This Week, My Wife Will Have an Affair: Episode 9

by CandidClown

This show continues to impress not only with the way it focuses on the characters, but in the way it uses their natural reactions to guide the plot. Not only do we continue to learn more about our main (and minor) cast, but they’re now starting to better understand each other, too. There is merit to the old adage to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes,” and we still have miles to go before we sleep.

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

Hyun-woo wakes bright and early the morning after Joon-soo’s accident to assume the role of both mother and father. Groggily stumbling to his son’s room, he trips over one of the many toys littering the floor. As he looks over the messy house, Hyun-woo thinks, “For the first time, I’m alone with Joon-soo.”

Hyun-woo is soon rushing around the apartment, trying to get his son’s backpack packed while nearly force-feeding Joon-soo his breakfast. The two barely make it to the school bus on time before Hyun-woo has to dash off, already late for work.

At the studio building, Yoon-ki’s secretary wanders down a hallway, tears of mascara running down her face as she stops outside the film team’s office. Enacting her own Shakespearian tragedy, the woman bids farewell to her oblivious crush, PD Ji-hoon, by blowing kisses at him through the window. Her dramatic moment is ruined when one of the female team members (who also has a crush on the PD) pops up on the other side of the window, sticks her tongue out, and lowers the blinds in the secretary’s face. Pfft.

Yoon-ki arrives at the office to find his secretary back at her desk and sniffling piteously. Sliding over her resignation letter, she sobs that Ara has moved her to another company. Yoon-ki feigns sorrow over her departure, but as soon as she leaves, he sends a fervent prayer to God, fanatically apologizing for ever doubting Him.

Hyun-woo’s adultery show is going so well that a studio representative from Japan visits, hoping to pick up the program for their own network. Unfortunately, Hyun-woo spends the entire meeting anxiously looking at his watch, knowing that he’s late to pick up his son.

After work, Hyun-woo sprints to the school… only to find out that one of the other mothers already picked Joon-soo up with the rest of the kids for their art class. Relieved but still panting, Hyun-woo heads home, thinking, “I think this is the first time since I was a rookie in the army that I’ve experienced a day as hectic as this.”

Things don’t get any easier later that night, as Joon-soo’s school has given the parents a homework assignment to create a doll representing a younger sibling for their child. Hair pulled back and muttering furiously, Hyun-woo tries his hand at sewing. Needless to say, it’s not his forte.

Deciding to improvise, Hyun-woo grabs a stapler and starts clamping together the cloth. Regrettably, the result looks more like the younger sibling of Edward Scissorhands, and Joon-soo instructs his father to start over.

Getting desperate, Hyun-woo sneaks a phone call to a local tailor to ask if they make dolls, but Joon-soo overhears and fusses that the teacher said the parents have to make it themselves. As Hyun-woo suffers through the sewing once more, he narrates, “I thought throwing out the trash and taking my child to kindergarten would be enough, but that wasn’t enough.”

The next morning has father and son running late again, but when they arrive at the school, Hyun-woo stares to see that the school is closed for the day. Joon-soo does an adorable happy dance at his unexpected day off, but Hyun-woo doesn’t know what to do, since he’s without a babysitter. Helpfully, Joon-soo pipes up that he can just come to work with his dad.

Next thing we know, Joon-soo is at the office, greeting the team members with a thorough introduction of himself while his dad smiles wryly. Joon-soo beams to see Joon-young arrive, but when he jumps up to greet his father’s friend, Joon-young leaps away from the child. Back pressed to the wall, the man inches around Joon-soo like the boy has leprosy, clearly uncomfortable with children.

With Ara staying with her parents, Yoon-ki dances around the house, affirming that it’s best to be home when the wife is gone. He takes a moment to call his mother-in-law to subtly check when Ara might be coming back. She confirms that Ara was planning to return for her wedding anniversary, and Yoon-ki happily skips off to enjoy his week of freedom, wondering which of his mistresses he should see today. Ugh.

Meanwhile, it looks like the dramatic flair runs strong in her family, as Ara stands on an empty beach, staring out into the ocean while the wind whips around her.

With his son is busy drawing, Hyun-woo sneakily texts one of his team members (who’s sitting at her desk ten feet away) in an attempt to foist the doll-sewing project off on her. Sadly, his cover is blown when the woman fails at subtlety and answers his text out loud, saying that of course she can finish the doll for him. Joon-soo yells at his dad, who in turn glowers at his obtuse subordinate.

