Time to focus on the parents.
I know people found the parents’ stories boring, but they fascinated me. Their stories are the missing pieces of the puzzle. I’m glad that the parents’ motives are slowly being unveiled.
I think I’ll dole out my Monster Rating for the parents.
I’m doing this piecemeal because it’s Saturday and my husband and I are visiting another art museum today. But had I known it was this cold in Pittsburg this weekend, I would have just stayed in Washington DC and enjoyed my daffodils while they lasted.
How do we hate thee parents? Let us count the ways.
1. SH’s Dad.
This dialogue with SH summed up his hateful deeds.
Dad: Thanks to your act, our stocks have been fluctuating up and down. I only asked you not to cause trouble, Is that so hard?
SH: It’s not true. You would know since you probably checked it with President Myung.
Dad: Whether it’s true or not, the fact that you provided the cause is the problem.
SH: I was wondering why you wanted to see me. You wanted other people to see that I was fine.
Dad: Stay out of trouble for your own good. What do you think the chairwoman will do when she finds out?
SH: I don’t care if she does.
Dad: What?
SH: You’re worried that I might tell her that we’re not biologically related. That news would go down well with the company.
Dad: I told you not to ask any questions.
SH: I didn’t. I don’t have any questions for you. Even if it meant that I had to be dead, I wanted to ask Mom who my real father was. But why would I care? I’m a useless human being anyway.
Dad: I’m glad you know.
SH: But there’s one thing I would to find out. The woman you are seeing right now and the person responsible for my mom’s death. You’re the one who must be careful. You’re about to get hitched but you’re seeing your first love because you’re not over her. Imagine how much fun the tabloids will have at this news.
Dad: You must be bored and have a lot of time on your hands.
SH: Yes, to the point where I want to age quickly so that I could die. I’m sure Mom was feeling the same while she lived with you. But President Myung shouldn’t be subjected to the same feeling. She got egged for JK Group in front of her daughter. That’s why I’m going to find out who she is by all means.
Dad: Don’t do anything stupid.
SH: Keep an eye on me to see what I do. I can reveal the truth of our relationship.
Dad: It will be your loss.
SH: Well, I can’t be saved anyway. Did you have a child together? If you do, someone would share the same miserable fate as me.
Main crime: he loved someone else while he neglected his dying wife, SH’s mom.
But the elephant in the room is: SH is a non-marital child. His mother gave birth to him while married to her husband, and she passed of SH as her husband’s child. She must have known that SJ wasn’t the biological child. If I were her, I would have felt awful keeping this secret. I would have lived with constant fear (of my secret being blown, for one), shame, guilt, and self-hatred.
Although the husband wasn’t the biological parent, he was the legal parent and had to provide support for SH. He suspected all along that SJ wasn’t his, but he kept quiet and sought to divorce her quietly.
As for his lovey-dovey moments with TH’s mom? They gross me out but hey!! They’re both adults. None of my business if he wanted to rekindle his love affair before he settled down. Not my business, too, if TH’s mom was getting played again. What comes around, goes around.
My Monster Rating of him would be 6.5/10. Points off for his uncool, 19th century dating style. But he regained points for not publicly shaming his wife and outright disowning SJ.
Still to go: TH’s mom and SJ’s mom. Feel free to vent your feelings about these parents here.
Sh Dad also didn’t allow him to attend his mother funeral.He -Sh father done some damge to the company and the Chairwoman aka his Mother letting him stay at the company because of SH and his cousin, the daughter of this deceased brother witch we belive was her favourite. although the marrige between Sh parents might has been not out of love he “neglected” the sick woman.And something isn’t right with that “accident” that caused her death.
Ps. sending some sunshine.
Good points!
