Summary
Yong Pal‘s back to its exciting self again. Last week’s episodes mostly focused on building the relationship between Kim Tae Hyun and Han Yeo Jin which slowed down the story quite a bit, but it looks like it was just a brief lull as this week’s episodes headed right back into the main story and it was back to its awesome self. The couple’s peaceful stay at the cathedral’s grounds does not last long as a complication with an illegal immigrant’s pregnancy forces Kim Tae Hyun to send her to Han Shin Medical Center. The discovery that his sister has been used as a hostage by Han Do Joon forces Kim Tae Hyun to stay and leave Han Yeo Jin, wishing her all the best without him. Han Yeo Jin, who was happy to live a life with Kim Tae Hyun is caused to take action when her prayers for his return goes unanswered, returning to Han Shin Medical Center as Kim Yeong Mi!!
Recap and Thoughts
It’s a peaceful existence the morning after their escape from Han Shin Medical Center. Han Yeo Jin and Kim Tae Hyun‘s first day together is spent eating an omelette breakfast made by Kim Tae Hyun. She continues to want revenge on her enemies and fears losing Kim Tae Hyun, but after a confessional with the Reverend and receiving advice to love bravely and to love her enemies in order to receive God’s grace, she takes the advice and promises to do exactly that, deciding to love and enjoy the present with the man she loves. The day is spent playing dodgeball with the children at the cathedral (Kim Tae Hyun is anyway, defending the balls from hitting Han Yeo Jin‘s wheelchair). It’s spent at the creek: Han Yeo Jin sitting at the side, feeling the water flow past her feet, whilst Kim Tae Hyun splashes around with the children. During these activities, they even thing about moving into an apartment together once she becomes stronger as they view apartments on offer on the phone he gave her.
The two learn a little more about each other during this time. Kim Tae Hyun learns that Han Yeo Jin‘s favourite sport is tennis after the game of dodgeball. He learns that she and her brother used to be close. However, an incident which caused her to be hit in the eye by a tennis ball (resulting in an eye injury serious enough for an eye patch) stopped her from playing the sport. Her brother was scolded heavily for not stopping the ball from hitting her. (Her father’s worries over Han Yeo Jin getting hurt, being the heir to the Han Shin Group, seemingly is an example for the fall-out between her and her brother.)
During a piggy-back through the forest (Han Yeo Jin on Kim Tae Hyun‘s back), Han Yeo Jin hears the story behind Kim So Hyun‘s liver disease and how Kim Tae Hyun was responsible for it. With his parents out, he, who was just a young boy back then, was left to take care of his fever-stricken sister. The medicine he thought looked a lot like the kind their mother gave to them to treat fever was actually Acetaminophen, a pain reliever which their father took. Kim Tae Hyun explains that if given to a child, it’ll cause acute liver damage. The medicine was popped into her mouth by him, despite her not wanting to take it. She assumed this was the reason he became a doctor. It’s not. It was the hate of living in poverty. He wanted be rich and powerful because poverty was the reason for not being to able to get treatment for his sister. It was also what made his father a vicious drunk.
Their walk ends at The Hill of Wind, a scenic hilltop with wind turbines in the background. The hill comes with a story that if two lover kiss there and then return to kiss again, they will never be separated; and so Kim Tae Hyun and Han Yeo Jin share their second kiss with an agreement to come back to the hill the next day for that reason. But as it is always the way, that never eventuates.
A life-threatening pregnancy complication of a woman leads Kim Tae Hyun back to Han Shin Medical Center and unable to return. With the woman having no legal status in the country (and therefore unable to seek medical attention from a nearby hospital or risk deportation), Kim Tae Hyun is left with no choice but to perform a Caesarean section on-site. After a few tense moments of waiting for the woman to be fully anaethesised, and then making sure a single stroke is used to cut into her belly, Kim Tae Hyun successfully brings the baby out of the womb. But with the baby being born before term and needing incubation as well as the mother suddenly having an embolism after surgery, Kim Tae Hyun is again left with no choice but to send her and the baby to the only hospital he knows that will treat and won’t get involved in the woman’s illegal status. He, the mother and the baby must go Han Shin Medical Center‘s 12th floor.
