Is this the fate’s game? Trampling over the people’s lives, throwing them into the deepest, blackest hole in their hearts. To me, the characters are not at total fault for their greed and betrayal. It’s the cruel fate that’s giving reasons for them to act almost inhumanely. What can they do when at one point, they can only choose to protect one side and eventually sacrifices the other side?

[EPISODE 3]

  

Sun-Woo walks off the warehouse with the long knife. He keeps replaying Jang-Il’s promise to him in his mind before he decides to throw away the knife. He runs and arrives at a billiard center. Without any fear, he starts asking the group of gangsters there for Jang-Taek. The leader is the person that he’s looking for and the gangsters start attacking him. He’s strong enough to knock them down one by one and gets hold of Jang-Taek.

He stabs the fellow’s leg with a billiard stick and successfully hurts him per the thugs’ request. He’s not that lucky though, as the backup for the gangsters come. They manage to get him and beats him near to his death before kicking him into an empty, dark warehouse.

  

We go back to the time when Yong-Bae was about to strangle Kyung-Pil, but the unconscious man suddenly woke up and choked Yong-Bae. He screamed and then wakes up from the nightmare. Yong-Bae realizes that he’s still in his house, waking up from his sleep on the couch. Jang-Il hears his father and checks on him with worry, but his father says he’s just having side effects after drinking. Yong-Bae tells his son to go back to sleep and not to worry for him. He then apologizes to Kyung-Pil, as he’s doing it for his son’s sake.

Sun-Woo is still locked in the warehouse, looking in excruciating pain from all the beatings. He calls for his father before slipping back into unconsciousness.

At his house, Gwang-Chun is writing a letter to Yong-Bae, trying to blackmail him from what he saw. However, he still looks unsure and thinking whether he should do it or not.

  

The next day, Soo-Mi goes to the barber shop, and looks like she’s doing her hair like Julia Roberts’ style. Then, she tells the barber to cut her hair as it’s not the same as in the picture but the barber refuses to do so. She takes the scissors from her and starts cutting it herself. She walks past the place where Jang-Il’s congratulatory feast was held, her hair all tied up in a bun, smirking at the banner with Jang-Il’s name.

She runs into Geum-Jool (Lee Chan-Ho), who asks her about Sun-Woo. She suggests him to report about the missing Sun-Woo to the police and tells him that she’s going to Seoul to do her hair.

  

On the train, she’s searching for her seat when the fate brings her to meet Jang-Il again. It turns out that their seats are next to each other. They keep ignoring each other and silence dawns between them along the journey. She keeps staring at him but he doesn’t even say anything until they arrive at Seoul. Unfortunately, Soo-Mi realizes that she lost her purse.

  

Jang-Il walks past her and she calls for him, asking him for some money and promises to return it to him. He says he doesn’t have any to give to her. Jang-Il wonders how she knows about his trip to Seoul: did she ask Sun-Woo? She never thought she’d meet him and thinks he doesn’t have the right to ignore her. Soo-Mi knows if she’s some rich man’s daughter, he’ll gladly follow her around. She tells him he’ll regret what he’s done and he assures her he will before leaving.

Soo-Mi calls her father and tells him to come and fetch her. She sits at the station as she keeps thinking about what Jang-Il said earlier to her.

  

Without her pretty gowns and frocks, Ji-Won now dresses casually, moving into a small room. She looks around as Mrs Ma is practicing her singing with her daughter, Park Yun-Joo (Bae Seul-Gi). She wants to go abroad to further her studies in business in order to help Chairman Jin later. Mrs Ma admits she won’t marry his husband if he was poor.

  

It’s nearly dark and Gwang-Chun finally arrives at Seoul, laughing at his daughter while she nearly breaks into tears. They ride the train back to Busan but Soo-Mi is not in the mood to talk about anything although Gwang-Chun keeps talking to her. She suddenly misses her mother, and her father ignores her almost immediately.

