The more our amnesiac father learns about his past behaviors and interactions, the more horrified he becomes. It’s hard to reconcile the fanciful, romantic 22-year-old with his later angry, bitter self. He may not be able to take back his actions, but he can try to make amends and do better now. The family is going through a lot of changes, and it’s going to take time for everyone to adjust to the new dynamics.
EPISODE 7
In the car, Chan-hyuk shares his first memory of meeting Eun-joo. When he and Jong-min were over at her place a lot to help watch Ji-woo while their dad was hospitalized, he noticed her sobbing alone in the park. Minutes later, she came inside like nothing was wrong.
Eun-joo doesn’t remember but thinks most people cry alone. Chan-hyuk points out that Eun-hee calls everyone to let them know. Ha. Eun-joo can’t understand her, but Chan-hyuk suggests she try it out; she can cry to him, if she wants. Eun-joo smiles but states she probably won’t.
Chan-hyuk encourages her to look at the wedding photos he returned to her. They may help her deal with emotions she’s burying. He steps out of the car to find Ji-woo and Seo-young staring. He ushers Seo-young away while Ji-woo hops in his sister’s car.
Ji-woo wonders what’s up. Did she go with Chan-hyuk on his trip? Eun-joo doesn’t answer and just asks if he knows where Eun-hee lives.
Outside their home, Sang-shik paces, too nervous to go inside. Ji-sook comes to take out the trash and recyclables, and he tries to play it cool. Work is picking up, so he won’t be home much. He’s not sure when they’re supposed to start living separately.
Jin-sook cuts him off. Did he find that letter she supposedly wrote? She blatantly says you can’t find what doesn’t exist. He insists he got his memory back and knows she wrote that letter.
Inside, he repeats the letter verbatim and yells at her not to treat him like an idiot. If his memory truly returned, Jin-sook wants to know why he went up the mountain that night. She’s crying as she shouts, “Did you really try to kill yourself?!”
Sang-shik recalls sitting in his truck, writing in a feelings journal, “I want to die.” Jin-sook finally breaks down. He tries to hug her as she sobs, but she pushes him away and screams that he can’t make her change her mind. “I’ll never settle for this life again!”
He blinks back tears and vows he won’t die. He won’t stop her from leaving, but he doesn’t want to sell the apartment. Jin-sook asks if he remembers neglecting their kids so he could go raise his kid with his other family.
Jin-sook lets out years’ worth of pent-up hurt and rage. He came home late, got mysterious calls from a woman and only brought home half his pay. She demands to know why he doesn’t remember that.
Sang-shik looks horrified and chastened as she screams, “I hate you so much!” He quietly asks how she bore it for so long. Jin-sook did it for the kids. Sang-shik promises he’ll leave, and she can keep the house. He’ll never show his face again.
Meanwhile, Eun-hee and Geon-joo are having their make-out session by the café. Eun-hee desperately hopes it’s not Chan-hyuk in the car, not wanting him to see her with Geon-joo. When it turns out to be both of her siblings instead, she can’t stifle a laugh.
Seo-young notes Chan-hyuk’s bad mood and badgers him about who he went on a trip with. He gets frustrated when she outright says she likes him, but she argues he told her mom he’d be responsible for her. He was the only one who believed her claim that her rich ex raped her.
Chan-hyuk thinks her mom believes her, despite Seo-young’s assertion that her mom locked her up so she wouldn’t report it. Geez. Seo-young just needed someone to believe her, and that was Chan-hyuk. She reiterates he needs to take “responsibility” for her but takes it back when he threatens that he won’t continue working with her if she keeps doing this.
There’s an awkward round of introductions with the siblings and Eun-hee’s potential beau. Afterward, the siblings eat at Eun-hee’s place. She’s surprised they both want her to talk their parents out of the separation or, at least, selling the house. Ji-woo takes his sisters’ bickering as his cue to leave.
Eun-joo asks if Geon-joo was her “mistake.” Eun-hee blames Chan-hyuk for tattling, but Eun-joo reveals she blabbered about it when she was drunk. If he’s her coworker, she encourages Eun-hee to keep a clear divide between work and dating.
Eun-joo wants Eun-hee to keep quiet about her and Tae-hyung, saying it’ll take time to resolve. She thanks her for lending Chan-hyuk to her as a friend. Eun-hee goes quiet and fidgets uncomfortably.
The following morning, Kyung-ok comes to work sporting a new, chic style. Geon-joo watches amusedly as Eun-hee goofily takes pictures while Kyung-ok poses. Meanwhile, Ji-woo clocks Chan-hyuk’s bad mood and gathers that he’s screening Eun-hee’s calls (though Chan-hyuk denies it).
At work, Sang-shik concernedly asks Man-ho if he was a “crazy jerk” before. Man-ho gulps nervously as Sang-shik explains that he found out he was regularly scheduled at a neuropsychiatry clinic and heard he tried to commit suicide.
