Harmony Secret EP 7 - IT'S BIDDING TIME!

The episode starts with Mae trying to call Ai, then trying to contact the bug, finally going to her hotel room. Ai is present and it is clear she found the bug. Ai asks how long ago this device was placed there, and Mae admits with breaking voice that it’s been there for a long time, but that she haven’t used it to dig up secrets in ages. Ai asks her why she hasn’t removed it, then – after all, she had access to the room. Why did she wait until she found it, Ai wants to know as her voice is breaking. But before Mae can explain herself, Ai says never mind, she’ll try to understand why she did it – but Mae has to accept it as well that Ai spied on her, revealing she knows her planned bidding amount - 26 billion Baht. Mae is close to tears, but then steadies herself to say it’s time to get back to being open rivals. From now on, they’re nothing but competitors, Mae says, and she intends to win. Mae leaves Ai, and they both cry alone. We switch to Yam waking up at G’s alone. She enters the main area to witness G serving breakfast. She offers to stay at her place in case she’s afraid of Ai’s father, but she says she isn’t scared anymore, because she knows she’s not alone anymore. G mentions she looks stronger than the night before, and Yam admits she’s been reckless. They’re happily having breakfast until they both receive messages in short order – there are urgent meetings of the bidding groups they both must attend. Ai tells her father the number Superior came up with; he’s happy that he came through and promises that he won’t interfere with her private life anymore, but things with her and Mae are over, she states. At the meeting, he discloses the sum to the colleagues (including a shocked Yam) and proposes raising their bid to 30 billion Baht. Everyone agrees. At Superior, Mae mentions she has found out that certain competitors will bid higher than anticipated; she expects Great & Glow to dig around 28 billion Baht and Orienna 28-30 billion Baht and proposes they raise their bid to 31 billion Baht. After the meeting, she confesses to G that Ai knows their former bid amount. Later, Yam and G are on the phone, and Yam tells her that Ai found out the number but was initially hesitant to use it, until she found the bug. The bug was her fault, G then admits, as she gave the bug to Mae in the first place. She wants to apologize to Ai, but Yam claims no one will listen anymore. In a scene exclusive to IQIYI/ Youtube uncut, Ai mopes at her bar when Yam comes to talk to her. She questions whether Mae wanted to intentionally hurt her. Ai claims that had Mae not arrived at that time she might have pretended she hadn’t found the bug at all. But she had betrayed her, too, she admits and breaks down crying. Yam consoles her. Back in her hotel room, she looks back at the good times she had with Mae. Then, she gets the news that there’s a briefing planned for the bidders the next day. The next day, in another IQIYI-exclusive / Youtube uncut sequence, Direk is talking to Mae who is there alone without her assistant – and without Ai, Direk inquires. Mae says he shouldn’t believe anything in the news, but Direk claims his experience tells him never to rule out anything. He then excuses himself as Ai is arriving at the place, but Mae and Ai don’t talk to each other. At the bidders conference, Direk is stating that the details about the bidding process are in the documents they have received, the two best offers will be shortlisted, and the concession winner will thereafter be publicly announced. At the end, he asks for questions; Mae wonders whether he will really protect everyone’s interests. She looks at Rachen, who he was talking to a few days ago, but he pretends not to notice what she means, and Ai brushes this off as a trivial matter. She then excuses herself and leaves the room. Mae follows her and overhears her talking to someone on the phone about Orienna’s new bid of 30 billion Baht; then ends the conversation are turns to find Mae standing there, who accuses her of crossing the line at the meeting. She reiterates that when dealing with people who play dirty, you have to wait for the right time, or she’ll get burned. But Mae claims she can deal with it herself and they are rivals after all. While the meeting continues Direk sends a message to Rachen saying they need to deal with the two women. Another IQIYI-exclusive / Youtube uncut scene shows Mae is thinking about the number Ai talked about on the phone. Then, G gets an anonymous phone call, instructing her to meet with the caller unless she wants to get her boss into trouble. At the meeting, there’s Rachen who first admits that he was behind leaking Mae and Ai’s tryst to the press. He’s angry that nothing came of it, because he didn’t have any evidence. He wants to get that evidence from her, blackmailing Mae and Ai to back out of the bidding. G isn’t inclined to give out any evidence, but Rachen says then Mae will suffer worse, threatening her life. We see that G has indeed incriminating photos on her phone, but we don’t see immediately what she does with them. Instead, we go to the official submission of the bids. The press is interviewing the bidders as they arrive. Ai and Mae park their cars at the same time, and have their assistants in tow. They move upstairs; Mae and G arrive first with Ai and Yam shortly thereafter. They both submit their bids. The bidding ceremony ends as Rachen is questioning the fairness of the process. He alleges that Ai and Mae may have been colluding to corrupt the bidding and says Greater should investigate this and if so, disqualify them as bidders. Ai claims that mere accusation without evidence are to be discarded, but Rachen maintains that if fairness is at stake, this should be investigated without concrete evidence. We flash back to last night, as G arrived at Mae’s telling her of the meeting, which ended with several henchmen attacking G which she fought and escaped. She warns that Rachen will not give up easily, and Mae and Ai may be in danger. Later at night, Mae phones up Ai, and says they need to talk. Back at the bidding, Ai asks whether Rachen thinks he can discredit anyone he wants without any solid proof; he counters that in some cases, suspicion alone cannot be ignored. Ai adds that when there is actual proof, that is even harder to ignore – just as Yam and G are dropping the footage from Direk and Rachen’s secret conversation. Game over; Ai and Mae are leaving. In the parking garage, they have a frank talk; Ai says she couldn’t stop herself, she still wants Mae to be close. But Mae counters that want is all there is, in the end, their businesses and lives force them to hurt each other. So, it’s best to end it; Mae leaves with both of them in tears. Rachen is furious as a he reads the news of Direk being ousted a bidding chairman, he vows he’ll get his revenge. Mae revisits her talk with Ai, while she remembers the fun times they had. Then, we cut to her drinking sullenly in a rooftop bar, ordering the drink Ai made for her. After several drinks she falls asleep; Ai rescues her and brings her to her hotel room, placing her on a couch. Then, she falls asleep on a chair next to her; when Ai awakes, Mae has already left. She is leaving the hotel, as one of Rachen’s guys is watching her. And the episode ends. ___ So, the bidding shenanigans (which happened only in the show, not the novel, I must reiterate) are out the window with Ai and Mae still on the outs. But who will win the bidding, and what will Rachen do next? The last episode promises to have many twists and turns still in store. Will Ai and Mae stop from hurting each other? Only time will tell – next week will surely be interesting.

Whew! There's no amount of words I can say that will adequately express my love for this show. But truthfully, their relationship was built on b deceiving one another in order to gain info on their respective companies. That was a disaster waiting to happen. They just never expected to fall for one another as hard as they did in the process.