Perfect Wife: Episode 10

by LollyPip

Eun-hee is ready to activate the final stage of her plan, but she forgot to account for one very important thing: Jae-bok’s tenacity. Jae-bok isn’t about to give up without a fight, not even as she begins to realize just exactly what she’s up against. She’s going to have the fight of her life on her hands, but when it’s winner-takes-all, there’s nothing she won’t do to protect what belongs to her.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

Eun-hee throws herself in front of her craft room door, terrified that Jae-bok and Won-jae might see what’s inside. Jae-bok wants to know what Won-jae’s daughter saw that made Eun-hee so angry that she would hurt her, and Eun-hee’s refusal to open the door only strengthens her suspicion.

Jae-bok backs off on the condition that Eun-hee explains why she hurt Che-ri (Won-jae’s daughter). But Hyung-sun swoops in and unlocks the door, even as Eun-hee tearfully begs her not to do it. Hyung-sun actually shoves the women inside, but once in, they realize there’s nothing obviously strange about the room.

Che-ri points to a curtain obscuring the nook in which she saw Jung-hee’s picture. Eun-hee pleads with Jae-bok not to look behind it with tears streaming down her face, but Jae-bok pushes the curtain aside.

Behind the curtain, they see just a set of shelves holding normal crafting supplies. Shaking with anger, Hyung-sun raises her hand to hit Jae-bok, but Jae-bok grabs her wrist. Hyung-sun screams, “Why are you doing this to my child!” and seconds later, Eun-hee barks, “Stop talking, Mom!”

Jae-bok is stunned to learn that Hyung-sun is Eun-hee’s mother. Hyung-sun runs out of the room, and Eun-hee asks if Jae-bok and Won-jae are satisfied now. Jae-bok says that regardless of what’s in the room, Eun-hee shouldn’t have yelled at Che-ri and cut her finger.

She asks for an apology for Che-ri and Won-jae. Eun-hee levels a death glare at Che-ri, so Jae-bok orders her to apologize this time, adding that afterward, they’ll apologize too. Though it looks like it kills her, Eun-hee apologizes to Che-ri, Won-jae, and Jae-bok.

Jae-bok follows Eun-hee downstairs to ask why she hid the fact that Hyung-sun is her mother. She realizes that even Kyung-woo didn’t seem to know it when he was in the house, since he spoke to her like a housekeeper. Eun-hee admits that nobody knows, not even Kyung-woo.

All Eun-hee will say in explanation is that all families have their secrets. Jae-bok argues that she deserves to know the truth after the things Hyung-sun has done to her family.

When they hear Jung-hee and his mother’s voices downstairs, Eun-hee uses the distraction to escape Jae-bok’s scrutiny. Jae-bok’s mother-in-law says she’s here to protect her son’s family, and we see that Jae-bok told Jung-hee that she was taking the kids to Won-jae’s, for good this time.

Tired of lying, Jae-bok decides to come clean about the divorce. She informs her mother-in-law that Jung-hee agreed that Jae-bok would have custody of the kids, making it clear that she has authority over them as their mother, though she adds that she’ll always respect her mother-in-law as their grandmother.

Later, Won-jae ends up at Hye-ran’s new gym, being talked into buying a membership. They’re both surprised to see Sam-kyu there signing up for a VVIP membership, and he grins like a fool when Hye-ran hangs on his neck, squealing with gratitude.

His happy mood deflates when Hye-ran greets a young, handsome coworker just as brightly, ha. Trying to make Hye-ran jealous, Sam-kyu flirts heavily with Won-jae, who is totally not interested.

Jung-hee shows up for his first day back at his old job, only to find that Boss Jo is also back and nasty as ever. Jung-hee asks what happens to his supposed paralysis, but Boss Jo just says he’ll get hurt if he finds out.

Na-mi is staying with Bong-gu, and he tells her to come clean about being paid to approach Jung-hee. He even knows that Hyung-sun was the one who paid her, and he asks if it was to ensure that Jung-hee gets a divorce. Na-mi doesn’t answer, which Bong-gu interprets as a confession.

