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Iron Family: Episodes 11-12 (Drama Hangout)

Welcome to the Drama Hangout for KBS weekender Iron Family, starring Kim Jung-hyun and Geum Sae-rok.

This is your place to chat about the drama as you watch.


Beware of spoilers!

 
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Muahaha, the stolen money are making a full circle! 😄😄
I also can't wait for the next episode when Mom and Grandparents will try to distribute part of the money in the wedding hall full of the police officers. 😁

The real drama and tension though comes from the past and present hurt of Bio Dad and Bio Son, both prideful people and self-made businessmen. The really are so similar. (And then there is Lighter Writer in the middle.)

Seeing BSO Oppa hugging his Adoptive Mom and trying not to cry was heartbreaking. Yes, what a day. Charim ignoring him at work and then coming to his place like nothing happened was just adding oil to the fire.

We didn't see too much of Darim, but she managed to convince Businessman Dad that she is the right person for the secretary job. Yay! And I had to laugh that Dad doesn't see her as a beauty, it is just uri Lighter Writer who thinks she is the very pretty, of course. 🙂🙂

And finally a bit of Bom's Appa, not much, but I'm happy for the crumbs. (And we now know that Bom's Mom has passed away. )

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Only watched a few clips without sub but totally agreed that BSO oppa hugging adoptive mum is a moving scene. I haven’t watched Choi Tae-Joon in anything before this but he does justice to the role.

Can’t wait for the Viki subbed version to come out.

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Choi Tae-Joon is great. I have seen him in other stuff, but usually the 2nd lead.

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Oh, that's a bummer that Viki and Kocowa have a different schedule.

I enjoyed Choi Taejoon relatively recently in I Married an Anti-Fan (which I started watching for Sooyoung).

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The episodes for me are showing up really late in the evening. I also have seen Choi Tagejoon in Suspicious Partner, The Undateables, All About My Mom if you have not watched those.

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I watched Suspicious Partner, dropped Undateables (I was bored to death 😆).

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I enjoy your comments. Perhaps you can translate “BSO” for me, elsewhere referred to as “SBOO” . I expect I have seen it before but I can’t remember.

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Thank you. 😊
Stocks and Building Owner Oppa.

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1. SBOO hugging mom was such a beautiful but sad scene. I love how mom called him her son, and said that she would help him love like anyone else, and that he shouldn't feel small. Meanwhile, his bio dad only said hurtful words to him and Cha Rim pretended not to know him.

Talking about that...
2. Cha Rim you f*cked up big time.

3. I loved how dad was little running to see what his future daughter in law wrote.

4. Bom's halmoni is right. Bom should move there hehehe. And haraboji is also right, his daughter (uri aunt) should marry a man like Bom's dad.

5. Eww with Cha Rim's coworkers. One is shamelessly waiting to steal her design and the other one is supporting that and saying stuff like "put her in her place". Yikes.
I want CR to succeed so bad.

6. Crosswalk's tough love isn't my style (he talks like my oppa, ugh), but I appreciate that he supports Da Rim every single time.

7. I felt so bad when he asked his dad if he was okay and then he thought "I'm not okay".

8. when dad screamed that he wasn't anyone's dad. 😂😂😂 Well, you are!

9. I actually feel bad for SBOO's bio mom. Her family situation sounded like she was living her own weekender. Yes, she should've told him the truth, but it was also understandable why she didn't.

Oh, and uri mom BH had a crush on him!

10. Dad needs glasses because Da Rim is damn pretty.

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Mom was even ready to use money from the loot for his wedding...

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🥺🥺

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Her spirit of generosity is admirably no bound, as seen from her college days of sharing her ‘own’ share gain with TU’s bio dad to now with almost everyone she knows. A sharp contrast with Crosswalk’s rich mom!!

It is not about whether you are rich or not but who you are and your value system.

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"One is shamelessly waiting to steal her design"

I am watching another drama where the characters are designers and the 2nd FL is the boss and has no problem stealing the work of others and presenting as her own.

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I was reminded of that show too.

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I hope we get a fuller explanation of why bio dad has built those walls around him from which he only seems to want to sling arrows at everyone in sight.

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Same.

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Me too

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9. I feel crazy for actually siding with the bio mom here. Rarely does anyone work in such places because they want to. The dad breaking up with her in such a manner felt needlessly cruel and a bit like slutshaming.

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You're not crazy. She just wanted to feel normal (not that she isn't) and live like anyone else at her age.

