I LOVE this episode! What’s there not to like – that wonderful kiss-on-the-forehead scene (I just mentioned two days ago on another recap that I love forehead kisses. Who’s with me!), the reunion, Hyun’s persistence to break down Min’s walls and that cliffhanger at the end.

I’ve not really teared from any recent dramas (I have a bad memory so I don’t know if you should trust me on that…) but this reunion was so bittersweet, I couldn’t help myself.

Hyun hesitates to open the envelope but he already has a hunch as to who Min is. He recalls his previous run-ins with Lawyer Jung – Jung mentioning that Hyun looks familiar, him wanting to know Hyun better, him being concerned for Hyun when he saw him troubled, and when he was at Hyun’s house. “If you really are Min, what do I do with my guilt and remorse?”

Ji Ahn watches the interrogation footage and the CCTV footage again, and realises that the victim seemed to be looking at the witness.

Hyun goes into his basement room and finally opens the envelope. He still can’t bring himself to flip open the photo, so he reads the other records first. The common thing among the other victims is that they had abandoned someone.

He realises that Min is using other people as scapegoats for himself, “He’s killing me repeatedly in his head.” With bated breath (I don’t know his or mine), he flips the photo and see Lawyer Jung’s face.

He starts to tear as he stands up…and punches the table, before hitting his chest.

That guilt, remorse, sadness, loss…it all builds up in this moment.

That moment stops pretty quickly as Min steps into his car with a look, and Hyun recalls how Jung said, “It’s not direct murder, but there’s a possibility of abandonment…right?” in the police station. He looks up.

I love smart leads. Everything moves so much faster with them. He calls Min but Min doesn’t pick up. No one answers at the parents’ house either, but Hyun finds the drawing of a radio underneath the door.

On a random sidenote, I think the drawings are absolutely beautiful? Someone give them to me as gifts please! But not with the intention of telling me that you are going to kill someone!

Hyun quickly dials up his art friend to get the address of the person he investigated, and he calls Ji Ahn to locate the victim’s parents immediately.

Resourceful friend is very resourceful indeed. Hyun soon stumbles into Min’s house, and sees the paintings. What strikes him the most is a painting tucked in a corner, that resembles the one Min drew when he was young.

As he stares at it, Min comes up behind him.

He turns around, “You…are you…Min?”

“How does Hyung know?” “I’ve come late. I’m sorry, Min.”

Min looks down, “It’s too late.” He takes off his cap and sits down. Hyun rushes up to him to check his fingers and Min asks if he’s checking for blood stains. Hyun replies that he’s checking if he’s injured. Min knows he’s actually curious about something else. “The parents…they didn’t…right? Hope you say you didn’t…” He hopes desperately that Min didn’t destroy himself because of worthless people like those.

 

“What if I’ve been destroyed already?”

Min shouts, “I’m asking you, the day you abandoned me, what if I’ve been destroyed since then?! What then?”

 

“No, I didn’t abandon you.”

Min kicks his easel and painting aside, “Yes you did.”

Hyun tries to explain why he didn’t find Min, but Min (amazing Park Bo Gum’s acting!!) starts to look hurt instead of angry, “You didn’t recognise me.”

“That’s because I thought you were…” “You wish for me to die?”

“It’s not like that.” Both brothers are breaking my heart! Hyun with his helplessness and guilt and Min with his hurt, rejection, sense of betrayal amidst his love for his brother.

He repeats, this time with even more feelings, “You didn’t recognise me.” Who knew so few words could carry so much emotions?

Hyun admits that he didn’t.

Now Min is angry, “And you threw me to Lee Joon Young.” Hyun is bewildered at this accusation but when Min tells him that he had told Joon Young the secret that was supposed to be between two of them, he remembers that he told Joon Young the real monster was his brother.

“You betrayed our promise.”

In the entire scene, Hyun doesn’t make any true explanations. He knows he has let his brother down.

Ji Ahn calls to inform him that the parents are fine. Phew. No more murders please. I want you to turn nice, and have bromance with your brother. Wait does that sound wrong. I mean like literal brotherly-love.

“Today…there isn’t any feeling.” To kill. Hyun knows that the one Min truly wants to kill is himself. Min looks at him, “That’s right.”

Hyun holds his tears in. How does Min look cold and hurt at the same time. I’m impressed. Or am I reading too much into his face.

As Hyun leaves the house wiping his tears, Min sobs in his room. Everyone is making me sad. Stop:(

Ji Ahn comes home, concerned for Hyun, but Hyun promises to tell her the truth another day. I’m already fangirling at this promise, because he has EVOLVED so much from the distrusting Hyun.

