Cheat on Me If You Can: Episode 9

by quirkycase

Our resident spy unearths surprising information about our heroine’s past that suggests her secrets could run deeper than he’d thought. As he pokes around for more intel, our heroine continues her quest to unearth her husband’s secrets and makes some discoveries. To round out the sleuthing, our detectives make contact with an unexpected potential ally who may have crucial information about the case.

 
EPISODE 9

Yeo-joo plucks a long strand of hair from the car seat. “Was there a woman in this car?” she asks Woo-sung. He can’t see the hair in her hand, so he denies it. She smiles, making him nervous.

In his apartment, Soo-ho drops his gun per the intruder’s demand. “Why are you looking for me?” Ah, he’s the agent who was assigned to Yeo-joo in the past.

At home, Woo-sung asks Mrs. Yeom where Yeo-joo is. Hearing she’s outside, he goes into her office, which Mrs. Yeom watches with confusion. The office is now back to normal – the microscope and kit are gone.

The agent wonders why Soo-ho is looking for him behind Director Ma’s back when Director Ma is the one most familiar with Yeo-joo. Soo-ho argues this is his job and manages to wrestle the agent’s gun from him.

Mrs. Yeom brings tea out to Yeo-joo and notices that she seems at ease. Yeo-joo feels her head is finally clear. She likens it to when she failed the police exam; waiting for the result was nerve-wracking, but she was okay once she definitively knew she failed.

Soo-ho asks the agent at gunpoint why he was ordered to watch Yeo-joo. Knowing Soo-ho can’t shoot him, the agent finds his bravado amusing. He asks if Soo-ho knows the plot of Yeo-joo’s new novel and laughs when Soo-ho asks if he’s proposing a deal.

Yeo-joo jokes with Mrs. Yeom about her overprotectiveness when she asserts that she’s glad Yeo-joo didn’t become a cop because it’s dangerous. Yeo-joo stops Mrs. Yeom from leaving. “You’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”

Mrs. Yeom berates her for being ridiculous, which makes Yeo-joo smile. She agrees, but she had to ask anyway. As Mrs. Yeom leaves, both her and Yeo-joo’s expressions turn concerned.

Soo-ho shares the title of Yeo-joo’s book with the agent in exchange for his story. Starting 10 years ago, he used to dig through Yeo-joo’s trash to find snippets of her novel plot which he’d report to his superiors. One day, he discovered she’d purchased tetrodotoxin (a poison) so she could kill her boyfriend who she thought was cheating. Yikes.

Soo-ho asks if he’s still alive. “He married her,” the agent replies. When Soo-ho asks how dangerous Yeo-joo is, the agent points out that there have been multiple strange deaths around her.

Woo-sung approaches Yeo-joo as she waters the flowers. She freaks him out by proudly showing off her poisonous flower known as “bloody fingers” (foxglove). With bright eyes, she explains that it gained fame after a housewife brewed her husband’s tea with it.

You can almost see the shiver go down Woo-sung’s spine when she smiles. In his haste to stand, he almost backs into a different poisonous plant. Woo-sung laughs nervously and says these seem too dangerous to have at home. “That’s why I’m growing them,” Yeo-joo responds.

An analyst once described Yeo-joo as either a “psychopathic killer” or “just a miserable woman,” which the agent dismisses as useless. When he offhandedly mentions “this” marriage when talking about Yeo-joo and Woo-sung, Soo-ho does a double take. The agent doesn’t elaborate and just says he wishes he could read her new novel.

Yeo-joo tries to work but gets distracted thinking about Manager Kim. He’s been quiet for too long. We cut to the Philippines where the Grim Reaper sneaks up on a sleeping Manager Kim. He pokes him awake with a gun and asks where the USB is. He’s surprised to see it’s not Manager Kim in the bed. The real Manager Kim is on the brink of hysteria in a shipping crate in the ocean.

