4 Times Na In Woo And Lee Kyu Han Outsmarted Bae Jong Ok In Episodes 11-12 Of "Longing For You"

We’re pretty close to the end here, and “Longing for You” doesn’t let up its frenetic pacing as it enters the penultimate week. All the villains are out in the open, so all that remains for Oh Jin Sung (Na In Woo), Go Young Joo (Kim Ji Eun), and Cha Young Woon (Kwon Yool) is to put them behind bars. But putting the chief of Korea’s biggest medical center behind bars is easier said than done, especially when the truth causes a sudden fracture within the team.

Here are four times Yoo Jung Sook was outsmarted in the previous episodes:

Warning: spoilers for episodes 11-12 below.

1. When Jin Sung kept calm in front of Jung Woo No

It’s all Jin Sung can do to remain calm after finding out that Jung Woo No (Kim Chul Ki) killed his brother on Yoo Jung Sook’s (Bae Jong Ok’s) orders. He confronts Woo No at Jin Jin hospital, but the man shrugs him off, looking unflappable because he knows he’s untouchable. Jin Sung is about to throw hands when he remembers Young Joo’s advice. When fighting against a Goliath like Jin Jin, they can’t afford to make silly mistakes, so he reins himself in and lets Woo No leave.

But it turns out that Woo No’s departing to meet Young Woon, who’s still in shock that his half-brother was murdered in order to give him a heart. Woo No all but confirms it but firmly believes he did nothing wrong. Young Woon bitterly notes that his mother is basically Woo No’s god, and Woo No doesn’t deny it. Young Woon returns home furious and confronts his family, yelling at their audacity, at their lack of morals, and at how disgusting they are. And the worst part is that Jung Sook doesn’t flinch. She genuinely doesn’t care and tells him as much. She literally says that some lives are worth more than others, and Young Woon’s life mattered more than Jin Woo’s because he’s going to do “great things.”

Young Woon is at a loss on what to do. Jung Sook laughs that no one in Korea can prosecute her. Her ties to every legislative and financial body are too great for anyone to be capable of touching her. Young Woon is about to throw it all away and prosecute her, when his gross father Cha Jin Cheol (Choi Kwang Il) shows up and justifies his wife’s actions. Jin Cheol wasn’t aware that Young Woon received Jin Woo’s heart but doesn’t care. He guilt trips Young Woon, saying that his mother has only existed for him, his health, career, and happiness. He reminds Young Woon that he’s only alive because of his mother. And the next thing we know, Young Woon officially sides with his family.

2. When Ki Young informed Ma Ri of Jin Woo’s death

It’s vile how Jung Sook has made a habit out of rescuing people in need and forcing them to perform all manner of unsavory deeds for her. But the person who learned best from her example wasn’t Young Woon but Park Ki Young (Lee Kyu Han). It isn’t clear yet as to how he became aware of Jung Sook’s true nature, but what is evident is that the second he knew, he put a whole lot into action with one purpose: tearing her down. Ki Young is by no means a hero. He was fully prepared to kill Young Joo to hurt Young Woon and assisted Bae Min Kyu (Jung Sang Hoon) in his serial killings. But his premeditated actions end up helping Jin Sung out as he begins the onerous fight against a medical conglomerate that owns a good amount of the country.

Joining him in the fight is Young Joo, who was shocked and heartbroken at Young Woon’s refusal to assist them and his insistence that she do nothing. But in an excellent surprise and bit of character growth, spoiled prosecutor Yang Hee Joo (Jung Ga Hee) rises to the occasion, determined to do right with the power she’s been given. As the chief prosecutor’s daughter, she’s pretty untouchable, so that’s a strong team Jin Woo has on his side. But Jin Jin is powerful enough to get Woo No out of jail the second Jin Sung issues a warrant. So he just needs a couple more things.

