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Seo-yeon and Ji-woo haven’t always been on the greatest terms with each other since their decade long separation. They still aren’t on good terms in the present. However, the two are presented with challenges and revelations that can either break their relationship into even smaller pieces or help rekindle the simple and quirky relationship they once used to have in college. Which option will they choose and will they come out alive or broken?

Let’s Eat Season 3: Episode 12 Recap

Episode 12 begins by showing us the events leading up to Seo-yeon’s visit to the nursery home. She and Ji-woo had gone grocery shopping together and Ji-woo’s mentions of Mom reminded Seo-yeon about her. She then discovered the photo of Ji-woo and Mom in front of the nursery home which compelled her to visit Mom. Because Mom suffers from dementia, she doesn’t recognize Seo-yeon and walks past her clueless.

Dae-young reveals to Ji-woo his plans to continue with the food project collaboration instead of working as a branch manager. He wants to pursue this food project as it’s what makes him happy. He’s been having doubts about his work as an insurance consultant and he no longer feels as passionate about it as he once used to. While the two converse over Dae-young’s new goal, they’re approached by Ji-woo’s neighbor who stops by to greet Beanie. Dae-young grows confused as he’s been calling Ji-woo ‘Beanie’ the entire time. In reality, the name belongs to the dog, not Ji-woo. Lol, how embarrassing!

The drama then takes us back to the college days. Dae-young returns to his apartment to grab some last minute stuff before heading back home to his parents and for the military (it was NOT a good idea to be recapping this knowing that Doojoon will be leaving for the military. Omg, I am so incredibly sad). He visits a young and little Beanie who’s being taken care of at an animal shelter. Ji-woo joins Dae-young while he observes Beanie from outside the center and makes a request to Ji-woo. He hopes she’ll look after her and update him on Beanie later on. Ji-woo agrees.

Dae-young and Ji-woo return to his apartment to find Byung-sam and Jin-seok fighting over the game console. They both want it since all of F4 paid for it. However, Sung-joo wakes the both of them up and plead that they pay attention to Dae-young instead. Instead of arguing over the game console, they should be helping him move things out or help him come up with ways to make money. Dae-young had to give up his dreams of going to the world cup to pay for his dad’s debt. The two boys are apologetic for their selfishness and volunteers to help remove the drawer sitting at the corner of the living room. Upon removing it, they find some puke plastered onto the walls. Although there are arguments as to whose fault it is, they all reach no conclusion.

Later on that night, Ji-woo and Seo-yeon observe Dae-young smoking outside in front of the apartment complex. He must be stressed and overwhelmed with his family and army enlistment.

To celebrate Dae-young’s last soccer game, the soccer club plays one last game at school and both Seo-yeon and Ji-woo are there to support. While playing, Sung-joo hurts himself and is replaced by Ji-woo. She has decent soccer skills and manages to pass the ball to Dae-young to make a goal. However, he misses the shot and the other team wins. To cheer themselves up, the crew decides to grab some food (like usual hehe).

The team heads to a restaurant near a beautiful creek for some food. Ji-woo can’t stop staring at Dae-young and smiles upon seeing him smile (HE LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL I’M CRYING). Ji-woo is approached by Seo-yeon after using the restroom. Seo-yeon suggests that Ji-woo spend some time alone with Dae-young since that’s what he might want, but Ji-woo refuses. He’s the happiest when he’s with his friends.

The food the group orders arrives and as usual, Ji-woo gives them tips and tricks on how to best eat the food. Dae-young notes how much he’ll miss hearing these words of wisdom on food from Ji-woo when he’s in the military which makes her (AND ME) sad. Ji-woo even feeds Dae-young by handing him food first before the others and continues to give him tips and tricks. Seo-yeon becomes fed up with all her tips and even recites them out loud after taking down some notes. LOL. Jin-seok and Byung-sam continue to tease Dae-young and his military enlistment so they decide to sing some karaoke to lift the mood up. As usual, Ji-woo decides not to spend time with Dae-young alone.

At karaoke, Ji-woo and Seo-yeon sing upbeat and cheerful songs (like Chae Yeon’s ‘Two of Us’ LOL) to brighten the mood and have some fun. However, all the songs the F4 members sing are sad and sullen and the boys constantly remind Dae-young about the military. Jin-seok even brings in a German student to talk to Dae-young since he won’t be able to attend the world cup in Germany. Omg, Jin-seok please! Ji-woo heads to the restroom to come up with another game plan to cheer Dae-young up. She decides that they can go to the internet cafe to play some games since Dae-young loves to play games! As she exits the restroom, she encounters Dae-young waiting nearby who asks to get some air together. She agrees and they leave. Seo-yeon witnesses the pair exit together so she persuades the rest of F3 (plus the German guy) to stay another hour inside the karaoke room. LOL.