Hyun dreams of Min burying an animal and in an instance, small Min turns into big Min with a body at his feet. Hyun wakes up because Ji Ahn is at his side, patting his hand and telling him it’s alright.

She cute-ly falls asleep just as he sits up. He smiles, “Cha Ji Ahn, did you fall asleep? My brother, Min…might be a murderer. I don’t know what to do. I should..stop him right? If…I evade it, at that time, you…”

He doesn’t finish his sentence but merely smiles and walks off.

You know how dramas are so frustrating because when there’s something that NEEDS to be heard, someone will always fall asleep?? Like confessions etc. Stop sleeping! Although it isn’t exactly frustrating if Ji Ahn really fell asleep at this point (the scene is worth it just for its catching-her-head and telling-her-the-truth moments), it’s quite gratifying to see her open her eyes, in shock at what she just heard.

Min jogs past the parents’ house and away, especially since there are policemen on patrol.

Joon Ho (now confirmed to be Joon Young) asks Min why he didn’t act on the parents. Min asks Joon Ho if and why his brother really abandoned him to him. Joon Ho lies that it’s probably because Hyun thought it was the best for both of them, but it seems like Min isn’t entirely convinced.

Ji Ahn confesses during breakfast that she has heard everything and Hyun looks displeased oops. He tries to act, with 0% effort, that she had a dream, but Ji Ahn doesn’t let the issue go.

She stops him from washing the dishes and tells him that she’s been waiting for him to confide in her since the port case. She knows that he must be tired and that one day he will seek her help, so she has been holding her questions in and waiting.

Hyun wants her to keep on waiting, but Ji Ahn shakes her head, “I can’t. You have already asked for help and I heard it. So I cannot pretend that I didn’t hear. You really need help now.” What kind of help can she give? She answers that this isn’t something Hyun can handle alone. “Are you saying this as a policewoman?” Nope, in this moment, she’s speaking as someone who’s close to Lee Hyun. Whoooo.

She asks again, “Your brother who disappeared…he has appeared?” Hyun nods his head. “Did Lee Joon Young bring your brother away?” Nods. “Your brother turned into a murderer…right?” Maybe.

Ji Ahn and Eun Bok work on the video footage all night and manage to get a close up screenshot of who the witness was. It’s the mum, who promptly gets arrested. You are a monster!

I thought the transition between the couple scene to the arrest scene and back to the couple scene was a little out of place/anti-climatic. But anyway, Ji Ahn recalls her earlier conversation and how she persisted in asking for the identities of Min and Joon Young. Although Hyun refused to tell her who Min was, he remarked that it might be more appropriate to say Joon Young had always been around rather than ‘appeared’. “He’s someone around us? Someone that you and I know?”

Hyun brought her to his basement room and let her listen to all the old tapes. Ji Ahn cursed, “He’s crazy. This bastard.” Hyun initially smiled, thinking this was one of her violent rants again, but realised that she’s tearing.

Oops. “Are you okay?”

“Not okay. You were shut here right? At such a small age.” Awesome! Saying not okay when you are really not okay.

Are you touched that she’s crying for you?? Grab her and wipe her tears!

Hyun murmured that if his dad knew the monster was Min, he would have shut Min in. “But I told this secret to Lee Joon Young…if I hadn’t said it, and held his hands tightly, Min wouldn’t be like this now. He would have listened to me as he grew up and abide by the promise with me.”

(There seems to be a trend of a tear coming out from the right eye in this episode.)

Ji Ahn hugged him and patted him on the back.

He’s a little taken aback but more touched than anything else, “Thank you, Cha Ji Ahn.” She smiled.

He stepped forward and held her face, before leaning in to kiss her tenderly on the forehead.

KYAAAAAAAAA. Thankfully, Dog was not around as I watched this.

 

Hyun visits Min and promises naughtily that he will be back all the time. He wants Min to promise that if he wants to kill someone, the target must be him. “Not anyone else, but me.” Min smirks and agrees. Hyun, can you not look so happy that your brother wants to kill you?

Some guy who was previously looking at Hyun’s photo has now killed someone. A letter is delivered to Hyun, but when Myung Woo throws the letter on his table, he sees its contents. A photo of a dead person. He immediately instructs Seung Joo to find the delivery man, but he has disappeared.

The trio reads the note and deduces quickly that he’s looking for revenge, because of what Hyun’s father has done to him.

