I Remember You: Episode 12

by rejoycie

The confrontation we’ve all been waiting for takes place at long last, and it’s one doozy of a reunion. Grab your tissues and brace yourself, because it’s gonna rip your heart out, in the very best possible way. At the very least, it’s a step forward for Hyun on several interpersonal (and personal) fronts, as he learns that he doesn’t have to weather every crisis alone. Confiding in others, and being protected, is perhaps not that big of a deal after all.

EPISODE 12: “If I had to kill somebody…”

As Lawyer Jung promises to “remember” the neglected and bullied student Yong-jae (aka seek revenge), Yong-jae’s mom finds the picture of a radio with the number six, left in the family’s mailbox. Hesitating for the umpteenth time over the envelope, Hyun thinks back to the numerous times Lawyer Jung initiated casual conversation, pondering the possibility of him being Min.

Ji-an reviews the tapes of the interrogation of Yong-jae’s family, as well as the CCTV of Yong-jae getting beaten up. One thing stands out to her: The unidentified witness and Yong-jae clearly made eye contact during the assault.

Settling down in his home basement,  Hyun bucks up enough courage to finally open the envelope of truth.  He chooses to first look through the records of the murdered victims, who all have the common characteristic of having abandoned someone. Registering that fact, he comes to a shocking realization: Through killing the other victims, Min was repeatedly “killing” Hyun, who likewise abandoned him.

Eventually, he turns over the picture of the supposed murderer, and the identity of Min is confirmed to be Lawyer Jung. The cards are finally all laid out on the table. With the truth slowly sinking in, Hyun pounds his chest in a mix of heartbreak and anguish, as tears spring to his eyes.

Lawyer Jung heads out in his “murderer outfit,” as Hyun remembers Lawyer Jung’s defense of Yong-jae’s family. It hits Hyun that Lawyer Jung intends to finish off Yong-jae’s family, and immediately rushes out to stop him. Multiple calls to Lawyer Jung go unanswered, and now, it’s a race against time.

Hyun makes it to Yong-jae’s house, but nobody’s home. All he finds is the picture of the radio, left under the door. He makes a call to Indebted Friend, and requests for the list of addresses that he found during the background checks. Next, he calls Ji-an, and gets her to contact Yong-jae’s parents.

His subsequent stop is Lawyer Jung’s studio, where he discovers Lawyer Jung’s wealth of double-headed art pieces. As he recalls Min’s similar childhood drawings, we finally get the mini-family reunion as Lawyer Jung appears behind Hyun. Hyun slowly turns around, and the look he has on his face when he sees Little Bro just about kills me.

Hyun confirms Lawyer Jung’s identity, and tearfully apologizes for being too late. In contrast, Lawyer Jung is unmoved, and with his poker face still intact, he stoically agrees that it is in fact, too late. Hyun grabs Lawyer Jung’s hand to check for injuries, although Lawyer Jung assumes Hyun’s looking for remnants of bloodstains.

Lawyer Jung asks Hyun to get to the point, and judging by the way Hyun asks about Yong-jae’s family, he’s practically pleading with Lawyer Jung to deny any involvement, since Yong-jae’s family is not worth Lawyer Jung being destroyed over. Upset, Min angrily questions: “What if I’m already destroyed? If I was already destroyed the moment you abandoned me, what are you going to do?” Voice cracking, Hyun ekes out, “I never abandoned you.”

Flaring up, Lawyer Jung accuses Hyun of not looking for him, and not recognizing him. He cuts off Hyun’s explanation, asking if Hyun wished he was dead. It’s a really heart-breaking and teary scene for both brothers — Lawyer Jung’s resentment that hyung didn’t recognize him, and Hyun’s disappointment in himself for failing his younger brother.

Grabbing Hyun’s collar, Lawyer Jung’s voice hardens and he blames Hyun for sending him to Joon-young. Hyun’s shocked that he would even think that way, although Lawyer Jung’s evidence is that Hyun betrayed Min to Joon-young. Little Hyun had promised Min to keep it a secret, but when little Hyun met Joon-young, he revealed that the real monster is actually Min.

Hyun’s silence confirms Lawyer Jung’s conclusion that Hyun did in fact spill the beans to Joon-young. Just then, a phone call arrives for Hyun, and Ji-an reports the good news that she just saw Yong-jae’s parents entering their house, and has requested extra security for them. Both brothers know what this means, and Lawyer Jung just says that he wasn’t in the mood today.

Hyun offers himself up for Lawyer Jung to kill, since he’s the real target that Lawyer Jung is after, and Lawyer Jung calmly affirms that statement. As Hyun leaves, both brothers break down and let out their suppressed sobs. Oof oof.