Eun-hee finds Hyung-sun in her room to ask why she revealed that they’re mother and daughter. Hyung-sun answers that she couldn’t stand seeing Eun-hee treated that way, which just has Eun-hee laughing and saying that Hyung-sun has treated her even worse. Hyung-sun snaps that she’s doing all this to make up for that.

Jae-bok tells Bong-gu about Hyung-sun being Eun-hee’s mother. He connects the dots and concludes that she probably paid Na-mi to seduce Jung-hee, and probably did it because of Eun-hee.

Meanwhile, Boss Jo seems determined to make Jung-hee’s life even more of a hell than he did before. He sends Jung-hee to reorganize the warehouse, threatening to fire him if he doesn’t obey. Jung-hee goes reluctantly, fails to convince anyone that he hurts his back lifting a heavy bag, then gets to work for real.

Na-mi watches him sadly through the gate until a tap on the shoulder alerts her to Hyung-sun’s presence. Na-mi tries to stick to her story about not remembering Hyung-sun, but her reaction to seeing her face gives her away.

Na-mi tries to make a run for it, but a large man grabs her and starts to drag her off. Suddenly, another man wearing a mask yanks Na-mi’s attacker away from her, and holds his attention while Na-mi escapes. Hyung-sun grabs the newcomer angrily, so he pulls off his mask to reveal that it’s the guy who took Na-mi to the villa after her accident.

Stunned, Hyung-sun breathes his name… Brian. (I knew it!) Brian gently says that it’s time to stop all this, calling her “Mom,” and she asks haltingly if it’s been him this whole time. Brian doesn’t answer. Instead he just gives her a cheerful smile and salute before walking away.

In a small room at her house, Eun-hee flits around making everything just so, stopping briefly to breathe deeply into a man’s sweater. She excitedly answers a call from Brian, whom she hasn’t heard from since he returned from the States, and he says that he’s been traveling.

Brian grows serious and adds that he wishes for Eun-hee to live well — not the way she lived before. Eun-hee tells him that she’s about to become very happy soon, but instead of being pleased for her, Brian just sighs heavily.

Bong-gu tricks Boss Jo into meeting him at a coffee shop by offering him a bribe. Boss Jo quickly recognizes Bong-gu as the guy who took pics of him in the hospital proving he wasn’t paralyzed. But Bong-gu just shows him the picture he snapped of Hyung-sun and asks if she put him up to faking his injuries.

Boss Jo starts to run, but Bong-gu stops him by reading a list of his crimes, including embezzlement and taking bribes. At first, Boss Jo lies that he knows nothing, but when faced with the evidence against him, he crumbles.

Bong-gu learns that Hyung-sun paid Boss Jo to make sure Jung-hee was fired. Boss Jo doesn’t know why, only that Hyung-sun said Jung-hee needed to be ruined. Now Bong-gu has evidence that Hyung-sun paid both Na-mi and Boss Jo to ruin Jung-hee’s personal and professional life, he just doesn’t know the reason.

Jin-wook gets out of school to find Eun-hee waiting for him, and she says that she’s sad he’ll be staying at Che-ri’s house from now on. Before he goes, she stops him to say something, though we don’t hear what she wants.

Sam-kyu and Won-jae take their first personal workout class with Hye-ran together, though Won-jae acts like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world, ha. Sam-kyu helps Hye-ran get Won-jae into the correct yoga position, tush in the air. As often happens during yoga, Won-jae farts — right in their faces.

Hye-ran and Sam-kyu fall back in horror, and Won-jae flees, embarrassed. On her way out, she runs into Hye-ran’s stalker, Mrs. Park, who is still passing out flyers slandering Hye-ran.

Hye-ran chases Mrs. Park out of the building and down the street until she gets herself wedged between two cars. Hye-ran grabs her, demanding to know why she’s still being harassed when she broke things off the moment she found out the man was married. Mrs. Park bursts into tears and wails that she knows, waving for Hye-ran to just leave her alone.

Eun-hee’s spy at Jung-hee’s workplace calls her to report that Jung-hee was sent to do manual labor in the warehouse. Needless to say, she is not pleased, so she makes another call.

