This episode gave me the most laughs yet. This drama is really building up nicely and while I'm not sure where it's going, I'm starting to feel like it's somewhere good.

Recap

We open with Mi Kyung waking up in a bathtub, holding her shower basket close. She comes out of the bathroom to get scolded by her younger brother who has just finished cooking. Just as he leaves, Mi Kyung recalls kissing Baek Ho last night, but before she can process her shock, bestie accosts her, teasingly asking what she was up to the night before. Mi Kyung tries to blow Ong Ju off, but it's obvious she saw her kiss Baek Ho. Ong Ju can barely contain her excitement as she asks for the scoop, but Mi Kyung tries to play it off as a drunken mistake. Bestie finally gets her to break down and admit that she made a crazy mistake. She also points out to Mi Kyung that she's probably definitely sexually attracted to Baek Ho, which annoys Mi Kyung even more.

Alone in her room, Mi Kyung considers apologizing to Baek Ho and I can't help laughing at her struggle to determine which approach is best between genuine remorse, a cold and formal apology, or a cutesy one. Cut to Baek Ho, stressed out of his mind, with leaves in his hair as he replays the kiss in his mind. Turns out he was fully conscious when she kissed him, and he spent the entire night trying to figure out why. We see a hilarious montage of him organizing his fridge, ironing, and even gardening to clear his head, but at daybreak, he still has no idea why.

Mi Kyung gets a call from Younger Bro asking her to get ready for an event they both have to be at. She hangs up and when the phone rings again, she picks up the call to yell at him without checking who it is. Baek Ho's cold voice jars her and she hangs up in a panic. Baek Ho calls again, watching her reject his calls from her window until she sees him and runs off. As expected, Baek Ho goes to the house to meet her and she tries to avoid him by exiting through the window, which would normally be a great plan if he wasn't already there, waiting for her.

He tells her they have to talk and she feigns ignorance, asking if she made any mistakes last night and thanking him for bringing her home safely. Baek Ho - and every single living thing tbh - can tell that she's lying, but he humors her and decides to play her game. He asks her when she'll be returning the money she borrowed from him - around 170,000 Won. Mi Kyung tries to deny it, insisting she never borrows money when drunk but he stands his ground. Just as she's about to send it, her younger brother comes to hurry her along, allowing her to create a fake problem and escape. Baek Ho is PISSED - Oh it's on!

Kise watches the Potato Lab's intro video, wondering why Mi Kyung is even there in the first place. His assistant/secretary delivers information about the lab in a flash drive, wondering why they're holding a cooking competition. We're immediately taken to the lab where Mi Kyung, Bestie, and Younger Bro are arriving for the cooking competition. Mi Kyung moves stuff from the truck where one of the covered things in the back is shaped like SEO BAEK HO, who was hidden under the tarp the whole time. Baek Ho finds the team members, who start to panic when they see him. They start trying to explain why they're holding the cooking contest but he's uninterested. His only focus is finding Mi Kyung who happens to be part of the cooking contest.

He finds her just as she's about to start setting up and asks for his 170,000 Won. When she tries to use the setup as an excuse, he takes the table clothes from her and sets up all the tables with remarkable speed and a very VERY dramatic flair. We find out he's worked at a Mexican restaurant before, which explains why he's so needlessly good at this. He asks for the money once he's done and Mi Kyung insists she can't pay yet because she has to set up the dishes. Cut to him doing that, as well as working as a parking attendant and carrying ingredient crates - things he does so perfectly because of all his part-time work experience.

The village elders come to greet Hwan Kyung, thanking him for representing them against the neighboring village in this cooking contest. Just then the opposing team from the neighboring village comes around, and they start dissing each other. Things escalate and they start fighting. Meanwhile, Baek Ho is peacefully peeling potatoes, unaware of the chaos in the background. The whole thing is a mess, and Hwan Kyung's face is shoved into some diced onions, which renders him unable to cook. The elders plead with Baek Ho to represent them as a chef and help them save face against their enemies from the opposing village. He refuses at first, citing their previous behavior towards him, but Mi Kyung convinces him using his beloved concept of principles. This is not him helping them just because; it's a rite of passage and an exchange for his being welcome into the community. He eventually agrees.

The cooking contest starts in earnest with Baek Ho disguising himself in a wig and a mask. He then proceeds to do a very childish, very exaggerated cooking show contest with the opposing chef. I can't stress how much I love the unseriousness of this drama for real. They start cooking for real and the lab members who also happen to be judges speculate over the stature of the cook beside Mi Kyung and how much he looks like Baek Ho, but they dismiss their hypothesis by themselves, stating that he would never.

