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Doctor Slump: Episodes 3-4
by lovepark
A girl who altered a boy’s life, and boy who changed a girl’s youth — these are the protagonists of this love story, but before we get to the hand-holding and grand declarations, these two ex-rivals need some time to heal. However, there’s no rule that says one must journey alone, and so, our future couple walks together down this path, waiting for the sun to come up again.
EPISODES 3-4
As the show delves deeper into its characters as individuals, rivals, and friends, we get a glimpse of their perspectives both on the past and present. Starting off with Jung-woo, our friendly plastic surgeon explains how he had everything in high school — smarts, athletics, popularity — but that all changed when Ha-neul transferred to their class. After experiencing his first defeat, he matched her insane pace in hopes of overtaking her, but alas, she even beat him at fainting.
In the present, Jung-woo and Ha-neul avoid eye contact as memories of their cry-fest the night before make them want to crawl under a rock. Thankfully (or not), they have bigger issues on their hands than one embarrassing hug. While Jung-woo deals with the news that his anesthesiologist agreed to take the stand, Ha-neul dodges her overzealous family who want to throw her a “depression party.”
Though Ha-neul finds her family a bit pushy, I think their antics are endearing because their hearts are clearly in the right place. It still is the wrong approach to the situation, but it makes sense that they want to destigmatize her condition in order to make amends for their initial reaction. However, they haven’t learned how to view things from Ha-neul’s position, so there’s a disconnect between what they think she needs and what she wants.
Unfortunately for our leads, the very things that kept them busy all day, push them together at night. A suspicious man who’s been stalking Jung-woo breaks his window while he is away, and he ends up staying at Ha-neul’s place. Then after dinner, Ha-neul takes Jung-woo up on his offer to get dessert in order to avoid her mom’s incessant supervision, which is how these two awkward not-friends-just-classmates sit outside, eating ice cream.
To celebrate the start of her break, Jung-woo asks what Ha-neul likes to do for fun, and she tells him that she enjoys reading research articles. He balks at her answer and takes it upon himself to teach her what playing really entails. He drags her to do all the things she missed out in high school from eating tteokbokki to singing karaoke at the arcade. Though Ha-neul complains about his list, she participates in every activity with gusto, and in this moment, they are not depressed and failed doctors but two teenagers filled with life.
When they come back to reality, Ha-neul realizes that she wasted her youth, but Jung-woo disagrees. She expects him to tell her to cheer up like everyone else, but he surprises her with his response: “Since we’re already down, let’s take a break.” His simple acts and odd words heal her in ways she does not understand yet, and that night, she goes to sleep hoping that tomorrow will be as good as today.
However, life ruins their respite with new challenges. For Ha-neul, her scummy superior skimmed her severance pay by never registering her as a full-time employee, and when she turns to her colleagues for support, they ask her to stop provoking their boss. As for Jung-woo, the shady anesthesiologist rescinded his promise to testify in court, and the news drags his name through the mud with baseless speculations.
The day of Jung-woo’s court date arrives, and while the prosecution bombards him with accusations, Ha-neul bursts through the doors, ready to save the day. She brandishes an envelope containing evidence that could turn the tides, and the music swells to a crescendo only to falter. The judge dismisses the last-minute documents, and Ha-neul learns that she isn’t a hero in a movie.
Outside the courthouse, Ha-neul watches Jung-woo being mobbed by reporters, and the visual representation of him being surrounded and her being alone reflects their inner turmoil. However, as someone bumps into Ha-neul, Jung-woo breaks the divide and rushes to her side. As their worlds bleed into one another, he takes her away where they can be together alone.
Wishing to return the favor from last time, Ha-neul offers to treat him, so Jung-woo asks if she wants to see the sunrise. Thus, they drive to the beach, but when they arrive, the sky is filled with clouds. The weather reminds them of their lives, but even if the sun does not rise today, it will tomorrow. Reaching a hand out to Ha-neul, Jung-woo asks if she wants to be friends, not just classmates, and she agrees.
The story shifts to Ha-neul’s perspective, and just as she changed his life, he changed hers. As a child, Ha-neul preferred studying over friends and genuinely loved it because it made her sick dad smile. However, the more she succeeded, the bigger the expectations grew, and all throughout school, she never made a friend… until now. In an epilogue, we see the aftermath of their fainting fiasco, and while Ha-neul’s mom worried about her health, Jung-woo’s mom cared more about his slipping grades.
Back in the present, Ha-neul and Jung-woo stop by a restaurant for breakfast, but they both fall asleep having stayed up all night — in her case, for three days trying find evidence to help him. By the time they get back home, Ha-neul’s mom is freaking out about her missing daughter and assumes the worst since her phone is off, too. Hence, when Ha-neul arrives with Jung-woo, things get a bit awkward especially since Hong-ran is there and asks if this is her first love.
Her friend’s misinformed comment sets off a strange chain of events, starting with Mom’s request to set Ha-neul up on a blind date. While Hong-ran asks around for any eligible bachelors, word gets to Dae-young whose ears perk up. His newest (and basically only) subscriber is named Hong-ran, and he wants to check if this is the same person.
In the meantime, Jung-woo can’t get the thought that he is Ha-neul’s first love out of his head, so when she asks him to go shopping later, he digs through his clothes for the perfect outfit. He tops it off with a cap to not draw unwanted attention for her sake, but Ha-neul tells him not to bother. She reaches up to take it, but trips and falls into his arms. Of course, these repressed souls simply clear their throats and ignore their thumping hearts.
