K-DRAMA RECAP: “No Gain No Love” Episodes 3 and 4

September 5, 2024
K-DRAMA RECAPS

Our fake couple goes through the wedding without a glitch. And now, it is time to say goodbye. However, our male lead surprises our heroine with an expected comeback that gets him closer to her than before.

Not that she is complaining about it. They might have spent a little time together, but our angelic part-timer has already grown on our calculating and lovely heroine, who can’t help but miss him.

Bunny S. watches No Gain No Love on Prime Video

Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 

No Gain No Love Episodes 3 and 4 Highlights

“I am not asking for a night at a five-star hotel or a diamond ring in a luxury bag. I just need you to kneel around some candles and balloons.”

With her plan to keep her fake groom under wraps going down the drain, Hae-yeong now needs to deal with people bombarding her with questions regarding her “handsome” groom. Did he propose to her? If so, why isn’t she wearing a ring? Cue: Hae-yeong once again turns to the pumpkin market to purchase some second-hand proposal items and badgering Ji-wook to go along with the fake proposal.

Since Ji-wook won’t agree to it, Hae-yeong shifts to Plan B, taking videos of herself while making it seem she is on a date with Ji-wook. But no matter how much effort Hae-yeong puts into this, she can’t fake being happy, and it is obvious to anyone watching the videos that her eyes are soulless.

Taking her by surprise, Ji-wook prepares a simple yet heartfelt proposal for Hae-yeong. And I loved how personalized the proposal was. It wasn’t one of the typical and extravagant proposals, but one that could only work for Hae-yeong. She can claim all she wants that Ji-wook’s proposal won’t fly to a real one. Yet Hae-yeong was palpably touched by the proposal and her eyes were full of love.

The day of the wedding finally arrives. Hae-yeong has everything planned from seating the guests evenly on the groom’s and the bride’s side to spreading rumors that the groom’s family is living abroad and couldn’t make it on time for the wedding. Ji-wook will stay in the shadows and won’t show up until it is time for the ceremony to minimize his interactions with the guests.

Fortunately, the wedding went well and now it is time for our fake married couple to part ways, right? Of course not. Instead, our fake couple gets roped into spending the night together at a hotel where Hae-yeong’s company offers its newly married employees a free night. The show might be overdoing it with the multiple coincidences between the ex-boyfriend and his wife, but it is funny to see Hae-yeong flustered and forced to stay together and act lovey-dovey.

“Your grandmother might have prioritized her daughter over you, but you are my priority.”

While counting the congratulatory money, a.k.a the highlight of the plan, Hae-yeong brings up how she knows nothing about Ji-wook, unlike how he knows pretty much everything about her, having witnessed her for a long time. Earlier, Ji-wook told Hae-yeong “someone” in Canada wanted him to immigrate there, so he agreed to the fake wedding to get them off his back, arguing they wouldn’t need to worry about him if he had a family of his own.

While conversing together, Ji-wook opens up to Hae-yeong that the one in Canada is his birth mother and it was his grandmother’s last wish that Ji-wook grow up alone without visiting his mother even once, since her family in Canada doesn’t know about his existence. How cruel!

In a surprise we didn’t see coming, it turns out that Ji-wook and Hae-yeong’s mother knew each other in the past. Probably, he was one of the foster kids she raised. So, Ji-wook wasn’t lying when he claimed he and Hae-yeong go way back when asked about the first time they met each other.

Aside from the childhood connection that Hae-yeong doesn’t seem to remember for now, I like how our leads now have a connection beyond the fake marriage deal, growing up on their own. Hae-yeong’s mother might have been physically existent for her, but she devoted herself to raising the foster kids and now she can’t recognize Hae-yeong. On the other side, Ji-wook’s mother tossed him away and went to live her life.

Protecting Hae-yeong surely played a part in Ji-wook’s decision, but the main reason he agreed to go through this was that Hae-Yeong wanted her mother to attend her wedding before her dementia condition worsened. It tells how Hae-yeong gave up the bridal waiting room for her mother so that people could greet her and take photos with her. It wasn’t Hae-yeong’s wedding but Mother’s first funeral.

