Tomorrow With You: Episode 10

by gummimochi

Oof. Grab a box of tissues before you watch this episode because this story is about to throw you into a whirlwind of emotions. Not only do our characters ask the right kind of questions, they’re also accompanied by honest, genuine answers we’ve been waiting to hear. Living the life of a time traveler often has its perks, but no one could have ever prepared us for the kind of consequences it could also bring.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

At So-joon’s admission of being a time traveler, Ma-rin laughs in disbelief and checks to see if he’s been drinking or wonders if today is some special occasion. She isn’t impressed by what he considers as proof, since it’s easy enough to search for news headlines on the internet or make lucky guesses on people’s immediate actions.

She puts aside her headache to follow his logic—if So-joon did foresee this moment in the future, what does she say next? He replies that they didn’t originally come here, but right now, he dragged her to this spot.

Ma-rin is plenty spooked and walks off, but she’s still curious about what he means by being able to see the future: “Then what about ours? What does our future look like?” So-joon says nothing, and she walks off.

Ma-rin asks more questions about time travel in the car—does he take a Delorean like Back to the Future? Or use incense sticks like Nine? She doesn’t want to stop to talk, but wonders why his fallback excuse is time travel and why he supposedly only travels to the future: “Is the future already determined? Does that make any sense?”

He can tell that she’s on the verge of tears, but Ma-rin replies that she’s laughing at the absurdity of it all, then sighs at the idea of being married to a time traveler: “Then does that make me a time traveler’s wife?”

At home, Ma-rin realizes that all of the odd items from the ramyun to the sneakers are all from the future. She joins So-joon in the living room and declares that she’ll do her best to accept the idea that he can time travel. She commands him to do it now and even gives him to the count of three to disappear.

And when he doesn’t, Ma-rin takes that as proof that he can’t travel to the future. So-joon says it doesn’t work like that, and she wonders how elaborate a lie this is. She even considers the possibility that So-joon believes in a different subjective reality and suggests that he gets help.

She’s even willing to hear the upcoming lottery numbers, but So-joon says he won the jackpot three times already. His serious and matter-of-fact tone gives her an even bigger headache, and So-joon walks up to her and wraps his arms around her.

“You knew that there was something strange about me,” he explains. He turns her around to ask, “How do you think an ordinary man could be this successful?” He asks her to think how someone could possibly run a thriving company when he barely shows up to work, and admits that the objects in their home aren’t from “this world.”

She still finds everything hard to believe, and So-joon says that he didn’t live his life a particularly special way; he may own many possessions, but at the end of the day, “I’m still just me.”

Hearing that Ki-doong is the only other person who knows about his ability to time travel, Ma-rin realizes that’s why So-joon would be over at his place so often. She then asks the burning question in our heads: “But why tell me now? Just so I’d quit my job at Happiness?”

“To protect you,” So-joon answers. “Even if you get confused or feel burdened, that’s better than putting you in danger.” Those words make her question whether something might happen to her in the future, and So-joon sits next to her and takes her hand before telling her what will happen next: “There will be an accident that involves Happiness.”

Nothing good will come from her knowing more than that, he says, so he needs her to trust him and to do what he says. She says she’ll think about it because it’s impossible for her to believe everything and yet nothing.

So-joon jots down everything he knows about the events of October 27th, and hides his notes when Ki-doong informs him that he’s made arrangements per So-joon’s request so that the construction site will be empty on that particular day. But, wasn’t the construction site practically empty in the future?

Knowing that something’s up, he asks what So-joon saw in the future to prompt everyone not to work that day. So-joon says he’ll explain later and divulges that he finally told Ma-rin the truth.

They relocate to continue this conversation outside, where Ki-doong praises So-joon for doing the right thing, but asks why he chose to do it now. He guesses the news must’ve come as a shock for Ma-rin, and jokingly asks if she asked for a divorce, chuckling at the idea of her getting divorced from a man claiming to be a time traveler and scientists experimenting on his brain.

So-joon says he’s no alien, but hopes Ma-rin doesn’t see him as one. As someone who knows So-joon’s secret, Ki-doong can relate to Ma-rin, who might be going through the same emotional stages he did—disbelief followed by cynicism, and then rage. His advice? Understand that this is a tough time for Ma-rin, and So-joon needs to be there for her.