During her shopping trip, Ha-neul tries on a dress, and Jung-woo stares at her, unable to look away. She wonders if he is still shy about the fall earlier and recalls a similar incident from high school. One of the fans in the classroom broke, and Ha-neul tried to fix it but fell off her desk instead. Jung-woo caught her then, too, but that time, he promptly dropped her when the other students teased them. She hurt both wrists as a result, so to make up for it, Jung-woo took notes for her and carried her backpack. So cute!
As the memories come back to her, Ha-neul finally understands why she trusts him so much: he might be competitive, but he is also compassionate. She says that she has something to tell him, and Jung-woo grows anxious as the mood turns into a perfect time for a confession… that she has a blind date tomorrow. She also clarifies that he is not her first love, and his heart falls like the cherry blossoms above him.
To Ha-neul’s dismay and Jung-woo’s delight, the blind date goes terribly as Dae-young incorrectly assumes she is Hong-ran, and Ha-neul thinks he keeps asking about her friend. It changes from bad to worse, however, when Dae-young’s teenaged daughter barges into the restaurant and confronts her divorced dad about dating. At least this disruption clears the air between them, and both parties realize their mistake.
After her failed date, Ha-neul returns home only to find an even bigger headache waiting for her: the Busan aunts are here. Jung-woo gets roped into this as well since Ha-neul’s aunts have the wrong idea that she is getting married, but soon enough, Mom’s foolhardy lies are revealed. The aunts call Ha-neul a failure, but Jung-woo comes to the rescue, giving her the courage to stand up for herself.
Even with Jung-woo’s help, her aunts’ cutting words have already done their damage to her tattered self-esteem, so in the evening, Ha-neul drowns her sorrows in alcohol with her new friend. As the two of them battle over who failed more, Jung-woo heads inside to grab more drinks as well as an umbrella since it started to rain. While the rain doesn’t stop their party, sleep does, and Ha-neul dozes off, leaning her head against Jung-woo’s shoulder. He thinks to himself that he should not care too deeply about her, but from the look on his face, it’s too late.
In the morning, Ha-neul gets a call about a job she applied for in her drunkenness, and she immediately seeks out Jung-woo for advice. It would be in a rural city away from everyone she knows, but Jung-woo tells her not to worry since she will succeed wherever she goes. His encouragement is what she needed to hear, and she sets off to start this new chapter in her life.
While Ha-neul goes in for her interview, Jung-woo hangs out with his senior MIN KYUNG-MIN (Oh Dong-min) — the same doctor who got the professor position over Ha-neul. He comments on how bad he feels for her, though it did not stop him from giving a scathing review of her character to the director at her new hospital. Jung-woo criticizes him for only pointing out her flaws without any of the context, and without further explanation, he rushes out of the restaurant.
Once Ha-neul arrives at the hospital for the interview, she receives a call that it was canceled since they learned some information about her that made her unsuited for the role. The first thing she does is leave a voicemail to Jung-woo, telling him that she must have lived a bad life, but right then, he appears next to her. Like she once told him during his time of need, he returns that same comfort: it is not her fault.
Ha-neul and Jung-woo are so adorable together, and I love this slow and steady pace. The buildup of their relationship is gradual from classmates to enemies to neighbors and now friends — each development feels layered and enriches their history. This may be a romance, but their relationship to each other is about more than love. It’s about trust, self-worth, hope, and much more.
These two weary souls have found an oasis in each other, but at the same time, the show tells us that healing comes from within, not from other people. A relationship won’t fix depression, but having someone accompany you on this journey makes all the difference in the world. It’s this sentiment that makes Ha-neul and Jung-woo’s budding friendship feel so lovely because in the end, it’s not about whether they will get together or not, but about how they help each other rediscover themselves and heal their inner child in the process.
The epilogue for Episode 4 shows Kyung-min holding a pen that looks similar to the one in Jung-woo’s room, so all those bad vibes he gave off last week were deliberate. He feels like one of those people who act friendly but hide their true intentions. His words are barbed and meant to hurt the other party without making himself the bad guy. The conversation about Ha-neul is the perfect example of who Kyung-min truly is. He pretends to care about her and covers his duplicitous actions as some moral right. He was only telling the “truth” but as Jung-woo rightfully pointed out, he was telling a convenient version of his truth that made him free of any accountabilities he held in perpetuating the very circumstances that led to Ha-neul’s resignation. It seems he’s also involved in Jung-woo’s case, which explains why he spends so much time with Jung-woo meeting his lawyers yet hasn’t contributed anything tangible.
In contrast, Jung-woo shows what it looks like when someone actually takes responsibility, even if they aren’t the primary cause. Though he knows he didn’t do anything wrong (at least legally), his actions still put many people out of work and in debt. His first instincts were to help others, and this part of his character has been present since his high school days. He technically shouldn’t be held accountable for Ha-neul hurting her wrists — she was the one who got on a desk and fell — but seeing her take notes with her mouth (which was hilarious, by the way) made him feel bad. He felt guilty for dropping her, so he goes out of his way to lighten her load. It’s sad, though, when you consider the fact that Jung-woo has never had someone have his back the way he does for others so naturally, which is why he gravitated so quickly towards Ha-neul. She matches his energy in the best way possible, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that these two are meant to be together. That being said, I want this slow burn to take its sweet time because watching their mutual denial and pining is the best part.
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