But to be fair, we don’t know for sure who disallowed him at his mother’s funeral, and why he wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral. There could have been a medical reason, like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and his funeral attendance would have exacerbated his case. And his grandmother could have decreed it, not his dad. 😊
As for his neglect, there are many sides in a broken marriage. We’re seeing SH’s side as he interpreted his parents’ marriage. What if there had been a petition to divorce pending but the mom refused to tell SH? If they were about to divorce, there was no need to see each other. As a matter of fact, his divorce lawyer would counsel him not to visit and have minimal contact.
The accident is shady but there’s no proof yet that the dad was involved. The hit and run could be SJ’s mom’s accident. She recognized TH when TH came to visit the hospital re her scholarship.
Yes, I want sunshine!
“he regained points for not publicly shaming his wife and outright disowning SJ.” The points should stay only if he didn’t do it just to keep the company which SH’s grandma wouldn’t give to him otherwise.
Anyway, the dialogue you shared is full of stuff, pretty nice to read it again.
See, I don’t get that logic part of the script.
If I were the grandmother, why would I give the family wealth to somebody who is NOT of my own flesh and blood? SH is NOT the legitimate heir because he’s not her biological grandchild. Which one would she really prefer leading the family corporation? Her biological son or her non-biological grandson? Think of Prince Charles. He isn’t valuable to the throne if he isn’t of Queen Elizabeth’s bloodline. 🤣
I think I assumed the grandmother was from SH’s mother’s side. But if it’s his dad’s mum than this logic is weird indeed. Weird in a world where flesh and blood matters which I have no reason to assume this drama’s isn’t it.
See?! That’s what I thought too: that the grandmother is SH’s mom’s mom. His maternal grandma.
I even mentioned in one post that the picture at the memorial was her two dead children: the son and the daughter (SH’s mom).
But I was told that no, the grandmother was SH’s dad’s mom. And that lady on the pic at the memorial wasn’t SH’s mom, but the other daughter-in-law, who was married to the first husband.
I don’t speak Korean so I don’t know if a son-in-law is allowed to call his mother-in-law, “mom” or must use another word to designate relationship. I’ve been trying to catch how SH’s dad calls the chairwoman – but no luck.
But see that? If the grandmother/chairwoman is indeed SH’s paternal grandma, then SH’s dad is doing SH a big favor by not outing him as a non-marital child (or a child that was a result of his wife’s infidelity). SH’s dad’s position as VP of the company is safe because the chairwoman will choose him (despite his previous mismanagement of funds) OVER a non-biological grandson like SH. Blood is thicker than water, and all that.
But if the grandmother/chairwoman is SH’s MATERNAL grandma, then why on earth hasn’t SH spoken to his grandma and told her to oust the VP and put him in place because the man isn’t his biological dad anyway. His dad was only a “placeholder” for him till he was ready to take the reins of the company anyway.
lol. The writer better has a good explanation for all these.
SH Dad doesn’t get any points from me. First, he serves divorce papers on his wife while she is sick in the hospital with serious illness-very low blow. Second, he keeps Shi Hyun from attending his Mom’s funeral-not cool. Third, when he tells Shi Hyun he should just kill himself-it would be great for everyone if Shi Hyun did commit suicide-are you a human being, Dad?
In regards to the Grandmother-she is SH Dad’s Mom, & she has no use for her younger son. The older son who died was her favorite. SH Dad is only a VP because of SH, a “placeholder” as @packmule2 says, until SH & Granddaughter can take over. If the Grandmother finds out that SH isn’t her blood relative, both SH and his Dad are out. She will replace SH Dad with someone else who she deems capable until the granddaughter can take over alone. SH Dad doesn’t want the truth to come out because the scandal will be huge and probably damage family reputation and possible the company the stocks could go down at scandal news-his Mom never forgive him. Also, of course Mom would throw him out of the company (& probably disown him as well). So SH Dad would lose everything, and be considered the cause of major embaarassment for family and also possible major problems at company. SH doesn’t want to tell Grandmother the truth because then his mother’s reputation is tarnished, plus He has been raised as JK Heir so he probably does have some loyalty to the Grandmother, Cousin, & the family name so he wouldn’t want the scandal fallout for them either. I think that is why he’s keeping quiet.
