Incarnation of Money: Episode 16

by gummimochi

Le shit hits le fan for the Traitagon in this episode as one member faces the cruel truth and consequences of their evil deeds while another tries to grasp at straws holding onto a love already long gone. The baddies alliance continues to be tested as Team Shudal continues to plant seeds of doubt of their loyalty in each other. But then again, is there really honor among thieves? Or is it a mere façade of their own greed?

SONG OF THE DAY

Song Ji-eun of Secret (feat. Bang Yong-guk) – “Going Crazy”  [ Download ]

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EPISODE 16 RECAP

Angelina wakes the following morning, pleased to find Cha-don at her bedside. She scowls when Se-kwang shows up and he oh-so-romantically responds to her post-fainting episode with, “Well, I knew you wouldn’t die.”

Once outside, Se-kwang raises his eyebrow at Cha-don’s remark that the incident doesn’t strike him as an ordinary breaking and entering. He wonders if Cha-don is trying to relive his prosecutor glory days but Cha-don insists that’s not the case. What Se-kwang is sure of, however, is that Kang-seok was the intruder.

Prosecutor Kwon’s assistant heads to the lab in order to tamper the evidence with (what the baddies believe to be) Kang-seok’s bood, completely unaware that Team Shudal has already made the switch.

Both senior prosecutors are then pleased to hear that their sabotage is going as planned. They’re downright smug when another chat from “Kang-seok” appears onscreen.

Prosecutor Kwon types that the rigged lab results will soon reveal Kang-seok as the perpetrator. Er, is it wise to tell someone that you’ve framed him on record? This means that Kang-seok will live out the rest of his days as an alleged murderer… just like Mom. Like a schoolyard bully, he taunts Kang-seok to come out and play.

It strikes a nerve and Cha-don warns his enemies to pay heed that those who “live by the sword, will die by the sword.” The prosecutors laugh at the threat. As far as they’re concerned, all they have to do is wait for the other shoe to drop so they won’t have to deal with Kang-seok anymore.

But Se-kwang is still bloodthirsty and vows that he’ll catch Kang-seok with his own hands. Prosecutor Kwon asks if he suspects anyone in particular and Se-kwang answers: “Lee Cha-don.”

Though the trip to the orphanage was a dead end, he notes that Cha-don’s convenient appearances at the crime scene can’t be explained by pure coincidence. Prosecutor Kwon acknowledges that if indeed Kang-seok is someone in their vicinity, it isn’t that far fetched of a hypothesis.

Se-kwang recalls that a certain prosecutor came to collect Mom from the psych ward. That leads him to sit across from Dr. Bug Eyes in prison and shows him a picture of Cha-don – has he seen this man before?

And to his surprise, the doc answers no. Then we see that Cha-don paid a visit to the imprisoned doctor and exchanged his cooperation for a lighter sentence.

Se-kwang returns to his car, fuming, but invites Cha-don over for drinks.

Later that night, Se-kwang keeps the conversation light hearted as he pours Cha-don a drink, though neither man trusts the situation enough to consume the entire shot in the other’s presence.

He thanks Cha-don for his concern towards Angelina, who seems to trust him a great deal. “And yourself?” Cha-don asks, and he honestly replies, “I’m thankful… but I don’t trust you.” Even now, he sees Cha-don as Shudal, the corrupted prosecutor.

He asks what Cha-don hopes to gain but Cha-don turns the question back on him – what’s the deal with Lee Kang-seok? Both Se-kwang and Angelina have muttered the name in their sleep, begging Kang-seok to spare their lives. That piece of information could be worth a pretty penny, Cha-don adds wryly.

Se-kwang tenses before spitting that he’s astounded that Cha-don is still working in law. Cha-don rises from his seat and thinks to himself, “That title of prosecutor will be replaced with murderer.”

Once he leaves, Se-kwang pockets the shotglass and has it sent to be tested against Kang-seok’s blood.

At the Bok estate, Assistant Kim runs in and is surprised to see a recording device in Boss Bok’s hands. But right now they’ve got a bigger problem on their hands and find Jae-in pigging out in her room, completely stressed.

Jae-in is convinced that the savings bank audit reports is chock-full of false information though the reports themselves don’t indicate anything amiss. And without proof, she’ll lose face to Angelina in her upcoming presentation.

When asked if she’s ever handled or seen the money herself, Jae-in calls her mother out on her old-school loanshark tactics, blurting that no one trades in cash nowadays. But that’s exactly Boss Bok’s point – she never trusts any money that she hasn’t physically seen herself.

