Bad Couple: Episode 9
by javabeans
This episode was sad! It’s a complete turnaround from the first batch of episodes, where Dang Ja and Gi Chan’s story was the light-hearted, funny one, while Young’s was depressing and sad. Now Young’s starting to enjoy herself, and Dang Ja encounters trouble…
(Random) SONG OF THE DAY
Byul – “내 남자의 여자친구” (my boyfriend’s girlfriend) [ zShare download ]
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EPISODE 9 SUMMARY
Dang Ja is rushed to the emergency room and undergoes tests. (We learn that she’s five months pregnant, so a lot of time has passed.) At first, Dang Ja and her doctor (Mistress Lady Sae Yeon) don’t recognize each other, but during the examination Sae Yeon remembers that she’s Young’s friend. Although the baby is in good condition, there’s a tumor on the wall of Dang Ja’s uterus, and Sae Yeon discusses her suspicions that it may be malignant with Yoon Seok (Young’s husband).
Sae Yeon delivers the news to Dang Ja, who doesn’t believe it at first — particularly coming from someone she doesn’t respect. It’s very interesting that they played out this scene with the two women antagonistic toward each other — Sae Yeon’s pretty cold when she gives the news (she was warm and doctorly before she recognized Dang Ja). That makes it even less likely for Dang Ja to trust her opinion, who’s suspicious that Sae Yeon’s making it up to hurt her.
Meanwhile, Yoon Seok confronts Young about her new man, and insists that there’s no reason to wait out their year agreement. He finds the contract and rips it up, and finally, Young yells at him that she’ll agree to the divorce.
And so, Young goes on a trip to a remote island. Concerned at being unable to get in contact with her, Joon Soo calls Yong Gu (Dol Soon’s husband aka Wig man) to track her down, and follows her to the island, initially keeping his distance.
Young admits that she’s decided to give up fighting for her husband. He’s not going to come back by force, and it’ll just become harder for her. The reason she came to the island is because it’s where she started her relationship with her husband — and now she’ll end it here. Young shouts to the ocean, “What is this?! You told me not to worry. How could you do this to me?!” and Joon Soo lends her his shoulder to (literally) cry on.
Having gotten that out of her system, the next day Young thanks Joon Soo for being there with her, and they have a light-hearted time enjoying the sea and each other’s company. Although Young’s still hesitant and shy, Joon Soo gently initiates the hand-holding, the kiss on the cheek, and even (ha!) insists on doing “the Titanic” move. Young thinks it’s silly, but Joon Soo tells her life is about being silly and doing embarrassing things — people who are concerned with appearances don’t know how to live.
Joon Soo also tells her that finding some kind of work would be the best way for her to build up her confidence and get back on her feet. He knows of a possible position for her in a clothing shop, whose owner is a friend.
Gi Chan arrives at the hospital because he’s working with a dermatologist on some kind of skin treatment. Startled to see him, Dang Ja rushes into the bathroom, though not before Gi Chan gets a glimpse of her and positions himself outside the restroom to wait for her. Stuck, Dang Ja calls Dol Soon to help, and they swap clothes to make it appear Dol Soon’s the patient. When Gi Chan asks if Dang Ja’s feeling healthy, she insists she is, but it hits her hard when he tells her gently to take care of herself — people who are alone have a hard time being sick. She asks if his engagement went through, and he says yes. Awkwardly, they say their goodbyes.
However, Dol Soon can’t sit by and not do anything, and despite knowing Dang Ja would kill her, she meets with Gi Chan. She tells him that Dang Ja is the real patient, and believes Dang Ja’s collapse was because she’s heartsick over Gi Chan — after breaking up with him, she threw herself into work and didn’t take care of herself.
Although Gi Chan’s alarmed to hear she was sick, he says he can’t do anything. If Dang Ja wants her freedom, he won’t interfere, and he has a fiancee as well.
Dang Ja’s test results come back: the tumor is malignant. Sae Yeon tells her they must immediately operate to remove it — which means they have to lose the baby. Hearing the results in such a clinical, cold way (“We must erase the baby”), Dang Ja reacts strongly, so strongly that Sae Yeon’s unnerved. Unable to accept those words, Dang Ja storms away, leaving the hospital without any further treatment. She assures her friends the tumor was benign, and that it won’t affect the baby.
