Our Unwritten Seoul: Episodes 9-10 » Dramabeans

Our Unwritten Seoul: Episodes 9-10

by quirkycase

We’re nearing the finish line, and it’s time for our characters to make some tough decisions. Our twins can’t put off their futures forever and tensions run high as they face their lives after the switch. Will they return to what they know or take a risk for something new? When push comes to shove, what are they willing to fight for, even when that fight seems impossible to win?

 
EPISODES 9-10

We left last week on a cliffhanger, so let’s jump right back in. Mi-rae’s smug colleagues are sure that they’ve caught the twins red-handed with their fingerprint test. They watch eagerly as Mi-rae puts her finger on the scanner … and the door unlocks. Because it actually is Mi-rae – the twins have officially switched back just in time. While it’s great they avoided disaster, it’s not all good news.

Mi-rae was doing so well, on track to taking risks and finding her own happiness. Then, she regressed after hearing that Se-jin was leaving. It’s like all the fight went out of her and she retreated into her shell. She’s always been reluctant to engage in a fight she isn’t likely to win, which made her decision to stand by her sunbae all the more significant. For once, she took the risk of doing the idealistic rather than practical thing, but it left her exhausted and alone. Now, the first sign of a setback or the fear of feeling too dependent on someone sends her packing.

Because it’s not just the bullying that’s worn Mi-rae down, but Sang-young’s betrayal. He acted like the perfect sunbae, kind and supportive right up until it no longer suited him. He got drunk and tried to kiss her, and when rumors about them started flying, he pinned it all on her. All the infuriating victim blaming made Mi-rae question her own version of the story until she felt confused and defeated enough to drop the case.

She’d been making progress thanks to her break from Seoul and meeting Se-jin who has given her a new perspective, but now she’s back where she started. Mi-rae has lost all the fight in her and even the drive to leave her toxic job. So when Tae-yi asks for her help reporting the company for their shady practices, Mi-rae refuses.

Since Mi-rae won’t help take the company to task, Tae-yi takes matters into his own hands and makes an anonymous expose on the company forum. Of course, everyone thinks it’s Mi-rae, so she’s pulled in whether she likes it or not. And it’s not that she doesn’t want to help, but she feels she can barely hold her own head above water much less save someone else.

Mi-ji has never met a fight for someone else she can ignore, so she and Mi-rae butt heads over Mi-rae’s decision. When Mi-ji storms out of Mi-rae’s, she ends up staying with Ho-soo since she has nowhere else to go in Seoul. These two are so awkward, but Mi-ji’s inability to keep things to herself forces them to talk things over. So after some initial panicking and insecurities, they work it out and even manage to finally kiss.

Meanwhile, Choong-gu stirs trouble by driving a wedge between Ro-sa and her loyal helpers Mi-ji and Ho-soo. Shortly after Ro-sa tells Mi-ji about her son who lives in a nursing home – she asks Mi-ji to consider becoming his legal guardian to help make decisions if something happens to her – Choong-gu threatens her using her son. He implies he found out about her son through spies (rather than good old fashioned research) to sow seeds of doubt. His evil genius plan works, and she pulls away from both Ho-soo and Mi-ji.

Oblivious to Choong-gu’s interference, Mi-ji comes clean to Ro-sa about her own identity, which only compounds Ro-sa’s distrust of her. Ro-sa tells her not to come by anymore, breaking Mi-ji’s heart. It’s the last straw for Mi-ji who feels her whole Seoul life is a sham. Ho-soo comforts her and supports Mi-ji’s decision to return home for now.

When Mi-ji arrives back home, Ok-hee finally notices the difference and realizes the twins were switched all this time. And that leads to a heart-to-heart that has been sorely needed for both Mi-ji and Ok-hee. Mi-ji confronts her mom about her preferential treatment of Mi-rae, and Ok-hee admits she never learned how to be a good mom and doesn’t know what to do. Ok-hee hates seeing Mi-ji live like her, trapped in their hometown living for others rather than herself. They cry and hold each other as Ok-hee begs Mi-ji to leave and find her own life.

It’s great to get an honest conversation between these two who have never been able to figure out how to connect. Ok-hee is repeating the cycle she learned from her own mother, unable to show her love to her daughter who is left craving her attention.

Now Ok-hee and her mom need to have a talk – there’s a lot of resentment there with Ok-hee believing her mom doesn’t like or care about her. Wol-soon is more childlike now, showing her every emotion that she used to hide behind a tough veneer. That scares Ok-hee who doesn’t know what to do with this version of her mother. Boon-hong again comes through, reminding Ok-hee that so long as her mom is alive, it’s not too late to figure out how to love each other.

