Our formerly amnesiac father makes a major confession to his family that sends them reeling. Decades-long dishonesty is bound to feel like a betrayal, particularly to his wife, and no apology can undo the damage. It’s a lot to process, and they each handle it about as differently as you’d expect given their personalities.
EPISODE 10
Chan-hyuk belatedly sees a text from Eun-hee and calls her, but she’s in a reticent mood. When she tells him she hates herself, he tries to lighten the mood. He asks if she remembers that letter she wrote for the competition. She shoots up in bed, and her too hasty denial makes Chan-hyuk smile.
After he hangs up, he pulls out the letter and rereads it. She opens by going on about his jawline and he cringes and chuckles in equal measure at how into her act she was. While he reads the letter all smiles, Eun-hee lies horrified on her bed as she recalls what she wrote.
In a flashback, we see Eun-hee watching Chan-hyuk starry-eyed as he takes photographs. He smiles at her and snaps a photo.
Chan-hyuk welcomes Geon-joo to his office. He’s surprised to hear that Geon-joo wants to contract his company as an independent photography team. Chan-hyuk thinks Eun-hee must have pushed for it, but Geon-joo shares that the book’s author wanted him. Geon-joo pushes the contract over, but Chan-hyuk hesitates.
At home, Sang-shik brings his surprise guests in. Little Yeon-gyu’s ball rolls to Eun-joo, and Yeon-gyu runs right up and hugs her. Sang-shik shocks the room by announcing they’re all family, making Jin-sook angrily demand to know what he’s trying to do.
Sang-shik assures her it’s not what she thinks, and everyone sits down for the most uncomfortable gathering ever. After his memory returned, he decided the kids deserved to know “what kind of father” they have.
He committed such a great sin, but he told himself keeping it secret was for the good of his family. Jin-sook is livid he’s doing this to the kids, but he yells that it’s not what she thinks. It’s worse.
In the summer of 1994, he was rushing to get home one night and accidentally hit a kid. Young-shik’s grandmother, who was raising him, didn’t report the accident and just thanked him for taking Young-shik to the hospital.
Presently, Young-shik tries to alleviate the tension and lightheartedly says Sang-shik did everything he could for him. He took him to school, gave him spending money, played catch with him and took care of his grandmother. Sang-shik thinks that’s a given since he should’ve gone to jail.
Instead, Sang-shik found him a job and watched over him as he got married and had Yeon-gyu. The kids are shocked when Jin-sook mentions seeing Young-shik before, but Sang-shik clarifies she didn’t know about all this. He announces he’s going to live with Young-shik and Yeon-gyu now. They’re his responsibility for life.
Everyone is stunned when Ji-woo angrily asks why. This all happened before he was even born. He barely ever saw his father and certainly never played catch with him. Ji-woo throws off Eun-hee’s hand and storms to his room.
Eun-hee gets a drink for Yeon-gyu and chats with him before walking him and Young-shik out. Sang-shik gets up and barges into Ji-woo’s room.
At his office, Chan-hyuk wants to think Geon-joo’s offer over and says he’ll meet with Eun-hee the next day. Geon-joo compliments a photo of Chan-hyuk’s and embarrasses him by mentioning that Eun-hee said he thinks of Van Gogh when photographing.
Chan-hyuk is surprised to hear they emailed back and forth for a long time. He claims Eun-hee writes the most fun emails and letters. Heh, indeed. Geon-joo thinks Chan-hyuk should convince her to write her own book, but Chan-hyuk says that’s not an easy topic to broach.
Geon-joo thought they were able to talk about anything. He even heard Eun-hee won a literary award once and took Chan-hyuk to the ceremony. Geon-joo apologizes for talking too much when Chan-hyuk gets uncomfortable. It’s pretty awkward.
Meanwhile, Sang-shik tries to explain to Ji-woo that he played catch with Young-shik a few times because other kids made fun of his limp. His aggressive tone isn’t helping much, but he softens as he comments that Ji-woo isn’t a petty person.
Ji-woo cries as he tries to convince his dad he’s done enough for Young-shik. He worries because his dad is getting older. Touched, Sang-shik wipes his son’s tears and says this is just the beginning for him. He offers to take Ji-woo hiking, boasting he won’t be able to keep up.
When Eun-joo wants to head out, Jin-sook knocks on the door to call out Sang-shik. He gets upset when neither of his daughters have anything to say to him, so Eun-hee says she’ll talk to him once things have settled. Sang-shik addresses his “smart oldest daughter” who just tells him to do what he wants.
