Sold Out On You The episode begins with an emotional flashback that sets up Ye-jin’s complicated past. As a child, Ye-jin watches Myung-hwa in a television and mimics her, totally mesmerized. When she finds a photo of her father, Seok-gyeong, with Myung-hwa and realizes the truth, her world is turned upside down. Myung-hwa is her mother.
Seok-gyeong discovers Ye-jin crying, and she calls Myung-hwa, who agrees to see her daughter. But their relationship remains distant and controlled, meetings always take place indoors. Sunday night at eight they begin talking on the phone, and a quiet but limited bond develops.
Ye-jin’s Rocky Relationship with Myung-hwa
Ye-jin grows up in these bizarre circumstances. When Myung-hwa is involved in a car accident, her adult life is derailed. Ye-jin rushes to the hospital and, overcome with emotion, calls out “Mom” in front of reporters. Myung-hwa denies knowing Ye-jin in public and pushes her away. After this incident, Myung-hwa stops answering her calls entirely.
In the present timeline, Ye-jin tries to call her mother’s number but keeps calling Matthew by mistake. Ye-jin calls back and tells her she has the wrong number but continues calling to tell her how much she misses her mother.
Life in Deokpung and New Relationships
It then moves on to Deokpung where we are introduced to Jin-yi, Som-yi’s elder sister who runs a grocery shop. Som-yi has horrible scars on her face, but she seems happy when she gets new headphones left by Matthew.
Meanwhile, Matthew visits Mrs. Yang and offers to take her and Ye-jin. He also apologises for the mix-up and returns a chicken he had taken by mistake. At the bus station Jin-yi sees and recognizes Ye-jin, hinting at a bigger story.
Meanwhile, Kwang-no shoots clips for his web channel and finds Matthew asleep at the wheel of a tractor. Worried, he says he’ll do the farm chores to give Matthew a break. But when Matthew gets home, he finds Mu-won already building a lab without permission. He insists that Matthew himself turn down Eric’s repeated business proposals.
Business Conflict and Secret Identity
Matthew meets Eric and introduces himself as Lee Hae-seok. He says he only does projects he has total control of the production. He refuses the partnership, citing broken promises from the company.
Later, Eric tells Ye-jin and they agree that she should persuade Lee Hae-seok herself. Ye-jin also admits that she saw him earlier, but couldn’t properly reconnect.
Back in Deokpung, Mrs. Yang is kind to the local bus driver, who later finds a bundle of money left for him and his family. He knows what they’re going through, and apologizes for his behavior and vows to do better.
While at work, Ye-jin is assigned to deal with customer complaints during a marketing segment. One of the callers is Matthew, complaining about a hot tub from HIT. His name is written on the screen: Lee Hae-seok. And Ye-jin finally recognizes him.
The Intensifying Feud Between Matthew and Ye-jin
Ye-jin feels guilty and goes to Matthew to clear things up and proves the hot tubs work, even showing it in a funny way. The awkward moment passes, but for a moment their bond strengthens. But when she tells him she knows who he is, he brushes off the conversation and sends her away.
Ye-jin goes back to Mrs. Yang’s house and again, due to sleep deprivation she calls Matthew, this time while he is sleeping.
Next morning, despite Matthew’s protests, she helps with the farm work. Exhausted from a hard day, she attempts to speak to him again, but he refuses to trust L’Etoile due to previous betrayals. Ye-jin tries to get into his property and breaks her arm.
That night Matthew sees her working on a live broadcast even though she’s hurt. He is taken aback by her resolution, and he retrieves his proposal after having thrown it away previously.
Emotional Revelations & Climax
Later Jin-yi visits Matthew and pays the rent, while casually asking about Ye-jin, but he avoids the subject. Then he orders Mu-won to cut all ties with L’Etoile for good.
Meanwhile, Ye-jin finds out that Myung-hwa’s product launch is set to take place after L’Etoile’s, which will probably impact its performance. But she will not yield on the hour, even under duress.
At home, Ye-jin and her father Seok-gyeong are increasingly at odds. In a flashback, Myung-hwa had called to apologize after her accident but Seok-gyeong had stopped any further contact to protect Ye-jin’s emotional well-being. She is very frustrated by this decision.
That night, Ye-jin calls Matthew again, emotionally overwhelmed, even giving her name in the conversation. He thinks she’s drunk but he hears glass breaking and when he can’t get hold of her, he runs to her.
Disoriented and sleep-deprived, Ye-jin wanders outside and almost gets hit by a car. Matthew arrives just in time, dragging her to safety. The episode ends on a tense note.
Episode Reviews
Episode 3 is a mix of emotionally charged storytelling and uneven pacing. The tension continues to build, as Matthew refuses to work with L’Etoile; however, the central conflict still seems underdeveloped, with important backstory details about past betrayals left vague.
The episode relies quite a bit on comic and exaggerated moments like the hot tub scene and Ye-jin’s physical mishaps, but they don’t always work well. Some scenes feel forced, not naturally funny.
Chae Won-bin’s performance as Ye-jin is most compelling when she is emotional and vulnerable, particularly in the scenes of sleep deprivation and frustration. But she can be a little over the top in her livelier performance.
On the upside, the episode gives us more of Ye-jin’s backstory with Myung-hwa, which adds more emotional weight and clarity to their strained relationship. Supporting characters such as Mrs. Yang continue to provide warmth and grounding to the story, countering the heavier emotional themes.
Episode 3 suffers from pacing and tonal inconsistencies, but it’s still full of enough character development and emotional heft to keep viewers invested moving forward.