Hold onto your hats as our ship is finally sailing. Our former gangster might not be experienced in dealing with women and expressing his feelings. But with our deer squad having his back and playing matchmakers and our leading lady proactively making moves on him, there is nothing our male lead can do but admit to his feelings and follow our heroine’s lead.
This week, we have jealousy pouts, a fake blind date, a sudden trip, and more shenanigans. But as long as it all ends well and we’re up for the ride.
Bunny S. watches My Sweet Mobster on Viu
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | Final Recap + Series Review |
My Sweet Mobster Episodes 9 and 10 Highlights
“I am not the person you are looking for.”
We rewind back a bit to catch up on the conversation between Eun-ha and Hyun-woo. Neither did Hyun-woo claim he is the real Hyun-woo nor did he tell Eun-ha it is Ji-hwan. Hyun-woo just told Eun-ha that he found her oppa and can help her meet him if that is what she wants.
But the thing is, reminded of Ji-hwan’s words about some people not being comfortable facing the past, Eun-ha settles to feel satisfied that her oppa is doing just fine and wishes for his well-being from afar.
“They couldn’t graduate not because they are stupid but because they had their own circumstances.”
Back to the present, still sulky about being left out of the rescue operation, Eun-ha and the others go shopping for books, excluding Ji-hwan and II-young. Outside the bookstore, though, some delinquent high schoolers make fun of our deer squad for buying elementary school books.
Yet Eun-ha isn’t about to let anyone mock her new family, standing up for our deer squad and telling the delinquent high schoolers to grow up and behave if they want to become good people like our deer. They started off bickering but now Eun-ha and the deer have each other’s backs. They are a real family now.
At home, Eun-ha tells the rest that she plans to move out, treating them to one last dinner to express her gratitude for everything they did for her. Everyone is sad about it, especially Ji-hwan. He offers to find Eun-ha a new place. But she politely turns down the offer. What if Eun-ha gets confused again about Ji-hwan’s “kindness” and crosses the line?
Actually, the real reason Eun-ha wants to move out is because of her growing feelings for Ji-hwan. How he pushed her away made Eun-ha think her feelings were one-sided. So, she wants to leave his side before her feelings grow any deeper.
I might not necessarily agree with Ji-hwan’s actions, but I can see where he is coming from, worrying about Eun-ha getting into danger because of him. To begin with, during the fight last week, Yang-hi mentioned Eun-ha and threatened to go after her. In addition, Ji-hwan’s father was released from jail and might be planning to get revenge on Ji-hwan for reporting him.
Most importantly, Ji-hwan is worried Eun-ha might feel ashamed and disappointed if she learns that her childhood oppa became a gangster instead of a prosecutor who catches thugs. Which we know isn’t true, but Ji-hwan’s insecurities got the best of him and made him think like that.
“A blind date? How can she agree to do something so dangerous?”
Not willing to let their tutor/future sister-in-law go, our deer squad step up, making it seem Eun-ha is going on a blind date to stir up Ji-hwan’s jealousy and get him to stop her from moving out. An oblivious Eun-ha heads to the company, having received a call from Dong-hee asking to meet. Instead, the one coming to see Eun-ah is her fake blind date (a stunning cameo by Lee Joon). Hearing about the date, Ji-hwan tries to play it cool, checking some documents that he holds upside down all while ranting about how blind dates are dangerous.
Still, it isn’t long before Ji-hwan’s jealousy sends him rushing to the first-floor café where the fake date is currently taking place. It is all going smoothly until Ye-na drops by unannounced and Ji-hwan inadvertently puts his hand on her face, attempting to stop whoever it is behind him from uttering his name out loud.
It is bad enough Eun-ha spotted Ji-hwan in a situation like that following the accidental hand-holding from last week. But it turns worse when Ye-na mentions going out on a date with Ji-hwan. Thus, Eun-ha locks arms with Fake Date and asks him out for lunch as retaliation.
“I got it. If that is how you feel, I won’t keep talking.”
Instead of admitting to his true feelings and telling Eun-ha he wants her by his side, Ji-hwan keeps nitpicking about the houses II-young suggested for him. Meanwhile, Eun-ha goes house hunting as well, but it doesn’t go well for her. For starters, Eun-ha couldn’t find a decent house that matched her budget. And to further complicate things, she has another encounter with delinquent high schoolers from before.
Things happen, and they end up going to the police station. Thanks to Hyun-woo, the situation is sorted out quickly. But the thing is, while running away from the high schoolers, Eun-ha dropped her phone while on a call with Ji-hwan. Hearing Eun-ha scream, Ji-hwan rushes over there, running with all his might. As luck would have it, when Ji-hwan arrived, the situation was already solved.
Lest Eun-ha spots him there, Ji-hwan squats behind a police car. Yet, as funny as it is watching Ji-hwan try to hide from Eun-ha, it made me feel for him. It isn’t that Ji-hwan doesn’t want to express his emotions openly, the insecurities from his gangster past keep getting in his way.
Checking her call log, Eun-ha realizes Ji-hwan was there as well. Taking the initiative, Eun-ha tells Ji-hwan about signing a lease contract the next day and brings up that he was at the station, too. But Ji-hwan doesn’t say anything about it or the studio he got her.
