Ah, we’re at the midpoint of Destined With You, and the tropes are creeping in. There’s something mildly satisfying about knowing how a cutesy K-drama is going to proceed, but at the same time, after a point, it starts to get a little tiresome. Destined With You started off all rose-tinted glasses, but now there are some things that are starting to get a little bit annoying. Still, starring Rowoon and Jo Bo-Ah, there’s no way we’d leave this behind. Even with each episode running for over an hour and 10 minutes, it seems to have progressed quite slowly. Of course, we love the adorable stuff, but there are new elements getting added in here that seem quite unnecessary at this point. So, let’s quickly get into everything that happened in this week’s episodes of Destined With You.

Spoilers Ahead

What happens in Episode 7?

Hong-Jo is wary of Jae-Gyeong’s misunderstanding of her and Shin-Yu’s relationship. All she wants is for him to leave them alone, and so she decides to tell him the truth about the spell. Of course, as one can imagine, he doesn’t believe them and trusts that Shin-Yu is using the spell as an excuse to get out of two-timing his fiancé. For proof, Hong-Jo decides to do one of the spells while Jae-Gyeong and Shin-Yu wait. She does the “fair-skin beauty” spell (beauty standards are harmful), but Shin-Yu and Jae-Gyeong detect that the spell didn’t work and that Hong-Jo looks the same as she did before. Strangely, Jae-Gyeong has started to fall for Hong-Jo after rejecting her without getting to know her. After Shin-Yu leaves, he calls her for a beer on the rooftop, and under the starlight, they share a few drinks. On his way back, Shin-Yu notices the flower shop owner lurking in the neighborhood, so he calls Hong-Jo to warn her, but Jae-Gyeong picks up. He does give Hong-Jo the warning, though, and tells her to lock up her things properly.

At the hospital, Shin-Yu asks his doctor if he can have confusing feelings because of his illness. The doctor says the feelings he has have been caused by a condition called “neural coupling.” It means that if someone truly believes in a story or thought, a person listening to the story will end up believing it just as deeply, “coupling” the beliefs. Shin-Yu has heard the story of the spells and curses since he was a child, and this is possibly why he suddenly fell head over heels for Hong-Jo (yeah, right, tell yourself that). Shin-Yu tells Hong-Jo the truth, but it somehow leaves both of them unhappy. While Hong-Jo is working in the park, it starts raining, and the flower shop owner shows up with an umbrella for her. He even makes a physical advance at her, which she clearly finds uncomfortable. Hong-Jo tells him so, and before he can make a fuss, the old man she’s working with gives her an umbrella to go back to the office. Hong-Jo tells her boss how she feels immediately, and she takes it to Shin-Yu, the lawyer.

Everyone at the office finds out about Na-Yeon and Shin-Yu’s dating because, when she visits his office, his assistant is sitting in his place without her realizing it. Everyone thinks they’re a wonderful couple because they’re both rich and pretty. On the other hand, Shin-Yu’s assistant also says Hong-Jo suddenly looks very pretty, and she and Jae-Gyeong would make a great couple, too. Shin-Yu is heartbroken to hear this, but somewhere, he probably thinks it’s true, too. After work, Hong-Jo gets to eat and drink with her colleagues because she was classmates with Na-Yeon, and they want all the gossip about Shin-Yu. At least she doesn’t have to eat alone. Shin-Yu takes care of her when she’s drunk and alone after, even though she doesn’t want him to because he’s confusing her for no reason. During the day, Jae-Gyeong and Hong-Jo work together to feed some dogs, and while having their meal, he confesses his feelings for her. Surprisingly, Hong-Jo doesn’t blush like she used to, even at the thought of someone being interested in her at all.

At home, Shin-Yu is told that his wedding date has been fixed, and everybody knows except for him. At the same time, Na-Yeon receives some photos of Shin-Yu and Hong-Jo. She pretends to have to leave for some important work and asks Shin-Yu to meet her in her car. When asked for an explanation, he tells her that he was actually swayed by Hong-Jo. Furious, Na-Yeon goes to Hong-Jo and slaps her even though she’s not at fault here. Hong-Jo doesn’t appreciate the action and immediately calls Shin-Yu to meet her outside. She gives him back the dress he gifted her and the wooden box so that she doesn’t have anything to do with him anymore. She asks Shin-Yu why she deserves to get slapped by Na-Yeon. And he says he told Na-Yeon that he had feelings for Hong-Jo. Hong-Jo says her piece and decides to leave, but Shin-Yu’s not done just yet. He says he’ll be honest and kisses her. Hong-Jo is shocked but doesn’t pull away immediately like she would’ve liked to. At the same time, Na-Yeon looks to have been cheating this whole time with Haum Construction’s Hyun-Seo (they do say like attracts like).

