Just Between Lovers Ep 14

We’re heading into the final stretch! And it’s time for everyone to come to terms with their pasts and work towards the future, though some revelations might be too earth shattering and need some time to recover from.

Just Between Lovers Episode 14:

Explaining that they have to be happier than anyone out there, KangDoo takes MoonSoo’s hand in his and kisses her as snow falls all around them.

WanJin and Assistant return from their outing with chicken feet, which is another dish that KangDoo doesn’t eat and he basically glares as WanJin chows it all down. He bites into a carrot stick instead and WanJin notes that MoonSoo really likes that kind of guy. Whenever a guy eats a carrot stick or bean dip, she stares at him without shame. LOL. The person herself doesn’t even realise it and says that it’s good to see, because it seems like that person won’t be picky about food. Yeah, and KangDoo doesn’t eat chicken feet, soju, oysters or innards. Love is blind.

And suddenly, Assistant asks what SangMan is doing, sitting in their house too. PFFT.

“There is no light without darkness. Learn to live with the dark,” SangMan says, while quoting a comic book.

 

MoonSoo joins KangDoo outside where he’s staring at a pretty lane covered in fresh snow. He lets her walk on the pristine unsoiled pretty path first, then comes beside her and walks with her hand in hand, talking about mundane things like making snowmen.

Ajumma sets down food in front of Mom and speeds through her meal, saying that it was all made by Dad and so Mom just doesn’t touch the food and instead stares into thin air wearing a heavy expression.

Oh, JooWon and YooJin spent the night together and once he’s awake, JooWon remains lying in her bed, back to her, remembering how vulnerable she was last night when she came asking for a hug. Leaving her to sleep a while longer, he puts on his shirt, but YooJin calls him… … and says goodbye. He doesn’t know what to say, but it takes him aback. Aw. Is this really the end?

He bumps into MoonSoo outside his office and SoMi comes bouncing up with her cheerful good mornings that turns into a comment about how they’re wearing the same clothes as they did yesterday. Heh, MoonSoo tries to explain but SoMi isn’t interested at all, only worried about whether JooWon spent the night with YooJin.

 

MoonSoo’s told to send the design team samples for her memorial as out at the worksite, KangDoo questions if they really can treat the remains of the collapsed mall like waste. Site Manager confirms that JooWon told them to do as such, which confuses KangDoo.

MoonSoo writes down individual epitaphs for the victims of the collapse, sighing her way through. SoMi assumes that it’s because her underwear didn’t match yesterday. HAHAHA. She doesn’t really accept MoonSoo’s answer that she slept over at a friend’s place yesterday and so when MoonSoo sighs again, she vaguely says that you never forget the things you really want to forget and remember them forever instead.

But for MoonSoo, who’s thinking of something else entirely, she says that it’s not that she wants to forget. She’s just afraid that she’ll forget.

Suddenly, she picks up her things and says that she’ll be going out for work and the reason becomes clear when we see that she’s written “Choi SungJae” on her notepad.

She waits outside SungJae’s house and the woman whose face had seemed familiar arrives to say that it’s her house. She dismisses MoonSoo, assuming that she’s here to sell her something, but when MoonSoo brings up SungJae, she just replies that he’s out, like he’s still alive.

YooTaek finds his way to YooJin’s place, annoyed that she’s still there when they have an important meeting later. Room Service delivers breakfast to her room, courtesy of JooWon, and YooJin has to physically drag YooTaek out of the room to shut his nags about her and JooWon out. Once her brother’s thrown out, she covers the food, totally not intending to eat it at all.

By the time MoonSoo reaches work, she’s late for a company meeting where JooWon warns everyone to pay attention to details and make sure that things are done right. He asks MoonSoo if her designs are ready and reminds her that no matter what, they have a responsibility to meet their deadlines too.

 

Heh, SoMi moons over JooWon later and doesn’t understand why MoonSoo would choose KangDoo over JooWon. She remains silent and SoMi assumes that there’s no reason. Nope. It’s because there are too many that she doesn’t know where to start from and she can only say, “the good things are good, and there’s nothing I dislike about KangDoo.” SoMi looks like it grosses her out, ha.

Later, MoonSoo tries to surprise KangDoo but he turns back and startles her instead. The two puppies hold hands and giggle their way off work to the swings at the playground where KangDoo showers her with little gifts that’ll keep her warm in the future.

As he pushes her from behind, MoonSoo shares that she went to the house of a bereaved on her own earlier that day. But because his mother spoke like he was still alive, she couldn’t say a thing in response and asks if it’s not weird. KangDoo understands the sentiment though, saying that he sometimes hears voices too, fooling himself into believing that someone who’s passed is still alive.

