Emergency Couple: Episode 17

by LollyPip

Death leaves no person unscathed, and there’s no way to predict how someone might react when death touches them. As this episode highlights, loss affects all of us, and can do different things to different people. Our characters react to loss in some unexpected ways, and I only wish it didn’t have to take such a tragedy to make that happen.

 
EPISODE 17 RECAP

After leaving Chang-min’s father’s room, Jin-hee is in a daze as she walks through the hospital alone. She sits in the ER break room, remembering Dad’s last words to her that he can die happy because he’s seen Jin-hee become a doctor. She holds her white coat and badge and finally breaks down.

Ah-reum arrives at work and takes a call from Yong-gyu. She chirps brighty at him, teasing that he’d better come to work today, then suddenly becomes serious and asks him where he is.

The head nurse takes a call, and informs the doctors that Yong-gyu is in an ambulance on the way to the ER after taking a severe beating. When they wheel him in, he’s covered in blood and in a semi-comatose state.

The doctor asks Ah-reum if she knows what happened, but she says that he was fine when she left him at the bar the night before. Ji-hye treats him, muttering that Chang-min’s father just passed away, and now this. What a great start to the day.

Chang-min is at his father’s funeral, greeting guests while looking as if he’s barely holding himself together. He tells his aunt and uncle to comfort his mother, because she’s having a harder time than he is.

Chun-soo is at his computer putting in a request for time off on Chang-min’s behalf when Jin-hee comes to see him. He’s called her in to tell her to take the day off, and she puts up a token resistance but gives in rather easily.

Yong-gyu wakes up in the ER to see Ah-reum there taking care of him. She asks him what happened, but all he says is that he wanted to get beaten up. He admits he’s an idiot, and Ah-reum just smiles and tells him not to do that again, and not to disappear. She passes on the news to him about Chang-min’s father.

Jin-hee goes to the funeral but chooses not to approach Chang-min yet. The rest of the interns also go to pay their respects, but Chang-min says that he’s fine and they should go back to work, despite being obviously not fine at all. In fact he looks pretty scarily awful, and it’s worrisome.

Chun-soo and Ji-hye come to the funeral and see Jin-hee serving food to the guests, like she’s a member of the family. The interns also take note of this, and as they head back to work, Yong-gyu supposes that it’s not over even when it’s over.

Chang-min’s aunt and mother find Jin-hee serving the guests. His mother tells her she doesn’t need to be here, but for once she’s not angry. She just says that it will be hard on both of them. Jin-hee responds that this is all she can do for the man who was so supportive of her, asking again if she can stay. Chang-min’s mother tells Jin-hee that she knows her husband cared for her very much, and then is overcome with tears again.

Chang-min joins them and also asks Jin-hee to please leave, going so far as to take her wrist and gently lead her out. She apologizes to him, but he says that there’s no reason for an apology. Chang-min understands that she wants to help, but he just wants to get through this and he doesn’t know how to also console her.

Jin-hee counters that he’s hurting more, and she should be the one consoling him. He again asks her to leave, and invites her to just come as a guest next time.

Doctor Kim finds Yong-gyu in the ER to ask if he’s okay to work. He tells Yong-gyu that he’s arranged for him to work in the radiology department in order to rest while he heals from his injuries. Yong-gyu is happy not to have to see patients, but he deflates when he realizes that not being in the ER means he won’t see Ah-reum. That would be his biggest concern.

Doctor Kim thumps Yong-gyu on his injured head for being a lovesick dork, and Ah-reum is instantly there fussing at Doctor Kim for hurting him. Doctor Kim thumps Yong-gyu again and flees, leaving the two to coo at each other over Yong-gyu’s poor widdle head.

Young-ae pulls Jin-hee into a private room to tell her that she’s been so busy that she hasn’t had time to see an OB/GYN about her pregnancy yet. She wants to get a blood test to see if everything is okay with the baby, so Jin-hee volunteers to do the blood draw for her.

Jin-hee tells Young-ae that she needs to get to the doctor for an ultrasound, and Young-ae admits that childbirth scares her. She says that she’s not confident she can be an intern and have a baby at the same time, and asks Jin-hee for advice. She says that she can’t stand her husband since she got pregnant, and Jin-hee thinks it’s possible that Young-ae feels upset that he will advance in his career and leave her behind.

