This Week, My Wife Will Have an Affair: Episode 4

by chocolatte

It’s an intense hour as Hyun-woo uncovers the truth about his wife’s affair — but rather than helping to clarify things, his newfound knowledge leaves him with even more questions and an ever more uncertain future. He can’t help but continue seeking advice from his community of supporters as he figures out what to do next, and though he may not always like what folks have to say, a well-worded piece of advice may be just what he needs to get out there and take some action.

 
EPISODE 4 RECAP

At the hotel, Hyun-woo slips into the same elevator as Soo-yeon and her male companion, coming face to face with his wife. Soo-yeon’s eyes widen in shock when she recognizes her husband, but she tries to recover, lamely asking Hyun-woo what he’s doing at the hotel. Hyun-woo says he’s here for work, his eyes murderous as they flit from Soo-yeon back to the man she’s with.

The other man, glancing at Soo-yeon, hits the “L” button on the elevator, claiming that he and Soo-yeon were headed to the lounge. (Smooth, buddy.) Hyun-woo’s not fooled, and calls out the room key in the man’s hand. Knowing their cover’s blown, the man introduces himself as JI SUN-WOO (Lee Suk-joon), a work colleague of Soo-yeon’s. Hyun-woo quietly suggests to Sun-woo that they continue the conversation in their room.

As they head towards the room, Hyun-woo recalls Yoon-ki’s advice to gather evidence of the affair. So he decides to take a photo of Sun-woo and Soo-yeon just in front of the room door — complete with a loud “Smile!” alert from his phone. Awkward.

Inside the room, Hyun-woo admits that he’d seen the texts from Sun-woo, and says that though he’d tried to talk to Soo-yeon before this day came, he missed his chance. Sun-woo apologizes and says, “It’s all our fault.” Hyun-woo bristles at the word “our,” then asks if Sun-woo is married, and he admits he is. Hyun-woo asks how serious the two of them were about this affair — were they just having fun?

Hyun-woo looks at Soo-yeon, seeing her hands folded together in her lap. He’s startled to see that she’s not wearing her wedding ring and starts to ask about it, but instead asks whether or not Soo-yeon’s feelings for Sun-woo are real.

She doesn’t answer, so Sun-woo jumps in and says that they didn’t start meeting with the intention of ruining their families. But he then adds that he loves Soo-yeon, though he feels sorry to Hyun-woo and both their families.

Hyun-woo then directs his attention to Soo-yeon, wanting to hear directly from her. All she can say is that she’s sorry, and that she blames herself. This isn’t what Hyun-woo wants to hear since he expected her to beg for forgiveness, and he finally loses his temper. “Why are you so calm? You’ve been caught having an affair!” he shouts.

When Soo-yeon and Sun-woo remain silent, Hyun-woo tells Soo-yeon that they should get divorced, and that she shouldn’t even think about coming home. He heads to the door, pausing for one last look at Soo-yeon. Sadly, she doesn’t look back at him, and Hyun-woo punches the door in anger before walking out.

Bo-young’s been detained at the police station for attacking the cheating wife during filming. Joon-young finds the whole situation hilarious, even going so far as to snap selfies with Bo-young behind bars. Thankfully for Bo-young, Yoon-ki calls with the news that she will be released as soon as her guardian arrives. Yoon-ki adds that he’s on his way to Hyun-woo, and Joon-young says he’ll be right behind him.

Joon-young offers to act as Bo-young’s guardian despite her protests. When she’s released, Joon-young meets her outside the station with a block of tofu (traditional post-prison food), which he shoves in her face before running away. LOL.

Yoon-ki and Joon-young intercept Hyun-woo just as he’s about to leave the hotel. With a dazed look in his eyes, Hyun-woo provides a brief update: He told Soo-yeon he wanted a divorce and walked out of the room, and she didn’t follow him. With that, Hyun-woo pushes past his friends to leave the hotel, and they follow.

The three end up at a restaurant, where Hyun-woo tries to wrap his head around what just happened. Hyun-woo shows Yoon-ki and Joon-young the photo he snapped as proof of the affair, but Yoon-ki says he’ll need more information — like how long the two have been meeting and how often — if he wants to get anything from Soo-yeon in court.