Desperate for answers, Sang-shik grabs Man-ho’s coat, asking if he knew about his second family. Man-ho divulges Sang-shik was the selfish type who didn’t share much. He just wrote in his journal all the time.
Sang-shik tears his truck apart searching for the journal and finds a compartment underneath the passenger seat. There are bank books, journals and a book with a note inside: “Eat slowly and chew thoroughly. I’m too embarrassed to say it, so I’m writing it instead. I love you.” He was right!
In a flashback, he finds the note in Jin-sook’s notebook and happily tears it out to keep. Jin-sook tells “mom” at the care center that hearing him recite the note made her remember it. An employee comes up with Seon-il and can’t believe she found saying “I love you” so embarrassing. Jin-sook gets a text from Sang-shik, saying he’ll tell the kids.
Before her meeting, Eun-hee texts Chan-hyuk again, still unable to reach him. Eun-joo, meanwhile, meets Hyo-seok at the laundromat. He apologizes for not telling her – he thought it should come from Tae-hyung.
Should she apologize for Tae-hyung’s role in his relationship woes? Hyo-seok scoffs at her coldness and comments that people who think they don’t know any gay people often just aren’t trustworthy enough for gay acquaintances to confide in.
Eun-joo asks if she should reflect on herself since he didn’t confide in her. “Are you always just the victim?” Does she have to be understanding of his actions because he faces discrimination? He doesn’t expect her understanding.
Before she leaves, she asks why he didn’t take the money Tae-hyung offered. Has she ever been in love? Hyo-seok just wanted to see who had stolen the person he loved, and that person turned out to be a deceitful jerk. Eun-joo’s eyes brim with tears once he leaves.
Elsewhere, Eun-hee meets with Sang-shik. She wonders if Jin-sook asked him what happened that day in the mountains, but he’s evasive. Eun-hee cautions that Ji-woo thinks it was a hiking accident, so they can’t talk about it later at Eun-joo’s.
Eun-hee wants him to promise it won’t happen again. Sang-shik insists it was an accident but promises anyway. He asks her to bring him the photo of him and Jin-sook, since “Miss Sook” won’t want it. Eun-hee notes his continued use of the nickname.
Eun-hee asks about the day of the photo, and he reminisces about proposing in the café. His romantic reenactment of kneeling and holding Jin-sook’s hand for the first time makes Eun-hee wonder if he really got his memory back.
They walk to her work and run into Geon-joo outside. Eun-hee mutters he’s almost met her entire family now. Ha.
Eun-joo runs into an old colleague who offers her partner at her firm. She guesses Eun-joo has been getting lots of offers but warns her against a particular firm – one of the partners is gay. She scoffs bigotedly that he “flaunts” it by wearing flamboyant suits. Eun-joo doesn’t call her out but crumples her business card once she’s gone.
On Sorok Island, Tae-hyung ruminates on the confrontation with Eun-joo and calls her. He wants her to forget the things he said since he was intentionally being spiteful. She tells him to come back so they can tie up loose ends. “Let’s be friends.”
He had once shared that there’s a Native American language in which friend means “someone who carries my sorrow on their back.” She’d asked if that kind of person exists. “You,” he’d answered. Later, Tae-hyung cries reading Eun-joo’s text that she’ll carry his sorrow, and he can carry hers.
That evening, Sang-shik and the kids gather at Eun-joo’s for dinner. Ji-woo chokes when Sang-shik goes on about how much Eun-joo resembles him. Abruptly, Eun-hee asks what Sang-shik’s dream was when he was young. He bashfully admits he wanted to participate in the Campus Song Festival, but he was never a college student.
Sang-shik tells the kids he wanted to meet to share that he’s moved out. He tries to convince them that everything is fine and promises nothing will change. He instructs them all to treat their mom well.
After dinner, Eun-hee heads back to work where Geon-joo is the only one left in the office. Eun-joo goes through her wedding photos as Eun-hee works into the night. Eun-hee keeps checking her phone, but Chan-hyuk still hasn’t replied to her texts.
Geon-joo asks why she’s been preoccupied with her phone, and she admits her friend has been ignoring her calls and texts. He thinks she must’ve done something wrong and suggests meeting her friend in person, then.
Geon-joo, knowing the friend is Chan-hyuk, doesn’t want to be jealous. So, he jealously asks her to come to him once she’s met with Chan-hyuk. Eun-hee agrees.
Early the next morning, Ji-woo carefully sneaks into the office only to stub his toe and cry out, waking Chan-hyuk. Ji-woo tells Chan-hyuk they should keep Eun-joo’s secret to themselves. He shares about his parents’ separation and his dad’s adoration of Eun-joo.
Chan-hyuk doesn’t think DNA is that important, anyway. And maybe Ji-woo misheard his parents. Ji-woo jumps on that idea and then pesters him about avoiding Eun-hee. She keeps bothering him about it.
