Suspicious Partner: Episodes 27-28

by LollyPip

Ji-wook has come a long way from the days when he thought he didn’t need anyone, isolating himself for fear that he might actually care about someone. Now he has people that he loves and wants to protect, but life doesn’t work that way. Sometimes it takes a loss to put things into perspective, and make a man realize what’s truly important in life.

 
EPISODE 27 RECAP

When Yoo-jung finds the bloody knife in Hyun-soo’s apartment, Hyun-soo makes a run for it. He jumps on his motorcycle and leads a chase through the streets, including both Yoo-jung and Ji-wook. Before he can shake them, a car comes out of nowhere and slams into Hyun-soo’s bike, flipping him over its hood to crash to the pavement while the driver of the car escapes.

Hyun-soo lies in the street, motionless, while Ji-wook and Yoo-jung can do nothing but stare in shock. He’s taken away by ambulance, unconscious and deathly still.

Yoo-jung calls in a report and requests a search for the hit-and-run driver. When she hangs up, Ji-wook asks who tipped her off to the knife in Hyun-soo’s apartment, but she’s reluctant to tell him. She eventually admits that it was an anonymous tip.

Ji-wook doesn’t believe her, and he reminds her that the knife is illegally obtained evidence. But Yoo-jung stubbornly insists that she obtained a legal warrant, found a bloody knife, and that’s all she knows.

Ji-wook is called back to the hospital by CEO Byun, who tells everyone excitedly that Chief Bang moved a finger. But since Chief Bang is still unconscious, they don’t really believe him. Chief Bang’s thumb twitches again but CEO Byun is the only one who sees it, and the others roll their eyes thinking he’s seeing things. LOL.

They all stay to keep watch over their friend, working as best they can in the cramped room. Ji-wook paces, thinking about who might have taken the stolen knife from his desk drawer and planted it in Hyun-soo’s home. The only person he can think of is Eun-hyuk, and he blurts out of nowhere, “Hey Eun-hyuk, if you’re behind this I’m going to put you in prison!”

Eun-hyuk looks up innocently and asks what he did, then he gets all excited that Ji-wook is finally talking to him. Ha, and awww. He tells them all to keep smiling even though they’re in bad moods, so that good things can happen. CEO Byun and Bong-hee agree, but Ji-wook has a hard time smiling.

He starts to tell them about Hyun-soo’s accident, but he’s interrupted by a weak voice calling his name. OMG. They all rush to the bed to find Chief Bang awake, and he recognizes them each in turn. He’s okay! Ji-wook is so relieved and grateful to see his friend alive that he can only hold Chief Bang’s hand and cry.

Yoo-jung and Ji-hae watch the news about Hyun-soo’s hit-and-run accident. Hyun-soo is reported to be in a coma, and the reporter speculates whether the investigation and car chase were mishandled by the prosecution.

Ji-wook visits Hyun-soo with Eun-hyuk and Bong-hee in tow, but Hyun-soo is still unconscious. Bong-hee asks Ji-wook if evidence was found but he’s vague in his answer. She wants to know what happens now, so Ji-wook explains that it depends on if and when Hyun-soo wakes.

They’re joined by Yoo-jung, who says confidently that he’ll wake up, adding that they found the car that hit Hyun-soo but the driver had disappeared. She tells them that the doctor says Hyun-soo has a head injury and internal bleeding, so it could be a while before he wakes, and when he does there may be brain damage.

Eun-hyuk asks if Yoo-jung is okay, and she tells him that she’s in trouble with her superiors. She asks if they’ll hire her if she loses her job, and HAHA, they all look away awkwardly.

As she leaves, Eun-hyuk hands over the list of names that Chief Bang compiled when he was looking into Hyun-soo and Chan-ho. Ji-wook tells Yoo-jung that they think Hyun-soo was planning some sort of revenge on one of them, and that his target may have been the one who hit Hyun-soo.

While alone with Hyun-soo, Bong-hee laments over having so many unanswered questions for him, and so much anger. Ji-wook returns to hear her heavy sigh and puts an arm around her.

When Chief Bang feels better he tells Ji-wook that even though he didn’t see his attacker’s face clearly, he’s positive it was Hyun-soo. Ji-wook tells him that Hyun-soo is in a coma, urging him to rest and recover so that he’s ready to testify when Hyun-soo wakes up.

