He’s Back
Episode 8 of When I Was The Most Beautiful begins with Hwan and Ye-Ji discussing their changing fates. Ye-Ji asks him to return to the guy he once was. Her rejection has turned Hwan bitter and cold. He eventually tells her they’re not a family and encourages her to leave. Speaking of family, Ye-Ji runs into more issues with her Mother, who manages to get Il-Hwa to cough up the funds as promised. At work, Hwan shows up and greets his Mother, Yeon-Ja. He wastes little time telling her they need to give up the search. Given Jin has just vanished, they should move on with their lives. However, she remains convinced that they will find him. Ignoring Yeon-Ja, Hwan instead heads to the lawyers to try and force Ye-Ji’s hand to get the inheritance money from Jin. As Ye-Ji leaves the table, she contemplates leaving the family for good. In the morning, Hwan gets into the groove with work and starts leading a group into discussing the upcoming plans for architecture. At the same time, Kim Go-Woon comes under fire for her work. Only, she snaps and slashes up this businessman’s jacket. As he shouts back, a bar stool smashes through the window and lands right at Hwan’s feet. As he diffuses the situation, he heads in and unwittingly saves Go-Woon from a nasty encounter. Ye-Ji shows up and sits with her Mother, eating together. Unbeknown to her, Hwan happens to be watching from the shadows. They discuss her childhood and she talks about how her Aunt made life miserable for her. She never had parents looking out for her and the workshop is the only place she ever thought of as home. Now, because of Hwan’s insistence, that’s being taken away from her. Realizing how selfish he’s been, Hwan tries to make amends and drives Ye-Ji home. On the way he opens up and discusses the past, specifically how Jin told him he wasn’t equipped to deal with her complicated emotions. This much is especially true given what we know about Ye-Ji. He eventually tells her that it’s immature of him to act on his emotions and promises to protect her going forward. In the morning, Yeon-Ja receives some crucial news from California regarding a vacation home. For now this is left unknown but it may be to do with Jin. Elsewhere, Ye-Ji shows up at the school reunion dinner. In-Ho stirs the pot though, teasing Hwan over his affection toward Ye-Ji. Eventually Da-Hoon whacks him in the back of the head and stops the boy from continuing on. As the dinner comes to an abrupt end, In-Ho happens to be taking a video of Hwan and Ye-Ji fighting over what’s best for her well-being. Unfortunately this video is uploaded online and made out to be a scandalous situation involving the brother and sister in law. Hwan visits his Mother and contemplates suing against In-Ho. While he heads out, Ye-Ji starts the process of moving out. Hwan arrives though and tells her to stop, eventually going so far as to offer to ruin his own life to make sure she’s happy. As he leans forward to kiss her, she pulls away again. Yeon-Ja rings and requests Ye-Ji head to the airport. It turns out Jin is still alive but he doesn’t want to see any of his family. Yeon-Ja eventually arrives back from Seoul and heads up to the workshop. There, she notices Ye-Ji preparing to move out. She tells her she doesn’t need to do that. Eventually Yeon-Ja encourages her to go back to Seoul as Jin is waiting for her and still alive. Ye-Ji predictably scrambles over to Jin’s house but he locks the door and refuses to see her. As she screams with him to open the door, he eventually plucks up the courage and shows himself. Sitting in a wheelchair, Ye-Ji collapses on the floor as Jin looks on sadly.
The Episode Review
So what happened to Jin? How was it he was able to hide what happened to him without any news from anyone? Did he crash? I’m sure we’ll find out soon but the writing in this melodrama certainly leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a shame because the acting is really good and the heartfelt scenes definitely help this one stand out. The writing has been poor though but lets hope the second half of this Korean drama can settle into a more consistent rhythm.