The two head on a date with each other near the river. Their hands slightly touch when Dae-young bumps into a passerby, but they brush off the awkward interaction. However, Dae-young takes the leap and holds onto Ji-woo’s hand while jumping on rocks to cross the river (EEEEK). Ji-woo takes his hand and together they make it across safely.

Dae-young and Ji-woo head to an art exhibition afterward. They pass by a poem that captures their attention and read it to themselves. Oddly, they can relate to the poem as it reminds them of each other. While walking side by side near the river, they recite the poem in their mind while remembering all the memories they made with each other in college.

It’s time for Ji-woo and Dae-young to bid farewell. They wait together at the bus stop for their respective buses to arrive. While waiting, the two almost confess to each other their feelings. However, they hesitate and agree to tell each other what’s on their mind once Dae-young is discharged from the military. Ji-woo’s bus arrives so she heads home first. As Dae-young watches her leave, he ponders over how he couldn’t ask Ji-woo to wait two years for him. Meanwhile, Ji-woo also thinks about Dae-young and how she couldn’t manage to tell him she could wait two years for him (OMGG IM’ NOT OKAY. THIS IS TOO SAD).

Thankfully, Ji-woo and Dae-young keep in contact through letters that she writes to him. She updates him on the enlistment of the other F4 members as well as her adoption of Beanie. When Dae-young finally receives his first leave from the military, he attempts to get in contact with Ji-woo. However, he’s unsuccessful and can’t seem to reach her. He stops by the animal shelter to visit Beanie, but even she isn’t there.

The drama then takes us back to the present where Dae-young and Ji-woo are talking about his new career. Ji-woo updates Dae-young on Seo-yeon’s living situation and shares that they’re once again living together. Dae-young is relieved to hear the news and even considers asking Seo-yeon for some support with his new food business. He could definitely use some of her help since she’s had some experience.

Speaking of Seo-yeon, she suffers from a panic attack while riding the bus back to Ji-woo’s place. She recalls the moment when she learned at the nursery home that Mom was suffering from dementia and faints upon thinking about it. She’s transported to the hospital where Ji-woo works and is accompanied by Ji-woo there. Seo-yeon fainted as a result of anaphylaxis, but should be fine after being treated.

Dae-young stops by Ji-woo’s place to meet with Seo-yeon. However, he discovers from Ji-woo that she’s currently resting in the hospital and makes plans to stop by. However, Ji-woo suggests he go to work instead.

Dae-young bids farewell with the team members he worked with on the food project. Although they’re no longer team members, they’re still his clients as he managed to persuade them to sign up for insurance with him. LOL. Dae-young encounters Woo-sun in the office so he invites him for some dinner. Dae-young wants to talk to him.

Dae-young informs Woo-sun of his plans to start a business. He wants Woo-sun to join him since the food delivery collaboration was his idea and project. Woo-sun agrees to the invite, but only if Dae-young is willing to treat him to this dinner. Dae-young agrees and they both eat their dishes (of course, without getting into a small bicker about the food first like they usually do lol).

While the two guys feast on their food, Seo-yeon and Ji-woo once again get into another small argument at the hospital. Seo-yeon confronts Ji-woo on Mom’s situation and questions why Ji-woo left Mom at a nursery home knowing she has dementia. Ji-woo is speechless and walks out of the room without answering Seo-yeon’s question. All the two sisters can do is cry.

Dae-young wants Woo-sun to work with him on his new business, but Woo-sun is unwilling to. He doesn’t want to give up his job at the company to work at a start-up with Dae-young. It’s too risky and plus, his job at the company gives him the money and reputation that he’s always wanted. Woo-sun won’t make any rash decisions just because he’s excited, whether that’s with love or work.

When Woo-sun wakes up the next morning, he finds himself laying in Dae-young’s place. LOL. Just like before, he got drunk the night before and had to be taken care of by Dae-young. He contacts Dae-young to ask for his whereabouts in which Dae-young responds that he’s doing his laundry.

Woo-sun heads to the laundry room to meet with Dae-young. He grows upset that Dae-young is washing his clothes without his permission. Then he grows upset again when he discovers that Dae-young isn’t washing his dirty clothes. LOL. Dae-young remains proactive with his business and hands out surveys to customers at the laundromat asking questions about eating alone.

Woo-sun rushes to the hospital after learning from Dae-young that Seo-yeon is in the hospital. Instead of finding her, he discovers Ji-woo instead and she scolds him for having drunk the night before. It seems like he’s still drunk when he asks her if there’s any kimchi dough soup at the hospital. LOL. Ji-woo drags him out by the ears. Hahaha.

