Work and more work. It’s going to take so much more work for Dae-oh to do to earn both Ae-jung and Ha-nee’s trust and to make up for the past. Just what exactly will Dae-oh have to do in order to accomplish that? Just how much will he have to go through and sacrifice for them to understand that he’s not like he was 14 years ago and that he’s genuine and sincere about everything?
Was It Love?: Episode 13 Recap
Ha-nee recalls a class assignment that she participated in back in 2019. She was to compare the genetic traits that she acquired from both of her parents. There were some things such as double eyelids and hair consistency that Ha-nee got from Ae-jung, but there were other traits like dimples that she assumes she must have gotten from her father. Although Ha-nee tried not to think about it too much, she was always curious as to who her father was and what he looked like. Fast forward to the present and Ha-nee receives her answer. Just as she’s getting reprimanded by Mr. Jang for fighting with the school bully, Dae-oh swoops in to rescue Ha-nee. He demands for Mr. Jang to let go of Ha-nee’s wrist and declares himself as Ha-nee’s father. Ha-nee is Dae-oh’s daughter (GO DAE-OH!!).
When the meeting concludes, the school bully’s parents test Dae-oh by questioning whether he’ll attend the school’s sports event the next day or not. Of course, Dae-oh pretends to act if as he will attend the event although he really wasn’t aware of it in the first place. Ha-nee assumes Dae-oh was merely pretending to be his father so she storms outside and is chased by both Dae-oh and Ae-jung. Ae-jung indirectly confirms that Dae-oh isn’t acting; he really is her father. This only confuses and frustrates Ha-nee even more. Both she and Dae-oh had so many opportunities to tell her the truth and yet, they didn’t. They kept everything from her. Although Ae-jung emphasizes that they can talk things out at home, Ha-nee refuses to listen to her mom. She’s angry and upset and she doesn’t want anything to do with either adults. Oof.
Jin attempts to make amends with Ha-nee when he discovers her sitting outside of her house. Ha-nee has nothing to say to Jin since she already knows who her actual father is. Regardless, Jin still has something that he wants to tell Ha-nee. He asks her for some of her time. Ae-jung and Dae-oh walk together after being confronted by Ha-nee. Ae-jung grows frustrated at Dae-oh’s carelessness in proclaiming himself as Ha-nee’s father in front of everyone. However, Dae-oh defends that he couldn’t just stand by and watch as his daughter was being attacked. Ae-jung reminds Dae-oh to not worry about either her or Ha-nee. She’s raised Ha-nee her entire life all by herself, she intends on doing that in the future. Her burden and problems in life are hers and they are to not be shared with Dae-oh.
Dong-chan continues his private investigation on his relationship with Ha-nee. If he and Ha-nee are siblings like he assumes they are, then why did Dae-oh show up proclaiming to be her father? Pa-do catches up with Dong-chan at school after he learns about the fighting incident. After checking in with Dong-chan, he finds the familial chart that Dong-chan has drafted out on his journal and panics. Why does Dong-chan have that? That’s when Dong-chan confronts Pa-do about the photo he saw of him and Ae-jung’s look-a-like, Tan Ziyi, hidden in Pa-do’s secret room. Why is the photo in the room? What exactly is his connection to Ae-jung if she’s not his mother? Just when Pa-do is about to give a response to Dong-chan’s many questions, Pa-do is called forth by Director Kim for another urgent issue. Dong-chan is okay with not receiving any answers from his dad; it’s not like he would have told him the truth anyways.
Jin takes Ha-nee on a field trip to the university that he, Ae-jung, and Dae-oh used to attend together 14 years ago. He points out to her different building on campus that they frequented and he also shares some awesome stories about Ae-jung to Ha-nee. Jin also dishes some details about how her parents came about befriending each other in college and eventually becoming that CC couple. Through Jin’s details, Ha-nee imagines Dae-oh and Ae-jung filming videos on campus and even fooling off in class together. Both her parents are so happy in her imagination and she feels a sense of relief thinking about it as well. Jin concludes the college visit by confirming that Dae-oh loves Ae-jung in the present as much as he did in the past. He never abandoned Ae-jung or Ha-nee like they thought.
Ae-jung worries when Ha-nee doesn’t return home later on that night. Her phone isn’t turned on either and Ae-jung is afraid that something might have happened to her. Yeon-woo checks in on Ae-jung when he arrives home that night and he attempts to comfort the worried and stressed mother. Thankfully, Ae-jung receives a text message from Jin updating her about Ha-nee. The middle school student spent the afternoon with him and he’s dropping her off at home. Eventually, Jin does drop Ha-nee off and Ha-nee thanks the popular actor before heading inside the house. Ae-jung too thanks Jin for looking after her daughter and she apologizes for the harsh comments she said to Jin earlier. Jin understands that Ae-jung must have gone through a lot and encourages Ae-jung to head inside the house. There’s many questions that Ha-nee might have for her.
