Our Unwritten Seoul: Episodes 7-8 » Dramabeans

Our Unwritten Seoul: Episodes 7-8

by quirkycase

Our sisters come to some realizations this week about their fears and insecurities as they make steps toward returning to their own lives. They might not know what’s in store, but they have much more support and self-awareness than when they started this journey. But complications arise when suspicions flare, and our twins might not have much time before their secret is out.

 
EPISODES 7-8

Mi-ji has been our primary narrator up to this point, but this week, we hear more from Mi-rae and Ho-soo who have a lot in common. They both suppress their feelings and desires and worry about being a burden to those around them. It even stems from similar causes: Mi-rae’s vague childhood illness and Ho-soo’s disability after his accident.

For Mi-rae, she craves a sense of control and tries to project strength. Her chronic pain and frequent hospital visits taught her to endure without complaint. For Ho-soo, he felt like a burden to his stepmom after she chose to raise him on her own. He didn’t want his disability to add to their stigmatization, so he stopped wearing his hearing aid and pretended to be fine.

The problem is, both Ho-soo and Boon-hong constantly pretend to be fine so as not to worry each other. Their consideration has erected a wall between them that leaves them both feeling inadequate. He tries to give her space and be independent, but that makes her feel rejected. She goes the extra mile to show her love, but that makes him feel like a burden. He’s always secretly worried she’ll abandon him, but Boon-hong loves him enough that she cut off her judgmental family without hesitation when they refused to accept her decision to be Ho-soo’s mom. The love is there – they just need to learn to communicate their own needs and stop being so polite.

As adults, Ho-soo and Mi-rae both still struggle to admit when they’re in pain or to do anything that might lead them to disappoint others. But they’re learning, in part thanks to the loving people around them who see their value. Se-jin is the perfect foil for Mi-rae with his openness about his thoughts and feelings, like when he says he likes the rumors about them dating. He doesn’t push her to respond, and the moment passes. What really gets Mi-rae to open up, though, is the unexpected discovery that Se-jin was a famous hedge fund manager (or stockbroker, maybe? some kind of finance guy, anyway) which she geeks out about.

Mi-rae’s passion for finance is clear – that’s her company’s industry – but her love has gotten buried under the hardships. Se-jin calls out her fear of failure as something that’s holding her back from taking risks to get what she wants; he knows because that’s how he used to be until his grandfather died while he was busy working and didn’t take his call. Se-jin dropped his corporate life, despite being terrified, and chose a new dream.

Speaking of those corporate hardships, Mi-ji finally learns more about the rumors of Mi-rae’s “affair” with higherup Park Sang-young. She has a chance run-in with the man’s wife when she’s out meeting Ji-yoon who swoops in with a surprise save. I’m so glad we don’t get the usual fight over a man here. Ji-yoon is naturally upset Mi-ji stole her crush away, but she’s been a Mi-ji fangirl since their high school days and can’t be too mad. They hash out their misunderstandings, and Ji-yoon fills Mi-ji in on the rumors about Mi-rae.

When Mi-ji finally meets Sang-young after his return from working abroad, she’s stunned. The man could be their father’s twin. Suddenly, Mi-ji understands why Mi-rae would’ve felt drawn to him and gotten close enough for rumors to start, even if they were baseless. The twins both miss their dad terribly but, as usual, have kept it bottled up. Seeing someone who resembles him disarms them enough to feel vulnerable around him and allows the twins to talk to each other about their grief.

Meanwhile, Ho-soo faces off against Choong-gu who manages to get under his skin per usual. Choong-gu is confident he’ll win the case and encourages Ho-soo to negotiate a good deal for Ro-sa rather than being “considerate” by accepting her refusal to sell without asking questions. Choong-gu’s advice that Ho-soo should learn to cross the line and be less polite leads him to make a trip back home to talk to Mi-rae about why she dropped the assault case and offer his help.

While he’s there, their frenemy moms Boon-hong and Ok-hee get into a literal hair-pulling fight over a perceived slight toward Ho-soo, which lands them both in the hospital with minor wounds. When Mi-ji hears about Ok-hee being in the hospital, she takes off work and rushes over. So does Se-jin, actually. That’s how we get an awkward double date where Mi-rae and Ho-soo silently watch friendly Mi-ji and Se-jin hit it off.

Se-jin proves sharper than he looks and pieces together that the twins have switched places. Mi-ji lets slip that she knew his grandfather given her farm work, and he learns that Mi-rae works for a finance company. He puts two and two together and realizes he’s been talking to Mi-rae all this time. Of course, seeing as he didn’t know both twins before, it’s not as big of a deal for him.

I love getting more of the twins together. Aside from early on, the main interactions we’ve had with them have been over the phone. Mi-ji’s sweet, chaotic energy with Mi-rae’s stoic, no-nonsense vibe makes them fun to watch. Like how when Ho-soo asks Mi-rae not to tell Mi-ji that he knows about the switch, she immediately tells Mi-ji because she does not have time for ridiculousness. Mi-ji is so embarrassed that she just keeps pretending to be Mi-rae … which totally confuses Ho-soo since Mi-rae told him that she told Mi-ji. LOL. (There is no dignity to be had here for poor Mi-ji.)