So-joon thinks Ma-rin is stronger than that, but we see her going through those same emotions on the street, not even caring that she looks like a crazy lady in public.

Ma-rin arrives at work to learn that So-joon has anonymously arranged for a company-wide overnight trip on the 27th. She’s invited out to have coffee with Se-young, who confirms that she’s leaving that same day. Se-young asks if So-joon has an ulterior motive because he’s arranged her father to leave with her.

Ma-rin sweetly says So-joon may have thought people at Happiness would be saddened by her departure. At the mention that Se-young’s family was there for him during the toughest of times, Se-young laughs that it feels strange to be sharing secrets that only she and So-joon used to have with someone else.

They have a good chuckle about that, and Ma-rin says she can’t take those memories away from Se-young, so it shouldn’t matter if she knows or not. Se-young asks Ma-rin to look after her father, teasing that she needs to constantly keep him grounded. Aw, it’s sweet that they’re friends now.

Ma-rin calls her friend So-ri to take her to a fortuneteller, who says that Ma-rin’s forecast calls for blessings, not misfortune (and So-ri mutters that she wishes the guru could give her a happy fortune, ha). She then asks the fortuneteller’s opinion on people who believe they can time travel, and the latter says those people are attention-seekers who should get help.

But after they’re gone, the fortuneteller is bothered by how she couldn’t see anything into Ma-rin and her husband’s futures: “It’s like they’re neither dead nor alive.”

Seeing Director Kim so wound up makes Secretary Hwang wonder if his boss is headed for disaster. Turns out he’d eavesdropped in on the conversation about Director Kim possibly selling some smaller buildings to the businessman, but he pushes that thought out of his head.

He takes the executive who was whispering about Director Kim’s suspicious activities out to coffee, and asks him for insight under the guise that his movie director friend wants to make a movie about the real estate business.

He’s told that a payment on a sale of a commercial building can take up to a year, and there have been several cases of people who run off with the deposit before everything in the contract is squared away–of course those people ended up in prison or hiding out of the country.

Ki-doong wonders what could be so important that So-joon wants to talk about it at his place. He guesses that it’s something bad and asks if it’s okay if he doesn’t hear what it is. Yet as much as So-joon wants to keep Ki-doong out of it, he needs his help: “There’s something we need to take care of together.”

Director Kim catches the tail-end of that conversation, and the three of them take the elevator down together. So-joon notes that he’s heard how busy Director Kim has been lately that it prevents him from attending meetings, and the director says he shows up more often than So-joon does.

“You should,” So-joon says gravely, “because you aren’t me.” Still avoiding his gaze, Director Kim says it was only a joke.

So-joon shares the upsetting news about Se-young’s father dying in the future once he and Ki-doong are alone. While So-joon believes it’s still preventable, Ki-doong angrily kicks his furniture and asks what So-joon plans to do about it.

Ki-doong thinks it won’t be enough sending Se-young’s father away to Japan since it’s possible he’s still meant to die on the 27th. But So-joon says all they need to do is prevent the workplace accident from taking place at all regardless of whether it was deliberate on someone’s part or not.

“What do you mean, deliberate?” Ki-doong asks. So-joon admits that he does suspect someone, thinking of Doo-shik, but he can’t be certain since that person would have no reason to harm Se-young’s father.

Ki-doong grows frustrated at So-joon speaking in vague terms, but he’s told to show up at the construction site on the 27th in case there is a culprit who shows up there. He asks if So-joon can’t travel to the future to be completely sure, and So-joon discloses, “The person I suspect… is also a time traveler.”

His plans could go awry if that time traveler finds out what he’s up to, but So-joon has to consider all the possibilities. Emotions welling up in him, Ki-doong says he has nothing to worry about when his friend can see the future.

Much to their surprise, Ma-rin shows up moments later, and Ki-doong slips away to get some air. She peruses So-joon’s office and futuristic electronics, commenting that he is leading two lives.

She pokes her head around, half-hoping that there’s a door leading to another dimension, then concedes to the idea that So-joon really can time travel because she can’t deny all the things she’s seen.

