Ha Myung watches this announcement alone, his face hard and his eyes unblinking.

The next day, Ha Myung visits Jae Myung to tell him the good news. Jae Myung compliments Ha Myung, saying he can trust him now. Ha Myung says it was a close call and that he almost did the same thing Cha Ok did. Jae Myung asks what kept him from doing that and Ha Myung replies, “It was because of In Ha.”

In front of MSC, In Ha is thinking the opposite. After watching the banner of her and her mother being taken down, In Ha tells Beom Jo that she knew yesterday, watching Dal Po, that he will not be concerned about her anymore. He will forget her and do whatever he wants now. Beom Jo asks if she likes that and In Ha replies yes, without hiccuping, because she has lived everyday like a sinner to Dal Po because of that. She will now be able to sleep easily.

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Jae Myung says Ha Myung should be grateful to In Ha since if she didn’t hiccup then, he would have kept on doing the wrong thing. Ha Myung agrees. Jae Myung asks if Ha Myung thanked her. Ha Myung tells him that all he did was get angry and blame her, so he feels really sorry about that.

Jae Myung suggests Ha Myung tell In Ha this, not him. Apologies should be said to the person one needs to apologize to and if said to anyone else, it just becomes worthless self-reproach. Ha Myung replies a little sadly, “I know.”

Beom Jo asks In Ha to dinner since it is his birthday today. In Ha tells him that she has no money to buy him a gift, but he replies it’s okay, just eating dinner with him is fine.

At the restaurant, In Ha tells him that she had lost her appetite these past few weeks because she had felt sorry to Dal Po, feeling like a shackle, feeling like a sinner, and lying even though she is a reporter because of Dal Po. Now her appetite is back, as well as her bowel movements, so In Ha excuses herself to go to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, this is when Ha Myung calls her, thinking about what his brother said and looking at the button she gave back to him in his wallet. Beom Jo ends up picking up the call and tells Ha Myung he is with In Ha right now. Ha Myung confirms with Beom Jo the location of the restaurant, which is close to YGN.

Beom Jo suddenly asks Ha Myung if what he said about ending things with In Ha is still true. Ha Myung reaffirms so Beom Jo tells him to keep listening since he wanted to tell both him and In Ha this.

Beom Jo keeps Ha Myung on the line while he places In Ha’s phone face down on the table. In Ha comes back and Ha Myung can hear their conversation. Beom Jo reminds In Ha that she said the person who received her texts all those years was like a bamboo forest and diary to her. He confesses it was him who stole all those messages. Her mom left her phone at his house and that is how he came to read the messages. He became curious about her and then wanted to see her. That is why he found her and ended up all the way here.

Ha Myung has now started to run over to the restaurant, still listening on the conversation. Beom Jo says to In Ha, “I know who you like and how much you want to erase him. I will help you with that. Let’s go out.”

Beom Jo reminds her that Dal Po isn’t concerned about her anymore so she should find a solution too, and her solution is him. Ha Myung is about to rush into the restaurant, seeing the two through the window, when In Ha says to Beom Jo, “Okay, let’s date.” Except she hiccups and explains to Beom Jo that lying to herself and him is not a solution. When she apologizes to him, Beom Jo exclaims, “That is it.” He will be so good to her from now on that she will feel so sorry, she won’t be able to refuse.


Beom Jo says, “I’m different from Dal Po. You are not someone holding me back nor are you a sinner to me.” Hearing this, Dal Po drops his hand holding the phone, no longer listening.

In Ha thanks Beom Jo for thinking about her but she won’t ever do anything that will make her feel so sorry that she can’t refuse. She just wants to stay as comfortable colleagues as they are now.

In Ha offers to pay for the dinner since she ate more than him and when she leaves, Beom Jo spots Dal Po outside looking at him. They share a tense gaze with each other.

In Ha finds out at the cash register that Beom Jo has already paid so she wants to pay him back at least half but he refuses. In Ha is sorry that she wasn’t able to get him a birthday gift and Beom Jo replies that this is what he wants, for her to feel sorry.

At YGN, the copy machine is jamming up like Ha Myung’s head as he thinks about what Beom Jo said to In Ha. Yoo Rae sees Ha Myung trying to fix the copy machine and she notes that he is looking sexy doing so and takes pictures of him. He has been catching her eye a lot lately these days.

At the MSC newsroom, Cha Ok is packing up her things in a box to move desks. While moving, her box splits open and her things spill to the floor. In Ha, who has been watching her mom, comes over to help her. While picking things up, she notices an old cellphone and stealthily hides it, remembering what Beom Jo said about her mom leaving her cellphone at his house 13 years ago.

