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Jeong-suk’s faced plenty of hardships and obstacles in her life as a housewife and an aspiring doctor. But she faces what is perhaps the most daunting and challenging situation yet – one that could change her and her family’s lives forever.

Doctor Cha: Episode 8 Recap

Roy and In-ho cause a scene in front of everyone when they both rush to Jeong-suk’s side to check up on her after she had fallen over the building while attempting to save her patient, Seon-gyu. Thankfully, she and the patient are okay but In-ho and Roy aren’t and they express concern for Jeong-suk. While In-ho grabs onto her hands, Roy places his arms around her and embraces her. Everyone watches in shock as the scene unfolds so Jeong-suk lets both of them go and reassures them that she’s fine. But many of the spectators aren’t and rumors about a love triangle spread throughout the hospital. The rumors even reach Chief Lim and Seung-hi so Seung-hi is advised by Chief Lim to keep an eye on Jeong-suk.

In-ho and Roy interact for the first time since the incident and In-ho sets boundaries on Roy’s interactions with Jeong-suk. He makes it known that he disapproves of the way that Roy touched his wife and he’s not sure if she was okay with it too. Later on at work, So-ra commends Jeong-suk for her bravery in looking out for Seon-gyu but Jeong-suk doesn’t feel all that great about it. She believes that they could have prevented the entire situation and should have been more proactive since they received signs from Seon-gyu and Seon-gyu’s wife about his suicidal behavior. They failed to take responsibility in taking care of their patient.

Jeong-suk spends time with Seon-gyu after the incident and she shows him around the hospital as they walk past the rooms of other patients. She shares with him how precious his life is and that life is beautiful. He shouldn’t die and he must survive. Seon-gyu breaks down into tears upon hearing Jeong-suk’s comments and he carries her words in his heart. While walking past Seon-gyu’s room later that day, Jeong-suk witnesses him interacting with his wife. He’ll live for himself and his wife. Jeong-suk updates In-ho in his office about Seon-gyu’s improved condition and she admires his relationship with his wife. They seem to have a strong relationship and their love for each other is unconditional. It’s something that Jeong-suk wishes she had or that she received which gets In-ho thinking. She suggests to her husband that they go on a family trip to Jeju Island after I-rang’s college admissions but In-ho isn’t so open to the idea as he states that they already visited the island. But wait, Jeong-suk never went with In-ho to Jeju Island before. What is he talking about? In-ho quickly realizes his slip and he blames his bad memory for the mistake. AHHHH OMGGGGG.

I-rang’s mood has improved since receiving her mother’s support and she studies hard for her college admissions. Jeong-suk visits her daughter in her bedroom later on that night and they chat a bit about Eun-seo. I-rang admits that she doesn’t know too much about Eun-seo’s parents. All she had heard was that Eun-seo’s parents were divorced. Eun-seo’s parents go for another round of indoor golfing (AKA the hottest place for affairs). In-ho pretends as if his shoulder is fine (even though it’s really not) and he also responds reluctantly when Seung-hi suggests that they meet with Eun-seo to celebrate an art competition that she placed second place in. Seung-hi relays the news to Eun-seo who’s sitting in a taxi with I-rang on their way home. She’s excited at the thought of getting dinner with her dad and even glances over at I-rang while talking to her mom. Later on that night, Eun-seo revisits a photo album consisting of photos of Seung-hi and In-ho together when her parents were still a couple back in college.

Seung-hi assumed dinner with Eun-seo and In-ho together was going to be a simple dinner full of celebrations and happiness. But it’s the exact opposite when someone else shows up to their table in the restaurant: it’s I-rang (AHHHHHH! I. AM. SCREAMING). Eun-seo purposely invited I-rang over so that she could reveal the truth about In-ho and the fact that they’re half-sisters. Chaos ensues in the restaurant and I-rang exits quickly upon learning the shocking news. In-ho chases after his daughter while Eun-seo and Seung-hi stay behind. Eun-seo managed to do something that Seung-hi couldn’t do for twenty years. She shows no signs of regret in her actions. The news is too much for I-rang to process and she breaks down in the middle of the street.