Hyun-woo explains that he’d gone to the hotel with a plan, but now, he has no idea what to do. Yoon-ki says Hyun-woo should just end his marriage and live happily. Joon-young, however, says he shouldn’t get divorced — he can’t be the one left miserable while she’s happy. While Yoon-ki and Joon-young argue, Hyun-woo drinks.

That night, Hyun-woo returns to his empty home and writes a new post online, telling the world that everything is now finished. He explains that his wife didn’t beg for forgiveness, and instead calmly told him it was all her fault. “Divorce is the only solution now, right?” he writes.

Hyun-woo jumps when he hears someone entering the apartment, but it’s just his mom looking to stay at his place for a few days. She asks after Soo-yeon, then Joon-soo. At the mention of his son’s name, Hyun-woo panics, then grabs his jacket and heads straight to Joon-soo’s school.

When he gets there, he’s shocked to learn that Joon-soo’s already been picked up by Soo-yeon. Worried that Soo-yeon might have taken Joon-soo to stay with her, he calls her, but there’s no answer. Just a few moments later, though, Soo-yeon calls back. Hyun-woo answers the phone angrily, but to his surprise, the voice that responds is his mother’s — Soo-yeon and Joon-soo are at home.

A subdued Soo-yeon greets Hyun-woo when he returns home. The two look at each other for a tense moment before Hyun-woo tells her that they need to talk. As they disappear into their room, Hyun-woo’s mother looks after them in concern.

Inside, Hyun-woo demands to know why Soo-yeon came home. She says she thought they needed to talk, then apologizes, since she didn’t know his mother would be visiting. He tells her that he’ll take care of his mother, and that she should leave as soon as his mother does.

His mother, meanwhile, has prepared dinner and orders the two to join her and Joon-soo. As they eat, she peppers Soo-yeon with questions, but can’t stop looking concerned at the obviously strained air between her son and his wife.

Later, Mom joins Hyun-woo in the living room, where he asks her to go back home. She doesn’t answer, and instead asks Hyun-woo point-blank if there’s been cheating. Shocked, Hyun-woo tries to deny it, but then gets smacked — oh, she thinks Hyun-woo cheated. She’s particularly angry and disappointed that he’d do such a thing, after watching his father do the same to her.

She asks if Hyun-woo doesn’t feel sorry for his wife, who’s busy with work, Joon-soo, and taking care of their household. Though Hyun-woo keeps insisting that his mother’s got it all wrong, she won’t have it. If he keeps this up, she says, he’ll end up alone.

At the office, Bo-young scares herself silly by watching a horror film with all the lights turned off. She’s too scared to finish the movie, so she closes her laptop… only to see a lone hand just in front of her. She screams and screams before getting a hold of herself. Looking closer, she realizes the hand belongs to Joon-young, who’s passed out drunk on the floor.

She kicks him awake, and he makes his way onto the couch. Barely conscious, he asks Bo-young what it’s like to get divorced, then passes out again. Bo-young looks concerned for a moment, but then her expression brightens. Ha, now she’s able to finish her movie, though she spares Joon-young’s sleeping form a glance every now and then.

Soo-yeon enters Joon-soo’s room as Hyun-woo tucks their sleeping son into bed. She tells Hyun-woo that for now, she’s decided to stop seeing Sun-woo. Hyun-woo jumps all over her for saying she won’t see him “for now,” and tells her he doesn’t want to hear any of it — he wants her to leave the house and leave Joon-soo with him. Hyun-woo climbs into Joon-soo’s bed, effectively ending their conversation.

The next morning, Joon-soo informs Hyun-woo of the family’s plans to head to an amusement park. Hyun-woo’s mom encourages Hyun-woo to get ready and join them, adding that it’s an opportunity for him to earn points with Soo-yeon. Frustrations mounting, Hyun-woo tells his mom that he doesn’t have time for this. Soo-yeon speaks up too, telling her mother-in-law that Hyun-woo has to go to work, but that only makes Hyun-woo angrier.

We check in with our other dysfunctional couple, Yoon-ki and Ara, as they visit an art gallery. While Ara examines some paintings, Yoon-ki sits down at a bench next to a young woman, then causally remarks that the paintings are boring. The woman turns out to be none other than Yoon-ki’s saleswoman girlfriend, who says the “paintings” are also thrilling. Yoon-ki suggests they up the thrill level, then slides his hand over hers.