Later Chun-soo finds Jin-hee sitting alone, and guesses that she’s having a hard time. She tells him that Chang-min’s father was more than a former father-in-law to her, because he was so supportive of her through medical school. Chun-soo tells her that even though he didn’t know the man personally, he was highly respected. He gives her the advice not to try to hold back her grief.

Chang-min’s uncle joins him at the funeral, and asks if he knows why his father quit being a doctor. He says that just after Chang-min got married, a patient died during surgery. His father had done his best, but the patient had asked him not to tell his family that he was ill. The patient’s family blamed Chang-min’s father anyway, and caused him to doubt himself.

Chang-min says that he never knew this, and never thought to ask why his father had quit being a doctor. His uncle says he’s telling him this because he doesn’t want him to blame himself for not being able to save his father, or give up on himself too. Chang-min just listens and quietly cries.

Chang-min’s aunt tries to get his mother to eat, crying that she’s worried that she and Chang-min both are going to get sick if they don’t take care of themselves. Mom just pours herself some soju. She remembers when her husband told her to be healthy and take care of herself, and the time they all went to eat crab and he asked her siblings to respect and take care of her.

Jin-hee comes back to pay her respects to Chang-min’s father, as a guest this time along with her mother. Chang-min’s mother tells Jin-hee’s mother that she didn’t need to come, but thanks her sincerely. Jin-hee’s mother knows how she must feel, having also lost her husband, and says she knows how hard it is to hurt so much and yet go on living. Chang-min’s mother thanks her again, and then stops Jin-hee to thank her too. She’s so soft and sincere that even Chang-min breathes a sigh of relief.

After the funeral, Chang-min visits his father’s office. He finds a box with his father’s fishing gear in it and remembers that Dad had asked him to go fishing with him soon. He sees the calendar with his birthday circled in red, and breaks down in loud sobbing tears.

At the hospital, Ji-hye is on the phone with her daughter’s father. She’s angry, saying that she’s not asking for anything hard like child support, but just for him to get a blood test done. He hangs up on her and she turns around to find a stone-faced Chun-soo standing behind her.

He asks in a too-controlled voice what kind of bastard that guy is to abandon his own child. Ji-hye says that he’s nothing to her but he’s still the father of her child, so Chun-soo should watch how he speaks about the man.

The ER director breaks the news to Chun-soo that he’s suspended for punching Professor Ahn. Ahn wanted Chun-soo fired but was convinced to settle for suspension and a salary cut, only because he didn’t want to have to run the ER himself.

Chun-soo storms off to confront Professor Ahn. When he finds him, Ahn asks (in a smug tone that makes me want Chun-soo to punch him again) if he’s come to thank him for only suspending him. Chun-soo snarks that yes indeed, he’s very thankful that he’s not fired. Professor Ahn says that he heard the ER can’t function without Chun-soo but he thinks that’s nonsense. Chun-soo invites him to fire him then and do it himself if he wants, which makes Ahn pause.

Chun-soo apologizes for punching Professor Ahn, but says that he hopes he won’t hear any more things about Ahn in the future: things like him insulting divorced employees, or sexual harassment rumors like that time last year. Then he just walks away like a boss, leaving Professor Ahn spluttering.

Ji-hye performs an ultrasound on Young-ae, but it turns out that she’s not pregnant. Ji-hye says false positives can happen, which must be the case this time. Young-ae is thrilled enough to do a little happy dance, but poor Sang-hyuk looks crushed.

Ji-hye keeps Chun-soo company while he packs his things to take home during his suspension, and he asks if she really needs her ex’s blood test since she said that her daughter was fine for now. She says it would be good to have for later, just in case. She wishes she hadn’t even called, because she found out that he’s living with some girl. This prompts Chun-soo to call him a bastard again.

Chun-soo says that he feels bad for her daughter, but Ji-hye mentions that she’s only here in Korea for a year – she’ll join her daughter again soon. He asks if she’s thought about living here, which seems to give her pause. But she just says she’s comfortable in the US with her parents and her daughter. She sees an old picture of herself and Chun-soo together and tries to take it, but he grabs it back all, MINE. So cute.

Jin-hee is treating patients in the ER, and a nurse comments on how busy it is with Chang-min and Chun-soo both gone. One of the nurses blurts the news about Chun-soo’s suspension, which is news to Jin-hee.

She asks Ji-hye about Chun-soo’s suspension, but Ji-hye makes light of it like it’s just a nice little vacation so he can rest. She tells Jin-hee not to blame herself since she’s obviously feeling guilty.

