On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me…
Three parents-in-law,
Two texting couple
And a fluttering love story.

lol. I’m going to challenge myself and see if I can complete this Christmas song with inspiration from Fluttering Alert.

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I’m not counting YooJung’s father as an “in-law” because WooHyun knew him as HIS aboji before he discovered that his daughter was YooJung.  But YooJung’s in-laws are something else.

I believe @tsutsuloo commented on this earlier that navigating her relationships with WooHyun’s mom and Stepmother would pose a challenge. I’ve forgotten how kdramas always portrayed mothers-in-law as evil people!! Thank goodness that in YooJung’s case, I think her stress will be a result of the ladies trying to outdo each other in showering her with affection and to vie for the award “Most Understanding Mother-in-law.”

WH’s Mom: (gushing over the jacket)
YJ: Since we’re keeping it simple and forgoing everything, I thought you might feel disappointed.
Mom: I’ll be sure to wear it at the wedding. (Turning to stepmom) She’s so great at taking care of others.

lol. Since YJ didn’t get the Stepmom a gift, the mom was implying that YJ didn’t care for Stepmom as much as she did for her. The rivalry already started! And the babies haven’t come yet. (facepalm) Can you imagine if these two ladies were competing for the affection of their grandkids?? lol.

YJ: (addressing stepmom) I’m sorry I didn’t prepare anything for you.
Stepmom: It’s alright. Don’t worry.

If this was a real wedding, I would recommend the bride to get something for her stepmothers/fathers as well. Perhaps NOT the same personalized gift given to the real mom, like a pearl set for the real mom (or for whomever the groom has the closest relationship with) and just the pearl earrings or necklace for the stepmom. However, I don’t think weddings are an appropriate time to start measuring and differentiating parental love.

Mom: You must be busy preparing for the wedding. I said I’d help you but you aren’t saying anything.
YJ: I’m already done with all the preparations and bought everything we need.
Stepmom: (getting her purse) Your tastes are different (meaning YJ is classier and WH’s mom is tacky, lol, judging by her yellow fur), so if you go around together and start asking her “Is this okay?” and “Is this pretty?” that’s like torture. (handing YJ an envelope) Congratulations.

The Stepmom has a point here. It’s a burden to YJ because she’ll be forced to go with future MiL’s “hints” and preferences. Money is better.

YJ: (refusing the envelope) No. We’re really done preparing, and we decided to forgo congratulatory monies.
Stepmom: A gift from the parents is different from a congratulatory money from guests.
Mom: That’s true. Here. Say, “Thank you,” and take it.
YJ: Thank you.
Stepmom: You must have a headache having to deal with two mothers-in-law when one’s already more than enough.
YJ: No. That thought never entered my head.
Mom: Instead, you get double the love and affection. Can you think of it like that?
YJ: Yes, mother.
Stepmom: I won’t play the mother-in-law role so don’t worry. Just think of it as having an extra elder you can lean on. If you consider me like that, I’ll be grateful.

Ugh! When a MiL says “don’t worry,” you betcha it means the opposite.

Mom: Me too. I don’t plan on giving you trouble as a mother-in-law, YooJung.
YJ: Yes.
Stepmom: At any rate, you’re officially becoming the second daughter-in-law of Choego Group, so I hope you’ll live up to that standard and prestige.
Mom: You said you aren’t going to act like a mother-in-law but why are you burdening her like that?
Stepmom: Did I?
YJ: I’m not confident I can be the daughter-in-law you’re perfectly pleased with, but I’ll do my best as to not worry you.
Mom: You speak so prettily, too.

I agree. That was a good answer.

YJ: It’s because you look at me fondly.

A note here: the Stepmother commented on her being the second daughter-in-law of the Choego Group. Again, I don’t think SeHyun is married. The wife was neither mentioned nor seen in all 16 episodes. What the Stepmother meant here was YooJung was the wife of the “second” son thus she’s the “second” daughter-in-law.

I mentioned it in soompi a few weeks ago. I don’t know if mentioned it here but I’ll do so now. I said it wouldn’t make sense if Cha SeHyun was married.

In Ep 3 at 20:52, YooJung was reported to have an affair with CEO Cha SeHyun.

According to the media report (and this is verbatim) her dating scandal with the actor Hwang JaeMin was only a smokescreen to cover her real affair with the CEO. Her advancement into Hollywood was made possible by his support. And she had five ads alone with the the Choego Group’s subsidiaries.

Notice that there was no mention of the SeHyun’s marital status.

If he had been married, you could bet on the media highlighting that. It would have been more sensational to report that she was having an affair with a MARRIED Chaebol than a bachelor Chaebol. It would mean that she was an adulteress and the mistress. A moral degenerate. And there’s no way her career would survive after she’s been branded as an adulteress and personally, I don’t the actress YEH would have okay’ed this detail especially when it had little impact on the plot.

Plus, in Ep 6 at 42:38, Chairman Cha told his wife, “As if girls, gambling, drunk driving, and even drug charges weren’t enough, now there’s word that he’s playing around with money? How could I possibly give him my position?”

Neither the Stepmother nor Chairman Cha ever mentioned having a daughter-in-law that Sehyun had to be loyal to. Chairman Cha disapproved of Sehyun because he was a womanizer not because he as an adulterer.

As for WooHyun’s dad, I’m glad that he’s turned out to be a good guy after all. I like that when he woke up, his first thought was his son should go back to YooJung.

He didn’t regard YooJung as a usurper of his son’s affection. He’s accepted her as a daughter-in-law, too.

To me, this formation of bonds with the future in-laws is one of the things that sets this romcom apart from the others. There’s a conscious effort to include his family in their marriage. And as we predicted, YooJung was going to be the cohesive “glue.” Her warmth and kindness made it possible for all these strong personalities: WooHyun’s mom, stepmom and dad, to come together.

As her father told her, “Your mom was such a warm and attentive person…Your mom was optimistic and cheerful, so the family was always filled with sounds of laughter. You take after you mom a lot. You’ll live like that, too.”