Yoon-ki and Ara’s next stop is lunch at a fancy restaurant, where they toast with glasses of wine. As Ara takes a sip, Yoon-ki turns his attention to a nearby table, where his girlfriend is enjoying her own lunch. The two raise their glasses to one another and smile. Wow.

At work, Hyun-woo reads through more responses to his last posting, many of them from his “regular” commenters. As usual, the words from one particular commenter, username TUNAMAYO, stick with Hyun-woo.

But this time, TUNAMAYO’s words bother Hyun-woo instead of providing comfort. The commenter asks if Hyun-woo really wants to end things without hearing his wife’s side of the story. She writes, “Why did your wife want to have an affair? Do you think you have no fault in this situation?”

Hyun-woo joins his team in a meeting to review the footage they captured of their unfaithful couple. Bo-young apologizes for messing up their shoot, and says she’s also sorry for not allowing their client to finish his conversation with his wife. She posits that there were probably lots of things he wanted to know — like why she’d have an affair, and if he was to blame for any of it.

As Bo-young talks, Hyun-woo realizes her words echo TUNAMAYO’s latest thoughts. He eyes Bo-young suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Yoon-ki and Ara discuss Yoon-ki’s weekend filming schedule at a flower shop. To Yoon-ki’s dismay, Ara shares that she’s signed up for weekend flower arrangement classes near his office building so they can carpool and check in on each other. On their way out, Yoon-ki notices an attractive young woman handing out flyers for a gym, and he suggests to Ara that he needs to start working out.

Back at the office, Bo-young joins Hyun-woo in the break room and hands him tuna mayo triangle kimbap. Hyun-woo pauses at the mention of tuna mayo; Bo-young says she likes that kind of kimbap the best.

At that, Hyun-woo asks if she invests in stocks. Bo-young says she hasn’t invested since years ago, when Hyun-woo had convinced their team to buy stocks based on a dream he had (and all of them lost a ton of money, ha). She mentions that she does sometimes visit the stocks forum, but before Hyun-woo can ask a follow-up question, she gets a phone call and leaves the room.

The CEO calls Hyun-woo into his office, where he’s got the stock forum pulled up on his browser — aha, that’s where Hyun-woo’s been posting his story, and why he asked Bo-young about stocks. The CEO wants to know if Hyun-woo’s heard anything about Bo-young, as there are rumors flying around that she’s being scouted by a PD named Oh Ki-han. Hyun-woo says Bo-young wouldn’t leave them, but a look of concern flickers across his face.

Cut to Joon-young freaking out at the news, getting so worked up that he’s unable to breathe. Once he calms down, he reports back to Hyun-woo that Oh PD has indeed been looking for a writer, and Bo-young is a candidate. Joon-young mentions that he thinks Bo-young could be meeting with the PD tonight, prompting Hyun-woo to recall the phone call Bo-young received earlier in the break room.

Yoon-ki’s already at the gym, having signed up for personal training sessions with the attractive young woman who he’d seen on the street earlier. He can’t contain his excitement when she demonstrates the squat for him before guiding him through the same exercise. But she turns out to be pretty intense, making him do rep after rep without breaks. It’s not long before he’s unable to keep up. Hah.

Bo-young packs up and says goodbye to her male colleagues (who give her the stink-eye, as they’ve obviously been let in on the rumors about her), then heads outside to say goodbye to Hyun-woo. As Hyun-woo watches Bo-young leave, he thinks back to some of the things she’s said about love and marriage. He then reads the latest post from TUNAMAYO, who urges him to let his guard down first and listen to his wife’s story. TUNAMAYO’s words seem to trigger something in Hyun-woo, and he rushes out of the office.

He calls Bo-young and says he needs to see her, offering to meet her wherever she is. Bo-young looks to be all dressed up, waiting for someone at a restaurant. She hesitates at Hyun-woo’s request, but he pushes, saying that they need to talk in person.

Hyun-woo gets Joon-young to drive him to the restaurant, and the two pause outside of Bo-young’s private dining room. Taking a deep breath, Hyun-woo enters and starts pleading with Bo-young, saying he should have treated her better before something like this happened. He promises he’ll change, and that he’ll treat her well from now on.

