4 Times We Rooted For Han Ji Min And Lee Jun Hyuk In Episodes 3-4 Of "Love Scout"

“Love Scout” continues to impress with its refreshing and realistic take on gender dynamics and parenting as well as corporate culture. Lee Jun Hyuk’s Yu Eun Ho is headhunting firm Peoplez’s new Mr. Popular. It’s not just his colleagues who are impressed with his skills and quick thinking, but it’s also his tough boss, CEO Kang Ji Yun (Han Ji Min). After her obstinate stand that she didn’t want Yu Eun Ho as her assistant, Kang Ji Yun is not only warming up to him but is also lowering her guard towards Yu Eun Ho, trusting him the way she has trusted no other.

Warning: spoilers from episodes 3-4.

Yu Eun Ho, a man after your own heart

Yu Eun Ho is really turning out to be the perfect assistant. After being wrongfully dismissed as HR manager at Hansu Electronics, Yu Eun Ho (Lee Jun Hyuk) is at Peoplez, a headhunting firm, assisting the difficult CEO Kang. The first thing that strikes you about Eun Ho is that he doesn’t regard any job as too big or too small. Though many regard his current position as a career downgrade, he is as invested as he was at his previous workplace and doesn’t regard any task beneath him.

His boss Kang Ji Yun is disorganized and forgetful, but Eun Ho scores for his thoughtful nature on several counts. Known to fling her bag across her office, Ji Yun is surprised to find that Eun Ho has installed a handbag stand in just the right position and angle that Ji Yun throws it across. Driving her around for her appointments, Eun Ho is already aware that Ji Yun neglects her food and also suffers from chronic insomnia. A cute moment is when he picks up assorted bread rolls from a bakery, and when his neighbor, whom he had met for lunch, asks who it’s for, he responds, “For CEO Kang—she probably hasn’t eaten anything all day and likes these rolls.”

When Ji Yun collapses after a meeting with her former boss, it’s Eun Ho who quickly takes her to the hospital and is surprised when she tells him she is craving spicy food. Though Eun Ho cannot stomach the same, he sportingly eats along with her, keeping her company. When she cheekily tells him he should have told her so when she ordered for both, he says it is fine and that he can eat. There are subtleties in the details, such as when they are taking a lunch break, he whips her a spicy hot ramyun to her taste at the convenience store, much to her surprise.

It is often said that mommy handbags are a bottomless pit of wonders, but so is Eun Ho’s briefcase. He whips out a hair tie when Ji Yun is looking for one to pull her hair back, and he has a tiny umbrella with him when it suddenly rains. And even though it’s pink and frilly, which makes her laugh aloud, it serves its purpose of keeping her dry in the sudden downpour.

When Kang Ji Yun dozes off in the car after a long day, Eun Ho drives her around, taking several rounds of the block so as to not disturb her and let her get extra shut-eye. He is observant too—knowing she wants to blow-off steam after a meeting, he suggests they take a walk. As she wonders how on earth a woman is supposed to take a stroll in high heels, he whips out a pair of sneakers.

The two also share a cute moment as they play basketball with young kids, and this is perhaps the first time Eun Ho has seen Kang Ji Yun loosen up and smile.

He’s even well aware that Kang Ji Yun has a knack for bumping into sharp corners, which he looks out for her. From cutely fixing her shirt collar to placing a lavender plant pot in her office so as to calm her nerves, he has smoothly reorganized her crazy office space. Eun Ho raises the bar time and time again with his quick thinking and reflexes, and what’s extremely commendable is that he is nowhere near insecure about his role but is rather self-assured as he makes Ji Yun’s work schedule as smooth as possible.

Kang Ji Yun, a lonely and brave woman

Kang Ji Yun (Han Ji Min) is driven, determined, and dedicated toward what she does. Principled and self-righteous, she had been the whistleblower at her previous firm, calling out financial malpractices. However, Ji Yun had taken the fall; she was not only dismissed but was also held responsible for the CEO’s death by suicide. The incident scarred her, but it also strengthened her conviction to stand on her own feet. Though she established her own company, her former mentor-turned-rival, Hye Jin (Park Bo Kyung), continues to badmouth her in the business as well as poach upon Ji Yun’s clients.

Ji Yun’s former boss makes her anxious, and when Eun Ho hears the backstory, he tries helping Ji Yun overcome it. Ji Yun is taken by surprise when Eun Ho gives her an invitation to be part of a panel on emerging decision makers. Ji Yun is initially hesitant, but when she sees Hye Jin participating, she decides to join as well. It is an empowering moment when Ji Yun looks unflustered for the first time when Hye Jin puts Ji Yun down again, accusing her of killing someone. She calmly responds that she wasn’t the one responsible, and neither does she resort to backhanded means like Hye Jin. This could well be the start of a war between the former mentor and mentee. But this time around, Ji Yun is not alone as she has Eun Ho standing by her and giving her the emotional support she seeks.

Ji Yun has led a lonely life. Having lost her father, she has had to fend for herself and fears getting close to people at work. She doesn’t engage much with her staff and has never been part of any staff dinner or casual meet-ups. However, everyone is surprised when she shows up at Eun Ho’s welcome party after having told herself it’s a sheer waste of time.

Through Ji Yun’s character, we also get an insight to how women in key roles are often judged for being ambitious and hard as nails, when that’s not the full story. Here is a woman who has made it on her own in a competitive world and had to constantly watch her back. She confesses to Eun Ho that she never had the luxury of being taken care of. Her victories, failures, and struggles have been her own, as no one ever gave her a helping hand or hug on the way.

There is more than what meets the eye

It’s also cool to see Eun Ho slowly open up Ji Yun’s views about how to understand people better and navigate tricky situations. In a candid moment, Ji Yun asks Eun Ho if he regards her as a villain, to which he coolly responds that if he did, why would he go through the trouble of getting to know her? On one hand, while Ji Yun sees everything in life as black and white, Eun Ho has constantly sought the gray in between. He tells her there is no secret which is forever, and having been in HR, he has learned to read between the lines. It is his tenacious personality which helps Ji Yun unravel the tricky knots.

As she works on placing a famous chef at a top hotel, she learns there is a lot of gossip related to him and his assistant. As Eun Ho guides her to access the issue from a neutral perspective, she learns that while the chef is hiding an injury, the assistant is an equally accomplished individual but lacks confidence when it comes to cooking. Ji Yun takes a stand for her, asking the chef to do his own thing, and she gets the assistant placed in an equally deserving position rather than being a shadow to the chef. It is Eun Ho’s tenacity which saves the day for Ji Yun and the firm.

And when there is a misunderstanding between two colleagues at work, it is Eun Ho who subtly helps them find their common ground, without third party interference. Eun Ho is helping nurture a compatible atmosphere at work and making everyone understand that very often things are not what we take them to be.

The slow-burning palpable tension

It seems the boss and her efficient assistant are finding their way around the other. Ji Yun is often caught stealing glances at Eun Ho, but Eun Ho’s protective instincts are accelerated when it comes Ji Yun.

A tender moment unfolds when he wonders where she went after his welcome party. The rest of the office workers casually respond that she’s in the office, of course, since her life revolves around work. He goes up to her office, gently drapes a blanket on her, and watches her from afar. When she wakes up, she finds him dozing off next to her and admires his sleeping silhouette. Gently caressing his face as she leans in, this is the first time one gets to see some sort of affection on Ji Yun’s face. The tension is palpable, and it makes you wonder: did they kiss or didn’t they? I can’t wait for the sparks to fly and watch what unfolds between this couple, who seem perfectly suited for each other. Only this week’s episodes will tell!

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Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram.

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