It doesn’t seem like anyone’s told him she knows he’s not her bio dad. He thinks she’ll agree that he’s doing the right thing, but she claims the right thing would’ve been reporting it and telling his wife. He took the easy way out.
Eun-hee tries to intervene, but Eun-joo pushes on that he grew fond of the kid and even had him call him “father.” She criticizes him for taking on more than he could handle. Does he think taking responsibility for someone’s life is that easy?
Sang-shik quietly concedes she’s right and apologizes to her and Eun-hee. Eun-joo storms out, and Eun-hee chases after her. Eun-joo says Eun-hee’s job is to console people, but Eun-hee would rather drive her home. Tae-hyung asked her too since Eun-joo still isn’t well.
Before Sang-shik leaves, Jin-sook offers him the bankbook. She’ll keep living here so as not to upset the kids, but he should take the money if he’s going to take care of Young-shik and Yeon-gyu. She’ll gradually pay Eun-joo back.
She exasperatedly asks why he sprung this on the kids without talking to her. When he claims he feels relieved now, she angrily asks if that makes up for all the years he made her misunderstand. Sang-shik isn’t trying to make up for them and tells her to keep hating him. He leaves the bankbook behind.
At Chan-hyuk’s, Seo-young comes in as Geon-joo is leaving. She starts prying into Chan-hyuk’s personal life again and acting jealous. When Chan-hyuk gets frustrated, she announces that she’s getting annoyed at herself too. She acknowledges he won’t develop feelings and gives up.
Chan-hyuk thinks of her as a little sister seeing as he’s known her since she was a child. Seo-young agrees to be like siblings, and immediately starts insulting him like a real sibling would when he tells her to go home. Ha.
In the car, Eun-hee says she understands their dad somewhat. Naturally, Eun-joo takes the opposing side and is upset on Jin-sook’s behalf. But she doesn’t want to fight, so they agree to disagree.
Eun-hee asks when Eun-joo is going to tell their dad and offers to do it together, but Eun-joo irritably says she’ll handle it herself once she’s processed it. Eun-hee changes the topic to Ji-woo and his surprise outburst. Eun-joo says he plays the baby of the family for everyone, but he’s grown now too.
She tells Eun-hee to leave Ji-woo alone to figure things out. Unlike them, he doesn’t have any memories of their parents getting along. Before she leaves, Eun-hee awkwardly hands her a present and tells her to eat something.
Tae-hyung is waiting for Eun-joo outside and chides her for not taking her medicine. Eun-joo zones out, thinking of Yeon-gyu hugging her. Their kid would’ve been five if she hadn’t miscarried. Eun-joo begins sobbing and says it’s time she stops pretending she’s okay. She doesn’t think she can ever forgive him.
The following morning, Jin-sook is surprised to find Ji-woo isn’t home. Eun-hee, meanwhile, finds Chan-hyuk waiting for her at P&F. He’s surprised Geon-joo didn’t tell her about their meeting and scolds her for not giving him the contract personally.
Inside, Chan-hyuk formally asks “Team Leader Eun-hee” if he should sign the contract. She responds that he should, but the pay won’t be great. Their professionalism lasts all of two seconds before they start smacking each other and bickering like kids. Ha.
They behave once Geon-joo arrives, but the atmosphere is strained between Geon-joo and Eun-hee. She declines coffee with a threatening look toward Chan-hyuk, insisting they’ll be done soon. After Geon-joo leaves, Chan-hyuk gets a call from Eun-joo – he looks at Eun-hee anxiously – and agrees to meet her that evening.
Chan-hyuk immediately tells Eun-hee about it, and she shares that Eun-joo isn’t in a good state. And Ji-woo … she sighs that Chan-hyuk is more like a family member than a friend now. Chan-hyuk promises to call her after he meets with Eun-joo.
Eun-joo finds a fully prepared breakfast waiting for her and hears Tae-hyung loudly arguing with his mother on the phone. They sit for breakfast, and Eun-joo compares his fixing breakfast and getting her medicine to Eun-hee gifting her chocolate as a sign she wants to make peace.
“Just like us, Eun-hee and I have changed.” Eun-hee always thought Sang-shik loved Eun-joo more, but she thinks he was more comfortable around Eun-hee. With her, he was cautious “because I’m not his biological daughter.” She barely gives Tae-hyung time to process that statement before suggesting they divorce.
Eun-hee goes with Chan-hyuk to a nearby park where she models goofily for his pictures. Reminiscent of their college years, she watches him take photos but looks away when he turns around. Chan-hyuk thinks she should head back – Geon-joo doesn’t seem to like them being together.
