To The Beautiful You Episode 8 Recap

We finally get to see Eun Gyul discover what is really going on in his heart. He has finally come to terms with the person he is and is not afraid to show it. Ahhh, poor Eun Gyul is really questioning his personality. When you like someone, no matter what they do, they will just attract you. Eun Gyul really has shown a commendable amount of growth and change. He shows it in a way that is not sudden but gradual. Even from Da Hae of the previous ep, and everything that progresses in this ep, it still flows on smoothly.

We also finally get to see Tae Joon’s even more adorable side to Jae Hee. The way he treats her is tentative, caring and adorably cute! He has changed his attitude towards her so much since the beginning but even now just shows his inner character and how much she has changed him.

Even Jae Hee has transitioned so much but yet it is very  free flowing.

   

Jae Hee pulls him off and asks him if he knows what he is doing. He comes to realise what he has done and claims that it is a surprise for her birthday. He hands her the box and runs off before she can even say anything more. She is happily amused to see the necklace there while Eun Gyul has finally worked out that the one he  likes is her.

Jae Hee arrives back to the dorm and exchanges present with Tae Joon. He gives her a present wrapped in a pink box claiming that he bought whatever he felt like. And if she doesn’t like it… She immediately says that she will like it even though she has not unwrapped it yet. He takes a look at his present and is expressionless as he discovers that it is his necklace. She tells him if anything, he should thank Eun Gyul. He will, but he thanks her first.

Jae Hee opens her present from Tae Joon and comments to herself that she will use it for 500 years. She opens her brother’s present and discovers that it is a zapper/tazer and a card that reads that “If a guy approaches you for no reason, just zap them all! People don’t die easily. I’m a doctor.” She goes to try out her new present and ends up zapping herself.

Jae Hee is having lunch alone when Eun Gyul joins her a replaces her lunch with seaweed soup because it is her birthday and what’s a birthday without seaweed soup? He tells her that if there is something that cannot be avoided, it should be enjoyed. That’s his problem right now so he is going to enjoy it. Ahh, all the effort he went to get her seaweed soup.

Coach Baek is recording Hyun Jae and Tae Joon’s practice. Hyun Jae is doing well well Tae Joon is not so. Coach Baek is at the lockers and tells Hyun Jae that his posture is better than Tae Joon’s which causes him to react asking why he is always below Tae Joon. Coach Baek comes back asking if he has competition anxiety because he can never beat his personal best of 210cm. If he wants to win he has to set his mind to “I want to win”. A hilarious moment occurs when Coach Baek fails to remove his shirt from his head.

Jae Hee has bought herself a cake hoping to blow out the candles with Tae Joon’s company but Han Na’s phone drags him away. Han Na’s birthday is next week but because she has a competition, she has decided to move up her party.

Han Na is not happy to see that Tae Joon has arrived without a present for her. She wants him to give her a present in front of everyone so she drags him to the make-up store to get her something. The sales assistant recognises him as Kang Tae Joon, the one who came here before. Han Na grows jealousy when she discovers that he came here to buy a birthday present for a friend.

It’s just a birthday, it’s no big deal. She puts her cake aside and goes to her bed to read when suddenly the room goes dark. Eun Gyul brings a yummy delicious big cake and wishes her a happy birthday. An abroad friend’s birthday is not something to be missed and tonight is his last night here. They shove down the cake when Da Hae interrupts with a phone call.

Eun Gyul invites her to meet and goes to tell her something but is intervened by Red Radish when she tells him to talk about it later. He must accompany her to a violin audition first. Just before she goes in, she asks him for a favour – to borrow his shoes. It really is her good luck charm and she passes the audition.

At the bus stop she asks him what he has to tell her but he just can’t seem to get the words out. Instead, he asks her to punch his cheek which she does. She guesses what he has to say – he likes someone else because her sixth sense just knows all. She offers a parting handshake and I guess this means it is a parting friendship too.

The track team’s week long training has come out. This means they are going to spend a weekend elsewhere. This year they are going camping.

