[Drama 2023-2024] Elegant Empire - 우아한 제국 - Mon to Fri @ 7:50 KST

[kboramint]

On 8/13/2023 at 4:08 AM, yamiyugi said:

. Not only that did anyone notice that the male leads mother has a small scar (burn mark I think) on her hand.). You don’t show that unless there is some sort of significance.

 

Bold Prediction:

 

I think she will be responsible for the car accident that will lead to Ju-Kyung's nameless sister's death. Yes, the same car accident that we saw in episode 2. I think the drama is tricking us into thinking that Ju-Kuyng drove that car.      

 

 

[kboramint]

The English dialogue is so cringe in this drama... "Sorry, I'm looking for a more oriental-looking type." What is that even mean? Asian people aren't rugs, man.  

[backstreetboysfan]

2 hours ago, kboramint said:

 

Bold Prediction:

 

I think she will be responsible for the car accident that will lead to Ju-Kyung's nameless sister's death. Yes, the same car accident that we saw in episode 2. I think the drama is tricking us into thinking that Ju-Kuyng drove that car.      

 

 

Yeah, I could see this as well.

[backstreetboysfan]

Here is the ratings for Episode 7! .

 

Quote

2023-08-16

07

-

8.0 (3rd)

6.5 (2nd)

 

[yamiyugi]

Okay I have been sidetracked from watching the latest episode, but I did watch till the flashback scene that had started and I guess this was also the part where we finally got confirmation that she is indeed the main character pretending to be her friend/twin or whatever.

 

But before I get into my post, I do have a question for the rest of the viewers over here. I have noticed that most of you over here refer to Flamingo as the main lead which I find puzzling. Can anyone please explain the reasoning behind this. For instance, in the last drama which I sadly had to drop I was a bit confused when they were referring to the actress of Serin being the main character over there. it was the actress and not the character which made sense to me. But over here I am having a hard time seeing him as the main lead.

 

Let’s get down to why I say this. For me he has to red glaring spots on his resume. The first one being that he was a cheater. In fact, he is still one to this day if his current interactions with the female lead are to be taken. Not a good sign. The other issue that I have with him is that he is a corrupt person. For instance, he is currently funding the corrupt politician? In this case his wife his laundering money for the politician and he is totally aware of this. Not sure how anyone can root for him at this point. Is it perhaps because he has a child with the female lead, so they need to be happy by the end. If this is the case, I am still going to disagree with this assessment. A child is no guarantee that a couple are endgame.

 

A few years back there was a drama where the greedy DiL kidnapped a baby and claimed it as her own to fool her FiL. Turns out that the baby had a twin and when her son got into an accident and fell into a coma she brought in the twin as a temporary replacement. At this point the twin was happily married to the female lead and even had a child. Buy by the end she had enough of his drama and had moved on with the male lead. Not that could be helped since he supposedly died as well. But at this point and what he had done he was out of the running with her.

 

Some might try to point out that the male lead in Miss Monte Christo ended up together even after he had a child with the second lead. In that case I would point out that he was never into the second female lead even when she was actively trying to throw herself at him. He only got with her after the death of his girlfriend and even then, when he was manipulated by her actions. Also, because he felt responsible for his supposed actions towards her. We also need to remember another important thing regarding him. He apparently wasn’t greedy or ambitious even though his MiL and perhaps even Giraffe tried to convince him to be. He was loyal to disco oppa and his grandmother and was just waiting for Disco Oppa to mature so that he could finally retire.

 

But this isn’t the case over here. Flamingo seems more than glad to throw himself against any pretty woman and on top of all this he is responsible for shady actions. Things don’t look good for him at this point. So if someone still thinks that he is the male lead I would like to be convinced of this as well.

 

Someone pointed out how it was weird that almost every member of Na Entertainment shared the same house. To be fair I don’t think that is strange. Frankly if you want to think of odd them working from their office is more weird to me. But we have to go with weird drama logic if we want to enjoy the show. Let me try and explain what I mean. Apparently they are supposed not to be so well off because according to one of them they don’t even have enough money to pay of their staff which is already so small at this point, having a car that tends to breakdown more often etc… yet they have an office in a building of all places. Mind you this is the same building as their rival agency where Flamingo and company work. I am going to assume that this means that neither party is super rich and that is why they all work in the same building. But either way it is safe to assume that in such a case they would need to pay rent in the building. Are you trying to tell me that they are barely making it even and can just pay the rent. I might be willing to believe that if I try and stretch my imagination at this point.

