The Heirs

Chapter 17

Tan calls Young-do from that phone, and I almost feel sorry for Young-do’s excitement at the incoming call from “Eun-sang.” He calls Tan’s plan smart but feels clever enough about his own… until he hears that his lawyer hasn’t been able to find any trace of Eun-sang.

Tan gets a clue when Eun-sang’s number receives an automated text acknowledging a credit card purchase. So he starts calling every store with that name, trying to find a matching payment, which takes him all night—imagine trying to call every 7-Eleven in range. After a night of dead ends, he gets a match and bolts up to head over immediately.

It’s only now that Chairman Dad hears that Eun-sang hadn’t left the country as planned, because Chan-young’s father had pulled a fast one on them. She was seen entering the departure gate, but VP Yoon must have made other arrangements, and now Chairman Dad receives the photo evidence that shows Eun-sang and Mom in some beachside town.

Mother and daughter put on brave faces as they settle into their new lives here, assuring each other that they’ll be fine. Eun-sang picks up a job at a bookstore and forces a cheerful expression, but the moment she’s alone she bursts into tears. (Man, there are so many long flashbacks in this episode. Struggled to fill airtime, did they?)

Tan races to Eun-sang’s town, first spotting the familiar “I heart California” shirt hanging from a clothesline. Then Eun-sang comes into view, and he reels with the force of both relief and… guilt, perhaps? Dread, fear, recrimination? Anyway, point being: Emotions are mixed, and he can’t bring himself to approach.

Thus while he follows Eun-sang to the beach where she sits alone, he keeps his distance. He takes one step toward her, but ultimately turns back.

Eun-sang receives a call from the police, because Young-do’s lawyer has finally gotten a lead on her whereabouts (thanks to her taking out a new cell phone contract). He heads right down to see her, and when she comes rushing into the police station, he’s so overwhelmed with feeling that he grabs her tight and says gratefully, “Thank you—for being safe, and for showing up.”

They take a walk on the beach, and Young-do keeps up a steady stream of chatter while she remains silent in her worry. She confesses that seeing him frightened her, because it’s proof of how easy it was to track her down. He teases about running away together, but as she’s not in the mood for teasing he just asks her not to tell him to stay away, and promises to come back again.

With that he heads back to Seoul, steeling himself to face his disgruntled father, who has to deal with the gossip stirred by his online post. Young-do informs his father that he wrote the message, and that Eun-sang is the girl he likes. His father scoffs at him stirring up all this trouble just to track down one girl, but Young-do admits, “If I couldn’t find her, it felt like I’d go crazy.”

Young-do is clearly still a bit afraid of his father’s reaction, but nonetheless he orders Dad to stay out of it, because where women troubles are concerned, Dad has no right to interfere. Amazingly, his father concedes that point without rancor. He declares that Young-do is still incapable of defeating him head-on, but he will take this to mean that Young-do has learned how to negotiate deals.

Young-do and Rachel find themselves dragged to another family dinner, and tonight Young-do’s father is in good spirits and toasts to the upcoming union. A phone call interrupts with bad news from Prosecutor Kim, and it’s obvious to all that it’s serious business despite Dad’s insistence that all is under control.

But Rachel’s mother surprises everybody by stating her intent to call the wedding off. She takes Rachel out and says that the hotel family isn’t going to crumble over the investigation, but neither does she see the need to suffer along with them. Rachel actually sighs in relief, not for the broken engagement but because Young-do won’t be ruined. It’s not the reaction her mother expected, but Rachel calls him a partner in suffering throughout this whole mésalliance ordeal.