This Week, My Wife Will Have an Affair: Episode 6

185 November 16, 2016November 15, 2016

by chocolatte

The consequences of an affair are far-reaching, especially if the offenders are married and have families of their own. Our protagonists are still in the process of wading through their new reality, but a path forward isn’t as clear when none of the questions they face are easy to answer. When does it make sense to fight for your marriage? When do you move on? And how do you make these decisions when it’s not just you involved?

EPISODE 6 RECAP

Soo-yeon packs her things, determined to move out of their apartment. Hyun-woo asks if she’s really going to go through with this, but before the conversation can continue, they hear the front door open — it’s Hyun-woo’s mom and Joon-soo.

Hyun-woo’s mom knows that Soo-yeon wants a separation. Determined not to let that happen, Hyun-woo’s mom is clear with the couple: They can fight if they want to, but they should do it while living together.

Soo-yeon starts to speak up, but Hyun-woo stops her. He tells his mom that he and Soo-yeon will fix their problems on their own and tries to usher his mother out. Mom agrees to leave, but not before reminding the couple that marriage isn’t easy to undo. She says it’s easy to talk about separation, but hard to reverse once it actually happens.

Those words don’t change Soo-yeon’s mind though, and she continues to pack. Hyun-woo bitterly asks if she’s giving up on her role as a mom now that she’s given up being a wife. Looking wounded by his words, Soo-yeon tells Hyun-woo that she’ll take Joon-soo with her.

Hyun-woo can’t accept that, so he stops her and tells her he’ll leave instead. He makes it clear that he’s not doing this for her — he just doesn’t want Joon-soo to suffer.

It’s dinner time at Ara and Yoon-ki’s, and Yoon-ki is busy stuffing his face. Ara gently suggests that he take his jacket off, but when he does, a single flower petal drifts from his jacket onto the table — a remnant from Yoon-ki’s dalliance with the flower arrangement instructor. Ara’s eagle eye spots a few more petals, but as soon as she gets up from the table, a panicked Yoon-ki ends up eating the petals, effectively destroying the evidence.

Hyun-woo heads to the office to spend the night. He’s written another post online to announce the separation, where he notes that his wife seemed more concerned about Sun-woo’s wife finding out about the affair than she was about her own husband.

He settles onto the couch only to be interrupted by a tapping on the shoulder: it’s Bo-young, there to reclaim her space. She sets Hyun-woo up in the conference room for the night, but unable to fall asleep, Hyun-woo checks the responses to his post. None of his commenters are particularly supportive of his decision to leave home.

The next morning, Bo-young continues to help Hyun-woo get adjusted to his new environment, providing tips on how to freshen up using wet wipes and blotting powder. Haha, she’s so awesome.

When Joon-young arrives at work, he and Hyun-woo discuss the separation. Hyun-woo says he plans to spend his nights at the office or wherever else he can find, and Joon-young starts to invite Hyun-woo over to his place only to stop himself, looking guilty. Hyun-woo tells him not to worry — he’d feel too sorry towards Joon-young’s wife if he imposed.

Ara shows Yoon-ki a photo of a good-looking man and asks him what he thinks — she wants to set him up with the flower arrangement teacher. Ara looks straight into Yoon-ki’s eyes and says, “I hear she’s the type that men like.” Yoon-ki stares back at Ara, then loudly disagrees with her assessment.

Of course, back at the office, Yoon-ki exchanges kissy faces and sexy texts with said teacher. He jumps when his secretary enters with a message from Ara, but after she leaves the room, he says to himself with glee that it’s so much more thrilling now that he has a mole in the office.

While Hyun-woo catches up on responses to his post, we check in with TOYCRANE fans Ajumma and Grandma. They make themselves at home in the post office with face masks and food as they get ready to check out the latest posts. But they get kicked out just as fast, and they fret about how they’ll be able to read the next installment of Hyun-woo’s story.

Hyun-woo’s team makes last minute edits to their show before airing. Afterward, Hyun-woo, Bo-young, and Joon-young meet with the CEO, who praises their work on the pilot. While Bo-young and Joon-young involve the CEO in their usual bickering, Hyun-woo answers a call from Sun-woo’s wife.

Yoon-ki’s on the phone too, making lunch plans with his saleswoman girlfriend. But first things first: He meets with an attractive new client who thinks her husband’s cheating on her. Yoon-ki instantly turns on the charm, sidling up next to the woman and adding her as a friend on Facebook.

Walking out after coffee, Bo-young asks Joon-young if Hyun-woo’s situation has changed recently. Joon-young tells her that Hyun-woo left home, having separated from his wife. Bo-young says that if Joon-young was in Hyun-woo’s situation, he would have kicked his wife out and made a scene. Joon-young thinks that’s unfair and brings up the dinner they had together a while back, saying he joined her because he felt bad for her. Bo-young just retorts that he should feel worse for his wife.

Oh, speak of the devil — Bo-young notices Joon-young’s wife walking by and points her out. Joon-young doesn’t even seem to recognize her at first, then comments that his wife’s grown her hair out, sparking an odd look from Bo-young.

Hyun-woo sits down with Sun-woo’s wife, who’s eerily calm as she thanks him for telling her about the affair. She says that the affair turned out to be an opportunity to examine her relationship with Sun-woo, and for her to ask herself why he cheated. Hyun-woo’s incredulous that she’s not angry, telling her, “It’s not important why he cheated. What’s important is that he did cheat.”

She says she was angry, even after Sun-woo sincerely apologized to her. But her anger helped her realize that she didn’t really want a divorce. She says she’s trying to muster up the courage to forgive and understand him instead of the courage to divorce him.

Hyun-woo stammers that he and Soo-yeon aren’t thinking about divorce so quickly either. But after Sun-woo’s wife leaves, he takes his wedding ring off and slams it onto the table before shoving it back into his pocket.

Soo-yeon treats some fellow moms to a fancy lunch. Anxious for the other moms’ approval, she ends up agreeing to ask Hyun-woo about securing a videographer for an upcoming school event, even though she looks uncomfortable about it. Her troubles seem to be extending to work too, with no relief in sight.

Back at his office, Hyun-woo mulls over his conversation with Sun-woo’s wife and chucks his pen across the room in frustration, almost hitting an unexpected visitor: Ara. She’s stopped by to drop off lunch for the crew; she says she brought lunch for Yoon-ki too, but he isn’t in his office.