Back in Seoul, Tae-yi takes Mi-rae to see his sister who, like Mi-ji years ago, hasn’t left her room in months. Mi-rae talks to her through the door and is distressed by her sunbae’s guilt and pain. Then, she arrives home to find two-faced, slimy Sang-young trying to get her to move to another branch for his comfort. When he catches her recording their conversation, he drops the nice façade and roughly grabs her.

That’s when Mi-ji arrives to deliver some serious catharsis. She sees him harassing her sister and launches at the man. She smacks him in the face with her bag and then whales on him while Mi-rae quietly eggs her on after ensuring no one can see them. HA.

They still get caught and brought into the police station where Sang-young plays the innocent victim as usual. Mi-rae’s anger turns to courage, and she informs the police she’s going to press charges against him again – and this time, she’s not dropping them. Look who got her spunk back!

Mi-rae gets a surprise visit from Se-jin who is upset she left without a word. Calling her would be too basic, so he buys a ridiculous, attention-grabbing car and hangs out in her neighborhood until she spots him. They spend the day hanging out with his many business-owner friends and going to the planetarium. There, he asks Mi-rae to join him in his new business venture in the States after she’s finished settling things in Seoul.

Elsewhere, Choong-gu makes good on his threats and spills everything about Ro-sa’s real identity as Sang-wol to the press. His end goal is for the restaurant ownership to be transferred to her son (the real Ro-sa’s child) whose uncle wants to sell and could assume guardianship to do so.

Unluckily for him, Mi-ji is not willing to let this lie. Ho-soo is wary of interfering, but Mi-ji is not about to let anyone hurt Sang-wol who has no one by her side. Sang-wol initially rebuffs her, but she’s once again no match for Mi-ji’s sincerity and ends up accepting her and Ho-soo’s help.

The situation would be stressful enough as it is, but Sang-wol can’t read, something she’s hidden her whole life. Except from Ro-sa who would read to her starting when they were kids in the orphanage. Sang-wol doesn’t explicitly state it, but it seems she was in love with Ro-sa. When she learned Ro-sa’s husband was abusing her, she went on the run with Ro-sa and her son. When Ro-sa’s husband found them and attacked both Ro-sa and Sang-wol, Ro-sa killed him. Sang-wol confessed to save Ro-sa and went to prison in her stead.

They lived as a family when she was released, and they decided Sang-wol should use Ro-sa’s name since she couldn’t get work now that she was an ex-convict. When Ro-sa got cancer, she put her intellectually disabled son in a care facility and instructed Sang-wol to assume her identity. She didn’t trust her husband’s family and wanted Ro-sa to have custody of her son after her death. She even left a will behind which bequeaths everything to Sang-wol.

That notarized will turns the tide in their favor, both with the courts and the public. Everyone is in a celebratory mood after tentative success with Sang-wol’s case. But we can’t have too much joy, so we know something is about to go wrong. We end the week as Ho-soo answers a phone call. He holds it up to his good ear and hears nothing. Ho-soo slowly realizes the world has gone entirely quiet.

Oh, boy. Ho-soo had painful ringing in that ear while talking to Choong-gu, and it looks like it might not be a one-off issue. If he does go fully deaf, I hope he doesn’t try to hide it like in the past. He’s not exactly great at sharing or even admitting his struggles, so I’ll be surprised if he lets Mi-ji help and support him at first. I’m just hoping he doesn’t instigate some ridiculous noble idiocy breakup rather than talking to her and figuring things out together.

I was worried for Mi-rae after her 10 steps backward, but she seems to have reached a turning point. I’m so glad she’s ready to confront Sang-young again and is standing up for herself. I think doing business with Se-jin in the States could be a good move once she’s wrapped things up with her old job. She needs a fresh start and the chance to do something she loves, and we already know they work well together. As for Mi-ji, I’m glad she unburdened herself to her mom and can now take steps forward without feeling guilty about leaving her family behind.

I love how this drama explores the complexities of familial relationships and how one person can serve different roles for different people. Wol-soon was a harsh mother to Ok-hee who, like Mi-ji, was left feeling insufficient. But she was a saving grace for Mi-ji, showing never ending love and support. Then there are the unconventional families like Boon-hong and Ho-soo or Ro-sa and Sang-wol who created their own family units and navigated a different set of challenges to pave their own paths. I never expected Sang-wol to be such a large part of the narrative, but the little family of sorts she’s found with Ho-soo and Mi-ji is adorable. Now that it’s Ho-soo’s turn for a crisis, hopefully he too can learn to accept the love and support of the people around him rather than feeling like a burden.

 
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