Bad-Memory Eraser – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of Bad-Memory Eraser begins with Gun thinking that Ju-yeon is stealing his suitcase. She clarifies that it is hers and she came by to search for his ID card so as not to inconvenience him. He is over the moon that she cares for him and they find his ID card together.

The blisters on his hand hurt and she even puts a bandaid on it. He is touched and she shares as his doctor, she will always be on his side. He shares he is on her side too and is all giggly about their interaction.

Meanwhile, Shin believes that Sae-yan is in love with him. However, she has been trying to get in touch as she lost her bracelet in his car. He thinks it is an excuse and she is annoyed with him. As he leaves, he feels like someone is following him.

As for Ju-yeon, she can’t shake off the way Gun looks at her and feels guilty as she is sure to break his heart. He tries to give her a flower in front of Tae-oh but it breaks and she isn’t amused. Guk-bong arrives and Gun reveals that he plans to bring Chairman Won as an investor. Won is a mega investor in biotech and sports. No one has seen him and his agent is super picky. 

Sae-yan arrives at the hospital and overhears the staff planning a dinner without Ju-yeon since she is cold. She angrily tells Ju-yeon they have dinner plans. As they shop for food, Ju-yeon says work and friendship don’t go together. Sae-yan believes in even fleeting encounters and showing emotions. Ju-yeon hesitates at this and Sae-yan believes she has a boyfriend.

At the hospital, Shin and Gun both search for Ju-yeon to no avail. Shin decides to sleep in Gun’s room and the latter stares at him. Gun recalls that as kids, Shin would cling to him and sleep next to him.

Shin looks conflicted as he believed Gun had no good memories of him. Gun asks about their relationship as adults and Shin says they were the same with him clinging to Gun who played pranks on him. Gun does it again as he seems to say something important but just wants Shin to stand up and close the lights. 

Meanwhile, Sae-yan gifts Ju-yeon matching tees for couples and tells her to give it to her boyfriend. Ju-yeon acts annoyed but plans on giving it to Tae-oh.

At the court, Shin is exhausted and while Mrs. Lee massages his feet, she notices the bloody blisters. She is furious with Hong who tries to explain that it was the price for the sponsor to pay for all of Shin’s coaching. She storms to the sponsor’s office and tears the contract.

Then we have Shi-on whose commercial is canceled due to the news of her injury and physical rehab. Gun tells her to trust him and she does. However, her mom needs him to put a downpayment in 10 days or their deal is off. 

For the next trial test, Gun needs to be let out and Ju-yeon tags along as is his medical guardian. They go to a racetrack where Ju-yeon’s curiosity gets the better of her and she indulges in a quid pro quo. She claims that she has been dating Tae-oh since her UK trip and he is her first love. And Gun is at the racetrack to secure investors for his company.

He finds a rich investor who is about to kick him out when Gun accurately predicts that the investor’s horse #5 won’t do well and #3 will win. He introduces Ju-yeon as the team doctor and she backs his claims as she gauges horse #5’s skittish behaviour. The investor is intrigued but Gun plays hard to get and tells him to schedule another meeting.

Similarly, Ju-yeon is in awe and wonders why Gun doesn’t just bet himself and get the capital fund. As an athlete, he doesn’t want to exploit sports and Ju-yeon is further impressed by his ethical stance.

She then texts Tae-oh who ignores her. On reaching the hospital, Gun is about to ask her for dinner when Tae-oh asks her to meet him in the meeting room and she rushes over with the matching tees. However, it was a distraction, as to win Dr. Kim’s approval, Tae-oh runs his own test on Gun for a neurosurgery paper. 

Meanwhile, taking Sae-yan’s advice, Ju-yeon decorates the meeting room with balloons and candles as she waits for Tae-oh. But following the test, Tae-oh heads out to meet Dr. Yeo. Ju-yeon overhears him placating Yeo who is mad that she has to hide their relationship. Ju-yeon is heartbroken as she tries to clear the room but thankfully Tae-oh leaves with Yeo.

