"it’s obvious that Yoon-hee won’t be making that same mistake again, and if nothing else, they’re finally being honest with each other about their struggles in the marriage"

1) It's not at all obvious that we should call it a *mistake*... that's something one does without meaning to (a one-night-stand while drunk? But then again you have to be responsible for you own action, for example driving under the influence). She consciously deceived him for 1 year. Manipulated him into mortaging his house and quitting his job to assuage her guilt (would have divorced him for his worst enemy when he was starting a new business, destroying his emotional stability and confidence and leading to a clear disaster). She talks about her priority with a mix of self pity and self righteousness, but she was willing to stay with someone that wanted to hurt her husband, and left him when he lied about camping. Priorities! 20 years and a kid together! Wow! None of these topics were touched upen.
2) The fact that she would do it again is besides the point. The fact that he was in love with a woman that would have never done that to him, that he trusted unconditionally, and that existed only in his head, as factually speaking she did use and abuse his unconditional trust to betray him, lie to him, manipulate him, while he was none the wiser. The woman he was in love with did not exist. The person who exists is someone unworthy of his trust, of his loyalty, of his love. Other people are worthy. His family and friends that he wanted to abandon. And Ji An. Lastly, let's not forget that his wife did not confess, she was discovered. She guessed that since the lover was unsuitable, no point leaving the husband or even letting him decide with full information. No, she went back as if she never did anything, criticizing here and there in a manner that is almost comically hypocritical, given the enormity of her betrayal (1 year deception + firing + Ji An, which she has *yet* to confess to, you will notice + her own self interested manipulations and playing with his emotions. She abused his trust and is not worthy of it. Same with his loyalty and love. The good thing is, she does not pretend to be. She knows she did something unforgivable, despite her self centeredness.

"it’s obvious that Yoon-hee won’t be making that same mistake again, and if nothing else, they’re finally being honest with each other about their struggles in the marriage"

They did not have a honest conversation. Just her blaming him for things that were just different perspective (pyramidal love, extended family), bringing her kid into it (when she should have reflected on whether an extended family is not an added value in her kid's life, given in particular the long distance -would he really be better without a close relationship with his uncles/aunt/grandma?. It was frankly *less* fail than what she told her lover in the first episodes, that any/most other women would love to be with her dedicated/kind/reliable husband -she acknowledged that it was just a matter of different values and perspective, not a slight towards her-. Not something they should have discussed there (while glossing over/not showing the answers to his very interesting questions: why not divorce? Why his worst enemy? What about the firing/job issue?

"it’s obvious that Yoon-hee won’t be making that same mistake again, and if nothing else, they’re finally being honest with each other about their struggles in the marriage"

He know she did not leave her lover over it, but he threatened him (and in reality Ji An helped things along). She knows she did not leave her lover over him being willing to hurt her husband. This all puts a different context and perspective over her remonstratons. Because for everything she complains about with arguable points, there are clear cut cases of slights she herself committed, which are a thousand times worse. I guess that betraying someone with their worst enemy, lying to their face for a year, and being willing to not only manipulate them, but stay with someone that would have fired them for their own convenience, while deciding to leave over them lying about camping, gives a clear indication about how much she cares about her husband and about her priorities (her husband and everyone else on the planet being very distantly behind herself in her list of concerns).

"it’s obvious that Yoon-hee won’t be making that same mistake again, and if nothing else, they’re finally being honest with each other about their struggles in the marriage"

The fact that she wouldn't betray him again if of negligible importance compared to the fact that she still dares talk to his face about how her life is unfair and he doesn't care about her (after what he did to take care of her fully knowing she betrayed him)., while he is struggling with feeling unworthy of respect (which she did not address, as she should have as her main focus was to apologize... Ji An did, thanks Ji An, but the one apologizing should have been the one to do this). In fact, it's of negligible importance when compared to what (or who -herself-) she was willing to break up with her lover over.

The wife is a well rounded character. But is also almost comically self centered. And only her objections were really addressed during their fight. which was supposed to be her apologizing and explaining.

I would say that her being a repeat offender or not is besides the point. The point being that she was dragging to her apology kicking and screaming, that she did not show contrition for what really mattered (it almost seemed like she was ashamed of being discovered, more than about lying to him... she feels like dying now that he knows? And why not when she was lying to his face? Why no guilt then?

