Sorry.  Nothing witty to add here.  I’ve seen enough insides of courtrooms that I can’t even crack Joke One right now.

Still lying through her teeth professing her innocence, Yeong-rang jumps up in the courtroom claiming she never ordered Woo-jin’s oxygen mask to be removed.   Prosecutor Guy says all that will be revealed when the witness arrives.  He orders the witness to enter and Sign In Please!

The back door opens, and as everyone turns around to look, Jung-wook enters instead.  Yeong-rang’s face shows that his presence does not compute… until another person enters next to Jung-wook.  HA!  It’s the same guy who Yeong-rang hired to be the Fake Delivery Guy all the way back in Episode 7!

Witness Boy takes the stand and Prosecutor Guy starts his questioning by asking if he was the one who took off Woo-jin’s mask, to which he softly replies that he did.  Yeong-rang and In-ha’s attorney raises the objection that Woo-jin had already been removed from the room and replaced with an extremely dead person.  So therefore, Woo-jin could not have been “killed” by his oxygen mask being removed.

Prosecutor Guy responds that a person who gives an instruction to remove an oxygen mask forms the basis for an attempted murder charge by proxy.  The objection is overruled, and the Judge instructs the questioning to continue.  As Yeong-rang and In-ha squirm in their seats, Prosecutor Guy goes in for the kill:  Who was the person who gave Witness Boy the order to remove the oxygen mask?!?

Pausing for dramatic effect, Witness Boy steals a glance over a nearly-fainting Yeong-rang before he announces that person was… Attorney Choi Seung Jae.  Attorney Choi was the one who ordered him to remove the mask.  A chorus of WTFs rumbles through the courtroom on that revelation.

Witness Boy said that things would get ugly at Boosung if Woo-jin woke up, and Attorney Choi paid him a buttload of money to make sure that never happened.  Ji-ho jumps up and tells the Court that Witness Boy is a lying liar who lies – there was another person who gave instructions to remove Woo-jin’s mask.  Da-mi, Nam-joo and Woo-jin jump up as well and demand that Witness Boy tell the truth that it wasn’t Attorney Choi!

The Judge demands the courtroom come to order and states the next step will be to investigate Attorney Choi, and the trial-at-hand will go into recess.  Ji-ho cannot contain his anger as Yeong-rang looks over at him with her “Ha ha ha!  I just dodged a bullet” face smirking at him.

Ji-ho rushes out to the parking lot, trying to raise Jung-wook on his cell.  Yeong-rang decides to twist the knife in Ji-ho’s back gloating that his Grand Plan has epically failed.  Ji-ho tells her it ain’t over yet, lady.  But Yeong-rang likens Ji-ho’s methods to a noisy dog being shot by an experienced hunter.  (Um, okay.  Let’s go with that.)

Ji-ho begs to differ that he will not die from her bite until everything is put back in its place.   He is his father’s son, and he’s learned from the foot of the master.  Yeong-rang snorts and says he’s fighting hate with hate – does Ji-ho even have that much time left in his young life to keep going down that path?  Ji-ho tells her he sure as hell does… and it’s worth the cost of his young life to nail her to a cross.  He peels out of the parking lot, and then Jung-wook finds the balls to ring up Yeong-rang.

Attorney Choi walks through Boosung giving orders to his subordinates, when the cops come by and arrest him for the attempted murder of Woo-jin.  He’s all what’s what again, as the lead cop tells Attorney Choi that Witness Boy just confessed in open court that Attorney Choi was the mastermind behind Woo-jin’s oxygen mask removal!  The cops cart him out of the Boosung HQ, the entire time protesting and demanding someone call Yeong-rang for an explanation.

Prosecutor Guy is still questioning In-ha, stating that even though he didn’t “kill” Woo-jin, his actions resulted in Woo-jin’s comatose state for over a year while In-ha kept up his lies in framing his hyung for the “murder.”   In-ha should be thanking his lucky stars that Woo-jin is still alive, because that mitigated his potential sentence and he can now be released on bail.

Jung-wook is hittin’ the hooch again; this time at home, as Yeong-rang arrives via Minion’s carriage.  Of course she immediately wants to know why he gave her a solid on Witness Boy’s testimony.  For that, she’s thankful, ashamed and sorry.  (Geez, pick an emotion and stick with it!)  Jung-wook instead wants to hear from her lips why she tried to kill Woo-jin – was she going to claim it was a mistake, just like she did when she killed Dead Burnt-up Dad?

He walks over and grabs her shoulders to either give her whiplash or to shake out the truth why Yeong-rang decided to frame her oldest son for something her youngest son was responsible for.  She wants to explain but can’t, as Jung-wook keeps shaking her asking is her hatred for Ji-ho because he is not her real son?!?

Yeong-rang says that she had no choice at the time – if Woo-jin woke up, then In-ha would have been blamed for his injuries and she couldn’t let that happen since In-ha has suffered his entire life because of his lacking mother.  How could her pathetic son spend the rest of his life as a criminal?

