In episode 16 Da-gu and Soo-sun finally confessed their mutual affections, and we found out Ae-yoon is definitely Dae-gu mom’s killer. Why would she want to kill Dae-gu’s mom? What past is yet left to uncover? Could Toad have predicted it all when he compared Team 3 to a makjang drama? Is there a birth secret waiting around the corner? What happens now? Let’s find out!

Estelle’s [Whirlwind] Recap

SPOILER ALERT: Do not proceed if you do not want to know what has happened so far!

Episode begins with Tae-il in hospital bed after that dreadful incident in which two of Ae-yeon’s thugs stole the pendant from him. The team surrounds him in worry as he regains conscience and apologizes for losing the pendant. Every reprimands him for having such thoughts and all are thankful Tae-il is alive.

Out in the hospital hallway Eun-dong asks Pan-seok if Chief Kang did show up that day. Pan-seok does not give an answer, but from his facial expressions Eun-dong figured out the response.

Dae-gu walks Soo-sun back to her new home. Before they part, Soo-sun holds Dae-gu’s hand and he sneaks a smile at her. She comforts him and asks him to rest well, and he says he will try.

Back at the station, Toad is throwing red bean at Team 3 in an attempt to get rid of the makjang (mess up) in existence.

Pan-seok enters Chief Kang’s room to ask whether she knows who the thugs are that took the pendant and hurt Tae-il. She refuses to give him an answer and he threatens to tell Dae-gu. Chief Kang sees right through that and questions who Dae-gu will believe more, especially without any evidence pinning her to the murder. Pan-seok relents, but promises to find evidence to arrest Ae-yeon and requests that Chief Kang do not interfere with his plans or else he will reveal everything to the media.

Next Pan-seok visits Ae-yeon at the gym. He congratulates her on successfully obtaining the pendant (are you richer now that you have two pendants at home?) and lets her in on the fact that he has a witness who saw her at Dae-gu’s house 11 years ago. Soo-sun arrives then with a police summon, and Pan-seok tells her to attend the summon or else they will get an arrest warrant.

Ae-yeon immediately tears up the summon and walks away from the running machine. Soo-sun collects the pieces and runs up to Ae-yeon to teach her a lesson about wasting the taxpayer’s money. Soo-sun warns Ae-yeon to show up and protect what is left of her name.

Dae-gu visits his mother (Hwa-young)’s friend to see if she has ever seen Ae-yeon before. The friend says no, but brings out some old pictures to show Dae-gu. He studies the pictures and finds Ae-yeon’s husband (Ji-il) in a photo with his mom! Dae-gu inquires about the picture, and the friend tells him reluctantly that Ji-il and Hwa-young were in love. Then one day Hwa-young suddenly left Seoul and Ji-il became engaged to the daughter of a rich family, presumably Ae-yeon. She ends the story by asking what Dae-gu’s father was like, to which he has no answer.

The friend’s questions did, however, prompt Dae-gu into thinking about old rumors of his mom being a mistress and the strange absence of his father.

At the hospital, Tae-il is studying a thick pile of criminal profiles in an attempt to identify the two thugs. After failing to convince Tae-il to rest, Dae-gu gives him the Eun-dong protection beads; Gook chides that it’s worth it to get hurt if that meant Dae-gu would show sentiment.

Tae-il’s father arrives on the scene with his entourage trailing behind. He begins to berate Tae-il for being the same as his brother Tae-soo and declares both are sons he does not have.

After the father leaves, Tae-il tells the team his family story. What began as a dinner to meet his brother’s future spouse turned out to be a disaster when Tae-soo brought home another man. Tae-il came home to witness his father beating his brother and ran out the house immediately. Tae-soo pursued after Tae-il and unfortunately while crossing the street was hit by a truck. Tae-il explains after that incident he decided to become a detective in order to fulfill his brother’s dream and receive forgiveness.

Late at night, Dae-gu is thinking about what he learnt earlier in the day when Soo-sun arrives (what a timely girl!). He signals for her to sit while she shyly oblige while complaining that others will look for them. Once she sits down, Dae-gu lies down on the bench and rests his head on her lap. Yoona, eat your heart out.

He teases her about being chubbier than she looks, but declares that she has past the first test. (24:08) He asks her about her father, to which she responds warmly. Soon, Dae-gu falls quietly asleep.

The next day Dae-gu meets with Ji-il. Dae-gu shows Ji-il the photo and asks him if he knows about the Masan murder. Ji-il is shocked to learn that Hwa-young is already dead, and that his wife is implicated in the murder. Dae-gu demands an explanation for the photo, but Ji-il says he has an important appointment so he has to leave. He does ask for Dae-gu’s contact information and age, so maybe there is hope after all?

Dae-gu visits Hyung-chul in prison and tells him the pendant has been found and who the pendant belongs to. Dae-gu asks if he is the son of Ji-il and if that’s the real reason behind the murder. Hyung-chul warns Dae-gu to not dig any deeper for both of their lives, but Dae-gu just presses on for more information to which Hyung-chul gives no answer.

For the first time we get to follow Hyung-chul to his cell and we get a glimpse of his next door neighbor who is watching him with intent.

Over at the Yoo household, the son blurts out that he saw Ji-il meeting Dae-gu the day before. This news sends Ae-yeon into panic mode. She remembers back to 11 years ago when she saw Ji-il speaking to Hwa-young and trying to reminisce about the past. In response to that, Ae-yeon visits Hwa-young’s house to throw insults at Hwa-young. Hwa-young says she has not met with Ji-il for 15 years and will continue to stay away from him so she demands Ae-yeon to also stay away. In a fit of rage Ae-yeon picks up the vase and hits Hwa-young not once but twice! After realizing what she has done, she calls Assemblyman Yoo to send Hyung-chul over to do cover up. The rest is history.

Ji-il meets with Dae-gu in his office. He proceeds to tell Dae-gu that he had no special relationship with Hwa-young and that he would prefer it if he never has to discuss this case with Dae-gu again.

After a much needed scream session by the sea, Dae-gu returns to the station and declares the way to catch Ae-yeon is get her confession. The team goes out to gather information on Ae-yeon’s temperament, habits and fears. Meanwhile Chief Kang meets with Assemblyman Yoo and warns him that if Ae-yeon does not appear they will all die together.

Ae-yeon arrives at the station accordingly for the investigation with her lawyer. The team makes her wait in the room for a while so she is agitated. Before Dae-gu goes in to interrogate, he shares a small hand holding moment with Soo-sun.

Dae-gu enters the room with a bunch of sharpened pencils and a giant stack of paper work. He pulls out the picture and asks Ae-yeon who does she think he resembles more. Ouch!

Can’t wait for the next episode!!! Can you? Be sure to come back for more recap 🙂