Min smirks that Joon Ho is outrightly against the reunion of the brothers, but when Joon Ho comments that it doesn’t seem like a bad thing, he looks worried.

Team investigates the murder but I don’t like how they could make the logic leap that the delivery guy was the murderer, hereby called M. I need better ways to call my random characters. Joon Ho learns that M has sent a threat to Hyun.

At this moment, Hyun is being harassed by Ji Ahn, who is investigating who Min is right in front of him. “If you tell me who he is, then I can listen to you.” If he doesn’t, she can only approach this case as a policewoman. She shouts his name when he continues to close his eyes. He opens them and asks what if one kills someone who deserves to die. But Ji Ahn reminds him that no one has the right to decide who gets to live and to die.

Ji Ahn gets a call from Myung Woo, who asks where Hyun is and tells her about the case. Hyun looks up, worn out and tired. Aww. I want to give you a pat on the head. When Ji Ahn tells him about the threat sent to him, he murmurs, “Is it?” “Is this someone else’s business?” “Seems like it’s mine.” HAHA.

Ji Ahn puts her feet down. Literally. And tries to pull Hyun out of his 150-grandpa state.

She gives up and holds his hand, “Let’s go.” Obedient Hyun stands up and follows her.

I can’t take it. This couple is so funny!

At the meeting, Hyun observes that the motive doesn’t seem strong enough if M had a grudge simply because his father set the police on him once. He smiles wryly, “This is another person that wants to kill me.” Myung Woo cannot resist pointing out that many people would want to kill David. He instructs the team to find news in the local newspapers and walks off because he’s “busy”.

Ji Ahn follows him to the lift and assures him that she will protect him. “Are you laughing right now?”

“Now I’m not.”

I love it that Hyun is actually busy because he wants to find his brother.

He’s thankful that Min isn’t living as Lee Min, but as Jung Sun Woo. Sho sweeet.

“Have you eaten?” “I’ve eaten.” “Do you want to grab a cup of tea?” “I’m busy.” “Is there any movie to catch?” “No.” “Do you want me to check?” “No.” “You aren’t giving me a tour?”

HEHE it was cute seeing Ji Ahn breaking Hyun’s walls down but it’s even cuter watching a usually-cold Hyun being persistent in breaking Min’s walls.

Joon Ho reads Hyun’s father’s diary and deduces that M’s woman died because they were involved in accident when escaping from the police.

Ji Ahn returns home with air pistol to guard Hyun and asks if he feels more secure now that she’s here. She’s serious. So serious that Hyun and I can’t help but laugh.

He immediately keeps a straight face, “Not laughing,” but puts a book up and laughs. HAHA.

Team laughs because Kang gets a check-up call from his father at 10pm. While defending himself, Kang realises that someone should be protecting Hyun.

Ji Ahn just finishes bathing when Kang and Myung Woo descend on Hyun’s doorstep. Hyun wants to make the excuse that Ji Ahn is here to play, but Ji Ahn motions at her clothing, “Does it look like that?”

It looks more like they are newlyweds. “Newlyweds?” HAHA stop speaking your thoughts.

She decides to hide. First she runs in one direction, then she runs in the other hahaha. Hyun’s face is just like …… She eventually escapes out of the window.

Hyun lets the duo in and Myung Woo very quickly picks up that there are two cups. Hyun makes the excuse that he feels lonely eating alone sometimes, “So I eat one bite from here and one bite from there.” HAHA.

Ji Ahn feels like there’s someone behind her and she whirls around, but it is Joon Ho. Ji Ahn recalls her conversation with Hyun and has her guards up. Lee Joon Young could be anyone near to her. She finds out that Joon Ho lives near Hyun and lies that she likes taking a stroll here sometimes. Joon Ho invites her to his house and she marvels that it’s quite cool to run into each other occasionally. She suddenly recalls her early convos with Joon Ho and murmurs that maybe he had an interest in her from the start. She looks around the house but is stopped from going into a particular room. Ji Ahn jokes that he must be keeping porn inside.

He later fetches her home and she intentionally asks if she has told him about her father before. Her dad has been missing for two decades. Sometimes, when she informed family members of a person’s death, she wonders if it’s better to keep the hope going that the person is alive, or to notify them that he’s dead so as to break the hope.

She asks for his opinion. He replies with quotes like, “As long as there’s hope, there’s happiness,” “Hope is a dream when you are awake,” but, “Hope is the greatest vile, for it brings suffering to humankind.” Ji Ahn points out that someone once told her she’s violent and ignorant (HYUN~), “Yes or no, just answer like that.”

