And we are back with my favorite airing romance right now! Granted, I’m not really watching a ton of shows currently. But I am super happy that we picked this one up because it is hitting all the right emotional moments to make me swoon. Hopefully it continues on this tragectory!

Caution: Be wary of typos

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Shorthand Character Chart: Dinner Mates Character Chart

How we do this: This live recap will be in two parts and we segment each post around every 10 minutes. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later depending on the scene. There will be typos which we have fantasies of fixing once the episode finishes airing. Also, if there is a preview then we will try and translate it. Look for that at the bottom or on a separate post!

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KOREAN DRAMA DINNER MATES RECAP EPISODE 9 & 10 – PART 1

——-dramamilk.com——-

/1/

 The two stand on a bridge. She asks, should we ignore each other?

HK – if you do that…

DH – This is a coincidence….

HK – No, it’s fate.

Then we flashback to the restaurant where we see Jae-hyuk waiting for Do-hee. The waitress moved the open sign to closed and tells Jae-hyuk that he can have one more chance to order food. Would you like to order something?

Do-hee’s thinks are still at the table. Jae-hyuk smiles and starts to leave, he keeps Do-hee’s thinks with him and asks for the waitress to throw away the bouquett.

Upon leaving, he sees No-eul so they quickly figure out that they were there to see each others former loves. He pretends like Do-hee is in the bathroom but the a waitress comes out and says no one is in the bathroom (to her colleague). So he’s been caught.

He tries to smile it away.

BRIDGE

Hae-kyung continues talking about their fate.

HK – We have the fate of similar situations, we were both dumped by our first loves and we are confused because our first love came back.

DH – Ah, that kind of fate…*scowl*

HK – Then, would you like to be friends?

DH – Friends?

HK – Yes, friends that eat meals together.

DH – Okay….

HK – Is it strange?

DH – No, we are just eating dinner together.

HK – That’s right! if you go to a busy restaurant then you sometimes eat with strangers at the same table.

DH – Yes, we can eat a set menu together

KH – We can get one more desert. Dinner mates.

DH – Dinner mates?

KH – Call *holds her hand up to high five*

He does not high five right away, so she is left hanging. But then he lightly high-fives and leaves his hand there. it is funny and a little awkward. They remove their hands but they are still smiling and chuckling. He tells her, let’s go, so they start to walk off together.

WALKWAY

The ex’s also walk off together up a promenade. Noeul tells him she is also dumped.

NE – To comfort you, I am also dumped today

NE – He did not even come, I am 100% dumped.

JH – There is no 100%, or 50%. Getting dumped is the same. Dumped is dumped.

NE – But the PD came here, that means she at least considered it. The result of considering was leaving.

JH – Do you think so?

NE – Did you think you would get forgiven at once.

JH – No, not that.

NE – Not forgiving easily is proof that they loved us that much.

He stops walking She stops a bit late and turns around. But then he says, lets go and they keep walking again.

Meanwhile, Do-hee and Hae-kyung are also walking together in a busy part of this area.

DH – We contact each other with open talk (an app)

HK – The date is one day before the dinner

DH – For the menu, we go back and forth

HK – Except for the place and the time, we don’t talk to each other. No private conversations (on the app)

DH – No private conversations? …. Okay. Anything else banned?

HK – no money trade.

DH – look at this person

HK – And

DH – So what now? Why don’t you write a contract?

HK – No dating

DH – *scoffs* Hey, I don’t want to date you. You are not my type at all. Why don’t you just ban skinship and stuff

HK – Of course that is banned.

DH – Wow, look at this

KH – Lets not do those things.

She thinks back to their drinking date when she said that she likes to eat alone, gracefully, like Audrey Hepburn. But, with my boyfriend, when I ate dinner I ate un-tasty and uncomfortable food, happily.

In the present she says, okay. That’s what I wanted. Just a friend that I don’t have to care about anything. We can just eat dinner happily. They keep walking.

HK – A friend who does not cross the line.

DH – You don’t cross the line

HK – *laughs*

Then they stop and look at each other.

HK – So, we can contact each other.