That’s because Yoon-ki’s at a hotel with his saleswoman girlfriend. As she chatters on about her day, Yoon-ki focuses on hitting up his newest target — the jilted wife who visited his office earlier — on his phone.

Joon-young, Bo-young, and Hyun-woo are out drinking when Bo-young gets a call from one of the husbands from their show, who keeps calling her to complain about his wife’s affair. Joon-young sympathizes with the husband (because men have an instinct to breed, he explains), but Bo-young rolls her eyes and asks what’s wrong with men.

When Joon-young asks Bo-young why she got married, she answers, “Because I was bad at math.” She says she wasn’t able to calculate whether or not she’d live well with her ex; she was bad at foreign languages too, since she couldn’t understand a word her ex said to her. Hyun-woo tells her that not all marriages are like that, but Bo-young doesn’t have any plans to get married again.

Though Bo-young’s drunk by the end of the night, she refuses a ride home from Joon-young. Instead, she stumbles over to a patch of grass and lies down. When the two men try to get her up, she rolls over and flashes her ring finger at Hyun-woo, asking him why he took off his wedding ring.

She asks Hyun-woo if he knows why the wedding ring is worn on the ring finger, but instead of answering, she collapses in a fit of giggles before passing out. Joon-young screams at her to get up, and after a moment, she does. Calling herself crazy, she takes off her socks and chucks them towards Joon-young before lying back down. Hahaha.

Hyun-woo, meanwhile, runs his fingers across the empty spot where his wedding ring used to be.

Joon-young carries Bo-young home and struggles to put her down on her bed, eventually collapsing into bed with her. He comes face to face with Bo-young’s sleeping face and freezes — his heart starts pounding, and you can practically see the hearts shooting out of his eyes. He gets himself together, but before he leaves, he takes off her shoes and covers her with a blanket.

Hyun-woo is about to check into a motel when Soo-yeon calls. Sadly, the first thing Soo-yeon asks about is the videographer for Joon-soo’s school event. Disappointed that she didn’t ask after him, Hyun-woo cuts the conversation short.

For some reason, the motel clerk is reluctant to give a room to a solo Hyun-woo, and even checks up on him multiple times. It turns out someone had committed suicide in the room not too long ago, and much to Hyun-woo’s horror, the clerk is worried about Hyun-woo’s state. That creeps Hyun-woo out, and in the end, he grabs his stuff and leaves.

Soo-yeon returns home and finds her mother-in-law in the kitchen and Joon-soo already asleep. When her mother-in-law asks after Hyun-woo, Soo-yeon honestly answers that Hyun-woo left the house. Mom isn’t pleased with this and starts to criticize Hyun-woo. Soo-yeon then decides to admit the truth: “It’s not him,” she says. “It’s me. I cheated. I’m sorry.”

Joon-young meets Hyun-woo at the playground where Hyun-woo plans to spend the night. This pricks at Joon-young’s conscience, so he finally invites Hyun-woo spend the night at his place, saying that his wife isn’t home.

Hyun-woo gushes at how nice Joon-young’s house is, oblivious to the dark expression on Joon-young’s face. It’s only after Joon-young leaves to get beer that Hyun-woo starts to notice things about the apartment — the lone toothbrush in the bathroom, the empty refrigerator, the general absence of a female presence in the house.

Hyun-woo’s looking into Joon-young’s bedroom when Joon-young creeps up behind him, looking like some kind of a serial killer. (A Signal reference, maybe?) Before Hyun-woo follows Joon-young out, he makes note of a suitcase tucked away in the corner.

Now Hyun-woo’s fully suspicious of Joon-young, and we get some scary background music to match Hyun-woo’s mood. He returns to Joon-young’s room to try to open the suitcase, but before he gets too far, Joon-young grabs his shoulder. Hyun-woo yelps when he sees a small knife in Joon-young’s hand and recoils in fear.

Hyun-woo’s overactive imagination is put to rest as he gets the real story from Joon-young (who’s using the knife to cut apples). It turns out that Joon-young’s wife really did leave three days after their honeymoon, and he’s lived in this apartment alone for the last three years pretending to be married.

Joon-young says he was too embarrassed to tell the truth, and then he missed his chance to come clean. He also says that he hasn’t been able to date other women because he’s scared of something embarrassing happening again.

Meanwhile, Hyun-woo’s mom and Soo-yeon are having a similar heart-to-heart conversation. Hyun-woo’s mom asks Soo-yeon about the possibility of divorce, but Soo-yeon responds that she and Hyun-woo haven’t really had a proper conversation yet.

Hyun-woo’s mom says that wives can have affairs too — after all, they’re human — but she says that mothers don’t have that same luxury. Soo-yeon quietly tells her mother-in-law that even if she gets divorced, she’ll make the best decision for Joon-soo.

Her mother-in-law assures her that she knows what a good mother Soo-yeon is. She recalls how Soo-yeon used to rush home from work when Joon-soo was breastfeeding, sweaty and with bruised toes. “If your mother had seen that, she would have cried,” she says. At this, Soo-yeon breaks down in tears.

When Joon-soo stumbles into the kitchen asking for his dad, it’s Grandma who comforts him by giving him a big hug and telling him that his dad will be home soon.

Many cans of beer later, Hyun-woo and Joon-young argue about who’s got it worse between the two of them. Hyun-woo was stabbed in the back and made a fool of himself online and Joon-young’s gone through some ridiculous lengths pretending to be married, including buying himself an anniversary cake and present every year. Joon-young wails that he’s afraid to date again and both he and Hyun-woo dissolve into tears, throwing their arms around each other in solidarity.

The next day, Bo-young grabs Joon-young as soon as she gets into work and drags him to the conference room. She shoves a plastic bag holding his socks in his face, asking him why he’d take his socks off at her house and leave them there.

Joon-young explains that he brought a drunk Bo-young home safely, then got his socks dirty while taking out her trash. Bo-young’s annoyed that he’d do such a thing in the first place, so Joon-young angrily tells her that he’ll stop caring about her.