Bo-young glances apologetically at the man in front of her, then gives Hyun-woo a strained smile, pointing at her companion. Hyun-woo takes a break from his rambling to greet the man, only to realize that he is not, in fact, Oh PD. That’s when Hyun-woo starts finally connecting the dots, noticing Bo-young’s make-up and clothes, and the fact she’s at dinner with a random man.

He figures out that she’s on a blind date, and, completely mortified, he apologizes profusely before leaving the room. But when Joon-young hears that Bo-young’s on a date, he insists on barging in their room to make a big fuss over Bo-young’s fancy appearance. Hyun-woo has to drag him away, and Bo-young sits there with a slight smirk on her face.

Back at the gym, Yoon-ki’s training session is finally over, but his legs seem to be out of commission — so much so that he can’t even leave the building. Serves him right.

Bo-young sees Hyun-woo outside the restaurant, and he apologizes again, explaining that he thought she was jumping ship to another program. She doesn’t seem that bothered, and tells Hyun-woo that he actually made her feel important.

Hyun-woo asks Bo-young if she’s familiar with the postings by TOYCRANE, and asks what she thinks of him. She bluntly says that TOYCRANE is pathetic, but she’s actually rooting for him, since she identifies with his story. She wants him to not make the same mistakes she did in her marriage.

Joon-young pulls up in his car and offers Bo-young a ride home. When she gets in, she tells Joon-young she’ll kill him if he tells anyone about her blind date.

Hyun-woo watches his hoobaes leave with a smile, then thanks TUNAMAYO (aka Bo-young, in his mind) out loud. He heads back to the office, where he writes to TUNAMAYO that he’s planning to talk to his wife and listen to her story, as he doesn’t want to get divorced. He looks at Bo-young’s desk and smiles to himself.

Once again, Hyun-woo comes home to a dark and empty apartment. His mother texts him to say that Soo-yeon and Joon-soo are spending the night at her place. Determined to talk to Soo-yeon, he calls his mom and asks her to watch Joon-soo for the night, and to tell Soo-yeon to come home.

Bo-young’s back at the office for the night, happy to be back to her makeup-free, casual self. She finds two triangle kimbaps on her desk along with a note from Hyun-woo telling her not to skip meals, and happily digs in.

Soo-yeon arrives home, and she and Hyun-woo sit awkwardly in the living room. Soo-yeon goes first and apologizes, saying that she didn’t do this because she wanted a divorce. Hyun-woo asks how long the affair has been going on. Soo-yeon doesn’t give a direct answer, but tells him that she didn’t intend to deceive him.

This raises Hyun-woo’s ire and he goes on the attack, telling her she should be on her knees and begging for his forgiveness by this point. Soo-yeon pauses, then takes a breath before asking Hyun-woo what he wants to do. He spits out that if this is the way she’s going to be, he wants a divorce. At that, Soo-yeon shuts down; she tells him she’s heading back to his mother’s and that they should talk again when he’s calmer.

Hyun-woo grabs her before she can leave, demanding to know how long she’s been having an affair. She shrugs him off aggressively, then tells him it started six months ago.

Stunned, Hyun-woo immediately asks if she slept with Sun-woo. He grabs her arm and repeats his question over and over again, raising his voice with each word. With fire in her eyes, Soo-yeon finally confirms that yes, she slept with him. Not only that, she missed him so much that she’s the one who asked him to meet with her first. Soo-yeon turns and rushes out of the apartment, and this time, Hyun-woo doesn’t stop her.

Soon after, Hyun-woo writes to TUNAMAYO that his attempt at a conversation with his wife failed. When he doesn’t get a response right away, he heads into the office.

Bo-young’s there, of course, and Hyun-woo plops down next to her as he launches into the events of the evening. Seeing the blank look on Bo-young’s face, Hyun-woo backtracks and starts to confirm that he’s TOYCRANE. Before finishing his sentence, though, he glances at Bo-young’s screen… to see that her username isn’t TUNAMAYO, but PUDDING. Whoops.

Hyun-woo quickly dials it back and says that he’s just here to have a drink with Bo-young since his wife’s not home. But Bo-young’s on deadline, so Hyun-woo returns home and drinks alone.