In Ha also converses with her mom, saying she was surprised her mom gave up the anchor position. Cha Ok claims it is not because of that case, but just to appease the masses for a bit. In Ha asks if then Cha Ok will be able to come back, and Cha Ok replies it is not an if but a definite that she will be be back.


In Ha asks her mom if she knows Beom Jo Mall’s president. Cha Ok says she met her a few times due to work. In Ha continues to question, asking if Cha Ok knows the president personally- didn’t she go to the president’s house and leave her phone? She heard Cha Ok left her phone there 13 years ago. Cha Ok’s answers are very vague, saying she doesn’t remember and that she may have dropped her phone there. She asks why In Ha is asking and In Ha just replies it is because it was just surprising to her. Cha Ok snaps, “It’s surprising to me that you’re still here.” Ouch.

Cha Ok gets another text message from “President,” reading, “Don’t worry. I don’t abandon people that easily.”

The next scene shows Beom Jo’s mom, Park Ro Sa, president of Beom Jo Mall, and now we all start to suspect that the “president” Cha Ok is texting is Beom Jo’s mom. Wow. Did not expect that.

Park Ro Sa gets a report that a Santa working at the mall stole something. Ro Sa worries about the children who must have been traumatized to see Santa stealing something.

Yoo Rae is in front of the police station and she sees Ha Myung walking over there too. She stares at him interest and asks him if he has plans for Christmas. He doesn’t so she tells him she will give him a big present that day and he will find out that day what it is.

Yoo Rae and Ha Myung run into Beom Jo and In Ha also arriving at the police station. In Ha and Ha Myung exchange awkward looks before Yoo Rae pulls In Ha over and away to negotiate some story exchanges.

Meanwhile, Beom Jo apologizes to Ha Myung for his cowardly act that night but he thought Ha Myung should also hear what he had to say. Still, Beom Jo says, he is not as cowardly as Ha Myung, who treated In Ha like a sinner in the name of his brother and Cha Ok, and is now unable to either hold onto her or let her go. Ha Myung assures him that he is ending things with In Ha. Beom Jo offers to help but Ha Myung angrily declines, saying that his feelings and Beom Jo’s feelings are separate. So Beom Jo should not try to shake up In Ha using him as an excuse.

Beom Jo has more to say to Ha Myung but Ha Myung has spotted a man dressed up as Santa and in handcuffs running out of the police station. So has In Ha and Yoo Rae and In Ha throws her shoe at the Santa to stop him. Santa, receiving the shoe right at his face, picks up a sign and runs menacingly toward In Ha. Thankfully, Ha Myung delivers a flying kick to Santa, stopping him from harming In Ha. Santa gets up to attack again so Ha Myung shields In Ha while Beom Jo and the police officers stop the Santa.


Seeing that the Santa is in police custody, Ha Myung cups In Ha’s face, inspecting her to see if she is okay. Beom Jo also walks over to worry over In Ha, and Yoo Rae, who has been crouching next to In Ha, looks at both curiously. In Ha is the only one who asks if Yoo Rae is okay and Yoo Rae asks Ha Myung if he didn’t see her because she is so small. Ha Myung’s only response to her bright, adoring eyes is “Why are you doing that? It’s scary.”

Ha Myung goes to pick up the In Ha’s shoes and he notices a boy crying out “Dad” while watching the Santa being dragged inside.

Chan Soo asks the other three to pretend they didn’t see this but they, as reporters, refuse. So Chan Soo ends up being interviewed by the four. The Santa is poor street vendor raising a junior-high school kid all by himself. He thought his son was an outcast at school because he wasn’t wearing the popular bag worn by all the other students. So he got a job at a mall as a Santa giving out gifts, and in that pretense, gave his son the popular bag he stole from the mall.

Beom Jo doesn’t understand why the dad just didn’t buy the bag but Chan Soo tells him and the other guys that the bag costs around 800 dollars because it is an imported luxury brand product. While it is simple theft, the Santa is likely to go to prison because it is the high time of the year for this crime.

Beom Jo feels sorry for the kid but he doesn’t think this is a news story since it is a simple theft story. Ha Myung disagrees since a kid is about to live alone because of a bag. Beom Jo argues that this is not the bag’s fault but the person who stole the bag.

Chan Soo argues that it is the bag’s fault. There were incidences of assault, ostracizing, and attempted suicide because of the bag. He also informs them that Beom Jo Mall is the only place that sells this bag.

Back at the police station reporters’ room, the four eat and discuss. Yoo Rae says she finds Beom Jo’s mom a little scary now, knowing that she is jacking up the price of a bag meant for students to two times more than its price overseas. Beom Jo takes offense at this suggestion that his mom is doing something wrong, arguing that his mom has the heart of a young girl- sweet and innocent.