We get some sibling bonding when later, Mi-rae has a heart-to-heart with Mi-ji about how lost she feels. She doesn’t feel like the big deal her family makes her out to be and is scared to quit her good job. She’s working up the courage to write her resignation letter like she promised Mi-ji she would before returning to her life. But she has no idea what to do next. When she later tells Se-jin she’s not sure about her prospects, Se-jin asks her to stay and keep working on the farm while she figures it out.

While back at home, besties Mi-ji and Gyung-gu reunite and catch each other up on all the important things they’ve got going on: Gyung-gu’s tattoo of his deceased hamster (lol), and Mi-ji learning that she’s Ho-soo’s first love. Clearly, Gyung-gu is that friend who tells you when you’re being ridiculous. She argues that Ho-soo liked the her that existed before her ankle injury. Gyung-gu: “Did he like you for your ankle?” HA. What Mi-ji truly worries about is whether Ho-soo will find the newer, less happy-go-lucky version of her as appealing as her old self.

Like a good best friend, Gyung-gu plays the wingman and goes to Ho-soo to ask about his intentions with Mi-ji. Gyung-gu doesn’t understand what’s holding him back when he knows Ho-soo has been crazy about her for years. He about has a conniption when, like Mi-ji, Ho-soo vaguely says he’ll confess when the time is right. Gyung-gu reminds Ho-soo that there’s no such thing as perfect timing; just confess already!

Thank goodness for Gyung-gu being tired of their nonsense because his interference spurs Ho-soo into action. Ho-soo finally tells Mi-ji that he’s always liked her, more than she knows. Mi-ji tells him she feels the same way. They smile at each other … and then Ho-soo calls it a night. Pfft. Mi-ji is thrown and is left wondering whether they’re dating or not. Ho-soo is so awkward that it’s hard to tell. He even shakes her hand rather than hugs her when she heads back to Seoul. (What does he think this is, The Prime Minister and I?)

Mi-ji gets a definitive answer when they run into his friend Ji-soo back in Seoul, and Ho-soo introduces Mi-ji as his girlfriend. But then he’s thrown when she pretends to be Mi-rae. He’s bothered when she says she lied because she didn’t want to embarrass him by saying she was unemployed. He doesn’t have much room to talk, though, because he hasn’t been able to admit he’s been sick all day with a fever. They both need to learn that it’s okay to be imperfect around each other.

It’s not easy to overcome long-held habits, but their ability to communicate and be honest with each other is already making a difference. Ho-soo opens up about feeling like a burden due to his disability (his leg still makes it hard for him to walk too much or do stairs), and she opens up about feeling insecure. There’s hope for these two yet!

Meanwhile, back in town, Mi-rae goes to see Se-jin. Before she gets a chance to talk to him – seemingly about staying on at the farm for now – she hears from a neighbor that Se-jin is looking for someone to take over the farm. Seeing as an old colleague of his came to visit, perhaps he’s getting back into finance? He didn’t seem to miss his old life, though, so I’m guessing there’s more to the story.

In Seoul, there is scheming afoot on the work front. Choong-gu delves into Ro-sa’s past and learns that she might not be who she seems. I guess our twins aren’t the only identity swappers around here. Ro-sa’s actual name is Hyun Sang-wol. It seems like she switched places with her best friend after her death. We don’t have all the details yet, but Sang-wol is an orphan and appears to be on the run.

We also get a little more information on suspicious Tae-yi. He shows up outside of Mi-rae’s apartment one night to Mi-ji’s shock, and he reveals that he’s the little brother of the sunbae Mi-rae stood up for at work. Ah, so that’s why he’s been helping her and reporting back.

Mi-ji is wrapping things up to prepare for Mi-rae’s return and agrees to step aside on the project now that Sang-young is back from abroad (it was his originally). But it’s looking like the twins might get caught at the finish line. Sang-young is in cahoots with Mi-rae’s slimy boss and coworker who mention how much bolder Mi-rae seems of late. He tells them Mi-rae has an identical twin, so they decide to test a theory. In the final scene, her colleagues ask Mi-ji to use her fingerprint to open the data center door.

Maybe our data expert Tae-yi is also a hacker and can pull an assist here for Mi-ji. We only heard his confession about who he is, but it seemed like he was there to tell her something important. He’s been snooping, so he might have found out about their colleagues’ suspicions. Mi-rae is planning to resign anyway, so hopefully they can make it a few more days before they peace out of there.

I’m glad that Mi-rae is truly going to quit because that job is so toxic. She seems to love business and finance, but she’s been so consumed with being “successful” rather than finding a good fit for her. Surely she can find something in her industry that isn’t soul sucking. Or she can just spend her days happily creating business plans and crunching the numbers for Se-jin’s farm. I’d be surprised if he’s really giving up his beloved grandfather’s farm, so I have a feeling it’s a temporary hiatus if anything.

I do wonder what Mi-ji is going to end up doing when she takes back her own life. She still feels embarrassed by not having a career, as evidenced by her lying to Ho-soo’s friends, but I can’t see her doing something too conventional. Mi-ji just needs to believe in herself and stop trying to be Mi-rae. Success looks different for everyone, and it’s up to Mi-ji to figure out what that means for her.

 
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