Dry Changma (Rainy Season)
Episode 9 of Forecasting Love and Weather starts with Si-Woo and Ha-Kyung eating together. When a cake is wheeled out, reading “will you marry me” atop, Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo both have very different ideas around marriage. Si-Woo sees it as a big risk, pointing out that “marriage is the end of love” when they walk together. Ha-Kyung though believes it’s a beautiful thing, given her warm grin, and when she notices that Si-Woo’s ideas are different to her own, her smile fades. While the pair get along well, Ki-Jun is hung up on the pair, believing Si-Woo has approached his ex simply to get back at him. Yoo-Jin calls Si-Woo “oppa” by mistake, before backtracking and pointing out he’s not unpredictable and it seems unlikely that Si-Woo would do this. At work the next day Ki-Jun takes Ha-Kyung aside and asks outright whether she’s dating Si-Woo. She shrugs it off, claiming they’re just colleagues. But then, he’s seen them kissing. Ha-Kyung calls Si-Woo a punk, projecting his jealousy but claiming he’s “worried” about her. He shouts after her on the stairwell, claiming Si-Woo is not the one for her. However, Yu-Jin happens to hear them talking. Back in the office, Si-Woo and Ha-Kyung start talking via instant message, pointing out that Ki-Jun knows about them. Because of that, she wants to postpone their date and outdoor activities until further notice. Su-Jin notices that the pair are typing furiously and stops what she’s doing to watch them. While Si-Woo goes for dinner with the team that night, Ha-Kyung decides to head back and see her mother and sister. Her mum wants her to go on 3 blind dates, desperate to match her up and find her “true love.” She’s been keeping up this act for a while now, and Ha-Kyung has had enough. On the way out the door, Tae-Kyung points out that their mother just wants someone to lean on but her rushing into things and suffocating her daughter isn’t doing anyone any favours. When Ha-Kyung heads home, Senior Um is out chatting in the living room, realizing they can’t really hang out there either. So instead, they come up with a plan to meet in private, somewhere they can hang during the rainy season. In the morning though Ki-Jun notices Ha-Kyung leave with Si-Woo, “I’ll catch you red-handed,” He says, tailing their car and following where the’re going. However, he’s on a tight time-frame as he needs to be home with enough time to see Ki-Jun’s mother for her birthday. The pair end up on a hike, with Ki-Jun pathetically following from behind. After stepping in dog poo, he realizes he’s left his phone behind and can’t actually take photos of the pair together. As he scrambles back to his car, Ki-Jun notices it being towed given he didn’t park correctly. So he ends up racing after the tow truck. Si-Woo rings Seok-Ho and asks for an update on the rain, Hearing a female voice, he doesn’t even think twice about calling her his girlfriend…but is careful not to reveal her identity. The pair realize the clouds are starting to darken but they don’t have their barbecue packed. Why? Well, it turns out Um is actually using it back home, hilariously grilling meat while he’s working on his laptop. Back home, a dejected Ki-Jun admits to Yu-Jin that he can’t focus on anything else while Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo are together. He’s seriously considering telling everyone about them but Yu-Jin reminds him that in doing so, it would also cause rumours to flare up about the pair as well. After camping under the stars, Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo return, Ki-Jun challenges Si-Woo over his notion regarding dry changma and the pair debate over what’s the best course of action regarding the delayed rain. Ki-Jun is such a tool. Anyway, the pair debate together over the weather, using weather patterns and various charts and diagrams to back up their arguments. Their debate goes on all throughout the day, with a curious Su-Jin noticing that Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo could well be hiding something. Back in the meeting though, Ki-Jun turns the attention across to Si-Woo and Ha-Kyung’s relationship. He wants to make sure they’re together for the right reasons but Si-Woo looks the guy deep in his eyes, pointing out that he never does anything he’s not fully invested in. This chat helps change Ki-Jun’s tune as he realizes he’s actually a good man. So why did Yu-Jin break up with him? Well, because Ki-Jun actually asked her to marry him. That’s literally the reason why and now that Ki-Jun is having second thoughts about registering their marriage, it’s caused everything to go haywire. Meanwhile, Si-Woo heads home with renewed purpose, speaking to Um and Ha-Kyung about the weather and realizing that it’s definitely going to rain in two days’ time. Because water vapor is flowing south, they both decide to trust him and broadcast this out. Only… in the morning it’s clear skies, which comes under fire from the press as they realize the KMA forecast is wrong again. Si-Woo blames himself but Ha-Kyung speaks to him reassuringly after being grilled by the press. In the middle of this though, Yu-Jin also speaks too Ha-Kyung, pointing out the reason she broke up with Si-Woo. It turns out he doesn’t believe in marriage. This is something we saw foreshadowed earlier in the episode and now it seems like Ha-Kyung isn’t sure whether she can go ahead with her relationship or not.
The Episode Review
With a great blend of humour, drama and interesting themes, Forecasting Love and Weather continues to deliver on this week’s episode. The story is now starting to turn toward Si-Woo and Ha-Kyung’s conflicting ideas around marriage and the future of their relationship, which looks like it’s going to be revealed to the office sooner rather than later. Su-Jin seems to know that something is going on and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the catalyst for rumours spreading around. However, Ki-Jun is continuing to show how he’s a bit of a loser and completely hung up over Ha-Kyung. It’s clear he wanted to have his cake and eat it and now it’s becoming increasingly obvious that his rash idea of marrying Yu-Jin is the complete wrong move for everyone. How is this one going to end up? Will Ha-Kyung accept that Si-Woo doesn’t want to get married? Or is there another twist in the tale to come? We’ll have to wait and see!