Ha Myung also agrees with Yoo Rae that this is a story worth investigating and reporting. There is even a ranking system among students due to the bag. When Yoo Rae asks In Ha, In Ha has to tell the truth and says she also thinks this is a news worthy story. She’s sorry but she is going to report this back to MSC. It’s the final straw for Beom Jo and he walks out of the room angrily. In Ha follows him, worried.


Beom Jo asks In Ha if she will report back to MSC even if he asks her not to and she tells him that as he already knows, she cannot not report back. Ha Myung has also come out at this point and Beom Jo, seeing him, says to In Ha while staring at Ha Myung, “Fine, go ahead.” He wants In Ha to go ahead and report back and even do the investigating herself so she can feel really sorry towards him later. Beom Jo walks off and In Ha chases after him again.

Ha Myung says to himself that he needs to stop concerning himself about In Ha. He finds Chan Soo just as depressed and self-loathing as he is. Chan Soo has received a warning for losing the Santa like that and Chan Soo thinks he might be sent to lower- ranking patrol division. Chan Soo wants Ha Myung to buy him a drink so when Ha Myung refuses to spend time with a man on Christmas Eve (a time for couples in Korea), Chan Soo asks if Ha Myung even has a date for Christmas Eve. Nope, Ha Myung realizes, no one.

Ha Myung and Chan Soo are at a beer bar and Ha Myung is plenty drunk when Chan Soo remarks on how pathetic is for both of them to be here like this on Christmas Eve. Ha Myung replies that this is pretty good for him compared to his brother. Ha Myung says, “I’m sorry for drinking this beer, walking in the streets, and looking at someone and smiling and feeling my heart flutter.” While he is saying this, Ha Myung is stuffing his pockets with the various snacks on the table.

Chan Soo ends up having to carry Ha Myung home, home being the address he gave while drunk. This address is the home he is the most familiar with- Grandpa’s house. Grandpa and Dal Pyung are home and they ask Chan Soon why Ha Myung got so drunk. He tells them what Ha Myung said about feeling sorry to his brother and about everything else he gets to do when his brother can’t.

Ha Myung starts pulling the snacks out his pocket, giving them to Grandpa and Dal Pyung as Christmas gifts. He took the snacks he knew that each person liked, including In Ha. Grandpa hugs his son tightly while Dal Pyung looks on with a thoughtful smile on his face.


Lying in his old bed, Ha Myung wakes up. He sees In Ha who feels his head because he has been running a fever and still has one. He sees that she is wearing the button on her necklace and realizes this is dream. He stops In Ha before she can leave and says, “I can’t hold on to you now but,” he holds her hand and pulls her closer, “but don’t go to anyone else.” In Ha replies, “Okay, I won’t.” Ha Myung caresses her face gently and whispers, “I don’t want to wake up.”


But he eventually does and finds Chan Soo next to him and sees Dal Pyung come into the room. Ha Myung is completely embarrassed. He comes out of the room, ready to leave immediately, but Grandpa, Dal Pyung, and In Ha invite him and Chan Soo to stay for breakfast.

Ha Myung reluctantly takes a seat and Grandpa feels his head, relieved to feel no fever now. Dal Pyung orders In Ha to do something about Dal Po’s hair, which is sticking out and looking messy. She does so, while both she and Dal Po feel a little awkward. It’s also cute how Dal Pyung stills calls Dal Po his older brother.

Ha Myung and In Ha end up taking the elevator down together without Chan Soo, who is on the phone begging his wife for forgiveness for staying out last night. In the elevator, Ha Myung apologizes to In Ha for telling her to lie before. He shouldn’t have asked that as a reporter; he must have been crazy then.

In Ha agrees but she tells him that she has forgiven him after hearing Ha Myung’s questions for Cha Ok that day. They were the questions that she wanted to ask her mom. She was also happy and relieved that Ha Myung didn’t seem like he was holding back because of her. She can now face him more comfortably. Before Ha Myung can ask her something, the elevator door opens and Ha Myung decides not to.


At the police station, Yoo Rae is angrily pouting, alone with a big red bow tied to her head, wondering why Ha Myung hasn’t been picking up the phone. She stares at his picture, saying he is “out” now and describing him as a guy that will “get poop on his fingers while wiping his butt because of a hole forming in the toilet paper.” Eww and lololololol.

Chan Soo and Ha Myung arrive at the police station and they see the Santa’s son waiting again. Chan Soo curses the Beom Jo Mall’s president, saying that the situation wouldn’t have turned out like this if it wasn’t for her. Calling her a “badger,” Chan Soo explains she is the one who insisted the Santa be arrested when everyone else wanted to let him go, feeling sorry for him. Ha Myung is surprised, finding it hard to believe that the woman he saw before could be so heartless.

