Happiness: Episode 9

by quirkycase

Our leads find themselves on the defensive and work to prove they’re not a danger to the residents. In the process, everyone discovers there might be more infected among them than they’d assumed. While the residents deal with yet another tragedy that leaves everyone shaken, our lieutenant colonel gets news on the treatment front.

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

Young-ok leads the charge into Sae-bom and Yi-hyun’s place with a shame-faced Jung-kook in tow. Joo-hyung sneaks off and starts rifling through their things, looking for the Next pills Yi-hyun confiscated. He tells Yi-hyun he wants them so he doesn’t die if he gets bitten – the pills kept his wife alive after having her head bashed in, after all.

Joo-hyung wonders if Seo-yoon is safe here and makes the terrifying suggestion that he could take care of her. Apparently, he likes kids. Thankfully, no one tries to forcibly take Seo-yoon away.

After getting her way, Young-ok joins everyone else waiting anxiously in the hall. Sae-bom grows increasingly angry and marches out into the hall. She suggests everyone have their little meeting about her and Yi-hyun’s fate at Young-ok’s place, earning a glare from Young-ok.

Yi-hyun smooths things over and leads Sae-bom back inside. Jung-kook follows and asks Sae-bom whether she truly doesn’t feel sick. Sae-bom just says she’s disappointed in him.

Sae-bom’s little revenge worked and everyone decides the best place to meet is Young-ok’s, so she has no choice but to let them in. Outside 501, Yi-hyun assures Jung-kook that Sae-bom is fine and warns him not to trust the others.

Inside Young-ok’s, everyone is shocked at how bare the apartment is. While they discuss kicking out Yi-hyun and Sae-bom and taking their supplies, Andrew slips out to go warn the couple. Sae-bom tells Yi-hyun to stay with Seo-yoon and runs upstairs with her apple-peeling knife still in hand.

She arrives as Jung-kook tries to convince everyone to let them stay. Things escalate when Joo-hyung tries to swipe Jung-kook’s gun. Sae-bom kicks Joo-hyung to the ground, and then Jung-kook pulls the gun on her. Sae-bom easily grabs it from him and trains it on Joo-hyung.

He dares her to shoot but cowers when she actually pulls the trigger. He’s so scared he pees himself, but Sae-bom explains the first round is always blank in a cop’s gun. She then suggests a test to see who’s truly infected.

Anyone infected will turn when there’s blood, so she holds up her knife and prepares to cut her hand. Yi-hyun arrives and grabs the knife, cutting his own hand instead. Sae-bom takes off her sweatshirt to try to wrap the wound, but Yi-hyun shakes her off. He walks up to everyone in turn as his blood runs.

They all seem fine, albeit grossed out. But then Bo-ram turns. Huh. Sae-bom leaps into action, using her sweatshirt to drag Bo-ram away from Yi-hyun. While everyone else screams and cowers, Sae-bom and Yi-hyun wrestle Bo-ram to the ground and subdue her.

After they take Bo-ram to the gym office, Sae-bom tells Jung-kook to stand guard and drags Yi-hyun out to treat his hand; she’s worried it’ll get infected. Bo-ram comes to her senses, so Yi-hyun tells Sae-bom to check on her. Sae-bom reluctantly goes after giving Yi-hyun strict instructions to go home and treat his cut. He agrees, and then goes up to Young-ok’s where everyone is still gathered.

In the gym office, Bo-ram admits she got infected back at the supermarket. She thanks Sae-bom for subduing her back there and not letting her bite anyone. Before she leaves, Sae-bom asks if Bo-ram threw out that bloodstained towel, but she says it wasn’t her.

Jung-kook and Bo-ram hear sounds coming from the driving range where Soo-min is kept. Woo-chang is currently there trying to convince Soo-min to say Sae-bom is infected. He plays all tough until Sae-bom shows up, and then he’s falling all over himself to leave.

