A mission of Love

Episode: 16

Kang-woo says he can't live without Myung-wol, so she should turn herself in, marry him, and live here. Ryu steps out of hiding and holds Kang-woo at gunpoint, telling him to leave while he has the chance. Kang-woo: "Can't you see I'm proposing?" Ryu: "Can't you see I've got a gun to your head?" One point, Ryu.

Kang-woo declares that he won't give Myung-wol up, and Ryu lets him leave. He tells Myung-wol that since he held up his part of the bargain not to kill Kang-woo, it's time for her to return home.

Broody time. The three leads separate in order to mope, with Kang-woo heading back to his house, Myung-wol sitting in her empty studio apartment, and Ryu in...an abandoned warehouse? Ha, why is that so funny?

Spy Mom and Dad come home from their failed attempt to head North. Ok-soon is crankier than Hee-bok, and asks suspiciously if perhaps he's happy to stay. They find that Dae-kang has taken advantage of their planned absence to play landlord and lie about his supposed wealth. He brags to idol starlet Kyung-joo that he doesn't have to work, but it's character-building and all that. Hee-bok ruins his illusion and sends the huffy idol stalking out.

Chairman Joo orders his minion to locate Ryu and the books, thinking that if he gets them back first, he can regain the upper hand with Kang-woo. He hasn't quite unraveled the secrets contained therein, and Ryu busily gets to work assembling the books to decode them. What he comes up with are coordinates for several locations on the Korean peninsula.

Ryu arranges to meet Myung-wol to divulge what he's learned, but he gets there moments too late; Kang-woo comes roaring up in his car and takes Myung-wol away, reminding her that he won't give her up.

Learning about the reason for their aborted trip home, Ok-soon and Hee-bok wonder what would have driven Myung-wol to let Kang-woo go. Ok-soon wonders if this means she loves Kang-woo, and Hee-bok sighs that it sure is complicated, with Ryu loving Myung-wol and all. She's startled to hear it, but he points out that it's as obvious as day to anybody who so much as looks at them.

Kang-woo takes Myung-wol to observe the way ordinary people live, appealing to the part of her that wishes for this life for herself. He asks if she wants to continue living her strictly regimented life: "Don't you want to learn how people love each other?"

As they watch couples and families out on dates, Myung-wol wistfully imagines the two of them engaging in everyday activities like jogging together and playing with children. He takes out a ring and proposes, then takes her back home with the request to think it over.

Ryu waits till Myung-wol is gone, then approaches Kang-woo angrily to ask what the hell he's doing, insisting that he leave her alone. Kang-woo replies that he's encouraging Myung-wol to choose herself, and challenges Ryu to think of her happiness.

Ryu drinks, then shows up at Myung-wol's door, this time to do the talking. He opens up about his own childhood, and how he was saved from starvation by a man who took him in. That man had a pretty daughter who used to say she'd be a special agent just like Dad. He'd liked her but couldn't say so, thinking it wasn't appropriate behavior toward his savior. Then when the man died, he'd asked Ryu to look after his child and he'd decided that protecting her was his duty — "I thought that was my way of loving her."

She's stunned speechless. He asks, "Return to our country, and be with me."

Is it bad of me that I want her to say yes? It's just a shame this conversation didn't happen earlier, because that would've totally ramped up this love triangle for me. Placed here, it comes too late to interfere with her feelings for Kang-woo, and even if she did choose Ryu, it would always be linked with a sense of duty and family, rather than love. Poor, hot Ryu.