It's not like her feelings were fake and she was trying to take advantage of him. Tbh, you would think that after twenty years, and also coming from a similar background (he was poor too) he would understand her point of view. Especially when she had a whole family to support too.

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Agree with you. The Chairman is a complete jerk now and back-then. He seems to lack empathy and compassion. He is cruel and uncaring. He could have help her out as he was helped when he was about to get kicked out of school for not having the tuition oh, how quickly he threw his friend to the curb after cashing her stocks!

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As expected of writer Seo Sook-hyang, she simply turned every trope on its head and gifted us with interesting progression despite the ingredients being something familiar.

Like the irony of Da-rim being treated more harshly by the world after she managed to overcome her disability. The harsh reality couldn't care less that her former disability situation was the very reason her resume was a blank slate. It was unfair, but also an accurate reflection of our reality.

There's also the dramatic arc of birth secret that unfolded unexpectedly. Instead of the usual angst because of regret for time and opportunity wasted, it was a breath of fresh air to have both father and son went through angst phase because none of them longed for a different life. For all the traumatic love experience that shaped Dad and the poverty that shaped Tae-woong's early life, they truly love the life they have now. They didn't need the upheaval this birth secret promised on their previously peaceful lives (not to mention the unnecessary drama it dragged Kang-joo into). That was one trope inversion I didn't know I wanted.

The lovely montage of Dad being excited about the healthy drink Da-rim left on his table every morning was one of my favorite misleading trope this eps. With all the built-up around Kang-ju failing to recommend Da-rim for the secretary job, I didn't expect that Dad would built his own rapport with our tenacious and bright female lead so that he could do the whole recruiting process himself. It would be interesting to see their evolving relationship. I wonder how Mom would feel if she knew that her lie somehow opened the door for her maknae to get a decent position.

Lastly, those loan sharks couldn't even begin to imagine all the astonishing places the AA money would turn up in. I'm anticipating the wild goose chase our laundry family will inadvertently led these loan sharks into in their attempt to give everyone around them their "deserved" amount of fortune.

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Businessman Dad looking forward to the healthy drinks with the message was so cute. I think he was also touched by the gesture, that Darim was genuinely thankful.

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One of the best sequence in Ep 12 - and finally seeing this man smile heartily for the first time!

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Great insights!

This is my 5th drama of Seo Writernim and I love all of them. In her drama world, even the worst person has some virtue that you’d appreciate eventually. Her ML characters could look outright terrible like Lawyers of Korea, Pasta and Jealousy Incarnate but in effect they are simply not the cookie cutter ML that we got fed on all the time. (She was heavily criticized at some point for being misogynistic, especially after Pasta, LOL.) Then, the grey characters in her works such as Lee Mi-sook’s character in Miss Korea, neither black nor white that you’d come to like.

Character growth is always featured in her work. I am biased as far as Jo Jung-suk is concerned and so won’t name his JI example here. But no one among JI watchers would deny the charm of the enemies-to-besties trajectory of the two wives in JI, played so wonderfully by Lee Mi-sook and Park Ji-young (Da-rim’s mom in Iron Family).

She certainly turns a new leaf in how birth secret could be played out - refreshing yet so, so realistic. A++ is my mark.

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I loved the two Moms/Wives in Jealousy!

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The moms/wives had such a nice trajectory in Jealous Incarnate! I know we are going to see lots of character growth and redemptive arcs in Iron Family also - hard to believe ML's mom will be amongst the redeemed, but i have faith!
Also - i would like to see more of SBO Oppa and Cha Rim now please. Preferably with more gratuitous scenes of Oppa shirtless.

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I'm enjoying the adventures of the stolen money a little too much.

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It's so fun.

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It is a lot of fun.

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All along I thought it’s ‘safe’ money but oh no, our collective dream got crashed by this new twist….

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The twist is crazy! It never occurred to me that the money will be tracked using the serial numbers.

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Of all things. I was asking Bom halmoni what spirit got into her head that made her want to gift her rich employer cash. Not even a transfer, but cash itself😂😂🤷🏽😂🤷🏽😂

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It’s a psychological thing about ‘I have money too’.

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I think it was payback for an item she charged to Chaebol Mom's card.

