Woori the Virgin: Episodes 7-8

by DaebakGrits

Our leading lady goes through a period of heartbreak, but her melancholy worries her baby daddy, who wants her stress-free and healthy for the sake of their baby. As his attentiveness grows, will a romance blossom? Or will their exes — and all the drama that comes with them — force our (leading?) couple to remain strictly platonic parents-to-be?

EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP

After breaking up with Gang-jae, Woori does what a lot of people do post-breakup: cries in the darkness and reminisces about the good times. Gang-jae calls mid-waterworks, and we flashback to a point earlier in their relationship, and — not going to lie — I definitely found my Team Raphael stance wavering a wee bit when Gang-jae changed his name to “my warm springtime” in Woori’s phone.

While Woori continues to wallow in her sorrow, the rest of us snap out of our momentary funk thanks to the comedic interjection of Ye-ri. She keeps forgetting that Woori is pregnant and unable to do anything, well, fun — no eating sashimi or drowning her sorrows in soju. Ye-ri, feeling helpless, laments that she doesn’t know how to cheer up a broken hearted pregnant woman. (FYI: The more screen time Ye-ri gets, the more I’m convinced she is my spirit animal.)

Woori’s despondent mood is palpable, and Raphael immediately notices her listlessness during the consultation with their lawyer NAM HYUNG-WOOK (Jung Dong-geun) in preparation for their lawsuit against Jin-hee. When Woori is out of earshot, Sung-il explains that she broke up with Gang-jae, and she’s been gloomy ever since.

Raphael is especially concerned when he learns that she’s been skipping meals, so he hires some fancy chefs to cook a private meal for Woori and Ye-ri, who is extremely excited to reap the benefits of being the third wheel and mood killer in Woori and Raphael’s (currently unromantic) relationship. He also arranges for Ye-ri and Woori to spend a relaxing day at a spa, but Woori leaves when she learns that Raphael was the financial backer of their little excursion.

Raphael learns that Woori left the spa, so he waits outside her home to make sure she returns safely. Gang-jae, who has been doing his own lurking nearby, appears from the shadows, too, like a creepy ex-boyfriend stereotype who cannot let go (oh wait). Gang-jae acts jealous, but Raphael assures him that, while his care extends to Woori, he’s just worried about the baby. (Sure, if you say so, Raphael.)

The next time we see our soon-to-be parents, they’re gawking at Hyung-wook and Jin-hee’s lawyer (and ex-boyfriend) because — in a twist straight out of Telenovela 101 — they are identical twins! There’s also some bad blood between the two of them, and as they face off against each other, they devolve into a verbal sparring match. Hyung-wook argues that Jin-hee’s negligent actions resulted in a massive mistake, which led to Woori and Raphael’s pain and suffering.

Woori clutches her belly, and Raphael steps in to calm the lawyers because he senses that Hyung-wook’s words have made Woori sad. Afterwards, Raphael admits that he now understands why she was hesitant to sue Jin-hee. Yes, the doctor made a massive error that disrupted both their lives, but to call their baby a mistake now that they’ve chosen to keep it feels morally wrong. The baby is a gift, not an accident, and he agrees to drop the case if that is what she wants.

Meanwhile, Gang-jae has a pity party with Na-hee and their boss. As he pounds back soju, his boss chides him for screwing up, but Na-hee takes the high road — despite her obvious crush — and tells him to try and talk things out with Woori. So the next morning, when he’s more sober, Gang-jae is waiting outside Woori’s home.

He’s immediately confrontational, demanding an explanation for their breakup, but Woori doesn’t want to elaborate on her reasons. He raises his voice, and Woori scolds him. Not because he’s yelling at her, but because he’s subjecting the baby to his negative energy.

Her reaction seems a bit excessive — pregnant women don’t need to be treated with kid gloves and the baby is still the size of a gummy bear — but her anger is a reflection of her changing priorities. After she faints (again) and Raphael and Gang-jae escort her to the hospital, the real issue and nature of their breakup becomes apparent: Woori wants to be the baby’s mother — not a surrogate — but Gang-jae’s feelings towards the baby have not evolved with hers.

Gang-jae throws himself into his work, and he and Na-hee stake out a shipping yard, waiting for their latest lead to pan out. The container that they’re tracking arrives, and out steps a mysterious man who — along with his bag of (maybe) raw drug materials — was smuggled into the country. Gang-jae and Na-hee follow him to — where else? — Diamond Medical Foundation, but they lose sight of the man when he enters a recovery room and mysteriously disappears.

Back in Gold Diggerville, Ma-ri still refuses to extract her harpy claws from Raphael, and she and her mother attach themselves solidly to Duk-bae by reminding him that they are (supposedly) wealthy and well-connected. With him on their side, Ma-ri is promoted to director, and Duk-bae continuously goes head-to-head with Raphael over the divorce. If only Duk-bae had done his due diligence — like any decent chaebol patriarch when his heir brings home a woman — and figured out Ma-ri is a big fat (already married) liar.

