Relationships take a lot of work. They’re never easy and, often times, can be tricky. Although words and reasons and explanations can say a lot about a situation, it’s ultimately one’s actions that make a bigger impact. Like they usually say, actions speak louder than words.
Oh My Baby Episode 11: No Words Can Express How Much I Love You and How Sorry I Am
Yi-sang makes his grand confession to Ha-ri: it’s difficult for him to have a child. The hopeful smile on Ha-ri’s face slowly disappears and the look in her eyes turn sorrowful. She has trouble comprehending his comment. Yi-sang adds that he couldn’t bring himself to say something to Ha-ri until now because he was afraid of losing her. Ha-ri storms out of the studio and spends time alone outside on the balcony to process her thoughts. Both Yi-sang and Ha-ri’s emotions get to them and they’re uncertain as to what to do.
When Ha-ri returns to the office, she attends a meeting with Yeon-ho and Cheol-joong. They discuss about the cover model for their next issue and who they should invite. They suggest inviting a celebrity since their competitors have secured celebrity Lee Mi-do and her baby as their cover models (hilarious!). Can’t ‘The Baby’ do the same and also recruit a celebrity? While Yeon-ho and Cheol-joong babble on to Ha-ri, the Editor-in-Chief isn’t in the best mood. She has trouble listening and paying attention in the meeting and it takes her a few seconds to snap out of it. Without knowing what she volunteered herself for, she agrees to Cheol-joong’s idea and the meeting concludes.
Hyo-joo heads downstairs to pick up some packages for ‘The Baby.’ On the way back, she encounters a sullen and dejected Eu-Ddeum and attempts to get his attention. She has him help her take the packages back up the elevator to their office. On the way there, they witness Ha-ri sitting quietly by herself in the office lobby. Eu-Ddeum hides himself upon seeing Ha-ri which confuses Hyo-joo. She begins to connect the dots and realizes that Ha-ri was the woman who he had planned on confessing to. Hyo-joo and Eu-Ddeum eventually separate and they return to their respective desks.
Mom has an honest conversation with Jae-young at home about his feelings for Ha-ri. It’s unfortunate that Ha-ri doesn’t feel the same way towards Jae-young since Mom personally approves of Jae-young and finds him fitting for her daughter. This could possibly be because Ha-ri’s grown up her entire life viewing Jae-young as a father and brother-like figure. Jae-young is also sad at the thought of his unrequited love for Ha-ri. He’s afraid to confess his feelings to her for it might cause them to lose their friendship. Truth be told, he doesn’t want Ha-ri to be with anyone else. However, he also acknowledges that there’s little he can do when Ha-ri has finally found herself true love at last. All Jae-young can do is just watch and give up.
Yi-sang drags Soo-cheol out to play a game of basketball with him. Soo-cheol isn’t so sure why they’re outside playing basketball when Yi-sang is still in a relationship with Ha-ri. Shouldn’t he be doing stuff like this after a break-up? Why is Yi-sang distracting himself with basketball all of a sudden? It’s then that Yi-sang breaks the news to Soo-cheol: he’s infertile. Soo-cheol comes to better understanding Yi-sang’s current situation, but he’s still confused on the relationship status between Ha-ri and Yi-sang. And so while walking back home, the suffocation becomes too much for Yi-sang and he sprints all the way to Ha-ri’s house. He has something on his chest and his mind that he desperately wants to tell her. He rings on the doorbell a few times and slowly retreats when Ha-ri doesn’t answer. However, the door eventually props open and Yi-sang is given the opportunity to express his thoughts to Ha-ri. He apologizes for not telling her his condition earlier; it was wrong of him. Ha-ri invites him to share the rest of his story to her.
