The Resignation
As expected, the latest episodes of Beautiful Love bring us quite the explosive and dramatic moments but end with a clever and touching moment between our main couple. Both Hwa-Young and Hae-Rang seem to have met their fate as they see their world slowly crumbling while Yu-Ra is breaking down as she finally realises the gravity of her actions. We begin with Si-Wol and Hae-Rang arguing; she tells him she wants proof so he gets her to follow him. He brings her into his flat and shows her the picture, mentioning souvenirs he has of them together. She then looks at the picture and starts crying. Meanwhile Mr Kim hands his resignation in to Hwa-Young and admits that Joon-Hwi paid him off. This makes her really angry and calls him a pathetic bum and a vermin. He replies that he actually didn’t do it for the money but for a sandwich and storms out. As he takes his phone out of his pocket, we see that he was recording the conversation. Cheong-Ah decides to visit Joon-Ik and Tae-Rang to catch them up on the situation with Si-Wol and Hae-Rang. Joon-Ik is angry at his daughter again but wants to make sure she is okay with this revelation while Hae-Rang has some mean words for Si-Wol, t calling him a burden and a murderer. Tae-Rang finds his sister and demands that she packs her stuff and come with him. She tells him she’s planning to stay until Jin-Woo comes home so she can talk to him. Tae-Rang then admits that he knows everything about her and while she looks shocked, she still goes inside claiming that she will see things to the end. She’s then confronted by Hwa-Young who is not happy that she failed to put Si-Wol in prison or win Jin-Woo’s heart over. She reveals she knows what she did to Cheong-Ah, which in turn caused her grandson to kill himself. She tells her to move out as she will not accept her as a daughter in law. Joon-Hwi returns home to find his mother still awake. He relays to her what happened with Si-Wol, which shocks and worries her. He then asks that she make up her mind soon and promises to be there for her. In the Kim household they discover a lot of appliances have been delivered to them by Jin-Woo as a farewell gift. Young-Woong is upset that he has left without saying goodbye but still decides to keep the gifts. Before heading to work, Hwa-Young receives a call from her sister demanding that she come and see her. As soon as she enters the house, Yu-Ra berates her for her actions regarding Si-Wol. Hwa-Young tries to defend herself by claiming she did it to help but Yu-Ra dismisses her as she needs to take care of the situation herself. She breaks down in tears, blaming herself for her son’s suicide so her sister tells her to think of her other son and promises to leave Si-Wol alone from now on. As she enters her office, Hwa-Young sees Joon-Hwi, who tells her that she has to resign or go to the police. He also tells her that Hae-Rang is Si-Wol’s sister which prompts her to run home and throw Hae-Rang out for good. She tells her she has a lot of common with Si-Wol as she is a bully and he has a record. In the evening, Seol-Ah decides to visit Jin-Woo in his office to return his watch. She is sorry that her mum told her about Hae-Rang bullying Cheong-Ah but doesn’t want him to feel bad as he didn’t know about it when he had the affair. He asks her for one last date but she tells him that their agreed period is over but she’s grateful for loving her again and forgives him. He then asks her if she will choose him. She replies that his mother is too much and doesn’t want her to hurt her family again. Leaving the office, Seol-Ah comes across Joon-Hwi and asks him to take care of Jin-Woo. Joon-Hwi then heads inside the office to see a devastated Jin-Woo, who he offers to take home. While eating dinner, Jin-Woo explains that Seol-Ah has forgiven him but won’t choose him because of his mother. While Yu-Ra listens from the hallway, Joon-Hwi explains that parents sometimes lie and hide things to protect them. Later that day, Cheong-Ah visits Yu-Ra in her office and explains that her son went to visit Ms Park on a regular basis. Explaining what a caring person he was, even to her, she shows her pictures they took together and repeats the words he said to her on the day they met. In Intermarket, Joon-Hwi and his colleagues read an article denouncing Hwa-Young’s power abuse as Mr Kim has come forward. They wonder if it will affect Yu-Ra becoming chief of justice and what will happen at the shareholder meeting. The news reaches Jin-Woo too who gives his mother an ultimatum; she will resign or he will and move abroad, never to return. We then cut to see that the meeting has been cancelled because Hwa-Young has decided to resign. Jin-Woo takes the stand and apologies for how they have been acting. He promises that from now on, they will put their employees first. Meanwhile, Cheong-Ah is torn as today is Joon-Hwi and her father’s birthday. She decides to meet Joon-Hwi for lunch first. She arrives with a suitcase and tells him it is the same one she brought with her on her birthday. She wants him to remember that he didn’t get her any gift but dumped her on that day. She starts telling him the exact same things he did when he broke up with her. and as he apologies, she smiles and tells him to open the suitcase. Inside are gifts she wanted to give him on that day, which prompts him to drop to his knees and thank her. He then goes on tell her he really loves her. The episode ends with Yu-Ra deciding to visit the remains of Ms Park in the charnel house. She bursts into tears apologizing to Joon-Gyeom for not understanding how much he was suffering and for the choices she made for him, which in turn resulted in him ending his life. The tables have turned in this latest episode as we finally see Hwa-Young losing ground. Jin-Woo does the noble thing and after giving her an ultimatum, he manages to get her to resign. While this was quite satisfying to see, she is still causing trouble for her son as she is the main reason why Seol-Ah refuses to choose Jin-Woo. This was quite the emotional scene to see between the two and I wonder if there will be a final twist which will make her change her mind. Hae-Rang finally got what she deserved when she got thrown out of Hwa-Young’s house. Perhaps, she will start to understand how selfish and spiteful she has been but that still remains to be seen. Cheong-Ah had quite the unusual gift for Joon-Hwi as she presents him with the same words he gave her on her own birthday. This was quite the clever scene between the two who now look to be on the right track. With just 8 episodes left, Yu-Ra is the one with the biggest decision to make. So far the show has managed to keep us guessing right up until the end with plenty of twists and interesting stories which makes Beautiful Love worth watching for anyone looking for a decent, soapy Korean drama.
