'Backstreet Rookie' Episode 3: Saet-byul and Yeon-joo finally meet during a tussle, Dae-hyun comes to rescue
'Backstreet Rookie' in Episode 3 continues to portray the lives of convenience store owner Choi Dae-hyun (Ji Chang-wook) and Jung Saet-byul (Kim Yoo-jung) in all its color set within situations that spell hilarious in many ways. We also learn more of the characters' misgivings about life and love. Saet-byul is smitten by her boss Dae-hyun, but considering he does have a girlfriend already, the interaction between the two end up becoming an intriguing mix of flirting on Saet-byul's side and a strict line being drawn on Dae-hyun's part. Sure, Saet-byul is a charming part-timer who has decided to do her best to become a trusted employee of the convenience store.
So then, it is no surprise that in episode 3, Saet-byul decides to teach a rude trio of men who not only disrespect her but also return to the store the next day to lift things off the store a good lesson. She decides not to butt heads with them at the store, but instead follows them to a hiding spot near the store and ends up beating some sense into the rude and cocky men who believed until this moment that a young girl like Saet-byul would not be able to do anything to them. Of course, it turns out that they were wrong and after a few roundhouse kicks and flying kicks later, Saet-byul manages to strike the fear of God in them and tells them that she expects them to pay up for everything that they stolen from the store until now and this makes her extremely happy. Things like this are what would get her closer to being a permanent employee at the store.
However, what she doesn't realize is the fact that when she was out of the store with her friend left to take care of it, Dae-hyun's girlfriend, Yeon-joo, ends up visiting the store covered up in a scarf and huge sunglasses to check if the part-timer is really as hot as her colleague had said she was. Dae-hyun and Yeon-joo used to be colleagues with this guy, so he would drop by Dae-hyun's convenience store every morning to pick a drink. It is at this time that he saw Saet-byul. As luck would have it though, when Yeon-joo arrives, she sees Saet-byul's friend and assumes that to be the part-timer. Turns out, according to Yeong-joo, the friend is not hot enough to be insecure about and even goes as far as to tell Dae-hyun to take good care of her.
Saet-byul, on the other hand, continues to hope that her boss and his girlfriend break up. Her crush is so far gone that she dreams about sharing passionate kisses with him. It isn't until the end of the episode that the conflict between Yeon-joo, Dae-hyun and Saet-byul arises. Yeon-joo and Dae-hyun's relationship is not really the kind that gives one the warm fuzzies. It is more a platonic relationship with no fire and spark left. However, Dae-hyun hopes to keep this relationship going despite all of his misgivings about Yeon-joo's hesitation when it comes to introducing him to her family.
At the end up of the episode, Dae-hyun and Yeon-ju are out on a date while Saet-byul is out with her friends on her father's death anniversary. They are at the same resto-bar where Yeon-joo ends up angering a group of bullies. The same group tries to stop Saet-byul from entering the washroom so that she doesn't interfere with their situation with Yeon-joo. However, knowing Saet-byul, she just beats the kids up to teach them a lesson in a language that they understand and finally tries to help Yeon-joo, but is instead misunderstood by Yeon-joo who calls Dae-hyun to help her out. That's when the three of them come face to face and an awkward pause ensues until the next episode.
'Backstreet Rookie' originally airs on SBS on Fridays an Saturdays at 10 pm KST.