Messy Melodrama
Graceful Friends returns with an episode that deepens the mystery while also providing clarity surrounding what happened to Professor Han. While many may have predicted the true killer weeks ago, the subject of Kang-San continues to be a hot topic here. It’s so hot in fact that bubbling tensions and secrets come spilling out this week in the messiest way possible. Prepare yourself for a very melodramatic episode! Episode 13 of Graceful Friends begins with Hae-Sook sorting out her bar. Suddenly, she collapses on the floor and grabs her head in pain. As she grabs her pills, she steadies herself before remembering Kyung-Ja’s words about resolving her past issues. While Goong-Cheol teaches his son to cook, Jae-Hoon is kept in for questioning at the police station. After checking his alibi with Hyung-Woo, the Detective may not be able to frame him for murder but can charge him with blackmail and the incident involving Kang-San. However, his lawyer stands firm and shrugs off the charges, telling them they don’t condone what Kang-San did. Eventually this leads to them being let go and walking away. This detective is clever though and senses that both Jae-Hoon and Goong-Cheol both love Jung-Hae. As we cut back to that night, we see Hyung-Woo mulling over what happened. Only, he remembers the ringtone very differently. Unbeknownst to him, Goong-Cheol and Jae-Hoon have the same song and he believes it was Goong-Cheol hiding in the closet. Googn-Cheol however has issues of his own. He finally sits with Jung-Hae and admits that he quit his job. As the conversation becomes heated, it eventually leads to home truths being revealed surrounding Jung-Hae’s past. Mid-conversation he leaves after receiving a call from Detective Cho; Jae-Hoon has been freed from custody. We then cut back 3 years ago to see exactly whose name was moaned during love making with Mo-Ran. It was Jung-Hae. At the same time, Kyung-Ja meets Ji-Wook and slaps him across the face. She’s not happy about him seeing Ae-Ra and threatens to kill the girl if they wind up together again. After an eventful afternoon ballroom dancing (a way to help his dementia), Choon-Bok and Hyung-Woo meet up but find Goong-Cheol walking purposefully toward Jae-Hoon. This leads to quite the nasty confrontation inside Hae-Sook’s bar. Home truths come out and Jae-Hoon admits that Jung-Hae was his. They lived together in the US but Goong-Cheol came between them. It’s here he also admits to Goong-Cheol that he was the one who hired Kang-San. Just before Goong-Cheol smacks his former friend, Hae-Sook interjects asking who killed Professor Han. At the police station, Jung-Hae speaks to Detective Cho and admits the truth about what happened in the past. The one who killed Professor Han is no longer living. That person happens to be Man-Sik. During an altercation with the Professor, he threw him against the cabinet and ran away. As the truth continues to spill out, Hyung-Woo learns that the ringtone was Jae-Hoon’s, not Goong-Cheol. However, that still doesn’t answer exactly who’s responsible for Kang-San’s death. As the duo square off, Jung-Hae arrives and tells Goong-Cheol to stop. After slapping Jae-Hoon in the face, the duo head home. There, Jung-Hae suggests they should get a divorce. In doing so, it would free up Goong-Cheol to get with Hae-Sook. Her mind is unfortunately already made up. Eventually Goong-Cheol agrees and tells her he’ll move out in a few days. Just before he goes though, he asks whether Yoo-Bin is actually his son. Her stunned silence doesn’t give anything away but it seems like she didn’t even think this could have been a possibility. Meanwhile, Kyung-Ja continues to berate Ji-Wook until Hyung-Woo heads home and sees what’s happening. Eventually he berates her and tells his Mother if she won’t accept it, he’ll leave the family. Back at the bar, Jae-Hoon and Hae-Sook discuss their arrangement. While Hae-Sook seems to have made peace with the fact Goong-Cheol and her won’t work, Jae-Hoon is not ready to give up. When he heads home, he grabs Mo-Ran round the neck and starts choking her. It turns out the red shoes she has actually are her own. The real ones are stashed away in a bag inside the hidden compartment in his office. Choon-Bok continues to struggle telling Eun-Sil the truth. When she suggests a second child, Choon-Bok feigns being asleep. At work, he checks his insurance policy while Eun-Sil sticks to the male menopause story her husband has told her and looks for solutions. Meanwhile, Hae-Sook arrives at Jung-Hae’s clinic for a check-up. It’s here she reveals she has cancer. She reveals the truth and admits how despicable she’s been lately, asking for a favour. Goong-Cheol heads in to Jung-Hae’s clinic and sits with him. He admits that he was incredibly happy with Jung-Hae. He never once doubted Jae-Hoon as the one responsible for the murder. Because of the underhanded methods he used however, there’s no saving their friendship now. If Jae-Hoon had gone to him directly, it may have been enough to try and forgive him. As the two say their goodbyes, Goong-Cheol walks away and tells him they’ll never be friends again. When he leaves, this seems to affect Jae-Hoon quite badly as he begins weeping. As we cut back to the night of Kang-San’s death, we see someone left two security cameras up in the corner of the rooms. Kang-San actually died in the living room not the bathroom. Whoever is responsible cleaned up all the blood in a black bag. A black bag that also happens to have the red shoes within that Jae-Hoon has kept in his apartment. As this figure turns around and looks at the camera, it’s not initially clear who it is but seems to be multiple figures.
The Episode Review
Although we’re led to believe Goong-Cheol is the one responsible, I think there’s more going on here. As a stab in the dark , I’d be inclined to say it’s Hyung-Woo and Choon-Bok as the ones responsible for clearing up the scene. We know it’s definitely a male but Jae-Hoon just seems too obvious. The final shots of the three figures look like Hyung-Woo on the far right, Goong-Cheol or Jae-Hoon in the middle and Choon-Bok on the left. On a different note, I’m struggling to understand why Choon-Bok hasn’t told his wife the truth. She’s so kind-hearted and I’m sure she’d understand. I know Choon-Bok is worried his wife will leave but her talk about a second child should be evidence enough that she wants to stick around. Meanwhile,. Kyung-Ja tries to sit atop her high horse but in doing so looks very foolish. Her decision to prevent Ji-Wook from dating Ae-Ra may come back to haunt her. Hopefully she sees some sense in the upcoming episodes as this relationship seems to be one of the few honest ones in the show. For now though, the episode leaves things wide open for the third act to play out. I’m, sure we’ll find out sooner rather than later quite who is responsible for killing Kang-San.