Alone, though, she can’t stop the tears from coming. It’s so sad watching her sitting in a restaurant alone, trying to hold back her sobs among all the normal customers, eating on behalf of the baby but with no real interest. (Shin Eun Kyung is a wonderful cryer, and she’s great in this scene.) She remembers coming to eat the same thing with Gi Chan previously, and how happy they were, laughing and feeding each other.
At the same time, Gi Chan goes to eat the same thing with his fiancee Jung Sook. It’s likely he’s also remembering being fed by Dang Ja, because he awkwardly takes the wrap Jung Sook gives him but doesn’t allow her to feed him. That night, he goes to Dang Ja’s apartment, but avoids running into her when she arrives home. He looks on with concern as she walks by without energy, and looks tired and unwell.
I don’t think this next segment is terribly important, but it offers some cuteness in a mostly sad episode, so here it is. Dol Soon, relieved to hear that Dang Ja’s tumor is benign, drops by to ask for some of Dang Ja’s clothes for a sale being conducted by her apartment housewives.
(I particularly love this shot because for some reason, I can feel the friendship between the two women — they’re so comfortable and close with each other.)
Yeon Doo, who we’ve already established has an eye for finery, takes advantage of being left alone with the designer clothes, and takes them to show off to her friends. But when Dol Soon returns to the booth to see all her merchandise missing, she goes on a rampage to find the thief. She makes an angry announcement over the PA system, and Yeon Doo, modeling the clothes for the other girls, has the BEST “Oh crap, oh crap!” expression. So cute.
Because Dang Ja left the hospital without informing anyone, Yoon Seok visits her at the office. They both note the strangeness of meeting in this circumstance, but he knows she’d probably refuse to come back to the hospital, so he had to come himself. He’s reconfirmed her results and tells her she absolutely must operate on her tumor immediately. Dang Ja’s resolutely unwilling to endanger her baby, but seeing that she doesn’t grasp the severity of her condition, he spells it out plainly. Not only must she lose her baby, she must lose her uterus — and even then, there’s only a 50% chance she’ll survive herself.
At first, she lashes out at him instead, accusing him of playing with her and making this up to hurt her because she hated him for cheating on Young. She can’t believe that she’s sick, that she might even be dying. She insists she’ll live, and so will her baby, and she’ll show him by living well.
Yoon Seok watches in surprise as Dang Ja walks right into the river, sobbing and flailing at the water. He silently stays at a distance while she goes from anger to despair. Aside from being really sad and hard to watch (again, props to great acting), I have to admit this is the first time I’ve felt any sympathy, or even cared, for Yoon Seok. When he’s cheating and swaggering around, he’s insufferable, but here he actually seems human. He can’t do anything for Dang Ja — and he probably still doesn’t even like her — but he has respect for her grief.
Dang Ja receives a package from Gi Chan, with a note saying he heard she collapsed and to take care of herself. “I should be there by your side to take care of you… Please don’t collapse again and cause my heart pain.”
Inside, he’s prepared herbs and medicines for her to use: “Be sure to take them, since I can’t prepare these medicines for you anymore, or take care of you. I know you can’t eat bitter things, so I included chocolates. Make sure you eat them together.”
As we see Gi Chan preparing the package for her, Dang Ja sobs, alone…
Tags: Bad Couple, Ryu Soo-young, Shin Eun-kyung
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1 Bérénice
July 1, 2007 at 2:20 PM
First time actually participating, but I've been a big fan of your recaps since a few weeks : I wait for them almost as impatiently as the episodes themselves... And sometimes, I actually cry in front of my screen just reading about what happens : that's how well you make things get through by your writing !
Thanks for your great work, people like me, whose Korean is still not good enough for non-subbed watching, can only be immensely grateful to you !
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2 jhoey
July 1, 2007 at 2:22 PM
This episode is sooo sad. It's completely the opposite of the previous episodes. Thanks so much for the summary and translations. *sob* *sob*
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3 supersumiehime
July 1, 2007 at 2:58 PM
This episode is so sad, hope it won't get too sad. Thanks again for your great summaries!
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4 Samantha
July 1, 2007 at 3:47 PM
THIS WAS SO SAD I LITERALLY STARTED CRYING WHEN DANG JA FOUND OUT THAT NOT ONLY DOES SHE HAVE TO LOOSE HER BABY BUT HER UTERUS AND STILL ONLY HAVE A 50% CHANCE OF LIVING...
