[KD] Lie To Me: Episode 3

Ah-jung makes her rash lie, goaded by Ms. Bitchypants Extraordinaire,
So-ran, who basically tells her that Ah-jung doesn’t deserve a better
man or life than her — that the universe won’t abide it. It’s pretty
clear that it’s really So-ran who won’t abide it, but this gives us a
glance into the workings of her ego, since my way = universe’s way.
I love that being one-upped by her frenemy knots up So-ran’s insides —
literally, because it gives her stomach pains of jealousy. She
collapses, and her husband carries her away.
Alas, Ki-joon’s school chums just happen to be in earshot and cheer
the news. Immediately Ah-jung thinks with dread, “What the hell have I
done?”

Ki-joon approaches menacingly, and Ah-jung stammers that it was all a
misunderstanding. How on earth one can misunderstand “Hello, husband!”
is a mystery, and Ah-jung’s not equipped to explain — she runs. Hee.
Ki-joon fobs off his friends with a quick “It’s not what you think”
and chases. Ah-jung slips inside the elevator with So-ran and hubby
Jae-bum just in time to evade death by angry chaebol.
In the morning, Ki-joon opts to work out of a suite upstairs rather
than in his office, since he’s still stewing at being made into a
laughingstock by Ah-jung. He vows, “I’ll make her regret it.” His
secretary, Hoon, is sympathetic toward Ah-jung, saying that Aunt
Myung-jin is bound to retaliate if she finds out, “like that other
time.”

That must strike a chord, because Ki-joon’s attitude is softer when
he tells his aunt that the marriage rumors are just a joke. She asks
shrewdly if this is all the doing of that Gong Ah-jung girl, and Ki-joon
says no, she’s also a victim, and that there’s truly nothing to it.
She doesn’t believe him and thinks he’s being protective of her, but
accepts his request to handle it himself. She leaves with one last
question — he isn’t, by any chance, brewing up these rumors himself out
of rebellion since she’s pushing him so hard to marry, is he? (A story
line we’ve seen time and time again, with one example being Coffee Prince.) Ki-joon teases, “You’ve been watching too many dramas.” She replies, “Is it that obvious?” Ha.
Having convinced his aunt, he heads straight for legal counsel,
asking if this Chun Jae-bum guy is the best out there. (Hoon: “Aren’t
all lawyers the same?”)

In the lobby of the lawyer’s office, he runs into Jae-bum, who
recognizes him as Ah-jung’s husband and introduces himself. At the
chilly response, Jae-bum says that Ah-jung must not have told Ki-joon
about them — they used to live together. Ha! at Jae-bum trying
to provoke Ki-joon’s jealousy (with the whole “I was there first!”
implication), not knowing none is forthcoming. After enjoying the
misunderstanding for a moment, Jae-bum clarifies that they lived at the
same gosiwon (a dorm-like building).
Ki-joon can’t very well explain his situation to Jae-bum, so he
leaves with one declaration: “I am definitely not Gong Ah-jung’s
husband.” Jae-bum puzzles over that for a moment, and his
less-than-sharp brain deduces that Ki-joon must be hinting that he
doesn’t want his wife referred to by name, but by the more polite samonim (Mrs., madam). Hee. It’s a wonder he passed the bar with those skills of deduction.

Ki-joon finds the Ah-jung/Jae-bum connection fishy and suspects that
they may be in it together (to wring something out of him, that is). So
when Hoon suggests filing a police report, he considers it.
Ah-jung also imagines being arrested, prompted by a poster showing
two cuffed hands. Her co-worker misinterprets her discomfiture, and
guesses that such a reaction to that picture could only mean that she
was thinking sexy thoughts. Keh.
Ah-jung’s nerves are rattled at the ominous silence — surely Ki-hoon
would be quick to retaliate/respond/demand something — so she’s nervous
when she hears she has a visitor. Who has described himself as her
husband.
She slips out of work dreading the upcoming encounter, while her nosy
co-workers hurriedly follow. In the lobby, Ah-jung looks around warily,
but there’s no sign of Ki-joon — it’s Sang-hee who shows up.

