Tomorrow With You: Episode 9

by gummimochi

It’s the calm before the storm this hour as wedded bliss takes precedence over all the other trouble brewing just beneath the surface. But as So-joon and Ma-rin will soon learn, having a happy marriage takes more than sharing each other’s feelings in the moment. And for So-joon, keeping secrets about the future will be an even riskier endeavor than ever.

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

In the morning, So-joon grins from ear to ear watching Ma-rin sleep beside him. This time, it’s his turn to play peek-a-boo with her, calling her “Mine” over and over again, and he gets bashful when she pops awake.

She coaxes him back to bed, where they tell how much they like the other. Smiling, they agree on how nice mornings are, and she buries her head in his chest giggling that last night was good too. I bet it was.

As they laze in bed together, Ma-rin asks when it was that So-joon decided that he’d marry her. Hearing that she bewitched him, she asks why he married her. He considers that the same question and nearly gets up, but she settles him back down, deciding to wait to hear that answer on their first wedding anniversary.

She’s still upset about the nickname Touch-Me-Not, asking if he had planned on sleeping in separate beds if she hadn’t made a move last night. So-joon says he didn’t know how she felt about him and admits that he may never know for sure even if they were to spend the rest of their lives together.

After snickering at the idea of a reserved So-joon letting out his inner beast, Ma-rin confesses that she still wonders whether So-joon really does like her and questions if his heart still flutters when he’s with her.

“Just don’t change,” he replies, “because I keep liking you more every single day.” Snuggling closer, she promises not to.

Upstairs, Mom wakes and discovers the family photo lying in the open. She rushes to hide it before Ma-rin sees… by sprawling out on the floor. She pretends to have a backache and stuffs the photo back in her wallet once Ma-rin leaves.

As Ma-rin walks her mother out, Mom asks if she remembers what her father looks like. She doesn’t, and thinks it was good on Mom to have gotten rid of every photo of him because she isn’t all that curious about him.

Mom asks if they should try to track him down together so he can see how well their daughter is doing. But Ma-rin points out that they haven’t heard a peep from him since he’s left, which tells her he doesn’t want them in his life either.

Both So-joon and Director Kim are noticeably absent at the office, where an executive pulls Ki-doong aside to relay the rumors circulating around the company — specifically how Director Kim is slyly getting investors to back the Jangho project.

Meanwhile, So-joon reviews the CCTV footage he retrieved from Ki-doong’s place in the future. Starting with October 2016, he watches Ki-doong go about his day… and yawns. LOL, way to subvert a potentially dramatic reveal.

He decides to check in on Ma-rin, who is working at the Happiness construction site. She gently advises a worker to stop posing for the camera, and So-joon arrives just in time to catch her massaging the worker’s shoulders to get him to relax. She happily runs over to So-joon, who warns her against men who would misinterpret her kindness for romantic interest.

He doesn’t care if other men are donating their time when he’s donating the most money, and cries that those emotional wounds that used to keep him away from anything Happiness-related are still there.

So-joon doesn’t like the idea of her getting friendly with the construction workers either, and his flare of jealousy makes her happy. Stretching out her arms, she says she’ll open her heart to them. He covers her chest with her coat. Lol.

He trails behind Ma-rin when she skips off, and much to his annoyance, he gets roped into taking photos of her flanked by two male workers. He doesn’t like her friendly attitude during lunch either and calls her Bap-soonie, which earns him a stern look.

So-joon is annoyed again when she’s called away, so he drags her outside where he grumbles that he’s both jealous and obsessive over her. Enjoying this fixation with her, Ma-rin slips her arms through his and admits that she prefers people being overtly lovey-dovey than acting cool.

So-joon shrugs her off, but Ma-rin clings to him, whining that she wants him to be fixated on her. They immediately break apart, however, when Se-young’s father appears and glumly remarks on how happy they look together.

But when So-joon picks up on his dejected mood, Se-young’s father lashes out at him for keeping Se-young’s departure a secret from her own father.