Joon Ho answers that initially he thinks having hope is better, but now he thinks that perhaps that’s too cruel.

 

Hyun calls Ji Ahn after the duo falls asleep (falls asleep??) and reminds her to lock her door. He’s worried after learning that Ji Ahn has met with Joon Ho. Ji Ahn finally cleans her house up and digs up old photos of Hyun, “I was like a real stalker.” Yeah I think so too.

She notices Lawyer Jung in one of the photos and guesses from her past conversations with Jung and Hyun that Jung is Min.

Joon Ho discusses the case with Min, who finally understands his brother’s words about being glad that he’s Jung Sun Woo and not Lee Min (because he will then be targeted by M). He smiles. Aww. Dats right, your brother loves you!

They realise that something doesn’t add up and infer that M doesn’t want to kill Hyun, but someone close to him. To give him the same taste of watching a loved one die.

Min immediately guesses that it’s Ji Ahn, but Joon Ho points out that it could be him.

Min lies that no one knows he’s Hyun’s brother but Joon Ho replies, “Sometimes a criminal knows more than you think.” Which makes me wonder if Joon Ho already knew about the reunion. And thinking back, it makes sense why Min would lie here, if he was worried when Joon Ho expressed interest in the reunion.

Ji Ahn sends a photo of an article to Hyun, who also realises that M wants him to experience the same feelings of loss. If he’s the criminal, he would be killing someone Hyun loves.

He quickly calls Ji Ahn who is currently on an empty bridge, “Where are you right now??”

Before she answers, there are footsteps behind her and she turns around.

-the end-

Favourite episode just yet? Sometimes I scare myself with the number of screenshots I take.

I love this episode and the previous (was busy and therefore unable to produce a recap, so sorry!). The backstory is executed well and I think it’s a mark of a good story when you make the audience sympathise with your supposed villains (possibly one of the main attractions of Once Upon A Time). Although Joon Young’s back story is pretty good and dramatic, I really like how the brothers’ backstory sets up for the reunion scene we see today. I can’t sympathise with small Min for killing animals and being weird, but that big Min we see today? Hell yes. It’s not that I support killing, but his abandonment leading to him killing those who have abandoned others before humanises him. He’s not a monster. He’s an unloved human. That being said, I’m still holding on to my hope that he didn’t actually kill anyone. Maybe he merely knocks them on the head and then Joon Ho gets rid of them. Is that too much to hope for?:(

(At this point in time, I really hope you aren’t reading this on ZkPop’s site because this isn’t written by him. It’s written by me, thoughtsramble. This site has already stolen recaps from me and many other drama bloggers, so watch out!)

Let’s talk about that reunion scene. Although somehow reveals aren’t always as exciting as I wish them to be, I acknowledge that this episode’s bittersweet reunion makes up for it. The acting is AMAZING. Hyun’s sense of guilt and speechlessness is evident, but so is Min’s hurt and anger. He’s angry. He’s finally asking the questions he’s been wanting to ask for 20 years. Why did my brother abandon me? What’s worse, he didn’t recognise me. This resonates with the drama’s title. This show is all about remembering people, and associating them to who they are in the past. But more than pulling the connection between Ji Ahn policewoman and Ji Ahn stalker, or Joon Ho and Joon Young, the connection between small Min and Jung is something that powers the emotional part of the plot. “I remember you” is probably something that Min desperately wants and needs to hear from Hyun. I think “Hello Monster” can be an endearment from Hyun to Ji Ahn actually heh.

No one can forget the kiss scene! I love forehead kisses. Can’t go wrong with this kind of scenes because it’s quite simple really, but I still love them nonetheless. It’s so heartwarming to see how the couple care for each other. They don’t need many words to convey their concern. Come to think of it, I can’t really say they love each other. They go even deeper than that, if that’s possible. Something beyond romance…they understand each other, know each other’s scars, been through the same kind of emotional torture, and they are there for each other.

I don’t know if the person behind Ji Ahn in this cliffhanger is really the Baddie, since the follow-up from that will be repetitive after Hyun saved Ji Ahn just 2 episodes ago. But one can’t say too early, as we saw how Sensory Couple had the same cliffhanger three or four times in a row. And to be very honest, I really don’t mind watching a worried-to-death Hyun desperately saving Ji Ahn and then giving her a kiss whoops.

I’ve gone crazy. Even this recap is crazily long.

<3thoughtsramble