Chief Bang agrees to do that, then he barks, “Why are they always here?!” PFFT. CEO Byun, Eun-hyuk, and Bong-hee are right next to them, chowing down on snacks and insisting that they’re conducting a very important meeting. They tease Chief Bang, and he whispers desperately to Ji-wook that he wants to be discharged.

Over the next few days, he works hard at getting better (even going for walks around the room while CEO Byun dozes off in the hospital bed, heh), and soon he’s allowed to go home.

The news reports on Hyun-soo’s accident are increasingly critical, accusing the prosecution of conducting the search as a vindictive move against Hyun-soo for being acquitted for the chef’s murder. Yoo-jung is called in front of District Attorney Jang along with the chief deputy, but no amount of groveling can appease District Attorney Jang. He’s furious that the prosecution’s reputation has been stained by this situation.

He goes to the hospital to visit Hyun-soo so that it looks like he gives a damn. He tells the reporters that an investigation is being conducted and that appropriate punishment will be meted out.

In Hyun-soo’s room, Yoo-jung says that she still believes that Hyun-soo is the serial killer, and she’s about to bring up his son Hee-joon’s murder as well, but District Attorney Jang barks at her to shut up, then he slaps the chief deputy hard across the face. He warns Yoo-jung never to let something like this happen again.

Ji-wook and Bong-hee head home, happy to have some time for just the two of them. Then they suddenly realize that they’re all alone together and they tense up, unsure what to do. Bong-hee says she’s going to take a shower, making Ji-wook gulp at the thought.

They both lie awake that night, unable to sleep knowing that the other is just a few feet away. Eventually Bong-hee gets up and hovers outside Ji-wook’s door nervously, and when he bursts out of his room they both jump.

Ji-wook leans towards Bong-hee with his arms open wide, but she fends him off, saying that it’s only their second day. She doesn’t count the days Chief Bang was in the hospital because they couldn’t do anything, and Ji-wook agrees that they didn’t have a chance to “do anything.” Then he lunges at her again, intent on fixing that right now.

Bong-hee ducks under his arm and runs to the couch. They settle in and Bong-hee says that she knows Ji-wook’s been stressed, calling him “lawyer-nim” as she always does. Ji-wook gives her a dirty look and grumbles that he’s stressed because his girlfriend keeps addressing him formally.

Bong-hee asks if he expects her to change the way she addresses him overnight, and Ji-wook nods a big yes, hee. So she aegyos a cutesy jagi-ya at him, making him laugh. She swears she’ll never do that again, but Ji-wook thinks it’s adorable and he aegyos right back at her, which is so cute I can’t even stand it.

A little while later, Ji-wook tells Bong-hee the events that led up to Hyun-soo’s accident. She asks if the driver who hit him has been caught yet, and learns that the car was rented with a fake ID and the driver is missing.

Bong-hee yawns, but she denies being sleepy. A few minutes later she’s nodded off with her head in Ji-wook’s lap as he looks down at her adoringly. Soon he’s snuggled up with her, both of them fast asleep.

Chief Bang comes back to work the next morning to be greeted by Eun-hyuk’s boisterous confetti-and-streamers monkey dance, hee. Bong-hee sets off another confetti cracker at him, then CEO Byun joins them with a third loud cracker. These three dorks, I luff them so much. Drawn by the noise, Ji-wook comes in complaining about the mess. All four of their faces fall—then Ji-wook shoots off another cracker and flees the room. LOL.

They settle down and start the morning meeting. CEO Byun gets sidetracked on a long story about his time in the U.S., and Bong-hee mutters to herself to just endure it because he’s Ji-wook’s father. CEO Byun hears her and they bicker, while Ji-wook looks like he’s wishing to teleport to anywhere else. He has one of his temper explosions, bellowing that he wants to have a proper meeting just once.

Chief Bang says that something seems “missing” since he came back. He grins mischievously and says that he had some very interesting dreams while he was unconscious, and in flashback we see CEO Byun talking to him in the hospital, promising to give him all of his assets if Chief Bang would wake up. HAHA, he heard him!

Next Chief Bang leers at Bong-hee, who’d promised to serve all of his penalties whenever he loses the ladder game. And Eun-hyuk gulps as he realizes that Chief Bang heard him say that he would hire him his own secretary, driver, and office manager. PWAHAHA. They all avert his gaze nervously.

While Bong-hee is in the kitchen having a PPL moment with her phone, Ji-wook wanders by, wondering out loud who could be the culprit (who planted the stolen knife). Bong-hee asks what he’s talking about, so he fibs that he’s trying to discover the culprit of a mystery novel he’s reading.

