Obituary Notice:
Voice-Modulated Burner Phone
22.11.2024---21.12.2024
Thou art the best romantic plot device ever granted to k-drama land in 2024.
We thought you would go all-in! Alas, you folded your hand and caved to censorship & a damn PG-13 rating.
So, no phone s3x for us audience, unforch
I say this with bitter lamentation.
I mean, BITTER.
R.I.P. Tis good while it lasted

What’s fantastic set of episodes. They really did a great job with the OTP this week. The emotional connection was so well done. You felt for both of them and totally shipped them. And the swoony moments were so 🥰🥰
I especially loved the elevator scene.
The domestic scenes were lovely. The backhug was 💙

I also loved how they integrated the thriller/mystery element seamlessly into the main arc. I am now totally invested in everything.
I really want both of them to leave their toxic families and live somewhere happily with a dog and be ordinary and enjoy simple things in life.

p.s we all know bomb blasts don’t take out Sa Eon 😂
p.p.s YYS in unbuttoned night suits/shirts was a sight to behold.

Random musings & squeals:

1. All the beanies wishing for proper PJs in bed and amusement park romance tropes. You got your wish! (though maybe in a Poe-tic monkey paw gruesome way. My retinas are still reeling from the blue striped PJs)

2. WTPR goes full-blown makjang now!!! The soap suds! Bring it on!!!
Cue: "Logic & subtlety have BOTH left the building."

3. Lurve the self-mockery and humour: Heejoo bristling with outrage at hubby's sexual overtures and flirtations with 406. On a soap drama!
#Iamjealousofmyselftrope

4. kimchi fried rice scene: random shit, but I have never seen such a hilariously strenuous pan-shaking scene 🤣 He has the rabid fervour of a high priest trying to toss the Urim and Thummim to divine an important lot for a battle or a wedding day. Chill, tis just fried rice.
The best part? The rice isn't tossing in spite of all that pan shaking 🤣

5. 2ML gone rogue: btw I am increasingly feeling that the 2ML is in truth an antagonist (in terms of actual narrative function). That car chase and accosting has got to be -- hands down -- the most aggressive confrontation between ML & 2ML. I live for moments like these. Tis true-form thriller mode.

6. Kudos to the editing. Tis really working hard this week.

I am just wondering how is it that the mansion with potential evidence just sits there, unguarded and unlocked, practically inviting everyone to come inside. Sang Woo is very interested in the missing orphans case, and yet he does not try to find who lived in the mansion back in the day.

Stand-out Lines This Week:

1. Best Shade-Throwing: "Are you upset that Hee-joo is entering the Blue House ahead of you?"

2. Best "You-Are-My-Roman-Empire" Obsession: "He smells really good. What I want to get back is not that stupid phone. I want to take everything away from him...including his scent." Tis so creepy, tis good

3. Best Famous Quasi-Last Words of Love: "The only Baek Sa-eon I want to leave behind is the one who belongs to Hong Hee-Joo."
Break, heart! 💔

Aaaaaaw, the signing session in the lift! Just a brilliant way to convey intimacy. Only kept hoping they were right below the CCTV or one of the other signing crew will be sharing that conversation to the whole office pretty quickly...

The whole drama is so ridiculous now, but respect to everyone involved, it absolutely works! I find that very intriguing: the line between enthralling and eye-rollingly bad drama is a thin one, and yet this drama ensemble are tango-ing along it with panache. How do they know how to keep it on the right side of ridiculous? I am impressed.

"— when he admits he also knew Hee-joo could speak, there’s a hard edge to his voice and he doesn’t explain how he knew or why he never said anything."

-- Yes, I noted that too! That's one of the red flags that made me feel dude has shifted irrevocably to antagonist terrain.
--- Cos don't forget, Team Villains also found out that fact (that HJ can speak) pretty much at the same time as the audience (in Ep1 in the car-hacking incident).

Nice recap! This show has been just wonderful.

OK, so, now we know more of the back story (and the Baek story. Sorry.) We have verification that Baek Sa-eon is adopted and that he's not the psycho person that Sang-woo suspected.

But OK, what about those twins from the orphanage photo? Was one of them Sang-woo? Was the other one...whoever Sa-eon was before? Or was Sang-woo Sa-eon?

It would be weird if Sang-woo did not know that Hae-joo could speak, because she has selective mutism. That means on some level that she can speak! Plus didn't he first meet her at the radio station?