3 months passed after our fake couple parted ways. The contest has come to an end, with Hae-yeong being the grand winner. Hooray! The ex-boyfriend winning the excellence award with his stolen idea makes me a little sad, but I will just ignore him. Hae-yeong wants to share the good news with Ji-wook but he quit his part-time job and now another part-timer (Cameo by Byeon Woo-seok) works there. Unable to reach him, Hae-yeong assumes Ji-wook went to visit his mother in Canada, yet unbeknownst to her, he is currently taking care of her mother.

“Is my getup failing to hide my innate class, poise, and inner nobility?”

Meanwhile, we get introduced to our second lead couple: Hae-yeong’s company’s CEO, Bok Gyu-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi), and the foster kid who lives with Hae-yeong, R-rated novel writer Nam Ja-yeon (Han Ji-hyun), who uses the pen name Yeon Bo-ra. As it so happens, Gyu-hyeon’s mother is an avid fan of Ja-yeon. Stumbling across his mother’s tablet, Gyu-hyeon is shocked to learn that she reads those R-rated novels. Since he can’t tell his mother about it, Gyu-hyeon goes after Ja-yeon instead, leaving hate comments and giving her bad reviews.

For someone as cool and open-minded as Ja-yeon, she barely cares about those comments. But I wonder what exactly Gyu-hyeon wrote to make Ja-yeon not only report him to the police but also be adamant against settling with him, no matter what. To keep his chaebol identity hidden, Gyu-hyeon goes to the station disguised as an unemployed bum who leaves hate comments to blow off steam.

On his way out, Gyu-hyeon bumps into Ja-yeon, marking their first encounter. For now, Gyu-hyeon knows Ja-yeon as Bo-ra and Ja-yeon only knows “the hater’s” face and not his chaebol identity. Scared, Ja-yeon hides away and calls Hae-yeong for help. Funnily enough, Hae-yeong runs into Gyu-hyeon outside the station in this state and recognizes him at a glance. She doesn’t know yet that he is the hater and suspects he was mugged. But the scene of them imitating the award ceremony in the street was downright hilarious.

Adding another layer of connection between Ja-yeon and Gyu-hyeon, the latter’s secretary happens to be Ja-yeon’s high school crush, the one she bases her stories’ male lead characters on. Spotting them together, Gyu-hyeon is shocked to see his secretary with “Bo-ra” but he can’t approach them lest his true identity be revealed. Simultaneously, Hae-yeong is shocked to see her dear fake husband, whom she missed so much, among the new recruits for the task force she is leading as the contest’s winner. And on that note, we end this week’s episodes.

No Gain No Love Episodes 3 and 4 Musings

This is the fun romcom I have been looking forward to. The funny scenes are hitting the right note, boosted by the graphics. The chemistry between the leads is shining. And the secondary characters are well-written and not just used as plot devices. Actually, I like everyone in the drama except for the ex-boyfriend whom I hope we will see less of or better bid farewell.

Back when Hae-yeong’s mother took in Ja-yeon, Hae-yeong threw a fit about being an only child just in name and having to live with others who would eventually leave. Despite being cold to Ja-yeon at their first meeting (Ja-yeon is still hurt by this memory though she pretends not to), Hae-yeong cared about Ja-yeon enough to ask her high school teacher to encourage Ja-yeon to pursue writing instead of scolding her. Thus, getting Ja-yeon touched, and perhaps is the reason Ja-yeon sticks to Hae-yeong till now despite her temper.

Another example highlighting Hae-yeong’s warm-hearted side is how she comforted Ji-wook after he told her his story and how she told him to live happily, doing what he wanted to do before they parted ways. The more we get on Hae-yeong, the more layered and likable I find her.

I appreciate how this week gave us a little more insight into Ji-wook, since the mystery surrounding him was one of my least favorite parts in the premiere week. We see a hidden figure approaching Ji-wook, and next thing we know, Ji-wook is in the company’s lobby. Which makes me wonder what happened there. Still, I bet/wish it is just a red-herring and Ji-wook isn’t involved in something shady.

Photos and Videos: tvN Drama

 

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Bunny Sonaki

I am Bunny. Just like you, I am smitten with Kdramas and look forward to watching every Kdrama out there, but is that dream ever possible since they keep showering us with new dramas every day? For me, Kdramas are my comfort zone and a warm hug that makes it possible to face up to whatever life throws my way.

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