Plus Chaebol Mom is a loan shark's kid. She's used to cash. 😃

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Episode 11 gave us more than just information from the past- it gave us an amazingly emotionally real birth secret reveal. Neither our chairman nor our 2ML were looking for the sudden intrusion of the birth secret into their previously well-ordered lives. Both of them reacted in much the same way- by declaring that they did not need each other. Our Stocks and Building Owner Opper has no material need for his bio dad’s wealth and if anyone is going to call his birth mom it would be Chairman- 2ML has nothing to do with her and having nothing to do with each other suits him just fine. Both responded out of pride- and they are both wrong because in fact they ultimately do need each other as family.

The loneliness of our chairman was part of what led him to hire Da-rim, the person who took a sincere interest in his wellbeing. That she sems sincere about ‘paying him back’ is also part of it. He would not be wealthy if he did not have an eye for what really matters: Credentials are only significant to the extent that they actually demonstrate intrinsic worth- and often they do not. He knows this better than anyone.

Another trope subverted was birth mom’s story. Rather than a wicked schemer what we saw was simply a tragedy. Not the standard schemer but rather a girl who handled a terrible situation very badly and is perhaps trying to repair the damage now that her life is ending.

The banknotes themselves are they key to finding the money- and our ML’s mom was just handed some by Bom’s grandmother. So we are about to enter the ‘thriller’ part of our story. The mystery of the death of our burglar may also come back to the fore. And I am looking forward to a wedding in episode 12.

We now also know that Bom’s mother died and so her father is a widower. We did not see much of our FL’s aunt, but I hope that their story starts soon.

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What a rich Father-Son (and Step Son and Step Brother) drama are we having!

I think Chairman assumed that uri Stocs and Building Owner Oppa KNEW. And that when Bio Mom contacted him that there were some EXPECTATIONS from him as a dad. We know he was wrong, but given his probable experience with people as a successful businessman, it was natural for him to expect some coming demands. So he went to nip it in the bud. Proudly, of course... And he completely hurt his Son... who had no clue and for whom this was basically the SECOND rejection of his father. So painful. No wonder he marched into Chairman's office, proudly showed him his assets, announced him he doesn't need him, thank you very much, and currently hates him and his company. There is a lot of healing and reconciliation to be done and I'm here for it.

Btw, what a refreshing change that there is absolutely no plotting, even Ligher Writer acknowledges the bio Father-Son relationship (and similarities). The conflicts come from the characters selves, their history and insecurities...

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Episode 12
Another great episode and I'm still impressed by how the show manages to balance drama, family moments, touching moments, thriller moments and comedy, especially the comedy. 😄

Also, how is Kim Junghyun so good??
He makes me laugh when he is drunkenly picking up his phone, then I want to hug him when he is uncertain about his Stepdad's love... and then he is swoony and earnest while stargazing on the pavement and asking Darim to date him.

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Again, I’m waiting for the subbed episode. From the clips I watched last night, one minute I thought Choi Tae-joon knocks it off the park with his charged and emotional scene with DR’s mom. The next we witnessed the brilliant comedic-cum-emotional blast-off of Kim Jung-hyun!! He totally owns and takes the character to another level.

Aren’t we luck as audience?

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We are totally in luck. 😊😊

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Crosswalk made me feel every single emotion this episode.

My reactions to his scenes were like: "he seems to suck at his job", "aww, I want to give him a hug", "omo, that confession 😳" "dude, are you going to set their wedding on fire this time?"

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Kim Jung Hyun is killing it!! His comedy timing is perfect and his expressions are hilarious. He is such a charmer.

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This drama keeps getting better and better.
Episode 12 is my favorite one so far!

1. Cha Rim automatically brightening up when she starts picturing a hopeful future for her dongsaeng. 🥺 And then apologizing for not being able to help her. 🥺
Watching her genuinely feel happy for Da Rin (this is how family works kdramaland), and watching her let go of the fears and resentment she felt for so many years...

I think the freedom she talked about after Da Rim got the surgery had everything to do with the things she mentioned to mom previously, but now that she sees Da Rim actually building a future for herself, Cha Rim feels free of her own guilt as the unnie who couldn't do everything for her dongsaeng.

And those flashbacks... Oh my cat, I want a million of those. It was beautiful to see her support and protect her sis.
Btw, that flashback makes it clear that Mu Rim has never had good eyes for style. Dude wasn't caring about money, he was genuinely scandalized by the wedding dress. Glad his wife didn't changed it tho. She looked so pretty at the wedding!