Se-young calls Ki-doong as he leaves the office, hoping that they can hang out. He lies that he’s already home, unaware that she can see him leave the building. Instead of calling him out on the lie, she lets him go.

At home, Ma-rin feels bad for Se-young’s father. She perks up at So-joon’s suggestion that they go away for the weekend, though deflates when he thinks of inviting his friends.

He asks if she prefers traveling to the mountains or the seashore, having realized that he never asked before. Irritated, Ma-rin says they can all just go out to dinner and pretends to be let down when both Ki-doong and Se-young decline.

She then poses the same mountains or seashore question to him, getting excited when they simultaneously answer “seashore.” Just as she’s about to suggest that they go to an uninhabited island, So-joon interrupts her, saying he’ll convince his friends to come with.

Annoyed, Ma-rin snatches the phone out of his hands, wondering if he’s always been this dense. He sits with his knees together like a student being scolded while she spells out how she wanted them to have a weekend for themselves, but she’s worried that his thick-headedness will become a serious problem. Like for your marriage?

She wonders how he ever survived in this world, and So-joon assuages her concerns, saying that this will be a farewell trip for Se-young and they can have their weekend getaway later on.

That’s how the foursome end up by the seashore, where Ma-rin exclaims that it was a good idea that they all came together. When Ki-doong asks if that means she didn’t want to come, she gracefully replies that she was afraid of being the fourth wheel with So-joon’s friends. So-joon says that was a good response. Come on, dude.

Ki-doong smooths things over by suggesting to become friends with Ma-rin, and they adorably agree to it on the spot. So-joon breaks the new friends up immediately, and pulls his buddy away so the ladies can talk.

Ma-rin takes the first step by extending a peace offering since she knows Se-young doesn’t like her. Se-young accepts the gesture and calls her “unni” since Ma-rin is technically older than her, adding that she’s never gotten along with other unnis.

Se-young walks away to join the boys at the picnic table and sends So-joon away. She and Ki-doong can hear So-joon searching for Ma-rin, though she initially jumps at the sound of “Kkot-soonie,” thinking it’s a dog’s name.

So-joon comes across a mailbox which promises to deliver a letter up to fifty years in the future. He buckles down to write one to Ma-rin in the future while she keeps sending him happy photos of her exploring the beach.

He writes that it’s October 2016, a happy time when Ma-rin still doesn’t know that he’s a time traveler. In fact, they’re so happy that he wishes he could stop time rather than travel through it. He hopes that Ma-rin won’t be hating him when he reads this, and drops the letter into the mailbox.

Meanwhile, Ki-doong and Se-young sit on a bench, where she affirms that she came on this trip because of So-joon. She asks why things have been so awkward between them, and Ki-doong admits that he’s felt like a pushover when it comes to her—always doing everything she asked of him, only to be yelled at whenever her demands weren’t met.

Neither she nor Ki-doong is aware that Ma-rin is within earshot as Se-young shares that she gave up a job opportunity to work at Happiness because So-joon coaxed her to work for the organization.

She claims that she isn’t leaving because of So-joon, but the job she started because of him. She tearfully asks if Ki-doong has to make things worse by accusing her of running away from her feelings.

Ma-rin turns away, and then Ki-doong starts singing a mood-appropriate song: “Between Love and Friendship” by Pinocchio. Hold the phone—Ki-doong, you can sing? And then Se-young slaps him upside the head.

Meanwhile, Doo-shik grows frustrated at hearing a worked-up Director Kim defending his request for more time in order to achieve his long-term success through the Jangho project. Doo-shik sighs, already knowing that the project will be a flop, and asks the man: “Do you believe in fate?”

He notes that there are always people like Director Kim who stubbornly stick to their own paths despite being given countless opportunities to do otherwise. He realizes that he won’t be able to persuade the director and pulls out of the investment deal, telling Director Kim to keep the deposit.

Alarmed, Director Kim asks him to reconsider, but Doo-shik refuses to believe any of Director Kim’s excuses: “You have no idea how dangerous of a gamble I’m making, do you?!”