And so the two head out to a cafe together so that Yi-sang can give additional insight and context on his struggle with infertility to Ha-ri. He got tested not too long before his scheduled wedding with his ex-fiance. Since there were no symptoms and everything seemed normal, Yi-sang and his ex-fiance just assumed that he was fine. However, in reality, Yi-sang was infertile and he endured three months of treatment in hopes of a different outcome. But the outcome he wanted never came about and the only thing he was left with was a painful break-up. Afraid to experience the same thing with Ha-ri, Yi-sang attempted to distance himself from Ha-ri. But he found himself falling for her and he couldn’t deny anything any longer. He was afraid and worried that he would relive history through Ha-ri once again.
Ha-ri sympathizes with Yi-sang. She understands that it must have been painful for him, but she also would have appreciated it if he informed her earlier into their relationship. It’s already hard enough for her as it is. Ha-ri initiates the end to their conversation and she walks out of the cafe. She cries herself to sleep that night. The next day at work, Jae-young is reminded of Ha-ri after an appointment with a patient. He quickly glances at the magazine issue that included Ha-ri’s column and can’t stop thinking about his crush. At work, Ha-ri scolds Hyo-joo to rewrite one of her reports without using any slang, lol. While Hyo-joo and So-yoon walk off to the storage room together, Ha-ri reviews the list of ovulation-inducing agents that was on her desk. She recognizes one of the products on the list as it was the same exact one that she saw at Yi-sang’s house during her last visit. Ha-ri follows up with Yeon-ho on the list and learns that the agents are also used to treat men who struggle with infertility.
Hyo-joo and So-yoon have a private talk in the storage room about their jobs. Just like before, Hyo-joo is certain she’s going to quit her job. She wants to find a job that will treat her better. Yeon-ho joins them not too long afterwards and she voices her concerns. Competitors are shutting down so they’ve been getting calls about whether ‘The Baby’ will put out an issue the next month as well. With the update, So-yoon considers leaving her job too. Lol. Stressed out with work, Hyo-joo grabs some beer at the nearby convenience store. She joins Eu-Ddeum who also happens to be sitting outside at the convenience store while staring at the ring that he intended to give Ha-ri. She downs her can of beer within a few seconds and unleashes her anger out on Eu-Ddeum. Why is he so nice to her? Why does he do all these kind things for her? It only causes her to misunderstand and be mislead. Even until the very last second, Eu-Ddeum remains a supportive and caring colleague. He grows concerned when Hyo-joo’s mascara smears due to her tears and considers purchasing her new mascara. Haha.
Ha-ri and Yi-sang prepare for an upcoming photoshoot together. However, the awkwardness is too much to bare and Yi-sang wants to make things right. While holding both of Ha-ri’s hands, he expresses hope for the future. He won’t hurt her. She won’t have to worry. They can work together and maybe things will turn out different this time. But Ha-ri doesn’t feel the same way; she’s not as positive and optimistic as Yi-sang is. In fact, she reminds him of the painful outcome he had with his ex-fiance. Yi-sang will only get hurt because he won’t be able to provide Ha-ri what it is she wants. Ha-ri will only get hurt because she can’t be hopeful. It’s better off if they just stop everything. Maybe they shouldn’t have even started. Ha-ri lets go of Yi-sang’s hands and she walks out of the studio (NOOOOO. SO SAAAAAD!).
Eu-Ddeum takes care of an intoxicated Hyo-joo. He quickly stops by her desk to grab her purse and then heads back to the storage room to reunite with his colleague. Eu-Ddeum even takes care of Hyo-joo after work, but he’s unable to drop her off at her place. Drunk Hyo-joo doesn’t want Eu-Ddeum to know where she lives. With that, he has no choice but to take her to the police station. Since Hyo-joo hasn’t registered her new address just yet, Eu-Ddeum decides to stay with Hyo-joo over night at the police station. Omg, they are too funny.