Bong-hee quotes her mother: “The one who appears at this moment is the culprit!” She throws out an accusing finger — right as CEO Byun walks into the room. CEO Byun seems oddly nervous, and another flashback takes us to a day when Ji-wook was talking to Chief Bang in the hospital.

He assumes that CEO Byun is sleeping in the chair behind him, and he tells the unconscious Chief Bang that he decided not to use the knife that Eun-hyuk stole to frame Hyun-soo. He admits to being unsure if he’s made the right decision, but that he’s pretending to be better than Hyun-soo and following the law. Behind him, we see that CEO Byun was awake and heard everything.

So it was CEO Byun who took the knife from Ji-wook’s desk, coated it in Chief Bang’s blood, and broke into Hyun-soo’s house to put it back in his knife block. He’d even visited Hyun-soo in the hospital and confessed that he was ashamed of himself, but that sometimes he thinks it’s better “to use my fists rather than the law.”

 
EPISODE 28 RECAP

Yoo-jung interrogates a man accused of attempted arson, and he unashamedly tells her all about how he set a fire two years ago and someone died. The wrong person was arrested, and he feels guilty so he’s turning himself in.

It turns out that Eun-hyuk defended the man who was falsely convicted of starting the fire, and the man begs Eun-hyuk to represent him in his appeal. Eun-hyuk takes the case back to the team, explaining that his client, Sun-il, was arrested for what the prosecution claimed was a revenge crime.

Sun-il’s daughter was killed by a car driven by the man who died in the fire, but even though he was drunk and had no driver’s license, he was released without punishment due to diminished capacity (a claim that due to mental or physical illness, he was incapable of intentionally committing a crime). Eun-hyuk admits that because he lost Sun-il’s first trial, he’s not feeling confident about the appeal. He humbly asks for help, but Ji-wook refuses.

Thinking that Ji-wook is doing that “I’ll only help you when you don’t want my help” thing again, Eun-hyuk tells Ji-wook not to help him, but Ji-wook is all, “Okay, I won’t.” Chief Bang and Bong-hee joke that Eun-hyuk isn’t very smart for someone who’s supposed to be a genius, heh.

Eun-hyuk insists that Sun-il is innocent, and Ji-wook points out that they thought the same of Hyun-soo. But his real reason for refusing, he admits, is that he doesn’t want to work on arson cases. Eun-hyuk apologizes sincerely, having forgotten about Ji-wook’s past tragedy.

Instead, Chief Bang suggests that Bong-hee take the lead on the case. She reveals that she’s not keen on it either, because her father was also killed in a fire. But she does promise to consider it.

That particular fire is on District Attorney Jang’s mind as well, due to the similarities between that fire and the one Sun-il is accused of starting, particularly the part where it was supposedly done for revenge. He recalls showing a very young Ji-wook a man’s photo and telling him that this was the man who killed Ji-wook’s parents. The photo is of Bong-hee’s father.

Ji-wook wakes in the morning to find Bong-hee standing over his bed, and she tells him to get ready because they’re going on a date. That gets him moving quick, ha. He bounces around like a happy little bunny, then takes out a jewelry box to smile at a delicate necklace with a ring-shaped pendant.

Bong-hee takes Ji-wook to an arcade, and he looks a bit disappointed. He proceeds to lose every single game to her, getting increasingly stressed and anxious as she beats him at the toy crane, the shooting game, and even the basketball game. She totally kicks his ass. At one point he pulls out the jewelry box and grumbles because the romantic moment he was hoping for just isn’t happening.

Eventually he storms out of the arcade, insisting that he’s not upset in a very upset voice. Bong-hee promises to let him win next time, but he yells at her to never ever let him win, because he wants to win fair and square. She agrees to play again soon and they high-five on it, and Ji-wook turns the high-five into a hand-hold, which makes him happy again.

Bong-hee’s phone reminds her to pick up some medicine for Chief Bang, and while she’s in the pharmacy, Ji-wook runs into his mom. He looks a bit cornered when she asks what he’s doing, then he grins sheepishly and admits that he’s with his girlfriend.

As she exits the pharmacy, Bong-hee hears Ji-wook addressing the woman who makes her mother’s work life miserable as “mother,” and she jumps back inside to hide. She remembers all the times she sassed Ji-wook’s mom, not knowing who she was, and she wonders what to do now.

