Coffee Prince Episode 4

After Han Gyul blows up at Eun Chan for messing up the order, Yu Ju takes him out to cool off. Despite losing his temper, she tells him it’s nice to see him worked up about something, since he’d always been rather apathetic.
To cheer him up, she grabs his hand and swings it like a kid, and although I understand she’s being silly on purpose, this annoys me. She knows Han Gyul has feelings for her, and they know she’s not available — so what she’s doing is sending him mixed signals. She gets to put on an innocent face and say, “But I didn’t mean anything by it,” but if she’s clearly aware of his feelings, she’s being pretty irresponsible. But more on that later.

Eun Chan scolds Min Yub for ordering the wrong amount — she’d delegated the task to him. Min Yub honestly can’t remember what he ordered, and he feels sorry that Eun Chan got the brunt of Han Gyul’s anger — but he’s too wimpy to step up himself.

Mr. Hong roasts the beans with the idea of selling them. Han Gyul gets the idea to give out 1kg bags of roasted beans in a promotional gesture, and sends everyone out on deliveries.

Eun Chan’s still upset over being unfairly accused, and Han Gyul gets annoyed when she refuses to respond to him. Annoyed at the nonreaction, he wants her to admit she was wrong, but she won’t. He blows up at her again, telling her to leave if she’s going to be uncooperative, and she stalks off angrily.

As Han Gyul is really about to lose it, Min Yub speaks up in remorse. He kneels in apology and owns up to his mistake, and Han Gyul feels like an ass. As well he should.
Yu Ju joins Eun Chan outside to commiserate, telling her a story of when she was unjustly accused (back in high school, involving a teacher she liked and a flasher). Eun Chan compliments Yu Ju for being pretty, good at art, and having a good personality. Yu Ju agrees. (Seriously. I know she’s joking, but…) Eun Chan used to like art in school — or rather, she liked her art teacher — prompting Yu Ju to surmise that the teacher must’ve been good-looking. Eun Chan affirms he was — then stops in embarrassment at the implication that she (as a guy) liked another guy. Yu Ju gives an easygoing answer that it’s okay, she’s liked her female teachers too. (Good answer; still don’t like her.)
Feeling apologetic but not actually apologizing, Han Gyul tells Eun Chan that Min Yub might’ve made the mistake, but it was her responsibility too. He grabs Eun Chan playfully, but she doesn’t like the way he disregards her own feelings — “You think everything’s fine just as long as you’re not mad!”

One her way home, Eun Chan runs into Han Sung, and they stop to chat over beer.
Eun Chan confides that she’s feeling down because she feels wrongly accused. The hypothetical scenario gets confusing, so they nickname the story participants Guy K and Girl N (the equivalent of the first two letters in the hangul alphabet). Guy K, the boss, used to be nice and appreciative to employee Girl N, but then suddenly lost his temper and accused Girl N of being useless.

Han Sung: “Does Girl N like Guy K?”
Eun Chan: “No, they’re like friends. And boss and employee. It’s not really a love relationship, just…”
Han Sung: “Just? What does ‘just’ mean?”
Eun Chan: “Just…”
Han Sung: “So, what does ‘just’ mean?”
Eun Chan: “It doesn’t mean anything. The reason for that is… To Girl N… there’s Guy A…”

Embarrassed, Eun Chan stops and changes the topic, but Han Sung laughs along, understanding what she means.
He walks her home, and she thanks him: “Actually, this is the first time anyone’s seen me home.” Han Sung tells her, “Call me anytime. I’ll see you home.” In good spirits, they part ways, and Eun Chan watches him go off. Han Sung tells his dog, “Seeing that girl makes you feel great, doesn’t it?”

The waffle guy comes by to reluctantly ask if the job offer’s still good, and introduces himself as No Sun Ki. Min Yub comments on the guy’s pretty looks: “Are you a girl or a guy? It’s hard to tell.” Eun Chan retorts: “You shouldn’t talk, it’s hard to tell with you, too — whether you’re a gorilla or a human.” Sun Ki talks to himself in Japanese, muttering disgruntled things like “I can’t believe I have to work with these guys.”
Han Sung gifts Yu Ju with a serenade, at the end of which Yu Ju says, bittersweetly, “It makes me sad, wondering if hearing this song will bring me pain later.” A bit of advice, Yu Ju? If you don’t want that, how about maybe you DON’T BREAK HIS HEART? ‘Cause we’re all pretty sure you’re gonna.
The Coffee Prince guys go out for dinner together, where they marvel at Eun Chan’s appetite. To prove how yupgi (bizarre, quirky, slightly disgusting but somewhat cute) Eun Chan is, Ha Rim tosses a piece of cooked meat on the floor — which Eun Chan then eats. Ha Rim (who calls her “My Chan”) says the behavior really is Eun Chan-like, and they start using her name as a verb, adjective, and adverb: “Eun Chan-like,” “Eun Chan-ly,” pulling an Eun Chan. She retorts that “Han Gyul-like” or “Han Gyul-ish” can be used similarly to describe someone with a fussy personality and bad temper.

