Noble, My Love - Episodes 3 to 4 (A SqueeCap)

Shuk: In the first 30 minutes, we have established our tropes our leads. Now we can get down to the business of having them tangled in each other's lives. 
Trotwood: Dear Santa, please let me have a secretary that pops up like this whenever I need him/her.

Episode Three - How a Stalker Handles Curiosity

The morning sun (and every viewer in her/his imagination) caresses his abs as Kang Hoon slowly wakes up. He glances over at Snoring Beauty, realizing that their hands are still clamped together. The events come together in his head, and he decides to get up. Easier said than done when his stitches pull, but after a few tries he's sitting up. He pulls out the IV catheter out of his arm and finally stands up. He grabs a bright yellow Dr Cha tshirt and calls PA Kang to come pick him up. As she slumbers on, he leaves a business card with his personal phone number on it and walks out the door, pausing only to look at her one last time.
Jaehyus: And love begins!
JoAnne:  I'd be licking my lips too, Cat.
Quirkstine: I’d love to caress his abs.
I was licking my lips. I did that a lot in this show. I decided to just keep carmex by my laptop because my lips got so chapped.
As he leaves, the tinkling door bells wake her up for an instant before she falls back. Fuzzy jumps off the counter-top and accidentally poots his information into the trash can. Hours later, she is finally awake, surrounded by medical waste (and probably left over IV fluid), but missing one Adonis and one tshirt.
This made me sad. 
I agree. If you fall asleep with an Adonis, you should wake up with one.
What can I say, kdrama moms have their priorities straight.
I only thought, "Thank Goodness, there's debris left." I mean if I woke up without the mess, I would've thought it was all a dream.

PA Kang keeps glancing back at his boss' appearance as they head to his house. His mother calls his phone, and with a grimace, he answers. She sobs into his ear, but he is clearly used to her histrionics. He assures her that is okay, and just like that, the waterworks dry up and she ready to talk about marriage.
Naturally. #kdramamothersofsons
#WhenAManNeedsSomeSpace
Hmm. I didn't like her, but I was impressed with her "time on task" focus.

A short time later, Kang Hoon's personal physician pronounces his treatment as A Job Well Done.
I really liked this bit because it shows us early on that though our heroine may seem like the vet for the Island of misfit toys, she really is good at what she does. Thus he is impressed by the pretty and compassion but also by skill. So sexy to be loved for your brain!--okay Sung Hoon is just sexy.

As he cleans up in his bathroom, he takes a moment to press his hand over the abdominal dressing and remember the previous evening's events.
Take your hand away from the Happy Trail, and no one gets hurt!
This is one Outstandingly Beautiful Human Being.
 
Kang Hoon is now perfectly coiffed and dressed, using the commute time for his usual business pursuits and having an ordinary workday. Once he has a little downtime, he performs a little Google Fu on his savior. He wonders why she hasn't contacted him. But he remembers her gentle manner and sweet kindness of holding his hand.
So arrogant, yet so in love. As in why should she contact him? Okay, there's those abs, but he did come off like gangster.
He left his info, which would tell her he's no gangster, but in fact a wealthy and well-known businessman. He expects her to want a reward, which he's fine with since it will let him see her again.
He’s covering them washboards. 
He'd be used to people coming to him even if he were a gangster.
There's a joke about a preposition in there somewhere. Or maybe just a proposition...

Even the next day he is thinking about her, especially when that incongruous tshirt makes its way to a hanger in the middle of all his hoity-toity dress shirts.
It's cute, but who puts t-shirts on hangers?
The heart wants a yellow t-shirt advertising a country veterinarian.
Give the heart what it wants!
Just look at that profile though. ♥
 
Of course our "gentle" Florence Nightingale is calling him all manner of names for disappearing like seafoam. A customer brings her back to the present. The woman's dog is having her first heat, and she wants to know when the dog can...you know... and dog blushes. The woman doesn't want to wait too long and have her dog end up just like her Christmas Cake vet. But out of curiosity, just what does Dr Cha look for in a man?
This was Macaron's cameo and drama debut! Also, how annoying to have people concerned their dog won't end up an old maid like yourself. 

