A wife learns the hard way that some truths are impossible to ignore, leaving the future of her family at risk. Another family is at the center of a mystery that overshadows an increasingly desperate man–a man whose life has been tragically misunderstood.
EPISODE 8 RECAP
Fall, 2005
Seated in the Baek’s living room, Hyun-soo asked Dr. Baek and his wife how the driver ended up in a coma when he was the one hit by a car. Upset, Hee-sung’s mother left the room while Dr. Baek explained that there was an unfortunate accident. Hyun-soo didn’t understand why they wanted him to assume Baek Hee-sung’s identity and Dr. Baek hinted that it had something to do with his recent appointment as chief of surgery.
Faced with a dismal future, Hee-sung agreed and Dr. Baek gave him a notebook with the details of his son’s life. Of greatest concern was a letter from the military and after Hyun-soo read it, Dr. Baek asked, “Can you become even bolder?”
His hair bleached, Hyun-soo applied for a replacement ID and when his fingerprint didn’t match, the clerk explained that the scanner routinely had problems. Rather than try again, Hyun-soo complained that he was in a hurry and after he answered some personal questions perfectly, he was handed an ID for Baek Hee-sung bearing Hyun-soo’s photo.
In the present, Hee-sung explains to Moo-jin that he needs his sister’s help because Ji-won is on Do Hyun-soo’s trail after someone reported that he’s a serial killer’s accomplice. Recalling the fish keychain that Hae-soo gave him, Hee-sung shares his suspicion, “My sister met that accomplice.” At home, Ji-won sits at her laptop and wonders why her husband went to see Moo-jin in the middle of the night.
When Hee-sung sneaks back into bed, Ji-won isn’t asleep and asks, “Where did you go?” Hee-sung claims that he was in his workshop but Ji-won can smell the car air freshener on him. After Hee-sung fibs that he had to get some supplies from the car, he senses that Ji-won is angry with him and he asks her to face him. She turns around, seemingly half asleep, but once Hee-sung closes his eyes, Ji-won opens hers to stare at him.
Ji-won sees that Hee-sung has been in his workshop all day while her team watches some thugs in a café, hoping to catch the lettuce thief. Jae-sub explains, “They make a newbie commit petty theft…,” and when that newbie nabs a woman’s unattended laptop, Ji-won stops him. She surprised when she recognizes In-seo, the boy who accused his father of trying to kill him.
In-seo shoves the laptop at Ji-won and runs away. When Ji-won catches up to him, In-seo shouts, “I ruined everything. My mom, my dad, my whole family…I should’ve just kept my mouth shut,” before making his escape.
At the police station, In-seo’s mom informs the team that In-seo ran away after his father was arrested. After she leaves to search the local internet cafés, Ji-won stares at the portrait of her family and realizes, “If In-seo had buried the truth, his family might be in a better situation.”
Jae-sub and Ho-joon agree that Ji-won could never ignore the truth like that. Woo-chul walks in to announce a team dinner that night and Jae-sub guesses, “We’re to reinvestigate the Yeonju City serial murder case!”
At his workshop, Hee-sung torches away the symbol from a bracelet that’s an exact match to the sketch found in his old duffle bag. He gets a call from Moo-jin, who’s outside of the art class that Hae-soo is teaching, with the news that he found his sister.
Before he hangs up, Hee-sung mentions that Jung Mi-sook left Kyung-choon after an argument, yet he still reported her missing. Hee-sung asks Moo-jin to interview Kyung-choon in prison.
After her class, Hae-soo finds Moo-jin waiting in the hallway and he explains, “I came to set off a bomb of my own.” Hae-soo assumes that he’s going to turn her in but instead, Moo-jin whispers, “I found Hyun-soo.”
Over dinner, Woo-chul confirms that their team has been chosen to reinvestigate the Yeonju City murder cases. Ji-won surprises everyone when she argues that their team is biased after their work in Kyung-choon’s case and she asks Woo-chul to have another team take the case. Suspicious, Jae-sub adds up all of Ji-won strange behavior recently and guesses that she’s working on a case by herself.
When Ji-won’s phone rings, Jae-sub assumes that it’s an informant but Ji-won shows everyone that it’s Hee-sung. She steps outside to answer his call and Hee-sung informs Ji-won that he has an important meeting and will be home late. After she hangs up, Ji-won checks Hee-sung’s location which proves that he just lied to her.