Hyun-woo quickly backpedals, promising that he can make the doll – he can make any doll, no problem! Joon-soo brings over the rather complicated drawing he made of his ideal sibling, telling his dad to make something simple like this. Hyun-woo stares at the drawing, “This is simple?”

Hyun-woo is saved when Soo-yeon calls to check in. He answers Soo-yeon’s questions after retreating into the hallway, fibbing about how easy it’s been to take care of Joon-soo, and how he’s never once been late to pick him up or drop him off. Hyun-woo even extols his own amazing sewing abilities.

Hyun-woo asks for the contact number of the other mothers so that he can contact them the next time they pick up Joon-soo, and they both hang up, looking depressed.

Bo-young is coloring with Joon-soo when Joon-young joins them, sitting as far away from Joon-soo as possible and laughing at Bo-young’s lack of artistic talent. Though he shuts up pretty quick when Bo-young shoves the paper at him, daring him to do better. Heh.

Joon-soo asks after his father, and when Bo-young answers that he’s busy, Joon-soo pouts that his dad is always busy. Joon-young gently chastises that Hyun-woo has to work hard so he can afford things like the crayons that Joon-soo’s using right now, but Bo-young argues back that children don’t care about things like that, preferring their parents’ presence over presents.

Soo-yeon faces some trouble at work when her boss tries to pull her off a project. News has traveled through the office grapevine that she’s been living separated from her family. Worried that this could affect the project, he suggests that she let someone else step in, but Soo-yeon interrupts him. Asserting herself, she points out that she has never done anything to damage the company, and will continue to keep her personal life separate. Her boss grudgingly agrees, and Soo-yeon barely maintains her composure as she leaves his office.

Hyun-woo is also having a meeting with his own boss, the two discussing the Japanese studio’s interest in their adultery show. Hyun-woo is distracted when he gets a notification that the mother (whose contact information he requested from Soo-yeon) has added Hyun-woo to the moms’ chatroom. Oh boy.

Hyun-woo tries to pay attention to the meeting as he types out a greeting to the mothers, but he accidentally sends an angry emoticon and he swears out loud at the mistake. His boss assumes that he was swearing at him, and now Hyun-woo is stuck trying to pacify his station chief while typing out a retraction for his emoji. Multi-tasking!

Back at his desk, Hyun-woo reads through the wall of texts. He drafts a number of responses to the thread, spending an inordinate amount of time agonizing over the number of emojis/laughs to use.

Yoon-ki visits his first woman of the day, sitting in on the flower teacher’s lecture and throwing little hearts her way.

As her husband schedules a raunchy date with her flower arranging instructor, Ara descends further into her own mind. Looking like a drowned siren, she leaves her shoes on the sand and walks out into the ocean, eventually submerging herself completely beneath the waves.

The film crew is shooting another interview session for their show, and Hyun-woo directs the segment. Problem is, Hyun-woo is distracted by a string of texts from the moms’ chatroom, all of them eagerly teasing about a sale of eels (eels are supposed to have aphrodisiac properties to give men stamina). As the women gossip about giving the fish to their husbands, Hyun-woo gets confused, and instead of calling for a camera switch, he yells out, “Eels standby.” So much for multi-tasking.

The messages continue throughout the day, and Hyun-woo moans to Bo-young that all of the texts are useless information. The rest of the team weighs in, with one of the women disagreeing, saying the chatrooms are an important form of networking.

Still distracted, Hyun-woo writes a super polite response to mothers, but accidentally sends it to his work chatroom and his entire team reads it. Everyone teases him for his saccharine response, with Joon-young even pointing out that Hyun-woo is starting to sound like Soo-yeon.

All of TOYCRANE’s fans keep checking his post, upset that he hasn’t updated them in a while. We continue to learn a bit more of their stories, from the husband and wife that are facing a divorce of their own, to the man who keeps trying to drown himself in the Han River who can’t seem to tear himself away from his phone long enough to do it.

Hyun-woo is still getting bothered by all the messages. When his team asks why he can’t just leave the chat group, he explains that the moms help take care of Joon-soo. PD Ji-hoon points out that that doesn’t mean he has to act so subservient to these women, and his words remind Hyun-woo of when he’d yelled at Soo-yeon for being so submissive around the other mothers.