Doo-shik can tell that Director Kim won’t listen to him and knows that he can’t trust the man either. But since he’s limited in terms of what he can say, he discloses that there’s something he needs to prevent from happening, but doesn’t necessarily need Director Kim to see it done.

If those words didn’t already confuse Director Kim, Doo-shik adds, “Even if you scam people, you shouldn’t harm them.” Meaning, Se-young’s father? He loudly tells Director Kim that things won’t go his way, but refrains from speaking more on the subject.

Back by the seashore, Ma-rin learns that So-joon lived with Se-young’s family for several months following his parents’ deaths. As longtime childhood friends, he considers Se-young as family, and Ma-rin feels for Se-young, wondering how she put up with him for so long.

So-joon finds the very idea of ever getting involved with Se-young absurd, and Ma-rin suggests that they come clean about each other’s love lives. She asks how many relationships he’s been in, not believing him when he says he’s never been in an official relationship.

He honestly says it was too hard and enjoyed other pleasures in life besides dating. Now Ma-rin understands that So-joon’s obtuseness stems from inexperience, and asks if he doesn’t regret getting married right away.

So-joon chuckles that he can keep dating her, his wife, for the rest of his life. Ma-rin finds that idea amusing, but he wraps an arm around her shoulder and suggests that they date. She sighs and agrees, and So-joon happily declares that today is their Day One.

In the morning, Ki-doong wakes to a surprise: Se-young lying next to him in bed. He tries to keep his alarm in check, but then Se-young suddenly bolts awake and kicks him. He cries out that he doesn’t know what happened last night, but they’re in his room… and he’s pretty sure that he isn’t wearing any bottoms.

As it happened, he and Se-young had quite a few beers, and she drunkenly whined that she’d never been kissed. She hit Ki-doong when he teased that he had a first kiss, and he added, “It was with you.”

He reminded her that it happened when they were playing a drinking game on an overnight trip in college. She had asked what the kiss was like, and then kissed him right then and there to find out. “You… made the first move,” Ki-doong says in the present.

Embarrassed enough, Se-young says she knows she did. Ki-doong says he wants to take responsibility as the guy, then asks how she’d like to proceed. She warns him against coming any closer and asks him to forget everything about last night because it was a mistake. Aw, Ki-doong.

The happy newlyweds are confused when Ki-doong and Se-young head out to the car with their things already packed, though So-joon is the only one who’s ignorant of the awkward mood in the car.

Meanwhile, Mom waits outside a bank near Namyeong Station after learning that someone has regularly been depositing money into her husband’s bank account. Doo-shik turns the corner and immediately hides upon seeing his wife, and ignores Director Kim’s calls.

But Director Kim finally gets through and nervously tells him that he can’t cover all the fees for breaching his contracts with the other investors if Doo-shik pulls out of the project. Doo-shik couldn’t care less and hangs up, mumbling to himself that he’s done his part by trying to get Director Kim to leave MyReits.

As for Director Kim, he takes his rage out on his office while his secretary explains away the behavior to others as marital issues.

Ki-doong is annoyed to find So-joon at his place reviewing footage from the future. He casually asks if any of those dates have Se-young paying a visit, and So-joon says there aren’t any. He advises So-joon to pay more attention to the present rather than the near future, but then something catches So-joon’s eye.

He sees Doo-shik sneak into Ki-doong’s place on October 27, 2016 at around 1:31 PM. The camera cuts to the future, where Doo-shik frantically searches through So-joon’s things. His eyes scan the place and land on the vent, and So-joon realizes that Doo-shik will steal his journal on that day.

Thus So-joon immediately travels to that day and waits outside as Doo-shik runs off with the journal and tears pages out of it. Doo-shik thinks to himself that he’ll make sure So-joon doesn’t find out that Director Kim is responsible for Se-young’s father’s fall at the construction site.

So-joon follows Doo-shik in another taxi and gets off near the Happiness construction site. He hears Ma-rin’s voice crying out So-joon’s name and he sees her calling for help in blood-stained clothes, but before he can rush to her side, Doo-shik pushes him out of sight.