Chan Soo walks up to the kid, gives the kid his earmuffs and tells him to go home for now- he will help him meet his dad later.

Ha Myung receives a call fro Gyo Dong who wants to confirm and discuss Ha Myung’s interview and investigation with Beom Jo Mall today. He tells Ha Myung that if the mall is uncooperative even after getting permission to come and look around, they have to get aggressive.

Beom Jo stops Ha Myung and the YGN team before they enter the mall, asking Ha Myung to go easy on his mom and not take out the bad feelings Ha Myung has for him on his mom. Ha Myung asks indignantly if he seems like a person who would do that and Beom Jo replies that Ha Myung completely seems like that kind of person. Ha Myung calls Beom Jo crazy.

Inside the mall and at the luxury brand bag’s store, the YGN teams tries to film and interview the employees working there. Beom Jo is watching this, clearly upset and worried. The employees try to block the camera and won’t answer, so like Gyo Dong’s instructions, they pretend to stop filming so that the employees can be more honest with them. Beom Jo can tell YGN is still filming and recording audio secretly.

With the camera down, the employee Ha Myung is interviewing is more honest, saying it’s not their fault, but the people who buy the bag. At this point, Yoo Rae enters the store dressed as a student to be the “expert” that can get the employees to open up more.


In Ha and the MSC are on their way to the store too.

As the employee starts saying that the more expensive something is, the more people buy, Beom Jo walks over to Ha Myung and growls at him to stop. But when Ha Myung won’t, Beom Jo grabs his hand, revealing the mic that Ha Myung is holding. Beom Jo demands to know what Ha Myung is trying to find out- that his mom is ruthless and sly businessman who sucks the money out of parents and jacks up prices to market things as luxury brands. Ha Myung replies he just wants to tell the truth and that according to what he has heard so far, what Beom Jo just described seems to be the case. This makes Beom Jo even more angry.

Beom Jo and Ha Myung start getting physical, grabbing each other’s collars, pushing and shoving. The MSC teams arrives and In Ha and Joo Ho try to break the two apart. Beom Jo starts yelling at Ha Myung that he needs to stop attacking his mom when he is angry at him. Ha Myung counters that Beom Jo needs to get rid of his personal feelings and see the situation like a reporter would see it- his mom is pulling a gimmick.

In Ha tells Ha Myung to stop- he is being too harsh right now. Ha Myung turns to In Ha in disbelief the she is defending Beom Jo. In Ha argues that since he hasn’t talked to Beom Jo’s mom yet, he shouldn’t be laying down those conclusions. Ha Myung leaves, hurt.


Cha Ok texts someone and the text arrives to Beom Jo’s mom’s cellphone. She is definitely the president that Cha Ok has been contacting. Cha Ok’s latest text reads, “I will wait, believing in you.” Park Ro Sa smiles.

Before walking out of the mall completely, Ha Myung stops to look at the button inside his wallet again and confirms to himself again that In Ha wearing that button necklace was a dream. He is about to throw the button out but he can’t.

But it turns out it was not a dream. The button In Ha gave back to him was another button from the same shirt the first button came from. She kept the one he gave her originally and is still wearing it around her neck.


Beom Jo thanks In Ha for taking his side but In Ha tells him curtly that she isn’t; he shouldn’t misunderstand.

End of Episode 13

Comments

Did not expect Beom Jo’s mom to be sinisterly involved in the plot. Every episode throws something new at us, more layers of the onion being pulled back. So while I was hoping for a beautiful bromance between Beom Jo and Dal Po, it looks like that wish is going down the drain, as well as my favorable opinion of Beom Jo. I thought he would like and pursue In Ha as honestly as he could, not turning all manipulative and clingy. What kind of relationship would it be if one person is only in it because they feel sorry?

So Cha Ok’s mom is not the great evil villain in the story. There is likely a great evil above her in the form of Beom Jo’s mom and Cha Ok is just a puppet. I wondered why Cha Ok had visited Beom Jo’s house 13 years ago when it was first mentioned earlier in the drama, but it just figured it was on assignment or something work-related. Now I see how the writer hid those hints to this new development here and there, telling us that Beom Jo’s mom is the second largest stock holder of MSC.

I apologize. I’m going to cut this comment part short because it’s 7 AM here and I have been writing all night and I keep falling asleep while typing and I can’t tell anymore if what I am writing makes sense. Sorry it took so long to get this recap up. I don’t understand why it takes me longer every episode to write one. Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy holidays!

Thanks to Scattered Joonnii