Heartbeat (2023) K Drama Episode 10

Episode 10 of Heartbeat picks back up at the moment when Woo-hyeol tells In-hae he needs her love to become a human. Specifically, her blood that is filled with love. He explains that since she bit him on that first night, a link formed in between them. She can’t believe that blood can be filled with the love in the first place, and walks away.

In the hospital, Do-sik tells Secretary Ko that he needs to find a half-vampire with a scar on his body to lift the curse on him. Secretary Ko vows to help him. Meanwhile, Woo-hyeol is sitting on the roof looking at the moon when Ko Yang-nam comes to visit and Woo-hyeol narrates his conversation with In-hae.

Elsewhere, Man-hwi gives Hae-won the portrait of Hae-sun he found in the mansion’s basement. He seems to know more but tells Hae-won to pay him first. In the morning, In-hae tells Woo-hyeol that she doesn’t think her blood can ever be full of love. She then gets a phone call about Do-sik’s situation and rushes off to the hospital. Her reaction gives Woo-hyeol hope. At the hospital, she fusses over Do-sik and is relieved to hear he’s fine.

Hae-won comes over to see Woo-hyeol, claiming that his words kept her up all night. She asks about the basement Man-hwi told her about and Woo-hyeol lets her take a look. She asks him if he gets lonely in the large space but he says it’s a perfect place to wait for someone. He ends up telling her about Hae-sun and her death and how seeing Hae-won felt like she had come back.

Hae-won admits that things feel odd and asks Woo-hyeol who they really are to each other. He asks her if she remembers anything but In-hae’s arrival interrupts them. After she leaves, he notices that In-hae looks exhausted. She says that going back to the hospital took a toll on her since she spent so much time there caring for her ailing mother.

He wonders if people would miss him the way In-hae misses her mother. Later that night, he tells his friends about his conversation with In-hae. Rose comes by and tells him that life is all about give and take. He should offer In-hae something in return for her blood.

In-hae is drinking outdoors when So-hi comes out of the guest house. They end up drinking together and talking about relationships. So-hi tells In-hae that if you smile while thinking about someone or if you miss them, that’s love. It’s that simple.

Later, Woo-hyeol comes home and proposes an idea to In-hae. He offers to leave the mansion and let her own it if she gives him her blood. She says she needs time to think but her demeanour seems angry. Meanwhile, sitting in a car, Man-hwi tells Hae-won to pay him more. He gets testy when she claims to have given him enough.

While looking for jobs online, Dong-seop and Sang-hae find work as background actors. Unfortunately, the scene requires them to eat noodles.

Do-sik gets in his car and thanks Secretary Ko for calling In-hae. He then shows Do-sik pictures of Dong-seop and Sang-hae as the people Woo-hyeol has been spending time with. Do-sik sets up a meeting with Woo-hyeol and point-blank asks him to leave the mansion as well as In-hae. Woo-hyeol is taken aback but assures him that he’ll leave once he gets what he needs, although he doesn’t specify what.

Meanwhile, Hae-won meets with In-hae and they discuss how to promote the guest house and get more reservations. Hae-won suggests throwing a party. She then reveals she wants to officially ask Woo-hyeol out during the party and tells In-hae to help her. In-hae conveys the news of the party to Woo-hyeol but doesn’t seem thrilled about the idea.

Back in his house, Do-sik wonders what Woo-hyeol needs to get. He gets a call from Hae-won who tells him about the party. She even encourages him to confess his feelings to In-hae.

Meanwhile, In-hae is still frustrated about everything. Unable to find a good suit, Woo-hyeol goes to the tailor shop. Gwang-ok is shocked to hear that his name is Seon Woo-hyeol. He brings out a custom suit made to Woo-hyeol’s measurements. The order was given by a man who requested the tailor to keep it till Woo-hyeol came by. The man turns out to be In-hae’s father.

Woo-hyeol narrates the incident to his friends. Since Gwang-ok said the man suddenly stopped paying for the suit’s storage, they assume something must have happened. Woo-hyeol then invites them to the party on the weekend.

In-hae visits Ki-suk and buys food for the party, even inviting her to come. Woo-hyeol meets In-hae on the way back home and helps her carry the food. She asks about the suit in his hand and he tells her it was her father who had it made. She gets wistful looking at the suit. Woo-hyeol asks if her father might still be alive but if he is, she believes he doesn’t want to be found. Do-sik also messages In-hae about the party and she inquires about his health.

Preparations for the party get underway and Woo-hyeol calls his friends for help. In-hae is apprehensive but he assures her they won’t bite. Once the preparation is done, he wears his suit. Rose gives him another package of clothes and tells him to hand it over to In-hae. He does so and before he leaves, In-hae asks him why he wants to experience love. He says he wants to feel the experience of loving one person truly until his heart stops beating.

In-hae comes out in a flowery dress and Woo-hyeol says she looks better in vintage clothing. The doors of the mansion open and guests are welcomed inside. Woo-hyeol and In-hae are pleasantly surprised to see the turnout. Hae-won arrives and greets Woo-hyeol. She whispers to In-hae, making sure she knows what to do. Do-sik arrives as well.

The party rages on and Woo-hyeol watches it from above. He sees In-hae and gets a bit annoyed to see Do-sik approach her. In-hae clocks on to Woo-hyeol’s expression and follows him out of the room. Do-sik approaches Dong-seop, Sang-hae and Rose and seems to realise they’re vampires.

In-hae meets Woo-hyeol by the dead tree with the lights on it. She admires all the efforts he’s made for love. She says she likes this mansion because it has Woo-hyeol and tells him to reconsider the terms of their deal.

When they go back inside, the crowd begins to cheer for In-hae. She tries to point Woo-hyeol to Hae-won, who is waiting for him. Instead, he takes her hand and leads her to the dance floor. Woo-hyeol’s friends comment on how this is the first time he’s dancing with a woman.

Hae-won, of course, looks dejected. Yang-nam is also there, watching from the sidelines and he knows things are getting complicated. The episode comes to a close with Woo-hyeol and In-hae finishing the dance and looking at each other.

The Episode Review

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned party to get things going and the last leg of this episode really delivers. The love triangle — or square seeing as there are four people involved — is getting more complex as In-hae and Woo-hyeol’s attraction to each other is finally coming to the fore. And it’s exciting indeed!

Do-sik is leaning more and more towards becoming a villain but, somehow, it’s not convincing. His threats and plans seem more inconvenient than definite dangers and the storyline as a whole just doesn’t grab one’s attention. Hae-won, on the other hand, has played a docile role thus far and it might be interesting to see how she reacts to this turn of events. Her bad side might just prove more thrilling than Do-sik’s.