No matter how much Han Na thought about it, it just wouldn’t leave her head so she goes over to search Jae Hee’s dorm and sees the present from Tae Joon there. She tells her to get a hold of herself. The two women then get into cat fight over who should take the cream and it ends up smashing on the floor. She leaves, adamant that there is something going on between them two.

Tae Joon arrives back to the dorm seeing Jae Hee on the floor. She apologises for spilling the cream but he tells her that it’s okay. She then asks him how long he has known Han Na for which he tells her since they were young. This leaves her a mess, because Han Na does know a lot about Tae Joon.

Eun Gyul is devastated to learn that Jae Hee is going on a training trip because this means he can’t see her for days.

Tae Joon confronts Hyun Jae about why he hates him so much. He tells him that he doesn’t appreciate the things he has. The things that he wants to throw away are the things that he needs.

No matter what Eun Gyul does, nothing seems to be able to divert him away from thinking about Jae Hee. So he decides that since she is going, he is going to tag along.

      

Jae Hee is in charge of the cooking and she isn’t doing so well so Tae Joon decides to come to her aide. She comments that he cooks so well, like a chef. He explains that his mother was hospitalised a lot when he was younger so he had to be the chef from the day after he graduated from daycare. He then reveals that it is just a joke. She makes a pumpkin circle smiley face of him and he carves out a potato face of her.

The crew are surprised by the food that she has put up. She goes to reveal that it wasn’t her doing but Tae Joon shushes her.

The crew are sure having some tough training. Seung Ri announces that they are going to have a survivor game. The crew will be split into two teams and the losing team will have to run ten laps in just their underwear. Jong Min comments how much more livelier it would be if Eun Gyul was here. Well, speaking of the devil, he arrives. Eun Gyul has a hard time convincing Coach Baek to let him in but when he brings up Miss Lee, that all changes. The impossible can become possible.

      

The crew is dressed up in army clothes ready to give it all they have. (This reminds a lot of The King 2 Hearts). The aim of the game is to get the flag of the opposing  team. Eun Gyul, Jae Hee and Tae Joon are all on team blue.

The red team knocks down Jae Hee on the first try causing her to sprain her ankle. Oh, this calls for a battle! Tae Joon is leading the battle, knocking out his opponents with precision and claiming the red flag. Hyun Jae goes to aim for Jae Hee but Eun Gyul shields her from the paint bullet.

How handsome is team red? Ahahahas, though I thought Eun Gyul was team blue…

A pale Jae Hee is falling ill so Tae Joon takes her to see Dr. Jang. Turns out her chest bands are too tight and she injured her hand. He scolds her for remaining here. She has no reason to, she already saw Tae Joon jump.

She explains to her two worried friends that the blood sugar level is too low.

Since her hands are of inconvenience, Tae Joon decides to become her hands and even cleans her face for her. Oh no, Eun Gyul isn’t too happy with this sighting.

The two roomies are having trouble sleeping. Jae Hee decides that she is going to go out for some air but instead lands on top of Tae Joon. He rolls her over, on top of her, telling her that he thinks he likes her and he is going to test this theory because lips don’t lie. Turns out this is all just Eun Gyul’s imagination. He makes his way out of his tent, out from the noise of his snoring roomie.

In a world not of Eun Gyul’s imagination, the two roomies really can’t sleep. So Jae Hee decides to strike up a conversation by asking him if he knows what s’mores are. It is something that people in America eat a lot of during camping. She offers to make it for him next time which he declines and suggest that they get to sleep.

Eun Gyul has finally made his way to Tae Joon and Jae Hee’s tent but Seung Ri has caught him breaking the rules and shoos him back to his tent.

Tae Joon’s father arrives and tells Manager Jang that he has plans to send his son to Canada. He got contacted by Coach Holton who wants to train Tae Joon. Han Na is shocked when she overhears this.

Eun Gyul tentatively feeds Jae Hee but Jong Min is not too pleased with this and requests for a feeding from Eun Gyul too.

Eun Gyul, Jae Hee, Jong Min and Seung Ri are talking about shooting stars when the topic changes to Seung Ri not having a girlfriend. Jae Hee asks what he looks for in a girl which he responds that the appearance has to be feminine, the personality has to be girly but graceful and calm. He likes heavenly maidens.

