Wow, what a cliffhanger. And the press conference got me so worked up that I had to watch episodes 7 and 8 straight afterwards to calm down.
Of course I'm sure Hee-joo will be found, but I hope it happens quickly and that we don't get an amnesia plot (or if she does, that she gets her memories back quickly, luckily it can't drag on too long). Let's see if the phone comes back into play.

With all the twists and turns in these two episodes, it's understandable that the romance takes a bit of a backseat. I would even find it strange if we saw more of it. Still, they've been such a great couple ever since they started communicating openly. Absolute trust and no contrived misunderstandings. The drama itself may be pretty makjang, the couple on the other hand has such a healthy relationship.

Love the parallels between the first and tenth episodes. From the rephrased wedding vows, to the kidnapping scene in the car, to the press conference, except that Baek Sa-eon no longer comes across as an emotionless robot blankly announcing that there will be no negotiations with the hostage-taker, but a broken husband pleading with tears in his eyes for his wife to be found.

I'm glad I was right in guessing that the DNA test was sent by Baek Sa-eon.
It would have been so out of character for him to voluntarily enter into a marriage that he clearly didn't want.

I was briefly fooled and then disappointed three times in the tenth episode, unfortunately, thinking that Hong Hee-joo and Baek Sa-eon had finally spent the night together. I'll just pretend that instead of the embrace at the end of the epilogue, Baek Sa-eon carried Hong Hee-joo into the bedroom.

You know, Show, you have truly out-makjanged itself.
But what impunity, panache, and chutzpah!
With bated breath, I watch your insolent relentless stride to the very bitter end of Ep 11-12. Can't. wait.

My highly unscientific Beanie plot predictions tally:

1. Sang-woo goes rogue! ❌ (happy to be wrong)
2. Park Do-jae is mole and twin ✔
3. Other twin is body count, and so are the rest of missing kids ✔
4. Mum sent DNA report ❌ (happy to be wrong in a romantic way)
5. Fish farm dad is adoptive, and Grandpa Baek *most* likely to be Darth Vadar "I-am-your-father" ✔
6. Chairman Baek & Chairman Hong's 1-for-1 deal is the darkest one yet ("I killed your son, so I will kill my grandson to even the score - even though I wanted to kill him anyway!) Did.Not.See.This.Coming. ???

I just hope that given the emotional wringer they put us through in Ep 9-10, Show will give us a huge emotional payoff of a HEA + lots of domestic bliss + steamy scenes (one full ep please). I need compensation for all the emotional distress

I loved all the tender and gentle moments in these past two episodes. Hee-joo and Sa-eon in love is so beautiful to watch, but I especially liked how gentle and kind Sa-eon is to his foster father and Do-Jae here. You know, this show probably would have benefitted from 16 episodes - at least a couple of episodes earlier from Sa-eon's perspective about his life and marriage up till now would have rounded the story a bit more. Instead we're now finding out the extent of his loneliness and love so late in the game. Hee-joo is such a great character. I laughed so loud when psycho Sa-eon said "not this again!" (he should know better than to be in a car with her by now 🤣🤣)

And can we spare a moment to discuss how AWFUL the parents are? What do you mean the psycho kid was KILLING OTHER CHILDREN?! And Mommy Bael's solution was to "lock him in the house"?! Daddy Baek stood by doing nothing, and grandpa's solution was to drown him?! OMG all of them need to be shot!
Lastly, I thought the press conference scene was unnecessary. Presumably they could still track Hee-joo's phone. And if the goal is a normal life away front he public eye... Bruh the public don't need to know alladat.

Random Musings:

1. I really like how poignantly ironic the new marriage vows get in light of the ending of Ep 10. (Clause 3: You will publicly announce that we are a married couple).
At the press conference post-abduction & disappearance, we will witness that anguished public reveal on national TV when he puts up her photo in a missing-person appeal. Oh, that twist of the knife!