Ji-wook tries to bring her out to meet his mom, but Bong-hee holds the door shut and pleads with him not to make her go. They have this hilarious exchange through the glass door using only facial expressions, then Ji-wook yanks the door open anyway. Bong-hee just runs as fast as she can from both of them with her face hidden, HAHA.

Bong-hee’s mom chooses today of all days to bring food to Bong-hee’s workplace, which she gives to Chief Bang and Eun-hyuk. She gasps at Eun-hyuk, seeing his handsome face lit from behind as if by a halo, which is how Bong-hee described the man she was falling for.

She assumes she’s got the right guy until Ji-wook arrives home and she’s equally struck by his gorgeous backlit face. She asks which one of them is the right one, but they have no idea what she’s talking about.

Things get really awkward when Ji-wook’s mom comes in and the two ladies start to growl at each other. It dawns on them that their children are dating each other, and Ji-wook’s mom begs him to say it’s not true. Bong-hee’s mom counters that she objects just as much, and they go another round. The three guys look back and forth at each other not knowing what to do.

The moms threaten to disapprove of the relationship, which has Ji-wook hilariously clutching his heart. Bong-hee chooses this moment to walk into the middle of the nightmare, and when it looks like she’s going to flee again, Ji-wook grabs her and yells, “Mothers! We’re dating!” Smooooth. Eun-hyuk whispers to Chief Bang to look surprised, and they totally overact, hee.

District Attorney Jang looks through a very old, singed file containing a photo of Bong-hee’s father. He remembers her dad approaching him to insist that he was innocent, saying that he didn’t even work the same shift as the taxi driver who argued with that customer.

He said that the victim who accused him was drunk at the time of the fight and was mistaking him for the other driver. He dropsped to his knees, saying that he got fired from his taxi job and can’t work because he’s always at court, and he begs for help.

Jang hadn’t cared, and had ignored the man’s pleas. Now he tells himself firmly that he wasn’t wrong, and puts the file away.

Bong-hee tells her father’s picture that she’s gotten on the bad side of both of her boyfriend’s parents, and wonders what she’s going to do. She decides to do some laundry, and she runs into Ji-wook in the living room as he’s adorably practicing how to give her the necklace. She says she’s going to the laundromat, then drops the basket in her nervousness. Ji-wook crouches to help her, but he hesitates when he realizes that he’s reaching for a pink polka-dotted bra.

He insists on accompanying her, and they sit talking on the folding table at the laundromat. Ji-wook tells Bong-hee not to worry too much about his parents, promising to win them over on her behalf. To make her feel better, he suggests they go see her father next time.

Bong-hee asks, “So… when are you going to give it to me?” HAHA. Ji-wook looks annoyed that she’s caught on to him waffling all day, but he’s all smiles again when she loves the necklace. He puts it on her and she cuddles up to him happily.

Chief Bang goes to see Hyun-soo, who is still deep in a coma. He uses his hand to block the lower half of Hyun-soo’s face, confirming that these the eyes he saw over the mask his attacker wore. He tells Hyun-soo that it would be better if he never wakes up, then he leaves.

After the door closes, Hyun-soo begins to open his eyes.

While out and about, Eun-hyuk spots Yoo-jung across the street, swerving drunkenly as Ji-hae tries to steady her. Yoo-jung runs off to the bathroom and Ji-hae, a little drunk herself, starts to fall off her high heels. Eun-hyuk catches her, and she swoons a little to see him so close.

He smells the alcohol on her breath and tells her that drinking is bad for her health. He goes off on a nerdy explanation of how the body breaks down alcohol, then apologizes for giving unasked-for advice. Heh, Ji-hae is so flustered that all she can do is repeat, “Yes… yes…“ after everything he says.

Eun-hyuk surprises Ji-hae by asking for her number, then he gives her his business card and asks her to call him if anything happens. She watches him walk away, wondering what that was all about.

When Ji-wook and Bong-hee arrive home, he starts to hand her the laundry basket, but he doesn’t let go and stays standing very close. He leans over to kiss her lightly and they turn to go to their rooms… but at the exact same time, they both turn back around.

They come back together for a longer, hotter kiss, and Bong-hee drops the basket to wrap her arms around Ji-wook’s neck. They make their way to Bong-hee’s room, only breaking the kiss long enough to shed items of clothing, then they fall into the bed together.

In the morning, Ji-wook is curled comfortably around the still-sleeping Bong-hee. He wakes and presses several drowsy kisses into her hair and her back, checking hopefully to see if she’s awake, too.

But as he glances over towards her nightstand, he sees something that makes him freeze.

