Prepare yourselves because things get really dark this week. Despite setbacks, our time traveling duo continues their quest to solve the murders, learning more about themselves and their families than they’d expected. For our heroine, that means unearthing the brutal truth of her father’s past, which calls into question what she thought she knew about him.
EPISODES 9-10
While Yoon-young is ready to believe Hee-seob’s confession – it’s not like her opinion of him was high to begin with – Hae-joon isn’t so quick to accept it. And he’s right to be suspicious of the out-of-the-blue confession because it turns out Hee-seob didn’t even know he was effectively confessing to murder. (Maybe specify the exact crime you’re admitting to next time, kid.) Hee-seob is shocked to realize he’s being held on murder charges and denies killing anyone; he merely thought he was covering for his brother’s protest activities.
Lucky for Hee-seob, he’s got an alibi. He went to check on Soon-ae that night after Bum-ryong tried to attack her, and he ended up staying with her all night while she waited for Kyung-ae to come home. Kyung-ae told Soon-ae she was meeting with someone nice who saved her, so Yoon-young and Hae-joon assume she meant Yoo-seob.
Unluckily for Hee-seob, Soon-ae’s father orders her to keep quiet about being together that night and locks her in her room so no one will gossip about her the way they do Kyung-ae. Also not in Hee-seob’s favor is the fact that Yoo-seob has been unreachable for days. Then, the cops find a necklace Yoon-young recognizes as belonging to her uncle. Hee-seob, of course, insists it’s his (to his uncle Dong-shik’s dismay).
The neighborhood closes ranks, leaving very few on Hee-seob’s side. That doesn’t deter Soon-ae who is beside herself with worry. She begs Yoon-young to go with her to the police station to prove Hee-seob’s innocence, saying she’d promised Hee-seob not to abandon him. Yoon-young refuses and stops Soon-ae from going.
But Yoon-young and Hae-joon already have a two-part plan to get to the truth. Thanks to some good old police incompetence, the bloody garment was rendered useless in the original timeline after some truly impressive mishandling. To ensure a different outcome, Hae-joon gets a cop to put it in a sealed bag before sending it off for testing. Not only is Hee-seob’s blood not a match, but neither are the victims’.
Then, Hae-joon takes a trip to Seoul where Yoo-seob attends university (he’s in the same department as Joo-young) and learns that he’s well-known for his protest activities. He was even seen protesting the night of the murder and was badly injured.
This is when things take a very dark turn. Hee-seob, already beaten and mistreated by the local cops, is taken into custody by Seoul police who are looking for Yoo-seob. They have no compunction about torturing this high school kid to find his brother. It’s brutal. But loyal Hee-seob refuses to give up his brother, no matter how vicious the beating which includes breaking his leg and water torture.
Years ago, Hee-seob and Yoo-seob’s parents and older brother were killed by the military, leaving them to survive alone. (Korea was under military rule during this period.) This shared trauma explains their close bond and dependency on each other throughout their lives. Hee-seob wants to forget and move on, but Yoo-seob can’t and continues to fight the dictatorship.
Knowing now her father is innocent and in serious danger, Yoon-young is desperate. She recalls her uncle used to try to hide in the ceiling, and she rushes to Hee-seob’s room. Sure enough, an injured Yoo-seob is hiding in the attic. He begs her to take him to Hee-seob, so she and Hae-joon help him to the motel where Hee-seob is being tortured.
Hae-joon takes Yoo-seob inside, and shortly after, Hee-seob comes out. Yoon-young sees a bloody, broken Hee-seob walking with that familiar limp and finally sees in him the father she’s always known. It’s a heartbreaking sight as Yoon-young looks at her sobbing, tormented young father and finally understands. Then, for perhaps the first time, she reaches out her hand to him.
It’s not long before a gaggle of reporters arrive – Hae-joon called in reinforcements – forcing the police to leave. Since they’re able to take the brothers to the hospital, there aren’t any permanent injuries this time. Yoon-young finally relents and accepts her parents’ love, taking Soon-ae to the hospital to see Hee-seob. She never understood why her mother, who said she hated Hee-seob, wouldn’t leave him, but now she gets it. Together they weathered the darkest times in their lives.
So now we’re right back to Mi-sook being the most likely suspect. She looks even more suspicious when the third victim (whose body was never found) is revealed: KIM HAE-KYUNG, the bully under Mi-sook’s thumb. The manuscript and reality once again line up in terms of major events, but motivations and details don’t line up so neatly.
According to the manuscript, Hae-kyung runs away from home because she’s in love with Mi-sook/the killer and wants them to go to Seoul together, threatening to out her as the killer if she doesn’t agree. In reality, while Hae-kyung does appear to have a crush on Mi-sook, she runs away because she feels unwanted by her mother who is dating her teacher. The secret Hae-kyung knows (as of now) is not that Mi-sook is the killer but that she intents to frame Min-soo for the murders.
For once, things are looking up for Hae-joon and Yoon-young. Not only did they save Hee-seob and Yoo-seob, ruling them out in the process, but they’re able to stop Hae-kyung from running away. Hae-joon catches her trying to leave home after she gets into a fight at school and is slapped by her teacher/stepfather hopeful. Hae-joon takes Hae-kyung for a day trip and talks some sense into her. She goes home that night and makes up with her mom (who clearly loves her), even giving her permission to keep seeing her teacher.
Amidst all the chaos and murder-solving, Yoon-young and Hae-joon continue growing closer. Yoon-young takes him out for a meal to thank him for saving her father and uncle (although she has to borrow his money to treat him, ha), but she promises to treat him to something better after they return to their time. When she gets drunk and falls asleep on him, Hae-joon betrays the feelings he’s kept hidden and strokes her hair, sighing that she’s as frustratingly clueless as ever.
Meanwhile, it’s Hae-joon’s turn for family time when his dad starts working on the car. Yeon-woo is so absorbed that he’s late to a movie date. Hae-joon recognizes the name of the film as the first movie his parents watched together, and he can’t help following to sneak a peek at the mom he’s never seen. From behind in the theater, he can only see that the woman is wearing a pink headband. He waits outside to catch a glimpse of her face. He stares in shock as two women exit the theater wearing the same pink headband: CHUNG-AH the owner of Bong Bong Teahouse and … Mi-sook.
Oooh, if Mi-sook is Hae-joon’s mom, that would be a twist! Hae-joon’s mom supposedly left town immediately after his birth, but that’s all Hae-joon knows about her, so she really could be anyone. Chung-ah would be the age-appropriate date, so I have a feeling it’ll be her. That said, Mi-sook really does seem to be involved at every turn. And there were a few other girls who were given that same headband, so if this how-I-met-your-mother mystery is anything like the murder mystery, we’ve got more suspects to clear before we get to the bottom of it.
As far as the murder mystery goes, they’re slowly… very slowly… but surely making progress. They’d better speed things up, though, if they want to catch the killer in 1987 because Hae-kyung is the final victim. If only everyone in this tiny town weren’t so shady and filled with secrets.