2. I've never felt so bad for Crosswalk and SBOO before. But these guys just couldn't win once this week.

Crosswalk having secretary throw salt at his insecurities, than Cha Rim and Da Rim throw praises about SBOO... poor kid. And his dad does NOT help. As if hiding his feelings would make them disappear, sigh... Just comfort your kid and tell him you love him, man! That won't make you less of a man, just less of a insensitive jerk.

And SBOO had everyone in that family just appear in front of him all day after bio dad threw that bomb st him, and then Da Rim talking about working there, and her defending Crosswalk...

It was sad to see the bros compare themselves with each other.

3. The whole thing with the money was fun but it stresses me out.

4. Aunt, that's like THE WORST way/moment to tell your kid you're divorcing their dad and moving away. But at least she was truthful and explained the situation. I hope the kid understands that she was doing it for him and tells her what he truly wants (that is to be with her).

5. Da Rim rejecting Crosswalk confession and then SBOO ignoring her confession. LMAO what's going on here. This is one of the funniest love squares I've seen (still doesn't win against Ho Gu's Love, but it's better than The Man Who Couldn't Get Married).

Oh, btw I love that Da Rim finally knows Crosswalk is the one who kissed her! I'm so happy that misunderstanding won't be dragging around anymore.
I really like how Crosswalk was like "it was me! All me! Love me" and Da Rim was like "...noted". I really like their dynamic, and I love how natural everything about their relationship and interactions is.

And I can't wait till Da Rim finds out that her boss isn't all perfume and rainbows (and Crosswalk pretty much blocked her job opportunity by calling her pretty), so she truly earned her spot in that office by her own merits...

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Oh!!! And I LOVED how Cha Rim was like "let's rule this company together, sis!!" and also gave her advice for her new journey. Awww.

Cha Rim was my fave this episode if you guys haven't noticed.

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Yes, sister bonding, let's rule the company! 💃🥳

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I really love the reveal we got about Cha-rim. It's nice to have the context for her behavior around Da-rim in the earlier eps. She truly love her sister, but as they get older I guessed they couldn't ignore the difficult financial situation of their family and it continued to put a distance between them as they got a job and did their part in shouldering that burden.

It's nice that Da-rim's surgery is really the hope for "freedom" that Cha-rim talked about to Tae-woong. Their interaction at the office was so cute, sweet and bickery at the same time, and I couldn't wait to see more of that now that they worked at the same place. Cha-rim is the one who gave Da-rim tough love as the unni who doesn't want to shield her sibling from the world's harsh reality. And it's clear that Da-rim adored that part of her unni. No wonder she gravitated towards Kang-joo, whose clumsy support sometimes also translated as tough love and blunt reality check to her.

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Yes to everything you said, but especially yes to this: "and I couldn't wait to see more of that now that they worked at the same place"

I really want to see more of these two, well, the siblings in general, together.
Mu Rim's big smile after Da Rim got the surgery and him washing her shoes in the flashback was very nice to see.

Cha Rim filming his wedding and the little wave/greeting they shared was sweet, too. I want more of these little moments.

Mu has his own storyline with his boss in law, but since Cha and Da will be working together (and are in some kind of love square) we'll see more of them together, right? I'm already excited!

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Ohh, I forgot to point out a moment that made me feel bad for Crosswalk's dad.

When Crosswalk started with the drunk rant and dad made the "my son is just like me" joke, you could see the hurt in his eyes when Crosswalk started to talk about SBOO, when dad was obviously referring to him.
And when he said "then you mean you're my fake son?" dang, that really hurt.

But all this also makes me feel even more confused about him. Dad knows that his son has many insecurities about their relationship, but he refuses to give him one word of reassurance. However, he also feels hurt to see his son's little faith in their family bond. But then he tells him to hide those feelings...? Like, ahjussi, what?

He knows the problem, but doesn't want to fix it. He thinks that ignoring it will make it disappear? He's just going to hurt his son (and himseld by default) more... I don't get it.
Like mom said, it's very clear that Crosswalk adores his dad to the infinite and more, and it seems like he loves his kid too, so why...? Just give your kid a hug, man.

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Because our Chairman is the first generation Chaebol he knows how tough the world is- and is determined to toughen his heir up. That is all too realistic given that he could not have built his empire without that singular focus on the prize.

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I mean, if he treats him like business, then he shouldn't be surprised/offended when his son doubts his love for him. That's what confuses me.

He treats his relationship with his son as business, when it isn't. That's what hurting the kid so much and he knows it, but he won't change it, but also acts surprised about it and complains.

I don't get it but that's what makes me way more excited about his development.