At an abandoned complex, Hee-sung enters the large room with an empty pool that was a recent filming site. Hae-soo hears Hee-sung approach and when she faces him, Hee-sung begins to explain why he needed to find her. He’s silenced when Hae-soo throws her arms around Hee-sung’s neck and sobs.
A flashback shows the siblings’ last meeting, when Hyun-soo found a bloodied and dazed Hae-soo standing over the dead foreman, the murder weapon in her left hand. After Hae-soo explained that the foreman attacked her, Hyun-soo took the tool from her hand and smeared blood onto his uniform and face. Hee-sung decided to take the blame so that Hae-soo could live a normal life, knowing that such a thing wasn’t possible for him.
Hae-soo tells Hee-sung, “You should resent me for being well, for being able to eat and sleep after sending you away like that.” As Hae-soo sobs, Hee-sung pulls her into a hug and reminds her, “It was my decision.”
Hee-sung’s mom protests as she cooks a vegetable pancake for Eun-ha, “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” When she sets down the food, Eun-ha opens her mouth expectantly and then explains that she isn’t very good with chopsticks. Hee-sung’s mom tears off a piece of the pancake but Eun-ha reminds her to blow on it first. When Hee-sung’s mom asks Eun-ha how it tastes, she answers honestly, “It tastes better than Mommy’s…But Daddy’s tastes even better.”
The cute exchange is interrupted when Dr. Baek walks in, “What are you doing that you didn’t hear me come in?” After he tells Eun-ha to have fun, Dr. Baek sternly orders his wife, “We need to talk.”
Hee-sung’s mom follows her husband into their bedroom where she’s scolded for having fun while their son lies in that room. Mom confesses that she wants to live like other people but Dr. Baek shouts, “Then you shouldn’t have done that to Hee-sung!” For once, Mom remains calm as she admits, “Seeing a child eat in my home, smelling food in this house, it almost made me cry.”
When the housekeeper walks into the kitchen, Eun-ha announces, “Excuse me. I need to pee.” The housekeeper doesn’t respond (is she deaf too?) so Eun-ha follows her into the closet but finds it empty. In the secret room, the housekeeper straps the real Hee-sung into a device to exercise his leg as his eyelids flutter.
Dr. Baek shouts, “How do you call yourself a mother,” but his wife reminds him that he’s the one who failed to answer their son’s calls after his car accident. Mom accuses Dr. Baek of keeping Hee-sung alive for selfish reasons, insisting that if he could speak, he’d beg to die. When Dr. Baek slaps her, Mom tells him, “This is who you really are.”
Dr. Baek opens the bedroom door and sees Eun-ha, who announces that she can’t find the bathroom. Dr. Baek informs his wife, “This little six-year-old was roaming around the entire house. Make sure she doesn’t say anything.”
Happy tears fall from Hae-soo’s eyes as she looks at photos of Eun-ha on Hee-sung’s phone. Zooming in on Eun-ah and Ji-won in a family photo, Hee-sung brags that they not only look alike, their personalities are similar, “She’s not like me at all. I’m sure of it.” Watching her brother speak about his wife and daughter, Hae-soo observes, “You’ve changed a lot.”
Hee-sung explains the reason for their reunion, “Dad had an accomplice…You even talked to him…at Dad’s funeral.” A flashback shows that a man in a black hat sobbed loudly as Hee-sung adds that the fish keychain Hae-soo gave him belonged to the final murder victim.
Standing close by, Ji-won listens to the siblings’ conversation and realizes that Hee-sung is looking for the accomplice because he’s not the one who assisted Do Min-seok. When Hee-sung tells Hae-soo that the final victim’s husband hunted him down because of that keychain, Ji-won has confirmation that he made some kind of deal with Kyung-choon.
Hae-soo informs Hee-sung that the police questioned her and realizes that his wife looks familiar. Hee-sung confirms that his wife is a cop, which is why he he needs to be careful if he wants to continue to live as Baek Hee-sung. Ji-won listens carefully when Hae-soo asks, “Do you love her?” Hee-sung matter-of-factly admits, “No. I never once felt that way. I don’t know what that feels like.” Oof.