Hyun-woo returns a call from Soo-yeon and is surprised to hear his son on the other end, asking him when he’s coming home. Joon-soo passes the phone over to Soo-yeon, who asks Hyun-woo about the videographer again. But then she asks him to come home, admitting that she was hasty in asking for a separation. True to form, Hyun-woo gets huffy and tells her that he’ll come home when he’s ready to come home.

He returns to his desk where he comes across his wedding ring, tucked away in his desk drawer. He slams the drawer shut in anger.

Yoon-ki waits around for his latest client (and potential mistress) to show up for another appointment. He turns down an invitation from the young PD, LEE JI-HOON, to join their team for a premiere watch party; he also takes note of his secretary swooning over the handsome PD.

When his client ends up pushing their meeting to the evening, Yoon-ki asks his secretary to go watch the premiere of the show with the team in his stead, strategically mentioning Lee PD’s name. She needs no further convincing and bolt, freeing up Yoon-ki to visit his flower teacher for a quick rendezvous.

Yoon-ki exchanges texts with Ara while he’s with the teacher, telling her he’s busy with work. But Ara’s actually in his office, and she visibly deflates when she reads his text.

Our Ajumma fan reads the latest TOYCRANE post on a tiny screen — it looks like she got herself a cell phone. Grandma wonders where she got the money and subsequently freaks out when she looks in the mirror and realizes that her gold tooth is gone. Ha.

At work, Soo-yeon finds herself in a text chain with other moms who are planning an outing after school. She gets guilt-tripped into promising them the videographer in exchange for the moms taking Joon-soo with them, and sighs with frustration.

Soo-yeon then picks up a call from an unknown number. Her eyes widen when the woman on the line introduces herself as Sun-woo’s wife.

Hyun-woo’s team (plus Yoon-ki’s secretary) gather in the conference room to watch the premiere of their show. Hyun-woo distractedly rubs his ring finger, which is still sans his wedding ring.

Sun-woo’s wife wears a defiant look in her eyes when she meets Soo-yeon, completely different than her demeanor with Hyun-woo. She tells Soo-yeon that she was curious to see what kind of woman she was, and asks if Soo-yeon expected Sun-woo to throw away his family for her.

Soo-yeon can’t say much as Sun-woo’s wife tears into her, calling her a cliché. She tells Soo-yeon her affair could never turn into romance, since she’s hurt their entire family. “I hope you always remember the wrong you did,” she says. “I hope you remember us for the rest of your life, and that you’re pained by it.”

Before she leaves, she says her husband was right: “You weren’t worth meeting. You’re a nobody.” Damn.

Back at Hyun-woo’s office, the team’s happy about the initial positive feedback to their pilot. Hyun-woo’s still distracted, and asks Lee PD about a videographer’s availability.

Soo-yeon’s lost in thought at work when she’s interrupted by a colleague asking about a project due that day. Soo-yeon seems to have completely missed the change to the deadline; she apologizes and promises to get the job done.

As she’s working, Soo-yeon receives a text reminding her to pick up Joon-soo by 6:00 p.m. Faced with no other option, Soo-yeon calls Hyun-woo for help. He’s unsympathetic to her plight, telling her that he’ll be busy taking his team out to dinner in celebration of their premiere. They hang up, but Hyun-woo looks conflicted.

Ara scrolls through the flower teacher’s social media feed and pauses at an update that she finds suspicious. She texts Yoon-ki to ask about his dinner plans, and he writes back that he’s still working but will be home for dinner.

Yoon-ki technically is still in the office, as he’s meeting with the client whose husband is cheating on her. But work’s not really what’s on his mind, and he makes his move on the woman. Surprisingly, she’s down for it — why shouldn’t she be, she asks, when her husband is seeing someone else?

Hyun-woo does end up going to get Joon-soo after all, but he’s unhappy to find Joon-soo sitting by himself. After a few minutes, Soo-yeon rushes in, then immediately starts sucking up to the other moms, which Hyun-woo notes with disapproval. One of the moms brings up the videographer again, and surprisingly, Hyun-woo speaks up to say he’s put in a request.

Outside, Hyun-woo berates Soo-yeon for agreeing to the videographer request and for pandering to the moms. He says she needs to pay more attention to Joon-soo — Hyun-woo says he’s being excluded by other kids, and blames Soo-yeon for not being a better mom.

He tells her that she uses Joon-soo as an excuse, when all she wants to do is show off to the world that she’s a super mom that’s better than the stay-at-home moms. Soo-yeon looks shell-shocked at Hyun-woo’s words, but she quietly tells him to think what he wants. In response, he tells Soo-yeon to act boldly around those other moms instead of acting like their maid.

At a noraebang with the rest of their team, Joon-young warns Bo-young not to drink too much, because he’s not carrying her home again. Bo-young says his wife would be upset to know that he carried her home in the first place, and Joon-young retorts that it won’t happen again.

By the time Hyun-woo arrives, everyone’s gone except for Bo-young (and Joon-young, who’s throwing up in the bathroom). Bo-young mentions Hyun-woo’s missing wedding ring, then surprises him by asking if his wife is having an affair. She then asks Hyun-woo if there was any meaning in taking off his ring.

Hyun-woo thinks back to earlier that night when he dropped Soo-yeon and Joon-soo off at home. As he watched Soo-yeon struggling to carry Joon-soo in on her back, he’d received a comment from TUNAMAYO asking if he still hasn’t had a proper conversation with his wife. TUNAMAYO encourages him to remember the vows he took when he slipped the wedding ring on Soo-yeon’s finger. Noting that the ring is worn on the weakest finger, she wrote, “Maybe it means we should live supporting each other’s weaknesses.”

Back in the present, Hyun-woo leaves Bo-young with a credit card and heads back into the office. He opens his desk drawer and looks at his ring.

Hyun-woo tells the world via another online post that tonight, he’s going to try again to talk to his wife and ask her why she did what she did. As Hyun-woo hails a taxi to head home, we see that he’s put his ring back on. But at home, Soo-yeon sits alone in the living room and takes her ring off, setting it atop divorce papers.

“This week,” Hyun-woo says in voiceover, “my wife is divorcing me.”