 

Not only this, I find that Na living with them and being supposedly poor or not that well off equally strange. Look he was witnessed at a bar snapping pictures of the female lead with Flamingo and that looked like a slightly fancy place to me. That means he has the money to pay for his drinks, yet he can’t pay his employees salary or lives in the same house as them. Yes suspicious indeed.

 

In the show the second female lead informs the female lead that she didn’t steal her husband away. It was already easy to sway him because he never loved her in the first place and was forced to marry her because of his father. I feel like I should point out something in regard to this. While I don’t doubt that this may be partly true her narrative can’t be trusted. Not simply because she is the second female lead but because this is probably the story that Flamingo gave to her. As a professional cheater he probably has a bunch of tales to tell to his potential victims/conquests. A perfect example over here would be what he told the female lead. The only reason that he married so soon after his wife died was because he had a daughter to look after and that he felt that she needed a mother figure in her life etc.. He probably realized two things at this point if he wanted a shot with the female lead. She apparently has shown some interest in the girl so he decided to use that as bait and the second was that she was a supposed friend with his wife. So he had to make a good impression on her if he wanted a chance to be with her.

 

This clearly indicates that he has some idea of how to approach woman even if he doesn’t fully realize that he is being played with them.

 

My other issue with this drama is how dumb people are or perhaps the overacting that is done. For instance, take that crooked politician who Flamingo is funding. Their interaction is so fake I am surprised that neither party can tell that they are faking it all. Or perhaps the politician is so shrewd that he doesn’t care as long as he gets what he needs, in this case money. But I doubt that since he either still hasn’t realized that his wife can’t cook for him, or he simply doesn’t care because he is so madly in love with her. Take your pick.

 

The families are also terrible in more than one way. You would think that Flamingo loves his kid and even wants to spoil her crazy but even the way that he goes about it you feel bad for the daughter and those around her (staff). He forces his daughter to speak in english at mealtimes and when she doesn’t eat the food tries to order the staff to cook something that she might like. But he doesn’t even ask her what she wants. Then you have his wife and mother who are pretty much terrible at the same point. The mother never bothers to answer the DiL phones simply out of spite or trying to get even with her not caring even if it could be important. Not only that, she seems to be the least bothered by her own granddaughter at times. For instance, when the DiL requested her to pick up the granddaughter she was far more busy spending time with her friend and having a meal with another group of friends. She is still better because she atleast tries to make time with the granddaughter and read her bedtime stories.

 

Now while I definitely have more to add I will end this post here for the time being. Work has come up and also feeling slightly tired. If I get the time will watch the remaining episode and get back to all of you. Also I know that this is out of topic but who did the female leads brother end up with in the last drama. People were hoping that he could be with Serin as apparently he has more sparks with her during their interactions or did he end up with the second leads sister which many of you were against. I get it that I should probably watch the show but I just don’t have time at the moment sadly.

 

Anyway take care all of you and hope to catch you all later.

[kboramint]

On 8/16/2023 at 8:26 PM, yamiyugi said:

I have noticed that most of you over here refer to Flamingo as the main lead which I find puzzling. 

 

 

 

Let’s get down to why I say this. For me he has to red glaring spots on his resume. The first one being that he was a cheater. In fact, he is still one to this day if his current interactions with the female lead are to be taken. Not a good sign. The other issue that I have with him is that he is a corrupt person. For instance, he is currently funding the corrupt politician? In this case his wife his laundering money for the politician and he is totally aware of this. Not sure how anyone can root for him at this point. Is it perhaps because he has a child with the female lead, so they need to be happy by the end. If this is the case, I am still going to disagree with this assessment. A child is no guarantee that a couple are endgame.

 

I quite agree with this settlement. When we see cheaters that cheat on the FL in daily dramas (Heaven's Promise, Second Husband, Game of Witches) they don't end up being with the FL. Also I agree with a child doesn't guarantee that a couple are endgame. Take a look at the parents in Game of Witches. 

 

 

[LeftCoastOppa]

5 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Things don’t look good for him at this point. So if someone still thinks that he is the male lead I would like to be convinced of this as well.

