Fate has not been kind to our OTP, and it’s never been more apparent than now, as the truth about the past — and how it’s repeating itself — is revealed. The more our characters know about their lives in Joseon, the harder and more perilous their job becomes in the future to ensure they find a happy ending.
EPISODES 9-10
The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract continues to be my weekend happy place, but the more in love I fall with our OTP and their romance, the less I enjoy the time travel element that brought them together. At first, I couldn’t figure out why the story wasn’t quite resonating with me any more even though I continued to laugh and squee my way through all the episodes, but I’ve finally figured it out: I don’t like the unspoken idea that Fate has seemingly cursed Tae-ha and Yeon-woo despite their innocence.
Traditional K-drama logic would dictate that our heroes are only fated to have tragic or cursed reincarnations if they did something (or were perceived as having done something) bad or harmful to others in their past lives. That isn’t the case with Tae-ha and Yeon-woo. Instead, they were both the victims of the Kang family’s plot to have Yeon-woo die a “virtuous woman,” a title that, at the time, came with a government award, honor for one’s family, and a fancy headstone — which still stands on the Kang property in 2024.
Now, if Cheonmyeong had sent Yeon-woo further in the past (a la Perfect Marriage Revenge ) so she could stop her and Tae-ha’s murders before they happened, I wouldn’t take any issue with the time travel. For starters, it just makes more sense. Whereas this jump to the future still has me trying to figure out how exactly the past will be changed based on Yeon-woo’s actions in 2024. She can’t undo her death unless, when she returns to Joseon, she returns to a time before she died. In which case, what’s the purpose of traveling to 2024?
But the real thing that grinds my gears is that, by traveling to the future and showing that the past is repeating itself, the message seems to be that Yeon-woo and Tae-ha are being punished for reasons entirely out of their past lives’ control. As a viewer, that doesn’t sit right with me, especially when the onus is on Yeon-woo — again, one of the good guys who didn’t do anything wrong — to do all the heavy lifting and fix things. Shouldn’t the villains be atoning for their sins in their new incarnations? Like, shouldn’t they be the snails that Tae-ha runs over with his car or something?
And if it wasn’t bad enough that our heroes got the short stick when it came to reincarnation, Cheonmyeong appears before Tae-ha and reveals that his heart will fail if he keeps Yeon-woo by his side. I’m predicting that this will eventually be Yeon-woo’s self-sacrificing reason for returning to the past, but for now Tae-ha keeps this information to himself and becomes a reverse noble idiot — clinging to his own happiness despite the fact that his death will ultimately crush Yeon-woo’s heart.
On the plus side, we really get to see Tae-ha shine now that he’s become more selfish and is pursuing his own happiness. The only person not proud of Tae-ha’s personal liberation is Grandpa, who is not pleased to hear Tae-ha wants to step back from the business and have the company managed by an outsider — or worse, Hye-sook, who is still seen as a viable candidate to most of the board of directors.
In an effort to further diminish Hye-sook’s claim to the family throne, Grandpa kicks her and Tae-min out of the house. Tae-min is mostly unfazed by his grandfather’s obvious favoritism, having grown up with it his entire life, but he’s endearingly concerned about how Yeon-woo might get caught in his family’s crossfire. I adore how Yeon-woo has brought out the best in him, and even though he doesn’t get along with Tae-ha, it says a lot about his character that he put aside his lingering animosity to remind Tae-ha that he should be careful and protect Yeon-woo from Hye-sook.
Although Tae-ha’s outwardly dismissive of Tae-min’s warning — likely miffed that his brother would offer advice on how to protect his wife — he reaches for the phone and follows up with Mi-dam about a collaboration between Yeon-woo and a U.S. Congresswoman and her daughter (who just happen to be two more familiar faces from Joseon). Presumably, the extra clout will further protect Yeon-woo’s reputation and prevent Hye-sook from attempting another whisper campaign against Yeon-woo.
I’m not sure the high profile client increased Yeon-woo’s safety, but it did boost Yeon-woo’s happiness to a point where she felt like the only way to burn off the extra energy was to run around like a child on a playground. And, omigosh, how cute and utterly relatable was she in that moment?