When everyone leaves Young-ok’s, only So-yoon stops to politely say goodbye to Yi-hyun and acknowledge his hard work. Woo-chang arrives home and is startled to see the blood in his apartment. He takes a swig of water (uh-oh), and then he begins cleaning the blood … with his tongue (bleh). He pulls himself together when Young-ok comes in the room.

Downstairs, Sae-bom arrives home before Yi-hyun and glares daggers when he arrives. He stammers that he was totally going to stay home like he promised but he had the good idea to see if anyone else was infected first.

Before she can drag Yi-hyun inside, Jung-kook shows up. He can barely hold his head up from the shame, but Sae-bom tells him to come inside. She and Yi-hyun are forgiving and just ask him to come to them the next time he’s worried about something.

Inside, Jung-kook watches Seo-yoon while Sae-bom treats Yi-hyun’s wound. She scolds him for being reckless. She was going to barely scratch herself, yet he gashed his hand open.

Sae-bom tells him not to do something like this again. She’s so upset her stomach hurts and she might not even be able to eat dinner. Yi-hyun says that’s how he felt watching her stand off against everyone as she held that knife.

The next day, Sae-bom covers Bo-ram with a blanket and leads her out of the office while everyone holds a meeting in the gym. Yi-hyun asks for someone to volunteer for another blood test. Andrew grabs a knife and slashes his arm without hesitation. They collect the blood in a cup and put it in front of each person’s face. This time, no one turns.

While Yi-hyun exhaustedly listens to everyone arguing, Ji-soo reports to Tae-seok that severe patients are showing a mutation: they’re able to suppress their thirst to hide their symptoms. Tae-seok goes in to see Chairman Choi who is barely stable due to sedatives. Once he turns again, it’ll likely be the end for him.

Tae-seok says Chairman Choi’s funeral went well and shows him a photo. Harsh. He’ll likely be commended for his service in the clinical trials. His children wept. Tae-seok guesses they don’t know about the slush fund.

Chairman Choi cautions Tae-seok that once the government is finished with him, he won’t be safe. “Your wife and child will end up like me.” Once Tae-seok is done taunting Chairman Choi some more, he checks on Sae-bom’s blood panel.

They need more patients with this mutation for testing, so Tae-seok suggests they look toward the apartment complex. Ji-soo realizes this is why he’s kept them in lockdown. Tae-seok admits they need to understand how the virus develops over time. He instructs Ji-soo to open the perimeter a crack, just enough for an infected person to slip through so they can grab them.

Meanwhile, Sae-bom goes to see Se-hoon for supplies since they plan to keep Bo-ram on the rooftop. He lends her a tent and gives her some of his food and water, too. Bo-ram asks for only a little water – too much will make her thirst worse. Sae-bom realizes that’s why Bo-ram didn’t drink when Joo-hyung provided the beverages that day and tries to recall who else didn’t drink.

At the driving range, Yi-hyun and Jung-kook bring Soo-min his meal. He asks Yi-hyun to stay back since being near people makes the thirst worse. But he realizes that Woo-chang didn’t make him thirsty when he was down here.

Yi-hyun recalls Jung-kook saying the zombies didn’t attack Woo-chang, which Jung-kook attributes to his “holiness.” Yi-hyun’s wheels are clearly turning. Upstairs, Woo-chang prays but it’s not enough to curb his thirst.

Young-ok comes back from checking for more infected throughout the building. Her newest strategy is to run for rep on the issue of safety. She’s carrying around the cup with Andrew’s blood in it, testing people.

She sets it down on the counter, and Woo-chang is transfixed. He then starts staring at her neck, even hallucinating her telling him to bite. When she leaves the room briefly, he drinks the blood but doesn’t turn. Young-ok returns and screams to see his mouth covered in blood.

At the same time, Sae-bom rushes to tell Yi-hyun that Woo-chang didn’t drink that day. Yi-hyun shares that infected people aren’t interested in Woo-chang, which makes sense if he’s infected. They head to Young-ok’s apartment where Young-ok has locked herself in a room.

