Seung-Hee has quickly become one of the biggest antagonistic forces threatening to make things even worse for Hye-Joo and her husband amid a rapidly spiraling political situation and personal struggles in her family.
Hye-Joo and her husband Nam Joong-Do are going through one of the roughest patches in their lives. The happily married couple has had more than their share of familial and political struggles to contend with.
On top of the loss of their son, the couple has had to deal with public opinion regarding the Assemblyman and his recent actions against a criminal, which resulted in the criminal’s suicide, which change rapidly.
Furthermore, they are also keeping a young girl who claims to be pregnant with their son’s baby at their home. If all these trials and tribulations — and then some — weren’t enough, the couple now has a new problem to contend with.
A suspicious someone
Seung-Hee is from Youngsan. The first time she appears on screen, she is returning from abroad after three years of completing her education.
She is married to Ki-Young, and while his wife had gone abroad for education, he had remained in Youngsan, looking after her mother Lee Yoo-Sin, and her real-estate empire.
At first, it’s unclear how Seung-Hee and her family connect to Hye-Joo, but it’s clear that they have something to do with her past — a period of her life Hye-Joo has never delved into or shared at all, even with her husband.
And Joong-Do never pressed either, taking her presumably lonesome and difficult upbringing as an orphan to be the reason she doesn’t want to talk about it much.
However, as becomes quite clear after Seung-Hee’s arrival, that’s not true. Hye-Joo has always remained a sincere, calm, and composed woman who keeps to herself and avoids exposure and making appearances so much that she stays the furthest from her husband’s political career.
When Seung-Hee comes across Hye-Joo’s photo with her husband online, she runs off to her house to greet her, taking her with absolute shock and panic.
It’s then revealed why Hye-Joo has never wanted to make appearances — to avoid being recognized by people from her troubled past. Seung-Hee is one of those people.
The painful past
Seung-Hee once used to be Hye-Joo’s best friend. It was during my high school days. Even her husband, Ki-Young, knew Hye-Joo as all three went to the same school.
There was one other student who was in this picture, and one who changed the entire fabric of their relationship and interjecting storylines — Seung-Hee’s brother, Seung-Ho.
He continually approached Hye-Joo with romantic expectations, and Hye-Joo wasn’t interested. One evening, in the middle of a relatively remote area, Hye-Joo was once again confronted by Seung-Ho.
Her response was the same and she also specified this time, to not follow or pester her anymore. However, when Seung-Ho grabbed her hand as she was about to leave, the clear physical advantage he had over the vulnerable Hye-Joo got into his head.
His inner predator came out and he sexually assaulted Hye-Joo. She later would go on to report the incident to the police, following which Seung-Ho committed suicide.
Her mother Lee Yoo-Sin would fabricate a story that vilified Hye-Joo and blame her for Seung-Ho’s death. While Seung-Hee didn’t believe her brother at first, her mother managed to get through her mind and convince her that Hye-Joo killed her brother for money.
A vengeful return
Twenty years later, Seung-Hee has found Hye-Joo’s new identity she lives her new life with, away from the grim past.
However, Seung-Hee is still stuck in the past and wishes to seek retribution for her brother’s death. She wants to exact revenge upon Hye-Joo for killing her brother — something she believes she should have done a long time ago.
Her biggest point of harassment against Hye-Joo is the demand that the latter apologizes to her mother for framing her son and leading him to commit suicide.
Meanwhile, Seung-Hee is also hell-bent on destroying her best friend of the past, using her already crumbling life’s vulnerable spots as leverage against her.
Also Read: Hye-Joo’s past in Trolley explained