I NEED ROMANCE 3, EPISODE 10

Omo! Joo Wan and Joo Yeon fighting! Say it ain't so!  But it is. Joo Wan isn't even speaking to her because of last episode's revelation. He tells her he found out she's cunning and getting worse. "If you want to love someone and be loved, stay loyal to that feeling only," he cautions, "instead of focusing on messy things like rivalry and jealousy."

Joo Wan is very bipolar here. He goes from love to hate and back to love again quickly. He doesn't like what Joo Yeon has become, but he can't deny his feelings for her. It's amusing that he warns against jealousy, even to the conceit of saying, "I don't get jealous," yet there have been a couple encounters with Kang where he certainly acts jealous. I know that Joo Yeon is his weakness, and that smile of his is certainly disarming. It is great to see Wan smiling again, because when he smiles you get the idea that things are going well. His moods seem to reflect the tone of the episode.

The episode suggests that Hee Jae has finally accepted the fact that she's attracted to Woo Young. Despite her assertion at the beginning that she is too busy to figure out if she's okay, she is holding hands with Woo Young during the bowling game near the end of the episode, and is just fine with it when his friends ask if they're dating. What we don't know: is this a reaction to her anger over her ex-boyfriend's actions? Or a true surrender to her feelings toward Woo Young?

Min Jung's world comes crashing down around her when her lover shows up at her work. Min Seok is enraged at her deception, but he very quickly turns from angry to desperate for her love. This did not turn out the way I expected. I thought it would end up with him storming out, eyes blazing, and her in tears, which is the way this situation usually plays out. But it was just the opposite. She left him, and he feels helpless. Again, I have to disagree with her actions. Doesn't he at least have a right to know she's carrying his child?

And we get a further fleshing out of the history between Se Ryung and Joo Yeon. Se Ryung invites Joo Yeon back to her place, and they sit and talk, it seems, not as rivals but as friends trying to hash out differences. Se Ryung is offended that years ago, Joo Yeon didn't defend her against the nasty rumors about her virtue, and Joo Yeon simply said that she didn't care about who was better, or about Se Ryung's relationships with men; she simply liked Se Ryung, and liked being around her. Se Ryung makes a last desperate plea to Joo Yeon: don't date Kang. Which makes me wonder: is this, too, a ploy? Did it have the ulterior motive of trying to block Joo Yeon from Director Kang, leaving Se Ryung free to put the moves on him?  And it looks like she's quitting. Is this because of Kang? And is it out of revenge or to protect her feelings?

Joo Yeon is branching off in surprising directions. Althought Joo Wan initially pushes away from her because of her desire to hurt Se Ryung and muddle up romance with rivalry, she disarms him, taking his arm in hers, leaning her head against his shoulder, and generally being close. By the same token, she's pushed away a bit from her co-workers, not caring to hear more about Hee Jae's romantic life. I don't know if that's an emulation of Kang's standoff nature or what. And it's especially surprising that she would just accept Kang's declaration of "I will try" as the basis for starting a relationship. I know she's confessed to Wan that she's not certain she's experienced true love, but why just settle for something? On the surface, it's very rational: passion is fleeting, and trying is what's left after the first flutters fade. I can't explain it,  but it just doesn't feel right. I think I'm still rooting for her and Wan.
 
Joo Yeon is still trying to romance Kang, even though Kang is a bit lukewarm as to whether he wants this or not. I'm not a big fan of Kang. While his smile is very Cheshire-Cat-like, I'm not sure he is the best fit romantically. He seems very calculating and possessive. He still carries a torch for Se Ryung, and yet that torch seems to fuel his anger at the same time. As much as he is the successful, handsome ideal, he is also shut off from his emotions, and if he can't promise much, then why even be with him? He was certainly cold to Se Ryung. And he's grabbed Joo Yeon's arm three times as if she were a handbag, stopping her from getting away. That just screams abuse to me. This also compels me to ponder about his relationship with Se Ryung. Did he act the same way? Was he merely "trying," as he has promised to do with Joo Yeon? Was there love there? If there was, is it fair to court a girl that he doesn't have the same feelings for?

We're only a handful of episodes from the end. Will Woo Young and Hee Jae find happiness together? Will Joo Yeon fall for Wan and reject Kang's tepid advances? Will Min Jung finally accept Min Soek into her life? Will I finally stop asking silly questions? Stay tuned to find out!

You can catch INR3 on tvN on Monday and Tuesday nights, and on DramaFever.

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