He cries that it’s a misunderstanding but then admits Seung-beom gave him Next. He knew she’d kick him out if he told her. Woo-chang has been holding on this whole time and resorted to drinking his own blood, but it didn’t help.

Even now, all Young-ok cares about is how this will affect her chances of becoming the resident rep. She instructs him to lock himself in his room, and she’ll tell others he’s sick. When he doesn’t respond, Young-ok opens the door. Woo-chang is gone.

This time, Sae-bom is calm while Yi-hyun is fired up and bangs on Young-ok’s door. She says Woo-chang isn’t home, but Yi-hyun barges in anyway. While Yi-hyun checks the apartment, Sae-bom checks the hallway.

Woo-chang runs down the stairs and spots Jung-kook in the stairwell. He escapes to the 6th floor, but Joo-hyung is in the hall. Woo-chang fully turns. Joo-hyung runs screaming inside his apartment, ignoring Hae-sung (who quickly puts his pants back on) and Sang-hee.

Joo-hyung doesn’t bother shutting the door and locks himself in his room. Hae-sung hides behind Sang-hee as Woo-chang advances. Sae-bom rushes in and tackles Woo-chang to the ground. Yi-hyun isn’t far behind and runs in to find Woo-chang pinning Sae-bom down.

Yi-hyun takes off his bandage and reopens his wound, luring Woo-chang away from Sae-bom. Together, Yi-hyun and Sae-bom fight Woo-chang off and subdue him. They tie his hands and throw a blanket over his head to help him calm down.

They don’t realize Joo-hyun is hiding in his room. When everyone leaves, he slips out and removes the blanket. He stands in front of the open window and ducks down as Woo-chang runs at him. Woo-chang falls out the window.

Sae-bom and Yi-hyun run in upon hearing a thud and go over to the window. Young-ok walks over in a daze and sees her husband’s body below. “You killed him,” she says in shock.

Yi-hyun finds Joo-hyung hiding in his room and asks if he’s been here this whole time. Joo-hyung, of course, pretends to have no idea what’s happened.

Meanwhile, Hae-sung and Sang-hee escape to the 11th floor. He wants to talk So-yoon into letting Sang-hee stay with them (ugh), but Sang-hee talks him out of it. She reminds him that she needs to find Joo-hyung’s password so the money he’s invested in crypto can be theirs.

Hae-sung returns home and lies that he went to the rooftop, forgetting that’s where Bo-ram is. He breezes past that and asks where So-yoon would hide an important password. So-yoon would memorize it or write it somewhere only she had access to. In 601, Sang-hee glimpses a tattoo on Joo-hyung’s shoulder before he puts on his shirt.

At home, Sae-bom rebandages Yi-hyun’s hand and tells him not to do that again. She looks so down and worried. Yi-hyun grabs her hand and assures her what happened to Woo-chang wasn’t their fault. She knows but still finds it upsetting.

Although Woo-chang should’ve been honest, Yi-hyun understands why he couldn’t admit he was ill. He must’ve been afraid and thought he could hold on until they found a cure. Woo-chang was probably afraid that the person closest to him would fear him. (I don’t like how personal this is sounding for Yi-hyun …)

That night, Young-ok sits alone in the dark. She goes to the window and peers below, looking for Woo-chang’s body. She hears a knocking and opens the door, hoping to see Woo-chang. No one’s there.

The following day, Sae-bom is awakened by loud banging on the door. Yi-hyun is already at the door, talking to the 201 residents who have only just learned about Woo-chang. They ask for water since they know Yi-hyun and Sae-bom are well-stocked.

I love how Andrew just immediately tattles on everyone by saying the others went to Se-hoon’s to hit him up for his water. Se-kyu and Moon-hee claim that Bo-ram gave them her water willingly, and they saw Se-hoon’s apartment number on the container.

Sae-bom and Yi-hyun head up to Se-hoon’s to drive everyone away and talk to Se-hoon. Inside, he sits on his throne – yes, an actual throne on a pedestal – like a king hearing the peasants out.