Chun-soo is reading at a vacation house when Ji-hye calls him to cheerfully taunt him about how well it’s going in the ER without him. She casually mentions that it’s Jin-hee’s day off and oh yeah, she told Jin-hee where he’s staying. Then Jin-hee calls him next and says she’s nearby, wanting to know where exactly he’s staying. This throws Chun-soo into a mini-panic, and it’s adorable how he runs to fix his hair and shave, muttering about that Big Rock.

He runs out to meet her, and of course the first thing he says is a characteristically curt, “Why are you here?” He grunts for her to come in, which just makes Jin-hee laugh. When they get inside she presents him with the food that her mother sent with her, which he obviously thinks is sweet, though he grumbles at her not to bring food next time. He invites her to sit and it’s so cute how he tries to hide his mess under…more mess.

Jin-hee notices that he cut himself shaving, and he admits that he was in a hurry, then hilariously looks like a deer in headlights when he realizes he gave his excitement away. He asks why she’s here, and she says that she feels bad that he got a suspension and salary cut because of her. Chun-soo insists that it wasn’t because of her, and admonishes her to work harder while he’s gone.

Chang-min is home in bed with an ominous-sounding cough when Yong-gyu calls to check on him. Chang-min sounds like death as he says that he’s fine, but he’s just too tired to talk. Yong-gyu hangs up and Ah-reum asks how Chang-min is doing. (Has anyone else noticed how she’s always right near Yong-gyu lately?) He thinks that she must be pretty worried about Chang-min, and she admits that she is but doesn’t seem as concerned as you’d expect.

Jin-hee is in the middle of telling Chun-soo how she doesn’t know what to do for Chang-min, and he just says that she should follow her heart. He tells her that looking at her and Chang-min together reminds him of his parents who were also divorced. He muses that everyone must have different reasons for divorce, since you can’t know for sure when you marry someone that you’ll stay happy with them forever.

He’s sounding awfully enlightened about the whole thing, but then Jin-hee pulls out the book she borrowed from him and remembers that the advice he just gave her is underlined in the book. HA, he’s busted, though he tries hard to look innocent. She reads the underlined passage aloud, and we see images of Chang-min alone in bed and looking even sicker than before.

Jin-hee’s stomach growls loudly, so they take the food outside to grill. Chun-soo goes inside, and Jin-hee tries to light the grill but it’s windy and she manages to light her coat on fire instead. Chun-soo comes running and throws water on Jin-hee’s jacket to put the fire out. He stares at her for a moment, then reaches over to gently wipe a smudge of soot off of Jin-hee’s face. The nervous tension seems to break and he smiles at her.

After dinner, they have coffee and make small talk about the food, and Jin-hee suddenly asks Chun-soo why he’s not married. He says he’s not sure, but she wonders if it’s because of his parents. The awkward is back as Chun-soo searches for an answer, and all he comes up with is a pithy, “Is it?” A great man of words, our Chun-soo.

Ah-reum stops by Chang-min’s apartment to check on him, but there’s no answer in response to her knocks or her phone calls.

Chun-soo drives Jin-hee home, and makes her promise to work hard until he returns to the hospital in two weeks. She apologizes again, not having realized that her divorce could cause such serious problems for someone else. He says he’s not just “someone else,” and that he doesn’t think of her as “someone else” or he wouldn’t have gone so far as to punch someone on her behalf.

Chun-soo says that he understands now why Chang-min has been rude to him, but that it looks to him as if things aren’t over between Chang-min and Jin-hee. She admits that she feels that way, too. He starts to say something else, but Jin-hee’s phone rings.

It’s Ah-reum, still outside Chang-min’s door and getting more and more concerned. Jin-hee rushes to Chang-min’s place, lying to the doorman that she’s his wife in order to have him let her in. She finds Chang-min still in bed and whoa, he looks really bad. She can’t wake him up and starts to call for an ambulance, but he rouses enough to touch her hand and croak out a weak, “I’m okay.”

Jin-hee berates herself for not coming sooner, saying that she knew he might get sick like this but she didn’t have the courage to come. She gets him medicine and food and manages to get his fever down. Chang-min thanks her but tells her to leave, and Jin-hee asks why he always seems to be trying to kick her out lately. She promises to leave after he eats.

Ah-reum comes back to see if Chang-min is okay, and she’s relieved to hear that he’s better now. Jin-hee thanks her for calling her, and Ah-reum leaves without seeing Chang-min.

