She Was Pretty Ep 14 Recap (and TEN is….!)

We return to Sungjoon and Hyejin prior to them kissing where he vows that he’s more certain of this decision (to marry her) than anything his whole life. They smooch and I swoon. Meanwhile, Shinhyuk hears that the interview with Leonard Kim’s been cancelled owing to something shady the fellow has done. Ji Sungjoon sees the text messages and missed calls upon returning to the office and just about has a heart attack. But there’s nothing that can be done. The team works her butts off, trying to bring in people to replace the Leonard Kim feature but they’re no one available on such short notice. Sungjoon nearly sinks into despondency but Hyejin makes sure not to let him fall too low by playing basketball within him, clipping his nails and being a shoulder to lean on when he needs one.

Sungjoon resolves to ask TEN for an interview, hoping for the best. [I find it hilarious that Ji Sung was the one seeking out a mysterious author in KMHM and now Omega has to seek out TEN] Yet even the publisher doesn’t know who TEN is. Sungjoon and the others can do nothing but scrap the main interview feature and each member of staff contributes a bunch of articles to the magazine instead, including a much-revised article by Hyejin (I love her attitude. When Director Cha asks her if it’s good enough, she hesitantly shakes her head upon which the Director asks her to go revise it. And when she’s finally confident in it, she says so. No false modesty here). They get all the articles together while Sungjoon watches them sadly. He volunteers to take it to the print shop and asks the man in charge to please take good care of this issue. He treats the team to dinner. There’s karaoke, and the three female assistants sing surprisingly well. Joonwoo and Seul manage a love song duet somehow, Kim Rara raps on and get Shinhyuk getting ready to whip and naenae.

Poongho sings a mournful ballad and gets peanuts thrown at him by Shinhyuk, Sungjoon is made to sing and proceeds to horrify everyone with how tone-deaf he is. Only Hyejin thinks he’s cute. Shinhyuk is utterly frozen in shock.

Shinhyuk takes over the mic and gets everyone dancing while Sungjoon watches on. He quietly leaves in the chaos and Hyejin follows him to the office. He remembers seeing the team working their butts off and signs sadly.

Hyejin tries to comfort him, and he puts his head on her lap. She tells him that he did his best and they both cry. Shinhyuk comes in, searching for his Jackson, and sighs sadly, before leaving.

Hyejin is frightened out of her wits the next day when Shinhyuk calls her about something urgent, shows up at her home in 30 minutes and drags her out in Segi’s sports car (as Chibiaya was sweet enough to point out on my ep 10 recap). She’s worried about MOST but it turns out that he was just bored and drags her along. Hmm…I don’t think that’s the case though, he’s a little too jovial.

His enthusiasm and general strangeness is at a peak today, but they have fun eating lunch.

Despite Hyejin’s horror at his strangeness, she really does like him. Shinhyuk takes her to the amusement park and proceeds to make Hyejin nauseous on a rollercoaster. She grumbles but recovers and they’ve a real blast.

They go shopping afterwards and are just too adorable for words with Hyejin trying to get revenge on Shinhyuk for scaring her, only for him to play dead and scare her even more.

They walk home and he stops at a hat stand to try on a hat which Hyejin ends up having to pay for.

Eating dinner, he starts to make somewhat strange offhand comments on how they really are better off as friends, really, really, really good friends. She cheerfully agrees, on how he really is a very good friend to her. But there’s something painful lurking in Shinhyuk’s eyes as he laughingly wishes that he’d met her in grade school, then they’d be going out by now.

She gives him her best WTF face but Shinhyuk assures her that it’s just a joke, only to follow it up by saying he wishes he kissed her back when he confessed to liking her.

He plays that off as a joke as well but there’s clearly something wrong here.

He slowly gets up to leave but turns once more to tell her that he really likes her.

Hyejin doesn’t really understand what’s going on but rushes out in time to watch him drive away. In the car, Shinhyuk silently sheds a tear.

The next day, the workplace is abuzz with speculation on who the new Vice President will be. The MOST team only goes to the inauguration to find who the ‘parachuter’ aka the person getting a free ride due to his connections with Kim Rara (her nephew) is. Meanwhile Sungjoon gets a call from the print shop guy who tells him that someone called and told him to pause all printing and binding of the newest most edition. Sungjoon nearly freaks out, but gets a message saying that TEN has agreed to meet with him. He rushes off to the venue.

Kim Rara dressed in a Michael Jackson-esque outfit descends the stairs as everyone waits with bated breath for the new Vice President to give a speech. Aaaaand it’s Poongho! (Okay, didn’t see that one coming), the MOST team freaks out with Director Cha at a complete loss for words.

Meanwhile, light shines through the window of a high-rise building, illuminating the silhouette of the clean-shaven man looking through.

Sungjoon enters and introduces himself.

TEN turns and introduces himself. It’s Kim Shinhyuk.

Now there’s a twist I didn’t expect. I didn’t see Poongho coming. Mostly, because I expected this show to go with the most obvious answer. I’m grateful it didn’t! TEN had to be either Rara or Shinhyuk. It’s good to see both mysteries cleared up. And dayum does Siwon loo sexy all cleaned up. Though is it just me, or do I like him more all scruffy? I wonder what this new serious Shinhyuk (who we’ve only seen glimpses of this entire time) means for Hyejin and what their relationship will be like, if she ever even learns of his identity.

I’d like to take a moment to comment on the theories that have been floating around on the show’s ending. Specifically the theory that Sungjoon’s clumsiness and what we’ve seen of his eating and drinking habits indicates that he has some illness, and will die at the end of the show. Upon which, Hyejin gets together with Shinhyuk. That being said. How weird is it that I like this ending? I think it’s unlikely as hell, but damn if that isn’t a great ending. Perhaps it’s because Sungjoon and Hyejin have this very sweet, cotton candy sort of relationship, but I find myself liking the idea of Hyejin and Shinhyuk more. Plus Hwang Jungeum has incredible chemistry with Siwon (who wants to work with her again! 😀 Please team up again, PLEASE) It’s a shame that we haven’t gotten to see the real Shinhyuk more often because the man is frankly a smoldering bundle of charisma. There’s something in his relationship with Hyejin that I really love for some reason. Maybe it’s that he saw the potential in her from the start, maybe it’s that he never judged her, maybe it’s that he says things like “I like the human being, Kim Hyejin”, maybe it’s the way he looks at her for no reason, maybe it’s the genuine fun she has in his presence, maybe it’s because he’d be the best boyfriend ever, and I’m beyond sad that we may not get to see him as one.

Siwon’s going to the army on the very day the last episode airs, and damn if I wouldn’t love to see him get the girl. He’s way more charismatic (though I do love Park Seojoon) and te moment Shinhyuk turns to introduce himself as TEN is proof of just how much sheer magnetism he can evoke (Ji Sung is a 100x better at this) but Park Seojoon has yet to hit that level. It’s not that Sungjoon isn’t a sweetheart (and in the end, it’s really Hyejin’s choice that matters here) but simply that it’s the same Shin Segi-Cha Dohyun dilemma I had and continue to have. Dohyun’s the right choice on paper. But what I wouldn’t give for her to have chosen Segi.

Oh Hwang Jungeum, you lucky woman.