Aahana Swrup
In ‘Stop Line,’ episode 3 of ‘Love Next Door,’ the Korean rom-com show, Bae Seok-ryu and Choi Seung-hyo reminisce back to their past as the choices they have made as adults become a bit too heavy for them both. As unemployment brings an unnerving break for the overachieving Seok-ryu, she contemplates returning to the workforce instead of discovering her real passion. Meanwhile, two professional opportunities stretch Seung-hyo in different directions. As a result, somehow, the next-door neighbors find their way back to a time capsule they had buried on school grounds more than a decade ago. In searching for their past selves, will the two be able to solve their current predicaments? SPOILERS AHEAD!
Seok-ryu Feels Lost After Greip
Previously, Seok-ryu’s family, especially her mother, Mi-sook, took the news of her daughter’s return home—unemployed and recently unengaged—quite badly. Nevertheless, since then, she has changed her tune, allowing Seok-ryu the time and space she needs to re-evaluate her life. Still, ever the perfectionist, the woman’s idea of relaxing involves scheduling her unemployment activities and allocating specific time to things like video games, naps, and even space-out sessions.
Seok-ryu attempts to fill out her time by hanging out with her friend Mo-eum and even manages to convince Seung-hyo to come out and read comics with her during his free time. Nonetheless, their jobs only allow them to humor their recently unemployed friend so much. Likewise, her family—including her younger brother Dong-Jin, seems occupied with their own commitments. Eventually, while she hovers around her family’s restaurant, Seok-ryu runs into her old high school teacher, Yu, and ends up getting roped into delivering a presentation to her students.
Of course, Yu asks her to deliver the presentation under the impression that she’s still an employee of the American company Greip. For her part, Seok-ryu also doesn’t correct her teacher and talks to her class from the perspective of an internationally employed worker. Afterward, she can’t help but feel miserable about the situation—most likely disappointed in herself for not revealing the truth. As the days have passed by since she resigned from Greip, Seok-ryu has realized she isn’t the kind of person who can sit on her hands. Even so, she isn’t sure what her identity is outside of her Greip background since she gave all her adult life to the job.
Seung-hyo’s Professional Dilemma
While Seok-ryu faces uncertainty in her lack of a professional life, Seung-hyo goes through an almost opposite problem. He had his business partner, Yoon, who had been worried about the client pool for their brand-new firm, Atelier In, since its opening. Therefore, when they’re approached for a big project—a retirement center—it’s a great opportunity. However, at the same time, Seung-hyo finds himself gravitating toward another potential project: his old high school’s remodeling. His apparent inclination toward the latter remains evident as he continues to work towards both goals.
Eventually, the same becomes more prominent as Seung-hyo and Yoon meet with the retirement center clients. As it turns out, the company isn’t interested in seeing Atelier In’s new designs or ideas. Instead, they want Seung-hyo to replicate pre-existing designs and blatantly plagiarize their work. Since proving such a matter in court is complicated, Atelier In’s morals will be the only thing standing in the way of a future partnership. Expectedly, Seung-hyo is fiercely against the idea. Nonetheless, the intensity of the situation leads to an argument between him and Yoon, wherein the latter makes a particularly callous remark about the other man’s past.
Teenage Seung-hyo and His Olympic Dreams
One of the most fascinating developments in this episode emerges from the narrative’s flashback sequences into Seung-hyo and Seok-ryu’s past. The two have simultaneously found themselves in the position of feeling unsettled in their professional lives, which naturally compels them to reminisce about their school days. As a teenager, Seung-hyo had been an exceptional swimmer and even competed on a national level. When he participated in the 2007 championship, Seok-ryu was his loudest cheerleader from the stands. Even though he pretended to be annoyed at the same, his happiness at being able to share his win with his friend remained evident.
Likewise, despite their love-hate relationship, Seok-Ryu never backs down from showcasing her support for his talent. After winning the championship, Seung-hyo was selected for the national team for the Olympics. The morning when he was set to depart for the international competition, Seok-ryu gave him a special present: a custom embroidered towel commemorating his Olympic participation. However, even though the young boy was a hair’s breadth away from achieving his dream, his aspiration ended up being crushed after a car crashed into him.
Thus, although he regained his ability to walk, Seung-hyo lost his ability to swim, rendering his Olympic dreams for naught. As such, in the present, Seung-hyo—unable to disconnect himself from his sentimental past—wants to work on the school gym remodeling project. For the same reason, he also seeks out the time capsule that he, Seok-ryu, and Mo-eum had buried around ten years ago.
Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo’s Time Capsule Houses an Exciting Secret
After Seung-hyo’s disastrous meeting, he runs into Seok-ryu, who is also undertaking a professional engagement at a town cafe. Her exceptional portfolio managed to attract the attention of a job recruiter who already has multiple job offers lined up for her. Since Seok-ryu has been feeling off-center because she no longer has a career to define herself through, she’s contemplating returning to the workforce. However, once Seung-hyo learns about this, he encourages her to keep looking for her dream instead of giving in to convention.
Although the advice is sane—if a little more in line with what he wants to hear himself—the interaction ends in a disagreement as Seung-hyo’s past is unpleasantly brought up again. Naturally, Seok-ryu leaves the interaction feeling even worse than before. As such, afterward, late at night, she finds herself back on the school grounds where Seung-hyo and she previously tried to find the time capsule with no success. Although she doesn’t find the capsule this time either, she does find Seung-hyo at the gym. Apparently, he had the same thought process as her and had returned for the capsule—which now sits in his hand.
After Seung-hyo digs out teenage Seok-ryu’s letter to herself, it jumpstarts a chase between the two since the former’s instinct lies in ridiculing the latter for her letter. As Seung-hyo jumps into the pool to escape the others’ annoyed wrath, the moment somehow turns sincere—as it often does with the pair. Somewhere between teaching her how to float above the water and asking about her past, Seung-hyo reminisces about how Seok-ryu had helped him get out of his slump after he had realized he could no longer swim.
Even though Seok-ryu had done so by pestering Seung-hyo, breaking into his house, and cursing him out, she had managed to make him realize he could have a new dream. Thus, if he could start his life anew, who is to say she can’t as well? As the interaction unfolds between the two, the narrative utilizes the opportune moment to flashback to the past and reveal a crucial piece of the duo’s story. In the past, when Seung-hyo wrote the letter, he had asked his future self if he had confessed to his feelings for Seok-ryu yet! Thus, the episode ends with a thrilling development in the duo’s past friendship, reshaping their current dynamic.
Read More: Love Next Door Episode 2 Recap: Hate
