Cheat on Me If You Can: Episode 13

by quirkycase

Our heroine’s husband finds himself in trouble with the authorities after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Adding to his worries and the detectives’ suspicions is the fact that his wife is strangely unreachable while he goes through this ordeal. Despite the dire circumstances, our morbid novelist remains as in control and unflappable as ever.

 
EPISODE 13

Seung-cheol and Se-jin stare in shock at Manager Kim’s dead body being wheeled through the station. They walk into the visitation room where he collapsed and see a stunned Woo-sung being handcuffed. When he asks why he’s being arrested, the detectives remind him outsiders are forbidden from bringing inmates food.

They know questioning him will be a challenge since he’s a lawyer. Plus, Yeo-joo is his wife. They try to call her, but she’s busy watering her greenhouse plants and doesn’t pick up.

Woo-sung claims everything was his own doing, from cooking the food that he brought in to deciding to take on Manager Kim’s case. When Seung-cheol suggests Yeo-joo was behind it, Woo-sung criticizes him for trying to bring Yeo-joo in to suit his narrative.

Se-jin explains that Manager Kim previously accused Yeo-joo of orchestrating his kidnapping, making Woo-sung realize Attorney Park was telling the truth. Se-jin also informs him that Yeo-joo and Soo-jung were seen arguing the day of Soo-jung’s death.

Woo-sung denies having anything to do with Manager Kim’s death but continues to assert he’s the one who made the food lest they suspect Yeo-joo. Meanwhile, Yeo-joo takes a break from her gardening when a PD comes to visit. He begs her to come on his program to help solve a difficult case: Soo-jung’s murder. Mrs. Yeom becomes curiously tense upon hearing that.

Seung-cheol and Se-jin play good cop, bad cop to try to get info out of Woo-sung. Good cop Se-jin has Seung-cheol leave the room but still can’t get anything useful. She does manage to get under his skin, though, by questioning why Yeo-joo isn’t picking up her phone. Woo-sung can’t fully hide his concern.

Yeo-joo looks over the PD’s file on Soo-jung’s murder and wonders if he’s willing to risk his job for this case. He doesn’t tell her that Attorney Park is behind this – she gave him the file and even stipulated that Yeo-joo had to help – and isn’t at all concerned that Yeo-joo has been questioned as a suspect in the case. If anything, that means she’ll know the case best.

Later, Mrs. Yeom tries to dissuade Yeo-joo from doing the program and looking further into Soo-jung’s death. Yeo-joo asks why she’s always disliked Soo-jung, remembering the time she told Yeo-joo to be wary of her. Mrs. Yeom covers that she just seemed like the type who would seduce married men.

Elsewhere, the medical examiner concludes that Manager Kim was likely poisoned, although they’ll need tests to be sure. He’ll start by examining the contents of Manager Kim’s stomach.

In the holding cell, Woo-sung keeps itching at his neck. He notices something hidden in his clothes: a talisman. He recognizes it from a case where a woman hid talismans to prevent her husband from cheating – she’d even chopped it into his food. Finding it hidden in his own clothes, Woo-sung fears Yeo-joo is onto his cheating.

Woo-sung calls Jin-ho to explain his situation and ask him to check on Yeo-joo since he can’t reach her. Elsewhere, Mi-rae’s mother hands her a plane ticket along with Jae-ha’s surveillance photos of her with Woo-sung. She coldly berates Mi-rae for causing trouble and tells her the best way to keep Woo-sung out of all this is to leave.

Soo-ho arrives home to find the sketchy agent in his apartment again. He informs Soo-ho about Woo-sung’s arrest, so Soo-ho goes to Yeo-joo’s to investigate. Outside, he finds a box of items Yeo-joo is discarding that includes hidden cameras, bolt cutters, and pesticide.

While Attorney Park pays Woo-sung a visit and barely conceals her gloating, Jin-ho arrives at Yeo-joo’s musters up his courage to face her. In the basement, Yeo-joo puts Soo-ho to work helping her clean out books she no longer needs. Soo-ho finds her recent behavior suspicious, but he’s not as quick to jump to conclusions as the sketchy agent who believes Yeo-joo orchestrated Soo-jung’s death and Woo-sung’s arrest as payback for their affair.

After successfully freeing a small bottle from underneath a storage shelf, Yeo-joo doesn’t notice when the shelf starts to tip over. Soo-ho does, though, and rushes over to cover her body with his, pinning her against the wall. They’re unharmed but in an awkwardly close position which Yeo-joo naturally points out, making Soo-ho spring away from her.

Soo-ho checks that she’s okay and helps Yeo-joo stand. In typical Yeo-joo fashion, she coolly tells him to clean this up tomorrow when he comes to work. She marches upstairs without so much as a thank you.

Yeo-joo is surprised to find Jin-ho waiting for her. She seems unfazed by the situation he lays out and doesn’t see the point in hiring a lawyer for Woo-sung who is a lawyer himself. If he’s innocent, he’ll be released soon.