Adding a few zeros on paper is easy enough, and she wisely tells her daughter: “There are two kinds of money. Money that you can see and money that you can’t. Money you can see is honest money, and money that you can’t is dirty money.”

That’s all Jae-in needs to hear and she runs out, having put two and two together. She drags Assistant Kim with her to check out the companies indicated on the audit reports.

Sure enough, Jae-in quickly discovers that the reported establishments are merely dummy corporations. She instructs Assistant Kim to take photos for evidence and picks up a dead phone, saying, “This is worth 5 billion won?” HA.

So it’s pretty satisfying to watch Jae-in comment on her auditor’s presentation as “perfectly fabricated down to the last penny” and counter it with her own at the following meeting.

She lists off all the “companies” the bank has given out loans to, like a field worth 14 billion won or another site unable to build anything due to lack of funds. Smells like embezzlement, doesn’t it?

When Angelina rises to object, Jae-in simply counters that she isn’t finished with her report yet. Pfft. Then she names Angelina as the key mover and shaker. Dayum.

But Angelina takes a deep breath and calmly orders her staff to immediately look into the matter. Jae-in locks eyes with Cha-don and tells him silently, See? I’m this kind of woman.

While waiting for a TV appearance, Cha-don reaches out to the senior prosecutors, extending an invitation to meet. They bite right away and hurry to jot down the designated address. Meanwhile, Cha-don tips off Team Shudal to get in position.

The Traitagon prosecutors arrive and knock on the door. No one answers and they open the door… to an empty room. Ji-hoo rushes in seconds afterward, explaining that she received a tip-off that the lawyer’s murderer planned to turn himself in.

They scratch their heads for a moment before they notice a laptop situated on a lone table. So Ji-hoo turns it on and plays the video that reveals Angelina as Lawyer Hwang’s killer.

No one is as shocked as Se-kwang.

The prosecutors exchange looks behind Ji-hoo, who asks who the woman in the video is. Which is when Se-kwang answers: “Angelina.” Woah, you just ratted out your lover there.

Ji-hoo belatedly asks what her superiors are doing here, to which they answer that they were also following a lead. She apologizes to Prosecutor Kwon before taking her leave.

Once they’re alone, Prosecutor Kwon rounds on Se-kwang, who can barely believe it himself.

How ironic that the new savings bank president knows so little about banking and finance. Angelina basically sits there, smiling and looking pretty for the camera while Cha-don answers the interview questions instead. She even gets a phone call from Se-kwang mid-broadcast and Reporter Go shoots her a Are you kidding me? look.

The cameras cut away and Angelina finally checks her phone to see the incriminating video clip of herself in the car. She gapes in horror and is still a bundle of nerves when Reporter Go asks her another question and catches her off-guard.

They abruptly wrap up the interview and Angelina is still in shock. She’s led away by Cha-don only to come face to face with Ji-hoo at the lobby, here to arrest Angelina for the lawyer’s murder.

Cha-don pretends to be surprised at the sudden arrest and watches as Angelina is taken away.

The Traitagon prosecutors fume when they hear the news and Prosecutor Kwon roars that Kang-seok was toying with them. Good thing that the baddies have a more rational, level-headed leader on their team and Se-kwang offers to be put on the case.

He explains that they need to prevent Kang-seok from extracting information about the late chairman’s murder with Angelina’s trial. He adds that there’s nothing to worry about since the lab results will reveal Kang-seok to be the culprit anyway.

Meanwhile, Ji-hoo is none too pleased to hear that she’ll be transferred from the murder case. She asks if Prosecutor Kwon was behind the decision and she leaves when she doesn’t get a straight answer.

Chief Prosecutor Jo makes a call to Team Shudal before entering the interrogation room to oversee the case.

Angelina sits in the interrogation room panic-stricken and breathes a small sigh of relief at the sight of Se-kwang. But he sticks to his hardheaded prosecutor persona and scolds her when she addresses him plainly as “Se-kwang sshi.”

Aware of Chief Prosecutor Jo’s prying eyes behind the glass, he drills her with questions though he avoids eye contact. She denies killing the lawyer, and the more he probes, the more tears stream down her face. Hurt at his emotionless questioning, she hisses that Se-kwang is a lowly scum.

In a cold voice, he asks why she killed Lawyer Hwang. Her voice breaking, she asks, “What is it you want to know? How I came to know him? Should I start from there?”