Hmmm… our discussions are getting deeper and deeper. I like it.
What I really don’t understand is the repercussion when the truth about SH is revealed. We see two possible outcomes.
1. SH is kicked out. – I get why. He’s an imposter; he isn’t a blood-relative.
2. Dad is out, too. – But why?
He and the niece are the only living relatives. The niece isn’t ready to take over; if she’s given leadership (even it’s nominal), stocks will definitely destabilize because she’s an unknown.
On the other hand, he’s been VP all this time. Sure, he bungled up JK Bio but he’s still the next best thing. Th shareholders wouldn’t have accepted him as VP. To me, the fact that his wife cheated on him and bore him a SH should be a) pity story for grandmother/chairwoman, and b) incentive to keep him on as VP.
Why?
1. Because he’s the only viable successor to the family/private corporation. They can always sell the company.
2. If threatened to be fired, HE could counter by threatening to reveal the truth himself and causing the scandal to damage the family reputation and depress stocks. Public sentiment will be with ALWAYS BE with him because HE’s the one who was stuck a) with an unfaithful wife, and b) with a child who wasn’t his.
Re. divorcing her when she was sick: I can see why this can be considered a low-blow. 🙂
However, you have to ask this: Was he planning to divorce her even BEFORE she became ill? If so, then her illness wasn’t the cause of the divorce. But her illness was impeding and DELAYING the divorce. I know it sounds callous but people must be allowed to go on with their lives and their pursuit of happiness. SJ’s dad shouldn’t be guilt-tripped into staying in a marriage he had long wanted to leave.
Look at it this way: You’re married to somebody you absolutely hate, and you want out. But on the day your divorce papers are to be signed, you find out that he has cancer. Will you stay or not?
Now, let’s take this further: what if he’s an abusive man? Will you let your life be on hold FOR HIM for an indeterminate period of time because he’s dying? What if you’ve already found a better guy?
To me, noble idiocy is staying in that unhappy, loveless marriage just because the spouse is sick. (It’s as stupid as LEAVING a happy marriage just because the spouse is sick.) It’s unrealistic to demand that someone stay married and delay his happiness until the death of the spouse. However, it is realistic and reasonable to continue to be held financially responsible for your dying spouse if he had been relying on you for monetary assistance prior to his illness.
I’m not trying to defend SJ’s dad here. I’m trying to point out that divorcing a sick spouse isn’t a black-and-white issue. There are times when you have no choice but to go separate ways. The sooner the better. 🙂
I see where you are coming from, @packmule, and I agree that the reasons & circumstances surrounding a divorce are complex in real life, and not black/white. In this fictional situation, however, I go with what I see on screen. Frankly, I think you give SH Dad too much credit. For me, he is and always will be a person who treated both his wife & SH terribly. I certainly agree with you that he could have divorced SH Mom earlier. In fact, that would have been preferable. I think that is the point the drama was trying to make. He could have served the divorce papers to her earlier -before her hospitalization, or at any point during their 16 years together. He was unhappy in the marriage from day 1. However, he doesn’t do that. Instead the drama illustrates his cold and callous nature by having him serve the divorce papers to her while she is in the middle of treatment for a serious illness.
SH Dad will always rank as the worst parent for me because he told SH to go kill himself.
In regard to the repercussions of SH not being the biological child:
First, one must understand the Grandmother/Chairwoman has no love for SH Dad. In fact, she blames him for the death of 3 people, most important of which is her eldest son, who was her favorite. Chairwoman does not want him to be VP from day one. She gives him this promotion for Grandson SH sake. Even so, this grates on her because it’s a reminder that the TRUE VP-Eldest Son-should be there and is not because of SH Dad. Then SH Dad proves he is a terrible businessman and screws up the company. Chairwoman doesn’t fire or demote him because of SH, but it is pretty clear that he would be if SH wasn’t in the mix. She does not care if he is relative.
