Love and Obsession – Episodes 146 – 147
Three Months Later . .. .It’s the grand opening of the very first “Hongryeon’s Fried Rice” restaurant franchise, and Suchan’s sister (the bad singer) is out in front, performing her heart out. The assembled crowd amusingly wonders if her exuberant performance is repelling more people than she’s attracting.
Gongmi isn’t there. But, she has a good reason: she’s the president of the second franchise, which is also just opening. Altogether, eight HFR franchises are opening today, which is quite a start for Hongryeon, in her new life as a franchise president.
Over dinner at the Dragon House, the topic of conversation turns to Taeyun. E-city has a new CEO, and nobody’s even seen Taeyun for over a month. He doesn’t come to work any more, and they don’t have any news about him.
“Is he hiding with Janghwa? Maybe they’re together,” says one.
“There is such a rumor. Do you think it’s true?” says another.
“He saved her,” says a third.
“Maybe he feels sorry for her, or he just gave up on life.”
Unknown to them, Hongryeon is listening outside . . . and the topic is obviously distressing her.
*****
Hongryeon ‘s brother (Janghwa’s Boy Toy) arrives to congratulate her on the opening of her franchises, though he’s obviously in a melancholy mood. He tells her that he loved Janghwa a lot. “I’ll never love someone like that again,” he tells her. “I wanted to understand everything, and embrace her, even if people criticized her. I regret hurting other people for my love. I didn’t know the price would be so high.”
Hongryeon assures her that he’ll see her again someday. “I don’t care if I can never see her,” he tells her. “I just want her and he baby to be fine. It hurts, because they might not be.”
*****
Just a few days later, Hongryeon’s friends are again gathered at the Dragon House. It’s Princess’ birthday, and they’re preparing food to remember her. Again, the topic of Taeyun comes up. Hongryeon is in on this conversation, and she’s flinching with almost every word. She seems entirely happy with her new life – except that when the topic of Taeyun comes up, she withers like a dying flower.
“He probably doesn’t even know that we’re having a ritual for her,” says Gongmi.
“Taeyun doesn’t even call now,” whispers Jeonghae.
“They’re complete strangers now,” replies Hyunggu.
*****
A filthy-looking Janghwa is working in the back room at a grungy restaurant, and she drops a glass and breaks it. “You broke another one?” the owner hollers. “How many is that?”
Janghwa apologizes, and the irritable owner rants on. “I shouldn’t have hired you. I’m so upset!”
She sends Janghwa out to tend to some customers – and Janghwa promptly spills water all over them. The owner is furious now. “Can’t you do anything right? You’re no help. I don’t need you!”
But later, the owner gives Janghwa more chores to do. Despite her outbursts, the owner does seem sympathetic to the now rather pathetic (and very pregnant) Janghwa.
*****
Janghwa is calling every ten days, just as she promised. Taeyun gets the word from Mr. Choi, though it seems like it’s news that he’d rather not hear. Taeyun almost winces every time he hears the word “Janghwa.”
Mr. Choi returns to Taeyun’s house, and gives the same news to Aunt. “Janghwa?” Aunt replies. “Don’t even mention her name. The thought of her still makes me mad. I shouldn’t say this, but it’s my fault for not seeing who she was. She’d better not show up again.”
“I think she decided to cut off all ties with Mr. Kang,” Mr. Choi replies.
“Taeyun is the problem,” Aunt tells him. “He should get his act together. What’s going to happen to the vaccine [anti-virus] team?”
From the looks of it, Taeyun’s thinking about giving it up. He’s lost all his spirit, and all his interest in E-city affairs.
*****
Janghwa is cleaning up the kitchen as an older woman dines with the cranky restaurant owner. “It looks like you’re eight months along,” the stranger comments.
The woman turns out to be a long-time midwife – and the restaurant owner asked her to come by and check out Janghwa. “You can’t take care of yourself, and I was worried.” the restaurant owner tells her.