2. Love the lil deets like how his new screen saver is now their First Prize commemorative photo with hand heart (instead of the sunset screen - which was his hidden-in-plain-sight homage to her). BUT, *so* careless. What if his colleagues saw? Tsk

3. Side note but I really LURVE the sisterhood and how they are so nonchalantly talking to each other after BOTH broke their decades-long silence. No fanfare. Nada. And the comic contrast to everyone's gobsmacked reactions (save, Hong dad)

4. Again, the poignancy that almost every single scene of marital bliss (Ep 7 to 10) are fantasy imagination: the picnics, the park walks with dog, the bickering over toothpaste, the sleep-in with PJs...everything. I want real-life joys of ordinary couples by Ep 12 - even if I have to watch Sa-eon make another kimchi fried rice! (hopefully with less pan shakes)

This show is brilliant in which it was so bloody amazing with the first 4 episodes, got viewers all hooked and addicted that I could basically shut down half of my brain watching the last few episodes and craving for more.

I probably missed out the scene where the DNA showing partial match, thus a bit shocked to learn that Sa Eon actually is the illegitimate son of Baek Jang Ho. I am sure Sa Eon knows this but somehow, he announced that he is neither the grandson nor the son of the Baek family. Nonetheless, I am curious to how that he can grew up without name before adopting the name of Baek Sa Eon. But as with most things in this show, maybe I should let the matter rest.

Your description about stupid kidnapper kidnapping Hee Joo with a car really cracked me up. I was already expecting that she would perform the same trick on him and laughed out loud when she did. I just have a strong feeling that she would be found amnesiac and he would need to make her fall in love with him all over again, thus the proposal that he promised to her.

OK, so I got the implication that fake Sa-eon was the Grandfather's son and the fisherman was just a carer for him- but I missed the parts where any of that was said.
I don't think I was the only one to miss that either, there have been a few confused conversations on people's walls.
So I'll roll with it for now, and maybe sometime I will have a chance to rewatch and I will understand it better.
Favourite moment: I love HJ's formal dress, so glad it made a reappearance. They are using a very black and white colour palette for this production which I am finding slightly too minimalist, but even if it is plain colours, that dress has style.
Also favourite moment: Yuri being bright happy and sparkly. The one character that lifts the mood and gives us some respite from the angst and tension emotions that are everything else
Do-Jae- so sad to see you so misguided, we loved you. But is there a reason that all of the other kids were identified by their effects, but the shoe does not count and you need a dna analysis? That did not make any sense.
Still I guess there is a lot in this that does not make any sense!

While I still enjoy the show very much overall, and the romance, I wasn't very happy with how the story went by the end of ep 10. I'm fed up with Kdrama characters' unhuman strength. They survived explosions, knife stabs, metal pipe hits, drowning, car crashes, cliff falls (and any combination of those elements), and now that car falling into the sea, at that height too?

I also didn't like that she said she would sacrifice for him by driving off to the sea of doom with the kidnapper. Ok, by now I don't trust Korean police either, but she should at least trust her husband and give him some time to process and act. I expected that after all the vulnerability and love they have shown each other, they would work as a team, and neither should think of sacrificing themselves for the other's sake.

If she ends up dying, my heart will break for him and her too. If she ends up surviving that fall, it is ridiculous and it will dampen my enjoyment and emotional investment in the show so far.

Was it implied that Sa-eon’s adoptive father was actually not Grandpa Baek’s biological son? I think it was the scene when the mom was telling him that he (and real Sa-eon) don’t look anything like Grandpa, but Sa-eon does… and then it pans to the father looking at the family pic.

Showing up at the in-laws' in the middle of the night ready to blackmail them into helping. Making it clear that despite her terrible mom's antics, she's living life the way she chooses. Standing up to terrible mom and calling her out on her BS. Pushing her husband on the sofa, redoing the contract scene, and proposing. Making the villain freak out again because he still hasn't learned not to mess with the person who crashed the car at every kidnapping attempt and stole his phone 9 eps ago. Hong Hee-joo, the amazing woman that you are.

