phone, dressed in her wedding finery, and driving to the venue......next to her boyfriend the chauffeur.  As she tells Sang Hyo that she loves him more than anything and always will, she is OBVIOUSLY talking to her driver who is teary eyed next to her.  Um, if you are confessing to your secret boyfriend while on the phone with your fiancee, then maybe it is time to stop the wedding.

What I find surprising is that Hae Young (the one that has been the most antsy about this wedding) is the one most likely to go through with it.  He might be busy brooding in his hotel room (Does anyone else think his suits are resembling a marble counter top?) but he is planning on going through with the dreaded wedding.

Chauffeur boy toy ends up being the voice of reason (or at least of impetuous naivete) and announces that he and Soo Ah should ditch the wedding and run away together. YAY!!!!  The wedding is off. Or is it?

Hae Young receives the the unfortunate wonderful news, but before he even has time to process this turn of events, Sang Hyo is screeching for him to go get the bride back since she has to throw this wedding or her job is done.  Have to admit that this was not Sang Hyo's shining moment.  Sympathy, thy name is not Sang Hyo.  

But her rampage leads Hae Young to have a wonderfully crazy idea.  Instead of having no wedding, he will follow what fate is obviously telling him, and just marry Hae Young.  He gets his parents and even his ex-future mother in law in on the plan (seriously so crazy that everyone is going along with this.  You don't see that often with Korean parents) and sets his plan in motion.

Lastly, he goes to convince Sang Hyo who is breaking the bad news to her staff in the ballroom.  Everyone is about to panic when Hae Young arrives saying there is going to be a wedding, and the bride will be Sang Hyo. BWAHAHAHAHA.  You have to give Hae Young (and the writers) kudos for going where no drama has gone before.  Determined to snatch back his errant wife for a round 2, Hae Young informs Sang Hyo that this would solve all her problems.  Sang Hyo gets the wedding for the hotel like she wants, and Hae Young gets the woman fate put back into his life (although in true Sang Hyo fashion, she assumes he just wants to avoid the embarrassment of being jilted.)

Things might have ended there, because really, stepping into an ongoing wedding as the "new" bride is just plain cuckoo.  But frenemy, love rival, coworker, Eun-Joo, sees an opportunity to get rid of Sang Hyo and runs with it.  She orders Sang Hyo to get married to save everyone's job.  "Look at the string quartet! If you don't get married they are done for.  What about the rest of us who will lose our jobs?  Marry for the good of the hotel!  It is your duty as a boss."  BWAHAHAHA  Eun Joo even calls for a show of hands of wedding supporters and Sang Hyo stepping in as the bride.  All the employees raise their hands and Sang Hyo is the only one against the nuptials. 

Now you might be wondering how a person can just switch out the bride with no one noticing?  Hae Young has his almost mother in law send out a group text to the bride's party saying that the wedding had been switched to a different location, then shooed everyone that had already arrived out the door.  The hotel employees then quickly replaced all the name decor with Hae Young and Sang Hyo, hoping that most people don't remember the exact names written in invitations.  Eum Joo even grabs the bride's name (written in icing) off the cake, stuffing it into her mouth, when a spry older gentleman began questioning the problem.

They would have gotten away with the ruse if not for Ms Buttinski, who vehemently objected to the change in bride (is it just me or does this girl have something to do with their initial break up/misunderstanding?  I am getting some serious vibes).  But Eum Joo was on a role, and no jealous hoochie was going to waylay her chance with Sung Gyeom the wedding.   She admits to the bride change, but then goes on to wax poetic about lost love found again, second chances, epic titanic level romance, until the crowd all has tears in their eyes.  This time when Ms Buttinski tries to object, the crowd boos her into silence.  

Hae Young arrives at the front of the wedding hall and we wait with baited breath to see if he is going to jilted for a second time.  Sang Hyo's name is called and nada (I am embarrassed to admit that I also was holding my breath waiting to see if Sang Hyo would show up).  Her name is announced for the 2nd time, the doors open, and in walks Sang Hyo, dressed to the nines and being walked down the isle by her boss (her other boss not her boyfriend boss).  She truly does look breathtaking as she walks down the isle.

Romantic looks are abounding, love is in the air, heartfelt vows are exchanged, all while the bride has her fingers crossed within the folds of her skirt.  HAHAHA, seems that Sang Hyo is still a bit bitter over being railroaded into this ruse.  It is obvious that Hae Young is alone on his newly discovered devotion to their relationship.  Poor guy. His smile slips for a second, but Hae Young has the last laugh as he pulls Sang Hyo into a steamy kiss.  

But lets not forget that this drama is supposed to be riddled with murder.  The mystery plot line takes a huge jump forward as we have our 2nd victim.  After arguing with an unseen person, blackmail coworker is bludgeoned with a candlestick in the bathroom (seriously people, I am not making this up to fit into a "Clue" theme.  It really happened.)  There is a chance that I was busy laughing at this when I should have been feeling bad for the poor deceased.  It will be interesting how this plays out in the next episode. 

For the most part, the episode has been Sung Gyeom free since he was on a work vacation while his girlfriend accidentally got married.  But our 2nd lead did have one funny part that really has to be explained or it comes across as very very weird. No, Sung Gyeom does not have a mysterious twin, doppelganger, nor is he married and have amnesia.  Instead his "wife" is from the variety program "We Got Married", in which he was one of the grooms.  Hong Jin Young does a cameo where she pretends he is her lost husband NamGoong Oppa (his actual name).  I found this cameo very enjoyable and cute.... as long as you realized the reason behind it.  Otherwise the writers just went totally wonkers in an episode that was already edging past the unhinged line in the sand.

I am looking forward to the upcoming hijinks as our newlyweds go off on their honeymoon.  Will sparks fly?  Will we finally have some actual communication between our OTP (One True Pairing).  Will I like Sung-Gyeom any better? Who knows, weirder things have happened in this drama.  

Til then,
Kmuse

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