Actually, the whole group is a little yupgi, really, with Min Yub mixing beans into his soju and going around trying to drunk-kiss everyone. The guys deflect his unwanted attention, but Eun Chan’s distracted by food, and doesn’t see him in time to prevent him planting a kiss right on the lips. Ha Rim: “Hey, Eun Chan’s mine!” and Han Gyul automatically responds, “Why is he yours? He’s mine.”

She’s disgusted, hitting Min Yub in retaliation and stuffing peppers up his nose. They are so weird. But it’s cute.
Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be” plays as our Coffee Princes prepare for the grand opening (compare Eun Chan’s art to Min Yub’s), which draws a fairly decent crowd. Eun Chan’s family arrives, and we see that her mother has a little flirty thing going on with both Mr. Gu (the butcher) and Mr. Hong (the cafe manager).
When Han Sung arrives, Eun Chan’s alarmed to realize he knows Han Gyul. She desperately waves him aside and begs him not to act like he knows her. She hurriedly explains that Han Gyul believes her to be a guy; she lied to keep the job. Vastly amused to realize she and Han Gyul are Girl N and Guy K, Han Sung wonders how anyone could mistake her for a guy — “Anyone can see right away you’re a girl.”
After closing, Han Gyul offers Eun Chan a ride home, but when he gets a sudden call from Yu Ju, he leaves in a hurry, leaving Eun Chan to find her own way.

Yu Ju invites Han Gyul in, but he declines, saying he’s so exhausted he can’t think straight, and might find himself suddenly taking hold of her hand. Running her fingers along his face, Yu Ju tells him, “Don’t do that,” and sends him off with an early birthday present. It’s a toy that makes him laugh, and the accompanying note reads: “Laugh just like that! Happy birthday.” So Han Gyul returns to her apartment and does a silly dance in appreciation.
That’s what I mean by mixed signals. Yu Ju knows how he feels (he’s not exactly subtle about it) but doesn’t choose him. She runs her fingers along his face and then pushes him away. She’s flirting, then hiding behind a facade of innocence. But she can’t be unaware of her effect, which makes her at the very least inconsiderate. (At worst, she’s a manipulative, cold-hearted fox who enjoys toying with men, but I’m not going that far. I just think she’s thoughtless and hurtful with her frivolous irresponsibility.)
In the midst of a boring day with no customers — they only turned out for the opening because it was free — Min Yub accuses Eun Chan of still meeting with Eun Sae (his “angel”) and challenges him to a fight. First up is a digging match, but he’s too dim to realize that while he’s “racing” to dig as fast as he can, Eun Chan’s just sitting back, observing. Then, they have a water-drinking contest — but Eun Chan doesn’t participate, leaving Min Yub to drink the entire bucketful alone.

Han Gyul arrives to find Mr. Hong taking a nap and the rest of his staff goofing off, and punishes them.
He makes Eun Chan and Min Yub play a basketball game against him, two-to-one. They’re to play for an hour straight with no breaks, while the other two guys remain in their upside-down positions. Eventually, Min Yub tires and can’t continue, and crawls over to the sidelines. Eun Chan keeps playing despite her exhaustion, and Han Gyul finally calls an end when time winds down. He tells her, “You’re cool, Go Eun Chan. For sticking through to the end without giving up, you’re cool.”
They cool off in an outdoor fountain while The Wannadies’ “You and Me Song” plays.
In a grumbly mood, Mr. Hong bristles at the way Han Gyul orders him around despite their equal status. He says the only reason they’ve done any business is because of his coffee-roasting ability, and Han Gyul shoots back that they wouldn’t have had any business if he hadn’t renovated the place to begin with. The others try to smooth things over and keep them from fighting.

Han Gyul’s grandmother hears the cafe isn’t doing well, and orders Han Gyul to start reporting sales figures to his father… which is probably not going to go well given their current rift.