They go for a walk, and Ma-rin says she went to see a fortuneteller who told her that their futures look bright. So-joon asks how talking to spirits could help foresee the future, to which Ma-rin counters, “Then can only time travelers see the future?” Touche.

She gives him a talisman for protection, explaining that this is her way of expressing her concern for him. That’s enough for So-joon, though Ma-rin asks, “Can’t you ask more of me?”

She confesses that his admission still doesn’t feel real, and while knowing the future could be more useful than winning the lottery, she doesn’t see it that way, “because it feels like you’re living in a different world.”

So-joon understands that Ma-rin still has trouble wrapping her head around the idea that her husband is a time traveler, though he remarks that it wouldn’t ever be possible to know someone inside and out anyway. “We’ll be living together for at least 70 years. Wouldn’t it be boring if we knew everything about one another?”

He tells her not to like him too much, and then conducts a fake interview, asking her how she feels about being a time traveler’s wife. Ma-rin: “Feels like crap.” So-joon: “Isn’t he so charming?” Ma-rin: “Not really.” Hah.

She asks if the terrible thing he’s dreading will happen on October 27th, wanting to know what it is. So-joon tells her that Se-young’s father will be in what he thinks is a preventable accident. Still, this impending incident is why he wanted Ma-rin to quit her job.

He says he doesn’t want her to go near the construction site either, and Ma-rin realizes that’s where the accident is supposed to take place. So-joon assures her that nothing will happen and considers giving the talisman to Se-young’s father before deciding to keep it for himself.

Elsewhere, Director Kim gets the businessman to pay a larger deposit than they originally agreed to. He says the rest of the payment can be finalized in a year’s time, and asks that this deal remains completely confidential.

Later that night, Director Kim tells Gun-sook that they’ll be able to leave the country in a few months. He plans on moving them to Vietnam and instructs her to get her affairs in order. He says she mustn’t breathe a word of this to Ma-rin, and she isn’t in any position to have a say in the matter. Gun-sook refuses to leave, which only gets Director Kim more worked up.

Ma-rin is still worried when they return home, but So-joon assures her that everything will be fine. He asks if she remembers when they first met on the street and he saved her from that truck.

He says he knew about that accident ahead of time, and Ma-rin says she thought So-joon had fallen for her. “I saved you,” So-joon responds. “Isn’t that moving? Just like in the movies.”

He’s bringing that up because he thinks they’ll also be able to save Se-young’s father. She asks if he really saved her, and when he says he did, she smiles and says, “You’re a fascinating man.” She pokes his cheek to check that he’s human, and So-joon moves and talks like a robot, which makes her laugh.

Ki-doong meets Se-young as she leaves her job. He offers to carry her things and drive her anywhere she needs to go, but that only makes her feel more uncomfortable. He tells her to give it a rest already because he doesn’t intend on trying anything with her—all he wanted was to say his goodbye because he can’t see her off tomorrow.

His voice shaking, he encourages her to live well and helps her take a call from her father, who passes by Director Kim outside the MyReits building. Se-young’s father sits down with So-joon to thank him for the company trip and for thinking of him and the rest of the Happiness employees. So-joon gets choked up and wishes him well.

So-joon insists on seeing Se-young’s father out, and ajusshi mentions that his former schoolmate—the businessman whom Director Kim struck a deal with—was bragging about a building he recently bought. So-joon finds that odd since none of their companies’ buildings are up for sale, and Director Kim overhears the entire exchange just around the corner. Gah, put two and two together!

Ki-doong arrives at the office just as Se-young’s father leaves. Unable to face him now, he plans on seeing him after they save the man’s life. He’s amazed at how So-joon could carry such a huge burden of knowing the future for so long, but knows this is for Se-young’s sake.

So-joon says this is an opportunity that they won’t have again and encourages Ki-doong that they can get through it together.

October 27, 2016. Ki-doong arrives at the Happiness construction site with a camera in hand. Ma-rin insists on helping by heading out to the airport to make sure Se-young’s father gets on that plane.

Little do they know that Se-young’s father plans on making a detour to see the Happiness employees before meeting his daughter at the airport. Director Kim nervously watches Se-young’s father sending off the bus while thinking back to how the businessman heard that MyReits wasn’t even considering selling the building the director said was up for sale.

