Dongjae the Good or the Bastard: Episodes 3-4

by solstices

Clinging onto his newfound moral compass, our once-wayward prosecutor struggles to maintain a clean slate while staying afloat in his career. But he soon finds that career advancement isn’t the worst of his worries — not when a tragedy strikes far too close for comfort.

 
EPISODES 3-4

While he contemplates selling off his land bribe, Dong-jae winds up spiraling into a hilarious internal monologue trying to convince himself of the pros and cons. If he keeps the land, he’ll get rich, though the people around him will point fingers. But if he keeps at his dwindling career, he’ll end up working himself to the bone without anything to show for it. Knee-deep in his dilemma, Dong-jae realizes he has no one to turn to for advice — save for one person.

And who should that be but the very familiar Chief Prosecutor Kang (Park Sung-geun), who’s now become ATTORNEY KANG after resigning from the prosecution and opening his own law firm. When he urges Dong-jae to stay safe, having heard of the recent attack, an overwhelmed Dong-jae is momentarily moved to tears. Aww. In response to Dong-jae’s concerns, Attorney Kang offers Dong-jae a place in his law firm. He’s willing to take our floundering prosecutor under his wing, no matter how worried Dong-jae may be about his dark history tarnishing Attorney Kang’s reputation by extension.

Back in the office, Dong-jae’s greeted with good news: Chief Jeon nominated him for the model prosecutor award. Out of the 19 people who were in the running, he’s one of the three to receive it, as recognition for putting his life on the line to apprehend a criminal. Overjoyed to finally receive public acknowledgement and affirmation, Dong-jae can barely hide the skip in his step and the tears of gratitude that shine in his eyes.

Others don’t look too kindly upon Dong-jae and his less-than-stellar reputation, though. When the police chance upon Dong-jae and Wan-sung’s meeting at the hostess bar while investigating the gang brawl, suspicion falls on their connection. But the innocently tactless Shi-woon blurts out the story of Dong-jae tossing Wan-sung’s bribe back in his face, and the detectives get off Dong-jae’s case for now.

In a bit of coincidence, the team leader in charge of the bar brawl case is detective IM HYUNG-SHIK (Im Hyung-geun), who happens to be Yuri’s dad. She’s been skipping school and ignoring her father’s calls, and all Hyung-shik can do is tut at the empty room of his wayward child.

Elsewhere, our drug dealers aren’t having too great of a time either. Not only has their supply ground to a halt after a large batch got stolen, but someone’s also sniffed out their drug deal locations. In other words, a thief is interfering with their drug operations. Chan-hyuk witnessed the culprit running away, though we don’t see a face — but that head of blonde hair looks suspiciously familiar.

As an aside, we also get a reason for Chan-hyuk’s betrayal: he can’t stand that his noona had to marry a man as awful as Geum-ho. The couple may have an affectionate relationship with a baby on the way, but it seems she doesn’t know about Geum-ho’s actual business dealings.

Circling back to our favorite prosecutor, Dong-jae begins looking into previous cases involving Ehong Construction. There isn’t much to go on, however: the most recent case was shelved due to the witness never showing up to testify. Ji-hee, the prosecutor in charge, doesn’t know what happened, but we do: Wan-sung threatened the witness with a hunting gun, then ordered his goons to get rid of him.

After being repeatedly turned away from Wan-sung’s office, Dong-jae heads to his home address that night, where he chances upon a familiar face. Ah, the blonde boy Gyeo-re is Wan-sung’s son. What a small world. Gyeo-re is as uncooperative as his father, and he stalks off with a tennis bag slung over his shoulder.

Then Chief Jeon calls, suddenly assigning Dong-jae a gun death case. He drives to the scene, where a body lies prone in an open field. Crouching down, Dong-jae gingerly removes the corpse’s mask — it’s Yuri. Oh god, no.

Yuri had been shot from behind while running away, and what should the murder weapon be but a hunting shotgun. The police had caught Gyeo-re in the midst of fleeing the scene, his hands covered in Yuri’s blood — it looks like an airtight case.