SH Dad wants to keep his VP position, so he hides the truth about SH as he knows once his Mother doesn’t have that reason to keep him on, she’s going to demote him or he may be outright fired.
I don’t think the fact that his wife cheated on him and had a baby that wasn’t his is going to be any incentive to keep him on as VP. Board of Directors & Shareholders are only interested in making money. SH Dad has now proven he loses money for the company with his JK Bio screwup.
We don’t know the corporate structure of JK Group, but it’s probably safe to say that Chairwoman has either controlling interest-which would give her total power on decisions of staffing, or she has the largest amount of shares, plus great influence on other members to vote her way, enough influence that she can get what she wants done. SH Dad is VP because Chairwoman wants it that way. For all we know, the other shareholders may hate SH Dad as VP but couldn’t win against the Chairwoman.
Chairwoman is never going to sell JK Group, ever. JK Group is the family business. Certainly, SH Dad is not the only viable successor. For Chairwoman, the chosen successor is SH and Granddaughter. Since SH would be gone because not blood relation-then successor is Granddaughter. SH Dad job is to make sure JK Group is successful and still running smoothly when SH & Granddaughter are ready to take over leadership positions. SH Dad failed at this task since JK Group lost money and have problems under his leadership. Chairwoman would have no problem getting rid of SH Dad as VP and installing someone else as VP to run things until Granddaughter ready to take over. It doesn’t have to be a family member.
Yes, SH Dad could threaten Chairwoman in order to keep VP position, but he would just be hurting himself if he were to break the news since probably vast majority, if not all of his personal wealth, comes from JK Group shares he owns. Also, he is desperate for his Mother’s approval-threats not the way to get it. So Chairwoman probably wouldn’t believe him.
Bottom line, Chairwoman doesn’t care about SH Dad being her son. She care about grandson SH. If SH no longer her grandson, then Chairwoman free to demote him from VP Position or fire him, wich SH Dad doesn’t want.
😀
Will get back to you later. Gotta run!! I still have to put on my mascara. I dare not leave home without mascara.
I enjoyed reading the conversations here. Like Tablo SH’s dad isn’t a favorite of mine, because he was so good towards SH and his mom. Then his outright cold attitude towards SH, I don’t get that either. Is he just being mean to him because they aren’t blood related? I understand what packmule3 means when she says that dad could have divorced mom earlier but he didn’t. But given kdrama logic we expect him to be nicer lol, so I am puzzled why did he choose to stay in this loveless relationship. But choosing to stay in thisarriage and by ruining the bondbetween him and SH, now he is already at the verge of collapse and moreover his eyesight is getting weakened.He’s a sad man indeed.
Although I do realize that we shouldn’t expect one to be a good person all in all lol. Even in real life we are more gray, with shades of good and bad, so why expect goodness from fictional characters, one might argue.
But overall I really like this show (including the background music), it has lots of complicated elements involved. All these relationships which can’t be save for life, makes the show more layered and dark.
*like Table122000 SH’s dad isn’t a favorite of mine.
He’s not my favorite either. 😏But if I’m reading the writer’s intent here correctly, he/she is making him sympathetic. He’s not going to be THE bad guy here.
And (watched Ep 11, not yet started with Ep 12) judging from SH’s visit to the gravesite, he was angry/not angry with his mom. His mom had kept things secret from him, his birth, for instance. Like a typical teen, he’s LASHING out at his dad because 1) he needs somebody to blame for death and bad things happening in life, — which is normal, and 2) his dad wasn’t at his mom’s side.
But as I tried to tell Table122000, if you step OUT OF SH’s BRAIN, and see things from a bigger perspective or from the real world (and this is where the writer is going to come in), you’ll see that 1) we aren’t getting the Dad’s POV during his wife’s illness and 2) the mom did NOT want to speak evil of her husband either.
We all automatically assumed that the wife was the martyred one, the persecuted one.
