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Time has been an important component in this drama and a crucial theme that the drama has continually emphasized and focused on over the episodes. We finally witness the true power and essence of this ‘time’ as our characters are put to the test over their losses and gains.

Time (시간): Episode 13 Recap

After seeing Ji-hyun unconscious and drifting out in the sea, Soo-ho hurries to save her. He does his best to swim to her, but struggles to reach her and eventually drowns in the water. When Ji-hyun is rescued and awakens, she wakes up to chaos and commotion. Though she’s alive, she discovers that Soo-ho isn’t. It was too late for him (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO).

A funeral for Soo-ho is held and there, Soo-chul’s Mom receives a letter written by Soo-ho before his death. In the letter, he writes for Mom to not blame herself and to forgive him for all the pain he’s caused her. Now he’ll return to reunite with his biological mother and she will finally be able to return to her life before he and his Mom ever came into the picture.

Ji-hyun and Chae-Ah watch as Soo-ho’s body is laid to rest. Dad joins them soon afterwards and argues with Ji-hyun on whose fault it is for his death. Chae-Ah breaks the argument by revealing to everyone about Soo-ho’s illness. He had plans for treatment in the United States, but now he’s no longer alive. Bok-gyu chimes in by handing out letters that Soo-ho had written for everyone prior to his death.

Dad cries upon reading the letter that Soo-ho had penned for him. In the letter, Soo-ho writes,

Dad, you gave me life and for that I’m thankful. I don’t think I ever thanked you once in my life. I wish I had talked to you more and made more fond memories with you. Life is only a few decades long.

When I realized that death comes without a warning, I wondered how I should live. Actually, I wondered how I should die. To be honest, I don’t fear death. I’m just afraid of regretting the things I didn’t do. So I’ll say what I wanted to say before I die.

Thank you for raising me and looking after me.

In his letter for Soo-chul, Soo-ho congratulates him on inheriting the company. He advises him to not be so selfish and greedy as he will eventually realize that he has nothing even though it seems like he has everything.

Chae-Ah also reads over her letter from Soo-ho. He notes that although their relationship had always been rocky and rough, he hopes that she’ll reveal the truth to everyone about what happened to Ji-eun. She should reveal the truth for herself.

Ji-hyun herself struggles to process Soo-ho’s death. She plays the same piano piece that she had played with Soo-ho earlier that week at the church they got married at. However, it’s too much for her to bare and she ends up breaking down into tears.

Ji-hyun is brought in for interrogation by the police department. They assume Soo-ho volunteered to jump into the water to save her, but she grows enraged. She warns that they shouldn’t jump to any conclusions or else there’ll be consequences. Once she storms out of the building, she’s approached by Chae-Ah who waits outside for her. She wants to know the truth about Soo-ho’s death, but Ji-hyun warns her that the truth will hurt. Soo-ho’s death might have to do something with Soo-ho’s dad, but if Chae-Ah herself wants to know so bad, she should investigate herself.

After watching a news report about Soo-ho’s death, Ji-hyun and Young-hee discuss their next move. Can’t Ji-hyun just reveal to everyone about what happened? Soo-ho died while trying to save her. However, it’s too dangerous as they don’t have any evidence to support their claims. Ji-hyun then comes up with a new idea as to how to prove themselves: they can make up evidence.

Dad informs Soo-chul and Mom about how they will frame Soo-ho’s death. They’ll label his death as an accident. He died by drowning.

Ji-hyun meets with Min-seok to dig more details about the day of Soo-ho’s death. Min-seok was present at the beach. Why was he there? Was he there to kill Ji-hyun like he was ordered by Soo-ho’s dad to? Min-seok comes clean and admits that he was there to kill Ji-hyun. Soo-ho’s dad wanted Ji-hyun killed no matter what. Ji-hyun ends the conversation by handing Min-seok the letter Soo-ho wrote for him as well as warning him that he should have killed her. Now she’s going to expose him to the entire world.

Ji-hyun presents evidence of the CCTV footage proving that Min-seok was there at the beach the day Soo-ho died to the reporter. The reporter then shares with Chae-Ah the security camera footage which surprises her.

Min-seok visits his parents who have now returned to their small and broken-down house. As he heads out to buy some items for his dad, he comes across Chae-Ah who attempts to get in contact with him. She pleads for the honest truth in his involvement in Soo-ho’s death. Did he try to kill Ji-hyun? Min-seok claims that he didn’t try to kill her. Chae-Ah believes in his statement and asks for him to help her investigate Soo-ho’s death.

Ji-hyun prepares to read the letter Soo-ho wrote for her, but she’s unable to and places it away. She’s then visited by an anxious and worried Chae-Ah who wants to reveal the truth about Soo-ho’s death. She asks for Ji-hyun’s cooperation in the investigation. However, Ji-hyun can only think about how Chae-Ah finally understands how she feels. Now Chae-Ah knows what it’s like to want to reveal the truth about a loved one’s death. Chae-Ah adds that she’ll reveal the truth about Ji-eun and Mom’s death after she discovers the truth about Soo-ho’s passing. She’ll reveal it all. She just needs Ji-hyun’s truth to get there.

