It was fairly obvious that Sa-eon knew much more than he was letting on about Hee-joo, her situation and the fact that he has genuine feelings for her.

The "why" is the big mystery here......... along with the other plot threads involving the (fake?) stalker, the sister and the hot college Sunbae.

The complete lack of communication between our hero and heroine is an obvious plot device to keep the mystery going, while the makjang antics of the parents serve as additional obstacles

Week 2 was solid, ill stick around till the end.

Thanks @mistyisles for the recap! Week 2 was such a rollercoaster. The ML seems like a dude stuck in terribly manipulative circumstances. He seems to have waited to acquire power before he can begin to do the manipulation himself and shield his wife. Does not explain why he was so distant with her in the interim though except that it made for a hell of a drama! I have a feeling that he will find out that Hee Joo is the caller (maybe in the next episode) but will continue to talk to her because this is the first time they are communicating properly. Not advisable in real life but also hot stuff in reel life. :P

Other random thoughts:
I found it amusing that the child playing the ML is also sighing heavily and looking exasperated like the adult version.

I am a little suspicious of the ML’s right-hand man in his team. He looks like a plant.

Another thing I cannot understand is why the FL cannot get a non-automated car! I would never buy such a car after watching this show. How hard is it to get a regular car in Korea?!

I can't believe the number of times I have re-watched the interpreter interview scene. Poignant and powerful. The UST (unresolved sexual tension) in the air is so thick you can slice it with a knife.

That's a distress call as well as a angst-filled love confession telegraphed to each other in hidden code. "If we put in our efforts now, can we possibly live like any other ordinary couple?"
#scorching #hiddeninplainsight

I love the aftermath scene: when he walked out of the interview. Once out of sight, he leaned on the window, gasping slightly. Visibly shaken.
His last line of the improvised test was so telling: The irony is how strikingly similar they are (the inference being that he too, has spent his whole life obsessively studying her in order to read this cipher and predict her moves)

random thoughts & bits & bobs:

1. LURVE our man this week! his "rage under restraint" move should be patented and sold worldwide.

2. Sunbae is super SUS: and I don't just mean the arson and explosion domain expertise he possesses. It's a whole consortium working in tandem in this conspiracy to target Sae-on

3. Parents dynamics: the quartet at the hunting grounds is so intriguing in their relational and power dynamics - a lot of undertow and subtext just eddying in the dangerous currents... I can't wait.

4. Equally intriguing is Sae-on's dynamics with his dad VS with his mum. There is barely concealed scorn and contempt towards his dad, which is different from the way he interacts with his mom (they have an almost fraternal air to them, like negotiators comrades?)

Well the outwardly cold, inwardly volcanic ML is getting pretty compelling now. 😈😍

Something I found interesting that hopefully other beanies can weigh in on - when child Sa-eon was being scolded for not eating by his mother at the party and told (at least via subtitles) something like 'my son likes fish' - was that to imply that he WASN'T her son? Or was it more the equivalent of 'any son of mine will eat sushi and like it!'. 👀

Sa-eon's mother seems particularly unloving, although given the gamut of sociopathic mothers we seem to get in K-dramas, she doesn't particularly stand out. But it did make me wonder if she is the one behind the kidnapper (she was very cagey about her phone wasn't she?) 

One black mark against Sa-eon (well, the director really, whose choice it would have been) - my pet peeve of people going to bed in their outerwear! 😱Just looking at those stiff, starched shirt collars he was lying on made me feel uncomfortable. Seriously people - invest in PJs!! 😬

It was clear from the interview scene. Sa-eon does know sign language. He was calling her out on signing before the words- you can't know that for sure unless you know which sign is which. Also, those words about how similar they were to each other- Him, knowing signing but pretending he does not, Her, able to speak but pretending she cannot.
We are starting to see the framework of the secrets now. Judging from his dad's reaction, Sa-eon is adopted. There is some secret about the real son, a secret that Ji Sang-woo has some knowledge of. It's likely that this secret is the reason the Mother, JSW, (who saw something ghastly) and Sa-eon all have interests and experience in variations on criminal psychiatry.
I'm starting to doubt JSW a bit less than I was. It is still possible he is the master, but I think he is a red herring. The master is more likely to be someone in Sa-eon's adopted family, either the bio son, or one of the others, who thinks Sa-eon needs to be cut back down to size.

Re: Of Fish, Sushi, Seafood & the Little Mermaid

This sounds random, but I think Show is breadcrumbing narrative trails here and I am not paranoid.