Jin-hee gets herself a drink, but stops as she reaches for a glass. In a jar on the table is her wedding ring that her sister pawned and Chang-min bought back. Before she can gather her thoughts, Chang-min comes out of his room, and she tells him that Ah-reum stopped by to check on him.

Chang-min says that he feels bad for the way he treated Ah-reum. Instead of answering, Jin-hee just holds her hand out to him, with her wedding ring in her palm.

 
COMMENTS

If anything good has come from Chang-min’s father’s illness and passing, it’s that finally people seem to be turning their focus to making peace with each other. Chang-min and Jin-hee are speaking to each other more kindly, and Chun-soo seems to be trying to understand Chang-min’s attitude towards him. Even the mothers had a nice moment of peacemaking, which was lovely to see. Death can either bring people together or tear them apart, and I love that the legacy of Professor Oh will be one of understanding and caring for each other. He may not have been a warm and fuzzy type of person, but it was clear that he wanted his loved ones to care for each other, and I was glad to see them honoring that.

The biggest change occurs in Chang-min’s mom, who truly seems to be making an effort to treat people better. She makes a point to thank Jin-hee for trying to save her husband, when I was so afraid that she would blame Jin-hee for his death. She even tells Jin-hee how much he cared for her, and I’d like to think that she’ll take that knowledge to heart and see that Jin-hee really is a person that she should respect and treat well. It’s important for this to happen for many story-related reasons, but mostly I’m glad that the writers have given her a reason to change that resonates as true and genuine, rather than her just taking it easier on Jin-hee because Chang-min tells her to. I hope this trend continues for Mom, and that she becomes a better person from this tragedy.

Chang-min is also a very different man in this episode. He hardly looks anyone in the eye and barely speaks, and it seems as if the one-two punch of Jin-hee’s rejection plus his father’s loss has beaten him. Knowing Chang-min, I expected more raging anger, but seeing him just so defeated is very hard to watch. It’s interesting that, as Jin-hee points out, Chang-min spends this whole episode (and the previous one as well) telling her to leave; leave the waiting room, leave the funeral, leave him alone even though he’s sick. He’s not even angry; I think he’s just trying to honor her wishes and give her the space she requested. I also think a lot of it is his trying to spare her grief; I don’t know if he truly understands how close she was to his father.

On the other hand, tragedy brings people closer, and Jin-hee finally seems to be trying to get closer to Chang-min even if only to be there for him in a difficult time. I hope that if anything good comes of Dad’s death, it’s that the people in our story realize that you have to appreciate people while you have them. Life is too short to push away the people that you love no matter what form that love takes, even if it’s a residual love for a person with whom you once shared hopes of a future together. Seeing Jin-hee reach out and try to make a connection with Chang-min is a good thing; I’ve been waiting for weeks for her to take an active role in making peace with him on some level, rather than just tell him to keep his distance.

Jin-hee’s visit to Chun-soo is interesting on a lot of levels. It’s obvious that there’s interest on both sides, and it was good to see them both relax a little around each other. But it’s telling that Jin-hee isn’t there for long before she starts to talk about Chang-min and how she doesn’t know what to do for him. I think that Chun-soo is right when he points out that things aren’t over between Jin-hee and Chang-min, and I’m glad that she admitted that it’s true. I feel bad for Chun-soo, who is just barely starting to loosen up around Jin-hee, but it’s mature and understanding of him to encourage her, in his way, to tie up the loose ends of her past.

No matter what happens on the romantic front, because at this point I can still see any number of ways this could go, Jin-hee still has a lot of things to work on when it comes to her past relationship with Chang-min. She and Chang-min need to have a good, honest sit-down about what happened between them, and find a way to put to rest all the hurt and upset they still carry. Then they can either move forward with each other, or separately – but neither of them will truly be able to move on and have a healthy relationship with anyone until they settle things between themselves.

But for the first time since the beginning of the show, I feel like they’ll be able to support each other and get through this together, one way or another.

RELATED POSTS

• Emergency Couple: Episode 16
• Emergency Couple: Episode 15
• Emergency Couple: Episode 14
• Emergency Couple: Episode 13
• Emergency Couple: Episode 12
• Emergency Couple: Episode 11
• Emergency Couple: Episode 10
• Emergency Couple: Episode 9
• Emergency Couple: Episode 8
• Emergency Couple: Episode 7
• Emergency Couple: Episode 6
• Emergency Couple: Episode 5
• Emergency Couple: Episode 4
• Emergency Couple: Episode 3
• Emergency Couple: Episodes 1-2