Heartbeat (가슴이 뛴다) 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 and Won Ji-an in lead roles, along with Park Kang-hyun and Yoon So-hee. Heartbeat episode 3 has a runtime of 62 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 3 Recap
Heartbeat episode 3 starts with Hae-sun encountering Woo-hyeol for the first time as he saves her from being eaten by another vampire. The two vampires seem to be different from each other in that Woo-hyeol’s eyes glow blue, but the other one’s doesn’t.
In the present, Woo-hyeol, after having saved In-hae tries to help her up, but seeing the landlord run away, he uses Woo-hyeol to pull herself up, throwing him down on the ground in the process, and he runs off after the landlord. Left completely baffled, Woo-hyeol realises that In-hae has left her purse behind in the commotion. Meanwhile, the landlord runs into the police and In-hae, and he goes to the station with the officers.
At the station, the landlord tells the officers about Woo-hyeol’s powers and the fact that he is a vampire, but of course, no one believes him. By the time In-hae starts screaming at him for swindling her, other people who have been duped by him also pile into the station and create a ruckus, resulting in the vampire theory getting forgotten quite fast and easily.
Meanwhile, Woo-hyeol thinks about the odd pain on his neck where In-hae had previously bitten him but eventually ends up wandering into a mall and, of course, starts shopping with her credit card. Elsewhere, having realised that she has no wallet and a dead battery, In-hae starts walking home, heartbroken upon realising that she won’t be getting her lost deposit money any time soon. However, when she realises what Woo-hyeol has been up to the entire evening, she loses her mind that her card is now maxed out and then asks him to bite her and end her misery.
Woo-hyeol tries to lecture her, saying that money isn’t everything in life and that she should live however she wants to. But an enraged In-hae gets angrier and more desperate and tells him that he can’t lecture her after spending all of her money. Seeing her desperation, Woo-hyeol promises to help her out and goes downstairs to fetch the gold he has kept hidden in the basement, only to realise that it’s all gone. With no other option, In-hae gets ready to sell all the stuff and get back as much money as possible.
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After that is settled, In-hae lets Woo-hyeol know that she won’t be his butler and will be living in the house she rightfully inherited. He, in turn, refuses to let her stay without working for him and in answer to that, she tells him that he will be in quite the problem if she sells the house off without his knowledge. Left in a standoff, In-hae tells him to work hard to pay him back first and asks him to go and sell the coat the next day as his first step to pay her back.
The next day, as In-hae goes off to work, Woo-hyeol is tasked to sell his coat. After being left confused by the escalator, he finally comes across the buyer, who turns out to be Sang-hae. They discuss Woo-hyeol waking up under mysterious circumstances, and he eventually asks Sang-hae whether he took the buried gold. When he denies doing so, he goes to meet Dong-seob and they hilariously take turns hissing with their teeth out as Woo-hyeol drinks a cup of blood.
Also Read: Heartbeat Episode 2 Recap and Review: An Entertaining But Not New Bloody Progression!
Elsewhere, In-hae comes across Do-sik, who makes a surprise visit to her old place as she packs up all her things. He helps her move her stuff back to her new home, and Do-sik is left surprised by the mansion. Just as she is about to say goodbye to him, Woo-hyeol makes an entrance and nonchalantly calls the house “theirs”. It’s absolutely awkward between the three of them as Do-sik mentions how his hand is cold. But before things get out of hand, In-hae ushers Do-sik off and ends the interaction.
Inside the house, In-hae realises that Woo-hyeol didn’t get the entire money for the coat and asks him to write an IOU promising that he will pay her the money back in 6 months. After he does so, she tells him to make sure to pay her back; otherwise, she will take off with the money from selling the house. An annoyed Woo-hyeol is left fuming at the threat, but doesn’t have much to do anyway. Meanwhile, his interaction with Woo-hyeol leaves Do-sik in deep thought.
The next day, Woo-hyeol goes to Sang-hae and gets an ID card made in hopes of finding work. They go to an employment agency and end up working at a funeral home. After thoroughly hating the experience, he takes a nap inside a coffin and is promptly thrown out of the job. They next try their hand at operating a dairy cart, which he fails as well. Meanwhile, Yang-nam sees something shocking while meditating.
Heartbeat Episode 3 Ending
Back at home, a tired Woo-hyeol gets roped into helping In-hae, who agrees to forget about his debt to her if he helps her clean the house. In the course of transforming the mansion to its former glory, In-hae and Woo-hyeol also find themselves drawn to each other, and he shares how he is waiting for someone to come back. Afterwards, they are both left deep in thought, remembering the olden times as Woo-hyeol realises that In-hae and Hae-sun are surprisingly very similar.
In the midst of this, however, Woo-hyeol’s starts to pain again, and he rushes downstairs to find a chandelier about to fall right on In-hae. He runs and pulls her into his arms, and in the midst of running/flying away from the shattering glass, he looks at a distressed In-hae’s face and kisses her, taking her by surprise and leaving her shocked!
Heartbeat Episode 3 Review
What an insane show this is, but Heartbeat is a thoroughly enjoyable series which never fails to do something entertaining in every episode. There’s something very entertaining about watching a centuries-old vampire going all-out at a shopping mall without a care in the world about the money. I mean, it’s also quite relatable in a way, sadly.
That being said, Heartbeat‘s actual storyline is going to be deeper, I feel. It will definitely come up with something heavier to offset the lighter moments soon, and we got a tiny look at that in the next episode’s preview. Hopefully, there will be more to the story than sunshine and rainbows. But, to be very honest with you, I wouldn’t complain if we just get a goofy vampire being silly and passive-aggressive. That’s great too.
Heartbeat is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in select regions and on KBS2 in Korea.