 

Under the rubble years ago, when they didn’t know whether they would live or die, KangDoo had screamed for help, terrified, when SungJae had grabbed his ankles, begging him to stay because he’s scared. KangDoo softens at that and the two boys chat a little in the dim underground, with SungJae noting that he’d gone to the same Middle School as KangDoo. But no matter how KangDoo tried to console him, to give him hope that they’ll be rescued, SungJae’s drowned in sorrow and misery, fixating on not wanting to die, but already certain of his doom.

As he expected, his body goes into shock, and as he coughs up blood, he grips KangDoo’s shoulder, gasping to KangDoo about his mother and where he lives. And then slowly, the life seeps out of him, and KangDoo watches on in horror. OHMAIGAHH…

Worse, a torrential downpour cuts the electricity to the building and plunges KangDoo into complete darkness. Alone and weak, KangDoo starts talking to SungJae, begging him to answer. And so he imagines that SungJae did.

 

MoonSoo listens as KangDoo shares his story and KangDoo massages his knees and says that it’s probably because the voices are worth hearing. They’re cries of the departed, telling him not to forget them.

MoonSoo reaches out for his hand and says that she’d always have the same dream, the one that starts the same and always ends the same way. It’s the one where YeonSoo dies in front of her eyes.

The two of them sit in silence, just holding hands and letting their shared understanding and miseries comfort them.

Director Jeong hears from Madame that MoonSoo’s Dad reacted that way the other day because his daughter had died in the building that belonged to his company. Instead of understanding, the big oaf demands to know why Dad would purposely pick on him when the blame should lie with the higher ups who decided to go ahead with the huge project with such a crazy budget (in his opinion).

Madame demands to know why he went along with it then and the director’s only reply is that he’ll do anything for money.  She sighs in his face, completely exasperated.

YooTaek defends himself, saying that he’d compensated all of the victims back then, and Madame throws back that you can never fully compensate such a loss.

“There’s a saying that even the whole world is not enough for a parent who’s lost his child.”

YooTaek’s still focused only on himself though and demands to know what Madame’s relationship with KangDoo is such that KangDoo dared to warn him off her. He assumes that she slept with KangDoo (what?!) and she takes offense at that, and insults him back. She’s cut off when a call from his wife interrupts and she tells him to take it, otherwise his wife will think they’re sleeping together. Burn.

YooJin coincidentally bumps into JooWon at the bar but doesn’t avoid him.

They bring up the topic of what happened yesterday, and YooJin goes first, saying that what happened yesterday will stay there. Plus, she’d gone on a second date with the chaebol her brother set her up with and now thinks that he’s okay after a second meeting.

 

JooWon notes that if it really were the case, she wouldn’t be here alone though.

She smiles and admits that he’s right, then laments that he’s also right that she’ll never put him before the company. He really knows her. I mourn for the relationship this could have been.

KangDoo walks MoonSoo home and insists that she not avoid her mother. After all, he avoided his, called her frustrating and annoying, and now he regrets it so severely but has no way to rectify it. So he really wants her to patch it up with her mom, promising to take on anything else that bothers her.

He kisses her goodbye and calls her pretty, and MoonSoo narrates in voiceover that the one who’s having it harder than her is comforting her.

“Everyone has their own prisons,” she says, as we watch YooTaek snap at his phone that he’s coming as Madame watches him march off, a little broken inside, and JooWon looks on forlornly as YooJin leaves after her glass of alcohol.

Dad watches the telly alone in his shop while Mom paces the living room, obviously waiting for MoonSoo but fleeing the moment she appears. (Why is that so funny to me?)

So when MoonSoo finds her, she’s all tucked in bed, appearing to be asleep.

MoonSoo sighs over how KangDoo admitted to hearing voice s of dead people as KangDoo mulls over her words that she dreams of YeonSoo dying in front of her. He pops a pill (OI! Those are not sleeping pills!) and later, MoonSoo wakes up again to face yet another morning.

JaeYoung meets her brother outside the hospital, asking why he didn’t just come in. He jokes that it does her no good to be seen with him and she laughs that the rumours have already long spread. He asks for a meal together but she just pulls him in for a blood test and sends him off with a meal coupon, leaving after saying that she has no time to eat.

MoonSoo tries to enter WanJin’s house but the passcode won’t work anymore.

Hee, it’s Assistant who opens the door and WanJin’s still in bed when she arrives. MoonSoo asks why she changed the passcode but the shirt under the covers answers everything and she laughs as WanJin admits that they’re now at the stage to need privacy. This is all because WanJin got sick that day after eating chicken feet. HEE.

 

Oh, by the way, Assistant now has a name: JinYeong. Hallelujah!

MoonSoo came by to ask WanJin if she can visit her father’s plantation for the trees that her memorial garden will need. Of course she can, but WanJin’s taken aback by the fact that her work deals with something so close to her trauma. She wonders how JooWon could have let her do such a thing, knowing that she’s a victim and JinYeong interrupts to correct them – MoonSoo’s a survivor, not a victim.