First, Jin Sung needs Ma Ri (An Si Ha), Jin Woo’s birth mother, to vouch that Jung Sook knew that Jin Woo and Young Woon were half-brothers. Next, he needs video proof that Woo No killed Jin Woo on Jung Sook’s orders. Woo No’s ready to sacrifice himself, but Jin Sung wants the head of the snake cut off here, not the tail. Jung Sook is certain that Ma Ri won’t join Jin Sung’s side and is shocked when Ma Ri does. Jung Sook genuinely isn’t capable of understanding that people are capable of anything when cornered, and Ma Ri has been cornered for a long time. Via a hidden camera, Ki Young had gotten footage of Jung Sook and Woo No celebrating after Jin Woo’s murder and Young Woon’s surgery while dissing Ma Ri—one look at the video, and Ma Ri returned to Korea with one purpose: to ruin Jung Sook. Thankfully, she isn’t the only one with that goal.

3. When Jin Sung dug into Ki Young’s past

Digging into all the useful tidbits Ki Young left them leads Jin Sung to a friend of Ki Young’s mother. There, he finds that Ki Young’s mother was a model with a budding career until she fell pregnant. The father? Cha Jin Cheol, Young Woon’s father and Jung Sook’s husband, strikes again. This man was just running around cheating and fathering kids everywhere. What happened next was a predictable pattern. Jung Sook found out about the cheating. She supplied Ki Young’s mother with medication, which were actually narcotics. She turned his mother into an addict, got her killed, and swooped in to carry Ki Young to her place, acting like she was “saving” him and sponsoring him.

But Ki Young found that she was only keeping him around so she could kill him and give Jin Woo his heart. See, Ki Young has Hepatitis B, most likely due to some contact from his mother’s drug use. This made him an unsuitable candidate for Jung Sook’s precious Young Woon. That was what saved him. It’s even more terrifying because Jung Sook has been monitoring both her husband’s other children for years, just so she can kill them. But did she really kill Ki Young?

4. When Jin Sung realized that Ki Young wasn’t dead

A little more digging raises more questions about Ki Young’s death. Why would someone with such a vendetta choose to walk away from life? Why was his body so obliterated that it took dental records to find him? Jin Sung’s team takes a new approach: what if Ki Young’s alive? It doesn’t take Jin Sung long to find corroborating evidence.

The teeth found in the crash matched Ki Young’s old dental records from 2019, but they didn’t match his new records. Bae Min Kyu, dentist and murderer, had actually filled in a cavity for Ki Young in 2021. Jin Jin manufactured a fake set of teeth and plugged them into a body (or a person, yikes) in order to fake Ki Young’s death. But the man is alive, and it doesn’t take Jin Sung long to hunt him down in Woo No’s suite, alive and well, but held prisoner. He barges in, Ki Young turns around, and never has a man looked so happy to be found.

This was a seriously solid reveal. “Longing for You” isn’t perfect. There are inconsistencies, legal inaccuracies, and procedural red flags that raise eyebrows, but there’s no questioning that the pacing feels solid and the way characters are interconnected feels organic. We’ve come a long way from the initial serial killing mystery that started it all, and the characters’ reactions feel organic (even if the rest of the realism doesn’t hold up at times), including Young Woon assisting in covering things up for his family out of guilt and self-recrimination. With Ki Young alive and his incriminating stash of videos now about to throw Young Woon’s whole family in jail, the question arises of what last reveals the show has for us. There’s probably something, but I won’t say no to two hours of Jung Sook being demolished either!

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Shalini_A is a long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she fangirls over Ji Sung, and spins thrillers set in increasingly fantastic worlds. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and feel free to ask her anything!

Currently Watching:  “Longing for You,” “My Dearest,” “Moving,” and “My Lovely Liar.”
Looking Forward to: “Gyeongseong Creature,” “Ask The Stars,” “The Girl Downstairs,” “The Worst Evil,” “Queen of Tears,” “Vigilante,” “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” and Ji Sung’s next drama.