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5 ginnie
July 1, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Shin Eun Kyung is so wonderful as Dang Ja. There is so much depth in all of her scenes. This show will truly not shine if it wasn't her. I really believe that she adds a lot to the character Dang Ja. So believable and yes...she cries so heartbreakingly.
In this episode, I like Yoon Seok for being there for Dang Ja, caring for his patient.
Who is this actress playing Dol Soon? She's excellent.
Thank you for the summary~!
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6 Bamidele
July 1, 2007 at 5:44 PM
Young thinks it’s silly, but Joon Soo tells her life is about being silly and doing embarrassing things — people who are concerned with appearances don’t know how to live.
^^^^ That is so true, you cannot ever really live if your always wondering what people are thinking about you. Being silly, and laughing with people you care about makes life wonderfully satisfying in my opinion.
Okay I have to say that Dang Ja is pissing me off, I know most will not agree with me, but seriously she is the cause of her own damn misery, and if she would open up her eyes, and take a good look in the mirror, she'd realize that she has to change some things. It is kind of selfish of her to decide to have this kid, without telling the father (who I am sure would be happy after he gets over his initial anger and shock of what she did). Also how does she plan to take care of her baby if she wants to be miss workaholic career woman. She needs to look past her present into her future, and decide what the heck she wants. Now I firmly believe a woman can have both a career and a family, it is all about balance. I also believe two people who really love each other can find compromise against family traditions and obligations. She just gave up, before it even got hard, and that is what gets at me. She quit before anything got to started, and she regrets it, as we can all see. So she needs to start taking some action, and making things right. Does anyone else feel my frustration with her????
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7 simple
July 1, 2007 at 7:47 PM
Bamidele: Then there would be no drama.
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8
July 1, 2007 at 7:54 PM
I've been reading your detailed and insightful summaries for flowers for my life and bad couple at the same time and i really hope that this drama gets back on track after these bitter painful moments because i really can't take all these heartfelt sadness and pain in both of these awesome dramas that started out funny, and lighthearted. I guess with most kdramas you have to be prepared that they will turn into teary tragedies but both of these shows have been delightfully different, thanks for all your hard work, time and effort, you can see it is appreciated by the numbers of visitors to your website and i hope you get millions more on your new server...like the name a lot! thanks for everything
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9 lili
July 1, 2007 at 8:25 PM
Waah Javabeans! Reading your summary alone left me in tears! T_T I don't think I can watch this episode until I've prepared myself for a good cry..... but I'll look forward to the part where Yeon Doo gets into her mischief. ^_~
Thank you again so much for your summary! Your site is definitely permanently tagged on my favorites! *_*
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10 Jessica
July 1, 2007 at 8:42 PM
Oh... I really hope there is a happy ending!
I think there will be though, because if they introduce the "sadness-parts" in episode 9, that means by the end it should be decently happy.
Also, I think this drama is all about change.
It's about DJ realzing she needs to be less selfish and allow other's to help her.
And it's about Young realizing that she needs to be mroe independent.
Great episode! Thank you!
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11 Marzy
July 1, 2007 at 8:58 PM
cheongmal gomawo sarah! :) yeahhhh what a sad ep. bamidele, i can see ur frustrations with DangJa. sometimes, i feel sympathetic towards her like after she found out she was sick. but the fact that she couldnt confide in others was sad. she wants to be so many things at the same thime but its hard to do that when you try to carry all the burden yourself. aisshhh, sad eppie in all. but i love the joon soo scenes. silly but sooo sweet.
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12 Marzy
July 1, 2007 at 9:28 PM
it bugs we though, why they had to make this a terminal thing. why couldnt they just say they had to remove the tumor meaning she'd have to give up the baby? i dont like it when they resort to these things when i thought BC was different and gave all new ideas. im sure they were in enough problems as it was.
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13 lili
July 1, 2007 at 10:38 PM
Actually, depending on the type of uterine cancer Dang Ja has, the 50% survival isn't too far off the mark. Localized uterine cancer has a great cure rate (greater than 90%) but if its an aggressive or metastatic type of uterine cancer than 5 year survival rate is less than 20%, so if you average the two that's about 50%. Or maybe the drama writers just came up with 50/50 to keep the fans in suspense?
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14 blueseeker
July 2, 2007 at 2:20 AM
NNNNNOOOOO! i refuse to believe that her pregnancy will end like that. WHY?! Is just no fair, why could they not just give those cheaters some sort of dicease, why must she be like this now when she cannot try to get pregnant by him again........Ok so am done with my dramatic sobbing, i really think this was a great episode because it showed us another look into the different couples. Thank you for giving us this glimpse.