Shattered, Ji-won walks away. As she nears the police station, Ji-won sees her reflection in a shop window and as she begins to cry, she tells herself, “I should’ve expected that.”
Ji-won wipes away her tears to answer a video call from Eun-ha. Eun-ha complains that Hee-sung isn’t answering his phone and she needs to show him her latest drawing. When Eun-ha shows Ji-won her picture of her happy family at home, Ji-won reminds her daughter, “Mommy loves you a lot.”
At the police station, Ji-won retrieves Do Hyun-soo’s duffle bag and takes it to a deserted spot where she sets the contents on fire. Tears fall from Ji-won’s eyes as the cassette player and the fish keychain burn, and she promises, “I’ll let you live as Baek Hee-sung.”
When Hee-sung returns home, Ji-won is outside with the beer that he bought the day that they met. Again, Hee-sung senses that something’s wrong but Ji-won claims that it’s work related and asks if she should quit her job. Hee-sung advises, “Quit if it’s taking a toll on you…Just be yourself,” but Ji-won isn’t sure what that means.
Hee-sung describes just how he sees his wife, “Someone who’s innocent, pure, quick to laugh, short-tempered, quick to sulk, but also quick to forgive.” When Ji-won adds that she’s gullible as well, Hee-sung laughs that he disagrees.
Ji-won reminds Hee-sung that it’s been five years since they moved into their house and remembering their housewarming party, she confesses, “I was truly happy that day.” When Hee-sung suggests another party to cheer her up, Ji-won looks into his eyes and asks, “Do you love me?”
Ji-won kisses Jiwon’s hand and replies, “Why ask what’s obvious?” Her gaze on Hee-sung, Ji-won thinks, “Keep living your life as Baek Hee-sung, for our daughter’s sake…That’s my final gift to you.” Ji-won accepts that she’ll have to live as if she doesn’t know the truth about Hee-sung and that they’ll have to part ways. When Ji-won next speaks, it’s to inform Hee-sung that her team is reinvestigating the Yeonju City serial murders.
In Moo-jin’s apartment, Hae-soo remembers that the man who gave her the keychain sobbed louder than anyone else at her father’s funeral as Hyun-soo slept on the floor. The man, whose face was obscured by a hat, gave Hae-soo the fish keychain for good luck and seeing Hyun-soo, he commented, “I feel bad for him. His future is headed down a dreaded path.” Hee-sung concludes that the accomplice deliberately sought him out.
Hae-soo recalls that the man wrote his number on her arm in case she ever needed help. She wrote down the number but it was destroyed when their house burned down. Moo-jin scolds Hee-sung for setting that fire but Hae-soo confesses that she did that too in order to destroy the bloody school uniforms.
Hee-sung plays the threatening phone call and calls attention to the rhythmic tapping in the background. Moo-jin looks entranced as he stares at Hae-soo and when Hee-sung calls out his name, he blurts out, “Why are you so pretty?”
Embarrassed, Moo-jin jumps up and informs the siblings, “As soon as we find the accomplice, I want nothing to do with you guys. Forever,” but he’s not pleased when Hae-soo readily agrees. Hee-sung ignores Moo-jin’s conflicted reaction to ask what Kyung-choon had to say.
The team moves to a new office and as Ji-won unpacks her things, she sees on her calendar that it’s the anniversary of the day she and Hee-sung moved into their house. As Ho-joon teases that she acts like a newlywed, Ji-won slips off her wedding ring and places it in her desk drawer.
Moo-jin summarizes what they know so far — Mi-sook left her husband but spoke to him on the phone three days later while she was at a bus stop. When Mi-sook learned that Kyung-choon was in the hospital after a car accident, she got his room number before hanging up. Moo-jin suddenly remembers that he discovered a similarity among the victims.
As the team surveys the Yeonju City victims on a screen, Ji-won explains that no one reported them missing, with the exception of Jung Mi-sook. A map that compares Mi-sook’s movements to those of Min-seok and Hyun-soo proves that they didn’t cross paths the day that she disappeared, which supports the theory that the accomplice borrowed Min-seok’s car to abduct her.
Ji-won holds up the statements of everyone that Mi-sook met or called after she left home, most of them about job offers, confident that the accomplice is among them. Ji-won announces her resolve to solve the case while thinking, “That way, I can prepare what to do next.”