The woman and baby in the car, Kim Tae Hyun tells Han Yeo Jin, who gone to his side, to head back to the cathedral. He tells her that he needs to go somewhere, a place Han Yeo Jin wants to go with him together, but he says she can’t. Despite the clues, she doesn’t figure out where this place is. When she hears it’s Han Shin Medical Center, she opposes. No time to be standing around discussing the issue, Kim Tae Hyun tells her that the mother and baby will both die if he doesn’t hurry. She finally lets go, telling him to promise to hurry back, to which he does, promising his return after sending his sister off to the airport for treatment the following day.
The promise would not be hard to keep if only Han Do Joon were to keep his end of the bargain and honour the agreement to send his sister to the U.S. for treatment. Although he has gone as far as making her a recipient of the Han Shin Giving Foundation which would provide the funds for the treatment, it is not a done deal, as later, he springs Kim Tae Hyun with the news that suddenly there’s a problem with funding the treatment. To make sure Kim Tae Hyun doesn’t leave Han Shin Medical Center, he uses his sister as leverage to make him agree to remain on the 12th floor. To make sure he has a firm watch of Kim Tae Hyun‘s sister, Han Do Joon‘s also moved her to the 12th floor.
Before he discovers his sister’s move, he learns of Han Do Joon‘s current operation to clean up those involved in the imprisonment and the death of Han Yeo Jin.
After arriving at Han Shin Medical Centre and the woman and baby is sent to the only room available, Lee Chae Young‘s room (which Lee Chae Young permits its use), he is told by the the nurses at the reception of the strings of deaths that’s been happening whilst he’s been away. The first is Nurse Hwang (she was involved in a hit-and-run with a truck whilst at a payphone) and the second is the Director (who was found dead after suffering a heart attack as he lay in his hospital bed recovering from the stab wounds inflicted by Nurse Hwang many days ago). He is also informed that Chief Surgeon Lee has disappeared. Knowing he’s next on the hit list, Chief Surgeon Lee‘s run off in search of a new identity as a Chinese national with plans to fly out of the country.
Kim Tae Hyun is expected to be cleaned up by Han Do Joon as well. It’s fortunate he has Lee Chae Young on his side. Her promise to do all she can do for him last episode still remains true. Aware of Han Do Joon‘s plans, she’s firmly warns her husband about touching Kim Tae Hyun. Should he touch him, Lee Chae Young warns that she will go to Dae Joon Group to reveal the part Han Do Joon had in the death of their son. She warns that if that happens, he’d have to kill her as well—which seemingly Lee Chae Young doesn’t believe he would have the courage to do.
During this conversation, Lee Chae Young had mentioned about him killing Han Yeo Jin. He was so disturbed by the mention of it that he tells her to shut up or face being killed by him, too. Her response is that he wouldn’t have that kind of courage to do it. If he had, she might have been able to love him. It’s an interesting response from someone who comes off as being on the good side.
So, threat made, Kim Tae Hyun‘s life protected by his wife, Han Do Joon‘s only option is to use Kim Tae Hyun‘s sister to make sure he doesn’t escape his watch. In order to do that, the money which was previously available from the Han Shin Giving Foundation is suddenly said to be insufficient. Kim Tae Hyun‘s sister is being used as a hostage. Seeing the danger his sister is now in, Kim Tae Hyun attempts to take his sister out of the hospital. He gets as far as the hospital basement before he is warned through a text message to his phone that trying to escape would jeopardise the safety of his sister. So, with no choice, Kim Tae Hyun stops what he’s doing.
Kim Tae Hyun, who believes Lee Chae Young‘s protection is causing more issues than it is helping tells her to let him handle his own matters. In his office (we think it’s his office, it’s not clear), he asks her to think about how her getting involved in his business might be making her husband want to kill him more and tells her to let him handle them on his own. (Han Do Joon seems to think his wife and Kim Tae Hyun is involved a love affair). Lee Chae Young corrects him, telling him that it’s her that’s keeping him alive. There’s nothing he can do himself. He can’t run as he will be found. Right now, it’s in his best interest to stay by her side as being by her side is what’s stopping him from getting killed.