She rocked it this week, but Sa-eon also got me, especially with the press conference, so broken and caring only about finding Hee-joo. Yeah, that killed me. Some of their lines are written so that even Wallace (of "and Gromit" fame) would think they're too cheesy, but I love this OTP for being so equally mad about eachother, and Yoo Yeon-seok and Chae Soo-bin are bringin' it

(But MBC, you can probably get away with a lil more spice in here. The kisses were hot, but besides that would this couple who set a job interview on fire really be so mindful and demure lol)

I loved the scenes with In-a and Hee-joo and hope we get more of them together (teaming up to write dramas maybe 😉). Second leads are sweet- and Sang-woo broke my heart when the crime was finally solved. The thriller business is so unhinged and entertaining, but it'll be nice if that gets wrapped up in the next ep so we get a stress-free finale

I love WTPR so much.
🥹🥹🥹
The last 8 minutes of episode 10 made me so emotional. I can’t believe we only have 2 episodes left.
It will be hard to say goodbye to my SaJu couple.
YYS really deserves every awards as well as CSB.
YYS’s break in his voice when he said “husband” and the falling tear. Perfect.
I am in awe of CSB, when she started talking, she’s so straight forward, one of the qualities I loved about her.

Who’s gonna propose to whom is so touching. So sincere. Pure love. They are the best couple. The best OTP.
They compliment each other.

This is what I also want to say to WTPR:
“I lived because of you. I endured because of you. “
😍😍😍

Plot hole: When Dojae thinking back of the D-day text he sent the kidnapper, it was when he was on the bus, i.e day time, but I remember the kidnapper got it when he was sitting on a boat at night time?!. And the texts between them will be auto deleted after 3 minutes, so it's not like he checked the text long after Dojae sent it.

I loved moments of Heejoo and Saeon together these episodes but what left the biggest impression on me was Sangwoo identifying his childhood friends' belongings. It was a moving scene. I root for Yuri and Sangwoo as much as I do Heejoo and Saeon. I love all scenes of Sangwoo catching Yuri 😅

I'm glad I decided to watch this show cause everything about it feels just right for me. The level of mystery and suspence, the comedic and flirty, and the revenge motives.

I particularly liked the final scene with the press conference and the reactions of everyone watching. So many people genuinely care about them and it was really driven home in that moment.
During that scene, I also had the thought that the lead actor is a really good actor (I've seen him in other things but that moment really made me appreciate his acting. Not enough that I would watch or rewatch all his works but give him his flowers and a thumbs up haha)

I wondered if when the wife shows up (cause obviously she will) will she really be mute. Like trauma to her throat or just ptsd leads to her not being able to speak again.

I was kinda surprised about the twin reveal because I did think it would be revealed that Sa Eun was the missing twin. I guess I've just been conditioned to expect that kind of twist.

I'm a bit confused about the orphanage; did they lock the murderous psycho up there? Why was even around the kids? I thought he was locked up in the house.
Sidenote: it must be absolutely terrifying to have a kid like that. I haven't watched this movie so I may get the title wrong but this reminded of the movie There's something about Kevin. Again, I may have the title wrong. Anywho, the movie is about a psycho teen who turned school shooter (I think) but his parents saw there was something off him years before but didn't know what to do or didn't do anything cause they were in denial. I'm honestly not sure but I think that's what it was and the psycho in this reminded me of that.

Re: the Baek family secretary's hints to Hee-joo, in the Korean SDH caption he said 백 대표님 = Representative Baek, not 대변인 = Spokesperson, had the eye surgery. So it was Sae-on's "dad", the presidential candidate, who had the eye surgery when he was young to fix his heterochromia. Seems like it's meant to be another clue that the kidnapper must have inherited his heterochromia from Sae-on's dad, and that he's the biological son.

The tears. I love love losers in love. And, it is so nice to wrap up the drama year with a mind-blowing performance by a character lost in love - Baek Sa-eon, embodied quite to the tee by Yoo Yeon-seok. The last seven minutes was really hard to watch. The screen writer brought literal onions to the screen and Yoo Yeon-seok ensured the chemicals got to my eyes. Gone was the stoic man. Here we see a husband viscerally scared for the safety of his own and can only but bare himself for the nation to see, if only it'll bring his wife back to him.

Those parents are sick. I know the dad is a case. But, the mother is the worst. The literal worst. Between Baek Jangho, Baek Ui-yong and her, she takes the crown as the worst character in this show - willing to let the everything crumble if it means keeping her unfit and dangerous to the society son within her reach. To make excuses for such a behavior... it is the worst. Grandpa was right all along. I do wish he takes her with him. Better still, I do wish she gets to bury her beloved angel twice. Since she doesn't care about the hurt her angel has cost families, this should be very easy for her faculties to handle.