I-rang arrives home that night and discovers Mother-in-law and In-ho in the living room. She hints to Mother-in-law that she has another granddaughter close to I-rang’s age before warning her dad to stay silent. She doesn’t want her mom to know. She’s unsure as to what she would do if Jeong-suk was to find out. So now In-ho has no other choice but to also update Mother-in-law about the situation. Mother-in-law beats up In-ho upon learning that he has a whole other family. And his wife? It’s Seung-hi. She learns that In-ho got Seung-hi pregnant when they reunited in the U.S. for work and he maintained contact with her whenever they visited Korea. It wasn’t until Seung-hi and Eun-seo moved to Korea for good that he was able to see Seung-hi on a more consistent basis and things just transpired from there. Mother-in-law is shocked by all of this but it gets even worse when she finds out that Seung-hi and Jeong-suk work at the same hospital in the same department. Hahaha. Ohhh boy. Mother-in-law strategizes with In-ho on how to keep the secret a secret from Jeong-suk. They target I-rang since she’s the only other person in the family who knows and In-ho will have to permit I-rang to go to art school as a tactic to get his daughter to not talk.

So In-ho has a talk with I-rang in her bedroom and she shares that she won’t say anything to Jeong-suk. But she’s doing it to protect her mother and not because In-ho requested it. With that, In-ho also voices his support for I-rang’s decision to pursue art school but I-rang can care less. She’s not in the mood to listen to him ramble. She’s obviously not in a good mood. It doesn’t take long for Jung-min to also get a sense that something is up. While in his father’s office at work to deliver a gift from one of his dad’s former patients, he sees a text message from Seung-hi pop up on his dad’s phone. She wants to meet with him at a certain time in a specific location. At first, Jung-min attempts to forget about the text but he gives in to the temptation and heads out to the location of the meeting to check things out. What he sees is so shocking that it distracts him during a surgery that he operates later on with his father. Jung-min witnessed Seung-hi giving his dad a back hug and clinging onto him. He also now knows about their affair.

I-rang and Eun-seo have an intense confrontation after their academy class ends but it’s I-rang who wins this time. She won’t tell her mother about the affair and she reminds Eun-seo that her mother is a home-wrecker while her dad is an adulterer. She’s a cheating couple’s daughter while her mother was the victim in this case. Eun-seo grows furious and upset with the comments. And so Jung-min confronts Dad about his affair with Seung-hi in the dressing room after the surgery concludes. In-ho assumes Jung-min must have heard from either I-rang or his grandma which only angers Jung-min even more. Wait, they know about the affair too? Similar to I-rang, Jung-min agrees not to tell Jeong-suk about the affair in order to protect her. He also voices his disappointment in his dad. He now views his dad differently and has lost all respect for him. Jung-min visits his mom later at work and they briefly chat for a bit. Jung-min feels heartbroken and sad seeing his mother again now that he knows the truth about his father.

Ji-sun fights with her parents after they uploaded a post onto a website describing popular actor, Seo Min-joon, as the father of Ji-sun’s baby. Though Ji-sun vehemently denies the accusations, Min-joon’s visit to the hospital only adds more fuel to the fire. But Ji-sun once again denies that Min-joon is the father of her baby and instead, it’s another ex-boyfriend’s baby. Speaking of Min-joon, Jeong-suk shares with her co-workers about the brief interaction she had with Min-joon when she bumped into him at the hospital. Their conversation is cut short when So-ra scolds Jeong-suk for cleaning her dorm room and touching her belongings when Jeong-suk was there not too long ago. She warns Jeong-suk to never do it again.

Things are awkward and intense and quiet in the family household. While Jeong-suk cooks in the kitchen and then later on leaves the house to spend some time with Mi-hee, everyone else sits in awkward silence. It’s not until Jeong-suk leaves the house that they discuss their next steps. Jung-min proposes that In-ho cut off his affair with Seung-hi but it’s not as easy as he thinks. The aspiring doctor learns that his dad has another kid who is around the same age as I-rang so it’s complicated.

Mi-hee and Jeong-suk catch up with each other at a cafe but they end up going to a psychic hearing to learn more about their future. While Mi-hee’s curious about her love life, Jeong-suk’s curious about her husband. She asks the psychic if her husband is cheating on her. But the psychic’s response is shocking to both Mi-hee and Jeong-suk. She doesn’t answer Jeong-suk’s question directly but instead, adds that more and more men will chase Jeong-suk as she gets older. It’s Jeong-suk who men chase after. Jeong-suk is dissatisfied with the psychic’s response because she doesn’t understand how she can get lucky with guys at this phase in her life but Mi-hee believes in the psychic’s words. Haha. Back at home, Jung-min forces his dad to make a decision. When Jeong-suk’s residency is done in three years, Dad will have to choose either Seung-hi and Eun-seo or Jeong-suk and their family. Mother-in-law is stressed out about her son and it shows when she meets up with Professor Park for a date.

