Early Access: Yumi's Cells 2 E12 (Patreon)

E12. The thing that I like about this show, is that both love interests - Woong and Babi - are characters whom I genuinely like.

Show's done a great job of endearing them both to me, and I don't have ill feelings towards either of them, even though they've both hurt Yumi in one way or another.

I like how Show's made the effort to demonstrate to us that neither Woong nor Babi is perfect; our story's really about Yumi, and what Yumi wants for herself.

Of course, we'd all have our personal opinions about which guy is a better match for Yumi, but ultimately, it's Yumi's choice to make, and I'm curious to see where this goes. With this show, you really never can tell where we'll end up, right?

At this moment, though, I have to confess to being on #TeamBabi, because he's officially Yumi's boyfriend now, and therefore Woong shouldn't be trying to mess things up.

Plus, even though I have a great deal of affection for Woong, I can't easily forget that when push had come to shove, he'd made the conscious choice to give up on his relationship with Yumi, for the sake of his pride.

That choice to give up is a pretty weighted one, in my book. Meaning, that docks more points in my book, than Babi's momentary wavering, because at least in Babi's case, he continued to choose Yumi.

I typically tend to roll my eyes when dramas pit male leads against each other in petty ways, but I must say that I was quite amused by the way both Woong's and Babi's cells declare war, and start charging at the other party, with war cries and everything.

I'm really quite amused that when Woong makes all these barbed statements about Babi, it triggers Babi into making a counter-attack, with his trademark eloquence coming into play in a way that I haven't yet seen - with barbed wire attached.

"Are you telling me what kind of woman Yumi is right now? I would know more about Yumi than you. I've probably dated Yumi longer than you. And I'm currently Yumi's boyfriend, too.

What you just said sounds like advice that someone who was at least Yumi's boyfriend, family, or best friend would have the right to give. But what are you to Yumi right now, Mr. Goo Woong? Aren't you just nothing to her?

If you're saying this because you have some sort of relationship with Yumi, then you're disproving what you just said yourself. That Yumi isn't that kind of person.

So when you say there's no way Yumi would do that because she's not that kind of person, in the end, you're saying that you don't have any relationship with Yumi.

So if a man who has no relation to Yumi is trying to show that he knows about her in front of her boyfriend, then what's the conclusion? It means that you're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, Mr. Goo Woong."

And then Babi closes it all by backing off slightly, with a smile.

"Are you offended by what I said? Then I'll apologize. I was just confirming your relationship with her. I didn't mean it in a bad way."

Ooh. Burnnn.

I feel like this is another glimpse into Babi's other facets, that we haven't yet seen, because he's generally so sweet and easygoing. Like I said before, I do think that this is important; I like feeling like we're getting to know Babi better, even though it's a bit on the slower side of things.

As fond as I am of Woong as a character, I do think that he deserves the burn, this round, for trying to meddle in Yumi's relationship, albeit indirectly.

Also, Woong's attempt at trying to make Babi look bad, by waving his CEO name card around, was also in poor taste, I feel.

I'm glad that Yumi shows up when she does, because she's the one to settle all of this. All that matters in this situation, is Yumi's opinion after all, right?

And, in this case, Yumi's got her priorities clear. Even though she does care somewhat for Woong, Babi's much higher on the priority list.

I would say that it's wise of Yumi to separate the two guys, at the first opportunity.

Afterwards, though, we're brought back to the uncomfortable reality that Babi and Yumi are still walking on eggshells around each other, which bums me out, but which I understand.

The whole dating situation between Control-Z and Ruby feels a bit random, but 1, it's fairly entertaining to see how they go from wanting to reject each other, to wanting to date each other, and 2, it functions as a catalyst for Yumi to think about sexytimes with Babi - which is more important to our central story.

It's a good reflection of where their relationship is at now - all polite and careful - where before, things had been much more natural and spontaneous.

The so-called sexy signal which turned out to be nothing after all, and the missed timing of them taking turns to wear their couple rings all add to the awkwardness that's been coming to a slow boil between them.

The feeling of emotional distance between them just keeps getting amplified, particularly when Babi leaves for his business trip - and it all comes to a screeching head, when Yumi discovers that Babi never left Seoul.

That was a completely earth-tilting moment for me, not gonna lie.

I couldn't think of a reason that could explain why Babi would be lying about a business trip.

But then, when Yumi confronts him and the truth comes spilling out, I feel like I can understand.

With the emotional distance that's been growing between them, they haven't been communicating in deep or meaningful ways, and everything's been confined to surface niceties, most likely because both of them had been afraid to rock the boat.

This second chance must have felt so fragile, after all.

With that emotional distance, I can imagine that they would find it harder and harder to talk to each other about difficult things.

And so, even though I think it's a rather bizarre situation, I can accept that Babi couldn't bring himself to tell Yumi about the accident, and I can accept that he himself couldn't quite understand why either.

What these two have needed, for all the time that they've had together in this second go-around, is a shot of pure, unfiltered honesty in talking about how they feel about each other, and this moment is it.

The way Yumi asks if it's because he regrets getting back together with her, and because he doesn't feel the way he used to, is exactly the primer that Babi needs, to be able to articulate that it's exactly the opposite; that he'd felt afraid that Yumi regretted it, and that it had looked that way to him.

The tears rising to the surface; the way Babi moves in to hold her, and kiss her, with the floodgates of emotion, hunger and tenderness wide open; it's all such viscerally knee-wobbling stuff.

In this moment, there is no doubt; only a confirmation of their enduring love for each other.

When Babi then tearfully broaches the subject of marriage, it feels like he's skipped a few steps in articulating what he means to say, but I like what I think he's trying to say: I don't regret it at all, and I would choose you a million times over - let's get married, because I choose you, all over again.

Swoon. Faint. I can't help it. 🫠

Next episode notes will be out on: Wednesday, 10 August 2022!