Jung-wook seems satisfied with her confession, such as it was.  Yeong-rang is still a completely scary person, but the only reason why he helped her was because of Ji-ho.  Jung-wook bought some time for Ji-ho to decide if he wanted to go to the end with his mission, not because Jung-wook felt any sympathy towards her.

Yeong-rang begs and pleads for another chance from Jung-wook; she promises something like this will never happen again.  She’s distressed to the point of collapse, dammit!  Jung-wook turns towards her and says if she feels like apologizing to anyone, go apologize to Nam-joo instead.  She needs to stay on her knees until that family forgives her.  Until then, he wants nothing to do with Yeong-rang and storms out… of his own apartment?  Weird.

Returning home still all pissed off, Ji-ho gets a call from Da-mi asking to meet up for a few minutes.  Ji-ho sighs deeply… I guess in agreement?

Back at the Song neighborhood, a released-from-jail In-ha wanders up to Da-mi’s front gate and tries his darndest to ring the doorbell.  (Cue up a reprise of OST Part.6!  SQUEEEEEEEE!!!)  Hearing some noise from the other side, In-ha scurries off and hides around the corner.  Woo-jin and Da-mi come out, as Woo-jin asks if she’ll be okay going out so late by herself.  Da-mi says naaaaaah, no problem since she’s meeting up with Her Hero Ji-ho!

Woo-jin reminds her that they’re still in the middle of the trial; what if Yeong-rang or In-ha attack them again?  In-ha flinches at the mention of his name, as Da-mi dismisses Woo-jin inside saying she won’t be too late.  Woo-jin heads inside, Da-mi heads down the street, and In-ha appears from the alley to watch her walk away, looking broken and defeated.

Da-mi and Ji-ho meet up for coffee, as Da-mi attempts a half-assed apology for hating him so much up and disappearing without one word.  She’s still pissed off at herself for worrying about him while he was gone.  But all in all, she’s really thankful to him for what he’s done for her family.  (Geez… mood swing much there, girlie?)

Ji-ho says there’s nothing to thank him for, because he didn’t get the results he was expecting with Witness Boy going all rogue on him.  Da-mi wonders if they can’t go back to the time when they could lean on each other, because she’s sure the turmoil with his mother is eating away at him.  Can’t he find a way for her to return to his side?

He looks pained while telling her that he doesn’t want to do that since he has no right to be happy.  Da-mi doesn’t understand since Ji-ho wasn’t in the wrong, but Ji-ho says his transgression was that he was unable to protect her and left her family hanging at the most inopportune moment by skipping town.

Da-mi calls bullshit on that statement and tells him it’s only right that they get back together, because if they don’t, she doesn’t have the confidence to go on without him… because she still loves him.  Ji-ho is appalled at Da-mi’s confession, since it’s obvious she’s not thinking about her mother or brother’s situation.  How the hell could he show his face in front of them since he is the son of their enemy?!?

Da-mi admits it would be a hard sell, but if they try together… Ji-ho cuts her off and says no way, Jose.  That still wouldn’t change the fact that he is still Yeong-rang’s son and In-ha’s hyung.  And on that note, he’d better leave now while he still remains calm.

As Ji-ho walks away, Da-mi calls out that she’s not going anywhere until he comes back to her.  No matter how long it takes, she will wait for him.  That finally pushes Ji-ho over the edge in tears… but he still walks out of the restaurant regardless.

With OST Part.1 playing underneath, Ji-ho drives home, lost in thought as Da-mi keeps her word by remaining at their table and waiting.  Meanwhile, In-ha is still pacing up and down awaiting Da-mi’s return home.

Ji-ho pulls off the street in front of the Boosung piano store where he first met Da-mi with her nose pressed up against the glass.  In a whopping huge flashback, Ji-ho remembers their words to each other saying they’d always be there to support each other come hell or high water.

He hits the gas pedal hard and returns to the restaurant to see the server clearing the table where they sat.  Da-mi is on the bus home clutching the glass piano music box that Ji-ho presented her when they were still dating.  Ji-ho pulls up along side and tries to get Da-mi’s attention; takes a few honks of his horn, for she finally sees him and orders the bus driver to stop.

Ji-ho parks in the bus lane and they stare at each other a good long time (with OST Part.5 in the background) until they start running towards each other.  One last look, they hug, and then spend the rest of the scene with some pretty weaksauce smooching.  (Come on, Joo Ji-hoon… you call that a KISS?  I’ve seen you do MUCH better!!)

The next day, Da-mi is already up and has breakfast on the table since she has to get to work early.  With Boosung reneging on the Hanguk contract, Gloria has way more orders than anticipated.  And by the way, Jung-wook will be stopping by later, so make sure he’s greeted, okay?  Right on cue, the doorbell rings…

… as the three of them step outside in horror to see Yeong-rang standing there.  Nam-joo is livid wondering what the heck she wants now – is it time for more threats, coercion, blackmail and other mayhem?  Get the hell out of her family’s face, beeyotch!

Woo-jin says he can’t wait for the time where he can reveal all her crimes to the court and to the world.  Taking a person’s life as a joke, he will be sure Yeong-rang pays for her sins.  Da-mi says if there’s something she needs to say, Yeong-rang should say it in court and orders her mother and brother back inside the house.