Before talking about forgiving the wife, could we please notice that she is still holding onto information about Ji An that she did not disclose? Why? Because she glossed over his question about her lover wanting to fire him and her staying with him anyway, or about her manipulation? Or were they just not addressed on-screen? My guess: he will have to discover the truth himself and then have confirmation, like he did for the affair -again, she did not decide to be honest with him and come clean, giving him a choice... she would have continued to act as if she did nothing wrong while criticizing his every action-. Yes, she hurts. So does he. She could have asked for divorce as he wanted instead of betraying him, it would have hurt him, but it would have at least showed him that even if she did not love him she respected him as a basic human being.

The wife's apology now inspires about as much trust as a hardened criminal being caught red handed and being placed under strict surveillance, who does not do anything crazy while being monitored. Of course the question is, had her lover not lied to her about camping, would we have had the tearful apology? Because given that she did not turn her back on her lover when he wanted to fire her husband, chances are he would have ended up alone, without a job (either a failing new business he is too distraught to launch, or not even that) and possibly without a house (if he had mortaged it).

The fact that the wife's behavior this chapter was barely more acceptable than the unacceptable one she showed even during the supposed apology (in the same breath launching a litany of recriminations, paying no mind of how distraught he was and how he self worth was in tatters, and he felt she thought him undeserving of basic respect, which she certainly validated by petulantly, pettily claiming he did not love her). No sense of perspective or proportions. No ability to see that she did to him a thousand times worse of what she accuses him of doing to her, and that it's obscene to talk about unfairness in front of him, when she would have basically stood behind her loves as he threw him to the sharks had the latter not lied to her about camping.

As far as I am repulsed by the wife (this chapter barely more acceptable, but that's saying little considering how awfully self centered she was even in her apology, that started out well, but then deviated into self pity/self righteousness and recriminations: "see the mote in one's brother's eye but not the beam in one's own"... points he raised were ignored/not discussed, and she ignored him almost pleading cry for help vis a vis him feeling as if she did not think him worthy of basic respect, which she kind of confirmed with her disrespectdful words -questioning his care for her even after he nursed her back from her breakup while knowing the truth, as she knows well-, and actions -ignoring his vulnerability and confession of feeling unworthy of respect, which apparently she did not even pick up on... who picked up on it was Ji An, who did her best to heal him and make him understand that he deserves better than this-), I am pleased by Ji An and her development. Feels like she understand the ML better that his wife that has known him for 20 years. Together with the as-le brother that did 1 thing right and told her her husband suffers because he loves her, maybe Ji An could shake the wife into shape as she did with the affair... though objectively speaking, the wife does not deserve his love, loyalty and trust, and Ji An, together with his friends and family that always had their back, does, so it's a question of "is she worth the effort", "should I save their marriage, when he deserves better"? If I was in Ji An's place, it would be a real dilemma even factually speaking, not just because of jealousy -correct jealousy in the sense that someone unworthy -the wife- has something she want and that the wife does not deserve-.

During the confession she launced a stream of recriminations for which it was bot the time nor the place. She was apologiziong, and maybe reassuring him about the fact that he was not unworthy of anu reapect could have taken precedence over scoring a point. Crucially, she didn't answer why she cheated. She says why she is unhappy, and he made clear the distinction in his question: the one thing does not imply the other. She could have divorced him, like he would have preferred and she wanted to do anyway. She chose to lie to his face without remorse for a year. The why remains. Even in the end, shebsays she had a thosand excuses but no real reason. And maybe that's ture and she is not evading. But this is not the time for rationalizations and point scoring, his mental and emotional wellbeinf should have been a peiority. He didn't appreciate her ghosting him and making excuses to be with his family, trying to get him to detach from his family and friends and not being home -one of the reasons he goes to visit friends-. And of course he didn't like her lying to him for a year and being wiling to leave him for his enemy even when he was trying to get him fired. Or manipulating him into quitting. But he didn't cheat, and the question was not why you were not happy, but why you lied to me systematically, went to my worst enemg of all people and didn't leave him even when he wanted to get rid of me

He didn't ask why the relationship was miserable. That they were both unhappy was apparent to everyone. He asked why she cheated, instead of telling him or even leaving him. With his worst enemy that wanted to fire him, and choosing to stay with her lover despite that. After 20 years of marriage and a kid together.

Between being upset at him spending time wih friends and family and her deceiving him for a year, or caring mlre about his worst enemy -her lover- lying to her than firing him, there is an abyss that her self centeredness and unfounded insecurities are not enough to cross over. He was not a wife bearing drunk, he was someone that by her own admission any/most women would ahve been satisfied with. And if she was not, thr least she owed him was a divorce before a yearvof deception, not after.

