The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract: Episodes 7-8
by DaebakGrits
This drama has extra villains than a Batman film, and as they take turns attempting to destroy our OTP’s happiness, it’s no surprise that issues grow to be somewhat strained between our time traveler and her husband. Don’t fear, although, there’s nonetheless loads of romance and squees to go round this week, however at the least one in every of these baddies has severely obtained to go.
EPISODES 7-8
After Tae-ha’s newest assault, Yeon-woo is feeling fairly assured that Tae-ha’s destiny is tied to that of her Joseon husband, and she or he needs to step in to assist him shoulder his burdens and be at his aspect whereas he battles Hye-sook, the lady who locked him within the annex and compelled him to look at his mom die. Tae-ha, nevertheless, choses to attract a line and remind Yeon-woo that he’s not her useless husband. He simply seems like him.
Ehhhhhh, whereas that isn’t true — we’ve positively obtained some reincarnation shenanigans happening — it’s comprehensible that Tae-ha could be involved that he shares a face with Yeon-woo’s useless husband now that he’s creating emotions for her. What if any romantic emotions she could have for him are as a result of shared resemblance between him and her husband? That doesn’t sit nicely with Tae-ha, however Sung-pyo — who sees proper via Tae-ha’s story about his “pal” — tells him to cease worrying about Yeon-woo’s useless husband. Tae-ha’s opponent holds no actual menace since he’s not round to behave as a goalkeeper for Yeon-woo’s coronary heart.
Tae-ha takes Sung-pyo’s recommendation and buys some candies for Yeon-woo, however then he chickens out and fingers them to Ha-na as she’s passing by. He offers Ha-na specific directions to share the candies together with her crew (in order that Yeon-woo will get some and is not directly the recipient of his affection), however Ha-na retains all of the candies for herself and tells her coworkers that they have been a present. In fact her coworkers assume that Ha-na has an admirer, and Ha-na smiles sweetly and sneaks a look on the clueless Yeon-woo. At this level in our story, I’ve determined that Ha-na is an actual witch, and I can solely assume she wanted these candies to start out establishing her sweet home within the woods.
Ha-na can attempt to run interference between our couple, however after working hours, Sa Wol and Sung-pyo’s matchmaking makes an attempt are way more efficient. In actual fact, their cockamamie plan to lock Tae-ha and Yeon-woo in a room collectively to allow them to consummate their marriage was proving efficient — till a piece emergency has Sung-pyo unlocking all of the deadbolts he painstakingly put in on the surface of Yeon-woo’s bed room.
Sadly, hanky-panky takes a backseat to the machinations of our evil-doers who’re decided to see Yeon-woo’s vogue collaboration with Midam crash and burn. To start, Yeon-woo’s designs are leaked after which put in manufacturing by a competitor, which provides Ha-na an excuse to berate Yeon-woo for being careless together with her designs. (The audacity!) Yeon-woo, the everlasting optimist, rallies herself with somewhat encouragement from Tae-ha and Tae-min. She strikes ahead with a brand new set of designs, however then somebody (to be decided) lied to the modeling company that the date of the style present had modified.
Hye-sook swoops in, like a satan about to barter for Tae-ha’s soul, and provides to discover a new set of fashions for the runway. Tae-ha accepts the provide, which doesn’t sit nicely with the folks round him — particularly Sang-mo — however in the mean time he cares extra concerning the short-term aim of getting a profitable collaboration with Midam than his long-term conflict with Hye-sook. And if there’s additionally part of him that doesn’t need to see Yeon-woo’s runway debut go up in flames, then so be it.
However the evil mastermind plotting to sabotage Yeon-woo’s vogue present is annoyingly persistent, and on the day the brand new fashions are set to hit the runway, Yeon-woo’s show-stopping finale gown is maliciously ripped and torn. It’s an actual Cinderella second for Yeon-woo, who works her magic and transforms the broken gown into a stylish jumpsuit, however whereas she’s frantically working a miracle together with her stitching machine, each Sang-mo and Ha-na admonish Tae-ha for taking a threat with Yeon-woo.
