In episode 9 of Once Upon A Small Town, Ji-yul tells Ja-young that he does not have a girlfriend as she takes a walk with Sang-hyeon. She is shocked that he was interrupting them to reveal that information but Ji-yul panics and states that he just mentioned it to avoid confusion. Sang-hyeon asks why Min claims that she is dating him and Ji-yul explains that she was his ex.
Ji-yul and Sang-hyeon are bickering about something but Ja-young senses the tension between the two boys and takes Nurungji away.
Ja-young and Min are sitting in Ja-young’s living room talking. Ja-young listens as Min tells her story of coming to town to try and win back Ji-yul’s affections. Ji-yul is in bed, frustrated with his current situation. ..
Sang-hyeon is at the cafe as he watches the pair of earrings he had gotten for Ja-young after his trip to Seoul but was unable to give to her. The next morning, Ja-young and Min try to dress up for work. Ja-young lets Min borrow some of her makeup as the latter wants to impress the vet. Min forces Ja-young to wear makeup and helps the cop get ready for work. Ja-young is at home, trying on different outfits before deciding on a dress she plans on wearing to work. She applies some makeup, but decides against wearing any accessories. Meanwhile, Min is at work trying to impress her new boss with a polished appearance. She borrows some of her colleague’s accessories and succeeds in impressing them. ..
Ja-young is worried that her makeup is heavier than usual but Min is convinced that the cop looks very pretty and should keep the makeup on. Ja-young worries that the people in the town will gossip about her but Min claims that she should not pay them any heed and do what she feels like. The two girls head to the cafe where Sang-hyeon compliments Ja-young for how pretty she looked.
Min snaps a photo of Sang-hyeon and he runs after her to get her to delete it. Min sees them and joins in their conversation as Sang-hyeon wishes her luck in her pursuit of winning Ji-yul over. At the clinic, Nurse Yeong-suk and Dr Choi share a moment when he steps on a water hose and she ends up drenching him with the pipe. Just then, Min arrives at the clinic and is greeted by Seon-dong who asks her if she is dating Ji-yul. He claims that it can’t be true as Ji-yul keeps looking at Ja-young and possibly even likes him. ..
Ja-young’s colleagues are curious about her makeup but she brushes their questions away. Sang-hyeon sends Ji-yul a photo of Ja-young with makeup on and the vet is shocked by how pretty she looks. Min interrupts his thoughts and greets him with coffee. Yeong-suk informs Ji-yul that he was needed at the shed for a distress call and Min offers to join him and help out considering she too is a vet.
Ji-yul asks Dr. Choi to help him with the goat, and Yeong-suk agrees to join him. Ja-young is helping villagers just like every other day, but she spots Ji-yul’s car by the shed and looks around for him. She is a little overwhelmed and possibly jealous, but Ji-yul sees her. ..
She leaves them and washes her makeup off. As she is leaving, she runs into Min and Ji-yul who are leaving too. Min is upset that Ja-young removed her makeup and the trio chat. Ji-yul offers Ja-young a towel as she gets a call from a villager asking for help. On the phone, Ja-young mentions that Sang-hyeon will not be able to join as he was busy. Ji-yul offers to join her and help and Min is shocked about the change in his behaviour.
Ja-young is helping the villager make peach wine while Ji-yul and Min tag along with her. The trio work together but Ji-yul is rather chirpy talking to Ja-young. Min notices the way he looks at the cop and asks her about her relationship with Sang-hyeon. Ja-young claims that she was only friends with him but adds that she used to have a crush on him as a child but not anymore. She mentions that Sang-hyeon was her first love and Min hopes that he is Ja-young’s last love too.
Ji-yul insists that their childhood crush was nothing more than a childish infatuation. He goes on to say that Ja-young could be considered his first love, as they were close friends during their youth. Ja-young is visibly flustered and sends Ji-yul away, insisting that Sang-hyeon is hers and only hers. The vet is angry at the fact that Ja-young has chosen someone else over him. ..
Ji-yul and Ja-young discuss what Ji-yul said and she is relieved when Ja-young explains that they only used to be friends. One of the villagers asks Min to join her inside to taste test the peach wine. Just then, Ji-yul returns and claims that Ja-young is avoiding eye contact with him. He follows her to the shed asking her if she responded to Sang-hyeon’s proposal.
Ja-young claims that it was none of his business and asks him to worry about Min’s feelings for him. Ji-yul states that Min was his past and claims that he no longer has any residual feelings for her but was just not kicking her out because he knows how persistent she is. Ji-yul asks if Ja-young wants to date Sang-hyeon but she claims that she is still thinking about it. He adds that dating a person one is familiar with can not be exciting.
Ja-young believes that a comfortable relationship is key to a successful relationship, in contrast to the feeling of getting butterflies when dating someone she is comfortable with. Ji-yul believes that the key aspect of being in love is having your heart race. By now, Ja-young and Ji-yul are standing very close to each other, but Ja-young leaves to go back to work after hearing a noise outside. Min spots Ji-yul and asks him to have a conversation with her. ..
Ji-yul and Ja-young were helping a woman save her dog from being killed by her husband. Mal-geum sent over some corn for them to eat, and when they refused, she called them out. Ji-yul and Ja-young started to kiss, but Min intervened. Ja-young was shocked by the kiss and started to run away.
It is as clear as day that Ji-yul is in love with Ja-young at the beginning of the episodes but the angst is what makes it more fun. We are rooting for the couple but there needs to be some angst to make their romance seem so impactful when they actually start dating. The only catch is that I feel terrible for Sang-hyeon because he really is the best boy.
Ji-yul needs to be more open to Min and the way she kissed him all of a sudden was really irritating because he was not drawing the line clearly. I think the misunderstanding is going to cause more angst among Ji-yul and Ja-young.
I think that Ja-young needs to put herself first and I think that Ji-yul defending her against Mal-geum is going to make her realise why she is being too nice. The episodes in this show are too short, I wish they would have made the episodes as long as a regular K-drama.