The two cousins chat, and Han Sung asks about Eun Chan, wondering what “his” deal is. Han Gyul: “That guy’s really funny. He’s definitely not an ordinary guy.” Han Sung laughs knowingly.
Han Gyul returns to the cafe later that night to see Eun Chan still there, and gets a lesson in pouring coffee. Telling Eun Chan he needs to get some work done, he sends her off, declining her offer of help. Han Gyul: “I said go home, I can’t focus with people around.” Eun Chan: “Fine, I’m going. I’ll go even if you ask me not to. I have things to do too… I’ve got to brush my teeth, wash my hair, go to sleep, dream some dreams.”

She takes off, but first rattles off a quick rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Han Gyul may face an opportunity to go abroad to New York, but it’s contingent on how well the cafe does. If things don’t go well, he’ll stay, but if they do, he’s off to the States. At home, Eun Chan wonders to her sister which option is better.

Eun Sae asks about Sun Ki (whom Eun Sae has a crush on, since he’s so purty), and Eun Chan tells her it’s not cool to string along Min Yub if she’s not interested. Eun Sae says two-timing is a family trademark, citing their mother’s flirting with both Mr. Gu and Mr. Hong, and Eun Chan wonders, “Am I two-timing too?” (Note: the word doesn’t necessarily imply cheating, it means more that one is indecisive and stringing two people along at the same time.)

Eun Chan explains that there’s a certain guy who always makes her feel good when they meet — he’s warm, welcoming. Then there’s another guy who’s sometimes okay, sometimes not. He’s not an awful person, but he’s not great either. Eun Sae tells her that’s two-timing, and tsk-tsks that she’s got two cases of unrequited affection going at the same time, with neither guy aware of it.

Eun Chan arrives in the morning with milk for Han Gyul, who’s spent the night working at the cafe. Seeing him sleeping on the couch, she waves at him, then prods him, and blows air into his face. He awakes to see her poised like that, hovering above him.

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Coffee Prince Episode 3

Han Gyul flatly rejects his grandmother’s proposition that he work alongside the slovenly Mr. Hong in running Wang Ja Coffee (which means “prince coffee”), only to have his grandmother immediately cut off support (partially). She has his car towed, and sends movers over to clear out his apartment, informing them he will be vacating right away.
He tries to sweet-talk his granny (also Dal Ja’s granny), who’s upset at Han Gyul’s mother (also Samsoon’s mother) for pampering him so much. It’s because she coddled him and never pushed him that he’s grown to this age not knowing what real work is. Han Gyul agrees to work for her if she gives him a job at the company (”A supervisor slot should be fine”) but she insists: If he doesn’t work in the cafe, he’s on his own. She gives him three months to succeed.

(Han Gyul is on bad terms with his father; the two refuse to acknowledge each other for reasons that have yet to be disclosed.

For some reason, Han Sung and Yu Ju are back together, and all is well. I thought he wanted to hurt her. Ah, men. Suckers for beauty, even if it’s of the plastic variety. Still, they do make a cute couple.

Han Gyul eagerly drops by to see Yu Ju, but is disappointed to see Han Sung already there. Uncomfortable at seeing the couple looking happy together, he leaves early.

On his way home, he sees Eun Chan running into trouble out in the rain. Having lost her earnings from the Taekwondo studio owner who fled without notice, Eun Chan has thrown herself into the tedious work of sewing eyes on stuffed dolls. She bumps into a stranger in the rain, sending her dolls scattering onto the wet sidewalk, and the belligerent stranger takes offense.
The man tries to pick a fight with Eun Chan and gets possessive over his girlfriend, assuming Eun Chan is male. Han Gyul arrives to break it up, but in a rather hilarious turn of events, the girlfriend takes offense at her boyfriend’s crude treatment of her, and she turns her own anger on him. Han Gyul and Eun Chan take advantage of the distraction and run.
They go to Han Gyul’s apartment to dry off, and Eun Chan’s mother advises Eun Chan to stay at her “friend”’s place overnight, because the rain isn’t going to let up. Eun Chan puts on a record from Han Gyul’s vinyl record collection, and tears up in nostalgia as she remembers being a kid when her father was still alive.

Initially, Han Gyul brusquely tells her to take better care of his records, since he collects them as a hobby (although if that were true, he would definitely not be stacking them flat on top of each other in careless piles). Seeing her wipe a tear away, however, he asks what’s the matter, and she says her father used to play records; this particular record was one in his collection.
They cook together, and Han Gyul asks if her father passed away (he did). That must make Eun Chan the head of the household. Han Gyul seems to feel sympathy for her predicament, but Eun Chan just changes the subject. She cheers up rather than sinking into pity. Han Gyul looks on in amusement at Eun Chan’s huge appetite.
Han Gyul lends a hand sewing the doll eyes, and they talk while sewing side-by-side. She asks, “You seemed kind of down today. Why? Girl problems? Tell me, I’m pretty good at understanding these kinds of things.” Han Gyul merely tells her about being forced to take over a ridiculous cafe. Eun Chan asks if he still sees Yu Ju; he says he does. She seems a bit disappointed to hear it, and asks what kind of relationship they have.