But, along with the cuteness was the somber reality that Tae-ha could not relate to her as she sprinted around the empty athletics field because his heart condition had prevented him from exerting himself to that extent. (Uh, we’ve seen you without your shirt, and your chest and arm muscles beg to differ, sir.) Thankfully, the scene was made lighter with very cute — and innuendo laced — banter in which “kissing” is offered up as a means to elevate his heart rate.
But of course, every cutesy and happy moment in this drama has to be followed up by the nefarious deeds of our evil doers. This time, Myung-soo took Hye-sook’s order to “do whatever it takes” to get rid of Tae-ha a little too seriously, so he plotted to murder Tae-ha by putting something in his water that would trigger heart failure. Thankfully, Team Time Travel figured out that Hye-sook and Myung-soo had had someone following them, so they were able to intercept the poisoned drink and attain the evidence they needed to have Myung-soo and Hye-sook investigated.
Except… Hye-sook is actually innocent. She may be a lot of things — conniving, a liar, a shitty mother — but she’s not a murderer. Not only was she not a part of Myung-soo’s plan, but she also didn’t lock Tae-ha’s mother up in the annex or cause her death. No, that honor goes to Grandpa, whose selfish ambition to create a family empire has been the cause of all of Tae-ha’s misfortunes.
Meanwhile, Yeon-woo has figured out that her presence has accelerated Tae-ha’s heart failure, and it pains her to see Tae-ha’s relationship with Grandpa strained. If she’s going to have to leave his side and return to Joseon, ideally she would like to help Tae-ha repair his relationship with his grandfather. She visits Grandpa and begs him to atone for his actions and give Tae-ha the opportunity to forgive him, but Grandpa refuses. Instead, he doubles-down on his evilness, and has his henchmen kidnap Yeon-woo.
Grandpa’s plan to have Yeon-woo shipped overseas, however, is foiled by someone with an even bigger ax to grind against him. That villain-in-hiding is none other than Myung-soo, whose wife and unborn child died when Grandpa used his power and influence to force a doctor to operate on Tae-ha’s father instead of Myung-soo’s wife.
Myung-soo anonymously texts Yeon-woo’s location to Tae-ha, and while Tae-ha is off rescuing his lady love — who’s doing a fairly good job of rescuing herself, I might add — Myung-soo confronts Grandpa. He knows Grandpa’s latest stunt will sever the tie between Grandpa and Tae-ha, and Myung-soo is particularly pleased to have caused the rift because now Grandpa has also lost the person most precious to him.
Myung-soo doesn’t plan to stop there, though. He intends to kill Grandpa with his bare hands, but before he can choke Grandpa to death, Tae-ha arrives — presumably to have his own yelling match with Grandpa. As upset as Tae-ha is with his grandfather, Tae-ha doesn’t wish him dead, so he steps in to protect Grandpa.
This week’s episodes end with Tae-ha being flung to the ground, presumably unconscious, and once again, I’m reminded of the unfairness of our characters’ situation. This OTP is up there among my K-drama favorites, and I feel like the writers are doing them dirty. They do not deserve to be casualties in the war between all these power hungry and vengeful people. Are we really supposed to accept that this was their fate, and the only reason they were given the opportunity to change it was because Yeon-woo’s grandfather once saved Cheonmyeong?
And then there’s poor Sa Wol, who inadvertently got pulled into our OTP’s ill-fated relationship and traveled to the future with Yeon-woo. When I first started this drama, I thought the time jump to 2024, when women have more freedoms, would have a profound impact on Yeon-woo, but Sa Wol is actually the one who feels the most transformed by her time in 2024. From learning to accept Yeon-woo’s offer to be equals, to wanting to find a job and gain independence, to finding her own romance, Sa Wol has gone from literal slave to a liberated woman. I want her to remain in the future with Sung-pyo — and my gut is saying she will — but it’s heartbreaking to imagine Yeon-woo leaving her behind if she returns to Joseon. How can we have a happy ending if our besties are separated?