K-DRAMA RECAP: “Serendipity’s Embrace” Episodes 3 and 4

July 31, 2024
K-DRAMA RECAPS

Our smitten male lead keeps making moves on his lady love. But funnily enough, she keeps dismissing those gestures, wholly oblivious to his feelings for her.

At least we got one love triangle nipped in the bud, though it might take more effort to convince a certain writer that the ship has already sailed and he has no place on it.

Bunny S. watches Serendipity’s Embrace on Viu

Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 

Serendipity’s Embrace Episodes 3 and 4 Highlights

“You are following me now.”

Revisiting the high school days, we see Hong-ju skipping school and taking the bus out of town. Which isn’t something new. But the surprising part is Hu-young playing hooky too and joining her. Hu-young is partly worried about Hong-ju yet mostly wants to follow her around even though he doesn’t know where Hong-ju is going or the reason behind that trip.

Unsurprisingly to us and shockingly to Hu-young, Hong-ju heads to a military base where her first love, a.k.a Joon-ho, is stationed to confess her feelings to him, all dolled up. Funnily enough, Hu-young unknowingly played matchmaker and accompanied Hong-ju to meet her first love. Not to mention the lengthy recommendation Hu-young wrote to convince the school library to buy Hong-ju’s favorite book, only to learn later that the author was Joon-ho.

“Neither you nor Bang Joon-ho was with her for the past 10 years.”

In the present, Hu-young laments how he basically set Hong-ju up with Joon-ho. But he has got bigger fish to fry. The headquarters wants him back ASAP. Thus, throwing a wrench to Hu-young’s original plan to spend another week with Hong-ju. Running into each other on their way back home, Hong-ju senses something is off and offers to buy Hu-young some fried chicken.

Hu-young’s excitement turns into disappointment when Hye-ji joins them. According to Hong-ju, the girls planned to meet for dinner, but I won’t be surprised if this turns out to be another matchmaking attempt. Things turn tense though when Hu-young calls Hong-ju clueless and stupid. This gets Hong-ju understandably baffled as she hasn’t been anything but nice to Hu-young.

Offended by Hu-young’s words, Hong-ju takes her leave, claiming something came up at work. However, an observant and straightforward Hye-ji asks Hu-young point-blank if he has feelings for Hong-ju. Which he confirms. I really appreciate how the drama didn’t drag this arc out and having Hye-ji figure it out first is a bonus point. Watching the three sitting together, I kept wondering when Hu-young would draw the line and tell Hye-ji he liked someone else. So, I am glad Hye-ji and Hu-young talked it out before it was too late.

Hye-ji is okay with Hu-young rejecting her. But one thing she won’t tolerate is Hu-young dumping Hong-ju and leaving for the US after making her fall in love with him. So, unless Hu-young plans to take responsibility till the end, he had better not approach Hong-ju. Hye-ji and Hong-ju might have been best friends for over a decade. Still, Hye-ji’s stern warning to Hu-young and how she called herself Hong-ju’s guardian, who can’t be replaced by anyone, made me sense there is more to this than trying to protect her bestie from dating a bad guy.

A flashback to Hong-ju’s childhood reveals that after getting abandoned by her parents, Hong-ju lived with a relative. Yet Hong-ju’s aunt agreed to follow her husband’s wishes and send Hong-ju away after she got pregnant. Young Hong-ju overheard them but pretended not to and forced a smile on her face. Over time, putting on a smile became Hong-ju’s defense mechanism, even though her heart might be aching.

We are yet to learn how the girls became friends, but Hye-ji was probably the only one Hong-ju could rely on, seeing how Hong-ju saves Hye-ji’s number on her speed dial. Knowing that getting abandoned by her parents left a deep scar inside Hong-ju’s heart (The girl hates going to a hospital because the staff there call for a guardian), it is no surprise that Hye-ji is mad about Joon-ho’s return and strictly warns Hu-young not to enter Hong-ju’s life if he plans on leaving her side.

“I feel more at ease here than at home.”

Meanwhile, Hong-ju experiences a dilemma of her own. She wants nothing to do with Joon-ho. Yet turning that novel into an animated movie has been her long-time dream. Also, this will mark the 10th anniversary project for the company and Hong-ju will finally get the chance to work as the main producer. Since Hong-ju might come to regret her decision either way, instead of letting this chance slip through her fingers, Hong-ju resolves to seize the opportunity.

Elsewhere, Hu-young prepares to head back to the US. This makes me wonder if it is Hye-ji’s warning that made him change his mind or if he just prioritizes his work over his love life. Anyway, just like before, Hu-young attempts to leave without saying goodbye to anyone. But a call from Hye-ji has Hu-young turning the car around. Hong-ju got into an accident and was transported to the hospital.

In another flashback, we see the school nurse tell Hong-ju to go home and rest because she has a fever. But since Hong-ju had no one to care for her at home, she opted to stay in the infirmary. We see a sick and barely conscious Hong-ju asking for water and a blurry figure giving it to her. Which is interspersed with a present-day Hong-ju reaching out her hand to Hu-young just as she opens her eyes at the ER.

Hong-ju is surprised to see Hu-young and tells him not to bother and get back to his business. Yet Hu-young puts Hong-ju’s hand on his chest as if wanting her to feel his heartbeat. That move made Hong-ju’s heart flutter a little. Yet what is the use if Hong-ju brushes off Hu-young’s gesture as him being sorry for calling her stupid and calls herself delusional for thinking that Hu-young might be interested in her?