But to their amazement, Yeong-rang slowly drops to her knees asking forgiveness for all that she’s done to their family.  They’re not buying it for a nanosecond, and why should they forgive her since all her crimes have yet to be revealed?  How pathetic, insincere and hideous after bringing their family so close to death!!!

Nam-joo says that just one word of apology is not gonna cut it, as she screams at Yeong-rang to leave their sight RIGHT NOW!!  Yeong-rang refuses to move as she says she wants to end the battle between their families and receive their forgiveness.  Woo-jin says that’s a real funny way of asking to be forgiven… by dumping all her crimes on poor Attorney Choi?  If he had not come back alive, no apology would have ever come out of Yeong-rang’s mouth ever.

Yeong-rang says she will testify in open court that she framed Dead Deaf Dad as the cover-up for her crimes, so if they could only find it in their hearts to forgive her…  Nam-joo says that she should have done that ages ago, but since Yeong-rang and In-ha insisted on continuing their blood feud, it’s too late for mianhae now.

Woo-jin tells Yeong-rang that it’s in the court’s hands now; she and her precious son will be punished and then she will find out how much it will hurt to suffer like his family did.  He pulls Nam-joo inside, as Da-mi throws down the final salvo asking why Yeong-rang came so late to her reckoning… pitiful excuse for a human that she is.

Da-mi heads back inside, leaving Yeong-rang still on her knees.  She slowly composes herself and stumbles down the hill back to her car.  (With no smudges or a trace of dirt on her white pants from kneeling?  I CALL NO WAY.)

Back at Geumdan HQ, a mad-as-hell Ji-ho is waiting for Jung-wook’s arrival.  Ji-ho calls him out for forcing Witness Boy into saying what he did… was it because of Jung-wook’s feelings for Yeong-rang that he did that very thing?  Jung-wook says he will take care of the case going forward, so Ji-ho should return to Gloria and concentrate on the business instead.

Ji-ho refuses his command and says he will finish the job instead, since now he can’t trust Jung-wook to carry on without going weak.  Jung-wook tells him that Ji-ho shouldn’t bloody his hands anymore because he will regret it in the end.  Ji-ho says the word ‘regret’ isn’t even in his vocabulary anymore, but Jung-wook says that person he’s so hell-bent on destroying is… that woman is…

Ji-ho says yes, it was at one point the mother who raised him.  But she ripped out his heart and served it to him on a platter, with a side order of betrayal as well.  Jung-wook understands Ji-ho’s feelings, but Ji-ho is still incensed that Jung-wook made Witness Boy give false testimony in open court.  Jung-wook explains that he did that to keep Ji-ho from getting hurt.

Ji-ho screams for Jung-wook to stop being a jerkwad, so it looks like it’s his job alone now to make Yeong-rang’s life a living hell in order for her to repent for her sins.  Storming out of the office, Jung-wook’s face drops almost to his knees over His Son’s final demands.

Prosecutor Guy is complaining to Attorney Choi over why he keeps denying paying Witness Boy to remove Woo-jin’s oxygen mask!  Witness Boy has already confessed that he received money from Attorney Choi and entered the hospital on his instructions to kill Woo-jin!!!  Attorney Choi screams back that IT WASN’T HIM.  Why would he kill Woo-jin – he had no reason to!

Prosecutor Guy surmises that Attorney Choi was worried Woo-jin and Geumdan would swallow up Boosung.  It’s a well-known fact that Attorney Choi was maneuvering for a larger piece of Boosung, since all the employees were talking about it.  (And there’s that pesky ‘hearsay’ evidence again that counts as fact in Korea.)  Attorney Choi admits that’s close to the truth, but that was no reason for him to harm Woo-jin!

But there’s still the elephant in the room: his lie that he was in a meeting with Yeong-rang at the time of Woo-jin’s accident.  How does Attorney Choi explain that one, ne?  Attorney Choi is almost at his wit’s end as he explains how Yeong-rang had asked him for a favor that night.  He didn’t realize it would back to bite him in the butt like this…

Prosecutor Guy whips out further hearsay evidence that he and Ji-ho weren’t exactly bestest buddies for a very long time at Boosung by trying to defame him and rally the Board of Directors against him.  Attorney Choi was named as the ringleader in having Ji-ho bounced outta Boosung.  Attorney Choi suddenly perks up and asks if it is Ji-ho who is pulling the strings framing him for Woo-jin’s accident now?

Prosecutor Guy tells him to just take the easy way out and confess.  Woo-jin is alive and the person was already dead when the oxygen mask was removed… Attorney Choi may even be found innocent after all is said and done.  Attorney Choi jumps up and screams at Prosecutor Guy to bring Ji-ho to him – he wants to hear it from his own mouth how Ji-ho bribed Witness Boy to give false testimony!

EvilStep tells Jung-wook that she really really really wants to tell Yeong-rang that Ji-ho is their child, but she can’t bring herself to do it.  Maybe it’s best that this is swept under the rug permanently.  A thunk is heard behind EvilStep, and she whips around to see Yeong-rang standing there.  OH POOPIE.

