Episode 3 continues with Hong-ju going along with Hu-yeong’s deception and holding hands with him. Jun-ho observes as the pair departs and the duo conceals themselves close by until he drives away in his vehicle.
After Jun-ho departs, Hong-ju expresses gratitude to Hu-yeong for his assistance and requests that he act clueless when inquiring about her connection with Jun-ho. Hong-ju gently removes her hand from Hu-yeong’s and goes back to work.
At the office, CEO Bae assigns Hong-ju the task of creating a presentation for the upcoming project with Jun-ho. Hong-ju declines working on it but CEO Bae urges her to become stronger. She informs Hong-ju that the conditions may not always be advantageous and suggests that she separate her personal problems from her work life.
At Rock Asset, Hu-yeong is surprised to discover that Hong-ju’s former boyfriend was actually Bang Jun-ho, the writer she greatly admired back in high school.
During the car ride home, Jun-ho converses with his agent who reprimands him for agreeing to an animation adaptation of his unfinished novel. The agent informed Jun-ho that he was once again toying with Hong-ju’s emotions, as evidenced by her tears when he departed overseas. Jun-ho reassures his agent that he had no doubt Hong-ju would change her mind because his stories were irresistible to her.
Simultaneously, Hong-ju grabs Jun-ho’s latest book and begins reading it. On the flip side, Hu-yeong chuckles at his predicament as he recalls a high school memory.
A memory reveals Hu-yeong encountering Hong-ju skipping school as he headed to his Math Olympiad interview. The educators and school employees support Hu-yeong, encouraging him to bring honor to their school.
Rather than attending his interview at Seoul National University, Hu-yeong decides to follow Hong-ju as she heads to meet Jun-ho at his military base camp. Hong-ju questions Hu-yeong’s reason for following her, and he responds that he is uncertain.
They reach the military camp and Hong-ju informs Hu-yeong that she plans to confess her feelings to Jun-ho. Currently, Hu-yeong feels ashamed when remembering the incident. CEO Baek is surprised to discover that his nephew actually has feelings for their neighbor. Baek gets upset about Hu-yeong remaining in South Korea due to Hong-ju and urges him to return to the USA on his flight the next day.
Mr. Noh, who is a coworker of Hye-ji and also the man who went on a blind date with Hong-ju, is currently in the staff room. Hye-ji invites him outside to talk and requests Mr Noh to invite Hong-ju on another date.
As Mr Noh is about to express his feelings to Hye-ji, the bell interrupts them and forces Hye-ji to depart, leaving him by himself. That night, CEO Baek becomes annoyed upon seeing CEO Bae, Hong-ju’s boss, has parked in his designated parking space.
After that, he visits the office and informs Hu-yeong about his promotion, mentioning that he needs to head back to the USA right away. Hu-yeong declines and decides to go for a stroll when he encounters Hong-ju, who invites him to have fried chicken together.
Hu-yeong is disappointed when Hye-ji joins them and the three of them start chatting. Hyeong is on the verge of sharing with Hye-ji how he rescued Hong-ju from Jun-ho when Hong-ju interrupts him. Hu-yeong compares Hong-ju to how she was in high school, calling her dumb and clueless.
This angers Hong-ju, leading her to shout at Hu-yeong before he ends up eating the chicken with Hye-ji. Hye-ji becomes aware of Hu-yeong’s feelings towards Hong-ju and inquires whether her friend is aware of these feelings. Hong-ju observes as her closest friend converses with her love interest.
In the meantime, Hye-ji copes with her crush’s feelings for her best friend by drinking alcohol. Hye-ji notices that Hu-yeong and Hong-ju continuously crossed paths in a string of fortunate events and questions the abundance of coincidences between them.
Hong-ju visits Sang-pil’s eatery for a while. Hye-ji inquires Hu-yeong if he plans to remain in South Korea for Hong-ju at the chicken restaurant. When Hu-yeong remains silent, Hye-ji becomes defensive and tells him to go back home before hurting her friend’s feelings.
At Sang-pil’s eatery, he lectures Hong-ju upon finding out she will be collaborating with Jun-ho on the project. Later that evening, Hu-yeong is at home, pondering why he is remaining in South Korea.
At the same time, Hong-ju returns home and questions if Hu-yeong has returned following his outing with Hye-ji. She chooses to stay out of other people’s business and heads up to her home. When she searches her house, Hong-ju discovers the container containing her animated versions of Jun-ho’s books that she made when she initially sought employment at Peter’s Pen.
Even though CEO Bae recognized Hong-ju’s lack of experience, she decided to offer her the job due to her strong determination. The following day, Hong-ju goes to the office and informs CEO Bae that she is prepared to collaborate with Jun-ho on the 10th Anniversary animation project.
Meanwhile, Hu-yeong prepares for his return flight to the United States. He chooses to depart without bidding Hong-ju farewell. At work, Hye-ji refrains from messaging Hong-ju regarding her outing with Hu-yeong. Mr Noh is instructing students on the field. He goes up to Hye-ji and they discuss Hye-ji’s latest dilemma.
Hye-ji consults Mr. Noh for guidance on how to handle her feelings for her best friend’s love interest. Mr Noh suggests to Hye-ji that she should allow her first love and best friend to get together because they both seem like nice individuals. Hye-ji finds Mr Noh’s advice-giving style amusing. She pledges to set up a more improved blind date for him later on.
While heading to the airport, Hu-yeong reminisces about the past incident they experienced as children. Hong-ju becomes upset when she is unable to deliver her love letter to Jun-ho. Hu-yeong brings Hong-ju to eat ramen, but it is too spicy for her.
Hong-ju continues to cry and informs Hu-yeong that she has made the choice to remain and reveal her emotions to Jun-ho. Hu-yeong warns Hong-ju that she will report her for seeing a soldier who is of legal age, despite still being a minor in high school. The two begin arguing once more and Hong-ju bursts into tears.
Hu-yeong decides to accompany Hong-ju to the army base camp that evening, helping to ease her worries. That evening, Hu-yeong persuades the guard to disclose Jun-ho’s stationed location. Hong-ju becomes even more distressed upon discovering that Jun-ho was assigned to work in the mountains and would not be back for six months.
They head back to the bus stop but break into a run upon seeing the bus. Hong-ju falls and Hu-yeong stops to help her instead of rushing to catch the bus. The scene shifts back to the current time as Hye-ji contacts Hu-yeong to inform her about Hong-ju’s involvement in a car crash. Without hesitation, Hu-yeong hurries to the hospital to see how Hong-ju, who has injured her left arm, is doing. Hu-yeong informs the doctor that he is responsible for Hong-ju.
A memory scene depicts a young Hong-ju listening in on her aunt and uncle’s conversation. Her uncle requests his wife to send Hong-ju to an orphanage as they are expecting their own baby. Hong-ju returns to watching the television, attempting to maintain a composed expression. Another scene from the past depicts Hong-ju declining to go to the hospital after her high school doctor insists that she is too ill to receive treatment. When she is parched, a classmate offers Hong-ju a glass of water.
The scene transitions to the present with Hu-yeong taking care of Hong-ju as she regains consciousness at the hospital. Hong-ju minimizes the accident and expresses regret for inconveniencing Hu-yeong.
This causes Hu-yeong to become angry, and he places her hand on his chest to demonstrate how concerned he was for her as the episode concludes.
So, all the romances are coming in nicely. However, I’m surprised Hong ju didn’t realize Hu yeong’s love for her this whole time. He had made it quite obvious. Until next time, thanks for reading.