In-ho also shares the news with Roy about his family’s knowledge of the affair and lays out his plans for the next 3 years. He pleads that Roy not tell Jeong-suk until Jeong-suk finishes her residency but Roy isn’t so sure about the request. His lips might not cooperate (OHHHHH!!). Roy gets into an elevator with Seung-hi and threatens to reveal about Seung-hi and In-ho’s affair. Though he initially declined the idea at first, he might come around to doing it this time.

Mother-in-law makes a reservation at a hotel in preparation for Jeong-suk’s birthday. She explains to In-ho that they could shower Jeong-suk with gifts and love for her birthday and pretend to be one big happy family. It’ll distract her from being suspicious about Seung-hi and In-ho. Mother-in-law even goes shopping for a birthday gift for Jeong-suk. She also purchases a gift for Jeong-suk’s mom after Mom took care of Mother-in-law at the hospital during her surgery. But Mom is suspicious of Mother-in-law. Why is she being so respectful to her? Something must be up. After their meet-up, Mother-in-law concludes that neither Jeong-suk nor her mom must be aware of the affair. 

Roy prepares to go back home after work but there’s something he wants to tell Jeong-suk first. So he bumps into Jeong-suk and he confesses that he has something to tell her. Jeong-suk immediately is reminded of the psychic’s words about how men chase after her and how one of these men is close to her. She assumes Roy is going to confess to her so she tells him to not say it. If what he’s going to tell her is difficult to say and he’s unsure as to whether or not to say it, then maybe it’s best he doesn’t. So Roy misunderstands and he takes that as a sign to keep quiet about Seung-hi and In-ho’s affair. But before they bid farewell, he wishes Jeong-suk a happy birthday. It is her birthday after all.

After the brief chat with Roy, Jeong-suk prepares to make a few prescription orders before heading out to her birthday party. While working, she catches one of her co-workers strolling on Instagram so she assumes her co-worker was looking at her own account. But the lady shares that she’s actually taking a look at Seung-hi’s profile. It seems as if Seung-hi must be living a nice life since all her photos on her account are of her traveling and going on trips. Jeong-suk’s suspicion intensifies when she finds a photo that Seung-hi posted when she was in Paris. She recalls how In-ho also went to Paris for what she had thought was for a conference. But she learns from the coworker that he actually scheduled time off for vacation when he went to Paris and that there was no conference. Seung-hi’s use of her hashtags also causes Jeong-suk to panic even more so she dives deeper into her investigation. Alone in the night duty room, Jeong-suk checks out the dates of Seung-hi’s SNS posts and compares them to the dates that In-ho was away. They all coincide and match. As if that wasn’t enough, Seung-hi sees a photo where In-ho’s shadow is in the reflection of a window and that is what sets Jeong-suk off. Her gut instincts were right: Seung-hi and In-ho are in an affair.

Jeong-suk breaks down into tears upon piecing together the clues and after studying Seung-hi’s SNS account. She heads to the room where Chae-yoon is located and shares that she won’t be able to switch spots with her any longer. She wants to continue being a resident within the Family Medicine department where Seung-hi is a professor. When Chae-yoon reacts in frustration and irritation, Jeong-suk also takes the opportunity to confront Chae-yoon about her disrespectful attitude. She might have stayed quiet this entire time but not today. Meanwhile, Seung-hi sits in her office and debates on whether to show up or not to the hotel where In-ho and his family are hosting Jeong-suk’s birthday party.

In-ho and his family wait at the hotel for Jeong-suk to arrive. It’s clear that his children have lost all respect for him and Jung-min blames his dad for everything. Jeong-suk finally arrives at the hotel in a nice black dress and she reunites with her family for the birthday party. She steps into the room and doesn’t greet her family. Instead, she walks towards their table and focuses her attention on In-ho. In-ho is shocked after Jeong-suk’s arrival because he spots someone else in the background: Seung-hi. She also shows up to the hotel and stands by the entrance door, debating on whether to enter or not. So with Seung-hi also at the hotel and Jeong-suk aware of In-ho’s affair with Seung-hi, what will Jeong-suk do next? What shall she treat herself to as a birthday gift?

My Thoughts:

I. AM. SCREAMING. What is going onnnnn? Okay. So I might have actually ended up jinxing myself because I mentioned in the last episode how I didn’t think Jeong-suk would end up finding out so soon. I thought the drama was going to drag things out for at least 2 more episodes. Then the rest of her family except for her found out about the affair and In-ho’s other family in this episode so that was definitely a surprise. But then when they were adamant on not telling Jeong-suk I thought the drama was going to drag that out for another episode or two. So then when the drama dropped the bomb and Jeong-suk found out about the affair by the end of this episode, I was surprised once again! In this episode alone, Jeong-suk and her entire family discovered about the affair and In-ho’s other family. It wasted no time!