Since he made it clear than why they were unhappy and whyshe cheated are two different questions, and one does not imply the other, both because they owe each other some honesty and respect after ep years and a kid (but ecen as strangers, oit of human decency), ans because she calculatingly exploited his trust for a year, chose his worst enemy that wanted to fire him and didn not care, and did not feel any guilt at the deception and manipulation, only at being discovered. All this while nlt hating her husband. He was not a wife beating drunk, he was, by her own admission in the first episodes with her lover, a dependable, kind, reliable guy, if a bit lonesome, that any/most women would have been happy with. He deserved respect and honest. And this could have meant a divorce. What he didn't deserve, besides her betrayal, was to have her shout remonstrations while she was supposed to apologize, questioning his love and care for her while she knew her took care for her when she was down and she was curt and snappy with him while knowing of the betrayal (the flashback in the car). Am chalking it up to projection and a coping mechanism. He didn't sleep around even after he learned of her infidelity and he had the chance (and maybe he shpuld have: he does not owe her any loyalty of she has not been showing any, yet he even rejects hugs).

Central point here is, their relationship was in a vicious spiral, they were both suffering.

She lied to him for a year, betraying him with his worst enemy, staying by his side as he was plotting to fire him and enlisted the help of someone accused of murder; she manipulated him into giving up his stable job and mortage his house, planning to divorce him as he started his business, which would have thus ended in a predictable failure. She played up his supposed insecurities in order to circumvent his perfectly reasonable fears due to the multiple failed business ventures of his brother, and his considerations about not being only responsible for his own life (the only thing she focused on -but if the market was so hot, why are the engineers in the company not getting paid much better bucks and having to endure humiliation? Can't see evil boss writing a glowing recommendation if he were to search for new employment, this was disingenous-), but also the lives of his eventual employees. This is not future-him, with the additional capital and experience at that level of management, and confidence. This is him beaten down, and crushed/wrecked by having his wife divorce him to be with his worst enemy. In all this, she did not feel any remorse at her deception, and only "felt like dying" when she was discovered.

Contrast this with him, who is also suffering, and frankly much more than her in terms of insecurities about not only her care, but her non-existent respect for him as a person, as shown by her actions (among other things, she considered her lover lying to her more important than him trying to hurt her husband). What does he do? Does he start another relationship? Does he care only about himself? No, even in their discussion, he says that he does not know how to fix this, but that he doesn't want to hurt her just to take the easy solution. And all along, he took care of her despite her betrayal, and even wanted to hide it from her, so she wouldn't know how much paint she made him feel -not that her self centeredness appears to allow her to care "that much", otherwise she would have been more worried about correcting his impression that he is unworthy of even basic respect, rather than about petty recriminations -they might have been more relevant in a context where she did *not* deceive him for a year and would have been willing to stay with someone out to destroy him-.

When he is hurt -when she hurt him, deliberately-, his first thought in about protecting her and trying to find a way to fix this. She did not spend a single thought of guilt or regret about her year long deception, and was willing to stay with someone that would have hurt him, and to manipulate him, only leaving because he lied about camping. Now she tearfully apologized because she was caught, she would not have otherwise, and even when apologizing she seemed equally or more preoccupied with talking about herself (how unfair her life is, her recriminations and...

"Dong-hoon says softly, “It wasn’t murder. It was ruled justifiable self defense.” He says that in her situation, anyone would have done the same, even himself."

"I feel like Dong-hoon’s speech about letting Ji-an move on from her painful past wasn’t just for Ji-an, but was also subconsciously for Yoon-hee. When he argued that Ji-an did what she had to in a dangerous situation and should be allowed to live freely now that it’s over, it felt as though his words could also apply to his wife’s mistake."

I disagree, I don't think that the situations are at all comparable, for the reasons explained in the snippet above itself. Ji An was a minor that defended herself and her family. She did something not only just, but heroic. It's what everyone would have done, it's what ML would have done. ML's wife did not do something everyone would have done and the ML would have done. Quite the opposite. She did not, quote, "did what she had to in a dangerous situation and should be allowed to live freely now that it’s over". It's not a matter of opinion: factually speaking, her situation does not fit this description, nor does ML's words about someone doing what everyone else would have done to protect her family, something she has been deemed innocent of due to self defense, apply to the wife's behavior. She was thinking about herself, was not guilty about deceiving and manipulating her husband, stood by the side of her lover that wanted to hurt him -in other words, she most emphatically was *not* protecting him, quite the contrary was deceiving him and trying to sc**w him over or see him being sc**ed over by her lover. I would say that not only are the situation not comparable, they are almost opposite of each other. She was not trying to protect her family at the expense of herself, she was willing to hurt them or see them hurt (certainly her husband) for her own selfish whims.