“She’s still alive. The fact that she is, is amazing.”

Pfft, WanJin nudges MoonSoo, proud of her man.

KangDoo munches on his lunch alone, though when MoonSoo calls, he says that he’s eating with his sister. She asks if he has time and next thing we know, they’re on the bus, with her comfortably sleeping on his shoulder. He takes her hand in his for the rest of the ride.

But he’s in for a shock when he’s brought to SungJae’s house without any warning. He recognises the very place he’d visited after his rescue while still in his crutches. He’d gone to the address that SungJae had told him and rang the bell, but no one had responded. In the present, no one answers the door too.

So MoonSoo leaves a note behind, using the term “SungJae Oppa” and KangDoo reels when she shares that the boy who was at the mall with her, her first love, was SungJae, who’d lived there.  He stands rooted while she begins to leave, and when he comes back to his senses, he grabs her by the hand and marches off, like he’s running away.

Madame gets her hair done and Director Jeong’s wife comes along, knowing exactly who she is. She raises her hand as if she’s going to hit her, but instead brings her to the coffee house that Director Jeong once brought Madame, informing her that she’s actually the real owner and had the place made so that her husband could enjoy his hobby. What??? Jeong YooTaek, you are messed up.

 

YooTaek’s wife warns Madame away from her husband, saying that YooTaek’s father is not in good health so YooTaek has to remain in his good graces now. Madame gets what she’s saying and evenly tells her not to worry because she knows her place. Even when YooTaek’s wife says that Madame’s even-keeled response is a little intimidating, Madame only replies that she doesn’t have to be because Madame will never be as dignified as her. Ouch.

She speaks all the right words, but when she lifts her cup of tea to drink, her hands shake. And outside, lets herself only a single sniffle before walking away, her head held high.

KangDoo isn’t doing well, his mind full of SungJae and what he was to MoonSoo. He tries to work at the site but worse, the men have found bones while digging the land. Project Manager is a complete ass again and insists that it’s just some dead dog’s bone or something, and before he can clear it, KangDoo takes his phone out to record it.

Director Jeong gets wind of the situation and as usual, he screams his reply. JooWon hears the same thing from his Team Manager, but this time, instead of getting over-involved, he remains in his seat, doing what he needs to do because whatever happens at the site, it’s the responsibility of the Project Manager, not him, to deal with. If it’s not design-related, it’s not his business. Yet.

 

Director Jeong comes screaming into the office and all KangDoo does is throw a stick at him and he jumps about a mile high. Smirking, KangDoo asks what the reaction is for if he thought it was just animal bones and Project Manager tells his brother-in-law that he should make the decisions now, clearly, so that if anything happens later, the blames can be squarely placed. That’s your biggest concern isn’t it?

Staring KangDoo straight in the eyes, Director Jeong demands to know how much longer they must dwell on something that happened more than 10 years ago. It’s 2018. And you’re still so thick-headed.

JooWon’s important meeting that he refused to postpone to go to the site goes underway, but KangDoo interrupts it to pull JooWon out. What a punk, lol. KangDoo demands to know if JooWon got the video and pictures he sent him and doesn’t understand why JooWon is staying still.

 

JooWon’s doing this for self-preservation though, because he knows that they want him to make a decision so that if anything wrong happens, he becomes solely responsible for it… like what happened to his father. He tells KangDoo that the decision must be made after discussion with the Headquarters and so KangDoo just has to do his own job. KangDoo agrees, but adds that he feels like he has a responsibility not to make sure that they don’t do the things they shouldn’t.

Ha, YooJin finds her brother slouching in his armchair looking like he’s completely drained. She asks what he’s going to do about the bones they found and he tiredly says that he’d asked someone to go check whose bones it belongs to. She can’t believe that they just left the bones there without much of a decision and it’s a bigger surprise to her that JooWon agreed to his method. She worries about who’ll take the blame if something goes wrong and YooTaek grumbles about JooWon pushing his father-in-law out of the supervisory position and taking over, saying that he should if he did that.

Site Manager informs KangDoo that there’s no work more to be done at the construction site and sighs at the labourers who’ll have nowhere else to go and thus no other source of income.

So KangDoo calls YooJin out, who in turn calls him to a VIP room.

He vents to YooJin that the JooWon he knows isn’t one to put decisions off and inconvenience so many people. Then he rambles about why JooWon put him there at the site in the first place. At first, he did think that he was meant to be a spy, but then later, he thought that maybe because of all the pressures and duties that JooWon has to be under, he got nervous and unsettled and needed someone who’s cavalier enough to make mountains out of molehills so that he doesn’t miss anything.

