Asian Addicts Anonymous

Min Jae crazily keeps demanding to know why Mi So is still alive. Enter Myung Ja who stops her son from beating Mi So farther. She tells her hated daughter-in-law to quickly run away. Myung Ja then hits her son and demands to know why he hit Mi So…what if the girl presses charges on him? Omo. Is that really the only thing you care about? Your b*stard of a son totally deserves jail time now. Min Jae response? His wife already killed their daughter, so she is capable of having him arrested. Let her. So hard to reign in my temper here. He’s acting like the victim and he is NOT. Yes, he’s suffering. His loss is great, but it does not excuse his selfish, animalistic behavior. Min Jae gets up to leave and Myung Ja demands to know where he is going. To get fresh air as he is feeling suffocated to death. We then get more of Myung Ja patting her chest and complaining about her heart. Mi So sits in the dark kitchen shaking and covering her ears as she recalls Min Jae screaming at her to die. Poor woman, but she has brought this on herself by trying to salvage a marriage that has gone so far south it’s not even funny.

Meanwhile, Na Young waits anxiously in her apartment for Min Jae. She smiles happily when he does end up showing up. Of course he’s drunk off his rocker. Na Young asks what is wrong and Min Jae says that with Na Young he feels like he can live because when he’s with her he doesn’t have to think. That’s…the worst reason for a relationship. Na Young tells him not to worry as she’ll make him forget everything. She then hugs him to her and smiles smugly while his mother passes back and forth worrying about where Min Jae is. Na Young then calls her up after Min Jae falls asleep. Myung Ja is even more unhappy to learn he went there. She becomes very upset when Na Young smugly says that Min Jae has been spending the night often.

Mi So enters her room looking like a downtrodden kitten. She begins picking up the room and again recalls her mother’s words before she died. Again, girl, your mother wasn’t talking about you enduring THIS. Mi So vows to her mother that no matter what happens she won’t get divorced. Idiot. Don’t stick around on this sinking ship any longer.

Myung Ja calls Na Young into her office and gives an envelope of money to Na Young for taking care of Min Jae the past few days. Na Young, of course, doesn’t like this. Na Young refuses the money and says she will take Myung Ja’s gratitude. I have to say that Myung Ja’s bluffs were rather lame after what Min Jae told Na Young the other night and of course Na Young knows that she has Min Jae in the palm of her hands.

Jong Hee comes over and is livid when she finds bruises all over Mi So’s body. Of course, Mi So denies Min Jae abusing her. He’s been drunk of late and she got the bruises from bumping into furniture while trying to help him. Honey, not the way some of those bruises are shaped. Shakes head. But…the abused is always in denial to everyone else. Jong Hee, of course, won’t believe her friend. She urges Mi So to get checked out at a hospital and then file a police report. Mi So refuses to do such a thing and Jong Hee replies that since Min Jae has started this abuse, it is very unlikely that he will stop until he gets some serious help. And even then…sometimes the man can never repress the violent tendency. Mi So will never mention divorce and will stay with her husband as she is sure that he will return to normal when his suffering has eased a bit. Doubtful. Jong Hee calls her friend an idiot and we also learn that Mi So’s parents were very opposed to her marriage with Min Jae. For good reason, definitely. Jong Hee is the smarter one. She knows that Min Jae probably does not think the same way as Mi So. Our battered housewife should feel bad for making her friends suffer by allowing herself to be abused like an idiot when she should just leave…but you can’t blame her, I suppose. Once you are in this kind of relationship, it really is hard to get out, especially when rationalizing the abuse.

Na Young seeks out Min Jae to tell him what his mother did. Eyeroll. I know why she’s doing it, but she seems like a petulant child tattling. Min Jae assures Na Young that he doesn’t see her as a bar floozy and he will talk to his mother to stop her from treating Na Young in such a way. She leaves the office victoriously. Meanwhile Mi So is putting laundry away when she sees a paper bag in the closet. Inside is Kyung Soo’s sweater and handkerchief. She recalls the moments where she received each one. She sits on her bed and ponders what to do since she hasn’t given it back yet. She then recalls their most recent meeting where she lied to him about being fine. Mi So puts his things in the bag and winces in pain. Looks like whatever Min Jae does, he really hurts her arm/shoulder.

We then cut to Kyung Soo practicing what looks like Judo since it’s a lot of grappling and throwing. He kicks serious butt. He needs to beat Min Jae to a bloody pulp. When the practice is over he recalls Mi So telling him goodbye. He then gets a call from his wife asking him to go to a concert. Kyung Soo reminds her about an appointment. Hae Ryung then starts getting suspicious because he is out of breath. The annoyed Kyung Soo then shows her the dojo. This eases her mind and she orders him to answer her call once her concert is over. Bad wife. We then get a scene with Tae San and Yoo Jung bickering cutely over the concert. They at least have a good marriage…they are about the only ones in this drama…but that might change once a certain secret is revealed and a certain person ends up taking away Hae Ryung’s husband.

