In Dynamite Kiss episode 3, Jihyeok tries to get a newly hired Darim to quit within her first few days at Natural Bebe’s Mother TF team.
Since its first week, SBS drama Dynamite Kiss has ascended to the top of the OTT National TV Series Chart, ranked third in the OTT Global Non-English Chart, and entered the Top 10 in 83 countries. The successful series continues this week with Dynamite Kiss episode 3, entitled “Ping, Pong, Ping, Pong,” which shows Jihyeok and Darim reuniting after their not-quite fling in Jeju, their feelings shifting as they are now forced to work together on the same team.
Also Read: What To Know About Dynamite Kiss: Plot, Cast, and Release Date
New hire
Dynamite Kiss episode 3 begins with Darim psyching herself up for her interview at Natural Bebe. Her nails, the last remnants of her time in Jeju, have been removed. Despite her insecurities, she thinks of her mother and Jihyeok’s words about pushing through and getting stronger, and she enters the room confidently.
We find out that Jihyeok was not actually present at her interview because he got bored and “went to the bathroom.” Darim answers the questions of Jihyeok’s sister, Director Gong, energetically, though her lack of qualifications is all that matters to Director Gong.
Darim is worried that she failed her interview and vents to Seon-u, who expresses his confidence and admiration in her. While they’re talking under the Grandfather Tree, Darim receives a call that she’s been accepted at her first job ever.
First day
After a brief visit to her mom at the hospital, Darim heads off to her first day at work, where she meets the other members of the Mother TF team. Each of them has a very distinctly “tita” personality that reminds her of her own mother, as they bring smelly food into the office, have baby wipes at the ready, and talk like they’ve known each other forever. She also meets her team leader—Gong Jihyeok.
Jihyeok can do nothing but laugh in disbelief when the members of the Mother TF team are introduced as mothers with husbands and children. Darim is equally shocked, as Jihyeok said he was a consultant with his own business.
When Jihyeok confronts Darim about what happened between them in Jeju, she thinks on her feet and says that she went on a vacation after a fight with her husband. It was the first time she had been on her own without her family, and she had simply gotten swept up in the moment.
Anything for art
In Dynamite Kiss episode 3, Hayeong and Jihyeok are still set up to be married, though Jihyeok has made it clear that he’s not in love with her at all. Hayeong is still interested in him despite this, saying he’s different from the other rich guys who just brag about their money.
Hayeong’s family makes an appearance at the art hall. A conversation with her father shows that he doesn’t think much of her position as an art curator and only wants her to make money, keep quiet, and get married.
This only motivates Hayeong further to put on an excellent photography exhibition. She seeks Seon-u, who now works as a photographer of babies at his own studio. She shows him a picture of his ex-wife from his portfolio, saying that she wants to feature it as the main artwork of her exhibit. Seon-u, not wanting to revisit his past, turns her down.
Just quit already
In Dynamite Kiss episode 3, Jihyeok asks Darim to turn in her resignation. He tells her how he had searched for her after she ran away, worried that something bad might have happened to her. Despite the humorous nature of their previous confrontation, this scene reveals Jihyeok’s deep sorrow and his genuine concern for Darim. Darim understands that she hurt him and readies her resignation letter, but then she remembers that her first priority is her mother and convinces herself to endure it all for her sake.
The next day, the two of them have another tense conversation, which ends with Darim telling Jihyeok that she won’t leave and will do anything except resign. This leads Jihyeok to volunteer the Mother TF team (just Darim) to test the durability of baby bottles at an outdoor lab for five nights in a row, hoping that the difficult task will push her to quit.
At the outdoor lab, Darim wonders aloud why Jihyeok is doing all of this just because they kissed, saying it was just like a game of ping pong. Jihyeok is clearly very upset that Darim doesn’t think much of the kiss that meant everything to him.
Baby bottle testing
Darim works diligently for 36 hours. She sends a text every hour on the dot to update Jihyeok of her progress. When she misses a text, Jihyeok drives to the campsite to check in on her, assuming that she had fallen asleep and he had grounds to fire her.
When he arrives, he sees that a fire has broken out. Thinking that Darim is inside the burning tent, he frantically tries to put it out. Darim arrives shortly after with a fire extinguisher, having just come back from a bathroom break.
Jihyeok immediately hugs her, relieved that she is safe, but he quickly recovers and tells her that she should be fired for her carelessness. Darim angrily defends herself since she knows that the task was unfairly difficult. Jihyeok storms away, leaving his phone behind. Darim picks it up, noticing that he still kept the four-leaf clover she had given him in his phone case. Jihyeok snatches it back and drops the four-leaf clover on the ground as he drives away.
Fake husband
Jinhui, one of Darim’s coworkers, sees Darim and Seon-u grocery shopping. After pulling another “fake boyfriend” move, Darim asks Seon-u to pretend to be her husband for the six-month duration of her internship, just long enough for her to be promoted to a full-time position. Seon-u reluctantly agrees.
Mother TF team, fighting!
It turns out that Mr. Ma, the marketing team leader and one of Director Gong’s underlings, had been sent to sabotage the lab.
Jihyeok stops showing up for work. The Mother TF team feels disheartened upon discovering that their creation was solely to secure a position for the chairman’s son. Darim fires them up, echoing Seon-u’s words and saying they’d be indispensable as long as they’re good workers. The whole team works hard at making a comprehensive report on the new baby bottles.
Darim delivers the report to Jihyeok, since it needs his approval. Jihyeok has been spending his free time visiting his mother and working out. Darim comes upon him at the swimming pool. She gets on her knees and asks him to approve their report, if not for her, then for her other team members. She tells him how they need this job to feed their families, unlike Jihyeok, who is the son of a chairman of a large company.
Jihyeok lashes out and throws the report into the pool. Darim dives into the pool to retrieve the report that Jihyeok threw in. She tiptoes all the way to the deep end and begins to flail, but Jihyeok dives in and saves her.
Dynamite Kiss Episode 3 Reaction and What to Expect Next
Honestly, get a man so down bad for you that he’ll save your life three times, even after he thinks you lied to him. Conflicts like these work best when the audience doesn’t feel like one of the two leads is clearly on the “right side” of the argument.
At the start of the Dynamite Kiss episode 3, it felt like Jihyeok was completely justified in his feelings, as anyone in his position would probably feel hurt to learn that someone you fell in love with was already in a committed relationship. Jang Kiyong played Jihyeok with such earnest desperation, it’s hard not to feel bad for him.
However, when Jihyeok started being outright unfair to Darim, having her stay up for five nights and throwing her hard work into the water, it felt like Darim was also justified. Even though she’s layers deep in lies, her motivations are pure. And she’s absolutely right in calling him out for acting like a petty child and abandoning his responsibilities just because he’s rich.
There seems like lots to look forward to in the next episode, with Jihyeok and Seon-u finally meeting and there being some sort of public show designed by Director Gong that might blow Darim’s cover. Jihyeok also fireman-carries Darim in the preview, keeping the fans well-fed until 10pm rolls around again.
What is your favorite moment from Dynamite Kiss episode 3? Episode 4 of Dynamite Kiss will be released on November 20 at 10pm on Netflix.
Source: SBS YouTube, SBSNow Twitter/X, SBS Play