It’s interesting how the restaurant owner seems to get nothing but irritation from Janghwa – and yet, she still worries about her.
The midwife is worried, too. “She’s weak, and so is the baby. It won’t be a smooth delivery,” the midwife says.
“I hope nothing bad happens,” the restaurant owner replies. “You have to come quickly when I call.”
“I’m so nervous,” the restaurant owner later tells Janghwa. “Don’t you have any family? Why don’t you have anyone to call? I guess you weren’t very virtuous. If you were, there would be somebody by your side, no matter what you did.”
It’s odd how this restaurant owner, knowing absolutely nothing about Janghwa’s past, still seems to have pieced it all together by herself.
*****
Suchan presents Hongryeon with her very first passport. He says it’s hard to believe that a franchise president like her has never even been overseas before. Hongryeon seems thankful for Suchan’s attention – but we can all see that there’s still no love there.
*****
Janghwa is suddenly having stomach pains. The restaurant owner offers to take her to the hospital, but Janghwa declines. She doesn’t have any money, she tells her. Though Janghwa refuses help, the restaurant owner goes out anyway, to find the midwife.
A good thing, too, since Janghwa is very soon bleeding profusely, and writhing on the floor in pain . . .
The midwife arrives. “It’s not time yet,” she asks. “Why are you getting labor pains?” And the once elegant Janghwa gets transported to the midwife’s home in the only transportation they could muster on short notice: the back end of a local farmer’s tractor-drawn vegetable cart.
“Why wont you go to the hospital?” the midwife urgently asks. “You and the baby will both die. Go to the hospital, or call your family.” Janghwa refuses.
“You must have family. What about the baby’s father? Janghwa still refuses.
”Aigu!” the exasperated midwife comments. “I can’t be responsible if you die. You got that?”
“Wait,” Janghwa whispers. “Just one thing. I have to say this . . .”
*****
Hongryeon is about to leave for the cemetery, to visit Princess on her birthday, when her cell phone rings.
It’s Janghwa. “I have something to say to you,” she weakly says. “I have to say this. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” And she hangs up.
Hongryeon does a quick call-back, and the midwife picks up the phone. And when Hongryeon learns about what’s transpiring, she immediately drops everything, and rushes to see to Janghwa.
Janghwa’s a mess. She’s laying on floor, atop blood-stained blankets, and she’s so weak that she’s barely able to speak. “What are you doing here?” Hongryeon asks.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” Janghwa weakly replies. “If I die without saying that, I’d regret it like I did with mother.”
“Okay,” Hongryeon tells her. “You won’t die. I’m here. Let’s go to the hospital.”
But it’s too late. Janghwa giving birth right now – but she’s not even trying to help. It’s as if she’s given up. “They’re both in danger,” the midwife warns.
“Janghwa, look at me!” Hongryeon shouts. “Open your eyes and look at me! Stay alert and concentrate, or you and the baby could both die!”
But, Janghwa won’t even open her eyes.
*****
Janghwa’s baby is born. It’s a boy, but it’s far from a happy occasion, as the midwife seems fearful.
And, far away in Seoul, Janghwa’s mother abruptly awakens from a nightmare. “I think something happened to Janghwa,” she anxiously tells Janghwa’s father. “I dreamt the baby was hurt.”
*****
The concerned midwife explains the situation to Hongryeon. “The baby is so small. He’s breathing, but he’s not crying. He must be less than 2 kg [about 4 ½ pounds]. I wonder if he’ll live.”
And, from the looks of it, Janghwa may not live, either.
Hongryeon rushes out to find an ambulance for Janghwa and the baby, calling Gongmi as she leaves. “What is she doing there?” Gongmi asks. “And why isn’t KangGyver [Taeyun] with her?”
Hongryeon doesn’t know, but she’ll call again when she knows more.