The next morning, Hyun-woo wakes up on the couch. He then goes through the motions of a normal day as he cleans up and heads off to work. He keeps thinking of Soo-yeon though, and just before he walks into his building, he stops, then turns right back around.

In the office, Bo-young’s colleagues greet her with snickers and take turns teasing her about her blind date. Bo-young immediately asks for Joon-young’s whereabouts, and once she finds out he’s in the conference room, she heads straight there and proceeds to kick his butt.

Hyun-woo posts another update online, and everyone devours the latest in his sad saga. Hyun-woo confirms in his post that his wife cheated, but says he didn’t get a reasonable answer from her as to why. “So,” he writes, “I have no choice but to hear it from him. I can’t forgive my wife, or him.”

It’s not entirely clear, but it looks like Soo-yeon might have been reading Hyun-woo’s post too. In any case, she looks mighty uncomfortable as she resumes her work, which includes a business call from Sun-woo.

Hyun-woo arrives in front of a big office building, which happens to be where Sun-woo works. He looks like a man on a mission, and as he walks in, we hear the last line of his post, which reads: “This week, I’m going to fight the guy who took the most precious thing away from me.”

 
COMMENTS

So, there it is. I thought there was a good chance that Soo-yeon wasn’t really having an affair, but not only did we find out that she most definitely is, we also found out that this affair’s been going on for some time now. I also wasn’t expecting to find out the truth this early on, but I’m not complaining — the early reveal makes room for exploring the aftermath of it all, including the reasons why Soo-yeon actively pursued this other man in the first place.

I’m sure it was devastating for Hyun-woo to actually see his wife with Sun-woo, then to hear directly from her that she’s sleeping with him. But man, Hyun-woo is not doing himself any favors with his behavior, especially in the way he’s dealing with Soo-yeon. He claims that he wants to fight for his marriage, and that he’s open to hearing Soo-yeon’s side of the story. In reality, though, he doesn’t even give Soo-yeon a chance to talk, and twists her words to underscore his own insecurities as he escalates their conversations into one-sided shouting matches. And now, he’s going to fight Sun-woo? What does he hope to accomplish with that move?

What I find interesting is how Hyun-woo seems to have this narrative in his head of what Soo-yeon should have said, and how she should have reacted to being discovered. He can’t even entertain the thought that Soo-yeon may not respond exactly in the way he imagined, immediately thinking that any other sort of response means that she’s ready to destroy their marriage. He seems kind of obsessive all around, unable to let go of something once he’s fixated on it.

So it makes sense to me that Soo-yeon’s response to Hyun-woo’s tirades is to shut down completely — I’ll bet she developed that tactic as a coping mechanism over the years. How often has Hyun-woo steamrolled her in the past, not waiting to hear her words? How many times has he pushed his “ideals” onto her, not being able to see or accept when Soo-yeon’s desires clash with his own? Hyun-woo’s faults don’t serve as an excuse for Soo-yeon’s infidelity of course, but it certainly tarnishes the rosy picture of marriage that Hyun-woo’s painted in his mind. It also makes him less sympathetic as a whole, since he’s not just a victim in this situation.

While we did get to confirm Soo-yeon’s affair pretty quickly, I have to say that the show could use a little bit of tightening up over all. I mean, did we really have to see so many scenes of Yoon-ki struggling through his gym routine, or exchanging expressions of love with his girlfriend while he’s out with Ara? My reaction may be driven by the fact that I’m seriously getting grossed out by Yoon-ki and how blatant he’s being with his cheating. I know a lot of Yoon-ki’s scenes are being played for comic relief, but I’m just over it. I want Ara to run as far away from him as possible, and to take her (dad’s) money with her.

It makes me nervous that so far, Joon-young’s the only main character who hasn’t cheated or been cheated on (that we know of). I’m praying to the drama gods to keep it this way — sure, the dynamic between him and Bo-young is super cute, but I’m not ready to see another marriage go down in flames because of infidelity. Besides, Joon-young’s way too goofy to cheat on his wife (assuming that she really exists), and Bo-young’s been burned once already, so there’s no way she’ll become the “other woman,” right? Right?

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