Our time traveler is starting to make her mark on the modern world, but the more she stands out the more people want to bring her down. Luckily, she has accumulated more friends, and even her contract husband has become her champion. But what happens when his affection for her deepens and opens the door for his jealousy? A good time, that’s what.
EPISODES 5-6
Last we saw Yeon-woo and Tae-ha, they’d taken a nasty tumble down a steep hill, and while they’d laid passed out on the ground below, the mysterious (almost) assailant wearing the motorcycle helmet had snuck away into the woods. Don’t worry, Beanies. There’s no need to fear (just yet) for the safety of our heroes. There are more formidable threats for them to face ahead — like a serious heart condition and an evil step-mother — so it’s going to take more than a little Cliff of Doom to cause them any serious harm.
Sure enough, Tae-ha regains consciousness almost instantly, but he’s a bit too battered to carry Yeon-woo back to the Kang family estate. Thankfully, Sung-pyo locates them and — in a rather amusing twist to our expectations — gives the limp Yeon-woo a piggyback out of the woods instead of her faux husband. I mean, it’s understandable that Tae-ha, who’s sporting his own bruises on top of a heart condition — would avoid exerting himself in this situation, but I’m amused by how Sa Wol lowkey disses Tae-ha’s strength by showing her admiration for the muscular arms of the “bandit” who carried Yeon-woo out of the woods.
Not that I can fault Sa Wol for her preference; I’m 100% rooting for this wacky secondary couple. Unfortunately, it’s still hard to imagine how our time-crossed couples will attain a happy ending, and only Sung-pyo — who fell in love with Sa Wol at first sight and has read his fair share of timeslip manhwa — has come to the realization that a romance with a Joseon woman could be ill fated.
Tae-ha, on the other hand, is a little behind the curve when it comes to romance, so he isn’t thinking that far ahead just yet. Instead, he’s still processing the news that his fake wife is from Joseon, but at least he’s finally a believer. All it took was another talk with a history scholar and a review of the CCTV from the hotel where Tae-ha fished Yeon-woo out of a pool to convince Tae-ha that he’s married to a time traveler.
So now the only thing Tae-ha’s in denial about is his feelings for Yeon-woo — which makes for dreamy romantic scenes where Tae-ha gazes longingly at Yeon-woo without understanding why he’s captivated by her beauty. Leave it to a K-drama to somehow make linens and housework romantic. (Anyone else thinking of a specific tablecloth scene from King the Land?)
Yeon-woo, however, is slightly more preoccupied with her desire to return to Joseon, and although she cares for Tae-ha, it’s only when he says or does something that reminds her of her deceased husband that she pauses and looks at him through a romantic lens. These moments, however, are starting to happen more and more frequently. Also, Sa Wol is doing her part to ensure the attraction between them grows — because her running theory is that Yeon-woo needs to consummate her marriage with Tae-ha in order to return to Joseon. (Cue: A blushing — but not wholly opposed — Yeon-woo.)
Meanwhile, Hye-sook has been living up to her role as the evil step-mother, and she has concocted yet another plan to ruin Tae-ha’s reputation so that he’s not elected as the next chairman. Tae-ha has been entrusted with securing a collaboration with Midam, a modern hanbok clothing brand, as part of SH Seoul’s anniversary event, so Hye-sook meets with LEE MI-DAM (also played by Kim Yeo-jin), the CEO of Midam, on the sly. Hye-sook has a counter proposal for Mi-dam that she hopes she’ll accept over the one Tae-ha’s team put together. Mi-dam, however, sees through Hye-sook’s power play and refuses both proposals because she wants absolutely nothing to do with SH’s internal power struggle. Smart woman.
Unfortunately, Mi-dam’s refusal to collaborate with SH Seoul is still a win for Hye-sook, but even so, Hye-sook decides to fan the flames. She leaks to the press that Tae-ha got married in secret, which stirs up all sorts of negative rumors and speculation that the marriage was kept hush-hush because his wife is lacking in some way. Hye-sook intends to leverage these rumors as the reason Mi-dam refused to collaborate.
