Staying Alive
Doom at your Service episode 10 begins with Myul-Mang’s confession and Dong-Kyung deciding they should date from now on. At the same time, Ji-Na throws numerous towels at Hyun-Kyu, calling him annoying and caving to her crush’s suggestion. That afternoon, Dong-Kyung heads over to Myul-Mang’s place but he’s different now. He’s no longer wanting to watch and observe, he’s going to be more hands on. Only, Dong-Kyung backs up from him, eventually saved by a phone call from Sun-Kyung. Meanwhile, Ji-Na is called away under her alias of Lee Hyun as Jijo King tries to win her over. Ji-Na is having none of it and even tries to launch herself over the desk at him when he begins antagonizing her. Only, Joo-Ik coolly tells her to stop. He calms her down and goes on to tell Jijo King that his stories are ugly and he’s going to stick by the winning side – that being Lee Hyun. Given Ji-Na threw his laptop, he casually tells her she needs to pay him back for that. Dong-Kyung and Myul-Mang head out for their date, with the former asking the deity to come inside for some ramyeon. For those unaware, this is the Korean version of “Netflix and chill” and has sexual connotations. Anyway, Myul-Mang simply tells her he doesn’t eat and completely misses the suggestion. Instead, they head up to the rooftop with her family to eat actual noodles. Once there though, Dong-Kyung’s Aunt finds the funeral portrait tucked away in her living room and immediately starts weeping. Dong-Kyung keeps it to herself though when she spies her, as the group reconvene and continue eating. Myul-Mang presses Dong-Kyung on her feelings later that evening but it’s no good. She refuses to tell him she loves him and eventually walks away. Elsewhere, Joo-Ik and Hyun-Kyu talk, with the former admitting that he was out of line. Only, this friendship is on the rocks, and it’s made worse by Ji-Na messaging Joo-Ik and asking him what he wanted to say earlier before they were interrupted.. In the morning, Dong-Kyung meets Sonyeoshin outside the hospital. She hands over a spray bottle and admits she had no idea that the fate of the world was resting on her tiny shoulders. As they talk, Sonyeoshin tells Dong-Kyung to love Myul-Mang with all her heart. After all, he’s been created specifically for humanity. As Dong-Kyung heads into the hospital, she’s invited to Doctor Jung’s wedding. Chuckling, he admits he doesn’t have many friends. Only, it’s in 3 months’ time and that’s dangerously close to the time Dong-Kyung has left. Myul-Mang continues to act protectively over Dong-Kyung, watching from afar as she continues on her various different work errands. After meeting Dalgona, she next catches up with Park Young and manages to get her an autograph. This is specifically for Dalgona to make her smile and open for her recovery, Given Park Young knows about her cancer, he signs Dong-Kyung’s hand – much to Myul-Mang’s annoyance. However, Dong-Kyung uses this writer’s knowledge and contemplates just what her fate is. Well, to save the world he tells her the protagonist of this story will be fine as long as they don’t love anyone. However, he too finds Myul-Mang scowling at him from afar and finishes up the story hastily. After the antics of the day, Dong-Kyung invites Myul-Mang to the funeral hall where he shows him her parents. This comes right off the back of asking Dong-Kyung to marry him. Of course, she said no but it doesn’t stop the pair from teasing about it later on. With borrowed time, Myuk-Mang celebrates his birthday with a cake. His wish is to keep Dong-Kyung alive. Although she’s living her best life now, he wants to make sure she survives her ordeal. Only, that’s easier said than done of course. After this, Dong-Kyung decides to break up with Myul-Mang in order to save him (and cross the last thing off her list.) She thanks him for everything and pulls away, walking off from Myul-Mang and her family. She even gives back the red bracelet too. She believes that this way of self-isolation is the only way to save the world and stop everything from slumping into doom. Meanwhile, Joo-Ik heads over to speak his piece to Ji-Na. He mentions their kiss from 9 years ago and puts doubts in her mind about how happy she would have been with Hyun-Kyu. As they talk, Joo-Ik admits that he feels bad about what happened. Dong-Kyung isolates herself but finds it difficult to pull away from everyone that’s led to this point. After all, is it really living if one must live their life in fear like this? Just as she thinks these thoughts, Myul-Mang shows up and encourages her to tell him everything. And just like that she says it. She admits that she wants to live and is afraid of dying. As she begins weeping, Myul-Mang steps up and hugs her, allowing the girl to cry.
The Episode Review
I’m not sure about you guys but Doom at your Service has me torn. On the one hand, the main leads, soundtrack and humour is absolutely on point. Myul-Mang and Dong-Kyung crackle on screen together and their whole doomed love angle is really well-handled. However, I do have a few gripes over how quickly these two have kissed and progressed. At the same time, everything else around that completely falls flat. The ideas surrounding the love triangle feel tired and could easily be from any drama (including the second lead syndrome with Joo-Ik) However, the emotion in this episode perfectly exemplifies the best parts of this show and the acting all round is faultless. Hopefully the rest of the show can pick up its story around this though. Overall, episode 10 is a real emotional rollercoaster and the ending certainly hints that we’ve got some dramatic and heart wrenching moments to come. Kudos to our main leads though, they are singlehandedly elevating this drama!
