See You at Work Tomorrow: Episodes 3-4
by Unit
Out with the old and in with the new! Our leading lady enters a season of newness as she comes onboard the TF team. There are new rules to follow and new experiences to take in. New feelings are also creeping in. But first, all ex-related things have to pass away with the rest of the old things.
EPISODES 3-4
After joining the refrigerator TF team, Ji-yoon has to adjust her working style to be in sync with the perfectionist Shi-woo. Things are a bit awkward initially, but she soon settles into her new routine. It’s nice to see Ji-yoon work for a boss who appreciates her ideas (and professionally rubs it in the research team’s faces when the idea that they mocked actually works. Hehe). Things are finally looking up for our leading lady work-wise. But romance-wise, Ga-eul is determined to derail her “moving on” journey. He releases a new album, and one of the tracks is a song he composed while they were still together. Ji-yoon wanted him to release it back then, but he claimed it wasn’t perfect. Now it’s perfect, but it’s also too late.
It has been established that Ga-eul has zero self-awareness, which is why he sends the song to Ji-yoon on a Monday morning of all days! Ji-yoon’s mood is ruined as she mourns the death of their relationship all over again. She can’t focus at work and makes some mistakes that earns her a scolding from Shi-woo. Meanwhile, No-ah is also going through a similar emotional turmoil after her boyfriend ends their 7-year relationship because he’s in love with someone else. She begs on her knees, but she can’t change his mind. Ji-yoon and No-ah end up trauma bonding over their breakups, and this session transforms their relationship from ordinary sunbae-hoobae to a closer unnie-dongsaeng vibe.
The refrigerator is set to launch in two weeks, but Shi-woo still isn’t satisfied with the clarity of the ice spheres. He takes Ji-yoon out for a highball at his fav bar, and she gets a mini lecture on the science of ice from the bar owner/Si-woo’s friend, LEE SUNG-MIN (Kim Dong-young). Ji-yoon is wowed by the clarity of Sung-min’s ice balls, and now she’s determined to do her best with the ice spheres at work. Ji-yoon and Shi-woo have another after-work interaction at a grocery mart, and they end up shopping together to save money via two-for-one deals. Smart! On the drive home, Ji-yoon notes that Shi-woo’s work life must have been very lonely even though he’s used to being in a one-man army, and he’s grateful she noticed. Well, she has joined his army, and she figures she should be on his side.
Shi-woo offers to carry Ji-yoon’s shopping upstairs when he drops her off at home. But Ga-eul appears and snatches the bags. Ugh! Go away! Ji-yoon tells Shi-woo that Ga-eul is her ex, and she requests that he stays a while longer because she doesn’t want to be alone with Ga-eul. Ga-eul returns back down to mark a territory he no longer possesses, but he’s forced to leave when he sees Shi-woo won’t budge. Before leaving, though, he invites — more like forces — Ji-yoon to attend his upcoming concert. Shi-woo asks if Ji-yoon still has feelings for Ga-eul, and she replies that she doesn’t know what she’s feeling exactly. So he tells her to go figure out her feelings at the concert.
At Ga-eul’s concert, Ji-yoon reminisces on their relationship and how she was always looking forward to a future together while he just wanted to be in the present. Turns out Ga-eul ghosted Ji-yoon after finding out she was going to propose. While he was within his rights to not want marriage, it was so foul of him to leave without a word. At the time, Ji-yoon was at the end of her dating rope. She planned to propose because she wanted either marriage or a breakup, but Ga-eul just had to leave her in limbo for eight months. Smh. After the concert, Ga-eul begs to start over and he proposes to Ji-yoon. But she knows this proposal is more about him not wanting to break up with her than wanting marriage itself. She turns him down because she doesn’t want him to force himself to fit into the future that she wants, and she sincerely wishes him well in his musical endeavors. Their final goodbye is heartbreakingly honest, and closure is gotten amidst all the tears.
Moving on, the research team finally develops ice spheres worth Shi-woo’s approval, and the entire team is ecstatic. I’m also happy for them. Young-sam attempts to hijack the refrigerator launch presentation for spotlight’s sake, but Shi-woo assigns the task to Ji-yoon instead. Nice! To help her with ideas for the presentation, he makes her tag along with the marketing team for a weekend promotional event at a baseball game. After Shi-woo and Ji-yoon interact with potential customers for a bit, the marketing team tells them to go enjoy the game. We get a swoon moment when Shi-woo catches the batted baseball before it hits Ji-yoon in the stands, and then a fun moment when they show up on the kiss cam. Shi-woo leans in and Ji-yoon mentally prepares herself for… nothing because he kisses the mascot beside them instead. Lol. He’s such a tease.