Chairman Hong... That was a gripping performance at the memorial service. I don't want the law to catch up with unfit and dangerously unhinged son, I want Chairman Hong's wrath to catch up with him instead.

Park Do-jae, that guy is a cat. I'm glad he has 9 lives.
In another drama this guy will be dead...gone. I'll have to commend When The Phone Rings for subverting this trope.
Cute guy is still cute. And I'm all for him partnering with Sa-eon to nab that dangerously unhinged son.

I wonder how many times the villain needs to understand that being in the same car as an awake Hee-Joo is not a good idea... it's their 3rd crash!

His story is not really clear. He lived with the fisherman without memories and killing people? Then, the burial of the grandfather made him remember and he started to get revenge?

If his parents loved him, they should have him admitted in a mental hospital instead of imprisoning him. They could have give another motive than sociopath to the public.

The reaction of the mother was quite selfish... she found her son who was drown by his own grandfather because of the weakness of his parents and she pities herself because she was lied to...

Sang-woo "finding" back his friends was really sad. Even if he knew, there was still a little chance they could be alive. The same for Dong-Jae who found his brother. I was with Sa-eon, he had a good reason to want revenge but attacking innocent people like Hee-joo was a wrong choice and he should pay for it.

In-ah is a good surprise. What she did in the past was wrong, but she was young and loosing her hearing had to be hard. But now, she's clearly on Hee-Joo's side. She wants to protect her, from Sa-eon at the beginning but now she knows he loves Hee-Joo, she supports them, and from her mother. After all, she's the real family for Hee-Joo.

It was to see Sa-eon and Hee-joo acting like a real couple. They don't hide anything from each other and are just happy. Surprisly, I think I would have prefered to not watch the epilogue, the scene was nice, but kinda messed with what I imagined happened after the kiss.

I love her imagination. The scenes as a couple were super cute!

Love, like an explosion at a memorial service, is an intense, disruptive force that refuses to go unnoticed. It transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, demanding attention and leaving nothing unchanged. Where an explosion shatters silence and reverence, love shatters boundaries and preconceived notions, breaking open hearts and minds.

It is the unexpected, the uncontrollable, and the unforgettable, igniting emotions with ferocity.

This show delivers every week. Episode 9 was some of the best OTT melo I've ever seen, delivering tropes and twists at the speed of makjang. It was amazing. I fear it's all downhill from here, with efforts to somehow "make sense," but I'll still be watching each moment!

Woahh i totally missed the detail about uri Saeon being an illigitimate child. That is so messed up!

Things i’m glad about this week:
Hee Joo finally, literally speaking up for herself.
Park Do Jae is alive.
Hong In Ah is an awesome sister.
Sang Woo & Yu Ri together.

My strange feelings about the OTP:
I get that the two belong together yada yada.. their lovey scenes together are very sweet, but i actually like it better when they were at odds with one another, and not being super cheesy.. lol.. this is from someone whose favorite genre is Romance!

The moment Hee-joo started speeding, the kidnapper went "aw man, not *this* again" which is so funny to me

What made me actually tear up in these 2 episodes was Sang-woo finally finding his friends from the orphanage. I can't even imagine how it feels, after all these years of being the only who remembered and cared about them... And also Park Do-jae. To be used and betrayed by his brother's killer for so long... To finally find his resting place... We can make an entire separate drama from these two guys' POV...

Honestly ... Yoo-ri and Sang-woo are kinda cute together. I didn't even notice the second couple that much before, but the chemistry is there. Sang-woo was always kinda quietly sweet to her, but she genuinely cares about him now too. From fussing over his wounds & trying to help with his grief... I wish they'd developed this couple more.

The amount of times these two fall my gosh. We're fully in makjang territory, but I'm hoping our finale week veers back into the sweet moments and healing that we've gotten in the past few weeks.

Thanks for this recap! I want to talk about everything about this show with everyone, but this recap points out something so important! The parents of the young adults in this show SUCK. They are all so terrible.