Jin-ho is aghast at her cold reaction, especially when she suggests Woo-sung’s time in a holding cell will give him new perspective as a lawyer. He’s also bothered by what he saw in the basement. Jin-ho had witnessed the aftermath of the shelf incident with Yeo-joo and Soo-ho looking a little too cozy, but he decides it’s best to ignore it.

In his cell, Woo-sung contemplates what Attorney Park shared with him: Manager Kim died from a severe allergic reaction. Attorney Park likened it to a novel plot. “I heard that unfaithful men are always punished in your wife’s books,” she hinted. Sometimes they die or are framed for murder.

At home, Yeo-joo delves into books and studies on immunology and allergies. She learned from Jin-ho that Manager Kim seemed to have trouble breathing after eating the lunch box food.

The following day, Yeo-joo checks with Mrs. Yeom to see whether she added shrimp to the japchae, but she denies it. In a flashback, we see that she did add shakes of something powdered to the vegetables, though.

The detectives are informed that there was no poison in the food. Despite that Manager Kim died of anaphylaxis, there were no traces of common allergens like shellfish or nuts either. Whoever cooked the dish might’ve even intentionally excluded them.

Yeo-joo visits Woo-sung at the station and gets right to the point. How did Manager Kim die? She notices Woo-sung itching at a rash on his neck and asks if he ate shrimp, but he claims he didn’t.

Seung-cheol gets a call from Yeo-joo asking if they’ve analyzed the food she made. She clarifies that she made it entirely on her own and asks to take her husband home. Yeo-joo sits down with the detectives and says she’s not turning herself in but lodging a complaint.

Again, she asks them to release Woo-sung and laughs at the idea that he could be an accomplice. Yeo-joo is positive there was no poison, and she even made sure to exclude allergens when she cooked. Se-jin wonders how she knew Manager Kim was allergic to shellfish, but Yeo-joo clarifies she cooks without allergens because of Woo-sung’s allergies.

Now that she knows Manager Kim was allergic to shellfish, she guesses someone must’ve used that to off him. Yeo-joo comments that she’s thirsty and notices that the water dispenser is missing. Se-jin and Seung-cheol share a look. Guess it wasn’t the food that was spiked.

Yeo-joo heard from Woo-sung that the only thing he’d consumed was the water at the station. The detectives squirm as she asks if the water is being inspected, too. They obviously don’t share with her that the water was found to contain a new drug that can cause an allergic shock.

Yeo-joo puts together that Manager Kim died because his allergy was severe while Woo-sung’s mild allergy meant he only got a rash. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if reporters got wind that a suspect died from contaminated water while in custody? Cue Yeo-joo and Woo-sung walking out arm in arm.

Seung-cheol and Se-jin aren’t letting go of their suspicions toward Yeo-joo so easily and wonder if she drugged the water. Woo-sung, on the other hand, feels guilty about being suspicious of Yeo-joo. In the car, his secret phone (stashed in the backseat) starts to buzz, and we see a distraught Mi-rae trying to call.

Meanwhile, Yeo-joo is frustrated when Woo-sung says Manager Kim collapsed before he could reveal the whereabouts of the USB. Woo-sung drops Yeo-joo off at home and uses going to the pharmacy as an excuse to check his secret phone.

Woo-sung reads the goodbye text from Mi-rae. Worried, he tries calling her back, but she doesn’t answer. At home, a seemingly drugged out Jae-ha screams for Mi-rae but gets no response. Oh no.

He enters the bathroom and sees her in the bath. Suddenly, he backs up and begins hyperventilating in shock. Calling her name, Jae-ha moves toward her but stumbles back at the sight of the bloody water and her unnaturally still face. Jae-ha cowers in a corner and screams for Secretary Choi.

While Mi-rae is rushed into the operating room, Woo-sung encourages Yeo-joo to go on the TV program, not knowing it’s for Soo-jung’s case. He’s taken off guard when Yeo-joo asks for info about Attorney Park. She participates in the show, and Yeo-joo knows they trained at the institute together.

Yeo-joo watches Mrs. Yeom sprinkle something (the same thing she put in the japchae) into a pan as Woo-sung suddenly changes his tune and suggests she focus on her novel instead of the TV program. When Mrs. Yeom brings over a dish for Woo-sung, Yeo-joo stops him from eating it. The oyster sauce could cause an allergic reaction.

In the basement, Yeo-joo confronts Mrs. Yeom about the spice she used, noting it smells herbal. Yeo-joo won’t accept a vague answer, so Mrs. Yeom fesses up that it’s to “lower a man’s stamina.” Scoffing, Yeo-joo pulls out the anti-cheating talisman she found in Woo-sung’s underwear. Mrs. Yeom claims it’s effective.

Yeo-joo reminds her that Woo-sung even signed a physical waiver, and it’s not like she’d just let him cheat. Mrs. Yeom sighs sadly when Yeo-joo laughs that he’d be buried already if that were the case. Yeo-joo tells her to stop her covert anti-cheating remedies.