DH – Okay~

They both nod a little bow of goodbye and walk off. He walks to his car and she walks up the street. But then she stops and runs back to his car and knocks on the window.

—————–

/2/

KEANU

Ah-young is eating in a restaurant when she sees Keanu (the bum) looking at everyone eating inside. He is especially looking at a happy family eating mandu (dumplings). It makes him happy and sad.

We go to a flashback and see Keanu happily eating mandu with his family.

Ah-young is looking from Keanu to the family. She looks at her own plate of mandu. Then she watches Keanu walk away.

DRIVE

Meanwhile, Hae-kyung gives Do-hee a ride back to the restaurant because she left her purse and things there. She is a bit embarrassed about it.

DH – Actually, I have had to ask you favors over and over again. Perhaps you can lend me money for a bus?

HK – Why did you even go there if you were going to run away like that?

DH – ….well, in my head I thought I should not go there but I was there already.

DH – Why can’t I control my heart. Even after breaking up, when his birthday comes I think, ah, today is his birthday. Why do I have such a good memory in this kind of situation.

HK – Sometimes the mind is one step slower than the heart.

They both ride quietly after that.

Elsewhere, Ah-young gives Keanu another take out that she purchased and tells him to cheer up. You will have good days. I was like that. She walks off. he looks inside the bag and sees mandu. He starts to chuckle.

While walking away, she looks a bit nervous walking down the dark empty streets. Then we see that a mystery person is following her. She starts to walk faster. But then she turns around with her fists up and asks why he is following her.

It is Keanu, he says it is dark. She asks, so its dark which means you want to rob me! he tells her no, it is because this street is scary. She tells him that he is scary! Don’t follow me!

She hops up a bit and starts punching the air like the Korean Zombie. He tells her that he is actually the one that is scared. Can I follow you to a bigger street? He smiles.

So she starts to walk off with him walking a little behind her. They walk like that until they get to a bigger street. She looks back and does not see him so she goes into her building.

CAR RIDE

Hae-kyung drives DH to her house. She tells him, thank you, on accident I showed you where I live.

HK – Ah, well, I didn’t even see someone that lives downstairs for over a month. I think we won’t see each other even if you walk around all day.

DH – Okay, well, then you should walk all day to test it out.

HK – *chuckles*

DH – Okay, goodbye.

HK – Goodbye.

He watches her walk to her place and lets out a deep sigh. Then he sees a ring on his seat and picks it up. But when he looks back, she is already inside one of the apartments, so he does not know which house she stays in. So he keeps the ring and leaves.

STUDIO

Elsewhere, Gun-woo is on a date with a handsome man in his studio. But then Noe-eul comes in a bit drunk. She tells him she is sorry and she asks if she can be a little more sorry. So she looks at the date and asks him to leave.

Gun-woo is all like, what? Um, this is my friend. But the “friend” leaves. Gun-woo’s entire body sighs. He walks over to No-eul and asks, what?

NE – He is not good, you were embarrassed so he should at least say “It’s okay” and then leave.

GW – Do you think you would say, it’s okay, in this situation?

NE – I just came back after getting dumped by Kim Hae-kyung after waiting for three hours.

GW – Are you okay?

NE – No. Would you be okay in this situation?

NE – Ah, I’m sorry, I am bad.

GW – its not me – hyung? You are very very bad to hyung. You were dumped once today. But hyung was dumped many many times while dating you. He waited for you all the time. Whoever you met, he still accepted you.

She looks like she is thinking about that for the first time ever. Her eyes are watery. Gun-woo sits next to her. She starts to drop a few tears.

At the same time, Jae-hyuk puts Do-hee’s purse and things on her desk at work. He runs into Ah-young on his way out. He is a bit caught off guard to see her. She asks what he is doing here. So he tells her that Do-he ran away so he put her things on the table.

he tells her that he was going to leave it in the restaurant, but I think it is safer here. She opens a beer for him and tells him happy birthday. He is happy she remembered. Ah-young tells him it is because Do-hee loved him.