Yeong-rang wants EvilStep to explain what she just overheard, and EvilStep confirms that her child has been found and confirmed through a DNA test.  Yeong-rang is amazed that he’s really alive and all that, so when can she meet up with him, hunh?  Let’s go right now!!!

EvilStep tells her she doesn’t have the right, because Ji-ho and In-ha are not living the good life because of her actions throughout her life.  It’s best that Yeong-rang live the rest of her life not knowing who this child is at all.  Yeong-rang demands to see him at least once before she dies… what’s his name?  What does he look like?  TAKE ME TO SEE HIM NOW OR ELSE!!!

Yelling back that just because Yeong-rang gave birth to him, doesn’t make her his mother.  EvilStep is appalled at her actions resulting in Ji-ho and In-ha turning out like they did.  Yeong-rang begs to just look at her child from a distance; she’ll never reveal that she is his mother.  And then she’ll never make such a request ever again.

Yeong-rang cries that her child was spirited away without being breastfed once, so is it so greedy for her to want to see him just once?  EvilStep says she can’t do that, because even after one look, Yeong-rang will want to hold his hand, touch his face, feed him and sleep next to him for at least one night.  Her child is living quite well with no thanks to his worthless birth mother, so Yeong-rang needs to zip it now and move on with her life.

Yeong-rang pleads that even though she is useless and a sinner, she is still that child’s mother and gives her the right to meet him!  EvilStep replies that if Yeong-rang is still concerned about her child, she needs to back off and not barge into his life.  Bad enough her crimes to the world have been broadcast over the entire Korean country, it’s better to tell that child… that his mother is indeed dead.

Taking her leave, Yeong-rang yells after EvilStep that she must meet her child!!!  (And for the first time in this entire show, I needed to wipe away a few tears watching this scene.  Geez, I’m such a sap…)

The Gloria and Hanguk contracts have been exchanged, and Ji-ho promises to supply the school with their absolute best pianos.  The Hanguk representative wonders why Ji-ho doesn’t perform at recitals anymore; the students there are clamoring to hear the Great Yoo Ji Ho in concert again.  There’s no silly plagiarism charges hanging over his head anymore, so what does he think?  How about holding a recital now?

Da-mi says that if it is for a good cause, maybe it’s a good idea to hold a recital.  Ji-ho wheels around with an “Ixnay, Da-mi!” look on his face, as she explains that since Gloria is supplying Hanguk’s pianos now, they can think of it as a charity performance for the school.

Back at the noodle cart in the park, Ji-ho finally smiles for the first time in ages and Da-mi calls him out on it.  Ji-ho protests that he wasn’t really smiling, but Da-mi says just sit down and eat all the fish soup he can until he bursts.  Ji-ho admits he hasn’t played the piano all that much while out exacting revenge on his enemies, as Da-mi admits the same since she got rid of their piano after she thought Woo-jin had died.

Ji-ho is astounded to hear that, since she was always at her happiest when playing.  But Da-mi didn’t want to be happy by herself when her family was suffering, so no piano since then… but she does miss playing.  She really wants to hear Ji-ho play again, but Ji-ho says Da-mi should then join him on the recital stage.  Only then will he give it some serious thought.

Da-mi pooh-poohs him, saying she doesn’t have 1/10^th of the talent that Ji-ho has, but Ji-ho insists that they can practice together.  She’s more than qualified to take the stage with Ji-ho – does she forget that he was her piano teacher and she’s not going to listen to her teacher?  Enough of the bickering — soup’s on!

Jung-wook wants to know if Yeong-rang went and begged for forgiveness with the Song Family.  She affirms that she did, but they were not accepting of her apology.  Jung-wook insists she beg for forgiveness until she’s blue in the face and their family finally accept her words.  Oh and by the way, she needs to also apologize to Ji-ho for having hated him, because if she doesn’t, he’s gonna kick her to the curb accordingly.

Yeong-rang is confused over why Jung-wook is suddenly taking Ji-ho’s side, because it’s not going to take a few words of apology to undo the years of problems between them.  Jung-wook is more concerned over why Yeong-rang hates Ji-ho so much – is it because Dead Burnt-Up Dad brought him into the family in the way he did?

Yeong-rang is more concerned about her wounds, since it wasn’t easy to care for someone else’s child like he was her own flesh and blood.  (HA.)  She had no say in the matter so why should she be the sorry one?  Jung-wook laughs and confirms that Yeong-rang decided to take her revenge upon Dead Burnt-Up Dad against innocent Ji-ho.

Annoyed that Jung-wook keeps talking about Ji-ho like that, she changes the subject to ask if he had heard that EvilStep found their child.  Jung-wook says he did… and he no longer wishes to meet said child.  Yeong-rang is dumbfounded, as Jung-wook goes on to say that he never had any fatherly instinct in him ever, so what good would it do to insert himself into that poor child’s life?  He wants nothing to do with finding that child ever.

Yeong-rang demands to know why Jung-wook is singing a different tune now – he was all rarin’ to go to track down their child, but now he’s not?  Doesn’t he want to see him at least once?  Jung-wook says he’s changed his mind, so she should as well.  As far as he’s concerned, there is no child between them and he takes off down the path.