Now, Tae-ha is keen to be chastised by his grandfather — in any case, he’s household and Tae-ha’s superior — however Ha-na, who should assume she has legs so long as Byeon Woo-seok, is majorly overstepping. For starters, Tae-ha is her boss, and that is neither the time nor the place for her to be questioning his authority. However for some purpose, Ha-na additionally thinks she has a declare to Tae-ha’s private life, so she decides at this second — when the style present is getting ready to failure — to diss Yeon-woo and confess her emotions for Tae-ha. (Y’all, the delusion is powerful with this one.) Tae-ha places her in her place, however I want he’d had extra time for a sterner, extra satisfying tongue-lashing. Then once more, he actually shouldn’t spare plenty of time for somebody so insignificant — not when there’s a majorly vital vogue present happening.
Fortunately, Yeon-woo and her crew are in a position to craft a brand new look and ship it down the runway, and regardless of the chaos behind the scenes, the present is a rousing success. (I personally made grabby fingers at a number of of the designs featured on the runway.) As soon as the venue has cleared out and solely Tae-ha and Yeon-woo stay behind, the runway turns into the location of Tae-ha’s confession. He feels inferior to the reminiscence of her deceased husband, and earlier than he offers Yeon-woo an opportunity to inform him her emotions, he admits defeat.
However as he’s strolling away, Yeon-woo explains to him that her reminiscence of her husband is generally unhappy and painful. Tae-ha, nevertheless, is completely different. When she’s with him, she feels quite a lot of advanced feelings unrelated to her Joseon husband, and when she seems at him, she sees somebody solely separate from her husband — somebody who “modified her destiny.” Her phrases are precisely what Tae-ha wanted to listen to, and he feels emboldened sufficient to kiss her. (Yay!)
However, in fact, as a result of these two have about as a lot courting expertise as an asexual starfish, they’re nonetheless painfully shy and awkward round each other — in an admittedly cute type of manner. Proper now could be the proper time for our OTP to take a trip to Jeju Island for somewhat romance, don’t you assume? Yeah, about that. As an alternative of touring as a pair, Tae-ha invitations his entire crew (plus Sa Wol) to have a good time their arduous work and up to date success. As a boss, Tae-ha will get brownie factors, however as a person attempting to woo his lady, I simply shake my head.
Then once more, perhaps Tae-ha does know what he’s doing. He deliberately selected Jeju Island as their vacation spot to point out her that it was lovely and not a lonely place, identical to her. And maybe, much less deliberately, along with his subordinates on the journey, he and Yeon-woo have to keep up the farce of being married which suggests… they must share a room. However for those who thought this could result in extra swoony kisses, you’d be flawed. Reasonably than spend the night time wrapped in one another’s arms, our awkward couple find yourself sleeping on the ground — on reverse sides of the mattress. (*face palm*) Tae-ha, my man, I do know you’re involved about your coronary heart price, however absolutely you’ll be able to survive somewhat snuggling.
As a lot as I prefer to downplay Tae-ha’s coronary heart situation, the movers and shakers again house aren’t as dismissive. Tae-ha’s physician is extraordinarily involved about Tae-ha’s newest check outcomes, and he calls Tae-ha and frantically urges him to return to Seoul for extra checks. On the similar time, Hye-sook has came upon about Tae-ha’s declining well being, and virtually instantly calls a gathering with the board of administrators to dismiss him from his place. With all of the give attention to his coronary heart situation — an ailment he shares with Yeon-woo’s useless husband — it’s time for Tae-ha to be a noble fool.
You see, all this time, Tae-ha has been pondering that Yeon-woo beloved her husband a lot that she jumped within the nicely and killed herself after he died — as a result of that’s what’s written within the historical past books. Now that his coronary heart situation has gotten worse, he’s apprehensive that she is going to unalive herself if he meets the identical destiny as her husband. So when Yeon-woo strikes in with Sung-pyo, Tae-ha tells Sung-pyo to not reveal his prognosis or pending job dismissal. The one constructive to this little couple hiatus is that Tae-ha makes use of the additional time on his fingers to determine that Ha-na was the one who sabotaged the style present, and he tells her to quietly stop and disappear. (A bit too good, in my view, however I hope she’s gone for good.)