Ji-hyun attempts to commit suicide again, but she stops herself. She needs to find out the truth about Soo-ho’s death. In an interview with the lead detective, she recounts the details of what happened that day. She remembers passing out after someone covered her face and then being tied onto a boat afterwards out onto the water. Soo-ho died by drowning while trying to rescue her. His death was no accident. She reminds the detective to do his job correctly once again or else. Everyone’s watching him and his team investigate the case.

Suspicions as to who abducted Ji-hyun and murdered Soo-ho continue. Chae-Ah suggests to Min-seok that he cooperate in the investigation and get his name cleared.

Min-seok finds himself in a difficult spot. Soo-ho’s dad isn’t willing to help him and Min-seok is being framed for attempting to kill Ji-hyun as her jealous, angry, and furious ex-boyfriend. In the letter by Soo-ho, Min-seok reads that he will soon suffer the consequences from all the decisions and actions he’s committed in the past. It will come back to bite him all at once, but it’s not too late for him to reveal the truth. However, Min-seok’s chances of revealing the truth are eliminated when he gets abducted and taken away by strangers outside of his parent’s place.

Ji-hyun wakes up the next morning still heart-broken and sullen over Soo-ho’s death. She feeds his pet turtle and then heads to the restaurant to eat with the staff there. They converse about Soo-ho and how difficult life must have been for him. Just like how he fought for his life, he also fought for the truth.

Min-seok’s kidnapping was planned by none other than Dae-chul. It turns out that Dae-chul was the person on the beach that day who tried to kill Ji-hyun and Min-seok is being framed for it instead. If Min-seok wants to survive and help his family, he should just turn himself in. W Group will clear his name and then Min-seok can leave afterwards. Min-seok isn’t so convinced with the plan so Dae-chul obtains traces of Min-seok’s blood by cutting his hand with a knife. They’ll have no choice but to continue with the plan to frame Min-seok as murderer.

Chae-Ah brings Min-seok’s disappearance to Ji-hyun’s attention. They turn to the same lead detective in request for an open investigation. However, he’s not too opened about an open investigation since Min-seok might have been the person who tried to kill Ji-hyun. Ji-hyun is confident that Min-seok just wouldn’t disappear without a reason.

Min-seok gives in to Dae-chul’s plans and volunteers to take himself in if Dae-chul promises to take care of his parents. As a last act, he is to pen a letter for Ji-hyun in apology for trying to kill her. Meanwhile, Ji-hyun and Chae-Ah discover updates on the whereabouts of Min-seok. They find camera footages of Dae-chul’s car and appearance at an inn near to where Min-seok was last seen.

Min-seok manages to escape the warehouse building by stabbing Dae-chul with the pen and climbing out a window. However, his escape doesn’t last for long as he’s captured by Dae-chul’s men. He’s trapped unconscious inside a car with poisonous gas permeated. Thankfully, Ji-hyun, Chae-Ah, and investigators arrives just in time to save him and transport him to the hospital.

Even when he awakens, Min-seok is still being blamed for Ji-hyun’s attempted murder. While he claims that he’s being set up, the lead detective assumes he tried to commit suicide because they were closing in on him.

In a short meeting with Chae-Ah and Ji-hyun, Min-seok admits that he was the one who tried to kill Ji-hyun. It was all him. However, Ji-hyun doesn’t buy his excuse. She assumes he’s being blackmailed by Soo-ho’s Dad. Ji-hyun then confronts Dad and blames him for Soo-ho’s death. If he had just revealed the truth in the beginning, none of this would have happened. However, Soo-ho’s Dad argues that Ji-hyun is to blame. If she had just stayed quiet and let Soo-ho marry Chae-Ah as planned, Soo-ho wouldn’t have died. Ji-hyun ends the conversation by claiming that either one of them has to die to end all of this. Maybe the both of them dying would be the better resolution.

Min-seok is brought by the detective to the same exact place where he tried to shoot and kill Kang In-bum. He’s greeted by Dae-chul who unlocks his hand cuffs and lets him escape. The detective shoots his gun towards Min-seok’s direction to scare him, but ultimately lets him run off.

Ji-hyun finally gathers the courage to read Soo-ho’s letter. This will be the only way she’ll be able to let him go. As she opens the letter, she reads,

Seol Ji-hyun,

The thankful person who made my short life meaningful. The only person who made me want to live longer. The beautiful person who made me realize how I should live and how I should die. Because of you, I’ll spend the happiest time of my life as I prepare to die. I hope you don’t mourn for me for too long. I’d feel too bad. Don’t let my death stop you from what you were doing. That will complete my life. It will complete my death too.