That night, Jae-young spends some time with Ha-ri back at home. She’s not in the mood to talk to Jae-young. It doesn’t help that Jae-young ticks Ha-ri off by nagging at her about her relationship. She should have listened to him when he warned her about dating. However, Ha-ri defends herself. It’s not like she went into the relationship with Yi-sang knowing that it was going to turn out painful and unfortunate. She had no idea it was going to turn out the way that it did. Through Eu-Ddeum, Jae-young gains Yi-sang’s phone number and stops by his place to discuss about Ha-ri. Jae-young gets straight to the point and urges Yi-sang to just break up with Ha-ri if he doesn’t plan on being with her. He shouldn’t waste her time. However, Ha-ri’s finally found someone who she wants to be with after a decade, can’t Jae-young just be happy and supportive for the both of them?
But Jae-young can’t. He has no plans to, especially after seeing how heart-broken and sad Ha-ri is about her relationship with Yi-sang. He reveals his plans to keep Yi-sang in check and even compares himself to a mean mother-in-law. Jae-young’s going to interrupt and disprove of their relationship. Yi-sang reminds Jae-young that Ha-ri doesn’t view him as either a man or a friend so he needs to worry about himself first. The two guys conclude the intense conversation by claiming that they’ll keep an eye out on each other to see what will happen to either of them.
Hyo-joo wakes up to find herself laying on Eu-Ddeum’s lap at the police station. She immediately sits up upon realizing the situation and she quickly glances at Eu-Ddeum. He wakes up shortly afterwards and greets her. Gaaah. Later on that morning, Yi-sang stops by Ha-ri’s place in hopes of meeting her and taking her to work. Mom exits the house just as Yi-sang is outside and the two greet each other. What is Yi-sang doing in front of the house? But wait, what is Mom doing here? That’s when they both realize that they had been talking about the same woman all along: Ha-ri! Mom and Yi-sang rejoice upon the grand discovery. Mom is excited and elated to find out that Yi-sang is the boyfriend of her daughter. She’s so happy she even calls him ‘Son-in-law.’ Lol. But not too fast! Jae-young also exits the house a few seconds later with baby Do-Ah and senses the strange situation. Why does Mom and Yi-sang look so happy together? How do they know each other? Stuck in an awkward situation, Mom feigns ignorance and tries to pretend as if she’s not that close to Yi-sang. She ends the awkward conversation by encouraging both men to head to work. She has her aerobics class that she has to get to.
On the way to work, both men try to one-up the other. Jae-young argues that Mom approved of him way before Yi-sang came into the picture, but Yi-sang reminds Jae-young that Mom referred to him as ‘Son-in-law.’ LOL. Back at the office, our Editing triplets fangirl over celebrity Jeon Tae-hui who’s just entered the studio. They’re especially fascinated at the close relationship the celebrity has with Yi-sang and notes the connection between the two to Ha-ri. However, Ha-ri isn’t interested. She doesn’t seem to care much about how close Yi-sang and Tae-hui is to each other. But what she does care about is work and she heads to the studio in an attempt to book the celebrity for their next issue of ‘The Baby.’
At the studio, our Editing triplets pester Ha-ri about Yi-sang. A few of Jeon Tae-hui’s female staff members interact closely with him which they aren’t okay with. He belongs to Ha-ri! They try to bring this to Ha-ri’s attention, but she brushes it off. She has bigger things to worry about. And so Ha-ri attempts to work her magic on Jeon Tae-hui. She introduces herself to the celebrity and attempts to invite her for an interview for their next issue, but the celebrity isn’t interested. Although she recognizes Ha-ri’s name, she has no interest in working with strangers for she has trust issues. However, she might take things into consideration if Yi-sang himself asked her to do the interview. And with that, our photographer interjects himself into the conversation. He suggests for Tae-hui to work with Ha-ri as she’s one of the most hardworking and trustworthy people he’s ever met (omg, I’m gonna cry). She’s been able to build a great rapport and relationship with their audience so Tae-hui won’t be disappointed. Thanks to Yi-sang’s suggestion, Tae-hui becomes more accepting and opened to working with Ha-ri (aww, our Yi-sang to the rescue!).