 

   ... I'll give it a shot

 

 

I'll start with your Miss Montecristo example -

 

5 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Some might try to point out that the male lead in Miss Monte Christo ended up together even after he had a child with the second lead. In that case I would point out that he was never into the second female lead even when she was actively trying to throw herself at him. He only got with her after the death of his girlfriend and even then, when he was manipulated by her actions. Also, because he felt responsible for his supposed actions towards her. We also need to remember another important thing regarding him. He apparently wasn’t greedy or ambitious even though his MiL and perhaps even Giraffe tried to convince him to be. He was loyal to disco oppa and his grandmother and was just waiting for Disco Oppa to mature so that he could finally retire.

 

- Uni Oppa got raped by the Giraffe when he was in a drunken stupor mourning the loss of Eun-Jo - he believed he was with her that night, and the Giraffe took advantage of him and that mistake

 

- Like our current ML, Uni Oppa was also accused of betrayal by the FL ... at first.

 

- Uni Oppa wasn't into the Giraffe thats true, and our ML has stated plainly he married the 2FL even though he didn't love her and it was for his daughter - could he be lying? -Yes. Could he be telling the truth? -Yes.  We've been shown nothing definitive either way ... (yet.)  There may still be a Miss Montecristo type explanation in our future

 

- Uni Oppa wasn't ambitious, true. The fact that the ML is ambitious isn't a default strike against him.

 

 

5 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Let’s get down to why I say this. For me he has to red glaring spots on his resume. The first one being that he was a cheater. In fact, he is still one to this day if his current interactions with the female lead are to be taken. Not a good sign.

 

A cheater?  And you know this how?  I'll admit the picture being painted doesn't cast him in a great light, but neither does it condemn him. 

 

- The Eun-Ha suicide - we have no proof other than 1 persons accusation that he was the father which he vehemently denies - Further, I'd offer his face off in the hall with PF Oppa was done completely without witnesses until Dad showed up after the fact - Clearly both the ML and PF knew Eun-Ha was pregnant beforehand - Why is this important? If he was truly guilty of impregnating her, and he already knew PF Oppa knew, why didn't we see any sort of attempt to cut a deal? As well off as the ML obviously is and was then, he certainly could've tried to buy PF Oppa's silence - he didn't.

 

Lastly on this point - if he was in fact the father, he may be of low character, but he still isn't a "cheater" as he was still single at the time.

 

- The FL in prison - All we know here for certain is that he divorced his wife when she went in.  As above, he says he didn't love her - 2FL, and did it for his daughter.  We haven't seen anything (yet) that proves he was cheating BEFORE the divorce.  If we're shown in some future episode that the ML & 2FL were indeed having an affair before the divorce, then I'll help you label the man a cheater ... but what happens if its proven the 2FL had a hand in sending the FL to prison in the first place?

 

- "...if his current interactions with the female lead are to be taken..."  and which actions are you referring to?

 

- The FL approached him in the elevator and garage, he didn't approach her.

 

- She left the earring in the car, he didn't take it off her

 

- She stormed into his office pretending not to know him

 

- She approached him in the cafeteria and started the shirt incident

 

- She started unbuttoning his shirt in his office, and he forcefully stopped her

 

- The bar scene with the wife call, he apologized to her, took her home tucked her in and left ... the kiss was the 2FL's imagination

 

- The karaoke bar scene, was he giddily fawning over the FL? No, he was sadly remembering his wife singing in the past

 

- The rooftop "let me give you the world" was him scouting her, as she's proven herself a worthy business adversary by nearly stealing the MakeUp actress gig from his company.

 

About the only thing one might pin on him, was inviting her over to his house - very bad choice ... but seriously come on, do you think it was his plan all along to call her over - with his sick daughter there - to try and seduce her?  She came out and asked for a zip up.  His spider fascination is problematic but he was clearly responding to the web she's spinning, that whole situation wasn't his plan. 

 

 

6 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Flamingo seems more than glad to throw himself against any pretty woman

 

6 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

As a professional cheater

 

 

 

Other than the FL & 2FL what other pretty woman has he thrown himself against?

 

 

6 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

The other issue that I have with him is that he is a corrupt person. For instance, he is currently funding the corrupt politician? In this case his wife his laundering money for the politician and he is totally aware of this. Not sure how anyone can root for him at this point.

 

How is he totally aware of the wife's money laundering?  She has talked about it with the Assemblyman, he never has.