Se-kwang’s eyes flicker at her in warning but he rises and requests to interrogate the suspect alone.

The other prosecutors file out and when he explains they were being watched, she lashes at him. “Are you asking me to save your face?” Se-kwang starts over and in a soft voice, repeats his question about why Angelina killed the lawyer. She shrills that she didn’t kill the man.

Se-kwang reassures her that she needn’t lie with him but she in turn asks why he’s acting so cold with her now. He reminds her that her actions have endangered the Traitagon to which she can only sigh with disappointment: “You really… don’t love me, do you? You’re too worried about whether you’re in danger to notice that I’m trembling in fear?”

Just then, Cha-don appears and introduces himself as Angelina’s defense lawyer. He advises her to plead the fifth and tells Se-kwang that the prosecution will need more substantial evidence to get her to talk.

Angelina is placed in custody and recalls speaking with Cha-don, who reassures her that her chances are still good. However, he’s worried that Se-kwang will try to manipulate her with his keen ability to read people. Angelina tells him not to worry: “I don’t trust anyone else but you.”

So she bites Se-kwang’s head off when he comes by to visit her, telling him that she won’t fall for his tricks. Se-kwang insists that he’s here to help and leans in to fill her in about how they plan to pin Kang-seok for the murder.

All he wants to know is why she killed Lawyer Hwang. She answers, “Until you get me out of here, I won’t ever trust you.”

Boss Bok is up in arms when she hears that Cha-don will defend Angelina in court, and flubs over her words that this differs from his arrangement to hand the savings bank to Jae-in. Naturally, Assistant Kim has never heard of such a promise and Boss Bok promptly sends him away.

She wonders for a moment if Cha-don betrayed her once more before pulling up another audio diary entry. Indeed, this was all part of the plan and Boss Bok was just as angry to hear it the first time around.

But Cha-don replied that he would never betray her because, “to me, you’re not different than a mother.” Awww.

Angelina is bombarded by reporters as soon as she is released from custody. Reporter Go hangs back as Angelina is led away. He’s heard about the genetic test and asks if Cha-don is the long-lost Kang-seok they’ve been looking for.

Se-kwang: “That guy… the more I stand by and watch, the more I’m sure that it’s him.”

Cha-don drops Angelina off at home and is about to leave when she asks in a shaky voice for him to stay and protect her, citing that she’s too scared to be alone.

He agrees on the condition that Angelina tell him whether she killed the lawyer or not. That way, he can better protect her from the prosecution. Ooh, playing into her trust in you and getting the information you want. Smart, smart.

Crying now, Angelina recalls the night she heard from Lawyer Hwang that Kang-seok was alive.

Mere hours before Lawyer Hwang’s meeting with Kang-seok, she finds the news at utter rubbish- why would Kang-seok suddenly appear now? Lawyer Hwang explains that a past brain injury prevents Kang-seok from recalling his past, but he’s prepared to tell him everything – how the Traitagon benefited from conspiracy plan and who those members are now.

She barks that Lawyer Hwang was in on the plan but he slurs now that he’s penniless, he has nothing more to lose. She counters that the statute of limitations has already run out. But Lawyer Hwang cackles, “Not for Se-kwang. He’ll be a murderer hiding behind a mask of justice. His fall from grace will be bottomless, because he’s the mastermind behind all of it.”

There is of course, one way to shut him up: money. He pointedly asks her, “Will it be money or love?”

We know that Angelina agreed to the proposition and they met later that night. Lawyer Hwang opened the briefcase to find nothing and Angelina pushed him off the ledge where he met his downfall. Crying, she justified her actions, whimpering that this was the only way to save Se-kwang.

In the present, Angelina sobs, “I thought, ‘This way I can protect Se-kwang.'” Hitting herself on the chest, she cries that she even committed murder for him. Cha-don takes her hand and she wails that it’s unfair.

Cha-don pulls her into a sympathetic hug and recalls the day when his mother was unfairly sentenced to prison and the smug look on Angelina’s face. And now, he pats her back in comfort while his expression remains stern.

Cha-don drops by Se-kwang’s office the next day, slightly amused that they’ll be sitting down together to read the lab results. “Someone will laugh, and someone will cry.”

Then Se-kwang comments that Cha-don looks an awful lot like Lee Kang-seok. He’s practically smug when the lab results finally come in. But that smile soon disappears when the blood test results reveal that the traces belong to a female.

