Summary
Episode 2 provides depth to Noh Ae-jeong’s past with the men that have returned in her life in an insightful chapter.
Access all the episode recaps.
How does Was It Love? episode 2 open?
Episode 2 opens up in the past; Oh Dae-o is dropping out of college and Ryu Jin is angry at him. Oh Dae-o gives him the transcript for “Love Is Nonexistent” and asks if it will help him get her back, referring to Noh Ae-jeong. In the year 2020, we learn that Oh Dae-o is Cheon Eok-man — it’s his alias for his books. He sees an email from Noh Ae-jeong asking to meet regarding his manuscript. He realises it is the Noh Ae-jeong he knows from the past. The scene then flits to the end of the previous episode where Noh Ae-jeong meets Cheon Eok-man. Episode 2 provides depth to Noh Ae-jeong’s past with the men that have returned in her life in an insightful chapter.
How do you feel after 14 years?
It’s not the easiest meeting for Noh Ae-jeong because Cheon Eok-man knows the film studio has gone under. The writer wants to know how it feels seeing him after 14 years. In the year 2005, Oh Dae-o tries helping Ae-jeong wash her shoes that he threw up over. He tells Noh Ae-jeong that he threw up on purpose to stop her from kissing Ryu Jin and admits to liking her. Back in the present, Cheon Eok-man says he has missed her but that he can’t work with her because she isn’t on his level — he’s getting revenge for the past. As Cheon Eok-man walks off, Kim Gyo-yeop from Nine Capital (one of the men from the money lending company) texts her asking for an update. Noh Ae-jeong chases after Cheon Eok-man and begs him but he tells her she never used to grovel and beg.
Revenge
Cheon Eok-man tells Ryu Jin how he’s finally getting revenge after all these years because Noh Ae-jeong has returned and wants his work for the movie. Hye-jin has a certain interest in this conversation which will be fleshed out in later chapters. He’s waiting on the sidelines in a thoughtful mood about it all.
I don’t remember you well
Noh Ae-jeong tells Cheon Eok-man she forgot how close they were after 14 years due to poor memory. She then says that they will probably never see each other again. In 2006, Oh Dae-o kept on running on an empty stomach — he stated he wanted to die after Noh Ah-jeong dumped him. In the present day, he can’t wrap his head around how Noh Ae-jeong doesn’t remember him well. It’s clearly mind games from Noh Ae-jeong but she has no idea what is about to surface at this point.
Nightmares
Noh Ae-jeong is extremely frustrated that Cheon Eok-man is Oh Dae-o and that she has to deal with this complex scenario in order to get the film investment. Late in the night, Noh Ae-jeong is kidnapped by Koo Pa-do (boss of the money lending company). He tells her that she has failed her mission — his men hold her and they tell her another option is to cut off her hand. Fortunately, it was a nightmare but it doesn’t change her anxiety for the situation.
Catching up
Yeon-woo offers Noh Ae-jeong a drink while she is preoccupied with her own thoughts. Noh Ae-jeong tells Yeon-woo she should be there for her daughter and then says a man is getting in her way recently and Yeon-woo offers to confront him. In 2005, Yeon-woo’s friends pulled a prank on him, leaving him completely naked in the changing rooms so Noh Ae-jeong helps him out with clothes.
Same school
At the halfway point of Was It Love? episode 2, while attending a class meeting, Koo Pa-do turns up at the school and Noh Ae-jeong threatens him with a mop and calls him an evil, vicious man — she’s absolutely frightened and doesn’t want her turning up at her daughter’s school. It turns out, Koo Pa-do’s son goes to the same school and is friends with Ha-nee. Koo Pa-do suddenly doesn’t want to go to the class meeting. The audience learns that Koo Pa-do’s son’s mother is not present in his life as she passed away when he was younger — Ha-nee can relate to him which is how they have bonded. Meanwhile, Noh Ae-jeong is angry at her mother as she promised that Cheon Eok-man would give a lecture at the school.
Similarities
Assistant Hye-jin tells Noh Ae-jeong that in Cheon Eok-man’s novel “Love Is Nonexistent”, there are similarities to the female character and her. Noh Ae-jeong reads the book and she sees the similarities between the stories and her past with Oh Dae-o. Noh Ae-jeong tells Cheon Eok-man’s assistant to relay a message to him — that the novel is her story as well. Cheon Eok-man tells his assistant to arrange a meeting with her. He’s evidently smug at this point, believing he is proving his point. It’s difficult to know whose side to take at this stage of the chapter. It’s highly complicated.
The book concert
Noh Ae-jeong attends Cheon Eok-man’s book concert. On the stage, Cheon Eok-man does a live interview. The interviewer wants to talk about “Love Is Nonexistent”. Cheon Eok-man explains he wrote the book when the woman he loved 14 years ago broke his heart. He expands on how this woman left him out of the blue and made him feel very sick. He wants the audience to answer a question about his book and purposefully picks out Noh Ae-jeong — he asks her what does she think the hero would feel in his book. Noh Ae-jeong states that the heroine will probably feel awful after taking everything from him, but perhaps the hero took everything from her; after saying all this on the microphone, a disgruntled Noh Ae-jeong walks out.
How does Was It Love? episode 2 end?
As Noh Ae-jeong walks home, she replays everything Cheon Eok-man said about her in the book concert — how she deeply impacted his life. She is clearly upset and then she collapses. At home, Ha-nee asks her grandma if she knows Yeon-woo. Her grandma blags her answer, stating she knows the teacher from a different neighborhood in the past. Noh Ae-jeong wakes up in the hospital and it turns out Koo Pa-do nearly ran her over. He seems to be caring and asks if he can compensate her. Noh Ae-jeong gets out of the hospital bed and states she will complete her mission — she’s confused as to why Koo Pa-do is worrying about her. In the loft, Ha-nee finds a book called “To My Future Baby Dad” and the name on it for the father is Yeon-woo. There’s a baby scan inside. Episode 2 ends with a twist.
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