He answers that it’s more like a bad habit. “Like drinking water in the morning… Can’t not see her, and even if I try not to, I end up seeing her anyway… a terrible habit.”

Hearing that the cafe in question is Wang Ja Coffee, Eun Chan tries to persuade him to do it, and hire her as well. He’s not inclined to humor her, but she persists, appealing to his weak spot and saying he should take the opportunity to show the girl he likes what he can do. If he succeeds, he’ll look cool to his grandmother and the girl.
Eun Chan is grossed out when Han Gyul bursts in the bathroom while she’s brushing her teeth (he sees no problem since they’re both guys). Han Gyul comments on how small her butt is, and hits it. Enjoying her flustered reaction, he acts like it’s no big deal and dries his hands on her butt (instead of a towel).
When Han Gyul wakes in the morning, Eun Chan’s already gone, but she’s left little footprint cutouts on the ground, leading him outside. She’s left him a note (and his crookedly sewn doll), telling him to take on the cafe job. Han Gyul just smiles and says, “How cute.” But he does decide to work at the cafe, surprising even his grandmother.
(Commentary detour: Personally, I like how they’re developing Eun Chan and Han Gyul’s relationship. We’re seeing them have genuine conversation and close moments without other romantic issues getting in the way. He’ll fall for Eun Chan’s personality, regardless of her gender, and if that makes him gay, fine. If that makes him straight, fine. If this is the direction that the relationship takes, which is where it seems to be headed, then I’m all for it — it’s actually a fairly tolerant argument in acceptance of homosexuality even if the couple in question is straight. Go, progressive Korea.)
Han Gyul takes Eun Chan along while he goes to look around the neighborhood as research, and Eun Chan asks him to compensate her since he called her out (”Do you just see me as a source of money?” “Yep.”). They observe a waffle cart doing extremely well, mostly in part because it’s stationed outside a girl’s school and the guy running it is hot. (I believe he’s Tae Bong’s pretty man-friend from Dal Ja’s Spring, and if so, he’s well-cast here — given that they’re blurring the lines of Yoon Eun Hye’s femininity, it’s only appropriate to have a male counterpart.)

Han Gyul tries to offer the waffle guy a job at the cafe. The guy declines, but they tell him to drop by Wang Ja Coffee if he changes his mind. Both Eun Chan and the co-manager Mr. Hong agree that it’s a pretty smart idea to bring the waffle guy into the cafe (to attract his loyal female following). Han Gyul also wants to change the name from the plain, older-fashioned name “Wang Ja Coffee” to the hipper “Coffee Prince.”
Han Sung’s relationship with Yu Ju is going well, and when Eun Chan asks how his “friend” (Guy A) worked out his situation with Girl B, he says things are okay. Eun Chan deflates a little, disappointed that there’ll be no reason for him to ask for her opinion anymore. Perhaps to indulge her (and perhaps also because he enjoys conversing with her), Han Sung mentions there IS an issue with a Guy C (Yu Ju’s ex, DK, who is continuing to call her). “Guy A feels a little upset over Girl B and Guy C continuing to call each other. Isn’t he pathetic?”

Eun Chan disagrees, expressing her full support for Guy A: “I totally get Guy A. If she’s broken up, she’s broken up. Why keep talking to an ex-boyfriend?” She wonders if Guy A lacks confidence about Girl B: “I think Guy A’s pretty cool, so tell him to have confidence.”
As she leaves, she stops and asks Han Sung haltingly, “Um, I don’t know if we’ll meet by chance or not… so if I don’t get to see you… if I want to call you… Or-maybe-not-nevermind.” Han Sung is happy to give her his number, and as she bikes away, she sings his phone number, over and over, in great spirits.
Han Gyul enlists the help of his interior designer friend, who I think may be gay from the way he takes a keen interest in the pretty-boy Eun Chan, noticing his/her good looks and saying, “He’s totally my style.” Then again, he’s not exactly a flamer, so it’s hard to tell. He could be kidding since he knows Han Gyul was faking homosexuality to get out of his blind dates.