Wow, that recap came out quick.I must say I was disappointed with ep 7.I do not see why they kept the 406 blackmailer pone calls going.PSO knows the truth already, there was no need to drag this out. She has started talking to you directly, so there was no need to continue.It was just filler, in my opinion.But, on the other hand, how cute that her first words to him were '' do not go'',How cute, and the tender way he took care of her while in the hospital is so swoon worthy.I think the best episode was ep 4, everything flowed effortlessly.The writing was taut, the directing edgy and the acting was stellar.Ep 7 was OK, just not on the same level.But ep 8 made up for that, we are back to the same quality work that we all love about this drama.For a couple that had not been talking for 3 years, they sure hit the ground runnung.I love that our hero has totally opened up and is honest about his feelings.That love declaration before the kiss we were all waiting for was so poignant.How can I not love you ?

Awww... I cannot take it anymore.I am so obsessed with this show I watch each episode twice when it comes out.When it ends, I have no idea what to do with my life,I nned to go to drama rehab.Love the bed cuddle scene at the beginning ep 8.Our Heeju confesses to liking him since the day he came to her rescue , sashaying down the road with a police escort, in ep 3.Same , girl, same.Our hearts all skipped a beat watching him walk up against the sunset. He says he has loved her longer than that but does not elaborate.I loved Chief kang until now, but after he interrupted that tender scene, I wanted to wring his neck.Our poor hero cannot catch a break or get a day off doing couple things, hum, with his wife that may or may not involve sexy black lingerie.It is confirmed now that PSO is a replacement.the grandpa drowned his grandson and brought him in to replace him. The real Sa Eon is still alive, he was the one the mom was talking to in the interview.I cannot believe we only have 2 weeks left of the show.I like the 16 ep format better, especially for a show as complex as this.I hope the production team can live up to our expectations and deliver a convincing finale, as well as give our OTP a happy ending.They had messed up childhood and truly deserve to be happy together.I love their hertfelt conversations, especially the one after the car chase with Sang woo.That confrontation between the 2 men was electric and I do not blame the hero for suspecting him.BSO basically admitted to Heeju his identity as the scion of the prominent Baik family is fake.But he does not care about losing his status or his job, as long as he still has her by his side.Kudos to the screewriter who wrote those dialogues, they are beautiful without ever being cheesy.

I've never seen a ML that scruffy on screen since Leo Ku in Romance In The Rain (2001).

I don't think Chairman Hong was the one who sent Inha the DNA document though. The conversation between Inha and Chairman Hong hinted that she had suspected her father sent it until that conversation. Had he been the one who sent it, he could have sent it to her non-anonymously. I'll go with a theory some beanie mentioned in WWW (was it Grand Sophy?) that Saeon was the one who sent the document.

But then it'd beg the question why Chairman Hong wasn't against the marriage in the first place, for Inha's sake? Perhaps he had thought the Baek family wouldn't accept his step daughter as their daughter in law? But the Baek family had always been in debt to him since the ToD incident, why didn't he use it to force them to accept Heejoo in the first place?

I am getting bored with this drama. I do not care about the ML's backstory or the power fight between adoptive dad and ML. The orphan mystery and villain arc is playing in a predictable fashion. I feel the drama hit a peak during Hee Joo's interview at the presidential office and is never going to bring back more standout scenes for our FL. Will likely be a drop if I don't catch the next episodes.

Please vote for out OTP for the MBC best couple awards
https://m.imbc.com/wiz/ent/2024mbc/drama/couple/index.html

Thank you for the recap. 📳🤳

Uri Baek-Hong 2.0 definitely dialed up the feels to 11 this week. After 3 years of non-communication and misapprehensions, the clarity and heart with which they communicated was refreshing.

Saeon sshi sure has some smooth moves flirting with Hee-joo under the guise of #406.

While I didn't initially like the whole amusement park (non)-date, in retrospect it was a cute even if misguided, idea by Saeon to relax Hee-joo by making her reminisce and relive her happiest childhood memory.

Again I was put off by Sangwoo and his "I know you can talk" entitled Eun-delulu behavior but uri Healer's (@claire2009) has reassured me that he's a good guy and we should give him a chance. Since I trust her 💯 I'll root for him to earn our goodwill. 😉

Any sub-plots / machinations etc. hold zero interest for me. Just give me a huge serving of Baek-Hong 2.0 and make it double, no quadruple!! 😅❤😂

