I NEED ROMANCE 3 EPISODE 5

I Need Romance is a romantic comedy about a man whose childhood was spent with an older girl until he had to leave for America at a young age.  Seventeen years later he comes back as a fully grown and now attractive man, who tries to find his way into her life again while dealing with her changed persona.

This episode surprised me. A lot of development that just has to be seen to be believed. Advances are rebuked, new romantic attachments are formed, and information that is crucial to the plot comes to light. It's a pivotal episode, so think twice before continuing to read if you haven't seen the episode -- there are major spoilers ahead.

When we left off, Joo Wan just revealed to Joo Yeon that he was her childhood friend whom she had not seen for 17 years. In this episode, she is shocked to find out that the child that had annoyed her so much had also changed this much. She believes he played with her emotions by making her believe he was someone else. He explained that if he had not done this, she would have continued to treat him like a child, and not seen him as a man. She asks him why he even likes her. Joo Wan reflects on this, and is sure that it can't just be because she is lonely, or that she is hurtful. He can't come up with an answer, and later tells her that he just loves her for who she is. She dismisses this, which to me was childish. 

We eventually find out why she was so annoyed with Joo Wan. She was branded as a thief when he gave a stolen item to her as a birthday gift. She had to carry him around outside as a fussy child who couldn't sleep. He tangled gum in her hair, so she had to cut it. She grew to view him as mean and spiteful, and the only reason he was in her house was because they were paid well to watch him. He leaves to clear his head, then apologizes to her for everything. She tells him if he's sorry he needs to stop liking her. He now knows that because he's sorry, he understands her better. Because he understands her, he likes her even more. We see that he had whitewashed everything in the past to make himself feel better.  It was interesting to see that everything we had gotten about his childhood so far had been from his skewed perspective alone--a fascinating and shocking development.

But there's another wrinkle, and it will be intriguing to see how this plays out. Joo Yeon finds out that Director Kang Tae Yoon used to date her arch-rival and mega-bitch Se Ryung. She confronts him about it, and says she's disappointed that he would date a woman like that. I balked at her reaction, since each person's love life is their own business. Could she be jealous? He admits to Joo Yeon later that when she smiles, she is unbelievably lovable (a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with). So now Joo Yeon has another potential suitor in...her boss?  

Of course, this is even more complicated because we learn that Se Ryung has designs on him again--which prompts him to get stinking drunk to the point he ends up crashing at Joo Yeon's place.

Min Jung's one night stand appears to be Mr. Perfect. He has moved in next door and now she tries to avoid him whenever she sees him around their apartment complex. During one of their usual "hook-ups," he says he likes living there, but that his neighbor is strange, not knowing she is actually that neighbor. They call her "the senior citizen who lives alone." I'm a bit stymied by this whole thing, but I think it has to do with keeping your home life and your love life separate. If you're not ready to be serious, you don't want your lover living next door, much less living with you.

Hee Jae's love life just got more complicated. As fellow hoobaes, she and Wooyoung have been growing closer and closer at work. Now she confides in him about her relationship, her doubts, and her exhaustion at working so hard just to make things work between her and her boyfriend. He counsels her about her relationship, dries her tears, and kisses her. At first, it's a quick kiss. She leans in again, and they make out in earnest. Are we seeing a new romance blossom?  And what about Mr. I-Need-To-Pass-the-Civil-Service-Exam? Where does that leave him?  

At work, Oh Se Ryung gets the upper hand again. At a meeting, the group decides that designer Park Seung Geon would be the hottest designer to help sell their network. They forward the list of designers they gathered to Oh Se Ryung, excluding  Seung Geon. They feel that until they see the results of the first show, Se Ryung and the team are rivals still.  They immediately leave to give the designer the proposal, only to find Se Ryung has beaten them to him. When Seung Geon heard she would be involved, he relented, which equates to a win professionally (he's working with them), but also personally (they tried to keep Se Ryung out of the loop, but she again makes herself look better than Joo Yeon).