1. I re-watched the foursome lunch where the story beat leads in with an aerial shot of their lunches: News anchor + Sae-on (Steak set); Sunabe & Heejoo (Seafood set). Did you notice how many times Sae-on circled back to comment on how she likes the seafood?

2. It sounded innocuous enough, UNTIL we see the much later scene (childhood flashback of how they first met as kids).
The negotiator-mom foisted a plate of assorted seafood (lots of raw sashimi) onto the young Sae-on citing that he likes SEAFOOD.
But we next see him spat out the RAW SASHIMI into a tissue, balling and trashing it into the garden hedges. Hmmm...

3. THEN, at the hunting grounds (possibly either the Hongs' or the Baeks' family estate - a man is deboning a huge FISH with expert hands, takes a call and we realise he is one of the accomplices in the kidnap/arson/explosion case. (*this is an insider job)

4. The scene where Heejoo stumbles out of the police car, sprawled on the roadside heaving. Someone astutely pointed out she looks like the iconic Little Mermaid statue at Copenhagen. I totally agree.

What's interesting to me (besides that fact that little mermaid is half fish) is: -
(a) that moment when the little mermaid is sprawled at the beach was the moment she turned from Mermaid to Human

(b) it coincides with the moment her glacial husband publicly acknowledges her as family, and his wife before strangers

(c) the mermaid pays the price of being human by losing her voice - the most prized possession she has (her mom ordered her to be the mermaid until she turns to bubble)

(d) but ironically, that incident was also the same one that provides the most incriminating and incontrovertible proof to Sae-on that his wife not only can make sobbing sounds, she CAN SPEAK, dammit!

Episode 4 and especially the scene with the job interview, which I watched several times, was the best so far. So good and intense.
During episode 3, there were one or two scenes where I wondered how the actors managed not to burst out laughing while delivering their lines, but somehow it doesn't really bother me as it fits so perfectly into the overall package.

I'm still not sure if and when ML realised that his wife is the caller. I briefly thought during episode 3, when he tells her directly that he's not thinking of divorcing her, that he knows. But he probably just suspected that she was working with the caller to get a divorce. By the end of episode 4, though, I'm sure he knows who he's talking to on the phone. He's just not the type to talk to a stranger about his wife like that.
Still, I hope the cat-and-mouse game continues and FL doesn't find out too soon that he knows. I love their intimate phone calls too much for that and they're the perfect opportunity for both of them to talk about their feelings, which they don't dare to do face to face.

After all the foreplay, I'm expecting an explosion of emotions when they finally talk directly and openly about their feelings. If it only comes to a good kiss, I'll probably implode.

If Sa-eon is really a stand-in that could be a potential explanation for why he keeps Hee-joo at a distance even though he clearly loves her a lot. I loved the moments we had this week, since we get see he really does care for her more than he lets on, but I will need him to properly apologize at some point. I love Hee-joo's character more and more, since she's definitely more than she lets on, just surpressed by her mother, and I'd love to see her step into her own and take charge of her life.

At the risk of being the annoying person who keeps repeating the same thing everywhere, I'm in the minority where the cold shoulder (although extreme, so he *does* have to answer for that) makes sense, and was necessary. There's no having any kind of consenting relationship with someone under so much duress. And being the one beacon of kindness in that situation (married to the hostage) .... That imbalance of power is too great for me, I fear. So it's good he kept her at arms length the whole while. He coulda chosen his words and actions better, but he wasn't wrong.

That said, I'm excited to see things even out a bit as Hee-joo stands up for herself some more, and I'm excited for a proper love story with a lil groveling and COMMUNICATION.

Agreeing with the Beanies regarding this show!

Ready to find out what happens next. Oh, the wait!

The interview scene is indeed the highlight. The tension is so high up that I hold my breath while watching it.

Thank you @mistyisles for the wonderful recap.
I'm so in love with the show.
The ML's character is so swoony. I love how obsessed the FL and ML are with each other (as I am with them too). They give me "All the feels" and I cannot get them out of my mind .
Each episode is superb.
Waiting for Friday-Saturday seems like forever, so anxious for the next episodes to come out.

This is probably the most addictive show in recent times. I can't put off watching it as soon as it becomes available.

And, yes, I am fully convinced that he's loved our FL since a young age when he passed on his food to him. Yet, a deal is required to get the elder sister - the real heiress - out of the way. He must have struck a deal with the sister for her to quit before the wedding which may involve a lie that he has no interest in the step sister to give the vanity to the elder sister. What next now that she returns?

That interview is so sexually and emotionally charged. Good job to all concerned but our two leads really make this whole drama so highly watchable.