That night, Woo-sung sneaks out of bed and drives to a phonebooth to retrieve the USB, finding it taped inside the light fixture right where Manager Kim said it would be. But Woo-sung isn’t the only one being sneaky in the night. Mrs. Yeom digs around in Yeo-joo’s garden and unearths something wrapped in a black bag.

Woo-sung panics when Yeo-joo calls him as he’s driving home. When she can’t reach him, Yeo-joo searches through the house. She goes outside and spots him in the yard acting shifty.

Yeo-joo snatches the object he’s hiding behind his back. It’s a pack of cigarettes. He claims he couldn’t sleep and vows to quit. Mrs. Yeom watches them from around the corner and shakes her head at Woo-sung’s empty promise that he’d never do something to upset Yeo-joo.

Inside, Woo-sung tries to persuade Yeo-joo to go to bed and save work for tomorrow. “When will we make a baby?” (I was wondering if that’d ever get brought up again.) It clearly won’t be tonight as Yeo-joo sends him to bed and shuts herself in her office.

Woo-sung immediately grabs his laptop to check the USB, but it has no charge. In the time it takes him to go get his charger, the USB disappears. As he scrambles around, Yeo-joo plugs the USB into her computer in her office. She wears a rare expression of genuine surprise as she looks through the contents.

The next day, Woo-sung searches Yeo-joo’s office but doesn’t find the USB. He looks like a deer in headlights when Yeo-joo catches him frantically searching the patio. His unconvincing lies upset Yeo-joo, although she doesn’t say anything directly. She just glares and thinks of the USB.

The atmosphere is strained between the couple throughout the day, but Yeo-joo still insists on shadowing him at work for her book. In the afternoon, she suggests they go for a drive, and he’s justifiably nervous when she stops to purchase tools before embarking on their trip. Her supplies would make a serial killer envious: a chainsaw, lots of sharp tools, an apron, and a large duffel bag.

At a firing range, the sketchy agent thinks Woo-sung is in even more danger now that he’s out of custody. Yeo-joo has the NIS backing her. “Your job is to clean up Yeo-joo’s mess, isn’t it?” he asks Soo-ho.

Soo-ho doesn’t get why the NIS is beholden to Yeo-joo, but the sketchy agent corrects him. It’s her father Assemblyman Park Jae-geun who pulls the strings. He might become the next president, so the NIS doesn’t want to upset him.

In the dark, Woo-sung follows Yeo-joo’s directions as they drive through the mountains on the road to the cemetery.

 
COMMENTS

So, we finally get confirmation that Assemblyman Park is Yeo-joo’s father and that he’s the reason Yeo-joo is being protected by the NIS. Or, at least, that’s the information the sketchy agent has. Did Assemblyman Park have such influence over the NIS a decade ago when this all began? If so, his power is due to a lot more than his presidential bid. Although we now have some info on Yeo-joo’s father, we know nothing about her mother. From the flashbacks, we know that Yeo-joo and her father stopped speaking 19 years ago, and my guess is that it has something to do with her mother.

Another more major question the drama has yet to answer is what Soo-jung was involved in nine years ago that led to her getting kidnapped by Director Ma. Everything keeps linking back to Yeo-joo’s “The Secret Prayer Room,” so I’m assuming this will too. How Soo-jung fits into it, though, I have no idea. I’m not looking to our detective pair to figure it out, that’s for sure. For all the running around they’ve been doing, they haven’t made much headway on Soo-jung’s case so far. I think part of the problem is their single-minded focus on Yeo-joo. Seung-cheol in particular is so biased against her that he seems to be more intent on taking her down than considering other possibilities. While their suspicion of Yeo-joo is warranted, it’s always dangerous to get so focused on one angle that you lose sight of everything else. I expect Yeo-joo will crack the case before they do, especially if she goes on that program to try to solve it.

Yeo-joo even has the coveted USB now, although something is strange about that whole situation. I don’t get why Manager Kim would tell Woo-sung where it was so easily, particularly if it contains incriminating footage of Woo-sung. There must be a reason he told him where to find it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he switched it out or if there’s something unexpected on there in addition to the footage. We saw Yeo-joo’s surprised reaction to the contents, but if she’d just seen the CCTV footage of Woo-sung, I imagine they’d have shown us that directly. The fact that we didn’t see the screen makes me suspicious.

Speaking of suspicious, I really don’t trust Mrs. Yeom. She seems like the type of person who hides a lot and who’d go too far in trying to protect Yeo-joo. Maybe all of her shifty behavior has been about Woo-sung’s affair, but that doesn’t explain her phone call a while back. Also, what did she dig up from the garden? I think there’s probably more to it all, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s involved in recent happenings, even in a tangential way.

Things just get darker and darker with Mi-rae. Right when she sent that goodbye text, I had a sinking feeling. She was so desperate and resigned. They got her into surgery, which must mean she isn’t dead yet. If she survives, hopefully this will wake her family up to how dangerous their mistreatment of her is. That’s assuming any of them care. I’m really rooting for her to pull through and get out of her situation. Or, even better, to take her abuser and his enablers down.

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