Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Hot and Cold

Episode 8 of Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale begins with Cha-min believing that Do-hong has invited Jae-rim for a “ramen and chill”. He is sheepish once she reveals that it is her family trying to reconcile with her. He promises to prove himself later by swapping places and lets her go. He is annoyed that his Cinderella leaves for meat while Jae-rim actually wishes he had tried harder to make her stay.

Jae-rim arrives home to see that the family is drunk. She apologises for everything and claims that she acted mean and indifferent to them because she never thought they could be family. So-ra assures her they are family and even nags Su-jin for being disheartened for dating the wrong guy. Jae-rim promises to be there for them and Hwa-jin gives her a crushing hug. However, that night, Jae-rim can’t stop thinking about Cha-min.

Meanwhile, Cha-min’s dad admits himself to the hospital, he’s not sick, he’s just faking an illness for attention. Cha-min tries to set him up but the dad is furious as he still cannot forgive his wife for leaving him. He claims that women pretend to love so that they can use them. 

In a flashback, we see that Cha-min is told that his mother is having an affair and she leaves him. He falls and scars his finger while trying to run to her.

At present, Do-hong brings Lily Cho, a producer to the club. As everyone gets together to put up the Christmas decorations, Lily avoids Cha-min. Meanwhile, Dan-a and Do-hong watch him looking at Jae-rim. Cha-min is upset by his father’s words and stuffs himself with a fortune cookie that says he will marry soon.

Later, Ri-na makes Jae-rim slog for fun and keeps insulting her that both Cha-min and Do-hong are out of her league. Jae-rim tries to stay calm but recalls Cha-min saying she matters. She challenges Ri-na to a fight who runs to Do-hong. Annoyed, he reveals that he likes Jae-rim. Alone, a jealous Cha-min refuses to listen to Jae-rim who explains that she doesn’t like Do-hong.

She wants to confess that she likes him but Cha-min recalls his dad’s words. He calls her out for using Do-hong and being insincere. Upset, she storms off. He is shocked at what he said and Do-hong arrives at the worst time possible to boast. Cha-min punches him and both start fighting.

They create a scene which leads to Jae-rim hitting Cha-min and Lily hitting Do-hong. She actually meant to hit Cha-min which no one notices. Meanwhile, Cha-min is annoyed that Jae-rim didn’t take his side and she is confused by his hot and cold behaviour. As an apology, Lily and Do-hong take her out for drinks while Cha-min drinks alone. He is confused himself as he likes her but can’t be with her.

Meanwhile, once Do-hong dozes off, Lily confesses to Jae-rim that she is Cha-min’s mom and we finally learn the whole story. Her mother-in-law hated her and kicked her out. To make sure Mr. Moon and Cha-min never went after her, the matriarch spun a story that Lily is a twisted Cinderella who stole Moon’s money and ran off with her paramour.

When Cha-min fell and scarred his finger, Lily tried to stop the car but the driver refused. Later, she tried to get to him with the help of his nanny but the mother-in-law found out and told Cha-min that he had been kidnapped. Lily had no power and she has only finally returned after becoming a successful businesswoman.

At the hospital, Su-jin overhears two nurses saying Dr. Gu is practising a proposal and is shocked to learn that it’s for her. He proposes to her, and to make it up to her, he shares that she can use him however she wants. They have a rap battle as he declares his love and she responds in kind. While she is still annoyed, his efforts have won her over and they smile.

As for Jae-rim, she finally understands Cha-min and tries to dote on him. She invites him for a meal which is a ploy for Lily to meet him. She leaves the two alone as Lily tells Cha-min the truth. However, what hurts him is that she took so long to come back to him. He believes she wants something from him and rushes out where Jae-rim is waiting.

He declares that she has crossed a line and rants that if his mother loved him, she wouldn’t have let him suffer for so long. He doesn’t believe love exists and if it does, he can’t see it. Jae-rim hugs him and assures him that love exists, all he needs to do is feel his mom’s love for him. At the end of Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale Episode 8, Cha-min hugs Jae-rim back while in the restaurant, Lily cries alone.

The Episode Review

Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale Episode 8 keeps surprising us with the way it handles these angsty and deep storylines. Instead of dragging it and ruining the pace and tone of the show, the writers neatly weave it into the episode. We get a good balance of comedy in the first half with Lily trying to control her son but disciplining the wrong boy followed by the melodrama in the end which explains Cha-min’s traumatic past.

The father is also used as a hilarious plot point to influence Cha-min’s thinking process and add to the conflict. We again see this balance during Jae-rim’s reconciliation with her family as her sisters get drunk but So-ra, the mom gets her point successfully across to Jae-rim.

The only weak point we’d say so far in this K-drama is Su-jin agreeing to Dr. Gu’s proposal. We haven’t seen him redeem himself yet so it doesn’t make sense why she’d say yes. “His consistent efforts won me over” reason is not enough Su-jin… Hope the writers can clarify this in the final week.