Daily Dose of Sunshine (2023) KDrama Episode 3

Episode 3 of Daily Dose of Sunshine begins with Go-yun comforting Yu-chan and getting him some water. He brushes it off as indigestion, going on to show him the various pressure points on his own foot. When he tries to do the same for Yu-chan, he struggles to hold the eccentric doctor off. However, Da-eun shows to save the day.

Yu-chan admits to Da-eun after that he’s relentless and he admires Go-yun for this. He won’t relent until he finds an answer, and in this case his focus is on Yu-chan. What happened in the past to cause him to end up like this?

We’ll have to wait and see because for now, Da-eun gets up and prepares for work. Well, her mum wakes her up anyway. She sleeps through her own alarm but eventually a slap to the back is enough to get her up and into work.

There are new trainees today, and Da-eun is first up to help show them around. Mr Kim Seo-wan happens to be in the ward, the guy from before, and he continues to believe he’s part of the game. However, this game is Lost Valhalla, a title that one of the trainees is familiar with and actually plays himself. Mr Kim starts to get angry, but thankfully calms himself down by “cleansing himself at the river” and the issue passes.

However, the trainee in question, Seung-jae, needs a moment to reflect on whats happened. He heads off to the front desk to get some air, and he’s also distant compared to the other two. When Deul-re takes over, she calls out Seung-jae’s behaviour and believes he’s being a slaccker. Seung-jae continues to ask to use the restroom. 

Speaking of Deul-re, Yeo-hwan continues to pester her even after getting a big rejection last episode. He really cannot take no for an answer, believing that social hierarchy shouldn’t be a reason not to get together. Once again, Deul-re rejects him and claims she’s seeing ghosts.

Yeo-hwan takes that seriously and contemplates with the other doctors what he can do about this. Naturally, they tease him about being lovesick but Yeo-hwan is relentless. Eventually though he confesses his feelings and how much he likes her. Deul-re asks him whether he’s ever been somewhere without hot water, and he shrugs it off, incredulously asking where somewhere like that even is… and that is why they can’t be together. They’re from very different worlds.

Back at the psych ward, Da-eun notices that Seung-jae is still distant. While the other nurses are convinced that he’s a slacker, Da-eun thinks there’s more to it than that. When Jung-ran decides she’s going to grill him hard, Da-eun smiles to herself and knows she won’t do this given what she’s seen in the past. Specifically her dancing and singing for a patient late at night.

A big meeting for Panic disorder goes ahead that afternoon and all the doctors and nurses are in attendance. This disorder has increased 70% over the past 5 years but the actual number could be a lot higher. A lot of the time it’s shrugged off as stress or anxiety, rather than what it actually is – panic disorder.

While all this is going on, clearly getting through to Seung-jae who sits on the peripheral of this, Da-eun and Go-yun happen to be sitting together. When they need to pair up, Da-eun doesn’t hesitate in pairing up with Seung-jae, and knows that he’s suffering through their activity that they do.

He immediately heads out the room and into the hallway, where he contemplates whether to phone the hospital or not. In the end, he doesn’t but Da-eun watches from afar. And in fact, Go-yun believes this could be something that Yu-chan is suffering from too.

Da-eun questions Yu-chan that night over his condition after his parents call the paramedics, worried about him. He refuses to disclose it though but there must be a reason why he quit his dream job to work at the chicken shop.

Da-eun knows that Seung-jae is suffering but the other doctors and nurses can’t seem to see it. In fact, when Da-eun heads over to Go-yun to ask for advice, she overhears him talking about Yu-chan suffering from the same thing. He won’t even acknowledge it, let alone get it treated. This is going to make things a lot more difficult, but Da-eun does reveal that Yu-chan wants Go-yun to be the one to treat him if so.

Go-yun takes Yu-chan out onto the lake the next day, deciding to pedal along, However, He believes everyone is watching. While he talks to Yu-chan out on the lake about his disorder, Da-eun talks to Seung-jae about his disorder. This scene is really well shot, as it cuts back and forth between the two scenes with some sharp editing.

Yu-chan’s issues stemmed from feeling over-burdened at work. He worked day and night, constantly bombarded with other colleagues needing help, instant messages and an overbearing amount of work. Eventually it exploded, with Yu-chan overwhelmed by everything. He couldn’t breathe and felt like he was going to die.

Whenever he attended work after, he felt like the water would rise up and consume him. This is why he quit, because the attacks got too much. He became a selfish slacker and decided to just do away with this. He hasn’t told anyone because he didn’t want to be seen as a weakling.

Meanwhile, Seung-jae admits that he doesn’t know the root cause of his disorder. Da-eun gently tells him that he now needs to train as a nurse with panic disorder. It won’t be eady but he can work to lengthen the period of time between episodes. She’s going to help him with medication and try to sustain this so he can work as a nurse.

That night after work, Yu-chan shows up to see Da-eun and admits that he has panic disorder. Da-eun is nonchalant to it though and rejects his claim to go to the cinema together. Instead, she promises to be there after his appointment at the hospital in the morning.

Both Yu-chan and Seung-jae are there in the waiting room, and they’re just as nervous as each other. They get their medication, and that night Go-yun visits Yu-chan at the chicken shop. He turns to Yu-chan and admits that Da-eun is a nice person… and asks for permission to like her. Oh my!

The Episode Review

Daily Dose of Sunshine is starting to get really interesting now and that’s joined by some excellent editing too. The creative way this show depicts mental health, along with the way scenes are spliced together, is partly what makes this such a joy to watch through.

The contrasting scenes between Da-eun and Go-yun, who are more alike than they’d like to admit, is done so well and you can tell these two are on a collision course to romance.

As for the rest of the cast, the ongoing issue with Deul-re and Yeo-hwan is concerning. We had a whole episode where Ri-na was put into hospital for stalking a guy, and yet we have Yeo-hwan constantly following Deul-re around and wanting to date her, despite getting a definitive no. Maybe it’s just me but it seems a bit pushy.

However, this gripe aside, the show is really starting to step up now and it sets everything up nicely for the rest of the show.