She looks dreamy as she drones: "180cm (6ft) tall, with tanned abs, a slightly obnoxious style but a smooth voice, and full of sexy charm." The ajumma smiles but outside the business, she decides her vet is just too darn picky.
I don't know why this is a surprise to her? Doesn't she watch dramas? Who would disagree with that description? 
Bet she was going to set up Dr. Cha with a divorced farmer with 5 kids, mother and sister in tow. And why don't farmers have abs like CEOs?
Some of them do, but way too many of them smell like cow manure. I grew up in dairy country. Trust me on this. (Much respect to the people who grow our food and produce our milk, y'all, though, honest! It's a tough, tough life.)
She’s met (and slept with) a golden Adonis. They even held hands all night. Of course, she’d be picky!
 
Inside, Dr Cha wonders what part of her brain did that description come from. If she really knew someone like that, she would jump at the chance to..err...jump him. Her brain decides to help with a flashback of those perfect perfect abs of that unknown gangster. She bites her lip, then wonders how the man is healing.
She's a true doctor, caring about her patient. 
I suspect it was the gleaming abs. Wouldn’t you care for a patient whose abs you touched sutured with care?
I would have stitched a flag into them and claimed them as my territory.

At his conglomerate, PA Kang hands Kang Hoon a dossier on the animal hospital and our vet. He's surprised to know her age and the length of time it took to graduate, but PA explains that she had to pay her way and part-time her education. PA Kang recommends giving her a generous compensation, since it makes good Public Relations. CEO nixes the idea and doesn't want anything that might be scrutinized by his governing board.
The governing board will care, why? Besides, he must have enough dosh of his own to send to her.
Isn't that the point? He wasn't going to use his own money. And over a certain dollar figure, of course the board would question expenditures that aren't budgeted.
Excuses! He just wants a extended payment plan. Preferably with daily visits and abs massage skinship.
I'm going back to PA Kang here--These secretaries in dramas--the skills they exhibit! I would love to have someone to do all this kind of stuff for me. So handy. It's like having your own personal spy network. (I know I keep saying this, but there needs to be a show just about these drama chaebol secretaries!)
All the secretaries get together monthly to discuss their bosses. The problem is a few of those secretaries have multiple personalities, or at least multiple bosses. How do we resolve that?
That would be a whole other subplot. They need the various jobs because they, too (like the "heroine," who in this show is really a secondary character) have to pay off family debt and for their kids studying in (name your favorite foreign country).
 
Instead, he will wait for her to contact him, and see what money she demands for her discretion. So he waits. And waits. And waits some more. Until he's annoyed and ready to go see her instead. Then one bright, sunny day he parks outside her practice.
Oh look, a woman with self-respect. Although she never saw his card, but even then, she would only have checked to see how he was.
It's sad that he assumes anyone who comes into contact with him will want something from him.
I like her. She’s very conscientious. I bet, even if she did have his card, she wouldn’t have brought up payment unless he mentioned it.
But don't they all think that? All these rich OCD lead males? It is the typical Darcy life; and they always fall for the one woman who doesn't paw all over them (note to self: watch hands).
Nah.  I'm going for the instant gratification. Just my luck I'd pick the one guy who goes against type.

A figure pops up in the back seat, startling him, but it's only PA Kang following orders to always stay with the CEO and protect him. Kang Hoon mumbles that he had the ability to drive there by himself.
That was hilarious, and I love PA Kang. However, I bet the CEO would protect the PA, not the other way around.
I think that PA Kang probably screams like a little girl.
Unless PA Kang turns out to be a closet black belter.
I'm voting for the closet black belt or something more calming. He'd need to get out his frustrations somewhere working for this family.

At that moment, the front door of the hospital bursts open. It's that same ajumma, angry that she can't get her Precious groomed at the hospital. Dr Cha tries to explain that her business is for emergent and medical services only, but the woman flounces off in a huff. Our guy rolls down his window for a closer look.
Like Macaron could get any whiter and fluffier. 
Seriously, who cares about the dog. Show more Animal.
Oh! Macaron is the name of the dog. I was wondering who Macaron was.
 