Director Ma is irate when the Grim Reaper reports that both Manager Kim and the USB are missing. He orders the Grim Reaper to bring back that USB no matter what. Holding said USB, Manager Kim cries in the shipping crate and apologizes to Soo-jung, “I was going to reveal the truth of your death with this …”

While Yeo-joo makes a trip to the university, Soo-ho stares at her wedding photos on the mantle. For whatever reason, the great spy theorizes aloud about whether Woo-sung was fooled into thinking this is Yeo-joo’s first marriage. Mrs. Yeom catches him muttering to himself about someone being fooled, but he plays it off.

Yeo-joo finds a poster for the first talk Woo-sung gave at the university and visits Saemirae Hall. She envisions Mi-rae finding his dropped pen and running after him. Yeo-joo scoffs it must’ve been like a scene from a movie.

She goes to the administration office and exits having discovered Mi-rae’s name. “Do I just need to clean things up now?” she wonders. She passes by Mi-rae, but it’s hard to tell if she recognizes her; the perfume she’s wearing is different.

At the office, Woo-sung can’t believe Attorney Park would be petty enough to go against this ironclad case just to get back at him. Jin-ho thinks she’d even be reckless enough to go to Yeo-joo about the affair, but Woo-sung doubts it.

He gets a call from Yeo-joo reminding him that she wants to have dinner with Jin-ho and Yoon-hee. Jin-ho is scared of her and begs Woo-sung to make an excuse for him. It doesn’t help much since she immediately calls Jin-ho after she hangs up with Woo-sung.

Jin-ho lies that his mother-in-law’s birthday is on that day, but she’s one step ahead of him – she already talked to Yoon-hee. He has no choice but to agree to see her for dinner.

Yeo-joo, Woo-sung, Director Ma, and Se-jin and Seung-cheol all watch news reports on Soo-jung’s body being transported to the funeral hall. The autopsy determined cause of death as the stab wound to her carotid artery.

A man who I’m guessing is her father struggles to identify Soo-jung’s body since he hasn’t seen her in 20 years. He’s pretty blasé about the whole thing and unwilling to spend much of anything on her funeral, but CEO YOON strides in and orders the best of everything.

She introduces herself as the CEO of Soo-jung’s agency and orders her subordinates to quietly escort the “trash” father who used to beat Soo-jung out of the building. He has the nerve to beg for money even as he’s dragged away.

Soo-ho reports to Director Ma as usual, but it seems he’s been doing some digging into his boss. He notices he wears a ring, but he’s asked around and discovered Director Ma isn’t married or in a relationship. The agent who snuck into Soo-ho’s apartment watches him leave Director Ma’s office and informs someone over the phone that he’ll try to get Soo-ho on their side.

Yeo-joo receives an anonymous letter and opens it to find a burnt wedding invitation. Nine years ago, she gave that same invitation to a man whose face we don’t see fully but who looks like the man Director Ma serves.

She’d brought her fiancé with her since she thought her father “should see what his son-in-law looks like.” (Of course, his face is hidden so we don’t get to see what he looks like.) Now, Yeo-joo hides the invitation from Mrs. Yeom.

Elsewhere, Director Ma stares at a ring and flashes back to when he was in the hospital covered in burns. A woman quietly placed the ring on his bed and walked away as he cried. “I thought everything had ended then,” he muses now.

Woo-sung drags Jin-ho with him to Soo-jung’s funeral which is filled with gangster types. Jin-ho is shocked to realize the rumors of CEO Yoon associating with gang members is true. Woo-sung breaks down sobbing as he places a flower and bows to Soo-jung’s memorial table.

His crying gets CEO Yoon going, and then they’re both sobbing and hugging each other. She pulls herself together enough to ask how he knows Soo-jung. Woo-sung stammers his way through a non-answer and tries to escape, but he’s guilted into staying to eat.

Meanwhile, Mi-rae and her club are painting murals on neighborhood walls. She decides to paint the scene from the river the day she saved Woo-sung. At the funeral, Woo-sung hurries Jin-ho along since he has to go paint a mural at Consultant Nam’s behest.