Best scene: Hee-Joo's imagining Sa Eon asking for a divorce, Hee Joo on her knees, clutching his leg- and that leg flick! that pose! that drama! As @kate88hammond says, they keep it on the right side of ridiculous. I think it's the quality of the acting.
Unfolding mystery- Who is the boy being drowned? My gut does not feel like it is the original son, I feel like the grandfather is evilly killing orphans for kicks, or because they trespassed into the house. But if it is the original son, then it fits neatly that the original son was saved by the fisherman after the grandfather left, which is how he survived.
Mother did not know best- She might have been ignorant, but she's not dumb. As soon as Sa-Eon's mum worked out real Sa-Eon was alive, she was trying to get a message to him.
The Chairman knows all- Is Hee-Joo's stepdad the mastermind? He seems to know more than anyone else. - He knows Sa-Eon is an imposter, He probably knows who killed his son, He had leverage over Sa-eons grandfather. What did he gain from allying his family with Sa-Eon's family? Why did he agree to go thru with it in the first place?
Things look Bad for Do-Jae- I keep thinking Sa-Eon must have some good reason to trust Do-Jae so much, but his position looks worse and worse. DJ is the one SE is trusting to investigate the mystery. But isnt it odd that a virus attacked the computer and stopped him having a full analysis of the phone voice? And there were no cameras anywhere up to the lookout? And DJ was the only one who knew about the continuing calls from the burner phone?

Thank you for the recap.

"Tell me how to hate you. Tell me how to not love you." (My heart...)
Their first real kiss is everything and worth the wait.

and "wait where was that lingerie again?" I wish for Saeon's sake, he gets to see her wearing it for real. 🥰

I love how Hee joo loved Saeon so much. "This kind of happiness would never happen to me, No one would love me this easily."
"The only Baek Sa-eon I want to leave behind is the one who belongs to Hong Hee-Joo."
They really belong together.

Tell me how to not love them?
I love, love, love them so much.

There are still so many questions in the air about what exactly these families are up to, but the biggest mystery of the week is how Mr. Kang still has his job after that interruption 😂

Our OTP is just 🥰 I started writing my favorite scenes, but it's literally all of them. Hee-joo tearing up at the retreat photos really got me. We need a HEA with them and a dog, show.

"Of Private Vs Public Language"

It's the week's highlight for me, pretty much in the same vein as the iconic Ep 4 "interpreter interview" scene where our leads pretty much telegraphed a private love confession before all and sundry, hidden in plain sight.

1) Signing in crowded lift: I have said this since the pilot - "sign is a language" and the remarkably expressive signing is a different branch of acting and semiotics all by itself. I like the visual metaphor of a lift becoming slowly crowded, pushing our lovebirds into their own private space bubble as they sign silently to each other - in their private Morse code of love

2) 2nd example of "hidden in plain sight": when Mum faces the camera to publicly send a coded message - one only understood between the recipient and the sender: "Remember what I have told you since young, I will protect you." (I love the ambiguity of this ostensible statement of fierce maternal love. Cos we then flashback to the OG context of that statement: mum crouching outside the door shaken in tears, and convincing her psycho-son (and herself): "I am not locking you up, I am protecting you." uh-oh.

Mommy dearest's brand of love = containment. This telegraphed love message may not be love after all. It is going to be damage control - of the highest order, possibly.

3) Blackmail video - a seemingly innocuous variety show clip, with barely noticeable crawling text. This plot point is brilliant I feel. It really funnels into the bedrock theme of marginalised languages and subversion in the semiotic tiers-of-priority.
-- Spoken language > sign language > crawling text. Classic misdirection. Brilliant.

I'm wondering why Hee Joo didn't have a reaction after Sang Woo said he knew she could speak. (He looked absolutely chilling at that very moment btw.) Maybe she got caught up with Sa Eon in the next scene, but I was hoping she'd talk to Sa Eon about this soon....

The progress of Hee Joo and Sa Eon's relationship moved well. The big kiss at the peak of their emotions and the truth coming out felt so right.

Sa Eon killed me with his cheesy, dramatic lines....
Tell me how to hate you.
Tell me how to not love you.

I thought they were gonna secretly hold hands in the elevator, but them signing back and forth was way better. It was the sweetest thing!

I liked that Hee Joo was ready and prepared to learn about Sa Eon's secret. She didn't shy away. He was still stubborn and protective, especially with a real kidnapper out there. I liked that she handled the truth fine when her sister came to inform her.

I'm wondering what's going to happen with the romance now. It would be great if it could somehow maintain the intensity. It's probably Sa Eon's turn in the hospital next (no amnesia please 😂). We don't need to see Hee Joo being the one to take care of him. But he's gonna be down for some time. I wish she could investigate the mystery too, but without relying on Sang Woo. She's not armed with the skills and the tools to do this yet.