They reach home and Soo-Mi refuses to eat anything. She lies on the couch and sees the crumpled letters under the table. She takes them and read the contents, only to find herself surpised at his father’s attempt to extort money from Jang-Il’s father. She hides them from Gwang-Chun and resumes her reading when he goes into her room.

  

Gwang-Chun smiles at his daughter’s results pasted on her wall but it vanishes as soon as he takes a look around the room. Jang-Il’s portraits are there and he asks her whether she likes the boy. She admits it, but he says she can’t like him. She asks him back what is his reason to say so and shows him the letters. He tear them into pieces and doesn’t care if she’s to report him to the police for trying to extort money.

  

Soo-Mi tries to call the police but gets stopped by her father. Between his makgulli shots, Gwang-Chun tells her what he saw on that night when Kyung-Pil was killed by Yong-Bae. She tries to question whether the culprit was really Jang-Il’s father, but he knows the person is him. She asks why he doesn’t report it to the police, but he has endless record of frauds, thus the police won’t believe his statement. He did the ritual for Sun-Woo to get some clues as he couldn’t say anything directly to him. Soo-Mi wants him to promise that this matter is not to be told to anyone as her measure to protect Jang-Il.

  

Jang-Il goes to check his new apartment given by Chairman Jin with his father. He gets tired of his father’s endless talk about the chairman and promises to work harder so that his father won’t feel so indebted to Chairman Jin. He then goes to the college and he’s close to meeting Ji-Won when she passes by right behind him.

  

Poor Sun-Woo still cannot escape from the place and only God knows how many days he’s been there. The gangsters come to check on him and after confirming that he’s not moving and probably dead, they proceed to bring him to somewhere else. Unknown to them, he’s just tricking them into believing that he’s not alive. He takes the lighter dropped by one of them.

  

On the cold storage truck, Sun-Woo manages to free himself from the sack. He’s freezing in there and he keeps screaming for someone to open the door for him. on the contrary, Jang-Il is in his new room,whistling happily along with the blaring music.

After several attempts, banging himself to the door, Sun-Woo manages to escape, but not without the gangsters chasing behind him. Stuck between them, he doesn’t have any choice but to jump onto the train. They think he’s hit by it, but he’s all safe and sound, hanging onto the moving train.

  

Jang-Il starts his first class and the lecturer proceeds to call some students to share their views about their topic, Photographic Memory. Ji-Won’s name gets called but she’s nowhere to be seen. Jang-Il looks a little sad, but a voice answers from the door. It’s Ji-Won who’s just arrived, making Jang-Il all happy and smiling. She shares about her first meeting with Sun-Woo and he smiles while looking at her. His smile fades a little when she says that the boy she met was totally her type.

  

When the class is asked for a volunteer, Jang-Il comes forward to share about his meeting with Ji-Won while sending her his glances and smiles between his words. Outside the class, he approaches her, admitting that the person he was talking about was her. They proceed to have a coffee while having a little chat. Jang-Il muses over their fate to meet there. He invites her for a dinner, but she has her part time job. When asked why she has to do so much jobs, it’s because she needs money.

Ji-Won asks Jang-Il about the boy she met but he doesn’t have a clue about who that person is. Later that night, Sun-Woo reaches his father’s workplace, all bleeding and hurt. He falls onto the floor and he keeps calling for his father.

  

Jang-Il reads some newspapers about the  crisis faced by Boo Kyung Chemicals company. He walks into the cafeteria to find Ji-Won eating while reading. He eats so fast and before he leaves, he approaches her to give her coffee and apple. She smiles at his kindness as he smiles on his way out.

Chairman Jin gets some report from his secretary about Kyung-Pil’s life and him adopting Sun-Woo. Then, he asks about Sun-Woo to Yong-Bae, but Yong-Bae says he doesn’t have to worry as Sun-Woo isn’t continuing his studies, just wasting his time around .

