The matters of the heart are complex, even more so for our girls and the young man they got entangled with.
It is messy, but also relatable, getting us worried about the turmoil that is about to unfold now that it is revealed where our male lead’s heart lies.
Bunny S. watches A Hundred Memories on Viki
A Hundred Memories Episodes 3 and 4 Highlights
“What if I hadn’t thought that maybe this person was my destiny, clutched my heart, and gotten my hopes up?”
Spotting Jae-pil, Young-rye’s heart flutters, thinking they are meant to be. But Jae-pil is nonchalant about the whole group date. A minor mishap happens, pairing up Young-rye with Jae-pil and Jong-hee with Jae-pil’s friend, Ma Sang Cheol (Lee Won-jung). But the thing is: Sang-cheol finds Jong-hee a bit too fierce for his taste and begs Jae-pil to hang out together as a group.
Hanging out at an ice rink, Young-rye has trouble keeping her balance, and Jae-pil saves her from falling over. He finds her familiar, wondering if they met before. However, Young-rye firmly denies it, mostly because she is shy. Jong-hee, on the other hand, is a pro at skating, catching Jae-pil’s eye, and getting him fascinated by holding her own against some delinquents.
Wrapping up the date, the four of them go for some dumplings, yet our girls take off abruptly because of the dorm curfew. Sang-cheol is quite disappointed they left before he got “her” home phone number, referring to Young-rye, whom he finds cute and quirky. Yet, Jae-pil takes little to no interest in Young-rye, who is catching feelings for him.
“I was so scared. I thought you were going to die.”
To help promote the gym where they (Jae-pil and Sang-cheol) train, Sang-cheol suggests holding an exhibition match where they invite their friends and spread the word at local schools. At the top of the invitees’ list are Young-rye and Jong-hee, but the girls mistakenly think Jae-pil invited them because he likes Young-rye, when in fact it is Sang-cheol.
Our girls show up, with Young-rye all dolled up. And Sang-cheol is mesmerized by her beauty. He initially begged Jae-pil to let him win so he could impress Young-rye. But the matchups change at the last minute, and Sang-cheol gets knocked out by his opponent.
Feeling uncomfortable, Jong-hee closes her eyes during the match with Sang-cheol. Yet when it is Jae-pil’s turn, memories flood into her mind of being beaten by her abusive brother, the one she hid from last week. Unable to control her fear any longer, Jong-hee barges into the ring, calling for them to stop. And it is at that moment that Jae-pil falls for Jong-hee.
“Could you give this to Seo Jong-hee for me?”
That night, a worried Young-rye bought an ointment for Jae-pil’s wound. But she couldn’t muster up the courage to give it to him. The next day, she heads to the gym to see him, but chickens out and goes home instead. Good thing she did because her mother has collapsed and needs to be transferred to the hospital. Getting drenched in the rain with her mother on her back, Young-rye is lucky to run into Jae-pil, who takes them to the hospital and stays with Young-rye while her mother undergoes surgery.
Fortunately, the surgery went well, and Young-rye’s mother would recover. In another kind gesture, Jae-pil covers Young-rye with his hat so she can cry peacefully. He takes his leave, and Young-rye follows after him, having finally mustered up the courage to confess her feelings. But to her shock, Jae-pil asks her to relay a note with his home phone number to Jong-hee.
For now, Young-rye holds onto the note, but she feels awful and can’t look Jong-hee in the eye, feeling as if she is betraying their friendship. Young-rye’s guilt turns worse when Jong-hee offers to cover for her while Young-rye looks after her mother. Returning home, Young-rye finds Jong-hee there, taking care of her younger siblings. She also took notes of the classes Young-rye missed.
Handing over the note to Jong-hee, Young-rye claims she doesn’t like Jae-pil and only decided to give him a chance because she thought he was into her. Which proved wrong. We hoped Jong-hee would see through Young-rye. But alas. She throws the note away, not because of Young-rye but because she isn’t interested in dating. Not to mention Jae-pil knows nothing about her and thinks she is an ordinary student.
It is fine to pass on the note, but Young-rye should be honest about her feelings. Also, Jong-hee’s obliviousness is frustrating. She readily believed Young-rye’s obvious lie, though it was palpable that she was into Jae-pil.
“If I had known sooner, I would have been getting the gift, not buying one.”
Hearing about Young-rye’s mother’s condition, Sang-cheol visits her and drags Jae-pil there. After checking on Young-rye’s mother, Jae-pil asks about Jong-hee, and he gets disappointed hearing she isn’t in a place to be seeing someone. At first, Jae-pil decides to move on, but he gives it a try after hearing that Jong-hee is a regular at the music cafe where the group date was held.
Running into her, Jae-pil lies about it being his birthday so he can have a meal with Jong-hee. Then, she takes him to a department store to get him a gift. Funnily enough, of all places, it is Jae-pil’s father’s department store, and they have to hide from him.
Jae-pil comes clean about that day not being his birthday, coming from a rich family, and being beaten up by his father. He laughs the latter part off. But Jong-hee can tell he isn’t fine. Comforting him, Jong-hee advises him to admit to it when he is hurt. Acting tough all the time will only break him apart. Those words made Jae-pil fall for Jong-hee once again. Getting touched, he gives her another note with his home phone number, which she accepts this time.
Ironically, Young-rye went to see Jae-pil that day. But he was already in the music cafe waiting for Jong-hee. When Jong-hee tells Young-rye about her encounter with Jae-pil that day, Young-rye decides to give up on him, offering to cover for Jong-hee so she can meet Jae-pil on the weekend.
“You are going to tell him tomorrow, right?”
Feeling bad, Jong-hee resolves to tell Jae-pil the truth and then figure out what to do with their relationship. But fate has another say. The day before their meeting, Jae-pil comes across Jong-hee in her conductor uniform. And it is here that this week ends, leaving us on the edge of our seats until next week.
A Hundred Memories Episodes 3 and 4 Musings
It is easy to hate Jae-pil for coming between our girls. But the truth is no one is at fault here. Jae-pil got touched and fell for the girl who showed him some care, even if it was inadvertent. Jong-hee could see through his tough exterior and comforted him when no one else did. We can’t denounce him just because he didn’t reciprocate Young-rye’s feelings.
Likewise, we can’t blame Young-rye for being reluctant and not making a move on Jae-pil sooner. Though we doubt it would have made a difference if Young-rye had confessed her feelings to Jae-pil before he gave her the note to deliver to Jong-hee.
What is frustrating isn’t who fell for whom, but the noble idiocy Young-rye is going through. And though we find Jong-hee’s cluelessness annoying, we can’t blame her much if she falls for Jae-pil along the way. After all, Young-rye was the one who lied about her feelings and chose to stay in the shadows.
While Jae-pil might feel betrayed by Jong-hee for lying to him, we think he will eventually forgive her. They haven’t started dating yet, and she was going to tell him. What worries us is how miserable Young-rye will feel watching her best friend date the man she loves. That is really messy!
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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