Speaking of Doo-pal, Ma-ri and Mi-ja still have him hog-tied to a chair with an excessive amount of plastic wrap. (Uh, anyone else concerned about his bathroom situation? A lot of time has passed…) He sweet talks Ma-ri into cutting him loose, but he immediately turns violent and knocks her unconscious. Once again, Mi-ja subdues him, this time with a taser.

Ma-ri may have found a way to leverage herself and remain in Duk-bae’s good graces, but Raphael is growing emotionally further and further out of her reach — not that they were ever close to begin with — the more time he dedicates to Woori and the baby. He takes her to a prenatal yoga class, completely unaware that it’s a couples class for mommies and daddies. Luckily, the gym rents out clothes (ew!) and Raphael is able to participate in all the awkwardly intimate stretching exercises.

He also accompanies her when she meets with Jin-hee to forgive the sincerely apologetic doctor. Her saintly behavior causes Raphael to see her in a new light — or maybe that’s just the light being given off by her blinding halo. He sees the halo a second time when Woori interrupts Raphael’s latest fight with Duk-bae to announce: “I will only give Raphael the baby if he divorces Ma-ri.” She can’t in good conscience send her baby to live with a mother that cheats and lies, and she scolds Duk-bae for not being more trusting in Raphael.

Duk-bae is properly silenced, and not long after that Raphael dreams of his past kiss with Woori. The dream freaks him out, and he avoids Woori the next day — unable to face her or the feelings that have started to rise to the surface. But, of course, when a dangerous moped driver almost hits Woori, he overcomes his shyness and dramatically rescues her. Cue: soft light and slow-motion cinematography that builds to an almost-kiss.

Sung-il is also struggling to hide his feelings for Eun-ran. She’s now dating JUNG HYUNG-SIK (Ahn Shin-woo), and although Sung-il tries to appear cool and collected — the opposite of a bumbling jealous idiot — he fails spectacularly. Even when he arranges a double date to show he’s a hot commodity and totally not hung up on her, his plan to come out looking like the better man flops when Sung-il’s date, actress CHOI MIN-AE (Yeon Min-ji) starts to fangirl over Hyung-sik, a famous Olympic Judo athlete.

Although Hyung-sik is impressive and has as many followers as Sung-il, Eun-ran seems only objectively impressed by Hyung-sik. He’s great on paper, but there’s no visible spark between them. She’s clearly using him to try and get over her feelings for Sung-il and avoid complicating Woori’s life (even more).

But, of course, this drama is all about making Woori’s life hella convoluted, and the next hurdle she has to overcome is an onslaught of misguided Catholics who believe her virgin pregnancy and (non holy) saintliness will create miracles. Members of her church and community start seeking her out, hoping that one hug from Woori will help them conceive a child or cure an illness.

Woori traces the strange rumor back to her church, where her priest has nominated her for commendation. To celebrate the momentous event, another member of her church began passing out buttons depicting Woori dressed as the Virgin Mary, and from there the spread of misinformation began.

While at church, a crowd of miracle seekers begin to encroach on Woori’s personal space. She’s jostled, but Raphael swoops in to rescue her, twisting his ankle in the process. Woori and her family accompany him to the hospital, where Grandma — another member of Team Raphael — looks on with knowing eyes.

Raphael also accompanies Woori to her next ultrasound appointment. The fetus has grown big enough for them to discern facial features and hear its heartbeat, and Raphael is so overcome by emotion that he reaches instinctively for Woori’s hand as he begins to cry. He’s extremely embarrassed, but Woori approves of his paternal instincts and assures him that his reaction is understandable.

From the other side of the waiting room, Grandma is appreciative of his reaction, too, but Eun-ran thinks his behavior is overkill. Well, if Eun-ran sneaking off to give Gang-jae some of Grandma’s soup didn’t make it clear enough, I think it’s now safe to say she’s on Team Gang-jae. (Booooooo! Hissssssss!)

Ma-ri learns from her assistant — who is wearing a Virgin Woori badge — that Woori has become a rumored miracle worker. Ma-ri then tips off a shady vlogger whose reputation is almost as bad as his crudely marker-drawn mustache. The vlogger begins harassing Woori and her family, and his videos cause other miracle seekers to loiter outside their home.

In the midst of the vlogger’s harassment, Duk-bae summons Woori to his office. He tries to persuade her to be more accepting of Ma-ri, because he — despite being a single father himself — scorns the idea of Raphael raising his child without a mother. Woori coolly reminds him that the baby is growing in her womb. She is the mother. (You tell ‘em, girlfriend!)

Although Duk-bae is astonished, he sees that her resolve is unwavering, and so he summons Ma-ri to break the news to her. He hates to lose her financial connections, but the baby is (surprisingly) more important to him. Duk-bae tells her divorce Raphael.