COMMENTS

I know it’s a symptom of their troubled relationship, but man, Hyun-woo and Soo-yeon are SO out of sync with one another. While Hyun-woo’s too angry to be able to sit down with Soo-yeon for a levelheaded conversation, Soo-yeon’s overwhelmed and chooses to retreat and run away rather than spend time dealing with her marriage (or what’s left of it). When Soo-yeon wants to talk, Hyun-woo blows her off. And when Hyun-woo decides he’s ready for another conversation, Soo-yeon’s ready to throw in the towel. As painful as it is to watch, you can’t deny that it’s realistic, and I have to applaud the show for depicting the slow downward spiral of a marriage in such a compelling and heartbreaking way.

I have to admit I felt sorry for Soo-yeon as she went through what was probably one of the worst days of her life. It’s true that Soo-yeon doesn’t really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the fallout after her affair — Hyun-woo has a right to be as angry as he is, as does Sun-woo’s wife. But as a working mom myself, I truly felt for Soo-yeon in those scenes where she’s scrambling to make sure Joon-soo’s taken care of while falling down on her responsibilities at work.

It’s just really sad to see how alone she is, and how much lonelier she’ll be if she decides to go through with this divorce. I don’t see any of her issues improving once she really separates from Hyun-woo; if anything, I see it getting worse. So from that perspective, I’d probably be an advocate for her to at least try saving her marriage with Hyun-woo, but only if she has any feelings left for him. I’m not in agreement with Hyun-woo’s mother that a mother has to be bound to a loveless marriage just for the sake of her children, because sometimes, it’s better to get divorced rather than force one’s children to live in a toxic household. The question for Soo-yeon now becomes whether or not her relationship is worth fighting for, and I hope that as the show continues, we keep learning more about Soo-yeon’s motivations and what their marriage really looked like before her affair began.

Bo-young’s character is quickly turning out to be one of my favorites — I just love her no-nonsense attitude towards her work and her relationships, and the fact that she could really care less about what others think of her or her lifestyle. She’s shown us from day one that she’s thoughtful and introspective when it comes to the topic of marriage, and she’s probably done more to help Hyun-woo get through his issues than anyone else in his circle of supporters (maybe with the exception of TUNAMAYO). Also, she makes a hilarious drunk.

That being said, I’m looking forward to the inevitable romance between her and Joon-young, now that we’ve confirmed that he’s not another sketchy married man. Our king of overreactions was so subdued when he told Hyun-woo the truth about his faux marriage — it’s as if he’s bottled up all of his emotions regarding his life and only lets them out when it comes to other people’s problems. While I found it ridiculous (and not believable, frankly) that he pulled off the charade of being a married man for three whole years, I totally buy that he’s been unable to date because he’s so paralyzed by the fear of something similar happening to him again.

Despite all his talk about male “instincts,” Joon-young seems like the kind of guy who can nurse a crush for years on end, and judging by the way he looked at Bo-young when he took her home, he’s probably already there with her. Now, we’ll wait for Bo-young to realize that her unending annoyance with Joon-young is actually a deep-seated attraction to him. I’m all for including an adultery-free love story in this stormy tale of affairs and marriages on the rocks, so bring it on!

185

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1 karin

November 16, 2016 at 3:41 AM

Thanks for the recap!

I think Bo-Young annoyance to Joon Young is not because she doesnt realize that she is attracted to Joon Young more like it is her wall of defence, because she thought that Joon Young is still with his wife and in a marriage, thus she doesnt want him or herself to have any romantic feelings towards each other, making her the third person in Joon Young marriage. Especially when she already experienced how hard it is to be cheated by your partner.

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Nina Chikovani

November 16, 2016 at 4:09 AM

Yap, I totally agree, she is always the first one to remind Joon Young that he has a wife

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Chandler

November 16, 2016 at 4:43 PM

Yeah, ever since I first noticed her reminding him of his wife, I suspected that she was probably pretty aware of the mutual attraction between them (I'd say more than him, tbh). The fact that she had such a hard time accepting his friend request is already indication enough of her awareness actually. She's been trying to set boundaries for a while now and I'm definitely curious to see how the news about his wife is gonna affect her.

I kinda want a flashback to that cherry blossom scene they keep referring to! Haha, I adore this couple. I've said it before, but I could watch a whole drama with them as the leads. We only have 6 more episodes so hopefully we'll get some developments soon.

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mary

November 16, 2016 at 12:58 PM

That's what I think too! :)

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a

November 16, 2016 at 2:29 PM

One sec, so this guy stays married even after the post honey moon fiasco? He's not got a divorce? And she walked off out of his life without even sending or initiating a divorce. Totally weird. And unreal.

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mary

November 16, 2016 at 2:40 PM

We don't know that yet.

But we're just guessing that from Bo-young's point of view, Joon-young is married, albeit aloof from his wife. She keeps driving him away because she gets weird vibes from him and she doesn't want to be the third party.

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a

November 16, 2016 at 3:09 PM

Oops. I meant from Hung woo n Jung woong's table at his place when he confessed his wife had indeed left him n he still is married. Ok, even if he is too 'embarassed' meeting confronting her, she , what is she doing, nothing is told. Exactly that the status is still married. I found this very strange n whether really this is plausible.

Dramaqueen

November 16, 2016 at 3:16 PM

It looks confusing but the simple answer is probably that they hadn't formally registered their marriage. I have watched other dramas where the couple live as man and wife but not send in their registration papers.

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a

November 16, 2016 at 3:32 PM

So that means technically they are not married? So what's with his drama then if he is legally still single. Is that he's still embarrassed about his exp n thus maintains a married status?. For three years?? He definitely needs help!!

2 Kath

November 16, 2016 at 4:08 AM

I hadn't realized how isolated Sooyeon was until this episode, she doesn't seem to have any friends (no clue about her father but I assume her mother has passed on) and compared to Hyunwoo's working environment, hers is more stringent due to it being the corporate world. Having a career and juggling being a mother/wife at the same time ain't easy and it's clear as day she's worn out now.

Hyunwoo and Sooyeon are both so frustrating to watch, like you said chocolatte they're both so out of sync and it's hard seeing a relationship fall apart (props to this show, they ain't shying away from it at all). We still haven't gotten enough of Sooyeon's side of the story, she really does hold the keys to the bigger picture. Every time they do talk it's depressing, the last conversation they had was P A I N F U L ! Hyunwoo questioning Sooyeon's motives as a mother and asking what has she done for Joon-soo, like seriously ?.