He immediately identifies that So-joon traveled here from the past and assures him that he’s already called an ambulance. He tells him to think of what Ma-rin will think if she sees him here. Grabbing his coat, So-joon asks, “What have you done to her?” What in the world is going on?

Back in the present, Ma-rin gets sleepy while waiting up for So-joon. She dreams of walking alongside the railroad tracks with him, who smiles at her but says nothing. She comments on how happy she is to be married to him and wonders where they are and where they’re headed. So-joon then stops in his tracks and looks at her sadly before disappearing before her eyes.

Ma-rin wakes up from the dream calling out So-joon’s name. So-joon happens to call just then to explain that he can’t come home tonight. He lies that he’s on a business trip, and she asks if something has gone terribly wrong because she just had a bad dream.

She tells him to be careful of everything and everyone, and he bids her goodnight. We then cut back to October 27, 2016, when So-joon learns that Se-young’s father dies on that day. Doo-shik tells him that it was an accident and Ma-rin stumbled upon the body.

That prompts So-joon to ask why Doo-shik traveled here, and Doo-shik defensively says he came to stop the accident from taking place. So-joon: “Why? Why would you? Why are you helping people I know?”

Doo-shik isn’t able to come up with an answer, but So-joon doesn’t want to hear any of it because he wouldn’t believe it anyway. “An accidental death?” So-joon echoes. “Do you expect me to believe that?” In the end, he resolves to find out what happened for himself and reads up on the news, which classified Se-young’s father’s death as a workplace accident.

Unable to accept that the death would be an accident, So-joon meets up with Se-young to find out when she’ll be leaving. She plans to leave on October 27th, and she refuses his offer to take her parents to Japan with her. She’s alarmed by So-joon’s insistence, which he masks as concern, and she wonders why everyone’s making such a big deal—it isn’t like she’s dying or something. Eep, don’t jinx it!

Director Kim leaves his secretary at the door while he meets with another businessman who is interested in buying the very commercial building they’re having drinks in. Director Kim tells him that this is a leased office space, but the man promises to pay him handsomely for it. And that’s when Director Kim leaks that there are plans to sell a few buildings.

They run into Se-young’s father as they leave, and the businessman introduces them. Later that night, Ma-rin is dumbstruck by So-joon’s suggestion that she quit her job at Happiness. She asks if it’s because he’s jealous about working with the construction workers, but So-joon replies that she wouldn’t even be working there if he wasn’t associated with the organization.

Realizing that he really wants her to quit, Ma-rin asks why he wants her to quit a job she actually enjoys. When So-joon says it bothers him that she’s working at Happiness, she asks if it’s because of his parents. He gives a stilted “yeah” in response.

Ma-rin gives the idea more thought as she gets ready for bed, and joins him on the couch asking if she can keep this job until the construction is complete. She reasons that this is the first time she’s felt pride in her work as a photographer, but So-joon says he’ll find her another position where she can feel just as proud.

She knows she isn’t good enough to get another gig, and says she took the job and invited him on-site in hopes that So-joon could better deal with his painful past. But she admits that it didn’t occur to her how hard it could be on him and promises to be more careful in the future… after she sees this project through to the end.

He asks her to reconsider, then thinks about Ma-rin in the near future, covered in blood and calling out his name. He returns to the bedroom where Ma-rin is barely awake, and he asks, “If you could know the future, would you want to know?”

She grunts in affirmation, mumbling that people can read the future in tarot cards and the constellations. “Wouldn’t it be easier not to know?” So-joon asks. She answers, “But I’d be curious and would feel anxious.”

She asks why he’s suddenly asking her this, and So-joon drops the subject. He climbs into bed with her and pats her comfortingly.

Sometime later, So-joon takes her out for a drive without telling her where they’re headed. She isn’t thrilled when they show up at the snobby photographer’s doorstep, especially when the photographer congratulates them on their marriage and claims Ma-rin’s latest portfolio was amazing.

Having heard enough feigned flattery, Ma-rin points out that this photographer hates people who uses connections to get places. She storms out, and when So-joon chases her down, she asks how he knew that she wanted to work in that studio.