Wow, that interview. Week 1, I wasn't sure about the romance, but Week 2 has me sold. We still need insight as to why he let the last 3yrs go by as they did, but I'm ready for these two to get that communication going, and be a team, and take down their awful families

Aside from the interview, my other favorite parts from these eps were the little post interview scene with Sa-eon and Im Chul-soo's character (the way he shooed him out of the office lol). And also the bedroom scene with Hee-joo's "srsly this #!%$&" expression and reclaiming her pillow hah

The kidnapper storyline is moving along well. Could he be the kid the 2ML knew, and the councilman's real son? What, in the corrupt rich people shenanigans, would have anyone swapping out kids? It seems like we've only just scratched the surface of how messed up these families are. Almost every other character, except the 2FL, seems suspicious.

Thank you for the recap. 📳🤳

In case anyone was in any doubt about the drama after last week's episodes. Baek Sa-oen sashaying down the highway in slo-mo with accompanying motorcade and bgm ... well it's like Prince Charming himself walking right off the pages of a fairy tale book. 😱😂 Basically *yes* we're ALL already enchanted and charmed.

How is Sa-oen so shocked to "hear" Hee-joo's sobs. Poor thing has never uttered a squeak in front of him. 😱😭

That tug-of-war with the garbage bag with the kidnapper's phone was so funny. Looks like it's their love language. Comforter last week, garbage bad this week, so what's for next week!? Oh, oh!! That reminds me after the FL's shower 🚿 scene last week where was the ML's version this week. 🫣

The stand-in / imposter angle of the ML was a surprise in a drama but considering the fact that it is originally a webnovel, we should have seen it coming ... from a mile away, same as that motorcade. 😭

The younger version of the OTP were heartbreakingly sweet. What happened in the intervening 17 years before marriage, did they not interact much. Did Sa-oen only keep a weather's eye on Hee-joo!? Was he, as he let slip, trying to establish himself to as to be able to extricate himself from his parents evil clutches!? Is Sa-oen the father's illegitimate son and a stand-in for the legitimate psycho evil son. Is the real son the kidnapper. If so why does the kidnapper call Hee-joo as Unnie!?

That interview for a sign interpreter for the Presidental House was *hot*. Ah! Sa-oen should give tips on how to flirt with your wife in front of a full house audience but again what has been doing for the couse of their. Even if he only kept an eye on Hee-joo for 17 years what about the past 3 years. Why make her feel unwanted and unloved, especially if he has effectively shut the door on the "real" bride and ensured she can never return to claim her place as his wife. What is he waiting for ... Christmas!? 🎄🦌❄🎅

After all having sooo many questions about a drama is a good thing, right. I do hope Sa-oen pretends not to know that it is Hae-joon who is calling him and they keep up their nightly calls till they are ready to tell each other thier feelings face-to-face.

No time to be bored with this show!

Sa-Eon : I think he's not the real son and must pretend to be. It's why he works very hard to not depends on "his" father's name and still can protect Hee-Joo. I wonder if it was his family secret In-A blackmailed him with. If it's the case, how did she know about it?
It was funny to see him reacting about the fact his wife spent her whole time to watch videos of him 😂 He knew about her father when the mother hide the truth, I wonder how. But it really shows he did everything to protect Hee-Joo from their both families. His reaction was when she cried so ingenuous, now he knows she can speak too. I think he will be very angry against her mother when he will know the truth.

Hee-Joo : She's cute. She's so desperate to convince him to divorce, she doesn't think she needs arguments from the kidnapper point of view, not hers. She doesn't seem to realize how Sa-Eon analyze everything she said and he's pretty smart to draw good conclusions. Her family, exept her father, looks terrible. Her mother will sell everything and everybody to get what she wants and her sister abandonned her. I found interesting that even with her mother she doesn't speak.

Sang-Woo : he grew up in an orphanage and likes fish... it's kinda enough to think he's the real son in kdramaland. Now, is he behind the kidnapper? He wants to recover his life but overall Hee-Joo whom he's in love with?

"He Joo can make sounds".. and the smile..

lol..

Why the celibacy.. when you were legally married , she was ready to proceed with married life, and you obviously obviously like her so much...

Hee Joo mentioned that she practiced and dug into how Sa Eon’s lips movement. Lo and behold, Sa Eon committed her favorite food committed to memory from their first meeting! Observe the trays of food he ordered for her room service- it’s pretty much the same food she devoured at the party from their childhood l.

That one unsolved case and the fact 2ML ONLY deals with arson cases

Everything will come down to that..The real son set fire and killed people. Had to be replaced because grandfather and father have political dreams