Will history repeat itself for our star-crossed lovers? This week we learn more about the turmoil our couple endured when they were young, and then see it mirrored in the present-day timeline. But when our heroine reaches a crossroads, the decision she makes will be an important one.
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP
Jae-hyun has a pretty great information chain; he finds out quickly what’s going on with Ji-soo. He learns about the pressure Se-hoon is putting on her to get back together, the fact that Se-hoon and his wife Seo-kyung are in blackmailing cahoots, and above all, the fact that Ji-soo is, yet again, sacrificing everything for him.
We travel back to the past to see how that played out earlier, and between seeing Jae-hyun’s spirit crushed and Ji-soo’s heart broken, it’s practically unbearable. Ji-soo’s father makes short work of Jae-hyun, and before they know what’s going on, he’s wanted as a political criminal, and Ji-soo is on her way to Germany to “study” (A.K.A. get married to further her father’s career).
The pleasure of this story is seeing both timelines play out in patterns, but every week I’m surprised by how much I just adore the past storyline. From the way the story is told, to the fantastic young cast, to the pure-hearted love they portray so well, I could (and would!) also watch them as a stand-alone drama.
After a painful separation, we watch the pair reunited at the airport, and then run off together and live in hiding. Their story is so lovely you can see why they were never able to let go of each other, even after so many years, and so much heartache.
So far these overlapping past/present storylines have been close to identical. Places, moments, and emotions have been mirroring each other — and while it’s lovely, I did begin to wonder if we would start to see the present-day story change in any way. After all, they are getting a second chance. It would be a shame to repeat the same actions, right?
In the past, Jae-hyun and Ji-soo went to a village and hid out, but not before Ji-soo scrawled their names in a wall at the train station. The two spend their first night together there as well, so when Jae-hyun and Ji-soo meet there in the present-day, we’re already primed for expectations.
They look at their names, still graffitied there, and this time Jae-hyun’s the romantic – he adds underneath that their love will continue to bloom. But, unlike the past, the two part ways here, as Ji-soo insists (again) on staying away from him. And there it is: the first big departure from the past storyline. It’s important not only because it’s a first, but because it tells us that perhaps our pair isn’t destined to repeat the past after all.
Jae-hyun has reached a turning point, that’s for sure. Meeting Ji-soo has brought him back to his truest self, and he makes it clear to everyone that he will protect her no matter what it takes. He doesn’t hide his intentions from Seo-kyung, and even more boldly, he also confronts Se-hoon. The two have a very charged, but gentlemanly, conversation where Jae-hyun says that Ji-soo is his, and that he’ll protect her at all costs. “You take the child away from the woman who had an affair, and I’ll take the woman who has lost her child.”
Thank goodness it doesn’t come to that — at least not yet. Ji-soo realizes what she’s doing is wrong, and I was happy to see a change in her sacrificial mentality. After first going along with Se-hoon’s plan, she backs out. I’m not sure what the consequence will be, but I’m happy she’s made a decision for her good. And I’m glad she has Jae-hyun as her place of asylum (and vice versa). Our episodes this week end with them at the church that has meaning for both of them, and it’s a beautiful moment of rest, as rich in history as it is in metaphor.
I haven’t had much time to talk about our secondary characters yet, but I love how they’re woven in the story, past and present. Still Jae-hyun’s best friend, LEE DONG-JIN (Min Sung-wook) boasts he’s the most expensive divorce attorney in Korea and wants to help Ji-soo get free of Se-hoon’s stranglehold (sure, he’s brought in by Jae-hyun, but I love the whole school buddy connection between all of them).
Also, this week our sweetie pie third wheel Young-woo makes a 30-years-too-late confession to Ji-soo. It was so heartbreaking. He does it not because he thinks he has a chance with her, but because he wants her to see how foolish she is to go back to Se-hoon. I really liked the impact this has on her. It might not have been pleasant, but it shook her up. And I rather like the shining knights that are lining up to protect her.
Not that she needs it! Well, sometimes she looks like she’s about to shatter into pieces — but she’s also amazingly strong. I loved the scene where Seo-kyung sets up the school moms to bully Ji-soo with rumors of her affair. And instead of sitting there like a victim, she tells them they didn’t dig deep enough to find out about her criminal record. She threatens them and storms out, and I love it.
We’re seeing Ji-soo grow and change a bit after meeting Jae-hyun again, although her process is slower than his, almost as if she’s thawing after being iced over and miserable for years. Sometimes even the way she walks and stands makes me see the emotional pain she’s in, and I really like Lee Bo-young’s performance here. I can’t wait to see her with a lighter heart. Come on, Jae-hyun, you can do it!