Two plot twists of the show so far : Joonyoung technically DOES have a wife lol & the other being the understanding Mother-in-Law, when it started out I was side-eying her but she came through in this episode and it warmed my heart seeing her reassure Sooyeon that she is a good mother despite everything she knows how much she cares and loves Joon-soo.

[SPOILERS FROM PREVIEW]

Less Yoonki please, unless Ah Ra is finally dumping his ass if not then enough already.

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Akash

November 16, 2016 at 5:38 AM

Hyunwoo's reaction shows why Sooyeon had an affair, he doesn't seem to care what she does in the background for the family. If he keeps being condescending to her it will look like they won't have any future together. Also, I hated that wife's reaction to her, she acted like a Mother Teresa to Hyunwoo and here she was totally opposite.

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Elle

November 16, 2016 at 6:56 AM

How should the wife have reacted to Soo-yeon, though? The wife probably saw Hyun-woo as a fellow betrayed soul and felt they were on the same boat. I don't see why she should act the same for her husband's mistress.

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Islander north

November 16, 2016 at 10:05 AM

Soo-yeon seems rather passive-aggressive; she tries to be super woman but of course fails. She doesn't turn to her husband, but to another man. So what if her husband is rather untuned to their relationship; how is he to know if she is so martyr like? What did she expect to happen from the affair? She seems like a self-sacrificing coward.

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gem28

November 16, 2016 at 7:29 AM

She could dump his ass and begin fresh, I don't see why she had to have a 6 month long affair with a married man when she has basically given up on her marriage. She doesn't want to fight to save her marriage, she had one foot out the door in their confrontation, so why make this mess to begin with?? Hyunwoo may not be perfect but Soo Yeon is sort of overly image concerned. I hope they explain this part about her.

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BC

November 16, 2016 at 12:25 PM

She didn't give up in the beginning - her words like " I didn't want this to turn up this way " - said everything, but the reaction of HW and all the blaming is pushing her towards the final end of their relationship. As for divorce there are always both of them to blame. HW didn't look back at himself why she was looking for comfort in another man's arms.

I'm so similar to SY - like a bomb ready to explode, but before I was even worse = never complained, all the time easygoing, just when I got angry, I didn't talk for two days. Until I got really sick and the doctors couldn't find out why I had high fever and an awful chest pain. My sisters friend is a shaman (I know it might sound ridiculouse especially with the drama Lucky Romance, but she can see everything about you) and she told me that until I won't talk when I disagree I'll keep the pain. From that time I try to be franc and talk, sometimes it's impossible because the other side doesn't listen to my arguments. People still think I don't stress, but I do, I get so itchy. And sometimes I find myself looking at my life partner when he is lecturing me and berating me, like HW did in this episode to SY, questioning myself why I'm living with this guy, he's not the man I fell in love with.

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matrice

October 17, 2018 at 5:27 PM

I don't think this is reasonable. They had issues. He was inattentive. They didn't communicate properly. That's only relevant if her betraying his trust and lying to his face for six months is an appropriate response. Does he deserve that? Is that an appropriate response? No it isn't. If I am rude to you without meaning to, and you punch me in the face, then you are at fault. We are not both at fault, you are at fault. You have escalated the situation past a normal, solvable situation, in a that is not proportionate, morally and in terms of severity.

The relatioship was not black and white. They had a lack of communication, he took her for granted... on the other hand, he was no mind reader. And she can't very well complain he didn't listen if she didn't even try. In any case, even if she though the had done all she could, that still doesn't mean that that's what "caused" her to cheat. Nothing *caused* her to cheat, she *chose* to cheat, she is not a robot, she is a person, with all the moral implications about personal responsibility that come with that. There is nothing is being unable to express your feelings that leads you to the obvious conclusion that you should address the situation by betraying, humiliating and deceiving your partner for more than half a year. The two things are not connected and her actions don't address, let alone solve, the situation. You could say that, if you were not hungry, you wouldn't have beaten up that person to steal his food. You can't claim that "hunger" was the cause of your actions. You also had the option of, I don't know, buying lunch. You are an adult, not a child, there is no "but he started it", you can't avoid being responsible for your actions.

Giving up on the relatioship would have been perfectly okay, moral and respectful. He wasn't entitled to her love. Had she left him because he was inattentive, he would have had only himself to blame, and she would have been in the right. But then she punched him in the face (worse, she lied to his face for half a year, without caring how her actions could potentially affect him or their child, and would have continued to do so had he not caught he red handed). A divorce would have been honest, and she would have shown him a modicum of respect. Trust could have been preserved.

I don't understand the claim that she didn't give up on the relationship. She willingly geopardized it with the affair. She was perfectly okay with deceiving him, of course. Hopefully her reasoning wasn't "even if caught, he will keep me around and act as if nothing happened", that would truly be taking him for granted and showing an uprecedented level of arrogance. She was willing do what she did not caring about the way it could affect her husband and child. If that's not taking your relationship for granted, I don't know what is.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 6:17 PM

"She didn't give up in the beginning - her words like " I didn't want this to turn up this way " - said everything"

Anyone can say anything they want, but actions speak louder than words. A student that failed the exam because he was lazy and never studied could very well say "I didn't want this to turn out this way", but choosing to watch tv instead of studying means he had given up in practice. It's useless to cry crocodile tears after the fact. One's words carry about as much weigt as one's actions, otherwise it's all empty talk. The relationship was flawed because they lacked communication. That's on both of them, and it's a fair statement (of course, to be precise, they are still responsible for the way it ended up). As for the cheating, she is entirely responsible for that.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 6:19 PM

"but the reaction of HW and all the blaming is pushing her towards the final end of their relationship. As for divorce there are always both of them to blame. HW didn't look back at himself why she was looking for comfort in another man's arms."

They had perfectly manageable problems they both contributed to. But she was entirely responsible for escalating that situation past the point of no return, showing herself to be unworthy of his trust, humiliating him and lying to his face for more than half a year. She is an adult. She is a person. She has to take responsability for her actions, nobody "made her do it", she *chose* to do it. She was the one that took a solvable situation and turned it into what it is, and she has only herself to blame. The MC has been deceived for months on end before catching her red handed, he is therefore perfectly justified in putting the blame for that no her. The car was hovering on the edge of the abiss, but it could be requed, she was the one that gave it a push.

