Kyung-min, the older man Dong-gu trusted, casually mentioned that the hospital out in the province had called to ask about Ha-neul. Kyung-min had innocently told them that she quit her job because of a conflict with her professor.
The result was that as soon as Ha-neul arrived there, she got the news that she had been rejected.
While she was standing at the train station in disappointment, Ha-neul suddenly saw Dong-gu show up right in front of her. He comforted her. "You didn't do anything wrong."
That moment made her heart flutter. Even though this sassy man still tried to make excuses that he was just taking a trip and happened to be passing through, the two of them decided to spend the day together there.
They jumped right back into competitive games, just like in high school. When he won, instead of punishing her, Dong-gu got very close and just gently flicked Ha-neul's forehead. That painless forehead flick looked more like a romantic gesture than a punishment.
They took photos together, and even though they stood a mile apart at first, after Dong-gu did some directing, the photo turned out incredibly romantic. Ha-neul secretly thought to herself that if he weren't by her side, she would probably be hiding in some corner crying right now.
When it got dark, the two of them hurried to run for the station to catch the last train, but they suddenly came upon an old man having a heart attack. They immediately jumped in to give him CPR.
However, halfway through, Dong-gu suddenly froze. The terrifying memories of his medical accident rushed back and left him paralyzed. Ha-neul noticed that something was wrong. She pushed him to go get the defibrillator while she put all her strength into the chest compressions.
Thanks to their teamwork, the old man made it past the critical stage before the ambulance arrived.
But because of that, they missed the last train and were forced to stay at a motel nearby. Since there were only two rooms left, and one of them hadn't been cleaned yet, the two of them had to sit together in a tiny room.
The vibe became extremely flirty and awkward. To break the silence, Dong-gu suggested drinking a little alcohol. By accident, their hands touched, and both of them froze. The peak of it came when Dong-gu clumsily sat right down on Ha-neul's hand, making both of them jump up in shock.
After arguing for a bit to ease the awkwardness, Ha-neul's mother called. She couldn't bear to tell the truth that she had failed the interview, so she had to lie and say she would tell her after she got back.
Right after that, her best friend Hong-ran also called. Hearing that Dong-gu had traveled such a long way just to find Ha-neul, Hong-ran confidently declared, "Traveling is just an excuse. This is one hundred percent true love."
Ha-neul awkwardly denied it and hurriedly hung up.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Dong-gu was sinking into a nightmare. The images of the failed surgery and the patient not making it kept clinging to him without letting go. He woke up startled, with a terrified face, right as Ha-neul walked in to tell him the other room had been cleaned.
Just as Ha-neul grabbed her bag and was about to leave, Dong-gu suddenly held her back. He begged her not to leave, to stay with him a little longer. While feeling flustered, he used his slick mouth to make an excuse about playing cards to cover up his vulnerability, even grabbing her wrist tightly, which made Ha-neul freeze.
In reality, Dong-gu was just scared of the feeling of having to face those nightmares all alone.
After calming his mind, he sincerely thanked her. To change the mood, he taught her how to play cards, but who would have guessed that the genius Ha-neul would beat him to a pulp in the very first game. Dong-gu tried to cheat and claim it was just a practice round, but there was no way she was going to let go of the chance to torture the opponent sitting right next to her.
Ha-neul felt really strange. She wondered about his recent affectionate gestures, but she didn't dare speak up about it.
Heading back to Seoul the next day, afraid of getting caught by her family, Dong-gu voluntarily got out of the car first so that they could go home one at a time. Ha-neul felt like she was doing something terribly sneaky.
As soon as she reached the door, hearing her mother and younger brother worriedly talking about her failing the interview, she suddenly felt pressured and didn't know how to face them. So she quietly turned away.
Knowing Ha-neul still hadn't gone home, Dong-gu hurried out to look for her and caught her at the arcade. He pulled her ear to scold her for not going home, and then went crazy playing games with her to relieve the stress until sunset.
Seeing that she still didn't want to go home, he took her back to visit their old school and their old classroom. There, Ha-neul opened up about the pressure of her family's expectations ever since she was little, and about the shock of failing to get into her dream college back then.
Dong-gu understood, and he advised her, "Don't be so hard on yourself anymore. Take care of yourself before you care about how others look at you."
Thanks to his encouragement, Ha-neul found the courage to go home and confess everything. Surprisingly, her family was very understanding, which left her feeling incredibly relieved. That night, the two of them texted each other good night in an indescribably sweet way.
However, trouble hit Dong-gu again. Kyung-min handed him a hidden camera that had been found at his old clinic.
Dong-gu got chills down his spine. He searched all over the clinic and found a whole cluster of others. Someone had been watching his every move. He immediately called the police.
Even though he now had more clues to investigate, Dong-gu started to find something odd. Why hadn't Kyung-min told him right away when he found the camera?
Kyung-min looked a bit awkward, and then suddenly asked whether he liked Ha-neul. When he saw Dong-gu not giving a clear answer, Kyung-min coldly added, "If you have those kinds of feelings for her, I'd be a bit disappointed."
As for Ha-neul, after her best friend Hong-ran kept shipping the two of them and claiming there was something fishy going on, she started getting suspicious too. Remembering Dong-gu's overly caring actions lately, Ha-neul decided to run over and ask him straight up to clear the air.
"Why are you being so nice to me lately? You have feelings for me, right? You like me, don't you?"
Dong-gu was about to confess his feelings. But right at that moment, Kyung-min's warning echoed in his head. He suddenly pulled a U-turn and coldly replied, "I just see you as a friend. From now on, I'll be more careful to keep my distance."
This harsh answer made Ha-neul feel incredibly offended and absolutely humiliated.