I’m re-posting this even though the drama is already done because:

a. this drama was so fast paced that I’m going to forget what happened when. Nrllee’s recaps will remind me of the sequence of events.

b. I like to go over and see where the plot holes were.

c. I don’t have time to rewatch it although I would have loved to. Reading Nrllee’s recaps is as close as I can get to reviewing the drama.

I’ll quote Nrllee’s post in full and post my comments here and there.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Ep9 notes

– residents were banding together to try to eject SB and YH outside the building (meeting at Snooty Ahjumma’s apartment – everybody except reverend hubby, old cleaning lady, lady writer, sleazy lawyer, mistress, old couple and good for nothing YouTuber son). Andrew informs SB/YH of their plan. SB barges in on their meeting and wants to cut her hand (blood) to try to flush any zompires out from amongst the residents. YH stops her just in time and cuts his hand instead. 😍. Supermarket girl BoRam is revealed to be a zompire. She got scratched on her leg by one of the zompires before they found her hiding in the supermarket. In the interim, BoRam gets locked up in the gym as a result.

Some additional points, Nrllee.

1. SaeBom ordered the residents to have their meeting in the Rep Oh’s apartment because “her house is empty and has nothing inside.” I thought it was cool of the BoDs to have noticed right away in a previous episode that the starkness of their condo revealed the true state of their finances. Rep Oh was wearing fancy clothes but she couldn’t afford to furnish their apartment with wardrobe or closets to hang them in.

SaeBoom was trying to expose Rep Oh as a fake. And the representatives of the “poor people” in the group, namely the Cleaning Couple, noted that Rep Oh had nothing.

2. COUPLE MOMENT: YH joined her and judged the situation. He knew SB was about to lose her temper. He would reveal to the child SeYoon that he wasn’t so much worried for SaeBom but for the people at the receiving end of her anger.

He held her by the shoulder and arm, and told her to breathe and calm down. She listened to him. He ordered everybody to go and brought her home.

Why do I like this moment? Because it shows what loving couples do: they calm each other down and serve as the voice of reason. In melodramas, the typical couple inflames the passionate senses of the other person with intense looks, heavy breathing, tight embraces, torrid kissing, and so on. In contrast, in this drama, we get a couple who can soothe the other person in distress with comforting touch and calm words. Although there’s nothing sexual about the way YH held her, there’s something inherently sexy about the deft way he took charge of the emotional moment.

3. I like YiHyun’s conversation with the child, SeYoon.

He’d just finished warning his Hyung Jung Gook about interacting with the residents. He said they were not to be trusted.

But with SeYoon, he refrained from instilling fear or sowing disillusion in a child.

SY: I think everyone is so mean.
YH: But they’re not bad people. It’s because people get scared.
SY: Even the Ahjussi from unit 601?
YH: Except for him. Don’t even go next to him or reply if he talks to you. Just ignore him like he’s not even there. Got it?

This is a good enough explanation for kids to differentiate between good and bad people. He was saying that, in general, people are good, and want to do good things. But fear can make them act abnormally, and atypically.

But there’s always that one exception to the general rule, like Killer Oh. Killer Oh is like that one rotten apple that ends up spoiling the rest of the good ones in a bushel.

SB: Don’t even look at him.
YH: Yes.
SB: But isn’t Ahjussi Jung Gook too much? We have known him for over ten years.
YH: I’m not siding with him, but…

I like his introduction because it indicated his awareness that:

a. this topic was potentially a touchy one, and she might get the wrong idea.
b. his loyalty rested with his wife, of course. Lol.

However, he wanted her understand that his Hyung was having a bad time, too.

He could imagine himself in his Hyung’s shoes. He was calm because SeoBom was beside him throughout this ordeal. But if something happened to SeoBom, he could easily lose his control, too. Just like when he went berserk because he thought SeoBom was held hostage by the Penthouse Guy.

YiHyung tolerated his Hyung’s behavior because he could relate to his distress. But SeoBom didn’t get it because she hadn’t lost him…yet.

YH: (continuing) He hasn’t gone home in a while. He must miss his wife so much. I’m sure he’s worried about her, too.
SB: You know that I keep a score, right?

Lol. Meaning she kept grudges.

SB: (continuing) Plus one for a good deed. Minus one for a bad deed. Ahjussi Jung Gook is in the minus right now.
YH: Just score me. I must have lots of points.

