Sold Out on You: Episodes 5-6
by Unit
Things are finally looking up for our homeshopping host as regards her business deal with our mushroom farmer. But she soon experiences a similar crisis to the incident from five years ago, which threatens her career and escalates her health issues.
EPISODES 5-6
Ye-jin demands to know why Matthew will give her only one dose of her sleeping pills per day. But rather than make it seem like he’s worried about her, he frames his concern to be about Gojeuneok Bio. The company needs L’Etoile’s patronage, and a successful essence launch is dependent on a healthy Ye-jin. One dose per day is Matthew’s condition for the contract renewal, and Ye-jin happily accepts. Later that night, Ye-jin ruminates on how relaxed she felt while Matthew drove her home. She wonders if it was because of the “relaxing music for plants” playing in his van, and then brushes off the thought that it might have been due to the presence of the plant dad. Lol. Either way, Ye-jin doesn’t hallucinate or sleepwalk after her nightly dose of pills.
Following another round of the “you ruined my life with morning cream incident” confrontation with Myeong-hwa, Ye-jin throws herself into preparations for a successful launch of the essence. Matthew meets Ye-jin at the library for their daily drug deal, and he’s impressed she does her own research on products rather than rely on her clients’ script. Ye-jin replies that the secret to running an unscripted hour-long broadcast is loving the product. “If you love the product, you just want to keep talking about it.” Matthew is reminded of himself yapping away about test results during his lab days, and this sense of camaraderie makes him more agreeable to her team’s tour shoot on his farm.
Matthew is glad to see Ye-jin on shoot day, but his mood immediately sours on Eric’s arrival. Lead actors Ye-jin and Eric put on their best performance during the farm tour, while Matthew stews in the background as an extra. He’s so extra! Eric’s coffee stand is put to shame when Mu-won arrives with a coffee truck for the crew, but this upsets MOON AE-RA (Jo Woo-ri), who runs the local coffee shop. In a case of picking offence where there is none, Ae-ra accuses Seoullite Mu-won of looking down on her countryside coffee. But he simply leans in and assures her he’s not here to snatch her customers. “You’ll have many customers with that kind of beauty,” Mu-won says. And all of a sudden, my new ship is born. Heh.
Speaking of ships, we get a hilarious lunch break sequence at the Deokpung community center. The village ajusshis argue over who the right man for Ye-jin is between Matthew and Eric — as both men accidentally burn their mouths with spicy food and childishly wait for Ye-jin to give them water. Smh. Meanwhile, the ajummas are amused by the love pentagon happening at the next table: Ae-ra uses her chopsticks to help a struggling Mu-won to pick up a perilla leaf, but she refuses to take the side dish from him when he offers. Ae-ra’s refusal makes farm supervisor, PARK KWANG-MO (Jo Bok-rae) — who has a crush on her — happy. But then Kwang-mo’s heart starts to race when Sung-mi gives him a perilla leaf. Mind you, Kwang-mo and Sung-mi had a meet-cute last week. New ship? I’m sat! Just like Sung-mi’s colleague, HWANG KI-HONG (Yoon Jae-chan), sits there feeling betrayed that Sung-mi’s perilla leaf went to another man. Loooool.
Matthew notices Ye-jin’s daily consumption of coffee and antacids during his sleeping pills drop-offs, and he puts his foot down when she decides to add energy drinks and Kopiko to the mix. Ye-jin worries she’s not prepared enough for L’Etoile’s launch, and she’s touched by Matthew’s assurance that she has done well. But launch day arrives, and Matthew discovers microbial growth in a sample of the essence. Oh dear! The microbes are within normal range for now, but their high growth rate alarms Matthew. He tells Mu-won he “cannot allow a repeat of what happened to Som-yi,” and then rushes down to HIT to inform Ye-jin of his findings. In turn, Ye-jin has to apologize to the customers on broadcast because she will not be selling the essence today.