He stares at the picture of young Bong-hee and her father, recognizing him as the man whom he was told killed his parents. In his memory, Bong-hee’s father walked out of the fire towards him as Ji-wook’s father lay dying.

Bong-hee wakes and smiles up at Ji-wook, then turns to snuggle into his chest. He holds onto her tightly, his eyes locked on the photo of her father.

Epilogue.

In the bathroom, Ji-hae checks herself out in the mirror and thinks back to Eun-hyuk suddenly asking for her number and giving his. She looks around to see if anyone else is there and then makes a series of embarrassing poses in front of mirror, and decides that she’s still got it.

COMMENTS

Oh that was beautiful, just a perfect moment of development for our main couple. It makes me so happy when a show allows its characters to be mature, sexual beings like real people, rather than expecting us to believe that grown adults in a relationship are flustered by a chaste kiss. I felt that Ji-wook’s occasional tentative attempts to get his hands on Bong-hee and her coy evasions were believable when you consider their history, which includes not one, but two nights where at least one of them can’t remember whether they slept together. But it’s also natural for their mutual attraction to bring them together sooner rather than later, and I felt like the timing was just perfect considering that they’re finally in the same place at the same time emotionally.

We’re getting some long-awaited answers about the fire that apparently changed both Ji-wook and Bong-hee’s lives forever, and now that Ji-wook knows who Bong-hee’s father is in relation to himself, I expect we’ll get the full story soon. I’m not the least bit surprised that District Attorney Jang was all tangled up in what happened back then, and the way he seemed to be influencing Ji-wook to think that Bong-hee’s father killed his parents is extremely unsettling, making me wonder if he planted that memory in Ji-wook’s head the same way he planted the knife in Bong-hee’s apartment. It throws Ji-wook’s entire recollection of the fire into doubt, so I’m sure that his memory of Bong-hee’s father as the man responsible for his parents’ death is probably nowhere close to what actually happened. I just hope that he doesn’t let this come between him and Bong-hee, and I hope that the way he held her even tighter after seeing her father’s picture is an indication that instead, he’ll be that much more determined not to lose her. I’m actually more worried that Bong-hee will learn about this and distance herself, because she’s shown Noble Idiot tendencies before.

I really appreciate how each case Ji-wook and his team take on reflects the issues that they’re dealing with in their own lives. It’s done in such a way that the cases underscore and enhance our understanding of the central conflict involving Hyun-soo, yet it never feels forced or too obvious, and the cases stand alone as detailed and interesting side stories. All of them involve a wrongfully accused defendant who is either innocent, or is guilty but whose motives are tragically misunderstood. Even the current dilemma of the knife planted in Hyun-soo’s apartment seems to mirror the case of Ji-wook’s parents’ death from all those years ago, if I’m reading the situation correctly. Hyun-soo is the only defendant who did turn out to be guilty, but even he is doing what he does in a misguided attempt to bring justice to those who, for reasons only he knows, deserve to be punished.

So I can’t help but wonder if Hyun-soo is going to wake up with amnesia, because it would be an interesting twist for him to transform from an unrepentant revenge killer to someone who, as far as he would recall, is an innocent man. Although conveniently timed amnesia is probably my very least favorite drama trope, I think that in this case it could be used in an interesting way, and I would trust this writer to do it right. I would love to see Hyun-soo wake up with no memory of murdering anyone, reverting back to the innocent young man he used to be before tragedy twisted him into someone who believes that the ends justify any means, even murder. We would get to explore some pretty interesting moral dilemmas if that happened, such as whether he should be held responsible for the murders he committed, when he doesn’t even know he committed them.

On a lighter note, I really like the idea that Eun-hyuk and Ji-hae could start a loveline. Despite her bad judgment in school by dating Hee-joon when he already had a girlfriend, Ji-hae has redeemed herself several times over by proving to be smart, level-headed, and ethical now that she’s grown up a bit. And who knows, Hee-joon may have lied to her that he and Bong-hee were broken up… all we know is that she did say she wasn’t proud of her behavior in that situation. Everyone makes mistakes, and unlike Yoo-jung, Ji-hae seems to actually have learned from hers—she’s the one who’s always shaking her head at Yoo-jung’s impulsive, emotion-driven actions and wondering how she could possibly justify her behavior. I think that Ji-hae is a much better match for a guy like Eun-hyuk, and that it’s well past time he get over his own regret-laden, youthful first love and find a woman who actually deserves him.

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