Heartbeat (가슴이 뛴다 / My Heart is Beating) is a fantasy rom-com Korean drama series written by Kim Ha-na and Jung Seung-joo, directed by Lee Hyun-seok and Lee Min-soo, and stars Ok Taec-yeon (Taecyeon) and Won Ji-an in lead roles, along with Park Kang-hyun and Yoon So-hee. Heartbeat episode 12 has a runtime of 60 minutes.
The drama follows half-human, half-vampire Seon Woo-hyul who desperately wants to become a human but missed his chance to switch due to unfortunate circumstances. Meanwhile, Joo In-hae, having lived a difficult life since she was young, is a cold-hearted high-school nurse who owns a guest house. Thanks to certain events, they start to share a house together which changes both of their lives for the better and makes them a little more human than they started out with.
Ok Taec-yeon was last seen in 2022’s Blind, wherein he played the role of Ryu Sung-joon while Won Ji-an’s last role was as Ha Joon-kyung in 2022’s If You Wish Upon Me. Heartbeat takes over KBS2’s Monday-Tuesday 9:50 PM timeslot previously occupied by My Perfect Stranger, starring Kim Dong-wook and Jin Ki-joo.
Heartbeat Episode 12 Recap
Heartbeat episode 12 starts with Woo-hyeol waking up from sleep and finding In-hae by his side, extremely stressed about his odd ailment. She then expresses her feelings for him which results in Woo-hyeol kissing her, and she kisses him right back. He cheekily mentions that it feels like his heart is beating and then assures her that he will not leave her and will stay by her side as they cuddle together in bed.
After the very eventful set of activities in the morning, In-hae looks like she is soaring on cloud 9, and Woo-hyeol seems to be in a similar mood. Elsewhere, Do-sik thinks about his conversation with Man-hwi the other night as they get into a partnership to find a half-vampire. It seems like Do-sik is not in a playing mood anymore. Back at Shaded Oasis, In-hae has made more of an effort in her appearance before stealing cute glances with Woo-hyeol as the day starts.
She does question him about Hae-won, and he laughs and mentions that the scroll is with her. The revelation shocks In-hae, and Woo-hyeol clarifies that Hae-won and Hae-sun are nothing alike. And although he felt a bit lost at first, seeing her after the events of the day relieved him and filled him with hope. Unfortunately, just as they are about to go in for a kiss, Sang-hae and Dong-seop make a hasty entrance, and after hugging Woo-hyeol for some time, they ask In-hae whether the two of them can stay at the mansion and work there.
In-hae wonders whether or not this is the right choice but concedes when they mention that they should be close by in case Woo-hyeol falls sick again. However, she does agree to it at the end Woo-hyeol later on takes his two away to tell them about In-hae’s “love filled blood”, but when he reveals whom she loves, the two of them are left very confused. Elsewhere, Do-sik shares his reservations about dealing with Man-hwi but agrees to it in the end with the forethought that he needs to be kept on a leash.
Just then, Hae-won arrives to talk to Do-sik, and she asks him who or what Woo-hyeol is and how he hasn’t aged for hundreds of centuries. Do-sik divulges the secret to her, and the truth leaves her with a million thoughts and feelings. At Shaded Oasis, being suddenly handed the neighbourhood kid to babysit, Sang-hae and Dong-seop volunteer to stay at the house, and they implore her to go on a date with Woo-hyeol to the amusement park, which would keep Min-jae entertained as well.
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At the amusement park, the two of them share a rather romantic time with a mischievous Min-jae taking them on rides and making them hold hands. As these two have fun, Man-hwi meets Do-sik to divulge information about Woo-hyeol, and the latter tells him to get proof of a half-vampire with a scar – only then will he be paid. Back at the mansion, Sang-hae tells Woo-hyeol that he has uncovered a shocking secret about In-hae’s father – he probably didn’t run away with the gold; in fact, he might have been kidnapped because of it.
That night, In-hae brings up setting a date for Woo-hyeol to drink her blood and settles on the 100th day from when they met. Elsewhere, Do-sik wonders what Woo-hyeol’s main aim can be while we see that Man-hwi has a bunch of men hidden in his house whom he feeds on, including In-hae’s father. Meanwhile, In-hae and Woo-hyeol’s relationship continues to grow as they clean the mansion together and engage in everyday mundane tasks.
However, their cute moments face a small roadblock when Hae-won makes an appearance and ushers In-hae away for a chat. She threatens In-hae to leave Woo-hyeol alone, but In-hae refuses and decides to follow her heart. Hae-won decides to go nuclear and even threatens Do-sik to do something about In-hae and Woo-hyeol’s blossoming romance.
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That night, Rose shares her feelings about Man-hwi’s creepy house with Sang-hae and Dong-seop while Woo-hyeol chats with Yang-nam about his romance happily. Unfortunately, Yang-nam divulges that he needs to sacrifice In-hae in order to become human, or she needs to kill him in order to live. Man-hwi overhears this and goes straight to Do-sik, who obviously isn’t happy to hear of this. Woo-hyeol is heartbroken and stressed as well.
As Woo-hyeol takes a walk, he comes across Do-sik, who straight-up hits him right across his face and asks why he is hanging around In-hae. Meanwhile, inside Shaded Oasis, the permanent guest’s stalker shows up and starts to hit In-hae. Woo-hyeol immediately realises that something is wrong and rushes to her aide. Woo-hyeol hits the stalker and scares him away, leaving Woo-hyeol with a very bloody In-hae. The blood sways him for a second, and Do-sik gets there right in time to stop Woo-hyeol from making a grave mistake. As the vampire comes to his senses, he realises the horrors he was about to commit, and the two men stare at each other in anger and confusion.
Heartbeat Episode 12 Review
Another sugary cute episode with annoying bits peppered in. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love myself a juicy romance-drama, but Hae-won and Do-sik seem like people who would exert force if denied something, but Hae-won is just starting to get on my nerves at this point. I mean, she’s like a little schoolkid who cannot handle rejection and decides to terrorise their ex-boo’s current flame! Either way, her stalkerish attitude is not fun to watch, and tantrums on a grown adult (albeit sometimes relatable) are never a nice look.
Either way, Do-sik is also slowly coming off as a bit too controlling. I mean, feeling sad about getting rejected is understandable, but trying to forbid a woman from dating someone they want (even if that’s a vampire!) is just plain weird and never ok.
Coming to the protagonists – not a lot to say. This is a flowery episode for them, and of course, fans will love it. It’s humorous and romantic in the perfect way and will scratch the itch for fans of the couple. Regardless, this is an entertaining episode that throws light on a very important plot point that we have only been wondering about for so long. However, I do feel that the stalker angle was a bit too convenient, and Woo-hyeol not being able to handle his urges could’ve been showcased in a better way. A random resident’s random stalker dude is just uninteresting and weird.
Heartbeat is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in select regions and on KBS2 in Korea.