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Everything is falling apart even further for Ji-hyun. She’s alone in the fight for justice for her sister and there really isn’t anyone by her side to support her as she grieves her sister’s passing. It’s just Ji-hyun against the world and there’s only so much she can take before she reaches her breaking point.

Time (시간): Episode 2 Recap

Soo-ho is escorted into the police car after the discovery of Ji-eun’s body at his place. A few seconds into the car and Soo-ho is given a notice that he can leave for home. When he returns home, he has a talk with his dad about the incident. Dad tries to determine the role that Soo-ho played in the incident, but Soo-ho remains indifferent. What difference does it make whether or not he killed Ji-eun? He walks up to the stairs away from his dad and encounters Min-seok and Dae-chul along the way. Soo-ho asks for Min-seok’s name, aware that he was the one who reported the incident to the police.

Dad has a talk with Min-seok and Dae-chul. Min-seok accuses Soo-ho of murdering Ji-eun. On the night of the party, he got into a fight with Soo-chul then unleashed the rest of his anger on Ji-eun and hit her on the head before throwing her into the pool. Outraged, Dad throws the two guys a blank check and orders them to hide news of the incident from the public. They can vouch for as much money as they want if they’re able to keep this news from the public eye.

Even Soo-ho himself is uncertain if he played a role in the death of Ji-eun.

Meanwhile, Ji-hyun hosts the funeral service for sister Ji-eun. She attempts to get in contact with Mom, but is unable to successfully reach her. Min-seok isn’t at the funeral either. Only Ji-hyun’s good friend and co-worker Young-hee is there to comfort her.

Instead of being at the funeral service with Ji-hyun, Min-seok is seated at his office desk with the pen that he had found at Soo-ho’s pool room in his hands. He’s reminded of the exact moment that Ji-hyun had given it to him as a gift in preparation for his job as a lawyer. Min-seok is called into Dae-chul’s office and together they devise a different story of the incident that they’ll sell to the public. As for the bereaved, Min-seok volunteers to go and talk to them. Min-seok’s been responsible in cleaning up any trouble relating to W Group for two years now. Sure, he’s gotten money and benefits from being on their defense team, but he doesn’t seem too satisfied with his job.

After having a talk with Ji-eun’s friends at the funeral, Ji-hyun discovers that Ji-eun might have possibly died because of her. To pay back the $10,000 that Mom had borrowed but was unable to pay back, Ji-eun resumed her part-time gig which ultimately lead to her death. Ji-hyun blames herself and feels guilty for placing the responsibility onto Ji-eun, but Young-hee comforts her. They should wait for the investigation to conclude first before reaching any conclusions.

Soo-ho and Min-seok are taken to the police for an interrogation. Soo-ho admits that he called Ji-eun over to his place that night to just have some drinks together, but he lies that he doesn’t recall if he called anyone else over that night. However, Soo-ho does remember the truth and is aware that he had called Chae-Ah over to his place so they could discuss about their upcoming marriage.

Once the interrogation finishes, Soo-ho questions Min-seok’s true intentions. He places his hope in Min-seok and believes he’ll do his job as a lawyer properly.

Min-seok meets with Chae-Ah to discuss about the night of the incident. He presents to her the pen that she had taken from him that was found at the scene of the incident as well as a USB chip of the CCTV recording of her leaving Soo-ho’s hotel room that night. At first, she remains careless and doesn’t want to get involved with the investigation, but she eventually explains to the lawyer her side of the story. While she reveals the details of what happened that night to Min-seok, Soo-ho tries to get in contact with her but is unsuccessful. Chae-Ah worries that Ji-eun might have died because of her and consults Min-seok for advice on what to do next. He leaves the USB chip on the table and adds that her next decision shouldn’t cause another war to start. He doesn’t want anyone else dying.