CEO Yoon drinks, angry that the cops still haven’t found who killed Soo-jung. She says Soo-jung was like a sister to her and asks a man (one of her gang-related friends, perhaps) to find whoever did it and kill them. Elsewhere, Manager Kim arrives back on Korean shores.

While painting a mural, Woo-sung panics when Consultant Nam says he called reporters. Woo-sung is scared Yeo-joo will see his political activities, but Consultant Nam assures him she’ll be supportive. Woo-sung looks over and sees Mi-rae working on her mural.

Mi-rae smiles thinking about that day at the river. “What are you painting?” Woo-sung asks. She’s so startled and embarrassed that she tosses half a can of paint over the image of him falling off the boat. Not only did she make things awkward, she also got paint on his shoes.

A man with his face covered surreptitiously takes photos of them from a distance. One of the club members confronts him, and he runs off.

Seung-cheol and Se-jin continue looking into the cemetery and discover Yeo-joo’s car on the CCTV footage of that night. As they investigate, Seung-cheol gets a phone call: it’s Manager Kim.

Meanwhile, Woo-sung buys a new pair of shoes and wonders what got into Mi-rae earlier. She’s currently wondering the same thing but smiles when she thinks of how Woo-sung had smiled good-naturedly even after she’d splattered him with paint. She decides to buy him a new pair of shoes.

Manager Kim goes to the agreed upon restaurant to wait for Seung-cheol and eats like he’s been starving. Seung-cheol and Se-jin rush over, but it looks like someone else got there first. Manager Kim is missing, and the restaurant is a mess. They take statements from witnesses and gather CCTV footage from the area.

While Yeo-joo heads out to meet Woo-sung, Seung-cheol’s wife shows up unexpectedly at the hotel where he’s camping out with Se-jin. Back at the station, Se-jin and her smug, flirty colleague watch the couple argue.

Soo-ho helps Mrs. Yeom prepare dinner and takes the opportunity to ask questions about Yeo-joo. Mrs. Yeom shares that Yeo-joo never had an interest in marriage before Woo-sung. Soo-ho’s attempt to gain intel on Yeo-joo’s possible previous marriage is anything but seamless as he awkwardly says that he thought Yeo-joo must’ve been married multiple times because of the male characters in her novels. Mrs. Yeom is naturally taken aback by the bizarre reasoning.

Seung-cheol gets a call mid fight with his wife about someone spotting Manager Kim. Before they take off after the lead, Se-jin assures Seung-cheol’s wife she has high standards, so she doesn’t need to worry.

Mrs. Yeom shares a piece of advice with Soo-ho from her 30 years of experience: it’s never good to know too much about your employer’s family life. She sends him on an errand, so he heads to the convenience store.

Soo-ho informs Ji-eun that he needs to be more careful since Mrs. Yeom is getting suspicious of him. Ji-eun passes along Yeo-joo’s call records. As he walks away, she observes that he hasn’t been keeping her in the loop about Yeo-joo lately.

Woo-sung sees a missed call from Yeo-joo and tries to call her back, but she ignores it as she drives. When he and Jin-ho return to the office, they find Mi-rae waiting. Yeo-joo arrives outside the building as Mi-rae presents Woo-sung with the new shoes.

Jin-ho goes to make Mi-rae a cup of coffee but not before letting Woo-sung know he’s keeping his eye on them. He comes face to face with Yeo-joo in the main office. Jin-ho loudly greets her to alert Woo-sung.

Mi-rae hears that someone has entered and goes to leave. In a panic, Woo-sung grabs her hand to stop her. Beyond the door, Yeo-joo ignores Jin-ho’s bizarre, obnoxious behavior and pushes him aside. She enters to find Woo-sung alone, but she immediately smells Mi-rae’s distinct perfume.

Her eyes land on the gift box, and Mi-rae watches from the cupboard as Yeo-joo pulls out the pair of shoes. Woo-sung lies that they’re so comfortable he wanted another pair. Yeo-joo notes that they’re a size bigger, so he fibs that his feet swell. Woo-sung covers his nerves by saying he’s excited to see her and pulls Yeo-joo into a hug.

