Doctor Slump – K-drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

Episode 10

Episode 10 of Doctor Slump begins with a voiceover of Jeong-woo and Ha-neul where they reiterate how well they were doing in life. Jeong-woo was a top student, a popular person and everybody’s favourite while Ha-neul used to challenge her colleague’s methods for better medical service delivery. Now, they both look like a bunch of drunkards when they say they’re both doctors. 

The scene changes and Jeong-woo finds Ha-neul in his operation theatre as an anaesthesiologist. Jeong-woo feels mixed emotions but there is a sense of relief. He is able to fight his fears and complete the surgery procedure without any hiccups.

Right after surgery, he confronts Dae-young about Ha-neul’s presence during the surgery. Dae-young explains that Ha-neul wanted to help Jeong-woo and he allowed her to do that. But Jeong-woo feels disturbed and says that he wants to quit. Ha-neul overhears this and they argue about the situation. At this time, Jeong-woo and Ha-neul’s high school teacher enter the room and meets them. All of them are elated about the chance encounter. 

The teacher takes them all out for lunch and Jeong-woo and Ha-neul pick a teokbokki restaurant. As they wait for their meal to simmer, the teacher asks if they still bicker and both of them proceed to give an unintended example as they fight over an egg. 

They also talk about the extreme measures Ha-neul and Jeong-woo would take to study and compete. We follow a flashback where Ha-neul would eat chili peppers to keep herself awake leading to her falling ill.

Jeong-woo notices that eating chilli peppers is negatively affecting Ha-neul, so one day as she reluctantly opens are pepper container, Jeong-woo announces that the teacher has forbidden anybody to eat chili peppers as it’s harmful to their bodies. He takes the container from Ha-neul and asks her to follow him to the teacher’s office. 

They bid their teacher goodbye and Jeong-woo confronts Ha-neul about her decision to assist him in the surgery. He tells her that he is bothered by her presence because it pains him to make her go through something as difficult as coming back to work. He also says she’s being selfish wanting to help him when she broke up with him even when he said that he wanted to stay by her side in her struggles. 

Elsewhere, Hong-ran receives a call from her mother and she goes to pick up her son, Jin-woo. She needs someone to look after him while she works and is unable to find anybody when Dae-young overhears her situation and offers to help her.

Jin-woo and Dae-young have a fun time picking insects on the rooftop when Hong-ran comes to pick Jin-woo. She also receives a call where she finds out what went on with Ha-neul and Kyung-min. Jeong-woo overhears her conversation and Hong-ran relays what she has learned. 

Jeong-woo finds Kyung-min in his office and confronts him about Ha-neul. Kyung-min insults her and Jeong-woo hits him. They engage in a scuffle before they are torn apart. 

Back at home, Ha-neul thanks her mother for the cabbages that she grew for her depression. Ha-neul thinks about her conversation with Jeong-woo, calls him and asks if he can meet her. Jeong-woo is already there on the rooftop. She notices that he fought with someone. Jeong-woo embraces her and tells her apologetically that he didn’t know. 

Back in Jeong-woo’s room, Ha-neul tends to his wounds. Jeong-woo confesses that he misses her and puts his feelings into words when he tells her how painful it was for him when he couldn’t help her. Ha-neul tells him that he already helped her more than he could imagine. She tried new things that she never got to do before and she improved because of him. 

Ha-neul takes them to a club where a man inquires if she’s alone. Jeong-woo intervenes and poses as her boyfriend and they dance the rest of the evening. Later, Ha-neul tells him that she wants to work with him. Not only for him but for herself as seeing him recover makes her feel like she can do it too. 

As Jeong-woo drops her home, she conveys her desire to work with him on their teacher’s surgery. She then proceeds to tell him the real reason why their teacher visited them He has a painful lump in his back but he learned about Jeong-woo’s PTSD and did not want to burden him. Listening to everything, Jeong-woo decides to do his surgery. 

The next day, Ha-neul and Jeong-woo are in high spirits as they perform the surgery together. The surgery is a success and Jeong-woo’s PTSD seems a lot better. After the successful surgery, they have a team dinner where they play a drinking game. Ha-neul is picked and lies about not having a boyfriend while the next pick, Jeong-woo, lies about not having kissed anybody recently. 

Later, they are both awkward and ask each other about why they lied. The show takes us to a flashback where Jeong-woo and Ha-neul kiss when she is tending to his wounds. Jeong-woo asks Ha-neul if she doesn’t have a boyfriend and she says she has one as they share a kiss. 

The Episode Review

The misunderstanding that Jeong-woo had about Ha-neul and Kyung-min is finally resolved, not that it has any effect on Jeong-woo’s sincerity towards Ha-neul. Kyung-min finally gets what he deserves – a fair share of punches for being the worst possible colleague we could ever imagine. 

Hong-ran and Dae-young don’t have much to offer to the story but at least now their interactions are quite adorable and wholesome. 

It’s heartwarming to watch Ha-neul and Jeong-woo being there for each other without the frustrating “I don’t want to hurt you so I will hurt myself which will indirectly hurt you and then we will reconcile” trope. Teamwork means dream work. We are excited to watch Jeong-woo and Ha-neul heal together and hopeful about the next few episodes! What do you think? Let us know in the comments!