Ji-an arrives back home, ready to bug Hyun about the night’s happenings, but something about Hyun’s demeanor convinces her to let the issue rest for the night. Hyun falls asleep on his desk, as he dreams of little Min burying something beneath a tree. Suddenly, Lawyer Jung replaces the image of Min, and now, there’s a dead body on the ground. He jolts awake, and Ji-an is already next to him, sleep-comforting him and patting his hand. He smiles at the sight of her dozing off, and catches her before she crashes onto the table.

He confirms that she’s sleeping, before spilling his worries about Min being a murderer. He starts to ask about a hypothetical situation where he runs away, but doesn’t complete his question. Giving her sleeping figure a final smile, he walks away, and Ji-an opens her eyes, having heard everything he said.

Meanwhile, an unidentified man looks at a photo of Hyun.

Joon-ho visits Lawyer Jung, and notes that he didn’t “handle” Yong-jae’s parents. Lawyer Jung says he didn’t feel like it, and poses two questions to Joon-ho: Did Hyun really abandon him? And why was he left with Joon-ho? Joon-ho merely replies that it was the convenient solution for all of them.

Over breakfast, Ji-an admits that she heard Hyun’s confession about Min. She knows that Hyun said it while she was sleeping, fully aware of the possibility that she could be awake. She prods him to come clean with her, but Hyun tries to brush it aside as a dream she had.

Refusing to let him sweep it under the rug, she says that she was enduring it all this time, waiting patiently for him to take the initiative. He suggests for her to continue waiting, but she can no longer do so, since she can’t un-hear his revelation. Ji-an’s unsure how exactly she can help, but one thing she’s sure of is that Hyun can’t handle it on his own.

Hyun wants to know if she’s coming from the standpoint of a police officer, but Ji-an says that she will hear it as a friend if he tells her. But soon, she will have to wear the hat of the police — so she wants to hear him out as Cha Ji-an before it comes to that. Moved by her sincerity, he confides in her: He has found Min, who was kidnapped by Joon-young, and has possibly become a murderer. Baby steps.

Eun-bok has managed to identify the witness of Yong-jae’s attack from the CCTV, and it’s revealed to be his mother. Due to her negligence, Yong-jae died of assault, and she’s arrested under the charge of abuse.

Ji-an mulls over Hyun’s words, and we go back to their conversation in the house. Hyun refuses to divulge Min’s identity, although he does enlighten her that Joon-young is “nearby.” He lets her listen to Joon-young’s tape recordings, and she has nothing but swear words to throw at Joon-young. She’s shaken up, but more so due to her anger that Hyun was locked up in this basement at such a young age.

Hyun reasons that if Dad had found out about Min’s psychopathic tendencies, Min would have been the one locked up instead. Hyun had tried his hardest to protect Min, but he made a mistake in spilling the beans to Joon-young. He laments all the what-ifs, and regrets not keeping Min’s secret, which might have prevented Min from turning out this way.

Ji-an’s heart goes out to Hyun and she envelops him in a long hug. Gazing at each other in understanding, Hyun sincerely whispers, “Thank you, Cha Ji-an.” And then he gently holds her face and plants a soft kiss on her forehead. Swoon.

Hyun appears at Lawyer Jung’s studio, and at Lawyer Jung’s annoyance, Hyun puts on a bright smile and teases that he’s going to do this more often. Lawyer Jung assumes that Hyun is trying to redeem himself, and Hyun doesn’t deny it. His tone turning serious, Hyun asks for a promise from Lawyer Jung: If he ever wants to kill someone, it has to be Hyun, and not anyone else.

Another letter arrives for Hyun, and Myung-woo is annoyed that he has to play delivery boy again. He throws the envelope onto Hyun’s table, and photos of a body impaled with a metal stick slip out of the envelope. Seung-joo is sent to chase down the delivery man, although he’s already nowhere to be found.

Along with the photos, there’s a Bible verse about how sons will have to pay the price for their fathers’ sins, indicating a likely motive of revenge. Eun-bok contributes helpfully that Hyun’s father was a psychologist for the police, and they start looking into recently released inmates who were arrested by Hyun’s father.

Joon-ho asks if Lawyer Jung wants to reconcile with Hyun, and states that it’s actually not a bad idea, although he was initially against it. Lawyer Jung shoots Joon-ho a pensive look, as Joon-ho receives a phone call from the police. His happy smile at the arrival of a new case is terribly unnerving.

The team and Joon-ho head down to the crime scene, where the victim is an unidentified homeless man, and Joon-ho proposes that the homeless man is merely a sacrificial lamb for an intended target. Team Leader Kang lets slip that this case was delivered personally to Hyun as a possible threat, and Joon-ho takes in this interesting tidbit of information, while noticing Hyun’s absence.