 

He is constantly talking about the dream of the VK project plastered on his office wall - sure he's playing up to the Assembly man, but so far all we've seen is the 2FL's corruption - Further, the ML clearly isn't on the same page as her, as he knows she's been searching his office behind her back.  He's got a safe in the floor with gold, so I won't rule out the possibility of his corruption but we haven't seen anything yet to confirm that.

 

 

 

My take on it all -

 

- I think the ML is dealing with some sort of trauma not related to the FL & 2FL - as poorly acted as the attempted rooftop suicide was, I still think there was alot more going on than being forced to marry - its not like he was already in love with someone else and had to leave them.  Father/Control issues maybe?

 

- At this point in the drama, while he has certainly put/allowed himself in some compromising positions, I don't think he cheated on the FL - Yes, he divorced her in prison, sleazy move to be sure, but I have seen nothing thus far that makes me believe he was lying when he told the FL he did it for his daughter, and didn't love the 2FL. 

 

- Just as Uni Oppa was initially condemned by the FL as a cheater, his dedication to her led her to the reality of the situation.  I think the ML is on a similar arc.  Similarly, just as Uni Oppa's wife - the Giraffe - was proven to be the mastermind in the FL initial demise, I'll also speculate that our current 2FL is equally guilty ... I just can't prove it.

 

... yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maribella]

JGY is the ML imho. He may be sidelined later on by the SML or another character but there is no story without him now. We can see the SFL and SML being added into the story. 
 

I think he is a nasty piece, though the writer might try to give a twist like in WIAV which turned evil SFL ( same as in MIAV) into a victim 3/4 into the show.

 

JK was the perfect DIL until her 'death' which we will see later - which episode ?

As usual she went to the US. Who helped her? Did someone retrieve her from the accident or  was she hospitalised under her sister's name - who died.  But the sister did not look anything like her. 
But why not? A lot of things are a mystery in kdrama.  The Ruby ring was my first ' How on earth is that possible?' 

[LeftCoastOppa]

24 minutes ago, maribella said:

As usual she went to the US. Who helped her? Did someone retrieve her from the accident or  was she hospitalised under her sister's name - who died.  But the sister did not look anything like her. 

 

You're mixing two different characters -

 

Her "twin" was a Japanese exchange student she met in high school

 

Her "sister" from the orphanage seen in todays episode is not the same person

[partyon]

On 8/16/2023 at 11:11 AM, LeftCoastOppa said:

I know its difficult @maribella, but you could've just said I was right too   

 

21 hours ago, maribella said:

I did, you are embedded in 'many'.  

 

 

On 8/16/2023 at 4:06 AM, kboramint said:

Okay, everything makes sense.

 

Finally someone says this drama makes sense!

[yamiyugi]

Like I said that I still haven’t completed the last episode that I was watching so I can’t fully comment on your side of the argument. Perhaps I should fully watch an episode before commenting. But still thanks for your attempt at explanation. I can see that there are points that I haven’t fully considered.

 

Anyway, I feel like I should still try and respond to those comments.

 

It was pointed out that we shouldn’t take the second female leads words for granted that the females lead husband didn’t love her and that it was easy for her to take him after his so called divorce. Or the fact that perhaps the husband actually did mean that he got remarried for his daughters sake.

 

Now I totally agree with the first part of your statement. Anything the second female lead is to be certainly taken with a grain of salt at this point. After all she certainly has to justify her actions to others of how she didn’t steal a married man if she doesn’t want to be seen in a negative light. But like I pointed out the husband could have actually said those words to her. Again, assuming that he is the cheating type. So, until proven otherwise I guess we will actually have to wait and see who is actually correct. Like I said if he wants to be with another female, he might just tell them exactly what they want to hear. So lets see what the actual truth is.

 

You also brought up the fact that it wasn’t him doing anything wrong and that the female lead was throwing herself against him and luring him in her web of deception, how she was the one unbuttoning his shirt when he stopped her and how she lured him in with his fascination of her spider tattoo when she asked him to zip her up.

 

Okay I will certainly agree with you over here again that it is certainly the female lead luring him into her trap to cause friction between him and his current wife. But let’s admit his actions aren’t helping him as well. Sure, she bumped into him in the basement but she made sure to leave an impression on him that he was thinking about her even when he was with his wife. Awkward in my book. You brought up the matter of his trying to scout her with the promise of delivering the world to her. Perhaps it was indeed an innocent way about it or there could be more. But then let’s follow it up with the part when she decided to inform him of her decision. He insists that she come over to his place which you also agree was a terrible choice on his part. He could have simply insisted that she inform him over the phone. After all, how simple can it be to either hear yes or a no.