Meanwhile, Dae-young meets with Seo-yeon. She asks for him to take her to the kimchi dough soup restaurant once she gets discharged. Dae-young is willing to, but he also suggests that she ask Ji-woo to cook the soup for her. Seo-yeon likes Ji-woo’s version of the soup as well. Seo-yeon grows angry at the sound of Ji-woo’s name and claims that Ji-woo threw Mom away at a nursery home. However, Dae-young comes to Ji-woo’s defense and reveals all the worries and stress that Ji-woo had to put up with while taking care of Mom. How would Seo-yeon know what Ji-woo went through when she was gone for 10 years?

Seo-yeon meets with Ji-woo to ease the tension between them. She apologizes to Ji-woo for the harsh words she said about her, but she also brings up the reason as to why she continues to hurt Ji-woo. She wants to take revenge for the way that Mom hurt her back in college. Mom did love Seo-yeon, but she only did out of guilt. It turns out Ji-woo’s mom was the reason for Seo-yeon’s parent’s divorce as a young child.

The revelation stuns Ji-woo and she’s in complete shock upon hearing the details.

My Thoughts:

It was a bad idea to recap this in the middle of the night knowing that this episode wasn’t all fantasy as Doojoon is actually enlisting in the military. Seeing photos that he posted on Instagram with the other Highlight members as well as with his mom only made things worse. My heart physically hurt while recapping this episode and at times, I actually thought this episode was just purely for entertainment purposes (it still was, but ya know). Then I woke up to reality and reminded myself that Doojoon was actually heading to the military and it made my heart hurt all over again. Clearly you can see that I’m still sad over his enlistment. I know it’s mandatory and required, but he left us too soon 😦 I’m going to miss him so much.

Moving on to the drama, this episode had great developments especially between Seo-yeon and Ji-woo. Now that they’ve clarified and revealed some details regarding Mom, hopefully they can get that out of the way and start to rebuild their relationship with each other. Ji-woo used to always be upset and jealous over the way that Mom would treat Seo-yeon especially since she was the biological daughter, but with Seo-yeon’s bombshell it all makes sense now. While I don’t think it was necessary to have had Ji-woo’s Mom have an affair with Seo-yeon’s dad to explain why Mom was so biased towards Seo-yeon, it does serve as a catalyst to hopefully sort out Ji-woo’s feelings and thoughts towards Mom. I don’t think Ji-woo’s resented her mom even if she wasn’t treated the way that she wanted to be treated by Mom. I also think the drama should have just kept this storyline the way it was and allow us to believe that Mom catered towards Seo-yeon a little bit more because she wanted to be the mother figure in Seo-yeon’s life that Seo-yeon never had as a child. That would have been enough for me to understand and acknowledge Mom’s bias treatment towards Seo-yeon. However, the drama added in some makjang elements by stating that Mom cheated with Seo-yeon’s dad and it just made everything much more complicated than it already was. Not necessary, but worth waiting to see what happens afterwards.

It’s sad that the crew lost contact with one another after F4 enlisted into the military. Granted, things like that might be common and there was really no way of contact with one another when they’re each doing their own thing and are located at different sites. Regardless, I’m hoping that they can reunite at least once in the present to just catch up and return to the old ways again like how they used to in the past. That’s my number one wish from this drama, but I’m not entirely sure how the drama will end with two episodes cut short. A reunion with everyone from college would be great; the drama had already built so much and executed the college days so well in such a refreshing manner it’d be such a waste to not see that again in the present. Regardless, the college memories is what clearly stands out in this drama and I’m so happy that they decided to stick with it throughout the entire show than say just the first few episodes. I’m going to miss our squad so much as well.

Woo-sun is so adorable and it’s obvious that he still has feelings for Seo-yeon even if he tries to deny these emotions. The way he attempted to search for her at the hospital and then ask if there was any kimchi dough soup there just in case she wants some was seriously the most cutest and heart-warming scene in the episode. It was such a small detail, but you can tell that Woo-sun clearly was worried for Seo-yeon and looking out for her. Even if Seo-yeon might be drowning in different emotions and thoughts, please at least make sure she has her kimchi dough soup. That will for sure cheer her up.

With Doojoon’s sudden military enlistment (NOOOOO!), the drama had to be cut two episodes short to end the show at 14 episodes. Next week is the finale so I’m not too sure how things are going to wrap up. I doubt things will wrap up as smoothly and greatly as viewers might want and I think that’s totally okay given the tight situation that our cast and staff were thrown into. The good thing is that it already seems like the drama is starting to wrap things up with this week’s episodes so next week’s shouldn’t be too bad. Things might seem rushed, some things might be edited out or left untouched, and some things might not be brought up at all, but I think everything will be fine for our characters eventually. The drama might not end on the stronger note as it should have if it had 16 episodes instead of 14, but I think it’ll be fine. I’ll be looking forward to next week’s finale and how things conclude for all our characters who I’ve grown some sense of attachment to. Something tells me I’m going to be needing some tissues while watching next week’s final episodes.