In any case, everyone gets to hard work tearing the place apart and renovating.
In an amusing turn of events, the dim Min Yub arrives to challenge Eun Chan, blaming her for being the reason Eun Sae won’t see him anymore. Eun Chan tells him to help her with the heavy lifting, and he asks why he should. She tells him she has to finish her work quickly if they want to get around to fighting. The guy sees her point (ha!) and does his best to move things quickly — and Han Gyul, watching the strong stranger accomplishing so much, offers him a job at the cafe.
Han Gyul asks Yu Ju (an artist) to paint a mural for his cafe, and watches adoringly as she spends all night doing her work as “Back for Good” by Take That plays (ah, brings me back to my youth. I feel old). I find Yu Ju terribly annoying — she’s like the girl who feigns helplessness to get manly men to do her bidding, which irritates me. It’s the fake-coy-cute act. (What, she can’t tie her own hair?) She’s like the girl you can’t explain hating because it’ll label you as a jealous shrew, bitter that her only crime is being pretty, so you can’t openly express that you dislike her, but at the same time she just seems so fake. But all the guys tell you, “Lighten up, she’s really cool.” And you just sit there and stew, knowing you’ve been unjustly accused of being catty… Oh wait, is that just me? TMI, TMI.
Determined to do a good job acting the part of a boy, Eun Chan goes to work, excited to see that Han Gyul’s already there. She’s decidedly less excited to see Yu Ju there as well (I can only imagine how she’ll react knowing that Yu Ju is also Girl B).

Han Gyul doesn’t get into the particulars of his acquaintance with Eun Chan (”It’s a long story”) and interferes with their introductions. He takes Yu Ju out for breakfast, leaving Eun Chan behind to kick in frustration at Yu Ju’s half-painted wall. I’m there with ya, sister. Or brother.
A mistake occurs with an order, and 20kg coffee beans sacks are delivered instead of 2kg bags. Eun Chan admits she mistakenly ordered the wrong amount (it’s likely Min Yub made the mistake; she’s taking responsibility). Han Gyul takes her aside and rips into her for being irresponsible. This is probably exacerbated by the fact that his grandmother is putting him on a tight budget and expecting him to increase profits, and he’s feeling the stress of being unable to return the large order for a refund. Still, he’s way over the line, snapping at Mr. Hong for defending her, feeling no remorse seeing Eun Chan wiping away a few tears. He says he mistook her (for being decent) and yells that if she’s not going to take her job seriously, she’d better quit immediately.

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Coffee Prince Episode 2

Han Gyul asks Eun Chan if she wants to work for him acting as his boyfriend. He can see Eun Chan needs money but doesn’t trust her enough to just lend it to her, so he’d rather hire her.
All he wants her to do is show up at his matchmaking blind dates, and she figures it sounds easy, as long as she’s getting paid. They argue over price, and Eun Chan has to settle for far, far less than she’s hoping (about $100 each time), but says she’ll charge him for all the extras — clothing, food, and each instance of physical touching on an “a la carte” basis (charging per each touch to the face, shoulder, waist, etc). Being in a money crunch, Eun Chan asks for advance payment, which he gives.

Despite Han Gyul’s fussiness over his car, not allowing her to touch anything, Eun Chan raises the convertible top and enjoys the ride. Han Gyul, initially annoyed at her antics, smiles to see her having so much fun.

Eun Chan runs into Han Sung in their neighborhood, and let me take a slight detour to profess how much I’m digging Lee Sun Kyun.
We learn she’s 24; he’s 31. He asks how her money-versus-pride issue turned out, and she says she keeps going back and forth, wondering if he’s ever felt that way. He starts talking about his “friend,” but stops himself, causing her to ask him to finish what he was going to say.
Han Sung explains that his “friend” once loved a woman who left him two years ago, who’s reappeared wanting to start over, and the “friend” is now in a dilemma over what to do. Eun Chan asks if the guy still loves the girl, and he answers that the friend doesn’t know that yet.
When Han Sung arrives home, Yu Ju’s waiting to tell him she broke up with some guy whom we can assume is the reason she left him. He answers tersely, “I know. You’re famous, I read about it in the paper.” She wants to start over with him, but he gives her a cold stare and leaves her outside.
Han Sung walks inside his home, but pauses, thinking things over, then turns around and goes out again, where Yu Ju is waiting. He grabs her and leads her back inside, and they kiss. Sorry for the bad screencap — the lighting is horrible in this scene.