A brief time later, Dr Cha heads outside with a giant piece of paper advising "No Grooming!"A tiny smile plays across his face as he watches her complaining out loud. PA Kang leans over the seat and smiles as well, amused by his boss' amusement. A quick glare from Kang Hoon, and his sidekick subsides to the back of the vehicle again.
I loved that smile and so did PA Kang. He makes a comment here about not seeing him smile very much (or at all--don't really remember because mind was a bit befuddled by smile). I thought this whole scene was both warm and kind of sad. Such a small thing to make him smile. Clearly he doesn't get to smile very often.
I see the hint of a dimple. I am very weak against dimples. Smile more, you sexy Beast.
It's for our own protection.
Those lips, wow.

This time, when Kang Hoon looks back, something about her causes him to freeze and slow blink.
Purrrr. That slow blink.

Happy with her sign, she spins and upturns her face to the sun, smiling with her eyes closed. Almost involuntarily, Kang Hood grabs his phone and snaps a pic. And what is he taking a photo of, PA asks?

"Something shiny."
Awwww.
I literally squueed myself into a ball.
I was in a puddle of goo over this and rewatched the bit far more times than I care to admit.

PA Kang is puzzled, but clearly something is going on inside CEO's head. He looks at the snapshot on his phone, then back at the happy woman in front of her store.
Yes, but it's not going on in his head.
Yup. I agree. This is a full body impact explosion type thing.
I'm giggling way too much at JoAnne's comments. Also, getting hot flashes.

He returns to location later by himself, but Dr Cha isn't there. As he grumbles down the sidewalk, wondering where she is, she sails past him on her white bike. He calls out her name, and she screeches to a halt.
She spins around, and they get a good look at each other.
Why don't I look that good when I spin around? I just look kind of queasy.

SHUKNOTE: Okay, so Macaron is Jae Kyung's real life puffball monster. Who has his own Instagram page. Yay, Puffball!
So it was a package deal?  Yes, the dog will be in your silly webtoon - but you have to take his mistress, too?
More like the other way around. Plus, this is a dog with a K-net agency: don't underestimate him.

Episode Four - A Lottery Or A Nightmare?

Dr Cha takes in the vision of this impeccable stranger for a moment, before she flashes back to her Damp Desperado. "Gangster?" Kang Hoon winces at the appellation, but doesn't deny it. She goes on to ask him about his injury.
See. He could have denied right then and there and introduced himself, but he's so sure that everyone knows him that he doesn't bother.
It's a weak plot device, employed all too frequently:  just not answering reasonable questions or clarifying clear misconceptions. But oh well, it's 15 minute episodes. It's not like I want the drama to end HERE.
Add this to your trope list, Quirkstine!
I have to admit, this trope irritates me.
Together they enter the hospital. Kang Hoon takes a step backwards, and imperiously commands her to take care of "that thing". He is, of course, talking about Fuzzy, who stares in awe at his charm. Dr Cha isn't taken in by his charm, though, and yet again calls him heartless.
Whatever, Doc. Get that.
No matter how handsome the person, the pet comes first. 

He explains he doesn't like flying hair; she explains that she doesn't give a flying leap about his chaetophobia. The gentle country veterinarian of his memory has morphed into this surly creature. He takes a quick glance at the cat, lifts his eyebrows and takes a big step into the doctor's personal space. He admits that he hates flying hair, but he hates obligation more.
And we all know what he really feels obligated to do...
I don’t have a cat. Please come invade my personal space…. Er, did I just say that out loud?
Also, I feel obligated to point out that Jaekyung is stunning and it's no wonder a CEO character is attracted to her. This isn't even plastic surgery. Her mum looks like he too. Plus, she makes handbags, dog hanboks, cakes, and is an all around crafty craftsperson who can sing, dance, act too. She and Macaron were the attractions, initially, and still are, but Sung Hoon definitely became the third one!
 
Now on a bit more friendly terms, they sit down to discuss the past events. He asks her why she never contacted him, surprised that she never saw his business card. She gives him an invoice written on a posty note.
I liked the post-it note touch; she really just wants to be done with him and the whole thing. I know she's thinking about hiding this from record and completing her gangster business while he's just appalled by his connection to a post-it :)
That was pretty cute, his reaction.