(Hm, are we gonna get a double-marriage-rumor dealio, like in Mary Stayed Out All Night? I’m simultaneously excited and unnerved by that prospect.)
Sang-hee jokes that he called himself husband because it would’ve
been boring to just introduce himself as a friend: “Or should I have
said I was your brother?” Ah-jung’s co-workers crash into the lobby to
catch a glimpse of her so-called husband, and she tells Sang-hee to fix
the situation. He waves and says, “I’m her brother,” which only
partially appeases them. (I suspect that rumors of her fake marriage may
flare up their suspicions again at a later date.)

Over dessert, Ah-jung lets Sang-hee know she’s still miffed at him
for ditching her yesterday. Ah-jung has shared the gist of the tale with
Sang-hee, including the identity of her partner-in-scandal, and she
worries that Ki-joon will be mightily pissed off. Sang-hee says that’s
likely, and lets slip that he knows Ki-joon. Just a little.
Ah-jung spies Jae-bum walking into the cafe and ducks her head, but
he sees her anyway and says hello. When he mentions running into her
husband, she can’t bring herself to correct him, and even agrees to a
double date at a later date. She says it noncommittally, but Sang-hee
looks at her incredulously for keeping the lie going.

One thing that gets revealed in the conversation: So-ran is about to
leave for Canada, without Jae-bum. When asked about it, he looks uneasy
and changes the subject, confirming what we already can guess — that all
is not well in their marriage.
They migrate to a neighborhood playground on the way to Ah-jung’s house, where she looks wistfully at the gosiwon
where she lived for two years. She explains that she was happy there,
because the man she liked was there, even though she didn’t know how to
express her feeslings. So she made herself a promise to confess her
feelings once she passed the civil service exam, because that would be a
marker of their compatibility. Alas, when that day came, she found out
he was dating someone else.

Sang-hee guesses that Jae-bum was the guy. She calls herself foolish,
and laughs that to win the guy, she should’ve opted for plastic surgery
rather than a civil service exam. He smiles that studying rather than
surgery seems characteristic of her. Also: “I’m envious of him — how
come there are no women who’ve passed the civil service exam because of
me?” Because…nobody would think that would turn you on, you of the rich
getaways and flirty nightclub two-timers?
And then they play on the slides like two overgrown children. They’re
actually pretty cute together, in the way that familiarity breeds
comfort and ease. But kind of like siblings, or noona-dongsaeng, which
is gonna make this painful for the dongsaeng when it comes time to back
off, methinks…

Just as she’s about to leave, a drunk beggar comes by and asks her to
buy him coffee. Sang-hee intervenes and grabs her away, leaving the
beggar to mutter about how very beggarly they are, heh. Ah-jung tells
him they could’ve just given the dude coffee money, and Sang-hee laughs,
“It’s because I was scared. I have no change.” That’s oddly cute of
him.
They part ways, and on his cab ride back, Sang-hee’s mood turns more
pensive. Upon hearing today’s date, he realizes, “I’d forgotten.”
Instead of heading home, he finds his way to an apartment complex and
looks up at the building, wondering, “Are you well, Oh Yoon-ju?”

That would be his former classmate — and crush and, although we aren’t told explicitly, his brother’s ex (played by Jo Yoon-hee)
— who’s celebrating her birthday in Paris, and also her imminent
departure for Korea after three years here. Ah, love rectangle
completion imminent!
At work, Ah-jung sighs that she’d like to flee the country. What is
driving her nuts is the fact that Ki-joon is curiously silent, and the
anticipation of retaliation is keeping her on edge. Her colleague
suggests that he may just be busy, and that lovely idea is enough to set
her mind at ease — of course! He’s a busy businessman and executive, no
wonder he hasn’t called!

The minister from the previous event takes Ah-jung out to lunch,
saying that he’s sorry that the mess got blamed on her when it wasn’t
her fault. He’s treating her to a lavish meal — at World Hotel.
A trite plot point, sure, but Ah-jung’s facial expressions are just
so darned cute as she runs the gamut of responses to this horrific news,
from trying to hide behind her bangs to biting her knuckles.