Turns out he’s with Ji-an at home, where she’s starting to be suspicious of everyone’s identities. She pleads with Hyun to divulge Min’s identity, and promises to keep quiet about it. If she discovers his identity on her own, she will have no choice but to investigate it as a detective.

He asks her a serious question: What if someone who was killed deserved to die? Her answer is that no one has the right to kill another, or the right to judge who deserves to live. Myung-woo calls to inform her of the new murder case as well as the threatening letter to Hyun. But when she conveys the news to Hyun, he just deadpans, oh, really?

He slumps back into his chair, and Ji-an shakes him, likening him to a “150-year-old grandfather.” She fails to pry him off his chair, but somehow succeeds by pulling him along with a handhold. Ha.

The team has found a likely suspect in Jo Yong-woo, who was a professional killer and boss of the nationwide mafia 20 years ago when Hyun’s dad arrested him. Hyun’s opinion is that the motive is rather weak, if the murderer intended to take revenge on the son after such a long time. He chuckles that he’s just added one more person to the list of people who want him dead, and Team Leader Kang is shocked that there are multiple people after Hyun’s life.

Convinced that there must be another motive, Hyun commands the team to dig up more information from local news publications, which tend to be more detailed. The team is surprised that Hyun’s so nonplussed, considering that it’s his neck on the line. Ji-an chases after him to implore him to stay safe, even going as far as to promise to protect him, which earns her a smirk from Hyun.

Hyun drops by Lawyer Jung’s studio again, and doesn’t elaborate on his relief that Lawyer Jung didn’t grow up as Dad’s son (as he would have been targeted by the threats as well). He invites Lawyer Jung out for all sorts of bonding activities, which Lawyer Jung promptly turns down, although I would add that Lawyer Jung seems to be walking in time with Hyun’s footsteps.

Joon-ho digs up Dad’s diary and turns to an old news article with the headlines that the girlfriend of a murder suspect died during the arrest. Right beside it are Dad’s comments that the girl might not have died if he had been more careful.

Possibly the best Hyun-bodyguard ever, Ji-an brings him a gas gun for self-protection. She explains that the whole team is hard at work, but she purposely came home earlier so that he wouldn’t be scared alone. He smiles to himself at her antics, but when she gives him the look, he immediately wipes off the smile and hides behind his book. So cute.

Back at headquarters, the team is sniggering at Team Leader Kang, who has to report to his father about his late working hours. It dawns upon him that it’s dangerous for Hyun to be alone late at night, and he immediately sends Myung-woo and himself on bodyguard duty.

Little do they know Ji-an is in the house, fresh out of the shower in casual attire. Hyun is all for inviting the guests in, but Ji-an stops him, labeling it a “newlywed situation.” Lol. He’s amused at her word choice, but she waves it aside, zooming off to sneak out of the window. Is that The Window?

Team Leader Kang and Myung-woo enter and immediately spy two cups on the dining table. Hyun has no choice but to pretend he’s so lonely that he alternates between seats to eat. Ha, and both Team Leader Kang and Myung-woo ahhh in understanding.

Walking around outdoors in her bedroom slippers, Ji-an senses someone following her. She turns around, only to find that it’s Joon-ho behind her. She discovers that Joon-ho has always lived in this neighborhood, which remind her of Hyun’s words that Joon-young was always nearby.

She heads to Joon-ho’s place, and accidentally reveals that she was next door, attributing it to bodyguard duty. The puzzle pieces start falling faster in place, as she remembers that Joon-ho always had an interest in Hyun. His intent stare as she sips her tea is creepy, and Ji-an is stopped from entering a certain room, which Joon-ho claims to be full of embarrassing guy stuff.

He drives Ji-an home (since he doesn’t know she’s staying with Hyun), and she brings up the story of her missing father. She doesn’t know whether to believe if he’s alive or murdered, and Joon-ho asks which would be the better result. Ji-an turns the question back to him, and Joon-ho quotes philosopher Kant: “If you have hope, then happiness will bud from that hope.”

On the other hand, Nietzsche had said that hope is the worst of all evils, because it only extends one’s agony. Joon-ho used to believe that having hope was a good thing, but right now, he’s starting to think that hope might be too cruel. Hm, so he offed Ji-an’s dad’s then?

Hyun tucks Team Leader Kang and Myung-woo into bed, and checks in on Ji-an who’s back in her own house. He’s surprised that Joon-ho was the one who gave her a ride, and she retracts telling Hyun her hunch about Joon-ho. This time, they both nag at each other to stay safe.

As she clears the pigsty of her house, she chances upon all the stalker photos she took of Hyun. In one of them, she notices Lawyer Jung in the background, and wonders at the coincidence. She starts putting together the bits of conversation she had with Lawyer Jung and Hyun, and it finally hits her, that Lawyer Jung could be Min.