Interestingly, this is the first instance we see Wan-sung’s polished persona crack. In an uncharacteristic fit of panic, Wan-sung rages at Chief Jeon, then pleads with her to assign Dong-jae to the case. In return, he’ll testify favorably that her brother caused no damage to his company. Huh, I wonder what history lies there.

Desperate to save his son, Wan-sung even offers to wave away the land bribe, but Dong-jae isn’t having any of it. He’s already ordered a search warrant for Wan-sung’s house, and just as expected, the shotgun display rack is empty.

That’s not all, because an overwhelming amount of evidence is stacked against Gyeo-re. He’s been tracking Yuri’s location, and she had eight missed calls from him the night she died. All that’s left is to find the murder weapon, and Dong-jae confronts Gyeo-re about the bruises on Yuri’s face and the tennis bag he’d been carrying that night — the one large enough to fit a shotgun.

It soon dawns on Dong-jae that both Chief Jeon and Wan-sung conspired to give him the case, and Chief Jeon proves him right by putting him in charge of it. Determined to wade against the corruption and uncover the truth, Dong-jae digs deeper, learning that Gyeo-re handed the tennis bag off to Yuri at the bowling alley.

Meanwhile, Wan-sung visits Gyeo-re in custody, and the first thing he does is ask where he hid the gun so Daddy dearest can get rid of it. Damn, he’s already assumed his son is guilty. Gyeo-re insists he didn’t do it, and he asserts the same during Dong-jae’s interrogation. But Dong-jae intimidates Gyeo-re, pressuring him with a potential life sentence until Gyeo-re cracks.

“Yuri said she’d sell it all at once,” he blurts out. The full truth comes tumbling out: after stumbling upon a bag of drugs at the bus terminal, the pair had been selling the stolen pills. Then someone offered to buy everything, and Yuri went out alone despite Gyeo-re’s protests. Bursting into tears of grief, Gyeo-re confesses that he followed Yuri just in case, after giving her the shotgun to defend herself — but it ended up being the very thing that killed her.

Thanks to Gyeo-re’s testimony that they found the bag on September 7, Dong-jae realizes the connection to the new ecstasy drug Purple that suddenly disappeared off the market recently due to a supply shortage. Checking CCTV footage, Dong-jae discovers that Gyeo-re and Yuri had bumped into Chan-hyuk at the bus terminal to Daejeon.

The puzzle pieces are starting to come together, though perhaps a bit too neatly — in true Forest of Secrets fashion, I’m anticipating a reveal that will turn everything we know on its head. Hasty assumptions are an investigator’s worst enemy, and I’m expecting them to be Wan-sung’s downfall too. His son seems to be his Achilles’ heel, yet the domineering aggression he displayed towards Gyeo-re in the interrogation room makes me wonder if his attachment is more narcissistic than fatherly.

Similarly, Chief Jeon is such an interestingly layered character, because she does seem to genuinely like and care for Dong-jae as a valued subordinate, yet she also isn’t above manipulating and using him for her own benefit. It seems Wan-sung has leverage over her, due to matters involving her brother, which makes me wonder — if not for that shackle around her ankle, would she still collude with Wan-sung for self interest? Or would she stay true to the law and her own conscience?

As for our dear weasel, he may not realize it just yet, but he’s not alone in this fight. It’s clear his prosecutor team was worried about him while he was recuperating in the hospital, and both detective Hyung-shik and Gyeo-re may turn out to be unlikely allies. I love the way Dong-jae naturally forms connections with those around him, all while remaining hilariously oblivious to it. His palpable grief over Yuri — a girl he’d only briefly met for less than half a day — demonstrates how deep his heart runs, and it’s exactly this empathy that makes him so compelling.

Those who bother to spend time with Dong-jae are the ones who can see him for who he truly is, free from any misconceptions or prejudice. Dong-jae’s a good egg underneath all his hot air and dramatic bluster, even if he sometimes falters in the face of temptation. He may not be unwaveringly righteous, and he’s certainly made his fair share of mistakes, but he’s trying with all his heart, and that’s what makes me root for him. Go, weasel!

 
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