First, the two Baek Sa-eons' mom: here's a very smart person who became a psychologist. I am guessing that happened AFTER she discovered her bio son was a psychopath? Because if it happened before he did, how the hell did she agree to home-grown capital punishment rather than treatment for him? It's crazy. Also, she had a stepson whom she knew was not at fault for any of it--but she was nevertheless a psychologically-damaging parental figure to him. You know she knows it.

Hee-joo's mom is also an obviously terrible person. Her cute little stepson dies. Her daughter is traumatized. Her sweet stepdaughter loses her hearing. Why does the stepdaughter have to take herself abroad for surgery? They are really wealthy people. If the surgery was cochlear implants, it was definitely available. Ugh. OK. Also, why do k-drama writers think late-deafed or hard of hear people stop being able to talk? Don't they live on the same planet with the rest of us?
Next, these horrible dads. They are violent. They are angry. They are sexist. They are vengeful. They have no personalities so that's all I've got.

Anyway. The nun at the orphanage and the kindly fisherman were kind.

Now I get it, this is actually a somber story about the harsh challenges of kidnapping business, and how some individuals sadly must come to terms with the cold fact that they will never make it, regardless of how many times they try, because they are either really unlucky or just plain dumb. Or both.

I am so confused about the ML Sa-eon's origins now. Where exactly was it said that he was the illegitimate son of Grandfather Paik? When the grandfather Paik said "Do you know why I didn't give you a name?", was he implying that young ML was HIS son who he had given to the fisherman to raise? I definitely did not see THAT coming! But then the father Paik and the psycho son Paik had heterochromia, but the grandfather and ML Saeon didn't? So, who is who's son again in this family???? I think they need to bulk buy some DNA tests and get it all sorted out, because at this point, I am worried Sa-eon and Hae-joo might be somehow related (you KNOW her mother would have slept with anyone just to get ahead)!!!!!

The team did a good job to leave a lot of context out of SE's actions early in the series. At ep 10, we now know how sweet he is and how he didn't try to force the r/l. Also the lots of contrasts were shown beautifully. Their house (representing a broken marriage to a beautiful proposal), the hospital/injury scenes (why both of them need to get hurt ;< ), HJ (from a floor mat to someone who takes action) and also SE (who was stoic but makes an effort to change for HJ).

I hope the team will give us another wonderful surprise. Maybe something on the scale of HJ making a grand return/scheme to extract SE out of his family situation. SE has always covered for HJ so it be nice to see the final contrast showing what she will do for him.

This show is emotional brilliance with technical disasters wrapped together with a scintillating wires of tropes that are almost poetic in their cliches. It's raw, honest and heart wrenching.

I didn't see the plot twist, though it now makes so much more sense. The old coot murdered his psychotic grandson to simply get his bastard son in.

I love how they have tied everything. The fact that he sent the DNA report, and In-ah pieces the little details together was chef's kiss. Love that she turned out to be a positive character.

This year there's been a barrage of emotional characters, but I think YYS takes the crown. Such a fine balance between stoic and emotional. Soo bin is a perfect foil.

I have been trying to fit in the watch through travelling and I still have the last ten minutes to finish, but this is going for a touchdown.

I'm on the fence about this show now, and my heart is breaking... My interest has waned muchly this past week to the point that I watched the episodes a full 2 days later, rather than an obsessive 5 secs after they dropped on NF :(

I think it's veered too much into eye-rolling territory, what with all the blasts, stabbings, et al, and wayyyy too less of the OTP.

The only scenes of them together seem to be in dream sequences now. All that sexual tension, such a refreshing change from other shows, seems have deflated like a punctured balloon once they got together, only to be replaced by repeated confessions of love, forehead kisses, and platonic embraces, while on a hospital bed merry- go-round.
Like... WTH was the epilogue of ep 10... *That* kiss, ended up with a hug?!! LoL

I will continue watching, in the hope that the last two episodes give the Couple of the Year, actual chances to be a proper couple.