  

Cut to the boy, who’s recovering from his injuries and starts working with the wood although his complexion still looks quite bad. He hears someone at the door and arms himself with a long wood, but it’s only Geum-Jool, running into the place to ask for Sun-Woo’s help. He tends his bleeding hand as Geum-Jool tells him about the Jang-Taek fellow, who has formed alliance with the thugs. Then, he also tells Sun-Woo about his father’s death: he knew a taxi driver who drove Kyung-Pil to Chairman Jin’s place before he was found dead.

  

He thinks that Yong-Bae might know something about it, so Sun-Woo goes to meet him at his workplace, much to the man’s surprise. He asks whether he has seen his father on that day, but Yong-Bae says he didn’t see anyone. He asks for Yong-Bae’s help to contact the contract workers should they know anything. Sun-Woo walks around Chairman Jin’s villa and finds a picture of the chairman. He now knows that the person is the same as in the picture he found among his father’s belongings.

Sun-Woo receives a call when he’s at home. He thinks it’s Soo-Mi at first, but a man’s voice answers him. It’s Tae-Joo, who calls to speak to Kyung-Pil. He’s surprised to know it’s Sun-Woo who answers the call, and even surprised when he finds out about Kyung-Pil’s death. He hangs up in daze as the boy keeps asking who he is.

  

Jang-Il returns to Busan and the first thing he does is to meet Sun-Woo. He keeps telling him to go to Seoul with him istead of working in a factory, but Sun-Woo refuses and thanks him for his kind thought. Sun-Woo tells him about something he sent to Jang-Il but he haven’t received any. They go for a drink and talk about Jang-Il’s life in the college. He brags about the only thing that he has but others don’t: a friend like Sun-Woo who’s willing to do anything for him. Jang-Il tells him about the girl he’s interested in, and Sun-Woo wonders how the girl looks like. It’s your crush, dear Sun-Woo….

Then, Sun-Woo tells Jang-Il that he wants the police to investigate something regarding his father’s death and he’s willing to do everything for the case to be re-investigated. Jang-Il suggests him to ask for Chairman Jin’s help, and Sun-Woo thinks so too. He shows him the picture of his father with Chairman Jin, and Jang-Il asks how did Sun-Woo’s father got to know Chairman Jin. Sun-Woo doesn’t even know anything about it, and the other man’s identity  in the picture also remains a mystery.

  

Both of them goes for a suit-hunting mission at a shop, where they change into dashing suits. Jang-Il wants to buy them for him but Sun-Woo hesitates at first. After being persuaded by Jang-Il, he just agrees and they go to meet Chairman Jin. The man greets Jang-Il happily, but his face falls a little when he sees Sun-Woo. Sun-Woo shows the picture to him.

  

Chairman Jin takes a look at the picture and he pretends not to remember it clearly when the picture was taken. Sun-Woo tells him about his father’s death and what he heard from a taxi driver that his father went to Chairman Jin’s place on his last day. Chairman Jin says he wasn’t there on that dy. Then, he remembers what Kyung-Pil told him about Sun-Woo being Tae-Joo’s son, and their faces flash in front of his eyes. Sun-Woo’s question brings him back to the reality, and he says he doesn’t remember who Tae-Joo is. He reminds Jang-Il not to do things so aimlessly.

  

The boys leave the room and Jang-Il promises to go to the police station with Sun-Woo on the next day. He stays back to meet his father as Sun-Woo goes back alone. His father is nowhere to be seen around his workplace, so he leaves a note for his father inviting him for a dinner. Sun-Woo still feels the picture holds a big piece of puzzle to the murder mystery, but he decides to keep it back in the box.

  

On that night, Jang-Il goes to meet his father at Chairman Jin’s place, but he suddenly overhears the chairman chiding his father. He learns about the truth behind what happened and suddenly everything that happens seems to fit with each other. Jang-Il finds it hard to accept the truth and he quickly goes to meet Sun-Woo at his house.

