We get some much-needed progress on the romance front for our leads. And I wish we could say the same about our cute second-lead couple. Instead, they are experiencing some high waves in the shape of our reporter’s tragic past that he might need to address before jumping into a new relationship.
Love Next Door Episodes 11 and 12 Highlights
The D-day when Seok-ryu was supposed to give her answer to Seung-hyo’s confession is here. Yet it seems we are back to square one, with Seung-hyo being reluctant to bring it up since he believes things are tough for Seok-ryu now. Mo-eum is just as frustrated as us by his hesitance. Yet Seok-ryu isn’t any better, going back and forth between trying to contact Seung-hyo and waiting for him to call.
As Mo-eum said those stubborn duo need a catalyst to knock some sense into them. But I don’t know if the news of Seung-hyo’s parents planning to get a divorce was what she had in mind while uttering those words. The drama gave us many hints that Seung-hyo’s parents are still in love with each other but their lack of honesty and clear communication is leading them toward a dead end.
Seung-hyo’s father believes Hye-suk is having an affair. (Which turns out to be a red herring.) But instead of confronting Hye-suk about it, Seung-hyo’s father keeps things bottled up. (I think we now know who Seung-hyo takes after.) And Hye-suk is just the same, keeping it from her family that she had problems at work and was forced to retire.
Over an awkward family dinner, Seung-hyo’s parents break the news to him, getting him shocked. But he pretends to be fine in front of them and heads to a tent bar to drink his sorrows away before he passes out and Seok-ryu has to pick him up.
Seung-hyo opens up to Seok-ryu about having always been scared his parents might get divorced. He might be an independent adult now but that thought still scares him. In a flashback, we see Seung-hyo’s parents fighting and Hye-suk mentioning that giving birth to Seung-hyo has shackled her. A young Seung-hyo overheard them and got scarred for life. (Is that the memory Hye-suk wants him to forget?)
In the present, Seok-ryu advises Seung-hyo to tell his parents how he feels. But we all know how this goes. Instead, it is Seok-ryu who tells Hye-suk that Seung-hyo is sad and needs his mother. Hye-suk tries to thaw the ice formed over the years but her conversation with Seung-hyo doesn’t go well.
The next day, Seung-hyo’s family gets a call from the police saying that Hye-suk has gone missing. And to raise the stakes, we learn that Hye-suk has been forgetting things for a while (Alzheimer’s?) but she kept it from her family. (We learn later it is a short-term memory loss caused by stress and not Alzheimer’s.)
Luckily, they find Hye-suk before it is too late. And I guess Seung-hyo’s family needed that scare to push them into pouring their hearts out. Yet it is heartbreaking that Hye-suk had to be sick and go missing for that to happen. Hopefully, that marks the beginning of Seung-hyo’s family healing and finding their way back to each other.
Back to our leads, Seung-hyo goes on a business trip to check the site for his next project. (I guess that is the catalyst they needed.) Without Seung-hyo around, Seok-ryu is bored to death. Just admit you miss him, girl. Luckily, Seok-ryu acts on her feelings and goes to see Seung-hyo who can see right through her, interpreting her ranting about being bored to what she really wants to say and replying to it with a kiss.
![[대답엔딩] 정해인, 고백에 응답한 정소민과 달콤한 확인 키스😘 #엄마친구아들 EP.11 | tvN 240921 방송](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wn9dBNKq7Ms/mqdefault.jpg)
Following the kiss, our leads are awkward around each other and Seok-ryu can’t even handle hearing the word “kiss” without blushing. But what is done is done. They can’t go back to being friends and are a couple now. Mo-eum is the first one to catch on and she is over the moon. The poor girl was about to die of frustration watching those two. But luckily, it turned out well.
Seok-ryu is worried someone else might catch on to them. So, Seung-hyo suggests telling their parents and getting their blessing to get it over with. But Seok-ryu is totally against it given how complicated their situation will be since their mothers are friends too. For now, our leads agree to keep it a secret though Seung-hyo seems a bit disappointed.
For their first official date, our leads go to watch a movie but it doesn’t pan out as lovey-dovey as Seok-ryu imagined. I mean Seung-hyo won’t hold her hand or even look her in the eye even though she dressed up for their date.
Worse, our leads get into a fight after Seok-ryu comes across the ex-girlfriend in Seung-hyo’s office and gets jealous. (It seems someone is eating her words about dating in secret.) But instead of just admitting to it, Seok-ryu asks how things were with the ex-girlfriend when she wasn’t around and gets mad when Seung-hyo refuses to answer her question.
The next day, running into each other, our leads reminisce a bit about their memories and then talk it out. Seok-ryu admits jealousy got the best of her. And Seung-hyo explains that he wasn’t indifferent to her at the cinema on purpose but finally getting together made him too nervous that he didn’t know how to behave around her. Luckily, it ends well and our leads are back to their lovey-dovey era.
Love Next Door Episodes 11 and 12 Musings
I don’t have much to say about our leads or the scare we got over the possibility of having another sick character. Just that the flashbacks are getting kind of repetitive as they revolve around the idea that Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo have always had feelings for each other and denying those feelings made them lose too much time. A point that we have already figured.
The scene that touched me the most, though, was Seok-ryu looking everywhere to find the photo young Seung-hyo took with his parents after he opened up to her that he was envious of Seok-ryu’s family photo. On the outside, Seung-hyo’s family looked like they had it all, but they were never a real family.
Instead, I want to rant a bit about Mo-eum and Dan-ho. After their awkward kiss last week, they decided to call it a mistake and brush it off. But seeing how Dan-ho now slips into Mo-eum’s dreams, I guess that won’t be possible.
Mustering up the courage, Mo-eum confesses her feelings to Dan-ho. Unluckily, Dan-ho turns her down and even asks Mo-eum not to hang out with his daughter anymore. We were given enough hints to show that Mo-eum’s feelings aren’t unreciprocated. But perhaps, Dan-ho needs more time to stop feeling guilty for his wife’s death and be ready to get into a new relationship.
I don’t know how they will play into their relationship yet but Mo-eum’s application was accepted and she had an interview for the South Pole research center position. If she passes, Mo-eum will land this job. And while I want her to stay with her friends and Dan-ho, I don’t want Mo-eum to miss out on the opportunity especially given how hard she worked for it. Can’t we get a win-win situation here?
![[13화 예고FULL] "아직 시작도 안했는데?" 달콤한 비밀연애에 웃음꽃 번지는 정해인x정소민🩵🩷 #엄마친구아들 EP.13](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Cto_C5kX3ls/mqdefault.jpg)