Hyun-woo gets a call from one of his old classmates, informing him that their professor passed away. The friend asks Hyun-woo to pass the funeral information on to Soo-yeon, and Hyun-woo agrees to see him there.

Joon-young comes out to check on Hyun-woo, but quickly finds himself drafted into babysitting duty. Judging from his expression, he considers it a fate worse than death.

Fully submerged, Ara floats. Memories of her husband’s many affairs flash through her head, and we learn that she knew about each and every woman. Thrashing through the water, Ara berates herself:

“The reason why I was holding on… yes, because I loved you. Eun Ara loved Choi Yoon-ki, so that’s why she was able to do it. I don’t love you anymore. I’m frustrated and disgusted at myself, who changed for a bastard like you. Don’t expect anything from me from now on! I won’t expect anything from you, trust you, or forgive you! I’ll only take revenge!”

Unable to contain it anymore, Ara screams “DIE!” She releases all her pent-up anger, causing a giant underwater explosion.

Unaware of his wife’s tsunami capabilities, Yoon-ki goes to see his saleswoman girlfriend. He has a moment of panic when he sees his Okinawa mistress at the same store, but he makes use of some convenient boxes and hightails it out of there.

Hyun-woo heads to the funeral without informing Soo-yeon of their professor’s passing. He’s just about to tell his old classmates that his wife couldn’t make it when his she runs up, apologizing for being late. Apparently she learned of the funeral from another friend, and Soo-yeon and Hyun-woo pay their respects together.

Husband and wife sit separately at the table with their old friends, with Hyun-woo frowning to see that the moms’ chatroom is now fangirling over a drama.

The friends sweetly tease the couple into sitting next to each other, and everyone good-naturedly tries to guess why Soo-yeon ever agreed to marry Hyun-woo.

Reporting for babysitting duty, Joon-young cowers behind a corner, staring at the messy apartment. When Joon-soo calls out that he’s hungry, Joon-young offers to order fast food, but the mature Joon-soo asks for food “that is good for children.”

Joon-young is saved by Bo-young, who arrives bearing groceries. Worried that Joon-soo wouldn’t last the night with his Uncle Joon-young, Bo-young came to help. However, when Joon-young asks her to cook dinner while he cleans the apartment, she balks. Joon-young smirks to realize that Bo-young can’t cook.

Thankfully, Joon-young is a natural in the kitchen, and soon has dinner ready for all three. Joon-soo observes the two grown-ups bantering, and says they’ll fall in love at this rate. The adults stare at the boy, and Joon-soo admits he heard the expression on TV. Joon-young grins to hear that they look good together, while Bo-young sighs that this is why they need to monitor television programs more responsibly.

Meanwhile, Hyun-woo and Soo-yeon’s schoolmates decide to go look at the stars like they used to, dragging our reluctant couple along with them.

Back at the house, Joon-young and Bo-young play with Joon-soo for hours, until the grown-ups are exhausted and in awe of Joon-soo’s boundless energy. Joon-young begs Bo-young to find the kid’s off switch, while she wonders if the boy really ate the same food as them.

Bo-young finally talks Joon-soo into going to bed, and they try to read him a bedtime story, but Joon-soo proves to be his father’s son as he nitpicks Joon-young’s character voice. Joon-young continues reading, but sadly, the only person he succeeds in putting to sleep is Bo-young. Hee.

The classmates gather outside to look at the stars, but Hyun-woo and Soo-yeon stand apart from the rest of the group, awkwardly talking about Joon-soo. They’re interrupted when a friend stumbles over, yelling at the pair for standing by themselves before he shoos Hyun-woo over to the group.

Alone with the friend, Soo-yeon answers the groups’ earlier question about why she married Hyun-woo. She says that she fell for him first, while Hyun-woo took a longer time to decide. Soo-yeon admits that she always liked how he wavered when making a decision. She believed that if it took a long time for him to choose, it meant that he chose carefully; if she was with him, then they’d always stay on the right path.

Unknown to Soo-yeon, Hyun-woo can hear what she’s been saying.

Joon-soo finally falls asleep, and the grown-ups break out the beer to celebrate. Bo-young and Joon-young can’t believe the amount of work it takes to raise a kid, and wonder why people become parents.