  

Jang-Il suddenly wants Sun-Woo to follow him to Seoul and he will help him in everything. He wants Sun-Woo to forget everything about his father’s death and think about his future. Sun-Woo refuses to do so as he couldn’t care less about his studies and remains firm on his decision to report the case to the police. He tells Jang-Il to go back and he’ll go alone to the police. As Jang-Il walks home, Sun-Woo looks at him and both of them exchange glance before Sun-Woo goes inside.

  

Yong-Bae is gulping down his soju shots when Jang-Il enters their home. He starts to get mad at his son because he knows Jang-Il has been hanging around with Sun-Woo.  His son tells him not to worry as Sun-Woo is not going to submit the report and goes inside his room. Yong-Bae feels something is wrong and knocks on Jang-Il’s door, but he refuses to let him in. He asks his father why he did that as sits alone in the dark and starts crying.

  

It’s already morning and Sun-Woo is getting ready to go to the police. Before that, he goes to the rocky seaside (the place where he spread his father’s ashes ) and pleads his father to help him. Jang-Il comes to meet him and Sun-Woo wants to know why he’s so desperate to make him change his mind about the matter. Jang-Il tries to grab the documents but Sun-Woo suspects he knows something about his father’s death. Even if it’s Jang-Il who got killed, Sun-Woo will do the same thing as he’s among the people he loves and it hurts him when they’re hurt.

Jang-Il suddenly begs Sun-Woo on his knees, telling him not to report it. He admits he’s the one who killed his father and wants Sun-Woo to think that he killed his father by mistake, but Sun-Woo thinks he’s out of his mind. He still doesn’t budge about his decision no matter what Jang-Il says and leaves Jang-Il kneeling on the rock.

  

Jang-Il starts to think about what he should do next and he sees a piece of wood lying near him. He takes it and slowly walks towards Sun-Woo. He is still hesitating about it and walks quite unstably on the rocks, but he lifts the wood and gives Sun- Woo a hard blow on his head. The poor boy falls onto the hard ground, and Jang-Il gives another blow to make Sun-Woo half-conscious.

  

As Sun-Woo is trying to catch his breath between his pains, Jang-Il can’t help but shed his tears for betraying his friend. He drags Sun-Woo’s unconscious body and leaves him there. He stops and returns to Sun-Woo’s side with a determined look. He pulls Sun-Woo and throws him into the sea. Jang-Il cries in despair on the land as Sun-Woo sinks deeper into the sea; unconsciousness taking over him.

[END of EPISODE 3]

So…we’re now even, with the father killing the father, and the sons following their suits.

I do believe it’s all fate’s game that throws the boys into the current situation. However, I really want to be able to hate Jang-Il as much as I want to pity him. He’s someone torn between two worlds: his father and his best friend. Of course, it’s the family that should be put in the first place before your friends, but still..I’m torn between resenting and pitying him. Part of it because he’s forced to make a decision that’s not easy at all. It’s heart wrenching to see him contemplating between his action, thinking whether it’s the right thing for him to betray his only friend or not. Until the end, he’s still indecisive about his actions, but he’s now jumped into the betrayal ship no matter how much he hate the fact that he’s attempted to kill Sun-Woo.

Still, I have another reason to resent him, even a little. I don’t like how he treats Soo-Mi with disgust and ‘throws’ her away when he knows the truth about her. Now, she even helps to cover for his father’s crime just to protect the boy he likes. My heart aches for Soo-Mi. She’s a nice girl in my eyes, but the life is cruel enough to turn her into a stubborn yet soft-hearted girl. I hope she won’t continue to harbor one-sided feelings towards the heartless Jang-Il, but what’s a story without complicated love lines, right?

And..is this boy going to be the most unfortunate person after the series of events in his life? Poor Sun-Woo..

Even the crime scene is too beautiful..hmm..