Our leads might be top students, yet their dating experience is like that of a kindergartener. But it only adds to the charm of their endearing relationship. There is nothing like childish bickering and petty jealousy to give us an adorable romance, right?
Those happy days are short-lived, though, as misfortune rears its ugly head and puts everything our leads thought have gained at risk.
Bunny S. watches Doctor Slump on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | Finale Week + Series Review |
Doctor Slump Episodes 11 and 12 Highlights
“Write a promise saying you will never ask to break up for the next 100 years.”
Now that they are back together, Jeong-woo and Ha-neul are over the moon. Jeong-woo moves back to the rooftop. And they spend the night talking on the phone, eating noodles, and agreeing to lie down together for only 30 minutes. You know where this leads up to when Ha-neul’s mother catches them cuddling in the morning.
Except, Mum doesn’t see Ha-neul’s face and mistakes the situation for Jeong-woo having a new girlfriend after moving on from Ha-neul. Though they have planned to tell Ha-neul’s family they are back together, she is too embarrassed to face her mum now. So, poor Jeong-woo has to endure mum torturing him for cheating on her daughter.
“Yesterday you said I was the prettiest person you ‘ve ever met and will meet. But now you want me to get fillers.”
Dating secretly at work might be heart-fluttering and all. Yet it backfires when Jeong-woo takes Ha-neul’s words about keeping their relationship a secret too literally and lies about not having a girlfriend. Cue: Ha-neul shoots a laser from her eyes, jealous of the female staff flirting with Jeong-woo.
Meeting in the stairway secretly may be thrilling, but one has to be careful not to say something wrong and make the other one mad. Telling your girlfriend she needs fillers might not be the best thing to do, Jeong-woo. Still, a pouty Ha-neul and Jeong-woo racking his brain over how to make up with her is a delight to watch.
“How long were you going to hide it? You two sure make things complicated.”
Not that Jeong-woo and Ha-neul could keep their relationship a secret for long. Mum soon catches on and grows elated to get a future son-in-law as her birthday present this year. What I like the most about this sequence is Jeong-woo gaining a true family. One that genuinely dotes on him. Unlike his so-called parents, who only view him as an asset to follow in their footsteps and add to their success, Mum cared for Jeong-woo even before he got together with Ha-neul.
Though he longed for family love throughout his life, Jeong-woo told himself to be grateful for what he had. When Mum called him family, Jeong-woo was apparently moved, feeling a sense of belonging for the first time.
Ha-neul had a hunch about how cold Jeong-woo’s parents are, having briefly met his mother back in high school. Thus, she avoided bringing up this topic. Now that Jeong-woo has opened up about it to Ha-neul, I hope he will let go of the pain and live a happy life.
“I will show you that adults can go on field trips too.”
To celebrate their first paycheck in a while, Jeong-woo takes Ha-neul on a field trip since she has never been on one before. They couldn’t be more enthusiastic, shopping for new clothes and preparing homemade food.
After visiting a museum and taking pictures in high school uniforms, Jeong-woo and Ha-neul go camping. Joining them are Hong-ran and Dae-yeong. As you know, nothing beats a double couple trip and having one’s friends join in on a trip.
“Let go. If I count to three and you don’t. I won’t sit still.”
We finally learn the reason behind Jeong-woo and Dae-yeong’s fallout despite being joined at the hip in their college days. Dae-yeong signed up to join the voluntary medical service team on their trip to Africa. But he ended up slipping and hurting his arm, so Jeong-woo went instead. A documentary filmed Jeong-woo treating patients there, and he soon became a star doctor. Thus, Dae-yeong got jealous.
During one of their childish bickering sessions, Jeong-woo and Dae-yeong pulled each other by the hair and got into a pillow fight. Which marked the end of their friendship. But it isn’t that Dae-yeong was maliciously envious of Jeong-woo. He was going through a rough time filing for divorce because of his nasty in-laws and thought the situation might have changed if he had gone on that trip and become successful.
“Are you involved in Jeong-woo’s medical accident?”
Speaking of evil people, unfortunately, we haven’t bid Kyung-min farewell yet. Clues are piling up regarding his involvement in Jeong-woo’s medical accident. (Jin-seok, the anesthesiologist from before, seems to be aware of it as well, and he is currently blackmailing Kyung-min.) Not that I am surprised. But spiking Jeong-woo’s drink with drugs and landing him in the ER is on another level.
Snooping around, Ha-neul learns of Kyung-min’s involvement in Jeong-woo’s case and confronts him about it. But they almost get into an accident while arguing since Kyung-min seems to lack the common sense that one shouldn’t drunk drive. Unfortunately, while swerving over, they crash into the truck of doom for real this time. And we have to wait until next week to see what happened to them.
Doctor Slump Episodes 11 and 12 Musings
I can watch Ha-neul and Jeong-woo’s sweet dating life for days without getting bored. Which speaks a lot about the astounding job our Two Parks are doing here. That said, it was reckless of Ha-neul to meet Kyung-min alone, especially since she knows how evil and dangerous he is. A shameless person like Kyung-min won’t admit to his crimes and will do anything to cover up his tracks.
I am on the fence about Jeong-woo and Ha-neul choosing to live in the present and forget about the past since they like how things are now. But while having Kyung-min go unpunished might not be the right thing to do, one should be fully prepared to stand up against such a snake.
While I am positive Ha-neul will survive through it, I hope we won’t be dealing with amnesia tropes with Ha-neul forgetting everything she has been through with Jeong-woo. But what I fear the most is getting some noble idiocy with Jeong-woo feeling guilty and blaming himself for what happened to Ha-neul. Please, writer-nim, let this be the last misfortune our leads have to face. Those two went through so much to gain their happiness. Can’t they get a break already?
It might be a bit slow, but I am glad we got some progress on our secondary couple. Being single parents makes Hong-ran and Dae-yeong understand each other better, and I can’t wait to see those four as one happy family. Hong-ran’s son seems to take a liking to Dae-yeong, so we now have to wait for Dae-yeong’s daughter’s approval.
Find encouraging lessons as Jeong-woo and Ha-neul rediscover their purpose in Doctor Slump!
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