Se-kwang immediately gets a call from a furious Prosecutor Kwon as Cha-don calmly comments that the results must not be what he was expecting. His rage barely contained, Se-kwang tells Cha-don to relay the message that he’ll come to arrest Angelina soon.

Angelina breaks down at the news of the test results and she insists that it’s impossible – she’s never seen the alleged scarf before. Cha-don tells her that he believes her and in his head thinks, “Because I planted it there.”

He pretends to act surprised when she spills out that Se-kwang told her that he’d mess with the scarf. Then he says that this must mean Se-kwang planned to incriminate her from the start and she flips her lid. Screaming that she’ll seek revenge against Se-kwang, she asks for Cha-don’s help.

Just then, the prosecution comes knocking at her door, led by Se-kwang who bears a warrant for her arrest. Angelina levels eyes with Se-kwang and spits in his face before she’s dragged away.

His voice dripping with sarcasm, Cha-don tells Se-kwang that he’s amazed that he could put his lover in jail for the sake of justice. Se-kwang glares.

It’s no surprise that things have been going downhill for the savings bank ever since Angelina’s arrest and Jae-in berates the staff about the uproar from the shareholders downstairs.

The others conveniently can’t think of a solution so Jae-in steps up to the plate. She outlines the plan to reveal Angelina’s corruption, confiscate her shares, and use those funds to rebuild the savings bank from the ground up. Look who just became the new bank president.

Back in the interrogation room, Se-kwang addresses Angelina as her old name “Bi-ryung” and asks what she told Cha-don. Bi-ryung narrows her eyes and asks if he’s scared of what she might say. He reminds her to recall how they’ve made it this far.

Looking away from her, he promises to work to reduce her sentence to a maximum of five years. “Those 5 years… I’ll wait for you.” Bi-ryung scoffs at the statement and whips back, “Why would you? Because I might spill the beans?”

Se-kwang tries to tell her that it’s a misunderstanding but his words are too little, too late now. She bites that he always dumped her whenever she became useless to him. Does he really expect her to wait any longer?

She rises from her seat and her voice shaking, she tells him that he can stick that justice stick where the sun don’t shine. Wait, are those my words? Well you know, same same.

Prosecutor Kwon watches from the other side of the glass. Using a fishing metaphor, he says that Se-kwang will end up using the same tactics against Bi-ryung as he did with Mom.

And while they snap at each other, all he has to worry about is taking over the savings bank for himself.

Se-kwang sits in his office when he gets another message from Kang-seok: “Didn’t I tell you that Prosecutor Kwon will backstab you?” Kang-seok continues that Prosecutor Kwon was the one who devised the entire scheme.

Se-kwang is in no mood to play mind games with Kang-seok and he’s about to click away when he reads, “It looks like Prosecutor Kwon made off with an impressive amount of spoils of war this round.”

That lures Se-kwang back into the conversation and Kang-seok types: “Do you want to know what those spoils are?”

 
COMMENTS

I love me a smart baddie who’s always on his toes and constantly questions the clues he’s been fed. I’m always wondering what goes on in Se-kwang’s head and if any of his intentions are genuine. The glimpse into his past helped to answer his motivation that drove him to take action on his personal vendetta against the man who took his father away from him. That revenge plots has extended to the entire Lee family, as we’ve seen, and in order to bury that past, Se-kwang must commit more corrupt acts to keep it that way. We know that with his selfish ambition, he’s able to cast aside anything and anyone that gets in the way, including love. And if you drive something far enough away, you won’t be able to get it back.

Which makes me question the change of heart towards Angelina from the beginning of this episode. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he does still care for Angelina even if he’s got a gruff exterior. And yet at the same time, this allowed for Angelina to shine and enlighten him on how selfish he actually is. And now we know that more than anything, she would choose (what she believes is) love over anything – a sentiment that Se-kwang can’t and doesn’t reciprocate. For Se-kwang, his definition of justice overflows into every part of his life and his consequently his thoughts and actions.

Now that one person in the Traitagon has gotten her karmic consequence, just how will Cha-don deliver justice for the rest of the Traitagon members? The divide and conquer method is a smart tactic, though difficult when you’ve got two prosecutors who trust each other so much. But the thing with Cha-don’s plan is that it requires patience and careful calculation to achieve its maximum effect. I love that Se-kwang forces the revenge plot to be creative since he’s not so easily willing to give into Kang-seok’s mind games. Which means I’ll be here with a bag of popcorn, waiting for the next plan to be set into motion.

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