And there are. There are questions that Ha-nee has for her mother such as whether Ae-jung regrets having her or not. Ae-jung confidently answers that there are no regrets. If she were to go back and do it all over again, she would still have Ha-nee. Ae-jung apologizes for not telling Ha-nee sooner and she’s willing to tell Ha-nee everything that she wants to know. Ha-nee then grows curious about Dae-oh (who she refers to as ‘ahjusshi’). What about him? What is Ae-jung going to do about Dae-oh? Does Ae-jung still have feelings for him? Is that why she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to Ha-nee? Ha-nee states that she doesn’t want Dae-oh in their lives. If he left them in the first place, there’s a chance he could easily leave them again and that’s not something that Ha-nee wants to go through. She’s content with how things are at the moment with just her, Ae-jung, and Grandma. Ae-jung takes Ha-nee’s words into consideration and she listens to her daughter. Ae-jung is reminded of the time back in 2012 when Ae-jung promised to marry Ha-nee and stay with her forever. Nothing’s changed 8 years later and Ha-nee is all that Ae-jung needs. They give each other a warm hug and keep their promise.
Dae-oh stops by Sook-hee’s bar in search of Ha-nee. He has a pair of brand new shoes he wants to gift her. After a few minutes of waiting, it’s Sook-hee who Dae-oh encounters instead of Ha-nee. After earning his way inside the bar, the two chat about Ae-jung. Although Dae-oh has come clean to Ae-jung about everything, Ae-jung still isn’t responsive. He’s unsure as to what to do next and he’s confident that Ae-jung isn’t going to rely on him for anything since she’s been so independent for so long. As Ae-jung’s close friend and landlord, Sook-hee gives Dae-oh a few tips. Ae-jung usually means the opposite of what she says. Ae-jung’s earlier comment in the day about being Wonder Woman implies that Dae-oh should be her Superman. It’s as simple as that and yet it takes a while for Dae-oh to catch on to what Sook-hee is trying to relay. Lol.
After chatting with her friends at the sauna about the news articles pertaining to Jin, Grandma makes her way home and finds Ae-jung making some gimbap for Ha-nee’s sports event the next day. It’s then that Grandma learns all that unfolded and happened that day: Ha-nee knows who her actual father is. She feels anxious and scared that Dae-oh might leave them again now that he’s suddenly showed up so she doesn’t want anything to do with him. Ae-jung is on the same page with Ha-nee since she too is through once and for all with Dae-oh. However, Grandma feels different. Ha-nee was on a search for her father and Ae-jung must have been lonely this entire time. Ae-jung reassures Grandma once more that she’s happy with how things are at the moment.
Pa-do and his men show up at a closed Chinese restaurant. There’s no one inside and the person on the phone with Pa-do questions if Pa-do brought the item that he agreed to bring. A few seconds later, Pa-do realizes that he and his men are being watched and they discover a suspicious van parked outside of the restaurant. Before they can get to the van, the van drives away and vanishes. Pa-do and Director Kim are confused and clueless as to what it is that the rival gang members want. Dae-oh comes across CEO Wang at Thumb Films and the two have some drinks together in the office. After reminiscing about the first time they met, CEO Wang eventually goes on to ask about Dae-oh’s grand revenge scheme that he originally had in mind. If he met the person who the heroine in the novel was based off of, did he ever enact his revenge scheme on her? Did he ever get his revenge? Dae-oh denies any plans of seeking revenge which doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise to CEO Wang. He knew even back then that Dae-oh was always in love with this person despite his harsh words. CEO Wang could easily tell just how much Dae-oh missed this person.
Dae-oh is thrown back to 2012 on the night that he and CEO Wang first met. He was out drinking at a restaurant and could care less about successfully becoming an author. All he could think and worry about was Ae-jung who his debut novel ‘Love is Nonexistent’ was based off of. On that same night and in the same place, CEO Wang sat not too far from Dae-oh and gave him an offer too good to decline. He offered the idea of doing a film adaptation on Dae-oh’s novel as a possible way to get Dae-oh to reunite with Ae-jung. If the movie is successful, Ae-jung would find out about Dae-oh and they would eventually meet again. Dae-oh signed the contract at that time in a desperate attempt to increase his chances of meeting with Ae-jung. Little did he know Ae-jung would be the one to take on the actual project itself many years later. And so Dae-oh gives CEO Wang’s words some thought later on that night at his house. Just like Ae-jung’s former boss mentioned, Dae-oh always missed Ae-jung this entire time.