Yeong-rang returns home mulling over Jung-wook’s words to stop looking for their child.  How can he say that as the child’s father… and why is her Spidey Sense tingling extra-hard all of a sudden?  Hmmm…

In-ha wants to know how the preparations for the annual Boosung Recital are coming along, as So-yeol says it’s going to be a slog this year.  There is no money in the budget and none of the union musicians have agreed to stand on the same stage with In-ha due to his bringing shame upon their fellowship.

In-ha crabs back that So-yeol isn’t trying hard enough – it doesn’t make sense to stop holding a recital which has been going on since Dead Burnt-Up Dad was the President of Boosung, so get cracking on it!  So-yeol starts to complain, but then In-ha gets a look at the latest Boosung stock price; when did they start to drop so drastically?  And what about the substitute wood work – is there still no progress?

So-yeol tells In-ha to get a grip; he’s firmly planted himself into Camp Crazy these days and it’s hard for her to follow his mood swings.  In-ha wants to know what she’s going to do if he keeps giving her a hard time – is she going to abandon him because his family is in such a state of disrepair right now?

She asks if that’s all he can say – if he’s going to continue being such a little shit, then she’s not going to take it anymore.  That sets off In-ha, as he jumps up and asks what is she going to do?  When did So-yeol ever take his side, especially when he was being tried at court?  So-yeol tells him she was in such a state of shock that she couldn’t do anything.  How could she function when those allegations against him and Yeong-rang were being tossed around?

In-ha grabs So-yeol by the shoulders (again) and reminds her that all the both of them have left is Boosung.  If he loses the company that his father left him, he’s dead meat.  So-yeol reminds In-ha that the reason she accepted his marriage proposal was not because he was rolling in money… it was because they were kindred lonely souls.

Now she’s not so sure about their relationship anymore, since In-ha has turned all scary and stuff.  Taking off her engagement ring, she lays it in front of him saying she will go move in with her father today and walks out.  In-ha picks up the ring and takes out his frustration on an innocent stack of blueprints.

Yeong-rang paces while waiting for In-ha to come home.  When he does, he looks like death warmed over which doesn’t escape Yeong-rang’s eagle eyes and wants to know if he’s stressed over the trial.  She reminds him that it was only an accident and the court should look favorably upon him.  Trust his mother, and everything will turn out okay.

The Tongue makes a surprise appearance, as In-ha figures out that Yeong-rang should be feeling totally groovy right now.  The statute of limitations has expired on his father’s death, Woo-jin’s oxygen mask removal has been dumped onto Attorney Choi’s head, and she has Jung-wook’s backing for the rest of her life.  So she has nothing to be afraid of, unlike In-ha staring down the barrel of jail time.

Yeong-rang tells In-ha to stop being so obstinate, but In-ha reminds her that even though the statute of limitations has expired, it also means that the time to receive his forgiveness is also over.  Since Dead Burnt-up Dad will never forgive her, there’s no freakin’ way In-ha will forgive her either.

She explodes at him wanting to know why In-ha still cries for his father.  Dead Burnt-Up Dad didn’t do jack shite for In-ha and looked down on him even until his dying day.  He didn’t even love In-ha’s mother, and he still looks fondly upon him?  WAE?!?

In-ha softly retorts that his father did love her to pieces; it’s just that he knew her heart wasn’t in loving him back.  And he realizes now just how pitiful the man was since he’s going through the same exact thing.  In-ha heads up to his room, but not before telling Yeong-rang that he’s so jealous of Ji-ho right now, because Ji-ho can abandon her with no regrets while he can’t.

Back at his apartment, Ji-ho lays the needle down on a recording of one of the Rachmaninoff Études-tableaux.  Panning over to a set of candles burning, the fire scene from the first few minutes of Episode 1 are replayed with Yeong-rang begging for Ji-ho to save her!  A scream is heard, and Yeong-rang bolts upright in bed after waking up from her nightmare.

EvilStep runs into her bedroom to see a crazed Yeong-rang clutching her sheets claiming Ji-ho is out to kill her!  He came back from the States with everything prepared to take down Boosung and put In-ha into jail for life.  With that all accomplished, all there left for him to do is to take her life!  Ottoke?!?

Yeong-rang is in hysterics as EvilStep tries to calm her down saying Ji-ho would never ever do that.  Yeong-rang continues to blame Dead Burnt-Up Dad for having his spirit inhabit Ji-ho’s body and exact his revenge from his grave!  This is why he brought Ji-ho to their home – make them both disappear from her life!

EvilStep tells her to get a grip, but wants to know if the reason Ji-ho was Yoo Man-se’s son out of wedlock made it so tough for Yeong-rang and that’s why she hated Ji-ho so much?  Yeong-rang needs to stop thinking like that now… because Ji-ho is not Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s child.  (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!)

Yeong-rang turns towards her with the best WTF face she could muster while asking for clarification.  EvilStep repeats what she just said, adding that Ji-ho does not contain a single drop of Yoo Blood in his body.