Hee-sung suggests that his dad and the accomplice knew that Mi-sook had left home. Hee-sung remembers that his father once gave him a rabbit that he’d trapped and gave him permission to do anything that he wanted to it.
Hee-sung suggests that his father must have set a trap for Mi-sook. In a flashback, a bus pulled away from the bus stop just as Mi-sook got a phone call. Hee-sung asks what could have been more important than an injured husband.
A woman leads In-seo into a shady looking employment agency, a couple of dozen cell phones within reach of CEO Yeom Sang-chul’s desk. CEO Yeom asks In-seo how he found out about the agency and the boy produces a flyer that promises impressive earnings regardless of age or qualifications. With a laugh, the CEO pulls out a form so In-seo can write out his resume.
In his office, Dr. Baek learns from a televised report that the police have reopened the investigation into the Yeonju City murders. Dr. Baek takes a cell phone from a box in his desk but before he can make a call, his housekeeper texts, “Something’s wrong with your wife. She won’t come out of your son’s room.”
Back at Moo-jin’s apartment, Hae-soo sighs, “I wish I could remember that phone number,” but an understanding Moo-jin reminds her, “You were only 19.” As Moo-jin gazes at Hae-soo’s face, Hee-sung realizes that he still has feelings for her.
In an effort to lift her spirits, Moo-jin suggests getting pizza and reminds Hae-soo, “We said let’s order a pie each once we became adults.” Annoyed, Hee-sung accuses Moo-jin of caring more about reconnecting with Hae-soo than catching the accomplice.
After Hee-sung reminds Moo-jin that he once told Hae-soo, “…you make me sick,” he makes himself perfectly clear, “I don’t care what you two do now that you met again, but do it elsewhere.” Pulling out his phone, Hee-sung replays the threatening message, convinced that he’s been at the place where the call was made.
Moo-jin pauses the recording and unleashes his frustrations on Hee-sung, “You don’t feel gratitude or remorse. You have no shame. You’re self-centered.” Moo-jin suggests that Hee-sung should try showing Ji-won what he’s really like. When Hae-soo explains that Hee-sung is focused on finding the accomplice, Moo-jin asks her, “Are you still Do Hyun-soo’s spokesperson? How long will you keep doing that?”
Hee-sung is about to walk out but he returns when Hae-soo orders him to come back and sit down. Hae-soo urges Hee-sung to share what it is that he most desperately wants so that they can help him. She repeats that Hee-sung has changed, “You never wanted anything before. But now, you do.”
Tired of reading witness statements, Jae-sub suggests, “Let’s just catch Do Hyun-soo.” Ji-won insists that he’s not the accomplice but that’s not why Jae-sub wants to find him. Because the accomplice borrowed Min-seok’s car to abduct Mi-sook, he must have met Min-seok at least twice to exchange the car keys.
Ji-won looks up in alarm when Jae-sub concludes that Hyun-soo must have seen the accomplice. Making up an excuse, Ji-won runs out to find Hee-sung and checks her phone for his location.
Hee-sung’s mom gazes at her son as she fondly remembers that he once opened his mouth so that she could feed him, just like Eun-ha, even though he was a grown man. At the same time, Hee-sung tells Hae-soo and Moo-jin what he wants, “I want to live as Baek Hee-sung… I don’t want to lose my life. No matter what.”
Hee-sung admits that he still has trouble understanding normal emotional responses and offers to say “thank you” and “sorry” as often as he needs to as long as Moo-jin continues to help him. Moo-jin brushes off the offer but shows his willingness to help by suggesting he could get Ho-joon drunk and pump him for information.
Moo-jin jumps when his phone rings with a call from Ji-won and he hilariously counsels the unemotional Hee-sung not to panic. Moo-jin puts Ji-won’s call on speaker and with a hoarse voice and a cough, he informs her that he’s too sick with enteritis to meet with her.
After Ji-won hangs up, the doorbell rings and Moo-jin jumps up to get their pizza. He shocked to find Ji-won on his doorstep and Hee-sung’s eyes widen in alarm when Moo-jin loudly greets her. When three pizzas are delivered, Ji-won sees the shoes by Moo-jin’s door and asks if he has company, causing Hee-sung to clutch at his chest.
