Unpredictable: "Valid Love" Episodes 11 and 12

After pulling out both Jung Hee Tae (Uhm Tae Woong) and Kim Joon (Lee Soo Hyuk) from the police station, Kim Il Ri (Lee Si Young) sits them both down and the three have a talk. 

Il Ri says she hasn’t slept with Joon yet, that she was shaken by Joon but never forgot that Hee Tae was her second half. Hee Tae says that the moment she started having feelings for Joon, she cheated on him. Joon says he doesn’t want half of Il Ri’s heart; he’d rather she just give her whole heart to Hee Tae than give him just half. How can all three points be so… valid?

Of course, the difference between divorce and breaking up is the fact that there is family involved – on both ends. Il Ri’s mother is extremely upset, as is Hee Tae’s, and they both take it out on Il Ri.

Il Ri’s mother takes it a step further and visits Joon. It’s rather unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Hee Tae and Sun Joo (Han Soo Yeon) – his first love – are getting cozy. Sun Joo starts dropping not-so-subtle hints about her feelings; Hee Tae reciprocates sometimes. 

In the midst of all this, the mysterious texter is finally caught. It’s the kid who lives downstairs from the couple, named Min Ki.

After listening to his explanation, Il Ri decides to forgive him completely. Why? Because, according to Min Ki, at first he took her picture by accident. And then when he found that she was cheating on Hee Tae, it got personal. Apparently, when his father had sent him and his mother to study abroad, his mother found another man and sent Min Ki straight back to his father, abandoning her family. More realization for Il Ri about the magnitude of her actions.

Now that that’s taken care of and Il Ri and Hee Tae are almost divorced, Joon takes the chance to officially ask Il Ri out. In response, she tells him the story of her first kiss with Hee Tae. (For future note: how to say no to someone who asks you out.)

That’s a blatant no, but Joon perseveres and takes both Il Ri and her sister-in-law Hee Soo (Choi Yeo Jin) on a movie date (…kind of). At the movie theater, Hee Soon runs into someone she seems to know. (I’m guessing we’ll need to remember him. Perhaps it has to do with exactly what happened to her?)

After the “date,” Joon convinces Il Ri into dinner. But, it wouldn’t be a drama if Hee Tae and Sun Joo didn’t walk into the same restaurant. Awkward.

Il Ri gets drunk and asks Sun Joo to take good care of her husband. Eventually, she leaves in a fit. She’s said earlier that if Hee Tae liked another girl, she would at least try to understand why. And now, she leaves yelling at him, “I’m not sorry. You know why? You don’t know!” (Il Ri, I don’t know either. Do any of you know?)

Then comes the day when Il Ri and Hee Tae are going to make their divorce official, when they’re interrupted by a phone call from Il Ri’s mother. Following her immediate demands, the two head to the hospital where she works.

Throughout all of this, Yi Ri and Ki Tae (Park Jung Min) had been spending a lot of time together – taking care of their respective older siblings, fighting for them, and even sharing a drunken kiss.

It’s a little awkward when they head to the hospital… but it’s okay because it’s even more awkward with this group of five. 

Il Ri’s mother is protesting her dismissal from her job without notice, along with her co-workers, and security guards are sent in to disperse them. Joon takes care of the fighting and Il Ri’s mother, when Hee Tae realizes that he still has feelings left (for Il Ri or her family?). He pulls Joon away.

Things are so up in the air that I don’t even know what’s going to happen. Usually, with k-dramas, the plot is so predictable – it’s so obvious who’s going to end up with who. But with “Valid Love,” I really don’t know. (This seems to be a theme for me for these two episodes.)

So, predictable or unpredictable? What are you guys predicting so far?

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