After the game, Shi-woo offers to buy Ji-yoon dinner as a “thank you for working on the weekend” gesture, but she has dinner plans with her family. Aw. Her mom, NAM HYE-KYUNG (Lee Ji-Hyun), and kid bro, CHA JOON-SOO (Heo Jun-seo), watched the kiss cam at home, and they’re curious about her relationship with Shi-woo. Ji-yoon replies that Shi-woo is her boss, and Mom is now more curious about the depth of his pockets because her goal is to marry Ji-yoon off to a financially stable guy and then divorce her ever-busy dad. Mom even suggests getting back together with Ga-eul when Joon-soo says his new album is doing well, and Ji-yoon tells her mom to stay out of her love life.
The divorce conversation reminds Ji-yoon of divorcee Shi-woo — who’s currently drinking solo at the bar. Sung-min asks after Ji-yoon, and Shi-woo tells him she’s the best employee he has ever worked with. “Do you have feelings for her?” Sung-min asks, and Shi-woo hesitates. So it’s a yes. Hehe. Shi-woo’s finances are very stable, so he meets Mom’s standards. And he’s coincidentally on very friendly terms with Ji-yoon’s dad, CHA YOUNG-MOK (Kim Dong-young), ever since he started coming to Dad’s repair shop as a kid. It’s surprising Ji-yoon and Shi-woo have never run into each other in Dad’s shop. But Dramaland loves its childhood connection trope, so never say never.
The kiss cam footage leads to Shi-woo × Ji-yoon dating rumors at work. And the clarification that they were at the stadium for work ends up painting Shi-woo as a heartless boss who made Ji-yoon work on the weekend. Lol. Ji-yoon gets severe period cramps the night before the refrigerator launch, and Shi-woo literally has to carry her home — where she promptly passes out. She wakes up late the next morning, but makes it to the launch event in time. Phew! Her presentation kicks off smoothly, but her in-ear device glitches midway and she feels the onset of a panic attack. Young-sam begins to gloat, but not for long. Ji-yoon’s eyes find Shi-woo in the crowd, and he signals for her to calm down. Inhale, exhale. Ji-yoon takes out the in-ear and completes her presentation to a thunderous applause. In your face, Young-sam! A higher-up even scolds him for not being able to retain the talented Ji-yoon on his team. Loool.
Shi-woo and Ji-yoon have a date team dinner afterwards, and he orders chicken soup instead of fried chicken because it’s healthier. Shi-woo is very health conscious, and he’s bent on carrying Ji-yoon along in this advocacy. “Has there ever been a man in my life who was this concerned about my health?” She wonders. Nope, not until now. Shi-woo frowns after tasting the delicious soup, and Ji-yoon realizes he frowns when he likes something. This knowledge is relieving, because she was always anxious whenever their interactions made him frown. “Do I frown that often at you?” Shi-woo asks, and she replies in the affirmative. “I guess you won me over then,” he concludes. Whoosh! Ji-yoon has a pep in her step the next morning as she brings Shi-woo a drink. But she stops in her tracks and hides when she sees him smiling at Soo-jin. She wonders why Shi-woo’s smiling interaction with his ex-wife has her feeling this way. And if you ask me, it’s because she’s catching feelings for him. Hehe.
This show continues to be a pleasant watch, and I’m happy we learned more about Shi-woo this week. He’s a great boss. He’s not seeking attention or applause, he just wants to push everyone he works with to their fullest potential. He’s also helpful with non-work-related issues. Like when he helped Ji-yoon buffer her interaction with Ga-eul, and when he came up with an excuse for her to skip dinner with the research team in order to attend the concert. It was nice to see an ex-Saeum employee silence the “heartless boss” rumors by revealing that Shi-woo noticed the panic disorder he was trying to hide, and gave him the courage to seek help for it. And the fact that Shi-woo’s kindness doesn’t seek an applause makes moments like this all the more rewarding.
In other news, a noona romance might be in the air for No-ah. The TA at No-ah’s French academy, LEE JAE-IN (Won Gyu-bin), happened to witness her epic break up scene with her ex, and he offers to help her get revenge. Jae-in acts casual with No-ah despite their 6-year age difference, and she’s initially reluctant to get involved with him until she learns her ex is spreading unsavory rumors about her. No-ah is now up for the revenge arc with Jae-in, and I can’t wait to see how it goes.
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