That evening, Jae-bok’s friends ask if she worries about Jung-hee being alone in that big house with Eun-hee. Jae-bok acts like she doesn’t care, but Hye-ran thinks that a woman who’s been alone as long as Eun-hee must be on the prowl. She gets an idea, but we don’t hear what it is.

When Jung-hee gets back to Eun-hee’s house after work, she leads him to another music room, bigger than the last (does this house have an infinite number of rooms?). This studio has several guitars, a drum set, and walls covered in Jimi Hendrix memorabilia. Eun-hee says that this room is her gift to Jung-hee, ignoring his obvious discomfort at her lavish gesture.

She tells Jung-hee that with her help, he’ll become an even greater man than he is now. He remembers that she never answered his question and asks again if they’ve met before, and Eun-hee giggles and says they just have a special bond.

She puts on some romantic music and gives Jung-hee a glass of wine to toast his new audio room. She takes Jung-hee’s hand and guides it to her waist, stepping closer to him and swaying with the music. Jung-hee looks confused, but he doesn’t push her away.

Jung-hee jumps away from Eun-hee guiltily when the doorbell rings. It’s Hye-ran at the door, appearing to be sloppy drunk and belligerent. She slurs that she drank because she’s so upset over his and Jae-bok’s divorce.

Eun-hee enters the room, looking seriously annoyed with this interruption to her perfect moment. Hye-ran tells Jung-hee that his landlady is such a fake, and invites him to have a drink with her. He goes just to stop her from making even more of a scene.

He calls Won-jae’s house, and Won-jae lies that Jae-bok has gone to bed already. She hangs up, and Jae-bok blusters that Hye-ran’s plan is dumb even though Won-jae knows she’s secretly enjoying this.

Jung-hee is such a lightweight that he passes out after only a couple of drinks. Hye-ran has been furtively pouring her drinks out, which Eun-hee witnesses from her vantage point around the corner. She knows this was all a setup to get her away from Jung-hee.

Mrs. Park spots Hyung-sun sitting in a restaurant with her assistant and runs over to say hello. Evidently they knew each other when they were younger, and Hyung-sun seems just as happy to see Mrs. Park. They sit to catch up, and it’s interesting how Hyung-sun makes a face when Mrs. Park says that she heard she’s rich now.

Mrs. Park asks if Hyung-sun’s daughter is better these days, which gets Hyung-sun’s hackles up. She demands to know who said her daughter wasn’t well, and Mrs. Park says that she heard she was having mental issues. Hyung-sun calls Mrs. Park ignorant, and Mrs. Park fires back that at least she wasn’t someone’s mistress. Meow.

Na-mi wakes from a nightmare of being attacked by Hyung-sun to find Bong-gu by her bed. For once, he just listens as she says she’s scared, and he lets her cry on his shoulder. He asks her how she survived, but all Na-mi knows is that she woke in the morgue with Brian standing over her, asking if she was okay. After she falls asleep again, Bong-gu vows to get revenge for what she’s been through.

When Jae-bok drops Jin-wook at school the following morning, he asks if she’s busy today. She says she is, and he starts to ask her something about Eun-hee, but changes his mind. On her way out of town on business, Jae-bok talks to Won-jae, who tells her that their kids’ class has a workshop today.

It’s a “Cooking With Mom” workshop, and their teacher announces that Jin-wook’s mother will be teaching the class. But instead of Jae-bok, it’s Eun-hee who enters the room. Though Jin-wook knew she’d be here today, he tells Che-ri that he had no idea she’d claim to be his mother.

Jae-bok remembers Jin-wook asking if she was busy before mentioning Eun-hee, and she gets an idea as to what’s probably happening. She makes a U-turn back toward her son’s school. Eun-hee’s face falls when Jae-bok enters the classroom and introduces herself as Jin-wook’s real mom.

She cheerily apologizes for being late and says she had no idea that someone else would pretend to be her. She neatly dismisses Eun-hee, who stands back resentfully as Jae-bok continues the lesson. It’s sweet how Jin-wook looks happy to see his real mother there.