In-ha just happens to be walking by Yeong-rang’s room and overhears their conversation.  EvilStep decides that’s enough revelations for one night and gets up to leave, but not before Yeong-rang wants more details.  EvilStep says that’s all she can confirm right now – Ji-ho is not Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s son.  And if Yeong-rang doesn’t believe her, dig him up and do a DNA test on him.

Yeong-rang says she would feel more relieved if EvilStep was making up a story, but EvilStep has determined that Yoo Man-se was far more a terrifying person than the one they both knew him to be.  So EvilStep has decided to wave the white flag in defeat – she has lost out to a more evil-er person than she.

Yeong-rang still isn’t comprehending; why would Dead Burnt-Up Dad pull such a stunt like that?  Abandoning his own son for someone not of his bloodline?  EvilStep comes to the conclusion that he basically dug his own grave for loving Yeong-rang too excessively.  That asshole!!!

In-ha returns to his room trying in his own way to comprehend what he just overheard.  No way that could be true!  Yeong-rang remembers Jung-wook’s words to her not wanting to find their child anymore.   She’s still not quite understanding as EvilStep’s words about digging up Chairman Yoo ring through her ears… and then the light bulb goes off over her head.  Seolmal… was he the one responsible for… ?

Yeong-rang is up and has prepared a food basket as EvilStep is amazed she even has the strength to function so early.  Yeong-rang tells her that since she knows where her child is, she needs to take this food to him… besides, he needs at lease one hot meal made by her since she’s not allowed to meet up with him.  EvilStep hesitates…

Yeong-rang returns to her room to call Secretary Oh and ensures the tail is on EvilStep’s whereabouts and report back to her ASAP as soon as he finds out where she’s landed.

EvilStep arrives at Ji-ho’s apartment and buzzes herself in.  Secretary Oh is right around the corner and calls Yeong-rang right away.  Ji-ho pulls the lids off the containers and chides EvilStep for arriving so early in the morning with so much food.  She claims she was worries that Ji-ho wasn’t eating properly, so here she is!

Ji-ho tells her it’s not necessary and don’t do it again.  EvilStep agrees with that; she doesn’t want to either.  Ji-ho samples a few bites and pronounces it delicious, but is skeptical that EvilStep cooked all that by her lonesome.  EvilStep admits she’s been caught… since it was Yeong-rang who prepared the meal for him.

Suddenly Ji-ho stops in mid-grab and demands the food be taken out of his sight.  And EvilStep should stop coming around if she’s going to take Yeong-rang’s side like that.  EvilStep reminds Ji-ho that Yeong-rang still fed and clothed him for 15 years under the same roof.  She blames herself for the rift between them as well, so maybe Ji-ho needs to put aside his anger now, hunh?

And Ji-ho further hammers down the point that if she wants to see Ji-ho again, NEVER EVER bring up Yeong-rang’s name in front of him ever again.  He stomps off saying it’s time for him to go to work.

EvilStep leaves Ji-ho’s place and guess who’s standing outside his apartment door?  Yup, it’s so freakin’ obvious that EvilStep was followed, but why did EvilStep deliver it to Ji-ho instead of her lost child?  EvilStep attempts to stammer out an explanation, but fails to find the right words.

Yeong-rang demands an explanation why EvilStep took her specially-prepared food to Ji-ho.  EvilStep tries to put a spin on the situation by saying she brought it over as a peace offering since they need to stop being bitter enemies now; it’s not like they’re strangers and stuff.  Yeong-rang begs to differ, since EvilStep specifically said Ji-ho is not Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s son.

EvilStep backtracks and says they may not share a bloodline, but they are basically family.  Once you are family, you are eternally family.  Yeong-rang tells her to cut the crap and stop deceiving her, because she knows both EvilStep and Jung-wook are lying to her.  Stomping out, she leaves a sputtering EvilStep wondering what to do next!

Woo-jin brings a lunchbox to Nam-joo at the Millet store and apologizes for being unemployed at the moment.  Nam-joo dismisses his concerns and reminds him to keep getting better so she can feel better too.  She asks how the trial is going, as Woo-jin says that he will be going in for the kill against In-ha for leaving Woo-jin to bleed to death.  Even though In-ha may have some sympathy with the court in saying he was only trying to protect his mother, Woo-jin says they will come after him with everything they’ve got.

Nam-joo asks him what will then happen to Yeong-rang?  Woo-jin says that’s going to be a different situation, since Jung-wook had already spirited him away prior to the oxygen mask being removed.  Nam-joo says that the act of the mask removal is a crime, and even though Yeong-rang has framed Attorney Choi for that now, it’s obvious she hasn’t quite fessed up to her sins yet.

In-ha barges into Ji-ho’s office and spills the beans that EvilStep just confessed to Ji-ho not being Dead Burnt-Up Dad’s natural son!  Ji-ho wonders why In-ha has so much time to talk about silly stuff since he has so much work to do trying to save Boosung’s hide.  Maybe it’s In-ha’s fervent wish for Ji-ho not to be his hyung?

Ji-ho demands that if In-ha is going to talk cray cray like that, he needs to turn around and leave his office NOW.  But he warns In-ha to not mess around with him talking smack about his father like that.  In-ha says that if it turns out Ji-ho is not his father’s natural child, he will go after Ji-ho personally for all the wrongs he’s committed against he and his mother since he returned from the States.