 

Now you can certainly try and argue that since he personally tried to scout her, he would have perhaps wanted to try and convince her if she had declined. But even here he shouldn’t have invited her to his place. One can perhaps argue that he was actually concerned about his daughter’s condition as she was feeling unwell and that is the reason, he invited her to his place since he didn’t want to leave the daughter alone. Well, if he was so worried about her then he should have postponed the meeting. A few hours wasn’t going to change anything. The other issue that I have is that if he was going to be aboveboard in the entire meeting, he really shouldn’t have let the hired help leave. If anything, she could have easily vouched that nothing happened between the two (Flamingo and Female Lead). This action further fueled the misunderstanding between him and his wife. Shouldn’t his goal be to prevent any of this. If the hired help was on a time based hire and her time was about to be over he should have agreed to pay her overtime like I said to avoid any kind of misunderstandings.

 

Also while I may have missed the part why she had to change into his wife’s outfit he could have perhaps done it better. Instead of letting her choose any outfit he should have picked up one for her. Not that the end result would have been totally different. His wife would have probably still flared up to discover another woman wore her clothes, but she might not have found him in another compromising position.

 

Moving on to the part that you mentioned how the female lead spoilt his shirt on purpose and then brought him another one. Then she tried to unbutton him when she was caught by his wife. I believe I already mentioned that she certainly did that on purpose. Not only that if you think about the part when she cut across the wife while parking was done deliberately. She not only wanted the wife to notice her, I further suspect that she timed the entire interaction as well. Granted it could have been pure chance but knowing dramas that might not be the case. Now comes the part when she tried to unbutton him, and he stops her from going further by asking if she was trying to seduce him. Here is the deal any normal person would have stopped another person from entering their personal space. A desk certainly constitutes that. The moment she passed that spot he should have firmly let her know that and told her to move back a few paces and discuss whatever she wanted. If it was a shirt simply either accept it or tell her otherwise.

 

The most that he did was ask whether she was trying to seduce him. Was her answer going to make him change his dealings towards her. Perhaps because the one thing that we have seen him from the last episode was that he was a warry man and didn’t even trust the people at his own home. That says a bit about him. He is probably worried about someone stealing his wealth for some reason. Perhaps his father was approached by a gold digger or something along those lines.

 

The part where he deals with the assemblyman and how his wife launders his money. Okay I may be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt after reading your comment. Mind you to a small extent. She did inform him that she had to pay the assemblyman slightly more than they had agreed. So yes she may have only mentioned the money laundering part to only the assemblyman and this could indicate that the husband is totally unaware of this fact. But this makes me wonder just how does he expect his wife to fund him. Does he think that she genuinely makes more money than him that she can afford to give out people X amount of money. If that is the case then I would say that he is indeed innocent but not the smartest person in the world. Not to be surprised.

 

There was also the point that the second female lead perhaps framed the female lead that ended up in her landing in prison. In this I have no doubt. Now whether the husband was complicit remains to be seen. But this being the second female leads works wouldn’t surprise me. She was someone that was a thorn in her plans so the wife had to be certainly removed. Thus framing her for a crime doesn’t seem far off. Her then convincing the husband that he had to divorce her because otherwise the company would be affected also wouldn’t surprise me at this point. We need to see just how willing the husband was and his involvement. This will probably make or break him being the male lead.

 

On a side note, did anyone note how the female leads supposed father from Japan shows up and then disowns her. Again, a brilliant strategy on her part. If she isn’t who she claims to be she needs to shut down others trying to ask her to ask her father for help in the form of investments and whatnot. Him publicly showing up at her work makes this possible than let’s say him telling her in private or on the phone. They feel sorry for her and also accept her more willingly. She can also monitor them more easily.

 

Anyway, I have work to get back to. As soon as that is done hopefully, I can watch the remaining episodes and comment properly. I guess I do need a bit more convincing that the husband isn’t a terrible person and that he qualifies as being the male lead. But your thoughts have certainly made me be willing to reconsider my stance on him. Now we just need to see who is correct. Like I said earlier I love to be proven wrong.