Tae-ha, bless him, isn’t a noble fool for lengthy. When the truth of how a lot it sucks to stay with out her units in, he goes dashing to her aspect. On the similar time, Yeon-woo is looking for him as a result of she overheard Sung-pyo speaking to his sister about Hye-sook’s newest scheme to get him fired. When Tae-ha finds her, he offers her a again hug and emphatically confesses his emotions. Earlier than she agrees to open her coronary heart to him once more, Yeo-woo makes him promise to not lie or depart her once more. In response, he tells her that he’s going to be egocentric and let himself like her regardless that he worries it’s not honest to her to must cope with his coronary heart situation — and, let’s be actual, his very probably early demise.
Yeon-woo welcomes him again with open arms, and as compensation for having sat via Tae-ha’s noble idiocy, we’re handled to some additional cute scenes. For starters, we be taught that Tae-ha has expanded Yeon-woo’s robotic vacuum household, after which he takes her to an ice rink the place she will get to strive curling for actual! On high of all that, Tae-ha heads off Hye-sook’s newest energy play by preemptively saying to the corporate that he has a coronary heart situation, and on the subsequent board of administrators assembly he’ll suggest a structural change that opens the door for the corporate to be run by somebody who will not be a member of the Kang household. (Hah! Take that, Hye-sook!)
Tae-ha’s plans for the corporate don’t bitter simply Hye-sook’s temper, although. Sang-mo (Grandpa) is equally displeased with Tae-ha’s announcement as a result of it doesn’t comply with the plan that he charted for Tae-ha. It’s nonetheless arduous to say how deep Grandpa’s villainous tendencies circulation, however it’s protected to say that he’s one shady mofo. Simply this week we’ve discovered that Grandpa faked the sickness that pushed Tae-ha to get married, kidnapped Faux Bride #1 and should have precipitated her hurt, and instructed Ha-na that he’d permit her to marry Tae-ha if she stored a watch on his grandson for him. (Effectively, that definitely explains Ha-na’s inflated sense of entitlement.)
However is Grandpa a villain within the typical sense? I believe our story needs us to imagine he’s, particularly now that Sa Wol discovered Yeon-woo’s pocket watch in his possession, which suggests Tae-ha’s ancestors have been most likely behind Yeon-woo’s kidnapping and homicide. And but, Grandpa’s obsession with Joseon artifacts and Yeon-woo’s portray make me suspect that he may merely be a person misguided in his strategies to proper the wrongs of his ancestors and stop historical past from repeating itself.
Both manner, I finish this week’s episodes with extra questions than solutions, and with so little time left to tie off our plot threads, I’m beginning to develop involved. The drama has developed a little bit of a sample by focusing the majority of the story on the fashionable obstacles whereas all of the time-wimey bits have been tacked on to the tip of every episode like an afterthought. At this level, Cheonmyeong’s solely goal is to pop in, look mysteriously attractive together with her inexperienced eyes and white hair, and remind us that Yeon-woo has traveled from the previous and that there are bigger issues afoot in addition to hostile firm takeovers.
That is regarding for me as a result of I fear that our story is organising Cheonmyeong to be a handy catchall pressure behind the time journey and different magical bits, and what can’t — or received’t — be defined by logic will fall beneath her umbrella and the straightforward rationalization of magic (Cue: *jazz fingers*). I’ve this sinking feeling within the pit of my abdomen that I’m not going to be happy with no matter rationalization is given for sending Yeon-woo to the future to unravel or finish a cycle that started within the previous. Right here’s hoping I’m flawed, although, as a result of I’m actually having fun with this drama, and I don’t need to be burned by one other subpar Okay-drama ending.
RELATED POSTS