They spend the night together, and in the morning, Yu Ju finds Han Sung brooding in the backyard. She asks what he’s thinking about, and he answers that she must find him really easy, jerking him back and forth — when she wants to end things, they do. When she wants to start again, they do. But he’s changed since they were first together, and tells her, “Just go. Let’s not see each other again either.”
Han Sung’s kiss (and their night together) is treated like a lapse in judgment, a moment of weakness, and in the light of day he can still see things for what they are.
Han Gyul takes Eun Chan shopping for proper clothing, and we can see he’s quite the narcissist — if he’s going to be dating a man, he wants someone just like himself.

Anyway, midway through the date, they put the plan into action, pretending to kiss so they can be “accidentally” caught by the woman… which is a procedure they repeat date after date after date. Their victory handshakes evolve into more and more complicated gestures with each successful encounter.
On the last date, Han Gyul is so thrilled at chasing away the woman successfully that he plants a kiss on Eun Chan, causing her to react in mild distaste. She says it was her first kiss, and he says it was his first too — with a man.

They go out to lunch, where Eun Chan calculates how much he owes her. She mentions needing money (house deposit, sister’s school fees), and he asks how much her deposit is. Eun Chan: “Why, will you give it to me if I tell you how much it is?” and answers that it’s approx $5,000.
Han Gyul takes back the watch he’d bought for Eun Chan (she calls him cheap, since it’s a fake anyway but he still won’t let her keep it). We find out that Eun Chan has a keen nose, smelling coffee outside the restaurant, and she even tells him she could tell what he ate for breakfast when he kissed her. Ha. Still, we can see Han Gyul’s already warming up to Eun Chan, smiling at her antics and bickering back and forth.

They get their cups mixed up (hers has liquor, his is water) and he (already established at having low tolerance) gets drunk.
He completely passes out, and Eun Chan drags him home, but can’t figure out a way inside. She tries leaving him on his doorstep, but her conscience won’t let her. So, she carries him piggyback all the way to her neighborhood, where she puts him at the Taekwondo studio overnight.

In the morning, Eun Chan goes to her sister’s school to take care of a problem, as Eun Sae has been caught running a minor moneylending operation of her own. The teachers caught her accounting information in her notebooks, and Eun Chan scolds her sister, who insists she’s going to keep doing it and earn enough money to start training as a pop singer.

When Eun Chan arrives back at the Taekwondo studio, she finds Han Gyul tied up with the kids’ belts, completely at their mercy as their toy.
Eun Chan lets him borrow her father’s shirt, and he takes a moment to look around her home. He marvels at her chart of daily activities, crammed full hour by hour, remarking that his grandmother was right in calling him lazy. He sees pictures of Eun Chan as a young kid (looking like a boy even then) and smiles.

He drops by to watch her teaching the kids, and leaves her a note on the door, along with the watch he’d taken back. The note says he’s lending her the entire amount ($5,000) for her deposit fee. $1,500 is payment for her work, and the rest is a loan.
Loveholic’s “화분” (flowerpot) plays in the next scene, while Han Sung despondently thinks back to happier times with Yu Ju. (
Han Sung arrives at Yu Ju’s sprawling apartment (just how rich are all these people, anyway?) and flatly notes how she can continue doing her work, while he finds himself unable to get any done. He’s a mess, but she’s getting along just fine. He asks if she knows how much she hurt him, how much he struggled after being left behind. And yet, even if he tries to hurt her, she’s unaffected — there’s no use in him trying to play the game.

As he turns to go, Yu Ju grabs him from behind in a back-hug.
(They sure aren’t wasting time burning through the list of well-worn kdrama conventions, are they? I wasn’t expecting the back-hug for at least another five episodes or so.)

She tearfully tells him, “Thanks. I didn’t think you’d come.” He tells her, “I want to hurt you.” And so do I. Not for any reason other than she’s wounded the heart of Mr. Soulful Voice.

Eun Chan has a hard time working up the nerve to call Han Gyul to ask when he needs his money back. When she finally gets up the courage to call, she interrupts his dream:
At the last moment, his blushing (female) bride is replaced by the suit-wearing Eun Chan.
Han Gyul’s grandmother forces him to come with her to visit the Coffee Prince cafe, which she owns. The manager she put in charge (also the friendly ajusshi with whom Eun Chan is close) isn’t that worried about making money, and thus the place is in horrible shape. No customers and awful conditions.

Han Gyul asks what they’re doing there, and his grandmother introduces him to the manager, telling Han Gyul he’ll be working there from now on: “Say hello to your new instructor.”
At the same time, Eun Chan finds out that the owner of the Taekwondo school has fled without paying her, and cleared out his studio…

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Coffee Prince Episode 1

EUN CHAN is a hard-working young woman who looks (and acts) like a boy — so much so that people even question her when she insists she’s female. She works multiple jobs, delivering jjajangmyun (Chinese-style noodles) and milk, and teaching Taekwondo. She’s used to being mistaken for a boy, but doesn’t really seem to care. She’s also got a huge appetite.