Ah-young says that she liked the Do-hee that took care of him more than herself and you were also a good protector and trustworthy person. I liked that also. I thought you guys would get married. I took that as fact. But why did you do that?

JH – I told you sunbae, it was a mistake.

AY – A real mistake? I heard that you did not study abroad that time.

JH – What are you taking about, who said that?

AY – Explain it to me.

JH – IT WAS A MISTAKE, SUNBAE. How can I explain a mistake to you?

Ay – *looks at him, waiting*

JH – I am sorry, sunbae, excuse me.

He walks out. She mutters, you are not the kind of guy that makes mistakes, happy birthday to you, jashik.

Outside, he quickly grabs some pills from his jacket and shakes as he tries to take them quickly. He has to sit and compose himself on the steps.

—————–

/3/

OUR COUPLE

Hae-kyung is at home looking at his calendar on his phone. Then he voices over that he has an appointment.

The camera cuts to Do-hee who is looking at her calendar. She draws a picture of Hae-kyung on a certain date and smiles.

Then she falls back on her bed and says, I have a friend. He also falls on his bed and lets to his right at Do-hee who is in her apartment.

HK – Meeting together

DH – Eating a meal

HK – Talking

DH – Friends

Both – I accidentally have a dinner friend

Outside, some fireflies circle around a light almost magically.

2N BOX

Sora works with her ASMR stuff. Today she is cutting lipstick and smooshing it. But Do-hee and Jung-hwan think it is not strong enough. Sora tells them that he told them it is not good.

Then they make a huge container to mix the lipstick in. And I mean it is huge. They drop a lot of makeup inside it and Sora starts to smash it all. Everyone loves it. Do-hee tells Jung-hwan to buy her a meal (because she helped him with this). she walks off and looks at her app. She sends a message.

Hae-kyung sees that she joined the Dinner Mate chat room. He wonders what he should say next. He wants to ask what she is doing, but then thinks that they should not have personal conversation. So should I say that we should eat dinner together.

It looks like Do-hee and Hae-kyung are both looking at their chat room to see who will speak first.

Do-hee looks at her phone again. she also put on a bit more makeup today. Plump Jin-kyu asks her if she is dating someone? You are always looking at your phone. She tells him that she is just checking something.

Sora and Jin-kyu go back and forth with teasing each other. Do-hee looks at her phone again. Sora notices.

So afterwards when they are walking back, Sora asks, do you have a man ♫? Tell me before I torture you.

Do-hee says no, not a man. She asks if it is a woman? Do-he tells her no. Sora says that is true, so if it is not a man or a woman then what is it? Do-hee tells her she has a friend, a dinner mate.

At work, Hae-kyung looks up a good dinner place on his computer. He is really thinking deeply about it. His nurse sees him and comes in asking what he is doing! Let’s watch something fun together! He bursts in to watch it. But Hae-kyung closes his screen quicly and pretends like it is nothing.

BJ opens the browser which makes hae-kyung ask why he is looking at his stuff so much! I was just searching for a good restaurant. (In this interaction, they really look like brothers). BJ asks, so you have pages and pages of restaurant options – could this be, do you have someone that you want to eat dinner with in a restaurant that you spent time finding?

Hae-kyung tells him not to write a novel about it, she is just my friend.

BJ – Doc, you don’t have a friend that you eat dinner with

HK – Yes I do! I have a dinner friend.

BJ – if it is a friend then why don’t you just eat samgyupsal and soju?

HK – Samgyupsal and soju? But….that is not the best mood?

BJ – Hey, with friends you don ’t need a mood. Samgyupsal is the best.

HK – …well…that is true….

BJ – Do you want me to tell you a really nice place?

HK – *interested* Do you know of one?

BJ – Yep

HK – Where….

BY stands up to mil the moment. Hae-kyung is super interested.

Then we cut to Do-hee. Sora asks her if she is a dinner mate with the guy she met in Jeju. You met coincidentally and he is tall and handsome….~. Do-hee tells her that he is a little bit of an a-hole, he brags so much. But Sora says he is handsome! That is why you ware dating him.

SR – I envy you, your first love wants you and you have a handsome dinner mate.