In-ha says he’s not joking; he heard it plain as day coming from EvilStep’s lips.  If Ji-ho doesn’t believe him, Ji-ho needs to go dig up Chairman Yoo and find out for himself.  Of course, if Ji-ho is not of Yoo Blood, then the reason for him to try and control Boosung would naturally disappear.  In-ha feels like he’s won the Lotto with the last present his father would leave him, even after being stone cold dead for ages now.

Yeong-rang meets with that dimbulb Nurse Kang, who is stunned to hear that EvilStep found the child they had both been searching for.  She only knows that EvilStep called her to say she’s not going to look for the child after all and will not be needing her services any longer.  Why did she change her mind so abruptly like that?

Yeong-rang demands that Nurse Kang tell her everything she and EvilStep discussed, and don’t leave out any details.  All Nurse Kang remembers is handing the child over to a man in front of the Picasso Gallery… and that he looked like a man in the employ of the Yoo Family.  She believes EvilStep called him “Oh something-or-other…”

Looking out the window, Nurse Kang points to a guy standing on the sidewalk and says that’s the man right there!!!  Yeong-rang looks over to see Secretary Oh standing there waiting for her, and she’s even more confused wondering why her child was given to Secretary Oh.  Wait a second…

Secretary Oh deposits Yeong-rang in the back seat of their car and asks where she wants to go to next.  Yeong-rang glares at him instead and demands he tell her about the time he took a child away in front of the Picasso Gallery.  Secretary Oh feigns ignorance until Yeong-rang says she knows the truth but wants to hear his side of the story.

He tells the same story told to EvilStep about upon Chairman Yoo’s orders picking up the child with Jung-wook’s name on the blanket, and it’s the same thing he told EvilStep as well.  Yeong-rang’s brain wheels start turning, as Secretary Oh confirms the baby turned out to be Yoo Ji Ho.  Yeong-rang starts gasping for air…

Ji-ho is at his desk still mulling over In-ha’s words to exhume Chairman Yoo if he’s so curious about his alleged parentage.  With remembering EvilStep’s words about her child having her handkerchief in his possession, Yeong-rang breaks into Ji-ho’s apartment and starts tearing through his things.  Opening the wooden box Ji-ho has kept since the night of the fire, bingo!  One handkerchief found!

Asking why Yeong-rang has entered his house without permission, he’s stunned to see her holding his alleged mother’s handkerchief and rips it out of her hands.  He refuses to breathe the same air she does, so SCRAM LADY!  All Yeong-rang can do is stare at him, and Episode 25 screeches to a halt!

Air Date:  10 November 2012

Ratings:   AGB Nielsen Nationwide 13.5% (5th) / Seoul 14.1% (6th); TNmS Nationwide 13.7% (6th) / Seoul 16.0% (4th) (SERIES 2nd HIGHEST RATING)

Flowers and Brickbats

I barely remember this episode, as the weekend Episodes 25 and 26 aired I was Back East for the Big Bang shows in Newark.  I watched the raws with one eye open but none of the plot stuck in my mind (with the exception of hearing My Precious sing again; I made sure to keep my squeeeeeeing to a whisper as to not wake up my roomies.)

But geez, this one started out all talky to the point I had already written up three pages of narrative before the first 5 minutes of video had elapsed!  Such is the problem with courtroom settings; being in the business, it’s hard to summarize and distill down to talking points without missing key pieces of dialogue.  But after Witness Boy’s Big Lying Reveal, the plot settled back into its normal (slow) groove and trundled off towards the other Big Reveal – THE BIRTH SECRET.  I’m quite surprised it was thrown out there in Episode 25, figuring they’d wait at least until Episode 27 before showing all their cards.  As it is now, we’ve got to suffer through five more episodes to get to the Finale.  I’d better stock up on quad espressos now.

I probably should have discussed this back in Episode 20, but I just remembered the discussion we had over on Soompi about the different statutes of limitation since it was briefly mentioned again in this episode.  That one-year time jump in Episode 20 where we were suddenly subjected to In-ha and So-yeol’s engagement ceremony (I STILL DO NOT APPROVE!!!) put the timeline since Yoo Man-se’s murder at over 15 years.  So the look of relief on everyone’s face that had anything to do with Dead Burnt-up Dad’s untimely demise was justified, and no one can really do anything about anything ever again.  But in researching the issue, I came across this in one of my international law journals — this is a summary from an article published in June 2012:

“Korea will scrap the statute limiting the time for prosecuting murderers as early as this year in an effort to better protect the lives of citizens, officials said.  The measure reflects growing public demand that the country abolish the statutes of limitations on premeditated homicide as well as crimes against children. Last year, the country removed such a statute on sexual abuse against disabled people and children under the age of 13.  The Ministry of Justice said it will submit a revised bill that calls for the removal of the statutory period for first-degree murder for National Assembly approval this year.  If the bill is passed, it will be retroactively applied to murders committed after 1997. In 2007, Korea extended the statutory period for crimes that are punishable by the death sentence, including premeditated murder, to 25 years from the previous 15 years. However, civic groups have urged the government to remove it, citing high-profile murder cases that happened long ago, but have remained unresolved.”  (emphasis added)