A flashback shows Tae-oh telling Ju-yeon that the day she is back from the UK is the first day of their relationship. Guess Ju-yeon was never lying about dating him, huh? On having pieced everything together, Gun arrives and tells Ju-yeon to confront Tae-oh. She lashes out at him instead and he walks off.

While leaving, Ju-yeon cries and Shin runs into her. He gives her a ride and brings her coffee. He believes food makes one feel better but he can’t eat due to his diet. She insists and she is amused when he gets foam on his face. She also finds Sae-yan’s bracelet in his car and gives it to him. 

Meanwhile, Gun threatens Tae-oh and tells him not to mess with Ju-yeon. He then gets himself discharged and Dr. Kim is furious. Tae-oh blames Ju-yeon and Kim suggests taking her out of the paper.

Han advocates for her as it is her research but Kim brings up Tae-oh’s neurosurgery paper and points out Ju-yeon’s was on psychiatry. Kim also reveals that Gun’s results are inconclusive whenever he is with Ju-yeon due to his feelings for her and with neurosurgery, the results are objective. 

The next day, Tae-oh asks Ju-yeon out for lunch and she wants to confront him several times but she doesn’t. He, of course, set up the lunch to make it think it is her idea to shift the research from psychiatry to neurosurgery for the benefit of the trial. She doesn’t give an answer but is disappointed as she heads home.

Her family teases her and when Sae-yan brings up a boyfriend, she covers her nephew’s ears. It is then she realises that Gun probably turned her head the night Tae-oh caught them because he had spotted the doctor with Yeo. 

But for the benefit of the research, she decides to switch streams. While waiting at the hospital, she clears up Tae-oh’s desk and finds the test he ran on Gun. She is upset that she couldn’t protect her patient and dumps all the trash back on his table. He arrives and tells her to behave gracefully which angers her more. She recalls Yeo wearing Tae-oh’s gold Eiffel Tower necklace and throws her Eiffel Tower keychain.

As for Gun, he officially launches his agency and his family is chaotic but supportive. Shin sends Sae-yan the bracelet and she is happy it didn’t break. A flashback shows her putting Gun’s medal up on the class’ achievements board at the reunion.

She spots Shin and chases him to his car as she is furious that he dumped her. She kisses him, says they have gotten back together, then slaps him and states now she is dumping him. Satisfied that she has the last word, she leaves which is when she drops the bracelet. At present, she hopes to find someone, hinting at Gun.

Meanwhile, Gun is clearing his old car when he notices the reunion invitation and gets a memory of running and spotting Shin’s car at the reunion. He ponders over it when Ju-yeon shows up at his place, wet from the rain. She asks for boarding and he is confused. She declares she is the team doctor of his agency at the end of Bad-Memory Eraser Episode 5.

The Episode Review

Okay, has Bad-Memory Eraser Episode 5 turned us into Shin and Ju-yeon apologists? Hear us out, now that we have the events from their perspectives, we can’t help but feel for them as well. To be fair, the K-drama has already shown us in Episode 1 how one person’s self-pity can lead to misunderstandings. While old Gun is well within his right to feel like his family hates him as they have done nothing to prove him wrong, things aren’t so black or white.

We see this with Shin who possibly doesn’t even know that Sae-yan is Gun’s first love. And the car scene that Gun happened upon wasn’t a lover’s rendezvous but a breakup. As for Ju-yeon, she never lied about dating Tae-oh. And if we see from her perspective, she has all the right to distance herself from Gun as he holds her physically numerous times even when she says no.

On top of that, she is his doctor and his feelings literally jeopardise her trial to the extent that she is very likely to lose it to her cheating ex. But one thing is for sure, now that Ju-yeon is single, the romance will definitely progress more overtly with her returning Gun’s feelings, Shin falling for her while Sae-yan falls for Gun, leading to the love square we were promised.