Maybe this way she avoids a formal invoice and hence a record of their clandestine activities on her business sheets. Whatever the case, he looks at the handwriting in horror: 700 000 ₩, or 538.41 € or $ 610.88?? She explains that since human health insurance can't be used as an offset, it's a complete and reasonable price for services rendered. And no additional costs for any grooming she might have done.
I knew it, some kind of licking happened.
How much to groom him personally?
Kang Hoon is a bit upset. Is his life worth too little? Why didn't she request millions? He refuses to pay, saying his life can't be worth just this much. She offers to detail each line item.
As a person who has just spent far too much time going over (arguing) a health bill with my insurance company line by line, I found this especially amusing. I'd be thrilled to get a bill that fit on a post-it.
Considering she got to play doctor on that glorious body, only charging him that much is reasonable. She already got her “payment” that night. Hee hee hee.
Not enough of a payment if it was with his body.
 
He leans in closer to her, curious whether she has an ulterior motive. She takes offense to that notion and throws the posty note on the floor. They both sit back for a moment. Fuzzy takes a chance and sidles across the floor. Kang Hoon again requests the vet to move the beast away. She stands up to comply, slips on a squeaky ball, and tumbles into his arms. Four wide eyes stare at each other in surprise; she's gripping his shoulders while his hands are perilously close to her...[meow]
They spring apart: he into a pose of forced nonchalance, (notice what he covers), she with hand to heart like a Victorian virginette. Her heart still thumping, she yells at him to pay for the treatment and then leave.  But in that brief moment he makes a decision. Crowding back into her personal space (and he likes to do that a lot, doesn't he?), he will give her an offer she won't refuse.
Done. Tell me where to sign. Take my child. Anything.
Pfft. The “gangster” is making a Godfather reference. Also, does that offer include free swimming lessons?
How do I become a vet and get a CEO in my personal space like this? I didn't know this was a method.

At work, he tells PA Kang that there is a very special project he must do immediately. A diabolical smile plays across his face when he says this. Uh-oh!
He doesn't really get just sending flowers and asking her out, does he?
 
It's a nice sunny day when he brings her to a fabulous location in the trendy side of Seoul. A luncheon date with roses and candlelight? Nope! It's a brand new state-of-the-art animal hospital, complete with butt-wipe lion and a security fence in case a patient decides to pull a Logan's Run.
I don't really understand that fence. It just looks like an accident waiting to happen. I could leap that fence easily, and I'm not a young person. Is it for the pets? And is it to keep them in or out?
I loved the butt-wipe lion. And I don't get the YARD.
When Weiner Dogs Escape.
I don't believe a yard is so easily available in a top commercial part of Seoul.

He asks how she likes it, and she answers in the affirmative, that it's perfect and terrific. "A-ha!" he thinks, "Now I've got you in my clutches, mwuahahaha." Okay, maybe that was all in my head.
I think the music was more bedroom-y, in mine.

He commands her to move her paltry business into this neighborhood, but she declines. It's too rich for her blood, but to him, it's the payment for her life-saving skills. She appreciates it, but no. He's incredulous.
I think she still thinks he's a gangster here. I grew up where there were gangs and mafia people. This is NOT the kind of offer you take. Usually, you claim sudden blindness and try to go into the witness protection program.
She didn't go blind when she saw his glorious torso. There's no hope for her now.
I love Dr. Cha's sensible take on things.

Kang Hoon is so bewildered and confused by the behavior of this one tiny woman, he takes out his feelings on a handball court.  While he's smacking the ball, we get a flashback of the rest of the conversation at the trendy hospital.
Smack that ball! Smack it!
Pffft.
 
Dr Cha is proud of her own accomplishments, no matter how incremental, and doesn't want anything that is just handed to her. He is amazed she would prefer her tiny rural business over his offer. They both get spun up and annoyed until, finally he all but rubs his chest on hers. He purrs, "Take what you're offered. Or you'll regret it." Promise or threat?
It's a threat that sounds like a purring promise. (Trying not remember how many times I wanted him to "threaten" me while watching this show.)
He is 50 shades of YESNOWPLEASEMORE in my book.
Mi personal space es tu personal space, Kang Hoon-ssi. “Threats” are most welcome.
I loved her self-respect and determination. Exactly right: she's worked hard and loves her own businessnd isn't looking for handouts.