After class, Eun-hee says that she didn’t tell Jae-bok about the workshop because she was so busy, and she felt bad for Jin-wook, who was sad that his mother never comes to his school. Jae-bok scoffs and asks how Eun-hee thinks his actual mother feels.

Next, Jae-bok talks to Jin-wook, who is ashamed that he didn’t tell his mom about the workshop and that he asked Eun-hee to come instead. She says she feels pretty bad that he did that, but she tells him that she still loves him very much. Jin-wook asks if she still loves his dad, but Jae-bok avoids the question.

Eun-hee gives Sam-kyu tickets to her company’s anniversary gala, enough for him to bring his employees. Sam-kyu worries that Jae-bok won’t want to attend since Jung-hee works there, but Eun-hee says that there will be something at the gala that Jae-bok should find very amusing.

Eun-hee adds that she also wants to observe someone’s behavior, looking pointedly at the nameplate on Bong-gu’s desk. Another fat envelope of cash ensures that Sam-kyu will do as she asks.

He approaches Bong-gu and Jae-bok about the gala, saying that it’s a good networking opportunity to drum up clients. Bong-gu looks skeptical, but Jae-bok is curious enough to go, so he agrees.

He takes Jae-bok shopping for a new purse, ostensibly so she’ll look professional at the gala. She tries to refuse, but he insists and smiles when he sees Jae-bok admiring herself in the mirror.

Boss Jo is verbally abusing Jung-hee again, though Jung-hee looks like he’s getting to the end of his patience. Eun-hee’s spy sends Jung-hee to see Eun-hee, who has brought several suits for him to try on for the gala. She says this is the first step in her plan to make him a great man, though she asks for a promise from him in return.

Sam-kyu brings Hye-ran to the gala as his date, and they go inside with Bong-gu and Jae-bok to watch the inauguration of the new chief directors. Eun-hee enters the room to make the announcements, almost unrecognizable in her bright red dress and free flowing hair.

Jae-bok is stunned to hear that Eun-hee is the company director, and Bong-gu reveals that he learned she’s the chairman’s daughter. But that’s nothing compared to her utter shock when Jung-hee is announced as one of the new chief directors, and he steps onto the stage in his new suit and professional haircut. (Damn, he cleans up good.)

Jung-hee moves forward to make a short acceptance speech, looking and sounding like a completely new man. In the back of the room, Na-mi hides and watches as a look passes between Jung-hee and Eun-hee.

Jae-bok can’t take her eyes off Jung-hee and Eun-hee as they greet the partygoers, looking like a true power couple. Rumors quickly spark that the two are having an affair, and Hye-ran listens in and reports back to Jae-bok that Eun-hee got Jung-hee his job back, then this promotion.

The rumors also say that the two are getting married soon, and for the first time, Jae-bok reacts. She denies that it could be true, believing that Eun-hee still loves Kyung-woo, but she can’t ignore that the whole thing looks fishy.

Na-mi listens to their conversation from her hiding place in a bathroom stall, and the idea that Jung-hee may marry another woman horrifies her. She stumbles out of the bathroom to find herself face-to-face with Brian, who grabs her when she tries to run and tells her not to be stupid.

Jae-bok pulls Eun-hee aside to talk, demanding to know why Eun-hee is doing all this for Jung-hee. Bong-gu secretly eavesdrops as Eun-hee freely admits that she has feelings for Jung-hee.

Boss Jo is worried to find that Jung-hee is suddenly his boss, so he approaches and holds out a hand to shake, meek as a lamb. But Jung-hee just gives Boss Jo this look of utter disdain and doesn’t even lower himself to speak to him.

Jae-bok asks Eun-hee if she decided to go after Jung-hee before or after they divorced, and again Eun-hee honestly admits that it was before. She tries to make it sound as if she waited until they were no longer married out of respect, but Jae-bok doesn’t believe that for a second.

She says that Eun-hee herself said that she still loves Kyung-woo, but Eun-hee corrects her — she never said the name of the person she loves.

Jung-hee goes looking for Eun-hee and overhears the last part of their conversation. He looks uncomfortable but approaches the ladies, and Eun-hee takes his arm possessively. Jung-hee tells Jae-bok that he’ll call her later and lets himself be led away.