So many great scenes this week! From Hee Joo imagining his rejection, Sa Eon flirting with 406 and stoking her jealousy, that confession (oh those two lines have my heart!), the cuddles, the elevator scene, everything between these two was just *perfect*.
But most of all, I just loved how they dived right into communicating openly face to face. Their declarations of do-or-die love for each other after expressing their fears openly were such a change from the usual. I can watch hours of them together and not be bored, they’re so sweet together.
I’m happy that the burning hot kiss didn’t lead straight back to the bedroom, it would have been too fast. They’re building trust and opening channels of communication, so when they do go, it will be with full commitment. I'm waiting for them to team up and bring down the conspirators once and for all, and live HEA with Rita in tow.
Yeah this romance has me in a hold. OTP of the year, for me.

I'm glad we're starting to unravel the family secrets, but gosh, I love our main couple. The way he's so gentle with her and they're so honest in their conversations in these last two episodes. The sign language conversation in the elevator was so sweet.

Random Note to aspiring criminals:

Really. If you have a distinguishing physical feature (like an aberrant eye color), may it be your social deterrent for committing crimes lol. Failing which, do fix it!

1. Kill It (aka Blue Eyes)
2. Alchemy of Souls (again, blue eyes that give away the soul shifter identity)

From ancient Joseon to modern-day S. Korea, our aspiring criminals on the celluloid screen have always found a way to hide their strange or arresting eye colours. 😜

As Unit would say, people watch k-dramas! Tsk

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate and celebrate the quiet, and oft neglected traits of our FL?

On this count, we stand in Sa-eon's corner when he staunchly defends his wife (back to his wife's alter-ego 406) that Hee-joo isn't gloomy she is quietly observant of her surroundings.

Can we just take a moment to marvel at how many identifying traits and personality info of the kidnapper she has supplied to Sa-eon - in a highly stressful hostage situation?
👏👏👏

I think everyone except the fake sa eon knows that the original one is alive. The mom's message on camera seemed to hint to that. But then why did the fisherman guy who I'm assuming is the father of the hero never warned his son about this before. Was he threatened to keep his mouth shut? What does hj's stepfather have to do with the cover up? I'm assuming the TOD was a deliberate murder attempt but why was the grandfather baek kneeling before hj's stepfather? Was his grandson behind the accident? But he was also a kid that time and I'm pretty sure he couldn't have driven the truck himself.

What a kiss! As passionate as I had hoped.
Even though I wasn't really expecting more (I was still hoping, of course), I was a little disappointed that the next scene after that great kiss was just a meal together, even though their conversation was very sweet.
And isn't it sad that Beak Sa-eon has found married life so far to be comforting?
That says a lot about his childhood and parental home.

Episode 7 was all about building trust. Right at the beginning of this episode, Hee-joo talks to her husband for the first time because she has realised that he is the one who is always there for her. Later, he goes out of his way to give her the sense of security she needs to tell him the truth about 406. I had the impression twice that she is about to confess who 406 is and that he deliberately interrupts and distracts her because he senses that the time is not yet right.

The next episodes will be about Baek Sa-eon's secret and he will learn that Hee-joo doesn't care about any of this, I guess. Even though they are now communicating much better, he still doesn't tell her everything, presumably out of fear of being rejected by her because of his background.
His childhood and later years have led him to believe that he is only important to others as Baek Sa-eon, the son of an influential and rich family.

I suspect that the two will only share a bedroom once all the secrets have been revealed.
The first (real) kiss happened after Hong Hee-joo confessed that she is 406, now Baek Sa-eon has to learn that he can trust his wife completely and not be afraid of being left after all.

I often lose interest in a drama shortly after the couple get together, but this is definitely not the case here. The two have such good chemistry and so much to work through and they need time to heal together that I can't wait for the next episodes.

Who leaked the secret information to In-a before the wedding? Was it the master or maybe Beak Sa-eon himself? (I hope it was Beak Sa-eon to crash the wedding.)

"This a soap opera (makjang)" is the first sensible thing Baek Sa-eon's father has said (I wonder how his wife put up with that fool for years). And I love this soap opera.

P.S.: I'm sure Baek Sa-eon smells good (even if the point is actually that he doesn't smell like fish, like the crazy kidnapper).

What struck me in this two sets of episodes (well, it had always been obvious with Hee-joo) was the profound and relentless emotional abuse these adults subjected Hee-jpp and Sa-eon to. My goodness. It has ild be a great plot point if they btih snapped and offed these despicable off. What do you mean you forced children into other identities for your own comfort?!!!!