What Happens in Episode 8?

Hong-Jo meets Na-Yeon before work because she wants to tell her the truth about her and Shin-Yu. We don’t actually see the full conversation, though. Hong-Jo tells Shin-Yu that she’s told Na-Yeon the truth about why they behaved the way they did and that she should rest easy. She tells Shin-Yu to stop texting and calling her, even for work, on her personal number. Hong-Jo meets a little kid in the park who helps her see that she may be in denial about liking Shin-Yu, but she just won’t admit it. But there’s another thing that’s weighing on her mind. Who took the pictures of her and Shin-Yu? Na-Yeon tells her that someone might be stalking her. While heading home, Jae-Gyeong gives Hong-Jo a ride, and he’s trying really hard to win her over. He even asks her to join him for a couples meeting (yeah, make your excuses).

Shin-Yu takes the wooden box back to the shaman, Eun-Wol, to get rid of it once and for all. She tells him that there’s only one way to really let go of it all, and if he’s certain, she’ll tell him what it is. Eun-Wol calls Hong-Jo and asks her to go to the mountain where the box was buried before (the same one as the house where Hong-Jo and Shin-Yu first met). Hong-Jo ends up falling on some slippery leaves and dropping the box. Inside, there’s a hidden compartment with a book of black magic spells, aka curses. Hong-Jo doesn’t like the feeling of this, and she wants to get rid of it quickly. When Shin-Yu finds the spot where it used to be buried, Hong-Jo hears a strange sound. There’s a straw doll hanging from the tree in front of them, wearing Hong-Jo’s night dress and with Shin-Yu’s name stabbed smack in the middle of it. Someone has cursed both of them, but who could it be? Shin-Yu calls the police and tells them to investigate the theft of Hong-Jo’s pajamas from her house. He buys her pepper spray and a stun gun. At the end of the night, he drops her home and checks her house, which happens to be super easy to break into. For once, Hong-Jo genuinely thanks Shin-Yu for everything he’s done for her, and he asks her to go on a date with him if she truly means it.

Why Is Hong-Jo On A Date With Shin-Yu?

During their date, Hong-Jo is very uncomfortable, and she keeps looking for someone who might be photographing them. She looks very afraid and worried. Shin-Yu, on the other hand, looks more relaxed than he should be and puts all his heart into the date. Later, even though he’s afraid of heights, he even takes her to see the night sky from a skywalk. Hong-Jo is impressed and feels grateful for it all. But it turns out it’s a fake date, and they’re doing it in order to catch the stalker. Since Shin-Yu is a lawyer, he can use his connections to figure out where the photos are coming from. Shin-Yu reminds Hong-Jo that he actually likes her, but Hong-Jo tells him not to do anything about it. Even if she and Na-Yeon were not friends, she would never want to steal someone else’s man.

Shin-Yu is suspicious of Jae-Gyeong, too, as he’s not been home for the past 2 days. When he arrives, Shin-Yu asks him about his whereabouts. Shin-Yu wants to set up a CCTV camera at the house, but Jae-Gyeong will not give him permission for it. Instead, he says if there’s anything to be done, he’ll do it himself. Shin-Yu then visits the flower shop owner, but he’s nowhere to be seen. He investigates on his own and finds some straw lying on the floor. When the man arrives from behind him with large hand pruners in his hands, Shin-Yu asks him in a straightforward manner why he has straw in the shop. The next day, Shin-Yu doesn’t show up for work, leaving Hong-Jo worried. It is said that he’s called in sick, and nobody knows when he’s returning. At night, Hong-Jo visits the location of the festival that the civil servants are setting up for the city (of course, she had to go alone). While she’s taking pictures to show her team, the lights go out, and in fright, Hong-Jo tries to get out of there. Destined With You Episode 8 ends with Hong-Jo getting calls from an unknown number. She then notices someone in a hooded jacket following her and freaks out.

According to us, the hooded guy is probably Jae-Gyenog, who was trying to keep Hong-Jo safe from a distance. Now that he knows there’s a stalker on the loose, he doesn’t want to scare Hong-Jo completely, but he also wants to be around if something were to happen. On the other hand, the flower shop owner definitely looks suspicious, and we know from the teaser that Shin-Yu is unconscious in the hospital. Is it because of his illness, or is it because of the flower shop owner? We’ll know in the next episode.