HAN GYUL is a rich, conceited ladies’ man who’s got women throwing themselves at him left and right. His mother and grandmother are after him to marry and stop playing around with his life, although they too aren’t immune to his charm when he deflects with sweet words. His grandmother is the head of a large (food?) company and he’s been living off her money, and agrees to go on a matchmaking date to appease her. (Han Gyul’s a playboy, but has a soft spot for YU JU, who used to date his older cousin, HAN SUNG (Lee Sun Kyun of the swoony velvety voice.) That rounds out our main love rectangle.)

They briefly meet when Eun Chan delivers jjajangmyun to Han Gyul, and she’s shocked to see him flashing his family jewels at her from under his loosely draped towel. He doesn’t think much of it, but it flusters her. And just in case you’re wondering how much she actually saw, I think it’s safe to assume she saw plenty. And I’m not talking about the towel.

Eun Chan’s younger sister, EUN SAE, a pretty, feminine girl in her last year of high school, calls Eun Chan “oppa” (meaning brother, rather than “unni” for sister) and seems to regularly call Eun Chan to help when she’s being pestered by annoying guys. This time (meeting at the run-down Coffee Prince cafe) it’s Min Yup bothering her, a somewhat coarse, uncouth guy who insists he loves Eun Sae. He assumes Eun Chan is Eun Sae’s boyfriend, and Eun Chan doesn’t bother correcting his misconception. She easily subdues the hot-tempered Min Yup, but agrees to a challenge — an eating contest. First person to finish five bowls of jjajangmyun wins; loser pays (with money and presumably also his pride).

Eun Sae makes it worse by mixing in fruit yogurt in Min Yup’s dish, and as he watches Eun Chan eat her radishes with yogurt, he can’t take it. He loses.

Their family’s big problem is money, with a mother who’s careless with funds and a general tight economy all around. On top of their house deposit needing to be paid (approximately $10,000 — leases are paid in a lump sum), their mother has thoughtlessly lost someone else’s expensive ring, and the person wants it back. Eun Chan tries to go around asking for employee loans or paycheck advances, but doesn’t get anywhere.

Things get worse when Eun Chan witnesses a purse-snatching and rushes to catch the thief, only to find it’s her sister’s not-boyfriend. Unfortunately, the victim is Yu Ju, who’s there with Han Gyul.

Eun Chan goes easy on Min Yup when he says he was going to help pay for her sister’s school fees; she instructs him under her breath to shove her aside and run away. He does, and she pretends to chase him. Yu Ju is thankful for her purse’s return, but Han Gyul sees everything and assumes it was a con operation planned between Eun Chan and the thief. Still, he says he feels sorry for her and gives Eun Chan his card to contact him for reimbursement for her scooter, which was damaged in the process. As a result, she’s fired from her delivery job.

Eun Chan first encounters Han Sung of the Deep Resonant Voice when she greets his dog while delivering milk. On the other side of the fence, he hears her talk affectionately with the dog (and this is how he knows she’s female, since she refers to herself as a girl). Curious, he goes out to see her as she bicycles away.

He is, meanwhile, nursing a still-wounded heart over Yu Ju, whom we can assume dumped him in some cold and callous way, judging from the way he can barely stand to look at her. I just hope she didn’t leave him to go off and treat her terminal cancer in the States and is now back to win him over again.

Han Sung and Eun Chan officially meet when she takes another part-time job as a server at a wine bar. Han Sung recognizes her as the delivery girl, and in a thematically related conversation, Eun Chan learns his dog isn’t a girl, as she’d presumed, but a boy.

He’s adorable and I love him already. In fact, I like him so much I don’t know how they’re going to flip me over to Team Han Gyul, cuz Gong Yoo’s assy ego ain’t doing it for me.

Eun Chan reaaaally doesn’t want to ask Han Gyul for money (compensation for her bike repairs), but she doesn’t have many options. She agonizes between pride and money, money and pride… and finally decides that pride won’t feed her.

She visits him, and he remarks what a girly face she’s got for a guy. She asks for the money, and he gives her a hard time, insinuating she’s a scammer. When he tries to remove her by force, they end up on a heap on the floor… leading to the misconception that both are gay by the girl who sees them there.