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15
July 2, 2007 at 2:54 AM
oh no!!!!!!!! this epi is so sad....i hope no one dies in the end.....
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16 Jenny
July 2, 2007 at 3:17 AM
No, what a sad episode.
i'm crying just reading the summary.
I've only seen to episode 3 but I love this series, after QSS I needed to find a new drama to fuss over ^^
But what a shocking episode, it's just heartbreaking >
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17 julier
July 2, 2007 at 5:42 AM
Ah man...the big C in this show too?! Nooooo! I'm so bummed...really bummed! Ok, Jessica, I liked your comments about it being early enough in the series for things to turn around. But, gosh, so harsh losing the baby and her fertility, not to mention her life is in danger. Bamidele, I agree the family/career things is about balance (tho even in real life it can be tough!). I had to laugh at her character thinking marriage is too much but a baby ok? LOL But I think they *really* made her choice to stay with Gi Chan a difficult one because of his family issues. Oh man I'm so bummed that my fun show has cancer. But, I'll be watching. Thanks everyone for all the comments.
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18 ai*
July 2, 2007 at 6:33 AM
gosh! u made me cry and i haven't even watched this episode yet....
what a whammy for Dang Ja, isn't it? she's lost her only one true love then her long anticipated baby is at risk and now she's fighting for her life! how can anyone take that? but i believe there's light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train! hope keeps me hanging on for the next episode.....
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19 Dais
July 2, 2007 at 7:49 AM
This is sooo sad....Bamidele: I agree with you. But like Simple said there would be no drama if everything is done like it should have been done in real life. I think what they're showing is the wrong kind of thinking process that we (probably) won't dare to act in real life. But here, in the dramaworld, we can just enjoy the consequences of the action without anybody getting hurt in the process. I'm relishing it immensely, kekeke.... Sarahbeans, thank you kindly as always. XO.
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20 Bamidele
July 2, 2007 at 10:17 AM
Simple, I get what your saying, I mean it wouldn't be a "drama" if I didn't get frustrated with it...
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21
July 2, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Hm. I can sympathize with DJ on her decisions of breaking up, her past, and her reluctant wills. I mean, the shock and struggle that happened in her childhood have a great effect in her life as well as anyone. Despite the grief our beloved couple is going through, at least, Young's story lighten things up a bit. :"] JS is really hot.
Thank you so much for review! It often saves me from going crazy wondering what is happening in new epi. 8D
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22 Anonymous
July 2, 2007 at 11:36 PM
hello~ thank you for the detailed summary of episode 9. I only got to watch it to episode 6 and waiting for episode 7 subtitles to come out. Of course I already know what's going to happen, but it's better to watch it then read it. ^^
Anyway, as I watch the drama I often hear this upbeat song that's playing in the drama. Do you happen to know of it? It's a women's singing and I really want it really bad~ It would be great if you happen to know the name of the song and I can find the song. Thanks in advanced!
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23 Auntiemame
July 3, 2007 at 7:34 PM
To JavaBean: Someone, once said, "If you've never eaten while crying, you don't know what life taste like". Perhaps, this quote applies to DJ. Boy, did I cry for her. This drama is one of the best. Thank you so much for the summaries. After I read your summary of the episode, I can focus more on the acting than on the subtitles, which really enhances the viewing experience. A million thanks for all your hard work and generosity in sharing with us.
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24
July 11, 2007 at 1:18 PM
BC is fast going up the ranks in my fave kdrama list!
thanks for the summaries, Sarah!
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25 SarangCandee
July 16, 2007 at 11:17 PM
what a touching episode..i'm tearing ...
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26 Aida
July 25, 2007 at 9:30 PM
bloody hell! pregnant women should NOT undergo CT scan!!! the radiation will affect the foetus, what more the foetus is of 5 months old. aye, directors overlooked that part!
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27 Lisa
March 23, 2009 at 4:08 PM
aida -- remember this is an exigent circumstances, Mom's life is in danger and a proper analysis of the severity of the tumors is necessary. Its a risk that has to be taken in order to try and save one or both lives.
Javabeans -- your recaps are like icing on for each episode. I don't feel like I have fully finished an episode until I read your recaps.
Thanks as always.
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