Soo-ho examines the call log and finds what looks like a burner phone number. He uses his own burner phone to call it, and his eyes widen when Director Ma answers.

Director Ma hangs up after a few seconds of silence, but he knows Yeo-joo is the only one with that number. Soo-ho recalls the agent saying Director Ma knows Yeo-joo best and now surmises they must know each other personally.

In his office, Woo-sung tries to remain calm as Yeo-joo walks right by the cabinet Mi-rae is hiding in. She tells him she’s heading to Soo-jung’s funeral and suggests he come too. When he protests that he didn’t know Soo-jung that well, Yeo-joo agrees to go alone.

Mi-rae breathes a sigh of relief when Woo-sung walks Yeo-joo out, but she wonders why she was forced to hide like this. Suddenly, the cabinet doors open, and Mi-rae screams. Yeo-joo stares directly at her as she calmly greets her, “Hello, Go Mi-rae. We finally meet.” Woo-sung’s mouth hangs open in shock.

 
COMMENTS

I thought Yeo-joo would sleuth around behind the scenes for a bit longer, but I’m glad she’s confronting the Mi-rae thing head on. At this point, Mi-rae is playing with fire. She’s clearly interested in Woo-sung and seeks him out despite knowing he’s married. I’m not sure how far she’d go, but she’s already toeing the line. Given her position, you’d think she’d be a little more cautious with stuff that could cause a scandal. I get that she’s young, but she’s confusingly naïve for someone of her status and situation.

We finally got a miniscule glimpse into Yeo-joo’s past, but it just leads to more questions. I doubt that Yeo-joo was officially married before – that’d be hard to hide – so I’m assuming she was engaged at the most. We know that Woo-sung proposed five years ago, so Mrs. Yeom’s claim that Yeo-joo had never had a serious relationship before him is obviously a lie. I can’t imagine she didn’t know about it, although I suppose it’s possible Mrs. Yeom hasn’t been continuously with Yeo-joo over the years. Yeo-joo did hide that burnt wedding invitation from her, so it’s either a secret or a point of contention. Either way, I don’t trust Mrs. Yeom entirely; she just comes across shifty sometimes like after Yeo-joo asked if she was hiding anything. Even if she’s hiding something, I don’t think she’d do anything intentionally that would hurt Yeo-joo, and I doubt she’s on Director Ma’s side or anything since they wouldn’t need Soo-ho if that were the case.

They seem to be implying that Director Ma might be Yeo-joo’s former fiancé given the emphasis on the returned ring by a woman whose face we don’t see. This drama loves those no-face or half-face shots. Since we saw Director Ma watching that woman and little girl on the playground a few episodes back, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yeo-joo possibility is a red herring. But clearly, he’s linked to Yeo-joo in a deeper way than it first appeared. From the flashback, the man Director Ma reports to is likely Yeo-joo’s father. That could explain why she’s being watched, yet no action is ever taken against her despite the claims that she’s dangerous. Even when she bought poison, they didn’t do anything about it. And recently, they’ve been covering up anything that connects her to Soo-jung’s case. Whether she’s truly dangerous, though, remains to be seen since there’s only conjecture to back it up so far.

Yeo-joo’s motives are still so murky, so it’s hard to guess with any certainty what she’s done or would do. Now it’s looking like Manager Kim has evidence of Soo-jung’s killer that he’s trying to keep safe, which could mean Yeo-joo was helping hide him to keep it out of the wrong hands. Or maybe she’s trying to keep whatever happened to Soo-jung hidden. Whatever the case, I have a feeling she knows something, and it’s connected to past events. Everything seems to link back to nine years ago. That wedding invitation was from nine years ago, Soo-jung’s abduction by Director Ma happened nine years ago, Yeo-joo’s falling out with Soo-jung happened nine years ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever went down with “The Secret Prayer Room” happened around that time too.

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