Jae-young requests to meet up with Eun-young later on that night. He wants to know if Ha-ri’s shared anything about her relationship to Eun-young. However, Eun-young doesn’t know anything. But what she does know is the hurt and pain that Jae-young caused Ha-ri back when he was still dating Jeong-won. Jeong-won didn’t feel comfortable that Ha-ri was Jae-young’s best friend. She didn’t like the fact that Ha-ri would run errands for him, such as bring him some of his underwear after busy and exhausting shifts at the hospital. Although Jae-young defined his relationship with Ha-ri as just siblings, Jeong-won disproved of it so he promised Jeong-won that he would cut off all contact with Ha-ri and never see her again. Of course, Ha-ri overheard this at that time and has never forgotten about it ever since. Although she understood where Jae-young was coming from, it was still hurtful for her to hear such words. Jae-young is dumbfounded and taken aback by the story. This could explain why Eun-young isn’t so friendly towards Jae-young herself.
The guilt eats at Jae-young and he indirectly apologizes to Ha-ri that night. He barges into the laundry room upstairs to grab his clothes. While doing so, he questions why Ha-ri didn’t grow angry or upset at Jae-young. He ponders why she didn’t cut off all contact with him and why she put up with everything all these years. Before leaving, Jae-young simply apologizes to Ha-ri for everything. Although he doesn’t specify why, it’s obvious he’s bothered by the incident.
Eun-young takes her twin boys for a photoshoot at the studio. While she takes notice of Yi-sang, Hyo-joo has her eyes fixated on Eu-Ddeum. She watches fondly as he interacts with the twin models and plays with them during the photoshoot. When the photoshoot ends, Eun-young reunites with best friend Ha-ri outside the studio. The two catch up with each other while Eun-young’s twin boys are busy playing at the playground. Eun-young, of course, brings up Yi-sang and seems to have a good first impression of the photographer. How are things going between him and Ha-ri? She assumes everything is going well, but she quickly notices that something is off when Ha-ri doesn’t react.
Ha-ri reflects on her journey with Yi-sang so far and notes that they started off well. They were so happy together and it seemed like they really belonged to each other. Everything just felt so normal and natural between them. Yi-sang appreciated Ha-ri for who she was and recognized her for her. He was there for her even when she felt so small. However, all of that broke apart once she discovered that he struggled with infertility just like Ha-ri herself. Eun-young is speechless at the news and she sighs in response. Ha-ri is close to tears upon talking about Yi-sang and struggles to hold her tears from falling.
Upon returning to the building where his clinic is located, Jae-young takes a detour to use the restroom first. Along the way, he encounters Yi-sang who has a bag of medicine in his hands. He notices the urology clinic sign right behind Yi-sang and finally understands what it is that Yi-sang has been up to. Yi-sang avoids Jae-young by exiting the building, but Jae-young chases him down. He demands for the photographer to break up with Ha-ri; she won’t be able to do it herself so he should initiate that break-up. Why did Yi-sang even start a relationship with Ha-ri knowing fully well he was infertile in the first place? Yi-sang argues that he couldn’t control his feelings for Ha-ri; he simply liked her too much to stop. But what about Jae-young? He claims Yi-sang isn’t qualified for Ha-ri, but is he himself qualified for Ha-ri? The doctor is left speechless at Yi-sang’s comment and Yi-sang walks away afterwards.
Jae-young briefly meets up with Ha-ri that night and gets straight to the point with her. She should consider breaking up with Yi-sang. Sure, it wasn’t easy for Jae-young himself to cut ties with Ha-ri or Jeong-won either back then, but he was afraid of losing Jeong-won so he chose to stay with her. Jae-young reminds Ha-ri to think more carefully about what it is that she wants more desperately in life: love or her own kid. Jae-young also regrets abandoning Ha-ri back then. He doesn’t want her to make the same mistake he did and to make a decision that she’s going to regret. Meeting Yi-sang will only make things more difficult. At that moment, Ha-ri receives a phone call from Yi-sang. Although Jae-young encourages Ha-ri to stop seeing him, Ha-ri gives in to her feelings. She wants to see Yi-sang.