He comments (looking uneasy) that Geon-joo seems sincere about Eun-hee. Chan-hyuk misinterprets her awkwardness because she, for some reason, doesn’t tell him she broke it off.
He gets serious and says the reason he takes care of Ji-woo and is good to Eun-joo … is Eun-hee. “You always come before them, my friend.” Eun-hee thinks to herself that this “perfect friendship confession” makes her heart flutter and yet feels somewhat sad.
As per usual, Eun-hee jokes to counteract the seriousness and says she doesn’t believe him. How come he always treats her as third in line, then? They start arguing and joking around, like always.
Once he gets back, Chan-hyuk notices Ji-woo acting weird at work, and Seo-young informs him he’s been super serious all day. At P&F, Eun-hee confronts Geon-joo about giving her special treatment and lets him know she won’t accept it in the future.
Ha-ra calls Eun-hee out to meet. She’s going back to the US and wanted to see Eun-hee first. Ha-ra finds it strange that Eun-hee didn’t attempt to contact Geon-joo over the past week; she had his phone, so she’d know.
Ha-ra was the one who wanted to leave three years ago, and after convincing her to stay, Geon-joo slept around. Eun-hee is unfazed, and but Ha-ra manages to shock her with the news that Geon-joo came to Korea to close their branch.
Ha-ra then rubs it in that they slept together during the past week. She passes his phone over to Eun-hee, asking her to return it. But Eun-hee is over their petty drama and refuses to get involved.
Eun-joo meets with her mother-in-law to inform her of the impending divorce. Her mother-in-law doesn’t take kindly to Eun-joo’s assertion that she won’t be able to pressure Tae-hyung into doing what she wants this time. “It’s not a choice.”
Sang-shik throws himself into work and tells Man-ho that people have always accused him of being obsessed with money, so why care now? Just tell them it’s because he’s had two families to support.
At the care facility, Seon-il’s wife pegs Sang-shik as a romantic. When Jin-sook calls Seon-il a great husband, his wife disagrees. She can’t forget how hard he was on the kids about studying, even hitting them sometimes. She envies how good Sang-shik was to their children.
Eun-joo and Chan-hyuk meet for dinner where she asks him what he heard and saw at her wedding. Some of her friends approached him and asked for him to send them the wedding photos since they didn’t expect Eun-joo would. He’s still in touch with them.
She comments he’s just as nosy as Eun-hee. Even though she’s been friends with them for nearly 20 years, she’s never talked about her family. Eun-joo blames herself for being closed off.
Eun-joo suspects he caught on to her inferiority complex and emotional scars that her family doesn’t notice. Her friend asked Chan-hyuk about her recently, and he thinks Eun-joo should contact her. She’s hesitant since they haven’t been in touch, but Chan-hyuk thinks friends can sometimes do what family can’t.
As Eun-hee drinks alone, Eun-joo divulges to Chan-hyuk that Eun-hee used to like him. (It’s finally outed!) Being the middle child, Eun-hee learned to match the mood and “lower” herself to focus on everyone else’s happiness. If a guy is impressive and good to her, she assumes it won’t work and draws a line.
Chan-hyuk is flustered and comments that this must be the part of Eun-hee that only family would know. Eun-joo knows it’s because Eun-hee always comes across as overly positive. Eun-joo wonders how her dating life is now.
Chan-hyuk calls Eun-hee to say he just met with Eun-joo, but Eun-hee is too drunk to have a serious conversation. Meanwhile, Geon-joo sits in his office, thinking about Eun-hee. Kyung-ok comes in and returns his phone since Ha-ra didn’t want to see him again. This is like high school drama.
Ji-woo sent Chan-hyuk to his now thoroughly drunk sister. Chan-hyuk watches her overly happy demeanor with new eyes after Eun-joo’s comments. Chan-hyuk joins her for a drink as she celebrates the end of her triangular relationship.
Jin-sook meets with Sang-shik to give him the bankbook again. He agrees to take it when she says his refusal will lead her to assume he wants to sell the house. Sang-shik wants to send her money monthly, but Jin-sook won’t hear of it. She can take care of herself and doesn’t want him to have an excuse to contact her.
Over drinks, Eun-hee worries that Chan-hyuk told Eun-joo about her sending him Eun-joo’s photo to show his army buddies. Chan-hyuk wonders why she didn’t send her own picture, but Eun-hee thought Eun-joo was prettier and would match their expectations better. Chan-hyuk comments he took some pictures where Eun-hee looks sort of good. Pfft. Just say she’s pretty, dude.
The first picture of her he took was at the literary award ceremony. They can’t believe they were only 20 back then. They recall being drunk afterwards and walking around on that fall night. Eun-hee names it as one of her most perfect days.