I also take issue with calling it a "mistake". It was a deliberate decision to deceive her husband for a year and stand by her lover as he chose to hurt him, only to leave him when he lied about camping. That's why she left him, that's where the "mistake" comes in. She did not feel any guilt the entire year of the affair and would not have left him had he only wanted to hurt her husband. For that matter, she would not even have apologized had she not been caught (that's where she feels pain: at having been caught; no pain/shame at deceiving her husband for an entire year or being willing to stay on the side of someone trying to fire him). So what's the mistake? Her choosing someone that would lie about camping (she did not leave him for trying to fire her husband, so not doing that is not a requirement)? Her being discovered? Again, she did not come clean, she was caught.

I not only don't see any parallel between the wife and Ji An's situations here, on the contrary I think that they are completely opposite of each other. Ji An was deemed innocent, and did what she did sacrificing herself to save her family, something everyone, ML included, would have done. ML's wife on the other hand was willing to hurt or see hurt (by her lover trying to fire him) her family, and certainly her husband, for her own selfish whim. And certainly ML wouldn't say that "everyone in her situation would have done the same, even himself", particularly when now, when he is made to suffer a level of humiliation and abandonment her wife could never dream to experience, far from thinking of himself, he worries about protecting her and fixing this situation, and even refuses to let Ji An hug him. Not saying that's a good thing, by the way. There is absolutely no reason for him to put his wife and her happyness first, when she was not willing to do the same. That would be throwing pearl to swine. He owes his loyalty, trust and love to people that deserve it and that would give him the same in return.

I think that the situation with between the wife and Ji An is pretty different. Ji An does everything to protect her family, she is selfless. She might have done bad things, but for the sake of protecting her family. Furthermore, note that she has been deemed innocent by the law... and I am curious what the director thinks she should have done instead? Let herself, a child, and the women in her family be assaulted by the money lander without defending herself and her loved ones? No, like ML says, she did what any self respecting human would have done. She acted selflessly, risking her life and freedom to protect her family.

ML's wife is the opposite, she behaved selfishly and did not hesitate to deceive and hurt her husband (no regret during the year long deception, no hesitation in snapping at him afterwards, taking him for granted, even after betraying him like she did, not till he catches her). ML says that Ji An should be proud of having defended her family, she should walk with her head held high, he looks at her and does not despises what he sees. By contrast, he can barely look at his wife in the face. Ji An did what she did for her family, ML's wife sacrificed her family, her husband, to her selfish whims. She is the one the ML would agree shouldn't feel she could look herself in the mirror, she is the one he cannot bear the look of.

One wanted to protect her family (doing whatever despicable act for a good goal, and actually regretting working against the ML now that she has know him)., The other was trying to satisfy a whim without caring about deceiving or hurting her husband, and only started caring after she was caught.

Not only don't I see a parallel between Ji An and ML's wife, I see them on opposite ends. One selflessly trying to protect her family, arousing ML's sympathy and understanding -he would do the same-. The other selfishly willing to sacrifice her husband (and her family) for a whim -he couldn't even imagine showing her that little respect, and it arouses his disgust: he still takes care of her and wants to avoid taking the easy road if it means she gets hurt, even trying to think of how to fix things, something that she does not seem to be actively invested in -she should not even have apologized had she not been caught-.

Regarding the ML's wife/Ji An parallel, I don't recall them offering an explanation of why she betrayed him rather than breaking things off with him (as her sister in law did, by the way), but I am pretty sure that "did what she had to in a dangerous situation and should be allowed to live freely now that it’s over" does not cover it -at no point was her life in danger, though if we imagine her husband jobless with a mortage on his house, right when she divorced him to be with his worst enemy, we might not be able to say the same thing about him..

Regarding the parallel, to be clear, here ML is talking about Ji An being *literally* innocent, meaning this is not about "forgiveness": he is saying that she has done nothing she should ask for forgiveness for. The same could not be said about his wife.

He does not know about the spying, of course, but even there she is doing it for her family, and now that she has known him she has changed her mind about this. Compare with the wife that did not have any issue deceiving and hurting him for a year, and only feels guilty at having been discovered.

If having a conscience is doing the right thing when nobody is looking, what does it say about the ML's wife that she was feeling no guilt about lying to him for an entire year, standing by the side of her lover when he was trying to fire him, and only felt like dying when he caught her red handed? Compare this with Ji An doing what she is doing for the sake of her family, not deceiving and hurting her husband out of a selfish whim like the wife, and still feeling guilty from her little time spent with ML and understanding what kind of person she is going to hurt unbeknownst to him. Factually speaking, by this definition, we can see that one of the gigantic distinctions between the ML's wife and Ji An is that only the latter possesses a working conscience.