On the divorce question, I don't agree that "there are always two to blame" in the general case. That's just stupid, it's easy to think of one-sided cases. If your husband physically abused you, he would be the only person responsible for the divorce, for example -I wouldn't even dare to victim-blame and try to equate victim and perpetrator-. Obviously here we are not talking about physical abuse. But we are talking about betraying someone's trust, humiliating him and deceiving him for half a year, which I do see as on a continuum of unacceptable behavior. This, by the way, is acknowledged in the legal system, such that there is a concept of "fault divorce" while things like cruelty (physical or emotional abuse) or adultery are valid fault causes.

Speaking more generally, had it happened before the betrayal, I think it would have been perfectly ethical. She could have reasonably decided that they had unsolvable issues and he was unappreciative and took her for granted. She would have been on the same, morally. It would be a reasonable response to the lack of communication and other issues. No one is entitled to his partner's love, but they are entitled to be treated with a minimum of respect. It would have been the moral, honest way to address the problem while not breaking each other's trust.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 6:29 PM

As for the last phrase, I have to say that I find it rather irking and revolting to see this kind of euphemistinc language, these weasel words. Reminds me of George Carlin's bit about "polite language". I also on't like the way you tried to put the divorce and the betrayal together. The issue of the betrayal is not of secondary importance. It's really not just another way to break up. One could break up with honesty, mutual respect and mutual trust. She went behind his back, humitialed him in the worst way she could, lied to his face for half a year, and would still be deceiving him, had he not caught her red handed.

I also don't agree with the implication that he in some way is responsible for her actions and "made her do it". He is responsible for no treating her as well as he could, and for the reasons they were on shaky ground. Half of the lack of communication is his fault. But not the betrayal. That's her choice. First of all, he is not her father, and she is not a kid. She is also not a robot he is programming. She is a person, and people are entirely responsible for their actions. Not partially. Entirely. You are the person that, ultimately, decides how to act in the world, barring physical coercion.

If you are hungry and beat up someone to steal his lunch, you can't claim that *hunger* made you do it. You chose to deal with the circumstance of hunger in that way as opposed to, say, going to a restaurant. I think that most people in her situation would have reacted differently (in fact, I think anyone should expect that out of their partner as a minimum standard), so it was not a choice: it was a set of circumstances, in the face of which people could make various choices. Which means that the choice was decided by the person itself, not *caused* by the circumstances.

"And sometimes I find myself looking at my life partner when he is lecturing me and berating me, like HW did in this episode to SY, questioning myself why I'm living with this guy, he's not the man I fell in love with."

That's a perfectly fine admission on your part, and you could deal with it in several ways. Telling him he is an asshole, or even breaking up with him, would all be up for grabs. Breaking his trust and lying to him for whole months until found out is not among the given options. That's something that both of you should feel confident to consider a non-option, a bare minimum standard that the other person should be able to meet. *Not* doing that is the low bar. That would not be a proportional response. It wouldn't be fair, honest, you would't be showing him the slightest respect. And you wouldn't have the right to claim that he made you do it, and place even a part of your...

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 6:30 PM

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 7:13 PM

Talking about unfair, to put things into perspective, there is also the fact that we should not forget that the guy has just learned that his wife has been betraying his trust, humiliating him and lying to his face for the last half a year, and is understandably pissed off. Add to that the fact that he is, quite reasonably in my opinion, disconcerted and irked at her rather perfunctory apology, certainly underwhelming when compared to the scale of her deception, and she doesn't really seem to understand how she hurt him, or the severity of her not caring about how him or their child would be affected by her selfish behavior. She didn't exactly give an image of "appropriate" contrition, if you will pardon me the term (not that anything she said could undo what she did).

She didn't run after him at the hotel, and seemed to treat this as if basically it was nothing more than her apologizing for forgetting his birthday. I showed more regret when I stole candies in elementary school. Instead, she talks back to him, almost taunts him with her affair when pressed, and is otherwise noncommittal, almost as if his hurt and anger weren't her fault, and he should just move on as if nothing happened. She shows no interest in his point of view, it doesn't really seem to matter to her how he feels, instead it's kind of expected or implied that they should be talking about her circumstances, and she seems to say almost annoyed "just get over it" (at least that's the impression she conveys).

I think that given what he suffered at her hands it would be perfectly understandable for him to be pissed off at her. It would be insane to expect perfect self control and equanimity. His whole worldview had been shattered, and she doesn't seem to particularly care. Getting into verbal sparring with her can't satisfy him, there is nothing he could to do her that could come close to "evening the score" and hurting her as much as she did him. So he is unfair to her. Given what he just discovered, he has a right to be, in my opinion, feeling angry and wanting to lash out after what he went through would be as normal as feeling sad and grieving after a funeral. She doesn't really have the right to have access to the guy she fell in love with, at the moment.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 7:15 PM

We are not exactly seeing his "normal" self (who in the previous episodes, in any case, took her for granted), but someone who is lashing out in anger, because he is understandably hurting, and his target is not someone that didn't do anything to him, but the person who hurt him. I am confident almost everyone would react like he does in this circumstances. By contrast, I would consider not doing what she did to be a low-bar necessary condition for any romantic partner. I guess that's the way to say that I can empatize with him, but not with her -I simply don't think that her behaviour is acceptable, and I am positive I wouldn't do that if I was in her shoes, and I would consider it a basic requirements for someone I date that he wouldn't either-.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 7:39 PM

All in all, the point is that I think that he has shown himself, from the beginning, to be a flawed character, who appreciated his wife but also took her for granted (forgetting the anniversary until he remembered, thinking she would cook him something with affection, but also with some entitlement). That said, in terms of the way he is handling things with her at the moment, I have to say that his level of anger doesn't seem to be disproportionate to the level of pain he has endured at her hands. I would say he is almost too calm (I didn't particularly like to see him punch the guy, the fact in terms of revenge is that he can't really do anything to him that would top what the guy did to him, barring having a half a year long affair with the guy's wife, but even then, the guy did that to him first. Same with his wife. What could he do, cheat? He would be reactive, he can't really do anything to get back at either of them.

