The Truth
Dinner Mate returns this week with another double bill of episodes, presenting some serious obstacles for our duo to try and overcome. With some nice work done to further A-Young and Keanu’s growing affection for one another and more mystery surrounding Jae-Hyeok’s place in all of this, Dinner Mate delivers an enjoyable enough hour of drama. If there’s one blemish here though, it comes from Do-Hee’s reaction to finding out Hae-Kyung’s true identity but we’ll discuss that in more detail at the end. Episodes 13 and 14 of Dinner Mate begin under the stars with Do-Hee admitting that she can’t stop thinking… of Lee Moon-Jung the writer. Unable to admit her true feelings, she retreats to her tent and sees the missed calls from Jae-Hyeok. Sighing, she takes the call but when he tells her he has something to hand over, she’s unable to continue the call and hangs up. Sitting back with Hae-Kyung, he tells her to open up and talk to Jae-Hyeok about how she’s feeling, and it’s here she opens up and reveals how she feels about Jae-Hyeok. As Hae-Kyung offers up words of encouragement, she’s clearly impressed and tells him he’s “like a therapist.” After their discussion in camp, the duo drive home where Hae-Kyung talks to her about his first love and reveals that Lee Moon-Jung is actually his Mother. When Do-Hee approaches her apartment, Jae-Hyeok shows up and grabs her wrist, demanding she go with him. However, Hae-Kyung sees this unfold and interferes. As things start getting heated, Do-Hee calls him her boyfriend and the duo walk off together. However, Jae-Hyeok recognizes him from a previous picture on Gun-Woo’s phone. In the morning, things are frosty at 2N Box as Jae-Hyeok hands Do-Hee an invitation to an upcoming wedding. She’s having none of it though and continues to reject him. At the same time, it’s Hae-Kyung’s turn to have a dreamy vision. Only, he quickly scoffs at the notion of a relationship blossoming and shuts the book, shaking his head. “What a crappy piece of novel.” While A-Young orders some coffee, Keanu gets himself dressed up and visits Hae-Kyung at his office. Only, when he arrives Hae-Kyung is nowhere to be seen so he leaves. Just then, his Mother messages Hae-Kyung and suggests they go on a trip together. After a day at 2N Box trying to work their new show with No-Eul, she and Do-Hee head out for dinner together. While they talk, No-Eul admits that Hae-Kyung is her ex-boyfriend. As they get talking, she finally realizes that Hae-Kyung is the same man she’s been having dinner with all this time. On the back of this, she vows not to see him anymore but on her way back from the bathroom, she spies him from afar and sneaks out the restaurant. Back home, Do-Hee tries in vain to forget about Hae-Kyung but struggles to shake all those fragmented, happy moments out of her mind. After working all night, Do-Hee heads back to work a mess as A-Young takes her aside and they have drinks together. As they do, A-Young asks where Keanu is. Only, Do-Hee hasn’t seen him either. For now, this issue is put to bed as Do-Hee invites Hae-Kyung out – but not for dinner. Instead, they sit together in a cafe and Do-Hee decides they’re not going to be Dinner Mates anymore. Hae-Kyung is clearly rattled by this though and asks why. She’s cold, telling him she doesn’t want to waste her time and doesn’t see a future between them. Do-Hee then walks away, unable to actually ask him about No-Eul and work. Do-Hee wanders off and winds up speaking to A-Young outside her apartment, where she admits that Hae-Kyung was her dinner mate. As she begins crying, Do-Hee vows not to like him, trying to convince herself of this. Afterward, A-Young walks home and runs into Keanu and he’s clearly shy in her presence, walking home together. Do-Hee deletes the dinner mate conversation with Hae-Kyung and is invited out for dinner by a singer at a work event. Meanwhile, Hae-Kyung awakens and when he sees that he and Do-Hee can’t continue their conversation, he waits for her at her apartment. As she sees him again, Do-Hee thinks over how she’s unable to deceive her own feelings. Solmenly, he hands over his work card confirming his identity and tells her if she wants to contact, to ring on that number, which is where the episodes end today. What happened to Keanu in the past? What has Jae-Hyeok done? Is he the reason Keanu’s now homeless? There’s a lot of questions surrounding this side of things and I’d imagine this will be revealed over time as A-Young and Keanu grow closer together. At the same time, Do-Hee and Hae-Kyung certainly go through a pretty rough patch as Do-Hee decides they’re not going to be dinner mates anymore. To be honest, it’s a bit immature the way she throws what they had just because of a work project. Thankfully, Hae-Kyung doesn’t take this lying down and it’s good to see him take the initiative and confront her over this. Hopefully he now finds out that she’s Producer Woo too and they can start to work through their problems. For now though, Dinner Mate bows out with another pretty good duo of episodes, leaving the door wide open for the future episodes.