Then, he insults her parents (for not raising her properly), which hugely offends her. She demands an apology, and when he doesn’t respond, she follows him all the way to his blind date. Or rather, his string of six blind dates, all with equally crazy or weird women. She pesters him all day for an apology.

(The sign reads: “Apologize, punk!”)

She follows him into the men’s room, demanding an apology and compensation. She wonders if he’s really gay, which seems to spark an idea in his mind. And he surprises her by looking at her closely and asking:“Want to play my boyfriend?” Ha!
To be fair, he clarifies: “Do you want to work for me, pretending to be my boyfriend?”

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Coffee Prince

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12
Episode 13
Episode 14
Episode 15
Episode 16
Episode 17

Summary From: www.dramabeans.com

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Profile of a Gold Digger

The picture is getting clearer. Isabel Aroyo is living up to her billing. Her Aunt (Rebeca), who just returned from a distant village as a perfect substitute for her expelled avaricious mom, told Angela about the hideous and murky background of elegant Isabel.

She was the daughter of a poor butcher, whose parents struggled to send her through school. She was fawned over by many admirers and potential suitors. She took advantage of this to attach herself to one of them, who greatly helped her in her career to the top.

This daughter of a butcher became a slaughterer who cut out the remnant of life from her sheepish old rich husband, Don Pedro Jose Donoso, with a knife of amorous treachery. Andre Corona (Martin Karpan) and Isabel were daring robbers of infidelity. They were doing their 'thing' right under the nose of the old man, just before he gave up the ghost. He never had a single conjugal night with young Isabel, his wife, in the few months before they gradually snuffed the life out of him.

He is dead now, thanks to the poisonous conspiracy of Andre and Isabel. The lesson here is not about the romantic mis-match of a septugenarian with his 25-year old wife. It is rather about cupid folly of meticulous and intelligent rich men who became prey, and fell as cheap victims into the hands of the spinning goddess of lust.

Men who naturally would thoroughly investigate any potential investment before going into it suddenly plunge head-long into romance with cunning women of easy virtues with reckless abandon and zealous nonchalance. If only Donoso had dug into the family and personal histories of Isabel, he would have found out that she was Andre's lover... and would have avoided the unbelievable tragedy that struck his family after his death.

The "we and them" battle have begun after the demise of Donoso. Angela leading a camp and Isabel commanding another opposing camp. Isabel's 'army' seem to be bigger because it is an army oiled by compromise and easy money.

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El Cuerpo Del Deseo Episode 1

The first episode showed Don Pedro Jose Donoso as he woke up from a recurring nightmare. Always seeing a young, muscular peasant (Salvador), hard-working on a farm, in his dreams.

His butler (Walter), woke him to remind him that today was his wedding to his former secretary (Isabel Arroyo). His spiritual and psychic consultant (Gayétana), stormed into his dressing room to warn him not to proceed with that wedding because he was about to be joined with a venomous serpent.

He disagreed with Gayétana, and broke off relationship with the spiritualist, paying her off. To almost everybody around, they knew this 'marriage' would be the worst mistake of Don Pedro.

Angela, his only daughter, described by many as wild, bitter, rebellious and, truly beautiful (like her late mother- Catalina), was speeding home from Europe, to stop or dissuade her father, Don Pedro, from marrying a gold-digging bitch. Pedro had written to Angela that he wanted the marriage to quench old-age loneliness. He saw Isabel as a young talented executive in his company. He described her a sincere and selfless, who want nothing but moral support from him. (Perfect deception!).

By the time Angela arrived, the wedding had been concluded, she met them at the reception. Angela declared an implacable war upon being introduced by her father to Isabel. She said that Isabel cannot replace her mother because she is phony, and cannot be her step-mother.

At the reception, some of the co-workers of Isabel, led by Liborio, acknowledged her extreme beauty and extreme cunning, saying she married the old man for his money. Andrés the secret plotter and lover of Isabel, was offended and lambasted them for their gossips. He was the general manager of the conglomerate and personal assistant (Right-hand man) of Don Pedro.

As argument became hotter between Pedro and Angela, she broke off all relationship with her father, saying: "... forget you ever had a daughter", and walked down the stairs. Pedro could not bear the renunciation by his daughter, he ran after her, calling her name, in the process, he suffered another round of heart-attack, and fell to the grave, ... sorry..., to the ground, and was rushed by an Ambulance to the hospital, where he recovered two days later.

While he was recuperating in the hospital, his new 'wife' was rampaging in an orgy of sexual escapades with her ambitious and equally ruthless lover, in the factory..., right on the table improvised as a bed, in the office of the general manager. What a way to manage honeymoon for for a convalescing boss and husband.

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