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I wonder if it was all that betrayal he faced in his young days that taught him not to show his emotion that easily. He was clearly emotionally invested in his little family, given the way his wife's lies and Kang-ju's insecurities about Tae-woong's sudden appearance hurt him like that. But Dad seemed to operate under the presumption that his family member knows him well enough that even without him spelling out his love, they would be secure in the knowledge of his feelings for them. The problem seemed to lie in years of miscommunication, which was why both Kang-ju and his wife kept asking for a confirmation of his love.

I don't know whether the writer would bring Kang-ju's mom up to speed on Tae-woong's existence or not. But I imagined that would be one heck of a fuel for more insecurities if Dad didn't find a way to communicate his true feelings and commitment for his family soon.

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"But Dad seemed to operate under the presumption that his family member knows him well enough that even without him spelling out his love, they would be secure in the knowledge of his feelings for them."

And I operate under the assumption that he should know his kid enough to understand how insecure he feels about their relationship and how SBOO's existence most have made him feel hurt.
Haha.

I just wish they have an emotional and honest and talk soon, because I get sad when they're all are sad (like some beer maker from another show would say, I'm a weird specimen called empath LMAO).

Oh, and yes, mom and everyone will found out about the birth secret.

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Yes, it is all he betrayals in the past- including the fraud of our 2ML's birth mom- which has produced our bitter but successful businessman. And yes, he is essentially tone deaf.

There would be little dramatic purpose in our birth secret if our ML's mom did not find out.

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The end of episode 12 brings us to the end of the first third of the show. We had a beautiful bride. and our FL has found a job- but we also saw the beginning of the 'thriller' part of this story.

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@OldLawyer I am just so curious I can't wait. Do you think from the preview Bong Hui and the grandparents are caught?

Ji Yeon didn't want the police to know she had the money in the first place. Will she cooperate in an investigation? I wonder what her explanation will be. She is an airhead but she also wants that money back.

The grandparents and mom have to have a plausible explanation to avoid disclosing everything this early. Are the grandparent's only real crime not turning the money in?

Tae Ung has all the wedding cash. If he knows about the serial number problem I see him doing something about that wedding cash.

Da Rim and Cha Rim's jobs will be at risk if Mom's and the grandparent's involvement is disclosed this early.

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Not turning the money in may be the only real crime or maybe not. Someone who knows ROK property and criminal law could answer that. On the mitigation side we do know that the Grandparents had actually checked to see if there was family who could inherit from the burglar and was told that there was not. If I was defending them, I would argue that the money had been abandoned. It probably would not fly in the strictest sense but might raise doubt as to whether there was criminal intent as to theft. Which would then simply leave the failure to report the cash which might mean a much lighter punishment.

Would Cha-rim's job or Da-rim's job be in jeopardy? Remember that Chairman has every reason to want this matter kept quiet. So does Ji Yeon but the fact that she really is a true airhead is what raises a problem here. Which is why I wonder about that preview- maybe she has slipped up and our parents really are under arrest or maybe not. And I have thought that our three police characters have been underutilized until now so clearly it is time that we see more of their story.

Tae Ung may actually be the key here. When it comes to money he is as sharp as his father and that is saying a great deal. This potential crisis may actually be what starts the process of building a bridge to each other. We shall see what happens from here.

Certainly, the stakes are higher now.

At least Mu-rim's mother-in-law got to realize her dream of seeing her daughter marry in a beautiful wedding dress.

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i don't understand why the ML's mom would involve the police. she can't do that if she wants to avoid the tax liability. so i wonder what we really were seeing in that preview.

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When the police was walking them out, the policemen were smiling. I suspect it was just some surprise gift for the new relatives.

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Finally caught up till so 12!! How is this show so good. I absolutely love the humor. The way chaebol dad lost it when Da rim called him father-like was hilarious!!
Also, plot moves so quickly.
I didn’t expect the money to be found so quickly!!
Grandma/grandpa and DIL make such a good team. I love how they sit and make plans.

Tae Woon and Iron mom. Awwww.

And what was Da Rim wearing for her own brothers wedding???!!!! I wish they give her a bit of makeover with clothes. I don’t like her shorts which look like half pants.

Watching 50 yr olds playing college students made me laugh so much.

Kang Joo is absolutely delightful. At times he comes across as this sad confused puppy but his heart is in the right place. I really love how he is not the perfect swoony ML. I am glad Da Rim is seeing him a little differently now. I can’t wait for them to become friends first.

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