YooJin laughs that he’s being annoyingly cool, getting his point, and he just munches on her desserts, musing that he should bring MoonSoo here. She asks him to pay for today, thinking that he’s now rich with the money from selling the land, but KangDoo refuses, since that money is supposed to be used elsewhere.

 

The next morning, as MoonSoo puts the finishing touches to her Memorial Park model, YooJin struts into office and cooly tells JooWon that she’s already put the police in charge of identifying the bones and that they’ll get their results soon. He doesn’t understand why she would do that and she just replies that she can’t let him take responsibility for something he didn’t do, which, if in the case that something really does go wrong, she’s confident that Project Manager will make true.

There’s only one missing person from the collapse, so as soon as they confirm the identity of the bones, they can restart work after that. She tells him that this is as far as she goes and he’ll have to handle the rest himself.

MoonSoo arrives at the site to watch over the inspection of the bones and KangDoo pulls her away, since it’s not like they can do anything. But on the way, a truck passes by them, a piece of structural column from the old mall perched dangerously atop it. Like a crazed woman, she runs after it, and KangDoo stops her and chases the truck himself.

But that freaking driver stops suddenly, sending the column falling straight for him. WHAT?!

Thankfully, he jumps away just in time and MoonSoo runs over, worried for him. He insists that he’s fine, but his trembling hand indicates otherwise and he suddenly faints.

 

JaeYoung gets notice that his blood tests results are out too, and then we cut to KangDoo getting out of a taxi, looking like he just donated blood to his sweater.

MoonSoo glares at him, nagging at him to just go to a hospital but he refuses. The blood terrifies SangMan too, who asks if he got yet another nose bleed (what do you mean by “yet another”?). SangMan grabs his arm and tells him not to get sick because it really scares him. He’s not afraid of getting sick himself, but if his mom or KangDoo gets sick, he fears.

Even his landlord complains about the young man bleeding a river and fainting again (AGAIN?!). MoonSoo sighs and admits that KangDoo’s fainting was her fault, but KangDoo praises her for calling the truck driver out because if she didn’t, he’ll probably have caused a bigger accident on some highway.

SangMan’s mother orders the two of them to go wash up and eat. KangDoo because he needs the nutrition, and MoonSoo because she looks like she’s about to faint.

MoonSoo follows KangDoo, not wanting to leave him alone. She tells him to go wash up, since she’ll be in his room with a change of clothes.

But when she opens his drawers, she’s greeted with a bunch of blood stained shirts and nervous, she digs further. An old broken phone with a charm attached to it appears in the corner of a drawer, and apprehensive, she picks it up. She recognises that charm, with the initials “SJ”, because she made it herself.

It’s the piece that links all the separate pieces. The fact that KangDoo spent days with a corpse. The fact that KangDoo looked uneasy outside SungJae’s house. It all makes sense now, and MoonSoo’s legs give out under her as she cries and tries to make sense of it.

 

She hears KangDoo approaching and her expression eerily goes blank.

She tells KangDoo that it seems like she has to go home right now, but KangDoo can tell that something’s off and holds her back from leaving. MoonSoo never looks at him in the eye though, and just apologises. So KangDoo grabs her by the shoulders and demands that she look him in the eyes.

She does, but they look blank yet full, and KangDoo just grabs her in a desperate hug, telling her that he loves her.

“I love you. I love you. I feel like I have to say it now otherwise I will never be able to.”

Comments:

Oh wow. Yeah, we’re really heading into the final stretch now. Is there such a thing as getting too used to pain that more impending pain doesn’t induce any more sorrow? Because that’s how I feel. Maybe it’s because they’re all facing their traumas now and I know that the pain will either be final in doom or in relief. Maybe because I just trust the writer to make it sensible. Either way, I’m just going to be waiting for the last to episodes to see what happens.

It’s a heavy episode of goodbyes and new starts, of new discoveries and facing your personal demons head on. I wonder if JooWon is really okay letting YooJin go to another guy and maybe for once, YooJin might finally be able to reach him emotionally by stepping up and not hiding behind the cloak of “it’s for the company’s good”. I wonder if MoonSoo and Mom will talk about their issues again instead of either one running when it gets too hard. I wonder if Dad will join them. I wonder if KangDoo will finally face all his traumas, physical and mental ones, and learn to come to terms with them and cope. I wonder if JaeYoung will learn to be there for her brother, I wonder if MoonSoo will stay just as awesome and not waver too much. I wonder if Madame will cut Director Jeong off and I wonder when YooTaek might get some EQ. Man, using something one woman gave you to play with another woman is sick.

And I wonder if WanJin and JinYeong will get their happily ever after.

At this stage, I don’t have much to say any more, and I’m just waiting for episodes 15 and 16. See ya’ll on the other side!