Trapped, Kim Tae Hyun calls Han Do Joon to kneel before him, begging him to save his sister. Han Do Joon pretends not to know what he’s talking about: "Why are you acting like this? Did someone say to kill his sister?" he asks rhetorically to his secretary. (How we hate characters when they pretend that’s not exactly what they’re doing!) Kim Tae Hyun continues to call Han Do Joon out on all his reasons for doing what he’s doing and unwittingly provokes the man’s pride, which gets him nowhere: Kim Tae Hyun tells him that he will die on his own, that he’ll make Lee Chae Young believe he secretly ran away (and stop her from reporting the information about Choi Sung Hoon and his part in it to Dae Joon Group) before finishing off with a reassurance that there is nothing going on between him and his wife. He’ll do all he wants as long as his sister is allowed to live as Han Do Joon had promised. The rant has Han Do Joon angry, ordering him to shut up before telling him that he is now useless and have been discarded, not only by him but also by his wife. When Han Yeo Jin died, he was also done.
Kim Tae Hyun is encouraged by the secretary to leave, which he does seeing the futility of the situation. He is escorted to the door by his secretary, who reveals to him that Kim Tae Hyun‘s sister will be sent to America and it will be today—to Kim Tae Hyun‘s surprise. The secretary tells him that what he offered to Han Do Joon has logic, just that he provoked the man’s pride. He will try to convince in, but he must promise to do as he says and make sure he convinces Lee Chae Young he’s secretly run away. Kim Tae Hyun agrees. The conversation ends with the secretary advising him to carry out his plans after Han Yeo Jin‘s funeral is over.
Yong Pal seems to have put yet another character into focus. The secretary (who appears to be a part of the Strategy Team for Han Shin Group) has always been in the story, updating Han Do Joon on matters, advising him on how to proceed, but he’s been in the background up until now. These couple of episodes, he’s received just a little more attention. He featured in Episode 9 going against President Go’s suggestion restructuring suggestion to sell off Han Shin Electric and appearing like he had his own plans he wants realised. It maybe in the interest of Han Do Joon, it might be that he’s trying to keep the Group in Han Do Joon‘s hands; but we’re wondering whether he’s working on a strategy in the background for someone else. Maybe he’s helping Kim Tae Hyun and Han Yeo Jin, or maybe he’s trying to make sure the Group stays in the hands of the Han family (e.g. Han Yeo Jin and Han Do Joon and not just Han Do Joon) and out of President Go‘s. Hmm…
With Kim Tae Hyun‘s sister’s treatment confirmed to be going ahead, the Reverend who accompanied him to Han Shin Medical Center is asked to go back alone. He requests him to pass on a message about the mother and baby as recovering and healthy. He also asks him to pass on the letter he wrote to Han Yeo Jin, explaining that he won’t be returning. He doesn’t tell her about the situation he’s in or the deal he’s made with Han Do Joon to die on his own. He only tells her about needing to wake up from his dream, saying that she might be able to live a happy life forgetting the past, but he can’t as it is still a continuing reality. He adds that with her being with him, she won’t be able to escape her painful past. He tells her he realised this when he returned to the hospital. He has no choice but to become a doctor. It was difficult for him to become a doctor, and he couldn’t give it all up because of her. He ends his letter telling her she’d be able to live a happy life without him and wishes her the best.
Letter with the Reverend, he sends his sister off at the airport. He is escorted by Han Do Joon‘s people. Knowing what he must do after Han Yeo Jin‘s funeral is held—that is, to die on his own—he tells his sister to make sure she lives well for herself—not for him nor for their father—just her. He tells her that no matter how lonely or how difficult things get she must endure for herself. This scene, though not sad in itself, the words he uses, the events which he’s endured and is expected to go through later all on his own, makes it so very sad. We really love the Kim Tae Hyun character. His strong sense of responsibility and bravery is so admirable.