What Hye-sook couldn’t account for, though, was Yeon-woo’s superb embroidery skills. On the day Tae-ha was supposed to meet with Mi-dam — one last-ditch effort to try and change her mind — he wore the shirt Yeon-woo fixed (upgraded) with her embroidery. Mi-dam hesitates when she sees the stitching that bears a striking resemblance to her family heirloom, and after she discovers that the designer is Tae-ha’s wife, she changes her mind and agrees to collaborate with Tae-ha.
Did anyone else cheer when Mi-dam interrupted the board meeting to announce that she’d be partnering with Tae-ha and that it was all thanks to his wife? Sure, Hye-sook’s sour face was priceless, but this moment also felt like a long overdue revenge for how Joseon Hye-sook tricked Yeon-woo’s mother into marrying off her beloved daughter to a man with a known heart disease.
Yeah, about that “heart disease.” It’s indisputable that present day Tae-ha has a heart problem — he has the surgery scar to prove it — but Joseon Tae-ha’s heart condition probably wasn’t his cause of death. I was already suspicious when he coughed up blood before dying — not your typical heart attack symptom — but the blood that stained Yeon-woo’s norigae turned the silver butterfly black — a sign of poison.
In the present, while there’s no official signs that Tae-ha is being poisoned, his heart condition has his doctor concerned, and he insists Tae-ha should come in for a full examination. Tae-ha, however, puts his own health at the bottom of his list of priorities — behind his grandfather’s surgery, defeating Hye-sook, and ensuring Yeon-woo is sent safely home. It’s becoming harder and harder to hide his increasingly frequent attacks from Hye-sook, and the last thing Tae-ha wants is for her to find out about his condition and exploit it for her personal gain. So until the company is safely in his control, he will hide his heart problem.
But, it turns out, Tae-ha’s heart is in trouble in more ways than one. Our little android CEO is falling in love, and he may just die from his jealousy. You see, up until this point in our plot, Yeon-woo has been safely tucked away in Tae-ha’s house, but after impressing Mi-dam with her embroidery skills, Yeon-woo has been brought on as a guest fashion designer. Meaning, she’s now collaborating with Tae-ha’s team, which includes Tae-min and the hunky Midam director DO YOON-JAE (Park Yeon-woo, or perhaps better known as Chef John).
Yeon-woo’s identity as Tae-ha’s wife is kept a secret, so Tae-ha is not able to metaphorically mark his territory in the conventional (often toxic) means. Instead we’re treated to some delightfully comedic moments while Tae-ha tries to insert himself between Yeon-woo and the men around her while not making it overtly obvious that he’s her (totally jealous) husband. Thus, he invites everyone to an impromptu team dinner — even though he usually doesn’t attend team dinners — when he’s caught watching Yoon-jae asking Yeon-woo for her phone number.
At dinner, matters escalate when Tae-ha’s subordinates start shipping Yeon-woo with Yoon-jae, and Tae-ha nearly blows a gasket when Yeon-woo jokes that she will show Yoon-jae her drinking habit — which Tae-ha mistakenly believes is kissing — if he keeps pouring her drinks. Tae-ha abruptly calls an end to the dinner, but then Yeon-woo accepts a ride from Yoon-jae.
Tae-ha is so grumpy when Yeon-woo finally gets home that childishly tells her that the rabbit on the moon isn’t real. Yeon-woo is absolutely crushed and instigates a fight. After chasing Tae-ha around and beating him with a pillow, she finally clears up the misunderstanding about her drinking habit: when she’s drunk, she’s good at head-butting, not kissing. Tae-ha can’t understand why this news relieves him. (Oh, you poor lovesick fool.)
Back at work, Assistant Manager YOO HA-NA (Kwon Ah-reum) is giving Yeon-woo a hard time. She has a crush on Tae-ha, and because she’s always paying extra attention to him, she notices that Tae-ha has feelings for Yeon-woo. While Tae-ha’s jealousy is endearing, Ha-na’s green-eyed monster is decidedly not. I definitely don’t trust her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes a snitch for Hye-sook.
Speaking of Hye-sook, she’s back to plotting again now that the collaboration with Midam is progressing nicely — and under Yeon-woo’s creative direction. Hye-sook and Yeon-woo cross paths at the office, and Hye-sook tries to intimidate Yeon-woo, but it doesn’t work. Instead, Yeon-woo claps back, and Tae-min, who was there to witness the whole exchange, also gives his mother a stern warning: don’t mess with Yeon-woo or else.
