The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry Episode 16

The foreign correspondent position isn’t Shin-young’s yet — she is in contention with two others — but she decides she wants to go for it. In the morning, Shin-young emerges from her bedroom, still feeling a little groggy from her night out, and sees a spread prepared on the table, with festive balloons decorating the place. Bu-ki must have arranged this, and she digs in.Da-jung attempts to work through her sister-in-law’s jabbering, and is listening to something on headphones and therefore doesn’t react.Bitch-in-law wants Da-jung to make coffee for her remodeling crew, so Da-jung directs her to make it herself. She’s actually quite civil about it by Western standards — she says there’s plenty of instant powder and also an espresso machine, so help herself — but as the Korean wife addressing the almighty husband’s family, anything less than utter servility is seen as uppity disrespect. So when she turns back to her work, Bitchyface yanks off her headphones again and expresses her incredulity at Da-jung’s ‘tude.However, this exchange also yields a revelation for Da-jung, when Bitchycakes makes a comment about Da-jung’s two-facedness; why is she being so snooty now after she’d helped with the deposit on the upstairs apartment? Ban-seok had told her that it was Da-jung’s idea to use their own apartment as security against the upstairs place.Da-jung understands that this apartment is Ban-seok’s, but he should still have consulted with her. He was doing it to make her look good in his family’s eyes. Da-jung suggests that they move apartments, then — can’t she live as his wife, without being tied to his family? No wife likes the idea of spending every weekend with her husband’s parents, or having her sister-in-law barge in constantly without warning.Shin-young joins them wanting a pick-me-up after being transferred to the international news department. She notes Da-jung’s case of tonic, which was given to her by Ban-seok and is supposed to help you get pregnant. Da-jung plans to throw one drink away daily, on the sly.Shin-young thanks Bu-ki for the morning spread, but gets a blank response. Bu-ki wasn’t responsible for the breakfast this morning, nor the one the previous day.

This can only mean one thing, and when she comes home, she finds Min-jae in the middle of preparing another meal for her. He has been coming by to make her food while she’s out. Shin-young asks why he’s doing this. He says that his feelings for her aren’t going away, and doesn’t understand her decision — do they have to break everything off cleanly before she leaves?

She reiterates her stance, saying that she wants to focus on her work and doesn’t want to worry about him. Min-jae feels that means she doesn’t trust him, or work is more important to her. Shin-young says that when she sees him, all she can think is how young and passionate he is. He replies, “That’s a matter of passion, not age,” and “Being 24 doesn’t mean I just love anyone.” On another tutoring/babysitting afternoon, Da-jung juggles studying with playing hostess. Infuriatingly, Ban-seok and Bitch-in-law laugh and sit back while Da-jung serves them.Ban-seok comes upon Da-jung while she’s dumping out her tonic in the kitchen sink, and asks what she’s doing. What does this mean? She briefly tries to lie, then honestly tells him that she doesn’t want to take the tonic. She’s not confident she can live the way he wants to live, and while she loves him, she doesn’t want to constantly be with his family. Stunned, he asks if this means she doesn’t want kids at all. Da-jung replies that she wants to spend some time apart, and heads back to Shin-young’s apartment. To her credit, Da-jung understands that Ban-seok is not a bad husband — he doesn’t hit her, or gamble, or cheat.Still, she’s not happy, and asks, “But why does it feel like I’ve run into a wall?” She advises Shin-young again not to marry.Shin-young tells her friends that she was chosen to be the special foreign correspondent, and will be sent abroad by the end of the month. Rather than being thrilled with the opportunity, she’s apprehensive and feels that this is happening so quickly.

Her friends congratulate her, laughing at her comment that she’ll be 37 when she returns. Bu-ki reminds her that she’ll turn 37 if she stays, too.Min-jae hears about Shin-young’s assignment from his co-workers. He had suggested a beach outing with Shin-young for Saturday, and even though she hadn’t responded either way, he sends her a reminder text to meet him on Saturday. However, when the day comes, she doesn’t come out. She’s busy at work all day, and Min-jae ends up waiting in his car all afternoon. It isn’t until nighttime that he finally decides to leave.Da-jung starts feeling nauseous, which in drama-land can only mean one thing, and true enough the plastic stick confirms her worries. She sighs, “Other people are ecstatic when they’re pregnant.”