It's time to judge the dishes and Mi Kyung quickly adds her own dish made from the ugly potatoes other chefs rejected and originally named 'Ugly Mashed Potatoes'. After one of the judges is forced to taste it, his reaction tells us about just how great it tastes, but they agree not to tell her, as Mi Kyung will end up bragging about it for six months, and nobody wants that. Baek Ho tastes it as well but gives no reaction. The results are announced, and Baek Ho's dish beats the opposing team's dish. This seems to be more important than winning, as the village elders celebrate as though they have just won the contest.

Mi Kyung invites Baek Ho to a place where they can discuss privately, thanking him for his help with the cooking contest and confessing about not forgetting the kiss. She apologizes, expecting him to berate her or scold her but he shocks her, and me, when he asks her to go out with him. Shocked, Mi Kyung asks if he likes her and he replies in the negative. She asks why he wants to date her then and in true So Baek Ho style, he says robotically that it is simple proportional logic;

• People who kiss are people in a relationship

• Kim Mi Kyung and Seo Baek Ho kissed

• Kim Mi Kyung and Seo Baek Ho are not in a relationship

Therefore, Kim Mi Kyung and Seo Baek Ho should be in a relationship.

Mi Kyung is shocked, disgusted, annoyed, befuddled, and more. She's never heard this sort of proposal before, and honestly, same, girl. Meanwhile, Baek Ho argues that she's broken his principled system, and he has to fix it. She sarcastically apologizes for kissing him when he hates it so much, and he argues that he never said he hates it, which makes her confused for a moment. Regardless, she urges him to forget about it, but he insists, asking her to take responsibility. Mi Kyung refuses and his continued logical questions make her yell that she would kiss anyone if they were super hot, which he notes. He asks what flower she likes and she storms off, yelling a random plant name.

Back home, Baek Ho researches the plant Mi Kyung mentioned. He also spends some time smiling at his reflection, recalling the comment about him being super hot.

Ong Ju takes Hwan Kyung and Mi Kyung to a beauty parlor where they are running deals for young people to get eyebrow tattoos. This place seems shady which makes our ensemble scared, but they can't escape anymore. The next day, Mi Kyung can't bear to take off her sunglasses at work. She's finally convinced to and oh my... her eyebrows... oh my. She calmly takes her colleagues' teasing, even posing for pictures, to their delight. Baek Ho is shocked when he sees her and wonders if she's okay. Her mean responses have nothing on him, as he asks again about her favorite flowers since he couldn't find the one she mentioned last time. Back at Wonhan, the Chairwoman is around and would like to see Baek Ho. She takes Kise and his sister-in-law with her.

The Chairwoman walks around the lab while Mi Kyung hides with three other colleagues, but she sees them and calls for them. The employees come out of hiding and greet her, but Mi Kyung and her brows make the strongest impression on the Chairwoman. I personally hate that Kise, her ex, is witnessing this. Ugh.

While the chairwoman tours the lab, Kise breaks apart from the entourage to talk to Mi Kyung. He asks her to pretend she doesn't know him and offers to compensate her for her silence, while she just tries to control her temper. Just as she's about to leave, he comments on her shampoo being the same, and this sets her off. She proceeds to actually beat him up. LOL.

The Chairwoman has a meeting with Baek Ho, Kise, and Sis-in-law about the possibility of shutting down the lab and Baek Ho argues that it's not time yet, shutting down Kise's arguments in short, factual sentences. The chairwoman shuts down their argument before it starts and asks Baek Ho for his downsizing plan.

Baek Ho calls Mi Kyung to his office and she comes in, reminding him of their agreement to keep private matters private. He can't just call her to his office because he wants to date her. Before she can say any more, Baek Ho says she is fired.

Her shocked face echoes mine as the episode comes to an end.

This ending is something I never foresaw. Of all the things Baek Ho could do right now, firing her was not even on my list so this ending is very shocking for sure. However, I'm looking forward to exploring the new, complex state of their relationship in the coming episodes. Considering Baek Ho's logic around their dating, I don't think he'll stop wanting to date her, even despite his decision to fire her. I'm excited to see them navigate this, while I'm also hoping that the drama can start showing us more backstories around all those hints they've been gleefully dropping.