[maribella]

4 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

 

You're mixing two different characters -

 

Her "twin" was a Japanese exchange student she met in high school

 

Her "sister" from the orphanage seen in todays episode is not the same person

Ok, she looks like JK. Not the orphanage sister. But why pretend to be her? After all the WJ people did not know her, I thought. Still confused.  Never mind @LeftCoastOppa thank you all the same.

 

2 hours ago, partyon said:

On 8/16/2023 at 9:06 AM, kboramint said:

Okay, everything makes sense.

 

Finally someone says this drama makes sense!

Definitely not me. 

[kboramint]

1 hour ago, maribella said:

Ok, she looks like JK. Not the orphanage sister. But why pretend to be her? After all the WJ people did not know her, I thought. Still confused.

 

This is just a theory that might end up coming true. The sister from the orphanage is the actual person that has died in the car accident (We're made to believe Ju-Kyung was the driver but she wasn't. It was her sister.) Throughout Episodes 1-6, Seo Hee-Jae would talk about Shin Joo-Kyung. She's not talking about Joo-Kyung. She's talking about Ye-Kyung (That's the sister's name) The girl that Joo-Kyung was hanging out with in high school and took a photo of? That is not the Japanese exchange student HeeJae. That's Ye-Kyung.

 

The ashes in the urn that suppose to belong to Ju-Kyung? That's Ye-Kyung. In Episode 6, when Hee-Jae was claiming that she will find out the mystery of Ju-Kyung's death. That is right, she's talking about Ye-Kyung. 

 

The Japanese exchange student is probably made up for all we know.       

[kboramint]

They set up the plotline that could foreshadow Ju-Kyung getting framed for killing Ki-Yoon's father for insurance money. (Similar plotline from "It's Meant To Be") I won't be surprised that Ki-Yoon will think she commited the crime, especailly how he is behaving in Episode 8. He already thinks she bought life insurance and called her disgusting.      

 

Someone bought a lot of life insurance and made Ju-Kyung the benifector. 

[LeftCoastOppa]

2 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Now I totally agree with the first part of your statement. Anything the second female lead is to be certainly taken with a grain of salt at this point. After all she certainly has to justify her actions to others of how she didn’t steal a married man if she doesn’t want to be seen in a negative light. But like I pointed out the husband could have actually said those words to her. Again, assuming that he is the cheating type. So, until proven otherwise I guess we will actually have to wait and see who is actually correct. Like I said if he wants to be with another female, he might just tell them exactly what they want to hear. So lets see what the actual truth is.

 

True, if he just wanted to be with another woman he could've said that. However, thus far all I've seen is the ML seeing his ex-wife in the FL and missing her - As you say, we'll see.

 

 

2 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

You also brought up the fact that it wasn’t him doing anything wrong and that the female lead was throwing herself against him and luring him in her web of deception, how she was the one unbuttoning his shirt when he stopped her and how she lured him in with his fascination of her spider tattoo when she asked him to zip her up.

 

Okay I will certainly agree with you over here again that it is certainly the female lead luring him into her trap to cause friction between him and his current wife. But let’s admit his actions aren’t helping him as well. Sure, she bumped into him in the basement but she made sure to leave an impression on him that he was thinking about her even when he was with his wife. Awkward in my book.

 

Not Awkward in my book.  So far as we've been shown via flashback, the ML is missing his ex.  When he first encounters the FL in the elevator, he isn't ogling her looking for some new conquest, he looks at her and sees his wifes profile, and even calls out her name.  

 

If he truly loved his ex, then his remembering her ... yes even while with the 2FL isn't a strike in my book.  And just to be clear, it is ONLY because its his ex in memory, if it were some random woman in passing, I'd agree with you.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

You brought up the matter of his trying to scout her with the promise of delivering the world to her. Perhaps it was indeed an innocent way about it or there could be more. But then let’s follow it up with the part when she decided to inform him of her decision. He insists that she come over to his place which you also agree was a terrible choice on his part. He could have simply insisted that she inform him over the phone. After all, how simple can it be to either hear yes or a no.

 

First, it is indeed innocent - Did either one correct the other?  "... I'm not talking about a job, I want to get to know you better ..." ?  No - both approached the conversation as a job offering, and as there was no witnesses to the conversation, I don't see either one needing to be deceptive if either ones intentions were otherwise.