I think that most of the commenters here are monday-morning-quarterbacking, half of them would be screaming and be at their whits end in that situation, I would like to see in what planet they would show perfect equanimity. By contrast, I don't really find her behavior acceptable. There are rare occasions where I could empathise with her. Had she been cheated on, or worse, I could understand it (in the book The Magicians there is a similar scene, and contrary to the MC who was trying to pretend that it wasn't fair because when he cheated was drunk, I was perfectly approving of her giving him his just desert: they have an agreement the assumes trust, if you breach it, all bets are off). In this circumstances, I don't care how bad they communicated, if I put myself in her situation, I continue to see what she did as beyond the pale. I simply can't imagine myself doing the same, thus I can't empatize with her.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 7:44 PM

My impression is that most commenters have a tendency to be overly critical and less understanding of his behavior, which is certainly not perfect, but let's just say that so close to the earth shaking discovery of the betrayal, it's more than expected. I would even go as far as to say that their treatment of him has earned him the right to be unfair, they don't really have the right to look him in the eye and pretend to be treated with equanimity after what they have done to him. By contrast, her actions are downplayed and euphemized, which I find somewhat revolting, and also conflated with things such as their lack of communication, the divorce, his recent behavior (which is altered by his recent experiences, and suredy doesn't match the way he treated her before discovering that he had been deceived for months on end... not saying that he didn't take her for granted, but he would probably be less cold and confrontational, though that doesn't change their lack of communication, to which he contributed to in some measure with his behavior).On that point, I have to reiterate tha leaving somebody is quite different from betraying them and lying to their faces.

Let's be explicit about what we know. They had issues. He was not perfect. He took her for granted. They had trouble communicating. She didn't speak up. He didn't listen. But he was also not a mind reader. Now, after discovering that she had been betraying, humiliating and deceiving him for half a year, he is pissed off and not entirely cold blooded. I simply find he has the right to be that way, up to a point (he didn't hit her, which would put him in the "scum" box and in jail in my eyes... he hit him, which I also didn't like, because I found it stupid and essentially a powerless struggle... the simple fact is that he can do nothing to him that would get them even, that's a simple fact of life). Lastly, we know that she was unhappy, but also that she made the decision to betray her husband's trust, humiliating and deceiving him for months on end, withouth caring about how that could potentially affect him or their child. She was not mentally controlled by her puppet master, her husband. She did that because she chose to, full stop. He had a role in the lack of communication, but the responsibility for her actions has to be personal. The betrayal is all on her.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 7:58 PM

While the relationship wasn't black and white, and he made some mistakes, we should be careful about not conflating that with the betrayal:

1) Let's pay attention to linear time. He is interacting with her after learning that she had been deceiving him for moths. He is understandably cross with her -no one would logically show perfect equanimity in his position-. That's not his normal behavior.
2) That said, he took her for granted and wasn't a good listener. Half the communication problems were his fault. The other half are hers. He is not a mind reader, you can't very well complain abut not being listened to if you don't even try to speak... she is not a child.
3) None of this has to do with the betrayal, which was her sole responsibility. Had he hit her during a fight, we wouldn't be victim blaming her and talk about communication problems, we would recognize it as an escalation that was beyond the point of no return. Betraying someone and lying to his face for half a year are not physical abuse, but are on a continuum of unacceptable behavior that we shouldn't rationalize or excuse (they differ in that I don't view betrayal as always impossible to understand and beyond the pale, for example I would get it in cases where the other party had cheated first, etc., when all bets are off... I wouldn't even be considering a betrayal in that case, since the assumption of mutual trust and respect would have already been violated by the other side: they declared war, she would be responing). See point on cruelty, adultery and fault divorce.
4) He shuold learn how he contributed to crate an atmosphere where he wasn't listening and paying attention to her enough, and they didn't manage to communicate. He should not conflate that as him having had a role in the betrayal, that has been entirely her descision to make one way or the other.
5) Divorce would have been a moral option to consider, and in that case they would have had equal fault. Now they are *not* standing on the same plane morally, with her having escalated the sitution to a point of no return all on her own. The relationship was not black and white, but her specific actions were in no way ni a gray area. They were unacceptable, and entirely her responsibility. He is neither her father nor her puppet master, she is old enough to make her own decisions.

matrice

October 18, 2018 at 9:03 AM

I would also add that I see a rather uncharitable interpretation regarding the lover's wife in the comments that I think it's completely crazy. The truth of the matter is that the MC's wife didn't give a damn about the fact that her lover had a family. She didn't mind hurting her, and so she should not expect her to be friendly -she messed with her first-. The MC's wife was completely in the wrong in her dealings with her lover's wife, she has no right to talk back, it's perfectly obvious that the woman wouldn't like her -she had not cared at all about her her actions would impact her and her children, if you don't show the slightest regard for my wellbeing and screw me over, don't expect me to treat you as a friend-. Some of it could even be wanting to protect her family, but of course the truth is that her attitude towards her husband is idiotic. He claimed to love the MC's wife, now he apparently told his own wife some story, he is totally untrustworthy, she should eject from that situation as soon as she can.

Bob

April 18, 2019 at 10:25 PM

Go back and rewatch the start of episode 1. There is no indication that the husband is ignoring the wife, dismissing her or belittling her. There is no indication that she is trying to tell him something that he is not hearing. There is no indication that their relationship is at all strained or that he is imposing his positions on her. They look like a well functioning team. The fact that there was virtually no foreshadowing before the bombshell was deliberate on the writer's part.

Darlene

November 16, 2016 at 9:23 PM

I agree with you. I'm not excusing Sooyeon's affair but I do see why it started. However, it could have been avoided if she told Hyunwoo about her troubles and worries or even divorced him before finding happiness in herself or another guy. (albeit she still ruined another family)
But as we know, this show does not depict black-and-white relationships. So, she might have been insecure and wary of her husband. As we've seen, Hyunwoo isn't the best when it comes to listening to other people and having an unconditional positive regard. He's quite self indignant and only hears and sees what benefits him. But talking to him before the affair could have salvaged their marriage.

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matrice

October 17, 2018 at 5:30 PM

"I agree with you. I'm not excusing Sooyeon's affair but I do see why it started."