Joon-young supposes that it’d be worth it if it were his own child, and jokes that they should test the theory by having a kid together. Bo-young slaps a hand over his mouth in answer, but the action brings them close together. The two share a moment before quickly leaning away and chugging their beers.

After the stargazing, all of the rather inebriated classmates take up spaces on the funeral home floor. Still awake, Soo-yeon sees Hyun-woo sitting alone in the corner. Padding over, she finds him hunched over, trying to sew Joon-soo’s doll. Aww.

Looking like a big kid, Hyun-woo mutters that it’s Joon-soo’s homework, and Soo-yeon just stares at her domesticated husband. Hyun-woo hesitantly asks how to sew the arms on, and Soo-yeon takes pity on him. As she takes over sewing, Hyun-woo brings up the mom’s chatroom, gruffly complaining about the gossiping and their heavy use of emoticons. Soo-yeon smiles as she listens, but just as Hyun-woo looks like he’s about to say something else, Soo-yeon finishes the arm and hands the doll back, leaving him alone to sew the rest.

The next morning the two walk out together, and Hyun-woo offers his wife a ride home.

At said home, Bo-young awakens to find Joon-young already up, dressed, and cooking breakfast for Joon-soo. The two tease each other about Joon-young’s skills as a homemaker, and matchmaker Joon-soo remarks again that they get along well.

Just then, Soo-yeon calls from the car to check in with Joon-soo. The boy asks his mother if she’s coming home today, bringing her near tears. Unable to tell him the truth, Soo-yeon says she’ll call again soon as Hyun-woo listens to the conversation.

In the silent car, Hyun-woo asks if it was difficult for her. Soo-yeon doesn’t understand, so Hyun-woo confesses, “I thought I knew everything. I was arrogant. Besides throwing out the trash and taking Joon-soo to kindergarten, I really didn’t know there were so many things I had to pay attention to.”

Soo-yeon doesn’t answer, and they continue the ride in silence.

Yoon-ki’s girlfriend (the store clerk) is selling her apartment. Unfortunately for her, the woman her realtor found to buy the place is none other than Ara. The girlfriend looks absolutely nauseated to see her boyfriend’s wife at her door, but can say nothing with the realtor right there.

Once inside the apartment, the realtor soon departs to answer a call, and the younger woman confronts Ara. Nervous but brazen, the girlfriend is unrepentant, saying the apartment and everything in it was a gift from Yoon-ki, so she’s free to sell it if she wants. Ara remains unaffected by the girlfriend’s bluster, remarking instead on her upcoming wedding to a young man of good standing. The girlfriend pales, nervously confirming it.

Looking down, Ara points to the girlfriend’s abdomen and asks if the father is her fiancé or Yoon-ki? (Damn!) Outmatched, the girl immediately drops to her knees, begging Ara not to ruin her wedding. Ara pulls her hand out of the girl’s grasp, coolly saying that she’ll see her again.

After dropping Soo-yeon off at her apartment, Hyun-woo returns to the office. He asks Bo-young how the babysitting went, but is interrupted by a loud snore coming from the unconscious Joon-young.

Hyun-woo smirks at his exhausted hoobae, and Bo-young comments that after spending a night looking after Joon-soo, she doesn’t know how his wife managed it by herself. Hyun-woo agrees, saying it must have been difficult.

In her apartment, Soo-yeon types a response to Hyun-woo’s post: “TOYCRANE, there is something I’d like to ask you. Can you forget the fact that your wife slept with another man?”

Hyun-woo reads the post at his own computer and, after a pause, writes back, “I can forget it. I can forgive her. No, I mean I’ve already forgiven her.”

Hyun-woo’s post is immediately commented on by all his fans. Unfortunately, most of the responses are negative, with one man in particular becoming enraged that Hyun-woo would forgive his wife for her affair. Even TUNAMAYO weighs in, “You can probably forgive her. However, you will never be able to forget it.”

Dressed nicely, Hyun-woo gets into a car, and his post/narration continues, “Because I’ve started to understand her. Her many difficult days. I’m ashamed of myself for thinking I was a good husband and father.”

He calls someone and asks to meet them.

Bo-young and Joon-young pick up Joon-soo from his school, and Joon-soo introduces Bo-young to his teacher as an aunt. Joon-young bounds up to play with Joon-soo (obviously over his pedophobia), and the teacher comments on Joon-soo’s pretty aunt and her husband.