Meaning, she could take it out on him. Instead of her getting mad at his Hyung, he would take all the blame and get punished for his Hyung’s bad deeds. However, when SB didn’t respond right away to his joke, he wondered if he was on her bad side all along, but just didn’t know it.

SB: (not responding)
YH: (insecure) I am in the plus, right?
SB: (still not responding)

And Andrew knocked on their door to inform them of the plan to throw the couple out of the building.

4. Noteworthy: when YiHyun slashed his palm and showed the dripping blood to the residents, Andrew wasn’t part of the circle. Andrew was standing apart from them but he was intently watching the proceeding.

When Boram revealed herself to be a zompire, everybody, except Andrew, screamed and cowered in fear. He remained calm.

5. The title “Happiness” came on here.

– writer’s brother SoMin is locked up in the digital driving range. Fake reverend hubby is trying to convince him to make the others believe that SB is infected too. Fake reverend wasn’t there during the “blood” test. 😮. He returns to his apartment to find the blood spatter and starts to clean it up. He almost wants to lick it? 😮. But his wife walks back into the room and he stops himself. So he’s one too? Is that why the zompires didn’t bite him when he flashed the cross? If that’s the case, then Andrew is potentially a hidden zompire too. Seeing the security guard didn’t bite him on the rooftop.

As we discovered in Episode 12, from Writer Na’s brother, that the smell of an infected person’s blood was repellent to another infected person. A zompire only thirsted for the blood of an uninfected person.

But in this Episode 9, Andrew hadn’t turned into a zompire yet. So I wonder why the security guard and the other guy just didn’t bite him and they listened to his order to go down the staircase.

The funny thing about the meeting between Writer Na’s brother and the Fake Pastor was the Fake Pastor pretended to be scared of getting bitten by Writer Na’s Brother. He moved a few steps away from the Brother to avoid him, when in reality, he was already a zompire himself.

The Brother was more endangered in the presence of the Pastor than the other way around.

– we get a moment for our OTP as SB dresses YH’s hand wound. And they do their usual curt interchange which none so subtly tells us that each cares for the other person’s welfare deeply 😂

Yes, this was another COUPLE MOMENT. She scolded him for creating a puddle of blood when all he had to do was cut a little to draw a few drops of blood and scare them. Trying to make light of the situation, he said that he was a passionate person. But his vessels and tendons are fine.

What I like about this scene is that SaeBom didn’t stay angry for a long time. After she scolded him, she calmed down and focused on the essentials….like food.

SB: Don’t do this again. It makes me feel bad to see you get hurt. My stomach feels uncomfortable, and I don’t think I can eat dinner.

Dinner is essential for SaeBom.

YH: (serious) I feel the same. When all those people were glaring at you, and you held a knife, trying to cut your hand. How can I stay put?

I think the kissasian subs said it better than the viki subs.

SB: How about me?
YH: This is okay for me, but you shouldn’t do that.

This is the “Good Cop. Bad Cop” routine he was talking about. He didn’t want her hurt, so he insisted that she played the part of the good cop, while he took on being the bad cop.

SB: Why not?
YH: Just don’t, if I tell you not to.

It was hardly the time to confess that he cared for her, so he simply asserted his authority over her as her husband.

As a response, she squeezed his hand to make him wince. When he complained, she called him “crybaby.” Then, she proceeded to treat him like a baby by blowing on his wound. (That’s a common kdrama trope. Blowing on the booboo reduces the pain, or at least the “perception” of pain.)

– SB sets the supermarket girl up on the rooftop away from the others.

The “perp walk” of the Supermarket Girl among the other residents was a good camera shot.

She was an outcast. The residents clung to the side of the walls, as if they were going to be infected or attacked by the Supermarket Girl.

In the long run, however, they proved to be more degenerate than she ever was. At least, she didn’t harm the Elderly Couple while she lived with them. In contrast, the residents didn’t need the virus for their criminal tendencies to take over them.

– they convene another meeting in the gym to try to flush out more of the infected. Fake reverend doesn’t show either. YH wants someone else to do the honours. Andrew slices his arm as a blood sacrifice…hmm…is it because he’s infected? So he doesn’t turn because it’s his own blood? He collects some of it in a cup which YH passes around to try to flush any unknowns. Nobody turns. Snooty Ahjumma brings the cup of blood home and leaves it on the kitchen counter. Fake reverend drinks it…and she screams. Turns out he got the drug off the gym trainer. And he’s the guy who bloodied them towel that old cleaner lady found in the stairwell trash. Snooty Ahjumma is still hung up about being apartment rep? 🙄

1. I think Andrew sliced his arm because he was copying YH’s act earlier. He had a “superhero/supervillain” complex.

2. We also had an intermission scene here. LtCol Han and Lt Lee were shown back in the dormitory, discussing a new mutation. She said that the zompires could control the timing of their episodes, and suppress their thirst. Only when they were sure that they wouldn’t get caught, would they have an episode. Han called it a “conniving disease. It’s as bad as people.”