Ban-seok ain’t doing so well with the separation, either, and has taken to moping at home. Glumly, he mumbles, “No matter how I think about it, Da-jung doesn’t love me.”Sang-woo shows up to the studio to shoot some photographs of Sang-mi dancing. Yeah, not creepy AT ALL, dude. When Sang-mi notices his presence, she asks (a bit angrily) for him to erase them, but he doesn’t want to. Not giving in to her cool brush-offs, Sang-woo asks Sang-mi to teach him to dance. He also tells her of an upcoming flight that’ll take him to Paris, which he wants to bring her along on.Ban-seok’s sister bursts in, appalled at the state of his living quarters, and starts to nag him. Feeling miserable with his marriage in trouble, his sister’s brashness only aggravates his bad mood, and he (finally!) tells her not to barge in anymore. He also tells her he’s going to change his passcode, putting her in her place in a way that he can as older brother, but that Da-jung couldn’t.Spurred by this outburst, Ban-seok heads to Shin-young’s apartment to confront Da-jung. In an emotional plea, he tells her that he’s fine letting her have her way, or even if she loves herself more than she loves him — none of that matters when he loves her. Da-jung keeps her back to him, feeling conflicted, and tells him not to say that — she’s selfish and self-absorbed and not good for him.

He vows he can’t live without her, declaring, “This must be love — my mind has changed, and my thoughts have completely changed.” And really, that’s all it takes. With his tearful words, Da-jung turns to face him, and tells him that she’s pregnant. Ban-seok’s reaction is so filled with joy that it’s enough to bring a tear to your eye. Despite her intention to focus on her work, Shin-young finds her mind wandering, and decides that she’ll probably have to see Min-jae one last time before she leaves. I believe this is more for mental closure than to actually say anything specific, because when they run into each other at the office, they mostly exchange pleasantries.

Min-jae wishes her well, and for the first time calls her “noona.” As they separate, her voiceover says:

Shin-young’s narration: “Yes, Min-jae, play guitar and work hard on your music. Despite the very fact that you loved me, you’re 24 and in your youth. Go with your heart, and if love comes, love. Live passionately today, like there’s no tomorrow. Thank you for appearing to me this past winter. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making me see myself again. The feeling of fluttering excitement, like spring has come — that’s a gift you gave me. During the time we were together, I loved you more than anything in the world.” They go on with their daily lives as Shin-young prepares for her departure, but it can safely be said that Min-jae takes this separation especially hard. As he rides his motorcycle, he’s overcome with his emotions and doesn’t react as quickly as he ought, swerving in time to miss hitting a truck. However, another oncoming car honks at him, and as he speeds to avoid a crash, he loses control and falls from his bike. At the airport, Bu-ki and Da-jung see Shin-young off, and she finds herself looking around inadvertently, hoping for Min-jae to come. She sends a few last texts while waiting for the plane to take off, and receives one from her old teammate telling her that Min-jae has been in a serious motorcycle accident.

Torn, she vacillates momentary, then grabs her bag and pleads with the plane staff to let her off.Min-jae’s injuries, thankfully, are nowhere as serious. He lies asleep in bed as Shin-young sits by him.Sang-mi walks into the room and smiles to see Shin-young there. She leaves to allow her some privacy.

