Love All Play: Episodes 3-4

by missvictrix

A new partnership is in the air, and with it comes all sorts of cuteness, closeness, and, of course, conflict. Although our two athletes know a lot about each other already, there’s much they don’t know, and it’s that balance of trust and teamwork that they have to find. But in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy all the dancing around each other during that process.

Editor’s note: Drama coverage will continue with weecaps.

EPISODES 3-4 WEECAP

The partnership is made official, and our two athletes — whether they realize it or not — have embarked on quite a journey together, and it’s only just started. Tae-joon and Tae-yang might already have a past connection (and an emotional connection squeeeeee), but there’s a lot more they need to learn about each other if they’re going to be successful teammates.

But the duo — now known by basically everyone as “the Park twins” — don’t have more than a hot second to revel in their newfound partnership. Jung-hwan is as angry as ever against Tae-yang and immediately challenges her to a game. But lucky for Tae-yang, she already has someone on her side. Tae-joon steps in between her and Jung-hwan — literally and figuratively — and I can’t even pretend that his protectiveness of her isn’t already making me squee.

Tae-yang puts in her best effort in the “friendly” doubles match, but she’s humiliated non-stop and is so far from where she once was at the top of her game. Still, Tae-joon has her back, and I already love this partnership more than I should.

Much to my pleasure, our episodes this week focus mostly on building the relationship between Tae-yang and Tae-joon, and they settle into the cutest pair-dom that’s got the spirit of athletes that need to support each other, and a giant side helping of flirting and attraction that they (somewhat) try to push aside.

But can you really, when you have Tae-joon always flashing that grin at you? Or breaking in your sneakers for you? Or standing up for you? Or pep-talking you? Seriously, could they make him any more delightful? (Spoiler: no)

While Tae-joon adjusts to being on a co-ed team and finds it weird that the guys take off their shirts post-practice while their female teammates compare their muscles, he also doesn’t lose the chance to show off to Tae-yang — because of course he’s the fittest guy on the team.

Here our drama proves it is willing to give us what we want, real-life physics be damned, because while Tae-yang is peeking into the court to see Tae-joon shirtless, she blinks and he’s literally standing right in front of her a second later. He pretends like it’s nbd while she stands there, pokes his six-pack, and then quips that he should stop flexing.

Tae-yang wants to practice with him later, and he says he’s busy… but in the end the two wind up together anyway, because his friends figure out his crush on her, and call her to take him home. It’s during this exchange that we get such sweet things as Tae-joon calling her “uri Tae-yang” (quite intimate language), Tae-joon giving her a shopping bag full of ointments for her blisters, and the confession that he pretended to be busy that night because she needed the rest.

Lest we think that the crush is only one-way, we quickly get evidence that it’s not. The two are out after curfew, so they wind up sleeping on mats in the gym, set up with about 10 feet in between them. In an early morning dream, Tae-yang rolls alllllll the way into Tae-joon’s arms and lol — it’s proof #2 that this drama cares more about delivering cuteness than mere technicalities. Tae-joon enjoys her proximity for a short moment, giving her an arm pillow.

He thinks Tae-yang’s mouth is moving because she’s dreaming of eating; we see her dream, and that what’s happening is quite different. In an extension of their conversation last night, she imagines Tae-joon leaning in to kiss her.

But it’s not all cuteness — the drama balances it with inner tension, outer conflict, and also sheds light on the past events that continue to haunt Tae-yang. Here we meet Tae-yang and her dear friend and fellow national athlete PARK JOON-YOUNG (Park Ji-hyun), who’s also dating Jung-hwan.

In flashback we see the two girls blowing off steam by having beers and snowboarding together late at night. This is clearly inadvisable behavior for young national athletes, and it leads to an accident when Tae-yang smashes into Joon-young and injures her.

Interestingly, we see the two with Junghwan after the accident, and the girls seem to be on fine terms still — no blame, no shame – so we don’t quite know what went wrong yet. But we do know that in the present, Jung-hwan blames Tae-yang for losing his girlfriend, and her career.

And for a final wrinkle, it looks like Tae-joon also knows Joon-young. He secretly messages her via SNS to try to get in contact with her… because she’s his sister. Wait, what!? Joon-young is his famous athlete sister!? Not sure how this is all unknown, but it’s sure to have some ramifications later on. In the meantime, Tae-joon threatens to kill her if she keeps ignoring his messages. Seems like she’s been AWOL for quite some time.

Tae-yang continues to be ostracized by the team for her past, and she’s elected to go to the tournament in Wando that none of the other players can be bothered with. Even Tae-joon shrugs her off… but then shows up at the last minute, because of course he does.

This Wando sequence is wonderful, because we see the Park twins taking all their chemistry onto the court and boom it really does create some magic. Tae-joon knows Tae-yang isn’t fully there yet, so he tells her she can lean on him. In fact, the pair share so many great little conversations that it’s impossible to pull out all of them. Needless to say, their bond becomes apparent once they start playing, and a throwaway game turns into a shining moment for our twins.

Every time the Yunis coaches say they’re going to leave Wando and head back home, the Park twins win another round, and pretty soon they’re in the final match: Yunis’ Park twins versus the Somang Bank team, led by LEE YOO-MIN (Seo Ji-hye). Yoo-min is Coach Lee’s daughter, has an ill-fated crush on Jung-hwan (good luck, woman), and is clearly painted as Tae-yang’s rival.

Despite the fact that the Park twins’ winning streak meets a sorry end, they do wind up with a bronze medal from the tournament — but more important than that, they’ve had time to see their teamwork on the court, and so have the coaches.

We’ve seen how they worked together to cover for each other’s weaknesses, take advantage of their strengths, and even show tenacity when injured (ahem, Tae-yang). The partnership also lights a fire under Tae-joon, who’s putting passion into his playing (instead of just athleticism) for the first time ever.

Despite all the good stuff that came out of the tournament, Tae-yang is heartbroken, since the loss is basically her fault. To his credit, Tae-joon doesn’t seem to hold it against her, and is more overwhelmed by walking in on her in a sports bra than not winning gold.

Tae-yang isolates herself for a bit, but soon the two are spending time together again (thanks to Tae-joon lying about not having an umbrella which “makes her” have to stay over). Though they have their moments of contention, they have a very healthy relationship, and I can’t wait to see more of it.

But there’s a possible Park twins breakup on the horizon: thanks to Jung-hwan’s “influence,” the Somang coach puts in an offer to take Tae-yang off Yunis’ hands. Less than an awesome scouting deal, it feels more like Jung-hwan is up to no good. And before Tae-yang can even react, it’s Tae-joon that jumps up and gets in his face about it.

He sends a shuttlecock right at Junghwan’s head (lol, so satisfying), and then tells him to meet him outside. Tae-yang just stands there in shock as they walk past her. And so we end upon another squee, which this drama freely delivers, and I happily receive.

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Love All Play: Episodes 3-4