*****
Park Seokdu is still on the run from the Mob Boss. His fellow gangster friend tells him that if he just gives him Gilran, his worries will be over. But, Seokdu refuses, suggesting instead that they hide out on a boat. “He can’t find us on a boat,” he tells him.
*****
A very weakened Janghwa struggles to leave the midwife’s house. “I don’t want it,” she tells the midwife. “It’s not my baby.”
“You just gave birth to him,” the midwife answers. “What do you mean he’s not yours?”
“I can’t raise him.”
“What’s wrong with you? Snap out of it!”
Janghwa is becoming increasingly frantic and irrational. “I can’t raise him. I didn’t even want him. I can’t raise a baby. I can’t do it. Take him somewhere.”
“What are you talking about?
“Take him to an orphanage. Or, just throw it away!”
*****
Hongryeon returns to the midwife’s home – but no one’s there! She rushes to the restaurant owner’s house, where she finds Janghwa is sitting alone in a corner, dazed and disoriented. “Janghwa,” Hongryeon asks, “what are you doing here? Where is the baby? The hospital? Listen to me! Where is the baby?”
Janghwa just shakes her head.
“You don’t know?” Hongryeon asks. “Where is the midwife? Where is she?”
“I told her to throw him away,” Janghwa mutters.
“What?
”
“I can’t raise him. I can’t be a mother.”
Hongryeon can’t believe what she’s hearing. “You told her to throw him away? That poor little baby???”
Hongryeon realizes that, just as Janghwa had abandoned Princess two years earlier, she’s now gone and abandoned her own baby . . .
*****
Hongryeon rushes about the house for a phone number to call for help, when the restaurant owner walks in. “Where is the baby?
” Hongryeon frantically asks.
“I don’t know!” the restaurant owner angrily replies. “Ask the mother!” And the restaurant owner storms out of the room.
“Oh, no . . . “ Hongryeon says to herself.
*****
Janghwa continues to sit alone in her corner, still disoriented and crazy, when she notices that her shirt has become damp. “Oh, milk . . .” she says to herself. And (finally) her maternal instincts seem to kick in. “What will I do?” she mutters. “My baby. Where is my baby? What will I do?”
*****
Hongryeon finally tracks down the midwife. “Stop bothering me,” the midwife tells her. “All I did was deliver her baby.”
“I know,” Hongryeon replies. “Just tell me where the baby is. I’ll take care of the rest, okay?”
The midwife won’t answer, but soon Janghwa and the restaurant owner arrive as well. “I’m sorry,” the frantic and sobbing Janghwa tells the midwife. “I can’t abandon the baby. Find my baby for me. Please.”
“She told me to throw him away,” the midwife responds. “What if he died in my arms?”
But the midwife finally explains what happened. “I took him to the hospital, and I told them I found him. I said he didn’t have any parents. I only did that because she said so.”
“I know,” Hongryeon says. “Just tell me which hospital. Please tell me.”
*****
Mr. Choi (Taeyun’s aide) asks Taeyun to reconsider closing down the vaccine center. “I know,” Taeyun tells him, “but the vaccine center has no meaning for me anymore.”
Aunt overhears the discussion. “It’s my fault,” she admits to herself. “I ruined an able man.”
*****
Hongryeon arrives at the hospital, and she finally sees Janghwa’s little baby, laying there alone in an incubator. “He was brought here as an abandoned baby,” the nurse tells her. “We called the police.”
“Can you please let the mother see her baby?” Hongryeon asks.
“The baby is premature,” the nurse answers. “No visitation is allowed.”
Hongryeon gets permission to speak with the doctor, but the news isn’t good. “If the mother abandoned the baby, she will be punished by law,” he tells her. “The baby will go though the system, as stated by law.”
“She just lost her emotions right after birth,” Hongryeon tells him. “Please consider that.”
“Is there any proof hat she’s the mother? Any hospital records?”
“No, but I witnessed the birth.
“I’m sorry, but there are rules. Talk to the police, and to child services.”
