Bo Ra! Deborah (2023) Episode 10

Episode 10 of True To Love picks back up at the awkward scene at the club where Su-hyeok and Sang-jin sit across from the four women.

Texts from Bo-mi about the situation makes Jin-ho worry about the girls. He nags Jin-woo to go check on Yu-jeong.

When Su-hyeok steps out of the room, Bo-ra follows and asks her to apologise to him again. She does so and goes on to say that she values their friendship, whatever it may be, enough that she’s glad it didn’t go further than the kiss. In fact, she really likes being around him. But hearing that he once hated working with her made her say those rude comments.

When she tears up, he accepts her apologies and makes up with her. They agree their relationship is like Mulder and Scully or DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Jin-woo and Jin-ho rush into the bar where Jin-woo sees Sang-jin playing around with Yu-jeong. He begins to beat Sang-jin but Yu-jeong breaks it off and Bo-ra tells Jin-woo he’s misunderstood.

On the way home, Jin-woo asks Yu-jeong for a ‘reservation’ but she declines. Bo-mi and Jin-ho head out on another date while Bo-ra and Su-hyeok, now friends, head home (with Bo-ra still thinking they live in the same neighbourhood).

In a cab, Sang-jin apologises to Su-jin for what happened when they got divorced. He mentions his mother being hard on Su-jin, which makes her realise that he doesn’t know the real reason for their divorce. She gets out of the taxi and leaves.

Bo-ra broaches the subject of the kiss again and they discuss if she turned or he grabbed her shoulder first. Su-hyeok too apologises for saying things about her and emphasises that he doesn’t hate her anymore. Before dropping her off, he admits she does look prettier.

Bo-mi and Jin-ho have street food by the Han river. While discussing how much he likes her, Bo-mi gives him a quick kiss on the lips.

Bo-ra can’t stop thinking about Su-hyeok’s compliments while she’s in bed. She sends him a text thanking him for the ride home. Su-hyeok sees it and smiles but then sees a book connected to a memory with Yu-ri on his desk. It inspires him to take out all the things related to her and throw them out.

While thinking about why Su-hyeok hasn’t replied to her text, Bo-ra reads an old Deborah article that says she shouldn’t wait for a reply all night long. Just as she’s about to sleep, she gets a text from Ju-wan asking if she’s asleep.

At Jinlee Publishing, the staff suggest Bo-ra should resume her previous activities like interviews and the radio show to promote the book. Su-hyeok refuses to ask her to do that. U-ri then leaves Sang-jin a gift from her first salary — a red jumper.

Bo-ra and Yu-jeong dissect Ju-wan’s text. When Jin-woo passes by, the reason Ju-wan texted Bo-ra strikes Yu-jeong. A flashback shows Ju-wan asking Jin-woo about Bo-ra and the man she was with, a.k.a Su-hyeok. He must want to know if they’re dating!

Just then, a common friend calls Yu-jeong and invites her to her wedding pre-shoot while blatantly saying she won’t call Bo-ra as she would be the only single person. When they let her know she’s on speaker phone, she switches her tone immediately. But nevertheless, Bo-ra gets herself invited to the photo shoot.

Su-hyeok next meets Bo-ra at the gym where she makes a big deal about him not replying to her text. She shows him Ju-wan’s text and tells him about the pre-wedding photoshoot she has to attend on Friday. He advises her not to go.

Later while driving home, Su-hyeok insists the text from Ju-wan is meaningless. Bo-ra says she knows, calling it the catfish effect — a.k.a the effect on Ju-wan after hearing about Su-hyeok. When the car is forced to brake, Bo-ra notices the garbage bag of Yu-ri’s things in Su-hyeok’s car.

At home, she gets a text from Su-hyeok who says he can’t help it. He calls her and says he can’t help it, he can’t let her go to the photoshoot alone. He will go with her as her pretend boyfriend and therefore extend the catfish effect. Bo-ra then gets a message from someone asking to meet her for coffee.

Sang-jin turns up to work the next day in the red jumper U-ri gifted him. The others make fun of him but he claims to enjoy the bright red.

Bo-ra meets the staff from her radio show, including Yu-ri. They reveal that they want her to come back. When the others leave, Yu-ri stays behind to give Bo-ra a wedding invitation. As they converse, Bo-ra makes a reference to Su-hyeok in passing (without naming him). She confesses about the radio story she sent in and how Bo-ra helped her choose between a man who wouldn’t confess and a man who made her feel safe.

Yu-ri then mentions that she wanted to give an invitation to her ex-boyfriend first. She wants her ex to see the invitation and be heartbroken while she’s happy.

It works out for her as Su-hyeok looks pretty upset to see her wedding invitation. Nevertheless, Yu-ri apologises for being too harsh on him when they were together. He apologises for not being good enough to her as well. She finally asks if he ever loved her. When he refuses to answer she turns the tables and tells him to come to her wedding and see how happy she is.

Walking by the cafe, Bo-ra sees Su-hyeok sitting there alone. Thanks to a cancelled appointment with Sang-jin, she’s able to join Su-hyeok. When she sees the wedding invitation on the table she connects the dots and takes him out day drinking in order to console him.

Sang-jin meets Su-jin and asks her why they really got divorced. At the same time, Bo-ra tells Su-hyeok that not getting an answer from him means Yu-ri wouldn’t be able to forget him.

Su-jin tells Sang-jin the reason was that they had stopped loving each other. They hadn’t shared a meal together in two weeks when she asked him to make an effort. He’d asked her what she wanted and she’d said she wants a divorce. After drinking, Bo-ra and Su-hyeok part ways.

Later, Yu-ri gives an invitation to Sang-jin as well. There, she finds out Bo-ra and Su-hyeok are working together. She realises the man Bo-ra was talking about when they met was Su-hyeok.

Yu-ri then bumps into Bo-ra outside the building. Bo-ra tells Yu-ri she should have asked her a different question on the radio that day. In her question, she never mentioned the other man who made her feel safe. Bo-ra’s comments hint that Yu-ri was basically cheating on Su-hyeok. Yu-ri throws back the words Bo-ra had once said, about relationships being petty and unfair.

At the office, Bo-ra tells Sang-jin she’s thinking of going back to the radio show. When she finds out Su-hyeok took a day off she texts him, asking if he’s okay. Su-hyeok checks his phone to find multiple worried texts from Bo-ra.

The morning of the wedding photo shoot, Bo-ra steps out of her building to find Su-hyeok waiting for her. As they drive to the venue, Bo-ra sees the blue ring box in his car. Yu-ri then calls Su-hyeok in tears, saying she misses him and wants to see him. He thinks about it and then tells Bo-ra he has to leave. She gets out of the car and he drives ahead. She thinks about Yu-ri’s ill wishes towards Su-hyeok and then begins to run towards the car.

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The Episode Review

Episode 10 packs quite a few Su-hyeok feels and in a good way. It’s nice to have the spotlight on him for a change and Yoon Hyun-min carries it all very well. There’s something really heartrending about the way he looks at Yu-ri when she hands him her wedding invitation.

Another highlight of this episode is how it pushes one to dislike Yu-ri (how dare she want to make our sweet Su-hyeok cry?!) and makes it fun in a way only disliking fictional characters can be. After all, she’s not just a sweet, naïve thing we were meant to believe earlier.

Another thing I love is how Bo-ra and Su-hyeok mended bridges over the kiss. Of course, their ‘friendship’ is clearly already in the romantic domain but it’s great to see their comfort level around each other. The catfish analogy which ended up turning the tables on Bo-ra by the end, was a bit of really clever writing!