At the hotel, she ducks behind a scarf, and as a result of her nerves
she confuses random people with Ki-joon, from the guy in the elevator
to the server at the restaurant. She makes it through lunch, but finally
does run into Ki-joon after parting ways from the minister. At first
she assumes she’s hallucinating again…but no, it’s really him this time.
But he walks away without a word.
She can’t help her curiosity and follows him to the elevator, asking
for a moment of his time. She grabs him when he resists, and they
struggle until he shoves her away and yells back — which is when they
find themselves the center of attention, in the hotel lobby.

Relocating to the stairwell, Ah-jung tells him that she’s sincerely
sorry for that misunderstanding, and asks for a chance to explain
herself properly. Ki-joon retorts that he doesn’t care to hear it, but
she says that at the very least, she doesn’t want him to think she did
it intentionally.
He cuts her off to say that there’s nothing more to be done about
things — which he means as “You can’t change the fact that you’re so
dead” but which she takes, hopefully, as bygones being bygones. He
smirks — not a reassuring response — and leaves, then mutters that he
hasn’t even begun yet.

Ah-jung drops by the hospital to visit So-ran, with all the best
intentions in the world, though those fall by the wayside when So-ran
prods her to explain how she and Ki-joon met.
Ah-jung works up the nerve to get the truth out, but just as she’s
about to, So-ran leans in excitedly and guesses, “You lied, right? You
lied about being pregnant to grab him, didn’t you? If not, how else
could you have married Hyun Ki-joon?”
Her eagerness for that to be true is off-putting, to say the least,
and how could a person NOT want to set her down a peg or two, even if
it’s with a lie?

Ah-jung switches gears and hints that she has met her match in
Ki-joon, “laws of the universe” be damned. She manages to do this
without naming names or saying anything explicitly, but she basically
reinforces her earlier lie and greatly enjoys watching So-ran squirm in
envy.
Ah-jung walks out feeling exceedingly pleased with herself, while
So-ran screeches in frustration. Hilarity aside (because it really is
satisfying to watch So-ran stew), it’s amazing how much her own sense of
worth is tied into someone else’s. It’s almost like she doesn’t have
any sense of self-esteem of her own, which has manifested in this beast
of overcompensation.

At the cafe run by Ah-jung’s motherly not-mother, Ae-kyung, the
ajusshi artist Seok-bong tries to ask Ae-kyung out on a date, though
cloaking it in terms that make it not a date. She agrees to go to the
jimjilbang with him (they have coupons), until Ah-jung’s father comes in
and asks her out to dinner and a movie.
Apparently these two were once close to marrying but never did, and
have maintained a friendly relationship over the years, even speaking to
each other in banmal. Ae-kyung chooses Dad, to Seok-bong’s dismay.
Unfortunately, just as they’ve bought their movie tickets, Dad has a
call and has to be off because a lawyer acquaintance has died.

Back at the cafe, Seok-bong and Sang-hee have drinks together (they’d
gone to art college together, despite the gap in their ages), and both
sigh over the loves they can’t forget — Seok-bong over Ae-kyung, and
Sang-hee over Yoon-ju.
Ditched on her date, Ae-kyung calls Ah-jung to the jimjilbang and
gripes about her workaholic father. Ae-jung tells her hesitantly, as
though it’s a touchy subject, “If you want to marry, go ahead.” Ae-kyung
retorts that there’s no point, that marriage is for the young.

Ah-jung asks her father about it in the morning, wondering if he’s
inclined to marry either, but he says they’re just friends. Apparently
Ah-jung used to pitch a fit at the idea, so Dad wonders what’s up with
the change of heart.
At the cafe, Seok-bong lurks and waits for his chance to ask how
Ae-kyung’s night went. She answers that she went to the jimjilbang — and
he immediately assumes she went with Dad, and storms off, hurt. (I see
that the drama is setting up the older generation loveline as an
opposite to Ah-jung — Ae-kyung shied away from marriage, while Ah-jung
has hurtled into it, albeit inadvertently — but it does feel like
there’s too much time spent on it all at once. At least it’s over now.
Phew.)
When So-ran hears that Jae-bum isn’t coming to pick her up from the
hospital, she screeches over the phone, “You’d better come!” just as her
friends arrive. She covers quickly as they say that her doting husband
called them to see her home, and for appearance’s sake she pretends he’s
such a sweetie.