*****
Suchan’s sister shows up at home, bringing tonics for Hongryeon. Suchan is mystified by his sister’s sudden fondness for Hongryeon. “You hated her so much,” Suchan says, “and you’re getting her tonics now?”
“She could be family,” she tells him. “I shouldn’t be mean to her. How about getting married before you go overseas?”
Suchan’s stunned by his sister’s suggestion. “Sis, don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t pressure Hongryeon in any way!”
Suchan’s a good guy. He’s crazy in love with Hongryeon, but even so, he’s not about to overstep his bounds.
*****
“The baby was abandoned,” Hongryeon tells the still ailing Janghwa. “They’re following legal procedures.”
”What’s wrong with me? Why am I alive? I should be dead.” Janghwa tells her.
”Look at me. I’ll get your baby. You trust me, right? I’ll get him back.” But Janghwa just lies there on the floor, and cries.
Hongryeon, desperate for help, resorts to calling Taeyun’s aide, Mr. Choi. “I don’t know what Janghwa is doing here, and what’s going on with her and Taeyun,” she tells him. “But I wanted to discuss this with you. She gave premature birth.”
Mr. Choi is as shocked as anyone by the news, and he goes to inform Taeyun. “She has the baby?” Taeyun asks. “Already?”
“It was a premature birth, but there’s a problem . . .” Mr. Choi tells him.
*****
Mr. Choi arrives at the hospital, assuring Hongryeon that he’s brought a lawyer to help with the legal issues. And, back in Seoul, Taeyun calls in a few favors, and child services agrees to smooth things over for them.
“I was wondering what Janghwa was doing here,” Hongryeon asks Mr. Choi, “and why she was alone. I guess there are some things that I don’t know.”
“A lot of things happened, but it’s not my place to say,” he tells her.
“I’m going to go home, when Janghwa gets her baby back,” she tells him.
Hongryeon (apparently) still thinks that Taeyun has some kind of relationship going with Janghwa.
*****
Mr. Choi asks Taeyun to come to the hospital. “I’m sorry,” he tells Taeyun, “I was going to take care of it, but they wanted a guarantor. If you go to the welfare department, they will let the mother see the baby before the DNA test.” And Taeyun agrees to help out.
*****
Hongryeon returns to care for Janghwa, who is still weak and unstable. “Where is the baby?” Janghwa asks.
“We have to wait a little more,” Hongryeon tells her.
“I’m being punished,” Janghwa realizes. “I’m being told to realize what an awful person I am. I’m supposed to realize what I did to my mother-in-law. It’s so painful to abandon a baby. I’m being punished for what I did.”
*****
Hongryeon receives a phone call from the doctor. A guarantor came, he tells her, so the mother can see the baby now.
Little does she know Taeyun is the guarantor. And, as she hurries back to tell Janghwa the good news, Taeyun recognizes her from his car. He stops the car, gets out, and hesitantly greets her.
It’s the first time they’ve spoken in three months . . .
*****
In the secondary storylines . . .
Hyunggu and Jeonghae fill out the adoption papers. They pass the written requirements . . . but the interview doesn’t go well. The interviewer finds some minor faults, and Jeonghae gets emotional and starts arguing with him. After this, the adoption looks to be far from certain now.
****
It’s been three months, and Actor Boy’s “Cougar” apparently escaped serious jail time – in exchange for getting treated for alcoholism. She’s sober now, and thinking straightly, even offering Actor Boy what he asked for: a divorce. “It’s all I can do for you,” she tells him.
Actor Boy rushes back to Gongmi, who doesn’t exactly welcome him with open arms. “Good,” she tells him, “You can meet another woman, and get married again.”
Actor Boy knows that forgiveness won’t come quickly or easily. He comes up with a chart, explaining “division of labor.” A list of his duties, and hers. “I’ll do 70%, you only do 20%,” he tells her.
Gongmi still doesn’t completely buy it – but it’s a start.