The Things That Yumi Hates
Yumi meets her new illustrator, Control Z. He tries hard not to laugh at his pen name, and is taken aback by how abrupt and unusual he is. When he snorts at her manuscript, he admits this isn’t his type of genre as it’s so unrealistic.
That remark alone causes all of Yumi’s Cells to burst with anger as they struggle to control themselves in the wake of such insolence. Control Z gives as good as he gets when Yumi coldly bites back, and points out that the characters in the manuscript are way too honest. In fact, Control Z sarcastically retorts that it’s amazing Yumi is in a 100% honest relationship. ..
Their second meeting doesn’t go much better, with Yumi deliberately ordering ginger pie (something Control Z doesn’t recommend) and questioning the illustrator’s choice of pictures. As for Control Z, he simply smiles and calls her coy.
Yumi vents to Bobby and he ends up buying her some cake to make up for her bad mood. Still, it doesn’t stop Yumi from getting annoyed, especially when Control Z messages her. Yumi lets her Profanity Cell out, which swears constantly, but she decides against cursing out her illustrator. After all, she needs to at least try to be professional!
Yumi manages to keep everything under control though as she heads off to Jeju Island to see Bobby. However, Da-Eun returns too, given it’s Christmas. When Yumi mentions that Bobby is moving away from Jeju, she’s shocked and asks whether it’s because of her. Yumi mentions how absurd it would be for him to use this as a reason and eventually calls her a baby. Still, she’s not exactly happy about the girl confessing her feelings to her boyfriend.
Eventually, Yumi asks outright about Bobby’s move and questions whether it’s because of Da-Eun’s confession. Now, as we see from Bobby’s Love Cell, this actually is one of the reasons but Bobby completely lies and claims it’s not. ..
Bobby struggles to answer when Yumi asks if he was swayed by her during their conversation. As a result, Yumi decides they should break up. ..
Yumi walks away, crying, after Bobby tells the truth and admits that the feeling was temporarily and meant nothing. He apologizes for hurting her and continues on, pleading with Yumi and telling her nothing happened. Bobby even tells her he loves her.
Love Cell is upset with Yumi for coming to the village and telling them that she wants Love to concede his position as primary Cell and give it across to Writer Cell instead. Yumi is done with romance for now and wants to focus on her career.
The Episode Review
Yumi, a young woman who is struggling with her own happiness, ends up breaking up with her boyfriend and perhaps her confession at the end sums up what most of us feel in our day to day lives: “I just want to be happy.” Now, if you’re not happy with yourself then it’s unlikely you’ll be happy with someone else and Yumi’s Cells does do a good job of exemplifying that.
After Yumi and Bobby break up, Da-Eun is left with the responsibility of trying to mend fences between the two. However, she quickly realizes that Bobby lied to her about his feelings for her and is unwilling to give her a chance. This makes Da-Eun difficult to work with, as she is already having trust issues with Yumi.
This drama is refreshing in that it doesn’t focus on the traditional “go to university, get married, have 2.5 kids, get a house with a white picket fence etc.” values. In this society, these things are seen as necessary for success. However, Yumi has found a way to be successful without them. This is an important message to hear and one that should be encouraged.