He asks her to think about what would be the better choice for her, but she’s insulted that he would use his influence to get her a job. Even if he hated that she worked at Happiness, it wasn’t right of him to do this, and she doesn’t believe he could be acting on her behalf if he doesn’t even understand how she feels about the situation.

“Do you know how I feel lately? I’m so happy with you and I love working so much that I was so scared at the thought of it all crumbling in an instant. So don’t destroy it, if it’s really for my sake,” she pleads.

He pulls her back before she can leave, saying that he wanted her to be happy, even if it was for one more day. He urges her to quit working at Happiness, and his grave tone perplexes her.

“Something awful will happen there,” he explains, but that only confuses her even more. He takes her away, saying that he’s so frustrated that he can’t keep it from her any longer. They stop a little later, and he points out the jumbotron screen behind them.

He claims that a headline will appear about a bus accident where the passengers miraculously survived. She looks up behind him to see that very headline, and then he accurately predicts the very next headline.

So-joon then tells her about what will happen to the people around them in the immediate future: a man will get on a bus only to get off moments later, a boyfriend will kneel down to tie his girlfriend’s sneaker for her. And that’s exactly what happens.

She’s left momentarily speechless, then asks, “How did you know that?” So-joon answers, “Because I saw it all. Because I came here this afternoon.”

Ma-rin starts getting scared and suggests that they go home, but So-joon stops her from walking away and confesses, “I can travel to the future.”

 
COMMENTS

Huh? I wish I could say that I deeply appreciate So-joon for coming clean with Ma-rin about being a time traveler, but I honestly couldn’t be more confused about his intentions and the order of his actions leading up to this very important admission. When So-joon spoke with Future Ma-rin about their dismal future, I’d hoped that he would take that information to think of a better game plan about how he’d eventually tell Ma-rin his biggest secret.

So I was happy when he and Ma-rin took a big step in their marriage by sharing how they felt about each other last week, and in this episode, when it seemed like So-joon would start appreciating the smaller moments in the present. But this episode made it even more confusing than ever to keep track of how much time passes in the present. For instance, while I knew that Se-young had planned on leaving Korea within a month following her announcement, I was surprised to learn that it was already the beginning of October and we were mere weeks away from Se-young’s father’s death.

For a show about time travel that uses future life-and-death events as important plot markers, I would’ve expected the show to give its viewers more clues to push the urgency of its central mysteries. Choosing not to do this not only risks losing viewers’ interest in the story it wants to tell but also endangers the show to choppy narrative pacing. We can already pick up on these choices, where time practically slows down to focus on the cute romance between So-joon and Ma-rin (whom I still love dearly), but drops us in on odd moments for other plot points.

I was genuinely confused when we checked in with Doo-shik’s ongoing relationship with Director Kim and was suddenly cold to him. Was this because Doo-shik knew he was running out of time before Se-young’s father’s death? And given all the research he’s done on the impending incident, couldn’t he have tried to prevent the two men from being introduced at the restaurant rather than trying to get the director from leaving So-joon’s company? Even after So-joon learned that Se-young’s father’s death was something Doo-shik was trying to prevent from happening, allegedly for his sake, I don’t understand why he didn’t take Future Ma-rin’s advice and try to stop Se-young from leaving for Japan. Did he think that Se-young and her family would be safer if they all left together?

I wish my questions would end there, but I feel like So-joon is continuing to risk both the present and future by working off of limited information he’s learned from the future. There’s presently no guarantee that Ma-rin quitting Happiness would mean she wouldn’t be at the construction site on October 27th, since there’s always the possibility that Se-young’s father would remain in Korea and Ma-rin could go to see her husband’s family friend.

I understand why he would want to refrain from saying too much, but it’s hard for me to think that So-joon is acting wisely when it comes to changing the future when it seems like he doesn’t have a bigger scope of understanding of how his words and actions could be the things that lead to the sad future he’s already foreseen. I still want to believe that there’s a reason for everything we’re being shown and for everything we still have yet to know, but it’s awfully unnerving when your hero is working alone just as everything is about to hit the fan.

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