But Jae-bok isn’t finished — she steps in front of Jung-hee and Eun-hee and forbids Eun-hee to like him. Bong-gu moves closer but stays at a short distance as Jae-bok says that Jung-hee is her ex-husband and her children’s father, and they will always be friends.

Eun-hee still doesn’t understand why she can’t have him, so Jae-bok lays out the truth: “Because you’re a psycho.”

 
COMMENTS

Ha, look at that grin on Bong-gu’s face, he thinks Jae-bok is just the best thing ever with her spunk and bravery in confronting her family’s stalker. Bong-gu knows more than anyone that Jae-bok would be justified in avoiding Eun-hee out of sheer terror, but he’s so impressed with her willingness to get in Eun-hee’s face at every turn. I don’t blame him one bit — rarely have I seen a heroine so fearless, so capable of calling out those who’ve wronged her, and so unerringly right in her convictions. Jae-bok is a superhero, and I want to be her when I grow up.

While part of me was originally hoping to see a little romance between Bong-gu and Jae-bok, now I just love their reluctant friendship so much that I hope nothing ever changes between them. They’re the ultimate odd couple — Jae-bok with her grumpy attitude and grudging acceptance of Bong-gu’s oddities, and he with his naked admiration of her strength and capable spirit. He never takes it personally when Jae-bok rebuffs his friendly overtures and stays steadfastly by her when she needs him, and he only gets upset when Jae-bok doesn’t let him support her as much as he’d like to. Their relationship is perfect as it is, and I wouldn’t want anything to change it.

It took me ten episodes, but I think I’ve finally figured out what Jung-hee’s biggest problem is — he’s too much of a people-pleaser. He ends up in these awkward, damaging situations because he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone. So when his boss abuses him or a woman comes onto him, he doesn’t stand up for himself because he doesn’t want them to think badly of him — but since he’s just allowing things to happen instead of taking control, the consequences grow beyond what he can handle. Then to outsiders he looks an incompetent cheater, but it’s not that he’s naturally a bad person, he’s just too much of a milquetoast to nip someone else’s inappropriate behavior in the bud before it goes too far. For instance, I don’t think Jung-hee is actually interested in Eun-hee romantically, and you’d think that after she tried to kiss him once before, he’d avoid being in a room alone with her… especially when she’s created such an obviously romantic atmosphere. You could tell Jung-hee was uncomfortable, but as susceptible as he is to positive female attention, he just doesn’t have the guts to say no. So while a part of me was glad to see his newfound confidence at the gala, a larger part is wondering if it’s real. A person doesn’t go from pushover to power player within hours just because they got a fancy new suit and haircut.

Eun-hee, on the other hand, is becoming downright predatory when it comes to Jung-hee. It feels like she’s moving in on him extremely fast, so I have to keep reminding myself that she’s been planning this for years, if not decades. And he’s a man who’s legally separated and going to be divorced in a matter of months, so he’s pretty much fair game. And he hasn’t said anything to make Eun-hee think he’s not interested in her, either. He hasn’t actually said he is interested, but his subtle expressions of discomfort are going to go right over the head of a woman as obsessed and emotionally unstable as Eun-hee.

The character of Brian intrigues me (and not just because I’m a big fan of N), and I hope to see a lot more of him soon. He seems to be a good kid, as he’s told both Hyung-sun and Eun-hee several times to live well and stay in the light, not the dark. It feels as though their family went through a very bad period with Eun-hee’s mental state, probably after Eun-hee “lost” Jung-hee, and that Brian has made a point to distance himself from them since then. But he clearly still loves them and wants them to move forward and be happy. I have a strong feeling that Brian is the one who will shed light on Eun-hee’s past, and I hope that he chooses to help Jae-bok and Jung-hee if they need it, even if only to tell them what they need to know to break free of Eun-hee’s grasp. He certainly seems to be helping Na-mi already, since he’s the one who faked her death and rescued her from his mother’s clutches twice now. He obviously knows what his mother and Eun-hee are up to, at least enough to stay a step ahead of them, which makes him very, very interesting.

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