Awkward stares ensue as Bo-young tries to correct the woman’s assumption, but Joon-young beams and pulls Bo-young away, stating that Joon-soo’s “aunt and her husband” have to leave now.

Hyun-woo waits anxiously at a bar where he’s joined by a smiling Soo-yeon. The two have a dinner date, talking about how long it’s been since they had a drink together, and laugh as they innocently discuss everything and nothing.

As the reunited couple smile at each other, an anonymous person types a post: “I’ve found the personal information of the wife who had an affair. Her job is a graphic designer.”

 
COMMENTS

Well, that’s a twist.

Part of me wishes that we could have had more growth from Soo-yeon before the reconciliation stage. We’ve finally reached the point where both parties have acknowledged their own failings in their marriage, but Hyun-woo is the only one who’s really done anything to change. He was able to appreciate the struggle his wife went through, and he’s not only admitted his own arrogance, but empathized enough with his wife to forgive her. The Hyun-woo at the end of this episode is not the same one we premiered with, and if these two do manage to save their marriage, a large part of it will be due to his growing maturity.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Soo-yeon. I’ve gotten to the point where I can understand – if not condone – her actions, and she clearly regrets the pain she’s caused her family, but unlike her husband, she’s still the same person as the one who cheated. Admittedly, Soo-yeon has also had a very difficult time dealing with the fallout of her affair, but nothing’s truly changed for her on a fundamental level. Her lack of communication with Hyun-woo as well as her tendency to shoulder all the burden without asking for help are still prevalent. I worry that if Hyun-woo and Soo-yeon salvage their relationship, she’ll continue with her extreme selflessness until once again she can no longer handle it, breaks, and commits another selfish act like cheating, repeating the unhealthy cycle.

I’ve generally been ignoring Yoon-ki’s antics, since I just don’t care about him anymore, but I’m glad we finally got to hear a bit from Ara’s side of the relationship. She loved her husband so much that instead of being blind to his faults, she just ignored them, hoping against hope that he’d love her back. It seems like she’d fallen so deep into the habit of overlooking Yoon-ki’s affairs in favor of her love for him that she never realized she didn’t love him anymore. There are so many couples that get comfortable living a certain lifestyle, and they never stop to wonder if they even want to be together anymore. Ara has finally emerged from her murky waters of indecision (literally), and I’m looking forward to the fury that this scorned woman is about to rain down on Yoon-ki.

As for the new threat introduced in the cliffhanger, at first I didn’t care for the dramatic turn of Soo-yeon’s identity being discovered. This drama’s biggest strength has always been its focus on the characters and how their choices drive the plot, rather than the other way around. This introduction of an anonymous user digging into Hyun-woo and Soo-yeon’s private life seemed completely out of context for the series thus far, especially since our two leads seem well on their way to reconciliation. However, I’m realizing that I’ve forgotten a very important part of this story: It isn’t just a show about a man who learns that his wife has had an affair, but rather, a show about a man who uncovered his wife’s infidelity, and turned to the internet for help.

From the very first episode, Hyun-woo has voluntarily shared his private life with the world’s netizens. Up until this point, his many fans have been relatively passive, sharing their opinions and giving advice. But as TOYCRANE’s story attracted a wider and wider fan base, it’s a logical progression for at least one of them to become so invested in the story that they take matters into their own hands. We’ve already seen one fan become visibly enraged at the idea of Hyun-woo forgiving his wife, and it’s a small step to go from an angry reaction to actually taking action.

I have been wondering why the show not only continued to include the side stories of TOYCRANE’s fans, but also fleshed out the character profiles to the point that we now have at least three distinct storylines. Now it’s clear that the show always intended to address these netizens. Looking back, the show has repeatedly placed an emphasis on social media: Hyun-woo asked the internet for help, Soo-yeon felt burdened through the moms’ chatroom, Joon-young and Bo-young’s whole conflict was introduced through his ignored friend request, and even the text message from Soo-yeon’s lover that started everything. I’m enjoying this hidden commentary on how we rely on social media without realizing the impact it can have on our lives. We often forget that even though we’re typing on a screen, our words still reach real people, and carry the same consequences as a physical interaction. And those are the consequences that Hyun-woo will now have to face.

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