Recap Korean Drama "Love Is for Suckers (2022)" Episode 7-8

We have lots of discord this week, both internal and external. At the center of the struggles are PDs Yeo-reum and Chae-ri and their dissimilar personalities. They disagree repeatedly about how to handle Kingdom of Love 2. Yeo-reum wants to make it feel authentic and let people fall in love, while Chae-ri wants to push the participants into action. A good example is the kiss that is “supposed” to happen between Jae-hoon and Ji-yeon on their first date. The stage is ready before the couple even arrives.

But while the PDs are so busy fighting about how to best execute the kiss, real emotions are flying around the set. Jae-hoon, after being rejected by Yeo-reum last week, decides to become more assertive in showing his feelings for her. As he watches her work, he notices her hoobae, KIM SANG-WOO (Lee Dae-hwi), is so good at anticipating her needs, Jae-hoon begins to imagine the two have a secret relationship. Every time Jae-hoon tries to step in and show some small concern for Yeo-reum, Sang-woo is already there. Jae-hoon finally gets the idea to try to set up Sang-woo with his sister, so he’ll leave Yeo-reum alone, heh.

Alongside the comedy act, the show takes a serious turn. One of the participants, PARK JI-WAN (Sohn Hwa-ryung), while on a date with another participant, reveals she was molested in middle school. She’s never dated or been in love because she closed herself off — and she joined Kingdom of Love to change all that.

When the date is over, Ji-wan asks that the footage not be aired and our headstrong PDs go at it again. Yeo-reum doesn’t want to broadcast something so traumatic, but Chae-ri says it’s good for ratings — no consent is needed because Ji-wan knew the cameras were on. In an effort to protect Ji-wan, Yeo-reum says she’ll get the kiss from Jae-hoon and Ji-yeon, so they can air that instead. Chae-ri agrees so long as the footage is sexy.

The kiss is to be filmed from outside, with only the silhouettes of the kissers being seen through the curtains. Given the gravity of the situation, Yeo-reum no longer wants to leave the kiss to chance. She asks Ji-yeon if they can film a kiss, and she agrees, but says she doesn’t think Jae-hoon will.

Yeo-reum goes to ask Jae-hoon the same question. He’s already sitting in the curtain-enclosed set, waiting for Ji-yeon to enter. Yeo-reum poses her question pragmatically. She needs a favor — can he kiss Ji-yeon? Jae-hoon is hurt. He wants to know how Yeo-reum can ask him that when she knows he has feelings for her. She maintains that she’s in a bind and needs the footage. She tries to downplay it: it’s just a kiss — who cares in a world full of one-night stands? He asks, “You really don’t care if I kiss another woman?” She doesn’t answer and he’s crushed.

The cameras start rolling and Ji-yeon has not returned. Jae-hoon says, “If it’s just a kiss and means nothing, then do you want to try it with me?” He pulls her in and kisses her — and the show gets the footage it’s looking for, but with the wrong woman.

The kiss goes on for a long time and they both think about how at some point in their lives they started taking kisses for granted. Kissing became a step on the way to sleeping with someone, not something they think about. Jae-hoon is paying attention now, not wanting to take this one for granted. Yeo-reum suddenly realizes what she’s doing and runs out, telling him not to follow.

Earlier in the episode we learned through flashback that this is not their first kiss. Seventeen years ago, while at university, Yeo-reum planted one on Jae-hoon in the middle of a drinking session before passing out at the table. It was clear beforehand that they were both attracted to each other — with Jae-hoon saying he’d drop anything to take her calls. The day after the kiss, Yeo-reum pretended she blacked out and forgot everything. Jae-hoon was ready to start dating, but Yeo-reum pulled back, using her studies as an excuse not to see him. The present kiss is no different — he’ll be ready to move into a relationship, and she’ll shut him down.

While all this is happening, Sang-woo has deleted the footage of Ji-wan talking about her past. He wants to make sure it can’t be aired. On one hand it’s good, but on the other, now they need really exciting footage to show Chae-ri — and they don’t exactly have it.

When Yeo-reum returns to the house, Ji-yeon is waiting for her. She saw the kiss. She’s incredibly upset and wants to quit the show. She knows Jae-hoon has feelings for Yeo-reum, but is it reciprocal? If not, she’ll stay. If so, she’s leaving. Yeo-reum responds that she and Jae-hoon are friends, and Ji-yeon tells her she needs to draw a clear boundary. Yeo-reum asks if they can air the kiss as if it were Ji-yeon and Jae-hoon (since no faces were shown). Ji-yeon agrees, as long as the kiss was “just work” and not real feelings. The two get Jae-hoon to agree begrudgingly as well.

Yeo-reum, now with conflicting priorities, tells Jae-hoon they are nothing more than friends. When they kissed, she didn’t feel anything and realized he’s not the one for her. But for him, the kiss made his feelings stronger. He agrees to stop pursuing her and walks away angry, feeling he has no chance now.

When the first episode of Kingdom of Love 2 airs, both cast and crew are surprised to find that Chae-ri has done some last minute editing. She includes the kiss behind the curtain, but also some scenes from a secret conversation Jae-hoon had with Ji-yeon the night she was considering quitting the show. Neither knew they were being filmed. Ji-yeon was crying, and the conversation makes it clear that the person Jae-hoon kissed was not Ji-yeon.

Ji-yeon blames Yeo-reum immediately (she’s a PD after all, and she was there with them that night). Both Ji-yeon and Jae-hoon begin to think Yeo-reum will do anything for the show. In reality, Yeo-reum is furious (and maybe a little afraid) since she didn’t want herself involved. Chae-ri knows what she’s doing to reach her goals, though, and along with high ratings, it stirs the viewers to root for Jae-hoon and Ji-yeon to overcome their problems and be the show’s final couple.

Now that Jae-hoon has some celebrity, and his face is on TV, comments start appearing online calling him a “murderer” due to a medical accident where someone died. The posts begin to spread, teasing the problems we’ll see next week.

While last week’s episodes pushed our leads closer together, this week’s pulled them apart, maybe further than ever before. I felt myself distance from the drama, just a little, for the first time too. There was a lot of action, but fewer real world problems to relate to. I was also disappointed that Ji-wan’s story (which introduced real conflict into Kingdom of Love) ended up being a setup for getting Yeo-reum on board with filming sexy footage of Jae-hoon. There are a million other ways that could have been done more delicately.

Now that we’re on set, my favorite parts are the crew, behind the scenes, barefoot with their bags of snacks. There’s something so realistic and natural in those moments — maybe it’s how tired they look.

Of all the conflicts that were introduced this week, the one I’m most interested in is how Yeo-reum will become an integral part of this team she’s on. At the moment, it seems like she’s just been stuck in there to create movement, rather than having a real purpose. Both Chae-ri and Sang-woo stepped over her to take responsibility for things in the ways they thought were best. Yeo-reum knows Chae-ri is crazy and there’s a line this week where she claims she can be even crazier than Chae-ri is. That’s the moment I’m waiting for.