It doesn't matter. She laughs him off and still says no.

Back in the current time, Kang Hoon throws his racket in frustration. Way to work up a sweat! Right then and there, he decides to test her. Personally, I think a broody shower scene would have been perfect here.
All we got was that teeny tiny nipple.
*giggles* I remember Jo and gutter gals talking about nips.
 
Dr Cha is shocked when the landlord stops by to say that the entire building has been purchased and is scheduled for demolition. Even to the extent of cancelling/buying out everyone's lease. After the former owner leaves, she collapses in despair.
I never really thought I'd be complaining about a dick move from this guy, but...
This was a bit much. But I forgive the plotular WTFery because how else will our hero bully show his appreciation to our intrepid Candy?
It's a good things he's so good looking because it takes the edge off his creepy stalking and control-freaking a bit. But just a bit.

Her phone rings, and she automatically answers. The deep smooth tones of the new building owner replies. It's Mr Lee Kang Hoon. Who? The voice gets impatient. Lee. Kang. Hoon.
That voice! Immediately, I forgive him. I should be so ashamed of myself. Next on our show, "KDrama Heros - Are they Setting Back the Women's Movement, or Freeing Our Inner Sex Kitten?"
I know better, too. I should hate this guy, but then he appears and everything is forgiven.
He needs to show more abs for me to forgive him messing with another's life like this. Just ask her out! Or send business her way. Anything not traumatic.

She immediately pops up, ready to plead her case. But wait. Why does that voice sound so familiar? Yep! It's the gangster.
How can you not recognize that voice? It’s raw seductive power packaged in a nice, low baritone!
He does have the most beautiful voice...

They argue back and forth: she in desperation, he with evil amusement. The vet who loves her tiny hospital pitted against the arrogant chaebol who values his existence by things. He warns her that she has a week to move out before the building is destroyed.
I prefer to think of it as his misguided attempt to 'correct' what is, to him, obviously flawed thinking. Not just a tantrum because she didn't do what he wanted.
Maybe he wasn't spanked enough as a child. Or an adult, really.
I volunteer for tribute! I volunteer!
Yeah, I got a bit creeped out. 
 
But she saved his life! Why would he do this do her? Only a lunatic would behave this way. It doesn't matter; he won't budge. She ends up shouting epithets to a disconnected phone.

She Google Fu's her human patient, and discovers the kind of wealth and influence he has. She snarls a text to him first calling him a rich jerk, then threatening to expose his bullying tactic to the press, then whining. Nothing moves him; he commands her to surrender.
It would be so much easier if she recognized that this is a weird version of foreplay. Ooh. Unless she DOES...
Makes you wonder how unusual his tastes are.
Okay, now you got ME wondering...

That gets her dander up; no way ever ever will she give in. Get ready to return that security deposit!
I admire her conviction and sense of self-worth but she’s fighting a losing battle here. It’s like fighting gravity—the fall is inevitable!

At the end of the conversation, he stares past his phone, while she puts her courage to the sticking place. Su su hwaiting, Dr Cha!

She starts by visiting local real estate agents, but there is nothing she can get with her current deposit money. Next, she tries to get a bank loan, but her income is sufficiently unstable to make her a poor risk.
I have to say that all the time he was not on the screen, I was hating him for this. But then he came back and the hatred turned into a different kind of passion. Yup. I'm shallow.
With you in lust and shame.
Seriously, so many actors have lost me with horrible characters like this (looking at you, Lee MinHo) but Sung Hoon is handsome enough to get past that horribleness each time.
 
During these countdown days, Kang Hoon has her trailed, and giggles at the expressions on her face as she leaves each business, one by one. He is impressed by her perseverance, though, but now tells PA Kang to activate Plan B. And NOT the one with Rain.
Sung Hoon and Rain. I think I just died.

Finally, Dr Cha calls home, only to hear her mom talk about the money woes of putting her brother through school. Rather than burden them further, she chats a bit then hangs up.

It's D-0, and Dr Cha is dozing in her chair when a "demolition crew" shows up. They stand there and do nothing as they tell her they will start immediately. She finally snaps and threatens them all with her utmost gesticulations.
A bit weird but okay.
 
