If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 9-10

by quirkycase

Our volunteer’s traumatic past comes careening back into his life, shattering his newfound peace. But his hospice family isn’t about to give up on him that easily and hatches a plan. Meanwhile, more reveals are in store about our mysterious patient and our beloved supervisor’s past.

EPISODES 9-10 WEECAP

After Joon-kyung’s unceremonious arrival, she demands that Gyeo-re leave with her immediately. When he resists, she falls back on her old pattern of abuse and threatens to kill herself if he stays. So, he leaves with her, looking like he’s been handed a death sentence. He can barely meet Yeon-joo’s eyes as he leaves.

Joon-kyung’s abusive and emotionally manipulative behavior made me so angry it was honestly hard to get through the episode. I kept pausing for deep breaths. She’s profoundly broken, but it’s hard to sympathize with her on account of her being so awful. Making matters worse, it seems like he’s never even wanted to be in a romantic relationship with her – she’s just trying to coerce him into it.

Besides her constant threats of self-harm, she also guilts him into cooperation by blaming him for this whole situation. When they were little, she almost got adopted by a rich family, but she refused the adoption after Gyeo-re asked her to become family with him instead. Now, she holds onto him with a death grip using that innocent childhood promise.

Gyeo-re tries to convince Joon-kyung to seek professional help, but she lashes out and refuses to accept that she’s mentally ill. Instead, she focuses all her efforts on holding onto Gyeo-re, literally and figuratively. She won’t let him out of her sight and clings to him every chance she gets.

When he attends the wedding ceremony of a wishee, Joon-kyung follows him looking sullen at the mere thought Gyeo-re can be happy without her. He chats with Team Genie, although he avoids Yeon-joo, afraid of dragging her into his mess. Thankfully, Gyeo-re does talk to Tae-shik and explain his situation.

Gyeo-re finally reaches a breaking point after Joon-kyung has a dish-breaking screaming-bloody-murder meltdown when he won’t eat the meal she made for him. He’s so desperate he texts his address to Seok-joon because he’d rather die by the gangster’s hand than live like this.

While Gyeo-re waits for Seok-joon on the roof, Tae-shik has a chat with Yeon-joo to explain Gyeo-re’s situation. When she hears he’s basically in a hostage situation, she grabs her boxing gloves and marches over to save him.

Yeon-joo finds Gyeo-re ready to die on the roof and tells him off before punching Joon-kyung twice when she starts acting up. Then, Yeon-joo locks Gyeo-re out and has it out with Joon-kyung. She lets Joon-kyung rage like a parent riding out a tantrum. Yeon-joo is completely unfazed by Joon-kyung’s histrionics and calls her out on her abuse and BS. It’s SO satisfying.

Somehow, Yeon-joo manages to find empathy for the woman and gives her the boxing gloves, telling Joon-kyung to come by the hospice when she’s ready for help. On their way out, Yeon-joo and Gyeo-re are intercepted by Seok-joon. They get in a scuffle and escape with some bruises.

Once Yeon-joo leaves with Gyeo-re, Joon-kyung can’t face reality and ends up jumping off the roof. She survives with Seok-joon – who is totally in love with her – at her side when she wakes up. (Why not pick the guy who doesn’t find being with you a sentence worse than death?)

Elsewhere, Gyeo-re is welcomed back by his Team Genie family who give him a hard time but are thrilled he’s returned. Tae-shik does his best to hide his worsening pain from Gyeo-re and everyone else, but it’s a struggle.

We do get some further developments on our mysterious patient in the locked room who seems to have woken up. Unbeknownst to the staff, he’s taken to lurking around the hospice at night and even finds the will Gyeo-re left. His intentions are unclear since he did help Yeon-joo when she fainted in the hallway, but he was holding a knife and seems to have made a shallow cut on her neck for some reason.

But we finally learn the deal with this bizarre situation. The man is the shady business partner from Tae-shik’s past, and one day he came with his minions to the hospice to find Tae-shik. Now, here’s where things get a little murky. Somehow, he ended up injured and on the brink of death in the woods nearby. Grandpa Yoon found him and got Team Genie to save the man, saying he didn’t want Tae-shik to be branded a murderer.

We never see Tae-shik attack the man, so I’m not sure if it’s to keep Tae-shik from being falsely accused or if Grandpa Yoon saw Tae-shik hurt him. Either way, Team Genie has kept him alive and stashed away ever since. Gyeo-re overhears Yeon-joo talking to Dr. Yang about it and finally gets his answer about the mysterious patient.

Then, we get another flashback that answers the question once and for all: what is Tae-shik’s connection to Gyeo-re? And my initial interpretation was right! Gyeo-re’s father is none other than Tae-shik’s ex-business partner now stashed at the hospice. After Tae-shik saw little Gyeo-re with clear marks of extreme abuse, he encouraged him to run away and save himself. And Gyeo-re did just that.

Now, Tae-shik asks Gyeo-re about his family – isn’t he curious about his parents? Gyeo-re reveals he can’t remember his mother who left when he was little. As for his horribly abusive father, Gyeo-re intentionally wiped him from his memory and can no longer recall his face. (Whelp, I have a feeling his memory is going to be jogged soon enough.) Gyeo-re worries he’ll be like his father, but Tae-shik assures him he’s too warm and kind for that.

We end the week with Tae-shik, Gyeo-re, and Yeon-joo going on a wish-granting trip. When they stop for food, Tae-shik’s pain leads him to pass out in the street. Yeon-joo and Gyeo-re frantically try to wake him.

Haven’t we had enough trauma and sadness? I’m not ready to lose Tae-shik, too. At least we finally have some answers about both Gyeo-re’s connection to Tae-shik and the mysterious patient. I wish they hadn’t done the red herring thing with Tae-shik and Gyeo-re since I don’t think we needed the extra mystery – there’s enough going on without making Gyeo-re’s parentage a guessing game.

Now that Gyeo-re’s father has woken up, it’s only a matter of time before he and Gyeo-re come face to face. Thank goodness Gyeo-re has his new family by his side who have proved they’ll protect him no matter what.

And I have to say, I love that Yeon-joo gets the knight in shining armor role. It’s fun to see the gender reversal with her being the protector and the initiator in the relationship. Whether it’s getting him out of a hostage situation or scandalizing him with her forward remarks (that lunch box comment made me LOL), Yeon-joo is such an active character. With her and the rest of Team Genie by his side, I’m confident Gyeo-re will be able to get through whatever comes next, whether that’s Tae-shik’s worsening condition or having to face his father.

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If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 9-10