When last we left our unhappy teen and (game) player, our happier teen kissed our player!
And that’s where we pick up again!
Myungha teases Yeowoon about relaxing his lips. Yeowoon pouts and reminds him that this is his first time at everything but he’ll get better. Myungha looks overwhelmed. Then Yeowoon goes in for another kiss.
Later, Myungha bangs his head into movie posters at a theater. He questions the appropriateness of dating this kid. Don’t worry Myungha, the internet was fine with you despite its constant raging at age differences.
The Love Supremacy notice pops up and Love Supremacy shows up. Yeowoon’s so cute and happy these days. He gives Myungha a sunflower because Si-A told him it would express his determination and will. Myungha is stunned as he’s handed the flower and dragged to the movie.
After the movie he’s crying, overwhelmed by the amazing story of zombie gorillas versus crocodiles. Yeowoon didn’t catch any of it because he was staring at Myungha the whole time. He wants a kiss but Myungha isn’t ready to go public.
I don’t understand Si-a’s business
But Myungha is suddenly popular because Si-a posted an image showing his profile. And they’re selling clothes. This much I know.
Myungha gets a new sub-mission with another one of those mysterious question-and-answer combos. Q: If you want a happy life, what you do you need? A: People who know you.
Myungha has to get 100,000 fans for Yeowoon. Yeowoon agrees to be promoted as an athlete in return for a cute little peck. He gets Si-A to help, sending her hundreds of photos of Yeowoon.
At school, Myungha forces Sangwon to follow Yeowoon. Yeowoon now has 421 followers. As though he knows where the episode is going, Sangwon warns Myungha of the dangers of promoting someone you like.
Things get wonderfully weird, but also confusing
On his way to class, he gets a strange text from an unknown number. He walks into his classroom, except it’s the music room. When he walks out of it he’s somewhere else, then the bus, then the gym, then into the hallway, and smack into Yeowoon.
A game notification appears: “Increase effect: Trigger the effect”. Myungha is sweaty and missing hours from the day. Yeowoon drags him away, and we see a system error.
We don’t see where they go. Suddenly Myungha is in the car with a strange woman. She wants Yeowoon to model new shoes and knows Myungha is trying to get Yeowoon fans. Myungha agrees to talk with Yeowoon.
He meets with Yeowoon at school, and right outside the gate girls swarm Yeowoon. Myungha whispers in Yeowoon’s ear “Remember you’re mine” and drags him across the street. Hot. Yeowoon gives him cheek kisses. Are the girls watching? They’re right over there.
I’m only a little lost, I swear
At home, Myungha looks at Yeowoon’s social media and is impressed by his fan count. I guess he talked to Yeowoon and he agreed and shoe lady promoted him? Myungha flinches and there’s an error report on his phone about converting a novel to a game.
Suddenly, we see clips from the show on a small screen. Myungha stands in a dark room and there’s an ominous rumbling noise. A list of the changes made by Myungha appears and a notice warns of a new situation with an anti-fan.
Myungha is still in that black room. Another notice warns about an error in the server and restoring stability. Compensation for this error will be restoring some of Myungha’s memories.
We see him in the bar with his sunbae again, discussing fate. He wants to believe that even if there is fate it can be changed, or why bother trying?
The error report on his phone says I hope we can meet again after a happy ending.
Wait, what’s happening now?
Back in Myungha’s room, a message on his phone says that he, Myungha, will die. Myungha goes running out the door.
We get a neat but disorientating “inside the computer” POV shot as Si-a and Kyunghoon talk about the messages. Not the death threat to Myungha, but messages from one person to Yeowoon. From that anti-fan, I think.
Myungha calls Yeowoon from a taxi to warn him. He’s upset Yeowoon didn’t tell him about this stalker, who he dealt with last year. After he hangs up he gets notifications about Yeowoons increased fans and popularity, but doesn’t look happy.
Then there’s a notification of multiple errors in the system. All of a sudden, Yeowoon’s account is gone.
Myungha steps out of the taxi and the anti-fan shoves him. Sangwon rescues him and goes after our new bad guy but Myungha stops him. Myungha is worried about Sangwon but Sangwon is upset Myungha doesn’t worry about himself and blames himself for things he can’t control. He tells Myungha he doesn’t know how to receive love. Huh? That escalated fast.
Myungha remembers someone breaking up with him and saying he doesn’t know how to love someone.
Do you think this is all going to end well? Nope.
Myung meets Yeowoon at school but won’t tell him what happened, only that he wants them to sleep at his place. On the way to his place, he sees a system error, and as they run inside the buffer effect makes the light over the gate flicker.
Now Myungha is with Grandma in the hospital. Yeowoon slumped asleep by her feet. Myungha hears a car crash and sees someone bloody on the asphalt in the rain. I think that’s him? He sees his grandma flatlining, though I think that’s a memory, and he’s crying.
There’s a notice of forced execution. That’s not good. There’s a new sub-mission, and the question is, who is more important to him? Myungha looks between Grandma and Yeowoon.
He gets up and walks away, but the notices continue. A choice is required so changes he caused can be deleted, stabilizing the server. He has 24 hours left to choose.
Forget sweet high school romance, bring on the existential dread!
I love the creepy, surreal moments in this episode. That dark room reminds me of Under The Skin, a movie I highly recommend but not because it has anything in common with this show.
But I am confused in places where maybe shouldn’t be. From when Myungha goes through those doors to the end things happen so fast that I struggle to follow. The subtitles are poor in places, and the characters react to on-screen text that isn’t always translated. I have no idea whether the ominous notifications make more sense in Korean or are meant to be vague.
Then there’s just the speed with which the plot is moving. On second Myungha is a sweaty mess, then he’s making a deal with a strange woman, then Yeowoon has thousands of fans and a stalker. I wanted it to slow down and let me breathe.
In this half of the story, we’ve shifted from Yeowoon’s problems to Myungha’s. Underneath the cheerful, tough exterior, we see Myungha isn’t okay. Sangwon’s outburst felt sudden and out of place, but I get that he was frustrated with Myungha’s refusal to share or let others help him. Things are getting worse for Myungha, and it’s a lot to handle alone.
Then we end with that terrible Sophie’s choice. Poor Myungha!
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