At home, the friends open a bottle of wine to toast the occasion, and
suggest calling Ah-jung over to hear about her married life. So-ran
snipes at that, and the friends point out carefully, “Truthfully, you
did wrong her quite a bit.” So-ran was the one who acted like a friend
to Ah-jung’s face, but cut her out of the group behind her back.
So-ran points out their hypocrisy: “Why did you say nothing then and
now act like you care?” Peeved, she orders them out. They leave
grumbling, but it appears this is a common enough routine, and they’re
used to it.

At work, Ah-jung is delivered an envelope from Ki-joon’s attorney — a
notice that he’ll be taking legal action against her, asserting that
she spread false rumors and then reneged on their plan to disclose the
truth.
Incensed, she heads straight for World Hotel, but is turned away by
secretary Hoon, who advises her to communicate via legal counsel and
politely threatens to have her dragged out. She’s seething at Ki-joon’s
doublespeak — and after he’d said everything was okay! — but leaves. For
now.

Hoon reports this to Ki-joon, who’s surprised that Ah-jung gave up so
easily. Hoon notes with amusement, “It sounds like you’re
disappointed.” He offers to have her banned from entry to the hotel, and
enjoys how Ki-joon swiftly rejects that idea (like he understands his
boss’s feelings even before the boss does).
Manager Park (whose name also happens to be Park Ji-yoon) reports
that there’s a troublesome guest in one of their suites, and that
Ki-joon needs to take care of it. He tells her to handle it, but she
clarifies that the guest is Gong Ah-jung.

Up in the suite, Ah-jung has collected a roomful of apologetic,
anxious employees as she rants about the state of this room. In full
diva mode, she exclaims about the horrors of the water on the ground —
what if she slipped? What if she hurt herself? “I COULD HAVE DIED! How
terrifying! Did I come to this expensive room to bleed to death?!”
As soon as Ki-joon arrives, the others clear out and Ah-jung
confronts him about the potential lawsuit — does he really mean to sue?
He replies that she made it easier for him by perpetrating the lie in
front of at least twenty witnesses. She asks for a chance to settle it
amicably, to which he replies, “You had the chance. You kicked it away.”

Having said all he cares to say, Ki-joon advises her to consult with
an attorney, and starts to leave. Ah-jung blurts, “Then marry me!”

HA. Naturally he’s incredulous, so she hurries to explain that she
doesn’t mean for real — but what if they just let this situation stand
for another month, without clearing up the rumors? He can sue her if he
wants — just a little later.
He asks, “Why should I?” Without a better reason, she pleads, “Because I’m asking you.”
And then, she adds that she’s terminally ill, and will die in a month. PFFFFT! Has somebody been watching 49 Days?
Unmoved, Ki-joon tells her he’ll see her in court, and leaves.

Called by Ah-jung, Sang-hee arrives at the hotel, still taking care
to hide his face from employees who might recognize him. She unloads her
woes onto him, wondering if her request was really so
excessive. He asks why she did it, and she answers that if she’s going
to be sued anyway, she may as well minimize her regrets along the way.
When she saw So-ran today, she felt so gratified that for once in her
life, So-ran was at a loss and unable to feel superior to her.
He clues in to her true motivation, that she wants revenge on So-ran.
Tearing up, Ah-jung says that she does — she wants revenge for her lost
three years, the time following her heartbreak wherein she was so angry
and hurt that she was nigh immobilized by it: “I couldn’t date, or
love, or marry. I couldn’t do a thing. I couldn’t like anybody after
that, either. I’d just be alone forever…I’d be alone forever!”

Sang-hee assures her that she’s plenty appealing, and that she could
marry right away if she wanted. She cries, “It’s not that I want to
marry. I want to be a woman who has married! Right now!” It sounds
silly, but she means that she’s so desperate not to feel that way again
that she wants to perpetrate her lie, and be a married woman.
She starts sobbing in earnest, and cries herself to sleep. Sang-hee
sighs that she’s in trouble, and tucks a blanket around her.
In the morning, she wakes up tired and hungover. Sang-hee’s still in
the room, to her surprise, and while she’s still trying to get her
bearings, he asks, “Do you have to pretend you’re married to Hyun
Ki-joon? If that’s what you want, do you want me to help you?”