DH – You know my situation.

SR – Did you give up with Dr. Kim?

DH – Ah, that psycho. If he shows up in front of me then I will kill him.

Hae-kyung is in a meeting with a patient when his ear starts to itch, he thinks someone must be talking bad about him. But then he gets back to his patient and finished up their meeting. 

After the patient leaves, he looks at his phone again.

Do-hee gets a message.

HK: What about 7 tomorrow?

DH: Okay, call. Menu?

Sora comes back over to eavesdrop on her text conversation and asks if it is the handsome dinner mate?

HK: Samgyupsal

Sora tells him, hey, he knows! Samgyupsal and soju and laaaaterrr ♫. She hits her on the side. They both chuckle. But the mood is ruined when Jae-hyuk comes up. He asks if he can talk to Do-hee.

Sora looks at him, stank, but Do-hee tells her that she can go inside first. They go to a quiet stairway to talk. he tells her that he is sorry. She says that she is the one that is sorry. I should not have even gone there at all. I should have just said no. Sorry to make you misunderstand. We should distinguish work and our personal life.

He tells her that he knows that he screwed everything up, but I am confident now Do-hee. She tells him that is not the right order. If you really wanted to get back with me, if you even considered me, then you should have explained why you left like that and apologized to me first.

he tells her that he had a reason. She tells him she is sorry but, I don’t even care about that reason anymore. She walks off.

We see him later on tell someone on the phone that it will not work. I think I have to tell her. You know Do-hee is the only one for me. She is everything for me. I will tell her everything and ask for forgiveness. No, no, I can’t wait any longer. I will see you soon.

He gets off the phone quickly when he hears Jin-kyu trying to get inside, but the door is locked. So he lets him in.

OFFICE

Hae-kyung’s mother comes by again. BJ tells her that his doctor can’t see her now! if he does then he will be upset! The mother tells him to be brave as a man. I am here as a patient.

BJ – As a patient????

Mom – I am going to have a session with Dr. Kim, okay?

She goes to sit in the lobby. 

Hae-kyung opens his office door and lets out a patient. Then the mom shows up. he sighs and goes back inside his office, she follows. 

Mom – I have worries.

HK – talk to your friend or boyfriend

Mom – I have to talk to a doctor

HK – Why don’t you go to another hospital?

Mom – As a doctor, you should not discriminate patients

HK – It is banned for a psychiatrist to see family members.

Mom – So, I am your family?

Hk – *shakes his head, bothered*

He stands to get his jacket.

Mom – Lets eat dinner together, you can do that with your family

HK – There is no reason to eat dinner with you, and I do not want to

Mom – Will someone take you if you eat dinner with your mom?

He sighs and walks out. She walks to his desk and leaves one of her books. Outside, he tells BJ that he told him not to let anyone come in. Do your job properly.

On the book, it says, “To my lovely son, Hae-kyung”

She walks out. Hae-kyung yells at Bj that he should have kicked her out. She tells the two of them that she is leaving now, don’t worry. But she stops and tells Hae-kyung that he is a napun jashik.

BJ tells him that she looks like she really has a problem, you should follow her. But Hae-kyung just stares at him. Which of course makes BK super uncomfortable so he says, maybe I am the one who is sick.

RESTAURANT

Gun-woo meets with Jae-hyuk to eat at a restaurant. Jae-hyuk realizes that Gun-woo still has his ring. He asks if he is still doing it? 

GW – Is this about dating a men or getting acknowledged by my family? She, both of them, yes. Hyung, you are not the only one who is afraid of Jung Ji-sun. As a cousin, I am also afraid. Since being gay is not accepted in our family.

JH – *playfully* Hey, do you also do all the SNS stuff?

GW – It is not about that, I am recording my life.

He flips through his SNS and sees Hae-kyung so he asks if that is his boyfriend? Gun-woo says no, he is a natural born heterosexual, my tragic first love. He chuckles.

Jae-hyuk mutters, tragic first love.

END PART ONE

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Part 2 might be a tad bit delayed because we have a meeting. But we will try and get it up as soon as wel can!

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