Shin-young doesn’t wake Min-jae, and merely sits for a while at his bedside. Finally, as she stands to leave, she thinks, “Thank you. Be well.” She goes on to Finland, the reports of which Min-jae watches on television back home. He hasn’t been in touch with her, so when Sang-mi visits him and asks how Shin-young is doing, he says she’s probably well. Sang-mi thought they’d still be in contact after what she saw at the hospital — which is news to Min-jae. He hadn’t known she visited him.Just as Min-jae watches Shin-young’s broadcasts, she watches the latest interview with him online. He’s revving up activities for a new release, which bears the title “Waiting For you.” Asked to explain the meaning, Min-jae says, “I think everyone lives waiting for someone.” He hopes that “the person I miss and love the most” will come to the upcoming concert.Sang-mi comes to the studio and finds photos of her stuck to the mirror, which are the shots that Sang-woo had snapped the other day. He asks, “Do you like it?” Sang-woo’s trip to Paris is coming up soon, and he still wants to take her. He reminds her of all the places she’d wanted to see — Sartre’s cafe, the graffiti at Notre Dame. Sang-mi asks why he’s making things so hard on her. He asks, “Why is this hard on you? Doesn’t that mean you still love me?”

She tells him not to expect her to come, but he promises to wait, and leaves her with the ticket. Min-jae performs at what has got to be the calmest rock show ever. Seriously, I’ve been to classical music concerts with more excitement. As he plays, he thinks he sees Shin-young in the crowd, but his eyes are playing tricks on him, and it’s just a random girl.

He introduces his last song, “The Woman Who Cut My Guitar String,” and says he’d like to go back to the time when he’d written it.As he plays the song, this time we see the real Shin-young walk in and observe his performance. It’s actually quite emotional for her, and she stays just for the duration of the song, walking away as it winds down. Min-jae doesn’t see her, though she gives one last backward glance before leaving.Sang-mi decides to go to Paris after all, and boards the flight. I’ve gotta say, Sang-woo knows how to do his romantic gestures right, giving her a cushy first-class experience. The attendant returns to Sang-mi with a note that reads: “Even if you want to see me, please wait 11 hours and 50 minutes. I love you.”Shin-young is only back in Korea for a brief while and it’s a working trip for her, so she still has one last deadline to meet before leaving again. She takes a quick break at the UBN studios to meet with her former teammates, and when she gets back to her computer, her laptop screen is dark and it won’t turn on. The cord has been cut. She borrows a cord and plugs it into the computer, and when the screen flashes back on, written in big bold letters is the message: “YOU’RE STILL THE WOMAN I LOVE!”That’s enough to break past her resistance, and Shin-young runs out fighting tears. She heads to their hallway, which is empty, but finds an mp3 player on the windowsill. When she listens, “The Woman Who Cut My Guitar String” is playing on it.Min-jae comes up behind her and greets her with a smile. He asks, “Why did you just leave that day?” referring to his concert. She asks, “You saw me?” He answers, “I felt that you were there. I missed you.”And they hug.Da-jung gives birth, with Ban-seok at her side. Bu-ki, meanwhile, is still single and fabulous, and still deflecting Myung-seok’s pathetic bids for her attention.Following their (presumably blissful) Paris trip, Sang-mi and Sang-woo are back on, and cuter than they’ve ever been. Sang-mi teaches Sang-woo how to dance — or maybe it’s Sang-woo teaching Sang-mi his own brand of dance. It’s endearing because they’re just goofing around, enjoying being together, having fun being playful. in-jae performs again, and in the middle of the show, the instruments cut out mid-song. It’s a planned lead-in to “The Woman Who Cut My Guitar String,” which he reminds fans is based on a real experience. In fact, the woman who inspired the song is here today, Min-jae explains as a roadie brings out a metal bucket. The person in question is the one who gets doused with this bucket of water.

Shin-young laughs and protests, but when the bucket is tipped, she is showered with confetti, not water.One last voiceover wraps this series up:

Shin-young’s narration: “When the wind blows, it’s okay to shake. I have faith that at some point, the wind will stop. When it rains, seek out friends. You’re not alone. When love comes, love. And when love leaves, let it go. When you accept what you can’t change, a different love will come. The times of being overcome with jealousy are over. Treasuring today… confessing that I love you… Now I think I can be happy. This is UBN News’ Lee Shin-young.”