Jae Hee is changing her clothes when Tae Joon accidentally and unintentionally sees her doing so, so he immediately backs off. He tells her to be careful because if it was some other guy… Well, it won’t be good. She asks him to come see the shooting stars with her which he agrees to.

As he is getting ready to make his trip to see the shooting stars, Seung Ri has a task for him – to help him plan the training session for tomorrow. So he sends Jae Hee to go first and offers her his extra warm jacket. Eun Gyul is outside Jae Hee’s tent and invites her to see the shooting stars with him but too bad she already left.

Jae Hee is sitting by a fire with the s’more all prepared waiting for Tae Joon but it is not Tae Joon who arrives but Eun Gyul. Han Na arrives telling Tae Joon the news. She persuades him to head back to Seoul with her to talk his father out of it. Eun Gyul is not one bit saddened to learn that Tae Joon is heading back.

Eun Gyul decides that it is time to admit his feelings.

_______

My Opinion:

This ep really shows the distinct feelings that Jae Hee has. She really only shows friendship towards Eun Gyul and that poor guy only shows love towards her. He likes her and is oblivious to the only friendship feeling that she shows towards him. She even decided to wait for Tae Joon to celebrate her birthday with him. Even when Eun Gyul decided to celebrate her birthday with her, she still didn’t feel satisfied. She only wants to have Tae Joon. I am just amazed that after coming here and with all the guys around her, she still hasn’t changed her heart.

You can really see the gradual improvements of both acting wise and OTP chemistry wise for our OTP which is great to see because they are really starting to grow on me as a couple. But, I still ship Eun Gyul with Jae Hee. I will ship him all the way!

This ep was really a turning point for Eun Gyul. He has worked out where his head and heart wants to lead him. He is now more than ever determined to chase for what he desires and not what he thinks he desires. I am amazed with how simply Da Hae took the break-up. Eun Gyul feelings was so obvious that even she could tell what his heart desires.

I have been wanting to say this for a few eps now but I it just slipped my mind. I am disappointed with the friendship that Tae Joon and Eun Gyul share. Their relationship can hardly be described as friendship. They just feel very distant and not close with each other. I prefer the friendship in that Taiwanese version better because they actually were friends whereas here they do not have nothing in common but Jae Hee. I actually want to see them more closer and as friends with each other. I want to see them look out for each other like Quan does for Yi and vice versa. Here, you can hardly see them as friends. They are nothing more than dorm members. I want to see them look out for each other. I want see them as friends.

I also really like the role of Seung Ri. He brings out a sub-sub-sub storyline that is able to weave its way smoothly and accordingly to the storyline. I kind of have hopes for him to end up with Han Na. Ahahahahaaas, I just found it so amusing in this ep when she just stormed up to him demanding to see Tae Joon. Ahahahahas, our Seung Ri can lead but he can be soft.

I found that with the introduction of these new characters, it really draws away from the initally one from the manga. It actually modifies a lot of the original storyline. There is a lot of development from a lot of the characters. One of the most important relationship lines that it lacks a lot of is Jae Hee’s relationship with Dr. Jang. He is supposed to be there for her, the one who she can always rely on for help but sadly we see none of that here. She is supposed to be able to go to him for advice. Though, I guess what I can enjoy about this is that he doesn’t openly admit that he knows that she is a girl but she is able to trust him. Xi had a more close and sisterly relationship with Dr. Mei Tian in the Taiwanese version which I very much enjoyed. Hmmm… I do wonder, is our resident doc here gay? Hmmm… if I had not seen the Taiwanese version, I would have never suspected anything. Ahahahahas! I was and is still very disappointed with the role that his sister plays. They have have minus-ed the pedo creepy guy and expanded on his sister having an affect on Jae Hee. I just feel that some of these little extra storyline really drags out the plot and lost some essence.

Halfway mark already, let’s bring on half number 2!

Tagged: For You In Full Blossom, Korean Dramas, Recap, To The Beautiful You