Arriving at the airport, his sister makes it through the gates after a teary send-off. Our worries that perhaps she might not make it was unwarranted as this scene at the airport was not used to stop Kim Tae Hyun‘s sister. It was used to stop Chief Surgeon Lee who happens to be departing the country the same day as well. It’s also to have Detective Lee and his partner Detective Kim catch Kim Tae Hyun and be brought into question over his connections to the gangsters and his illegal underground surgeries.
At the airport, not only are Kim Tae Hyun and his sister and Han Do Joon‘s men present; but also Chief Surgeon Lee, a couple of President Go‘s hired hit-men (the same ones used to take over the 12th floor during the fight for Han Yeo Jin), and Detective Lee and Detective Kim who look to complete their own missions. The hired hit-men look to dispose of Chief Surgeon Lee, while the detectives look to finally catch Yong Pal. They are missions which are both achieved after a long chase through the airport.
(The reason Detective Lee and his partner have made their way towards the airport is because of a tip-off from Park Tae Yong, who after hearing Chief Surgeon Shin say that he’s always considered Kim Tae Hyun for a Fellowship position at the hospital, decided to report Kim Tae Hyun to the detective, most likely to take Kim Tae Hyun out of consideration.)
The chase begins with a collision between Chief Surgeon Lee (who has disguised himself with a mustache and glasses) and Kim Tae Hyun as the latter is being escorted away by Han Do Joon‘s men. The collision allows the hit-men (who are only a few metres ahead) spot him and begin their chase of Chief Surgeon Lee. Kim Tae Hyun, who quickly recognises the hit-men to be President Go‘s men and the work they do, also set off to follow Chief Surgeon Lee, presumably to come to his aid. Han Do Joon‘s men who think Kim Tae Hyun is trying to bail on them quickly follow. Chief Surgeon Lee is almost caught down the set of escalators, but manages to escape the hit-man’s grasps by leaping across two sets of escalators to head down a flight of stairs. He disappears into a room and manages to lose the hit-men. It’s only momentarily, though. As he heads out of the room and conceal himself amongst a river of travellers, thinking he’s lost them, his momentary inattention (he looks to be distracted by Kim Tae Hyun on his right side, watching him willingly returning with Han Do Joon‘s men after giving up his chase to find Chief Surgeon Lee), results in a knife to his left side: one of the hit-men crosses Chief Surgeon Lee path from the right to thrust the knife into him undetected.
As Chief Surgeon Lee begin to register what’s happened, T-shirt beginning to stain and blood dripping on the floor, travellers next to him continue to pass by, not noticing the stabbing that’s just occurred. Only a scream from a woman in the distance draws attention.
Kim Tae Hyun who hears the scream and sees the now collapsed Chief Surgeon Lee on the floor, runs to him to apply pressure to the stab wound.
At this moment, Detective Lee has made it onto the scene. Spotting Kim Tae Hyun next to the Chief, the detective and his partner look to break through the large crowd that’s gathered. Han Do Joon‘s people try to stop the detective from approaching closer, but has no choice but to let them through upon seeing their badges to allow them to watch Kim Tae Hyun‘s next actions with interest, right up to the point where he operates on Chief Surgeon Lee at the Airport’s Emergency Center.
With the surgery performed to stop the bleeding, Chief Surgeon Lee is transported into the ambulance to be taken to a nearby hospital. He pleads Kim Tae Hyun to save to him, to not allow the ambulance to take him to Han Shin Medical Center. Had Detective Lee not stopped Kim Tae Hyun from entering the ambulance with the Chief, he probably wouldn’t head that way. But with Kim Tae Hyun unable to accompany him in the ambulance, no one is able to stop the order to send him to Han Shin Medical Center to lay to pretty much die as no doctor is willing to operate on him upon arriving. (We hope Chief Surgeon Lee remains alive! Do not kill off Chief Surgeon Lee!)
Kim Tae Hyun is taken in for questioning. Detective Lee thinks he’s got him this time round. The Team Leader even shows up to listen to the interrogation. Kim Tae Hyun is not one bit afraid as he has nothing lose. Which way he dies doesn’t matter to him, so he willingly answers all the questions he is permitted to provide legally.
