Oddly Endearing
Episode 3 of Business Proposal begins with an accidental kiss between Ha-ri and Tae-moo, as Ha-ri pushes him to the ground to evade Min-woo’s notice.
The next morning, Ha-ri signs the contract to pretend to be Tae-moo’s girlfriend in front of Chairman Kang. They clarify the plan: Tae-moo will introduce her as Geum-hui, but they will invent details about her family to make her seem like a suitable partner for him.
He gives her a slideshow of facts to memorize about him, which Ha-ri spends almost all of her time studying.
She remarks to Young-seo that his parents are deceased. Young-seo recalls rumours that someone was responsible for the accident that killed them, which caused Chairman Kang to fire all the blood relatives in his company in order to protect Tae-moo.
When Ha-ri goes over what she has learned about Tae-moo, he criticizes her approach. She’ll need to accomplish a lot more than rote memorization in order to please his grandfather.
So she tries to invent a romantic account about how they met on a rainy day in New York. He scoffs, asserting that the story is ridiculous.
When he drops Ha-ri off at home, Seong-hoon remarks that Geum-hui is “oddly endearing.” Tae-moo doesn’t respond, but gives a faint smile.
Meanwhile, Young-seo fights with her father about the blind dates he has been forcing on her. She decides to move out, and he cuts her off from his funds.
After staying with Ha-ri for a while, she eventually finds a flat she can afford. It just so happens that she’ll be living right next door to Seong-hoon.
Young-seo then takes a chance and suggests that they get to know one another better. He shuts her down immediately, however. She made things difficult for Tae-moo, so Seong-hoon doesn’t think it appropriate to get to know her personally.
Ha-ri takes a break from studying Tae-moo’s profile in order to create a portfolio about Min-woo. GO Food needs a new chef so to market a new product, and Ha-ri’s team wants to pitch her friend as a contender.
Ha-ri’s presentation in front of Tae-moo goes very well. (She wears a face mask in front of him, claiming she’s sick.) She visits Min-woo’s restaurant to share the good news, only to find that he’s on a date with his ex-girlfriend (and Ha-ri’s old friend), Yoo-ra.
Heartbroken, Ha-ri runs outside. She drops all of her things, and her phone falls through a sewer grate, just Tae-moo calls her. He hears her sobbing on the other end of the phone, but he hangs up when he realizes she didn’t mean to answer his call.
They meet Chairman Kang the next day, and Ha-ri charms him as “Geum-hui.” Although dinner was all they had planned, Chairman Kang catches sight of Ha-ri’s MeloMance concert tickets (a gift from Min-woo for her birthday).
Noticing the date on the tickets is today, the chairman insists they go. He drops them off himself, which forces Ha-ri and Tae-moo to attend.
At the concert, MeloMance reads out a song request from Min-woo. His request goes out to his friend for always being there for him. He adds that he hopes she brought a boyfriend for the event. The song they play is one that Ha-ri and Min-woo used to enjoy together.
Ha-ri cries throughout the performance, thinking of Min-woo. Tae-moo discreetly hands her a handkerchief and tries to comfort her outside.
Afterwards, they order street food. But as Ha-ri is about to dig in, a baseball comes flying at her and hits her in the eye.
The next day, Ha-ri has to go to work with a black eye. The episode ends with her coming face to face with Tae-moo yet again.
The Episode Review
With all its coincidences, Business Proposal asks a lot for you to suspend your disbelief. But if you can accomplish that, you’ll find the show balances heartfelt emotions and laugh-out-loud antics pretty well.
Ha-ri was hopeful that a black eye would prevent Tae-moo from recognizing her at work, but it seems more likely that the injury would help him put things together. Romcoms like this tend to operate on the fact that the characters aren’t too bright, however–so I don’t think there’s any worry about him figuring out her secret.
A friendship is tentatively but sweetly developing between Ha-ri and Tae-moo. Do you think Tae-moo is falling for “Geum-hui”? What do you think he would do if he found out her identity?
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Episode Rating
(3.5)
Ha’ri had two concert tickets, so perhaps Tae-moo guessed that she had planned to take someone else. Previously, Tae-moo had asked Ha’ri why she would not pretend to date him, but she did not answer his question. Tae-moo may have assumed that Ha’ri may have planned to take another date, because Tae-moo sat with his arms crossed and would not enjoy himself. Then Min-woo song request revealed that the two tickets were from a male friend (Min-woo) who hoped that she had found a date. Ha’ri assumed this was the way Min-woo showed his rejection of her crush on him, and Ha-ri cried throughout the song recalling fond memories of her time with Min-woo. After the concert, Tae-moo expressed his discomfort with the song request, and Ha’ri apologized explaining that she just got dumped from the object of a seven-year crush. Tae-moo tried to cher heer up as the strolled together, probably more annoyed with her crush, than with Ha’ri.