Meanwhile, Kang Hoon is listening to her tirade and smiling. He calls the foreman of the "demolition crew" and tells him to stand down. When the call is completed, he stares out his window (the man really needs a rooftop deck) and muses that it's time to prepare for a guest.
Can he stand there with Paksa, Cutie Soo, AND Thighs?

ShukFu: best I can do is Lee Jae-Yoon giving Sung Hoon's waist a little friendly squeeze during a Cool Kiz On The Block swimming segment.


Sure enough, she stomps into the D.O.L HQ, dressed in the Illfitting Suit of Power(?).
But really, why would she own more than one suit? This is probably her interview suit, and her job doesn't require sharp dressing.
I'm with Trot on this one.

One look at her, and PA Kang can only wordlessly point out the way to the CEO's office.
She does look furious. I wouldn't have messed with her either, PA Kang.
Our CEAss checks his watch before asking her what her definition of  'surrender' is. His self-satisfied smile is short-lived when she strikes him with her purse a couple of times before she collapses in a shrieking puddle of tears, wondering how could he treat her like crap after she saved her life.
The meanness of what he did is really icky.
I cannot stop staring at him, the enormous dickhead. So ashamed.

Not sure what to do, he hunkers down and stares at her wet face like he's never seen this before. He edges in closer, and says in a low tone. "So, come to me, then."
 . . .and I was a goner and completely forgot his bullying and how he took away her building and livelihood and my own name and the names of both my children.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times, yes.
OMO OMO OMO. There goes my ovaries. Poof, gone, a puddle of mess on the floor. *rewinds scene*
[Gulp]

FINAL COMMENTS

I had a lot of concerns when it came to the this sequence. Kang Hoon is using bullying tactics against a weaker opponent. But is she really weaker? Yes, she ended up crying on the floor, but I'm sure that after a moment of weakness, she would have shored up her spine and somehow muddled through the loss of her hospital. After all, she managed to work through eight years of graduate studies while juggling family and money issues, she's not going to back down from a (possible) setback like this.
The horrible brute, he forced her to accept a much better chance of future success. Yes, yes, yes, she had affection for the old place. Cold hard cash supporting you in your old age is a MUCH better object of your affection, Missy. Plus it comes with yummies.
Actually, nothing is worth a manipulative control freak boss.

In the end, she's not like anybody Kang Hoon has experienced, and, despite the abs, I'm sure he really wouldn't hurt her or destroy her livelihood. He's unfamiliar with her type, but he is certainly not evil.
He thinks she is beautiful and warm and then he also admires her hard work and focus and talent. He is a businessman, and he has to recognize this. He probably also really admires people who are independent considering his family situation--everyone seems to want something from him. I like her because she is successful all on her own despite the setbacks. She isn't a traditional Candy who is working a bunch of jobs to make ends meet waiting for her chance to shine. She may be in a small business, but she is doing it all on her own and doing fairly well. She'd be doing better if she wasn't helping her family with the debt.
Some of this was hard to watch. If Sung Hoon didn’t regularly show up to heat up my screen, I probably would’ve stopped watching.
I like her too, and I think his intention was good but he definitely got carried away with his single-minded pursuit of the goal...as a successful businessman this trait probably serves him well, but of course he needs Dr. Cha to remind him that people require more gentle handling. 
He really has no clue how to behave.

Oh God.  I mentioned handling and now it's all I can think about.
Welcome to my world. It's all I think about whenever he shows up. 



Time to play Track the Trope. So I counted 7 last time, plus another 2 from Shuk and Trot. (10) busybody ajumma trying to set up the bachelorette. (11) Hero gets a dossier on Heroine. (12) Hero stalks Heroine. (13) Heroine falls for the hero. Literally. (14) Hero bullies heroine. Because apparently he hasn’t heard that giving roses to get a girl’s attention > pulling on her pigtails. (15) Heroine thwarts Hero. Because he’s being a ridiculous, bullying ass. (16) Hero is confounded by Heroine, throws a racket in the process. And then, (17) the invitation from the devil. "So, come to me, then." Squeeeeeeee~


Okay, fine. I’m not really sure 17 can be considered a trope but hot damn! It should be. *imagines my fave drama heroes saying the same line to me*