Tae-min is actually a tremendous help to Yeon-woo, who had been struggling to create designs for a modern audience. Tae-min’s idea to have her survey their customers was a stroke of genius, and even though I didn’t take him seriously before, he might actually have an eye for business and prove to be a competent ally — or competitor — for Tae-ha in the future.
I’ve got to say, I liked Tae-min more in these latest episodes, but his affection for Yeon-woo feels abrupt. It was obvious from the beginning that he would fall for her kindness and quirkiness (who wouldn’t?), but there was no gradual transition. It’s like he went from hating her to loving her overnight, but you know what? I’ll accept it. His characterization was one of the two complaints I had with last week’s episodes, and if the plot fairies want to wave a magic wand and make him more palatable, I’m not going to question it. I’m having too much fun to nitpick.
Now that Tae-ha is starting to feel… things… for Yeon-woo, he’s realized he cares whether or not she’s in danger at his side. His grandfather, who met with Fake Bride #1 and probably knows Tae-ha’s marriage is fake, encourages Tae-ha to send her overseas, where she poses less of a risk to Tae-ha’s bid for the throne. Tae-ha, however, has another idea.
After formally presenting their designs for their anniversary collaboration with Midam, Tae-ha publicly introduces Yeon-woo as the designer — and his wife. The news is met with gasps (everyone) and a few stink faces (Hye-sook and Ha-na). Although I’m sure there’s a small part — the jealous part — of Tae-ha that went public with their relationship so people would stop shipping Yeon-woo with other men, his primary objective was to protect Yeon-woo. The more people who know she’s his wife, the fewer opportunities Hye-sook will have to cause her harm.
Yeah, about that. Almost immediately Hye-sook retaliates by luring Yeon-woo to the abandoned annex on the Kang estate. This power play isn’t a threat to Yeon-woo’s life. Instead, it’s a psychological attack on Tae-ha, whose childhood trauma stems from being locked in the annex with his dying mother. Since her death, he’s not been able to enter the annex, and after having her secretary tell Yeon-woo to wait for Tae-ha in the annex, Hye-sook has her secretary linger to watch what Tae-ha does.
At first, he hesitates at the door, but then Yeon-woo knocks over some wooden slats. Hearing a loud bang and fearing for her safety, he rushes inside the annex. Yeon-woo is fine, but after confirming she’s not harmed, Tae-ha is overwhelmed by another panic attack. Yeon-woo helps him loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt to help him breathe, and that’s when she notices the scar from his heart surgery in the center of his chest.
It’s to-be-determined whether Yeon-woo has learned about the capabilities of modern cardiothoracic surgeons, but I think it’s safe to say that she’s figured out Tae-ha, like her deceased husband, has a heart problem. At first, she was able to dismiss any concerns for Tae-ha’s safety by telling herself that they are two different people, but now that Tae-ha is falling in love with her and becoming a nicer, happier, and more supportive person around her, their similarities are hard to ignore. Tae-ha is her reincarnated husband, and according to CHEONMYEONG (Lee Young-jin), the mysterious green-eyed woman, Yeon-woo has time traveled in order to break the tragic cycle.
I can’t believe we’re at the halfway mark! I find myself simultaneously wishing there were more episodes and glad that I don’t have to wait forever to find out what’s going to happen. I have soooo many questions — more than I started out with and about unexpected characters. Sang-mo is a curiosity, and I’m eager to find out just how much he knows and why he treasures the painting of Yeon-woo. I love to hate Hye-sook, but I find myself a wee bit sympathetic towards her character after learning she genuinely cared about Tae-ha’s father. And if Midam wasn’t the long-lost mother of the modern day Yeon-woo we saw last week in the police photo, then how will Yeon-woo’s modern doppelgänger play into the larger plot?
As eager as I am to find the answers to all my questions, I live more for the silliness. Jealous Tae-ha is my favorite Tae-ha, and Bae In-hyuk is nailing the physical comedy of this role. Every little expression he makes is hilarious and meme worthy. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting him to be so delightful and fun in this role, so I’m pleased that he surpassed my expectations — and then some. Although he’s the standout, in my opinion, the rest of the cast is doing a terrific job matching his energy, and I can’t wait to see what laugh-out-loud moments they give us next week.