And oh! One thing I'm super confused by (at least it's the thing that's bugging me the most)...
Is Sa Eon the grandpa's actual son? If yes, how come he doesn't share any DNA with the "father" Baek? As per the test, he has no connection to the Baeks. Someone please explain, because it's driving me nuts that the writers would not have thought of it. 🤔

First, congratutaltions to our OTP for winning the best couple award at the MBC drama awards. I feel like a proud mama and they totally deserved it.YYS also won the best actor award and CSB won for best actress.The acor playing Sang woo also won best new actor.Kudos to them, they are doing and amazing job.Regarding this week's episodes, i am going to sound like a broken record.Ep 9 was not my cup of tea.In retrospect, I figured out why.There was just not enough scenes with YYS, as he was in the hospital and unconscious for some time.I had commented previously that YYS was carrying 50 % of this drama.But after ep 9, I take that back.This man is carrying 80 % of this show.Without him, it feels like a run of the mill kdrama.His acting and commanding charisma elevate every scene he is in.Ep 10 is where I saw what I love about this show.Good writing, directing and acting.I knew Park Do jae was the accomplice but that scene in the hospital between him and BSO broke my heart.BSO does not trust many people, the only people he is close with was Do jae and the journalist.I think he saw Dojae as the little brother he never had,So to have him betray him like that is so hurtful.Beautiful acting by these two. I do wish that Dojae can find redemption.I am not sure when him and the real BSO got together.Were they in cahoots from the start ? Or did they join forces only after the first kidnapping in ep 1 ? I hope we get a satisfactory answer by next week.Ep 10 had me crying from beginning to end. So many emotional scenes. Heeju and the real BSO both confronted their awful mothers.Ina confronted her dad about him knowing Heeju could speak.BSO reuniting with the man who raised him.Sangwoo identifying the items belonging to his dead friends.BSO dad coming to terms with the fact that he is not and would never be Grandpa baik true heir, as BSO is the one who takes most after him.And our man YYS killing us all at that press conference, I cried just listening to him beg the public to find Heeju.I am not ready for next week, I do not want to let this drama go yet.We had quite a lot of makjang in the later half but i am hoping for a grand finale.

Petition for Sa Eon or the kidnapper to be renamed as “Baek Sa Not” after all this is over.

Thank you for the recap. 📳🤳

This week seemed more "plot" than anything with all the messed up reveals, kidnappings, arson, lost and found meetings and items, fantasy OTP moments and surprisingly cozy hospital trips jam-packed in as if these plot points were all picked up in wholesale during Black Friday and were nearing their use by date. But hopefully all this plot boiling over means we get a quick cool-off / resolution next week with the whole of the last episode dedicated to OTP fluffy moments and #fanservice. *Ahem* Now won't that be just lovely. *cough cough* 😊❤😂

I agree with many Beanies' discontent with the way the plot is meandering along. But then makjang. Ottoke.

Like a few others I too missed the reveal / confirmation of uri Saeon being grandpa Baek's son. 😤 Although the line of dialogue - "child, do you know why I didn't give you a name?" - and its implication was pretty clear in retrospect. 😅 Gosh that man was a messed up psychopath in his own right. It doesn't help that I disliked the grandpa actor in his other manipulative psychopathic role in Brain Works.

In other news uri @claire2009 is right as usual. Sang-woo is a good guy after all, 😅 and a good friend, so her SLS is 💯 justified. 💪🏻👏🏻😂

Even Reporter-nim Jin-seok had his moment. I'm really liking him. 🫰🏻

So looks like we are headed for a Hee-joo 2.0 after being rescued, possibly with amnesia because obviously she's too hard headed to be stuck with TBI which anyways is not in the approved list of aliments / afflictions a K-drama lead can be stuck it.

Anyhoo, here to an amazingly swoony, though coincidental meeting of the leads, maybe a love story in fast forwarded snippets, recollection of memories through - what else 🤷‍♀️ - a true love's kiss, 🙈😂 a confession, a proposal in the amusement park with balloons, confetti, and candy floss, a big white wedding with the frills (although the bride is no longer *ahem* entitled to wear white, right!? *cough cough*) and a skip with kids and pets. Ah! okay I'm sure many Beanies are much better at fan-fic but I'll settle for just this much. 👍🏻😂🤣