3. The Fake Reverend had such a mutant virus in his system. He was able to successfully hide his condition from his wife because the disease was as “conniving” as the infected person. But when she found out, she too freaked out.

And as you said, Nrllee, after hearing that her husband was infected, she was still worried about getting the job as apartment rep.

Fake Pastor: …It’s tough for me, too. Should I just go down to the gym, too?
Rep Oh: (shocked) Woo Chang, we’ve been through some hard times. If they find out you have the disease, I can’t become the resident rep, either. Are we going to give up like this?

He was saying it was tough for him. But she replied that it would get tough for her, too, if and when people found out. She was more concerned about the job of apartment representative than his health condition. She wanted him to endure it for her.

Fake Pastor: Then what do we do?
Rep Oh: The bedroom…if you stay in the bedroom, I’ll bring you food. Yes. We’ll just say you’re sick. If you endure just a few more days, the soldiers will come. Let’s just endure until then. You can do that, right?

And that’s when the Fake Pastor decided to leave their apartment. The marriage of the Fake Pastor and Rep Oh was as fake as it came. He didn’t want to endure his situation by himself, any longer. He gave in to his blood thirst.

To his credit, however, he didn’t go after his wife, and his sole follower, Jung Gook.

4. The other scene that I’ve to mention is the meeting between LtCol Han and the Pharma Boss. According to Lee, he could stay normal for 10 minutes, but if he turned once again, recovery was highly unlikely.

I think this was the revenge Han was waiting for. As far as the outside world was concerned, the Pharma Boss was already dead. His funeral had been staged.

So, in his usual ironic way, Han apologized for being late to attend to him.

Han: I’m late because I had too much to do, thanks to you, Chairman. Your funeral went well. Some people cried when they heard that you volunteered for clinical trials. When the situation is resolved, you’ll probably receive a national medal of recognition. Your children were crying a lot. You didn’t tell them your slush fund account number, right?

🙂 He meant that they were crying, not because they missed him, but because they couldn’t get their hands on his hidden wealth.

Then, the Pharma Boss reminded him of that adage that after the hunt is over, the hunting dog is no longer needed (Why, you might asked. Because a tired hunting dog is just extra mouth to feed; it’s cheaper to breed new and young hunting dogs for the next hunt.)

The Pharma Boss again reminded him that his wife and child would become a zompire, too. He never learned from the last time he mentioned Han’s wife and unborn baby. On the surface, Han didn’t appear as if he minded the Pharma Boss’ taunting. But deep inside, Han was ready to deliver a lethal blow.

Han: (looking at wristwatch) Only five minutes remain for you to speak normally. A hunting dog? When I obtain the treatment, who will be treated like a hunting dog? (looking pointedly at the Pharma Boss)

Han meant that he would use Pharma Boss in the upcoming experiments and there was nothing the Pharma Boss could do to stop him since the Pharma Boss was already considered dead. Nobody was coming to look for him, and he wouldn’t be able to report to anybody. Han was going to make the Pharma Boss suffer for what he did and there was no way out.

– Fake reverend runs out of his apartment and is exposed as he breaks into 1201 and tries to munch on Dermatologist and Sleazy lawyer (who had his pants down…🤣 whilst visiting the mistress)/mistress. SB and YH try to apprehend possessed reverend. They manage to succumb him (tied his hands up and covers his head with a shirt/towel) and leave him to talk outside with Snooty Ahjumma. Evil dermatologist appears from his locked room, lures reverend into taking a dive off the balcony…to his death.

Yes, Killer Oh was such a despicable person, right? And he kept forgetting to close the door behind him. 🤦‍♀️

Also, I like that leg grappling move that YiHyung did to knock the Pastor down to the ground. That was a cool move.

It was as cool as the climbing move he did to get on LtCol Han’s car.

Heyyyy, I thought he had a bum leg. 🤔

On a different note, we got another couple moment after this crisis. SaeBom re-bandaged YiHyun’s wound after he exposed his bloody hand to get the Fake Pastor off SaeBom. She lectured him again.