 

Second, the ML didn't set the situation up - He was home in the bathtub, the FL called him first.  Since the FL didn't deny his statement that the FL had expressed an interest in meeting the daughter, there is no reason to believe the ML had some sort of nefarious intent.

 

As I said before, Yes a bad choice optics wise, but the situation clearly wasn't approached with cheating in mind

 

 

 

2 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Now you can certainly try and argue that since he personally tried to scout her, he would have perhaps wanted to try and convince her if she had declined. But even here he shouldn’t have invited her to his place. One can perhaps argue that he was actually concerned about his daughter’s condition as she was feeling unwell and that is the reason, he invited her to his place since he didn’t want to leave the daughter alone. Well, if he was so worried about her then he should have postponed the meeting. A few hours wasn’t going to change anything. The other issue that I have is that if he was going to be aboveboard in the entire meeting, he really shouldn’t have let the hired help leave. If anything, she could have easily vouched that nothing happened between the two (Flamingo and Female Lead). This action further fueled the misunderstanding between him and his wife. Shouldn’t his goal be to prevent any of this. If the hired help was on a time based hire and her time was about to be over he should have agreed to pay her overtime like I said to avoid any kind of misunderstandings.

 

As before, the FL expressed an interest in meeting the daughter, and he was interested in recruiting her - Letting the help go was (my perspective) a calculated risk.  The 2FL had already warned him about being with the FL, so the ML simply could've been trying to avoid that mess of a situation while still getting a chance to convince the FL to join his company.

 

 

2 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Also while I may have missed the part why she had to change into his wife’s outfit he could have perhaps done it better. Instead of letting her choose any outfit he should have picked up one for her. Not that the end result would have been totally different. His wife would have probably still flared up to discover another woman wore her clothes, but she might not have found him in another compromising position.

 

When the FL was getting up to leave, she bumped the table and spilled a drink on herself - a bit of good luck for the FL on the revenge line - there were too many moving pieces to bring that scene to its conclusion for it to have been pre-planned.

 

 

3 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Moving on to the part that you mentioned how the female lead spoilt his shirt on purpose and then brought him another one. Then she tried to unbutton him when she was caught by his wife. I believe I already mentioned that she certainly did that on purpose. Not only that if you think about the part when she cut across the wife while parking was done deliberately. She not only wanted the wife to notice her, I further suspect that she timed the entire interaction as well. Granted it could have been pure chance but knowing dramas that might not be the case. Now comes the part when she tried to unbutton him, and he stops her from going further by asking if she was trying to seduce him. Here is the deal any normal person would have stopped another person from entering their personal space. A desk certainly constitutes that. The moment she passed that spot he should have firmly let her know that and told her to move back a few paces and discuss whatever she wanted. If it was a shirt simply either accept it or tell her otherwise.

 

The most that he did was ask whether she was trying to seduce him. Was her answer going to make him change his dealings towards her. Perhaps because the one thing that we have seen him from the last episode was that he was a warry man and didn’t even trust the people at his own home. That says a bit about him. He is probably worried about someone stealing his wealth for some reason. Perhaps his father was approached by a gold digger or something along those lines.

 

" ...Here is the deal any normal person would have stopped another person from entering their personal space... " 

 

The only problem here is that the situation isn't normal - this isn't some random woman hitting on him, its the doppleganger of his dead ex-wife that he is clearly still missing. 

 

" ...The most that he did was ask whether she was trying to seduce him... "

 

That statement is s serious downplay of the situation - he didn't gently take her hand away, and warmly ask if she trying to seduce him, the man in that moment was clearly on edge. 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

The part where he deals with the assemblyman and how his wife launders his money. Okay I may be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt after reading your comment. Mind you to a small extent. She did inform him that she had to pay the assemblyman slightly more than they had agreed. So yes she may have only mentioned the money laundering part to only the assemblyman and this could indicate that the husband is totally unaware of this fact. But this makes me wonder just how does he expect his wife to fund him. Does he think that she genuinely makes more money than him that she can afford to give out people X amount of money. If that is the case then I would say that he is indeed innocent but not the smartest person in the world. Not to be surprised.