But what if she wasn’t the martyred one, the persecuted one? What if it was the father who was the wronged one here?
The sense I’m getting here is that the Dad’s major crime was that he distanced himself from his wife (just like what he’s doing with SJ’s mom). There was no love lost between them. He didn’t give himself EMOTIONALLY to her but he met his obligations as a husband FINANCIALLY. We know that he paid for her medical expenses and she was set up with her foundation to do anything she wanted with.
I don’t think he cheated with TH’s mom while being married to SH’s wife. Didn’t he get angry when SH asked him if there was an illegitimate child involved? The sense I got there was that HE wouldn’t stoop to that level and he found the suggestion repulsive and insulting. He didn’t get angry because he was guilty of hiding an illegitimate child somewhere.
While I don’t think he cheated with TH’s mom while he was married, SH’s mom certainly did – she was the one who gave birth to SH. I can’t stress this hard enough. The mom was the cheater here.
Between the two of them, if we tally their “marital crimes,” SH’s mom’s infidelity outweighs SH’s dad’s love affair with TH’s mom.
Why?
SH’s mom bore a child. Once he married, his affair with TH’s mom ended and TH’s mom too moved on with her marriage with TH’s dad. For all intents and purposes, SH’s dad was willing to settle into a loveless marriage with SH’s mom. But she cheated. That’s a game-changer.
As I also told Table122000, if he had been planning to end the marriage even BEFORE the wife got sick because their relationship was irrevocably damaged, then I would have to give him credit for STAYING in the marriage while she was sick, PAYING for her medical fees, and GIVING her all the “prestige” of being a chaebol’s wife to her death. He wasn’t the one involved with an affair. 😈
If I were in his shoes, I’d have kicked her shameless ass out of the house as soon I found out about the affair. I had sacrificed the love of my life for her, and then she cheated on me. Then she tried to pass off her child with that man as OURS? To her death, she hid her dirty secret, and didn’t ask for my understanding and forgiveness. 🤦♂️I’d stay a mile away from her, too, because god knows what I’d do to her if I couldn’t control my bitterness.
This whole impasse between SH and his dad was the mom’s fault, too. She was the one who didn’t clear up the perception that SH had that his father had abandoned them. She allowed SH’s anger fester. Sure, she couldn’t explain her infidelity without losing one of her angel’s wings and tarnishing her martryed image. But knowing that she was dying, she could have vaguely warned SH, “Son, not everything is as it seems. Whatever happens in the future, remember that mistakes were done on both sides. Be forgiving.”
That would have been better advice than telling her son to fly stupid paper airplanes because troubles would go away when you refuse to face them. Such a dimwit. 😂
Nearsea, perhaps he chose to stay in the marriage because he entered the loveless marriage fully expecting it to be FOR LIFE. That’s how chaebols do it, right? Because divorce is a scandal unless your family is like SJoo’s family (lol).
This engagement with SJ’s mom actually shows us what kind of marriage he had before. He did the things which are expected of him: the engagement ring, the dinners because SJ’s mom requested them, the phone calls, etc. Did you notice that in Episode 18, he had to be advised by his secretary to call up HIS FIANCÉ? He’d do it, too, without complaints. He wouldn’t do things for his wife/fiancée because he cared for her, but because it was the “right” thing and the “expected” thing to do.
The weekend date was funny. It was actually SJ’s mom who suggested a weekend outing in the country. But it didn’t enter the dad’s head to invite her out. His thoughts were only of TH’s mom and of spending time with her so he missed the obvious hint in SJ’s mom’s conversation. Lol.
From his last meeting with the chairwoman, I’m assuming that he intended his marriage to SJ’s mom to have an expiration date. Maybe he learned his lesson from the first marriage??
I’m not sure he knows that SJ’s mom is in love with him. He saw his secretary with her though so I did wonder whether the thought crossed his mind that his soon-to-be-wife was going to cheat on him like his first wife did. 😜