SB: Don’t ever do this again. We don’t even have antibiotics.
YH: I’m a human vitamins and antibiotics. I’ll be fine. (holding her hand) The pastor’s death is not our fault.

I like that he sensed that she was feeling bad even when she didn’t say anything and was acting normal. This is a result of the 10-year-old friendship. They were on the same wavelength.

SB: I know. But I still feel bad. He should’ve told us he was sick.
YH: It’s tough to confess to being infected. It must be scary to feel the desire to bite another person. I’m sure you start thinking if you endure it long enough, the treatment will become available soon. Afraid that the person closest to you will start to fear you. I’m sure that’s tough to deal with, too.

While he described the Fake Pastor’s emotions to a tee, he was also voicing his own fear and apprehension because he already knew that he was scratched during the scuffle with the Pastor.

SB: (feeling his forehead)

This was a nice camera shot. The brown tones added warmth to the image of the two of them sitting together on their balcony.

YH: What? Do I have a temperature? (touching his forehead, too)
SB: (touching her forehead) It seems like I do. There’s a fever reducer in the room, right? Take that just in case. Let’s take a break tomorrow and not do anything. Sleep well.
SB: (stands up and touches his forehead again)
YH: (eyes widening) I’m okay, right?
SB: Good night.

– mistress is trying to find the passcode to dermatologist’s cryptocurrency buys? She intends to fleece him and settle with sleazy lawyer. She happens to see dermatologist has tattooed the passcode on his shoulder? Err…I thought she was his mistress? Surely? But okay…maybe they haven’t gotten that far yet or their trysts have always been “in the dark” 😂

Hahaha. Nrllee, I suspect that the particular sex act that she was good at, didn’t require the guy to be naked from the waist up. Only from the waist down. 😈

– Penthouse guy tells SB and YH that there’s a back up generator which resides in another building? That if they power it up they will get electricity and water back up. But it means they have to go outside and the generator when turned on will be noisy and attract zompires.

On the third day, YiHyun and SeoBom were forced to ask the Penthouse Guy for help. SeoBom said that they wouldn’t do anything that day, but the Cleaning Couple and Andrew knocked on their door to ask for water. The other residents went to the Penthouse Guy so SeoBom and YiHyun had no choice but to stop them.

I think the Penthouse Guy had a crush on SeoBom because of her job in the military, and SeoBom was wise to appeal to his better nature. Just like he volunteered the information about the rooftop, he volunteered the information about the back-up generator in the garage level. In addition, he offered to give out some of his supplies.

SeoBom wanted to shake his hand for his generosity, but YiHyun intercepted them.

– YH was scratched just below his collar bone by fake reverend in the tussle. So he’s been infected.

Yes, but you weren’t surprised that he got infected, right, Nrllee?

I thought there was a foreshadowing; two, at least.

In Episode 7, when he and SB were waiting outside their condo while LtCol Han spoke with SeYoon.

SB asked him what he would do if end up catching the disease.

YH: Yes, Of course, I could catch it. It isn’t like we did anything wrong to catch it. By chance, if I catch the disease, get thirsty and want to bite people, I will be sure to tell you. So, be sure you tell me if anything happens to you.
SB: I will.

At that point, he thought SeoBom would turn into a zompire anytime soon. Although he was talking about hypothetically getting the disease himself, he really wanted to reassure her that he would be there for her when her symptoms flare up.

In episode 8, he caught Andrew drinking water from his water flask. The water flask had a logo on it.

Now, we get it. Andrew was being delusional, pretending to be a cop like YiHyun.

But YiHyun didn’t want to share his water bottle and poured all the water out. As it turned out, after he turned into a zompire, he couldn’t drink water from his mug. His mug also had the same logo as the water flask.

One last note: one of the posters (was it TheWanderer?) asked who did Rep Oh opened the door to on the night her husband died.

It was Killer Oh who came to offer a plan to kill YiHyun and SaeBom with Andrew’s help. Believing that the couple caused the death of her husband, Rep Oh wanted revenge. Not once did this woman with a one track mind suspect that Killer Oh was the real murderer.

YiHyun guessed it because he saw the blanket which was draped over the Fake Pastor’s head was removed and balled up on the rug. The Pastor couldn’t have removed it by himself since his hands were tied behind his back.

That’s it. Thanks, Nrllee, for doing this. It makes it easier for me to comment on the next episodes.