So the operative word here is “premeditated” — the cops would have to prove that Yeong-rang plotted Man-se’s demise from the get-go, since the extension to 25 years currently in force only applies to first-degree homicide cases.  Yeong-rang definitely pushed the bookcase in front of Man-se’s study (which no one witnessed) in order to cover up her pushing him into the desk (which was witnessed by Maid Dong-yi).  She could technically argue the “heat of passion” doctrine and plead that she didn’t know what she was doing when she moved the bookcase, but that argument would be thrown out on its ear since Man-se did awaken and attempted to escape the burning house, only being thwarted by the blocked study door.   The only way she would have been indicted for the crime (no matter what the timeline) is if ALL capital crime statutes of limitation were struck down and made retroactive in perpetuity.  But even to this day, the legislation is STILL moving at a snail’s pace through the National Assembly, with no action taken to date.  And you thought the American Courts were slow?  HA.

Enough about that.  We’ve moved on to another criminal issue where there is no questioning of the statute of limitations, since it only transpired a mere 14 months prior and is still under the Korean standing statute at present.  And to that end, it’s obvious that In-ha has pretty much given up his Holy Evil Revenge Plot, having being caught dead-to-rights in his own perjury.  There’s no way Mommie Dearest can protect him now, since the world (and most importantly, the police) are on to his usurious dealings.  In-ha was never one to lose to anyone (let alone his brother!), but the look of defeat in that poor boy’s face… well, he had to wave the white flag eventually.  Might as well get it over with while he still has a shred of dignity, but why do I feel In-ha has one last gasp still left in him?

I did groan quite a bit when Witness Boy turned tail and ratted out Attorney Choi instead of Yeong-rang, though.  But there’s still five more episodes to slog through and Ji-ho needs a few setbacks to pad out the plot; if everything evilicious always went his way with no question, things would get quite boring.  Except now that Ji-ho’s gone all rogue from Jung-wook’s support, you know that boy still gots major plans up his sleeve.  Should be reaaaaaaaaaal interesting now that Yeong-rang knows he’s the son she gave up!

And may I call out how PATHETIC our two female leads have turned out in this episode, all over the choices they have made in their men?!?  Yeong-rang not wanting to lose Jung-wook a second time basically capitulates to his forced demands to ask forgiveness from the Song Family (although you know she’s fighting that every step of the way), and Da-mi having the cojones to ask for Ji-ho and her to get back together as a couple again (which in standard KDR and Real Life, just ain’t gonna happen).  The sins of the parents trickle down to the children no matter what, and because we have the issue of Dead Deaf Dad perishing due to a perfect storm of events leading to the fire, even *I* wouldn’t come close to pretty much beg for my boyfriend to return to my side.  Could you see the family gatherings if that ever happened?  (Come to think about it, that could make for an interesting new drama… I’ll start working on a script and drop it off at Yeouido when I get over there!)

Music Nerd Ramblings:  FINALLY we get something to discuss in this episode!  Ji-ho sits back and relaxes to a recording of Rachmaninoff’s Études-tableaux, Op. 39, No. 8 in D minor (a few bars of the allegro moderato are heard in this snippet).  The piece is quite lyrical in its use of double notes and piano pedals for sustaining the long legato runs up and down the keyboard.  Composed between 1911 and 1917, the Études are two sets of piano compilations (Op. 33 containing nine separate scores, and Op. 39 containing another nine scores) and were the last major works written by Rachmaninoff before he left Russia for Finland, eventually landing in the United States in 1918.

When pressed by his critics about why Rachmaninoff decided to base these works around heavy syncopation utilizing alternating hands, the composer himself could not explain the “meanings” of these two works.  (I guess if the saying “It is what it is” was around in the early 20th Century, that would basically sum up what Rachmaninoff was trying to say.)  It wasn’t until 1930, when the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi orchestrated the two complete Études sets into performance pieces that could be more easily understood by the Great Unwashed Public in a concert format, that these works became more well-known when performed by other classical pianists.  Scholars are unsure of exactly why, but Rachmaninoff himself barely performed them in concert upon his emigration to the States and left it up to other pianists to carry on his legacy.  Come to think about it, I believe I have never heard the Études ever played in their entirety myself.  Hmmm…

Now that I’ve bored you all to tears, there was YET ANOTHER OST Missed Opportunity, where at 13:20 into the Show we are treated to another sweet piece of incidental music played under Ji-ho and Da-mi’s meeting at the coffeeshop.  I probably should give up on cursing at the Music Director for this show, but he did treat us to another take on My Precious’s OST offering… way to milk that Fangirl Cash Cow, dude!  The OST had just gone on sale the same day Episode 25 aired, so that was a nice little present awaiting me once I returned to California.  SQUEEEEE!!!

FIVE MORE SHOWS TO GO!!!  Can I finish this beast before I leave for my trip on 20 June?  I guess I’ll just nap on the plane to make up my anticipated sleep deficit.  On to Episode 26!!!