Chan-hyuk claims the “timing isn’t right.” Ji-woo wonders what they were all doing on that trip in the first place, but Chan-hyuk advises him to patiently wait for the truth to be revealed. Ji-woo praises Chan-hyuk’s coolness and wishes Eun-hee had better taste so they could be brothers-in-law.
Chan-hyuk ignores another call from Eun-hee only to find her waiting outside his office. He honestly answers that he ignored her because she was tiring him out. They’ve already had a falling out once, so he doesn’t want to exhaust himself on a friendship that could easily fall apart again.
Eun-hee nods in understanding but challenges that she didn’t even get mad when he avoided her. She’s being all calm and rational. He knows she’s probably feeling bad for going overboard lately.
Eun-hee agrees, stating she’s good at reflecting on her actions. “Because I don’t want to ever put us in a situation where we stop contacting or seeing each other again.” She vows to have a great relationship with him for the rest of her life. Aw.
He suggests they not contact each other until Eun-joo’s situation is sorted out. She’s uncomfortable with Eun-hee knowing about it, so he’ll handle it. Eun-hee puts on a smile and agrees, asking him to take care of her sister. They both look upset once they’re alone.
Eun-joo stops by the house to talk to her mom. Jin-sook notices she looks unwell and hints hopefully that she could be pregnant, but Eun-joo adamantly denies it. She reveals that Sang-shik told them and asks her mom not to sell the house.
She catches Jin-sook off-guard when she asks, “Why didn’t you thank me back then?” Those years working and going to college were so difficult, yet her mother never encouraged her or thanked her. Even Tae-hyung’s mom thanked her for coming into their family.
Jin-sook has always been cold to her and her dad. Holding back tears, Jin-sook can’t meet her eyes as she admits she didn’t know Eun-joo felt this way. Eun-joo doesn’t need an apology; she just wants a reason. Jin-sook says words are too easy.
Girls her age where happy and enjoying life while Eun-joo struggled. Saying “thank you” would’ve been too brazen. She couldn’t even say “I’m sorry” because there was nothing she could do for her. “Words were useless.” Eun-joo says she needs to tell her mom something and confesses that before she got married, Sang-shik came to talk to her at work.
We cut to Eun-hee in what looks like a gallery or fancy café as she recalls her sister’s birthday is in June. She begins putting two and two together, remembering her father’s words that he proposed in October, and it was the first time he’d held hands with Jin-sook. Someone calls her name. Eun-hee turns to see Ha-ra smiling at her.
COMMENTS
Jin-sook finally stopped holding back. It was only a matter of time before she laid everything out in the open – you can’t bottle things up for decades without exploding at some point. I’m glad she voiced her anger and hurt, but it’s a shame this version of Sang-shik is clueless and can’t truly account for his actions. Then again, the Sang-shik before the accident would likely not have heard her. As he is now, he’s willing and eager to listen and make a change. He’s so horrified by who he became. Whenever he regains his memories, I hope he holds onto this perspective and realizes it’s not too late to change.
This episode highlighted for me how alike Jin-sook and Eun-joo are which is probably where their problems stem from. They both hold everything in and don’t express themselves easily. They’re always so distant, as if they’re watching everything from the outside. Both try to be unimpeachable and self-reliant to the point of pushing others away. Both women are getting a chance for a do-over, and I hope they learn to cut themselves some slack and accept help or even just warmth from others.
I wondered if Eun-joo knew Hyo-seok was gay, but it seems not. I get that she probably felt embarrassed and transferred some of her anger onto him, but Eun-joo was too harsh. Hyo-seok was not obligated to tell her about her own husband (who stole his boyfriend). And he’s the one who pushed Tae-hyung into confessing, anyway. I’m not saying she doesn’t have a right to be hurt. They were friends, so it makes sense she’d feel betrayed. But Eun-joo didn’t even ask him about his side of anything and wrote him off based on her own assumptions, seemingly. She just told Eun-hee that she doesn’t know everything about people like she thought. Although she constantly complains about Eun-hee’s emotional reactions, she basically did the same thing. I don’t think she’s as calm and rational as she’d like to think.
I’m confused by Chan-hyuk’s sudden turnabout with Eun-hee. Is it just for Eun-joo’s sake? Does he feel stuck between the sisters? I feel like I missed something here. Even if doesn’t want to be a go-between, which is fair, they could just agree not to talk about Eun-joo. No contact for the duration is extreme. But I do understand if he needs a break from being the fixer. Eun-hee and Ji-woo have been dragging him into their problems, and it must be exhausting. That being said, he could try to establish boundaries with Eun-hee. He complains about her cutting him out, so you’d think he’d try to talk out any issues between them rather than avoiding her. At least Eun-hee didn’t give up, and they had an honest talk. I love the transparency in their relationship and their refreshing lack of communication problems, so I’d hate to see that threatened.