If you open the piano, you’ll find the watch your sister gave you. Think of that watch and succeed in what you want to do. You can do it.

Ji-hyun cries as she holds Soo-ho’s letter and her sister’s fixed watch in her hands. The pain is too much for her to bare.

At that moment, Ji-hyun is interrupted and the doorbell rings. The visit is from Min-seok who arrives at her house alone. After letting him in, he explains to her his situation. Min-seok’s dad is dead and he can’t even attend his funeral in fear that he will get caught by the police. As a sign of guilt and remorse, Min-seok gets down on his knees and pleads for Ji-hyun’s forgiveness. He volunteers to tell Ji-hyun everything about his sister, mom, and Soo-ho’s death. He’ll tell her the truth about everything.

My Thoughts:

Ahh, how unfortunate. We’ve reached that point in the drama where Soo-ho is no longer alive and he’s made his unfortunate and sad exit from the series. We knew that it was going to happen and that he was going to be eliminated from the drama earlier than expected, but we just weren’t sure exactly when. Now that his departure has arrived, it feels so bittersweet seeing him leave so suddenly. As much as I wanted him to stay longer till the very end of the drama, another part of me is satisfied with the time that he had on the show for as long as he did.

I wrote in my recap for episode 12 that I didn’t think the drowning would be the cause of Soo-ho’s death. I assumed he was going to die due to his cancer and that he would leave the drama with a much bigger impact. I was so hurt, shocked, and surprised to see him exit from the drama in this episode because I was positive that this wasn’t the way he was going to leave. The entire drama focused on his battle with cancer and with him dealing with an illness that he was not going to survive. Why couldn’t Soo-ho die through that instead? It just felt so odd to have him die in a way that wasn’t because of his illness. You center the drama around this man battling with cancer and then kill him off by having him drown? It just seemed so odd and pitiful to me and I wished the drama had stayed true to itself by killing him with his illness instead of drowning. It would make sense to the drama and maintain its ties to the original plot, because that was how Soo-ho was going to originally die anyways. I understand that the drama was going to write him out a lot earlier than expected, but his death felt so rushed and unsatisfactory. There were ways they could have taken Soo-ho out of the drama that would have been logical and yet they chose such a random cause to kill him off.

I was surprised with Soo-ho’s death in this episode and it hurt watching him not be present. I really wasn’t expecting the drama to kill him off because of the drowning. As hard as the drama tried in maintaining its intensity and momentum without Soo-ho around, there was still this emptiness lurking around and it felt so odd seeing only three of our characters together. I still have to give the drama some credit though for working around the loss and absence of Soo-ho. There’s yet another investigation we have to conduct and follow, but Soo-ho’s death is also what will hopefully wrap everything up for our characters. Min-seok is now facing the consequences for his actions and decisions and that came about as a result of Soo-ho’s death. Chae-Ah is even willing to turn herself in and reveal the truth about Ji-eun’s death once she discovers the truth behind Soo-ho’s death. Ji-hyun will finally and maybe receive the closure she’s yearned for once they discover the truth about Soo-ho’s death. Though he’s gone, Soo-ho still remains an integral character in the drama because he has the connections to all our characters. It’s as if he’s still there even though he’s gone and I appreciate the drama still writing him in and tying him to our characters even if he’s not necessarily present physically.

It sucked being reminded of Soo-ho’s absence in every way possible from the funeral to the letters to Chae-Ah and Ji-hyun’s teamwork in solving his case. I’m glad to see the two ladies team up to fight against whoever was behind Soo-ho’s death (aka his own father) since we finally get to witness Chae-Ah and Ji-hyun work together instead of against each other. However, this only came about as a result of Soo-ho’s death which is saddening. Even Min-seok is slowly starting to redeem himself now that he’s in such a tight spot and needs some help. A part of me is glad that he’s now facing the consequences for his past actions and decisions, but another part of me also hopes that he, Chae-Ah, and Ji-hyun can take down W Group. They’re a force that needs to be reckoned with and what better way to be taken down than by the people who they hurt and attempted to kill from the very beginning.

It’s hard for all of our characters who suffered the loss of Soo-ho, but it must be especially difficult for Ji-hyun. She’s lost her sister and mother so far and worked so hard with the help of Soo-ho to discover the truth about their deaths. Now she’s lost her husband and has to help uncover the truth behind his death as well. I would be lying if I said that I wouldn’t want more scenes of a grieving and mourning Ji-hyun. As much as I think Ji-hyun married Soo-ho for her own benefits and greed, another part of me would also like to believe she married him because she genuinely loved him and had feelings for him. The letter he wrote for her proves it all. Just like with Mom and Ji-eun, Ji-hyun’s going to need some time to process Soo-ho’s death and to get accustomed to his absence. They say that time heals everything and that in time everything will get better, but can the same be applied to Ji-hyun? Will she be okay in time? Will any of us be okay in time?