The murder mystery takes the foreground this week, forcing our hero back into the public eye in all the worst ways. It’s fortunate that our lead couple has laid a solid foundation of trust, because he’s going to need all the support he can get to face past lies and pursue the truth.
EPISODES 11-12
Since Kang-min has already started re-investigating Eom-ji’s case, he’s with his old boss, KWAK JIN-HYUK (Sohn Sang-kyung) when news breaks that a skeleton has been unearthed on a wooded hill near the beach where Do-ha left Eom-ji that fateful night. Jin-hyuk finds a man’s ring buried with the remains, but hides it from Kang-min — and that’s not all he’s hiding. Do-ha’s mother is funding treatment for Jin-hyuk’s sick daughter in return for him getting Do-ha acquitted.
Eventually, DNA tests confirm: Eom-ji is dead. Eom-ho is called in to say his final heart-wrenching goodbyes, and word spreads over the internet that superstar composer Kim Do-ha was the prime suspect in this five-year-old murder case.
For maximum gut-punch effect, the nationwide reveal happens just after Do-ha and Sol-hee ever-so-cutely reflect on how much freer and happier they’ve helped each other become. But despite a sprinkling of doubt from Kang-min (whose working theory is that Do-ha could have unknowingly murdered Eom-ji while under the influence of sleeping pills), Sol-hee stands by her trust in Do-ha’s innocence.
Meanwhile, thanks to some sweetly supportive advice from Chi-hoon, Sha-on decides to take a temporary step away from her career and figure herself out. Deuk-chan isn’t happy about it, but he’s falling apart at the seams, so he tamps down his emotions and robotically informs his employees of three changes to be effective immediately: 1) J Entertainment is cutting ties with Do-ha, 2) Sha-on is going on indefinite hiatus, and 3) anything or anyone not bringing in money gets cut loose. Most notably, struggling boy group Atlantis is disbanding.
Interestingly, when these orders get spun into rumors that J Entertainment is cutting Do-ha off because of the whole murder thing, Deuk-chan freaks out — that’s not what he wanted! He frantically texts Do-ha that the headlines don’t reflect his actual feelings, and that’s when he gets the call informing him his wife has filed for divorce. (If he’s not the killer, I am going to feel so incredibly sorry for him. The guy cannot catch a break.)
Do-ha is summoned to give his witness testimony now that the case is re-classified as murder. Against his mother’s orders, he tells the complete truth this time: after he left Eom-ji on the beach, he just kept walking all night. (Neither remembers yet, but we saw back in Episode 1 that Sol-hee drove right past him on her way home from a job.) This, of course, contradicts the alibi Deuk-chan furnished, and Jin-hyuk quickly flips a switch to keep it off the record.
See, there’s an interesting dynamic going on where Jin-hyuk and Do-ha’s mom are trying to protect Do-ha (and thereby themselves) by covering up the truth — but in actuality they’re just making him more suspicious to anyone like Kang-min who looks close enough to spot the holes.
Meanwhile, Eom-ho’s reopened grief spurs him to finally track down Do-ha’s address. He hides in the dark stairwell so he can stab Do-ha as soon as he exits the elevator… except it’s not Do-ha. It’s the lead singer of Atlantis, ETHAN (Baek Seung-do). He’s the brother of convenience store part-timer Young-jae, and he was sent to Do-ha’s door by that one plagiarizing composer who refuses to leave the narrative (not that I mind watching Sol-hee and her employees put him soundly in his place).
Do-ha arrives just as Eom-ho realizes he’s stabbed the wrong person. Sol-hee hears the struggle and peeks out, and Do-ha pushes her back inside and slams the door shut. So she calls the police, and then rushes back outside to try and stop Eom-ho from strangling Do-ha.
Thankfully, Kang-min arrives just in time to save both their skins. While he takes their statements, he scolds them — Sol-hee for endangering herself and Do-ha for letting Eom-ho get away before. (Though to be fair, the police have had several opportunities to detain him since.)
In more good news, Ethan isn’t critically injured. Do-ha covers his expenses and apologizes, but neither Ethan nor Young-jae blames him. Even so, Do-ha internalizes Kang-min’s point that everyone around him is getting hurt while he skates by with only a few minor bruises. Sol-hee, on the other hand, points out that he’s suffering internally if not physically. Emboldened by her words and her presence, he stands up to the reporters who swarm him, stating definitively that he didn’t kill Eom-ji and that he hid because no one believed him — just like now.
Thanks to a tip from Deuk-chan’s brother, JAE-CHAN (Nam Hyun-woo) — who comes begging for money after Deuk-chan refused to bail him out of debt — Do-ha goes searching for Eom-ji’s father. At first, Do-ha asks Sol-hee to stay behind, promising to return safely. But she follows him not long after, and they meet on the beach where he and Eom-ji parted.
Together, they trace Eom-ji’s father to a bank (where they’re told he gleefully collected her life insurance payout) and then to a gambling den. They fail to bluff their way in, but as luck would have it, the place is owned by the very same gang boss Sol-hee helped five years ago, and he’s delighted to see her again.
A familiar face is waiting inside: Jae-chan, who knew all along Eom-ji’s father would be here. In fact, he knows an awful lot about Eom-ji, even things Do-ha didn’t know. He says he didn’t have a crush on her, but like many things he says, it’s a lie. Before Do-ha can press for more, however, their true target appears. Do-ha throws Eom-ji’s father to the ground and asks outright if he killed her… but we’ll have to wait until next week to hear his answer and whether it’s truthful.
I was a little afraid that Sol-hee would be swayed by Kang-min’s doubts, especially during that piano duet scene where she tried unsuccessfully to hide how worried she was. So it was extra heartwarming to watch her double down and plant herself firmly in Do-ha’s corner. Just as he’s learned to “read” when she’s fibbing that everything is fine, she’s learned to read what kind of support he needs in a given situation — whether it be sending food to comfort him after his questioning or showing up in person even though he thinks he should handle things on his own.
I can’t bring myself to care overly much about the side couples — specifically the two shopkeepers and Sol-hee’s parents (the latter of whom briefly reconnected this week) — but I do appreciate the contrast with our main couple. Where Do-ha and Sol-hee’s relationship is built on communication and trust, the others flounder due to misunderstandings and lies — both to each other and to themselves. Of course, Sol-hee’s lie detector is an advantage in that department, but as Do-ha proved in earlier episodes, it’s possible to communicate openly and honestly for honesty’s sake alone and not just because you’ll be caught if you lie.