Hong-ju tells Hu-young to stop “flirting” with her and tells Hye-jin she won’t play matchmaker anymore. And I think the three need to be more honest. Hu-young needs to make a straightforward confession. Hong-ju needs to ponder over her feelings for Hu-young carefully. And finally, Hye-ji needs to tell Hong-ju that Hu-young likes someone else, so she decides to move on from him.

This whole I-got-a-boyfriend-and-Hu-young-is-just-my-first-love thing and dragging an innocent man, Hye-ji’s colleague So Kyung-taek (Hwang Sung-bin), into that mess is definitely not the right thing to do. What makes that situation more unappealing is the fact that Kyung-taek genuinely likes Hye-ji. Yet she was just too busy daydreaming about Hu-young to notice that.

“Please let my oddball stay at your place, then. She can’t get up and down the rooftop with her legs in this state.”

With her leg injured, it will be difficult for Hong-ju to climb up and down the stairs. So, Hye-ji suggests Hong-ju stay at Hu-young’s. (Are we getting a reversal here with Hye-ji playing matchmaker this time?) Hu-young jumps at this chance, though he barely shows his excitement. Yet Hong-ju is reluctant to accept the offer.

While in the car on their way back from the hospital, Hu-young and Hong-ju reminisce about the latter part of their high school trip. After going all the way to the military base, Hong-ju was disappointed after learning that Joon-ho wasn’t stationed there anymore and visitations wouldn’t be allowed for six months. Joon-ho didn’t even have the decency to tell Hong-ju about this transfer in his letters.

Hong-ju cried her eyes out over this lost chance to confess her feelings. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day. After missing the last bus, Hu-young tripped into a muddy pit and while trying to get him up, Hong-ju fell there as well. Thus, our leads spent the night surrounded by muddy and cold water.

Having had a weird dream about kissing Hu-young, Hong-ju settles to go to her place, literally crawling her way up there. Yet she is caught out by Hu-young, who carries her princess style there. Feeling awkward, Hong-ju claims she could have forgotten about Hu-young if not for Hye-ji since they weren’t close. And hearing that, poor Hu-young thinks he got dumped before even getting to confess his feelings.

The next day, Hu-young tries to win Hong-ju’s favor using tips from Sang-pil and Hye-ji, the latter of whom seems pretty serious about trying to hook up Hu-young and Hong-ju together. Since it might take more effort to make Hong-ju realize he likes her, Hu-young settles to take things slowly, trying to become Hong-ju’s best friend first. However, that quiet morning is interrupted by Joon-ho dropping by uninvited.

Spotting Hong-ju with Hu-young, Joon-ho gets jealous and blurts nonsense about taking Hong-ju off the project since she is careless enough to postpone a meeting just because she got into an accident and hurt her leg and neck. Seriously! Satisfyingly enough, Hong-ju stands her ground and tells Joon-ho to kick her out if he wants, totally indifferent to whatever nonsense Joon-ho spouts about Hong-ju’s promise to keep loving him forever and not change.

Hong-ju is embarrassed that Hu-young keeps witnessing her ruined love life. But the guy is elated to see Hong-ju turn Joon-ho away. Telling Hong-ju to recover from her leg injury and heartbreak swiftly, Hu-young leans in for a kiss. And we are yet to learn if this kiss will mark the beginning of their relationship or cause things to get more awkward.

Serendipity’s Embrace Episodes 3 and 4 Musings

As we come to learn, Joon-ho didn’t dump Hong-ju and go abroad for research but because he had panic-induced writer’s block. Having had to pay hefty penalties for breach of contracts, Joon-ho was left penniless. Not wanting to drag Hong-ju down with him, Joon-ho kept Hong-ju in the dark about all of this. But if you ask me, Joon-ho’s actions hurt Hong-ju more than any hardships she might have faced if Joon-ho had told her the truth.

Flashbacks to their dating/flirtation era show us that Joon-ho wasn’t a total scumbag. However, being self-centered and prioritizing his pride over their relationship under the excuse of wanting to protect Hong-ju is what caused Hong-ju and Joon-ho’s relationship to fail. The best example of Joon-ho’s selfishness is how he wants to return everything to how it was just because he is now a successful writer, totally dismissing Hong-ju’s feelings.

Male Lead falling first isn’t something new to K-Drama land, but how Hong-ju remains clueless about Hu-young’s moves and calls him Third Friend cracks me up. She isn’t totally unaffected though, given how her heart skipped a beat when Hu-young fell asleep on her shoulder back when they were stuck in a pit. This makes me wonder whether Hong-ju was too focused on her crush on Joon-ho to notice other things around her or that she had no interest in Hu-young.

But seeing how Hong-ju didn’t open up to anyone but Hye-ji and maybe Sang-pil back in high school, it makes me believe that Hong-ju felt something for Hu-young that was big enough for her to let him tag along on her trip to confess her feelings to Joon-ho and be comfortable around him.

Other than dealing with the aftermath of this surprising and not wholly consented kiss, Hu-young needs to handle the situation at work. This time, he missed the flight because of Hong-ju’s accident. But Hu-young needs to make a decision and stick to it. He can’t just enter Hong-ju’s life without a plan and break her heart like what Joon-ho did.

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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