Call It Love (2023) Recap Episode 12

Episode 12 of Call It Love opens with Woo-ju standing by the sink thinking about Dong-jin asking her to stay the night. When she asked if he had any beer, he decided to go and get some after she initially agreed to stay. Back in the present, Woo-ju stares at the sink.

Hae-sung gets a call from Woo-ju, who asks if anyone is around her. Hae-sung says Jun has gone to his family home for the time being. Hae-sung realises something is wrong. Woo-ju says she’s going to regret it but for now, she wants to be here with him. Hae-sung realises she’s going to stay over and says she’ll cover for her.

Dong-jin comes back and finds Woo-ju in the empty room where his tent used to be. When she makes a remark about how empty his house is, he says it never felt like his house. In fact, he had a dream of taking a campervan and his tent and just running away. She asks if he’s even kept his phone off and he says no. He asks her if she’s ever wanted anything apart from the gold medal. As the pair talk, she admits she’s here because she likes him a lot. He leans in to kiss her and later, they go to bed together.

In the morning, Hyun-ju realises that Woo-ju was with Dong-jin. She tells Hae-sung to call Jun and tell him to come get some food and stay at his parents for a week longer. She then tells Hae-sung to find a place of their own to move to as she can lend them some money.

Woo-ju leaves a note on Dong-jin’s fridge telling him she had to leave early. He has the breakfast she cooked him.

Woo-ju calls Sun-woo and asks him to meet her before coming into work. They meet and she tells him there’s a lot more that he doesn’t know. She asks him for time so she can tell Dong-jin herself. He agrees to let it be till after the fair when her contract will be ending anyway.

Yuri and others in the office seem delighted that a fair is actually happening. They’re all looking at the posters for the fair in the conference room. When Dong-jin enters, Woo-ju leaves.

Jun goes on a blind date with a woman and they talk about hobbies.

Hae-sung’s friends wonder why she wanted to have lunch alone today. One of the colleagues says they should let her eat alone and spend time by herself without having to use fake smiles and laughs all the time. Hae-sung is a little uncomfortable at first but settles into having lunch by herself.

Jun’s date wants to go for dinner but Jun asks her to pretend they’ve already had dinner. He says he never knows what to say while having dinner and apologises, leaving a bad impression on the woman.

Dong-jin tells Woo-ju he’s leaving for an appointment and thanks her for the breakfast. As he and Sun-woo leave, Woo-ju looks a little heartbroken.

Jun has dinner and drinks on his own. When his mother calls, he doesn’t pick up. He’s sitting outside his pharmacy when Hae-sung turns up. She asks if she should leave but he tells her to sit. He reveals that his mother found out about their scheme so he went on a blind date. He’s always been most comfortable at the pharmacy and with the three Sim siblings. This is why the idea of being uncomfortable around her made him angry. He apologises to her and they sort things out.

Sun-woo tells Dong-jin that Woo-ju won’t be coming to the fair as her contract is up and she didn’t want to come to the fair anyway. At home, Dong-jin tries calling Woo-ju but she’s at the grocery store and has left her phone at home. She comes across Min-young there. Min-young tells her that she’ll be leaving soon.

Nam-il, Hee-ja’s boyfriend, gets continuous phone calls from a number. In a flashback we see him speak to Hyun-ju. He offers her a solution to get the house back if she pays him 30 million won. She refuses and claims she won’t be fooled again. In the present, he packs his stuff and tells someone on the phone that he is going off grid as he can’t pay off his gambling debt. Hee-ja comes home to see his bag packed. She tries to get him to stop but he throws her off, claiming he was only with her for the money and she’s broke too if she doesn’t sell the house.

In the morning, Hyun-ju says that she’s taking Ji-gu to go see their aunt. She tells them about Nam-il approaching her. She says that when their father bought the house, he insisted on dividing it evenly among the three children so that neither would be able to sell it. For this reason, she believes that their father would never give the deed to Hee-ja. Hee-ja keeps trying to call Dong-jin, who doesn’t pick up.

