While the first episode of At the Moment was a quaint little story about reality TV and puppy love, episode 2 cranks it up to adult business. According to the Netflix description, this is a story about two “wounded souls” who find themselves crossing paths on a fateful night of unfortunate (or fortunate) incidents. We start off with a single mother who works as a masseuse. She works at home and the night shift just to make ends meet, especially in the pandemic. On top of it all, she has an ex who steals her credit card for money that she supposedly owes him to pay off his gambling debts. On the other hand, there is a man with a hearing aid who is desperate for a connection but hasn’t found a genuine one yet.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Episode?
Chun-Pin is a delivery man with a hearing impairment, who lives with a close friend. One fateful day, he plans on going to a massage parlor for more than just a massage, asking for a specific woman named Chien-Chien. In the evening, when he’s making deliveries, he ends up in a fender bender to avoid hitting a dog. In the parlor, Chien-Chien is not the same one that Chun-Pin is used to. The woman he fantasized about is nowhere to be seen, and on top of that, his hearing aid isn’t functioning too well. An irritated Chien-Chien tells him to speak to the owner of the shop to switch girls, but the lady tells him to stay put. They head to a private room, and things escalate rather quickly. Chien-Chien offers sex work for money, like all the other girls, but before anything can happen between her and Chun-Pin, the cops arrive for a raid. The only thing they’ve managed to do is hold hands, something Chun-Pin insisted on. A young woman is complaining that her husband visits this shop, and so the police must shut it down.
Chien-Chien is worried they’ll get caught and takes Chun-Pin to the rooftop. The two have some quiet time, talking about Chien-Chien. She has been a masseuse for 5 years, but this particular night, she really needs the money for her daughter’s treatment, thanks to her ex having stolen her card. Chun-Pin explains how he hurt himself after avoiding the dog. He got laid off when the pandemic started and ended up becoming a delivery guy. Chun-Pin tells Chien-Chien that he dreams of having a dog of his own someday. The police arrive at the rooftop, and while the two hide again, Chun-Pin overhears a call between Chien-Chien and her daughter. He finds it very endearing, and it appears the guy is catching feelings—the same ones he’s been so desperate for.
After the cops are no longer a threat, Chien-Chien fixes up Chun-Pin’s stiff body on the roof and then offers to sleep with him anyway since she’s already taken his money. His hearing aid is also functioning normally, and he suggests that Chien-Chien keep the money as a loan, but she goes home with him anyway. To his surprise, his roommate has called a bunch of friends over, and they’re all very keen on knowing what the two of them are doing in the room. Knowing the boys are listening in on what the two of them are doing in the room, Chien-Chien makes some questionable sounds on purpose and leaves, asking if they had a good show.
At this point, it may seem like nothing is going right for Chun-Pin, but he’s actually having a great time getting to know Chien-Chien. He takes her home, only for them to find the ex, who stole the credit card for gambling. A fight ensues, leaving Chien-Chien and Chun-Pin no choice but to run. After running for a little while, they find a street food restaurant and get some delicious noodles that Chun-Pin gobbles down with force. There, the restaurant owner of the shop that Chun-Pin delivers for shows up extremely drunk and tells the duo what love truly is. He tells them that love is all about courage, going on to sing a graphic song about getting a room. Again, the duo is left thinking about spending the night (whatever’s left of it) in a hotel room. It’s always Chien-Chien who makes the suggestion because she’s taken the money from Chun-Pin.
Do Chien-Chien And Chun-Pin End Up Together?
In the shady motel room, Chun-Pin goes to take a shower, and Chien-Chien plays with a remote that controls everything inside the room. This series of unfortunate events is still not over, though, and Chien-Chien ends up turning off all the lights in the room. Chun-Pin is left showering in the dark, and as he steps out of the bathtub, he ends up falling hard to the floor. Chien-Chien rushes in to find him unconscious in the tub. She brings him out and puts his hearing aid in, waking him up to make sure his brain chemistry is just fine. He tells her it’s April Fool’s Day through sign language. This is quite an adorable moment between the two, and it seems they’ve completely opened up to each other.
Chien-Chien learns some sign language immediately as she goes about her business day. At the end of her night shift, when she steps out of the massage parlor, Chun-Pin waits for her with his scooter. He tells her that he wanted to make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s Day anymore because he didn’t want her to think he was joking. He asks her out to dinner, and the two head off on his scooter. At the end of the episode, in a voice-over, Chien-Chien wonders why people find it so easy to speak to strangers. She realizes that there is more to living than just working for money and feeling suffocated under pressure. She is willing to take out the trash and face a future that isn’t disappointing.