He runs up to Se-young’s father to introduce himself and explains that he too is on his way to the airport. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, Doo-shik sneaks into Ki-doong’s apartment (seriously, does he not have a lock on that door?) just as So-joon had seen him do. But this time, So-joon is there waiting for him and asks if he’s here to steal his journal. He asks what Doo-shik intends on doing with it, wondering why he is so fixated on So-joon’s life.

He knows Doo-shik plans on stealing the journal to cover up a future event, and Doo-shik doesn’t deny it, arguing that ignorance is bliss. “What exactly should I not know about?” So-joon asks. “Today’s accident?”

He knows Doo-shik plans on heading to the construction site afterward, saying that he’d already see it happen in the future. Doo-shik argues that he’s being accused of doing something he hasn’t even done yet.

But So-joon is in no mood to kid around—all he knows is that he has to get Doo-shik far away from that construction site. Doo-shik asks if So-joon suspects him, which only proves that he knows what will happen to Se-young’s father.

He’s reminded of Doo-shik’s words about trusting him, but that doesn’t explain why Doo-shik would head to the scene of the accident and hide that incident from him.

So-joon: “I really hope you aren’t the culprit.” Doo-shik asks So-joon to look him in the eye: “It isn’t me, is it?” He has no time to waste, but that’s when So-joon reveals that he sent Se-young’s father away to Japan with his daughter. From the look on Doo-shik’s face, that’s a variable he didn’t account for.

So-joon says with determination that Se-young’s father won’t die because he’ll be on that plane today. Ack, you don’t know for sure yet! Doo-shik asks if he’s completely certain. So-joon orders Doo-shik to do exactly as he says because he can’t trust him—nothing may happen today, but he needs to be thorough.

They take the subway at Namyeong Station, and Doo-shik asks if So-joon really thinks he can prevent today’s incident from taking place by dropping him off in the future. So-joon handcuffs himself to Doo-shik, whom he declares is guilty until proven innocent.

Doo-shik agrees, thinking to himself that it won’t be a bad idea to keep So-joon away from the construction site because it’s most important that he doesn’t know that Director Kim is the culprit. And then they both disappear.

Ma-rin and Se-young nervously wait for Se-young’s father at the airport. She tries calling, but it goes unanswered. In the car, Director Kim tells Se-young’s father to ignore his calls. As they pass the airport exit, Director Kim brings up how Se-young’s father has been in contact with his potential business partner.

Realizing what this conversation is about, Se-young’s father asks to be dropped off. He isn’t interested in being paid off and confirms that Director Kim did con his schoolmate into buying a building. But Director Kim is beyond reason now, screaming that he’s had enough already.

Ma-rin sends Se-young off first while she stays behind to look for Se-young’s father. She leaves a message for So-joon, and she’s so distracted that she’s nearly hit by an oncoming car.

So-joon and Doo-shik travel to Winter 2016, after Ki-doong’s place is long abandoned. Again he asks why Doo-shik went to the construction site. Doo-shik replies that he didn’t want to get So-joon involved for fear that would only lead to a darker future for him.

So-joon doesn’t understand what that means but knows that Doo-shik doesn’t have to worry about him. “It’s because I feel like you’re my son,” Doo-shik says. So-joon tells him to be good to the daughter he previously mentioned, and tears fill Doo-shik’s eyes as he asks, “Do you think I’m someone who would do something so horrific?”

“No,” So-joon honestly replies. He guesses that the news headlines will change if Se-young’s father survives, and if that happens, they can talk then. But everything remains the same.

Back in the present, Ma-rin arrives at the construction site and runs past Director Kim’s car as it’s leaving. He wonders what she’s doing here and yells into the trunk—which now contains Se-young’s father—to keep it down.

Ki-doong pops out of his hiding place to warn Ma-rin that she can’t be here, and is shocked to hear that Se-young’s father never made it to the airport. In the future, So-joon watches the headline disappear and then reappear again… still with an accidental death, just in a different location.

Doo-shik stops So-joon from leaving right away, explaining that there isn’t anything So-joon can do now because a person’s death falls under the category of things that time travelers cannot control. But So-joon says there’s still time and runs out.

Director Kim pulls up to the other construction site and removes the tape from Se-young’s father’s mouth. He can’t possibly trust the man’s word on staying silent now, and blames Se-young’s father for ruining everything: “Do I have to kill you?”