And so Ha-ri leaves Jae-young behind to talk things out with Yi-sang. She’s curious as to whether or not he met with Jae-young, but Yi-sang avoids the topic. Instead, he reminds Ha-ri that they should try their best to work things out. They can stay together and maybe there might be a miracle in the end. However, Ha-ri remains doubtful. What if she was wrong? What if there is no miracle in the end? With tears in her eyes, Ha-ri makes it clear to Yi-sang that she gives up. She can’t do things with Yi-sang anymore. And so she walks away.
She turns her back on Yi-sang and the distance between the two grow further and further. Although he is just as hurt and heart-broken, Yi-sang encourages Ha-ri to give things a second thought. With one last plead, he questions whether she really wants to lose him. Is she sure that she wants to lose him in her life? Ha-ri has no answer or response to his question, but memories of her and Yi-sang flash through her mind. Through both the good, bad, and embarrassing times in her life, Yi-sang has always been there for Ha-ri. She’s also reminded of the conversation they had about whether Ha-ri would choose between her lover or her baby. Although both are precious to her, love is just as much of a miracle to Ha-ri as having a baby is.
With that, Ha-ri changes her mind and she turns back around. This time, it’s Yi-sang who has his back turned towards Ha-ri. He doesn’t quite want to walk away from Ha-ri, but he also doesn’t want to stare at the cold view of her back. Ha-ri picks up her pace and she hugs Yi-sang from behind upon finally closing the gap between the two of them. She gives him an answer to his question and with tears in her eyes and a conflicted and trembling voice, Ha-ri cries that no, she can’t. She can’t afford to lose Yi-sang in her life.
My Thoughts:
GAAAAH, THE ANGST. ALL THE ANGSTTTT. All the angst is killing me and yet, I understand why. Although I don’t necessarily enjoy it, I understand why Ha-ri, Jae-young, and Yi-sang are angry and upset and frustrated about the entire situation.
Look, I love me some good angst. I’m an angsty person in general so I love it when dramas feed us with angsty stuff. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get myself to enjoy what was the drama was shoving at us in this episode. I understand that Ha-ri is hurt because she feels betrayed that Yi-sang didn’t tell her earlier. She would have appreciated it if he had spoken up to her before the two dove into an official relationship with each other. He could have spared both her and him a lot less hurt and pain if he had just confessed to her earlier. Maybe they could have broken up a lot easier or maybe they could have had even more energy to stay hopeful and optimistic. However, Yi-sang didn’t tell Ha-ri until much later into their relationship which by then was a tad bit too late. The damage had already been done and they both experienced that damage in this episode.
I know the episode primarily centered around Yi-sang trying to prove himself to Ha-ri and trying to gain her trust back once again, but I wasn’t completely a fan of this. It’s not like he intentionally held back on telling Ha-ri. In fact, he made several attempts to share the news of his condition to her, but was just way too nervous to say something. Of course, that doesn’t take away the fact that Yi-sang did tell Ha-ri later on in their relationship, but it also doesn’t mean that he should be painted as a bad guy of some sort in the relationship. Yi-sang was always getting interrupted by something or he simply didn’t have the courage to tell her just yet, but it was never like he was never going to tell Ha-ri. Because he was going to. Yi-sang did plan on sharing with Ha-ri about his struggles with infertility. Plus, he also broke down his walls and began receiving treatment once again in hopes of achieving that miracle that both he and Ha-ri wanted so much. He’s putting in the effort to create a different outcome than the one he experienced a few years back with his ex-fiance. Yi-sang is aware of just how painful and heart-breaking it is, but yet, is taking the risk because he desperately wants to be with Ha-ri. Yi-sang has made it clear in both his actions and his words that he’s genuine about Ha-ri and that he never meant to hurt her. It was never his intentions to do so and it never will be.
