Dae-woong rushes to assure his noona Hye-in that Mi-ho isn’t his girlfriend. Byung-soo shoots him a worried look, and the ladies don’t look too pleased at his clumsy insistence, either.
Pointedly saying that she (Hye-in) has no right to be upset with him for being wrapped up with a new girlfriend (you know, since they’re nothing to each other), Hye-in leaves. Stricken, Dae-woong chases her down in to explain, providing enough half-truths to mollify her.
His story: He went to the countryside for a few days to get away for a spell, and Mi-ho put him up while he was there. Because of her scary-strict grandmother, Mi-ho followed him back to Seoul, which he didn’t realize till she was already here. He feels sorry for her because she knows nobody here, plus she did help him out while he was in the countryside
Hye-in sighs that Mi-ho took advantage of his soft-heartedness, but at least she no longer thinks Suspicious Thoughts about the relationship.
Meanwhile, Byung-soo clucks in disapproval at Dae-woong’s disgraceful treatment of his girlfriend in front of his noona. Mi-ho, being from a previous era, doesn’t immediately know what “girlfriend” means but she guesses that the word signifies “the one you want for a mate,” and that Dae-woong’s reaction means “he has no intention of taking me as his mate.” Then she grumbles that she doesn’t want him for her mate, either.
Byung-soo urges her to do something and not just let Dae-woong pursue his noona, whom everyone knows he likes. At that, Mi-ho exclaims in dismay, “No, he can’t do that!” and hurries off to act. Byung-soo wishes her good luck.
Dae-woong is happy to escort Hye-in to lunch, but as Mi-ho approaches. Hye-in’s easy attitude becomes pettish in the presence of a rival. (Not that she has decided to return Dae-woong’s affections, but she’s that annoying type of princess who must monopolize his affections, even if she doesn’t return them.)
Dae-woong scuttles over to Mi-ho to press her to stay away while he goes out to lunch, but she gets straight to the point: “Do you like her? Are you going to mate with her?” (Part of Mi-ho’s abundant charm is the way she uses jarringly frank language, much like Anya of Buffy lore, as girlfriday previously pointed out.)
He protests and asks if she’s jealous. Touching his chest, Mi-ho tells him he can’t carry her fox bead and “share his ki [energy]” with another woman, “because that hurts my fox bead.”
He asks for a definition of “sharing ki” and gets back the answer: “to mate.” She won’t allow him to go off with Hye-in, especially since she can see that he was ready to not only share his ki but practically give her his entire soul.
Mi-ho decides she’d better go with him, or he’ll have to give back her bead. Not really much of a choice, is it? She simplifies the choice: “If you go, you die.” Literally.
Honestly, I don’t know if her explanation (“I have to protect my bead”) is truth or whether it’s Mi-ho just elaborating as an excuse to get her way, but it doesn’t matter. In fact, I’d find it hilarious if she’s dressing up the gumiho mythology to suit her purposes (since he has to take her word for it).
Tired of waiting, Hye-in gets pissy and drives off, ignoring Dae-woong who chases after her car.
Glumly, he looks for the silver lining in being ditched: It would have been more embarrassing to tell Hye-in he couldn’t go with her, so it’s better that Hye-in left him behind first. Mi-ho perks up at this admission that he wasn’t going to follow her.
He barks back at her in annoyance, but Mi-ho says in a hurt voice that she’s just trying to save him: “I want to save you from dying, so I’m giving you my really precious fox bead.”
He feels a stab of remorse and says with exasperation that he’s upset because his pride has taken a hit. “Me being upset won’t save your bead, so please just keep your distance and leave me alone.
Mi-ho’s hungry again, but supposes that asking Dae-woong for more meat will just make him more angry with her. She wonders if his bad mood is because he doesn’t want to buy her food, and trails him at a short distance. She’s starving, but doesn’t want to pester him to feed her.
Watching at a distance is the tortured Gumiho Hunter with the asymmetrical haircut, Dong-joo.
On the other side of town, Aunt Min-sook is determined to bring Dae-woong home with force if necessary, and heads to the action school, where Chow Yun-fat Lite conducts business. (His real name is Ban Doo-hong, or Director Ban.) Min-sook enters just as a stunt is being rehearsed, and in the excitement of the stunt falls from the second floor. Reacting swiftly, Doo-hong lurches forward to catch her, and both parties belatedly recognize each other.
