Bo Ra! Deborah (2023) Episode 13

Episode 13 of True to Love begins with Bo-ra going through photos from Sang-jin’s wedding where she sees that Su-hyeok was there too. He calls her and she tells him she knows he was telling the truth now. He called to tell her that she can ring him anytime, whether she’s bored, lonely or even needs a hug.

After the call, she realises their relationship really isn’t like Mulder and Scully or DiCaprio and Winslet, nor does she want it to be. She then calls the radio producer and tells her she wants to start the radio show again, and Ju-wan sees the announcement the next morning.

Meanwhile, Bo-ra is nervous about her first time back and calls Su-hyeok who encourages her. Someone sends flowers at the station, signed by “Deborah’s number one fan”.

The show begins and Bo-ra introduces herself as a breakup icon. All the other characters tune in to her show. Bo-ra says she came back to the show to show empathy with all the others who went through the same thing, the way Su-hyeok did for her. A listener sends a story about how he broke up with his girlfriend and wants to get back together now. She speaks to the listener live and realises the voice belongs to Ju-wan.

Ju-wan claims to be on the way to get his girlfriend back, describing how he looked back on their relationship and realised how important she was. She tries dissuading him but it doesn’t work. The other radio host wraps things up, with Bo-ra still looking tense.

Bo-ra exits the studio to find Ju-wan waiting outside. He wants to start over. Su-hyeok, who heard everything, arrives at the studio to see Bo-ra getting into Ju-wan’s car.

Sitting at a restaurant, Ju-wan reveals he sent the flowers. They talk about how they didn’t really know each other and Ju-wan says he wants to know her for real this time.

At Jinlee Publishing, the staff discuss the post-it one of the employees found. They text each other, speculating about Sang-jin and U-ri’s relationship. U-ri goes to Sang-jin’s office and leaves him with some client information. Su-hyeok arrives as well and Sang-jin says he thinks Ju-wan wants to get back with Bo-ra. If they do, it’d be great publicity. Su-hyeok has a meeting with Bo-ra the next day, when they would find out for sure.

Before she goes to bed, Ju-wan calls and tells her to have dinner with him the next day. Although she really seemed to be waiting for a call from someone else.

The next day, Bo-ra meets Su-hyeok at the coffee bar. She asks him if he heard the broadcast and he thanks her for the mention. He confessed he heard the rest and Bo-ra admits to talking with Ju-wan. Just then, the man himself enters the cafe and begins chatting with Bo-mi. Jin-ho ends up thinking Ju-wan is Bo-mi’s ex-boyfriend. He goes off on Ju-wan, making a fool of himself before Bo-mi tells him the reality of the situation. The couple comes out with the truth to a lukewarm reaction, seeing as everybody already knows.

Ju-wan goes up to Bo-ra and introduces himself to Su-hyeok as well. He admits he thought they were dating and laughs it off. Bo-ra tries to make him leave but Su-hyeok leaves to ‘take a call’. Bo-ra tells Ju-wan to go away anyway. Ju-wan steps out and speaks with Su-hyeok. He beats around the bush and then asks Su-hyeok if he has feelings for Bo-ra. He tells Su-hyeok to stop swaying Bo-ra and seems confident about marrying her soon.

Su-hyeok gets flowers from the car but keeps the note inside his jacket. He goes back to the table and Bo-ra explains that she isn’t back with Ju-wan and didn’t plan to meet him. Su-hyeok interrupts her and makes it out as if he’s only concerned about their work, not her love life. He gives her the flowers and congratulates her on her radio show and relationship. Ju-wan is glad to see Su-hyeok leave the cafe.

Bo-ra is annoyed with Ju-wan and accuses him of misleading Su-hyeok about their relationship. He asks her if she likes him but she can’t answer. She rejects his offer of dinner and leaves the cafe. He follows her and tells her at least he’s making an effort. Bo-ra calls out his unfair behaviour and he admits he’s jealous thinking about her with someone else. Particularly someone who doesn’t like her or give her any assurance. He, once again, claims to love her.

Su-hyeok tells Sang-jin it seems like they’re getting back together. Sang-jin is ecstatic about the happy ending, for the book and the couple.

The staff end up telling U-ri that they know about her and Sang-jin. They make a lot of assumptions and U-ri tries to defend herself. Su-hyeok hears everything and tells Sang-jin, who’s prepared to take the fall for U-ri and pretend to be the one who was hitting on her.

At the end of the day, U-ri admits to being the one who had feelings for Sang-jin. Su-hyeok steps up and makes it clear that there was no preferential treatment of U-ri. After he and Sang-jin leave, the staff apologise to U-ri and invite her out for drinks.

While at a grocery store, Bo-mi complains about stomach problems to Jin-ho. She sees sanitary pads and realises she needs a pregnancy test.

As they wait for the test to show results, Jin-ho says he’s ready to marry her, and he wanted to anyway. The two minutes pass and they look at the test together to see two lines. Jin-ho is ecstatic and slowly Bo-mi agrees to marry him. When he leaves to get some food, Bo-mi thoughtfully looks at the test. Upstairs, Jin-ho seems unsure about something as well.

Meanwhile, Yu-jeong and Jin-woo argue about whether he should buy a caravan from a friend of his or not. When Yu-jeong goes downstairs to find her phone, she sees Jin-ho hiding and screams.

The truth about the downstairs basement comes out and Yu-jeong is furious. She even finds Bo-mi hiding in a cupboard and Jin-ho inadvertently reveals she’s pregnant. Just then, Bo-ra calls and Bo-mi threatens to break a game console if Yu-jeong picks it up. Yu-jeong agrees to not tell Bo-ra but when she picks up Yu-jeong screams at her to come over fast.

When everyone is at the cafe, Bo-ra is angry at the young couple and takes Bo-mi home with her. At home, Bo-mi storms into her room.

Back at the Yang household, Yu-jeong asks Jin-woo why he had to lie about the room. She tells him he’s changed since they married. He retorts that she’s changed too and nags him about everything. She asks him about spending time to her then.

When he claims they have the rest of their lives for that, she wonders if she even wants to live like this forever. Jin-woo goes downstairs to sleep and Jin-ho apologises to him for everything.

Bo-ra goes to Jinlee Publishing the next day. Sang-jin asks U-ri if she is doing alright and she claims to be completely over him.

Su-hyeok meets Bo-ra in the conference room and jumps into work. She says she needs time to figure out the ending of her book. He claims her ‘happy’ ending isn’t convincing. When he accuses her of being dishonest to herself, Bo-ra claims he was dishonest first.

He misled her into thinking his acts of kindness were something more, and after some more back and forth, Su-hyeok still can’t bring himself to express his feelings. Bo-ra rightfully calls him out for it.

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The Episode Review

This episode has slightly slowed things down. Where the penultimate episode should be leading up to end the show on a high note, it dips down with the return of Ju-wan. It’s annoying to have him on screen and not see Bo-ra give him the dismissal he deserves. Of course, if we had a few more episodes ahead this wouldn’t have been a problem in the least.

That said, the radio show segment was executed quite well. And I do like the back and forth between Bo-ra and Su-hyeok, caused by slight misunderstandings and a refusal to be open on both of their parts. This, frankly, is far more enticing than any threatening factor that an ex-boyfriend could bring. The actors though have played out all the conflicting emotions in this episode with some real finesse.

I can’t say I’m a fan of the Bo-mi storyline, particularly since they had been discussing what she should aim for in her life. However, this depends entirely on how they deal with it in the next episode. The marital problems between Yu-jeong and Jin-woo make an intriguing look at marriage and how people change, the only issue is that Jin-woo doesn’t seem very redeemable.