Ma-ri panics and tries to persuade Woori to change her mind, but Woori is adamant that Ma-ri is unfit to be a mother. Not to mention, Woori’s judgment might be slightly swayed by her own growing romantic interest in Raphael, which also started to manifest in her dreams.

Ma-ri’s encounter with Woori leaves her fuming, so she seeks out her mother, who is still babysitting Doo-pal. His plastic wrap shackles have now been replaced by a web of chains. A bit overkill, but at least they are more bathroom friendly.

Ma-ri storms in and cuts off the television, which upsets Doo-pal because Sung-il (as his Mask of Desire character) was in the middle of giving an absurdly detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to pick handcuffs using a paperclip, and Doo-pal was trying to follow along. (Say what you will about the ridiculousness of Ma-ri’s whole story arc, but this meta scene had me in stitches, especially when I imagined the drama-within-a-drama’s dialogue was the result of a handcuff PPL — kinky, but definitely fitting for the show.)

When the ladies turn the TV back on, the crucial scene is over, and Doo-pal has a hissy fit. Ma-ri, who is already riled up after her encounter with Woori, goes crazy and threatens to destroy Woori. Mi-ja looks on, seemingly proud that her daughter has evolved from a simpering nail biter into a violent ball of rage.

Meanwhile, back at Diamond Medical Foundation, Gang-jae refuses to drop the case of the disappearing drug smuggler. He’s determined to break down the walls — even without a proper search warrant — to find the man’s hiding spot, but Raphael stops him before he can illegally destroy property.

Gang-jae tries to convince Raphael to let him do a little demolition, but Raphael is against it. During their debate, an unintentional series of stomps and claps performed by the men triggers a hidden trap door, which leads Gang-jae down another rabbit hole — figuratively and literally. At the bottom of a slide, Gang-jae finds a mostly empty room with plastic covering the walls. Despite the serial killer vibe of the room, Gang-jae and Na-hee are in agreement that the space was used in Chairman Kim’s drug smuggling operation.

Raphael overhears them talking about Chairman Kim, but they won’t divulge any information about their investigation. So Raphael asks Duk-bae if he’s familiar with a criminal named Chairman Kim, and he responds by asking Raphael to be more specific. (Hah!)

At Woori’s home, members of the press have started to gather outside. Raphael offers to put her and her family up in a hotel, but Woori declines. She intentionally contacted the press to call attention to the vlogger’s extensive record of harassment and discredit him. The reporters converge on the vlogger, and the police show up. From inside a squad car, Gang-jae uses the PA speaker to make an announcement and disperse the crowd.

Grandma invites Raphael to join them for dinner, but before he and Woori can join her inside, they are stopped by an ajumma who is desperate for a miracle to save her sick grandchild. Woori and Raphael visit the child, and although the ajumma knows she’s grasping at straws, she asks Woori to hug the child. Just in case, you know?

Woori humors the woman, but privately she feels bad, knowing that she isn’t actually a miracle worker. Raphael comforts her, explaining that she may not be blessed with divine powers, but she did bring the child a miracle in a round-about way because he is going to use his influence to find the best doctors and pay for the child’s treatment.

In the process of thanking Woori for her kindness, the ajumma refers to Raphael as Woori’s boyfriend, and the not-quite-a-couple have another awkward moment. But we all know at this point they both kind of secretly like the idea.

Before we make any more progress with our leading couple, though, another unexpected romance blooms. Grandma has herself a beau, and their romance is of the love-at-first-sight variety. When he brings her flowers, she cries with happiness because it’s the first time in her sixty-nine years that she’s ever received a bouquet.

There’s just one small catch to their romance: Grandma’s new boyfriend is Hyung-sik’s father. I can’t wait to see the explosion when Grandma and Eun-ran realize they are dating a father-son duo.

Raphael continues to be a sweet-baby-daddy-but-not-yet-boyfriend and escorts Woori to all her appointments, but during their latest car ride he pulls over to watch the sunset. The moment is undeniably similar to their past kiss that both of them having been dreaming about.

Raphael tries to capitalize on the romantic moment, but he fumbles to find the words for his confession. Woori, caught up in the same magic and believing that she’s dreaming again, leans in and… she kisses Raphael!

Yesssssssss! The Team Raphael ship has sailed! Unless… you don’t think it will turn out to be another dream after all? Even with six episodes left, it still feels a tad early in the plot for them to get together, considering Woori’s recent breakup and how early Woori still is in her pregnancy.

At the pace we’re going, the whole show going to take place during her first trimester and then skip to the actual birth near the end. I don’t know about you all, but I’m kind of hoping to see the relationship dynamics change and evolve with her pregnancy as the drama leads up to the birth. In all honestly, Woori has been a bit too saintly for my tastes, so I’d like to see her nine months pregnant, miserable, and losing her metaphorical halo at everyone who crosses her the wrong way.

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Woori the Virgin: Episodes 7-8