Seeing no point in continuing this conversation, Eun-ha goes back to her room but not before telling Ji-hwan she liked the time spent with him and the rest. Frustratingly enough, Ji-hwan just stands around without doing anything to stop her from leaving.
“It is a cleaning day at our house.”
Sensing the void caused by her absence and looking back on all their happy moments together, Ji-hwan finally gives in to his feelings and goes to see Eun-ha. Except, this happens just as Hyun-woo confesses his feelings for Eun-ha.
Honestly, I was worried Ji-hwan would misunderstand the situation for Eun-ha liking Hyun-woo as well and just walk away. But while the former might be somewhat true, Ji-hwan just interrupts the conversation, sits himself down, and claims it is cleaning day at the house. So everyone, Eun-ha included, should join. Ji-hwan doesn’t even budge with his puppy eyes until Eun-ha parts ways with Hyun-woo.
“Ko Eun-ha, where were you?”
With Eun-ha staying over at Mi-ho’s for the night and Ji-hwan just tossing and turning, our deer squad takes matters into their own hands, basically kidnapping our leads and also II-young and Mi-ho for a retreat to build memories and hopefully help Ji-hwan reconcile with their dear “sister-in-law.” Wow! Let the fun begin.
What does the trick, though, is Eun-ha going out by herself for a walk and Ji-hwan getting worried to death about something happening to her. (He spotted a strange man capturing photos of Eun-ha by the house earlier.) Ji-hwan is running with all his might, calling Eun-ha’s name and looking like a little kid who found his mum when he finally locates Eun-ha.
After accidentally tripping down a hill and a round of “I was worried about you. What if something bad happens?” and “Why are you confusing me like that?,” Ji-hwan at long last utters the word. He likes Eun-ha a lot and only has eyes for her. Hooray!
A sprained ankle has Ji-hwan carrying Eun-ha on his back. Which is swoony and all, but just as Eun-ha says she likes Ji-hwan back, the guy gets all flustered that he drops Eun-ha off like a hot potato. The final blow is Eun-ha kissing Ji-hwan, and the guy is already a goner. The one who used to scare gangsters off is bumbling on the ground and can barely get on his feet.
“Which one do you like more? Honey or sweetie?”
Normally, dating comes after confessing one’s feelings. But it seems like our leading lady might need to wait for our shy male lead to pull himself together as his heart keeps thumping, thinking about the kiss. And his situation just gets only worse when Eun-ha sends him a cute video calling him sweetie and blowing a kiss at him.
Meanwhile, Eun-ha asks to meet Hyun-woo to give him an answer to his confession. Well. It isn’t like Hyun-woo didn’t know where Eun-ha’s heart truly lies. He takes the rejection gracefully, asking Eun-ha to remain friends and not act awkwardly with each other and reaching out his hand to shake Eun-ha’s. Except, Ji-hwa re-interrupts the conversation, grabbing Eun-ha’s hand tightly, calling her baby, and taking her away. Someone is jealous here.
Finally mustering up the courage to act on his feelings, Ji-hwan tells Eun-ha he doesn’t like it when she is with other guys. He wants her to have eyes only for him, sealing his confession with a kiss. Our ship is finally sailing.
My Sweet Mobster Episodes 9 and 10 Musings
Where do I start? Eun-ha getting taken in by the family, our deer squad acting like matchmakers, Ji-hwan being his cute flustered self. I simply like everything about this week. And it won’t be an overstatement to say that I keep anticipating the new episode, the moment the closing credits roll. The drama is the light-hearted watch that I need to recharge my energy and face another week.
Ye-na might be just another annoying character obsessed with getting together with the male lead, despite clearly knowing she has no chance. Yang-hi going after Ji-hwan is one plot point we can do without. The whole father getting out of jail thing was unnecessary. You see, we aren’t in a revenge drama here. But I am willing to get behind all of this and keep enjoying the drama because we have enough fun going on to make up for that.
One character that confuses me is Hyun-woo. On one hand, it seems he is starting to come around, objectively thinking about the things Dong-hee and Eun-ha said about Ji-hwan and considering the possibility that Ji-hwan might not be the bad person Hyun-woo thought him to be. But on the other hand, I don’t like the way Hyun-woo keeps rubbing salt in Ji-hwan’s wound, mentioning how Eun-ha being with Ji-hwan might put her in danger, not only out of concern for Eun-ha but to get Ji-hwan to stay away from her.
On a side note, stumbling across a pregnancy test stick, our deer squad ponders over whose it is. But it isn’t Eun-ha’s but Mi-ho’s. You see, things happened and Mi-ho ended up spending a night with II-young. And now she is pregnant with his child. The problem is that II-young cowardly called it a mistake. Thus, hurting Mi-ho’s feelings. Our girl stood up for herself, though, telling II-young she only slept with him because she had feelings for him. But if that is how he is going to react, she doesn’t want a man like that.
As things stand, Mi-ho plans to keep the pregnancy a secret from II-young. Yet the cat is already out of the bag as II-young is sharp enough to connect the dots and figure things out. Getting back together only because of the pregnancy is a turn of events I am not fond of. So, I am glad that we got other clues that II-young regrets what he did and genuinely cares for Mi-ho even before he got hit by the pregnancy news.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