Matthew arrived when Ye-jin was about to go on air, and she didn’t have time to inform the higher-ups. Hence they are FURIOUS with her for blowing up the prime-time slot. Ye-jin is heavily criticized after L’Etoile’s HQ releases a statement denying any issues with their essence — and it doesn’t help that this is Ye-jin’s second mishap with a cosmetic product. In the end, a disciplinary panel is called at work and she gets fired. An evidently concerned Myeong-hwa drops by Ye-jin’s house. But rather than voice out her concern, she tells Ye-jin not to set foot in the cosmetics industry again. *facepalm* Ye-jin scoffs at Myeong-hwa’s attempt to cosplay as a mom after abandoning her, and Myeong-hwa leaves.
I have no idea why Ye-jin’s doctor keeps prescribing her sleeping meds despite knowing she doesn’t stick to the approved dosage. Anyway, Ye-jin has another sleep-calling and sleepwalking episode, and it’s a miracle she makes it to the HIT building in one piece! Matthew tracks her to the building and she tells him Myeong-hwa is her mom. Then he shields her with a hug to prevent the exiting staff from seeing her, before taking her back home. The next morning, Ye-jin notices her freshly bandaged feet and she sees Matthew in the living room. This is confirmation that she has indeed been sleepwalking. She initially tries to deny it, but she eventually breaks down in tears at the thought that she has hit rock bottom.
After Ye-jin calms down, Matthew brings her to Deokpung — where she promptly passes out from malnourishment and dehydration. The doctor at the local clinic assures the villagers that Ye-jin will be fine after getting some rest, and everyone is relieved. Sang-geum and the villagers develop issues with their spare rooms, and Ye-jin has to put up at Matthew’s place. Lol. On their post-dinner stroll, Ye-jin tells Matthew she cut back on sleep when she became a homeshopping host thinking she would be able to adjust after settling into the job, but her body already fell into the no-sleep routine. Matthew shares that he was also dependent on sleeping pills once, but now he sleeps well without them. Ye-jin is curious about his secret to sleeping without the pills, and he tells her to stay for a while in Deokpung to rest and recharge.
Ye-jin’s condition improves thanks to Matthew’s rest and recharge daily schedule, and she’s even starting to fall asleep without sleeping pills. Matthew goes to the lab for some work, leaving Ye-jin alone at home. In her boredom, she looks around and notices Matthew has proofed all the sharp edges in the house and removed things she can collide into in the event she sleepwalks around. He even attached a small bell to the door to alert him if she steps out at night. Awww. Ye-jin is sprawled on the sofa when Matthew returns home at night, and she wakes up after he adjusts her head on the pillow. “What took you so long?” She asks, before kissing him lightly. Oh wow! She has graduated to sleep-kissing. Ye-jin tells Matthew she missed him, then she leans forward and falls asleep on his shoulder. This is where we wrap up for the week.
Feelings are being caught on both sides, and it’s not hard to see why. For Ye-jin, it’s Matthew’s constant reassurance, encouragement, and all the silent ways he cares for her. And for Matthew, it’s getting to know Ye-jin beyond her job description and witnessing firsthand how deeply she cares about the products she markets and the customers. It meant a lot that she trusted his microbial growth report and didn’t think twice about calling off the essence launch despite the consequences. Matthew’s yet-to-be-revealed backstory is a big reason he relates with — and cares about — Ye-jin, and I liked that he brought her to Deokpung to experience the same healing the village gave to him. Unlike five years ago, Ye-jin now has a support system and I love it for her.
In other news, Eric has been summoned back to France. His elder sister and L’Etoile’s CEO, MICHELLE (Ok Ja-yeon), is unhappy with the essence launch issue, and she has no intention of leaving Ye-jin alone like he requested. I actually don’t mind some drama between the siblings as it will give Eric more to do in the plot than flashing cheesy smiles and being a lovestruck idiot around Ye-jin.
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