It’s the day of Ha-nee’s sports event! While getting ready, Ae-jung is reminded of Ha-nee’s words about how she doesn’t want Ae-jung to give Dae-oh another chance. Just then, Ae-jung receives a text message from Dae-oh and learns that Dae-oh’s brought a food truck for the event as well as some new sneakers for Ha-nee. She rushes to the school first without Ha-nee and instructs Ha-nee to come later on on her own. Manager Myung and Jin have a conversation about CEO Song’s current situation. Things aren’t looking so well for her, but it could have been worse for Ah-rin as well who was Mr. Na’s original target for the news article. Ah-rin starts to piece things together using the hints that Jin and Yeon-woo told her. She tries to get to the bottom of things with Jin after barging into his dormitory. Is Dae-oh Ha-nee’s father? But more so than that, Jin is confused as to how Ah-rin knows Dae-oh’s real name. He assumes the rumors about her fake age and name is true. That’s the only way to make sense of how Ah-rin knows Dae-oh by his real name and not as Cheon Ok-man.
Mama Yeon-woo is conflicted on what she should do with her son’s request. She’s reminded of the time 14 years ago when Yeon-woo confronted her about Ae-jung. He assumed she was the one who drove Ae-jung away and caused her to disappear and criticized her for doing things such as conducting a background check on Ae-jung. Although Mama Yeon-woo attempts to defend herself, Yeon-woo continues to attack his mother and even goes as far as to say that she was lonely during her marriage with his father. Yeon-woo is slapped in the face by his mother, but his original point still stands: he wants to live his life with someone who he loves. Why doesn’t his mom understand that? In the present, Mama Yeon-woo receives a call from Ah-rin who has plans of making someone’s life (AKA Ae-jung) miserable. She plans on making a mess, but she wanted to give Mama Yeon-woo a heads up first. Lol. I cannnnn’t.
Ae-jung arrives at Ha-nee’s school to find Dae-oh in front of the food truck. He also hands her the pair of shoes that he’s bought for Ha-nee. Ae-jung reminds Dae-oh once again about not getting involved in her business and life, but Dae-oh can’t help himself. He can’t do something about the past so he wants to make up for things in the present. Just then, Ha-nee arrives to find her mom with Dae-oh. She’s not so thrilled at the sight of her parents together and she assumes Ae-jung left early to meet with Dae-oh. Although Dae-oh is there to show Ha-nee his support, Ha-nee doesn’t want any of it and she doesn’t want Ae-jung near Dae-oh at all either. Ha-nee walks away and Ae-jung follows her daughter to try to explain things to her.
Dong-chan and Pa-do are also on their way to the sports event when Pa-do receives an incoming call from an unknown caller. Suspicious of Pa-do, Dong-chan once again questions his father’s intent and whether Pa-do is even his actual father in the first place. He grows upset and he exits out of the vehicle to head to the sports event alone. Along the way, Dong-chan comes across Ae-jung and Ha-nee, but the three are suddenly kidnapped and trapped inside of the same van that Pa-do saw the night before at the Chinese restaurant. While on the phone with one of the rivalry gang members, they demand for the item that Tan Ziyi gave him or else Ha-nee, Dong-chan, and Ae-jung will get hurt. While attempting to protect Ha-nee and Dong-chan inside of the van, Ae-jung also tries to pick up the incoming call from Dae-oh. Her phone is thrown out of the van’s window right as it passes by Dae-oh and he discovers Ae-jung’s phone buzzing on the ground just as he’s calling her.
Pa-do sprints past Dae-oh in pursuit of the van and Dae-oh soon chases after Pa-do. Just as Pa-do is about to enter his car, Dae-oh catches up to him and demands for an answer to all of the chaos. Where’s Ae-jung and Ha-nee? What’s going on? Shortly afterwards, Yeon-woo too joins the two men and attempts to gain a better understanding of the dangerous situation. Pa-do hesitates on his next step and what exactly he should relay to both guys. As he debates on what exactly to tell them, Ae-jung continues to fight the men in the van to protect both Ha-nee and Dong-chan from getting hurt.
My Thoughts:
Yeeeeeah… I don’t have too many thoughts about this episode other than that my favorite moment was when Jin took Ha-nee on a trip down memory lane and shared with her great memories and stories from back in college :). Kudos to Jin for the honesty as well as his efforts to cheer Ha-nee up and earn back her trust!
As for everything else that happened in the episode? I have no comment.. LOL.
Extra screenshots from the episode~
MaryMeKpop 