Weeping, Hee-sung’s mother promises to join her son soon as she removes his breathing mask. Dr. Baek runs in and as his parents struggle, the real Hee-sung gasps for air. At the same, when Hee-sung hear Ji-won’s voice, he can’t breathe.
Ji-won offers to wait until Moo-jin’s meeting is over, unprepared to hear Hee-sung call out, “Is something up?”
Dr. Baek and his wife struggle but when he freezes, she follows his gaze and sees that Hee-sung’s eyes are open.
When Hee-sung walks to the door and faces Ji-won, she can’t hide her surprise.
COMMENTS
We’re getting into some life and death decisions as a number of families reach their breaking points. The Baeks find themselves at odds over whether or not it’s time to finally let their comatose son die and Hee-sung’s mother’s decision has unexpected consequences. What happens to Dr. Baek if there are two Baek Hee-sungs to juggle? Speaking of the Baeks, I tried to imagine what could ruin Dr. Baek and the worst thing I could think of was organ harvesting. I don’t seriously think that’s where the drama is going but when In-seo ended up in that shady employment agency, I found myself worried about his kidneys.
After Do Min-seok’s alleged suicide led to the discovery of the serial murders, his children were left with a notorious family association. Hyun-soo escaped that stigma when he took on Baek Hee-sung’s identity but with renewed interest in his father’s crimes, he must prove his innocence so that people will stop searching for him. It’s the only way that Hee-sung can keep the life that he’s built for himself and the people in it. What he doesn’t realize is that Ji-won’s investigation has ripped away his mask and she knows without a doubt that Hee-sung has been pretending all along that he loves her and Eun-ha. But has he really?
When Ji-won first met Hee-sung, he insisted that he didn’t like her but she was convinced otherwise, because his actions didn’t support his claims. Ji-won’s stubborn refusal to focus on just Hee-sung’s words is why they shared a life together for 14 years but because she’s somehow forgotten how to do that, she’s abandoning Hee-sung for good as evidenced by the removal of her wedding ring. Of course it hurt to hear Hee-sung tell his sister that he’s never once felt love for anyone, but it’s not his fault that his brain doesn’t recognize that emotion. But Hee-sung’s heart does know what love feels like because whenever he thinks that Ji-won is about to discover the truth, he experiences actual physical heartache. I suspect that some catastrophic experience may close the gap that prevents Hee-sung from understanding normal emotional responses. With everything that’s happening, that possibility becomes more likely every minute.
With Hae-soo’s confession that she’s responsible for the death of the town foreman, how does that change things for Hee-sung? For sure Hee-sung didn’t kill the foreman, but in spite of that fact, Hee-sung and Moo-jin don’t consider Hae-soo in the search for Min-seok’s accomplice. As much as I like the grown Hyun-soo and Hae-soo together (I really do) it’s becoming obvious that Hae-soo holds considerable control over both Moo-jin and Hee-sung, but she uses that power very subtly. Hee-sung was taught early to rely on Hae-soo because of his emotional limitations but is it possible that he was convinced that he had limitations so that he could be controlled? Hae-soo is no fool and it’s obvious how much Moo-jin likes her, but she behaves as if she has no idea that he finds her appealing. Yet Hae-soo uses her appeal to keep Min-joo off balance. A shy glance here and a well timed sigh there does wonders to make it appear that she’s as pure as the driven snow but when Hae-soo told Hee-sung to sit down, he did so without question. Add to that the fact that the threatening message mentioned why the foreman was killed and that only Hae-soo interacted with the suspected accomplice at her father’s funeral. I’m not at all ready to accept that Hae-soo isn’t her father’s accomplice.
Ji-won is the key to separating truth from illusion but can she get past her hurt and anger to see and accept Hee-sung as he really is? Because Hee-sung needs someone to be an accurate mirror so that he can discover his true self. Moo-jin was right when he called Hee-sung self centered but that’s just one side of his personality and it’s tied to his survival instincts. Just as Hee-sung provided Ji-won with his honest assessment of her strengths and weaknesses, he’s going to need her to do the same for him. I suspect that Hee-sung may have been programmed to be a scapegoat from a young age as a way out for the real killer(s).