Min-seok’s next stop is the funeral. He meets with Ji-hyun and reveals to her the fictional story of the incident that he’ll tell everyone else: Ji-eun was drunk and fell into the pool. Her death was an accident and there was no one else in the hotel with her. Meanwhile, Chae-Ah checks the CCTV recordings the night of the incident and sure enough, there’s video clips showing her entering and leaving Soo-ho’s hotel room. She meets with Soo-ho shortly after to discuss the incident.

Soo-ho questions Chae-Ah if she really did come to his hotel room the night of the incident. In return, she asks him the reason as to why he called her over. Soo-ho then breaks the truth to Chae-Ah. He can’t marry her. He’s not going to marry her and he won’t explain to her why. She’s shocked at first with the confession, but she too agrees with him shortly after. Before walking away, she lies that she didn’t arrive at his hotel room unlike what he expected. She was with another guy at the time he called her.

Soo-ho’s assistant Kim Bok-gyu (Jo Byeong-gu) suggests that Soo-ho visit Ji-eun’s family and hands him a document of Ji-eun’s family members and kins. Soo-ho at first ignores the file, but takes a peek at it shortly after. It’s none other than Ji-hyun who he had the department incident with. Meanwhile, Ji-hyun still has to deal with money and funeral expenses despite mourning over the death of her sister. Min-seok watches Ji-hyun from outside the funeral and is engulfed in feelings of pity for her.

Soo-chul has a talk with Dae-chul and urges Dae-chul to spill the details on the incident. He wants to know what type of activity Soo-ho committed this time around. Dae-chul is hesitant at first, aware that he could get in deep trouble by the chairman if he reveals to Soo-chul the truth, but he eventually discloses to Soo-chul what Soo-ho did. Soo-chul relays the message to his mom and the two gossip over the fact that Soo-ho killed somebody. They gleam in excitement and anticipation of revealing the truth to the public.

Ji-eun’s death will be ruled as a suicide instead of an accident. Hopefully labeling her death as a suicide will tarnish the company’s reputation less. Even Soo-ho himself doesn’t buy the new story and Ji-hyun has a harder time believing that her own sister committed suicide. She hurries over to the police station still dressed in her funeral clothes. She grows upset that the investigators have already concluded the investigation because there’s no way her sister would have committed suicide. She cries and wails for help, but no one at the police station is willing to help her. Ji-hyun falls onto the floor, weeping in anger and misery and hopelessness.

At that moment, Soo-ho also walks into the police station, but he stops upon witnessing the scene. As he observes a hurt and frustrated Ji-hyun on the floor, he’s reminded of his mom’s death and funeral. Soo-ho visits his mom’s burial site and gifts her with some flowers. He relishes over the fact that he too will one day join her since he doesn’t have much time left.

Soo-ho confronts his brother for causing at a scene at his restaurant. Soo-chul isn’t afraid of Soo-ho though. He can ruin his brother’s reputation and life anytime by revealing to the public what Soo-ho committed. Though a little thrown back, Soo-ho stands his ground. The two brothers almost get into another fight before Soo-chul runs away.

Ji-hyun visits Min-seok’s workplace to meet with him. She asks him about getting an autopsy on Ji-eun’s body, but he advises that they not go through with that. His sister committed suicide and she should just accept that. Before returning to work, Min-seok pleads for Ji-hyun to not visit him at his workplace again. He’ll do the visiting instead.

Ji-hyun meets Ji-eun’s supervisor of her part-time gig. He recalls Ji-eun always mentioning talks of suicide and drowning at a pool and she happened to land upon that perfect opportunity at the party that night. Ji-hyun tries to determine who exactly called Ji-eun to the party, but the supervisor beats around the bush. It doesn’t matter who called her to the party; she went there and unfortunately took advantage of the situation and committed suicide. Plus, Ji-eun borrowed a lot of money from this supervisor so she probably resumed her part-time gig to earn some money. Ji-hyun storms out of his small, dim office.