Joon-ho shares with Lawyer Jung the details of the latest murder case. When Dad arrested Mafia Boss Yong-woo 20 years ago, his girlfriend was killed in a similar fashion to the latest victim. Yong-woo’s brother had tried to take revenge on Dad, but died in the process. That’s why Yong-woo is hell-bent on revenge on Hyun, and sent that threatening letter. Hyun’s earlier words click into place for Lawyer Jung, and he smiles to realize that Hyun didn’t want him to be in the same position.

Going back to the murder case, Joon-ho puts himself in Yong-woo’s shoes, and doesn’t think that the target is Hyun. Yong-woo’s goal is to deliver an eye for an eye, which means that his target is the person most precious to Hyun. In the same way that Yong-woo witnessed the death of his girlfriend, Hyun has to be alive to see his loved one suffer and die.

Lawyer Jung zeroes in on Ji-an being the likeliest target, although Joon-ho raises the possibility that Lawyer Jung could be it as well. Lawyer Jung doesn’t think that’s possible since nobody knows he’s Min, but Joon-ho retorts that criminals always know more than one might expect.

Ji-an has found the same article about the girlfriend, and sends it over to Hyun. He notes that the girlfriend was killed in a similar way to the homeless victim. It’s interesting that when Hyun puts himself into the murderer’s shoes, he reasons that the likeliest target would be himself. This juxtaposes with our two resident psychopaths’ differing opinions, who would target the person closest to Hyun.

Hyun eventually comes to the same realization as well, and worriedly puts in a call to Ji-an. She picks up, but before she can disclose her location, she turns around to face the footsteps thudding behind her.

COMMENTS

Funnily enough, only this show could portray a window as a foreshadowing device. Last time someone escaped from that window, he ended up in the custody of a psychopath for 20 years. So when Ji-an sneaked out through the same window, it pretty much spelled trouble with a capital T, but hopefully not for the next 20 years.

That said, what a question this episode posed. In rom-coms, we have the typical who would you save if they both fell in the water scenario. But to prove this show is anything but typical, they play the who would a murderer target if he wanted to hurt you the most card. I think it was the identity of Yong-woo’s girlfriend which pigeonholed Hyun’s assumption that the target would have to be Ji-an. But if not for that, like Joon-ho, I wonder if Hyun would have considered Lawyer Jung.

I do believe that Lawyer Jung never imagined himself as a possible target, until Joon-ho’s suggestion manipulated that idea Inception-style into his head. It’s that little budding hope (which may be dashed) that might threaten to further derail Lawyer Jung’s unstable emotions, and fingers crossed that Hyun holds him back somehow, because Joon-ho is for sure going to fan that fire. It’s an interesting dynamic that while Lawyer Jung seems to be softening due to Hyun’s friendliness, Joon-ho is the one constantly reining him back to the dark side.

The brothers’ reunion got me right in the gut, and I never expected it to be so heart-wrenching and emotional for both parties. As far gone as we think Lawyer Jung might be, we still see glimpses of the wide-eyed little brother, who’s just craving for affection and attention from his hyung. Abandonment issues aside, Lawyer Jung seems fixated on the fact that Hyun never once recognized him, and it does make me think, if Hyun had recognized him as Min, would that have been enough to stop Lawyer Jung from going off the deep end?

What was even tougher to watch, though, was how Hyun’s anger and frustration were all self-directed. In his eyes, he’s single-handedly responsible for Min’s psychopathic development, due to a few slip-ups he made when he was a wee little kid which led to this series of unfortunate events. Given Hyun’s perfectionist characteristics, it will be tough for him to forgive himself, although it’s heart-warming to see him going out of his way to make amends and redirect the course of Lawyer Jung’s life. (Fun fact: The actors for little Hyun and Min are brothers in real life.)

Once again, our heroine defies stereotypes in taking it upon herself to be Hyun’s protector. It’s a huge turning point for Hyun to finally accept Ji-an’s outreached hand and let himself lean on her. I love that she knows when to give him space, and when to whip him into shape. Having come such a long way from their initial distrust, it’s their bluntness with each other that forces them to be honest, a quality in relationships that is rarer than you might think.

Joon-ho’s little speech about hope pretty much confirmed that Ji-an’s dad is no longer of this world, which is rather fitting since that gets us both leads in the same boat. Having both lost a father to Joon-young, it’s no doubt they empathize with each other on that front. But what I’m looking forward to is how they will force each other to walk the straight and narrow, and hold each other accountable to repay this evil with forgiveness. It works on many levels that the relationship isn’t some shallow all-consuming passionate romance, but a spark that’s slow-burning but slowly getting stronger. We need no entangled limbs or dramatic displays to know that they just get each other. Which is why a simple word of thanks and a forehead peck was enough to send me swooning to high heaven.

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