Pretty sure Ji An deserved a hug this time around, since she did the work the wife should have done when she apologized, reassuring him and taking care of his emotional pain without selfishly being wrapped around her own issues, ensuring him that no, he does not, in fact, deserve to be humiliated, and yes, he does deserve respect.

I find it funny how the wife was able to callously deceive her husband for a year and him was none the wiser, but then she is left alone with his brother for a minute and she she immediately spills the beans... Where have all those stealth-mode skills/sneaking around gone?

In this chapter we learn that if ML let his wife meet her brother for a second in the last year, he would have learned about her deception much sooner, as apparently she is unable to keep a secret if her life depended on it when the guy is around -yes she was able to deceive her husband for a whole year... makes me wonder whether "trusting her unconditionally" made him gullible, or if she is simply slipping-.

I must say that I disagree with the reviewer about ML and his brothers being adorable together. I find the failed businessman pretty irritating, given how he feels no shame asking him to bow his head and suffer, either in his job or in his marriage, without sparing a thought about whether he deserves better (spoiler: he does). In this chapter he says some outrageous stuff (putting ML trying to protect his family and fix this, willing to take care of her while knowing of her betrayal and to not hurt her just to take the easy path, and his wife, who selfishly deceived and hurt him for her own whim, did not feel any guilt about it "when nobody is looking" -which is what the definition of a conscience is: doing the right thing when nobody is looking-, and was essentially dragged to the "apology" by circumstances, because she was caught -apology in quotes, since half or it or more were petty recriminations, completely out of place given the context, but so then was her general selfcenteredness-). He does exactly one thing right: tell the wife her husband loves her (i.e. stating the obvious).

Other brother was needlessly violent (even if you beat up the other guy, it's not as if you can change the facts of the situation), but overall directionally right (he deserves better, she does not deserve him, he should be with someone that loves, trusts and respects him like he does, or at least more than zero, which is the amount of respect she showed by her deception, her prioritizing a lie about camping to his unfair firing, and her in context petty complaints with no regards for him feeling undeserving of basic respect, when she was supposed to apologize for her actions -would have like the conversation to have happened without the baggage, or at least at another time-.

Given the way Ji An did his wife's job for her and put him back together after he was made to feel worthless and undeserving of even basic respect, it was good to see him return the favor and tell some basic truth: what was a young child supposed to do when a violent man was assaulting her and her female family members? Just roll over and die? No, what she did was not only right, but heroic. Not that she should have had to in the first place, the state's primary function being to provide citizens with basic security: as with her current beatings, I am constantly wondering why nobody calls the police on these violent criminals, or whether law enforcement is so ineffective in this drama's universe.

Pretty unimpressed with the failed businessman brother for the false equivalence between the wife and ML's suffering. The perp is not the victim. The wife did not feel a shred of guilt over lying to him for a whole year, and even when she was betraying him with his worst enemy she continued to treat him curtly, complainig about his failing while she knew that she was deceiving him and standig by her lover, that would have wanted to fire him, and mainpulating him. If having a conscience is doing the right thing when nobody is looking, she does not appear to possess one, as she did not feel any remorse for her deception and mistreatment as long as he did not know about her betrayal. She did not confess, she was found out. She felt like dying when he knew, and shameless pretending, but didn't feel neither regret nor shame for lying to him or mistreating him when he was unaware. By contrast, interesting to note that even the evil boss was skeptical about him betraying his wife when Ji An proposed seducing him. He deserves better: he would sacrifice himself for his family, her wife would sacrifice her family, or at least certainly him, for her whims.

I found it expecially irritating he would tell him to take her back *the very same day he discovered her betrayal*. He is the same guy that pushes ML to keep a job where he is humiliated because they need money. On one hand, it looks like he does not care about his humiliation, and does not think he deserves better (though he has options), on the other hard, it's pretty funny to think whether he would change his tune if he actually bothered to learn what the wife did, and discovered that not only she deceived him over a whole year (it was not a one night stand, but a premeditated, deliberate scheme with special phones and a dedicated apartment), but she was also willing to stand by her lover as he plotted firing him when she divorced him, and she even manipulated him into giving up his job and take a mortage with the house as collateral -and given that she would have left him for his worst enemy right at the critical/stressful period when he started a new business, and how this would wreck his mindset and confidence, plus his inexperience and lack of capital at the time (this is not him in the future), it was a disaster waiting to happen-. Considering the brother had 2 failed businesses and that this scheme would endanger both the two brothers and their mother, who lean on ML for their financial support. That might have made him change his tune, considering it's the whole reason his priority seemed not to lie with his brother's happyness either when it came to the job or his relationship.