 

" ...Does he think that she genuinely makes more money than him that she can afford to give out people X amount of money... "

 

The 2FL has her own wealth - She was introduced in a flashback as a billionaire heiress with extensive connections

 

 

3 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

There was also the point that the second female lead perhaps framed the female lead that ended up in her landing in prison. In this I have no doubt. Now whether the husband was complicit remains to be seen. But this being the second female leads works wouldn’t surprise me. She was someone that was a thorn in her plans so the wife had to be certainly removed. Thus framing her for a crime doesn’t seem far off. Her then convincing the husband that he had to divorce her because otherwise the company would be affected also wouldn’t surprise me at this point. We need to see just how willing the husband was and his involvement. This will probably make or break him being the male lead.

 

Indeed, did he walk willingly into this with eye wide open or was he duped by the 2FL?  We'll see.

 

 

3 hours ago, yamiyugi said:

Anyway, I have work to get back to. As soon as that is done hopefully, I can watch the remaining episodes and comment properly. I guess I do need a bit more convincing that the husband isn’t a terrible person and that he qualifies as being the male lead. But your thoughts have certainly made me be willing to reconsider my stance on him. Now we just need to see who is correct. Like I said earlier I love to be proven wrong.

 

 

With 90+ episodes remaining, I'm sure the ML will show us his true colors, be they bright or shady

 

 

 

1 hour ago, maribella said:

Ok, she looks like JK. Not the orphanage sister. But why pretend to be her? After all the WJ people did not know her, I thought. Still confused.  Never mind @LeftCoastOppa thank you all the same.

 

You answered your own question - Because she doesn't look like the orphanage sister, she can't pretend to be her.  The ML and the WJ/NA people have all seen and worked with the sister previously as seen in the flashback - Additionally, she wants the recognition/shock value of her looks to help drive her revenge hence she takes on the identity of her twin.

 

[kboramint]

48 minutes ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

However, thus far all I've seen is the ML seeing his ex-wife in the FL and missing her - As you say, we'll see.

 

I think the ML will be the first to find out that the FL is really his wife. They might drag it til' Episode 50-60 though. 

 

But based on other daily dramas, it might be the SML that first finds out. This is when the SML start liking the FL more. 

[kboramint]

There was a claim that they won't air Aug. 18's episode due to the World Scout Jamboree K-POP SUPERLIVE but there is no evidence such an event is happening on that day. Also, the Jamboree ended on Aug. 12. I guess we'll see if an episode airs tomorrow.    

[backstreetboysfan]

Here is the ratings for Episode 8! .

 

Quote

2023-08-17

08

-

7.9 (2nd)

6.8 (2nd)

 

[maribella]

6 hours ago, kboramint said:

 

This is just a theory that might end up coming true. The sister from the orphanage is the actual person that has died in the car accident (We're made to believe Ju-Kyung was the driver but she wasn't. It was her sister.) Throughout Episodes 1-6, Seo Hee-Jae would talk about Shin Joo-Kyung. She's not talking about Joo-Kyung. She's talking about Ye-Kyung (That's the sister's name) The girl that Joo-Kyung was hanging out with in high school and took a photo of? That is not the Japanese exchange student HeeJae. That's Ye-Kyung.

 

The ashes in the urn that suppose to belong to Ju-Kyung? That's Ye-Kyung. In Episode 6, when Hee-Jae was claiming that she will find out the mystery of Ju-Kyung's death. That is right, she's talking about Ye-Kyung. 

 

The Japanese exchange student is probably made up for all we know.       

We'll find out later how she ends up speaking Japanese and pretending to be a Japanese, how she was extricated from the wreck ... 

 

I agree @kboramint. She is taking another persona to hide her real identity.   But the Japanese twin may or may not exist. If true, then there should be a Japanese woman walking around somewhere looking like her.  I doubt it. Has anyone seen the exchange student earlier? 
 

But if Ye Kyung is dead, why isn't anyone asking for her?
 

@LeftCoastOppa 

5 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

You answered your own question - Because she doesn't look like the orphanage sister, she can't pretend to be her.  The ML and the WJ/NA people have all seen and worked with the sister previously as seen in the flashback - Additionally, she wants the recognition/shock value of her looks to help drive her revenge hence she takes on the identity of her twin.

I like @kboramint's theory better. Fewer holes. 
 

The guy is missing his wife? He was either being abusive or standoffish with her while alive but he misses her when she's dead. No, don't think so. He obviously cheated on her with the billionaire SFL and now he wants another easy woman whom he thinks is a rich Japanese. 

[backstreetboysfan]

I think the first one to find out her identity will be the ML(JKY) or JWH.