Doctor Slump (2024) K Drama Episode 12 with Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Shik

Episode 12 begins with Jeong-woo and Ha-neul receiving their first pay since starting at Dae-young’s clinic and they want to treat their friends, Dae-young and Hon-ran, respectively. However, both are busy and it’s revealed that they lied to their friends since they are having breakfast together at Hong-ran’s place.

Jeong-woo takes out some cash and while on his way back home, he’s kidnapped by Ha-neul’s uncle and Bada. They get him drunk and Jeong-woo finds himself in the Nam household’s living room where the family is having breakfast. Ha-neul’s uncle and Bada betray him and put the blame of drinking on Jeong-woo as he is judged by the others. 

Ha-neul drives Jeong-woo to the clinic and he reveals the truth to her. Ha-neul shares that she never had been to a field trip before because she wanted to study. However, letting go of the field trip made her extremely sad and she had cried, regretting her decision in the past. 

Hong-ran and Dae-young meet at the rooftop and it’s revealed that Dae-young set up a play area for Jin-woo at Hong-ran’s house. Hong-ran proposes to have a “chance card” system wherein they can ask for each other’s help and the person receiving help has to turn in their card to the other person. 

At the office, Ha-neul is ecstatic that her gifts for Jeong-woo have arrived. Jeong-woo opens the packages full of excited anticipation only to find a book on the history of plastic surgery and a surgeon’s cap having puppy prints on it. He, of course, becomes an amusement for the nurses in the operation theatre.

Later, Jeong-woo reveals that he has a present for Ha-neul, which is to take her on a field trip the next day. They plan for their trip for the rest of the day. Jeong-woo reveals that he had trouble sleeping and has been taking sleeping pills since his senior year of high school, however, he doesn’t take them anymore. While Ha-neul makes her suspicions about Kyung-min clear, Jeong-woo reveals that he is happy at the moment. 

The next day, Jeong-woo makes kimbab for their trip and they leave in the bus, similar to school students. They visit a museum and change into school uniforms later. They finally settle in a camping site and are joined by Hong-ran and Dae-young, who were invited by Jeong-woo. 

As they discuss things, it’s revealed that Jeong-woo and Dae-young had a pretty serious bromance going on during their university days. However, a misunderstanding led to Dae-young slipping on a plastic bag and dropping out of medical volunteering in Africa. Jeong-woo had to take his place who then became famous through a documentary.

Dae-young felt that he should have been famous instead and explained that at the time, he was going through a divorce because his wealthy in-laws were looking down on him. He felt that becoming famous would have helped him. 

Hong-ran and Ha-neul escape from Dae-young and Jeong-woo’s ridiculous sob-story and Hong-ran confesses that she’s interested in Dae-young. Hong-ran is suspicious about Kyung-min becoming a professor only to leave in a few month’s time. 

Dea-young reveals to Jeong-woo that he once saw Kyung-min carrying a powered drug. It becomes clear that Kyung-min might have spiked Joeng-woo’s drink impulsively.   

The next day, after they return from the trip, Ha-neul visits her mental health clinic for an appointment. She discovers that Kyung-min had been involved in a volunteer group and she gains information about Haesung Pharmaceutical, the company he is now a director of. The company is involved in Macau as well. Ha-neul becomes even more suspicious about Kyung-min. 

Later Ha-neul meets a medical reporter through Hong-ran and inquires about Haesung Pharmaceutical. The reporter reveals that the Kyung-min is developing a drug that is supposed to be revolutionary in pain reduction and the head of the company has family ties with gangsters in Macau. Ha-neul later investigates more on this and calls Kyung-min revealing the information she had gathered. 

Kyung-min picks Ha-neul up in his car. It’s revealed that Kyung-min took a professor position because Haesung Pharmaceutical needed a professor’s presence in the team which is developing the new drug. The entire fiasco is to increase the stock prices of the company and is incredibly shady. 

At this time, Kyung-min is surprised and the car is almost hit by a truck. He almost gains stability and just when it seemed that luck was on their side as they had escaped death, a white truck bashes against the car and the episode ends. 

The Episode Review

We have entered the territory of the ‘white truck of doom’ finally, folks. We would like to think that Doctor Slump had peacefully concluded its rocky beginning with the leads coming together and resolving conflicts but it seems that the show is going to get unnecessarily dragged out. 

Although we do accept that interactions between Ha-neul and Jeong-woo are adorable, they do often become slightly cringy. The cast is great and all of them have displayed exceptional acting skills, the cinematography and camera work is beautiful at times but the writing and vision of the show is lacking to a great degree. 

We can only wish for the next 4 episodes to be less painful and exhausting as they seem right now. But let’s hope for the best and meet next week for episode 13’s recap! Till then, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!