Soo-ho attempts to get to the bottom of the truth. He finds it suspicious that the CCTV recordings from that night disappeared and the computers used to view those recordings are all broken. He heads to the security room himself and hires a computer expert to find the lost recordings. Meanwhile, Ji-hyun moves forward with getting an autopsy on her sister.

Chae-Ah too is busy saving herself. She throws the USB chip containing the CCTV recording of her entering and leaving Soo-ho’s hotel room into the river.

After recovering the lost security camera recordings from that night, Soo-ho is stunned by no appearances of Chae-Ah. Instead, all he discovers is the sight of Ji-eun entering his hotel room and then hours later Min-seok and his colleague also entering the hotel room. Chae-Ah is no where to be seen.

After performing the autopsy, Ji-eun’s death is confirmed as a suicide. There was some light external trauma found to her head, but other than that, her death was a result of drowning. Ji-hyun remains in disbelief.

Min-seok and Dae-chul meet with Soo-ho’s dad to discuss about payment for keeping news of the incident under the rug. Dae-chul asks for $10,000, but Min-seok is a bit more greedy. He wants $10 million dollars for his work. Soo-ho’s dad is surprised at his demand, but keeps the offer in his mind.

Ji-hyun is notified that all her funeral fees and expenses have already been paid for. She tries to find the person behind the kind act and assumes that it was Min-seok’s doing, but she fails to discover who it is. As she stays in the funeral house for Ji-eun’s funeral, not too far away hiding in the corner is Soo-ho who watches Ji-hyun. He was the one who paid for the funeral expenses and fees.

In a talk with Chae-Ah, we learn more about Min-seok’s role in sweeping the incident under the rug. He was the one who hired a computer expert to delete the camera footages of Chae-Ah entering and leaving Soo-ho’s hotel room. He also paid Ji-eun’s supervisor to lie about Ji-eun and to persuade Ji-hyun to believe that her sister committed suicide. He also roleplayed as Ji-eun and sent farewell messages on her phone to make Ji-hyun think that Ji-eun had left behind a will. At the end of the day, he claims that he did everything he could for justice. This was the best outcome for everyone.

Ji-hyun weeps in pain and anguish as her sister is laid to rest. Soo-ho observes the heart-breaking scene.

With the funeral service having concluded, Ji-hyun returns home. However, she finds loan shark Tae-sung living in her house. The house is now his since her mom’s given him the right to their deposit. Ji-hyun rushes into her room to pack some belongings and then leaves the house. While she runs away from Tae-sung, he follows after her but is soon stopped by Soo-ho. Soo-ho invites himself back to the house and has a talk with Tae-sung.

Outside in the rainy cold weather, Ji-hyun takes a look at the late birthday gift that Ji-eun had gotten her. It’s a brand new watch in replacement of Ji-hyun’s old and worn-out one. She cries upon remembering her sister and proudly wears the new watch her sister got her. Not too far away is Soo-ho who keeps watch of Ji-hyun. He panics when he finds her walking out onto the busy street full of passing cars.

At the exact moment when Ji-hyun is about to cross the street, Soo-ho receives a phone call from Min-seok about an urgent emergency pertaining to Soo-chul. He’s planning on holding a press conference to reveal to the public the truth about the incident. Soo-ho plans on attending the press conference, but decides to save Ji-hyun first.

As Ji-hyun crosses the street, Soo-ho arrives just in time to save her from a near-death accident. He scolds her for walking so carelessly in front of fast, passing cars. Does she not care enough to live? But Ji-hyun is dead inside. She’s not sure if she does want to live or not.

Soo-ho then picks her up and carries her in his arms across the street and safely onto the sidewalk. As he gets the both of them to safety, he thinks to himself,

There’s something that I must do before I die.. I don’t have much time left.

My Thoughts:

Wow, we’re definitely playing with time huh? It’s as if we’ll always be reminded of how much limited time Soo-ho has left which is good but can also get repetitive and irritating after a while. We don’t need to be reminded every episode of Soo-ho’s upcoming death to witness him changing and becoming a better person. Hopefully the drama will cut back on the reminders or at least give us new, innovative ways that shows Soo-ho making use of his time.