Jong Hee shows up at the Yoon household drunk as a skunk and complaining about how she is suffering because of Mi So. This immediately catches Moon Do’s and Chan Ki’s attention. What about their Mi So? Jong Hee sobs and confesses that Min Jae is beating Mi So. So our two angry men head on over to CK. Yoon is horrified as he never raised his hand to his daughter. Chan Ki says they are there to talk, but if Min Jae is unreasonable, Chan Ki will take care of him. They barge into Min Jae’s office and the fight begins. Min Jae is very blasé about being accused of beating his wife. Is that the only reason they are there? This enrages both men. Min Jae then tells them to take Mi So home to stay since he can’t stand the sight of her (this is, of course, after he gets angry that his wife tattled on him—nappeun namja!!!). Moon Do grabs his son-in-law by the collar and asks if Min Jae remembered what he said when he married Mi So—that he would make her smile no matter what. Yeah…there’s always a limit on such things.

Min Jae sickens me with his justification of his beating Mi So and then pushing her father down. I LOVED that the livid Chan Ki head butts him. The man so deserved it. Well…he deserves much more. He only cares about his own pain and suffering and no one elses. Min Jae storms out followed by Na Young and Moon Do completely breaks down and starts crying over his poor daughter’s fate while his son-in-law splashes cold water on his face and yells.

Kyung Soo is on his way home from work when he stops at a traffic light and sees Mi So. He immediately gets out and offers to drive her home. Mi So tells him she’s fine and Kyung Soo insists since he is on his way home. Mi So reminds him that she said they can’t see each other any more. She then says she will ship his things to his office. Kyung Soo asks if they cannot remain good friends. Mi So says it has to be that way as she doesn’t want to keep depending on him and making him worry about her. What’s wrong with that? Wow. Kyung Soo got a little hot and bothered there. He tones it down and tells Mi So that she is the first person in his entire life that he can openly talk to and be himself with. Awwww. How can you end your friendship after he says that with those puppy dog eyes? He then asks if it was the same for her. Mi So doesn’t answer that and just says it is even more of a reason they shouldn’t see each other.

Mi So goes to leave and Kyung Soo grabs her arm. When she winces in pain, he pulls up her sleeve and sees a bruise. He is immediately concerned. Why is there a bruise? What happened to her. Mi So clutches the bodice of her dress tightly and assures him she only bumped into something. She then rushes off. Kyung soo then goes into the convenience store to inquire after what Mi So bought. He is told it is medicine for bruises and the like. He is then told that this is her second time coming in for such medicine. Smart man Kyung Soo surely knows what this means. He takes out his phone and texts someone.

Mi So is applying the medication when she gets a text from Kyung Soo asking her to meet at the intersection near her house if she feels up to it. Mi So immediately tells him not to wait as she will not be going. She then continues to apply the medicine when she gets a call from Jong Hee. Her friend says there is a big problem as she got drunk and spilled everything to the Yoon men. Jong Hee passed out and when she woke up, Chan Ki and Moon Do were gone. She thinks they went to Min Jae’s office. What to do? Mi So asks Jong Hee to call her as soon as her father and brother return. She then hangs up when she hears someone come in.

Who else would it be but her violent and crazy husband? He immediately takes out a suitcase and begins packing up Mi So’s things. Mi So asks him why he is being like that and he tells her to go back to her father’s house. Mi So pleads with him to not do that and that she will talk to her father so he never does such things again. Min Jae tells her that he is sick of her family and wishes to never see them again. He wants them and Mi So permanently out of his life. TAKE A HINT Mi So. You CAN’T save your marriage. She only whimpers and cries and pleads with him to stop. Min Jae then takes her suitcase out to the car while Mi So tries to stop him. He swats her hand away and tells her to get in the car. Mi So pleads with him not to do that. Min Jae jerks his arm away and tells her it’s best for her to go back as he really has no idea what he will do to her.

Kyung Soo waits at the intersection where he keeps trying to call Mi So. When he gets no answer he recalls her pain and the bruises. Thus he takes the initiative to head on over to her house where Mi So says that she is wrong and pleads with Min Jae not to send her away. I can’t believe she actually okays it for Min Jae to take out his anger on her. If he sends her away like this how can she face Hae Ram. This earns her a hard slap across the face for mentioning their daughter’s name. Mi So assures him she’ll never mention their daughter again as long as he lets her stay. Min Jae goes to hit his wife once more when Kyung Soo catches his arm and tells him to stop. Min Jae tells Kyung Soo to stop glaring at him because Min Jae can do whatever he wants to his wife. Well, I don’t really know how the legal system in Korea works…but you can’t do whatever you want to your spouse in the US and I bet its somewhat the same there, too. Min Jae then demands to know if Mi So has “that” kind of relationship with Kyung Soo. He grabs his wife by the collar and demands to know this and goes to hit her again. Wrong move. Kyung Soo hefts a mighty punch at him.

A somewhat satisfying end. I hope that this means Mi So will be away from her crazed husband soon. While I do understand where she is coming from since she is blaming herself for Hae Ram’s death, it does not justify letting her husband beat her until HIS pain goes away. She’s suffering enough without adding even more emotional and physical abuse into the mix. Of course, its typical with abuse when your sense of self is very low that you accept that you deserve to be beaten. It’s sad how people can get into that mindset and unfortunately many women repeat the same mistakes and end up in one abusive relationship after another.