Really, they're pretty adorable together even though neither one of them has quite figured out that they like each other, though Joon-Hyung is closer to that realisation than Bok-Joo. At this point in the story, Bok-Joo is still crushing mighty hard on Joon-Hyung's big brother/cousin. She, in fact, began attending his weight loss clinic under false pretences just to be close to him...not even expecting anything out of it. She's got a bit of a self-esteem issue as far as her womanhood is concerned. He's her first crush and the world up until now has been treating her as less of a woman, from randos in restaurants saying she looks like a guy to the rhythmic gymnasts always ragging on the weightlifters. Part of that is because of her weightlifting training, but also how she was brought up by her single dad. She's never felt particularly "like a girl" and it never bothered her much before. It's been all weightlifting up until this point. But she's crushing hard on the good Doctor.
With good reason. He seems a sweet guy so far (really hope the show doesn't ruin that; after all, he is Joon-Hyung's caring older brother/cousin). But while Jae-Yi may have her heart at the moment, he doesn't actually know her at all. She's pretending to be something she's not -- a cellist, for one thing. And there's no real indication that he actually likes her. He's been keeping that doctor/patient thing fairly clear, though he does seem to be appreciative of her compliments. Does he realise she's crushing? Hard to say. He might be clueless. He certainly doesn't seem to see that his best gal pal likes him, though Joon-Hyung seems to know that.
Joon-Hyung also knows about Bok-Joo liking Jae-Yi too. He figured it out early on and while it threw him slightly, he has, if anything, been supportive. He set Bok-Joo up with tickets to a concert next to his brother and has slipped her inside information. It's interesting to see because it's obvious to the viewer that he really enjoys being around her and has from the end of episode 1 once he figured out who she was. While Bok-Joo pretty much thought he was an annoying pest throughout the early episodes, the viewer got to see him in ways that she didn't; the huge grin that appears unbidden on his face as soon as he sees her, the bounce he gets in his step, the sheer joy he has in talking with/teasing her when the rest of his life is giving him stress. She also hasn't seen or noticed many of the things he's done in support of her -- going back to give her dad extra money when Bok-Joo paid for his chicken meal herself, him lurking around when he's concerned about something going on with her, him confronting people who he thinks has wronged her (including his ex-girlfriend...we'll get to her in a minute).
Seriously. He's relationship goals, this boy, and he hasn't even realised that he likes her yet. He's telling himself he just enjoys being around her. She's the most fun he's had in a while. He's confused about why it bothers him so much when something is going wrong in her life. I'm looking forward to when it hits him (and Bok-Joo), because it's gonna be sweet enough to give you cavities.
And they're going to need all the good feels because they're both going through some stuff right now. Bok-Joo's ruse was figured out by her coaches and her dad (who totally flipped in a way that made me like him MUCH less -- trying to beat someone with a broom handle is NOT okay, nor is punching her uncle in the eye). So she's pretty much on house arrest. And Joon-Hyung is having mental issues with his swimming and lots of false or late starts and it can all be traced back to his mother abandoning him to go live with her new family and dumping him with his aunt and uncle and cousin. (Bad mom. Bad. So bad.) They, happily, are lovely and supportive, but it was him discovering that his aunt had been the one sending him postcards for the last 10 years that pushed him over the edge. Poor boy.
He's also got his ex hounding him to get back together. Song Shi-Ho is somewhat sympathetic in that you see how she's struggling, but she's going about EVERYTHING the wrong way. She was the one who dumped him 2 YEARS previously, right when he needed her most. Now that she feels desperate and that she needs him, she's after him with a vengeance. Kudos to him for being clear with her from the start--he wants nothing to do with her false love.
She's the one who outed Bok-Joo (she's Bok-Joo's new roommate) to the coaches, though at least the writers show her regretting it. But when confronted by Joon-Hyung, she doubles down. She's a woman on an edge of her own making and she seems like she's about to jump. Is she the big bad of the show? Hard to say. It seems that she wouldn't be a bad person, if she could just get herself together. But she needs to do that herself and not look for it from Joon-Hyung.
Storywise, it's all holding together pretty well. My one real-life quibble is that there's no way the 20 to 23 year old rhythmic gymnasts work. They're supposed to be working towards the Olympics? A lot of gymnasts have RETIRED by that age. 16 is the youngest they can be to compete now (or turning 16 in that year, so there are 15 year olds), but they are generally not ever over 22. The average age in the 2012 Olympics was 18. But the show had to have them around the same age as the 21 year old Bok-Joo and Joon-Hyung. Shi-Ho is actually even supposed to be a year OLDER. That bugs me a bit. I wish they'd made the ex something else, but I imagine they wanted to pick a sport farthest from weightlifting and settled on gymnastics as the obvious choice. Strong vs. delicate. That sort of thing.
Also enjoying all of the actors, especially Nam Joo-Hyuk. Similar to Park Hyung-Sik, he's just adorable and charming and lights up a room. I'd feel all cougar-y except I know that if I met any of these guys I'd probably in all reality feel very mother-y and want to feed them soup or something. Ha. In fact, I read an article about poor Joo-Hyuk getting mauled by some fans in the Philippines and I wanted to go medieval on them. Leave the poor boy alone! He looked so uncomfortable.
Bok-Joo's two best friends are also a joy, though I wouldn't want to hang out with them when they were drunk (the one friend's pigtails are why they wound up in a veritable bar fight...). It's nice to see them supportive but also to see the jealousy too (when one knows Bok-Joo's secret and the other doesn't).
Looking forward to the last half of the series. I think this will be another one I don't want to end. At least, I hope so. It's looking that way so far.
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