As soon as So-joon returns to the present, he calls Ki-doong to let him know of the location change. Ma-rin confirms that Happiness has another construction site and they hurry on over… and find Se-young’s father lying unconscious and bleeding out.

They cry for help, and So-joon arrives soon afterward, remembering how Ma-rin from the future was crying for him. She sees him and runs into his arms, sobbing.

After Director Kim returns home in silence, Gun-sook wonders where all the dirt on his dress shoes came from. In a dark corner, Doo-shik speaks into his voice recorder, recounting how Director Kim was fated to kill Se-young’s father, who found out about the director’s embezzlement activity.

He tried and failed to get Director Kim to leave So-joon’s company, and though some details may have changed, the director ultimately became a murderer. “But I can’t tell So-joon of this truth… ” Doo-shik gravely says, “because that would endanger our Ma-rin and So-joon.”

At Se-young’s father’s funeral, So-joon grieves in a corner, remembering all the fond memories he shared with him. Ma-rin offers him some water, and when he tells her to go rest, she replies that she can’t, not when she knows how hard this is for him.

He heads out for some air, and she finds him sitting alone outside. “How did it make you feel when you traveled through time for the first time?” she ventures. He says it made him happy, like he had the whole world.

He regrets sending all the Happiness employees away because that meant all the construction sites were empty, and he can’t help but think that he’s somehow responsible for what happened.

Ma-rin tells him not to think that, but rather that Se-young’s father’s death was something they couldn’t do anything about. He takes in a slow breath and wonders how he wasn’t able to do anything when he knew what would happen. She says she and Ki-doong were in the same position, but they couldn’t do anything about it.

So-joon doesn’t believe that things were completely out of their hands, and starts crying over how he knew what would happen. Seeing him in such grief, Ma-rin can’t help but cry with him. She hugs him and says they should think that nothing could’ve been done.

But he asks her not to say those words and completes the thought in his head: If nothing truly could’ve been done, then that means we don’t have that much time left either.

Ma-rin caresses his face and lets him cry into her shoulder.

 
COMMENTS

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of my heart shattering into a million pieces. Even though we didn’t get to see much of Se-young’s father in this series leading up to his death, he was always an important figure in our hero’s life. I can’t even begin to imagine So-joon’s heartache of losing another parent in his lifetime, along with the guilt that he feels thinking that he could’ve done something else to prevent it.

But at the end of the day, our time traveler is only human and trying to protect the people he holds dear. Even if he tries to think of every possibility, there’s always a chance for someone to make a different choice, and in this case, leading to an end result that both So-joon and Doo-shik had already foreseen. In a way, it’s frightening to think that the characters in this world are subject to certain futures despite doing their damnedest to try and change the circumstances. Not being able to prevent Se-young’s father’s death does paint a bleaker forecast for our lovebirds, and we can already see the emotional toll that it’s taking on So-joon.

Yet I do love how incredibly honest So-joon was with Ma-rin following his admission. He laid his cards on the table and kept her in the loop, something Ma-rin had always wanted from him. I loved how she and Ki-doong asked all the important questions from So-joon today, and thought it was a beautiful touch on the director’s part that most of her heart-to-heart conversations with So-joon were one continuous shot. That allowed us to follow their conversation topics as they unfolded and to be with them in the moment as they faced some of the most trying times to date.

When it came to Director Kim, we could see his growing agitation and frustration build in these last few episodes. As desperation took hold of him, his inner demons rose to the surface, making him more vulnerable to make emotionally volatile judgment calls. Neither So-joon nor Ki-doong paid him much attention, even when they were given subtle clues about the changes in Director Kim’s behavior. Even Doo-shik underestimated his unstable behavior, though I still don’t fully know how he thought that preventing So-joon from knowing about Se-young’s father’s death could have protected his daughter and son-in-law.

But what we know now is that the secrets Doo-shik is keeping from So-joon are driving a wedge between them. We’re fast approaching the date when So-joon allegedly disappeared as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Se-young’s father’s death was a major factor that led to that consequence. Yet what I know right now is that So-joon needs someone who loves him by his side, and I’m so relieved that the literal shoulder he can cry on belongs to Ma-rin.

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