A young couple comes to see Min-young’s apartment and coincidentally Hee-ja arrives there at the same time. In the elevator, Hee-ja tells Min-young to keep meeting her at the address she sends. Min-young tells her she and Dong-jin aren’t together but Hee-ja doesn’t believe it. Min-young asks the young couple to leave and come another time. She then shows Hee-ja that she and Dong-jin live in separate apartments and goes into the cruel details of the way she broke up with Dong-jin. She even describes how she tried to win him back.

Ultimately, she blames Hee-ja and her constant requests for money as the main reason for her current situation. Dong-jin comes out at that moment and pulls his mother inside, apologising to Min-young.

Inside, Hee-ja complains about Nam-il stealing her jewellery and leaving. Dong-jin asks her how much money she borrowed from Min-young. She avoids answering and tells him she’ll stay here for now. Dong-jin gets a text from Min-young who says they should talk later, not now.

Woo-ju walks to work, thinking about what Min-young had told her when they met. She said Dong-jin told her he wanted to be happy with Woo-ju. She had thought he’d take her back in his arms and if it weren’t for Woo-ju it might have happened. At present, Woo-ju and Dong-jin meet outside the office and smile at each other.

They have coffee in his office, where he tells her he heard she’s quitting and wants her to reconsider. He admits he’ll be sad to not see her around at work.

Ji-gu and Hyun-ju visit the kids’ aunt. Hyun-ju asks her if she sees Hee-ja often but she denies it. Hyun-ju brings up all the times she helped her out in the past and how she never returned the favour to Hyun-ju. Now, she asks her for all the information she has on Hee-ja and her boyfriend. The aunt tells her that Woo-ju would know more than she does and even mentions the police incident.

Ji-gu texts Woo-ju and asks her why she never mentioned the police incident and the fact that she met Hee-ja’s son. She tries to call Ji-gu but he doesn’t want to pick the phone up in front of Hyun-ju. He texts Woo-ju saying they’re on the way to the house.

Woo-ju sees Dong-jin and seems to feel even more guilty. But in front of their old house, Ji-gu advises Hyun-ju to not do anything rash. Thankfully, Woo-ju turns up in time.

At Ji-gu’s karaoke bar, Hyun-ju asks Woo-ju to tell her everything. Woo-ju tells them about how she found out that Hee-ja’s son had nothing to do with it. She lies and says he apologised to her and he looked sincere, so she forgave him. Hyun-ju asks if she’s hiding anything else and she lies once again saying there isn’t.

When most of the employees leave, Dong-jin sees that Woo-ju’s bag is still there. He’s sent her a text asking what happened but she hasn’t replied. He then tries to call Ji-gu.

Jun is waiting outside his pharmacy when Hae-sung arrives. They decide to pick up beers on the way home. She tells him their mother is leaving the next day so he should come back home. He says he wasn’t away because of her.

Dong-jin calls Woo-ju, who says she had some work at home. Turns out, he’s across the road from her. Jun and Hae-sung turn up at the same time and Hae-sung tells him to come along to the karaoke bar. Hyun-ju greets Dong-jin warmly while Ji-gu then sings for everyone and showcases his talent. As he does, Woo-ju looks at her family and then at Dong-jin, who smiles at her.

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The Episode Review

Some of the spark that has been in the last two episodes, lingers here as well. It’s an interesting episode with enough twists to keep the show a gripping watch. Dong-jin and Woo-ju’s scene’s together and their quiet chemistry is great to watch.

While I understand Woo-ju’s desire to enjoy the happier moments as much as she can, I hope the show doesn’t drag her withholding the truth for too long. I’m itching to see Dong-jin’s reaction and afraid that they might rush the end if they don’t do it soon enough.

Hyun-ju has made a nice addition to the show, moving the plot along in ways that it wasn’t before. It’s made the story more gripping and her dynamic with her kids is a lovely one to watch. Hee-ja continues to be a fairly annoying and one-dimensional character but there’s plenty of scope for her to up the stakes yet.