At A Distance, Spring Is Green – K-Drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

Give or Take

Episode 4 of At A Distance, Spring Is Green begins with Yeo Joon a So-Bin shutting thee door on Chan-Ki. He’s obviously still hung up over her though, and looks longingly at the apartment as the pair head outside.

As they walk together, Yeo Joon makes her promise not to answer any calls from Chan-Ki. Not long after though, they tease Soo-Hyun’s way of talking and go their separate ways after Yeo Joon does his best to cheer So-Bin up.

At school, Hyung-Min shows up and meets Soo-Hyun. He asks about his job, which includes a room as part of the deal. However, when he finds out Young Ran has made a deal with him and the CEO, he actually turns it down. Instead, he gets back to doing hard manual labour.

When Young-Ran questions him over this, Soo-Hyun admits he didn’t want her to be in Hyung-Min’s debt. He’s way too proud to accept this.

Gu-Hyun shows up at school and instantly falls for Min-Joo. It’s love at first sight… and he falls straight over. Intent on trying to make it look on purpose, he starts doing press ups.

Eventually Soo-Hyun sees this and hurries over to his brother. In doing so, he witnesses Gu-Hyun offered a position as her model. Just before showing off his abs, Soo-Hyun takes his brother aside. Eventually they head out and get something to eat (Soo-Hyun pays) where Yeo Joon watches the two brothers show affection for one another. This is, of course, something that’s alien to him.

So-Bin wins the contest at school but she doesn’t make the position of assistant. At the same time, Yeo Joon runs into trouble when he tries ringing his Father’s company to get files for his project. When his Father finds out, he’s irate.

At work, Soo-Hyun is hounded by Yeo Joon’s “friends” but Young Ran arrives to put a stop to it. When he heads home after his shift, he finds Gu-Hyun has 100,000 won. This, as it turns out, is a result of selling Yeo Joon’s watch which he handed over earlier in the episode off-screen.

Now Soo-Hyun finally understands how Yeo Joon feels. As they talk, he realizes that no one is that receptive to Yeo Joon unless he pays. On the back of this, he agrees to do his best to try and warm up to him. Away from the money, he wants genuine friendship.

That evening, So-Bin is confronted by Chan-Ki. He asks about the night and admits that Yeo Joon knew about them together and planned this on purpose. Determined to get to the truth, she takes Joon aside and asks him outright. There, he admits nonchalantly that he did set her up to see Chan-Ki.

Although he had the best intentions, he admits that this is how life is, “give or take” as he so eloquently puts it himself. This is something he’s picked up from his family of course. Well, So-Bin has heard enough and she walks away.

Phoning Soo-Hyun that night, he gives some good advice and tells him to admit how he really feels – and to do what he’s bad at. Well, this sees him hurry up to see So-Bin at night. He finally opens up and admits his true feelings and how scared he is of this.

Meanwhile, Soo-Hyun collapses from exhaustion while he’s working. When Yeo Joon calls, it’s the nurses that pick up the phone. Yeo Joon races to the hospital though, overcome with worry. He claims he’s Soo-Hyun’s guardian and when the boy awakens, promises to do his best to try and change going forward.

Soo-Hyun admits that he’s jealous of Yeo Joon’s lavish lifestyle but he shrugs it off, especially when the former tells him to leave. Instead, Yeo Joon decides to keep being clingy – which is what he’s good at.

The Episode Review

The similarities and differences between Yeo Joon and Soo-Hyun continue to be showcased across this Korean drama. It’s an interesting dynamic the pair have, with both feeling very alone but for different reasons.

Despite having a lot of money and materialistic belongings, Yeo Joon doesn’t have any real friends. Sure he has spongers that pretend to be his friend, but all they care about is his money. Soo-Hyun however, is not like that.

Soo-Hyun is proud and wants to pay his own way. He’s incredibly selfless and hates being in other people’s debts. However he’s also alone but purely because he has to work such long hours just to eke out a living.

Seeing these two characters come together, with So-Bin sort of lurking in the midst of all this, is well worked across the season and does a good job anchoring these two characters together.

There’s a good amount of progression here between the trio as well, with the ending hinting that we’ve got the blossoming of a bromance on the horizon too!

So far this drama has been an enjoyable watch, with a solid soundtrack and some good visuals. Roll on the next episode!