I couldn't think of anything more wrong to say. This should really be the new "I am not racist but". What this phrase does, by minimizing, euphemizing and putting everything on the same level, is exactly excusing her inexcusable behavior. They had issues. He was an inattentive asshole. They didn't communicate well. This is not the *reason* the affair started. It started because she chose to start it. What they were in was a perfectly solvable situation, she escalated with a callous disregard for the trust and love he gave her. There is no proportionality between her actions and his behavior. Was he inattentive? Yes. Did he deserve to be cheated on? No. Let's forget deserve. Was cheating on him a proportionate response? Again, no. If I say something that irks you, it would be reasonable to say something snarky in return. If you punch me in the face, you can't very well claim that me irking you "started" the fight (or the affair, in this case). You would have willingly escalated, and would have to take responsibility for your actions, like she does for hers.

"But as we know, this show does not depict black-and-white relationships. So, she might have been insecure and wary of her husband. As we've seen, Hyunwoo isn't the best when it comes to listening to other people and having an unconditional positive regard."

To go back to the analogy, if you can't think of a retort you can't very well justify physical violence as a response. Their respective culpability is not a gray area. They had isses. They were both at fault, he was inattentive. But as for the cheating specifically, that's unanbigous, she was wrong, she was the one that chose to do so, and so it's entirely her responsability (cue fighting analogy). Him being inattentive and contrbuting to making their marriage unhappy? His fault. Her deliberately humiliating him, betraying his trust and looking him in the eye and lying to his face? That's all on her, I am afraid, and there are no two sides in that story (there are in the broader conversation about the relatioship, and I wouldn't have any complaints had she decided it was time to split up).

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 5:34 PM

To be clear, while I don't agree with the point about the cheating, I could very well see this as a reason for divorce. That would be perfectly ethical. It would be a reasonable response to the lack of communication and other issues. No one is entitled to his partner's love, but they are entitled to be treated with a minimum of respect. It would have been the moral, honest way to address the problem while not breaking each other's trust. The issue of the betrayal is not of secondary importance. It's really not just another way to break up. And most people would have reacted differently, so it was not a choice: it was a set of circumstances, in the face of which people could make various choices. Which means that the choice was decided by the person itself, not *caused* by the circumstances.

matrice

October 17, 2018 at 4:15 PM

It would have been exponentially better to leave him -he isn't entitled to her love, but he does deserve some basic honesty and respect-. It would have been the honest, respectful, morally and ethically superior way to handle the situation.

She was obviously willing to gamble her marriage, with no care about the way her actions could impact her husband or child. Obviously she hoped to not get caught, but that makes her position scarcely better.

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matrice

October 17, 2018 at 4:17 PM

Not sure there is anything to explain, in any case. Not all reasons are good reasons. In a sense, her wanting to leave him woud be preferrable to her simply imagining the he would have to keep her around and act as if nothing happening even if he discovered the truth... now, that would be being insufferably entitled.

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matrice

October 15, 2018 at 5:45 PM

Yes, but that was understandable, since Soo Yeon knew her husband had a wife and kids and didn't give a shit about it. You will find that people tend to treat you the way you treat them, and if you are an asshole... well, they will treat you accordingly.

I also take issue with the causal relationship here. He is an unattentive asshole. That's a 10. He was unintentionally distant. She betrayed, humiliated and deceived him for half a year, and would have continued to do so had he not caught her. That's a 1000000. and Intentional. It's the difference between being inadvertently rude and hurling slurs at someone. Or a cough and a cancer.

Tons of people have a difficult life. You don't get to blame it for something you decide. The cause of her betrayal, somewhat circularly, is that the *chose* to cheat, rather than talk it out or even leave him (he is not entitled, and possibly doesn't deserve, her love, but he *is* entitled to the basic respect that you owe any human being, and that means being honest and telling him "I want to split up", rather than humiliating and betraying him behind his back).

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matrice

October 18, 2018 at 9:05 AM

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3 Amie

November 16, 2016 at 4:14 AM

So I guess the question now is - is the marriage worth saving? Who will stand by you Soo Yeon when the very person you risked evrything for just threw you out? And adding insult to injury you have to face the confrontation with his wife and there's nothing you could do or say to defend your actions. But the guy is back to his life like nothing happened. Tchk.
More than anything... I`m rooting for Joon Young and Bo Young. And this show is seriously grossing me out with chronic cheater Yoon ki, eeewwww. Pretty ahjumma should divorce him asap or have an affair with a younger, handsome guy or somebody with a better specs than her husband. She knows he is cheating but can't seem to catch him. Why not hire a detective? I want him in shreds by the end of this show. She can go Lorena Bobbit on him. I hate him, he is so disgusting! I want to pull all his hair out and shave his eyebrows.

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akash

November 16, 2016 at 5:40 AM

Pretty ahjumma should leave instead of staying and snooping over his activities, she has enough evidence already.

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4 Bluepanda

November 16, 2016 at 4:22 AM

Funny thing about the hotel scene..I was wondering why checking in alone is like a bad thing til it was revealed that somebody commited suicide.

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MapleSilver

November 17, 2016 at 7:46 AM

I just love that six episodes in I am still able to laugh at cleverly inserted funny scenes like the hotel one and various others. I seriously LOL when Joon Yoong confessed about everything to Hyun Woo.

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5 Nina Chikovani

November 16, 2016 at 4:25 AM

To be honest, at first I really felt sorry for Soo Yeon but then I remembered. SHE CHEATED, and it wasn't one time thing, it lasted for six months. No matter how much I think about it I really can't understand or forgive it.
He was a bad husband? Didn't listen to your problems? Oh well, then divorce him if he is that bad and besides it's not like he changed after the wedding.
They have been dating for SIX years, it's more then enough to get to know the person(at least know that he isn't the best listener or hot header sometimes).
She is all sad and acting like a victim but imagine her ditching her family dinner and spending less time with her child to meet someone who ALSO has a spouse.
I don't get it, at the end of the episode I wondered why should I feel for her, she doesn't even TRY to save her marriage. Hyun Woo hasn't been the best husband and is having trouble with dealing with his problems, but really? Can't she give him a little time to process things?

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Owl

November 16, 2016 at 4:46 AM

She probably didn't want to get divorce. Maybe she loved him or didn't want to lose the child (child goes to father in Korea?), so she tired to bear it. But when someone came who loves her or pretend to love her she broke down.

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