This seems like a filler episode but oh well. The screenwriter has no other choice but to drag this whole EumJi mystery until Episode 16.

1. EumJi’s body unburied

Do you know why those three men were digging in the woods in the middle of the night? I don’t.

I didn’t like that deus ex machina was used to unearth the missing body. But I get what it had to be done.

a. It raises the stakes for our couple.

Previously, all SolHee has to do is BELIEVE that he speaks the truth, and everything will be as she says it is. “If I say so, then it is so.”

But what happens if there’s evidence of an alternative truth? Or if there’s an overabundance of evidence pointing to his guilt? Will she still be able to profess that he’s innocent?

SolHee has progressed from certainty (“If I say so, then it is so.”) to belief (“I believe in you, so it is so”). But she will still need to advance from belief to faith (“I have faith in you, so it is so.”) To have faith in someone is the highest form of love. It endures despite many doubts, challenges, oppositions, and abuses.

An aside: I hope she’ll remember that she passed by DoHa walking on the side of the road around midnight. She could be his alibi.

b. The discovery of EumJi’s body wrecks havoc on DoHa’s mom’s political campaign. 

It destroys her argument that the death was suicide.

Politician 1: I’ll ask Candidate Jung Yeon Mi a question. It’s true that we’re concerned about the issue regarding your son. IFi the rumors are true, people would be worried about letting you govern Gyeonggi when you couldn’t raise your son properly. Could you comment on that.
Doha’s mom: Candidate Yoo Jae Hoon, do you know how that case was concluded?
Politician 1: Yes. He was acquitted.
DoHa’s mom: You got that right. Yes. The prosecutor decided that he was not guilty. Why does this keep being brought up? I think it’s because the real culprit hasn’t been found. In my sons’ case, it was a suicide, not a murder. So there won’t even be a real culprit.
Politician 1: Isn’t there a chance that it wasn’t suicide.
DoHa’s mom: Just like this, people would point fingers at him and call him a murderer until the day he died. I won’t criticize the onew sho say that. But calling me a mother who raised her son wrong and saying I’m not worthy of governing Geyonggi is unacceptable.

It’s no longer a suicide case for the simple reason that a dead person can’t bury herself.

But then, will DoHa’s mom prioritize her son’s welfare without milking the situation to further her political ambition?

2. Man-to-man talk

DoHa: Anyway, thank you for helping me.
Gangmin: You don’t have to thank me. If something happens to her, I’ll kill you, not Choi Eom Ho.

What an odd remark coming from a police! First, he lacks personal detachment to work on this case. Second, he’s required to presume innocence. Third, he’s not above the law.

DoHa: Do you still have feelings for her?
Gangmin: SolHee has always struggled. Only good things need to happen to her now. So you can’t be a murderer, and you can’t get killed by someone, either. Hide what happened to your face, too. Don’t get caught.

Three things again. One, he evades DoHa’s question. Two, he cannot wrap SolHee in cotton wool for the rest of her life. Three, he’s committing the same mistake that he did when he kept his cancer secret from SolHee. SolHee doesn’t like to hear lies. But hiding something from her that she needs to know is also a lie by omission.

DoHa: I can’t hide it from SolHee.
Gangmin: Because she can hear lies?
DoHa: You don’t seem to believe it. I know how you feel, but I’ll make her happy in my own way. Don’t worry.

To be fair, Gangmin’s words did resonate with DoHa. He put his mask on to hide his bruises from SolHee but he couldn’t keep it on for long because she asked prettily if she could see his face.

I like how DoHa ended up telling SolHee the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It was a relief that I didn’t have to sit through misunderstanding, cover-up, and theatrics.

3. The distraught CEO

He seems to be more upset about the news of DoHa dating SolHee than he was to learn that his wife is having an affair. He had to stop by a convenience store to get headache medicine. Is he gay? Is he in the closet?

CEO: SolHee, do you really trust DoHa?
SolHee: Yes. How about you, Mr. Jo?
CEO: I trust him too.
SolHee: (happy to hear that it isn’t lie)
CEO: I heard the news. He said you guys are dating. Congratulations.
SolHee: (disconcerted to hear that it’s lie)

She then shares with DoHa her finding that the CEO trusts him wholeheartedly. She’s about to add that his CEO is unhappy about the news of their dating, but he gets distracted by the food she laid out on the table. To me, CEO’s lie is a Chekhov’s gun. His lie is significant (because why wouldn’t he feel congratulatory about the happy couple?) but it’s buried like it isn’t an important element in the story. I think it foreshadows his move to undermine SolHee and break up the relationship.

It’s not surprising that he pays DoHa’s mom a visit. He cleverly lets it slip that DoHa is dating somebody.

DoHa’s mom: Yeonseo-dong? Why there?
CEO: His girlfriend lives there.
DoHa’s mom: What does she do?
CEO: She runs a café. A tarot café. You don’t have to worry so much. Eom Ho doesn’t know he’s there. And DoHa is more comfortable there.

He must really like the fact that he was the one who convinced DoHa to stay in his apartment. Hmmm…why did he buy real estate so far away from Seoul in the first place? Did he really plan it to be his personal bolthole? His wife didn’t even know he bought that property, right?

DoHa’s mom: Where is it? That café?
CEO: You need to focus on the election. I shouldn’t have brought it up.

Nice try. I think he intended to report it to DoHa’s mom. In his mind, if anybody can force DoHa to end this, it’ll be his mom. He wants to break up that relationship but he has to do it underhandedly.

4. The low-key proposal

It’s cute how SolHee got DoHa to level up their relationship.

SolHee: Does kissing automatically make you a couple?

He understood the unspoken part. (This face is fan-service, though.)

DoHa: Do you want to date me?
SolHee: Forget it.

So he proposed with his favorite nuts, with a soccer keychain, and health bars.

I like that their courtship is so wholesome. If this was a Hollywood-produced drama, I’d have expected some raunchy humor. Like, “Sure, I’ll be your girlfriend if you show me some skin.”

5. The festival

Like the proposal scene, this was a cute filler.

The two key things here are:

a. DoHa was recognized by someone in the crowd. I’m sure his picture will spread on the internet and his mom will be called out for lying that he’s in Germany.

b. he helped out the part-timer win the singing contest. Should he split from CEO’s agency, DoHa could continue to play music at the jazz club and create music for indie singers.

That’s it, folks.