He’s not keen on the idea of sharing his supplies, but he does give them a tip: in building 103, there’s an emergency generator they can use to get power and water back. The catch is it’s loud, so it’ll draw zombies.

Before they leave, Se-hoon hesitantly says he’ll see what he can spare and let them know tomorrow. Sae-bom is so happy she goes to shake his hand. Yi-hyun intercepts and shakes Se-hoon’s hand instead (which Se-hoon doesn’t look thrilled about).

To keep the masses from rioting, Sae-bom and Yi-hyun decide to share some of their supply in the meantime. At home, Sae-bom asks if Yi-hyun has heard from Tae-seok, but Yi-hyun says there’s no word yet.

Elsewhere, Tae-seok sits with his wife Young-in. She worries about their baby and wants to go ahead and deliver, but Tae-seok reminds her the baby shares her blood and might be infected. He promises her he won’t give up on their baby.

He goes out to talk to Ji-soo who gently says they can’t delay the birth anymore. If he could’ve, Tae-seok would’ve aborted the baby to protect Young-in. When Ji-soo says he needs make the call on who to save if it comes down to it, Tae-seok says there’s only one option. Ji-soo then divulges that Sae-bom’s blood panel came back, and she does have the antibodies.

At the complex, Sae-bom heads to give Se-hoon an FBI shirt as a gift. She tells Yi-hyun to stay because he makes Se-hoon anxious. Once she leaves, Yi-hyun’s smile drops and he goes into the bathroom. He pulls down his collar to reveal an infected scratch he got from Woo-chang. Nooooo!

There’s static over the two-way radio, and Tae-seok’s voice calls out, “Jung Yi-hyun?” Yi-hyun tells Tae-seok he’s listening.

 
COMMENTS

Not Yi-hyun! I had a feeling he’d get infected sooner or later. He and Sae-bom are always on the front line, so it was only a matter of time. What’s he going to do? I can’t imagine he’ll risk anyone, but he won’t want to worry Sae-bom or leave her to handle things alone either. I don’t think Yi-hyun will be an immediate risk since he’s strong-willed enough to suppress the thirst for some time, I expect. We’ve seen several others like Bo-ram and Woo-chang manage until they were faced with blood which is clearly the strongest trigger. As long as Yi-hyun is careful, he might be able to keep himself from turning.

Yi-hyun promised he’d tell Sae-bom if he got infected, and I hope he keeps that promise. They’ve been a great team thus far, helping each other stay strong. It’s only right that he let her in on this too. I don’t know how Sae-bom will take the news, though. She about had a heart attack when all he did was cut his hand. Sae-bom is tough, but she leans a lot on Yi-hyun for support – I think he centers her. Thank goodness Tae-seok’s team seems to be making headway on the treatment, and Yi-hyun might not have to hold out for too long.

Right now, there are four infected that we know of in the building: Bo-ram, Soo-min, Sung-shil, and now Yi-hyun. We know zombies can survive fatal blows, so I’m not convinced Woo-chang is dead. If he’s alive on the grounds, then maybe he’ll be the one to try to escape when Tae-seok opens the door. But there are the other buildings too, and I’m curious to know how they’re faring. Who knows how many infected there are throughout the whole complex? Tae-seok might have his pick of research subjects.

I knew Tae-seok was calculated, but using the complex as his own personal virus breeding ground for research is dark. Then again, so was holding Chairman Choi’s funeral while he’s alive. Tae-seok doesn’t mess around. Now he’s planning to manufacture a breach so that he can get research participants. I’m not sure whether he’s contacting Yi-hyun about that situation or if it has something to do with Sae-bom having the antibodies. While it’s great news that Sae-bom’s blood seems to have what they’re looking for, it does make me a little worried about her. Hopefully, they just need more blood. But if she learns that Yi-hyun is infected, I’m sure she’ll give Tae-seok whatever he asks for.

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Dr. Brain, Happiness
• Script reading for tvN thriller Happiness with Park Hyung-shik, Han Hyo-joo, Jo Woo-jin
• Park Hyung-shik eyes post-military comeback with new tvN thriller