However, that’s hard for someone like Jae-young as well as even Ha-ri herself to believe in. Jae-young was so determined to break the two up and he viewed Yi-sang as the villain in all of this. He felt as if Yi-sang purposely lead Ha-ri into a relationship with the intentions of hurting her. Jae-young has no plan to consider things from Yi-sang’s point of view, but I would also like to argue that he’s not the best when interacting with Ha-ri either. He’s not listening to anyone but himself and he pushes his thoughts onto the couple. Jae-young is intruding and interjecting himself into a relationship that doesn’t involve him because he can’t bare to come to terms with the fact that he’s lost Ha-ri. He lost Ha-ri the moment he decided to cut her out of his life for Jeong-won. It was interesting to see him acknowledge that mistake to Ha-ri, but it also didn’t change anything. Yes, he can be sorry about the past and worry for Ha-ri in the present, but that doesn’t mean Ha-ri will feel persuaded to build a romantic future with him. Jae-young is having a difficult time understanding that he’s too late and that his chances of being with Ha-ri is long gone. This could explain for why he was so pushy and adamant on the two breaking up in this episode and really only tuned into what he specifically wanted or felt. It could explain for why he failed to respect the feelings and emotions of either Ha-ri or Yi-sang. Although Jae-young has expressed regret with the decisions he’s made in the past, it doesn’t seem like he’s changed all that much in the present either. He still remains the same.
I’m glad that the drama is setting up for Yi-sang and Ha-ri to make up soon. I wasn’t so sure if I was going to be able to sit through another round of angst. I’m glad Ha-ri realizes that as much as it is that she wants to become a mother, she also wants to find true love and she’s never going to let either go. In her case, it just so happened that she found love first rather than a sperm donor so I can see why she’s so hesitant in letting Yi-sang go although having a kid has always been a priority in her life. I like that meeting Yi-sang first has shaken up her life a bit as well. Ha-ri was always stuck on the idea of having a kid and becoming a mother that she was uncertain as to what to do or how to feel when it was true love that she experienced first. This wasn’t something she had written in her book and it wasn’t something she was expecting at all. Now that Yi-sang fell into her lap and she’s received a chance at genuine and passionate love, she’s not so sure what it is that she wants any longer. Ha-ri’s priorities are starting to slowly and gradually shift with the involvement of Yi-sang in her life and I think that’s what Jae-young fails to see or acknowledge. Jae-young is still living in the past and he’s confident that Ha-ri only wants to become a mother and nothing else. A part of this could be because he wants Ha-ri for himself, but also because he’s only known Ha-ri for her determination in becoming a mother. However, he’s so blinded by his selfish wants and unrequited love for Ha-ri that he fails to see the small and subtle ways that she’s changed because of Yi-sang. Whereas Ha-ri’s relationship with Jae-young has become stagnant, comfortable, and still, Ha-ri’s relationship with Yi-sang is ever changing and developing. To Jae-young, Ha-ri is still the clumsy, persistent, and determined woman ready for motherhood, but in reality, she is so much more than that. Yes, Ha-ri still wants to become a mother, but she also wants other things now. She also wants to be in love and to be loved. She’s found those things in her relationship with Yi-sang and so much more.
With Ha-ri eventually opening up to Yi-sang again, I’m not so sure how the drama plans on wrapping up their relationship. I’m not so sure which route the drama is going to take for the ending. I guess that’s the scary part about all of this. Is a miracle baby going to happen or is Ha-ri and Yi-sang going to opt for adoption? Or is there some other option that the couple will take to achieve their hopes of becoming parents? There’s so many different roads and paths that the drama can take to conclude the story between our lead couple, but I just hope things end on a good note for them. I honestly also wouldn’t be opposed to an open ending of some sort. Even if Ha-ri and Yi-sang aren’t able to become parents, they shouldn’t define or restrict their relationship to just that one component. There’s so much more to life and love and I don’t want the two to think their relationship was a failure just because they couldn’t achieve one of their goals. Whatever the case is, Ha-ri and Yi-sang have each other and that’s been a huge miracle and blessing for the both of them in and of itself. I think we can all agree on that part.
Extra screenshots from the episode~
MaryMeKpop 