Episode 4 of Boyfriend on Demand begins with Eun-ho and Mi-rae sitting together during the sunset. As he leans in to kiss her… Mi-rae's subscription runs out. Yep, her free-trial is done and her wonderful romance comes to an end.
In the real world, Mi-rae rates her date with Eun-ho as 5 stars and reflects on her virtual experience.
Mi-rae also understands Song's temperament a bit better now too after her date, knowing that although people criticize her work, they still tend to read it in their numbers. Despite the webtoon going strong, Mi-rae knows they can't let their guard down and become complacent.
Interestingly, Mi-rae is offered a real-life date with one of Eun-ju's friends, and she perks up at the thought of potentially finding the one. However, Kyeong-nam suddenly chimes in (given they're seated together on adjacent tables!) and brings up she's already seeing someone. It's pretty funny and eventually Mi-rae shies away from the date and misses her opportunity.
On the way home, Kyeong-nam and Mi-rae walk to the taxis together. He apologizes for prying and making things awkward for her. However, he's also quite pleased that they're judging the webtoons together at the company.
When she finally gets home, Mi-rae receives a call from Ji-yeon. It turns out Da-yeong is making dinner and they're both invited. In town, Mi-rae bumps into Mr. Min, who's right in the middle of setting up a Boyfriend on Demand pop-up store.
He speaks to Mi-rae about her experiences, and she sidesteps around the questions surrounding her romance and dating Eun-ho. She has a chance to test her theory that "real romance is better than virtual reality," as Da-yeong's dinner takes an interesting turn. She's inviting along a guy to join them.
Although the night goes well, the guy is a bit pushy afterwards to Mi-rae and constantly asks to meet her again. He claims he just doesn't want to waste any time but he does come across as desperate. It rubs Mi-rae up the wrong way, and eventually she decides he shouldn't even be walking her home.
That night, in her drunken state, Mi-rae mistakes Eun-ho for a billboard and hilarity ensues. It also convinces her to try and sort out a subscription for Boyfriend on Demand properly. She eventually concedes and agrees to spend 500,000 won a month on this app.
Now, the interface is a little different compared to her free subscription when Mi-rae dons her headset again. She gets her own virtual house and there are plenty of goodies inside too, ranging from dresses to shoes and handbags.
Mi-rae wants to carry on with Eun-ho where she left off… but there's a problem. Skipping to the boyfriend she wants is part of the Premium package rather than the basic she currently has. It's a lot of money so instead she decides to take advantage of her basic package.
Her third date is with an NIS agent called Bae Hyeon-woo. With Mi-rae posing as a flight attendant, she's saved from a foreign terrorist and immediately gets into character. This scenario is way more action-packed than she expected and it's a good thing she's not afraid of flying either!
These high-stakes scenarios are not exactly what Mi-rae had in mind but seeing her race through these hilarious set-pieces, not to mention all these lovely cameos from big K-drama stars, is a nice touch.
We fly through a number of cliches on the way, ranging from period dramas to medical dramas, and Mi-rae has a lot of fun rating all these different encounters. However, her experience dating these virtual dudes spills over to her advice in the office too. The others are pretty impressed by her tenacity in the dating field.
However, Mi-rae comes under fire for some very poor editing, as she completely messes up one of Song's chapters. She misses an obvious typo between "bother" and "brother," leading to the Director chewing her out. Kyeong-nam teases her about it too in the breakroom.
Unfortunately, not everybody finds it funny. Song is absolutely livid, enraged by all the comments online poking fun at her. She struggles to hold it all together. Interestingly, Song finds a gift waiting for her in her office, which happens to be the Boyfriend on Demand headset.
Meanwhile, Mi-rae heads back into the virtual world again and this time, she finds an unexpected visitor waiting for her. It's Eun-ho! The dating manager has pulled some strings and this is part 2 of their romance, picking up years later after their initial meet.
The Episode Review
Boyfriend on Demand returns with a quirky episode that doubles down on the chaos in Mi-rae's life, as her virtual obsession is starting to seriously affect her decision making. Between simple editing mistakes and struggling to find common ground with ordinary men, she's now starting to discover the downsides to this technology.
This has, in turn, thrown her back into this world which is looking more like a Black Mirror episode than a fantastical escape. Mi-rae is spending a good amount of money to try and rekindle her romantic feelings too, and it's obviously not the same.
It's particularly amusing because you can see that Kyeong-nam does have feelings for her and is clearly starting to fall for the girl too. Anyway, everything here is left wide open for the second half of this season, which promises to be quite the rollercoaster ride.
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