He is asked about his illegal house calls, Man Sik, and the money he borrowed from Doo Chul‘s gambling house. Every question is answered truthfully, telling the detective that Man Sik was his loan shark and the money he borrowed from Doo Chul was for his sister’s treatment fees. The only answer he’s not willing to divulge (though he professes that he wish he could) is the detective’s probe into the patients’ identity for whom he made house calls for. He tells the detective that it’s against the law to breach patient-doctor confidentiality. However, Kim Tae Hyun does leak out one patient’s name when, during the interrogation, a female detective comes into the room to pass on a message from the police commissioner: the message for Kim Tae Hyun to join the commissioner for a cup of tea after he’s finished with the questioning.
Detective Lee, seemingly understanding the situation, looks at his Team Leader (who’s also grasped the situation) behind the one-way glass. "Oh no. I’m dead" the Team Leader mutters to himself. Kim Tae Hyun tells the female detective to go back to the commissioner to tell him that he doesn’t want to be a bother and that he’ll have tea some other time with both him and his wife at the hospital. He then adds how he had unintentionally revealed one of his patients, just to confirm the situation which the detectives are all now regretting over is the fact of the situation. These house calls which Detective Lee previously called "illegal" involves their commissioner.
Meanwhile, back at the cathedral, Han Yeo Jin receives Kim Tae Hyun‘s letter telling her he won’t be returning. She also receives a visit from the Head Nurse who she introduces herself as Kang Soo Min, someone who’s on Kim Tae Hyun‘s side and the nurse who took care of her father during his final days. She’s here not to bring news of Kim Tae Hyun as Han Yeo Jin first thought, but news of her father, which has Han Yeo Jin stop the nurse, not wanting to hear anything she has to say on the subject. Kang Soo Min insists Han Yeo Jin listen as seemingly it is important enough to have Han Yeo Jin cry after the story, admit her mistakes and apologise to her dad in spirit at the end of it.
We aren’t presented much about what exactly caused Han Yeo Jin to react the way she did, only that before her father died from his illness, Kang Soo Min (who her father thought was Han Yeo Jin at the time) woke up one last time yearning for an embrace from his daughter and spoke his last words intended for his daughter. Feeling sympathy towards her father, Kang Soo Min answered his request, laying her head on his chest pretending to be his daughter and listened to those last words: "I’m sorry", "I love you, Yeo Jin", "And keep this to yourself" and "Right now I will return to you those things". What he meant by "keep this to yourself" is not revealed, but these last words from her father (as well as having received Kim Tae Hyun‘s letter which she holds in her hands) has her seemingly decide on returning to the hospital: "God," she says whilst sitting inside the cathedral, "as expected, isn’t listening to my prayers"m she says sitting at the cathedral. The next thing we see is her back at Han Shin Medical Center, bandage wrapped across her face, assuming the identity of Kim Yeong Mi!
Final Thoughts
What an interesting ending! We can not wait to see how it all plays out after this development!
After a slower couple episodes last week, this week’s episodes really brought Yong Pal right back to it’s original awesome self. The whole romance line that was developed four episodes ago and progressed at a super fast speed last week worked out quite well. The scenes at the beginning of Episode 9 which carried on from last week’s episodes, we did find were a little too happy and sweet, but now that we’ve watched the episodes, we can see it was particularly happy so that it could be contrasted to the separation that were to take place later. It was all part of the writer’s plan to create a dream-like, too-good-to-be-true situation so that it could be crushed and get Han Yeo Jin to come back and spread her wrath! :oD :oD.
Kim Tae Hyun, we noticed that for most of Episode 10, after his visit to Han Do Joon‘s residence to beg him to save his sister, he was wearing full black. It’s like he’s become dark. After sending his sister off, during his interrogation at the police station where he came off a bit superior-like when the commissioner invited him to tea, and then when he shot a look at Park Tae Yong, suspecting his involvement in tipping off Detective Lee, we swear we could feel this dark aura come from him!!
Han Yeo Jin and Kim Tae Hyun, they’re going to be a powerful team: a team to be feared!
Awesome episodes this week, especially Episode 10! Can’t wait for Episodes 11 and 12!
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