Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Cinderella Plan

Episode 5 of Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale begins with the narrator saying that a kiss is just the beginning, not a happy ending. At present, Cha-min watches from the sidelines as Ri-na and Do-hong look down on Jae-rim. He stalks up to them and offers Jae-rim his hand. This angers Dan-a who slaps him and walks off. Unperturbed, he gives Jae-rim his jacket and takes her to his office.

Alone, he bursts out that he cannot stand others picking on his employees while she worries about his face. He jokes about his tooth popping out and Dan-a’s anger management issues. Jae-rim says he should check up on Dan-a but he reveals that they have a business arrangement. He doesn’t want to check up on her but Jae-rim. He even compliments her outfit which confuses her. 

Cha-min runs into Do-hong who tells him that men like them should not break class to date a poor person like Jae-rim. Cha-min pretends to misunderstand and wonders if Do-hong likes him. It cuts to a flashback to when Do-hong was poor and his love replaced him with a rich man.

Back in the hall, Jae-rim apologises to Ri-na. But the heiress mocks since only poor people apologise even when they are not wrong. This is why her value will never increase. Jae-rim tears up as she realises she can never rise up her station. Cha-min offers to help her and kisses her in front of everyone.

Once outside, she wonders why he is helping her since he hates her. He declares that he wants to help her feel loved. She misunderstands it as pity and they bicker. He tries to explain that the kiss will show her as someone in demand as she could capture even a CEO like him. She storms off in a taxi but keeps giggling as she replays the kiss. She asks the taxi driver if a guy can kiss even without feelings and the driver goes off on another tangent of beating up a womanizer like that.

Similarly, Cha-min cannot stop thinking about the kiss. Meanwhile, Dan-a creates a ruckus at home as she snaps at her uncles who are trying to eat. They find it ironic that thugs like them are scared of her and they must take down whoever made her mad.

As for Jae-rim, she reaches home to find Dr. Gu showing up with guests for her step-mom so he can win Su-jin’s heart. It’s chaos as Su-jin is not interested, So-ra gives all the food to Jae-rim for working hard, and Hwa-jin feeds her before sneaking in some herself.

Then we have Cha-min taking out his frustration in his Hapkido class. He confesses that his mom was a Cinderella who took all the money and divorced his dad. But he refuses to be stuck like his dad.

Next day at work, it is awkward. Cha-min pretends that the kiss is no big deal, Jae-rim gets offended and compares the kiss to a worm. But that’s not the reality. Cha-min is worried he will come off as clingy while Jae-rim is sad that the kiss did not affect him like it did her. The staff try to get the truth out of them but both deflect. 

Right at that moment, Do-hong shows up and asks Jae-rim about the kiss. She claims Cha-min has a drunken habit of kissing poles but he doesn’t believe it. He invites her to his studio and even gifts her a hairpin. As he leaves, he runs into Cha-min and declares that he won’t stand down.

Internally, Cha-min is excited as it was his plan all along – the kiss would make Do-hong want what he cannot have. But Cha-min doesn’t understand why he is angry that Jae-rim might actually end up with Do-hong. While Jae-rim wonders why Do-hong is nice to her again, staff member, Guk-jin keeps insisting that Cha-min likes her as they have never seen their CEO so out of character.

She doesn’t believe him but decides to test it. She visits Cha-min who makes fun of Do-hong’s hair clip. But he is instantly jealous when he hears that Jae-rim is going to Do-hong’s studio. She suddenly asks for another kiss to check something and he is flustered. At the end of Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale Episode 5, he agrees and she stalks over to him.

The Episode Review

Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale Episode 5 continues with the same goofy, light-hearted plot despite entering the romance part. Of course, Cha-min’s feelings continue to grow for Jae-rim but he wouldn’t be our babygirl if he also sulked that their Cinderella plan is working. And despite this K-drama being a comedy first and foremost, it is always surprising when they sneak in some satire and criticism.

We get that in the form of Do-hong who tries to fit in with the elite by being rude to Jae-rim but ends up breaking his own rules when he sees Cha-min kiss her. It’s like Cha-min puts it, Do-hong is an idiot for wanting something only after he realises he may not be able to easily get it. A pretty clever take on the “men only like the chase” comment. 

The stepfamily deserves a shoutout too cause every time they are on screen, they are just so hilarious. Unlike Cinderella’s stepfamily, the trio not only likes Jae-rim but also dotes on her, yes, even Hwa-jin. Can’t wait to see more of their antics, especially when Su-jin learns that Jae-rim is helping Dr. Gu get with her.