This is a week of revelations, with two significant discoveries by our heroine: one forms the basis for a new connection, while the other threatens the deepest bond she shares. Her readjustment to life outside prison is no easy task, made worse by a shocking secret coming to the fore.
EPISODES 3-4
Before the turmoil of the present-day plot begins, the show takes time to reestablish our heroine’s support system. Soo-hyun’s first destination upon her release from prison is a tearful reunion with her mother, and it’s reassuring to know that she has a loving home to return to, even as she ventures out to fulfill her friend’s last wish.
Tracking down the boy from the fire all those years ago, Soo-hyun soon finds that her investigations lead her to a very familiar face. As per the laws of dramaland, our tragically orphaned boy is Seon-yul, whom Soo-hyun approaches at the junkyard. They immediately recognize each other from their graveyard encounter, though they don’t speak much on it.
Seon-yul’s not in the best of moods, having gotten injured while obtaining photographic evidence of a politician’s tryst, and it only sours further when Soo-hyun conveys Hyung-ja’s last wish. Bitterly declaring that an apology can’t change reality, Seon-yul rebuffs Hyung-ja’s remorse.
In the days that follow, Seon-yul continuously snubs Soo-hyun’s attempts to have another conversation with him. That is, until he’s tangentially involved in an accident and loses his mother’s necklace in a pond. Before he can find it, the police officers insist that he follow them to the station to give a statement, so Soo-hyun gets herself muddy retrieving it for him. She understands his pain all too well, and it’s only when she opens up about the loss of her child and apologizes for reminding him of his past that Seon-yul finally begins to see her in a new light.
Despite the plot convenience of the necklace incident, I liked that it got straight to the hearts of our leads while wrapping up fairly quickly. At their core, Soo-hyun is someone who hurts deeply while wishing to protect others from that same pain, and Seon-yul is someone who suppresses his pain in order to live, while also holding fast to that pain deep down. It’s Soo-hyun’s sincere empathy that ultimately gets past Seon-yul’s defenses, allowing our first revelation to wrap up on a hopeful note when Seon-yul reaches out and asks for Hyung-ja’s diary.
For the second revelation, our focus shifts away from Soo-hyun and towards her spouse. In the years since Soo-hyun’s imprisonment, Soo-ho has been steadily rising through the ranks and receiving journalism awards. Still, his heart doesn’t seem to have wavered one bit. When Soo-hyun runs into him in front of her mother’s house, Soo-ho tries to reach out to her, even though she’d served him divorce papers while in prison.
Soo-hyun remains resolute about pushing Soo-ho away, for his own sake, but he sees through her self-sacrificing act and pulls her into a hug. He can’t bear to let her go; she’s much too precious to him. With that, Soo-hyun can no longer keep up her facade, and later on, Soo-ho sweetly proposes to her once again, promising to always walk by her side.
Amidst the heightened emotions of their newly-reaffirmed promise, neither spouse is aware of someone watching them from the shadows. The mysterious figure returns to a darkroom filled with photos of the “murderer” Soo-hyun and her loved ones, and the grudge he harbors against her is evident in the way he cleaves off photo edges like he’d much rather it be her neck on the chopping board.
It’s a chilling introduction to Im Ji-seob, whom we’ll come to know as KWON MIN-HYUK, the bereaved son of Geon-woo’s killer. He’s been biding his time, and now that Soo-hyun’s served her sentence, he finally puts his plan in motion. After a broadcast in which Soo-hyun speaks candidly about her grief and her love for Soo-ho, she returns to the dressing room only to find an envelope addressed to her — and in it is a photo of Soo-ho kissing another woman.
I may have groaned at this reveal, since my cheating-husband-fatigue is at an all-time high given the recent plethora of unfaithful spouses, but it does spur some unexpected developments that ease the sting somewhat. First, just as Soo-hyun reached out to Seon-yul, he reaches out to her in his own way, too. Having noticed her staring at the photo, Seon-yul offers his knowledge of the camera used to take it.
Afterwards, he continues looking into Min-hyuk with the help of his closest — and likely his only — friend HONG SOO-JIN (Yang Hye-ji), who totally has a puppy crush on him. Together, they investigate Min-hyuk’s medical and orphanage records, though they don’t find anything particularly notable as of yet.
As for Soo-hyun, her response to the infidelity is even more gratifying. Rather than stewing in doubt or jumping straight to drastic measures, she takes the bull by its horns and shows the photo to Soo-ho over dinner. Haltingly, she asks what he’s been up to the past few years, and Soo-ho crumples with guilt. Insisting that it was merely an impulsive mistake that held no meaning, Soo-ho asserts that Soo-hyun is everything to him, and Soo-hyun agrees to bury it in the past since they’ve vowed to start anew.
In the meantime, Soo-hyun finds unexpected solace in her neighbor YOON HYE-GEUM (Cha Soo-yeon), who extends a supportive hand to her amidst the public ostracization. Hye-geum’s grateful to Soo-hyun, since Geon-woo had been the only child willing to play with her bullied son, and she reassures Soo-hyun that she’s a good mother.
The next day, Soo-ho calls someone to ask if they were the culprit that sent the photo. He asks to discuss it in person, fibbing to Soo-hyun that his meeting will run late, but Soo-hyun catches him in the lie when she witnesses him leaving work early. Suspicious, Soo-hyun follows him to his hotel rendezvous, only to discover that the woman who opens the door for him is none other than their neighbor Hye-geum.
Oh, boy. For what it’s worth, I do think there’s more to the scene than how it appears on the surface — given Joon’s previous threat and his proclivity to having his fingers in every pie, perhaps the neighbor also has some form of dirt on Soo-ho rather than simply being an affair partner. Still, that doesn’t mitigate my aversion towards this turn of events by much, because I am honestly quite tired of having devoted husbands dangled in front of my face then snatched away by an infidelity reveal.
I’m hoping Soo-ho was telling the truth when he claimed it was just a moment of folly, or else all his considerate gestures toward Soo-hyun would be deeply disturbing. With Yoo-ri’s suspiciously fidgety reaction to Soo-hyun confiding in her about the affair, it isn’t looking good for her either, and I really don’t want this drama to tread the well-worn route of a husband cheating with his wife’s best friend. Give me a fresh betrayal, and give my heroines better spouses!
Perhaps the reason I’m so affronted by this subplot is that I really like Soo-hyun as our heroine, with her kind heart and quiet resilience. Although she tries to shoulder everything alone, she doesn’t allow others to walk over her; she stands by her values, and it shows in how she unflinchingly confronted Geon-woo’s killer last week and Soo-ho this week. Soo-hyun has been deeply hurt by cruel people, but she hasn’t turned to cynicism or spite. Instead, she still seeks to see the good in others, and her patient disposition towards the reticent Seon-yul reflects that.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Min-hyuk, whose grief has driven him to vindictive vengeance. He’s determined to inflict pain on Soo-hyun and wreak havoc upon her life, and he’s calculative enough to play his cards one at a time. His decision to send the affair photo to Soo-hyun’s mother devastated me as much as it did Soo-hyun, and I’m nervously awaiting his next move (while also anticipating more of Im Ji-seob, heh). Hopefully Soo-hyun and Seon-yul join hands soon, because not only could they make a great team, but they might also be the refuge that the other needs.