If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 7-8

by quirkycase

Just as things are looking up for our newest wish-granter, a loss and an unwelcome blast from the past threaten to send him spiraling. As his community service hours come to an end, he’ll have to decide whether to embrace his new life or pack up the way he originally intended.

 
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP

We don’t get any definitive answers about the mysterious resident in the locked room is this week, although it doesn’t seem like everyone in Team Genie is in on the secret. When Gyeo-re mentions he saw someone in the room, Tae-shik asks Yeon-joo about it, but she’s cagey. He doesn’t push and encourages Gyeo-re to let it go.

Gyeo-re really makes himself at home at the hospice now, helping patients however he can. That, apparently, includes reading 50 Shades of Grey aloud to an elderly lady who claims it’s art. HA, Gyeo-re’s face when it gets spicy.

Also keeping Gyeo-re busy is his continued flirtation with Yeon-joo who is not-so-patiently waiting for his response to her confession. He may not have said it out loud yet, but does he need to? He even goes heroically trekking into the woods to rescue her when he hears there’s a wild boar in the area. Only she’s totally fine, despite being drenched in the rain, while he gets sick leaving her to spend the night taking care of him. At least Gyeo-re ends up blurting out that he likes her while he’s feverish.

Meanwhile, we learn more about another Team Genie member CHOI DEOK-JA (Gil Hae-yeon), the hospice cleaner. When she returns home one night, she’s shocked to see HWANG CHA-YONG (Yoo Soon-woong) there too. As he does every day, Cha-yong patiently shows her the sticky notes and photos, helping her remember that he’s her husband. Ooof.

Deok-ja used to work at the hospice as a cleaner and still thinks that’s her job. Now, they let her continue on as a volunteer while her husband quietly watches over her. Cha-yong is so sweet with her and clearly adores her.

Now that Gyeo-re’s service hours are up, Team Genie throws him the most depressing congratulatory party where everyone looks miserable. Gyeo-re is obviously reluctant to leave and has a heart-to-heart with Tae-shik who shares that his cancer has returned. (Yeon-joo overhears this.)

Tae-shik wants Gyeo-re to replace him as Team Genie supervisor. He hopes Gyeo-re will leave his old life behind and choose happiness like he did. In a flashback, we see that he’d jumped off a bridge after his initial diagnosis but was saved by Team Genie members.

Gyeo-re barely has time to think it over because Son takes a turn for the worst, and Gyeo-re does not handle it well. He seeks out the internet-famous couple who abandoned Son and is caught on camera taking a bat to their fancy car. Thankfully, Yeon-joo shows up in time to stop him from assaulting the couple.

I expected this to bring some major legal trouble since Gyeo-re just barely finished community service, but somehow, they don’t charge him. It might have something to do with the fact that Yeon-joo broke the live streamer’s phone that had the recording.

Team Genie then take Gyeo-re and Son to an outdoor spot where they’ve set up a projector. Because Gyeo-re once said he wanted Son to get to run again, they play a nature video for Son to watch while he spends his last moments in Gyeo-re’s arms.

Okay, I knew this was coming, but I was not prepared. And the montage of their moments together is not helping. Little Son passes peacefully in Gyeo-re’s arms with Team Genie in the wings. I love that they gave Son the same last wish treatment as their hospice patients since he’s Gyeo-re’s only family.

Not that Joon-young would agree with that statement. She finally manages to locate Gyeo-re and watches the scene from afar, but thankfully doesn’t ruin the moment. Joon-young takes note of Yeon-joo, which can’t be good.

Despite almost killing them both and getting them sent to prison, Joon-young insists she and Gyeo-re love each other and are family. We see in flashbacks that she’d desperately tried to hold onto Gyeo-re by manipulating him with the threat of suicide if he left her. At one point, Gyeo-re begged her to let him go, but she’d refused and said she’d kill them both if he found happiness without her. I knew this was a toxic relationship, but wow.

After losing Son, Gyeo-re decides to stay at the hospice and continue granting wishes, finally allowing himself to try to be happy. He’s becoming quite the chef and is adorably proud of himself for the elaborate birthday dinner he cooks for Tae-shik.

Speaking of Tae-shik, we get some more confusing information about his past. He makes a visit to a cemetery where his wife and son (!) are buried. Turns out that photo he keeps is of his son Joon-il. So does that mean Gyeo-re is not his son and maybe my first assumption about their history was right? I’m not even going to try to guess at this point.

We also see that Tae-shik’s wife was angry at him for getting involved with some guy who was bad news, but Tae-shik argued it was all business. Now, Tae-shik regrets losing himself to his greed for success.

Meanwhile, Gyeo-re plucks up his courage and officially asks Yeon-joo out on a date. He’s thrilled when she says yes but less thrilled at her idea of a day out. She drags him to do CPR training, more volunteering, and rock climbing. Still, they end the date on a romantic note and even share their first real kiss. Or kisses, more like.

The blissful couple’s night screeches to a halt when they return to the hospice to find Gyeo-re’s supposed “girlfriend” Joon-young waiting for him. We end on a shot of Gyeo-re looking shattered while he stares at the woman he can’t seem to escape.

If Joon-young messes up Gyeo-re’s life right when he’s finally starting to be happy, I will have words. Hopefully, now that he’s believing in himself more and getting a taste of a stable life, Gyeo-re will have the strength to not let her win anymore. And I don’t think Team Genie will sit on the sidelines and watch Joon-young destroy him again. That girl is like a volcano, and I do not want to see what happens the next time she erupts.

For a healing drama, we’ve got quite a few mysteries going on. What the heck happened to Tae-shik’s wife and child, and is it related to his forays into “business” with a shady character? And if Tae-shik isn’t Gyeo-re’s father, what is their connection? Then, there’s the mysterious patient in the locked room. Now I’m wondering if he’s Gyeo-re’s father. And (unfortunately) we can’t forget the gangsters still after Gyeo-re because of the money.

Whatever’s going on with Tae-shik, I do hope he’s honest with Gyeo-re about how he knows him soon. Gyeo-re is likely going to feel betrayed no matter what, but it’s going to be much worse if he drags things out. All I want is for poor Gyeo-re to catch a break and be with the people he cares about, cooking and drawing his little heart out while granting wishes.

 
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