They were just friends with no other feelings (uh-huh) who bickered and seriously talked about their dreams and futures. She even picked up a leaf that day as a remembrance. Eun-hee shares for the first time that she suddenly started having feelings for him after that day.
Chan-hyuk tries to remain calm, cool and collected as she confides she saw that night as a special secret between them and worried about what to say when she saw him. Abruptly, she slams her hand on the table, startling Chan-hyuk.
He advertised what was supposed to be their special secret to Jong-min and the whole class, even showing them pictures! (I love how into her retellings she gets.) Eun-hee was so embarrassed and put an end to her feelings right then.
Chan-hyuk covers his sad expression by chuckling that it feels like he was dumped even though they never dated. Eun-hee compares him to the walkway from that night, a memory from her 20th fall. Chan-hyuk watches her intently and says, “Let’s go.”
Elsewhere, Jin-sook yells at Sang-shik for keeping this huge secret from her for so long. Sang-shik sits quietly. Doesn’t she have any secrets from him?
He saw Eun-joo’s birth father at the wedding and accuses Jin-sook of secretly being in contact with him all these years. Enraged, she takes a piece of fruit and hurls it to the ground, to Sang-shik’s shock.
Eun-joo tells Tae-hyung she met with his mother to formally end things. He doesn’t think it’s necessary since their divorce is between them. She disagrees. “Just wait and see what I’ll do from now on.” That sounds concerning.
Chan-hyuk watches a drunk Eun-hee having a ball, bouncing ahead down the same walkway from their youth. He thinks, “You called it a memory, so why I am trying to start something now?” Chan-hyuk closes the distance between them, stopping when they’re mere inches apart.
COMMENTS
I figured a straightforward affair situation would be too pedestrian for this drama, so I wasn’t surprised by Young-shik’s story. Once again, the true tragedy is in the secrecy. If Sang-shik had been open about what happened in the first place, everything could’ve turned out much differently. Young-shik obviously forgave him, and his family might have worked through it had he been honest. His lifelong lie even made Ji-woo confrontational, and that’s no small feat. He’s so sweet and caring. Even after he blew up at Sang-shik for neglecting him, his first thought was to worry about the strain of all this on his dad. I’m worried that he’s going to somehow find out that Jin-sook wanted to abort him since this family is hemorrhaging secrets of late. That’s not something that needs to get out, and I would hate for him to feel even more like an afterthought in his family.
Despite their many differences, the sisters definitely know each other well. Eun-joo’s insight into Eun-hee was interesting, that she goes for guys who don’t treat her that well since she doesn’t feel worthy of better. Eun-hee works so hard to please everyone and act happy all the time – it must be exhausting. I’m glad Eun-joo shared that with Chan-hyuk since he’s really the only person who Eun-hee leans on and gets consolation from. Chan-hyuk already knew Eun-hee well enough to know she sometimes hides behind playfulness and is more sensitive than she lets on, but he obviously didn’t know how deep it runs. I was relieved when he told Eun-hee that he puts her first because I think she needs to know that someone does.
Now that he’s gotten confirmation from Eun-joo and Eun-hee herself that she liked him at one point, it looks like Chan-hyuk might stop holding back. I’m not sure how Eun-hee will react, though. She’s worked so hard to put a wall between them in that regard, and I don’t think she’ll let him tear it down easily. Her insecurity will likely be a barrier, but the fact that she didn’t let Ha-ra and Geon-joo treat her like dirt gives me hope. I think she’s starting to respect herself more and demand it from others, so maybe she’ll accept that she deserves someone like Chan-hyuk who respects and cares about her.
Thank goodness Seo-young finally stopped being pushy and annoying with Chan-hyuk. Girl was getting on my nerves with her disrespectful advances. No means no, ma’am. I’m with Chan-hyuk that her feelings come across as forced anyway. I think he’s more like a security blanket that she’s desperate to hold onto. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up with Ji-woo (if he breaks up with that supposed girlfriend, that is).
So Geon-joo is there to shut down the branch? I hadn’t really thought about why they brought him in, but that would make sense. Does that mean Eun-hee’s job is in danger, or will she just get transferred somewhere else? He’s certainly kept all of this under wraps, if it’s true. I wouldn’t put it past Ha-ra to lie about it, but I got the feeling she was telling the truth. They’ve been mentioning Eun-hee’s writing ability a lot recently, and it feels like they’re setting it up for her to pivot to being an author. Chan-hyuk’s reaction when Geon-joo suggested convincing her to write a book suggests something happened to make her give it up. Just another layer to peel back.