After watching this episode a second time, I’ve come to realizing that there isn’t all that much happening. This episode alone was a lot of crying and weeping and acceptance of deaths. Soo-ho’s news of his anticipated death has yet to sink in and Ji-hyun is struggling to accept her own sister’s death herself. We’re watching Min-seok work to hide the truth from everyone which I admit is entertaining and interesting, but it’s also a very meticulous process. There’s many small details that goes into the plan he has devised and I can see why he demanded $10 million dollars from Soo-ho’s dad in return for his work. Although I don’t agree with the tricky, cunning, and heart-breaking things he’s doing to sweep the incident under the rug, I can see why he’s doing it and also have to admit that his plan was well thought-out.

As with any other drama, these two episodes were foundational and set up the narrative and issue that our leads will be caught up in in future episodes. This could explain for the lack of momentum and action going on since these two episodes wer focused on establishing our characters and the incident. It’ll be interesting to watch how much longer they can hide the truth from everyone and what lengths Ji-hyun will go to seek justice for her sister. It was so heart-breaking and depressing to see her alone throughout the entire funeral service and it was even more heart-breaking and sad knowing that her boyfriend played a role in concealing and changing the truth. Ji-hyun trusts Min-seok so much and still goes to him for emotional support, but it’s awful seeing him be so unavailable in providing her that support that she so desperately needs. It’s even more distasteful watching him betray his own girlfriend and not have the courage to tell her the truth. Ji-hyun is already going through a lot and she doesn’t deserve any of this. How hard would it be for her when she discovers that the man she trusted and confided in for six years is also the same person who worked to hide the truth from her and everyone else.

Soo-ho’s slight and small change in personality was a good example of how he’s using the remaining time he has left. He followed Ji-hyun around and basically looked out for her well aware that 1) he was somehow involved in the death of her sister although he’s unsure of how yet 2) Ji-hyun doesn’t really have anyone else beside her to comfort her other than Young-hee. He will still be the mean and harsh jerk that he’s always been, but he also has a soft spot for Ji-hyun because he’s been in her position before. He’s well aware of how she’s feeling and the pain and misery that she’s going through after having lost her sister. Soo-ho too was in the same position when he lost his mom so I think these experiences is what will connect the two and allow them to bond. Soo-ho is already using that as an excuse and reason to care for Ji-hyun although she herself doesn’t recognize that yet. She’ll probably be confused as to why he cares for her and is looking out for her, but the truth will come to light one day. I’m curious as to what happened with Soo-ho and his mom and how he too lost a loved one at a young age. What was even more depressing was watching him visit his mom’s burial site and trying to accept the fact that he too will join his mom one day.

As I mentioned before, there’s not too much going on at the moment, but the directing really intensifies everything ten times more. Sometimes I imagine what this drama would have been like if it had just been your typical close-up and one-shot kind of filming and I’m almost certain that it would have been less intense and very bland. The directing is able to highlight and bring the most out of every single scene and even the smallest things like Ji-hyun cry over her sister or all the meetings that happens between everyone are entertaining. I did notice all the flashbacks after reading a comment who pointed out about it and I have to admit that the flashbacks are a little overwhelming. In this episode alone, there was a wide amount of flashbacks that weren’t all necessary. Hopefully the drama will lessen on the flashbacks and tell the story as it is and as it flows.

I’m such a sucker for melodramatic dramas like this one where the male lead is a toxic and harsh jerk who falls for a hard-working, strong, and innocent female lead. I know it’s so bad of me, but I enjoy watching these two kind of characters fall for each other and help each other grow and develop as individuals along the way. I can definitely sense this kind of dynamic and relationship between Soo-ho and Ji-hyun and hopefully with the other’s help, they’ll discover the hidden truth that they each seek.